and yonder totters the aged man towards his grave. All are working out their destiny,—a joyful and blessed one, if they will; for, as the good Creator has planted the olive and the vine, and carpeted the earth, and laid out a wide garden for men, His creatures, here below, so has He prepared paradises still more firuitfiil and beautiful in the regions above, for all who love His presence, and are willing to come and rejoice in His smile.
Europe, again, now emerges to view, the region of light, of science, of civilization; small in extent, but great in knowledge, and therefore in power. Hence, as from a kind of sun or central light, the rays of truth beam forth, and illumine more or less brightly the farthest corners of the earth.
Thus have we surveyed with rapid glance the general surface of this globe, as the science of geography pictures it to us. In the very conformation and arrangement of its parts, we may see a far-seeing and fore-seeing wisdom, effecting the grandest results by the most simple means. We may see, that by no mere chance have the portions of land and water been distributed as we find them, but that in this particular arrangement great ends were had in view, which have already in part been accomplished, and are yet to be more fully effected in the long lapse of ages.
Another science now calls our attention, opening to us still grander views of the Divine workings,—geology—that science, which penetrating beneath the surface, examines the very structure and constitution of this globe. But a little way, indeed, has it penetrated or can it penetrate into the great mass. Here is a body
