Page 277 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

276 THIRD BOOK OF
chain the admiration of the world, and to praise the Creator in a lofty manner, by the imitation of his works. By.this sense the painter makes us acquaint­ ed with the visual splendours of other climes, and secures to a nd domestic circle the image of a lost and beloved member, even when the hues and rm that rnished the subject of his task, are faded into
dust and ashes. By this · organ it is, that we are _ made acquainted with the persons and atures of those great men, who have in uenced the condition of mankind in times long past, and shed a lustre on the page of history.
2. But it is not r the purpose of enjoying a brief and transient, although exquisite, happiness, that you have been gi ed with this enchanting culty. It is given you r higher and r more bene cial uses. It enables you to behold and applaud the vis­ ible wonders of the Creator, and by the constant ob­ servation of s bene ts, t raise your hearts in grati­ tude and a ection to him, who fashioned all things into shapes so ir, and tinged them with hues so beauti l.
3. To appreciate all the excellence of this wonder­ l organ, cast your eyes in the depth of a star-light night upon the skies. Every star which you there behold, is a globe of many thousands of miles in diameter, and yet what a number of those worlds can be comprehended in a single glance ! Consider, now, the excellence of that little organ, in the bottom of
which, that vast circum rence, with all those illu­ minated worlds, is pictured in so minute a space, with so much accuracy and distinctness.
4. But it is in the indications which it a ords of the a ections and emotions of the mind within that