J79^' ASTRONOMICAL REVERIE. 1 25 



" To clioofc like Kcrcules, required the ftrength ot 

 Hercules; but you have made his choice under the pro- 

 tection of a greater and a Ilronger Deity than even the 

 Jupiter of Olympus. 



" The univerfe is like its author, boundlefs, infinite, 

 and eternal : But it is boundlefs, infinite, and eternal^ 

 not in itfelf, b*it as having for ever emanated from the 

 infinite aftivity and benevolence of the creator. 



" To meet tJie povv'ers of your limited underllanding, 

 and the extent of your experience, I Ihall figure mat- 

 ter to you, as the alphabet, and modified matter as the 

 language by which tlie infinite mind of the creator 

 comn:unicates itfelf to the creature, the whole having 

 been brought forth from eternity to eternity, to ope- 

 rate the final purpofes for ever of his power and of his 

 goodnels. The fyllem of worlds, which we now in- 

 habit, is as a mathematical point, as nothing, when 

 compared to the boundlefs univerfe. This fyftem of 

 ours fills a fphere, the diameter of which vvould re- 

 quire nearly two thoufand millioiiij of our 's'ears, to al- 

 low a ray of light to pafs along it with the fame velo- 

 city that it is fped from the fan to this earth, which 

 it travels in lefs than feven minutes I With a good tele- 

 fcope, you can fee many thoufands of fuch fyftems as 

 this, which feem like little circular clouds in a bed of 

 Derbyihire marble, or in a piece of poliftied agate. 

 But the telefcope, improved to the utmoft extent of 

 human mechanifm., will never be able tolbew any thing 

 that can bear the fmallell proportion to tlie magnitude 

 of the univerfe. 



" There are, in ourfyftem, twenty-fix millions of in- 

 habited globes, the greatelt part of which exceed our 

 globe, both in magnitude and importance. This fyf- 

 tem of ours, with the infinite and boundlefs fyilems of 

 the univerfe, are perpetually moving and revolving, in 

 obedience to the eternal laws of the Creator. Matter 

 is altimately detennined by the divine energy, which, ' 

 ading equally, and in all diredlions through infinity, 



