amiable and zealous Christian, who exerted himself to communicate to
others his own convictions.

From the general study of the globe, let us pass to that of the
organized beings which people its surface. Does botany teach the human
mind to dispense with God? Let us listen to Linnæus. I open the _System
of Nature_,[105] and on the reverse of the title-page I read: "O Lord,
how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth
is full of Thy riches."[106] I turn over a few leaves, and I meet with a
table which comprises, under the title, _Empire of Nature_, the general
classification of beings. The commencement is as follows: "Eternal God,
all-wise and almighty! I have seen Him as it were pass before me, and I
remained confounded. I have discovered some traces of His footsteps in
the works of the creation; and in those works, even in the least, even
in those which seem most insignificant, what might! what wisdom! what
inexplicable perfection!--If thou call Him _Destiny_, thou art not
mistaken, it is He upon whom all depends. If thou call Him _Nature_,
thou art not mistaken, it is He from whom all takes its origin. If thou
call Him _Providence_, thou speakest truly; it is by His counsel that
the universe subsists." Another great naturalist, George Cuvier, takes
care to point out that "Linnæus used to seize with marked pleasure the
numerous occasions which natural history offered him of making known the
wisdom of Providence."[107] Thus modern botany was founded in a spirit
of piety. Has it, at a later period, made any discoveries calculated to
efface from the life of vegetables the marks of Divine intelligence?
Allow me to introduce here a personal _souvenir_. I received lessons in
my youth from an old man, who, having once been the teacher of De
Candolle, remained his friend.[108] By a rather strange academical
arrangement, M. Vaucher found himself set to teach us--not botany, for
which he possessed both taste and genius,[109] but a science of which he