The Lesson Of The Sky

It is a strange tking how littl; in gensrtil puople know about th sky. It is :ho purt of creatiou in whioh uaiure has donu mure tor the sake of pleasiug man, noio tor the sole and evident purpose ot' ttilking to him aud ttiachinu hiui than in any other ot her works, and it is jiist the iurt ia which we least attend to her. Xhere are not many ot her other works n which some more material or essonüal jurpose than the ruero pleasing of man not answered in every part ot their organization; but every esseutial purpose of the sky ruight, so far as we know, bo answered, if once in three days or thereibouts a great ugly black rain cloud were jrought up over the blue and cverythiujf well watored, and so all left blue again ill next time, with perhapsafilmof niorung and evening mist lor dew. And intead of tliis, there is not a moment of any day of our lives when nature is not jroducing seene afier scène, picture alter licture, glory after glory, and working till upon buch exquisito and constant )rinciplts of the most pcrfi ot bt'uuty, that t ia quite oertain ït is all dono for ua aud ntended ibr oui neisoiml nloftauv Aní ïntended tor our personal pleasure. And every muu, wherever placed, kowever far trom othor 6ources ot' interest or of beauty, has tbis doing for him constan tly. The uoblest scènes ot' the earth can lio svcn mul known but by few ; it 8 nt in tended Uiat mnu silould livealways in tho luidst ot them by lus pruaence, lie censes to ieel them if he be aiwuys with tuuni ; but the sky is tor all ; biiybt as it is, it is not too " luight and good lor huiuuu nature's daiiy tood ; " it is fitted in aü it lunctious lor tlie perpetual eouiiort and exhuliition of the iiüart, for tho soothing and puriiying it l:om its drom and dust. Boinetunea guutle, sumi-unü s capacious, gomutimea uwtul, oever the arniie ior two momento togetber ; almost huiuun in its ptissiuns, itluiObt spiritual m its tuuleiness, ahuost divino in its mriiiity, its appeal to w-hut is imittortal m us is as distinct as tlu ininistry ot chagtúemeat or ot bl.-.sing to wliat in mortal is essenijal. And yet we liever atU'iid to it, we uever m;ike it a subject of thouglit, but it has f j do with uur animal seusations ; but we look upon all by which it tyeuks to us motu clearly th:tn the brutee, and which bcr.i witaeM to tfae intention of the tiiiprerae, int we aie to ruceivo more trom toe eovting vauit tiian the lilit aiid the duw hicli wo aliaio witli the weedaad worm, nly s a sucuessiou of meauinglens and uuiiotouous avt'iilent too commuu aud ;oo VHin to be wortiiy ot u luomi'iit of ■iitchiuliiess, or ;'uuce of aduuiatiou. t' in üur nioiiit'iits oi' ulter idieuoss nd ïsipidity, wo turn to the sky as a last reource, which of its phouomena do we wak t"r Oue says it has been wet, and uuthcr it has been windy, aud anotuer ; lias been warm. Who muong tha whule liatterir.g crowd, can t:ll me of the l'orius nd tho preoipieea ot' the chain of tall 'hito luountiiins that girded tho horizou t noon yesterday 't Wtio saw the narrow sunboara that aiuo out of the south and smote upun lu'ir sommita until tliey melted and iouldod away in dust or blue rain 'f Who aw tho dance of the dead clouds when U' sunlight left them last night, nnd the west wind blew theiu befara it like with red leaves? All has passed uurcgrettcd s unacen; or if thu aii.ithy be ever shaen olF even for an instant, it is only by vlüit is extraordinary ; and yet it is not n the broad aid fierre luanit'estationg of the elemental er.ergics, not in the olwb of the huil nor the drift of the whirlwind, that liijjhest ehariictcrs of the sul lime are dereioped. Goi is iiot in earthqu;ike, nor in tho tire, but in the still smalt voico They are but the blunt, low faculties of ov.r nature which cijn only bo addressed through luuipblack aul lightening. It ia in quitt and subdued pissages of unobtnive ii);ijisty, the deep and tho calm and tho perpetual,- thnt whieh must be sought ere it Í8 understood, things which tbo angels work out for u daily, and vet vary eteinuliy, which are never wunting, and never repeated, whieh are tobo found always. but eueh found but onoe ; it is througli these that the lesson of devotion ischieily taught, and tho blessing of y givun