neck of Taurus for ages. To an earthly observer Alcyone would shine with undiminished splendor until near the close of the twenty-fifth century of the Christian Era, 700 years being required for light to traverse the intervening distance. If the first of those seven daughters-the brightest star in that celestial group—is the grand center that holds our whole solar system by the power of a measureless gravitation while it pursues the line of an orbit 50,000,000 times greater than the one the Earth describes in its annual circuit-then, indeed, there is a profound significance in the words of the ancient poet. God speaks to us in the silent but irresistible force of natural gravitation, and hence, verily, no power on earth can "bind the sweet influence of Pleiades." Euripides, the great tragic poet of Salamis, and the last of the three principal representatives of the Greek drama, was distinguished for his hostility to woman. Andromeda was selected as the title of one of the fifty-six lost tragedies by that author, perhaps from a feeling that woman is only fit to be a slave. Andromeda is a pale nebula, just visible to the naked eye in the northern heavens, representing a female figure in chains. The reflectors of the most powerful telescopes do not resolve the nebula of Andromeda, and in this fact we find the evidence that it is so remote that light, which travels at the amazing rate of 192,000 miles in a second, would require 1,000,000 years or more to send its rays through the darkness that broods over the naked realms of space to this distant world. Such are the silent teachings of the stars! These are the, mystical voices without which we could know nothing about the innumerable worlds and systems in space. If, however, we were aware of the existence of so many worlds, compared with which our own is a mere speck on the map of the Universe, and yet could not perceive their relative positions and the harmony of their movements, we should be filled with constant apprehension, for how could we be sure that the Earth itself might not perish, "Like a worm upon destruction's path?" But light-the Apocalyptic angel standing in the Sun-reveals all; and how do the fables of heathen philosophers and Jewish poets, concerning the creation of the world and the period of its existence, dwindle into insignificance before the revelations of Science! So profoundly is the human spirit moved to reverence and worship by such sublime contemplations, that we may well conclude, "the undevout astronomer is mad.” "Mighty One! Whom none can comprehend, and none explore ; Who fill'st existence with thyself alone; Embracing all; supporting, ruling o'er ; Being whom we call GOD-and know no more!" "A million torches, lighted by thy hand, Wander unwearied through yon blue abyss, Lamps of celestial ether, burning bright?— Suns, lighting systems with their joyous beams, It is not so much in the noisy agitation of the elements as in the Silent Voices of the Universe that God speaks to man. Nature is vocal, and the delicate modulations of her audible voices charm the sense and inspire the imagination. The winds and waves; the reeds and shells; the pine trees' soft refrain; and the liquid solos of the brooks,-all have their speech, and it is full of music; but it is in the silence of meditation that we receive the lore of the Heavens. We find an impressive illustration of our idea in the sublime description of the Prophet's experience in Mount Horeb. The strong Wind swept over the summit and through the deep defiles of the mountain, and the rocks moved beneath the invisible chariot wheels. And then came the Earthquake with its gigantic tread, shaking the old foundations of the mountain, breaking the rocks in pieces, and toppling down the pinnacles. When the Earthquake had retired, then came the Conflagration with its appalling terrors and its awful glory! The hissing voices of its forked tongues filled all the air; and fierce flames, like burning shields, covered the mountain-sides. But not especially in the Wind; not in the Earthquake; not in the Fire-not, indeed, in all the imposing exhibitions of conflicting earthly elements, did the Prophet look for a spiritual communication. But when the elements had expended their forces-when, at last, there was silence in Horeb, the Prophet veiled his face in his mantle, and the divine word came to his waiting spirit in “a still small voice." All physical forms and visible phenomena proceed from invisible causes, and the Universe itself is one grand Spiritual Manifestation. It is the original, comprehensive, and authentic revelation of God. It is the WORD that was in the beginning the manifold Voice of the Creator, speaking everywhere to the senses and the souls of men. "The radiant zones of space and time The hieroglyph of Wisdom's Lord; To shape the Epic of the skies; Heaven is the grand full-spoken thought Of him by whom the worlds were wrought; He, throned within the Word above, Inspires that Heaven, that thought, with love." In the order of Nature mind governs the realm of material existence. Subtile forces, that elude the faculties of ordinary observation, produce stupendous changes in the superficial aspects of the world. Super-terrestrial beings have power to modify the fundamental laws and the essential conditions of human existence. Thus the mysterious agents move in our midst, silently-but with irresistible energy. They never cease to operate, but they are chiefly visible in the results of their action on matter and mind. Intervening objects offer little resistance, and they are neither limited by time nor space. Who can suppress "the powers of the air"? Who can extinguish the light of the Spirit? Even "the land of shadows" becomes luminous, and in its presence "death is swallowed up in victory." The power of the Spirit kindles the very elements, and earth and sky flame with ethereal mysteries. It breathes in the souls of unborn men, and they are inspired from the womb. It rouses the dormant energies of slumbering nations, and they are raised from the dead. The invisible powers touch the throne, and it crumbles away. Crown and scepter ignite, and the chains of the slave are fused in the divine combustion. The earth quakes and swallows up old dynasties. New political and religious systems are inaugurated, and unseen hands open wide the gates of the Liberating Eras. TOWN AND COUNTRY. THE town is but a place of business. Its spirit is weary ing, and withering to all the generous instincts and emotions of the heart and soul. We are carried away and lost in its rushing currents. Our cradle rocks to a discordant jar; youth is jostled and despoiled of its bloom; manhood is too often corrupted, overborne, and palsied; and if, at last, man finds a grave there, careless feet perpetually tread upon his ashes. The country, alone, has the spirit to preserve and culture whatever is most beautiful in human nature. Man, in the country, occupied with honest, peaceful pursuits and quiet meditations, is happy. This is the true life. He lives all his days in the very presence of his Maker, surrounded by the elements of beauty, and means of enjoyment that no human art can equal. THE THE WINGS OF SCIENCE. "THE SOUL OF THINGS." HE first flight of the young bird is feeble and fluttering. Perhaps it may fall upon the meadow; but ere long it will be lost in the clouds. Science, which has but feebly chirped before its wings have grown, has been in that callow age in which its voice has only a squeaking tone, though destined in the future to thrill us with its melody, heard from invisible heights. But already the long feathers of its wings are visible— there are some brilliant tints upon its neck, and there are clear notes of wild melody in its young voice, that give infinite promise of rich harmony. The psychic powers that sweep through the empyrean have been surveyed in their shadowy native home, and their future flight predicted. It is even thirty-two years since the adventurous scientist found in the sacred grove all unknown, the nestling place and source of melodies which seem most truly in their place when they descend from the cloud and the mist, or mingle with the auroral beauties of the morning dawn. It was shown by Dr. Buchanan, in 1842, that the widesweeping and soaring intuitive powers of man have their lodgment in an interior region of the brain, which had escaped the researches of his predecessors. It was a pregnant discovery indeed, when he pointed out the fact that those who are finely organized can use their intuitive powers to detect in the apparently dead materials of manuscript a latent spiritual energy before unknown, and |