becomes unspiritual and sensual; shall we account the churl liberal, the unbeliever devout, and declare that we also are nothing but atomic arrangements containing certain mixed gases? Some critics call Shakespeare a wild genius without arrangement. Truer critics find that he is an artist of first order and accuracy; ever rising to that height which, as he cannot be followed by the feeble, nor the ascent be seen by the dim, is by them counted mystic and unreal. These are the men who find the Bible a common book, and complain of every part. What matter? despite wit and malice, perversion of learning and wickedness of unbelief, those sacred pages guide the intellect and cheer the heart of the greatest and purest of our race. They are the light of truth sent out by the Almighty to lead us to His holy hill.

"Fainting soul, arise and sing;

Mount, but be sober on the wing;
Mount up, for Heaven is won by prayer;
Be sober, for thou art not there.

Thy God hath said, ''Tis good for thee
To walk by faith and not by sight;'
Take it on trust a little while.

Soon shalt thou read the mystery right

In the full sunshine of His smile."

Keble.

:

STUDY IX.

DAY II.-"GOD MADE THE FIRMAMENT."

"Was wär' ein Gott der nur von aussen stiesse,

Im kreis das all am Finger laufen liesse !
Ihm ziemts', die Welt im Innern zu bewegen,
Natur in sich, sich in Natur, zu hegen.

So dass was in Ihm lebt und webt und ist
Nie seine Kraft, nie seinen Geist vermisst."

GOETHE.

"Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."-ISAIAH.

THE second day's work was not praised for being good. We know not why, unless the work, being imperfect as to the carth until the third day, and not complete as to heaven till the fourth day, the blessing waited for the delicately formed plant and the cheerful sun, when it would be well seen that God filled the earth with the fruit of His works, and covered Himself with light as with a garment.

The sacred narrative of the earth's early state would naturally have that meaning applied to it by early and unscientific men, which the appearance of things suggested. Being told of a firmament dividing the waters above from the waters below, they possibly thought of a transparent floor in the skies, on which the upper waters rested, and may have pictured "the earth standing in the centre of a hollow crystal sphere, in which the stars were fixed like golden nails;" but observation and reason soon showed that rain could not descend through such a floor, and that the waters above the firmament were, as St. Augustine thought, in a state of

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vapour. Even a rustic would not think that the sky was a solid vault, nor call the stars bright nails fixed in to hold it up. The Hebrew people saw birds soar aloft, and the moon cross the sky; the intelligent knew of the connection between cloud and rain; none but the dullest would imagine that the sky was solid.

The phrases "windows of heaven " (Gen. vii. 11), “foundations" (2 Sam. xxii. 8), "pillars" (Job xxvi. 11), "doors" (Ps. lxxviii. 23), have led unpoetic persons to imagine that Moses and the Hebrews really did think of the firmament as a solid vault in which fowls fly and winds blow. The ancient sages were not so simple. These poetic expressions, and others like that of Job (xxxvii. 18), "The sky, which is strong and as a molten looking-glass," are sometimes a contrast, sometimes a comparison. Job meant that the sky, though rare, fine, and spread out, is established and strong as metal. Ancient worthies had a better understanding of things than our modern conceit gives them credit for. They knew that the earth was hung upon nothing (Job xxvi. 7), and when they spoke of it as firm and not to be moved, it was in the sense of being sustained by the Almighty. They knew of the sea as a fountain to water the whole earth (Amos ix. 6); of the rivers returning to it again (Eccl. i. 7); of the firmament as an expanse; of light existing apart from the sun; and of stars innumerable, or, as an astronomer would say “ Like grains of sand on the sea-shore." They accounted the present as but a momentary space in the interval between two eternities, earning blessings or cursings for ever according to man's efforts to do good and hate evil. They thought of the future as a home of rest from evil, a place of everlasting beauty, in which the whole creation should praise God. They saw living things and men in a vast procession, not urged by blind force, but guided by Divine Intelligence to higher activities and more glorious spheres.

The knowledge of ancient sages was indeed wonderful. We are beginning to be conscious of it. For some time before the age of Sir Isaac Newton, the physical system commonly accepted was the Ptolemaic; but Newton proved that it was erroneous, and demonstrated the truth of the

Copernican, which had been propounded by Pythagoras, two thousand years before. According to that system, the sun is the centre around which the planets and satellites revolve. This one example, chosen from many that might be given, is proof that those who lived in the early days of mankind possessed wisdom that often pierced the outward form and natural aspect of things to discern inner meaning and power. Inspired men regarded God as the One who bound up the thick clouds with strength, that the waters might not rend them (Job xxvi. 8); who apportioned the atmosphere, made a balance for the winds, a decree for the rain, and a path for the lightning (Job xxviii. 24-27). Solomon, or whosoever it was that wrote in his name, had understanding of the wind going toward the south, the turning about unto the north, and why the fulness of the sea was not over-fulness (Eccl. i. 6, 7). Science, since those old-world days, has weighed the wind, traced its path whirling in continual currents. We know that an atmospheric pressure of fifteen tons is on every man, and that, if it were not so, our lungs could not well use the air. It is a physical fact, that the air of the firmament, by a secret process, raises and suspends water, eight hundred times heavier than itself; and in quantity so vast that if it descended at once upon the earth, the world would be deluged; and by ascent so graduated that the earth is not unduly parched, nor animal nor vegetable destroyed. Those ancients were not fools, and, great as is the advance of modern science, no man has exceeded Solomon in wisdom, or Job in philosophy, or convinced Moses of folly for saying, "God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament."

The genius of ancient worthies was not less marvellous than their knowledge. There were gleams of spirit and touches of genius which remind us of the best and purest portions of the classic page, which indeed they surpass. As a literary production, there is nothing in any ancient or modern book equal in simplicity, or beauty, or grandeur, to the account by Moses of creation, which seems purposely written for our own time. The Book of Job cannot be styled less. than perfect, the Psalms are matchless, Isaiah sublime. The

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whole Bible remains ever fresh by the life that is in it; creates new interest in men of every age, not only by the letter, but specially by the spirit. It is adapted to the various stages of history, and illustrates the great principles of moral government. It possesses a wider influence than when originally spoken, and delights us with the charm of novelty as were it newly found. It is rendered more romantic than the romance thrown into it by Divinity of origin, through the sacred subduing sadness which pervades it, and by the high art of embalming the spirit, the thought, the laws, the life of a whole nation. The words of graceful imagery with which patriarchs and prophets describe God and His works, the ruin of beauty and glory by sin, are in the power of true worldpoets. Sometimes the form of language is child-like, and the figures express our commonest notions; but that childlike body is of excellent form, takes hold of our life, wins homage and love from the purest and wisest of mankind. The representation of perfection and beauty in Divinity is entrancing, and our delight deepens into awe. Sacred anger

is aroused as, before our very eyes, a malignant hand, by a few wickedly skilful dark strokes, turns favour into disfavour; that the purpose of God and the image of man may be distorted and defaced. The two hemispheres of representation— Divine holiness and Satanic iniquity-are then separated by a firmament of mercy. Beneath that firmament are forgiveness and sanctification; above that firmament, ascending to the height, are promises of regeneration to the earth, of glorification to men, the likeness of a throne, and upon the throne the appearance of a man (Ezek. i. 26).

Beware of regarding the primeval waters as existing in their present state. They were full of mineral and earthy ingredients, surcharged with gaseous elements; rather a molten