12 WALKS AND TALKS. 



admired the forms fashioned in beauty by the hands of the 

 geological forces before we knew that it had a geological 

 origin, or possessed any geological significance, or had passed 

 through long ages of preparation. We have been like chil- 

 dren born in the parental dwelling, reared in the midst of its 

 comforts and adornments, without once thinking that, before 

 we were born, some mind planned the dwelling, some hands 

 reared its walls, laid its floors, and fashioned every doorway 

 and casing. Now, this terrestrial dwelling, with all its beau- 

 ties and conveniences, its wonders and sublimities, is something 

 to set us thinking; just as we reflected, when the thought first 

 came into our minds, that father's house has had a history, 

 and was the product of study and labor, which we had never be- 

 fore considered. The green slope was made ; the pretty lake was 

 scooped out ; the swelling hill was shaped ; the dark mountain 

 was upbuilt, its foundations were laid, its vast weight has 

 been sustained and is to-day sustained by some support, with 

 strength proportioned to the requirement. It is time for us to 

 come to a realization of these facts. 



We may begin in this very spot to inquire how this ter- 

 restrial home was fashioned. It was made without hands, but 

 not without the use of the same forces of nature and proper- 

 ties of matter as were employed in the building of our paternal 

 dwelling. Its plan was not drafted on paper and carried out 

 under the direction of a builder, who issued his orders in 

 audible tones ; but our terrestrial abode is built under a plan 

 just as real and just as intelligible, and is just as truly a fit 

 subject for study. There is this difference, that we may ar- 

 rive at a complete understanding of the plan, and purposes, 

 and modes of construction of the paternal home ; but of the 

 terrestrial home we can only arrive at an incomplete under- 

 standing. As far as we proceed, the methods of understand- 

 ing and interpreting are the same ; but the whole plan, in its 

 depth, and breadth, and complications surpasses our powers, 

 and we must, like young children, content ourselves with a 

 comprehension of some of the most obvious things sure that 

 if our powers were loftier, we might proceed in the same way 



