30-1 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



of the naked and painted savage ; there, where the well- 

 drained land now whitens yearly with a varied harvest — 

 where the flying express and the electric wire obey the be- 

 hests of a grave and thoughtful people — where through the 

 summer and autumn time is heard the song of the reaper — 

 and where innumerable church-bells proclaim the preaching 

 of the Gospel of Peace. Alas ! around each church tower 

 still rises a sad under-song of misery and sin, and borne on 

 the wind comes from the distant ocean the boom of giant 

 instruments of death. Yet, looking back into the past, he 

 can also discern, as in a glass darkly, the future. He can 

 hopefully look forward to that glorious time when, as the 

 old Saurian reign has ceased, so the reptile reign of Sin 

 shall cease, and a renewed race, clothed in the majesty of 

 an innocent manhood, shall lift up their eyes radiant with 

 the indwelling Spirit of the Almighty, and look into the 

 deepest mysteries of God. 



Millions of millions of years ! ! ! 



Sad voices cry, " Oh, watchman ! what of the night I" 

 " Watchman ! will the night of sin never be passed V But 

 already, those standing on the mountain tops are stretching 

 their hands towards the east. Already, the first glad beams 

 of the World's great day are glancing on their longing eyes. 

 Already, to those waiting in the chill hour before the dawn, 

 is creeping the murmur of innumerable voices, as of distant 

 seas awakening neath the sun, heralding the slow advance 

 of those beneficent powers which shall make a bloodless 

 conquest of the world, until all its kingdoms shall become 

 the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. 



The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small : 

 With patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all. 



Such are the teachings of Nature : — such the hopes it in- 

 spires. In the highest and the lowest,— in the grandest 

 and the meanest, — the perfect working of a perfect God, — 

 ever putting forth through the slowly lapsing ages still 

 nobler manifestations of His Wisdom and His Power. For 

 the present— rest ; for the future— unbounded confidence 

 and hope.* 



* While these lines are being corrected for the press, Edinburgh is shaken 



