THE EARTH. 345 



amazing. We there behold a Deity residing in 

 the midst of an universe, infinitely extended every 

 way, animating all, and cheering the vacuity with 

 his presence ! We behold an immense and shape- 

 less mass of matter, formed into worlds by his 

 power, and dispersed at intervals, to which even 

 the imagination cannot travel ! In this great 

 theatre of his glory, a thousand suns, like our 

 own, animate their respective systems, appearing 

 and vanishing at divine command. We behold 

 our own bright luminary, fixed in the centre of its 

 system, wheeling its planets in times proportioned 

 to their distances, and at once dispensing light, 

 heat, and action. The earth also is seen with 

 its twofold motion ; producing by the one the 

 change of seasons, and by the other the grate- 

 ful vicissitudes of day and night. With what 

 silent magnificence is all this performed ! with 

 what seeming ease ! The works of art are exerted 

 with interrupted force, and their noisy progress 

 discovers the obstructions they receive ; but the 

 earth, with a silent steady rotation, successive- 

 ly presents every part of its bosom to the sun ; 

 at once imbibing nourishment and light from that 

 parent of vegetation and fertility. 



But not only provisions of heat and light are 

 thus supplied, but its whole surface is covered 

 with a transparent atmosphere, that turns with 

 its' motion, and guards it from external in- 

 jury. The rays of the sun are thus broken into a 

 genial warmth ; and, while the surface is assisted, 

 a gentle heat is produced in the bowels of the 

 earth, which contributes to cover it with verdure. 



