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. 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,— 66 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 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 Let him who doth his God deny They're made and moved by certain laws Year after year, from west to east, Who made the laws which govern space? Who gives each starry world its place, 'Tis God, the King of earth and sky, MARTIN LEHMAYER 133 THE HYMN OF NATURE The heavenly spheres to Thee, O God! 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, 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; SIR JOHN BOWRING 134 PRAISE TO NATURE'S GOD Lauded be Thy name forever, Of the mountain and the river, God of evening's peaceful ray, Thine the flaming sphere of light, JAMES HOGG |