nay, even later, we may trace the beauties of the declining year, and Catch the last smile Of autumn beaming o'er the yellow woods. Even when the beauty of the landscape is gone, the charms of autumn may remain. After the rage of summer is abated, and before the rigours of winter are yet set in, there are often days of such heavenly temperature, that every mind must feel their effect. Thomson, to whom the beauties of nature were familiar, thus describes a day of this kind: The morning shines, Serene in all its dewy beauties bright, Unfolding fair the last autumnal day. O'er all the soul its sacred influence breathes, Infuses every tenderness, and far Beyond dim earth exalts the swelling thought. To the picturesque beauties of autumn we may add, that the setting sun, at that season, is commonly richer than when the days are of the same length in the spring, or, indeed, at any other season." No. LXII. ON THE CHAIN OF BEINGS IN THE Look round our world; behold the chain of love But how preserved The chain unbroken upward, to the realms POPE. YOUNG. ALL the beings in this world, whether animal or vegetable, have a mutual connexion and dependence. There is a graduated scale or chain of existence, not a link of which, how insignificant soever, could be broken, without affecting the whole. Unthinking men are apt to wonder, for instance, at the design of Providence in producing certain insects and reptiles. They do not consider, that the annihilation of any one species of these creatures, although some of them are even noxious to man, would make a blank in the creation, and prove destructive to other crea tures that feed upon them. The destruction of these, in their turn, would occasion the destruction of other species; and the system of devastation would gradually proceed, till man himself were extirpated, and the earth left destitute of animation. He, who through vast immensity can pierce, Gradations just, has thy pervading soul POPE. Man is certainly the chief link in the chain of animals; and all the other links descend from him by almost imperceptible gradations. As a rational animal, highly improved by science and the arts; and, more particularly, from the capacity of religious knowledge, which, of all the creatures of this world, he alone possesses; he is, in some measure, related to Beings of a superior order, wherever they exist. By contemplating the works of creation, he rises to some faint idea of its great. Author.-But why, it has been asked, do not men possess the capacity and powers of angels? With the same propriety, it may be asked, why have not brutes the intellectual faculties of men? Questions of this kind proceed from the petulance of ignorance and presumption. Every creature is perfect, according to its destination. Exalt or depress any order of beings, the whole system, of course, would be deranged, and a new world would be necessary to contain and support them. Particular orders of beings should not be considered separately, but by the rank they hold in the general system. From man to the most minute animalcule that can be discovered by the microscope, the chasm seems to be infinite: but that chasm is actually filled up with sentient beings, of which the lines of discrimination are almost imperceptible; and all of them are endued with certain degrees of perfection proportioned to their respective stations in the universe. See, through this air, this ocean, and this earth, Beast, bird, fish, insect, what no eye can see, POPE. Even among mankind, which is a particular species, the scale of intellect is very extensive; the degrees of intelligence extremely varied. What a difference, for instance, between the enlightened philosopher of Europe, and the brutal savage of New Holland! Still, however, Nature observes, for the wisest purposes, an uniform plan of gradation. Were all men philosophers, the business of life could not be executed, and neither society, nor even the species, could long exist. Industry, various degrees of knowledge, different dispositions, and different talents, are great bonds of society. Nature, indeed, has formed the human species, as it were, into casts or ranks. To some she gives superior genius and mental abilities; and, even of these, the views, the pursuits, and the tastes, are wonderfully diversified, Not alike to every mortal eye Is this great scene unveiled: For while the claims The active powers of man, with wisest care This picture of the world. Through every part AKENSIDE. In the talents and qualities of quadrupeds of the same species, there are often remarkable differences. These differences are conspicuous in the various races of horses, dogs, &c. Even among the same races, some are bold, sprightly, and sagacious: others are comparatively timid, phlegmatic, and dull. Our knowledge of the chain of intellectual and corporeal beings is very imperfect; but what we do know affords the most exalted ideas of the variety and progression which reign in the universe. An impenetrable cloud prevents our discerning the most beautiful and magnificent parts of this immense chain of beings. I shall endeavour, however, to point out a few of its more obvious links, which fall under our limited observation. Man, even by his external qualities, stands at the head of this world. His relations are more extensive than those of any other animal: his form is more advantageous. His intellectual powers, when improved by society, science, and religion, exalt him so high, that, if no degrees of excellence existed among his own species, he would leave a great void in the chain of beings. Were we to consider the characters, the manners, and the genius of different nations, of different provinces and towns, and even of the members of the same family, we should imagine that the species of men were as various as the numbers of individuals. What gradations, as I have already observed, may be traced between the stupid savage |