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The depths have covered them:

They sank into the bottom as a stone.

Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power;
Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

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;
My lust shall be satisfied upon them;

I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
Thou didst blow upon them with thy wind,

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, O Lord,

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!
The dark, green fields contented lie:
The mountains rise like holy towers,
Where earth holds commune with the sky:
The tall cliff challenges the storm
That lowers upon the vale below,
Where shaded fountains send their streams,
With joyous music in their flow.

God of the dark and heavy deep!
The waves lie sleeping on the sands,
Till the fierce trumpet of the storm

Hath summoned up their thundering bands;
Then the white sails are dashed like foam,
Or hurry, trembling o'er the seas,
Till,calmed by thee, the sinking gale

Serenely breathes, "Depart in peace."

God of the forest's solemn shade!
The grandeur of the lonely tree,
That wrestles singly with the gale,
Lifts up admiring eyes to thee;
But more majestic far they stand,

When, side by side, their ranks they form,

To wave on high their plumes of green,
And fight their battles with the storm.

God of the fair and open sky!

How gloriously above us springs
The tented dome, of heavenly blue,
Suspended on the rainbow's rings!
Each brilliant star that sparkles through,
Each gilded cloud that wanders free
In evening's purple radiance, gives
The beauty of its praise to thee.

God of the world! the hour must come,
And Nature's self to dust return;

Her crumbling altars must decay;
Her incense fires shall cease to burn;

But still her grand and lovely scenes
Have made man's warmest praises flow;
For hearts grow holier as they trace

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
Of clouds around the hills untrod;
Those mountain-pillars of the globe
Whose peaks sustain thy throne, O GOD!
All glittering round the sunset skies,
Their fleecy wings are lightly furled,
As if to shade from mortal eyes

The glories of yon upper world;
There, while the evening star upholds,
In one bright spot, their purple folds,
My spirit lifts its silent prayer,
For Thou, O GOD of love, art there.

The summer-flowers, the fair, the sweet,
Up-springing freely from the sod,

In whose soft looks we seem to meet
At every step, thy smiles, O God!
The humblest soul their sweetness shares,
They bloom in palace-hall, or cot.
Give me, O Lord, a heart like theirs,
Contented with my lowly lot.
Within their pure, ambrosial bells,
In odors sweet thy spirit dwells.
Their breath may seem to scent the air;
'Tis thine, O GOD! for thou art there.

The birds, among the summer blooms,
Pour forth to Thee their hymns of love,
When, trembling on uplifted plumes,
They leave the earth and soar above;
We hear their sweet familiar airs,
Where'er a sunny spot is found:
How lovely is a life like theirs,
Diffusing sweetness all around!

From clime to clime, from pole to pole,
Their sweetest anthems softly roll;
Till, melting on the realms of air,
They reach thy throne in grateful prayer.

The stars, those floating isles of light,
Round which the clouds unfurl their sails,
Pure as a woman's robe of white

That trembles round the form it vails,
They touch the heart as with a spell,
Yet set the soaring fancy free:

And, O! how sweet the tales they tell

Of faith, of peace, of love, and Thee.
Each raging storm that wildly blows,
Each balmy breeze that lifts the rose,
Sublimely grand, or softly fair,
They speak of thee, for Thou art there.

Yet, far beyond the clouds outspread,
Where soaring fancy oft hath been,
There is a land where thou hast said
The pure in heart shall enter in;
There, in those realms so calmly bright,
How many a loved and gentle one
Bathe their soft plumes in living light,

That sparkles from thy radiant throne!
There, souls once soft and sad as ours
Look up and sing 'mid fadeless flowers;
They dream no more of grief and care,
For Thou, the GoD of peace, art there.

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

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