Habit only turns our attention from the union of wonders which compose the soul; and it is thus, unfortunately, that admiration, lively light of the mind and feelings, does not afford us any more instruction. We should be very differently affected, if, for the first time, we contemplated the meanest part of this admirable whole! But even then, in a little time, the strong conviction of the existence of a God would be worn away, and become what it is at present. But, let me be permitted, in order to render this truth more striking, to have recourse, for a moment, to fiction. Let us imagine men, as immoveable as plants, but endowed with some one of our senses, enjoying the faculty of reflection, and enabled to communicate their thoughts. I hear these animated trees discourse about the origin of the world, and the first cause of all things; they advance, like us, different hypothesis on the fortuitous movement of atoms, the laws of fate and blind necessity; and among the different arguments, employed by some, to contest the existence of a God, creator of the universe, that which makes the greatest impression is, that it is impossible to conceive how an idea should become a reality; of how the design of disposing the parts should influence the execution, since the will being a simple wish, a thought without force has not any means to metamorphose itself into action: but in vain would these immoveable spectators of the universe wish to change their situation, to raise a shelter against the impetuosity of the winds, or the scorching heat of the sun; yet then it would be evidently absurd to imagine the existence of a faculty essentially contrary to the immutable nature of things. Let however, in the midst of this conversation, a supernatural power appear, and say to them, what would you think then, if this wonder, whose existence you regard as impossible, should be executed before your eyes; and if the faculty of acting, according to your own will, was to be suddenly given you? Seized with astonishment, they would prostrate themselves with fear and respect; and from that instant, without the slightest doubt, would believe they had discovered the secret of the system of the world; and they would adore the infinite power of intelligence, and it is to a like cause we should attribute the disposition of the universe. However, the same phœnomenon which would appear above belief, and out of the limits of possibility, to those who have never been a witness of it, that wonder exists in our world; we see it, we experience it every instant; though the force of habit weakens the impression and eradicates our admiration.