VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE. 269 



animals ; the forest, the field, the desert, the 

 air, the ocean, all teeming with creatures whose 

 bodily wants are as carefully provided for as 

 his ; the sun, the clouds, the winds, all attend- 

 ing, as it were, on these organized beings ; a 

 host of beneficent energies, unwearied by time 

 and succession, pervading every corner of the 

 earth; this spectacle cannot but give the con- 

 templator a lofty and magnificent conception of 

 the Author of so vast a work, of the Ruler of 

 so wide and rich an empire, of the Provider for 

 so many and varied wants, the Director and Ad- 

 juster of such complex and jarring interests. 



But when we take a more exact view of this 

 spectacle, and aid our vision by the discoveries 

 which have been made of the structure and 

 extent of the universe, the impression is incal- 

 culably increased. 



The number and variety of animals, the ex- 

 quisite skill displayed in their structure, the 

 comprehensive and profound relations by which 

 they are connected, far exceed any thing which 

 we could have beforehand imagined. But the 

 view of the universe expands also on another 

 side. The earth, the globular body thus covered 

 with life, is not the only globe in the universe. 

 There are, circling about our own sun, six others, 

 so far as we can judge, perfectly analogous in 

 their nature : besides our moon and other bodies 

 analogous to it. No one can resist the tempta- 



