e zones. Pythagoras, 580
B.C., knew, in addition to the sphericity of the earth, the obliquity
of the ecliptic, the identity of the evening and morning star, and
that the earth revolves round the sun. This Greek astronomy appears
immediately after the opening of Egypt to the Greeks; and both these
philosophers studied in that country. Such knowledge, and more of the
same character, may therefore have existed in Egypt at a much earlier
period.

The Psalms abound in beautiful references to the creation of the
fourth day:

"When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers,
The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
--Psalm viii.

"Who telleth the number of the stars,
Who calleth them all by their names.
Great is our Lord, and of great praise;
His understanding is infinite.
The Lord lifteth up the meek;
He casteth the wicked to the ground."
--Psalm cxlvii.

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
The firmament showeth his handiwork;
Day unto day uttereth speech,
Night unto night showeth knowledge.
They have no speech nor language,
Their voice is not heard;
Yet their line is gone out to all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them hath he set a pavilion for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
Its going forth is from the end of the heavens,
And its circuit unto the end of them.
And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof."
--Psalm xix.

These are excellent illustrations of the truth of the Scripture mode
of treating natural objects, in connection with their Maker. It is but
a barren and fruitless philosophy which sees the work and not its
author--a narrow piety which loves God but despises his works. The
Bible holds forth the golden mean between these extremes, in a strain
of lofty poetry and acute perception of the great and beautiful,
whether seen in the Creator or reflected from his works.

The work of this day opens up a wide field for astronomical
illustration, more especially in relation to the wisdom and
benevolence of the Creator as displayed in the heavens; but it would
be foreign to our present purpose to enter into these.

It may be well, however, to think for a moment o