The Hidden Mysteries Of Nature And Science.—Part Ii.

Here then a lesson of humility is taught us , and we learn that man is not the sole recipient of his bounty , the sole object of his care , or the only living evidence of his consummate handiwork . Nor is this lesson to he deduced only from the tribes of animated beings in the present day ; the relics of ages long since past

declare to us in their altered but imperishable bodies , the same great truth . In whatever way , indeed , the varied objects of this beautiful world are viewed , they can be readily understood by the contemplative mind , for they are found alike to be the visible words of

God . " David , says Kingsley ( Vill . Sevim . ) looked on the earth as God ' s earth ; we look upon it as man ' s earth or nobody ' s earth . We know that we are'here , with trees , and grass , and beasts , and birds around us , and we know that we did not put them here ; and that after we are dead and gone , they will go on just as they went on before we were borneach tree and

, flower and animal after its kind , but we know nothing more . The earth is here , aud we are on it ; but who put it there and why we are on it few ever think . But to David the earth looked very different ; it had quite another meaning ; it spoke to him of God , who made it . By seeing what this earth is likehe

, saw what God who made it is like , and we see no such thing . But David knew something more , something which made him feel that he belonged to this world , and must not forget it or neglect it , that this earth was his lesson book—this earth was his work field ; and yet those same thoughts , which showed him

how he was made for the land around him , and the land around him was made for him , showed him also that he belonged to another world—a spirit world ; showed him that when this world passed away he should live for ever ; showed him that , while he had a mortal body , he had an immortal soul too ; showed him that though his home and business were here on earth , yet that , for that very reason , his home and business ' were in heaven with God , who made the earth ; with that blessed

One of whom he said , ' Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth , and the heavens are the work of Thy hands . They shall perish , but Thou shalt endure ; they all shall fade as a garment , and like a vesture shalt thou change them , and they shall be changed ; but Thou art the same , and Thy years shall not fail . The children of Thy servants shall

continue , and their seed shall stand fast in Th y sight . As a garment shalt thou change them . ' Ay , there was David ' s secret . He saw that the earth and skies are G-od ' s garment—the garment by which we see God ; andjthat is what our forefathers saw too , and just what we have forgotten ; but David had not forgotten it .

Loving and merciful the God of nature is the God of grace . The same love which chose us and our forefathers , while we were yet dead in trespasses and sins ; that same love , that same power , that same word of God , who made heaven and earth , looks after the poor gnats in the winter time , that they may have a chance

of coming out of the ground when the clay stirs the little life in them , and dance in the sunbeam for a short hour of gay life , before they return to the dust from whence they were made , to feed creatures nobler and more precious than themselves . They Avait on Himsays David . The beastsand birdsand insects

, , , , and strange fish , and shells , and the nameless corals , too , in the deep , deep , sea . It is when he opens his ' hand they are filled with good . It is when he takes away their breath they die and turn again to their

dust , and out of that dust grow plants and herbs afresh for man and beast , and he renews the face of the earth . " Eor , " says the wise man , " all things are God ' s garments "—outward and visible signs of his uuseen and unapproachable glory , and when they are worn out he changes them as a garment , and they shall be changed .

" The old order changes giving place to the new , Ancl God fulfils himself in many ways . " - But he is the same . He is there in all time . All things are his work . ' In all things we may see him , if our souls have eyes . All things , be they what they maywhich live and grow on this earthor happen on

, , land , or in the sky , will tell us a tale of God , either his foresight or his wisdom , or his order , or his power , or his love , or his condescension , or his long suffering , or his slow sure vengeance on those who break his laws . It is all written in the great green book which God has given to man . The man who is no

scholar in letters may read of God as he follows the plough , for the earth he ploughs is his Father ' s ; there is God's mark and seal on it—his name , which , though it is written in the dust , yet neither man nor fiend can wipe out , for the universe is the temple of the Deity , whom we serve . " Great is our Lord and great is His power : yea , and His wisdom is infinite . Who covereth the Heaven with clouds , and prepareth rain for the earth , and maketh the grass

to grow upon the mountains , and herb for the use of men . " ( Ps . cxlvii . 5-8 . ) All things were created for the honour and glory of God . Nothing is too great , nothing too small , for the power and mercy of God . By him the stars were created , and he keeps them in their place , " Thou hast created all things , and for th y pleasure they are and were created "

( Rev . iv . 11 ) ; that is for God ' s pleasure and man ' s use and instruction they now exist , and for his pleasure they first were made . But here methinks I hear a voice exclaim , "We will grant all that you , 0 scriptor —all that Mr . Kingsley , from whom you have so copiously quoted , allege ; we will grant that every

true student of Nature learns ' to look from Nature up to Nature ' s God ; ' we will grant that there is an intimate connection between natural and revealed reli gion ; that the Almighty has given to us the volume of the Sacred Law aud the Book of Nature , whereby we may rule and direct our lives . But what has all this to do with science ? what is the connection between Nature and science ?"

Eirst , then , what is the meaning of art or science ? "Art , " derived from the Greek word , apirrj , means anything acquired by learning , science , skill , dexterity . " Science , " from the Latin seio , to know , means knowledge not attained b y precepts . The seven liberal arts are grammar , rhetoric , logic , arithmetic , music ,

geometry , and astronomy . When Adam , by transgression , fell , and was expelled from Paradise , one of the first things was to provide a shelter for himself and Eve from the inclemency of the seasons . Here they took a lesson from the birds and beasts , which made themselves

nests and lairs in the woods , and caves in the rocks . The first habitations , then , of men were such as Nature afforded , with but little labour on the part of the occupant , yet sufficient to supply his simple requirements . R . B . W . ( To le continued . ' )