“All who especially attribute the writing of any particular _paper volume_ to the author of this universal volume infinitely belittle him. “When we consider, then, that this infinite natural volume contains far more information than any finite mind can ever hope to grasp, and that all pain, or misery, results from an inadequate understanding of this sublime revelation, the inevitable conclusion is at once forced upon all impartial minds, that in order to live the holiest lives, all our time should be agreeably employed in learning as much as possible of its contents; and he who spends his time in any other devotion than that of discovering and investigating this phenomenal book, and he who erects any other temple of adoration, and worships at any other shrine than the temple of intelligence, is disobeying the highest authority, and is, therefore, always punished by the Creator here and now. “That the Architect of the universe delights in having us obey the commands He has written in the constitution of things is evidenced by the fact that He always rewards obedience with happiness and disobedience with pain. For example: “Healthful exercise, He rewards with a strong muscle and a vigorous mind. A well-adjusted appetite, He rewards with an unimpaired digestion and an abundant assimilation. To him who does not violate the circulatory laws, He gives a pure, firm, plentiful circulation. Regular, healthful habits, He rewards with a sensitive, highly-adjusted nervous system, a bright eye, rosy cheeks, and an elastic step. Industrious voluntary co-operation, He rewards with abundance and harmony; peaceful habits, with love and prosperity; genius, with improvement and progress; true justice, with equity and abundance to all; and freedom, with the highest form of happiness. “But let us look at it from still another standpoint; let us examine whether the postulation of a prayer-hearing God can be reconciled with the scientific world, with the ‘harmony of the universe.’ “If God is affected by man’s prayer, and if man is a ‘free, moral agent,’ as your orthodox world claims him to be, then God’s action must, to a certain extent, be determined by and dependent on the arbitrary fancies of man’s devotional exercises. This state of affairs would, on the one hand, deprive science of all its certitude; would sever the continuity and destroy the uniformity of nature; would probably, by an intervention of prayer, make action which is _equal_ to reaction one day, only half equal to it the next day. It would also rob God of all independent activity and make Him the sport of man’s whims and passions. But if, on the other hand, God is not affected by prayer, prayer is worse than useless; for it involves an expenditure of vitality which should be all utilized for useful activity, as we have seen. Thus we see that a prayer-hearing God and a ‘free, moral agent’ can not be reconciled with the scientific world.”