Poland, the Sclave element is, however, more and more compromised. Let Russia succeed in amalgamating the 23,000,000 Poles above-mentioned, and there is no doubt that the Sclave populations of Austria and Prussia will be soon united to the victorious race, which will employ against them a religious propagandism and the sword, as has been done in Poland.

Siècle.

ASCENTS OF MONT BLANC.

On the evening of this day the firing of a cannon announced that another ascent of Mont Blanc had been accomplished by some adventurous travellers. My guide blamed these adventurous people, and declared that it was a piece of pure bêtise of Messieurs et Dames, to risk their own lives and the lives of others, to climb up these heights to see-most frequently nothing! He himself had been more than once on these Mont-Blanc journeys, and more than once had fallen into the crevices up to his arms, and had been only saved by means of the rope, by which the whole procession of ice-travellers are attached, the one to the other; for no person undertakes the ascent of Mont Blanc attended by less than six guides. One of these gentlemen may still be seen in the valley of Chamouni, with green gauze before his eyes, owing to the severe injury which they received from the ascent of Mont Blanc. The skin of most people peels off after this visit to the summit, and they suffer more or less in health. Three ladies only, and all three unmarried, have hitherto accomplished this journey:-Mdlle. Paradis; Mdlle. D'Angeville, a lively, energetic Frenchwoman, whom I saw in Geneva; and an English woman, whose name has escaped my memory. ladies, when they had attained the highest summit, had themselves lifted apon the shoulders of their guides, that they might rise to a greater height than any of their predecessors.

The two latter

Mdlle. D'Angeville was, however, accompanied upon this journey by a skilful draughtsman, who took views and sketches by the way, so that her undertaking was not without its results for the benefit of others. I know, however, that I have no desire to become the fourth of these aspiring ladies.

Horace Benedict De Saussure has connected his name for all time with that of Mont Blanc, because he was the first scientific man who penetrated its mysteries. But he was not the first who ascended it; this was a peasant from the vale of Chamouni, of the name of Balmat. He it was who discovered the path to the summit; but, not possessing scientific culture, he could not makescientific observations. Without Balmat, however, perhaps, De Saussure might not have been able to reach the summit of Mont Blanc. From childhood De Saussure had a singularly deep love for mountains, and for wandering amongst them. He had spent several years in ascending, for the purpose of scientific examinations, the greater number of the most considerable mountain-chains of Europe. But Mont Blanc still stood veil

ing itself and its Alpine chain in mystery, in defiance of the young mountain-explorer's longings and endeavours.

"It had become with me," he writes, "a kind of disease. My eyes never beheld this mountain, which can be seen from so many places in our district, without my experiencing a painful feeling."

At length, after twenty-seven years of longing and fruitless endeavours, Saussure succeeded, in August, 1737, in achieving the longed-for ascent, and from the summit was able to survey the Alpine chain in all directions.

"The arrival on the summit," he writes, "did not give me immediately all the pleasure which might have been expected; because the length of the struggle, and the sense of the trouble which it had cost me to reach it, seemed, as it were, to have irritated me; and it was with a kind of wrath that I trampled the snow upon its highest point. Besides, I feared not being able to make the observations which I desired, so greatly was I troubled by the rarity of the atmosphere, and the difficulty I found in breathing and in working at this height. We all suffered from fever." Everything, however, succeeded to Saussure beyond his expectations; he saw everything, and made all the observations which he so ardently desired to make.

“I scarcely believed my own eyes," he says; "I seemed to myself to be dreaming, when I saw beneath my feet the terrific, majestic peaks, the acute summits of Midi, Argentière, and Le Géant, the very bases of which it had been to me so difficult and hazardous to climb. I understood their connexion and their form, and at one single glance was able to clear up uncertainty which years of labour alone could not have done."

Amongst the lesser observations which De Saussure made on the ascent, the following have interested me :-"We saw," says he, "near the summit only two butterflies; the one was a little grey night-butterfly, (phalène,) which flew across the first snow; the second, a day-butterfly, which appeared to me to be le Myrtil. The flower, belonging to the perfect class, which I found at the greatest altitude, was a Silene acaulis. Small mosses were, however, growing upon the very highest rocks."

Saussure, when in shadow, saw from the summit of Mont Blanc the stars in the light of day, and the colour of the sky was almost black.

He was only able to remain four hours and a half on the summit of the mountain, when he was obliged to return. But in the stillness of the night, when he had recalled all he had actually seen, and felt the grand picture of the mountains clearly imprinted upon his brain, then he experienced “an unmingled satisfaction." And well indeed he might! He had accomplished a great undertaking for science. Even science has its heroes and noble martyrs.-Fredrika Bremer.

RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES.

THE " American Railroad Journal" sums up the actual mileage of railroads completed in the United States on the 1st of January, 1864, at 33,860 miles, with about 16,000 miles additional that are, or have been,

under construction. The increase of completed roads during the past year, has been 1,390 miles. Of the completed roads 24,927 miles are in the "loyal” states, and 8,933 miles in the states now in "rebellion." The condition of the latter is so bad that many of them might be more properly classed among the roads" under construction." The total cost of the completed roads and their equipment in the United States is one thousand two hundred and sixtysix million dollars; quite a respectable sum of money to be invested in one branch of business. Taking the grand total of roads completed and under construction in the several states, Ohio stands pre-eminent as the railroad state; but falls behind Pennsylvania in the number of miles completed. The following are the railroad statistics of the five great railroad states :

It is interesting to note the growth of the railway interest of the United States. From 1826 to 1829 there were but three miles of railway in the country. On the 1st of January, 1834, there were 762 miles; in 1841 the number had increased to 4,311 miles; in 1851 to 15,672 miles; and on the 1st of January, 1864, the amount of completed railway has grown to 33,800 miles, with 16,000 more miles in progress.

HORE BIBLICE.

No. LXXXIV. THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD.

(PSALM CXXXIX. 1—12.)

ALL our views of the nature and attributes of the Divine Being must of necessity be imperfect. The gulf which separates the created from the Uncreated is not to be passed either by the strength of reason, or by the boldness of imagination. The knowledge of the moral character of God, however, is sufficiently given us by revelation. Here negligence is peril, and ignorance loss. To recommend ourselves to His notice is the highest wisdom. To serve Him worthily is the object of our existence. Hence the importance of our obtaining the clearest possible acquaintance with His word. Only let us remember that humility is the true approach to the contemplation of the Deity. It was only when the shepherd of Midian tremblingly hid his face, that God spoke from the burning bush, and declared His name.

Of all the Divine attributes there is none that more forcibly appeals to ou prudence, and humbles our pride, than that of Omniscience. In this psalm it is fully recognized. We are taught that God fills the wide domains of His universe, rising to its utmost heights, descending to its lowest depths,

VOL. X.-FIFTH SERIES.

3 A

and pervading all things. Beyond the limits of the finite, in that dread darkness which circles creation, His presence for ever dwells. But the imagination is soon wearied with the thought. We fly back to the earth, as to our proper home and rest.

Such things as heaven, the mysteries of hades, and the terrible secrets of hell, touched upon in this psalm, we do not intend here to consider. Withdrawing from such far distances and heights, let our attention be confined to ourselves. We omit also all notice of the workings of the vast machinery of nature. We will forget the past, too, with its accumulation of knowledge, its joys and sorrows, its good, bad, and indifferent actions; and excluding the future, with its contingencies and certainties, confine our thoughts to human life as it is at the present moment.

The present moment! What scenes present themselves throughout the world in this actual point of time. The sun is rising over peaceful villages and cultivated fields; his noontide glare quivers over sandy deserts; and the purple shades of evening are falling over forest and moor. One half of the world is in darkness. Upon such varied scenes does the eye of God rest. But among the many millions of the human race, scattered through so many countries and climates, not one human being is hidden. Man can hide himself from his fellows. He can bury himself in the darkness of night; withdraw into the recesses of buildings, the depths of forests, or the loneliness of deserts. But none can hide himself from God. "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee." This, then, is the grand truth which so much concerns us,—that all human beings are continuously in the sight of the most high God. At one glance, He observes the prisoner in his cell, and the king in his palace; the crowds of great cities, the mariners in ships-"fragments of a world"-upon the silent waters; nobility and beauty in the gilded saloon, wretchedness and poverty huddled on the straw of miserable cellars. In that immediate and unbroken glance, the countries of the earth, the circumstances of each individual, as well as of each great nation, are all comprised. Here, where industry and peace have filled the land with busy cities and waving plenty; or again, where desolation has swept like the angel of death, and left in its track trampled harvests, deserted hearths, and untimely graves ;—in all the vast assemblage of human beings that now people the earth, there is not one whose present position and lot are forgotten before the God and Father of us all.

Every action, likewise, that is now transpiring in the world is manifest. None is so important as to engross His attention, none so minute as to elude His observation. How innumerable are those acts! How vast the capacity that at one glance can sum up that number! Yet the Divine Mind, with infinite ease, embraces all, alike in their number and in their diversity, Deeds of piety and sin, justice and injustice, love and violence, benevolence

and hatred; the countless variety of acts springing from desires, appetites, passions, with all their combination and consequences, are "naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."

Such a view of the Divine excellence naturally awakens in us feelings of awe and admiration. Let us dwell a little on what it evidently implies.

What is outward and visible inadequately shows forth the character of man. All these numberless and varied manifestations rise, not from the world of matter, but from the inner and invisible world of mind. Thought can often be repressed with ease. To set it fully forth is frequently difficult. Hence it is only by looking within the breast that character can be truly known. Here sin originates and matures its schemes; and here virtue indulges in those noble and generous sentiments, which its native modesty conceals from the gaze of the world. The Almighty, however, needs not the outward sign in order that He may perceive the inward thought. Forgetfulness of this is the great hiding-place of the simple. We may bring midnight upon ourselves in the sunshine of noon by closing the eyes; and thus, too, the closing of the mental eye against the "true light" may produce a false feeling of secrecy, but cannot render us the less observed. Men can cloak themselves from their fellow-men. Under the prayer of the Pharisee was the swelling of pride; and beneath the kiss of a false love lay the treason of Judas. But let a man really forget God, and let him successfully conceal his purpose from others; let neither the tongue speak, the cheek blush, nor the lip quiver; let him give no sign in the sight of his fellows; yet his self-control is vain. He, whose eyes are like unto "a flame of fire," sees through the secret recesses of that soul. The truth must one day be proclaimed on the housetops. God neither asks our permission nor waits our invitation. The return of the Sabbath brings with it the uplifted hands of thousands of worshippers. By solemn anthems they invoke the presence of the Omniscient, and in the pleadings of litanies and spirit of prayer expose the secret chambers of the soul. God's church cries aloud, as David did: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." While such a prayer to "search" us is a highly religious service, and most acceptable in the sight of God, as an act of confidence in Him, it is by no means on the ground that our acquiescence can contribute to His more ready access to our inmost thoughts.

With what care do men now conceal their designs from each other. The contention of parties, the ambition of states, the ends of justice, frequently demand that secrecy should be observed. An ill-timed avowal of policy, however wise and beneficial that policy might otherwise have been, has often been followed by disastrous consequences. But upon all the schemes of party, the consultations of cabinets, and the ambition of princes, rests the eye of Him from whom no secrets are hidden. Wretched is that man who bears about with him a guilty secret; who has every now and then to set firm the brow, to hush the blood, and embolden the eyes.