346 THE BEASON WHY. 



1 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter ; Fear God, and keep his 

 commandments : for this is the whole duty of man." ECCLESIASTES xii. 



from loss of blood suffers under intolerable thirst. In both thirst and liuncer, 

 the supply is obtained through the gratification of an appetite; and as to the:-e 

 appetites, it will be acknowledged that the pleasures resulting from thi-in far 

 *xeved the pains. They gently solicit for the wants of the body ; they are tho 

 perpetual motive and spring to action." 



Our task draws near to a conclusion ; and we hope that those 

 who have followed our teachings will thirst after further know- 

 ledge ; that they will henceforward regard the great Book of 

 Nature as the work of an Almighty Hand, and endeavour to find, 

 for everything that Nature does, the Reason Why. 



A high perception of the wisdom of the Divine Being, must 

 necessarily be the result of an intelligent contemplation of the 

 Divine works. To the ignorant, the name of God is an unmeaning 

 word ; it may inspire fear, but it does not develope love. To the 

 dark mind of the untaught man, God is no more than one of those 

 mysterious existences that awe the superstitious, and deter the 

 wicked. There is no grafting of the soul of the man upon the 

 eternal love. But knowledge brings man into communion with that 

 Almighty wisdom which is the fountain of all truth and happiness. 

 To the enlightened man, God is the sun of all goodness, around 

 whom the attributes of Power, Wisdom, and Love, radiate and fill 

 the universe. As man's physical eye cannot withstand the light of 

 the sun, neither can man's spiritual eye see the whole glory of God. 

 But as we can rejoice in the sunshine, and interpret the mission of 

 the sunbeam, so can we find happiness in the Divine presence, and 

 gather wisdom by the contemplation of the Creator's works. 



Nature is a great teacher. What a lesson may be gathered from 

 the germination of a seed ; how uniformly the germs obey their 

 destiny. However carelessly a seed may be set in the ground, the 

 germ which forms the root, and that which is the architect of the 

 stem, will seek their way the one to light, the other to darkness 

 to fulfil their duty. The obstruction of granite rocks, cannot force 

 the rootlet upward, nor drive the leaflet down. They may kill the 

 germs by exhausting their vital powers in an endeavour to find the 

 proper elements ; but no obstruction can make a single blade of 

 grass do aught but strive to fulfil the end for which it was created. 

 Would that man were equally true to the purpose of his existence, 

 and suffered neither the rocks of selfishness, nor the false light of 

 temptation, to force or allure him from duty to his God. 

 THE E\D. 



