THE MINISTRY OF NATURE. 255 



of life, is purified, and conveys by means of its 

 corpuscles the necessary oxygen to every part of 

 our frame, while the carbonic acid is carried back 

 to the lungs and exhaled ; and, above all, the 

 exquisite organisation of the nerves and brain, 

 connecting in some secret, subtle manner, which 

 has eluded all man's efforts to discover it, the 

 sentient, thinking soul with the external world, 

 how much more expressive and intelligent does 

 the old cry become : " 1 will praise Thee ; for I am 

 fearfully and wonderfully made." 



Once more, we may point to recent meteorology 

 as helping the devout soul to enter into sympathy 

 with the ecstatic outburst of the Psalmist : " Thy 

 mercy, Lord, is in the heavens ; and Thy faith- 

 fulness reacheth unto the cloudsi! " There also, 

 where all seems confusion, law prevails ; there, 

 where lurid storms breed, mercy reigns. The 

 mildest colours and the most beautiful hues meet 

 the eye as we look into the slumbering purple of 

 heaven's vault ; the sun's fierce heat and dazzling 

 brilliance are tempered by soft, fleecy clouds which 

 float with fairy form before his face ; the most 

 marvellous arrangements are continually being 

 discovered for the distribution of the fertilising 

 dew and refreshing rain over the thirsty earth, as 

 well as for the removal from the atmosphere of 

 those poisonous gases and fluids which would prove 

 destructive to living things. 



Thus does science carry on its divine ministry 

 in man's behalf. In a myriad ways it illumines 

 and emphasises the testimony of the written Word 



