Views of the Creation

Front Cover
C. Bentham, Printer, 1826 - 180 pages
 

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 119 - But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you...
Page 112 - A bee amongst the flowers in spring is one of the most cheerful objects that can be looked upon. Its life appears to be all enjoyment ; so busy, and so pleased...
Page 113 - If we look to what the waters produce, shoals of the fry of fish frequent the margins of rivers, of lakes, and of the sea itself. These are so happy that they know not what to do with themselves. Their attitudes, their vivacity, their leaps out of the water, their frolics in it, which I have noticed a thousand times with equal attention and amusement, — all conduce to show their excess of spirits, and are simply the effects of that excess.
Page 113 - ... very thick mist, hanging over the edge of the water, to the height perhaps of half a yard, and of the breadth of two or three yards, stretching along the coast as far as the eye could reach, and always retiring with the water. When this cloud came to be examined, it proved to be nothing else than so much space filled with young shrimps, in the act of bounding into the air from the shallow margin of the water, or from the wet sand.
Page 117 - In the species with which we are best acquainted, namely, our own, I am far, even as an observer of human life, from thinking that youth is its happiest season, much less the only happy one : as a Christian, I am willing to believe that there is a great deal of truth in the following representation, given by a very pious writer, as well as an excellent man:* " To the intelligent and virtuous, old age presents a scene of tranquil enjoyments, of obedient appetite, of well-regulated affections, of maturity...
Page 125 - No anatomist ever discovered a system of organization calculated to produce pain and disease ; or, in explaining the parts of the human body, ever said, this is to irritate; this to inflame...
Page 28 - Breathing with ease is a blessing of every moment : yet, of all others, it is that which we possess with the least consciousness. A man in an asthma is the only man who knows how to estimate it.
Page 113 - Walking by the seaside in a calm evening, upon a sandy shore, and with an ebbing tide, I have frequently remarked the appearance of a dark cloud, or rather very thick mist, hanging over the edge of the water, to the height perhaps of half a yard, and of the breadth of two or three yards, stretching along the coast as far as the eye could reach, and always retiring with the water. When this cloud came to be examined, it proved to be nothing else than so much space filled with young shrimps...
Page 115 - Nor is it less pleased with its first successful endeavours to walk, or rather to run (which precedes walking), although entirely ignorant of the importance of the attainment to its future life, and even without applying it to any present purpose. A child is delighted with speaking, without having anything to say ; and with walking, without knowing where to go.
Page 114 - ... shrimps, in the act of bounding into the air from the shallow margin of the water, or from the wet sand. If any motion of a mute animal could express delight, it was this : if they had meant to make signs of their happiness, they could not have done it more intelligibly. Suppose then, what I have no doubt of, each individual of this number to be in a state of positive enjoyment, what a sum, collectively, of gratification and pleasure have we here before our view...

Bibliographic information