40 SATURN. [Lesson ix. 



Muse ! raise thy voice, mysterious truth to sing, 



How o'er the copious orb a lucid ring, 



Opake and broad is seen its arch to spread 



Hound the big globe at stated periods ld ; 



Perhaps (its use unknown) with gathered heat 



To aid the regions of that gilded seat, 



The want of nearer Phoebus to supply, 



And warm with reflex beams his summer sky j 



Else might the high-placed, world, exposed to frost, 



Lie waste, in one eternal winter lost. BROWN. 



Some persons, who object to this, observe, that 

 the inhabitants of Saturn have undoubtedly consti- 

 tutions suited to the globe they inhabit : but these 

 objectors may be reminded, that the nature of Sa- 

 turn's inhabitants may be so tempered as continu- 

 ally to require the aid of this ring to keep them 

 sufficiently warm ; it may also serve to remind 

 them in what a deplorable state they would be, 

 were it not for the continual superintendance and 

 presence of the adorable Creator. 



