of which it is a part, is only one among the myriado hosts of heaven! With all its innumerable suns and systems, and the tremendous voids that lie between, it is only one company in the grand army of God; a single cluster among multitūdes of others of equal and greater magnitude and splendor.

7. And, if three thousand millions of miles separatethe sun from one of its planets, and twenty millious of millions of miles separate one sun from another, what, — the same stūpendous scale being preserved,149 — what must be the breadth of that nameless profound which separates one firmament121 from another,

which lies between those magnificent and mighty clusters, that, as the telëscópezi is improved, rise upon the field of vision, troop behind troop, emerging forever out of the fathomless depths of space!

8. Verily, we are ready to exclaim, with the Psalmist, EI « () Lord God Almighty, marvellous are thy works, and that'18 my soul knoweth right well, -- marvellous are thy works, and in wisdom and in power hast thou made them all.” And, were it not that we have the assurance that they are made in goodness as well as in wisdom and power, we should almost fear lest we should be overlooked and forgotten amid this endless wilderness of worlds; often we should take up that other cry of the Psalmist, —“ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordaincu, what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him!”

LXV. - ASTRONOMY AND IMMORTALITY.

Part Second. 1. And yět, after all, it is man, it is mind, it is intelligent spirit, k that gives to this grand thēátrest of the material universe all its substantial use and worth, all its reäl glory! Without men and angels, without Mind to appreciate and enjoy it, to honor and glorify its Author, it would be like a splendid and costly pănorā'ma El without spectators.

2. It would be as if one should compose and have performed a magnificent öratö'riokl without an audience! And this brings us to the argument for the endless life of the soul, the immortality of Mind, which seems necessarily and logically to grow out of the infinitüde of the material universe.

3. For whit is this display of worlds and suns, of galaxies: and constellations and clusters, without number and without

end, if the soul, so colossale in its powers, so fitted to explore, appreciate, and enjoy these wonders, and through which, only these and all else can glorify God, — if this is to perish at death and be no more forever?

4. Why is so glorious a work set out before it, and ability and energy given to perform it, but the time alone denied ? For surely the present life, compared with the extent of the universe, is as a cipher to infinity. The mind has opportunity only to try its powers, to realize what it can do if time be given, and then it is crushed out, according to the gospeles of unbelief, leaving the glorious work it could do all unfinished, — yea, El scarcely begun!

5. Let us look at this : let us consider how much one can do toward a thorough acquaintance with our little planet, the earth, within the space of time allotted to the ordinary life of man How much is it possible for us to accomplish in studying the surface of our globe,- its mountains, seas, rivers, plains, deserts, forests, and mines; its countless forms of animal and vegetable life, - beasts and birds, fishes, reptiles, and insects, – plants flowers, and fruits, — nations, languages, customs, modes of life, - history, science, and art, — and so through the encyclopēdia EI of all knowledge possible to man in his present estate,isi — how much of this grand survey,82 in its endless details, is it possible for us to accomplish in a single lifetime? .

6. Extend now this study and survey to the myriad millions of worlds aud systems which we have glanced at in passing, and the myriad millions more, invisible, plunging through the fathomless profound of space. What time will be needful to this greate work, — what time to behold, examinc, Et and enjoy the nameless and numberless exhibitions of the Divine power, and wisdom, and goodness, spread out on this broad and magnificent theatre of the universe, — what time to become familiar with the order and arrangements, the harmonies and beauties, the life and history, of each one of these glittering orbs ?132

7. What time, but that which shall parallel this endless procession of suns and constellations ? What life, but an unending one, will be long enough to look upon all the glorious wonders of Creative Power; and lift the veil from the beautiful mysteries which burn along the infinite abysses, and invite the gaze of the exulting astronomer, only to show him that they lie beyond the reach of all human efforts !

8. Is there not here, then, a presumptive proof of the endless life of the soul ?128 Has not God himself furnished us here an illustration of the great revelation of the gospel, that we live fore ever? Is He not consistent Are not all his works in har.

mony? If he gives light, he gives an eye to use it. If he fills the world with a thousand delicious melodies, he forms the ear to enjoy them. If he creates us with animal needs and desires, he furnishes the means of gratifying them.

9. If he implants a religious element in man, he bestows the means of fitting culture; he gives us Revelation and Truth as an answer to the spiritual cry within. So in all things, — in all his works and arrangements, — there is relation, proportion, mutual harinony. And why should it fail in the case before us now ?

LXVI. — GOD.
1. O thou eternal One! whose presence bright

All space doth occupy, all motion guide, -
Unchanged through Time's all-devastating flight,

Thou only God! there is no God beside!
Being above all beings! Mighty One!

Whom none can comprehend and none explore,
Who fill'st existence with thyself alone;

Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er, -
Being whom we call God, and know no more!

2. In its sublime research, Philosophy

May measure out the ocean deep, may count
The sands or the sun's rays; but, God! for thee

There is no weight nor measure ; none can mount
Up to thy mysteries ; Reason's brightest spark,

Though kindled by thy light, in vain would try
To trace thy counsels, infinite and dark ;

And thought is lost erex thought can soar so high,
Even like past moments in eternity.

3. Thou from primēral nothingness didst call162

First chāðs, then existence ; Lord, on thee
Eternity had its foundation ; all

Sprang forth from thee, - of light, joy, harmony,
Sole origin ; all life, all beauty, thine.

Thy word created all, and doth124 create ;
Thy splendor fills all space with rays divine.

Thou art, and wert, and shalt be, glorious, great,
Life-giving, life-sustaining Potentate!

4. Thy chains the unmeasured universe surround,

upheld by thee, by thee inspired with breath.
Thou the beginning with the end hast bound,

And beautifully mingled life and death!
As sparks mount upward from the fiery blaze,

So suns are born, so worlds spring forth from thee; And as the spangles in the sunny rays

Shine round the silver snow, the pageantry Of heaven's bright army glitters in thy praise.

5. A million torches, lighted by thy hand,

Wander unwearied through the blue abyss ;
They own thy power, accomplish thy command,

All gay with life, all eloquent with bliss.
What shall we call them? — Piles of crystal light?

A glorious company of golden streams?
Lamps of celestial other, burning bright?

Suns lighting systems with their joyous beams? --
But thou to these art as the noon to night.

6. Yes! as a drop of water in the sea,

All this magnificence in thee is lost;
What are ten thousand worlds compared to thee?

And what am I, then? – Heaven's unnumbered host,
Though inultiplied by myriads, and arrayed

In all the glory of sublimest thought,
Is but an atom in the balance, weighed

Against thy greatness, – is a cipher brought
Against infinity! 0, what am I, then ? — Naught.

7. Naught! But the effluence of thy light divine,

Perrading worlds, hath reached my bosom too ; Yes! in my spirit doth thy Spirit shine,

As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew.33
Naught! — but I live, and on hope's pinions fly

Eager towarde thy presence; for in thee
I live, and breathe, and dwell ; aspiring high,

Even to the throne of thy divinity.
I am,117 O God, and surely thou must be!

8. Thou art! directing, guiding all. Thou art!

Direct my understanding, then, to thee;
Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart :

Though but an atom 'mid immensity,
Still I am something fashioned by thy hand !

I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth,
On the last verge of inortal being stand,

Close to the realms where ängels have their birth Just on the boundary of the spirit-land!

9. The chain of being is complete in me;

In me is matter's last gradation lost ;
And the next step is spirit, — Deity!

I can command the lightning, and am dust!
A monarch, and a slave! a worm, a god!

Whence came I here, and how? so marvellously
Constructed and conceived ! Unknown - This clod

Lives surely through some higher energy!
For from itself alone it could not be !

1). Creator, yes! thy wisdom and thy word

Created me! thou Source of life and good !
Thou Spirit of my spirit, and my Lord !

Thy light, thy love, in their bright plenitūde, *
Filled me with an immortal soul, to spring

O’er the abyss of death, and hăde it wear
The garments of eternal day, and wing

Its heavenly flight beyond this little sphere, 6
Even to its Source - to thee - its Author, there.

11. O thoughts ineflable! ( visions blest!

Though worthless our conceptions all of thee,
Yet shall thy shadowed image fill our breast,

And waft its homage to thy Deity.
God! thus alone my lowly thoughts can soar;

Thus seek thy presence, Being wise and good !
'Midst thy vast works admire, obey, adore!
And when the tongue is eloquent no more,
The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude.

DERZHAVIN, TRANSLATED BY BOWRING

LXVII. — EXPRESSION IN READING.
1. 'Tis not enough the voice be sound and clear,-

'Tis modulation 117 that must charin the ear.
When desperate heroines grieve with tedious moan,
And whinells their sorrows in a see-saw tone,
The same soft sounds of unimpassioned woes

Can only make the yawning hearers doze.
2. That voice all modes of passion can express

W bich marks the proper word with proper stress ;
But none emphatic can the reader call,
Who lays an equal emphasis is on all.

3. Some o'er the tongue the labored measures roll

Slow and deliberate as the parting toll ;
Point every stop, mark every pause so strong,
Their words like stage-processions stalk along.