Tales from the Bible for the young

Front matter

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UNITED STATES OF AMEEICA.

Separation of Abram and Lot. — Page 243.

Preface

These sacred narratives are designed for the young, from ten to sixteen years of age, although many younger readers will be able to understand and appreciate them, while still older persons may find most of them instructive and profitable. The style in which they are written is adapted to the understanding of youthful readers, while it is not so puerile as to offend the taste of riper years.

Each narrative rehearsed is given somewhat in detail, and the imagination is allowed to supply the broken links of each story, so far as known facts will warrant, in order to secure the interest of the reader, and throw around the Bible a fascination that is justly its own.

Special pains are taken to introduce as much Biblical knowledge as possible into these narratives, that

IV PREFACE.

the reader may become better acquainted with the Scriptures. Oriental habits and customs, ancient and modern, are explained, and the whole is interspersed with facts and anecdotes, from both sacred and profane history, by way of illustration. In this manner there is woven into the Tales a sort of running commentary.

Important moral lessons, also, are derived from each narrative, that the reader may not overlook the design of these sacred incidents, biographies, and histories.

If the Christian public give this humble volume a good reception, the author will be encouraged to go through the entire Bible in this manner, and issue a series of volumes that will be of permanent value in the family and Sabbath school.

W. M. T.

CONTENTS-

GOD DWELLING ALONE. — DETERMINED TO MAKE THE WORLD. — WHERE BEGAN TO CREATE. — WHY IT TOOK HIM SIX DAYS. — LIGHT MADE ON THE FIRST DAY. — LIGHT OLDER THAN ANY- THING ELSE. — DAY WITHOUT A SUN, AND NIGHT WITHOUT A MOON. — THE FIRMAMENT MADE ON THE SECOND DAY. — THE DRY LAND AND SEAS MADE ON THIRD DAY. — THE HEAVENLY BODIES MADE ON FOURTH DAY. — FIRST VIEW OF THE SUN. — A SUN TO RISE ON THE FIFTH DAY. — FIRST LIVING CREATURES MADE. — DAWN OF THE SIXTH DAY. — THE BEASTS AND MAN CREATED. — WE SEE ONLY TART OF WHAT GOD MADE. — THE SIZE OF OUR LITTLE EARTH. — THE EARTH COMPARED WITH THE SUN. — THE VESSEL SAILING. — A RAILROAD TO THE SUN. — THE STARS LARGER THAN THE SUN. — NUMBER OF STARS. — A TRIP TO THE NEAREST STAR. — TAKE SIXTY-FOUR YEARS TO COUNT THE STARS. — THE TELESCOPE AND MOST DISTANT STAR. — THERE MUST BE A GOD. — HOW GREAT IS GOD. — SHOULD LOVE, FEAR, AND REVERENCE HIM.

II

ADAM NEVER A BABY. — MEANING OF HIS NAME. — NO ONE ELSE ON EARTH. — THE WESTERN PRAIRIE. — THE GARDEN OF EDEN. — THE LITTLE BOY WHO ASKED WHAT ADAM DID. — 1*

Yl CONTENTS.

NAMING THE ANIMALS. — THE SPLENDID * PAINTING. — THE ANI- MALS TAME IN EDEN. — ADAM CREATED HOLY. — THE FORBIDDEN TREE. — A RIB FOR A WIFE. — ADAM'S SURPRISE. — THE SER- PENT. — EVE TASTING OF THE APPLE. — EXPULSION FROM EDEN.

— THE ONLY COUPLE ON EARTH. — THEIR HUT. — ADAM'S HOE AND SHOVEL. — EVE WEEPING. — EXTRACT FROM MILTON. — THE FIRST BABE. — THE AGED MAN. — HOW DEATH CAME INTO THE WORLD. — ADAM'S DEATH-BED AND FUNERAL. — HOW CURI- OSITY RUINS THE YOUNG. — NO EXCUSE THAT OTHERS TEMPT US TO SIN.

III

THE FIRST BOY EVER BORN A BAD ONE. — HE KILLED HIS BROTHER. — WHAT HIS MOTHER THOUGHT OF HIM AS A BABY. — CAIN RELIGIOUSLY EDUCATED. — HE WAS ALWAYS BAD. — UGLY.

— HE BECAME A FARMER. — ABEL A BETTER BOY. — HOW AND WHERE CAIN KILLED ABEL. — WHY DID CAIN KILL HIS BROTH- ER ? — ABEL'S CORPSE CARRIED HOME. — THE FIRST DEATH CAUSED BY VIOLENCE. — BOY WHO TOLD HIS FATHER TO "LOOK UP." — CAIN'S LIE. — GOD CURSED HIM. — THE MARK ON CAIN.

— HE WANDERED ABOUT AS A VAGABOND. — HIS CONSCIENCE. — THE MISERABLE DUELLIST IN A SOUTHERN CITY. — CAIN'S GOOD SON ENOCH. — CAIN'S DEATH. — SOME CHILDREN CAUSE THEIR PARENTS MUCH TROUBLE. — EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF A BAD TEM- PER. — PROFESSOR WEBSTER. — THE BEGINNING AND END. — SOME CHILDREN LIKE CAIN.

IV

ITS NAME WAS ENOCH. — CAIN ITS BUILDER. — WHY HE BUILT IT. — IT WAS NOT LIKE BOSTON OR NEW YORK. — NO TOOLS THEN

CONTENTS. Yll

TO WORK WITH. — HOW THE HOUSES WERE MADE. — A CITY OF SHANTIES. — A MUD WALL, AROUND IT. — THORN HEDGES. — WHEN MEN LIVED IN CAVES. — THE SAVIOUR'S ALLUSION TO MUD HOUSES. — A RICH MAN NOW COULD BUY A DOZEN CITIES LIKE ENOCH. — SEE THE PROGRESS OF MANKIND. — HOW MANY COM- FORTS THE YOUNG NOW ENJOY.

V. Enoch, or the Man ivho never Died . . 82

INTERVIEW BETWEDN MR. GRAVES AND ARTHUR. — WHEN ENOCH WAS BORN. — HOW RELATED TO ADAM. — HE WAS A NO- BLE BOY. — LISTENING TO ADAM'S STORIES AND COUNSELS. — DID NOT FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF EVIL YOUTH. — WHERE BI- BLE TELLS ABOUT ENOCH. — ONE STRIKING TEXT. — A GRAVE- STONE. — "WALKED WITH GOD." — A FATHER AND HIS SON. — HOW WE KNOW THAT HE DID NOT DIE. — HOW HE WENT TO HEAVEN. — PERHAPS AS ELIJAH DID. — A MYSTERIOUS SIGHT. — ■ WHY GOOD MEN NOW DO NOT GO TO HEAVEN SO. — THE FIRST MINISTER, AND A FEARLESS ONE. — ENOCH'S LAST DAYS. — A SINGLE TEXT THE KEY TO CHARACTER. — A MAN MAY BE GOOD, THOUGH ALL AROUND HIM ARE WICKED.

VI

A CHILD BORN WHEN THE WORLD WAS SIX HUNDRED YEARS OLD. — THE FIRST MAN WHO MARRIED TWO WIVES. — A MAN WITH SIX HUNDRED WIVES. — INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE. — HIS WIVES' NAMES. — HE HAD THREE BRIGHT BOYS. — THEIR MUSICAL NAMES. — JABAL WAS INDUSTRIOUS, AND FOND OF CATTLE. — HE WAS THE FIRST SHEPHERD, AND INVENTED THE TENT. — WHO WERE SHEPHERDS AFTER HIM. — SIZE OF FLOCKS AND HERDS. —

Vlll CONTENTS.

JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN. — SHEPHERD LIFE IN THE EAST NOW. — JUBAL WAS A MUSICIAN. — HE INVENTED THE FIRST MU- SICAL INSTRUMENT. — HOW HE DID IT. — A MAN IN HOLLAND CUTTING LETTERS ON BARK OF TREE. — THE LOADSTONE IN A BASIN OF WATER. — THE HARP AND ORGAN. — THE TIMBREL AND LITTLE SWISS GIRLS. — JUBAL'S ORGAN A HARMONICA. — HIS PER- SEVERANCE. — TUBAL-CAIN THE FIRST BLACKSMITH. — MADE FARMING TOOLS AND WEAPONS OF WAR. — VALUE OF HIS IN- VENTIONS TO MANKIND. — SELDOM FIND THREE SUCH BRIGHT BOYS IN ONE FAMILY. — THEIR FATHER NOT A GOOD MAN. — BOYS SHOULD CHOOSE THE PURSUIT FOR WHICH THEY ARE BEST QUALIFIED. — WE SHOULD THINK MORE OF THESE BROTHERS HAD THEY BEEN PIOUS.

VII. Noafts Ark, or the First Ship . . .121

GOD RESOLVED TO SAVE NOAH. — COMMAND TO BUILD THE ARK. — ITS SIZE, DESCRIPTION OF IT. — INFIDEL SNEERS. — PTOLEMY'S SHIP WAS LARGER. — HIERO'S VESSEL LARGER STILL. — THE GREAT EASTERN OF OUR DAY LARGER THAN THE ARK. — HOW LONG NOAH WAS IN BUILDING IT. — WHAT HIS NEIGHBORS THOUGHT AND SAID. — HE WAS A PREACHER AND WARNED THEM. — ANIMALS GOING INTO THE ARK. — HOW THEY KNEW ENOUGH TO GO IN. — AN EXCITING DAY. — A CROWD GATHER TO TO SEE THE ANIMALS ENTER. — NOAH MOVES INTO THE ARK. — THE STORM COMMENCING. — DID FISH ENTER THE ARK ? — NOAH ON THE WIDE WASTE OF WATERS. — HOW LONG HE WAS IN THE ARK. — FAIR WEATHER. — THE DOVE SENT OUT. — THE ARK ON ARARAT. — THE DAY NOAH LEFT THE ARK: — HOW LONG HE LIVED. — HOW MUCH % COMFORT NOAH WAS TO HIS FATHER. — PIOUS PARENTS ARE A GREAT BLESSING. — THE ARK A TYPE OF CHRIST.

CONTENTS. ix

VIII. The Deluge, or the Great Storm and Flood. 139

HOW OLD THE EARTH WHEN FLOOD CAME. — HOW MANY PEO- PLE ON IT. — THE YOUNG VERY WICKED THEN. — MORE EXCUSE FOR WICKEDNESS THEN. — MUCH VIOLENCE PREVAILED. — SOME PARTS OF OUR COUNTRY SIMILAR NOW. — NO PRISONS BEFORE THE FLOOD. — PEOPLE LIVED LONGER AND HAD MORE TIME TO BE- COME WICKED. — NOAH THE ONLY GOOD MAN WHEN FLOOD CAME.

— IN WHAT. YEAR WAS FLOOD. — COMMENCED THE SIXTH DAY OF NOVEMBER. — THE DREADFUL CONSTERNATION OF THE WICK- ED. — "FOUNTAINS OF THE GREAT DEEP." — THE INHABITANTS FLEEING FROM THEIR HOUSES, CLIMBING HILLS, TREES, AND MOUNTAINS. — NONE LEFT BUT THOSE IN THE ARK. — DANGER- OUS TO INCUR THE DISPLEASURE OF GOD. — GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. — THE DELUGE A TYPE OF THE DESTRUC- TION OF THIS WORLD.

IX

THE FEAR OF ANOTHER DELUGE. — GOD SET THE BOW IN THE CLOUD AS A PROMISE. — A REMARKABLE SIGHT THEN AND NOW.

— NOAH'S FEARS QUIETED. — HIS SONS DOUBTED. — WHAT HAM THOUGHT. — NO FLOOD SINCE. — WHAT A BOY ASKS HIS FATHER.

— WHAT THE RAINBOW IS MADE OF. — MADE BY THE LIGHT AND RAIN-DROPS. — THE PHILOSOPHICAL EXPLANATION. — THE TEACH- ER AND PRISM. — WHY THERE WAS NO RAINBOW BEFORE THE DELUGE. — HOW MUCH REASON WE HAVE TO BELIEVE GOD. — HOW THOUGHTLESS MANY PEOPLE ARE.

X CONTENTS.

X. Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the Three Fathers of Mankind 169

THREE SONS OF NOAH. — WORKED AT FARMING. — THEIR CHIL- DREN AND CHILDREN'S CHILDREN. — HAM NOT SO GOOD AS HIS BROTPIERS. — HIS FATHER MAKING WINE. — THE FIRST INSTANCE OF DRUNKENNESS. — HOW HAM MADE FUN OF HIS FATHER. — GOOD CONDUCT OF HIS BROTHERS. — NOAH DISPLEASED WITH HAM. — VERY WICKED TO TREAT PARENTS WITH DISRESPECT. — REV. PHILLIP HENRY TO HIS SONS. — HAM MOVED AWAY. — HE WAS THE FATHER OF THE AFRICAN RACE. — SLAVES AND SLAVE- SHIPS. — THE EXAMPLE OF FATHERS. — S1IEM THE FATHER OF THE ASIATICS, AND JAPHETH OF THE EUROPEANS. — SHEM AND JAPHETH SHARED A BLESSING. — HAM. — BAD PRINCIPLES LEAD TO RUIN. — YOUNG MEN IN OUR PRISONS. — THE YOUNG MAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. — HAM'S DAUGHTERS AS BAD AS THE SONS. — THE PIOUS MOTHER'S DAUGHTER IN A BALL-ROOM. — "HONOR TKY FATHER AND THY MOTHER."

XI. The Toiver of Babel . . . . .188

THE FIRST WORK OF ART AFTER THE FLOOD. — A PERSEVER- ING PEOPLE. — NOAH THE ONLY OLD MAN. — A COLONY REMOVE TO SHINAR. — THERE THE FIRST BRICKS WERE MADE. — A TRAV- ELLER'S REPORT. — BEGAN TO BUILD A CITY AND HIGH TOWER.

— WHY THEY WANTED TO BUILD A TOWER. — THEIR PRIDE AND VANITY. — SUCH PRIDE AND VANITY NOW AMONG YOUNG AND OLD.

— HOW MEN MAKE THEM A NAME. — GOD STOPPED THEIR WORK AND SCATTERED THEM ABROAD. — HOW. — SPEAKING DIFFER- ENT LANGUAGES. — THE FARMER AND SPANIARD. — THE RAILROAD CONTRACTOR. — THE GREAT CONFUSION. — SCENE IN A SCHOOL-

CONTENTS. XI

ROOM. — OBLIGED TO SEPARATE. — GREAT SIZE OF THE TOWER. — ONLY ONE LANGUAGE SPOKEN THE FIRST TWO THOUSAND YEARS.

THE SIN OF BEING VAIN AND PROUD. — WE STILL SUFFER FROM

THE PRIDE OF THE BABEL BUILDERS. — VALUE OF GOOD CHAR- ACTER.

XII

THE CITY OF UR. — ITS INHABITANTS WORSHIP THE HEAVENLY BODIES. — HEATHEN IDOL-SHOPS. — SIN OF WORSHIPPING THE SUN AND MOON. — THE FRENCH BOY WORSHIPPING THE SUN. — THERE TERAH HAD A SON, ABRAM. — AN AMIABLE BOY. — HE WORSHIPPED GOD WHEN HIS OWN PARENTS WORSHIPPED THE HEAVENLY BOD- IES. — INFLUENCE OVER Hf S PARENTS. — DEATH OF HIS BROTHER HARAN. — HIS MARRLVGE TO A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY. — * MOVED AWAY FROM UR. — A RESIDENCE IN UR BECAME UNPLEAS- ANT. — SETTLED IN HARAN. — NAHOR AND WIFE FOLLOWED THEM. — SICKNESS AND DEATH OF TERAH. — NEW DUTIES DEVOLVED ON ABRAM. — HIS BUSINESS WAS FARMING AND CATTLE-RAISING. — A PROMINENT MAN IN HARAN. — CONTINUES GOOD AND TRUE.

XIII

ABRAM COMMANDED TO LEAVE HIS COUNTRY. — DID NOT KNOW WHAT FOR. — HAD A PLEASANT HOME. — PREPARED TO GO, NOT KNOWING WHERE. — HIS NEIGHBORS LAUGHED. — HIS GREAT FAITH. — SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD WHEN HE STARTED. — TOOK LOT WITH HIM. — JOURNEYED TO SHECHEM, AND GOD'S PROMISE THERE. — MOVED AGAIN AND SETTLED NExlR BETHEL. — ONCE MORE MOVED. — WHY HE MOVED SO OFTEN. — THE FEARFUL FEARFUL FAMINE IN CANAAN. — LOVE NOR MONEY COULD NOT

Xll CONTENTS.

BUY FOOD. — CASES OF RICH MEN SUFFERING. — ABRAM RESOLVES TO GO TO EGYPT. — DID NOT COMPLAIN. — EGYPTIANS WORSHIPPED CATS, DOGS, AND OTHER ANIMALS. — POSITION AND PROGRESS OF

EGYPT. — ABRAM TOLD A LIE. — A SUSPICIOUS CHARACTER.

THE GERMAN PEDLER. — PHARAOH SIEZES ABRAM'S WIFE. — DIS- COVERS THAT SHE IS NOT ABRAM'S SISTER, AND BRINGS HER BACK. — PHARAOH BEHAVES WELL. — LIES LEAD TO DIFFICULTY.

— ABRAM SENT AWAY. — RETURNED TO BETHEL. — DIFFICULTY WITH LOT. — DESCRIPTION OF A STRIFE BETWEEN HERDMEN. — LOT MOVED TO SODOM. — GOOD MEN SIN. — ALL'S WELL WHEN MEN TRUST GOD.

XIV

ABRAM WENT TO LIVE AT MAMRE. — GOD'S PROMISE. — THERE WAS MACHPELAH. — THE MOTHER OF CONSTANTINE. — A LONELY COUPLE. — WAR IN THE VALE OF SIDDIM. — CHARACTER OF THE FIGHTING KINGS. — SLIGHT CAUSES OF WAR. — WHAT A WRITER SAYS. — " THE GRASSHOPPER WAR." — LESS REASON FOR THIS WAR.— FIVE KINGS AGAINST FOUR. — MARCH TO SIDDIM. — THE INVADERS CONQUER. — SODOM IS TAKEN AND LOT CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE. — SOME FLED TO THE MOUNTAINS. — A CUSTOM. — A VILLAGE SACKED IN KOORDISTAN. — A MAN FLED TO MAMRE AND TOLD ABRAM THAT LOT WAS TAKEN. — ABRAM RESOLVED TO FIGHT FOR LOT'S RECOVERY. — A GOOD MAN MAY WAR IN SELF DEFENCE.

— HE MARCHES WITH THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN SER- VANTS. — A SHORT BATTLE IN DAN. — ABRAM CONQUERED. — JOY IN SODOM. — AN EASTERN CUSTOM. — ABRAM' S RETURN. — LOT AT HOME. — THE HAVOC OF WAR SINCE. — THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND MILLIONS SLAIN.

I.

STOEY OF THE CKEATION.

THERE WAS a time when God dwelt alone ; there was no other being in existence. Then this beautiful world, with its countless objects of interest and value, was not made. There was no light to shine upon any " nook or corner," but " darkness was upon the face of the deep."

But the time came when God determined to perform the great work of creation. The very first verse in the Bible tells us about it. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." It was nearly six thousand years ago that he did this. He had always existed himself; but, for some reason, he did not make the 2 earth we inhabit, and give the present form to it, until within six thousand years.

But where did he begin to create ? perhaps some thoughtful one will ask. "What part of the world did he make first ? Well, these are fair questions, and it would be interesting to know just where he began. He might have ushered every part of it into being in a moment, by a single word. A single act of his will would have spread the firmament above, with the sun, moon, and stars taking their respective places, and created the earth beneath, with every living thing thereon. But he did not choose to do this. He was six days in performing this wonderful work. If you ask why he was six days instead of one, we answer, that he intended to measure thereby a week, and show us that we must labor but six days, and rest on the seventh. We read, " He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it ; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Thus, long before God commanded us, in the Decalogue, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and work only six days of the week, he taught the same thing by example. Here, then, is a very important lesson to be learned from the time employed in creating the world.

Let us see, then, what was made first. We are told, in the third verse of the first chapter of Genesis, " And God said, Let there be light ; and there was light." This was the work of the first day, — all that God did. There was light made, though the sun was not yet created. How there could be light without a sun we cannot tell ; but God was able to make such light. It was probably a very pale light, just sufficient to separate night from day, perhaps like the faintest twilight now. For it is

16 STORY OP THE CREATION,

said, " And God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

It is worthy of note, then, that light was made before anything else. It is well to remember this, when we awake in the morning to its genial influence, and when it fades away into the darkness of night, — that the first thing God made on this earth was the light ; so that light is older than anything else that we know. It was first made, and we might conclude that it would be the last to perish, were it not distinctly declared that " the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come."

The first day had no sun, and the first night had no moon or stars. A day without a sun is a remarkable phenomenon ; and yet such was the first of the more than two million days that have been since God said, "Let there be light."

But the morning of the second day dawned, having the same relation to that first week of time that Tuesday has to our weeks now. What did God make on the second day ? We are told in these words : " And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, And it was so." Thus, at the command of God, the skies spread their canopy of blue above, though still the vaulted dome had not sun, moon, or stars. This was the work of the second day. Hence, the second part of the world which God made was the firmament.

Another day passed. The morning of the third day came, with its pale glimmering light. On this day, God made the dry land and the seas. That is, he caused the land — plains, hills, valleys, and mountains — to rise up from the depths of the waters, so that the latter were separated and formed seas. " And God called the dry land Earth ; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas." On this day, also, he created the grass, trees, and whatsoever the earth yielded. Mowers and fruits appeared for the first time, three days before man himself was made. It is important to remember that the fruits were created before man was, and even before the sun and moon were.

Now stop and consider how much was created at the close of the third day, — light, firmament, land, sea, and vegetation. No living creature is yet made. Neither is there a sun to rise and set. There is nothing to walk upon the land, nothing to swim in the sea. The earth is but half made.

The fourth day was signalized by the creation of the heavenly bodies. " And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he

made the stars also And the evening

and morning were the fourth day." How grand must have been the spectacle of the glorious sun coming forth to be the " king of day"! Then it was day indeed, — the new-made heavens and earth irradiated with its refulgent beams ! How changed must everything on the face of the earth have appeared beneath its dazzling light ! And what a different night that must have been, when the moon commenced her radiant circuit, and the stars first came forth to watch as sentinels in the sky ! Then it was day and night like ours.

On the morning of the fifth day there was a sun to rise. There had been no sunrise on the previous four days, because there was no sun. The fifth day was ushered in by its rising glories. For the first time, it gilded the eastern hill-tops as it came up on its daily march through the heavens. This was the day on which God created the fish of the sea and fowls of the air, — the first living creatures on earth. Whatever lives in the sea, whether fish or other animals, was made, of course, on the fifth day. The work of creation was now almost done. Another day would add the finishing stroke.

The sixth day dawns. The second time the sun lifts its golden gates, to shine upon" the completion of God's works. Nothing remains to be done, but to create such animals as live on the land, " the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind," together with " man in his own image." This greatest work of all — the creation of man — was reserved for the last. The earth was finished, and fitted up for the abode of man, before man was made. This was both wise and necessary. So God made man last of all, and gave him " dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

" And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

Such was the work of creation, as it is related in the first chapter of Genesis. It was a very great work, and yet the young reader will scarcely conceive how great, unless we help him to understand somewhat the extent of the globe. What we can see of the universe is only a small part of what it is. For more of it cannot be seen with the naked eye than is seen. Indeed, the largest telescope, which makes distant objects seem near, and brings to view what is too far distant to be seen with the naked eye, can show us only a fractional part of the solar system. Now, to understand how great was the work of creation, we must stop and look at this subject, as astronomy sets it before us. Perhaps the reader is studying geography; but this teaches you nothing except what pertains to this small planet we inhabit, — the Earth. It tells you nothing about Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, the Sun, Moon, &c, except that such heavenly bodies exist. But you will see from this that the earth we inhabit is only a small planet, while a great multitude of larger orbs exist in space. Now geography tells you only about this one little planet of ours, while astronomy unfolds to us the " vast creation round." I will try, then, to aid you in understanding more about the magnitude of the universe which God made.

STORY OP THE CREATION. 23

We live on the Earth, — a small planet, — which is eight thousand miles in diameter, and twenty-five thousand miles in circumference : so the geography tells you. It seems to us a very large globe of itself, when we look at the "Map of the World," which is a map of this planet only, — the Earth, — and see that it embraces Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, with many islands of the sea. It seems large, too, when it is travelled over from country to country, and continent to continent. If a man should go at the rate of twenty-five miles per day, from this time, it would take him about three years to travel round it. Now this appears to us a very large globe indeed ; and yet it is small in comparison with many other orbs. Let us compare it with the sun.

The sun does not look very large, as we view it from the earth. It appears to be about as large as a small carriage-wheel ; and probably many boys and girls have thought that a man could easily lift it, or that it might be dropped through one of the hoops which they roll in the street. But the sun is a great many times larger than the earth on which we live. It is ninety-five millions of miles from us, and therefore it appears small. The farther off an object is, the smaller it will appear. If you should stand on the shore of the ocean, and watch a vessel as it sailed away upon its distant voyage, it would become smaller and smaller in appearance, until it seemed to be no more than a speck, and finally is wholly lost to the view. It is so with the sun and the stars. If the sun were as far away from us as the nearest star, it would appear to be no larger. But it is far enough now, — ninety five millions of miles ! If we had a railroad there, and the cars should run at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, night and day, and no time be lost in taking in wood and water, it would consume about four hundred and thirty-five years to go there. If Methuselah, who lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years, had started upon such an excursion as soon as he was old enough to leave his father and mother, he would have had just about time enough to go and return in his lifetime. No wonder the sun appears no larger than a wheel!

But you are impatient to know its size. Astronomers have found that its diameter is eight hundred and eighty thousand miles, or. one hundred and ten times the diameter of our earth; while its circumference is two million seven hundred and sixty-four thousand six hundred miles, or one hundred and ten times larger round than the earth. Its surface contains about fifty thousand times more square miles than all the habitable parts of our little globe. While a man would travel round our earth in about three years, by travelling twenty-five miles a day, it would take him more than three hundred years to go round the sun, moving at the same rate.

Such is the immense size of the luminary which God made on the fourth day of creation, to light our day. But it is only one of the heavenly bodies that are many times larger than the earth. Astronomers suppose that the myriads of stars that we see are suns to other systems, so far distant as to appear no larger than silver dollars. On a clear night, we can see about a thousand stars, every one of which is much larger than the sun which I have just described. The star nearest to the earth cannot be less than twenty billions of miles ; and astronomers generally concede that it may be twice that distance. But no person can really appreciate this great distance of the nearest star, — twenty billions of miles ! For if we had a railroad to the star, instead of the sun, and the cars should rush on twenty-five miles an hour, night and day, it would take nearly ninety-two million years to reach that star, — a period fifteen thousand times as great as that extending from the creation to the present time, and ninety-five thousand times as long* as Methuselah lived. Who can conceive of this immense distance ? That star must be a very large object to be seen at all so far. It must be very much larger than the sun. And still there are myriads of heavenly bodies so far off that the naked eye cannot behold them. The best telescopes bring thousands of them to view, while other thousands are too far remote for even the telescope to reach. Some of them are probably a thousand times larger than the sun. How many of these bodies exist in space, it is impossible to tell ; but in the Milky Way alone the telescope reveals twenty thousand times as many stars as the naked eye can behold. If the whole Milky

28 STORY OP THE CREATION.

Way contains as many stars, in proportion, as have been observed in certain portions of.it, it would comprise over twenty millions of them. If each one of these is a sun, as astronomers suppose, attended by at least fifty planets, then there must be the enormous number of a thousand millions of worlds in that lucid belt alone. Stop, and think of this. If the reader should begin to count that number, at the rate of sixty a minute, and stop not to eat or sleep, it would take him thirty-two years to count them. If he should stop to eat and rest, and work at counting only twelve hours a day, it would take him just twice as long, or sixty-four years. Here is almost a lifetime spent in counting the stars in the Milky Way alone. Yet here is not all the universe which God created. The best telescopes that were ever made can bring to view only a small part of the worlds that exist in space.