life. Here I will only mention ore case in illustration. The Algonquin (North America) language contained no word for "love," so that when the missionaries translated the Bible into it they were obliged to invent one. What a life, and what a language, without love.

Yet in marriage even the rough passion of a savage may contrast favourably with any cold calculation, which, like the enchanted hoard of the Nibelungs, is almost sure to bring misfortune. In the Kalevala, the Finnish epic, the divine smith, Ilmarinnen, forges a bride of gold and silver for Wainamoinen, who was pleased at first to have so rich a wife, but soon found her intolerably cold, for, in spite of fires and furs, whenever he touched her she froze him.

Moreover, apart from mere coldness, how much we suffer from foolish quarrels about trifles; from mere misunderstandings; from hasty words thoughtlessly re

peated, sometimes without the context or tone which would have deprived them of any sting. How much would that charity which "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things," effect to smooth away the sorrows of life and add to the happiness of home. Home indeed may be a sure haven of repose from the storms and perils of the world. But to secure this we must not be content to pave it with good intentions, but must make it bright and cheerful.

If our life be one of toil and of suffering, if the world outside be cold and dreary, what a pleasure to return to the sunshine of happy faces and the warmth of hearts we love.

CHAPTER IX

SCIENCE

* Happy is he that findeth wisdom,

1

And the man that getteth understanding:

For the merchandise of it is better than silver,

And the gain thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies :

And all the things thou canst desire are not to be com

pared unto her.

Length of days is in her right hand,

And in her left hand riches and honour.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

And all her paths are peace."

PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.

THOSE Who have not tried for themselves can hardly imagine how much Science adds to the interest and variety of life. It is altogether a mistake to regard it as dry, difficult, or prosaic-much of it is as easy as it is interesting. A wise in

1 The substance of this was delivered at Mason College, Birmingham.

stinct of old united the prophet and the

"" seer.' "The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness." Technical works, descriptions of species, etc., bear the same relation to science as dictionaries do to literature.

Occasionally, indeed, Science may destroy some poetical myth of antiquity, such as the ancient Hindoo explanation of rivers, that "Indra dug out their beds with his thunderbolts, and sent them forth by long continuous paths;" but the real causes of natural phenomena are far more striking, and contain more true poetry, than those which have occurred to the untrained imagination of mankind.

In endless aspects science is as wonderful and interesting as a fairy tale. "There are things whose strong reality Outshines our fairyland; in shape and hues More beautiful than our fantastic sky,

And the strange constellations which the Muse O'er her wild universe is skilful to diffuse." 1

1 Byron.

Mackay justly exclaims:

'Blessings on Science ! When the earth seemed old, When Faith grew doting, and our reason cold, 'Twas she discovered that the world was young, And taught a language to its lisping tongue."

Botany, for instance, is by many regarded as a dry science. Yet though without it we may admire flowers, and trees, it is only as strangers, only as one may admire a great man or a beautiful woman in a crowd. The botanist, on the contrary―nay, I will not say the botanist, but one with even a slight knowledge of that delightful science-when he goes out into the woods, or into one of those fairy forests which we call fields, finds himself welcomed by a glad company of friends, every one with something interesting to tell. Dr. Johnson said that, in his opinion, when you had seen one green field you had seen them all; and a greater even than Johnson-Socratesthe very type of intellect without science,