The little ragamuffins tell you that their father is dead, and their mother is poor; and in the grief of your heart you buy, and buy, and buy, until you have no more money to pay, and no more hands to carry their useless pebbles; and finding new faces, and hearing new tales continually, the plot thickens so unmercifully, that you cease to believe any thing because you have believed so much, and in self-defense are forced to turn away from the masonic pile that owns no mason—from the old arm-chair that no cabinet-maker ever planned—from the huge bowl where none but a giant could drink—and the organ-pipes to whose identity the roaring waves lend so real an illusion. But a sight of the Giant’s Causeway, in spite of its nonsensical traditions and its fabulous legends, is a commentary too impressive ever to be forgotten, on the power and might of its great Creator. And long years hence it will stand, firm and enduring, as it ever has stood, in its solemn, awful grandeur, to annihilate the atheist’s doubt, and to silence the sceptic’s sneer. * * * * * =HYMN,= =FOR THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH.= =BY REV. S. DRYDEN PHELPS.= How glorious is thy dwelling, O Lord of Hosts, on high, Where angel anthems swelling Fill all the boundless sky: In more than Eden splendor The heavenly mansions shine, Where praise the ransomed render, In worship all divine. On earth, among the lowly, Thou hast a gracious reign— The kingdom of the holy, The church, the born-again; And temples, reared by mortals. The homes of truth and love. Are hallowed as the portals Of Paradise above. Make this thy habitation, And here thy name record; With blessing and salvation Our prayers and toils reward; Let dews of grace descending, On every heart distill; And humble throngs come bending To know and do thy will. The Spirit’s living beauty To all thy servants give, And strength for every duty, That each to thee may live; Till, in his chariot gleaming, The Saviour comes to bear The souls of his redeeming To heavenly mansions fair. * * * * * =THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA.= [Illustration]