e that city more gorgeous than Eastern
imagination ever conceived, whose pavement is transparent gold,
whose walls are precious stones, whose light is life, and where
no dark planetary bodies ever cast shadows. There reigns the King
and Lord of all, and ranged about are the far-off provinces of his
material systems. They all move in his sight, and receive power
from a mind that never wearies.

[Page 229]
XI.

THE WORLDS AND THE WORD.

"The worlds were framed by the word of God."--_Heb._ xi., 3.

[Page 230]
"Mysterious night! when our first parent knew thee
From report divine, and heard thy name,
Did he not tremble for this lovely frame,
This glorious canopy of light and blue?
Yet, 'neath a curtain of translucent dew,
Bathed in the rays of the great setting flame,
Hesperus, with all the host of heaven, came,
And lo! creation widened in man's view.
Who could have thought such darkness lay concealed
Within thy beams, O Sun! Oh who could find,
Whilst fruit and leaf and insect stood revealed,
That to such countless worlds thou mad'st us blind!
Why do we then shun death with anxious strife?
If light conceal so much, wherefore not life?"
BLANCO WHITE.

[Page 231]
XI.

_THE WORLDS AND THE WORD._

Men have found the various worlds to be far richer than they originally
thought. They have opened door after door in their vast treasuries,
have ascended throne after throne of power, and ruled realms of
increasing extent. We have no doubt that unfoldings in the future
will amaze even those whose expectations have been quickened by
the revealings of the past. What if it be found that the Word is
equally inexhaustible?

After ages of thought and discovery we have come out of the darkness
and misconceptions of men. We believe in no serpent, turtle, or
elephant supporting the world; no Atlas holding up the heavens;
no crystal domes, "with cycles and epicycles scribbled o'er." What
if it be found that one book, written by ignorant men, never fell
into these mistakes of the wisest! Nay, more, what if some of the
greatest triumphs of modern science are to be found plainly stated
in a book older than the writings of Homer? If suns, planets, and
satellites, with all their possibilities of life, changes of flora
and fauna, could be all provided for, as some scientists tell us,
in the fiery star-dust of a cloud, why may not the same Author
provide a perpetually widening river of life