Infinite extent of Nature exemplified-The straw- berry plant and insects that frequent it-Pheno- mena of flowers-Organization of insects-Abuse of the gifts of Nature by man-Tribes of the animal kingdom-The shark-Man, his empire over Na- ture-His origin-The variety of the human spe cies-The contrasts, harmonies, and transitions of Men look upon Nature with indifference-The bless- ings of Nature-The whole world engaged in the Replies to the Objections against Provi- dence founded on the Disorders of the Mountains not formed by the centrifugal power- M346545 Page Observations on the bed of the sea-Currents of STUDY V.-Replies to the Objections against Provi- getable Kingdom Utility of the periodical inundations of certain STUDY VI.-Replies to the Objections against Provi- Fecundity of the northern regions-Large size of 206 226 Page. tion of animals from corruption refuted-Their STUDY VII. Reply to the Objections against Provi- Varieties of the human species-Differences of their 253 Page. are subjected-Advantages of small farms-Ne- MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF M. DE ST. PIERRE. THE difficulty of procuring materials for the biography of living characters, is well known to all those who have ever undertaken such a task. Unless, indeed, such persons have neld high situations in the state, or have raised themselves to distinction by great military achievements, the particulars which we are enabled to glean respecting them are generally confined to a few solitary facts. If this observation is true, with regard to our countrymen and fellow-citizens, how much more strongly does it not apply to the natives of a foreign land? When to this are superadded the obstacles resulting from war, which interrupts nearly all communication, the reader must be sensible how much the difficulty is increased. These observations must plead in excuse for the scantiness of the following details, relative to the life of the author of the present work, the unassuming modesty of whose manners, and the retirement of whose habits, have thrown still farther impediments in the way of such re search. Jacques Bernardin Henri de St. Pierre was a native of Upper Normandy, where he was born at Havre de Grace, in the year 1737. His family must have been respectable, as the commissions he held under the French government |