Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Celestial Scenery; Or the Wonders of the Planetary System Displayed, Vol. 1 of 2: Illustrating the Perfections of Deity and a Plurality of Worlds
Astr'onomy is that department of knowledge which has for its object to investigate the motions, the magnitudes, and tances of the heavenly bodies; the laws by which their move ments are directed, and the ends they are intended to sub serve in the fabric of the universe. This is a science which has in all ages engaged the attention of the poet, the phi losopher, and the divine, and been the subject of. Their study and admiration. Kings have descended from their thrones to render it homage, and have sometimes enriched it with their labours; and humble shepherds, while watching their ?ocks by night, have beheld with rapture the blue vault of heaven, with its thousand shining orbs, moving in silent gran deur, till the morning star announced the approach of day. The study of this science must have been coeval with the ex istence of man; for there is no rational being who has for the first time lifted his eyes to the nocturnal sky, and beheld the moon walking in brightness amid the planetary orbs and the host of stars, but must have been struck with admiration and wonder at the splendid scene, and excited to inquiries into the nature and destination of those far-distant orbs. Com pared with the splendour, the amplitude, the august motions, and the ideas of infinity which the celestial vault presents, the most resplendent terrestrial scenes sink into inanity, and appear unworthy of being set in competition with the glories of the sky.
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