design of all the wise contrivances to which we have adverted. The spherical figure given to all the planets for the regular distribution of the waters of the seas and rivers, and of the currents of the atmosphere; their rotation on their axes, to produce the alternate succession of day and night; the situation of the sun in the centre of the system, for the equable distribution of light and heat to surrounding planets; and an apparatus of rings and moons, to reflect a mild radiance in the absence of the sun, are contrivances which can only have a respect to the comfort and convenience of animated beings; for they can serve no purpose to mere inert matter devoid of life and intelligence, and the Creator, so far as we know, never employs means without a corresponding end in view. In our world, the utility of these arrangements, in order to our happiness, is obvious to the least reflecting mind. Without light our globe would be little else than a gloomy prison; for it is this that cheers the heart of man, and unveils to our view the beauties and sublimities of creation; and had the earth no rotation, and were the sun continually shining on the same hemisphere, the temperate zones as well as the equatorial regions would be parched with a perpetual day, the moisture of the soil evaporated, the earth hardened, vegetables deprived of nourishment, the functions of the atmosphere deranged, and numerous other inconveniences would ensue, from which we are now protected by the existing arrangements of nature; and as such contrivances are essential to the comfort of the inhabitants of the earth, so we have every reason to conclude that these and all the additional arrangements connected with other planets are intended to promote the enjoyment of the different orders of sensitive and intelligent existence with which they are peopled.

As the object of the wise contrivances of the Deity is the communication of happiness, it would be inconsistent with every rational view we can take of his wisdom and intelligence not to admit that the same end is kept in view in every part of his dominions, how ever far removed from the sphere of our immediate contemplation, and though we are not permitted in the mean time to inspect the minute details connected with the economy of other worlds; for the Creator must always be considered as consistent with himself, as acting on the same eternal and immutable principles at all times, and throughout every department of his empire. He cannot be supposed to devise means in order to accomplish important ends in relation to our world, while in other regions of creation he devises means for no end at all. To suppose, for a moment, such a thing possible, would be highly derogatory to the Divine character,

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and would confound all our ideas of the harmony and consistency of the attributes of him who is the only wise God." We have. therefore, the highest reason to conclude, that not only this earth, but the whole of the planetary system, is a scene of divine benevo lence; for it displays to our view a number of magnificent globes, with special contrivances and arrangements, all fitted to be the abodes of intelligent beings, and to contribute to their enjoyment. Every provision has been made to supply them with that light which unfolds the beauties of nature and the glories of the firmament. All the arrangements for its equable distribution have been effected, and several wonderful modes unknown in our world have been contrived for alleviating their darkness in the absence of the sun, all which contrivances are, doubtless, accompanied with many others which lie beyond the range of our conception, and which our remote distance prevents us from contemplating. In proportion, then, as the other planets exceed the earth in size, in a similar proportion, we may conceive, is the extent of that theatre on which the Divine goodness is displayed. If this "earth is full of the goodness of the Lord," if the benevolence of the Creator has distributed unnumbered comforts among every order of creatures here below, what must be the exuberance of his bounty, and the overflowing streams of felicity enjoyed in worlds which contain thousands of times the population of our globe! If a world which has been partly deranged by the sin of its inhabitants abounds with so many pleasures, what numerous sources of happiness must abound, and what ecstatic joys must be felt in those worlds where moral evil has never entered, where diseases and death are unknown, and where the inhabitants bask perpetually in the regions of immortality! Were we permitted to take a nearer view of the enjoyments of some of those worlds, were we to behold the magnificent scenery with which they are encircled, the riches of Divine munificence which appear on every hand, the inhabitants adorned with the beauties of moral perfection, and every society cemented by the bond of universal love, and displaying the virtues of angelic natures, it is highly probable that all the enjoyments of this terrestrial sphere would appear only " as the drop of a bucket and the small dust of the balance," and as unworthy of our regard in comparison of the overflowing fountains of bliss which enrich the regions and gladden the society of the celestial worlds. In this point of view what a glorious and amiable being does the eternal Jehovah appear! "God is love." This is his name and his memorial in all generations and throughout all worlds. Supremely happy in himself

state of population. The amount of the third column expresses the number of solid miles comprised in all the planets, which is 654,038,348,119,246, or more than six hundred and fifty-four billions. If this number be divided by 263,000,000,000, the number of cubical miles in the earth, the quotient will be 2483; which shows that the solid bulk of the other planets is two thousand four hundred and eighty-three times the bulk of our globe. Such is the immense magnitude of our planetary system, without taking into account either the sun or the hundreds of comets which have been observed to traverse the planetary regions.

Great, however, as these magnitudes are, they are far surpassed by that stupendous globe which occupies the centre of the system. The surface of the sun contains 2,432,800,

000,000 square miles (nearly two and a half billions.) If this sum be divided by 197 mil lions, the number of square miles on the earth's surface, the quotient will be 12,350, which shows that the surface of the sun contains twelve thousand three hundred and fifty times the quantity of surface on our globe. If the same sum be divided by 78,195,916,784, the number of square miles in all the planets, the quotient will be 31, showing that the area of the surface of the sun is thirty-one times greater than the area of all the primary planets, with their rings and satellites. The solid contents of the sun amount to 356,818,739,200,000,000, or nearly three hundred and fifty-seven thousand billions of cubical miles, which number, if divided by 654,038,348,119,246, the number of solid miles in all the planets, will produce a quotient of 545, which

shows that the sun is five hundred and forty-five times larger than all the planetary bodies taken together. Such is the vast and incomprehensible magnitude of this stupendous luminary, whose effulgence sheds day over a retinue of revolving worlds, and whose attractive energy controls their motions and preserves them all in one harmonious system. If this immense globe he flying through the regions of space at the rate of sixty thousand miles an hour, as is supposed, and carrying along with it all the planets of the system, it presents to the mind one of the most sublime and overwhelming ideas of motion, magnitude, and grandeur which the scenes of the universe can convey.

The comparative magnitudes of the different bodies in the system are represented to the eye in Fig. 91, where the circle at the top, No. 1, represents Jupiter; No. 2, Saturn; No. 3, Uranus; No. 4, the Earth; adjacent to which, on the left, is the Moon; No. 5, Mars; No. 6, Venus; and No. 7, Mercury. The four small circles at the bottom are the planets Vesta. Juno, Ceres, and Pallas, whose proportional sizes cannot be accurately represented. The other small circles connected with Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, are intended to represent the satellites of these planets, which in general may be estimated as

tions to the truth; for it would require a large sheet were we to attempt delineating them with accuracy, but the figure will convey to the eye a general idea of the comparative bulks of these bodies, in so far as it can be conveyed by a comparison of their diameters ;* but no representation on a plane surface can convey an idea of the solid contents of these globes as compared with each other. The reader will perceive the great disparity of globes, whose diameters do not differ very widely from each other, if he place a globe of twelve inches diameter beside one of eighteen inches diameter. Though these globes differ only six inches in their diameters, yet he will at once perceive that the eighteen-inch globe contains more than double the surface of the twelve-inch; and this solid space which it occupies contains 3 times the space occupied by the smaller globe. Were the sun to be represented in its proportional size to Jupiter and the other planets, it would fill a space twenty inches in diameter. On the same scale in which the planets are delineated, Saturn's ring would occupy a space four and a half inches in diameter. From these representations we may see how small a space our earth occupies in the planetary system, and what an inconsiderable appearance it presents in comparison with Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Fig. 92 represents the proportional distances of the primary planets from the sun, from which it will be seen that Saturn, which was formerly considered the most distant planet, occupies nearly the middle of the system.

In Fig. 93 is represented a comparative view of the earth and the rings of Saturn. The small circle at the right hand side represents the lineal proportion of our globe to those stupendous arches, so that the eye may easily perceive that hundreds of worlds such

THERE is a degree of skepticism among a certain class of readers in regard to the conclusions which astronomers have deduced respecting the distances and magnitudes of the celestial bodies. They are apt to suspect that

The reader will find a comparative view of the distances and magnitudes of the planets, engraved on a very large sheet, in "Burritt's Geography of the Heavens," published at Hartford, North Ame

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the results they have deducea are merely conjectural, and that it is impossible for human beings to arrive at any thing like certainty, or even probability, in regard to distances so immensely great, and to magnitudes so far surpassing every thing we see around us on this globe. Hence it is that the assertions of astronomers as to these points are apt to be called in question, or to be received with a certain degree of doubt and hesitation, as if

they were beyond the limits of truth or probability. And hence such persons are anxious to inquire, "How can astronomers find out such things?" "Tell us by what methods they can measure the distances of the planets and determine their bulks?" Such questions, however, are more easily proposed than answered; not from any difficulty in stating the principles on which astronomers proceed in their investigations, but from the impossibility, in many instances, of conveying an idea of these principles to those who are ignorant of the elements of geometry and trigonometry. A very slight acquaintance with these branches of the mathematics, however, is sufficient to enable a person to understand the mode by which the distances of the heavenly bodies are determined; but a certain degree of information on such subjects is indispensably requisite, without which no satisfactory explanation can be communicated.

In offering a few remarks on this subject, I shall, in the first place, state certain considerations, level to the comprehension of the general reader, which prove that the celestial bodies are much more distant from the earth, and, consequently, much larger than they are generally supposed to be by the vulgar, and those who are ignorant of astronomical science; and, in the next place, shall give a brief view of the mathematical principles on which astronomers proceed in their calculations.

When a common observer views the heavens for the first time, previous to having received any information on the subject, he is apt to imagine that the sun, moon, and stars are placed in the canopy of the sky at nearly the same distance from the earth, and that this distance is only a little beyond the region of the clouds; for it is impossible, merely by the eye, to judge of the relative distances of such objects. Previous to experience, it is probable that we could form no correct idea of the relative distances of any objects whatever. The young man who was born blind, and who was restored to sight at the age of thirteen, by an operation performed by Mr. Cheselden, could form no idea of the distances of the new objects presented to his visual organs. He supposed every thing he saw touched his eyes, in the same manner as every thing he felt touched his skin. An object of an inch diameter placed before his eyes, which concealed a house from his sight, appeared to him as large as the house. What he had judged to be round by the help of his hands he could not distinguish from what he had judged to be square; nor could he discern by his eyes whether what his hands had perceived to be above or below was really above or below; and it was not till after two months that he could distinguish pictures from solid

bodies. In like manner we are apt to be deceived in our estimate of the distances of objects by the eye, particularly of those which appear in the concave of the heavens; and reason and reflection must supply the deficiency of our visual organs before we can arrive at any definite conclusions respecting objects so far beyond our reach.

That the heavenly bodies, particularly the sun, are much greater than they appear to the vulgar eye, may be proved by the following consideration: When the sun rises due east in the morning, his orb appears just as large as it does when he comes to the meridian at midday. Yet it can be shown that the sun, when he is on our meridian, is about 4000 miles nearer us than when he rose in the morning. This may be illustrated by the following figure.

Let A B C D represent the earth, and S the sun at the point of his rising. Suppose the line A E C to represent the meridian of a certain place, and A or E the place of a spectator. When the sun, in his apparent diurnal motion, comes opposite the meridian A C, he is a whole semidiameter of the earth nearer the spectator at E than when he ap peared in the eastern horizon. This semidiameter is represented by the lines A H, E B, C G, and is equal to 3965 miles. Now were the sun only four thousand miles distant from the earth, and, consequently, eight thousand miles from us at his rising, he would be nearly four thousand miles nearer us when on the meridian than at his rising; and, conse quently, he would appear twice the diameter, and four times as large in surface as he does at the time of his rising. But observation proves that there is no perceptible difference in his apparent magnitude in these different positions; therefore the sun must be much more distant from the earth than four thou sand miles. If his distance were only 120,000 miles, his apparent diameter would appear 1-30 part broader when on the meridian than at the time of his rising, and the difference could easily be determined; but no such dif ference is perceptible; therefore the sun is still more distant than one hundred and twenty thousand miles. And, as the real size of any