174 ESSAYS anp OBSERVATIONS 
a long period of time, it will become perpen- 
Gicular to this plane; when we fhall have 
every where a continual fpring throughout 
the year. The Chevalier de Louville and 
M. Godin pretend even to compute the pe- 
riod of this motion ; the former having gone 
to Marfeilles to meafure the variation of this 
obliquity from the time when Pitheas meafu- 
red it at the fame place 2000 years ago; he 
found it diminifhed by 20’, and thence efti- 
mates the period of this motion to be above 
2 millions of years. M. Godin has fince 
found, that, from the year 1655 to 1734, it 
decreafed 55”, by comparing an obfervation 
of old M. Cafini’s with his own, and thence 
deduces the period to be 1944000 years. 
And hence fome authors have endeavoured 
to explain feveral old Egyptian and Babylonifh 
traditions, concerning the fun’s having rifen 
twice in the weft; and have taken occafion 
to indulge themfelves in feveral {peculations. 
I HAVE formerly feen a piece that was _ 
printed many years ago, but never, I think, 
publifhed ; containing a fy{tem and a kind, 
of liturgy for the Pantheifts or Spinofifts ; 
wherein the author warmly efpoufed this no- 
tion, concerning the variation of the obliqui- 
