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HISTORY OF PHYSICAL ASTRONOMY.

to the contemplative mind. Whether it is allotted for the geometer totransport his analysis effectually to those myriads of bodies which twinklein the starry heavens, and to calculate the perturbations which the solarsystem may one day experience as, in the course of its motion throughspace, it approaches some of the great masses of the universe, are questionswhich cannot fail to occur to the thoughtful inquirer, but are of the classwhich time alone can solve. To use the language of an eminent philosopherit would be rash to be too sanguine; it would be unphilosophical to despair.

Still more shrouded in mystery is the question relative to the natureand mode of operation of the principle which is thus found to exercise anincessant influence over the constituent particles of matter. That it has aclose affinity to heat, light, electricity, and the other imponderable agentsof the material creation,—nay, that all may be only so many distinct mani-festations of some more general principle, is the prevailing opinion of thosewho have devoted much attention to physical researches. This opinionmay one day ripen into an established truth, and views of nature unex-ampled in magnificence and splendour may be reserved for future genera-tions. In the present state of our knowledge, however, all attempts atgeneralizations of this kind must be regarded as premature. A multitudeof difficulties occur in every subject of physical enquiry, the explanation ofwhich must precede any extensive induction of general principles such asthat referred to, but which can only be expected to result from scientificresearches prosecuted throughout a long succession of ages. Whethergravitation is a quality inherent in, and necessarily co-existent with,matter, or whether it is a principle essentially distinct from it andoperating merely on its constituent parts, is a question which, in allprobability, is destined for ever to prove irresolvable to the most penetratinginquiries of the human mind. It is when he thus passes the boundarythat circumscribes the province really accessible to his researches, andseeks with prying interest to penetrate into the illimitable region of theunknown, that man with all his boasted philosophy is reminded of hisnothingness. He has decomposed the subtle light into its primitiveelements, and determined with mathematical rigour the amazing velocityof its transmission through space; he has measured the distances of thecelestial bodies, and traced the laws of their complicated movements—butthe fall of a decayed leaf suggests to him problems, whose solutiontranscends the loftiest powers of his understanding, and in the physiologyof the humblest moss that presents itself to his contemplation he en-counters mysteries that prove impenetrable to his most searching scru-tinies. To examine, arrange, and classify the countless varieties ofphysical phenomena—to define the character, and unfold the admirablebeauty, of the principles that unite them together, and to advance by suc-cessive inductions to relations of a more and more extensive order in theeconomy of the material universe—such are the magnificent enterpriseswhich science proposes to the well-directed efforts of persevering thought—such are those alone whosS realization is attainable by human research.Ennobled with elevating conceptions of creative grandeur, and fraught withsentiments of pure enjoyment, is the mind of the philosopher, who, whileprosecuting the study of nature in the true spirit of rational inquiry, regardshis vocation, not as a pursuit designed to gratify his curiosity or ministerto his ambition, but as a glorious privilege offered to him, by rightlyavailing himself of which he is enabled to advance the condition of hisfellow creatures, and to discover innumerable illustrations of the power,wisdom, and goodness of the Supreme Being.