iOO 



ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



moon is the principal orb on whose surface par- 

 Ji-u.ar observations can be made ; and we find 

 that us arrangements are materially different 

 from those of the earth. It has no large rivers, 

 seas, or oceans, nor clouds such as ours to di 

 versify its atmosphere. It has mountains and 

 plains, hills and vales, insulated rocks and ca 

 irns of every size and shape ; but the form and 

 arrangement of all these objects are altogether 

 different from what obtains in our terrestrial 

 sphere. While, on our globe, the ranges of 

 mountains run nearly in a line from east to west, 

 or from north to south, on the surface of the 

 moon they are formed for the most part into cir 

 cular ridges, enclosing, like ramparts, plains of 

 all dimensions, from half a mile to forty miles in 

 diameter. While on earth, the large plains are 

 nearly level, and diversified merely with gentle 

 wavings. in the moon, there are hundreds of 

 plains of various dimensions sunk, as it were, 

 nearly two miles below the general level of its sur 

 face. On this orb we behold insulated moun 

 tains, more than two miles in elevation, standing 

 alone, like monuments, in the midst of plains, 

 circular basins or caverns, both in the valleys, 

 and on the summits and declivities of mountains, 

 and these caverns, again, indented with smaller 

 ones of a similar form, at the same time, there 

 are plains far more level and extensive than on 

 the earth. On the whole, the mountain-scenery 

 on the lunar surface is far more diversified and 

 magnificent than on our globe, and differs as 

 much from terrestrial landscapes as the wastes 

 and wilds of America from the cultivated plains 

 of Europe. In short, while on the earth, the 

 highest mountains are little more than four miles 

 in heigiu, on some of the planets mountains 

 have been discovered, which astronomers have 

 reckoned to be twenty-two miles in elevation. 



If then, it is reasonable to believe, that all 

 the worlds in the universe are different in their 

 construction and airangements, and peopled 

 with beings of diversified ranks and orders 

 could we survey only a small portion of the uni 

 versal system what an amazing scene would 

 it display of the conceptions of the Divine Mind 

 and of &quot; the manifold wisdom of God!&quot; Such 

 views, therefore, of the variety of nature are evi 

 dently calculated to expand our conceptions of the 

 divine character, to excite us to admiration and 

 reverence, to extend o, views of the riches of di 

 vine beneficence, and to enlarge our hopes of the 

 glories and felicities of that future inheritance 

 which is incorruptible and which fad eth not away. 



5. The contemplation of nature, through the 

 medium of science, is calculated to expand our 

 conceptions of the power of the Deity, and of the 

 magnificence of his empire. The power of God 

 is manifested by its effects ; and in proportion 

 as our knowledge of these effects is enlarged, 

 will oji- conceptions of this attribute of the Divi 

 nity be expanded. To create a single object 



implies an exertion of power which surpasses 

 finite comprehension ; how much more the crea 

 tion and arrangement of such a vast multiplicity 

 of objects as those to which we have just now 

 adverted ! For, all that immense variety ol 

 beings which exists in the animal, vegetable, 

 and mineral kingdoms, and in the invisible re 

 gions which the microscope has explored, evin 

 ces the omnipotence of the Deity, no less than 

 his wisdom and intelligence. But the magni 

 tude, as well as the number and variety of the 

 objects of creation, displays the almighty power 

 of the Creator. In this point of view, the dis 

 coveries of modern astronomy tend to aid our 

 conceptions of the grandeur of this perfection, 

 and to extend our views of the range of its ope 

 rations far beyond what former ages could have 

 imagined. When we take a leisurely survey 

 of the globe on which we dwell, and consider the 

 enormous masses of its continents and islands, 

 the quantity of water in its seas and oceans, the 

 lofty ranges of mountains which rise from its 

 surface, the hundreds of majestic rivers which 

 roll their waters into the ocean, the numerous 

 orders of animated beings with which it is peo 

 pled, and the vast quantity of matter enclosed 

 in its bowels from every part of its circumference 

 to its centre, amounting to more than two hun 

 dred and sixty thousand millions of cubical miles 

 we cannot but be astonished at the greatness 

 of that Being who first launched it into existence, 

 who &quot; measures its waters in the hollow of his 

 hand, who weighs its mountains in scales, and 

 its hills in a balance ;&quot; and who has supported 

 it in its rapid movements, from age to age. But, 

 how must our conceptions of divine power be 

 enlarged when we consider, that this earth, 

 which appears so great to the frail beings which 

 inhabit it, is only like a small speck in creation, 

 or like an atom in the immensity of space, when 

 compared with the myriads of worlds of superior 

 magnitude which exist within the boundaries of 

 creation ! When we direct our views to the 

 planetary system, we behold three or four globes, 

 which appear only like small studs on the vault 

 of heaven, yet contain a quantity of matter more 

 than two thousand four hundred times greater 

 than that of the earth, besides more than twenty 

 lesser globes, most of them larger than ouf 

 world,* and several hundreds of ccmets, of va 

 rious magnitudes, moving in every direction 

 through the depths of space. The Sun is a 

 body of such magnitude as overpowers our fee 

 ble cor&quot;Dtions, and fills us with astonishment. 

 Within the wide circumference of this luminary 

 more than a million of worlds as large as ours 

 could be contained. His body fills a cubical 

 space equal to 681,472,000,000,000,000 miles, 

 and his surface more than 40,000,000,000, o? 

 forty thousand millions of square mLes. At the 



* The satelites of Jupiter, Saturn and Hersche), 

 are all reckoned to be larger than the Earth. 



