Chapter V: Letter THE SECOND (2)

But we are under a kind of Necessity to believe them either Suns or Planets, that is either dark or light Bodies; and since I have shewn the Improbability; nay, I may venture to say, the Impossibility of their being the first, it is natural sure to conclude, that they must be of the last Sort; and I am persuaded, if you but once consider how ridiculous it is to imagine so vast a Number of Bodies, all rolling round a Number of invisible Suns, which must otherwise be the Case, since they are seen on all Sides of ours, and cannot possibly be enlightened by him, or any, how all of them, by any one else, you cannot possibly have any sort of Difficulty in this Determination: But that no Arguments may be wanting to enforce your Belief of what is here concluded, it will not be amiss to put you in Mind of an optical Experiment or two, which cannot fail of convincing you of the vast Probability of what is here asserted of them; and next to a moral Certainty, demonstrate the Truth of what so many of the best Astronomers have advanced, as before namely, that the Stars are all, or most of them, Suns like ours.

Place any concave Lense before your Eye, and you will find all visible Objects will appear through it, as removed to a much greater Distance than they really are at, and reciprocally as much diminished. Now, if you look upon one of these Glasses of a proper Concavity, opposed to the Sun or Moon, you will respectively have the Appearance of a real Star or Planet, the first exhibited by the Body of the Sun, the other by the Moon, and either more or less diminished in Proportion to the Surface of the Sphere the Glass is ground to.

For Example, a double Concave, or Glass of a negative Focus, ground to a Sphere of about three Inches Diameter, will if opposed to the Sun's Disk at a proper Distance from the Eye, help you to a very good Idea how the Sun appears to the Planet _Jupiter_; and if a proper Regard be had to the Distance of the Planet _Saturn_, a Lense still more concave may be formed to give a just Idea of the Sun's Appearance to _Saturn_. Again, one much more concave than the former, proportioned to the Orbit of _Mars_, will naturally exhibit the solar Body, as seen from that Planet.

To the Planet _Venus_ and _Mercury_, the Sun appearing much larger than to us at the Earth, to have any tolerable Notion of his varied Phænomena to them, it will be necessary to procure Glasses of a suitable Convexity, ground to reciprocal Concaves, which may easily be done to any Focus, so as to shew how the Sun, naturally appears to the Inhabitants of those two Planets.

The various Appearances of the Planets themselves to us at the Earth, may also well enough be had, if through Glasses analagous to their respective Distance and Magnitude, we look at the Moon, particularly all the Phases of _Venus_, and even of _Mercury_, and the Gibosity of _Mars_, &_c._ may be justly and beautifully represented at different Ages of the Moon, as those Planets appear through the largest and best Telescopes.

This Way you may convince even your Friend * * *, who you tell me has reasoned all his Senses useless, and yet continues so great an Atheist in Astronomy, as not to believe the World turns round upon its Axis, though he gives no better Reason for it than that of his not being giddy.

After all these Arguments, I hope no new Difficulties will arise to retard your Belief, or deprive the Stars of their solar Nature, so justly due to them: This Point gained, the next Thing to be considered is, whether all those glorious Bodies, the far greater Part of whom being invisible to the naked Eye, were made purely and purposely for the sole Use of this diminitive World, our little trifling Earth.

----Men, conceited Lords of all,
Walk proudly o'er this pendent Ball,
Fond of their little Spot below,
Nor greater Beings care to know,
_But think those Worlds, which deck the Skies,
Were only form'd to please their Eyes_.
Duck.

The very Supposition not only implies a profound Ignorance of the Divine Attributes, but is as impious, and full of Vanity, as it is erroneous and absurd, and even a Blindness sufficient of itself, were there no other Cause for it, to introduce Idolatry in the Minds of Mortals, by sinking the divine Nature so near to the human.

It being granted that the Stars are all of the same Kind, I think it may be agreed, that what we evince of any one may be allowed to be true of any other, and consequently of all the rest. This _Postulata_ gained, I shall next proceed to enquire what the real Use and Design of so many radiant Bodies are, or may be made for.

The Sun we have justly reduced to the State of a Star, why then in Reason should he have his attendant Planets round him, more than any of the rest, his undoubted Equals? No Shadow even of a Reason can be given for such an Absurdity.

May we not with the greatest Confidence imagine, that Nature as justly abhors a _Vacuum_ in Place, as much as Virtue does in Time? Surely yes: And by supposing the Infinity of Stars, all centers to as many Systems of innumerable Worlds, all alike unknown to us; how naturally do we open to ourselves a vast Field of Probation, and an endless Scene of Hope to ground our Expectation of an _ever_-future Happiness upon, suitable to the native Dignity of the awful Mind, which made and comprehends it; and whose Works are all as the Business of an Eternity?

If the Stars were ordained merely for the Use of us, why so much Extravagance and Ostentation in their Number, Nature, and Make? For a much less Quantity, and smaller Bodies, placed nearer to us, would every Way answer the vain End we put them to; and besides, in all Things else, Nature is most frugal, and takes the nearest Way, through all her Works, to operate and effect the Will of God. It scarce can be reckoned more irrational, to suppose Animals with Eyes, destined to live in eternal Darkness, or without Eyes to live in perpetual Day, than to imagine Space illuminated, where there is nothing to be acted upon, or brought to Light; therefore we may justly suppose, that so many radiant Bodies were not created barely to enlighten an infinite Void, but to make their much more numerous Attendants visible; and instead of discovering a vast unbounded desolate Negation of Beings, display an infinite shapeless Universe, crowded with Myriads of glorious Worlds, all variously revolving round them; and which form an Atom, to an indefinite Creation, with an inconceivable Variety of Beings and States, animate and fill the endless Orb of Immensity.

That the sidereal Planets are not visible to us, can be no Objection to their actual Existence, and being there, is plain from this; it is well known, that the Stars themselves, which are their Central, and only radiant Bodies, are little more to us at the Earth, than mathematical Points. How ridiculous then is it to expect, that any of their small opaque Attendance, should ever be perceived so far as the Earth by us; and besides, to show the Impossibility of such a Discovery, we need only consider, what is, and what is not to be expected, or known in our own home System. All the Planets in this our sensible Region, every Astronomer knows, is far from being visible to one another, in every individual Sphere; for to an Eye at the Orb of _Saturn_, this Earth we live upon, which requires Years to circumscribe, and Ages to be made acquainted with, and is far from being yet all known, cannot possibly from the above Planet be seen: And further, since _Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, two of the most material and considerable Globes we know of, except the Sun himself, are Bodies apparently of the same kind, and are observed to have each a Number of lesser Planets moving round them; why may we not expect with equal Certainty and Propriety, that all other Bodies, under the same Circumstances, are in like manner attended; that is, seeing the Sun is found to be the Center of a System of Bodies, all variously volving round him? where lies the Improbability of his fellow Luminaries, the Stars, being surrounded in like sort, with more or less of such Attendance.

I shall offer but one Thing more to your Consideration in this Affair, and which I am in great Hopes will be sufficient to make you think these natural Suggestions a good deal more than probable, and that is this:

The modern Astronomers having, in a great measure, proved that the Stars are, in all respects, vast Globes of Fire like our Sun. Let us suppose a new-created Mind, or thinking Being, in a profound State of Ignorance, with regard to the Nature of all external Objects, but fully endowed with every human Sense and Force of Reason, suspended in Æther, exactly in the midway, betwixt [T]_Syrius_ and the Sun; in which Case, both of these Luminaries would equally appear much about the Brightness of the largest of our Planets. Now should such a Being, determined either by Accident or Choice, arrive at this our System of the Sun, and seeing all the planetary Bodies moving round him, I would ask you what you think he would imagine to be round _Syrius_? Your Answer, I think I may venture to say, would not be _nothing_; and methinks I already hear you say, Why Planets such as ours.

[Footnote T: A Star of the first Magnitude in the greater _Dog_, and the most neighbouring to our Sun.]

PLATE XI.

Is designed as a geometrical Scale to all the primary Parts of the visible Creation, with regard to the Distance of Orbits compared with the Globe of the Sun; by which at once may be conceived, and justly measured in the Mind, not only the mean Distance of the Planets with regard to one another, but also that of the Comets, and even the comparative Distances of the nearest of the Stars, which will, I guess, greatly help you to form an Idea of the vast Extent of Space necessary to comprehend the whole Creation.

_Fig._ 1. Is a Radius of the Orbit of _Mercury_, in true Proportion to the Body of the Sun represented at S, shewing at the same time a small Portion of the opaque Planet's Orbit, and the real Length of its Shadow at P.

_Fig._ 2. Is a Radius of the whole System of the Planets as far as the Orbit of _Saturn_ in Proportion to a compleat Orbit of _Mercury_, much less than the former; the former serving as a better known Scale to consider the amazing Distances of the more remote Planets by.

Lastly, _Fig._ 3. Is a Representation of the least possible Distance of _Syrius_ and the Sun, proportionable to the Magnitude of the Sphere of our Comets, &_c._ represented at S, whereby it evidently appears, that as all the Planets of _Syrius_ must be included within the small Sphere represented in the Center P, none of them could possibly be seen at the Sun, not only by reason of the Smallness of the Angle of Sustension, or Elongation, but also as being lost in the superior Light of _Syrius_ himself, in so minute an Orb of Vicinity.

Consequently (as you must perceive) no Arguments can possibly be drawn to deny the Existence of such Bodies, with any Shew of Reason, from their not having been seen by us.

Here I must observe to you, that you cannot consider this Scale of Orbits too much before you look upon Plate XVII.

To conclude, it evidently seems to be the End and Design of Providence, by this visible Variety of Beings, to lift the Minds of Men above this narrow Earth, in Search of that powerful Being upon which we are all so much dependant; and the _Creator_, no doubt, in this vast Display of his Wisdom and Power, designed the amazing Whole, as the adequate Object of every Part, and as such equally open on all Sides, to the penetrating Progress of human Minds, and through the most extensive Faculty of Sense, the _Sight_, to draw our Reason and Understanding by Degrees, from finite Objects into Infinity; and as the last Result of celestial Contemplations place within our Reach, a certain Evidence of a future State, _and the manifest Mansions of Rewards and Punishments, suited no doubt most equitably to all Degrees of Virtue, and to every Vice_.

"When I consider (says Mr. _Addison_, speaking as having taken particular notice of a fine Evening) that infinite Host of Stars, or to speak more philosophically of Suns, which were then shining upon me, with those innumerable Sets of Planets or Worlds, which were then moving round their respective Suns; when I still enlarge the Idea, and supposed another Heaven of Suns and Worlds rising still above this which we discovered; and these still enlightened by a superior Firmament of Luminaries, which are planted at so great a Distance, that they may appear to the Inhabitants of the former as the Stars do to us; in short, whilst I pursued this Thought, I could not but reflect on that little insignificant Figure which I myself bore amongst the Immensity of God's Works:" This Reflection, I judge, as you are an Admirer of the Author, you will not look upon as impertinent in this Place, especially as it must enforce what I have endeavoured to shew you, namely, the Reasonableness of a Plurality of sidereal Systems, and their Multiplicity of Worlds; which, if you are yet in Doubt of, I hope you will at least forgive so well designed an Attempt with your usual Candour.

I am now prepared to proceed in the chief Design of this Undertaking, which is to solve the Phænomena of the _Via Lactea_; and propose in my next to answer more fully your farther Request.

_I am_, &c.

LETTER the FIFTH.

_Of the Order, Distance, and Multiplicity of the Stars, the_ Via Lactea, _and Extent of the visible Creation_.

_SIR_,

WE are told, and, if I remember right, it is also your Opinion, that three of the finest Sights in Nature, are a rising Sun at Sea, a verdant Landskip with a Rainbow, and a clear Star-light Evening: All of which I have myself often observed with vast Delight and Pleasure. The first I have frequently beheld, and always with an agreeable Surprize; the second I have as often taken notice of, with no small Degree of Admiration; but the last I shall never look up to without an Astonishment, even mixed with a kind of Rapture. The Night you last left us, this admirable Scene was in its full Beauty; and, as _Milton_ says,

Silence was pleas'd: now glow'd the Firmament
With living Saphirs; _Hesperus_ that led
The starry Host rode brightest.----

I found it was impossible to look long upon this stupendious Scene, so full of amazing Objects, and particularly the _Via Lactea_, which (the Moon being absent) was then in great Perfection, without being put in Mind of my Task. This surprizing Zone of Light being the chief Object I have undertaken to treat of and demonstrate.

This amazing Phænomenon which have been the Occasion of so many _Fables_, idle Romances, and ridiculous Opinions amongst the Antients, still continues to be unaccounted for, and even in an Age vain enough to boast Astronomy in its utmost Perfection.

What will you say, if I tell you, it is my Belief we are so far from the real Summit of the Science, that we scarce yet know the Rudiments of what may be expected from it. This luminous Circle has often engrossed my Thoughts, and of late has taken up all my idle Hours; and I am now in great Hopes I have not only at last found out the real Cause of it, but also by the same Hypothesis, which solves this Appearance, shall be able to demonstrate a much more rational Theory of the Creation than hitherto has been any where advanced, and at the same Time give you an intire new Idea of the Universe, or infinite System of Things. This most surprizing Zone of Light, which have employed successively for many Ages past, the wisest Heads amongst the Antients, to no other Purpose than barely to describe it; we find to be a perfect Circle, and nearly bisecting the celestial Sphere, but very irregular in Breadth and Brightness, and in many Places divided into double Streams.

[U]The principal Part of it runs through the _Eagle_, the _Swan_, _Cassiopea_, _Perseus_, and _Auriga_, and continues its Course by the Head of _Monoceros_, along by the greater _Dog_ through the Ship, and underneath the _Centaur's Feet_, till having passed the _Alter_, the _Scorpion's Tail_, and the Bow of _Aquarius_, it ends at last where it begun.

[Footnote U:

----Carried toward the opposed _Bears_,
Its Course close by the _Artick_ Circle steers,
And by inverted _Cassiopea_ tends;
Thence by the _Swan_ obliquely it descends
The Summer Tropick, and _Jove's_ Bird divides;
Then cross the Equator, and the Zodiack glides
'Twixt _Scorpio's_ burning Tail, and the left Part
Of _Sagitarius_, near the fiery Dart;
Then by the other _Centaur's_ Legs and Feet,
Winding remounts the Skies (again to meet)
By _Argos'_ Topsail, and Heav'ns middle Sphere,
Passing the _Twins_, t' o'ertake the Charioteer;
Thence _Cassiopea_ seeking thee does run,
O're _Perseus_ Head, and Ends where it begun.

Sher. Manilius.
]

PLATE XII, and XIII.

Represents the two Hemispheres, where its true Tract is distinguished amongst the principal Stars, and may easily be conceived by them to circumscribe and bisect the whole Heavens.

This is that Phænomena I am about to explain and account for; but before I proceed farther, I judge it will be no _improper Precognita_, to give you the Thoughts of the Antients upon it; the Relation perhaps may require some Patience; but I guess, that after reading such wild and extravagant Notions concerning it, you will naturally judge more favourably of the Conjectures of the Moderns upon it, and particularly of what is concluded in the succeeding Pages.

_Theophrastus_[V] was of Opinion, that the Hemispheres, which, by many of the Antients were imagined to be solid, was joined together here; and that this was the soldering of the two Parts into one. [W]Diodorus thought it celestial Fire, of a dense and compact Nature, seen through the Clifts or Cracks of the parting Hemisphere: But as _Manilius_ says,

Astonishment must sure their Senses reach,
To see the World's wide Wound, and Heav'n's eternal Breach.

[Footnote V: _Macrobius_, lib. i. cap. 15.

Or meets Heaven here! and this while Cloud appears
The Cement of the close-wedg'd Hemispheres!
]

[Footnote W:

The sacred Causes human Breasts enquire,
Whether the heavenly Segments there retire,
The whole Mass shrinking, and the parting Fame
Thro' cleaving Chinks admits the stranger Flame.
]

Oenopides[X] believed it the ancient Way of the Sun, till frighted at the bloody Banquet of _Thyestis_. [Y]Eratosthenes supposed it _Juno's_ Milk, spilt whilst giving Suck to _Hercules_. [Z]Plutarch makes it the Effect of _Phaeton's_ confused Erratication; but I think it is plain [AA]Ovid judged them to be Stars, and the ancient _Ethnicks_ believed them to be the blissful Seats of valiant and heroic Souls.

----Valiant Souls, freed from corporeal Gives,
Thither repair, and lead æthereal Lives.

Manilius.

[Footnote X:

Or seems that old Opinion of more Sway,
That the Sun's Horses here once run astray,
And a new Path mark'd in their straggling Flight,
Of scorching Skies, and Stars adusted Light.
]

[Footnote Y:

Nor must that gentle Rumour be supprest,
How Milk once flowing from fair _Juno's_ Breast
Stain'd the celestial Pavement, from whence came
This milky Path, its Cause shewn in its Name.
]

[Footnote Z:

When from the hurried Chariot Light'ning fled,
And scatter'd blazes all the Skies o'erspread;
By whose Approach new Stars enkindled were,
Which still as Marks of that sad Chance appear.

Manilius.
]

[Footnote AA:

A Way there is in Heaven's expanded Plain
Which when the Skies are clear, is seen below,
And Mortals by the Name of _Milky_, know,
The Ground-work is of Stars----

_Ovid's_ Met. lib. i.
]

But [AB]Democritus long ago believed them to be an infinite Number of small Stars; and such of late Years they have been discovered to be, first by _Gallaleo_, next by _Keplar_, and now confirmed by all modern Astronomers, who have ever had an Opportunity of seeing them through a good Telescope.

[Footnote AB: _Plutarch (in Placitis Philosoph.)_]

PLATE XIV.

Is from an Observation I made myself, of a bright Part of this Zone near the Feet of _Antinous_; which, (by a Mistake of the Engraver) is, as it appears through a Tube of two convex Glasses. I saw it through a very good Reflector, and formed the Plan by a Combination of Triangles.

_Milton_ takes notice of this Zone in a most beautiful Manner, where he describes the Creator's Return from his six Day's Work to Heaven, he introduces it as a Simile to express his Idea of the eternal Way, or Road to the celestial Mansions.

----A broad and ample Road, whose Dust is Gold
And Pavement Stars, as Stars to thee appear,
Seen in the _Galaxie_, that Milky Way,
Which nightly as a circling Zone thou seest
Powder'd with Stars.

But to infer from their Appearance only, that they are really Stars, without considering their Nature and Distance; and that nothing but Stars could possibly produce such an Effect, may perhaps be assuming too much, when we have nothing but the bare Credit of the _Belgic_ Glasses to support our Conjectures; and although this may be sufficient for any Mathematician, yet for your greater Satisfaction, I have thought proper to give two or three more evincing Arguments, to confirm these important Discoveries. _Democritus_, as I have said before, believed them to be Stars long before Astronomy reaped any Benefit from the improved Sciences of Optics; and saw, as we may say, through the Eye of Reason, full as far into Infinity as the most able Astronomers in more advantageous Times have done since, even assisted with their best Glasses: And his Conjectures are almost as old as the philolaic System of the Planets itself; the Construction of which, though attempted by many, none have ever yet been able to confute.

The Light which naturally flows from this Crowd of radiant Bodies is mixt and confused, chiefly occasioned by the Agitation of our Atmosphere, and from a Union of their Rays of Light, by a too near Proximity of their Beams, altogether they appear like a River of Milk, but more of a pelucid Nature, running all round the starry Regions.

For in the azure Skies its candid Way
Shines like the dawning Morn, or closing Day.

There are also many more such luminous Spaces to be found in the Heavens of the same Nature with these, which we know to be Stars; in particular the _Nebulæ_, or cloudy Star in the _Præsepe_ of 36; a cloudy Star in _Orion_ of 21; [AC]a cloudy [AD]Knot not far from this in the same Asterism of 80; in one Degree of the same Constellation 500, and in the whole Form above [AE]2000. All of which are great Confirmations of the Truth of our Assertion, _i. e._ that this Zone of Light proceeds from an infinite Number of small Stars. Here it will not be amiss to observe, that it has been conjectured, and is strongly suspected, that a proper Number of Rays, meeting from different Directions, become Flame; and that hence it may prove not the Sun's real Body which we daily see, but only his inflamed Atmosphere. I begin to be of Opinion, and I think not without Reason, that the true Magnitude of the Sun is not near what the modern Astronomers have made it; and that it may not possibly be much above two Thirds of what it appears to us; I don't mean that this Expansion of the solar Flame is any Part of that dilated Light mentioned by Sir _Isaac Newton_, and conceived to be round all light Bodies in general; but you may consider it as not much differing from it, not of an unlike Nature, only greater in Degree, and peculiar to the Sun and Stars, who are all, as has been before in a manner demonstrated to be actually Globes of Fire.

[Footnote AC: Vide _Galilæo_]

[Footnote AD: Betwixt the Sword and Girdle of _Orion_.]

[Footnote AE: Vide _Reitha_.]

This, tho' I presume to call it at present only meer Hypothesis, will in a great measure account for the excessive Changes in the Constitution of our Air and Atmosphere, which we often find very unnatural to the Season; also be a Means perhaps of reconciling the vast Disproportion so very remarkable betwixt the Sun and the lesser Planets, and many other Circumstances in the System of no small Consequence in Astronomy: One of which Particulars you have frequently expressed a great Mistrust and Disapprobation of, as suspecting some kind of a Fallacy in the Computation; and the other is Matter of general Complaint, being by many attributed to a Change in the Direction of the Earth's Axis[AF]; and by some, especially the Vulgar, to too near an Approximation of the Earth to some one of the celestial Bodies. But all this will very naturally be accounted for by the Levity, or expanding Quality of the Sun's circumambient Flame, or Atmosphere; and hence, according to its various State, being more condensed, or rare, we may have Heat or Cold in the greatest Extream, and alternately so, in a perpetual Vicissitude.

[Footnote AF: Which, through Ignorance of the true Case, is commonly called a Shock, a Brush, or Shove.]

The Truth of this Doctrine will evidently appear from the Observations of the Sun's Diameter through the Year 1660, by the indefatigable _Mouton_: And, I must own, I am not a little surprized to find that no Conclusions have been drawn from them of this Kind. I am perswaded, if you once compare those Numbers, you will be very far from thinking this an improbable Suggestion. But this Digression has led me a little too far from the _Via Lactea_, and too near home again; I must now think of returning to the Stars, and my next Endeavours must be to give you some Idea of the Number of them. Through very good Telescopes there have been discovered in many Parts of this enlightened Space, and even out of it, several thousand Stars in the Compass of one square Degree; in particular near the Sword of _Perseus_, and in the Constellations of [AG]_Taurus_ and _Orion_.

[Footnote AG: _Galilæo_ in one cloudy Star of this Constellation, discovered no less than twenty-one, and in that of the _Præsepe_ thirty-six.]

PLATE XV.

Represents the _Pleides_, a well known Knot of Stars in the Sign _Taurus_, as they appeared to me thro' a one Foot reflecting Telescope: And _Plate_ XVI. is a View of the _Persides_, another surprizing Knot of Stars in the Constellation _Perseus_, exactly as they appear through a Tube of two convex Glasses. There are also other luminous Spaces in the starry Regions, not unlike the Milky Way, which I have had no Opportunity of observing; such as the _Nebeculæ_, near the South Pole, called by the Seamen _Magellanic_ Clouds; and which likewise viewed through Telescopes, present us with little _Nebulæ_, and small Stars interspersed: One of these Kind is situated between _Hydrus_ and _Dorado_; and another, something less than this, betwixt _Hydrus_ and the _Toucan_.

Now admitting the Breadth of the _Via Lactea_ to be at a Mean but nine Degrees, and supposing only twelve hundred Stars in every square Degree, there will be nearly in the whole orbicular Area 3,888,000 Stars, and all these in a very minute Portion of the great Expanse of Heaven. What! a vast Idea of endless Beings must this produce and generate in our Minds; and when we consider them all as flaming Suns, Progenitors, and _Primum Mobiles_ of a still much greater Number of peopled Worlds, what less than an Infinity can circumscribe them, less than an Eternity comprehend them, or less than Omnipotence produce and support them, and where can our Wonder cease?

In this Place perhaps I ought not to pass over the astonishing Phenomenon of several new Stars, _&c._ which have frequently appeared, and soon again vanished, in the same Point of the Heavens. But as the Business of this Theory is rather to solve the general, than any particular Phænomenon, I shall only here by way of Note subjoin a Table of such as has been regularly observed, and by whom they were first discovered.

_A Table of several new Stars_, Nebulæ, _and double Stars_, &c.

_Nomina Stellarum._ _Observationum._

_Septima Pleiadum_ { Lost after the burning of _Troy_,
{ but now returned; see
{ _Ricciolus_.

A new Star appeared in _Cassiopea_, } _Anno Dom._ 945, bright as
nearly in the same Place with that } _Jupiter_; see _Ricciolus_.
of 1572.

The new Star in _Cassiopea's_ Chair. { Bright as _Venus_, from _November_
{ 1572 to _March_ 1574.

{ Of the 3d Magnitude, is said to
A new Star in _Collo Ceti_. { have appear'd periodically, seven
{ Times in six Years, _i. e._ every
{ three hundred and thirteen Days:
{ It was first observed in _August_
{ 1596, for two Months, by _D.
{ Fabricius_.

{ Observed by _Kepler_ in 1600, of
A new Star in the Swan's Neck. { the third Magnitude, till the Year
{ 1659; then gradually decreasing;
{ in 1661 it disappeared; in 1666
{ it became visible again, and is
{ yet to be seen of the sixth
{ Magnitude.

A new Star in the Right Foot of { Bright as _Venus_ from _October_
_Serpentarius_, { 1604 to _October_ 1605: see
{ _Kepler_.

A new Star in _Andromeda's_ Girdle, { Seen by _Simon Marius_ and
{ _Fabricius_, _Anno_ 1612.

A new Star in _Antinous_, { Seen by _Justus Byrgius_.

{ In 1638, by _John Procyclides
A new Star seen in the Whale, { Holuarda_, of the third Magnitude,
{ which disappeared periodically,
{ every three hundred and thirty
{ Days.

{ Of the third Magnitude, seen by
A new Star in the Fox's Head, { _Hevelius_ in _July_ 1670, and
{ till _August_ 1671, also from
{ _March_ 1672 to _September_ 1672.

{ This appear'd periodically every
A new Star in the Swan's Neck. { four hundred and four Days, and
{ about six Months at a Time; it
{ was seen at its brightest,
{ _September_ 10, 1714.

_Of the_ Nebulæ, _or Cloudy Stars_.

_Nebulose_ in _Orion's_ Sword.
_Nebulose_ in _Andromeda's_ Girdle.
_Nebulose_ in the Bow of _Sagitarius_, Small, but very luminous.
_Nebulose_ in _Centaurus_, Never seen in _England_.
A _Nebulose_ preceding the right Foot } Obscure, but with a Star in the
of _Antinous_, } Middle of it.
_Nebulæ_ in _Dorso Herculis_, Discovered by Dr. _Hally_.

Besides the _Nebulæ_, and new Stars, it appears from the
ancient Catalogues of _Hevelius_, &c. that some of the old ones
have intirely vanished; in particular, one in the left Thigh
of _Aquarius_, the contiguous one preceding in the Tail of
_Capricorn_; the second on the Belly of the Whale; the first of the
unformed ones after the Scales of _Libra_, and several others. Many
of the Stars also appear to be double, as the first Star of _Aries_
and _Castor_; others triple, as one in the _Pleiades_; and the
middle one in _Orion's_ Sabre; and others again, quadruple, _&c._

I would now willingly help you to conceive the indefinite mutual Distance of the Stars, in order to give you some small Notion of the Immensity of Space; but as this will be a Task merely conjectural, I shall only desire you to believe it as far as your Reason will carry you, safely supported by an obvious Probability.

Perhaps it may be necessary here to acquaint you, that all the Stars are so far apparently of different Magnitudes, that no two of them are to be found in the whole Heavens exactly the same, either in Bigness or Brightness[AH]. The largest we have sufficient Reason to believe is the nearest to us; the next in Bigness and Brightness more remote; and so on to the least we see, which we judge to be the most remote of all.

The first Degree, or that of the largest Magnitude, we give to Syrius, the second to Arcturus, the third to Aldebaran, the fourth to Lyra, the fifth to Capella, the sixth to Regulus, the seventh to Rigel, the eighth to Fomahaunt, and the ninth to Antarus: These are all said to be of the first Class; and besides which, there are at least, within the Reach of our latest improved Opticks, nine more Denominations within the Radius of the visible Creation.

[Footnote AH: A very little Knowledge in Opticks will render this indisputable, and has been in a great measure demonstrated before; 1. in the Great Dog; 2. in Bootes; 3. in the Bull; 4. in the Harp of _Apollo_; 5. in _Auriga_; 6. in the Lion; 7. in _Orion_; 8. in the Southern Fish; 9. at the End of _Erridanus_.]

Now, by the certain Return of the Comets, which we find are all governed by the Laws of this System, and supposed to be undisturbed by any of the others, we cannot avoid concluding, if we consider them at all to the Purpose, that the nearest Stars cannot be less distant than twice the Radius of the greatest Orbit belonging to the Sun. Most Mathematicians think this a great deal too near, as it must of course make all the Systems join, as in Contact; and I think we may safely add, to separate their Spheres of Attraction, at least one Half of this Distance more, which will make in the Whole about four hundred and twenty Semi-orbits of the Earth, or 33,600,000,000 Miles. This even the ingenious Mr. _Huygins_ endeavours to prove still much too little, and his Arguments are such as cannot easily be refuted. His Principle is grounded upon the known Laws of Analogy, as considered in the Proportion of light Surfaces, and is as follows. Having reduced the Sun's Disk to the Appearance of the Star Syrius, by the Help of a small Hole at the End of his Telescope, and comparing this Part of his Surface to the whole Disk of the Sun, he infers that the Stars Distance to that of the Sun must be as 27,664 to 1. Hence _Syrius_ from us will be nearly (avoiding Units) 2,213,120,000,000 Miles: But this I take to be as much too large as the former is too little; yet, as Mr. _Bradley_ has, with some Shew of Reason, banished all the Stars out of the Sphere of Parallax, the last is the only Method we can possibly make use of with any kind of Confidence; and Sir _Isaac Newton_ endeavours to recommend it with great Force of Argument, as the only probable Means by which we can give any tolerable Guess at these immense Measurements of Space.

To moderate the Matter then if you please, allow me but to make use of a Mean betwixt the two fore-mentioned Numbers; and we may take it for granted, a Distance sufficiently exact, to suit all our Wants in the present Case, namely, to give a very tolerable Idea of the Extent of the visible Creation, which is all I propose in this Place to attempt; but I mean to be much more exact in another.

Now as the Distance from the Sun to the Earth is so small in Proportion to the Distance of the Stars from us, and from one another, we may very well consider the Sun as the Center of our Station, or Position in the general System or Frame of Nature. And as the Stars are very visible thro' good Telescopes, to the ninth or tenth Magnitude, if we multiply the primary Distance of _Syrius_, or of any other of his Class, by this Number of common intermediate Spaces, the Product will be equal to the Radius of the visible Creation to the solar Eye; which, by this Rule, you will find in capital Numbers to be [AI]nearly 6,000,000,000,000 Miles, taking in a Star of the sixth Magnitude, and to a Star of the ninth, 9,000,000,000,000 Miles: But this Computation supposes a mean common Distance of the Stars in a sort of Syzygia, or Direction of a Right Line, which is not the real Case; for the Stars cannot be supposed to diminish in a proportional Magnitude by any mathematical _Ratio_, but by some geometrical, or rather musical one; for Instance, if the Distance of a first be 3, that of a second should be about 5, and of a proportional Third 8,333, _&c. ad infinitum_: But as their true proportional Distance is unknown, the above will be sufficient for our present Purpose; which is only to shew, without Exaggeration, the Space we now are truly sensible of.

[Footnote AI: If the Distance of the Sun and Earth is found too much, which I must own I have a violent Suspicion of, these Numbers must be reduced in like Proportion.]

This I have here considered more extensively, to obviate all Objections that you may make to the Probability of the general Motion of the Stars, by shewing no Difficulty can possibly arise from their apparent Proximity, Number, or irregular Distribution: Their Distances being so immensely large, no Disorder or Confusion can be supposed in any Direction of them, or Motion whatever. The greatest Distance of the Planets, which all move undisturbed round the Sun, is about three hundred and fifty-three Million of Miles: But the least Distance of one Star from another, is upwards of two thousand eight hundred and thirty-two Times that Distance, or one Million of Millions of Miles: And as no sensible Disorder can be observed amongst the solar Planets, what Reason have we to suppose any can be occasioned amongst the Stars, or that a general Motion of these primary Luminaries round a common Center, should be any way irrational, or unnatural?

What an amazing Scene does this display to us! what inconceivable Vastness and Magnificence of Power does such a Frame unfold! Suns crowding upon Suns, to our weak Sense, indefinitely distant from each other; and Miriads of Miriads of Mansions, like our own, peopling Infinity, all subject to the same Creator's Will; a Universe of Worlds, all deck'd with Mountains, Lakes, and Seas, Herbs, Animals, and Rivers, Rocks, Caves, and Trees; and all the Produce of indulgent Wisdom, to chear Infinity with endless Beings, to whom his Omnipotence may give a variegated eternal Life.

The astonishing Distance of the starry Mansions undoubtedly was design'd to answer some wise End: One Consequence is this, and probably is not without its Use: To every Planet of the same System, the same sidereal Face of Heaven appears without the least Degree of Change; and as the remotest Regions upon Earth see the same Moon and Planets, so also the Inhabitants of the most distant Planets in ours, or in any other System, see the same Forms and Order of the Stars in common with the rest. The whole Sphere of Heaven being common and unchangeable through all their various Revolutions.

Thus those (the People) in the Planet _Venus_ will see the Constellation of _Orion_ just as we do, and the People in the Planet _Saturn_, much farther still removed, alike will view this Constellation in all respects the same; here then, (in the System of the Sun) the Eye removed from us must only hope to find a new Earth surrounded with the same sort of Sky: But Beings in another System, behold not only a new Heaven above, but also new Earths below; and all the Frame of Nature to them puts on a new Dress, new Signs, new Seasons, and new Planets roll, and a new Sun renews the Day.

The Heathen Fables here are all erased with all the Immortality of their vain earthly Gods and Heroes; _Perseus_ and _Alcides_ are no more, and both the _Bears_ are vanished; the _Pleiades_ and the _Hyads_ join, and shining Leo, though boasting two Stars of the first Magnitude with us, there no where can be found, lost in the common undistinguished Herd. But still Astronomy will exist, and new-framed Forms may fill the varied Scene.

Perhaps you may expect that I should here give you my Conjectures of what sort of Beings may be supposed to reside in the _Ens Primum_, or _Sedes Beatorum_ of the known Universe, whether mortal, immortal, or Creatures partaking in some Degree of the Properties of both; as such may be conceiv'd to change their Natures and States, without a total Dissolution of their Senses by Death: And farther, it may possibly be judged unpardonable in me not to point out every blessed Abode, suited to the Virtues, and all the various States an immortal Soul may be translated to; but this is a Task above the human Capacity, or is the pure Province of Religion alone; the Business of a Revelation rather than Reason to discover. Besides, it is enough for the present Purpose, to prove, that Miriads of celestial Mansions, are to be discovered within our finite View, and by a kind of ocular Revelation, which visibly extends the human Prospect, as it were, far beyond the Grave. It matters not whether a Race of Heroes fill these Worlds, or a Tribe of happy Lovers people those; whether a Peasant in the Realms of Orion shall ever become a Prince in the Regions of _Arcturus_, or a Patriarch in _Procion_, a Prophet in the _Precepæ_. Not to mention all the Stages human Nature may, or have been destined to in any one World, as believ'd by the ancient Philosophers, besides the final Coalition of all Beings much more naturally to be expected in the _Sedes Beatorum_.

I say, whatever our Case may be with regard to these _Queries_ and Futurity, the Plan and Principles of this Theory will not be at all changed by it, since what it is chiefly founded upon may be clearly demonstrated, so clearly and incontestably, that, with the Reverend Dr. _Young_, we may justly conclude,

Devotion! Daughter of Astronomy!

and affirm with him also, That,

An indevout Astronomer is mad.

But I find what I at first proposed will prove too long for this Letter. However, I will endeavour to reward your Patience in my next, and continue, &_c._

LETTER the SIXTH.

_Of General Motion amongst the Stars, the Plurality of Systems, and Innumerability of Worlds._

_SIR_,

Since my last, you'll find by this, speaking in the Stile of _Kercher_, that I have been very far from home, round almost the visible Creation. I have indeed applied myself very closely to transcribe my Thoughts to you upon the old Subject the _Milky Way_, which my former Letter left imperfected. To return then to the Theory of the Stars, and that yet unreconciled Phænomenon; let us reason a little upon the visible Order of the Stars in general, and see what Conclusions can be drawn from what every Astronomer knows of them, and cannot be disputed.

First then, that the Stars are not infinitely dispersed and distributed in a promiscuous Manner throughout all the mundane Space, without Order or Design, is evident beyond a Doubt from this vast collective Body of Light, since no such Phænomenon could possibly be produced by Chance, or exhibited without a designed Disposition of its constituent Bodies.

If any regular Order of the Stars then can be demonstrated that will naturally prove this Phænomenon to be no other than a certain Effect arising from the Observer's Situation, I think you must of course grant such a Solution at least rational, if not the Truth; and this is what I propose by my new Theory.

To a Spectator placed in an indefinite Space, all very remote Objects appear to be equally distant from the Eye; and if we judge of the _Via Lactea_ from Phænomena only, we must of course conclude it a vast Ring of Stars, scattered promiscuously round the celestial Regions in the Direction of a perfect Circle.

But when we consider the explanick Position of many other Stars, all of the same Nature, and not less numerous, together forming the great Sphere of Heaven, we generally find ourselves quite at a Loss how to reconcile the two apparent Classes; and I know none who have ever been successful enough to reduce them to any one general Order.

You'll say probably how shall we make this chaosic Disposition of the primary Luminaries agree with the secondary Laws, and the just Harmony observed in the third [AJ]Creation, &_c._

[Footnote AJ: The Moon, Satellites of _Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, &c.]

The Work now you see is undertaken, and chiefly at your own Request, therefore I have a Right to expect you'll be very indulgent to the Author, and pass over all his Faults, and allow him free Argument in Pursuit of these important Truths, which will in the End open perhaps a much wider Field of Contemplation to us, than at first could be supposed to be intended by the _Genesis_ of _Moses_.

That Description of the Beginning of Nature is not without its Beauty and Nobleness, suitable to the Dignity both of the Author and Subject. But should we even in this knowing Age of the World pretend to account for the Original of Things, as _Moses_ to support his believed divine Legation, was obliged in some measure to do, we should soon be reduced to talk in the same Stile, and perhaps with less Probability, than then at least appeared in his elegant Account of the Origin of the Universe, especially if we do but consider, that what he wrote, was only to the Senses of a People who had not yet learnt to make use of their Reason any other way, but from the Appearance of Things, and upon a Subject too sublime for vulgar Capacities in any Age, and had only been attempted in the deepest Learning of _Egypt_, which, he though well acquainted with, the Generality of them were totally Strangers to.

In the first Place it must be granted, that the Stars being all of the same Nature, are either all moveable, or all fixed, that is all governed by one and the same Principle.

Now to suppose them all fixed, and dispersed in an endless Disorder thro' the infinite Expanse, which has long been the Opinion of many very able Astronomers amongst the Antients, and even now received by too many of the Moderns, implies an Inactivity in those vast and principal Bodies, so much the Reverse of what may be expected, and what we daily observe through all the rest of their Attendants, namely, their own respective Satellites, that we cannot possibly upon any rational Grounds, advance one single Argument to support so much as a Conjecture towards it, without betraying the greatest Simplicity, and next to an Affirmation reduce the whole Frame of Nature, and all corporeal Beings to a wild unmeaning Chance, arising from an unnatural Discord and Confusion.

For upon the Principles of Locality and Materiality, you having allowed me the Use of my Senses and Reason, as absolutely necessary towards conceiving any Idea of our present State, or of Futurity: Upon these Principles I say, unless our Faculties are useless, if there are no other Bodies or Beings in the Universe than what we see, and are now sensible of, we must now at the Height of this our present State, be as near Perfection as we can reasonably expect, and as such ourselves the supreme Beings of all Beings. To what End then do we form Ideas of a succeeding Life, where a more exalted State cannot be hoped for.

How absurd and impious this is I leave to your own Reason and Reflection: This is the fatal Rock upon which all weak Heads and narrow Minds are lost and split upon, consequently ought to be the most carefully avoided, not only as the Nurse of Atheism, but as the dreadful Father of Despair: "For, say they, these unhappy Wretches, to be always the same, is inconsistent with a Change; and to be less than what we are, any where hereafter, is full as difficult to conceive as to be more." Thus, unless we admit of superior Seats and much more glorious Habitations than these we are sensible of, we strike at the very Root of a fair flourishing Tree of Immortality, and must become Authors of our own Despair. I have often wonder'd how thinking Men could possibly fall into so gross an Error, as that of a Spirit's Annihilation; and I should be glad to ask one of those fruitless Students, whether, upon the Evidence of our present Being, it is not much more rational, to hope for a future, than to expect a _Ne plus ultra_ upon no Evidence at all. The Affirmative is certainly much more natural to be conceiv'd than the Negative. But if Chance were the Case, and that Chance produced all these regular and wondrous Works, 'tis to be wished at least, that Chance might do the same again; and if not Chance, of course an eternal Direction: But Chance only can effect Disorder, Discord, and Confusion; _ergo_, the visible Harmony and Beauty of the Creation declare for a Direction; and this must of Consequence, from its perfect Nature, proceed from the Wisdom and Power of an eternal Being, _God of Infinity_, the Author of all Ideas: And if this primitive Power produced us his Creatures from nothing, nothing can be wanting to revive our Frames again; and if from something, that something must remain to establish us in a future Life. But to return, how absurd it is to suppose one Part of the Creation regular, and the other irregular, or a visible circulating Order of Things, to be mixed with Disorder, and circumscribing Part of an endless Confusion, is obvious to the weakest Understanding, and consequently we may reasonably expect, that the _Via Lactea_, which is a manifest Circle amongst the Stars, conspicuous to every Eye, will prove at last the Whole to be together a vast and glorious regular Production of Beings, out of the wondrous Will or Fecundity of the eternal and infinite _one_ self-sufficient Cause; and that all its Irregularities are only such as naturally arise from our excentric View: To demonstrate which absolutely and incontestibly, we shall only want this one _Postulata_ to be granted, _viz._ _That all the Stars are, or may be in Motion_: This, if one may be allowed to judge of the Whole by the Similitude and Government of its Parts, I am perswaded you will think a very reasonable Assumption; but that you may imbibe a good Opinion of this Assumption, and entirely come into this much better to be wished Hypothesis, I would have you consult these following Arguments.

First, it is allowed, as I have endeavoured to shew, by all modern Philosophers, that the Sun and Stars are all of the same or like Nature; consequently, that the Stars are all Suns, and that the Sun himself is a Star.

PLATE XVII.

Represents a kind of perspective View of the visible Creation, wherein A represents the System of our Sun, B, that supposed round _Syrius_, and C, the Region about _Rigel_. The rest is a promiscuous Disposition of all the Variety of other Systems within our finite Vision, as they are supposed to be posited behind one another, in the infinite Space, and round every visible Star. That round every Star then we may justly conjecture a similar System of Bodies, governed by the same Laws and Principles with this our solar one, though to us at the Earth for very good Reasons invisible[AK]. Secondly,

[Footnote AK: _Anaximines_ believed the Stars to be of a fiery Nature; and that there were certain terrestrial Bodies that are not seen by us, carried together round them. _Stob. Ecl. Phys._ cap. 25. _Pythagoras_ affirmed, that every Star is a World, containing Earth, Air, and Æther.]

The Sun is also observed to have a Motion round his own Axis in about twenty-five Days. Now, since all the other [AL] Planets which move in Orbits round him, and are within our Observation, are found to have a like Rotation round their Axis, may we not as reasonably imagine, that that Power which was able to give the Sun a Motion round his Axis, could and would at the same time, with adequate Ease, give him also an orbitular one? and why not, since no progressive Mutability can either take from, or disturb the boundless Property of an Infinity; and besides, seeing to imagine him at rest, is to impose such an unnatural Stagnation upon the eternal Faculty, quite repugnant to that imparable Power which we suppose stands in need of neither Sleep nor Rest?

[Footnote AL: _Saturn_, _Jupiter_, _Mars_, _Venus_, the Earth, Moon, and _Mercury_.]