Christian believers, rich in the bloom of holiness, and ripening for the harvest of glory, are said to be “clothed with the sun.” It is the gracious promise, on which all their hopes and wishes confidently rely, that the “righteous shall” ultimately “shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”[120] Thus it is written, “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.” In the path of the just there is a progress from a less to a greater light: it does not only grow clearer, but increases in clearness till it is light in perfection; advancing from the break of day to the sun rising, and then to the brightness of noon-day. “JESUS, let all thy lovers shine, illustrious as the sun, And bright with borrow’d rays divine, Their glorious circuit run. Beyond the reach of mortals, spread Their light where’er they go; And heavenly influences shed, On all the world below. As giants, may they run their race, Exulting in their might: As burning luminaries, chase The gloom of hellish night. As the bright Sun of Righteousness, Their healing wings display; And let their lustre still increase Unto the perfect day.” * * * * * _Section_ II.--THE MOON. Names -- Dimensions -- Motions -- Seasons -- Phases -- Harvest Moon -- Moon’s Surface -- Aërial Stones -- Eclipses -- Moonlight -- Epithets -- Religious Improvement. The _moon_ is called a _great light_, but _less_ than the sun. Moses does not here speak philosophically, according to her bulk, but to the proportion of light she affords us, which is more than all the planets in the solar system and all the fixed stars put together. “He smooth’d the rough-cast moon’s imperfect mould, And comb’d her beamy locks with sacred gold; Be thou, said he, Queen of the mournful night,-- And as he spoke, she rose o’erclad wish light, With thousand stars attending on her train.” The moon is not a primary planet, but only a satellite, or secondary planet, attendant on our earth, round which she revolves, and along with which she is carried round the sun.