34 Natural Theology. 



defined ; the last two grow legitimately from the 

 discussion of the others, and are needed to com* 

 plete the scheme by which it is attempted to show 

 that natural and revealed religion are parts of the 

 same system of truth, and that nature and the 

 Bible supplement each other in making the great 

 provision for the religious nature of man. 



We have here no array of subjects for brilliant 

 declamation, but those great questions that ever 

 have moved the soul of man to its profounclest 

 depths, and ever will move it, as the silent moon 

 lifts the tidal waves from the depths of the ocean, 

 and ever shall lift them in eternal succession, while 

 the earth revolves upon its axis. In a field so vast, 

 we can only make a few excursions at random ; but 

 if in every exploration we find evidence of the same 

 handiwork, we may well believe that the Great 

 Master has left no place without evidence of His 

 being. It need not deter us from the examination 

 of so broad a field, that the cry is raised that 

 sciences are so vast in their requirements that only 

 a few men can speak on each with authority. This 

 is true in regard to some questions connected with 

 every science. Only a few stand upon the dividing 

 line between the known and the unknown, peering out 

 into the dark ocean for new discoveries. But when 

 truths are discovered, they soon become the proper- 

 ty of every educated mind. And every department 

 of nature, so far as it is really needed for our pur- 

 pose, is open to every man of ordinary scientific 

 attainment. And we call upon those who can look 



