he sees something inanimate and
insensible, but afterward, judging by more trustworthy indications, he
begins to figure to himself what it is; so philosophers, if they are
surprised at first at the sight of the universe, ought, when they have
considered the regular, uniform, and immutable motions of it, to
conceive that there is some Being that is not only an inhabitant of
this celestial and divine mansion, but a ruler and a governor, as
architect of this mighty fabric.

XXXVI. Now, in my opinion, they[161] do not seem to have even the least
suspicion that the heavens and earth afford anything marvellous. For,
in the first place, the earth is situated in the middle part of the
universe, and is surrounded on all sides by the air, which we breathe,
and which is called "aer,"[162] which, indeed, is a Greek word; but by
constant use it is well understood by our countrymen, for, indeed, it
is employed as a Latin word. The air is encompassed by the boundless
ether (sky), which consists of the fires above. This word we borrow
also, for we use _aether_ in Latin as well as _aer;_ though Pacuvius
thus expresses it,

--This, of which I speak,
In Latin's _coelum_, _aether_ call'd in Greek.

As though he were not a Greek into whose mouth he puts this sentence;
but he is speaking in Latin, though we listen as if he were speaking
Greek; for, as he says elsewhere,

His speech discovers him a Grecian born.

But to return to more important matters. In the sky innumerable fiery
stars exist, of which the sun is the chief, enlightening all with his
refulgent splendor, and being by many degrees larger than the whole
earth; and this multitude of vast fires are so far from hurting the
earth, and things terrestrial, that they are of benefit to them;
whereas, if they were moved from their stations, we should inevitably
be burned through the want of a proper moderation and temperature of
heat.

XXXVII. Is it possible for any man to behold these things, and yet
imagine that certain solid and individual bodies move by their natural
force and gravitation, and that a world so beautifully adorned was made
by their fortuitous concourse? He who believes this may as well believe
that if a great quantity of the one-and-twenty letters, composed either
of gold or any other matter, were thrown upon the ground, they would
fall into such order as legibly to form the Annals of Ennius. I doubt
whether fortune could make a s