)
The next blessing connected with the atmosphere, which I will
direct you to, is its power of refraction.
The next blessing connected with the atmosphere, which I will
direct you to, is its power of refraction.
Childrens - The Creation
105.
) This is the earnest prayer of your affectionate
Father.
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? 18
THE CREATION.
LETTER III.
BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL. O LORD MY GOD, THOU ART VERY GREAT ; THOU ART
CLOTHED WITH HONOUR AND MAJESTY. WHO COVEREST THYSELF WITH LIGHT AS
WITH A GARMENT : WHO STRETCHEST OUT THE HEAVENS LIKE A CURTAIN : WHO
LAYETH THE BEAMS OF HIS CHAMBERS IN THE WATERS ; WHO MAKETH THE CLOUDS
HIS CHARIOT: WHO WALKETH UPON THE WINGS OF THE WIND. --Psalm civ. 1--3.
My dear Children,
In all the days of Creation, as I before remarked, there was a wonderful
provision made for those which followed. This is especially the case
in the second day, when the Firmament, or what is better known to
us as " the Atmosphere," came into existence. The language which
records its Creation is very full:--" And God said, Let there be a firm-
ament 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. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and
the morning were the second day. " Thus did the Lord by this one act
of Creative Power bring into being that by which all life, whether
vegetable or animal, was destined to be sustained. A vast body of
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? LETTER III.
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water was also gathered up into the atmosphere, and suspended there
in clouds, which became as the garment thereof, (Job xxxviii. 9:)
thus the waters were divided from the waters, and the means provided
by which the earth might be continually refreshed by the early and
the latter rain; for the clouds became from this day God's appointed
reservoir of the rain and snows, which in due season should come and
water the earth, to make it bring forth and bud, giving seed to the
sower and bread to the eater. (Isa. lv. ) But the subject of the atmo-
sphere is so full of interest, both in its formation and various properties,
that we must not hastily pass away from it; and therefore I will
endeavour to inform your young minds as to these two particulars.
And here I must of necessity use some scientific terms; but though I
know such hard names at first sight seem difficult to remember, yet it
is manifest, that the language of science, if not the most beautiful is
the most expressive ; for every word carries within itself its own signi-
fication ; whilst, therefore, dear children, I will seek to avoid an unne-
cessary use of these terms, I have little doubt but we shall soon agree
that they are even easier to retain than words in common use.
First, then, let me explain to you the formation of the atmosphere,
or the air, with which we are surrounded. Naturalists--that is,
men of science who have made these subjects their especial study--
have ascertained that the air is composed of two principal gases, or
elastic fluids, which have been named by them, Oxygen and Nitrogen. ,
The first is emphatically the sustainer of life, animal and vegetable;
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? 20
THE CREATION.
the second has no such power, and so has been also called azote, that
is, without life: but as the oxygen would be too active alone, it is
diluted with nitrogen, as water dilutes wine. The relative proportions
are,--twenty parts oxygen, eighty nitrogen. In addition to these, there
is also a small proportion of carbonic acid gas, and some hydrogen,
but only in the proportion of one part to ninety-nine. The height of
the atmosphere, it is calculated, does not exceed fifty miles,* expanding
all the while as it ascends; and at that height it becomes so ratified
that it cannot be respired: indeed, JEronauts, or air sailors, as the word
means, who have never ascended beyond 5? miles, have even then found
great difficulty in breathing; and on account of the atmosphere being
so much lighter, they have in many cases bled profusely from the
nose and mouth;--but though the air thus expands, yet the parts of
which it is composed never in the least degree vary their relative propor-
tions. One traveller brought some air down from Chimborasso,
the highest of the Andes, (that amazing range of mountains which
I have so often described to you,) and compared it with some
taken from the lowest valley beneath; but the proportions were the
same. Others, again, have examined the atmosphere of the pestilent
marshes near Rome; but in this case also there was not the slightest
variation. If death was there, it arose not from the absence of the vital
oxygen, (that was there true to its proportions,) but from some prin-
ciple of too subtle a nature to be detected by chemical analysis. Indeed,
? See Appendix.
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? LETTER III.
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the infectious atmosphere of an hospital has been examined with great
care, even when its ill odour was intolerable, but no perceptible differ-
ence could be detected.
Having thus far explained the nature of our atmosphere, I will
now endeavour to make plain to you its properties.
The first great property of the atmosphere, as I have before re-
marked, is to sustain animal and vegetable life. The absence of it
from one or the other would cause instant death. This has been
abundantly proved by experiment: for place either an animal or
vegetable in any vessel air tight, and then exhaust the air, and life is
at once destroyed. But, not only would death instantly ensue, if the
air were taken from us; but if it ever varied its proportions, all would
be in misery: and yet near 6000 years have run out since its forma-
tion ; and the little child just born inhales it with the same freedom
as the first offspring of man. But, let us suppose, for instance, that
we inhaled nothing but the pure oxygen, or vital air; after a very
little, the lungs would become so excited, that nature could not long
sustain the unnatural stifling fulness; and if, on the contrary, we
inhaled only nitrogen, we should die; for it has been ascertained by
experiment, that animals put into a vessel filled only with nitrogen, die
instantly. And then, if the proportions were different:--the
oxygen prevailing, we should be in perpetual excitement, and rendered
perfectly miserable; the nitrogen prevailing, we should be continually
panting for breath, and at last faint away and die. But the air,
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? 22
THE CREATION.
measured and proportioned by the hand of infinite tenderness and com-
passion, the simple act of respiration, which most men enjoy, is in
itself a continual pleasure; but this we seldom think about, until, from
bodily infirmity, or from being shut up in a little room with a great
number of people, like the poor sufferers in the Black-hole at Calcutta,
or walking through a dense fog, or passing some Lime Kilns, (from
which carbonic acid gas is given off abundantly,) as we did the other
day, we learn its value by the painful contrast.
The following beautiful remark on the action of the oxygen I know
will interest you:--
" Animals cannot live without oxygen. By means of this gas, a
change which the eye can detect is produced in the blood,--the dark
coloured fluid of the veins combined with oxygen becomes the bright
scarlet blood of the arteries, and in this blood is the life. "
But not only does man inhale the atmospheric air, but also the
whole of vegetable life depends every moment on it, but with this re-
markable difference, that whilst man and the animal retain the oxygen,
but exhale or give out the carbonic acid gas, the grass and shrubs
and trees care not for the oxygen, but greedily drink in the carbonic
acid gas, which is so prejudicial to man. It is this that makes a walk
in the country so healthy, as well as pleasant. At night, however,
this is reversed: then the vegetable demands its share of the vital air,
and gives out carbon. Thus, while plants, or branches of shrubs in
water, are most useful in a sick room by day, they are very prejudicial
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? LETTER III.
23
by night. I might write you a great deal more on this subject; but
I must pass on now to consider the second great property of the atmo-
sphere, as the great reservoir of rain and snow. Now, suppose you
read in 1 Kings xviii. 2--5, there you see what would be the state of
the land if there was no such reservoir as I have mentioned; for then
God withheld the rain in judgment, and all things perished. The
accounts from Australia, also, received in our last letters, give ample
proof of the same thing in our day. But this is the exception to the
general rule; for since the beautiful Bow has been seen in the cloud,
seed-time and harvest have not failed. But here I imagine a diffi-
culty that would be quickly proposed if I were sitting by you--** Do
not the clouds ever get emptied ? I should have thought that a few
such nights as we had about a month since would have emptied all
the clouds. " The remark, dear children, is not at all a foolish one;
for the clouds of course would empty themselves, but for one thing.
" Now what is that one thing ? " I suppose you are all curious to in-
quire : and I answer,--it is the principle of evaporation, by which, in
infinitely fine particles, lighter than the air near the earth,* there
ascends up to the clouds, and this continually, an amazing body of
water; and so by this invisible agency they are kept always supplied.
And here I place before you, dear children, two calculations of great
interest:--first, it is estimated, that in England and Wales alone,
rain falls yearly to the extent of 100,000 millions of tons (and so I
* See Appendix.
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? 24
THE CREATION.
do not wonder that you should think that the clouds should at last
empty themselves): and secondly, that four-fifths of this rain or snow
returns to the clouds by evaporation. This is truly perpetual motion,
which the Philosophers have sought in vain to discover. It is thus
that these bottles of heaven are kept continually supplied--and thus also
that our earth is continually refreshed with the early and the latter rain.
But the subject of evaporation is one of great interest. Now sup-
pose you go to your large map of the world, and look for the
Mediterranean, known in the Scriptures by the name of the Great
Sea, and in profane history as the Mare-internum. It is entered, you
will observe, by the Straits of Gibraltar, which are about four leagues
in width, having Africa on the right side, and Europe on the left:
these were formerly called the Pillars of Hercules. There is continually
flowing through this entrance a steady current from the great Atlantic
Ocean; you will see also the Nile on the right side, rising in the king-
dom of Gojam, Abyssinia,* full 1300 miles distant from its mouth, and
pouring down its torrents, till at last, through its seven streams, it also
empties itself into the Great Sea. Then, again, if you trace the left
side, there are the Ebro in Spain, the Rhone in France, the Po and
Tiber in Italy. These all flow into the Mediterranean; there is also
the Black Sea, supplied by the great northern rivers, the Danube,
Don, Dnieper, coming down through the Bosphorus, the Sea of
Marmora, the Dardanelles, into the Archipelago, or Sea of Islands,
* See Appendix.
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? LETTER III.
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(among which you will see Patmos, memorable as the scene where the
Apostle John had the visions of the Kevelation,) and finally joins the
Mediterranean. And yet with all this amazing continual influx, the
Great Sea neither rises nor falls; but is the same to-day as it was
when St. Paul "sailed under Crete, and the south wind blew softly;"
and this simply by the principle of evaporation, which, with a scale
of the most accurate adjustment, preserves the balance in this
astonishing manner. *
If there were no rain from the clouds, the earth would soon present
a desolate wilderness; and if there were no evaporation from the
earth, it would in time be a waste of waters. At the flood, the Lord
opened the windows of heaven, and miraculously poured down in
torrents the waters suspended above, and, it may be, stayed the prin-
ciple of evaporation; but though, my beloved children, these results
may be traced back to natural causes, yet we should never, no not for
a moment, forget, that the Lord presides over the whole of nature. He
has not ordained certain causes and effects, and then left the world
to be governed by these--but Himself, who appoints, rules over all
in infinite Wisdom, Compassion, and Love. I mention this, as it is
now so much the fashion to say--" Nature did this;" but if you again
refer to the beautiful thirty-eighth chapter of Job, it is manifest that
* The remark, which is so common in the country, about the sun drawing
water, has a good deal of truth in it: for its rays, beaming through the at-
mosphere, detect the principle of evaporation, which, however, is going on just as
much all around.
C
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? 2G
THE CREATION.
all creation is always under the most minute government and direction
of Him that made it,--" Who hath divided a watercourse for the
overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; to cause
it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein
there is no man; to satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to
cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth ? Hath the rain a
father ? or who hath begotten the drops of dew ? Out of whose womb
came the ice ? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it ?
The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. "
(Job xxxviii. 25--30. )
Yet even now if a drought prevails, or a flood increases, or the
pestilence rages,* God is acknowledged and prayed to as the immediate
governor of the universe; but the best and happiest state is, to wait
on him in the calm continually--and when the tempest arises, ice shall
find him ever nigh. (Ps. cxix. 114.
)
The next blessing connected with the atmosphere, which I will
direct you to, is its power of refraction.
Though the atmosphere may extend in an exceeding rarified
state more than forty-five or fifty miles in height, yet it does not
refract the rays of light beyond that ; but within that distance
the rays of the sun come to us in a bent or arched line, and
thus, excepting when the heavenly bodies are in the Zenith, that is,
* Surely the Lord acknowledged the cry of England in 1830, and turned back
the cholera in answer to that cry, for his mercy endureth for ever.
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? LETTER III.
27
immediately over our heads, they always appear to us some degrees
more elevated than they really are,--so, long after the sun has set
we see it, and this is true of all the heavenly bodies; thus, at the
time of full moon, we see the sun after it is gone, and the moon
before it rises.
Another important property of the atmosphere, is its power of
reflecting light. We watched the setting sun the other evening; the
light of day seemed to linger on the earth long after it was gone,
while colours of every hue glowed in the western sky, seeming to
promise that the sun should rise again. " But how was the light pro-
longed ? " you may inquire. The beautiful arch of refraction had kept
the sun with us long after the orb itself was sunk; and now, when its
hays could no longer reach our eyes, but passed far above our heads,
we got them reflected as from a glass. And what language can de-
scribe that gentle, quiet light, the even-tide ? so sacred to meditation,
(Gen. xxiv. 63,) which an eastern writer beautifully calls " The
curtain of night gently drawn around the closing day. "
Another most gracious property of the atmosphere is its motion,
"the wind. " The principle of this is very simple:--when, from a
variety of causes, any portion of the atmosphere gets rarified, or ex-
panded, it immediately ascends till it meets with the air in a kindred
state--that is, of the same weight; but instantly that this process
begins, the air around hastens to fill the vacancy. If the previous
process had been gentle, the wind is gentle; but if rapid, the wind is
r2
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? 28
THE CREATION.
high and stormy; sometimes the light air, at another time the terrific
hurricane. *
The phenomena of the wind, or the atmosphere in a state of move-
ment or agitation, come to man fraught with blessing: for the storm
and tempest have beneficial results. It is the great conservator or
preserver of health: but for it, disease and death would gather on
every side. Have we not found, in climbing the sultry hills near
Malvern, when we reached the heights, the balmy air came to us all
sweet and refreshing, adapted to our very wants, by the hand of that
ever watchful Being who is as kind as he is powerful ? How often
have I at Jamaica looked longingly to the sea, watching the sea-breeze
come rippling and sparkling in the sun-beam, till at last it reached our
vessel. It was a delightful sight to see our ensign, (just like the one
your dear grandmamma made for you,) that had been hanging down as
if partaking in the general sultriness, on a sudden stream out almost
instinct with the joy of all around; and at night, when the sea-breeze
had died away, and all was calm and still, the air, cooling from the
fervent rays of the sun which had " shone the live long day," now
came hasting down the mountains, as the land messenger, vying in
refreshment with that from the sea; but though cooler, yet not so
invigorating. The cause of the land and sea breeze is simply the
arifying and condensing of the atmosphere. In the morning, after
the sun has arisen to some height, the whole air around begins to feel
* See Appendix.
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? LETTER III.
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its power, and soon expands or rarifies; and (as I before re-
marked on the causes of the wind) the neighbouring sea-air rushes
in to fill the vacancy: and at night, when the heat has passed
away, the air that had ascended, again condenses, and comes
down to us cooler than even the sea-breeze. But one must dwell,
dear children, in tropical countries to know the mercy of these
things.
But not only is the wind so valuable to us, as the preserver of
health; but it is also the principal means of all our communications
with other countries. Let us look again at your map of the world. *
See how the water preponderates over the land. Look at the various
Ports and Harbours and Rivers, as if the Lord intended the sea as the
great highway by which the nations of the earth should have inter-
course. Imagine that you could in a moment of time see all the
ships that are at this moment on the ocean, all with their respective
colours, how full of interest would the sight be. There you would see
the union of England, the eagles of Russia and Prussia, the tri-coloured
flags of France and Holland, the stars of America, some sailing this
way, some that; some for pleasure, and, blessed be the God of peace,
but few for war. But all intent on one thing,--to reach the port to
which they are bound: for everything in a vessel's voyage bears on
this. If you could hail each vessel, and ask them this question,--
? The surface of the globe contains about 196 millions of square acres, 147 mil-
lions being water, and 49 millions land.
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? 30
THE CREATION.
" Where are you bound ? " not one* of the many thousands would say,
" I don't know. " No; they are in earnest; but, alas! how many
hundreds of thousands are sailing on the ocean of life, surrounded with
danger, and yet, if you ask them whither they are going, they would
be constrained to say, " I don't know:" for without a pilot, without a
compass, without a rudder, they are driven on by fierce winds; and,
if the Lord interfere not, ere long they will make shipwreck of their
souls.
But reflect, my dear children, on the scene before you; and with
the exception of those few steam-packets (few in comparison) which
seem to pass on regardless of the winds, the commerce of the world is
kept up by the unaided agency of the wind. I say unaided agency;
for though the sailor spreads his snowy canvas " low and aloft," yet
he is altogether dependent: the wind bloweth where it listeth; and
only as he is obedient to its dictates he prospers. One while you see
him in the midst of storm and tempest, ploughing his way through
seas that seem to threaten his destruction; and at another time, in the
light and gentle airs of summer, his vessel, like the bird, seems to
ruffle her plumagef with delight, extending her utmost sails to catch
? See a valuable little book, entitled " An Address to Seamen, by the late
lamented Dr. Payson;" which, though addressed particularly to seamen, is
equally suitable for all classes, as the language is so plain, heart-searching, and
simple. -- Wright, Bristol.
t Looking on a beautiful vessel, with every sail spread, almost seeming instinct
with life, hastening on at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, one can hardly
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? LETTER III.
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the straggling zephyr. I have sometimes been struck with wonder
at the thought of a vessel leaving the Thames, and going the circuit
of the globe and coming back to her first anchoring, and not one
finger of man put out to impel her. The wind has done it entirely--
man has simply acted as its servant. Beautiful is the language of our
poet Cowper, when speaking of the ship that bore some missionaries
to India:--
" Heaven speed the canvas gallantly unfurl'd,
To furnish and accommodate a world;
Let nothing adverse, nothing unforeseen,
Impede the bark that ploughs the deep serene,
That flies, like Gabriel, at its Lord's commands,
With message of God's Love to heathen lands. "
Cowper s Poems:--CHARITY, line 201. ?
This is a favourite subject with me, as you know; but I must leave
it, and pass on at once to two other gracious properties of the
atmosphere.
What made those sounds come to our ears so sweet the other
evening ? or, indeed, what made them come at all, when we heard
the beautiful hymn--
wonder at the poor Esquimaux thinking that Captain Ross's ships were some
large birds about to light on their coasts.
* See Appendix.
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? . 32
THE CREATION.
" Why those fears? behold 'tis Jesus
Holds the helm, and guides the ship:
Spread the sails and catch the breezes,
Sent to waft us through the deep,
To those regions,
Where the mourners cease to weep? "
It was still the gracious agency of the surrounding atmosphere, one
of whose properties is to convey sound ; and this too, just in the pro-
portion to make those sounds pleasant: for if indeed they were
deeper, or our sense of hearing sharper, or more acute, what misery
should we be in;--or if the case was reversed, life would be a con-
tinual exertion, stretching the ear to hear; but as it is, loving-
kindness and goodness mark this gracious boon. The proof of sound
being conveyed by the atmospheric air is very simple. Now suppose
we put our large bell in any glass vessel, and then exhaust the air;--
now shake the vessel hard--all is quiet, and yet we see that the
clapper has touched the side. Why does it not sound ? The air is
gone. But now let the air in, and shake the bell, and it rings as
usual. The sound was caused by the resistance of the atmosphere,
through which it had to break its way. Suppose for a moment that
the atmosphere was deprived of this property, what consternation
would gather on every side,--all christian communion, all social
intercourse would be at an end, and the business of the world would
stand still, and every man would be as one that was dumb. Well,
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LETTER IIL 33
then, may we join in that transport of praise, and with the Psalmist
cry aloud, "Praise God in the firmament of his power. " (Psalm
el. 1. )
How fragrant the air was the other evening when we walked by
the fields where they were gathering in the hay; but why did we inhale
the fragrance so pleasantly ? Here, again, the same means that con-
veyed the sound conveyed also the scent; for if instead of the bell,
you had plucked a rose, and put it in the glass vessel, and exhausted
the air, it would wither and die, without emitting one particle of scent
to tell you what it once was.
But, my dear children, I think I never wrote you so long a letter
before, and I must hasten to relieve your attention by only just briefly
recapitulating the seven properties of the atmosphere I have en-
deavoured to explain to you.
1st, Its power of sustaining life, whether animal or vegetable.
2nd, Its being the reservoir of the rain,* snow, and dew, &c
.
3rd, Its gracious properties of refraction and reflection of light.
4th, Its gracious property of reflecting light.
5th, The wind or agitated atmosphere;--the great preserver of
health; and the means of all commercial intercourse.
6th, Its being the medium of sound, and therefore that by which
all social communion and general intercourse is kept up.
7 th, The medium of scent.
? See Appendix,
c3
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? 34
THE CREATION.
Think of these properties, beloved children, and remember that you
always enjoy the first, and continually one or more of all the other six;
and so may you in everything be led by God's Spirit to give thanks;
and thus living in a continual state of dependence, you will live in a
continual state of peace.
Believe me,
Ever your affectionate Father.
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? THE CREATION.
35
LETTER IV.
AND THEY THAT BE WISE SHALL SHINE AS THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FIRMAMENT.
Daniel nil. 3.
My dear Children,
Though the Scriptures say to us but little of the firmament itself in
the way of illustration, yet in a variety of ways it is alluded to; for if
I were to mention and enlarge upon all the passages that introduce
the rain and hail and snow, in this way, my letter would swell out
to a very long one.
Now suppose you turn to your Bibles, and look at Gen. i . ii. ; there
you will see the order of Adam's creation to be thus;--first God
formed him from the dust of the earth, and then breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul; and from
that time his natural life was sustained, according to God's appoint-
ment, by means of his inhaling, as we do, the vital air. But both his
spiritual and natural life depended on his obedience to the command
to eat not of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen. iii.
tells us, that listening to the counsel of Eve, who before had been
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? 36
THE CREATION.
beguiled by the serpent, Adam ate of the tree, and instantly, dying,
he died:--that is, his soul died; his body became mortal or dying;
and body and soul exposed (when the day of judgment should come)
to the second death. Gen. v. records, that Adam begat a son in his
mcn likeness:--not God's, but his own; the likeness of a dead man--
a man cut off from God: and to this St. Paul alludes when he says,
. --" by man came death:"--but though man was thus cut off from
God, yet still, as St. Paul testified to the gentiles at Athens, " In
Him we live and move and have our being,"--that is, we depend
every moment for our existence on God;--He takes our breath, we die.
This, my dear children, brings strikingly to our minds the omnipresence
of God, or God being always present, in all places and at all times;
and I know of no figure that so fully illustrates this as the all-pene-
trating, all-pervading atmosphere; so that, when light itself in vain
knocks for admission, (as in a cavern or darkened room,) the air comes
in as the rightful occupant and dweller in all things--day and night,
place or distance, makes no difference, and there is no possibility of
putting it away but by artificial means, as I have shown in my pre-
vious letter; and then, wherever its absence is--there is death,
reigning and ruling in all its power. There was one scene once acted
upon the earth, the first (and oh that it might be the last) that affords us
the most solemn and awful consideration on this subject: I allude to
the French Revolution of 1793, of which we were reading some time
since. There it was that a nation of 20,000,000 of people, priding
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? LETTER IV.
37
themselves on being the most polite nation of the earth, and whose
language was spoken in most of the courts of Europe, proclaimed by
an edict of its national assembly two awful decrees,--first, that there
was no God; and second, that death was an eternal sleep. Like the
fool that said in his heart, they said openly, " Tush, there is no God
and the Lord left them for a little, and France was as if there was no
God.
Father.
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? 18
THE CREATION.
LETTER III.
BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL. O LORD MY GOD, THOU ART VERY GREAT ; THOU ART
CLOTHED WITH HONOUR AND MAJESTY. WHO COVEREST THYSELF WITH LIGHT AS
WITH A GARMENT : WHO STRETCHEST OUT THE HEAVENS LIKE A CURTAIN : WHO
LAYETH THE BEAMS OF HIS CHAMBERS IN THE WATERS ; WHO MAKETH THE CLOUDS
HIS CHARIOT: WHO WALKETH UPON THE WINGS OF THE WIND. --Psalm civ. 1--3.
My dear Children,
In all the days of Creation, as I before remarked, there was a wonderful
provision made for those which followed. This is especially the case
in the second day, when the Firmament, or what is better known to
us as " the Atmosphere," came into existence. The language which
records its Creation is very full:--" And God said, Let there be a firm-
ament 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. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and
the morning were the second day. " Thus did the Lord by this one act
of Creative Power bring into being that by which all life, whether
vegetable or animal, was destined to be sustained. A vast body of
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? LETTER III.
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water was also gathered up into the atmosphere, and suspended there
in clouds, which became as the garment thereof, (Job xxxviii. 9:)
thus the waters were divided from the waters, and the means provided
by which the earth might be continually refreshed by the early and
the latter rain; for the clouds became from this day God's appointed
reservoir of the rain and snows, which in due season should come and
water the earth, to make it bring forth and bud, giving seed to the
sower and bread to the eater. (Isa. lv. ) But the subject of the atmo-
sphere is so full of interest, both in its formation and various properties,
that we must not hastily pass away from it; and therefore I will
endeavour to inform your young minds as to these two particulars.
And here I must of necessity use some scientific terms; but though I
know such hard names at first sight seem difficult to remember, yet it
is manifest, that the language of science, if not the most beautiful is
the most expressive ; for every word carries within itself its own signi-
fication ; whilst, therefore, dear children, I will seek to avoid an unne-
cessary use of these terms, I have little doubt but we shall soon agree
that they are even easier to retain than words in common use.
First, then, let me explain to you the formation of the atmosphere,
or the air, with which we are surrounded. Naturalists--that is,
men of science who have made these subjects their especial study--
have ascertained that the air is composed of two principal gases, or
elastic fluids, which have been named by them, Oxygen and Nitrogen. ,
The first is emphatically the sustainer of life, animal and vegetable;
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? 20
THE CREATION.
the second has no such power, and so has been also called azote, that
is, without life: but as the oxygen would be too active alone, it is
diluted with nitrogen, as water dilutes wine. The relative proportions
are,--twenty parts oxygen, eighty nitrogen. In addition to these, there
is also a small proportion of carbonic acid gas, and some hydrogen,
but only in the proportion of one part to ninety-nine. The height of
the atmosphere, it is calculated, does not exceed fifty miles,* expanding
all the while as it ascends; and at that height it becomes so ratified
that it cannot be respired: indeed, JEronauts, or air sailors, as the word
means, who have never ascended beyond 5? miles, have even then found
great difficulty in breathing; and on account of the atmosphere being
so much lighter, they have in many cases bled profusely from the
nose and mouth;--but though the air thus expands, yet the parts of
which it is composed never in the least degree vary their relative propor-
tions. One traveller brought some air down from Chimborasso,
the highest of the Andes, (that amazing range of mountains which
I have so often described to you,) and compared it with some
taken from the lowest valley beneath; but the proportions were the
same. Others, again, have examined the atmosphere of the pestilent
marshes near Rome; but in this case also there was not the slightest
variation. If death was there, it arose not from the absence of the vital
oxygen, (that was there true to its proportions,) but from some prin-
ciple of too subtle a nature to be detected by chemical analysis. Indeed,
? See Appendix.
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? LETTER III.
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the infectious atmosphere of an hospital has been examined with great
care, even when its ill odour was intolerable, but no perceptible differ-
ence could be detected.
Having thus far explained the nature of our atmosphere, I will
now endeavour to make plain to you its properties.
The first great property of the atmosphere, as I have before re-
marked, is to sustain animal and vegetable life. The absence of it
from one or the other would cause instant death. This has been
abundantly proved by experiment: for place either an animal or
vegetable in any vessel air tight, and then exhaust the air, and life is
at once destroyed. But, not only would death instantly ensue, if the
air were taken from us; but if it ever varied its proportions, all would
be in misery: and yet near 6000 years have run out since its forma-
tion ; and the little child just born inhales it with the same freedom
as the first offspring of man. But, let us suppose, for instance, that
we inhaled nothing but the pure oxygen, or vital air; after a very
little, the lungs would become so excited, that nature could not long
sustain the unnatural stifling fulness; and if, on the contrary, we
inhaled only nitrogen, we should die; for it has been ascertained by
experiment, that animals put into a vessel filled only with nitrogen, die
instantly. And then, if the proportions were different:--the
oxygen prevailing, we should be in perpetual excitement, and rendered
perfectly miserable; the nitrogen prevailing, we should be continually
panting for breath, and at last faint away and die. But the air,
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? 22
THE CREATION.
measured and proportioned by the hand of infinite tenderness and com-
passion, the simple act of respiration, which most men enjoy, is in
itself a continual pleasure; but this we seldom think about, until, from
bodily infirmity, or from being shut up in a little room with a great
number of people, like the poor sufferers in the Black-hole at Calcutta,
or walking through a dense fog, or passing some Lime Kilns, (from
which carbonic acid gas is given off abundantly,) as we did the other
day, we learn its value by the painful contrast.
The following beautiful remark on the action of the oxygen I know
will interest you:--
" Animals cannot live without oxygen. By means of this gas, a
change which the eye can detect is produced in the blood,--the dark
coloured fluid of the veins combined with oxygen becomes the bright
scarlet blood of the arteries, and in this blood is the life. "
But not only does man inhale the atmospheric air, but also the
whole of vegetable life depends every moment on it, but with this re-
markable difference, that whilst man and the animal retain the oxygen,
but exhale or give out the carbonic acid gas, the grass and shrubs
and trees care not for the oxygen, but greedily drink in the carbonic
acid gas, which is so prejudicial to man. It is this that makes a walk
in the country so healthy, as well as pleasant. At night, however,
this is reversed: then the vegetable demands its share of the vital air,
and gives out carbon. Thus, while plants, or branches of shrubs in
water, are most useful in a sick room by day, they are very prejudicial
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? LETTER III.
23
by night. I might write you a great deal more on this subject; but
I must pass on now to consider the second great property of the atmo-
sphere, as the great reservoir of rain and snow. Now, suppose you
read in 1 Kings xviii. 2--5, there you see what would be the state of
the land if there was no such reservoir as I have mentioned; for then
God withheld the rain in judgment, and all things perished. The
accounts from Australia, also, received in our last letters, give ample
proof of the same thing in our day. But this is the exception to the
general rule; for since the beautiful Bow has been seen in the cloud,
seed-time and harvest have not failed. But here I imagine a diffi-
culty that would be quickly proposed if I were sitting by you--** Do
not the clouds ever get emptied ? I should have thought that a few
such nights as we had about a month since would have emptied all
the clouds. " The remark, dear children, is not at all a foolish one;
for the clouds of course would empty themselves, but for one thing.
" Now what is that one thing ? " I suppose you are all curious to in-
quire : and I answer,--it is the principle of evaporation, by which, in
infinitely fine particles, lighter than the air near the earth,* there
ascends up to the clouds, and this continually, an amazing body of
water; and so by this invisible agency they are kept always supplied.
And here I place before you, dear children, two calculations of great
interest:--first, it is estimated, that in England and Wales alone,
rain falls yearly to the extent of 100,000 millions of tons (and so I
* See Appendix.
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? 24
THE CREATION.
do not wonder that you should think that the clouds should at last
empty themselves): and secondly, that four-fifths of this rain or snow
returns to the clouds by evaporation. This is truly perpetual motion,
which the Philosophers have sought in vain to discover. It is thus
that these bottles of heaven are kept continually supplied--and thus also
that our earth is continually refreshed with the early and the latter rain.
But the subject of evaporation is one of great interest. Now sup-
pose you go to your large map of the world, and look for the
Mediterranean, known in the Scriptures by the name of the Great
Sea, and in profane history as the Mare-internum. It is entered, you
will observe, by the Straits of Gibraltar, which are about four leagues
in width, having Africa on the right side, and Europe on the left:
these were formerly called the Pillars of Hercules. There is continually
flowing through this entrance a steady current from the great Atlantic
Ocean; you will see also the Nile on the right side, rising in the king-
dom of Gojam, Abyssinia,* full 1300 miles distant from its mouth, and
pouring down its torrents, till at last, through its seven streams, it also
empties itself into the Great Sea. Then, again, if you trace the left
side, there are the Ebro in Spain, the Rhone in France, the Po and
Tiber in Italy. These all flow into the Mediterranean; there is also
the Black Sea, supplied by the great northern rivers, the Danube,
Don, Dnieper, coming down through the Bosphorus, the Sea of
Marmora, the Dardanelles, into the Archipelago, or Sea of Islands,
* See Appendix.
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? LETTER III.
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(among which you will see Patmos, memorable as the scene where the
Apostle John had the visions of the Kevelation,) and finally joins the
Mediterranean. And yet with all this amazing continual influx, the
Great Sea neither rises nor falls; but is the same to-day as it was
when St. Paul "sailed under Crete, and the south wind blew softly;"
and this simply by the principle of evaporation, which, with a scale
of the most accurate adjustment, preserves the balance in this
astonishing manner. *
If there were no rain from the clouds, the earth would soon present
a desolate wilderness; and if there were no evaporation from the
earth, it would in time be a waste of waters. At the flood, the Lord
opened the windows of heaven, and miraculously poured down in
torrents the waters suspended above, and, it may be, stayed the prin-
ciple of evaporation; but though, my beloved children, these results
may be traced back to natural causes, yet we should never, no not for
a moment, forget, that the Lord presides over the whole of nature. He
has not ordained certain causes and effects, and then left the world
to be governed by these--but Himself, who appoints, rules over all
in infinite Wisdom, Compassion, and Love. I mention this, as it is
now so much the fashion to say--" Nature did this;" but if you again
refer to the beautiful thirty-eighth chapter of Job, it is manifest that
* The remark, which is so common in the country, about the sun drawing
water, has a good deal of truth in it: for its rays, beaming through the at-
mosphere, detect the principle of evaporation, which, however, is going on just as
much all around.
C
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? 2G
THE CREATION.
all creation is always under the most minute government and direction
of Him that made it,--" Who hath divided a watercourse for the
overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; to cause
it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein
there is no man; to satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to
cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth ? Hath the rain a
father ? or who hath begotten the drops of dew ? Out of whose womb
came the ice ? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it ?
The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. "
(Job xxxviii. 25--30. )
Yet even now if a drought prevails, or a flood increases, or the
pestilence rages,* God is acknowledged and prayed to as the immediate
governor of the universe; but the best and happiest state is, to wait
on him in the calm continually--and when the tempest arises, ice shall
find him ever nigh. (Ps. cxix. 114.
)
The next blessing connected with the atmosphere, which I will
direct you to, is its power of refraction.
Though the atmosphere may extend in an exceeding rarified
state more than forty-five or fifty miles in height, yet it does not
refract the rays of light beyond that ; but within that distance
the rays of the sun come to us in a bent or arched line, and
thus, excepting when the heavenly bodies are in the Zenith, that is,
* Surely the Lord acknowledged the cry of England in 1830, and turned back
the cholera in answer to that cry, for his mercy endureth for ever.
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? LETTER III.
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immediately over our heads, they always appear to us some degrees
more elevated than they really are,--so, long after the sun has set
we see it, and this is true of all the heavenly bodies; thus, at the
time of full moon, we see the sun after it is gone, and the moon
before it rises.
Another important property of the atmosphere, is its power of
reflecting light. We watched the setting sun the other evening; the
light of day seemed to linger on the earth long after it was gone,
while colours of every hue glowed in the western sky, seeming to
promise that the sun should rise again. " But how was the light pro-
longed ? " you may inquire. The beautiful arch of refraction had kept
the sun with us long after the orb itself was sunk; and now, when its
hays could no longer reach our eyes, but passed far above our heads,
we got them reflected as from a glass. And what language can de-
scribe that gentle, quiet light, the even-tide ? so sacred to meditation,
(Gen. xxiv. 63,) which an eastern writer beautifully calls " The
curtain of night gently drawn around the closing day. "
Another most gracious property of the atmosphere is its motion,
"the wind. " The principle of this is very simple:--when, from a
variety of causes, any portion of the atmosphere gets rarified, or ex-
panded, it immediately ascends till it meets with the air in a kindred
state--that is, of the same weight; but instantly that this process
begins, the air around hastens to fill the vacancy. If the previous
process had been gentle, the wind is gentle; but if rapid, the wind is
r2
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? 28
THE CREATION.
high and stormy; sometimes the light air, at another time the terrific
hurricane. *
The phenomena of the wind, or the atmosphere in a state of move-
ment or agitation, come to man fraught with blessing: for the storm
and tempest have beneficial results. It is the great conservator or
preserver of health: but for it, disease and death would gather on
every side. Have we not found, in climbing the sultry hills near
Malvern, when we reached the heights, the balmy air came to us all
sweet and refreshing, adapted to our very wants, by the hand of that
ever watchful Being who is as kind as he is powerful ? How often
have I at Jamaica looked longingly to the sea, watching the sea-breeze
come rippling and sparkling in the sun-beam, till at last it reached our
vessel. It was a delightful sight to see our ensign, (just like the one
your dear grandmamma made for you,) that had been hanging down as
if partaking in the general sultriness, on a sudden stream out almost
instinct with the joy of all around; and at night, when the sea-breeze
had died away, and all was calm and still, the air, cooling from the
fervent rays of the sun which had " shone the live long day," now
came hasting down the mountains, as the land messenger, vying in
refreshment with that from the sea; but though cooler, yet not so
invigorating. The cause of the land and sea breeze is simply the
arifying and condensing of the atmosphere. In the morning, after
the sun has arisen to some height, the whole air around begins to feel
* See Appendix.
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? LETTER III.
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its power, and soon expands or rarifies; and (as I before re-
marked on the causes of the wind) the neighbouring sea-air rushes
in to fill the vacancy: and at night, when the heat has passed
away, the air that had ascended, again condenses, and comes
down to us cooler than even the sea-breeze. But one must dwell,
dear children, in tropical countries to know the mercy of these
things.
But not only is the wind so valuable to us, as the preserver of
health; but it is also the principal means of all our communications
with other countries. Let us look again at your map of the world. *
See how the water preponderates over the land. Look at the various
Ports and Harbours and Rivers, as if the Lord intended the sea as the
great highway by which the nations of the earth should have inter-
course. Imagine that you could in a moment of time see all the
ships that are at this moment on the ocean, all with their respective
colours, how full of interest would the sight be. There you would see
the union of England, the eagles of Russia and Prussia, the tri-coloured
flags of France and Holland, the stars of America, some sailing this
way, some that; some for pleasure, and, blessed be the God of peace,
but few for war. But all intent on one thing,--to reach the port to
which they are bound: for everything in a vessel's voyage bears on
this. If you could hail each vessel, and ask them this question,--
? The surface of the globe contains about 196 millions of square acres, 147 mil-
lions being water, and 49 millions land.
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? 30
THE CREATION.
" Where are you bound ? " not one* of the many thousands would say,
" I don't know. " No; they are in earnest; but, alas! how many
hundreds of thousands are sailing on the ocean of life, surrounded with
danger, and yet, if you ask them whither they are going, they would
be constrained to say, " I don't know:" for without a pilot, without a
compass, without a rudder, they are driven on by fierce winds; and,
if the Lord interfere not, ere long they will make shipwreck of their
souls.
But reflect, my dear children, on the scene before you; and with
the exception of those few steam-packets (few in comparison) which
seem to pass on regardless of the winds, the commerce of the world is
kept up by the unaided agency of the wind. I say unaided agency;
for though the sailor spreads his snowy canvas " low and aloft," yet
he is altogether dependent: the wind bloweth where it listeth; and
only as he is obedient to its dictates he prospers. One while you see
him in the midst of storm and tempest, ploughing his way through
seas that seem to threaten his destruction; and at another time, in the
light and gentle airs of summer, his vessel, like the bird, seems to
ruffle her plumagef with delight, extending her utmost sails to catch
? See a valuable little book, entitled " An Address to Seamen, by the late
lamented Dr. Payson;" which, though addressed particularly to seamen, is
equally suitable for all classes, as the language is so plain, heart-searching, and
simple. -- Wright, Bristol.
t Looking on a beautiful vessel, with every sail spread, almost seeming instinct
with life, hastening on at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, one can hardly
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? LETTER III.
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the straggling zephyr. I have sometimes been struck with wonder
at the thought of a vessel leaving the Thames, and going the circuit
of the globe and coming back to her first anchoring, and not one
finger of man put out to impel her. The wind has done it entirely--
man has simply acted as its servant. Beautiful is the language of our
poet Cowper, when speaking of the ship that bore some missionaries
to India:--
" Heaven speed the canvas gallantly unfurl'd,
To furnish and accommodate a world;
Let nothing adverse, nothing unforeseen,
Impede the bark that ploughs the deep serene,
That flies, like Gabriel, at its Lord's commands,
With message of God's Love to heathen lands. "
Cowper s Poems:--CHARITY, line 201. ?
This is a favourite subject with me, as you know; but I must leave
it, and pass on at once to two other gracious properties of the
atmosphere.
What made those sounds come to our ears so sweet the other
evening ? or, indeed, what made them come at all, when we heard
the beautiful hymn--
wonder at the poor Esquimaux thinking that Captain Ross's ships were some
large birds about to light on their coasts.
* See Appendix.
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? . 32
THE CREATION.
" Why those fears? behold 'tis Jesus
Holds the helm, and guides the ship:
Spread the sails and catch the breezes,
Sent to waft us through the deep,
To those regions,
Where the mourners cease to weep? "
It was still the gracious agency of the surrounding atmosphere, one
of whose properties is to convey sound ; and this too, just in the pro-
portion to make those sounds pleasant: for if indeed they were
deeper, or our sense of hearing sharper, or more acute, what misery
should we be in;--or if the case was reversed, life would be a con-
tinual exertion, stretching the ear to hear; but as it is, loving-
kindness and goodness mark this gracious boon. The proof of sound
being conveyed by the atmospheric air is very simple. Now suppose
we put our large bell in any glass vessel, and then exhaust the air;--
now shake the vessel hard--all is quiet, and yet we see that the
clapper has touched the side. Why does it not sound ? The air is
gone. But now let the air in, and shake the bell, and it rings as
usual. The sound was caused by the resistance of the atmosphere,
through which it had to break its way. Suppose for a moment that
the atmosphere was deprived of this property, what consternation
would gather on every side,--all christian communion, all social
intercourse would be at an end, and the business of the world would
stand still, and every man would be as one that was dumb. Well,
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LETTER IIL 33
then, may we join in that transport of praise, and with the Psalmist
cry aloud, "Praise God in the firmament of his power. " (Psalm
el. 1. )
How fragrant the air was the other evening when we walked by
the fields where they were gathering in the hay; but why did we inhale
the fragrance so pleasantly ? Here, again, the same means that con-
veyed the sound conveyed also the scent; for if instead of the bell,
you had plucked a rose, and put it in the glass vessel, and exhausted
the air, it would wither and die, without emitting one particle of scent
to tell you what it once was.
But, my dear children, I think I never wrote you so long a letter
before, and I must hasten to relieve your attention by only just briefly
recapitulating the seven properties of the atmosphere I have en-
deavoured to explain to you.
1st, Its power of sustaining life, whether animal or vegetable.
2nd, Its being the reservoir of the rain,* snow, and dew, &c
.
3rd, Its gracious properties of refraction and reflection of light.
4th, Its gracious property of reflecting light.
5th, The wind or agitated atmosphere;--the great preserver of
health; and the means of all commercial intercourse.
6th, Its being the medium of sound, and therefore that by which
all social communion and general intercourse is kept up.
7 th, The medium of scent.
? See Appendix,
c3
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? 34
THE CREATION.
Think of these properties, beloved children, and remember that you
always enjoy the first, and continually one or more of all the other six;
and so may you in everything be led by God's Spirit to give thanks;
and thus living in a continual state of dependence, you will live in a
continual state of peace.
Believe me,
Ever your affectionate Father.
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? THE CREATION.
35
LETTER IV.
AND THEY THAT BE WISE SHALL SHINE AS THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FIRMAMENT.
Daniel nil. 3.
My dear Children,
Though the Scriptures say to us but little of the firmament itself in
the way of illustration, yet in a variety of ways it is alluded to; for if
I were to mention and enlarge upon all the passages that introduce
the rain and hail and snow, in this way, my letter would swell out
to a very long one.
Now suppose you turn to your Bibles, and look at Gen. i . ii. ; there
you will see the order of Adam's creation to be thus;--first God
formed him from the dust of the earth, and then breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul; and from
that time his natural life was sustained, according to God's appoint-
ment, by means of his inhaling, as we do, the vital air. But both his
spiritual and natural life depended on his obedience to the command
to eat not of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen. iii.
tells us, that listening to the counsel of Eve, who before had been
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? 36
THE CREATION.
beguiled by the serpent, Adam ate of the tree, and instantly, dying,
he died:--that is, his soul died; his body became mortal or dying;
and body and soul exposed (when the day of judgment should come)
to the second death. Gen. v. records, that Adam begat a son in his
mcn likeness:--not God's, but his own; the likeness of a dead man--
a man cut off from God: and to this St. Paul alludes when he says,
. --" by man came death:"--but though man was thus cut off from
God, yet still, as St. Paul testified to the gentiles at Athens, " In
Him we live and move and have our being,"--that is, we depend
every moment for our existence on God;--He takes our breath, we die.
This, my dear children, brings strikingly to our minds the omnipresence
of God, or God being always present, in all places and at all times;
and I know of no figure that so fully illustrates this as the all-pene-
trating, all-pervading atmosphere; so that, when light itself in vain
knocks for admission, (as in a cavern or darkened room,) the air comes
in as the rightful occupant and dweller in all things--day and night,
place or distance, makes no difference, and there is no possibility of
putting it away but by artificial means, as I have shown in my pre-
vious letter; and then, wherever its absence is--there is death,
reigning and ruling in all its power. There was one scene once acted
upon the earth, the first (and oh that it might be the last) that affords us
the most solemn and awful consideration on this subject: I allude to
the French Revolution of 1793, of which we were reading some time
since. There it was that a nation of 20,000,000 of people, priding
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? LETTER IV.
37
themselves on being the most polite nation of the earth, and whose
language was spoken in most of the courts of Europe, proclaimed by
an edict of its national assembly two awful decrees,--first, that there
was no God; and second, that death was an eternal sleep. Like the
fool that said in his heart, they said openly, " Tush, there is no God
and the Lord left them for a little, and France was as if there was no
God.
