Chapter V: Fourth Day (5)

But of all the comets, the periods of three only are known with any degree of certainty, being found to return at intervals of 75, 129, and 575 years; and of these, that which appeared in 1680 is the most remarkable. This comet, at its greatest distance, is about 11,200 millions of miles from the sun, while its least distance from the centre of the sun is about 490,000 miles; being less than one third part of the sun’s semi-diameter from his surface. In that part of its orbit which is nearest the sun, it flies with the amazing velocity of 880,000 miles in an hour; and the sun, as seen from it, appears 100 degrees in breadth, consequently 40,000 times as large as he appears to us. The astonishing distance that this comet runs out into empty space, naturally suggests to our imagination the vast distance between our sun and the nearest of the fixed stars, of whose attractions all the comets must keep clear, to return periodically and go round the sun. How wonderful that, though this body travelled almost two thousand times faster than a cannon ball, yet it drew after it a tail of fire, or of phosphoric gas, eight millions of miles in length! How amazing to consider, that this stupendous body, traversing the immensity of the creation with such rapidity, and at the same time wheeling about in that line which its great Creator prescribed to it, should move with such inconceivable velocity, and at the same time with such exact regularity! How spacious must the universe be, that, gives such bodies as these full play, without suffering the least disorder or confusion by it! With what a glorious exhibition must those beings be entertained, who can look into this great theatre of nature, and see myriads of these tremendous objects wandering through those immeasurable depths of æther, and running their appointed courses! Our eyes may hereafter be strong enough to command this magnificent prospect, and our understandings able to find out the several uses of these immense parts of the universe. In the mean time, they are most suitable objects for our imagination to contemplate, that we may form more extensive notions of infinite wisdom and power, and learn to think humbly of ourselves, and of all the little works of human invention.[135]

The _Fixed Stars_ are objects of peculiar interest, and are so denominated, because they are observed always to preserve the same distance from each other; and are distinguished from the planets by their twinkling, which seems to depend on the atmosphere; for we are assured, that where the air is exceedingly pure and dry, the stars appear with a light altogether free from scintillation. All the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, and stars, appear to move round the earth, in circles parallel to the equinoctial, once in the compass of twenty-four hours; though these _apparent_ motions are almost entirety to be accounted for by the _real_ motions of the earth: but by far the greater number of them never change their relative situations, each (so long as an observer continues in the same place) rising and setting at the same interval of time, and at the same points of the horizon;--these are called the _fixed stars_.

The fixed stars, as appears from several considerations, are placed at immense distances from us. Mr. Exley, in a friendly communication, says, “It should be noticed, that the distances of the fixed stars have never yet been discovered; not indeed so much for want of a method, as for want of a base line sufficiently large for this admeasurement. The diameter of the earth’s orbit is about one hundred and ninety millions of miles; and the fixed stars, viewed from the opposite ends of this extensive base line or diameter, have no sensible parallax, but all appear in the very same situations, and of the same magnitudes; and as this is the greatest line to the extremities of which we can have access, it is very probable we shall ever remain in ignorance of the true distances of the fixed stars. One thing, however, is fully ascertained by the observations which have been made to find the parallax of the stars, which is, that they are so immensely distant from our planetary regions, that the whole solar system, consisting of the sun and planets, with their satellites, and the comets, would, if viewed from the nearest fixed star, appear as crowded into one single point of space, which is also known from other observations. How astonishingly extensive is the view of the universe which such observations furnish!”

Our earth is at so great a distance from the sun, that if seen from thence, it would appear no bigger than a point, although its diameter is 7,954 miles. Yet that distance is so small, compared with the earth’s remote situation from the fixed stars, that if the orbit in which the earth moves round the sun were the circumference of a globe, that globe, seen from the nearest star, would likewise appear no bigger than a point, although, it is at least 190,000,000 miles in diameter. For the earth in going round the sun is 190,000,000 miles nearer to some of the stars at one time of the year than at another, and yet their apparent magnitudes, situations, and distances from one another still remain the same; and being viewed through a telescope which magnifies above 200 times, they still appear as mere points: which proves them to be at least 400,000 times further from us than we are from the sun.

It is not to be imagined, that all the stars are placed in one concave surface, so as to be equally distant from us; but that they are scattered at immense distances from one another through unlimited space. So that there may be as great a distance between any two neighboring stars, as between our sun and those which are nearest to him. Therefore an observer, who is nearest any fixed star, will look on it alone as a real sun; and consider the rest as so many shining points, placed apparently at equal distances from him in the firmament. The star nearest to us, or the largest in appearance, is Sirius, or the Dog Star, and astronomers have calculated from indubitable principles, that its distance from us is considerably more than two millions of millions of miles! The apparent magnitude of Sirius has been computed at 27,000 times less than the sun, and, therefore, supposing their magnitudes equal, is 27,000 times more distant. If so, as our earth is ninety-five millions of miles from the sun, that multiplied by twenty-seven thousand, will give two millions of millions, and an addition of 565 thousand millions, for the distance of this star from the sun.[136] Our earth, in moving round the sun, is 195,000,000 miles nearer to this star in one part of its orbit, than in the opposite one; and yet the magnitude of the star appears not to be in the least altered or affected by it. A cannon-ball flying from thence at the rate of 400 miles in an hour, would not reach us in 732,000 years! The distance of the star γ Draconis appears, by Dr. Bradley’s observations, to be at least 400,000 times that of the sun, and the distance of the nearest fixed star not less than 80,000 diameters of the earth’s annual orbit; that is, the distance of the earth from the former is = to 400,000 × 95,000,000 = 38,000,000,000,000, and the latter not less than 7,600,000,000,000. As these distances are much too great to be comprehended by the human imagination, we shall, perhaps, obtain a better idea of them by comparing them with the velocity of some moving body, by which they may, in some way, be estimated. The swiftest motion we know of is that of light, which passes from the sun to the earth in about eight minutes, or, at the rate of 200,000 miles nearly in a second of time: and yet even light would be more than six years in traversing the first space, and a year and a quarter nearly, in passing from the nearest fixed star to the earth. Again, a cannon ball, moving with its initial or greatest velocity of about ten miles in a minute, would be more than seven millions of years in passing from the star γ Draconis to the earth. The celebrated M. Huygens carried his thoughts so far upon this subject, as to believe that there might be stars at such inconceivable distances from our earth, that their light, though it is known to travel at the rate of 12,000,000 miles in a minute, has not yet reached us, since the creation of the world!

“How distant some of the nocturnal suns!
So distant, says the sage, ’twere not absurd
To doubt, if beams, set out at nature’s birth,
Are yet arrived at this so foreign world;
Though nothing half so rapid as their flight.”

And Mr. Addison observes, that this thought of Mr. Huygens is far from being extravagant, when we consider that the universe is the work of infinite power, prompted by infinite goodness, having an infinite space wherein to exert itself, so that our imaginations can set no bounds to it.

The magnitudes of the stars appear to be very different from one another; which difference may probably arise, partly from a diversity in their real magnitude, but chiefly, no doubt, from their different distances. Hence it is, that the fixed stars have been divided, for the sake of distinction, into six orders or classes. Those which appear largest, are considered as stars of the first magnitude; the next to them in lustre, stars of the second magnitude; and so on, through the different gradations, to the smallest that are visible to the naked eye, which are said to be of the sixth magnitude. This distribution having been made long before the invention of telescopes, the stars which cannot be seen without the assistance of these instruments, are distinguished by the name of telescopic stars. Bayer, besides accurately distinguishing the relative size and situation of each star, marked the stars in each constellation with the letters of the Greek and Roman alphabets, setting the first Greek letter to the first or principal star in each constellation, to the second in order; then, when the Greek alphabet was gone over, he passed to _a_, _b_, _c_, of the Roman, and so on. This useful method of noting and describing the stars has been adopted by all astronomers since the time of Bayer; and they have further enlarged it, by adding the ordinal numbers 1, 2, 3, &c, when any constellation contains more stars than can be marked by the two alphabets.

As it would be impossible to furnish names for all the fixed stars, and retain those names in the memory; it became necessary not only to ascertain their exact relative situations, but to invent some method by which the principal part of the stars which can be seen may be known, without having recourse to a separate name for each. Ancient astronomers formed a commodious plan of arranging the fixed stars in constellations under names and figures of various personages, celebrated in antiquity, and even of birds, beasts, fishes, &c. This division of the heavens into constellations is obviously very ancient; for some of them are mentioned by Hesiod and Homer, both of whom probably flourished nearly 1000 years before the Christian era. Arcturus, Orion, and the Pleiades, are twice mentioned in the book of Job: and in the prophecy of Amos, composed about 400 years before Christ, the _seven stars_ and _Orion_ are mentioned. As the knowledge of the stars became more extensive, the number of the constellations was increased; and at the same time more stars were introduced into each constellation. Such of the stars as were not comprehended under any constellations, were by the ancient astronomers, called unformed stars. The modern astronomers have reduced not these unformed stars only, but many other stars, into new figures; and it is probable that other constellations will still continue to be invented.[137]

With respect to the number of fixed stars, there have been several accounts, given by different persons, at various times. The celebrated Hipparchus, of Rhodes, 120 years before Christ, formed a catalogue of 1,022 stars; to which Ptolemy added four more. Ulug Beigh, the grandson of Tamerlane, formed a catalogue of 1,017 stars. Tycho Brahé’s catalogue only extended to 777; but he took care to ascertain all their places. Kepler’s catalogue amounted to 1,163, which Ricciolus enlarged to 1,468. Bayerus extended his catalogue further than any of his predecessors, having described the places of 1,725. Hevelius increased the catalogue to 1,888. Flamsteed enlarged these catalogues to the number of about 3,000. But by means of the telescope, which affords us a glimpse of infinite space, and presents to our view myriads of worlds, and systems of worlds, by which it is filled, the number of the stars is astonishingly increased. Galileo found eighty stars in the space of the belt of Orion’s sword, and F. de Rheita observed more than 2,000 in the whole constellation of Orion, of which not more than seventy or eighty can ever be seen without glasses. Dr. Hook reckoned seventy-eight stars in the single constellation of the Pleiades; and F. de Rheita, with a better telescope, discovered 188: whereas we cannot reckon above seven or eight seen by the naked eye. At the present period, the positions of 60,000 fixed stars have been exactly recorded, and they are generally arranged according to the size they appear; 20 of the largest are called stars of the first magnitude; 65 are of the second magnitude; 205 of the third; 485 of the fourth; 648 of the fifth; and about 1,500 of the sixth magnitude; the remainder, being invisible to the naked eye, are called telescopic stars.

Where the stars are in great abundance, Dr. Herschell supposes they form primaries and secondaries, that is, suns revolving about suns, as planets revolve about the sun in our system. He considers that this must be the case in what is called the _milky way_, the stars being there in prodigious quantity. Of this he gives the following proof: on August 22, 1792, he found that in forty-one minutes of time, not less than 258,000 stars had passed through the field of view in his telescope! Dr. Chalmers observes, If we ask the number of suns and of systems--the unassisted eye of man can take in a thousand, and the best telescope which the genius of man has constructed can take in eighty millions. Thus, by the help of telescopes, we discover a vast multitude of stars which are invisible to the naked eye; and the better the glasses are, still the more become visible; so that we can set no limits either to their number, or to their distances.

“Myriads beyond with blended rays inflame
The _milky way_, whose stream of vivid light,
Poured from innumerable fountains round,
Flows trembling, wave on wave, from sun to sun,
And whitens the long path to heaven’s extreme:
Distinguished tract!”

From an attentive examination of the stars with good telescopes, many that appear only single to the naked eye, are found to consist of two, three, or more stars. The late Dr. Maskelyne observed the α Herculis to be a double star, and other astronomers have discovered many more to be double. Dr. Herschell has found 700; of these about forty had been observed before. The following will serve as a specimen, and afford the observer a few objects for his attention. α Herculis is a beautiful double star: the two bodies are apparently unequal: the largest is red, and the smallest of a blueish color inclining to green. γ Andromedæ, double, very unequal: the larger of a reddish white color; the smaller a fine bright sky blue, inclining to green. β Lyræ, quadruple, unequal white, but three out of the four inclined to red. ε Bootis, double, very unequal, larger, of a reddish color; the smaller is blue, or of a faint lilac color. α Lyræ, double, very unequal; the larger is a fine brilliant white, the smaller dusky.

New stars sometimes appear, while others disappear. Several stars mentioned by ancient astronomers are not now to be found: several are now visible to the naked eye, which are not mentioned in ancient catalogues; and some stars have suddenly appeared, and again after a considerable interval vanished. Fortunio Liceti, a celebrated physician, who died in 1656, in Padua, published a treatise, entitled, “De novis Astris et Cometis.” In it he gives us an ample account of the several new stars spoken of by the ancients, among which he mentions that remarkable one which appeared A.D. 389, near the Eagle. It was as bright as the planet Venus, for the space of three weeks, but afterwards entirely disappeared. In the ninth century, the Arabian astronomers, Massahala, Haly, and Albumazar, observed a new star in the 15th degree of Scorpio, whose light equalled that of the moon in her first octant: it was visible for four months. Cyprianus Leovitius relates, that in the reign of the emperor Otho, A.D. 946, a new star was seen between the constellations of Cepheus and Cassiopeia; and also that another was seen A.D. 1264, very near the same part of the heavens, which had no proper motion. One of the most celebrated of the new stars is that discovered by Cornelius Jansen, November 8, 1572, in the chair of Cassiopeia: it exceeded Sirius in brilliancy, and Jupiter in apparent magnitude; it gradually decayed; and, after sixteen months, disappeared. On the 13th of August, 1596, David Fabricius observed a new star in the neck of the Whale, and it disappeared after October in the same year, but was supposed to be again discovered in the year 1637. In the year 1600, William Jansen discovered a changeable star in the neck of the Swan. It was seen by Kepler, who wrote a treatise upon it, and determined its place to be 16° 18ʹ ♒, and 55° 30ʹ or 32ʹ north latitude. Ricciolus saw it in 1616, 1621, and 1624. Cassini saw it again in 1655; it increased till 1660; then decreased, and at the end of 1661 it disappeared. In November, 1665, it appeared again, and disappeared in 1681. In 1715 it appeared, as it does at present, and is of the sixth magnitude. In 1686, Kircher observed χ in the Swan, to be a changeable star in the neck of that constellation; and, from twenty years’ observations, the period of the return of the same phases was found to be 405 days. In 1604, Kepler discovered a new star near the heel of Serpentarius, so very brilliant that it exceeded every fixed star, and even Jupiter, in apparent magnitude. For more recent discoveries, see Dr. Herschell’s paper, “On the proper Motion of the Sun and the Solar System, with an account of the several changes that have happened among the fixed stars since the time of Mr. Flamsteed,” vol. lxxiii, of the Philosophical Transactions, or the fifteenth of the Abridgment.

All the stars seem to have a common and general motion about the pole of the ecliptic, at the rate of a degree in seventy-two years; this is occasioned by the precession of the equinoctial points. In consequence of this apparent motion, the constellations change their positions in regard to the equinoctial points. Hence it is, that the constellation Aries now is in the sign Taurus, and Taurus occupies the sign Gemini. It has been the common opinion that the fixed stars have no real motion, but the accurate observations of modern astronomers show, that some of them have a motion peculiar to themselves, by which they slowly change their places. Thus Arcturus is found to approach the ecliptic about four minutes in 100 years; and its distance from a small star near it has been sensibly changed during the last century. Sirius seems to recede from the ecliptic about two minutes per century. Similar motions have been observed in Aldebaran, Rigel, the eastern shoulder of Orion, the Goat, the Eagle, &c. Other stars have been observed to have a motion in different directions. Perhaps all the stars have similar motions, which are performed by certain fixed laws in spaces, which, though very large in reality, yet, because of their immense distance, subtend at the earth angles so very small, as in some cases to be quite imperceptible, while in other cases they may be observed, as in the stars above-mentioned; and on this rational supposition the appearance and disappearance, and variations in magnitude, of some stars may be accounted for.

The fixed stars do not appear to be all regularly disseminated through the heavens, but the greater part of them are collected into clusters; and it requires a large magnifying power, with a great quantity of light, to distinguish separately the stars which compose these clusters. With a small magnifying power, and small quantity of light, they only appear as minute whitish spots, much like small light clouds, and thence they are called nebulæ. The number of nebulæ was formerly imagined to be about 103; but Dr. Herschell, early in the year 1784, had discovered 469 more, and since then has given a catalogue of 2,000 nebulæ which he has discovered. The most careful and accurate observations give great reason to conclude, that they all consist of large masses or clusters of stars at prodigious distances from our system. Dr. Herschell is of opinion the starry heaven is replete with these nebulæ, and that each of them is a distinct and separate system independent of the rest. The milky way he supposes to be that particular nebulæ in which our sun is placed; and, in order to account for the appearance it exhibits, he supposes its figure to be much more extended towards the apparent zone of illumination, than in any other direction; which is a supposition that he thinks allowable, from the observations he has made on the figures of other nebulæ.

That there are other worlds, beside our earth, inhabited by rational beings, endued with bodily constitutions adapted to the nature and economy of the respective planets for which they are destined, is a conjecture that approaches the nearest to certainty. There is scarcely any doubt now remaining amongst philosophers, that our moon is a habitable globe. The most accurate observations that have been made with the most powerful telescopes, have confirmed the opinion. The surface of the moon seems to be diversified by high mountains, large valleys, and small and larger collections of water; consequently she resembles our earth; and there can be no doubt that our earth serves as a moon to the moon, whose inhabitants, comparing it with the sun, may well say,

----“gives us his blaze again
Void of its flame, and sheds a softer day;”

which similarity existing between them, is a presumptive proof that the moon, like our earth, is a commodious habitation for creatures endowed with capacity for knowing and adoring their beneficent Creator. By a very correct analogy we are led to infer, says a learned author, that all the _planets_ and their _satellites_ or attendant moons, are _inhabited_; for matter seems only to exist for the sake of intelligent beings. And Dr. Herschell’s discoveries have, by the general consent of philosophers, added, besides the Georgian planet, a _new habitable world_ to our system, which is the SUN.

To an attentive mind it will appear highly probable, that the planets of our system, and their moons, are much of the same nature with our earth, and destined for the like purposes; for they are solid opaque globes, capable of supporting animals and vegetables. Some of them are bigger, some less, and others about the size of our earth. They move round the sun, as the earth does, in a shorter or longer time, according to their respective distances from him: and have, where it would not be inconvenient, regular returns of summer and winter, spring and autumn. They have warmer and colder climates, as the various productions of our earth require: and, in such as afford a possibility of discovering it, we observe a regular motion round their axis like that of our earth, causing an alternate return of day and night; which is necessary for labor, rest, and vegetation, and that all their surfaces may be exposed to the rays of the sun.

Can a person who attends to the vast magnitude of the three planets, Jupiter, Saturn, and Herschell or the Georgium Sidus, and compares the systems of moons together which belong to them, bring himself to think, that an infinitely wise Creator should dispose of all his animals and vegetables here, leaving the other planets destitute of living and rational creatures? To suppose that he had any view to our benefit in creating these moons, and giving them their motions round their respective primaries; to imagine, that he intended these vast bodies for any advantage to us, when he well knew, that they could not be seen but by a few astronomers looking through telescopes; and that he gave to the planets regular returns of day and night, and different seasons to all where they would be convenient, but of no manner of service to us, except only what immediately concerns our own planet, the earth; to imagine, I say, that, he did all this on our account, would, I presume, be charging him with having done much in vain: and be as absurd, as to fancy that he has created a little sun, and a planetary system within the shell of our earth, and intended them for our use.

“As well might the minutest emmet say,
That Caucasus was raised to pave his way
The snail, that Lebanon’s extended wood
Was destin’d only for his walk and food.
The vilest cockle, gaping on the coast,
That rounds the ample seas, as well may boast,
The craggy rock projects above the sky,
That he in safety at its foot may lie;
And the whole ocean’s confluent waters swell,
Only to quench his thirst, and move and blanch his shell.”

These considerations amount to little less than a positive proof, that all the planets are inhabited: for if they are not, why all this care in furnishing them with so many moons, to supply those with light which are at the greater distances from the sun? Do we not see, that the further a planet is from the sun, the greater apparatus it has for that purpose? Such of the planets as are most remote from the sun, and therefore enjoy least of his light, have that deficiency made up by several moons, which constantly accompany, and revolve about them, as our moon revolves round our earth. So that if the more distant planets have the sun’s light in less proportion by day than we, they have an addition made to it morning and evening by one or more of their moons, and a greater proportion of light during the night. We know that the earth goes round the sun, and turns round upon its own axis, to produce the vicissitudes of summer and winter by the former, and of day and night by the latter motion, for the benefit of its inhabitants: may we not then fairly conclude, by parity of reason, that the end or design of all the other planets is the same? And is not this agreeable to the beautiful harmony which exists throughout the works of nature? Surely it is! and it raises in us the most magnificent ideas of the supreme Being, who is every where, and at all times present; displaying his power, wisdom, and goodness, among all his creatures; and distributing happiness to innumerable beings of various ranks!

When we consider the infinite power and goodness of God; the latter inclining, the former enabling him to make creatures suited to all states and circumstances; that matter exists only for the sake of intelligent beings; and that wherever we see it, we always find it pregnant with life, or necessarily subservient thereto; the numberless species, the astonishing diversity of animals in earth, air, water, and even on other animals; every blade of grass, every tender leaf, every natural fluid, swarming with life; and every one of these enjoying such gratifications as the nature and state of each requires: when we reflect also, that some centuries ago, till experience undeceived us, a great part of the earth was judged uninhabitable; the Torrid Zone, by reason of excessive heat, and the two Frigid Zones because of their intolerable cold; it seems highly probable, that these numerous and large masses of the planets are not destitute of beings capable of contemplating with wonder, and acknowledging with gratitude, the wisdom, symmetry, and beauty of the creation. It is an undoubted truth, that wherever God exerts his power, there also he manifests his wisdom and goodness.

From what we know of our own system, it may be reasonably concluded, that all the rest are with equal wisdom contrived, situated, and provided with accommodations for rational inhabitants. Taking a survey of the system to which we belong; the only one accessible to us; from thence we are the better enabled to judge of the nature and end of the other systems of the universe. For although there is almost an infinite variety in the parts of the creation which we have opportunities of examining, yet there is a general analogy running through and connecting all the parts into one scheme, one design, one whole!

The stars, being at such immense distances from the sun, cannot possibly receive from him so strong a light as they seem to have; nor any brightness sufficient to make them visible to us. For the sun’s rays must be scattered and dissipated before they reach such remote objects, that they can never be transmitted back to our eyes, so as to render these objects visible by reflection.

“I launch into the trackless deeps of space,
Where, burning round, ten thousand suns appear
Of elder beam, which ask no leave to shine
Of our terrestrial star, nor borrow light
From the proud regent of our scanty day.”

The stars, therefore, shine with their own native and unborrowed lustre, as the sun does; and since each particular star, as well as the sun, is confined to a particular portion of space, it is plain, that the stars are of the same nature with the sun.

It is not probable that the Almighty, who always acts with infinite wisdom, and does nothing in vain, should create so many suns, fit for so many important purposes, and place them at such distances from one another, without proper objects near enough to be benefited by their influences. Whoever imagines they were created only to give a faint glimmering light to the inhabitants of this globe, must have a very superficial knowledge of astronomy, and a mean opinion of the Divine wisdom: since, by a much less exertion of creating power, God could have given to our earth considerably more light by one single additional moon. Since the fixed stars are prodigious globes of light and heat, like our sun, and at inconceivable distances from one another, as well as from us, it is reasonable to conclude they are made for the same purposes that the sun is; each to bestow light, heat, and produce vegetation, on a certain number of inhabited planets, kept by gravitation within the sphere of its activity.

Instead then of one sun, and one world only, in the universe, as the unskilful in astronomy imagine, that science discovers to us such an inconceivable number of suns, systems, and worlds, dispersed through boundless space, that if our sun, with all the planets, moons, and comets belonging to it, were annihilated, they would with difficulty be missed, by an eye that could take in the whole creation; the space they possess being comparatively so small that it would scarce be a sensible blank in the universe, although Herschell, or the Georgium Sidus, the most remote of our planets, revolves about the sun in an orbit whose mean distance from the sun is 1,822,575,228 miles, and some of our comets make excursions to an amazing distance beyond the bounds of that planet: and yet, they are incomparably nearer to the sun than to any of the stars; as is evident from their keeping clear of the attractive power of all the stars, and returning periodically by the virtue of the sun’s attraction.

“In the immensity of God’s creation,” says a learned author, “we may readily conceive one system of heavenly bodies, and others beyond them, and others still in endless progression, through the whole vortex of space! Every _star_ in the vast abyss of nature being a _sun_, with its peculiar and numerous attendant worlds. Thus there may be systems of systems, in endless gradation, up to the throne of God!”

“Oh, for a telescope HIS THRONE to reach!
Tell me ye learn’d on earth, or blest above!
Where your great Master’s orb? His planets where?
On nature’s Alps I stand
And see a thousand firmaments beneath!
A thousand systems as a thousand grains!
_Each_ of these STARS is a _religious house_;
I saw their altars smoke, their incense rise,
And heard Hosannas ring through _ev’ry sphere_;
A seminary fraught with future gods!
Oh, what a root! Oh, what a branch is here!
Oh, what a Father! What a family!
Worlds, systems, and creations!---- And creations
In one agglomerated cluster hung,
Great _Vine_! on THEE; on THEE the cluster hangs;
The filial cluster! infinitely spread
In glowing globes, with various being fraught;
And drinks (nectareous draught!) immortal life!”

What an august! what an amazing conception, if human imagination can conceive it, does this give of the works of the Creator! Thousands of thousands of suns, multiplied without end, and ranged all around us, at immense distances from each other, attended by ten thousand times ten thousand worlds, all in rapid motion, yet calm, regular, and harmonious, invariably keeping the paths prescribed them; and these worlds peopled with myriads of intelligent creatures, formed for endless progression in perfection and felicity. If so much power, wisdom, goodness, and magnificence, is displayed in the material creation, which is the least considerable part of the universe, how great, how wise, how good must He be, who made and governs the whole![138]

The persuasion that rational beings inhabit other worlds, has a powerful tendency to excite our curiosity.

“Ye sparkling isles of light that stud the sea
Of empyrean ether! Ye abodes
Of unknown myriads, spirits, or in bands
Held of corporeal frame! Fain would my soul
A thirst for knowledge unreveal’d to man,
Question your habitants, and fain would hear
A voice responsive from your distant bourn.
Tell, tell me who possess your radiant climes;
What are their forms, their faculties, their hopes,
Their fears, if subject or to hope or fear?
What fond pursuits, what animating toils
Diversify existence with delight?
Rove they in course aërial unconfined
From sphere to sphere, with interchange of joy
Heightening their mutual bliss; or dwell they fix’d,
Each in his native solitary orb,
Unconscious of the lot of neighboring worlds?
What homage, what returns of grateful love
Yield they to Him who made them? Stand they fast
In undecaying blessedness, secure
From risk of loss: or tread they yet the stage
Of perilous probation? Hath sin won
Conquests through disobedience o’er those hosts
In your bright regions yawn the gates of Death?
Falls he, who falls, for ever?--Power supreme
Pardon the aspiring thoughts that would presume
To pierce the veil which shrowds from mortal eye
The wonders of thy realms! Enough, to know
That Thou art Lord! Thy universal love
Pervades Creation; on each living form
Showers down its proper happiness; and, when guilt
Wakes thy reluctant vengeance, stays the bolt
Of wrath, and pales its mitigated fire!”[139]

* * * * *

Stars are the hieroglyphics used to express both rulers and teachers; therefore they may with great propriety be applied to the pastors of the church. The Jews, says Dr. Doddridge, are said to have called their teachers _stars_. They are represented under that emblem in the Revelation, where St. John, speaking of our Lord, says, “He had in his right hand seven stars;” and the allegorical explanation is, “The seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand are the angels (or ministers) of the seven churches,” namely, in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. By αγγελοι, _angels_, we are to understand the _messengers_ or persons whom God sent to preside over these churches. “Angel of the church,” in this place, says a learned author, answers exactly to that officer of the synagogue among the Jews, called שליח ציבור _sheliach tsibbor_, the messenger of the church, whose business it was to _read_, _pray_, and _teach_, in the synagogue. The ministers of the gospel bear this allegorical designation.

1. Because, like stars in the firmament, they are placed in a _high situation_ in the church. Eliphaz says, “Behold the height of the stars, how high they are!” The sacred office is the highest that men can occupy, both in point of rank and importance; and therefore the views, dispositions, and deportment of ministers, should accord with it. They should not be sordid in their attachments, nor grovelling in their pursuits. A predilection for lucrative places, and worldly honors, is inconsistent with the sanctity of their character, and the design of their profession. As they are in a station above others, so their minds should have a high elevation, contemplating spiritual and divine things, with intense application, and holy delight. The glories of the new Jerusalem, and the felicities of the celestial Paradise, are subjects which should engross their thoughts, and be exhibited in their official ministrations. They should look on all debasing pleasures, fleeting honors, and perishing riches, as things vastly below the dignity of their character, and contrary to the objects of their professional engagements. They have higher considerations to excite their solicitude, and more important affairs to employ their powers, than to spend their time in things, which neither can afford them any rational satisfaction, nor are of long duration. St. James calls their attention to what is of most interest to them, where he says, that “he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” Success is the most valuable remuneration, and should actuate ministers both in their private studies, and their public labors.

2. Because of the _beneficial effects_ of their ministerial labors, being useful to men, in affording them light, direction, and comfort; and, consequently, the need the church has of them. Gospel ministers are as necessary to the moral world, during the present state of things, as the sun, moon, and stars are in the universe. A church without such helps, would be like a firmament deprived of globular lights. Ministers, with the bright rays of heavenly doctrine, dispel the darkness of ignorance, chase away the clouds of error, scatter the mists of prejudice, disperse the fogs of vice, from the human mind. As stars engage the attention, and draw the eyes of persons toward heaven, presenting in themselves astonishing displays of the infinite perfections of wisdom, power, and goodness: so it is the work of ministers to endeavor to excite people to the contemplation of Divine things--to behold through the medium of the sacred Writings, the mediatorial character of Christ, the results of his passion, the prevalence of his intercession, the happiness of his subjects, and the glories of his kingdom. As the stars serve for guides to seafaring men, while traversing the untrodden paths of the swelling ocean; so these symbolical stars are guides to those who embark in the vessel of the church, directing her course, through the inconstant sea of this tumultuous and fluctuating world, to the harbor of everlasting rest. And as an extraordinary star in the east directed the wise men to Bethlehem, where Christ was born; so it devolves upon ministers, as stars of the church, to conduct inquiring sinners to Jesus, who is able and willing to save them from their sins, and bless them with holiness and eternal life. They may with propriety adopt the language of an old poet:--

“Oh that his light and influence
Would work effectually in me
Another new Epiphany,
Exhale and elevate me hence:

That as my calling doth require,
Star-like I may to others shine;
And guide them to that Sun divine,
Whose day-light never shall expire.”

3. All the light that ministers communicate to mankind, or to the members of the church, is derived from Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, as the light of the planets is from the natural sun. The pastors of the church have neither light nor grace of themselves: they receive all from the “Father of lights,” in whose light only they can see light; and it pleased him that in Christ should “all fulness dwell.” Both ministers and people must be enlightened with emanations from him, or remain in darkness. St. Paul frankly acknowledges, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” Without him, the most eminent minister would be like a dark lamp. Hence they have no reason to be proud of their qualifications; for they have received all their gifts and graces from Christ. Their fitness for the ministerial work is not to be ascribed either to their natural powers, the force of a superior genius, a liberal education, intense study, or even to goodness and piety, but to the gratuitous bounty of God only. So likewise, whatever success in the exercise of those gifts and graces they may have had, it flowed not from such sources, but from Christ. “I have planted,” says St. Paul, “and Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” The largest planets are inconsiderable in comparison of the sun, which is the great natural fountain of light and heat. The holy prophets are nothing when brought into contrast with Jesus Christ. And John the Baptist, though superior to all his predecessors, conscious of his own vast inferiority, confessed, “He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”--As the planets shine with no other light than that derived from the sun; so ministers are to be resplendent only with the radiance of Divine truth, received from the eternal Fountain of illumination. They are not to shine with the glimmering light of fallable reason, the sparks of human wisdom, the glow-worm rays of vain philosophy; not with the subtlety of Aristotle, the penetration of Cartes, the eloquence of Cicero, the speculations of Plato, the propositions of Euclid; but with the correct and comprehensive knowledge of the Scripture, which is “given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” In a lower sense, it must be acknowledged, that human learning is of considerable use, affording ministers certain qualifications for their work. The knowledge of the languages, moral and natural philosophy, sacred and profane history, mathematical science, the art of speaking, particularly those branches of logic which teach us to range our thoughts in a right method, to form propositions distinctly, and to draw just conclusions from acknowledged premises: I say, the knowledge of these different branches of literature and science, may very much assist ministers to discover and defend the truth, and refute its adversaries with their own weapons. But they must derive all their peculiar lustre and excellence from the volume of Divine inspiration, whence, as chosen instruments, they can make people wise to salvation.

4. Ministers are like the stars of heaven, because of the difference that is among them, in respect of gifts and ability. The stars differ from one another in situation, magnitude, influence, and glory. “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” The gradation extends from stars of the first to those of the sixth magnitude. Some are so dazzling, that they appear with a peculiar splendor among the shining beauties of the night: others are obscure and nebulous; and there are many which can only be seen with the help of telescopes. The stars of the moral hemisphere are not all enlightened, “by the Day-spring from on high,” with the same degree of intellectual and Divine radiance. They have not all the same gifts, nor gifts in the same measure. Profound knowledge, excellency of speech, solidity and firmness of judgment, prudence and dexterity of conduct, are not usually the portion of one, but distributed among several ministers. One excels in a talent for preaching, another is eminent for utterance and power in prayer, and another is distinguished by wisdom and stability for government. Paul was sublime and cogent in reasoning; Apollos was copious, eloquent, and mighty in the Scriptures; John soars high in mysteries, and yet excels in sweetness; Isaiah is pompous and magnificent in his style; David charms and surprises us at the same time, with his ecstatic raptures and poetic strains. In the largest assembly of ministers there are not two alike, far less equal in all things. Some, like stars of the first magnitude, shine with great brilliancy: others have rays which are weak and obscure. Some are prudent, but not eloquent. Some have the gift of preaching, but are not remarkable for prudence and moderating their passions. Some have the art of affecting the passions: others have the skill of enlightening the mind, and informing the judgment. Some, appearing as if formed in a finer mould, have a talent of politeness and address, in their intercourse with people of character. Some, like skillful physicians, know how to deal with afflicted souls, and relieve wounded consciences. Some are sons of thunder, while others are sons of consolation. Though every minister should have a competency of each of these gifts, yet some excel in one, and some in another. Thus “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit;” and God, in diversifying his gifts, makes his manifold wisdom appear. The Christians at Corinth not understanding this, or too emulous for the first-rate talent, without sufficiently regarding Divine agency, which can render the meanest useful, became clamorous, and their indecorous conduct is held up to all succeeding ages, with the censure they deservedly merited. However, to calm their perturbation, he says, “Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”

5. While some stars disappear, others arise that were not previously observed. “Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?” Many, “of whom the world was not worthy,” who were bold to suffer for the name of Christ, not only the spoiling of their goods, the loss of liberty, and banishment from their native country, but even death itself, have rested from their labors and afflictions, and are now enjoying a glorious reward. The Lord also sometimes raises up extraordinary lights, for asserting and propagating the truth, when his church is overwhelmed with the dark clouds of heresy and superstition. Of this Moses, Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha, as well as many other prophets, whom the Lord called in an extraordinary manner, were remarkable instances, in the Old Testament: and, in the New Testament, John the Baptist, and the apostles of Christ, whose voices were heard, and whose rays extended to the ends of the earth. When the Christian church was covered with the dark superstition and idolatry of antichrist, God raised up some eminent lights, from time to time, to diffuse the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and lead the people out of mystic Babylon. Such were John Wickliffe in England, John Huss and Jerome of Prague in Bohemia; and, a hundred years afterwards, Luther in Germany, Zuinglius in Switzerland, Calvin in France and Geneva, and John Knox in Scotland, whom Beza calls the apostle of the Scots. Then did the Gospel run, and was glorified, like a mighty torrent carrying before it not only cities and provinces, but whole nations and kingdoms.[140] Actuated by zeal for religion, says a clergyman of the Establishment, “Wickliffe, Jerome, and Huss, roused the slumbering clergy to opposition. The zeal of Luther and his associates alarmed all Germany, and shook the Papal throne itself. Gilpin alone, in a dark period, evangelized a large part of the northern counties of England. Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, by their steady perseverance unto death, illuminated the British Isles. The zeal of Whitefield and the two Wesleys has, even in our day, made England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, experience very important consequences.” Missionaries actuated by primitive zeal, and sent out by different societies to preach the Gospel among Heathen nations, like burning luminaries are chasing away the darkness of ignorance, gross superstition, and degrading idolatry, and, on their ruins, establishing the kingdom of Christ, and the reign of truth, peace, righteousness, and benevolence, in the earth.

6. Ministers, considered as stars placed in the moral firmament, should shine with purity of doctrine, fervency of zeal, and holiness of life, both in the summer of prosperity, and in the winter of adversity. 1st. In the _solemn assemblies_ of God’s people. Jerome says, Our pulpit should be as Mount Tabor, where we should converse with Moses and the Prophets, Christ and his Apostles, minding that we have to do with a holy God, and with the immortal souls of people, which must be shortly either in heaven or hell. 2d. Amongst _their flocks_, by an innocent, instructive, and pious conversation, giving them no encouragement, by their example, to sin; but alluring them to better worlds, and pointing out the way thither. Their whole life should be a transcript of the holy life of the blessed Jesus, a living epistle in which the people may read the way wherein they ought to walk. 3d. In _their families_. A minister should be “one that ruleth well his own house,” properly presiding over and governing his own family: “for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” Eli’s conduct brought heavy judgments on himself and family, and a great scandal on the church.

_Theory of the earth._

[Such intimations and analogies as can be drawn from nature
may, with propriety, be applied to the explanation of natural
phenomena, in the absence of direct and satisfactory proof.
Allowing this assumption, we conclude that the intimations
and analogies in nature are sufficiently strong and clear to
authorize a belief, _that all heavenly bodies are similar in
their great constitutional principles, and designs, and that
our earth may be taken as a fair and satisfactory sample of
them all_.

The only probable departure from this strong analogy in
the heavenly bodies, seems to be this: the _suns_, or _centres
of systems_, have a peculiar collection of phosphorescent
clouds, which are designed to be the great exciting causes, or
dispensers, of light to the planets which move round them. The
planets have not these phosphorescent clouds.

This does not interfere with the _general_ analogies
between the heavenly bodies; and establishes the _strict
analogies_ between the planets of all systems; and the suns, or
centres of all systems.

From all this we conclude, that a theory of _our earth_
which is satisfactory, will also be deemed satisfactory in
regard to the other heavenly bodies. We therefore lay down,
as authorized by the intimations and analogies of nature, the
following positions.

1. _There is a general analogy between the constitutional
principles and designs of the heavenly bodies; i.e. the suns
and their planets._

2. _That the sun, or center of each system, with all
the planets and satellites revolving about it, were created
simultaneously, as it regards their substances._

3. _That they were created at their relative distances from
the centre which they now preserve._

4. _That they were stationary when first created, having no
motion either on their axis, or in their orbits._

5. _That the materials of each body, when first created,
were solid, frozen, and lifeless._

6. _That the materials of each body were created in their
simple, uncombined, or elementary states._

7. _That it is most probable these elementary materials
were promiscuous in the mass, without regard to specific
gravity, or any other principle or law._

8. _That the arrangement of the materials of which our
earth is composed was effected by the operation of the laws
of nature, as they are called, which were simultaneously
impressed upon the matter of the Solar System, and is continued
impressed, by the direct agency of the Divine Being._

9. _That this reference of the commencement, and
continuance of the energies of the laws of nature, directly
to the Almighty, is both philosophical and scriptural; and is
noted by Moses in these words: “And the spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters (or deep.”)_

Reasoning from these data, let us now see whether the
phenomena of the structure and arrangement of our planet are
explicable to a satisfactory degree.