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other level arch-way, receding at right angles from the eye. We have again made use of a ground-plan, divided into forty degrees, which we shall term fee.

On this we have marked out the arches as they would be found were they placed horizontally before us, allowing ten feet for each arch-way, and two feet for the intermediate spaces or pillars. We carry the divisions up to the dotted line (aa), whence we draw lines as usual to the point of distance (F), which crossing the visual ray (b), give the perpendiculars for the squares of the arches, and also the centres (cc). The height must be first determined by the eye-then by the visual ray (dd). We trust that having found the square, our pupils will know how to find the half circle according to the rule of our last lesson. The inner line of the arches might be found in the same way-but from fear of confusing our lines, we have drawn them without.

Fig. 2. is the bow of a house placed horizontally before us, but a little to the right of the eye. For the sake of distinctness we have made it project more than is usual, which gives an awkward appearance-but the rule is the same. Having projected it from the centre as far as we think proper by the dotted line (a), we proceed to draw the horizontal (b), terminated by lines (c c), from the point of sight (E). The square thus formed, we make the circle as before by diagonals and thirds, and thus have the outline of the bow. The same process must be repeated at the top, minding that the projecting line (a) be the same length as that beneath. Above the eye, the circle of course will rise; below it, it will fall; it will become less circular as it approaches the horizontal line, and on it will appear perfectly straight, as at d.

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ON THE WISDOM OF GOD.

GOD is light-he is so essentially-he is so also as he is the source and fountain of all light, by whatever name it is distinguished, material or spiritual, intellectual or moral. "When the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, God said, let there be light, and there was light." He collected its rays, and filled that glorious orb which forms the centre of the planetary system, that "greater light which rules the day," and gave the lesser night which rules the night, to receive and reflect those rays with a mild radiance and a softened glory: he made the stars also; those innumerable suns of innumerable systems, extending their fires and displaying their brilliance throughout the infinite fields of space, and far beyond the utmost limits of the power of human thought. By Him who concentrated those rays of light were they also divided and endued with their different degrees of refrangibility. At his command they gave to the lower heaven its soft celestial hue, and tinged the falling drops of water with their bright and vivid colouring, when the bow of God's covenanted mercy cast its arch across the cloud: He bade them robe the earth, and dye the flower, and sparkle the gem, and with all the varied shades of their combined as well as simple tints, diffuse over the wonders of his material creation every diversified appearance of living beauty. There is, however, a principal of which this beautiful element is but the image and emblem: it is the light of reason; the spirit of understanding; and this proceeds from God: from the mighty intellect that expands the mind of the high archangel, down to the lowest degree of instinct, that with undeviating regularity directs the motions of the little insect that flits through the air or creeps upon the earth, the light of understand

a 1 John i. 5.b Gen. i. 2.- - Gen. i. 16.

ing, of reason, of intelligence, of wisdom, is from God and from him alone-he is perfect in wisdom and knowledge, and "his understanding is infinite," and not only are these attributes in God infinite and perfect, they are also inherent and eternal. The wisdom possessed by his creatures is limited, and their knowledge is partial, and in whatever degree the power of intellect may exist in any intelligent being, its capacity to acquire knowledge, and its wisdom to use it aright, are alike derived from Him who ever was and ever will be "GOD ONLY

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The wisdom of God is seen in the works of creation : the order and regularity of the heavenly bodies, the formation of the globe, the exquisite construction of the human frame, mark the consummate wisdom of the divine artificer; nor is it less discernible in the minor and minuter operations of his hands: the fabric of a single plant, its production, nourishment and growth, from its germ to its perfection, evince the design and execution of a supreme intelligence-and while the multitude of objects which enrich the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, with their apparently endless variety, display the inexhaustible powers of God's creative mind; the disposal of the elements, the appointments of the seasons, the different orders, classes, and forms of the creatures, their adaptation to the ends and purposes of their being, their weapons of offence and defence, their resources for the supply of their food, their preservation and protection, equally prove a knowledge, a prescience, which both in their projections, and the means chosen for their accomplishment, could proceed only from Him who is "wonderful in counsel and excellent in working"-from Him who by his wisdom spread out the heavens, and established the earth, and made all things according to the good pleasure of his own will throughout this visible universe; which, whether contemplated as a whole, or examined in the divisions and subdivisions of its com

d Psalm cxlvii. 5-e Rom. xvi. 27.—f Isaiah xxviii. 29.

ponent parts, so far as the human mind is capable of comprehending its extent, may well call forth those expressive words of humble and admiring adoration, "O Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them all, the earth is full of thy riches."

The wisdom of God is exercised in the dispensation of his providence. In these there is indeed a depth that no created mind can fathom-a chain, the connecting links of which no human effort can develope. But God discerns the end from the beginning: all things are unveiled and open before the eyes of his omniscience; all events with their causes and results are seen and understood by Him. "He numbers the clouds of heaven," he hears the young ravens when they cry, he causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man." "He divides to the nations their inheritance,* separates the children of Adam; determines the times before appointed, and fixes the bounds of their habitation;"" and notwithstanding the apparent contingencies of human actions, notwithstanding the intricate and disordered aspect of human affairs, the wisdom of God is guiding the wheels of his providence, and like the master spring of a stupendous piece of machinery, is working silently and secretly, directing, controlling, and governing the whole; and the devices and movements of every individual among the countless myriads of animated existence, however free in its volitions, are all subservient to the wise designs as well as to the sovereign pleasure of Him whose name is Jehovah of Hosts, and "who doeth as he pleases among the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth;" whose infinite wisdom in conjunction with his incontrolable power, and in connexion with his unsearchable goodness, having raised and set in motion, is still upholding and regulating the frame of universal nature; producing by the modification of its first simple principles, effects as beneficial in their influ

8 Psalm civ. 24-h Job xxxviii. 37.-i Psalm cxlvii. 9.-j Psalm civ. 14 - Deut. xxxii. 1.- Acts xvii. 26.- Daniel iv. 35.

ence as they are unlimited in their number-effects, whose ultimate end, an end inconceivably glorious, reaches beyond the boundaries of time to the countless ages of eternal duration, when the final purpose of God concerning all things shall be accomplished.

That purpose is unfolded in the volume of inspiration, a revelation containing wonders of greater magnitude than any in creation-mysteries of deeper interest than any in the involutions of providence: mysteries that "angels desire to look into""-wonders, the celebration of which will inspire and animate the everlasting hallelujahs of heaven. "To the intent that unto principalities and powers in heavenly places," might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, he has here pointed out a way which he has condescended to open, and made known a medium which he has been pleased to constitute, whereby he may be approached unto and beheld, not only by those holy beings who had "kept their first estate," but by the sinful children of a fallen parent, by those who having transgressed his commandments were justly shut out from his presence, and consequently cut off from communion and fellowship with their Maker. To these even, to these his goodness comes in its sweetest form of love, and the splendour of that uncreated essence, which by finite beings can never be fully comprehended, shines forth on them in the person of that Holy One, who is emphatically termed "The wisdom of God," "The wisdom of God in a mystery," a "mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, but is now made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known unto all nations for the obedience of faith;" for "God who spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken by his son Jesus Christ, who having appeared in the fulness of time to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, God is declared to

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" 1 Peter i. 12.- Ephes. iii. 10.—P Jude, 6.—9 1 Cor. ii. 7.— Rom. xvi. 25, 26.—3 Heb. i. 1, 2.—t Heb. ix. 26.

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