(_i_) _Gen. 22:8, 14_—“_God will provide himself the lamb ... Jehovah-jireh_” (marg.: that is, “Jehovah will see,” or “provide”); _Deut. 8:3_—“_man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live_”; _Phil. 4:19_—“_my God shall supply every need of yours._” (_j_) _Ps. 68:10_—“_Thou, O God, didst prepare of thy goodness for the poor_”; _Is. 64:4_—“_neither hath the eye seen a God besides thee, who worketh for him that waiteth for him_”; _Mat. 6:8_—“_your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him_”; _32, 33_—“_all these things shall be added unto you._” (_k_) _Ps. 7:12, 13_—“_If a man turn not, he will whet his sword; He hath bent his bow and made it ready; He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; He maketh his arrows fiery shafts_”; _11:6_—“_Upon the wicked he will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind shall be the portion of their cup._” The statements of Scripture with regard to God’s providence are strikingly confirmed by recent studies in physiography. In the early stages of human development man was almost wholly subject to nature, and environment was a determining factor in his progress. This is the element of truth in Buckle’s view. But Buckle ignored the fact that, as civilization advanced, ideas, at least at times, played a greater part than environment. Thermopylæ cannot be explained by climate. In the later stages of human development, nature is largely subject to man, and environment counts for comparatively little. “There shall be no Alps!” says Napoleon. Charles Kingsley: “The spirit of ancient tragedy was man conquered by circumstance; the spirit of modern tragedy is man conquering circumstance.” Yet many national characteristics can be attributed to physical surroundings, and so far as this is the case they are due to the ordering of God’s providence. Man’s need of fresh water leads him to rivers,—hence the original location of London. Commerce requires seaports,—hence New York. The need of defense leads man to bluffs and hills,—hence Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, Edinburgh. These places of defense became also places of worship and of appeal to God.