GEOGRAPHY. 



vigour and intelligence, to form the pious reso- and pernicious consequences which flow from 

 lution of Asaph, &quot; I will meditate on all thy ignorance of the phenomena of nature, and of 

 Works, O Lord ! and talk of thy doings.&quot;&quot; I those laws by which the Almiahtv eoverns the 



will utter abundantly tne memory of thy great 

 goodness, and tell of thy wondrous works.&quot;* 



GEOGRAPHY. 



The next department of knowledge I shall 

 notice is the science of Geography. 



The object of this science is, to describe the 

 world we inhabit, in reference to the continents, 

 islands, mountains, oceans, seas, rivers, em 

 pires, and kingdoms with which it is diversified, 

 together with the manners, customs, and reli 

 gion of the different tribes which people its 

 surface. 



In order to form an accurate conception of 

 the relative positions of objects on the surface 

 of the earth, and to enter with intelligence on 



ghty governs the 

 universe he has formed ; and which prove it to 

 be a Christian duty for every rational being to 

 study the order and economy of the visible 

 world. 



That the earth is nearly of a globular figure, 

 is proved by the following considerations: 1. 

 When we stand on the seashore, while the sea 

 is perfectly calm, we perceive that the surface 

 of the water is not quite plain, but convex or 

 rounded ; and if we are on one side of an arm 

 of the sea, as the Frith of Forth, and, with 

 our eyes near the water, look towards the oppo 

 site coast, we shall plainly see the water ele 

 vated between our eyes and the opposite shore, 

 so as to prevent our seeing the land near the 

 edge of the water. The same experiment may 



the study of this subject, it is requisite, first of be mad f on an .v portion of still water, of a mile 



all irt Vt017 ort ns**&amp;gt;t.nt:A isJon r^f I t (* , . t i . ,1 OF tWQ III CXtCnt. VVllfin itS (VttlVATltV 7 1 1 I VQ w^a.. 



all, to have an accurate idea of its figure and 

 magnitude. For a long series of ages it was 

 supposed, by the bulk of mankind, that the sur 

 face of the earth was nearly a plane, indefinitely 

 extended, and bounded on all sides by the sky. 

 Lactantius, and several of the fathers of the 

 Christian church, strenuously argued that the 

 earth was extended infinitely downwards, and 

 established upon several foundations. The an 

 cient philosopher Heraclitus is said to have be 

 lieved that the earth was of the shape of a skiff 

 or canoe, very much hollowed ; and the philo 

 sopher Leucippus supposed it to be of the 

 form of a cylinder or a drum. It is only within 

 the period of the last three hundred years that 

 the true figure of the earth has been accurately 

 ascertained. This figure is now found to be 

 that of an oblate spheroid, nearly approach 

 ing to the shape of a globe or sphere. To 

 have asserted this opinion several ages ago 

 would have been considered as a heresy in reli 

 gion, and would have subjected its abettors to 

 the anathemas of the church, and even to the 

 peril of their lives. Historians inform us that 

 the learned Spigelius, Bishop of Upsal, in Swe 

 den, suffered martyrdom at the stake, in de 

 fence of the doctrine of the Antipodes ; and we 

 know that, fSr asserting the motion of the earth, 

 the celebrated philosopher Galileo was immured 

 in a dungeon, and condemned by an assembly of 

 cardinals to all the horrors of perpetual imprison 

 ment. The doctrine ne maintained, and which 

 is now universally received by every one ac 

 quainted with the subject, was declared by those 

 arrogant ecclesiastics to be a proposition 

 absurd in its very nature, false in philosophy, 

 heretical in religion, and contrary to the Holy 

 Scriptures.&quot; Such are some of the horrible 



A select list of popular works on Natural His 

 tory, and the ether sciences noticed in the followin&quot; 

 Hatches, will i&amp;gt;e found iatto appendix. 



o in extent, when its convexity will be per 

 ceived by the eye. A little boat, for instance, 

 may be perceived by a man who is any height 

 above the water, but if he stoops down, and lays 

 his eye near the surface, he will find that the 

 fluid appears to rise, and intercept the view of 

 the boat. 2. If we take our station on the sea 

 shore, and view the ships leaving the coast, in 

 any direction as they retire from our view, we 

 may perceive the masts and rigging of the ves 

 sels when the hulls are out of sight, and, as it 

 were, sunk in the water. On the other hand, 

 when a ship is approaching the shore, the first 

 part of her that is seen is the topmast ; as she 

 approaches nearer, the sails become visible, and 

 last of all, the hull comes gradually into view.f 

 The reason of such appearances obviously is, 

 that the round or convex surface of the water 

 interposes between our eye and the body of the 

 ship, when she has reached a certain distance, 

 while, at the same time, the sails and topmast, 

 from their greater elevation, may be still in 

 view. To the same cause it is owing, that the 

 higher the eye is placed, the more extensive is 

 the prospect ; and hence it is common for sailors 

 to climb to the tops of masts, in order to discover 

 land or ships at a distance. The contrary of all 

 this would take place, if the earth and waters were 

 an extended plane. When a ship came within 

 view, the hull would first make its appearance, 

 being the largest object, next the sails, and, last 

 of all, the topmast. These considerations, 

 which hold true in all parts of the world, prove 

 to a certainty, that the mass of the ocean is of 

 a globular form : and if the ocean be a portion 

 of a sphere, it follows that the land also is of 

 the same general figure ; for no portion of the 

 earth s surface is elevated above four or five 

 t In order to make such observations to advantage 

 the observer s eye should be as near as possible on 

 a level with the sea, and he should use a telescope 

 to enable him to perceive more distinctly the upper 

 part of the vessel. 



