Page:Gods Glory in the Heavens.djvu/40

26 in our attempts to comprehend the Absolute, still, there are successive elevations in space which enable us to enlarge our view, and form a juster conception of the Infinite and Eternal. From the satellite, we step to the primary planet; from the planet, to the centre of the system; from system, to firmament; and, while new firmaments stretch out before us in marvellous form and grouping, we feel that we are yet far from the throne of the Eternal.

The dream of the poet has placed the special residence of the Godhead in some vast central body, round which all worlds, and systems, and firmaments circulate in lowly homage. The graver thoughts of science have, in connexion with speculations about light and heat, imagined a limit within which all the play of material action is confined—a vast globe of ethereal matter, within which all material bodies are embraced, and without which the activities of light, heat, electricity, magnetism, and gravitation, could not exist. These, however, arc but the feeble aspirations of humanity to grasp the incomprehensible. But why should we repine at our limited knowledge? would not knowledge cease to have charms, if we knew all? What is it that gives to profound study its fascinations? Is it not, that it brings us face to face with the unknown? If there was not, still, a beyond, our spirits would shrink within us, and we would feel as if our destiny were unfulfilled. The oft-quoted saying of Newton, that he felt he was only a child