Introduction

stronomy, deriv’d from Αςηρ Star and Νομος a Law, teaches us the first Order and Laws of the material World; and is a Science, by which the whole Frame of Nature is made adequate to our Faculties, and rendered intelligible to the human Mind. It is by this, the most useful of all natural Knowledge, the Deity himself is made manifest to Mortals, in the most superlative Degree of his infinite Attributes; where in his divine Being, Supremacy, and Super-intendency, are not only exhibited to our Senses, but absolutely prov’d by infallible Reasoning, and made evident to a Demonstration.

By these sublime Speculations alone, we are enabled to comprehend, the almost infinite, extent of the Visible Creation, and with the Eye of Reason and Analogy, penetrate still farther, where real Demonstration fails, solving the vast indefinite Prospect of the Universe, and the glorious Phænomena of its constituent Parts.

In Contemplation of which stupendous Frame, we are naturally led into the pleasing Reflection of finding ourselves under the same providential Care and Government with the infinite Whole, and our Faith established in the great Creator; who, by all Marks of Majesty and Dominion, has form’d us in the only Mould, which imitates himself, and made us to be the only Rational of all known Beings, declaring us by this Act alone, his most peculiar Favourites.

This then, the noblest of all Sciences, which in itself comprehends the very Foundation of all others, justly claims the Pre-eminence due to it, as the primitive Study of Mankind; and ought to be regarded as the only Means by which we can possibly arrive at any tolerable Knowledge of our own State; and the Minuteness of our present Being, compared with what we may hereafter reasonably expect, and that our future Hopes may promise us in Life to come.

But least I should be taxed with Partiality to this, as may favourite Study, and be judg’d to drive the Knowledge of the Deity, (who is undoubtedly Omnipresent) from my own more immediate Habitation, and out of all other Arts and Sciences, wherein he is as undeiably visible, his Wisdom and Power as much unlimited, and not at all less to be glorified, I shall content myself with what is already said upon it, and proceed to give some little Account of its Antiquity and Progress.

Astronomy, as far as we can trace it backwards, looking into past Time, and towards its Fountain Head, we find chiefly owes its original to the antient Arabians, or as some say, to the Chaldean Shepherds; who having, from the Nature of their Employment, much more time on upon their Hands than the Rest of Mankind, seem to have made it their early Study, or rather their Amusement, whilst their Flocks were feeding upon the Mountains.

The first we read of, who more strictly apply’d themselves to this Study were the Sons of Seth, who, as Josephus relates, very early observ’d the Order of the Heavens and Course of the Stars; and we are told by the same Author, that Adam having predicted a twofold Destruction of the Earth, one by Water, and the other by Fire; least their Inventions and Discoveries should slip out of the Remembrance of the remaining Part of Mankind, they erected two Columns, one of Stone and the other of Brick, and inscribed their choicest Inventions upon both of them; that in Case the Brick one should be destroy’d by a Deluge, that of Stone might remain; or otherwise, if the Stone one should be demolished by a Conflagration, that of Brick might remain, and by this Means afford Posterity an Opportunity of being instructed in the Knowledge they had gain’d.

It is also reported of Seth or Sesostris, King of Egypt, that two such Pillars were raised by him, and upon a like Occasion, in the Land of Siriad; one of which being of Stone, presenting to view a like Dedication to Posterity, if History say true, is yet to be seen, even in our Days. Mr Whiston relates from Josephus and others, of the most antient Historians in his Account, of the Rise and Progress of the Mathematicks, that the Assyrians and Chaldeans were the first after the Flood, who applied themselves to the mathematick Arts; which as he says, first sprung up and flourish’d amongst the latter, and was afterwards transfer’d to the Egyptians by Abraham.¹

From Egypt this Science cross’d the Seas to Greece, from Greece was transmitted to Rome, and from thence, by the Extent of the Roman Conquests at length to Albion, now call’d England, where we at present enjoy it in its utmost Perfection, being able to determine by unerring Rules, the true Place, Position, &c. in the Heavens, of every known Star, Planet or Comet, to any Time, past, present or to come.

It has been said already, that the antient Shepherds were supposed to be the first Astronomers upon the Earth, and that the Egyptians were the earliest Improvers of it, being originally taught by Abraham, who, as we are told by the primitive Historians, communicated to them the first Scheme of the Heavens, as an Hypothesis produced by the Chaldeans to solve the diurnal and annual Appearances of the Sun, Moon and Stars; and in particular, five every remarkable Bodies, like Stars, which Length of Time and constant Observation had render’d notable. These Bodies, tho’ in general much brighter than the rest of the Stars, were observed to have very little or no² Senstillation, and in particular to shine much brighter at one Time than at another; every increasing or decreasing their Lustre, and to be very irregular in their Motions, always changing their Position to the Eye, and never to be found in the same Situation amongst the fix’d Stars.

This System long lay dormant amongst the old Egyptian Rowls, but at length Time and Opportunity again renewed it, and in the Philolaic Schools of Greece, received such great Improvements as to gain the Esteem of all the Greek Philosophers, in particular Pythagoras and his Followers. Being still more and more confirmed by Observations to the Time of Aristarchus, and now in great Measure proved, all the Planets were imaged to move round one common Center, the Sun; which they supposed to be the only Fountain of Light, Heat, and Gravity in the System, where as before Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the Sun himself had been conjectured to revolve round the Earth.⁴

• 1st, in the order of the Sun.
• 2dly, round him Mercury.
• 3dly, the Orbit of Venus.
• 4thly, that of the Earth, and about the Earth the Moon.
• 5thly, the Orbit of Mars.
• 6thly, that of Jupiter.
• And lastly, that of Saturn, Without which a great Distance they placed the Sphere of fix’d Stars.

This System had not long been received before the Pythagorean Philosophy began to decline, and that of the Platonicks to take Place, about which Time Plato produce another System, but as much different from the former, as if Astronomy had never been, or at least all Pre-knowledge for some time quite lost.

In the fourteenth Century, after Ptolemy’s⁵ Time, about the year 1500, Nicholaus Copernicus, a Native of Thorn in Polish Prussia, began again to introduce the old Philolaic System, as before described, which till then had lain unknown, or at least unimbraced almost 2000 Years, and upon the Revival of which, Astronomy now began to flourish in Europe; but many Objections were made to this new Astronomy by the Philosohers of his Time, upon account of the Earth’s being made to move out of its Place and round the Sun in a Year, and at the same Time round its own Axis in a Day. These two great and chief Difficulties, tho’ one of them solv’d the Seasons, and the other the Vicissitude of Day and Night, both in the most natural Manner, they could by no Means reconcile; at length the great Tycho Brahe took this Hypothesis into Consideration, and made the following Alterations to it.

All these various Systems here mentioned, you will find justly represented in the large Center Scheme, their Periods, Distances, and various Epicycles, &c. being of no manner of Signification now, I have thought it quite unnecessary to take notice of them in this general Account, but shall be very particular, even in the most minute Circumstances, when I come to treat of the true receiv’d System of the World; and, first, it will be necessary to explain some few astronomical Terms.

The Way the Sun apparently describes among the Stars, is call’d the Ecliptic⁷ (because in it, or near it, the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon are made) to all Parts of this great Circle in the Heavens, if we suppose Lines or Radii directed from the Earth’s Center, and continued ad infinitum, we may easily conceive an infinite Plain, in which the Earth is continually moving round the Sun, and consequently out of this Line the Sun can never stray. But the Planets which all move round him, in different Plains, are all subject to an Appearance, more or less, on both Sides of it, according to the Inclination or Obliquity of their several Orbits with it, and their Distance from the Point of Intersection call’d their Nodes: And in order to take the apparent Motion of the most wandering of them, there are two lesser Circles supposed as Limits, to pass parallel to each other, one on either Side distant from the Ecliptic nine or ten Degrees.

This Zone or Belt is call’d the Zodiac, and twelve of the Constellations that lie in or near that Way, are call’d Signs of the Zodiac, or of the Solar Way.

The Ecliptic is said to be the first discovered as a great Circle by Thales, the Milesian, about 584 Years before Christ, he was the first Observer of the Equinoxes and Solstices, and is reported to have foretold an Eclipse of the Moon to Cyrus.

Their, Order, Names, and Characters, as marked upon all Globes and Spheres, are as follows.

1. Aries, ♈︎
2. Taurus, ♉︎
3. Gemini, ♊︎
4. Cancer, ♋︎
5. Leo, ♌︎
6. Virgo, ♍︎

7. Libra, ♎︎
8. Scorpio, ♏︎
9. Saggittarius, ♐︎
10. Capricornus, ♑︎
11. Aquarius, ♒︎
12. Pisces, ♓︎

Now every Circle is supposed to be divided into 360 Parts, call’d⁸ Degrees, hence every Sign, being a \(\frac{1}{12}\) Part of the Circumference, is 30 Degrees; and for the Uses of Astronomy, Geography, &c. where great Exactness is required, every Degree is divided into 60 Parts call’d Minutes, and again, every Minute is subdivided into 60 seconds.

• Anomaly, is the Quantity of Motion included betwixt the Place of a Planet in its Orbit, and the Point wherein it approaches nearest the Sun.
• Aphelion, that Point in any Planet’s Orbit, most remote from the Sun; near this the Planets move shortest.
• Apogeon, that Point where any Planet is farthest from the Earth; in this the heavenly Bodies appear the least.
• Excentriticy, is in every Ellipsis, and is the Distance from either of the radial Points (otherwise call’d Focuses) to the Center of the inscribed Circle. In one of these Foci in every Planet’s Orbit, the Sun in our Hypothesis, is supposed to be placed.
• Elongation, is the apparent angle or Distance of any secondary Planet from its primary, view’d extra Orbis, or as Venus and Mercury are seen from the Earth with respect to the Sun.
• Geocentric, Place or Motion, is with regard to the Appearance of any Object from the Earth.
• Heliocentric, Place or Motion, is with respect to any Planet as it would appear from the Sun.
• Inclination, is the Angle of Obliquity of any Planet’s Orbit with that of the Earth’s, or Plane of the Ecliptic.
• Perigeon, is that Point in the Orbit of any Planet where it is nearest to the Earth; here the Planet’s Disk appears the largest.
• Perihelion, is that Point or Part of any Planet’s Orbit where the revolving Body approaches nearest the Sun; in this the heavenly Bodies move fastest.
• Parallax, is the Difference betwixt the true and apparent Place of any particular Phenomenon, and the horizontal Parallax is always the greatest.

This Diversity of Appearances arising from the Change of Place, with regard to an Eye placed upon the Earth may be of many Kinds, both with respect to different Position in the Earth’s Orbit, and also to the Situation of the Observer upon the Orb itself.

• Refraction, is the Bending, Change, or Removal of the Rays of Light and Vision, and is greatest near the Horizon, and through Vapours of the densest Composition. See the Atmosphere explained.

The Planets, instead of their Names at Length, are often express’d by these Characters, which are generally made use of either for Abreviation or otherwise, for want of Room, (viz.)

The Earth is often denoted by 🜨

1. Abraham seeing the Egyptians take delight in Arts and Sciences, is said to have communicated Geometry and Astronomy to them, upon his first Arrival in Egypt out of Palestine; others will have the Mathematick Arts to be first found out by the Egyptian Priests themselves.
2. Twinkling occasioned by an Undulation of the Particles of Air in our Atmosphere.

3. Zoroaster after the ancient and great Chaldean Philosopher, consecrated a natural Cave, sacred to Mithra (or the Mind) some say, in the Persian Mountains, in which the seven Planets were represented by seven Gates, one rising several Steps above another, upon a Flight of Stairs.

   • The 1st was Lead, as an Emblem of Saturn.
   • The 2d was Tin, as an Emblem of Venus.
   • The 3d was Brass, as an Emblem of Jupiter.
   • The 4th was Iron, as an Emblem of Mercury.
   • The 5th was Leather, as an Emblem of Mars.
   • The 6th was Silver, as an Emblem of Moon.
   • And the 7th was Gold, to represent the Sun, or Mithra.
4. It is reported of one of the Ptolomies of Egypt, that soon after these Discoveries, he erected a Temple sacred to the Sun, and as a Symbol of the Universe, placed in it all the Planets in their proper Orbits round him; the Sun himself being represented by a constant Fire, in the Middle of it.
5. A notable Instance of the slight Progress of this Study in so many Years.

6. Milton seems to have been convinced of the Earth’s Motion round the Sun, tho’ in his Time this system was but very little known, by his puting the following Queries to Adam where Raphael says,

   . . . . . . . . What if the sun
   Be Center to the World, and other Stars,
   By his attractive Virtue and their own
   Incited, dance about him various Rounds?
   Their wand’ring Course, now high, now low, then hid,
   Progressive, retrograde, or standing still,
   In fix thou seest, and what if, seventh to these,
   The Planet Earth, so stedfast though she seem,
   Insensibly three different Motions move?

7. The Ecliptic is said to be the first discovered as a great Circle by Thales, the Milesian, about 584 Years before Christ, he was the first Observer of the Equinoxes and Solstices, and is reported to have foretold an Eclipse of the Moon to Cyrus.
8. A Degree upon the Earth’s Surface is 60 geographical Miles, but a Degree as far from the Earth as the Moon’s Orbit, is 360 such Miles, and their Quantities are always encreased or diminished in Proportion to the Distance from the Eye, Sector Point, or Radius of the Circle.