{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69983/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69983","id":"gutenberg_69983","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69983","summary":null,"tags":["Astronomy -- Early works to 1800","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Science - Physics"],"text":"AN\n\n                            ORIGINAL THEORY\n\n                                  OR\n\n                            NEW HYPOTHESIS\n\n                                OF THE\n\n                               UNIVERSE,\n\n                           Founded upon the\n\n                            LAWS of NATURE,\n\n                            AND SOLVING BY\n\n                        MATHEMATICAL PRINCIPLES\n\n                                  THE\n\n              General Ph\u00e6nomena of the Visible Creation;\n\n                           AND PARTICULARLY\n\n                            The VIA LACTEA.\n\n   Compris'd in Nine Familiar Letters from the Author to his Friend.\n\n And Illustrated with upwards of Thirty Graven and Mezzotinto Plates,\n                         By the Best Masters.\n\n                     By THOMAS WRIGHT, of Durham.\n\n            One _Sun by Day, by Night_ ten Thousand _shine,\n          And light us deep into the_ Deity.      Dr. Young.\n\n                               _LONDON_:\n\n                      Printed for the Author, and\n              sold by H. Chapelle, in _Grosvenor-Street_.\n\n                                MDCCL.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE Author of the following Letters having been flattered into a\nBelief, that they may probably prove of some Use, or at least Amusement\nto the World, he has ventured to give them, at the Request of his\nFriends, to the Publick. His chief Design will be found an Attempt\ntowards solving the Ph\u00e6nomena of the _Via Lactea_, and in consequence\nof that Solution, the framing of a regular and rational Theory of the\nknown Universe, before unattempted by any. But he is very sensible how\ndifficult a Task it is to advance any new Doctrine with Success, those\nwho have hitherto attempted to propagate astronomical Discoveries in\nall Ages, have been but ill rewarded for their Labours, tho' finally\nthey have proved of the greatest Benefit and Advantage to Mankind.\nThis ungrateful Lesson we learn from the Fate of those ingenious Men,\nwho, in ignorant Times, have unjustly suffered for their superior\nKnowledge and Discoveries; they who first conceived the Earth a\nBall, were treated only with Contempt for their idle and ridiculous\nSupposition, as it was called; and he who first attempted to explain\nthe _Antipodes_, lost his Life by it; but in this Age Philosophers\nhave nothing to fear of this sort, the great Disadvantages attending\nAuthors now, are of a widely different Nature, rising from the\ninfinite Number of Pretenders to Knowledge in this Science, and much is\nto be apprehended from improper Judges, tho' from real ones nothing;\nfor nothing is more certain than this, as much as any Subject exceeds\nthe common Capacity of Readers, so much will the Work in general be\ncondemned; the Air of Knowledge is at least in finding Fault, and this\nvain Pretence generally leads People, who have no real Foundation for\ntheir Judgment to argue from, to ridicule what they are too sensible\nthey do not understand. Thus the same Disadvantages too often attend\nboth in publick and private an exceeding good Production equally the\nsame as a very bad one: But the Author is not vain enough to think\nthis Work without Faults, has rather Reason to fear, from the Weakness\nof his own Capacity, that there may be many; but he hopes the Design\nof the Whole will, in some measure, plead for the Imperfection of the\nParts, if the Merits of the Plan should be found insufficient for his\nfull Pardon, in attempting so extensive a Subject.\n\nIn a System thus naturally tending to propagate the Principles of\nVirtue, and vindicate the Laws of Providence, we may indeed say too\nlittle, but cannot surely say too much; and to make any further\nApology for a Work of such Nature, where the Glory of the Divine\nBeing of course must be the principal Object in View, would be too\nlike rendering Virtue accountable to Vice for any Author to expert to\nbenefit by such Excuse. The Motive which induces us to the Attempt of\nany Performance, where no good Reason can be supposed to be given for\nthe Omission, or Neglect of it, will always be judged an unnecessary\nPromulgation, and consequently every Attempt towards the Discovery\nof Truth, the Enlargement of our Minds, and the Improvement of our\nUnderstandings will naturally become a Duty. If therefore this\nUndertaking falls short of being instrumental towards the advancing\nthe Adoration of the Divine Being in his infinite Creation of higher\nWorks, and proves unable to answer all Objections that may possibly\narise against it, yet will its Imperfections appear of such a Nature to\nevery candid Reader, as to afford the Author a sufficient Apology for\nproducing them to the World: And it is to be hoped farther, that where\na Work is entirely upon a new Plan, and the Beginning, as it were, of\na new Science, before unattempted in any Language, the Author having\ndug all his Ideas from the Mines of Nature, is surely entitled to every\nkind of Indulgence.\n\nTo those who are weak enough to think that such Enquiries as these are\nover-curious, vain, and presumptive, and would willingly, suitable to\ntheir own Ignorance and Comprehension, set Bounds to other People's\nLabours, I answer with Mr. _Huygens_, \"That if our Forefathers had\nbeen at this Rate scrupulous, we might have been ignorant still of the\nMagnitude and Figure of the Earth; or that there was such a Place as\n_America_. We should not have known that the Moon is enlightened by\nthe Sun's Rays, nor what the Causes of the Eclipses of each of them\nare; nor a Multitude of other Things brought to Light by the late\nDiscoveries in Astronomy; for what can a Man imagine more abstruse, or\nless likely to be known, than what is now as clear as the Sun.\"\n\n  Had we still paid that Homage to a Name,\n  Which only God and Nature justly claim;\n  The western Seas had been our utmost Bound,\n  Where Poets still might dream the Sun was drown'd;\n  And all the Stars that shine in Southern Skies,\n  Had been admir'd by none but savage Eyes.\n\n                                             Dryden.\n\nBesides the Nobleness and Pleasure of these Studies, _Wisdom_ and\n_Morality_ are naturally advanced, and much benefited by them, and\neven Religion itself receives a double Lustre, \"to the Confusion of\nthose who would have the Earth, and all Things formed by the shuffling\nConcourse of Atoms, or to be without Beginning.\" In Astronomy, as well\nas in natural Philosophy, though we cannot positively affirm every\nthing we say to be Facts and Truth, yet in so noble and sublime a Study\nas that of _Nature_, it is glorious, as Mr. _Huygens_ says, even to\narrive at Probability.\n\nNotwithstanding then the Disadvantages which ever have attended all new\nDiscoveries, either thro' the Ignorance of the Age, or the universal\nPassion of Ridicule in such contented Creatures, as can't comprehend,\nyet ever attacking with a fool-hardy Resolution, the advancing Ensigns\nof Knowledge, if Ignorance was Virtue, and Wisdom Vice; I say,\nregardless of this noisy Shore, it is sure our Duty to spring forward,\nand explore the secret Depths of Infinity, and the wonderful hidden\nTruths of this vast Ocean of Beings. But how the heavenly Bodies were\nmade, when they were made, and what they are made of, and many other\nThings relating to their Entity, Nature, and Utility, seems in our\npresent State not to be within the Reach of human Philosophy; but then\nthat they do exist, have final Causes, and were ordained for some wise\nEnd, is evident beyond a Doubt, and in this Light most worthy of our\nContemplation.\n\n  He who thro' vast Immensity can pierce,\n  See Worlds on Worlds compose one Universe,\n  Observe how System into System runs,\n  What other Planets, and what other Suns;\n  What varied Being peoples ev'ry Star;\n  May tell why Heav'n made all Things as they are.\n\n                                             Pope.\n\nTo expect that so new an Hypothesis should meet with universal\nApprobation, would be an unpardonable Vanity; nor is it reasonable\nevery Reader should think the Author obliged to remove all his\nPrejudices and Partialities, so far as to give him the perfect Picture\nof the Universe he likes best. In many Cases it would be so far from\nbeing better for the World, if all Men judged and thought alike, that\nProvidence seems rather to have guarded against it as an Evil, than any\nhow to have promoted it as a general Good: But the following Theory\nregards the Whole rather than Individuals: And the many worthy Authors\ncited in the Work, who have all greatly favoured this extensive Way\nof Thinking, will, I hope, be a sufficient Excuse for forming these\nobvious Conjectures into a Theory, especially where so great a Problem\nis attempted as the Solution of the _Via Lacteal_ Ph\u00e6nomenon, which\nhas hitherto been looked upon as an insurmountable Difficulty. How\nthe Author has succeeded in this Point, is a Question of no great\nConsequence; he has certainly done his best; another, no Doubt, will\ndo better, and a third perhaps, by some more rational Hypothesis, may\nperfect this Theory, and reduce the Whole to infallible Demonstration:\nThe first System of the solar Planets was far from a true one, but it\nled the Way to Perfection, and the last we can never too much admire.\nIt is well known, that the first System of the Planets was also but a\nConjecture, yet none will deny that it was an happy one.\n\nThe Discovery of the Magnet Poles; the Government of the Tides;\nproportional Distance and Periods of the Planets, _&c._ have all their\nUses, and undoubtedly were designed to be known. Ignorance is the\nDisgrace of Mankind, and sinks human Nature almost to that of Reptiles.\nKnowledge is its Glory and the distinguishing Characteristic of\nrational Creatures.\n\nTo Enquiries of this sort, then sure we may say with _Milton_, That\n\n                   God's own Ear listens delighted.\n\nThe Subject is, no Doubt, the noblest in Nature, and as such, will\nalways merit the Attention of the thinking Part of Mankind. Men of\nLearning and Science, in all Ages, have ever made it their peculiar\nStudy. Towards the latter End of the Republic, and afterwards in\nthe more peaceable Times of _Trajan_ and the _Plinys_, we have no\nReason to doubt but that Astronomy was in the highest Reputation: And\nnotwithstanding _Greece_ had been the chief Seat of the Philosophers,\nyet may we suppose _Rome_ in those Days little inferior in the\nKnowledge of the Stars, when we find Men[A] of the first Figure in Life\nbecome Authors upon the Subject.\n\n[Footnote A: _Cicero_ translated the Ph\u00e6nomena of _Aratus_ into Latin\nVerse. _Julius C\u00e6sar_, as _Pliny_ relates, wrote of Astronomy in\n_Greek_, and is said to have left several Books of the Motion of the\nStars behind him, derived from the Doctrine of the _Egyptians_. _Ant.\nChris._ 45. He with _Sosigenes_ reformed the _Roman_ Year, which was\nfirst invented by _Numa Pompilius_. _Germanicus C\u00e6sar_ also translated\n_Aratus's_ Ph\u00e6nomena into _Latin_ Verse _Anno Dom._ 15. _Tiberius_ and\n_Hadrian_ are also said to have wrote on Astronomy.]\n\nWe have many Instances to shew, that Astronomy was in the greatest\nRepute amongst the Antients of all Ranks, and almost every where looked\nupon as one of the greatest, if not as one of the first Qualifications\nof their best Men. As a Confirmation of which, we find in the\nhistorical Accounts of the _Argives_, a very warm Contest betwixt the\ntwo Sons of _Pelops_ 1205 Years before _Christ_, thus testified by\n_Lucian_: When the _Argives_, by publick Consent, had decreed that the\nKingdom should fall to him of the two, who should manifest himself\nthe most learned in the Knowledge of the Stars, _Thyestes_ thereupon\nis said to have made known to them, the Constellation, or Sign of the\n_Zodiack_ call'd _Aries_: But _Atreus_ at the same time discovering\nto them the Course of the Sun, with his various Rising and Setting,\ndemonstrating his Motion to be [B]contrary to that of the Heavens, or\ndiurnal Motion of the Stars, was thereupon elected King.\n\n[Footnote B: Hence arose the Fable of the Sun's going backwards in the\nDays of _Atreus_, as if struck with Abhorrence of his bloody Banquet.\n_Vide Ovid's_ Metamorphosis.]\n\nTo recite more of the most eminent Patrons and Professors of this kind\nof Learning here, will carry me too far from my present Purpose; for\nfarther Information therefore, I shall refer the inquisitive Reader, to\nthat curious Catalogue in _Sherburn's_ Sphere of _Manilius_, where so\nmany ruling [C]Men of all Ages and Nations swell, and illustrate the\nNumber.\n\n[Footnote C: Seven Emperors, nine Kings, and as many sovereign Princes.\n_Charlemagne_ wrote _Ephemerides_, and named the Months and Winds in\n_High Dutch_, 770. _Rich._ II. _&c._]\n\nIn a Word, when we look upon the Universe as a vast Infinity of Worlds,\nacted upon by an eternal Agent, and crowded full of Beings, all tending\nthrough their various States to a final Perfection, and reflect upon\nthe many illustrious Personages, who have, from time to time, thought\nit a kind of Duty to become Observers, and consequently Admirers of\nthis stupendous Sphere of primary Bodies, and diligent Enquirers into\nthe general Laws and Principles of Nature, who can avoid being filled\nwith a kind of enthusiastic Ambition, to be acknowledged one of the\nNumber, who, as it were, by thus adding his Atom to the Whole, humbly\nendeavours to contribute towards the due Adoration of its great and\ndivine Author.\n\nI judge it will be quite unnecessary to say any thing about the Order\nof the Work, since that would be only a Repetition of the Table of\nContents, to which the Reader is referred, as to the properest Account\nthat can here be given.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n\n                               CONTENTS.\n\n\n  LETTER THE FIRST.\n\n  _Concerning the Opinions of the most eminent Authors whose\n    Sentiments upon this Subject have been published in their\n    Works._                                                       Page 1\n\n  LETTER THE SECOND.\n\n  _Concerning the Nature of Mathematical Certainty, and the various\n    Degrees of Moral Probability proper for Conjecture._               9\n\n  LETTER THE THIRD.\n\n  _Concerning the Nature, Magnitude, and Motion of the Planetary\n    Bodies round the Sun._                                            18\n\n  LETTER THE FOURTH.\n\n  _Of the Nature of the heavenly Bodies continued, with the Opinions\n    of the Antients concerning the Sun and Stars._                    27\n\n  LETTER THE FIFTH.\n\n  _Of the Order, Distance, and Multiplicity of the Stars, the_ Via\n    Lactea, _and Extent of the visible Creation._                     37\n\n  LETTER THE SIXTH.\n\n  _Of General Motion amongst the Stars, the Plurality of Systems,\n    and Innumerability of Worlds._                                    48\n\n  LETTER THE SEVENTH.\n\n  _The Hypothesis, or Theory, fully explained and demonstrated,\n     proving the sidereal Creation to be finite._                     58\n\n  LETTER THE EIGHTH.\n\n  _Of Time and Space, with regard to the known Objects of Immensity\n    and Duration._                                                 67\n\n  LETTER THE NINTH.\n\n  _Reflections, by way of_ General Scolia, _of Consequences relating\n    to the Immortality of the Soul, and concerning Infinity and\n    Eternity._                                                        77\n\n\n\n\n                  Directions for placing the PLATES.\n\n\n        _Plate._           _Page._       _Plate._           _Page._\n          I.                 10            XVII.              51\n          II.                11            XVIII.             52\n          III.               16            XIX.               56\n          IV.                20            XX.           _ibid._\n          V.            _ibid._            XXI.               62\n          VI.                22            XXII.              63\n          VII.          _ibid._            XXIII.             64\n          VIII.         _ibid._            XXIV.         _ibid._\n          IX.                22            XXV.               64\n          X.                 23            XXVI.         _ibid._\n          XI.                35            XXVII.             64\n          XII.               38            XXVIII.            65\n          XIII.         _ibid._            XXIX.         _ibid._\n          XIV.               40            XXX.               70\n          XV.                42            XXXI.              83\n          XVI.          _ibid._            XXXII.        _ibid._\n\n\n\n\n                    _Some of the Principal ERRATA._\n\n\n      _Page_   _Line_       _the Words_              _Read._\n\n         2     _ult._     to cease relating     ceasing to relate\n         4        3       Ph\u00e6nomenon             Ph\u00e6nomena\n        16       15       incomsible             incomprehensible\n        21       12       comprehend             comprehending\n        33       28       compared               is compared\n        34       37       form                   from\n        43       20       volving                revolving\n        49       24       immoveable             moveable\n        61       19       much                   much as\n        62       28       XXIII.                 XXI.\n        65        4       where                  any where\n        67       15       also                   all so\n        69       29       one                    our\n\n    _Plate_ X. read the Characters of the Planets in this Order \u2643 \u263f \u2644 \u2642 \u2640\n\n      [Note: Transcriber made the corrections above in the text.]\n\n\n\n\n                                  A\n\n                                 LIST\n\n                                OF THE\n\n                              SUBSCRIBERS.\n\n\n  A.\n\n  _Lord_ Anson.\n  _Hon. Mr._ Archer.\n  Charles Ambler, _Esq_.\n\n  B.\n\n  _Duke of_ Beaufort.\n  _Duke of_ Bedford.\n  _Dutchess of_ Beaufort.\n  _Lord_ Berkely, _of_ Straton.\n  Miles Barne, _Esq_;\n  Lancelot Barton, _Esq_;\n  _Hon._ Antoine Bentinck.\n  _Hon._ John Bentinck.\n  Norbone Berkely, _Esq_;\n  John Brown, _Esq_;\n  ---- Blaman, _Esq_;\n  Thomas Brand, _Esq_;\n  J. Bevis, _M. D._\n  _Rev._ T. Bonney, _A. M._\n\n  C.\n\n  _Countess of_ Cunengesby.\n  _Lord_ Cornwallis.\n  _Lady_ Cornwallis.\n  Edward Cave, _Esq_;\n  John Chamock, _Esq_;\n  _Hon. and Rev. Dr._ Cowper.\n  _Mr._ Richard Chad.\n  _Mr._ Henry Chapell.\n  Is. Colepepper.\n  _Mr._ George Conyers.\n\n  D.\n\n  _Rev._ John Dealtary, _A. M._\n  _Mr._ Samuel Dent.\n\n  F.\n\n  Charles Fitzrea Scudamore, _Esq_;\n  Kean Fitzgerald, _Esq_;\n  Thomas Fonnerau, _Esq_;\n  Robert Rakes Fulthorpe, _Esq_;\n  _Mr._ Samuel Farrant.\n  _Mr._ Paul Fourdrinier.\n\n  G.\n\n  _Marchioness_ Grey.\n  _Lord_ Glenorchy.\n  Francis Godolphin, _Esq_;\n  Roger Gale, _Esq_;\n  James Gibbon, _Esq_;\n  Ralph Goward, _Esq_;\n  Ralph Gowland, _Esq_;\n  Ralph Gowland, _Junior_, _Esq_;\n  _Dr._ Gregory.\n  _Dr._ Griffith.\n  _Rev._ John Griffith, _A. M._\n  _Rev._ Middlemore Griffith.\n\n  H.\n\n  _Lord_ Hardwick, _Lord High Chancellor of_ Great-Britain.\n  _Hon._ James Hamilton.\n  _Mr._ Thomas Heath.\n  _Mr._ Thomas Holt.\n  John Hughes, _Esq_;\n\n  J.\n\n  _Earl of_ Jersey.\n  Richard Jackson, _Esq_;\n  _Rev. Mr._ Jones.\n\n  K.\n\n  ---- Knowles, _Esq_;\n  _Dr._ Kendrick.\n  _Mrs._ Kennon, 4.\n\n  L.\n\n  _Lady Vicountess_ Limerick.\n  _Sir_ William Lee, _Bart._\n  William Lester, _Esq_;\n  _Rev. Dr._ Long, _Master of_ Pembroke-hall, Cambridge.\n  William Lloyd, _Esq_;\n  _Mr._ Andrew Lawrence.\n\n  M.\n\n  R. J. Mead, _M. D._\n  Richard Meyrick, _M. D._\n  Owen Meyrick, _Esq_;\n  Pierce Meyrick, _Esq_;\n\n  N.\n\n  _Duke of_ Norfolk.\n  _Lord_ North.\n  _Lord Bishop of_ Norwich.\n  Richard Nicholls, _Esq_;\n  _Mrs._ Norsa.\n\n  P.\n\n  _Duke of_ Portland.\n  _Earl of_ Pembroke, _&c._ 2.\n  _Countess of_ Pembroke, _&c._\n  _Lady_ Palmerston.\n  Robert Money Penny, _Esq_;\n  _Sir_ Francis Pool.\n  _Sir_ John Pool.\n  John Probyn, _Esq_;\n  _Rev._ Mr. Pierce.\n  _Mr._ Dominick Pile.\n  _Mr._ Powel, _of_ Cambridge.\n\n  R.\n\n  _Dutchess of_ Richmond, _&c. &c._\n  James Ralph, _Esq_;\n  Allan Ramsey, _Esq_;\n  William Read, _Esq_; 2.\n  Henry Reveley, _Esq_;\n  William Reveley, _Esq_;\n\n  S.\n\n  _Sir_ George Savile.\n  ---- Serle, _Esq_;\n  _Rev. Dr._ Smith, _Master of_ Trinity College, Cambridge.\n  _Miss_ Stonehouse.\n  William Symonds, _Esq_;\n  _Mr._ James Scot.\n  _Mr._ James Stephens.\n\n  T.\n\n  _Lord Viscount_ Townshend.\n  John Temple, _Esq_;\n  James Theobald, _Esq_;\n  Charles Townshend, _Esq_;\n  _Mrs._ Mary Trevor.\n  _Mr._ James Thornton.\n\n  V.\n\n  _Lord Viscount_ Villiers.\n\n  W.\n\n  _Lady Frances_ Williams.\n  _Miss_ Williams.\n  _Miss_ Charlotta Williams.\n  _Rev._ Thomas White, _A. M._\n  ---- White, _Esq_;\n  Charles Louis Wiedmarkter, _Esq_;\n  _Mr._ Ward.\n\n  Y.\n\n  _Hon._ Philip York.\n  _Dr._ Arthur Young, _Preb. of_ Cant.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLETTER THE FIRST.\n\n_Opinions of the most eminent Authors whose Sentiments on the following\nSubject have been published in their Works._\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nReflecting upon the agreeable Conversation of our last Meeting, which\nyou may remember chiefly turned upon the Stars, and the Nature of the\nplanetary Bodies; a Subject, which is generally allowed to give true\nPleasure to all those who take Delight in mathematical Enquiries;\nand having not a little Regard to the repeated Request in your late\nLetters, I have at length undertaken to explain to you, as far as I am\nable, my Theory of the _Universe_, and the Ideas I have form'd of the\nknown Creation.\n\nThe Hypothesis upon which this new Astronomy is founded, and now\nreduced into a regular System, was the result of my Astronomical\nStudies[D] full fifteen years ago, hence I hope you will allow, I have\nmore than observed _Horace's_ celebrated Aphorism,\n\n                     _Nonumque prematur in annum._\n\n[Footnote D: The first Scheme of this Hypothesis was plann'd in the\nYear 1734, representing in a Section of the Creation, eighteen Feet\nlong and one broad, several thousand Worlds and Systems, and a great\nNumber of emblematical Figures, now in the Author's Possession,\ntogether with a Scheme of the entire Creation, completed since,\nnine Feet long and six broad, more fully illustrating upon the same\nConstruction the Innumerability of Systems and Worlds.]\n\nThe Subject, I have often observed, you have listened to with a pleased\nAttention, and I am the more incouraged to explain it at large to you,\nas I am perswaded you don't want to be convinced of its valuable Uses\nand Importance.\n\nI remember you have often told me, that to apply ourselves to the Study\nof Nature, was the surest and readiest Way to come at any tolerable\nKnowledge of ourselves, however difficult the Task might prove either\nin the Attempt, or the attaining it, and the less to be neglected, as\nit never fails to introduce a proper Knowledge of the Divine Being,\nas a certain Consequence along with it, and such a Knowledge, as will\nnaturally make every Man, who has but a tolerable Share of common\nSense, and is not a Slave to another's Reason, without any other\nEvidence or Motive, in all Stations, and under all Circumstances, Act\njustly, Live chearfully, and die full of Hope in the Expectation of a\nhappy Sequel, in Futurity.\n\n  _Eternity_ is written in the Skies:\n  Mankind's Eternity, nor _Faith_ alone;\n  _Virtue_ grows there ----\n\n                                            _Dr._ Young.\n\nA learned Author on the Attributes, recommending these Studies as a\nreasonable and moral Service, says, \"Sure, it is most becoming such\nimperfect Creatures as we are, to contemplate the Works of God with\nthis Design, that we may discern the Manifestations of Wisdom in them;\nand thereby excite in ourselves those devout Affections, and that\nsuperlative Respect, which is the very Essence of Praise.\"\n\n  Who turns his Eye, _on hese wheeling Globes\n  _But must enquire_ ---- what Hand behind the Scene,\n  What Arm Almighty, put these wheeling Globes\n  In Motion, and wound up the vast Machine?\n\nThe enchanting Idea _Milton_ had of the Subjects of Astronomy whose\ntruly sublime Way of thinking and writing perhaps was never so nearly\nequalled, or attempted before this Reverend Author's _Night-Thoughts_,\nappear'd is finely shewn in the Eighth Book of his _Paradise Lost_,\nwhere he makes his _Adam_, so earnestly attentive to the Angel\n_Gabriel_, as ceasing to relate the Mysteries of Creation.\n\n  The Angel ended, and his _Adam's_ Ear\n  So charming left his Voice, that he awhile\n  Thought him still speaking; still stood fix'd to hear.\n\n_Milton's_ own Ideas of the Universe too, which no doubt he had\ngathered from astronomical Authors, and had reconciled himself to, we\nare fully made acquainted with in the same Book, where the Arch-angel\nsays, in answer to _Adam's_ Enquiries.\n\n  ----Other Suns perhaps\n  With their attendant Moons thou wilt descry\n  Communicating Male and Female Light,\n  Which two great Sexes animate the World,\n  Stor'd in each Orb, perhaps with some that live:\n  For such vast Room in Nature, unpossest\n  By living Soul, desert and desolate,\n  Only to shine, yet scarce to contribute\n  Each Orb a Glimpse of Light, convey'd so far\n  Down to this habitable, which returns\n  Light back to them, is obvious to Dispute.\n\nBut before I presume to plan my own Discoveries and Conjectures into a\nTheory, both in Justice to those who have in some measure been in the\nsame Way of Thinking, and also as a Defence of myself for producing so\nnew an Hypothesis to the World, which otherwise (though any Apology\nmade to you I know will be unnecessary) may appear to too many but an\nidle _Chimera_ of my own. I judge it will be highly proper, by way\nof strengthening my own Arguments, and adding more Weight to what I\nshall myself advance in the following Letters, to give you in this the\nOpinions of the most able Writers, whose Works I have read upon the\nSubject. I mean so far as relates to the now general received Notion,\nthat the Stars are all Suns, and surrounded with planetary Bodies, with\nwhich I shall set out; and shew you, it is not a Thing merely taken for\ngranted, but has ever been the concurrent Notion of the Learned of all\nNations, as shall be further shewn, in its proper Place, and as nearly\nas Possibility will admit of, demonstrated to be Truth.\n\nThe following is an Extract from Mr. _Toland_, in his Account of the\nWorks of\n\n\nJordanus Bruno.\n\n\"The Divine Efficacy (says this Author in his infinite Creation) cannot\nstand idle, without the Want of Will or Power; but any Imbecility in\nsuch a Being argues Imperfection, and since any finite Produce compared\nwith Infinity is as nothing, or rather as the Beginning of Good, it\nmust be no less idle, and invidious in producing a finite Effect, than\nin producing none at all.\n\n\"Hence, as all Finites, singly considered, are but as Commencements of\nsomething more to be expected.\n\n\"Omnipotence, in making the Creation finite, will appear to be no less\nblameable for not being willing, than for not being able, to make it\notherwise; _i. e._ infinite, as being an infinite Agent upon a finite\nSubject, which is repugnant to Reason.\"\n\nIt follows then that, Creation must be not only extensively,\nbut intensively indefinite, and beyond the Reach of the human\nUnderstanding to comprehend; and that the one is as necessary as the\nother, _i. e._ an infinite Expanse is as reconcileable to our Reason,\nas infinite Parts are to our Senses.\n\nAll the Attributes of the Divine Being are, as any one of them,\nincomprehensible to his Creatures; why should our Imagination then be\nsupposed to extend beyond the divine Activity?\n\n\"Thus, adds the above Author, the Excellency of God is adequately\nmagnified, and the Grandeur of his Empire made manifest; he is not\nglorified in one, but in numberless Suns; not in one Earth, or in one\nWorld, but in ten thousand thousand of infinite Globes.\"\n\nAn infinite Representation of an infinite Original, and a Spectacle\nbefitting the Excellency and Eminence of him, that can neither be fully\nconceived, imagined, or comprehended.\n\n  What read we here? th' Existence of a God?\n  Yes, and of other Beings, Man above,\n  Natives of \u00c6ther! Sons of higher Climes!\n\n                                             Dr. Young.\n\n\"If the Existence of this one World be good or convenient, it is not\nless good or convenient that there be infinite others like it.\n\n\"The infinite efficient Cause would be absolutely defective, without\nan infinite Effect; and besides, by conceiving the Infinity of the\nUniverse and innumerable Beings, the Understanding rests satisfied, and\nis reconciled with the Idea of an Eternity; whereas, by asserting the\ncontrary, it is unavoidably plunged into innumerable Difficulties, and\nunsolvable Inconveniencies, Paradoxes, and Absurdities.\"\n\nAgain, says the same Writer, \"Did we but consider and comprehend all\nthis, oh! to what much further Considerations and Comprehensions\nshould we be carried! as we might be sure to obtain that Happiness by\nvirtue of this Science, which _in other Sciences is sought after in\nvain_.\n\n  This Prospect vast, what is it? weigh'd aright,\n  'Tis Nature's System of Divinity,\n  And every Student of the Night inspires.\n\n                                             Dr. Young.\n\n  'Tis elder Scripture, writ by God's own Hand;\n  Scripture authentic! uncorrupt by Man.\n\n\"This then is that Philosophy, which opens the Senses, which satisfies\nthe Mind, which enlarges the Understanding, and which leads Mankind to\nthe only true Beatitude, whereof they are capable according to their\nnatural State and Constitution; for it frees us from the sollicitous\nPursuit of Pleasure, and from the anxious Apprehensions of Pain, making\nus to enjoy the good Things of the present Hour, and not to fear more,\nthan we hope from the future; since that same Providence, or Fate, or\nFortune, which causes the Vicissitudes of our particular Being, will\nnot let us know more of the one, than we are ignorant of the other.\"\n\nAnd farther, \"From these Contemplations, if we do but rightly consider,\nit will follow, that we ought never to be dispirited by any strange\nAccidents, through Excess of Fear or Pain, nor ever be elated by any\nprosperous Event, through Excess of Hope or Pleasure; whence we have\nthe Path to true Morality, and following it, we shall of course become\nthe magnanimous Despisers of what Men of weak Minds fondly Esteem, and\nbe wise Judges of the History of Nature, which would be written in our\nMinds, and consequently be chearful and strict Executioners of the\ndivine Laws, which would thus be ingraved in the Center of our Hearts.\nSeeking, as it were, in ourselves, an Approbation of our own Action,\nwhich alone is capable of true Content and Happiness.\"\n\n\nChristopher Huygens,[E]\n\n[Footnote E: The Pendulum Clock; the first Discovery of _Jupiter's_\nSatellites, and _Saturn's_ Ring.]\n\nTo whom the World is much indebted for many curious Inventions, and\nDiscoveries, says in his _Planetary Worlds_, \"I must be of the same\nOpinion with all the great Philosophers of our Age, that the Sun is of\nthe same Nature with the fix'd Stars; and this will give us a greater\nIdea of the World than all other Opinions can. For then why may not\nevery one of these Stars, or Suns, have as great a Retinue, as our\nSun, of Planets, with their Moons to wait upon them? Nay, there is a\nmanifest Reason why they should; for, if we imagine ourselves placed at\nan equal Distance from the Sun and fix'd Stars, we should then perceive\nno Difference at all betwixt them.\n\n\"Why then may we not make use of the same Judgment that we would in\nthat Case; and conclude, that our Star has no better Attendance than\nthe others? So that what we allowed the Planets upon the Account of\nour enjoying it, we must likewise grant to all those Planets that\nsurround that prodigious Number of Suns. They must have their Plants\nand Animals, nay, their rational Creatures too, and those as great\nAdmirers and as diligent Observers of the Heavens as ourselves; and\nmust consequently enjoy whatever is subservient to, and requisite for\nsuch Knowledge.\n\n\"What a wonderful and amazing Scheme have we here of the magnificent\nVastness of the Universe! So many Suns, so many Earths, and every one\nof them stock'd with so many Herbs, Trees, and Animals, and adorned\nwith so many Seas and Mountains! And how must our Wonder and Admiration\nbe increased, when we consider the prodigious Distance and Multitude of\nthe Stars?\"\n\n\n_The Opinion of Sir_ Isaac Newton.\n\nThis great Author, in his grand _Scholia_ to the _Principia_,\nsays:--\"The most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets, and Comets,\ncould only proceed from the Counsel and Dominion of an intelligent\nand powerful Being: And if the fix'd Stars are the Centers of other\nlike Systems, these, being form'd by the like wise Counsel, must be\nall subject to the Dominion of One; especially, since the Light of the\nfix'd Stars is of the same Nature with the Light of the Sun, and from\nevery System Light passes into all the other Systems. And least the\nSystems of the fix'd Stars should by their Gravity fall mutually on\neach other, he (the Divine Being) hath placed those Systems at immense\nDistances from one another.\"\n\n\n_The Opinion of Dr._ Derham, _in his_ Astro-Theology.\n\n\"The new System, says he, supposeth there are many other Systems of\nSuns and Planets, besides that, in which we have our Residence; namely,\nthat every fix'd Star is a Sun, and incompassed with a System of\nPlanets, both primary and secondary, as well as ours.\n\n\"These several Systems of the fixed Stars, as they are at a great\nand sufficient Distance from the Sun and us; so they are imagined to\nbe at as due, and regular Distances from one another: By which means\nit is that those Multitudes of fixed Stars appear to us of different\nMagnitudes, the nearest to us large; those farther and farther, less\nand less; and that some, if not all of those vast Globes of the\nUniverse, have a Motion, is manifest to our Sight, and may easily be\nconcluded of all, from the constant Similitude and Consent that the\nWorks of Nature have with one another.\"\n\nTo this we may add, that this System of the Universe, as it is\nphysically demonstrable, is far the most rational and probable of any.\n_Because_,\n\n\"It is far the most magnificent of any, and worthy of an infinite\nCreator, whose _Power_ and _Wisdom_, as they are without Bounds and\nMeasure, so may they, in all Probability, exert themselves in the\nCreation of many Systems as well as one. And as Myriads of Systems are\nmore for the _Glory_ of God, and more demonstrate his _Attributes_ than\none; so it is no less probable than possible, there may be many besides\nthis which we have the Privilege of living in.\" And as the strongest\nConfirmation of this, \"we see it is really so, as far as it is possible\nit can be discerned by us, at such immense Distances as those Systems\nof the fixed Stars are from us; and we cannot reasonably expect more.\"\n\n\"Since the Sun and fix'd Stars, says Dr. _Gregory_, are the only great\nBodies of the Universe that have any native Light, they are justly\nesteemed by Philosophers to be of the same Kind, and designed for the\nsame Uses; and it is the Effect of a Man's Temper that sets a greater\nValue upon his own Things than he ought, that makes him judge the Sun\nto be the biggest of them all.\"\n\nThat, as an elegant[F] Writer observes, which we call the Morning, or\nthe Evening Star, is, in reality, a _Planetary World_; which, with\nthe four others, that so wonderfully, as _Milton_ expresses it, \"vary\ntheir mystick Dance, are in themselves dark Bodies, and shine only by\nReflection; have Fields and Seas, and Skies of their own; are furnished\nwith all Accommodations for animal Subsistence, and are supposed to\nbe the Abodes of intellectual Life. Again, The Sun, with all its\nattendant Planets is but a very little Part of the grand Machine of the\nUniverse. Every Star--is really a vast Globe, like the Sun, in Size and\nin Glory, no less spacious, no less luminous, than the radiant Source\nof our Day; so that every Star is the Center of a magnificent System,\nhas a Retinue of Worlds irradiated by its Beams, and revolves round\nits active Influence; all which are lost to our Sight in immeasurable\nTracts of \u00c6ther.\n\n[Footnote F: Contemplations on the starry Heavens.]\n\n\"Could we, says the same Author, wing our Way to the highest apparent\nStar--we should there see other Skies expanded, other Suns, that\ndistribute their inexhaustible Beams of Day; other Stars, that gild\nthe alternate Night; and other perhaps nobler Systems established;\nestablished in unknown Profusion, through the boundless Dimensions of\nSpace. Nor does the Dominion of the great Sovereign end _there_, even\nat the End of this vast Tour, we should find ourselves advanced no\nfarther than the Frontiers of Creation; arrived only at the Suburbs of\nthe great _Jehovah's_ Kingdom.\"\n\n  O for a Telescope his Throne to reach!\n  Tell me ye Learn'd on Earth! or Blest above!\n  Ye searching, ye _Newtonian_ Angels! tell,\n  Where your great Masters Orb? His Planets where?\n  Those conscious Satellites, those Morning Stars,\n  First-born of _Deity_ from central Love.\n\n                                             Dr. Young.\n\nMany other Authorities might be produced from Writers of great Repute,\nwere it necessary to trouble you with them[G]; but I believe those\nabove will be abundantly sufficient for the present Purpose, if even an\nApology were wanting for my own Conjectures. I shall therefore conclude\nthis Letter with the following Passage out of _Pope's Universal\nPrayer_, and in my next shall proceed in the Work I have undertaken.\n\n  Yet not to Earth's contracted Span,\n    Thy Goodness let me bound;\n  Or think thee Lord alone of Man,\n    When thousand Worlds are round.\n\n                    _I am_, &c.\n\n[Footnote G: Particularly from _Fontenelle_, &c.]\n\n\n\n\nLETTER THE SECOND.\n\n_Concerning the Nature of Mathematical Certainty, and the various\nDegrees of Moral Probability proper for Conjecture._\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nYou know how much I am an Enemy to the taking of any thing for granted,\nmerely because a Person of reputed Judgment, has been heard to say, _it\nabsolutely is so_; an _Ipse dixit_, and implicit Faith in some Cases,\nmay be both necessary and useful; but here, in Astronomy, I mean, every\nMan's Reason, by the Help of a very little Mathematicks, is able to\nbring wonderful Truths to Light without them; and Truths not only of\nthe highest Importance to every Individual, but of a great and common\nConsequence to all Mankind: And as such, in all Ages of the World,\nhave been judged worthy to be enquired into, by the best and wisest of\nPhilosophers.\n\nYou are likewise very sensible how far the human Understanding is even\nat the best, from being infallible, and don't want to be told, how\ndifficult it is in a Subject of this Nature to arrive at any tolerable\nDegree of Certainty, which before the Days of the sagacious _Euclid_,\nand the penetrating _Archimedes_, was a Thing not to be expected.\nAnd many things which were then but barely Objects of Conjecture and\nProbability, have since been demonstrated to be infallibly true. Time\nand Observation will undoubtedly, at last, discover every thing to\nus necessary to our Natures, and proper for us to know. As a Proof\nof which, we see human Wisdom daily increases; and while a Capacity\ncontinues to make ourselves still more acquainted with the manifest\nWisdom and Power of God in the Works of his Creation, who is to tell\nus where to stop our Enquiries? Or who is so impious to set Bounds\nto a Science, which so evidently spreads through all Infinity, the\nAttributes of God, and an eternal Basis for future Hope?\n\nThis Branch, or rather Body of Astronomy, I believe you will find to\nbe quite new; and though evident Truths, are the principal Thing to\nbe regarded in it, yet as being in its infant State, where lineal\nDemonstration fails, as in some Cases it cannot be otherwise, I hope\nyou will give me Leave to make use of a weaker Way of Reasoning, to\nconvince you of the Point in Dispute, I mean of that by the Analogy of\nknown and natural Things.\n\nI shall be extremely unwilling to affirm any thing for a _Fact_, or\nTruth, without hearing, if not the real Evidence, at least a plausible\nReason, next to a Conviction, or moral Certainty, along with it; and\ntherefore I will here endeavour to explain to you what I mean by moral\nCertainty and also by mathematical Proof.\n\nMathematical Proof, or Certainty, proper for Conjectures, may, to\nalmost every Capacity, be illustrated as follows:\n\nSuppose you had accidentally found a very small Part of a visibly\nbroken Medallion, with nothing more express upon it, than what is\nrepresented at _Fig._ 1. _Plate_ I. a Person totally unacquainted with\nthe mathematical Sciences, we may naturally conclude, would not be able\nto make any thing of it, or in the least comprehend what it originally\nwas, or meant; but if an Astronomer should chance to see it, who of\ncourse we are to suppose knew the Order and Proportion of the planetary\nOrbits, he would immediately conclude, and with great Probability,\non the Side of his Conjectures, that it might be Part of a Medal\nrepresenting the Solar System. In such a Case may we not very naturally\nsuppose he would reason thus?\n\nThe Arches A and B seem to be Portions of the respective Orbits of\n_Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, and what may lead us to believe, that they are\nreally so, and Part of the Solar System, is the oblique Curve C, which\nlooks not unlike the Trajectory of a Comet.\n\nThis surely would be far from an irrational Conjecture, and\nconsequently in some Degree probable: But this is not sufficient you'll\nsay; To prove it we must have farther recourse to the Mathematicks, and\na Mathematician would immediately thus demonstrate it to be true.\n\n[Illustration: Plate I.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate II.]\n\nFirst, by compleating the Circles geometrically from the fourth Book of\n_Euclid_, by the Assistance of any three Points E. F. G. the original\nFigure will be restored, as at _Fig. 2._ And secondly, by assuming\nany two Points, as F, E in the Curve C, if admitted a Parabola, by a\nwell-known Problem in Conic Sections the Heliocentric Portion X. Y.\nZ. will easily be projected and shewn, as in _Fig. 3._ Lastly, join\nthis in Position to the former, and it will justly supply the Orbit,\nor Path of some one of the Comets; and if required, even what Comet\nmay be discovered by comparing the Perihelion Distance Y. S. with\ntheir general Elements or Theories, in Dr. Hally's _Synopsis_ of the\nMotion of these Bodies. And if a farther Confirmation of the Truth\nof these Conjectures were wanting, the small concentric Circles at D\nwould now be allowed beyond a Contradiction, to represent the secondary\nOrbits of _Saturn_; and thus the first Presumption being carried thro'\nseveral corroborating Degrees of Probability, almost past a Dispute,\nwould become a mathematical Certainty; and the above imperfect Piece\nof Medallion, would evidently appear beyond a Contradiction to be Part\nof a Representation of the said solar System, and such as is shewn in\n_Plate_ II. Q. E. D. Thus in many Cases, it often happens, that from\na very small Part of _orbicular Things_, we are able to determine\nthe Form and Direction of the Whole: And hence you may conceive it\nno very difficult Task to a Mathematician, to describe the Orbits of\nall the Planets in the solar System, though he had never observed\nthem but in one and the same Sign of the _Zodiack_; thus far I have\nthought it would not be amiss to explain to you the Nature of those\nSteps, by which we arrive at moral Certainty, and where the Subject\nwill admit of it, Mathematical Conviction, which will not a little\ncontribute to strengthen many of the Arguments hereafter made use of,\nand in some Degree serve to supply the Place of Proof, where infallible\nDemonstration cannot from the Nature of the Thing be discovered.\n\nBut besides the indisputable Principles of Geometry, the universal\nLaw of Analogy and Similitude of things, have a Privilege to assist\nus, in Conjectures relating to the heavenly Bodies, and though not of\nequal Force with the former, is often as conclusive as the Subject\nrequires. This sort of probable Evidence (as Dr. _Butler_ observes,)\nis essentially distinguished from \"Demonstrative by this, that it\nadmits of Degrees; and of all Variety of them, from the highest moral\nCertainty to the very lowest Presumption; and that which chiefly\nconstitutes Probability, is expressed in the Word _Likely_, or\nNatural Likeness, as to State or Being.\" This general Way of arguing,\nI think, is allowed to be evidently natural, just and conclusive,\nand unquestionably to have its Weight in various Degrees, towards\ndetermining our Judgment: For Instance, should any ignorant Person,\nendowed with rational Principles, cut open a _Pomegranate_ of the\nnatural Growth of _England_, and finding it full of small Globules, or\nKernels, upon being presented with an every way similar Fruit, said\nto be the Produce of _Italy_, doubt of its being of the same Nature,\nand composed of like globular Seeds within; here indeed would be no\nmathematical Evidence to assist the Judgment, the Object of Proof\nbeing invisible, but sure from the external Similitude, the strongest\nProbability of their being also internally the same. Again,\n\nIs it natural to suppose, that the first Person who found a _Lark's_\nNest, and in it several of the Female's Eggs, should have any\nApprehensions of finding none in the _Nightingale's_, only because he\nhad never seen one before, I believe the most illiterate Person of the\nearliest Ages, who had Curiosity enough for such a Search, would be\ngreatly disappointed in such a Case, and far from concluding that the\n_Nightingale_ had none. Farther, should any one who had seen several\nSorts of Fish taken out of the River _Thames_, or out of the _Nyle_,\nhave any sort of Suspicion that he should find no such Creatures in\nthe _Seine_ or the _Ganges_, though it should be allowed that he had\nnever seen any such Creatures that were known to come from thence.\nOcular Demonstration, in such a Case, would sure be unnecessary, and\nan Evidence of the first, I believe would be abundantly sufficient to\nconvince us of what we ought to look for at least in the last: But\nthen the Fishes of different Seas, and of Rivers are not of the same\nSpecies you'll say; but as it were infinitely diversified through all\nthe aqueous World, this is, and must be granted, and alike Variety\nof _Species_ must also be granted, in the former Case of the Birds:\nBut no Objection can possibly arise from any such Diversity, since we\ndon't pretend to say, nor is it at all necessary, that the Beings in\nthe sidereal Planets should be every where the same with these of our\nsolar System, a Variety must every where be admitted, and will always\nbe admired, where the Work is Nature's, and the Design God's.\n\nAll then that I here pretend to argue for, is a Universality of\nrational Creatures to people Infinity, or rather such Parts of the\nCreation, as from the Analogy and Nature of Things, we judge to be\nhabitable Seats for Beings, not unlike the mortal human.\n\nEvery Animal, and every Vegetable, that, as it were, naturally exists\nby the Virtues, Properties, or Laws of the mineral Kingdom, has\nsomething of a secondary Nature, depending upon it as a Principle;\nand to say that the Stars, which are a certain visible sort of\nCotemporaries in Space with the Sun, have no like planetary Bodies with\nours moving round them, because we cannot possibly see them, is no less\nabsurd and ridiculous, than to argue, that we can have no Reason to\nexpect to find, in the proper Season, Grapes upon every Vine--Figs upon\nevery Tree--Roses upon every Bush--only because some of them are at\nsuch a Distance, that neither Rose, Fig or Grape, can be discovered by\nthe Eye.\n\nThis sort of Reasoning, though some perhaps may neglect it, I am\nperswaded you will look upon as abundantly sufficient for Things out\nof the Reach of Science to determine; and that the collective Body of\nStars have not been discovered, to be together a proper Subject for\nsuch Conjectures before, can surely only proceed from the Want of Time,\nnecessary to compleat the Observations proper for a Foundation to build\nsuch an Hypothesis, or Theory upon. This is the great Article in which\nthe Moderns have so much, and ever will have, an Advantage over the\nAntients. And hence it will appear, That\n\nThe Improvements and Discoveries of latter Ages are not at all owing to\nthe greater Capacity of the Moderns, but from the Advantages received,\nor arising from the Inventions and Progress made by the Ancients. We\nat first in a manner walked by their Leading-strings, and though many\nof them now are broke, or useless, none can deny, but that formerly\nthey were of great Advantage in promoting and directing philosophical\nEnquiries.\n\nIn an Assembly of the most eminent Men of all Ages, if we may suppose\nsuch a Conference amongst the illustrious Dead, on Purpose to deliver\ntheir several Sentiments familiarly together, on the most interesting\nSubjects of natural Knowledge, who would not lament the Disadvantages,\npoor old _Thales_, an _Hipparchus_, or a _Ptolomy_, would lie under,\nwho had nothing but the Eye of Reason to direct them, in Opposition to\nthe Judgment of a _Brahe_, or a _\u00e6_, who reaped so much Benefit\nfrom their compound Opticks? But on the other hand, perhaps if the\nsolar System, was the Topic of Discourse, a [H]_Pythagorean_ might very\npertinently say to a _Newtonian_, \"You have not gone much farther in\nthe Light with our Direction, than we did in the Dark alone; for you\nare still roving round the same Circles.\" Much might be said upon this\nHead; but I believe it would be a difficult Matter to do Justice to\nall Parties: So here I intend to leave them, only must observe, that\nPosterity will always have the Advantage over their Predecessors; and\nthat After-ages, in all Probability, will reap so great a Benefit from\nthe Invention and Improvement of Fluxions, that scarce any thing, which\nis the immediate Object of such Enquiry, will long lie concealed from a\ntrue mathematical Genius.\n\n[Footnote H: The true System of the Planets have been discovered above\ntwo thousand Years.]\n\nFor this, in which he has surpassed all the Antients, and greatly\nadvanced the philosophical Sciences, the World is indebted to Sir\n_Isaac Newton_.\n\nBut as many of his Discoveries, such as relate particularly to the\nLaws of the planetary System, are but as so many Confirmations of the\nConjectures and Imaginations of Astronomers and Philosophers before\nhim, it perhaps will not be amiss to acquaint you a little with the\nAstronomy of the Antients concerning the Universe. And before I\nproceed to those of my own, shew you in the first Place how far their\nSpeculations in the visible Creation have been carried; and with these\nI shall conclude this preparatory Epistle.\n\nThe Universe, or mundane Space, by which the Antients comprehend all\nCreation, has, from time to time, according to the Progress of Science,\ncome under a sort of Necessity of being variously modell'd agreeable\nto the Opinion of the several Authors, who have judged themselves\nwise enough to write upon it with a mathematical Foundation: And the\ncosmical System, by which is meant the Co-ordination of its constituent\nParts has undergone almost as many Changes as its Elements are even\ncapable of; every Age of the World, as Knowledge has increased,\neither from improved Imagination, or repeated Observations, producing\nsomething new concerning it.\n\nMilton, no doubt, had all this Diversity of Opinions in View, as\nappears from his supposed Pre-knowledge of _Raphael_, in the following\nPassage, _Book._ VIII.\n\n  Hereafter, when they come to model Heaven,\n  And calculate the Stars, how they will weild\n  The mighty Frame! how build, unbuild, contrive\n  To save Appearances, how gird the Sphere\n  With centric and eccentric scribbl'd o'er;\n  Cycle, and Epicycle, Orb in Orb.\n\nBut the following Synopsis, I believe, will abundantly convince you\nthat from certain Observations only, we ought to form all our Notions\nof it, if we either hope to arrive at Truth, or expect our Ideas should\nbe supported by Reason.\n\nAristotle was of Opinion, that the Universe, or Heaven, was all one\nWorld, and St. Chrysostom, Tertullian, St. Bonaventure, Tycho Brahe,\nLongomontanus, Kepler, Bulialdus and Tellez, were of an united Opinion,\nthat this one Heaven, or Universe, was all sidereal and fluid. But\nAegidius, Hurtadus, Cisalpinus, and Aversa, believing the same Heaven\nwith them to be all one World, and that sidereal, yet on the contrary\nheld it to be solid.\n\nClemens, Acacius, Theodoret, Anastasius, Synaita, Procopius, Suidus, S.\nBruno, and Claudianus Mamertus, supposed the universal mundane Space as\ndivided into two Heavens, namely,\n\n  The Empyr\u00e6um created the first Day,\n  And the Firmament created the second Day.\n\nTwo Heavens were also held by Justin Martyr, the one sidereal, and the\nother aerial. The first supposed by St. Gregory Nyssene, to be that of\nthe fixed Stars, and the last, that of the Planets. But _Mastrius_ and\n_Bellutus_, though agreeing in the Number of Heavens, calls one the\n_*Primum Mobile_, and the other, the Starry Heaven.\n\nFarther, St. Basil, St. Ambrose, Damascene, Cassiodorus, Genebrardus,\nSuarez, Tannerus, Hurtadus, Oviedus, Tellez, and Borrus, distinguished\nthe Universe as divided into three Portions, or Heavens.\n\n                                      Or, as _Cajetan_.    _Tho. Aquinas._\n\n  The first called the Empyr\u00e6um,      Watery,\n  The second supposed Sidereal,       Sidereal,            Watery,\n  And the last of all, Aerial.        Aerial,              Sidereal.\n\nAgain, St. _Athanasius_ adds to those of the fix'd Stars, the Planets,\nand the Air, that of the _Empyr\u00e6um_, and makes in all four Heavens.\n\nBut as the Number of the Heavens thus increases, and will become\nsubdivided in the subsequent Account of them, to give you a better Idea\nof the Order of these celestial Portions of the mundane Space, it will\nnot be amiss to form what remains of them into regular Sections of\ntheir proper Spheres and Systems.\n\nSee _Plate_ III. in which Figure, the first represents a Section of the\ncosmical Theory of _Oviedus_ and _Ricciolus_: Both consisting of five\nHeavens, _viz._\n\n       By _Oviedus_,                         By _Ricciolus_,\n     sidereal and solid.                   sidereal and fluid.\n\n  The fixed Stars,                 A      _Empyr\u00e6um_,           G\n  _Saturn_,                        B      The Water,            F\n  _Jupiter_,                       C      The fixed Stars,      A\n  _Sol_, with \u2642 \u263f and \u2640 included,  D      The Planets,          H\n  The Moon.                        E      The Air.              I\n\n_Fig._ II. represents that of venerable _Bede_ and _Rabanus_, _viz._ of\nSeven Heavens.\n\n      And according to _Bede_    But by _Rabanus_,\n           composed of\n  The Air,                  P   The Atmosphere,\n  The \u00c6ther,                O   The upper Air,\n  _Olympus_,                N   The inferior Fire,\n  The Element of Fire,      M   The superior Fire,\n  The Firmament,            A   Sphere of the fixed Stars,\n  The Angelical Region,     L   The Crystalline Heaven,\n  Realm of the Trinity.     K   The _Empyr\u00e6um_.\n\nFig. III. Represents the Hypotheses of _Eudoxus_, _Plato_, _Calippus_,\n_Cicero_, _Riccius_, _Philo_, _Remigius_, _Aben-Ezra_, _Carthusianus_,\n_Lyranus_, _Tostatus_, _Brugensis_, _Orontius_, _Cremoninus_,\n_Philaleth\u00e6us_, _Amicus_, and _Ruvius_; also the _Babylonians_ and\n_Egyptians_.\n\n                     Consisting of Eight Heavens,\n\nAll Sidereal, _viz._ The Sphere of the fix'd Stars, and those of the\nSeven Planets.\n\nFig. IV. is that of _Macrobius_, _Haly Alpetragius_, _Rabbi-Josue_,\n_Rabbi Moyses_, _Scotus_, _Abraham Zagutus_, _Sacroboscus_,\n_Claromontius_, _Avigra_, and _Arraiga_.\n\n                         All of Nine Heavens,\n\nComprehend a _Primum Mobile_ Q, or, according to _Arriaga_, a solid\n_Empyr\u00e6um_. The Sphere, of fixed Stars A, and the seven Regions of the\nsolar Planets.\n\nFig. V. is that of the great _Alphonsus_, _Fernelius_, _Regiomontanus_,\n_Amicus_, _Maurolycus_ and _Langius_; also of _Azabel_, _Thebit_,\nand _Isaac Israelita_; and likewise of _Gulielmus Parisiensis_, and\n_Johannes Antonius Delphinus_.\n\n                 Consisting of Ten Heavens, made up of\n\n  A _Primum Mobile_                             S  _Empyr\u00e6um_.\n  A Sphere of _Tripidation_ in Longitude        R  _Primum Mobile_.\n  The Sphere of the fixed Stars                 A\n  And those of the seven solar Planets within.\n\n_Note_, Some Authors place the Sphere of _Tripidation_ in Longitude\nbelow that of the _Aplain_, or Eighth Sphere.\n\nLastly, Fig. VI. is the Heaven of _Petrus Alliacensis_, the College\nof _Conimbra_, _Martinensis_, (and sometime) of _Clavius_; and also\n_Johannes Warnerus_, _Leopoldus de Austri\u00e2_, _Johannes Antonius\nMaginus_; and lastly, of _Clavius_.\n\n                   In all Eleven Heavens containing,\n\n  T  A _Primum Mobile_, or, as others say, an _Empyr\u00e6um_.\n  V  A Sphere of Libration in Latitude.\n  W  A Sphere of Libration in Longitude.\n  A  The Sphere of the fixed Stars, and those of the Planets.\n\n[Illustration: Plate III.\n\n                      The Seven Planetary orbits.\n]\n\nThus you see how many various Opinions have from time to time been\nembraced concerning the Fabric and Formation of the visible Universe;\nall of which are now and have long been exploded; and although at\nfirst advanced by Men of the greatest Learning, and of the deepest\nPenetration in natural Knowledge, it does not appear from any one of\ntheir Opinions, that they had any the least Notion of infinite Space,\nbut as it were confined the Divine Being to their limited Notions,\nas one may say in an Egg-shell. If therefore what I shall hereafter\nadvance, extend so far without the known Creation, that you can\npossibly conceive no Bounds to the Works of infinite Wisdom and Power,\nI hope you will be in no Danger of looking upon it as more ridiculous,\nor absurd, than what so many of the wisest Men of every Age have\nthought proper to attempt, and have judged worthy of their Attention\nso long before me. If any thing less so, I shall think myself happy\nenough in having broke, or rather passed the narrow Limits to which the\nCreation has for so many Years been confined, in hopes of tempting Men\nof greater Talents to look up wards, and pursue so noble a Subject as\nfar as the human Understanding is capable of comprehending it.\n\nTo the Opinions above might be added many more, particularly that of\n_Johannes Baptista Turrianus_, and _Fracastorius_, who increased the\nNumber of Heavens to fourteen, _viz._ seven on each Side the _Aplan\u00e9_.\n\nBut of this I have said enough; in my next I shall proceed to Matter\nbetter grounded,\n\n                           _And am_, &c.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLETTER the THIRD.\n\n_Concerning the Nature, Magnitude, and Motion of the Planetary Bodies\nround the Sun_, &c.\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nThe younger _Pliny_, if I remember right, somewhere says, that there\nis, or ought to be, a wide Difference betwixt writing to a Friend, and\nwriting to the Publick: I have indeed pleased myself with the one, but\nam far from thinking myself qualified for the other; I must therefore\nrather intreat you, though perhaps you cannot possibly overlook all\nmy Faults as an Author, to excuse them at least in the Friend, and by\nsuch kind of unlimited Indulgence, you will give me a much greater\nChance to do the Subject some Justice, though I own I despair in this\nfirst Attempt, to reconcile every thing I advance to your more cool and\nimpartial Reasoning. But to the Business:\n\nAs I have no Ambition to have the Substance of my Theory more admired\nby you than understood, which is too often the Case in Works of\nthis Nature, I must beg leave to repeat to you Part of a former\nDiscourse, which will refresh in your Ideas the principal Laws of the\nSystem of our Sun, and make you properly acquainted with such Things\nas are necessary to be known in the now-established Astronomy of\n[I]_Copernicus_, &c. before I proceed to any new Matter.\n\n[Footnote I: Nicolaus Copernicus, stiled by _Bulialdus_, _Vir absolut\u00e6\nsubtilitatis_, was a Native of _Thorn_ in _Polish Prussia_, and Canon\nof the Church of _Frawenburgh_; he was Scholar to _Dominicus Maria_ of\n_Ferrara_, to whom he was Assistant in his astronomical Observations\nat _Bologne_, and Professor of the Mathematicks at _Rome_, in his\nnoble Work, _De Revolutionibus Orbium C\u00e6lestium_; he fortunately\nrevived, happily united, and formed into an Hypothesis of his own, the\nseveral Opinions of _Philolaus_, _Heraclides Ponticus_, and _Ecphantus\nPythagoreus_, _viz._ after the Opinion of _Philolaus_ he made the\nEarth to move about the Sun, as the Center of its annual Motion; and\naccording to _Heraclides_ and _Ecphantus_, he likewise gave it a\ndiurnal Rotation round its own Axis: Which System has withstood all\nOpposition; and as _Ricciolus_, (though a Dissenter from it) observes,\n_Per damna, per c\u00e6des, ab ipso sumit opes, animumque ferro._]\n\nThe Sun, you are not to learn, is the reputed Center of our _Planetary\nSystem_, and may remember, that the Earth on which we live, and these\nfive following _Erratic Stars_, viz. Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and\nMercury, have been demonstrated to move round him in the Order and\nManner following.\n\n_Saturn_ is found to complete one Revolution round the Sun in\ntwenty-nine Years, one hundred and seventy-four Days, six Hours,\nand thirty-six Minutes; at the Distance of about seven hundred and\nseventy-seven Millions of Miles. _Jupiter_ performs a like Revolution\nin about eleven Years, three hundred and seventeen Days, twelve\nHours, and twenty Minutes; distant from the Sun about four hundred\nand twenty-four Millions of Miles. _Mars_ compleats his Circuit in\none Year, three hundred and twenty-one Days, twenty-three Hours, and\ntwenty-seven Minutes; and his mean Distance is about one hundred and\ntwenty-three Millions of Miles.\n\nThese three are called superior Planets, as being farther from the Sun\nthan the Earth, and circumscribing its Orbit.\n\nThe Earth circumambulates her Orbit in one solar Year, _viz._ in three\nhundred and sixty-five Days, five Hours, forty-eight Minutes, and\nfifty-seven Seconds; at the mean Distance of eighty-one Millions of\nMiles.\n\nThe Radius of _Venus's_ Orbit is about fifty-nine Millions of Miles;\nand that of _Mercury_ nearly thirty-two Millions, _ditto_.\n\nThe Heliocentric Revolution of _Venus_, is made in two hundred and\ntwenty-four Days, sixteen Hours, forty-nine Minutes, and twenty-seven\nSeconds; and that of _Mercury_, in eighty-seven Days, twenty-three\nHours, fifteen Minutes, and fifty-four Seconds. These two last Planets\nare called inferior Ones, as being circumscribed by the Earth.\n\nThe Diameter of the Sun being demonstrated to be nearly seven hundred\nand sixty-three thousand Miles:\n\nThe proportional Magnitudes of all the above Planets will be found\nnearly as follows, _viz._\n\n                  The Diameter of the Globe,\n  Of  _Mercury_       4,240 }\n      _Venus_         7,900 }\n      the Earth       7,970 } Miles.\n      _Mars_          4,440 }\n      _Jupiter_      81,000 }\n  and _Saturn_       61,000 }\n\nThus much I have thought proper to premise, and for your immediate\nInspection, have added the following Schemes, that nothing may be\nwanting to give a general Idea of the Order of the celestial Bodies in\nour own System, before I attempt to lead you through the neighbouring\nRegions of the Stars to the more remote Tracts of Infinity.\n\n\nPLATE IV.\n\nIs a true Delineation of the solar System, with the Trajectories of\nthree of the principal Comets, whose Periods and Orbits have been\naccurately determined, and are represented in their true Proportion and\nPosition to one another, and the Order of the Planets round the Sun,\nmarked with their respective Characters, _viz._ \u2644, for _Saturn_, \u2643,\n_Jupiter_, \u2642, _Mars_, \u2641, the Earth, \u2640, _Venus_, and \u263f, _Mercury_. The\nScale being nearly five hundred and eighteen Millions of Miles to an\nInch.\n\n\nPLATE V.\n\nIs a true Projection of the System of the known Comets; in which are\nrepresented nine of the chief Trajectories, from their _Aphelii_ to\ntheir _Perihelii_, all in just Proportion and Position to the Orbits\nof _Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, which are also represented by the two\nconcentric Circles, supposed to be drawn round the Sun as their Center.\n\nThe Ellipsis, or Trajectory, marked A, shews the Position and Path of\nthe Comet which appeared in the Year 1684, whose Period is supposed to\nbe about fifty Years, and has been observed within the Region of the\nPlanets once.\n\n  That mark'd B, is the Way of the Comet of 1682;\n                  The Period conjectured to be about seventy-five\n                   Years and a half, and has been observed thrice.\n              C, Way of the Comet of 1337;\n                  The Period about 100 Years, observed once.\n              D, That of the Comet of 1661;\n                  The Period about 129 Years, observed twice.\n              E, Tract of the Comet of 1618;\n                  The Period about 160 Years, observed once.\n              F, Way of the Comet of 1677;\n                  The Period about 200 Years, observed once.\n              G, Way of the Comet of 1744;\n                  The Period about 300 Years, observed once.\n              H, Way of the Comet of 1665;\n                  The Period about 400 Years, observed once.\n              I, Way of the Comet of 1680;\n                  The Period about 575 Years, observed thrice.\n\n[Illustration: Plate IV.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate V.]\n\nThe Scale of this System is equal to one Third of the former.\n\nHere I must observe to you, as a Thing I judge may prove of great\nConsequence with regard to the System of Comets, which is as yet very\nimperfect: That I am strongly of Opinion, that the Comets in general,\nthrough all their respective Orbits, describe one common Area, that is\nto say, all their Orbits with regard to the Magnitude of their proper\nPlanes, are mathematically equal to one another; which, if it once\ncould be proved, and confirmed by Observation, the Theories of all the\nComets that have been justly observed, might easily be perfected, and\ntheir Periods at once determined, which now we can only guess at, or\nmay wait whole Ages for more Certainty of. What leads me to believe,\nthat this may prove to be really the Case is this.\n\nI find by Calculation, that the Orbits of the two last Comets, whose\nElements have been most corrected by Sir _Isaac Newton_ and Dr.\n_Hally_, are to one another, according to their Numbers, nearly as\n[J]13 to [K]17, notwithstanding one of them is one of the most erratick\nthat ever came under our Observation; and the other one of the most\nneighbouring to the Sun.\n\n[Footnote J: 1316539,968282 Comet of 1680.]\n\n[Footnote K: 1708155,4644 Comet of 1682.]\n\nBut it is well known to all Mathematicians, that the first of these\nComets moved in so eccentric a Trajectory, that the least Error in its\nalmost incredible Proximity to the Sun will produce a very sensible\nDifference in the Area of the Orbit: And accordingly, if we moderate\nthe Perihelion Distance of this Comet, by making it but 1000 instead of\n[L]612, which is but increasing it a 1/35000th Part of the great Radius\nof the Orbit, (which is an Error every Astronomer will readily grant is\nvery easily made) and we shall find the Orbits of the said two Comets\nto be exactly equal.\n\n[Footnote L: The Number in Dr. _Hally's_ Synopsis.]\n\nFurther, I must inform you, that the Comet of 1682, which the above is\ncompared with, seems to have been so accurately observed, that it does\nnot appear to have altered its Perihelion Distance half a 68th Part in\none intire Revolution. Now, if we can with any Show of Reason, and a\nProbability on our Side, bring the Areas of these two extream Comets,\nas I may call them, to an _Equality_, sure we may conclude, it is a\nSubject highly worthy to be more considered and enquired into.\n\n\nPLATE VI.\n\nIs a true Representation of the satellite Systems, proportionable to\none another, and to the Orb of the Sun's Body, that a just Idea of the\nDistances of those secondary Planets, may be easier had from their\nrespective primary ones.\n\nS represents the solar Body with its Atmosphere. _Fig._ 1. is the\nSystem of _Saturn_ from the same Scale. _Fig._ 2. that of _Jupiter_\nfrom _ditto_. And _Fig._ 3. the Orbit of the Moon round the Earth, in\nthe same Proportion.\n\nBut as you can have but a very imperfect Idea of the Magnitude of these\nlast Circles, with regard to the Body of the Earth or Moon,\n\n\nPLATE VII.\n\nIs a true Projection of their real Globes, at their proper Distance\nfrom each other, with their common Center of Gravity, and the Point and\nLine of equal Suspension betwixt them, _viz._\n\n  A, represents the Globe of the Earth.\n  B, that of the Moon.\n  C, Point, and C D, Line of equal Suspension betwixt them.\n  E, Common Center of Gravity, which describes the _Orbis Magnus_.\n  E, F, and B, G, is the Orbit of the Moon.\n\nFarther, that nothing may be wanting to give a true Notion of the whole\ntogether,\n\n\nPLATE VIII.\n\nIs a proportional Drawing of all the primary and secondary Planets\ntogether, distinguished by their Characters, proper to attend a Globe\nof twelve Inches Diameter, such a one being supposed to represent the\nSun.\n\n\nPLATE IX.\n\nIs an exact Scheme of the principal known Comets, in just Proportion,\nto the Globe of the Earth represented at A, with the Nucleus, and Part\nof the Tail of the Comet of 1680, B, as it was observed in its Assent\nfrom the Sun, _viz._ _a a_ the Comet's natural Atmosphere, _z z z_, the\n_Denser Matter_ winding itself into the Axis of the Train _x x_, the\ninflam'd Atmosphere and Tail dilated near the Sun. C, represents the\nBall of the Comet of 1682, D, that of 1665, E, that of 1742, and F, the\nHead of the Comet of 1744.\n\nAnd again, that you may have some Notion of the apparent Magnitudes of\nall these Planets and Comets, _&c._ as they appear at the Earth,\n\n[Illustration: Plate VI.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate VII.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate VIII.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate IX.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate X.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XI.]\n\n\nPLATE X.\n\nRepresents the Sun and Moon in the just Proportion of their mean\nDiameters, with two of the Comets A and B, and the five erratick\nPlanets, as they are observed at the Earth, in a middle State of their\nDistances from it.\n\nFor a more full and particular Description of all the Parts of the\nsolar System, and of the home Elements of Astronomy in general, I refer\nyou to my _Clavis C\u0153lestis_, &c. where every thing concerning the\nPlanets, Comets, and Stars; and their real and apparent Motions, are\nat large represented, explained, and accounted for, for the Benefit of\nsuch as have not made the Mathematicks their regular Study.\n\nNow, to convince you that the Planets are all in their own Nature no\nother than dark opaque Bodies, reflecting only the borrowed Light of\nthe Sun, I must recommend to your Observation, this natural and simple\nExperiment, which almost any Opportunity of seeing the _Moon_ a little\nbefore the Full, will put into your Power to make; but best and easiest\nwhen the Sun is in any of the North Signs, _i. e._ in _Summer_.\n\nAt such a time, the Sun being near setting, the Moon will appear in\nthe eastern Hemisphere; and if there be any bright Clouds northward,\nor southward near her, you will plainly perceive, that the _Light_\nof the one is of the same Nature with that of the other; I mean the\nLight of the Moon, and that of the Cloud. To me there never appeared\nany Difference at all; and I am perswaded, were you to make but two or\nthree Observations of this kind, which is from Nature itself, a sort\nof ocular Demonstration, you cannot fail of being convinced, that the\nMoon's Light, such as it is, without Heat, can possibly proceed from\nno other Cause than that which illumines the Cloud: For if the Clouds,\nwhose Composition we know to be but a thin light Fluid, formed of\ncondensed Vapours only, is capable of remitting so great a Lustre, how\nmuch more may we not allow the Moon, which, Length of Time, and many\nother Circumstances, have long confirmed to be a durable and solid Body.\n\nThe Increase of her Lustre, indeed, during the Absence of the Sun from\nus, to a less penetrating Genius than your's, may possibly afford some\ntrifling Ground of Objection to the above Conclusions, as being drawn\nfrom the Ph\u00e6nomena of Day-light only; by reason in the Night, we have\nno Clouds in equal Circumstances to compare with her.\n\nBut this I need not tell you, is all owing to her being seen through a\ndarker Medium, and not to any real Increase of natural Light emitted\nfrom the Sun. As a Proof of which, were it necessary, you need only,\nshut out the Rays of the Atmosphere, by the Help of a sufficiently\nlong Tube; and the Moon, or any other celestial Body, will appear\nthrough it, as bright in the Day-time as in the Night.\n\nThus all light Bodies of inferior Lustre, whether shining by their own\nnatural Radiences, or by a borrowed Reflection, partake of the same\nAdvantage, when removed from the more potent Influence of a superior\none; and hence it is, that the [M]_Aura \u00c6therea_ shines out most\nmanifest, when the Body of the Sun himself is hid, the Stars, and the\n_Via Lactea_ most lively and numerous in the Absence of the Moon, and\nthose Exhalations, or Meteors, vulgarly called Falling-stars, become\nonly visible (like Glow-worms) in the Night.\n\n[Footnote M: An _Helios_, or golden Light, always attending the Sun,\nand supposed to spread itself all round his Body in the Direction of\nhis Equator, was very visible during the total Darkness of the Eclipse\nof 1715, and may be always seen about the Autumnal Equinox.]\n\nHere it may not be improper to tell you, that the Clouds are to us in\neffect no other than as so many Moons, whereby we have our artificial\nDay prolonged to us several Hours after the Sun is set, and likewise\nproduced as much sooner before he rises; and were they to ascend by\nstill stronger Power of Exhalation to an Elevation, all round the\nAtmosphere, so as to form a Sphere equal to four Times the Globe of the\nEarth, there would then be no such Thing as real nocturnal Darkness to\nany Part of the World.\n\nThe lunar Light then we may very justly conclude, proceeds originally\nfrom the Sun: And notwithstanding many more Arguments might be drawn\nfrom the Demonstration of her Phases, Eclipses, &_c._ to prove it,\nyet none of them need here be added, to what has been already said,\nto convince you of the Truth of it. This being granted, let us now\nconsider what Effect this, or a like Quantity of borrowed Light, would\nhave, when removed to a much greater Distance.\n\nI may, I think, suppose, that you know so much of Opticks as to\nunderstand, that all visible Objects apparently decrease in Magnitude,\nas their Distance from the Eye increases. Consequently, that, if the\nMoon's Orbit was placed as far again from the Earth as it really is,\nher Globe, or rather _Disk_, would then seem to be but half as big\nas to us she now appears to be, and of course still farther, were\nshe placed at ten times the Distance she is known to revolve at, her\napparent Diameter would be reduced to a tenth Part only of what it now\nappears to be in her present Orbit, that is, one hundred Times less\nin visible Magnitude than her neighbouring Disk is found to be where\nit now is seen. And such, but something less, the two Planets _Venus_\nand _Jupiter_, which are frequently, in their Turns, our Morning and\nEvening Stars, appear to be through a common Telescope.\n\nNow these two Planets, together with the other three, which we find\nmoving in regular Orbits round the Sun, are all found subject to the\nsame [N]Changes of _Ph\u00e6nomena_, in their various Aspects with the Sun;\nand who can doubt but that they are all of the same or like Nature? But\nyou'll say, perhaps, how are we sure that _Venus_ and _Jupiter_ have no\nnative Light of their own, since many of the ancient Philosophers, and\nin particular _Anaximander_, allowed even the Moon to have some; and\nbesides, in Philosophy, as well as in Logick, I think you hold there is\nno proving a Negative, at least at such a Distance.\n\n[Footnote N: _Venus_ and _Mercury_ in every Heliocentrick Revolution,\nperform all the Changes of our Moon in a like Gradation and Defection\nof Light, both horned and gibos'd.]\n\nTo make you conceive the Impossibility of such a Light, and next\nto a Demonstration, convince you of the Unnaturalness of such a\nSupposition, I must put you in mind, that some time ago, when I was\nlast in the Country with you, I think it was about the latter End of\nAutumn, near the Winter Solstice, as we were walking one Evening, I bid\nyou take notice of the Moon, which was then near setting, and about\ntwo Days old. You may remember, her whole Globe appeared to us very\nconspicuously within a manifest Circle. You immediately told me, that\nthat kind of Ph\u00e6nomenon the Country People called a _Stork_, or the old\nMoon in the new one's Arms. This I then endeavoured to explain to you,\nand I think made you sensible it was intirely an Effect of the Earth's,\nand an Appearance always to be expected at that Time of the Year. The\nEarth being then in the State of a Full-Moon to that Part of the lunar\nOrbit, and near her Perihelion, at which time, the Earth sends back a\nReflection to the [O]Moon twenty-five times more potent than that of\nthe Moon to us.\n\n[Footnote O: Their Diameters being nearly as 1 to 5.]\n\nNow the Planet _Venus_, from undeniable Principles of Geometry, is\nallowed to be nearly such another Globe as the Earth is; and since the\nEarth, as I have just now related, is found to reflect much more Light\nto the Moon, by reason of her superior Magnitude, than the Moon can\npossibly reverberate to Earth again; and since also 'tis plain, the\nEarth has no Light of its own, why then should we imagine _Venus_ to be\nendowed with a Lustre, which we can prove to be no more than a similar\nBody, and governed by the same Laws as the Earth is?\n\n_Anaximander's_ Mistake, in supposing the Moon in some small Degree\na radiant Body of itself, lay, in not considering, that the faint\nIllumination here described, and visible all over her Globe, soon\nafter almost every Conjunction with the Sun; and probably in Eclipses,\nalso proceeded from the Earth; but the thing I think is too evident to\nexpect any sort of Contradiction, therefore I hope you will admit it\nas a Truth, and consequently take it for granted, that the planetary\nBodies in general, are meer terrestrial, if not terraqueous Bodies,\nsuch as this we live upon; which is the Thing I have chiefly in this\nLetter attempted to demonstrate, or have rather explained; and now\nI hope, for the future, you will receive the Idea of a Plurality of\nWorlds more favourably, and look upon astronomical Conjectures in a\nless ridiculous Light than you used to do, especially since you must\nallow, they give our unlimited Imaginations a like all endless Field of\nContemplation, not only full of the wonderful Works of Nature, but also\nof a visible Providence.\n\nI think I cannot conclude this Letter to you more properly, than with\nthe following fine Lines of Mr. _Addison's_ from the _Spectator_, Vol.\nVI. No. 465, which I hope you are not so polite as to look upon as an\nunfashionable Quotation.\n\n  The spacious Firmament on High,\n  With all the blue ethereal Sky,\n  And spangl'd Heav'ns, a shining Frame,\n  Their great Original proclaim:\n  Th' unwearied Sun, from Day to Day,\n  Does his Creator's Pow'r display,\n  And publishes to ev'ry Land\n  The Work of an Almighty Hand.\n  Soon as the Ev'ning Shades prevail,\n  The Moon takes up the wond'rous Tale,\n  And nightly to the list'ning Earth,\n  Repeats the Story of her Birth:\n  Whilst all the Stars that round her burn,\n  And all the Planets in their Turn,\n  Confirm the Tidings as they roll,\n  And spread the Truth from Pole to Pole.\n  What though, in solemn Silence, all\n  Move round the Dark terrestrial Ball?\n  What tho' nor real Voice nor Sound\n  Amid their radiant Orbs be found?\n  In Reason's Ear, they all rejoice,\n  And utter forth a glorious Voice,\n  For ever singing, as they shine,\n  \"_The Hand that made us is divine_.\"\n\n                           _And am_, &c.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER the FOURTH.\n\n_Of the Nature of the heavenly Bodies continued, with the Opinions of\nthe Antients concerning the Sun and Stars._\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nYou tell me you begin to be a tolerable good _Copernican_, and would\nnow be glad to have my Opinion further upon the Nature of the Sun and\nStars, with regard to the Suggestion of their being like Bodies of\nFire. This you say will go a great Way towards confirming you in the\nNotion you have begun to embrace of a Plurality of Systems, and a much\ngreater Multiplicity of Worlds than our little solar System can admit\nof. Besides, shewing in a very evident Light, that the Authorities\ncited in my first Letter are founded upon the clearest Reason.\n\n_Anaxagoras_, you say, believed the Sun to be a Lump of red-hot\nIron; _Euripides_ thought it a Clod of Gold; and others still more\nridiculously have imagined it to be a dark Body, void of all Heat.\nThat the Sun is a vast Body of blazing Matter, notwithstanding the\nvarious Opinions of those primitive Sages, will, I think, hardly admit\nof a Question: Since the known Warmth of his prolifick Beams, and the\nvisible Effect of the Burning-glass, puts it quite out of the Power\nof our present Set of Senses, at least to argue against it; and how\nreasonably we may imagine the Stars to be all of the same or like\nNature, will sufficiently appear from these following Considerations:\nFirst, it is well known to all Mathematicians, that any visible Object\nof any determined Magnitude may be reduced to the Appearance of [P]a\nphysical Point, by removing the Eye of the Observer to a proper or\nproportionable Distance from it, within the finite View: And that the\napparent Diameter of every luminous celestial Body, will always be\ndiminished reciprocally, in Proportion to the Distance from the Eye,\ntill they become altogether imperceptible.\n\n[Footnote P: What is here meant by a physical Point, is a Point visible\nto the naked Eye, which human Art cannot divide; and so far it partakes\nof the Property of a mathematical one, which is only to be conceived,\nand not seen.]\n\nThus the Disk of the Sun, which appears to us at Earth under an Angle\nof about half a Degree, if seen from the Planet _Saturn_, would appear\nnot much bigger than the Planet _Venus_ or _Jupiter_, in their most\nneighbouring Vicinity does to us; and consequently to an Eye placed\nin the Aphelion Point of the Orbit of the great _Comet_ of 1680, his\napparent Diameter would be so reduced as to seem but little bigger than\nthe largest of the Stars; and by the same Analogy, or Way of Reasoning,\nadmitting Space and Distance infinite, which I humbly apprehend is\nnot to be disputed, were all the Matter in the Universe united, and\nconglobed in one Mass, with respect to ocular Sensation, it might be\ndiminished so near to a mathematical Punctum, as to be almost adequate\nto our Ideas of Nothing.\n\nThis to any tolerable Optician, must be an evident Conviction of the\nTruth of the modern Astronomy, which now universally allow all those\nradiant Bodies the Stars to be of the same Nature with the Sun; and\nthat as certainly they are no other than vast Globes of blazing Matter,\nall undoubtedly shining by their own native Light.\n\nBut as you have often objected to what has been said of the Distance\nof the Stars in general, and may possibly from a Supposition, that\nthey are, or may be, much nearer to us, infer, that their Light, like\nthat of the Planets, may be also borrowed from the Sun, or from some\nother radiant Body, which, from the Nature of the Supposition, must of\nConsequence be invisible to us, I judge it will not be amiss to throw\na few demonstrative Arguments in your Way, in order to lead you a\nlittle out of the Path of an early Prejudice, and draw you as it were\nby Degrees through the Dawn of astronomical Reasoning, out of your\noriginal Error, and rescue your Imagination from the false Notions\nimbibed from Ph\u00e6nomena only in your younger Years. This I guess cannot\nfail of reconciling you to this more rational Way of Thinking, and\nmake you acquainted with Truths of much Consequence, which perhaps\nyou have yet been an intire Stranger to. The grand _Deceptio Visus_,\nwhich I must first endeavour to remove, and which as a sort of Paradox\nin Nature, has, as I may say, imprisoned the Understanding of many\nsuperficial Reasoners, and in general all incurious Men, is this.\n\nMost People are too apt to think originally, that as the Heavens appear\nto be a vast concave Hemisphere, that the Stars must of course, as of\nConsequence, be fixed there, like so many radiant Studs of Fire, of\nvarious Magnitudes; and take it for granted, chiefly designed for no\nother Purpose than to deck and adorn the Canopy of our Night. This was\nlong ago the Opinion of _Thales_ the _Milesian_, and wants not the\nAuthority of many of the Antients to back it. Others, in particular\n[Q]_Ptolomy_ of _Pelusium_ in _Africa_, who from his Experience in this\nScience, is called by some the Prince of Astronomers, believed them\nto be Loop-holes in the vast solid celestial Firmament, emitting the\nLight of the Crystalline Heaven through it to all within it. The famous\n_Diogenes_, Cotemporary with _Plato_, conceived them to be of the\nNature of Pumice-stones, and inclined to an Opinion, that they were the\n_Spiracula_, or Breathing-holes of Heaven. _Anaxagoras_ thought them\nStones snatched up from the Earth by the Rapidity of its Motion, and\nset on Fire in the upper Regions above the Moon.\n\n[Footnote Q: _Ptolomy_ supposed two Heavens above that of the fixed\nStars, which he called the eighth; _viz._ a ninth, the Crystalline, and\na tenth the _Primum Mobile_. See Letter the second.\n\n  The sacred Sun, above the Waters rais'd,\n  Thro' Heav'ns eternal, brazen Portals blaz'd;\n  And wide o'er Earth diffus'd his chearing Ray,\n  To Gods and Men to give the golden Day.\n\n                                            Homer.\n]\n\nBut how ridiculous and absurd all these Opinions and Conjectures really\nare, will easily appear, if we but once consider the Nature of an\nunbounded \u00c6ther, and the amazing Property of infinite Space.\n\nThis, with what has been said before, will not a little assist your\nImagination towards conceiving the Reasonableness of the Notion modern\nAstronomers are now confirmed in, of their being absolutely so many\nburning Balls, and which was no doubt, many Years ago, the Opinion of\n_Manilius_, as is evident from these Lines in his Poem of the Sphere.\n\n  For how can we the rising Stars conceive\n  A casual Production; or believe\n  Of the chang'd Heav'ns the oft renascent State\n  _Sol's_[R]frequent Births, and his quotidian Fate.\n\n                                            Sherburne.\n\nAnd again, in the same Poem:\n\n  The fiery Stars, and \u00c6ther that creates\n  Infinite Orbs, and others dissipates.\n\n[Footnote R: _Xenophanes_ believed the Stars to be no other than Clouds\nset on Fire, quenched in the Day-time, and rekindled in the Night.]\n\n_Zoroaster_, the first of all Philosophers we read of who studied\nthe Stars, is reported to have believed them of a fiery Nature.\n_Empedocles_ judged them to be Fire \u00e6thereal, struck forth in its\nSecretion, and blazing in the upper Regions. _Plato_ thought them Fire,\nwith the Mixture of other Elements as Cements. _Heraclides_ Worlds by\nthemselves, of _Earth_, _Air_, and _Fire_; and _Aristotle_, simple\nBodies of the Substance of Heaven, but more condensed.\n\nBut that I may not take up too much of your Time with Opinions that\nhas been imbibed in the Infancy of Astronomy, and has long ago been\nexploded, I shall attempt but one Thing more to confirm your Sentiments\nin this new Doctrine.\n\nFirst, that the Stars are all at a Distance, not to be determined by\nthe utmost Perfection of human Art, is manifest from their having very\nlittle, or no sensible [S]Parallax; and consequently, that any one of\nthem is absolutely bigger or less than another, from the simple Laws of\nOpticks, cannot possibly come under our Observation to be ascertained;\nbut that they all of them may be nearly of the same Size or Solidity,\nis as impossible, with any Shew of Reason to deny, since it is a known\nPrinciple in Geometry, that all visible Objects naturally diminish,\nas has been said before, or are magnified in a certain Proportion to\ntheir Distance from the Eye; and hence we may conclude, and not without\nReason in its strongest Light to support us, that the smallest Stars,\nto the very least Denomination, are only removed respectively more\ndistant from the Observer's Station; and that at least this we may be\ncertain of, that they are all together undoubtedly an Infinity of like\nBodies, distributed either promiscuously, or in some regular Order\nthroughout the mundane Space: And, as _Marino_ says,\n\n  Resplendent Sparks of the first Fire!\n  In which the Beauty we admire,\n  And Light of those eternal Rays,\n  The uncreated Mind displays.\n\n[Footnote S: Mr. _Bradley_, Astronomer-Royal, has, in a great measure,\nproved that the Aberration of the Stars hitherto mistaken for a\nParallax, may arise from, and indeed seems to be no other than the\nprogressive Motion of Light, and Change of Place to the Eye, arising\nfrom the Earth's annual Motion and Direction.]\n\nIt remains now I think to shew, and endeavour to prove, that the Stars\nare not only light Bodies of the Nature of the Sun, but that they are\nreally so many Suns, all performing like Offices of Heat and Gravity,\nin a regular Order, throughout the visible Creation, in opposition to\nan Opinion you have formerly hinted at, of their being in another\nSense of a secondary Nature.\n\nAll Objects within the sensible Sphere of the Sun's Attraction, or\nActivity, are in some measure magnified by a good Telescope: But the\nStars are all placed so far without it, that the best Glasses has no\nother Effect upon them than making them appear more vivid or lively,\nbut all innate opaque Bodies, reflecting only a borrowed Light from\nsome primary one, contrary to this Property, are all observed to lose\ntheir Light, in the same Proportion, as they are magnified, and through\nall Glasses become more dull than otherwise they appear to the naked\nEye: And hence we may infer, without any further Evidence, that the\nStars are all light Bodies endowed with native Lustre; and that Bodies,\nlike the known Planets, from the same Reasoning, it is as clear they\ncannot be, because their Distance, though uncertain as to the Truth of\nthe whole, yet such a Part of it as cannot be denied, would render them\nall in such a Case invisible.\n\nA Proof of this will plainly present itself, if we consider the Course\nof the known Comets, who all of them, without Exception, become\nimperceptible, and intirely disappear; though most of them much bigger\nthan the Earth, or any of the lesser Planets, long before they arrive\nat their respective Aphelions.\n\nBut we are under a kind of Necessity to believe them either Suns or\nPlanets, that is either dark or light Bodies; and since I have shewn\nthe Improbability; nay, I may venture to say, the Impossibility of\ntheir being the first, it is natural sure to conclude, that they must\nbe of the last Sort; and I am persuaded, if you but once consider how\nridiculous it is to imagine so vast a Number of Bodies, all rolling\nround a Number of invisible Suns, which must otherwise be the Case,\nsince they are seen on all Sides of ours, and cannot possibly be\nenlightened by him, or any, how all of them, by any one else, you\ncannot possibly have any sort of Difficulty in this Determination:\nBut that no Arguments may be wanting to enforce your Belief of what\nis here concluded, it will not be amiss to put you in Mind of an\noptical Experiment or two, which cannot fail of convincing you of\nthe vast Probability of what is here asserted of them; and next to a\nmoral Certainty, demonstrate the Truth of what so many of the best\nAstronomers have advanced, as before namely, that the Stars are all, or\nmost of them, Suns like ours.\n\nPlace any concave Lense before your Eye, and you will find all visible\nObjects will appear through it, as removed to a much greater Distance\nthan they really are at, and reciprocally as much diminished. Now, if\nyou look upon one of these Glasses of a proper Concavity, opposed to\nthe Sun or Moon, you will respectively have the Appearance of a real\nStar or Planet, the first exhibited by the Body of the Sun, the other\nby the Moon, and either more or less diminished in Proportion to the\nSurface of the Sphere the Glass is ground to.\n\nFor Example, a double Concave, or Glass of a negative Focus, ground to\na Sphere of about three Inches Diameter, will if opposed to the Sun's\nDisk at a proper Distance from the Eye, help you to a very good Idea\nhow the Sun appears to the Planet _Jupiter_; and if a proper Regard be\nhad to the Distance of the Planet _Saturn_, a Lense still more concave\nmay be formed to give a just Idea of the Sun's Appearance to _Saturn_.\nAgain, one much more concave than the former, proportioned to the Orbit\nof _Mars_, will naturally exhibit the solar Body, as seen from that\nPlanet.\n\nTo the Planet _Venus_ and _Mercury_, the Sun appearing much larger\nthan to us at the Earth, to have any tolerable Notion of his varied\nPh\u00e6nomena to them, it will be necessary to procure Glasses of a\nsuitable Convexity, ground to reciprocal Concaves, which may easily be\ndone to any Focus, so as to shew how the Sun, naturally appears to the\nInhabitants of those two Planets.\n\nThe various Appearances of the Planets themselves to us at the Earth,\nmay also well enough be had, if through Glasses analagous to their\nrespective Distance and Magnitude, we look at the Moon, particularly\nall the Phases of _Venus_, and even of _Mercury_, and the Gibosity of\n_Mars_, &_c._ may be justly and beautifully represented at different\nAges of the Moon, as those Planets appear through the largest and best\nTelescopes.\n\nThis Way you may convince even your Friend * * *, who you tell me has\nreasoned all his Senses useless, and yet continues so great an Atheist\nin Astronomy, as not to believe the World turns round upon its Axis,\nthough he gives no better Reason for it than that of his not being\ngiddy.\n\nAfter all these Arguments, I hope no new Difficulties will arise to\nretard your Belief, or deprive the Stars of their solar Nature, so\njustly due to them: This Point gained, the next Thing to be considered\nis, whether all those glorious Bodies, the far greater Part of whom\nbeing invisible to the naked Eye, were made purely and purposely for\nthe sole Use of this diminitive World, our little trifling Earth.\n\n  ----Men, conceited Lords of all,\n  Walk proudly o'er this pendent Ball,\n  Fond of their little Spot below,\n  Nor greater Beings care to know,\n  _But think those Worlds, which deck the Skies,\n  Were only form'd to please their Eyes_.\n                                            Duck.\n\nThe very Supposition not only implies a profound Ignorance of the\nDivine Attributes, but is as impious, and full of Vanity, as it is\nerroneous and absurd, and even a Blindness sufficient of itself, were\nthere no other Cause for it, to introduce Idolatry in the Minds of\nMortals, by sinking the divine Nature so near to the human.\n\nIt being granted that the Stars are all of the same Kind, I think it\nmay be agreed, that what we evince of any one may be allowed to be\ntrue of any other, and consequently of all the rest. This _Postulata_\ngained, I shall next proceed to enquire what the real Use and Design of\nso many radiant Bodies are, or may be made for.\n\nThe Sun we have justly reduced to the State of a Star, why then in\nReason should he have his attendant Planets round him, more than any of\nthe rest, his undoubted Equals? No Shadow even of a Reason can be given\nfor such an Absurdity.\n\nMay we not with the greatest Confidence imagine, that Nature as justly\nabhors a _Vacuum_ in Place, as much as Virtue does in Time? Surely\nyes: And by supposing the Infinity of Stars, all centers to as many\nSystems of innumerable Worlds, all alike unknown to us; how naturally\ndo we open to ourselves a vast Field of Probation, and an endless\nScene of Hope to ground our Expectation of an _ever_-future Happiness\nupon, suitable to the native Dignity of the awful Mind, which made and\ncomprehends it; and whose Works are all as the Business of an Eternity?\n\nIf the Stars were ordained merely for the Use of us, why so much\nExtravagance and Ostentation in their Number, Nature, and Make? For\na much less Quantity, and smaller Bodies, placed nearer to us, would\nevery Way answer the vain End we put them to; and besides, in all\nThings else, Nature is most frugal, and takes the nearest Way, through\nall her Works, to operate and effect the Will of God. It scarce can be\nreckoned more irrational, to suppose Animals with Eyes, destined to\nlive in eternal Darkness, or without Eyes to live in perpetual Day,\nthan to imagine Space illuminated, where there is nothing to be acted\nupon, or brought to Light; therefore we may justly suppose, that so\nmany radiant Bodies were not created barely to enlighten an infinite\nVoid, but to make their much more numerous Attendants visible; and\ninstead of discovering a vast unbounded desolate Negation of Beings,\ndisplay an infinite shapeless Universe, crowded with Myriads of\nglorious Worlds, all variously revolving round them; and which form\nan Atom, to an indefinite Creation, with an inconceivable Variety of\nBeings and States, animate and fill the endless Orb of Immensity.\n\nThat the sidereal Planets are not visible to us, can be no Objection to\ntheir actual Existence, and being there, is plain from this; it is well\nknown, that the Stars themselves, which are their Central, and only\nradiant Bodies, are little more to us at the Earth, than mathematical\nPoints. How ridiculous then is it to expect, that any of their small\nopaque Attendance, should ever be perceived so far as the Earth by\nus; and besides, to show the Impossibility of such a Discovery, we\nneed only consider, what is, and what is not to be expected, or known\nin our own home System. All the Planets in this our sensible Region,\nevery Astronomer knows, is far from being visible to one another, in\nevery individual Sphere; for to an Eye at the Orb of _Saturn_, this\nEarth we live upon, which requires Years to circumscribe, and Ages to\nbe made acquainted with, and is far from being yet all known, cannot\npossibly from the above Planet be seen: And further, since _Saturn_ and\n_Jupiter_, two of the most material and considerable Globes we know of,\nexcept the Sun himself, are Bodies apparently of the same kind, and are\nobserved to have each a Number of lesser Planets moving round them; why\nmay we not expect with equal Certainty and Propriety, that all other\nBodies, under the same Circumstances, are in like manner attended; that\nis, seeing the Sun is found to be the Center of a System of Bodies, all\nvariously volving round him? where lies the Improbability of his fellow\nLuminaries, the Stars, being surrounded in like sort, with more or less\nof such Attendance.\n\nI shall offer but one Thing more to your Consideration in this Affair,\nand which I am in great Hopes will be sufficient to make you think\nthese natural Suggestions a good deal more than probable, and that is\nthis:\n\nThe modern Astronomers having, in a great measure, proved that the\nStars are, in all respects, vast Globes of Fire like our Sun. Let us\nsuppose a new-created Mind, or thinking Being, in a profound State of\nIgnorance, with regard to the Nature of all external Objects, but fully\nendowed with every human Sense and Force of Reason, suspended in \u00c6ther,\nexactly in the midway, betwixt [T]_Syrius_ and the Sun; in which Case,\nboth of these Luminaries would equally appear much about the Brightness\nof the largest of our Planets. Now should such a Being, determined\neither by Accident or Choice, arrive at this our System of the Sun, and\nseeing all the planetary Bodies moving round him, I would ask you what\nyou think he would imagine to be round _Syrius_? Your Answer, I think I\nmay venture to say, would not be _nothing_; and methinks I already hear\nyou say, Why Planets such as ours.\n\n[Footnote T: A Star of the first Magnitude in the greater _Dog_, and\nthe most neighbouring to our Sun.]\n\n\nPLATE XI.\n\nIs designed as a geometrical Scale to all the primary Parts of the\nvisible Creation, with regard to the Distance of Orbits compared with\nthe Globe of the Sun; by which at once may be conceived, and justly\nmeasured in the Mind, not only the mean Distance of the Planets with\nregard to one another, but also that of the Comets, and even the\ncomparative Distances of the nearest of the Stars, which will, I guess,\ngreatly help you to form an Idea of the vast Extent of Space necessary\nto comprehend the whole Creation.\n\n_Fig._ 1. Is a Radius of the Orbit of _Mercury_, in true Proportion to\nthe Body of the Sun represented at S, shewing at the same time a small\nPortion of the opaque Planet's Orbit, and the real Length of its Shadow\nat P.\n\n_Fig._ 2. Is a Radius of the whole System of the Planets as far as the\nOrbit of _Saturn_ in Proportion to a compleat Orbit of _Mercury_, much\nless than the former; the former serving as a better known Scale to\nconsider the amazing Distances of the more remote Planets by.\n\nLastly, _Fig._ 3. Is a Representation of the least possible Distance of\n_Syrius_ and the Sun, proportionable to the Magnitude of the Sphere of\nour Comets, &_c._ represented at S, whereby it evidently appears, that\nas all the Planets of _Syrius_ must be included within the small Sphere\nrepresented in the Center P, none of them could possibly be seen at the\nSun, not only by reason of the Smallness of the Angle of Sustension, or\nElongation, but also as being lost in the superior Light of _Syrius_\nhimself, in so minute an Orb of Vicinity.\n\nConsequently (as you must perceive) no Arguments can possibly be drawn\nto deny the Existence of such Bodies, with any Shew of Reason, from\ntheir not having been seen by us.\n\nHere I must observe to you, that you cannot consider this Scale of\nOrbits too much before you look upon Plate XVII.\n\nTo conclude, it evidently seems to be the End and Design of Providence,\nby this visible Variety of Beings, to lift the Minds of Men above this\nnarrow Earth, in Search of that powerful Being upon which we are all\nso much dependant; and the _Creator_, no doubt, in this vast Display\nof his Wisdom and Power, designed the amazing Whole, as the adequate\nObject of every Part, and as such equally open on all Sides, to the\npenetrating Progress of human Minds, and through the most extensive\nFaculty of Sense, the _Sight_, to draw our Reason and Understanding by\nDegrees, from finite Objects into Infinity; and as the last Result of\ncelestial Contemplations place within our Reach, a certain Evidence of\na future State, _and the manifest Mansions of Rewards and Punishments,\nsuited no doubt most equitably to all Degrees of Virtue, and to every\nVice_.\n\n\"When I consider (says Mr. _Addison_, speaking as having taken\nparticular notice of a fine Evening) that infinite Host of Stars, or\nto speak more philosophically of Suns, which were then shining upon\nme, with those innumerable Sets of Planets or Worlds, which were then\nmoving round their respective Suns; when I still enlarge the Idea,\nand supposed another Heaven of Suns and Worlds rising still above\nthis which we discovered; and these still enlightened by a superior\nFirmament of Luminaries, which are planted at so great a Distance, that\nthey may appear to the Inhabitants of the former as the Stars do to\nus; in short, whilst I pursued this Thought, I could not but reflect\non that little insignificant Figure which I myself bore amongst the\nImmensity of God's Works:\" This Reflection, I judge, as you are an\nAdmirer of the Author, you will not look upon as impertinent in this\nPlace, especially as it must enforce what I have endeavoured to shew\nyou, namely, the Reasonableness of a Plurality of sidereal Systems, and\ntheir Multiplicity of Worlds; which, if you are yet in Doubt of, I hope\nyou will at least forgive so well designed an Attempt with your usual\nCandour.\n\nI am now prepared to proceed in the chief Design of this Undertaking,\nwhich is to solve the Ph\u00e6nomena of the _Via Lactea_; and propose in my\nnext to answer more fully your farther Request.\n\n                             _I am_, &c.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLETTER the FIFTH.\n\n_Of the Order, Distance, and Multiplicity of the Stars, the_ Via\nLactea, _and Extent of the visible Creation_.\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nWE are told, and, if I remember right, it is also your Opinion, that\nthree of the finest Sights in Nature, are a rising Sun at Sea, a\nverdant Landskip with a Rainbow, and a clear Star-light Evening: All\nof which I have myself often observed with vast Delight and Pleasure.\nThe first I have frequently beheld, and always with an agreeable\nSurprize; the second I have as often taken notice of, with no small\nDegree of Admiration; but the last I shall never look up to without an\nAstonishment, even mixed with a kind of Rapture. The Night you last\nleft us, this admirable Scene was in its full Beauty; and, as _Milton_\nsays,\n\n  Silence was pleas'd: now glow'd the Firmament\n  With living Saphirs; _Hesperus_ that led\n  The starry Host rode brightest.----\n\nI found it was impossible to look long upon this stupendious Scene, so\nfull of amazing Objects, and particularly the _Via Lactea_, which (the\nMoon being absent) was then in great Perfection, without being put in\nMind of my Task. This surprizing Zone of Light being the chief Object I\nhave undertaken to treat of and demonstrate.\n\nThis amazing Ph\u00e6nomenon which have been the Occasion of so many\n_Fables_, idle Romances, and ridiculous Opinions amongst the Antients,\nstill continues to be unaccounted for, and even in an Age vain enough\nto boast Astronomy in its utmost Perfection.\n\nWhat will you say, if I tell you, it is my Belief we are so far from\nthe real Summit of the Science, that we scarce yet know the Rudiments\nof what may be expected from it. This luminous Circle has often\nengrossed my Thoughts, and of late has taken up all my idle Hours;\nand I am now in great Hopes I have not only at last found out the\nreal Cause of it, but also by the same Hypothesis, which solves this\nAppearance, shall be able to demonstrate a much more rational Theory of\nthe Creation than hitherto has been any where advanced, and at the same\nTime give you an intire new Idea of the Universe, or infinite System\nof Things. This most surprizing Zone of Light, which have employed\nsuccessively for many Ages past, the wisest Heads amongst the Antients,\nto no other Purpose than barely to describe it; we find to be a perfect\nCircle, and nearly bisecting the celestial Sphere, but very irregular\nin Breadth and Brightness, and in many Places divided into double\nStreams.\n\n[U]The principal Part of it runs through the _Eagle_, the _Swan_,\n_Cassiopea_, _Perseus_, and _Auriga_, and continues its Course by the\nHead of _Monoceros_, along by the greater _Dog_ through the Ship, and\nunderneath the _Centaur's Feet_, till having passed the _Alter_, the\n_Scorpion's Tail_, and the Bow of _Aquarius_, it ends at last where it\nbegun.\n\n[Footnote U:\n\n  ----Carried toward the opposed _Bears_,\n  Its Course close by the _Artick_ Circle steers,\n  And by inverted _Cassiopea_ tends;\n  Thence by the _Swan_ obliquely it descends\n  The Summer Tropick, and _Jove's_ Bird divides;\n  Then cross the Equator, and the Zodiack glides\n  'Twixt _Scorpio's_ burning Tail, and the left Part\n  Of _Sagitarius_, near the fiery Dart;\n  Then by the other _Centaur's_ Legs and Feet,\n  Winding remounts the Skies (again to meet)\n  By _Argos'_ Topsail, and Heav'ns middle Sphere,\n  Passing the _Twins_, t' o'ertake the Charioteer;\n  Thence _Cassiopea_ seeking thee does run,\n  O're _Perseus_ Head, and Ends where it begun.\n\n                                         Sher. Manilius.\n]\n\n\nPLATE XII, and XIII.\n\nRepresents the two Hemispheres, where its true Tract is distinguished\namongst the principal Stars, and may easily be conceived by them to\ncircumscribe and bisect the whole Heavens.\n\nThis is that Ph\u00e6nomena I am about to explain and account for; but\nbefore I proceed farther, I judge it will be no _improper Precognita_,\nto give you the Thoughts of the Antients upon it; the Relation perhaps\nmay require some Patience; but I guess, that after reading such wild\nand extravagant Notions concerning it, you will naturally judge more\nfavourably of the Conjectures of the Moderns upon it, and particularly\nof what is concluded in the succeeding Pages.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XII.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XIII.]\n\n_Theophrastus_[V] was of Opinion, that the Hemispheres, which, by many\nof the Antients were imagined to be solid, was joined together here;\nand that this was the soldering of the two Parts into one. [W]Diodorus\nthought it celestial Fire, of a dense and compact Nature, seen through\nthe Clifts or Cracks of the parting Hemisphere: But as _Manilius_ says,\n\n  Astonishment must sure their Senses reach,\n  To see the World's wide Wound, and Heav'n's eternal Breach.\n\n[Footnote V: _Macrobius_, lib. i. cap. 15.\n\n  Or meets Heaven here! and this while Cloud appears\n  The Cement of the close-wedg'd Hemispheres!\n]\n\n\n[Footnote W:\n\n  The sacred Causes human Breasts enquire,\n  Whether the heavenly Segments there retire,\n  The whole Mass shrinking, and the parting Fame\n  Thro' cleaving Chinks admits the stranger Flame.\n]\n\nOenopides[X] believed it the ancient Way of the Sun, till frighted at\nthe bloody Banquet of _Thyestis_. [Y]Eratosthenes supposed it _Juno's_\nMilk, spilt whilst giving Suck to _Hercules_. [Z]Plutarch makes it the\nEffect of _Phaeton's_ confused Erratication; but I think it is plain\n[AA]Ovid judged them to be Stars, and the ancient _Ethnicks_ believed\nthem to be the blissful Seats of valiant and heroic Souls.\n\n  ----Valiant Souls, freed from corporeal Gives,\n  Thither repair, and lead \u00e6thereal Lives.\n\n                                            Manilius.\n\n[Footnote X:\n\n  Or seems that old Opinion of more Sway,\n  That the Sun's Horses here once run astray,\n  And a new Path mark'd in their straggling Flight,\n  Of scorching Skies, and Stars adusted Light.\n]\n\n[Footnote Y:\n\n  Nor must that gentle Rumour be supprest,\n  How Milk once flowing from fair _Juno's_ Breast\n  Stain'd the celestial Pavement, from whence came\n  This milky Path, its Cause shewn in its Name.\n]\n\n[Footnote Z:\n\n  When from the hurried Chariot Light'ning fled,\n  And scatter'd blazes all the Skies o'erspread;\n  By whose Approach new Stars enkindled were,\n  Which still as Marks of that sad Chance appear.\n\n                                            Manilius.\n]\n\n[Footnote AA:\n\n  A Way there is in Heaven's expanded Plain\n  Which when the Skies are clear, is seen below,\n  And Mortals by the Name of _Milky_, know,\n  The Ground-work is of Stars----\n\n                                     _Ovid's_ Met. lib. i.\n]\n\nBut [AB]Democritus long ago believed them to be an infinite Number of\nsmall Stars; and such of late Years they have been discovered to be,\nfirst by _Gallaleo_, next by _Keplar_, and now confirmed by all modern\nAstronomers, who have ever had an Opportunity of seeing them through a\ngood Telescope.\n\n[Footnote AB: _Plutarch (in Placitis Philosoph.)_]\n\n\nPLATE XIV.\n\nIs from an Observation I made myself, of a bright Part of this Zone\nnear the Feet of _Antinous_; which, (by a Mistake of the Engraver) is,\nas it appears through a Tube of two convex Glasses. I saw it through a\nvery good Reflector, and formed the Plan by a Combination of Triangles.\n\n_Milton_ takes notice of this Zone in a most beautiful Manner, where he\ndescribes the Creator's Return from his six Day's Work to Heaven, he\nintroduces it as a Simile to express his Idea of the eternal Way, or\nRoad to the celestial Mansions.\n\n  ----A broad and ample Road, whose Dust is Gold\n  And Pavement Stars, as Stars to thee appear,\n  Seen in the _Galaxie_, that Milky Way,\n  Which nightly as a circling Zone thou seest\n  Powder'd with Stars.\n\nBut to infer from their Appearance only, that they are really Stars,\nwithout considering their Nature and Distance; and that nothing but\nStars could possibly produce such an Effect, may perhaps be assuming\ntoo much, when we have nothing but the bare Credit of the _Belgic_\nGlasses to support our Conjectures; and although this may be sufficient\nfor any Mathematician, yet for your greater Satisfaction, I have\nthought proper to give two or three more evincing Arguments, to confirm\nthese important Discoveries. _Democritus_, as I have said before,\nbelieved them to be Stars long before Astronomy reaped any Benefit from\nthe improved Sciences of Optics; and saw, as we may say, through the\nEye of Reason, full as far into Infinity as the most able Astronomers\nin more advantageous Times have done since, even assisted with their\nbest Glasses: And his Conjectures are almost as old as the philolaic\nSystem of the Planets itself; the Construction of which, though\nattempted by many, none have ever yet been able to confute.\n\nThe Light which naturally flows from this Crowd of radiant Bodies\nis mixt and confused, chiefly occasioned by the Agitation of our\nAtmosphere, and from a Union of their Rays of Light, by a too near\nProximity of their Beams, altogether they appear like a River of Milk,\nbut more of a pelucid Nature, running all round the starry Regions.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XIV.]\n\n  For in the azure Skies its candid Way\n  Shines like the dawning Morn, or closing Day.\n\nThere are also many more such luminous Spaces to be found in the\nHeavens of the same Nature with these, which we know to be Stars; in\nparticular the _Nebul\u00e6_, or cloudy Star in the _Pr\u00e6sepe_ of 36; a\ncloudy Star in _Orion_ of 21; [AC]a cloudy [AD]Knot not far from this\nin the same Asterism of 80; in one Degree of the same Constellation\n500, and in the whole Form above [AE]2000. All of which are great\nConfirmations of the Truth of our Assertion, _i. e._ that this Zone of\nLight proceeds from an infinite Number of small Stars. Here it will\nnot be amiss to observe, that it has been conjectured, and is strongly\nsuspected, that a proper Number of Rays, meeting from different\nDirections, become Flame; and that hence it may prove not the Sun's\nreal Body which we daily see, but only his inflamed Atmosphere. I\nbegin to be of Opinion, and I think not without Reason, that the true\nMagnitude of the Sun is not near what the modern Astronomers have made\nit; and that it may not possibly be much above two Thirds of what it\nappears to us; I don't mean that this Expansion of the solar Flame is\nany Part of that dilated Light mentioned by Sir _Isaac Newton_, and\nconceived to be round all light Bodies in general; but you may consider\nit as not much differing from it, not of an unlike Nature, only greater\nin Degree, and peculiar to the Sun and Stars, who are all, as has been\nbefore in a manner demonstrated to be actually Globes of Fire.\n\n[Footnote AC: Vide _Galil\u00e6o_]\n\n[Footnote AD: Betwixt the Sword and Girdle of _Orion_.]\n\n[Footnote AE: Vide _Reitha_.]\n\nThis, tho' I presume to call it at present only meer Hypothesis,\nwill in a great measure account for the excessive Changes in the\nConstitution of our Air and Atmosphere, which we often find very\nunnatural to the Season; also be a Means perhaps of reconciling\nthe vast Disproportion so very remarkable betwixt the Sun and the\nlesser Planets, and many other Circumstances in the System of no\nsmall Consequence in Astronomy: One of which Particulars you have\nfrequently expressed a great Mistrust and Disapprobation of, as\nsuspecting some kind of a Fallacy in the Computation; and the other\nis Matter of general Complaint, being by many attributed to a Change\nin the Direction of the Earth's Axis[AF]; and by some, especially the\nVulgar, to too near an Approximation of the Earth to some one of the\ncelestial Bodies. But all this will very naturally be accounted for\nby the Levity, or expanding Quality of the Sun's circumambient Flame,\nor Atmosphere; and hence, according to its various State, being more\ncondensed, or rare, we may have Heat or Cold in the greatest Extream,\nand alternately so, in a perpetual Vicissitude.\n\n[Footnote AF: Which, through Ignorance of the true Case, is commonly\ncalled a Shock, a Brush, or Shove.]\n\nThe Truth of this Doctrine will evidently appear from the Observations\nof the Sun's Diameter through the Year 1660, by the indefatigable\n_Mouton_: And, I must own, I am not a little surprized to find that no\nConclusions have been drawn from them of this Kind. I am perswaded, if\nyou once compare those Numbers, you will be very far from thinking this\nan improbable Suggestion. But this Digression has led me a little too\nfar from the _Via Lactea_, and too near home again; I must now think\nof returning to the Stars, and my next Endeavours must be to give you\nsome Idea of the Number of them. Through very good Telescopes there\nhave been discovered in many Parts of this enlightened Space, and even\nout of it, several thousand Stars in the Compass of one square Degree;\nin particular near the Sword of _Perseus_, and in the Constellations of\n[AG]_Taurus_ and _Orion_.\n\n[Footnote AG: _Galil\u00e6o_ in one cloudy Star of this Constellation,\ndiscovered no less than twenty-one, and in that of the _Pr\u00e6sepe_\nthirty-six.]\n\n\nPLATE XV.\n\nRepresents the _Pleides_, a well known Knot of Stars in the Sign\n_Taurus_, as they appeared to me thro' a one Foot reflecting Telescope:\nAnd _Plate_ XVI. is a View of the _Persides_, another surprizing Knot\nof Stars in the Constellation _Perseus_, exactly as they appear through\na Tube of two convex Glasses. There are also other luminous Spaces\nin the starry Regions, not unlike the Milky Way, which I have had\nno Opportunity of observing; such as the _Nebecul\u00e6_, near the South\nPole, called by the Seamen _Magellanic_ Clouds; and which likewise\nviewed through Telescopes, present us with little _Nebul\u00e6_, and small\nStars interspersed: One of these Kind is situated between _Hydrus_ and\n_Dorado_; and another, something less than this, betwixt _Hydrus_ and\nthe _Toucan_.\n\nNow admitting the Breadth of the _Via Lactea_ to be at a Mean but\nnine Degrees, and supposing only twelve hundred Stars in every square\nDegree, there will be nearly in the whole orbicular Area 3,888,000\nStars, and all these in a very minute Portion of the great Expanse\nof Heaven. What! a vast Idea of endless Beings must this produce and\ngenerate in our Minds; and when we consider them all as flaming Suns,\nProgenitors, and _Primum Mobiles_ of a still much greater Number of\npeopled Worlds, what less than an Infinity can circumscribe them, less\nthan an Eternity comprehend them, or less than Omnipotence produce and\nsupport them, and where can our Wonder cease?\n\n[Illustration: Plate XV.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XVI.]\n\nIn this Place perhaps I ought not to pass over the astonishing\nPhenomenon of several new Stars, _&c._ which have frequently appeared,\nand soon again vanished, in the same Point of the Heavens. But as\nthe Business of this Theory is rather to solve the general, than any\nparticular Ph\u00e6nomenon, I shall only here by way of Note subjoin a Table\nof such as has been regularly observed, and by whom they were first\ndiscovered.\n\n\n_A Table of several new Stars_, Nebul\u00e6, _and double Stars_, &c.\n\n          _Nomina Stellarum._                    _Observationum._\n\n  _Septima Pleiadum_                   { Lost after the burning of _Troy_,\n                                       {   but now returned; see\n                                       {  _Ricciolus_.\n\n  A new Star appeared in _Cassiopea_,  } _Anno Dom._ 945, bright as\n    nearly in the same Place with that }   _Jupiter_; see _Ricciolus_.\n    of 1572.\n\n  The new Star in _Cassiopea's_ Chair. { Bright as _Venus_, from _November_\n                                       {   1572 to _March_ 1574.\n\n                                       { Of the 3d Magnitude, is said to\n  A new Star in _Collo Ceti_.          {  have appear'd periodically, seven\n                                       {  Times in six Years, _i. e._ every\n                                       {  three hundred and thirteen Days:\n                                       {  It was first observed in _August_\n                                       {  1596, for two Months, by _D.\n                                       {   Fabricius_.\n\n                                       { Observed by _Kepler_ in 1600, of\n  A new Star in the Swan's Neck.       {  the third Magnitude, till the Year\n                                       {  1659; then gradually decreasing;\n                                       {  in 1661 it disappeared; in 1666\n                                       {  it became visible again, and is\n                                       {  yet to be seen of the sixth\n                                       {  Magnitude.\n\n  A new Star in the Right Foot of      { Bright as _Venus_ from _October_\n    _Serpentarius_,                    {  1604 to _October_ 1605: see\n                                       {   _Kepler_.\n\n  A new Star in _Andromeda's_ Girdle,  { Seen by _Simon Marius_ and\n                                       {  _Fabricius_, _Anno_ 1612.\n\n  A new Star in _Antinous_,            { Seen by _Justus Byrgius_.\n\n                                       { In 1638, by _John Procyclides\n  A new Star seen in the Whale,        {  Holuarda_, of the third Magnitude,\n                                       {  which disappeared periodically,\n                                       {  every three hundred and thirty\n                                       {  Days.\n\n                                       { Of the third Magnitude, seen by\n  A new Star in the Fox's Head,        {  _Hevelius_ in _July_ 1670, and\n                                       {  till _August_ 1671, also from\n                                       {  _March_ 1672 to _September_ 1672.\n\n                                       { This appear'd periodically every\n  A new Star in the Swan's Neck.       {  four hundred and four Days, and\n                                       {  about six Months at a Time; it\n                                       {  was seen at its brightest,\n                                       {  _September_ 10, 1714.\n\n\n_Of the_ Nebul\u00e6, _or Cloudy Stars_.\n\n  _Nebulose_ in _Orion's_ Sword.\n  _Nebulose_ in _Andromeda's_ Girdle.\n  _Nebulose_ in the Bow of _Sagitarius_,    Small, but very luminous.\n  _Nebulose_ in _Centaurus_,                Never seen in _England_.\n  A _Nebulose_ preceding the right Foot   } Obscure, but with a Star in the\n     of _Antinous_,                       }   Middle of it.\n  _Nebul\u00e6_ in _Dorso Herculis_,             Discovered by Dr. _Hally_.\n\n  Besides the _Nebul\u00e6_, and new Stars, it appears from the\n  ancient Catalogues of _Hevelius_, &c. that some of the old ones\n  have intirely vanished; in particular, one in the left Thigh\n  of _Aquarius_, the contiguous one preceding in the Tail of\n  _Capricorn_; the second on the Belly of the Whale; the first of the\n  unformed ones after the Scales of _Libra_, and several others. Many\n  of the Stars also appear to be double, as the first Star of _Aries_\n  and _Castor_; others triple, as one in the _Pleiades_; and the\n  middle one in _Orion's_ Sabre; and others again, quadruple, _&c._\n\nI would now willingly help you to conceive the indefinite mutual\nDistance of the Stars, in order to give you some small Notion of the\nImmensity of Space; but as this will be a Task merely conjectural, I\nshall only desire you to believe it as far as your Reason will carry\nyou, safely supported by an obvious Probability.\n\nPerhaps it may be necessary here to acquaint you, that all the Stars\nare so far apparently of different Magnitudes, that no two of them are\nto be found in the whole Heavens exactly the same, either in Bigness or\nBrightness[AH]. The largest we have sufficient Reason to believe is the\nnearest to us; the next in Bigness and Brightness more remote; and so\non to the least we see, which we judge to be the most remote of all.\n\nThe first Degree, or that of the largest Magnitude, we give to Syrius,\nthe second to Arcturus, the third to Aldebaran, the fourth to Lyra,\nthe fifth to Capella, the sixth to Regulus, the seventh to Rigel, the\neighth to Fomahaunt, and the ninth to Antarus: These are all said to be\nof the first Class; and besides which, there are at least, within the\nReach of our latest improved Opticks, nine more Denominations within\nthe Radius of the visible Creation.\n\n[Footnote AH: A very little Knowledge in Opticks will render this\nindisputable, and has been in a great measure demonstrated before;\n1. in the Great Dog; 2. in Bootes; 3. in the Bull; 4. in the Harp of\n_Apollo_; 5. in _Auriga_; 6. in the Lion; 7. in _Orion_; 8. in the\nSouthern Fish; 9. at the End of _Erridanus_.]\n\nNow, by the certain Return of the Comets, which we find are all\ngoverned by the Laws of this System, and supposed to be undisturbed\nby any of the others, we cannot avoid concluding, if we consider them\nat all to the Purpose, that the nearest Stars cannot be less distant\nthan twice the Radius of the greatest Orbit belonging to the Sun. Most\nMathematicians think this a great deal too near, as it must of course\nmake all the Systems join, as in Contact; and I think we may safely\nadd, to separate their Spheres of Attraction, at least one Half of\nthis Distance more, which will make in the Whole about four hundred\nand twenty Semi-orbits of the Earth, or 33,600,000,000 Miles. This\neven the ingenious Mr. _Huygins_ endeavours to prove still much too\nlittle, and his Arguments are such as cannot easily be refuted. His\nPrinciple is grounded upon the known Laws of Analogy, as considered in\nthe Proportion of light Surfaces, and is as follows. Having reduced\nthe Sun's Disk to the Appearance of the Star Syrius, by the Help of\na small Hole at the End of his Telescope, and comparing this Part of\nhis Surface to the whole Disk of the Sun, he infers that the Stars\nDistance to that of the Sun must be as 27,664 to 1. Hence _Syrius_\nfrom us will be nearly (avoiding Units) 2,213,120,000,000 Miles: But\nthis I take to be as much too large as the former is too little; yet,\nas Mr. _Bradley_ has, with some Shew of Reason, banished all the\nStars out of the Sphere of Parallax, the last is the only Method we\ncan possibly make use of with any kind of Confidence; and Sir _Isaac\nNewton_ endeavours to recommend it with great Force of Argument, as the\nonly probable Means by which we can give any tolerable Guess at these\nimmense Measurements of Space.\n\nTo moderate the Matter then if you please, allow me but to make use of\na Mean betwixt the two fore-mentioned Numbers; and we may take it for\ngranted, a Distance sufficiently exact, to suit all our Wants in the\npresent Case, namely, to give a very tolerable Idea of the Extent of\nthe visible Creation, which is all I propose in this Place to attempt;\nbut I mean to be much more exact in another.\n\nNow as the Distance from the Sun to the Earth is so small in Proportion\nto the Distance of the Stars from us, and from one another, we may very\nwell consider the Sun as the Center of our Station, or Position in the\ngeneral System or Frame of Nature. And as the Stars are very visible\nthro' good Telescopes, to the ninth or tenth Magnitude, if we multiply\nthe primary Distance of _Syrius_, or of any other of his Class, by this\nNumber of common intermediate Spaces, the Product will be equal to the\nRadius of the visible Creation to the solar Eye; which, by this Rule,\nyou will find in capital Numbers to be [AI]nearly 6,000,000,000,000\nMiles, taking in a Star of the sixth Magnitude, and to a Star of the\nninth, 9,000,000,000,000 Miles: But this Computation supposes a mean\ncommon Distance of the Stars in a sort of Syzygia, or Direction of\na Right Line, which is not the real Case; for the Stars cannot be\nsupposed to diminish in a proportional Magnitude by any mathematical\n_Ratio_, but by some geometrical, or rather musical one; for Instance,\nif the Distance of a first be 3, that of a second should be about 5,\nand of a proportional Third 8,333, _&c. ad infinitum_: But as their\ntrue proportional Distance is unknown, the above will be sufficient for\nour present Purpose; which is only to shew, without Exaggeration, the\nSpace we now are truly sensible of.\n\n[Footnote AI: If the Distance of the Sun and Earth is found too much,\nwhich I must own I have a violent Suspicion of, these Numbers must be\nreduced in like Proportion.]\n\nThis I have here considered more extensively, to obviate all Objections\nthat you may make to the Probability of the general Motion of the\nStars, by shewing no Difficulty can possibly arise from their apparent\nProximity, Number, or irregular Distribution: Their Distances being\nso immensely large, no Disorder or Confusion can be supposed in any\nDirection of them, or Motion whatever. The greatest Distance of the\nPlanets, which all move undisturbed round the Sun, is about three\nhundred and fifty-three Million of Miles: But the least Distance of\none Star from another, is upwards of two thousand eight hundred and\nthirty-two Times that Distance, or one Million of Millions of Miles:\nAnd as no sensible Disorder can be observed amongst the solar Planets,\nwhat Reason have we to suppose any can be occasioned amongst the Stars,\nor that a general Motion of these primary Luminaries round a common\nCenter, should be any way irrational, or unnatural?\n\nWhat an amazing Scene does this display to us! what inconceivable\nVastness and Magnificence of Power does such a Frame unfold! Suns\ncrowding upon Suns, to our weak Sense, indefinitely distant from each\nother; and Miriads of Miriads of Mansions, like our own, peopling\nInfinity, all subject to the same Creator's Will; a Universe of Worlds,\nall deck'd with Mountains, Lakes, and Seas, Herbs, Animals, and Rivers,\nRocks, Caves, and Trees; and all the Produce of indulgent Wisdom, to\nchear Infinity with endless Beings, to whom his Omnipotence may give a\nvariegated eternal Life.\n\nThe astonishing Distance of the starry Mansions undoubtedly was\ndesign'd to answer some wise End: One Consequence is this, and probably\nis not without its Use: To every Planet of the same System, the same\nsidereal Face of Heaven appears without the least Degree of Change;\nand as the remotest Regions upon Earth see the same Moon and Planets,\nso also the Inhabitants of the most distant Planets in ours, or in any\nother System, see the same Forms and Order of the Stars in common with\nthe rest. The whole Sphere of Heaven being common and unchangeable\nthrough all their various Revolutions.\n\nThus those (the People) in the Planet _Venus_ will see the\nConstellation of _Orion_ just as we do, and the People in the\nPlanet _Saturn_, much farther still removed, alike will view this\nConstellation in all respects the same; here then, (in the System of\nthe Sun) the Eye removed from us must only hope to find a new Earth\nsurrounded with the same sort of Sky: But Beings in another System,\nbehold not only a new Heaven above, but also new Earths below; and\nall the Frame of Nature to them puts on a new Dress, new Signs, new\nSeasons, and new Planets roll, and a new Sun renews the Day.\n\nThe Heathen Fables here are all erased with all the Immortality of\ntheir vain earthly Gods and Heroes; _Perseus_ and _Alcides_ are no\nmore, and both the _Bears_ are vanished; the _Pleiades_ and the\n_Hyads_ join, and shining Leo, though boasting two Stars of the first\nMagnitude with us, there no where can be found, lost in the common\nundistinguished Herd. But still Astronomy will exist, and new-framed\nForms may fill the varied Scene.\n\nPerhaps you may expect that I should here give you my Conjectures of\nwhat sort of Beings may be supposed to reside in the _Ens Primum_, or\n_Sedes Beatorum_ of the known Universe, whether mortal, immortal, or\nCreatures partaking in some Degree of the Properties of both; as such\nmay be conceiv'd to change their Natures and States, without a total\nDissolution of their Senses by Death: And farther, it may possibly\nbe judged unpardonable in me not to point out every blessed Abode,\nsuited to the Virtues, and all the various States an immortal Soul\nmay be translated to; but this is a Task above the human Capacity, or\nis the pure Province of Religion alone; the Business of a Revelation\nrather than Reason to discover. Besides, it is enough for the present\nPurpose, to prove, that Miriads of celestial Mansions, are to be\ndiscovered within our finite View, and by a kind of ocular Revelation,\nwhich visibly extends the human Prospect, as it were, far beyond the\nGrave. It matters not whether a Race of Heroes fill these Worlds, or\na Tribe of happy Lovers people those; whether a Peasant in the Realms\nof Orion shall ever become a Prince in the Regions of _Arcturus_, or a\nPatriarch in _Procion_, a Prophet in the _Precep\u00e6_. Not to mention all\nthe Stages human Nature may, or have been destined to in any one World,\nas believ'd by the ancient Philosophers, besides the final Coalition of\nall Beings much more naturally to be expected in the _Sedes Beatorum_.\n\nI say, whatever our Case may be with regard to these _Queries_ and\nFuturity, the Plan and Principles of this Theory will not be at all\nchanged by it, since what it is chiefly founded upon may be clearly\ndemonstrated, so clearly and incontestably, that, with the Reverend Dr.\n_Young_, we may justly conclude,\n\n                   Devotion! Daughter of Astronomy!\n\nand affirm with him also, That,\n\n                    An indevout Astronomer is mad.\n\nBut I find what I at first proposed will prove too long for this\nLetter. However, I will endeavour to reward your Patience in my next,\nand continue, &_c._\n\n\n\n\nLETTER the SIXTH.\n\n_Of General Motion amongst the Stars, the Plurality of Systems, and\nInnumerability of Worlds._\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nSince my last, you'll find by this, speaking in the Stile of _Kercher_,\nthat I have been very far from home, round almost the visible Creation.\nI have indeed applied myself very closely to transcribe my Thoughts to\nyou upon the old Subject the _Milky Way_, which my former Letter left\nimperfected. To return then to the Theory of the Stars, and that yet\nunreconciled Ph\u00e6nomenon; let us reason a little upon the visible Order\nof the Stars in general, and see what Conclusions can be drawn from\nwhat every Astronomer knows of them, and cannot be disputed.\n\nFirst then, that the Stars are not infinitely dispersed and distributed\nin a promiscuous Manner throughout all the mundane Space, without Order\nor Design, is evident beyond a Doubt from this vast collective Body of\nLight, since no such Ph\u00e6nomenon could possibly be produced by Chance,\nor exhibited without a designed Disposition of its constituent Bodies.\n\nIf any regular Order of the Stars then can be demonstrated that will\nnaturally prove this Ph\u00e6nomenon to be no other than a certain Effect\narising from the Observer's Situation, I think you must of course grant\nsuch a Solution at least rational, if not the Truth; and this is what I\npropose by my new Theory.\n\nTo a Spectator placed in an indefinite Space, all very remote Objects\nappear to be equally distant from the Eye; and if we judge of the _Via\nLactea_ from Ph\u00e6nomena only, we must of course conclude it a vast Ring\nof Stars, scattered promiscuously round the celestial Regions in the\nDirection of a perfect Circle.\n\nBut when we consider the explanick Position of many other Stars, all\nof the same Nature, and not less numerous, together forming the great\nSphere of Heaven, we generally find ourselves quite at a Loss how to\nreconcile the two apparent Classes; and I know none who have ever been\nsuccessful enough to reduce them to any one general Order.\n\nYou'll say probably how shall we make this chaosic Disposition of the\nprimary Luminaries agree with the secondary Laws, and the just Harmony\nobserved in the third [AJ]Creation, &_c._\n\n[Footnote AJ: The Moon, Satellites of _Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, &c.]\n\nThe Work now you see is undertaken, and chiefly at your own Request,\ntherefore I have a Right to expect you'll be very indulgent to the\nAuthor, and pass over all his Faults, and allow him free Argument in\nPursuit of these important Truths, which will in the End open perhaps\na much wider Field of Contemplation to us, than at first could be\nsupposed to be intended by the _Genesis_ of _Moses_.\n\nThat Description of the Beginning of Nature is not without its Beauty\nand Nobleness, suitable to the Dignity both of the Author and Subject.\nBut should we even in this knowing Age of the World pretend to account\nfor the Original of Things, as _Moses_ to support his believed divine\nLegation, was obliged in some measure to do, we should soon be reduced\nto talk in the same Stile, and perhaps with less Probability, than then\nat least appeared in his elegant Account of the Origin of the Universe,\nespecially if we do but consider, that what he wrote, was only to\nthe Senses of a People who had not yet learnt to make use of their\nReason any other way, but from the Appearance of Things, and upon a\nSubject too sublime for vulgar Capacities in any Age, and had only been\nattempted in the deepest Learning of _Egypt_, which, he though well\nacquainted with, the Generality of them were totally Strangers to.\n\nIn the first Place it must be granted, that the Stars being all of\nthe same Nature, are either all moveable, or all fixed, that is all\ngoverned by one and the same Principle.\n\nNow to suppose them all fixed, and dispersed in an endless Disorder\nthro' the infinite Expanse, which has long been the Opinion of many\nvery able Astronomers amongst the Antients, and even now received\nby too many of the Moderns, implies an Inactivity in those vast and\nprincipal Bodies, so much the Reverse of what may be expected, and what\nwe daily observe through all the rest of their Attendants, namely,\ntheir own respective Satellites, that we cannot possibly upon any\nrational Grounds, advance one single Argument to support so much as\na Conjecture towards it, without betraying the greatest Simplicity,\nand next to an Affirmation reduce the whole Frame of Nature, and all\ncorporeal Beings to a wild unmeaning Chance, arising from an unnatural\nDiscord and Confusion.\n\nFor upon the Principles of Locality and Materiality, you having allowed\nme the Use of my Senses and Reason, as absolutely necessary towards\nconceiving any Idea of our present State, or of Futurity: Upon these\nPrinciples I say, unless our Faculties are useless, if there are no\nother Bodies or Beings in the Universe than what we see, and are now\nsensible of, we must now at the Height of this our present State, be as\nnear Perfection as we can reasonably expect, and as such ourselves the\nsupreme Beings of all Beings. To what End then do we form Ideas of a\nsucceeding Life, where a more exalted State cannot be hoped for.\n\nHow absurd and impious this is I leave to your own Reason and\nReflection: This is the fatal Rock upon which all weak Heads and\nnarrow Minds are lost and split upon, consequently ought to be the\nmost carefully avoided, not only as the Nurse of Atheism, but as the\ndreadful Father of Despair: \"For, say they, these unhappy Wretches,\nto be always the same, is inconsistent with a Change; and to be less\nthan what we are, any where hereafter, is full as difficult to conceive\nas to be more.\" Thus, unless we admit of superior Seats and much more\nglorious Habitations than these we are sensible of, we strike at the\nvery Root of a fair flourishing Tree of Immortality, and must become\nAuthors of our own Despair. I have often wonder'd how thinking Men\ncould possibly fall into so gross an Error, as that of a Spirit's\nAnnihilation; and I should be glad to ask one of those fruitless\nStudents, whether, upon the Evidence of our present Being, it is not\nmuch more rational, to hope for a future, than to expect a _Ne plus\nultra_ upon no Evidence at all. The Affirmative is certainly much more\nnatural to be conceiv'd than the Negative. But if Chance were the\nCase, and that Chance produced all these regular and wondrous Works,\n'tis to be wished at least, that Chance might do the same again; and\nif not Chance, of course an eternal Direction: But Chance only can\neffect Disorder, Discord, and Confusion; _ergo_, the visible Harmony\nand Beauty of the Creation declare for a Direction; and this must of\nConsequence, from its perfect Nature, proceed from the Wisdom and Power\nof an eternal Being, _God of Infinity_, the Author of all Ideas: And if\nthis primitive Power produced us his Creatures from nothing, nothing\ncan be wanting to revive our Frames again; and if from something, that\nsomething must remain to establish us in a future Life. But to return,\nhow absurd it is to suppose one Part of the Creation regular, and\nthe other irregular, or a visible circulating Order of Things, to be\nmixed with Disorder, and circumscribing Part of an endless Confusion,\nis obvious to the weakest Understanding, and consequently we may\nreasonably expect, that the _Via Lactea_, which is a manifest Circle\namongst the Stars, conspicuous to every Eye, will prove at last the\nWhole to be together a vast and glorious regular Production of Beings,\nout of the wondrous Will or Fecundity of the eternal and infinite _one_\nself-sufficient Cause; and that all its Irregularities are only such\nas naturally arise from our excentric View: To demonstrate which\nabsolutely and incontestibly, we shall only want this one _Postulata_\nto be granted, _viz._ _That all the Stars are, or may be in Motion_:\nThis, if one may be allowed to judge of the Whole by the Similitude\nand Government of its Parts, I am perswaded you will think a very\nreasonable Assumption; but that you may imbibe a good Opinion of this\nAssumption, and entirely come into this much better to be wished\nHypothesis, I would have you consult these following Arguments.\n\nFirst, it is allowed, as I have endeavoured to shew, by all modern\nPhilosophers, that the Sun and Stars are all of the same or like\nNature; consequently, that the Stars are all Suns, and that the Sun\nhimself is a Star.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XVII.]\n\n\nPLATE XVII.\n\nRepresents a kind of perspective View of the visible Creation, wherein\nA represents the System of our Sun, B, that supposed round _Syrius_,\nand C, the Region about _Rigel_. The rest is a promiscuous Disposition\nof all the Variety of other Systems within our finite Vision, as they\nare supposed to be posited behind one another, in the infinite Space,\nand round every visible Star. That round every Star then we may justly\nconjecture a similar System of Bodies, governed by the same Laws and\nPrinciples with this our solar one, though to us at the Earth for very\ngood Reasons invisible[AK]. Secondly,\n\n[Footnote AK: _Anaximines_ believed the Stars to be of a fiery Nature;\nand that there were certain terrestrial Bodies that are not seen by us,\ncarried together round them. _Stob. Ecl. Phys._ cap. 25. _Pythagoras_\naffirmed, that every Star is a World, containing Earth, Air, and \u00c6ther.]\n\nThe Sun is also observed to have a Motion round his own Axis in about\ntwenty-five Days. Now, since all the other [AL] Planets which move in\nOrbits round him, and are within our Observation, are found to have a\nlike Rotation round their Axis, may we not as reasonably imagine, that\nthat Power which was able to give the Sun a Motion round his Axis,\ncould and would at the same time, with adequate Ease, give him also\nan orbitular one? and why not, since no progressive Mutability can\neither take from, or disturb the boundless Property of an Infinity; and\nbesides, seeing to imagine him at rest, is to impose such an unnatural\nStagnation upon the eternal Faculty, quite repugnant to that imparable\nPower which we suppose stands in need of neither Sleep nor Rest?\n\n[Footnote AL: _Saturn_, _Jupiter_, _Mars_, _Venus_, the Earth, Moon,\nand _Mercury_.]\n\n'Tis true, the Sun may be said to be the Governor of all those Bodies\nround him; but how? no otherwise than he himself may be governed by a\nsuperior Agent, or a still more active Force; and methinks it is not\na little absurd to suppose he is not, since we have discovered by\nundoubted Observations, that the same gravitating Power is common to\nall; and that the Stars themselves are subject to no other Direction\nthan that which moves the whole Machine of Nature.\n\nThirdly, From many Observations of the polar Points, and the Obliquity\nof the Earth's Equator to the Plane of her solar Orbit compared\ntogether, the Sun is very justly suspected to have changed his sidereal\nSituation; and this must either arise from a Change in the Position\nof the Earth's diurnal Axis, or from a Removal of the Sun himself,\nout of the primitive Plane of the _Orbis Magnus_. I believe you are\nso much of a Mathematician, as to know that if either of these Facts\nbe allowed, the Consequence I want will follow. I shall not therefore\nhere enter into any farther Dispute about it; but I think it will be\nnecessary to submit some Observations to your Consideration, that may\nconvince you that there is a Motion somewhere to be thus discovered,\nand whether in the Sun, or in the Stars, or in both, I leave to your\nown Determination, but to assist your Imagination, I refer you to\n\n\nPLATE XVIII.\n\nThe Globe S is here supposed to represent the Sun, having changed its\nSituation by a local Motion from A to C, and B represents the Globe\nof the Earth in a permanent Position, with its principal Points and\nCircles, respecting the primitive Plane A, B, K. Now in Consequence\nof the Angle of Variation, A, B, C, it evidently appears that a new\necliptic Plane, will be produced, as C, B, and also a Variation in the\ngreatest Declination of the Sun, North and South from the Line of the\n_Equator_ D, L. Hence, as in this Figure, the Obliquity of the Poles P,\nN, and G, F, will naturally decrease, and is shewn in Quantity by the\nLine of Aberration H, I.\n\nHere follows a Table of the Change observed in the Obliquity of the\nEcliptic by Astronomers of different Ages.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XVIII.]\n\n\n_A Table of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic._\n\n  _Ante Christi_                  \u00b0   \u2032\n\n        124       Arato           24  00\n       ----      Hiparchus        23  51\u2153\n        127      Eratosthenes     23  51\u00bd\n\n  _Anno Dom._                     \u00b0   \u2032\n\n        140      Ptolomy          23  51\u2153\n        749      Abategnius       23  35\u00bd\n       1070      Airahel          23  34\n       1140      Alomean          23  33\n       1300      Profatiograd     23  32\n       1458      Purbacchio       23  29\u00bd\n       1490      Regiomontaus     23  30\n       1500      Copernicus       23  28\u00bd\n       1592      Tycho Brahe      23  21\u00bd\n       1656      Cassini          23  29\u00bd\n\nNow sure, if we consider this continual Decrease of the Sun's\nDeclination, which can proceed from no other Cause than that of\nhis having moved out of the primitive Plane; we need make no great\nDifficulty thus far, to think our Conjectures not irrational.\n\nThe following is a Citation from Dr. _Edmund Hally_, Astronomer-Royal.\nSee _Philosophical Transactions_, N^o. 355. p. 736.\n\n\"But while I was upon this Enquiry (_of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic_)\nI was surprized to find the Latitudes of three of the principal Stars\nin the Heavens, directly to contradict the supposed greater Obliquity\nof the Ecliptic, which seems confirmed by the Latitudes of most of\nthe rest; they being set down in the old Catalogues, as if the Plane\nof the Earth's Orbit had changed its Situation amongst the fixed\nStars, about 20\u2032 since the Time of _Hipparchus_, particularly all\nthe Stars in _Gemini_ are put down, those to the Northward of the\nEcliptic, with so much less Latitude than we find, and those to the\nSouthward, with so much more southerly Latitude; and yet the three\nStars _Palilicium_, _Sirius_, and _Arcturus_, do contradict this Rule:\nFor by it, _Palilicium_, being in the Days of _Hipparchus_, in about\n10 gr. of _Taurus_, ought to be about 15\u2032 more southerly than at\npresent, and _Sirius_ being then in about 15 gr. of _Gemini_, ought\nto be 20\u2032 more southerly than now; yet _Ptolomy_ places the first\n20\u2032, and the other 22\u2032 more northerly in Latitude than we now find\nthem: Nor are these the Errors of Transcribers, but are proved to be\nright by the Declination of them set down by _Ptolomy_, as observed\nby _Timocharis_, _Hipparchus_, and himself; which shew, that these\nLatitudes are the same as those Authors intended. As to _Arcturus_, he\nis too near the Equinoctial Colour, to argue from him concerning the\nChange of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic; but _Ptolomy_ gives him 33\u2032\nmore North Latitude than he is now found to have; and that greater\nLatitude is likewise confirmed by the Declinations delivered by the\nabovesaid Observations: So then these three Stars are found to be above\nhalf a Degree more southerly at this Time than the Antients reckoned\nthem. When, on the contrary, at the same time, the bright Shoulder of\n_Orion_, has, in _Ptolomy_ almost a Degree more southerly Latitude than\nat present, what shall we say then? It is scarce to be believed, that\nthe Antients could be deceived in so plain a Matter, three Observers\nconfirming each other. Again, these Stars being the most conspicuous\nin Heaven, are in all Probability the nearest to the Earth; and if\nthey have any particular Motion of their own, it is most likely to\nbe perceived in them, which in so long a Time as eighteen hundred\nYears, may shew itself by the Alteration of their Places, though it be\nintirely imperceptible in the Space of one single Century of Years:\nYet, as to _Syrius_, it may be observed, that _Tycho Brahe_ makes him 2\nMin. more northerly than we now find him; whereas he ought to be above\nas much more southerly from his Ecliptic (whose Obliquity he makes 2\u2032\u00bd\ngreater than we esteem it at the present) differing in the Whole 4\u2032\u00bd.\n\nOne Half of this Difference may perhaps be excused, if Refraction were\nnot allowed in this Case by _Tycho_; yet 2 Min. in such a Star as\n_Syrius_, is somewhat too much for him to be mistaken in.\n\nBut a more evident Proof of this Change is drawn from the Observation\nof the Application of the Moon to _Palilicium_, _An. Chris._ 509.\n_Mar. 11._ when, in the Beginning of the Night, the Moon was seen to\nfollow that Star very near, and seemed to have eclipsed it, \u1f10\u03c0\u03ad\u03b2\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03b5\n\u03b3\u1f70\u03c1 \u1f41 \u1f00\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1 \u03c4\u1ff3 \u03c0\u1fb6\u03c1\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03b4\u03b9\u03c7\u03bf\u03c4\u03bf\u03bc\u03af\u03b1\u03bd \u03bc\u03ad\u03c1\u03b5\u03b9 \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03ba\u03c5'\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c2 \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03c6\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1\u03c2 \u03c4\u00f5\u03c5\n\u03c0\u03b5\u03c6\u03c9\u03c4\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, _i.e._ _Stella apposita erat parti per quam\nbisecabatur limbus Lun\u00e6 illuminatus_, as _Bullialdus_, to whom we are\nbeholden for this ancient Observation, has translated it. Now, from\nthe undoubted Principles of Astronomy, this could never be true at\n_Athens_, or near it, unless the Latitude of _Palilicium_ were much\nless than we at this Time find it[AM].\"\n\n[Footnote AM: Vide _Bulialdi Astr. Philolaica_, p. 172.]\n\nThe [AN]Motion of _Arcturus_ seems further confirmed, from the\nObservations of _Tycho Hevelius_ and Flamstead; for _Hevelius_ sets\ndown the Distance of that Star from _Lyra_ 4\u2032 greater than _Tycho_ had\nobserved it seventy-two Years before him, and _Flamstead_ twenty-two\nYears after measured the Distance betwixt the same two Stars, still\n3\u2032 greater than _Hevelius_ found it; so that if _Lyra_ had stood still\nall that while, there was an Appearance of _Arcturus's_ having gone 7\u2032\nout of his Place in the Space of an hundred Years. See Dr. _Long_'s\nAstronomy, p. 274.\n\n[Footnote AN: These are the nearest and greatest of the fixed Stars,\nthe Motion of the others not having been observed, or being at too\ngreat a Distance, are either imperceptible, or have not been taken\nnotice of.]\n\nIt is further to be observed, in Confirmation of the Motion of one of\nthese Stars, that _Flamstead_ found the Distance of _Arcturus_, from\nthe Head of _Hercules_ 3\u2032 greater than it is set down by the Prince\nof _Hesse_; and that his Distance from the _Lion's Tail_ was a little\ndecreased with 5\u00bd\u2032 less Latitude than _Tycho_ had observed. Hence, to\nmake these Observations agree, one or both of them must have moved\ntogether equal to 7\u2032. This Change of Place, which is quite contrary\nto all known Causes proceeding from the Earth, must therefore be\noccasioned either by the Motion of the Sun, or by a particular Motion\nof their own; but if, amongst themselves, they must all move, and if\nall be in Motion, the Sun must also move.\n\nIf these Observations, delivered down to us by very able Astronomers,\nbe either true or near it, as great Allowances have been made for the\nIgnorance of the Ages in which they were taken, and the Inaccuracy\nof the Instruments, we may naturally conclude, that these Stars must\nhave a Motion; and if they move, as has been before observed, the Sun\nmust also; hence he cannot now be in the original Plane of the Earth's\nannual Direction, or at least in the same identical Place he was at\nfirst possessed of: And if so, the Stars must also have the like\nMotion, though in different Directions, and all may thus be governed by\nthe same impulsive Power.\n\nTo illustrate this primitive Motion of the Stars, and at the same time\nto show that the Variety which appears in the Quantity of Motion can be\nno Objection to it,\n\nSee PLATE XVIII. _Fig._ 2.\n\nWhere A represents the Eye of an Observer, and B, E, F, H, various\nSystems, moving in different Directions thro' the mundane Space; it\nis evident that the Sphere B, having moved from C, and that of E, not\nhaving appeared to move at all, there must be a sensible Change in the\nnew Position of these two Systems to one another, and so of the rest;\nand tho' the apparent Motion of H, be much more than that of F, from\nthe Point A, yet from C, they will appear less different, and from B,\nthey will appear nearly equal. And farther, as the Direction from H, is\nin the Line I, H, and that of F, in the Line K, G, those two Systems\nwill appear to approximate, and the Magnitude of the Star in the first\nwill be increased, and in the latter diminished. Thus, many of the\nStars in the oldest Catalogues, which were said to be of the second\nMagnitude, are now become of the first, and several of the first are\nnow judged to be of the second, &c.\n\nBut as this apparent Motion of the Stars at the Earth, must, from its\nNature, be very small, so as scarce to be discovered in some of them in\nless than an Age, with any Instrument by the nicest Observer, I judge\nit will be extremely proper in this Place to propose some Method, by\nwhich, in process of Time, the Truth of the Theory may be ascertained.\nThe Way I think most likely to succeed is this.\n\n\nPLATE XIX.\n\nIs a Plan of the principal Stars that form the Pleiades, correctly\ntaken by a Combination of Triangles, as in the Figure, from whence it\nwill naturally follow, all the whole Form being comprehended in much\nless than one Degree. That the most minute local Motion in any one of\nthose Stars in a very few Years, will be made sensible to an Eye at\nthe Earth. For Instance, if any of the Stars that form the Letter A,\nor T, within the Term of ten or twenty Years, be found in the least\nto deviate from the Lines of their present Position and Direction,\nit will be evident beyond a Contradiction, that they have a Motion\namongst themselves, and since at such a Distance they cannot possibly\nbe affected by the Earth, it must be a Motion of their own; and thus\nif any one can be proved, to change its Situation, with regard to the\nrest, we can have no new Difficulty in concluding that they all may do\nthe same.\n\nThus if any of the regular Triangles M B Z, Z P H, A Z M, Y A \u0393, or \u03a0\n\u039f I, &_c._ in due Time be carefully noted, we may venture to say with\ngreat Safety, that the thousandth Part of a Degree will be plainly\ndiscovered.\n\n\nPLATE XX.\n\nIs a true Plan and Combination of the principal Stars that form the\nPersedes, in which other Observations may be made in a different Part\nof the Heavens, and perhaps with an Opportunity of being still more\nexact, the Areas of these Triangles, particularly that of \u0398 I K, and\nthose of \u03c1 and \u03b4, being much less than the former, where the least\nAlteration possible must render them sensibly distorted. But here it\nmust be considered, that the real Motion of the Stars, as well as their\napparent, may be, and in all Likelihood, is extreamly slow, for the\nmost minute, visible, local Motion, will answer all the Purposes we\nknow in Nature, and the greatest seems to be that of the projectile, or\ncentrifugal Force, which not only preserves them in their Orbits, but\nprevents them from rushing all together, by the common universal Law of\nGravity, which otherwise, as a finite Distribution of either regular or\nirregular Bodies, they must at length do by Necessity.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XIX.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XX.]\n\nI must now inform you, that the above Observations were compleated in\nthe Autumn Season, 1747, and were taken by myself; the Letters A, T, in\n_Plate_ XIX, and the W in the XXth, as you may see, having a very near\nResemblance, or Similitude, to the Order these Stars are found to be\nin, together with the _Greek_ Alphabet, I judged necessary, by way of\n_Asterism_ and _Nomenclatura_, in case such should be wanted, as _Data_\nin future Discoveries.\n\nI come now to the principal Point in Question, which is to find a\nregular Disposition of the Stars amongst themselves, which will\nnaturally solve both their general and particular Ph\u00e6nomena, especially\nthe _Nebula_ and _Milky Way_.\n\n                        _I am now_, &c.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLETTER the SEVENTH.\n\n_The Hypothesis, or Theory, fully explained and demonstrated, proving\nthe sidereal Creation to be finite._\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nI know you are an Enemy to all Sorts of Schemes where they are not\nabsolutely necessary, and may possibly be avoided; and for that\nReason I have purposely omitted many geometrical Figures, and other\nRepresentations in this Work, which might have been inserted and in\nsome Places, especially here I might have introduced Diagrams, perhaps\nmore explicit than Words; but as you have frequently observed, they\nare only of Use to the few Learned, and contribute more to the taking\naway the little Ideas and Knowledge the more ignorant Many may be\nendued with, by a prejudicial Impression of imperfect Images, rather\nthan the adding any new Light to their Understanding, I have purposely\navoided, as much as possible, both here and every where, all such\ncomplex Diagrams as might be in Danger of betraying any the least\nsuch conscious Diffidence in you, arising from the Want of a proper\n_Precognita_ in the Sciences.\n\nThis Imperfection, much to be lamented, as greatly to the Disadvantage\nof all mathematical Reasoning, I would willingly always prevent, in my\nReaders, and to chuse in my Friend; I shall therefore content myself\nwith referring you to a few orbicular Figures, concave and convex, as\nmay best suggest to your Fancy the simplest Way, a just Idea of the\nHypothesis I have fram'd, and naturally enough I hope, render my Theory\nso intelligible, as to help you sufficiently to conceive the Solution\naimed at, of the important Problem I have attempted.\n\nAs I have said before, we cannot long observe the beauteous Parts of\nthe visible Creation, not only those of this World on which we live,\nbut also the Myriads of bright Bodies round us, with any Attention,\nwithout being convinced, that a Power supreme, and of a Nature unknown\nto us, presides in, and governs it.\n\n  The Course and Frame of this vast Bulk, display\n  A Reason and fix'd Law, which all obey.\n\n                                          Sher. Manilius.\n\nAnd notwithstanding the many wonderful Productions of Nature in this\nour known Habitation, yet the Earth, when compared with other Bodies of\nour own System, seems far from being the most considerable in it; and\nit appears not only very possible, but highly probable, from what has\nbeen said, and from what we can farther demonstrate, that there is as\ngreat a Multiplicity of Worlds, variously dispersed in different Parts\nof the Universe, as there are variegated Objects in this we live upon.\nNow, as we have no Reason to suppose, that the Nature of our Sun is\ndifferent from that of the rest of the Stars; and since we can no way\nprove him superior even to the least of those surprising Bodies, how\ncan we, with any Shew of Reason, imagine him to be the general Center\nof the whole, _i. e._ of the visible Creation, and seated in the Center\nof the mundane Space? This, in my humble Opinion, is too weak even for\nConjecture, their apparent Distribution, and [AO]irregular Order argue\nso much against it.\n\n[Footnote AO: See the Zodaical Constellations, you'll find that in\nsome Signs there are several Stars of the first, second, and third\nMagnitude, and in many others none of these at all.]\n\nThe Earth indeed has long possessed the chief Seat of our System, and\npeaceably reigned there, as in the Center of the Universe for many Ages\npast; but it was human Ignorance, and not divine Wisdom, that placed it\nthere; some few indeed from the Beginning have disputed its Right to\nit, as judging it no way worthy of such high Eminence. Time at length\nhas discovered the Truth to every body, and now it is justly displaced\nby the united Consent of all its Inhabitants, and instead of being\nthought the most majestick of all Nature's lower Works, now rather\ndisgraces the Creation, so much it is reduced in its present State from\nwhat it had Reason to expect in the former.\n\nNow it is no longer the only terrestrial Globe in the Universe, but\nis proved to be one of the least Planets of the solar System, and\nsurprizingly inferior to some of its Fellow Worlds. The Sun, or rather\nthe System, has almost as long usurped the Center of Infinity, with as\nlittle Pretence to such Pre-heminence; but now, Thanks to the Sciences,\nthe Scene begins to open to us on all Sides, and Truths scarce to\nhave been dreamt of, before Persons of Observation had proved them\npossible, invades our Senses with a Subject too deep for the human\nUnderstanding, and where our very Reason is lost in infinite Wonders.\nHow ought this to humble every Mind susceptible of Reason!\n\nIn this Place, I believe, you will pardon a Digression; which,\nin Answer to Part of your last Letter, I judge will not be very\nimpertinent, tho' perhaps just here I cannot so well justify it.\n\nYour late Conversation with our Friend Mr. * * *, I am perswaded, must\nhave been very entertaining; but I cannot help thinking his Reflections\nupon the Wonders of Nature and the Wisdom of Providence, though I must\nallow them all to be very just and curious, instead of elevating the\nMind to the Pitch he would have it, rather as considered above, depress\nit below the proper, nay I might say necessary, Standard of human Ideas.\n\nThis, probably, you'll say is an odd Turn, and may want some\nExplanation, since every Object in the Chain of Nature, must of Force\nbe granted, a Subject worthy of our Speculations, being all together\nmade, as in the Maximum of Wisdom: But what I mean is this, since\nnothing is more natural for Beings in every State in search after their\nown Advantages, and the Enlargement of their Ideas to look upward, sure\nit may be presumed, that Time may be mispent, if not lost in inspecting\ntoo narrowly Things so little benefical in States below us; as Mr.\n_Pope_ says,\n\n  Why has not Man a microscopic Eye?\n  For this plain Reason, Man is not a Fly.\n  Say what the Use, were finer Opticks given,\n  To inspect a Mite, not comprehend the Heav'n.\n\n                                             _Essay on Man._\n\nAmusement alone can never be supposed to be the sole End of human Life,\nwhere even true Happiness is a Thing we rather taste than enjoy. The\nMind we find capable of much more rational Pleasure than can possibly\nfall within the Reach of human Power, either to promise or procure it;\nbut then this very Defect in our present State of Existence affords us\nno less than a moral Assurance, that some where in a future, we may, if\nwe please, be entitled to the very _Plenum_ of all Enjoyments.\n\nThe peculiar Business then of the human Mind naturally precedes its\nAmusements, as evidently ordained to soar above all the inferior Beings\nof this World; and however our Natures may, thro' Indolence, or thro'\nIgnorance, degenerate, that of the Man can never be supposed to sink\ninto the Mole.\n\nThe properest Way then sure for Men to preserve their Pre-heminence\nover the Brute Creation, is to make use of that Reason and Reflection,\nwhich so manifestly distinguishes their natural Superiority. A right\nApplication of which, must of course then direct us to a forward,\nrather than a backward Search in the vast visible Chain of our\nExistence, which clearly connects all Beings and States as under the\nDirection of one supreme Agent.\n\nThis is all I would have understood by the foregoing Position, which,\nin one Word, implies no more than that the sublime Philosophy ought in\nall Reason to be preferred to the Minute; but I hope you will not infer\nfrom this my seeming Partiality for the celestial Sciences, that I mean\nto insinuate, that the Study of terrestrial Physicks is not a rational\nAmusement.\n\nMr. ***, you say, seems to lament the Taste of Mankind in general much\nin the same Degree as you do his I readily grant you; a Man who can\ntalk so well upon an Ant, might make a more entertaining Discourse upon\nthe Eagle; but I beg his Pardon, and though we are all too ready, and\nmost apt to condemn all such Pleasures as vain or trifling, which we\nhave no Share in, or Taste for ourselves; yet I don't think it follows,\nthat those ingenious Labours of his are useless. The Pleasures arising\nfrom natural Philosophy are all undoubtedly great ones, whether we\nconsider Nature in her highest, or in her lowest Capacity; the Beauties\nof the Creation are every Day varied to us below, as much they are\nevery Night above, and in both Cases, through every Object, the Creator\nshines so manifest, that we may justly consider him every where smiling\nfull in the Face of all his Creatures, commanding as it were an awful\nReverence, and Respect, due not only to his Omnipotency, but also\nto his infinite Goodness and endless Indulgencies. This is the only\nReturn our Gratitude can make for all those Blessings he daily bestows\nupon us, and to this great Author of her Laws; Nature herself cries\naloud through Myriads of various Objects, and after her own expressive\nand peculiar Manner, seems to command us with an attractive Grace,\nto observe her Sovereign, and admire his Wisdom. The Majesty, Power,\nand Dominion of God is best displayed in the external Direction of\nThings, his Wisdom and visible Agency in the internal: Hence, by proper\nObjects, selected from both, attended with just Reflections, we may\ncertainly raise our Ideas almost to the Pitch of Immortals; but how\nfar the human Imagination may possibly go, or how much Minds like ours\nmay be improved, is a Question not easily determined; but as natural\nKnowledge evidently increases daily, and astronomical Enquiries are\nthe most capable of opening our Minds, and enlarging our Conception,\nof consequence they must be most worthy our Attention of all other\nStudies. But of this I have said enough, and think it is now more than\nTime to attempt the remaining Part of my Theory.\n\nWhen we reflect upon the various Aspects, and perpetual Changes of\nthe Planets, both with regard to their[AP] heliocentric and geocentric\nMotion, we may readily imagine, that nothing but a like eccentric\nPosition of the Stars could any way produce such an apparently\npromiscuous Difference in such otherwise regular Bodies. And that in\nlike manner, as the Planets would, if viewed from the Sun, there may be\none Place in the Universe to which their Order and primary Motions must\nappear most regular and most beautiful. Such a Point, I may presume, is\nnot unnatural to be supposed, altho' hitherto we have not been able to\nproduce any absolute Proof of it. See _Plate_ XXV.\n\n[Footnote AP: Not to mention their several Conjunctions and Apulces to\nfixed Stars, &_c._ see the State of the Heavens in 1662, _December_\nthe first, when all the known Planets were in one Sign of the Zodiac,\n_viz._ _Sagittarius_.]\n\nThis is the great Order of Nature, which I shall now endeavour to\nprove, and thereby solve the Ph\u00e6nomena of the _Via Lactea_; and in\norder thereto, I want nothing to be granted but what may easily be\nallowed, namely, that the _Milky Way_ is formed of an infinite Number\nof small Stars.\n\nLet us imagine a vast infinite Gulph, or Medium, every Way extended\nlike a Plane, and inclosed between two Surfaces, nearly even on both\nSides, but of such a Depth or Thickness as to occupy a Space equal to\nthe double Radius, or Diameter of the visible Creation, that is to\ntake in one of the smallest Stars each Way, from the middle Station,\nperpendicular to the Plane's Direction, and, as near as possible,\naccording to our Idea of their true Distance.\n\nBut to bring this Image a little lower, and as near as possible\nlevel to every Capacity, I mean such as cannot conceive this kind of\ncontinued Zodiac, let us suppose the whole Frame of Nature in the\nForm of an artificial Horizon of a Globe, I don't mean to affirm that\nit really is so in Fact, but only state the Question thus, to help\nyour Imagination to conceive more aptly what I would explain[AP].\n_Plate_ XXIII. will then represent a just Section of it. Now in this\nSpace let us imagine all the Stars scattered promiscuously, but at\nsuch an adjusted Distance from one another, as to fill up the whole\nMedium with a kind of regular Irregularity of Objects. And next let\nus consider what the Consequence would be to an Eye situated near the\nCenter Point, or any where about the middle Plane, as at the Point A.\nIs it not, think you, very evident, that the Stars would there appear\npromiscuously dispersed on each Side, and more and more inclining to\nDisorder, as the Observer would advance his Station towards either\nSurface, and nearer to B or C, but in the Direction of the general\nPlane towards H or D, by the continual Approximation of the visual\nRays, crowding together as at H, betwixt the Limits D and G, they must\ninfallibly terminate in the utmost Confusion. If your Opticks fails\nyou before you arrive at these external Regions, only imagine how\ninfinitely greater the Number of Stars would be in those remote Parts,\narising thus from their continual crowding behind one another, as all\nother Objects do towards the Horizon Point of their Perspective, which\nends but with Infinity: Thus, all their Rays at last so near uniting,\nmust meeting in the Eye appear, as almost, in Contact, and form a\nperfect Zone of Light; this I take to be the real Case, and the true\nNature of our _Milky Way_, and all the Irregularity we observe in it\nat the Earth, I judge to be intirely owing to our Sun's Position in\nthis great Firmament, and may easily be solved by his Excentricity, and\nthe Diversity of Motion that may naturally be conceived amongst the\nStars themselves, which may here and there, in different Parts of the\nHeavens, occasion a cloudy Knot of Stars, as perhaps at E.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXI.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXII.]\n\nBut now to apply this Hypothesis to our present Purpose, and reconcile\nit to our Ideas of a circular Creation, and the known Laws of orbicular\nMotion, so as to make the Beauty and Harmony of the Whole consistent\nwith the visible Order of its Parts, our Reason must now have recourse\nto the Analogy of Things. It being once agreed, that the Stars are in\nMotion, which, as I have endeavoured in my last Letter to shew is not\nfar from an undeniable Truth, we must next consider in what Manner they\nmove. First then, to suppose them to move in right Lines, you know is\ncontrary to all the Laws and Principles we at present know of; and\nsince there are but two Ways that they can possibly move in any natural\nOrder, that is, either in right Lines, or in Curves, this being one,\nit must of course be the other, _i. e._ in an Orbit; and consequently,\nwere we able to view them from their middle Position, as from the Eye\nseated in the Center of _Plate_ XXV. we might expect to find them\nseparately moving in all manner of Directions round a general Center,\nsuch as is there represented. It only now remains to shew how a Number\nof Stars, so disposed in a circular Manner round any given Center, may\nsolve the Ph\u00e6nomena before us. There are but two Ways possible to be\nproposed by which it can be done, and one of which I think is highly\nprobable; but which of the two will meet your Approbation, I shall not\nventure to determine, only here inclosed I intend to send you both. The\nfirst is in the Manner I have above described, _i. e._ all moving the\nsame Way, and not much deviating from the same Plane, as the Planets\nin their heliocentric Motion do round the solar Body. In this Case the\nprimary, secondary, and tertiary constituent Orbits, &_c._ framing the\nHypotheses, are represented in _Plate_ XXII, and the Consequence of\nsuch a Theory arising from such an universal Law of Motion in _Plate_\nXXIII. where B, D denotes the local Motion of the Sun in the true\n_Orbis Magnus_, and E, C that of the Earth in her proper secondary\nOrbit, which of course is supposed, as is shewn in the Figure to change\nits sidereal Positions, in the same Manner as the Moon does round the\nEarth, and consequently will occasion a kind of Procession, or annual\nVariation in the Place of the Sun, not unlike that of the Equinoxes, or\nMotion of all the Stars together, from West to East round the Ecliptic\nPoles, and probably may in some Degree be the Occasion of it. This\nAngle is represented, but much magnified, by the Lines F, C, G, and the\nUnnaturalness, or Absurdity of a right Line Motion of the Sun by the\nLine I, H.\n\nThe second Method of solving this Ph\u00e6nomena, is by a spherical Order of\nthe Stars, all moving with different Direction round one common Center,\nas the Planets and Comets together do round the Sun, but in a kind of\nShell, or concave Orb. The former is easily conceived, from what has\nbeen already said, and the latter is as easy to be understood, if you\nhave any Idea of the Segment of a Globe, which the adjacent Figures,\nwill, I hope, assist you to. The Doctrine of these Motions will perhaps\nbe made very obvious to you, by inspecting the following Plates.\n\n\nPLATE XXIV.\n\nIs a Representation of the Convexity, if I may call it so, of the\nintire Creation, as a universal Coalition of all the Stars consphered\nround one general Center, and as all governed by one and the same Law.\n\n\nPLATE XXV.\n\nIs a centeral Section of the same, with the Eye of Providence seated in\nthe Center, as in the virtual Agent of Creation.\n\n\nPLATE XXVI.\n\nRepresents a Creation of a double Construction, where a superior Order\nof Bodies C, may be imagined to be circumscribed by the former one A,\nas possessing a more eminent Seat, and nearer the supream Presence, and\nconsequently of a more perfect Nature. Lastly,\n\n\nPLATE XXVII.\n\nRepresents such a Section, and Segments of the same, as I hope will\ngive you a perfect Idea of what I mean by such a Theory.\n\n_Fig._ 1. is a corresponding Section of the Part at A, in _Fig._ 2.\nwhose versed Sine is equal to half the Thickness of the starry Vortice\nA C, or B A. Now I say, by supposing the Thickness of this Shell, 1.\nyou may imagine the middle Semi-Chord A D, or A E, to be nearly 6; and\nconsequently thus in a like regular Distribution of the Stars, there\nmust of course be at least three Times as many to be seen in this\nDirection of the Sine, or Semi-chord A E, itself, than in that of the\nsemi-versed Sine A C, or any where near the Direction of the Radius of\nthe Space G. Q. E. D.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXIII.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXIV.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXV.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXVI.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXVII.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXVIII.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXIX.]\n\nBut we are not confined by this Theory to this Form only, there may be\nvarious Systems of Stars, as well as of Planets, and differing probably\nas much in their Order and Distribution as the Zones of _Jupiter_ do\nfrom the Rings of _Saturn_, it is not at all necessary, that every\ncollective Body of Stars should move in the same Direction, or after\nthe same Model of Motion, but may as reasonably be supposed as much to\nvary, as we find our Planets and Comets do.\n\nHence we may imagine some Creations of Stars may move in the Direction\nof perfect Spheres, all variously inclined, direct and retrograde;\nothers again, as the primary Planets do, in a general Zone or Zodiack,\nor more properly in the Manner of _Saturn's_ Rings, nay, perhaps Ring\nwithin Ring, to a third or fourth Order, as shewn in _Plate_ XXVIII.\nnothing being more evident, than that if all the Stars we see moved\nin one vast Ring, like those of _Saturn_, round any central Body, or\nPoint, the general Ph\u00e6nomena of our Stars would be solved by it; see\n_Plate_ XXIX. _Fig._ 1. and 2. the one representing a full Plane of\nthese Motions, the other a Profile of them, and a visible Creation at\nB and C, the central Body A, being supposed as _incognitum_, without\nthe finite View; not only the Ph\u00e6nomena of the _Milky Way_ may be\nthus accounted for, but also all the cloudy Spots, and irregular\nDistribution of them; and I cannot help being of Opinion, that could\nwe view _Saturn_ thro' a Telescope capable of it, we should find his\nRings no other than an infinite Number of lesser Planets, inferior to\nthose we call his Satellites: What inclines me to believe it, is this,\nthis Ring, or Collection of small Bodies, appears to be sometimes very\nexcentric, that is, more distant from _Saturn's_ Body on one Side than\non the other, and as visibly leaving a larger Space between the Body\nand the Ring; which would hardly be the Case, if the Ring, or Rings,\nwere connected, or solid, since we have good Reason to suppose, it\nwould be equally attracted on all Sides by the Body of _Saturn_, and by\nthat means preserve every where an equal Distance from him; but if they\nare really little Planets, it is clearly demonstrable from our own in\nlike Cases, that there may be frequently more of them on one Side, than\non the other, and but very rarely, if ever, an equal Distribution of\nthem all round the _Saturnian_ Globe.\n\nHow much a Confirmation of this is to be wished, your own Curiosity may\nmake you judge, and here I leave it for the Opticians to determine.\nI shall content myself with observing that Nature never leaves us\nwithout a sufficient Guide to conduct us through all the necessary\nPaths of Knowledge; and it is far from absurd to suppose Providence may\nhave every where throughout the whole Universe, interspersed Modules of\nevery Creation, as our Divines tell us, Man is the Image of God himself.\n\nThus, Sir, you have had my full Opinion, without the least Reserve,\nconcerning the visible Creation, considered as Part of the finite\nUniverse; how far I have succeeded in my designed Solution of the _Via\nLactea_, upon which the Theory of the Whole is formed, is a Thing will\nhardly be known in the present Century, as in all Probability it may\nrequire some Ages of Observation to discover the Truth of it.\n\nIt remains that I should now give you some Idea of Time and Space; but\nthis will afford Matter sufficient for another Letter.\n\n                          _I am_, &c.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLETTER THE EIGHTH.\n\n_Of Time and Space, with regard to the known Objects of Immensity and\nDuration._\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nThe Opportunity you gave me in your last Visit, of shewing you my\ngeneral Scheme of the Universe, I find, besides the Pleasure it then\ngave, is now attended with many useful Advantages.\n\nI now not only hope to be better understood for the future, but have\nreason to expect what I now write will merit your Attention more, and\nhave some Title to your Approbation. The Ideas I have fram'd of Time\nand Space, will now more gradually fill your Imagination both with\nWonder and Delight, before they can arise so high as to be lost in\nan Eternity and the Infinity of Space. And I am fully perswaded your\nfarther Inquiries into these vast Properties of the Deity, will here\nbe answered intirely to your Satisfaction. You must allow me now to\nbe in some measure a Judge of what I think will please you most, from\nthe Observations you have made upon my general System, or otherwise\nyou would have reason to think me perhaps too presuming: But I flatter\nmyself the great Difficulty is now over; and what remains to be said,\nwill all so naturally follow from what has gone before, that this Letter,\nI guess, will go near to furnish you with all the Ideas you wish to\nform upon the Subject. To what you have said of my having left out my\nown Habitation in my Scheme of the Universe, having travell'd so far\ninto Infinity as both to lose sight of, and forget the Earth, I think I\nmay justly answer as _Aristotle_ did when _Alexander_, looking over a\nMap of the World, enquir'd of him for the City of _Macedon_; 'tis said\nthe Philosopher told the Prince, That the Place he sought for was much\ntoo small to be there taken Notice of, and was not without sufficient\nReason omitted.\n\nThe System of the Sun compar'd but with a very minute Part of the\nvisible Creation, takes up so small a Portion of the known Universe,\nthat in a very finite View of the Immensity of Space, I judg'd the\nSeat of the Earth to be of very little Consequence, could I have\npossibly represented it, as not only being one of the smallest Objects\nin our Regions, but in a manner infinitely less than even her own\nannual Orbit, and had nothing to do with my main Design, which was to\nrepresent all our planetary Worlds as one collective Body, and begin\nmy comparative Scale of Magnitude from the Sun only and his Sphere of\nactivity; as the smallest Object I could with any Propriety pretend to\nexpress in such a Plan.\n\nIn some Measure to convince you that I have committed no Error in\nthis, I will try by some less mathematical Method than that of meer\nNumbers, to imprint an Idea in your Mind of the true Extent of the\nsolar System, and the Magnitude of all its moving Bodies, by natural\nObjects most familiar to your Senses. When we endeavour to form any\nIdea of Distance, Magnitude, or Duration, by Numbers only, we so soon\nexceed the Limits of Conception, that this way we find our Faculties of\nreasoning as finite as our Senses; and no doubt 'tis right it should be\nso, Providence, as it were, having ordain'd that the first should only\nattend the last, in such an adequate Degree to a determin'd Distance;\nbut what Distance or Degree of Knowledge is destin'd to human Nature,\nnone but the Power that gave it can tell. 'Tis certain that beyond the\nthird or fourth Place of our Nomenclator, we receive but very faint\nImpressions of the thing exprest, and can frame scarce any Notion at\nall of either Number, Distance, or Magnitude, signified beyond it:\nHence Astronomers are frequently oblig'd to have recourse to mixt\nIdeas, and make Things of different Natures and Properties assist each\nother, to excite more adequate Ideas of what they would have conceived.\nThus to express immense Distances and Magnitude, they frequently apply\nthemselves to Time and Motion; and _vice versa_, to signify a long\nDuration, they have often recourse to Distance and Matter, removing, in\nImagination, Worlds of Sand, Grain after Grain, to some remote known\nRegion.\n\n_Hesiod_,[AQ] to express his Idea of the Distance from his highest\nHeaven to Earth, and from Earth to Hell, or _Tartarus_, supposes an\nAnvil to be let fall from one to the other, which he says in nine\nnatural Days would reach the Earth from Heaven, and in the same time\nwould fall from the Earth to Hell. [AR]_Homer_ makes his _Vulcan_ fall\nfrom Heaven to the Island of _Lemnos_ in much less Time, not exceeding\none full artificial Day.\n\n[Footnote AQ:\n\n  From the high Heaven a brazen Anvil cast,\n  Nine Nights and Days in rapid Whirls would last,\n  And reach the Earth the Tenth, whence strongly hurl'd;\n  The same the Passage to th' infernal World.\n\n                                            Cooke.\n]\n\n[Footnote AR:\n\n  Hurl'd headlong downward from th' etherial Height;\n  Toss'd all the Day in rapid Circles round,\n  Nor till the Sun descended touch'd the Ground.\n\n                                            Pope.\n]\n\nModern Astronomers have made use of the swiftest Velocity of a\nCannon-Ball as continued thro' the Space they would so describe, and\nin this Light, the Distance to the Sun has been by many compar'd to\ntwenty-five Years Motion of a Cannon-Ball, supposing it to travel at\nthe Rate of 100 Fathom in a Moment, _i. e._ _the Pulse of an Artery_;\nand that a Journey so performed to one of the nearest fix'd Stars,\nwould take the same Body at least 100,000 Years before it could arrive\nthere. But the Method I have chose to convey my Ideas of the Magnitude\nof the planetary Bodies, and the Extent of the visible Creation to you,\nI am willing to hope you will find still more familiar, comprehensive,\nand easy: And it only depends upon your Remembrance of a very few known\nObjects, and their neighbouring Distances, which may be presumed you\nare, or have been, very well acquainted with. You have not only very\nlately but very often been in _London_, and must, I think, retain some\nIdea of the Dome of St. _Paul's_, tho' I own I ought not to be sorry\nif you should chance to have forgot it, provided it might prove a\nMeans of making your Visits more frequent. The Diameter of the Dome of\nthis Church is 145 Feet: Now if you can imagine this to represent the\nSurface of the Sun, a spherical Body 18 Inches diameter, will justly\nrepresent the Earth in like Proportion; and another of only five Inches\ndiameter, will represent the Moon. The Truths of these Proportions I\nhave shewn in my _Clavis C\u0153lestis_; and the Reason why I have here fixt\nupon the Dome of this Church for my first Object of Comparison, will\nnaturally appear from what follows.\n\nFrom the Magnitude of the Earth on which we live, as from a known Scale\nwith respect to its Parts compar'd with our own Bodies, we naturally\nframe our first Ideas of Extent, and fix our Rationale of Remoteness;\nby which we are sufficiently enabled to judge of all other sensible\nDistances within one finite View. And hence by the undoubted Principles\nof Geometry, having first given the Measurement of the Earth in any\nknown Proportion with any other Quantity most familiar to our Senses,\nand the Angle of Appearance, or Parallax to any perceivable Object, we\ncan easily find in homogenial Parts its true Distance from the Eye. And\nthus allowing for some small tho' unavoidable Errors, that may possibly\narise from the Difficulties of Observation (especially small Angles and\nminute Quantities) we can always determine to a sufficient, and very\nfrequently to a just Exactness, the relative Distance of all visible\nBodies, remote or near, such as the Planets, Comets, and the Sun.\n\n[AS]In this Manner Astronomers having procur'd a comparative Standard,\nreduc'd to some known Measure, as _English_ Miles, Leagues, Semi-Orbs\nor Orbits, with all the Force of analogical Reasoning, clearly can\ndemonstrate the Place and Distance of any Object within the Reach of\nObservation, and judge of Distances almost indefinite.\n\n[Footnote AS: Parallax is the changeable Position of Bodies to\ndifferent Situations of the Eye. First having found the Quantity of a\nDegree (_i. e._ a 60th Part of the Circumference) upon the Earth's\nSurface, _Aratosthenes_ discover'd that the Magnitude of the whole was\neasily known; and then from the Moon's horizontal Parallax having given\nthe Radius of the Earth, the Distance of the Moon is soon determined;\nnext by the menstrual Parallax of the Lunar Orbit, the Distance of the\nSun is found; and by the Elongation of the inferior Planets, their\nmutual Distance from each other; and, lastly, from the annual Parallax\nof the Earth's Orbit, all the other Orbits of the superior Planets are\neasily found.]\n\n\nPLATE XXX.\n\nWill help you to very correct Ideas of the real Magnitude of the\nGlobe of the Earth, compar'd with the just Extent of the Island of\n_Great-Britain_, which you will find with _Ireland_, and the rest\nof its Islands, seated near the Center of the Projection. This as\na Standard will enable you to judge of all other Distances more\nperfectly; and first I shall consider that of the Sun.\n\nThe Sun is found to be mean distant from the Earth nearly 81 Millions\nof Miles, or 6877,5 Diameters of the Earth; and _Saturn_, the remotest\nPlanet from him is at his greatest Distance from us about 858 Millions\nof Miles: Yet these Distances are but the beginning of Space, and only\nserve to open our Ideas for farther Search.\n\nThe great Comet of 1680, as I have some where said before, was found\nto move in so vast an excentrick Orbit, that in its aphelion Point it\nwould be 14,4 Times as far from the Sun, as the Orbit of _Saturn_, and\nhence at least eleven thousand and two hundred Millions of Miles from\nus. Now since the wise Creator hath so dispos'd all the independent\nParts of the Creation, such as the several Systems of primary and\nsecondary Planets, &_c._ at so great a Distance from each other,\nthat the Laws of any one in no wise shall interfere, disturb, or\ninterrupt the Principles of another; this Comet, which we can easily\nprove belong'd to our own Sun, we may well imagine came not near any\nother; and tho' at that vast Distance from the solar Body, yet still\nthere must have remain'd a Space sufficient to divide or seperate the\nsensible activity of neighbouring Systems, that they may not rush upon\neach other. Hence we may reasonably suppose, that the nearest Star can\nbe no nearer than a triple Radius of its active Sphere; and provided\nthey are all in regular Order, and much of the same Magnitude with one\nanother (which no Arguments can possibly contradict) this Radius we\nmay justly make 2000 times the Distance of our Earth. For admitting\nthe utmost Limits of the Sun's Attraction to exceed this Sphere of\nthe Comets, as far as the Sphere of the Comets exceeds that of the\nPlanets, which is nearly 14,4 times, the Radius of the solar System\nwill be extended every way 200 Radius's of the Orbit of _Saturn_, and\nconsequently the Distance from Star to Star will not be less than 6000\ntimes the Radius of our _Orbis Magnus_, and consequently upwards of\n480,000,000,000 Miles. That this is even less than the real Truth, and\nmay be defended as a very moderate Computation, grounded upon Reason,\nwe have infallible Demonstration to witness, and make appear as thus.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXX.]\n\nWe know from the Nature of Distance and Motion that the Stars may\nhave an annual Parallax, but it is so very small, that the very best\nAstronomers have never yet been able to assign what the Quantity really\nis. Yet it is allow'd by universal Consent, that it can't possibly be\nmore that one Minute of a Degree, and may probably be much less. Mr.\n_Flamstead_, by repeated Observations, made it in some of them upwards\nof 40\u2033; but Mr. _Bradley_ has endeavour'd to prove it is every where\ntoo small to be determined, and assigns this Angle to another Cause.\nThis way then we cannot make their Distance less; and to prove that\nit is something more than I have said it is, let us even increase the\ndoubtful Parallax of 40\u2033 to the most it possibly can be, _viz._ to\n60\u2033 or 1\u2032; and by the Solution of the Triangle, we shall find that\nthe nearest Star is 6875 times the Radius of the Earth's Orbit from\nthe Sun: And this tho' more than any other Proportion makes them, is\nstill undeniably less than the Truth, which every Mathematician will\nof course be convinc'd of; and you yourself of force must believe,\nwhen you are told, that the smaller the Angle of Parallax is, the\nfarther the Body is remov'd from us. By which Rule, according to Mr.\n_Flamstead's_ Observations, the Distance must be still greater: By the\noptical Experiment of [AT]Mr. _Huygins_, greater still than this; and\naccording to Mr. _Bradley_, so much more as not even too be determin'd.\n\n[Footnote AT: 27664 Radius's of the _Orbis Magnus_, equal to the\nDistance of _Syrius_, whose Parallax should be to answer it but 14\u2033\n48\u2034.]\n\nNow if the rest are in general from each other, allowing the same\nExtent of System, and as much to part the like Extreams of active\nVirtue, be in such Proportion of aerial Space, it will appear, that to\npass from any one Star to another, we must fly thro' so vast a Tract of\npure Expanse or Ether, that to visit any one of the most neighbouring\nSystems, could we travel even as fast as the swiftest Eagle flies, for\nInstance, 500 Miles _per_ Day, yet should we be 3,000,000 of Years upon\nour way before we could arrive there; and if continuing on to view the\nRegions of the rest within the known Creation, Myriads of Ages would be\nspent, and yet we could not hope to see the whole of but the smallest\nConstellation.\n\nBut what Idea of Distance can you receive from this sort of Estimation,\nwhere Numbers arise so very high. I own to you mine are soon quite lost\nby this Method of counting, either, Distances or Duration. I believe\nfew People can range their Ideas with such Perspicuity, as to arrive at\nany adequate Notion of any Number above a thousand.\n\nTo give you therefore a clearer Idea of Distance, and impress the\nProportions of Space more strongly and fully in your Mind, let us\nsuppose the Body of the Sun, as I have said before, to be represented\nby the Dome of St. _Paul's_; in such Proportion a spherical Body\neighteen Inches Diameter, moving at _Mary-le-bone_, will justly\nrepresent the Earth, and another of five Inches Diameter, describing a\nCircle of forty-five Feet and a half Radius round it, will represent\nthe Orbit and Globe of the Moon. A Body at the _Tower_ of 9,7 Inches,\nwill represent _Mercury_; and one of 17,9 Inches at St. _James's_\nPalace will represent the Planet _Venus_; _Mars_ may be supposed\nat a Distance, like that of _Kensington_ or _Greenwich_, 10 Inches\nDiameter: _Jupiter_, imagined to be at _Hampton-Court_, or _Dartford_\nin _Kent_; and _Saturn_, at _Cliefden_, or near _Chelmsford_: The\nfirst represented by a Globe 15 Foot 4 Inches Diameter, the latter by\none of 11 Feet \u00be Inches and his Ring four Feet broad: These would all\nnaturally represent the planetary Bodies of our System in their proper\nOrbits and proportional Magnitudes, as moving round the Cupola of St.\n_Paul's_, as their common Center the Sun. And preserving the same\nnatural Scale, the Aphelion of the first Comet would be about _Bury_,\nthe second at _Bristol_, and the third near the City of _Edinburgh_.\nBut if you will take into your Idea one of the nearest Stars; instead\nof the Dome of St. _Paul's_, you must suppose the Sun to be represented\nby the gilt Ball upon the Top of it, and then will another such upon\nthe Top of St. _Peter's_ at _Rome_ represent one of the nearest Stars.\n\nThe whole System exhibited in the above Proportion, would be nearly as\nfollows:\n\n  Diameter of the Sun      145 Feet.\n                 _Saturn_   11,587, his Ring 27,54, its Breadth 4.\n                 _Jupiter_, 15,39.\n                 _Mars_,    10,15 Inches.\n              the Earth,    18,125.\n                 _Venus_,   17,98\n                 _Mercury_,  9,715\n             and the Moon,   4,93\n\n  [AU]Distance of _Saturn_ from the Sun, 27 Miles, and 1700 Yards.\n                  _Jupiter_,             15 Miles, and 458 Yards.\n                  _Mars_,                 4 Miles, and 751 Yards.\n               the Earth,                 2 Miles, and 1632 Yards.\n                  _Venus_,                2 Miles, and 217 Yards.\n                  _Mercury_,              1 Mile, and 267 Yards.\n        and of the Moon, from us, 45 Yards and a half.\n\n[Footnote AU: Of the Satellites of _Saturn_ in the above Proportion.\n\n  The 1}          { 27,96}\n      2}          { 35,52} Feet distant from his\n      3} would be { 50,  }   Center.\n      4}          {114,  }\n      5}          {341,9 }\n\nAnd those of _Jupiter_.\n\n  The 1}          { 28,51 }\n      2} would be { 69,177}\n      3}          {110,224} Feet distant from him.\n      4}          {190,   }\n]\n\nThat of the most distant Comet 390, and the nearest of the Stars not\nless than 6875,[AV] Radius's of the _Orbis Magnus_.\n\n[Footnote AV:\n\n                     \u00b0  \u2032  \u2033\n  Radius, or Sign of 89 59 30 ---- ----  10,0000000\n  Sine substract of   0  0 30 ---- ----   6,1626961\n                                         ----------\n  Hence the Distance 6875,5   ---- ----   3,8373039\n]\n\nNow, if like Creations crowd the vast Depths of Infinity, and if each\nare adapted to receive Beings of different Natures, where must our\nWonder and Ideas have end?\n\nAs it is evident in the Sign _Taurus_, in _Perseus_, and _Orion_, that\nwe can plainly perceive Stars to the sixth and ninth Magnitude, the\nformer with our naked Eye, the other by the Help of Telescopes, the\nvisional ocular Creation cannot be less than 4,320,000,000,000 Miles in\nsemi Diameter, and admitting a regular Distribution of those primordial\nBodies amongst themselves, the Depth, or most remote Limits of the\n_Vortex Magnus_ from Side to Side, cannot be less than 8 m, m, 640\nthousand of Million of Miles, admitting it is no more than what we see;\nand lastly, supposing our System to be situated nearly in the Middle of\nthe _Vortex Magnus_ (which, from the visible Order of the Stars, we may\njustly conjecture, with the highest Probability of Truth) the nearest\nDistance of the _Ens Primum_, in the Realms of eternal Day, will rise\nto 30,000,000,000,000 Miles, but more probably to 100,000,000,000,000\nMiles, making the Confines of Creation from Verge to Verge in the first\nCase, upwards of 68 Million of Millions of Miles, Diameter, and by the\nlast above 200\u2032. But, if we compute the Distance of the Stars after the\nManner of _Huygens_, for his Distance of _Syrius_ from the Sun, the\nDistance of the Region of Immortality without exceeding Probability may\nrise to near 1,000,000,000,000,000 Miles.\n\nNow to pass by any progressive Motion from the outward Verge, or\nBorders of the Creation, thro' the starry Regions of Mortality, if I\nmay call them so, as far as the Center of the _Ens Primum_, or _Sedes\nBeatorum_, according to _Homer_, or _Milton's_ Manner of measuring\nSpace, a Body falling, or a Being moving with a Velocity but of 1000\nFeet _per_ Minute, _i. e._ at the Rate of 20,000 Yards _per_ Hour, or\nabout 300 Miles _per_ Day, would be at least 300,000,000 Years upon\nits Journey thither, if not 1,000, m, and perhaps much more, without\noffending Probability; but even three Million Centuries, or Ages,\nsure is enough to be employ'd, in passing from one Place to another;\ntherefore, we may conclude, the Soul must have some other Vehicle than\ncan be found in the Ideas of Matter to convey it so far, at least at\nonce. Hence we may truly infer, that the Soul must be immaterial, and\nthat in all Probability there may be States in the Universe so much\nmore longer lived than ours, that, compared with the Age of Man, the\nAge of such Beings may be almost as an Eternity, or rather, as that of\nthe human Species to that of a Sun-born Insect.\n\nAgain, if there are still Stars beyond all these of other Denomination,\nwhich we do not here perceive, how vastly must these Numbers be\nincreased, to express, almost without Idea, the amazing Whole of this\none visible Creation; but what has been already said, I judge will be\nsufficient to show the Immensity of Space, and help you to conceive\nthe stupendious Nature of an endless Universe; every where the home\nPossession, Production, and instantaneous Care, of an infinite good\nBeing, perfectly wise, and powerful, of whom we can have no Idea more,\nthan a Being in dark Privation can have of Light, but through the\nLustre of his own resplendent Attributes.\n\nThus, having attempted to enlarge your Ideas of the Creation in\ngeneral, and in some measure having considered the Indefinity of Space,\nI shall in the next Place proceed to give you some Account of my\nNotions of Time.\n\nAs Distance is the Measure of Magnitude and of all Extent, and helps\nour Imagination to the Ideas of Space, so are progressive Moments the\nMeasure of Velocity, and makes us sensible of Duration: And as Space\nmay be extended through all Infinity, so Time may be continued as to\nEternity. This Succession of temporal Ideas impressed, or excited in\nthe Mind, as an Effect of Matter in Motion, producing a perpetual\nChange, both of Objects earthly and celestial, enables us not only\nto reflect upon past Vicissitudes of Nature, but from their regular\nCourses, known Order and Returns, predict Ph\u00e6nomena to come, and prove\nthe periodical Effects of Nature's constant Laws so just and certain,\nthat Time may be said with Truth, to co-exist with Motion.\n\nMeasure being a certain Quantity of Sensation interwove with our Ideas\nof Distance and Duration, proceeding from a Reflection of what is\nimpressed upon the Mind by some external Object, I must again return to\nour Mother of Ideas the Earth, and from thence, as I did, of Distance,\nframe the original Images best suited to the Understanding, proper for\nour Judgment of Duration.\n\nTime takes its first Denomination from the diurnal Rotation of the\nEarth upon its Axis, which we call a natural Day, and this for obvious\nReasons we subdivide in twenty-four Parts or Hours. This diurnal\nMotion having been successively repeated, and the Day renewed three\nhundred and sixty-five Times, we find that all the vegetable World\nhas gone through all its Variegations, and Nature has again put on\nthe same Face, adapted to the Season; during which Time, and indeed\nwhich occasions this general Change and Repetition, the Earth is\nfound to make one intire Revolution round the Sun. This Space, or\nPeriod of Time, we call a solar, or rather a natural Year; and from\nour Sensibility of this, and its constituent Parts, both horary and\ndiurnal, we form our general Judgment of Duration.\n\n_Saturn_, the most remote, and most regular Planet in our System, as\nhas been said before, performs one Revolution round the Sun in about\ntwenty-nine of the above solar Years: The great Comet of 1680 makes but\none periodical Return in five hundred and seventy-five of those Years,\nand the general Motion of the Stars, arising from the Procession of the\nEquinoxes, altogether continually changing their Aspect, or Position,\nat the Rate of 50\u2033 _per_ Year round the ecliptic Poles, compleats but\none Revolution in 25920 Years; in which Time the whole sidereal Frame\nof Heaven has changed, and every Star returned to the same Point of\nthe solar Sphere it set out from. This is by many called the great\n_Saturnian_ Year: Concerning which, Mr. _Addison_ has thus translated\nan eminent Author.\n\n  When round the great _Saturnian_ Year has turn'd,\n  In their old Ranks the wandering Stars shall stand,\n  As when first marshall'd by the Almighty's Hand.\n\n                                            Addison.\n\nNow, if this sidereal Revolution, arising from a secondary Cause,\nrequire this Number of Years to perfect one Rotation, what must their\nprimitive Orbits take to circumscribe the _Vortex Magnus_.\n\nIt has been observed, that the biggest Star to us scarce moves a Minute\nin an hundred Years, and the most remote as insensibly for Ages, from\nwhence and what has been already said of the imagined Distance of the\ngeneral Center, we may frame this probable and well-grounded Guess,\nthat the mean Revolution of a Star near the Middle of the _Vortex\nMagnus_, cannot be made in less than a Million of Years, and though\nto us imperceptible, our Sun in his own orbicular Direction, may be\nmoving many Miles _per_ Day. Besides, if local Motion can be proved\namongst the Stars, what less than an Eternity can again restore them to\ntheir original Order and primitive State. Such vast Room in Nature, as\n_Milton_ finely expresses it, cannot be without its Use; and nothing\nbut absolute Demonstration is wanting (which from their Nature and\nDistance cannot be expected) to confirm the grand Design, so suited\nto the Deity's infinite Capacity, and of eternal Benefit to all his\nCreatures, especially Beings of a rational Sense, and in particular\nMankind.\n\nOf these habitable Worlds, such as the Earth, all which we may suppose\nto be also of a terrestrial or terraqueous Nature, and filled with\nBeings of the human Species, subject to Mortality, it may not be\namiss in this Place to compute how many may be conceived within our\nfinite View every clear Star-light Night. It has already been made\nappear, that there cannot possibly be less than 10,000,000 Suns, or\nStars, within the Radius of the visible Creation; and admitting them\nall to have each but an equal Number of primary Planets moving round\nthem, it follows that there must be within the whole celestial Area\n60,000,000 planetary Worlds like ours. And if to these we add those of\nthe secondary Class, such as the Moon, which we may naturally suppose\nto attend particular primary ones, and every System more or less of\nthem as well as here; such Satellites may amount in the Whole perhaps\nto 100,000,000, or more, in all together then we may safely reckon\n170,000,000, and yet be much within Compass, exclusive of the Comets\nwhich I judge to be by far the most numerous Part of the Creation.\n\nIn this great Celestial Creation, the Catastrophy of a World, such\nas ours, or even the total Dissolution of a System of Worlds, may\npossibly be no more to the great Author of Nature, than the most common\nAccident in Life with us, and in all Probability such final and general\nDoom-Days may be as frequent there, as even Birth-Days, or Mortality\nwith us upon the Earth.\n\nThis Idea has something so chearful in it, that I own I can never look\nupon the Stars without wondering why the whole World does not become\nAstronomers; and that Men endowed with Sense and Reason, should neglect\na Science they are naturally so much interested in, and so capable of\ninlarging the Understanding, as next to a Demonstration, must convince\nthem of their Immortality, and reconcile them to all those little\nDifficulties incident to human Nature, without the least Anxiety.\n\nSuch a Prothesis can scarce be called less than an ocular Revelation,\nnot only shewing us how reasonable it is to expect a future Life,\nbut as it were, pointing out to us the Business of an Eternity, and\nwhat we may with the greatest Confidence expect from the eternal\nProvidence, dignifying our Natures with something analogous to the\nKnowledge we attribute to Angels; from whence we ought to despise all\nthe Vicissitudes of adverse Fortune, which make so many narrow-minded\nMortals miserable.\n\n                      _I am now, &c._\n\n\n\n\nLETTER the NINTH.\n\n_Reflections, by Way of_ General Scolia, _of Consequences relating to\nthe Immortality of the Soul, and concerning Infinity and Eternity._\n\n\n_SIR_,\n\nThis my last Letter to you, I mean my final astronomical one, I\npropose as a _General Scolia_ to the rest, the principle Matter being\nReflections upon what is gone before, with some Conclusion naturally\nfollowing or appendant to what has been already said; but which, I\ncould not in any other Place, so properly remark to you.\n\nThe Probability of the foregoing Conjectures, chiefly built upon very\ndistant Observations, shew an apparent Necessity for some other kind of\nDoctrine permitted by Providence, to give Mankind a Knowledge of their\nImmortality and Dependance upon it, in the first Ages of the World.\n\nAnd for the same Reason it evidently appears, that the ancient\nPhilosophers had it not in their Power to prove a supream _Being_ and\nDirector of all Things this Way.\n\nAnd yet, as by a Sort of Instinct, or natural Reason, and Consciousness\nof a _good Principle_, we see how many noble Steps they made towards\nit, and was convinc'd at last of this _great Truth_, that since there\nwas a _Mind_ in so imperfect a Creature as Man, the _perfect Universe_,\nwhich comprehended all Things, could not possibly be without one; and\nas Sir _Isaac Newton_ has justly observed in his _Principia_, \"If every\nParticle of Space be _always_, and every individual Moment of Duration\n_every where_; surely the Maker and Lord of all Things, cannot be\n_never_ and _no where_.\"\n\nTo make manifest the infinite Empire and Agency of God, from celestial\nMotion, became the Task, but of very late Years; and I can't help being\nof Opinion, that by means of these primary Bodies, only, we shall at\nlength be able to trace the greater Circulations, and Laws of Nature,\nto their real original and fountain Head.\n\nThese, were any thing wanting, besides the _Miracle ourselves_, to\nconvince us of a divine Origination, are all infallible Proofs, that\nthe Universe is governed by an intelligent and all-powerful Being,\nwhose Existence is too nearly related to a self-evident Truth to be\nmore clearly demonstrated, than it is manifest of itself, both from the\nparticular Laws of Nature, and the general Order of Things. An Argument\nwhich has been thought of no small Force, and well worth observing in\nthe Infancy of _Christianity_. _The invisible Things of God are clearly\nseen, being understood by the Things that are made, even his eternal\nPower and Godhead._ Rom. i. 20.\n\nBut 'tis now high time to look back upon my Theory, and tell you it is\na vain Supposition, to imagine I shall ever be able to convince every\nReader, either of the Truth or Probability of what I have advanced to\nyou: Mathematical Assistance not being to be expected, where perhaps it\nhas never been thought of; and I allow you, it is much more reasonable\nto expect, that fifty Persons will read these Letters without\nperceiving the Reasonableness of them, than that five should consider\nthem with proper Judgment.\n\nI must ingenuously confess to you, that nothing is wanting to\nconvince me intirely of the Certainty of what I here advance by way\nof Conjecture to you. But this you must only look upon as an happy\nPartiality, which generally attends all Authors, and always will be\nthe chief Support of their tedious Labours. I assure you, I have\nneither Hopes nor Expectation, no, not the weak Breath of a Wish, to be\nadmitted a proper Judge of my own Works. But I shall always take their\nImperfection to be rather, (like my own Faults) to be too near me to\nbe seen; I therefore trust all to my Friend, and if I am so fortunate\nas to excite his Approbation, I shall think myself very happy in a\nvery favourite Point; which is, The advancing nothing which a rational\nReader would willingly overlook, or be ignorant of.\n\nBut if I have been so happy as to come so near the Mark, as to border\nupon Truth, I believe you will allow me to carry my Conjectures a\nlittle further, and point out some farther pleasing Consequences, which\nI begin to perceive may naturally follow.\n\nShould it be granted, that the Creation may be circular or orbicular, I\nwould next suppose, in the general Center of the whole an intelligent\nPrinciple, from whence proceeds that mystick and paternal Power,\nproductive of all Life, Light, and the Infinity of Things.\n\nHere the to-all extending Eye of Providence, within the Sphere of its\nActivity, and as omnipresently presiding, seated in the Center of\nInfinity, I would imagine views all the Objects of his Power at once,\nand every Thing immediately direct, dispensing instantaneously its\nenlivening Influence, to the remotest Regions every where all round. I\nknow you'll say Astronomers are never to be satisfied, and I must own\nwhere there is so much rational Entertainment for the human Mind, and\nso suitable to the true Dignity of God, and most worthy of Man, it is\nnot easy to know where to stop in such a Scene of Wonders.\n\nHaving, I say, once granted that all the Stars may move round one\ncommon Center, I think it is very natural to one, who loves to pursue\nNature as far as we may, to enquire what most likely may be in that\nCenter; for since we must allow it to be far superior to any other\nPoint of Situation in the known Universe, it is highly probable, there\nmay be some one Body of siderial or earthy Substance seated there,\nwhere the divine Presence, or some corporeal Agent, full of all Virtues\nand Perfections, more immediately presides over his own Creation. And\nhere this primary Agent of the omnipotent and eternal Being, may sit\nenthroned, as in the _Primum Mobile_ of Nature, acting in Concert with\nthe eternal Will. To this common Center of Gravitation, which may be\nsupposed to attract all Vertues, and repel all Vice, all Beings as\nto Perfection may tend; and from hence all Bodies first derive their\nSpring of Action, and are directed in their various Motions.\n\nThus in the _Focus_, or Center of Creation, I would willingly introduce\na primitive Fountain, perpetually overflowing with divine Grace, from\nwhence all the Laws of Nature have their Origin, and this I think would\nreduce the whole Universe into regular Order and just Harmony, and at\nthe same time, inlarge our Ideas of the divine Indulgence, open our\nProspect into Nature's fair Vineyard, the vast Field of all our future\nInheritance.\n\nBut what this central Body really is, I shall not here presume to say,\nyet I can't help observing it must of Necessity, if the Creation is\nreal and not merely Ideal, be either a Globe of Fire superior to the\nSun, or otherwise a vast terraqueous or terrestrial Sphere, surrounded\nwith an \u00c6ther like our Earth, but more refined, transparent and serene.\nWhich of these is most probable, I shall leave undetermined, and must\nacknowledge at the same time, my Notions here are so imperfect, I\nhardly dare conjecture. 'Tis true, I have ventur'd to think it may be\none of these, and since so glorious a Situation can hardly be supposed\nwithout its proper Inhabitants, 'tis most natural to conclude it may\nbe the latter. In the first Case, besides our having no Idea of Beings\nexisting in Fire, it would not, notwithstanding its Distance, be so\neasy to account for its being invisible; and since the Lustre of the\nStars are all innate, they could receive no Benefit from it, and\nconsequently such a Nature as a solar Composition, must in this Place\nbe render'd useless; but in the latter Supposition of its being a dark\nBody, we have no Difficulty attending us, having several Instances of\nlike Bodies, moving round an opaque one. Now when we consider, that\nall those radient Globes, which adorn the Skies, those bright \u00e6therial\nSparks of elemental Fire, thick strewed like Seeds of Light all round\nour Hemisphere, are each to us the Embrio of a glorious Sun; how awful\nand stupendious must that Region be, where all their Beams unite and\nmake one inconceivable eternal Day?\n\nThough the Deity, says a learned Writer \"be essentially present\nthro' all the Immensity of Space, there is one Part of it in which\nhe discovers himself in a most transcendent and visible Glory. This\nis that Place which is mark'd out in Scripture, under the different\nAppellations of Paradice; _the third Heaven_; _the Throne of_ God, _and\nthe Habitation of his Glory_.\"\n\nThis continues the same Author, is \"that Presence of God, which some of\nthe Divines call his glorious, and others his majestick Presence.\"\n\nIt is here, and here only, as in the Center of his infinite Creations,\nwhere he resides in a sensible Magnificence, and in the midst of those\nSplendors, which can Effect the Imagination of his Creatures; and\nthough the most sacred and supreme Divinity be allowed as essentially\npresent in all other Places as well as in this, as being a Being whose\nCenter is every where, and Circumference no where; yet it is here only,\nor in such Sensorium of his Unity, where he manifests his corporeal\nAgency, as in the Foci of his infinite Empire over all created Beings.\nIt is to this majestick Presence of God, we may apply those beautiful\nExpressions of Scripture, \"_Behold even to the Moon and it shineth not;\nyea the Stars are not pure in his Sight_.\"\n\n\"The Light of the Sun, and all the Glories of the World, on which we\nlive, are but as weak and sickly Glimmerings, or rather Darkness it\nself, in Comparison of those Splendors, which encompass this Throne of\nGod.\"\n\n  Here Heav'ns wide Realms an endless Scene displays,\n  And Floods of Glory thro' its Portals blaze;\n  The Sun himself lost in superior Light,\n  No more renews the Day, or drives away the Night:\n  The Moon, the Stars, and Planets disappear,\n  And Nature fix't makes one eternal Year.\n\nHere and here alone center'd in the Realms of inexpressible Glory,\nwe justly may imagine that primogenial Globe or Sphere of all\nPerfections, subject to the Extreams of neither Cold nor Heat, of\neternal Temperance and Duration. Here we may not irrationally suppose\nthe Vertues of the meritorious are at last rewarded and received into\nthe full Possession of every Happiness, and to perfect Joy. The final\nand immortal State ordain'd for such human Beings, as have passed this\nVortex of Probation thro' all the Degrees of human Nature with the\nsupream Applause.\n\nWhat vast room is here, for infinite Power and Wisdom to act in,\nand that so visibly takes Delight to bless all his Beings with his\nBounty. And endless as his Prescience, Attributes, and Goodness, are\nundoubtedly all those natural and apparent Joys with which he manifests\nhis Love to all his Creatures, a Multiplicity of Objects not to be\nenumerated. For wheresoever we turn our Eyes, and follow with our\nReason, we may meet with Worlds of all Formations, suited no doubt to\nall Natures, Tastes, and Tempers, and every Class of Beings.\n\nHere a Groupe of Worlds, all Vallies, Lakes, and Rivers, adorn'd with\nMountains, Woods, and Lawns, Cascades and natural Fountains; there\nWorlds all fertile Islands, cover'd with Woods, perhaps upon a common\nSea, and fill'd with Grottoes and romantick Caves. This Way, Worlds all\nEarth, with vast extensive Lawns and Vistoes, bounded with perpetual\nGreens, and interspersed with Groves and Wildernesses, full of all\nVarieties of Fruits and Flowers. That World subsisting perhaps by soft\nRains, this by daily Dews, and Vapours; and a third by a central,\nsubtle Moisture, arising like an Effluvia, through the Pores and Veins\nof the Earth, and exhaling or absorbing as the Season varies to answer\nNature's Calls. Round some perhaps, so dense an Atmosphere, that the\nInhabitants may fly from Place to Place, or be drawn through the Air\nin winged Chariots, and even sleep upon the Waves with Safety; round\nothers possibly, so thin a fluid, that the Arts of Navigation may be\ntotally unknown to it, and look'd upon as impracticable and absurd,\nas Chariot flying may be here with us; and some where not improbably,\nsuperior Beings to the human, may reside, and Man may be of a very\ninferior Class; the second, third, or fourth perhaps, and scarce\nallow'd to be a rational Creature. Worlds, with various Moons we know\nof already; Worlds, with Stars and Comets only, we equally can prove is\nvery probable; and that there may be Worlds with various Suns, is not\nimpossible. And hence it is obvious, that there may not be a Scene of\nJoy, which Poetry can paint, or Religion promise; but somewhere in the\nUniverse it is prepared for the meritorious Part of Mankind. Thus all\nInfinity is full of States of Bliss; Angelic Choirs, Regions of Heroes,\nand Realms of Demi-Gods; Elysian Fields, Pindaric Shades, and Myriads\nof inchanting Mansions, not to be conceived either by Philosophy or\nFancy, assisted by the strongest Genius and warmest Imagination.\n\nAll harmoniously crowded and provided with every Object of Beatitude,\nthat Friendship, Love, or Society can inspire, the Muses or the\nGraces Frame; and all as permanent and perfect, that is destin'd to\na Duration, suited to the Nature of their Existence and Degree of\nCognisance; for as a very learned Writer observes upon this same\nSubject:\n\n\"How can we tell, but that there may be above us Beings of greater\nPowers, and more perfect Intellects, and capable of mighty Things,\nwhich yet may have corporeal Vehicles as we have, but _finer_ and\n_invisible_? Nay, who knows, but that there may be even of these many\n_Orders_, rising in Dignity of Nature, and Amplitude of Power, one\nabove another? It is no Way below the Philosophy of these Times, which\nseems to delight in inlarging the Capacities of Matter, to assert the\nPossibility of this.\"\n\nFrom these amazing Ideas of Space in general, and from the particular\nDistance of the Stars, which separates as it were, one System of Bodies\nfrom another, and by so prodigious an extent, as scarce to be suppos'd\na temporal Task. I think it naturally follows, had we no other Way\nto prove it, or any other Reason to believe it, that the Soul must\nof Necessity be immaterial; for as this Space seems so impassible to\nMatter, as not to be undertaken and performed without the Loss of Ages,\nin a State only of Transmigration, we may well imagine, that Change of\nPlace is not effected this Way, but by some other Virtue or Property,\nmore immediate, if not instantaneous.\n\nI own next to _Annihilation_ is the State of Oblivion, and this Way we\nmay solve all Difficulties with regard to our being sensible of such\na Loss of Existence; but if we allow the Soul to be immaterial, it no\nlonger has any thing to do with Space, but as operating by Reflection\nonly, or the Faculty of Thinking; it may be like the Imagination where\nit pleases in a Moment.\n\nObjects of the Mind abstracted from the Senses of the Body, has no\nreal or comparative Magnitude; that is, I would say, an Inch, a Foot,\na Yard, a Mile, or a Million of Miles are all equally indefinite, and\nis thus prov'd; every finite Line is formed of an infinite Number of\nPoints, and no finite Line can be solv'd into more. Thus if you will\nallow me the Expression, the Mind being magnified as all Objects are\ndiminished, what seems impracticable in the natural State of Things,\nin an Ideal one, becomes very possible; that is, to make myself more\nintelligible, though we can hardly conceive, how any Being can pass\nfrom _Syrius_ to the Sun, by natural Laws in their proper State, yet if\nproportionally reduced by a new Modification of Ideas, to the Bigness\nof a Ball 6 Feet Diameter, and to be only 680 Miles asunder; the Thing\nis very comprehensive and easy.\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXXI.]\n\n[Illustration: Plate XXXII.]\n\nHence Vision, Light, and Electrical Virtue, seem to be propagated with\nsuch Velocity, that nothing but God can possible be the Vehicle; and\nhence we may justly say with St. _Paul_, _Acts_ xvii, 28. _In him we\nlive, in him we move, in him we have our Being._\n\nIt will further appear, from the foregoing Letters, that all the Stars\nand planetary Bodies within the finite View, are altogether but a very\nminute Part of the whole rational Creation; I mean that vast collective\nBody of habitable Beings, which I have endeavoured to demonstrate, are\nall govern'd by the same Laws, though variously revolving round one\ncommon Center, in which Center we may not impertinently venture to\nsuppose the prime Agent of our Natures; or otherwise, the most perfect\nof all created Beings, illimitable in his Ideas and Faculties of\nSensation particularly preside.\n\n  But tho' past all diffus'd, without a Shore\n  His Essence; _local_ is his Throne, (as meet)\n  To gather the disperst, (as Standards call\n  The listed from afar) to fix a Point;\n  A central Point, collective of his Suns,\n  Since finite ev'ry Nature, but his own.\n\n                                            Dr. _Young_.\n\nAnd farther since without any Impiety; since as the Creation is, so\nis the Creator also magnified, we may conclude in Consequence of\nan Infinity, and an infinite all-active Power; that as the visible\nCreation is supposed to be full of siderial Systems and planetary\nWorlds, so on, in like similar Manner, the endless Immensity is an\nunlimited Plenum of Creations not unlike the known Universe. See\n_Plate_ XXXI. which you may if you please, call a partial View of\nImmensity, or without much Impropriety perhaps, a finite View of\nInfinity, and all these together, probably diversified; as at A, B and\nC. in _Plate_ XXXII. which represents their Sections, if all may be a\nproper Term for an infinite or indefinite Number, we may justly imagine\nto be the Object of that incomprehensible Being, which alone and in\nhimself comprehends and constitutes supreme Perfection.\n\nThat this in all Probability may be the real Case, is in some Degree\nmade evident by the many cloudy Spots, just perceivable by us, as far\nwithout our starry Regions, in which tho' visibly luminous Spaces, no\none Star or particular constituent Body can possibly be distinguished;\nthose in all likelihood may be external Creation, bordering upon the\nknown one, too remote for even our Telescopes to reach.\n\nWith the raptur'd Poet may we not justly say\n\n  O, what a Root! O what a Branch is here!\n  O what a Father! what a Family!\n  Worlds! Systems! and Creations!\n\nAnd in Consequence of this\n\n  In an Eternity, what Scenes shall strike?\n  Adventures thicken? Novelties surprize?\n  What Webs of Wonder shall unravel there?\n\n                                      _Night Thoughts._\n\nSo many varied Seats where every Element may have its proper Beings\nand all adapted to partake of every thing suited to their Natures,\nargue such Maturity of Wisdom, and the vast Production such mysterious\nPower; 'tis hardly possible for Mortals not to see divine Intelligence\npreside, and that every Being somewhere must be happy.\n\nA Universe so well designed, and fill'd with such an endless Structure\nof material Beings, and all the Result of Prescience and infinite\nreflected Reason, flowing from a Mind all perfect, full of all Ideas,\ncould never be designed in vain; and tho' our narrow Bounds of Reason\nlimited, by finite Senses, cannot directly see the Consequence\ndependant on a Sequel, yet from what we do see, great Room we have to\nhope the next Stage of Existence will be more lasting and more perfect;\nand it is highly probable, the noblest Suggestion of the most luxuriant\nFancy may fall infinitely short of what we are designed for.\n\nBut here, even in this World, are Joys which our Ideas of Heaven\ncan scarce exceed, and if Imperfection appear thus lovely, what\nmust Perfection be, and what may we not expect and hope for, by\na meritorious Acquiescence in Providence, under the Direction,\nIndulgence, and Protection of infinite Wisdom and Goodness, who\nmanifestly designs perfect Felicity, as the Reward of Virtue in all his\nCreatures, and will at proper Periods answer all our Wishes in some\npredestined World.\n\nAll this the vast apparent Provision in the starry Mansions, seem\nto promise: What ought we then not to do, to preserve our natural\nBirthright to it and to merit such Inheritance, which alas we think\ncreated all to gratify alone, a Race of vain-glorious gigantick Beings,\nwhile they are confined to this World, chained like so many Atoms to a\nGrain of Sand.\n\n                           _I am_, &c.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nTranscriber Note\n\nSpelling conventions used in the book were retained. On page 5, there\nis an unattached footnote. As it refers to The Pendulum Clock and\nHuygens wrote a book whose title includes these words, the assumption\nwas made that the footnote belongs after his name. On page 30, the\nmissing anchor for the footnote about Parallax was placed before the\nterm in paragraph three. The same situation occurs on page 54 where a\nfootnote about Motion had no anchor and was linked to the term in the\nlast paragraph. On page 72, there is a measurement \"11 Feet \u00be\" to which\n\"Inches\" was added.\n\nPlate XXIII was mislabeled as Plate XXI. This was corrected.","title":"An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe: $b founded upon the laws of nature, and solving by mathematical principles the general ph\u00e6nomena of the visible creation; and particularly the via lactea ...","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":38378}