This day was presented us some of the grandest objects of admiration,
both of nature and art, we ever beheld. We saw some of the grandest,
most stupendous and wonderful achievements of human enlightenment,
combined with industry, we had ever seen. At one moment we found
ourselves hundreds of feet above the tall pine trees, away in the
valley below, where, if we had been thrown off the track, we must have
been precipitated hundreds of feet down among the craggy rocks. In
another moment, we passed from the skirts of tree-tops, plunging into
the dark and dreary tunnel, cut through solid rock, hundreds of feet
under ground, where we could no more see than if we had never had eyes.
Truly is this a mighty and wonderful achievement for mortals—poor,
weak and dying mortals? It is overwhelming that _men_ should ever have
projected, prosecuted, and completed such a conveyance as this, such a
vast distance through this expanded and rugged region of country!
But, vast as this achievement may appear, when we are looking at it
as a _work of man_, it diminishes, dwindles and sinks into utter
insignificance and nothingness, when we lift our eyes above it, to “the
everlasting hills,” the workmanship of Him who “weighs the hills in a
balance, and handles the isles as a very little thing.” Also, how our
hearts are filled with reverence and our spirits impressed with awe,
when we lift our eyes above the hills, to the vast mountains, and
think of the thousands of miles over which this mighty range extends,
as well as others on our great _universe_! We are, at the same time,
filled with awe and gratitude, that we have the blessed assurance that
we are not overlooked, forgotten, and lost in the immensity of the
innumerable works of the Creator! But, blessed be his glorious name,
vast and innumerable as are his marvellous works, he has the time, the
goodness and compassion to provide for the fowls of heaven, and the
fish of the sea, as well as the beasts of the forests. Among all the
variegated multitudes of the feathered tribes, not even a sparrow falls
to the ground unobserved by Him; and, by the same Omniscient One, we
are assured, by our adorable Redeemer, the hairs of our heads are all
numbered. To the same amount, and for the same purpose, he says, “If an
earthly parent knows how to give good things to children, how much more
shall the Heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
How comforting to think that he has promised, saying, “I will never
leave you nor forsake you, but will grant you grace and glory, and no
good thing will I withhold from you?” How secure, too, we can feel,
and how strengthening to reflect, when dashing through these fearful
mountains, conscious that though in one moment an accident might occur
by which our earthly career might be terminated, the everlasting arms
are underneath; and though the earthly building may be destroyed, we
have an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. To his
Almighty hand we commit our all; in Him is our everlasting trust. To
him be praises forever and ever.