SCIENCE AND MAN. 373 



Knowest thou what wove yon woodbird's nest 



Of leaves and feathers from her breast, 



Or how the fish outbuilt its shell, 



Painting with morn each annual cell ? 



Such and so grew these holy piles 



While love and terror laid the tiles ; 



Earth proudly wears the Parthenon 



As the best gem upon her zone ; 



And Morning opes with haste her lids 



To gaze upon the Pyramids ; 



O'er England's abbeys bends the sky 



As on its friends with kindred eye ; 



For out of Thought's interior sphere 



These wonders rose to upper air, 



And nature gladly gave them place, 



Adopted them into her race, 



And granted them an equal date 



With Andes and with Ararat. 



Surely, many utterances which have been accepted as 

 descriptions ought to be interpreted as aspirations, or 

 as having their roots in aspiration instead of in objec- 

 tive knowledge. Does the song of the herald angels, 

 ' Glory to Grod in the highest, and on earth peace, 

 goodwill toward men,' express the exaltation and the 

 yearning of a human soul? or does it describe an 

 optical and acoustical fact a visible host and an audi- 

 ble song ? If the former, the exaltation and the yearn- 

 ing are man's imperishable possession a ferment long 

 confined to individuals, but which may by-and-by be- 

 come the leaven of the race. If the latter, then belief 

 in the entire transaction is wrecked by non-fulfilment. 

 Look to the East at the present moment as a comment 

 on the promise of peace on earth and goodwill toward 

 men. That promise is a dream ruined by the experi- 

 ence of eighteen centuries, and in that ruin is in- 

 volved the claim of the ' heavenly host ' to prophetic 

 vision. But though the mechanical theory proves un- 

 tenable, the immortal song and the feelings it expresses 



