eauty and wonder and
fitness in all the processes of creation.

"But even in the simplest facts of nature all about us, there are
countless principles at work whose intention cannot be penetrated by
human reason. Why were wolves permitted and urged by their instincts to
devour innocent lambs? Why were the germs of disease and corruption
created with the same bewildering perfection of design and the same
mysterious, vital force as the good and beautiful creatures which they
infest? Why were exquisite flowers and fruit-bearing trees allowed to be
overcome by foul fungus and poisonous weeds?

"If our reason is unable to discern the underlying intention in such
simple, every-day occurrences as these, by what right does it pretend to
pass judgment on the great complexities and developments of human
civilization?"

What good is accomplished by the rise and fall of an empire? Or by the
rise and fall of a human individual? What all-wise intention is
fulfilled in the deterioration and decay of any thing which has once
seemed admirable and worthy? The human intellect cannot tell.

As long as the intellect cannot grasp the beginning of creation, or the
end, the original cause of man's existence, or the final result--how can
it presume to criticize and doubt, without getting out of its element
and beyond its depth?

God's purpose for man, from the point-of-view of God, is an entirely
different thing from an individual's purpose in life, from man's
point-of-view. As this difference is something which appears to give
rise to a certain amount of confusion in some people's minds, it is
worth clearing up by a simple illustration.

Suppose a commanding general, in the midst of a campaign, gives orders
for a brigade to occupy a certain ridge and defend it at all costs?
Suppose these orders are carried out and, after a heroic defence lasting
several days, the entire brigade is wiped out by the enemy?

In such a case, when an order comes, what is, and ought to be, the
purpose of each individual soldier composing the brigade? To obey
orders, do his duty as well and bravely as he can, and hope for the
best--which may be victory, glory and promotion.

What, now, was the purpose of the general, in issuing the orders? Was it
to enable those individual soldiers to win victory and gain promotion?
Quite the contrary. His purpose was to delay the enemy advance at that
point for forty-eight hours, for reasons of high strategy.

What was th