The Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1850-1852, 1850-05-23
TIE SUPREME POWER.
Mt WAHb IvEgeTr,

said. that the un,lc, out astronomer i
mad The same remark might. will
equal iorce and justice. Le applied 1,
the undesoui gcoiosisi. Of all the aL
surdi,ies ever started, none more ex
'ra'agant can bc named than that tb,
grand and iar-reaching researches an,
discoveries Of geology are hostile 10 tn,
spirit Of religion. They seem 10 US. OF
The very contrary TO head the inquircv
s'cp by step. into the immediate pres
eocc Of tba, Tremendous Power which
could alone produce and can alone &C.
count for the primitive oou.ulsions ol
The globe, rs the prouf. are craven ia
eternal characters ou the side OF liz bare
S'd cloud piercing mountains, or arc
wroush, into the very substance Of the
strata. that composes its surface and
which arc, also day by day and hour by
hour, at work to feed the fire. Of the
volcano, 10 pour forth its molten tides,
! or Ia compound the salubrious elements
OF the mineral fountains which spring
in thousand valleys. In gazing at the
starry heavens, oil glorious rs they are,
we sink under the awe Of their magni-
iudc. the mystery Of their secret and re
ciprocal influences. the bcwildering con :
ccp'iOns Of their distances. Sense and
science are at war. The sparkling gem
that gl,tcrs on the brow OF night is
converted by science into n mighty orb
the source Of light and heat, the CEN
ire OF attraction. the sun Of a system
like our own. The beautiful planet
which fingers in the western sky when
the sun has gone down, or heralds the
approach Of niorning-whose mild and
lovely beams seems to shed spirit of
tranquility, not mnmixed with sadness,
nor far removed {. ON devotion, into the
very heart of him who wanders forth
in solitude TO behold its in the con-
temptation Of science, cloud.wrapt
sphere, world of rugged mountains
and stormy decps. We study, we rea-
son, we calculate. We climb the gi,ldy
scafi"ld Of induction up to the very
stars. We barrow the wings OF the
boldcst analysis and fee to the upper
most parts OF creation; and then shut
ting our: eyes on the radiant points that
twinkle in the vault of night. the we'll
instructed mind sees, opening before il
in mental vision, stupendous meclan-
ism Of the heavens. Its planets swell
into worlds, Its clouded stars, reccde,
expand, b. come central suns, and we
hear the rush Of the mighty orbs tha,
circle round them. The hands of Ori
on are loosed; and the sparkling rays
which cross each other on his belt, are
resolved into floods cf light. streaming
from system TO system, across the illim.
table pathway Of the outer hcavens.-A
The conclusions which we reach are
oppressively grand and sublime the
imagination sinks under them; the
truth is too vast, too remote from the
premises from which it is deducted
aud man. poor, frail man, sinks back in.
TO the innocence Of child or Chaldean
shepherd, the quiet and beautiful stars,
n. he sees them in the simplicity Of
sense.
But in the province Of geology, there
nre some subjects in which the sense
seems, as it were led up into the labo-
ratory Of divine power. Let man
fix his eye upon one of the marble col
nmns in the Capitol at Washington.-
lie sees there a condition Of the earth's
surface, when the pebbles Of every size
and form. and material. which compose
this singular species Of stone. where
held suspended in the medium in which
they are now imbedcd then liquid
sea Of marble which was hardened into
the solid, iustrous, and variega,ed mass
before his eye, in the very substance Of
which he bcholds record Of the con-
vusions Of the globe.
Let him 60 and stand upon the sides
Of the crater Of Nesuvius, in the ordi-
nary state Of its eruptions, and coniem-
plate the glazy stream Of molten rocks
that oozes quietly at his feet encasine
the surface Of this mountain, as it cools.
with most black and srygian crust or
lighting up its sides at night with streaks
OF lurid fire. Let him consider the vol /,
tahic trtaHh~, Ntfcn Hfu>f. ItW years
since. in the neighbothood of Malta,
spouting flames from the depth Of the
sea; or accompany one Of our own
nayigaiors from Nantucket TO the An.
tar,ic ocean, who finding the centre Of
small island 10 which lie was in the !
habi, Of resor,ing. sunk in the interval .
OF two Of his voyages, sailed through
an opening in its sides. where the ocean 1
had found its way, and moored his ship
IN the smoullering crater Of recently !
exiinguisbed volcano. Or finally let
him survey the striking phenomenon
which our an,hor has described, and
which has led US TO this train Of remark
"A mineral fountain, Of salsbrious
qualities. Of temperature greatly above
that Of the surface Of the earth in the !
regicn where i, is found, compounded |,
with numerous ingredients in con stan,
and known to have been
flowing from its se,re, springs, as ai,h-
presen, day, NJ least for eighteen hun.
dred years, unchanged, une, ,hausted. |
The religions u the elder wsrid in an
early ~ ..,xili s.t,ns t.tsnS1