2i8 Natural Theology. 



to enter the portals of this great temple and read 

 the thought of its Builder in every separate stone 

 and in its joining to others. Nothing is super- 

 fluous ; and, so far as explored, nothing seems want- 

 ing. Every line, seemingly useless in the separate 

 stones, serves to show their true place in the arch 

 or dome. And not a single tint could be lost with- 

 out marring the grand picture which the pieces all 

 conspire to form. They are like the colored glass 

 of some grand old cathedral window, forming a pic- 

 ture unseen by those who pass on the outer side of 

 the temple, but to those within giving gorgeous 

 t ; nts and celestial groups. 



We spend days and nights in our libraries com- 

 muning with the great of the past ages, and we do 

 well. It gives strength and beauty to the mind to 

 drink in the thoughts of those who towered up as 

 beacon-lights to the world. We make long jour- 

 neys to see the works of the great masters ; but in 

 this temple of nature which opens its portals to us 

 in every land, we are surrounded by works which the 

 great artists have only rudely copied, and in these 

 works we commune with Him who by wisdom hath 

 founded the earth. 



We argue that special provision was made in the 

 world for the intellectual nature, because the mind 

 here finds sources of delight ; it is constantly urged 

 to renewed investigations, it increases in strength 

 by the work, and all the objects in nature are so 

 related and conditioned as to satisfy the mind when 

 the true relations are discovered. 



