"
"I have often tried in vain," replied William; "yet some animals are so
much alike, that I cannot perceive any difference between them - sheep,
for instance."
"Very true; you cannot tell the difference, because you have not
examined them; but a shepherd, if he has seven hundred sheep under his
care, will know every one of them from the others; which proves that
there must be a great difference between them, although not perceptible
to the casual observer; and the same, no doubt, is the case with all
other classes of animals."
"Yes, William," observed Ready; "I have often wondered over the things
that I have seen, and I have even in my ignorance felt what your papa
has now told you; and it has brought into my mind the words of Job:
`When I consider, I am afraid of him'."
"Papa," said William, after a pause in the conversation, "you have
referred to the variety - the wonderful variety - shown in the works of
the Deity. Tell me some other prominent feature in creation."
"One of the most remarkable, William, is order."
"Point out to me, papa, where and in what that quality is most
observable."
"Everywhere and in everything, my dear boy; whether we cast our eyes up
to the heavens above us, or penetrate into the bowels of the earth, the
principle of order is everywhere - everything is governed by fixed
laws, which cannot be disobeyed: we have order in the seasons, in the
tides, in the movement of the heavenly bodies, in the instinct of
animals, in the duration of life assigned to each; from the elephant
who lives more than a century, to the ephemeral fly, whose whole
existence is limited to an hour.
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