FOURTH DAY.
_Section_ I.--THE SUN.
Signs -- Names -- Nature -- Motions -- Form -- Magnitude --
Distance -- Suspension -- Idolatrous worship of the Sun -- The
Sun an Emblem of Christ.
On the _fourth day_, “God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of
the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs,
and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in
the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was
so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God
set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth,
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light
from the darkness.” The light which had hitherto been scattered and
confused, was now collected and formed into several luminaries, and so
rendered more glorious and of greater utility.
A sensible and pious author observes, that not only the two great
lights, which were made after a special manner to rule the day and
the night, but, in general, all the lights in the firmament of the
heaven, are said to be for signs and for seasons; or, as some render
the words, “for signs of the seasons.” And indeed this seems to be the
meaning of the inspired writer. As for the manner of expression, “for
signs and for seasons,” it is very common in the Hebrew, as well as in
many other languages, and is a figurative way of speech, expressing
those things disjunctively, which must by the understanding be joined
together. First, these lights are said to be _for signs_, and then the
things are mentioned which they are to signify, namely, the _seasons_,
the _days_, and the _years_: whereas, if we understand the word _signs_
in an indefinite sense, and not confined to what follows, we are
through the whole text left in great uncertainty; seeing that there are
_signs_ appointed _in the heaven_ for some purpose or other, but not
knowing for what. Besides, if we must take all the parts of the text
disjunctively, then “the lights in the firmament” must be taken for
_seasons_, and for _days_, and for _years_, as well as for _signs_.
But we know, that the celestial bodies are not themselves _seasons_,
and _days_, and _years_, but only _signs_ of them, by such particular
motions and aspects, as God, according to the laws of nature, has
ordained them. Neither can I see reason to believe, that every motion
or position of the heavenly bodies has a special signification in it:
though serving in general to display the wisdom and power of God, in
their regular courses. The sun, indeed, which is called the _greater
light_, is said _to rule the day_, as it is by the appearance of
his light, increasing and decreasing, that we measure the length of
the day; and the moon likewise _to rule the night_, partly on the
like account. Thus likewise the sun’s course (if we may so call it)
is a determining sign of the beginning and ending of the year, and
of its various seasons. And in general, the sun, the moon, and the
other lights, are necessary signs of the seasons of sowing, reaping,
planting, and are useful in navigation, as well as other arts.
Costard, in his History of Astronomy, makes some critical remarks on
the name of this greater light. He says, The sun is, by the Greeks,
called Ἡλιος: which is nothing more than the Hebrew word אל _El_,
modelled after the Greek manner of pronunciation, and signifies _Lord_;
the first idolatrous worship being paid to this planet. In the Hebrew
language it is called שמש _Shemesh_, and in the Chaldee שמשא _Shimsha_,
from שמש _Shamesh_, to _minister_, on account of its administering
light and heat to this world. From this property of communicating heat,
it is also called המה _Hammah_. By the Phœnician idolaters it seems
to have been called בעל _Baal_, or בעל שמים _Baal-Shamim_, the _Lord
of Heaven_. And on account of the supposed swiftness of its diurnal
motion from east to west, it had a chariot dedicated to it at Sidon, an
ancient town of Phœnicia. Such a chariot is still seen on the coins of
that place. This superstition was likewise imitated by the idolatrous
Jews: for we read of _the horses which the kings of_ Judah _had given_,
or dedicated, _to the sun_. By the Chaldeans it seems to have been
called בל _Bel_, and by the Assyrians פל _Pul_; and, with the addition,
sometimes of אב _ab_, or אף _ap_, i.e. _father_, אף-פל _Ap-Pul_, or
_Father-Lord_; from whence the Greeks formed their Απολλων, another
name given by them to the sun. The name of this luminary, among the
Romans, was _sol_; given more probably, on account of his scorching
heat in the summer, or from his determining the length of the year by
his course, than because he appeared _solus, alone_, according to the
derivation given by Macrobius.
The _nature_ of the sun is a subject which has not only excited the
most diligent inquiry among men of scientific knowledge, but the
opinions concerning it have passed through a variety of vicissitudes.
The sun being evidently the source of light and heat, was by the
ancients considered to be a globe of fire. But Dr. Herschell’s
discoveries, by means of his immensely large telescopes, tend to prove,
that what we call the _sun_ is only the _atmosphere_ of that luminary:
“that this atmosphere consists of various _elastic fluids_, which are
more or less transparent; that as the clouds surrounding our earth are
probably decompositions of some of the elastic fluids belonging to the
atmosphere itself, so we may suppose that in the vast atmosphere of the
sun similar decompositions may take place, but with this difference,
that the decompositions of the elastic fluids of the sun are of a
_phosphoric_ nature, and are attended by lucid appearances, by giving
out light.” The body of the sun this celebrated astronomer considers as
hidden generally from us, by means of this luminous atmosphere; that
what are called _maculæ_, or _spots_ on the sun, are real openings in
this atmosphere, through which the _opaque body_ of the sun becomes
visible; that this atmosphere itself is not _fiery_ nor _hot_, but
is the instrument which God designed to act on the caloric or latent
heat; and that heat is only produced by the solar light acting on and
combining with the caloric or matter of fire contained in the air, and
other substances which are heated by it.
This indefatigable investigator of the heavenly phenomena shows, by
many substantial proofs, drawn from natural philosophy, that _heat_ is
produced by the sun’s rays only when they act on a calorific medium;
and that they cause the production of heat by uniting with the matter
of fire which is contained in the substances that are heated,--as the
collision of flint and steel will inflame a magazine of gunpowder,
by uniting with its latent fire, and bring the whole into action.
This point is capable of a very clear elucidation. “On the tops of
mountains, and at heights to which the clouds seldom reach to shelter
them from the direct rays of the sun, we always find regions of ice and
snow. Now if the sun’s rays themselves conveyed all the heat we find
on the earth, it would of course be hottest in situations similar to
the tops of mountains, where their course is least interrupted. But
all those who have ascended in balloons confirm the coldness of the
upper regions of the atmosphere; and, therefore, since even on the
earth the heat of the situation depends on the facility with which the
medium yields to the impression of the sun’s rays, we have only to
admit, that, on the sun itself, the fluids composing its atmosphere,
and the matter on its surface, are of such a nature as not to be
capable of any excessive heat from its own rays. It is also a well
known fact, that the focus of the largest burning lens thrown into
the air, will occasion no heat in the place where it has been kept
for a considerable time, although its powers of exciting heat, when
proper bodies are exposed to it, should be sufficient to melt or fuse
the most refractory metals.” That the sun is a luminous, and not an
igneous body, has met with the general consent of modern philosophers;
an opinion to which every new discovery in philosophy gives additional
support.
The telescope, said to have been invented by the children of a
spectacle-maker at Middleburgh, in the year 1590, but first brought
to such a degree of perfection by Galileo as to make any considerable
discoveries in the celestial regions, has led to the most important
results in the science of astronomy. Among which are the _spots_ in
the sun’s disk, by whose motion from west to east the sun is perceived
to revolve upon his own axis in 25 days, 14 hours, 8 minutes. This
revolution of the sun round his own axis is probably not the only
motion which this luminary experiences. There is great reason to
believe that he has another motion, either rectilinear, or round some
indefinitely remote centre of attraction. In this last course, he
carries along with him, through space, the entire system of planets,
satellites, and comets; in the same manner in which each planet
draws his satellites along with him in his motion round the sun. He
communicates light and heat to at least twenty opaque bodies, which
revolve round him, at different distances, in ellipses that differ but
little from circles.
From the motion of the spots, which is sometimes straight and sometimes
curved, we learn that the sun’s axis is not perpendicular to the plane
of his ecliptic, but inclined to it, or the plane of the earth’s
annual orbit, so as to form an angle of about 83 degrees. Christopher
Scheiner, a most diligent observer of these spot’s in the sun’s disk,
published a treatise concerning them in A.D. 1626. These spots are
sometimes seen to increase to a very large size, and to continue for
a considerable time. In the year 1779, there was a spot on the sun’s
disk which was large enough to be seen with the naked eye: it was
divided into two parts, and must have been 50,000 miles in diameter:
this, and other phenomena of the same kind, may be accounted for from
some natural change of the atmosphere. For if some of the fluids which
enter into its composition be of a shining brilliancy, while others are
merely transparent, then any temporary cause removing the lucid fluid,
will permit us to see the body of the sun through the transparent ones.
Dr. Herschell supposes that the spots in the sun are mountains on
its surface, which, considering the great attraction exerted by this
luminary upon bodies placed at its surface, and the slow revolution it
has about its axis, he thinks may be more than 300 miles in height, and
yet not be rendered unstable by the centrifugal force.
[There appears to be a _discrepancy_ between this last
statement--“Dr. Herschell supposes that the spots in the sun
are _mountains_ on his surface;”--and the statement made a
few paragraphs preceding--“that what are called _maculæ_,
or _spots_ on the sun, Dr. Herschell thought to be _real
openings_ in his atmosphere, through which the opake body
of the sun becomes visible.” These statements must have been
made at different periods of his observations on the sun,
which continued about fifteen years. The last statement was,
doubtless, Dr. Herschell’s mature opinion.
As this seems to be a settled question among philosophers;
and as it has induced the enlightened world to regard the sun
as a _habitable globe_, it will not be out of place to enlarge
a little on this point.
The spots on the sun’s surface has led to the conclusion
above, and also to a determination of the motion of the sun
around his own axis. They appear to have been observed, for
the first time, in A.D. 1610, by Fabricius and Harriot; the
first in Germany, the second in England. It is uncertain
which noticed them first; but it is certain the discovery was
_original with both_.
After the observations of these two fortunate persons
were known, the attention of the scientific was directed to
this phenomenon. Scheiner supposed the spots to be _planets_
which revolved very near the sun. In process of unwearied
observations, it was ascertained that these spots changed their
positions. Sometimes two would blend together, and thus run
into each other. Sometimes one large one would divide into
two or three smaller ones. They were observed to dilate, and
contract; and to have umbræ, or shades attending them.
From these phenomena Galileo and others supposed the solar
spots were _schoria floating on the burning liquid matter_, of
which they supposed the sun composed. M. de la Hire, and La
Lande supposed them to be eminences which occasionally rose
above the rolling tides of fire, as islands rise above the sea.
All these theories were on the supposition that the sun was an
igneous body, in a high state of combustion, by which means he
dispenses heat and light to the surrounding planets.
Dr. WILSON, Professor of practical astronomy in the
University of Glasgow, was the first to conjecture that these
spots were _depressions_ rather than elevations. This was
about the year 1769. The Doctor rendered this conjecture very
probable, by his close and lucid observations and illustrations.
These spots attracted the attention of the celebrated
Dr. Herschell in 1779, who continued to observe them closely
until 1794, and by means of his immensely large and powerful
telescopes, he clearly established Dr. Wilson’s conjectures,
_that these spots are openings in the luminous surface of the
sun, through which his opake body appears_.
Dr. Herschell regards the real body of the sun to be
an _opake nucleus_, fit for the habitation of intellectual
creatures: that he has an atmosphere suited in density and
height to his own magnitude: that in the higher regions of
this atmosphere there are _two_ sets of clouds surrounding the
sun, which are permanently and essentially luminous, being
_phosphoric_ in their nature. The lower set of these clouds,
which are _next_ the sun, are less bright, and more dense than
the upper set. They are designed to serve as a _curtain_ to the
sun’s body, to prevent a too great intensity of light at his
real surface; the higher set of clouds, which are visible to
us, being the principal source, or rather _agent_, of light.
It is plain from the foregoing theory, that _we_ never see
the real body of the sun, except when we see the spots on his
surface: that what we commonly call the sun, are only those
bright, luminous phosphorescent clouds, which permanently
surround his body, and which give light _outwards_ to the
planets, and also _inwards_ to his own inhabitants.
It will be obvious also to any one, that the inhabitants
of the sun _cannot see_ any heavenly body, as the stars, and
planets; because they are inclosed by those clouds, which are
impenetrable to vision. They may catch a glimpse of a passing
star through these openings as we do of the sun’s body.
It is highly probable (see _our_ paper on light, attached
to our author’s chapter on the same,) that these luminous
phosphoric clouds _do not actually emit light, or heat_; but
only _excite_ them at the surfaces of the different planets.
That is: it is very probable there is a _matter of light_ or
a _luminiferous ether_, diffused through all existing matter,
as caloric is, which is _excited by these clouds_, and _thus_
becomes _visible_, which is light, as latent caloric is
excited, and becomes sensible, by becoming _free_. Indeed it is
very probable _that the matter of heat and light is the same_,
and that heat and light are only _different modifications_ of
the action of the same substance, excited in a different, or
higher degree.]
The sun has two _apparent_ motions, namely, the diurnal and annual.
By the _former_ he appears to move round the earth in twenty-four
hours: and by the latter he appears to traverse that circle in the
heavens, called the ecliptic, in the course of a year. These motions,
are, however, only apparent: the sun does not travel round the earth
in twenty four hours: he does not change his place in the heavens at
different seasons of the year. His apparent motions are occasioned
by the earth’s real motions. The sun’s apparent diurnal motion is
occasioned by the earth’s real rotation about its axis: and the sun’s
apparent annual motion is caused by the earth’s real motion in her
orbit, through the whole of which she travels in a little less than 365
days, and 6 hours.
The fixed stars appear every twenty-four hours to make an entire
revolution about the earth. The sun makes the same apparent circuit;
but the apparent diurnal motion of the sun is evidently slower than
that of the fixed stars. This appearance is occasioned by the daily
rotation of the earth on its axis; for while it is turning once on its
axis it advances in its orbit a whole degree; therefore it must make
more than a complete rotation before it can come into the same position
with the sun that it had the preceding day. In the same way, as when
both hands of a watch set off together at any hour, as twelve o’clock,
the minute hand must travel more than the whole circle before it can
overtake the hour hand: hence the difference between solar and sidereal
days, which it is important to understand in explaining the equation of
time.
Though the sun appears to us merely as a circular disk, yet he is
a _spheroid_, higher under his equator than about his poles. The
deception arises from this; that all the parts of his surface are
equally luminous, and consequently there is nothing which can suggest
to us, at the great distance he is from the earth, that the central
parts are more prominent than the sides, although in reality, they are
nearer by half a million of miles.
This luminous body is supposed to be 886,473 English miles in diameter,
about 2,700,000 in circumference, in solid bulk 24,000,000 times as
big as the moon, and 1,384,462 times as big as the earth, and its
superficies in square miles, about 2,236,603,000,000. This _magnitude_
of the sun may appear exaggerated; for our eyes can discover nothing so
large as the earth which we inhabit; and as to this alone we compare
the sun, so we are tempted to believe the testimony of sense rather
than our reason. But what confirms this prodigious size, is his visible
magnitude, notwithstanding the vastly remote point which he occupies
in space. And, concerning this subject, no doubt can remain, if we
admit the calculations of astronomers, which are made on principles
indubitably correct.
The sun does not appear large; but this is owing to his _distance_
from the earth, which is 95,513,794 miles: this is so prodigious, that
a cannon-ball, which is known to move at the rate of eight miles in a
minute, would be something more than twenty-two years in going from
the earth to the sun. If a spectator were placed as near to any of the
fixed stars as we are to our sun, he would see our sun as small as
we see a common star, divested of its circumvolving planets; and in
numbering the stars he would reckon it one of them. But the earth’s
orbit being an ellipse, the sun is not always at an equal distance from
it. When he is in his apogee, that is, furthest from the earth, the sun
is full two millions of miles further from us than when he is in his
perigee, or nearest the earth: nevertheless, we feel greater heat than
when he is in our winter. The difference of temperature between summer
and winter does not depend chiefly upon our nearness to the sun, but
upon the following causes. 1. In summer, the solar rays strike upon the
earth more perpendicularly than in winter, and therefore they act with
greater force than when they strike it obliquely. 2. The rays of the
sun coming more perpendicularly in summer than in winter, have less of
the atmosphere to pass through. 3. In the summer, the sun continues a
longer time above the horizon than below it; and consequently there is
time for the earth to accumulate a greater portion of heat than in the
days of winter. We know, in the longest days, that the sun to us is
above the horizon 16 hours; whereas, in the shortest days, it is not
more than 8 hours visible.[114]
The miraculous suspension of the natural powers of the heavenly
bodies, as recorded in the book of Joshua, shows that they are
upheld, controlled, and directed in their operations, by a Being who
is infinitely wise and powerful. To account for this miracle, and to
ascertain the _manner_ in which it was wrought, has employed the pens
of the ablest _divines_ and _astronomers_, especially of the last
two centuries. For the elucidation of this important fact, I shall
transcribe the view which Dr. Adam Clarke has given of it, which he
considers to be strictly philosophical, consonant to the Pythagorean,
Copernican, or Newtonian system, which is the system of the universe,
laid down in the writings of Moses.
He assumes, as a thoroughly demonstrated truth, that the sun is in
the _centre_ of the system, moving only round his own axis, and the
common centre of the gravity of the planetary system, while all the
planets revolve round _him_; and that his influence is the cause of the
_diurnal_ and _annual_ revolutions of the earth.
“Joshua’s address is in a poetic form in the original, and makes the
two following hemistichs:
שמש בגבעין דום
וירח בעמק אילון
Shemesh, be-Gibêon dom:
Vyareach, beèmek Aiyalon.
Sun! upon Gibêon be dumb:
And the moon on the vale of Aiyalon.
“The effect of this command is related in the following words: וידם
השמש וירח עמד _vayiddom ha_-SHEMESH _ve_-YAREACH _âmad; And the sun was
dumb, or silent, and the moon stood still_. And it is added, _And the
sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about
a whole day._
“I consider, that the word דום _dom_, refers to the _withholding_ or
_restraining_ this influence, so that the cessation of the earth’s
motion might immediately take place. The desire of Joshua was, that the
sun might not sink below the horizon; but as _it_ appeared now to be
over Gibeon, and the _moon_ to be over the valley of Ajalon, he prayed
that they might continue in these positions till the battle should
be ended; or, in other words, that the day should be miraculously
lengthened out.[115]
“Whether Joshua had a correct philosophical notion of the true system
of the universe, is a subject that need not come into the present
inquiry; but whether _he spoke_ with strict propriety on this occasion,
is a matter of importance, because he must be considered as acting
_under the Divine influence_, in requesting the performance of such
a stupendous miracle: and we may safely assert, that no man in his
right mind would have thought of offering such a petition, had he
not felt himself under some Divine afflatus. Leaving, therefore, his
philosophical knowledge out of the question, he certainly spoke as if
he had known that the solar influence was the cause of the earth’s
_rotation_, and therefore, with the strictest philosophic propriety,
he requested, that that influence might be for a time restrained, that
the diurnal motion of the earth might be arrested, through which alone,
the sun could be kept above the horizon, and the day be prolonged. His
mode of expression evidently considers the sun as the great _ruler_ or
_master_ in the system; and all the planets, (or at least the _earth_)
moving in their respective orbits at his _command_. He therefore
desires him, (in the name and by the authority of his Creator) to
suspend his _mandate_ with respect to the earth’s motion, and that of
his satellite, the moon. Had he said, _Earth, stand thou still_--the
cessation of whose diurnal motion was the _effect_ of his command, it
could not have obeyed him; as it is not even the _secondary_ cause
either of its annual motion round the sun, or its diurnal motion round
its own axis. Instead of doing so, he speaks to the sun, the _cause_
(under God) of all these motions, as his great archetype did, when, in
the storm on the sea of Tiberias, he rebuked the _wind_ first, and then
said to the _waves_, Peace, be still! Σιωπα, πεφιμωσο, be _silent_!
be _dumb_! And the effect of this command was, a cessation of the
agitation in the _sea_, because the _wind_ ceased to _command_ it, that
is, to exert its influence upon the waters.
“The terms in this command are worthy of particular note: Joshua does
not say to the sun, _Stand still_, as if he had conceived _him_ to be
_running his race round the earth_; but, be _silent_, or _inactive_;
that is, as I understand it, _restrain thy influence_; no longer act
upon the earth, to cause it to revolve round its axis; a mode of
speech which is certainly consistent with the strictest astronomical
knowledge: and the writer of the account, whether Joshua himself, or
the author of the Book of _Jasher_, in relating the consequence of
this command, is equally accurate, using a word widely different, when
he speaks of the _effect_, the retention of the solar influence had
on the moon: in the first case, the sun was _silent_, or _inactive_,
דום _dom_; in the _latter_, the moon _stood still_, עמד _âmad_. The
_standing still_ of the moon, or its continuance above the horizon,
would be the natural effect of the cessation of the solar influence,
which obliged the earth to discontinue her diurnal rotation, which, of
course, would arrest the moon; and thus both it and the sun were kept
above the horizon, probably for the space of a whole day. As to the
address to the _moon_, it is not conceived in the same terms as that to
the _sun_, and for the most obvious philosophical reason: all that is
said is simply, _and the moon on the vale of Ajalon_, which may be thus
understood: ‘Let the sun restrain his influence, or be inactive, as he
appears now upon Gibeon, _that_ the moon may continue as she appears
now over the vale of Ajalon.’ It is worthy of remark, that every word
in this poetic address is apparently selected with the greatest caution
and precision.
“At the conclusion of the 13th verse, a different expression is used
when it is said, _So, the sun stood still_, it is not דום _dom_, but
עמד _âmad_; ויעמד השמש _vai-yaâmod ha-shemesh_, which expression,
thus varying from _that_ in the command of Joshua, may be considered
as implying, that in order to _restrain his influence_, which I have
assumed to be the _cause_ of the earth’s motion, the sun himself
became _inactive_, that is, ceased to revolve round his own axis;
which revolution is, probably, one cause, not only of the revolution
of the earth, but of all the other planetary bodies in our system, and
might have effected all the planets at the time in question: but this
neither could, nor did produce any disorder in nature; and the delay
of a few hours in the whole planetary motions, dwindles away into an
imperceptible point in the thousands of years of their revolutions. I
need scarcely add, that the _command of Joshua to the sun_, is to be
understood as a _prayer to God_ (from whom the sun derived his being
and continuance) that the effect might be what is expressed in the
command; and therefore it is said, verse 14, ‘that the LORD HEARKENED
UNTO THE VOICE OF A MAN, _for the Lord fought for Israel_.’”
How glorious an object is the sun! too dazzling for mortal eye long to
gaze on: the brightest visible emblem of its adorable Creator. This
luminary rejoices to run his prescribed course, makes our day joyful,
and without his reviving beams we should dwell in perpetual darkness.
He, as the great source of day, distributes light and life through all
nature. Seeds, in the bosom of the earth, feel his vegetative presence,
and unfold themselves. By his diffusive influence he causes the vital
juice to ascend in the tubes of trees, plants, and vegetables; and
clothes them with their various and beautiful foliage. He nourishes the
young fruits, gives them their fine tints, and brings them to maturity.
At his approach, millions of insects awake into life, shine, collect
themselves, and sport in his rays. Animals partake of his benefits,
and without his animating beams they would sink into insensibility
and death: even in caves and dens of the earth, his visitation gives
life. His heat has a pleasing effect on all the juices and fluids in
the human body, which, without his directive or impulsive energy,
would soon become stagnant and useless. He is, by the Divine wisdom
and goodness, placed at such a proper distance from us, that, were he
much nearer, the blood would boil in our veins, and our bodies soon be
either dissolved or calcined: or, were he at a much greater distance,
we should become torpid, and presently be congealed to statues of ice.
The very bowels of the earth partake of his influence, thus producing
many valuable and useful metals. He penetrates the highest mountains,
though composed of stones and rocks. He darts his beams even into the
depths of the ocean, where the watery tribes live and play at his
command.
“---- O SUN;
Soul of surrounding worlds! in whom best seen
Shines out thy Maker!----
’Tis by thy secret, strong, attractive force,
As with a chain indissoluble bound,
Thy system rolls entire.----
INFORMER of the planetary train!
Without whose quick’ning glance their cumbrous orbs
Were brute unlovely mass, inert, and dead,
And not, as now, the green abodes of life!
* * * * *
As the sun is the greatest visible glory in the natural world, so it
is selected by the pen of Divine inspiration as the brightest emblem
of the Supreme Being--“The Lord God is a sun.” This great luminary has
been considered by the Heathen as the representative of the Deity,
and as such received religious adoration. According to Mr. Bryant’s
system of Ancient Mythology, the worship of fire is nearly as old as
the flood, having been propagated by the posterity of Ham, in Egypt,
who called themselves Ammonians, and carried this worship with them
wherever they went, erecting their _puratheia_, or fire-temples, in
all their settlements. It is stated, that fire was the primitive,
or at least the principal object of idolatrous worship, and common
to all idolaters from the first apostasy at Babel. For the original
institution of this sacred fire among the Chaldeans, we must go back
to Nimrod, concerning whom the Alexandrian Chronicon asserts, that
“the Assyrians called Nimrod, Ninus; this man taught the Assyrians
to worship fire.” From the Greeks we may trace it backwards to the
Ur of the Chaldeans; on which the learned Classius remarks, that
“Ur is the name of a city wherein the sacred fire was conserved and
worshipped by the Chaldeans, whence it was called _Ur_, which otherwise
signifies _fire_.” Plutarch confesses that the Romans, in the days of
Numa, borrowed their worship of fire from the Greeks at Athens and
Delphi. Numa built a temple of an orbicular form, to represent, as
Plutarch interprets, the system of the heavens; which temple was the
conservatory of a holy and perpetual fire, kindled at first by the
reflections of the sun-beams, and placed in the centre of the building;
the astronomy of that early period placing the sun in the centre of
the world. Fire has such an affinity to light, that the same word has
sometimes comprehended them both. The _Ur_ of the Chaldeans was _fire_;
the _Horus_ of the Egyptians was _light_: and the reason is plain,
because fire and light are united at the body of the sun, and by him
diffused over the world. If, therefore, we consider fire as called into
action by the sun, and bear in mind that the ancient Pythagoreans used
the same term ΠΥΡ to denote both fire and the sun,[116] we shall get at
the root of most of the heathen mythologic divinity.
So universal was the attachment to this fire, that Macrobius undertook
to reduce the names of all the heathen deities to the one object of the
sun and its attributes. He says, “The Egyptians consecrated a lion in
that part of the heavens where the heat of the sun is most powerful,
because that animal seems to derive his nature from the sun, excelling
all other creatures in fire and force, as the sun exceeds the other
lights of heaven. His eyes, likewise, are bright and fiery, as the
sun with a bright and fiery aspect surveys the world. The Lybians
represented their Jupiter Hammon, which was the setting sun, with the
horns of a ram, with which that animal exerts its strength, as the sun
acts by its rays. The worship of Egypt abundantly shows, that the bull
is to be referred to the sun; which is plain from the worship of a bull
at Heliopolis, the city of the sun; and of the bull Apis at Memphis,
where it was an emblem of the sun; and of the other bull called Pacis,
consecrated in the magnificent temple of Apollo at Hermunthis.”[117]
Wheresoever fire was worshipped in the puratheia of antiquity after
the manner of Numa, we may suppose that there the true solar system
prevailed, which places the solar fire in the centre; and that this
was really the universal opinion of the most ancient Heathens.
This doctrine agrees with the name which they gave to the sun in
his physical capacity, calling him _cor cœli_, the heart of the
heaven;[118] which illustration and allusion is probably of very great
antiquity, because it cannot with any propriety be applied to the more
modern Ptolemaic hypothesis. The analogy is very striking; for as the
heart is the centre of the animal system, so is the sun in the centre
of our world: as the heart is the fountain of the blood, so is the sun
the source of light and fire: as the heart is the life of the body, so
is the sun the life and heat of animated nature, and the first mover of
the mundane system: when the heart ceases to beat, the circuit of life
is at an end; and if the sun should cease to act, a total stagnation
would take place throughout the whole frame of nature. Macrobius,
pursuing this analogy, says, “We have before observed, that the sun is
called the fountain of the ethereal fire; therefore the sun is in the
heavens, what the heart is in animals.” Since the circulation of the
blood has been known, this analogy has been taken up with advantage
by the celebrated Hervey himself, who, first of all the moderns,
explained to us with sufficient accuracy this branch of natural
philosophy. He observes, that the heart of animals is the foundation
of life, the chief ruler of all things in the animal system, the sun
of the microcosm, from which flows all its strength and vigor. The
philosophers of antiquity called the sun the heart of the microcosm;
the moderns call the heart the sun of the microcosm. There must be
something very striking in the analogy which is thus convertible, and
has been taken up at both ends by such different persons, at such
remote periods of time.
The savage philosophy of America seems to have comprehended in it the
relation, which we have already noticed, between the animal system and
the frame of nature. Acosta, in his History of the Indies, reports,
that in the human sacrifices of the Mexicans, the high priest pulled
out the heart with his hands, which he showed smoking to the sun, to
whom he offered this heat and fume of the heart, and presently he
turned towards the idol, and cast the heart at his face. A very highly
esteemed correspondent in Ceylon writes, There is a cast of people
inhabiting this island who live wild in the woods, and worship fire
as an emblem of purity; they are called Vandals, and several English
officers have met a premature death by intruding near the holy fire,
which is under a tamarind tree.
With the Persians fire was an object of worship from the earliest
times, under the name of _Amanus_, and _Mithas_; and it is retained as
such at this day by the Geberrs, Gaurs, Guebres, or Ghebers, a sect of
Indian philosophers. Pottinger says, “At the city of Yezd, in Persia,
which is distinguished by the appellation of the Darûb Abadut, or
seat of Religion, the Guebres are permitted to have an Atush Kudu, or
Fire Temple (which, they assert, has had the sacred fire in it since
the days of Zoroaster), in their own compartment of the city; but for
this indulgence they are indebted to the avarice, not the tolerance
of the Persian government, which taxes them at twenty-five rupees
each man.” Hanway informs us, that the Ghebers suppose the throne of
the Almighty is seated in the sun, and hence their worship of that
luminary. “As to fire,” says Grose, “the Ghebers place the spring-head
of it in that globe of fire, the sun, by them called Mithras, or
Mihir, to which they pay the highest reverence, in gratitude for the
manifold benefits flowing from his ministerial omniscience. But they
are so far from confounding the subordination of the servant with the
majesty of the Creator, that they not only attribute no sort of sense
or reasoning to the sun or fire, in any of its operations, but consider
it as a purely passive blind instrument, directed and governed by the
immediate impression on it of the will of God; but they do not even
give that luminary, all glorious as it is, more than the second rank
among his works, reserving the first for the stupendous production of
the Divine power, the mind of man.” The temples are generally built
over subterraneous fires. Rabbi Benjamin observes, “Early in the
morning, they (the Parsees or Ghebers of Ouham) go in crowds to pay
their devotions to the sun, to whom upon all the altars are spheres
consecrated, made by magic, resembling the circles of the sun; and,
when the sun rises, these orbs seem to be inflamed, and turn round with
a great noise. Every one has a censer in his hands, and offers incense
to the sun.”
It is not a little surprising that the descendants of faithful Abraham,
taken into covenant with God, should fall under the influence of this
idolatrous worship! The apostasy of the Israelites in the wilderness
from the true God to the golden calf, was occasioned by a previous
attachment to the sacred rites of the Egyptian idolatry. And the
calves which were afterwards set up in Dan and Bethel, were probably
derived from the same source. The Israelites were not only cautioned
against this worship, but, if the charge of idolatry brought against
an Israelite was proved by unequivocal facts and competent witnesses,
it affected his life. Such was the progress of this idolatrous worship
among this people at one period, that Josiah, king of Judah, took away
out of the temple of the Lord the horses, and burned the chariots,
which the kings, his predecessors, had consecrated to the sun. Job,
in allusion to this vile worship, says, “If I beheld the sun when
it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; if my heart hath been
secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:[119] this also were
an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the
God that is above.” Ezekiel, in a vision, saw “at the door of the
temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, about five and
twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their
faces toward the east: and they worshipped the sun toward the east,” in
imitation of the Egyptians, Persians, and other Eastern nations.
While the heathen have thus paid idolatrous worship to the sun, some
persons, believing in the truth of revealed religion, have entertained
strange notions concerning this luminary. It is remarkable, observes
a polite writer, that whilst some of the ancients imagined the _sun_
to be the seat of future blessedness, from Psal. xix, 14, “He set his
tabernacle in the sun,” a Mr. Swinden, among the moderns, endeavors
to prove that _hell_ is seated in the sun, chiefly pleading that this
is the grand repository of fire; that its horrible face, viewed by a
telescope, suits the description given of the burning lake; and that
being in the _centre_ of the system, it might be properly said that
wicked men were _cast down into it_. But these are mere hypotheses, and
unworthy of serious consideration.
Notwithstanding this idolatrous worship of the sun, there is a sober
and religious use to be made of this luminary; for being the greatest
visible glory in the natural world it is selected as the brightest
emblem of the Supreme Being--“The Lord God is a sun.” An object thus
illustrious and useful in the regular and wise economy of nature, is
mentioned in the sacred volume as a metaphor fraught with truths of
infinite moment, imparting wisdom to the simple, and instruction to the
ignorant. He admirably represents the unity, glory, and bounty of God.
Viewing our sun in all his paramount qualities to every material
object in nature, how is he eclipsed and surpassed by the Sun of
Righteousness, of whose splendor, grace, and energy this is but a faint
emblem, and from whom issues, in bright and gentle beams, all the
light, life, joy, and hope received and enjoyed in the Christian world.
The one is the most magnificent creature among the vast variety of
objects which surround us, but the other is the source of all that is
excellent, attractive, and beneficial, in the whole range of material
causes and effects, as well as in the nature, extent, and perpetuity of
the kingdom of grace. The material sun runs its course from day to day,
with unwearied regularity, activity, and ardor, and thus completes its
circuit according to its original destination. And did not our adorable
Saviour also finish the great career of our redemption, after he held
performed all those miracles, and published his own everlasting gospel,
which are the sublime and interesting themes of the sacred writers, by
offering himself on the consecrated altar a sacrifice for the sins of
mankind? The former diffuses light, vitality, vegetation, and felicity
through the whole mass of animated nature in our planetary system. And
does not the other likewise dissipate the ignorance which darkens the
intellectual regions, enlighten our minds in all saving knowledge, and
produce in the human heart every grace and virtue?
Were our natural sun to withdraw his beams, or absent himself from
the centre of our system for any given time, the planets would start
out of their orbits; darkness, black as night, would instantly spread
itself over the whole mass, and “chaos come again.” And if the glorious
Luminary of the moral world were to hide his face behind a thick cloud
of gathering vengeance and judicial desertion, this would introduce
into the soul alarming fears and tumultuous passions, which would exist
in a state of opposition and conflict. Those who have been brought out
of the darkness of ignorance, wickedness and misery, into the light
of knowledge, holiness and happiness, by Christ, who is the light of
the world, should be careful to walk in the light of his countenance
all the days of their life. Does not the earth return the fructifying
warmth of the sun, and all his genial effects, in a profusion of
verdure, foliage, and flowers? Do not all the irrational tribes
joyfully greet his rising every morning, and bask in his presence
through the day with great delight? All the orbs which revolve round
him, and are preserved and cherished in their respective spheres by his
ministry, pay him perpetual homage by maintaining invariable harmony
and order. And being thus taught by natural objects, what is due for
the reception of so many mercies, surely it is an unquestionable duty
that we guard against every thing which would prevent us doing the will
of our best benefactor.
Christian believers, rich in the bloom of holiness, and ripening for
the harvest of glory, are said to be “clothed with the sun.” It is the
gracious promise, on which all their hopes and wishes confidently rely,
that the “righteous shall” ultimately “shine as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father.”[120] Thus it is written, “The path of the just is as
the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.”
In the path of the just there is a progress from a less to a greater
light: it does not only grow clearer, but increases in clearness till
it is light in perfection; advancing from the break of day to the sun
rising, and then to the brightness of noon-day.
“JESUS, let all thy lovers shine,
illustrious as the sun,
And bright with borrow’d rays divine,
Their glorious circuit run.
Beyond the reach of mortals, spread
Their light where’er they go;
And heavenly influences shed,
On all the world below.
As giants, may they run their race,
Exulting in their might:
As burning luminaries, chase
The gloom of hellish night.
As the bright Sun of Righteousness,
Their healing wings display;
And let their lustre still increase
Unto the perfect day.”
* * * * *
_Section_ II.--THE MOON.
Names -- Dimensions -- Motions -- Seasons -- Phases --
Harvest Moon -- Moon’s Surface -- Aërial Stones -- Eclipses --
Moonlight -- Epithets -- Religious Improvement.
The _moon_ is called a _great light_, but _less_ than the sun. Moses
does not here speak philosophically, according to her bulk, but to the
proportion of light she affords us, which is more than all the planets
in the solar system and all the fixed stars put together.
“He smooth’d the rough-cast moon’s imperfect mould,
And comb’d her beamy locks with sacred gold;
Be thou, said he, Queen of the mournful night,--
And as he spoke, she rose o’erclad wish light,
With thousand stars attending on her train.”
The moon is not a primary planet, but only a satellite, or secondary
planet, attendant on our earth, round which she revolves, and along
with which she is carried round the sun.
“The moon,” says Dr. O. Gregory, “is a dark, or opake body, shining
principally with the light she receives from the sun. If she shone by
a light of her own, we should feel a sensible warmth from her rays;
but it is a light reflected from the sun with which she shines, and
is so exceedingly weak and languid, that the greatest burning glass
will not collect enough to make any sensible degree of heat. This has
been accounted for, and those who have gone through the computation
assert that the light of the full moon is ninety thousand times less
than day-light.” The ancients early discovered, that the moon had no
light of its own, but shone with that which it reflected from the sun.
This, after Thales, was the sentiment of Anaxagoras and Empedocles, who
thence accounted not only for the mildness of its splendor, but the
imperceptibility of its heat, which our experiments confirm.
In the Hebrew language the moon is called ירה _Yarah_, or, more
strictly speaking, says Parkhurst, the _lunar light_, or _flux of
light, reflected from the moon’s body_, or _orb_. That this is the true
sense of the word is evident from several passages of Scripture, one of
which is, “For the precious (produce) נרש ירחים _put forth by_--what?
Not the _orbs_ of the moon surely (for the orb is but _one_), but _by
the fluxes_ or _streams of light_ reflected from it, which are not
only _several_ but _various_, according to the moon’s different phases
and aspects in regard to the sun and the earth. And this may lead us
to the radical idea of the word ירח; for as יחר and אחר, יחד and אתד &c.,
are very nearly related to each other respectively, so likewise
I conjecture that ירח is to ארה, in sense as well as in sound, and
consequently that it signifies _to go in a track_ or _in a constant
customary road or way_; and this affords us a good descriptive name
of the _lunar light_; for, _Behold_, says _Bildad_ in Job, chap. xxv,
5, _even to the_ ירח or lunar light ולא יאהיל _and he_ (God) _hath
not pitched a tent_ (for it); as he has for the שמש or _solar light_.
No! The _lunar_ stream has _fixed station_ from whence it issues,
but together with the orb which reflects it, and which like a human
_traveller_ moves now a quicker, now a slower pace, is continually
_performing its appointed journey_, and _proceeding in a constant_,
though regularly irregular _track_.”
The Greeks called the moon μηνη, which may be considered as a
derivative from μην. Parkhurst says, This word may be derived either
from μηνη, _the moon_, by the phases of which the month is reckoned,
or else it may be deduced from the Hebrew מנה _manah_, _to number_,
_compute_, as being computed by the lunar phases. And it is probable
that the first _computations_ of time were made by the _revolutions_ of
the moon. It is obvious to remark, that not only these two Greek words,
but also the Latin _mensis_, a month, and the English _moon_, _month_,
are ultimately derived from the same Hebrew מנה. Leigh observes, that
“the Hebrews call the moon and a month by the same name, because the
moon is renewed every month. The Greeks also call σεληνη, from σελας,
because it every day renews its light.” Parkhurst on the word σεληνη
says, “The Greek etymologists, and particularly Plato, deduce it from
σελας νεον, _new light_, because its light is continually renewed.”
But the learned Goguet says; “The Greeks gave to the _moon_ the name
_selene_, which comes from the Phœnician word (לן or לון namely)
which signifies _to pass the night_; whence also we may observe is
plainly derived the Latin name of the moon, _luna_.” From _lun_ with
the termination _a_, comes _luna_, and this name is given to the planet
from her _changing_ or appearing under different phases.
As to the _dimensions_ of the moon, according to the most accurate
calculations, her diameter is 2,175 miles, the circumference 6,831
miles, the surface contains 14,898,750 square miles, and its solidity
5,408,246,000 cubical ones. Her bulk is equal to about a fiftieth part
of our earth, and her mean distance from the earth is about 240,000
miles.
The _motions_ of the moon are most of them very irregular. The only
equable motion she has, is her revolution on her own axis. The time in
which she moves round her axis is about 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes,
5 seconds; and her revolution through an elliptical orbit is performed
in the same time as her rotation on her axis, moving about 2,290 miles
every hour. Her revolution round her axis exactly in the same time
that she goes round the earth, is the reason she always turns the same
face towards us: she has only one day and one night in the course of a
month. From a long series of observations, it has been ascertained that
the moon makes a complete revolution in 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 5
seconds; this is called the periodical month; but, if we refer to the
time passed from new moon to new moon again, the month consists of 29
days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes, which is called the synodical month.
This difference is occasioned by the earth’s annual motion in its
orbit. Thus, if the earth had no motion, the moon would make a complete
round in 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, and 5 seconds; but while the
moon is describing her journey the earth has passed through nearly a
twelfth part of its orbit, which the moon must also describe before
the two bodies come again into the same position that they before held
with respect to the sun: this takes up so much more time as to make
her synodical month equal to 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes. The
motions of the hour and minute hands of a watch may serve to give some
idea of the periodical and synodical revolutions of the moon; for when
the minute hand has performed a complete revolution, it has yet some
distance to go to obtain a coincidence with the hour hand, similar to
that which it had the preceding hour.
We have observed that the same face is turned towards us during
the whole of the moon’s revolution, and that the other half of her
surface is never visible to us. This arises from the two motions we
have noticed, which, with regard to our view of the moon, appear to
counteract each other. Her revolution round the earth is performed
towards the _east_; while the revolution upon her own axis is performed
towards the _west_: so that, one of these motions turns as much of her
face from us, as the other turns towards us. And from the moon’s axis
being inclined to the plane of her orbit, sometimes one of her poles
is inclined towards the earth, and sometimes the other: in consequence
of which, we see more or less of her polar regions in different periods
of her revolution. When the moon is in _perigee_, or nearest distance
from the earth, her motion is quickest; and when in _apogee_, or most
remote distance, her motion is slowest.
The length of the day is equal to our lunar month, for all that time
is included in one revolution round her axis. Her days and nights,
therefore, will constantly be of the same length, or almost fifteen
of our days each. The year will be exactly the same with our year;
because, being an attendant on the earth, she must go round the sun
in the same time as that does. Her difference of seasons will be much
less than on our earth, having only a small inclination of her axis
of six degrees and a half; so that the variation between her summer’s
heat and her winter’s cold must be comparatively inconsiderable. Hence
there will be only thirteen degrees of Torrid Zone, on some parts
most opposite the sun, and thirteen degrees of Frigid Zone on those
contiguous to her poles; which consequently must leave seventy-seven
degrees for what we should call her Temperate Zones, both in the north
and south parts from her Equator. Our earth, unquestionably, performs
the office of a moon to the moon, waxing and waning regularly, but
appearing thirteen times as large, and, of course, affording her
thirteen times as much light as she does to us. When she changes to us,
the earth appears full to her; when she is in her first quarter to us,
the earth is in its third quarter to her; and _vice versâ_. To the moon
the earth seems to be the largest body in the universe, and must indeed
be a most magnificent sight.
On the supposition that the moon is inhabited, it may be observed, that
those who are placed about the middle of the surface, or face next to
us, will constantly see our earth over their heads, and increasing and
decreasing in light, like as the moon itself appears to us. Those who
are situated near the borders, whether on the right or left, or upon
the top or bottom, will also constantly have the same appearance in the
opposite part of the horizon. But those who live on the side of the
moon which is not presented to us, will know nothing of our earth, or
at least, they will never have an opportunity of seeing this large and
wonderful moon, without travelling perhaps more than 1,500 of our miles
on the surface of that luminary. To those who live on this side of the
moon, or travel to it on any account, as we may pass from the northern
into the southern hemisphere of our globe, the earth, indeed, when at
full to them, will appear to be more than three times as broad as the
moon does to us, and to communicate, as has been already mentioned,
about thirteen times as much light to her, as she does to us when at
the full.
The moon, possessing no native light, shines entirely by light received
from the sun, and which is reflected to us from her surface. That half
of her which is towards the sun is enlightened, and the other half is
dark and invisible: hence, when she is between us and the sun, she
disappears, because her dark side is then towards us. Whilst making
her revolution round the heavens, she undergoes a continual change of
appearance. She is sometimes on our meridian at midnight, and therefore
in that part of the heavens which is opposite to the sun; when she
appears with a face completely circular, which is called a _full
moon_. As she moves eastward, a part of her dark side comes forward
on the western side, and, in a little more than seven days, reaches
to the meridian, at about six in the morning, having the appearance
of a semi-circle, with the convex side turned towards the sun: this
crescent gradually becomes more slender, till, about fourteen days
after the full moon, being so near the sun, and in a line between that
luminary and our earth, she is rendered invisible to us, from the
superior splendor of that orb of light. About four days after this
disappearance, she may be seen in the evening, a little to the eastward
of the sun, in the form of a fine crescent,[121] as before, but having
her convex side turned from the sun. Travelling still towards the
east, the crescent becomes wider; and when advanced to the meridian,
about six in the evening, she again bears the appearance of a bright
semi-circle, with the same difference that we observed of the crescent,
that is, its convex side is now turned _from_ the sun. Advancing still
more eastward, the semi-circular moon widens into an oval shape, till
at last, in about twenty-nine days and a half from the last opposition
to the sun, she is again in the same situation, and appears a full moon.
The following account of the _harvest moon_, so called, taken from
the Pantalogia, will no doubt be acceptable to the reader.--It is
remarkable that the moon, during the week in which she is full about
the time of harvest, rises sooner after sun-setting than she does in
any other full moon week in the year. By this means, she affords an
immediate supply of light after sun-set, which is very beneficial for
the harvest and gathering in the fruits of the earth; and hence this
full moon is distinguished from all the others in the year, by calling
it the harvest-moon.
To conceive the reason of this phenomenon, it may first be considered,
that the moon is always opposite to the sun when she is full; that she
is full in the signs Pisces and Aries in our harvest months, those
being the signs opposite to Virgo and Libra, the signs occupied by the
sun about the same season; and because those parts of the ecliptic
rise in a shorter space of time than others, as may easily be shown
and illustrated by the celestial globe: consequently, when the moon is
about her full in harvest, she rises with less difference of time, or
more immediately after sun-set, than when she is full at other seasons
of the year.
In our winter, the moon is in Pisces and Aries about the time of her
first quarter, when she rises about noon; but her rising is not then
noticed, because the sun is above the horizon. In spring, the moon is
in Pisces and Aries about the time of her change; at which time, as she
gives no light, and rises with the sun, her rising cannot be perceived.
In summer, the moon is in Pisces and Aries about the time of her last
quarter; and then, as she is on the decrease, and rises not till
midnight, her rising usually passes unobserved. But in autumn, the moon
is in Pisces and Aries at the time of her full, and rises soon after
sun-set for several evenings successively; which makes her regular
rising very conspicuous at that time of the year.
And this would always be the case, if the moon’s orbit lay in the plane
of the ecliptic. But as her orbit makes an angle of 5° 18ʹ with the
ecliptic, and crosses it only in the two opposite points called the
nodes, her rising when in Pisces and Aries will sometimes not differ
above 1h. 40min. through the whole of seven days; and at other times,
in the same two signs, she will differ three hours and a half in the
time of her rising in a week, according to the different positions of
the nodes with respect to these signs; which positions are constantly
changing, because the nodes go backward through the whole ecliptic in
18 years 225 days.
This revolution of the nodes will cause the harvest moons to go through
a whole course of the most and least beneficial states, with respect to
the harvest, every nineteen years. The following table shows in what
years the harvest-moons are least beneficial as to the times of their
rising, and in what years they are most beneficial, from the year 1790
to 1861: the column of years under the letter L are those in which the
harvest-moons are least of all beneficial, because they fall about
the descending node; and those under the letter M are the most of all
beneficial, because they fall about the ascending node.
HARVEST MOONS.
L M L M L M L M
1790 1798 1807 1816 1826 1835 1844 1853
1791 1799 1808 1817 1827 1836 1845 1854
1792 1800 1809 1818 1828 1837 1846 1855
1793 1801 1810 1819 1829 1838 1847 1856
1794 1802 1811 1820 1830 1839 1848 1857
1795 1803 1812 1821 1831 1840 1849 1858
1796 1804 1813 1822 1832 1841 1850 1859
1797 1805 1814 1823 1833 1842 1851 1860
1806 1815 1824 1834 1843 1852 1861
1825
When the moon is viewed through a good telescope, there appear vast
cavities and asperities on various parts of her face, some of them
extremely resembling deep caverns and vallies, and others mountains.
“Turn’d to the sun direct, her spotted disk
Shows mountains rise, umbrageous vales descend,
And caverns deep, as optic tube descries.”
The cavities, it is conjectured, do not contain water; hence it is
concluded that there can be no extensive seas and oceans, like those
which cover a great part of our earth. It is, however, imagined that
there may be springs and RIVERS. The moon seems, as a learned author
has observed, in almost every respect to be a body similar to our
earth, to have its surface diversified by hill and dale, mountains
and vallies, rivers and lakes. With regard to a lunar atmosphere, the
existence of which has long been a subject of much dispute, it is
now generally admitted.[122] The irregularity of the moon’s surface,
arising from hills and vallies, renders her more capable of reflecting
the sun’s rays to us. Though philosophers have differed widely in their
ideas concerning the materials of the moon’s mountains, some from their
brilliancy even supposing them to be rocks of diamonds, there is no
diversity of opinion as to their use. If smooth and polished, like a
mirror, or covered with water, she would not reflect and distribute
the light received from the sun. In some positions she would show us
his image no larger than a single point, and with a lustre that would
injure our sight: but roughened by these hills and vallies, her surface
returns the sun’s light to us in an equable and pleasant manner, and
enables us to examine her with ease and precision.
That the moon is a planet similar to our earth, is a sentiment very
early adopted. Orpheus is the most ancient author, whose opinion on
this subject has come down to us. Proclus presents us with three verses
of that philosopher, wherein he positively asserts, that the moon
was another earth, having in it mountains, vallies, &c. Pythagoras,
who followed Orpheus in many of his opinions, taught likewise, that
the moon was an earth like ours, replete with animals, whose nature
he presumed not to describe, though he was persuaded they were of a
more noble and elegant kind than ours, and not liable to the same
infirmities. Stobæus gives us the opinion of Democritus about the
nature of the moon, and the cause of those spots which we see upon
its disk. That great philosopher imagined, that “those spots were
no other than shades, formed by the excessive height of the lunar
mountains,” which intercepted the light from the lower parts of that
planet, where the valleys formed themselves into what appeared to us
as shades or spots. Plutarch went further, alleging, that there were
embosomed in the moon, vast seas and profound caverns: he says, those
deep and extensive shades which appear upon the disk of that planet,
must be occasioned by _the vast seas_ it contains, which are incapable
of reflecting so vivid a light, as the more solid and opake parts; “or
by caverns extremely wide and deep, wherein the rays of the sun are
absorbed,” whence those shades and that obscurity which we call the
spots of the moon. And Zenophanes said, that those immense cavities
were inhabited by another race of men, who lived there just as we do
upon earth.
“And oft I think, fair planet of the night,
That in thy orb the wretched may have rest.”
[The height of the moon’s atmosphere is supposed to be
1.622 miles; or a little more than a mile and a half.
The observations on the moon have been so accurate, and
so often repeated, by means of the best glasses, that the
_map of the moon_ is now considered nearly perfect. On this
map is laid down the position of _spots_, _cavities_, and
_mountains_, representing their _size_, _height_, _depth_, and
_peculiarities_. They are very numerous.
Some of these mountains are full _five miles high_. They
descend in height, from the highest to small elevations.
Several astronomers, particularly Herschell, has distinctly
observed and described _volcanos_ in the moon, _actually
flaming_; and others in an _expiring state_. _Craters_ of
extinct volcanos are visible, and so numerous as to indicate
very clearly, that volcanic action was once very extensive and
powerful in the moon.
Some of the _cavities_ are more than _three miles and a
half deep_, and sixteen broad at the surface. _Ferguson’s
Astronomy, additional chapters by Dr. Brewster._]
That stones have fallen from the _clouds_ or from much _higher
regions_, is a fact which has recently been very closely investigated,
and also fully demonstrated. A table, constructed by M. Izarn, a
foreign chemist, exhibits a variety of facts of this kind, from which
the following is an extract.
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| | _Places where_ | _Period of_ |
| _Substances._ | _they fell._ | _their fall._ |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Shower of stones. | At Rome. | Under Tullus |
| | | Hostilius. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Shower of stones. | At Rome. | Consuls, C. Martius, |
| | | and M. Torquatus. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A very large stone. | Near the river | Second year of |
| | Negos, Thrace. | the 78th Olympiad. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Three large stones. | In Thrace. | Year before J.C. 452.|
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Stone of 72 lbs. | Near Larissa, | January, 1706. |
| | Macedonia. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| About 1,200 stones; | Near Padua, | In 1510. |
| one 120 lbs. | in Italy. | |
| Another of 60 lbs. | | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Another of 59 lbs. | On Mount Vasier, | November 27, 1627. |
| | Provence. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Two large stones, | Liponas, | September, 1753. |
| weighing 20 lbs. | in Bresse. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A stony mass. | Niort, Normandy. | In 1750. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A stone of 7½ lbs. | At Luce, in Le Maine.| September 13, 1768. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A stone. | At Aire, in Artois. | In 1768. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A stone. | In Le Contenin. | In 1768. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Extensive shower | Environs of Agen. | July 24, 1790. |
| of stones. | | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| About 12 stones. | Sienna, Tuscany. | July, 1794. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A large stone | Wold Cottage, | December 13, 1795. |
| of 56 lbs. | Yorkshire. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A stone of 10 lbs. | In Portugal. | February 19, 1796. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A stone of 120 lbs. | Salé, Department | March 17, 1798. |
| | of the Rhone. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Shower of stones. | Benares, East Indies.| December 19, 1798. |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Shower of stones. | At Plann, near | July 3, 1753. |
| | Tabor, Bohemia. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Mass of iron, | America. | April 5, 1800. |
| 70 cubic feet. | | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Mass of do. | Abakauk, Siberia. | Very old. |
| 14 quintals. | | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Shower of stones. | Barboutan, | July, 1789. |
| | near Roquefort. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Large stone, | Ensisheim, | November 7, 1492. |
| 260 lbs. | Upper Rhine. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Two stones, | Near Verona. | In 1762. |
| 200 and 300 lbs. | | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| A stone of 20 lbs. | Sales, near | March 12, 1798. |
| | Ville Franche. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| Several do. | Near L'Aigle, | April 26, 1803. |
| from 10 to 17 lbs. | Normandy. | |
+---------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
The stones generally appear luminous in their descent, moving in
oblique directions, with very great velocities, and commonly with a
hissing noise. They are frequently heard to explode, or burst, and
seem to fly in pieces, the larger parts falling first. They often
strike the earth with such force, as to sink several inches below the
surface. They are always different from the surrounding bodies, but is
every case are similar to one another, being semi-metallic, coated with
a thin black encrustation. They bear strong marks of recent fusion.
Chemists have found, on examining these stones, that they very nearly
agree in their nature and composition, and in the proportions of their
component parts.
Their specific gravities are generally about three or four times that
of water, being heavier than common stones. From the above account,
it is reasonable to conclude, that they have all the same origin. I
believe it is generally agreed among philosophers, that all these
aërial stones, chemically analysed, evince the same properties;
and that no stone, found on our earth, possesses exactly similar
properties, nor in the same proportions: this is an extraordinary
circumstance, and deserves particular notice. At the sitting of the
Society of Natural History at Halle, July 6, 1816, M. Chladni submitted
to the inspection of the members present, a collection of meteoric
stones, or stones fallen from the atmosphere; and to the exhibition, he
added his own observations on their nature and formation. Dr. Kæstner,
taking up the subject in the same point of view which M. Chladni had
given of it, admitted that these stones are not natives of this earth,
but of other celestial bodies; to which he added, that the chemical
analysis of them proves, that many of the same substances as are found
in our mountains, and among the solids of our globe, are also component
parts of the solids and mountains of other globes; certainly of those
celestial bodies which are nearest to us; and probably of the others
which form our planetary system.
That these stones are projected from lunar volcanos, very strong
reasons have been assigned to prove. As 1. Volcanos in the moon have
been observed by means of the telescope. 2. The lunar volcanos are
very high, and the surface of that globe suffers frequent changes,
as appears by the late observations of Schroëter. 3. If a body be
projected from the moon to a distance greater than that of the point
of equilibrium, between the attraction of the earth and the moon,
it will, on the known principles of gravitation, fall to the earth.
4. That a body may be projected from the lunar volcanos beyond the
moon’s influence, is not only possible, but very probable; for on
calculation it is found, that four times the force usually given to a
twelve pounder, will be quite sufficient for this purpose: it is to
be observed, that the point of equilibrium is much nearer; and that a
projectile from the moon will not be so much retarded as one from the
earth, both on account of the moon’s rarer atmosphere, and its less
attractive force.[123]
Of all the phenomena of the heavens, there are none which engage the
attention of mankind more than _eclipses_ of the sun and moon; and to
those who are unacquainted with the principles, nothing can appear more
extraordinary than the accuracy, even to a second of time, with which
they are predicted. Eclipses of the sun are occasioned by the shadow of
the intervening new moon falling on the earth, and those of the moon
are caused by the shadow of the earth falling on the full moon, the
earth at the full moon being always in a direction between the sun and
moon.
It is ascertained that, for an eclipse of the sun to be annular, the
most favorable circumstances will be when the sun is in perigee, and
the moon in apogee; and, for an eclipse to be total, the most favorable
case is when the sun is in apogee, and the moon in perigee. The motion
of the moon being much swifter than that of the earth, and the motions
of both being directed from west to east, an eclipse of the sun must
always begin in the western edge of the sun; and as the moon is a great
deal less than the earth, her shadow forms a cone, the section of which
is much less than the earth, so that a small portion of the earth only
can, at any time, be involved in the shadow at one time. Hence it is,
that an eclipse of the sun is not perceived, at the same instant, in
every part of the hemisphere that is turned towards the sun, and that,
in some parts, it will not be seen at all. For instance, a friend of
mine, writing from Ceylon in the month of May, (1817,) says, “On the
16th of this month, we had a fine sight of an eclipse of the sun about
noon: I think about 3-4ths of the surface were covered.” But in this
country we had no solar eclipse at the same time. Again, in different
situations, different parts of the sun’s disk will appear eclipsed;
but, on the contrary, an eclipse of the moon is perceived, at the same
moment, in every part of the earth where this planet is visible, and
appears every where to occupy the same portion of her disk. Hence,
eclipses of the sun are much less frequent in any particular place than
eclipses of the moon.
If the nodes of the moon constantly corresponded with the same points
in the heavens, the eclipses of the sun or moon might be expected in
the same months, and even on the same days; but as the nodes shift
backwards, or contrary to the earth’s annual motion, about 19½ degrees
in a year, the same node will come round about nineteen days sooner
every year than in the preceding. From the time, therefore, when the
ascending node passes by the sun, as seen from the earth, there will be
only 173 days before the descending node passes by him. If, then, at
any time of the year, we have eclipses about either of the nodes, their
return may be expected in about 173 days, in or near the other.
It may be further observed, that, after the sun, moon, and nodes, have
been once in a line of conjunction, they will return nearly to the same
state again in 228 lunations, or eighteen years and ten days; so that
the same node which was in conjunction with the sun and moon at the
beginning of the first of these lunations, will be within less than
half a degree of the line of conjunction with the sun and moon again,
when the last of these lunations is completed. In that time, therefore,
there will be a regular period of eclipses for many ages.
These things being properly considered, it will not be difficult to
conceive how astronomers are able to foretell the exact time when any
phenomenon of this kind will happen; for, as an eclipse can only take
place at the time of a new or full moon, the principal requisites are,
to determine the number of mean conjunctions and oppositions that
will happen every year, and the true places of the sun and moon in
their orbits at each of those times. And, if from this, when proper
calculations have been made, it appears that the two luminaries are
within the proper limits of the node, there will be an eclipse.
To facilitate these operations, we have astronomical tables ready
computed, by which the places of the heavenly bodies, and every other
particular required, may be easily found for any given instant of
time.[124]
With delight we reflect on the invaluable benefits which this _lesser
light_ confers on our globe. She sometimes appears visible in the
presence of the sun; but how faint and pale is her shining! God has
appointed her to _rule the night_, and give light to men. How cheerless
and uncomfortable would our nights be, were we destitute of the light
which this faithful and inseparable companion of our earth dispenses!
How strange are her eclipses, occasioned by the earth interposing
and shading her face! but, they are highly useful in astronomical,
geographical, and chronological calculations. How salutary, too, is her
attractive influence, which sways the ocean, and actuates the world
of waters; causing the swelling of the tides, and perpetuating the
regular returns of ebb and flow; by which the liquid element itself
is preserved from putrefaction, and the surrounding continents from
infection and disease.
A moonlight night has led the greatest poets in every age to vie with
each other in attempting to describe its beauty and use. Among all
the treasures of modern poetry, I know not one superior, for pleasing
imagery, and variety of numbers, to that of Milton:
“Now came still evening on, and twilight grey
Had in her sober livery all things clad.
Now glowed the firmament
With living sapphires: Hesperus, that led
The starry host, rode brightest, till the Moon,
Rising in clouded majesty, at length,
Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light.
And o’er the dark her silver mantle threw.”
Homer, in the eighth book of the Iliad, gives us a description of a
fine moonlight night, which is esteemed a master-piece of nocturnal
painting. Milton’s pencil leaves off where that of Homer begins:
“As when the Moon, refulgent lamp of night,
O’er heaven’s clear azure sheds her sacred light;
When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,
And not a cloud o’ercasts the solemn scene;
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And stars unnumbered gild the glowing pole;
O’er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,
And tip with silver every mountain’s head;
Then shine the vales; the rocks in prospect rise;
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies;
The conscious swains rejoicing in the sight,
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.”
The wise Son of Sirach, although his writings are not admitted into
the sacred canon, deserves to be heard on this subject. He says, “The
Lord made the moon also to serve in her season, for a declaration of
times, and a sign of the world. From the moon is the sign of feasts,
a light decreaseth in her perfection. The month is called after her
name, increasing wonderfully in her changing, being an instrument of
the armies above, shining in the firmament of heaven; the beauty of
heaven, the glory of the stars, an ornament giving light to the highest
places of the Lord. At the commandment of the Holy One they will stand
in their order, and never faint in their watches.” This is paraphrased
with great elegance and spirit by Mr. Broome:
“By thy command the moon, as day-light fades,
Lifts her broad circle in the deep’ning shades;
Arrayed in glory, and enthroned in light,
She breaks the solemn terrors of the night;
Sweetly inconstant in her varying flame,
She changes still, another, yet the same!
Now in decrease, by slow degrees she shrouds
Her fading lustre in a vale of clouds;
Now of increase, her gathering beams display
A blaze of light, and give a paler day;
Ten thousand stars adorn her glittering train,
Fall when she falls, and rise with her again;
And o’er the deserts of the sky unfold
Their burning spangles of sidereal gold:
Through the wide heavens she moves serenely bright,
Queen of the gay attendants of the night:
Orb above orb in sweet confusion lies,
And with a bright disorder paints the skies.”
Many striking epithets have been given to this refulgent lamp of the
night, some of which are noticed by Nichols in his Conference with
a Theist. Tully asserts, that the moon was called _Diana_, because
she made a day of the night, whilst all other stars did not make a
twilight. Æschylus, a tragic poet, born at Athens 397 before the
Christian era, calls her πρεσβυϛον αϛρων, the ancient, the governess,
or mother of the stars. Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia,
about A.D. 171, denominates her, νυχιων βασιλεια αταρπων, the queen
of the nightly paths. Tynesius, who flourished A.C. 400, styles
her, ποιμην νυχιων θεων, the princess of the nocturnal gods: which
is consonant to Horace’s lucidum cœli decus--syderum regina. Virgil
likewise calls her, astrorum decus, the ornament of the stars. Seneca
terms her, obscuri dea clara mundi, the bright goddess of the obscure
world; and also clarumque cœli sydus et noctis decus, the bright star
of heaven, and the grace of the night. Statius, who lived at Rome in
the reign of Domitian, in his Thebais, terms her, arcanæ moderatrix
Cynthia noctis, the moon the governess of silent night. “Fair as the
moon,” was an ancient manner of describing beauty, and, it is said,
still prevails in the East.
Among the ancients, observes Mr. Butler, the moon was an object of
prime respect. By the Hebrews, she was more regarded than the sun,
and they were more inclined to worship her as a deity. The _new_
moons, or first days of every month, were observed as festivals among
them, which were celebrated with sound of trumpets, entertainments,
and sacrifice. The moon was the goddess of the Phœnicians, whom they
worshipped under the name Ashtoreth, or Astarte. The moon is sometimes
in Scripture styled, the “queen of heaven.” She is likewise styled,
“the goddess of the Zidonians,” and “the abomination of the Zidonians,”
as she was worshipped very much in Zidon, or Sidon, a famous city of
the Phœnicians, situated upon the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.
Solomon, who had many wives that were foreigners, was prevailed upon
by them to introduce the worship of this goddess into Israel, and he
built her a temple on the mount of Olives, which, on account of this
and other idols, is called “the mount of corruption.”[125] Milton says,
“There stood
Her temple on th’ offensive mountain, built
By that uxorious king, whose heart, though large,
Beguil’d by fair idolatresses, fell,
To idols foul.”
The _full_ moon was held favorable for any undertaking by the Spartans;
and no motives could induce them to enter upon an expedition, march
an army, or attack an enemy, till the _full_ of the moon. It is usual
with the modern Arabians to begin their journeys at the _new_ moon; a
practice which, indeed, appears to be very ancient. When the Shunammite
proposed going to Elisha, her husband dissuaded her by observing that
it was neither _new_ moon nor sabbath.
1. The _moon_ is an emblem of the _church_ of God, which receives
its light from Christ as the moon does from the sun. Especially, of
the Jewish dispensation, which consisted much in the observation
of new moons, its solemn feasts being governed by them. The Jewish
dispensation was a veiled and shadowy one: Christ and the blessings
of the covenant of grace were revealed in dark promises, obscure
prophecies, types and ceremonies, which were all significant figures of
that grace which should be displayed, with fulness and evidence, under
the Christian dispensation. The Jewish economy exhibits such marks of
imperfection, as show the necessity of some new revelation to supply
its defects. Its rites and precepts seem to be particularly suited to
the condition, capacity, temper and genius of that particular people,
for whom they were first formed, but not to be calculated for general
use. It consisted chiefly of external performances, such as washings,
sacrifices, and oblations, which could not purify the conscience, nor,
indeed, satisfy the reason of man. The provision for sin, by way of
atonement, was partial, and not thoroughly effectual: for some sins no
sacrifice was admitted; and though sacrifice, where it was appointed,
might atone for ceremonial impurity, yet the inward guilt and
defilement still remained, and the justice of God was not satisfied.
Yet the observance of these was enjoined in a very awful manner. The
omission of what was prescribed by these laws, or even a defect in
observing the minute circumstances of them, was made a capital crime,
or rendered the delinquents liable to be cut off from the congregation.
The Apostle styles the whole code of these laws, “a yoke of bondage;”
and says, that, previous to the coming of Christ, the Jews were in
bondage under what he terms “the beggarly elements of the world.”
There were indeed wise reasons for such a dispensation: to keep the
Jews a distinct people, and preserve them from idolatry, while they
were continually employed in the service of God; to remind them of
their obligations to purity, inward and outward holiness; and, as a
schoolmaster, to bring them to Christ; the law being a type and shadow
of that “truth and grace which came by Jesus Christ,” who was “the end
of the law for righteousness.” On which account, the law of Moses was
not perpetual, but a temporary institution: thus the Apostle reasons,
“There is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for
the weakness and unprofitableness thereof; for,” as he says in another
place, “the law could not in any wise make the comers thereunto
perfect.” He calls the law, “a shadow of good things to come.” The
Levitical ceremonies led the Jewish church into the knowledge of the
promised Messiah, and what he was to do, suffer, purchase, and apply.
Hence the words of St. Peter, “Of which salvation the prophets have
inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you: searching what or what manner of time the Spirit
of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom
it was revealed, that not to themselves, but unto us they did minister
the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.” The
Christian dispensation is attended with greater clearness. We have
a far more comprehensive knowledge of the glorious Redeemer, in his
person, natures, offices, and blessings; of the spiritual nature of his
kingdom, and the way of salvation through faith in him, than what the
Jews had. Thus the Apostle says, “But we all with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image,
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
In the Revelation, we have this representation given of the Christian
church: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of
twelve stars.” An author, quoted by Dr. A. Clarke, gives the following
elucidation of this passage.--That the woman here represents the true
church of Christ, most commentators are agreed. In other parts of the
Apocalypse, the pure church of Christ is evidently pourtrayed by a
woman. In chapter xix, verse 7, a great multitude are represented as
saying, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him; for the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his _wife_ hath made herself ready.”
In chapter xxi, 9, an angel talks with St. John, saying, “Come hither,
I will show thee the _bride_, the Lamb’s wife.” That the Christian
Church is meant will appear also from her being “clothed with the
sun,” a striking emblem of Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness,
the light and glory of the Church; for the countenance of the Son of
God is, as “the sun shineth in his strength.” The woman has the “moon
under her feet.” Bishop Newton understands this of the Jewish typical
worship; and, indeed, the Mosaic system of rites and ceremonies could
not have been better represented. The moon is the less light, ruling
over the night, and deriving all its illumination from the sun: in like
manner, the Jewish dispensation was the bright moonlight night of the
world, and possessed a portion of the glorious light of the gospel.
At the rising of the sun the night is ended, and the lunar light no
longer necessary as the sun which enlightens her shines full upon the
earth: exactly in the same way has the whole Jewish system of types
and shadows been superseded by the birth, life, crucifixion, death,
resurrection, ascension, and intercession of Jesus Christ. Upon the
head of the woman is “a crown of twelve stars;” a very significant
representation of the _twelve apostles_, who were the first founders of
the Christian church; and by whom the gospel was preached in a great
part of the Roman empire with astonishing success.
2. The phenomenon of the moon is _mutability_. This beautiful luminary,
whose gentle beams render the summer evenings still more agreeable, and
in the winter nights cheer the abodes of solitude, and aid the midnight
traveller, is perpetually changing. In this, and in nothing but this,
observes Mr. Basely, she is invariable, and a perfect index to all
within her orbit. This should teach us, says Mr. Browne, that there is
not any thing permanent in the present scene. Mutability is engraved in
legible characters upon every earthly object. Every thing is in motion,
and assuming a different appearance, whilst vicissitude and change wait
on the affairs of mortals. Such is the fluctuating state of the present
world, whether we view kingdoms in general, or the personal concerns of
men in particular.
But while these things are fortuitous as to man, we should reflect that
they are under the direction and control of a Divine providence. The
prosperous issue of all our designs and enterprises depends entirely
on the sovereign disposer of events. “Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the
watchman waketh but in vain.” “A man’s heart deviseth his way; but the
Lord directeth his steps;” the result of his designs and projects being
under the dominion and direction of God. Whether his undertaking shall
succeed or fail, belongs alone to the Most High to determine. Let as
arrange our worldly concerns in the most prudent and politic manner,
so that there shall appear the greatest probability of success, yet
God has the ordering of the event. Solomon has long since observed,
that, amongst the many vanities under the sun, one is, “the race is
not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to
the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men
of skill: but time and chance happeneth to them all.” Some unforeseen
circumstance may interrupt our pursuit, and disappoint our expectation.
So great is the uncertainty which attends all human affairs, and all
future events are concealed in such thick darkness, that we can never
positively affirm that this or the other scheme, however wisely laid,
cannot be frustrated, or that it is impossible the success should be
otherwise than as we calculate. No man knows what shall be on the
morrow; the only thing we know previously is, that every event shall be
as God is pleased to settle it.
This consideration, that it is not by our own choice and foresight, but
the will and wisdom of God, our affairs are directed and determined,
we should apply to ourselves. We are not competent to mark out our own
ways, nor can we seriously imagine that matters should be arranged
exactly according to our imperfect views and secret inclinations; but
we should refer ourselves to his guidance who cannot err, and willingly
acquiesce in his providential decisions: saying, “I know, oh Lord, that
the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to
direct his own steps.” We are commanded by the Apostle James to say,
“If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” And Solomon’s
advice is, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths.” Concerning all our lawful designs, enterprises, and
projects, we may pray, “Establish thou the work of our hands upon us;
yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”
* * * * *
_Section_ III.--THE SEASONS.
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter -- Displaying
Divine Power, Wisdom, Goodness, Faithfulness -- Religious
Improvement.
The Divine Architect appointed the sun and moon the places of their
rising, the circuits they were to run, and where they were to go down:
he marked out the line in which they were to move through all the
different climates of the earth. They instantly obeyed his all-powerful
word, and have ever since acted faithfully to his command. In their
operations, they measure out our days and nights, distinguish between
different periods of time, and produce the several seasons of the year.
“With what an awful world-revolving power
Were first th’ unwieldy planets launched along
Th’ illimitable void! Thus to remain
Amid the flux of many thousand years,
That oft has swept the toiling race of men
And all their labored monuments away,
Firm, unremitting, matchless in their course;
To the kind tempered change of night and day,
And of the seasons ever stealing round,
Minutely faithful.”
God is the supreme ruler in the kingdom of nature, and the constant
changes of day and night, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, are
appointed and regulated by his providential influence. This wonderful
and stupendous system, consisting of matter, is preserved by motion.
Deprive it of motion, and, as a system, it must expire. Who, then,
breathed into this amazing combination of things acting together, the
life of motion? What power impelled the planets to move, since motion
is not a property of the matter of which they are composed? Did not
annual observation familiarize it to us (to speak unphilosophically),
who that observes the sun going in appearance further from us during
six months in succession, and all that time decreasing in light and
heat, could ever think that he would again return to us? What hinders
his projection into boundless space, till he should appear no larger
than a star, or get beyond the reach of our powers of vision? What,
but the immediate control of God! for this is a work superior to all
created strength, and only to be effected by almighty energy.[126]
When we have seen that glorious lamp of heaven, the great ruler of the
day, gone so far from us that we scarcely knew how to stand before
the cold, how has his return revived and cheered us, visiting the
frozen earth with his friendly beams, infusing a genial warmth into
every creature, and inspiring us with the pleasing hope of once more
enjoying those various fruits of the earth, which are the liberal gifts
of an indulgent Providence! It is the Divine Being who commands the
sun to rise, who, “coming out of his chamber” in the east, rejoices
as a strong man to run a race. Again, he bids this glorious orb to
withdraw, and obscure his beauty behind thick clouds, or sink below
the western ocean; when, behold, the day is covered with darkness, and
night succeeds. At his sovereign command, the glowing summer recedes,
and winter approaches with chilling aspect. “He sends his snow like
wool, and scattereth his hoar frost like ashes. He casteth forth his
ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?” He then recalls the
solar influence, scatters the inauspicious clouds, thaws the frozen
ridges of the field; the corn springs up and flourishes, and the heart
of man rejoices with the pleasing hope of a plenteous harvest. Thus
does the almighty Creator, and beneficent Governor of the world, order
and regulate the constant succession of the seasons; his Providence
over-rules and directs the whole movement, and nothing can come to pass
without his superintendence.
Reason, as well as supernatural revelation, asserts the reality of a
Divine providence. The happiest inquirers into the phenomena of nature
have discovered that every thing is made with the justest proportion,
and that the whole machine is directed according to the most exact
rules: but they have also perceived a power above and beyond the energy
of natural principles, and which could not possibly be accounted for
any other way than by admitting an immediate act or influence of the
supreme Being. In the revolving of the celestial orbs, we observe an
exact agreement with the established laws of mechanism: but, yet, there
is a force demonstrable in them which is altogether immechanical; and,
consequently, immediately issuing from God himself.
The remarks made by Dr. A. Clarke on this point, will, it is presumed,
gratify the intelligent reader. “The _double motion_ of a primary
planet, namely, its _annual_ revolution and _diurnal_ rotation, is
one of the greatest wonders the science of astronomy presents to our
view.--The laws which regulate the latter of these motions are so
completely hid from man, notwithstanding his present great extension
of philosophic research, that the times which the planets employ in
their rotations can only be determined by observation. How is it that
two motions, so essentially different from each other, should be in
the same body, at the same time, without one interfering at all with
the other?--No astronomer, since the foundation of the world, has been
able to demonstrate that the earth’s motion in the heavens is at all
accelerated or retarded by the diurnal rotation; or, on the other hand,
that the earth’s motion on its axis experiences the least irregularity
from the annual revolution.”
The rotation of the earth round its own axis, from west to east, once
in 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds, is the cause of the distinction
between day and night, by bringing the different parts of the earth’s
surface successively into, and from under the solar rays. And the
revolution of the earth round the sun, from any equinox or solstice to
the same point again, in 365 days, 48 minutes, 48 seconds, produces
the agreeable vicissitudes of the seasons, and measures the length of
our year. For though the revolution is that of the earth, yet both
the hours of the day and night, the different lengths of the days
and nights, and the seasons of the year, cannot be determined but by
the heavenly bodies. Thus the earth has a two-fold motion, like a
chariot-wheel; for while it goes forward on its annual journey, it is
still in its diurnal motion turning upon its own centre. But it differs
from the motion of a chariot-wheel in this: that its hourly motion in
its orbit is 75,222 miles; and that by the motion upon its axis, the
inhabitants on the equator are carried after the rate of 1,042 miles an
hour, and those upon the parallel of London 580 miles.