Page:The Popular Educator Volume 1.djvu/16

 motions, its place in the solar system, the great circles supposed to be drawn on its surface, and its position in the heavens by which it is surrounded on all sides; the diversified nature of its surface, as seen in its mountains, valleys, plains, rivers, seas, and oceans, and in the constitution and phenomena of the atmosphere by which it is enveloped, as in a swaddling band; and the different races of animals, including man, and the various kinds of vegetable and mineral productions which are distributed over its surface.

It will be sufficient for our purpose, in this first lesson, to state generally that the form or shape of the earth is that of a globe or ball, and that the height of the highest mountains on its surface is so small in comparison with the size of the earth, and interfere so little with its rotundity, or roundness, that this height has about the same proportion to the diameter of the earth, which the thickness of common writing-paper has to the diameter of a twelve-inch terrestrial globe. The ancients had no such knowledge of the earth as we now possess; and though some of the most intellectual of the philosophers of Greece, such as the famous Pythagoras, are supposed to have reached the notion of its globular form, it has buried under a cloud of errors and extravagances.

To the most extended view which the human eye can take of any part of the surface of the earth, even from the highest eminence found on that surface, it appears to be one vast and illimitable plain, diversified by hill and dale, land and water, mountain and valley. The heavens appear to be a luminous dome above the head of the observer, bespangled with stars at night, and they seem to rest on the surface of the earth at an immense and immeasurable distance. He feels as if he would be afraid to travel so far, either on land or sea, as to reach the limit which he supposes must ultimately be found to this surface, lest he fall over into an interminable abyss; and he supposes that the phenomena of the heavens are confined to the upper and visible concave which he beholds, while his imagination dooms all beneath his feet to death and everlasting oblivion. Such were the limited notions which prevailed at an early period in the history of the world; and it is one great proof of the antiquity and authenticity of the sacred Scriptures, that they describe men as they really were in ancient times, and as possessing all those antiquated notions in science, particularly in geography and astronomy, which the uninstructed tribes of Asia, Australasia, and Polynesia possess at the present day.

"The Hebrews," says an eminent writer, "obviously never attempted to form any scientific theory respecting the structure of the earth. The natural impression which represents it as a flat surface, with the heaven as a firmament or curtain spread over it, is found to be universally prevalent. Beneath was conceived to be a deep pit, the abode of darkness, and the shadow of death. In one place we find the grand image of the earth being hung upon nothing; but elsewhere the pillars of the earth are repeatedly mentioned; and sometimes the pillars of heaven. In short, it is evident that every writer caught the idea impressed on his senses and imagination by the view of these grand objects, without endeavouring to arrange them into any regular system." We have quoted this passage as a specimen of the loose style of writing and thinking regarding the science of the sacred Scriptures. The style of these writings, in the places above referred to, is highly poetical; and who, we would ask, expects to find didactic theories in a poem? The poet seizes the phenomena of nature as they appear to the eye, and enlarges, magnifies, or arranges them at pleasure; he is not tied to rules, nor confined to the language of the schools. To do so, would destroy his poetry, and reduce his imagination to an automaton. The book of Job, in which these grand expressions are found, is the oldest book in the world. It was written long before the time of Moses; and though found in the Hebrew language, it was evidently not written by a Hebrew. It is curious, however, that the writer of this book should have lighted upon such a striking fact, as that the earth hangs upon nothing! Had this been found in a Chinese or a Hindoo book, possessing such claims to antiquity as the Hebrew book, it would have been lauded to the skies as a proof of superior knowledge, and would have been held as an infallible proof that the Chinese or the Hindoos, ages ago, were actually acquainted with the facts of modern science.

The same writer looks to Phœnicia for the origin of geographical knowledge; and there can be no doubt that, being some of the earliest merchants and traders both by sea and land, the Phœnicians must have been among the first nations of the world