89 



CHAP. XIV. 



Of the Copernican System ; the Motion of the Earth 

 abuat the Sun ; and the Antipodes. 



1. 1 HERE are other truths, taught by the an. 

 cients long ago, and at last adopted by the moderns ; 

 after having undergone a not uncommon latej, that 

 of being rejected and condemned witii disdain. That 

 the earth moves about the sun, and that there are atu 

 tipodes, are particulars known long -a^o, though re- 

 ceived almost every where at tirst with contempt or 

 ridicule; nay, they have sometimes proved dangerous 

 to those wlio held t.iein ; yet both these doctrines arc 

 now so well established, that tney meet witii general 

 approbation. And thus, tor two ages past, have we 

 gone on to re-introduce tae most c. lebrated of the 

 ancient opinions ; still affecting, however, not to kso\r 

 that we are in any manner indebted to those who first 

 held them. 



2. The no ; reasonable in itself, and what agrees 

 best with tii- most accurate observations, is that sys- 

 tem of the world proposed by Copernicus, who pla- 

 ces the sun in the centre, the fixed stars at the circum- 

 ference, and the earth and other planets in the inter-, 

 Tening space ; and who ascribes to the eartht not only 

 a diurnal motion around its axis, but an annual round 

 the sun. This system is entirely simple, and best ex- 

 plains all the appearances of the planets, and their si- 

 luations, whether processional, stationary, or retro- 

 grade ; but it is matter ol' surprise, how a system so 

 fully and distinctly inculcated by the ancients^ should 



