THE EARTH. 



lestial magnificence, is, that it will teach us to 

 make an allowance for the apparent irregu- 

 larities we find below. Whenever we can 

 examine the works of the Deity at a proper 

 point of distance, so as to take in the whole 

 of his design, we see nothing but uniformity, 

 beauty, and precision. The heavens present 

 us with a plan, which, though inexpressibly 

 magnificent, is yet regular beyond the power 

 of invention. Whenever, therefore, we find 



any apparent defects in the earth, which we 

 are about to consider, instead of attempting 

 to reason ourselves into an opinion that they 

 are beautiful, it will be wiser to say, that we 

 do not behold them at the proper point of dis- 

 tance, and that our eye is laid too close to the 

 objects, to take in the regularity of their con- 

 nexion. In short, we may conclude, that God, 

 who is regular in his GREAT productions, acts 

 with equal uniformity in the LITTLE. 



CHAPTER II. 



A SHORT SURVEY OF THE GLOBE, FROM THE LIGHT OF ASTRONOMY AND 



GEOGRAPHY. 



ALL the sciences are in some measure 

 linked with each other, and before the one is 

 ended, the other begins. In a natural histo- 

 ry, therefore, of the earth, we must begin with 

 a short account of its situation and form, as 

 given us by astronomers and geographers : it 

 will be sufficient, however, upon this occa- 

 sion, just to hint to the imagination, what they, 

 by the most abstract reasonings, have forced 

 upon the understanding. The earth which 

 we inhabit is, as has been said before, one of 

 those bodies which circulate in our solar sys- 

 tem; it is placed at a happy middle distance 

 from the centre ; and even seems, in this re- 

 spect, privileged beyond all other planets 

 that depend upon our great luminary for their 

 support. Less distant from the sun than Her- 

 schel, or the Georgium Sidus, Saturn, Jupiter, 

 and Mars, and yet less parched up than Ve- 

 nus and Mercury, that are situate too near 

 the violence of its power, the earth seems in 

 a peculiar manner to share the bounty of the 

 Creator : it is not, therefore, without reason, 

 that mankind consider themselves as the pe- 

 culiar objects of his providence and regard. 



Besides that motion which the earth has 

 round the sun, the circuit of which is per- 

 formed in a year, it has another upon its own 

 axle, which it performs in twenty-four hours. 

 Thus, like a chariot-wheel, it has a compound 

 motion; for while it goes forward on its jour- 

 ney, it is all the while turning upon itself. 

 From the first of these two arise the grateful 



vicissitude of the seasons; from the second, 

 that of day and night. 



It may be also readily conceived, that a 

 body thus wheeling in circles will most pro- 

 bably be itself a sphere. The earth, beyond 

 all possibility of doubt, is found to be so. 

 Whenever its shadow happens to fall upon 

 the moon, in an eclipse, it appears to be al- 

 ways circular, in whatever position it is pro- 

 jected : and it is easy to prove, that a body 

 which in every position makes a circular sha- 

 dow, must itself be round. The rotundity of 

 the earth may be also proved from the meeting 

 of two ships at sea: the topmasts of each are 

 the first parts that are discovered by both, 

 the under parts being hidden by the convexi- 

 ty of the globe which rises between them. 

 The ships, in this instance, may be resembled 

 to two men who approach each other on the 

 opposite sides of a hill: their heads will first 

 be seen, and gradually as they come nearer 

 they will come entirely into view. 



However, though the earth's figure is said 

 to be spherical, we ought only to conceive it as 

 being nearly so. It has been found in the last 

 age to be rather flatted at both poles, so that its 

 form is commonly resembled to that of a turnip. 

 The cause of this swelling of the equator is 

 ascribed to the greater rapidity of the motion 

 with which the parts of the earth are there 

 carried round ; and which, consequently, en- 

 deavouring to fly off, act in opposition to cen- 

 tral attraction. The twirling of a mop may 



