Narrative

5. Harry Beaufoy, or, The Pupil of Nature (first published 1821; this is the third edition 1830; 196 pp., 14.5 × 9.2 cm), is largely based on William Paley’s Evidences of Christianity (1794). It is a textbook of natural theology in which a boy’s parents encourage him to reason from creation to a benevolent creator. Divine design is illustrated by reference to diverse natural phenomena, including the circulation of blood in the human anatomy and the workings of the beehive.