§ 50. CONCLUDING REMARKS. 899 



'Astronomy suggests that our solar system once existed as 

 a diffused mass of vapour or nebulosity, which passing 

 through successive phases of condensation, at length sepa- 

 rated into a central luminary with its attendant planets and 

 satellites {ante, p. 41); it also instructs us, that it is but 

 an inconsiderable cluster of orbs in regard to the assemblage 

 of stars to which it belongs, and of which the Milky-way 

 is, as it were, a girdle, our system being placed in the outer 

 and less stellular part of the zone.* 



But the astounding thought, that all our visible Universe 

 is but an aggregation, a single group of suns and planets, 

 which to the inhabitants of the remote regions that can be 

 distinguished only by our telescopes, would seem but a mere 

 luminous spot, like one which lies near the outermost range 

 of observation, and appears to be a fac-simile of our own, 

 — impresses the mind with the most intense feelings of 

 awe, of humility, and of adoration of that Supreme Being, 

 to whom worlds, and suns, and systems, are but as the sand 

 on the sea-shore ! 



" Awake, my soul, 



And meditate the wonder ! Countless suns 



Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless worlds ! 



Worlds in whose bosoms living things rejoice, 



And drink the bliss of being from the fount 



Of all-pervading Love ! What mind can know, 



What tongue can utter all their multitudes, 



Thus numberless in numberless abodes] 



Known but to thee, blessed Father ! Thine they are, 



Thy children, and thy care — and none o'erlooked 



Of Thee !" 



WARE. 



Again, when conducted by our investigations to the 

 invisible Universe beneath us, the Milky-way and the 



* See Mr. Whewell's Bridgewater Essay. 

 VOL. II. 3 N 



