The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1851-01-11

Earth and the order Of its creation. and though
the impartmg information on the subject OF natu-
raj science is not It's main object IT /. an incidental
one The writers who pednsd tins volume wrote
"fee thousand years ago before the light Of SCI
snee had dawned upon the world They did not
ioiuss 10 draw their Illustrations from oblscts
about them, with which they aud their RS, read
ers were familiar. Have they refrained from Civ
ing their own notions instead Of the revelations Of
the pN'ne mndi Let Us. said the speaker, APP
pioach the subject with all due reverence There
" one chapter, said he, which is filed with tho
most nStonishng inquiries put 10y the IoRp him
self from the whlrlwmd To job To show his ina
hii'y 10 comprehend the Divine power aud wis.
dom The Professor then read the thirty eighth
chapter Of Job and remarked that 1t was import.
ant to bear in mind in considering it that il was
written three thousand years ago whvn the mind
ot man was dark On all the subjects which sci
oncc, then unborn, has since enlightened II was
also important TO remember that II was an ex-
uemcly difficult matter 20 ask ab,truse questions
upon any scientific subject with which the ques.
toner himself was unacquaintcd; IT any one, ig-
noraut ol mathematics mechanics or astronomy
should attempt 10 ask difficult question of an
expert IN either ii those Sciences, he wonld be-
quite rs likely 10 put perfectly simple or easy
inquiry, all question, beng alike difficult to him.
Now II these mtcuogatorles are found to be- Il
the most profound nature those which the mind
OF man has never been able to reply to- and all
OF them grouped together, the fact is most cN-
tIaordlnary fact and one which would Indicate an
intelligence m the author far above that Of any
human being. The first inquiry respects the
suuctlon OF the earth Where was thou when |
la'd the foundation of the earth declare, if thou
hast understanding Who hath laid the measures
Rstt sl., l.. a. 1
the lne upon IL lVbcrcupon ere the Foundations
H'r'Ct ftiH'n,df or who laid the corner stono
thcreof' Has any man been able to answer
these queries What retains the earth in her %.
sulont The limit to which We have arrived tow
ard the explanation Is the discovery Of certain
law called gra,it, And what Is grayitation
we can only define It as the continued and uni.
inrm exercise of the Divine will The second in
tcroSa'ury u respecting the limits Of the sea and
The Operations Of the clouds The power Of the
sea has been witnessed by those who have rode
lis waves M storm or seen the lashrngs Of temp
eNts upon the rocky coasts. We see il heavsd TO
Tnd iro IN tides hut feel secure that its operations
are confined within certain limits What Is it
that holds It, then We're it, specific gravity
chahEod It might sweep over the highest noun.
tam tops II the Atlantic could be transferred to
saturn II would not occupy the same relation to
'""' planet 1t does to ours; tscompnrltiye weight
would bc changed and 1t, operation Of totally
different character, What is the nature of til,
fundamental principle which thus keeps the sea
within il. bounds, Hast thou commanded the
morning since thy DAYS, aud caused the day.
spring To know hi, place r In this third ques,
t"u the Almighty ask. Job to explain the reason
"t the earth, stable uniform and most unaccuun-
table Rotation. lh, iur two thousand wears has
not varied the one-mrdrclh part of second a.
" proved 10y the revolutions Of the moon which
are measured hy the carh- rotation aS a unit
The lecturer here briefly alluded tu the results
which Nuul! follow from any disturbance Of lhis
uniform motion. But this STABILITY j. promised TO
be perpetual, and o, the stated recurrence of day
ani night, - even made the symbol of stability
The passage at - turned as clay to the seal
aud they stand as garment" Professor NJ *.
planned ~ referring To- the atmosphere. which by
absorbing AMI rclrau.ng the light, produced tho
twilight. where Is The way where the light
dwell 9th and as for Ikue,s, " here Is the place
thereof that th"u Shuudt take It to the bound
thereof aui that thou sh"uldst know the paths to
the house thereof Krowe,t thou it because
thou Ms there born' ~ because ,hc number Of
ihv DAYS !. great" The nature or the source ,f
Light IS a. mcNphcJbl- now a. at tho period Of
these in'crwgatorirs II We aiop; the naturalist
What .. thc material which in such infinite profu.
sion aud with such almost infinite speed /, d.rtcd
through space And what Is tho power by
which ri propelled with such enormous rapidty
through vast dI.taucc- without nilictng pnin up
ON Tie eye hy it, contact II we adopt the IN
duloiory theory. the subject ia equally incompre-
hcn-ihlc. What i, the fluid which must pcrvaio
al space, and IN what manner are it' fluctuations
transmitted almost u.tancou.ly and IN right lines
Why does not TIL, fluid pb'lruct the motions az
the heavenly bodies Bat II the nature Of Ligh,
Is undetermined rs cuurres are no less so. Let
Us take one "i the rays which strike our eye soft.
~ ana family a. We s1Za upon the milky way,
and trace II 90 It's home. We pass the limits Of
tie edtihs Orbit We 90 on among anl beyond
our own sp'or system I'LL It is lost in the distance
behind Us, and At the end oi ten wears travel we
stop and look around US We have passed
through space at the rate of 100000 of miles
minute, the speed ut Light itself Have we ar
rived tour destination We have not reached
even these star, which seemed largest to VA from
tho earth. The flriIdcs and Orion are still be.
You'd Us, rctardns their original FORMS AMI tho
little ray VIC are tracing i no brighter than at
our start. Again NC 90 on, and in 10000 years
We stanI upon the very confines Of the system ot
Stars Of which our Sun forms one All the Stars,
on twenty thousand Yeas twice told, It's home
Is stili - Tar bevonl u, that We know nothing Of
It's character Even imagination refuses to assist
our Investigations Millions Of years would not
suffice tn reach the limits of telescope obserya-
ton "Can.t though bind the sweet influences Of
Picialos ar loose the bonds Of Orion Can,'t thou
bring forth Mazznrut in his season or canst thou
guide Arcturus with h.. sins f'--'lhe sweet III.
tluences Of PlriadcS' were explained by refer
ence to the ancient practice OF marking the com
ing Of the seasons by the mracal rising Of par.
ticulor stars ust in advance Of thu sun Thus IN
Egypt, Sirius was the precursor Of the overflow
of the Nile The pleIides marked the vernal
equinox, and iii, fact also serves to fix the date
oithese writings By calculating the advance Of
the Equinox, We find that these questions were
propoundrd ut least 5000 years since. Orion
was Winter constellation which preceded the
Sun while the earth wa, bound with rost.--Maz-
zaroth means Zodiac with all its signs, Areturus,
the speaker supposed To refer to the polar star,
and this verse he considered rs applying ,o the
third or azial motion of the earth, which produced
the precision of the EquuuXes. The lecturer
read an extract from Jeremiah IN Which reference
is made 10 the host Of Heaven which cannot be
numbered" and said that the stars visible to the
naked eve had been numbered-thcn, that few
nights suflced to count them all, for no eye could
Al II,