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"There dwells a noble pathos in the skies, "Which warms our paffions, profelytes our hearts : "How eloquently shine the glowing orbs! "Remonftrating great truths in ftyle fublime *?

CHAP. XXI.

THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE POWER OF THE

DEITY.

"We read God's awful power, imprinted high, "With golden letters, on the starry sky †.” IN what majestic lines is it there written! In what

legible characters is it there recorded! In how striking a manner is it there difplayed!" By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." He faid, "Let there be light, and there was light. Let there be a firmament, and their was a firmament. Let the fun rule the day, and the moon the night, and fo it was!" At his command, order fprung out of confufion, and the beautiful fabric of the universe emerged from chaos.

"He ftretched out the north

* Dr. Young.

+ Mrs. Barbauld.

over

over the empty place," fufpended the earth upon nothing, and bade the planets go their everlasting round. With what wonderful rapidity, and yet with what perfect regularity, do they perform their revolutions! How minutely faithful to the viciffitudes of day and night! How exactly punctual in bringing on the changes of their respective seasons! By the great Creator were they first fet in motion. He impreffed upon them the power of gravitation, by which they hang felf-balanced on their centres, and require nothing but this amazing property for their fupport. If it were the pleasure of the Deity, that this principle should ceafe to exert its energy, the univerfal frame would be diffolved, and all Nature would return to her original chaotic ftate: or, as the ingenious and much-admired author of the Seafons expreffes it,

"Should God hide his face, "Th' aftonifh'd fun, and all th' extinguifh'd ftars, "Would loofening reel, wide from their spheres, "And chaos come again *!"

* Thomfon.

CHAP.

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ON THE GOODNESS OF THE DEITY, DISPLAYED IN THE CREATION.

T was nobly faid by a Grecian philofopher,

IT

"That God, when he undertook the work of creation, transformed himfelf into Love." He has no occafion, however, to transform himself into this amiable principle, for he is the fountain and the fource of it. It is much eafier to believe that there is no God, than that he is not good and beneficent. He created this earth, and all the brighter realins on high, and peopled them with fo many tribes of inhabitants, for no other purpose, but to transfuse his exuberant kindness, and to communicate felicity and joy to innumerable ranks of fenfitive and intelligent exiftence.

Large as the compass of creation is, every thing contributes to the beauty, the order, and well-being of the whole. The fun is the inexhausted source of light and heat and comfort, fhedding day through all the fyftem, and extending his benign and enlightening influence to furrounding worlds. The clouds being raised in copious exhalations from the vaft ocean, are kindly commiffioned to drop down

fatnefs

fatnefs as they fall, to diffufe fertility over the earth, and to scatter flowers over the field.

The goodness of the Deity warms in the morning fun, refreshes in the evening breeze, fimiles in the bloffoms of fpring, and fhines in the conftellations of heaven.

"The glitt'ring stars

By the deep ear of meditation heard,

"Still in their midnight watches fing of Him.".

What an amiable idea of the Author of Nature doth this convey to us! Is it poffible to conceive, any excellence so attractive, as infinite benevolence,. guided by unerring wisdom, and exerting almighty. power, on purpofe to make a whole univerfe. happy?

CHAP. XXIII.

ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND REVOLUTIONS

OF ASTRONOMY..

MANKIND muft have made a very confider

able improvement in obferving the motions

of the heavenly bodies, before they could fo far difengage themselves from the prejudices of fenfe and popular

popular opinion, as to believe that the earth, upon which we live, was not fixed and immoveable.

We find accordingly, that Thales, the Milefian, who, about 580 years before Chrift, first taught astonomy in Europe, had gone so far in this fubject, as to calculate eclipfes, or the interpofitions of the moon between the earth and the fun, or of the earth between the fun and the moon.

Pythagoras, a Greek philofopher, flourished about ten years after Thales, and was, no doubt, equally well acquainted with the motion of the heavenly bodies. This led Pythagoras to conceive an idea, which there is no reason to believe had ever been thought of before, namely, that the earth itself was in motion, and that the fun was at reft. He found that it was impoffible, in any other way, to give a confiftent account of the heavenly motions.

The fyftem, however, was fo extremely oppofite to all the prejudices of fenfe and opinion, that it never made great progrefs, nor was ever widely diffused in the ancient world. The philofophers of antiquity, defpairing of being able to overcome ig-, norance by reason, set themselves to adapt the one to the other, and to form a reconciliation between them.

This was the cafe with Ptolemy, an Egyptian philofopher, who flourished 138 years before Chrift.

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