The principle of Gravitation[19] is that force which resides in every form of matter, by which particle is attracted by particle, and mass by mass, the less towards the greater. What this may be, we scarcely dare to speculate. In the vast area of its action, which opens before the eye of the mind, we see a power spanning all space, and linking together every one of those myriads of worlds which spangle the robe of the Infinite, and we are compelled to pause. Is this principle of gravitation a property of matter, or is it a power higher than the more tangible forces, is the question which presses on the mind. If we regard it as a subtile principle pervading all space, we compel ourselves to look beyond it for another power yet more refined; and we cannot halt until, ascending from the limitable to the illimitable, we resolve gravitation and its governing influences to the centre of all power--the will of the eternal Creator. Science has developed the grand truth, that it is by the exercise of this all-pervading influence that the earth is retained in its orbit--that the pellucid globe of dew which glistens on the leaf is bound together--that the débris which float upon the lake accumulate into one mass--that the sea exhibits the phenomena of the tides--and the aërial ocean its barometric changes. In all things this force is active, and throughout nature it is ever present. Our knowledge of the laws which it obeys, enables us to conclude that the sun and distant planets are consolidated masses like this earth. We find that they have gravitating power, and by comparing this influence with that exerted by the earth, we are enabled to weigh the mass of one planet against another. In the balance of the astronomer, it is as easy to poise the remote star, as it is for the engineer to calculate the weight of the iron tunnel of the Menai Straits, or any other mechanical structure. Thus throughout the universe the balance of gravitating force is unerringly sustained. If one of the most remote of those gems of light, which flicker at midnight in the dark distance of the starry vault, was, by any power, removed from its place, the disturbance of these delicately balanced mysteries would be felt through all the created systems of worlds.