Our readers will please pardon us for the digression we have made from the special subject we have under consideration. Had we not been duly impressed with the importance and correctness of our views upon the subject of the freedom and liberty of mind and conscience, and of the personal accountability of _all_ to God alone, we should not have thus pursued the theme. We believe firmly in the good _offices_ of a teaching and advising ministry, but not in anywise where it _trammels the mind or becomes the arbiter of the conscience_.
Returning to our subject, _viz._, the earlier discoveries of the science of Astronomy. The intelligence of the world is indebted to Sir Isaac Newton, who lived during the latter part of the sixteenth century, for the discovery of the laws of _universal gravitation_. His discovery, and philosophy, furnished the basis upon which all subsequent astronomers have worked.
The power of attraction and force of gravitation are the laws which govern the universe of matter. "The discovery of this law," says Prof. Olmsted, "made us acquainted with the hidden forces that move the great machinery of the universe. It furnished the key which unlocks the inner temple of Nature, and established the science of Astronomy upon a sure and firm basis. Thus we discover in Nature a tendency of every portion of matter toward some other. This tendency is called gravitation. The larger the body, the more powerful the attraction; and this attraction is always toward the centre. Hence, you may cast an object of weight into the air, and, when the impelling force you have given it ceases to force it upward, it falls in a direct line to the earth." So also may the Chinaman, placed on the opposite side of the globe, cast one as he deems upward, which is forcing it in an opposite direction from where you sent yours; yet, when his impelling force is lost, his too falls back to the earth, each falling toward the other. This is gravitation, produced by the power of attraction. Thus we now see this principle made plain to the simplest comprehension.
We come, now, to the contemplation of that which is of far greater importance to us than all other planets, worlds, stars, and wonders in the siderial Heavens. This is the Sun, which warms and lights up our earth, and all the other planets within its sphere.