APPENDIX. 



moons, atmospheres, mountains, and vales that 

 lioht, and boat, and colour, appear to be dis 

 tributed throughout the regions of immensity ; 

 and that these agents can have a relation only 

 to the necessities and the happiness of orga 

 nized intelligences that every part of nature, 

 so far as our observations on the surface of 

 this globe extend, appears to exist solely for 

 the sake of sentient beings that this doctrine 

 is more worthy of the Infinite Creator, and gives 

 a more glorious and magnificent idea of his na 

 ture, than to suppose his benevolent regards 

 confined to the globe on which we dwell. When 

 these and a variety of other arguments are con 

 sidered, in connexion with the wisdom and other 

 attributes of the Deity, they amount not only to 

 a high degree of probability, but to something 

 approaching to a moral demonstration. But to 

 illustrate these arguments in a minute detail, so 

 as to make a convincing impisssion on the mind, 

 would require a volume of a considerable size. 

 The author flatters himself he has some original 

 thoughts on this subject, which may probably see 

 the light should the present work meet with public 

 acceptance. There is no work in our language 

 which takes an extensive view of this subject, 

 in connexion with the attributes of the Deity, and 

 the intimations contained in divine revelation. 

 Fontenelle s &quot; Plurality of Worlds&quot; contains a 

 number of ingenious reasonings ; but he treats 

 the subject in too light and flippant a manner, 

 and without the least reference to a Supreme 

 Intelligence. The celebrated Huygens, in his 

 &quot; Cosmotheoros&quot; instead of attempting to prove 

 the doctrine of a plurality of worlds, takes it fur 

 granted, and indulges chiefly in conjectures re 

 specting the original structure and faculties of 

 their inhabitants. 



That the scriptures are silent on this head, 

 has been assumed by some as a presumptive ar 

 gument that this doctrine is without a solid foun 

 dation. I have already endeavoured to show 

 that this assumption is unfounded ; (see page 

 90.) A plurality of worlds is more than once 

 asserted in scripture, and in numerous passages 

 is evidently taken for granted. Celestial intel 

 ligences are represented as ascribing &quot; glory, 

 honour, wisdom, and power&quot; to the king of hea 

 ven, &quot; because he hath created all things,&quot; and 

 because they perceive his works to be &quot; great 

 and marvellous.&quot; But if all the great globes in 

 the firmament were only so many frightful de- 

 erts, destitute of inhabitants, such a universe 

 could never inspire superior intelligences with 

 admiration of the wisdom of the Creator. For 

 wisdom consists in proportioning means to ends ; 

 but, in the case supposed, there would be no pro 

 portion between the means and the end. The 

 means are indeed great and astonishing ; but no 

 and appears to justify such a display of creating 



energy. The psalmist, when ne contemplated 

 the heavens, was so affected with the idea of the 

 immense population of the universe, that ne 

 seems to have been almost afraid lest he should 

 be overlooked amidst the immensity of beings 

 that are under the superintendence of God. 

 &quot; When I consider thy heavens what is man 

 that thou art mindful of him !&quot; There would be 

 no propriety nor emphasis in this exclamation, 

 if the heavenly orbs were devoid of inhabitants; 

 for if no intelligent beings exist beside man, 

 and a colony of angels, it would not appear 

 wonderful that the Creator should exercise a 

 particular care over the one-half of his intelligent 

 offspring. But, if we conceive the universe as 

 composed of ten thousand times ten thousand 

 worlds, peopled with myriads of intellectual 

 beings of various orders, the sentiment of admi 

 ration implied in the passage is extremely natu 

 ral and emphatic, and conveys to us an im 

 pressive idea of the intelligence, the beneficence, 

 and the condescension of the Founder and Go 

 vernor of all worlds. 



No. VII. pp. 114, 115. On the first Inventor of 

 Printing. 



Mr. Ireland, in his &quot; Picturesque Tour through 

 Holland, Brabant, and part of France, in 1789,&quot; 

 gives the following account of the inventor of 

 printing, when describing the city of Haerlem. 



&quot; Haerlem claims the invention of the art of 

 printing. It is attributed to Lawrence Koster, an 

 alderman of this city, in 1440 ; whose house is yet 

 standing in the market-place opposite the church. 

 Amusing himself one day in the neighbouring 

 wood, with cutting the bark of trees into the let 

 ters that formed the initials of his name, he is 

 said to have laid them on paper, and falling 

 asleep, when he awoke, observed, that from the 

 dew, their form was impressed on the paper. 

 This accident induced him to make further ex 

 periments : he next cut his letters in wood, and, 

 dipping them in a glutinous liquid, impressed 

 them on paper, which he found an improvement ; 

 and, soon after, substituting leaden and pewter 

 letters, erected a press in his house ; thus laying 

 the foundation of this noble art, which has thence 

 gradually risen to its present excellence. The 

 art, it is said, was stolen from him by his ser 

 vant, John Faustus, who conveyed it to Mentz, 

 and, from the novelty of the discovery, soon ac 

 quired the title of doctor and conjuror. The 

 original specimens are now shown at the library 

 in Ihe Town Hall. The first is on a leaf of 

 parchment, and the second and third on paper, 

 printed only on one side, and the corners left 

 blank for capitals. At the top are wooden cuts, 

 representing the creation, and, as it is called, 

 Lucifer s Fall.&quot; Pp. 109 1 , 



