APPENDIX I. 373 



all his life in the service of God, and, in doing so, serve his own 

 generation in the best possible way. His chief glory, indeed, is 

 that he so combined science with religion, that we cannot detect 

 where the one ends and the other begins, so beautifully are they 

 woven together in his works. It is as a truster in, and a revealer 

 of God, that he stands forth prominently ; not only God as 

 revealed in His Word, but God as declared in His works. To 

 him this God was one God, and he was perfectly persuaded that 

 the written and the unwritten books could not contradict each 

 other. First anchoring himself to God and His Word, he was 

 able safely and profitably to explore the wonderful works of the 

 Creator, without drifting away into unknown wastes, and losing 

 his way altogether. 



" He had learned to distrust his own intellect, and to rely on 

 the intellect of God. As a describer of what men call ' natural 

 objects,' which are really manifestations of God, Mr. Gosse had 

 few equals. His vivid pictures, fitly framed in graceful and 

 sparkling language, captivate the mind at once, while his reverent 

 spirit cannot but make his readers feel that he is describing what 

 he loves as the handiwork of his Father in heaven. 



" Equally happy was his method of expounding the Word of 

 God. His sentences were terse, vigorous, and pointed; his 

 illustrations apt and unstrained ; while his knowledge of the 

 Scriptures, both of the Old and New Covenants, was aston- 

 ishing. 



" To say that he never erred in his interpretations of the Word 

 would be to say that he was not human. His impulsive, eager 

 spirit, combined with the warmth of his imagination, sometimes 

 led him, perhaps, into an untenable position, and carried him 

 beyond what is written. 



" It is not possible to over-estimate the value of the testimony 

 which he has left behind him. Gifted with an extraordinary 

 intellect, admired as an author, looked up to as an authority on 

 all subjects connected with natural science, having admirable 

 conversational powers, Mr. Gosse might, if he had so chosen, 

 have occupied a very high and distinguished position in worldly 

 society. But he did not so choose. ' Esteeming the reproach of 

 Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,' he preferred to 

 bury himself in a little country village, and quietly and unobtru- 



