124 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
thousandyears,andwillcontinuethesamerapidcourse
for athousand million years to come. It is highly
probable, if notabsolutely certain, that, atthe end
ofhisvasttour,he wouldhave advancedno farther
thanthe'suburbs ofcreation,'andthatallthemag-
nificentsystemsofmaterialandintellectualbeingshe
hadsurveyedduringhisrapidflight, and forsucha
lengthofages,bearnomoreproportiontothewhole
empireofOmnipotencethanthesmallestgrainofsand
doestoalltheparticlesofmattercontainedintheten
thousandworlds.
''Wereaseraph,inprosecutingthetourofcreation
in themannernow stated, everto arrive ata limit
beyond which no further displays of divinity could
beperceived,thethoughtwouldoverwhelmhisfacul-
tieswithunutterableemotions;hewouldfeelthathe
hadnow,insomemeasure,comprehendedalltheplans
and operationsofOmnipotence, and thatno further
manifestationsofthedivinegloryremainedtobeex-
plored. Butwemayrestassuredthatthiscannever
happeninthecaseofanycreatedintelligence."
Andnowthebrain,lostinthefrightfulsweepofits
thought, fairlyswimsinitseffortstocomprehendthe
infinite. Butisthisalltrue?—Itseemstrue;itseems
reasonable,andalmostcertain. Butinanswertothis
question,havewenaughtbutspeculations,andreason-
ings, and almost certainprobabilities? Is there no
wordfromGod?—Yes. Wonderingandquestioning,
IturntoHisWord,andread:"ThussaiththeLord
;// heaven above can he measured,... I will also
castoff alltheseedof Israel forallthatthey have