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ARTICLES III. & IV.

PHILOSOPHY ADORNS THE MIND WITH AN INFINITY OF CURIOUS KNOWLEDGE.

IT SERVES ALSO TO INSPIRE A GREAT RESPECT FOR RELIGION.

I JOIN here these two objects together, because in reality they are naturally united, and the one must lead to the other, as will be seen by what I have to say upon this subject.

It is surprising that man, placed in the midst of nature, which presents him with the greatest spectacle it is possible to imagine, and surrounded on all sides with an infinity of wonders made for him, should scarce ever think either of considering these wonders which are so deserving of his attention and curiosity, or of taking a view of himself. He lives in the midst of a world, of which he is the sovereign, as a stranger, who looks with indifference upon all that passes in it, and as if it were not his concern. The universe, in all its parts declares and points out its author, but for the most part to the deaf and blind, who have neither ears to hear, nor eyes to see.

One of the greatest services that Philosophy can do us, is to awaken us from this drowsiness, and rouze us from this lethargy, which is a dishonour to humanity, and in a manner reduces us below the beasts, whose stupidity is the consequence of their nature, and not the effect of neglect or indifference. It awakens our curiosity, it excites our attention, and leads us, as it were by the hand, through all the parts of nature, to induce us to study, and search out the wonderful works of it.

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It presents the universe to our eyes as a large picture, whereof every part has its use, every line its grace and beauty, but is most wonderful when considered in the whole together. By laying before us so beautiful a spectacle, it teaches to observe the order, sym

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metry and proportion, that reigns throughout the whole; and with what equality this order, both of the whole and of every part, is preserved and maintained; and thereby leads us to the invisible hand and wisdom by which the whole is disposed.

Philosophy, by thus carrying man from wonder to wonder, and conducting him, in a manner, through the whole world, does not suffer him to remain a stranger to himself, or be ignorant of his own proper being, in which God has been pleased to draw his own image in a far more sensible and perfect manner than in the rest of the creation.

It is plain, that I am here principally speaking of that branch of Philosophy which is called Physics, as it is employed in the consideration of nature. I shall examine it under two views, the one of which I shall call the physics of the learned, and the other the physics of children. This last takes in only the objects themselves, as they make an impression upon the senses; whereas the former enters upon a thorough examination of nature, and endeavours to find out its causes.

THE PHYSICS OF THE LEARNED.

The consideration of the world, and the different parts of which it is composed, has always been the study of philosophers, and nothing is certainly more worthy of our attention. It is not possible to see the heavens and stars continually rolling over our heads, without being tempted to study their motion, and observe their order and regularity. Three principal systems have divided the philosophers, of which I shall here give an abridgment.

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THE SYSTEMS OF THE WORLD.

The first system is Ptolemy's, under which I shall take in what his followers have added. This philosopher lived in the second century, under the emperors Adrian and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, about the year of Christ 138.

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He placed the earth in the center of the universe. According to him the moon was nearer the earth than all the other planets. Above the moon were Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and above all these planets was the firmament, in which he supposed all the stars were fixed as in an arched roof, that was concentrical to the earth. In consequence thereof, he supposed that the sun, with all the planets and the fixed stars, were carried every twenty-four hours from east to west, round the earth, by an heaven, which he placed above the firmament, and which having this motion, communicated it to all the inferior heavens, and consequently to the planets, which adhered to them.

Besides this motion which was common to all the heavenly bodies he attributed a particular movement to the sun, planets, and fixed stars, from west to east, but in such manner that every one of these bodies was to make its revolution round the earth at different times. Thus the sun took up a year in making his revolution from west to east, Saturn thirty years, &c.

Copernicus was born about the end of the fifteenth century, and judging that the appearances of the heavens could not well be explained upon Ptolemy's hypothesis, he invented another; and after he had spent above thirty years about it, he at last communicated it to the public, being much pressed to it by the reproaches and solicitations of his friends. This hypothesis was not entirely unknown to the ancients, and some parts of it stand thus.

The sun lies in the center of the circles, which Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn describe by their proper motion from west to east. The earth, according to him has a like motion with that of the planets which are situated thus. He places above the sun, but at different distances, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and the fixed stars beyond all these planets, which are at so considerable a distance from the earth, that thirty millions leagues are an inconsiderable length in comparison.

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Instead of saying with Ptolemy, that all the heavens, and consequently all the heavenly bodies, turn round the earth in twenty-four hours from east to west, he supposes that the earth turns round its own axis in twenty-four hours, and that in consequence of this motion, all the heavenly bodies must seem to turn round the earth in twenty-four hours from east to west. In like manner, to explain the apparent annual motion of the sun from west to east, he supposes that the earth moves every year from west to east round the

sun.

He supposes also that the moon moves round the earth in twenty-seven days and a half whilst the earth is moving round the sun.

As to the other planets he supposes that they move round the sun in a greater or less time, in proportion as they are more or less distant from it.

Moons or satellites have been discovered round Jupiter and Saturn, which move about these planets, whilst they are carried round the sun in the same manner as the moon moves round the earth.

The third system is that of Ticho Brahe a philosopher born about the middle of the sixteenth century. This system, which properly speaking is but a mixture of the other two, did not meet with many followers, nor do I think it necessary to give an account of it here. That of Copernicus prevails most at present, and is founded on principles which make it very probable.

These systems are but bare conjectures, as it has not pleased God, who alone is thoroughly acquainted with his own work, to discover to us in express terms the order and disposition of it; and it is for this reason that the scripture says, that he has set the world for man to dispute about; [g] Mundum tradidit disputationi eorum. But this study, though it is not certain and evident in itself, does notwithstanding, extremely satisfy the mind, by laying a system before it, which explains all the effects of nature in a sensible and rational manner, and at the same time gives us a clear [g] Eccl. iii. 11.

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and distinct idea of the infinite greatness, power, and wisdom of God.

By means of telescopes, the modern astronomers have made such discoveries in the heavens, as, though very certain, will always appear chimerical to the generality of mankind.

According to these astronomers, Saturn is four thousand times bigger than the earth, Jupiter eight thousand times, and the sun a million of times bigger.

The distance of the earth and planets from the sun is no less incredible. A cannon-ball, in going from the earth to the sun, if it always kept its first degree of velocity, would take up twenty-five years before it got thither, and, if discharged from Saturn, would not arrive there in less than two hundred and fifty years. Now, a cannon-ball flies six hundred feet in the second of a minute; supposing then that it should constantly preserve the same velocity with which it passed the first six hundred feet after its coming out of the cannon, it would move one hundred and eighty leagues in one hour, and consequently in passing from the earth to the sun, it would move thirty-nine millions, four hundred and twenty thousand leagues, which, upon this supposition, is the earth's distance from the sun; and the distance of Saturn from the sun is to be computed in proportion.

The bigness of the fixed stars, and their distance from the sun are still more inconceivable.

Every one of these fixed stars is a sun, and there is reason to believe of no less bigness than that which enlightens us. Those stars, which are nearest to us, are notwithstanding so far removed from the sun, that a cannon-ball, moved with the velocity we have mentioned, would take up above six hundred thousand years to pass over the space which lies betwixt those stars and the sun.

What is a man, a city, a kingdom, or the earth itself in its whole extent, in comparison of these vast bodies, whose immense magnitude surpasses all iinagination, but an imperceptible point? What is then

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