The depths have covered them: They sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power; And in the greatness of thine excellency, Thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: Thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, The floods stood upright as an heap, And the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. The sea covered them: They sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, Glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ? Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. The people shall hear, and be afraid : Sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; By the greatness of thine arm they shall be still as a stone, Till thy people pass over, which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, And plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, In the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for them to dwell in, In the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. Jehovah shall reign forever and ever. EXODUS. LESSON XCII. HYMN OF NATURE. GOD of the earth's extended plains! God of the dark and heavy deep! Hath summoned up their thundering bands; Serenely breathes, "Depart in peace." God of the forest's solemn shade! When, side by side, their ranks they form, To wave on high their plumes of green, God of the fair and open sky! How gloriously above us springs God of the world! the hour must come, Her crumbling altars must decay; But still her grand and lovely scenes The beauty of the world below. W. O. P. PEABODY. LESSON XCIII. THE PRESENCE OF GOD. O, THOU who fling'st so fair a robe The glories of yon upper world; The summer-flowers, the fair, the sweet, In whose soft looks we seem to meet The birds, among the summer blooms, From clime to clime, from pole to pole, The stars, those floating isles of light, That trembles round the form it vails, And, O! how sweet the tales they tell Of faith, of peace, of love, and Thee. Yet, far beyond the clouds outspread, That sparkles from thy radiant throne! MRS. A. B. WELBY. LESSON XCIV. PLANETARY AND TERRESTRIAL WORLDS. To us, who dwell on its surface, the earth is by far the most extensive orb that our eyes can anywhere behold. It is also clothed with verdure, distinguished by trees, and adorned with a variety of beautiful decorations; whereas, to a spectator placed on one of the planets, it wears a uniform aspect, looks all luminous, and no larger than a spot. To beings who dwell at still greater distances, it entirely disappears. The planets, that so wonderfully vary their mystic dance, are in themselves dark bodies, and shine only by reflection; have fields, and seas, and skies of their own, are furnished with all accommodations for animal subsistence, and are supposed to be the abodes of intellectual life; all which, together with our earthly habitation, are dependent on that grand dispenser of divine munificence, the sun; receive their light from the distribution of his rays, and derive their comfort from his benign agency. The sun, which seems to perform its daily stages through the sky, is in this respect fixed and immovable. It is the great axle of heaven, about which the globe we inhabit, and other more spacious orbs, wheel their stated courses. The sun, though seemingly smaller than the dial it illuminates, is abundantly larger than this whole earth, on which so many lofty mountains rise, and such vast oceans roll. A line, extending from side to side through the center of that resplendent orb, would measure more than eight hundred thousand miles; a girdle formed to go round its circumference, would require a length of millions. This sun, with all its attendant planets, is but a very little part of the grand machine of the universe. Every star, though in appearance no bigger than the diamond that glitters upon a lady's ring, is really a vast globe, like the sun in size and in glory; no less spacious, no less luminous, than the radiant source of the day. Thus every star is not barely a world, but the center of a magnificent system; has a retinue of worlds, irradiated by its beams, and revolving round its attractive influence, all which are lost to our sight in unmeasurable wilds of ether. That the stars appear like so many diminutive and scarce distinguishable points, is owing to their immense and inconceivable distance. Immense and inconceivable indeed it is, since a ball, shot from a loaded cannon, and flying with unabated rapidity, must travel at this impetuous rate almost seven hundred thousand years, before it could reach the nearest of those twinkling luminaries. While, beholding this vast expanse, I learn my own extreme meanness, I would also discover the abject littleness of all terrestrial things. What is the earth, with all her ostentatious scenes, compared with this astonishingly grand furniture of the skies? What, but a dim speck, hardly perceivable in the map |