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91
NATURE'S EVIDENCE.
“Oh! teach me who is God and where his glories shine,
That I may kneel and pray, and call thy Father mine!”
“Go view immensity! behold my God is there!
The sun, the moon, the stars, his majesty declare.”
Hugh Hutton.
That I may kneel and pray, and call thy Father mine!”
“Go view immensity! behold my God is there!
The sun, the moon, the stars, his majesty declare.”
Hugh Hutton.
“What seekest thou?” I asked of one who bent
In solemn stillness o'er the letter'd page;—
His flowing garments were with dust besprent,
His look told more of sorrow than of age;
His long thin hair did o'er his temples stray,
And on his pallid brow, a deep, sad shadow lay.
In solemn stillness o'er the letter'd page;—
His flowing garments were with dust besprent,
His look told more of sorrow than of age;
His long thin hair did o'er his temples stray,
And on his pallid brow, a deep, sad shadow lay.
Slowly he raised his dim and misty eye,
And gazed in mournful silence on my face;
And then he waved his thin hand vacantly,
As if to drive some shadow from the place;
He answer'd—and his voice's sorrowing tone
Was like the wailing wind when summer's pride is flown.
And gazed in mournful silence on my face;
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As if to drive some shadow from the place;
He answer'd—and his voice's sorrowing tone
Was like the wailing wind when summer's pride is flown.
“Stranger! I seek in ancient lore to find
That knowledge I have sought so long in vain,
But doubt doth still obscure this troubled mind,
And distant yet the prize I toil to gain;—
Stranger! my soul is bow'd beneath the load
I bear, while still I strive to find thy people's God.
That knowledge I have sought so long in vain,
But doubt doth still obscure this troubled mind,
And distant yet the prize I toil to gain;—
Stranger! my soul is bow'd beneath the load
I bear, while still I strive to find thy people's God.
“Thou weary pilgrim, cease thy lonely task!
The costly prize thou namest, lies not there;
Go rather and of woods and waters ask,
And hold thy commune with the viewless air;
Each wave, each tree, that in the sunshine plays,
Each wind, and leaf, and flower, will speak its Maker's praise.
The costly prize thou namest, lies not there;
Go rather and of woods and waters ask,
And hold thy commune with the viewless air;
Each wave, each tree, that in the sunshine plays,
Each wind, and leaf, and flower, will speak its Maker's praise.
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“Go pierce the trackless forest's twilight shade,
Where never foot of human being trod;
Thou'lt hear a still, small voice in every glade
Proclaim the being and the love of God;
'Twill tell thee that his spirit ever broods
Both o'er the homes of men and wildest solitudes.
Where never foot of human being trod;
Thou'lt hear a still, small voice in every glade
Proclaim the being and the love of God;
'Twill tell thee that his spirit ever broods
Both o'er the homes of men and wildest solitudes.
“Go view the river in its varied course,
Now rushing on its way with lightning speed,
Sweeping o'er all things with resistless force,
Now gliding calmly thro' some fertile mead;
Lo! as it rolls along it bids thee stand,
And reverence, and admire, our God's directing hand.
Now rushing on its way with lightning speed,
Sweeping o'er all things with resistless force,
Now gliding calmly thro' some fertile mead;
Lo! as it rolls along it bids thee stand,
And reverence, and admire, our God's directing hand.
“Go climb yon lofty mountain's towering brow,
And see beneath thee the wide plains outspread,
The gloomy storm-clouds float in wrath below,
Inspiring earth's inhabitants with dread;
There kneel with awe and wonder in that hour,
And own the mighty sway of God's high spirit power.
And see beneath thee the wide plains outspread,
The gloomy storm-clouds float in wrath below,
Inspiring earth's inhabitants with dread;
There kneel with awe and wonder in that hour,
And own the mighty sway of God's high spirit power.
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“Seekest thou our Father? cross yon raging sea,
Visit the distant regions of the world;
The boundless workings of his hand thou'lt see
Where all creation's glories are unfurl'd;
In cities' tumult, or the loneliest spot,
Where wilt thou find the place on earth where God is not?
Visit the distant regions of the world;
The boundless workings of his hand thou'lt see
Where all creation's glories are unfurl'd;
In cities' tumult, or the loneliest spot,
Where wilt thou find the place on earth where God is not?
“Go gaze around thee! view the world arise
From winter's dark, and cold, and stern embrace;
It tells thee of a God that never dies,
It tells thee of his mercy and his grace;
It tells thee man's immortal soul shall rise,
And soar from death's dull winter to its kindred skies.
From winter's dark, and cold, and stern embrace;
It tells thee of a God that never dies,
It tells thee of his mercy and his grace;
It tells thee man's immortal soul shall rise,
And soar from death's dull winter to its kindred skies.
“Thou weary pilgrim, close the letter'd page—
God's pure and holy nature shines not there;
Let not man's sophistry thy thoughts engage,
While air, and earth, and sea his name declare;
Go, where all nature with one voice commands,
Go, find him in the works, and wonders of his hands.”
God's pure and holy nature shines not there;
Let not man's sophistry thy thoughts engage,
While air, and earth, and sea his name declare;
Go, where all nature with one voice commands,
Go, find him in the works, and wonders of his hands.”
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