away, and the sober shades advanced; Hesperus, who leads the starry train, disclosed his radiant forehead, and catched my eye. While I stood gazing on his bright and beautiful aspect, several of his attendants peeped through the blue cur tains. Scarce had I turned to observe these fresh emanations of splendor, but others dropt the veil, others stole into view; when, lo! faster and more. numerous, multitudes sprung from obscurity; they poured in shining troops, and in sweet confusion, over all the empyrean plain; till the firmament seemed like one vast constellation, and " a flood "of glory burst from all the skies." Is not such the rise, and such the progress, of a true conversion in the prejudiced infidel, or inattentive sinner? During the period of his vainer years, a thousand interesting truths lay utterly undiscovered, a thousand momentous concerns were entirely disregarded: but, when divine grace dissipates the delusive glitter, which dazzled his understanding, and beguiled his affections; then he begins to discern, dimly to discern, the things which belong unto his peace: some admonition of Scripture darts conviction into his soul, as the glimmering of a star pierces the gloom of night:then, perhaps, another awful, or cheering text, impresses terror, or diffuses comfort: a threatening alarms his fears, or a promise awakens his hopes: this, possibly, is succeeded by some afflictive dispensation of Providence, and improved by some edifying and instructive conversation; all which is established as to its continuance, and enlarged, as to its influence, by a diligent study of the sacred word. By this means, new truths continually pour their evidence; scenes of refined and exalted, but hitherto unknown delight, address him with their attractives: new desires take wing, new pursuits are set on foot: a new turn of mind forms his temper; a new habit of conversation regulates his life in a word; old things are passed away, and all things become new: he, who was sometimes dark. ness, is now light, and life, and joy in the Lord. The more attentively I view the crystal concave the more fully I discern the richness of its decorations: abundance of minuter lights, which lay concealed from a superficial notice, are visible on a closer examination, especially in those tracts of the sky which are called the galaxy, and are dis. tinguishable by a sort of milky path. There the stars are crowded, rather than disseminated; the region seems to be all on a blaze with their blended rays.-Besides this vast profusion, which in my present situation the eye discovers; was I to make my survey from any other part of the globe, lying nearer the southern pole, I should I behold a new choir of starry bodies, which have never appeared within our horizon.-Was I (which is still more wonderful), either here or there, to view the firmament with the virtuoso's glass, I should find a prodigious maltitude of flaming orbs, which, immersed in depths of æther, escape the keenest unassisted sight:-Yet, in these va rious situations, even with the aid of the teles copic tube, I should not be able to descry the half, perhaps not a thousandth part, of those majestic luminaries, which the vast expansive hea vens contain t:-So, the more diligently I pursue Come forth, O man, yon azure round survey, Bee an ingenious Poem, intituled The Universe. my search into those oracles of eternal truth, the Scriptures, I perceive a wider, a deeper, an everincreasing fund of spiritual treasures: I perceive the brighter strokes of wisdom, and the richer displays of goodness; a more transcendent excellency in the illustrious Messiah, and a more deplorable vileness in fallen man; a more immaculate purity in God's law, and more precious privileges in his gospel: yet, after a course of study ever so assiduous, ever so prolonged, I should have reason to own myself a mere babe in heavenly knowledge; or, at most, but a puerile proficient in the school of Christ. After all my most accurate inspection, those starry orbs appear but as glittering points: even the planets, though so much nearer our earthly mansion, seem only like burning bullets. If, then, we have such imperfect apprehensions of visible and material things, how much more scanty and inadequate must be our notions of invisible and immortal objects 1-We behold the stars: though every one is incomparably bigger than the globe we inhabit; yet they dwindle, upon our survey, into the most diminutive forms. Thus we see by faith the glories of the blessed Jesus; the atoning efficacy of his death; the justifying merit of his righteousness; and the joys which are reserved for his followers. But, alas! even our most exalted ideas are vastly below the truth; as much below the truth, as the report, which our eyes make of those celestial edifices, is inferior to their real grandeur.-Should we take in all the magnifying assistances which art has contrived, those luminous bodies would elude our skill, and appear as small as ever. Should an inhabitant of earth travel towards the cope of Heaven, and be carried forwards in his aërial journey more than a hundred and sixty millions of miles; even in that This, incredible as it may seem, is not a mere supposition, but a real fact: for, about the 21st of December, advanced situation, those oceans of flame would look no larger than radiant specks.-In like manner, conceive ever so magnificently of the Redeemer's honours, and of the bliss which he has purchased for his people, yet you will fall short. Raise your imagination higher; stretch your invention wider; give them all the scope which a soaring and excursive fancy can take; still your conceptions will be extremely disproportionate to their genuine perfections.-Vast are the bodies, which roll in the expanse of Heaven: vaster far are those fields of æther through which they run their endless round: but the excellency of Jesus, and the happiness laid up for his servants, are greater than either, than both, than all! An inspired writer calls the former, " The unsearchable "riches of Christ;" and styles the latter, "An "exceeding great and eternal weight of glory." If those stars are so many inexhaustible magazines of fire, and immense reservoirs of light: there is no reason to doubt, but they have some very grand uses, suitable to the magnificence of their nature. To specify or explain the particular purposes they answer is altogether impossible, in our present state of distance and ignorance. This, however, we may clearly discern: they are disposed in that very manner which is most pleasing and most serviceable to mankind.-They are not placed at an infinite remove, so as to lie beyond our sight; neither are they brought so near our abode as to annoy us with their beams. We see them shine on every side: the deep azure, which serves them as a ground, heightens their splendor; at the same time, their influence is gentle, and their rays are destitute of heat: so that we are we are above 160,000,000 of miles nearer the northern parts of the sky, than we were at the 21st of June: and yet, with regard to the stars situate in that quarter, we perceive no change in their aspect, nor any augmentation of their magnitude. Surrounded with a multitude of fiery globes, which beautify and illuminate the firmament, without any risk, either to the coolness of our night, or the quiet of our repose.-Who can sufficiently admire that wondrous benignity, which, on our account, strews the earth with blessings of every kind, and vouchsafes to make the very heavens subservient to our delight? It is not solely to adorn the roof of our palace with costly gildings, that God commands the ce lestial luminaries to glitter through the gloom: we also reap considerable benefits from their ministry. They divide our time, and fix its solemn periods: they settle the order of our works; and are, according to the destination mentioned in sacred writ," for signs, and for seasons; for days, "and for years." The returns of heat and cold alone would have been too precarious a rule: but these radiant bodies; by the variation, and also by the regularity, of their motions; afford a method of calculating, absolutely certain, and sufficiently obvious. By this, the farmer is instructed when to commit his grain to the furrows, and how to conduct the operations of husbandry: by this, the sailor knows when to proceed on his voyage, with least peril; and how to carry on the business of navigation, with most success. Why should not the Christian, the probationer for eternity, learn, from the same monitors, to number-for nobler purposes, to number-his days; and duly to transact the grand, grand affairs of his everlasting salvation? Since God has appointed so many bright measurers of our time, to deter mine its larger periods, and to minute down its ordinary stages; sure, this most strongly inculcates its value, and should powerfully prompt us to improve it.-Behold! the supreme Lord marks. the progress of our life, in that most conspicuous kalendar above. Does not such an ordination tell |