ngland once lay at the bottom of the sea.
You may now see shells and sea fishes bedded in high rocks and hill tops.
But it was all heaved up by the thunder which works under ground. There
are places in England where I have seen the marks of the fire on the
rocks; and the solid stone crushed, and twisted, and melted by the vast
force of the fire which thrust up the land from beneath--and thus the
land was heaved up from under the waters, and the sea fled away and left
its old bed dry--firm land and high cliffs--and as the Psalmist says, "At
the voice of God's thunder the waters were afraid. Thou hast set them
their bounds which they shall not pass, neither turn again to cover the
earth."

Wonderful as all this may seem, all learned men know that it is true. And
this one thing at least it ought to teach us, what a wonderful and
Almighty God we have to deal with, whose hand made all these things--and
what a loving and merciful God, who makes not only the wind and the sea,
and the thunder and the fire kingdoms obey Him, but makes their violence
bring blessings to mankind. The fire kingdom heaves up dry land for men
to dwell on--the thunder brings mellow rains--the winds sweep the air
clean, and freshen all our breath--and feed the plants with rich air
drawn from far forests in America, and from the wild raging seas--the sea
sends up its continual treasures of rain--everywhere are harmony and
fitness, beauty and use in all God's works. He has made nothing in vain.
All His works praise Him, and surely, also, His saints should give thanks
to Him! Oh! my friends--every thunder shower--every fresh south-west
breeze, is a miracle of God's mercy, if we could but see thoroughly into
it.

Consider, again, another wonderful proof of God's goodness in what we
call the Tides of the sea. God has made the waters so, that they can
never stand still--the sea is always moving. Twice a day it rises, and
twice a day it sinks and ebbs again all along the shore. It would take
too long to explain why this is--but it is enough to say, that it must be
so, from the way in which God has made the earth and the water. So that
it did not come from accident. God planned and intended it all when He
made the sea at first. His all-foreseeing love settled it all. Now of
what use are these tides? They keep the sea from rotting, by keeping it
in a perpetual stir. And the sea, as it ebbs and flows, draws the air
after it, and so keeps the air c