INTRODUCTION. S 



tem was universally maintained by the peripatetic philosophers, 

 who were the most considerable sect in Europe, from the dme of 

 Ptolemy to the revival of learning in the sixteenth century. 



At length, Copernicus, a native of Poland, a bold and original 

 genius, adopted the Pythagorean or true system of the universe, 

 and published it to the world in the year 1543. This doctrine had 

 remained so long in obscurity, that the restorer of it was considered 

 as the inventor, and the system obtained the name of the Coperni- 

 can Philosophy, though only revived by that great man. 



But Europe was still immersed in ignorance, and Copernicus had 

 many opponents. Tycho Brahe in particular, a noble Dane, sensible 

 of the detects of the Ptolemaic system, but unwilling to acknowledge 

 the motion of the earth, endeavoured, about the year 1586, to estab- 

 lish a new system of his own, which was still more perplexed and 

 embarrassed than that of Ptolemy. If allows a monthly motion to 

 the moon round the earth, as the centre of its orbit ; and makes 

 the sun to be the centre of the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Mars, 

 Jupiter, and Saturn. The sun, however, with all the planets, is 

 supposed to be whirled round the earth in a year, and even once in 

 the twenty -four hours. This system, notwithstanding its absurdity 

 met with many advocates. Longomontanus, and others, so far 

 refined upon it, as to admit the diurnal motion of the earth, though 

 they insisted that it had no annual motion. 



About this time, after a darkness of many ages, the first dawn of 

 learning and taste began to appear in Europe. Learned men in 

 different countries began to cultivate astronomy. Galileo, a Floren- 

 tine, about the year 1610, introduced the use of telescopes, which 

 afforded new arguments in support of the motion of the earth, and 

 confirmed the old ones. The fury and bigotry of the clergy, indeed, 

 had almost stifled the science in its infancy ; and Galileo was obli- 

 ged to renounce the Copernican system, as a damnable heresy. The 

 happy reformation in religion, however, placed a great part of Eu- 

 rope beyond the reach of the papal thunder. It taught mankind 

 that the Scriptures were not given for explaining systems of natural 

 philosophy, but for a much nobler purpose. ...to render us just, viiv 

 tuous, and humane ; that instead of opposing the word of God, which 

 in speaking of natural things, suits itself to the prejudices of weak 

 mortals, we employed our iaculties in a manner highly agreeable 

 to our Maker, in tracing the nature of his works, which, the more 

 they are considered, afford us the greater reason to admire his 

 glorious attributes of power, wisdom, and goodness. From this 

 time, therefore, noble discoveries were made in all the branches of 

 astronomy. Not only the motions of the heavenly bodies were 

 clearly explained, but the general law of nature, according to which 

 they moved, was discovered and illustrated by the immortal Newton, 

 This law is called Gravity, or Attraction, and is the same by which 

 any body falls to the ground, when disengaged from what support- 

 ed it. It has been demonstrated, that this same law, which keeps 

 the sea in its channel, and the various bodies which cover the sur- 

 face of this earth from flying off into the air, operates throughout 

 the universe, retains the planets in their orbits, and preserves the 

 whole fabric of nature from confusion and disorder. 



The Copernican system.... In the solar system of Copernicus, 

 as confirmed and demonstrated from geometrical principles by the 

 illustrious sir Isaac Newton, the sun is placed in the centre, and 



