The heavens and the earth are as nothing to
man, if they do not excite his awe and call forth his thanksgiving. We
might almost suppose that it is for this purpose that the sea rolls its
waves on the shore, and the violet smiles by the wayside, and the moon
floods the night with its silver radiance. As a recent writer has
observed,[1] the beauty of Nature is necessary for the perfection of
_praise_; without it the praise of the Creator would be essentially
weakened; our hearts must be roused and excited by what we see. "It may
seem extraordinary," adds our authority, "but it is the case, that,
though we certainly look at contrivance or machinery in Nature with a
high admiration, still, with all its countless and multitudinous uses,
which we acknowledge with gratitude, there is nothing in it which raises
the mind's interest in nearly the same degree that beauty does. It is an
awakening sight; and one way in which it acts is by exciting a certain
curiosity about the Deity. In what does God possess character, feelings,
relations to us?--all unanswerable questions, but the very entertainment
of which is an excitement of the reason, and throws us upon the thought
of what there is behind the veil.
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