LESSONS. SECTION FOURTH.* 49. Religion. THERE is but one God, the author, the creator, the governor of the world, almighty, eternal, and incomprehensible. The sun is not God, though his noblest image. He enliveneth the world with his brightness; his warmth giveth life to the products of the earth; admire him as the creature, the instrument of God; but worship him not. To the One who is supreme, most wise and beneficent, and to him alone, belong worship, adoration, thanksgiving, and praise. Who hath stretched forth the heavens with his hand, who hath described with his fingers the courses of the stars. Who setteth bounds to the ocean, that it cannot pass; that saith unto the stormy winds, Be still. Who shaketh the earth, and the nations tremble; who darteth his lightnings, and the wicked are dismayed. Who calleth forth worlds by the word of his mouth; who smiteth with his arm, and they sink into nothing. "O reverence the majesty of the Omnipotent, and tempt not his anger, lest thou be destroyed!" The providence of God is over all his works; he ruleth and directeth with absolute wisdom. He hath instituted laws for the government of * Neither spellings nor meanings are prefixed to the lessons in this Section, but a certain number of words may be prescribed as a task by marking with a pencil, and the meanings either obtained from a Dictionary, or given out viva voce by the Teacher. the world; he hath wonderfully varied them in all beings; and each, by his nature, conformeth to his will. In the depths of his mind he revolveth all knowledge; the secrets of futurity lie open before him. The thoughts of thy heart are naked to his view; he knoweth thy determinations before they are made. With respect to his prescience there is nothing contingent. With respect to his providence, there is nothing accidental. Wonderful is he in all his ways; his counsels are inscrutable, the manner of his knowledge transcendeth thy conception. "Pay, therefore, to his wisdom all honour and veneration; and bow down thyself in humble and submissive obedience to his supreme direction." The Lord is gracious and beneficent; he hath created the world in mercy and love. His goodness is conspicuous in all his works; he is the fountain of excellence, the centre of perfection. The creatures of his hand declare his goodness, and all their enjoyments speak his praise; he clotheth them with beauty, he supporteth them with food, he preserveth them with pleasure from generation to generation. If we lift up our eyes to the heavens, his glory shineth forth; if we cast them down upon the earth, it is full of his goodness; the hills and the vallies rejoice and sing; fields, rivers, and woods resound his praise. But thee, O man! he hath distinguished with peculiar favour; and exalted thy station above all creatures. He hath endued thee with reason, to maintain thy dominion; he hath fitted thee with language, to improve by society; and exalted thy mind with the powers of meditation, to contemplate and adore his inimitable perfections. And in the laws he hath ordained, as the rule of thy life, so kindly hath he suited thy duty to thy na ture, that obedience to his precepts is happiness to thyself. "O praise his goodness with songs of thanksgiving, and meditate, in silence, on the wonders of his love; let thy heart overflow with gratitude and acknowledgment; let the language of thy lips speak praise and adoration; let the actions of thy life show thy love to his law." The Lord is just and righteous, and will judge the earth with equity and truth. Hath he established his laws in goodness and mercy, and shall he not punish the transgressors thereof? O think not, bold man! because thy punishment is delayed, that the arm of the Lord is weakened; neither flatter thyself with hopes that he winketh at thy doings. His eye pierceth the secrets of every heart, and he remembereth them for ever; he respecteth not the persons or the stations of men. The high and the low, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant, when the soul hath shaken off the cumbrous shackles of this mortal life, shall equally receive from the sentence of God a just and everlasting retribution, according to their works. Then shall the wicked tremble and be afraid; but the heart of the righteous shall rejoice in his judgments. "O fear the Lord, therefore, all the days of thy life, and walk in the paths which he hath opened before thee. Let prudence admonish thee, let temperance restrain, let justice guide thy hand, benevolence warm thy heart, and gratitude to heaven inspire thee with devotion. These shall give thee happiness in thy present state, and bring thee to the mansions of eternal felicity, in the paradise of God."— Dodsley. Constantine the Great being at the point of death, the principal officers of his army came round him bathed in tears, to testify their grief at his approaching departure, and to pray Heaven to prolong his days. "My friends," said he, "the life which I am about to enter is the true life. I know the blessings which await me in the other world. I hasten to go to God." The brave Crillon, one of the greatest generals of Henry IV., heard a sermon on the sufferings and death of Christ. The preacher gave a pathetic description of the scourging of the Saviour; and the warrior, affected even to tears, rose, and laying his hand upon his sword, exclaimed, "Where wert thou, Crillon? where wert thou?" The Duke of Northumberland was ordered to arrest Cardinal Wolsey for high treason, and, having seized him, was conducting him to the Tower of London, but the prelate sank under his misfortunes, and died by the way at Leicester, in the year 1533, aged 60. He said a little before his death, "Alas! if I had served the King of Heaven with the same fidelity that I have shown to my earthly sovereign, He would not have forsaken me as my prince has done this day." Apostrophe to the Ocean. Great Ocean, too, that morning thou the call To the last trumpet's voice, in silence, listened. That rolled the wild, profound, eternal bass, And unburlesqued by mortal's puny skill, Loud uttering satire, day and night, on each Succeeding race, and little pompous work That bowedst thy glorious head to none, fearedst none, Heardst none, to none didst honour, but to God Thy maker, only worthy to receive Thy great obeisance! Undiscovered Sea! Beyond the arm of help, unheard, unseen, Sunk friend and foe, with all their wealth and war; Infinitude, eternity; and thought And wondered still, and grasped, and grasped, and grasped Again; beyond her reach, exerting all To comprehend incomprehensible; And wondered more and felt their littleness. Pollok. 50. Circulation of the Scriptures before the THE Revelation of the Divine character and will is contained in that volume, which we usually denominated THE BIBLE. The first part of this book was originally written in the Hebrew language, at various periods, and was committed to the Jewish nation. Considering its bulk, being originally written on skins or parchment, and |