DECEMBER. 397 



dous power of its Creator, and of the insignifi- 

 cance of self. A breathing atom, a speck even, 

 upon the surface of a world which is itself a 

 speck in the universal world, we send our ima- 

 gination forth amongst innumerable orbs, all 

 stupendous in magnitude, all swarming with 

 existence, vainly striving to reach the bounda- 

 ries of space, till, astonished and confounded, it 

 recoils from the hopeless task, aching, dazzled, 

 and humbled to the dust. What a weary sense 

 attends the attempt of a finite being to grasp 

 infinity ! Space beyond space ! space beyond 

 space still ! There is nothing for the mind to 

 rest its wearied wing upon, and it shrinks back 

 into its material cell, in adoration and humility. 

 Such are the feelings and speculations which have 

 attended the human spirit in all ages, in con- 

 templating this magnificent spectacle. David has 

 beautifully expressed their effect upon him ; and 

 there is a paper in the Spectator, Vol. viii. No. 

 565, which forms an admirable commentary upon 

 his eloquent exclamation. The awful vastness 

 of the power of the Deity, evinced in the scenes 

 which night reveals, is sure to abase the pride 

 of our intellect; and to shake the overgrowth 

 of our self-love ; but these influences are not 

 without their benefit; and the beauty and be- 



