94 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
"Itistruethatfromthehighestpointofviewthe
sunisonlyoneofamultitude,—asinglestaramong
millions,—thousands of which probably exceed him
inbrightness, magnitude, and power. Heis only a
privateinthehostofheaven.
"Buthealone,amongthecountlessmyriads,isnear
enoughtoaffectterrestrialaffairsinanysensible de-
gree; and hisinfluenceuponthemis suchthatit is
hardtofindthewordtonameit;itismorethanmere
controlanddominance. Hedoesnot,likethemoon,
simply modifyand determinemoreorlessimportant
activitiesuponthesurfaceoftheearth,butheis al-
mostabsolutely,inamaterialsense,theprimemover
ofthewhole. Tohimwecantracedirectlynearlyall
the energy involved in all phenomena, mechanical,
chemical,orvital. Cutoffhisrays forevenasingle
month,andtheearthwoulddie;alllifeuponitssur-
facewouldcease."
"Therehasalwaysbeenamoreorlessdistinctrec-
ognitionofthisfact. ...
"Butwhile thematerial supremacyofthesun has
alwaysbeenrecognizedbythoughtfulminds,andhas
evenbeenmadethe foundation ofreligious systems,
as withthePersians, ithas been reservedformore
moderntimes,andtoourowncentury,toshowclearly
justhow,inwhatsense,andhowfarthesunbeamsare
thelifeoftheearth,andthesunhimselfthesymbol
andviceregentoftheDeity. Thetwodoctrinesofthe
correlationofforcesand theconservation ofenergy,
havingoncebeen distinctlyapprehendedand formu-
lated,ithasbeencomparativelyeasytoconformthem