CABINET OF NATURE.

IMMENSE QUANTITY OF MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE; Or, Illustrations of the Omnipotence of the Deity.

(Continued from page 12.)

I have already stated that the surface of the earth contains nearly 200,000,000 of square miles. Now, were a person to set out on a minute survey of the terraqueous globe, and to travel till he passed along every square mile on its surface, and to continue his route without intermission, at the rate of 30 miles every day, it would require 18,264 years before he could finish his tour, and complete the survey of "this huge rotundity on which we tread:"- -so that, had he commenced his excursion on the day in which Adam was created, and continued it to the present hour, he would not have accomplished one-third part of this vast tour.

In estimating the size and extent of the earth, we ought also to take into consideration the vast variety of objects with which it is diversified, and the numerous animated beings with which it is stored;-the great divisions of land and water, the continents, seas, and islands, into which it is distributed; the lofty ranges of mountains which rear their heads to the clouds; the unfathomable abysses of the ocean; its vast subterrane. ous caverns and burning mountains; and the lakes, rivers, and stately forests with which it is so magnificently adorned--the many millions of animals, of every size and form, from the elephant to the mite, which traverse its surface; the numerous tribes of fishes, from the enormous whale to the diminutive shrimp, which "play" in the mighty ocean; the aerial tribes which sport in the regions above us, and the vast mass of the surrounding atmosphere, which encloses the earth and all its inhabitants as "with a swaddling band." The immense variety of beings with which our terrestrial habitation is furnished, conspires, with every other consideration, to exalt our conceptions of that Power by which our globe, and all that it contains, were brought into existence.

The preceding illustrations, however, exhibit the vast extent of the earth, considered only as a mere superfi

cies. But we know that the earth is a solid globe, whose specific gravity is nearly five times denser than water, or about twice as dense as the mass of earth and rocks which compose its surface. Though we cannot dig into its bowels beyond a mile in perpendicular depth, to explore its hidden wonders, yet we may easily conceive what a vast and indescribable mass of matter must be contained between the two opposite portions of its external circumference, reaching 8,000 miles in every direction. The solid contents of this ponderous ball is no less than 263,858,149,120 cubical miles-a mass of material substance of which we can form but a very faint and imperfect conception-in proportion to which, all the lofty mountains which rise above its surface, are less than a few grains of sand when compared with the largest artificial globe. Were the earth a hollow sphere, surrounded merely with an external shell of earth and water, ten miles thick, its internal cavity would be sufficient to contain a quantity of materials one hundred and thirty-three times greater than the whole mass of continents, islands, and oceans, on its surface, and the foundations on which they are supported. We have the strongest reasons, however, to conclude, that the earth, in its general structure, is one solid mass, from the surface to the centre, excepting, perhaps, a few caverns scattered, here and there, amidst its subterraneous recesses; and that its density gradually increases from its surface to its central regions. What an enormous mass of materials, then, is comprehended within the limits of that globe on which we tread! The mind labors, as it were, to comprehend the mighty idea, and, after all its exertion, feels itself unable to take in such an astonishing magnitude at one comprehensive grasp. How great must be the power of that Being who commanded it to spring from nothing into existence, who "measures the ocean in the hollow of his hand, who weigheth the mountains in scales, and `hangeth the earth upon nothing!"

It is essentially requisite, before proceeding to the survey of objects and magnitudes of a superior order, that we should endeavor, by such a train of thought as the preceding, to form some tolerable and clear conception

of the bulk of the globe we inhabit; for it is the only body we can use as a standard of comparison to guide the mind in its conceptions, when it roams abroad to other regions of material existence. And, from what has been now stated, it appears, that we have no adequate conception of a magnitude of so vast an extent; or, at least, that the mind cannot, in any one instant, form to itself a distinct and comprehensive idea of it, in any measure corresponding to the reality.

Hitherto, then, we have fixed only on a determinate magnitude on a scale of a few inches, as it were, in order to assist us in our measurement and conception of magnitudes still more august and astonishing. When we contemplate, by the light of science, those magnificent globes which float around us, in the concave of the sky, the earth, with all its sublime scenery, stupendous as it is, dwindles into an inconsiderable ball. If we pass from our globe to some of the other bodies of the planetary system, we shall find that one of these stupendous orbs is more than 900 times the size of our world, and encircled with a ring 200,000 miles in diameter, which would nearly reach from the earth to the moon, and would enclose within its vast circumference, several hundreds of worlds as large as ours. Another of these planetary bodies, which appears to the vulgar eye only as a brilliant speck on the vault of heaven, is found to be of such a size, that it would require 1,400 globes of the bulk of the earth to form one equal to it in dimensions. The whole of the bodies which compose. the solar system, (without taking the sun and the comets into account,) contains a mass of matter 2,500 times greater than that of the earth. The sun himself is 520 times larger than all the planetary globes taken together; and one million, three hundred thousand times larger than the terraqueous globe. This is one of the most glorious and magnificent visible objects, which either the eye, or the imagination can contemplate; especially when we consider, what perpetual, and incomprehensible, and powerful influence he exerts, what warmth, and beauty, and activity, he diffuses, not only on the globe we inhabit, but over the more extensive regions of surrounding worlds. His energy extends to the ut

most limits of the planetary system--to the planet Herschel, which revolves at the distance of 1,800 millions of miles from his surface, and there he dispenses light, and colour, and comfort, to all the beings connected with that far-distant orb, and to all the moons which roll around it.

Here the imagination begins to be overpowered and bewildered in its conceptions of magnitude, when it has advanced scarcely a single step in its excursions through the material world: For it is highly probable that all the matter contained within the limits of the solar system, incomprehensible as its magnitude appears, bears a smaller proportion to the whole mass of the material universe, than a single grain of sand to all the particles of matter contained in the body of the sun and his attending planets.

(To be continued.)

THE ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY OF

NATIONS.

OF THE FOURTH, OR ROMAN MONARCHY.

Although the fourth monarchy commences with the destruction or subjugation to the Roman power, of the four distinct kingdoms into which the vast empire of Alexander was divided at his death, yet it will be necessary, as introductory to that period of history, to give a sketch of the rise and progress of Roman glory.

Rome, the capital of the Roman empire, is situated on the banks of the river Tiber. This city, so celebrated, was founded about the year 753 B. C. by Romulus. In its original state it was but a small castle on the summit of the Palatine Mountain; and to increase his followers and adherents, the founder offered protection and an asylum to every criminal who, to avoid the punishment due to their offences, were obliged to leave their native country. From such an assemblage a numerous body was soon collected; and, before the death of Romulus, they had covered with habitations the Palatine, Capitoline, Aventine, and Esquiline hills, toge ther with Mount Cœlius, and Quirinalis. Such was the rise of Rome, which for the vastness of its power from these low beginnings, for the extent of its empire,

and its duration is certainly at present, and probably ever will be, the greatest object that universal history can exhibit. In the earlier part of their history the vir tues of temperance, valor, strict discipline, emulation, and, among themselves at least, of rigid justice, were indispensably necessary to the very existence of the state; and in no instance are the advantages which accrue to a people from the adherence to these rules so clearly demonstrated as in the present.

For the sake of order we shall divide the Roman history into three distinct periods; the first is that in which the sovereign power resided in kings; the second while it was lodged in consuls; and the third when it was subject to the sway of emperors.

Romulus, the founder, was the first monarch also of Rome; and the commencement of his reign may be considered as coeval with the building of the city, by the inhabitants of which he was elected king, and acknowledged as the chief of their religion, sovereign magistrate of the city, and general of the army. A guard was appointed to attend upon his person; and twelve men armed with axes, tied up in a bundle of rods, preceded him wherever he went; these were the executioners of the law, and served to impress upon his new subjects an idea of his supreme power. Still, however, the authority delegated to him was under great restrictions, and subject, in many respects, to the control of the senate, an assembly composed of an hundred of the principal citizens of Rome, whose age, wisdom, or valor, gave them a natural authority over their fellow citizens.

In the senate was transacted all the important business of the state, the king himself presiding; but every question was determined by a majority of voices. From the supposed paternal affection which the senators had for the people they were called fathers, and their de scendants patricians. To the patricians belonged all the principal offices of the state, as well as of the priesthood, to which they were appointed by the senate and the people, while the lower ranks of citizens could expect only to reap advantages from their valor in war, or their assiduity in agriculture.

The plebeians assumed to themselves the power of