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1 2 3

THl

LAW AND THE LOVE OF UNITY,

EXHIBITED U CREATION.

A LECTURE

I) E L I V E n E 1) BEFORE THE

Qalifiu ijoung ilTcu (Jljristiau ^ssotmtioit,

FEBRUARY 6Tir, 1858,

■* ■

ROBERT ]MILLER, Esq.

OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER AT LAW.

I-

Cjallfiu, Jr. 0. :

PRIXTED BY JAMES BARNIS, 179 IIOLLIS STREET.

185^

LEG! UK E.

The subject of to-night's lecture is the law and the love
of unity. Unity I shall endeavour to exhibit as pervading all
nature, as the law of creation. I shall show, that from siniple,
almost insipid, sameness nature advances into and evolves in-
finite variety and diversity, yet never loses her unity. Nay,
that she produces by her very increase of variety, by'her very
diversity, only more remarkable, more pre-eminent unity.
And, though I may not put the question, I hoi)e you shall ask
yourselves, — Can t? e God of creation who loves novelty, but
gathers it into unity ; who delights in varying his works, but
only to bind them up together in the bonds of a most rhythmi-
cal harmony ; can he be other tlian a lover of unity ; can he
be other than unity liimself; and ought not we like\vi>e to love
the same ; and the whole human family should it not be at one
— at one with itself, at one with the universe, at one with God ?
The time shall come — may it come soon — when no such ques-
tion shall be asked or needed in the happy family and united
kingdom of Paradise Restored.

But without further preface I would commence my
subject; and let us start from the beginning of all things.
What was in the beginning ? I will tell you wliat \vixs
not. You were not, I was not, this earth was not, matter

was not — the matter that is in yon glorious host of stars

nor was the spirit, that is in the multitudes of man and
angel. There are those who can remember when we be-
gan to be ; and there are wise men who can send their
tlioughts back into the past eternity, and approacli and dis-
cern, though still from afar, the childhood of matter. All had
a beginning, and they could not have had a beginning without
a cause. This is the leaching of experience, the dictum of
reason, and the intuitive belief of the soul, that whatever be-
gan to be was caused. From one cause we may ascend to
another higher than our last, but we must at length arrive at
a highest — a first, an uncreated, self-existent, eternal, everlast-
ing cause : nor can that be any form of matter. For matter

3^9Jl?)

■

onnnot tliiiik: but all creatitin, the niilvcrsc, slifnv.-sdc^iprn ; niul
bclbrc the tliinj,' dusigiK'tl there; nuist be the iiilclligeiit ciui^.j
to (l(«i;4ii ; before tlie designed universe there must have been,
there was, the intelligent designing God. Tiitelligent will is
the only cause oi' all eill-ets. God was in the beginning, and
(iod alone. Out of nothing he created all thinjfs. Out of
nolhing did I say ? Nay, 1 mistake. God spake the words,
and heaven came out of his words ; his will was that heaven
should be, and heaven was. That will, those words of (htd
were prolific ])arents. Their children let us fondly tancy were
first of all — beings that could conipreheml him — a shinim^
thi'oug of cherub, cherubim ; seraph, seraphim ; ang(>l, arch-
angel ; a coimtles3 com[»any of holy creatures rejoicing in the
intelligent and voluntary being derived from the fiat of Divi-
nity. lUit He, the Creator, spake again — again — again — and
the fruit of his words, the children of his will, are not this
lately made woidd and its creatures alone, but all th(> myriads
of suns and Avorlds and universes that glitter over the infini-
tude of space, and perhaps have divided into epochs, which we
may }'et in the coming eternity count, the innumerable ages
that have gone down into the unfathomable past. What a con-
trast have wo here between the sameness, the insipidity of ut-
ter vacuity, the absence of all forms and conditions of matter,
and the sight which made the sons of God clap their hands
and shout together and sing for joy, Avhen, behold I God had
created space, and peopled every rood of the amplitude of
heaven with a wilderness of worlds. ,

IJut though I might make this leap from the bosom of no-
thingness into the arms of advanced and comparatively perfect-
ed creation, since a thousand years are in the sight of God,
and i)crhaps all pure .spirits, but as yesterday, a tale that is
told, nevertheless my purpose will be better served by exhib-
iting nature, as she actually appears toman, step by step slowly
advancing to her present rounded development.

On piercing the crust of this earth a short descent bring,s
US to intense heat, and the further the descent the greater
the heat, until after a very few miles, philosophers are
agreed in believing, that Ave must come to a nucleus of
agitation and chaos — an abyss of fii'c. This is the cause of
those earthquakes, wliich " with one last clang of bells for
their own ruin strew cities flat, as riddled ashes, silent, as
the grave ;" the cause of those volcanoes too, which at inter-
vals startle the world with deluges of fire. Now on the lad-
der, so to s'peak, of Geology we can ascend througli the pa.st

*t;>

,.^ ;C

iiimiig

to tin? timo when the crnst of this onrth was not even a few
mile- in lhiokno.~s, hut tliin as the ice upon tlie suilheo of a
pond after a few liours frost, or as the scum upon a hasin of
warm water. A\'e h.-arn, in fact, that the surface crust, which
we so fondly name terra firma, was formed l)y tlie gnuhial
eoolinnj of a mass of liery fhiid matter: and when we consider
the eifect of lieat, how it dis[)erscs tlie most s(»Hd matter into
vapour : and further consider, tliat the highi'st lieat, we can pro-
duce or are now cognizant of, is — can be nothing to the lieat
which nature mny evolve, which Geology reveals to us as once
existent : and wh(>n ever and anon we behold a portentous co-
met whi/zing by ns on its mighty circuit round the skirts of
sj)acc, and Ihid it to be a fiery mist, an nnfornuul mass of fiery
vajiour: we arc led to conclude, that before the heat of our
system had been gathenxl into or around the sun, or shut up
in the bosom of the planets, or radiated off into and lost in the
cool surrounding wastesof sj)ace ; when it was confined to, but
diffused throughout and over the whole ; this earth, those jjla-
nets, that sun, — this system was, comet-like, a mist of fire.
The stretch is easy then to the other suns and systems, to the
Avhole matter of the universe, and we have what is called the
Nebular liypothesis.

Tin; inhabitants of tliis Province knov/ what a mist is,
and that the lieat of the Gulf Stream is tho cause of the
superabinvhrncc of that article here. ]>ut let them fancy,
not a lit lie mist coming in upon and hiding up the litthi
city of Halifax, but the whoh; ocean dissi[)ating, the whole
earth dissolving, the planets and the sun dispersing into mist:
— what a sameness woidd be here ! No solid place of rest :
no distinction of air, earth and water, of sun and planet: in-
terminable fire : boundless, unmitigated-, fiaming mist ! No
variety of heat and cold, but one unvaried, unvarying temper-
atur(> ! And all at rest — no current, no motion, no chanore !
And suppose this to extend through space, and to be the con-
dition of the matter of the Mide universe ! There would be
unity here indeed — primitive unity, sameness — the unity of
unvaried chaos. Hut God introduces motion into the inert
mass, and. behold ! all things become new. There is a for-
ward motion introduced, and besides, and to counteract it,
there are centres appointed, and the principle of gravitation is
impressed upon all matter. But let us confine ourselves to
our own system. There is a tendency to accumulate upon the
centre, and thus the sun is formed. Meanwhile the nebulous
matter, which still on account of the great heat will far out-

1)oun(l tlic \hn\tA of our present sj'stom, contrnot.s by cooHnp;;
for nnicli of its heat is beinrr pivtheml into tin; siiii, niul imieli
radiated into sunouiidirig spare, and some l)eeoiiiin<^ latent.
As (he mass shrink^, in cool! n;,', the laws of rotatory motion
speed it in conseciuenec with ever inereasinrr veloeity roniul
the sun, until, the increased eentrifugal foree beeoniin;» too
powerful for the central attraction, a zone of vapour on the
skirts of the system is detached from the rest. This zone of
vapour breaks u[) and gathers into one mass. Such zones,
separating from the sun at vari(»us dist.iuees, form i)hmets in
the state of vapour. These, having by the laws of Miechanics
eacli a rotatory motion, eliminate from their own atmosphere,
as they cool and contract, rings and satellites, in the same
manner as they themselves were originally eliminated from
the atmosphere of the sun.

And thus the system is evolved : and what variety does
its consolidated form present ! AVho from looking at it
Avould ever fimcy that it had once been mere dilfused va-
I>our? We have the central {)aront sun, and the offspring
sister planets ; lieat, and cold ; light, and darkness ; this
tine frosty air, and yon beautiful blue sky and glorious fir-
mament. We have the various magnitudes, densities, veloci-
ties, and motions of the sun and his various planets ; of the
])lanets and their various satellites. We have their all vari-
ous revolutions, and periods of revolution ; temperatures, and
atmospheres ; colors, forms, and constitutions. But the time
would fail me to indicate all the variety of this beautifully di-
versified system. My special delight is its Unity. And is it
not a glorious unity ? Do not the i)lanets de[)end upon the
sun : do not the satellites depend upon the planets : and do not
all depend the one upon the other ? I could prove to you that
they do ; and had I more time, perhaps show you, that they
Avere each the complement of the other, and necessary to the
whole.^ Take one away, or alter it much in any respect, and
you will cause a wave of destruction to sweep over the limits
of the system. Behold the sun, how finely- it governs, and
lights, and Avarms them all, because it is just there — in the
centre! Behold the planets themselves, so placed, and at
such distances from each other and the sun, that they cannot
harm one another ; and though they do cause, by their respec-
tive and mutual attraction, a ceaseless variation in their courses,
yet that variation, continuing not forever in the same direction
till it reach destruction, but at the proper time returning again
to whence it started, and all things being again restored ! Ya-

pooling ;
il much

rlety in unity is tho liiw of nature. An<l behold tli(^ whole
system — how stable it is, because the governing mass is there
in the centre ; and the obedient [)lunet.s move round it in no
otheT than circular orbits, are projected all on the same plane,
and go all the same way perpetually, from west to east !

Hut what though Geology, contirmed by all her sweet sister-
hood ofsciences, proves that this earth has been attendant on yon
sun for myriads of ag(;s gone by : and Astronomy, continuing the
story, tells it may be so for as many ages to come : whnt is ail
that to you ? Your experience, your feelings, are your best
evidence, your best assurance. Yoi. have never doubted th*?
stability, the unity of our system. You have never fancied,
that you would see the time when the sun would oscillate, or
any of his offspring " run lawless through the sky ;" when pla-
net would war with planet, or sim with system, and all or any
with hideous collapse meet destruction in each others arms.
Y'ou have been confident in the peace and harmony of at least
this little group of islands in the beautiful blue boundless ocean
of space. For six thousand years, history informs us, that on
our sires the sun has risen and set, and the planets in their or-
der have adorned those evening skies. For six thousand years
all things have been as they are, as they have been from your
birth. Tliis world has been racing round the sun in the com-
pany of her beautiful sisters with inconceivable velocity ; she
has been whirling ever round and round her own axis : — you
have known it, you know it now ! yet you do not start, you do
not i)ale ! You have never felt inconvenienced by the motion,
you have been even unconscious of it, nor have seen anything
liker a disaster in nature than an occasional comet or periodical
ecli|)se. Regularly have you lain down to rest hopeful of ri-
sing on the morrow, and, though a little thing can take sleep
from man's eyelids and keej) him tossing till morn, you have
never been disturbed by the thought that the earth might lose
her })ath in the darkness of the night.

What harmony must there be in nature to produce this con-
fidence in man ? Ah, you would rather trust yourself in tlie
hands of God, however much you may tremble at the thought
of his presence, than you would in the hands of man ! Y'ou
step into a railway car, but you have fears of the issue of the
journey ; and no sooner does the oscillation of the carriage
prove that yop. are going at express speed, than you tremble.
A stone may upset you, and toss you into the arms of death !
Or you distrust the officers of the line : — they may be negli-
gent ; their orders or signals may be wrong or misunderstood ;

jiiul hifnvc }()ii arc aware you may 1».' in <"olli>ir)ii Nvirl, ano-
ther train, and cni.-lud into a formless jt-lly, or scaiicicl in
qniverin^' laocnitcl tVajmicnts alonj? the ground! Unt you
can tru,«t (iod! You (Vcl no fear liut that his infinite wis-
dom, power, and h)ve, will order thi^ little world arij.Hit, hut
that his will or his nn^-els, hut that he hiiusell'wil' jrui^le each
planet on its own patii, ar.d •rovcrn to hnrmony yon continen-
tal Sun, and these Society J>lcs. Or y,„i step on hoard n
c-teanier, and no .sooner do you fee! in motion, and no sooner
does the incessant vihration .^how that the steam is fairly up,
than you he^rin to fear, some lazy look-out or nefrli<rent en;,'i.
neer, some imperfection in the machinery or the vessel, mav
occasion a collision, an explosion, or a leak, and hlow you oui
ot the worM, or send you down alive hilo an imtimelv and a
watery <rrave. IJut you entertain no fear of the vi;,n'lanee of
(Jod, or of the perfection of his machinery. Yon do not dread
heing huried in the hosom of anv eomet, (,r dashed on the
hreast of any sun. And stahle as are the fbun<lations of our
system, your trust in them is well-nigh as undisturbed, imwa-
veriiiuf, and immoveable.

15ut there is a unity still more wonderful and beautiful than
the unity of this liUipiitian system of ours, and our confidence
la It— the nmty of the Universe. I shall however lind a more
fittmn: opportunity of indicatin,!,' this hereafter. Our brief ex-
< ursion through the upper regions has for th(.' present content-
ed me. I am contented to leave their illimitable space-, and
to return home— home to this sweet little islet of cm-s, this
moiner Earth. In endeavouring to .-how vou, that from the
Ix'ginnmg of her existenjc she has constantly become more mid
more varied, yet contimied ever a unity, how shall I cwn-
mence ^ How shall I begin to show you, that she and all upon
iier liave developed from the simple to the complex, the homo-
geneous to the hetei-ogeneous, have grown into varit . r and
L'cen noAv and always bound up into nnity ?

lou all know that nature in every ease starts with elemen-
tary atoms. You have the elementary atoms of inert matter,
in Its original gaseous or licpiid state, Vombining into crystals'
and these again gathering into mountains ; the elementary cells
of both plants and animals combining into trees, fishes, beasts
and birds. I believe I shall not be going out of my com-se, if
I here illustrate the law of nature's progress throu^di variery
to higher unity in a very popular way. Let us take the elJ-
mcntary atoms of inert matter and behold them combininointo
crystals, and gathering and swelling into mountains. What

>»»

n. vnri.'f y is 'initcd in tlic lio'i.ni of that mountain ! Ui,w many
ntonis(.f liuw many clcnicnts, in liow many varied crvstalliiu
f«»rnis ! Anil did ilu- ori^jinal atoms lo^t in'othcn of tfifir own
kind, and did the h'v^lwr crystal-! occupy the position or exer-
cise the inlltienco in natiu'c', which does that nionntain ? Did
they ri-c IVoiw earth, and, snii|tortinL; heaven, talteinMch- in
bhjo, sniiny (.r starry .-kie.s? Did tli.'v ;:alher the cldiaN from
the expan.-es of air, and cap tlicir peaks tiierein ; roll the li-
vers down into the replenished sea, ntrl irri^jfate the rejoicing
Avorld; rolx' th-'ir sid(;s in forests, and cloth(^ themselves in
the j.n'ii<ses of the Held ; feed the hunh ; nest the e:i;„de ; l)reatho
new life into the invalid ; and form t!ie character an.l muscle
ot the stern and strong; moinitoinccrs, who, ever and anon is-
Piiinnr from monntain I'astnesses, overturn old and erect new
kinj>;doms in this lower world? And is "ot the mountain,
" hile thus more wonch-rfnl in its variety, nl-o thnw a more no-
Die unUy thaii the insignilicant atom, or beautiful hut little
crystal? Again, let us take t!ie cell and seed of the plant,
and behold tlieni gathered and growing iiUo the tree. Was
the seed, buried in the earth, like tlut tree in which all the
fowls of th(> air build tli(;ir nests, and under which the beasts
of the tbre.-t love to T-epose, w hose grateful shade is sought by
man himself? Did it shoot a stetn to the sky, and spread out
blanches icciunbent on air, and cover itself with leaves which
might ferd on suid»eams all day long? Di<l it [mr'Sy and clear
the atmosphere, that man might live upon tlie earth"; draw the
clouds from hea/en to moisten the cracking iips of the thirsty
land, or (Iriuk up the marshes of a too soft soil; constantly
drop the rich maiuire of its leaves around and prepare the fu-
ture meadows, fields and gardens of the world ? Again, let us
take the spawn of a fldi and behoM it developing into eoimt-
less salmon. No longer miruite dots, they liave the speed of
lightning and dart through water whither they will. I'rinces
of rtvei lake and sea, their dominion is as wide as the domain
of the pin-e element which the sailor and angler so much love.
They arc kingly fishes, and their motion possesses a dignity as
remarkable as the extent of their empire. But let us, further,
behold an egg, and watch the inifledged bird issuing fr.)m it,
shortly to soar as a winged eagle to the zenith, and sun itself
at the very portals of Apollo. Who shall describe the eagle,
bird of Jove, which seemed to the ancients in its invincil)le ta-
lons to bear Jove's thunderbolts ? The loftiest mountain is its
throne, air its kingdom ! Ikdiokl it lessening out of sight in
the heights of ether, as if on an expedition of conquest to the

sun. With wing as tireless as the wing of h'ghtnin- it will
round the world almost as quickly, and flash from the heights
of heaven, like a beam, to plunder the dale, and return spoil
laden to its aerie. Nor does it frequent the land and its aery
spaces alone, but sports above the sea, and makes occimi its
trdjutary. Ah ! ocean, which " spoils armad.s and makes
rock bulk cities quake," has no terrors for it ;

" Its talons anchor on the stormiest clilf,
And perch upc i the very lighthouse rock
When winds churn white the waves."

CaMI'iIKLL.

Well may the poet, regarding the dead eagle, exclaim—

"Fallen as he is this king of birds still seems
Like royalty in ruins."

And say, to mako one step from the sublime to the ridicnlou^
could such an exclamation be reasonably made over a bi-oken
or a corrupting egg ? Need I add more— need I exhibit man
and brute in their original chaos, and then ask you to behold
to what they grow— the horse, whose neck is clothed with
thunder— the man, the image of his God? Nay ! the young-
est sufficiently sees, that nature ever xdvances from homoge-
neity to heterogeneity ; from the unity of insii.id, universal
sameness to the unity of varied, diversified being ; from inac-
tion to united action ; from incapacity to power."

But now, my friends, I would like to go more svstematically
to work : I would like to show the eai'th hel-self' as a whole
advancing out of liquid chaos, even as out of the egg you saw
the eagle grow.

The science of Chemistry leaps to mv des'-e, anticipates
my every yet inooerative wish.

We learn from Chemistry that under extreme heat no ele-
ments will combine, and, therefore, that m the earliest ages
of the globe combination was impossible. But as the ca'th
cooled, the elements which; God had made for each othei-,
giving them mutual affinities, came together, but at first only
by single atoms — one atom of one element uniting with one
atom of another. In that age tlift earths and alluilies were
formed ; for they are of this primitive descrip>tion, and the
simplest of all combinations. As the temperature decreased,

as earth further cooled, combinations of increased diversitv

higli^ unities became possible, and the metals were produ-
ced"; for in^hem two, three, and four atoms of one element
unite Vr'ith one or more of another. As the cooling process

\n^ it will
the lieij^hts
eturu spoil
lid its aery
5 oceiMi its
md makes

lMI'iJKLL.

.ini —

ridiciilon-?,
r a broken
xliibit man
1 to behold
othed with
he young-
m Iiomoge-
univert^al
from iiiac-

ematically
s a whole
g you saw

iinticipates

L>at no elc-
rliest ages
the earth
Lich othei',
t first only
: with one
dies were
, and the
decreased,
iversity —
re produ-
3 element
g process

went on, higher diversities, higher unities appeared, and four,
five, six, eight, nine, ten atoms of three or more distinct kinds
of element were bound idto a unity, But when we pass np
from the earths, the alkalies, the metals, and the salts, from
inorganic matter to organic, we find that the organic obeys the
same law as the inorganic, that as the heterogeneity, the com-
plexity, the variety in unity increases, so the stability decea-
ses; that, in fact, the earth must liavc cooled much furtlier,
and evolved many other conditions, to allow the elements to
combine into the organic matter of a tree, and cooled further,
and evolved still more and higher conditions, to unite into the
albumen, fibrine, and body of an animal : — and these latter are
the most diversified and highest unities of matter which wr,
know. I revel in the contemplation of this most sure and clear
exhibition of the law of nature's progress from the simj)le to
the complex, from lower to higher unity, froni the uncombined
chaotic universal atom up step by step to that wonderful, mys-
terious, inexj)licable combination, that form so feai-fully and
gloriously made, that body which is the tabernacle of the spi-
rit of man, and may become the tem[de of the living God !

Dui, my friends, the story of progressive variety and of [)ro-
gressive unity, which the earth from her depository of seci'ets,
from the de])ths of her bosom, has j)Oured into the delighted
ear, and laid bare to the ravished eye, of that patient explorer
and beautiful science, Geology, is more full anil wonderful than
any I have yet told, and moi% fairy like than the faif'iest tale
of the Seven Champions of Cliristendom, or the most exti'ava-
gant, yet pleasing story of^ll the Mythologies. Many here
know.it already, but it caimot be top often told : and besides,
as my purpose in treating of it diHiers from that of the Geologist,
my treatment shall partake of the novelty of my purpose.

Experimental Geology places bej'ond a doubt the belief,
that this earth was originally fiui<li*r .The heat, which main-
tained that liquid condition, was JiOwwer gradually radiated
off into space, lost in the surrounding cool expanse ; the earth
cooled. A crust was formed upon the, surface, as scum forms
on warm water. The up[)er crust inusrhave been thin ; but,
the coding process, never ceasing, an inner crust was formed,
and the upper crust, being of grcavter circumference than the
lower, could not settle down u]»on it without breaking up into
ridges, — a phenomenon which we saw beautifully illustrated
some weeks ago on the lakes at Dp tmouth. Above the lower
water ice had formed a crust of snow ice, which, being of
greater expanse than the lower water ice, had, in settling

.it

down not sottlod flatly or ovonly. hnt broken up into rl.Ve,
aml_ dosvn into ),ollow.s making the lakes one continnons .r,c-
cess.on of nps an.l downs. Thus early cli<l the world be-in to
develop variety of snriaee ; thus heights and hollows be<ran to
be all ovc.r the earth. JMeanwhile the vaponr, snrro.nidin^r
he world through whieh no ray of light could yet penetrate"
being partly preeipitated in rain or water, as dew is on an in-
verted tmnbler eansed a liniitloss ocean to drown the -lobe,
llie heights and hollows, which T have just describ(Ml as'Iorm-
ing over the surface, sinking deeper and rising hi-her ever as
the earth cooled more and more and the ujM,er cnists settled
down upon each new lower one, in process of time-the waters
occupying the hollows, the ridges here and there overtopped
he.n-islands invaded the air, and, as stars in a stormy iii'-ht
twiuldc distant from each other and solitary throu-h the rifts
of clou«ls dotted with their higher combination the still bois-
terous and lately interminable ocean.

And now, my friends, observe, as T proceed, l;ow :he world
advances; how she develops ever new variety and higher uni-
ty; how all the newly developed and more advanced variety
accord, harmonize ; and how each is in itself a higher unity.
l;or ,s not the dry land a higher unity than the o?ean-coni-
binmg m itself, as it does, what might be converted into ocean
and something over and above ; more forces and hi-her condi-
tions being also necessary to its formation ? And, however
tlie sailor may love the ocean, that he feels it monotonous, and
values the dry land more, is evident from the delight with
which he, voyagmg the Pacific, hails some wave wariu-.l, but
rock bound South Sea Isle ! His rapture at least confesses
lie pleasure of the change, and leads me to remark, that we
have at any rate a higher unity, when we have both land and
wa.er harmonized in the young but rising, devolopin- world,
i.ut i left the world an ocean dotted with islands, and such
1 hud her on my return. Creation, however, has made a -reat
stride : the seas arc full of vegetable and animal life, of'sea-
weeds, of molhis.s, radiates, and fishes. Xo longer have we
mere inert matter, but that in mysterious combination with a
h.gner nature with life vegetable and miimal. Can nature -o
urther.'' ^\ hether she can or no, we may at least bo sui'^e,
tliat these forms shall receive nobler developments ; for the
ocean is inferior to the diy land, and when the dry land shall
be fitted for the reception of inhabitants its plants and animals
siial. surely correspond to its own higher status in the scale of
being, hut further, my friends, the fishes, that inhabited the

into ridnros
timioiis snc-
I'ld bcLnn to
rt's began to
:nrromuliiiir
t penetrate,
d on an in-

the globe,
ed as form-
lun- ever as
Jsts settled
-the waters
overtopped
orniy night
h the rifts
e still bois-

ilie world
l>igher uni-
ed variety
;her unity,
ean — com-
into oeean^
:her condi-
, however
anoiis, and
light Avith
ashed, but
: confesses
:, that we

land and
ng world.

and such
de a great
3, of sea-
• have we
on with a
nature jjo

1)0 sure,

; for the
land shall
d animals
e scale of
:ibited the

Ihtn seas, were not like our osseous fishes : they had no inter-
nal skeleton, but were covered with, framed externally in plates
of gristle, cases of cartelage. Like the bird in the egg, they
were fi-hes as it were in the egg — fishes in embryo ; but there-
by the better fitted for their very warm seas, and each the bet-
ter armed against the powerful forces and cannibal carnivo-
rous appetites of each.

]>iit let us turn our attention now to the islands. They had
risen ami enlarged. Land which lay below the ocean, and on
which some sediment had been dejjo.sited, having been elevated
all round the shores of many, their circumferences had been
greatly extended. Vegetation had api)eared upon them ; that
low sort which only colors the rocks it encrusts ; but this was
preparing a soil. The washing of the rains too had been wear-
ing the rocks, and also forming soils. There were lakes in the
interior, slow flowing rivers toiling through the midst, swamps
all over these islands. At length God spake, and they were
covered with forests: and I may be permitted in this land of
forests to say —

Forests rose fluttering o'er the isles below,
And 'twas an island jubilee, when, lo !
nranrlly, divinely, God's Almighty hand
Fixed their unfurled standards in the land !

But the forests then were not like the forests now : they were
suited to the land on which they grew, and the air which th(>y
breathed. The land, as I have said, was island and half wa-
ter, interminable swamp. The air was mist, and overchargetl
— laden with deadly carbonic acid, which steamed up from Uie
swam[)y soil. Heaven was but a reservoir of concentrated
choke damp. No sunshine gladdened the landscape, but its
dim moui-nful twilight might have been the home of melan-
choly. A dense, unbroken, unrending covering of dai'k cloud
cano[)ied the world, and dropped upon the earth ceaseless rain
- a gloomy watery pall, such as some of us may have seen
stret(.'hed across an Italian gorge, or Highland ravine. Tliere-
fore the trees were of a soft succulent nature ; mighty reeds
they were, gigantic ferns and calamites : and though firs grew
abundantly, yet even these appeared oftentimes hybrid. ^par-
taking of the soft fern character. But these were just the
trees for the time, and this was their golden era. Thev suck-
ed up the moistiu-e of the land, drank in the moisture and car-
bon of the air, which is their breath of life ; and dried and
finjicd the one, and cleared and purified the other, llowlonf*

lliis condition of things continued, who shall say ? The periods
of Geology are not to be measured by hundreds of years hut
by myriads of them. While these years are passing over the
Avorld let us occupy the time by observing again, how greater
variety and higher unity attended her progress.

Each successive Geological period not only introduced
higher existence into our globe, but deposited upon the surface
its own peculiar strata— the wreck, the dust of its existences,
and thus in each succeeding age improved with finer loam the
surface of the earth. These trees grew up, and died, and were
buried where they grew ; and their children rose out of their
graves, and there were they also buried ; and ffeneration after
generation, arising out of, descended again into the same se-
pulchre. Thus did the then swami)y i-^lands become moist
mounds of vegetable decay. The overflowing rivers, too,
mingled the waste of the rocks and lands with that vegetable
matter : or bore both in their sluggish currents to the sea, and
formed vast deltas — extending the empire of the land; or
strewed the deposit wide over the bed of ocean. Thus was
the whole surface of the globe, by the deposit over it of the
rotting leaves of endless forest, prepared to produce out of a
richer soil a more useful, and even more universal vegetation,
such, foi- example, as the grasses of the present day. But some
of these moimds of vegetable matter, too, were afterwards, in
some convulsion of nature, engulfed in the greedy maw of
the world, and, disgorged again, have now a beautiful resur.
rection in our Pictou coal. And as these trees, arising from
their graves, give us light and heat now, so w^ere they then in-
stnnnental in bringing about, what tliey ushered in, the illumi-
nation of the world. I have already indicated how the w^orld
continued alw >ys cooling. The vapours of ocean, condensed
by the continued cooling into clouds, would from the same
cause drop more and more of their aqueous burden upon the
world, and they themselves gradually thin. Ocean too would
evai)orate less and less, as the heat decreased. Thus would
the atmosphere be ever clearing. But the trees were no idle
spectators of this beautiful progress. They drunk up not only
the superabundant waters of the earth, but also the super-
abundant vapours of the air: and, behold! the dense cloud ca-
nopy of the world was rent, and through the rifts what sio-ht
appeared, which made the trees so glad ? The sun, the glori-
ous sun, who rose, not stooped, to conquer, and with the army
of his beams swept in irrecoverable rout from the bosom of
lieaven and the face of earth the hosts of cloudland ! What

air

The periods
of year>, hut
sing over the

how greater

r introduced
n the surface
s existences,
tier loam tlie
ed, and were
! out of their
eration after
he same sc-
ecome moist

river.-', too,
at vegetable
the sea, and
le land ; or
Thus was
er it of the
ice out of a
I vegetation,
. But some
terwai'ds, in
;dy maw of
utiful resur'
rising from
liey then in-
I, the illumi-
w the w^orld
, condensed
1 the same
n upon the
n too would
riuis would
ere no idle
up not only

the super-
*e cloud ca-

what sight
1, the glori-
li the army
3 bosom of
id ! y/hat

new variety now delights us, and what beautiful unity ! The
father now beholds and smiles upon his child, and the child,
beholding him and smiling back again, suns itself in his smiles.
And when at length Sol sinks to rest, and the glorious blue
firmament all dropped with golden stars is expanded over and
hung like a curtain around the earth, and you are called to look
buck u[)on it, do you not feel as if you were ga-'^ing on quite a
new and other world? Progress and variety are developed
everywhere — in the water, on the land, and in the air ; and
the result is beautifut unity.

But by the aid of those trees the air has made still further
progress. You all know that the air which we now breathe is
composed i)inncipally of two gases — carbonic acid and oxygen.
Now plants iniiale the carbonic acid and exhale oxygen, while
animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbonic acid. Were the
air all carbonic acid animals would not live ; were the air all
oxygen plants would die ; air being however '-^either of these
alone, but a combination of the two, both animals and vegeta-
bles exist. Nay, further, as each exhales what the other in-
hales, and inhales what the other exhales, each is as it were
the breath of life to the other ; each preserves the other in ex-
istence. But in the early ages of the trees, which we are now
considering, the air was almost entirely carbonic acid ; and
that animal would have been a strange one, that could have
breathed it long and lived. The trees however found it a
royal feast, a prodigal largesse of dainty. But, though always
inhalers of carbon, they were not always exhalers of oxygen.
We know that this power is conferred upon them only by the
light of day and the influence of the sun, and that at night, in
darkness, thej exhale not oxygen, but some of the carbonic
acid which during day or light they have inhaled. There-
fore, until the covering of cloud had been broken away from
the earth and the sunshine had fiillen upon the woodlands, un-
til the pure beams of Sol had vivified the forests, though by
devouring some of the carbonic acid and digesting it into wood
they might have diminished the quantity in the atmosphere, yet
plants could never have become, what they now are, the coun-
terparts and counterpoise of animals ; there could never have
arisen between them and animals that reciprocity treaty on
who<e existence now their individual existence depends. Wa
have however already seen those eyelids c'' .i-c sun, tl»e clouds,
rolled up and the sun's bright eye opened full upon the world.
The trees had now become exhalers of oxj'^gen. What if they
had continued the only land existences, and, exhausting the

■i-

air's carl)onic add, have killed themselves in their own, to
them, poisonous oxygen exhalations ! IJnt no sooner was the
atmosi.here, as I have shown, prepared for animal life ; searce-
ly had the sun begun to siiiiie visible upon the world, tiian, as
if born of his warmth and vitality and the pure breath of hea-
ven brooding upon ocean, huge reptiles, the spawn of ocean,
crawled out of the deeps, and, inviled thither by the breath of
the trees, possessed the land and air. N(j sooner was the at-
mosphere prepared for animal life, than animals appeared to
breathe it; and besides, by an interchange of breath, to pre-
serve in its ancient existense the family of plants.

lint what a stride has ereati{^n m ide. During innumerable
ages the world of forest had been strangely silent, no sound of
living creature breaking the dreary and monotonous dread wi-
zard sihiuce of those truly woodland solitudes. But now the
earth swarms with enormou-" existence ! The huge plesiosa-
urs, heliusaurs, iehthyosaurs, and all the saurians, the iguano-
dons and mighty crocodiles of that wondrous age have b"ecome
the lords and rulers of the wide world ; and are possessors not
of sea and land alone, but as dragons, more hideous and mon-
strous than romance ever fabled, cloud the air and darken the
sun with the s[)read of their vampire wings. But, behold, how
beautifully things advance ! See how vegetable life had, as it
were, crept out of the sea, the lowest of solid conditions, and
covered the swampy hind, a swampy vegetation ! See, too,
how animal life had, as it were, risen out of the sea and pos-
sessed the land, an animal life that was half fish— an alligator
type of existence: for tiie land had not yet become thoroiighly
dry land. Those rei)tiles were half fish. Tiiey lived ch'ietly
upon the i)roduce of the seas; and such of them as were pecu-
liarly landlivers were not grass feeders, for no proper grasses
yet grew, but with one twist in their miglity forepaws bore a
lord of the forest to the ground, and, as lightning strips an oak,
in a second denuded it of its luscious foliage. The dragon
birds, too, fed not so much up-on the produce of the land" as
upon tlie insects of the air, which were fabulously abundant:
or, wading out into the waters of some bay or inland lake, like

" The moping heron, motionless and stifT,
Which on a stone, as silently and stilly,
Stood, an apparent sentinel, as if
To watch tlie waterlily:" IIoOD.

bided their time, and suddenly in their long beaks seized their

nnohsfrvinof

■ """O

or incautious watery prey.

icir own, to
iMor was the
lilb ; scavce-
rld, tiiaii, as
eutli of licfi-
vn of ocean,
he breath of
was the at-
;il)l)t,'ai-ed to
ath, to pre-

iiniunerable

no sound of
IS dread wi-
ut now the
G^e |)lesiosa-

the ij^uano-
lave become
)3.sessors not
IS and mon-

darken the
behohl, how
fe liad, as it
ditions, and
See, too,
lea and pos-
•an alli2;ator

thoroughly
ived chiefly

were pecii-
)per grasses
aws bore a
tri})s an oak,
Hie dragon
the land as

abundant :
id lake, like

IIOOD.

seized their

Thus far have you followed with me the march of creation.
Thus tar have we seen, that from the first beginning of her
career were her ranks evermore increased ; evermore swollen
by higher and higher varieties and unities of existence, and all
tiie while without disorder; that each increase appeared when
a place had been prepared for it, and at once assumed its pro-
per position in tlu; duly subordinated, grand— -united army of
creation' — of creation ! who went forth conquering and to con-
(pier, surmoimting one after another the ever rising heights,
and subduing one after anotlier the ever increasing diiriculties
of her march to i)erfection.

And now, ere the world was fitted for still higher existence,
it underwent many changes. Plants depend for existence al-
most entirely on inorganic matter. They grow out of the
earth, and by their roots gather from the mineral matter out
of which they grow what becomes their vegetable tissue ; or
may rise gigantic, towering to the skies, like the Alpine tannen
of Childe ILirold, from even the bare, unnourishing rock, and
collect their vital sap from air alone. But the animals never
existed, which could extract blood, flesh and bone from earth
— from minerals alone, or live on air; from the consumption of
j)lants, or, if carniverous, of brutes that consume plants, they
derive their necessary vital nourishment. "We liave conse-
quently seen, that on the earth trees first appeared and occu-
pied the land. Then came reptiles, most of which lived, as I
have shown, on the inhabitants of the waters, but some upon
the leaves and, perhaps, seeds of the trees. However, before
thorough dry land animals, animals that could not fly to the
ocean for food, could be created, at least for any purpose other
than immediate death, the earth had to bring forth vegetables
in abundance of that sort on which animals feed — dry land ve-
getables, the grasses and other profusion of our meadows, be-
sides the seeds and fruits and inestimable variety of our wood-
ed wildernesses, which, sustaining life themselves, also prepare
the land by the manure of their leaves to produce the peculiar
herbage native to the d(!licate animal palate.

But to proceed. I have indicated how tliat from the begin-
ning there was manifested an ever increasing subsidence in
the hollows and elevation in the heights of the earth. The
most lofty heights are the most modern : for the igneous action
at the heart of the earth did not so often make lowlands moun-
tains, as it burst them asunder, and, sloping them on either
hand, protruded through their rent, elevating to heaven, a mo-
dern hill. Thus nature was provident of her ancient stratified

IsvndtJ, and raised only new, bare, barren rocks into the frozen,
arctic iieights of luther. Mountains were thus elevated over
the globe ; lands raised out of the ocean ; the islands gathered
into continents, liut those lands, which had then become and
liavc ever since continued to be dry lands, had not been al-
ways such. There is scarcely a spot on the pp'sent dry sur-
face of the globe, which has not been the bed of aver, lake and
ocean, jis well as the inhabitant of air ; scarcely a spot which
luvs not been subjected to the fructifying iriHuences of all jiossi-
ble vicissitudes and changes of water and of air, sinc(! earth be-
gan to form. Besides, I have told you how each Geological
period stamped its character on the then surface of the globe,
deposited its peculiar strata on the world, and — to ado[)t the
noble lines of Longfellow, —

Departing, left behind it
Footprints on the sands of earth.

Further, tlie various forces of nature, especially the igneous
forces of the world, left not these strata to lie as they had been
de{)osited, the one above or below the other, but by convulsions
of the land tilted up the lower ones, exposed them to the air,
mingled them with the upper strata, and made the surface of
the world a combination of all — a rich, a fruitful, a perfect va-
riety and union of soils — a mingling of all the riches of the va-
rious stratifications, which severally nature had been so long
and laboriously elaborating. The temperature of the earth,
too, had greatly declined. A contrast between the poles and
the equator was beginning t* be apparent, and the zones were
now in embryo. Then did the sncculent forests, the harvests
of whose leaves had been reaped by innumerable ages and
strewn over the world as manure, out ot which might arise
more useful, though less showy vegetation, retire to restricted
limits, and the reptiles of earth and sea and air occupy only a
small portion of the world. Then did the grasses wave along
the praieries and meadows, and climb up the heights of earth,
for now was the world about to be replenished with gramini-
verous and carnivorous life. Then did the forests exhibit
grander forms than of old, the oaks and the chesnuts, th-e
beeches and elms, walnuts and sycamores and limes, banyans
and baobabs, and all the other distinguished lords and monarchs
of the woods. Even the seas had long produced, besides their
other varieties, the more perfect, the osseous type of fish. The
birds were no longer only dragons darkening, but also objects
beautifving; the azure of heaven, the sun himself and filling
the air and the woodland recesses here and there with beauti-

tlic fvozcn,
L'valed over
ids gathered
become find
not been al-
'iit dry sur-
fer, lake and

Pl)ot wliieh

of all jiossi-

U'(! eartli be-

1 Geological
)f" the globe,
ado[)t the

the igneous
ley had been

convulsions
n to the air,
e surface of
a perfect va-
cs of the va-
jeen so long
f the earth,
3 poles and

zones were
the harvests
jle ages and
might arise
to restricted
cupy only a

wave along
lits of earth,
ith gramini-
ists exhibit
lesnuts, th-e
es, banyans
id monarchs
jesides their
f fish. The
also objects

and fillinii
with beauti-

fid plumage or still more beautiful sweet music. And, behold,
a higher race arose to occupy the dry land ! The graminivo-
rous and carniverous mammal spread from pole to pole ! Then
was the age of the great mammoth, the great rhinoceros, the
great elephant ; then was the n.re of the lion, the leoi)ard, and
the tiger ; then was the age of all the lordlier and fiercer brute
ty[)es of mammal existence ! The plains of Siberia shook be-
neath the tread of the gigantic elephant ; the blended howls
of tigers and hyenas affrighted the British Isles ; from nortli
to south, from [)ole to pole, the mightier mammals ranged and
ruled the world !

And now, my friends, let us look back down the vista of
ages, back down the long, and, I fear for you, tedious way
which we liave travelled upward together. With what did we
start ? A formless, indescribable world of vapour : and thence
began a continual ascent. First interminable ocean, and its
Crustacea and fishes ; then swampy i.-lands, and their rank
swampy vegetation ; then larger islands, trees, insects, and rep-
tiles ; then continents, grasses, hardwood forests, and mammals.
But when I speak of the ages of trees, of rei)tiles, and of mam-
mals, do not think that I mean to indicate these creatures as abso-
lutely the highest existences of their respective periods. Thus
in the carboniferous era of vegetation, besides the trees, which
covered everywhere all the dry land, there may have been a
few salamanderlike creatures, half fish, half reptile, or even
some reptiles, issuing out of the seas and a|)pearing on the
dry land to prophecy of the yet higher life, which was to suc-
ceed the trees, the life of reptiles. And we know, that when
the reptiles did succeed, there came along with them also some
mammals, who in their turn propliecied of the approaching
abundance and rule of their own higher races. But each Geo-
logical period was particularly characterized by the extraordi-
nary and universal prevalence of its particular stage of exis-
tence. Thus in the yilurian period, the age of ocean, fishes
li\ed everywhere, and the same tribes roamed the round ai.d
waste of the world of sea. Then when the trees appeared
upon the land, they occupied it altogether, and the same trc( s
were everywhei'e — wherever land rose above the ocean. So
with the reptiles ; they possessed all the land, and crowded sea
also and air. The tendency of each existence in its particular
period was to us''Vp the world. And thus in the age at which
we have rested .iie greater mammals roamed everywhere ; the
same elephant was found at the Equator, and again at the
North Pole. Doubtless the equability and high state of the

►'■

temporal ure tlironj^liout all these ages liad niucli concern in
the production of universality in each kind of existence. But
as each Geological period api)roached its termination, its cha-
racteristic existence began to be restricted within limits ; and
this restriction was a prophecy of the approaching advent of
some higher race to occupy the extent and assume the empire
which they were relin<iushing. Thus the rei)tiles gradually
dimini lied before the mammals abounded.

But, my friends, not oidy was there the general progress
which I have indicated, but there was progress in all directions.
The ,sea advanced from a limitless chaoM of briny waters to wa-
ters below the firmanent, and above the fn'mametit ; to oceans,
gulfs, and estuaries ; to rains, and beautiful fresh water lakes,
and mighty amazonian rivers. The air advanced from a dark,
dense, black, rayless fog to a clear firmament navigated by
snowy clouds and dazzling stars ; fi-om an atmospheie deadly
to animal life to one so variously constituted, as to suit at once
the necessities of plants and animals. Vegetation advanced
from the seawrods to the land weeds ; from the rank, succulent
foi-ests of the carboniferous era of swamps to a variety that
included, besides our meadows and prairies, also our hardwood
wildernesses, our oaks and chesnuts, our banyans and baobabs.
Animal life advanced from the Crustacea, molluscs and radiates
of the sea to the cartilaginous and then the osseous fishes, and
took to its bosom in succession the reptiles and marsupials and
dragons of earth and air, the beautiful birds and magnificent
beasts of the great mammalian age.

But I have not yet exhausted the progress of the world. I
stopped at the age of great beasts. I indicated how the poles
were gathering tlie cold around themselves, and the zones were
then in embryo. Tins tendency to variety in the temperature
of the world developed more and more. The poles at length
became the abiding palaces of winter — oceans of ice, and con-
tinents of icebergs ; and the intermediate spaces to the equato-
rial highroad of the sun were beautifully graduated into the
varieties of temperate and torrid climes.

You all know the poles are the parts of th.e earth furthest
from the sun, and therefore now the coldest. In the early ages
of the world her own heat was so great that she did not need
the heat of the sun, but by her own warmth and the universal
spread of sea preserved a pretty equable temperature over her
whole circumference. The dense clouds and vapours too in
which she was swathed as in a wet blanket, prevented her heat
from being soon lost, from beinf^ rnrjiated off, But= wlien those

concern ni
cnce. IJiit
on, its clia-
liinit.s ; and
: advent ot"

the empire
3 gradually

•al prof^ress
1 directions,
aters to wa-
; to oceans,
vater lakes,
rom a dark,
uigated by
leie deadly
snit at once
1 advanced
k, succulent
•ariety that
r hardwood
lid baobabs.
\\u\ radiates
fishes, and
•supials and
magnificent

e "n'orld. I
w the poles
zones were
emperature
s at length
^e, and con-
the equato-
ed into the

rth furthest
e early ages
id not need
le universal
ire over her
pours too in
ted her heat
when those

clouds cleared away and the air waxed pure and dry, radiation
went on rapidiv, the earth cooled fast, the sun's heat became
welcome and its absence or distance sensible ; the poles^ bo-
came frozen wastes, and tlie <'<iuator a tropical clime. Tliii
Avas (nrthcr aided by the massing of the i.-lands into continents
and their elevation into plateaus and mountains. liut, as these
varieties of /one and clime were developing, the lapse of ages
was hastening on other changes not less retnarkable. Now had
come the decline and fall of the manunal empire— the great
!)easts gradually lapsed from the dominion of the world. No
longer did the rhinoceros or elephant range the steppes of Si-
berTa and the reedy plains and jungles ot Indi;.. No longer
<lid the hvena and tig< with yell and howl affright the liritish
l>les, and make the rl.'. g d 'tas of the Ganges terrible. No
longer did the fierce or u.ighty monarchs of the brute creation
rule the world. Their dominion waned into a limited domi-
nion ; they were confined at length to the torrid zone, and be-
came emphatically tro[»ical animals.

liut this wasting away of these mighty mammals, this re-
striction of their limits, and, as I might also show, wane of their
physical development, like the decline of former races, vegeta-
ble or animal, which had once been universal, was a mute, but
elocpient, unmistakeable prophecy of a higher race about to suc-
ceed, about to assume the sovereignty of the globe, and to seize
the reins of empire wdii( "i had dropped from these lordly brutes
and were now hanging idly and unhandled down the sides of
ihe world. And otlier signs foretold the great event. About
this time, that is just before the creation of man, appeared on
the land that mild animal whose absence man Avouhl feel in so
many and various ways— the sheep. Now too first appeared
in the sea the cod family of fishes, the haddock and others, the
value of which the inhabitants of this Province peculiarly know.
Now the cereal grasses began to grow ; the corn, the wheat,
the rice, the maize, to nod along the plains, lo fill the cornu-
copia of earth with an overload of abundance, and give the
world the air and aspect of a golden age. Now appeared
amongst the trees those most precious ones — the apple, the
pear, the plum, and all that family of fruit-bearing beau' s.
And whilst choiring birds now filled the air with richer strains,
flowers too began to be more than ever abundant ; to roam
o'er field and fell o'er hill and dale, accompanied by song, and
the forests, already bathed in music, to drown in blossom ; rove
over the world in undulating seas of perfumed efflorescence to
the moYin?^ meltinir rise and fall of sweet bird minstrelsy.

M i

1 t

1' '

TlclioM liow boniity and luxury, sv.-< uril a-i nltundnnoo nnd va-
riety, pri'codo the lulveiit of nmn, an.l, lookin;; baek upon the
iinpnl|»al)lc and wizard region of non-(»xistenee, when; he still
lingers, and whence th<y have just i.ssued, beckon him forth
to posse'^p and enjoy thi- world.

liut hit nie dwell a little upon and still ninro fully indicate
the variety and unity of the palace so elaborately bnih, fur-
nished, and ornamented for man. The world was then, we be-
lieve, very much what it is now ; you have only to consider
this, and you will understand that. I have told y»)U of the
beautiful v'ariety of temperature developed in the zones, and
how the great beasts were at last confuied to the torrid elinie :
but each zone still had its own descriptions and varieties of
animal — a variety, "-mrt from its uses, so pleasing as to be
the cause of the countless beast shows, menageries, and zoolo-
gical gardens maintained by the wealtli and wonder of civilized
nations. AVe that inhabit the tem))crate zone know its ani-
mals : but which of us does not wonder over the 2>an'ots and
birds of paradise, the sharks, the boa constrictors, the croco-
diles, the lioiis, elephants and giraffes of the tropic suns, as
well as the great bears and reindeew of the arctic snows.
But, my friends, if the world was a zcjologicai garden, was it
not a botanical garden too? Then, as now, at the ctpiator
behold balm, frankincense, and niyrth ; coffee, and tea ; cloves^
lujtmegs, pepper, mace, and cinnamon ; sugar cane, cassava
yams, and nwizc ; plantains, breadfruits,, and palms ; sandal^
ebony, teak, and banyan. Further north lade yourself with
corn ; then, binding your brows with myrtle, gladden your heart
with the grai)e, and suck the juices of pomegranate, orange,
apricot and peach beneath the shade of the cork, the cypress,
chesnut, or walnut trees — " recubuns sub togmine fagi" — a
quotation all know. Cross the Alps and yon shall still have
wheat, barley, and oats ; strawberries, apples, and pears ; nor
shall the forests be unworthy of your riveted gaze — those oaks»
those beeches, and those elms. Further north you shall still
find further variety — all kinds of fir — Scotch, spruce, 1,'V. iir.
and, though those alders may be insignificant, you shall no-
where look upon lovelier trees than that red berried mountain
ash, and thof graceful lady of the woods — the vigorous, though
delicately f ;shioned, slender birch. Aye, within the very Arc-
tic regions wi'd ii vers shall show the beauty and vitality of
nature : the?,' ,i. y Km, no glaring cactuses, nor splendid mag-
nolia blossci..;-, 'Ai^. there shall be gems of efflorescence beneath
the snow, and, when all else fails, the reindeer shall still tread

a kinaiv vogCulion-tho .oft, green o.U'p.H of the n.nulcM.r

o7.. tl.iH Lautitul variety, which we, so .uueh .uul so ,u•o-
, Iv a mire. Kaeh /one has its own i. ace on the globe ;
fi , own variety of ani.nal an<l vegetahU, ex.sK-nce ; each
ilone phase of th/ great sum of being; each one vanety m

the niiitv el th'' world !

Farther, n.y fri.-i.l., the co.nm.m saying .. true a. oomnu.n
that ex re.nes lueet i there is but a .tep from the snb nne to
t' ;■ llenlons ; extVavagance m.d avarice (eac^ m . ^ o wn
Avvv) brin- the spendthrift and the miser to cipial dciitutioi.,
:.;: ill: p^.di.aMu.at of the ancient wodd -- -J..-^^ j^
Mructive to life, than is and was the prodigal cold o the poles
,1 1 T.. t'.w.t vnn l.ivc the nro"ress ot lite repeated

ot the modern. In hict, you ii.ivc me piu„ i. ,,.,..i| .,,,,v

over a-ain, though only in some measure and a small way
Ln ;he poles tcTthe equator. There s a constmU a.cetulu^
development ot animal and vegetable i.le rom tl'C a»''^ Re-
gions to the tropics ; and the variety ot al the •'?-/;';
manner guther'Ml into the (me present phase of the woild.
One ereaU.re alone can resist the debasing influences of ex-
treme cold or heat : we have not however come to the creation

'""rcan further show this gathering of all ^Le pa^t into the
pve.ent, it you allow me the range of the world, ^ou have
boundless, almost islandless ocean in one hemisphere o he
Ldobe • YOU have tdso vast polar and tropic wastes and de^( it»
I'n the other. You have i./one continent, and that America
especially the southern portion of it, a sample of what e
wirM was when only half redeeme" from the cloinnuon of the
waters. There the reptile creatures still abound, and the vc-
-etabl,' kingdom is predominant ; but the great animals are re-
Vi . sented only by diminutive cougars-wildcats compared wi i
he chiefs of their tribe, the tigers of Bengal. And in ho
world vou have the dry land continent, and ^l^^ ^^P^'«'^^\^^^"^^"
of theV't-eat brute anin^als of the mammalian race. J.o.k at
a map of the world, and behold the endless ^^^^^y^^^^
riety of the combinations of water and land and climate there
exhibited, and say, if any combination which was m the pas
i. without its representative in the present ; if any <'ond tio.^
necessary to past existence, vegetable or animal, are not now

in a measure ?ome\vhorc here also fulfilled ; if there is any
reason why any past form of being should now in thi.s eondi-
tion and grouping of world ])e utterly exfinet? Niiy, my
friends, 1 love to think that this age is a unity of all the ages!
I love to think that from studying the surface of the present
globe and its ereatures you may learn much the same lessons
as are taught by the strata of the Geologist ! I love to think
that nothing has been as yet lost, that no mode or form of be-
ing has as yet utterly perished out of existence : but though
each has successively declined from its high estate, even as the
(>m[)ires of the Morhl rise and fall, it has still remained some-
where in a diminished and less developed form to witness to
the truth of the story of the strata, v.hich tells, it was, and to
graduate and swell the ever expanding, ever developing sum
of being ! Some races may jicihaps have utterly perished :
but these arc tlie exception, and the rule is for others of tlie
same kind to succeed — not indeed to the same sway, for the
world may be under a new and higher dynasty, but to succeed
at least to life ; and to testily, that God, having once created,
loves to preserve !

Thus was the world prepared for man a iniity of all the
ages — their vari(/ty in unity. But it went beyond them in
that it had them all in one ; and in this besides, in that it had
a temperate zone, no i)erfect specimen of which existed before.
A temperate zone with its peculiar conditions and develop-
ments, the one so thoroughly fitted for man ! So fitted to re-
strain and abase his animal propensiti(!s. to give full play to
and exalt his intellectual and moral powers !

But existence and climate are and were varied, net info po-
lar temperate and tropic alone, but also into every possible
diilering dcgi-ee of each — differing degrees produced by the in-
finite variety of form and mass assumed by land and water.
Mountain, plateau, hill, plain, continent, peninsula, and ishmd ;
lake, river, estuary, inland sea, gulf, little and great ocean :
these by all their vai-ieties of combination intiuitelv varied, and
vary the several climates of the three great zones, and with
them the existences peculiar to each: so that the varieties of
animal and vegetable life are and were indefinitely multiplied.
In the heart of the tropics thus might and may be found a
comparatively temperate climate ; in the bosom of the temper-
ate zone a comparatively tropical one ; nay, in the very arctic
regions places with winters mild and moist as those of kindly,
congenial, merry hearted Old England. Aye, a mountain
based in the tropics did then, as now, rise into the arctic re-

)io

gionsofthe upper strata of air, and

I •' '♦•'^cending sides exhihit the .,1

in a frraduatod scale al

onir

J^»t Mils sl.ou-s the importance of th
and waters of the globe, and lead

plienomena of all the zone.^

te conformation of tl

me to dwell a little upo

!ie lands

we least expect such, we

and where the variety is infinite;
^hnU ftnd law, order and unity.

winl:'-::^:};^^^':^; -;i' f *;- -rid and yonr attention
gl'^l.e into uvo Imi.'/hm '^ 7. ' ^'^''"•'^'■'^''^^^l^ ''ivision of the
queous-the one o c ni ^ 7 ^'/e/ci-restrial, the other a-

most islandle's o? an' e'Tu'S '^ ^^' ^"''' '''' ^^''^''" ''>' ^^^-
nents themselves ■ ;Telv vn \ / iv"' °" ''^^'^^^^i^ the conti-
to^vards the nonh a^ZrV' '''''""'' ^'''''^ ^'^^T all expand
AnK.-ica; thus AfHct 1,'</'""' '^""i'''^ the south : thus

of" all the terrestr U r'p l' . f I'^''""-^"^'^^ «"<^ pmiections
fin'lthesec nil ntlrou^^^^^^ ^^'^ T'^^l" ^S-""' ^-u >.ill
"orthernan.la HMn^ ;? ""''^''■'^ "^ ^^ ^"'^l -vo, a
an ar<.hipela'o /^m V^^ ''7 ^^" ^^thmus or

and western sho e o^ h ; finf f ""' '" '^f ''^'"S- the eastern
remark the exac teor ' -'V '/°" '"'" ^^ astonished to
tl.e one correal .Z^nT'- "^•^"'■'^' ^''^ "nlentations of
that inC \ u r^^ the other; in fact

be; br^Ha ;t' her thef '' n7'' ""'^^ '^"^^ the n;w^<^^
t- inu.^ o/^^;; i^ :;^^^ J ^^^:--;i o.hor eh verly as
amm.H.niont, TiJ. „ ' '^■'"'; ■' ""g'l' "ulic.Ke other "rand

low r.nd suik, wliilc the warmor, liglitor ones rise, a vise and
fall which continues until tlie temperature of tlie whole mass is
restored to an equilil)rium. lUit how different with land.
There is no rise and fall in the particles of earth : tlie surface
absorhs rapidly and long retains the heat or cold : and m tlie
tropics the old woi'ld would havi- been a scorched desert, m
the arctic region a froz'?n wilderness, lint regar«l that old
world again and tell me, do you observe nothing in its internal
arrangement affecting its well-being? Those i)lains, and pla-
teaus,°whieh arc plains elevated on the ops of hills ! those lulls
and mountains ! are they thrown abroad undesignedly from the
hand of God, as sea sand fi'om the hand of a child ? Are they
scattered here and there for the puri>oses of variety alone, and
with no end in use or unity ? Ciazo long and curiously, and
be astonished, oh man, as the '.Ian of the Creator comes up
before yo.ir mind, and apparent confusion ranges itselt into
magnificent order !

As you ascend from (>arth to hea-en you find the^ an- wax
rarer and rarer, colder and colder ; and thus all high lands are
colder than low lands, and the heights of lofty mountains arc-
tic regions. Now look at the old world. All along th(! coasts
of the^'frozen ocean and great part of the Atlantic the land is
extended in plains ; proceeding inwards and southwards it rises
into plateaus ; until out of the centre, and much nearer the P:i-
cific and Indian oceans than the frozen sea or the Atlantic, it
leaps into mountains whose summits are the loftiest in the
globe and overlook one hemisphere. Then it descends with
a comparative plunge into the Indian and Paciiic oceans.
Now consider the effect of a different arrangement.^ Had the
long and gentle slope been from the Pacific and Indian oceans,
ancf the pTunge been into the frozen sea and the Atlantic ; had
tliose loftiest mountains in the world bordered the arctic re-
irions, instead of, as now, approaching the tropics, the whole
north of Europe would have been a frozen zone, the greater
part of the old world would have been subject to endless, un-
mitigated winter— a waste of snow and ice, without j.lant, and
uniiiiiabited by animal. But, instead, the plains— those lands
which least lower t'-mi)erature— occuj^y the cold northern dis-
trict, rise gradually into plateaus, and at length, towards the
Pacific and Indian oceans, leap into unequalled mountains,
transporting into the bosom of an almost tropical country the
grateful colds of a northern climate, doing just what ought to
be done, tempering excessive heat, and bringing a bracing air
within easy range of an enervating latitude. Now look to the

■

through 1 ;r'°"' '' 'T '''^'' '''''^' ^« ^«"^''' «"^^ ^•''^"^'^^

ent he. in either zone; and that portion which is .sulf-troDic-il
has Its ehi^te wonderAilly anieliol-ated by monntidnt Z :^

ed upon a plan. They traverse in one unbroken chain tl^
^1 ole length of the continent, from north to south. As in t e

r, id one' '^.":/^'^^^f '^ ^'f- '? l""g' gentle slope, and a short,
hi /''«f'«^'t-^fHn-ai.Kl slope is towards the Pacific

o tl e"r?-ll"f ^'"''' ^o---^^^tl'e Atlantic. This arrangeinen

of t e reliefs serves wise ends, and shall be understoocr when
n. r' ;!'';'' ^<^y^^opea the intimate connection of the con"

tinents with the ocean and the air, the winds and the water^!

Than air or water, what more gentle thin"

Hath God created, or dotli poet sirKT 9 °

Am- ! why we see it, touch it, know h. not ;

Most witlessly we breathe it, ah ! and doat.

As on the visits of a spirit ;:iven

To trance us into eestacies'of heaven,

On those invisible, gentle stirs of air—

Sickness they fan-soothe-dissipate, and care:

Health upon fluttering pinions-pleasure bear.

V\ ater, more visible, more telt, is still

boft as affection, gentle as the spill

Ot tenderest love from some large loving heart,

I hat would Its strength and jov to all impart:

We drink it, lave in it, are glad and stro.U ;

ii^arth also drinking, laving, is a song.

Indeed, my friends, such is the language of ^11^11. Earth drinks
and sings and all her life and lovelii^ss would fade away and
perish out of her, but for the gentle, genial, lifc-givino-, beautifv-
ing waters. Ah, the desert alone caulcll what irwould il;" ll^e
for a drop of water ! You hear the river rolling by into "the
sounding sea! You see it flowing majestically on to be lost a
aby mal ocean ! How comes the river still to flow ? why is the
world jet undrained; Does the stream, in defiance of fiat be-
neficent law o gravity, which, preventing stagnation, gives it
ot.on down the s opes of earth to the parent ride,retun. upon
Its course and roll backward up the heights? Impo..ible '
Air alone by the aid of heat can explain our difricultv. We
luive recourse to the winds, and these volatile beings, lielpin-
us to a solution of the enigma, reveal the unity and earnesi

Why mounts the fire upwjinls in a pyramid of flame?
Why is the ventih\tioa of a church by the ceihng ? Because
lieatcd air rises ; expands, rarifies, li^ditens, and rises. Open
the doors or windows of the churcli,and cold air rushes in and
cools and tempers the atmosidiere of the building, while by the
ventilation in the ceiling the light, rising, warm air escapes.
The world is ventilated in a similar manner. The poles are
the regions of cold air, the equator of warm. The air there-
fore constantly rises from the regions of the equator, and there
is a constant rush from the poles to occupy the vacancy. The
heated air, which rises, after giiining a certain elevation sets
out for the poles to fill again the vaciuicy caused by the rush
thence to the equator. Thus there is a constant circuit of un-^
der currents of cold air from the poles to the equator, and of
upper currents of warm air from the equator back to the poles:
the warmth of the tropics being thus tempered by the cold of
the poles, and the cold of the northern regions again tempered
by the warmth of the tropics. Thus God has set all things,
the one against the other. There rre currents of ocean caused
by the same influences of temperature, and corresponding to
these currents of air. People, however, so much under the
dominion of the Gulf StreaiJi, and so near the polar current,
ought to imderstand ocean currents sufiiciently. In fiict, my
friends, a diflerence of temperature between two regions of air
results always in a circuit of winds between them ; and between
two regions of water in a circuit of currents between them,
until an equilibrium is restored. For nature labours, in both
the cases of air and water, incessantly to produce and maintam
an equilibrium, and hn-. so constituted them, that they cannot
rest slio:' of this beneficent result. Thus, not only have we
the grand permanent winds and currents, the tradewinds, and,
so to speak, trade currents of ocean and air, originated by the
grand permanent variety of zones ; but, as we have in each
zone again local conditions over its whole extent infinitely
and continually diversifying its temperature, so have we an
infinite sub-variety of winds and currents— contrasts of tem-
perature, in fact, therefore winds and currents being uni-
versal. Ocean and air contain so many secret causes and
sources of death to life animal and vegetable, that I cannot
number them ; but a universal one would certainly be the
stagnation of either. The circulation of the blood is not
more necessary to the health of the body, than is the ten-
tency to an equilibrium of temperature, and, in this varied
condition of the globe^ the consequent incessant motion ex-

20
lilblted by water and air to the nreservition nf »! n 7 •

in "^l^St or,l::rpi™' "S"- "-•"S -„„d ,I,e globe
" ^^ painted ship upon a painted ocean."

^^: ^zi:fv\^' ^^ ^"^ '^^-"^ ^° ^^- -St

sudden, terrible tem':,;;^^"'""^''^"^'^^ tbe tornadoes, tl>e
late the city or the Xm ?o tL 'l'' 'f ^'''^ ^""^ ^^'^o-
tureare required to sl.tPH T "l"''"' ^^^^'^-^ "^' ^^^
^^'o^v the >vl,le wo, a w.f I m.r ' ^"^^"'''^^^ ^^' stagnation,
comparatively a Jone of^lm, ,^'1 '7' f ''"'^''"''^^ ^'''"^ '^"^
I have conducted you the -Tr" • " ''':i' '"'^'' '^ ^^''■'^''^

jHdeou. tempests C; tn^.t ^^^^ 1^ '^;Vr"7'^'■°"^^'
health her ocean and her .,i,- n "ect^sarj, to restore to

-onderful wisdom a dbe.Scenceon^r-f''^'^:'' ^''^"' ^^
all, so that when the worU^b'^re e\ ^but":: ;ni:'^^:'>
e.t and greatest abundance and variety of h ir? ! • f '"'"
nK.n, the noblest, most endur n^yl^ teVdf'^^'f "'•''''^'^^
M'as about to be introdupprl nnr ? ^ . ^enderest of animals,

■.cad of creation," reTst:,! "^^I^^ZT" '""
should become varied -ind hi thl^ "«vciope a, temperature

nnd convulsions, ea'y a^^'e^blu "'"'T ''"^^''^^

rents should preserve tl^onpn " ' * ''^" '"''"^'^ «"d ^ur-
form health ^^ ' '"'''"" '"^ '^"' ^" c°^^stant and uni-

i;,a;;,n.o„u,,eUep,uof.,.e^r;.r.,;t^,ir

P.;e»su,.e, expands also a^ ,1 ^e,, ;„ oX"vo".h'' "'"'''"''
Thus the heated air of fhp t. • \ '^*^' ^^''^porates.

carries the risi ^f \,porati Xl T ""'' '''''''y^ ^^'*
on its upward fl!.ht and £ [ '^' ^'''''" ''''^' ^' ^^^ft

poles. Butonecubiclot fn""'''^^ "" ^^^' ^'^^"'^^ ^« the
quantity of water y[°° 1'"^^: ^^^ contain only a certain

» liu. Jieiciore un< poleward tradewind

of the skies onoounters coldor currents, or enters colder re-
v-ions of air, and lo^es its expansion, it becomes clou.ly, hea-
vy and sinks ; and furtlicr cooled sinks lower still and drops
rai'n nnon the uorld ; and continues sinkin-, till at last it
nli-hts on the coasts of P.ritain, producing in tho<e islands
that climate, mild, soft, humid and erpiable, which, wh-never
others may sar, as it has scarce any parallel, ha>, in my
opinion, no equal in the world. With similar gentle and ge-
nial hifluences does a return tradewind descend upon the
western coasts of Russian North America, making almo.=
summer of even winter in an arctic d:strict._ In fact, all
nlon- the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere do the
tradewinds, returning from the equator through the upper
re<-ions of air, descend. Moist and warm south-west winds,
th?Y on their descent encounter the dry, cold northeasters,
T,revailin- there and flowing from the poles to the equator.
Their vapours are thus condensed, and drop in rain. Hence
al.o arise transition winds, neither north-east nor south-west,
but these in encounter and combination, ihis winter na^
weekly afforded us perfect specimens of these contests.
Il-ive we not weekly seen the north wind, veering round
point by point, softened, deadened, killed by the south,
^^^hich, beginning to prevail over the cold, was nevertheless
itself cooled and robbed of its condensing vapours, dropping
fir.t ^Jacnab Island snow, and then, when altogether victo-
rious, torrents of rain. The temperate zone may be styled
u. batth-n-ound of tlie winds. Here the hot and cold, mol^t
a Hi dry, meet and conten' : and the blood shed in their cen-
tos s ful s to the earth in copious rains The blood of her
virin.^ nations, spilt on the field of Waterloo, yielded to
Europe for fifty long years the peacefal harvests of com-
merce art, science, and literature : and the blood of the
vam humid, soutli-west wind shed by the dry north-east,
iVri-ni'tino this temperate zone, makes it one grand store-
house of°vcgetable and animal life.

In these temperate regions also, subjected to neither ex-
treme of heat or cold, local conditions have full play and re-
sul in many local winds all having their beneficent purpose
in shed of rain : but I do no more than indicate their exist-

"""Tlowever, though the temperate regions are peculiarly re-
gions of rai^, constant rain, the tropics also I'-e their rains
which for distinction are styled periodical. When the sun
l;i:^les the zenith, his great heat kills the dry north-east

( r

d"'.:'.:'-;;:^ !i:"::;,t;. ;"'ii' '"r-™? ■•■■ "- '^p'- ->"

skie, ,l,e,-o serene aT'lncl' ° t7 T"'' f™^^"'" "'«
IM season and the mo'sl are i ir,' '", '"""' ""' '•" ""'
only current then meva 1 1 "'"' "' ""^ "'"f '■> 'he
most eohi heighlo"^- J: he "?•';?, '^I'S •>">■: ""o Ihe npper-

drop a. „„cc°baek To t ;'';^' f ^:;rr"'r''^'™"'''-">""''

<'>ese raiay seasons ,l,e epics ,eiri"e.,,t'"'; """"«
vapour natii. The s„n l,„, ceaseless shower ajij

tl.i <l'y t..aci;wi : ; ,"ain Jo7'" ir/^T "'^'""^^^ ""'^"- ^^'^^ '•
'"ore rain, unfil (he "o of Z' "'^ ''"■^'' ^''^''^ ^'''^^ "o

rises from (he eonoVhnfvn^ "^°" ^''^ n,ois(ure which

meet, durin- (he d-iv n .n i ^^ ''^'^^^■^''- ^anJ and ocean

more^asil/h'rted fh^n :^^c^;n"":HrTr'^"" '"•^'"''^ '^ ^-''^
consequence, and therefo,^ flows -rLm^^ ^'"^^^ l^^^^^-'^ ''"
vapour.. A proh'fic source of JaouHs^boH'" "'^';>-"'-'^l
ocean currents into cold re^ on^T. f.^'W^ ^^ "'"•'«

flowing through the eoli^v'tCnlon'^'our coV^"^' ' •'•^^•'"^''
ceaseless vapour, which homo i i ° , , ^^^^' o'"'g'na(es
us in continual bene Ice^U mLt t' V^. ^'"^^^' ^^'^^'^
migl.tj circui(s of (hese o can cm-ri T^ '^ ^^"'^^ "J^°" "'^
perambulate the rounVof ev "; ^^ ^^nelf""' '"" ^^'^"^
might she .V ;hem striking on oL con^nl!,? °/'V-°"'*- ^
thence to , nher. I mitl.f foH^ ^.on inent, and diverging

curbs the ccean c rrenTs°d Je 1 thl ',"f *^"''"' ^''^ '^^'^
that lh,y do flow thither' w ere f '''"''"'■ '^ ^^'' ' ''^"J

I can o4 touch upon th^:;' . ^LT "^rll^^t'- ,^'
skimm no- over i l- l-« t F"' "" "lena. L,ike the swa ow

into (he ^u a'c^ o tt l^T^'' 'V^'^^'y ^^'^'^ --^ there
duceyouto h:^!^^^,;^^^^^:',^'^''''^ 1-pingtoin-
where (here is delight "^ ^ °'''"° ^'°"' ^^''^^ every.

litit I pass on to^'indicate, how the Hnd Jf ^^if • *.
condenser of the moisture of the a y '.'^''^^^ '^ '"^ great
case of dew. When the ..in f , ^" ^^^ *^'^ '" tJ'e

the vapours of Ih .y .^ ".^ /^^ tf/''^' ^"'^ ^'fPi^Hy ; and

grateful dews. TI.e < Ja d cond.n V" ^'' '^^^ ^'"^''^'^^ '"«
tains. They H^e viU . n r '' however are (he moun-

gions of upp'e a r ( le i\;^^^^^^^^ '''''' '"^° '''' --^'-'e-
edgesare^vLt mino^nit^(a r^/^ :^;;;^^^ -//^^ «''-P
wmds o( the bwer world I-idon «,.%! ^ ^'^^ '^"ist

'hem up their shies to he r ollumS';: 'T"''' r""-"''-
thecunent»of u,r, whose constant courses are- high above

the woria. They condense the vapours of these winds ; roll
tliem down in beneficent torrents to the thirsty phuns,
which a^ruin deliver them to the ocean to be a^aMi evapora-
ted and borne by the winds to these cohl heights ; again con-
densed and rolled down ; and being arranged in one nnin-_
terrupted circle of uniform beneficent change. Examples ot
this system of irrigation are innumurabb : let us take one ot
the grandest. I puri.oscly select the Atlantic tradewmds,
that How to the equator, and will fol'ow them into the land.
In the form of north-east and south-east winJs from the nortli
and south of the equator, they blow equatorward softly ami
steadily across the Atlantic, bearing the vapours of that ocean
alon- with them. They course over South America, which
extends on either side of the equator, and would bh.w across
it, but are arrested by the chain of the Andes Lorced to
ascend that mountain range, they enter the cold region ot
snowy heights ; are cooled and robbed ot their vapours
which, condensing into clouds, at length melt into ra.ns, and
descend in roaring, rejoicing, welcome torrents to the broad
thirsty plateaus and plains, chiefly plains, extending from
the Andes to the Atlantic ocean. This district o country is
thus the best watered in the world, receiving the distilled
waters of all the Atlantic. Here is the Amazon, that king
of rivers, swollen by tributaries almost as kingly, whose
shores ar.j coasts rather than shores, bordering a sea rather
than a river. But cross the Andes with that tradewind,
which has thus been robbed of its moisture bc'fore passing to
he Pacihc side, and what do you find t Nothing but a long,
narrow, barren, desert line of coast. Have you not in tin.
striking contrast sulRcient proof ot the condensing powers and
beneficent purpose of mountains?

But here, in passing, behold the reason of the pecu-
liar arrangement, before indicated, of this American moun-
tain chain! Had it been placed on the Atlantic sea-
board instead of the Pacitic, had the long gentle slope b.en
to the west and the short, rapid one to the east, then the
tradewinds, robbed of their moisture by the snowy heights,
would have Hooded the short slope on the Atlantic seaboard,
and passing dry as dust over to the long s ope, have blown
over it without'dropping, without being able to drop a par-
ticle of rain; and, whithng away even from under i ts ve y
lips any stray vapours presented to them by the tantalizing
Pacific; have left it an unmitigated, monstrous, unparalleled,
inexpressible desert. Now there is comparatively little de-

sert ; for the Anaes are close on the Pacific ocean and onW
a narrow strip of coast lies unwatered and desS- wicb "^

IvoX ! 'i "' every tjung he does ! What^a unity thi^

Thug you see how ocean, earth and air are not indenpn.i*

^nt, but parts of one whole : how the air bearHipol i^s wC '

vhich are the w nds, the rising vapours of ocean into 1 e Zd '

raf r„oTnt"!n'rnr/''r"' '" ^'°" '"'^'^y Pl'^teatwhi i;
ct as mountains placed in positions convenient for that nur-
pose how opposing winds, too, rob them of their vapors
and strew these over the world in beneficen i^ in . ^ Ami
now also you see why in the latter vast dry land a"e of the
world her zones became numerous; how her winds mutinied
and varied into hot and cold, moist and dry, that their encom^^^^^

trlr'"^ r '^'^^'' '^''^ '''' embosome^'vapo lis a S wa e
he wide continents over which they flew : also whv tho^«

lands themselves were elevated into stupendo b mou^nt^b '

^^r^v^^rS':^^^^^^^ '"'^'^ hills armorn

Sest of thin^ the plains They were elevated, at least the
lottiest ot them, only in the latest stage of the earth's nm
gress, when the earth became a dry fand world adaped to"
the highest orders and most beautiful and abundant variety
of animal and vegetable existence. While the earUx wa^
herself warm, ocean and earth's numerous mighty lake we e
constantly exhaling vapours, which bathed the ^d y nd ^
mist, nor rose to any elevation, being condensed a[ once by
the colder space around the earth, as they now are perfod^
^^l^!^7T ^^^Z^^'^^" ^^^ earth^vaxed to'mpart

ductL nf 'f ^ '"f ^''^'"' ^^'^ ""^'^^ ^ge"i in the pro-
duction of vapo'ir; when continents and mighty drylands

""n'L'^lle off T^"r"^T' 1^'^^ '''' fewfap'oursSh
ocean did give off should not be lost— necessary, that into
those Mty regions of pure air into which the va^i^ous natu-
rally rose, condensers-vapour catchers, also should Sse
mountains should leap from earth to heav'en, and puveyoi''
of the plains, stand ever on the beneficent look out^ to catd

down into he irrigating plains, to slake the thirst of the

drooping plant and bathe in grateful moisture the parcld

ongue of the eager animal-to make the desert agafnbos-

No; tnTlT ' ^'^ 'f ^ '''^ ^g^'" *^^ broadlavine
ihf^. 7' °, ''^^ "?°" *^^ ^«^^^- You have just seen how
tii« world IS a beautiful onmhinnfi^r, ^p fi,. r„..l _.. r ,

ments of fire or heat, air, earth, and water ; how this mutnal
action and reaction is worked into the unity of the wor U.
Need I i.idicate, further than I have done, how the phint de-
pends upon tiiem all, and, in its present various development,
on this present combination of them : and how the animal de-
pends upon them also, and besides on the p ant and on its
own species, summing in its higher being the ^^^^'^^^^'J.
the world, and is itself also, in its present <1«7\-P"^«"' ""f^
variety, the creature of the present variety and development

°^ But Ume i.resses. I have now conducted you through the
changes and advances of our globe and its existences. 1
have shown you how it started a unity, and, while e'^ch ad-
vance was an increase in variety and progress m develop-
ment, each advance was also a more remarkable, more pre-
eminent unity ; until such a stage of variety was attained as
defies the grasp and research of the intellect, while its unity
thou-h not easily discerned, becomes, when discerned, its
inost°remarkable, most attractive feature. , .- „ „f

And now, my friends, I commenced with the evolution ot
the system, with the planets forming round the sun, and vvc
have arrived at the time when the sun had become not only
visible from the earth, but most active and potent on its sur-
face ; and I should like to show you the adaptation ot the

one to the other. * .•. i • i r ♦Uec.«

But, my friends, I cannot stand upon the brink of these
attractive, illimitable, astronomical spaces, to which 1 have
again conducted you, without diving in : I cannot quit tae
^^orld without showing you, how her beautiful sisters arehei
ministering servants. . t„„„|.

There arc those who will tell you, that our sister plane »
are worlds like our own, inhabited by like existences. While
I see no reason for such a belief, I see very many reasons
for believing the contrary. AVith the talented author of he
Plurality ot" Worlds, whose theory I sketch. I believe that
this woild is the only inhabited, inhabitable planet m he
system. I cannot state at this stage ef the evening the sci-
entific grounds on which this belief is based but I may men-
tion one general physical law which suggests it. We have
seen, my friends, the hot air and moisture of the equator dri-
ven from the neighbourhooe of the ^^^^o the poles : we see
every day, when a wet towel is suspended before a fiie, the
vapour driven off to the cold spaces beyond: and thus I be-
lieve that the water and aqueous vapour of the original un-

formed nebular matter wa3 driven from the .un to the outer
part, o, ho solar system, and there bound up into planets.
All that we know ot .I„ni,er, Satnrn, Uranu. and Neptune
encourages, ,f not quite demonstrates, the b.dief, that they
are liquid masses of some sort surrounded by vapour. Kveii
Mars, ,„ the neighbourhood of the earth,' hai in part an
nqueous atmosphere. JJut when nassing the earth we ao-
proaeh (he sun, what fin.l we ? In that moon so near us not
a vest.ge of water What then tnust we conceive the e n-
d.t.on ot Venus and Mercury ? IJurned up by intense heat.
tlH-y are ghstenn.g, ghstering, scorched nnlsses, without a,;
atmosph.-re gaseous or aqueous, broiling, not to say, boilin^
worlds. I he earth alone is placed at the border wdlere he
conditions ot Ide meet in harmonious union : air and water
or vegetables to drink and breathe, and all to nourish ani-
mals ; with solid matter for both animal and vegetable to
stand and grow upon, and in which to lin.l the necessary so-
.Is for he.r solid framework ; and, besides, a due supply of
light and heat, and due energy of that all necessary, a) m-e-
VM.l.ng law and force of gravity. '' I he earth's orbit is the
emperate zone of the solar system. Here alone is play of
hot and cold, moist and .Iry, possible." Here alone the due
nu«an bctw.xt the heice extremes. Here alone does life find
a tempered, temperate foundation on which to stand—'twould
be burned up in V.nus, 'twould be drowneu in Neptune'
lleiv alone IS the existence of matter in a solid, a fluid, and
a gaseous form possible! And living and growing upon
land, and nourish.d by water and air, hrre alone havcM.Iants
and animals arisen and progressed into the endless variety
which replenishes and embdlishes the unity of this beautiful
world. Ihns, then,.arth is the true cypher expounding the
;ddle o this system. The waste and otherwise injurious
hi-." and heat have b^en gathered into the inner plan, ts- the
wiiste and otherwise injurious water and coM have been ca-
tiu-red into the outer ones : a temperate zone has been clear-
ed lor tni. earth-a world into who.e composition the life
bearing conditions of this system have been combined ; and
launehed rom the hand of her Creator, she has run the
'•ound of le.r appointed orbit, an easy, agreeable, rejoieina
course, mnnstered to by h-M- rather, tiie sun, and her " isters°
tlH- plane s, to all intelligent existence an object not, of dumb
woiuler, but of high, rational, delighted admiration, tindin-
voice and rising to God in adoring [.raise ' °

And now, my tViends, I oMgi,t tl introduce man upon this

^v„vl.l: '« An.l God creato.l man : in his own >mn-c croatrxl
l.c him." I ou^ht to exhibit man assuming tho reins ot -o-
ver mont, which hml dropped from the lordly tnbes ot brute ,
an becoming the universal animal, roam.ng the world from
pole pole, and binding into a unity the vanety of ereat.on
K I have purposely left this whole portion ot ^^-Y ,^^^^\\^f
br a fut,.re I'ectu're, L,un, that .ome one may be ound to
resume, what I have been unnble to complete. If^^^^^^ ' J
cannot 'stop without linking this world, whoso ""' y I 1 ue
endeavoured to manifest, without linking this sy.tem on to

"^^;i::[ those myriads of star, which gh.;i(y tlie infinite
of sp.ace, and say, has this world no connection with them
Are^d '; fixed and is ,his system fixed ? Is each eonhned
U, the little portion of immensity, which each variously and
evnilly fills? Fixed ! there is no such thing as hxity in
l.o un vevse. There is a talk of fixed stars, but, believe
me i is only t.lk. The sun himself is in motion, no round
Z: own xis alone or centre, but onward-onward through
.pace ! lie is proved to be travelling with all his family o
p'lanets at the rate of 428,000 miles a day to^vards a point .
be heavens ne.ar the constellation of Hercules. 11 is i, ni.
o bit along which he moves and bears his planets with him !
lie i; himself but a star of a system larger than his o^vn, e-
volving round a "mightier centre-the centre of a tnmu>t
rather than of a system, the centre of he ^^ >l^y ^J j f -^i. ("^
onr sun is one of the stars composing the system oj ' ^ ^ ;y
^Vay. and is situated in on', of the poorer, ^^^'^';;''^l'
of that system, which is a grand succession ot cluster, o lit-
oi lu.i .^si- , ° J J consists entirely ot

tie universes ot 20,000 staiseacn, .mu ^. „„ ,i„. i,,u,u.

orbs scattered, heaped, like glittering snowdrift on the back-
round tie general heavens. What a magnil^^cent view o
7bS creations of God's Almighty power does tins present !
\ve nre olon-^er dealing with planets revolving round suns ;
bu wth suns bearing along each its family ot planets, and
■ vo V n-^ in myriads round some mighty centre, some unima-
:. nab world, to which in comparison these suns are p an
Uese planets satellites. Hut we stop not '^re : tuc
Inows no rest. The .Alilky Way is not the only univeK>e m
\uZZ^o^ space. At^nnieasurable ^^^tances a^ over
tbe skv obiects like Heecy clouds are observed, vNh di ^^cIe
om-e un ^ to be nebukis matter or the unformed vapou

f^'?.;, In t are now by our improved telescopes resolved
i:;,::^; -V^'U^lke tha MUky Wa^, composed of unnuu..ered

til

S'
lis

re-

suns in nIino«it Innumorrtblo cluster.^. About 1,000 of tlicac
universes Imve been discovered ficattercd over the heavens.
They too obey the biws, which thid little system of our'i
obeys, and which are obeyed by the Milky Way— this uni-
verse of ours ! And what are these universes, but, in tlieir
turn, stars or suns, revolvin^r ng;ii„, even like this siniph)
earth and her humble sisters, even like the sun and his oil'-
8prin<?, round $ome mighty centre, some mightiest of centres :
and nature becomes one: and its unity as the unity of its
Creator, the unity of God ! Is not this a noble unity ! lUit
what can its centre be ? What centre can be chosen to bind
together not planets ; not suns ; not clusters of suns ; but uni-
verses of clusters, Milky W-xy^ ; aye, the individuality, in
tme, and totality of material Nature ? The mind throbs
and dilates with the effort of transcending conc(4)tion !

Allwise Almighty! who can ' thy brotlier,
Thy fiitlicr, or thy friend ; or who can give
Counsel to thee, or look on tlice, and live !
Nought wastest thou no tittle of thy power.
Since thy long gone, thy first creating hour.
To theo alone thy first creation clung ;
Thy next to th;it ; on it thy third one hung.
Kach thou on each still makest to depend "
Throughout creation— not begun to end :
\yorl(l upon world, and these upon a sun ;
Systems upon each other, and ou one
Or sun or system mightit;r than they ;
Universe u[)on universe away
To utmost bound, if such there be of space,
And these, and all, upon that nobler place—
'i'he centre of creation, tjirone of (iod !
Whence he behulds and rules the bright abroad
Around hint wheels it orderly and grt-at,
And where he reiuij or binds the threads of fate!

Yes, my friends, heaven is not a state only, but also a place ;
and may not the centre of creation bo that place ? May not
the Saviour have erected his throne there, and from the cen-
tre of hii kingdom sway the whole '^ When the grave, which
shall receive this body so fearfully and won-lerftilly iund.\
shall have restored it to me sj)iritiuilized and glori(i.-d, shall
I ascend thither ? Or shall earth— renewed by, annealed in
fire— be still my dwelling, or some other higher world ; and
shnll 1 only make, as the Jews to Jerusalem, periodicil pil-
grimages to that holy place.' And shall I dart like a n.v of
light from world lo world, and, as it were exploring the'bo-

som of my Fathor, rnu^e the infinite varietj of his beautiful
creation ? And sliall I in=pect and thorouglily understand
then those grand systems, so unlike our own, the binary, ter-
nary and (juaternary suns ? And shall I visit those fairy
■worlds where day from day to day changes through all the
colours of the rainbow, like the dying dolphin vvhieh so beau-
tifully dies? What new wonderful elements shall I disco-
ver in those far off worlds? "What new sciences shall I
learn, or developments of science? How shall I rejoice in
the increasing variety, and, a youngling immortal, rub joy-
ful palms over the prospect of eternity ! But shall 1 not re-
joice above all in the ever expanding views which I shall re-
ceive of the unity of the whole !

Before I quit this subject come with me out into the night.
Let us count the stars together. What numbers fill each
rood of blue I How quiet they are! peaceful as tl\e grave,
beautiful as death, hushed as the last repose ; yet full of life,
and radiant as the faces of angels ! Wliy do they not jar ?
Why do they not thunder from on high ? I gaze upon them,
and their spirit, as it were, descends upon me — a spirit of
deep, deep peace, an ccstacy of harmony and repose ! And
I know, that the God who made them must be a God of
peact — my God ! must be a God of love as well as of ])eace;
for he made those peaceful stars to whisper their peai o to
me, and that he has in store for me a higher still— peace to
be felt, but passing understanding! 1 listen as I gaze, and
I seem to hear in the recesses of my soul unutterable har-
monies ; as though an angel were sweeping the chords that
make of creation one mighty harp, and waking for me its mu-
sic ! But I only seem to hear, for na'.ure the while is liushed.

Atul li:is she then
No praiseful utteraiH;^ for Ji:luivah's ken ?
Slic had— she has. It is an utterance dumb,
Like tliat of tho:^e by feoliuy ovcrcoiu(> —
'J'ho eloquence of siU-i^.co. IL'r.vca dcifircs
No uiiiistrelsy above her dumb hushed choirs!

The harmony and beauty, t!ie order and majesty of tIio>e
quiet wheeling and rc>i)lcnik'nl woilds! Are these then tin!
highest praise desired of heaven? Nay, for heav.-n la-;
higher praise than even such. The instinct of the noble dog,
that approaches me at home, and, opening and shutting his
inouth, asks for a l)it of something lo eat, is liigiurr [)raise,
than the orderly movement and maguiticent disp.lay of tiie

niost majestic world that glitters in the coronal of n\rrht
Ihe midge, I crush, is nobler than the mountai^ridle over

rietj still hnds its climax and its range in unity ' How pi,.),
on all depends, and all on each ! Ead, being ^deado^M^i

=: S? H- -r-'= ^'^t^^t^

'riL7g1i;J„';^X;;:/;^^^^^^

true of earth, is true of them ! I „ill be bound ther" s no
ZnlZtT !"""'»'"? thins in all the u„rverse ! Iw llbo
rZ. „f h •" ? "'"«"<'«'. "-cared for life tbrou^hou lie

e3 GodTo^cli "" '' ^"""^ """"S''""' "^°"'i»" '
would beSolS, '""' '"■ »''««"'"'^« could, no ereature

tTntended, unattached, or out ot place—
A vagabonding blot on natur-i's face:

TJ^aT"' "i«,".i"i°g wanderer from love divine, is .till the

ne'e' 'lin'dfv t'Jd"' "°. °' ''i!!"""' ^^'' »" "iMd M^
ences, kmdly and wise, travelling over snace retir-nl^Hn,,

ot the orb of creation, gather each waif of existence vagrant
insigmficant atom though it be, into the bosom weave U into
the sphere and purpose of the universe ! Would that om-
ears might open to the oratorio of nature-the naturaT vm
phonies, that ascend from all the wide and ever active Ini
verse, whose very activity makes and is musiela diapason

^nd filk?/' ""^''^'f^'^' t° ^nd surrounds the throne of God
and fills the ear and gratulates the Spirit of Divinity and

we to neant but for an instant, like the Peri of Moore, who

" One morning at the gate
Of Eden stood disconsolate,
or?-i°"^'!?S listened to the springs
Ot life within like music flowintr.

And caught the h'ght upon her wings
Through the half opened porlal glowing,
And wept to think her recreant race
Should e'er have lost that lovely place :"

\fe would not be content to listen from without, but long to
leap into the midst of it, to become a part of it ; and would
ever afterwards hate and fly discord, as the saint hates sin
and flies perdition.

But is it so indeed ? would oar souls be really so ravished ?
Alas, I forget the full depth of our terrible fall ! Yes, we re-
quire even a higher exhibition of harmony, than is this, to lure
us out of discord ; or, rather, we require to see this harmony
embodied in the man Christ Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.
But let the world open its eyes to the love of God in Christ,
and, then, farewell discord ! welcome peace and joy ! Man
shall then love man ! America shall be no more America ;
nor Africa Africa; nor Europe Europe; nor Asia Asia; —
they shall all be one ! Then shall humanity fully compre-
hend, what our Saviour .leant when he said — " Love is the
fulfilling of the law." Yes, for it binds man to man, unites
the creature to the creatOriT, and restores to its pristine mu-
sic the disturbed harmony of the universe — restores to his
adoring position amidst the worshipping bands of creation
man, who now unites with devils to be

" The curse and menace of the universe ! — "

Man, who, if he continue still impenitent, shall yet add his
wail and groan to the wail aud groan of the lost angels in
that hell, which the rejected love and necessary justice of
Jehovah shall then, as ever, harmonize with the music of ex-
istence, making it now the deep thundering bass, and now
the shrill, piercing treble of the choir of being ceaselessly,
untiringly, exultingly singing that all inclusive, all inspiring
oratorio, known on earth as the wisdom, power, holiness, jus-
tice, goodness, and truth of God I