218 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 



of the Creator! Thousands of thousands of suns 

 multiplied without end, and ranged all around us at 

 immense distances from each other, attended by ten 

 thousand times ten thousand worlds, all in rapid mo- 

 tion, yet calm, regular, and harmonious, invariably 

 keeping the paths prescribed them ; and these worlds, 

 doubtless, peopled with myriads of beings, formed 

 for endless progression in perfection and felicity ! 



(( Not only this which we by custom call 

 Our world, the stars embellishing the skies 



Are worlds alike, th' Almighty rules them all, 

 And all at first from matter's ma(fe did rise. 



Thus we see, that the great Creator of the Uni- 

 verse, like gold well tried in the furnace of the re- 

 finer, rises more august, more grand, more sublime, 

 more inexpressible, beyond what our finite capaci- 

 ties can conceive, or our tongues express, the more 

 we extend our researches into nature ; that " the 

 works of the Lord are indeed great, in proportion 

 as they are sought out of all them that have pleasure 

 therein;" while man, an atom of an atom world, 

 dwindles into insignificance as he becomes sensible 

 of his own imperfections and weakness; and even 

 the most devout and diligent student of nature, while 

 he is forced to exclaim as he contemplates the won- 

 ders of the skies, " The heuvens declare the glory 

 of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy work," 

 is also obliged, from a sense of his own littleness, 

 when put in competition with those mighty orbs, to 



