r Unchanged. 183 



duct ion of distinct objects is no matter of cha\.ce ; 

 that the objects around us are not mere accidents, 

 here of one composition, and there of another. 

 Limestone is the same the world over, containing 

 so much metal, sy> much oxygen, and so much car- 

 bon. Give the chemist the weight of the stone, and 

 if it be pure, he will tell you how much of each ele- 

 ment is present, as well before he analyzes it as 

 afterwards. Matter remains unchanged in its kind, 

 and its laws remain the same; so that every gem, 

 when it is crushed, or melted, or dissolved, has only 

 changed its form. Neither the elements that com- 

 r the forces that arranged the {.articles, 

 have changed* All that is wanted are the proper 

 conditions, and the gem will reappear. Decay and 

 fire may destroy the form of the animal, tree, and 

 tender plant ; but fn-m every one goes forth the ma- 

 terial and ti. under the control of the 

 vital principle, shall produce the same kind of organ- 

 ic structure, or its equal, in quantity of matter and 

 chemical force. 



So in the ceaseless changes on our planet, in the 

 nd succession of life and death, that, like suc- 

 cessive waxes, sweeps over it ; nothing is lost, no- 

 thing ever has been lost, and nothing gained. 



Nothing of chance has been found, or can be 

 found. The elements are the alphabet of the mate- 

 rial world, and chemical affinity and vitality the 

 it, unwearied compositors, that set in type the 

 thoughts of God, which He would reveal in the ma- 

 terial universe. And we have in the constitution 



