or of all the
worlds, and the Inhabiter of eternity, we cannot behold Him; but, as the
Judge of the earth and the Preserver of men, those heavens are indeed
His dwelling-place. "Swear not, neither by heaven, for it is God's
throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool." And all those
passings to and fro of fruitful shower and grateful shade, and all those
visions of silver palaces built about the horizon, and voices of moaning
winds and threatening thunders, and glories of colored robe and cloven
ray, are but to deepen in our hearts the acceptance, and distinctness,
and dearness of the simple words, "Our Father which art in heaven."

FOOTNOTES

[37] "God made
The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure,
Transparent, elemental air, diffused
In circuit to the uttermost convex
Of this great round."

_Paradise Lost_, book vii.

[38] The reader may refer to the following texts, which it is
needless to quote: Exod. xiii. 21, xvi. 10, xix. 9, xxiv. 16, xxxiv.
5, Levit. xvi. 2, Num. x. 34, Judges v. 4, 1 Kings viii. 10, Ezek.
i. 4, Dan. vii. 13, Matt. xxiv. 30, 1 Thess. iv. 17, Rev. i. 7.

[39] Compare also Job, xxxvi. 29, "The spreading of the clouds, and
the noise of his _tabernacle_;" and xxxviii. 33, "Knowest thou the
ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the
earth? canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds?"

Observe that in the passage of Addison's well known hymn--

"The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim"--

the writer has clearly the true distinctions in his mind; he does
not use his words, as we too often accept them, in vain tautology.
By the _spacious_ firmament he means the clouds, using the word
spacious to mark the true meaning of the Hebrew term: the blue
_ethereal_ sky is the real air or ether, blue above the clouds; the
heavens are the starry space, for which he uses this word, less
accurately, indeed, than the others, but as the only one available
for this meaning.

CHAPTER VII.

THE DRY LAND.

Sec. 1. Having thus arrived at some apprehension of the true meaning and
noble offices of the clouds, we leave farther inquiry into their aspects
to another time, and follow the fixed arrangement of our subject; first,
to the