THE MINISTRY OF NATURE 66 BY HUGH MACMILLAN, D.D., LL.D., F.R.S.E. AUTHOR OF Bible Teachings in Nature," "The True Vine." "Holidays on High Lands” London MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved RD 9400 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY Prof. C. H. Berry, RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BUNGAY. First Edition, 1871. Reprinted, 1872, 1874, 1876, 1879, 1882, 1885, 1888, 1893. INTRODUCTION IN the Nineteenth Psalm it is said, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard." Much of the beauty and force of these words is lost by the interpolation of the word where-printed in italics to show that it is not in the original. By leaving it out, and adhering to the literal translation of the Hebrew version, the whole meaning of the pas sage is altered, and instead of a commonplace truism -or a mere tautology-we have the most significant poetry. "There is no speech nor language; their voice is not heard." The universe of visible things has no faculty of speech-no articulate language; and yet it has the power of declaring the glory of God, and conveying instruction to every age and country. It is a silent witness appealing to the mind of man in a way not less-but, when understood, even more forcible than written or spoken language-viz. by objective signs and pictorial representations. Age after age the |