THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 2/9 
“ The processes of Nature are based upon 
grand laws of reciprocation and compensation, 
giving and taking as each may require, and 
ever keeping an evenly-balanced scale. * She 
commits no frauds, nor enters into any wars 
for robbery or reprisals; she pays as she goes, 
and meets all drafts on her resources as soon 
as due. All this is true, because ‘ his work is 
perfect’ who made all for his own glory, and 
who hath said, ‘ My glory will I not give to 
another, neither my praise to graven images.’ 
“ Thus far, only the fixed elements of the 
atmosphere have been considered, leaving it 
yet incomplete for its divinely-intended purpose. 
In this state the earth would be surrounded 
by a viewless ocean of gas, through which the 
sun’s rays would pass with unobstructed fervor, 
scorching with intense heat everything upon 
which they fell. Neither plant nor animal 
could exist under such fiery conditions. There 
must be some special provision to soften the 
solar beams as they draw near to the earth’s 
surface, and quench something of their fierce¬ 
ness ; and what finite mind could meet such 
contingencies ? But with God nothing is per¬ 
plexing or impossible. Listen to the sublime 
