40 COSMOS 



IsL' and stars, and the rich vegetable mantle that covers the 

 soil in the climate of palms, can not surely fail to produce on 

 the minds of these laborious observers of nature an impression 

 more imposing and more w^orthy of the majesty of creation 

 than on those who are unaccustomed to investigate the great 

 mutual relations of phenomena. I can not, therefore, agree 

 with Burke when he says, "it is our ignorance of natural 

 things that causes all our admiration, and chiefly excites our 

 passions." 



While the illusion of the senses would make the stars sta- 

 tionary in the vault of heaven. Astronomy, by her aspiring la- 

 bors, has assigned indefinite bounds to space ; and if she have 

 set limits to the great nebula to which our solar system be- 

 longs, it has only been to show us in those remote regions of 

 space, which appear to expand in proportion to the increase 

 of our optic powers, islet on islet of scattered nebulce. The 

 feeling of the sublime, so far as it arises from a contemplation 

 of the distance of the stars, of their greatness and physical ex- 

 tent, reflects itself in the feeling of the infinite, which belongs 

 to another sphere of ideas included in the domain of mind. 

 The solemn and imposing impressions excited by this senti- 

 ment are owing to the combination of which we have spoken, 

 and to the analogous character of the enjoyment and emotions 

 awakened in us, whether we float on the surface of the great 

 deep, stand on some lonely mountain summit enveloped in the 

 half transparent vapory vail of the atmosphere, or by the aid 

 of powerful optical instruments scan the regions of space, and 

 see the remote nebulous mass resolve itself into worlds of stars. 



The mere accumulation of unconnected observations of de- 

 tails, devoid of generalization of ideas, may doubtlessly have 

 tended to create and foster the deeply-rooted prejudice, that 

 the study of the exact sciences must necessarily chill the feel- 

 ings, and diminish the nobler enjoyments attendant upon a 

 contemplation of nature. Those who still cherish such erro 

 neous views in the present age, and amid the progress of pub- 

 lic opinion, and the advancement of all branches of knowledge, 

 fail in duly appreciating the value of every enlargement of th(; 

 sphere of intellect, and the importance of the detail of isolated 

 facts in leading us on to general results. The fear of sacri 

 ficing the free enjoyment of nature, under the influence of" sci- 

 entific reasoning, is often associated with an apprehension 

 that every mind may not be capable of grasping the truths 

 of the philosophy of nature. It is certainly true that in the 

 midst of the universal fluctuation of phenomena and vital 



