The History of Insects

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The History of Insects, by Unknown
Observe the insect race, ordained to keep
The silent sabbath of a half year's sleep!
Entom'd beneath the filmy web they lie
And wait the influence of a kinder sky;
When vernal sunbeams pierce the dark retreat,
The heaving tomb distends with vital heat;
The full formed brood, impatient of their cell,
Start from their trance, and burst their silken shell.
BARBAULD.
Insects are so called from a separation in the middle of their bodies, seemingly cut into two parts, and joined together by a small ligature, as we see in wasps and common flies.
However small and contemptible this class of beings may appear, at first thought, yet, when we come to reflect, and carefully investigate, we shall be struck with wonder and astonishment, and shall discover, that the smallest gnat that buzzes in the meadow, is as much a subject of admiration as the largest elephant that ranges the forest, or the hugest whale which ploughs the deep; and when we consider the least creature that we can imagine, myriads of which are too small to be discovered without the help of glasses, and that each of their bodies is made up of different organs or parts, by which they receive or retain nourishment, &c. with the power of action, how natural the exclamation, O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all. Under these considerations, that they are the work of the same great, good, and Almighty hand that formed us, and that they are all capable of feeling pleasure and pain, surely every little child, as well as older person, ought carefully to avoid every kind of cruelty to any kind of creature, great or small.