PREFACE. 27 



for all things serve Thee." And again, " Thou hast 

 made them fast for ever and ever. Thou hast given 

 them a law which cannot be broken." 



So does the Bible (not to quote over again the 

 passages which I have already given you from St. 

 Paul, and One greater than St. Paul) declare the per- 

 manence of natural laws, and the trustworthiness of 

 natural phenomena as obedient to God. And so does 

 the Church of England. For she has incorporated 

 into her services that magnificent hymn, which our 

 forefathers called the Song of the Three Children; 

 which is, as it were, the very flower and crown of the 

 Old Testament ; the summing up of all that is true 

 and eternal in the old Jewish faith ; as true for us as 

 for them : as true millions of years hence as it is now 

 which cries to all heaven and earth, from the skies 

 above our heads to the green herb beneath our feet, 

 " all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; praise 

 Him and magnify Him for ever." On that one hymn 

 I take my stand. That is my charter as a student of 

 Natural Science. As long as that is sang in an 

 English church, I have a right to investigate Nature 

 boldly without stint or stay, and to call on all who 

 have the will, to investigate her boldly likewise, and 

 with Socrates of old, to follow the Logos whitherso- 

 ever it leads. 



The Logos. I must pause on that word. It meant 

 at first, no doubt, simply speech, argument, reason. 

 In the mind of Socrates it had a deeper meaning, at 

 which he only dimly guessed ; which was seen more 

 clearly by Philo and the Alexandrian Jews ; which 

 was revealed in all its fulness to the beloved Apostle 

 St. John, till he gathered speech to tell men of a 



