I INTRODUCTION 9 



because it is constantly before us. For "the 

 senseless folk," says King Alfred, 



is far more struck 

 At things it seldom sees. 



"Well," says Cicero, "did Aristotle observe, 

 ' If there were men whose habitations had 

 been always underground, in great and com- 

 modious houses, adorned with statues and 

 pictures, furnished with everything which 

 they who are reputed happy abound with ; and 

 if, without stirring from thence, they should 

 be informed of a certain divine power and 

 majesty, and, after some time, the earth should 

 open, and they should quit their dark abode to 

 come to us ; where they should immediately 

 behold the earth, the seas, the heavens ; should 

 consider the vast extent of the clouds and 

 force of the winds ; should see the sun, and 

 observe his grandeur and beauty, and also his 

 creative power, inasmuch as day is occasioned 

 by the diffusion of his light through the sky ; 

 and when night has obscured the earth, they 

 should contemplate the heavens bespangled 

 and adorned with stars ; the surprising variety 



