The

the Lord Jesus. But he has now been
taught of the Spirit to say of God his
Father, "Thou art my hope!" "The Lord
is my portion!" The ensnaring charms
of the world have now no power.
tempest of the mind has become hushed
at the voice of the Saviour, and there is a
great calm! And the language of the
once trembling soul now is, "Lord, what
wait I for? my hope is in Thee."
then who are troubled, "rest with us."
Wherefore doubt? Oh, ye of little faith!
Can running from Jesus be rest and hap-
piness? No. Let this rather be hence-
forth your fixed resolve: Return unto thy
rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt
bountifully with thee!"

RESIGN thyself unto His love,
Repose on Jesus' breast;

No further roam, no longer rove,
But enter into Rest.

Ye

XXIII.

Creation Study.

"THUS saith the LORD, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest?"-ISAIAH lxvi. 1.

"FOR he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His."-HEBREWS iv. 10.

THE stars, in their solemn glory,
That cluster the peaceful sky,
Shall utter the same grand story
To age on age gone by,-
That tale profound repeating,
In light serene and pure:
"All earthly things are fleeting,

All heavenly things endure."

TWENTY-THIRD DAY.

ONE thing science has done; it has

given us an acquaintance with the movements of the planetary orbs. Therein we have opened up before us that branch of knowledge, which takes for its range the most distant heavens. The distinct inference drawn is this, that, besides our own system, there are myriads of stars, or rather, suns-centres of systems, perhaps with planets moving round

those centres! What may be the nature of those wonderful systems astronomy cannot tell us; but there are many and various changes, which clearly indicate that all those systems are in motion. But the mind of man is deeply interested in a still further inquiry. Do all these, governed by some great principle, move around a fixed and immovable centre ? We seem to get lost in such a mighty contemplation; for it is not to be expected

that we, as yet, perfectly understand this complex machinery; but that there is motion everywhere is absolutely certain!

Then again, we ask, what is the wonderful principle that governs the circuit of the heavens ? Is there a common centre, where the movements of the whole are regulated; and, if so, what kind of interest does the fact awaken in the mind of the Christian? Is this the centre of Almighty power, as well as of Infinite skill? We know that by Jehovah the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. know, too, that nothing within the whole creation has power to sustain itself; but that He upholdeth all things by the word of His power. Reason and philosophy may look to the operation of some secondary cause for the solution of all this mystery; but Religion looks at once to the Hand that formed-regulates-and sustains the whole. The beauty and regularity, the order and harmony of Crea

We

tion, all unfold to the pious imagination much of the Majesty and Power of God.

But the Christian's contemplation ends not here. This is but the beginning of a lesson which, before completion, must receive its interpretation from Revelation In the vast universe we behold the temple for the residence of the Almighty; but the Believer, who cannot, as yet, fathom the mighty depth of these wonders, is permitted to listen to the yet more wondrous scheme of redemption by the blood of the atonement; which, for the joy that it opens up in his soul, and the bright hope it awakens, knows no parallel. As to what the future may unfold of the glories in nature, not seen as yet, no tongue can tell. For no eye hath yet beheld the home of the Blessed and the house of our Father, who dwelleth in the light that "no man can approach unto!"