'tative Life. 67 



with pleasure. What other knowledge could we 

 desire to have of the world of matter whick the 

 scnsc-s do not give ? What other is needed for our life 

 or our enjoyment ? We stand in bodies protected by 

 the senses, like armies with picket-guards, through 

 which nothing can enter without giving the counter- 

 sign ; an-1 these guards telegraph to us all know- 



e of the outer world. 



We have seen some wonderful instruments that 

 indicate the presence of electricity, or change of tem- 

 perature. But how all human contrivances sink into 

 insignificance when compared with the perceptive 

 powers of our bodies, through the combined action 

 of the We recognise the body as but an 



instrument, but its relations to the world through 

 the senses is a marvel. It is a tenement worthy to 

 be the habitation of the being made in the image 

 of God. In its relations to the world, there is a 

 wisdom and skill manifested worthy of a God. We 

 look up to the stars, take in the glories of the land- 

 scape, and drink in delicious music, without once 

 considering the thousand strings that have been 

 adjusted by the Master's hand that there may be 

 this divine* harmony of adaptation for the whole 

 from age to age. 



The senses are connected with a nervous system, 

 or, where no nerves can be detected, with a nervous 

 power. Sensation is distinctive of animal life, and 

 is the foundation of all the functions of relation. 

 But there is in man a vegetative life, by which the 

 body is built up and preserved. The functions of 



