Note 65 — XIII.
Reading edition
The idea of the world, as symbolically representing God's temple, has been thus beautifully developed in a hymn by N.P. Willis, written for the dedication of a church:—
"The perfect world by Adam trod Was the first temple built by God; His fiat laid the corner stone, And heaved its pillars, one by one. "He hung its starry roof on high— The broad, illimitable sky; He spread its pavement, green and bright, And curtained it with morning light. "The mountains in their places stood, The sea, the sky, and 'all was good;' And when its first pure praises rang, The 'morning stars together sang.' "Lord, 'tis not ours to make the sea, And earth, and sky, a house for thee; But in thy sight our offering stands, A humbler temple, made with hands."