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Oceans of light he pours upon the plains,

And forth to labour calls the jovial swains.

All nature smiles, rejoicing in his beams:

The fish swim, sportive, through the gilded streams: The feather'd kinds their morning anthems sing, And soar aloft, exulting on the wing:

Their tow'ring tops the waving forests shew,

The meadows glitter, spangl'd o'er with dew:
The op'ning flowers their various dyes display,
Perfume the skies, and welcome in the day.

Again; observe him in his noon-tide hour:

Learn thy own weakness, and his mighty pow'r.

that those rays produce heat only by uniting with the matter of fire, contained in the substances which are capable of being heated; and concludes that the sun may, like the earth or any other planet, be inhabited by innumerable beings, whose organs are properly adapted to the peculiar circumstances of their situation.

PHIL. TRANS. 1795. C.

When all the cattle, panting, leave the plain,

And seek the shades, canst Thou his heat sustain?

Why dost thou turn and hide thee from his sight?". Is he, indeed, insufferably bright?

Think, then, how glorious must that power be

Whose hand has form'd ten thousand such as he!

See, to the west, he downward bends his way,

Looks kindly back, and gives a milder ray :
The clouds around him, beauteous to behold,
Blush with carnation streaks, and flame with gold.
Home from the fields the hungry swains repair:
The whistling shepherds fold their bleating care:
The birds, in couples, seek the gloomy groves,
And droop their heads, forgetful of their loves:
The bat in wanton circles flutters round:

The sparkling glow-worm glitters on the ground:

Night draws her sable curtains o'er the plain,

And silence re-assumes her awful reign.

Sleep, over all, expands her silky wings,.

Care finds repose, recruited vigour springs.

Now eastward turn: lo, thence serenely bright,

The full-orb'd Moon diffuses silver light ;*

*The Moon is a satellite, or secondary planet, attendant on the globe we inhabit; reflecting to the earth part of the light she receives from the sun. Her diameter is about two thousand one hundred and eighty miles: her mean distance from the earth is two hundred and forty thousand miles. She takes twenty-seven days, seven hours, and forty-three minutes in going round her orbit; and takes the same time in turning round on her axis. Her rate of travelling being, therefore, two thousand two hundred and ninety miles every hour.But on account of the progress of the earth in its orbit, the time from new moon to new moon, is twentynine days, twelve hours, forty-four minutes, three seconds, and eleven thirds. Her proportional bulk to that of the earth is as one to fortyeight, nearly.

The face of the moon, when viewed through a telescope, evi dently appears diversified with hills and dales.-Volcanoes, like those of our earth, have been discovered thereon.-That she is a

In solemn state begins her silent round:

The lengthen'd shadows tremble on the ground:

From the cool skies the balmy dew distils :

The meads rejoice: the waving harvest fills.
Onward she leads along her sparkling train,
In order marshall'd, o'er the azure plain :

habitable world there seems little or no question among astronomers.-Nay, the same may be said of all other planets of our system. And here I would take occasion to say with LALANDE, in his Fontenelle's Plurality of Worlds, that the resemblance between the earth and the other planets is so striking, that, if we allow the earth to have been formed for habitation, we cannot deny that all the planets were made for the same purpose. They all move in similar orbits, they have all a rotatory motion like the earth,they have their spots, their irregularities, their mountains, like the earth;-in short there is every possible resemblance between the planets and the earth :-What then shall hinder them from being inhabited? The different orders and species of living creatures which inhabit other worlds are unknown to us. Some may be reasonably supposed far more exalted in the scale of creative beauty, as well as intellectual abilities, than the human race; and others, in like proportion, debased below them :-Yet, it may be fairly presumed, that they all feel refined comfort in celebrating the magnificence of the Creator.

C.

On earth, benign, bestows her borrow'd ray,
Dispels the gloom and emulates the day.

The nightingales from every thicket sing,

And to some grot the owl directs her wing.

Observe, obedient to their Maker's pow'r,

Both Sun and Moon know their appointed hour: Where he commands, their glorious lights dispense,

And, as he wills, exert their influence.

Along the skies the Sun obliquely rolls, Forsakes, by turns, and visits both the poles. Diff'rent his track, but constant his career, Divides the times, and measures out the year. To climes returns where freezing winter reigns, Unbinds the glebe, and fructifies the plains.

The crackling ice dissolves: the rivers flow :

Vines crown the mountain tops, and corn the vales

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