VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE. 27.> 



out being able at all to discern the extent of the 

 skill and wisdom displayed in the creation, see 

 something of the character of the design, and of 

 the copiousness and ampleness of the means 

 which the scheme of the world exhibits. And 

 when we see that the tendency of all the arrange- 

 ments which we can comprehend is to support the 

 existence, to develope the faculties, to promote the 

 well-being of these countless species of creatures ; 

 we shall have some impression of the beneficence 

 and love of the Creator, as manifested in the 

 physical government of his creation. 



2. It is extremely difficult to devise any means 

 of bringing before a common apprehension the 

 scale on which the universe is constructed, the 

 enormous proportion which the larger dimensions 

 bear to the smaller, and the amazing number of 

 steps from larger to smaller, or from small to 

 larger, which the consideration of it offers. The 

 following comparative representations may serve 

 to give the reader to whom the subject is new 

 some idea of these steps. 



If we suppose the earth to be represented 

 by a globe a foot in diameter, the distance of 

 the sun from the earth will be about two miles ; 

 the diameter of the sun, on the same supposition, 

 will be something above one hundred feet, and 

 consequently his bulk such as might be made up 

 of two hemispheres, each about the size of the 

 dome of St. Paul's, The moon will be thirty 



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