we are obliged to confine our calculations to lines and triangles of only a few thousands or millions of miles in extent they may be enabled to form tringles of inconceivable extent, on base lines of several thousands of trillions of miles in length. We are informed, in the book of Daniel, that "the angel Gabriel, being commanded to fly swiftly from the celestial regions, reached the prophet about the time of the evening sacrifice." This fact implies, not only that angelic beings are endued with powers of rapid motion, but that they are intimately acquainted with the directions, distances, and positions of the bodies which compose the material universe. This heavenly messenger, having been previously stationed far beyond the limits of our planetary system, had to shape his course in that direction, to dis criminate the orbit of the earth from the orbits of the other planets, and the particular part of its orbit in which it was then moving; and having arrived at the confines of our atmosphere, he required to discriminate the particular region in which Daniel resided, and to direct his flight to the house in which he was offering up his devotions.--Now, since angels are neither omniscient nor omnipresent, as they are limited beings, possessed of rational faculties, and as it is probable, are invested with bodies, or fine material vehicles,*-they must be guided in such excursions by their reasoning powers, and the faculty of rapid motion with which they are endued. Such excursions imply the recognition of certain mathematical principles, and I have already had occasion to notice, that these principles are applicable throughout every part of the universe, and must be recognised, more or less, by all intelligent beings.

The Creator himself has laid the foundation of the mathematical sciences. His works consist of globes and spheriods of all different dimensions, and of immense concen. tric rings revolving with a rapid motion. These globes are carried round different centres, some of them in circles. some in ellipses, and others in long eccentric curves. Being impelled in their courses by different degrees of velocity, their real motions cannot be traced, nor the beautiful simplicity and harmony of the different systems made apparent, without the application of mathematical investigations. To an observer untutored in this science, many of the celestial

The Author will afterwards have an opportunity of illustrating this position, in Part III. of this work.

motions would appear to display inextricable confusion, and lead him to conclude, that the Framer of the universe was deficient in wisdom and intelligent design. The principles of mathematics are also exhibited in the numerous and diversified figures into which diamonds, crystals, salts, and other bodies, are formed; in the hexagonal cells of bees, wasps, and hornets, in the polygons and parallel lines which enter into the construction of a spider's web, and in many other objects in nature.-Now, since God has exhibited the elements of this science before us in his works; since he has endued us with rational faculties to appreciate and apply these elements to useful investigations; and since his wisdom and intelligence, and the beauty and order of his works, cannot be fully understood without such investigations, it is evident, that he must have intended, that men should be occasionally exercised in such studies; in order to perceive the depths of his wisdom, and the admirable simplicity and harmony of his diversified operations. And as the applications of this science are extremely limited in the present world, its more extensive applications, like those of many other branches of knowledge, must be considered as reserved for the life to come.-To suppose, therefore, that such studies will be abandoned, and such knowledge obliterated in a future state, would be to suppose, that the works of God will not be contemplated in that state, and that redeemed men in the heavenly world will lose a part of their rational faculties, and remain inferior in their acquirements to the inhabitants of the earth, even in their present imperfect and degraded condition.

ASTRONOMY.

Astronomy is another science which will occupy the attention of pure intelligences in the future world. The object of this science is, to determine the distances and magnitudes of the heavenly bodies, the form of the orbits they describe, the laws by which their motions are directed, and the nature and destination of the various luminous and opaque globes of which the universe appears to be composed. It is the most noble and sublime of all the sciences, and presents to our view the most astonishing and magnificent objects,whether we consider their immense magnitude, the splendour of their appearance, the vast spaces which surround them, the magnificent apparatus with which some of them are encompassed, the rapidity of their motions, or the dis

play they afford of the omnipotent energy and the intelli. gence of the Creator. In consequence of the cultivation of this science, our views of the extent of creation, and of the sublime scenery it unfolds, are expanded far beyond what former ages could have conceived. From the discoverios of astronomy, it appears, that our earth is but as a point in the immensity of the universe-that there are worlds a thousand times larger, enlightened by the same sun which "rules our day"-that the sun himself is an immense luminous world, whose circumference would enclose more than twelve hundred thousand globes as large as oursthat the earth and its inhabitants are carried forward through the regions of space, at the rate of a thousand miles every minute that motions exist in the great bodies of the uni verse, the force and rapidity of which astonish and overpower the imagination-and that beyond the sphere of the sun and planets, creation is replenished with millions of luminous globes, scattered over immense regions to which the human mind can assign no boundaries.

These objects present an immense field for the contemplation of every class of moral intelligences, and a bright mirror in which they will behold the reflection of the Divine attributes. Of this vast universe, how small a portion has yet been unveiled to our view! With respect to the bodies which compose our planetary system, we know only a few general facts and relations. In regard to the fixed stars, we have acquired little more than a few rude conceptions of their immense distance and magnitudes. In relation to the comets, we only know that they move in long eccentric orbits, that they are impelled in their courses with immense velocity, and appear and disappear in uncertain periods of time. Of the numerous systems into which the stars are arranged, of the motions peculiar to each system, of the relations which these motions have to the whole universe as one vast machine, of the nature and arrangement of the numerous nebula which are scattered throughout the distant regions of space; of the worlds which are connected with the starry orbs; of the various orders of beings which people them; of the changes and revolutions which are taking place in different parts of the universe, of the new creations which are starting into existence, of the number of opaque globes which may exist in every region of space, of the distance to which the material world extends, and of the various dispensations of the Almighty towards the diver

sified orders of intelligences which people his vast empire --we remain in almost profound ignorance, and must continue in this ignorance, so long as we are chained down to this obscure corner of creation. There will, therefore, be ample scope in the future world for farther researches into this subject, and for enlarging our knowledge of those glorious scenes which are at present so far removed beyond the limits of natural vision, and the sphere of human investigation.

The heavens constitute the principal part of the divine empire-compared with which our earth is but as an atom, and "all nations are as nothing, and are accounted to Jehovah as less than nothing and vanity." Vast as this world may appear to the frail beings that inhabit it, it probably ranks among the smallest globes in the universe; but although it were twenty thousand times more spacious than it is, it would be only as a grain of sand when compared with the immensity of creation, and all the events that have passed over its inhabitants as only a few of those ephemeral transactions which crowd the annals of eternity. It is throughout the boundless regions of the firmament that God is chiefly seen, and his glory contemplated by unnumbered intelligences. It is there that the moral grandeur of his dispensations, and the magnificence of his works, are displayed in all their variety and lustre to countless orders of his rational offspring, over which he will continue eternally to preside. Hence the numerous allusions to "the heavens," by the inspired writers, when the majesty of God and the glory of his dominions are intended to be illustrated. "All the gods of the nations are idols; but Jehovah made the heavens." "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all." "By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens.” "The heavens declare the glory of Jehovah." “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained-what is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?" "The heavens, even the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee." 66 By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the spirit of his mouth." "The heavens shall declare his righteousness." "Our God is in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." heavens shall declare thy wonders, O Lord!" "I lift up mine eyes to thee, O thou that dwellest in the heavens."

"The

"Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out." "The heavens for height are unsearchable." "As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.' He is "the God of heaven,--he rideth on the heaven of heavens which he founded of old; heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool."-When the folly of idolaters is exposed, when the coming of Messiah is announced, and when motives are presented to invigorate the faith and hope of the saints, Jehovah is represented as that omnipotent Being who "meteth out the heavens with a span, who spreadeth them out as a curtain, and bringeth forth their hosts by the greatness of his might." "Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out-I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles."* "Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens-I said not to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain." &c.t-These, and hundreds of similar passages, evidently imply, that we ought to contemplate the attributes of God chiefly in relation to the display which is given of them in the firmament of his power that the heavens are by far the most extensive portion of his dominions--and that the power and intelligence digplayed in the formation and arrangement of the hosts of heaven, lay a sure foundation for the hope and joy, and the future prospects of the people of God.

In order to form just conceptions of the beauty and grandeur of the heavens, and of the intelligence of Him who arranged their numerous hosts, some of the fundamental facts and principles of astronomy require to be understood and recognised. The order of the bodies which compose the solar system, or other systems which exist in the universe-the form of their orbits, their proportional distances and periods of revolution-their magnitudes, rotations, velocities, and the various phenomena which are observed on their surfaces-the arrangement and positions of the different clusters of stars-of the stellar and planetary nebula, of double, triple, and variable stars, and many other general facts, require to be known before the mind can receive farther information respecting the structure of the universe. It may be also necessary, even in a higher state of existence, to be acquainted with those contrivances or artificial helps by which very distant objects may be brought

*Isa. xliv. 5, 6.

t Isa. xiv. 18, 19.