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11. The brief view we have taken of the Solar System, is enough to shew the being and providence of God. When we see a piece of machinery, we say 'the band of an artist has been here:' so when we observe the admirable order and regularity of the motions of the heavenly bodies, which altogether compose one vast maehine, of which the Earth itself is but a small part, can we help exclaiming, The finger of God is here! Suck order and beauty could never have arisen from chance and accident. "He who thinks," says Cicero “that it had not its origin in mind and understanding, must himself be destitute thereof."

12. But though the movements of these bodies be so harmonious and uniform, yet to an inconsiderate observer, they would appear confused and irregular; and, instead of advancing in their orbit, would appear at times to be fixed; and, at other times, to move backward. So it is in the ways of God: to an eye of sense, his work seems at a stand; his purposes defeated, and the promises of his word unfulfilled. But this is the conclusion of Ignorance and Unbelief. Could we see as Jehovah sees, we should perceive that all things work together, however opposite they may seem, to accom plish the purposes of his sovereign will.

13. Were it possible for us to fix our station in the Sun, we should from thence behold the hosts of heaven moving in their several orbits, without the least, even apparent, confusion. It is entirely owing to the situa tion in which we are placed, that we ever imagine there is any thing like irregularity in their motions; and should it be our privilege to 66 *ppear with Christ in glory," we shall discern that all the ways of the Lord are right, and we in the wrong, in presuming to judge when we ought to have obeyed; and to reason when we ought to have believed his promise and relied on his word; remembering, that what "we know not now, we shall know hereafter."

"His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour:

The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r !

COWPER

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No. VI.

ON THE CAUSES OF THE CELESTIAL MOTIONS.

ACCORDING to the established laws of nature, bodies will remain in a state of rest till moved by some external cause; and when once put in motion, will continue to move with a uniform velocity until some obstaele oppose their progress. If when a body is projected in a straight line, it be acted upon by another force, drawing it toward a centre (and hence called the Centripetal Force) it will describe a curve, which will be either a circle or an ellipsis, according to the proportion between the projectile and the centripetal force.

2. A body revolving in an orbit, endeavours to fly off from the centre (this is called the Centrifugal Force ;) and the greater its distance, the greater will be this force. Its velocity will be increased in proportion as it is nearer the centre. Thus, if a ball fastened to a cord be whirled round, and the cord suddenly let go, the ball will fly off; but if the string be drawn up so as to bring the ball nearer the centre, it will revolve more rapidly.

3. Two bodies connected together, revolve round the common centre of gravity. If two balls of equal or unequal size be connected by a wire, there is a certain point in the wire where they will balance each other: this point is the centre of gravity, round which they will revolve, if put in motion. It is on these principles that the motion of the heavenly bodies is accounted for. A principle of attraction between the different bodies that compose it, pervades the whole system, varying according to the magnitude and nearness of the attracting body.

4. All the planets attract each other, and are all attracted by the sun, to which they would all tend, were it not for the centrifugal force generated by their motion in their orbits, which exactly balances their tendency to the centre, and thus preserves them in their places. Were this force greater, they would fly off into space, like the ivory ball when the cord is let go: were it less,

they would rush toward the Sun. All the planets, as well as the Sun, must revolve round the common centre of gravity; but because of the Sun's magnitude, the centre of our system is in that luminary.

5. Hence we see the reason why these planets which are nearest the Sun move with the greatest rapidity, because they are nearer the centre of gravity. From the same cause it is that, as the planets move in an ellipsis, they increase in velocity as they approach the Sun, and move slower as they recede from it. The same princi ples that regulate the motions of the primary planets round the Sun, govern the secondaries in their revolutions round their respective primaries.

6. It is impossible to say what is the cause of that attraction which thus holds the planets in their places; the laws which regulate it are known and understood: farther than this, the researches of Newton could not go; he could only say, that He who created the planets, and gave them their motion, impressed upon them this tendency towards the centre round which they revolve.

7. If there be in the works of nature that which baffles the greatest industry, and overwhelms the largest minds, need we wonder that in the works of grace and the operations of the Spirit of God, we should perceive mysteries not to be unravelled? We see the outward fruits that are brought forth in the life and conversation of the regenerate; and we know, from the Scriptures, that it is the Holy Ghost" who worketh in them both to will and to do;" but how he works we know not. symptoms of the spiritual life are manifest, but its springs are hidden.

The

8. We may justly admire the wisdom and power of God in causing two opposite principles, like those of the centripetal and centrifugal force, so to operate as to effect his purpose, and preserve the order of nature. The same wisdom is displayed in bringing good out of evil, and in causing the opposite passions of men to counteract each other. How many men are there who would be monsters of avarice, eruelty, or lust, if pride did not interfere and lead them to seek the good opinion of their fellow creatures, which they are conscious they

should forfeit by giving way to propensities that all would condemn?

9. And even the oppositions of men to the interests of Christ, and all the persecutions and trials the Christian meets with, are made the means of promoting the very cause they are meant to injure. "Out of the eater cometh forth meat, and out of the strong cometh forth sweetness." And though the existence of sin and misery is a mystery not to be explained, yet we may rest assured, that in some mysterious way it will be so overruled as to afford a greater display of the Divine glory than could ever have been given without its existence. So that glorified saints shall have reason to sing,

"Sin has its dire incursions made,

That thou might'st prove thy pow'r to save;
And death its ensigns wide display'd,

That thou might'st triumph o'er the grave."

Table of the Solar System.

DODDRIDGE.

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95,000,000 29 17 44 4,189 144,000,000 0 24 39 22

3

2,299

686 23 30 55,287

Ceres

Pallas

160 260,000,000 unknown 80 266,000,000 unknown Jupiter 89,170 490.000,000 0 9 55 37 Saturn 79,042 900,000,000 0 10 16 Georgium Sidus 35,112/1,800,000,000 unknown

unknown 1703 16 48

4332 14 27 210759 1 51

29,083

22,101

30737 18 0

No. VII.

ON THE FIXED STARS.

THE fixed stars are so called, because they always appear in the heavens at the same distance from each other, and do not, like the planets, change their places. Astronomers have arranged them into eighty constellations, or systems of stars, called by the names of different animals; as the Bear, the Swan, &c. The stars in each constellation are frequently denoted by a letter in the Greek alphabet, the most conspicuous being marked a, the next ß, and so on. The stars appear of different sizes, and are usually classed into six or seven magnitudes; some of them have a periodical increase and de

crease.

2. In 1596, Fabricius observed a remarkable star in the neck of the Whale, which has since been found to increase and decrease: Its period is 334 days; but it does not always return with the same lustre. Other stars have been found to appear and shine with great splendour for certain periods, and then disappear. In 1572, a star equal in brightness to the planet Venus appeared in Cassiopeia; afterwards it gradually lost its lustre, and in three months became invisible.

3. It is certain that the distance of the stars is im. mense so little proportion does the diameter of the earth's orbit, which is 190,000,000 of miles, bear to this distance, that from whatever part of that orbit they are seen, they always appear in the same situation. A canBon ball moving with a uniform velocity, would not reach the nearest of the stars in 600,000 years.

4. It is evident that the stars shine (like the sun) by their own light, or otherwise their distance would render them invisible to the naked eye; for it is only by a telescope that we can see the satellites of Jupiter, whose distance bears no proportion to that of the stars, but who derive their light from the sun. It is highly probable, therefore, that they are suns which give light to systems of planets which revolve round them; nor is it any objection to this conjecture that we see not these

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