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Title: An original theory or new hypothesis of the Universe
Author: Wright, Thomas
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "An original theory or new hypothesis of the Universe" ***
HYPOTHESIS OF THE UNIVERSE ***
AN
NEW HYPOTHESIS
OF THE
UNIVERSE,
Founded upon the
LAWS of NATURE,
AND SOLVING BY
MATHEMATICAL PRINCIPLES
THE
General Phænomena of the Visible Creation;
AND PARTICULARLY
The VIA LACTEA.
Compris'd in Nine Familiar Letters from the Author to his Friend.
And Illustrated with upwards of Thirty Graven and Mezzotinto Plates,
By the Best Masters.
By THOMAS WRIGHT, of Durham.
One _Sun by Day, by Night_ ten Thousand _shine,
And light us deep into the_ Deity. Dr. Young.
_LONDON_:
Printed for the Author, and
sold by H. Chapelle, in _Grosvenor-Street_.
MDCCL.
[Illustration]
THE
PREFACE.
[Illustration]
THE Author of the following Letters having been flattered into a
Belief, that they may probably prove of some Use, or at least Amusement
to the World, he has ventured to give them, at the Request of his
Friends, to the Publick. His chief Design will be found an Attempt
towards solving the Phænomena of the _Via Lactea_, and in consequence
of that Solution, the framing of a regular and rational Theory of the
known Universe, before unattempted by any. But he is very sensible how
difficult a Task it is to advance any new Doctrine with Success, those
who have hitherto attempted to propagate astronomical Discoveries in
all Ages, have been but ill rewarded for their Labours, tho' finally
they have proved of the greatest Benefit and Advantage to Mankind.
This ungrateful Lesson we learn from the Fate of those ingenious Men,
who, in ignorant Times, have unjustly suffered for their superior
Knowledge and Discoveries; they who first conceived the Earth a
Ball, were treated only with Contempt for their idle and ridiculous
Supposition, as it was called; and he who first attempted to explain
the _Antipodes_, lost his Life by it; but in this Age Philosophers
have nothing to fear of this sort, the great Disadvantages attending
Authors now, are of a widely different Nature, rising from the
infinite Number of Pretenders to Knowledge in this Science, and much is
to be apprehended from improper Judges, tho' from real ones nothing;
for nothing is more certain than this, as much as any Subject exceeds
the common Capacity of Readers, so much will the Work in general be
condemned; the Air of Knowledge is at least in finding Fault, and this
vain Pretence generally leads People, who have no real Foundation for
their Judgment to argue from, to ridicule what they are too sensible
they do not understand. Thus the same Disadvantages too often attend
both in publick and private an exceeding good Production equally the
same as a very bad one: But the Author is not vain enough to think
this Work without Faults, has rather Reason to fear, from the Weakness
of his own Capacity, that there may be many; but he hopes the Design
of the Whole will, in some measure, plead for the Imperfection of the
Parts, if the Merits of the Plan should be found insufficient for his
full Pardon, in attempting so extensive a Subject.
In a System thus naturally tending to propagate the Principles of
Virtue, and vindicate the Laws of Providence, we may indeed say too
little, but cannot surely say too much; and to make any further
Apology for a Work of such Nature, where the Glory of the Divine
Being of course must be the principal Object in View, would be too
like rendering Virtue accountable to Vice for any Author to expert to
benefit by such Excuse. The Motive which induces us to the Attempt of
any Performance, where no good Reason can be supposed to be given for
the Omission, or Neglect of it, will always be judged an unnecessary
Promulgation, and consequently every Attempt towards the Discovery
of Truth, the Enlargement of our Minds, and the Improvement of our
Understandings will naturally become a Duty. If therefore this
Undertaking falls short of being instrumental towards the advancing
the Adoration of the Divine Being in his infinite Creation of higher
Works, and proves unable to answer all Objections that may possibly
arise against it, yet will its Imperfections appear of such a Nature to
every candid Reader, as to afford the Author a sufficient Apology for
producing them to the World: And it is to be hoped farther, that where
a Work is entirely upon a new Plan, and the Beginning, as it were, of
a new Science, before unattempted in any Language, the Author having
dug all his Ideas from the Mines of Nature, is surely entitled to every
kind of Indulgence.
To those who are weak enough to think that such Enquiries as these are
over-curious, vain, and presumptive, and would willingly, suitable to
their own Ignorance and Comprehension, set Bounds to other People's
Labours, I answer with Mr. _Huygens_, "That if our Forefathers had
been at this Rate scrupulous, we might have been ignorant still of the
Magnitude and Figure of the Earth; or that there was such a Place as
_America_. We should not have known that the Moon is enlightened by
the Sun's Rays, nor what the Causes of the Eclipses of each of them
are; nor a Multitude of other Things brought to Light by the late
Discoveries in Astronomy; for what can a Man imagine more abstruse, or
less likely to be known, than what is now as clear as the Sun."
Had we still paid that Homage to a Name,
Which only God and Nature justly claim;
The western Seas had been our utmost Bound,
Where Poets still might dream the Sun was drown'd;
And all the Stars that shine in Southern Skies,
Had been admir'd by none but savage Eyes.
Dryden.
Besides the Nobleness and Pleasure of these Studies, _Wisdom_ and
_Morality_ are naturally advanced, and much benefited by them, and
even Religion itself receives a double Lustre, "to the Confusion of
those who would have the Earth, and all Things formed by the shuffling
Concourse of Atoms, or to be without Beginning." In Astronomy, as well
as in natural Philosophy, though we cannot positively affirm every
thing we say to be Facts and Truth, yet in so noble and sublime a Study
as that of _Nature_, it is glorious, as Mr. _Huygens_ says, even to
arrive at Probability.
Notwithstanding then the Disadvantages which ever have attended all new
Discoveries, either thro' the Ignorance of the Age, or the universal
Passion of Ridicule in such contented Creatures, as can't comprehend,
yet ever attacking with a fool-hardy Resolution, the advancing Ensigns
of Knowledge, if Ignorance was Virtue, and Wisdom Vice; I say,
regardless of this noisy Shore, it is sure our Duty to spring forward,
and explore the secret Depths of Infinity, and the wonderful hidden
Truths of this vast Ocean of Beings. But how the heavenly Bodies were
made, when they were made, and what they are made of, and many other
Things relating to their Entity, Nature, and Utility, seems in our
present State not to be within the Reach of human Philosophy; but then
that they do exist, have final Causes, and were ordained for some wise
End, is evident beyond a Doubt, and in this Light most worthy of our
Contemplation.
He who thro' vast Immensity can pierce,
See Worlds on Worlds compose one Universe,
Observe how System into System runs,
What other Planets, and what other Suns;
What varied Being peoples ev'ry Star;
May tell why Heav'n made all Things as they are.
Pope.
To expect that so new an Hypothesis should meet with universal
Approbation, would be an unpardonable Vanity; nor is it reasonable
every Reader should think the Author obliged to remove all his
Prejudices and Partialities, so far as to give him the perfect Picture
of the Universe he likes best. In many Cases it would be so far from
being better for the World, if all Men judged and thought alike, that
Providence seems rather to have guarded against it as an Evil, than any
how to have promoted it as a general Good: But the following Theory
regards the Whole rather than Individuals: And the many worthy Authors
cited in the Work, who have all greatly favoured this extensive Way
of Thinking, will, I hope, be a sufficient Excuse for forming these
obvious Conjectures into a Theory, especially where so great a Problem
is attempted as the Solution of the _Via Lacteal_ Phænomenon, which
has hitherto been looked upon as an insurmountable Difficulty. How
the Author has succeeded in this Point, is a Question of no great
Consequence; he has certainly done his best; another, no Doubt, will
do better, and a third perhaps, by some more rational Hypothesis, may
perfect this Theory, and reduce the Whole to infallible Demonstration:
The first System of the solar Planets was far from a true one, but it
led the Way to Perfection, and the last we can never too much admire.
It is well known, that the first System of the Planets was also but a
Conjecture, yet none will deny that it was an happy one.
The Discovery of the Magnet Poles; the Government of the Tides;
proportional Distance and Periods of the Planets, _&c._ have all their
Uses, and undoubtedly were designed to be known. Ignorance is the
Disgrace of Mankind, and sinks human Nature almost to that of Reptiles.
Knowledge is its Glory and the distinguishing Characteristic of
rational Creatures.
To Enquiries of this sort, then sure we may say with _Milton_, That
God's own Ear listens delighted.
The Subject is, no Doubt, the noblest in Nature, and as such, will
always merit the Attention of the thinking Part of Mankind. Men of
Learning and Science, in all Ages, have ever made it their peculiar
Study. Towards the latter End of the Republic, and afterwards in
the more peaceable Times of _Trajan_ and the _Plinys_, we have no
Reason to doubt but that Astronomy was in the highest Reputation: And
notwithstanding _Greece_ had been the chief Seat of the Philosophers,
yet may we suppose _Rome_ in those Days little inferior in the
Knowledge of the Stars, when we find Men[A] of the first Figure in Life
become Authors upon the Subject.
[Footnote A: _Cicero_ translated the Phænomena of _Aratus_ into Latin
Verse. _Julius Cæsar_, as _Pliny_ relates, wrote of Astronomy in
_Greek_, and is said to have left several Books of the Motion of the
Stars behind him, derived from the Doctrine of the _Egyptians_. _Ant.
Chris._ 45. He with _Sosigenes_ reformed the _Roman_ Year, which was
first invented by _Numa Pompilius_. _Germanicus Cæsar_ also translated
_Aratus's_ Phænomena into _Latin_ Verse _Anno Dom._ 15. _Tiberius_ and
_Hadrian_ are also said to have wrote on Astronomy.]
We have many Instances to shew, that Astronomy was in the greatest
Repute amongst the Antients of all Ranks, and almost every where looked
upon as one of the greatest, if not as one of the first Qualifications
of their best Men. As a Confirmation of which, we find in the
historical Accounts of the _Argives_, a very warm Contest betwixt the
two Sons of _Pelops_ 1205 Years before _Christ_, thus testified by
_Lucian_: When the _Argives_, by publick Consent, had decreed that the
Kingdom should fall to him of the two, who should manifest himself
the most learned in the Knowledge of the Stars, _Thyestes_ thereupon
is said to have made known to them, the Constellation, or Sign of the
_Zodiack_ call'd _Aries_: But _Atreus_ at the same time discovering
to them the Course of the Sun, with his various Rising and Setting,
demonstrating his Motion to be [B]contrary to that of the Heavens, or
diurnal Motion of the Stars, was thereupon elected King.
[Footnote B: Hence arose the Fable of the Sun's going backwards in the
Days of _Atreus_, as if struck with Abhorrence of his bloody Banquet.
_Vide Ovid's_ Metamorphosis.]
To recite more of the most eminent Patrons and Professors of this kind
of Learning here, will carry me too far from my present Purpose; for
farther Information therefore, I shall refer the inquisitive Reader, to
that curious Catalogue in _Sherburn's_ Sphere of _Manilius_, where so
many ruling [C]Men of all Ages and Nations swell, and illustrate the
Number.
[Footnote C: Seven Emperors, nine Kings, and as many sovereign Princes.
_Charlemagne_ wrote _Ephemerides_, and named the Months and Winds in
_High Dutch_, 770. _Rich._ II. _&c._]
In a Word, when we look upon the Universe as a vast Infinity of Worlds,
acted upon by an eternal Agent, and crowded full of Beings, all tending
through their various States to a final Perfection, and reflect upon
the many illustrious Personages, who have, from time to time, thought
it a kind of Duty to become Observers, and consequently Admirers of
this stupendous Sphere of primary Bodies, and diligent Enquirers into
the general Laws and Principles of Nature, who can avoid being filled
with a kind of enthusiastic Ambition, to be acknowledged one of the
Number, who, as it were, by thus adding his Atom to the Whole, humbly
endeavours to contribute towards the due Adoration of its great and
divine Author.
I judge it will be quite unnecessary to say any thing about the Order
of the Work, since that would be only a Repetition of the Table of
Contents, to which the Reader is referred, as to the properest Account
that can here be given.
[Illustration]
THE
CONTENTS.
LETTER THE FIRST.
_Concerning the Opinions of the most eminent Authors whose
Sentiments upon this Subject have been published in their
Works._ Page 1
LETTER THE SECOND.
_Concerning the Nature of Mathematical Certainty, and the various
Degrees of Moral Probability proper for Conjecture._ 9
LETTER THE THIRD.
_Concerning the Nature, Magnitude, and Motion of the Planetary
Bodies round the Sun._ 18
LETTER THE FOURTH.
_Of the Nature of the heavenly Bodies continued, with the Opinions
of the Antients concerning the Sun and Stars._ 27
LETTER THE FIFTH.
_Of the Order, Distance, and Multiplicity of the Stars, the_ Via
Lactea, _and Extent of the visible Creation._ 37
LETTER THE SIXTH.
_Of General Motion amongst the Stars, the Plurality of Systems,
and Innumerability of Worlds._ 48
LETTER THE SEVENTH.
_The Hypothesis, or Theory, fully explained and demonstrated,
proving the sidereal Creation to be finite._ 58
LETTER THE EIGHTH.
_Of Time and Space, with regard to the known Objects of Immensity
and Duration._ 67
LETTER THE NINTH.
_Reflections, by way of_ General Scolia, _of Consequences relating
to the Immortality of the Soul, and concerning Infinity and
Eternity._ 77
Directions for placing the PLATES.
_Plate._ _Page._ _Plate._ _Page._
I. 10 XVII. 51
II. 11 XVIII. 52
III. 16 XIX. 56
IV. 20 XX. _ibid._
V. _ibid._ XXI. 62
VI. 22 XXII. 63
VII. _ibid._ XXIII. 64
VIII. _ibid._ XXIV. _ibid._
IX. 22 XXV. 64
X. 23 XXVI. _ibid._
XI. 35 XXVII. 64
XII. 38 XXVIII. 65
XIII. _ibid._ XXIX. _ibid._
XIV. 40 XXX. 70
XV. 42 XXXI. 83
XVI. _ibid._ XXXII. _ibid._
_Some of the Principal ERRATA._
_Page_ _Line_ _the Words_ _Read._
2 _ult._ to cease relating ceasing to relate
4 3 Phænomenon Phænomena
16 15 incomsible incomprehensible
21 12 comprehend comprehending
33 28 compared is compared
34 37 form from
43 20 volving revolving
49 24 immoveable moveable
61 19 much much as
62 28 XXIII. XXI.
65 4 where any where
67 15 also all so
69 29 one our
_Plate_ X. read the Characters of the Planets in this Order ♃ ☿ ♄ ♂ ♀
[Note: Transcriber made the corrections above in the text.]
A
LIST
OF THE
SUBSCRIBERS.
A.
_Lord_ Anson.
_Hon. Mr._ Archer.
Charles Ambler, _Esq_.
B.
_Duke of_ Beaufort.
_Duke of_ Bedford.
_Dutchess of_ Beaufort.
_Lord_ Berkely, _of_ Straton.
Miles Barne, _Esq_;
Lancelot Barton, _Esq_;
_Hon._ Antoine Bentinck.
_Hon._ John Bentinck.
Norbone Berkely, _Esq_;
John Brown, _Esq_;
---- Blaman, _Esq_;
Thomas Brand, _Esq_;
J. Bevis, _M. D._
_Rev._ T. Bonney, _A. M._
C.
_Countess of_ Cunengesby.
_Lord_ Cornwallis.
_Lady_ Cornwallis.
Edward Cave, _Esq_;
John Chamock, _Esq_;
_Hon. and Rev. Dr._ Cowper.
_Mr._ Richard Chad.
_Mr._ Henry Chapell.
Is. Colepepper.
_Mr._ George Conyers.
D.
_Rev._ John Dealtary, _A. M._
_Mr._ Samuel Dent.
F.
Charles Fitzrea Scudamore, _Esq_;
Kean Fitzgerald, _Esq_;
Thomas Fonnerau, _Esq_;
Robert Rakes Fulthorpe, _Esq_;
_Mr._ Samuel Farrant.
_Mr._ Paul Fourdrinier.
G.
_Marchioness_ Grey.
_Lord_ Glenorchy.
Francis Godolphin, _Esq_;
Roger Gale, _Esq_;
James Gibbon, _Esq_;
Ralph Goward, _Esq_;
Ralph Gowland, _Esq_;
Ralph Gowland, _Junior_, _Esq_;
_Dr._ Gregory.
_Dr._ Griffith.
_Rev._ John Griffith, _A. M._
_Rev._ Middlemore Griffith.
H.
_Lord_ Hardwick, _Lord High Chancellor of_ Great-Britain.
_Hon._ James Hamilton.
_Mr._ Thomas Heath.
_Mr._ Thomas Holt.
John Hughes, _Esq_;
J.
_Earl of_ Jersey.
Richard Jackson, _Esq_;
_Rev. Mr._ Jones.
K.
---- Knowles, _Esq_;
_Dr._ Kendrick.
_Mrs._ Kennon, 4.
L.
_Lady Vicountess_ Limerick.
_Sir_ William Lee, _Bart._
William Lester, _Esq_;
_Rev. Dr._ Long, _Master of_ Pembroke-hall, Cambridge.
William Lloyd, _Esq_;
_Mr._ Andrew Lawrence.
M.
R. J. Mead, _M. D._
Richard Meyrick, _M. D._
Owen Meyrick, _Esq_;
Pierce Meyrick, _Esq_;
N.
_Duke of_ Norfolk.
_Lord_ North.
_Lord Bishop of_ Norwich.
Richard Nicholls, _Esq_;
_Mrs._ Norsa.
P.
_Duke of_ Portland.
_Earl of_ Pembroke, _&c._ 2.
_Countess of_ Pembroke, _&c._
_Lady_ Palmerston.
Robert Money Penny, _Esq_;
_Sir_ Francis Pool.
_Sir_ John Pool.
John Probyn, _Esq_;
_Rev._ Mr. Pierce.
_Mr._ Dominick Pile.
_Mr._ Powel, _of_ Cambridge.
R.
_Dutchess of_ Richmond, _&c. &c._
James Ralph, _Esq_;
Allan Ramsey, _Esq_;
William Read, _Esq_; 2.
Henry Reveley, _Esq_;
William Reveley, _Esq_;
S.
_Sir_ George Savile.
---- Serle, _Esq_;
_Rev. Dr._ Smith, _Master of_ Trinity College, Cambridge.
_Miss_ Stonehouse.
William Symonds, _Esq_;
_Mr._ James Scot.
_Mr._ James Stephens.
T.
_Lord Viscount_ Townshend.
John Temple, _Esq_;
James Theobald, _Esq_;
Charles Townshend, _Esq_;
_Mrs._ Mary Trevor.
_Mr._ James Thornton.
V.
_Lord Viscount_ Villiers.
W.
_Lady Frances_ Williams.
_Miss_ Williams.
_Miss_ Charlotta Williams.
_Rev._ Thomas White, _A. M._
---- White, _Esq_;
Charles Louis Wiedmarkter, _Esq_;
_Mr._ Ward.
Y.
_Hon._ Philip York.
_Dr._ Arthur Young, _Preb. of_ Cant.
[Illustration]
LETTER THE FIRST.
_Opinions of the most eminent Authors whose Sentiments on the following
Subject have been published in their Works._
_SIR_,
Reflecting upon the agreeable Conversation of our last Meeting, which
you may remember chiefly turned upon the Stars, and the Nature of the
planetary Bodies; a Subject, which is generally allowed to give true
Pleasure to all those who take Delight in mathematical Enquiries;
and having not a little Regard to the repeated Request in your late
Letters, I have at length undertaken to explain to you, as far as I am
able, my Theory of the _Universe_, and the Ideas I have form'd of the
known Creation.
The Hypothesis upon which this new Astronomy is founded, and now
reduced into a regular System, was the result of my Astronomical
Studies[D] full fifteen years ago, hence I hope you will allow, I have
more than observed _Horace's_ celebrated Aphorism,
_Nonumque prematur in annum._
[Footnote D: The first Scheme of this Hypothesis was plann'd in the
Year 1734, representing in a Section of the Creation, eighteen Feet
long and one broad, several thousand Worlds and Systems, and a great
Number of emblematical Figures, now in the Author's Possession,
together with a Scheme of the entire Creation, completed since,
nine Feet long and six broad, more fully illustrating upon the same
Construction the Innumerability of Systems and Worlds.]
The Subject, I have often observed, you have listened to with a pleased
Attention, and I am the more incouraged to explain it at large to you,
as I am perswaded you don't want to be convinced of its valuable Uses
and Importance.
I remember you have often told me, that to apply ourselves to the Study
of Nature, was the surest and readiest Way to come at any tolerable
Knowledge of ourselves, however difficult the Task might prove either
in the Attempt, or the attaining it, and the less to be neglected, as
it never fails to introduce a proper Knowledge of the Divine Being,
as a certain Consequence along with it, and such a Knowledge, as will
naturally make every Man, who has but a tolerable Share of common
Sense, and is not a Slave to another's Reason, without any other
Evidence or Motive, in all Stations, and under all Circumstances, Act
justly, Live chearfully, and die full of Hope in the Expectation of a
happy Sequel, in Futurity.
_Eternity_ is written in the Skies:
Mankind's Eternity, nor _Faith_ alone;
_Virtue_ grows there ----
_Dr._ Young.
A learned Author on the Attributes, recommending these Studies as a
reasonable and moral Service, says, "Sure, it is most becoming such
imperfect Creatures as we are, to contemplate the Works of God with
this Design, that we may discern the Manifestations of Wisdom in them;
and thereby excite in ourselves those devout Affections, and that
superlative Respect, which is the very Essence of Praise."
Who turns his Eye, _on hese wheeling Globes
_But must enquire_ ---- what Hand behind the Scene,
What Arm Almighty, put these wheeling Globes
In Motion, and wound up the vast Machine?
The enchanting Idea _Milton_ had of the Subjects of Astronomy whose
truly sublime Way of thinking and writing perhaps was never so nearly
equalled, or attempted before this Reverend Author's _Night-Thoughts_,
appear'd is finely shewn in the Eighth Book of his _Paradise Lost_,
where he makes his _Adam_, so earnestly attentive to the Angel
_Gabriel_, as ceasing to relate the Mysteries of Creation.
The Angel ended, and his _Adam's_ Ear
So charming left his Voice, that he awhile
Thought him still speaking; still stood fix'd to hear.
_Milton's_ own Ideas of the Universe too, which no doubt he had
gathered from astronomical Authors, and had reconciled himself to, we
are fully made acquainted with in the same Book, where the Arch-angel
says, in answer to _Adam's_ Enquiries.
----Other Suns perhaps
With their attendant Moons thou wilt descry
Communicating Male and Female Light,
Which two great Sexes animate the World,
Stor'd in each Orb, perhaps with some that live:
For such vast Room in Nature, unpossest
By living Soul, desert and desolate,
Only to shine, yet scarce to contribute
Each Orb a Glimpse of Light, convey'd so far
Down to this habitable, which returns
Light back to them, is obvious to Dispute.
But before I presume to plan my own Discoveries and Conjectures into a
Theory, both in Justice to those who have in some measure been in the
same Way of Thinking, and also as a Defence of myself for producing so
new an Hypothesis to the World, which otherwise (though any Apology
made to you I know will be unnecessary) may appear to too many but an
idle _Chimera_ of my own. I judge it will be highly proper, by way
of strengthening my own Arguments, and adding more Weight to what I
shall myself advance in the following Letters, to give you in this the
Opinions of the most able Writers, whose Works I have read upon the
Subject. I mean so far as relates to the now general received Notion,
that the Stars are all Suns, and surrounded with planetary Bodies, with
which I shall set out; and shew you, it is not a Thing merely taken for
granted, but has ever been the concurrent Notion of the Learned of all
Nations, as shall be further shewn, in its proper Place, and as nearly
as Possibility will admit of, demonstrated to be Truth.
The following is an Extract from Mr. _Toland_, in his Account of the
Works of
Jordanus Bruno.
"The Divine Efficacy (says this Author in his infinite Creation) cannot
stand idle, without the Want of Will or Power; but any Imbecility in
such a Being argues Imperfection, and since any finite Produce compared
with Infinity is as nothing, or rather as the Beginning of Good, it
must be no less idle, and invidious in producing a finite Effect, than
in producing none at all.
"Hence, as all Finites, singly considered, are but as Commencements of
something more to be expected.
"Omnipotence, in making the Creation finite, will appear to be no less
blameable for not being willing, than for not being able, to make it
otherwise; _i. e._ infinite, as being an infinite Agent upon a finite
Subject, which is repugnant to Reason."
It follows then that, Creation must be not only extensively,
but intensively indefinite, and beyond the Reach of the human
Understanding to comprehend; and that the one is as necessary as the
other, _i. e._ an infinite Expanse is as reconcileable to our Reason,
as infinite Parts are to our Senses.
All the Attributes of the Divine Being are, as any one of them,
incomprehensible to his Creatures; why should our Imagination then be
supposed to extend beyond the divine Activity?
"Thus, adds the above Author, the Excellency of God is adequately
magnified, and the Grandeur of his Empire made manifest; he is not
glorified in one, but in numberless Suns; not in one Earth, or in one
World, but in ten thousand thousand of infinite Globes."
An infinite Representation of an infinite Original, and a Spectacle
befitting the Excellency and Eminence of him, that can neither be fully
conceived, imagined, or comprehended.
What read we here? th' Existence of a God?
Yes, and of other Beings, Man above,
Natives of Æther! Sons of higher Climes!
Dr. Young.
"If the Existence of this one World be good or convenient, it is not
less good or convenient that there be infinite others like it.
"The infinite efficient Cause would be absolutely defective, without
an infinite Effect; and besides, by conceiving the Infinity of the
Universe and innumerable Beings, the Understanding rests satisfied, and
is reconciled with the Idea of an Eternity; whereas, by asserting the
contrary, it is unavoidably plunged into innumerable Difficulties, and
unsolvable Inconveniencies, Paradoxes, and Absurdities."
Again, says the same Writer, "Did we but consider and comprehend all
this, oh! to what much further Considerations and Comprehensions
should we be carried! as we might be sure to obtain that Happiness by
virtue of this Science, which _in other Sciences is sought after in
vain_.
This Prospect vast, what is it? weigh'd aright,
'Tis Nature's System of Divinity,
And every Student of the Night inspires.
Dr. Young.
'Tis elder Scripture, writ by God's own Hand;
Scripture authentic! uncorrupt by Man.
"This then is that Philosophy, which opens the Senses, which satisfies
the Mind, which enlarges the Understanding, and which leads Mankind to
the only true Beatitude, whereof they are capable according to their
natural State and Constitution; for it frees us from the sollicitous
Pursuit of Pleasure, and from the anxious Apprehensions of Pain, making
us to enjoy the good Things of the present Hour, and not to fear more,
than we hope from the future; since that same Providence, or Fate, or
Fortune, which causes the Vicissitudes of our particular Being, will
not let us know more of the one, than we are ignorant of the other."
And farther, "From these Contemplations, if we do but rightly consider,
it will follow, that we ought never to be dispirited by any strange
Accidents, through Excess of Fear or Pain, nor ever be elated by any
prosperous Event, through Excess of Hope or Pleasure; whence we have
the Path to true Morality, and following it, we shall of course become
the magnanimous Despisers of what Men of weak Minds fondly Esteem, and
be wise Judges of the History of Nature, which would be written in our
Minds, and consequently be chearful and strict Executioners of the
divine Laws, which would thus be ingraved in the Center of our Hearts.
Seeking, as it were, in ourselves, an Approbation of our own Action,
which alone is capable of true Content and Happiness."
Christopher Huygens,[E]
[Footnote E: The Pendulum Clock; the first Discovery of _Jupiter's_
Satellites, and _Saturn's_ Ring.]
To whom the World is much indebted for many curious Inventions, and
Discoveries, says in his _Planetary Worlds_, "I must be of the same
Opinion with all the great Philosophers of our Age, that the Sun is of
the same Nature with the fix'd Stars; and this will give us a greater
Idea of the World than all other Opinions can. For then why may not
every one of these Stars, or Suns, have as great a Retinue, as our
Sun, of Planets, with their Moons to wait upon them? Nay, there is a
manifest Reason why they should; for, if we imagine ourselves placed at
an equal Distance from the Sun and fix'd Stars, we should then perceive
no Difference at all betwixt them.
"Why then may we not make use of the same Judgment that we would in
that Case; and conclude, that our Star has no better Attendance than
the others? So that what we allowed the Planets upon the Account of
our enjoying it, we must likewise grant to all those Planets that
surround that prodigious Number of Suns. They must have their Plants
and Animals, nay, their rational Creatures too, and those as great
Admirers and as diligent Observers of the Heavens as ourselves; and
must consequently enjoy whatever is subservient to, and requisite for
such Knowledge.
"What a wonderful and amazing Scheme have we here of the magnificent
Vastness of the Universe! So many Suns, so many Earths, and every one
of them stock'd with so many Herbs, Trees, and Animals, and adorned
with so many Seas and Mountains! And how must our Wonder and Admiration
be increased, when we consider the prodigious Distance and Multitude of
the Stars?"
_The Opinion of Sir_ Isaac Newton.
This great Author, in his grand _Scholia_ to the _Principia_,
says:--"The most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets, and Comets,
could only proceed from the Counsel and Dominion of an intelligent
and powerful Being: And if the fix'd Stars are the Centers of other
like Systems, these, being form'd by the like wise Counsel, must be
all subject to the Dominion of One; especially, since the Light of the
fix'd Stars is of the same Nature with the Light of the Sun, and from
every System Light passes into all the other Systems. And least the
Systems of the fix'd Stars should by their Gravity fall mutually on
each other, he (the Divine Being) hath placed those Systems at immense
Distances from one another."
_The Opinion of Dr._ Derham, _in his_ Astro-Theology.
"The new System, says he, supposeth there are many other Systems of
Suns and Planets, besides that, in which we have our Residence; namely,
that every fix'd Star is a Sun, and incompassed with a System of
Planets, both primary and secondary, as well as ours.
"These several Systems of the fixed Stars, as they are at a great
and sufficient Distance from the Sun and us; so they are imagined to
be at as due, and regular Distances from one another: By which means
it is that those Multitudes of fixed Stars appear to us of different
Magnitudes, the nearest to us large; those farther and farther, less
and less; and that some, if not all of those vast Globes of the
Universe, have a Motion, is manifest to our Sight, and may easily be
concluded of all, from the constant Similitude and Consent that the
Works of Nature have with one another."
To this we may add, that this System of the Universe, as it is
physically demonstrable, is far the most rational and probable of any.
_Because_,
"It is far the most magnificent of any, and worthy of an infinite
Creator, whose _Power_ and _Wisdom_, as they are without Bounds and
Measure, so may they, in all Probability, exert themselves in the
Creation of many Systems as well as one. And as Myriads of Systems are
more for the _Glory_ of God, and more demonstrate his _Attributes_ than
one; so it is no less probable than possible, there may be many besides
this which we have the Privilege of living in." And as the strongest
Confirmation of this, "we see it is really so, as far as it is possible
it can be discerned by us, at such immense Distances as those Systems
of the fixed Stars are from us; and we cannot reasonably expect more."
"Since the Sun and fix'd Stars, says Dr. _Gregory_, are the only great
Bodies of the Universe that have any native Light, they are justly
esteemed by Philosophers to be of the same Kind, and designed for the
same Uses; and it is the Effect of a Man's Temper that sets a greater
Value upon his own Things than he ought, that makes him judge the Sun
to be the biggest of them all."
That, as an elegant[F] Writer observes, which we call the Morning, or
the Evening Star, is, in reality, a _Planetary World_; which, with
the four others, that so wonderfully, as _Milton_ expresses it, "vary
their mystick Dance, are in themselves dark Bodies, and shine only by
Reflection; have Fields and Seas, and Skies of their own; are furnished
with all Accommodations for animal Subsistence, and are supposed to
be the Abodes of intellectual Life. Again, The Sun, with all its
attendant Planets is but a very little Part of the grand Machine of the
Universe. Every Star--is really a vast Globe, like the Sun, in Size and
in Glory, no less spacious, no less luminous, than the radiant Source
of our Day; so that every Star is the Center of a magnificent System,
has a Retinue of Worlds irradiated by its Beams, and revolves round
its active Influence; all which are lost to our Sight in immeasurable
Tracts of Æther.
[Footnote F: Contemplations on the starry Heavens.]
"Could we, says the same Author, wing our Way to the highest apparent
Star--we should there see other Skies expanded, other Suns, that
distribute their inexhaustible Beams of Day; other Stars, that gild
the alternate Night; and other perhaps nobler Systems established;
established in unknown Profusion, through the boundless Dimensions of
Space. Nor does the Dominion of the great Sovereign end _there_, even
at the End of this vast Tour, we should find ourselves advanced no
farther than the Frontiers of Creation; arrived only at the Suburbs of
the great _Jehovah's_ Kingdom."
O for a Telescope his Throne to reach!
Tell me ye Learn'd on Earth! or Blest above!
Ye searching, ye _Newtonian_ Angels! tell,
Where your great Masters Orb? His Planets where?
Those conscious Satellites, those Morning Stars,
First-born of _Deity_ from central Love.
Dr. Young.
Many other Authorities might be produced from Writers of great Repute,
were it necessary to trouble you with them[G]; but I believe those
above will be abundantly sufficient for the present Purpose, if even an
Apology were wanting for my own Conjectures. I shall therefore conclude
this Letter with the following Passage out of _Pope's Universal
Prayer_, and in my next shall proceed in the Work I have undertaken.
Yet not to Earth's contracted Span,
Thy Goodness let me bound;
Or think thee Lord alone of Man,
When thousand Worlds are round.
_I am_, &c.
[Footnote G: Particularly from _Fontenelle_, &c.]
LETTER THE SECOND.
_Concerning the Nature of Mathematical Certainty, and the various
Degrees of Moral Probability proper for Conjecture._
_SIR_,
You know how much I am an Enemy to the taking of any thing for granted,
merely because a Person of reputed Judgment, has been heard to say, _it
absolutely is so_; an _Ipse dixit_, and implicit Faith in some Cases,
may be both necessary and useful; but here, in Astronomy, I mean, every
Man's Reason, by the Help of a very little Mathematicks, is able to
bring wonderful Truths to Light without them; and Truths not only of
the highest Importance to every Individual, but of a great and common
Consequence to all Mankind: And as such, in all Ages of the World,
have been judged worthy to be enquired into, by the best and wisest of
Philosophers.
You are likewise very sensible how far the human Understanding is even
at the best, from being infallible, and don't want to be told, how
difficult it is in a Subject of this Nature to arrive at any tolerable
Degree of Certainty, which before the Days of the sagacious _Euclid_,
and the penetrating _Archimedes_, was a Thing not to be expected.
And many things which were then but barely Objects of Conjecture and
Probability, have since been demonstrated to be infallibly true. Time
and Observation will undoubtedly, at last, discover every thing to
us necessary to our Natures, and proper for us to know. As a Proof
of which, we see human Wisdom daily increases; and while a Capacity
continues to make ourselves still more acquainted with the manifest
Wisdom and Power of God in the Works of his Creation, who is to tell
us where to stop our Enquiries? Or who is so impious to set Bounds
to a Science, which so evidently spreads through all Infinity, the
Attributes of God, and an eternal Basis for future Hope?
This Branch, or rather Body of Astronomy, I believe you will find to
be quite new; and though evident Truths, are the principal Thing to
be regarded in it, yet as being in its infant State, where lineal
Demonstration fails, as in some Cases it cannot be otherwise, I hope
you will give me Leave to make use of a weaker Way of Reasoning, to
convince you of the Point in Dispute, I mean of that by the Analogy of
known and natural Things.
I shall be extremely unwilling to affirm any thing for a _Fact_, or
Truth, without hearing, if not the real Evidence, at least a plausible
Reason, next to a Conviction, or moral Certainty, along with it; and
therefore I will here endeavour to explain to you what I mean by moral
Certainty and also by mathematical Proof.
Mathematical Proof, or Certainty, proper for Conjectures, may, to
almost every Capacity, be illustrated as follows:
Suppose you had accidentally found a very small Part of a visibly
broken Medallion, with nothing more express upon it, than what is
represented at _Fig._ 1. _Plate_ I. a Person totally unacquainted with
the mathematical Sciences, we may naturally conclude, would not be able
to make any thing of it, or in the least comprehend what it originally
was, or meant; but if an Astronomer should chance to see it, who of
course we are to suppose knew the Order and Proportion of the planetary
Orbits, he would immediately conclude, and with great Probability,
on the Side of his Conjectures, that it might be Part of a Medal
representing the Solar System. In such a Case may we not very naturally
suppose he would reason thus?
The Arches A and B seem to be Portions of the respective Orbits of
_Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, and what may lead us to believe, that they are
really so, and Part of the Solar System, is the oblique Curve C, which
looks not unlike the Trajectory of a Comet.
This surely would be far from an irrational Conjecture, and
consequently in some Degree probable: But this is not sufficient you'll
say; To prove it we must have farther recourse to the Mathematicks, and
a Mathematician would immediately thus demonstrate it to be true.
[Illustration: Plate I.]
[Illustration: Plate II.]
First, by compleating the Circles geometrically from the fourth Book of
_Euclid_, by the Assistance of any three Points E. F. G. the original
Figure will be restored, as at _Fig. 2._ And secondly, by assuming
any two Points, as F, E in the Curve C, if admitted a Parabola, by a
well-known Problem in Conic Sections the Heliocentric Portion X. Y.
Z. will easily be projected and shewn, as in _Fig. 3._ Lastly, join
this in Position to the former, and it will justly supply the Orbit,
or Path of some one of the Comets; and if required, even what Comet
may be discovered by comparing the Perihelion Distance Y. S. with
their general Elements or Theories, in Dr. Hally's _Synopsis_ of the
Motion of these Bodies. And if a farther Confirmation of the Truth
of these Conjectures were wanting, the small concentric Circles at D
would now be allowed beyond a Contradiction, to represent the secondary
Orbits of _Saturn_; and thus the first Presumption being carried thro'
several corroborating Degrees of Probability, almost past a Dispute,
would become a mathematical Certainty; and the above imperfect Piece
of Medallion, would evidently appear beyond a Contradiction to be Part
of a Representation of the said solar System, and such as is shewn in
_Plate_ II. Q. E. D. Thus in many Cases, it often happens, that from
a very small Part of _orbicular Things_, we are able to determine
the Form and Direction of the Whole: And hence you may conceive it
no very difficult Task to a Mathematician, to describe the Orbits of
all the Planets in the solar System, though he had never observed
them but in one and the same Sign of the _Zodiack_; thus far I have
thought it would not be amiss to explain to you the Nature of those
Steps, by which we arrive at moral Certainty, and where the Subject
will admit of it, Mathematical Conviction, which will not a little
contribute to strengthen many of the Arguments hereafter made use of,
and in some Degree serve to supply the Place of Proof, where infallible
Demonstration cannot from the Nature of the Thing be discovered.
But besides the indisputable Principles of Geometry, the universal
Law of Analogy and Similitude of things, have a Privilege to assist
us, in Conjectures relating to the heavenly Bodies, and though not of
equal Force with the former, is often as conclusive as the Subject
requires. This sort of probable Evidence (as Dr. _Butler_ observes,)
is essentially distinguished from "Demonstrative by this, that it
admits of Degrees; and of all Variety of them, from the highest moral
Certainty to the very lowest Presumption; and that which chiefly
constitutes Probability, is expressed in the Word _Likely_, or
Natural Likeness, as to State or Being." This general Way of arguing,
I think, is allowed to be evidently natural, just and conclusive,
and unquestionably to have its Weight in various Degrees, towards
determining our Judgment: For Instance, should any ignorant Person,
endowed with rational Principles, cut open a _Pomegranate_ of the
natural Growth of _England_, and finding it full of small Globules, or
Kernels, upon being presented with an every way similar Fruit, said
to be the Produce of _Italy_, doubt of its being of the same Nature,
and composed of like globular Seeds within; here indeed would be no
mathematical Evidence to assist the Judgment, the Object of Proof
being invisible, but sure from the external Similitude, the strongest
Probability of their being also internally the same. Again,
Is it natural to suppose, that the first Person who found a _Lark's_
Nest, and in it several of the Female's Eggs, should have any
Apprehensions of finding none in the _Nightingale's_, only because he
had never seen one before, I believe the most illiterate Person of the
earliest Ages, who had Curiosity enough for such a Search, would be
greatly disappointed in such a Case, and far from concluding that the
_Nightingale_ had none. Farther, should any one who had seen several
Sorts of Fish taken out of the River _Thames_, or out of the _Nyle_,
have any sort of Suspicion that he should find no such Creatures in
the _Seine_ or the _Ganges_, though it should be allowed that he had
never seen any such Creatures that were known to come from thence.
Ocular Demonstration, in such a Case, would sure be unnecessary, and
an Evidence of the first, I believe would be abundantly sufficient to
convince us of what we ought to look for at least in the last: But
then the Fishes of different Seas, and of Rivers are not of the same
Species you'll say; but as it were infinitely diversified through all
the aqueous World, this is, and must be granted, and alike Variety
of _Species_ must also be granted, in the former Case of the Birds:
But no Objection can possibly arise from any such Diversity, since we
don't pretend to say, nor is it at all necessary, that the Beings in
the sidereal Planets should be every where the same with these of our
solar System, a Variety must every where be admitted, and will always
be admired, where the Work is Nature's, and the Design God's.
All then that I here pretend to argue for, is a Universality of
rational Creatures to people Infinity, or rather such Parts of the
Creation, as from the Analogy and Nature of Things, we judge to be
habitable Seats for Beings, not unlike the mortal human.
Every Animal, and every Vegetable, that, as it were, naturally exists
by the Virtues, Properties, or Laws of the mineral Kingdom, has
something of a secondary Nature, depending upon it as a Principle;
and to say that the Stars, which are a certain visible sort of
Cotemporaries in Space with the Sun, have no like planetary Bodies with
ours moving round them, because we cannot possibly see them, is no less
absurd and ridiculous, than to argue, that we can have no Reason to
expect to find, in the proper Season, Grapes upon every Vine--Figs upon
every Tree--Roses upon every Bush--only because some of them are at
such a Distance, that neither Rose, Fig or Grape, can be discovered by
the Eye.
This sort of Reasoning, though some perhaps may neglect it, I am
perswaded you will look upon as abundantly sufficient for Things out
of the Reach of Science to determine; and that the collective Body of
Stars have not been discovered, to be together a proper Subject for
such Conjectures before, can surely only proceed from the Want of Time,
necessary to compleat the Observations proper for a Foundation to build
such an Hypothesis, or Theory upon. This is the great Article in which
the Moderns have so much, and ever will have, an Advantage over the
Antients. And hence it will appear, That
The Improvements and Discoveries of latter Ages are not at all owing to
the greater Capacity of the Moderns, but from the Advantages received,
or arising from the Inventions and Progress made by the Ancients. We
at first in a manner walked by their Leading-strings, and though many
of them now are broke, or useless, none can deny, but that formerly
they were of great Advantage in promoting and directing philosophical
Enquiries.
In an Assembly of the most eminent Men of all Ages, if we may suppose
such a Conference amongst the illustrious Dead, on Purpose to deliver
their several Sentiments familiarly together, on the most interesting
Subjects of natural Knowledge, who would not lament the Disadvantages,
poor old _Thales_, an _Hipparchus_, or a _Ptolomy_, would lie under,
who had nothing but the Eye of Reason to direct them, in Opposition to
the Judgment of a _Brahe_, or a _æ_, who reaped so much Benefit
from their compound Opticks? But on the other hand, perhaps if the
solar System, was the Topic of Discourse, a [H]_Pythagorean_ might very
pertinently say to a _Newtonian_, "You have not gone much farther in
the Light with our Direction, than we did in the Dark alone; for you
are still roving round the same Circles." Much might be said upon this
Head; but I believe it would be a difficult Matter to do Justice to
all Parties: So here I intend to leave them, only must observe, that
Posterity will always have the Advantage over their Predecessors; and
that After-ages, in all Probability, will reap so great a Benefit from
the Invention and Improvement of Fluxions, that scarce any thing, which
is the immediate Object of such Enquiry, will long lie concealed from a
true mathematical Genius.
[Footnote H: The true System of the Planets have been discovered above
two thousand Years.]
For this, in which he has surpassed all the Antients, and greatly
advanced the philosophical Sciences, the World is indebted to Sir
_Isaac Newton_.
But as many of his Discoveries, such as relate particularly to the
Laws of the planetary System, are but as so many Confirmations of the
Conjectures and Imaginations of Astronomers and Philosophers before
him, it perhaps will not be amiss to acquaint you a little with the
Astronomy of the Antients concerning the Universe. And before I
proceed to those of my own, shew you in the first Place how far their
Speculations in the visible Creation have been carried; and with these
I shall conclude this preparatory Epistle.
The Universe, or mundane Space, by which the Antients comprehend all
Creation, has, from time to time, according to the Progress of Science,
come under a sort of Necessity of being variously modell'd agreeable
to the Opinion of the several Authors, who have judged themselves
wise enough to write upon it with a mathematical Foundation: And the
cosmical System, by which is meant the Co-ordination of its constituent
Parts has undergone almost as many Changes as its Elements are even
capable of; every Age of the World, as Knowledge has increased,
either from improved Imagination, or repeated Observations, producing
something new concerning it.
Milton, no doubt, had all this Diversity of Opinions in View, as
appears from his supposed Pre-knowledge of _Raphael_, in the following
Passage, _Book._ VIII.
Hereafter, when they come to model Heaven,
And calculate the Stars, how they will weild
The mighty Frame! how build, unbuild, contrive
To save Appearances, how gird the Sphere
With centric and eccentric scribbl'd o'er;
Cycle, and Epicycle, Orb in Orb.
But the following Synopsis, I believe, will abundantly convince you
that from certain Observations only, we ought to form all our Notions
of it, if we either hope to arrive at Truth, or expect our Ideas should
be supported by Reason.
Aristotle was of Opinion, that the Universe, or Heaven, was all one
World, and St. Chrysostom, Tertullian, St. Bonaventure, Tycho Brahe,
Longomontanus, Kepler, Bulialdus and Tellez, were of an united Opinion,
that this one Heaven, or Universe, was all sidereal and fluid. But
Aegidius, Hurtadus, Cisalpinus, and Aversa, believing the same Heaven
with them to be all one World, and that sidereal, yet on the contrary
held it to be solid.
Clemens, Acacius, Theodoret, Anastasius, Synaita, Procopius, Suidus, S.
Bruno, and Claudianus Mamertus, supposed the universal mundane Space as
divided into two Heavens, namely,
The Empyræum created the first Day,
And the Firmament created the second Day.
Two Heavens were also held by Justin Martyr, the one sidereal, and the
other aerial. The first supposed by St. Gregory Nyssene, to be that of
the fixed Stars, and the last, that of the Planets. But _Mastrius_ and
_Bellutus_, though agreeing in the Number of Heavens, calls one the
_*Primum Mobile_, and the other, the Starry Heaven.
Farther, St. Basil, St. Ambrose, Damascene, Cassiodorus, Genebrardus,
Suarez, Tannerus, Hurtadus, Oviedus, Tellez, and Borrus, distinguished
the Universe as divided into three Portions, or Heavens.
Or, as _Cajetan_. _Tho. Aquinas._
The first called the Empyræum, Watery,
The second supposed Sidereal, Sidereal, Watery,
And the last of all, Aerial. Aerial, Sidereal.
Again, St. _Athanasius_ adds to those of the fix'd Stars, the Planets,
and the Air, that of the _Empyræum_, and makes in all four Heavens.
But as the Number of the Heavens thus increases, and will become
subdivided in the subsequent Account of them, to give you a better Idea
of the Order of these celestial Portions of the mundane Space, it will
not be amiss to form what remains of them into regular Sections of
their proper Spheres and Systems.
See _Plate_ III. in which Figure, the first represents a Section of the
cosmical Theory of _Oviedus_ and _Ricciolus_: Both consisting of five
Heavens, _viz._
By _Oviedus_, By _Ricciolus_,
sidereal and solid. sidereal and fluid.
The fixed Stars, A _Empyræum_, G
_Saturn_, B The Water, F
_Jupiter_, C The fixed Stars, A
_Sol_, with ♂ ☿ and ♀ included, D The Planets, H
The Moon. E The Air. I
_Fig._ II. represents that of venerable _Bede_ and _Rabanus_, _viz._ of
Seven Heavens.
And according to _Bede_ But by _Rabanus_,
composed of
The Air, P The Atmosphere,
The Æther, O The upper Air,
_Olympus_, N The inferior Fire,
The Element of Fire, M The superior Fire,
The Firmament, A Sphere of the fixed Stars,
The Angelical Region, L The Crystalline Heaven,
Realm of the Trinity. K The _Empyræum_.
Fig. III. Represents the Hypotheses of _Eudoxus_, _Plato_, _Calippus_,
_Cicero_, _Riccius_, _Philo_, _Remigius_, _Aben-Ezra_, _Carthusianus_,
_Lyranus_, _Tostatus_, _Brugensis_, _Orontius_, _Cremoninus_,
_Philalethæus_, _Amicus_, and _Ruvius_; also the _Babylonians_ and
_Egyptians_.
Consisting of Eight Heavens,
All Sidereal, _viz._ The Sphere of the fix'd Stars, and those of the
Seven Planets.
Fig. IV. is that of _Macrobius_, _Haly Alpetragius_, _Rabbi-Josue_,
_Rabbi Moyses_, _Scotus_, _Abraham Zagutus_, _Sacroboscus_,
_Claromontius_, _Avigra_, and _Arraiga_.
All of Nine Heavens,
Comprehend a _Primum Mobile_ Q, or, according to _Arriaga_, a solid
_Empyræum_. The Sphere, of fixed Stars A, and the seven Regions of the
solar Planets.
Fig. V. is that of the great _Alphonsus_, _Fernelius_, _Regiomontanus_,
_Amicus_, _Maurolycus_ and _Langius_; also of _Azabel_, _Thebit_,
and _Isaac Israelita_; and likewise of _Gulielmus Parisiensis_, and
_Johannes Antonius Delphinus_.
Consisting of Ten Heavens, made up of
A _Primum Mobile_ S _Empyræum_.
A Sphere of _Tripidation_ in Longitude R _Primum Mobile_.
The Sphere of the fixed Stars A
And those of the seven solar Planets within.
_Note_, Some Authors place the Sphere of _Tripidation_ in Longitude
below that of the _Aplain_, or Eighth Sphere.
Lastly, Fig. VI. is the Heaven of _Petrus Alliacensis_, the College
of _Conimbra_, _Martinensis_, (and sometime) of _Clavius_; and also
_Johannes Warnerus_, _Leopoldus de Austriâ_, _Johannes Antonius
Maginus_; and lastly, of _Clavius_.
In all Eleven Heavens containing,
T A _Primum Mobile_, or, as others say, an _Empyræum_.
V A Sphere of Libration in Latitude.
W A Sphere of Libration in Longitude.
A The Sphere of the fixed Stars, and those of the Planets.
[Illustration: Plate III.
The Seven Planetary orbits.
]
Thus you see how many various Opinions have from time to time been
embraced concerning the Fabric and Formation of the visible Universe;
all of which are now and have long been exploded; and although at
first advanced by Men of the greatest Learning, and of the deepest
Penetration in natural Knowledge, it does not appear from any one of
their Opinions, that they had any the least Notion of infinite Space,
but as it were confined the Divine Being to their limited Notions,
as one may say in an Egg-shell. If therefore what I shall hereafter
advance, extend so far without the known Creation, that you can
possibly conceive no Bounds to the Works of infinite Wisdom and Power,
I hope you will be in no Danger of looking upon it as more ridiculous,
or absurd, than what so many of the wisest Men of every Age have
thought proper to attempt, and have judged worthy of their Attention
so long before me. If any thing less so, I shall think myself happy
enough in having broke, or rather passed the narrow Limits to which the
Creation has for so many Years been confined, in hopes of tempting Men
of greater Talents to look up wards, and pursue so noble a Subject as
far as the human Understanding is capable of comprehending it.
To the Opinions above might be added many more, particularly that of
_Johannes Baptista Turrianus_, and _Fracastorius_, who increased the
Number of Heavens to fourteen, _viz._ seven on each Side the _Aplané_.
But of this I have said enough; in my next I shall proceed to Matter
better grounded,
_And am_, &c.
[Illustration]
LETTER the THIRD.
_Concerning the Nature, Magnitude, and Motion of the Planetary Bodies
round the Sun_, &c.
_SIR_,
The younger _Pliny_, if I remember right, somewhere says, that there
is, or ought to be, a wide Difference betwixt writing to a Friend, and
writing to the Publick: I have indeed pleased myself with the one, but
am far from thinking myself qualified for the other; I must therefore
rather intreat you, though perhaps you cannot possibly overlook all
my Faults as an Author, to excuse them at least in the Friend, and by
such kind of unlimited Indulgence, you will give me a much greater
Chance to do the Subject some Justice, though I own I despair in this
first Attempt, to reconcile every thing I advance to your more cool and
impartial Reasoning. But to the Business:
As I have no Ambition to have the Substance of my Theory more admired
by you than understood, which is too often the Case in Works of
this Nature, I must beg leave to repeat to you Part of a former
Discourse, which will refresh in your Ideas the principal Laws of the
System of our Sun, and make you properly acquainted with such Things
as are necessary to be known in the now-established Astronomy of
[I]_Copernicus_, &c. before I proceed to any new Matter.
[Footnote I: Nicolaus Copernicus, stiled by _Bulialdus_, _Vir absolutæ
subtilitatis_, was a Native of _Thorn_ in _Polish Prussia_, and Canon
of the Church of _Frawenburgh_; he was Scholar to _Dominicus Maria_ of
_Ferrara_, to whom he was Assistant in his astronomical Observations
at _Bologne_, and Professor of the Mathematicks at _Rome_, in his
noble Work, _De Revolutionibus Orbium Cælestium_; he fortunately
revived, happily united, and formed into an Hypothesis of his own, the
several Opinions of _Philolaus_, _Heraclides Ponticus_, and _Ecphantus
Pythagoreus_, _viz._ after the Opinion of _Philolaus_ he made the
Earth to move about the Sun, as the Center of its annual Motion; and
according to _Heraclides_ and _Ecphantus_, he likewise gave it a
diurnal Rotation round its own Axis: Which System has withstood all
Opposition; and as _Ricciolus_, (though a Dissenter from it) observes,
_Per damna, per cædes, ab ipso sumit opes, animumque ferro._]
The Sun, you are not to learn, is the reputed Center of our _Planetary
System_, and may remember, that the Earth on which we live, and these
five following _Erratic Stars_, viz. Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and
Mercury, have been demonstrated to move round him in the Order and
Manner following.
_Saturn_ is found to complete one Revolution round the Sun in
twenty-nine Years, one hundred and seventy-four Days, six Hours,
and thirty-six Minutes; at the Distance of about seven hundred and
seventy-seven Millions of Miles. _Jupiter_ performs a like Revolution
in about eleven Years, three hundred and seventeen Days, twelve
Hours, and twenty Minutes; distant from the Sun about four hundred
and twenty-four Millions of Miles. _Mars_ compleats his Circuit in
one Year, three hundred and twenty-one Days, twenty-three Hours, and
twenty-seven Minutes; and his mean Distance is about one hundred and
twenty-three Millions of Miles.
These three are called superior Planets, as being farther from the Sun
than the Earth, and circumscribing its Orbit.
The Earth circumambulates her Orbit in one solar Year, _viz._ in three
hundred and sixty-five Days, five Hours, forty-eight Minutes, and
fifty-seven Seconds; at the mean Distance of eighty-one Millions of
Miles.
The Radius of _Venus's_ Orbit is about fifty-nine Millions of Miles;
and that of _Mercury_ nearly thirty-two Millions, _ditto_.
The Heliocentric Revolution of _Venus_, is made in two hundred and
twenty-four Days, sixteen Hours, forty-nine Minutes, and twenty-seven
Seconds; and that of _Mercury_, in eighty-seven Days, twenty-three
Hours, fifteen Minutes, and fifty-four Seconds. These two last Planets
are called inferior Ones, as being circumscribed by the Earth.
The Diameter of the Sun being demonstrated to be nearly seven hundred
and sixty-three thousand Miles:
The proportional Magnitudes of all the above Planets will be found
nearly as follows, _viz._
The Diameter of the Globe,
Of _Mercury_ 4,240 }
_Venus_ 7,900 }
the Earth 7,970 } Miles.
_Mars_ 4,440 }
_Jupiter_ 81,000 }
and _Saturn_ 61,000 }
Thus much I have thought proper to premise, and for your immediate
Inspection, have added the following Schemes, that nothing may be
wanting to give a general Idea of the Order of the celestial Bodies in
our own System, before I attempt to lead you through the neighbouring
Regions of the Stars to the more remote Tracts of Infinity.
PLATE IV.
Is a true Delineation of the solar System, with the Trajectories of
three of the principal Comets, whose Periods and Orbits have been
accurately determined, and are represented in their true Proportion and
Position to one another, and the Order of the Planets round the Sun,
marked with their respective Characters, _viz._ ♄, for _Saturn_, ♃,
_Jupiter_, ♂, _Mars_, ♁, the Earth, ♀, _Venus_, and ☿, _Mercury_. The
Scale being nearly five hundred and eighteen Millions of Miles to an
Inch.
PLATE V.
Is a true Projection of the System of the known Comets; in which are
represented nine of the chief Trajectories, from their _Aphelii_ to
their _Perihelii_, all in just Proportion and Position to the Orbits
of _Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, which are also represented by the two
concentric Circles, supposed to be drawn round the Sun as their Center.
The Ellipsis, or Trajectory, marked A, shews the Position and Path of
the Comet which appeared in the Year 1684, whose Period is supposed to
be about fifty Years, and has been observed within the Region of the
Planets once.
That mark'd B, is the Way of the Comet of 1682;
The Period conjectured to be about seventy-five
Years and a half, and has been observed thrice.
C, Way of the Comet of 1337;
The Period about 100 Years, observed once.
D, That of the Comet of 1661;
The Period about 129 Years, observed twice.
E, Tract of the Comet of 1618;
The Period about 160 Years, observed once.
F, Way of the Comet of 1677;
The Period about 200 Years, observed once.
G, Way of the Comet of 1744;
The Period about 300 Years, observed once.
H, Way of the Comet of 1665;
The Period about 400 Years, observed once.
I, Way of the Comet of 1680;
The Period about 575 Years, observed thrice.
[Illustration: Plate IV.]
[Illustration: Plate V.]
The Scale of this System is equal to one Third of the former.
Here I must observe to you, as a Thing I judge may prove of great
Consequence with regard to the System of Comets, which is as yet very
imperfect: That I am strongly of Opinion, that the Comets in general,
through all their respective Orbits, describe one common Area, that is
to say, all their Orbits with regard to the Magnitude of their proper
Planes, are mathematically equal to one another; which, if it once
could be proved, and confirmed by Observation, the Theories of all the
Comets that have been justly observed, might easily be perfected, and
their Periods at once determined, which now we can only guess at, or
may wait whole Ages for more Certainty of. What leads me to believe,
that this may prove to be really the Case is this.
I find by Calculation, that the Orbits of the two last Comets, whose
Elements have been most corrected by Sir _Isaac Newton_ and Dr.
_Hally_, are to one another, according to their Numbers, nearly as
[J]13 to [K]17, notwithstanding one of them is one of the most erratick
that ever came under our Observation; and the other one of the most
neighbouring to the Sun.
[Footnote J: 1316539,968282 Comet of 1680.]
[Footnote K: 1708155,4644 Comet of 1682.]
But it is well known to all Mathematicians, that the first of these
Comets moved in so eccentric a Trajectory, that the least Error in its
almost incredible Proximity to the Sun will produce a very sensible
Difference in the Area of the Orbit: And accordingly, if we moderate
the Perihelion Distance of this Comet, by making it but 1000 instead of
[L]612, which is but increasing it a 1/35000th Part of the great Radius
of the Orbit, (which is an Error every Astronomer will readily grant is
very easily made) and we shall find the Orbits of the said two Comets
to be exactly equal.
[Footnote L: The Number in Dr. _Hally's_ Synopsis.]
Further, I must inform you, that the Comet of 1682, which the above is
compared with, seems to have been so accurately observed, that it does
not appear to have altered its Perihelion Distance half a 68th Part in
one intire Revolution. Now, if we can with any Show of Reason, and a
Probability on our Side, bring the Areas of these two extream Comets,
as I may call them, to an _Equality_, sure we may conclude, it is a
Subject highly worthy to be more considered and enquired into.
PLATE VI.
Is a true Representation of the satellite Systems, proportionable to
one another, and to the Orb of the Sun's Body, that a just Idea of the
Distances of those secondary Planets, may be easier had from their
respective primary ones.
S represents the solar Body with its Atmosphere. _Fig._ 1. is the
System of _Saturn_ from the same Scale. _Fig._ 2. that of _Jupiter_
from _ditto_. And _Fig._ 3. the Orbit of the Moon round the Earth, in
the same Proportion.
But as you can have but a very imperfect Idea of the Magnitude of these
last Circles, with regard to the Body of the Earth or Moon,
PLATE VII.
Is a true Projection of their real Globes, at their proper Distance
from each other, with their common Center of Gravity, and the Point and
Line of equal Suspension betwixt them, _viz._
A, represents the Globe of the Earth.
B, that of the Moon.
C, Point, and C D, Line of equal Suspension betwixt them.
E, Common Center of Gravity, which describes the _Orbis Magnus_.
E, F, and B, G, is the Orbit of the Moon.
Farther, that nothing may be wanting to give a true Notion of the whole
together,
PLATE VIII.
Is a proportional Drawing of all the primary and secondary Planets
together, distinguished by their Characters, proper to attend a Globe
of twelve Inches Diameter, such a one being supposed to represent the
Sun.
PLATE IX.
Is an exact Scheme of the principal known Comets, in just Proportion,
to the Globe of the Earth represented at A, with the Nucleus, and Part
of the Tail of the Comet of 1680, B, as it was observed in its Assent
from the Sun, _viz._ _a a_ the Comet's natural Atmosphere, _z z z_, the
_Denser Matter_ winding itself into the Axis of the Train _x x_, the
inflam'd Atmosphere and Tail dilated near the Sun. C, represents the
Ball of the Comet of 1682, D, that of 1665, E, that of 1742, and F, the
Head of the Comet of 1744.
And again, that you may have some Notion of the apparent Magnitudes of
all these Planets and Comets, _&c._ as they appear at the Earth,
[Illustration: Plate VI.]
[Illustration: Plate VII.]
[Illustration: Plate VIII.]
[Illustration: Plate IX.]
[Illustration: Plate X.]
[Illustration: Plate XI.]
PLATE X.
Represents the Sun and Moon in the just Proportion of their mean
Diameters, with two of the Comets A and B, and the five erratick
Planets, as they are observed at the Earth, in a middle State of their
Distances from it.
For a more full and particular Description of all the Parts of the
solar System, and of the home Elements of Astronomy in general, I refer
you to my _Clavis Cœlestis_, &c. where every thing concerning the
Planets, Comets, and Stars; and their real and apparent Motions, are
at large represented, explained, and accounted for, for the Benefit of
such as have not made the Mathematicks their regular Study.
Now, to convince you that the Planets are all in their own Nature no
other than dark opaque Bodies, reflecting only the borrowed Light of
the Sun, I must recommend to your Observation, this natural and simple
Experiment, which almost any Opportunity of seeing the _Moon_ a little
before the Full, will put into your Power to make; but best and easiest
when the Sun is in any of the North Signs, _i. e._ in _Summer_.
At such a time, the Sun being near setting, the Moon will appear in
the eastern Hemisphere; and if there be any bright Clouds northward,
or southward near her, you will plainly perceive, that the _Light_
of the one is of the same Nature with that of the other; I mean the
Light of the Moon, and that of the Cloud. To me there never appeared
any Difference at all; and I am perswaded, were you to make but two or
three Observations of this kind, which is from Nature itself, a sort
of ocular Demonstration, you cannot fail of being convinced, that the
Moon's Light, such as it is, without Heat, can possibly proceed from
no other Cause than that which illumines the Cloud: For if the Clouds,
whose Composition we know to be but a thin light Fluid, formed of
condensed Vapours only, is capable of remitting so great a Lustre, how
much more may we not allow the Moon, which, Length of Time, and many
other Circumstances, have long confirmed to be a durable and solid Body.
The Increase of her Lustre, indeed, during the Absence of the Sun from
us, to a less penetrating Genius than your's, may possibly afford some
trifling Ground of Objection to the above Conclusions, as being drawn
from the Phænomena of Day-light only; by reason in the Night, we have
no Clouds in equal Circumstances to compare with her.
But this I need not tell you, is all owing to her being seen through a
darker Medium, and not to any real Increase of natural Light emitted
from the Sun. As a Proof of which, were it necessary, you need only,
shut out the Rays of the Atmosphere, by the Help of a sufficiently
long Tube; and the Moon, or any other celestial Body, will appear
through it, as bright in the Day-time as in the Night.
Thus all light Bodies of inferior Lustre, whether shining by their own
natural Radiences, or by a borrowed Reflection, partake of the same
Advantage, when removed from the more potent Influence of a superior
one; and hence it is, that the [M]_Aura Ætherea_ shines out most
manifest, when the Body of the Sun himself is hid, the Stars, and the
_Via Lactea_ most lively and numerous in the Absence of the Moon, and
those Exhalations, or Meteors, vulgarly called Falling-stars, become
only visible (like Glow-worms) in the Night.
[Footnote M: An _Helios_, or golden Light, always attending the Sun,
and supposed to spread itself all round his Body in the Direction of
his Equator, was very visible during the total Darkness of the Eclipse
of 1715, and may be always seen about the Autumnal Equinox.]
Here it may not be improper to tell you, that the Clouds are to us in
effect no other than as so many Moons, whereby we have our artificial
Day prolonged to us several Hours after the Sun is set, and likewise
produced as much sooner before he rises; and were they to ascend by
still stronger Power of Exhalation to an Elevation, all round the
Atmosphere, so as to form a Sphere equal to four Times the Globe of the
Earth, there would then be no such Thing as real nocturnal Darkness to
any Part of the World.
The lunar Light then we may very justly conclude, proceeds originally
from the Sun: And notwithstanding many more Arguments might be drawn
from the Demonstration of her Phases, Eclipses, &_c._ to prove it,
yet none of them need here be added, to what has been already said,
to convince you of the Truth of it. This being granted, let us now
consider what Effect this, or a like Quantity of borrowed Light, would
have, when removed to a much greater Distance.
I may, I think, suppose, that you know so much of Opticks as to
understand, that all visible Objects apparently decrease in Magnitude,
as their Distance from the Eye increases. Consequently, that, if the
Moon's Orbit was placed as far again from the Earth as it really is,
her Globe, or rather _Disk_, would then seem to be but half as big
as to us she now appears to be, and of course still farther, were
she placed at ten times the Distance she is known to revolve at, her
apparent Diameter would be reduced to a tenth Part only of what it now
appears to be in her present Orbit, that is, one hundred Times less
in visible Magnitude than her neighbouring Disk is found to be where
it now is seen. And such, but something less, the two Planets _Venus_
and _Jupiter_, which are frequently, in their Turns, our Morning and
Evening Stars, appear to be through a common Telescope.
Now these two Planets, together with the other three, which we find
moving in regular Orbits round the Sun, are all found subject to the
same [N]Changes of _Phænomena_, in their various Aspects with the Sun;
and who can doubt but that they are all of the same or like Nature? But
you'll say, perhaps, how are we sure that _Venus_ and _Jupiter_ have no
native Light of their own, since many of the ancient Philosophers, and
in particular _Anaximander_, allowed even the Moon to have some; and
besides, in Philosophy, as well as in Logick, I think you hold there is
no proving a Negative, at least at such a Distance.
[Footnote N: _Venus_ and _Mercury_ in every Heliocentrick Revolution,
perform all the Changes of our Moon in a like Gradation and Defection
of Light, both horned and gibos'd.]
To make you conceive the Impossibility of such a Light, and next
to a Demonstration, convince you of the Unnaturalness of such a
Supposition, I must put you in mind, that some time ago, when I was
last in the Country with you, I think it was about the latter End of
Autumn, near the Winter Solstice, as we were walking one Evening, I bid
you take notice of the Moon, which was then near setting, and about
two Days old. You may remember, her whole Globe appeared to us very
conspicuously within a manifest Circle. You immediately told me, that
that kind of Phænomenon the Country People called a _Stork_, or the old
Moon in the new one's Arms. This I then endeavoured to explain to you,
and I think made you sensible it was intirely an Effect of the Earth's,
and an Appearance always to be expected at that Time of the Year. The
Earth being then in the State of a Full-Moon to that Part of the lunar
Orbit, and near her Perihelion, at which time, the Earth sends back a
Reflection to the [O]Moon twenty-five times more potent than that of
the Moon to us.
[Footnote O: Their Diameters being nearly as 1 to 5.]
Now the Planet _Venus_, from undeniable Principles of Geometry, is
allowed to be nearly such another Globe as the Earth is; and since the
Earth, as I have just now related, is found to reflect much more Light
to the Moon, by reason of her superior Magnitude, than the Moon can
possibly reverberate to Earth again; and since also 'tis plain, the
Earth has no Light of its own, why then should we imagine _Venus_ to be
endowed with a Lustre, which we can prove to be no more than a similar
Body, and governed by the same Laws as the Earth is?
_Anaximander's_ Mistake, in supposing the Moon in some small Degree
a radiant Body of itself, lay, in not considering, that the faint
Illumination here described, and visible all over her Globe, soon
after almost every Conjunction with the Sun; and probably in Eclipses,
also proceeded from the Earth; but the thing I think is too evident to
expect any sort of Contradiction, therefore I hope you will admit it
as a Truth, and consequently take it for granted, that the planetary
Bodies in general, are meer terrestrial, if not terraqueous Bodies,
such as this we live upon; which is the Thing I have chiefly in this
Letter attempted to demonstrate, or have rather explained; and now
I hope, for the future, you will receive the Idea of a Plurality of
Worlds more favourably, and look upon astronomical Conjectures in a
less ridiculous Light than you used to do, especially since you must
allow, they give our unlimited Imaginations a like all endless Field of
Contemplation, not only full of the wonderful Works of Nature, but also
of a visible Providence.
I think I cannot conclude this Letter to you more properly, than with
the following fine Lines of Mr. _Addison's_ from the _Spectator_, Vol.
VI. No. 465, which I hope you are not so polite as to look upon as an
unfashionable Quotation.
The spacious Firmament on High,
With all the blue ethereal Sky,
And spangl'd Heav'ns, a shining Frame,
Their great Original proclaim:
Th' unwearied Sun, from Day to Day,
Does his Creator's Pow'r display,
And publishes to ev'ry Land
The Work of an Almighty Hand.
Soon as the Ev'ning Shades prevail,
The Moon takes up the wond'rous Tale,
And nightly to the list'ning Earth,
Repeats the Story of her Birth:
Whilst all the Stars that round her burn,
And all the Planets in their Turn,
Confirm the Tidings as they roll,
And spread the Truth from Pole to Pole.
What though, in solemn Silence, all
Move round the Dark terrestrial Ball?
What tho' nor real Voice nor Sound
Amid their radiant Orbs be found?
In Reason's Ear, they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious Voice,
For ever singing, as they shine,
"_The Hand that made us is divine_."
_And am_, &c.
LETTER the FOURTH.
_Of the Nature of the heavenly Bodies continued, with the Opinions of
the Antients concerning the Sun and Stars._
_SIR_,
You tell me you begin to be a tolerable good _Copernican_, and would
now be glad to have my Opinion further upon the Nature of the Sun and
Stars, with regard to the Suggestion of their being like Bodies of
Fire. This you say will go a great Way towards confirming you in the
Notion you have begun to embrace of a Plurality of Systems, and a much
greater Multiplicity of Worlds than our little solar System can admit
of. Besides, shewing in a very evident Light, that the Authorities
cited in my first Letter are founded upon the clearest Reason.
_Anaxagoras_, you say, believed the Sun to be a Lump of red-hot
Iron; _Euripides_ thought it a Clod of Gold; and others still more
ridiculously have imagined it to be a dark Body, void of all Heat.
That the Sun is a vast Body of blazing Matter, notwithstanding the
various Opinions of those primitive Sages, will, I think, hardly admit
of a Question: Since the known Warmth of his prolifick Beams, and the
visible Effect of the Burning-glass, puts it quite out of the Power
of our present Set of Senses, at least to argue against it; and how
reasonably we may imagine the Stars to be all of the same or like
Nature, will sufficiently appear from these following Considerations:
First, it is well known to all Mathematicians, that any visible Object
of any determined Magnitude may be reduced to the Appearance of [P]a
physical Point, by removing the Eye of the Observer to a proper or
proportionable Distance from it, within the finite View: And that the
apparent Diameter of every luminous celestial Body, will always be
diminished reciprocally, in Proportion to the Distance from the Eye,
till they become altogether imperceptible.
[Footnote P: What is here meant by a physical Point, is a Point visible
to the naked Eye, which human Art cannot divide; and so far it partakes
of the Property of a mathematical one, which is only to be conceived,
and not seen.]
Thus the Disk of the Sun, which appears to us at Earth under an Angle
of about half a Degree, if seen from the Planet _Saturn_, would appear
not much bigger than the Planet _Venus_ or _Jupiter_, in their most
neighbouring Vicinity does to us; and consequently to an Eye placed
in the Aphelion Point of the Orbit of the great _Comet_ of 1680, his
apparent Diameter would be so reduced as to seem but little bigger than
the largest of the Stars; and by the same Analogy, or Way of Reasoning,
admitting Space and Distance infinite, which I humbly apprehend is
not to be disputed, were all the Matter in the Universe united, and
conglobed in one Mass, with respect to ocular Sensation, it might be
diminished so near to a mathematical Punctum, as to be almost adequate
to our Ideas of Nothing.
This to any tolerable Optician, must be an evident Conviction of the
Truth of the modern Astronomy, which now universally allow all those
radiant Bodies the Stars to be of the same Nature with the Sun; and
that as certainly they are no other than vast Globes of blazing Matter,
all undoubtedly shining by their own native Light.
But as you have often objected to what has been said of the Distance
of the Stars in general, and may possibly from a Supposition, that
they are, or may be, much nearer to us, infer, that their Light, like
that of the Planets, may be also borrowed from the Sun, or from some
other radiant Body, which, from the Nature of the Supposition, must of
Consequence be invisible to us, I judge it will not be amiss to throw
a few demonstrative Arguments in your Way, in order to lead you a
little out of the Path of an early Prejudice, and draw you as it were
by Degrees through the Dawn of astronomical Reasoning, out of your
original Error, and rescue your Imagination from the false Notions
imbibed from Phænomena only in your younger Years. This I guess cannot
fail of reconciling you to this more rational Way of Thinking, and
make you acquainted with Truths of much Consequence, which perhaps
you have yet been an intire Stranger to. The grand _Deceptio Visus_,
which I must first endeavour to remove, and which as a sort of Paradox
in Nature, has, as I may say, imprisoned the Understanding of many
superficial Reasoners, and in general all incurious Men, is this.
Most People are too apt to think originally, that as the Heavens appear
to be a vast concave Hemisphere, that the Stars must of course, as of
Consequence, be fixed there, like so many radiant Studs of Fire, of
various Magnitudes; and take it for granted, chiefly designed for no
other Purpose than to deck and adorn the Canopy of our Night. This was
long ago the Opinion of _Thales_ the _Milesian_, and wants not the
Authority of many of the Antients to back it. Others, in particular
[Q]_Ptolomy_ of _Pelusium_ in _Africa_, who from his Experience in this
Science, is called by some the Prince of Astronomers, believed them
to be Loop-holes in the vast solid celestial Firmament, emitting the
Light of the Crystalline Heaven through it to all within it. The famous
_Diogenes_, Cotemporary with _Plato_, conceived them to be of the
Nature of Pumice-stones, and inclined to an Opinion, that they were the
_Spiracula_, or Breathing-holes of Heaven. _Anaxagoras_ thought them
Stones snatched up from the Earth by the Rapidity of its Motion, and
set on Fire in the upper Regions above the Moon.
[Footnote Q: _Ptolomy_ supposed two Heavens above that of the fixed
Stars, which he called the eighth; _viz._ a ninth, the Crystalline, and
a tenth the _Primum Mobile_. See Letter the second.
The sacred Sun, above the Waters rais'd,
Thro' Heav'ns eternal, brazen Portals blaz'd;
And wide o'er Earth diffus'd his chearing Ray,
To Gods and Men to give the golden Day.
Homer.
]
But how ridiculous and absurd all these Opinions and Conjectures really
are, will easily appear, if we but once consider the Nature of an
unbounded Æther, and the amazing Property of infinite Space.
This, with what has been said before, will not a little assist your
Imagination towards conceiving the Reasonableness of the Notion modern
Astronomers are now confirmed in, of their being absolutely so many
burning Balls, and which was no doubt, many Years ago, the Opinion of
_Manilius_, as is evident from these Lines in his Poem of the Sphere.
For how can we the rising Stars conceive
A casual Production; or believe
Of the chang'd Heav'ns the oft renascent State
_Sol's_[R]frequent Births, and his quotidian Fate.
Sherburne.
And again, in the same Poem:
The fiery Stars, and Æther that creates
Infinite Orbs, and others dissipates.
[Footnote R: _Xenophanes_ believed the Stars to be no other than Clouds
set on Fire, quenched in the Day-time, and rekindled in the Night.]
_Zoroaster_, the first of all Philosophers we read of who studied
the Stars, is reported to have believed them of a fiery Nature.
_Empedocles_ judged them to be Fire æthereal, struck forth in its
Secretion, and blazing in the upper Regions. _Plato_ thought them Fire,
with the Mixture of other Elements as Cements. _Heraclides_ Worlds by
themselves, of _Earth_, _Air_, and _Fire_; and _Aristotle_, simple
Bodies of the Substance of Heaven, but more condensed.
But that I may not take up too much of your Time with Opinions that
has been imbibed in the Infancy of Astronomy, and has long ago been
exploded, I shall attempt but one Thing more to confirm your Sentiments
in this new Doctrine.
First, that the Stars are all at a Distance, not to be determined by
the utmost Perfection of human Art, is manifest from their having very
little, or no sensible [S]Parallax; and consequently, that any one of
them is absolutely bigger or less than another, from the simple Laws of
Opticks, cannot possibly come under our Observation to be ascertained;
but that they all of them may be nearly of the same Size or Solidity,
is as impossible, with any Shew of Reason to deny, since it is a known
Principle in Geometry, that all visible Objects naturally diminish,
as has been said before, or are magnified in a certain Proportion to
their Distance from the Eye; and hence we may conclude, and not without
Reason in its strongest Light to support us, that the smallest Stars,
to the very least Denomination, are only removed respectively more
distant from the Observer's Station; and that at least this we may be
certain of, that they are all together undoubtedly an Infinity of like
Bodies, distributed either promiscuously, or in some regular Order
throughout the mundane Space: And, as _Marino_ says,
Resplendent Sparks of the first Fire!
In which the Beauty we admire,
And Light of those eternal Rays,
The uncreated Mind displays.
[Footnote S: Mr. _Bradley_, Astronomer-Royal, has, in a great measure,
proved that the Aberration of the Stars hitherto mistaken for a
Parallax, may arise from, and indeed seems to be no other than the
progressive Motion of Light, and Change of Place to the Eye, arising
from the Earth's annual Motion and Direction.]
It remains now I think to shew, and endeavour to prove, that the Stars
are not only light Bodies of the Nature of the Sun, but that they are
really so many Suns, all performing like Offices of Heat and Gravity,
in a regular Order, throughout the visible Creation, in opposition to
an Opinion you have formerly hinted at, of their being in another
Sense of a secondary Nature.
All Objects within the sensible Sphere of the Sun's Attraction, or
Activity, are in some measure magnified by a good Telescope: But the
Stars are all placed so far without it, that the best Glasses has no
other Effect upon them than making them appear more vivid or lively,
but all innate opaque Bodies, reflecting only a borrowed Light from
some primary one, contrary to this Property, are all observed to lose
their Light, in the same Proportion, as they are magnified, and through
all Glasses become more dull than otherwise they appear to the naked
Eye: And hence we may infer, without any further Evidence, that the
Stars are all light Bodies endowed with native Lustre; and that Bodies,
like the known Planets, from the same Reasoning, it is as clear they
cannot be, because their Distance, though uncertain as to the Truth of
the whole, yet such a Part of it as cannot be denied, would render them
all in such a Case invisible.
A Proof of this will plainly present itself, if we consider the Course
of the known Comets, who all of them, without Exception, become
imperceptible, and intirely disappear; though most of them much bigger
than the Earth, or any of the lesser Planets, long before they arrive
at their respective Aphelions.
But we are under a kind of Necessity to believe them either Suns or
Planets, that is either dark or light Bodies; and since I have shewn
the Improbability; nay, I may venture to say, the Impossibility of
their being the first, it is natural sure to conclude, that they must
be of the last Sort; and I am persuaded, if you but once consider how
ridiculous it is to imagine so vast a Number of Bodies, all rolling
round a Number of invisible Suns, which must otherwise be the Case,
since they are seen on all Sides of ours, and cannot possibly be
enlightened by him, or any, how all of them, by any one else, you
cannot possibly have any sort of Difficulty in this Determination:
But that no Arguments may be wanting to enforce your Belief of what
is here concluded, it will not be amiss to put you in Mind of an
optical Experiment or two, which cannot fail of convincing you of
the vast Probability of what is here asserted of them; and next to a
moral Certainty, demonstrate the Truth of what so many of the best
Astronomers have advanced, as before namely, that the Stars are all, or
most of them, Suns like ours.
Place any concave Lense before your Eye, and you will find all visible
Objects will appear through it, as removed to a much greater Distance
than they really are at, and reciprocally as much diminished. Now, if
you look upon one of these Glasses of a proper Concavity, opposed to
the Sun or Moon, you will respectively have the Appearance of a real
Star or Planet, the first exhibited by the Body of the Sun, the other
by the Moon, and either more or less diminished in Proportion to the
Surface of the Sphere the Glass is ground to.
For Example, a double Concave, or Glass of a negative Focus, ground to
a Sphere of about three Inches Diameter, will if opposed to the Sun's
Disk at a proper Distance from the Eye, help you to a very good Idea
how the Sun appears to the Planet _Jupiter_; and if a proper Regard be
had to the Distance of the Planet _Saturn_, a Lense still more concave
may be formed to give a just Idea of the Sun's Appearance to _Saturn_.
Again, one much more concave than the former, proportioned to the Orbit
of _Mars_, will naturally exhibit the solar Body, as seen from that
Planet.
To the Planet _Venus_ and _Mercury_, the Sun appearing much larger
than to us at the Earth, to have any tolerable Notion of his varied
Phænomena to them, it will be necessary to procure Glasses of a
suitable Convexity, ground to reciprocal Concaves, which may easily be
done to any Focus, so as to shew how the Sun, naturally appears to the
Inhabitants of those two Planets.
The various Appearances of the Planets themselves to us at the Earth,
may also well enough be had, if through Glasses analagous to their
respective Distance and Magnitude, we look at the Moon, particularly
all the Phases of _Venus_, and even of _Mercury_, and the Gibosity of
_Mars_, &_c._ may be justly and beautifully represented at different
Ages of the Moon, as those Planets appear through the largest and best
Telescopes.
This Way you may convince even your Friend * * *, who you tell me has
reasoned all his Senses useless, and yet continues so great an Atheist
in Astronomy, as not to believe the World turns round upon its Axis,
though he gives no better Reason for it than that of his not being
giddy.
After all these Arguments, I hope no new Difficulties will arise to
retard your Belief, or deprive the Stars of their solar Nature, so
justly due to them: This Point gained, the next Thing to be considered
is, whether all those glorious Bodies, the far greater Part of whom
being invisible to the naked Eye, were made purely and purposely for
the sole Use of this diminitive World, our little trifling Earth.
----Men, conceited Lords of all,
Walk proudly o'er this pendent Ball,
Fond of their little Spot below,
Nor greater Beings care to know,
_But think those Worlds, which deck the Skies,
Were only form'd to please their Eyes_.
Duck.
The very Supposition not only implies a profound Ignorance of the
Divine Attributes, but is as impious, and full of Vanity, as it is
erroneous and absurd, and even a Blindness sufficient of itself, were
there no other Cause for it, to introduce Idolatry in the Minds of
Mortals, by sinking the divine Nature so near to the human.
It being granted that the Stars are all of the same Kind, I think it
may be agreed, that what we evince of any one may be allowed to be
true of any other, and consequently of all the rest. This _Postulata_
gained, I shall next proceed to enquire what the real Use and Design of
so many radiant Bodies are, or may be made for.
The Sun we have justly reduced to the State of a Star, why then in
Reason should he have his attendant Planets round him, more than any of
the rest, his undoubted Equals? No Shadow even of a Reason can be given
for such an Absurdity.
May we not with the greatest Confidence imagine, that Nature as justly
abhors a _Vacuum_ in Place, as much as Virtue does in Time? Surely
yes: And by supposing the Infinity of Stars, all centers to as many
Systems of innumerable Worlds, all alike unknown to us; how naturally
do we open to ourselves a vast Field of Probation, and an endless
Scene of Hope to ground our Expectation of an _ever_-future Happiness
upon, suitable to the native Dignity of the awful Mind, which made and
comprehends it; and whose Works are all as the Business of an Eternity?
If the Stars were ordained merely for the Use of us, why so much
Extravagance and Ostentation in their Number, Nature, and Make? For
a much less Quantity, and smaller Bodies, placed nearer to us, would
every Way answer the vain End we put them to; and besides, in all
Things else, Nature is most frugal, and takes the nearest Way, through
all her Works, to operate and effect the Will of God. It scarce can be
reckoned more irrational, to suppose Animals with Eyes, destined to
live in eternal Darkness, or without Eyes to live in perpetual Day,
than to imagine Space illuminated, where there is nothing to be acted
upon, or brought to Light; therefore we may justly suppose, that so
many radiant Bodies were not created barely to enlighten an infinite
Void, but to make their much more numerous Attendants visible; and
instead of discovering a vast unbounded desolate Negation of Beings,
display an infinite shapeless Universe, crowded with Myriads of
glorious Worlds, all variously revolving round them; and which form
an Atom, to an indefinite Creation, with an inconceivable Variety of
Beings and States, animate and fill the endless Orb of Immensity.
That the sidereal Planets are not visible to us, can be no Objection to
their actual Existence, and being there, is plain from this; it is well
known, that the Stars themselves, which are their Central, and only
radiant Bodies, are little more to us at the Earth, than mathematical
Points. How ridiculous then is it to expect, that any of their small
opaque Attendance, should ever be perceived so far as the Earth by
us; and besides, to show the Impossibility of such a Discovery, we
need only consider, what is, and what is not to be expected, or known
in our own home System. All the Planets in this our sensible Region,
every Astronomer knows, is far from being visible to one another, in
every individual Sphere; for to an Eye at the Orb of _Saturn_, this
Earth we live upon, which requires Years to circumscribe, and Ages to
be made acquainted with, and is far from being yet all known, cannot
possibly from the above Planet be seen: And further, since _Saturn_ and
_Jupiter_, two of the most material and considerable Globes we know of,
except the Sun himself, are Bodies apparently of the same kind, and are
observed to have each a Number of lesser Planets moving round them; why
may we not expect with equal Certainty and Propriety, that all other
Bodies, under the same Circumstances, are in like manner attended; that
is, seeing the Sun is found to be the Center of a System of Bodies, all
variously volving round him? where lies the Improbability of his fellow
Luminaries, the Stars, being surrounded in like sort, with more or less
of such Attendance.
I shall offer but one Thing more to your Consideration in this Affair,
and which I am in great Hopes will be sufficient to make you think
these natural Suggestions a good deal more than probable, and that is
this:
The modern Astronomers having, in a great measure, proved that the
Stars are, in all respects, vast Globes of Fire like our Sun. Let us
suppose a new-created Mind, or thinking Being, in a profound State of
Ignorance, with regard to the Nature of all external Objects, but fully
endowed with every human Sense and Force of Reason, suspended in Æther,
exactly in the midway, betwixt [T]_Syrius_ and the Sun; in which Case,
both of these Luminaries would equally appear much about the Brightness
of the largest of our Planets. Now should such a Being, determined
either by Accident or Choice, arrive at this our System of the Sun, and
seeing all the planetary Bodies moving round him, I would ask you what
you think he would imagine to be round _Syrius_? Your Answer, I think I
may venture to say, would not be _nothing_; and methinks I already hear
you say, Why Planets such as ours.
[Footnote T: A Star of the first Magnitude in the greater _Dog_, and
the most neighbouring to our Sun.]
PLATE XI.
Is designed as a geometrical Scale to all the primary Parts of the
visible Creation, with regard to the Distance of Orbits compared with
the Globe of the Sun; by which at once may be conceived, and justly
measured in the Mind, not only the mean Distance of the Planets with
regard to one another, but also that of the Comets, and even the
comparative Distances of the nearest of the Stars, which will, I guess,
greatly help you to form an Idea of the vast Extent of Space necessary
to comprehend the whole Creation.
_Fig._ 1. Is a Radius of the Orbit of _Mercury_, in true Proportion to
the Body of the Sun represented at S, shewing at the same time a small
Portion of the opaque Planet's Orbit, and the real Length of its Shadow
at P.
_Fig._ 2. Is a Radius of the whole System of the Planets as far as the
Orbit of _Saturn_ in Proportion to a compleat Orbit of _Mercury_, much
less than the former; the former serving as a better known Scale to
consider the amazing Distances of the more remote Planets by.
Lastly, _Fig._ 3. Is a Representation of the least possible Distance of
_Syrius_ and the Sun, proportionable to the Magnitude of the Sphere of
our Comets, &_c._ represented at S, whereby it evidently appears, that
as all the Planets of _Syrius_ must be included within the small Sphere
represented in the Center P, none of them could possibly be seen at the
Sun, not only by reason of the Smallness of the Angle of Sustension, or
Elongation, but also as being lost in the superior Light of _Syrius_
himself, in so minute an Orb of Vicinity.
Consequently (as you must perceive) no Arguments can possibly be drawn
to deny the Existence of such Bodies, with any Shew of Reason, from
their not having been seen by us.
Here I must observe to you, that you cannot consider this Scale of
Orbits too much before you look upon Plate XVII.
To conclude, it evidently seems to be the End and Design of Providence,
by this visible Variety of Beings, to lift the Minds of Men above this
narrow Earth, in Search of that powerful Being upon which we are all
so much dependant; and the _Creator_, no doubt, in this vast Display
of his Wisdom and Power, designed the amazing Whole, as the adequate
Object of every Part, and as such equally open on all Sides, to the
penetrating Progress of human Minds, and through the most extensive
Faculty of Sense, the _Sight_, to draw our Reason and Understanding by
Degrees, from finite Objects into Infinity; and as the last Result of
celestial Contemplations place within our Reach, a certain Evidence of
a future State, _and the manifest Mansions of Rewards and Punishments,
suited no doubt most equitably to all Degrees of Virtue, and to every
Vice_.
"When I consider (says Mr. _Addison_, speaking as having taken
particular notice of a fine Evening) that infinite Host of Stars, or
to speak more philosophically of Suns, which were then shining upon
me, with those innumerable Sets of Planets or Worlds, which were then
moving round their respective Suns; when I still enlarge the Idea,
and supposed another Heaven of Suns and Worlds rising still above
this which we discovered; and these still enlightened by a superior
Firmament of Luminaries, which are planted at so great a Distance, that
they may appear to the Inhabitants of the former as the Stars do to
us; in short, whilst I pursued this Thought, I could not but reflect
on that little insignificant Figure which I myself bore amongst the
Immensity of God's Works:" This Reflection, I judge, as you are an
Admirer of the Author, you will not look upon as impertinent in this
Place, especially as it must enforce what I have endeavoured to shew
you, namely, the Reasonableness of a Plurality of sidereal Systems, and
their Multiplicity of Worlds; which, if you are yet in Doubt of, I hope
you will at least forgive so well designed an Attempt with your usual
Candour.
I am now prepared to proceed in the chief Design of this Undertaking,
which is to solve the Phænomena of the _Via Lactea_; and propose in my
next to answer more fully your farther Request.
_I am_, &c.
[Illustration]
LETTER the FIFTH.
_Of the Order, Distance, and Multiplicity of the Stars, the_ Via
Lactea, _and Extent of the visible Creation_.
_SIR_,
WE are told, and, if I remember right, it is also your Opinion, that
three of the finest Sights in Nature, are a rising Sun at Sea, a
verdant Landskip with a Rainbow, and a clear Star-light Evening: All
of which I have myself often observed with vast Delight and Pleasure.
The first I have frequently beheld, and always with an agreeable
Surprize; the second I have as often taken notice of, with no small
Degree of Admiration; but the last I shall never look up to without an
Astonishment, even mixed with a kind of Rapture. The Night you last
left us, this admirable Scene was in its full Beauty; and, as _Milton_
says,
Silence was pleas'd: now glow'd the Firmament
With living Saphirs; _Hesperus_ that led
The starry Host rode brightest.----
I found it was impossible to look long upon this stupendious Scene, so
full of amazing Objects, and particularly the _Via Lactea_, which (the
Moon being absent) was then in great Perfection, without being put in
Mind of my Task. This surprizing Zone of Light being the chief Object I
have undertaken to treat of and demonstrate.
This amazing Phænomenon which have been the Occasion of so many
_Fables_, idle Romances, and ridiculous Opinions amongst the Antients,
still continues to be unaccounted for, and even in an Age vain enough
to boast Astronomy in its utmost Perfection.
What will you say, if I tell you, it is my Belief we are so far from
the real Summit of the Science, that we scarce yet know the Rudiments
of what may be expected from it. This luminous Circle has often
engrossed my Thoughts, and of late has taken up all my idle Hours;
and I am now in great Hopes I have not only at last found out the
real Cause of it, but also by the same Hypothesis, which solves this
Appearance, shall be able to demonstrate a much more rational Theory of
the Creation than hitherto has been any where advanced, and at the same
Time give you an intire new Idea of the Universe, or infinite System
of Things. This most surprizing Zone of Light, which have employed
successively for many Ages past, the wisest Heads amongst the Antients,
to no other Purpose than barely to describe it; we find to be a perfect
Circle, and nearly bisecting the celestial Sphere, but very irregular
in Breadth and Brightness, and in many Places divided into double
Streams.
[U]The principal Part of it runs through the _Eagle_, the _Swan_,
_Cassiopea_, _Perseus_, and _Auriga_, and continues its Course by the
Head of _Monoceros_, along by the greater _Dog_ through the Ship, and
underneath the _Centaur's Feet_, till having passed the _Alter_, the
_Scorpion's Tail_, and the Bow of _Aquarius_, it ends at last where it
begun.
[Footnote U:
----Carried toward the opposed _Bears_,
Its Course close by the _Artick_ Circle steers,
And by inverted _Cassiopea_ tends;
Thence by the _Swan_ obliquely it descends
The Summer Tropick, and _Jove's_ Bird divides;
Then cross the Equator, and the Zodiack glides
'Twixt _Scorpio's_ burning Tail, and the left Part
Of _Sagitarius_, near the fiery Dart;
Then by the other _Centaur's_ Legs and Feet,
Winding remounts the Skies (again to meet)
By _Argos'_ Topsail, and Heav'ns middle Sphere,
Passing the _Twins_, t' o'ertake the Charioteer;
Thence _Cassiopea_ seeking thee does run,
O're _Perseus_ Head, and Ends where it begun.
Sher. Manilius.
]
PLATE XII, and XIII.
Represents the two Hemispheres, where its true Tract is distinguished
amongst the principal Stars, and may easily be conceived by them to
circumscribe and bisect the whole Heavens.
This is that Phænomena I am about to explain and account for; but
before I proceed farther, I judge it will be no _improper Precognita_,
to give you the Thoughts of the Antients upon it; the Relation perhaps
may require some Patience; but I guess, that after reading such wild
and extravagant Notions concerning it, you will naturally judge more
favourably of the Conjectures of the Moderns upon it, and particularly
of what is concluded in the succeeding Pages.
[Illustration: Plate XII.]
[Illustration: Plate XIII.]
_Theophrastus_[V] was of Opinion, that the Hemispheres, which, by many
of the Antients were imagined to be solid, was joined together here;
and that this was the soldering of the two Parts into one. [W]Diodorus
thought it celestial Fire, of a dense and compact Nature, seen through
the Clifts or Cracks of the parting Hemisphere: But as _Manilius_ says,
Astonishment must sure their Senses reach,
To see the World's wide Wound, and Heav'n's eternal Breach.
[Footnote V: _Macrobius_, lib. i. cap. 15.
Or meets Heaven here! and this while Cloud appears
The Cement of the close-wedg'd Hemispheres!
]
[Footnote W:
The sacred Causes human Breasts enquire,
Whether the heavenly Segments there retire,
The whole Mass shrinking, and the parting Fame
Thro' cleaving Chinks admits the stranger Flame.
]
Oenopides[X] believed it the ancient Way of the Sun, till frighted at
the bloody Banquet of _Thyestis_. [Y]Eratosthenes supposed it _Juno's_
Milk, spilt whilst giving Suck to _Hercules_. [Z]Plutarch makes it the
Effect of _Phaeton's_ confused Erratication; but I think it is plain
[AA]Ovid judged them to be Stars, and the ancient _Ethnicks_ believed
them to be the blissful Seats of valiant and heroic Souls.
----Valiant Souls, freed from corporeal Gives,
Thither repair, and lead æthereal Lives.
Manilius.
[Footnote X:
Or seems that old Opinion of more Sway,
That the Sun's Horses here once run astray,
And a new Path mark'd in their straggling Flight,
Of scorching Skies, and Stars adusted Light.
]
[Footnote Y:
Nor must that gentle Rumour be supprest,
How Milk once flowing from fair _Juno's_ Breast
Stain'd the celestial Pavement, from whence came
This milky Path, its Cause shewn in its Name.
]
[Footnote Z:
When from the hurried Chariot Light'ning fled,
And scatter'd blazes all the Skies o'erspread;
By whose Approach new Stars enkindled were,
Which still as Marks of that sad Chance appear.
Manilius.
]
[Footnote AA:
A Way there is in Heaven's expanded Plain
Which when the Skies are clear, is seen below,
And Mortals by the Name of _Milky_, know,
The Ground-work is of Stars----
_Ovid's_ Met. lib. i.
]
But [AB]Democritus long ago believed them to be an infinite Number of
small Stars; and such of late Years they have been discovered to be,
first by _Gallaleo_, next by _Keplar_, and now confirmed by all modern
Astronomers, who have ever had an Opportunity of seeing them through a
good Telescope.
[Footnote AB: _Plutarch (in Placitis Philosoph.)_]
PLATE XIV.
Is from an Observation I made myself, of a bright Part of this Zone
near the Feet of _Antinous_; which, (by a Mistake of the Engraver) is,
as it appears through a Tube of two convex Glasses. I saw it through a
very good Reflector, and formed the Plan by a Combination of Triangles.
_Milton_ takes notice of this Zone in a most beautiful Manner, where he
describes the Creator's Return from his six Day's Work to Heaven, he
introduces it as a Simile to express his Idea of the eternal Way, or
Road to the celestial Mansions.
----A broad and ample Road, whose Dust is Gold
And Pavement Stars, as Stars to thee appear,
Seen in the _Galaxie_, that Milky Way,
Which nightly as a circling Zone thou seest
Powder'd with Stars.
But to infer from their Appearance only, that they are really Stars,
without considering their Nature and Distance; and that nothing but
Stars could possibly produce such an Effect, may perhaps be assuming
too much, when we have nothing but the bare Credit of the _Belgic_
Glasses to support our Conjectures; and although this may be sufficient
for any Mathematician, yet for your greater Satisfaction, I have
thought proper to give two or three more evincing Arguments, to confirm
these important Discoveries. _Democritus_, as I have said before,
believed them to be Stars long before Astronomy reaped any Benefit from
the improved Sciences of Optics; and saw, as we may say, through the
Eye of Reason, full as far into Infinity as the most able Astronomers
in more advantageous Times have done since, even assisted with their
best Glasses: And his Conjectures are almost as old as the philolaic
System of the Planets itself; the Construction of which, though
attempted by many, none have ever yet been able to confute.
The Light which naturally flows from this Crowd of radiant Bodies
is mixt and confused, chiefly occasioned by the Agitation of our
Atmosphere, and from a Union of their Rays of Light, by a too near
Proximity of their Beams, altogether they appear like a River of Milk,
but more of a pelucid Nature, running all round the starry Regions.
[Illustration: Plate XIV.]
For in the azure Skies its candid Way
Shines like the dawning Morn, or closing Day.
There are also many more such luminous Spaces to be found in the
Heavens of the same Nature with these, which we know to be Stars; in
particular the _Nebulæ_, or cloudy Star in the _Præsepe_ of 36; a
cloudy Star in _Orion_ of 21; [AC]a cloudy [AD]Knot not far from this
in the same Asterism of 80; in one Degree of the same Constellation
500, and in the whole Form above [AE]2000. All of which are great
Confirmations of the Truth of our Assertion, _i. e._ that this Zone of
Light proceeds from an infinite Number of small Stars. Here it will
not be amiss to observe, that it has been conjectured, and is strongly
suspected, that a proper Number of Rays, meeting from different
Directions, become Flame; and that hence it may prove not the Sun's
real Body which we daily see, but only his inflamed Atmosphere. I
begin to be of Opinion, and I think not without Reason, that the true
Magnitude of the Sun is not near what the modern Astronomers have made
it; and that it may not possibly be much above two Thirds of what it
appears to us; I don't mean that this Expansion of the solar Flame is
any Part of that dilated Light mentioned by Sir _Isaac Newton_, and
conceived to be round all light Bodies in general; but you may consider
it as not much differing from it, not of an unlike Nature, only greater
in Degree, and peculiar to the Sun and Stars, who are all, as has been
before in a manner demonstrated to be actually Globes of Fire.
[Footnote AC: Vide _Galilæo_]
[Footnote AD: Betwixt the Sword and Girdle of _Orion_.]
[Footnote AE: Vide _Reitha_.]
This, tho' I presume to call it at present only meer Hypothesis,
will in a great measure account for the excessive Changes in the
Constitution of our Air and Atmosphere, which we often find very
unnatural to the Season; also be a Means perhaps of reconciling
the vast Disproportion so very remarkable betwixt the Sun and the
lesser Planets, and many other Circumstances in the System of no
small Consequence in Astronomy: One of which Particulars you have
frequently expressed a great Mistrust and Disapprobation of, as
suspecting some kind of a Fallacy in the Computation; and the other
is Matter of general Complaint, being by many attributed to a Change
in the Direction of the Earth's Axis[AF]; and by some, especially the
Vulgar, to too near an Approximation of the Earth to some one of the
celestial Bodies. But all this will very naturally be accounted for
by the Levity, or expanding Quality of the Sun's circumambient Flame,
or Atmosphere; and hence, according to its various State, being more
condensed, or rare, we may have Heat or Cold in the greatest Extream,
and alternately so, in a perpetual Vicissitude.
[Footnote AF: Which, through Ignorance of the true Case, is commonly
called a Shock, a Brush, or Shove.]
The Truth of this Doctrine will evidently appear from the Observations
of the Sun's Diameter through the Year 1660, by the indefatigable
_Mouton_: And, I must own, I am not a little surprized to find that no
Conclusions have been drawn from them of this Kind. I am perswaded, if
you once compare those Numbers, you will be very far from thinking this
an improbable Suggestion. But this Digression has led me a little too
far from the _Via Lactea_, and too near home again; I must now think
of returning to the Stars, and my next Endeavours must be to give you
some Idea of the Number of them. Through very good Telescopes there
have been discovered in many Parts of this enlightened Space, and even
out of it, several thousand Stars in the Compass of one square Degree;
in particular near the Sword of _Perseus_, and in the Constellations of
[AG]_Taurus_ and _Orion_.
[Footnote AG: _Galilæo_ in one cloudy Star of this Constellation,
discovered no less than twenty-one, and in that of the _Præsepe_
thirty-six.]
PLATE XV.
Represents the _Pleides_, a well known Knot of Stars in the Sign
_Taurus_, as they appeared to me thro' a one Foot reflecting Telescope:
And _Plate_ XVI. is a View of the _Persides_, another surprizing Knot
of Stars in the Constellation _Perseus_, exactly as they appear through
a Tube of two convex Glasses. There are also other luminous Spaces
in the starry Regions, not unlike the Milky Way, which I have had
no Opportunity of observing; such as the _Nebeculæ_, near the South
Pole, called by the Seamen _Magellanic_ Clouds; and which likewise
viewed through Telescopes, present us with little _Nebulæ_, and small
Stars interspersed: One of these Kind is situated between _Hydrus_ and
_Dorado_; and another, something less than this, betwixt _Hydrus_ and
the _Toucan_.
Now admitting the Breadth of the _Via Lactea_ to be at a Mean but
nine Degrees, and supposing only twelve hundred Stars in every square
Degree, there will be nearly in the whole orbicular Area 3,888,000
Stars, and all these in a very minute Portion of the great Expanse
of Heaven. What! a vast Idea of endless Beings must this produce and
generate in our Minds; and when we consider them all as flaming Suns,
Progenitors, and _Primum Mobiles_ of a still much greater Number of
peopled Worlds, what less than an Infinity can circumscribe them, less
than an Eternity comprehend them, or less than Omnipotence produce and
support them, and where can our Wonder cease?
[Illustration: Plate XV.]
[Illustration: Plate XVI.]
In this Place perhaps I ought not to pass over the astonishing
Phenomenon of several new Stars, _&c._ which have frequently appeared,
and soon again vanished, in the same Point of the Heavens. But as
the Business of this Theory is rather to solve the general, than any
particular Phænomenon, I shall only here by way of Note subjoin a Table
of such as has been regularly observed, and by whom they were first
discovered.
_A Table of several new Stars_, Nebulæ, _and double Stars_, &c.
_Nomina Stellarum._ _Observationum._
_Septima Pleiadum_ { Lost after the burning of _Troy_,
{ but now returned; see
{ _Ricciolus_.
A new Star appeared in _Cassiopea_, } _Anno Dom._ 945, bright as
nearly in the same Place with that } _Jupiter_; see _Ricciolus_.
of 1572.
The new Star in _Cassiopea's_ Chair. { Bright as _Venus_, from _November_
{ 1572 to _March_ 1574.
{ Of the 3d Magnitude, is said to
A new Star in _Collo Ceti_. { have appear'd periodically, seven
{ Times in six Years, _i. e._ every
{ three hundred and thirteen Days:
{ It was first observed in _August_
{ 1596, for two Months, by _D.
{ Fabricius_.
{ Observed by _Kepler_ in 1600, of
A new Star in the Swan's Neck. { the third Magnitude, till the Year
{ 1659; then gradually decreasing;
{ in 1661 it disappeared; in 1666
{ it became visible again, and is
{ yet to be seen of the sixth
{ Magnitude.
A new Star in the Right Foot of { Bright as _Venus_ from _October_
_Serpentarius_, { 1604 to _October_ 1605: see
{ _Kepler_.
A new Star in _Andromeda's_ Girdle, { Seen by _Simon Marius_ and
{ _Fabricius_, _Anno_ 1612.
A new Star in _Antinous_, { Seen by _Justus Byrgius_.
{ In 1638, by _John Procyclides
A new Star seen in the Whale, { Holuarda_, of the third Magnitude,
{ which disappeared periodically,
{ every three hundred and thirty
{ Days.
{ Of the third Magnitude, seen by
A new Star in the Fox's Head, { _Hevelius_ in _July_ 1670, and
{ till _August_ 1671, also from
{ _March_ 1672 to _September_ 1672.
{ This appear'd periodically every
A new Star in the Swan's Neck. { four hundred and four Days, and
{ about six Months at a Time; it
{ was seen at its brightest,
{ _September_ 10, 1714.
_Of the_ Nebulæ, _or Cloudy Stars_.
_Nebulose_ in _Orion's_ Sword.
_Nebulose_ in _Andromeda's_ Girdle.
_Nebulose_ in the Bow of _Sagitarius_, Small, but very luminous.
_Nebulose_ in _Centaurus_, Never seen in _England_.
A _Nebulose_ preceding the right Foot } Obscure, but with a Star in the
of _Antinous_, } Middle of it.
_Nebulæ_ in _Dorso Herculis_, Discovered by Dr. _Hally_.
Besides the _Nebulæ_, and new Stars, it appears from the
ancient Catalogues of _Hevelius_, &c. that some of the old ones
have intirely vanished; in particular, one in the left Thigh
of _Aquarius_, the contiguous one preceding in the Tail of
_Capricorn_; the second on the Belly of the Whale; the first of the
unformed ones after the Scales of _Libra_, and several others. Many
of the Stars also appear to be double, as the first Star of _Aries_
and _Castor_; others triple, as one in the _Pleiades_; and the
middle one in _Orion's_ Sabre; and others again, quadruple, _&c._
I would now willingly help you to conceive the indefinite mutual
Distance of the Stars, in order to give you some small Notion of the
Immensity of Space; but as this will be a Task merely conjectural, I
shall only desire you to believe it as far as your Reason will carry
you, safely supported by an obvious Probability.
Perhaps it may be necessary here to acquaint you, that all the Stars
are so far apparently of different Magnitudes, that no two of them are
to be found in the whole Heavens exactly the same, either in Bigness or
Brightness[AH]. The largest we have sufficient Reason to believe is the
nearest to us; the next in Bigness and Brightness more remote; and so
on to the least we see, which we judge to be the most remote of all.
The first Degree, or that of the largest Magnitude, we give to Syrius,
the second to Arcturus, the third to Aldebaran, the fourth to Lyra,
the fifth to Capella, the sixth to Regulus, the seventh to Rigel, the
eighth to Fomahaunt, and the ninth to Antarus: These are all said to be
of the first Class; and besides which, there are at least, within the
Reach of our latest improved Opticks, nine more Denominations within
the Radius of the visible Creation.
[Footnote AH: A very little Knowledge in Opticks will render this
indisputable, and has been in a great measure demonstrated before;
1. in the Great Dog; 2. in Bootes; 3. in the Bull; 4. in the Harp of
_Apollo_; 5. in _Auriga_; 6. in the Lion; 7. in _Orion_; 8. in the
Southern Fish; 9. at the End of _Erridanus_.]
Now, by the certain Return of the Comets, which we find are all
governed by the Laws of this System, and supposed to be undisturbed
by any of the others, we cannot avoid concluding, if we consider them
at all to the Purpose, that the nearest Stars cannot be less distant
than twice the Radius of the greatest Orbit belonging to the Sun. Most
Mathematicians think this a great deal too near, as it must of course
make all the Systems join, as in Contact; and I think we may safely
add, to separate their Spheres of Attraction, at least one Half of
this Distance more, which will make in the Whole about four hundred
and twenty Semi-orbits of the Earth, or 33,600,000,000 Miles. This
even the ingenious Mr. _Huygins_ endeavours to prove still much too
little, and his Arguments are such as cannot easily be refuted. His
Principle is grounded upon the known Laws of Analogy, as considered in
the Proportion of light Surfaces, and is as follows. Having reduced
the Sun's Disk to the Appearance of the Star Syrius, by the Help of
a small Hole at the End of his Telescope, and comparing this Part of
his Surface to the whole Disk of the Sun, he infers that the Stars
Distance to that of the Sun must be as 27,664 to 1. Hence _Syrius_
from us will be nearly (avoiding Units) 2,213,120,000,000 Miles: But
this I take to be as much too large as the former is too little; yet,
as Mr. _Bradley_ has, with some Shew of Reason, banished all the
Stars out of the Sphere of Parallax, the last is the only Method we
can possibly make use of with any kind of Confidence; and Sir _Isaac
Newton_ endeavours to recommend it with great Force of Argument, as the
only probable Means by which we can give any tolerable Guess at these
immense Measurements of Space.
To moderate the Matter then if you please, allow me but to make use of
a Mean betwixt the two fore-mentioned Numbers; and we may take it for
granted, a Distance sufficiently exact, to suit all our Wants in the
present Case, namely, to give a very tolerable Idea of the Extent of
the visible Creation, which is all I propose in this Place to attempt;
but I mean to be much more exact in another.
Now as the Distance from the Sun to the Earth is so small in Proportion
to the Distance of the Stars from us, and from one another, we may very
well consider the Sun as the Center of our Station, or Position in the
general System or Frame of Nature. And as the Stars are very visible
thro' good Telescopes, to the ninth or tenth Magnitude, if we multiply
the primary Distance of _Syrius_, or of any other of his Class, by this
Number of common intermediate Spaces, the Product will be equal to the
Radius of the visible Creation to the solar Eye; which, by this Rule,
you will find in capital Numbers to be [AI]nearly 6,000,000,000,000
Miles, taking in a Star of the sixth Magnitude, and to a Star of the
ninth, 9,000,000,000,000 Miles: But this Computation supposes a mean
common Distance of the Stars in a sort of Syzygia, or Direction of
a Right Line, which is not the real Case; for the Stars cannot be
supposed to diminish in a proportional Magnitude by any mathematical
_Ratio_, but by some geometrical, or rather musical one; for Instance,
if the Distance of a first be 3, that of a second should be about 5,
and of a proportional Third 8,333, _&c. ad infinitum_: But as their
true proportional Distance is unknown, the above will be sufficient for
our present Purpose; which is only to shew, without Exaggeration, the
Space we now are truly sensible of.
[Footnote AI: If the Distance of the Sun and Earth is found too much,
which I must own I have a violent Suspicion of, these Numbers must be
reduced in like Proportion.]
This I have here considered more extensively, to obviate all Objections
that you may make to the Probability of the general Motion of the
Stars, by shewing no Difficulty can possibly arise from their apparent
Proximity, Number, or irregular Distribution: Their Distances being
so immensely large, no Disorder or Confusion can be supposed in any
Direction of them, or Motion whatever. The greatest Distance of the
Planets, which all move undisturbed round the Sun, is about three
hundred and fifty-three Million of Miles: But the least Distance of
one Star from another, is upwards of two thousand eight hundred and
thirty-two Times that Distance, or one Million of Millions of Miles:
And as no sensible Disorder can be observed amongst the solar Planets,
what Reason have we to suppose any can be occasioned amongst the Stars,
or that a general Motion of these primary Luminaries round a common
Center, should be any way irrational, or unnatural?
What an amazing Scene does this display to us! what inconceivable
Vastness and Magnificence of Power does such a Frame unfold! Suns
crowding upon Suns, to our weak Sense, indefinitely distant from each
other; and Miriads of Miriads of Mansions, like our own, peopling
Infinity, all subject to the same Creator's Will; a Universe of Worlds,
all deck'd with Mountains, Lakes, and Seas, Herbs, Animals, and Rivers,
Rocks, Caves, and Trees; and all the Produce of indulgent Wisdom, to
chear Infinity with endless Beings, to whom his Omnipotence may give a
variegated eternal Life.
The astonishing Distance of the starry Mansions undoubtedly was
design'd to answer some wise End: One Consequence is this, and probably
is not without its Use: To every Planet of the same System, the same
sidereal Face of Heaven appears without the least Degree of Change;
and as the remotest Regions upon Earth see the same Moon and Planets,
so also the Inhabitants of the most distant Planets in ours, or in any
other System, see the same Forms and Order of the Stars in common with
the rest. The whole Sphere of Heaven being common and unchangeable
through all their various Revolutions.
Thus those (the People) in the Planet _Venus_ will see the
Constellation of _Orion_ just as we do, and the People in the
Planet _Saturn_, much farther still removed, alike will view this
Constellation in all respects the same; here then, (in the System of
the Sun) the Eye removed from us must only hope to find a new Earth
surrounded with the same sort of Sky: But Beings in another System,
behold not only a new Heaven above, but also new Earths below; and
all the Frame of Nature to them puts on a new Dress, new Signs, new
Seasons, and new Planets roll, and a new Sun renews the Day.
The Heathen Fables here are all erased with all the Immortality of
their vain earthly Gods and Heroes; _Perseus_ and _Alcides_ are no
more, and both the _Bears_ are vanished; the _Pleiades_ and the
_Hyads_ join, and shining Leo, though boasting two Stars of the first
Magnitude with us, there no where can be found, lost in the common
undistinguished Herd. But still Astronomy will exist, and new-framed
Forms may fill the varied Scene.
Perhaps you may expect that I should here give you my Conjectures of
what sort of Beings may be supposed to reside in the _Ens Primum_, or
_Sedes Beatorum_ of the known Universe, whether mortal, immortal, or
Creatures partaking in some Degree of the Properties of both; as such
may be conceiv'd to change their Natures and States, without a total
Dissolution of their Senses by Death: And farther, it may possibly
be judged unpardonable in me not to point out every blessed Abode,
suited to the Virtues, and all the various States an immortal Soul
may be translated to; but this is a Task above the human Capacity, or
is the pure Province of Religion alone; the Business of a Revelation
rather than Reason to discover. Besides, it is enough for the present
Purpose, to prove, that Miriads of celestial Mansions, are to be
discovered within our finite View, and by a kind of ocular Revelation,
which visibly extends the human Prospect, as it were, far beyond the
Grave. It matters not whether a Race of Heroes fill these Worlds, or
a Tribe of happy Lovers people those; whether a Peasant in the Realms
of Orion shall ever become a Prince in the Regions of _Arcturus_, or a
Patriarch in _Procion_, a Prophet in the _Precepæ_. Not to mention all
the Stages human Nature may, or have been destined to in any one World,
as believ'd by the ancient Philosophers, besides the final Coalition of
all Beings much more naturally to be expected in the _Sedes Beatorum_.
I say, whatever our Case may be with regard to these _Queries_ and
Futurity, the Plan and Principles of this Theory will not be at all
changed by it, since what it is chiefly founded upon may be clearly
demonstrated, so clearly and incontestably, that, with the Reverend Dr.
_Young_, we may justly conclude,
Devotion! Daughter of Astronomy!
and affirm with him also, That,
An indevout Astronomer is mad.
But I find what I at first proposed will prove too long for this
Letter. However, I will endeavour to reward your Patience in my next,
and continue, &_c._
LETTER the SIXTH.
_Of General Motion amongst the Stars, the Plurality of Systems, and
Innumerability of Worlds._
_SIR_,
Since my last, you'll find by this, speaking in the Stile of _Kercher_,
that I have been very far from home, round almost the visible Creation.
I have indeed applied myself very closely to transcribe my Thoughts to
you upon the old Subject the _Milky Way_, which my former Letter left
imperfected. To return then to the Theory of the Stars, and that yet
unreconciled Phænomenon; let us reason a little upon the visible Order
of the Stars in general, and see what Conclusions can be drawn from
what every Astronomer knows of them, and cannot be disputed.
First then, that the Stars are not infinitely dispersed and distributed
in a promiscuous Manner throughout all the mundane Space, without Order
or Design, is evident beyond a Doubt from this vast collective Body of
Light, since no such Phænomenon could possibly be produced by Chance,
or exhibited without a designed Disposition of its constituent Bodies.
If any regular Order of the Stars then can be demonstrated that will
naturally prove this Phænomenon to be no other than a certain Effect
arising from the Observer's Situation, I think you must of course grant
such a Solution at least rational, if not the Truth; and this is what I
propose by my new Theory.
To a Spectator placed in an indefinite Space, all very remote Objects
appear to be equally distant from the Eye; and if we judge of the _Via
Lactea_ from Phænomena only, we must of course conclude it a vast Ring
of Stars, scattered promiscuously round the celestial Regions in the
Direction of a perfect Circle.
But when we consider the explanick Position of many other Stars, all
of the same Nature, and not less numerous, together forming the great
Sphere of Heaven, we generally find ourselves quite at a Loss how to
reconcile the two apparent Classes; and I know none who have ever been
successful enough to reduce them to any one general Order.
You'll say probably how shall we make this chaosic Disposition of the
primary Luminaries agree with the secondary Laws, and the just Harmony
observed in the third [AJ]Creation, &_c._
[Footnote AJ: The Moon, Satellites of _Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, &c.]
The Work now you see is undertaken, and chiefly at your own Request,
therefore I have a Right to expect you'll be very indulgent to the
Author, and pass over all his Faults, and allow him free Argument in
Pursuit of these important Truths, which will in the End open perhaps
a much wider Field of Contemplation to us, than at first could be
supposed to be intended by the _Genesis_ of _Moses_.
That Description of the Beginning of Nature is not without its Beauty
and Nobleness, suitable to the Dignity both of the Author and Subject.
But should we even in this knowing Age of the World pretend to account
for the Original of Things, as _Moses_ to support his believed divine
Legation, was obliged in some measure to do, we should soon be reduced
to talk in the same Stile, and perhaps with less Probability, than then
at least appeared in his elegant Account of the Origin of the Universe,
especially if we do but consider, that what he wrote, was only to
the Senses of a People who had not yet learnt to make use of their
Reason any other way, but from the Appearance of Things, and upon a
Subject too sublime for vulgar Capacities in any Age, and had only been
attempted in the deepest Learning of _Egypt_, which, he though well
acquainted with, the Generality of them were totally Strangers to.
In the first Place it must be granted, that the Stars being all of
the same Nature, are either all moveable, or all fixed, that is all
governed by one and the same Principle.
Now to suppose them all fixed, and dispersed in an endless Disorder
thro' the infinite Expanse, which has long been the Opinion of many
very able Astronomers amongst the Antients, and even now received
by too many of the Moderns, implies an Inactivity in those vast and
principal Bodies, so much the Reverse of what may be expected, and what
we daily observe through all the rest of their Attendants, namely,
their own respective Satellites, that we cannot possibly upon any
rational Grounds, advance one single Argument to support so much as
a Conjecture towards it, without betraying the greatest Simplicity,
and next to an Affirmation reduce the whole Frame of Nature, and all
corporeal Beings to a wild unmeaning Chance, arising from an unnatural
Discord and Confusion.
For upon the Principles of Locality and Materiality, you having allowed
me the Use of my Senses and Reason, as absolutely necessary towards
conceiving any Idea of our present State, or of Futurity: Upon these
Principles I say, unless our Faculties are useless, if there are no
other Bodies or Beings in the Universe than what we see, and are now
sensible of, we must now at the Height of this our present State, be as
near Perfection as we can reasonably expect, and as such ourselves the
supreme Beings of all Beings. To what End then do we form Ideas of a
succeeding Life, where a more exalted State cannot be hoped for.
How absurd and impious this is I leave to your own Reason and
Reflection: This is the fatal Rock upon which all weak Heads and
narrow Minds are lost and split upon, consequently ought to be the
most carefully avoided, not only as the Nurse of Atheism, but as the
dreadful Father of Despair: "For, say they, these unhappy Wretches,
to be always the same, is inconsistent with a Change; and to be less
than what we are, any where hereafter, is full as difficult to conceive
as to be more." Thus, unless we admit of superior Seats and much more
glorious Habitations than these we are sensible of, we strike at the
very Root of a fair flourishing Tree of Immortality, and must become
Authors of our own Despair. I have often wonder'd how thinking Men
could possibly fall into so gross an Error, as that of a Spirit's
Annihilation; and I should be glad to ask one of those fruitless
Students, whether, upon the Evidence of our present Being, it is not
much more rational, to hope for a future, than to expect a _Ne plus
ultra_ upon no Evidence at all. The Affirmative is certainly much more
natural to be conceiv'd than the Negative. But if Chance were the
Case, and that Chance produced all these regular and wondrous Works,
'tis to be wished at least, that Chance might do the same again; and
if not Chance, of course an eternal Direction: But Chance only can
effect Disorder, Discord, and Confusion; _ergo_, the visible Harmony
and Beauty of the Creation declare for a Direction; and this must of
Consequence, from its perfect Nature, proceed from the Wisdom and Power
of an eternal Being, _God of Infinity_, the Author of all Ideas: And if
this primitive Power produced us his Creatures from nothing, nothing
can be wanting to revive our Frames again; and if from something, that
something must remain to establish us in a future Life. But to return,
how absurd it is to suppose one Part of the Creation regular, and
the other irregular, or a visible circulating Order of Things, to be
mixed with Disorder, and circumscribing Part of an endless Confusion,
is obvious to the weakest Understanding, and consequently we may
reasonably expect, that the _Via Lactea_, which is a manifest Circle
amongst the Stars, conspicuous to every Eye, will prove at last the
Whole to be together a vast and glorious regular Production of Beings,
out of the wondrous Will or Fecundity of the eternal and infinite _one_
self-sufficient Cause; and that all its Irregularities are only such
as naturally arise from our excentric View: To demonstrate which
absolutely and incontestibly, we shall only want this one _Postulata_
to be granted, _viz._ _That all the Stars are, or may be in Motion_:
This, if one may be allowed to judge of the Whole by the Similitude
and Government of its Parts, I am perswaded you will think a very
reasonable Assumption; but that you may imbibe a good Opinion of this
Assumption, and entirely come into this much better to be wished
Hypothesis, I would have you consult these following Arguments.
First, it is allowed, as I have endeavoured to shew, by all modern
Philosophers, that the Sun and Stars are all of the same or like
Nature; consequently, that the Stars are all Suns, and that the Sun
himself is a Star.
[Illustration: Plate XVII.]
PLATE XVII.
Represents a kind of perspective View of the visible Creation, wherein
A represents the System of our Sun, B, that supposed round _Syrius_,
and C, the Region about _Rigel_. The rest is a promiscuous Disposition
of all the Variety of other Systems within our finite Vision, as they
are supposed to be posited behind one another, in the infinite Space,
and round every visible Star. That round every Star then we may justly
conjecture a similar System of Bodies, governed by the same Laws and
Principles with this our solar one, though to us at the Earth for very
good Reasons invisible[AK]. Secondly,
[Footnote AK: _Anaximines_ believed the Stars to be of a fiery Nature;
and that there were certain terrestrial Bodies that are not seen by us,
carried together round them. _Stob. Ecl. Phys._ cap. 25. _Pythagoras_
affirmed, that every Star is a World, containing Earth, Air, and Æther.]
The Sun is also observed to have a Motion round his own Axis in about
twenty-five Days. Now, since all the other [AL] Planets which move in
Orbits round him, and are within our Observation, are found to have a
like Rotation round their Axis, may we not as reasonably imagine, that
that Power which was able to give the Sun a Motion round his Axis,
could and would at the same time, with adequate Ease, give him also
an orbitular one? and why not, since no progressive Mutability can
either take from, or disturb the boundless Property of an Infinity; and
besides, seeing to imagine him at rest, is to impose such an unnatural
Stagnation upon the eternal Faculty, quite repugnant to that imparable
Power which we suppose stands in need of neither Sleep nor Rest?
[Footnote AL: _Saturn_, _Jupiter_, _Mars_, _Venus_, the Earth, Moon,
and _Mercury_.]
'Tis true, the Sun may be said to be the Governor of all those Bodies
round him; but how? no otherwise than he himself may be governed by a
superior Agent, or a still more active Force; and methinks it is not
a little absurd to suppose he is not, since we have discovered by
undoubted Observations, that the same gravitating Power is common to
all; and that the Stars themselves are subject to no other Direction
than that which moves the whole Machine of Nature.
Thirdly, From many Observations of the polar Points, and the Obliquity
of the Earth's Equator to the Plane of her solar Orbit compared
together, the Sun is very justly suspected to have changed his sidereal
Situation; and this must either arise from a Change in the Position
of the Earth's diurnal Axis, or from a Removal of the Sun himself,
out of the primitive Plane of the _Orbis Magnus_. I believe you are
so much of a Mathematician, as to know that if either of these Facts
be allowed, the Consequence I want will follow. I shall not therefore
here enter into any farther Dispute about it; but I think it will be
necessary to submit some Observations to your Consideration, that may
convince you that there is a Motion somewhere to be thus discovered,
and whether in the Sun, or in the Stars, or in both, I leave to your
own Determination, but to assist your Imagination, I refer you to
PLATE XVIII.
The Globe S is here supposed to represent the Sun, having changed its
Situation by a local Motion from A to C, and B represents the Globe
of the Earth in a permanent Position, with its principal Points and
Circles, respecting the primitive Plane A, B, K. Now in Consequence
of the Angle of Variation, A, B, C, it evidently appears that a new
ecliptic Plane, will be produced, as C, B, and also a Variation in the
greatest Declination of the Sun, North and South from the Line of the
_Equator_ D, L. Hence, as in this Figure, the Obliquity of the Poles P,
N, and G, F, will naturally decrease, and is shewn in Quantity by the
Line of Aberration H, I.
Here follows a Table of the Change observed in the Obliquity of the
Ecliptic by Astronomers of different Ages.
[Illustration: Plate XVIII.]
_A Table of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic._
_Ante Christi_ ° ′
124 Arato 24 00
---- Hiparchus 23 51⅓
127 Eratosthenes 23 51½
_Anno Dom._ ° ′
140 Ptolomy 23 51⅓
749 Abategnius 23 35½
1070 Airahel 23 34
1140 Alomean 23 33
1300 Profatiograd 23 32
1458 Purbacchio 23 29½
1490 Regiomontaus 23 30
1500 Copernicus 23 28½
1592 Tycho Brahe 23 21½
1656 Cassini 23 29½
Now sure, if we consider this continual Decrease of the Sun's
Declination, which can proceed from no other Cause than that of
his having moved out of the primitive Plane; we need make no great
Difficulty thus far, to think our Conjectures not irrational.
The following is a Citation from Dr. _Edmund Hally_, Astronomer-Royal.
See _Philosophical Transactions_, N^o. 355. p. 736.
"But while I was upon this Enquiry (_of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic_)
I was surprized to find the Latitudes of three of the principal Stars
in the Heavens, directly to contradict the supposed greater Obliquity
of the Ecliptic, which seems confirmed by the Latitudes of most of
the rest; they being set down in the old Catalogues, as if the Plane
of the Earth's Orbit had changed its Situation amongst the fixed
Stars, about 20′ since the Time of _Hipparchus_, particularly all
the Stars in _Gemini_ are put down, those to the Northward of the
Ecliptic, with so much less Latitude than we find, and those to the
Southward, with so much more southerly Latitude; and yet the three
Stars _Palilicium_, _Sirius_, and _Arcturus_, do contradict this Rule:
For by it, _Palilicium_, being in the Days of _Hipparchus_, in about
10 gr. of _Taurus_, ought to be about 15′ more southerly than at
present, and _Sirius_ being then in about 15 gr. of _Gemini_, ought
to be 20′ more southerly than now; yet _Ptolomy_ places the first
20′, and the other 22′ more northerly in Latitude than we now find
them: Nor are these the Errors of Transcribers, but are proved to be
right by the Declination of them set down by _Ptolomy_, as observed
by _Timocharis_, _Hipparchus_, and himself; which shew, that these
Latitudes are the same as those Authors intended. As to _Arcturus_, he
is too near the Equinoctial Colour, to argue from him concerning the
Change of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic; but _Ptolomy_ gives him 33′
more North Latitude than he is now found to have; and that greater
Latitude is likewise confirmed by the Declinations delivered by the
abovesaid Observations: So then these three Stars are found to be above
half a Degree more southerly at this Time than the Antients reckoned
them. When, on the contrary, at the same time, the bright Shoulder of
_Orion_, has, in _Ptolomy_ almost a Degree more southerly Latitude than
at present, what shall we say then? It is scarce to be believed, that
the Antients could be deceived in so plain a Matter, three Observers
confirming each other. Again, these Stars being the most conspicuous
in Heaven, are in all Probability the nearest to the Earth; and if
they have any particular Motion of their own, it is most likely to
be perceived in them, which in so long a Time as eighteen hundred
Years, may shew itself by the Alteration of their Places, though it be
intirely imperceptible in the Space of one single Century of Years:
Yet, as to _Syrius_, it may be observed, that _Tycho Brahe_ makes him 2
Min. more northerly than we now find him; whereas he ought to be above
as much more southerly from his Ecliptic (whose Obliquity he makes 2′½
greater than we esteem it at the present) differing in the Whole 4′½.
One Half of this Difference may perhaps be excused, if Refraction were
not allowed in this Case by _Tycho_; yet 2 Min. in such a Star as
_Syrius_, is somewhat too much for him to be mistaken in.
But a more evident Proof of this Change is drawn from the Observation
of the Application of the Moon to _Palilicium_, _An. Chris._ 509.
_Mar. 11._ when, in the Beginning of the Night, the Moon was seen to
follow that Star very near, and seemed to have eclipsed it, ἐπέβαλλε
γὰρ ὁ ἀστηρ τῳ πᾶρα την διχοτομίαν μέρει τῆς κυ'ρτυς περιφειας τõυ
πεφωτισμένου μερους, _i.e._ _Stella apposita erat parti per quam
bisecabatur limbus Lunæ illuminatus_, as _Bullialdus_, to whom we are
beholden for this ancient Observation, has translated it. Now, from
the undoubted Principles of Astronomy, this could never be true at
_Athens_, or near it, unless the Latitude of _Palilicium_ were much
less than we at this Time find it[AM]."
[Footnote AM: Vide _Bulialdi Astr. Philolaica_, p. 172.]
The [AN]Motion of _Arcturus_ seems further confirmed, from the
Observations of _Tycho Hevelius_ and Flamstead; for _Hevelius_ sets
down the Distance of that Star from _Lyra_ 4′ greater than _Tycho_ had
observed it seventy-two Years before him, and _Flamstead_ twenty-two
Years after measured the Distance betwixt the same two Stars, still
3′ greater than _Hevelius_ found it; so that if _Lyra_ had stood still
all that while, there was an Appearance of _Arcturus's_ having gone 7′
out of his Place in the Space of an hundred Years. See Dr. _Long_'s
Astronomy, p. 274.
[Footnote AN: These are the nearest and greatest of the fixed Stars,
the Motion of the others not having been observed, or being at too
great a Distance, are either imperceptible, or have not been taken
notice of.]
It is further to be observed, in Confirmation of the Motion of one of
these Stars, that _Flamstead_ found the Distance of _Arcturus_, from
the Head of _Hercules_ 3′ greater than it is set down by the Prince
of _Hesse_; and that his Distance from the _Lion's Tail_ was a little
decreased with 5½′ less Latitude than _Tycho_ had observed. Hence, to
make these Observations agree, one or both of them must have moved
together equal to 7′. This Change of Place, which is quite contrary
to all known Causes proceeding from the Earth, must therefore be
occasioned either by the Motion of the Sun, or by a particular Motion
of their own; but if, amongst themselves, they must all move, and if
all be in Motion, the Sun must also move.
If these Observations, delivered down to us by very able Astronomers,
be either true or near it, as great Allowances have been made for the
Ignorance of the Ages in which they were taken, and the Inaccuracy
of the Instruments, we may naturally conclude, that these Stars must
have a Motion; and if they move, as has been before observed, the Sun
must also; hence he cannot now be in the original Plane of the Earth's
annual Direction, or at least in the same identical Place he was at
first possessed of: And if so, the Stars must also have the like
Motion, though in different Directions, and all may thus be governed by
the same impulsive Power.
To illustrate this primitive Motion of the Stars, and at the same time
to show that the Variety which appears in the Quantity of Motion can be
no Objection to it,
See PLATE XVIII. _Fig._ 2.
Where A represents the Eye of an Observer, and B, E, F, H, various
Systems, moving in different Directions thro' the mundane Space; it
is evident that the Sphere B, having moved from C, and that of E, not
having appeared to move at all, there must be a sensible Change in the
new Position of these two Systems to one another, and so of the rest;
and tho' the apparent Motion of H, be much more than that of F, from
the Point A, yet from C, they will appear less different, and from B,
they will appear nearly equal. And farther, as the Direction from H, is
in the Line I, H, and that of F, in the Line K, G, those two Systems
will appear to approximate, and the Magnitude of the Star in the first
will be increased, and in the latter diminished. Thus, many of the
Stars in the oldest Catalogues, which were said to be of the second
Magnitude, are now become of the first, and several of the first are
now judged to be of the second, &c.
But as this apparent Motion of the Stars at the Earth, must, from its
Nature, be very small, so as scarce to be discovered in some of them in
less than an Age, with any Instrument by the nicest Observer, I judge
it will be extremely proper in this Place to propose some Method, by
which, in process of Time, the Truth of the Theory may be ascertained.
The Way I think most likely to succeed is this.
PLATE XIX.
Is a Plan of the principal Stars that form the Pleiades, correctly
taken by a Combination of Triangles, as in the Figure, from whence it
will naturally follow, all the whole Form being comprehended in much
less than one Degree. That the most minute local Motion in any one of
those Stars in a very few Years, will be made sensible to an Eye at
the Earth. For Instance, if any of the Stars that form the Letter A,
or T, within the Term of ten or twenty Years, be found in the least
to deviate from the Lines of their present Position and Direction,
it will be evident beyond a Contradiction, that they have a Motion
amongst themselves, and since at such a Distance they cannot possibly
be affected by the Earth, it must be a Motion of their own; and thus
if any one can be proved, to change its Situation, with regard to the
rest, we can have no new Difficulty in concluding that they all may do
the same.
Thus if any of the regular Triangles M B Z, Z P H, A Z M, Y A Γ, or Π
Ο I, &_c._ in due Time be carefully noted, we may venture to say with
great Safety, that the thousandth Part of a Degree will be plainly
discovered.
PLATE XX.
Is a true Plan and Combination of the principal Stars that form the
Persedes, in which other Observations may be made in a different Part
of the Heavens, and perhaps with an Opportunity of being still more
exact, the Areas of these Triangles, particularly that of Θ I K, and
those of ρ and δ, being much less than the former, where the least
Alteration possible must render them sensibly distorted. But here it
must be considered, that the real Motion of the Stars, as well as their
apparent, may be, and in all Likelihood, is extreamly slow, for the
most minute, visible, local Motion, will answer all the Purposes we
know in Nature, and the greatest seems to be that of the projectile, or
centrifugal Force, which not only preserves them in their Orbits, but
prevents them from rushing all together, by the common universal Law of
Gravity, which otherwise, as a finite Distribution of either regular or
irregular Bodies, they must at length do by Necessity.
[Illustration: Plate XIX.]
[Illustration: Plate XX.]
I must now inform you, that the above Observations were compleated in
the Autumn Season, 1747, and were taken by myself; the Letters A, T, in
_Plate_ XIX, and the W in the XXth, as you may see, having a very near
Resemblance, or Similitude, to the Order these Stars are found to be
in, together with the _Greek_ Alphabet, I judged necessary, by way of
_Asterism_ and _Nomenclatura_, in case such should be wanted, as _Data_
in future Discoveries.
I come now to the principal Point in Question, which is to find a
regular Disposition of the Stars amongst themselves, which will
naturally solve both their general and particular Phænomena, especially
the _Nebula_ and _Milky Way_.
_I am now_, &c.
[Illustration]
LETTER the SEVENTH.
_The Hypothesis, or Theory, fully explained and demonstrated, proving
the sidereal Creation to be finite._
_SIR_,
I know you are an Enemy to all Sorts of Schemes where they are not
absolutely necessary, and may possibly be avoided; and for that
Reason I have purposely omitted many geometrical Figures, and other
Representations in this Work, which might have been inserted and in
some Places, especially here I might have introduced Diagrams, perhaps
more explicit than Words; but as you have frequently observed, they
are only of Use to the few Learned, and contribute more to the taking
away the little Ideas and Knowledge the more ignorant Many may be
endued with, by a prejudicial Impression of imperfect Images, rather
than the adding any new Light to their Understanding, I have purposely
avoided, as much as possible, both here and every where, all such
complex Diagrams as might be in Danger of betraying any the least
such conscious Diffidence in you, arising from the Want of a proper
_Precognita_ in the Sciences.
This Imperfection, much to be lamented, as greatly to the Disadvantage
of all mathematical Reasoning, I would willingly always prevent, in my
Readers, and to chuse in my Friend; I shall therefore content myself
with referring you to a few orbicular Figures, concave and convex, as
may best suggest to your Fancy the simplest Way, a just Idea of the
Hypothesis I have fram'd, and naturally enough I hope, render my Theory
so intelligible, as to help you sufficiently to conceive the Solution
aimed at, of the important Problem I have attempted.
As I have said before, we cannot long observe the beauteous Parts of
the visible Creation, not only those of this World on which we live,
but also the Myriads of bright Bodies round us, with any Attention,
without being convinced, that a Power supreme, and of a Nature unknown
to us, presides in, and governs it.
The Course and Frame of this vast Bulk, display
A Reason and fix'd Law, which all obey.
Sher. Manilius.
And notwithstanding the many wonderful Productions of Nature in this
our known Habitation, yet the Earth, when compared with other Bodies of
our own System, seems far from being the most considerable in it; and
it appears not only very possible, but highly probable, from what has
been said, and from what we can farther demonstrate, that there is as
great a Multiplicity of Worlds, variously dispersed in different Parts
of the Universe, as there are variegated Objects in this we live upon.
Now, as we have no Reason to suppose, that the Nature of our Sun is
different from that of the rest of the Stars; and since we can no way
prove him superior even to the least of those surprising Bodies, how
can we, with any Shew of Reason, imagine him to be the general Center
of the whole, _i. e._ of the visible Creation, and seated in the Center
of the mundane Space? This, in my humble Opinion, is too weak even for
Conjecture, their apparent Distribution, and [AO]irregular Order argue
so much against it.
[Footnote AO: See the Zodaical Constellations, you'll find that in
some Signs there are several Stars of the first, second, and third
Magnitude, and in many others none of these at all.]
The Earth indeed has long possessed the chief Seat of our System, and
peaceably reigned there, as in the Center of the Universe for many Ages
past; but it was human Ignorance, and not divine Wisdom, that placed it
there; some few indeed from the Beginning have disputed its Right to
it, as judging it no way worthy of such high Eminence. Time at length
has discovered the Truth to every body, and now it is justly displaced
by the united Consent of all its Inhabitants, and instead of being
thought the most majestick of all Nature's lower Works, now rather
disgraces the Creation, so much it is reduced in its present State from
what it had Reason to expect in the former.
Now it is no longer the only terrestrial Globe in the Universe, but
is proved to be one of the least Planets of the solar System, and
surprizingly inferior to some of its Fellow Worlds. The Sun, or rather
the System, has almost as long usurped the Center of Infinity, with as
little Pretence to such Pre-heminence; but now, Thanks to the Sciences,
the Scene begins to open to us on all Sides, and Truths scarce to
have been dreamt of, before Persons of Observation had proved them
possible, invades our Senses with a Subject too deep for the human
Understanding, and where our very Reason is lost in infinite Wonders.
How ought this to humble every Mind susceptible of Reason!
In this Place, I believe, you will pardon a Digression; which,
in Answer to Part of your last Letter, I judge will not be very
impertinent, tho' perhaps just here I cannot so well justify it.
Your late Conversation with our Friend Mr. * * *, I am perswaded, must
have been very entertaining; but I cannot help thinking his Reflections
upon the Wonders of Nature and the Wisdom of Providence, though I must
allow them all to be very just and curious, instead of elevating the
Mind to the Pitch he would have it, rather as considered above, depress
it below the proper, nay I might say necessary, Standard of human Ideas.
This, probably, you'll say is an odd Turn, and may want some
Explanation, since every Object in the Chain of Nature, must of Force
be granted, a Subject worthy of our Speculations, being all together
made, as in the Maximum of Wisdom: But what I mean is this, since
nothing is more natural for Beings in every State in search after their
own Advantages, and the Enlargement of their Ideas to look upward, sure
it may be presumed, that Time may be mispent, if not lost in inspecting
too narrowly Things so little benefical in States below us; as Mr.
_Pope_ says,
Why has not Man a microscopic Eye?
For this plain Reason, Man is not a Fly.
Say what the Use, were finer Opticks given,
To inspect a Mite, not comprehend the Heav'n.
_Essay on Man._
Amusement alone can never be supposed to be the sole End of human Life,
where even true Happiness is a Thing we rather taste than enjoy. The
Mind we find capable of much more rational Pleasure than can possibly
fall within the Reach of human Power, either to promise or procure it;
but then this very Defect in our present State of Existence affords us
no less than a moral Assurance, that some where in a future, we may, if
we please, be entitled to the very _Plenum_ of all Enjoyments.
The peculiar Business then of the human Mind naturally precedes its
Amusements, as evidently ordained to soar above all the inferior Beings
of this World; and however our Natures may, thro' Indolence, or thro'
Ignorance, degenerate, that of the Man can never be supposed to sink
into the Mole.
The properest Way then sure for Men to preserve their Pre-heminence
over the Brute Creation, is to make use of that Reason and Reflection,
which so manifestly distinguishes their natural Superiority. A right
Application of which, must of course then direct us to a forward,
rather than a backward Search in the vast visible Chain of our
Existence, which clearly connects all Beings and States as under the
Direction of one supreme Agent.
This is all I would have understood by the foregoing Position, which,
in one Word, implies no more than that the sublime Philosophy ought in
all Reason to be preferred to the Minute; but I hope you will not infer
from this my seeming Partiality for the celestial Sciences, that I mean
to insinuate, that the Study of terrestrial Physicks is not a rational
Amusement.
Mr. ***, you say, seems to lament the Taste of Mankind in general much
in the same Degree as you do his I readily grant you; a Man who can
talk so well upon an Ant, might make a more entertaining Discourse upon
the Eagle; but I beg his Pardon, and though we are all too ready, and
most apt to condemn all such Pleasures as vain or trifling, which we
have no Share in, or Taste for ourselves; yet I don't think it follows,
that those ingenious Labours of his are useless. The Pleasures arising
from natural Philosophy are all undoubtedly great ones, whether we
consider Nature in her highest, or in her lowest Capacity; the Beauties
of the Creation are every Day varied to us below, as much they are
every Night above, and in both Cases, through every Object, the Creator
shines so manifest, that we may justly consider him every where smiling
full in the Face of all his Creatures, commanding as it were an awful
Reverence, and Respect, due not only to his Omnipotency, but also
to his infinite Goodness and endless Indulgencies. This is the only
Return our Gratitude can make for all those Blessings he daily bestows
upon us, and to this great Author of her Laws; Nature herself cries
aloud through Myriads of various Objects, and after her own expressive
and peculiar Manner, seems to command us with an attractive Grace,
to observe her Sovereign, and admire his Wisdom. The Majesty, Power,
and Dominion of God is best displayed in the external Direction of
Things, his Wisdom and visible Agency in the internal: Hence, by proper
Objects, selected from both, attended with just Reflections, we may
certainly raise our Ideas almost to the Pitch of Immortals; but how
far the human Imagination may possibly go, or how much Minds like ours
may be improved, is a Question not easily determined; but as natural
Knowledge evidently increases daily, and astronomical Enquiries are
the most capable of opening our Minds, and enlarging our Conception,
of consequence they must be most worthy our Attention of all other
Studies. But of this I have said enough, and think it is now more than
Time to attempt the remaining Part of my Theory.
When we reflect upon the various Aspects, and perpetual Changes of
the Planets, both with regard to their[AP] heliocentric and geocentric
Motion, we may readily imagine, that nothing but a like eccentric
Position of the Stars could any way produce such an apparently
promiscuous Difference in such otherwise regular Bodies. And that in
like manner, as the Planets would, if viewed from the Sun, there may be
one Place in the Universe to which their Order and primary Motions must
appear most regular and most beautiful. Such a Point, I may presume, is
not unnatural to be supposed, altho' hitherto we have not been able to
produce any absolute Proof of it. See _Plate_ XXV.
[Footnote AP: Not to mention their several Conjunctions and Apulces to
fixed Stars, &_c._ see the State of the Heavens in 1662, _December_
the first, when all the known Planets were in one Sign of the Zodiac,
_viz._ _Sagittarius_.]
This is the great Order of Nature, which I shall now endeavour to
prove, and thereby solve the Phænomena of the _Via Lactea_; and in
order thereto, I want nothing to be granted but what may easily be
allowed, namely, that the _Milky Way_ is formed of an infinite Number
of small Stars.
Let us imagine a vast infinite Gulph, or Medium, every Way extended
like a Plane, and inclosed between two Surfaces, nearly even on both
Sides, but of such a Depth or Thickness as to occupy a Space equal to
the double Radius, or Diameter of the visible Creation, that is to
take in one of the smallest Stars each Way, from the middle Station,
perpendicular to the Plane's Direction, and, as near as possible,
according to our Idea of their true Distance.
But to bring this Image a little lower, and as near as possible
level to every Capacity, I mean such as cannot conceive this kind of
continued Zodiac, let us suppose the whole Frame of Nature in the
Form of an artificial Horizon of a Globe, I don't mean to affirm that
it really is so in Fact, but only state the Question thus, to help
your Imagination to conceive more aptly what I would explain[AP].
_Plate_ XXIII. will then represent a just Section of it. Now in this
Space let us imagine all the Stars scattered promiscuously, but at
such an adjusted Distance from one another, as to fill up the whole
Medium with a kind of regular Irregularity of Objects. And next let
us consider what the Consequence would be to an Eye situated near the
Center Point, or any where about the middle Plane, as at the Point A.
Is it not, think you, very evident, that the Stars would there appear
promiscuously dispersed on each Side, and more and more inclining to
Disorder, as the Observer would advance his Station towards either
Surface, and nearer to B or C, but in the Direction of the general
Plane towards H or D, by the continual Approximation of the visual
Rays, crowding together as at H, betwixt the Limits D and G, they must
infallibly terminate in the utmost Confusion. If your Opticks fails
you before you arrive at these external Regions, only imagine how
infinitely greater the Number of Stars would be in those remote Parts,
arising thus from their continual crowding behind one another, as all
other Objects do towards the Horizon Point of their Perspective, which
ends but with Infinity: Thus, all their Rays at last so near uniting,
must meeting in the Eye appear, as almost, in Contact, and form a
perfect Zone of Light; this I take to be the real Case, and the true
Nature of our _Milky Way_, and all the Irregularity we observe in it
at the Earth, I judge to be intirely owing to our Sun's Position in
this great Firmament, and may easily be solved by his Excentricity, and
the Diversity of Motion that may naturally be conceived amongst the
Stars themselves, which may here and there, in different Parts of the
Heavens, occasion a cloudy Knot of Stars, as perhaps at E.
[Illustration: Plate XXI.]
[Illustration: Plate XXII.]
But now to apply this Hypothesis to our present Purpose, and reconcile
it to our Ideas of a circular Creation, and the known Laws of orbicular
Motion, so as to make the Beauty and Harmony of the Whole consistent
with the visible Order of its Parts, our Reason must now have recourse
to the Analogy of Things. It being once agreed, that the Stars are in
Motion, which, as I have endeavoured in my last Letter to shew is not
far from an undeniable Truth, we must next consider in what Manner they
move. First then, to suppose them to move in right Lines, you know is
contrary to all the Laws and Principles we at present know of; and
since there are but two Ways that they can possibly move in any natural
Order, that is, either in right Lines, or in Curves, this being one,
it must of course be the other, _i. e._ in an Orbit; and consequently,
were we able to view them from their middle Position, as from the Eye
seated in the Center of _Plate_ XXV. we might expect to find them
separately moving in all manner of Directions round a general Center,
such as is there represented. It only now remains to shew how a Number
of Stars, so disposed in a circular Manner round any given Center, may
solve the Phænomena before us. There are but two Ways possible to be
proposed by which it can be done, and one of which I think is highly
probable; but which of the two will meet your Approbation, I shall not
venture to determine, only here inclosed I intend to send you both. The
first is in the Manner I have above described, _i. e._ all moving the
same Way, and not much deviating from the same Plane, as the Planets
in their heliocentric Motion do round the solar Body. In this Case the
primary, secondary, and tertiary constituent Orbits, &_c._ framing the
Hypotheses, are represented in _Plate_ XXII, and the Consequence of
such a Theory arising from such an universal Law of Motion in _Plate_
XXIII. where B, D denotes the local Motion of the Sun in the true
_Orbis Magnus_, and E, C that of the Earth in her proper secondary
Orbit, which of course is supposed, as is shewn in the Figure to change
its sidereal Positions, in the same Manner as the Moon does round the
Earth, and consequently will occasion a kind of Procession, or annual
Variation in the Place of the Sun, not unlike that of the Equinoxes, or
Motion of all the Stars together, from West to East round the Ecliptic
Poles, and probably may in some Degree be the Occasion of it. This
Angle is represented, but much magnified, by the Lines F, C, G, and the
Unnaturalness, or Absurdity of a right Line Motion of the Sun by the
Line I, H.
The second Method of solving this Phænomena, is by a spherical Order of
the Stars, all moving with different Direction round one common Center,
as the Planets and Comets together do round the Sun, but in a kind of
Shell, or concave Orb. The former is easily conceived, from what has
been already said, and the latter is as easy to be understood, if you
have any Idea of the Segment of a Globe, which the adjacent Figures,
will, I hope, assist you to. The Doctrine of these Motions will perhaps
be made very obvious to you, by inspecting the following Plates.
PLATE XXIV.
Is a Representation of the Convexity, if I may call it so, of the
intire Creation, as a universal Coalition of all the Stars consphered
round one general Center, and as all governed by one and the same Law.
PLATE XXV.
Is a centeral Section of the same, with the Eye of Providence seated in
the Center, as in the virtual Agent of Creation.
PLATE XXVI.
Represents a Creation of a double Construction, where a superior Order
of Bodies C, may be imagined to be circumscribed by the former one A,
as possessing a more eminent Seat, and nearer the supream Presence, and
consequently of a more perfect Nature. Lastly,
PLATE XXVII.
Represents such a Section, and Segments of the same, as I hope will
give you a perfect Idea of what I mean by such a Theory.
_Fig._ 1. is a corresponding Section of the Part at A, in _Fig._ 2.
whose versed Sine is equal to half the Thickness of the starry Vortice
A C, or B A. Now I say, by supposing the Thickness of this Shell, 1.
you may imagine the middle Semi-Chord A D, or A E, to be nearly 6; and
consequently thus in a like regular Distribution of the Stars, there
must of course be at least three Times as many to be seen in this
Direction of the Sine, or Semi-chord A E, itself, than in that of the
semi-versed Sine A C, or any where near the Direction of the Radius of
the Space G. Q. E. D.
[Illustration: Plate XXIII.]
[Illustration: Plate XXIV.]
[Illustration: Plate XXV.]
[Illustration: Plate XXVI.]
[Illustration: Plate XXVII.]
[Illustration: Plate XXVIII.]
[Illustration: Plate XXIX.]
But we are not confined by this Theory to this Form only, there may be
various Systems of Stars, as well as of Planets, and differing probably
as much in their Order and Distribution as the Zones of _Jupiter_ do
from the Rings of _Saturn_, it is not at all necessary, that every
collective Body of Stars should move in the same Direction, or after
the same Model of Motion, but may as reasonably be supposed as much to
vary, as we find our Planets and Comets do.
Hence we may imagine some Creations of Stars may move in the Direction
of perfect Spheres, all variously inclined, direct and retrograde;
others again, as the primary Planets do, in a general Zone or Zodiack,
or more properly in the Manner of _Saturn's_ Rings, nay, perhaps Ring
within Ring, to a third or fourth Order, as shewn in _Plate_ XXVIII.
nothing being more evident, than that if all the Stars we see moved
in one vast Ring, like those of _Saturn_, round any central Body, or
Point, the general Phænomena of our Stars would be solved by it; see
_Plate_ XXIX. _Fig._ 1. and 2. the one representing a full Plane of
these Motions, the other a Profile of them, and a visible Creation at
B and C, the central Body A, being supposed as _incognitum_, without
the finite View; not only the Phænomena of the _Milky Way_ may be
thus accounted for, but also all the cloudy Spots, and irregular
Distribution of them; and I cannot help being of Opinion, that could
we view _Saturn_ thro' a Telescope capable of it, we should find his
Rings no other than an infinite Number of lesser Planets, inferior to
those we call his Satellites: What inclines me to believe it, is this,
this Ring, or Collection of small Bodies, appears to be sometimes very
excentric, that is, more distant from _Saturn's_ Body on one Side than
on the other, and as visibly leaving a larger Space between the Body
and the Ring; which would hardly be the Case, if the Ring, or Rings,
were connected, or solid, since we have good Reason to suppose, it
would be equally attracted on all Sides by the Body of _Saturn_, and by
that means preserve every where an equal Distance from him; but if they
are really little Planets, it is clearly demonstrable from our own in
like Cases, that there may be frequently more of them on one Side, than
on the other, and but very rarely, if ever, an equal Distribution of
them all round the _Saturnian_ Globe.
How much a Confirmation of this is to be wished, your own Curiosity may
make you judge, and here I leave it for the Opticians to determine.
I shall content myself with observing that Nature never leaves us
without a sufficient Guide to conduct us through all the necessary
Paths of Knowledge; and it is far from absurd to suppose Providence may
have every where throughout the whole Universe, interspersed Modules of
every Creation, as our Divines tell us, Man is the Image of God himself.
Thus, Sir, you have had my full Opinion, without the least Reserve,
concerning the visible Creation, considered as Part of the finite
Universe; how far I have succeeded in my designed Solution of the _Via
Lactea_, upon which the Theory of the Whole is formed, is a Thing will
hardly be known in the present Century, as in all Probability it may
require some Ages of Observation to discover the Truth of it.
It remains that I should now give you some Idea of Time and Space; but
this will afford Matter sufficient for another Letter.
_I am_, &c.
[Illustration]
LETTER THE EIGHTH.
_Of Time and Space, with regard to the known Objects of Immensity and
Duration._
_SIR_,
The Opportunity you gave me in your last Visit, of shewing you my
general Scheme of the Universe, I find, besides the Pleasure it then
gave, is now attended with many useful Advantages.
I now not only hope to be better understood for the future, but have
reason to expect what I now write will merit your Attention more, and
have some Title to your Approbation. The Ideas I have fram'd of Time
and Space, will now more gradually fill your Imagination both with
Wonder and Delight, before they can arise so high as to be lost in
an Eternity and the Infinity of Space. And I am fully perswaded your
farther Inquiries into these vast Properties of the Deity, will here
be answered intirely to your Satisfaction. You must allow me now to
be in some measure a Judge of what I think will please you most, from
the Observations you have made upon my general System, or otherwise
you would have reason to think me perhaps too presuming: But I flatter
myself the great Difficulty is now over; and what remains to be said,
will all so naturally follow from what has gone before, that this Letter,
I guess, will go near to furnish you with all the Ideas you wish to
form upon the Subject. To what you have said of my having left out my
own Habitation in my Scheme of the Universe, having travell'd so far
into Infinity as both to lose sight of, and forget the Earth, I think I
may justly answer as _Aristotle_ did when _Alexander_, looking over a
Map of the World, enquir'd of him for the City of _Macedon_; 'tis said
the Philosopher told the Prince, That the Place he sought for was much
too small to be there taken Notice of, and was not without sufficient
Reason omitted.
The System of the Sun compar'd but with a very minute Part of the
visible Creation, takes up so small a Portion of the known Universe,
that in a very finite View of the Immensity of Space, I judg'd the
Seat of the Earth to be of very little Consequence, could I have
possibly represented it, as not only being one of the smallest Objects
in our Regions, but in a manner infinitely less than even her own
annual Orbit, and had nothing to do with my main Design, which was to
represent all our planetary Worlds as one collective Body, and begin
my comparative Scale of Magnitude from the Sun only and his Sphere of
activity; as the smallest Object I could with any Propriety pretend to
express in such a Plan.
In some Measure to convince you that I have committed no Error in
this, I will try by some less mathematical Method than that of meer
Numbers, to imprint an Idea in your Mind of the true Extent of the
solar System, and the Magnitude of all its moving Bodies, by natural
Objects most familiar to your Senses. When we endeavour to form any
Idea of Distance, Magnitude, or Duration, by Numbers only, we so soon
exceed the Limits of Conception, that this way we find our Faculties of
reasoning as finite as our Senses; and no doubt 'tis right it should be
so, Providence, as it were, having ordain'd that the first should only
attend the last, in such an adequate Degree to a determin'd Distance;
but what Distance or Degree of Knowledge is destin'd to human Nature,
none but the Power that gave it can tell. 'Tis certain that beyond the
third or fourth Place of our Nomenclator, we receive but very faint
Impressions of the thing exprest, and can frame scarce any Notion at
all of either Number, Distance, or Magnitude, signified beyond it:
Hence Astronomers are frequently oblig'd to have recourse to mixt
Ideas, and make Things of different Natures and Properties assist each
other, to excite more adequate Ideas of what they would have conceived.
Thus to express immense Distances and Magnitude, they frequently apply
themselves to Time and Motion; and _vice versa_, to signify a long
Duration, they have often recourse to Distance and Matter, removing, in
Imagination, Worlds of Sand, Grain after Grain, to some remote known
Region.
_Hesiod_,[AQ] to express his Idea of the Distance from his highest
Heaven to Earth, and from Earth to Hell, or _Tartarus_, supposes an
Anvil to be let fall from one to the other, which he says in nine
natural Days would reach the Earth from Heaven, and in the same time
would fall from the Earth to Hell. [AR]_Homer_ makes his _Vulcan_ fall
from Heaven to the Island of _Lemnos_ in much less Time, not exceeding
one full artificial Day.
[Footnote AQ:
From the high Heaven a brazen Anvil cast,
Nine Nights and Days in rapid Whirls would last,
And reach the Earth the Tenth, whence strongly hurl'd;
The same the Passage to th' infernal World.
Cooke.
]
[Footnote AR:
Hurl'd headlong downward from th' etherial Height;
Toss'd all the Day in rapid Circles round,
Nor till the Sun descended touch'd the Ground.
Pope.
]
Modern Astronomers have made use of the swiftest Velocity of a
Cannon-Ball as continued thro' the Space they would so describe, and
in this Light, the Distance to the Sun has been by many compar'd to
twenty-five Years Motion of a Cannon-Ball, supposing it to travel at
the Rate of 100 Fathom in a Moment, _i. e._ _the Pulse of an Artery_;
and that a Journey so performed to one of the nearest fix'd Stars,
would take the same Body at least 100,000 Years before it could arrive
there. But the Method I have chose to convey my Ideas of the Magnitude
of the planetary Bodies, and the Extent of the visible Creation to you,
I am willing to hope you will find still more familiar, comprehensive,
and easy: And it only depends upon your Remembrance of a very few known
Objects, and their neighbouring Distances, which may be presumed you
are, or have been, very well acquainted with. You have not only very
lately but very often been in _London_, and must, I think, retain some
Idea of the Dome of St. _Paul's_, tho' I own I ought not to be sorry
if you should chance to have forgot it, provided it might prove a
Means of making your Visits more frequent. The Diameter of the Dome of
this Church is 145 Feet: Now if you can imagine this to represent the
Surface of the Sun, a spherical Body 18 Inches diameter, will justly
represent the Earth in like Proportion; and another of only five Inches
diameter, will represent the Moon. The Truths of these Proportions I
have shewn in my _Clavis Cœlestis_; and the Reason why I have here fixt
upon the Dome of this Church for my first Object of Comparison, will
naturally appear from what follows.
From the Magnitude of the Earth on which we live, as from a known Scale
with respect to its Parts compar'd with our own Bodies, we naturally
frame our first Ideas of Extent, and fix our Rationale of Remoteness;
by which we are sufficiently enabled to judge of all other sensible
Distances within one finite View. And hence by the undoubted Principles
of Geometry, having first given the Measurement of the Earth in any
known Proportion with any other Quantity most familiar to our Senses,
and the Angle of Appearance, or Parallax to any perceivable Object, we
can easily find in homogenial Parts its true Distance from the Eye. And
thus allowing for some small tho' unavoidable Errors, that may possibly
arise from the Difficulties of Observation (especially small Angles and
minute Quantities) we can always determine to a sufficient, and very
frequently to a just Exactness, the relative Distance of all visible
Bodies, remote or near, such as the Planets, Comets, and the Sun.
[AS]In this Manner Astronomers having procur'd a comparative Standard,
reduc'd to some known Measure, as _English_ Miles, Leagues, Semi-Orbs
or Orbits, with all the Force of analogical Reasoning, clearly can
demonstrate the Place and Distance of any Object within the Reach of
Observation, and judge of Distances almost indefinite.
[Footnote AS: Parallax is the changeable Position of Bodies to
different Situations of the Eye. First having found the Quantity of a
Degree (_i. e._ a 60th Part of the Circumference) upon the Earth's
Surface, _Aratosthenes_ discover'd that the Magnitude of the whole was
easily known; and then from the Moon's horizontal Parallax having given
the Radius of the Earth, the Distance of the Moon is soon determined;
next by the menstrual Parallax of the Lunar Orbit, the Distance of the
Sun is found; and by the Elongation of the inferior Planets, their
mutual Distance from each other; and, lastly, from the annual Parallax
of the Earth's Orbit, all the other Orbits of the superior Planets are
easily found.]
PLATE XXX.
Will help you to very correct Ideas of the real Magnitude of the
Globe of the Earth, compar'd with the just Extent of the Island of
_Great-Britain_, which you will find with _Ireland_, and the rest
of its Islands, seated near the Center of the Projection. This as
a Standard will enable you to judge of all other Distances more
perfectly; and first I shall consider that of the Sun.
The Sun is found to be mean distant from the Earth nearly 81 Millions
of Miles, or 6877,5 Diameters of the Earth; and _Saturn_, the remotest
Planet from him is at his greatest Distance from us about 858 Millions
of Miles: Yet these Distances are but the beginning of Space, and only
serve to open our Ideas for farther Search.
The great Comet of 1680, as I have some where said before, was found
to move in so vast an excentrick Orbit, that in its aphelion Point it
would be 14,4 Times as far from the Sun, as the Orbit of _Saturn_, and
hence at least eleven thousand and two hundred Millions of Miles from
us. Now since the wise Creator hath so dispos'd all the independent
Parts of the Creation, such as the several Systems of primary and
secondary Planets, &_c._ at so great a Distance from each other,
that the Laws of any one in no wise shall interfere, disturb, or
interrupt the Principles of another; this Comet, which we can easily
prove belong'd to our own Sun, we may well imagine came not near any
other; and tho' at that vast Distance from the solar Body, yet still
there must have remain'd a Space sufficient to divide or seperate the
sensible activity of neighbouring Systems, that they may not rush upon
each other. Hence we may reasonably suppose, that the nearest Star can
be no nearer than a triple Radius of its active Sphere; and provided
they are all in regular Order, and much of the same Magnitude with one
another (which no Arguments can possibly contradict) this Radius we
may justly make 2000 times the Distance of our Earth. For admitting
the utmost Limits of the Sun's Attraction to exceed this Sphere of
the Comets, as far as the Sphere of the Comets exceeds that of the
Planets, which is nearly 14,4 times, the Radius of the solar System
will be extended every way 200 Radius's of the Orbit of _Saturn_, and
consequently the Distance from Star to Star will not be less than 6000
times the Radius of our _Orbis Magnus_, and consequently upwards of
480,000,000,000 Miles. That this is even less than the real Truth, and
may be defended as a very moderate Computation, grounded upon Reason,
we have infallible Demonstration to witness, and make appear as thus.
[Illustration: Plate XXX.]
We know from the Nature of Distance and Motion that the Stars may
have an annual Parallax, but it is so very small, that the very best
Astronomers have never yet been able to assign what the Quantity really
is. Yet it is allow'd by universal Consent, that it can't possibly be
more that one Minute of a Degree, and may probably be much less. Mr.
_Flamstead_, by repeated Observations, made it in some of them upwards
of 40″; but Mr. _Bradley_ has endeavour'd to prove it is every where
too small to be determined, and assigns this Angle to another Cause.
This way then we cannot make their Distance less; and to prove that
it is something more than I have said it is, let us even increase the
doubtful Parallax of 40″ to the most it possibly can be, _viz._ to
60″ or 1′; and by the Solution of the Triangle, we shall find that
the nearest Star is 6875 times the Radius of the Earth's Orbit from
the Sun: And this tho' more than any other Proportion makes them, is
still undeniably less than the Truth, which every Mathematician will
of course be convinc'd of; and you yourself of force must believe,
when you are told, that the smaller the Angle of Parallax is, the
farther the Body is remov'd from us. By which Rule, according to Mr.
_Flamstead's_ Observations, the Distance must be still greater: By the
optical Experiment of [AT]Mr. _Huygins_, greater still than this; and
according to Mr. _Bradley_, so much more as not even too be determin'd.
[Footnote AT: 27664 Radius's of the _Orbis Magnus_, equal to the
Distance of _Syrius_, whose Parallax should be to answer it but 14″
48‴.]
Now if the rest are in general from each other, allowing the same
Extent of System, and as much to part the like Extreams of active
Virtue, be in such Proportion of aerial Space, it will appear, that to
pass from any one Star to another, we must fly thro' so vast a Tract of
pure Expanse or Ether, that to visit any one of the most neighbouring
Systems, could we travel even as fast as the swiftest Eagle flies, for
Instance, 500 Miles _per_ Day, yet should we be 3,000,000 of Years upon
our way before we could arrive there; and if continuing on to view the
Regions of the rest within the known Creation, Myriads of Ages would be
spent, and yet we could not hope to see the whole of but the smallest
Constellation.
But what Idea of Distance can you receive from this sort of Estimation,
where Numbers arise so very high. I own to you mine are soon quite lost
by this Method of counting, either, Distances or Duration. I believe
few People can range their Ideas with such Perspicuity, as to arrive at
any adequate Notion of any Number above a thousand.
To give you therefore a clearer Idea of Distance, and impress the
Proportions of Space more strongly and fully in your Mind, let us
suppose the Body of the Sun, as I have said before, to be represented
by the Dome of St. _Paul's_; in such Proportion a spherical Body
eighteen Inches Diameter, moving at _Mary-le-bone_, will justly
represent the Earth, and another of five Inches Diameter, describing a
Circle of forty-five Feet and a half Radius round it, will represent
the Orbit and Globe of the Moon. A Body at the _Tower_ of 9,7 Inches,
will represent _Mercury_; and one of 17,9 Inches at St. _James's_
Palace will represent the Planet _Venus_; _Mars_ may be supposed
at a Distance, like that of _Kensington_ or _Greenwich_, 10 Inches
Diameter: _Jupiter_, imagined to be at _Hampton-Court_, or _Dartford_
in _Kent_; and _Saturn_, at _Cliefden_, or near _Chelmsford_: The
first represented by a Globe 15 Foot 4 Inches Diameter, the latter by
one of 11 Feet ¾ Inches and his Ring four Feet broad: These would all
naturally represent the planetary Bodies of our System in their proper
Orbits and proportional Magnitudes, as moving round the Cupola of St.
_Paul's_, as their common Center the Sun. And preserving the same
natural Scale, the Aphelion of the first Comet would be about _Bury_,
the second at _Bristol_, and the third near the City of _Edinburgh_.
But if you will take into your Idea one of the nearest Stars; instead
of the Dome of St. _Paul's_, you must suppose the Sun to be represented
by the gilt Ball upon the Top of it, and then will another such upon
the Top of St. _Peter's_ at _Rome_ represent one of the nearest Stars.
The whole System exhibited in the above Proportion, would be nearly as
follows:
Diameter of the Sun 145 Feet.
_Saturn_ 11,587, his Ring 27,54, its Breadth 4.
_Jupiter_, 15,39.
_Mars_, 10,15 Inches.
the Earth, 18,125.
_Venus_, 17,98
_Mercury_, 9,715
and the Moon, 4,93
[AU]Distance of _Saturn_ from the Sun, 27 Miles, and 1700 Yards.
_Jupiter_, 15 Miles, and 458 Yards.
_Mars_, 4 Miles, and 751 Yards.
the Earth, 2 Miles, and 1632 Yards.
_Venus_, 2 Miles, and 217 Yards.
_Mercury_, 1 Mile, and 267 Yards.
and of the Moon, from us, 45 Yards and a half.
[Footnote AU: Of the Satellites of _Saturn_ in the above Proportion.
The 1} { 27,96}
2} { 35,52} Feet distant from his
3} would be { 50, } Center.
4} {114, }
5} {341,9 }
And those of _Jupiter_.
The 1} { 28,51 }
2} would be { 69,177}
3} {110,224} Feet distant from him.
4} {190, }
]
That of the most distant Comet 390, and the nearest of the Stars not
less than 6875,[AV] Radius's of the _Orbis Magnus_.
[Footnote AV:
° ′ ″
Radius, or Sign of 89 59 30 ---- ---- 10,0000000
Sine substract of 0 0 30 ---- ---- 6,1626961
----------
Hence the Distance 6875,5 ---- ---- 3,8373039
]
Now, if like Creations crowd the vast Depths of Infinity, and if each
are adapted to receive Beings of different Natures, where must our
Wonder and Ideas have end?
As it is evident in the Sign _Taurus_, in _Perseus_, and _Orion_, that
we can plainly perceive Stars to the sixth and ninth Magnitude, the
former with our naked Eye, the other by the Help of Telescopes, the
visional ocular Creation cannot be less than 4,320,000,000,000 Miles in
semi Diameter, and admitting a regular Distribution of those primordial
Bodies amongst themselves, the Depth, or most remote Limits of the
_Vortex Magnus_ from Side to Side, cannot be less than 8 m, m, 640
thousand of Million of Miles, admitting it is no more than what we see;
and lastly, supposing our System to be situated nearly in the Middle of
the _Vortex Magnus_ (which, from the visible Order of the Stars, we may
justly conjecture, with the highest Probability of Truth) the nearest
Distance of the _Ens Primum_, in the Realms of eternal Day, will rise
to 30,000,000,000,000 Miles, but more probably to 100,000,000,000,000
Miles, making the Confines of Creation from Verge to Verge in the first
Case, upwards of 68 Million of Millions of Miles, Diameter, and by the
last above 200′. But, if we compute the Distance of the Stars after the
Manner of _Huygens_, for his Distance of _Syrius_ from the Sun, the
Distance of the Region of Immortality without exceeding Probability may
rise to near 1,000,000,000,000,000 Miles.
Now to pass by any progressive Motion from the outward Verge, or
Borders of the Creation, thro' the starry Regions of Mortality, if I
may call them so, as far as the Center of the _Ens Primum_, or _Sedes
Beatorum_, according to _Homer_, or _Milton's_ Manner of measuring
Space, a Body falling, or a Being moving with a Velocity but of 1000
Feet _per_ Minute, _i. e._ at the Rate of 20,000 Yards _per_ Hour, or
about 300 Miles _per_ Day, would be at least 300,000,000 Years upon
its Journey thither, if not 1,000, m, and perhaps much more, without
offending Probability; but even three Million Centuries, or Ages,
sure is enough to be employ'd, in passing from one Place to another;
therefore, we may conclude, the Soul must have some other Vehicle than
can be found in the Ideas of Matter to convey it so far, at least at
once. Hence we may truly infer, that the Soul must be immaterial, and
that in all Probability there may be States in the Universe so much
more longer lived than ours, that, compared with the Age of Man, the
Age of such Beings may be almost as an Eternity, or rather, as that of
the human Species to that of a Sun-born Insect.
Again, if there are still Stars beyond all these of other Denomination,
which we do not here perceive, how vastly must these Numbers be
increased, to express, almost without Idea, the amazing Whole of this
one visible Creation; but what has been already said, I judge will be
sufficient to show the Immensity of Space, and help you to conceive
the stupendious Nature of an endless Universe; every where the home
Possession, Production, and instantaneous Care, of an infinite good
Being, perfectly wise, and powerful, of whom we can have no Idea more,
than a Being in dark Privation can have of Light, but through the
Lustre of his own resplendent Attributes.
Thus, having attempted to enlarge your Ideas of the Creation in
general, and in some measure having considered the Indefinity of Space,
I shall in the next Place proceed to give you some Account of my
Notions of Time.
As Distance is the Measure of Magnitude and of all Extent, and helps
our Imagination to the Ideas of Space, so are progressive Moments the
Measure of Velocity, and makes us sensible of Duration: And as Space
may be extended through all Infinity, so Time may be continued as to
Eternity. This Succession of temporal Ideas impressed, or excited in
the Mind, as an Effect of Matter in Motion, producing a perpetual
Change, both of Objects earthly and celestial, enables us not only
to reflect upon past Vicissitudes of Nature, but from their regular
Courses, known Order and Returns, predict Phænomena to come, and prove
the periodical Effects of Nature's constant Laws so just and certain,
that Time may be said with Truth, to co-exist with Motion.
Measure being a certain Quantity of Sensation interwove with our Ideas
of Distance and Duration, proceeding from a Reflection of what is
impressed upon the Mind by some external Object, I must again return to
our Mother of Ideas the Earth, and from thence, as I did, of Distance,
frame the original Images best suited to the Understanding, proper for
our Judgment of Duration.
Time takes its first Denomination from the diurnal Rotation of the
Earth upon its Axis, which we call a natural Day, and this for obvious
Reasons we subdivide in twenty-four Parts or Hours. This diurnal
Motion having been successively repeated, and the Day renewed three
hundred and sixty-five Times, we find that all the vegetable World
has gone through all its Variegations, and Nature has again put on
the same Face, adapted to the Season; during which Time, and indeed
which occasions this general Change and Repetition, the Earth is
found to make one intire Revolution round the Sun. This Space, or
Period of Time, we call a solar, or rather a natural Year; and from
our Sensibility of this, and its constituent Parts, both horary and
diurnal, we form our general Judgment of Duration.
_Saturn_, the most remote, and most regular Planet in our System, as
has been said before, performs one Revolution round the Sun in about
twenty-nine of the above solar Years: The great Comet of 1680 makes but
one periodical Return in five hundred and seventy-five of those Years,
and the general Motion of the Stars, arising from the Procession of the
Equinoxes, altogether continually changing their Aspect, or Position,
at the Rate of 50″ _per_ Year round the ecliptic Poles, compleats but
one Revolution in 25920 Years; in which Time the whole sidereal Frame
of Heaven has changed, and every Star returned to the same Point of
the solar Sphere it set out from. This is by many called the great
_Saturnian_ Year: Concerning which, Mr. _Addison_ has thus translated
an eminent Author.
When round the great _Saturnian_ Year has turn'd,
In their old Ranks the wandering Stars shall stand,
As when first marshall'd by the Almighty's Hand.
Addison.
Now, if this sidereal Revolution, arising from a secondary Cause,
require this Number of Years to perfect one Rotation, what must their
primitive Orbits take to circumscribe the _Vortex Magnus_.
It has been observed, that the biggest Star to us scarce moves a Minute
in an hundred Years, and the most remote as insensibly for Ages, from
whence and what has been already said of the imagined Distance of the
general Center, we may frame this probable and well-grounded Guess,
that the mean Revolution of a Star near the Middle of the _Vortex
Magnus_, cannot be made in less than a Million of Years, and though
to us imperceptible, our Sun in his own orbicular Direction, may be
moving many Miles _per_ Day. Besides, if local Motion can be proved
amongst the Stars, what less than an Eternity can again restore them to
their original Order and primitive State. Such vast Room in Nature, as
_Milton_ finely expresses it, cannot be without its Use; and nothing
but absolute Demonstration is wanting (which from their Nature and
Distance cannot be expected) to confirm the grand Design, so suited
to the Deity's infinite Capacity, and of eternal Benefit to all his
Creatures, especially Beings of a rational Sense, and in particular
Mankind.
Of these habitable Worlds, such as the Earth, all which we may suppose
to be also of a terrestrial or terraqueous Nature, and filled with
Beings of the human Species, subject to Mortality, it may not be
amiss in this Place to compute how many may be conceived within our
finite View every clear Star-light Night. It has already been made
appear, that there cannot possibly be less than 10,000,000 Suns, or
Stars, within the Radius of the visible Creation; and admitting them
all to have each but an equal Number of primary Planets moving round
them, it follows that there must be within the whole celestial Area
60,000,000 planetary Worlds like ours. And if to these we add those of
the secondary Class, such as the Moon, which we may naturally suppose
to attend particular primary ones, and every System more or less of
them as well as here; such Satellites may amount in the Whole perhaps
to 100,000,000, or more, in all together then we may safely reckon
170,000,000, and yet be much within Compass, exclusive of the Comets
which I judge to be by far the most numerous Part of the Creation.
In this great Celestial Creation, the Catastrophy of a World, such
as ours, or even the total Dissolution of a System of Worlds, may
possibly be no more to the great Author of Nature, than the most common
Accident in Life with us, and in all Probability such final and general
Doom-Days may be as frequent there, as even Birth-Days, or Mortality
with us upon the Earth.
This Idea has something so chearful in it, that I own I can never look
upon the Stars without wondering why the whole World does not become
Astronomers; and that Men endowed with Sense and Reason, should neglect
a Science they are naturally so much interested in, and so capable of
inlarging the Understanding, as next to a Demonstration, must convince
them of their Immortality, and reconcile them to all those little
Difficulties incident to human Nature, without the least Anxiety.
Such a Prothesis can scarce be called less than an ocular Revelation,
not only shewing us how reasonable it is to expect a future Life,
but as it were, pointing out to us the Business of an Eternity, and
what we may with the greatest Confidence expect from the eternal
Providence, dignifying our Natures with something analogous to the
Knowledge we attribute to Angels; from whence we ought to despise all
the Vicissitudes of adverse Fortune, which make so many narrow-minded
Mortals miserable.
_I am now, &c._
LETTER the NINTH.
_Reflections, by Way of_ General Scolia, _of Consequences relating to
the Immortality of the Soul, and concerning Infinity and Eternity._
_SIR_,
This my last Letter to you, I mean my final astronomical one, I
propose as a _General Scolia_ to the rest, the principle Matter being
Reflections upon what is gone before, with some Conclusion naturally
following or appendant to what has been already said; but which, I
could not in any other Place, so properly remark to you.
The Probability of the foregoing Conjectures, chiefly built upon very
distant Observations, shew an apparent Necessity for some other kind of
Doctrine permitted by Providence, to give Mankind a Knowledge of their
Immortality and Dependance upon it, in the first Ages of the World.
And for the same Reason it evidently appears, that the ancient
Philosophers had it not in their Power to prove a supream _Being_ and
Director of all Things this Way.
And yet, as by a Sort of Instinct, or natural Reason, and Consciousness
of a _good Principle_, we see how many noble Steps they made towards
it, and was convinc'd at last of this _great Truth_, that since there
was a _Mind_ in so imperfect a Creature as Man, the _perfect Universe_,
which comprehended all Things, could not possibly be without one; and
as Sir _Isaac Newton_ has justly observed in his _Principia_, "If every
Particle of Space be _always_, and every individual Moment of Duration
_every where_; surely the Maker and Lord of all Things, cannot be
_never_ and _no where_."
To make manifest the infinite Empire and Agency of God, from celestial
Motion, became the Task, but of very late Years; and I can't help being
of Opinion, that by means of these primary Bodies, only, we shall at
length be able to trace the greater Circulations, and Laws of Nature,
to their real original and fountain Head.
These, were any thing wanting, besides the _Miracle ourselves_, to
convince us of a divine Origination, are all infallible Proofs, that
the Universe is governed by an intelligent and all-powerful Being,
whose Existence is too nearly related to a self-evident Truth to be
more clearly demonstrated, than it is manifest of itself, both from the
particular Laws of Nature, and the general Order of Things. An Argument
which has been thought of no small Force, and well worth observing in
the Infancy of _Christianity_. _The invisible Things of God are clearly
seen, being understood by the Things that are made, even his eternal
Power and Godhead._ Rom. i. 20.
But 'tis now high time to look back upon my Theory, and tell you it is
a vain Supposition, to imagine I shall ever be able to convince every
Reader, either of the Truth or Probability of what I have advanced to
you: Mathematical Assistance not being to be expected, where perhaps it
has never been thought of; and I allow you, it is much more reasonable
to expect, that fifty Persons will read these Letters without
perceiving the Reasonableness of them, than that five should consider
them with proper Judgment.
I must ingenuously confess to you, that nothing is wanting to
convince me intirely of the Certainty of what I here advance by way
of Conjecture to you. But this you must only look upon as an happy
Partiality, which generally attends all Authors, and always will be
the chief Support of their tedious Labours. I assure you, I have
neither Hopes nor Expectation, no, not the weak Breath of a Wish, to be
admitted a proper Judge of my own Works. But I shall always take their
Imperfection to be rather, (like my own Faults) to be too near me to
be seen; I therefore trust all to my Friend, and if I am so fortunate
as to excite his Approbation, I shall think myself very happy in a
very favourite Point; which is, The advancing nothing which a rational
Reader would willingly overlook, or be ignorant of.
But if I have been so happy as to come so near the Mark, as to border
upon Truth, I believe you will allow me to carry my Conjectures a
little further, and point out some farther pleasing Consequences, which
I begin to perceive may naturally follow.
Should it be granted, that the Creation may be circular or orbicular, I
would next suppose, in the general Center of the whole an intelligent
Principle, from whence proceeds that mystick and paternal Power,
productive of all Life, Light, and the Infinity of Things.
Here the to-all extending Eye of Providence, within the Sphere of its
Activity, and as omnipresently presiding, seated in the Center of
Infinity, I would imagine views all the Objects of his Power at once,
and every Thing immediately direct, dispensing instantaneously its
enlivening Influence, to the remotest Regions every where all round. I
know you'll say Astronomers are never to be satisfied, and I must own
where there is so much rational Entertainment for the human Mind, and
so suitable to the true Dignity of God, and most worthy of Man, it is
not easy to know where to stop in such a Scene of Wonders.
Having, I say, once granted that all the Stars may move round one
common Center, I think it is very natural to one, who loves to pursue
Nature as far as we may, to enquire what most likely may be in that
Center; for since we must allow it to be far superior to any other
Point of Situation in the known Universe, it is highly probable, there
may be some one Body of siderial or earthy Substance seated there,
where the divine Presence, or some corporeal Agent, full of all Virtues
and Perfections, more immediately presides over his own Creation. And
here this primary Agent of the omnipotent and eternal Being, may sit
enthroned, as in the _Primum Mobile_ of Nature, acting in Concert with
the eternal Will. To this common Center of Gravitation, which may be
supposed to attract all Vertues, and repel all Vice, all Beings as
to Perfection may tend; and from hence all Bodies first derive their
Spring of Action, and are directed in their various Motions.
Thus in the _Focus_, or Center of Creation, I would willingly introduce
a primitive Fountain, perpetually overflowing with divine Grace, from
whence all the Laws of Nature have their Origin, and this I think would
reduce the whole Universe into regular Order and just Harmony, and at
the same time, inlarge our Ideas of the divine Indulgence, open our
Prospect into Nature's fair Vineyard, the vast Field of all our future
Inheritance.
But what this central Body really is, I shall not here presume to say,
yet I can't help observing it must of Necessity, if the Creation is
real and not merely Ideal, be either a Globe of Fire superior to the
Sun, or otherwise a vast terraqueous or terrestrial Sphere, surrounded
with an Æther like our Earth, but more refined, transparent and serene.
Which of these is most probable, I shall leave undetermined, and must
acknowledge at the same time, my Notions here are so imperfect, I
hardly dare conjecture. 'Tis true, I have ventur'd to think it may be
one of these, and since so glorious a Situation can hardly be supposed
without its proper Inhabitants, 'tis most natural to conclude it may
be the latter. In the first Case, besides our having no Idea of Beings
existing in Fire, it would not, notwithstanding its Distance, be so
easy to account for its being invisible; and since the Lustre of the
Stars are all innate, they could receive no Benefit from it, and
consequently such a Nature as a solar Composition, must in this Place
be render'd useless; but in the latter Supposition of its being a dark
Body, we have no Difficulty attending us, having several Instances of
like Bodies, moving round an opaque one. Now when we consider, that
all those radient Globes, which adorn the Skies, those bright ætherial
Sparks of elemental Fire, thick strewed like Seeds of Light all round
our Hemisphere, are each to us the Embrio of a glorious Sun; how awful
and stupendious must that Region be, where all their Beams unite and
make one inconceivable eternal Day?
Though the Deity, says a learned Writer "be essentially present
thro' all the Immensity of Space, there is one Part of it in which
he discovers himself in a most transcendent and visible Glory. This
is that Place which is mark'd out in Scripture, under the different
Appellations of Paradice; _the third Heaven_; _the Throne of_ God, _and
the Habitation of his Glory_."
This continues the same Author, is "that Presence of God, which some of
the Divines call his glorious, and others his majestick Presence."
It is here, and here only, as in the Center of his infinite Creations,
where he resides in a sensible Magnificence, and in the midst of those
Splendors, which can Effect the Imagination of his Creatures; and
though the most sacred and supreme Divinity be allowed as essentially
present in all other Places as well as in this, as being a Being whose
Center is every where, and Circumference no where; yet it is here only,
or in such Sensorium of his Unity, where he manifests his corporeal
Agency, as in the Foci of his infinite Empire over all created Beings.
It is to this majestick Presence of God, we may apply those beautiful
Expressions of Scripture, "_Behold even to the Moon and it shineth not;
yea the Stars are not pure in his Sight_."
"The Light of the Sun, and all the Glories of the World, on which we
live, are but as weak and sickly Glimmerings, or rather Darkness it
self, in Comparison of those Splendors, which encompass this Throne of
God."
Here Heav'ns wide Realms an endless Scene displays,
And Floods of Glory thro' its Portals blaze;
The Sun himself lost in superior Light,
No more renews the Day, or drives away the Night:
The Moon, the Stars, and Planets disappear,
And Nature fix't makes one eternal Year.
Here and here alone center'd in the Realms of inexpressible Glory,
we justly may imagine that primogenial Globe or Sphere of all
Perfections, subject to the Extreams of neither Cold nor Heat, of
eternal Temperance and Duration. Here we may not irrationally suppose
the Vertues of the meritorious are at last rewarded and received into
the full Possession of every Happiness, and to perfect Joy. The final
and immortal State ordain'd for such human Beings, as have passed this
Vortex of Probation thro' all the Degrees of human Nature with the
supream Applause.
What vast room is here, for infinite Power and Wisdom to act in,
and that so visibly takes Delight to bless all his Beings with his
Bounty. And endless as his Prescience, Attributes, and Goodness, are
undoubtedly all those natural and apparent Joys with which he manifests
his Love to all his Creatures, a Multiplicity of Objects not to be
enumerated. For wheresoever we turn our Eyes, and follow with our
Reason, we may meet with Worlds of all Formations, suited no doubt to
all Natures, Tastes, and Tempers, and every Class of Beings.
Here a Groupe of Worlds, all Vallies, Lakes, and Rivers, adorn'd with
Mountains, Woods, and Lawns, Cascades and natural Fountains; there
Worlds all fertile Islands, cover'd with Woods, perhaps upon a common
Sea, and fill'd with Grottoes and romantick Caves. This Way, Worlds all
Earth, with vast extensive Lawns and Vistoes, bounded with perpetual
Greens, and interspersed with Groves and Wildernesses, full of all
Varieties of Fruits and Flowers. That World subsisting perhaps by soft
Rains, this by daily Dews, and Vapours; and a third by a central,
subtle Moisture, arising like an Effluvia, through the Pores and Veins
of the Earth, and exhaling or absorbing as the Season varies to answer
Nature's Calls. Round some perhaps, so dense an Atmosphere, that the
Inhabitants may fly from Place to Place, or be drawn through the Air
in winged Chariots, and even sleep upon the Waves with Safety; round
others possibly, so thin a fluid, that the Arts of Navigation may be
totally unknown to it, and look'd upon as impracticable and absurd,
as Chariot flying may be here with us; and some where not improbably,
superior Beings to the human, may reside, and Man may be of a very
inferior Class; the second, third, or fourth perhaps, and scarce
allow'd to be a rational Creature. Worlds, with various Moons we know
of already; Worlds, with Stars and Comets only, we equally can prove is
very probable; and that there may be Worlds with various Suns, is not
impossible. And hence it is obvious, that there may not be a Scene of
Joy, which Poetry can paint, or Religion promise; but somewhere in the
Universe it is prepared for the meritorious Part of Mankind. Thus all
Infinity is full of States of Bliss; Angelic Choirs, Regions of Heroes,
and Realms of Demi-Gods; Elysian Fields, Pindaric Shades, and Myriads
of inchanting Mansions, not to be conceived either by Philosophy or
Fancy, assisted by the strongest Genius and warmest Imagination.
All harmoniously crowded and provided with every Object of Beatitude,
that Friendship, Love, or Society can inspire, the Muses or the
Graces Frame; and all as permanent and perfect, that is destin'd to
a Duration, suited to the Nature of their Existence and Degree of
Cognisance; for as a very learned Writer observes upon this same
Subject:
"How can we tell, but that there may be above us Beings of greater
Powers, and more perfect Intellects, and capable of mighty Things,
which yet may have corporeal Vehicles as we have, but _finer_ and
_invisible_? Nay, who knows, but that there may be even of these many
_Orders_, rising in Dignity of Nature, and Amplitude of Power, one
above another? It is no Way below the Philosophy of these Times, which
seems to delight in inlarging the Capacities of Matter, to assert the
Possibility of this."
From these amazing Ideas of Space in general, and from the particular
Distance of the Stars, which separates as it were, one System of Bodies
from another, and by so prodigious an extent, as scarce to be suppos'd
a temporal Task. I think it naturally follows, had we no other Way
to prove it, or any other Reason to believe it, that the Soul must
of Necessity be immaterial; for as this Space seems so impassible to
Matter, as not to be undertaken and performed without the Loss of Ages,
in a State only of Transmigration, we may well imagine, that Change of
Place is not effected this Way, but by some other Virtue or Property,
more immediate, if not instantaneous.
I own next to _Annihilation_ is the State of Oblivion, and this Way we
may solve all Difficulties with regard to our being sensible of such
a Loss of Existence; but if we allow the Soul to be immaterial, it no
longer has any thing to do with Space, but as operating by Reflection
only, or the Faculty of Thinking; it may be like the Imagination where
it pleases in a Moment.
Objects of the Mind abstracted from the Senses of the Body, has no
real or comparative Magnitude; that is, I would say, an Inch, a Foot,
a Yard, a Mile, or a Million of Miles are all equally indefinite, and
is thus prov'd; every finite Line is formed of an infinite Number of
Points, and no finite Line can be solv'd into more. Thus if you will
allow me the Expression, the Mind being magnified as all Objects are
diminished, what seems impracticable in the natural State of Things,
in an Ideal one, becomes very possible; that is, to make myself more
intelligible, though we can hardly conceive, how any Being can pass
from _Syrius_ to the Sun, by natural Laws in their proper State, yet if
proportionally reduced by a new Modification of Ideas, to the Bigness
of a Ball 6 Feet Diameter, and to be only 680 Miles asunder; the Thing
is very comprehensive and easy.
[Illustration: Plate XXXI.]
[Illustration: Plate XXXII.]
Hence Vision, Light, and Electrical Virtue, seem to be propagated with
such Velocity, that nothing but God can possible be the Vehicle; and
hence we may justly say with St. _Paul_, _Acts_ xvii, 28. _In him we
live, in him we move, in him we have our Being._
It will further appear, from the foregoing Letters, that all the Stars
and planetary Bodies within the finite View, are altogether but a very
minute Part of the whole rational Creation; I mean that vast collective
Body of habitable Beings, which I have endeavoured to demonstrate, are
all govern'd by the same Laws, though variously revolving round one
common Center, in which Center we may not impertinently venture to
suppose the prime Agent of our Natures; or otherwise, the most perfect
of all created Beings, illimitable in his Ideas and Faculties of
Sensation particularly preside.
But tho' past all diffus'd, without a Shore
His Essence; _local_ is his Throne, (as meet)
To gather the disperst, (as Standards call
The listed from afar) to fix a Point;
A central Point, collective of his Suns,
Since finite ev'ry Nature, but his own.
Dr. _Young_.
And farther since without any Impiety; since as the Creation is, so
is the Creator also magnified, we may conclude in Consequence of
an Infinity, and an infinite all-active Power; that as the visible
Creation is supposed to be full of siderial Systems and planetary
Worlds, so on, in like similar Manner, the endless Immensity is an
unlimited Plenum of Creations not unlike the known Universe. See
_Plate_ XXXI. which you may if you please, call a partial View of
Immensity, or without much Impropriety perhaps, a finite View of
Infinity, and all these together, probably diversified; as at A, B and
C. in _Plate_ XXXII. which represents their Sections, if all may be a
proper Term for an infinite or indefinite Number, we may justly imagine
to be the Object of that incomprehensible Being, which alone and in
himself comprehends and constitutes supreme Perfection.
That this in all Probability may be the real Case, is in some Degree
made evident by the many cloudy Spots, just perceivable by us, as far
without our starry Regions, in which tho' visibly luminous Spaces, no
one Star or particular constituent Body can possibly be distinguished;
those in all likelihood may be external Creation, bordering upon the
known one, too remote for even our Telescopes to reach.
With the raptur'd Poet may we not justly say
O, what a Root! O what a Branch is here!
O what a Father! what a Family!
Worlds! Systems! and Creations!
And in Consequence of this
In an Eternity, what Scenes shall strike?
Adventures thicken? Novelties surprize?
What Webs of Wonder shall unravel there?
_Night Thoughts._
So many varied Seats where every Element may have its proper Beings
and all adapted to partake of every thing suited to their Natures,
argue such Maturity of Wisdom, and the vast Production such mysterious
Power; 'tis hardly possible for Mortals not to see divine Intelligence
preside, and that every Being somewhere must be happy.
A Universe so well designed, and fill'd with such an endless Structure
of material Beings, and all the Result of Prescience and infinite
reflected Reason, flowing from a Mind all perfect, full of all Ideas,
could never be designed in vain; and tho' our narrow Bounds of Reason
limited, by finite Senses, cannot directly see the Consequence
dependant on a Sequel, yet from what we do see, great Room we have to
hope the next Stage of Existence will be more lasting and more perfect;
and it is highly probable, the noblest Suggestion of the most luxuriant
Fancy may fall infinitely short of what we are designed for.
But here, even in this World, are Joys which our Ideas of Heaven
can scarce exceed, and if Imperfection appear thus lovely, what
must Perfection be, and what may we not expect and hope for, by
a meritorious Acquiescence in Providence, under the Direction,
Indulgence, and Protection of infinite Wisdom and Goodness, who
manifestly designs perfect Felicity, as the Reward of Virtue in all his
Creatures, and will at proper Periods answer all our Wishes in some
predestined World.
All this the vast apparent Provision in the starry Mansions, seem
to promise: What ought we then not to do, to preserve our natural
Birthright to it and to merit such Inheritance, which alas we think
created all to gratify alone, a Race of vain-glorious gigantick Beings,
while they are confined to this World, chained like so many Atoms to a
Grain of Sand.
_I am_, &c.
* * * * *
Transcriber Note
Spelling conventions used in the book were retained. On page 5, there
is an unattached footnote. As it refers to The Pendulum Clock and
Huygens wrote a book whose title includes these words, the assumption
was made that the footnote belongs after his name. On page 30, the
missing anchor for the footnote about Parallax was placed before the
term in paragraph three. The same situation occurs on page 54 where a
footnote about Motion had no anchor and was linked to the term in the
last paragraph. On page 72, there is a measurement "11 Feet ¾" to which
"Inches" was added.
Plate XXIII was mislabeled as Plate XXI. This was corrected.
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