on the threshold of discovery in this department; that we still see "as through a glass darkly;" and that it is but a faint and feeble glimpse of creation which our most approved instruments can exhibit; the microscope has directed our attention to wonders no less worthy of admiration on our own earth, and within our own limited locality, and has informed us that there is a species of infinitude in the minuteness of organized existences, as well as in the magnitude of those which are unorganized; that, in the former, as well as in the latter, in the myriads of inhabitants in a drop of water, or in the leaf of a plant, or in a grain of sand, — the perfections of the Creator are no less certainly to be seen, than in those mighty suns which, at his command, shed light, and life, and joy, over their attendant worlds, and fill boundless space with his glory.

THE, SAME, CONCLUDED.

IT is here that the Christian finds an antidote against those doubts which a contemplation of infinite magnitude might otherwise excite in his mind. If it be natural for him to ask, with some feeling of unbelief, “Can the Creator of innumerable worlds look down with pity on the sinful race of Adam? Can he be conceived to deal with this race in the way which Scripture unfolds? Is it possible that He, the Eternal God, should, in very truth, send his Only-begotten Son to this little. planet, to dwell with men, taking upon Himself their nature; subjecting Himself to their infirmities; nay, for their sakes suffering sorrow, torture, and death?"

If, I say, it be natural for the mind, expanded by the philosophy of the heavens, to put these skeptical questions, it can scarcely fail to be brought back to a sounder state, se 178, 180.

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when it takes in a more comprehensive view of the divine character, and humbly contemplates the very same hand which moves the universe, preserving the existence, and * presiding over the enjoyment, of the microscopic world.

This view is most beautifully and convincingly unfolded by Dr. Chalmers, in what have been called his "Astronomical Sermons." By a comparison, in his own characteristic manner, of the discoveries of the microscope with those of the telescope, he shows that we have as much reason, from the works of creation, to conceive of the Creator as infinitely minute in his providential care, as we have to conceive of him as infinitely great and powerful; and having established this important truth, he leads us irresistibly to the conclusion, that the exhibition made of the Divine Being in his revealed word, is in perfect harmony with the character of himself, which he has impressed on nature.

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They, therefore," says this admirable writer, "who think that God will not put forth such a power, and such a goodness, and such a condescension, in behalf of this world, as are ascribed to him in the New Testament, because he has so many other worlds to attend to, think of him as a man. They confine their view to the informations of the telescope, and forget altogether the informations of the other instrument. They only find room, in their minds, for his one attribute, of a large and general superintendence, and keep out of their remembrance the equally impressive proofs we have for his other attribute, of a minute and multiplied attention to all the diversity of operations, where it is he that worketh all in all.

And when I think, that as one of the instruments of philosophy has heightened our every impression of the first of these attributes, so another instrument has no less heightened our impression of the second of them, then I can no longer resist the conclusion, that it would be a transgression of sound argument, as well as a daring impiety, to draw a

limit around the doings of this unsearchable God; and should a professed revelation from heaven tell me of an act of condescension in behalf of some separate world, so wonderful that angels desired to look into it, and the Eternal Son had to move from his seat of glory to carry it into accomplishment, all I ask is, the evidence of such a revelation; for, let it tell me as much as it may of God letting himself down for the benefit of one single province of his dominions, this is no more than I see lying scattered in numberless examples before me, and running through the whole line of my recollections, and meeting me in every walk of observation to which I can betake myself; and, now that the microscope has unveiled the wonders of another region, I see strewed around me, with a profusion which baffles my every attempt to comprehend it, the evidence that there is no one portion of the universe of God too minute for his notice, nor too humble for the invitation of his care.

SACRED PHILOSOPHY OF THE SEASONS.

(Edited by F. W. P. Greenwood.)

INSTINCT; a certain power or disposition of the mind, by which, independent of all instruction or experience, without deliberation, and without having any end in view, animals are unerringly directed to do spontaneously whatever is necessary for the preservation of the individual, or the continuation of the kind.

SPEECH-MAKING.

How truly fortunate the age and country in which we live! when and where every event is set forth and duly celebrated in a magnificent speech. These ready speechmakers seem determined to effect what Milton implored of his muse:

"What is low, raise and support."

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We are told by the newspapers, those ready vehicles of all bladders of wind, that at a "mowing match," lately got up in New Hampshire, the "Hon. Mr. Such-a-one delivered an elegant and appropriate address." Now, this is nothing to the style in which we do things in the Old Bay State. We could relate a score of instances, if we pleased, where as fine speeches as ever were blown, were made on far less occasions than the one above mentioned. I will content myself with a single instance, and overlook the thousand and one opportunities of railroad "meetings" and railroad "openings," so eagerly seized upon by long-winded spokesmen and would-be orators.

In a village on one side or other of the Connecticut River, there is a pound, for the imprisonment of such unruly four-footed animals as render themselves obnoxious to the civil authority. This same pound having lost off one of the hinges of the gate, it became a matter of prudence to replace it by a new one.

The making and putting on of a single hinge, on a gate of no great magnitude, is not a thing necessarily requiring a great deal of noise, saving and excepting what is made by the hammer and the anvil. But this only shows more fully the vast perfection to which the sublime art of speech-making is already brought in this happy land."

On this occasion, the Hon. Spouter Puffer was unanimously chosen to deliver the address. And the able and

perfect manner in which he did the thing, shows, clearer than noonday, the wisdom of the choice. The carpenter had taken the hinge in his hand, and was about nailing it fast to the gate, when the honorable gentleman arose, and after alluding to the importance of the occasion, his utter inability to do any thing like justice to it, and craving the indulgence of the audience, he thus proceeded:

“When I look about me, and behold this vast empire of our republic, extending from sea to sea, and from ocean to

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ocean; when I contemplate the growing condition of this state; when I reflect on the magnitude of this country; when I consider the ineffable importance of this 'ere town, with its dense and enlightened population; and, especially, when I turn my eyes to the wide circumference of the POUND before us, I am lost in admiration of the magnitude of our destinies.

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Europe is no more to us, than a filbert-shell to a meeting-house. If any one doubts that we have arrived at the pinnacle of arts, let him come forward to-day, and view the perfection of this hinge, pounded, as it has been, on the anvil of Independence, and beaten into shape by the hammer of Wisdom.

"On this hinge turns the fate of empires; on this hinge depends the starvation of horses, and bringing into subjection the flesh of unruly beef. Here they may chew the bitter cud of nonentity; here they may learn to prize the inestimable privileges of being impounded in a land of liberty; here"

But we will not now pursue the subject any farther, as it is utterly impossible to do any thing like justice to the eloquence of the honorable gentleman, without quoting the whole speech; which, as it would occupy nine closely printed columns, and we understand it is to be laid before the public in a pamphlet form, we dismiss for the present, just observing, that the honorable gentleman surpassed all his former examples of eloquence; and such was the attention and stillness of an audience, composed of at least twenty persons, that the walls of the pound might have fallen down, "slam bang!" without once being heard.

OBNOXIOUS; answerable, liable, odious. INABILITY; want of power. INEFFABLE; unutterable, that cannot be expressed in words. PINNACLE; the summit.