THE POPULAK EDUCATOR. 



motions, its place in the solar system, the great circles supposed 

 to be drawn on its surface, and its position in the heavens by 

 which it is surrounded on all sides; the diversified nature of 

 its surface, as seen in its mountains, valleys, plains, rivers, seas, 

 aid oceans, and in the constitution and phenomena of the 

 atmosphere by which it is enveloped, as in a swaddling band ; 

 and the different races of animals, including ma" and the 

 various kinds of vegetable and mineral productions which are 

 distributed over its surface. 



It will be sufficient for our purpose, in this first lesson, to 

 state generally that the form or shape of the earth is that of a 

 globe or ball, and that the height of the highest mountains on 

 its surface is so small in comparison with the size of the earth, 

 and interfere so little with its rotundity, or roundness, that this 

 height has about the same proportion to the diameter of the 

 earth, which the thickness of common writing-paper has to the 

 diameter of a twelve-inch terrestrial globe. The ancients had 



possessing all those antiquated notions in science, particularly 

 in geography and astronomy, which the uninstructed tribes of 

 Asia, Australasia, and Polynesia possess at the present day. 



"The Hebrews," says an eminent writer, " obviously never 

 attempted to form any scientific theory respecting the structure 

 of the earth. The natural impression which represents it as a 

 flat surface, with the heaven as a firmament or curtain spread 

 over it, is found to bo iiniversally prevalent. Beneath was 

 conceived to be a deep pit, the abode of darkness and the 

 I shadow of death. In one place we find the grand image of the 

 I earth being hung upon nothing ; but elsewhere the pillars of the 

 earth are repeatedly mentioned ; and sometimes the pillars of 

 heaven. In short, it is evident that every writer caught the 

 idea impressed on his senses and imagination by the view of 

 these grand objects, without endeavouring to arrange them into 

 any regular system." We have quoted this passage as a 

 specimen of the loose style of writing and thinking regarding 



Rtriisrs or TYRE. 



no such knowledge of the earth as we now possess ; and though 

 some of the most intellectual of the philosophers of Greece, such 

 as the famous Pythagoras, are supposed to have reached the 

 notion of its globular form, it was buried under a cloud of errors 

 and extravagances. 



To the most extended view which the human eye can take of 

 any part of the surface of the earth, even from the highest 

 eminence found on that surface, it appears to be one vast and 

 illimitable plain, diversified by hill and dale, land and water, 

 mountain and valley. The heavens appear to be a luminous 

 dome above the head of the observer, bespangled with stars at 

 night, and they seem to rest on the surface of the earth at an 

 immense and immeasurable distance. He feels as if he would 

 be afraid to travel so far, either on land or sea, as to reach the 

 limit which he supposes must ultimately be found to this 

 surface, lest he fall over into an interminable abyss ; and he 

 supposes that the phenomena of the heavens are confined to the 

 upper and visible concave which he beholds, while his imagina- 

 tion dooms all beneath his feet to death and everlasting oblivion. 

 Such were the limited notions which prevailed at an early period 

 in the history of the world ; and it is one great proof of the 

 antiquity and authenticity of the sacred Scriptures, that they 

 describe men as they really were in ancient times, and as 



the science of the sacred Scriptures. " The style of these 

 writings, in the places above referred to, is highly poetical ; and 

 who, we would ask, expects to find didactic theories in a poem ? 

 The poet seizes the phenomena of nature as they appear to the 

 eye, and enlarges, magnifies, or arranges them at pleasure ; he 

 is not tied to rules, nor confined to the language of the 

 schools. To do so, would destroy his poetry, and reduce his 

 imagination to an automaton. The book of Job, in which these 

 grand expressions are found, is the oldest book in the world. 

 It was written long before the time of Moses ; and though found 

 in the Hebrew language, it was evidently not written by a 

 Hebrew. It is curious, however, that the writer of this book 

 should have lighted upon such a striking fact, as that the earth 

 hangs upon nothing ! Had this been found in a Chinese or a 

 Hindoo book, possessing such claims to antiquity as the Hebrew 

 book, it would have been lauded to the skies as a proof of 

 superior knowledge, and would have been held as an infallible 

 proof that the Chinese or the Hindoos, ages ago, were actually 

 acquainted with the facts of modern science. 



The same writer looks to Phoenicia for the origin of geogra- 

 phical knowledge ; and there can be no doubt that, being some 

 of the earliest merchants and traders both by sea and land, the 

 Phoanicians must have been among the first nations of the world 



