Sermons are not always preached from pulpits. They are written in the rocks and on the flowers of the field and the trees of the forest. Let us then look a little at the underground foundation of all this beautiful earth. And before attempting that, the question may arise in some minds how we know what is so deep down under the surface. Fortunately this is a question very easily answered. At some period after the rocks were formed the crust of the earth was broken by volcanic eruptions at various places and times, and turned up, as in the formation of mountains, so that the edges of the various stratifications of the rocks, from those near the surface down to the lowest rocks, are exposed to view. Another means of knowing what the various formations are has been by borings of deep wells. These borings, however, are only confirmatory of what was well known before through the upheavals that are plentiful in all parts of the world. There is abundant evidence that all of the rocks and all of the strata of every name and nature (except perhaps igneous rocks) were originally laid down in water. This is evidenced not only by the stratifications themselves, but by the evidences of sea-life everywhere present in the earth's crust. Before the upheavals in the earth's crust began, the whole surface of the globe was a great ocean of hot water. The substances of which the rocks were formed were undoubtedly held in suspension in the air and in the water, and by a gradual process were deposited in the bottom of the ocean in layers, forming rocks of various kinds, according to the nature of the substance deposited. Gradually the crust of the earth was built up until it acquired a certain thickness; when, either from shrinkage under the crust a great void was formed until it could not sustain its own weight, or the pressure caused by confined gases and molten matter produced an upheaval which broke the crust of the earth outward, causing great wrinkles that we call mountain ranges. Undoubtedly both forces were active in producing these results. When the gases and molten matter had escaped through the rifts in the rocks caused by the upheaval there must have been great voids formed that were filled up by the shrinkage of the earth, causing much irregularity in its surface.