Thaumaturgia, or elucidations of the marvellous / By an Oxonian.

Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Thaumaturgia, or elucidations of the marvellous / By an Oxonian. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    appreciated in a greater or less degree. If the gra- tification of the sensual appetite formed the principal object of living, its prolongation would be to the epicure, as desirable as the prospect of an exis- tence to be enjoyed beyond the limits of the grave, is to the moralist and the believer. The desire of longevity appears to be inherent in aU animated nature, and particularly in the human race; it is intimately cherished by us, through the whole duration of our existence, and is frequently sup- ported and strengthened, not only by justifiable means, but also by various kinds of collusion. Living in an age when every branch of human know- ledge is reduced to popular systems ; when the vigils of reason are hallowed at the shrine of experiment and observationthough we behold in the immense variety of things, the utter uselessness of attempting to renovate a shattered constitution, or of improving a sound one to last beyond a certain period ; we never- theless observe that in the inconceivable waste of ele- mentary particles there prevails the strictest economy. Nothing is produced in vain, nothing consumed without a cause. We clearly perceive that all nature is united by indissoluble ties, that every individual thing ex- ists for the sake of another, and that no one can subsist without its concomitant. Hence we conclude, that man himself is not an insulated being, but a necessary link in the great chain, which con- nects the universe. Nature is our safest guide, and she will be so with greater certainty, as we become better acquainted with her operations, especially with respect to those particulars which