10 HISTORY OF 



stars ; and from their extreme brilliancy, and their inunent« 

 distance, philosophers have been induced to suppose them to be 

 suns, resembling that which enlivens our system. As the ima- 

 gination also, once excited, is seldom content to stop, it has 

 furnished each with an attendant system of planets belonging to 

 itself; and has even induced some to deplore the fate of thosa 

 systems, whose imagined suns, which sometimes happens, have 

 become no longer visible. 



But conjectures of this kind, which no reasoning can ascer- 

 tain, nor experiment reach, are rather amusing than useful. 

 Though we see the greatness and wisdom of the Deity in all the 

 seeming worlds that surround us, it is our chief concern to trace 

 him in that which we inhabit. The examination of the earth, 

 the wonders of its contrivance, the history of its advantages, or 

 of the seeming defects in its formation, are the proper business 

 of the natural historian. A description of this earth, its ani. 

 mals, vegetables, and minerals, is the most delightful entertain- 

 ment the mind can be furnished with, as it is the most interest- 

 ing and useful. I would beg leave, therefore, to conclude these 

 common -place speculations, with an observation which, I hope, 

 is not entirely so. 



A use, hitherto not much insisted upon, that may result from 

 the contemplation of celestial magnificence, is, that it will teach 

 us to make an allowance for the apparent irregularities we find 

 below. Whenever we can examine the works of the Deity at a 

 proper point of distance, so as to take in the whole of his de- 

 sign, we see nothing but uniformity, beauty, and precision. 

 The heavens present us with a plan, which, though inexpressibly 

 magnificent, is yet regular beyond the power of invention. 

 Whenever, therefore, we find any apparent defects in the Earth, 

 which we are about to consider, instead of attempting to reason 

 ourselves into an opinion that they are beautiful, it will be wiser 

 to say, that we do not behold them at the proper point of 

 distance, and that our eye is laid too close to the objects, to take 

 in the regularity of their connection. In short, we may conclude, 

 that God, who is regular in his great productions, acts with 

 C(iual uniformity in the little. 



