I INAL CAUSES. S 



where the result of our inquiries respecting the 

 myriads of Uiminous bodies they contain amounts 

 to little more than the knowledge of their existence, 

 of their countless numbers, and of the immeasurable 

 distances at which they are dispersed throughout 

 the boundless realms of space. 



Measured on the vast scale of the universe, the 

 globe we inhabit appears but as an atom ; and yet, 

 within the compass of this atom, what an inex- 

 haustible variety of objects is contained ; what an 

 endless diversity of phenomena is presented ; what 

 wonderful changes are occurring in rapid and per- 

 petual succession ! Throughout the whole series of 

 terrestrial beings, what studied arrangements, what 

 preconcerted adaptations, what multiplied evidences 

 of intention, what signal proofs of beneficent design 

 exist to attract our notice, to excite our curiosity, 

 and to animate our inquiries. Splendid as are the 

 monuments of divine power and wisdom displayed 

 throughout the firmament, in objects fitted by their 

 stupendous magnitude to impress the imagination 

 and overpower us by their awful grandeur, not less 

 impressive, not less replete with wonder, are the 

 manifestations of those attributes in the minuter 

 portions of nature, which are more on a level with 

 our senses, and more within the reach of our com- 

 prehension. The modern improvements of optical 

 science, which have expanded our prospects into 

 the more distant regions of the universe, have like- 

 wise brought within our range of vision the more 

 diminutive objects of creation, and have revealed to 

 us many of the secrets of their structure and ar- 

 rangement. But, farther, our reason tells us that, 

 from the infinite divisibility of space, there still 



