"Those who can read the signs of the times read in them that the kingdom of man is at hand." An ancient king, likeminded, said "I saw a tree in the midst of the earth . . . the tree grew, and was strong, the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it." The Tree was a symbol of the king. He thought, like some modern men, that a human throne, a kingdom of man, would be established; and said to himself"My greatness is grown, it reacheth unto heaven, and my dominion to the end of the earth." What happened? A holy one came down from heaven, and cried aloud-" Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches; shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches." What is the interpretation? At the end of twelve months that king lost his reason, went from among men, and dwelt with the beasts of the field, till his hair grew like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws, (Dan. v. 10-34). The mystery has further interpretation : when men, to fill up the chasm between civilized and savage man, cast in their religion; and, endeavouring to bridge the abyss separating savage from brute, sink human emotion and intellect to the appetite and instinct-their language and conduct to the howling and herding of beasts; then the holy watcher comes among them with the decree of heaven that their intellectual power, the greeting of the spirit, shall depart from them; and that they shall be as the beast of the field, until they know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men. There is, indeed, a true kingdom of man coming, long foreseen, long prepared for, with dominion and glory, the union of all nations under one everlasting sway (Dan. vii. 13, 14). We have evidence of it in the spirit which knits our mind and body into personal identity; in the spirit running, like a thread of continuity, through all our chequered life, and the song of the herald angels-" Glory to God in the highest, and 1 Professor W. K. Clifford, Nineteenth Century, October 1877. ... True Kingdom of Man. 241 on earth peace, good will toward men," not only translates the prophet's vision into the common faith of our Christianity, but gives it the foundation of objective reality, by means of a glorious host and celestial song. We are not hindered in our faith by those who say-" Does the song of the herald angels express the exaltation and yearning of a human soul, or does it describe an optical and acoustical fact—a visible host and audible song? If the former, the exaltation and the yearning are man's imperishable possession—a ferment long confined to individuals, but which may by and by become the leaven of the earth. If the latter, then belief in the entire transaction is wrecked by non-fulfilment. Look at the East at the present moment as a comment on the promise of peace on earth and good will toward men." The objector does not see that the binding up and embalming of all the struggles and searchings of human life, so that "Our deeds still travel with us from afar, And what we have been makes us what we are," afford as marvellous and mysterious an indication of life above and beyond that of fishes, reptiles, and birds, as do the angel host and heavenly song of yet higher and yearned for life in real objective existence. If the exaltation and the yearning are indeed man's imperishable possession, are actions arising out of our inner core, and real as the life arising from grouping of particles in creatures of water, earth, and sky? then, why doubt concerning those revelations which yield glimpses of that splendid existence, and that peaceful state, which will be a renewal of the earth and an establishment of a Divinely Human dominion? "There are buds that fold within them, Closed and covered from our sight, Sun and dew are long at strife, Till at length the sweet buds open- What it shows and what it teaches Are not things wherewith to part." JEAN INGELOW. 1 Professor Tyndall, Address as President of the Midland Institute, Birmingham. Reported in The Times, 2d October 1877. Q STUDY XIV. DAY VI.-CREEPING THING, BEAST, CATTLE. "A little philosophy inclineth men's minds to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."-LORD BACON. "Revelation is no theory. Its truth or certainty, as a fact, can only be esti mated historically in the same way as other matters of fact."-Introduction to the Science of Religion: Professor MAX MÜLLER. WE are required by opponents of Scripture to reconcile the erroneous interpretations of friends and the assertions of enemies with the sacred text; to justify unscientific theories of instantaneous creation, and to prove that everything was done without use of means, or of natural laws. We replythe Divine account reveals an orderly plan and continuous operation no reasonable person, unless prepossessed by a theory, after carefully reading the first chapter of Genesis, with the light of modern science, can think that elemental atoms were brought into existence by mere command; and, so soon as commanded, flashed into living tissues. No wellinformed believer imagines that every plant and animal was separately formed, as by hand-fashioning, out of the dust; or out of nothing, as by magical power. When Mr Herbert Spencer1 states-"No one ever saw a special creation: no one ever found proof of an indirect kind, that a special creation had taken place"-he ought to know that creation need not be instantaneous, but may be effected by natural processes, as are modifications of the created by influences from within and without. As to seeing a creation, whoever saw an evolution? Embryology, and the passage of invisible through the visible into the invisible, are as much symbols and illustrations "Principles of Biology," vol. i. p. 336. Manifestations of the Unknown. 243 of creation as they are of evolution. No one can solve the ultimate mystery of the universe. If the evolutionist thinks that he has settled it by declaring “the egg was before the bird, not the bird before the egg;" Christians answer— However many and separate acts, different in degree and kind, may or may not, precede the flash of life, the old truth remains firm as ever-"Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every plant; and out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field." Let those who would remove the footsteps of the Eternal from Palestine, and Providence from Jewry; make the saints orphans, and deprive man of sonship to God; tell us how matter, if created, was created-unless by Deity; and, if not created, how the eternity of its existence is more comprehensible, than the Christian's belief, that matter, and all other phenomena, are manifestations of the Great Unknown. If the many thousand impulses of energy do not proceed from Hidden Energy, into what abyss will they be our guides? Mr Herbert Spencer asks "Why should not omnipotence have been proved by the supernatural production of plants and animals everywhere throughout the world from hour to hour?" It is proved: though he asks so unwise a question, the inquirer knows very well that plants and animals are produced everywhere throughout the world from hour to hour by omnipotence; he has stated again and again—“ all phenomena are manifestations of the Unknown." Suppose the proof came otherwise, or by quicker process, that men did see, day by day, light flash out of darkness, the living rise up out of the dead, and things wholly unlike grow from utterly unlikely things; so that every kindled fire, every dawn of day, every oak from the acorn, every man from a scarcely visible ovule, appealed to them; would they believe? Would they not exclaim that man was a sudden evolution, that the oak grew naturally very quickly, that fire was the result or act of combustion, and that the sun rose according to mechanical law? If so, what proof could be given that wilful men would not misinterpret? Could we devise any procedure that might not be explained away? If full-grown men fell from the 1 "Principles of Biology," vol. i. p. 339. clouds, is it not likely that a theory-as of aeorolites, would render their fall a natural event? Is the life of every individual now, and the present continuance of species; the growth of every harvest, and production from hour to hour of plants by natural succession; less wonderful than was the beginning of these things? Does the accounting that everything is selfproduced; or, which is the same, produced by nature's own power; explain the difficulty? Why, it is to put the Spirit of Divinity into stocks and stones; to make men like those Fetich-worshippers, who adored the spirit of steam in the engine, and prayed to the cranks and joints! There is an inquiry, on the page already referred to "To what purpose were the millions of these demonstrations which took place on the earth when there were no intelligent beings to contemplate them? Did the unknowable thus demonstrate His power to Himself?" Surely, philosophers do not imagine that there are no beings unlike themselves; nor fondly dream that beings like themselves are the greatest things in heaven and in earth? that there is no God beside them? that Nature and God, Space and Matter, Time and Energy, are superfluous; unless men look on and admire? Creation does not, necessarily, imply an abrupt appearance; but, simply, a Divine work. Any and every type of life may have begun with imperfect form, and have attained the highest state after many ages of existence. We know that organic form, whether of vegetable or animal, continues the same only so long as the inward conditions and the outward circumstances remain unchanged; it was so in the past, it will be so in the future; anything otherwise would be impossible. If it were not, the jest and mad freak of Mephistopheles would be true "Wine grapes of the vine are born, Into nature's mysteries."-Faust. It is not enough for the auditory and optical nerves to have a sensation, the intellect must reflect. The material ear and |