So complex is this mundane system, and so incessant the conflict between its component parts, an observation which holds good particularly with regard to insects, that if instead of being under such control it were left to the agency of blind chance, the whole must inevitably soon be deranged and go to ruin. Insects, in truth, are a book in which whoever reads under proper impressions cannot avoid looking from the effect to the cause, and acknowledging his eternal power and godhead thus wonderfully displayed and irrefragably demonstrated: and whoever beholds these works with the eyes of the body, must be blind indeed if he cannot, and perverse indeed if he will not, with the eye of the soul behold in all his glory the Almighty Workman, and feel disposed, with every power of his nature, to praise and magnify
"Him first, Him last, Him midst, Him without end."
And now having led you to the vestibule of an august temple, which in its inmost sanctuary exhibits enshrined in glory the symbols of the Divine Presence, I should invite you to enter and give a tongue to the Hallelujahs, which every creature in its place, by working his will with all its faculties, pours forth to its great Creator: but I must first endeavour to remove, as I trust I shall effectually, those objections to the study of these interesting beings which I alluded to in the outset of this letter, and this shall be the aim of my next address.
I am, &c.
[LETTER II.]
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
In my last I gave you a general view of the science of Entomology, and endeavoured to prove to you that it possesses attractions and beauty sufficient to reward any student who may profess himself its votary. I am now to consider it in a less alluring light, as a pursuit attended by no small degree of obloquy, in consequence of certain objections thought to be urged with great force against it. To obviate these, and remove every scruple from your mind, shall be the business of the present letter.
Two principal objections are usually alleged with great confidence against the study and pursuit of insects. By some they are derided as trifling and unimportant, and deemed an egregious waste of time and talents; by others they are reprobated as unfeeling and cruel, and as tending to harden the heart.