Admir'd Cartefius, let the curious know,
If your magnetic atoms always flow
From pole to pole, what form'd their double fource,
What fpur'd, what gave them their inflected courfe?
Tell, what could drill and perforate the poles,
And to th' attractive rays adapt their holes?
A race fo long what prompts them to purfue?
Have the blind troops th' important end in view?
How are they fure they in the poles fhall meet
Pores of a figure to their figure fit?
Are they with fuch fagacity endued
To know, if this their journey be purfued,
They fhall the earth's conftructure closely bind,
And to the centre keep the parts confin'd?,
Let us review this whole magnetic fcheme,
Till wifer heads a wifer model frame.
For its formation let fit atoms start,
To one determin'd point, from every part.
Encountering there from regions oppofite,
They clash, and interrupt each other's flight;
And, rendezvoufing with an adverse course,
Produce an equal poife, by equal force :
For while the parts by laws magnetic act,
And are at once attracted and attract;
While match'd in ftrength they keep the doubtful field,
And neither overcome, and neither yield,
To happy purpose they their vigour spend;
For these contentions in the balance end,
Which muft in liquid air the globe fufpend.
Befides materials which are brute and blind,
Did not this work require a Knowing Mind,
Who for the tafk fhould fit detachments chufe
From all the atoms, which their hoft diffufe
Through the wide regions of the boundless space,
And for their rendezvous appoint the place?
Who fhould command, by his almighty nod,
Thefe chofen troops, unconfcious of the road,
And unacquainted with th' appointed end,
Their marches to begin, and thither tend ;
Direct them all to take the neareft way,
Whence none of all th' unnumber'd millions flray;
Make them advance with fuch an equal pace,
From all the adverfe regions of the space,
That they at once should reach the deflin'd place;
Should mufter there, and round the centre fwarm,
And draw together in a globous form?
Grant, that by mutual oppofition made
Of adverse parts, their mutual flight is ftaid;
That thus the whole is in a balance laid;
Does it not all mechanic heads confound,
That troops of atoms, from all parts around,
Of equal number, and of equal force,
Should to this fingle point direct their courfe
That fo the counter-preffure every way,
Of equal vigour, might their motions ftay,
And, by a fteady poife, the whole in quiet lay?
Befides, the firucture of the earth regard :
For firmness how is all its frame prepar'd !
With what amazing skill is the vast building rear'd!
Metals and veins of folid ftone are found
The chief materials, which the globe compound.
See, how the hills, which high in air ascend,
From pole to pole their lofty lines extend.
Thefe ftrong unfhaken mounds refift the fhocks
Of tides and feas tempefluous, while the racks,
That fecret in a long continued vein
Pafs through the earth, the ponderous pile fuftain :
Thefe mighty girders, which the fabrick bind,
These ribs robuft and vaft, in order join'd;
Thefe fubterranean walls, difpos'd with art,
Such frength, and fuch stability impart,
That forms above, and earthquakes under ground,
Break not the pillars, nor the work confound.
Give to the earth a form orbicular,
Let it be pois'd, and hung in ambient air;
Give it the fituation to the fun
Such as is only fit; when this is done,
Suppose it still remain'd a lazy heap;
From what we grant, you no advantage reap.
You either muft the earth from reft difturb,
Or roll around the heavens the folar orb.
Elfe what a dreadful face will nature wear!
How horrid will thefe lonefome feats appear!
This ne'er would fee one kind refreshing ray;
That would be ruin'd, but a different way,
Condemn'd to light, and curs'd with endless day;
A cold Icelandian defert one would grow;
One, like Sicilian furnaces, would glow.
That nature may this fatal error thua,
Move, which will please you beft, the earth or fun. 370 But, fav, from what great builder's magazines
You'll engines fetch, what ftrong, what vaft machines
Will you employ to give this motion birth,
And whirl fo fwiftly round the fun or earth?
Yet, learned heads, by what mechanic laws
Will you of either orb this motion cause?
Why do they move? why in a circle? why
With fuch a meafure of velocity?
Say, why the earth-if not the earth, the fun
Does through his winding road the Zodiack run?
Why do revolving orbs their tracks fublime
So conftant keep, that fince the birth of time
They never vary'd their accustom'd place,
Nor loft a minute in fo long a race?
But hold! perhaps I rudely prefs too far;
You are not vers'd in reasoning so severe.
To a first question your reply 's at hand;
Ask but a fecond, and you fpeechless stand.
You fwim at top, and on the furface ftrive,
But to the depths of nature never dive :
For if you did, inftructed you'd explore
Divine contrivance, and a God adore.
Yet fons of art one curious piece devise,
From whofe conftructure motion shall arise.
Machines, to all philosophers 'tis known,
Move by a foreign impulfe, not their own.
Then let Gaffendus chuse what frame he please,
By which to turn the heavenly orbs with ease ;
Those orbs muft reft, till by th' exerted force
Of fome first mover they begin their course :
Meer difpofition, meer mechanic
Can never motion to the globes impart ;
And, if they could, the marks of wife defign
In that contrivance would confpicuous shine.
Thefe queftions ftill recur: we ftill demand,
What moves them firft, and puts them off at hand?
What makes them this one way their race direct,
While they a thousand other ways reje&t ?
Why do they never once their courfe inflect?
Why do they roll with fuch an equal pace,
And to a moment fill perform their race ?
Why earth or fun diurnal stages keep?
In fpiral tracks why through the zodiac creep?
Who can account for this, unless they fay
These orbs th' Eternal Mind's command obey,
Who bad them move, did all their motions guide,
To each its deftin'd province did divide;
Which to compleat, he gave them motive power,
That fhall, as long as he does will, endure?
Thus we the frame of nature have expreft;
Now view the earth in finifh'd beauty dreft;
The various fcenes, which various charms difplay,
Through all th' extended theatre furvey..
See how fublime th' uplifted mountains rise,
And with their pointed heads invade the skies!
How the high cliffs their craggy arms extend,
Diftinguish ftates, and fever'd realms defend !
How ambient fhores coufine the restlefs deep,
And in their ancient bounds the billows keep !:
The hollow vales their fmiling pride unfold;
What rich abundance do their bofoms hold!
Regard their lovely verdure, ravifh'd view
The party-colour'd flowers of various hue !
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