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POETRY.

A POEM, COMPOSED IN AFFLICTION.

essay

O How the thought delights the soul, | Could suns, and moons,
Redeem'd from Satan's dire controul,
And cleans'd with Jesu's blood;
That, thus from sin and death made
free,

He may, in Christ, shout victory,
And triumph in his God!

And art thou safe, O soul of mine?
Art thou in Christ, through grace di-
vine?

Hast thou the proof within? Thanks to my God! the stream of love

Has reach'd my heart from his above,
And borne away my sin!

In Christ! O how the blissful thought
Buoys up the hope his love hath

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and stars

To warble out the glorious lay,
In universal joy :-

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E'en were they join'd with heav'nly choirs,

In notes attun'd to golden lyres,

The whole would try in vain!
Not winds, nor skies, nor earth, nor

sea,

With heav'n's bright hosts in har

mony,

Could reach the boundless strain'

O then, may I! so weak, so frail,
Attempt that song, which all must
fail

To sing in worthy lays?
Our gracious God does not despise
The lisping voice, and lowly cries,

Which babes and sucklings raise ! I'll sing-in Christ!-I've nought to fear,

If pierced at once with death's dread
spear-

'Tis dipt in blood divine!
His aspect may the guilty soul
With terrors and despair appal;

But life, through death, is mine!

What, though a sudden blast descend,
And all the bands of nature rend,

Swift as with forked fire?

I take my flight from sin's abode,
A moment brings me to my God,
My soul's supreme desire!

Then watch, my soul, thy Lord will

come,

And in his arms convey thee home!
Watch thou, and praise, and pray!
With well-trimm'd lamp, and burning
light,

Wait for thy Lord!-Earth's passing
night

Will bring thee endless day!

JAMES JACKS.

Nottingham.

THE

Spiritual Magazine;

OR,

SAINTS' TREASURY.

<< There are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST: and these Three are One."

Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

1 John v, 7.

Jude 3.

JULY, 1829.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

A WORD OF INSTRUCTION ON FOUR VERSES IN THE XLIId. OF ISAIAH.

BY THE LATE REV. SAMUEL EYLES PIERCE.

Verse 5. "Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein."

The creation of the heavens, the stretching them out, is a visible proof and display of Jehovah's eternal power and Godhead. The immensity of space in which, what we call the starry heavens are, exceeds the utmost stretch of thought. The immense distance (says one) of the fixed stars from our earth, and from each other, is of all considerations the most proper for raising our ideas of the works of God; and, I add, of giving us an idea of his almighty power, put forth in the creation of the universe.

For, notwithstanding the earth's orbit, or path round the sun, which is at least one hundred and ninety millions of miles in diameter; the distance of a fixed star is not sensibly affected by it; so that the star does not appear any nearer to us, when the earth is in that part of its orbit nearest the star, than it seemed to be when the earth was at the most distant part of it, or, one hundred and ninety millions of miles farther from the same star. The star nearest us, and, consequently, the largest in appearance, is the Dog-star, or Sirius. Modern discoveries make it probable that each of the VOL. VI.-No. 63.

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fixed stars has planets and comets, revolving round it, as our sun has the earth and other planets revolving round him. Now the Dogstar appears to be twenty-seven thousand times less than the sun, and as the distance of the stars must be greater in proportion as they seem less, mathematicians have computed the distance of Sirius from us, to be two billions, and two hundred thousand millions of miles. A ray of light, though its motion is so quick, as to be commonly thought instantaneous, takes up more time in travelling from the stars to us, than we do in making a West India voyage. A sound would not arrive to us from thence in fifty thousand years, which, next to light, is considered as the quickest body we are acquainted with. And a cannon ball flying at the rate of four hundred and eighty miles an hour, would not reach us in seven hundred thousand years. The stars which are nearest us, seem largest, and are therefore called stars of the first magnitude. Those of the second magnitude appear less, being at a greater distance. And so proceeding on to the sixth magnitude, which includes all the fixed stars that are visible without a telescope. As to their number, though in a clear winter's night, without moonshine, they seem to be innumerable, (which is owing to their strong sparkling, and our looking at them in a confused manner), yet, when the whole firmament is divided, as it has been done by the ancients, into signs and constellations, the number that can at any time be seen with the naked eye, is not above a thousand. Since the invention of telescopes, indeed, the number of the fixed stars has been justly considered as immense; because the greater perfection we arrive at in our glasses, the more stars always appear

to us.

Mr. Flamstead, late royal astronomer, at Greenwich, has given us a catalogue of about three thousand stars; these are called telescopic stars, from their being invisible without the assistance of a telescope. Doctor Herschel, to whose ingenuity and assiduity the astronomical world is so much indebted, has evinced what great discoveries may be made by improvements of observation. In speaking here of his discoveries, I shall use the words of M. de la Lande: "In passing rapidly over the heavens with his new telescope, the universe increased under his eye; forty-four thousand stars appeared, seen in the space of a few degrees, seemed to indicate that there were seventyfive millions in the heavens. But what are all these, when compared with those that fill the whole expanse, the boundless fields of æther? Indeed, the immensity of the universe must contain such numbers as would exceed the stretch of human imagination; for who can say how far the universe extends, or point out those limits where the Creator stayed his rapid wheels, or where he fixed the golden compasses?" Well may Jehovah proclaim his Godhead thus, saying, in order to quicken out attention to the subject before us, "Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out.” Instead of one sun and one world only in the universe, as the unskilful in astronomy may imagine, that science discovers to us

such an inconceivable number of suns, systems, and worlds, dispersed through boundless space, that if our sun, and all the planets, moons, and comets belonging to it were annihilated, they would be no more missed by an eye that could take in the whole creation of God, than a grain of sand from the sea shore; the space they possess being comparatively so small, that it would be scarcely a sensible blank in the universe. Although the Georgium Sidus, the outermost of our planets, revolves about the sun in an orbit ten thousand eight hundred and thirty millions of miles in circumference, and some of our comets make excursions of upwards of ten thousand million of miles beyond the orbit of the Georgium Sidus; yet at that amazing distance, they are incomparably nearer to the sun than to any of the stars; as is evident from their keeping clear of the attracting power of all the stars, and returning periodically by virtue of the sun's attraction. Sir Isaac Newton computed the heat of the comet that appeared in the year 1680, when nearest the sun, to be two thousand times hotter than red hot iron; and that being thus heated, it must retain its heat till it come round again, although its period should be more than twenty thousand years; and it is computed to be only five hundred and seventy-five. This is the most remarkable of all the comets. This comet, at its greatest distance from the centre of the sun, is about four hundred and ninety thousand miles; being less than one part of the sun's semidiameter from his surface. In that part of its orbit which is nearest the sun, it flies with the amazing velocity of eight hundred and eighty thousand miles in an hour; and the sun, as seen from it, must appear one hundred degrees in breadth, consequently, forty thousand times as large as he appears to us. When it appeared in 1680, from its nearness to our earth, it alarmed the inhabitants of our globe. It continued visible from November the 3rd to March the 9th.-(Guthrie's Geographical Grammar.)

Well might the psalmist say, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy work." That which is styled our system, including our own world, with the planets, satellites, and comets which surround it, and of which our own sun is the centre, may well demand our attention, and fill us with the most profound admiration, concerning the majesty, eternity, immensity, and self-existence of the Lord God, who is the Creator of them. They are standing monuments of his almighty power, infinite wisdom, and boundless goodness.

Astronomers tell us, that in this magnificent fabric of the heavens there is a system, or bright order of stars, the nearest of any others to us, which form a vast circuit one within another, like so many rings or circles; and that these are in continual motion round the sun, which is in the centre or middle of the whole. They name them thus: Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Georgium Sidus. These have their satellites. Saturn, has seven; Jupiter, four; the Earth, one; and the Georgium Sidus, six. And it is computed there are twenty-one comets belong to this system.

These stars are named planets, to distinguish them from what is styled fixed stars. The sun which gives light to all the planets, satellites, and comets, the body of it is said to be one million times greater than that of this earth on which we dwell. It is the natural and visible symbol of Christ. He is to his church what the sun is to our system-the centre of rest and glory. He is the fountain of life, light, and glory. As the sun is the centre of the planetary and cometary orbs, so is Christ to his church, and every individual member thereof.

Jehovah proclaims his Godhead, further, saying, “He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it." The earth on which we dwell is a planet, or globe, which those skilled in geography tell us, turns on its axis, and is poised by its own weight. The wisdom of Jehovah is most illustriously displayed in its formation, shape, parts, and furniture. There is such a just equipoise of the whole globe, that the northern balanceth the southern ocean; the Atlantie the Pacific sea; the American dry land is a counterpoise to the European, Asiatic, and African. The circumference of our world is twenty-five thousand miles; its diameter, seven thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven miles and three quarters. The superficies one hundred and ninety-eight million, nine hundred and forty-four thousand, two hundred and six square miles. The solidity of it, two hundred and sixty-three thousand, nine hundred and thirty millions of cubic miles. All the seas, and unknown parts of the earth, by a measure of the best maps, contain one hundred and sixty millions, five hundred and twenty-two thousand and twenty-six square miles. The inhabited parts, thirty-eight millions, nine hundred and twentytwo thousand, one hundred and eighty. Of which, Europe contains, four millions, four hundred and fifty-six thousand and sixty-five; Asia, ten millions, seven hundred and sixty-eight thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three; Africa, nine millions, six hundred and fifty-four thousand, eight hundred and seven; and America, fourteen millions, one hundred and ten thousand, eight hundred and seventyfour.

"The Lord God, who created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it, adds, as a farther display of his infinite nature and self-existence, "he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein." The number of inhabitants computed at present to be in the known world, at a medium taken from the best calculations, are, about nine hundred and fifty-three millions. Europe, contains one hundred and fifty-three millions; Asia, five hundred millions; Africa, one hundred and fifty millions; and America, one hundred and fifty millions. Total, nine hundred and fifty-three millions. The Lord God knows each and individual. He appreevery hends them personally and distinctly. He sustains and feeds them : yea, "he giveth food to all flesh, for his mercy endureth for ever." All which are amazing displays of his essential omnipotence, omni

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