Remorse from power: and, to speak truth of Cæsar,
I have not known when his affections swayed
More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upwards turns his face ;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend :—so Cæsar may:-
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities:
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg-

Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous—
And kill him in the shell.

THE Ꭼ Ꭺ Ꭱ Ꭲ Ꮋ .

PART I.

We are told in the opening chapter of the Bible that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void;❞ irregular, confused, and unfurnished. It had, therefore, to be put into form. Its material substance had been created, but had not been arranged into any specific formation. It was also "void; that is, it was not enriched with all that now adorns its surface, or that was afterwards made within it. It had to be replenished, both internally and externally, with all those additional and organised things and beings, or more specific metals and minerals, which were intended to be within it and upon it. The Divine Spirit operated "upon the face of the waters," and the effects we may presume to have been those formative arrangements which constitute the present structure of the earth, at least the elements of it-its great masses of rocks and strata, its geological system and construction.

By the various acts of creating and disposing power, recorded in the first chapter of Genesis, "the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them;" so easily, indeed, that the Psalmist ascribes their creation to "the breath of His mouth."

We must now notice some phenomena connected with the earth.

The annual motion of the earth.-By the joint and regulated influence of the force of gravity, which tends to draw the earth towards the sun, and the motion imparted to it at its origin when it was launched into space by its Almighty Creator, the earth is carried in its annual revolution round the sun, as one of the planets, revolving in an orbit between those of Venus and Mars. This is called its annual motion, because it is performed in a year, or 365 days 6 hours nearly, or rather 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes, from any equinox, or solstice, to the same again, making the tropical year; but from any fixed star to the same again, as seen from the sun, in 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes, which is called the sidereal year. Its hourly motion in its orbit is about 70,000 miles. This orbit is elliptical, having the sun in one focus, the mean distance being about 911⁄2 millions of miles. The annual motion is so performed that the earth's axis is everywhere parallel, or in the same direction through the whole of its revolution, so that at one time of the year the sun enlightens more of the north polar parts, and at the opposite season more of the southern parts; thus producing all the varieties of seasons-spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

The axis of the earth is not perpendicular to its orbit, but inclined towards it in an angle of nearly 66 degrees, or deviating from the perpendicular about 23 degrees.

Diurnal motion.-The sun and stars appear every day to rise and set, passing from east to west and round the earth in twenty-four hours. But this appearance is deceptive, and is occasioned by the rotation of the earth upon its axis from west to east, in the same period of time. By this motion the

different parts of the earth are brought into the presence of the sun, and successively exposed to his enlightening and reviving influence. As the circumference of the earth is about 25,000 miles, the parts along the equator—namely, those which are at an equal distance from each pole—move at the rate of rather more than a thousand miles per hour, while the other parts move with a less and less velocity as they are nearer to the poles. And this daily rotation will easily explain the apparent motion of the heavenly bodies as rising above, or sinking below, the horizon of the spectator.

But some of our readers, especially the younger part of them, may object to this statement, and say, "We are not conscious of travelling so fast in the immensity of space; nor do we feel any motion of the earth we tread upon, which rather seems to be firm and immovable." Certainly you do not; nor is it necessary to suppose you should, any more than that, if you were sailing on smooth water, at a steady rate, you should feel the motion of the vessel-nor indeed so much. When a ship is becalmed at sea, she may, as numberless instances have proved, be carried by rapid currents in any direction, without one of the crew suspecting she has any motion at all: a man in the car of a balloon going eighty miles an hour knows not in what direction he is moving, nor is he conscious of any motion at all, except by observing the objects below him. In the same manner, while the balloon is rising, he only knows it from the continued diminution of the fields and buildings on the earth, which rather appears to be sinking beneath him than he rising above it. But in the case of the heavenly bodies, and of our earth in its motions among them, circumstances are still more conducive to that want of perception which is urged as an objection against the motion itself. We have no bodies very near us to compare with our own planet; nothing to force our way through, so as to occasion jarring or friction; and everything about us moves with us. Passengers in ships may often be sensible of tossings and shocks from the winds and the waters; "but

the planets, which compose a celestial fleet, are not liable to any storm: they, without any disturbance or commotion, circulate in their orbits, and sail, as it were, in a most pacific ocean, which is continually calm and serene." There are, however, not only these negative proofs that the earth may have the motions ascribed to it, but there are also positive considerations which render it in the highest degree probable that such motions are really and constantly going on-so probable as to leave no doubt in the mind of the rational inquirer.

1. The sun is known to be many times larger than the earth; but it is contrary to the laws of motion for a greater body to revolve about a less by any such force as they can exert upon each other.

2. If the earth be at rest, the sun must not only revolve round it every day, but must be continually altering its course; for never on two successive days does he appear to rise and set at the same point.

3. The heavenly bodies are at widely different distances from the earth, varying from about forty millions of miles to an almost infinitely greater distance; and all these bodies, if the earth be fixed, must move round it in twenty-four hours, and by the influence of forces which must increase exactly in proportion to the distance from the imaginary centre, which is directly contrary to the established laws of motion and gravity; and if any other supposed force be resorted to, the complexity will be increased rather than diminished.

4. In all the other works of God we perceive the utmost economy of means with the greatest splendour of effect; and hence it is much more rational to conclude that the phenomena observable in the heavens are occasioned by the simple process of the earth's daily rotation, than by the complex and inconceivable means which the contrary supposition would require. Other considerations will occur to the scientific reader; but these are sufficient to show the credibility of the received opinion. The diurnal rotation being admitted, the annual

revolution of the earth in its orbit will appear equally probable; for as the other planets are observed to revolve on their own axes, and to have periodical revolutions, we infer from analogy that the earth has the latter motion also. Besides, several of the phenomena cannot be accounted for without supposing it; and, lastly, the singular fact called the aberration of light, occasions a small apparent motion of the fixed stars, which so exactly corresponds to the annual motion of the earth as to render that motion unquestionable.

THE EARTH-PART II.

But there are other phenomena in connection with the earth which equally demand notice with those mentioned in the preceding lesson.

Its Figure and Dimensions.-In ancient times the earth was supposed, except by a few who thought more correctly, to be a flat extended surface, only diversified with mountains and valleys; and some ignorant persons may think so now. There is no doubt, however, in the minds of the well-informed, that its shape is globular, for the following reasons: (1) In lunar eclipses, when the earth, coming between the sun and the moon, intercepts the solar rays, the shadow of the earth upon the moon is always circular, at whatever time, and in whatever part of the world it is observed; an effect which none but a spherical body would produce. (2) When viewing the approach of a ship to the shore, the masts and rigging, though the smallest parts, are first seen, then the middle parts, and afterwards the hull or body of the ship; and in sailing from the shore, the beach, the houses, and other objects of small altitude, though larger breadth, are first lost sight of, and afterwards the trees, steeples, and other elevated objects disappear. (3) The earth has been actually and often sailed round, by vessels setting out in one direction and returning in another just the contrary.

The hills and mountains on the surface of the earth take