stilling its wild commotion, and becoming, as it were, solid ground to His feet. It will also bring its evidence to the second advent of Christ-the future judge of the living and the dead. Among the signs that are to precede the terrible day of the Lord, is the confusion of the roaring sea, and its waves, "while men are withering away, with fear and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world.” (Luke xxiv.)

In his apocalyptic vision, the Evangelist St. John describes an angelic herald proclaiming to all sublunary things, whether on land or ocean, their final doom:

"Then shall the archangel stand

One foot on sea, and one on shore-
And swear, with an uplifted hand,
That time shall be no more!

And while heaven's last thunders roll,
Like a burning blackening scroll;

Reeling from the face of day,

Earth, and sea shall flee away."

In the interim, before the accomplishment of this Eternal decree: "let the heavens, the earth, and the sea,

and everything that creepeth therein," (Ps.) praise Him, "who is, and who was, and who is to come." But, enough of this rambling essay on the liquid main. In conclusion

Farewell, vast ocean! wonderful art thou !

In calm, or sunshine-when peace reigns o'er thee;
Serene and quiet is thy glassy brow,

Thou glorious mirror of the Deity !
Endless, eversounding sea-
Image of Eternity!

Troubled, with unconscious breast,
Like the dead without their rest;
Deaf unto thy own wild roar,
Heard at once on every shore ;
Stretching on from pole to pole,
Far as suns, and seasons roll,
Far as reign of night and day,-
Sounding on, away-away."

CHAPTER XV.

THE PLANETARY SPHERES WITNESSES TO THEIR MAKER.

"His throne as the sun before me, and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven," (Ps.) "By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth?" (Job, xxx.) "And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years to shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done. And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day, and a lesser light to rule the night and stars." (Gen. i.) "The sun, the moon, and the stars being bright, and sent forth for profitable uses, are obedient." (Bar. vi.) "Praise ye Him, O ye sun and moon; praise Him all ye stars of light; for He spoke, and they were made: He commanded, and they were created." (Ps. xlviii.) "I will behold the heavens, the work of Thy fingers." (viii.) "Praise the Lord, who made the great lights; for His mercy endureth for ever. (cxxxv.)

"The firmament on high is (God's) beauty, the beauty of heaven, with its glorious show. The sun when he appeareth showing forth at his rising, an admirable instru

ment, the work of the Most High; and the moon in all her seasons, is a declaration of times." (Eccles. xliii.)

"Now glows the firmament

With living sapphires: Hesperus, that leads
The starry hosts, shines brightest, till the moon
Rising, in clouded majesty, at length,
Apparent queen, unveils her peerless light,

And o'er the dark her silver mantle throws."

"The heavens show forth God's glory, and the firmament declareth the work of His hands. Day unto day uttereth speech, night unto night teacheth knowledge." (Ps.) While the universe unceasingly proclaims the Lord's wisdom, power, and magnificence, the psalmist's favorite theme is worth repeating in a poetical paraphrase:

"The heavens declare thy glory, Lord!

Which that alone can fill ;

The firmament and stars express
Their great Creator's skill.
The dawn of each returning day,

From beams of knowledge springs,

From darkest night's successive rounds,
Divine instruction springs;

Their powerful language to no realm,
Or, region, is confined;

'Tis nature's voice, and understood
Alike, by all mankind."

Mentally emancipated from earth's trammels, a mortal may spring aloft, on fancy's wings, amid the orbs of heaven; and there enraptured listen to the music of the spheres; I mean that music, or concord, resulting from a regular motion of worlds within worlds, while revolving round a common centre.

Without pausing to investigate whether this harmony be produced by the old Newtonian system of centripetal and centrifugal forces; or, by Adolph's ingenious "new Theory of the Solar System," we may admiringly gaze on the celestial grandeur of the scene:

"Where move in solemn majesty,

The splendid planets of the skies,
High Altars, wherefrom angels see
The incense of creation rise."

In the distant horizon, the luminous clouds, which to man's unassisted vision, appear as simple traces of vapour, are resolvable by the telescope into myriads of burning suns, each, with its satellites, or train of attendant worlds:

"From the profound of heaven,
Untravell'd even in thought, keen, piercing rays
Dart through the void, revealing to the sense,
Systems and worlds unnumber'd,

Stars crowded, throng'd in regions so remote,

That their swift beams, the swiftest things that be,
Have travell'd centuries on their flight to us.
Earth, sun, and nearer constellations! What
Are ye amid this measureless extent

Of God's most exalted works?

Ye glorious lamps of heaven! what mind can guess,
What tongue can utter, all your multitudes,

Known but to Him, who illumines all ?"

According to Holy Writ: "The glory of the stars is the beauty of Heaven, the Lord enlighteneth the world on high. By the words of the Holy One, they shall stand in judgment, and shall never fail in their watches." (Eccles. xliii.)

What astronomer can contemplate without emotion