HARMONY OF TI1E8Y8TKM. 27 



is founded on reason, confirmed by experience, and 

 merits attention. 



The water of which I}'; 1 clouds are formed, and 

 which descends in rain or .snow, is evaporated from 

 the sea. The attractive heat of the srn is the cause 

 of this "evaporation, which is more copious in warm 

 than in cold climates. The evaporation from the 

 Mediterranean is so great that although a number of 

 large rivers discharge themselves into that vast re- 

 servoir, besides the copious influx of water from 

 the Euxine, through the Bosphorus and Hellespont, 

 it has need of a large supply from tile ocean, which 

 it receives through the Straits of (iibraltar. Thus it 

 appears that the Mediterranean, which receives by 

 so many entrances so great a quantity of water, dis- 

 charges none but only by evaporation, which is far 

 less copious from that sea than from those of the 

 torrid zone. Indeed Mr. Halley bas demonstrated 

 that the vapours, which rise from the sea, and are 

 carried over the earth by the winds, are sufficient to 

 supply all the water which falls on the surface of the 

 globe* and gives rise to its innumerable rivers and 

 springs. 



Tims you see, my dear sir/ that all the constituent 

 parts of the universe are in continual motion. The 

 earth and other planets, by moving round the siin in 

 their annual revolution, cause the diversity of seasons, 

 while, by revolving at the same time on their own 

 axis, they enjoy the alternation of day and night, 

 periods of action and repose to their inhabitants. 

 The beneficent Creator has afforded u* the means, 

 of investigating the result of natural causes, so fin* As 

 they relate to this terraqueous globe, and so far as 

 this knowledge is requisite to our well-being. The 

 winds purify the atmosphere, prevent its stagnations, 

 refresh us with their cooling breezes, waft our vessel 

 to distant climes, and assist us in the management of 

 mills and a number of other useful engines. The 

 sea, by its evaporations, supplies us with water, which, 

 after being purified from its saltness by its suspen- 

 sion in the air, descends in showers to fertilise our 



