12 THE UNIVERSE. 



heads. We call that vault the heavens; and we 

 know it to be a space which is without any limit, 

 or end. 



We name the world in which we live, the 

 earth ; we name the bodies which give or reflect 

 light, the sun, the moon, and the stars. These 

 bodies are sjhaped like balls, and, from their shape, 

 are called globes, or orbs. 



Some of the heavenly orbs are supposed to 

 be inhabited, but they are unfit for the abode 

 of such a being as man, who lives on the earth. 

 Their inhabitants must, therefore, be of a different 

 nature from ourselves. The Almighty Maker, 

 we may be assured, has adapted these worlds to 

 the nature of the beings whom he has placed in 

 them. 



Men who observe the stars and the other 

 heavenly bodies are called astronomers. The 

 science which they cultivate is called astronomy. 



Astronomers call the space in the heavens, 

 through which an orb moves, its orbit. They 

 call any straight line passing through the centre 

 of an orb, and ended at each extremity by the cir- 

 cumference, a diameter ; and the diameter round 

 which an orb is supposed to move, they call its 

 axis. The circumference of a globe or circle is 

 the distance round it. 



Questions. 



What is the universe ? 



Does the world in which we live belong to the universe? 



