72 ME. J. HASSELL 



welfare of man, whom He intended to place oa the earth, 

 arranged this exception ; and thus it is that in every piece of 

 ice that is formed we can recognise the stamp of intelHgence 

 — the footpi-int of a personal God. 



Third Proposition. — God can he recognised in the marvels of 

 OTijanisation. If it is possible to recognise Grod by His foot- 

 prints on inorganic matter, it is even more easy to see those 

 footprints in the world of organisation, both animate and 

 inanimate. One example must suffice. It shall be taken from 

 among the lowest forms of animal life, — one of the Protozoa, 

 a sponge, — and the particular point shall be the means pro- 

 vided for the oxygenation of the circulatory fluids, and for 

 obtaining food. This lowly creature, like all animals, must 

 be nourished by food. It is, however, except as a germ, 

 fixed duriug the whole of its life, and so is unable to go in 

 search of its prey. What, then, must be done? The food 

 must be brought to it. How is this accomplished ? Thus : 

 Its internal sti-ucture consists of a number of canals and 

 cavities. The cavities are furnished with numerous delicate 

 cilia, and these ciliated cavities are in connexion with an 

 incurrent and excurrent system of canals. The former are 

 connected with numerous pores, which are periodically opened 

 and closed in the dermal membrane : the latter are in direct 

 connexion with the oscula, as the permanent open channels 

 are called. When, therefore, the pores are opened, and the 

 cilia which line the cavities are moved rapidly, the water in 

 them is set in motion, and passes out by the oscula, more 

 water, of course, passing in to take the place of that which 

 flows out, and thus a constant current is produced. The 

 water, as it passes through the structure, brings with it both 

 the oxygen and the food which are necessary for the support 

 of the creature. 



Thus, then, whenever we look at such a lowly creature as 

 the common sponge, we can, if we are so minded, see the 

 evidences of both power and wisdom ; and as these are the 

 attributes of personality, we can in them see or recognise 

 God: and if we can recognise Him, we must know Him. And 

 so we are bold enough to say that when Mr. Herbert Spencer 

 asserts that God is "Unknowable,'' he is asserting what is not 

 true. We know that evei'y where we are surrounded with the 

 evidence of God's existence in the marks of intelligence 

 which are stamped on matter. We can recognise His foot- 

 steps impressed, as it were, on the laws which govern matter, 

 and also on the wonders of organisation. And, if we thus re- 

 cognise His presence in His works, we can know Him — thatis. 



