are conscious of it or not, there is in our hearts, as we
gaze upon the brutal forms that have so holy a signification, an
acknowledgment that it was not Matthew, nor Mark, nor Luke, nor John, in
whom the Gospel of Christ was unsealed: but that the invisible things of
Him from the beginning of the creation are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made; that the whole world, and all
that is therein, be it low or high, great or small, is a continual
Gospel; and that as the heathen, in their alienation from God, changed
His glory into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds,
and four-footed boasts, the Christian, in his approach to God, is to
undo this work, and to change the corruptible things into the image of
His glory; believing that there is nothing so base in creation, but that
our faith may give it wings which shall raise us into companionship with
heaven; and that, on the other hand, there is nothing so great or so
goodly in creation, but that it is a mean symbol of the Gospel of
Christ, and of the things He has prepared for them that love Him.

Sec. LXIV. And it is easy to understand, if we follow out this thought,
how, when once the symbolic language was familiarized to the mind, and
its solemnity felt in all its fulness, there was no likelihood of
offence being taken at any repulsive or feeble characters in execution
or conception. There was no form so mean, no incident so commonplace,
but, if regarded in this light, it might become sublime; the more
vigorous the fancy and the more faithful the enthusiasm, the greater
would be the likelihood of their delighting in the contemplation of
symbols whose mystery was enhanced by apparent insignificance, or in
which the sanctity and majesty of meaning were contrasted with the
utmost uncouthness of external form: nor with uncouthness merely, but
even with every appearance of malignity or baseness; the beholder not
being revolted even by this, but comprehending that, as the seeming evil
in the framework of creation did not invalidate its Divine authorship,
so neither did the evil or imperfection in the symbol invalidate its
Divine message. And thus, sometimes, the designer at last became wanton
in his appeal to the piety of his interpreter, and recklessly poured out
the impurity and the savageness of his own heart, for the mere pleasure
of seeing them overlaid with the fine gold of the sanctuary, by the
religion of their beholder.

Sec. LX