of contending elements upon his senses. The good man bore the relation of his losses in patient silence, till the destruction of his family closed the direful catalogue ; and then he arose, rent his mantle, shaved his head, fell down upon the ground and worshipped. It is easy to express gratitude for the bounties of heaven, when they are showering upon us; but it is the height of faith and piety to be thankful for blessings which we have lost, and to praise God in the fire of affliction. 165 My overshadowing spirit and might with thee I send along; ride forth, and bid the deep And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Gen. i. 2. 180 Great triumph and rejoicing was in Heaven, All the sons of God shouted for joy. Job. xxxviii. 7. 210 Myriads between two brazen mountains lodg'd Against a solemn day, And I turned, and lift up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of brass. Zech. vi. 1. to let forth The King of Glory in his powerful Word Unfold to entertain The King of Glory; see he comes Who is the King of glory? who? In battle mighty, o'er his foes Eternal victor crown'd. Ps. xxiv. 216 Silence, yè troubled waves, and thou deep, peace, And his disciples came unto him, and awake him, saying, Lord, save us; we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. Matt. viii. 25, 26. 225 He took the golden compasses, prepared When he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he set a compass upon the face of the depth. Prov. viii. 27. 231 This be thy just circumference, O World 233 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment; when he appointed the foundations of the earth. Prov. viii. 29. Darkness profound Cover'd th' abyss: The earth was without form and void. Gen. i. 2. 235 His brooding wings the spirit of God outspread, The spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Gen. i. 2. 250 And light from darkness by the hemisphere Divided; And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night; and the evening and the morning were the first day. Gen, i. 4. 261 Again, God said, Let there be firmament And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament. And God called the firmament heaven. Gen. i. 6, 7, 8. 283 Be gathered now ye waters under Heaven Into one place, and let the dry appear. Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains, they go down by the vallies unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Ps. civ. 5. 8. 366 And hence the morning planet gilds her horns ; When Venus rises before the sun, she appears to the west of it, and is called a morning star; when she sets after it, she is called an evening star, and appears to the east of the sun; in the latter position she continues much longer than in the former, because of the earth's motion in the ecliptic. With purest ray Sweet Venus shines; and from her genial rise, THOMSON. and the Pleiades before him danc'd Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades? Job. xxxviii. 31. The Pleiades are usually described as an assemblage of seven stars in the neck of the constellation Taurus. 423 They are thus called from a Greek word signifying to sail; this season was peculiarly dangerous to mariners, on account of the storms that swelled the foaming surge. Others assert that this constellation shows the time most favourable to navigators, which is the spring. It is said there are now only six other stars visible in the Pleiades. Hooke, in his Micographia, says, that with a telescope of twelve feet, he discovered seventy-eight stars among the Pleiades. Dr. Herschell (our late amiable astronomer, whose mind soared above the follies of this world) assured us, that the number of the stars were exceedingly beyond even what the discoveries of former astronomers had pronounced. there the eagle The eagle is styled the bird of Jove, and has always been considered as the symbol of majesty and dominion. High from the summit of a craggy clift, Hung o'er the deep, such as amazing frowns sea ; He wings his course, and preys on distant isles. U 423 and the stork On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build; 438 The migration of birds is one of the most curious phenomena in nature, and illustrates in a manner peculiarly striking the power of instinct. It is remarked by Jeremiah, viii. 7. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times: and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming. Who bid the stork, Columbus-like explore Who calls the council, states the certain day, In this 'tis God directs, in that 'tis man. POPE. The stork is the emblem of piety and gratitude. The Thessalonians worshipped the stork; and to kill one of those birds was death. Her annual voyage, The tribes of birds which migrate, either in search of food, or of warmer climes, are various : and before their flight, they collect together in crowds a considerable time previous to their departure. The crane, of all the species performs the boldest and most distant journies. See Book I. line 576. the swan with arched neck The swan is a stately and beautiful bird in the water. |