a natural
outgrowth and development of the great facts and principles asserted
in the first chapter of Genesis. They resolve themselves, almost as a
matter of course, into the two leading ideas of order and adaptation.
I have already quoted the eloquent admission by Baron Humboldt of the
presence of these ideas of the cosmos in Psalm civ. They are both
conspicuous in the narrative of creation, and equally so in a great
number of other passages. "Order is heaven's first law; and the second
is like unto it--that every thing serves an end. This is the sum of
all science. These are the two mites, even all that she hath, which
she throws into the treasury of the Lord; and, as she does so in
faith, Eternal Wisdom looks on and approves the deed."[17] These two
mites, lawfully acquired by science, by her independent exertions, she
may, however, recognize as of the same coinage with the treasure
already laid up in the rich storehouse of the Hebrew literature; but
in a peculiar and complex form, which may be illustrated under the
following general statements:

1. The Scriptures assert invariable natural law, and constantly
recurring cycles in nature. Natural law is expressed as the ordinance
or decree of Jehovah. From the oldest of the Hebrew books I select the
following examples:[18]

"When he made a decree for the rain,
And a way for the thunder-flash."

--Job xxviii., 26.

"Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?
Canst thou establish a dominion even over the earth?"

--Job xxxviii., 33.

The later books give us such views as the following:

"He hath established them [the heavens] for ever and ever;
He hath made a decree which shall not pass."

--Psa. cxlviii., 6.

"Thou art forever, O Jehovah, thy word is established
in the heavens;
Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth;
They continue this day according to thine ordinances,
for all are thy servants."

--Psa. cxix., 90.

"When he established the clouds above;
When he strengthened the fountains of the deep;
When he gave to the sea his decree,
That the waters should not pass his commandment;
When he appointed the foundations of the earth."

--Prov. viii., 28.

Many similar instances will be found in succeeding pages; and in the
mean time we may turn to the idea of recurring cycles, which forms the
starting-point of the reasonings of Solomon on the current of human
affairs, in the book of Ecc