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nothing else than the law that he must get his bread by the 
sweat of his brow ; but the point brought out prominently by 
these reflections is that the adjustment of forces producing 
success is not absolutely in man J s power, so that he may be 
unsuccessful in the end. But then comes the thought that 
nature and revelation alike testify to the power of God to work 
out designs irrespective of the chance contingencies by which 
they are done. Faith comes in to supply the evidence where 
reason and intelligence fail ; and the true Christian, while not 
slothful in business, patiently waits upon the Lord, and firmly 
believes, though he may fail to see it, “ that all things work 
together for the good of those who love the Lord their God.” 
Instead, therefore, of weakening our belief in Providence 
and the efficacy of prayer, it appears to me only to call upon 
a further exercise of our faith, while we remember that “ all 
things are possible with God.-” I believe, most assuredly, that 
prayer will be answered relatively, indirectly, and not abso- 
lutely, if the conditions furnished by ourselves be satisfactory, 
i. e.j if we perform as best we can our part of the duties in- 
volved in it, — that “ if we draw nigh to God He will draw nigh 
to us ; ” and although we must not expect a miracle, nor even 
any immediate or direct answer, yet we may expect the reply 
to accrue through natural laws. 
It is supposed by some that, as man adjusts nature's forces 
for special purposes, so God will combine and adjust His laws 
where we cannot, and bring about results, perhaps not as we 
should anticipate or even wish, but in accordance with perfect 
justice. But, without denying the possibility of the Deity 
acting thus or in any other way, I think it better not to 
attempt to explain how it is done, but believe He can and will 
do for us whatever He may see fit ; and the illustrations I 
have drawn from nature and revelation would alike seem to 
warrant such faith. 
Hence does it appear that there are no grounds for ques- 
tioning the use of prayer, private or public or national, much 
less to exalt human contrivance as superior to and superseding 
it. But who can say that the very means adopted by man to 
exterminate an epidemic were not suggested by Providence 
through natural laws governing the human mind, or that its 
removal may not have been a designed issue evolved through 
a train of fortuitous circumstances ? It is surely consonant 
with other facts of nature, and with revealed religion, to think 
so; and though here, as in accounting for the origin of 
specific organs, the results may have been acquired through 
natural laws, it does not at all impugn the statement that 
“ overy good gift cometh down from the Father of lights,” 
