Psalmist celebrates in the following manner: "The "waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke 66 66 66 they fled; at the voice of thy thunder, they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast found"ed for them." This was probably the case, too, with regard to the division of the stars; which, being separated from the original globe of light, and formed into distinct parts, could not, without motion, be fixed in so widely distant regions of the heavens. Now, that motion cannot be performed in what is called a mathematical moment, excluding all succession, is thus demonstrated. The body would, in this case, be in several places at once; it would be, at the same time, in the place from which it departs, the place to which it is going, and the intermediate place. Nay, it would be, and would not be somewhere, at the same time; for it is implied in the very idea of a body being moved, that it ceases to be in the place whence it removes, and is not yet arrived at the place whither it is going. LXXI. We must hold, nevertheless, that this motion was altogether extraordinary, and extremely ra pid. It is by no means to be reduced to the ordinary rules of motion which are now observed; it owed its beginning, its progress, and its whole modification, to a Divine, and a special command. LXXII. We ought not to imagine, that the production of herbs and trees from the ground, of fishes and reptiles from the waters, and, in fine, of all the animals from the earth, was performed in so rigid and laborious succession, that, the larger parts and the minutest particles being gradually prepared and arranged, the works, at last, with difficulty, attained their perfection, in the u Ps. civ. 6, 7, 8. course of the day. But, at the command of God, the herbs, the trees loaded with their respective fruits, the fishes, the birds, and the other living creatures, suddenly came forth in full maturity;—each of them in a very short space of time, which, in comparison of the succession of months and years during which they now spring and grow up to perfection, may be regarded as a moment. "In a single instant of time," says Eustathius, "those things which existed not before, sprung out of "the earth, each distinguished by its own properties.”* The glorious change of our bodies at the last day, exhibiting a kind of image of the first creation, will, in like manner, be effected" in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." 66 LXXIII. Since, on each of the days, God performed various and highly magnificent works, and some of them posterior to others, (though most of them were accomplished in an exceedingly short time,) yet in such a manner that it is impossible for us to assign the moments of the commencement and termination of the works of each day to their own hours respectively,Divines justly say, according to Scripture, that six days, not six moments, were employed in the creation of the world. It must not be thought that, like a workman restricted to his task or to his time, God laboured in the work from morning to evening. LXXIV. There is only ONE world, this very world, of the creation of which we are now treating, which was made by Christ, into which Christ came, and which comprehends within its circuit all things that were made. To imagine a plurality of worlds, existing either *Hexaem. This sentiment occurs in nearly the same words in Basil. Homil. iv. ▼ 1 Cor. xv. 52. w John i. 3, 10. at the same time or in succession, is the raving of men who are not afraid of "intruding into those things " which they have not seen, vainly puffed up by their own fleshly mind."x LXXV. That God could have created more worlds, distinct and separate from this one, had it so pleased him, it is reasonable for all to believe, who devoutly acknowledge the immeasurable and inexhaustible power of the Deity. As to the objection adduced by some, that this world is the universe,* besides which nothing can be created without a contradiction, it is a childish cavil. This world is now called the universe, because all things which are created, are, in reality, contained within its compass: were another world created, this would cease to be the universe. LXXVI. Nor is another reason alleged of greater force, namely, that there would either be something intermediate, or nothing; if there were nothing, they would not be really different worlds; if something, even this would serve to conjoin them. That things betwixt which no body intervenes, are not different, is not true. It is sufficient to make them different, that they do not approach, and are not in contact with each other. Nor is it material whether another body be actually placed, or it be merely possible to place it, between them; neither of the extreme bodies being removed from its own station. LXXVII. But it excites our surprise, that they who contend that more worlds similar to this universe cannot be made even by the Divine omnipotence, admit without difficulty a plurality of particular worlds, or bodies resembling the earth that we inhabit, in which * Το παν. either men or other living creatures reside. Although, too, according to the modesty which they affect, they allege that on this point nothing must be either rashly affirmed or denied; they cannot restrain themselves from severely censuring those who, merely labouring under prejudices, and in a manner infatuated by selflove, imagine that we men are the sole delight of God, and that our earth is the most pleasant spot of the whole world;—which they suppose cannot be done without despising the other works of God. "We know "not, indeed," they add, "whether there be men or "other creatures in the Moon; but if we intend to "form any opinion at all, it seems more conformable "to truth to affirm, than to deny, that it is inhabited by men." 66 LXXVIII. I know not whether the very learned men derive these notions from the Commentaries of Lucian, or from the report of that man of strict honour and veracity, who, not long ago, flying on the wings of a goose, took an accurate survey of those upper regions, which have been hitherto unknown to other mortals that are sustained by the fruits of this earth. I cannot help recollecting on this occasion, what I long ago read on this subject in Lucian; and for the sake of my pupils, I will here repeat the substance of it in a few words. His story is as follows: After he himself, with his companions, had been carried through the air by a mighty whirlwind during seven days and an equal number of nights, he arrived in his ship on the eighth day at a certain great country in the midst of the air,-an island, which, having the form of a globe, glittered with a profusion of light. They found it both inhabited and VOL. I. * Primus verarum historiarum Liber. 2 L 10. cultivated. But that they might not wander hither and thither, ignorant alike of the men and the places, and not knowing under what part of heaven or into what region of the world they were thrown; it fortunately happened, that certain Horse-vultures, that is, men who rode on vultures instead of horses, and who were some of the King's principal servants, conducted the extraordinary strangers to the palace. The King, having learned from their appearance and dress that they were Grecians, politely informs them that his name is Endymion, and also that the region into which they were conveyed, after having traversed so vast spaces of air, is called by the Greeks ZEAHNH, (the Latins call it LUNA,) the MOON. He told them that he was engaged in an arduous and dreadful war with the King of the Sun, (for that part of the world is no less fully peopled than the Moon,) and added many other stories of the same kind, which it would be improper now to rehearse. The learned men, however, may choose rather, perhaps, to acknowledge themselves indebted to Kepler, the celebrated astronomer, who relates, † that he saw through an optical tube, on the spotted face of the Moon, lofty mountains, great valleys, a vast number of deep ditches, also extensive forests, seas, and many other things closely resembling what is found in the earth which we inhabit. He alleges, too, that the Moon is inhabited, and that its inhabitants are shortlived, but of a stupendous size, fifteen times larger than the men of the earth, equal to whales; and that they build towns in situations exposed to the warm beams of the Sun. Lest doubts of the truth of this account *'Ixoуúxo; in Latin, Equivultures. |