LESSON vi. 



ON THE EARTH. 



More distant still our earth comes rolling on, 

 And forms a wider circle round the sun ; 

 With her the moon, companion ever dear ! 

 Her course attending through the shining year. 



BAKER. 



IN the earliest ages of the world the generality 

 of mankind entertained very strange notions con- 

 cerning the form and dimensions of the earth we 

 inhabit : and even in the present enlightened age 

 it is not unusual to meet with persons whose ideas 

 in this respect are very far from the truth. Those 

 who have not been in the habit of considering 

 this subject in an astronomical point of view, look 

 upon the earth as a very extensive plane, here and 

 there interspersed with hills and vales ; they have 

 also a confused notion of its being fixed firmly 

 upon something ; but upon what, or in what man- 

 ner, it is impossible for them to tell. 



But I would wish you, my young friends, to re- 

 flect upon the subject in a more correct manner. 

 To you 1 must therefore observe, that the earth is 

 in form nearly globular, and partakes of two con- 

 stant motions; the one about its axis, and the other 

 through its orbit round the sun, like the other 

 planets. To this perhaps some of you may ob- 

 ject, 



