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has withstood the blasts of fourscore winters. The purling rivulet, meandering through downy meads and verdant glens, and Niagara's tremendous torrent, leaping over its awful chasm, and rolling in majesty its broad sheet of waters onward to the ocean, unite in proclaiming—There is a God.

'Tis heard in the whispering breeze, and in the howling storm; in the deep-toned thunder, and in the earthquake's shock; 'tis declared to us when the tempest lowers, when the hurricane sweeps over the land, when the winds moan around our dwellings, and die in sullen murmurs on the plain, when the heavens, overcast with blackness, ever and anon are illuminated by the lightning's glare.

Nor is the truth less solemnly impressed on our minds in the universal hush and calm repose of nature, when all is still as the soft breathings of an infant's slumber. The vast ocean, when its broad expanse is whitened with foam, and when its heaving waves roll mountain on mountain high, or when the dark beauty of heaven's vault is reflected on its smooth and tranquil bosom, confirms the declaration. The twinkling star, shedding its flickering rays so far above the reach of human ken, and the glorious sun in the heavens,-all, all declare, There is a universal First Cause.

And man, the proud lord of creation, so fearfully and wonderfully made,-each joint in its corresponding socket, each muscle, and tendon, and artery performing its allotted functions with all the precision of the most perfect mechanism, and, surpassing all, possessed of a soul capable of enjoying

the most exquisite pleasure, or of enduring the most excruciating pain, these all unite in one general proclamation of the eternal truth that there is a Being, infinite in wisdom, who reigns over all, undivided and supreme, the fountain of all life, source of all light, from whom all blessings flow, and in whom all happiness centres.

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There is no God! If one should stand at noon Where the glow rests, and the warm sunlight plays;

Where earth is gladdened by the cordial rays And blossoms answering,-where the calm lagoon Gives back the brightness of the heart of June, And he should say: "There is no sun "-the day's

Fair show still round him,-should we lose the

blaze

And warmth, and weep that day has gone so soon? Nay, there would be one word, one only thought,—

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The man is blind!" and throbs of pitying scorn Would rouse the heart, and stir the wondering mind.

We feel, and see, and therefore know,-the morn With blush of youth ne'er left us till it brought Promise of full-grown day. "The man is blind."

SOPHIE M. ALMON-HENSLEY

132

THERE IS A GOD

The one who says there is no God
Should study nature's laws;
From worlds in space, down to our sod
There's naught without a cause;
The laws which govern earth and sky
To God's existence testify.

Look at the earth-see how plants grow

Out of a little seed;

If one would only wish to know

His God, this he would heed;

For plants all grow by certain laws
Of which our God's the only cause.

Let him who doth his God deny
The stars of heaven trace;
See how each world doth occupy
A certain part of space;

They're made and moved by certain laws
Of which our God's the only cause.

Year after year, from west to east,
Our planet round doth go;
And ev'ry star, to say the least,
Some motion has, we know ;
These laws of motion tidings bring
Of God, the everlasting King.

Who made the laws which govern space?
Who maketh grow each seed?

Who gives each starry world its place,
And bids it onward speed?

'Tis God, the King of earth and sky,
Who lives on earth and dwells on high.

MARTIN LEHMAYER

133

THE HYMN OF NATURE

The heavenly spheres to Thee, O God!
Attune their evening hymn;
All-wise, All-holy, Thou art praised
In song of seraphim.

Unnumbered systems, suns, and worlds,

Unite to worship Thee;

While Thy majestic greatness fills

Space, time, eternity.

Nature, a temple worthy Thee,

Beams with Thy light and love,

Whose flowers so sweetly bloom below,
Whose stars rejoice above;
Whose altars are the mountain-cliffs

That rise along the shore;

Whose anthems, the sublime accord

Of storm and ocean roar.

Her song of gratitude is sung

By Spring's awakening hours;
Her Summer offers at Thy shrine
Its earliest, loveliest flowers;
Her Autumn brings its golden fruits,
In glorious luxury given;
While Winter's silver heights reflect
Thy brightness back to heaven.

SIR JOHN BOWRING

134

PRAISE TO NATURE'S GOD

Lauded be Thy name forever,
Thou of life the Guard and Giver!
Thou who slumberest not nor sleepest!
Blest are they Thou kindly keepest.
God of stillness and of motion,
Of the rainbow and the ocean,

Of the mountain and the river,
Lauded be Thy name forever!

God of evening's peaceful ray,
God of every dawning day
Rising from the distant sea,
Breathing of eternity,-

Thine the flaming sphere of light,
Thine the darkness of the night;
God of life, who dieth never,
Glory to Thy name forever.

JAMES HOGG

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