THE CHRISTIAN NATURALIST. 159 



pass over it ?" (Jer. v. 22.) Were a man to see the 

 approach of the tide for the first time, he might well 

 be alarmed. But those who have often witnessed this 

 sight, and who know that the ebbing and flowing of 

 the water is regulated by the moon's course, do not per- 

 haps sufficiently reflect upon the wonderful train of 

 natural causes which must have been put into operation 

 by the hand of Providence to produce this efifect. The 

 return of the tide twice every day is not the less aar« 

 prising because science teaches us to believe, that this 

 is owing to the attractive influence which the body of 

 the moon exerts upon the earth, and especially upon 

 its great moveable fluid the ocean. For what a mys- 

 terious page of nature does this fact open when we 

 thus behold ourselves linked as it were by an invisible 

 chain to a distant world ! How forcibly should this 

 remind us of our mysterious connexion with the in- 

 visible world of spirits, which is continually drawing 

 us towards it, and holding us fast by a firm and ever- 

 lasting bond. Our close connexion with the moon 

 may also remind us of the relation which subsists be 

 tween all true believers, and that mystical body the 

 Church of Christ to which they belong. The moon is 

 the scriptural emblem* of that Church which holds all 

 * Sol. Song vi. 10.— Rev. xii. 1. 



