THE MILKY WAY. S we advance in our survey of the distant regions of the universe the astonishing grandeur and extent of the sidereal heavens gradually open to our view. Had we no other objects to engage our attention, ages might be spent in contemplating and admiring the economy and magnificence of those starry groups which appear to the unaided eye on the nearer boundary of our firmament. But all that is visible to man's unassisted vision is as nothing when compared with the immensity of august and splendid objects which stretch themselves in boundless perspective toward infinity. The discoveries of modern astronomy have enlarged the sphere of our conceptions far beyond what could have been formerly surmised, and opened to view a universe boundless as its Creator, where human imagination is lost and confounded, and in which man appears like a mere microscopic animalculum and his whole habitation as a particle of vapor when compared to the ocean. In contemplating the visible firmament with the unassisted eye we behold only the mere portals, as it were, which lead to the interior recesses of the vast temple of creation. When we direct our views beyond these outer portals by means of the

most powerful telescopes, we obtain a view of some of its more magnificent porches and a faint glimpse of those splendid apartments which we shall never be able to explore, but which lead us to form the most august conceptions of the extent and grandeur of what is concealed from our view. In entering this temple "not made with hands," the splendor of its decorations, the amplitude of its scale and the awfulness of infinitude forcibly strike the imagination. There is sufficient to awaken into exercise all the powers and feelings of devotion, and to excite us to fall down in humility and adoration before Him whose word spoke into existence this astonishing fabric, and "whose kingdom ruleth over all."

When we take a general view of the heavens about the months of August, September and October and during the winter months, we cannot fail observing a large irregular whitish zone stretching across the sky, with a few interruptions, from one end of the firmament to another. This mighty zone thus stretching itself around us is sometimes termed the "Galaxy," sometimes the

A way
there is in heaven's extended plain
Which, when the skies are clear, is seen below,
And mortals by the name of Milky know;

The groundwork is of stars, through which the road
Lies open to the Thunderer's abode."

tion drops its wings when attempting its flight into such unfathomable regions. The scenes of grandeur and magnificence connected with such august objects are utterly overwhelming to such frail and limited beings as man, and perhaps even more exalted

to it in these lines:

A broad and ample road whose dust is gold, And pavement stars, as stars to us appear; Seen in the galaxy that Milky Way,

Like to a circling zone powdered with stars."

The ancients seem to have conjectured that the whiteness of this zone was owing to a confluence of stars; for Ovid, in the lines above quoted, says, "The groundwork is of "The groundwork is of stars." Soon after the invention of the telescope this conjecture was confirmed, and astronomers were astonished at the number of stars which appeared in this bright zone of the heavens; and their number appeared to be increased in proportion to the magnifying powers of their telescopes.

Let us pause for a moment and consider the august spectacle presented to view. We behold a few whitish spaces in the firmament almost overlooked by a common observer when he casts a rude glance upon the evening sky, yet in this apparently irregular belt, which appears only like an accidental tinge on the face of the firmament, we discover by optical instruments what appears to be an

form even an approximate idea of objects so distant, so numerous and so sublime.

On our first excursions into the celestial regions we are almost frightened at the idea of the distance of such a body as Saturn, which a cannon-ball projected from the earth and flying with its utmost velocity would not reach in one hundred and eighty years. We are astonished at the size of such a planet as Jupiter, which could contain within its circumference more than a thousand globes as large as the earth. We are justly amazed at the stupendous magnitude of the sun, which is a thousand times the size of Jupiter, and which illuminates with its splendor

sphere of more than five thousand million of miles in circumference. But what are all such distances and dimensions, vast and amazing as they are, compared with the astonishing grandeur of the scene before us? They sink into comparative insignificance and are almost lost sight of amid the myriads of splendid suns which occupy the profundities of the Milky Way. What is one sun and one planetary system in the presence of ten million of suns perhaps far more

resplendent, and of a hundred times this number of spacious worlds which doubtless revolve around them? Yet this scene, stupendous as it is, is not the universe. It is perhaps only a comparatively small corner of creation, which beings at an immensely greater distance will behold as an obscure and scarcely discernible speck on the outskirts of their firmament; so that amidst this vast assemblage of material existence we may say, in the language of the inspired prophet when speaking of the Almighty, that even here is but "the hiding of his power." What, then, must the whole of creation be? and what must be the ineffable splendor and majesty of Him who laid the plan of the mighty fabric, whose breath kindled so many millions of suns, whose hands set in motion so many myriads of rolling worlds, who supports them in their ample and diversified courses, and whose moral government extends over all? And what is man and the globe on which he dwells amid this scene of immensity and magnificence? An atom in the infinity of space; a particle of vapor compared to the ocean; a being who, in respect to the magnificence of creation and the grandeur of his Creator, is "as nothing, and is counted to him as less than nothing and vanity."

Yet, amid all the magnificence of this vast system of universal nature, man is not forgotten by his Maker: his hand supports him, his wisdom guides him and his overflowing goodness provides in a thousand different modes for his happiness and enjoyment.

He shares of the divine beneficence and care in common with all the bright intelligences that people the amplitudes of creation, and is as amply provided for as if

the Almighty had no other world under his superintendence. Within the moral government of the Creator of the universe he may rest secure and confident that he is not overlooked amid the immensity of being, for his presence pervades the infinity of space, and his knowledge extends to the minutest movements of all his creatures. Under his paternal care not only man, but the crawling worm, the fluttering insect, the little ant, and even the microscopic animalculum, find a home and provisions, as well as the highest order of his creatures; for "he openeth his hand and supplieth the wants of every living being."

IMMENSITY OF CREATION.

Ascending from the Milky Way to the still remoter regions of space, we perceive several thousands of dim specks of light which powerful telescopes resolve into immense clusters of stars. These nebulæ, as they are called, may be considered as so many milky ways, and some of them are supposed even "to outvie our Milky Way in grandeur." Above three thousand of these nebulæ have been discovered; and if only two thousand be supposed to be resolvable into starry groups and to be as rich in stars at an average as our Milky Way, then we are presented with a scene which comprises more than forty thousand million of stars. And if we suppose, as formerly, fifty planetary globes to be connected with each, we have exhibited before us a prospect which includes two billion nineteen thousand one hundred million of worlds. Of such a number of bodies we can form no distinct conception, and much less can we form even a rude or approximate idea of the grandeur

and magnificence which the whole of such a scene must display. Were we to suppose each of these bodies to pass in review before us every minute, it would require more than three million eight hundred and forty thousand years of unremitting observation before the whole could be contemplated even in this rapid manner. Were an hour's contemplation allotted to each, it would require two hundred and thirty million four hundred thousand years till all the series passed under review; and were we to suppose an intelligent being to remain fifty years in each world for the purpose of taking a more minute survey of its peculiar scenery and decorations, one hundred billion nine hundred and fifty thousand million of years would elapse before such a survey could be completed-a number of years which to limited minds seems which to limited minds seems to approximate to something like eternity itself. Still, all this countless assemblage of suns and worlds is not the universe. Although we could range on the wings of a seraph through all this confluence of sidereal systems, it is more than probable that we should find ourselves standing only on the verge of creation, and that a boundless prospect stretching toward infinity on every side would still be presented to view; for we cannot suppose for a moment that the empire of Omnipotence terminates at the boundaries of human vision even when assisted by the most powerful instruments. Other intelligences may have powers of vision capable of penetrating into space a hundred times farther than ours when assisted with all the improvements of art, but even such beings cannot be supposed to have penetrated to the uttermost boundaries of creation. Man in future ages, by the improvements of

optical instruments, may be able to penetrate much farther into the remote regions of space than he has hitherto done, and may descry myriads of objects which have hitherto remained invisible in the unexplored regions. of immensity. Ever since the invention of the telescope one discovery has followed another in almost regular succession. In proportion to the increase and activity of astronomical observers and the improvement of the instruments of observation, the more remote spaces of creation have been explored and new scenes of the universe laid open to human contemplation. And who shall set boundaries to the improvement and discoveries of future and more enlightened generations? Before the invention of the telescope it would have been foolish to have asserted that no more stars existed than those which were visible to the naked eye, and after Galileo had discovered with his first telescopes hundreds of stars which were previously unknown, it would have been equally absurd to have maintained that the telescope would never be further improved and that no additional stars would afterward be discovered. It would be a position equally untenable to maintain that we shall never be able to descry objects in the heavens beyond the boundaries which we have hitherto explored, since science has only lately commenced its rapid progress, and since man is little more than just beginning to employ his powers in such investigations.

But, however extensive may be the discoveries of future ages, we may lay it down as an axiom that neither man nor any other rank of finite beings will ever be able to penetrate to the farthest boundaries of the creation. It would be presumptuous to sup

pose that a being like man-whose stature is comprehended within the extent of two yards, who vanishes from sight at the distance of a German mile, whose whole habitation sinks into an invisible point at the distance of Jupiter, who resides on one of the smallest class of bodies in the universe, and whose powers of vision and of intellect are so limited-should be able to extend his views to the extreme limits of the empire of the Eternal and to descry all the systems which are dispersed throughout the range of infinitude. It is more reasonable to believe that all that has yet been discovered of the operations of Omnipotence that lie within the boundaries of human vision is but a very small portion of what actually exists within the limits of creation; that the two billion nineteen thousand million of worlds which we have assumed as the scene of the visible universe are only as a single star to the whole visible firmament, or even as a single grain of sand to all the myriads of particles which cover the seashores and the bed of the ocean, when compared with what lies beyond the utmost range of mortal vision; for who can set bounds to infinitude or to the operations of Him whose power is omnipotent, "whose ways are unsearchable" and "whose understanding is infinite"? All that we have yet discovered of creative existence, vast and magnificent as it appears, may be only a small corner of some mightier scheme which stretches throughout the length and breadth of immensity, of which the highest created intellect may have only a few faint glimpses, which will be gradually opening to view throughout the revolutions of eternity, and which will never be fully explored during all the periods of an interminable exist

ence. What is seen and known of creation. may be as nothing compared with what is unseen and unknown; and, as the ages of eternity roll on, the empire of the Almighty may be gradually expanding in its extent and receiving new additions to its glory and magnificence.

Hence we may conclude that there is no created being, even of the highest order of intelligences, that will ever be able to survey the whole scene of the universe. Of course, man, though destined to immortality, will never acquire a complete knowledge of the whole range of the Creator's operations even during the endless existence which lies before him; for his faculties, however much expanded in that state, will be utterly inadequate to grasp a scene so boundless and august. It will be a part of his happiness that he will never be able to comprehend the universe; for at every period of his future existence he will still behold a boundless prospect stretched out before him, with new objects continually rising to view, in the contemplation of which innumerable ages may roll away without the least apprehension of ever arriving at the termination of the scene. Were a superior intelligence ever to arrive at such a point, from that moment his happiness would be diminished, his love and adoration of the Supreme would wax faint and languid and he would feel as if nothing new and transporting were to be added to his enjoyments throughout all the periods of his future existence. But the immensity of the universe and the boundless nature of the dominions of "the King Eternal" will for ever prevent any such effects from being produced in the case of all virtuous and holy intelligences.