THE WORLD. 



CH APTE R 1. 



Figure of the Earth. 



*' And still, as sunk the golden Orb of day, 

 The seaman watched him, while he lingered here, 

 With many a wish to follow, many a fear, 

 And gazed, and gazed, and wondered where he went, 

 So bright his path, so glorious his descent." Rogers. 



THE constant and regular sucwssion of day and night, is the 

 first great phenomenon which arrests our attention, when we com- 

 mence a study of nature. Day after day, we behold the sun, after 

 a definite and well determined period, rising in the east, and as- 

 cending the heavens; and no sooner has the blazing orb sunk 

 beneath the western horizon, than we raise our eyes to the blue 

 vault, expecting and beholding the placid stars. 



Doubtless, the first impression is always, that we are at rest, and 

 that the sun, and all the stars of heaven, are slowly, and'forever, 

 revolving around us. 



A thoughtful consideration of the phenomena which attend the 

 regular return of day and night, will soon convince us that this 

 conclusion is erroneous, and will point out to us the true solution 

 of the grand problem. 



Let us go upon some eminence when evening draws near, and 

 watch the successive changes which usher in the night. The red 

 orb of the sun, shorn of his lustre, his ruddy beams scarce pene- 

 trating the mists which creep over the surface of the earth, sinks 

 gradually beneath the wave, or distant hills; a ruddy glow illu- 

 mines the western sRy, 



*' Twilight's soft dews steal o'er the village green," 

 slowly the light fades away, fainter and fainter, giving place to 



