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But, sir, lest this discourse may seem tedious, I shall give it
a sweet conclusion out of that holy poet, Mr. George Herbert, his
divine "Contemplation on God's Providence:"
Lord! who hath praise enough, nay who hath any?
None can express thy works, but he that knows them;
And none can know thy works, they are so many,
And so complete, but only he that owes them.
We all, acknowledge both thy power and love
To be exact, transcendant, and divine---
Who dost so strangely and so sweetly move,
Whilst all things have their end,---yet none, but thine.
Wherefore, most sacred Spirit! I here present,
For me and all my fellows, praise to thee;
And just it is, that I should pay the rent,
Because the benefit accrues to me.
And as concerning fish: In that psalm (Psal. civ.) wherein for
height of poetry and wonders, the prophet David seems even to
exceed himself: how doth he there express himself in choice metaphors---even
to the amazement of a contemplative reader---concerning the sea,
the rivers, and the fish therein contained! And the great naturalist,
Pliny, says, "That nature's great and wonderful power is
more demonstrated in the sea than on the land." And this
may appear, by the numerous and various creatures inhabiting,
both in and about, that element; as to the readers of Gessner,
Rondeletius, Pliny, Ausonius, Aristotle, and others, may be demonstrated.
But I will sweeten this discourse also out of a contemplation
in divine Du Bartas, who says:---
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