Of fine magnetic darts, of matter made
So fubtle, marble they with ease pervade :
Refin'd, and (next to incorporeal) thin,
Not by Aufonian glaffes to be feen.
These emanations take their conftant flight
Swift from the earth, as from the fun the light;
To a determin'd diftance they afcend,
And there inflect their course, and downward tend.
What can infult unequal Reafon more,
Than this magnetic, this myfterious power?
That cords and chains, beyond conception fmall,
Should gird and bind so fast this mighty ball!
That active rays fhould fpring from every part,
And, though fo fubtle, should fuch force exert!
That the light legions fhould be fent abroad,
Range all the air, and traverse every road!
To stated limits fhould excurfions make,
Then backward of themselves their journey take;
Should in their way to folid bodies cling,
And home to earth the captive matter bring;
Where all things on its furface fpread are bound
By their coercive vigour to the ground!
Can this be done without a Guide Divine?
Should we to this hypothefis incline?
Say, does not here confpicuous Wisdom shine?
Who can enough magnetic force admire?
Does it not counsel and defign require
To give the earth this wondrous energy,
In fuch a measure, such a just degree,
That it should still perform its destin'd task,
As nature's ends and various ufes afk?
For, fhould our globe have had a greater fhare Of this ftrong force, by which the parts cohere, Things had been bound by fuch a powerful chain, That all would fix'd and motionlefs remain ; All men, like ftatues, on the earth would ftand, Nor would they move the foot, or stretch the hand; Birds would not range the fkies, nor beasts the woods, Nor could the fish divide the ftiffen'd floods.
Again, had this ftrange energy been lefs,
Defect had been as fatal as excefs.
For want of cement ftrong enough to bind
The structure fast, huge ribs of rock, disjoin'd
Without an earthquake, from their base would start,
And hills unhing'd from their deep roots depart.
And, while our orb perform'd its daily race,
All beings, found upon its ample face,
Would, by that motion diffipated, fly
Whirl'd from the globe, and fcatter through the fky:
They muft, obedient to mechanic laws,
Affemble where the ftronger magnet draws;
Whether the Sun that stronger magnet proves,
Or elfe fome planet's orb that nearer moves.
Who can unfold the cause that does recall
Magnetic rays, and make them backward fall?
If thefe effluvia, which do upward tend,
Because less heavy than the air, afcend;
Why do they ever from their height retreat,
And why return to feek their central feat?
From the fame caufe, ye fons of art, declare
Can they by turns descend, and rife in air?
Prodigious 'tis, that one attractive ray
Should this way bend, the next an adverse way ;
For, should th' unfeen magnetic jets defcend
All the fame way, they could not gain their end;
They could not draw and bind the fabrick fast,
Unless alike they every part embrac'd.
How does Cartefius all his finews ftrain,
How much he labours, and how much in vain,
The earth's attractive vigour to explain!
This bold contriver thus his thoughts conveys:
Inceffant ftreams of thin inagnetic rays
Gufh from their fountains, with impetuous force,
In either pole, then take an adverfe course :
Those from the Southern pole the Northern feek;
The Southern thofe that from the Northern break:
In either pole these rays emitted meet
Small pores provided, for their figures fit;
Still to and fro they circulating pafs,
Hold all the frame, and firmly bind the mass.
Thus he the parts of earth from flight restrains,
And girds it faft by fine imagin'd chains.
But oh! how dark is human reafon found!
How vain the man, with wit and learning crown'd !
How feeble all his strength, when he etïays
To trace dark Nature, and detect her ways;
Unless he calls its Author to his aid,
Who every fecret fpring of motion laid,
Who over all his wondrous works prefides,
And to their useful ends their caufes guides !
These paths in vain are by enquirers trod;
There's no philosophy without a God.
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 course?
Tell, what could drill and perforate the poles,
And to th' attractive rays adapt their holes?
A race fo long what prompts them to pursue ?
Have the blind troops th' important end in view?
How are they fure they in the poles shall meet
Pores of a figure to their figure fit?
Are they with fuch fagacity endued
To know, if this their journey be purfued,
They shall the earth's conftructure closely bind,
And to the centre keep the parts
confin'd?
Let us review this whole magnetic scheme,
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 thefe 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,
E
Who for the task should fit detachments chufe
From all the atoms, which their hoft diffuse
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, unconscious of the road,
And unacquainted with th' appointed end,
Their marches to begin, and thither tend;
Direct them all to take the nearest way,
Whence none of all th' unnumber'd millions ftray;
Make them advance with fuch an equal pace,
From all the adverse regions of the space,
That they at once fhould reach the deftin'd place;
Should mufter there, and round the centre fwarm,
And draw together in a globous form?
Grant, that by mutual oppofition made
Of adverfe 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 so the counter-preffure every way,
Of equal vigour, might their motions stay,
And, by a steady poife, the whole in quiet lay?
Befides, the ftructure 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..
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