most wonderful, and, at the same time, the most useful. It is thus, that, through the sense of hearing, we become acquainted with the various feelings, thoughts, and reasonings of others, and consequently make a great addition to our stock of ideas. Of Touching. THE sense of touch, as before observed, is not confined to a particular organ; it is diffused over the whole body, and differs from the senses of smelling, of tasting, and of hearing, in many respects. Each of these informs us only of a single quality of body; but by the sense of touch we are made acquainted with heat, cold, hardness, softness, roughness, smoothness, figure, solidity, motion, and extension. We are so constituted, that when we come in contact with bodies possessing such qualities, an impression is made upon us, a sensation is experienced, and, in consequence of this sensation, we are led to think of a quality inherent in the matter which comes in contact with our bodies, and which is capable of producing this sensation. Of this quality, our notion is often extremely indistinct, at the same time that our sensation is lively. Thus, in severe frosty weather, when we are in the open air, we experience very strongly that sensation to which we give the name of cold; but though we are compelled to believe that there exists, in the surrounding air, a quality to which we apply the same name, our conception of its nature is very obscure. In like manner, when a person lays his hand on a piece of ice, or on a piece of iron or lead that is excluded from heat, he has the same kind of sensation, but is equally ignorant of the nature of that quality in any of these bodies, by which it is produced. The same observations are applicable to the sensation and quality denominated heat; for when a man touches a burning coal, or a piece of heated iron, he has a sensation sufficiently acute; but though he is convinced of the existence of a quality in these substances which occasions the pain he feels, the nature of that quality is wholly unknown. In these, and in all similar cases, however, it is necessary to observe, that though the same word is used to express what we feel, and what we consider as the cause of our feeling, there can be no resemblance whatever between them; and that though we sometimes experience sensations, without having a perception of any external object, which we believe possesses qualities capable of producing these sensations, yet when we come in contact with bodies, from which we uniformly experience the same effects, we are, by the very constitution of our being, irresistibly led to believe, that these bodies possess qualities independently of our sensations. It is obvious, that without the sense of touch, we could never have known those qualities of body which we distinguish by the terms hardness and softness. The ideas of these are obtained by pressing the hand on any external body, and observing the degree of resistance opposed to the pressure. Thus, if a man press his hand on a stone, a piece of wood, or a piece of iron, he finds it quite unyielding, and denominates it hard; but on making the same application to a piece of moist clay, or a piece of heated wax, he finds it gives way to the pressure of his hand, and denominates it soft. The roughness, smoothness, and solidity of bodies, are likewise objects of this sense, and cannot otherwise be known; but the figure, motion, and extension of bodies, are, in some degree, objects of sight as well as of touch. The observations already made, with regard to the difference between sensations and qualities, are applicable to them all. Of Seeing. THE most distinguished of our senses is that of sight. Even an ordinary observer, who thinks at all of the adaptation of the organs of sense to their respective functions, must be struck with admiration on considering the eye. To an atheist, if such a being exists, nothing can afford a more convincing proof of the existence and wisdom of a Deity, than an anatomical examination of the parts and properties of this organ. Such a consideration would lead N a pious man to adopt the language of an ancient king and poet, who, on contemplating the structure of his body, exclaimed, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made." The superiority of the sense of sight is beautifully set forth by Dr. Chalmers, in the following passage of his Discourses: "There is," says he, "a limit, across which man cannot carry any one of his perceptions, and from the ulterior of which he cannot gather a single observation to guide or to inform him. While he keeps by the objects which are near, he can get the knowledge of them conveyed to his mind through the ministry of several of the senses. He can feel a substance that is within reach of his hand. He can smell a flower that is presented to him. He can taste the food that is before him. He can hear a sound of a certain pitch and intensity; and so much does this sense of hearing widen his intercourse with external nature, that from the distance of miles, it can bring him in an occasional intimation. "But of all the tracts of conveyance which God has been pleased to open up between the mind of man, and the theatre by which he is surrounded, there is none by which he so multiplies his acquaintance with the rich and the varied creation on every side of him, as by the organ of the eye. It is this which gives to man his loftiest command over the scenery of nature, It is this by which so broad a range of observation is submitted to him. It is this which enables him by the act of a single moment, to send an exploring look over the surface of an ample territory, to crowd his mind with the whole assembly of its objects, and to fill his vision with those countless hues which diversify and adorn it. It is this which carries him abroad, over all that is sublime in the immensity of distance; which sets him, as it were, on an elevated platform, from whence he may cast a surveying glance over the arena of innumerable worlds; which spreads before him so mighty a province of contemplation, that the earth he inhabits only appears to furnish him with the pedestal on which he may stand, and from which he may descry the wonders of that magnificence, which the Divinity has poured so abundantly around him. It is by the narrow outlet of the eye, that the mind of man takes its excursive flight over those golden tracks, where, in all the exhaustlessness of creative wealth, lie scattered the suns and the systems of astronomy." It is not, however, with great and distant objects only, that we are made acquainted by the eye. This organ, aided by the microscope, discloses to our view a world in every atom; it teaches us that the leaves of the forest, the flowers of the garden, the waters of the rivulet, and even the air around us, teem with life. So sings the bard of the Seasons: "Full nature swarms with life; one wondrous mass |