ON THE PUBLIC SHOWS. 229 them. He has trueand profitablepleasures,ifhe willrecol lecthimself. And to say nothingof thosewhich he cannot yet contemplate,he has thatbeautyof the world to lookupon and admire. He may gaze upon the sun'srising,and again on itssetting,as it bringsround in theirmutual changes days and nights; the moon's orb,designatingin itswaxings and wanings the courses of the seasons; the troops of shining stars,and thosewhich glitterfrom on high with ex treme mobility,— theirmembers dividedthrough the changes of the entireyear,and the days themselveswith the nights distributedintohourlyperiods; the heavy mass of the earth balancedby the mountains,and the flowingriverswith their sources; the expanse of seas,with theirwaves and shores; and meanwhile, the air,subsistingequally everywhere in perfectharmony, expanded in the midst of all,and in con cordantbonds animatingallthingswith itsdelicatelife,now scatteringshowers from the contractedclouds,now recalling the serenityof the sky with itsrefreshedpurity; and in all these spherestheirappropriatetenants— in the airthe birds, in the waters the fishes,on the earth man. Let these,I say,and other divineworks,be the exhibitionsfor faithful Christians. What theatrebuiltby human hands couldever be compared to such works as these1 Although it may be rearedwith immense pilesof stones,the mountain crestsare loftier; and althoughthe frettedroofsglitterwith gold,they will be surpassedby the brightnessof the starryfirmament. Never willany one admire the works of man, ifhe has recog nisedhimselfas the son of God. He degradeshimselffrom the heightof his nobility,who can admire anything but the Lord. 10. Let the faithfulChristian,I say,devotehimselfto the sacredScriptures,and there he shallfindworthy exhibitions for hisfaith. He willsee God establishingHis world,and making not only the other animals,but that marvellous and betterfabricof man. He willgaze upon the world in its delightfulness,righteousshipwrecks,the rewardsof the good, and the punishments of the impious,seas draineddry by a people,and again from the rock seas spreadout by a