into extravagance, and are stripped of all their beautiful significance in the minds of thoughtful men. Invested with the same indirect meaning, the names of Ananias, Azarias, and Misael are most fitly introduced among the invocations of the hymn. They have, it is true, long passed from the scene of their trials; but, though no voice of praise may rise from the grave, their memories remain to us as symbols of God's omnipotence. In thinking of them we recall the example of men who trusted in the Lord and were not forsaken, who stood forth ready to brave the most cruel death rather than deny their faith, and whom no tyrant could either terrify or hurt, because they were upheld by God's protection. Is there no aid to devotion in such examples, or in the thoughts that rise up in association with such names? On the contrary, no invocation in the hymn is more profitable or suggestive. Thus, by their trusting faith when living, they continue, even though dead, "to praise and magnify Him for ever." Though all are ready to admit that everything in nature exhibits the power and goodness of God, it will not be denied that a little knowledge of the way in which these operate would give additional distinctness to the feeling. Such knowledge, indeed, will often suffice to change what is merely passive acquiescence into a fervent sentiment of adoration founded on conviction and experience. The Benedicite is most eminently a practical hymn, capable of being woven into our whole nature. We sing it in the Church, but we may carry its spirit about with us everywhere, and make it our inseparable companion through life. The thoughtful consideration of God's works, when founded upon a knowledge of the power and goodness they display, creates a condition of mind so impressible that every solemn allusion to them instantly and without conscious effort raises within us feelings of adoration in unison with the subject. The details of the wonderful perfections by which these feelings were originally developed may be absent, or even forgotten, but the devotional impress with which they once imbued the understanding never fades away. They who have acquired this sensibility to the hymns of praise for ever ascending from all God's works have found an aid to adoration, whose value is known to themselves, but which must sometimes appear like extravagant affectation to others who have never taken any pains to cherish it. It is only by such means that our minds can be brought into full harmony with the spirit of the Benedicite; but, when its words fall upon ears thus prepared by the understanding and the heart, they speak the clearest language, and stand forth as the emblems of Power, Wisdom, and Goodness. The object of this book is to offer a series of illustrations of God's power, beneficence, and design, as they are suggested to our minds by the words of the "Benedicite." A few of the verses, it will be noticed, are omitted, not because they are inapplicable to devotion, but because they do not come within range of that kind of illustration to which I have thought it proper to confine myself. Within this limitation, however, enough and more than enough remains for the work on hand. It may, indeed, be truly said that he who undertakes to cull from the many fields of nature the most striking examples of God's Providence will find his chief difficulty to arise from the "embarrassment of riches." He is like a man wandering in a gallery where all is truth and perfection, and who has rashly engaged to single out that only which is preeminently the best. A feeling of this kind weighs on me now, for, while illustrations abound on every side, I fear lest I should select some examples where others ought to have been preferred,-not because they are more wonderful or more perfect, but because they are better adapted for the purpose here intended. I know beforehand that the subject, for its own sake, will be received with sympathy by those whose delight it is ever to be on the outlook for the suggestion of trains of thought which lead them to magnify God in His Works; but it would be even more gratifying to me if I should succeed in awakening an interest in the "Benedicite" in some who, perhaps, may not have hitherto considered its verses under the aspect here given to them. Soon will they make the precious discovery that every addition to their knowledge of the natural objects around them gives distinctness to the feeling with which they join in the singing of this Hymn. While endeavouring to illustrate the effect of a little knowledge in developing that sensitiveness to the divine goodness which, while it softens the heart, beckons us onwards to that worship which springs from the contemplation of natural objects, I wish carefully to guard against every appearance of desiring to elevate this means above its proper place. We are here dealing with the things that belong to the kingdom of nature, and not with those pertaining to the kingdom of grace; and, if need be, it must often be recalled that how praiseworthy soever this meditative worship may be, it can never supersede, and must always be subordinate to, those higher motives for worship which are unfolded in the doctrines of Christianity. The one is essential and must be done; while all that can be said of the other is that it is both fitting and profitable, and ought not to be left undone. God has graciously endowed us with faculties to comprehend His Works, and with every new appreciation of His design we seem to be taken more and more into His confidence. What thriftless folly, then, to neglect or throw away this inestimable privilege! Ex perience proves that God blesses our efforts to trace out the perfection of His Works with an immediate reward, for the pursuit is replete with rational pleasure no less than with moral improvement. O praise the Lord with me, let us magnify His THE HEAVENS. O ye Heavens, bless ye the Lord; praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. MONG all the sights the eye can look upon nothing is comparable to the Heavens for the sentiment with which they charm the mind. The language they speak comes to us from remote, mysterious worlds; but, though it may be imperfectly understood, it is at least universally felt. The great and the little, the civilised man and the savage, the philosopher and the rustic-all feel their influence, and are from time to time irresistibly drawn towards them by mingled emotions of admiration, gratitude, and awe, such as none of the other features of nature can excite in an equal degree. No wonder, therefore, that the Three Children, searching for the grandest symbols of God's glory, should first of all turn with rapture towards the Heavens. Again and again the grand features of the firmament are passed in review, and invoked with fervour. In the eagerness of their adoration order and method cease to be regarded, and they pour forth their thoughts in song as these come welling up in their minds. So may it happily sometimes be with ourselves; and in those moments when we too are drawn with desire to |