Page:Gods Glory in the Heavens.djvu/137

Rh of man. He works every spinning-jenny in our manufacturing towns, forges every shaft, propels every ship, turns every water-wheel, and moves the limbs of every man and animal. Man, with the power of intellect, merely stands over him with the rod of dominion, and directs his giant strength to suitable tasks. In one point of view, we may well exclaim, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou shouldst visit him?" But the above views give new force to the declaration, "Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour; thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things under his feet."

The triumphs of mechanical genius are the boast of our age, as well as the foundation of much of our national wealth; but how rude are the inventions of men compared to the adjustments of the Divine Mechanician in the solar system! We place a furnace on the ground, and by means of a system of boilers, cylinder, piston, levers, shafts, and wheels, are enabled, in the topmost storey of a factory, to spin thread of gossamer fineness; and no intelligent person has ever witnessed the sight without being impressed with the marvellous dominion of man over the material world. But how puny, after all, is this effort compared to that which the working power of the sun exhibits! Here the furnace is not placed a few yards distant, but 95 millions of miles, and on