“ Studies in Nature lead us to cherish the idea of a God, who created, who regenerates, who preserves this universe by invariable laws, and by a continued chain of similar causes, producing similar effects; who pervades all Nature with His Divine Spirit, as a universal Soul, which moves, directs, and restrains the fabric of this world. The blissful idea of a God sweetens every moment of our time, and embellishes before us the paths of life; invites us delightfully to all the beauties of Nature, and associates us with everything that lives or moves. ”

“ He inspires
Their balmy odours, and imparts their hues,
And bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes
In grains as countless as the sea-side sands,
The forms with which he sprinkles all the earth. ”

“ Yes, the whisper of the gales, the murmur of waters, the peaceful agitation of trees or shrubs, would concur to engage our minds, and affect our souls with tenderness, if our thoughts were elevated to one Universal Cause, if we recognised on all sides the works of Him whom we love, if we marked the traces of His august steps and benignant intentions, if we believed ourselves actually present at the display of his boundless power, and the magnificent exertions of His unlimited goodness.
M. Neker, in Bucke's Harmonies and Sublimities of Nature. ”