These senses too, again, like the sense of seeing, have their several gratifications, as must be obvious to every one from daily experience; for what human being hath not been made sensible, at times, of the various deliglits excited by the harmony of sounds, by the relish of meats and drinks, by the refreshments and delectations of odour, and by the more exquisite exercise of feeling?
Lastly, these senses have their uses, which uses are both temporal and eternal, both natural and spiritual, as I shall now endeavour to show, beginning with the uses of the ear; and, first, with its natural and temporal uses.
On this subject, however, it is impossible, in the compass of a letter, to enter into particulars, because it would require a volume to note all the natural and temporal benefits which man derives from the sense of hearing.
Yet there is one benefit so pre-eminent and distinguished above the rest, that it must not be passed over in silence; I mean the benefit resulting from conversation and discourse, or that interchange of thought and affection which takes place amongst mankind in the ordinary intercourse and engagements of society. For what an ample store, not only of gratification, but also of useful and edifying instruc-
