Page images
PDF
EPUB

LESSON LXXI.

HYMN TO THE UNIVERSE.

1. Roll on, thou Sun! forever roll,

Thou giant, rushing through the heaven,
Creation's wonder, nature's soul,

Thy golden wheels by angels driven;
The planets die without thy blaze,

And cherubims, with star-dropt wing,
Float in thy diamond-sparkling rays,

Thou brightest emblem of their king!

2. Roll, lovely Earth! and still roll on,
With ocean's azure beauty bound;
While one sweet star, the pearly moon,
Pursues thee through the blue profound;
And angels, with delighted eyes,

Behold thy tints of mount and stream,
From the high walls of paradise,

Swift-wheeling like a glorious dream.

3. Roll, Planets! on your dazzling road,
Forever sweeping round the sun;
What eye beheld when first ye glowed?
What eye shall see your courses done?
Roll in your solemn majesty,

Ye dauntless splendors of the skies!
High altars, from which angels see
The incense of creation rise.

4. Roll, Comets! and ye million Stars!

[ocr errors]

Ye that through boundless nature roam; Ye monarchs, on your flame-winged cars, Tell us in what more glorious dome,

What orb to which your pomps are dim,
What kingdom but by angels trod;
Tell us where swells the eternal hymn
Around His throne, - where dwells your God!

1.

LESSON LXXII.

URSA MAJOR.*-WARE.

When the sons of God

Sent forth that shout of joy, which rung through heaven
And echoed from the outer spheres that bound
The illimitable universe, thy voice

Joined the high chorus; from thy radiant orbs,
The glad cry sounded, swelling to his praise,
Who thus had cast another sparkling gem,
Little, but beautiful, amid the crowd

Of splendors that enrich his firmament.

2. As thou art now, so wast thou then, the same. And beauty still is thine,

[ocr errors]

as clear, as bright,

As when the Almighty Former sent thee forth,
Beautiful offspring of his curious skill,

To watch earth's northern beacon, and proclaim
The eternal chorus of eternal love.

3 Ye glorious lamps of God, he may have quenched
Your ancient flames, and bid eternal night
Rest on your spheres; and yet no tidings reach
This distant planet. Messengers still come,
Laden with your far-fire, and we may seem

To see your lights still burning, while their blaze

* Ur'sa Ma'jor, (the great bear,) one of the northern constellations, which may

be known by its seven stars forming the figure of a dipper.

But hides the black wreck of extinguished realms,
Where anarchy and darkness long have reigned.

4. Yet what is this, which to the astonished mind
Seems measureless, and which the baffled thought
Confounds? A span, a point, in those domains
Which the keen eye can traverse. Seven stars
Dwell in that brilliant cluster; and the sight
Embraces all at once; yet each from each
Recedes, as far as each of them from earth;
And every star from every other burns

5.

6.

No less remote. From the profound of heaven,
Untraveled even in thought, keen, piercing rays
Dart through the void, revealing to the sense,
Systems and worlds unnumbered.

Take the glass

And search the skies. The opening skies pour down Upon your gaze thick showers of sparkling fire, — Stars, crowded, thronged, in regions so remote,

That their swift beams

[ocr errors]

-the swiftest things that be

Have traveled centuries on their flight to earth.
Earth, sun, and nearer constellations, what
Are ye, amid this infinite extent

And multitude of God's most infinite works!

In other days,

When death shall give the encumbered spirit wings,
Its range shall be extended; it shall roam,
Perchance, among those vast, mysterious spheres,
Shall pass from orb to orb, and dwell in each,
Familiar with its children, learn their laws,

And share their state, and study and adore
The infinite varieties of bliss

And beauty, by the hand of Power Divine,
Lavished on all his works.

[blocks in formation]

Shall thus roll on with ever fresh delight;
No pause of pleasure or improvement; world
On world still op'ning to th' instructed mind
An unexhausted universe, and time
But adding to its glories; while the soul,
Advancing ever to the Source of light
And all perfection, lives, adores, and reigns
In cloudless knowledge, purity, and bliss.

LESSON LXXIII.

CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. - STORY.

1. When we reflect on what has been, and is now, is i possible not to feel a profound sense of the responsibleness of this Republic to all future ages? What vast motives press upon us for lofty efforts! What brilliant prospects invite our enthusiasm! What solemn warnings at once demand our vigilance, and moderate our confidence!

2. The old world has already revealed to us, in its unsealed books, the beginning and end of all its own marvelous struggles in the cause of liberty. Greece, lovely Greece, "the land of scholars, and the nurse of arts," where sister republics, in fair processions, chanted the praises of liberty and the gods, where, and what is she? For two thousand years the oppressor has bound her to the earth. Her arts are no more. The last, sad relics of her temples, are but the barracks of a ruthless soldiery; the fragments of her columns and her palaces, are in the dust, yet beautiful in

ruin.

3. Where are the republics of modern times, which clustered around immortal Italy? Venice and Genoa exist but

in name. The Alps, indeed, look down upon the brave and peaceful Swiss in their native fastnesses; but the guarantee of their freedom is in their weakness, and not in their strength. The mountains are not easily crossed, and the valleys are not easily retained.

4. We stand the latest, and if we fail, probably the last experiment of self-government by the people. We have begun it under circumstances of the most auspicious nature. We are in the vigor of youth. Our growth has never been checked by the oppressions of tyranny. Our constitutions have never been enfeebled by the vices, or luxuries, of the old world. Such as we are, we have been from the beginning, simple, hardy, intelligent, accustomed to

self-government and self-respect.

5. The Atlantic rolls between us and any formidable foe. Within our own territory, stretching through many degrees of latitude and longitude, we have the choice of many products, and many means of independence. The government is mild. The press is free. Religion is free. Knowledge reaches, or may reach, every home. What fairer prospect of success could be presented? What means more adequate to accomplish the sublime end? What more is necessary, than for the people to preserve what they themselves have created?

6. Already has the age caught the spirit of our institutions. It has already ascended the Andes, and snuffed the breezes of both oceans. It has infused itself into the lifeblood of Europe, and warmed the sunny plains of France and the lowlands of Holland. It has touched the philosophy of Germany and the north, and, moving onward to the south has opened to Greece the lessons of her better days.

7. Can it be, that America, under such circumstances, can betray herself? that she is to be added to the catalogue of republics, the inscription of whose ruin is, "They were, but they are not?" Forbid it, my countrymen; forbid it, Heaven!

« EelmineJätka »