footstool. Assist me to adore thee as the high and lofty One, that inhabits eternity, and as exalted above the comprehension and praises of the most excellent of all thy intelligent creatures. I am as nothing compared with thee; all the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers in thy sight, and are counted less than nothing and vanity. Thy greatness, O God! renders thy condescension admirable, in allowing man to approach thy throne, and attending to his requests. And thy constant care of him renders his attendance to thy service a perpetual duty, in point of gratitude. O thou inexhaustible fountain of being and blessings! thou infinite source of light and life! help me to cultivate my mind in the knowledge of thy adorable perfections, and thy revealed will, that I may imitate the heavenly inhabitants in serving thee. Reveal thy glories to my soul, that I may breathe after thee with the most ardent desire, and love thee with a strong and pure affection. And when I shall have lived according to thy will on earth, may I be admitted to dwell in thy presence in the heavenly world, through Jesus Christ my only Lord and Saviour.

25

ON THE PERFECTIONS OF GOD,

DISPLAYED IN THE WORKS OF CREATION.

"Behold! Philosophy thy choice invites,
How safe a guide, how blameless her delights;
Where'er we fix or turn our wond'ring eyes,
Around, on every side, what objects rise!
A field of contemplation meets our view,
For ever pleasing, innocent, and new,

Fear not through all her harmless maze to stray,
"Tis hard to err where wisdom leads the way.'

WHAT a stupendous fabric is creation! a marvellous display of Omnipotence! It is infinitely diversified, and magnificently grand. Ten thousand objects strike the wandering eye, and afford inexpressible delight to a contemplative mind. The works of nature present a large field for meditation: they are great and honourable, and sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

What an immeasurable height is that blue ethereal arch! How gloriously is it now illuminated with that shining lamp the sun, declining in the western sky! It is too dazzling for mortal eye long to behold:

"So the bright globe that rules the skies,

Though with a glorious rise he gilds the heavens,
Reserves his choicest beams to grace his set,
And then he looks most great,

And then in greatest splendour dies."

This amazing object is the instrument of heat, light, and vital influence; not only to this earth, beautifying its diversified surface with living green, and ripening its fruits for the use and

comfort of man and beast, but to all the dependent globes around it, even to immense distances. This golden luminary, shining forth in his glory, spreads abroad the lucid day: in running his prescribed course, he measures out our time, renders our hours. joyful, and without his reviving beams we should dwell in darkness. The sun appears not large, but that is occasioned by his remote situation in the centre of our system; for his dimension is supposed to exceed that of the earth many thousand times. Though men of philosophical research have called the sun a sea of liquid fire, it is now believed to be a dense body, and only the grand agent employed to bring the matter of fire diffused through all bodies, into action:

An object thus illustrious and useful in the regular and wise economy of nature, observes an elegant and pious author, is every where mentioned in the sacred volume as a metaphor fraught with truths of infinite moment, imparting wisdom to the simple, and instruction to the ignorant. Viewing our sun in all his paramount qualities to every material object, how is he eclipsed and surpassed by Him who is the Sun of our immortal souls, of whose grace and merit this is but a faint emblem, and from whom issues, in bright and gentle beams, all the light and all the joy we experience now, or hope to enjoy hereafter. The one is the most excellent in the planetary system, but the other is the source of all that is comely and attractive both in nature and grace. The material sun runs its course

and completes its circuit, to fulfil its original destination from day to day, with unwearied regularity, activity, and ardour. And has not our Divine Redeemer also finished the great career of our redemption, and performed all those miracles of mercy for which the Father and Ruler of the universe ordained, and still holds him forth by his providence and Gospel, as the sovereign luminary of his spiritual doThe former diffuses vitality, illumination, vegetation, and felicity through the whole mass of animated nature, which pervades our world and the worlds around us. And does not the other likewise dissipate the ignorance which darkens the intellectual regions, enlighten our minds in all saving knowledge, and spread or shed abroad in the human heart every grace and virtue ?

minions.

Were our natural sun to withdraw his beams or absent himself from the centre of our system, for any given time, the whole would instantly be black as night, and "chaos come again." With what heart-felt gladness should we not in that case hail his return to our hemisphere, and rejoice in the repossession of all his wonted. charms. Does not the earth return the fructifying warmth of the sun, and all his genial effects, in a profusion of verdure, foliage, and flowers? Do not all the irrational tribes joyfully greet his rising every morning, and bask in his presence through the day with satisfac

tion? Do not all the orbs which circulate around him, and are preserved and cherished

in their respective spheres by his ministry, offer him perpetual homage by maintaining invariable harmony and order? And are we not taught by surrounding objects what is due to the reception of so many mercies, and upbraided with ingratitude to our best Benefactor?

The Church, rich in the bloom of holiness, and ripening for the harvest of glory, is said to be "clothed with the sun." It is the gracious promise, on which all the hopes and wishes of the best confidently rely, that the "righteous shall" ultimately "shine as the sun." Το them, in this vale of tears, amidst all its darkness and gloom, disturbed by storms from the sufferings it occasions, and made dismal by the sights it presents, the Lord is a sun and a shield. And good reason have the whole Christian world to rejoice, that the Sun of righteousness, or Saviour of men, who for our sakes humbled himself, and became obedient to death, has risen again with healing in his wings.

No less worthy of my contemplation is the rising MOON, which God has appointed to rule the night, and give light to men. This bright orb gilds the shadows of the evening, and directs the feet of the benighted and lonely traveller in safety to his welcome abode.

The silver moon appears in sight,
Adorned with rays of borrow'd light,
Her nightly course begins to run;
Succeeds the greater light, the sun;
And shines on this terrene abode,
As first ordain'd for her by God.