STAR-GAZING. 173 



the satellites of Jupiter, and fonnd in that far-off 

 region the same kind of movements as those which 

 he affirmed, in spite of persecution, were characteristic 

 of our planet. And ever since that day, astronomy 

 has continued to produce fresh evidences of the 

 uniformity of nature and the oneness of nature's 

 Original. The silvery Venus, showing by her phases 

 that she passes through transitions like those of the 

 moon ; the ruddy Mars, reflecting from his polar 

 snows the light which upon the same principles 

 glorifies our sky ; the mighty Jupiter, belted with 

 fleecy clouds that tell of atmospheric influences like 

 those with which we are familiar ; the many-ringed 

 Saturn, testifying offerees which operate all through 

 our world ; and the remote Uranus, trembling in 

 its orbit in obedience to gravitation, and so leading 

 to the discovery of its remoter neighbour Neptune, 

 all these are held in their places by the same 

 conditions as those which rule the earth. And in 

 the depths of space are detected by means of the 

 magical spectroscope the identical elements which 

 compose our globe, and the laws of light and colour 

 which determine the hues of our many-tinted flowers. 

 The Father's house has " many mansions," but they 

 all stand in some essential relation to each other 

 and bear the impress of one presiding Intelligence. 



The most remarkable instance, perhaps, of uni- 

 formity of law is the revolution of the heavenly 

 bodies round others greater than themselves. This, 

 like many another discovery of modern science, is 

 seen to be referred to in the Scriptures, now that 

 a better understanding of nature has supplied the 



