The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-10-29

the depths of the North to their Sover.
eign. CE -
Such was the glorious spectacle as
entered the. train. As we proceeded
the timid approach of twilight became
more perceptible; the intense blue Of
the sky began to soften; the smaller
stars like little children, went first to
rest; the sister-beams of the Pleiades
soon melted together; but the bright
considerations of the West and North
remained unchanged. Steadily the won-
drous traps6guration went on. Hands
of angels hidden from mortal eyes shift
ed the scenery of the heavens; the glo-
ries of night dissolved into the glories
of dawn. The blue sky now turped
more softly gray; the great watch stars
shut up their holy eyes; the East be-
gan to kindle. Faint strcaks Of purple
soon blushed along the sky the whole
celestial concave was filed with the in.
flowing tides of the morning light. which
came pouring down from above in one
great ocean of radiance; till at length,
as We reached the Blue Hills, fash of
purple fire blazed out from above the
horizon, and turned the dewy tear-drops
of flower and leaf into rubies and dia-
monds. In few seconds, the everlast-
ing gates of the morning were thrown
wide open, and the lord of the day. ar
rayed in glories too severe for the gaze
of man, began his course.
I do not wonder at the superstitions
of the ancient Magians, who in the NOR
ming of the world went up to the hill
tops of Central Asia, and ignorant of
the true God, adored the most glorious
work of his hand. But 1 am filled with
amusement when I am told that in this
enlightened age and In the heart Of the
Christian world, there are persons who
can witness this daily manifestation of
the power and wisdom of the Creator,
and yet say in their hearts "there is no
God" LF
We are brought to the bewildering
conclusion, that thousands of these mis-
ty specs, the greater part of them too
faint to b, seen by the naked eye, are
not each a universe like our Solar sys-
TEN, but each swarm of universes
of unpracticable magnitude (Humbolt
Cosmos III. Al The mind sinks over
powered by the contemplation. We ro-
peat the words, but they no longer con-
vey dist net ideas to the understanding.
But, these conclusions, however vast
their comprehension, carry us but anoth-
er step forward in the realms OF sidereal
astronomy. A proper motion In space
of our sun aud of the fixed stars, as we
call them, has long been believed to ex-
ist Their vast distances only prevent
its being more apparent. The great i'm
provement in instrum ents of measure
ment with the last generation has not
only established the existence of this
motion, but has pointed to the region in
the starry vault around which our whole
solar and stellar system with its myriad
of attendant planetary worlds appear to
be performing a mighty revolution. II,
then, we assume that outside of the sys-
TEN to which We belong and in which
our sun is but star like Aldebaran or
Sirius, the different nebule Of which We
have spekep,-thousands of which spot
the heavens each a distinct
family of universes, We must, following
she guide of analogy, attribute to each
of them also, beyond AL the revolutions
of their individual attendant planetary
system, great revolution, comprehend.
ing the whole; while the same course of
analogical reasoning would lead US still
further onward, and in the last analysis,
require us to assume q transcendeutal
connection between all these mighty
systems,-a universe of universes, circl
ling round in the infnity of space and
preserving its equilibrium by the same
laws of mutual attraction which bind
the lower worlds together.
1t may be thonght that conceptions
like these are calculated rather to de
press than to elevate US in the scale OF
being; that bauishcd as he is by these
contemplations to corner of creatiot
and there reduced to an tom, man sinks
to nothingness in this infnity of worlds.
But second thought corrects the inn
preston. The vast contemplations are
we'll calculated to inspire awe, but not
abasemeDt. Mind and matter are in
commensurate. An immortal soul,
even while clothed in sthis muddy yes.
ture of decay" is in the eye of God and
reason purer essence than the bright
est sun that lights the depths of heaven.
The organized human eye, instinct with
life and soul, which, gazing through the
telescope, travels up to the cloudy speck
in the handle of Orion's sword, and bids
it blaze forth into galaxy as vast as
ours, stands higher in the order of be-
ing than all that host Of luninaries.
Ths intelleet of Newton, which discover.
ed the Law that holds the revolving
worlds together, is nobler work of God