I.
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"—Psalm viii. 3, 4.
The pride of our nature inclines us to think too highly of ourselves. It is prone to covet a high station in the scale of being. Hence, the first work of devotion is to teach humility. The first breathing of the Holy Spirit upon man is the lesson of his imperfection and dependence.
This self-abasement seemed to have been heightened in the mind of the Psalmist by a contemplation of the heavenly bodies. The lofty expanse, studded with majestic orbs apparently countless and immeasurable, yet all maintaining the law of order enforced at their creation, uplifted his conceptions to new adoration of that Power who cast them forth as atoms into empty space, yet "calleth all by their names, bringeth forth Mazzaroth in his seasons, and guiding Arcturus with his sons." Then in such strong contrast appeared his own insignificance and frailty, that he uttered the impressive interrogation, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
The study of the stars was one of the earliest sciences that attracted the human mind. The most an-
