70 MR. J. HASSELL 



been no variation either in the length of days or in the cha- 

 racter of the seasons. Eternal cold in the arctic circles would 

 have caused eternal death in those regions, and the full blaze 

 o£ summer heat would have beat on the torrid zones. But, in 

 consequence of the present arrangement, every part of the 

 earth is in its turn cheered by the sun, and the total sum of 

 daylight and darkness is the same in all parts of the globe. 

 As a consequence of this, countries which would otherwise 

 have been unproductive are now rendered fertile. Whence, 

 we ask, this benevolent arrangement ? If by the unconscious 

 action of unthinking molecules of matter, or by the means of 

 molecular motion, surely the result is very surprising, sur- 

 passing thought, — in a word, " unthinkable." But, given an 

 intelligent Creator, who was working for the good of His 

 creatures, then the present arrangement is perfectly intelligible. 

 And thus as the earth moves on its course it silently, but un- 

 mistakably, proclaims the power and wisdom of God, and so 

 we may well say in the words of the Psalmist, — 



" The heavens declare the glory of God ; 

 And the firmament showeth his handiwork. 

 Day unto day uttereth speech, 

 And night unto night showeth knowledge." 



Or, with the Christian poet, — 



" The spacious firmament on high, 

 With all the blue ethereal sky, 

 The spangled heavens, a shining frame, 

 Their great original proclaim. 

 The unwearied sun from day to day 

 Does his Creator's power display, 

 And publishes to every land 

 The work of an Almighty hand." 



2. — In tlie general arrangement of the motmtain syniemft of 

 our glohe we see the evidence of God's benevolent work for the 

 good of His creatures. The students of physical geography 

 know that the elevation of the land is, generally speaking, 

 from the Poles towards the Equator, the culminating point 

 being in the neighbourhood of the tropic of Cancer on the 

 the one side and of Capricorn on the other side. One of the 

 effects of this general arrangement is to temper the burning 

 heats of the tropical regions and give them a variety of 

 climate. 



If this order were reversed and the elevation of the land 

 went on increasing toward the Arctic and Antarctic circles, 

 that which is the most civilised half of the world at the present 

 day would be a irozen and an uninhabitable desert. And 



