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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32037-0.txt b/32037-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..41e4bed --- /dev/null +++ b/32037-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5200 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eureka:, by Edgar A. Poe + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Eureka: + A Prose Poem + +Author: Edgar A. Poe + +Release Date: April 18, 2010 [EBook #32037] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EUREKA: *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Bach, Irma Spehar and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + EUREKA: + A PROSE POEM. + + BY + + EDGAR A. POE. + + NEW-YORK: + GEO. P. PUTNAM, + OF LATE FIRM OF “WILEY & PUTNAM,” + 155 BROADWAY. + + MDCCCXLVIII. + + + ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, + BY EDGAR A. POE, + In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the + Southern District of New-York. + + LEAVITT, TROW & CO Prs., + 33 Ann-street. + + + WITH VERY PROFOUND RESPECT, + This Work is Dedicated + TO + ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +To the few who love me and whom I love—to those who feel rather than to +those who think—to the dreamers and those who put faith in dreams as in +the only realities—I offer this Book of Truths, not in its character of +Truth-Teller, but for the Beauty that abounds in its Truth; constituting +it true. To these I present the composition as an Art-Product alone:—let +us say as a Romance; or, if I be not urging too lofty a claim, as a +Poem. + +_What I here propound is true_:—therefore it cannot die:—or if by any +means it be now trodden down so that it die, it will “rise again to the +Life Everlasting.” + +Nevertheless it is as a Poem only that I wish this work to be judged +after I am dead. + +E. A. P. + + + + +EUREKA: + +AN ESSAY ON THE MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE. + + +It is with humility really unassumed—it is with a sentiment even of +awe—that I pen the opening sentence of this work: for of all conceivable +subjects I approach the reader with the most solemn—the most +comprehensive—the most difficult—the most august. + +What terms shall I find sufficiently simple in their +sublimity—sufficiently sublime in their simplicity—for the mere +enunciation of my theme? + +I design to speak of the _Physical, Metaphysical and Mathematical—of the +Material and Spiritual Universe:—of its Essence, its Origin, its +Creation, its Present Condition and its Destiny_. I shall be so rash, +moreover, as to challenge the conclusions, and thus, in effect, to +question the sagacity, of many of the greatest and most justly +reverenced of men. + +In the beginning, let me as distinctly as possible announce—not the +theorem which I hope to demonstrate—for, whatever the mathematicians may +assert, there is, in this world at least, _no such thing_ as +demonstration—but the ruling idea which, throughout this volume, I shall +be continually endeavoring to suggest. + +My general proposition, then, is this:—_In the Original Unity of the +First Thing lies the Secondary Cause of All Things, with the Germ of +their Inevitable Annihilation_. + +In illustration of this idea, I propose to take such a survey of the +Universe that the mind may be able really to receive and to perceive an +individual impression. + +He who from the top of Ætna casts his eyes leisurely around, is affected +chiefly by the _extent_ and _diversity_ of the scene. Only by a rapid +whirling on his heel could he hope to comprehend the panorama in the +sublimity of its _oneness_. But as, on the summit of Ætna, _no_ man has +thought of whirling on his heel, so no man has ever taken into his brain +the full uniqueness of the prospect; and so, again, whatever +considerations lie involved in this uniqueness, have as yet no practical +existence for mankind. + +I do not know a treatise in which a survey of the _Universe_—using the +word in its most comprehensive and only legitimate acceptation—is taken +at all:—and it may be as well here to mention that by the term +“Universe,” wherever employed without qualification in this essay, I +mean to designate _the utmost conceivable expanse of space, with all +things, spiritual and material, that can be imagined to exist within the +compass of that expanse_. In speaking of what is ordinarily implied by +the expression, “Universe,” I shall take a phrase of limitation—“the +Universe of stars.” Why this distinction is considered necessary, will +be seen in the sequel. + +But even of treatises on the really limited, although always assumed as +the _un_limited, Universe of _stars_, I know none in which a survey, +even of this limited Universe, is so taken as to warrant deductions from +its _individuality_. The nearest approach to such a work is made in the +“Cosmos” of Alexander Von Humboldt. He presents the subject, however, +_not_ in its individuality but in its generality. His theme, in its last +result, is the law of _each_ portion of the merely physical Universe, as +this law is related to the laws of _every other_ portion of this merely +physical Universe. His design is simply synœretical. In a word, he +discusses the universality of material relation, and discloses to the +eye of Philosophy whatever inferences have hitherto lain hidden _behind_ +this universality. But however admirable be the succinctness with which +he has treated each particular point of his topic, the mere multiplicity +of these points occasions, necessarily, an amount of detail, and thus an +involution of idea, which precludes all _individuality_ of impression. + +It seems to me that, in aiming at this latter effect, and, through it, +at the consequences—the conclusions—the suggestions—the speculations—or, +if nothing better offer itself the mere guesses which may result from +it—we require something like a mental gyration on the heel. We need so +rapid a revolution of all things about the central point of sight that, +while the minutiæ vanish altogether, even the more conspicuous objects +become blended into one. Among the vanishing minutiæ, in a survey of +this kind, would be all exclusively terrestrial matters. The Earth would +be considered in its planetary relations alone. A man, in this view, +becomes mankind; mankind a member of the cosmical family of +Intelligences. + +And now, before proceeding to our subject proper, let me beg the +reader’s attention to an extract or two from a somewhat remarkable +letter, which appears to have been found corked in a bottle and floating +on the _Mare Tenebrarum_—an ocean well described by the Nubian +geographer, Ptolemy Hephestion, but little frequented in modern days +unless by the Transcendentalists and some other divers for crotchets. +The date of this letter, I confess, surprises me even more particularly +than its contents; for it seems to have been written in the year _two_ +thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. As for the passages I am about +to transcribe, they, I fancy, will speak for themselves. + +“Do you know, my dear friend,” says the writer, addressing, no doubt, a +contemporary—“Do you know that it is scarcely more than eight or nine +hundred years ago since the metaphysicians first consented to relieve +the people of the singular fancy that there exist _but two practicable +roads to Truth_? Believe it if you can! It appears, however, that long, +long ago, in the night of Time, there lived a Turkish philosopher called +Aries and surnamed Tottle.” [Here, possibly, the letter-writer means +Aristotle; the best names are wretchedly corrupted in two or three +thousand years.] “The fame of this great man depended mainly upon his +demonstration that sneezing is a natural provision, by means of which +over-profound thinkers are enabled to expel superfluous ideas through +the nose; but he obtained a scarcely less valuable celebrity as the +founder, or at all events as the principal propagator, of what was +termed the _de_ductive or _à priori_ philosophy. He started with what he +maintained to be axioms, or self-evident truths:—and the now well +understood fact that _no_ truths are _self_-evident, really does not +make in the slightest degree against his speculations:—it was sufficient +for his purpose that the truths in question were evident at all. From +axioms he proceeded, logically, to results. His most illustrious +disciples were one Tuclid, a geometrician,” [meaning Euclid] “and one +Kant, a Dutchman, the originator of that species of Transcendentalism +which, with the change merely of a C for a K, now bears his peculiar +name. + +“Well, Aries Tottle flourished supreme, until the advent of one Hog, +surnamed ‘the Ettrick shepherd,’ who preached an entirely different +system, which he called the _à posteriori_ or _in_ductive. His plan +referred altogether to sensation. He proceeded by observing, analyzing, +and classifying facts—_instantiæ Naturæ_, as they were somewhat +affectedly called—and arranging them into general laws. In a word, while +the mode of Aries rested on _noumena_, that of Hog depended on +_phenomena_; and so great was the admiration excited by this latter +system that, at its first introduction, Aries fell into general +disrepute. Finally, however, he recovered ground, and was permitted to +divide the empire of Philosophy with his more modern rival:—the savans +contenting themselves with proscribing all _other_ competitors, past, +present, and to come; putting an end to all controversy on the topic by +the promulgation of a Median law, to the effect that the Aristotelian +and Baconian roads are, and of right ought to be, the solo possible +avenues to knowledge:—‘Baconian,’ you must know, my dear friend,” adds +the letter-writer at this point, “was an adjective invented as +equivalent to Hog-ian, and at the same time more dignified and +euphonious. + +“Now I do assure you most positively”—proceeds the epistle—“that I +represent these matters fairly; and you can easily understand how +restrictions so absurd on their very face must have operated, in those +days, to retard the progress of true Science, which makes its most +important advances—as all History will show—by seemingly intuitive +_leaps_. These ancient ideas confined investigation to crawling; and I +need not suggest to you that crawling, among varieties of locomotion, is +a very capital thing of its kind;—but because the tortoise is sure of +foot, for this reason must we clip the wings of the eagles? For many +centuries, so great was the infatuation, about Hog especially, that a +virtual stop was put to all thinking, properly so called. No man dared +utter a truth for which he felt himself indebted to his soul alone. It +mattered not whether the truth was even demonstrably such; for the +dogmatizing philosophers of that epoch regarded only _the road_ by which +it professed to have been attained. The end, with them, was a point of +no moment, whatever:—‘the means!’ they vociferated—‘let us look at the +means!’—and if, on scrutiny of the means, it was found to come neither +under the category Hog, nor under the category Aries (which means ram), +why then the savans went no farther, but, calling the thinker a fool +and branding him a ‘theorist,’ would never, thenceforward, have any +thing to do either with _him_ or with his truths. + +“Now, my dear friend,” continues the letter-writer, “it cannot be +maintained that by the crawling system, exclusively adopted, men would +arrive at the maximum amount of truth, even in any long series of ages; +for the repression of imagination was an evil not to be counterbalanced +even by _absolute_ certainty in the snail processes. But their certainty +was very far from absolute. The error of our progenitors was quite +analogous with that of the wiseacre who fancies he must necessarily see +an object the more distinctly, the more closely he holds it to his eyes. +They blinded themselves, too, with the impalpable, titillating Scotch +snuff of _detail_; and thus the boasted facts of the Hog-ites were by no +means always facts—a point of little importance but for the assumption +that they always _were_. The vital taint, however, in Baconianism—its +most lamentable fount of error—lay in its tendency to throw power and +consideration into the hands of merely perceptive men—of those +inter-Tritonic minnows, the microscopical savans—the diggers and pedlers +of minute _facts_, for the most part in physical science—facts all of +which they retailed at the same price upon the highway; their value +depending, it was supposed, simply upon the _fact of their fact_, +without reference to their applicability or inapplicability in the +development of those ultimate and only legitimate facts, called Law. + +“Than the persons”—the letter goes on to say—“Than the persons thus +suddenly elevated by the Hog-ian philosophy into a station for which +they were unfitted—thus transferred from the sculleries into the parlors +of Science—from its pantries into its pulpits—than these individuals a +more intolerant—a more intolerable set of bigots and tyrants never +existed on the face of the earth. Their creed, their text and their +sermon were, alike, the one word ‘_fact_’—but, for the most part, even +of this one word, they knew not even the meaning. On those who ventured +to _disturb_ their facts with the view of putting them in order and to +use, the disciples of Hog had no mercy whatever. All attempts at +generalization were met at once by the words ‘theoretical,’ ‘theory,’ +‘theorist’—all _thought_, to be brief, was very properly resented as a +personal affront to themselves. Cultivating the natural sciences to the +exclusion of Metaphysics, the Mathematics, and Logic, many of these +Bacon-engendered philosophers—one-idead, one-sided and lame of a +leg—were more wretchedly helpless—more miserably ignorant, in view of +all the comprehensible objects of knowledge, than the veriest unlettered +hind who proves that he knows something at least, in admitting that he +knows absolutely nothing. + +“Nor had our forefathers any better right to talk about _certainty_, +when pursuing, in blind confidence, the _à priori_ path of axioms, or of +the Ram. At innumerable points this path was scarcely as straight as a +ram’s-horn. The simple truth is, that the Aristotelians erected their +castles upon a basis far less reliable than air; _for no such things as +axioms ever existed or can possibly exist at all_. This they must have +been very blind, indeed, not to see, or at least to suspect; for, even +in their own day, many of their long-admitted ‘axioms’ had been +abandoned:—‘_ex nihilo nihil fit_,’ for example, and a ‘thing cannot act +where it is not,’ and ‘there cannot be antipodes,’ and ‘darkness cannot +proceed from light.’ These and numerous similar propositions formerly +accepted, without hesitation, as axioms, or undeniable truths, were, +even at the period of which I speak, seen to be altogether +untenable:—how absurd in these people, then, to persist in relying upon +a basis, as immutable, whose mutability had become so repeatedly +manifest! + +“But, even through evidence afforded by themselves against themselves, +it is easy to convict these _à priori_ reasoners of the grossest +unreason—it is easy to show the futility—the impalpability of their +axioms in general. I have now lying before me”—it will be observed that +we still proceed with the letter—“I have now lying before me a book +printed about a thousand years ago. Pundit assures me that it is +decidedly the cleverest ancient work on its topic, which is ‘Logic.’ The +author, who was much esteemed in his day, was one Miller, or Mill; and +we find it recorded of him, as a point of some importance, that he rode +a mill-horse whom he called Jeremy Bentham:—but let us glance at the +volume itself! + +“Ah!—‘Ability or inability to conceive,’ says Mr. Mill very properly, +‘is _in no case_ to be received as a criterion of axiomatic truth.’ Now, +that this is a palpable truism no one in his senses will deny. _Not_ to +admit the proposition, is to insinuate a charge of variability in Truth +itself, whose very title is a synonym of the Steadfast. If ability to +conceive be taken as a criterion of Truth, then a truth to _David_ Hume +would very seldom be a truth to _Joe_; and ninety-nine hundredths of +what is undeniable in Heaven would be demonstrable falsity upon Earth. +The proposition of Mr. Mill, then, is sustained. I will not grant it to +be an _axiom_; and this merely because I am showing that _no_ axioms +exist; but, with a distinction which could not have been cavilled at +even by Mr. Mill himself, I am ready to grant that, _if_ an axiom _there +be_, then the proposition of which we speak has the fullest right to be +considered an axiom—that no _more_ absolute axiom _is_—and, +consequently, that any subsequent proposition which shall conflict with +this one primarily advanced, must be either a falsity in itself—that is +to say no axiom—or, if admitted axiomatic, must at once neutralize both +itself and its predecessor. + +“And now, by the logic of their own propounder, let us proceed to test +any one of the axioms propounded. Let us give Mr. Mill the fairest of +play. We will bring the point to no ordinary issue. We will select for +investigation no common-place axiom—no axiom of what, not the less +preposterously because only impliedly, he terms his secondary class—as +if a positive truth by definition could be either more or less +positively a truth:—we will select, I say, no axiom of an +unquestionability so questionable as is to be found in Euclid. We will +not talk, for example, about such propositions as that two straight +lines cannot enclose a space, or that the whole is greater than any one +of its parts. We will afford the logician _every_ advantage. We will +come at once to a proposition which he regards as the acme of the +unquestionable—as the quintessence of axiomatic undeniability. Here it +is:—‘Contradictions cannot _both_ be true—that is, cannot cöexist in +nature.’ Here Mr. Mill means, for instance,—and I give the most forcible +instance conceivable—that a tree must be either a tree or _not_ a +tree—that it cannot be at the same time a tree _and_ not a tree:—all +which is quite reasonable of itself and will answer remarkably well as +an axiom, until we bring it into collation with an axiom insisted upon a +few pages before—in other words—words which I have previously +employed—until we test it by the logic of its own propounder. ‘A tree,’ +Mr. Mill asserts, ‘must be either a tree or _not_ a tree.’ Very +well:—and now let me ask him, _why_. To this little query there is but +one response:—I defy any man living to invent a second. The sole answer +is this:—‘Because we find it _impossible to conceive_ that a tree can be +any thing else than a tree or not a tree.’ This, I repeat, is Mr. Mill’s +sole answer:—he will not _pretend_ to suggest another:—and yet, by his +own showing, his answer is clearly no answer at all; for has he not +already required us to admit, _as an axiom_, that ability or inability +to conceive is _in no case_ to be taken as a criterion of axiomatic +truth? Thus all—absolutely _all_ his argumentation is at sea without a +rudder. Let it not be urged that an exception from the general rule is +to be made, in cases where the ‘impossibility to conceive’ is so +peculiarly great as when we are called upon to conceive a tree _both_ a +tree and _not_ a tree. Let no attempt, I say, be made at urging this +sotticism; for, in the first place, there are no _degrees_ of +‘impossibility,’ and thus no one impossible conception can be _more_ +peculiarly impossible than another impossible conception:—in the second +place, Mr. Mill himself, no doubt after thorough deliberation, has most +distinctly, and most rationally, excluded all opportunity for exception, +by the emphasis of his proposition, that, _in no case_, is ability or +inability to conceive, to be taken as a criterion of axiomatic +truth:—in the third place, even were exceptions admissible at all, it +remains to be shown how any exception is admissible _here_. That a tree +can be both a tree and not a tree, is an idea which the angels, or the +devils, _may_ entertain, and which no doubt many an earthly Bedlamite, +or Transcendentalist, _does_. + +“Now I do not quarrel with these ancients,” continues the letter-writer, +“_so much_ on account of the transparent frivolity of their logic—which, +to be plain, was baseless, worthless and fantastic altogether—as on +account of their pompous and infatuate proscription of all _other_ roads +to Truth than the two narrow and crooked paths—the one of creeping and +the other of crawling—to which, in their ignorant perversity, they have +dared to confine the Soul—the Soul which loves nothing so well as to +soar in those regions of illimitable intuition which are utterly +incognizant of ‘_path_.’ + +“By the bye, my dear friend, is it not an evidence of the mental slavery +entailed upon those bigoted people by their Hogs and Rams, that in spite +of the eternal prating of their savans about _roads_ to Truth, none of +them fell, even by accident, into what we now so distinctly perceive to +be the broadest, the straightest and most available of all mere +roads—the great thoroughfare—the majestic highway of the _Consistent_? +Is it not wonderful that they should have failed to deduce from the +works of God the vitally momentous consideration that _a perfect +consistency can be nothing but an absolute truth_? How plain—how rapid +our progress since the late announcement of this proposition! By its +means, investigation has been taken out of the hands of the ground-moles, +and given as a duty, rather than as a task, to the true—to the _only_ true +thinkers—to the generally-educated men of ardent imagination. These +latter—our Keplers—our Laplaces—‘speculate’—‘theorize’—these are the +terms—can you not fancy the shout of scorn with which they would be +received by our progenitors, were it possible for them to be looking +over my shoulders as I write? The Keplers, I repeat, speculate—theorize—and +their theories are merely corrected—reduced—sifted—cleared, little by +little, of their chaff of inconsistency—until at length there stands +apparent an unencumbered _Consistency_—a consistency which the most +stolid admit—because it _is_ a consistency—to be an absolute and an +unquestionable _Truth_. + +“I have often thought, my friend, that it must have puzzled these +dogmaticians of a thousand years ago, to determine, even, by which of +their two boasted roads it is that the cryptographist attains the +solution of the more complicate cyphers—or by which of them Champollion +guided mankind to those important and innumerable truths which, for so +many centuries, have lain entombed amid the phonetical hieroglyphics of +Egypt. In especial, would it not have given these bigots some trouble to +determine by which of their two roads was reached the most momentous and +sublime of _all_ their truths—the truth—the fact of _gravitation_? +Newton deduced it from the laws of Kepler. Kepler admitted that these +laws he _guessed_—these laws whose investigation disclosed to the +greatest of British astronomers that principle, the basis of all +(existing) physical principle, in going behind which we enter at once +the nebulous kingdom of Metaphysics. Yes!—these vital laws Kepler +_guessed_—that is to say, he _imagined_ them. Had he been asked to point +out either the _de_ductive or _in_ductive route by which he attained +them, his reply might have been—‘I know nothing about _routes_—but I +_do_ know the machinery of the Universe. Here it is. I grasped it with +_my soul_—I reached it through mere dint of _intuition_.’ Alas, poor +ignorant old man! Could not any metaphysician have told him that what he +called ‘intuition’ was but the conviction resulting from _de_ductions or +_in_ductions of which the processes were so shadowy as to have escaped +his consciousness, eluded his reason, or bidden defiance to his capacity +of expression? How great a pity it is that some ‘moral philosopher’ had +not enlightened him about all this! How it would have comforted him on +his death-bed to know that, instead of having gone intuitively and thus +unbecomingly, he had, in fact, proceeded decorously and +legitimately—that is to say Hog-ishly, or at least Ram-ishly—into the +vast halls where lay gleaming, untended, and hitherto untouched by +mortal hand—unseen by mortal eye—the imperishable and priceless secrets +of the Universe! + +“Yes, Kepler was essentially a _theorist_; but this title, _now_ of so +much sanctity, was, in those ancient days, a designation of supreme +contempt. It is only _now_ that men begin to appreciate that divine old +man—to sympathize with the prophetical and poetical rhapsody of his +ever-memorable words. For _my_ part,” continues the unknown +correspondent, “I glow with a sacred fire when I even think of them, and +feel that I shall never grow weary of their repetition:—in concluding +this letter, let me have the real pleasure of transcribing them once +again:—‘_I care not whether my work be read now or by posterity. I can +afford to wait a century for readers when God himself has waited six +thousand years for an observer. I triumph. I have stolen the golden +secret of the Egyptians. I will indulge my sacred fury._’” + +Here end my quotations from this very unaccountable and, perhaps, +somewhat impertinent epistle; and perhaps it would be folly to comment, +in any respect, upon the chimerical, not to say revolutionary, fancies +of the writer—whoever he is—fancies so radically at war with the +well-considered and well-settled opinions of this age. Let us proceed, +then, to our legitimate thesis, _The Universe_. + +This thesis admits a choice between two modes of discussion:—We may +_as_cend or _de_scend. Beginning at our own point of view—at the Earth +on which we stand—we may pass to the other planets of our system—thence +to the Sun—thence to our system considered collectively—and thence, +through other systems, indefinitely outwards; or, commencing on high at +some point as definite as we can make it or conceive it, we may come +down to the habitation of Man. Usually—that is to say, in ordinary +essays on Astronomy—the first of these two modes is, with certain +reservation, adopted:—this for the obvious reason that astronomical +_facts_, merely, and principles, being the object, that object is best +fulfilled in stepping from the known because proximate, gradually onward +to the point where all certitude becomes lost in the remote. For my +present purpose, however,—that of enabling the mind to take in, as if +from afar and at one glance, a distinct conception of the _individual_ +Universe—it is clear that a descent to small from great—to the outskirts +from the centre (if we could establish a centre)—to the end from the +beginning (if we could fancy a beginning) would be the preferable +course, but for the difficulty, if not impossibility, of presenting, in +this course, to the unastronomical, a picture at all comprehensible in +regard to such considerations as are involved in _quantity_—that is to +say, in number, magnitude and distance. + +Now, distinctness—intelligibility, at all points, is a primary feature +in my general design. On important topics it is better to be a good deal +prolix than even a very little obscure. But abstruseness is a quality +appertaining to no subject _per se_. All are alike, in facility of +comprehension, to him who approaches them by properly graduated steps. +It is merely because a stepping-stone, here and there, is heedlessly +left unsupplied in our road to the Differential Calculus, that this +latter is not altogether as simple a thing as a sonnet by Mr. Solomon +Seesaw. + +By way of admitting, then, no _chance_ for misapprehension, I think it +advisable to proceed as if even the more obvious facts of Astronomy were +unknown to the reader. In combining the two modes of discussion to which +I have referred, I propose to avail myself of the advantages peculiar to +each—and very especially of the _iteration in detail_ which will be +unavoidable as a consequence of the plan. Commencing with a descent, I +shall reserve for the return upwards those indispensable considerations +of _quantity_ to which allusion has already been made. + +Let us begin, then, at once, with that merest of words, “Infinity.” +This, like “God,” “spirit,” and some other expressions of which the +equivalents exist in all languages, is by no means the expression of an +idea—but of an effort at one. It stands for the possible attempt at an +impossible conception. Man needed a term by which to point out the +_direction_ of this effort—the cloud behind which lay, forever +invisible, the _object_ of this attempt. A word, in fine, was demanded, +by means of which one human being might put himself in relation at once +with another human being and with a certain _tendency_ of the human +intellect. Out of this demand arose the word, “Infinity;” which is thus +the representative but of the _thought of a thought_. + +As regards _that_ infinity now considered—the infinity of space—we often +hear it said that “its idea is admitted by the mind—is acquiesced in—is +entertained—on account of the greater difficulty which attends the +conception of a limit.” But this is merely one of those _phrases_ by +which even profound thinkers, time out of mind, have occasionally taken +pleasure in deceiving _themselves_. The quibble lies concealed in the +word “difficulty.” “The mind,” we are told, “entertains the idea of +_limitless_, through the greater _difficulty_ which it finds in +entertaining that of _limited_, space.” Now, were the proposition but +fairly _put_, its absurdity would become transparent at once. Clearly, +there is no mere _difficulty_ in the case. The assertion intended, if +presented _according_ to its intention and without sophistry, would run +thus:—“The mind admits the idea of limitless, through the greater +_impossibility_ of entertaining that of limited, space.” + +It must be immediately seen that this is not a question of two +statements between whose respective credibilities—or of two arguments +between whose respective validities—the _reason_ is called upon to +decide:—it is a matter of two conceptions, directly conflicting, and +each avowedly impossible, one of which the _intellect_ is supposed to be +capable of entertaining, on account of the greater _impossibility_ of +entertaining the other. The choice is _not_ made between two +difficulties;—it is merely _fancied_ to be made between two +impossibilities. Now of the former, there _are_ degrees—but of the +latter, none:—just as our impertinent letter-writer has already +suggested. A task _may_ be more or less difficult; but it is either +possible or not possible:—there are no gradations. It _might_ be more +_difficult_ to overthrow the Andes than an ant-hill; but it _can_ be no +more _impossible_ to annihilate the matter of the one than the matter of +the other. A man may jump ten feet with less _difficulty_ than he can +jump twenty, but the _impossibility_ of his leaping to the moon is not a +whit less than that of his leaping to the dog-star. + +Since all this is undeniable: since the choice of the mind is to be made +between _impossibilities_ of conception: since one impossibility cannot +be greater than another: and since, thus, one cannot be preferred to +another: the philosophers who not only maintain, on the grounds +mentioned, man’s _idea_ of infinity but, on account of such +supposititious idea, _infinity itself_—are plainly engaged in +demonstrating one impossible thing to be possible by showing how it is +that some one other thing—is impossible too. This, it will be said, is +nonsense; and perhaps it is:—indeed I think it very capital +nonsense—but forego all claim to it as nonsense of mine. + +The readiest mode, however, of displaying the fallacy of the +philosophical argument on this question, is by simply adverting to a +_fact_ respecting it which has been hitherto quite overlooked—the fact +that the argument alluded to both proves and disproves its own +proposition. “The mind is impelled,” say the theologians and others, “to +admit a _First Cause_, by the superior difficulty it experiences in +conceiving cause beyond cause without end.” The quibble, as before, lies +in the word “difficulty”—but _here_ what is it employed to sustain? A +First Cause. And what is a First Cause? An ultimate termination of +causes. And what is an ultimate termination of causes? Finity—the +Finite. Thus the one quibble, in two processes, by God knows how many +philosophers, is made to support now Finity and now Infinity—could it +not be brought to support something besides? As for the +quibblers—_they_, at least, are insupportable. But—to dismiss them:—what +they prove in the one case is the identical nothing which they +demonstrate in the other. + +Of course, no one will suppose that I here contend for the absolute +impossibility of _that_ which we attempt to convey in the word +“Infinity.” My purpose is but to show the folly of endeavoring to prove +Infinity itself or even our conception of it, by any such blundering +ratiocination as that which is ordinarily employed. + +Nevertheless, as an individual, I may be permitted to say that _I +cannot_ conceive Infinity, and am convinced that no human being can. A +mind not thoroughly self-conscious—not accustomed to the introspective +analysis of its own operations—will, it is true, often deceive itself by +supposing that it _has_ entertained the conception of which we speak. In +the effort to entertain it, we proceed step beyond step—we fancy point +still beyond point; and so long as we _continue_ the effort, it may be +said, in fact, that we are _tending_ to the formation of the idea +designed; while the strength of the impression that we actually form or +have formed it, is in the ratio of the period during which we keep up +the mental endeavor. But it is in the act of discontinuing the +endeavor—of fulfilling (as we think) the idea—of putting the finishing +stroke (as we suppose) to the conception—that we overthrow at once the +whole fabric of our fancy by resting upon some one ultimate and +therefore definite point. This fact, however, we fail to perceive, on +account of the absolute coincidence, in time, between the settling down +upon the ultimate point and the act of cessation in thinking.—In +attempting, on the other hand, to frame the idea of a _limited_ space, +we merely converse the processes which involve the impossibility. + +We _believe_ in a God. We may or may not _believe_ in finite or in +infinite space; but our belief, in such cases, is more properly +designated as _faith_, and is a matter quite distinct from that belief +proper—from that _intellectual_ belief—which presupposes the mental +conception. + +The fact is, that, upon the enunciation of any one of that class of +terms to which “Infinity” belongs—the class representing _thoughts of +thought_—he who has a right to say that he thinks _at all_, feels +himself called upon, _not_ to entertain a conception, but simply to +direct his mental vision toward some given point, in the intellectual +firmament, where lies a nebula never to be resolved. To solve it, +indeed, he makes no effort; for with a rapid instinct he comprehends, +not only the impossibility, but, as regards all human purposes, the +_inessentiality_, of its solution. He perceives that the Deity has not +_designed_ it to be solved. He sees, at once, that it lies _out_ of the +brain of man, and even _how_, if not exactly _why_, it lies out of it. +There _are_ people, I am aware, who, busying themselves in attempts at +the unattainable, acquire very easily, by dint of the jargon they emit, +among those thinkers-that-they-think with whom darkness and depth are +synonymous, a kind of cuttle-fish reputation for profundity; but the +finest quality of Thought is its self-cognizance; and, with some little +equivocation, it may be said that no fog of the mind can well be greater +than that which, extending to the very boundaries of the mental domain, +shuts out even these boundaries themselves from comprehension. + +It will now be understood that, in using the phrase, “Infinity of +Space,” I make no call upon the reader to entertain the impossible +conception of an _absolute_ infinity. I refer simply to the “_utmost +conceivable expanse_” of space—a shadowy and fluctuating domain, now +shrinking, now swelling, in accordance with the vacillating energies of +the imagination. + +_Hitherto_, the Universe of stars has always been considered as +coincident with the Universe proper, as I have defined it in the +commencement of this Discourse. It has been always either directly or +indirectly assumed—at least since the dawn of intelligible +Astronomy—that, were it possible for us to attain any given point in +space, we should still find, on all sides of us, an interminable +succession of stars. This was the untenable idea of Pascal when making +perhaps the most successful attempt ever made, at periphrasing the +conception for which we struggle in the word “Universe.” “It is a +sphere,” he says, “of which the centre is everywhere, the circumference, +nowhere.” But although this intended definition is, in fact, _no_ +definition of the Universe of _stars_, we may accept it, with some +mental reservation, as a definition (rigorous enough for all practical +purposes) of the Universe _proper_—that is to say, of the Universe of +_space_. This latter, then, let us regard as “_a sphere of which the +centre is everywhere, the circumference nowhere_.” In fact, while we +find it impossible to fancy an _end_ to space, we have no difficulty in +picturing to ourselves any one of an infinity of _beginnings_. + +As our starting-point, then, let us adopt the _Godhead_. Of this +Godhead, _in itself_, he alone is not imbecile—he alone is not impious +who propounds—nothing. “_Nous ne connaissons rien_,” says the Baron de +Bielfeld—“_Nous ne connaissons rien de la nature ou de l’essence de +Dieu:—pour savoir ce qu’il est, il faut être Dieu même._”—“We know +absolutely _nothing_ of the nature or essence of God:—in order to +comprehend what he is, we should have to be God ourselves.” + +“_We should have to be God ourselves!_”—With a phrase so startling as +this yet ringing in my ears, I nevertheless venture to demand if this +our present ignorance of the Deity is an ignorance to which the soul is +_everlastingly_ condemned. + +By _Him_, however—_now_, at least, the Incomprehensible—by Him—assuming +him as _Spirit_—that is to say, as _not Matter_—a distinction which, for +all intelligible purposes, will stand well instead of a definition—by +Him, then, existing as Spirit, let us content ourselves, to-night, with +supposing to have been _created_, or made out of Nothing, by dint of his +Volition—at some point of Space which we will take as a centre—at some +period into which we do not pretend to inquire, but at all events +immensely remote—by Him, then again, let us suppose to have been +created——_what_? This is a vitally momentous epoch in our +considerations. _What_ is it that we are justified—that alone we are +justified in supposing to have been, primarily and solely, _created_? + +We have attained a point where only _Intuition_ can aid us:—but now let +me recur to the idea which I have already suggested as that alone which +we can properly entertain of intuition. It is but _the conviction +arising from those inductions or deductions of which the processes are +so shadowy as to escape our consciousness, elude our reason, or defy our +capacity of expression_. With this understanding, I now assert—that an +intuition altogether irresistible, although inexpressible, forces me to +the conclusion that what God originally created—that that Matter which, +by dint of his Volition, he first made from his Spirit, or from +Nihility, _could_ have been nothing but Matter in its utmost conceivable +state of——what?—of _Simplicity_? + +This will be found the sole absolute _assumption_ of my Discourse. I use +the word “assumption” in its ordinary sense; yet I maintain that even +this my primary proposition, is very, very far indeed, from being really +a mere assumption. Nothing was ever more certainly—no human conclusion +was ever, in fact, more regularly—more rigorously _de_duced:—but, alas! +the processes lie out of the human analysis—at all events are beyond the +utterance of the human tongue. + +Let us now endeavor to conceive what Matter must be, when, or if, in its +absolute extreme of _Simplicity_. Here the Reason flies at once to +Imparticularity—to a particle—to _one_ particle—a particle of _one_ +kind—of _one_ character—of _one_ nature—of _one size_—of one form—a +particle, therefore, “_without_ form and void”—a particle positively a +particle at all points—a particle absolutely unique, individual, +undivided, and not indivisible only because He who _created_ it, by dint +of his Will, can by an infinitely less energetic exercise of the same +Will, as a matter of course, divide it. + +_Oneness_, then, is all that I predicate of the originally created +Matter; but I propose to show that this _Oneness is a principle +abundantly sufficient to account for the constitution, the existing +phænomena and the plainly inevitable annihilation of at least the +material Universe_. + +The willing into being the primordial particle, has completed the act, +or more properly the _conception_, of Creation. We now proceed to the +ultimate purpose for which we are to suppose the Particle created—that +is to say, the ultimate purpose so far as our considerations _yet_ +enable us to see it—the constitution of the Universe from it, the +Particle. + +This constitution has been effected by _forcing_ the originally and +therefore normally _One_ into the abnormal condition of _Many_. An +action of this character implies rëaction. A diffusion from Unity, under +the conditions, involves a tendency to return into Unity—a tendency +ineradicable until satisfied. But on these points I will speak more +fully hereafter. + +The assumption of absolute Unity in the primordial Particle includes +that of infinite divisibility. Let us conceive the Particle, then, to be +only not totally exhausted by diffusion into Space. From the one +Particle, as a centre, let us suppose to be irradiated spherically—in +all directions—to immeasurable but still to definite distances in the +previously vacant space—a certain inexpressibly great yet limited number +of unimaginably yet not infinitely minute atoms. + +Now, of these atoms, thus diffused, or upon diffusion, what conditions +are we permitted—not to assume, but to infer, from consideration as well +of their source as of the character of the design apparent in their +diffusion? _Unity_ being their source, and _difference from Unity_ the +character of the design manifested in their diffusion, we are warranted +in supposing this character to be at least _generally_ preserved +throughout the design, and to form a portion of the design itself:—that +is to say, we shall be warranted in conceiving continual differences at +all points from the uniquity and simplicity of the origin. But, for +these reasons, shall we be justified in imagining the atoms +heterogeneous, dissimilar, unequal, and inequidistant? More +explicitly—are we to consider no two atoms as, at their diffusion, of +the same nature, or of the same form, or of the same size?—and, after +fulfilment of their diffusion into Space, is absolute inequidistance, +each from each, to be understood of all of them? In such arrangement, +under such conditions, we most easily and immediately comprehend the +subsequent most feasible carrying out to completion of any such design +as that which I have suggested—the design of variety out of +unity—diversity out of sameness—heterogeneity out of +homogeneity—complexity out of simplicity—in a word, the utmost possible +multiplicity of _relation_ out of the emphatically irrelative _One_. +Undoubtedly, therefore, we _should_ be warranted in assuming all that +has been mentioned, but for the reflection, first, that supererogation +is not presumable of any Divine Act; and, secondly, that the object +supposed in view, appears as feasible when some of the conditions in +question are dispensed with, in the beginning, as when all are +understood immediately to exist. I mean to say that some are involved in +the rest, or so instantaneous a consequence of them as to make the +distinction inappreciable. Difference of _size_, for example, will at +once be brought about through the tendency of one atom to a second, in +preference to a third, on account of particular inequidistance; which is +to be comprehended as _particular inequidistances between centres of +quantity, in neighboring atoms of different form_—a matter not at all +interfering with the generally-equable distribution of the atoms. +Difference of _kind_, too, is easily conceived to be merely a result of +differences in size and form, taken more or less conjointly:—in fact, +since the _Unity_ of the Particle Proper implies absolute homogeneity, +we cannot imagine the atoms, at their diffusion, differing in kind, +without imagining, at the same time, a special exercise of the Divine +Will, at the emission of each atom, for the purpose of effecting, in +each, a change of its essential nature:—so fantastic an idea is the +less to be indulged, as the object proposed is seen to be thoroughly +attainable without such minute and elaborate interposition. We perceive, +therefore, upon the whole, that it would be supererogatory, and +consequently unphilosophical, to predicate of the atoms, in view of +their purposes, any thing more than _difference of form_ at their +dispersion, with particular inequidistance after it—all other +differences arising at once out of these, in the very first processes of +mass-constitution:—We thus establish the Universe on a purely +_geometrical_ basis. Of course, it is by no means necessary to assume +absolute difference, even of form, among _all_ the atoms irradiated—any +more than absolute particular inequidistance of each from each. We are +required to conceive merely that no _neighboring_ atoms are of similar +form—no atoms which can ever approximate, until their inevitable +rëunition at the end. + +Although the immediate and perpetual _tendency_ of the disunited atoms +to return into their normal Unity, is implied, as I have said, in their +abnormal diffusion; still it is clear that this tendency will be without +consequence—a tendency and no more—until the diffusive energy, in +ceasing to be exerted, shall leave _it_, the tendency, free to seek its +satisfaction. The Divine Act, however, being considered as determinate, +and discontinued on fulfilment of the diffusion, we understand, at once, +a _rëaction_—in other words, a _satisfiable_ tendency of the disunited +atoms to return into _One_. + +But the diffusive energy being withdrawn, and the rëaction having +commenced in furtherance of the ultimate design—_that of the utmost +possible Relation_—this design is now in danger of being frustrated, in +detail, by reason of that very tendency to return which is to effect its +accomplishment in general. _Multiplicity_ is the object; but there is +nothing to prevent proximate atoms, from lapsing _at once_, through the +now satisfiable tendency—_before_ the fulfilment of any ends proposed in +multiplicity—into absolute oneness among themselves:—there is nothing to +impede the aggregation of various _unique_ masses, at various points of +space:—in other words, nothing to interfere with the accumulation of +various masses, each absolutely One. + +For the effectual and thorough completion of the general design, we thus +see the necessity for a repulsion of limited capacity—a separative +_something_ which, on withdrawal of the diffusive Volition, shall at the +same time allow the approach, and forbid the junction, of the atoms; +suffering them infinitely to approximate, while denying them positive +contact; in a word, having the power—_up to a certain epoch_—of +preventing their _coalition_, but no ability to interfere with their +_coalescence_ in any respect _or degree_. The repulsion, already +considered as so peculiarly limited in other regards, must be +understood, let me repeat, as having power to prevent absolute +coalition, _only up to a certain epoch_. Unless we are to conceive that +the appetite for Unity among the atoms is doomed to be satisfied +_never_;—unless we are to conceive that what had a beginning is to have +no end—a conception which cannot _really_ be entertained, however much +we may talk or dream of entertaining it—we are forced to conclude that +the repulsive influence imagined, will, finally—under pressure of the +_Unitendency collectively_ applied, but never and in no degree _until_, +on fulfilment of the Divine purposes, such collective application shall +be naturally made—yield to a force which, at that ultimate epoch, shall +be the superior force precisely to the extent required, and thus permit +the universal subsidence into the inevitable, because original and +therefore normal, _One_.—The conditions here to be reconciled are +difficult indeed:—we cannot even comprehend the possibility of their +conciliation;—nevertheless, the apparent impossibility is brilliantly +suggestive. + +That the repulsive something actually exists, _we see_. Man neither +employs, nor knows, a force sufficient to bring two atoms into contact. +This is but the well-established proposition of the impenetrability of +matter. All Experiment proves—all Philosophy admits it. The _design_ of +the repulsion—the necessity for its existence—I have endeavored to show; +but from all attempt at investigating its nature have religiously +abstained; this on account of an intuitive conviction that the principle +at issue is strictly spiritual—lies in a recess impervious to our +present understanding—lies involved in a consideration of what now—in +our human state—is _not_ to be considered—in a consideration of _Spirit +in itself_. I feel, in a word, that here the God has interposed, and +here only, because here and here only the knot demanded the +interposition of the God. + +In fact, while the tendency of the diffused atoms to return into Unity, +will be recognized, at once, as the principle of the Newtonian Gravity, +what I have spoken of as a repulsive influence prescribing limits to the +(immediate) satisfaction of the tendency, will be understood as _that_ +which we have been in the practice of designating now as heat, now as +magnetism, now as _electricity_; displaying our ignorance of its awful +character in the vacillation of the phraseology with which we endeavor +to circumscribe it. + +Calling it, merely for the moment, electricity, we know that all +experimental analysis of electricity has given, as an ultimate result, +the principle, or seeming principle, _heterogeneity_. _Only_ where +things differ is electricity apparent; and it is presumable that they +_never_ differ where it is not developed at least, if not apparent. Now, +this result is in the fullest keeping with that which I have reached +unempirically. The design of the repulsive influence I have maintained +to be that of preventing immediate Unity among the diffused atoms; and +these atoms are represented as different each from each. _Difference_ is +their character—their essentiality—just as _no-difference_ was the +essentiality of their source. When we say, then, that an attempt to +bring any two of these atoms together would induce an effort, on the +part of the repulsive influence, to prevent the contact, we may as well +use the strictly convertible sentence that an attempt to bring together +any two differences will result in a development of electricity. All +existing bodies, of course, are composed of these atoms in proximate +contact, and are therefore to be considered as mere assemblages of more +or fewer differences; and the resistance made by the repulsive spirit, +on bringing together any two such assemblages, would be in the ratio of +the two sums of the differences in each:—an expression which, when +reduced, is equivalent to this:—_The amount of electricity developed on +the approximation of two bodies, is proportional to the difference +between the respective sums of the atoms of which the bodies are +composed._ That _no_ two bodies are absolutely alike, is a simple +corollary from all that has been here said. Electricity, therefore, +existing always, is _developed_ whenever _any_ bodies, but _manifested_ +only when bodies of appreciable difference, are brought into +approximation. + +To electricity—so, for the present, continuing to call it—we _may_ not +be wrong in referring the various physical appearances of light, heat +and magnetism; but far less shall we be liable to err in attributing to +this strictly spiritual principle the more important phænomena of +vitality, consciousness and _Thought_. On this topic, however, I need +pause _here_ merely to suggest that these phænomena, whether observed +generally or in detail, seem to proceed _at least in the ratio of the +heterogeneous_. + +Discarding now the two equivocal terms, “gravitation” and “electricity,” +let us adopt the more definite expressions, “_attraction_” and +“_repulsion_.” The former is the body; the latter the soul: the one is +the material; the other the spiritual, principle of the Universe. _No +other principles exist._ _All_ phænomena are referable to one, or to the +other, or to both combined. So rigorously is this the case—so thoroughly +demonstrable is it that attraction and repulsion are the _sole_ +properties through which we perceive the Universe—in other words, by +which Matter is manifested to Mind—that, for all merely argumentative +purposes, we are fully justified in assuming that matter _exists_ only +as attraction and repulsion—that attraction and repulsion _are_ +matter:—there being no conceivable case in which we may not employ the +term “matter” and the terms “attraction” and “repulsion,” taken +together, as equivalent, and therefore convertible, expressions in +Logic. + +I said, just now, that what I have described as the tendency of the +diffused atoms to return into their original unity, would be understood +as the principle of the Newtonian law of gravity: and, in fact, there +can be little difficulty in such an understanding, if we look at the +Newtonian gravity in a merely general view, as a force impelling matter +to seek matter; that is to say, when we pay no attention to the known +_modus operandi_ of the Newtonian force. The general coincidence +satisfies us; but, upon looking closely, we see, in detail, much that +appears _in_coincident, and much in regard to which no coincidence, at +least, is established. For example; the Newtonian gravity, when we think +of it in certain moods, does _not_ seem to be a tendency to _oneness_ at +all, but rather a tendency of all bodies in all directions—a phrase +apparently expressive of a tendency to diffusion. Here, then, is an +_in_coincidence. Again; when we reflect on the mathematical _law_ +governing the Newtonian tendency, we see clearly that no coincidence has +been made good, in respect of the _modus operandi_, at least, between +gravitation as known to exist and that seemingly simple and direct +tendency which I have assumed. + +In fact, I have attained a point at which it will be advisable to +strengthen my position by reversing my processes. So far, we have gone +on _à priori_, from an abstract consideration of _Simplicity_, as that +quality most likely to have characterized the original action of God. +Let us now see whether the established facts of the Newtonian +Gravitation may not afford us, _à posteriori_, some legitimate +inductions. + +What does the Newtonian law declare?—That all bodies attract each other +with forces proportional to their quantities of matter and inversely +proportional to the squares of their distances. Purposely, I have here +given, in the first place, the vulgar version of the law; and I confess +that in this, as in most other vulgar versions of great truths, we find +little of a suggestive character. Let us now adopt a more philosophical +phraseology:—_Every atom, of every body, attracts every other atom, both +of its own and of every other body, with a force which varies inversely +as the squares of the distances between the attracting and attracted +atom._—Here, indeed, a flood of suggestion bursts upon the mind. + +But let us see distinctly what it was that Newton _proved_—according to +the grossly irrational definitions of _proof_ prescribed by the +metaphysical schools. He was forced to content himself with showing how +thoroughly the motions of an imaginary Universe, composed of attracting +and attracted atoms obedient to the law he announced, coincide with +those of the actually existing Universe so far as it comes under our +observation. This was the amount of his _demonstration_—that is to say, +this was the amount of it, according to the conventional cant of the +“philosophies.” His successes added proof multiplied by proof—such proof +as a sound intellect admits—but the _demonstration_ of the law itself, +persist the metaphysicians, had not been strengthened in any degree. +“_Ocular_, _physical_ proof,” however, of attraction, here upon Earth, +in accordance with the Newtonian theory, was, at length, much to the +satisfaction of some intellectual grovellers, afforded. This proof arose +collaterally and incidentally (as nearly all important truths have +arisen) out of an attempt to ascertain the mean density of the Earth. In +the famous Maskelyne, Cavendish and Bailly experiments for this purpose, +the attraction of the mass of a mountain was seen, felt, measured, and +found to be mathematically consistent with the immortal theory of the +British astronomer. + +But in spite of this confirmation of that which needed none—in spite of +the so-called corroboration of the “theory” by the so-called “ocular and +physical proof”—in spite of the _character_ of this corroboration—the +ideas which even really philosophical men cannot help imbibing of +gravity—and, especially, the ideas of it which ordinary men get and +contentedly maintain, are _seen_ to have been derived, for the most +part, from a consideration of the principle as they find it +developed—_merely in the planet upon which they stand_. + +Now, to what does so partial a consideration tend—to what species of +error does it give rise? On the Earth we _see_ and _feel_, only that +gravity impels all bodies towards the _centre_ of the Earth. No man in +the common walks of life could be _made_ to see or to feel anything +else—could be made to perceive that anything, anywhere, has a perpetual, +gravitating tendency in any _other_ direction than to the centre of the +Earth; yet (with an exception hereafter to be specified) it is a fact +that every earthly thing (not to speak now of every heavenly thing) has +a tendency not _only_ to the Earth’s centre but in every conceivable +direction besides. + +Now, although the philosophic cannot be said to _err with_ the vulgar in +this matter, they nevertheless permit themselves to be influenced, +without knowing it, by the _sentiment_ of the vulgar idea. “Although the +Pagan fables are not believed,” says Bryant, in his very erudite +“Mythology,” “yet we forget ourselves continually and make inferences +from them as from existing realities.” I mean to assert that the merely +_sensitive perception_ of gravity as we experience it on Earth, beguiles +mankind into the fancy of _concentralization_ or _especiality_ +respecting it—has been continually biasing towards this fancy even the +mightiest intellects—perpetually, although imperceptibly, leading them +away from the real characteristics of the principle; thus preventing +them, up to this date, from ever getting a glimpse of that vital truth +which lies in a diametrically opposite direction—behind the principle’s +_essential_ characteristics—those, _not_ of concentralization or +especiality—but of _universality_ and _diffusion_. This “vital truth” is +_Unity_ as the _source_ of the phænomenon. + +Let me now repeat the definition of gravity:—_Every atom, of every body, +attracts every other atom, both of its own and of every other body_, +with a force which varies inversely as the squares of the distances of +the attracting and attracted atom. + +Here let the reader pause with me, for a moment, in contemplation of the +miraculous—of the ineffable—of the altogether unimaginable complexity of +relation involved in the fact that _each atom attracts every other +atom_—involved merely in this fact of the attraction, without reference +to the law or mode in which the attraction is manifested—involved +_merely_ in the fact that each atom attracts every other atom _at all_, +in a wilderness of atoms so numerous that those which go to the +composition of a cannon-ball, exceed, probably, in mere point of number, +all the stars which go to the constitution of the Universe. + +Had we discovered, simply, that each atom tended to some one favorite +point—to some especially attractive atom—we should still have fallen +upon a discovery which, in itself, would have sufficed to overwhelm the +mind:—but what is it that we are actually called upon to comprehend? +That each atom attracts—sympathizes with the most delicate movements of +every other atom, and with each and with all at the same time, and +forever, and according to a determinate law of which the complexity, +even considered by itself solely, is utterly beyond the grasp of the +imagination of man. If I propose to ascertain the influence of one mote +in a sunbeam upon its neighboring mote, I cannot accomplish my purpose +without first counting and weighing all the atoms in the Universe and +defining the precise positions of all at one particular moment. If I +venture to displace, by even the billionth part of an inch, the +microscopical speck of dust which lies now upon the point of my finger, +what is the character of that act upon which I have adventured? I have +done a deed which shakes the Moon in her path, which causes the Sun to +be no longer the Sun, and which alters forever the destiny of the +multitudinous myriads of stars that roll and glow in the majestic +presence of their Creator. + +_These_ ideas—conceptions such as _these_—unthoughtlike +thoughts—soul-reveries rather than conclusions or even considerations +of the intellect:—ideas, I repeat, such as these, are such as we can +alone hope profitably to entertain in any effort at grasping the great +principle, _Attraction_. + +But now,—_with_ such ideas—with such a _vision_ of the marvellous +complexity of Attraction fairly in his mind—let any person competent of +thought on such topics as these, set himself to the task of imagining a +_principle_ for the phænomena observed—a condition from which they +sprang. + +Does not so evident a brotherhood among the atoms point to a common +parentage? Does not a sympathy so omniprevalent, so ineradicable, and so +thoroughly irrespective, suggest a common paternity as its source? Does +not one extreme impel the reason to the other? Does not the infinitude +of division refer to the utterness of individuality? Does not the +entireness of the complex hint at the perfection of the simple? It is +_not_ that the atoms, as we see them, are divided or that they are +complex in their relations—but that they are inconceivably divided and +unutterably complex:—it is the extremeness of the conditions to which I +now allude, rather than to the conditions themselves. In a word, is it +not because the atoms were, at some remote epoch of time, even _more +than together_—is it not because originally, and therefore normally, +they were _One_—that now, in all circumstances—at all points—in all +directions—by all modes of approach—in all relations and through all +conditions—they struggle _back_ to this absolutely, this irrelatively, +this unconditionally _one_? + +Some person may here demand:—“Why—since it is to the _One_ that the +atoms struggle back—do we not find and define Attraction ‘a merely +general tendency to a centre?’—why, in especial, do not _your_ +atoms—the atoms which you describe as having been irradiated from a +centre—proceed at once, rectilinearly, back to the central point of +their origin?” + +I reply that _they do_; as will be distinctly shown; but that the cause +of their so doing is quite irrespective of the centre _as such_. They +all tend rectilinearly towards a centre, because of the sphereicity with +which they have been irradiated into space. Each atom, forming one of a +generally uniform globe of atoms, finds more atoms in the direction of +the centre, of course, than in any other, and in that direction, +therefore, is impelled—but is _not_ thus impelled because the centre is +_the point of its origin_. It is not to any _point_ that the atoms are +allied. It is not any _locality_, either in the concrete or in the +abstract, to which I suppose them bound. Nothing like _location_ was +conceived as their origin. Their source lies in the principle, _Unity_. +_This_ is their lost parent. _This_ they seek always—immediately—in all +directions—wherever it is even partially to be found; thus appeasing, in +some measure, the ineradicable tendency, while on the way to its +absolute satisfaction in the end. It follows from all this, that any +principle which shall be adequate to account for the _law_, or _modus +operandi_, of the attractive force in general, will account for this law +in particular:—that is to say, any principle which will show why the +atoms should tend to their _general centre of irradiation_ with forces +inversely proportional to the squares of the distances, will be admitted +as satisfactorily accounting, at the same time, for the tendency, +according to the same law, of these atoms each to each:—_for_ the +tendency to the centre _is_ merely the tendency each to each, and not +any tendency to a centre as such.—Thus it will be seen, also, that the +establishment of my propositions would involve no _necessity_ of +modification in the terms of the Newtonian definition of Gravity, which +declares that each atom attracts each other atom and so forth, and +declares this merely; but (always under the supposition that what I +propose be, in the end, admitted) it seems clear that some error might +occasionally be avoided, in the future processes of Science, were a more +ample phraseology adopted:—for instance:—“Each atom tends to every other +atom &c. with a force &c.: _the general result being a tendency of all, +with a similar force, to a general centre_.” + +The reversal of our processes has thus brought us to an identical +result; but, while in the one process _intuition_ was the +starting-point, in the other it was the goal. In commencing the former +journey I could only say that, with an irresistible intuition, I _felt_ +Simplicity to have been the characteristic of the original action of +God:—in ending the latter I can only declare that, with an irresistible +intuition, I perceive Unity to have been the source of the observed +phænomena of the Newtonian gravitation. Thus, according to the schools, +I _prove_ nothing. So be it:—I design but to suggest—and to _convince_ +through the suggestion. I am proudly aware that there exist many of the +most profound and cautiously discriminative human intellects which +cannot _help_ being abundantly content with my—suggestions. To these +intellects—as to my own—there is no mathematical demonstration which +_could_ bring the least additional _true proof_ of the great _Truth_ +which I have advanced—_the truth of Original Unity as the source—as the +principle of the Universal Phænomena_. For my part, I am not so sure +that I speak and see—I am not so sure that my heart beats and that my +soul lives:—of the rising of to-morrow’s sun—a probability that as yet +lies in the Future—I do not pretend to be one thousandth part as sure—as +I am of the irretrievably by-gone _Fact_ that All Things and All +Thoughts of Things, with all their ineffable Multiplicity of Relation, +sprang at once into being from the primordial and irrelative _One_. + +Referring to the Newtonian Gravity, Dr. Nichol, the eloquent author of +“The Architecture of the Heavens,” says:—“In truth we have no reason to +suppose this great Law, as now revealed, to be the ultimate or simplest, +and therefore the universal and all-comprehensive, form of a great +Ordinance. The mode in which its intensity diminishes with the element +of distance, has not the aspect of an ultimate _principle_; which always +assumes the simplicity and self-evidence of those axioms which +constitute the basis of Geometry.” + +Now, it is quite true that “ultimate principles,” in the common +understanding of the words, always assume the simplicity of geometrical +axioms—(as for “self-evidence,” there is no such thing)—but these +principles are clearly _not_ “ultimate;” in other terms what we are in +the habit of calling principles are no principles, properly +speaking—since there can be but one _principle_, the Volition of God. We +have no right to assume, then, from what we observe in rules that we +choose foolishly to name “principles,” anything at all in respect to the +characteristics of a principle proper. The “ultimate principles” of +which Dr. Nichol speaks as having geometrical simplicity, may and do +have this geometrical turn, as being part and parcel of a vast +geometrical system, and thus a system of simplicity itself—in which, +nevertheless, the _truly_ ultimate principle is, _as we know_, the +consummation of the complex—that is to say, of the unintelligible—for is +it not the Spiritual Capacity of God? + +I quoted Dr. Nichol’s remark, however, not so much to question its +philosophy, as by way of calling attention to the fact that, while all +men have admitted _some_ principle as existing behind the Law of +Gravity, no attempt has been yet made to point out what this principle +in particular _is_:—if we except, perhaps, occasional fantastic efforts +at referring it to Magnetism, or Mesmerism, or Swedenborgianism, or +Transcendentalism, or some other equally delicious _ism_ of the same +species, and invariably patronized by one and the same species of +people. The great mind of Newton, while boldly grasping the Law itself, +shrank from the principle of the Law. The more fluent and comprehensive +at least, if not the more patient and profound, sagacity of Laplace, had +not the courage to attack it. But hesitation on the part of these two +astronomers it is, perhaps, not so very difficult to understand. They, +as well as all the first class of mathematicians, were mathematicians +_solely_:—their intellect, at least, had a firmly-pronounced +mathematico-physical tone. What lay not distinctly within the domain of +Physics, or of Mathematics, seemed to them either Non-Entity or Shadow. +Nevertheless, we may well wonder that Leibnitz, who was a marked +exception to the general rule in these respects, and whose mental +temperament was a singular admixture of the mathematical with the +physico-metaphysical, did not at once investigate and establish the +point at issue. Either Newton or Laplace, seeking a principle and +discovering none _physical_, would have rested contentedly in the +conclusion that there was absolutely none; but it is almost impossible +to fancy, of Leibnitz, that, having exhausted in his search the physical +dominions, he would not have stepped at once, boldly and hopefully, amid +his old familiar haunts in the kingdom of Metaphysics. Here, indeed, it +is clear that he _must_ have adventured in search of the treasure:—that +he did not find it after all, was, perhaps, because his fairy guide, +Imagination, was not sufficiently well-grown, or well-educated, to +direct him aright. + +I observed, just now, that, in fact, there had been certain vague +attempts at referring Gravity to some very uncertain _isms_. These +attempts, however, although considered bold and justly so considered, +looked no farther than to the generality—the merest generality—of the +Newtonian Law. Its _modus operandi_ has never, to my knowledge, been +approached in the way of an effort at explanation. It is, therefore, +with no unwarranted fear of being taken for a madman at the outset, and +before I can bring my propositions fairly to the eye of those who alone +are competent to decide upon them, that I here declare the _modus +operandi_ of the Law of Gravity to be an exceedingly simple and +perfectly explicable thing—that is to say, when we make our advances +towards it in just gradations and in the true direction—when we regard +it from the proper point of view. + +Whether we reach the idea of absolute _Unity_ as the source of All +Things, from a consideration of Simplicity as the most probable +characteristic of the original action of God;—whether we arrive at it +from an inspection of the universality of relation in the gravitating +phænomena;—or whether we attain it as a result of the mutual +corroboration afforded by both processes;—still, the idea itself, if +entertained at all, is entertained in inseparable connection with +another idea—that of the condition of the Universe of stars as we _now_ +perceive it—that is to say, a condition of immeasurable _diffusion_ +through space. Now a connection between these two ideas—unity and +diffusion—cannot be established unless through the entertainment of a +third idea—that of _irradiation_. Absolute Unity being taken as a +centre, then the existing Universe of stars is the result of +_irradiation_ from that centre. + +Now, the laws of irradiation are _known_. They are part and parcel of +the _sphere_. They belong to the class of _indisputable geometrical +properties_. We say of them, “they are true—they are evident.” To demand +_why_ they are true, would be to demand why the axioms are true upon +which their demonstration is based. _Nothing_ is demonstrable, strictly +speaking; but _if_ anything _be_, then the properties—the laws in +question are demonstrated. + +But these laws—what do they declare? Irradiation—how—by what steps does +it proceed outwardly from a centre? + +From a _luminous_ centre, _Light_ issues by irradiation; and the +quantities of light received upon any given plane, supposed to be +shifting its position so as to be now nearer the centre and now farther +from it, will be diminished in the same proportion as the squares of the +distances of the plane from the luminous body, are increased; and will +be increased in the same proportion as these squares are diminished. + +The expression of the law may be thus generalized:—the number of +light-particles (or, if the phrase be preferred, the number of +light-impressions) received upon the shifting plane, will be _inversely_ +proportional with the squares of the distances of the plane. +Generalizing yet again, we may say that the diffusion—the scattering—the +irradiation, in a word—is _directly_ proportional with the squares of +the distances. + +[Illustration] + +For example: at the distance B, from the luminous centre A, a certain +number of particles are so diffused as to occupy the surface B. Then at +double the distance—that is to say at C—they will be so much farther +diffused as to occupy four such surfaces:—at treble the distance, or at +D, they will be so much farther separated as to occupy nine such +surfaces:—while, at quadruple the distance, or at E, they will have +become so scattered as to spread themselves over sixteen such +surfaces—and so on forever. + +In saying, generally, that the irradiation proceeds in direct proportion +with the squares of the distances, we use the term irradiation to +express _the degree of the diffusion_ as we proceed outwardly from the +centre. Conversing the idea, and employing the word “concentralization” +to express _the degree of the drawing together_ as we come back toward +the centre from an outward position, we may say that concentralization +proceeds _inversely_ as the squares of the distances. In other words, we +have reached the conclusion that, on the hypothesis that matter was +originally irradiated from a centre and is now returning to it, the +concentralization, in the return, proceeds _exactly as we know the force +of gravitation to proceed_. + +Now here, if we could be permitted to assume that concentralization +exactly represented the _force of the tendency to the centre_—that the +one was exactly proportional to the other, and that the two proceeded +together—we should have shown all that is required. The sole difficulty +existing, then, is to establish a direct proportion between +“concentralization” and the _force_ of concentralization; and this is +done, of course, if we establish such proportion between “irradiation” +and the _force_ of irradiation. + +A very slight inspection of the Heavens assures us that the stars have a +certain general uniformity, equability, or equidistance, of distribution +through that region of space in which, collectively, and in a roughly +globular form, they are situated:—this species of very general, rather +than absolute, equability, being in full keeping with my deduction of +inequidistance, within certain limits, among the originally diffused +atoms, as a corollary from the evident design of infinite complexity of +relation out of irrelation. I started, it will be remembered, with the +idea of a generally uniform but particularly _un_uniform distribution of +the atoms;—an idea, I repeat, which an inspection of the stars, as they +exist, confirms. + +But even in the merely general equability of distribution, as regards +the atoms, there appears a difficulty which, no doubt, has already +suggested itself to those among my readers who have borne in mind that I +suppose this equability of distribution effected through _irradiation +from a centre_. The very first glance at the idea, irradiation, forces +us to the entertainment of the hitherto unseparated and seemingly +inseparable idea of agglomeration about a centre, with dispersion as we +recede from it—the idea, in a word, of _in_equability of distribution in +respect to the matter irradiated. + +Now, I have elsewhere[1] observed that it is by just such difficulties +as the one now in question—such roughnesses—such peculiarities—such +protuberances above the plane of the ordinary—that Reason feels her way, +if at all, in her search for the True. By the difficulty—the +“peculiarity”—now presented, I leap at once to _the_ secret—a secret +which I might never have attained _but_ for the peculiarity and the +inferences which, _in its mere character of peculiarity_, it affords me. + + [1] “_Murders in the Rue Morgue_”—p. 133. + +The process of thought, at this point, may be thus roughly sketched:—I +say to myself—“Unity, as I have explained it, is a truth—I feel it. +Diffusion is a truth—I see it. Irradiation, by which alone these two +truths are reconciled, is a consequent truth—I perceive it. _Equability_ +of diffusion, first deduced _à priori_ and then corroborated by the +inspection of phænomena, is also a truth—I fully admit it. So far all is +clear around me:—there are no clouds behind which _the_ secret—the great +secret of the gravitating _modus operandi_—can possibly lie hidden;—but +this secret lies _hereabouts_, most assuredly; and _were_ there but a +cloud in view, I should be driven to suspicion of that cloud.” And now, +just as I say this, there actually comes a cloud into view. This cloud +is the seeming impossibility of reconciling my truth, _irradiation_, +with my truth, _equability of diffusion_. I say now:—“Behind this +_seeming_ impossibility is to be found what I desire.” I do not say +“_real_ impossibility;” for invincible faith in my truths assures me +that it is a mere difficulty after all—but I go on to say, with +unflinching confidence, that, _when_ this _difficulty_ shall be solved, +we shall find, _wrapped up in the process of solution_, the key to the +secret at which we aim. Moreover—I _feel_ that we shall discover _but +one_ possible solution of the difficulty; this for the reason that, were +there two, one would be supererogatory—would be fruitless—would be +empty—would contain no key—since no duplicate key can be needed to any +secret of Nature. + +And now, let us see:—Our usual notions of irradiation—in fact _all_ our +distinct notions of it—are caught merely from the process as we see it +exemplified in _Light_. Here there is a _continuous_ outpouring of +_ray-streams_, and _with a force which we have at least no right to +suppose varies at all_. Now, in any such irradiation _as +this_—continuous and of unvarying force—the regions nearer the centre +must _inevitably_ be always more crowded with the irradiated matter than +the regions more remote. But I have assumed _no_ such irradiation _as +this_. I assumed no _continuous_ irradiation; and for the simple reason +that such an assumption would have involved, first, the necessity of +entertaining a conception which I have shown no man _can_ entertain, and +which (as I will more fully explain hereafter) all observation of the +firmament refutes—the conception of the absolute infinity of the +Universe of stars—and would have involved, secondly, the impossibility +of understanding a rëaction—that is, gravitation—as existing now—since, +while an act is continued, no rëaction, of course, can take place. My +assumption, then, or rather my inevitable deduction from just +premises—was that of a _determinate_ irradiation—one finally +_dis_continued. + +Let me now describe the sole possible mode in which it is conceivable +that matter could have been diffused through space, so as to fulfil the +conditions at once of irradiation and of generally equable distribution. + +For convenience of illustration, let us imagine, in the first place, a +hollow sphere of glass, or of anything else, occupying the space +throughout which the universal matter is to be thus equally diffused, by +means of irradiation, from the absolute, irrelative, unconditional +particle, placed in the centre of the sphere. + +Now, a certain exertion of the diffusive power (presumed to be the +Divine Volition)—in other words, a certain _force_—whose measure is the +quantity of matter—that is to say, the number of atoms—emitted; emits, +by irradiation, this certain number of atoms; forcing them in all +directions outwardly from the centre—their proximity to each other +diminishing as they proceed—until, finally, they are distributed, +loosely, over the interior surface of the sphere. + +When these atoms have attained this position, or while proceeding to +attain it, a second and inferior exercise of the same force—or a second +and inferior force of the same character—emits, in the same manner—that +is to say, by irradiation as before—a second stratum of atoms which +proceeds to deposit itself upon the first; the number of atoms, in this +case as in the former, being of course the measure of the force which +emitted them; in other words the force being precisely adapted to the +purpose it effects—the force and the number of atoms sent out by the +force, being _directly proportional_. + +When this second stratum has reached its destined position—or while +approaching it—a third still inferior exertion of the force, or a third +inferior force of a similar character—the number of atoms emitted being +in _all_ cases the measure of the force—proceeds to deposit a third +stratum upon the second:—and so on, until these concentric strata, +growing gradually less and less, come down at length to the central +point; and the diffusive matter, simultaneously with the diffusive +force, is exhausted. + +We have now the sphere filled, through means of irradiation, with atoms +equably diffused. The two necessary conditions—those of irradiation and +of equable diffusion—are satisfied; and by the _sole_ process in which +the possibility of their simultaneous satisfaction is conceivable. For +this reason, I confidently expect to find, lurking in the present +condition of the atoms as distributed throughout the sphere, the secret +of which I am in search—the all-important principle of the _modus +operandi_ of the Newtonian law. Let us examine, then, the actual +condition of the atoms. + +They lie in a series of concentric strata. They are equably diffused +throughout the sphere. They have been irradiated into these states. + +The atoms being _equably_ distributed, the greater the superficial +extent of any of these concentric strata, or spheres, the more atoms +will lie upon it. In other words, the number of atoms lying upon the +surface of any one of the concentric spheres, is directly proportional +with the extent of that surface. + +_But, in any series of concentric spheres, the surfaces are directly +proportional with the squares of the distances from the centre._[2] + + [2] Succinctly—The surfaces of spheres are as the squares of + their radii. + +Therefore the number of atoms in any stratum is directly proportional +with the square of that stratum’s distance from the centre. + +But the number of atoms in any stratum is the measure of the force which +emitted that stratum—that is to say, is _directly proportional_ with the +force. + +Therefore the force which irradiated any stratum is directly +proportional with the square of that stratum’s distance from the +centre:—or, generally, + +_The force of the irradiation has been directly proportional with the +squares of the distances._ + +Now, Rëaction, as far as we know anything of it, is Action conversed. +The _general_ principle of Gravity being, in the first place, understood +as the rëaction of an act—as the expression of a desire on the part of +Matter, while existing in a state of diffusion, to return into the Unity +whence it was diffused; and, in the second place, the mind being called +upon to determine the _character_ of the desire—the manner in which it +would, naturally, be manifested; in other words, being called upon to +conceive a probable law, or _modus operandi_, for the return; could not +well help arriving at the conclusion that this law of return would be +precisely the converse of the law of departure. That such would be the +case, any one, at least, would be abundantly justified in taking for +granted, until such time as some person should suggest something like a +plausible reason why it should _not_ be the case—until such period as a +law of return shall be imagined which the intellect can consider as +preferable. + +Matter, then, irradiated into space with a force varying as the squares +of the distances, might, _à priori_, be supposed to return towards its +centre of irradiation with a force varying _inversely_ as the squares of +the distances: and I have already shown[3] that any principle which will +explain why the atoms should tend, according to any law, to the general +centre, must be admitted as satisfactorily explaining, at the same time, +why, according to the same law, they should tend each to each. For, in +fact, the tendency to the general centre is not to a centre as such, but +because of its being a point in tending towards which each atom tends +most directly to its real and essential centre, _Unity_—the absolute +and final Union of all. + + [3] Page 44. + +The consideration here involved presents to my own mind no embarrassment +whatever—but this fact does not blind me to the possibility of its being +obscure to those who may have been less in the habit of dealing with +abstractions:—and, upon the whole, it may be as well to look at the +matter from one or two other points of view. + +The absolute, irrelative particle primarily created by the Volition of +God, must have been in a condition of positive _normality_, or +rightfulness—for wrongfulness implies _relation_. Right is positive; +wrong is negative—is merely the negation of right; as cold is the +negation of heat—darkness of light. That a thing may be wrong, it is +necessary that there be some other thing in _relation_ to which it _is_ +wrong—some condition which it fails to satisfy; some law which it +violates; some being whom it aggrieves. If there be no such being, law, +or condition, in respect to which the thing is wrong—and, still more +especially, if no beings, laws, or conditions exist at all—then the +thing can_not_ be wrong and consequently must be _right_. Any deviation +from normality involves a tendency to return into it. A difference from +the normal—from the right—from the just—can be understood as effected +only by the overcoming a difficulty; and if the force which overcomes +the difficulty be not infinitely continued, the ineradicable tendency to +return will at length be permitted to act for its own satisfaction. Upon +withdrawal of the force, the tendency acts. This is the principle of +rëaction as the inevitable consequence of finite action. Employing a +phraseology of which the seeming affectation will be pardoned for its +expressiveness, we may say that Rëaction is the return from the +condition of _as it is and ought not to be_ into the condition of _as it +was, originally, and therefore ought to be_:—and let me add here that +the _absolute_ force of Rëaction would no doubt be always found in +direct proportion with the reality—the truth—the absoluteness—of the +_originality_—if ever it were possible to measure this latter:—and, +consequently, the greatest of all conceivable reactions must be that +produced by the tendency which we now discuss—the tendency to return +into the _absolutely original_—into the _supremely_ primitive. Gravity, +then, _must be the strongest of forces_—an idea reached _à priori_ and +abundantly confirmed by induction. What use I make of the idea, will be +seen in the sequel. + +The atoms, now, having been diffused from their normal condition of +Unity, seek to return to——what? Not to any particular _point_, +certainly; for it is clear that if, upon the diffusion, the whole +Universe of matter had been projected, collectively, to a distance from +the point of irradiation, the atomic tendency to the general centre of +the sphere would not have been disturbed in the least:—the atoms would +not have sought the point _in absolute space_ from which they were +originally impelled. It is merely the _condition_, and not the point or +locality at which this condition took its rise, that these atoms seek to +re-establish;—it is merely _that condition which is their normality_, +that they desire. “But they seek a centre,” it will be said, “and a +centre is a point.” True; but they seek this point not in its character +of point—(for, were the whole sphere moved from its position, they would +seek, equally, the centre; and the centre _then_ would be a _new_ +point)—but because it so happens, on account of the form in which they +collectively exist—(that of the sphere)—that only _through_ the point in +question—the sphere’s centre—they can attain their true object, Unity. +In the direction of the centre each atom perceives more atoms than in +any other direction. Each atom is impelled towards the centre because +along the straight line joining it and the centre and passing on to the +circumference beyond, there lie a greater number of atoms than along any +other straight line—a greater number of objects that seek it, the +individual atom—a greater number of tendencies to Unity—a greater number +of satisfactions for its own tendency to Unity—in a word, because in the +direction of the centre lies the utmost possibility of satisfaction, +generally, for its own individual appetite. To be brief, the +_condition_, Unity, is all that is really sought; and if the atoms +_seem_ to seek the centre of the sphere, it is only impliedly, through +implication—because such centre happens to imply, to include, or to +involve, the only essential centre, Unity. But _on account of_ this +implication or involution, there is no possibility of practically +separating the tendency to Unity in the abstract, from the tendency to +the concrete centre. Thus the tendency of the atoms to the general +centre _is_, to all practical intents and for all logical purposes, the +tendency each to each; and the tendency each to each _is_ the tendency +to the centre; and the one tendency may be assumed _as_ the other; +whatever will apply to the one must be thoroughly applicable to the +other; and, in conclusion, whatever principle will satisfactorily +explain the one, cannot be questioned as an explanation of the other. + +In looking carefully around me for rational objection to what I have +advanced, I am able to discover _nothing_;—but of that class of +objections usually urged by the doubters for Doubt’s sake, I very +readily perceive _three_; and proceed to dispose of them in order. + +It may be said, first: “The proof that the force of irradiation (in the +case described) is directly proportional to the squares of the +distances, depends upon an unwarranted assumption—that of the number of +atoms in each stratum being the measure of the force with which they are +emitted.” + +I reply, not only that I am warranted in such assumption, but that I +should be utterly _un_warranted in any other. What I assume is, simply, +that an effect is the measure of its cause—that every exercise of the +Divine Will will be proportional to that which demands the exertion—that +the means of Omnipotence, or of Omniscience, will be exactly adapted to +its purposes. Neither can a deficiency nor an excess of cause bring to +pass any effect. Had the force which irradiated any stratum to its +position, been either more or less than was needed for the purpose—that +is to say, not _directly proportional_ to the purpose—then to its +position that stratum could not have been irradiated. Had the force +which, with a view to general equability of distribution, emitted the +proper number of atoms for each stratum, been not _directly +proportional_ to the number, then the number would _not_ have been the +number demanded for the equable distribution. + +The second supposable objection is somewhat better entitled to an +answer. + +It is an admitted principle in Dynamics that every body, on receiving an +impulse, or disposition to move, will move onward in a straight line, in +the direction imparted by the impelling force, until deflected, or +stopped, by some other force. How then, it may be asked, is my first or +external stratum of atoms to be understood as discontinuing their +movement at the circumference of the imaginary glass sphere, when no +second force, of more than an imaginary character, appears, to account +for the discontinuance? + +I reply that the objection, in this case, actually does arise out of “an +unwarranted assumption”—on the part of the objector—the assumption of a +principle, in Dynamics, at an epoch when _no_ “principles,” in +_anything_, exist:—I use the word “principle,” of course, in the +objector’s understanding of the word. + +“In the beginning” we can admit—indeed we can comprehend—but one _First +Cause_—the truly ultimate _Principle_—the Volition of God. The primary +_act_—that of Irradiation from Unity—must have been independent of all +that which the world now calls “principle”—because all that we so +designate is but a consequence of the rëaction of that primary act:—I +say “_primary_” act; for the creation of the absolute material particle +is more properly to be regarded as a _conception_ than as an “_act_” in +the ordinary meaning of the term. Thus, we must regard the primary act +as an act for the establishment of what we now call “principles.” But +this primary act itself is to be considered as _continuous Volition_. +The Thought of God is to be understood as originating the Diffusion—as +proceeding with it—as regulating it—and, finally, as being withdrawn +from it upon its completion. _Then_ commences Rëaction, and through +Rëaction, “Principle,” as we employ the word. It will be advisable, +however, to limit the application of this word to the two _immediate_ +results of the discontinuance of the Divine Volition—that is, to the two +agents, _Attraction_ and _Repulsion_. Every other Natural agent depends, +either more or less immediately, upon these two, and therefore would be +more conveniently designated as _sub_-principle. + +It may be objected, thirdly, that, in general, the peculiar mode of +distribution which I have suggested for the atoms, is “an hypothesis and +nothing more.” + +Now, I am aware that the word hypothesis is a ponderous sledge-hammer, +grasped immediately, if not lifted, by all very diminutive thinkers, +upon the first appearance of any proposition wearing, in any particular, +the garb of _a theory_. But “hypothesis” cannot be wielded _here_ to any +good purpose, even by those who succeed in lifting it—little men or +great. + +I maintain, first, that _only_ in the mode described is it conceivable +that Matter could have been diffused so as to fulfil at once the +conditions of irradiation and of generally equable distribution. I +maintain, secondly, that these conditions themselves have been imposed +upon me, as necessities, in a train of ratiocination _as rigorously +logical as that which establishes any demonstration in Euclid_; and I +maintain, thirdly, that even if the charge of “hypothesis” were as fully +sustained as it is, in fact, unsustained and untenable, still the +validity and indisputability of my result would not, even in the +slightest particular, be disturbed. + +To explain:—The Newtonian Gravity—a law of Nature—a law whose existence +as such no one out of Bedlam questions—a law whose admission as such +enables us to account for nine-tenths of the Universal phænomena—a law +which, merely because it does so enable us to account for these +phænomena, we are perfectly willing, without reference to any other +considerations, to admit, and cannot help admitting, as a law—a law, +nevertheless, of which neither the principle nor the _modus operandi_ of +the principle, has ever yet been traced by the human analysis—a law, in +short, which, neither in its detail nor in its generality, has been +found susceptible of explanation _at all_—is at length seen to be at +every point thoroughly explicable, provided only we yield our assent +to——what? To an hypothesis? Why _if_ an hypothesis—if the merest +hypothesis—if an hypothesis for whose assumption—as in the case of that +_pure_ hypothesis the Newtonian law itself—no shadow of _à priori_ +reason could be assigned—if an hypothesis, even so absolute as all this +implies, would enable us to perceive a principle for the Newtonian +law—would enable us to understand as satisfied, conditions so +miraculously—so ineffably complex and seemingly irreconcileable as those +involved in the relations of which Gravity tells us,—what rational being +_could_ so expose his fatuity as to call even this absolute hypothesis +an hypothesis any longer—unless, indeed, he were to persist in so +calling it, with the understanding that he did so, simply for the sake +of consistency _in words_? + +But what is the true state of our present case? What is _the fact_? Not +only that it is _not_ an hypothesis which we are required _to adopt_, +in order to admit the principle at issue explained, but that it _is_ a +logical conclusion which we are requested _not_ to adopt if we can avoid +it—which we are simply invited to _deny if we can_:—a conclusion of so +accurate a logicality that to dispute it would be the effort—to doubt +its validity beyond our power:—a conclusion from which we see no mode of +escape, turn as we will; a result which confronts us either at the end +of an _in_ductive journey from the phænomena of the very Law discussed, +or at the close of a _de_ductive career from the most rigorously simple +of all conceivable assumptions—_the assumption, in a word, of Simplicity +itself_. + +And if here, for the mere sake of cavilling, it be urged, that although +my starting-point is, as I assert, the assumption of absolute +Simplicity, yet Simplicity, considered merely in itself, is no axiom; +and that only deductions from axioms are indisputable—it is thus that I +reply:— + +Every other science than Logic is the science of certain concrete +relations. Arithmetic, for example, is the science of the relations of +number—Geometry, of the relations of form—Mathematics in general, of the +relations of quantity in general—of whatever can be increased or +diminished. Logic, however, is the science of Relation in the +abstract—of absolute Relation—of Relation considered solely in itself. +An axiom in any particular science other than Logic is, thus, merely a +proposition announcing certain concrete relations which seem to be too +obvious for dispute—as when we say, for instance, that the whole is +greater than its part:—and, thus again, the principle of the _Logical_ +axiom—in other words, of an axiom in the abstract—is, simply, +_obviousness of relation_. Now, it is clear, not only that what is +obvious to one mind may not be obvious to another, but that what is +obvious to one mind at one epoch, may be anything but obvious, at +another epoch, to the same mind. It is clear, moreover, that what, +to-day, is obvious even to the majority of mankind, or to the majority +of the best intellects of mankind, may to-morrow be, to either majority, +more or less obvious, or in no respect obvious at all. It is seen, then, +that the _axiomatic principle_ itself is susceptible of variation, and +of course that axioms are susceptible of similar change. Being mutable, +the “truths” which grow out of them are necessarily mutable too; or, in +other words, are never to be positively depended upon as truths at +all—since Truth and Immutability are one. + +It will now be readily understood that no axiomatic idea—no idea founded +in the fluctuating principle, obviousness of relation—can possibly be so +secure—so reliable a basis for any structure erected by the Reason, as +_that_ idea—(whatever it is, wherever we can find it, or _if_ it be +practicable to find it anywhere)—which is _ir_relative altogether—which +not only presents to the understanding _no obviousness_ of relation, +either greater or less, to be considered, but subjects the intellect, +not in the slightest degree, to the necessity of even looking at _any +relation at all_. If such an idea be not what we too heedlessly term “an +axiom,” it is at least preferable, as a Logical basis, to any axiom ever +propounded, or to all imaginable axioms combined:—and such, precisely, +is the idea with which my deductive process, so thoroughly corroborated +by induction, commences. My _particle proper_ is but _absolute +Irrelation_. To sum up what has been here advanced:—As a starting point +I have taken it for granted, simply, that the Beginning had nothing +behind it or before it—that it was a Beginning in fact—that it was a +beginning and nothing different from a beginning—in short that this +Beginning was——_that which it was_. If this be a “mere assumption” then +a “mere assumption” let it be. + +To conclude this branch of the subject:—I am fully warranted in +announcing that _the Law which we have been in the habit of calling +Gravity exists on account of Matter’s having been irradiated, at its +origin, atomically, into a limited[4] sphere of Space, from one, +individual, unconditional, irrelative, and absolute Particle Proper, by +the sole process in which it was possible to satisfy, at the same time, +the two conditions, irradiation, and generally-equable distribution +throughout the sphere—that is to say, by a force varying in direct +proportion with the squares of the distances between the irradiated +atoms, respectively, and the Particular centre of Irradiation_. + + [4] Limited sphere—A sphere is _necessarily_ limited. I prefer + tautology to a chance of misconception. + +I have already given my reasons for presuming Matter to have been +diffused by a determinate rather than by a continuous or infinitely +continued force. Supposing a continuous force, we should be unable, in +the first place, to comprehend a rëaction at all; and we should be +required, in the second place, to entertain the impossible conception of +an infinite extension of Matter. Not to dwell upon the impossibility of +the conception, the infinite extension of Matter is an idea which, if +not positively disproved, is at least not in any respect warranted by +telescopic observation of the stars—a point to be explained more fully +hereafter; and this empirical reason for believing in the original +finity of Matter is unempirically confirmed. For example:—Admitting, for +the moment, the possibility of understanding Space _filled_ with the +irradiated atoms—that is to say, admitting, as well as we can, for +argument’s sake, that the succession of the irradiated atoms had +absolutely _no end_—then it is abundantly clear that, even when the +Volition of God had been withdrawn from them, and thus the tendency to +return into Unity permitted (abstractly) to be satisfied, this +permission would have been nugatory and invalid—practically valueless +and of no effect whatever. No Rëaction could have taken place; no +movement toward Unity could have been made; no Law of Gravity could have +obtained. + +To explain:—Grant the _abstract_ tendency of any one atom to any one +other as the inevitable result of diffusion from the normal Unity:—or, +what is the same thing, admit any given atom as _proposing_ to move in +any given direction—it is clear that, since there is an _infinity_ of +atoms on all sides of the atom proposing to move, it never can actually +move toward the satisfaction of its tendency in the direction given, on +account of a precisely equal and counterbalancing tendency in the +direction diametrically opposite. In other words, exactly as many +tendencies to Unity are behind the hesitating atom as before it; for it +is a mere sotticism to say that one infinite line is longer or shorter +than another infinite line, or that one infinite number is greater or +less than another number that is infinite. Thus the atom in question +must remain stationary forever. Under the impossible circumstances which +we have been merely endeavoring to conceive for argument’s sake, there +could have been no aggregation of Matter—no stars—no worlds—nothing but +a perpetually atomic and inconsequential Universe. In fact, view it as +we will, the whole idea of unlimited Matter is not only untenable, but +impossible and preposterous. + +With the understanding of a _sphere_ of atoms, however, we perceive, at +once, a _satisfiable_ tendency to union. The general result of the +tendency each to each, being a tendency of all to the centre, the +_general_ process of condensation, or approximation, commences +immediately, by a common and simultaneous movement, on withdrawal of the +Divine Volition; the _individual_ approximations, or coalescences—_not_ +cöalitions—of atom with atom, being subject to almost infinite +variations of time, degree, and condition, on account of the excessive +multiplicity of relation, arising from the differences of form assumed +as characterizing the atoms at the moment of their quitting the Particle +Proper; as well as from the subsequent particular inequidistance, each +from each. + +What I wish to impress upon the reader is the certainty of there +arising, at once, (on withdrawal of the diffusive force, or Divine +Volition,) out of the condition of the atoms as described, at +innumerable points throughout the Universal sphere, innumerable +agglomerations, characterized by innumerable specific differences of +form, size, essential nature, and distance each from each. The +development of Repulsion (Electricity) must have commenced, of course, +with the very earliest particular efforts at Unity, and must have +proceeded constantly in the ratio of Coalescence—that is to say, _in +that of Condensation_, or, again, of Heterogeneity. + +Thus the two Principles Proper, _Attraction_ and _Repulsion_—the +Material and the Spiritual—accompany each other, in the strictest +fellowship, forever. Thus _The Body and The Soul walk hand in hand_. + +If now, in fancy, we select _any one_ of the agglomerations considered +as in their primary stages throughout the Universal sphere, and suppose +this incipient agglomeration to be taking place at that point where the +centre of our Sun exists—or rather where it _did_ exist originally; for +the Sun is perpetually shifting his position—we shall find ourselves +met, and borne onward for a time at least, by the most magnificent of +theories—by the Nebular Cosmogony of Laplace:—although “Cosmogony” is +far too comprehensive a term for what he really discusses—which is the +constitution of our solar system alone—of one among the myriad of +similar systems which make up the Universe Proper—that Universal +sphere—that all-inclusive and absolute _Kosmos_ which forms the subject +of my present Discourse. + +Confining himself to an _obviously limited_ region—that of our solar +system with its comparatively immediate vicinity—and _merely_ +assuming—that is to say, assuming without any basis whatever, either +deductive or inductive—_much_ of what I have been just endeavoring to +place upon a more stable basis than assumption; assuming, for example, +matter as diffused (without pretending to account for the diffusion) +throughout, and somewhat beyond, the space occupied by our +system—diffused in a state of heterogeneous nebulosity and obedient to +that omniprevalent law of Gravity at whose principle he ventured to make +no guess;—assuming all this (which is quite true, although he had no +logical right to its assumption) Laplace has shown, dynamically and +mathematically, that the results in such case necessarily ensuing, are +those and those alone which we find manifested in the actually existing +condition of the system itself. + +To explain:—Let us conceive _that_ particular agglomeration of which we +have just spoken—the one at the point designated by our Sun’s centre—to +have so far proceeded that a vast quantity of nebulous matter has here +assumed a roughly globular form; its centre being, of course, coincident +with what is now, or rather was originally, the centre of our Sun; and +its periphery extending out beyond the orbit of Neptune, the most remote +of our planets:—in other words, let us suppose the diameter of this +rough sphere to be some 6000 millions of miles. For ages, this mass of +matter has been undergoing condensation, until at length it has become +reduced into the bulk we imagine; having proceeded gradually, of course, +from its atomic and imperceptible state, into what we understand of +visible, palpable, or otherwise appreciable nebulosity. + +Now, the condition of this mass implies a rotation about an imaginary +axis—a rotation which, commencing with the absolute incipiency of the +aggregation, has been ever since acquiring velocity. The very first two +atoms which met, approaching each other from points not diametrically +opposite, would, in rushing partially past each other, form a nucleus +for the rotary movement described. How this would increase in velocity, +is readily seen. The two atoms are joined by others:—an aggregation is +formed. The mass continues to rotate while condensing. But any atom at +the circumference has, of course, a more rapid motion than one nearer +the centre. The outer atom, however, with its superior velocity, +approaches the centre; carrying this superior velocity with it as it +goes. Thus every atom, proceeding inwardly, and finally attaching itself +to the condensed centre, adds something to the original velocity of that +centre—that is to say, increases the rotary movement of the mass. + +Let us now suppose this mass so far condensed that it occupies +_precisely_ the space circumscribed by the orbit of Neptune, and that +the velocity with which the surface of the mass moves, in the general +rotation, is precisely that velocity with which Neptune now revolves +about the Sun. At this epoch, then, we are to understand that the +constantly increasing centrifugal force, having gotten the better of the +non-increasing centripetal, loosened and separated the exterior and +least condensed stratum, or a few of the exterior and least condensed +strata, at the equator of the sphere, where the tangential velocity +predominated; so that these strata formed about the main body an +independent ring encircling the equatorial regions:—just as the exterior +portion thrown off, by excessive velocity of rotation, from a +grindstone, would form a ring about the grindstone, but for the solidity +of the superficial material: were this caoutchouc, or anything similar +in consistency, precisely the phænomenon I describe would be presented. + +The ring thus whirled from the nebulous mass, _revolved_, of course, +_as_ a separate ring, with just that velocity with which, while the +surface of the mass, it _rotated_. In the meantime, condensation still +proceeding, the interval between the discharged ring and the main body +continued to increase, until the former was left at a vast distance from +the latter. + +Now, admitting the ring to have possessed, by some seemingly accidental +arrangement of its heterogeneous materials, a constitution nearly +uniform, then this ring, _as_ such, would never have ceased revolving +about its primary; but, as might have been anticipated, there appears to +have been enough irregularity in the disposition of the materials, to +make them cluster about centres of superior solidity; and thus the +annular form was destroyed.[5] No doubt, the band was soon broken up +into several portions, and one of these portions, predominating in mass, +absorbed the others into itself; the whole settling, spherically, into a +planet. That this latter, _as_ a planet, continued the revolutionary +movement which characterized it while a ring, is sufficiently clear; and +that it took upon itself also, an additional movement in its new +condition of sphere, is readily explained. The ring being understood as +yet unbroken, we see that its exterior, while the whole revolves about +the parent body, moves more rapidly than its interior. When the rupture +occurred, then, some portion in each fragment must have been moving +with greater velocity than the others. The superior movement prevailing, +must have whirled each fragment round—that is to say, have caused it to +rotate; and the direction of the rotation must, of course, have been the +direction of the revolution whence it arose. _All_ the fragments having +become subject to the rotation described, must, in coalescing, have +imparted it to the one planet constituted by their coalescence.—This +planet was Neptune. Its material continuing to undergo condensation, and +the centrifugal force generated in its rotation getting, at length, the +better of the centripetal, as before in the case of the parent orb, a +ring was whirled also from the equatorial surface of this planet: this +ring, having been ununiform in its constitution, was broken up, and its +several fragments, being absorbed by the most massive, were collectively +spherified into a moon. Subsequently, the operation was repeated, and a +second moon was the result. We thus account for the planet Neptune, with +the two satellites which accompany him. + + [5] Laplace assumed his nebulosity heterogeneous, merely that + he might be thus enabled to account for the breaking up of the + rings; for had the nebulosity been homogeneous, they would not + have broken. I reach the same result—heterogeneity of the + secondary masses immediately resulting from the atoms—purely + from an _à priori_ consideration of their general + design—_Relation_. + +In throwing off a ring from its equator, the Sun re-established that +equilibrium between its centripetal and centrifugal forces which had +been disturbed in the process of condensation; but, as this condensation +still proceeded, the equilibrium was again immediately disturbed, +through the increase of rotation. By the time the mass had so far shrunk +that it occupied a spherical space just that circumscribed by the orbit +of Uranus, we are to understand that the centrifugal force had so far +obtained the ascendency that new relief was needed: a second equatorial +band was, consequently, thrown off, which, proving ununiform, was +broken up, as before in the case of Neptune; the fragments settling into +the planet Uranus; the velocity of whose actual revolution about the Sun +indicates, of course, the rotary speed of that Sun’s equatorial surface +at the moment of the separation. Uranus, adopting a rotation from the +collective rotations of the fragments composing it, as previously +explained, now threw off ring after ring; each of which, becoming broken +up, settled into a moon:—three moons, at different epochs, having been +formed, in this manner, by the rupture and general spherification of as +many distinct ununiform rings. + +By the time the Sun had shrunk until it occupied a space just that +circumscribed by the orbit of Saturn, the balance, we are to suppose, +between its centripetal and centrifugal forces had again become so far +disturbed, through increase of rotary velocity, the result of +condensation, that a third effort at equilibrium became necessary; and +an annular band was therefore whirled off as twice before; which, on +rupture through ununiformity, became consolidated into the planet +Saturn. This latter threw off, in the first place, seven uniform bands, +which, on rupture, were spherified respectively into as many moons; but, +subsequently, it appears to have discharged, at three distinct but not +very distant epochs, three rings whose equability of constitution was, +by apparent accident, so considerable as to present no occasion for +their rupture; thus they continue to revolve as rings. I use the phrase +“_apparent_ accident;” for of accident in the ordinary sense there was, +of course, nothing:—the term is properly applied only to the result of +indistinguishable or not immediately traceable _law_. + +Shrinking still farther, until it occupied just the space circumscribed +by the orbit of Jupiter, the Sun now found need of farther effort to +restore the counterbalance of its two forces, continually disarranged in +the still continued increase of rotation. Jupiter, accordingly, was now +thrown off; passing from the annular to the planetary condition; and, on +attaining this latter, threw off in its turn, at four different epochs, +four rings, which finally resolved themselves into so many moons. + +Still shrinking, until its sphere occupied just the space defined by the +orbit of the Asteroids, the Sun now discarded a ring which appears to +have had _eight_ centres of superior solidity, and, on breaking up, to +have separated into eight fragments no one of which so far predominated +in mass as to absorb the others. All therefore, as distinct although +comparatively small planets, proceeded to revolve in orbits whose +distances, each from each, may be considered as in some degree the +measure of the force which drove them asunder:—all the orbits, +nevertheless, being so closely coincident as to admit of our calling +them _one_, in view of the other planetary orbits. + +Continuing to shrink, the Sun, on becoming so small as just to fill the +orbit of Mars, now discharged this planet—of course by the process +repeatedly described. Having no moon, however, Mars could have thrown +off no ring. In fact, an epoch had now arrived in the career of the +parent body, the centre of the system. The _de_crease of its nebulosity, +which is the _in_crease of its density, and which again is the +_de_crease of its condensation, out of which latter arose the constant +disturbance of equilibrium—must, by this period, have attained a point +at which the efforts for restoration would have been more and more +ineffectual just in proportion as they were less frequently needed. Thus +the processes of which we have been speaking would everywhere show signs +of exhaustion—in the planets, first, and secondly, in the original mass. +We must not fall into the error of supposing the decrease of interval +observed among the planets as we approach the Sun, to be in any respect +indicative of an increase of frequency in the periods at which they were +discarded. Exactly the converse is to be understood. The longest +interval of time must have occurred between the discharges of the two +interior; the shortest, between those of the two exterior, planets. The +decrease of the interval of space is, nevertheless, the measure of the +density, and thus inversely of the condensation, of the Sun, throughout +the processes detailed. + +Having shrunk, however, so far as to fill only the orbit of our Earth, +the parent sphere whirled from itself still one other body—the Earth—in +a condition so nebulous as to admit of this body’s discarding, in its +turn, yet another, which is our Moon;—but here terminated the lunar +formations. + +Finally, subsiding to the orbits first of Venus and then of Mercury, the +Sun discarded these two interior planets; neither of which has given +birth to any moon. + +Thus from his original bulk—or, to speak more accurately, from the +condition in which we first considered him—from a partially spherified +nebular mass, _certainly_ much more than 5,600 millions of miles in +diameter—the great central orb and origin of our solar-planetary-lunar +system, has gradually descended, by condensation, in obedience to the +law of Gravity, to a globe only 882,000 miles in diameter; but it by no +means follows, either that its condensation is yet complete, or that it +may not still possess the capacity of whirling from itself another +planet. + +I have here given—in outline of course, but still with all the detail +necessary for distinctness—a view of the Nebular Theory as its author +himself conceived it. From whatever point we regard it, we shall find it +_beautifully true_. It is by far too beautiful, indeed, _not_ to possess +Truth as its essentiality—and here I am very profoundly serious in what +I say. In the revolution of the satellites of Uranus, there does appear +something seemingly inconsistent with the assumptions of Laplace; but +that _one_ inconsistency can invalidate a theory constructed from a +million of intricate consistencies, is a fancy fit only for the +fantastic. In prophecying, confidently, that the apparent anomaly to +which I refer, will, sooner or later, be found one of the strongest +possible corroborations of the general hypothesis, I pretend to no +especial spirit of divination. It is a matter which the only difficulty +seems _not_ to foresee.[6] + + [6] I am prepared to show that the anomalous revolution of the + satellites of Uranus is a simply perspective anomaly arising + from the inclination of the axis of the planet. + +The bodies whirled off in the processes described, would exchange, it +has been seen, the superficial _rotation_ of the orbs whence they +originated, for a _revolution_ of equal velocity about these orbs as +distant centres; and the revolution thus engendered must proceed, so +long as the centripetal force, or that with which the discarded body +gravitates toward its parent, is neither greater nor less than that by +which it was discarded; that is, than the centrifugal, or, far more +properly, than the tangential, velocity. From the unity, however, of the +origin of these two forces, we might have expected to find them as they +are found—the one accurately counterbalancing the other. It has been +shown, indeed, that the act of whirling-off is, in every case, merely an +act for the preservation of the counterbalance. + +After referring, however, the centripetal force to the omniprevalent law +of Gravity, it has been the fashion with astronomical treatises, to seek +beyond the limits of mere Nature—that is to say, of _Secondary_ Cause—a +solution of the phænomenon of tangential velocity. This latter they +attribute directly to a _First_ Cause—to God. The force which carries a +stellar body around its primary they assert to have originated in an +impulse given immediately by the finger—this is the childish phraseology +employed—by the finger of Deity itself. In this view, the planets, fully +formed, are conceived to have been hurled from the Divine hand, to a +position in the vicinity of the suns, with an impetus mathematically +adapted to the masses, or attractive capacities, of the suns themselves. +An idea so grossly unphilosophical, although so supinely adopted, could +have arisen only from the difficulty of otherwise accounting for the +absolutely accurate adaptation, each to each, of two forces so seemingly +independent, one of the other, as are the gravitating and tangential. +But it should be remembered that, for a long time, the coincidence +between the moon’s rotation and her sidereal revolution—two matters +seemingly far more independent than those now considered—was looked +upon as positively miraculous; and there was a strong disposition, even +among astronomers, to attribute the marvel to the direct and continual +agency of God—who, in this case, it was said, had found it necessary to +interpose, specially, among his general laws, a set of subsidiary +regulations, for the purpose of forever concealing from mortal eyes the +glories, or perhaps the horrors, of the other side of the Moon—of that +mysterious hemisphere which has always avoided, and must perpetually +avoid, the telescopic scrutiny of mankind. The advance of Science, +however, soon demonstrated—what to the philosophical instinct needed +_no_ demonstration—that the one movement is but a portion—something +more, even, than a consequence—of the other. + +For my part, I have no patience with fantasies at once so timorous, so +idle, and so awkward. They belong to the veriest _cowardice_ of thought. +That Nature and the God of Nature are distinct, no thinking being can +long doubt. By the former we imply merely the laws of the latter. But +with the very idea of God, omnipotent, omniscient, we entertain, also, +the idea of _the infallibility_ of his laws. With Him there being +neither Past nor Future—with Him all being _Now_—do we not insult him in +supposing his laws so contrived as not to provide for every possible +contingency?—or, rather, what idea _can_ we have of _any_ possible +contingency, except that it is at once a result and a manifestation of +his laws? He who, divesting himself of prejudice, shall have the rare +courage to think absolutely for himself, cannot fail to arrive, in the +end, at the condensation of _laws_ into _Law_—cannot fail of reaching +the conclusion that _each law of Nature is dependent at all points upon +all other laws_, and that all are but consequences of one primary +exercise of the Divine Volition. Such is the principle of the Cosmogony +which, with all necessary deference, I here venture to suggest and to +maintain. + +In this view, it will be seen that, dismissing as frivolous, and even +impious, the fancy of the tangential force having been imparted to the +planets immediately by “the finger of God,” I consider this force as +originating in the rotation of the stars:—this rotation as brought about +by the in-rushing of the primary atoms, towards their respective centres +of aggregation:—this in-rushing as the consequence of the law of +Gravity:—this law as but the mode in which is necessarily manifested the +tendency of the atoms to return into imparticularity:—this tendency to +return as but the inevitable rëaction of the first and most sublime of +Acts—that act by which a God, self-existing and alone existing, became +all things at once, through dint of his volition, while all things were +thus constituted a portion of God. + +The radical assumptions of this Discourse suggest to me, and in fact +imply, certain important _modifications_ of the Nebular Theory as given +by Laplace. The efforts of the repulsive power I have considered as made +for the purpose of preventing contact among the atoms, and thus as made +in the ratio of the approach to contact—that is to say, in the ratio of +condensation.[7] In other words, _Electricity_, with its involute +phænomena, heat, light and magnetism, is to be understood as proceeding +as condensation proceeds, and, of course, inversely as density proceeds, +or the _cessation to condense_. Thus the Sun, in the process of its +aggregation, must soon, in developing repulsion, have become excessively +heated—perhaps incandescent: and we can perceive how the operation of +discarding its rings must have been materially assisted by the slight +incrustation of its surface consequent on cooling. Any common experiment +shows us how readily a crust of the character suggested, is separated, +through heterogeneity, from the interior mass. But, on every successive +rejection of the crust, the new surface would appear incandescent as +before; and the period at which it would again become so far encrusted +as to be readily loosened and discharged, may well be imagined as +exactly coincident with that at which a new effort would be needed, by +the whole mass, to restore the equilibrium of its two forces, +disarranged through condensation. In other words:—by the time the +electric influence (Repulsion) has prepared the surface for rejection, +we are to understand that the gravitating influence (Attraction) is +precisely ready to reject it. Here, then, as everywhere, _the Body and +the Soul walk hand in hand_. + + [7] See page 70. + +These ideas are empirically confirmed at all points. Since condensation +can never, in any body, be considered as absolutely at an end, we are +warranted in anticipating that, whenever we have an opportunity of +testing the matter, we shall find indications of resident luminosity in +_all_ the stellar bodies—moons and planets as well as suns. That our +Moon is strongly self-luminous, we see at her every total eclipse, when, +if not so, she would disappear. On the dark part of the satellite, too, +during her phases, we often observe flashes like our own Auroras; and +that these latter, with our various other so-called electrical +phænomena, without reference to any more steady radiance, must give our +Earth a certain appearance of luminosity to an inhabitant of the Moon, +is quite evident. In fact, we should regard all the phænomena referred +to, as mere manifestations, in different moods and degrees, of the +Earth’s feebly-continued condensation. + +If my views are tenable, we should be prepared to find the newer +planets—that is to say, those nearer the Sun—more luminous than those +older and more remote:—and the extreme brilliancy of Venus (on whose +dark portions, during her phases, the Auroras are frequently visible) +does not seem to be altogether accounted for by her mere proximity to +the central orb. She is no doubt vividly self-luminous, although less so +than Mercury: while the luminosity of Neptune may be comparatively +nothing. + +Admitting what I have urged, it is clear that, from the moment of the +Sun’s discarding a ring, there must be a continuous diminution both of +his heat and light, on account of the continuous encrustation of his +surface; and that a period would arrive—the period immediately previous +to a new discharge—when a _very material_ decrease of both light and +heat, must become apparent. Now, we know that tokens of such changes are +distinctly recognizable. On the Melville islands—to adduce merely one +out of a hundred examples—we find traces of _ultra-tropical_ +vegetation—of plants that never could have flourished without immensely +more light and heat than are at present afforded by our Sun to any +portion of the surface of the Earth. Is such vegetation referable to an +epoch immediately subsequent to the whirling-off of Venus? At this epoch +must have occurred to us our greatest access of solar influence; and, +in fact, this influence must then have attained its maximum:—leaving out +of view, of course, the period when the Earth itself was discarded—the +period of its mere organization. + +Again:—we know that there exist _non-luminous suns_—that is to say, suns +whose existence we determine through the movements of others, but whose +luminosity is not sufficient to impress us. Are these suns invisible +merely on account of the length of time elapsed since their discharge of +a planet? And yet again:—may we not—at least in certain cases—account +for the sudden appearances of suns where none had been previously +suspected, by the hypothesis that, having rolled with encrusted surfaces +throughout the few thousand years of our astronomical history, each of +these suns, in whirling off a new secondary, has at length been enabled +to display the glories of its still incandescent interior?—To the +well-ascertained fact of the proportional increase of heat as we descend +into the Earth, I need of course, do nothing more than refer:—it comes +in the strongest possible corroboration of all that I have said on the +topic now at issue. + +In speaking, not long ago, of the repulsive or electrical influence, I +remarked that “the important phænomena of vitality, consciousness, and +thought, whether we observe them generally or in detail, seem to proceed +_at least in the ratio of the heterogeneous_.”[8] I mentioned, too, that +I would recur to the suggestion:—and this is the proper point at which +to do so. Looking at the matter, first, in detail, we perceive that not +merely the _manifestation_ of vitality, but its importance, consequence, +and elevation of character, keep pace, very closely, with the +heterogeneity, or complexity, of the animal structure. Looking at the +question, now, in its generality, and referring to the first movements +of the atoms towards mass-constitution, we find that heterogeneousness, +brought about directly through condensation, is proportional with it +forever. We thus reach the proposition that _the importance of the +development of the terrestrial vitality proceeds equably with the +terrestrial condensation_. + + [8] Page 36. + +Now this is in precise accordance with what we know of the succession of +animals on the Earth. As it has proceeded in its condensation, superior +and still superior races have appeared. Is it impossible that the +successive geological revolutions which have attended, at least, if not +immediately caused, these successive elevations of vitalic character—is +it improbable that these revolutions have themselves been produced by +the successive planetary discharges from the Sun—in other words, by the +successive variations in the solar influence on the Earth? Were this +idea tenable, we should not be unwarranted in the fancy that the +discharge of yet a new planet, interior to Mercury, may give rise to yet +a new modification of the terrestrial surface—a modification from which +may spring a race both materially and spiritually superior to Man. These +thoughts impress me with all the force of truth—but I throw them out, of +course, merely in their obvious character of suggestion. + +The Nebular Theory of Laplace has lately received far more confirmation +than it needed, at the hands of the philosopher, Compte. These two have +thus together shown—_not_, to be sure, that Matter at any period +actually existed as described, in a state of nebular diffusion, but +that, admitting it so to have existed throughout the space and much +beyond the space now occupied by our solar system, _and to have +commenced a movement towards a centre_—it must gradually have assumed +the various forms and motions which are now seen, in that system, to +obtain. A demonstration such as this—a dynamical and mathematical +demonstration, as far as demonstration can be—unquestionable and +unquestioned—unless, indeed, by that unprofitable and disreputable +tribe, the professional questioners—the mere madmen who deny the +Newtonian law of Gravity on which the results of the French +mathematicians are based—a demonstration, I say, such as this, would to +most intellects be conclusive—and I confess that it is so to mine—of the +validity of the nebular hypothesis upon which the demonstration depends. + +That the demonstration does not _prove_ the hypothesis, according to the +common understanding of the word “proof,” I admit, of course. To show +that certain existing results—that certain established facts—may be, +even mathematically, accounted for by the assumption of a certain +hypothesis, is by no means to establish the hypothesis itself. In other +words:—to show that, certain data being given, a certain existing result +might, or even _must_, have ensued, will fail to prove that this result +_did_ ensue, _from the data_, until such time as it shall be also shown +that there are, _and can be_, no other data from which the result in +question might _equally_ have ensued. But, in the case now discussed, +although all must admit the deficiency of what we are in the habit of +terming “proof,” still there are many intellects, and those of the +loftiest order, to which _no_ proof could bring one iota of additional +_conviction_. Without going into details which might impinge upon the +Cloud-Land of Metaphysics, I may as well here observe that the force of +conviction, in cases such as this, will always, with the right-thinking, +be proportional to the amount of _complexity_ intervening between the +hypothesis and the result. To be less abstract:—The greatness of the +complexity found existing among cosmical conditions, by rendering great +in the same proportion the difficulty of accounting for all these +conditions _at once_, strengthens, also in the same proportion, our +faith in that hypothesis which does, in such manner, satisfactorily +account for them:—and as _no_ complexity can well be conceived greater +than that of the astronomical conditions, so no conviction can be +stronger—to _my_ mind at least—than that with which I am impressed by an +hypothesis that not only reconciles these conditions, with mathematical +accuracy, and reduces them into a consistent and intelligible whole, but +is, at the same time, the _sole_ hypothesis by means of which the human +intellect has been ever enabled to account for them _at all_. + +A most unfounded opinion has become latterly current in gossiping and +even in scientific circles—the opinion that the so-called Nebular +Cosmogony has been overthrown. This fancy has arisen from the report of +late observations made, among what hitherto have been termed the +“nebulæ,” through the large telescope of Cincinnati, and the +world-renowned instrument of Lord Rosse. Certain spots in the firmament +which presented, even to the most powerful of the old telescopes, the +appearance of nebulosity, or haze, had been regarded for a long time as +confirming the theory of Laplace. They were looked upon as stars in that +very process of condensation which I have been attempting to describe. +Thus it was supposed that we “had ocular evidence”—an evidence, by the +way, which has always been found very questionable—of the truth of the +hypothesis; and, although certain telescopic improvements, every now and +then, enabled us to perceive that a spot, here and there, which we had +been classing among the nebulæ, was, in fact, but a cluster of stars +deriving its nebular character only from its immensity of distance—still +it was thought that no doubt could exist as to the actual nebulosity of +numerous other masses, the strong-holds of the nebulists, bidding +defiance to every effort at segregation. Of these latter the most +interesting was the great “nebulæ” in the constellation Orion:—but this, +with innumerable other mis-called “nebulæ,” when viewed through the +magnificent modern telescopes, has become resolved into a simple +collection of stars. Now this fact has been very generally understood as +conclusive against the Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace; and, on +announcement of the discoveries in question, the most enthusiastic +defender and most eloquent popularizer of the theory, Dr. Nichol, went +so far as to “admit the necessity of abandoning” an idea which had +formed the material of his most praiseworthy book.[9] + + [9] “_Views of the Architecture of the Heavens._” A letter, + purporting to be from Dr. Nichol to a friend in America, went + the rounds of our newspapers, about two years ago, I think, + admitting “the necessity” to which I refer. In a subsequent + Lecture, however, Dr. N. appears in some manner to have gotten + the better of the necessity, and does not quite _renounce_ the + theory, although he seems to wish that he could sneer at it as + “a purely hypothetical one.” What else was the Law of Gravity + before the Maskelyne experiments? and who questioned the Law of + Gravity, even then? + +Many of my readers will no doubt be inclined to say that the result of +these new investigations _has_ at least a strong _tendency_ to overthrow +the hypothesis; while some of them, more thoughtful, will suggest that, +although the theory is by no means disproved through the segregation of +the particular “nebulæ,” alluded to, still a _failure_ to segregate +them, with such telescopes, might well have been understood as a +triumphant _corroboration_ of the theory:—and this latter class will be +surprised, perhaps, to hear me say that even with _them_ I disagree. If +the propositions of this Discourse have been comprehended, it will be +seen that, in my view, a failure to segregate the “nebulæ” would have +tended to the refutation, rather than to the confirmation, of the +Nebular Hypothesis. + +Let me explain:—The Newtonian Law of Gravity we may, of course, assume +as demonstrated. This law, it will be remembered, I have referred to the +rëaction of the first Divine Act—to the rëaction of an exercise of the +Divine Volition temporarily overcoming a difficulty. This difficulty is +that of forcing the normal into the abnormal—of impelling that whose +originality, and therefore whose rightful condition, was _One_, to take +upon itself the wrongful condition of _Many_. It is only by conceiving +this difficulty as _temporarily_ overcome, that we can comprehend a +rëaction. There could have been no rëaction had the act been infinitely +continued. So long as the act _lasted_, no rëaction, of course, could +commence; in other words, no _gravitation_ could take place—for we have +considered the one as but the manifestation of the other. But +gravitation _has_ taken place; therefore the act of Creation has ceased: +and gravitation has long ago taken place; therefore the act of Creation +has long ago ceased. We can no more expect, then, to observe _the +primary processes_ of Creation; and to these primary processes the +condition of nebulosity has already been explained to belong. + +Through what we know of the propagation of light, we have direct proof +that the more remote of the stars have existed, under the forms in which +we now see them, for an inconceivable number of years. So far back _at +least_, then, as the period when these stars underwent condensation, +must have been the epoch at which the mass-constitutive processes began. +That we may conceive these processes, then, as still going on in the +case of certain “nebulæ,” while in all other cases we find them +thoroughly at an end, we are forced into assumptions for which we have +really _no_ basis whatever—we have to thrust in, again, upon the +revolting Reason, the blasphemous idea of special interposition—we have +to suppose that, in the particular instances of these “nebulæ,” an +unerring God found it necessary to introduce certain supplementary +regulations—certain improvements of the general law—certain retouchings +and emendations, in a word, which had the effect of deferring the +completion of these individual stars for centuries of centuries beyond +the æra during which all the other stellar bodies had time, not only to +be fully constituted, but to grow hoary with an unspeakable old age. + +Of course, it will be immediately objected that since the light by which +we recognize the nebulæ now, must be merely that which left their +surfaces a vast number of years ago, the processes at present observed, +or supposed to be observed, are, in fact, _not_ processes now actually +going on, but the phantoms of processes completed long in the Past—just +as I maintain all these mass-constitutive processes _must_ have been. + +To this I reply that neither is the now-observed condition of the +condensed stars their actual condition, but a condition completed long +in the Past; so that my argument drawn from the _relative_ condition of +the stars and the “nebulæ,” is in no manner disturbed. Moreover, those +who maintain the existence of nebulæ, do _not_ refer the nebulosity to +extreme distance; they declare it a real and not merely a perspective +nebulosity. That we may conceive, indeed, a nebular mass as visible at +all, we must conceive it as _very near us_ in comparison with the +condensed stars brought into view by the modern telescopes. In +maintaining the appearances in question, then, to be really nebulous, we +maintain their comparative vicinity to our point of view. Thus, their +condition, as we see them now, must be referred to an epoch _far less +remote_ than that to which we may refer the now-observed condition of at +least the majority of the stars.—In a word, should Astronomy ever +demonstrate a “nebula,” in the sense at present intended, I should +consider the Nebular Cosmogony—_not_, indeed, as corroborated by the +demonstration—but as thereby irretrievably overthrown. + +By way, however, of rendering unto Cæsar _no more_ than the things that +are Cæsar’s, let me here remark that the assumption of the hypothesis +which led him to so glorious a result, seems to have been suggested to +Laplace in great measure by a misconception—by the very misconception of +which we have just been speaking—by the generally prevalent +misunderstanding of the character of the nebulæ, so mis-named. These he +supposed to be, in reality, what their designation implies. The fact is, +this great man had, very properly, an inferior faith in his own merely +_perceptive_ powers. In respect, therefore, to the actual existence of +nebulæ—an existence so confidently maintained by his telescopic +contemporaries—he depended less upon what he saw than upon what he +heard. + +It will be seen that the only valid objections to his theory, are those +made to its hypothesis _as_ such—to what suggested it—not to what it +suggests; to its propositions rather than to its results. His most +unwarranted assumption was that of giving the atoms a movement towards a +centre, in the very face of his evident understanding that these atoms, +in unlimited succession, extended throughout the Universal space. I have +already shown that, under such circumstances, there could have occurred +no movement at all; and Laplace, consequently, assumed one on no more +philosophical ground than that something of the kind was necessary for +the establishment of what he intended to establish. + +His original idea seems to have been a compound of the true Epicurean +atoms with the false nebulæ of his contemporaries; and thus his theory +presents us with the singular anomaly of absolute truth deduced, as a +mathematical result, from a hybrid datum of ancient imagination +intertangled with modern inacumen. Laplace’s real strength lay, in fact, +in an almost miraculous mathematical instinct:—on this he relied; and in +no instance did it fail or deceive him:—in the case of the Nebular +Cosmogony, it led him, blindfolded, through a labyrinth of Error, into +one of the most luminous and stupendous temples of Truth. + +Let us now fancy, for the moment, that the ring first thrown off by the +Sun—that is to say, the ring whose breaking-up constituted Neptune—did +not, in fact, break up until the throwing-off of the ring out of which +Uranus arose; that this latter ring, again, remained perfect until the +discharge of that out of which sprang Saturn; that this latter, again, +remained entire until the discharge of that from which originated +Jupiter—and so on. Let us imagine, in a word, that no dissolution +occurred among the rings until the final rejection of that which gave +birth to Mercury. We thus paint to the eye of the mind a series of +cöexistent concentric circles; and looking as well at _them_ as at the +processes by which, according to Laplace’s hypothesis, they were +constructed, we perceive at once a very singular analogy with the atomic +strata and the process of the original irradiation as I have described +it. Is it impossible that, on measuring the _forces_, respectively, by +which each successive planetary circle was thrown off—that is to say, on +measuring the successive excesses of rotation over gravitation which +occasioned the successive discharges—we should find the analogy in +question more decidedly confirmed? _Is it improbable that we should +discover these forces to have varied—as in the original +radiation—proportionally to the squares of the distances?_ + +Our solar system, consisting, in chief, of one sun, with sixteen planets +certainly, and possibly a few more, revolving about it at various +distances, and attended by seventeen moons assuredly, but _very_ +probably by several others—is now to be considered as _an example_ of +the innumerable agglomerations which proceeded to take place throughout +the Universal Sphere of atoms on withdrawal of the Divine Volition. I +mean to say that our solar system is to be understood as affording a +_generic instance_ of these agglomerations, or, more correctly, of the +ulterior conditions at which they arrived. If we keep our attention +fixed on the idea of _the utmost possible Relation_ as the Omnipotent +design, and on the precautions taken to accomplish it through difference +of form, among the original atoms, and particular inequidistance, we +shall find it impossible to suppose for a moment that even any two of +the incipient agglomerations reached precisely the same result in the +end. We shall rather be inclined to think that _no two_ stellar bodies +in the Universe—whether suns, planets or moons—are particularly, while +_all_ are generally, similar. Still less, then, can we imagine any two +_assemblages_ of such bodies—any two “systems”—as having more than a +general resemblance.[10] Our telescopes, at this point, thoroughly +confirm our deductions. Taking our own solar system, then, as merely a +loose or general type of all, we have so far proceeded in our subject as +to survey the Universe under the aspect of a spherical space, throughout +which, dispersed with merely general equability, exist a number of but +generally similar _systems_. + + [10] It is not _impossible_ that some unlooked-for optical + improvement may disclose to us, among innumerable varieties of + systems, a luminous sun, encircled by luminous and non-luminous + rings, within and without and between which, revolve luminous + and non-luminous planets, attended by moons having moons—and + even these latter again having moons. + +Let us now, expanding our conceptions, look upon each of these systems +as in itself an atom; which in fact it is, when we consider it as but +one of the countless myriads of systems which constitute the Universe. +Regarding all, then, as but colossal atoms, each with the same +ineradicable tendency to Unity which characterizes the actual atoms of +which it consists—we enter at once upon a new order of aggregations. The +smaller systems, in the vicinity of a larger one, would, inevitably, be +drawn into still closer vicinity. A thousand would assemble here; a +million there—perhaps here, again, even a billion—leaving, thus, +immeasurable vacancies in space. And if now, it be demanded why, in the +case of these systems—of these merely Titanic atoms—I speak, simply, of +an “assemblage,” and not, as in the case of the actual atoms, of a more +or less consolidated agglomeration:—if it be asked, for instance, why I +do not carry what I suggest to its legitimate conclusion, and describe, +at once, these assemblages of system-atoms as rushing to consolidation +in spheres—as each becoming condensed into one magnificent sun—my reply +is that μελλοντα ταυτα—I am but pausing, for a moment, on the awful +threshold of _the Future_. For the present, calling these assemblages +“clusters,” we see them in the incipient stages of their consolidation. +Their _absolute_ consolidation is _to come_. + +We have now reached a point from which we behold the Universe as a +spherical space, interspersed, _unequably_, with _clusters_. It will be +noticed that I here prefer the adverb “unequably” to the phrase “with a +merely general equability,” employed before. It is evident, in fact, +that the equability of distribution will diminish in the ratio of the +agglomerative processes—that is to say, as the things distributed +diminish in number. Thus the increase of _in_-equability—an increase +which must continue until, sooner or later, an epoch will arrive at +which the largest agglomeration will absorb all the others—should be +viewed as, simply, a corroborative indication of the _tendency to One_. + +And here, at length, it seems proper to inquire whether the ascertained +_facts_ of Astronomy confirm the general arrangement which I have thus, +deductively, assigned to the Heavens. Thoroughly, they _do_. Telescopic +observation, guided by the laws of perspective, enables us to understand +that the perceptible Universe exists as _a cluster of clusters, +irregularly disposed_. + +The “clusters” of which this Universal “_cluster of clusters_” consists, +are merely what we have been in the practice of designating +“nebulæ”—and, of these “nebulæ,” _one_ is of paramount interest to +mankind. I allude to the Galaxy, or Milky Way. This interests us, first +and most obviously, on account of its great superiority in apparent +size, not only to any one other cluster in the firmament, but to all the +other clusters taken together. The largest of these latter occupies a +mere point, comparatively, and is distinctly seen only with the aid of a +telescope. The Galaxy sweeps throughout the Heaven and is brilliantly +visible to the naked eye. But it interests man chiefly, although less +immediately, on account of its being his home; the home of the Earth on +which he exists; the home of the Sun about which this Earth revolves; +the home of that “system” of orbs of which the Sun is the centre and +primary—the Earth one of sixteen secondaries, or planets—the Moon one of +seventeen tertiaries, or satellites. The Galaxy, let me repeat, is but +one of the _clusters_ which I have been describing—but one of the +mis-called “nebulæ” revealed to us—by the telescope alone, sometimes—as +faint hazy spots in various quarters of the sky. We have no reason to +suppose the Milky Way _really_ more extensive than the least of these +“nebulæ.” Its vast superiority in size is but an apparent superiority +arising from our position in regard to it—that is to say, from our +position in its midst. However strange the assertion may at first appear +to those unversed in Astronomy, still the astronomer himself has no +hesitation in asserting that we are _in the midst_ of that inconceivable +host of stars—of suns—of systems—which constitute the Galaxy. Moreover, +not only have _we_—not only has _our_ Sun a right to claim the Galaxy as +its own especial cluster, but, with slight reservation, it may be said +that all the distinctly visible stars of the firmament—all the stars +Visible to the naked eye—have equally a right to claim it as _their_ +own. + +There has been a great deal of misconception in respect to the _shape_ +of the Galaxy; which, in nearly all our astronomical treatises, is said +to resemble that of a capital Y. The cluster in question has, in +reality, a certain general—_very_ general resemblance to the planet +Saturn, with its encompassing triple ring. Instead of the solid orb of +that planet, however, we must picture to ourselves a lenticular +star-island, or collection of stars; our Sun lying excentrically—near +the shore of the island—on that side of it which is nearest the +constellation of the Cross and farthest from that of Cassiopeia. The +surrounding ring, where it approaches our position, has in it a +longitudinal _gash_, which does, in fact, cause _the ring, in our +vicinity_, to assume, loosely, the appearance of a capital Y. + +We must not fall into the error, however, of conceiving the somewhat +indefinite girdle as at all _remote_, comparatively speaking, from the +also indefinite lenticular cluster which it surrounds; and thus, for +mere purpose of explanation, we may speak of our Sun as actually +situated at that point of the Y where its three component lines unite; +and, conceiving this letter to be of a certain solidity—of a certain +thickness, very trivial in comparison with its length—we may even speak +of our position as _in the middle_ of this thickness. Fancying ourselves +thus placed, we shall no longer find difficulty in accounting for the +phænomena presented—which are perspective altogether. When we look +upward or downward—that is to say, when we cast our eyes in the +direction of the letter’s _thickness_—we look through fewer stars than +when we cast them in the direction of its _length_, or _along_ either of +the three component lines. Of course, in the former case, the stars +appear scattered—in the latter, crowded.—To reverse this explanation:—An +inhabitant of the Earth, when looking, as we commonly express ourselves, +_at_ the Galaxy, is then beholding it in some of the directions of its +length—is looking _along_ the lines of the Y—but when, looking out into +the general Heaven, he turns his eyes _from_ the Galaxy, he is then +surveying it in the direction of the letter’s thickness; and on this +account the stars seem to him scattered; while, in fact, they are as +close together, on an average, as in the mass of the cluster. _No_ +consideration could be better adapted to convey an idea of this +cluster’s stupendous extent. + +If, with a telescope of high space-penetrating power, we carefully +inspect the firmament, we shall become aware of _a belt of clusters_—of +what we have hitherto called “nebulæ”—a _band_, of varying breadth, +stretching from horizon to horizon, at right angles to the general +course of the Milky Way. This band is the ultimate _cluster of +clusters_. This belt is _The Universe_. Our Galaxy is but one, and +perhaps one of the most inconsiderable, of the clusters which go to the +constitution of this ultimate, Universal _belt_ or _band_. The +appearance of this cluster of clusters, to our eyes, _as_ a belt or +band, is altogether a perspective phænomenon of the same character as +that which causes us to behold our own individual and roughly-spherical +cluster, the Galaxy, under guise also of a belt, traversing the Heavens +at right angles to the Universal one. The shape of the all-inclusive +cluster is, of course _generally_, that of each individual cluster which +it includes. Just as the scattered stars which, on looking _from_ the +Galaxy, we see in the general sky, are, in fact, but a portion of that +Galaxy itself, and as closely intermingled with it as any of the +telescopic points in what seems the densest portion of its mass—so are +the scattered “nebulæ” which, on casting our eyes _from_ the Universal +_belt_, we perceive at all points of the firmament—so, I say, are these +scattered “nebulæ” to be understood as only perspectively scattered, and +as part and parcel of the one supreme and Universal _sphere_. + +No astronomical fallacy is more untenable, and none has been more +pertinaciously adhered to, than that of the absolute _illimitation_ of +the Universe of Stars. The reasons for limitation, as I have already +assigned them, _à priori_, seem to me unanswerable; but, not to speak of +these, _observation_ assures us that there is, in numerous directions +around us, certainly, if not in all, a positive limit—or, at the very +least, affords us no basis whatever for thinking otherwise. Were the +succession of stars endless, then the background of the sky would +present us an uniform luminosity, like that displayed by the +Galaxy—_since there could be absolutely no point, in all that +background, at which would not exist a star._ The only mode, therefore, +in which, under such a state of affairs, we could comprehend the _voids_ +which our telescopes find in innumerable directions, would be by +supposing the distance of the invisible background so immense that no +ray from it has yet been able to reach us at all. That this _may_ be so, +who shall venture to deny? I maintain, simply, that we have not even the +shadow of a reason for believing that it _is_ so. + +When speaking of the vulgar propensity to regard all bodies on the Earth +as tending merely to the Earth’s centre, I observed that, “with certain +exceptions to be specified hereafter, every body on the Earth tended not +only to the Earth’s centre, but in every conceivable direction +besides.”[11] The “exceptions” refer to those frequent gaps in the +Heavens, where our utmost scrutiny can detect not only no stellar +bodies, but no indications of their existence:—where yawning chasms, +blacker than Erebus, seem to afford us glimpses, through the boundary +walls of the Universe of Stars, into the illimitable Universe of +Vacancy, beyond. Now as any body, existing on the Earth, chances to +pass, either through its own movement or the Earth’s, into a line with +any one of these voids, or cosmical abysses, it clearly is no longer +attracted _in the direction of that void_, and for the moment, +consequently, is “heavier” than at any period, either after or before. +Independently of the consideration of these voids, however, and looking +only at the generally unequable distribution of the stars, we see that +the absolute tendency of bodies on the Earth to the Earth’s centre, is +in a state of perpetual variation. + + [11] Page 62. + +We comprehend, then, the insulation of our Universe. We perceive the +isolation of _that_—of _all_ that which we grasp with the senses. We +know that there exists one _cluster of clusters_—a collection around +which, on all sides, extend the immeasurable wildernesses of a Space _to +all human perception_ untenanted. But _because_ upon the confines of +this Universe of Stars we are compelled to pause, through want of +farther evidence from the senses, is it right to conclude that, in fact, +there _is_ no material point beyond that which we have thus been +permitted to attain? Have we, or have we not, an analogical right to the +inference that this perceptible Universe—that this cluster of +clusters—is but one of _a series_ of clusters of clusters, the rest of +which are invisible through distance—through the diffusion of their +light being so excessive, ere it reaches us, as not to produce upon our +retinas a light-impression—or from there being no such emanation as +light at all, in these unspeakably distant worlds—or, lastly, from the +mere interval being so vast, that the electric tidings of their presence +in Space, have not yet—through the lapsing myriads of years—been enabled +to traverse that interval? + +Have we any right to inferences—have we any ground whatever for visions +such as these? If we have a right to them in _any_ degree, we have a +right to their infinite extension. + +The human brain has obviously a leaning to the “_Infinite_,” and fondles +the phantom of the idea. It seems to long with a passionate fervor for +this impossible conception, with the hope of intellectually believing it +when conceived. What is general among the whole race of Man, of course +no individual of that race can be warranted in considering abnormal; +nevertheless, there _may_ be a class of superior intelligences, to whom +the human bias alluded to may wear all the character of monomania. + +My question, however, remains unanswered:—Have we any right to infer—let +us say, rather, to imagine—an interminable succession of the “clusters +of clusters,” or of “Universes” more or less similar? + +I reply that the “right,” in a case such as this, depends absolutely +upon the hardihood of that imagination which ventures to claim the +right. Let me declare, only, that, as an individual, I myself feel +impelled to the _fancy_—without daring to call it more—that there _does_ +exist a _limitless_ succession of Universes, more or less similar to +that of which we have cognizance—to that of which _alone_ we shall ever +have cognizance—at the very least until the return of our own particular +Universe into Unity. _If_ such clusters of clusters exist, however—_and +they do_—it is abundantly clear that, having had no part in our origin, +they have no portion in our laws. They neither attract us, nor we them. +Their material—their spirit is not ours—is not that which obtains in any +part of our Universe. They could not impress our senses or our souls. +Among them and us—considering all, for the moment, collectively—there +are no influences in common. Each exists, apart and independently, _in +the bosom of its proper and particular God_. + +In the conduct of this Discourse, I am aiming less at physical than at +metaphysical order. The clearness with which even material phænomena are +presented to the understanding, depends very little, I have long since +learned to perceive, upon a merely natural, and almost altogether upon a +moral, arrangement. If then I seem to step somewhat too discursively +from point to point of my topic, let me suggest that I do so in the hope +of thus the better keeping unbroken that chain of _graduated impression_ +by which alone the intellect of Man can expect to encompass the +grandeurs of which I speak, and, in their majestic totality, to +comprehend them. + +So far, our attention has been directed, almost exclusively, to a +general and relative grouping of the stellar bodies in space. Of +specification there has been little; and whatever ideas of _quantity_ +have been conveyed—that is to say, of number, magnitude, and +distance—have been conveyed incidentally and by way of preparation for +more definitive conceptions. These latter let us now attempt to +entertain. + +Our solar system, as has been already mentioned, consists, in chief, of +one sun and sixteen planets certainly, but in all probability a few +others, revolving around it as a centre, and attended by seventeen moons +of which we know, with possibly several more of which as yet we know +nothing. These various bodies are not true spheres, but oblate +spheroids—spheres flattened at the poles of the imaginary axes about +which they rotate:—the flattening being a consequence of the rotation. +Neither is the Sun absolutely the centre of the system; for this Sun +itself, with all the planets, revolves about a perpetually shifting +point of space, which is the system’s general centre of gravity. Neither +are we to consider the paths through which these different spheroids +move—the moons about the planets, the planets about the Sun, or the Sun +about the common centre—as circles in an accurate sense. They are, in +fact, _ellipses—one of the foci being the point about which the +revolution is made_. An ellipse is a curve, returning into itself, one +of whose diameters is longer than the other. In the longer diameter are +two points, equidistant from the middle of the line, and so situated +otherwise that if, from each of them a straight line be drawn to any one +point of the curve, the two lines, taken together, will be equal to the +longer diameter itself. Now let us conceive such an ellipse. At one of +the points mentioned, which are the _foci_, let us fasten an orange. By +an elastic thread let us connect this orange with a pea; and let us +place this latter on the circumference of the ellipse. Let us now move +the pea continuously around the orange—keeping always on the +circumference of the ellipse. The elastic thread, which, of course, +varies in length as we move the pea, will form what in geometry is +called a _radius vector_. Now, if the orange be understood as the Sun, +and the pea as a planet revolving about it, then the revolution should +be made at such a rate—with a velocity so varying—that the _radius +vector_ may pass over _equal areas of space in equal times_. The +progress of the pea _should be_—in other words, the progress of the +planet _is_, of course,—slow in proportion to its distance from the +Sun—swift in proportion to its proximity. Those planets, moreover, move +the more slowly which are the farther from the Sun; _the squares of +their periods of revolution having the same proportion to each other, as +have to each other the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun_. + +The wonderfully complex laws of revolution here described, however, are +not to be understood as obtaining in our system alone. They _everywhere_ +prevail where Attraction prevails. They control _the Universe_. Every +shining speck in the firmament is, no doubt, a luminous sun, resembling +our own, at least in its general features, and having in attendance upon +it a greater or less number of planets, greater or less, whose still +lingering luminosity is not sufficient to render them visible to us at +so vast a distance, but which, nevertheless, revolve, moon-attended, +about their starry centres, in obedience to the principles just +detailed—in obedience to the three omniprevalent laws of revolution—the +three immortal laws _guessed_ by the imaginative Kepler, and but +subsequently demonstrated and accounted for by the patient and +mathematical Newton. Among a tribe of philosophers who pride themselves +excessively upon matter-of-fact, it is far too fashionable to sneer at +all speculation under the comprehensive _sobriquet_, “guess-work.” The +point to be considered is, _who_ guesses. In guessing with Plato, we +spend our time to better purpose, now and then, than in hearkening to a +demonstration by Alcmæon. + +In many works on Astronomy I find it distinctly stated that the laws of +Kepler are _the basis_ of the great principle, Gravitation. This idea +must have arisen from the fact that the suggestion of these laws by +Kepler, and his proving them _à posteriori_ to have an actual existence, +led Newton to account for them by the hypothesis of Gravitation, and, +finally, to demonstrate them _à priori_, as necessary consequences of +the hypothetical principle. Thus so far from the laws of Kepler being +the basis of Gravity, Gravity is the basis of these laws—as it is, +indeed, of all the laws of the material Universe which are not referable +to Repulsion alone. + +The mean distance of the Earth from the Moon—that is to say, from the +heavenly body in our closest vicinity—is 237,000 miles. Mercury, the +planet nearest the Sun, is distant from him 37 millions of miles. Venus, +the next, revolves at a distance of 68 millions:—the Earth, which comes +next, at a distance of 95 millions:—Mars, then, at a distance of 144 +millions. Now come the eight Asteroids (Ceres, Juno, Vesta, Pallas, +Astræa, Flora, Iris, and Hebe) at an average distance of about 250 +millions. Then we have Jupiter, distant 490 millions; then Saturn, 900 +millions; then Uranus, 19 hundred millions; finally Neptune, lately +discovered, and revolving at a distance, say of 28 hundred millions. +Leaving Neptune out of the account—of which as yet we know little +accurately and which is, possibly, one of a system of Asteroids—it will +be seen that, within certain limits, there exists an _order of interval_ +among the planets. Speaking loosely, we may say that each outer planet +is twice as far from the Sun as is the next inner one. May not the +_order_ here mentioned—_may not the law of Bode—be deduced from +consideration of the analogy suggested by me as having place between the +solar discharge of rings and the mode of the atomic irradiation_? + +The numbers hurriedly mentioned in this summary of distance, it is folly +to attempt comprehending, unless in the light of abstract arithmetical +facts. They are not practically tangible ones. They convey no precise +ideas. I have stated that Neptune, the planet farthest from the Sun, +revolves about him at a distance of 28 hundred millions of miles. So far +good:—I have stated a mathematical fact; and, without comprehending it +in the least, we may put it to use—mathematically. But in mentioning, +even, that the Moon revolves about the Earth at the comparatively +trifling distance of 237,000 miles, I entertained no expectation of +giving any one to understand—to know—to feel—how far from the Earth the +Moon actually _is_. 237,000 _miles_! There are, perhaps, few of my +readers who have not crossed the Atlantic ocean; yet how many of them +have a distinct idea of even the 3,000 miles intervening between shore +and shore? I doubt, indeed, whether the man lives who can force into his +brain the most remote conception of the interval between one milestone +and its next neighbor upon the turnpike. We are in some measure aided, +however, in our consideration of distance, by combining this +consideration with the kindred one of velocity. Sound passes through +1100 feet of space in a second of time. Now were it possible for an +inhabitant of the Earth to see the flash of a cannon discharged in the +Moon, and to hear the report, he would have to wait, after perceiving +the former, more than 13 entire days and nights before getting any +intimation of the latter. + +However feeble be the impression, even thus conveyed, of the Moon’s real +distance from the Earth, it will, nevertheless, effect a good object in +enabling us more clearly to see the futility of attempting to grasp such +intervals as that of the 28 hundred millions of miles between our Sun +and Neptune; or even that of the 95 millions between the Sun and the +Earth we inhabit. A cannon-ball, flying at the greatest velocity with +which such a ball has ever been known to fly, could not traverse the +latter interval in less than 20 years; while for the former it would +require 590. + +Our Moon’s real diameter is 2160 miles; yet she is comparatively so +trifling an object that it would take nearly 50 such orbs to compose one +as great as the Earth. + +The diameter of our own globe is 7912 miles—but from the enunciation of +these numbers what positive idea do we derive? + +If we ascend an ordinary mountain and look around us from its summit, we +behold a landscape stretching, say 40 miles, in every direction; forming +a circle 250 miles in circumference; and including an area of 5000 +square miles. The extent of such a prospect, on account of the +_successiveness_ with which its portions necessarily present themselves +to view, can be only very feebly and very partially appreciated:—yet the +entire panorama would comprehend no more than one 40,000th part of the +mere _surface_ of our globe. Were this panorama, then, to be succeeded, +after the lapse of an hour, by another of equal extent; this again by a +third, after the lapse of another hour; this again by a fourth after +lapse of another hour—and so on, until the scenery of the whole Earth +were exhausted; and were we to be engaged in examining these various +panoramas for twelve hours of every day; we should nevertheless, be 9 +years and 48 days in completing the general survey. + +But if the mere surface of the Earth eludes the grasp of the +imagination, what are we to think of its cubical contents? It embraces a +mass of matter equal in weight to at least 2 sextillions, 200 +quintillions of tons. Let us suppose it in a state of quiescence; and +now let us endeavor to conceive a mechanical force sufficient to set it +in motion! Not the strength of all the myriads of beings whom we may +conclude to inhabit the planetary worlds of our system—not the combined +physical strength of _all_ these beings—even admitting all to be more +powerful than man—would avail to stir the ponderous mass _a single inch_ +from its position. + +What are we to understand, then, of the force, which under similar +circumstances, would be required to move the _largest_ of our planets, +Jupiter? This is 86,000 miles in diameter, and would include within its +periphery more than a thousand orbs of the magnitude of our own. Yet +this stupendous body is actually flying around the Sun at the rate of +29,000 miles an hour—that is to say, with a velocity 40 times greater +than that of a cannon-ball! The thought of such a phænomenon cannot well +be said to _startle_ the mind:—it palsies and appals it. Not +unfrequently we task our imagination in picturing the capacities of an +angel. Let us fancy such a being at a distance of some hundred miles +from Jupiter—a close eye-witness of this planet as it speeds on its +annual revolution. Now _can_ we, I demand, fashion for ourselves any +conception so distinct of this ideal being’s spiritual exaltation, as +_that_ involved in the supposition that, even by this immeasurable mass +of matter, whirled immediately before his eyes, with a velocity so +unutterable, he—an angel—angelic though he be—is not at once struck into +nothingness and overwhelmed? + +At this point, however, it seems proper to suggest that, in fact, we +have been speaking of comparative trifles. Our Sun, the central and +controlling orb of the system to which Jupiter belongs, is not only +greater than Jupiter, but greater by far than all the planets of the +system taken together. This fact is an essential condition, indeed, of +the stability of the system itself. The diameter of Jupiter has been +mentioned:—it is 86,000 miles:—that of the Sun is 882,000 miles. An +inhabitant of the latter, travelling 90 miles a day, would be more than +80 years in going round a great circle of its circumference. It occupies +a cubical space of 681 quadrillions, 472 trillions of miles. The Moon, +as has been stated, revolves about the Earth at a distance of 237,000 +miles—in an orbit, consequently, of nearly a million and a half. Now, +were the Sun placed upon the Earth, centre over centre, the body of the +former would extend, in every direction, not only to the line of the +Moon’s orbit, but beyond it, a distance of 200,000 miles. + +And here, once again, let me suggest that, in fact, we have _still_ been +speaking of comparative trifles. The distance of the planet Neptune from +the Sun has been stated:—it is 28 hundred millions of miles; the +circumference of its orbit, therefore, is about 17 billions. Let this be +borne in mind while we glance at some one of the brightest stars. +Between this and the star of _our_ system, (the Sun,) there is a gulf of +space, to convey any idea of which we should need the tongue of an +archangel. From _our_ system, then, and from _our_ Sun, or star, the +star at which we suppose ourselves glancing is a thing altogether +apart:—still, for the moment, let us imagine it placed upon our Sun, +centre over centre, as we just now imagined this Sun itself placed upon +the Earth. Let us now conceive the particular star we have in mind, +extending, in every direction, beyond the orbit of Mercury—of Venus—of +the Earth:—still _on_, beyond the orbit of Mars—of Jupiter—of +Uranus—until, finally, we fancy it filling the circle—17 _billions of +miles in circumference_—which is described by the revolution of +Leverrier’s planet. When we have conceived all this, we shall have +entertained no extravagant conception. There is the very best reason for +believing that many of the stars are even far larger than the one we +have imagined. I mean to say that we have the very best _empirical_ +basis for such belief:—and, in looking back at the original, atomic +arrangements for _diversity_, which have been assumed as a part of the +Divine plan in the constitution of the Universe, we shall be enabled +easily to understand, and to credit, the existence of even far vaster +disproportions in stellar size than any to which I have hitherto +alluded. The largest orbs, of course, we must expect to find rolling +through the widest vacancies of Space. + +I remarked, just now, that to convey an idea of the interval between our +Sun and any one of the other stars, we should require the eloquence of +an archangel. In so saying, I should not be accused of exaggeration; +for, in simple truth, these are topics on which it is scarcely possible +to exaggerate. But let us bring the matter more distinctly before the +eye of the mind. + +In the first place, we may get a general, _relative_ conception of the +interval referred to, by comparing it with the inter-planetary spaces. +If, for example, we suppose the Earth, which is, in reality, 95 millions +of miles from the Sun, to be only _one foot_ from that luminary; then +Neptune would be 40 feet distant; _and the star Alpha Lyræ, at the very +least_, 159. + +Now I presume that, in the termination of my last sentence, few of my +readers have noticed anything especially objectionable—particularly +wrong. I said that the distance of the Earth from the Sun being taken at +_one foot_, the distance of Neptune would be 40 feet, and that of Alpha +Lyræ, 159. The proportion between one foot and 159 has appeared, +perhaps, to convey a sufficiently definite impression of the proportion +between the two intervals—that of the Earth from the Sun and that of +Alpha Lyræ from the same luminary. But my account of the matter should, +in reality, have run thus:—The distance of the Earth from the Sun being +taken at one foot, the distance of Neptune would be 40 feet, and that of +Alpha Lyræ, 159——_miles_:—that is to say, I had assigned to Alpha Lyræ, +in my first statement of the case, only the 5280_th_ _part_ of that +distance which is the _least distance possible_ at which it can actually +lie. + +To proceed:—However distant a mere _planet_ is, yet when we look at it +through a telescope, we see it under a certain form—of a certain +appreciable size. Now I have already hinted at the probable bulk of many +of the stars; nevertheless, when we view any one of them, even through +the most powerful telescope, it is found to present us with _no form_, +and consequently with _no magnitude_ whatever. We see it as a point and +nothing more. + +Again;—Let us suppose ourselves walking, at night, on a highway. In a +field on one side of the road, is a line of tall objects, say trees, the +figures of which are distinctly defined against the background of the +sky. This line of objects extends at right angles to the road, and from +the road to the horizon. Now, as we proceed along the road, we see these +objects changing their positions, respectively, in relation to a certain +fixed point in that portion of the firmament which forms the background +of the view. Let us suppose this fixed point—sufficiently fixed for our +purpose—to be the rising moon. We become aware, at once, that while the +tree nearest us so far alters its position in respect to the moon, as to +seem flying behind us, the tree in the extreme distance has scarcely +changed at all its relative position with the satellite. We then go on +to perceive that the farther the objects are from us, the less they +alter their positions; and the converse. Then we begin, unwittingly, to +estimate the distances of individual trees by the degrees in which they +evince the relative alteration. Finally, we come to understand how it +might be possible to ascertain the actual distance of any given tree in +the line, by using the amount of relative alteration as a basis in a +simple geometrical problem. Now this relative alteration is what we call +“parallax;” and by parallax we calculate the distances of the heavenly +bodies. Applying the principle to the trees in question, we should, of +course, be very much at a loss to comprehend the distance of _that_ +tree, which, however far we proceeded along the road, should evince _no_ +parallax at all. This, in the case described, is a thing impossible; but +impossible only because all distances on our Earth are trivial +indeed:—in comparison with the vast cosmical quantities, we may speak of +them as absolutely nothing. + +Now, let us suppose the star Alpha Lyræ directly overhead; and let us +imagine that, instead of standing on the Earth, we stand at one end of a +straight road stretching through Space to a distance equalling the +diameter of the Earth’s orbit—that is to say, to a distance of 190 +_millions of miles_. Having observed, by means of the most delicate +micrometrical instruments, the exact position of the star, let us now +pass along this inconceivable road, until we reach its other extremity. +Now, once again, let us look at the star. It is _precisely_ where we +left it. Our instruments, however delicate, assure us that its relative +position is absolutely—is identically the same as at the commencement of +our unutterable journey. _No_ parallax—none whatever—has been found. + +The fact is, that, in regard to the distance of the fixed stars—of any +one of the myriads of suns glistening on the farther side of that awful +chasm which separates our system from its brothers in the cluster to +which it belongs—astronomical science, until very lately, could speak +only with a negative certainty. Assuming the brightest as the nearest, +we could say, even of _them_, only that there is a certain +incomprehensible distance on the _hither_ side of which they cannot +be:—how far they are beyond it we had in no case been able to ascertain. +We perceived, for example, that Alpha Lyræ cannot be nearer to us than +19 trillions, 200 billions of miles; but, for all we knew, and indeed +for all we now know, it may be distant from us the square, or the cube, +or any other power of the number mentioned. By dint, however, of +wonderfully minute and cautious observations, continued, with novel +instruments, for many laborious years, _Bessel_, not long ago deceased, +has lately succeeded in determining the distance of six or seven stars; +among others, that of the star numbered 61 in the constellation of the +Swan. The distance in this latter instance ascertained, is 670,000 times +that of the Sun; which last it will be remembered, is 95 millions of +miles. The star 61 Cygni, then, is nearly 64 trillions of miles from +us—or more than three times the distance assigned, _as the least +possible_, for Alpha Lyræ. + +In attempting to appreciate this interval by the aid of any +considerations of _velocity_, as we did in endeavoring to estimate the +distance of the moon, we must leave out of sight, altogether, such +nothings as the speed of a cannon-ball, or of sound. Light, however, +according to the latest calculations of Struve, proceeds at the rate of +167,000 miles in a second. Thought itself cannot pass through this +interval more speedily—if, indeed, thought can traverse it at all. Yet, +in coming from 61 Cygni to us, even at this inconceivable rate, light +occupies more than _ten years_; and, consequently, were the star this +moment blotted out from the Universe, still, _for ten years_, would it +continue to sparkle on, undimmed in its paradoxical glory. + +Keeping now in mind whatever feeble conception we may have attained of +the interval between our Sun and 61 Cygni, let us remember that this +interval, however unutterably vast, we are permitted to consider as but +the _average_ interval among the countless host of stars composing that +cluster, or “nebula,” to which our system, as well as that of 61 Cygni, +belongs. I have, in fact, stated the case with great moderation:—we have +excellent reason for believing 61 Cygni to be one of the _nearest_ +stars, and thus for concluding, at least for the present, that its +distance from us is _less_ than the average distance between star and +star in the magnificent cluster of the Milky Way. + +And here, once again and finally, it seems proper to suggest that even +as yet we have been speaking of trifles. Ceasing to wonder at the space +between star and star in our own or in any particular cluster, let us +rather turn our thoughts to the intervals between cluster and cluster, +in the all comprehensive cluster of the Universe. + +I have already said that light proceeds at the rate of 167,000 miles in +a second—that is, about 10 millions of miles in a minute, or about 600 +millions of miles in an hour:—yet so far removed from us are some of +the “nebulæ” that even light, speeding with this velocity, could not +and does not reach us, from those mysterious regions, in less than 3 +_millions of years_. This calculation, moreover, is made by the elder +Herschell, and in reference merely to those comparatively proximate +clusters within the scope of his own telescope. There _are_ “nebulæ,” +however, which, through the magical tube of Lord Rosse, are this instant +whispering in our ears the secrets of _a million of ages_ by-gone. In a +word, the events which we behold now—at this moment—in those worlds—are +the identical events which interested their inhabitants _ten hundred +thousand centuries ago_. In intervals—in distances such as this +suggestion forces upon the _soul_—rather than upon the mind—we find, at +length, a fitting climax to all hitherto frivolous considerations of +_quantity_. + +Our fancies thus occupied with the cosmical distances, let us take the +opportunity of referring to the difficulty which we have so often +experienced, while pursuing _the beaten path_ of astronomical +reflection, _in accounting_ for the immeasurable voids alluded to—in +comprehending why chasms so totally unoccupied and therefore apparently +so needless, have been made to intervene between star and star—between +cluster and cluster—in understanding, to be brief, a sufficient reason +for the Titanic scale, in respect of mere _Space_, on which the Universe +is seen to be constructed. A rational cause for the phænomenon, I +maintain that Astronomy has palpably failed to assign:—but the +considerations through which, in this Essay, we have proceeded step by +step, enable us clearly and immediately to perceive that _Space and +Duration are one_. That the Universe might _endure_ throughout an æra +at all commensurate with the grandeur of its component material portions +and with the high majesty of its spiritual purposes, it was necessary +that the original atomic diffusion be made to so inconceivable an extent +as to be only not infinite. It was required, in a word, that the stars +should be gathered into visibility from invisible nebulosity—proceed +from nebulosity to consolidation—and so grow grey in giving birth and +death to unspeakably numerous and complex variations of vitalic +development:—it was required that the stars should do all this—should +have time thoroughly to accomplish all these Divine purposes—_during the +period_ in which all things were effecting their return into Unity with +a velocity accumulating in the inverse proportion of the squares of the +distances at which lay the inevitable End. + +Throughout all this we have no difficulty in understanding the absolute +accuracy of the Divine _adaptation_. The density of the stars, +respectively, proceeds, of course, as their condensation diminishes; +condensation and heterogeneity keep pace with each other; through the +latter, which is the index of the former, we estimate the vitalic and +spiritual development. Thus, in the density of the globes, we have the +measure in which their purposes are fulfilled. _As_ density +proceeds—_as_ the divine intentions _are_ accomplished—_as_ less and +still less remains _to be_ accomplished—so—in the same ratio—should we +expect to find an acceleration of _the End_:—and thus the philosophical +mind will easily comprehend that the Divine designs in constituting the +stars, advance _mathematically_ to their fulfilment:—and more; it will +readily give the advance a mathematical expression; it will decide that +this advance is inversely proportional with the squares of the distances +of all created things from the starting-point and goal of their +creation. + +Not only is this Divine adaptation, however, mathematically accurate, +but there is that about it which stamps it _as divine_, in distinction +from that which is merely the work of human constructiveness. I allude +to the complete _mutuality_ of adaptation. For example; in human +constructions a particular cause has a particular effect; a particular +intention brings to pass a particular object; but this is all; we see no +reciprocity. The effect does not re-act upon the cause; the intention +does not change relations with the object. In Divine constructions the +object is either design or object as we choose to regard it—and we may +take at any time a cause for an effect, or the converse—so that we can +never absolutely decide which is which. + +To give an instance:—In polar climates the human frame, to maintain its +animal heat, requires, for combustion in the capillary system, an +abundant supply of highly azotized food, such as train-oil. But +again:—in polar climates nearly the sole food afforded man is the oil of +abundant seals and whales. Now, whether is oil at hand because +imperatively demanded, or the only thing demanded because the only thing +to be obtained? It is impossible to decide. There is an absolute +_reciprocity of adaptation_. + +The pleasure which we derive from any display of human ingenuity is in +the ratio of _the approach_ to this species of reciprocity. In the +construction of _plot_, for example, in fictitious literature, we +should aim at so arranging the incidents that we shall not be able to +determine, of any one of them, whether it depends from any one other or +upholds it. In this sense, of course, _perfection_ of _plot_ is really, +or practically, unattainable—but only because it is a finite +intelligence that constructs. The plots of God are perfect. The Universe +is a plot of God. + +And now we have reached a point at which the intellect is forced, again, +to struggle against its propensity for analogical inference—against its +monomaniac grasping at the infinite. Moons have been seen _revolving_ +about planets; planets about stars; and the poetical instinct of +humanity—its instinct of the symmetrical, if the symmetry be but a +symmetry of surface:—this _instinct_, which the Soul, not only of Man +but of all created beings, took up, in the beginning, from the +_geometrical_ basis of the Universal irradiation—impels us to the fancy +of an endless extension of this system of _cycles_. Closing our eyes +equally to _de_duction and _in_duction, we insist upon imagining a +_revolution_ of all the orbs of the Galaxy about some gigantic globe +which we take to be the central pivot of the whole. Each cluster in the +great cluster of clusters is imagined, of course, to be similarly +supplied and constructed; while, that the “analogy” may be wanting at no +point, we go on to conceive these clusters themselves, again, as +_revolving_ about some still more august sphere;—this latter, still +again, _with_ its encircling clusters, as but one of a yet more +magnificent series of agglomerations, _gyrating_ about yet another orb +central _to them_—some orb still more unspeakably sublime—some orb, let +us rather say, of infinite sublimity endlessly multiplied by the +infinitely sublime. Such are the conditions, continued in perpetuity, +which the voice of what some people term “analogy” calls upon the Fancy +to depict and the Reason to contemplate, if possible, without becoming +dissatisfied with the picture. Such, _in general_, are the interminable +gyrations beyond gyration which we have been instructed by Philosophy to +comprehend and to account for, at least in the best manner we can. Now +and then, however, a philosopher proper—one whose phrenzy takes a very +determinate turn—whose genius, to speak more reverentially, has a +strongly-pronounced washerwomanish bias, doing every thing up by the +dozen—enables us to see _precisely_ that point out of sight, at which +the revolutionary processes in question do, and of right ought to, come +to an end. + +It is hardly worth while, perhaps, even to sneer at the reveries of +Fourrier:—but much has been said, latterly, of the hypothesis of +Mädler—that there exists, in the centre of the Galaxy, a stupendous +globe about which all the systems of the cluster revolve. The _period_ +of our own, indeed, has been stated—117 millions of years. + +That our Sun has a motion in space, independently of its rotation, and +revolution about the system’s centre of gravity, has long been +suspected. This motion, granting it to exist, would be manifested +perspectively. The stars in that firmamental region which we were +leaving behind us, would, in a very long series of years, become +crowded; those in the opposite quarter, scattered. Now, by means of +astronomical History, we ascertain, cloudily, that some such phænomena +have occurred. On this ground it has been declared that our system is +moving to a point in the heavens diametrically opposite the star Zeta +Herculis:—but this inference is, perhaps, the maximum to which we have +any logical right. Mädler, however, has gone so far as to designate a +particular star, Alcyone in the Pleiades, as being at or about the very +spot around which a general _revolution_ is performed. + +Now, since by “analogy” we are led, in the first instance, to these +dreams, it is no more than proper that we should abide by analogy, at +least in some measure, during their development; and that analogy which +suggests the revolution, suggests at the same time a central orb about +which it should be performed:—so far the astronomer was consistent. This +central orb, however, should, dynamically, be greater than all the orbs, +taken together, which surround it. Of these there are about 100 +millions. “Why, then,” it was of course demanded, “do we not _see_ this +vast central sun—_at least equal_ in mass to 100 millions of such suns +as ours—why do we not _see_ it—_we_, especially, who occupy the mid +region of the cluster—the very locality _near_ which, at all events, +must be situated this incomparable star?” The reply was ready—“It must +be non-luminous, as are our planets.” Here, then, to suit a purpose, +analogy is suddenly let fall. “Not so,” it may be said—“we know that +non-luminous suns actually exist.” It is true that we have reason at +least for supposing so; but we have certainly no reason whatever for +supposing that the non-luminous suns in question are encircled by +_luminous_ suns, while these again are surrounded by non-luminous +planets:—and it is precisely all this with which Mädler is called upon +to find any thing analogous in the heavens—for it is precisely all this +which he imagines in the case of the Galaxy. Admitting the thing to be +so, we cannot help here picturing to ourselves how sad a puzzle the _why +it is so_ must prove to all _à priori_ philosophers. + +But granting, in the very teeth of analogy and of every thing else, the +non-luminosity of the vast central orb, we may still inquire how this +orb, so enormous, could fail of being rendered visible by the flood of +light thrown upon it from the 100 millions of glorious suns glaring in +all directions about it. Upon the urging of this question, the idea of +an actually solid central sun appears, in some measure, to have been +abandoned; and speculation proceeded to assert that the systems of the +cluster perform their revolutions merely about an immaterial centre of +gravity common to all. Here again then, to suit a purpose, analogy is +let fall. The planets of our system revolve, it is true, about a common +centre of gravity; but they do this in connexion with, and in +consequence of, a material sun whose mass more than counterbalances the +rest of the system. + +The mathematical circle is a curve composed of an infinity of straight +lines. But this idea of the circle—an idea which, in view of all +ordinary geometry, is merely the mathematical, as contradistinguished +from the practical, idea—is, in sober fact, the _practical_ conception +which alone we have any right to entertain in regard to the majestic +circle with which we have to deal, at least in fancy, when we suppose +our system revolving about a point in the centre of the Galaxy. Let the +most vigorous of human imaginations attempt but to take a single step +towards the comprehension of a sweep so ineffable! It would scarcely be +paradoxical to say that a flash of lightning itself, travelling +_forever_ upon the circumference of this unutterable circle, would +still, _forever_, be travelling in a straight line. That the path of our +Sun in such an orbit would, to any human perception, deviate in the +slightest degree from a straight line, even in a million of years, is a +proposition not to be entertained:—yet we are required to believe that a +curvature has become apparent during the brief period of our +astronomical history—during a mere point—during the utter nothingness of +two or three thousand years. + +It may be said that Mädler _has_ really ascertained a curvature in the +direction of our system’s now well-established progress through Space. +Admitting, if necessary, this fact to be in reality such, I maintain +that nothing is thereby shown except the reality of this fact—the fact +of a curvature. For its _thorough_ determination, ages will be required; +and, when determined, it will be found indicative of some binary or +other multiple relation between our Sun and some one or more of the +proximate stars. I hazard nothing however, in predicting, that, after +the lapse of many centuries, all efforts at determining the path of our +Sun through Space, will be abandoned as fruitless. This is easily +conceivable when we look at the infinity of perturbation it must +experience, from its perpetually-shifting relations with other orbs, in +the common approach of all to the nucleus of the Galaxy. + +But in examining other “nebulæ” than that of the Milky Way—in surveying, +generally, the clusters which overspread the heavens—do we or do we not +find confirmation of Mädler’s hypothesis? We do _not_. The forms of the +clusters are exceedingly diverse when casually viewed; but on close +inspection, through powerful telescopes, we recognize the sphere, very +distinctly, as at least the proximate form of all:—their constitution, +in general, being at variance with the idea of revolution about a common +centre. + +“It is difficult,” says Sir John Herschell, “to form any conception of +the dynamical state of such systems. On one hand, without a rotary +motion and a centrifugal force, it is hardly possible not to regard them +as in a state of _progressive collapse_. On the other, granting such a +motion and such a force, we find it no less difficult to reconcile their +forms with the rotation of the whole system [meaning cluster] around any +single axis, without which internal collision would appear to be +inevitable.” + +Some remarks lately made about the “nebulæ” by Dr. Nichol, in taking +quite a different view of the cosmical conditions from any taken in this +Discourse—have a very peculiar applicability to the point now at issue. +He says: + +“When our greatest telescopes are brought to bear upon them, we find +that those which were thought to be irregular, are not so; they approach +nearer to a globe. Here is one that looked oval; but Lord Rosse’s +telescope brought it into a circle.... Now there occurs a very +remarkable circumstance in reference to these comparatively sweeping +circular masses of nebulæ. We find they are not entirely circular, but +the reverse; and that all around them, on every side, there are volumes +of stars, _stretching out apparently as if they were rushing towards a +great central mass in consequence of the action of some great +power_.”[12] + + [12] I must be understood as denying, _especially_, only the + _revolutionary_ portion of Mädler’s hypothesis. Of course, if + no great central orb exists _now_ in our cluster, such will + exist hereafter. Whenever existing, it will be merely the + _nucleus_ of the consolidation. + +Were I to describe, in my own words, what must necessarily be the +existing condition of each nebula on the hypothesis that all matter is, +as I suggest, now returning to its original Unity, I should simply be +going over, nearly verbatim, the language here employed by Dr. Nichol, +without the faintest suspicion of that stupendous truth which is the key +to these nebular phænomena. + +And here let me fortify my position still farther, by the voice of a +greater than Mädler—of one, moreover, to whom all the data of Mädler +have long been familiar things, carefully and thoroughly considered. +Referring to the elaborate calculations of Argelander—the very +researches which form Mädler’s basis—_Humboldt_, whose generalizing +powers have never, perhaps been equalled, has the following observation: + +“When we regard the real, proper, or non-perspective motions of the +stars, we find _many groups of them moving in opposite directions_; and +the data as yet in hand render it not necessary, at least, to conceive +that the systems composing the Milky Way, or the clusters, generally, +composing the Universe, are revolving about any particular centre +unknown, whether luminous or non-luminous. It is but Man’s longing for a +fundamental First Cause, that impels both his intellect and his fancy +to the adoption of such an hypothesis.”[13] + + [13] Betrachtet man die nicht perspectivischen eigenen + Bewegungen der Sterne, so scheinen viele gruppenweise in ihrer + Richtung entgegengesetzt; und die bisher gesammelten Thatsachen + machen es auf’s wenigste nicht nothwendig, anzunehmen, dass + alle Theile unserer Sternenschicht oder gar der gesammten + Sterneninseln, welche den Weltraum füllen, sich um einen + grossen, unbekannten, leuchtenden oder dunkeln Centralkörper + bewegen. Das Streben nach den letzten und höchsten + Grundursachen macht freilich die reflectirende Thätigkeit des + Menschen, wie seine Phantasie, zu einer solchen Annahme + geneigt. + +The phænomenon here alluded to—that of “many groups moving in opposite +directions”—is quite inexplicable by Mädler’s idea; but arises, as a +necessary consequence, from that which forms the basis of this +Discourse. While the _merely general direction_ of each atom—of each +moon, planet, star, or cluster—would, on my hypothesis, be, of course, +absolutely rectilinear; while the _general_ path of all bodies would be +a right line leading to the centre of all; it is clear, nevertheless, +that this general rectilinearity would be compounded of what, with +scarcely any exaggeration, we may term an infinity of particular +curves—an infinity of local deviations from rectilinearity—the result of +continuous differences of relative position among the multitudinous +masses, as each proceeded on its own proper journey to the End. + +I quoted, just now, from Sir John Herschell, the following words, used +in reference to the clusters:—“On one hand, without a rotary motion and +a centrifugal force, it is hardly possible not to regard them as in a +state of _progressive collapse_.” The fact is, that, in surveying the +“nebulæ” with a telescope of high power, we shall find it quite +impossible, having once conceived this idea of “collapse,” not to +gather, at all points, corroboration of the idea. A nucleus is always +apparent, in the direction of which the stars seem to be precipitating +themselves; nor can these nuclei be mistaken for merely perspective +phænomena:—the clusters are _really_ denser near the centre—sparser in +the regions more remote from it. In a word, we see every thing as we +_should_ see it were a collapse taking place; but, in general, it may be +said of these clusters, that we can fairly entertain, while looking at +them, the idea of _orbitual movement about a centre_, only by admitting +the _possible_ existence, in the distant domains of space, of dynamical +laws with which _we_ are unacquainted. + +On the part of Herschell, however, there is evidently _a reluctance_ to +regard the nebulæ as in “a state of progressive collapse.” But if +facts—if even appearances justify the supposition of their being in this +state, _why_, it may well be demanded, is he disinclined to admit it? +Simply on account of a prejudice;—merely because the supposition is at +war with a preconceived and utterly baseless notion—that of the +endlessness—that of the eternal stability of the Universe. + +If the propositions of this Discourse are tenable, the “state of +progressive collapse” is _precisely_ that state in which alone we are +warranted in considering All Things; and, with due humility, let me here +confess that, for my part, I am at a loss to conceive how any _other_ +understanding of the existing condition of affairs, could ever have made +its way into the human brain. “The tendency to collapse” and “the +attraction of gravitation” are convertible phrases. In using either, we +speak of the rëaction of the First Act. Never was necessity less obvious +than that of supposing Matter imbued with an ineradicable _quality_ +forming part of its material nature—a quality, or instinct, _forever_ +inseparable from it, and by dint of which inalienable principle every +atom is _perpetually_ impelled to seek its fellow-atom. Never was +necessity less obvious than that of entertaining this unphilosophical +idea. Going boldly behind the vulgar thought, we have to conceive, +metaphysically, that the gravitating principle appertains to Matter +_temporarily_—only while diffused—only while existing as Many instead of +as One—appertains to it by virtue of its state of irradiation +alone—appertains, in a word, altogether to its _condition_, and not in +the slightest degree to _itself_. In this view, when the irradiation +shall have returned into its source—when the rëaction shall be +completed—the gravitating principle will no longer exist. And, in fact, +astronomers, without at any time reaching the idea here suggested, seem +to have been approximating it, in the assertion that “if there were but +one body in the Universe, it would be impossible to understand how the +principle, Gravity, could obtain:”—that is to say, from a consideration +of Matter as they find it, they reach a conclusion at which I +deductively arrive. That so pregnant a suggestion as the one just quoted +should have been permitted to remain so long unfruitful, is, +nevertheless, a mystery which I find it difficult to fathom. + +It is, perhaps, in no little degree, however, our propensity for the +continuous—for the analogical—in the present case more particularly for +the symmetrical—which has been leading us astray. And, in fact, the +sense of the symmetrical is an instinct which may be depended upon with +an almost blindfold reliance. It is the poetical essence of the +Universe—_of the Universe_ which, in the supremeness of its symmetry, is +but the most sublime of poems. Now symmetry and consistency are +convertible terms:—thus Poetry and Truth are one. A thing is consistent +in the ratio of its truth—true in the ratio of its consistency. _A +perfect consistency, I repeat, can be nothing but an absolute truth._ We +may take it for granted, then, that Man cannot long or widely err, if he +suffer himself to be guided by his poetical, which I have maintained to +be his truthful, in being his symmetrical, instinct. He must have a +care, however, lest, in pursuing too heedlessly the superficial symmetry +of forms and motions, he leave out of sight the really essential +symmetry of the principles which determine and control them. + +That the stellar bodies would finally be merged in one—that, at last, +all would be drawn into the substance of _one stupendous central orb +already existing_—is an idea which, for some time past, seems, vaguely +and indeterminately, to have held possession of the fancy of mankind. It +is an idea, in fact, which belongs to the class of the _excessively +obvious_. It springs, instantly, from a superficial observation of the +cyclic and seemingly _gyrating_, or _vorticial_ movements of those +individual portions of the Universe which come most immediately and most +closely under our observation. There is not, perhaps, a human being, of +ordinary education and of average reflective capacity, to whom, at some +period, the fancy in question has not occurred, as if spontaneously, or +intuitively, and wearing all the character of a very profound and very +original conception. This conception, however, so commonly entertained, +has never, within my knowledge, arisen out of any abstract +considerations. Being, on the contrary, always suggested, as I say, by +the vorticial movements about centres, a reason for it, also,—a _cause_ +for the ingathering of all the orbs into one, _imagined to be already +existing_, was naturally sought in the same direction—among these cyclic +movements themselves. + +Thus it happened that, on announcement of the gradual and perfectly +regular decrease observed in the orbit of Enck’s comet, at every +successive revolution about our Sun, astronomers were nearly unanimous +in the opinion that the cause in question was found—that a principle was +discovered sufficient to account, physically, for that final, universal +agglomeration which, I repeat, the analogical, symmetrical or poetical +instinct of Man had predetermined to understand as something more than a +simple hypothesis. + +This cause—this sufficient reason for the final ingathering—was declared +to exist in an exceedingly rare but still material medium pervading +space; which medium, by retarding, in some degree, the progress of the +comet, perpetually weakened its tangential force; thus giving a +predominance to the centripetal; which, of course, drew the comet nearer +and nearer at each revolution, and would eventually precipitate it upon +the Sun. + +All this was strictly logical—admitting the medium or ether; but this +ether was assumed, most illogically, on the ground that no _other_ mode +than the one spoken of could be discovered, of accounting for the +observed decrease in the orbit of the comet:—as if from the fact that we +could _discover_ no other mode of accounting for it, it followed, in any +respect, that no other mode of accounting for it existed. It is clear +that innumerable causes might operate, in combination, to diminish the +orbit, without even a possibility of our ever becoming acquainted with +one of them. In the meantime, it has never been fairly shown, perhaps, +why the retardation occasioned by the skirts of the Sun’s atmosphere, +through which the comet passes at perihelion, is not enough to account +for the phænomenon. That Enck’s comet will be absorbed into the Sun, is +probable; that all the comets of the system will be absorbed, is more +than merely possible; but, in such case, the principle of absorption +must be referred to eccentricity of orbit—to the close approximation to +the Sun, of the comets at their perihelia; and is a principle not +affecting, in any degree, the ponderous _spheres_, which are to be +regarded as the true material constituents of the Universe.—Touching +comets, in general, let me here suggest, in passing, that we cannot be +far wrong in looking upon them as the _lightning-flashes of the cosmical +Heaven_. + +The idea of a retarding ether and, through it, of a final agglomeration +of all things, seemed at one time, however, to be confirmed by the +observation of a positive decrease in the orbit of the solid moon. By +reference to eclipses recorded 2500 years ago, it was found that the +velocity of the satellite’s revolution _then_ was considerably less than +it is _now_; that on the hypothesis that its motions in its orbit is +uniformly in accordance with Kepler’s law, and was accurately determined +_then_—2500 years ago—it is now in advance of the position it _should_ +occupy, by nearly 9000 miles. The increase of velocity proved, of +course, a diminution of orbit; and astronomers were fast yielding to a +belief in an ether, as the sole mode of accounting for the phænomenon, +when Lagrange came to the rescue. He showed that, owing to the +configurations of the spheroids, the shorter axes of their ellipses are +subject to variation in length; the longer axes being permanent; and +that this variation is continuous and vibratory—so that every orbit is +in a state of transition, either from circle to ellipse, or from ellipse +to circle. In the case of the moon, where the shorter axis is +_de_creasing, the orbit is passing from circle to ellipse and, +consequently, is _de_creasing too; but, after a long series of ages, the +ultimate eccentricity will be attained; then the shorter axis will +proceed to _in_crease, until the orbit becomes a circle; when the +process of shortening will again take place;—and so on forever. In the +case of the Earth, the orbit is passing from ellipse to circle. The +facts thus demonstrated do away, of course, with all necessity for +supposing an ether, and with all apprehension of the system’s +instability—on the ether’s account. + +It will be remembered that I have myself assumed what we may term _an +ether_. I have spoken of a subtle _influence_ which we know to be ever +in attendance upon matter, although becoming manifest only through +matter’s heterogeneity. To this _influence_—without daring to touch it +at all in any effort at explaining its awful _nature_—I have referred +the various phænomena of electricity, heat, light, magnetism; and +more—of vitality, consciousness, and thought—in a word, of spirituality. +It will be seen, at once, then, that the ether thus conceived is +radically distinct from the ether of the astronomers; inasmuch as theirs +is _matter_ and mine _not_. + +With the idea of a material ether, seems, thus, to have departed +altogether the thought of that universal agglomeration so long +predetermined by the poetical fancy of mankind:—an agglomeration in +which a sound Philosophy might have been warranted in putting faith, at +least to a certain extent, if for no other reason than that by this +poetical fancy it _had_ been so predetermined. But so far as +Astronomy—so far as mere Physics have yet spoken, the cycles of the +Universe are perpetual—the Universe has no conceivable end. Had an end +been demonstrated, however, from so purely collateral a cause as an +ether, Man’s instinct of the Divine _capacity to adapt_, would have +rebelled against the demonstration. We should have been forced to regard +the Universe with some such sense of dissatisfaction as we experience in +contemplating an unnecessarily complex work of human art. Creation would +have affected us as an imperfect _plot_ in a romance, where the +_dénoûment_ is awkwardly brought about by interposed incidents external +and foreign to the main subject; instead of springing out of the bosom +of the thesis—out of the heart of the ruling idea—instead of arising as +a result of the primary proposition—as inseparable and inevitable part +and parcel of the fundamental conception of the book. + +What I mean by the symmetry of mere surface will now be more clearly +understood. It is simply by the blandishment of this symmetry that we +have been beguiled into the general idea of which Mädler’s hypothesis is +but a part—the idea of the vorticial indrawing of the orbs. Dismissing +this nakedly physical conception, the symmetry of principle sees the end +of all things metaphysically involved in the thought of a beginning; +seeks and finds in this origin of all things the _rudiment_ of this end; +and perceives the impiety of supposing this end likely to be brought +about less simply—less directly—less obviously—less artistically—than +through _the rëaction of the originating Act_. + +Recurring, then, to a previous suggestion, let us understand the +systems—let us understand each star, with its attendant planets—as but a +Titanic atom existing in space with precisely the same inclination for +Unity which characterized, in the beginning, the actual atoms after +their irradiation throughout the Universal sphere. As these original +atoms rushed towards each other in generally straight lines, so let us +conceive as at least generally rectilinear, the paths of the +system-atoms towards their respective centres of aggregation:—and in +this direct drawing together of the systems into clusters, with a +similar and simultaneous drawing together of the clusters themselves +while undergoing consolidation, we have at length attained the great +_Now_—the awful Present—the Existing Condition of the Universe. + +Of the still more awful Future a not irrational analogy may guide us in +framing an hypothesis. The equilibrium between the centripetal and +centrifugal forces of each system, being necessarily destroyed upon +attainment of a certain proximity to the nucleus of the cluster to which +it belongs, there must occur, at once, a chaotic or seemingly chaotic +precipitation, of the moons upon the planets, of the planets upon the +suns, and of the suns upon the nuclei; and the general result of this +precipitation must be the gathering of the myriad now-existing stars of +the firmament into an almost infinitely less number of almost infinitely +superior spheres. In being immeasurably fewer, the worlds of that day +will be immeasurably greater than our own. Then, indeed, amid +unfathomable abysses, will be glaring unimaginable suns. But all this +will be merely a climacic magnificence foreboding the great End. Of this +End the new genesis described, can be but a very partial postponement. +While undergoing consolidation, the clusters themselves, with a speed +prodigiously accumulative, have been rushing towards their own general +centre—and now, with a thousand-fold electric velocity, commensurate +only with their material grandeur and with the spiritual passion of +their appetite for oneness, the majestic remnants of the tribe of Stars +flash, at length, into a common embrace. The inevitable catastrophe is +at hand. + +But this catastrophe—what is it? We have seen accomplished the +ingathering of the orbs. Henceforward, are we not to understand _one +material globe of globes_ as constituting and comprehending the +Universe? Such a fancy would be altogether at war with every assumption +and consideration of this Discourse. + +I have already alluded to that absolute _reciprocity of adaptation_ +which is the idiosyncrasy of the divine Art—stamping it divine. Up to +this point of our reflections, we have been regarding the electrical +influence as a something by dint of whose repulsion alone Matter is +enabled to exist in that state of diffusion demanded for the fulfilment +of its purposes:—so far, in a word, we have been considering the +influence in question as ordained for Matter’s sake—to subserve the +objects of matter. With a perfectly legitimate reciprocity, we are now +permitted to look at Matter, as created _solely for the sake of this +influence_—solely to serve the objects of this spiritual Ether. Through +the aid—by the means—through the agency of Matter, and by dint of its +heterogeneity—is this Ether manifested—is _Spirit individualized_. It is +merely in the development of this Ether, through heterogeneity, that +particular masses of Matter become animate—sensitive—and in the ratio of +their heterogeneity;—some reaching a degree of sensitiveness involving +what we call _Thought_ and thus attaining Conscious Intelligence. + +In this view, we are enabled to perceive Matter as a Means—not as an +End. Its purposes are thus seen to have been comprehended in its +diffusion; and with the return into Unity these purposes cease. The +absolutely consolidated globe of globes would be _objectless_:—therefore +not for a moment could it continue to exist. Matter, created for an end, +would unquestionably, on fulfilment of that end, be Matter no longer. +Let us endeavor to understand that it would disappear, and that God +would remain all in all. + +That every work of Divine conception must cöexist and cöexpire with its +particular design, seems to me especially obvious; and I make no doubt +that, on perceiving the final globe of globes to be _objectless_, the +majority of my readers will be satisfied with my “_therefore_ it cannot +continue to exist.” Nevertheless, as the startling thought of its +instantaneous disappearance is one which the most powerful intellect +cannot be expected readily to entertain on grounds so decidedly +abstract, let us endeavor to look at the idea from some other and more +ordinary point of view:—let us see how thoroughly and beautifully it is +corroborated in an _à posteriori_ consideration of Matter as we actually +find it. + +I have before said that “Attraction and Repulsion being undeniably the +sole properties by which Matter is manifested to Mind, we are justified +in assuming that Matter _exists_ only as Attraction and Repulsion—in +other words that Attraction and Repulsion _are_ Matter; there being no +conceivable case in which we may not employ the term Matter and the +terms ‘Attraction’ and ‘Repulsion’ taken together, as equivalent, and +therefore convertible, expressions in Logic.”[14] + + [14] Page 37. + +Now the very definition of Attraction implies particularity—the +existence of parts, particles, or atoms; for we define it as the +tendency of “each atom &c. to every other atom” &c. according to a +certain law. Of course where there are _no_ parts—where there is +absolute Unity—where the tendency to oneness is satisfied—there can be +no Attraction:—this has been fully shown, and all Philosophy admits it. +When, on fulfilment of its purposes, then, Matter shall have returned +into its original condition of _One_—a condition which presupposes the +expulsion of the separative ether, whose province and whose capacity are +limited to keeping the atoms apart until that great day when, this ether +being no longer needed, the overwhelming pressure of the finally +collective Attraction shall at length just sufficiently predominate[15] +and expel it:—when, I say, Matter, finally, expelling the Ether, shall +have returned into absolute Unity,—it will then (to speak paradoxically +for the moment) be Matter without Attraction and without Repulsion—in +other words, Matter without Matter—in other words, again, _Matter no +more_. In sinking into Unity, it will sink at once into that Nothingness +which, to all Finite Perception, Unity must be—into that Material +Nihility from which alone we can conceive it to have been evoked—to have +been _created_ by the Volition of God. + + [15] “Gravity, therefore, must be the strongest of forces.”—See + page 39. + +I repeat then—Let us endeavor to comprehend that the final globe of +globes will instantaneously disappear, and that God will remain all in +all. + +But are we here to pause? Not so. On the Universal agglomeration and +dissolution, we can readily conceive that a new and perhaps totally +different series of conditions may ensue—another creation and +irradiation, returning into itself—another action and rëaction of the +Divine Will. Guiding our imaginations by that omniprevalent law of laws, +the law of periodicity, are we not, indeed, more than justified in +entertaining a belief—let us say, rather, in indulging a hope—that the +processes we have here ventured to contemplate will be renewed forever, +and forever, and forever; a novel Universe swelling into existence, and +then subsiding into nothingness, at every throb of the Heart Divine? + +And now—this Heart Divine—what is it? _It is our own._ + +Let not the merely seeming irreverence of this idea frighten our souls +from that cool exercise of consciousness—from that deep tranquillity of +self-inspection—through which alone we can hope to attain the presence +of this, the most sublime of truths, and look it leisurely in the face. + +The _phænomena_ on which our conclusions must at this point depend, are +merely spiritual shadows, but not the less thoroughly substantial. + +We walk about, amid the destinies of our world-existence, encompassed by +dim but ever present _Memories_ of a Destiny more vast—very distant in +the by-gone time, and infinitely awful. + +We live out a Youth peculiarly haunted by such dreams; yet never +mistaking them for dreams. As Memories we _know_ them. _During our +Youth_ the distinction is too clear to deceive us even for a moment. + +So long as this Youth endures, the feeling _that we exist_, is the most +natural of all feelings. We understand it _thoroughly_. That there was a +period at which we did _not_ exist—or, that it might so have happened +that we never had existed at all—are the considerations, indeed, which +_during this youth_, we find difficulty in understanding. Why we should +_not_ exist, is, _up to the epoch of our Manhood_, of all queries the most +unanswerable. Existence—self-existence—existence from all Time and to +all Eternity—seems, up to the epoch of Manhood, a normal and +unquestionable condition:—_seems, because it is_. + +But now comes the period at which a conventional World-Reason awakens us +from the truth of our dream. Doubt, Surprise and Incomprehensibility +arrive at the same moment. They say:—“You live and the time was when you +lived not. You have been created. An Intelligence exists greater than +your own; and it is only through this Intelligence you live at all.” +These things we struggle to comprehend and cannot:—_cannot_, because +these things, being untrue, are thus, of necessity, incomprehensible. + +No thinking being lives who, at some luminous point of his life of +thought, has not felt himself lost amid the surges of futile efforts at +understanding, or believing, that anything exists _greater than his own +soul_. The utter impossibility of any one’s soul feeling itself inferior +to another; the intense, overwhelming dissatisfaction and rebellion at +the thought;—these, with the omniprevalent aspirations at perfection, +are but the spiritual, coincident with the material, struggles towards +the original Unity—are, to my mind at least, a species of proof far +surpassing what Man terms demonstration, that no one soul _is_ inferior +to another—that nothing is, or can be, superior to any one soul—that +each soul is, in part, its own God—its own Creator:—in a word, that +God—the material _and_ spiritual God—_now_ exists solely in the diffused +Matter and Spirit of the Universe; and that the regathering of this +diffused Matter and Spirit will be but the re-constitution of the +_purely_ Spiritual and Individual God. + +In this view, and in this view alone, we comprehend the riddles of +Divine Injustice—of Inexorable Fate. In this view alone the existence of +Evil becomes intelligible; but in this view it becomes more—it becomes +endurable. Our souls no longer rebel at a _Sorrow_ which we ourselves +have imposed upon ourselves, in furtherance of our own purposes—with a +view—if even with a futile view—to the extension of our own _Joy_. + +I have spoken of _Memories_ that haunt us during our youth. They +sometimes pursue us even in our Manhood:—assume gradually less and less +indefinite shapes:—now and then speak to us with low voices, saying: + +“There was an epoch in the Night of Time, when a still-existent Being +existed—one of an absolutely infinite number of similar Beings that +people the absolutely infinite domains of the absolutely infinite +space.[16] It was not and is not in the power of this Being—any more +than it is in your own—to extend, by actual increase, the joy of his +Existence; but just as it _is_ in your power to expand or to concentrate +your pleasures (the absolute amount of happiness remaining always the +same) so did and does a similar capability appertain to this Divine +Being, who thus passes his Eternity in perpetual variation of +Concentrated Self and almost Infinite Self-Diffusion. What you call The +Universe is but his present expansive existence. He now feels his life +through an infinity of imperfect pleasures—the partial and +pain-intertangled pleasures of those inconceivably numerous things which +you designate as his creatures, but which are really but infinite +individualizations of Himself. All these creatures—_all_—those which you +term animate, as well as those to whom you deny life for no better +reason than that you do not behold it in operation—_all_ these creatures +have, in a greater or less degree, a capacity for pleasure and for +pain:—_but the general sum of their sensations is precisely that amount +of Happiness which appertains by right to the Divine Being when +concentrated within Himself_. These creatures are all, too, more or less +conscious Intelligences; conscious, first, of a proper identity; +conscious, secondly and by faint indeterminate glimpses, of an identity +with the Divine Being of whom we speak—of an identity with God. Of the +two classes of consciousness, fancy that the former will grow weaker, +the latter stronger, during the long succession of ages which must +elapse before these myriads of individual Intelligences become +blended—when the bright stars become blended—into One. Think that the +sense of individual identity will be gradually merged in the general +consciousness—that Man, for example, ceasing imperceptibly to feel +himself Man, will at length attain that awfully triumphant epoch when he +shall recognize his existence as that of Jehovah. In the meantime bear +in mind that all is Life—Life—Life within Life—the less within the +greater, and all within the _Spirit Divine_.” + + [16] See pages 102-103—Paragraph commencing “I reply that the + right,” and ending “proper and particular God.” + +THE END. + + + + +155 Broadway, NEW YORK. 142 Strand, LONDON. + +Of late firm of WILEY & PUTNAM. + + +New Works in Press, + +Or recently published, by + +GEORGE P. PUTNAM, + +155 Broadway, New York. + + +G. P. PUTNAM has the pleasure of announcing that, agreeably to his +contract with the distinguished author, he has now in the course of +publication + +_A new, uniform, and complete edition_ + +OF THE + +Works of Washington Irving, + +Revised and enlarged by the Author, + +_In Twelve Elegant Duodecimo Volumes_, + +Beautifully printed with new type, and on superior paper, made expressly +for the purpose. + + +The first volume of the Series will be + +The Sketch-Book, + +complete in one volume, + +which will be ready on the first day of September. + + +Knickerbocker’s History of New York, + +with revisions and copious additions, + +will be published on the 1st of October. + + +The Life and Voyages of Columbus, + +Vol. I. on the 1st of November, + +and the succeeding volumes will be issued on the first day of each month +until completed;—as follows: + + _The Sketch-Book, in one volume. + Knickerbocker’s New York, in one volume. + Tales of a Traveller, in one volume. + Bracebridge Hall, in one volume. + The Conquest of Grenada, in one volume. + The Alhambra, in one volume. + The Spanish Legends, in one vol. + The Crayon Miscellany, in one vol.—Abbotsford, Newstead, + The Prairies, &c. + Life and Voyages of Columbus, and The Companions of Columbus, 2 vols. + Adventures of Captain Bonneville, one vol. + Astoria, one volume._ + + +The Illustrated Sketch-Book. + +In October will be published, + +The Sketch-Book. + +BY WASHINGTON IRVING. + +One volume, square octavo. + +Illustrated with a series of highly-finished Engravings on wood, from +Designs by Darley and others, engraved in the best style by Childs, +Herrick, &c. This edition will be printed on paper of the finest +quality, similar in size and style to the new edition of “Halleck’s +Poems.” It is intended that the illustrations shall be superior to any +engravings on wood yet produced in this country, and that the mechanical +execution of the volume, altogether, shall be worthy of the author’s +reputation. It will form an elegant and appropriate gift-book for all +seasons. + + +The Illustrated Knickerbocker, + +With a series of Original Designs, in one vol., octavo, is also in +preparation. + + +Mr. Putnam has also the honor to announce that he will publish at +intervals (in connexion, and uniform with the other collected writings), + +_Mr. Irving’s New Works_, + +now nearly ready for the press: including + +The Life of Mohammed; The Life of Washington; new volumes of +Miscellanies, Biographies, &c. + + ⁂ This being the first uniform and complete edition of Mr. + Irving’s works, either in this country or in Europe, the + publisher confidently believes that the undertaking will meet + with a prompt and cordial response. To say this, is perhaps + superfluous and impertinent; for it is a truism that no + _American_ book-case (not to say _library_) can be well filled + without the works of Washington Irving; while the English + language itself comprises no purer models of composition. + + +G. P. Putnam has also made arrangements for the early commencement of +new works or new editions of the works of + + _Miss C. M. Sedgwick, + Prof. A. Gray, + Leigh Hunt, + Chas. Fenno Hoffman, + Mrs. E. Oakes Smith, + Thomas Carlyle, + George H. Calvert, + Mrs. C. M. Kirkland, + R. Monckton Milnes, + J. Bayard Taylor, + Mary Howitt, + Mrs. Jameson, + S. Wells Williams, + W. M. Thackeray, + Charles Lamb, + A. J. Downing, + Thos. Hood, + Elliot Warburton_. + + +The following new works are now ready, or will be published this season: + +I. + +Sophisms of the Protective Policy. + +Translated from the French of F. Bastiat. With an introduction by +Francis Lieber, LL.D. Professor in South Carolina College, Editor of the +Encyclopedia Americana, &c. 12mo. 75 cents. + + “It is a book not for the million but for millions, and we + believe if a copy could be put into the hands of every + school-boy in the Union, the next generation would be + inconceivably wiser, richer, and happier than the + present.”—_Mirror._ + +II. + +Grecian and Roman Mythology: + +With original illustrations. Adapted for the use of Universities and +High Schools, and for popular reading. By M. A. Dwight. With an +introduction by Tayler Lewis, Professor of Greek, University of New +York. 12mo. (On 1st September.) + +Also a fine edition in octavo, with illustrations. + + ⁂ This work has been prepared with great care, illustrated with + 20 effective outline drawings, and is designed to treat the + subject in an original, comprehensive, and unexceptionable + manner, so as to fill the place as a text book which is yet + unsupplied; while it will also be an attractive and readable + table book for general use. It will be at once introduced as a + text book in the University of New York and other colleges and + schools. + +III. + +Eureka: a Prose Poem. + +Or the Physical and Metaphysical Universe. + +By Edgar A. Poe, Esq. Handsomely printed, 12mo. Cloth, 75 cents. + + “A most extraordinary Essay. We shall be greatly surprised if + this work does not create a most profound sensation among the + literary and scientific classes.”—_New York Express._ + +IV. + +Oriental Life Illustrated. + +Being a new edition of Eöthen, or Traces of Travel in the East. With +fine illustrations on Steel. 12mo. elegantly bound, $1 50. + + ⁂ This new and unique volume, superbly illuminated by Mapleson, + and comprising original articles by distinguished writers, will + be the most elegant and recherché book of the kind ever + produced in this country. It will be ready in October. + +A new and superior edition of the PEARLS OF AMERICAN POETRY will also be +published this season. + +V. + +The Book of Dainty Devices. + +In an elegant small folio volume. + +Lays of the Western World. + +VI. + +Dr. Klipstein’s Anglo-Saxon Course of Study. + +In uniform 12mo. volumes. + +I. + +A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Language. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. +and PH.D., of the University of Giessen. + + ⁂ This work recommends itself particularly to the attention of + every American student who “glories in his Anglo-Saxon descent” + or Teutonic lineage, as well as of all who desire an + acquaintance with a language which lies as the foundation of + the English, and throws a light upon its elements and + structure, derivable from no other source. Of the importance + and interesting nature of the study there can be no doubt, and + we agree with those who think that the time is coming when it + will be considered “utterly disgraceful for any well-bred + Englishman or American” to have neglected it. With regard to + the merits of Dr. Klipstein’s Grammar, we will only say, that + it has been already adopted as a text-book in some of the + leading Institutions of our country. + +[The following are also in press.] + +II. + +Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, with an Introductory Ethnographical Essay, +Copious Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Glossary in which are +shown the Indo-Germanic and other Affinities of the Language. _By the +same._ + +In this work appear the fruits of considerable research, and, we may +add, learning. The Ethnology of Europe is succinctly, but clearly +illustrated, the Anglo-Saxon language completely analysed, revealing the +utmost harmony of combination from its elements, its forms and roots +compared with those in kindred dialects and cognate tongues, its +position in the Teutonic family and Indo-Germanic range established, and +the genuine relation of the English to its great parent properly set +forth. To those who are fond of the comparative study of language, the +Glossary will prove an invaluable aid, apart from its particular object. + +III. + +Natale Sancti Gregorii Papæ.—Ælfric’s Homily on the Birth-day of St. +Gregory, and Collateral Extracts from King Alfred’s version of Bede’s +Ecclesiastical History and the Saxon Chronicle, with a full rendering +into English, Notes Critical and Explanatory, and an Index of Words. _By +the same._ + +IV. + +Extracts from the Anglo-Saxon-Gospels, a Portion of the Anglo-Saxon +Paraphrase of the Book of Psalms, and other Selections of a Sacred Order +in the same Language, with a Translation into English, and Notes +Critical and Explanatory. _By the same._ + +These two works are prepared in such a way as in themselves, with the +aid of the Grammar, to afford every facility to the Anglo-Saxon Student. +Ælfric’s Homily is remarkable for beauty of composition, and interesting +as setting forth Augustine’s Mission to the “Land of the Angles.” + +V. + +Tha Halgan Godspel on Englisc—the Anglo-Saxon Version of the Holy +Gospels. Edited by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A. _Reprinted by the same. Now +ready._ + +This, the earliest “English” version of the Four Gospels, will be found +interesting to the antiquarian and theologian, as well as serviceable to +the student in his investigations of the language. The Text, besides the +usual but unbroken division, appears, with the Rubrics, as read in the +early Anglican Church. + + +_Nearly Ready._ + +Dr. Bosworth’s Compendious Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Small 8vo. + +VII. + +Study of Modern Languages. + +Part First; French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English. + +By L. F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and Ph.D. One Vol. Imperial 8vo. 75 cents +paper; $1 00 cloth. + +This work, which is intended equally for the simultaneous and the +separate study of the languages that it sets forth, and which is adapted +as well for the native of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, or Portugal, as +for him to whom English is vernacular, in the acquirement of any one of +the other tongues besides his own, will be found an acceptable manual +not only to the tyro, but to the more advanced scholar. The reading +portion of the matter is interesting, and the text in every case +remarkably correct, while the Elementary Phrases, forms of Cards, +Letters, Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Receipts, &c., in the six +languages, constitute what has long been a desideratum from the American +press. For the comparative study of the _Romanic_ tongues the work +affords unusual facilities. + +VIII. + +Pedestrian Tour in Europe. + +Views a-Foot; or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff. + +By J. Bayard Taylor. + +A new edition with an additional chapter, and a sketch of the author in +pedestrian costume, from a drawing by T. Buchanan Read. 12mo. Cloth. + +IX. + +A New Edition of + +Clarke’s Shakspeare Concordance. + +A Complete Concordance to Shakspeare: being a Verbal Index to ALL the +PASSAGES in the Dramatic Works of the Poet. By Mrs. Cowden Clarke. + +“Order gave each thing view.” + +One large Vol. comprising 2560 closely printed columns,—(indicating +_every word and passage_ in Shakspeare’s Works). Price $6. Cloth. + + “The result of sixteen years of untiring labor. The different + editions of Shakspeare have been carefully collated by the + compiler, and every possible means taken to insure the + correctness of the work. As it now stands, a person can find a + particular passage in Shakspeare by simply remembering one word + of it, and is also referred to the act and scene of the play in + which it occurs. As a mere dictionary of Shakspearian language + and phrases, it is of great value; but it is also a dictionary + of his thoughts and imaginations. It altogether supersedes the + volumes of Twiss and Ayscough, and should be on every student’s + shelves”—_Boston Courier._ + + ⁂ This extraordinary work is printed in London and the price + there _at present_ is £2. 5s. 0d. or about $12. A large part of + the edition having been purchased for this market, it is + furnished here for the very low price of $6, bound in cloth. + +_Also—By same Author._ + +The Book of Shakspeare Proverbs. + +18mo. 75 cts. + + +_Dr. Lieber’s Poetical Address to the American Republic._ + +16mo. 25 cents. + +The West: + +A Metrical Epistle. + +BY FRANCIS LIEBER. + + ⁂ Dr. Lieber, the distinguished Professor of Political Economy + in South Carolina College, Author of “Political Ethics,” &c., + has just sailed for his native country—Germany—with the view of + aiding in the great cause of Constitutional and Rational + Freedom. This little volume proves that he has well studied + that subject during his long residence in this his adopted + country—and his able and valuable opinions on American Society + and Progress, carry with them a peculiar interest at this time. + + +RECENT PUBLICATIONS. + +Alexander.—Commentary on the Earlier Prophecies of Isaiah. By Prof. J. +A. Alexander. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/32037-0.zip b/32037-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc6fdc1 --- /dev/null +++ b/32037-0.zip diff --git a/32037-8.txt b/32037-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..70de8a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/32037-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5200 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eureka:, by Edgar A. Poe + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Eureka: + A Prose Poem + +Author: Edgar A. Poe + +Release Date: April 18, 2010 [EBook #32037] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EUREKA: *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Bach, Irma Spehar and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + EUREKA: + A PROSE POEM. + + BY + + EDGAR A. POE. + + NEW-YORK: + GEO. P. PUTNAM, + OF LATE FIRM OF "WILEY & PUTNAM," + 155 BROADWAY. + + MDCCCXLVIII. + + + ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, + BY EDGAR A. POE, + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the + Southern District of New-York. + + LEAVITT, TROW & CO Prs., + 33 Ann-street. + + + WITH VERY PROFOUND RESPECT, + This Work is Dedicated + TO + ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +To the few who love me and whom I love--to those who feel rather than to +those who think--to the dreamers and those who put faith in dreams as in +the only realities--I offer this Book of Truths, not in its character of +Truth-Teller, but for the Beauty that abounds in its Truth; constituting +it true. To these I present the composition as an Art-Product alone:--let +us say as a Romance; or, if I be not urging too lofty a claim, as a +Poem. + +_What I here propound is true_:--therefore it cannot die:--or if by any +means it be now trodden down so that it die, it will "rise again to the +Life Everlasting." + +Nevertheless it is as a Poem only that I wish this work to be judged +after I am dead. + +E. A. P. + + + + +EUREKA: + +AN ESSAY ON THE MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE. + + +It is with humility really unassumed--it is with a sentiment even of +awe--that I pen the opening sentence of this work: for of all conceivable +subjects I approach the reader with the most solemn--the most +comprehensive--the most difficult--the most august. + +What terms shall I find sufficiently simple in their +sublimity--sufficiently sublime in their simplicity--for the mere +enunciation of my theme? + +I design to speak of the _Physical, Metaphysical and Mathematical--of the +Material and Spiritual Universe:--of its Essence, its Origin, its +Creation, its Present Condition and its Destiny_. I shall be so rash, +moreover, as to challenge the conclusions, and thus, in effect, to +question the sagacity, of many of the greatest and most justly +reverenced of men. + +In the beginning, let me as distinctly as possible announce--not the +theorem which I hope to demonstrate--for, whatever the mathematicians may +assert, there is, in this world at least, _no such thing_ as +demonstration--but the ruling idea which, throughout this volume, I shall +be continually endeavoring to suggest. + +My general proposition, then, is this:--_In the Original Unity of the +First Thing lies the Secondary Cause of All Things, with the Germ of +their Inevitable Annihilation_. + +In illustration of this idea, I propose to take such a survey of the +Universe that the mind may be able really to receive and to perceive an +individual impression. + +He who from the top of tna casts his eyes leisurely around, is affected +chiefly by the _extent_ and _diversity_ of the scene. Only by a rapid +whirling on his heel could he hope to comprehend the panorama in the +sublimity of its _oneness_. But as, on the summit of tna, _no_ man has +thought of whirling on his heel, so no man has ever taken into his brain +the full uniqueness of the prospect; and so, again, whatever +considerations lie involved in this uniqueness, have as yet no practical +existence for mankind. + +I do not know a treatise in which a survey of the _Universe_--using the +word in its most comprehensive and only legitimate acceptation--is taken +at all:--and it may be as well here to mention that by the term +"Universe," wherever employed without qualification in this essay, I +mean to designate _the utmost conceivable expanse of space, with all +things, spiritual and material, that can be imagined to exist within the +compass of that expanse_. In speaking of what is ordinarily implied by +the expression, "Universe," I shall take a phrase of limitation--"the +Universe of stars." Why this distinction is considered necessary, will +be seen in the sequel. + +But even of treatises on the really limited, although always assumed as +the _un_limited, Universe of _stars_, I know none in which a survey, +even of this limited Universe, is so taken as to warrant deductions from +its _individuality_. The nearest approach to such a work is made in the +"Cosmos" of Alexander Von Humboldt. He presents the subject, however, +_not_ in its individuality but in its generality. His theme, in its last +result, is the law of _each_ portion of the merely physical Universe, as +this law is related to the laws of _every other_ portion of this merely +physical Universe. His design is simply synoeretical. In a word, he +discusses the universality of material relation, and discloses to the +eye of Philosophy whatever inferences have hitherto lain hidden _behind_ +this universality. But however admirable be the succinctness with which +he has treated each particular point of his topic, the mere multiplicity +of these points occasions, necessarily, an amount of detail, and thus an +involution of idea, which precludes all _individuality_ of impression. + +It seems to me that, in aiming at this latter effect, and, through it, +at the consequences--the conclusions--the suggestions--the +speculations--or, if nothing better offer itself the mere guesses which +may result from it--we require something like a mental gyration on the +heel. We need so rapid a revolution of all things about the central +point of sight that, while the minuti vanish altogether, even the more +conspicuous objects become blended into one. Among the vanishing +minuti, in a survey of this kind, would be all exclusively terrestrial +matters. The Earth would be considered in its planetary relations alone. +A man, in this view, becomes mankind; mankind a member of the cosmical +family of Intelligences. + +And now, before proceeding to our subject proper, let me beg the +reader's attention to an extract or two from a somewhat remarkable +letter, which appears to have been found corked in a bottle and floating +on the _Mare Tenebrarum_--an ocean well described by the Nubian +geographer, Ptolemy Hephestion, but little frequented in modern days +unless by the Transcendentalists and some other divers for crotchets. +The date of this letter, I confess, surprises me even more particularly +than its contents; for it seems to have been written in the year _two_ +thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. As for the passages I am about +to transcribe, they, I fancy, will speak for themselves. + +"Do you know, my dear friend," says the writer, addressing, no doubt, a +contemporary--"Do you know that it is scarcely more than eight or nine +hundred years ago since the metaphysicians first consented to relieve +the people of the singular fancy that there exist _but two practicable +roads to Truth_? Believe it if you can! It appears, however, that long, +long ago, in the night of Time, there lived a Turkish philosopher called +Aries and surnamed Tottle." [Here, possibly, the letter-writer means +Aristotle; the best names are wretchedly corrupted in two or three +thousand years.] "The fame of this great man depended mainly upon his +demonstration that sneezing is a natural provision, by means of which +over-profound thinkers are enabled to expel superfluous ideas through +the nose; but he obtained a scarcely less valuable celebrity as the +founder, or at all events as the principal propagator, of what was +termed the _de_ductive or _ priori_ philosophy. He started with what he +maintained to be axioms, or self-evident truths:--and the now well +understood fact that _no_ truths are _self_-evident, really does not +make in the slightest degree against his speculations:--it was sufficient +for his purpose that the truths in question were evident at all. From +axioms he proceeded, logically, to results. His most illustrious +disciples were one Tuclid, a geometrician," [meaning Euclid] "and one +Kant, a Dutchman, the originator of that species of Transcendentalism +which, with the change merely of a C for a K, now bears his peculiar +name. + +"Well, Aries Tottle flourished supreme, until the advent of one Hog, +surnamed 'the Ettrick shepherd,' who preached an entirely different +system, which he called the _ posteriori_ or _in_ductive. His plan +referred altogether to sensation. He proceeded by observing, analyzing, +and classifying facts--_instanti Natur_, as they were somewhat +affectedly called--and arranging them into general laws. In a word, while +the mode of Aries rested on _noumena_, that of Hog depended on +_phenomena_; and so great was the admiration excited by this latter +system that, at its first introduction, Aries fell into general +disrepute. Finally, however, he recovered ground, and was permitted to +divide the empire of Philosophy with his more modern rival:--the savans +contenting themselves with proscribing all _other_ competitors, past, +present, and to come; putting an end to all controversy on the topic by +the promulgation of a Median law, to the effect that the Aristotelian +and Baconian roads are, and of right ought to be, the solo possible +avenues to knowledge:--'Baconian,' you must know, my dear friend," adds +the letter-writer at this point, "was an adjective invented as +equivalent to Hog-ian, and at the same time more dignified and +euphonious. + +"Now I do assure you most positively"--proceeds the epistle--"that I +represent these matters fairly; and you can easily understand how +restrictions so absurd on their very face must have operated, in those +days, to retard the progress of true Science, which makes its most +important advances--as all History will show--by seemingly intuitive +_leaps_. These ancient ideas confined investigation to crawling; and I +need not suggest to you that crawling, among varieties of locomotion, is +a very capital thing of its kind;--but because the tortoise is sure of +foot, for this reason must we clip the wings of the eagles? For many +centuries, so great was the infatuation, about Hog especially, that a +virtual stop was put to all thinking, properly so called. No man dared +utter a truth for which he felt himself indebted to his soul alone. It +mattered not whether the truth was even demonstrably such; for the +dogmatizing philosophers of that epoch regarded only _the road_ by which +it professed to have been attained. The end, with them, was a point of +no moment, whatever:--'the means!' they vociferated--'let us look at the +means!'--and if, on scrutiny of the means, it was found to come neither +under the category Hog, nor under the category Aries (which means ram), +why then the savans went no farther, but, calling the thinker a fool +and branding him a 'theorist,' would never, thenceforward, have any +thing to do either with _him_ or with his truths. + +"Now, my dear friend," continues the letter-writer, "it cannot be +maintained that by the crawling system, exclusively adopted, men would +arrive at the maximum amount of truth, even in any long series of ages; +for the repression of imagination was an evil not to be counterbalanced +even by _absolute_ certainty in the snail processes. But their certainty +was very far from absolute. The error of our progenitors was quite +analogous with that of the wiseacre who fancies he must necessarily see +an object the more distinctly, the more closely he holds it to his eyes. +They blinded themselves, too, with the impalpable, titillating Scotch +snuff of _detail_; and thus the boasted facts of the Hog-ites were by no +means always facts--a point of little importance but for the assumption +that they always _were_. The vital taint, however, in Baconianism--its +most lamentable fount of error--lay in its tendency to throw power and +consideration into the hands of merely perceptive men--of those +inter-Tritonic minnows, the microscopical savans--the diggers and pedlers +of minute _facts_, for the most part in physical science--facts all of +which they retailed at the same price upon the highway; their value +depending, it was supposed, simply upon the _fact of their fact_, +without reference to their applicability or inapplicability in the +development of those ultimate and only legitimate facts, called Law. + +"Than the persons"--the letter goes on to say--"Than the persons thus +suddenly elevated by the Hog-ian philosophy into a station for which +they were unfitted--thus transferred from the sculleries into the parlors +of Science--from its pantries into its pulpits--than these individuals a +more intolerant--a more intolerable set of bigots and tyrants never +existed on the face of the earth. Their creed, their text and their +sermon were, alike, the one word '_fact_'--but, for the most part, even +of this one word, they knew not even the meaning. On those who ventured +to _disturb_ their facts with the view of putting them in order and to +use, the disciples of Hog had no mercy whatever. All attempts at +generalization were met at once by the words 'theoretical,' 'theory,' +'theorist'--all _thought_, to be brief, was very properly resented as a +personal affront to themselves. Cultivating the natural sciences to the +exclusion of Metaphysics, the Mathematics, and Logic, many of these +Bacon-engendered philosophers--one-idead, one-sided and lame of a +leg--were more wretchedly helpless--more miserably ignorant, in view of +all the comprehensible objects of knowledge, than the veriest unlettered +hind who proves that he knows something at least, in admitting that he +knows absolutely nothing. + +"Nor had our forefathers any better right to talk about _certainty_, +when pursuing, in blind confidence, the _ priori_ path of axioms, or of +the Ram. At innumerable points this path was scarcely as straight as a +ram's-horn. The simple truth is, that the Aristotelians erected their +castles upon a basis far less reliable than air; _for no such things as +axioms ever existed or can possibly exist at all_. This they must have +been very blind, indeed, not to see, or at least to suspect; for, even +in their own day, many of their long-admitted 'axioms' had been +abandoned:--'_ex nihilo nihil fit_,' for example, and a 'thing cannot act +where it is not,' and 'there cannot be antipodes,' and 'darkness cannot +proceed from light.' These and numerous similar propositions formerly +accepted, without hesitation, as axioms, or undeniable truths, were, +even at the period of which I speak, seen to be altogether +untenable:--how absurd in these people, then, to persist in relying upon +a basis, as immutable, whose mutability had become so repeatedly +manifest! + +"But, even through evidence afforded by themselves against themselves, +it is easy to convict these _ priori_ reasoners of the grossest +unreason--it is easy to show the futility--the impalpability of their +axioms in general. I have now lying before me"--it will be observed that +we still proceed with the letter--"I have now lying before me a book +printed about a thousand years ago. Pundit assures me that it is +decidedly the cleverest ancient work on its topic, which is 'Logic.' The +author, who was much esteemed in his day, was one Miller, or Mill; and +we find it recorded of him, as a point of some importance, that he rode +a mill-horse whom he called Jeremy Bentham:--but let us glance at the +volume itself! + +"Ah!--'Ability or inability to conceive,' says Mr. Mill very properly, +'is _in no case_ to be received as a criterion of axiomatic truth.' Now, +that this is a palpable truism no one in his senses will deny. _Not_ to +admit the proposition, is to insinuate a charge of variability in Truth +itself, whose very title is a synonym of the Steadfast. If ability to +conceive be taken as a criterion of Truth, then a truth to _David_ Hume +would very seldom be a truth to _Joe_; and ninety-nine hundredths of +what is undeniable in Heaven would be demonstrable falsity upon Earth. +The proposition of Mr. Mill, then, is sustained. I will not grant it to +be an _axiom_; and this merely because I am showing that _no_ axioms +exist; but, with a distinction which could not have been cavilled at +even by Mr. Mill himself, I am ready to grant that, _if_ an axiom _there +be_, then the proposition of which we speak has the fullest right to be +considered an axiom--that no _more_ absolute axiom _is_--and, +consequently, that any subsequent proposition which shall conflict with +this one primarily advanced, must be either a falsity in itself--that is +to say no axiom--or, if admitted axiomatic, must at once neutralize both +itself and its predecessor. + +"And now, by the logic of their own propounder, let us proceed to test +any one of the axioms propounded. Let us give Mr. Mill the fairest of +play. We will bring the point to no ordinary issue. We will select for +investigation no common-place axiom--no axiom of what, not the less +preposterously because only impliedly, he terms his secondary class--as +if a positive truth by definition could be either more or less +positively a truth:--we will select, I say, no axiom of an +unquestionability so questionable as is to be found in Euclid. We will +not talk, for example, about such propositions as that two straight +lines cannot enclose a space, or that the whole is greater than any one +of its parts. We will afford the logician _every_ advantage. We will +come at once to a proposition which he regards as the acme of the +unquestionable--as the quintessence of axiomatic undeniability. Here it +is:--'Contradictions cannot _both_ be true--that is, cannot cexist in +nature.' Here Mr. Mill means, for instance,--and I give the most forcible +instance conceivable--that a tree must be either a tree or _not_ a +tree--that it cannot be at the same time a tree _and_ not a tree:--all +which is quite reasonable of itself and will answer remarkably well as +an axiom, until we bring it into collation with an axiom insisted upon a +few pages before--in other words--words which I have previously +employed--until we test it by the logic of its own propounder. 'A tree,' +Mr. Mill asserts, 'must be either a tree or _not_ a tree.' Very +well:--and now let me ask him, _why_. To this little query there is but +one response:--I defy any man living to invent a second. The sole answer +is this:--'Because we find it _impossible to conceive_ that a tree can be +any thing else than a tree or not a tree.' This, I repeat, is Mr. Mill's +sole answer:--he will not _pretend_ to suggest another:--and yet, by his +own showing, his answer is clearly no answer at all; for has he not +already required us to admit, _as an axiom_, that ability or inability +to conceive is _in no case_ to be taken as a criterion of axiomatic +truth? Thus all--absolutely _all_ his argumentation is at sea without a +rudder. Let it not be urged that an exception from the general rule is +to be made, in cases where the 'impossibility to conceive' is so +peculiarly great as when we are called upon to conceive a tree _both_ a +tree and _not_ a tree. Let no attempt, I say, be made at urging this +sotticism; for, in the first place, there are no _degrees_ of +'impossibility,' and thus no one impossible conception can be _more_ +peculiarly impossible than another impossible conception:--in the second +place, Mr. Mill himself, no doubt after thorough deliberation, has most +distinctly, and most rationally, excluded all opportunity for exception, +by the emphasis of his proposition, that, _in no case_, is ability or +inability to conceive, to be taken as a criterion of axiomatic +truth:--in the third place, even were exceptions admissible at all, it +remains to be shown how any exception is admissible _here_. That a tree +can be both a tree and not a tree, is an idea which the angels, or the +devils, _may_ entertain, and which no doubt many an earthly Bedlamite, +or Transcendentalist, _does_. + +"Now I do not quarrel with these ancients," continues the letter-writer, +"_so much_ on account of the transparent frivolity of their logic--which, +to be plain, was baseless, worthless and fantastic altogether--as on +account of their pompous and infatuate proscription of all _other_ roads +to Truth than the two narrow and crooked paths--the one of creeping and +the other of crawling--to which, in their ignorant perversity, they have +dared to confine the Soul--the Soul which loves nothing so well as to +soar in those regions of illimitable intuition which are utterly +incognizant of '_path_.' + +"By the bye, my dear friend, is it not an evidence of the mental slavery +entailed upon those bigoted people by their Hogs and Rams, that in spite +of the eternal prating of their savans about _roads_ to Truth, none of +them fell, even by accident, into what we now so distinctly perceive to +be the broadest, the straightest and most available of all mere +roads--the great thoroughfare--the majestic highway of the _Consistent_? +Is it not wonderful that they should have failed to deduce from the +works of God the vitally momentous consideration that _a perfect +consistency can be nothing but an absolute truth_? How plain--how rapid +our progress since the late announcement of this proposition! By its +means, investigation has been taken out of the hands of the ground-moles, +and given as a duty, rather than as a task, to the true--to the _only_ true +thinkers--to the generally-educated men of ardent imagination. These +latter--our Keplers--our Laplaces--'speculate'--'theorize'--these are the +terms--can you not fancy the shout of scorn with which they would be +received by our progenitors, were it possible for them to be looking over +my shoulders as I write? The Keplers, I repeat, speculate--theorize--and +their theories are merely corrected--reduced--sifted--cleared, little by +little, of their chaff of inconsistency--until at length there stands +apparent an unencumbered _Consistency_--a consistency which the most +stolid admit--because it _is_ a consistency--to be an absolute and an +unquestionable _Truth_. + +"I have often thought, my friend, that it must have puzzled these +dogmaticians of a thousand years ago, to determine, even, by which of +their two boasted roads it is that the cryptographist attains the +solution of the more complicate cyphers--or by which of them Champollion +guided mankind to those important and innumerable truths which, for so +many centuries, have lain entombed amid the phonetical hieroglyphics of +Egypt. In especial, would it not have given these bigots some trouble to +determine by which of their two roads was reached the most momentous and +sublime of _all_ their truths--the truth--the fact of _gravitation_? +Newton deduced it from the laws of Kepler. Kepler admitted that these +laws he _guessed_--these laws whose investigation disclosed to the +greatest of British astronomers that principle, the basis of all +(existing) physical principle, in going behind which we enter at once +the nebulous kingdom of Metaphysics. Yes!--these vital laws Kepler +_guessed_--that is to say, he _imagined_ them. Had he been asked to point +out either the _de_ductive or _in_ductive route by which he attained +them, his reply might have been--'I know nothing about _routes_--but I +_do_ know the machinery of the Universe. Here it is. I grasped it with +_my soul_--I reached it through mere dint of _intuition_.' Alas, poor +ignorant old man! Could not any metaphysician have told him that what he +called 'intuition' was but the conviction resulting from _de_ductions or +_in_ductions of which the processes were so shadowy as to have escaped +his consciousness, eluded his reason, or bidden defiance to his capacity +of expression? How great a pity it is that some 'moral philosopher' had +not enlightened him about all this! How it would have comforted him on +his death-bed to know that, instead of having gone intuitively and thus +unbecomingly, he had, in fact, proceeded decorously and +legitimately--that is to say Hog-ishly, or at least Ram-ishly--into the +vast halls where lay gleaming, untended, and hitherto untouched by +mortal hand--unseen by mortal eye--the imperishable and priceless secrets +of the Universe! + +"Yes, Kepler was essentially a _theorist_; but this title, _now_ of so +much sanctity, was, in those ancient days, a designation of supreme +contempt. It is only _now_ that men begin to appreciate that divine old +man--to sympathize with the prophetical and poetical rhapsody of his +ever-memorable words. For _my_ part," continues the unknown +correspondent, "I glow with a sacred fire when I even think of them, and +feel that I shall never grow weary of their repetition:--in concluding +this letter, let me have the real pleasure of transcribing them once +again:--'_I care not whether my work be read now or by posterity. I can +afford to wait a century for readers when God himself has waited six +thousand years for an observer. I triumph. I have stolen the golden +secret of the Egyptians. I will indulge my sacred fury._'" + +Here end my quotations from this very unaccountable and, perhaps, +somewhat impertinent epistle; and perhaps it would be folly to comment, +in any respect, upon the chimerical, not to say revolutionary, fancies +of the writer--whoever he is--fancies so radically at war with the +well-considered and well-settled opinions of this age. Let us proceed, +then, to our legitimate thesis, _The Universe_. + +This thesis admits a choice between two modes of discussion:--We may +_as_cend or _de_scend. Beginning at our own point of view--at the Earth +on which we stand--we may pass to the other planets of our system--thence +to the Sun--thence to our system considered collectively--and thence, +through other systems, indefinitely outwards; or, commencing on high at +some point as definite as we can make it or conceive it, we may come +down to the habitation of Man. Usually--that is to say, in ordinary +essays on Astronomy--the first of these two modes is, with certain +reservation, adopted:--this for the obvious reason that astronomical +_facts_, merely, and principles, being the object, that object is best +fulfilled in stepping from the known because proximate, gradually onward +to the point where all certitude becomes lost in the remote. For my +present purpose, however,--that of enabling the mind to take in, as if +from afar and at one glance, a distinct conception of the _individual_ +Universe--it is clear that a descent to small from great--to the outskirts +from the centre (if we could establish a centre)--to the end from the +beginning (if we could fancy a beginning) would be the preferable +course, but for the difficulty, if not impossibility, of presenting, in +this course, to the unastronomical, a picture at all comprehensible in +regard to such considerations as are involved in _quantity_--that is to +say, in number, magnitude and distance. + +Now, distinctness--intelligibility, at all points, is a primary feature +in my general design. On important topics it is better to be a good deal +prolix than even a very little obscure. But abstruseness is a quality +appertaining to no subject _per se_. All are alike, in facility of +comprehension, to him who approaches them by properly graduated steps. +It is merely because a stepping-stone, here and there, is heedlessly +left unsupplied in our road to the Differential Calculus, that this +latter is not altogether as simple a thing as a sonnet by Mr. Solomon +Seesaw. + +By way of admitting, then, no _chance_ for misapprehension, I think it +advisable to proceed as if even the more obvious facts of Astronomy were +unknown to the reader. In combining the two modes of discussion to which +I have referred, I propose to avail myself of the advantages peculiar to +each--and very especially of the _iteration in detail_ which will be +unavoidable as a consequence of the plan. Commencing with a descent, I +shall reserve for the return upwards those indispensable considerations +of _quantity_ to which allusion has already been made. + +Let us begin, then, at once, with that merest of words, "Infinity." +This, like "God," "spirit," and some other expressions of which the +equivalents exist in all languages, is by no means the expression of an +idea--but of an effort at one. It stands for the possible attempt at an +impossible conception. Man needed a term by which to point out the +_direction_ of this effort--the cloud behind which lay, forever +invisible, the _object_ of this attempt. A word, in fine, was demanded, +by means of which one human being might put himself in relation at once +with another human being and with a certain _tendency_ of the human +intellect. Out of this demand arose the word, "Infinity;" which is thus +the representative but of the _thought of a thought_. + +As regards _that_ infinity now considered--the infinity of space--we often +hear it said that "its idea is admitted by the mind--is acquiesced in--is +entertained--on account of the greater difficulty which attends the +conception of a limit." But this is merely one of those _phrases_ by +which even profound thinkers, time out of mind, have occasionally taken +pleasure in deceiving _themselves_. The quibble lies concealed in the +word "difficulty." "The mind," we are told, "entertains the idea of +_limitless_, through the greater _difficulty_ which it finds in +entertaining that of _limited_, space." Now, were the proposition but +fairly _put_, its absurdity would become transparent at once. Clearly, +there is no mere _difficulty_ in the case. The assertion intended, if +presented _according_ to its intention and without sophistry, would run +thus:--"The mind admits the idea of limitless, through the greater +_impossibility_ of entertaining that of limited, space." + +It must be immediately seen that this is not a question of two +statements between whose respective credibilities--or of two arguments +between whose respective validities--the _reason_ is called upon to +decide:--it is a matter of two conceptions, directly conflicting, and +each avowedly impossible, one of which the _intellect_ is supposed to be +capable of entertaining, on account of the greater _impossibility_ of +entertaining the other. The choice is _not_ made between two +difficulties;--it is merely _fancied_ to be made between two +impossibilities. Now of the former, there _are_ degrees--but of the +latter, none:--just as our impertinent letter-writer has already +suggested. A task _may_ be more or less difficult; but it is either +possible or not possible:--there are no gradations. It _might_ be more +_difficult_ to overthrow the Andes than an ant-hill; but it _can_ be no +more _impossible_ to annihilate the matter of the one than the matter of +the other. A man may jump ten feet with less _difficulty_ than he can +jump twenty, but the _impossibility_ of his leaping to the moon is not a +whit less than that of his leaping to the dog-star. + +Since all this is undeniable: since the choice of the mind is to be made +between _impossibilities_ of conception: since one impossibility cannot +be greater than another: and since, thus, one cannot be preferred to +another: the philosophers who not only maintain, on the grounds +mentioned, man's _idea_ of infinity but, on account of such +supposititious idea, _infinity itself_--are plainly engaged in +demonstrating one impossible thing to be possible by showing how it is +that some one other thing--is impossible too. This, it will be said, is +nonsense; and perhaps it is:--indeed I think it very capital +nonsense--but forego all claim to it as nonsense of mine. + +The readiest mode, however, of displaying the fallacy of the +philosophical argument on this question, is by simply adverting to a +_fact_ respecting it which has been hitherto quite overlooked--the fact +that the argument alluded to both proves and disproves its own +proposition. "The mind is impelled," say the theologians and others, "to +admit a _First Cause_, by the superior difficulty it experiences in +conceiving cause beyond cause without end." The quibble, as before, lies +in the word "difficulty"--but _here_ what is it employed to sustain? A +First Cause. And what is a First Cause? An ultimate termination of +causes. And what is an ultimate termination of causes? Finity--the +Finite. Thus the one quibble, in two processes, by God knows how many +philosophers, is made to support now Finity and now Infinity--could it +not be brought to support something besides? As for the +quibblers--_they_, at least, are insupportable. But--to dismiss them:--what +they prove in the one case is the identical nothing which they +demonstrate in the other. + +Of course, no one will suppose that I here contend for the absolute +impossibility of _that_ which we attempt to convey in the word +"Infinity." My purpose is but to show the folly of endeavoring to prove +Infinity itself or even our conception of it, by any such blundering +ratiocination as that which is ordinarily employed. + +Nevertheless, as an individual, I may be permitted to say that _I +cannot_ conceive Infinity, and am convinced that no human being can. A +mind not thoroughly self-conscious--not accustomed to the introspective +analysis of its own operations--will, it is true, often deceive itself by +supposing that it _has_ entertained the conception of which we speak. In +the effort to entertain it, we proceed step beyond step--we fancy point +still beyond point; and so long as we _continue_ the effort, it may be +said, in fact, that we are _tending_ to the formation of the idea +designed; while the strength of the impression that we actually form or +have formed it, is in the ratio of the period during which we keep up +the mental endeavor. But it is in the act of discontinuing the +endeavor--of fulfilling (as we think) the idea--of putting the finishing +stroke (as we suppose) to the conception--that we overthrow at once the +whole fabric of our fancy by resting upon some one ultimate and +therefore definite point. This fact, however, we fail to perceive, on +account of the absolute coincidence, in time, between the settling down +upon the ultimate point and the act of cessation in thinking.--In +attempting, on the other hand, to frame the idea of a _limited_ space, +we merely converse the processes which involve the impossibility. + +We _believe_ in a God. We may or may not _believe_ in finite or in +infinite space; but our belief, in such cases, is more properly +designated as _faith_, and is a matter quite distinct from that belief +proper--from that _intellectual_ belief--which presupposes the mental +conception. + +The fact is, that, upon the enunciation of any one of that class of +terms to which "Infinity" belongs--the class representing _thoughts of +thought_--he who has a right to say that he thinks _at all_, feels +himself called upon, _not_ to entertain a conception, but simply to +direct his mental vision toward some given point, in the intellectual +firmament, where lies a nebula never to be resolved. To solve it, +indeed, he makes no effort; for with a rapid instinct he comprehends, +not only the impossibility, but, as regards all human purposes, the +_inessentiality_, of its solution. He perceives that the Deity has not +_designed_ it to be solved. He sees, at once, that it lies _out_ of the +brain of man, and even _how_, if not exactly _why_, it lies out of it. +There _are_ people, I am aware, who, busying themselves in attempts at +the unattainable, acquire very easily, by dint of the jargon they emit, +among those thinkers-that-they-think with whom darkness and depth are +synonymous, a kind of cuttle-fish reputation for profundity; but the +finest quality of Thought is its self-cognizance; and, with some little +equivocation, it may be said that no fog of the mind can well be greater +than that which, extending to the very boundaries of the mental domain, +shuts out even these boundaries themselves from comprehension. + +It will now be understood that, in using the phrase, "Infinity of +Space," I make no call upon the reader to entertain the impossible +conception of an _absolute_ infinity. I refer simply to the "_utmost +conceivable expanse_" of space--a shadowy and fluctuating domain, now +shrinking, now swelling, in accordance with the vacillating energies of +the imagination. + +_Hitherto_, the Universe of stars has always been considered as +coincident with the Universe proper, as I have defined it in the +commencement of this Discourse. It has been always either directly or +indirectly assumed--at least since the dawn of intelligible +Astronomy--that, were it possible for us to attain any given point in +space, we should still find, on all sides of us, an interminable +succession of stars. This was the untenable idea of Pascal when making +perhaps the most successful attempt ever made, at periphrasing the +conception for which we struggle in the word "Universe." "It is a +sphere," he says, "of which the centre is everywhere, the circumference, +nowhere." But although this intended definition is, in fact, _no_ +definition of the Universe of _stars_, we may accept it, with some +mental reservation, as a definition (rigorous enough for all practical +purposes) of the Universe _proper_--that is to say, of the Universe of +_space_. This latter, then, let us regard as "_a sphere of which the +centre is everywhere, the circumference nowhere_." In fact, while we +find it impossible to fancy an _end_ to space, we have no difficulty in +picturing to ourselves any one of an infinity of _beginnings_. + +As our starting-point, then, let us adopt the _Godhead_. Of this +Godhead, _in itself_, he alone is not imbecile--he alone is not impious +who propounds--nothing. "_Nous ne connaissons rien_," says the Baron de +Bielfeld--"_Nous ne connaissons rien de la nature ou de l'essence de +Dieu:--pour savoir ce qu'il est, il faut tre Dieu mme._"--"We know +absolutely _nothing_ of the nature or essence of God:--in order to +comprehend what he is, we should have to be God ourselves." + +"_We should have to be God ourselves!_"--With a phrase so startling as +this yet ringing in my ears, I nevertheless venture to demand if this +our present ignorance of the Deity is an ignorance to which the soul is +_everlastingly_ condemned. + +By _Him_, however--_now_, at least, the Incomprehensible--by Him--assuming +him as _Spirit_--that is to say, as _not Matter_--a distinction which, for +all intelligible purposes, will stand well instead of a definition--by +Him, then, existing as Spirit, let us content ourselves, to-night, with +supposing to have been _created_, or made out of Nothing, by dint of his +Volition--at some point of Space which we will take as a centre--at some +period into which we do not pretend to inquire, but at all events +immensely remote--by Him, then again, let us suppose to have been +created----_what_? This is a vitally momentous epoch in our +considerations. _What_ is it that we are justified--that alone we are +justified in supposing to have been, primarily and solely, _created_? + +We have attained a point where only _Intuition_ can aid us:--but now let +me recur to the idea which I have already suggested as that alone which +we can properly entertain of intuition. It is but _the conviction +arising from those inductions or deductions of which the processes are +so shadowy as to escape our consciousness, elude our reason, or defy our +capacity of expression_. With this understanding, I now assert--that an +intuition altogether irresistible, although inexpressible, forces me to +the conclusion that what God originally created--that that Matter which, +by dint of his Volition, he first made from his Spirit, or from +Nihility, _could_ have been nothing but Matter in its utmost conceivable +state of----what?--of _Simplicity_? + +This will be found the sole absolute _assumption_ of my Discourse. I use +the word "assumption" in its ordinary sense; yet I maintain that even +this my primary proposition, is very, very far indeed, from being really +a mere assumption. Nothing was ever more certainly--no human conclusion +was ever, in fact, more regularly--more rigorously _de_duced:--but, alas! +the processes lie out of the human analysis--at all events are beyond the +utterance of the human tongue. + +Let us now endeavor to conceive what Matter must be, when, or if, in its +absolute extreme of _Simplicity_. Here the Reason flies at once to +Imparticularity--to a particle--to _one_ particle--a particle of _one_ +kind--of _one_ character--of _one_ nature--of _one size_--of one form--a +particle, therefore, "_without_ form and void"--a particle positively a +particle at all points--a particle absolutely unique, individual, +undivided, and not indivisible only because He who _created_ it, by dint +of his Will, can by an infinitely less energetic exercise of the same +Will, as a matter of course, divide it. + +_Oneness_, then, is all that I predicate of the originally created +Matter; but I propose to show that this _Oneness is a principle +abundantly sufficient to account for the constitution, the existing +phnomena and the plainly inevitable annihilation of at least the +material Universe_. + +The willing into being the primordial particle, has completed the act, +or more properly the _conception_, of Creation. We now proceed to the +ultimate purpose for which we are to suppose the Particle created--that +is to say, the ultimate purpose so far as our considerations _yet_ +enable us to see it--the constitution of the Universe from it, the +Particle. + +This constitution has been effected by _forcing_ the originally and +therefore normally _One_ into the abnormal condition of _Many_. An +action of this character implies raction. A diffusion from Unity, under +the conditions, involves a tendency to return into Unity--a tendency +ineradicable until satisfied. But on these points I will speak more +fully hereafter. + +The assumption of absolute Unity in the primordial Particle includes +that of infinite divisibility. Let us conceive the Particle, then, to be +only not totally exhausted by diffusion into Space. From the one +Particle, as a centre, let us suppose to be irradiated spherically--in +all directions--to immeasurable but still to definite distances in the +previously vacant space--a certain inexpressibly great yet limited number +of unimaginably yet not infinitely minute atoms. + +Now, of these atoms, thus diffused, or upon diffusion, what conditions +are we permitted--not to assume, but to infer, from consideration as well +of their source as of the character of the design apparent in their +diffusion? _Unity_ being their source, and _difference from Unity_ the +character of the design manifested in their diffusion, we are warranted +in supposing this character to be at least _generally_ preserved +throughout the design, and to form a portion of the design itself:--that +is to say, we shall be warranted in conceiving continual differences at +all points from the uniquity and simplicity of the origin. But, for +these reasons, shall we be justified in imagining the atoms +heterogeneous, dissimilar, unequal, and inequidistant? More +explicitly--are we to consider no two atoms as, at their diffusion, of +the same nature, or of the same form, or of the same size?--and, after +fulfilment of their diffusion into Space, is absolute inequidistance, +each from each, to be understood of all of them? In such arrangement, +under such conditions, we most easily and immediately comprehend the +subsequent most feasible carrying out to completion of any such design as +that which I have suggested--the design of variety out of unity--diversity +out of sameness--heterogeneity out of homogeneity--complexity out of +simplicity--in a word, the utmost possible multiplicity of _relation_ +out of the emphatically irrelative _One_. Undoubtedly, therefore, we +_should_ be warranted in assuming all that has been mentioned, but for +the reflection, first, that supererogation is not presumable of any +Divine Act; and, secondly, that the object supposed in view, appears as +feasible when some of the conditions in question are dispensed with, in +the beginning, as when all are understood immediately to exist. I mean +to say that some are involved in the rest, or so instantaneous a +consequence of them as to make the distinction inappreciable. Difference +of _size_, for example, will at once be brought about through the +tendency of one atom to a second, in preference to a third, on account +of particular inequidistance; which is to be comprehended as _particular +inequidistances between centres of quantity, in neighboring atoms of +different form_--a matter not at all interfering with the +generally-equable distribution of the atoms. Difference of _kind_, too, +is easily conceived to be merely a result of differences in size and +form, taken more or less conjointly:--in fact, since the _Unity_ of the +Particle Proper implies absolute homogeneity, we cannot imagine the +atoms, at their diffusion, differing in kind, without imagining, at the +same time, a special exercise of the Divine Will, at the emission of +each atom, for the purpose of effecting, in each, a change of its +essential nature:--so fantastic an idea is the less to be indulged, as +the object proposed is seen to be thoroughly attainable without such +minute and elaborate interposition. We perceive, therefore, upon the +whole, that it would be supererogatory, and consequently +unphilosophical, to predicate of the atoms, in view of their purposes, +any thing more than _difference of form_ at their dispersion, with +particular inequidistance after it--all other differences arising at +once out of these, in the very first processes of mass-constitution:--We +thus establish the Universe on a purely _geometrical_ basis. Of course, +it is by no means necessary to assume absolute difference, even of form, +among _all_ the atoms irradiated--any more than absolute particular +inequidistance of each from each. We are required to conceive merely +that no _neighboring_ atoms are of similar form--no atoms which can ever +approximate, until their inevitable runition at the end. + +Although the immediate and perpetual _tendency_ of the disunited atoms +to return into their normal Unity, is implied, as I have said, in their +abnormal diffusion; still it is clear that this tendency will be without +consequence--a tendency and no more--until the diffusive energy, in +ceasing to be exerted, shall leave _it_, the tendency, free to seek its +satisfaction. The Divine Act, however, being considered as determinate, +and discontinued on fulfilment of the diffusion, we understand, at once, +a _raction_--in other words, a _satisfiable_ tendency of the disunited +atoms to return into _One_. + +But the diffusive energy being withdrawn, and the raction having +commenced in furtherance of the ultimate design--_that of the utmost +possible Relation_--this design is now in danger of being frustrated, in +detail, by reason of that very tendency to return which is to effect its +accomplishment in general. _Multiplicity_ is the object; but there is +nothing to prevent proximate atoms, from lapsing _at once_, through the +now satisfiable tendency--_before_ the fulfilment of any ends proposed in +multiplicity--into absolute oneness among themselves:--there is nothing to +impede the aggregation of various _unique_ masses, at various points of +space:--in other words, nothing to interfere with the accumulation of +various masses, each absolutely One. + +For the effectual and thorough completion of the general design, we thus +see the necessity for a repulsion of limited capacity--a separative +_something_ which, on withdrawal of the diffusive Volition, shall at the +same time allow the approach, and forbid the junction, of the atoms; +suffering them infinitely to approximate, while denying them positive +contact; in a word, having the power--_up to a certain epoch_--of +preventing their _coalition_, but no ability to interfere with their +_coalescence_ in any respect _or degree_. The repulsion, already +considered as so peculiarly limited in other regards, must be +understood, let me repeat, as having power to prevent absolute +coalition, _only up to a certain epoch_. Unless we are to conceive that +the appetite for Unity among the atoms is doomed to be satisfied +_never_;--unless we are to conceive that what had a beginning is to have +no end--a conception which cannot _really_ be entertained, however much +we may talk or dream of entertaining it--we are forced to conclude that +the repulsive influence imagined, will, finally--under pressure of the +_Unitendency collectively_ applied, but never and in no degree _until_, +on fulfilment of the Divine purposes, such collective application shall +be naturally made--yield to a force which, at that ultimate epoch, shall +be the superior force precisely to the extent required, and thus permit +the universal subsidence into the inevitable, because original and +therefore normal, _One_.--The conditions here to be reconciled are +difficult indeed:--we cannot even comprehend the possibility of their +conciliation;--nevertheless, the apparent impossibility is brilliantly +suggestive. + +That the repulsive something actually exists, _we see_. Man neither +employs, nor knows, a force sufficient to bring two atoms into contact. +This is but the well-established proposition of the impenetrability of +matter. All Experiment proves--all Philosophy admits it. The _design_ of +the repulsion--the necessity for its existence--I have endeavored to show; +but from all attempt at investigating its nature have religiously +abstained; this on account of an intuitive conviction that the principle +at issue is strictly spiritual--lies in a recess impervious to our +present understanding--lies involved in a consideration of what now--in +our human state--is _not_ to be considered--in a consideration of _Spirit +in itself_. I feel, in a word, that here the God has interposed, and +here only, because here and here only the knot demanded the +interposition of the God. + +In fact, while the tendency of the diffused atoms to return into Unity, +will be recognized, at once, as the principle of the Newtonian Gravity, +what I have spoken of as a repulsive influence prescribing limits to the +(immediate) satisfaction of the tendency, will be understood as _that_ +which we have been in the practice of designating now as heat, now as +magnetism, now as _electricity_; displaying our ignorance of its awful +character in the vacillation of the phraseology with which we endeavor +to circumscribe it. + +Calling it, merely for the moment, electricity, we know that all +experimental analysis of electricity has given, as an ultimate result, +the principle, or seeming principle, _heterogeneity_. _Only_ where +things differ is electricity apparent; and it is presumable that they +_never_ differ where it is not developed at least, if not apparent. Now, +this result is in the fullest keeping with that which I have reached +unempirically. The design of the repulsive influence I have maintained +to be that of preventing immediate Unity among the diffused atoms; and +these atoms are represented as different each from each. _Difference_ is +their character--their essentiality--just as _no-difference_ was the +essentiality of their source. When we say, then, that an attempt to +bring any two of these atoms together would induce an effort, on the +part of the repulsive influence, to prevent the contact, we may as well +use the strictly convertible sentence that an attempt to bring together +any two differences will result in a development of electricity. All +existing bodies, of course, are composed of these atoms in proximate +contact, and are therefore to be considered as mere assemblages of more +or fewer differences; and the resistance made by the repulsive spirit, +on bringing together any two such assemblages, would be in the ratio of +the two sums of the differences in each:--an expression which, when +reduced, is equivalent to this:--_The amount of electricity developed on +the approximation of two bodies, is proportional to the difference +between the respective sums of the atoms of which the bodies are +composed._ That _no_ two bodies are absolutely alike, is a simple +corollary from all that has been here said. Electricity, therefore, +existing always, is _developed_ whenever _any_ bodies, but _manifested_ +only when bodies of appreciable difference, are brought into +approximation. + +To electricity--so, for the present, continuing to call it--we _may_ not +be wrong in referring the various physical appearances of light, heat +and magnetism; but far less shall we be liable to err in attributing to +this strictly spiritual principle the more important phnomena of +vitality, consciousness and _Thought_. On this topic, however, I need +pause _here_ merely to suggest that these phnomena, whether observed +generally or in detail, seem to proceed _at least in the ratio of the +heterogeneous_. + +Discarding now the two equivocal terms, "gravitation" and "electricity," +let us adopt the more definite expressions, "_attraction_" and +"_repulsion_." The former is the body; the latter the soul: the one is +the material; the other the spiritual, principle of the Universe. _No +other principles exist._ _All_ phnomena are referable to one, or to the +other, or to both combined. So rigorously is this the case--so thoroughly +demonstrable is it that attraction and repulsion are the _sole_ +properties through which we perceive the Universe--in other words, by +which Matter is manifested to Mind--that, for all merely argumentative +purposes, we are fully justified in assuming that matter _exists_ only +as attraction and repulsion--that attraction and repulsion _are_ +matter:--there being no conceivable case in which we may not employ the +term "matter" and the terms "attraction" and "repulsion," taken +together, as equivalent, and therefore convertible, expressions in +Logic. + +I said, just now, that what I have described as the tendency of the +diffused atoms to return into their original unity, would be understood +as the principle of the Newtonian law of gravity: and, in fact, there +can be little difficulty in such an understanding, if we look at the +Newtonian gravity in a merely general view, as a force impelling matter +to seek matter; that is to say, when we pay no attention to the known +_modus operandi_ of the Newtonian force. The general coincidence +satisfies us; but, upon looking closely, we see, in detail, much that +appears _in_coincident, and much in regard to which no coincidence, at +least, is established. For example; the Newtonian gravity, when we think +of it in certain moods, does _not_ seem to be a tendency to _oneness_ at +all, but rather a tendency of all bodies in all directions--a phrase +apparently expressive of a tendency to diffusion. Here, then, is an +_in_coincidence. Again; when we reflect on the mathematical _law_ +governing the Newtonian tendency, we see clearly that no coincidence has +been made good, in respect of the _modus operandi_, at least, between +gravitation as known to exist and that seemingly simple and direct +tendency which I have assumed. + +In fact, I have attained a point at which it will be advisable to +strengthen my position by reversing my processes. So far, we have gone +on _ priori_, from an abstract consideration of _Simplicity_, as that +quality most likely to have characterized the original action of God. +Let us now see whether the established facts of the Newtonian +Gravitation may not afford us, _ posteriori_, some legitimate +inductions. + +What does the Newtonian law declare?--That all bodies attract each other +with forces proportional to their quantities of matter and inversely +proportional to the squares of their distances. Purposely, I have here +given, in the first place, the vulgar version of the law; and I confess +that in this, as in most other vulgar versions of great truths, we find +little of a suggestive character. Let us now adopt a more philosophical +phraseology:--_Every atom, of every body, attracts every other atom, both +of its own and of every other body, with a force which varies inversely +as the squares of the distances between the attracting and attracted +atom._--Here, indeed, a flood of suggestion bursts upon the mind. + +But let us see distinctly what it was that Newton _proved_--according to +the grossly irrational definitions of _proof_ prescribed by the +metaphysical schools. He was forced to content himself with showing how +thoroughly the motions of an imaginary Universe, composed of attracting +and attracted atoms obedient to the law he announced, coincide with +those of the actually existing Universe so far as it comes under our +observation. This was the amount of his _demonstration_--that is to say, +this was the amount of it, according to the conventional cant of the +"philosophies." His successes added proof multiplied by proof--such proof +as a sound intellect admits--but the _demonstration_ of the law itself, +persist the metaphysicians, had not been strengthened in any degree. +"_Ocular_, _physical_ proof," however, of attraction, here upon Earth, +in accordance with the Newtonian theory, was, at length, much to the +satisfaction of some intellectual grovellers, afforded. This proof arose +collaterally and incidentally (as nearly all important truths have +arisen) out of an attempt to ascertain the mean density of the Earth. In +the famous Maskelyne, Cavendish and Bailly experiments for this purpose, +the attraction of the mass of a mountain was seen, felt, measured, and +found to be mathematically consistent with the immortal theory of the +British astronomer. + +But in spite of this confirmation of that which needed none--in spite of +the so-called corroboration of the "theory" by the so-called "ocular and +physical proof"--in spite of the _character_ of this corroboration--the +ideas which even really philosophical men cannot help imbibing of +gravity--and, especially, the ideas of it which ordinary men get and +contentedly maintain, are _seen_ to have been derived, for the most +part, from a consideration of the principle as they find it +developed--_merely in the planet upon which they stand_. + +Now, to what does so partial a consideration tend--to what species of +error does it give rise? On the Earth we _see_ and _feel_, only that +gravity impels all bodies towards the _centre_ of the Earth. No man in +the common walks of life could be _made_ to see or to feel anything +else--could be made to perceive that anything, anywhere, has a perpetual, +gravitating tendency in any _other_ direction than to the centre of the +Earth; yet (with an exception hereafter to be specified) it is a fact +that every earthly thing (not to speak now of every heavenly thing) has +a tendency not _only_ to the Earth's centre but in every conceivable +direction besides. + +Now, although the philosophic cannot be said to _err with_ the vulgar in +this matter, they nevertheless permit themselves to be influenced, +without knowing it, by the _sentiment_ of the vulgar idea. "Although the +Pagan fables are not believed," says Bryant, in his very erudite +"Mythology," "yet we forget ourselves continually and make inferences +from them as from existing realities." I mean to assert that the merely +_sensitive perception_ of gravity as we experience it on Earth, beguiles +mankind into the fancy of _concentralization_ or _especiality_ +respecting it--has been continually biasing towards this fancy even the +mightiest intellects--perpetually, although imperceptibly, leading them +away from the real characteristics of the principle; thus preventing +them, up to this date, from ever getting a glimpse of that vital truth +which lies in a diametrically opposite direction--behind the principle's +_essential_ characteristics--those, _not_ of concentralization or +especiality--but of _universality_ and _diffusion_. This "vital truth" is +_Unity_ as the _source_ of the phnomenon. + +Let me now repeat the definition of gravity:--_Every atom, of every body, +attracts every other atom, both of its own and of every other body_, +with a force which varies inversely as the squares of the distances of +the attracting and attracted atom. + +Here let the reader pause with me, for a moment, in contemplation of the +miraculous--of the ineffable--of the altogether unimaginable complexity of +relation involved in the fact that _each atom attracts every other +atom_--involved merely in this fact of the attraction, without reference +to the law or mode in which the attraction is manifested--involved +_merely_ in the fact that each atom attracts every other atom _at all_, +in a wilderness of atoms so numerous that those which go to the +composition of a cannon-ball, exceed, probably, in mere point of number, +all the stars which go to the constitution of the Universe. + +Had we discovered, simply, that each atom tended to some one favorite +point--to some especially attractive atom--we should still have fallen +upon a discovery which, in itself, would have sufficed to overwhelm the +mind:--but what is it that we are actually called upon to comprehend? +That each atom attracts--sympathizes with the most delicate movements of +every other atom, and with each and with all at the same time, and +forever, and according to a determinate law of which the complexity, +even considered by itself solely, is utterly beyond the grasp of the +imagination of man. If I propose to ascertain the influence of one mote +in a sunbeam upon its neighboring mote, I cannot accomplish my purpose +without first counting and weighing all the atoms in the Universe and +defining the precise positions of all at one particular moment. If I +venture to displace, by even the billionth part of an inch, the +microscopical speck of dust which lies now upon the point of my finger, +what is the character of that act upon which I have adventured? I have +done a deed which shakes the Moon in her path, which causes the Sun to +be no longer the Sun, and which alters forever the destiny of the +multitudinous myriads of stars that roll and glow in the majestic +presence of their Creator. + +_These_ ideas--conceptions such as _these_--unthoughtlike +thoughts--soul-reveries rather than conclusions or even considerations +of the intellect:--ideas, I repeat, such as these, are such as we can +alone hope profitably to entertain in any effort at grasping the great +principle, _Attraction_. + +But now,--_with_ such ideas--with such a _vision_ of the marvellous +complexity of Attraction fairly in his mind--let any person competent of +thought on such topics as these, set himself to the task of imagining a +_principle_ for the phnomena observed--a condition from which they +sprang. + +Does not so evident a brotherhood among the atoms point to a common +parentage? Does not a sympathy so omniprevalent, so ineradicable, and so +thoroughly irrespective, suggest a common paternity as its source? Does +not one extreme impel the reason to the other? Does not the infinitude +of division refer to the utterness of individuality? Does not the +entireness of the complex hint at the perfection of the simple? It is +_not_ that the atoms, as we see them, are divided or that they are +complex in their relations--but that they are inconceivably divided and +unutterably complex:--it is the extremeness of the conditions to which I +now allude, rather than to the conditions themselves. In a word, is it +not because the atoms were, at some remote epoch of time, even _more +than together_--is it not because originally, and therefore normally, +they were _One_--that now, in all circumstances--at all points--in all +directions--by all modes of approach--in all relations and through all +conditions--they struggle _back_ to this absolutely, this irrelatively, +this unconditionally _one_? + +Some person may here demand:--"Why--since it is to the _One_ that the +atoms struggle back--do we not find and define Attraction 'a merely +general tendency to a centre?'--why, in especial, do not _your_ +atoms--the atoms which you describe as having been irradiated from a +centre--proceed at once, rectilinearly, back to the central point of +their origin?" + +I reply that _they do_; as will be distinctly shown; but that the cause +of their so doing is quite irrespective of the centre _as such_. They +all tend rectilinearly towards a centre, because of the sphereicity with +which they have been irradiated into space. Each atom, forming one of a +generally uniform globe of atoms, finds more atoms in the direction of +the centre, of course, than in any other, and in that direction, +therefore, is impelled--but is _not_ thus impelled because the centre is +_the point of its origin_. It is not to any _point_ that the atoms are +allied. It is not any _locality_, either in the concrete or in the +abstract, to which I suppose them bound. Nothing like _location_ was +conceived as their origin. Their source lies in the principle, _Unity_. +_This_ is their lost parent. _This_ they seek always--immediately--in all +directions--wherever it is even partially to be found; thus appeasing, in +some measure, the ineradicable tendency, while on the way to its +absolute satisfaction in the end. It follows from all this, that any +principle which shall be adequate to account for the _law_, or _modus +operandi_, of the attractive force in general, will account for this law +in particular:--that is to say, any principle which will show why the +atoms should tend to their _general centre of irradiation_ with forces +inversely proportional to the squares of the distances, will be admitted +as satisfactorily accounting, at the same time, for the tendency, +according to the same law, of these atoms each to each:--_for_ the +tendency to the centre _is_ merely the tendency each to each, and not +any tendency to a centre as such.--Thus it will be seen, also, that the +establishment of my propositions would involve no _necessity_ of +modification in the terms of the Newtonian definition of Gravity, which +declares that each atom attracts each other atom and so forth, and +declares this merely; but (always under the supposition that what I +propose be, in the end, admitted) it seems clear that some error might +occasionally be avoided, in the future processes of Science, were a more +ample phraseology adopted:--for instance:--"Each atom tends to every other +atom &c. with a force &c.: _the general result being a tendency of all, +with a similar force, to a general centre_." + +The reversal of our processes has thus brought us to an identical +result; but, while in the one process _intuition_ was the +starting-point, in the other it was the goal. In commencing the former +journey I could only say that, with an irresistible intuition, I _felt_ +Simplicity to have been the characteristic of the original action of +God:--in ending the latter I can only declare that, with an irresistible +intuition, I perceive Unity to have been the source of the observed +phnomena of the Newtonian gravitation. Thus, according to the schools, +I _prove_ nothing. So be it:--I design but to suggest--and to _convince_ +through the suggestion. I am proudly aware that there exist many of the +most profound and cautiously discriminative human intellects which +cannot _help_ being abundantly content with my--suggestions. To these +intellects--as to my own--there is no mathematical demonstration which +_could_ bring the least additional _true proof_ of the great _Truth_ +which I have advanced--_the truth of Original Unity as the source--as the +principle of the Universal Phnomena_. For my part, I am not so sure +that I speak and see--I am not so sure that my heart beats and that my +soul lives:--of the rising of to-morrow's sun--a probability that as yet +lies in the Future--I do not pretend to be one thousandth part as sure--as +I am of the irretrievably by-gone _Fact_ that All Things and All +Thoughts of Things, with all their ineffable Multiplicity of Relation, +sprang at once into being from the primordial and irrelative _One_. + +Referring to the Newtonian Gravity, Dr. Nichol, the eloquent author of +"The Architecture of the Heavens," says:--"In truth we have no reason to +suppose this great Law, as now revealed, to be the ultimate or simplest, +and therefore the universal and all-comprehensive, form of a great +Ordinance. The mode in which its intensity diminishes with the element +of distance, has not the aspect of an ultimate _principle_; which always +assumes the simplicity and self-evidence of those axioms which +constitute the basis of Geometry." + +Now, it is quite true that "ultimate principles," in the common +understanding of the words, always assume the simplicity of geometrical +axioms--(as for "self-evidence," there is no such thing)--but these +principles are clearly _not_ "ultimate;" in other terms what we are in +the habit of calling principles are no principles, properly +speaking--since there can be but one _principle_, the Volition of God. We +have no right to assume, then, from what we observe in rules that we +choose foolishly to name "principles," anything at all in respect to the +characteristics of a principle proper. The "ultimate principles" of +which Dr. Nichol speaks as having geometrical simplicity, may and do +have this geometrical turn, as being part and parcel of a vast +geometrical system, and thus a system of simplicity itself--in which, +nevertheless, the _truly_ ultimate principle is, _as we know_, the +consummation of the complex--that is to say, of the unintelligible--for is +it not the Spiritual Capacity of God? + +I quoted Dr. Nichol's remark, however, not so much to question its +philosophy, as by way of calling attention to the fact that, while all +men have admitted _some_ principle as existing behind the Law of +Gravity, no attempt has been yet made to point out what this principle +in particular _is_:--if we except, perhaps, occasional fantastic efforts +at referring it to Magnetism, or Mesmerism, or Swedenborgianism, or +Transcendentalism, or some other equally delicious _ism_ of the same +species, and invariably patronized by one and the same species of +people. The great mind of Newton, while boldly grasping the Law itself, +shrank from the principle of the Law. The more fluent and comprehensive +at least, if not the more patient and profound, sagacity of Laplace, had +not the courage to attack it. But hesitation on the part of these two +astronomers it is, perhaps, not so very difficult to understand. They, +as well as all the first class of mathematicians, were mathematicians +_solely_:--their intellect, at least, had a firmly-pronounced +mathematico-physical tone. What lay not distinctly within the domain of +Physics, or of Mathematics, seemed to them either Non-Entity or Shadow. +Nevertheless, we may well wonder that Leibnitz, who was a marked +exception to the general rule in these respects, and whose mental +temperament was a singular admixture of the mathematical with the +physico-metaphysical, did not at once investigate and establish the +point at issue. Either Newton or Laplace, seeking a principle and +discovering none _physical_, would have rested contentedly in the +conclusion that there was absolutely none; but it is almost impossible +to fancy, of Leibnitz, that, having exhausted in his search the physical +dominions, he would not have stepped at once, boldly and hopefully, amid +his old familiar haunts in the kingdom of Metaphysics. Here, indeed, it +is clear that he _must_ have adventured in search of the treasure:--that +he did not find it after all, was, perhaps, because his fairy guide, +Imagination, was not sufficiently well-grown, or well-educated, to +direct him aright. + +I observed, just now, that, in fact, there had been certain vague +attempts at referring Gravity to some very uncertain _isms_. These +attempts, however, although considered bold and justly so considered, +looked no farther than to the generality--the merest generality--of the +Newtonian Law. Its _modus operandi_ has never, to my knowledge, been +approached in the way of an effort at explanation. It is, therefore, +with no unwarranted fear of being taken for a madman at the outset, and +before I can bring my propositions fairly to the eye of those who alone +are competent to decide upon them, that I here declare the _modus +operandi_ of the Law of Gravity to be an exceedingly simple and +perfectly explicable thing--that is to say, when we make our advances +towards it in just gradations and in the true direction--when we regard +it from the proper point of view. + +Whether we reach the idea of absolute _Unity_ as the source of All +Things, from a consideration of Simplicity as the most probable +characteristic of the original action of God;--whether we arrive at it +from an inspection of the universality of relation in the gravitating +phnomena;--or whether we attain it as a result of the mutual +corroboration afforded by both processes;--still, the idea itself, if +entertained at all, is entertained in inseparable connection with +another idea--that of the condition of the Universe of stars as we _now_ +perceive it--that is to say, a condition of immeasurable _diffusion_ +through space. Now a connection between these two ideas--unity and +diffusion--cannot be established unless through the entertainment of a +third idea--that of _irradiation_. Absolute Unity being taken as a +centre, then the existing Universe of stars is the result of +_irradiation_ from that centre. + +Now, the laws of irradiation are _known_. They are part and parcel of +the _sphere_. They belong to the class of _indisputable geometrical +properties_. We say of them, "they are true--they are evident." To demand +_why_ they are true, would be to demand why the axioms are true upon +which their demonstration is based. _Nothing_ is demonstrable, strictly +speaking; but _if_ anything _be_, then the properties--the laws in +question are demonstrated. + +But these laws--what do they declare? Irradiation--how--by what steps does +it proceed outwardly from a centre? + +From a _luminous_ centre, _Light_ issues by irradiation; and the +quantities of light received upon any given plane, supposed to be +shifting its position so as to be now nearer the centre and now farther +from it, will be diminished in the same proportion as the squares of the +distances of the plane from the luminous body, are increased; and will +be increased in the same proportion as these squares are diminished. + +The expression of the law may be thus generalized:--the number of +light-particles (or, if the phrase be preferred, the number of +light-impressions) received upon the shifting plane, will be _inversely_ +proportional with the squares of the distances of the plane. +Generalizing yet again, we may say that the diffusion--the scattering--the +irradiation, in a word--is _directly_ proportional with the squares of +the distances. + +[Illustration] + +For example: at the distance B, from the luminous centre A, a certain +number of particles are so diffused as to occupy the surface B. Then at +double the distance--that is to say at C--they will be so much farther +diffused as to occupy four such surfaces:--at treble the distance, or at +D, they will be so much farther separated as to occupy nine such +surfaces:--while, at quadruple the distance, or at E, they will have +become so scattered as to spread themselves over sixteen such +surfaces--and so on forever. + +In saying, generally, that the irradiation proceeds in direct proportion +with the squares of the distances, we use the term irradiation to +express _the degree of the diffusion_ as we proceed outwardly from the +centre. Conversing the idea, and employing the word "concentralization" +to express _the degree of the drawing together_ as we come back toward +the centre from an outward position, we may say that concentralization +proceeds _inversely_ as the squares of the distances. In other words, we +have reached the conclusion that, on the hypothesis that matter was +originally irradiated from a centre and is now returning to it, the +concentralization, in the return, proceeds _exactly as we know the force +of gravitation to proceed_. + +Now here, if we could be permitted to assume that concentralization +exactly represented the _force of the tendency to the centre_--that the +one was exactly proportional to the other, and that the two proceeded +together--we should have shown all that is required. The sole difficulty +existing, then, is to establish a direct proportion between +"concentralization" and the _force_ of concentralization; and this is +done, of course, if we establish such proportion between "irradiation" +and the _force_ of irradiation. + +A very slight inspection of the Heavens assures us that the stars have a +certain general uniformity, equability, or equidistance, of distribution +through that region of space in which, collectively, and in a roughly +globular form, they are situated:--this species of very general, rather +than absolute, equability, being in full keeping with my deduction of +inequidistance, within certain limits, among the originally diffused +atoms, as a corollary from the evident design of infinite complexity of +relation out of irrelation. I started, it will be remembered, with the +idea of a generally uniform but particularly _un_uniform distribution of +the atoms;--an idea, I repeat, which an inspection of the stars, as they +exist, confirms. + +But even in the merely general equability of distribution, as regards +the atoms, there appears a difficulty which, no doubt, has already +suggested itself to those among my readers who have borne in mind that I +suppose this equability of distribution effected through _irradiation +from a centre_. The very first glance at the idea, irradiation, forces +us to the entertainment of the hitherto unseparated and seemingly +inseparable idea of agglomeration about a centre, with dispersion as we +recede from it--the idea, in a word, of _in_equability of distribution in +respect to the matter irradiated. + +Now, I have elsewhere[1] observed that it is by just such difficulties +as the one now in question--such roughnesses--such peculiarities--such +protuberances above the plane of the ordinary--that Reason feels her way, +if at all, in her search for the True. By the difficulty--the +"peculiarity"--now presented, I leap at once to _the_ secret--a secret +which I might never have attained _but_ for the peculiarity and the +inferences which, _in its mere character of peculiarity_, it affords me. + + [1] "_Murders in the Rue Morgue_"--p. 133. + +The process of thought, at this point, may be thus roughly sketched:--I +say to myself--"Unity, as I have explained it, is a truth--I feel it. +Diffusion is a truth--I see it. Irradiation, by which alone these two +truths are reconciled, is a consequent truth--I perceive it. _Equability_ +of diffusion, first deduced _ priori_ and then corroborated by the +inspection of phnomena, is also a truth--I fully admit it. So far all is +clear around me:--there are no clouds behind which _the_ secret--the great +secret of the gravitating _modus operandi_--can possibly lie hidden;--but +this secret lies _hereabouts_, most assuredly; and _were_ there but a +cloud in view, I should be driven to suspicion of that cloud." And now, +just as I say this, there actually comes a cloud into view. This cloud +is the seeming impossibility of reconciling my truth, _irradiation_, +with my truth, _equability of diffusion_. I say now:--"Behind this +_seeming_ impossibility is to be found what I desire." I do not say +"_real_ impossibility;" for invincible faith in my truths assures me +that it is a mere difficulty after all--but I go on to say, with +unflinching confidence, that, _when_ this _difficulty_ shall be solved, +we shall find, _wrapped up in the process of solution_, the key to the +secret at which we aim. Moreover--I _feel_ that we shall discover _but +one_ possible solution of the difficulty; this for the reason that, were +there two, one would be supererogatory--would be fruitless--would be +empty--would contain no key--since no duplicate key can be needed to any +secret of Nature. + +And now, let us see:--Our usual notions of irradiation--in fact _all_ our +distinct notions of it--are caught merely from the process as we see it +exemplified in _Light_. Here there is a _continuous_ outpouring of +_ray-streams_, and _with a force which we have at least no right to +suppose varies at all_. Now, in any such irradiation _as +this_--continuous and of unvarying force--the regions nearer the centre +must _inevitably_ be always more crowded with the irradiated matter than +the regions more remote. But I have assumed _no_ such irradiation _as +this_. I assumed no _continuous_ irradiation; and for the simple reason +that such an assumption would have involved, first, the necessity of +entertaining a conception which I have shown no man _can_ entertain, and +which (as I will more fully explain hereafter) all observation of the +firmament refutes--the conception of the absolute infinity of the +Universe of stars--and would have involved, secondly, the impossibility +of understanding a raction--that is, gravitation--as existing now--since, +while an act is continued, no raction, of course, can take place. My +assumption, then, or rather my inevitable deduction from just +premises--was that of a _determinate_ irradiation--one finally +_dis_continued. + +Let me now describe the sole possible mode in which it is conceivable +that matter could have been diffused through space, so as to fulfil the +conditions at once of irradiation and of generally equable distribution. + +For convenience of illustration, let us imagine, in the first place, a +hollow sphere of glass, or of anything else, occupying the space +throughout which the universal matter is to be thus equally diffused, by +means of irradiation, from the absolute, irrelative, unconditional +particle, placed in the centre of the sphere. + +Now, a certain exertion of the diffusive power (presumed to be the +Divine Volition)--in other words, a certain _force_--whose measure is the +quantity of matter--that is to say, the number of atoms--emitted; emits, +by irradiation, this certain number of atoms; forcing them in all +directions outwardly from the centre--their proximity to each other +diminishing as they proceed--until, finally, they are distributed, +loosely, over the interior surface of the sphere. + +When these atoms have attained this position, or while proceeding to +attain it, a second and inferior exercise of the same force--or a second +and inferior force of the same character--emits, in the same manner--that +is to say, by irradiation as before--a second stratum of atoms which +proceeds to deposit itself upon the first; the number of atoms, in this +case as in the former, being of course the measure of the force which +emitted them; in other words the force being precisely adapted to the +purpose it effects--the force and the number of atoms sent out by the +force, being _directly proportional_. + +When this second stratum has reached its destined position--or while +approaching it--a third still inferior exertion of the force, or a third +inferior force of a similar character--the number of atoms emitted being +in _all_ cases the measure of the force--proceeds to deposit a third +stratum upon the second:--and so on, until these concentric strata, +growing gradually less and less, come down at length to the central +point; and the diffusive matter, simultaneously with the diffusive +force, is exhausted. + +We have now the sphere filled, through means of irradiation, with atoms +equably diffused. The two necessary conditions--those of irradiation and +of equable diffusion--are satisfied; and by the _sole_ process in which +the possibility of their simultaneous satisfaction is conceivable. For +this reason, I confidently expect to find, lurking in the present +condition of the atoms as distributed throughout the sphere, the secret +of which I am in search--the all-important principle of the _modus +operandi_ of the Newtonian law. Let us examine, then, the actual +condition of the atoms. + +They lie in a series of concentric strata. They are equably diffused +throughout the sphere. They have been irradiated into these states. + +The atoms being _equably_ distributed, the greater the superficial +extent of any of these concentric strata, or spheres, the more atoms +will lie upon it. In other words, the number of atoms lying upon the +surface of any one of the concentric spheres, is directly proportional +with the extent of that surface. + +_But, in any series of concentric spheres, the surfaces are directly +proportional with the squares of the distances from the centre._[2] + + [2] Succinctly--The surfaces of spheres are as the squares of + their radii. + +Therefore the number of atoms in any stratum is directly proportional +with the square of that stratum's distance from the centre. + +But the number of atoms in any stratum is the measure of the force which +emitted that stratum--that is to say, is _directly proportional_ with the +force. + +Therefore the force which irradiated any stratum is directly +proportional with the square of that stratum's distance from the +centre:--or, generally, + +_The force of the irradiation has been directly proportional with the +squares of the distances._ + +Now, Raction, as far as we know anything of it, is Action conversed. +The _general_ principle of Gravity being, in the first place, understood +as the raction of an act--as the expression of a desire on the part of +Matter, while existing in a state of diffusion, to return into the Unity +whence it was diffused; and, in the second place, the mind being called +upon to determine the _character_ of the desire--the manner in which it +would, naturally, be manifested; in other words, being called upon to +conceive a probable law, or _modus operandi_, for the return; could not +well help arriving at the conclusion that this law of return would be +precisely the converse of the law of departure. That such would be the +case, any one, at least, would be abundantly justified in taking for +granted, until such time as some person should suggest something like a +plausible reason why it should _not_ be the case--until such period as a +law of return shall be imagined which the intellect can consider as +preferable. + +Matter, then, irradiated into space with a force varying as the squares +of the distances, might, _ priori_, be supposed to return towards its +centre of irradiation with a force varying _inversely_ as the squares of +the distances: and I have already shown[3] that any principle which will +explain why the atoms should tend, according to any law, to the general +centre, must be admitted as satisfactorily explaining, at the same time, +why, according to the same law, they should tend each to each. For, in +fact, the tendency to the general centre is not to a centre as such, but +because of its being a point in tending towards which each atom tends +most directly to its real and essential centre, _Unity_--the absolute +and final Union of all. + + [3] Page 44. + +The consideration here involved presents to my own mind no embarrassment +whatever--but this fact does not blind me to the possibility of its being +obscure to those who may have been less in the habit of dealing with +abstractions:--and, upon the whole, it may be as well to look at the +matter from one or two other points of view. + +The absolute, irrelative particle primarily created by the Volition of +God, must have been in a condition of positive _normality_, or +rightfulness--for wrongfulness implies _relation_. Right is positive; +wrong is negative--is merely the negation of right; as cold is the +negation of heat--darkness of light. That a thing may be wrong, it is +necessary that there be some other thing in _relation_ to which it _is_ +wrong--some condition which it fails to satisfy; some law which it +violates; some being whom it aggrieves. If there be no such being, law, +or condition, in respect to which the thing is wrong--and, still more +especially, if no beings, laws, or conditions exist at all--then the +thing can_not_ be wrong and consequently must be _right_. Any deviation +from normality involves a tendency to return into it. A difference from +the normal--from the right--from the just--can be understood as effected +only by the overcoming a difficulty; and if the force which overcomes +the difficulty be not infinitely continued, the ineradicable tendency to +return will at length be permitted to act for its own satisfaction. Upon +withdrawal of the force, the tendency acts. This is the principle of +raction as the inevitable consequence of finite action. Employing a +phraseology of which the seeming affectation will be pardoned for its +expressiveness, we may say that Raction is the return from the +condition of _as it is and ought not to be_ into the condition of _as it +was, originally, and therefore ought to be_:--and let me add here that +the _absolute_ force of Raction would no doubt be always found in +direct proportion with the reality--the truth--the absoluteness--of the +_originality_--if ever it were possible to measure this latter:--and, +consequently, the greatest of all conceivable reactions must be that +produced by the tendency which we now discuss--the tendency to return +into the _absolutely original_--into the _supremely_ primitive. Gravity, +then, _must be the strongest of forces_--an idea reached _ priori_ and +abundantly confirmed by induction. What use I make of the idea, will be +seen in the sequel. + +The atoms, now, having been diffused from their normal condition of +Unity, seek to return to----what? Not to any particular _point_, +certainly; for it is clear that if, upon the diffusion, the whole +Universe of matter had been projected, collectively, to a distance from +the point of irradiation, the atomic tendency to the general centre of +the sphere would not have been disturbed in the least:--the atoms would +not have sought the point _in absolute space_ from which they were +originally impelled. It is merely the _condition_, and not the point or +locality at which this condition took its rise, that these atoms seek to +re-establish;--it is merely _that condition which is their normality_, +that they desire. "But they seek a centre," it will be said, "and a +centre is a point." True; but they seek this point not in its character +of point--(for, were the whole sphere moved from its position, they would +seek, equally, the centre; and the centre _then_ would be a _new_ +point)--but because it so happens, on account of the form in which they +collectively exist--(that of the sphere)--that only _through_ the point in +question--the sphere's centre--they can attain their true object, Unity. +In the direction of the centre each atom perceives more atoms than in +any other direction. Each atom is impelled towards the centre because +along the straight line joining it and the centre and passing on to the +circumference beyond, there lie a greater number of atoms than along any +other straight line--a greater number of objects that seek it, the +individual atom--a greater number of tendencies to Unity--a greater number +of satisfactions for its own tendency to Unity--in a word, because in the +direction of the centre lies the utmost possibility of satisfaction, +generally, for its own individual appetite. To be brief, the +_condition_, Unity, is all that is really sought; and if the atoms +_seem_ to seek the centre of the sphere, it is only impliedly, through +implication--because such centre happens to imply, to include, or to +involve, the only essential centre, Unity. But _on account of_ this +implication or involution, there is no possibility of practically +separating the tendency to Unity in the abstract, from the tendency to +the concrete centre. Thus the tendency of the atoms to the general +centre _is_, to all practical intents and for all logical purposes, the +tendency each to each; and the tendency each to each _is_ the tendency +to the centre; and the one tendency may be assumed _as_ the other; +whatever will apply to the one must be thoroughly applicable to the +other; and, in conclusion, whatever principle will satisfactorily +explain the one, cannot be questioned as an explanation of the other. + +In looking carefully around me for rational objection to what I have +advanced, I am able to discover _nothing_;--but of that class of +objections usually urged by the doubters for Doubt's sake, I very +readily perceive _three_; and proceed to dispose of them in order. + +It may be said, first: "The proof that the force of irradiation (in the +case described) is directly proportional to the squares of the +distances, depends upon an unwarranted assumption--that of the number of +atoms in each stratum being the measure of the force with which they are +emitted." + +I reply, not only that I am warranted in such assumption, but that I +should be utterly _un_warranted in any other. What I assume is, simply, +that an effect is the measure of its cause--that every exercise of the +Divine Will will be proportional to that which demands the exertion--that +the means of Omnipotence, or of Omniscience, will be exactly adapted to +its purposes. Neither can a deficiency nor an excess of cause bring to +pass any effect. Had the force which irradiated any stratum to its +position, been either more or less than was needed for the purpose--that +is to say, not _directly proportional_ to the purpose--then to its +position that stratum could not have been irradiated. Had the force +which, with a view to general equability of distribution, emitted the +proper number of atoms for each stratum, been not _directly +proportional_ to the number, then the number would _not_ have been the +number demanded for the equable distribution. + +The second supposable objection is somewhat better entitled to an +answer. + +It is an admitted principle in Dynamics that every body, on receiving an +impulse, or disposition to move, will move onward in a straight line, in +the direction imparted by the impelling force, until deflected, or +stopped, by some other force. How then, it may be asked, is my first or +external stratum of atoms to be understood as discontinuing their +movement at the circumference of the imaginary glass sphere, when no +second force, of more than an imaginary character, appears, to account +for the discontinuance? + +I reply that the objection, in this case, actually does arise out of "an +unwarranted assumption"--on the part of the objector--the assumption of a +principle, in Dynamics, at an epoch when _no_ "principles," in +_anything_, exist:--I use the word "principle," of course, in the +objector's understanding of the word. + +"In the beginning" we can admit--indeed we can comprehend--but one _First +Cause_--the truly ultimate _Principle_--the Volition of God. The primary +_act_--that of Irradiation from Unity--must have been independent of all +that which the world now calls "principle"--because all that we so +designate is but a consequence of the raction of that primary act:--I +say "_primary_" act; for the creation of the absolute material particle +is more properly to be regarded as a _conception_ than as an "_act_" in +the ordinary meaning of the term. Thus, we must regard the primary act +as an act for the establishment of what we now call "principles." But +this primary act itself is to be considered as _continuous Volition_. +The Thought of God is to be understood as originating the Diffusion--as +proceeding with it--as regulating it--and, finally, as being withdrawn +from it upon its completion. _Then_ commences Raction, and through +Raction, "Principle," as we employ the word. It will be advisable, +however, to limit the application of this word to the two _immediate_ +results of the discontinuance of the Divine Volition--that is, to the two +agents, _Attraction_ and _Repulsion_. Every other Natural agent depends, +either more or less immediately, upon these two, and therefore would be +more conveniently designated as _sub_-principle. + +It may be objected, thirdly, that, in general, the peculiar mode of +distribution which I have suggested for the atoms, is "an hypothesis and +nothing more." + +Now, I am aware that the word hypothesis is a ponderous sledge-hammer, +grasped immediately, if not lifted, by all very diminutive thinkers, +upon the first appearance of any proposition wearing, in any particular, +the garb of _a theory_. But "hypothesis" cannot be wielded _here_ to any +good purpose, even by those who succeed in lifting it--little men or +great. + +I maintain, first, that _only_ in the mode described is it conceivable +that Matter could have been diffused so as to fulfil at once the +conditions of irradiation and of generally equable distribution. I +maintain, secondly, that these conditions themselves have been imposed +upon me, as necessities, in a train of ratiocination _as rigorously +logical as that which establishes any demonstration in Euclid_; and I +maintain, thirdly, that even if the charge of "hypothesis" were as fully +sustained as it is, in fact, unsustained and untenable, still the +validity and indisputability of my result would not, even in the +slightest particular, be disturbed. + +To explain:--The Newtonian Gravity--a law of Nature--a law whose existence +as such no one out of Bedlam questions--a law whose admission as such +enables us to account for nine-tenths of the Universal phnomena--a law +which, merely because it does so enable us to account for these +phnomena, we are perfectly willing, without reference to any other +considerations, to admit, and cannot help admitting, as a law--a law, +nevertheless, of which neither the principle nor the _modus operandi_ of +the principle, has ever yet been traced by the human analysis--a law, in +short, which, neither in its detail nor in its generality, has been +found susceptible of explanation _at all_--is at length seen to be at +every point thoroughly explicable, provided only we yield our assent +to----what? To an hypothesis? Why _if_ an hypothesis--if the merest +hypothesis--if an hypothesis for whose assumption--as in the case of that +_pure_ hypothesis the Newtonian law itself--no shadow of _ priori_ +reason could be assigned--if an hypothesis, even so absolute as all this +implies, would enable us to perceive a principle for the Newtonian +law--would enable us to understand as satisfied, conditions so +miraculously--so ineffably complex and seemingly irreconcileable as those +involved in the relations of which Gravity tells us,--what rational being +_could_ so expose his fatuity as to call even this absolute hypothesis +an hypothesis any longer--unless, indeed, he were to persist in so +calling it, with the understanding that he did so, simply for the sake +of consistency _in words_? + +But what is the true state of our present case? What is _the fact_? Not +only that it is _not_ an hypothesis which we are required _to adopt_, +in order to admit the principle at issue explained, but that it _is_ a +logical conclusion which we are requested _not_ to adopt if we can avoid +it--which we are simply invited to _deny if we can_:--a conclusion of so +accurate a logicality that to dispute it would be the effort--to doubt +its validity beyond our power:--a conclusion from which we see no mode of +escape, turn as we will; a result which confronts us either at the end +of an _in_ductive journey from the phnomena of the very Law discussed, +or at the close of a _de_ductive career from the most rigorously simple +of all conceivable assumptions--_the assumption, in a word, of Simplicity +itself_. + +And if here, for the mere sake of cavilling, it be urged, that although +my starting-point is, as I assert, the assumption of absolute +Simplicity, yet Simplicity, considered merely in itself, is no axiom; +and that only deductions from axioms are indisputable--it is thus that I +reply:-- + +Every other science than Logic is the science of certain concrete +relations. Arithmetic, for example, is the science of the relations of +number--Geometry, of the relations of form--Mathematics in general, of the +relations of quantity in general--of whatever can be increased or +diminished. Logic, however, is the science of Relation in the +abstract--of absolute Relation--of Relation considered solely in itself. +An axiom in any particular science other than Logic is, thus, merely a +proposition announcing certain concrete relations which seem to be too +obvious for dispute--as when we say, for instance, that the whole is +greater than its part:--and, thus again, the principle of the _Logical_ +axiom--in other words, of an axiom in the abstract--is, simply, +_obviousness of relation_. Now, it is clear, not only that what is +obvious to one mind may not be obvious to another, but that what is +obvious to one mind at one epoch, may be anything but obvious, at +another epoch, to the same mind. It is clear, moreover, that what, +to-day, is obvious even to the majority of mankind, or to the majority +of the best intellects of mankind, may to-morrow be, to either majority, +more or less obvious, or in no respect obvious at all. It is seen, then, +that the _axiomatic principle_ itself is susceptible of variation, and +of course that axioms are susceptible of similar change. Being mutable, +the "truths" which grow out of them are necessarily mutable too; or, in +other words, are never to be positively depended upon as truths at +all--since Truth and Immutability are one. + +It will now be readily understood that no axiomatic idea--no idea founded +in the fluctuating principle, obviousness of relation--can possibly be so +secure--so reliable a basis for any structure erected by the Reason, as +_that_ idea--(whatever it is, wherever we can find it, or _if_ it be +practicable to find it anywhere)--which is _ir_relative altogether--which +not only presents to the understanding _no obviousness_ of relation, +either greater or less, to be considered, but subjects the intellect, +not in the slightest degree, to the necessity of even looking at _any +relation at all_. If such an idea be not what we too heedlessly term "an +axiom," it is at least preferable, as a Logical basis, to any axiom ever +propounded, or to all imaginable axioms combined:--and such, precisely, +is the idea with which my deductive process, so thoroughly corroborated +by induction, commences. My _particle proper_ is but _absolute +Irrelation_. To sum up what has been here advanced:--As a starting point +I have taken it for granted, simply, that the Beginning had nothing +behind it or before it--that it was a Beginning in fact--that it was a +beginning and nothing different from a beginning--in short that this +Beginning was----_that which it was_. If this be a "mere assumption" then +a "mere assumption" let it be. + +To conclude this branch of the subject:--I am fully warranted in +announcing that _the Law which we have been in the habit of calling +Gravity exists on account of Matter's having been irradiated, at its +origin, atomically, into a limited[4] sphere of Space, from one, +individual, unconditional, irrelative, and absolute Particle Proper, by +the sole process in which it was possible to satisfy, at the same time, +the two conditions, irradiation, and generally-equable distribution +throughout the sphere--that is to say, by a force varying in direct +proportion with the squares of the distances between the irradiated +atoms, respectively, and the Particular centre of Irradiation_. + + [4] Limited sphere--A sphere is _necessarily_ limited. I prefer + tautology to a chance of misconception. + +I have already given my reasons for presuming Matter to have been +diffused by a determinate rather than by a continuous or infinitely +continued force. Supposing a continuous force, we should be unable, in +the first place, to comprehend a raction at all; and we should be +required, in the second place, to entertain the impossible conception of +an infinite extension of Matter. Not to dwell upon the impossibility of +the conception, the infinite extension of Matter is an idea which, if +not positively disproved, is at least not in any respect warranted by +telescopic observation of the stars--a point to be explained more fully +hereafter; and this empirical reason for believing in the original +finity of Matter is unempirically confirmed. For example:--Admitting, for +the moment, the possibility of understanding Space _filled_ with the +irradiated atoms--that is to say, admitting, as well as we can, for +argument's sake, that the succession of the irradiated atoms had +absolutely _no end_--then it is abundantly clear that, even when the +Volition of God had been withdrawn from them, and thus the tendency to +return into Unity permitted (abstractly) to be satisfied, this +permission would have been nugatory and invalid--practically valueless +and of no effect whatever. No Raction could have taken place; no +movement toward Unity could have been made; no Law of Gravity could have +obtained. + +To explain:--Grant the _abstract_ tendency of any one atom to any one +other as the inevitable result of diffusion from the normal Unity:--or, +what is the same thing, admit any given atom as _proposing_ to move in +any given direction--it is clear that, since there is an _infinity_ of +atoms on all sides of the atom proposing to move, it never can actually +move toward the satisfaction of its tendency in the direction given, on +account of a precisely equal and counterbalancing tendency in the +direction diametrically opposite. In other words, exactly as many +tendencies to Unity are behind the hesitating atom as before it; for it +is a mere sotticism to say that one infinite line is longer or shorter +than another infinite line, or that one infinite number is greater or +less than another number that is infinite. Thus the atom in question +must remain stationary forever. Under the impossible circumstances which +we have been merely endeavoring to conceive for argument's sake, there +could have been no aggregation of Matter--no stars--no worlds--nothing but +a perpetually atomic and inconsequential Universe. In fact, view it as +we will, the whole idea of unlimited Matter is not only untenable, but +impossible and preposterous. + +With the understanding of a _sphere_ of atoms, however, we perceive, at +once, a _satisfiable_ tendency to union. The general result of the +tendency each to each, being a tendency of all to the centre, the +_general_ process of condensation, or approximation, commences +immediately, by a common and simultaneous movement, on withdrawal of the +Divine Volition; the _individual_ approximations, or coalescences--_not_ +calitions--of atom with atom, being subject to almost infinite +variations of time, degree, and condition, on account of the excessive +multiplicity of relation, arising from the differences of form assumed +as characterizing the atoms at the moment of their quitting the Particle +Proper; as well as from the subsequent particular inequidistance, each +from each. + +What I wish to impress upon the reader is the certainty of there +arising, at once, (on withdrawal of the diffusive force, or Divine +Volition,) out of the condition of the atoms as described, at +innumerable points throughout the Universal sphere, innumerable +agglomerations, characterized by innumerable specific differences of +form, size, essential nature, and distance each from each. The +development of Repulsion (Electricity) must have commenced, of course, +with the very earliest particular efforts at Unity, and must have +proceeded constantly in the ratio of Coalescence--that is to say, _in +that of Condensation_, or, again, of Heterogeneity. + +Thus the two Principles Proper, _Attraction_ and _Repulsion_--the +Material and the Spiritual--accompany each other, in the strictest +fellowship, forever. Thus _The Body and The Soul walk hand in hand_. + +If now, in fancy, we select _any one_ of the agglomerations considered +as in their primary stages throughout the Universal sphere, and suppose +this incipient agglomeration to be taking place at that point where the +centre of our Sun exists--or rather where it _did_ exist originally; for +the Sun is perpetually shifting his position--we shall find ourselves +met, and borne onward for a time at least, by the most magnificent of +theories--by the Nebular Cosmogony of Laplace:--although "Cosmogony" is +far too comprehensive a term for what he really discusses--which is the +constitution of our solar system alone--of one among the myriad of +similar systems which make up the Universe Proper--that Universal +sphere--that all-inclusive and absolute _Kosmos_ which forms the subject +of my present Discourse. + +Confining himself to an _obviously limited_ region--that of our solar +system with its comparatively immediate vicinity--and _merely_ +assuming--that is to say, assuming without any basis whatever, either +deductive or inductive--_much_ of what I have been just endeavoring to +place upon a more stable basis than assumption; assuming, for example, +matter as diffused (without pretending to account for the diffusion) +throughout, and somewhat beyond, the space occupied by our +system--diffused in a state of heterogeneous nebulosity and obedient to +that omniprevalent law of Gravity at whose principle he ventured to make +no guess;--assuming all this (which is quite true, although he had no +logical right to its assumption) Laplace has shown, dynamically and +mathematically, that the results in such case necessarily ensuing, are +those and those alone which we find manifested in the actually existing +condition of the system itself. + +To explain:--Let us conceive _that_ particular agglomeration of which we +have just spoken--the one at the point designated by our Sun's centre--to +have so far proceeded that a vast quantity of nebulous matter has here +assumed a roughly globular form; its centre being, of course, coincident +with what is now, or rather was originally, the centre of our Sun; and +its periphery extending out beyond the orbit of Neptune, the most remote +of our planets:--in other words, let us suppose the diameter of this +rough sphere to be some 6000 millions of miles. For ages, this mass of +matter has been undergoing condensation, until at length it has become +reduced into the bulk we imagine; having proceeded gradually, of course, +from its atomic and imperceptible state, into what we understand of +visible, palpable, or otherwise appreciable nebulosity. + +Now, the condition of this mass implies a rotation about an imaginary +axis--a rotation which, commencing with the absolute incipiency of the +aggregation, has been ever since acquiring velocity. The very first two +atoms which met, approaching each other from points not diametrically +opposite, would, in rushing partially past each other, form a nucleus +for the rotary movement described. How this would increase in velocity, +is readily seen. The two atoms are joined by others:--an aggregation is +formed. The mass continues to rotate while condensing. But any atom at +the circumference has, of course, a more rapid motion than one nearer +the centre. The outer atom, however, with its superior velocity, +approaches the centre; carrying this superior velocity with it as it +goes. Thus every atom, proceeding inwardly, and finally attaching itself +to the condensed centre, adds something to the original velocity of that +centre--that is to say, increases the rotary movement of the mass. + +Let us now suppose this mass so far condensed that it occupies +_precisely_ the space circumscribed by the orbit of Neptune, and that +the velocity with which the surface of the mass moves, in the general +rotation, is precisely that velocity with which Neptune now revolves +about the Sun. At this epoch, then, we are to understand that the +constantly increasing centrifugal force, having gotten the better of the +non-increasing centripetal, loosened and separated the exterior and +least condensed stratum, or a few of the exterior and least condensed +strata, at the equator of the sphere, where the tangential velocity +predominated; so that these strata formed about the main body an +independent ring encircling the equatorial regions:--just as the exterior +portion thrown off, by excessive velocity of rotation, from a +grindstone, would form a ring about the grindstone, but for the solidity +of the superficial material: were this caoutchouc, or anything similar +in consistency, precisely the phnomenon I describe would be presented. + +The ring thus whirled from the nebulous mass, _revolved_, of course, +_as_ a separate ring, with just that velocity with which, while the +surface of the mass, it _rotated_. In the meantime, condensation still +proceeding, the interval between the discharged ring and the main body +continued to increase, until the former was left at a vast distance from +the latter. + +Now, admitting the ring to have possessed, by some seemingly accidental +arrangement of its heterogeneous materials, a constitution nearly +uniform, then this ring, _as_ such, would never have ceased revolving +about its primary; but, as might have been anticipated, there appears to +have been enough irregularity in the disposition of the materials, to +make them cluster about centres of superior solidity; and thus the +annular form was destroyed.[5] No doubt, the band was soon broken up +into several portions, and one of these portions, predominating in mass, +absorbed the others into itself; the whole settling, spherically, into a +planet. That this latter, _as_ a planet, continued the revolutionary +movement which characterized it while a ring, is sufficiently clear; and +that it took upon itself also, an additional movement in its new +condition of sphere, is readily explained. The ring being understood as +yet unbroken, we see that its exterior, while the whole revolves about +the parent body, moves more rapidly than its interior. When the rupture +occurred, then, some portion in each fragment must have been moving +with greater velocity than the others. The superior movement prevailing, +must have whirled each fragment round--that is to say, have caused it to +rotate; and the direction of the rotation must, of course, have been the +direction of the revolution whence it arose. _All_ the fragments having +become subject to the rotation described, must, in coalescing, have +imparted it to the one planet constituted by their coalescence.--This +planet was Neptune. Its material continuing to undergo condensation, and +the centrifugal force generated in its rotation getting, at length, the +better of the centripetal, as before in the case of the parent orb, a +ring was whirled also from the equatorial surface of this planet: this +ring, having been ununiform in its constitution, was broken up, and its +several fragments, being absorbed by the most massive, were collectively +spherified into a moon. Subsequently, the operation was repeated, and a +second moon was the result. We thus account for the planet Neptune, with +the two satellites which accompany him. + + [5] Laplace assumed his nebulosity heterogeneous, merely that + he might be thus enabled to account for the breaking up of the + rings; for had the nebulosity been homogeneous, they would not + have broken. I reach the same result--heterogeneity of the + secondary masses immediately resulting from the atoms--purely + from an _ priori_ consideration of their general + design--_Relation_. + +In throwing off a ring from its equator, the Sun re-established that +equilibrium between its centripetal and centrifugal forces which had +been disturbed in the process of condensation; but, as this condensation +still proceeded, the equilibrium was again immediately disturbed, +through the increase of rotation. By the time the mass had so far shrunk +that it occupied a spherical space just that circumscribed by the orbit +of Uranus, we are to understand that the centrifugal force had so far +obtained the ascendency that new relief was needed: a second equatorial +band was, consequently, thrown off, which, proving ununiform, was +broken up, as before in the case of Neptune; the fragments settling into +the planet Uranus; the velocity of whose actual revolution about the Sun +indicates, of course, the rotary speed of that Sun's equatorial surface +at the moment of the separation. Uranus, adopting a rotation from the +collective rotations of the fragments composing it, as previously +explained, now threw off ring after ring; each of which, becoming broken +up, settled into a moon:--three moons, at different epochs, having been +formed, in this manner, by the rupture and general spherification of as +many distinct ununiform rings. + +By the time the Sun had shrunk until it occupied a space just that +circumscribed by the orbit of Saturn, the balance, we are to suppose, +between its centripetal and centrifugal forces had again become so far +disturbed, through increase of rotary velocity, the result of +condensation, that a third effort at equilibrium became necessary; and +an annular band was therefore whirled off as twice before; which, on +rupture through ununiformity, became consolidated into the planet +Saturn. This latter threw off, in the first place, seven uniform bands, +which, on rupture, were spherified respectively into as many moons; but, +subsequently, it appears to have discharged, at three distinct but not +very distant epochs, three rings whose equability of constitution was, +by apparent accident, so considerable as to present no occasion for +their rupture; thus they continue to revolve as rings. I use the phrase +"_apparent_ accident;" for of accident in the ordinary sense there was, +of course, nothing:--the term is properly applied only to the result of +indistinguishable or not immediately traceable _law_. + +Shrinking still farther, until it occupied just the space circumscribed +by the orbit of Jupiter, the Sun now found need of farther effort to +restore the counterbalance of its two forces, continually disarranged in +the still continued increase of rotation. Jupiter, accordingly, was now +thrown off; passing from the annular to the planetary condition; and, on +attaining this latter, threw off in its turn, at four different epochs, +four rings, which finally resolved themselves into so many moons. + +Still shrinking, until its sphere occupied just the space defined by the +orbit of the Asteroids, the Sun now discarded a ring which appears to +have had _eight_ centres of superior solidity, and, on breaking up, to +have separated into eight fragments no one of which so far predominated +in mass as to absorb the others. All therefore, as distinct although +comparatively small planets, proceeded to revolve in orbits whose +distances, each from each, may be considered as in some degree the +measure of the force which drove them asunder:--all the orbits, +nevertheless, being so closely coincident as to admit of our calling +them _one_, in view of the other planetary orbits. + +Continuing to shrink, the Sun, on becoming so small as just to fill the +orbit of Mars, now discharged this planet--of course by the process +repeatedly described. Having no moon, however, Mars could have thrown +off no ring. In fact, an epoch had now arrived in the career of the +parent body, the centre of the system. The _de_crease of its nebulosity, +which is the _in_crease of its density, and which again is the +_de_crease of its condensation, out of which latter arose the constant +disturbance of equilibrium--must, by this period, have attained a point +at which the efforts for restoration would have been more and more +ineffectual just in proportion as they were less frequently needed. Thus +the processes of which we have been speaking would everywhere show signs +of exhaustion--in the planets, first, and secondly, in the original mass. +We must not fall into the error of supposing the decrease of interval +observed among the planets as we approach the Sun, to be in any respect +indicative of an increase of frequency in the periods at which they were +discarded. Exactly the converse is to be understood. The longest +interval of time must have occurred between the discharges of the two +interior; the shortest, between those of the two exterior, planets. The +decrease of the interval of space is, nevertheless, the measure of the +density, and thus inversely of the condensation, of the Sun, throughout +the processes detailed. + +Having shrunk, however, so far as to fill only the orbit of our Earth, +the parent sphere whirled from itself still one other body--the Earth--in +a condition so nebulous as to admit of this body's discarding, in its +turn, yet another, which is our Moon;--but here terminated the lunar +formations. + +Finally, subsiding to the orbits first of Venus and then of Mercury, the +Sun discarded these two interior planets; neither of which has given +birth to any moon. + +Thus from his original bulk--or, to speak more accurately, from the +condition in which we first considered him--from a partially spherified +nebular mass, _certainly_ much more than 5,600 millions of miles in +diameter--the great central orb and origin of our solar-planetary-lunar +system, has gradually descended, by condensation, in obedience to the +law of Gravity, to a globe only 882,000 miles in diameter; but it by no +means follows, either that its condensation is yet complete, or that it +may not still possess the capacity of whirling from itself another +planet. + +I have here given--in outline of course, but still with all the detail +necessary for distinctness--a view of the Nebular Theory as its author +himself conceived it. From whatever point we regard it, we shall find it +_beautifully true_. It is by far too beautiful, indeed, _not_ to possess +Truth as its essentiality--and here I am very profoundly serious in what +I say. In the revolution of the satellites of Uranus, there does appear +something seemingly inconsistent with the assumptions of Laplace; but +that _one_ inconsistency can invalidate a theory constructed from a +million of intricate consistencies, is a fancy fit only for the +fantastic. In prophecying, confidently, that the apparent anomaly to +which I refer, will, sooner or later, be found one of the strongest +possible corroborations of the general hypothesis, I pretend to no +especial spirit of divination. It is a matter which the only difficulty +seems _not_ to foresee.[6] + + [6] I am prepared to show that the anomalous revolution of the + satellites of Uranus is a simply perspective anomaly arising + from the inclination of the axis of the planet. + +The bodies whirled off in the processes described, would exchange, it +has been seen, the superficial _rotation_ of the orbs whence they +originated, for a _revolution_ of equal velocity about these orbs as +distant centres; and the revolution thus engendered must proceed, so +long as the centripetal force, or that with which the discarded body +gravitates toward its parent, is neither greater nor less than that by +which it was discarded; that is, than the centrifugal, or, far more +properly, than the tangential, velocity. From the unity, however, of the +origin of these two forces, we might have expected to find them as they +are found--the one accurately counterbalancing the other. It has been +shown, indeed, that the act of whirling-off is, in every case, merely an +act for the preservation of the counterbalance. + +After referring, however, the centripetal force to the omniprevalent law +of Gravity, it has been the fashion with astronomical treatises, to seek +beyond the limits of mere Nature--that is to say, of _Secondary_ Cause--a +solution of the phnomenon of tangential velocity. This latter they +attribute directly to a _First_ Cause--to God. The force which carries a +stellar body around its primary they assert to have originated in an +impulse given immediately by the finger--this is the childish phraseology +employed--by the finger of Deity itself. In this view, the planets, fully +formed, are conceived to have been hurled from the Divine hand, to a +position in the vicinity of the suns, with an impetus mathematically +adapted to the masses, or attractive capacities, of the suns themselves. +An idea so grossly unphilosophical, although so supinely adopted, could +have arisen only from the difficulty of otherwise accounting for the +absolutely accurate adaptation, each to each, of two forces so seemingly +independent, one of the other, as are the gravitating and tangential. +But it should be remembered that, for a long time, the coincidence +between the moon's rotation and her sidereal revolution--two matters +seemingly far more independent than those now considered--was looked +upon as positively miraculous; and there was a strong disposition, even +among astronomers, to attribute the marvel to the direct and continual +agency of God--who, in this case, it was said, had found it necessary to +interpose, specially, among his general laws, a set of subsidiary +regulations, for the purpose of forever concealing from mortal eyes the +glories, or perhaps the horrors, of the other side of the Moon--of that +mysterious hemisphere which has always avoided, and must perpetually +avoid, the telescopic scrutiny of mankind. The advance of Science, +however, soon demonstrated--what to the philosophical instinct needed +_no_ demonstration--that the one movement is but a portion--something +more, even, than a consequence--of the other. + +For my part, I have no patience with fantasies at once so timorous, so +idle, and so awkward. They belong to the veriest _cowardice_ of thought. +That Nature and the God of Nature are distinct, no thinking being can +long doubt. By the former we imply merely the laws of the latter. But +with the very idea of God, omnipotent, omniscient, we entertain, also, +the idea of _the infallibility_ of his laws. With Him there being +neither Past nor Future--with Him all being _Now_--do we not insult him in +supposing his laws so contrived as not to provide for every possible +contingency?--or, rather, what idea _can_ we have of _any_ possible +contingency, except that it is at once a result and a manifestation of +his laws? He who, divesting himself of prejudice, shall have the rare +courage to think absolutely for himself, cannot fail to arrive, in the +end, at the condensation of _laws_ into _Law_--cannot fail of reaching +the conclusion that _each law of Nature is dependent at all points upon +all other laws_, and that all are but consequences of one primary +exercise of the Divine Volition. Such is the principle of the Cosmogony +which, with all necessary deference, I here venture to suggest and to +maintain. + +In this view, it will be seen that, dismissing as frivolous, and even +impious, the fancy of the tangential force having been imparted to the +planets immediately by "the finger of God," I consider this force as +originating in the rotation of the stars:--this rotation as brought about +by the in-rushing of the primary atoms, towards their respective centres +of aggregation:--this in-rushing as the consequence of the law of +Gravity:--this law as but the mode in which is necessarily manifested the +tendency of the atoms to return into imparticularity:--this tendency to +return as but the inevitable raction of the first and most sublime of +Acts--that act by which a God, self-existing and alone existing, became +all things at once, through dint of his volition, while all things were +thus constituted a portion of God. + +The radical assumptions of this Discourse suggest to me, and in fact +imply, certain important _modifications_ of the Nebular Theory as given +by Laplace. The efforts of the repulsive power I have considered as made +for the purpose of preventing contact among the atoms, and thus as made +in the ratio of the approach to contact--that is to say, in the ratio of +condensation.[7] In other words, _Electricity_, with its involute +phnomena, heat, light and magnetism, is to be understood as proceeding +as condensation proceeds, and, of course, inversely as density proceeds, +or the _cessation to condense_. Thus the Sun, in the process of its +aggregation, must soon, in developing repulsion, have become excessively +heated--perhaps incandescent: and we can perceive how the operation of +discarding its rings must have been materially assisted by the slight +incrustation of its surface consequent on cooling. Any common experiment +shows us how readily a crust of the character suggested, is separated, +through heterogeneity, from the interior mass. But, on every successive +rejection of the crust, the new surface would appear incandescent as +before; and the period at which it would again become so far encrusted +as to be readily loosened and discharged, may well be imagined as +exactly coincident with that at which a new effort would be needed, by +the whole mass, to restore the equilibrium of its two forces, +disarranged through condensation. In other words:--by the time the +electric influence (Repulsion) has prepared the surface for rejection, +we are to understand that the gravitating influence (Attraction) is +precisely ready to reject it. Here, then, as everywhere, _the Body and +the Soul walk hand in hand_. + + [7] See page 70. + +These ideas are empirically confirmed at all points. Since condensation +can never, in any body, be considered as absolutely at an end, we are +warranted in anticipating that, whenever we have an opportunity of +testing the matter, we shall find indications of resident luminosity in +_all_ the stellar bodies--moons and planets as well as suns. That our +Moon is strongly self-luminous, we see at her every total eclipse, when, +if not so, she would disappear. On the dark part of the satellite, too, +during her phases, we often observe flashes like our own Auroras; and +that these latter, with our various other so-called electrical +phnomena, without reference to any more steady radiance, must give our +Earth a certain appearance of luminosity to an inhabitant of the Moon, +is quite evident. In fact, we should regard all the phnomena referred +to, as mere manifestations, in different moods and degrees, of the +Earth's feebly-continued condensation. + +If my views are tenable, we should be prepared to find the newer +planets--that is to say, those nearer the Sun--more luminous than those +older and more remote:--and the extreme brilliancy of Venus (on whose +dark portions, during her phases, the Auroras are frequently visible) +does not seem to be altogether accounted for by her mere proximity to +the central orb. She is no doubt vividly self-luminous, although less so +than Mercury: while the luminosity of Neptune may be comparatively +nothing. + +Admitting what I have urged, it is clear that, from the moment of the +Sun's discarding a ring, there must be a continuous diminution both of +his heat and light, on account of the continuous encrustation of his +surface; and that a period would arrive--the period immediately previous +to a new discharge--when a _very material_ decrease of both light and +heat, must become apparent. Now, we know that tokens of such changes are +distinctly recognizable. On the Melville islands--to adduce merely one +out of a hundred examples--we find traces of _ultra-tropical_ +vegetation--of plants that never could have flourished without immensely +more light and heat than are at present afforded by our Sun to any +portion of the surface of the Earth. Is such vegetation referable to an +epoch immediately subsequent to the whirling-off of Venus? At this epoch +must have occurred to us our greatest access of solar influence; and, +in fact, this influence must then have attained its maximum:--leaving out +of view, of course, the period when the Earth itself was discarded--the +period of its mere organization. + +Again:--we know that there exist _non-luminous suns_--that is to say, suns +whose existence we determine through the movements of others, but whose +luminosity is not sufficient to impress us. Are these suns invisible +merely on account of the length of time elapsed since their discharge of +a planet? And yet again:--may we not--at least in certain cases--account +for the sudden appearances of suns where none had been previously +suspected, by the hypothesis that, having rolled with encrusted surfaces +throughout the few thousand years of our astronomical history, each of +these suns, in whirling off a new secondary, has at length been enabled +to display the glories of its still incandescent interior?--To the +well-ascertained fact of the proportional increase of heat as we descend +into the Earth, I need of course, do nothing more than refer:--it comes +in the strongest possible corroboration of all that I have said on the +topic now at issue. + +In speaking, not long ago, of the repulsive or electrical influence, I +remarked that "the important phnomena of vitality, consciousness, and +thought, whether we observe them generally or in detail, seem to proceed +_at least in the ratio of the heterogeneous_."[8] I mentioned, too, that +I would recur to the suggestion:--and this is the proper point at which +to do so. Looking at the matter, first, in detail, we perceive that not +merely the _manifestation_ of vitality, but its importance, consequence, +and elevation of character, keep pace, very closely, with the +heterogeneity, or complexity, of the animal structure. Looking at the +question, now, in its generality, and referring to the first movements +of the atoms towards mass-constitution, we find that heterogeneousness, +brought about directly through condensation, is proportional with it +forever. We thus reach the proposition that _the importance of the +development of the terrestrial vitality proceeds equably with the +terrestrial condensation_. + + [8] Page 36. + +Now this is in precise accordance with what we know of the succession of +animals on the Earth. As it has proceeded in its condensation, superior +and still superior races have appeared. Is it impossible that the +successive geological revolutions which have attended, at least, if not +immediately caused, these successive elevations of vitalic character--is +it improbable that these revolutions have themselves been produced by +the successive planetary discharges from the Sun--in other words, by the +successive variations in the solar influence on the Earth? Were this +idea tenable, we should not be unwarranted in the fancy that the +discharge of yet a new planet, interior to Mercury, may give rise to yet +a new modification of the terrestrial surface--a modification from which +may spring a race both materially and spiritually superior to Man. These +thoughts impress me with all the force of truth--but I throw them out, of +course, merely in their obvious character of suggestion. + +The Nebular Theory of Laplace has lately received far more confirmation +than it needed, at the hands of the philosopher, Compte. These two have +thus together shown--_not_, to be sure, that Matter at any period +actually existed as described, in a state of nebular diffusion, but +that, admitting it so to have existed throughout the space and much +beyond the space now occupied by our solar system, _and to have +commenced a movement towards a centre_--it must gradually have assumed +the various forms and motions which are now seen, in that system, to +obtain. A demonstration such as this--a dynamical and mathematical +demonstration, as far as demonstration can be--unquestionable and +unquestioned--unless, indeed, by that unprofitable and disreputable +tribe, the professional questioners--the mere madmen who deny the +Newtonian law of Gravity on which the results of the French +mathematicians are based--a demonstration, I say, such as this, would to +most intellects be conclusive--and I confess that it is so to mine--of the +validity of the nebular hypothesis upon which the demonstration depends. + +That the demonstration does not _prove_ the hypothesis, according to the +common understanding of the word "proof," I admit, of course. To show +that certain existing results--that certain established facts--may be, +even mathematically, accounted for by the assumption of a certain +hypothesis, is by no means to establish the hypothesis itself. In other +words:--to show that, certain data being given, a certain existing result +might, or even _must_, have ensued, will fail to prove that this result +_did_ ensue, _from the data_, until such time as it shall be also shown +that there are, _and can be_, no other data from which the result in +question might _equally_ have ensued. But, in the case now discussed, +although all must admit the deficiency of what we are in the habit of +terming "proof," still there are many intellects, and those of the +loftiest order, to which _no_ proof could bring one iota of additional +_conviction_. Without going into details which might impinge upon the +Cloud-Land of Metaphysics, I may as well here observe that the force of +conviction, in cases such as this, will always, with the right-thinking, +be proportional to the amount of _complexity_ intervening between the +hypothesis and the result. To be less abstract:--The greatness of the +complexity found existing among cosmical conditions, by rendering great +in the same proportion the difficulty of accounting for all these +conditions _at once_, strengthens, also in the same proportion, our +faith in that hypothesis which does, in such manner, satisfactorily +account for them:--and as _no_ complexity can well be conceived greater +than that of the astronomical conditions, so no conviction can be +stronger--to _my_ mind at least--than that with which I am impressed by an +hypothesis that not only reconciles these conditions, with mathematical +accuracy, and reduces them into a consistent and intelligible whole, but +is, at the same time, the _sole_ hypothesis by means of which the human +intellect has been ever enabled to account for them _at all_. + +A most unfounded opinion has become latterly current in gossiping and +even in scientific circles--the opinion that the so-called Nebular +Cosmogony has been overthrown. This fancy has arisen from the report of +late observations made, among what hitherto have been termed the +"nebul," through the large telescope of Cincinnati, and the +world-renowned instrument of Lord Rosse. Certain spots in the firmament +which presented, even to the most powerful of the old telescopes, the +appearance of nebulosity, or haze, had been regarded for a long time as +confirming the theory of Laplace. They were looked upon as stars in that +very process of condensation which I have been attempting to describe. +Thus it was supposed that we "had ocular evidence"--an evidence, by the +way, which has always been found very questionable--of the truth of the +hypothesis; and, although certain telescopic improvements, every now and +then, enabled us to perceive that a spot, here and there, which we had +been classing among the nebul, was, in fact, but a cluster of stars +deriving its nebular character only from its immensity of distance--still +it was thought that no doubt could exist as to the actual nebulosity of +numerous other masses, the strong-holds of the nebulists, bidding +defiance to every effort at segregation. Of these latter the most +interesting was the great "nebul" in the constellation Orion:--but this, +with innumerable other mis-called "nebul," when viewed through the +magnificent modern telescopes, has become resolved into a simple +collection of stars. Now this fact has been very generally understood as +conclusive against the Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace; and, on +announcement of the discoveries in question, the most enthusiastic +defender and most eloquent popularizer of the theory, Dr. Nichol, went +so far as to "admit the necessity of abandoning" an idea which had +formed the material of his most praiseworthy book.[9] + + [9] "_Views of the Architecture of the Heavens._" A letter, + purporting to be from Dr. Nichol to a friend in America, went + the rounds of our newspapers, about two years ago, I think, + admitting "the necessity" to which I refer. In a subsequent + Lecture, however, Dr. N. appears in some manner to have gotten + the better of the necessity, and does not quite _renounce_ the + theory, although he seems to wish that he could sneer at it as + "a purely hypothetical one." What else was the Law of Gravity + before the Maskelyne experiments? and who questioned the Law of + Gravity, even then? + +Many of my readers will no doubt be inclined to say that the result of +these new investigations _has_ at least a strong _tendency_ to overthrow +the hypothesis; while some of them, more thoughtful, will suggest that, +although the theory is by no means disproved through the segregation of +the particular "nebul," alluded to, still a _failure_ to segregate +them, with such telescopes, might well have been understood as a +triumphant _corroboration_ of the theory:--and this latter class will be +surprised, perhaps, to hear me say that even with _them_ I disagree. If +the propositions of this Discourse have been comprehended, it will be +seen that, in my view, a failure to segregate the "nebul" would have +tended to the refutation, rather than to the confirmation, of the +Nebular Hypothesis. + +Let me explain:--The Newtonian Law of Gravity we may, of course, assume +as demonstrated. This law, it will be remembered, I have referred to the +raction of the first Divine Act--to the raction of an exercise of the +Divine Volition temporarily overcoming a difficulty. This difficulty is +that of forcing the normal into the abnormal--of impelling that whose +originality, and therefore whose rightful condition, was _One_, to take +upon itself the wrongful condition of _Many_. It is only by conceiving +this difficulty as _temporarily_ overcome, that we can comprehend a +raction. There could have been no raction had the act been infinitely +continued. So long as the act _lasted_, no raction, of course, could +commence; in other words, no _gravitation_ could take place--for we have +considered the one as but the manifestation of the other. But +gravitation _has_ taken place; therefore the act of Creation has ceased: +and gravitation has long ago taken place; therefore the act of Creation +has long ago ceased. We can no more expect, then, to observe _the +primary processes_ of Creation; and to these primary processes the +condition of nebulosity has already been explained to belong. + +Through what we know of the propagation of light, we have direct proof +that the more remote of the stars have existed, under the forms in which +we now see them, for an inconceivable number of years. So far back _at +least_, then, as the period when these stars underwent condensation, +must have been the epoch at which the mass-constitutive processes began. +That we may conceive these processes, then, as still going on in the +case of certain "nebul," while in all other cases we find them +thoroughly at an end, we are forced into assumptions for which we have +really _no_ basis whatever--we have to thrust in, again, upon the +revolting Reason, the blasphemous idea of special interposition--we have +to suppose that, in the particular instances of these "nebul," an +unerring God found it necessary to introduce certain supplementary +regulations--certain improvements of the general law--certain retouchings +and emendations, in a word, which had the effect of deferring the +completion of these individual stars for centuries of centuries beyond +the ra during which all the other stellar bodies had time, not only to +be fully constituted, but to grow hoary with an unspeakable old age. + +Of course, it will be immediately objected that since the light by which +we recognize the nebul now, must be merely that which left their +surfaces a vast number of years ago, the processes at present observed, +or supposed to be observed, are, in fact, _not_ processes now actually +going on, but the phantoms of processes completed long in the Past--just +as I maintain all these mass-constitutive processes _must_ have been. + +To this I reply that neither is the now-observed condition of the +condensed stars their actual condition, but a condition completed long +in the Past; so that my argument drawn from the _relative_ condition of +the stars and the "nebul," is in no manner disturbed. Moreover, those +who maintain the existence of nebul, do _not_ refer the nebulosity to +extreme distance; they declare it a real and not merely a perspective +nebulosity. That we may conceive, indeed, a nebular mass as visible at +all, we must conceive it as _very near us_ in comparison with the +condensed stars brought into view by the modern telescopes. In +maintaining the appearances in question, then, to be really nebulous, we +maintain their comparative vicinity to our point of view. Thus, their +condition, as we see them now, must be referred to an epoch _far less +remote_ than that to which we may refer the now-observed condition of at +least the majority of the stars.--In a word, should Astronomy ever +demonstrate a "nebula," in the sense at present intended, I should +consider the Nebular Cosmogony--_not_, indeed, as corroborated by the +demonstration--but as thereby irretrievably overthrown. + +By way, however, of rendering unto Csar _no more_ than the things that +are Csar's, let me here remark that the assumption of the hypothesis +which led him to so glorious a result, seems to have been suggested to +Laplace in great measure by a misconception--by the very misconception of +which we have just been speaking--by the generally prevalent +misunderstanding of the character of the nebul, so mis-named. These he +supposed to be, in reality, what their designation implies. The fact is, +this great man had, very properly, an inferior faith in his own merely +_perceptive_ powers. In respect, therefore, to the actual existence of +nebul--an existence so confidently maintained by his telescopic +contemporaries--he depended less upon what he saw than upon what he +heard. + +It will be seen that the only valid objections to his theory, are those +made to its hypothesis _as_ such--to what suggested it--not to what it +suggests; to its propositions rather than to its results. His most +unwarranted assumption was that of giving the atoms a movement towards a +centre, in the very face of his evident understanding that these atoms, +in unlimited succession, extended throughout the Universal space. I have +already shown that, under such circumstances, there could have occurred +no movement at all; and Laplace, consequently, assumed one on no more +philosophical ground than that something of the kind was necessary for +the establishment of what he intended to establish. + +His original idea seems to have been a compound of the true Epicurean +atoms with the false nebul of his contemporaries; and thus his theory +presents us with the singular anomaly of absolute truth deduced, as a +mathematical result, from a hybrid datum of ancient imagination +intertangled with modern inacumen. Laplace's real strength lay, in fact, +in an almost miraculous mathematical instinct:--on this he relied; and in +no instance did it fail or deceive him:--in the case of the Nebular +Cosmogony, it led him, blindfolded, through a labyrinth of Error, into +one of the most luminous and stupendous temples of Truth. + +Let us now fancy, for the moment, that the ring first thrown off by the +Sun--that is to say, the ring whose breaking-up constituted Neptune--did +not, in fact, break up until the throwing-off of the ring out of which +Uranus arose; that this latter ring, again, remained perfect until the +discharge of that out of which sprang Saturn; that this latter, again, +remained entire until the discharge of that from which originated +Jupiter--and so on. Let us imagine, in a word, that no dissolution +occurred among the rings until the final rejection of that which gave +birth to Mercury. We thus paint to the eye of the mind a series of +cexistent concentric circles; and looking as well at _them_ as at the +processes by which, according to Laplace's hypothesis, they were +constructed, we perceive at once a very singular analogy with the atomic +strata and the process of the original irradiation as I have described +it. Is it impossible that, on measuring the _forces_, respectively, by +which each successive planetary circle was thrown off--that is to say, on +measuring the successive excesses of rotation over gravitation which +occasioned the successive discharges--we should find the analogy in +question more decidedly confirmed? _Is it improbable that we should +discover these forces to have varied--as in the original +radiation--proportionally to the squares of the distances?_ + +Our solar system, consisting, in chief, of one sun, with sixteen planets +certainly, and possibly a few more, revolving about it at various +distances, and attended by seventeen moons assuredly, but _very_ +probably by several others--is now to be considered as _an example_ of +the innumerable agglomerations which proceeded to take place throughout +the Universal Sphere of atoms on withdrawal of the Divine Volition. I +mean to say that our solar system is to be understood as affording a +_generic instance_ of these agglomerations, or, more correctly, of the +ulterior conditions at which they arrived. If we keep our attention +fixed on the idea of _the utmost possible Relation_ as the Omnipotent +design, and on the precautions taken to accomplish it through difference +of form, among the original atoms, and particular inequidistance, we +shall find it impossible to suppose for a moment that even any two of +the incipient agglomerations reached precisely the same result in the +end. We shall rather be inclined to think that _no two_ stellar bodies +in the Universe--whether suns, planets or moons--are particularly, while +_all_ are generally, similar. Still less, then, can we imagine any two +_assemblages_ of such bodies--any two "systems"--as having more than a +general resemblance.[10] Our telescopes, at this point, thoroughly +confirm our deductions. Taking our own solar system, then, as merely a +loose or general type of all, we have so far proceeded in our subject as +to survey the Universe under the aspect of a spherical space, throughout +which, dispersed with merely general equability, exist a number of but +generally similar _systems_. + + [10] It is not _impossible_ that some unlooked-for optical + improvement may disclose to us, among innumerable varieties of + systems, a luminous sun, encircled by luminous and non-luminous + rings, within and without and between which, revolve luminous + and non-luminous planets, attended by moons having moons--and + even these latter again having moons. + +Let us now, expanding our conceptions, look upon each of these systems +as in itself an atom; which in fact it is, when we consider it as but +one of the countless myriads of systems which constitute the Universe. +Regarding all, then, as but colossal atoms, each with the same +ineradicable tendency to Unity which characterizes the actual atoms of +which it consists--we enter at once upon a new order of aggregations. +The smaller systems, in the vicinity of a larger one, would, inevitably, +be drawn into still closer vicinity. A thousand would assemble here; a +million there--perhaps here, again, even a billion--leaving, thus, +immeasurable vacancies in space. And if now, it be demanded why, in the +case of these systems--of these merely Titanic atoms--I speak, simply, +of an "assemblage," and not, as in the case of the actual atoms, of a +more or less consolidated agglomeration:--if it be asked, for instance, +why I do not carry what I suggest to its legitimate conclusion, and +describe, at once, these assemblages of system-atoms as rushing to +consolidation in spheres--as each becoming condensed into one +magnificent sun--my reply is that [Greek: mellonta tauta]--I am but +pausing, for a moment, on the awful threshold of _the Future_. For the +present, calling these assemblages "clusters," we see them in the +incipient stages of their consolidation. Their _absolute_ consolidation +is _to come_. + +We have now reached a point from which we behold the Universe as a +spherical space, interspersed, _unequably_, with _clusters_. It will be +noticed that I here prefer the adverb "unequably" to the phrase "with a +merely general equability," employed before. It is evident, in fact, +that the equability of distribution will diminish in the ratio of the +agglomerative processes--that is to say, as the things distributed +diminish in number. Thus the increase of _in_-equability--an increase +which must continue until, sooner or later, an epoch will arrive at +which the largest agglomeration will absorb all the others--should be +viewed as, simply, a corroborative indication of the _tendency to One_. + +And here, at length, it seems proper to inquire whether the ascertained +_facts_ of Astronomy confirm the general arrangement which I have thus, +deductively, assigned to the Heavens. Thoroughly, they _do_. Telescopic +observation, guided by the laws of perspective, enables us to understand +that the perceptible Universe exists as _a cluster of clusters, +irregularly disposed_. + +The "clusters" of which this Universal "_cluster of clusters_" consists, +are merely what we have been in the practice of designating +"nebul"--and, of these "nebul," _one_ is of paramount interest to +mankind. I allude to the Galaxy, or Milky Way. This interests us, first +and most obviously, on account of its great superiority in apparent +size, not only to any one other cluster in the firmament, but to all the +other clusters taken together. The largest of these latter occupies a +mere point, comparatively, and is distinctly seen only with the aid of a +telescope. The Galaxy sweeps throughout the Heaven and is brilliantly +visible to the naked eye. But it interests man chiefly, although less +immediately, on account of its being his home; the home of the Earth on +which he exists; the home of the Sun about which this Earth revolves; +the home of that "system" of orbs of which the Sun is the centre and +primary--the Earth one of sixteen secondaries, or planets--the Moon one of +seventeen tertiaries, or satellites. The Galaxy, let me repeat, is but +one of the _clusters_ which I have been describing--but one of the +mis-called "nebul" revealed to us--by the telescope alone, sometimes--as +faint hazy spots in various quarters of the sky. We have no reason to +suppose the Milky Way _really_ more extensive than the least of these +"nebul." Its vast superiority in size is but an apparent superiority +arising from our position in regard to it--that is to say, from our +position in its midst. However strange the assertion may at first appear +to those unversed in Astronomy, still the astronomer himself has no +hesitation in asserting that we are _in the midst_ of that inconceivable +host of stars--of suns--of systems--which constitute the Galaxy. Moreover, +not only have _we_--not only has _our_ Sun a right to claim the Galaxy as +its own especial cluster, but, with slight reservation, it may be said +that all the distinctly visible stars of the firmament--all the stars +Visible to the naked eye--have equally a right to claim it as _their_ +own. + +There has been a great deal of misconception in respect to the _shape_ +of the Galaxy; which, in nearly all our astronomical treatises, is said +to resemble that of a capital Y. The cluster in question has, in +reality, a certain general--_very_ general resemblance to the planet +Saturn, with its encompassing triple ring. Instead of the solid orb of +that planet, however, we must picture to ourselves a lenticular +star-island, or collection of stars; our Sun lying excentrically--near +the shore of the island--on that side of it which is nearest the +constellation of the Cross and farthest from that of Cassiopeia. The +surrounding ring, where it approaches our position, has in it a +longitudinal _gash_, which does, in fact, cause _the ring, in our +vicinity_, to assume, loosely, the appearance of a capital Y. + +We must not fall into the error, however, of conceiving the somewhat +indefinite girdle as at all _remote_, comparatively speaking, from the +also indefinite lenticular cluster which it surrounds; and thus, for +mere purpose of explanation, we may speak of our Sun as actually +situated at that point of the Y where its three component lines unite; +and, conceiving this letter to be of a certain solidity--of a certain +thickness, very trivial in comparison with its length--we may even speak +of our position as _in the middle_ of this thickness. Fancying ourselves +thus placed, we shall no longer find difficulty in accounting for the +phnomena presented--which are perspective altogether. When we look +upward or downward--that is to say, when we cast our eyes in the +direction of the letter's _thickness_--we look through fewer stars than +when we cast them in the direction of its _length_, or _along_ either of +the three component lines. Of course, in the former case, the stars +appear scattered--in the latter, crowded.--To reverse this explanation:--An +inhabitant of the Earth, when looking, as we commonly express ourselves, +_at_ the Galaxy, is then beholding it in some of the directions of its +length--is looking _along_ the lines of the Y--but when, looking out into +the general Heaven, he turns his eyes _from_ the Galaxy, he is then +surveying it in the direction of the letter's thickness; and on this +account the stars seem to him scattered; while, in fact, they are as +close together, on an average, as in the mass of the cluster. _No_ +consideration could be better adapted to convey an idea of this +cluster's stupendous extent. + +If, with a telescope of high space-penetrating power, we carefully +inspect the firmament, we shall become aware of _a belt of clusters_--of +what we have hitherto called "nebul"--a _band_, of varying breadth, +stretching from horizon to horizon, at right angles to the general +course of the Milky Way. This band is the ultimate _cluster of +clusters_. This belt is _The Universe_. Our Galaxy is but one, and +perhaps one of the most inconsiderable, of the clusters which go to the +constitution of this ultimate, Universal _belt_ or _band_. The +appearance of this cluster of clusters, to our eyes, _as_ a belt or +band, is altogether a perspective phnomenon of the same character as +that which causes us to behold our own individual and roughly-spherical +cluster, the Galaxy, under guise also of a belt, traversing the Heavens +at right angles to the Universal one. The shape of the all-inclusive +cluster is, of course _generally_, that of each individual cluster which +it includes. Just as the scattered stars which, on looking _from_ the +Galaxy, we see in the general sky, are, in fact, but a portion of that +Galaxy itself, and as closely intermingled with it as any of the +telescopic points in what seems the densest portion of its mass--so are +the scattered "nebul" which, on casting our eyes _from_ the Universal +_belt_, we perceive at all points of the firmament--so, I say, are these +scattered "nebul" to be understood as only perspectively scattered, and +as part and parcel of the one supreme and Universal _sphere_. + +No astronomical fallacy is more untenable, and none has been more +pertinaciously adhered to, than that of the absolute _illimitation_ of +the Universe of Stars. The reasons for limitation, as I have already +assigned them, _ priori_, seem to me unanswerable; but, not to speak of +these, _observation_ assures us that there is, in numerous directions +around us, certainly, if not in all, a positive limit--or, at the very +least, affords us no basis whatever for thinking otherwise. Were the +succession of stars endless, then the background of the sky would +present us an uniform luminosity, like that displayed by the +Galaxy--_since there could be absolutely no point, in all that +background, at which would not exist a star._ The only mode, therefore, +in which, under such a state of affairs, we could comprehend the _voids_ +which our telescopes find in innumerable directions, would be by +supposing the distance of the invisible background so immense that no +ray from it has yet been able to reach us at all. That this _may_ be so, +who shall venture to deny? I maintain, simply, that we have not even the +shadow of a reason for believing that it _is_ so. + +When speaking of the vulgar propensity to regard all bodies on the Earth +as tending merely to the Earth's centre, I observed that, "with certain +exceptions to be specified hereafter, every body on the Earth tended not +only to the Earth's centre, but in every conceivable direction +besides."[11] The "exceptions" refer to those frequent gaps in the +Heavens, where our utmost scrutiny can detect not only no stellar +bodies, but no indications of their existence:--where yawning chasms, +blacker than Erebus, seem to afford us glimpses, through the boundary +walls of the Universe of Stars, into the illimitable Universe of +Vacancy, beyond. Now as any body, existing on the Earth, chances to +pass, either through its own movement or the Earth's, into a line with +any one of these voids, or cosmical abysses, it clearly is no longer +attracted _in the direction of that void_, and for the moment, +consequently, is "heavier" than at any period, either after or before. +Independently of the consideration of these voids, however, and looking +only at the generally unequable distribution of the stars, we see that +the absolute tendency of bodies on the Earth to the Earth's centre, is +in a state of perpetual variation. + + [11] Page 62. + +We comprehend, then, the insulation of our Universe. We perceive the +isolation of _that_--of _all_ that which we grasp with the senses. We +know that there exists one _cluster of clusters_--a collection around +which, on all sides, extend the immeasurable wildernesses of a Space _to +all human perception_ untenanted. But _because_ upon the confines of +this Universe of Stars we are compelled to pause, through want of +farther evidence from the senses, is it right to conclude that, in fact, +there _is_ no material point beyond that which we have thus been +permitted to attain? Have we, or have we not, an analogical right to the +inference that this perceptible Universe--that this cluster of +clusters--is but one of _a series_ of clusters of clusters, the rest of +which are invisible through distance--through the diffusion of their +light being so excessive, ere it reaches us, as not to produce upon our +retinas a light-impression--or from there being no such emanation as +light at all, in these unspeakably distant worlds--or, lastly, from the +mere interval being so vast, that the electric tidings of their presence +in Space, have not yet--through the lapsing myriads of years--been enabled +to traverse that interval? + +Have we any right to inferences--have we any ground whatever for visions +such as these? If we have a right to them in _any_ degree, we have a +right to their infinite extension. + +The human brain has obviously a leaning to the "_Infinite_," and fondles +the phantom of the idea. It seems to long with a passionate fervor for +this impossible conception, with the hope of intellectually believing it +when conceived. What is general among the whole race of Man, of course +no individual of that race can be warranted in considering abnormal; +nevertheless, there _may_ be a class of superior intelligences, to whom +the human bias alluded to may wear all the character of monomania. + +My question, however, remains unanswered:--Have we any right to infer--let +us say, rather, to imagine--an interminable succession of the "clusters +of clusters," or of "Universes" more or less similar? + +I reply that the "right," in a case such as this, depends absolutely +upon the hardihood of that imagination which ventures to claim the +right. Let me declare, only, that, as an individual, I myself feel +impelled to the _fancy_--without daring to call it more--that there _does_ +exist a _limitless_ succession of Universes, more or less similar to +that of which we have cognizance--to that of which _alone_ we shall ever +have cognizance--at the very least until the return of our own particular +Universe into Unity. _If_ such clusters of clusters exist, however--_and +they do_--it is abundantly clear that, having had no part in our origin, +they have no portion in our laws. They neither attract us, nor we them. +Their material--their spirit is not ours--is not that which obtains in any +part of our Universe. They could not impress our senses or our souls. +Among them and us--considering all, for the moment, collectively--there +are no influences in common. Each exists, apart and independently, _in +the bosom of its proper and particular God_. + +In the conduct of this Discourse, I am aiming less at physical than at +metaphysical order. The clearness with which even material phnomena are +presented to the understanding, depends very little, I have long since +learned to perceive, upon a merely natural, and almost altogether upon a +moral, arrangement. If then I seem to step somewhat too discursively +from point to point of my topic, let me suggest that I do so in the hope +of thus the better keeping unbroken that chain of _graduated impression_ +by which alone the intellect of Man can expect to encompass the +grandeurs of which I speak, and, in their majestic totality, to +comprehend them. + +So far, our attention has been directed, almost exclusively, to a +general and relative grouping of the stellar bodies in space. Of +specification there has been little; and whatever ideas of _quantity_ +have been conveyed--that is to say, of number, magnitude, and +distance--have been conveyed incidentally and by way of preparation for +more definitive conceptions. These latter let us now attempt to +entertain. + +Our solar system, as has been already mentioned, consists, in chief, of +one sun and sixteen planets certainly, but in all probability a few +others, revolving around it as a centre, and attended by seventeen moons +of which we know, with possibly several more of which as yet we know +nothing. These various bodies are not true spheres, but oblate +spheroids--spheres flattened at the poles of the imaginary axes about +which they rotate:--the flattening being a consequence of the rotation. +Neither is the Sun absolutely the centre of the system; for this Sun +itself, with all the planets, revolves about a perpetually shifting +point of space, which is the system's general centre of gravity. Neither +are we to consider the paths through which these different spheroids +move--the moons about the planets, the planets about the Sun, or the Sun +about the common centre--as circles in an accurate sense. They are, in +fact, _ellipses--one of the foci being the point about which the +revolution is made_. An ellipse is a curve, returning into itself, one +of whose diameters is longer than the other. In the longer diameter are +two points, equidistant from the middle of the line, and so situated +otherwise that if, from each of them a straight line be drawn to any one +point of the curve, the two lines, taken together, will be equal to the +longer diameter itself. Now let us conceive such an ellipse. At one of +the points mentioned, which are the _foci_, let us fasten an orange. By +an elastic thread let us connect this orange with a pea; and let us +place this latter on the circumference of the ellipse. Let us now move +the pea continuously around the orange--keeping always on the +circumference of the ellipse. The elastic thread, which, of course, +varies in length as we move the pea, will form what in geometry is +called a _radius vector_. Now, if the orange be understood as the Sun, +and the pea as a planet revolving about it, then the revolution should +be made at such a rate--with a velocity so varying--that the _radius +vector_ may pass over _equal areas of space in equal times_. The +progress of the pea _should be_--in other words, the progress of the +planet _is_, of course,--slow in proportion to its distance from the +Sun--swift in proportion to its proximity. Those planets, moreover, move +the more slowly which are the farther from the Sun; _the squares of +their periods of revolution having the same proportion to each other, as +have to each other the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun_. + +The wonderfully complex laws of revolution here described, however, are +not to be understood as obtaining in our system alone. They _everywhere_ +prevail where Attraction prevails. They control _the Universe_. Every +shining speck in the firmament is, no doubt, a luminous sun, resembling +our own, at least in its general features, and having in attendance upon +it a greater or less number of planets, greater or less, whose still +lingering luminosity is not sufficient to render them visible to us at +so vast a distance, but which, nevertheless, revolve, moon-attended, +about their starry centres, in obedience to the principles just +detailed--in obedience to the three omniprevalent laws of revolution--the +three immortal laws _guessed_ by the imaginative Kepler, and but +subsequently demonstrated and accounted for by the patient and +mathematical Newton. Among a tribe of philosophers who pride themselves +excessively upon matter-of-fact, it is far too fashionable to sneer at +all speculation under the comprehensive _sobriquet_, "guess-work." The +point to be considered is, _who_ guesses. In guessing with Plato, we +spend our time to better purpose, now and then, than in hearkening to a +demonstration by Alcmon. + +In many works on Astronomy I find it distinctly stated that the laws of +Kepler are _the basis_ of the great principle, Gravitation. This idea +must have arisen from the fact that the suggestion of these laws by +Kepler, and his proving them _ posteriori_ to have an actual existence, +led Newton to account for them by the hypothesis of Gravitation, and, +finally, to demonstrate them _ priori_, as necessary consequences of +the hypothetical principle. Thus so far from the laws of Kepler being +the basis of Gravity, Gravity is the basis of these laws--as it is, +indeed, of all the laws of the material Universe which are not referable +to Repulsion alone. + +The mean distance of the Earth from the Moon--that is to say, from the +heavenly body in our closest vicinity--is 237,000 miles. Mercury, the +planet nearest the Sun, is distant from him 37 millions of miles. Venus, +the next, revolves at a distance of 68 millions:--the Earth, which comes +next, at a distance of 95 millions:--Mars, then, at a distance of 144 +millions. Now come the eight Asteroids (Ceres, Juno, Vesta, Pallas, +Astra, Flora, Iris, and Hebe) at an average distance of about 250 +millions. Then we have Jupiter, distant 490 millions; then Saturn, 900 +millions; then Uranus, 19 hundred millions; finally Neptune, lately +discovered, and revolving at a distance, say of 28 hundred millions. +Leaving Neptune out of the account--of which as yet we know little +accurately and which is, possibly, one of a system of Asteroids--it will +be seen that, within certain limits, there exists an _order of interval_ +among the planets. Speaking loosely, we may say that each outer planet +is twice as far from the Sun as is the next inner one. May not the +_order_ here mentioned--_may not the law of Bode--be deduced from +consideration of the analogy suggested by me as having place between the +solar discharge of rings and the mode of the atomic irradiation_? + +The numbers hurriedly mentioned in this summary of distance, it is folly +to attempt comprehending, unless in the light of abstract arithmetical +facts. They are not practically tangible ones. They convey no precise +ideas. I have stated that Neptune, the planet farthest from the Sun, +revolves about him at a distance of 28 hundred millions of miles. So far +good:--I have stated a mathematical fact; and, without comprehending it +in the least, we may put it to use--mathematically. But in mentioning, +even, that the Moon revolves about the Earth at the comparatively +trifling distance of 237,000 miles, I entertained no expectation of +giving any one to understand--to know--to feel--how far from the Earth the +Moon actually _is_. 237,000 _miles_! There are, perhaps, few of my +readers who have not crossed the Atlantic ocean; yet how many of them +have a distinct idea of even the 3,000 miles intervening between shore +and shore? I doubt, indeed, whether the man lives who can force into his +brain the most remote conception of the interval between one milestone +and its next neighbor upon the turnpike. We are in some measure aided, +however, in our consideration of distance, by combining this +consideration with the kindred one of velocity. Sound passes through +1100 feet of space in a second of time. Now were it possible for an +inhabitant of the Earth to see the flash of a cannon discharged in the +Moon, and to hear the report, he would have to wait, after perceiving +the former, more than 13 entire days and nights before getting any +intimation of the latter. + +However feeble be the impression, even thus conveyed, of the Moon's real +distance from the Earth, it will, nevertheless, effect a good object in +enabling us more clearly to see the futility of attempting to grasp such +intervals as that of the 28 hundred millions of miles between our Sun +and Neptune; or even that of the 95 millions between the Sun and the +Earth we inhabit. A cannon-ball, flying at the greatest velocity with +which such a ball has ever been known to fly, could not traverse the +latter interval in less than 20 years; while for the former it would +require 590. + +Our Moon's real diameter is 2160 miles; yet she is comparatively so +trifling an object that it would take nearly 50 such orbs to compose one +as great as the Earth. + +The diameter of our own globe is 7912 miles--but from the enunciation of +these numbers what positive idea do we derive? + +If we ascend an ordinary mountain and look around us from its summit, we +behold a landscape stretching, say 40 miles, in every direction; forming +a circle 250 miles in circumference; and including an area of 5000 +square miles. The extent of such a prospect, on account of the +_successiveness_ with which its portions necessarily present themselves +to view, can be only very feebly and very partially appreciated:--yet the +entire panorama would comprehend no more than one 40,000th part of the +mere _surface_ of our globe. Were this panorama, then, to be succeeded, +after the lapse of an hour, by another of equal extent; this again by a +third, after the lapse of another hour; this again by a fourth after +lapse of another hour--and so on, until the scenery of the whole Earth +were exhausted; and were we to be engaged in examining these various +panoramas for twelve hours of every day; we should nevertheless, be 9 +years and 48 days in completing the general survey. + +But if the mere surface of the Earth eludes the grasp of the +imagination, what are we to think of its cubical contents? It embraces a +mass of matter equal in weight to at least 2 sextillions, 200 +quintillions of tons. Let us suppose it in a state of quiescence; and +now let us endeavor to conceive a mechanical force sufficient to set it +in motion! Not the strength of all the myriads of beings whom we may +conclude to inhabit the planetary worlds of our system--not the combined +physical strength of _all_ these beings--even admitting all to be more +powerful than man--would avail to stir the ponderous mass _a single inch_ +from its position. + +What are we to understand, then, of the force, which under similar +circumstances, would be required to move the _largest_ of our planets, +Jupiter? This is 86,000 miles in diameter, and would include within its +periphery more than a thousand orbs of the magnitude of our own. Yet +this stupendous body is actually flying around the Sun at the rate of +29,000 miles an hour--that is to say, with a velocity 40 times greater +than that of a cannon-ball! The thought of such a phnomenon cannot well +be said to _startle_ the mind:--it palsies and appals it. Not +unfrequently we task our imagination in picturing the capacities of an +angel. Let us fancy such a being at a distance of some hundred miles +from Jupiter--a close eye-witness of this planet as it speeds on its +annual revolution. Now _can_ we, I demand, fashion for ourselves any +conception so distinct of this ideal being's spiritual exaltation, as +_that_ involved in the supposition that, even by this immeasurable mass +of matter, whirled immediately before his eyes, with a velocity so +unutterable, he--an angel--angelic though he be--is not at once struck into +nothingness and overwhelmed? + +At this point, however, it seems proper to suggest that, in fact, we +have been speaking of comparative trifles. Our Sun, the central and +controlling orb of the system to which Jupiter belongs, is not only +greater than Jupiter, but greater by far than all the planets of the +system taken together. This fact is an essential condition, indeed, of +the stability of the system itself. The diameter of Jupiter has been +mentioned:--it is 86,000 miles:--that of the Sun is 882,000 miles. An +inhabitant of the latter, travelling 90 miles a day, would be more than +80 years in going round a great circle of its circumference. It occupies +a cubical space of 681 quadrillions, 472 trillions of miles. The Moon, +as has been stated, revolves about the Earth at a distance of 237,000 +miles--in an orbit, consequently, of nearly a million and a half. Now, +were the Sun placed upon the Earth, centre over centre, the body of the +former would extend, in every direction, not only to the line of the +Moon's orbit, but beyond it, a distance of 200,000 miles. + +And here, once again, let me suggest that, in fact, we have _still_ been +speaking of comparative trifles. The distance of the planet Neptune from +the Sun has been stated:--it is 28 hundred millions of miles; the +circumference of its orbit, therefore, is about 17 billions. Let this be +borne in mind while we glance at some one of the brightest stars. +Between this and the star of _our_ system, (the Sun,) there is a gulf of +space, to convey any idea of which we should need the tongue of an +archangel. From _our_ system, then, and from _our_ Sun, or star, the +star at which we suppose ourselves glancing is a thing altogether +apart:--still, for the moment, let us imagine it placed upon our Sun, +centre over centre, as we just now imagined this Sun itself placed upon +the Earth. Let us now conceive the particular star we have in mind, +extending, in every direction, beyond the orbit of Mercury--of Venus--of +the Earth:--still _on_, beyond the orbit of Mars--of Jupiter--of +Uranus--until, finally, we fancy it filling the circle--17 _billions of +miles in circumference_--which is described by the revolution of +Leverrier's planet. When we have conceived all this, we shall have +entertained no extravagant conception. There is the very best reason for +believing that many of the stars are even far larger than the one we +have imagined. I mean to say that we have the very best _empirical_ +basis for such belief:--and, in looking back at the original, atomic +arrangements for _diversity_, which have been assumed as a part of the +Divine plan in the constitution of the Universe, we shall be enabled +easily to understand, and to credit, the existence of even far vaster +disproportions in stellar size than any to which I have hitherto +alluded. The largest orbs, of course, we must expect to find rolling +through the widest vacancies of Space. + +I remarked, just now, that to convey an idea of the interval between our +Sun and any one of the other stars, we should require the eloquence of +an archangel. In so saying, I should not be accused of exaggeration; +for, in simple truth, these are topics on which it is scarcely possible +to exaggerate. But let us bring the matter more distinctly before the +eye of the mind. + +In the first place, we may get a general, _relative_ conception of the +interval referred to, by comparing it with the inter-planetary spaces. +If, for example, we suppose the Earth, which is, in reality, 95 millions +of miles from the Sun, to be only _one foot_ from that luminary; then +Neptune would be 40 feet distant; _and the star Alpha Lyr, at the very +least_, 159. + +Now I presume that, in the termination of my last sentence, few of my +readers have noticed anything especially objectionable--particularly +wrong. I said that the distance of the Earth from the Sun being taken at +_one foot_, the distance of Neptune would be 40 feet, and that of Alpha +Lyr, 159. The proportion between one foot and 159 has appeared, +perhaps, to convey a sufficiently definite impression of the proportion +between the two intervals--that of the Earth from the Sun and that of +Alpha Lyr from the same luminary. But my account of the matter should, +in reality, have run thus:--The distance of the Earth from the Sun being +taken at one foot, the distance of Neptune would be 40 feet, and that of +Alpha Lyr, 159----_miles_:--that is to say, I had assigned to Alpha Lyr, +in my first statement of the case, only the 5280_th_ _part_ of that +distance which is the _least distance possible_ at which it can actually +lie. + +To proceed:--However distant a mere _planet_ is, yet when we look at it +through a telescope, we see it under a certain form--of a certain +appreciable size. Now I have already hinted at the probable bulk of many +of the stars; nevertheless, when we view any one of them, even through +the most powerful telescope, it is found to present us with _no form_, +and consequently with _no magnitude_ whatever. We see it as a point and +nothing more. + +Again;--Let us suppose ourselves walking, at night, on a highway. In a +field on one side of the road, is a line of tall objects, say trees, the +figures of which are distinctly defined against the background of the +sky. This line of objects extends at right angles to the road, and from +the road to the horizon. Now, as we proceed along the road, we see these +objects changing their positions, respectively, in relation to a certain +fixed point in that portion of the firmament which forms the background +of the view. Let us suppose this fixed point--sufficiently fixed for our +purpose--to be the rising moon. We become aware, at once, that while the +tree nearest us so far alters its position in respect to the moon, as to +seem flying behind us, the tree in the extreme distance has scarcely +changed at all its relative position with the satellite. We then go on +to perceive that the farther the objects are from us, the less they +alter their positions; and the converse. Then we begin, unwittingly, to +estimate the distances of individual trees by the degrees in which they +evince the relative alteration. Finally, we come to understand how it +might be possible to ascertain the actual distance of any given tree in +the line, by using the amount of relative alteration as a basis in a +simple geometrical problem. Now this relative alteration is what we call +"parallax;" and by parallax we calculate the distances of the heavenly +bodies. Applying the principle to the trees in question, we should, of +course, be very much at a loss to comprehend the distance of _that_ +tree, which, however far we proceeded along the road, should evince _no_ +parallax at all. This, in the case described, is a thing impossible; but +impossible only because all distances on our Earth are trivial +indeed:--in comparison with the vast cosmical quantities, we may speak of +them as absolutely nothing. + +Now, let us suppose the star Alpha Lyr directly overhead; and let us +imagine that, instead of standing on the Earth, we stand at one end of a +straight road stretching through Space to a distance equalling the +diameter of the Earth's orbit--that is to say, to a distance of 190 +_millions of miles_. Having observed, by means of the most delicate +micrometrical instruments, the exact position of the star, let us now +pass along this inconceivable road, until we reach its other extremity. +Now, once again, let us look at the star. It is _precisely_ where we +left it. Our instruments, however delicate, assure us that its relative +position is absolutely--is identically the same as at the commencement of +our unutterable journey. _No_ parallax--none whatever--has been found. + +The fact is, that, in regard to the distance of the fixed stars--of any +one of the myriads of suns glistening on the farther side of that awful +chasm which separates our system from its brothers in the cluster to +which it belongs--astronomical science, until very lately, could speak +only with a negative certainty. Assuming the brightest as the nearest, +we could say, even of _them_, only that there is a certain +incomprehensible distance on the _hither_ side of which they cannot +be:--how far they are beyond it we had in no case been able to ascertain. +We perceived, for example, that Alpha Lyr cannot be nearer to us than +19 trillions, 200 billions of miles; but, for all we knew, and indeed +for all we now know, it may be distant from us the square, or the cube, +or any other power of the number mentioned. By dint, however, of +wonderfully minute and cautious observations, continued, with novel +instruments, for many laborious years, _Bessel_, not long ago deceased, +has lately succeeded in determining the distance of six or seven stars; +among others, that of the star numbered 61 in the constellation of the +Swan. The distance in this latter instance ascertained, is 670,000 times +that of the Sun; which last it will be remembered, is 95 millions of +miles. The star 61 Cygni, then, is nearly 64 trillions of miles from +us--or more than three times the distance assigned, _as the least +possible_, for Alpha Lyr. + +In attempting to appreciate this interval by the aid of any +considerations of _velocity_, as we did in endeavoring to estimate the +distance of the moon, we must leave out of sight, altogether, such +nothings as the speed of a cannon-ball, or of sound. Light, however, +according to the latest calculations of Struve, proceeds at the rate of +167,000 miles in a second. Thought itself cannot pass through this +interval more speedily--if, indeed, thought can traverse it at all. Yet, +in coming from 61 Cygni to us, even at this inconceivable rate, light +occupies more than _ten years_; and, consequently, were the star this +moment blotted out from the Universe, still, _for ten years_, would it +continue to sparkle on, undimmed in its paradoxical glory. + +Keeping now in mind whatever feeble conception we may have attained of +the interval between our Sun and 61 Cygni, let us remember that this +interval, however unutterably vast, we are permitted to consider as but +the _average_ interval among the countless host of stars composing that +cluster, or "nebula," to which our system, as well as that of 61 Cygni, +belongs. I have, in fact, stated the case with great moderation:--we have +excellent reason for believing 61 Cygni to be one of the _nearest_ +stars, and thus for concluding, at least for the present, that its +distance from us is _less_ than the average distance between star and +star in the magnificent cluster of the Milky Way. + +And here, once again and finally, it seems proper to suggest that even +as yet we have been speaking of trifles. Ceasing to wonder at the space +between star and star in our own or in any particular cluster, let us +rather turn our thoughts to the intervals between cluster and cluster, +in the all comprehensive cluster of the Universe. + +I have already said that light proceeds at the rate of 167,000 miles in +a second--that is, about 10 millions of miles in a minute, or about 600 +millions of miles in an hour:--yet so far removed from us are some of +the "nebul" that even light, speeding with this velocity, could not +and does not reach us, from those mysterious regions, in less than 3 +_millions of years_. This calculation, moreover, is made by the elder +Herschell, and in reference merely to those comparatively proximate +clusters within the scope of his own telescope. There _are_ "nebul," +however, which, through the magical tube of Lord Rosse, are this instant +whispering in our ears the secrets of _a million of ages_ by-gone. In a +word, the events which we behold now--at this moment--in those worlds--are +the identical events which interested their inhabitants _ten hundred +thousand centuries ago_. In intervals--in distances such as this +suggestion forces upon the _soul_--rather than upon the mind--we find, at +length, a fitting climax to all hitherto frivolous considerations of +_quantity_. + +Our fancies thus occupied with the cosmical distances, let us take the +opportunity of referring to the difficulty which we have so often +experienced, while pursuing _the beaten path_ of astronomical +reflection, _in accounting_ for the immeasurable voids alluded to--in +comprehending why chasms so totally unoccupied and therefore apparently +so needless, have been made to intervene between star and star--between +cluster and cluster--in understanding, to be brief, a sufficient reason +for the Titanic scale, in respect of mere _Space_, on which the Universe +is seen to be constructed. A rational cause for the phnomenon, I +maintain that Astronomy has palpably failed to assign:--but the +considerations through which, in this Essay, we have proceeded step by +step, enable us clearly and immediately to perceive that _Space and +Duration are one_. That the Universe might _endure_ throughout an ra +at all commensurate with the grandeur of its component material portions +and with the high majesty of its spiritual purposes, it was necessary +that the original atomic diffusion be made to so inconceivable an extent +as to be only not infinite. It was required, in a word, that the stars +should be gathered into visibility from invisible nebulosity--proceed +from nebulosity to consolidation--and so grow grey in giving birth and +death to unspeakably numerous and complex variations of vitalic +development:--it was required that the stars should do all this--should +have time thoroughly to accomplish all these Divine purposes--_during the +period_ in which all things were effecting their return into Unity with +a velocity accumulating in the inverse proportion of the squares of the +distances at which lay the inevitable End. + +Throughout all this we have no difficulty in understanding the absolute +accuracy of the Divine _adaptation_. The density of the stars, +respectively, proceeds, of course, as their condensation diminishes; +condensation and heterogeneity keep pace with each other; through the +latter, which is the index of the former, we estimate the vitalic and +spiritual development. Thus, in the density of the globes, we have the +measure in which their purposes are fulfilled. _As_ density +proceeds--_as_ the divine intentions _are_ accomplished--_as_ less and +still less remains _to be_ accomplished--so--in the same ratio--should we +expect to find an acceleration of _the End_:--and thus the philosophical +mind will easily comprehend that the Divine designs in constituting the +stars, advance _mathematically_ to their fulfilment:--and more; it will +readily give the advance a mathematical expression; it will decide that +this advance is inversely proportional with the squares of the distances +of all created things from the starting-point and goal of their +creation. + +Not only is this Divine adaptation, however, mathematically accurate, +but there is that about it which stamps it _as divine_, in distinction +from that which is merely the work of human constructiveness. I allude +to the complete _mutuality_ of adaptation. For example; in human +constructions a particular cause has a particular effect; a particular +intention brings to pass a particular object; but this is all; we see no +reciprocity. The effect does not re-act upon the cause; the intention +does not change relations with the object. In Divine constructions the +object is either design or object as we choose to regard it--and we may +take at any time a cause for an effect, or the converse--so that we can +never absolutely decide which is which. + +To give an instance:--In polar climates the human frame, to maintain its +animal heat, requires, for combustion in the capillary system, an +abundant supply of highly azotized food, such as train-oil. But +again:--in polar climates nearly the sole food afforded man is the oil of +abundant seals and whales. Now, whether is oil at hand because +imperatively demanded, or the only thing demanded because the only thing +to be obtained? It is impossible to decide. There is an absolute +_reciprocity of adaptation_. + +The pleasure which we derive from any display of human ingenuity is in +the ratio of _the approach_ to this species of reciprocity. In the +construction of _plot_, for example, in fictitious literature, we +should aim at so arranging the incidents that we shall not be able to +determine, of any one of them, whether it depends from any one other or +upholds it. In this sense, of course, _perfection_ of _plot_ is really, +or practically, unattainable--but only because it is a finite +intelligence that constructs. The plots of God are perfect. The Universe +is a plot of God. + +And now we have reached a point at which the intellect is forced, again, +to struggle against its propensity for analogical inference--against its +monomaniac grasping at the infinite. Moons have been seen _revolving_ +about planets; planets about stars; and the poetical instinct of +humanity--its instinct of the symmetrical, if the symmetry be but a +symmetry of surface:--this _instinct_, which the Soul, not only of Man +but of all created beings, took up, in the beginning, from the +_geometrical_ basis of the Universal irradiation--impels us to the fancy +of an endless extension of this system of _cycles_. Closing our eyes +equally to _de_duction and _in_duction, we insist upon imagining a +_revolution_ of all the orbs of the Galaxy about some gigantic globe +which we take to be the central pivot of the whole. Each cluster in the +great cluster of clusters is imagined, of course, to be similarly +supplied and constructed; while, that the "analogy" may be wanting at no +point, we go on to conceive these clusters themselves, again, as +_revolving_ about some still more august sphere;--this latter, still +again, _with_ its encircling clusters, as but one of a yet more +magnificent series of agglomerations, _gyrating_ about yet another orb +central _to them_--some orb still more unspeakably sublime--some orb, let +us rather say, of infinite sublimity endlessly multiplied by the +infinitely sublime. Such are the conditions, continued in perpetuity, +which the voice of what some people term "analogy" calls upon the Fancy +to depict and the Reason to contemplate, if possible, without becoming +dissatisfied with the picture. Such, _in general_, are the interminable +gyrations beyond gyration which we have been instructed by Philosophy to +comprehend and to account for, at least in the best manner we can. Now +and then, however, a philosopher proper--one whose phrenzy takes a very +determinate turn--whose genius, to speak more reverentially, has a +strongly-pronounced washerwomanish bias, doing every thing up by the +dozen--enables us to see _precisely_ that point out of sight, at which +the revolutionary processes in question do, and of right ought to, come +to an end. + +It is hardly worth while, perhaps, even to sneer at the reveries of +Fourrier:--but much has been said, latterly, of the hypothesis of +Mdler--that there exists, in the centre of the Galaxy, a stupendous +globe about which all the systems of the cluster revolve. The _period_ +of our own, indeed, has been stated--117 millions of years. + +That our Sun has a motion in space, independently of its rotation, and +revolution about the system's centre of gravity, has long been +suspected. This motion, granting it to exist, would be manifested +perspectively. The stars in that firmamental region which we were +leaving behind us, would, in a very long series of years, become +crowded; those in the opposite quarter, scattered. Now, by means of +astronomical History, we ascertain, cloudily, that some such phnomena +have occurred. On this ground it has been declared that our system is +moving to a point in the heavens diametrically opposite the star Zeta +Herculis:--but this inference is, perhaps, the maximum to which we have +any logical right. Mdler, however, has gone so far as to designate a +particular star, Alcyone in the Pleiades, as being at or about the very +spot around which a general _revolution_ is performed. + +Now, since by "analogy" we are led, in the first instance, to these +dreams, it is no more than proper that we should abide by analogy, at +least in some measure, during their development; and that analogy which +suggests the revolution, suggests at the same time a central orb about +which it should be performed:--so far the astronomer was consistent. This +central orb, however, should, dynamically, be greater than all the orbs, +taken together, which surround it. Of these there are about 100 +millions. "Why, then," it was of course demanded, "do we not _see_ this +vast central sun--_at least equal_ in mass to 100 millions of such suns +as ours--why do we not _see_ it--_we_, especially, who occupy the mid +region of the cluster--the very locality _near_ which, at all events, +must be situated this incomparable star?" The reply was ready--"It must +be non-luminous, as are our planets." Here, then, to suit a purpose, +analogy is suddenly let fall. "Not so," it may be said--"we know that +non-luminous suns actually exist." It is true that we have reason at +least for supposing so; but we have certainly no reason whatever for +supposing that the non-luminous suns in question are encircled by +_luminous_ suns, while these again are surrounded by non-luminous +planets:--and it is precisely all this with which Mdler is called upon +to find any thing analogous in the heavens--for it is precisely all this +which he imagines in the case of the Galaxy. Admitting the thing to be +so, we cannot help here picturing to ourselves how sad a puzzle the _why +it is so_ must prove to all _ priori_ philosophers. + +But granting, in the very teeth of analogy and of every thing else, the +non-luminosity of the vast central orb, we may still inquire how this +orb, so enormous, could fail of being rendered visible by the flood of +light thrown upon it from the 100 millions of glorious suns glaring in +all directions about it. Upon the urging of this question, the idea of +an actually solid central sun appears, in some measure, to have been +abandoned; and speculation proceeded to assert that the systems of the +cluster perform their revolutions merely about an immaterial centre of +gravity common to all. Here again then, to suit a purpose, analogy is +let fall. The planets of our system revolve, it is true, about a common +centre of gravity; but they do this in connexion with, and in +consequence of, a material sun whose mass more than counterbalances the +rest of the system. + +The mathematical circle is a curve composed of an infinity of straight +lines. But this idea of the circle--an idea which, in view of all +ordinary geometry, is merely the mathematical, as contradistinguished +from the practical, idea--is, in sober fact, the _practical_ conception +which alone we have any right to entertain in regard to the majestic +circle with which we have to deal, at least in fancy, when we suppose +our system revolving about a point in the centre of the Galaxy. Let the +most vigorous of human imaginations attempt but to take a single step +towards the comprehension of a sweep so ineffable! It would scarcely be +paradoxical to say that a flash of lightning itself, travelling +_forever_ upon the circumference of this unutterable circle, would +still, _forever_, be travelling in a straight line. That the path of our +Sun in such an orbit would, to any human perception, deviate in the +slightest degree from a straight line, even in a million of years, is a +proposition not to be entertained:--yet we are required to believe that a +curvature has become apparent during the brief period of our +astronomical history--during a mere point--during the utter nothingness of +two or three thousand years. + +It may be said that Mdler _has_ really ascertained a curvature in the +direction of our system's now well-established progress through Space. +Admitting, if necessary, this fact to be in reality such, I maintain +that nothing is thereby shown except the reality of this fact--the fact +of a curvature. For its _thorough_ determination, ages will be required; +and, when determined, it will be found indicative of some binary or +other multiple relation between our Sun and some one or more of the +proximate stars. I hazard nothing however, in predicting, that, after +the lapse of many centuries, all efforts at determining the path of our +Sun through Space, will be abandoned as fruitless. This is easily +conceivable when we look at the infinity of perturbation it must +experience, from its perpetually-shifting relations with other orbs, in +the common approach of all to the nucleus of the Galaxy. + +But in examining other "nebul" than that of the Milky Way--in surveying, +generally, the clusters which overspread the heavens--do we or do we not +find confirmation of Mdler's hypothesis? We do _not_. The forms of the +clusters are exceedingly diverse when casually viewed; but on close +inspection, through powerful telescopes, we recognize the sphere, very +distinctly, as at least the proximate form of all:--their constitution, +in general, being at variance with the idea of revolution about a common +centre. + +"It is difficult," says Sir John Herschell, "to form any conception of +the dynamical state of such systems. On one hand, without a rotary +motion and a centrifugal force, it is hardly possible not to regard them +as in a state of _progressive collapse_. On the other, granting such a +motion and such a force, we find it no less difficult to reconcile their +forms with the rotation of the whole system [meaning cluster] around any +single axis, without which internal collision would appear to be +inevitable." + +Some remarks lately made about the "nebul" by Dr. Nichol, in taking +quite a different view of the cosmical conditions from any taken in this +Discourse--have a very peculiar applicability to the point now at issue. +He says: + +"When our greatest telescopes are brought to bear upon them, we find +that those which were thought to be irregular, are not so; they approach +nearer to a globe. Here is one that looked oval; but Lord Rosse's +telescope brought it into a circle.... Now there occurs a very +remarkable circumstance in reference to these comparatively sweeping +circular masses of nebul. We find they are not entirely circular, but +the reverse; and that all around them, on every side, there are volumes +of stars, _stretching out apparently as if they were rushing towards a +great central mass in consequence of the action of some great +power_."[12] + + [12] I must be understood as denying, _especially_, only the + _revolutionary_ portion of Mdler's hypothesis. Of course, if + no great central orb exists _now_ in our cluster, such will + exist hereafter. Whenever existing, it will be merely the + _nucleus_ of the consolidation. + +Were I to describe, in my own words, what must necessarily be the +existing condition of each nebula on the hypothesis that all matter is, +as I suggest, now returning to its original Unity, I should simply be +going over, nearly verbatim, the language here employed by Dr. Nichol, +without the faintest suspicion of that stupendous truth which is the key +to these nebular phnomena. + +And here let me fortify my position still farther, by the voice of a +greater than Mdler--of one, moreover, to whom all the data of Mdler +have long been familiar things, carefully and thoroughly considered. +Referring to the elaborate calculations of Argelander--the very +researches which form Mdler's basis--_Humboldt_, whose generalizing +powers have never, perhaps been equalled, has the following observation: + +"When we regard the real, proper, or non-perspective motions of the +stars, we find _many groups of them moving in opposite directions_; and +the data as yet in hand render it not necessary, at least, to conceive +that the systems composing the Milky Way, or the clusters, generally, +composing the Universe, are revolving about any particular centre +unknown, whether luminous or non-luminous. It is but Man's longing for a +fundamental First Cause, that impels both his intellect and his fancy +to the adoption of such an hypothesis."[13] + + [13] Betrachtet man die nicht perspectivischen eigenen + Bewegungen der Sterne, so scheinen viele gruppenweise in ihrer + Richtung entgegengesetzt; und die bisher gesammelten Thatsachen + machen es auf's wenigste nicht nothwendig, anzunehmen, dass + alle Theile unserer Sternenschicht oder gar der gesammten + Sterneninseln, welche den Weltraum fllen, sich um einen + grossen, unbekannten, leuchtenden oder dunkeln Centralkrper + bewegen. Das Streben nach den letzten und hchsten + Grundursachen macht freilich die reflectirende Thtigkeit des + Menschen, wie seine Phantasie, zu einer solchen Annahme + geneigt. + +The phnomenon here alluded to--that of "many groups moving in opposite +directions"--is quite inexplicable by Mdler's idea; but arises, as a +necessary consequence, from that which forms the basis of this +Discourse. While the _merely general direction_ of each atom--of each +moon, planet, star, or cluster--would, on my hypothesis, be, of course, +absolutely rectilinear; while the _general_ path of all bodies would be +a right line leading to the centre of all; it is clear, nevertheless, +that this general rectilinearity would be compounded of what, with +scarcely any exaggeration, we may term an infinity of particular +curves--an infinity of local deviations from rectilinearity--the result of +continuous differences of relative position among the multitudinous +masses, as each proceeded on its own proper journey to the End. + +I quoted, just now, from Sir John Herschell, the following words, used +in reference to the clusters:--"On one hand, without a rotary motion and +a centrifugal force, it is hardly possible not to regard them as in a +state of _progressive collapse_." The fact is, that, in surveying the +"nebul" with a telescope of high power, we shall find it quite +impossible, having once conceived this idea of "collapse," not to +gather, at all points, corroboration of the idea. A nucleus is always +apparent, in the direction of which the stars seem to be precipitating +themselves; nor can these nuclei be mistaken for merely perspective +phnomena:--the clusters are _really_ denser near the centre--sparser in +the regions more remote from it. In a word, we see every thing as we +_should_ see it were a collapse taking place; but, in general, it may be +said of these clusters, that we can fairly entertain, while looking at +them, the idea of _orbitual movement about a centre_, only by admitting +the _possible_ existence, in the distant domains of space, of dynamical +laws with which _we_ are unacquainted. + +On the part of Herschell, however, there is evidently _a reluctance_ to +regard the nebul as in "a state of progressive collapse." But if +facts--if even appearances justify the supposition of their being in this +state, _why_, it may well be demanded, is he disinclined to admit it? +Simply on account of a prejudice;--merely because the supposition is at +war with a preconceived and utterly baseless notion--that of the +endlessness--that of the eternal stability of the Universe. + +If the propositions of this Discourse are tenable, the "state of +progressive collapse" is _precisely_ that state in which alone we are +warranted in considering All Things; and, with due humility, let me here +confess that, for my part, I am at a loss to conceive how any _other_ +understanding of the existing condition of affairs, could ever have made +its way into the human brain. "The tendency to collapse" and "the +attraction of gravitation" are convertible phrases. In using either, we +speak of the raction of the First Act. Never was necessity less obvious +than that of supposing Matter imbued with an ineradicable _quality_ +forming part of its material nature--a quality, or instinct, _forever_ +inseparable from it, and by dint of which inalienable principle every +atom is _perpetually_ impelled to seek its fellow-atom. Never was +necessity less obvious than that of entertaining this unphilosophical +idea. Going boldly behind the vulgar thought, we have to conceive, +metaphysically, that the gravitating principle appertains to Matter +_temporarily_--only while diffused--only while existing as Many instead of +as One--appertains to it by virtue of its state of irradiation +alone--appertains, in a word, altogether to its _condition_, and not in +the slightest degree to _itself_. In this view, when the irradiation +shall have returned into its source--when the raction shall be +completed--the gravitating principle will no longer exist. And, in fact, +astronomers, without at any time reaching the idea here suggested, seem +to have been approximating it, in the assertion that "if there were but +one body in the Universe, it would be impossible to understand how the +principle, Gravity, could obtain:"--that is to say, from a consideration +of Matter as they find it, they reach a conclusion at which I +deductively arrive. That so pregnant a suggestion as the one just quoted +should have been permitted to remain so long unfruitful, is, +nevertheless, a mystery which I find it difficult to fathom. + +It is, perhaps, in no little degree, however, our propensity for the +continuous--for the analogical--in the present case more particularly for +the symmetrical--which has been leading us astray. And, in fact, the +sense of the symmetrical is an instinct which may be depended upon with +an almost blindfold reliance. It is the poetical essence of the +Universe--_of the Universe_ which, in the supremeness of its symmetry, is +but the most sublime of poems. Now symmetry and consistency are +convertible terms:--thus Poetry and Truth are one. A thing is consistent +in the ratio of its truth--true in the ratio of its consistency. _A +perfect consistency, I repeat, can be nothing but an absolute truth._ We +may take it for granted, then, that Man cannot long or widely err, if he +suffer himself to be guided by his poetical, which I have maintained to +be his truthful, in being his symmetrical, instinct. He must have a +care, however, lest, in pursuing too heedlessly the superficial symmetry +of forms and motions, he leave out of sight the really essential +symmetry of the principles which determine and control them. + +That the stellar bodies would finally be merged in one--that, at last, +all would be drawn into the substance of _one stupendous central orb +already existing_--is an idea which, for some time past, seems, vaguely +and indeterminately, to have held possession of the fancy of mankind. It +is an idea, in fact, which belongs to the class of the _excessively +obvious_. It springs, instantly, from a superficial observation of the +cyclic and seemingly _gyrating_, or _vorticial_ movements of those +individual portions of the Universe which come most immediately and most +closely under our observation. There is not, perhaps, a human being, of +ordinary education and of average reflective capacity, to whom, at some +period, the fancy in question has not occurred, as if spontaneously, or +intuitively, and wearing all the character of a very profound and very +original conception. This conception, however, so commonly entertained, +has never, within my knowledge, arisen out of any abstract +considerations. Being, on the contrary, always suggested, as I say, by +the vorticial movements about centres, a reason for it, also,--a _cause_ +for the ingathering of all the orbs into one, _imagined to be already +existing_, was naturally sought in the same direction--among these cyclic +movements themselves. + +Thus it happened that, on announcement of the gradual and perfectly +regular decrease observed in the orbit of Enck's comet, at every +successive revolution about our Sun, astronomers were nearly unanimous +in the opinion that the cause in question was found--that a principle was +discovered sufficient to account, physically, for that final, universal +agglomeration which, I repeat, the analogical, symmetrical or poetical +instinct of Man had predetermined to understand as something more than a +simple hypothesis. + +This cause--this sufficient reason for the final ingathering--was declared +to exist in an exceedingly rare but still material medium pervading +space; which medium, by retarding, in some degree, the progress of the +comet, perpetually weakened its tangential force; thus giving a +predominance to the centripetal; which, of course, drew the comet nearer +and nearer at each revolution, and would eventually precipitate it upon +the Sun. + +All this was strictly logical--admitting the medium or ether; but this +ether was assumed, most illogically, on the ground that no _other_ mode +than the one spoken of could be discovered, of accounting for the +observed decrease in the orbit of the comet:--as if from the fact that we +could _discover_ no other mode of accounting for it, it followed, in any +respect, that no other mode of accounting for it existed. It is clear +that innumerable causes might operate, in combination, to diminish the +orbit, without even a possibility of our ever becoming acquainted with +one of them. In the meantime, it has never been fairly shown, perhaps, +why the retardation occasioned by the skirts of the Sun's atmosphere, +through which the comet passes at perihelion, is not enough to account +for the phnomenon. That Enck's comet will be absorbed into the Sun, is +probable; that all the comets of the system will be absorbed, is more +than merely possible; but, in such case, the principle of absorption +must be referred to eccentricity of orbit--to the close approximation to +the Sun, of the comets at their perihelia; and is a principle not +affecting, in any degree, the ponderous _spheres_, which are to be +regarded as the true material constituents of the Universe.--Touching +comets, in general, let me here suggest, in passing, that we cannot be +far wrong in looking upon them as the _lightning-flashes of the cosmical +Heaven_. + +The idea of a retarding ether and, through it, of a final agglomeration +of all things, seemed at one time, however, to be confirmed by the +observation of a positive decrease in the orbit of the solid moon. By +reference to eclipses recorded 2500 years ago, it was found that the +velocity of the satellite's revolution _then_ was considerably less than +it is _now_; that on the hypothesis that its motions in its orbit is +uniformly in accordance with Kepler's law, and was accurately determined +_then_--2500 years ago--it is now in advance of the position it _should_ +occupy, by nearly 9000 miles. The increase of velocity proved, of +course, a diminution of orbit; and astronomers were fast yielding to a +belief in an ether, as the sole mode of accounting for the phnomenon, +when Lagrange came to the rescue. He showed that, owing to the +configurations of the spheroids, the shorter axes of their ellipses are +subject to variation in length; the longer axes being permanent; and +that this variation is continuous and vibratory--so that every orbit is +in a state of transition, either from circle to ellipse, or from ellipse +to circle. In the case of the moon, where the shorter axis is +_de_creasing, the orbit is passing from circle to ellipse and, +consequently, is _de_creasing too; but, after a long series of ages, the +ultimate eccentricity will be attained; then the shorter axis will +proceed to _in_crease, until the orbit becomes a circle; when the +process of shortening will again take place;--and so on forever. In the +case of the Earth, the orbit is passing from ellipse to circle. The +facts thus demonstrated do away, of course, with all necessity for +supposing an ether, and with all apprehension of the system's +instability--on the ether's account. + +It will be remembered that I have myself assumed what we may term _an +ether_. I have spoken of a subtle _influence_ which we know to be ever +in attendance upon matter, although becoming manifest only through +matter's heterogeneity. To this _influence_--without daring to touch it +at all in any effort at explaining its awful _nature_--I have referred +the various phnomena of electricity, heat, light, magnetism; and +more--of vitality, consciousness, and thought--in a word, of spirituality. +It will be seen, at once, then, that the ether thus conceived is +radically distinct from the ether of the astronomers; inasmuch as theirs +is _matter_ and mine _not_. + +With the idea of a material ether, seems, thus, to have departed +altogether the thought of that universal agglomeration so long +predetermined by the poetical fancy of mankind:--an agglomeration in +which a sound Philosophy might have been warranted in putting faith, at +least to a certain extent, if for no other reason than that by this +poetical fancy it _had_ been so predetermined. But so far as +Astronomy--so far as mere Physics have yet spoken, the cycles of the +Universe are perpetual--the Universe has no conceivable end. Had an end +been demonstrated, however, from so purely collateral a cause as an +ether, Man's instinct of the Divine _capacity to adapt_, would have +rebelled against the demonstration. We should have been forced to regard +the Universe with some such sense of dissatisfaction as we experience in +contemplating an unnecessarily complex work of human art. Creation would +have affected us as an imperfect _plot_ in a romance, where the +_dnoment_ is awkwardly brought about by interposed incidents external +and foreign to the main subject; instead of springing out of the bosom +of the thesis--out of the heart of the ruling idea--instead of arising as +a result of the primary proposition--as inseparable and inevitable part +and parcel of the fundamental conception of the book. + +What I mean by the symmetry of mere surface will now be more clearly +understood. It is simply by the blandishment of this symmetry that we +have been beguiled into the general idea of which Mdler's hypothesis is +but a part--the idea of the vorticial indrawing of the orbs. Dismissing +this nakedly physical conception, the symmetry of principle sees the end +of all things metaphysically involved in the thought of a beginning; +seeks and finds in this origin of all things the _rudiment_ of this end; +and perceives the impiety of supposing this end likely to be brought +about less simply--less directly--less obviously--less artistically--than +through _the raction of the originating Act_. + +Recurring, then, to a previous suggestion, let us understand the +systems--let us understand each star, with its attendant planets--as but a +Titanic atom existing in space with precisely the same inclination for +Unity which characterized, in the beginning, the actual atoms after +their irradiation throughout the Universal sphere. As these original +atoms rushed towards each other in generally straight lines, so let us +conceive as at least generally rectilinear, the paths of the +system-atoms towards their respective centres of aggregation:--and in +this direct drawing together of the systems into clusters, with a +similar and simultaneous drawing together of the clusters themselves +while undergoing consolidation, we have at length attained the great +_Now_--the awful Present--the Existing Condition of the Universe. + +Of the still more awful Future a not irrational analogy may guide us in +framing an hypothesis. The equilibrium between the centripetal and +centrifugal forces of each system, being necessarily destroyed upon +attainment of a certain proximity to the nucleus of the cluster to which +it belongs, there must occur, at once, a chaotic or seemingly chaotic +precipitation, of the moons upon the planets, of the planets upon the +suns, and of the suns upon the nuclei; and the general result of this +precipitation must be the gathering of the myriad now-existing stars of +the firmament into an almost infinitely less number of almost infinitely +superior spheres. In being immeasurably fewer, the worlds of that day +will be immeasurably greater than our own. Then, indeed, amid +unfathomable abysses, will be glaring unimaginable suns. But all this +will be merely a climacic magnificence foreboding the great End. Of this +End the new genesis described, can be but a very partial postponement. +While undergoing consolidation, the clusters themselves, with a speed +prodigiously accumulative, have been rushing towards their own general +centre--and now, with a thousand-fold electric velocity, commensurate +only with their material grandeur and with the spiritual passion of +their appetite for oneness, the majestic remnants of the tribe of Stars +flash, at length, into a common embrace. The inevitable catastrophe is +at hand. + +But this catastrophe--what is it? We have seen accomplished the +ingathering of the orbs. Henceforward, are we not to understand _one +material globe of globes_ as constituting and comprehending the +Universe? Such a fancy would be altogether at war with every assumption +and consideration of this Discourse. + +I have already alluded to that absolute _reciprocity of adaptation_ +which is the idiosyncrasy of the divine Art--stamping it divine. Up to +this point of our reflections, we have been regarding the electrical +influence as a something by dint of whose repulsion alone Matter is +enabled to exist in that state of diffusion demanded for the fulfilment +of its purposes:--so far, in a word, we have been considering the +influence in question as ordained for Matter's sake--to subserve the +objects of matter. With a perfectly legitimate reciprocity, we are now +permitted to look at Matter, as created _solely for the sake of this +influence_--solely to serve the objects of this spiritual Ether. Through +the aid--by the means--through the agency of Matter, and by dint of its +heterogeneity--is this Ether manifested--is _Spirit individualized_. It is +merely in the development of this Ether, through heterogeneity, that +particular masses of Matter become animate--sensitive--and in the ratio of +their heterogeneity;--some reaching a degree of sensitiveness involving +what we call _Thought_ and thus attaining Conscious Intelligence. + +In this view, we are enabled to perceive Matter as a Means--not as an +End. Its purposes are thus seen to have been comprehended in its +diffusion; and with the return into Unity these purposes cease. The +absolutely consolidated globe of globes would be _objectless_:--therefore +not for a moment could it continue to exist. Matter, created for an end, +would unquestionably, on fulfilment of that end, be Matter no longer. +Let us endeavor to understand that it would disappear, and that God +would remain all in all. + +That every work of Divine conception must cexist and cexpire with its +particular design, seems to me especially obvious; and I make no doubt +that, on perceiving the final globe of globes to be _objectless_, the +majority of my readers will be satisfied with my "_therefore_ it cannot +continue to exist." Nevertheless, as the startling thought of its +instantaneous disappearance is one which the most powerful intellect +cannot be expected readily to entertain on grounds so decidedly +abstract, let us endeavor to look at the idea from some other and more +ordinary point of view:--let us see how thoroughly and beautifully it is +corroborated in an _ posteriori_ consideration of Matter as we actually +find it. + +I have before said that "Attraction and Repulsion being undeniably the +sole properties by which Matter is manifested to Mind, we are justified +in assuming that Matter _exists_ only as Attraction and Repulsion--in +other words that Attraction and Repulsion _are_ Matter; there being no +conceivable case in which we may not employ the term Matter and the +terms 'Attraction' and 'Repulsion' taken together, as equivalent, and +therefore convertible, expressions in Logic."[14] + + [14] Page 37. + +Now the very definition of Attraction implies particularity--the +existence of parts, particles, or atoms; for we define it as the +tendency of "each atom &c. to every other atom" &c. according to a +certain law. Of course where there are _no_ parts--where there is +absolute Unity--where the tendency to oneness is satisfied--there can be +no Attraction:--this has been fully shown, and all Philosophy admits it. +When, on fulfilment of its purposes, then, Matter shall have returned +into its original condition of _One_--a condition which presupposes the +expulsion of the separative ether, whose province and whose capacity are +limited to keeping the atoms apart until that great day when, this ether +being no longer needed, the overwhelming pressure of the finally +collective Attraction shall at length just sufficiently predominate[15] +and expel it:--when, I say, Matter, finally, expelling the Ether, shall +have returned into absolute Unity,--it will then (to speak paradoxically +for the moment) be Matter without Attraction and without Repulsion--in +other words, Matter without Matter--in other words, again, _Matter no +more_. In sinking into Unity, it will sink at once into that Nothingness +which, to all Finite Perception, Unity must be--into that Material +Nihility from which alone we can conceive it to have been evoked--to have +been _created_ by the Volition of God. + + [15] "Gravity, therefore, must be the strongest of forces."--See + page 39. + +I repeat then--Let us endeavor to comprehend that the final globe of +globes will instantaneously disappear, and that God will remain all in +all. + +But are we here to pause? Not so. On the Universal agglomeration and +dissolution, we can readily conceive that a new and perhaps totally +different series of conditions may ensue--another creation and +irradiation, returning into itself--another action and raction of the +Divine Will. Guiding our imaginations by that omniprevalent law of laws, +the law of periodicity, are we not, indeed, more than justified in +entertaining a belief--let us say, rather, in indulging a hope--that the +processes we have here ventured to contemplate will be renewed forever, +and forever, and forever; a novel Universe swelling into existence, and +then subsiding into nothingness, at every throb of the Heart Divine? + +And now--this Heart Divine--what is it? _It is our own._ + +Let not the merely seeming irreverence of this idea frighten our souls +from that cool exercise of consciousness--from that deep tranquillity of +self-inspection--through which alone we can hope to attain the presence +of this, the most sublime of truths, and look it leisurely in the face. + +The _phnomena_ on which our conclusions must at this point depend, are +merely spiritual shadows, but not the less thoroughly substantial. + +We walk about, amid the destinies of our world-existence, encompassed by +dim but ever present _Memories_ of a Destiny more vast--very distant in +the by-gone time, and infinitely awful. + +We live out a Youth peculiarly haunted by such dreams; yet never +mistaking them for dreams. As Memories we _know_ them. _During our +Youth_ the distinction is too clear to deceive us even for a moment. + +So long as this Youth endures, the feeling _that we exist_, is the most +natural of all feelings. We understand it _thoroughly_. That there was a +period at which we did _not_ exist--or, that it might so have happened +that we never had existed at all--are the considerations, indeed, which +_during this youth_, we find difficulty in understanding. Why we should +_not_ exist, is, _up to the epoch of our Manhood_, of all queries the most +unanswerable. Existence--self-existence--existence from all Time and to +all Eternity--seems, up to the epoch of Manhood, a normal and +unquestionable condition:--_seems, because it is_. + +But now comes the period at which a conventional World-Reason awakens us +from the truth of our dream. Doubt, Surprise and Incomprehensibility +arrive at the same moment. They say:--"You live and the time was when you +lived not. You have been created. An Intelligence exists greater than +your own; and it is only through this Intelligence you live at all." +These things we struggle to comprehend and cannot:--_cannot_, because +these things, being untrue, are thus, of necessity, incomprehensible. + +No thinking being lives who, at some luminous point of his life of +thought, has not felt himself lost amid the surges of futile efforts at +understanding, or believing, that anything exists _greater than his own +soul_. The utter impossibility of any one's soul feeling itself inferior +to another; the intense, overwhelming dissatisfaction and rebellion at +the thought;--these, with the omniprevalent aspirations at perfection, +are but the spiritual, coincident with the material, struggles towards +the original Unity--are, to my mind at least, a species of proof far +surpassing what Man terms demonstration, that no one soul _is_ inferior +to another--that nothing is, or can be, superior to any one soul--that +each soul is, in part, its own God--its own Creator:--in a word, that +God--the material _and_ spiritual God--_now_ exists solely in the diffused +Matter and Spirit of the Universe; and that the regathering of this +diffused Matter and Spirit will be but the re-constitution of the +_purely_ Spiritual and Individual God. + +In this view, and in this view alone, we comprehend the riddles of +Divine Injustice--of Inexorable Fate. In this view alone the existence of +Evil becomes intelligible; but in this view it becomes more--it becomes +endurable. Our souls no longer rebel at a _Sorrow_ which we ourselves +have imposed upon ourselves, in furtherance of our own purposes--with a +view--if even with a futile view--to the extension of our own _Joy_. + +I have spoken of _Memories_ that haunt us during our youth. They +sometimes pursue us even in our Manhood:--assume gradually less and less +indefinite shapes:--now and then speak to us with low voices, saying: + +"There was an epoch in the Night of Time, when a still-existent Being +existed--one of an absolutely infinite number of similar Beings that +people the absolutely infinite domains of the absolutely infinite +space.[16] It was not and is not in the power of this Being--any more +than it is in your own--to extend, by actual increase, the joy of his +Existence; but just as it _is_ in your power to expand or to concentrate +your pleasures (the absolute amount of happiness remaining always the +same) so did and does a similar capability appertain to this Divine +Being, who thus passes his Eternity in perpetual variation of +Concentrated Self and almost Infinite Self-Diffusion. What you call The +Universe is but his present expansive existence. He now feels his life +through an infinity of imperfect pleasures--the partial and +pain-intertangled pleasures of those inconceivably numerous things which +you designate as his creatures, but which are really but infinite +individualizations of Himself. All these creatures--_all_--those which you +term animate, as well as those to whom you deny life for no better +reason than that you do not behold it in operation--_all_ these +creatures have, in a greater or less degree, a capacity for pleasure +and for pain:--_but the general sum of their sensations is precisely +that amount of Happiness which appertains by right to the Divine Being +when concentrated within Himself_. These creatures are all, too, more or +less conscious Intelligences; conscious, first, of a proper identity; +conscious, secondly and by faint indeterminate glimpses, of an identity +with the Divine Being of whom we speak--of an identity with God. Of the +two classes of consciousness, fancy that the former will grow weaker, +the latter stronger, during the long succession of ages which must +elapse before these myriads of individual Intelligences become +blended--when the bright stars become blended--into One. Think that the +sense of individual identity will be gradually merged in the general +consciousness--that Man, for example, ceasing imperceptibly to feel +himself Man, will at length attain that awfully triumphant epoch when he +shall recognize his existence as that of Jehovah. In the meantime bear +in mind that all is Life--Life--Life within Life--the less within the +greater, and all within the _Spirit Divine_." + + [16] See pages 102-103--Paragraph commencing "I reply that the + right," and ending "proper and particular God." + +THE END. + + + + +155 Broadway, NEW YORK. 142 Strand, LONDON. + +Of late firm of WILEY & PUTNAM. + + +New Works in Press, + +Or recently published, by + +GEORGE P. PUTNAM, + +155 Broadway, New York. + + +G. P. PUTNAM has the pleasure of announcing that, agreeably to his +contract with the distinguished author, he has now in the course of +publication + +_A new, uniform, and complete edition_ + +OF THE + +Works of Washington Irving, + +Revised and enlarged by the Author, + +_In Twelve Elegant Duodecimo Volumes_, + +Beautifully printed with new type, and on superior paper, made expressly +for the purpose. + + +The first volume of the Series will be + +The Sketch-Book, + +complete in one volume, + +which will be ready on the first day of September. + + +Knickerbocker's History of New York, + +with revisions and copious additions, + +will be published on the 1st of October. + + +The Life and Voyages of Columbus, + +Vol. I. on the 1st of November, + +and the succeeding volumes will be issued on the first day of each month +until completed;--as follows: + + _The Sketch-Book, in one volume. + Knickerbocker's New York, in one volume. + Tales of a Traveller, in one volume. + Bracebridge Hall, in one volume. + The Conquest of Grenada, in one volume. + The Alhambra, in one volume. + The Spanish Legends, in one vol. + The Crayon Miscellany, in one vol.--Abbotsford, Newstead, + The Prairies, &c. + Life and Voyages of Columbus, and The Companions of Columbus, 2 vols. + Adventures of Captain Bonneville, one vol. + Astoria, one volume._ + + +The Illustrated Sketch-Book. + +In October will be published, + +The Sketch-Book. + +BY WASHINGTON IRVING. + +One volume, square octavo. + +Illustrated with a series of highly-finished Engravings on wood, from +Designs by Darley and others, engraved in the best style by Childs, +Herrick, &c. This edition will be printed on paper of the finest +quality, similar in size and style to the new edition of "Halleck's +Poems." It is intended that the illustrations shall be superior to any +engravings on wood yet produced in this country, and that the mechanical +execution of the volume, altogether, shall be worthy of the author's +reputation. It will form an elegant and appropriate gift-book for all +seasons. + + +The Illustrated Knickerbocker, + +With a series of Original Designs, in one vol., octavo, is also in +preparation. + + +Mr. Putnam has also the honor to announce that he will publish at +intervals (in connexion, and uniform with the other collected writings), + +_Mr. Irving's New Works_, + +now nearly ready for the press: including + +The Life of Mohammed; The Life of Washington; new volumes of +Miscellanies, Biographies, &c. + + * * * This being the first uniform and complete edition of Mr. + Irving's works, either in this country or in Europe, the + publisher confidently believes that the undertaking will meet + with a prompt and cordial response. To say this, is perhaps + superfluous and impertinent; for it is a truism that no + _American_ book-case (not to say _library_) can be well filled + without the works of Washington Irving; while the English + language itself comprises no purer models of composition. + + +G. P. Putnam has also made arrangements for the early commencement of +new works or new editions of the works of + + _Miss C. M. Sedgwick, + Prof. A. Gray, + Leigh Hunt, + Chas. Fenno Hoffman, + Mrs. E. Oakes Smith, + Thomas Carlyle, + George H. Calvert, + Mrs. C. M. Kirkland, + R. Monckton Milnes, + J. Bayard Taylor, + Mary Howitt, + Mrs. Jameson, + S. Wells Williams, + W. M. Thackeray, + Charles Lamb, + A. J. Downing, + Thos. Hood, + Elliot Warburton_. + + +The following new works are now ready, or will be published this season: + +I. + +Sophisms of the Protective Policy. + +Translated from the French of F. Bastiat. With an introduction by +Francis Lieber, LL.D. Professor in South Carolina College, Editor of the +Encyclopedia Americana, &c. 12mo. 75 cents. + + "It is a book not for the million but for millions, and we + believe if a copy could be put into the hands of every + school-boy in the Union, the next generation would be + inconceivably wiser, richer, and happier than the + present."--_Mirror._ + +II. + +Grecian and Roman Mythology: + +With original illustrations. Adapted for the use of Universities and +High Schools, and for popular reading. By M. A. Dwight. With an +introduction by Tayler Lewis, Professor of Greek, University of New +York. 12mo. (On 1st September.) + +Also a fine edition in octavo, with illustrations. + + * * * This work has been prepared with great care, illustrated with + 20 effective outline drawings, and is designed to treat the + subject in an original, comprehensive, and unexceptionable + manner, so as to fill the place as a text book which is yet + unsupplied; while it will also be an attractive and readable + table book for general use. It will be at once introduced as a + text book in the University of New York and other colleges and + schools. + +III. + +Eureka: a Prose Poem. + +Or the Physical and Metaphysical Universe. + +By Edgar A. Poe, Esq. Handsomely printed, 12mo. Cloth, 75 cents. + + "A most extraordinary Essay. We shall be greatly surprised if + this work does not create a most profound sensation among the + literary and scientific classes."--_New York Express._ + +IV. + +Oriental Life Illustrated. + +Being a new edition of Ethen, or Traces of Travel in the East. With +fine illustrations on Steel. 12mo. elegantly bound, $1 50. + + * * * This new and unique volume, superbly illuminated by Mapleson, + and comprising original articles by distinguished writers, will + be the most elegant and recherch book of the kind ever + produced in this country. It will be ready in October. + +A new and superior edition of the PEARLS OF AMERICAN POETRY will also be +published this season. + +V. + +The Book of Dainty Devices. + +In an elegant small folio volume. + +Lays of the Western World. + +VI. + +Dr. Klipstein's Anglo-Saxon Course of Study. + +In uniform 12mo. volumes. + +I. + +A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Language. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. +and PH.D., of the University of Giessen. + + * * * This work recommends itself particularly to the attention of + every American student who "glories in his Anglo-Saxon descent" + or Teutonic lineage, as well as of all who desire an + acquaintance with a language which lies as the foundation of + the English, and throws a light upon its elements and + structure, derivable from no other source. Of the importance + and interesting nature of the study there can be no doubt, and + we agree with those who think that the time is coming when it + will be considered "utterly disgraceful for any well-bred + Englishman or American" to have neglected it. With regard to + the merits of Dr. Klipstein's Grammar, we will only say, that + it has been already adopted as a text-book in some of the + leading Institutions of our country. + +[The following are also in press.] + +II. + +Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, with an Introductory Ethnographical Essay, +Copious Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Glossary in which are +shown the Indo-Germanic and other Affinities of the Language. _By the +same._ + +In this work appear the fruits of considerable research, and, we may +add, learning. The Ethnology of Europe is succinctly, but clearly +illustrated, the Anglo-Saxon language completely analysed, revealing the +utmost harmony of combination from its elements, its forms and roots +compared with those in kindred dialects and cognate tongues, its +position in the Teutonic family and Indo-Germanic range established, and +the genuine relation of the English to its great parent properly set +forth. To those who are fond of the comparative study of language, the +Glossary will prove an invaluable aid, apart from its particular object. + +III. + +Natale Sancti Gregorii Pap.--lfric's Homily on the Birth-day of St. +Gregory, and Collateral Extracts from King Alfred's version of Bede's +Ecclesiastical History and the Saxon Chronicle, with a full rendering +into English, Notes Critical and Explanatory, and an Index of Words. _By +the same._ + +IV. + +Extracts from the Anglo-Saxon-Gospels, a Portion of the Anglo-Saxon +Paraphrase of the Book of Psalms, and other Selections of a Sacred Order +in the same Language, with a Translation into English, and Notes +Critical and Explanatory. _By the same._ + +These two works are prepared in such a way as in themselves, with the +aid of the Grammar, to afford every facility to the Anglo-Saxon Student. +lfric's Homily is remarkable for beauty of composition, and interesting +as setting forth Augustine's Mission to the "Land of the Angles." + +V. + +Tha Halgan Godspel on Englisc--the Anglo-Saxon Version of the Holy +Gospels. Edited by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A. _Reprinted by the same. Now +ready._ + +This, the earliest "English" version of the Four Gospels, will be found +interesting to the antiquarian and theologian, as well as serviceable to +the student in his investigations of the language. The Text, besides the +usual but unbroken division, appears, with the Rubrics, as read in the +early Anglican Church. + + +_Nearly Ready._ + +Dr. Bosworth's Compendious Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Small 8vo. + +VII. + +Study of Modern Languages. + +Part First; French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English. + +By L. F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and Ph.D. One Vol. Imperial 8vo. 75 cents +paper; $1 00 cloth. + +This work, which is intended equally for the simultaneous and the +separate study of the languages that it sets forth, and which is adapted +as well for the native of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, or Portugal, as +for him to whom English is vernacular, in the acquirement of any one of +the other tongues besides his own, will be found an acceptable manual +not only to the tyro, but to the more advanced scholar. The reading +portion of the matter is interesting, and the text in every case +remarkably correct, while the Elementary Phrases, forms of Cards, +Letters, Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Receipts, &c., in the six +languages, constitute what has long been a desideratum from the American +press. For the comparative study of the _Romanic_ tongues the work +affords unusual facilities. + +VIII. + +Pedestrian Tour in Europe. + +Views a-Foot; or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff. + +By J. Bayard Taylor. + +A new edition with an additional chapter, and a sketch of the author in +pedestrian costume, from a drawing by T. Buchanan Read. 12mo. Cloth. + +IX. + +A New Edition of + +Clarke's Shakspeare Concordance. + +A Complete Concordance to Shakspeare: being a Verbal Index to ALL the +PASSAGES in the Dramatic Works of the Poet. By Mrs. Cowden Clarke. + +"Order gave each thing view." + +One large Vol. comprising 2560 closely printed columns,--(indicating +_every word and passage_ in Shakspeare's Works). Price $6. Cloth. + + "The result of sixteen years of untiring labor. The different + editions of Shakspeare have been carefully collated by the + compiler, and every possible means taken to insure the + correctness of the work. As it now stands, a person can find a + particular passage in Shakspeare by simply remembering one word + of it, and is also referred to the act and scene of the play in + which it occurs. As a mere dictionary of Shakspearian language + and phrases, it is of great value; but it is also a dictionary + of his thoughts and imaginations. It altogether supersedes the + volumes of Twiss and Ayscough, and should be on every student's + shelves"--_Boston Courier._ + + * * * This extraordinary work is printed in London and the price + there _at present_ is 2. 5s. 0d. or about $12. A large part of + the edition having been purchased for this market, it is + furnished here for the very low price of $6, bound in cloth. + +_Also--By same Author._ + +The Book of Shakspeare Proverbs. + +18mo. 75 cts. + + +_Dr. Lieber's Poetical Address to the American Republic._ + +16mo. 25 cents. + +The West: + +A Metrical Epistle. + +BY FRANCIS LIEBER. + + * * * Dr. Lieber, the distinguished Professor of Political Economy + in South Carolina College, Author of "Political Ethics," &c., + has just sailed for his native country--Germany--with the view of + aiding in the great cause of Constitutional and Rational + Freedom. This little volume proves that he has well studied + that subject during his long residence in this his adopted + country--and his able and valuable opinions on American Society + and Progress, carry with them a peculiar interest at this time. + + +RECENT PUBLICATIONS. + +Alexander.--Commentary on the Earlier Prophecies of Isaiah. By Prof. J. +A. Alexander. Royal 8vo. cloth, $3. + +Alexander.--Commentary on the Later Prophecies of Isaiah. By Prof. J. A. +Alexander. Royal 8vo. cloth, $2 50. + +Ancient Moral Tales, from the Gesta Romanorum, &c. 1 vol. 12mo. green +cloth. + + "A quiet humor, a quaintness and terseness of style, will + strongly recommend them."--_English Churchman._ + +Architecture.--Hints on Public Architecture; issued under the Direction +of the "Smithsonian Institution." Imperial 4to. with Illustrations. (In +preparation.) + + This work will contain numerous and valuable illustrations, + including two perspective views of the buildings of the + Smithsonian Institution. The Appendix will contain the results + of a research under the auspices of the Institution to test the + properties of the most important building materials throughout + the United States. + +Bastiat.--Sophisms of the Protective Policy. Translated from the French +of F. Bastiat. With an Introduction, by Francis Lieber, LL.D., Professor +in South Carolina College, Editor of the Encyclopdia Americana, &c., +&c. 12mo. 75 cts. + +Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Review. Conducted by B. B. Edwards and +E. A. Park, Professors at Andover, with the Special Aid of Dr. Robinson +and Professor Stuart. Published quarterly in February, May, August, and +November $4 per annum. Vols. 1, 2, 3, and 4, 8vo. cloth, each $4. + + "This is, perhaps, the most ambitious journal in the United + States. We use the word in a good sense, as meaning that there + is no journal among us which seems more laudably desirous to + take the lead in literary and theological science. 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Will be published on the 1st of +October. + +Irving.--The Illustrated Knickerbocker; with a series of original +Designs, in one volume, octavo, uniform with the "Sketch-Book," is also +in preparation. + +Irving.--The Life and Voyages of Columbus. By Washington Irving. 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Klipstein, +AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of Giessen. 12mo. cloth, $1 25. + +II. + +Klipstein.--Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, with an Introductory Ethnographical +Essay, Copious Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Glossary in which +are shown the Indo-Germanic and other Affinities of the Language. By +Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of Giessen. + +III. + +Klipstein.--Natale Sancti Gregorii Pap.--lfric's Homily on the Birth-day +of St. Gregory, and Collateral Extracts from King Alfred's Version of +Bede's Ecclesiastical History and the Saxon Chronicle, with a full +Rendering into English, Notes Critical and Explanatory, and an Index of +Words. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of +Giessen. + +IV. + +Klipstein.--Extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Gospels, a Portion of the +Anglo-Saxon Paraphrase of the Book of Psalms, and other Selections of a +Sacred Order in the same Language, with a Translation into English, and +Notes Critical and Explanatory. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and +PH.D., of the University of Giessen. + +V. + +Klipstein.--Tha Halgan Godspel on Englisc--the Anglo-Saxon Version of the +Holy Gospels. Edited by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A. _Reprinted by the same. +Now ready._ 12mo. cloth, $1 25. + +Klipstein.--Study of Modern Languages.--Part First; French, Italian, +Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English. By L. F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. +and PH.D. One vol. Imperial 8vo. Cloth, $1; paper 75 cents. + +Lamb.--Essays of Elia. By Charles Lamb. 1 vol. 12mo., cloth. $1. + +---- The same, gilt extra, $1 25. + + "Shakspeare himself might have read them, and Hamlet have + quoted them: for truly was our excellent friend of the genuine + line of Yorick."--_Leigh Hunt's London Journal._ + +Lamb.--Specimens of the English Dramatic Poets. By Charles Lamb. 1 vol. +12mo., green cloth, $1 13. + +---- The same, gilt extra, $1 50. + + "Nowhere are the resources of the English tongue in power, in + sweetness, terror, pathos; in description and dialogue, so well + displayed."--_Broadway Journal._ + +Mahan.--On Advanced Guards, Outposts, and Military Duty. By D. H. Mahan, +M.A. 18mo. cloth, 75 cents + +Mahan's Course of Civil Engineering. Third edition, 8vo. Illustrated. $3 +50. + +Milton.--The Prose Works of John Milton. Edited by Rev. Rufus Wilmott +Griswold. 2 vols. 8vo., cloth, $4. + +Modern Painters. By a Graduate of Oxford. 12mo. cloth, $1 25. + +---- The same. 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Poe + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 1em;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; + clear: both; + font-family: "Garamond", Times, serif;} + + h1 {letter-spacing: 0.20ex;} + + h2 {margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + + h3 {margin-bottom: 1em;} + + hr {width: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + height: 1px; + border: 0; + background-color: black; + color: black;} + + hr.a1 {width: 20%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + + table {margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto;} + + table.namelist {width: 70%; + font-style: italic;} + + table.list2 {width: 70%; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto;} + + table.list2 td {padding-left: 1em; + text-indent: -1em; + padding-right: 2em;} + + td.ral {text-align: right; + padding-left: 2em;} + + ul.booklist {margin-left: 2em; + text-indent: -1em; + font-style: italic; + line-height: 140%;} + + body{margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + + p.dedication {line-height: 200%; + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em;} + + p.publisher {margin-top: 4em; + text-align: center; + font-size: smaller; + margin-bottom: 3em; + text-indent: 0em; + line-height: 150%;} + + p.copyright {padding-top: 4em; + padding-bottom: 4em; + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + font-size: 70%; + line-height: 150%} + + p.ads {margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; + font-size: 90%;} + + p.ads2 {margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; + font-size: 90%; + padding-left: 1em; + text-indent: -1em;} + + p.btit {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + letter-spacing: 0.10ex; + line-height: 150%;} + + div.tpage {font-family: "Garamond", Times, serif;} + + div.advertisements {margin-top: 1em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: smaller; + padding: 1em 1em 1em 1em; + background-color: #FBF5E6; + color: black;} + + img {border-style: none;} + + ul {list-style: none; + line-height: 150%;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + right: 1%; + font-size: x-small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + font-style: normal; + letter-spacing: 0ex; + text-indent: 0em; + font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;} + + a:link {text-decoration: none; + color: #104E8B; + background-color: inherit;} + + a:visited {text-decoration: none; + color: #8B0000; + background-color: inherit;} + + a:hover {text-decoration: underline;} + + a:active {text-decoration: underline;} + + .center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em;} + + .name {font-size: 130%; + font-weight: bold; + letter-spacing: 0.20ex;} + + .right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold; + text-indent: 0em;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em;} + + div.footnote p {text-indent: 0em;} + + .footnotes {border: dotted 1px; + padding-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 2em;} + + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: smaller;} + + .footnote .label {position: absolute; + right: 79%; + text-align: right;} + + .fnanchor { vertical-align: baseline; + font-size: 80%; + position: relative; + top: -.4em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eureka:, by Edgar A. Poe + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Eureka: + A Prose Poem + +Author: Edgar A. Poe + +Release Date: April 18, 2010 [EBook #32037] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EUREKA: *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Bach, Irma Spehar and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="tpage"> +<h1>EUREKA:<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size: 60%">A PROSE POEM.</span></h1> + +<p class="center" style="padding-top: 5em; padding-bottom: 1em; font-size: 70%">BY</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold">EDGAR A. POE.</p> + +<p class="publisher">NEW-YORK:<br /> +<big>GEO. P. PUTNAM,</big><br /> +<small>OF LATE FIRM OF “WILEY & PUTNAM,”</small><br /> +155 BROADWAY.<br /> + +<small>MDCCCXLVIII.</small></p> + +<p class="copyright"><span class="smcap">Entered</span>, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848,<br /> +<span class="smcap">By</span> EDGAR A. POE,<br /> +In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York.<br /><br /><br /> + +<span class="smcap">Leavitt, Trow & Co</span> Prs.,<br /> +33 Ann-street.</p> + +<p class="dedication"><small>WITH VERY PROFOUND RESPECT,</small><br /> + +This Work is Dedicated<br /> + +<small>TO</small><br /> + +ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.</p> +</div> + + + +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="smcap">To</span> the few who love me and whom I love—to those +who feel rather than to those who think—to the dreamers +and those who put faith in dreams as in the only realities—I +offer this Book of Truths, not in its character of Truth-Teller, +but for the Beauty that abounds in its Truth; constituting +it true. To these I present the composition as an +Art-Product alone:—let us say as a Romance; or, if I be +not urging too lofty a claim, as a Poem.</p> + +<p><i>What I here propound is true</i>:—therefore it cannot +die:—or if by any means it be now trodden down so that it +die, it will “rise again to the Life Everlasting.”</p> + +<p>Nevertheless it is as a Poem only that I wish this work +to be judged after I am dead.</p> + +<p class="right">E. A. P.</p> + + + +<h2><a name="EUREKA" id="EUREKA"></a>EUREKA:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></h2> + +<h3>AN ESSAY ON THE MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE.</h3> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is with humility really unassumed—it is with a sentiment +even of awe—that I pen the opening sentence of this +work: for of all conceivable subjects I approach the reader +with the most solemn—the most comprehensive—the most +difficult—the most august.</p> + +<p>What terms shall I find sufficiently simple in their sublimity—sufficiently +sublime in their simplicity—for the mere +enunciation of my theme?</p> + +<p>I design to speak of the <i>Physical, Metaphysical and +Mathematical—of the Material and Spiritual Universe:—of +its Essence, its Origin, its Creation, its Present Condition +and its Destiny</i>. I shall be so rash, moreover, as to +challenge the conclusions, and thus, in effect, to question +the sagacity, of many of the greatest and most justly reverenced +of men.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the beginning, let me as distinctly as possible announce—not +the theorem which I hope to demonstrate—for, whatever +the mathematicians may assert, there is, in this world +at least, <i>no such thing</i> as demonstration—but the ruling +idea which, throughout this volume, I shall be continually +endeavoring to suggest.</p> + +<p>My general proposition, then, is this:—<i>In the Original +Unity of the First Thing lies the Secondary Cause of All +Things, with the Germ of their Inevitable Annihilation</i>.</p> + +<p>In illustration of this idea, I propose to take such a survey +of the Universe that the mind may be able really to +receive and to perceive an individual impression.</p> + +<p>He who from the top of Ætna casts his eyes leisurely +around, is affected chiefly by the <i>extent</i> and <i>diversity</i> of the +scene. Only by a rapid whirling on his heel could he hope +to comprehend the panorama in the sublimity of its <i>oneness</i>. +But as, on the summit of Ætna, <i>no</i> man has thought of +whirling on his heel, so no man has ever taken into his +brain the full uniqueness of the prospect; and so, again, +whatever considerations lie involved in this uniqueness, +have as yet no practical existence for mankind.</p> + +<p>I do not know a treatise in which a survey of the <i>Universe</i>—using +the word in its most comprehensive and only +legitimate acceptation—is taken at all:—and it may be as +well here to mention that by the term “Universe,” wherever +employed without qualification in this essay, I mean to designate +<i>the utmost conceivable expanse of space, with all +things, spiritual and material, that can be imagined to exist +within the compass of that expanse</i>. In speaking of what is +ordinarily implied by the expression, “Universe,” I shall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +take a phrase of limitation—“the Universe of stars.” Why +this distinction is considered necessary, will be seen in the +sequel.</p> + +<p>But even of treatises on the really limited, although +always assumed as the <i>un</i>limited, Universe of <i>stars</i>, I know +none in which a survey, even of this limited Universe, is +so taken as to warrant deductions from its <i>individuality</i>. +The nearest approach to such a work is made in the “Cosmos” +of Alexander Von Humboldt. He presents the subject, +however, <i>not</i> in its individuality but in its generality. +His theme, in its last result, is the law of <i>each</i> portion of the +merely physical Universe, as this law is related to the laws +of <i>every other</i> portion of this merely physical Universe. His +design is simply synœretical. In a word, he discusses the +universality of material relation, and discloses to the eye of +Philosophy whatever inferences have hitherto lain hidden +<i>behind</i> this universality. But however admirable be the +succinctness with which he has treated each particular +point of his topic, the mere multiplicity of these points occasions, +necessarily, an amount of detail, and thus an involution +of idea, which precludes all <i>individuality</i> of impression.</p> + +<p>It seems to me that, in aiming at this latter effect, and, +through it, at the consequences—the conclusions—the suggestions—the +speculations—or, if nothing better offer itself +the mere guesses which may result from it—we require +something like a mental gyration on the heel. We need so +rapid a revolution of all things about the central point of +sight that, while the minutiæ vanish altogether, even the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +more conspicuous objects become blended into one. Among +the vanishing minutiæ, in a survey of this kind, would be all +exclusively terrestrial matters. The Earth would be considered +in its planetary relations alone. A man, in this +view, becomes mankind; mankind a member of the cosmical +family of Intelligences.</p> + +<p>And now, before proceeding to our subject proper, let +me beg the reader’s attention to an extract or two from a +somewhat remarkable letter, which appears to have been +found corked in a bottle and floating on the <i>Mare Tenebrarum</i>—an +ocean well described by the Nubian geographer, +Ptolemy Hephestion, but little frequented in modern days +unless by the Transcendentalists and some other divers for +crotchets. The date of this letter, I confess, surprises me +even more particularly than its contents; for it seems to +have been written in the year <i>two</i> thousand eight hundred +and forty-eight. As for the passages I am about to transcribe, +they, I fancy, will speak for themselves.</p> + +<p>“Do you know, my dear friend,” says the writer, addressing, +no doubt, a contemporary—“Do you know that it +is scarcely more than eight or nine hundred years ago since +the metaphysicians first consented to relieve the people of +the singular fancy that there exist <i>but two practicable roads +to Truth</i>? Believe it if you can! It appears, however, that +long, long ago, in the night of Time, there lived a Turkish +philosopher called Aries and surnamed Tottle.” [Here, possibly, +the letter-writer means Aristotle; the best names are +wretchedly corrupted in two or three thousand years.] “The +fame of this great man depended mainly upon his demonstration +that sneezing is a natural provision, by means of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +which over-profound thinkers are enabled to expel superfluous +ideas through the nose; but he obtained a scarcely less +valuable celebrity as the founder, or at all events as the +principal propagator, of what was termed the <i>de</i>ductive or +<i>à priori</i> philosophy. He started with what he maintained +to be axioms, or self-evident truths:—and the now well understood +fact that <i>no</i> truths are <i>self</i>-evident, really does not +make in the slightest degree against his speculations:—it +was sufficient for his purpose that the truths in question +were evident at all. From axioms he proceeded, logically, +to results. His most illustrious disciples were one Tuclid, a +geometrician,” [meaning Euclid] “and one Kant, a Dutchman, +the originator of that species of Transcendentalism +which, with the change merely of a C for a K, now bears +his peculiar name.</p> + +<p>“Well, Aries Tottle flourished supreme, until the advent +of one Hog, surnamed ‘the Ettrick shepherd,’ who preached +an entirely different system, which he called the <i>à posteriori</i> +or <i>in</i>ductive. His plan referred altogether to sensation. +He proceeded by observing, analyzing, and classifying facts—<i>instantiæ +Naturæ</i>, as they were somewhat affectedly +called—and arranging them into general laws. In a word, +while the mode of Aries rested on <i>noumena</i>, that of Hog +depended on <i>phenomena</i>; and so great was the admiration +excited by this latter system that, at its first introduction, +Aries fell into general disrepute. Finally, however, he +recovered ground, and was permitted to divide the empire +of Philosophy with his more modern rival:—the savans +contenting themselves with proscribing all <i>other</i> competitors, +past, present, and to come; putting an end to all controversy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +on the topic by the promulgation of a Median law, +to the effect that the Aristotelian and Baconian roads are, +and of right ought to be, the solo possible avenues to knowledge:—‘Baconian,’ +you must know, my dear friend,” adds +the letter-writer at this point, “was an adjective invented +as equivalent to Hog-ian, and at the same time more dignified +and euphonious.</p> + +<p>“Now I do assure you most positively”—proceeds the +epistle—“that I represent these matters fairly; and you can +easily understand how restrictions so absurd on their very +face must have operated, in those days, to retard the progress +of true Science, which makes its most important +advances—as all History will show—by seemingly intuitive +<i>leaps</i>. These ancient ideas confined investigation to crawling; +and I need not suggest to you that crawling, among +varieties of locomotion, is a very capital thing of its kind;—but +because the tortoise is sure of foot, for this reason must +we clip the wings of the eagles? For many centuries, so +great was the infatuation, about Hog especially, that a virtual +stop was put to all thinking, properly so called. No +man dared utter a truth for which he felt himself indebted +to his soul alone. It mattered not whether the truth was +even demonstrably such; for the dogmatizing philosophers +of that epoch regarded only <i>the road</i> by which it professed +to have been attained. The end, with them, was a point of +no moment, whatever:—‘the means!’ they vociferated—‘let +us look at the means!’—and if, on scrutiny of the means, +it was found to come neither under the category Hog, nor +under the category Aries (which means ram), why then the +savans went no farther, but, calling the thinker a fool and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +branding him a ‘theorist,’ would never, thenceforward, have +any thing to do either with <i>him</i> or with his truths.</p> + +<p>“Now, my dear friend,” continues the letter-writer, “it +cannot be maintained that by the crawling system, exclusively +adopted, men would arrive at the maximum amount +of truth, even in any long series of ages; for the repression +of imagination was an evil not to be counterbalanced even +by <i>absolute</i> certainty in the snail processes. But their certainty +was very far from absolute. The error of our progenitors +was quite analogous with that of the wiseacre who +fancies he must necessarily see an object the more distinctly, +the more closely he holds it to his eyes. They blinded +themselves, too, with the impalpable, titillating Scotch snuff +of <i>detail</i>; and thus the boasted facts of the Hog-ites were +by no means always facts—a point of little importance but +for the assumption that they always <i>were</i>. The vital taint, +however, in Baconianism—its most lamentable fount of +error—lay in its tendency to throw power and consideration +into the hands of merely perceptive men—of those +inter-Tritonic minnows, the microscopical savans—the diggers +and pedlers of minute <i>facts</i>, for the most part in physical +science—facts all of which they retailed at the same price +upon the highway; their value depending, it was supposed, +simply upon the <i>fact of their fact</i>, without reference to +their applicability or inapplicability in the development of +those ultimate and only legitimate facts, called Law.</p> + +<p>“Than the persons”—the letter goes on to say—“Than +the persons thus suddenly elevated by the Hog-ian philosophy +into a station for which they were unfitted—thus transferred +from the sculleries into the parlors of Science—from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +its pantries into its pulpits—than these individuals a +more intolerant—a more intolerable set of bigots and +tyrants never existed on the face of the earth. Their creed, +their text and their sermon were, alike, the one word ‘<i>fact</i>’—but, +for the most part, even of this one word, they knew +not even the meaning. On those who ventured to <i>disturb</i> +their facts with the view of putting them in order and to +use, the disciples of Hog had no mercy whatever. All attempts +at generalization were met at once by the words +‘theoretical,’ ‘theory,’ ‘theorist’—all <i>thought</i>, to be brief, +was very properly resented as a personal affront to themselves. +Cultivating the natural sciences to the exclusion of +Metaphysics, the Mathematics, and Logic, many of these +Bacon-engendered philosophers—one-idead, one-sided and +lame of a leg—were more wretchedly helpless—more miserably +ignorant, in view of all the comprehensible objects +of knowledge, than the veriest unlettered hind who proves +that he knows something at least, in admitting that he +knows absolutely nothing.</p> + +<p>“Nor had our forefathers any better right to talk about +<i>certainty</i>, when pursuing, in blind confidence, the <i>à priori</i> +path of axioms, or of the Ram. At innumerable points this +path was scarcely as straight as a ram’s-horn. The simple +truth is, that the Aristotelians erected their castles upon a +basis far less reliable than air; <i>for no such things as axioms +ever existed or can possibly exist at all</i>. This they must +have been very blind, indeed, not to see, or at least to suspect; +for, even in their own day, many of their long-admitted +‘axioms’ had been abandoned:—‘<i>ex nihilo nihil fit</i>,’ +for example, and a ‘thing cannot act where it is not,’ and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +‘there cannot be antipodes,’ and ‘darkness cannot proceed +from light.’ These and numerous similar propositions formerly +accepted, without hesitation, as axioms, or undeniable +truths, were, even at the period of which I speak, seen to +be altogether untenable:—how absurd in these people, then, +to persist in relying upon a basis, as immutable, whose mutability +had become so repeatedly manifest!</p> + +<p>“But, even through evidence afforded by themselves +against themselves, it is easy to convict these <i>à priori</i> +reasoners of the grossest unreason—it is easy to show the +futility—the impalpability of their axioms in general. I +have now lying before me”—it will be observed that we +still proceed with the letter—“I have now lying before me +a book printed about a thousand years ago. Pundit assures +me that it is decidedly the cleverest ancient work on its +topic, which is ‘Logic.’ The author, who was much +esteemed in his day, was one Miller, or Mill; and we find +it recorded of him, as a point of some importance, that he +rode a mill-horse whom he called Jeremy Bentham:—but +let us glance at the volume itself!</p> + +<p>“Ah!—‘Ability or inability to conceive,’ says Mr. Mill +very properly, ‘is <i>in no case</i> to be received as a criterion of +axiomatic truth.’ Now, that this is a palpable truism no +one in his senses will deny. <i>Not</i> to admit the proposition, +is to insinuate a charge of variability in Truth itself, whose +very title is a synonym of the Steadfast. If ability to conceive +be taken as a criterion of Truth, then a truth to +<i>David</i> Hume would very seldom be a truth to <i>Joe</i>; and +ninety-nine hundredths of what is undeniable in Heaven +would be demonstrable falsity upon Earth. The proposition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +of Mr. Mill, then, is sustained. I will not grant it to be an +<i>axiom</i>; and this merely because I am showing that <i>no</i> +axioms exist; but, with a distinction which could not have +been cavilled at even by Mr. Mill himself, I am ready to +grant that, <i>if</i> an axiom <i>there be</i>, then the proposition of which +we speak has the fullest right to be considered an axiom—that +no <i>more</i> absolute axiom <i>is</i>—and, consequently, that any +subsequent proposition which shall conflict with this one +primarily advanced, must be either a falsity in itself—that +is to say no axiom—or, if admitted axiomatic, must at once +neutralize both itself and its predecessor.</p> + +<p>“And now, by the logic of their own propounder, let us +proceed to test any one of the axioms propounded. Let us +give Mr. Mill the fairest of play. We will bring the point +to no ordinary issue. We will select for investigation no +common-place axiom—no axiom of what, not the less preposterously +because only impliedly, he terms his secondary +class—as if a positive truth by definition could be either +more or less positively a truth:—we will select, I say, no +axiom of an unquestionability so questionable as is to be +found in Euclid. We will not talk, for example, about such +propositions as that two straight lines cannot enclose a +space, or that the whole is greater than any one of its parts. +We will afford the logician <i>every</i> advantage. We will come +at once to a proposition which he regards as the acme of the +unquestionable—as the quintessence of axiomatic undeniability. +Here it is:—‘Contradictions cannot <i>both</i> be true—that +is, cannot cöexist in nature.’ Here Mr. Mill means, +for instance,—and I give the most forcible instance conceivable—that +a tree must be either a tree or <i>not</i> a tree—that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +it cannot be at the same time a tree <i>and</i> not a tree:—all +which is quite reasonable of itself and will answer remarkably +well as an axiom, until we bring it into collation with +an axiom insisted upon a few pages before—in other words—words +which I have previously employed—until we test +it by the logic of its own propounder. ‘A tree,’ Mr. Mill +asserts, ‘must be either a tree or <i>not</i> a tree.’ Very well:—and +now let me ask him, <i>why</i>. To this little query there +is but one response:—I defy any man living to invent a +second. The sole answer is this:—‘Because we find it +<i>impossible to conceive</i> that a tree can be any thing else than +a tree or not a tree.’ This, I repeat, is Mr. Mill’s sole +answer:—he will not <i>pretend</i> to suggest another:—and +yet, by his own showing, his answer is clearly no answer +at all; for has he not already required us to admit, <i>as an +axiom</i>, that ability or inability to conceive is <i>in no case</i> to +be taken as a criterion of axiomatic truth? Thus all—absolutely +<i>all</i> his argumentation is at sea without a rudder. +Let it not be urged that an exception from the general rule +is to be made, in cases where the ‘impossibility to conceive’ +is so peculiarly great as when we are called upon to +conceive a tree <i>both</i> a tree and <i>not</i> a tree. Let no attempt, +I say, be made at urging this sotticism; for, in the first +place, there are no <i>degrees</i> of ‘impossibility,’ and thus no +one impossible conception can be <i>more</i> peculiarly impossible +than another impossible conception:—in the second place, +Mr. Mill himself, no doubt after thorough deliberation, has +most distinctly, and most rationally, excluded all opportunity +for exception, by the emphasis of his proposition, that, +<i>in no case</i>, is ability or inability to conceive, to be taken as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +a criterion of axiomatic truth:—in the third place, even +were exceptions admissible at all, it remains to be shown +how any exception is admissible <i>here</i>. That a tree can be +both a tree and not a tree, is an idea which the angels, or +the devils, <i>may</i> entertain, and which no doubt many an +earthly Bedlamite, or Transcendentalist, <i>does</i>.</p> + +<p>“Now I do not quarrel with these ancients,” continues +the letter-writer, “<i>so much</i> on account of the transparent +frivolity of their logic—which, to be plain, was baseless, +worthless and fantastic altogether—as on account of their +pompous and infatuate proscription of all <i>other</i> roads to +Truth than the two narrow and crooked paths—the one +of creeping and the other of crawling—to which, in their +ignorant perversity, they have dared to confine the Soul—the +Soul which loves nothing so well as to soar in those +regions of illimitable intuition which are utterly incognizant +of ‘<i>path</i>.’</p> + +<p>“By the bye, my dear friend, is it not an evidence of +the mental slavery entailed upon those bigoted people by +their Hogs and Rams, that in spite of the eternal prating +of their savans about <i>roads</i> to Truth, none of them fell, +even by accident, into what we now so distinctly perceive +to be the broadest, the straightest and most available of all +mere roads—the great thoroughfare—the majestic highway +of the <i>Consistent</i>? Is it not wonderful that they should +have failed to deduce from the works of God the vitally +momentous consideration that <i>a perfect consistency can be +nothing but an absolute truth</i>? How plain—how rapid +our progress since the late announcement of this proposition! +By its means, investigation has been taken out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +the hands of the ground-moles, and given as a duty, rather +than as a task, to the true—to the <i>only</i> true thinkers—to +the generally-educated men of ardent imagination. These +latter—our Keplers—our Laplaces—‘speculate’—‘theorize’—these +are the terms—can you not fancy the shout of scorn +with which they would be received by our progenitors, +were it possible for them to be looking over my shoulders +as I write? The Keplers, I repeat, speculate—theorize—and +their theories are merely corrected—reduced—sifted—cleared, +little by little, of their chaff of inconsistency—until +at length there stands apparent an unencumbered <i>Consistency</i>—a +consistency which the most stolid admit—because +it <i>is</i> a consistency—to be an absolute and an unquestionable +<i>Truth</i>.</p> + +<p>“I have often thought, my friend, that it must have puzzled +these dogmaticians of a thousand years ago, to determine, +even, by which of their two boasted roads it is that +the cryptographist attains the solution of the more complicate +cyphers—or by which of them Champollion guided +mankind to those important and innumerable truths which, +for so many centuries, have lain entombed amid the phonetical +hieroglyphics of Egypt. In especial, would it not have +given these bigots some trouble to determine by which of +their two roads was reached the most momentous and sublime +of <i>all</i> their truths—the truth—the fact of <i>gravitation</i>? +Newton deduced it from the laws of Kepler. Kepler admitted +that these laws he <i>guessed</i>—these laws whose investigation +disclosed to the greatest of British astronomers that +principle, the basis of all (existing) physical principle, in +going behind which we enter at once the nebulous kingdom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +of Metaphysics. Yes!—these vital laws Kepler <i>guessed</i>—that +is to say, he <i>imagined</i> them. Had he been asked to +point out either the <i>de</i>ductive or <i>in</i>ductive route by which +he attained them, his reply might have been—‘I know +nothing about <i>routes</i>—but I <i>do</i> know the machinery of the +Universe. Here it is. I grasped it with <i>my soul</i>—I reached +it through mere dint of <i>intuition</i>.’ Alas, poor ignorant old +man! Could not any metaphysician have told him that what +he called ‘intuition’ was but the conviction resulting from +<i>de</i>ductions or <i>in</i>ductions of which the processes were so +shadowy as to have escaped his consciousness, eluded his +reason, or bidden defiance to his capacity of expression? +How great a pity it is that some ‘moral philosopher’ had +not enlightened him about all this! How it would have +comforted him on his death-bed to know that, instead of +having gone intuitively and thus unbecomingly, he had, in +fact, proceeded decorously and legitimately—that is to say +Hog-ishly, or at least Ram-ishly—into the vast halls where +lay gleaming, untended, and hitherto untouched by mortal +hand—unseen by mortal eye—the imperishable and priceless +secrets of the Universe!</p> + +<p>“Yes, Kepler was essentially a <i>theorist</i>; but this title, +<i>now</i> of so much sanctity, was, in those ancient days, a designation +of supreme contempt. It is only <i>now</i> that men +begin to appreciate that divine old man—to sympathize +with the prophetical and poetical rhapsody of his ever-memorable +words. For <i>my</i> part,” continues the unknown +correspondent, “I glow with a sacred fire when I even +think of them, and feel that I shall never grow weary of +their repetition:—in concluding this letter, let me have the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +real pleasure of transcribing them once again:—‘<i>I care not +whether my work be read now or by posterity. I can afford +to wait a century for readers when God himself has waited +six thousand years for an observer. I triumph. I have +stolen the golden secret of the Egyptians. I will indulge +my sacred fury.</i>’”</p> + +<p>Here end my quotations from this very unaccountable +and, perhaps, somewhat impertinent epistle; and perhaps +it would be folly to comment, in any respect, upon the +chimerical, not to say revolutionary, fancies of the writer—whoever +he is—fancies so radically at war with the well-considered +and well-settled opinions of this age. Let us +proceed, then, to our legitimate thesis, <i>The Universe</i>.</p> + +<p>This thesis admits a choice between two modes of discussion:—We +may <i>as</i>cend or <i>de</i>scend. Beginning at our +own point of view—at the Earth on which we stand—we +may pass to the other planets of our system—thence to the +Sun—thence to our system considered collectively—and +thence, through other systems, indefinitely outwards; or, +commencing on high at some point as definite as we can +make it or conceive it, we may come down to the habitation +of Man. Usually—that is to say, in ordinary essays +on Astronomy—the first of these two modes is, with certain +reservation, adopted:—this for the obvious reason that +astronomical <i>facts</i>, merely, and principles, being the object, +that object is best fulfilled in stepping from the known +because proximate, gradually onward to the point where all +certitude becomes lost in the remote. For my present purpose, +however,—that of enabling the mind to take in, as if +from afar and at one glance, a distinct conception of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +<i>individual</i> Universe—it is clear that a descent to small +from great—to the outskirts from the centre (if we could +establish a centre)—to the end from the beginning (if we +could fancy a beginning) would be the preferable course, +but for the difficulty, if not impossibility, of presenting, in +this course, to the unastronomical, a picture at all comprehensible +in regard to such considerations as are involved in +<i>quantity</i>—that is to say, in number, magnitude and distance.</p> + +<p>Now, distinctness—intelligibility, at all points, is a primary +feature in my general design. On important topics +it is better to be a good deal prolix than even a very little +obscure. But abstruseness is a quality appertaining to no +subject <i>per se</i>. All are alike, in facility of comprehension, +to him who approaches them by properly graduated steps. +It is merely because a stepping-stone, here and there, is +heedlessly left unsupplied in our road to the Differential +Calculus, that this latter is not altogether as simple a thing +as a sonnet by Mr. Solomon Seesaw.</p> + +<p>By way of admitting, then, no <i>chance</i> for misapprehension, +I think it advisable to proceed as if even the more +obvious facts of Astronomy were unknown to the reader. +In combining the two modes of discussion to which I have +referred, I propose to avail myself of the advantages peculiar +to each—and very especially of the <i>iteration in detail</i> +which will be unavoidable as a consequence of the plan. +Commencing with a descent, I shall reserve for the return +upwards those indispensable considerations of <i>quantity</i> to +which allusion has already been made.</p> + +<p>Let us begin, then, at once, with that merest of words,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +“Infinity.” This, like “God,” “spirit,” and some other +expressions of which the equivalents exist in all languages, +is by no means the expression of an idea—but of an effort +at one. It stands for the possible attempt at an impossible +conception. Man needed a term by which to point out +the <i>direction</i> of this effort—the cloud behind which lay, +forever invisible, the <i>object</i> of this attempt. A word, in +fine, was demanded, by means of which one human being +might put himself in relation at once with another human +being and with a certain <i>tendency</i> of the human intellect. +Out of this demand arose the word, “Infinity;” which is +thus the representative but of the <i>thought of a thought</i>.</p> + +<p>As regards <i>that</i> infinity now considered—the infinity of +space—we often hear it said that “its idea is admitted by +the mind—is acquiesced in—is entertained—on account of +the greater difficulty which attends the conception of a +limit.” But this is merely one of those <i>phrases</i> by which +even profound thinkers, time out of mind, have occasionally +taken pleasure in deceiving <i>themselves</i>. The quibble +lies concealed in the word “difficulty.” “The mind,” we +are told, “entertains the idea of <i>limitless</i>, through the +greater <i>difficulty</i> which it finds in entertaining that of <i>limited</i>, +space.” Now, were the proposition but fairly <i>put</i>, its +absurdity would become transparent at once. Clearly, +there is no mere <i>difficulty</i> in the case. The assertion intended, +if presented <i>according</i> to its intention and without +sophistry, would run thus:—“The mind admits the idea of +limitless, through the greater <i>impossibility</i> of entertaining +that of limited, space.”</p> + +<p>It must be immediately seen that this is not a question<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +of two statements between whose respective credibilities—or +of two arguments between whose respective validities—the +<i>reason</i> is called upon to decide:—it is a matter of two +conceptions, directly conflicting, and each avowedly impossible, +one of which the <i>intellect</i> is supposed to be capable +of entertaining, on account of the greater <i>impossibility</i> +of entertaining the other. The choice is <i>not</i> made between +two difficulties;—it is merely <i>fancied</i> to be made between +two impossibilities. Now of the former, there <i>are</i> degrees—but +of the latter, none:—just as our impertinent letter-writer +has already suggested. A task <i>may</i> be more or less +difficult; but it is either possible or not possible:—there +are no gradations. It <i>might</i> be more <i>difficult</i> to overthrow +the Andes than an ant-hill; but it <i>can</i> be no more <i>impossible</i> +to annihilate the matter of the one than the matter of +the other. A man may jump ten feet with less <i>difficulty</i> +than he can jump twenty, but the <i>impossibility</i> of his leaping +to the moon is not a whit less than that of his leaping +to the dog-star.</p> + +<p>Since all this is undeniable: since the choice of the +mind is to be made between <i>impossibilities</i> of conception: +since one impossibility cannot be greater than another: +and since, thus, one cannot be preferred to another: the +philosophers who not only maintain, on the grounds mentioned, +man’s <i>idea</i> of infinity but, on account of such supposititious +idea, <i>infinity itself</i>—are plainly engaged in +demonstrating one impossible thing to be possible by showing +how it is that some one other thing—is impossible too. +This, it will be said, is nonsense; and perhaps it is:—indeed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +I think it very capital nonsense—but forego all claim +to it as nonsense of mine.</p> + +<p>The readiest mode, however, of displaying the fallacy +of the philosophical argument on this question, is by simply +adverting to a <i>fact</i> respecting it which has been hitherto +quite overlooked—the fact that the argument alluded to +both proves and disproves its own proposition. “The mind +is impelled,” say the theologians and others, “to admit a +<i>First Cause</i>, by the superior difficulty it experiences in +conceiving cause beyond cause without end.” The quibble, +as before, lies in the word “difficulty”—but <i>here</i> what +is it employed to sustain? A First Cause. And what is +a First Cause? An ultimate termination of causes. And +what is an ultimate termination of causes? Finity—the +Finite. Thus the one quibble, in two processes, by God +knows how many philosophers, is made to support now +Finity and now Infinity—could it not be brought to support +something besides? As for the quibblers—<i>they</i>, at least, +are insupportable. But—to dismiss them:—what they +prove in the one case is the identical nothing which they +demonstrate in the other.</p> + +<p>Of course, no one will suppose that I here contend for +the absolute impossibility of <i>that</i> which we attempt to convey +in the word “Infinity.” My purpose is but to show +the folly of endeavoring to prove Infinity itself or even our +conception of it, by any such blundering ratiocination as +that which is ordinarily employed.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, as an individual, I may be permitted to +say that <i>I cannot</i> conceive Infinity, and am convinced that +no human being can. A mind not thoroughly self-conscious—not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +accustomed to the introspective analysis of its own +operations—will, it is true, often deceive itself by supposing +that it <i>has</i> entertained the conception of which we speak. +In the effort to entertain it, we proceed step beyond step—we +fancy point still beyond point; and so long as we <i>continue</i> +the effort, it may be said, in fact, that we are <i>tending</i> +to the formation of the idea designed; while the strength +of the impression that we actually form or have formed it, +is in the ratio of the period during which we keep up the +mental endeavor. But it is in the act of discontinuing +the endeavor—of fulfilling (as we think) the idea—of +putting the finishing stroke (as we suppose) to the conception—that +we overthrow at once the whole fabric of our +fancy by resting upon some one ultimate and therefore definite +point. This fact, however, we fail to perceive, on +account of the absolute coincidence, in time, between the +settling down upon the ultimate point and the act of cessation +in thinking.—In attempting, on the other hand, to +frame the idea of a <i>limited</i> space, we merely converse the +processes which involve the impossibility.</p> + +<p>We <i>believe</i> in a God. We may or may not <i>believe</i> in +finite or in infinite space; but our belief, in such cases, is +more properly designated as <i>faith</i>, and is a matter quite +distinct from that belief proper—from that <i>intellectual</i> belief—which +presupposes the mental conception.</p> + +<p>The fact is, that, upon the enunciation of any one of that +class of terms to which “Infinity” belongs—the class representing +<i>thoughts of thought</i>—he who has a right to say +that he thinks <i>at all</i>, feels himself called upon, <i>not</i> to entertain +a conception, but simply to direct his mental vision<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +toward some given point, in the intellectual firmament, +where lies a nebula never to be resolved. To solve it, indeed, +he makes no effort; for with a rapid instinct he comprehends, +not only the impossibility, but, as regards all +human purposes, the <i>inessentiality</i>, of its solution. He perceives +that the Deity has not <i>designed</i> it to be solved. He +sees, at once, that it lies <i>out</i> of the brain of man, and even +<i>how</i>, if not exactly <i>why</i>, it lies out of it. There <i>are</i> people, +I am aware, who, busying themselves in attempts at the +unattainable, acquire very easily, by dint of the jargon they +emit, among those thinkers-that-they-think with whom +darkness and depth are synonymous, a kind of cuttle-fish +reputation for profundity; but the finest quality of Thought +is its self-cognizance; and, with some little equivocation, +it may be said that no fog of the mind can well be greater +than that which, extending to the very boundaries of the +mental domain, shuts out even these boundaries themselves +from comprehension.</p> + +<p>It will now be understood that, in using the phrase, +“Infinity of Space,” I make no call upon the reader to +entertain the impossible conception of an <i>absolute</i> infinity. +I refer simply to the “<i>utmost conceivable expanse</i>” of space—a +shadowy and fluctuating domain, now shrinking, now +swelling, in accordance with the vacillating energies of the +imagination.</p> + +<p><i>Hitherto</i>, the Universe of stars has always been considered +as coincident with the Universe proper, as I have +defined it in the commencement of this Discourse. It has +been always either directly or indirectly assumed—at least +since the dawn of intelligible Astronomy—that, were it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +possible for us to attain any given point in space, we should +still find, on all sides of us, an interminable succession of +stars. This was the untenable idea of Pascal when making +perhaps the most successful attempt ever made, at periphrasing +the conception for which we struggle in the word +“Universe.” “It is a sphere,” he says, “of which the +centre is everywhere, the circumference, nowhere.” But +although this intended definition is, in fact, <i>no</i> definition of +the Universe of <i>stars</i>, we may accept it, with some mental +reservation, as a definition (rigorous enough for all practical +purposes) of the Universe <i>proper</i>—that is to say, of the +Universe of <i>space</i>. This latter, then, let us regard as “<i>a +sphere of which the centre is everywhere, the circumference +nowhere</i>.” In fact, while we find it impossible to fancy an +<i>end</i> to space, we have no difficulty in picturing to ourselves +any one of an infinity of <i>beginnings</i>.</p> + +<p>As our starting-point, then, let us adopt the <i>Godhead</i>. +Of this Godhead, <i>in itself</i>, he alone is not imbecile—he +alone is not impious who propounds—nothing. “<i>Nous ne +connaissons rien</i>,” says the Baron de Bielfeld—“<i>Nous ne +connaissons rien de la nature ou de l’essence de Dieu:—pour +savoir ce qu’il est, il faut être Dieu même.</i>”—“We +know absolutely <i>nothing</i> of the nature or essence of God:—in +order to comprehend what he is, we should have to be +God ourselves.”</p> + +<p>“<i>We should have to be God ourselves!</i>”—With a phrase +so startling as this yet ringing in my ears, I nevertheless venture +to demand if this our present ignorance of the Deity is +an ignorance to which the soul is <i>everlastingly</i> condemned.</p> + +<p>By <i>Him</i>, however—<i>now</i>, at least, the Incomprehensible—by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +Him—assuming him as <i>Spirit</i>—that is to say, as <i>not +Matter</i>—a distinction which, for all intelligible purposes, +will stand well instead of a definition—by Him, then, existing +as Spirit, let us content ourselves, to-night, with supposing +to have been <i>created</i>, or made out of Nothing, by +dint of his Volition—at some point of Space which we will +take as a centre—at some period into which we do not +pretend to inquire, but at all events immensely remote—by +Him, then again, let us suppose to have been created——<i>what</i>? +This is a vitally momentous epoch in our considerations. +<i>What</i> is it that we are justified—that alone we are +justified in supposing to have been, primarily and solely, +<i>created</i>?</p> + +<p>We have attained a point where only <i>Intuition</i> can aid +us:—but now let me recur to the idea which I have already +suggested as that alone which we can properly entertain of +intuition. It is but <i>the conviction arising from those inductions +or deductions of which the processes are so shadowy +as to escape our consciousness, elude our reason, or defy our +capacity of expression</i>. With this understanding, I now +assert—that an intuition altogether irresistible, although +inexpressible, forces me to the conclusion that what God +originally created—that that Matter which, by dint of his +Volition, he first made from his Spirit, or from Nihility, +<i>could</i> have been nothing but Matter in its utmost conceivable +state of——what?—of <i>Simplicity</i>?</p> + +<p>This will be found the sole absolute <i>assumption</i> of my +Discourse. I use the word “assumption” in its ordinary +sense; yet I maintain that even this my primary proposition, +is very, very far indeed, from being really a mere<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +assumption. Nothing was ever more certainly—no human +conclusion was ever, in fact, more regularly—more rigorously +<i>de</i>duced:—but, alas! the processes lie out of the +human analysis—at all events are beyond the utterance of +the human tongue.</p> + +<p>Let us now endeavor to conceive what Matter must be, +when, or if, in its absolute extreme of <i>Simplicity</i>. Here +the Reason flies at once to Imparticularity—to a particle—to +<i>one</i> particle—a particle of <i>one</i> kind—of <i>one</i> character—of +<i>one</i> nature—of <i>one size</i>—of one form—a particle, therefore, +“<i>without</i> form and void”—a particle positively a particle +at all points—a particle absolutely unique, individual, +undivided, and not indivisible only because He who <i>created</i> +it, by dint of his Will, can by an infinitely less energetic +exercise of the same Will, as a matter of course, divide it.</p> + +<p><i>Oneness</i>, then, is all that I predicate of the originally +created Matter; but I propose to show that this <i>Oneness +is a principle abundantly sufficient to account for the constitution, +the existing phænomena and the plainly inevitable +annihilation of at least the material Universe</i>.</p> + +<p>The willing into being the primordial particle, has completed +the act, or more properly the <i>conception</i>, of Creation. +We now proceed to the ultimate purpose for which we are +to suppose the Particle created—that is to say, the ultimate +purpose so far as our considerations <i>yet</i> enable us to see it—the +constitution of the Universe from it, the Particle.</p> + +<p>This constitution has been effected by <i>forcing</i> the originally +and therefore normally <i>One</i> into the abnormal condition +of <i>Many</i>. An action of this character implies rëaction. +A diffusion from Unity, under the conditions, involves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +a tendency to return into Unity—a tendency ineradicable +until satisfied. But on these points I will speak more fully +hereafter.</p> + +<p>The assumption of absolute Unity in the primordial +Particle includes that of infinite divisibility. Let us conceive +the Particle, then, to be only not totally exhausted by +diffusion into Space. From the one Particle, as a centre, +let us suppose to be irradiated spherically—in all directions—to +immeasurable but still to definite distances in the previously +vacant space—a certain inexpressibly great yet +limited number of unimaginably yet not infinitely minute +atoms.</p> + +<p>Now, of these atoms, thus diffused, or upon diffusion, +what conditions are we permitted—not to assume, but to +infer, from consideration as well of their source as of the +character of the design apparent in their diffusion? <i>Unity</i> +being their source, and <i>difference from Unity</i> the character +of the design manifested in their diffusion, we are warranted +in supposing this character to be at least <i>generally</i> preserved +throughout the design, and to form a portion of the +design itself:—that is to say, we shall be warranted in conceiving +continual differences at all points from the uniquity +and simplicity of the origin. But, for these reasons, shall +we be justified in imagining the atoms heterogeneous, dissimilar, +unequal, and inequidistant? More explicitly—are +we to consider no two atoms as, at their diffusion, of the +same nature, or of the same form, or of the same size?—and, +after fulfilment of their diffusion into Space, is absolute +inequidistance, each from each, to be understood of all of +them? In such arrangement, under such conditions, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +most easily and immediately comprehend the subsequent +most feasible carrying out to completion of any such design +as that which I have suggested—the design of variety out +of unity—diversity out of sameness—heterogeneity out of +homogeneity—complexity out of simplicity—in a word, the +utmost possible multiplicity of <i>relation</i> out of the emphatically +irrelative <i>One</i>. Undoubtedly, therefore, we <i>should</i> be +warranted in assuming all that has been mentioned, but for +the reflection, first, that supererogation is not presumable +of any Divine Act; and, secondly, that the object supposed +in view, appears as feasible when some of the conditions +in question are dispensed with, in the beginning, as when +all are understood immediately to exist. I mean to say +that some are involved in the rest, or so instantaneous a +consequence of them as to make the distinction inappreciable. +Difference of <i>size</i>, for example, will at once be +brought about through the tendency of one atom to a +second, in preference to a third, on account of particular +inequidistance; which is to be comprehended as <i>particular +inequidistances between centres of quantity, in neighboring +atoms of different form</i>—a matter not at all interfering +with the generally-equable distribution of the atoms. Difference +of <i>kind</i>, too, is easily conceived to be merely a +result of differences in size and form, taken more or less +conjointly:—in fact, since the <i>Unity</i> of the Particle Proper +implies absolute homogeneity, we cannot imagine the atoms, +at their diffusion, differing in kind, without imagining, at +the same time, a special exercise of the Divine Will, at the +emission of each atom, for the purpose of effecting, in each, +a change of its essential nature:—so fantastic an idea is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +the less to be indulged, as the object proposed is seen to be +thoroughly attainable without such minute and elaborate +interposition. We perceive, therefore, upon the whole, +that it would be supererogatory, and consequently unphilosophical, +to predicate of the atoms, in view of their purposes, +any thing more than <i>difference of form</i> at their dispersion, +with particular inequidistance after it—all other +differences arising at once out of these, in the very first +processes of mass-constitution:—We thus establish the +Universe on a purely <i>geometrical</i> basis. Of course, it is by +no means necessary to assume absolute difference, even of +form, among <i>all</i> the atoms irradiated—any more than absolute +particular inequidistance of each from each. We are +required to conceive merely that no <i>neighboring</i> atoms are +of similar form—no atoms which can ever approximate, +until their inevitable rëunition at the end.</p> + +<p>Although the immediate and perpetual <i>tendency</i> of the +disunited atoms to return into their normal Unity, is implied, +as I have said, in their abnormal diffusion; still it is +clear that this tendency will be without consequence—a +tendency and no more—until the diffusive energy, in ceasing +to be exerted, shall leave <i>it</i>, the tendency, free to seek +its satisfaction. The Divine Act, however, being considered +as determinate, and discontinued on fulfilment of the +diffusion, we understand, at once, a <i>rëaction</i>—in other +words, a <i>satisfiable</i> tendency of the disunited atoms to return +into <i>One</i>.</p> + +<p>But the diffusive energy being withdrawn, and the rëaction +having commenced in furtherance of the ultimate +design—<i>that of the utmost possible Relation</i>—this design is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +now in danger of being frustrated, in detail, by reason of +that very tendency to return which is to effect its accomplishment +in general. <i>Multiplicity</i> is the object; but there +is nothing to prevent proximate atoms, from lapsing <i>at once</i>, +through the now satisfiable tendency—<i>before</i> the fulfilment +of any ends proposed in multiplicity—into absolute oneness +among themselves:—there is nothing to impede the aggregation +of various <i>unique</i> masses, at various points of space:—in +other words, nothing to interfere with the accumulation +of various masses, each absolutely One.</p> + +<p>For the effectual and thorough completion of the general +design, we thus see the necessity for a repulsion of +limited capacity—a separative <i>something</i> which, on withdrawal +of the diffusive Volition, shall at the same time allow +the approach, and forbid the junction, of the atoms; +suffering them infinitely to approximate, while denying +them positive contact; in a word, having the power—<i>up +to a certain epoch</i>—of preventing their <i>coalition</i>, but no +ability to interfere with their <i>coalescence</i> in any respect <i>or +degree</i>. The repulsion, already considered as so peculiarly +limited in other regards, must be understood, let me repeat, +as having power to prevent absolute coalition, <i>only up to a +certain epoch</i>. Unless we are to conceive that the appetite +for Unity among the atoms is doomed to be satisfied <i>never</i>;—unless +we are to conceive that what had a beginning is +to have no end—a conception which cannot <i>really</i> be +entertained, however much we may talk or dream of entertaining +it—we are forced to conclude that the repulsive +influence imagined, will, finally—under pressure of the <i>Unitendency +collectively</i> applied, but never and in no degree<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +<i>until</i>, on fulfilment of the Divine purposes, such collective +application shall be naturally made—yield to a force which, +at that ultimate epoch, shall be the superior force precisely +to the extent required, and thus permit the universal subsidence +into the inevitable, because original and therefore +normal, <i>One</i>.—The conditions here to be reconciled are +difficult indeed:—we cannot even comprehend the possibility +of their conciliation;—nevertheless, the apparent impossibility +is brilliantly suggestive.</p> + +<p>That the repulsive something actually exists, <i>we see</i>. +Man neither employs, nor knows, a force sufficient to bring +two atoms into contact. This is but the well-established +proposition of the impenetrability of matter. All Experiment +proves—all Philosophy admits it. The <i>design</i> of the +repulsion—the necessity for its existence—I have endeavored +to show; but from all attempt at investigating its +nature have religiously abstained; this on account of an +intuitive conviction that the principle at issue is strictly +spiritual—lies in a recess impervious to our present understanding—lies +involved in a consideration of what now—in +our human state—is <i>not</i> to be considered—in a consideration +of <i>Spirit in itself</i>. I feel, in a word, that here +the God has interposed, and here only, because here and +here only the knot demanded the interposition of the God.</p> + +<p>In fact, while the tendency of the diffused atoms to +return into Unity, will be recognized, at once, as the principle +of the Newtonian Gravity, what I have spoken of as +a repulsive influence prescribing limits to the (immediate) +satisfaction of the tendency, will be understood as <i>that</i> +which we have been in the practice of designating now as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +heat, now as magnetism, now as <i>electricity</i>; displaying +our ignorance of its awful character in the vacillation +of the phraseology with which we endeavor to circumscribe +it.</p> + +<p>Calling it, merely for the moment, electricity, we know +that all experimental analysis of electricity has given, as an +ultimate result, the principle, or seeming principle, <i>heterogeneity</i>. +<i>Only</i> where things differ is electricity apparent; +and it is presumable that they <i>never</i> differ where it is not +developed at least, if not apparent. Now, this result is in +the fullest keeping with that which I have reached unempirically. +The design of the repulsive influence I have +maintained to be that of preventing immediate Unity among +the diffused atoms; and these atoms are represented as +different each from each. <i>Difference</i> is their character—their +essentiality—just as <i>no-difference</i> was the essentiality +of their source. When we say, then, that an attempt to +bring any two of these atoms together would induce an +effort, on the part of the repulsive influence, to prevent the +contact, we may as well use the strictly convertible sentence +that an attempt to bring together any two differences +will result in a development of electricity. All existing +bodies, of course, are composed of these atoms in proximate +contact, and are therefore to be considered as mere assemblages +of more or fewer differences; and the resistance +made by the repulsive spirit, on bringing together any two +such assemblages, would be in the ratio of the two sums of +the differences in each:—an expression which, when reduced, +is equivalent to this:—<i>The amount of electricity +developed on the approximation of two bodies, is proportional<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +to the difference between the respective sums of the +atoms of which the bodies are composed.</i> That <i>no</i> two +bodies are absolutely alike, is a simple corollary from all +that has been here said. Electricity, therefore, existing +always, is <i>developed</i> whenever <i>any</i> bodies, but <i>manifested</i> +only when bodies of appreciable difference, are brought into +approximation.</p> + +<p>To electricity—so, for the present, continuing to call it—we +<i>may</i> not be wrong in referring the various physical +appearances of light, heat and magnetism; but far less shall +we be liable to err in attributing to this strictly spiritual +principle the more important phænomena of vitality, consciousness +and <i>Thought</i>. On this topic, however, I need +pause <i>here</i> merely to suggest that these phænomena, whether +observed generally or in detail, seem to proceed <i>at +least in the ratio of the heterogeneous</i>.</p> + +<p>Discarding now the two equivocal terms, “gravitation” +and “electricity,” let us adopt the more definite expressions, +“<i>attraction</i>” and “<i>repulsion</i>.” The former is the +body; the latter the soul: the one is the material; the +other the spiritual, principle of the Universe. <i>No other +principles exist.</i> <i>All</i> phænomena are referable to one, or +to the other, or to both combined. So rigorously is this the +case—so thoroughly demonstrable is it that attraction and +repulsion are the <i>sole</i> properties through which we perceive +the Universe—in other words, by which Matter is manifested +to Mind—that, for all merely argumentative purposes, +we are fully justified in assuming that matter <i>exists</i> only as +attraction and repulsion—that attraction and repulsion <i>are</i> +matter:—there being no conceivable case in which we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +may not employ the term “matter” and the terms “attraction” +and “repulsion,” taken together, as equivalent, +and therefore convertible, expressions in Logic.</p> + +<p>I said, just now, that what I have described as the tendency +of the diffused atoms to return into their original +unity, would be understood as the principle of the Newtonian +law of gravity: and, in fact, there can be little difficulty +in such an understanding, if we look at the Newtonian +gravity in a merely general view, as a force impelling +matter to seek matter; that is to say, when we pay no +attention to the known <i>modus operandi</i> of the Newtonian +force. The general coincidence satisfies us; but, upon looking +closely, we see, in detail, much that appears <i>in</i>coincident, +and much in regard to which no coincidence, at least, is +established. For example; the Newtonian gravity, when +we think of it in certain moods, does <i>not</i> seem to be a tendency +to <i>oneness</i> at all, but rather a tendency of all bodies +in all directions—a phrase apparently expressive of a tendency +to diffusion. Here, then, is an <i>in</i>coincidence. Again; +when we reflect on the mathematical <i>law</i> governing the +Newtonian tendency, we see clearly that no coincidence +has been made good, in respect of the <i>modus operandi</i>, at +least, between gravitation as known to exist and that seemingly +simple and direct tendency which I have assumed.</p> + +<p>In fact, I have attained a point at which it will be advisable +to strengthen my position by reversing my processes. +So far, we have gone on <i>à priori</i>, from an abstract +consideration of <i>Simplicity</i>, as that quality most likely to +have characterized the original action of God. Let us now +see whether the established facts of the Newtonian Gravitation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +may not afford us, <i>à posteriori</i>, some legitimate inductions.</p> + +<p>What does the Newtonian law declare?—That all bodies +attract each other with forces proportional to their +quantities of matter and inversely proportional to the squares +of their distances. Purposely, I have here given, in the +first place, the vulgar version of the law; and I confess +that in this, as in most other vulgar versions of great truths, +we find little of a suggestive character. Let us now adopt +a more philosophical phraseology:—<i>Every atom, of every +body, attracts every other atom, both of its own and of every +other body, with a force which varies inversely as the squares +of the distances between the attracting and attracted atom.</i>—Here, +indeed, a flood of suggestion bursts upon the mind.</p> + +<p>But let us see distinctly what it was that Newton +<i>proved</i>—according to the grossly irrational definitions of +<i>proof</i> prescribed by the metaphysical schools. He was +forced to content himself with showing how thoroughly the +motions of an imaginary Universe, composed of attracting +and attracted atoms obedient to the law he announced, +coincide with those of the actually existing Universe so far +as it comes under our observation. This was the amount +of his <i>demonstration</i>—that is to say, this was the amount +of it, according to the conventional cant of the “philosophies.” +His successes added proof multiplied by proof—such +proof as a sound intellect admits—but the <i>demonstration</i> +of the law itself, persist the metaphysicians, had not +been strengthened in any degree. “<i>Ocular</i>, <i>physical</i> proof,” +however, of attraction, here upon Earth, in accordance +with the Newtonian theory, was, at length, much to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +satisfaction of some intellectual grovellers, afforded. This +proof arose collaterally and incidentally (as nearly all important +truths have arisen) out of an attempt to ascertain +the mean density of the Earth. In the famous Maskelyne, +Cavendish and Bailly experiments for this purpose, the attraction +of the mass of a mountain was seen, felt, measured, +and found to be mathematically consistent with the +immortal theory of the British astronomer.</p> + +<p>But in spite of this confirmation of that which needed +none—in spite of the so-called corroboration of the “theory” +by the so-called “ocular and physical proof”—in spite of +the <i>character</i> of this corroboration—the ideas which even +really philosophical men cannot help imbibing of gravity—and, +especially, the ideas of it which ordinary men get and +contentedly maintain, are <i>seen</i> to have been derived, for +the most part, from a consideration of the principle as they +find it developed—<i>merely in the planet upon which they +stand</i>.</p> + +<p>Now, to what does so partial a consideration tend—to +what species of error does it give rise? On the Earth we +<i>see</i> and <i>feel</i>, only that gravity impels all bodies towards the +<i>centre</i> of the Earth. No man in the common walks of life +could be <i>made</i> to see or to feel anything else—could be +made to perceive that anything, anywhere, has a perpetual, +gravitating tendency in any <i>other</i> direction than to the +centre of the Earth; yet (with an exception hereafter to be +specified) it is a fact that every earthly thing (not to speak +now of every heavenly thing) has a tendency not <i>only</i> to +the Earth’s centre but in every conceivable direction besides.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now, although the philosophic cannot be said to <i>err +with</i> the vulgar in this matter, they nevertheless permit +themselves to be influenced, without knowing it, by the +<i>sentiment</i> of the vulgar idea. “Although the Pagan fables +are not believed,” says Bryant, in his very erudite “Mythology,” +“yet we forget ourselves continually and make +inferences from them as from existing realities.” I mean +to assert that the merely <i>sensitive perception</i> of gravity as +we experience it on Earth, beguiles mankind into the fancy +of <i>concentralization</i> or <i>especiality</i> respecting it—has been +continually biasing towards this fancy even the mightiest +intellects—perpetually, although imperceptibly, leading them +away from the real characteristics of the principle; thus +preventing them, up to this date, from ever getting a glimpse +of that vital truth which lies in a diametrically opposite +direction—behind the principle’s <i>essential</i> characteristics—those, +<i>not</i> of concentralization or especiality—but of <i>universality</i> +and <i>diffusion</i>. This “vital truth” is <i>Unity</i> as +the <i>source</i> of the phænomenon.</p> + +<p>Let me now repeat the definition of gravity:—<i>Every +atom, of every body, attracts every other atom, both of its +own and of every other body</i>, with a force which varies +inversely as the squares of the distances of the attracting +and attracted atom.</p> + +<p>Here let the reader pause with me, for a moment, in +contemplation of the miraculous—of the ineffable—of the +altogether unimaginable complexity of relation involved in +the fact that <i>each atom attracts every other atom</i>—involved +merely in this fact of the attraction, without reference to +the law or mode in which the attraction is manifested—involved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +<i>merely</i> in the fact that each atom attracts every +other atom <i>at all</i>, in a wilderness of atoms so numerous +that those which go to the composition of a cannon-ball, +exceed, probably, in mere point of number, all the stars +which go to the constitution of the Universe.</p> + +<p>Had we discovered, simply, that each atom tended to +some one favorite point—to some especially attractive atom—we +should still have fallen upon a discovery which, in +itself, would have sufficed to overwhelm the mind:—but +what is it that we are actually called upon to comprehend? +That each atom attracts—sympathizes with the most delicate +movements of every other atom, and with each and +with all at the same time, and forever, and according to a +determinate law of which the complexity, even considered +by itself solely, is utterly beyond the grasp of the imagination +of man. If I propose to ascertain the influence of one +mote in a sunbeam upon its neighboring mote, I cannot +accomplish my purpose without first counting and weighing +all the atoms in the Universe and defining the precise +positions of all at one particular moment. If I venture to +displace, by even the billionth part of an inch, the microscopical +speck of dust which lies now upon the point of my +finger, what is the character of that act upon which I have +adventured? I have done a deed which shakes the Moon +in her path, which causes the Sun to be no longer the Sun, +and which alters forever the destiny of the multitudinous +myriads of stars that roll and glow in the majestic presence +of their Creator.</p> + +<p><i>These</i> ideas—conceptions such as <i>these</i>—unthoughtlike +thoughts—soul-reveries rather than conclusions or even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +considerations of the intellect:—ideas, I repeat, such as +these, are such as we can alone hope profitably to entertain +in any effort at grasping the great principle, <i>Attraction</i>.</p> + +<p>But now,—<i>with</i> such ideas—with such a <i>vision</i> of the +marvellous complexity of Attraction fairly in his mind—let +any person competent of thought on such topics as these, +set himself to the task of imagining a <i>principle</i> for the phænomena +observed—a condition from which they sprang.</p> + +<p>Does not so evident a brotherhood among the atoms +point to a common parentage? Does not a sympathy so +omniprevalent, so ineradicable, and so thoroughly irrespective, +suggest a common paternity as its source? Does not +one extreme impel the reason to the other? Does not the +infinitude of division refer to the utterness of individuality? +Does not the entireness of the complex hint at the perfection +of the simple? It is <i>not</i> that the atoms, as we see +them, are divided or that they are complex in their relations—but +that they are inconceivably divided and unutterably +complex:—it is the extremeness of the conditions to +which I now allude, rather than to the conditions themselves. +In a word, is it not because the atoms were, at +some remote epoch of time, even <i>more than together</i>—is it +not because originally, and therefore normally, they were +<i>One</i>—that now, in all circumstances—at all points—in all +directions—by all modes of approach—in all relations and +through all conditions—they struggle <i>back</i> to this absolutely, +this irrelatively, this unconditionally <i>one</i>?</p> + +<p>Some person may here demand:—“Why—since it is to +the <i>One</i> that the atoms struggle back—do we not find and +define Attraction ‘a merely general tendency to a centre?’—why,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +in especial, do not <i>your</i> atoms—the atoms which +you describe as having been irradiated from a centre—proceed +at once, rectilinearly, back to the central point of +their origin?”</p> + +<p>I reply that <i>they do</i>; as will be distinctly shown; but +that the cause of their so doing is quite irrespective of the +centre <i>as such</i>. They all tend rectilinearly towards a centre, +because of the sphereicity with which they have been +irradiated into space. Each atom, forming one of a generally +uniform globe of atoms, finds more atoms in the direction +of the centre, of course, than in any other, and in that +direction, therefore, is impelled—but is <i>not</i> thus impelled +because the centre is <i>the point of its origin</i>. It is not to +any <i>point</i> that the atoms are allied. It is not any <i>locality</i>, +either in the concrete or in the abstract, to which I suppose +them bound. Nothing like <i>location</i> was conceived as their +origin. Their source lies in the principle, <i>Unity</i>. <i>This</i> is +their lost parent. <i>This</i> they seek always—immediately—in +all directions—wherever it is even partially to be found; +thus appeasing, in some measure, the ineradicable tendency, +while on the way to its absolute satisfaction in the end. +It follows from all this, that any principle which shall be +adequate to account for the <i>law</i>, or <i>modus operandi</i>, of the +attractive force in general, will account for this law in +particular:—that is to say, any principle which will show +why the atoms should tend to their <i>general centre of irradiation</i> +with forces inversely proportional to the squares of +the distances, will be admitted as satisfactorily accounting, +at the same time, for the tendency, according to the same +law, of these atoms each to each:—<i>for</i> the tendency to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +centre <i>is</i> merely the tendency each to each, and not any +tendency to a centre as such.—Thus it will be seen, also, +that the establishment of my propositions would involve no +<i>necessity</i> of modification in the terms of the Newtonian +definition of Gravity, which declares that each atom attracts +each other atom and so forth, and declares this merely; +but (always under the supposition that what I propose be, +in the end, admitted) it seems clear that some error might +occasionally be avoided, in the future processes of Science, +were a more ample phraseology adopted:—for instance:—“Each +atom tends to every other atom &c. with a force +&c.: <i>the general result being a tendency of all, with a similar +force, to a general centre</i>.”</p> + +<p>The reversal of our processes has thus brought us to an +identical result; but, while in the one process <i>intuition</i> +was the starting-point, in the other it was the goal. In +commencing the former journey I could only say that, with +an irresistible intuition, I <i>felt</i> Simplicity to have been the +characteristic of the original action of God:—in ending the +latter I can only declare that, with an irresistible intuition, +I perceive Unity to have been the source of the observed +phænomena of the Newtonian gravitation. Thus, according +to the schools, I <i>prove</i> nothing. So be it:—I design +but to suggest—and to <i>convince</i> through the suggestion. +I am proudly aware that there exist many of the most profound +and cautiously discriminative human intellects which +cannot <i>help</i> being abundantly content with my—suggestions. +To these intellects—as to my own—there is no +mathematical demonstration which <i>could</i> bring the least +additional <i>true proof</i> of the great <i>Truth</i> which I have advanced—<i>the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +truth of Original Unity as the source—as the +principle of the Universal Phænomena</i>. For my part, I +am not so sure that I speak and see—I am not so sure that +my heart beats and that my soul lives:—of the rising of +to-morrow’s sun—a probability that as yet lies in the Future—I +do not pretend to be one thousandth part as sure—as +I am of the irretrievably by-gone <i>Fact</i> that All Things +and All Thoughts of Things, with all their ineffable Multiplicity +of Relation, sprang at once into being from the +primordial and irrelative <i>One</i>.</p> + +<p>Referring to the Newtonian Gravity, Dr. Nichol, the +eloquent author of “The Architecture of the Heavens,” +says:—“In truth we have no reason to suppose this great +Law, as now revealed, to be the ultimate or simplest, and +therefore the universal and all-comprehensive, form of a +great Ordinance. The mode in which its intensity diminishes +with the element of distance, has not the aspect of +an ultimate <i>principle</i>; which always assumes the simplicity +and self-evidence of those axioms which constitute the +basis of Geometry.”</p> + +<p>Now, it is quite true that “ultimate principles,” in the +common understanding of the words, always assume the +simplicity of geometrical axioms—(as for “self-evidence,” +there is no such thing)—but these principles are clearly <i>not</i> +“ultimate;” in other terms what we are in the habit of +calling principles are no principles, properly speaking—since +there can be but one <i>principle</i>, the Volition of God. +We have no right to assume, then, from what we observe +in rules that we choose foolishly to name “principles,” +anything at all in respect to the characteristics of a principle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +proper. The “ultimate principles” of which Dr. Nichol +speaks as having geometrical simplicity, may and do have +this geometrical turn, as being part and parcel of a vast +geometrical system, and thus a system of simplicity itself—in +which, nevertheless, the <i>truly</i> ultimate principle is, <i>as +we know</i>, the consummation of the complex—that is to say, +of the unintelligible—for is it not the Spiritual Capacity of +God?</p> + +<p>I quoted Dr. Nichol’s remark, however, not so much to +question its philosophy, as by way of calling attention to +the fact that, while all men have admitted <i>some</i> principle +as existing behind the Law of Gravity, no attempt has been +yet made to point out what this principle in particular <i>is</i>:—if +we except, perhaps, occasional fantastic efforts at referring +it to Magnetism, or Mesmerism, or Swedenborgianism, +or Transcendentalism, or some other equally delicious <i>ism</i> +of the same species, and invariably patronized by one and +the same species of people. The great mind of Newton, +while boldly grasping the Law itself, shrank from the principle +of the Law. The more fluent and comprehensive at +least, if not the more patient and profound, sagacity of +Laplace, had not the courage to attack it. But hesitation +on the part of these two astronomers it is, perhaps, not so +very difficult to understand. They, as well as all the first +class of mathematicians, were mathematicians <i>solely</i>:—their +intellect, at least, had a firmly-pronounced mathematico-physical +tone. What lay not distinctly within the +domain of Physics, or of Mathematics, seemed to them either +Non-Entity or Shadow. Nevertheless, we may well wonder +that Leibnitz, who was a marked exception to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +general rule in these respects, and whose mental temperament +was a singular admixture of the mathematical with +the physico-metaphysical, did not at once investigate and +establish the point at issue. Either Newton or Laplace, +seeking a principle and discovering none <i>physical</i>, would +have rested contentedly in the conclusion that there was +absolutely none; but it is almost impossible to fancy, of +Leibnitz, that, having exhausted in his search the physical +dominions, he would not have stepped at once, boldly and +hopefully, amid his old familiar haunts in the kingdom of +Metaphysics. Here, indeed, it is clear that he <i>must</i> have +adventured in search of the treasure:—that he did not find +it after all, was, perhaps, because his fairy guide, Imagination, +was not sufficiently well-grown, or well-educated, to +direct him aright.</p> + +<p>I observed, just now, that, in fact, there had been certain +vague attempts at referring Gravity to some very uncertain +<i>isms</i>. These attempts, however, although considered +bold and justly so considered, looked no farther than +to the generality—the merest generality—of the Newtonian +Law. Its <i>modus operandi</i> has never, to my knowledge, +been approached in the way of an effort at explanation. +It is, therefore, with no unwarranted fear of being taken +for a madman at the outset, and before I can bring my +propositions fairly to the eye of those who alone are competent +to decide upon them, that I here declare the <i>modus +operandi</i> of the Law of Gravity to be an exceedingly simple +and perfectly explicable thing—that is to say, when we +make our advances towards it in just gradations and in the +true direction—when we regard it from the proper point +of view.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whether we reach the idea of absolute <i>Unity</i> as the +source of All Things, from a consideration of Simplicity as +the most probable characteristic of the original action of +God;—whether we arrive at it from an inspection of the +universality of relation in the gravitating phænomena;—or +whether we attain it as a result of the mutual corroboration +afforded by both processes;—still, the idea itself, if +entertained at all, is entertained in inseparable connection +with another idea—that of the condition of the Universe +of stars as we <i>now</i> perceive it—that is to say, a condition +of immeasurable <i>diffusion</i> through space. Now a connection +between these two ideas—unity and diffusion—cannot +be established unless through the entertainment of a third +idea—that of <i>irradiation</i>. Absolute Unity being taken as +a centre, then the existing Universe of stars is the result of +<i>irradiation</i> from that centre.</p> + +<p>Now, the laws of irradiation are <i>known</i>. They are +part and parcel of the <i>sphere</i>. They belong to the class of +<i>indisputable geometrical properties</i>. We say of them, +“they are true—they are evident.” To demand <i>why</i> they +are true, would be to demand why the axioms are true +upon which their demonstration is based. <i>Nothing</i> is demonstrable, +strictly speaking; but <i>if</i> anything <i>be</i>, then the +properties—the laws in question are demonstrated.</p> + +<p>But these laws—what do they declare? Irradiation—how—by +what steps does it proceed outwardly from a +centre?</p> + +<p>From a <i>luminous</i> centre, <i>Light</i> issues by irradiation; +and the quantities of light received upon any given plane, +supposed to be shifting its position so as to be now nearer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +the centre and now farther from it, will be diminished in +the same proportion as the squares of the distances of the +plane from the luminous body, are increased; and will be +increased in the same proportion as these squares are +diminished.</p> + +<p>The expression of the law may be thus generalized:—the +number of light-particles (or, if the phrase be preferred, +the number of light-impressions) received upon the shifting +plane, will be <i>inversely</i> proportional with the squares of the +distances of the plane. Generalizing yet again, we may +say that the diffusion—the scattering—the irradiation, in a +word—is <i>directly</i> proportional with the squares of the distances.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/i050.jpg" width="400" height="191" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>For example: at the distance B, from the luminous +centre A, a certain number of particles are so diffused as to +occupy the surface B. Then at double the distance—that +is to say +at C—they will be so much farther diffused as to occupy +four such surfaces:—at treble the distance, or at D, they +will be so much farther separated as to occupy nine such +surfaces:—while, at quadruple the distance, or at E, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +will have become so scattered as to spread themselves over +sixteen such surfaces—and so on forever.</p> + +<p>In saying, generally, that the irradiation proceeds in +direct proportion with the squares of the distances, we use +the term irradiation to express <i>the degree of the diffusion</i> +as we proceed outwardly from the centre. Conversing the +idea, and employing the word “concentralization” to express +<i>the degree of the drawing together</i> as we come back +toward the centre from an outward position, we may say +that concentralization proceeds <i>inversely</i> as the squares of +the distances. In other words, we have reached the conclusion +that, on the hypothesis that matter was originally +irradiated from a centre and is now returning to it, the +concentralization, in the return, proceeds <i>exactly as we +know the force of gravitation to proceed</i>.</p> + +<p>Now here, if we could be permitted to assume that concentralization +exactly represented the <i>force of the tendency +to the centre</i>—that the one was exactly proportional to the +other, and that the two proceeded together—we should +have shown all that is required. The sole difficulty existing, +then, is to establish a direct proportion between “concentralization” +and the <i>force</i> of concentralization; and +this is done, of course, if we establish such proportion between +“irradiation” and the <i>force</i> of irradiation.</p> + +<p>A very slight inspection of the Heavens assures us that +the stars have a certain general uniformity, equability, or +equidistance, of distribution through that region of space in +which, collectively, and in a roughly globular form, they +are situated:—this species of very general, rather than absolute, +equability, being in full keeping with my deduction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +of inequidistance, within certain limits, among the originally +diffused atoms, as a corollary from the evident design +of infinite complexity of relation out of irrelation. I started, +it will be remembered, with the idea of a generally uniform +but particularly <i>un</i>uniform distribution of the atoms;—an +idea, I repeat, which an inspection of the stars, as they +exist, confirms.</p> + +<p>But even in the merely general equability of distribution, +as regards the atoms, there appears a difficulty which, +no doubt, has already suggested itself to those among my +readers who have borne in mind that I suppose this equability +of distribution effected through <i>irradiation from a centre</i>. +The very first glance at the idea, irradiation, forces +us to the entertainment of the hitherto unseparated and +seemingly inseparable idea of agglomeration about a centre, +with dispersion as we recede from it—the idea, in a word, +of <i>in</i>equability of distribution in respect to the matter irradiated.</p> + +<p>Now, I have elsewhere<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> observed that it is by just such +difficulties as the one now in question—such roughnesses—such +peculiarities—such protuberances above the plane of +the ordinary—that Reason feels her way, if at all, in her +search for the True. By the difficulty—the “peculiarity”—now +presented, I leap at once to <i>the</i> secret—a secret +which I might never have attained <i>but</i> for the peculiarity +and the inferences which, <i>in its mere character of peculiarity</i>, +it affords me.</p> + +<p>The process of thought, at this point, may be thus +roughly sketched:—I say to myself—“Unity, as I have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>explained it, is a truth—I feel it. Diffusion is a truth—I +see it. Irradiation, by which alone these two truths are +reconciled, is a consequent truth—I perceive it. <i>Equability</i> +of diffusion, first deduced <i>à priori</i> and then corroborated +by the inspection of phænomena, is also a truth—I fully +admit it. So far all is clear around me:—there are no +clouds behind which <i>the</i> secret—the great secret of the +gravitating <i>modus operandi</i>—can possibly lie hidden;—but +this secret lies <i>hereabouts</i>, most assuredly; and <i>were</i> there +but a cloud in view, I should be driven to suspicion of that +cloud.” And now, just as I say this, there actually comes +a cloud into view. This cloud is the seeming impossibility +of reconciling my truth, <i>irradiation</i>, with my truth, <i>equability +of diffusion</i>. I say now:—“Behind this <i>seeming</i> +impossibility is to be found what I desire.” I do not say +“<i>real</i> impossibility;” for invincible faith in my truths assures +me that it is a mere difficulty after all—but I go on +to say, with unflinching confidence, that, <i>when</i> this <i>difficulty</i> +shall be solved, we shall find, <i>wrapped up in the process of +solution</i>, the key to the secret at which we aim. Moreover—I +<i>feel</i> that we shall discover <i>but one</i> possible solution +of the difficulty; this for the reason that, were there two, +one would be supererogatory—would be fruitless—would be +empty—would contain no key—since no duplicate key can +be needed to any secret of Nature.</p> + +<p>And now, let us see:—Our usual notions of irradiation—in +fact <i>all</i> our distinct notions of it—are caught merely +from the process as we see it exemplified in <i>Light</i>. Here +there is a <i>continuous</i> outpouring of <i>ray-streams</i>, and <i>with a +force which we have at least no right to suppose varies at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +all</i>. Now, in any such irradiation <i>as this</i>—continuous and +of unvarying force—the regions nearer the centre must +<i>inevitably</i> be always more crowded with the irradiated +matter than the regions more remote. But I have assumed +<i>no</i> such irradiation <i>as this</i>. I assumed no <i>continuous</i> irradiation; +and for the simple reason that such an assumption +would have involved, first, the necessity of entertaining a +conception which I have shown no man <i>can</i> entertain, and +which (as I will more fully explain hereafter) all observation +of the firmament refutes—the conception of the absolute +infinity of the Universe of stars—and would have +involved, secondly, the impossibility of understanding a +rëaction—that is, gravitation—as existing now—since, +while an act is continued, no rëaction, of course, can take +place. My assumption, then, or rather my inevitable deduction +from just premises—was that of a <i>determinate</i> irradiation—one +finally <i>dis</i>continued.</p> + +<p>Let me now describe the sole possible mode in which it +is conceivable that matter could have been diffused through +space, so as to fulfil the conditions at once of irradiation +and of generally equable distribution.</p> + +<p>For convenience of illustration, let us imagine, in the +first place, a hollow sphere of glass, or of anything else, +occupying the space throughout which the universal matter +is to be thus equally diffused, by means of irradiation, from +the absolute, irrelative, unconditional particle, placed in the +centre of the sphere.</p> + +<p>Now, a certain exertion of the diffusive power (presumed +to be the Divine Volition)—in other words, a certain +<i>force</i>—whose measure is the quantity of matter—that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +is to say, the number of atoms—emitted; emits, by irradiation, +this certain number of atoms; forcing them in all +directions outwardly from the centre—their proximity to +each other diminishing as they proceed—until, finally, they +are distributed, loosely, over the interior surface of the +sphere.</p> + +<p>When these atoms have attained this position, or while +proceeding to attain it, a second and inferior exercise of the +same force—or a second and inferior force of the same +character—emits, in the same manner—that is to say, by +irradiation as before—a second stratum of atoms which +proceeds to deposit itself upon the first; the number of +atoms, in this case as in the former, being of course the +measure of the force which emitted them; in other words +the force being precisely adapted to the purpose it effects—the +force and the number of atoms sent out by the force, +being <i>directly proportional</i>.</p> + +<p>When this second stratum has reached its destined position—or +while approaching it—a third still inferior exertion +of the force, or a third inferior force of a similar character—the +number of atoms emitted being in <i>all</i> cases the measure +of the force—proceeds to deposit a third stratum upon +the second:—and so on, until these concentric strata, growing +gradually less and less, come down at length to the +central point; and the diffusive matter, simultaneously with +the diffusive force, is exhausted.</p> + +<p>We have now the sphere filled, through means of irradiation, +with atoms equably diffused. The two necessary +conditions—those of irradiation and of equable diffusion—are +satisfied; and by the <i>sole</i> process in which the possibility<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +of their simultaneous satisfaction is conceivable. For +this reason, I confidently expect to find, lurking in the present +condition of the atoms as distributed throughout the +sphere, the secret of which I am in search—the all-important +principle of the <i>modus operandi</i> of the Newtonian law. +Let us examine, then, the actual condition of the atoms.</p> + +<p>They lie in a series of concentric strata. They are +equably diffused throughout the sphere. They have been +irradiated into these states.</p> + +<p>The atoms being <i>equably</i> distributed, the greater the +superficial extent of any of these concentric strata, or +spheres, the more atoms will lie upon it. In other words, +the number of atoms lying upon the surface of any one of +the concentric spheres, is directly proportional with the extent +of that surface.</p> + +<p><i>But, in any series of concentric spheres, the surfaces +are directly proportional with the squares of the distances +from the centre.</i><a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Therefore the number of atoms in any stratum is directly +proportional with the square of that stratum’s distance +from the centre.</p> + +<p>But the number of atoms in any stratum is the measure +of the force which emitted that stratum—that is to say, is +<i>directly proportional</i> with the force.</p> + +<p>Therefore the force which irradiated any stratum is +directly proportional with the square of that stratum’s distance +from the centre:—or, generally,</p> + +<p><i>The force of the irradiation has been directly proportional +with the squares of the distances.</i></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> +<p>Now, Rëaction, as far as we know anything of it, is +Action conversed. The <i>general</i> principle of Gravity being, +in the first place, understood as the rëaction of an act—as +the expression of a desire on the part of Matter, while existing +in a state of diffusion, to return into the Unity whence +it was diffused; and, in the second place, the mind being +called upon to determine the <i>character</i> of the desire—the +manner in which it would, naturally, be manifested; in +other words, being called upon to conceive a probable law, +or <i>modus operandi</i>, for the return; could not well help +arriving at the conclusion that this law of return would be +precisely the converse of the law of departure. That such +would be the case, any one, at least, would be abundantly +justified in taking for granted, until such time as some person +should suggest something like a plausible reason why it +should <i>not</i> be the case—until such period as a law of return +shall be imagined which the intellect can consider as preferable.</p> + +<p>Matter, then, irradiated into space with a force varying +as the squares of the distances, might, <i>à priori</i>, be supposed +to return towards its centre of irradiation with a force +varying <i>inversely</i> as the squares of the distances: and I +have already shown<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> that any principle which will explain +why the atoms should tend, according to any law, to the +general centre, must be admitted as satisfactorily explaining, +at the same time, why, according to the same law, they +should tend each to each. For, in fact, the tendency to the +general centre is not to a centre as such, but because of its +being a point in tending towards which each atom tends +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>most directly to its real and essential centre, <i>Unity</i>—the +absolute and final Union of all.</p> + +<p>The consideration here involved presents to my own +mind no embarrassment whatever—but this fact does not +blind me to the possibility of its being obscure to those who +may have been less in the habit of dealing with abstractions:—and, +upon the whole, it may be as well to look at +the matter from one or two other points of view.</p> + +<p>The absolute, irrelative particle primarily created by the +Volition of God, must have been in a condition of positive +<i>normality</i>, or rightfulness—for wrongfulness implies <i>relation</i>. +Right is positive; wrong is negative—is merely the +negation of right; as cold is the negation of heat—darkness +of light. That a thing may be wrong, it is necessary that +there be some other thing in <i>relation</i> to which it <i>is</i> wrong—some +condition which it fails to satisfy; some law which +it violates; some being whom it aggrieves. If there be no +such being, law, or condition, in respect to which the thing +is wrong—and, still more especially, if no beings, laws, or +conditions exist at all—then the thing can<i>not</i> be wrong and +consequently must be <i>right</i>. Any deviation from normality +involves a tendency to return into it. A difference from +the normal—from the right—from the just—can be understood +as effected only by the overcoming a difficulty; and if +the force which overcomes the difficulty be not infinitely +continued, the ineradicable tendency to return will at +length be permitted to act for its own satisfaction. Upon +withdrawal of the force, the tendency acts. This is the +principle of rëaction as the inevitable consequence of finite +action. Employing a phraseology of which the seeming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +affectation will be pardoned for its expressiveness, we may +say that Rëaction is the return from the condition of <i>as it +is and ought not to be</i> into the condition of <i>as it was, originally, +and therefore ought to be</i>:—and let me add here +that the <i>absolute</i> force of Rëaction would no doubt be +always found in direct proportion with the reality—the +truth—the absoluteness—of the <i>originality</i>—if ever it were +possible to measure this latter:—and, consequently, the +greatest of all conceivable reactions must be that produced +by the tendency which we now discuss—the tendency to +return into the <i>absolutely original</i>—into the <i>supremely</i> +primitive. Gravity, then, <i>must be the strongest of forces</i>—an +idea reached <i>à priori</i> and abundantly confirmed by +induction. What use I make of the idea, will be seen in +the sequel.</p> + +<p>The atoms, now, having been diffused from their normal +condition of Unity, seek to return to——what? Not to +any particular <i>point</i>, certainly; for it is clear that if, upon +the diffusion, the whole Universe of matter had been projected, +collectively, to a distance from the point of irradiation, +the atomic tendency to the general centre of the +sphere would not have been disturbed in the least:—the +atoms would not have sought the point <i>in absolute space</i> +from which they were originally impelled. It is merely the +<i>condition</i>, and not the point or locality at which this condition +took its rise, that these atoms seek to re-establish;—it +is merely <i>that condition which is their normality</i>, that +they desire. “But they seek a centre,” it will be said, +“and a centre is a point.” True; but they seek this point +not in its character of point—(for, were the whole sphere +moved from its position, they would seek, equally, the centre;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +and the centre <i>then</i> would be a <i>new</i> point)—but because +it so happens, on account of the form in which they +collectively exist—(that of the sphere)—that only <i>through</i> +the point in question—the sphere’s centre—they can attain +their true object, Unity. In the direction of the centre +each atom perceives more atoms than in any other direction. +Each atom is impelled towards the centre because +along the straight line joining it and the centre and passing +on to the circumference beyond, there lie a greater number +of atoms than along any other straight line—a greater number +of objects that seek it, the individual atom—a greater number +of tendencies to Unity—a greater number of satisfactions +for its own tendency to Unity—in a word, because in the +direction of the centre lies the utmost possibility of satisfaction, +generally, for its own individual appetite. To be +brief, the <i>condition</i>, Unity, is all that is really sought; and +if the atoms <i>seem</i> to seek the centre of the sphere, it is only +impliedly, through implication—because such centre happens +to imply, to include, or to involve, the only essential +centre, Unity. But <i>on account of</i> this implication or involution, +there is no possibility of practically separating the +tendency to Unity in the abstract, from the tendency to +the concrete centre. Thus the tendency of the atoms to +the general centre <i>is</i>, to all practical intents and for all +logical purposes, the tendency each to each; and the +tendency each to each <i>is</i> the tendency to the centre; and +the one tendency may be assumed <i>as</i> the other; whatever +will apply to the one must be thoroughly applicable to the +other; and, in conclusion, whatever principle will satisfactorily +explain the one, cannot be questioned as an explanation +of the other.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<p>In looking carefully around me for rational objection to +what I have advanced, I am able to discover <i>nothing</i>;—but +of that class of objections usually urged by the doubters +for Doubt’s sake, I very readily perceive <i>three</i>; and proceed +to dispose of them in order.</p> + +<p>It may be said, first: “The proof that the force of irradiation +(in the case described) is directly proportional to +the squares of the distances, depends upon an unwarranted +assumption—that of the number of atoms in each stratum +being the measure of the force with which they are +emitted.”</p> + +<p>I reply, not only that I am warranted in such assumption, +but that I should be utterly <i>un</i>warranted in any other. +What I assume is, simply, that an effect is the measure of +its cause—that every exercise of the Divine Will will be +proportional to that which demands the exertion—that the +means of Omnipotence, or of Omniscience, will be exactly +adapted to its purposes. Neither can a deficiency nor an +excess of cause bring to pass any effect. Had the force +which irradiated any stratum to its position, been either +more or less than was needed for the purpose—that is to +say, not <i>directly proportional</i> to the purpose—then to its +position that stratum could not have been irradiated. Had +the force which, with a view to general equability of distribution, +emitted the proper number of atoms for each stratum, +been not <i>directly proportional</i> to the number, then the +number would <i>not</i> have been the number demanded for the +equable distribution.</p> + +<p>The second supposable objection is somewhat better +entitled to an answer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is an admitted principle in Dynamics that every body, +on receiving an impulse, or disposition to move, will move +onward in a straight line, in the direction imparted by the +impelling force, until deflected, or stopped, by some other +force. How then, it may be asked, is my first or external +stratum of atoms to be understood as discontinuing their +movement at the circumference of the imaginary glass +sphere, when no second force, of more than an imaginary +character, appears, to account for the discontinuance?</p> + +<p>I reply that the objection, in this case, actually does +arise out of “an unwarranted assumption”—on the part of +the objector—the assumption of a principle, in Dynamics, +at an epoch when <i>no</i> “principles,” in <i>anything</i>, exist:—I +use the word “principle,” of course, in the objector’s +understanding of the word.</p> + +<p>“In the beginning” we can admit—indeed we can +comprehend—but one <i>First Cause</i>—the truly ultimate +<i>Principle</i>—the Volition of God. The primary <i>act</i>—that +of Irradiation from Unity—must have been independent of +all that which the world now calls “principle”—because +all that we so designate is but a consequence of the rëaction +of that primary act:—I say “<i>primary</i>” act; for the +creation of the absolute material particle is more properly +to be regarded as a <i>conception</i> than as an “<i>act</i>” in the +ordinary meaning of the term. Thus, we must regard the +primary act as an act for the establishment of what we +now call “principles.” But this primary act itself is to be +considered as <i>continuous Volition</i>. The Thought of God +is to be understood as originating the Diffusion—as proceeding +with it—as regulating it—and, finally, as being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +withdrawn from it upon its completion. <i>Then</i> commences +Rëaction, and through Rëaction, “Principle,” as we employ +the word. It will be advisable, however, to limit the +application of this word to the two <i>immediate</i> results of the +discontinuance of the Divine Volition—that is, to the two +agents, <i>Attraction</i> and <i>Repulsion</i>. Every other Natural +agent depends, either more or less immediately, upon these +two, and therefore would be more conveniently designated +as <i>sub</i>-principle.</p> + +<p>It may be objected, thirdly, that, in general, the peculiar +mode of distribution which I have suggested for the atoms, +is “an hypothesis and nothing more.”</p> + +<p>Now, I am aware that the word hypothesis is a ponderous +sledge-hammer, grasped immediately, if not lifted, by +all very diminutive thinkers, upon the first appearance of +any proposition wearing, in any particular, the garb of <i>a +theory</i>. But “hypothesis” cannot be wielded <i>here</i> to any +good purpose, even by those who succeed in lifting it—little +men or great.</p> + +<p>I maintain, first, that <i>only</i> in the mode described is it +conceivable that Matter could have been diffused so as to +fulfil at once the conditions of irradiation and of generally +equable distribution. I maintain, secondly, that these conditions +themselves have been imposed upon me, as necessities, +in a train of ratiocination <i>as rigorously logical as that +which establishes any demonstration in Euclid</i>; and I +maintain, thirdly, that even if the charge of “hypothesis” +were as fully sustained as it is, in fact, unsustained and +untenable, still the validity and indisputability of my result +would not, even in the slightest particular, be disturbed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<p>To explain:—The Newtonian Gravity—a law of Nature—a +law whose existence as such no one out of Bedlam +questions—a law whose admission as such enables us to +account for nine-tenths of the Universal phænomena—a +law which, merely because it does so enable us to account +for these phænomena, we are perfectly willing, without +reference to any other considerations, to admit, and cannot +help admitting, as a law—a law, nevertheless, of which +neither the principle nor the <i>modus operandi</i> of the principle, +has ever yet been traced by the human analysis—a +law, in short, which, neither in its detail nor in its generality, +has been found susceptible of explanation <i>at all</i>—is at +length seen to be at every point thoroughly explicable, +provided only we yield our assent to——what? To an +hypothesis? Why <i>if</i> an hypothesis—if the merest hypothesis—if +an hypothesis for whose assumption—as in the +case of that <i>pure</i> hypothesis the Newtonian law itself—no +shadow of <i>à priori</i> reason could be assigned—if an hypothesis, +even so absolute as all this implies, would enable us +to perceive a principle for the Newtonian law—would enable +us to understand as satisfied, conditions so miraculously—so +ineffably complex and seemingly irreconcileable as +those involved in the relations of which Gravity tells us,—what +rational being <i>could</i> so expose his fatuity as to call +even this absolute hypothesis an hypothesis any longer—unless, +indeed, he were to persist in so calling it, with the +understanding that he did so, simply for the sake of consistency +<i>in words</i>?</p> + +<p>But what is the true state of our present case? What +is <i>the fact</i>? Not only that it is <i>not</i> an hypothesis which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +we are required <i>to adopt</i>, in order to admit the principle at +issue explained, but that it <i>is</i> a logical conclusion which +we are requested <i>not</i> to adopt if we can avoid it—which +we are simply invited to <i>deny if we can</i>:—a conclusion of +so accurate a logicality that to dispute it would be the effort—to +doubt its validity beyond our power:—a conclusion +from which we see no mode of escape, turn as we will; a +result which confronts us either at the end of an <i>in</i>ductive +journey from the phænomena of the very Law discussed, +or at the close of a <i>de</i>ductive career from the most rigorously +simple of all conceivable assumptions—<i>the assumption, +in a word, of Simplicity itself</i>.</p> + +<p>And if here, for the mere sake of cavilling, it be urged, +that although my starting-point is, as I assert, the assumption +of absolute Simplicity, yet Simplicity, considered merely +in itself, is no axiom; and that only deductions from +axioms are indisputable—it is thus that I reply:—</p> + +<p>Every other science than Logic is the science of certain +concrete relations. Arithmetic, for example, is the science of +the relations of number—Geometry, of the relations of form—Mathematics +in general, of the relations of quantity in +general—of whatever can be increased or diminished. Logic, +however, is the science of Relation in the abstract—of +absolute Relation—of Relation considered solely in itself. +An axiom in any particular science other than Logic is, +thus, merely a proposition announcing certain concrete +relations which seem to be too obvious for dispute—as +when we say, for instance, that the whole is greater than +its part:—and, thus again, the principle of the <i>Logical</i> +axiom—in other words, of an axiom in the abstract—is,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +simply, <i>obviousness of relation</i>. Now, it is clear, not only +that what is obvious to one mind may not be obvious +to another, but that what is obvious to one mind at one +epoch, may be anything but obvious, at another epoch, to +the same mind. It is clear, moreover, that what, to-day, +is obvious even to the majority of mankind, or to the majority +of the best intellects of mankind, may to-morrow be, +to either majority, more or less obvious, or in no respect obvious +at all. It is seen, then, that the <i>axiomatic principle</i> +itself is susceptible of variation, and of course that axioms +are susceptible of similar change. Being mutable, the +“truths” which grow out of them are necessarily mutable +too; or, in other words, are never to be positively depended +upon as truths at all—since Truth and Immutability are one.</p> + +<p>It will now be readily understood that no axiomatic +idea—no idea founded in the fluctuating principle, obviousness +of relation—can possibly be so secure—so reliable a +basis for any structure erected by the Reason, as <i>that</i> idea—(whatever +it is, wherever we can find it, or <i>if</i> it be practicable +to find it anywhere)—which is <i>ir</i>relative altogether—which +not only presents to the understanding <i>no obviousness</i> +of relation, either greater or less, to be considered, but +subjects the intellect, not in the slightest degree, to the necessity +of even looking at <i>any relation at all</i>. If such an +idea be not what we too heedlessly term “an axiom,” it is +at least preferable, as a Logical basis, to any axiom ever +propounded, or to all imaginable axioms combined:—and +such, precisely, is the idea with which my deductive process, +so thoroughly corroborated by induction, commences. +My <i>particle proper</i> is but <i>absolute Irrelation</i>. To sum up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +what has been here advanced:—As a starting point I +have taken it for granted, simply, that the Beginning had +nothing behind it or before it—that it was a Beginning in +fact—that it was a beginning and nothing different from a +beginning—in short that this Beginning was——<i>that which +it was</i>. If this be a “mere assumption” then a “mere +assumption” let it be.</p> + +<p>To conclude this branch of the subject:—I am fully +warranted in announcing that <i>the Law which we have been +in the habit of calling Gravity exists on account of Matter’s +having been irradiated, at its origin, atomically, into a +limited<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> sphere of Space, from one, individual, unconditional, +irrelative, and absolute Particle Proper, by the sole +process in which it was possible to satisfy, at the same time, +the two conditions, irradiation, and generally-equable distribution +throughout the sphere—that is to say, by a force +varying in direct proportion with the squares of the distances +between the irradiated atoms, respectively, and the +Particular centre of Irradiation</i>.</p> + +<p>I have already given my reasons for presuming Matter +to have been diffused by a determinate rather than by a +continuous or infinitely continued force. Supposing a continuous +force, we should be unable, in the first place, to +comprehend a rëaction at all; and we should be required, +in the second place, to entertain the impossible conception +of an infinite extension of Matter. Not to dwell +upon the impossibility of the conception, the infinite extension +of Matter is an idea which, if not positively disproved, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>is at least not in any respect warranted by telescopic +observation of the stars—a point to be explained more fully +hereafter; and this empirical reason for believing in the +original finity of Matter is unempirically confirmed. For +example:—Admitting, for the moment, the possibility of +understanding Space <i>filled</i> with the irradiated atoms—that +is to say, admitting, as well as we can, for argument’s sake, +that the succession of the irradiated atoms had absolutely +<i>no end</i>—then it is abundantly clear that, even when the +Volition of God had been withdrawn from them, and thus +the tendency to return into Unity permitted (abstractly) to +be satisfied, this permission would have been nugatory and +invalid—practically valueless and of no effect whatever. +No Rëaction could have taken place; no movement toward +Unity could have been made; no Law of Gravity could +have obtained.</p> + +<p>To explain:—Grant the <i>abstract</i> tendency of any one +atom to any one other as the inevitable result of diffusion +from the normal Unity:—or, what is the same thing, admit +any given atom as <i>proposing</i> to move in any given direction—it +is clear that, since there is an <i>infinity</i> of atoms on +all sides of the atom proposing to move, it never can actually +move toward the satisfaction of its tendency in the direction +given, on account of a precisely equal and counterbalancing +tendency in the direction diametrically opposite. +In other words, exactly as many tendencies to Unity are +behind the hesitating atom as before it; for it is a mere +sotticism to say that one infinite line is longer or shorter +than another infinite line, or that one infinite number is +greater or less than another number that is infinite. Thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +the atom in question must remain stationary forever. Under +the impossible circumstances which we have been merely +endeavoring to conceive for argument’s sake, there could +have been no aggregation of Matter—no stars—no worlds—nothing +but a perpetually atomic and inconsequential +Universe. In fact, view it as we will, the whole idea of +unlimited Matter is not only untenable, but impossible and +preposterous.</p> + +<p>With the understanding of a <i>sphere</i> of atoms, however, +we perceive, at once, a <i>satisfiable</i> tendency to union. The +general result of the tendency each to each, being a tendency +of all to the centre, the <i>general</i> process of condensation, +or approximation, commences immediately, by a common +and simultaneous movement, on withdrawal of the +Divine Volition; the <i>individual</i> approximations, or coalescences—<i>not</i> +cöalitions—of atom with atom, being subject +to almost infinite variations of time, degree, and condition, +on account of the excessive multiplicity of relation, arising +from the differences of form assumed as characterizing the +atoms at the moment of their quitting the Particle Proper; +as well as from the subsequent particular inequidistance, +each from each.</p> + +<p>What I wish to impress upon the reader is the certainty +of there arising, at once, (on withdrawal of the diffusive +force, or Divine Volition,) out of the condition of the atoms +as described, at innumerable points throughout the Universal +sphere, innumerable agglomerations, characterized +by innumerable specific differences of form, size, essential +nature, and distance each from each. The development of +Repulsion (Electricity) must have commenced, of course,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +with the very earliest particular efforts at Unity, and must +have proceeded constantly in the ratio of Coalescence—that +is to say, <i>in that of Condensation</i>, or, again, of Heterogeneity.</p> + +<p>Thus the two Principles Proper, <i>Attraction</i> and <i>Repulsion</i>—the +Material and the Spiritual—accompany each +other, in the strictest fellowship, forever. Thus <i>The Body +and The Soul walk hand in hand</i>.</p> + +<p>If now, in fancy, we select <i>any one</i> of the agglomerations +considered as in their primary stages throughout the +Universal sphere, and suppose this incipient agglomeration +to be taking place at that point where the centre of our Sun +exists—or rather where it <i>did</i> exist originally; for the Sun +is perpetually shifting his position—we shall find ourselves +met, and borne onward for a time at least, by the most +magnificent of theories—by the Nebular Cosmogony of +Laplace:—although “Cosmogony” is far too comprehensive +a term for what he really discusses—which is the constitution +of our solar system alone—of one among the myriad +of similar systems which make up the Universe Proper—that +Universal sphere—that all-inclusive and absolute +<i>Kosmos</i> which forms the subject of my present Discourse.</p> + +<p>Confining himself to an <i>obviously limited</i> region—that +of our solar system with its comparatively immediate vicinity—and +<i>merely</i> assuming—that is to say, assuming without +any basis whatever, either deductive or inductive—<i>much</i> +of what I have been just endeavoring to place upon +a more stable basis than assumption; assuming, for example, +matter as diffused (without pretending to account for +the diffusion) throughout, and somewhat beyond, the space<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +occupied by our system—diffused in a state of heterogeneous +nebulosity and obedient to that omniprevalent law of Gravity +at whose principle he ventured to make no guess;—assuming +all this (which is quite true, although he had no +logical right to its assumption) Laplace has shown, dynamically +and mathematically, that the results in such case +necessarily ensuing, are those and those alone which we +find manifested in the actually existing condition of the +system itself.</p> + +<p>To explain:—Let us conceive <i>that</i> particular agglomeration +of which we have just spoken—the one at the point +designated by our Sun’s centre—to have so far proceeded +that a vast quantity of nebulous matter has here assumed a +roughly globular form; its centre being, of course, coincident +with what is now, or rather was originally, the centre +of our Sun; and its periphery extending out beyond the +orbit of Neptune, the most remote of our planets:—in other +words, let us suppose the diameter of this rough sphere to +be some 6000 millions of miles. For ages, this mass of +matter has been undergoing condensation, until at length +it has become reduced into the bulk we imagine; having +proceeded gradually, of course, from its atomic and imperceptible +state, into what we understand of visible, palpable, +or otherwise appreciable nebulosity.</p> + +<p>Now, the condition of this mass implies a rotation about +an imaginary axis—a rotation which, commencing with the +absolute incipiency of the aggregation, has been ever since +acquiring velocity. The very first two atoms which met, +approaching each other from points not diametrically opposite, +would, in rushing partially past each other, form a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +nucleus for the rotary movement described. How this +would increase in velocity, is readily seen. The two atoms +are joined by others:—an aggregation is formed. The mass +continues to rotate while condensing. But any atom at the +circumference has, of course, a more rapid motion than one +nearer the centre. The outer atom, however, with its +superior velocity, approaches the centre; carrying this superior +velocity with it as it goes. Thus every atom, proceeding +inwardly, and finally attaching itself to the condensed +centre, adds something to the original velocity of +that centre—that is to say, increases the rotary movement +of the mass.</p> + +<p>Let us now suppose this mass so far condensed that it +occupies <i>precisely</i> the space circumscribed by the orbit of +Neptune, and that the velocity with which the surface of +the mass moves, in the general rotation, is precisely that +velocity with which Neptune now revolves about the Sun. +At this epoch, then, we are to understand that the constantly +increasing centrifugal force, having gotten the better +of the non-increasing centripetal, loosened and separated +the exterior and least condensed stratum, or a few of the +exterior and least condensed strata, at the equator of the +sphere, where the tangential velocity predominated; so +that these strata formed about the main body an independent +ring encircling the equatorial regions:—just as the +exterior portion thrown off, by excessive velocity of rotation, +from a grindstone, would form a ring about the grindstone, +but for the solidity of the superficial material: were +this caoutchouc, or anything similar in consistency, precisely +the phænomenon I describe would be presented.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>The ring thus whirled from the nebulous mass, <i>revolved</i>, +of course, <i>as</i> a separate ring, with just that velocity with +which, while the surface of the mass, it <i>rotated</i>. In the +meantime, condensation still proceeding, the interval between +the discharged ring and the main body continued to +increase, until the former was left at a vast distance from +the latter.</p> + +<p>Now, admitting the ring to have possessed, by some +seemingly accidental arrangement of its heterogeneous materials, +a constitution nearly uniform, then this ring, <i>as</i> such, +would never have ceased revolving about its primary; but, +as might have been anticipated, there appears to have been +enough irregularity in the disposition of the materials, to make +them cluster about centres of superior solidity; and thus the +annular form was destroyed.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> No doubt, the band was soon +broken up into several portions, and one of these portions, +predominating in mass, absorbed the others into itself; the +whole settling, spherically, into a planet. That this latter, <i>as</i> +a planet, continued the revolutionary movement which characterized +it while a ring, is sufficiently clear; and that it took +upon itself also, an additional movement in its new condition +of sphere, is readily explained. The ring being understood +as yet unbroken, we see that its exterior, while the +whole revolves about the parent body, moves more rapidly +than its interior. When the rupture occurred, then, some +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>portion in each fragment must have been moving with +greater velocity than the others. The superior movement +prevailing, must have whirled each fragment round—that is +to say, have caused it to rotate; and the direction of the +rotation must, of course, have been the direction of the +revolution whence it arose. <i>All</i> the fragments having become +subject to the rotation described, must, in coalescing, +have imparted it to the one planet constituted by their coalescence.—This +planet was Neptune. Its material continuing +to undergo condensation, and the centrifugal force +generated in its rotation getting, at length, the better of the +centripetal, as before in the case of the parent orb, a ring +was whirled also from the equatorial surface of this planet: +this ring, having been ununiform in its constitution, was +broken up, and its several fragments, being absorbed by the +most massive, were collectively spherified into a moon. +Subsequently, the operation was repeated, and a second +moon was the result. We thus account for the planet +Neptune, with the two satellites which accompany him.</p> + +<p>In throwing off a ring from its equator, the Sun re-established +that equilibrium between its centripetal and +centrifugal forces which had been disturbed in the process +of condensation; but, as this condensation still proceeded, +the equilibrium was again immediately disturbed, through +the increase of rotation. By the time the mass had so far +shrunk that it occupied a spherical space just that circumscribed +by the orbit of Uranus, we are to understand that +the centrifugal force had so far obtained the ascendency +that new relief was needed: a second equatorial band was, +consequently, thrown off, which, proving ununiform, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +broken up, as before in the case of Neptune; the fragments +settling into the planet Uranus; the velocity of whose actual +revolution about the Sun indicates, of course, the rotary +speed of that Sun’s equatorial surface at the moment of the +separation. Uranus, adopting a rotation from the collective +rotations of the fragments composing it, as previously +explained, now threw off ring after ring; each of which, +becoming broken up, settled into a moon:—three moons, +at different epochs, having been formed, in this manner, by +the rupture and general spherification of as many distinct +ununiform rings.</p> + +<p>By the time the Sun had shrunk until it occupied a +space just that circumscribed by the orbit of Saturn, the +balance, we are to suppose, between its centripetal and +centrifugal forces had again become so far disturbed, through +increase of rotary velocity, the result of condensation, that +a third effort at equilibrium became necessary; and an +annular band was therefore whirled off as twice before; +which, on rupture through ununiformity, became consolidated +into the planet Saturn. This latter threw off, in the +first place, seven uniform bands, which, on rupture, were +spherified respectively into as many moons; but, subsequently, +it appears to have discharged, at three distinct but +not very distant epochs, three rings whose equability of constitution +was, by apparent accident, so considerable as to +present no occasion for their rupture; thus they continue +to revolve as rings. I use the phrase “<i>apparent</i> accident;” +for of accident in the ordinary sense there was, of course, +nothing:—the term is properly applied only to the result +of indistinguishable or not immediately traceable <i>law</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> + +<p>Shrinking still farther, until it occupied just the space +circumscribed by the orbit of Jupiter, the Sun now found +need of farther effort to restore the counterbalance of its +two forces, continually disarranged in the still continued +increase of rotation. Jupiter, accordingly, was now thrown +off; passing from the annular to the planetary condition; +and, on attaining this latter, threw off in its turn, at four +different epochs, four rings, which finally resolved themselves +into so many moons.</p> + +<p>Still shrinking, until its sphere occupied just the space +defined by the orbit of the Asteroids, the Sun now discarded +a ring which appears to have had <i>eight</i> centres of superior +solidity, and, on breaking up, to have separated into eight +fragments no one of which so far predominated in mass as +to absorb the others. All therefore, as distinct although +comparatively small planets, proceeded to revolve in orbits +whose distances, each from each, may be considered as in +some degree the measure of the force which drove them +asunder:—all the orbits, nevertheless, being so closely coincident +as to admit of our calling them <i>one</i>, in view of the +other planetary orbits.</p> + +<p>Continuing to shrink, the Sun, on becoming so small as +just to fill the orbit of Mars, now discharged this planet—of +course by the process repeatedly described. Having no +moon, however, Mars could have thrown off no ring. In +fact, an epoch had now arrived in the career of the parent +body, the centre of the system. The <i>de</i>crease of its nebulosity, +which is the <i>in</i>crease of its density, and which again +is the <i>de</i>crease of its condensation, out of which latter arose +the constant disturbance of equilibrium—must, by this period,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +have attained a point at which the efforts for restoration +would have been more and more ineffectual just in +proportion as they were less frequently needed. Thus the +processes of which we have been speaking would everywhere +show signs of exhaustion—in the planets, first, and +secondly, in the original mass. We must not fall into the +error of supposing the decrease of interval observed among +the planets as we approach the Sun, to be in any respect +indicative of an increase of frequency in the periods at +which they were discarded. Exactly the converse is to be +understood. The longest interval of time must have occurred +between the discharges of the two interior; the +shortest, between those of the two exterior, planets. The +decrease of the interval of space is, nevertheless, the measure +of the density, and thus inversely of the condensation, +of the Sun, throughout the processes detailed.</p> + +<p>Having shrunk, however, so far as to fill only the orbit +of our Earth, the parent sphere whirled from itself still one +other body—the Earth—in a condition so nebulous as to +admit of this body’s discarding, in its turn, yet another, +which is our Moon;—but here terminated the lunar formations.</p> + +<p>Finally, subsiding to the orbits first of Venus and then of +Mercury, the Sun discarded these two interior planets; +neither of which has given birth to any moon.</p> + +<p>Thus from his original bulk—or, to speak more accurately, +from the condition in which we first considered him—from +a partially spherified nebular mass, <i>certainly</i> much +more than 5,600 millions of miles in diameter—the great +central orb and origin of our solar-planetary-lunar system,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +has gradually descended, by condensation, in obedience to +the law of Gravity, to a globe only 882,000 miles in diameter; +but it by no means follows, either that its condensation +is yet complete, or that it may not still possess the capacity +of whirling from itself another planet.</p> + +<p>I have here given—in outline of course, but still with +all the detail necessary for distinctness—a view of the Nebular +Theory as its author himself conceived it. From +whatever point we regard it, we shall find it <i>beautifully +true</i>. It is by far too beautiful, indeed, <i>not</i> to possess Truth +as its essentiality—and here I am very profoundly serious +in what I say. In the revolution of the satellites of Uranus, +there does appear something seemingly inconsistent with +the assumptions of Laplace; but that <i>one</i> inconsistency can +invalidate a theory constructed from a million of intricate +consistencies, is a fancy fit only for the fantastic. In prophecying, +confidently, that the apparent anomaly to which +I refer, will, sooner or later, be found one of the strongest +possible corroborations of the general hypothesis, I pretend +to no especial spirit of divination. It is a matter which the +only difficulty seems <i>not</i> to foresee.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>The bodies whirled off in the processes described, would +exchange, it has been seen, the superficial <i>rotation</i> of the +orbs whence they originated, for a <i>revolution</i> of equal velocity +about these orbs as distant centres; and the revolution +thus engendered must proceed, so long as the centripetal +force, or that with which the discarded body gravitates toward +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>its parent, is neither greater nor less than that by +which it was discarded; that is, than the centrifugal, or, +far more properly, than the tangential, velocity. From the +unity, however, of the origin of these two forces, we might +have expected to find them as they are found—the one +accurately counterbalancing the other. It has been shown, +indeed, that the act of whirling-off is, in every case, merely +an act for the preservation of the counterbalance.</p> + +<p>After referring, however, the centripetal force to the +omniprevalent law of Gravity, it has been the fashion with +astronomical treatises, to seek beyond the limits of mere +Nature—that is to say, of <i>Secondary</i> Cause—a solution of +the phænomenon of tangential velocity. This latter they +attribute directly to a <i>First</i> Cause—to God. The force +which carries a stellar body around its primary they assert +to have originated in an impulse given immediately by the +finger—this is the childish phraseology employed—by the +finger of Deity itself. In this view, the planets, fully formed, +are conceived to have been hurled from the Divine hand, +to a position in the vicinity of the suns, with an impetus +mathematically adapted to the masses, or attractive capacities, +of the suns themselves. An idea so grossly unphilosophical, +although so supinely adopted, could have arisen +only from the difficulty of otherwise accounting for the +absolutely accurate adaptation, each to each, of two forces +so seemingly independent, one of the other, as are the gravitating +and tangential. But it should be remembered that, +for a long time, the coincidence between the moon’s rotation +and her sidereal revolution—two matters seemingly +far more independent than those now considered—was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +looked upon as positively miraculous; and there was a +strong disposition, even among astronomers, to attribute +the marvel to the direct and continual agency of God—who, +in this case, it was said, had found it necessary to interpose, +specially, among his general laws, a set of subsidiary +regulations, for the purpose of forever concealing from mortal +eyes the glories, or perhaps the horrors, of the other side +of the Moon—of that mysterious hemisphere which has always +avoided, and must perpetually avoid, the telescopic +scrutiny of mankind. The advance of Science, however, +soon demonstrated—what to the philosophical instinct +needed <i>no</i> demonstration—that the one movement is but a +portion—something more, even, than a consequence—of +the other.</p> + +<p>For my part, I have no patience with fantasies at once +so timorous, so idle, and so awkward. They belong to +the veriest <i>cowardice</i> of thought. That Nature and the +God of Nature are distinct, no thinking being can long +doubt. By the former we imply merely the laws of the +latter. But with the very idea of God, omnipotent, omniscient, +we entertain, also, the idea of <i>the infallibility</i> of his +laws. With Him there being neither Past nor Future—with +Him all being <i>Now</i>—do we not insult him in supposing +his laws so contrived as not to provide for every possible +contingency?—or, rather, what idea <i>can</i> we have of <i>any</i> +possible contingency, except that it is at once a result and +a manifestation of his laws? He who, divesting himself of +prejudice, shall have the rare courage to think absolutely +for himself, cannot fail to arrive, in the end, at the condensation +of <i>laws</i> into <i>Law</i>—cannot fail of reaching the conclusion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +that <i>each law of Nature is dependent at all points +upon all other laws</i>, and that all are but consequences of +one primary exercise of the Divine Volition. Such is the +principle of the Cosmogony which, with all necessary deference, +I here venture to suggest and to maintain.</p> + +<p>In this view, it will be seen that, dismissing as frivolous, +and even impious, the fancy of the tangential force having +been imparted to the planets immediately by “the finger of +God,” I consider this force as originating in the rotation of +the stars:—this rotation as brought about by the in-rushing +of the primary atoms, towards their respective centres of +aggregation:—this in-rushing as the consequence of the law +of Gravity:—this law as but the mode in which is necessarily +manifested the tendency of the atoms to return into +imparticularity:—this tendency to return as but the inevitable +rëaction of the first and most sublime of Acts—that +act by which a God, self-existing and alone existing, became +all things at once, through dint of his volition, while +all things were thus constituted a portion of God.</p> + +<p>The radical assumptions of this Discourse suggest to +me, and in fact imply, certain important <i>modifications</i> of +the Nebular Theory as given by Laplace. The efforts of +the repulsive power I have considered as made for the purpose +of preventing contact among the atoms, and thus as +made in the ratio of the approach to contact—that is to say, +in the ratio of condensation.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> In other words, <i>Electricity</i>, +with its involute phænomena, heat, light and magnetism, +is to be understood as proceeding as condensation +proceeds, and, of course, inversely as density proceeds, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>or the <i>cessation to condense</i>. Thus the Sun, in the process +of its aggregation, must soon, in developing repulsion, have +become excessively heated—perhaps incandescent: and we +can perceive how the operation of discarding its rings must +have been materially assisted by the slight incrustation of +its surface consequent on cooling. Any common experiment +shows us how readily a crust of the character suggested, +is separated, through heterogeneity, from the interior +mass. But, on every successive rejection of the crust, +the new surface would appear incandescent as before; and +the period at which it would again become so far encrusted +as to be readily loosened and discharged, may well be imagined +as exactly coincident with that at which a new effort +would be needed, by the whole mass, to restore the equilibrium +of its two forces, disarranged through condensation. +In other words:—by the time the electric influence (Repulsion) +has prepared the surface for rejection, we are to +understand that the gravitating influence (Attraction) is +precisely ready to reject it. Here, then, as everywhere, <i>the +Body and the Soul walk hand in hand</i>.</p> + +<p>These ideas are empirically confirmed at all points. +Since condensation can never, in any body, be considered +as absolutely at an end, we are warranted in anticipating +that, whenever we have an opportunity of testing the matter, +we shall find indications of resident luminosity in <i>all</i> +the stellar bodies—moons and planets as well as suns. That +our Moon is strongly self-luminous, we see at her every +total eclipse, when, if not so, she would disappear. On the +dark part of the satellite, too, during her phases, we often +observe flashes like our own Auroras; and that these latter, +with our various other so-called electrical phænomena,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +without reference to any more steady radiance, must give +our Earth a certain appearance of luminosity to an inhabitant +of the Moon, is quite evident. In fact, we should regard +all the phænomena referred to, as mere manifestations, in +different moods and degrees, of the Earth’s feebly-continued +condensation.</p> + +<p>If my views are tenable, we should be prepared to find +the newer planets—that is to say, those nearer the Sun—more +luminous than those older and more remote:—and +the extreme brilliancy of Venus (on whose dark portions, +during her phases, the Auroras are frequently visible) does +not seem to be altogether accounted for by her mere proximity +to the central orb. She is no doubt vividly self-luminous, +although less so than Mercury: while the luminosity +of Neptune may be comparatively nothing.</p> + +<p>Admitting what I have urged, it is clear that, from the +moment of the Sun’s discarding a ring, there must be a +continuous diminution both of his heat and light, on account +of the continuous encrustation of his surface; and that a +period would arrive—the period immediately previous to a +new discharge—when a <i>very material</i> decrease of both +light and heat, must become apparent. Now, we know +that tokens of such changes are distinctly recognizable. +On the Melville islands—to adduce merely one out of a +hundred examples—we find traces of <i>ultra-tropical</i> vegetation—of +plants that never could have flourished without +immensely more light and heat than are at present afforded +by our Sun to any portion of the surface of the Earth. Is +such vegetation referable to an epoch immediately subsequent +to the whirling-off of Venus? At this epoch must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +have occurred to us our greatest access of solar influence; +and, in fact, this influence must then have attained its maximum:—leaving +out of view, of course, the period when the +Earth itself was discarded—the period of its mere organization.</p> + +<p>Again:—we know that there exist <i>non-luminous suns</i>—that +is to say, suns whose existence we determine through +the movements of others, but whose luminosity is not sufficient +to impress us. Are these suns invisible merely on +account of the length of time elapsed since their discharge +of a planet? And yet again:—may we not—at least in +certain cases—account for the sudden appearances of suns +where none had been previously suspected, by the hypothesis +that, having rolled with encrusted surfaces throughout +the few thousand years of our astronomical history, +each of these suns, in whirling off a new secondary, has at +length been enabled to display the glories of its still incandescent +interior?—To the well-ascertained fact of the proportional +increase of heat as we descend into the Earth, I +need of course, do nothing more than refer:—it comes in +the strongest possible corroboration of all that I have said +on the topic now at issue.</p> + +<p>In speaking, not long ago, of the repulsive or electrical +influence, I remarked that “the important phænomena of +vitality, consciousness, and thought, whether we observe +them generally or in detail, seem to proceed <i>at least in the +ratio of the heterogeneous</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> I mentioned, too, that I would +recur to the suggestion:—and this is the proper point at +which to do so. Looking at the matter, first, in detail, we +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>perceive that not merely the <i>manifestation</i> of vitality, but +its importance, consequence, and elevation of character, +keep pace, very closely, with the heterogeneity, or complexity, +of the animal structure. Looking at the question, +now, in its generality, and referring to the first movements +of the atoms towards mass-constitution, we find that heterogeneousness, +brought about directly through condensation, +is proportional with it forever. We thus reach the +proposition that <i>the importance of the development of the +terrestrial vitality proceeds equably with the terrestrial condensation</i>.</p> + +<p>Now this is in precise accordance with what we know +of the succession of animals on the Earth. As it has proceeded +in its condensation, superior and still superior races +have appeared. Is it impossible that the successive geological +revolutions which have attended, at least, if not immediately +caused, these successive elevations of vitalic +character—is it improbable that these revolutions have +themselves been produced by the successive planetary discharges +from the Sun—in other words, by the successive +variations in the solar influence on the Earth? Were this +idea tenable, we should not be unwarranted in the fancy +that the discharge of yet a new planet, interior to Mercury, +may give rise to yet a new modification of the terrestrial +surface—a modification from which may spring a +race both materially and spiritually superior to Man. These +thoughts impress me with all the force of truth—but I throw +them out, of course, merely in their obvious character of +suggestion.</p> + +<p>The Nebular Theory of Laplace has lately received far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +more confirmation than it needed, at the hands of the philosopher, +Compte. These two have thus together shown—<i>not</i>, +to be sure, that Matter at any period actually existed +as described, in a state of nebular diffusion, but that, admitting +it so to have existed throughout the space and much +beyond the space now occupied by our solar system, <i>and to +have commenced a movement towards a centre</i>—it must +gradually have assumed the various forms and motions +which are now seen, in that system, to obtain. A demonstration +such as this—a dynamical and mathematical demonstration, +as far as demonstration can be—unquestionable +and unquestioned—unless, indeed, by that unprofitable and +disreputable tribe, the professional questioners—the mere +madmen who deny the Newtonian law of Gravity on +which the results of the French mathematicians are based—a +demonstration, I say, such as this, would to most intellects +be conclusive—and I confess that it is so to mine—of +the validity of the nebular hypothesis upon which the demonstration +depends.</p> + +<p>That the demonstration does not <i>prove</i> the hypothesis, +according to the common understanding of the word +“proof,” I admit, of course. To show that certain existing +results—that certain established facts—may be, even mathematically, +accounted for by the assumption of a certain hypothesis, +is by no means to establish the hypothesis itself. +In other words:—to show that, certain data being given, a +certain existing result might, or even <i>must</i>, have ensued, +will fail to prove that this result <i>did</i> ensue, <i>from the data</i>, +until such time as it shall be also shown that there are, <i>and +can be</i>, no other data from which the result in question<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +might <i>equally</i> have ensued. But, in the case now discussed, +although all must admit the deficiency of what we +are in the habit of terming “proof,” still there are many +intellects, and those of the loftiest order, to which <i>no</i> proof +could bring one iota of additional <i>conviction</i>. Without +going into details which might impinge upon the Cloud-Land +of Metaphysics, I may as well here observe that the force +of conviction, in cases such as this, will always, with the +right-thinking, be proportional to the amount of <i>complexity</i> +intervening between the hypothesis and the result. To be +less abstract:—The greatness of the complexity found existing +among cosmical conditions, by rendering great in +the same proportion the difficulty of accounting for all +these conditions <i>at once</i>, strengthens, also in the same proportion, +our faith in that hypothesis which does, in such +manner, satisfactorily account for them:—and as <i>no</i> complexity +can well be conceived greater than that of the astronomical +conditions, so no conviction can be stronger—to +<i>my</i> mind at least—than that with which I am impressed +by an hypothesis that not only reconciles these conditions, +with mathematical accuracy, and reduces them into a consistent +and intelligible whole, but is, at the same time, the +<i>sole</i> hypothesis by means of which the human intellect has +been ever enabled to account for them <i>at all</i>.</p> + +<p>A most unfounded opinion has become latterly current +in gossiping and even in scientific circles—the opinion that +the so-called Nebular Cosmogony has been overthrown. +This fancy has arisen from the report of late observations +made, among what hitherto have been termed the “nebulæ,” +through the large telescope of Cincinnati, and the world-renowned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +instrument of Lord Rosse. Certain spots in the +firmament which presented, even to the most powerful of +the old telescopes, the appearance of nebulosity, or haze, +had been regarded for a long time as confirming the theory +of Laplace. They were looked upon as stars in that very +process of condensation which I have been attempting to +describe. Thus it was supposed that we “had ocular evidence”—an +evidence, by the way, which has always been +found very questionable—of the truth of the hypothesis; +and, although certain telescopic improvements, every now +and then, enabled us to perceive that a spot, here and there, +which we had been classing among the nebulæ, was, in fact, +but a cluster of stars deriving its nebular character only +from its immensity of distance—still it was thought that no +doubt could exist as to the actual nebulosity of numerous +other masses, the strong-holds of the nebulists, bidding defiance +to every effort at segregation. Of these latter the +most interesting was the great “nebulæ” in the constellation +Orion:—but this, with innumerable other mis-called +“nebulæ,” when viewed through the magnificent modern +telescopes, has become resolved into a simple collection of +stars. Now this fact has been very generally understood +as conclusive against the Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace; +and, on announcement of the discoveries in question, the +most enthusiastic defender and most eloquent popularizer of +the theory, Dr. Nichol, went so far as to “admit the necessity +of abandoning” an idea which had formed the material +of his most praiseworthy book.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> +<p>Many of my readers will no doubt be inclined to say +that the result of these new investigations <i>has</i> at least a +strong <i>tendency</i> to overthrow the hypothesis; while some +of them, more thoughtful, will suggest that, although the +theory is by no means disproved through the segregation of +the particular “nebulæ,” alluded to, still a <i>failure</i> to segregate +them, with such telescopes, might well have been understood +as a triumphant <i>corroboration</i> of the theory:—and +this latter class will be surprised, perhaps, to hear me say +that even with <i>them</i> I disagree. If the propositions of this +Discourse have been comprehended, it will be seen that, in +my view, a failure to segregate the “nebulæ” would have +tended to the refutation, rather than to the confirmation, of +the Nebular Hypothesis.</p> + +<p>Let me explain:—The Newtonian Law of Gravity we +may, of course, assume as demonstrated. This law, it will +be remembered, I have referred to the rëaction of the first +Divine Act—to the rëaction of an exercise of the Divine +Volition temporarily overcoming a difficulty. This difficulty +is that of forcing the normal into the abnormal—of +impelling that whose originality, and therefore whose rightful +condition, was <i>One</i>, to take upon itself the wrongful condition +of <i>Many</i>. It is only by conceiving this difficulty as +<i>temporarily</i> overcome, that we can comprehend a rëaction. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>There could have been no rëaction had the act been infinitely +continued. So long as the act <i>lasted</i>, no rëaction, of +course, could commence; in other words, no <i>gravitation</i> +could take place—for we have considered the one as but +the manifestation of the other. But gravitation <i>has</i> taken +place; therefore the act of Creation has ceased: and gravitation +has long ago taken place; therefore the act of Creation +has long ago ceased. We can no more expect, then, +to observe <i>the primary processes</i> of Creation; and to these +primary processes the condition of nebulosity has already +been explained to belong.</p> + +<p>Through what we know of the propagation of light, we +have direct proof that the more remote of the stars have +existed, under the forms in which we now see them, for an +inconceivable number of years. So far back <i>at least</i>, then, +as the period when these stars underwent condensation, +must have been the epoch at which the mass-constitutive +processes began. That we may conceive these processes, +then, as still going on in the case of certain “nebulæ,” +while in all other cases we find them thoroughly at an end, +we are forced into assumptions for which we have really +<i>no</i> basis whatever—we have to thrust in, again, upon the revolting +Reason, the blasphemous idea of special interposition—we +have to suppose that, in the particular instances of these +“nebulæ,” an unerring God found it necessary to introduce +certain supplementary regulations—certain improvements +of the general law—certain retouchings and emendations, +in a word, which had the effect of deferring the completion +of these individual stars for centuries of centuries beyond +the æra during which all the other stellar bodies had time,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +not only to be fully constituted, but to grow hoary with an +unspeakable old age.</p> + +<p>Of course, it will be immediately objected that since the +light by which we recognize the nebulæ now, must be +merely that which left their surfaces a vast number of years +ago, the processes at present observed, or supposed to be +observed, are, in fact, <i>not</i> processes now actually going on, +but the phantoms of processes completed long in the Past—just +as I maintain all these mass-constitutive processes +<i>must</i> have been.</p> + +<p>To this I reply that neither is the now-observed condition +of the condensed stars their actual condition, but a +condition completed long in the Past; so that my argument +drawn from the <i>relative</i> condition of the stars and the +“nebulæ,” is in no manner disturbed. Moreover, those +who maintain the existence of nebulæ, do <i>not</i> refer the +nebulosity to extreme distance; they declare it a real and +not merely a perspective nebulosity. That we may conceive, +indeed, a nebular mass as visible at all, we must conceive +it as <i>very near us</i> in comparison with the condensed +stars brought into view by the modern telescopes. In +maintaining the appearances in question, then, to be really +nebulous, we maintain their comparative vicinity to our +point of view. Thus, their condition, as we see them now, +must be referred to an epoch <i>far less remote</i> than that to +which we may refer the now-observed condition of at least +the majority of the stars.—In a word, should Astronomy +ever demonstrate a “nebula,” in the sense at present intended, +I should consider the Nebular Cosmogony—<i>not</i>, indeed, +as corroborated by the demonstration—but as thereby +irretrievably overthrown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + +<p>By way, however, of rendering unto Cæsar <i>no more</i> +than the things that are Cæsar’s, let me here remark that +the assumption of the hypothesis which led him to so glorious +a result, seems to have been suggested to Laplace in +great measure by a misconception—by the very misconception +of which we have just been speaking—by the generally +prevalent misunderstanding of the character of the +nebulæ, so mis-named. These he supposed to be, in reality, +what their designation implies. The fact is, this great man +had, very properly, an inferior faith in his own merely <i>perceptive</i> +powers. In respect, therefore, to the actual existence +of nebulæ—an existence so confidently maintained by +his telescopic contemporaries—he depended less upon what +he saw than upon what he heard.</p> + +<p>It will be seen that the only valid objections to his +theory, are those made to its hypothesis <i>as</i> such—to what +suggested it—not to what it suggests; to its propositions +rather than to its results. His most unwarranted assumption +was that of giving the atoms a movement towards a +centre, in the very face of his evident understanding that +these atoms, in unlimited succession, extended throughout +the Universal space. I have already shown that, under +such circumstances, there could have occurred no movement +at all; and Laplace, consequently, assumed one on +no more philosophical ground than that something of the +kind was necessary for the establishment of what he intended +to establish.</p> + +<p>His original idea seems to have been a compound of +the true Epicurean atoms with the false nebulæ of his contemporaries; +and thus his theory presents us with the singular<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +anomaly of absolute truth deduced, as a mathematical +result, from a hybrid datum of ancient imagination intertangled +with modern inacumen. Laplace’s real strength +lay, in fact, in an almost miraculous mathematical instinct:—on +this he relied; and in no instance did it fail or deceive +him:—in the case of the Nebular Cosmogony, it led him, +blindfolded, through a labyrinth of Error, into one of the +most luminous and stupendous temples of Truth.</p> + +<p>Let us now fancy, for the moment, that the ring first +thrown off by the Sun—that is to say, the ring whose +breaking-up constituted Neptune—did not, in fact, break +up until the throwing-off of the ring out of which Uranus +arose; that this latter ring, again, remained perfect until +the discharge of that out of which sprang Saturn; that this +latter, again, remained entire until the discharge of that +from which originated Jupiter—and so on. Let us imagine, +in a word, that no dissolution occurred among the rings +until the final rejection of that which gave birth to Mercury. +We thus paint to the eye of the mind a series of +cöexistent concentric circles; and looking as well at <i>them</i> +as at the processes by which, according to Laplace’s hypothesis, +they were constructed, we perceive at once a very +singular analogy with the atomic strata and the process of +the original irradiation as I have described it. Is it impossible +that, on measuring the <i>forces</i>, respectively, by which +each successive planetary circle was thrown off—that is to +say, on measuring the successive excesses of rotation over +gravitation which occasioned the successive discharges—we +should find the analogy in question more decidedly confirmed? +<i>Is it improbable that we should discover these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +forces to have varied—as in the original radiation—proportionally +to the squares of the distances?</i></p> + +<p>Our solar system, consisting, in chief, of one sun, with +sixteen planets certainly, and possibly a few more, revolving +about it at various distances, and attended by seventeen +moons assuredly, but <i>very</i> probably by several others—is +now to be considered as <i>an example</i> of the innumerable +agglomerations which proceeded to take place throughout +the Universal Sphere of atoms on withdrawal of the Divine +Volition. I mean to say that our solar system is to be understood +as affording a <i>generic instance</i> of these agglomerations, +or, more correctly, of the ulterior conditions at which +they arrived. If we keep our attention fixed on the idea +of <i>the utmost possible Relation</i> as the Omnipotent design, +and on the precautions taken to accomplish it through difference +of form, among the original atoms, and particular +inequidistance, we shall find it impossible to suppose for a +moment that even any two of the incipient agglomerations +reached precisely the same result in the end. We shall +rather be inclined to think that <i>no two</i> stellar bodies in the +Universe—whether suns, planets or moons—are particularly, +while <i>all</i> are generally, similar. Still less, then, can +we imagine any two <i>assemblages</i> of such bodies—any two +“systems”—as having more than a general resemblance.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> +Our telescopes, at this point, thoroughly confirm our deductions. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>Taking our own solar system, then, as merely a +loose or general type of all, we have so far proceeded in +our subject as to survey the Universe under the aspect of a +spherical space, throughout which, dispersed with merely +general equability, exist a number of but generally similar +<i>systems</i>.</p> + +<p>Let us now, expanding our conceptions, look upon each +of these systems as in itself an atom; which in fact it is, +when we consider it as but one of the countless myriads of +systems which constitute the Universe. Regarding all, +then, as but colossal atoms, each with the same ineradicable +tendency to Unity which characterizes the actual atoms of +which it consists—we enter at once upon a new order of +aggregations. The smaller systems, in the vicinity of a +larger one, would, inevitably, be drawn into still closer +vicinity. A thousand would assemble here; a million there—perhaps +here, again, even a billion—leaving, thus, immeasurable +vacancies in space. And if now, it be demanded +why, in the case of these systems—of these merely Titanic +atoms—I speak, simply, of an “assemblage,” and not, as in +the case of the actual atoms, of a more or less consolidated +agglomeration:—if it be asked, for instance, why I do not +carry what I suggest to its legitimate conclusion, and describe, +at once, these assemblages of system-atoms as rushing +to consolidation in spheres—as each becoming condensed +into one magnificent sun—my reply is that μελλοντα ταυτα—I +am but pausing, for a moment, on the awful threshold of +<i>the Future</i>. For the present, calling these assemblages +“clusters,” we see them in the incipient stages of their +consolidation. Their <i>absolute</i> consolidation is <i>to come</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>We have now reached a point from which we behold +the Universe as a spherical space, interspersed, <i>unequably</i>, +with <i>clusters</i>. It will be noticed that I here prefer the adverb +“unequably” to the phrase “with a merely general +equability,” employed before. It is evident, in fact, that +the equability of distribution will diminish in the ratio of +the agglomerative processes—that is to say, as the things +distributed diminish in number. Thus the increase of <i>in</i>-equability—an +increase which must continue until, sooner +or later, an epoch will arrive at which the largest agglomeration +will absorb all the others—should be viewed as, +simply, a corroborative indication of the <i>tendency to One</i>.</p> + +<p>And here, at length, it seems proper to inquire whether +the ascertained <i>facts</i> of Astronomy confirm the general +arrangement which I have thus, deductively, assigned to +the Heavens. Thoroughly, they <i>do</i>. Telescopic observation, +guided by the laws of perspective, enables us to understand +that the perceptible Universe exists as <i>a cluster of +clusters, irregularly disposed</i>.</p> + +<p>The “clusters” of which this Universal “<i>cluster of +clusters</i>” consists, are merely what we have been in the +practice of designating “nebulæ”—and, of these “nebulæ,” +<i>one</i> is of paramount interest to mankind. I allude to the +Galaxy, or Milky Way. This interests us, first and most +obviously, on account of its great superiority in apparent +size, not only to any one other cluster in the firmament, but +to all the other clusters taken together. The largest of +these latter occupies a mere point, comparatively, and is +distinctly seen only with the aid of a telescope. The Galaxy +sweeps throughout the Heaven and is brilliantly visible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +to the naked eye. But it interests man chiefly, although +less immediately, on account of its being his home; the +home of the Earth on which he exists; the home of the +Sun about which this Earth revolves; the home of that +“system” of orbs of which the Sun is the centre and primary—the +Earth one of sixteen secondaries, or planets—the +Moon one of seventeen tertiaries, or satellites. The +Galaxy, let me repeat, is but one of the <i>clusters</i> which I +have been describing—but one of the mis-called “nebulæ” +revealed to us—by the telescope alone, sometimes—as faint +hazy spots in various quarters of the sky. We have no +reason to suppose the Milky Way <i>really</i> more extensive +than the least of these “nebulæ.” Its vast superiority in +size is but an apparent superiority arising from our position +in regard to it—that is to say, from our position in its midst. +However strange the assertion may at first appear to those +unversed in Astronomy, still the astronomer himself has no +hesitation in asserting that we are <i>in the midst</i> of that inconceivable +host of stars—of suns—of systems—which constitute +the Galaxy. Moreover, not only have <i>we</i>—not only +has <i>our</i> Sun a right to claim the Galaxy as its own especial +cluster, but, with slight reservation, it may be said that all +the distinctly visible stars of the firmament—all the stars +Visible to the naked eye—have equally a right to claim it +as <i>their</i> own.</p> + +<p>There has been a great deal of misconception in respect +to the <i>shape</i> of the Galaxy; which, in nearly all our astronomical +treatises, is said to resemble that of a capital Y. +The cluster in question has, in reality, a certain general—<i>very</i> +general resemblance to the planet Saturn, with its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +encompassing triple ring. Instead of the solid orb of that +planet, however, we must picture to ourselves a lenticular +star-island, or collection of stars; our Sun lying excentrically—near +the shore of the island—on that side of it which +is nearest the constellation of the Cross and farthest from +that of Cassiopeia. The surrounding ring, where it approaches +our position, has in it a longitudinal <i>gash</i>, which +does, in fact, cause <i>the ring, in our vicinity</i>, to assume, +loosely, the appearance of a capital Y.</p> + +<p>We must not fall into the error, however, of conceiving +the somewhat indefinite girdle as at all <i>remote</i>, comparatively +speaking, from the also indefinite lenticular cluster +which it surrounds; and thus, for mere purpose of explanation, +we may speak of our Sun as actually situated at +that point of the Y where its three component lines unite; +and, conceiving this letter to be of a certain solidity—of a +certain thickness, very trivial in comparison with its length—we +may even speak of our position as <i>in the middle</i> of +this thickness. Fancying ourselves thus placed, we shall +no longer find difficulty in accounting for the phænomena +presented—which are perspective altogether. When we +look upward or downward—that is to say, when we cast +our eyes in the direction of the letter’s <i>thickness</i>—we look +through fewer stars than when we cast them in the direction +of its <i>length</i>, or <i>along</i> either of the three component lines. +Of course, in the former case, the stars appear scattered—in +the latter, crowded.—To reverse this explanation:—An +inhabitant of the Earth, when looking, as we commonly express +ourselves, <i>at</i> the Galaxy, is then beholding it in some +of the directions of its length—is looking <i>along</i> the lines of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +the Y—but when, looking out into the general Heaven, he +turns his eyes <i>from</i> the Galaxy, he is then surveying it in +the direction of the letter’s thickness; and on this account +the stars seem to him scattered; while, in fact, they are as +close together, on an average, as in the mass of the cluster. +<i>No</i> consideration could be better adapted to convey an idea +of this cluster’s stupendous extent.</p> + +<p>If, with a telescope of high space-penetrating power, we +carefully inspect the firmament, we shall become aware of +<i>a belt of clusters</i>—of what we have hitherto called “nebulæ”—a +<i>band</i>, of varying breadth, stretching from horizon +to horizon, at right angles to the general course of the Milky +Way. This band is the ultimate <i>cluster of clusters</i>. This +belt is <i>The Universe</i>. Our Galaxy is but one, and perhaps +one of the most inconsiderable, of the clusters which go to +the constitution of this ultimate, Universal <i>belt</i> or <i>band</i>. +The appearance of this cluster of clusters, to our eyes, <i>as</i> a +belt or band, is altogether a perspective phænomenon of the +same character as that which causes us to behold our own +individual and roughly-spherical cluster, the Galaxy, under +guise also of a belt, traversing the Heavens at right angles +to the Universal one. The shape of the all-inclusive cluster +is, of course <i>generally</i>, that of each individual cluster +which it includes. Just as the scattered stars which, on +looking <i>from</i> the Galaxy, we see in the general sky, are, in +fact, but a portion of that Galaxy itself, and as closely intermingled +with it as any of the telescopic points in what +seems the densest portion of its mass—so are the scattered +“nebulæ” which, on casting our eyes <i>from</i> the Universal +<i>belt</i>, we perceive at all points of the firmament—so, I say,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +are these scattered “nebulæ” to be understood as only +perspectively scattered, and as part and parcel of the one +supreme and Universal <i>sphere</i>.</p> + +<p>No astronomical fallacy is more untenable, and none +has been more pertinaciously adhered to, than that of the +absolute <i>illimitation</i> of the Universe of Stars. The reasons +for limitation, as I have already assigned them, <i>à priori</i>, +seem to me unanswerable; but, not to speak of these, <i>observation</i> +assures us that there is, in numerous directions around +us, certainly, if not in all, a positive limit—or, at the very +least, affords us no basis whatever for thinking otherwise. +Were the succession of stars endless, then the background +of the sky would present us an uniform luminosity, like that +displayed by the Galaxy—<i>since there could be absolutely no +point, in all that background, at which would not exist a +star.</i> The only mode, therefore, in which, under such a +state of affairs, we could comprehend the <i>voids</i> which our +telescopes find in innumerable directions, would be by supposing +the distance of the invisible background so immense +that no ray from it has yet been able to reach us at all. +That this <i>may</i> be so, who shall venture to deny? I maintain, +simply, that we have not even the shadow of a reason +for believing that it <i>is</i> so.</p> + +<p>When speaking of the vulgar propensity to regard all +bodies on the Earth as tending merely to the Earth’s centre, +I observed that, “with certain exceptions to be specified +hereafter, every body on the Earth tended not only to the +Earth’s centre, but in every conceivable direction besides.”<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +The “exceptions” refer to those frequent gaps in the Heavens, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>where our utmost scrutiny can detect not only no +stellar bodies, but no indications of their existence:—where +yawning chasms, blacker than Erebus, seem to afford us +glimpses, through the boundary walls of the Universe of +Stars, into the illimitable Universe of Vacancy, beyond. +Now as any body, existing on the Earth, chances to pass, +either through its own movement or the Earth’s, into a line +with any one of these voids, or cosmical abysses, it clearly +is no longer attracted <i>in the direction of that void</i>, and +for the moment, consequently, is “heavier” than at any +period, either after or before. Independently of the consideration +of these voids, however, and looking only at the +generally unequable distribution of the stars, we see that +the absolute tendency of bodies on the Earth to the Earth’s +centre, is in a state of perpetual variation.</p> + +<p>We comprehend, then, the insulation of our Universe. +We perceive the isolation of <i>that</i>—of <i>all</i> that which we +grasp with the senses. We know that there exists one +<i>cluster of clusters</i>—a collection around which, on all sides, +extend the immeasurable wildernesses of a Space <i>to all human +perception</i> untenanted. But <i>because</i> upon the confines +of this Universe of Stars we are compelled to pause, through +want of farther evidence from the senses, is it right to conclude +that, in fact, there <i>is</i> no material point beyond that +which we have thus been permitted to attain? Have we, +or have we not, an analogical right to the inference that +this perceptible Universe—that this cluster of clusters—is +but one of <i>a series</i> of clusters of clusters, the rest of which +are invisible through distance—through the diffusion of their +light being so excessive, ere it reaches us, as not to produce<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +upon our retinas a light-impression—or from there being no +such emanation as light at all, in these unspeakably distant +worlds—or, lastly, from the mere interval being so vast, that +the electric tidings of their presence in Space, have not yet—through +the lapsing myriads of years—been enabled to +traverse that interval?</p> + +<p>Have we any right to inferences—have we any ground +whatever for visions such as these? If we have a right to +them in <i>any</i> degree, we have a right to their infinite extension.</p> + +<p>The human brain has obviously a leaning to the “<i>Infinite</i>,” +and fondles the phantom of the idea. It seems to +long with a passionate fervor for this impossible conception, +with the hope of intellectually believing it when conceived. +What is general among the whole race of Man, of course +no individual of that race can be warranted in considering +abnormal; nevertheless, there <i>may</i> be a class of superior +intelligences, to whom the human bias alluded to may wear +all the character of monomania.</p> + +<p>My question, however, remains unanswered:—Have we +any right to infer—let us say, rather, to imagine—an interminable +succession of the “clusters of clusters,” or of “Universes” +more or less similar?</p> + +<p>I reply that the “right,” in a case such as this, depends +absolutely upon the hardihood of that imagination which +ventures to claim the right. Let me declare, only, that, as +an individual, I myself feel impelled to the <i>fancy</i>—without +daring to call it more—that there <i>does</i> exist a <i>limitless</i> succession +of Universes, more or less similar to that of which +we have cognizance—to that of which <i>alone</i> we shall ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +have cognizance—at the very least until the return of our +own particular Universe into Unity. <i>If</i> such clusters of +clusters exist, however—<i>and they do</i>—it is abundantly clear +that, having had no part in our origin, they have no portion +in our laws. They neither attract us, nor we them. Their +material—their spirit is not ours—is not that which obtains +in any part of our Universe. They could not impress our +senses or our souls. Among them and us—considering all, +for the moment, collectively—there are no influences in +common. Each exists, apart and independently, <i>in the bosom +of its proper and particular God</i>.</p> + +<p>In the conduct of this Discourse, I am aiming less at +physical than at metaphysical order. The clearness with +which even material phænomena are presented to the understanding, +depends very little, I have long since learned to +perceive, upon a merely natural, and almost altogether upon +a moral, arrangement. If then I seem to step somewhat too +discursively from point to point of my topic, let me suggest +that I do so in the hope of thus the better keeping unbroken +that chain of <i>graduated impression</i> by which alone the intellect +of Man can expect to encompass the grandeurs of +which I speak, and, in their majestic totality, to comprehend +them.</p> + +<p>So far, our attention has been directed, almost exclusively, +to a general and relative grouping of the stellar +bodies in space. Of specification there has been little; +and whatever ideas of <i>quantity</i> have been conveyed—that +is to say, of number, magnitude, and distance—have been +conveyed incidentally and by way of preparation for more +definitive conceptions. These latter let us now attempt to +entertain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<p>Our solar system, as has been already mentioned, consists, +in chief, of one sun and sixteen planets certainly, but +in all probability a few others, revolving around it as a +centre, and attended by seventeen moons of which we +know, with possibly several more of which as yet we know +nothing. These various bodies are not true spheres, but +oblate spheroids—spheres flattened at the poles of the imaginary +axes about which they rotate:—the flattening being +a consequence of the rotation. Neither is the Sun absolutely +the centre of the system; for this Sun itself, with all +the planets, revolves about a perpetually shifting point of +space, which is the system’s general centre of gravity. +Neither are we to consider the paths through which these +different spheroids move—the moons about the planets, the +planets about the Sun, or the Sun about the common centre—as +circles in an accurate sense. They are, in fact, +<i>ellipses—one of the foci being the point about which the +revolution is made</i>. An ellipse is a curve, returning into +itself, one of whose diameters is longer than the other. In +the longer diameter are two points, equidistant from the +middle of the line, and so situated otherwise that if, from +each of them a straight line be drawn to any one point of +the curve, the two lines, taken together, will be equal to the +longer diameter itself. Now let us conceive such an ellipse. +At one of the points mentioned, which are the <i>foci</i>, let us +fasten an orange. By an elastic thread let us connect this +orange with a pea; and let us place this latter on the circumference +of the ellipse. Let us now move the pea continuously +around the orange—keeping always on the circumference +of the ellipse. The elastic thread, which, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +course, varies in length as we move the pea, will form what +in geometry is called a <i>radius vector</i>. Now, if the orange +be understood as the Sun, and the pea as a planet revolving +about it, then the revolution should be made at such a rate—with +a velocity so varying—that the <i>radius vector</i> may +pass over <i>equal areas of space in equal times</i>. The progress +of the pea <i>should be</i>—in other words, the progress of +the planet <i>is</i>, of course,—slow in proportion to its distance +from the Sun—swift in proportion to its proximity. Those +planets, moreover, move the more slowly which are the +farther from the Sun; <i>the squares of their periods of revolution +having the same proportion to each other, as have +to each other the cubes of their mean distances from the +Sun</i>.</p> + +<p>The wonderfully complex laws of revolution here described, +however, are not to be understood as obtaining in +our system alone. They <i>everywhere</i> prevail where Attraction +prevails. They control <i>the Universe</i>. Every shining +speck in the firmament is, no doubt, a luminous sun, resembling +our own, at least in its general features, and having in +attendance upon it a greater or less number of planets, +greater or less, whose still lingering luminosity is not sufficient +to render them visible to us at so vast a distance, but +which, nevertheless, revolve, moon-attended, about their +starry centres, in obedience to the principles just detailed—in +obedience to the three omniprevalent laws of revolution—the +three immortal laws <i>guessed</i> by the imaginative Kepler, +and but subsequently demonstrated and accounted for +by the patient and mathematical Newton. Among a tribe +of philosophers who pride themselves excessively upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +matter-of-fact, it is far too fashionable to sneer at all speculation +under the comprehensive <i>sobriquet</i>, “guess-work.” +The point to be considered is, <i>who</i> guesses. In guessing +with Plato, we spend our time to better purpose, now +and then, than in hearkening to a demonstration by +Alcmæon.</p> + +<p>In many works on Astronomy I find it distinctly stated +that the laws of Kepler are <i>the basis</i> of the great principle, +Gravitation. This idea must have arisen from the fact that +the suggestion of these laws by Kepler, and his proving +them <i>à posteriori</i> to have an actual existence, led Newton +to account for them by the hypothesis of Gravitation, and, +finally, to demonstrate them <i>à priori</i>, as necessary consequences +of the hypothetical principle. Thus so far from the +laws of Kepler being the basis of Gravity, Gravity is the +basis of these laws—as it is, indeed, of all the laws of the +material Universe which are not referable to Repulsion +alone.</p> + +<p>The mean distance of the Earth from the Moon—that +is to say, from the heavenly body in our closest vicinity—is +237,000 miles. Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, is +distant from him 37 millions of miles. Venus, the next, +revolves at a distance of 68 millions:—the Earth, which +comes next, at a distance of 95 millions:—Mars, then, at a +distance of 144 millions. Now come the eight Asteroids +(Ceres, Juno, Vesta, Pallas, Astræa, Flora, Iris, and Hebe) +at an average distance of about 250 millions. Then we +have Jupiter, distant 490 millions; then Saturn, 900 millions; +then Uranus, 19 hundred millions; finally Neptune, +lately discovered, and revolving at a distance, say of 28<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +hundred millions. Leaving Neptune out of the account—of +which as yet we know little accurately and which is, +possibly, one of a system of Asteroids—it will be seen that, +within certain limits, there exists an <i>order of interval</i> +among the planets. Speaking loosely, we may say that +each outer planet is twice as far from the Sun as is the +next inner one. May not the <i>order</i> here mentioned—<i>may +not the law of Bode—be deduced from consideration of +the analogy suggested by me as having place between the +solar discharge of rings and the mode of the atomic irradiation</i>?</p> + +<p>The numbers hurriedly mentioned in this summary of +distance, it is folly to attempt comprehending, unless in the +light of abstract arithmetical facts. They are not practically +tangible ones. They convey no precise ideas. I +have stated that Neptune, the planet farthest from the Sun, +revolves about him at a distance of 28 hundred millions of +miles. So far good:—I have stated a mathematical fact; +and, without comprehending it in the least, we may put it +to use—mathematically. But in mentioning, even, that +the Moon revolves about the Earth at the comparatively +trifling distance of 237,000 miles, I entertained no expectation +of giving any one to understand—to know—to feel—how +far from the Earth the Moon actually <i>is</i>. 237,000 +<i>miles</i>! There are, perhaps, few of my readers who have +not crossed the Atlantic ocean; yet how many of them +have a distinct idea of even the 3,000 miles intervening +between shore and shore? I doubt, indeed, whether the +man lives who can force into his brain the most remote conception +of the interval between one milestone and its next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +neighbor upon the turnpike. We are in some measure +aided, however, in our consideration of distance, by combining +this consideration with the kindred one of velocity. +Sound passes through 1100 feet of space in a second of +time. Now were it possible for an inhabitant of the Earth +to see the flash of a cannon discharged in the Moon, and +to hear the report, he would have to wait, after perceiving +the former, more than 13 entire days and nights before +getting any intimation of the latter.</p> + +<p>However feeble be the impression, even thus conveyed, +of the Moon’s real distance from the Earth, it will, nevertheless, +effect a good object in enabling us more clearly to +see the futility of attempting to grasp such intervals as that +of the 28 hundred millions of miles between our Sun and +Neptune; or even that of the 95 millions between the Sun +and the Earth we inhabit. A cannon-ball, flying at the +greatest velocity with which such a ball has ever been +known to fly, could not traverse the latter interval in +less than 20 years; while for the former it would require +590.</p> + +<p>Our Moon’s real diameter is 2160 miles; yet she is +comparatively so trifling an object that it would take nearly +50 such orbs to compose one as great as the Earth.</p> + +<p>The diameter of our own globe is 7912 miles—but +from the enunciation of these numbers what positive idea +do we derive?</p> + +<p>If we ascend an ordinary mountain and look around us +from its summit, we behold a landscape stretching, say 40 +miles, in every direction; forming a circle 250 miles in circumference; +and including an area of 5000 square miles.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +The extent of such a prospect, on account of the <i>successiveness</i> +with which its portions necessarily present themselves +to view, can be only very feebly and very partially +appreciated:—yet the entire panorama would comprehend +no more than one 40,000th part of the mere <i>surface</i> of +our globe. Were this panorama, then, to be succeeded, +after the lapse of an hour, by another of equal extent; this +again by a third, after the lapse of another hour; this again +by a fourth after lapse of another hour—and so on, until +the scenery of the whole Earth were exhausted; and were +we to be engaged in examining these various panoramas +for twelve hours of every day; we should nevertheless, be +9 years and 48 days in completing the general survey.</p> + +<p>But if the mere surface of the Earth eludes the grasp +of the imagination, what are we to think of its cubical contents? +It embraces a mass of matter equal in weight to +at least 2 sextillions, 200 quintillions of tons. Let us suppose +it in a state of quiescence; and now let us endeavor +to conceive a mechanical force sufficient to set it in motion! +Not the strength of all the myriads of beings whom +we may conclude to inhabit the planetary worlds of our +system—not the combined physical strength of <i>all</i> these +beings—even admitting all to be more powerful than man—would +avail to stir the ponderous mass <i>a single inch</i> from +its position.</p> + +<p>What are we to understand, then, of the force, which +under similar circumstances, would be required to move +the <i>largest</i> of our planets, Jupiter? This is 86,000 miles +in diameter, and would include within its periphery more +than a thousand orbs of the magnitude of our own. Yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +this stupendous body is actually flying around the Sun at +the rate of 29,000 miles an hour—that is to say, with a +velocity 40 times greater than that of a cannon-ball! The +thought of such a phænomenon cannot well be said to +<i>startle</i> the mind:—it palsies and appals it. Not unfrequently +we task our imagination in picturing the capacities +of an angel. Let us fancy such a being at a distance of +some hundred miles from Jupiter—a close eye-witness of +this planet as it speeds on its annual revolution. Now +<i>can</i> we, I demand, fashion for ourselves any conception so +distinct of this ideal being’s spiritual exaltation, as <i>that</i> involved +in the supposition that, even by this immeasurable +mass of matter, whirled immediately before his eyes, with +a velocity so unutterable, he—an angel—angelic though +he be—is not at once struck into nothingness and overwhelmed?</p> + +<p>At this point, however, it seems proper to suggest that, +in fact, we have been speaking of comparative trifles. Our +Sun, the central and controlling orb of the system to which +Jupiter belongs, is not only greater than Jupiter, but greater +by far than all the planets of the system taken together. +This fact is an essential condition, indeed, of the stability +of the system itself. The diameter of Jupiter has been +mentioned:—it is 86,000 miles:—that of the Sun is 882,000 +miles. An inhabitant of the latter, travelling 90 miles a +day, would be more than 80 years in going round a great +circle of its circumference. It occupies a cubical space of +681 quadrillions, 472 trillions of miles. The Moon, as has +been stated, revolves about the Earth at a distance of +237,000 miles—in an orbit, consequently, of nearly a million<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +and a half. Now, were the Sun placed upon the +Earth, centre over centre, the body of the former would +extend, in every direction, not only to the line of the +Moon’s orbit, but beyond it, a distance of 200,000 miles.</p> + +<p>And here, once again, let me suggest that, in fact, we +have <i>still</i> been speaking of comparative trifles. The distance +of the planet Neptune from the Sun has been stated:—it +is 28 hundred millions of miles; the circumference of +its orbit, therefore, is about 17 billions. Let this be borne +in mind while we glance at some one of the brightest stars. +Between this and the star of <i>our</i> system, (the Sun,) there +is a gulf of space, to convey any idea of which we should +need the tongue of an archangel. From <i>our</i> system, then, +and from <i>our</i> Sun, or star, the star at which we suppose +ourselves glancing is a thing altogether apart:—still, for +the moment, let us imagine it placed upon our Sun, centre +over centre, as we just now imagined this Sun itself placed +upon the Earth. Let us now conceive the particular star +we have in mind, extending, in every direction, beyond the +orbit of Mercury—of Venus—of the Earth:—still <i>on</i>, beyond +the orbit of Mars—of Jupiter—of Uranus—until, +finally, we fancy it filling the circle—17 <i>billions of miles +in circumference</i>—which is described by the revolution of +Leverrier’s planet. When we have conceived all this, we +shall have entertained no extravagant conception. There +is the very best reason for believing that many of the stars +are even far larger than the one we have imagined. I +mean to say that we have the very best <i>empirical</i> basis for +such belief:—and, in looking back at the original, atomic +arrangements for <i>diversity</i>, which have been assumed as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +part of the Divine plan in the constitution of the Universe, +we shall be enabled easily to understand, and to credit, the +existence of even far vaster disproportions in stellar size +than any to which I have hitherto alluded. The largest +orbs, of course, we must expect to find rolling through the +widest vacancies of Space.</p> + +<p>I remarked, just now, that to convey an idea of the interval +between our Sun and any one of the other stars, we +should require the eloquence of an archangel. In so saying, +I should not be accused of exaggeration; for, in simple +truth, these are topics on which it is scarcely possible to +exaggerate. But let us bring the matter more distinctly +before the eye of the mind.</p> + +<p>In the first place, we may get a general, <i>relative</i> conception +of the interval referred to, by comparing it with +the inter-planetary spaces. If, for example, we suppose the +Earth, which is, in reality, 95 millions of miles from the +Sun, to be only <i>one foot</i> from that luminary; then Neptune +would be 40 feet distant; <i>and the star Alpha Lyræ, at the +very least</i>, 159.</p> + +<p>Now I presume that, in the termination of my last sentence, +few of my readers have noticed anything especially +objectionable—particularly wrong. I said that the distance +of the Earth from the Sun being taken at <i>one foot</i>, the distance +of Neptune would be 40 feet, and that of Alpha Lyræ, 159. +The proportion between one foot and 159 has appeared, +perhaps, to convey a sufficiently definite impression of the +proportion between the two intervals—that of the Earth +from the Sun and that of Alpha Lyræ from the same luminary. +But my account of the matter should, in reality,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +have run thus:—The distance of the Earth from the Sun +being taken at one foot, the distance of Neptune would be +40 feet, and that of Alpha Lyræ, 159——<i>miles</i>:—that is to +say, I had assigned to Alpha Lyræ, in my first statement +of the case, only the 5280<i>th</i> <i>part</i> of that distance which is +the <i>least distance possible</i> at which it can actually lie.</p> + +<p>To proceed:—However distant a mere <i>planet</i> is, yet +when we look at it through a telescope, we see it under a +certain form—of a certain appreciable size. Now I have +already hinted at the probable bulk of many of the stars; +nevertheless, when we view any one of them, even through +the most powerful telescope, it is found to present us with +<i>no form</i>, and consequently with <i>no magnitude</i> whatever. +We see it as a point and nothing more.</p> + +<p>Again;—Let us suppose ourselves walking, at night, on +a highway. In a field on one side of the road, is a line of +tall objects, say trees, the figures of which are distinctly +defined against the background of the sky. This line of +objects extends at right angles to the road, and from the +road to the horizon. Now, as we proceed along the road, +we see these objects changing their positions, respectively, +in relation to a certain fixed point in that portion of the +firmament which forms the background of the view. Let +us suppose this fixed point—sufficiently fixed for our purpose—to +be the rising moon. We become aware, at once, +that while the tree nearest us so far alters its position in +respect to the moon, as to seem flying behind us, the tree +in the extreme distance has scarcely changed at all its relative +position with the satellite. We then go on to perceive +that the farther the objects are from us, the less they alter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +their positions; and the converse. Then we begin, unwittingly, +to estimate the distances of individual trees by the +degrees in which they evince the relative alteration. Finally, +we come to understand how it might be possible to +ascertain the actual distance of any given tree in the line, +by using the amount of relative alteration as a basis in a +simple geometrical problem. Now this relative alteration +is what we call “parallax;” and by parallax we calculate +the distances of the heavenly bodies. Applying the principle +to the trees in question, we should, of course, be very +much at a loss to comprehend the distance of <i>that</i> tree, +which, however far we proceeded along the road, should +evince <i>no</i> parallax at all. This, in the case described, is a +thing impossible; but impossible only because all distances +on our Earth are trivial indeed:—in comparison with the +vast cosmical quantities, we may speak of them as absolutely +nothing.</p> + +<p>Now, let us suppose the star Alpha Lyræ directly overhead; +and let us imagine that, instead of standing on the +Earth, we stand at one end of a straight road stretching +through Space to a distance equalling the diameter of the +Earth’s orbit—that is to say, to a distance of 190 <i>millions +of miles</i>. Having observed, by means of the most delicate +micrometrical instruments, the exact position of the star, +let us now pass along this inconceivable road, until we +reach its other extremity. Now, once again, let us look at +the star. It is <i>precisely</i> where we left it. Our instruments, +however delicate, assure us that its relative position is absolutely—is +identically the same as at the commencement +of our unutterable journey. <i>No</i> parallax—none whatever—has +been found.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p>The fact is, that, in regard to the distance of the fixed +stars—of any one of the myriads of suns glistening on the +farther side of that awful chasm which separates our system +from its brothers in the cluster to which it belongs—astronomical +science, until very lately, could speak only +with a negative certainty. Assuming the brightest as the +nearest, we could say, even of <i>them</i>, only that there is a +certain incomprehensible distance on the <i>hither</i> side of +which they cannot be:—how far they are beyond it we had +in no case been able to ascertain. We perceived, for example, +that Alpha Lyræ cannot be nearer to us than 19 trillions, +200 billions of miles; but, for all we knew, and +indeed for all we now know, it may be distant from us the +square, or the cube, or any other power of the number +mentioned. By dint, however, of wonderfully minute and +cautious observations, continued, with novel instruments, +for many laborious years, <i>Bessel</i>, not long ago deceased, +has lately succeeded in determining the distance of six or +seven stars; among others, that of the star numbered 61 +in the constellation of the Swan. The distance in this latter +instance ascertained, is 670,000 times that of the Sun; +which last it will be remembered, is 95 millions of miles. +The star 61 Cygni, then, is nearly 64 trillions of miles from +us—or more than three times the distance assigned, <i>as the +least possible</i>, for Alpha Lyræ.</p> + +<p>In attempting to appreciate this interval by the aid of +any considerations of <i>velocity</i>, as we did in endeavoring to +estimate the distance of the moon, we must leave out of +sight, altogether, such nothings as the speed of a cannon-ball, +or of sound. Light, however, according to the latest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +calculations of Struve, proceeds at the rate of 167,000 miles +in a second. Thought itself cannot pass through this interval +more speedily—if, indeed, thought can traverse it at +all. Yet, in coming from 61 Cygni to us, even at this inconceivable +rate, light occupies more than <i>ten years</i>; and, +consequently, were the star this moment blotted out from +the Universe, still, <i>for ten years</i>, would it continue to sparkle +on, undimmed in its paradoxical glory.</p> + +<p>Keeping now in mind whatever feeble conception we +may have attained of the interval between our Sun and 61 +Cygni, let us remember that this interval, however unutterably +vast, we are permitted to consider as but the <i>average</i> +interval among the countless host of stars composing that +cluster, or “nebula,” to which our system, as well as that +of 61 Cygni, belongs. I have, in fact, stated the case with +great moderation:—we have excellent reason for believing +61 Cygni to be one of the <i>nearest</i> stars, and thus for concluding, +at least for the present, that its distance from us is +<i>less</i> than the average distance between star and star in the +magnificent cluster of the Milky Way.</p> + +<p>And here, once again and finally, it seems proper to +suggest that even as yet we have been speaking of trifles. +Ceasing to wonder at the space between star and star in +our own or in any particular cluster, let us rather turn our +thoughts to the intervals between cluster and cluster, in the +all comprehensive cluster of the Universe.</p> + +<p>I have already said that light proceeds at the rate of +167,000 miles in a second—that is, about 10 millions of +miles in a minute, or about 600 millions of miles in an +hour:—yet so far removed from us are some of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +“nebulæ” that even light, speeding with this velocity, +could not and does not reach us, from those mysterious +regions, in less than 3 <i>millions of years</i>. This calculation, +moreover, is made by the elder Herschell, and in reference +merely to those comparatively proximate clusters within +the scope of his own telescope. There <i>are</i> “nebulæ,” +however, which, through the magical tube of Lord Rosse, +are this instant whispering in our ears the secrets of <i>a +million of ages</i> by-gone. In a word, the events which we +behold now—at this moment—in those worlds—are the +identical events which interested their inhabitants <i>ten hundred +thousand centuries ago</i>. In intervals—in distances +such as this suggestion forces upon the <i>soul</i>—rather than +upon the mind—we find, at length, a fitting climax to all +hitherto frivolous considerations of <i>quantity</i>.</p> + +<p>Our fancies thus occupied with the cosmical distances, let +us take the opportunity of referring to the difficulty which +we have so often experienced, while pursuing <i>the beaten path</i> +of astronomical reflection, <i>in accounting</i> for the immeasurable +voids alluded to—in comprehending why chasms so +totally unoccupied and therefore apparently so needless, have +been made to intervene between star and star—between cluster +and cluster—in understanding, to be brief, a sufficient reason +for the Titanic scale, in respect of mere <i>Space</i>, on which +the Universe is seen to be constructed. A rational cause +for the phænomenon, I maintain that Astronomy has palpably +failed to assign:—but the considerations through which, +in this Essay, we have proceeded step by step, enable us +clearly and immediately to perceive that <i>Space and Duration +are one</i>. That the Universe might <i>endure</i> throughout<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +an æra at all commensurate with the grandeur of its component +material portions and with the high majesty of its +spiritual purposes, it was necessary that the original atomic +diffusion be made to so inconceivable an extent as to be +only not infinite. It was required, in a word, that the stars +should be gathered into visibility from invisible nebulosity—proceed +from nebulosity to consolidation—and so grow +grey in giving birth and death to unspeakably numerous +and complex variations of vitalic development:—it was +required that the stars should do all this—should have time +thoroughly to accomplish all these Divine purposes—<i>during +the period</i> in which all things were effecting their return +into Unity with a velocity accumulating in the inverse +proportion of the squares of the distances at which lay the +inevitable End.</p> + +<p>Throughout all this we have no difficulty in understanding +the absolute accuracy of the Divine <i>adaptation</i>. The +density of the stars, respectively, proceeds, of course, as +their condensation diminishes; condensation and heterogeneity +keep pace with each other; through the latter, +which is the index of the former, we estimate the vitalic +and spiritual development. Thus, in the density of the +globes, we have the measure in which their purposes are +fulfilled. <i>As</i> density proceeds—<i>as</i> the divine intentions +<i>are</i> accomplished—<i>as</i> less and still less remains <i>to be</i> accomplished—so—in +the same ratio—should we expect to +find an acceleration of <i>the End</i>:—and thus the philosophical +mind will easily comprehend that the Divine designs in +constituting the stars, advance <i>mathematically</i> to their fulfilment:—and +more; it will readily give the advance a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +mathematical expression; it will decide that this advance +is inversely proportional with the squares of the distances +of all created things from the starting-point and goal of +their creation.</p> + +<p>Not only is this Divine adaptation, however, mathematically +accurate, but there is that about it which stamps +it <i>as divine</i>, in distinction from that which is merely the +work of human constructiveness. I allude to the complete +<i>mutuality</i> of adaptation. For example; in human constructions +a particular cause has a particular effect; a particular +intention brings to pass a particular object; but this +is all; we see no reciprocity. The effect does not re-act +upon the cause; the intention does not change relations +with the object. In Divine constructions the object is +either design or object as we choose to regard it—and +we may take at any time a cause for an effect, or the converse—so +that we can never absolutely decide which is +which.</p> + +<p>To give an instance:—In polar climates the human +frame, to maintain its animal heat, requires, for combustion +in the capillary system, an abundant supply of highly +azotized food, such as train-oil. But again:—in polar climates +nearly the sole food afforded man is the oil of abundant +seals and whales. Now, whether is oil at hand because +imperatively demanded, or the only thing demanded because +the only thing to be obtained? It is impossible to decide. +There is an absolute <i>reciprocity of adaptation</i>.</p> + +<p>The pleasure which we derive from any display of +human ingenuity is in the ratio of <i>the approach</i> to this +species of reciprocity. In the construction of <i>plot</i>, for example,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +in fictitious literature, we should aim at so arranging +the incidents that we shall not be able to determine, of +any one of them, whether it depends from any one other +or upholds it. In this sense, of course, <i>perfection</i> of <i>plot</i> +is really, or practically, unattainable—but only because it is +a finite intelligence that constructs. The plots of God are +perfect. The Universe is a plot of God.</p> + +<p>And now we have reached a point at which the intellect +is forced, again, to struggle against its propensity for +analogical inference—against its monomaniac grasping at +the infinite. Moons have been seen <i>revolving</i> about +planets; planets about stars; and the poetical instinct of +humanity—its instinct of the symmetrical, if the symmetry +be but a symmetry of surface:—this <i>instinct</i>, which the +Soul, not only of Man but of all created beings, took up, +in the beginning, from the <i>geometrical</i> basis of the Universal +irradiation—impels us to the fancy of an endless extension +of this system of <i>cycles</i>. Closing our eyes equally to +<i>de</i>duction and <i>in</i>duction, we insist upon imagining a <i>revolution</i> +of all the orbs of the Galaxy about some gigantic +globe which we take to be the central pivot of the whole. +Each cluster in the great cluster of clusters is imagined, of +course, to be similarly supplied and constructed; while, +that the “analogy” may be wanting at no point, we go on +to conceive these clusters themselves, again, as <i>revolving</i> +about some still more august sphere;—this latter, still again, +<i>with</i> its encircling clusters, as but one of a yet more magnificent +series of agglomerations, <i>gyrating</i> about yet +another orb central <i>to them</i>—some orb still more unspeakably +sublime—some orb, let us rather say, of infinite sublimity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +endlessly multiplied by the infinitely sublime. Such +are the conditions, continued in perpetuity, which the voice +of what some people term “analogy” calls upon the Fancy +to depict and the Reason to contemplate, if possible, without +becoming dissatisfied with the picture. Such, <i>in general</i>, +are the interminable gyrations beyond gyration which we +have been instructed by Philosophy to comprehend and to +account for, at least in the best manner we can. Now +and then, however, a philosopher proper—one whose +phrenzy takes a very determinate turn—whose genius, to +speak more reverentially, has a strongly-pronounced washerwomanish +bias, doing every thing up by the dozen—enables +us to see <i>precisely</i> that point out of sight, at which the revolutionary +processes in question do, and of right ought to, +come to an end.</p> + +<p>It is hardly worth while, perhaps, even to sneer at the +reveries of Fourrier:—but much has been said, latterly, of +the hypothesis of Mädler—that there exists, in the centre +of the Galaxy, a stupendous globe about which all the systems +of the cluster revolve. The <i>period</i> of our own, indeed, +has been stated—117 millions of years.</p> + +<p>That our Sun has a motion in space, independently of +its rotation, and revolution about the system’s centre of +gravity, has long been suspected. This motion, granting it +to exist, would be manifested perspectively. The stars in +that firmamental region which we were leaving behind us, +would, in a very long series of years, become crowded; +those in the opposite quarter, scattered. Now, by means of +astronomical History, we ascertain, cloudily, that some +such phænomena have occurred. On this ground it has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +been declared that our system is moving to a point in the +heavens diametrically opposite the star Zeta Herculis:—but +this inference is, perhaps, the maximum to which we have +any logical right. Mädler, however, has gone so far as to +designate a particular star, Alcyone in the Pleiades, as being +at or about the very spot around which a general <i>revolution</i> +is performed.</p> + +<p>Now, since by “analogy” we are led, in the first instance, +to these dreams, it is no more than proper that we +should abide by analogy, at least in some measure, during +their development; and that analogy which suggests the +revolution, suggests at the same time a central orb about +which it should be performed:—so far the astronomer was +consistent. This central orb, however, should, dynamically, +be greater than all the orbs, taken together, which surround +it. Of these there are about 100 millions. “Why, then,” +it was of course demanded, “do we not <i>see</i> this vast central +sun—<i>at least equal</i> in mass to 100 millions of such +suns as ours—why do we not <i>see</i> it—<i>we</i>, especially, who +occupy the mid region of the cluster—the very locality +<i>near</i> which, at all events, must be situated this incomparable +star?” The reply was ready—“It must be non-luminous, +as are our planets.” Here, then, to suit a purpose, +analogy is suddenly let fall. “Not so,” it may be +said—“we know that non-luminous suns actually exist.” +It is true that we have reason at least for supposing so; but +we have certainly no reason whatever for supposing that +the non-luminous suns in question are encircled by <i>luminous</i> +suns, while these again are surrounded by non-luminous +planets:—and it is precisely all this with which Mädler is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +called upon to find any thing analogous in the heavens—for +it is precisely all this which he imagines in the case of +the Galaxy. Admitting the thing to be so, we cannot help +here picturing to ourselves how sad a puzzle the <i>why it is so</i> +must prove to all <i>à priori</i> philosophers.</p> + +<p>But granting, in the very teeth of analogy and of every +thing else, the non-luminosity of the vast central orb, we +may still inquire how this orb, so enormous, could fail of +being rendered visible by the flood of light thrown upon it +from the 100 millions of glorious suns glaring in all directions +about it. Upon the urging of this question, the idea +of an actually solid central sun appears, in some measure, +to have been abandoned; and speculation proceeded to +assert that the systems of the cluster perform their revolutions +merely about an immaterial centre of gravity common +to all. Here again then, to suit a purpose, analogy is let +fall. The planets of our system revolve, it is true, about a +common centre of gravity; but they do this in connexion +with, and in consequence of, a material sun whose mass +more than counterbalances the rest of the system.</p> + +<p>The mathematical circle is a curve composed of an infinity +of straight lines. But this idea of the circle—an idea +which, in view of all ordinary geometry, is merely the mathematical, +as contradistinguished from the practical, idea—is, +in sober fact, the <i>practical</i> conception which alone we +have any right to entertain in regard to the majestic circle +with which we have to deal, at least in fancy, when we +suppose our system revolving about a point in the centre +of the Galaxy. Let the most vigorous of human imaginations +attempt but to take a single step towards the comprehension<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +of a sweep so ineffable! It would scarcely be +paradoxical to say that a flash of lightning itself, travelling +<i>forever</i> upon the circumference of this unutterable circle, +would still, <i>forever</i>, be travelling in a straight line. That +the path of our Sun in such an orbit would, to any human +perception, deviate in the slightest degree from a straight +line, even in a million of years, is a proposition not to be +entertained:—yet we are required to believe that a curvature +has become apparent during the brief period of our +astronomical history—during a mere point—during the utter +nothingness of two or three thousand years.</p> + +<p>It may be said that Mädler <i>has</i> really ascertained a +curvature in the direction of our system’s now well-established +progress through Space. Admitting, if necessary, +this fact to be in reality such, I maintain that nothing is +thereby shown except the reality of this fact—the fact of a +curvature. For its <i>thorough</i> determination, ages will be +required; and, when determined, it will be found indicative +of some binary or other multiple relation between our Sun +and some one or more of the proximate stars. I hazard +nothing however, in predicting, that, after the lapse of many +centuries, all efforts at determining the path of our Sun +through Space, will be abandoned as fruitless. This is +easily conceivable when we look at the infinity of perturbation +it must experience, from its perpetually-shifting relations +with other orbs, in the common approach of all to the +nucleus of the Galaxy.</p> + +<p>But in examining other “nebulæ” than that of the +Milky Way—in surveying, generally, the clusters which +overspread the heavens—do we or do we not find confirmation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +of Mädler’s hypothesis? We do <i>not</i>. The forms +of the clusters are exceedingly diverse when casually +viewed; but on close inspection, through powerful telescopes, +we recognize the sphere, very distinctly, as at least +the proximate form of all:—their constitution, in general, +being at variance with the idea of revolution about a common +centre.</p> + +<p>“It is difficult,” says Sir John Herschell, “to form any +conception of the dynamical state of such systems. On one +hand, without a rotary motion and a centrifugal force, it is +hardly possible not to regard them as in a state of <i>progressive +collapse</i>. On the other, granting such a motion and +such a force, we find it no less difficult to reconcile their +forms with the rotation of the whole system [meaning cluster] +around any single axis, without which internal collision +would appear to be inevitable.”</p> + +<p>Some remarks lately made about the “nebulæ” by +Dr. Nichol, in taking quite a different view of the cosmical +conditions from any taken in this Discourse—have a very +peculiar applicability to the point now at issue. He says:</p> + +<p>“When our greatest telescopes are brought to bear +upon them, we find that those which were thought to be +irregular, are not so; they approach nearer to a globe. +Here is one that looked oval; but Lord Rosse’s telescope +brought it into a circle.... Now there occurs a very +remarkable circumstance in reference to these comparatively +sweeping circular masses of nebulæ. We find they +are not entirely circular, but the reverse; and that all +around them, on every side, there are volumes of stars, +<i>stretching out apparently as if they were rushing towards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +a great central mass in consequence of the action of some +great power</i>.”<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p>Were I to describe, in my own words, what must +necessarily be the existing condition of each nebula on the +hypothesis that all matter is, as I suggest, now returning to +its original Unity, I should simply be going over, nearly +verbatim, the language here employed by Dr. Nichol, without +the faintest suspicion of that stupendous truth which is +the key to these nebular phænomena.</p> + +<p>And here let me fortify my position still farther, by the +voice of a greater than Mädler—of one, moreover, to whom +all the data of Mädler have long been familiar things, carefully +and thoroughly considered. Referring to the elaborate +calculations of Argelander—the very researches which form +Mädler’s basis—<i>Humboldt</i>, whose generalizing powers have +never, perhaps been equalled, has the following observation:</p> + +<p>“When we regard the real, proper, or non-perspective +motions of the stars, we find <i>many groups of them moving +in opposite directions</i>; and the data as yet in hand render +it not necessary, at least, to conceive that the systems composing +the Milky Way, or the clusters, generally, composing +the Universe, are revolving about any particular centre +unknown, whether luminous or non-luminous. It is but +Man’s longing for a fundamental First Cause, that impels +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>both his intellect and his fancy to the adoption of such an +hypothesis.”<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>The phænomenon here alluded to—that of “many +groups moving in opposite directions”—is quite inexplicable +by Mädler’s idea; but arises, as a necessary consequence, +from that which forms the basis of this Discourse. +While the <i>merely general direction</i> of each atom—of each +moon, planet, star, or cluster—would, on my hypothesis, be, +of course, absolutely rectilinear; while the <i>general</i> path of +all bodies would be a right line leading to the centre of all; +it is clear, nevertheless, that this general rectilinearity would +be compounded of what, with scarcely any exaggeration, +we may term an infinity of particular curves—an infinity +of local deviations from rectilinearity—the result of continuous +differences of relative position among the multitudinous +masses, as each proceeded on its own proper journey +to the End.</p> + +<p>I quoted, just now, from Sir John Herschell, the following +words, used in reference to the clusters:—“On one +hand, without a rotary motion and a centrifugal force, it is +hardly possible not to regard them as in a state of <i>progressive +collapse</i>.” The fact is, that, in surveying the “nebulæ” +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>with a telescope of high power, we shall find it quite +impossible, having once conceived this idea of “collapse,” +not to gather, at all points, corroboration of the idea. A +nucleus is always apparent, in the direction of which the +stars seem to be precipitating themselves; nor can these +nuclei be mistaken for merely perspective phænomena:—the +clusters are <i>really</i> denser near the centre—sparser in +the regions more remote from it. In a word, we see every +thing as we <i>should</i> see it were a collapse taking place; +but, in general, it may be said of these clusters, that we can +fairly entertain, while looking at them, the idea of <i>orbitual +movement about a centre</i>, only by admitting the <i>possible</i> +existence, in the distant domains of space, of dynamical +laws with which <i>we</i> are unacquainted.</p> + +<p>On the part of Herschell, however, there is evidently +<i>a reluctance</i> to regard the nebulæ as in “a state of progressive +collapse.” But if facts—if even appearances justify +the supposition of their being in this state, <i>why</i>, it may +well be demanded, is he disinclined to admit it? Simply +on account of a prejudice;—merely because the supposition +is at war with a preconceived and utterly baseless notion—that +of the endlessness—that of the eternal stability of +the Universe.</p> + +<p>If the propositions of this Discourse are tenable, the +“state of progressive collapse” is <i>precisely</i> that state in +which alone we are warranted in considering All Things; +and, with due humility, let me here confess that, for my +part, I am at a loss to conceive how any <i>other</i> understanding +of the existing condition of affairs, could ever have made +its way into the human brain. “The tendency to collapse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>” +and “the attraction of gravitation” are convertible phrases. +In using either, we speak of the rëaction of the First Act. +Never was necessity less obvious than that of supposing +Matter imbued with an ineradicable <i>quality</i> forming part +of its material nature—a quality, or instinct, <i>forever</i> inseparable +from it, and by dint of which inalienable principle +every atom is <i>perpetually</i> impelled to seek its fellow-atom. +Never was necessity less obvious than that of entertaining +this unphilosophical idea. Going boldly behind the vulgar +thought, we have to conceive, metaphysically, that the gravitating +principle appertains to Matter <i>temporarily</i>—only +while diffused—only while existing as Many instead of as +One—appertains to it by virtue of its state of irradiation +alone—appertains, in a word, altogether to its <i>condition</i>, +and not in the slightest degree to <i>itself</i>. In this view, when +the irradiation shall have returned into its source—when +the rëaction shall be completed—the gravitating principle +will no longer exist. And, in fact, astronomers, without +at any time reaching the idea here suggested, seem to have +been approximating it, in the assertion that “if there were +but one body in the Universe, it would be impossible to +understand how the principle, Gravity, could obtain:”—that +is to say, from a consideration of Matter as they find +it, they reach a conclusion at which I deductively arrive. +That so pregnant a suggestion as the one just quoted should +have been permitted to remain so long unfruitful, is, nevertheless, +a mystery which I find it difficult to fathom.</p> + +<p>It is, perhaps, in no little degree, however, our propensity +for the continuous—for the analogical—in the present +case more particularly for the symmetrical—which has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +been leading us astray. And, in fact, the sense of the symmetrical +is an instinct which may be depended upon with +an almost blindfold reliance. It is the poetical essence of +the Universe—<i>of the Universe</i> which, in the supremeness of +its symmetry, is but the most sublime of poems. Now +symmetry and consistency are convertible terms:—thus +Poetry and Truth are one. A thing is consistent in the +ratio of its truth—true in the ratio of its consistency. <i>A +perfect consistency, I repeat, can be nothing but an absolute +truth.</i> We may take it for granted, then, that Man cannot +long or widely err, if he suffer himself to be guided by his +poetical, which I have maintained to be his truthful, in +being his symmetrical, instinct. He must have a care, +however, lest, in pursuing too heedlessly the superficial symmetry +of forms and motions, he leave out of sight the really +essential symmetry of the principles which determine and +control them.</p> + +<p>That the stellar bodies would finally be merged in one—that, +at last, all would be drawn into the substance of <i>one +stupendous central orb already existing</i>—is an idea which, +for some time past, seems, vaguely and indeterminately, to +have held possession of the fancy of mankind. It is an idea, +in fact, which belongs to the class of the <i>excessively obvious</i>. +It springs, instantly, from a superficial observation of the +cyclic and seemingly <i>gyrating</i>, or <i>vorticial</i> movements +of those individual portions of the Universe which come +most immediately and most closely under our observation. +There is not, perhaps, a human being, of ordinary education +and of average reflective capacity, to whom, at some +period, the fancy in question has not occurred, as if spontaneously,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +or intuitively, and wearing all the character +of a very profound and very original conception. This +conception, however, so commonly entertained, has never, +within my knowledge, arisen out of any abstract considerations. +Being, on the contrary, always suggested, as I say, +by the vorticial movements about centres, a reason for it, +also,—a <i>cause</i> for the ingathering of all the orbs into one, +<i>imagined to be already existing</i>, was naturally sought in +the same direction—among these cyclic movements themselves.</p> + +<p>Thus it happened that, on announcement of the gradual +and perfectly regular decrease observed in the orbit of +Enck’s comet, at every successive revolution about our +Sun, astronomers were nearly unanimous in the opinion +that the cause in question was found—that a principle was +discovered sufficient to account, physically, for that final, +universal agglomeration which, I repeat, the analogical, +symmetrical or poetical instinct of Man had predetermined +to understand as something more than a simple hypothesis.</p> + +<p>This cause—this sufficient reason for the final ingathering—was +declared to exist in an exceedingly rare but still +material medium pervading space; which medium, by retarding, +in some degree, the progress of the comet, perpetually +weakened its tangential force; thus giving a predominance +to the centripetal; which, of course, drew the comet +nearer and nearer at each revolution, and would eventually +precipitate it upon the Sun.</p> + +<p>All this was strictly logical—admitting the medium or +ether; but this ether was assumed, most illogically, on the +ground that no <i>other</i> mode than the one spoken of could be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +discovered, of accounting for the observed decrease in the +orbit of the comet:—as if from the fact that we could <i>discover</i> +no other mode of accounting for it, it followed, in +any respect, that no other mode of accounting for it existed. +It is clear that innumerable causes might operate, in combination, +to diminish the orbit, without even a possibility of +our ever becoming acquainted with one of them. In the +meantime, it has never been fairly shown, perhaps, why the +retardation occasioned by the skirts of the Sun’s atmosphere, +through which the comet passes at perihelion, is not enough +to account for the phænomenon. That Enck’s comet will +be absorbed into the Sun, is probable; that all the comets of +the system will be absorbed, is more than merely possible; +but, in such case, the principle of absorption must be referred +to eccentricity of orbit—to the close approximation +to the Sun, of the comets at their perihelia; and is a principle +not affecting, in any degree, the ponderous <i>spheres</i>, +which are to be regarded as the true material constituents +of the Universe.—Touching comets, in general, let me here +suggest, in passing, that we cannot be far wrong in looking +upon them as the <i>lightning-flashes of the cosmical Heaven</i>.</p> + +<p>The idea of a retarding ether and, through it, of a final +agglomeration of all things, seemed at one time, however, +to be confirmed by the observation of a positive decrease +in the orbit of the solid moon. By reference to eclipses +recorded 2500 years ago, it was found that the velocity of +the satellite’s revolution <i>then</i> was considerably less than it +is <i>now</i>; that on the hypothesis that its motions in its orbit +is uniformly in accordance with Kepler’s law, and was accurately +determined <i>then</i>—2500 years ago—it is now in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +advance of the position it <i>should</i> occupy, by nearly 9000 +miles. The increase of velocity proved, of course, a diminution +of orbit; and astronomers were fast yielding to a belief +in an ether, as the sole mode of accounting for the phænomenon, +when Lagrange came to the rescue. He showed +that, owing to the configurations of the spheroids, the shorter +axes of their ellipses are subject to variation in length; +the longer axes being permanent; and that this variation +is continuous and vibratory—so that every orbit is in a +state of transition, either from circle to ellipse, or from ellipse +to circle. In the case of the moon, where the shorter +axis is <i>de</i>creasing, the orbit is passing from circle to ellipse +and, consequently, is <i>de</i>creasing too; but, after a long series +of ages, the ultimate eccentricity will be attained; then the +shorter axis will proceed to <i>in</i>crease, until the orbit becomes +a circle; when the process of shortening will again +take place;—and so on forever. In the case of the Earth, +the orbit is passing from ellipse to circle. The facts thus +demonstrated do away, of course, with all necessity for supposing +an ether, and with all apprehension of the system’s +instability—on the ether’s account.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that I have myself assumed what +we may term <i>an ether</i>. I have spoken of a subtle <i>influence</i> +which we know to be ever in attendance upon matter, +although becoming manifest only through matter’s heterogeneity. +To this <i>influence</i>—without daring to touch it at +all in any effort at explaining its awful <i>nature</i>—I have referred +the various phænomena of electricity, heat, light, magnetism; +and more—of vitality, consciousness, and thought—in +a word, of spirituality. It will be seen, at once, then,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +that the ether thus conceived is radically distinct from the +ether of the astronomers; inasmuch as theirs is <i>matter</i> and +mine <i>not</i>.</p> + +<p>With the idea of a material ether, seems, thus, to have +departed altogether the thought of that universal agglomeration +so long predetermined by the poetical fancy of +mankind:—an agglomeration in which a sound Philosophy +might have been warranted in putting faith, at least to a +certain extent, if for no other reason than that by this +poetical fancy it <i>had</i> been so predetermined. But so far +as Astronomy—so far as mere Physics have yet spoken, the +cycles of the Universe are perpetual—the Universe has no +conceivable end. Had an end been demonstrated, however, +from so purely collateral a cause as an ether, Man’s +instinct of the Divine <i>capacity to adapt</i>, would have rebelled +against the demonstration. We should have been forced +to regard the Universe with some such sense of dissatisfaction +as we experience in contemplating an unnecessarily +complex work of human art. Creation would have affected +us as an imperfect <i>plot</i> in a romance, where the <i>dénoûment</i> +is awkwardly brought about by interposed incidents +external and foreign to the main subject; instead of springing +out of the bosom of the thesis—out of the heart of the +ruling idea—instead of arising as a result of the primary +proposition—as inseparable and inevitable part and parcel +of the fundamental conception of the book.</p> + +<p>What I mean by the symmetry of mere surface will +now be more clearly understood. It is simply by the blandishment +of this symmetry that we have been beguiled into +the general idea of which Mädler’s hypothesis is but a part—the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +idea of the vorticial indrawing of the orbs. Dismissing +this nakedly physical conception, the symmetry of principle +sees the end of all things metaphysically involved in +the thought of a beginning; seeks and finds in this origin +of all things the <i>rudiment</i> of this end; and perceives the +impiety of supposing this end likely to be brought about +less simply—less directly—less obviously—less artistically—than +through <i>the rëaction of the originating Act</i>.</p> + +<p>Recurring, then, to a previous suggestion, let us understand +the systems—let us understand each star, with its +attendant planets—as but a Titanic atom existing in space +with precisely the same inclination for Unity which characterized, +in the beginning, the actual atoms after their irradiation +throughout the Universal sphere. As these original +atoms rushed towards each other in generally straight lines, +so let us conceive as at least generally rectilinear, the paths +of the system-atoms towards their respective centres of +aggregation:—and in this direct drawing together of the +systems into clusters, with a similar and simultaneous +drawing together of the clusters themselves while undergoing +consolidation, we have at length attained the great +<i>Now</i>—the awful Present—the Existing Condition of the +Universe.</p> + +<p>Of the still more awful Future a not irrational analogy +may guide us in framing an hypothesis. The equilibrium +between the centripetal and centrifugal forces of each system, +being necessarily destroyed upon attainment of a certain +proximity to the nucleus of the cluster to which it +belongs, there must occur, at once, a chaotic or seemingly +chaotic precipitation, of the moons upon the planets, of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +planets upon the suns, and of the suns upon the nuclei; +and the general result of this precipitation must be the +gathering of the myriad now-existing stars of the firmament +into an almost infinitely less number of almost infinitely +superior spheres. In being immeasurably fewer, +the worlds of that day will be immeasurably greater than +our own. Then, indeed, amid unfathomable abysses, will +be glaring unimaginable suns. But all this will be merely +a climacic magnificence foreboding the great End. Of +this End the new genesis described, can be but a very partial +postponement. While undergoing consolidation, the +clusters themselves, with a speed prodigiously accumulative, +have been rushing towards their own general centre—and +now, with a thousand-fold electric velocity, commensurate +only with their material grandeur and with the spiritual +passion of their appetite for oneness, the majestic +remnants of the tribe of Stars flash, at length, into a common +embrace. The inevitable catastrophe is at hand.</p> + +<p>But this catastrophe—what is it? We have seen accomplished +the ingathering of the orbs. Henceforward, +are we not to understand <i>one material globe of globes</i> as +constituting and comprehending the Universe? Such a +fancy would be altogether at war with every assumption +and consideration of this Discourse.</p> + +<p>I have already alluded to that absolute <i>reciprocity of +adaptation</i> which is the idiosyncrasy of the divine Art—stamping +it divine. Up to this point of our reflections, we +have been regarding the electrical influence as a something +by dint of whose repulsion alone Matter is enabled to exist +in that state of diffusion demanded for the fulfilment of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +its purposes:—so far, in a word, we have been considering +the influence in question as ordained for Matter’s sake—to +subserve the objects of matter. With a perfectly legitimate +reciprocity, we are now permitted to look at Matter, +as created <i>solely for the sake of this influence</i>—solely to +serve the objects of this spiritual Ether. Through the aid—by +the means—through the agency of Matter, and by +dint of its heterogeneity—is this Ether manifested—is +<i>Spirit individualized</i>. It is merely in the development of +this Ether, through heterogeneity, that particular masses of +Matter become animate—sensitive—and in the ratio of +their heterogeneity;—some reaching a degree of sensitiveness +involving what we call <i>Thought</i> and thus attaining +Conscious Intelligence.</p> + +<p>In this view, we are enabled to perceive Matter as a +Means—not as an End. Its purposes are thus seen to have +been comprehended in its diffusion; and with the return +into Unity these purposes cease. The absolutely consolidated +globe of globes would be <i>objectless</i>:—therefore not +for a moment could it continue to exist. Matter, created +for an end, would unquestionably, on fulfilment of that end, +be Matter no longer. Let us endeavor to understand that +it would disappear, and that God would remain all in all.</p> + +<p>That every work of Divine conception must cöexist +and cöexpire with its particular design, seems to me especially +obvious; and I make no doubt that, on perceiving +the final globe of globes to be <i>objectless</i>, the majority of my +readers will be satisfied with my “<i>therefore</i> it cannot continue +to exist.” Nevertheless, as the startling thought of its +instantaneous disappearance is one which the most powerful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +intellect cannot be expected readily to entertain on +grounds so decidedly abstract, let us endeavor to look at +the idea from some other and more ordinary point of view:—let +us see how thoroughly and beautifully it is corroborated +in an <i>à posteriori</i> consideration of Matter as we actually +find it.</p> + +<p>I have before said that “Attraction and Repulsion being +undeniably the sole properties by which Matter is manifested +to Mind, we are justified in assuming that Matter +<i>exists</i> only as Attraction and Repulsion—in other words +that Attraction and Repulsion <i>are</i> Matter; there being no +conceivable case in which we may not employ the term +Matter and the terms ‘Attraction’ and ‘Repulsion’ taken +together, as equivalent, and therefore convertible, expressions +in Logic.”<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>Now the very definition of Attraction implies particularity—the +existence of parts, particles, or atoms; for we +define it as the tendency of “each atom &c. to every other +atom” &c. according to a certain law. Of course where +there are <i>no</i> parts—where there is absolute Unity—where +the tendency to oneness is satisfied—there can be no Attraction:—this +has been fully shown, and all Philosophy +admits it. When, on fulfilment of its purposes, then, Matter +shall have returned into its original condition of <i>One</i>—a +condition which presupposes the expulsion of the separative +ether, whose province and whose capacity are limited +to keeping the atoms apart until that great day when, this +ether being no longer needed, the overwhelming pressure +of the finally collective Attraction shall at length just sufficiently +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>predominate<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> and expel it:—when, I say, Matter, +finally, expelling the Ether, shall have returned into absolute +Unity,—it will then (to speak paradoxically for the +moment) be Matter without Attraction and without Repulsion—in +other words, Matter without Matter—in other +words, again, <i>Matter no more</i>. In sinking into Unity, it +will sink at once into that Nothingness which, to all Finite +Perception, Unity must be—into that Material Nihility +from which alone we can conceive it to have been evoked—to +have been <i>created</i> by the Volition of God.</p> + +<p>I repeat then—Let us endeavor to comprehend that the +final globe of globes will instantaneously disappear, and that +God will remain all in all.</p> + +<p>But are we here to pause? Not so. On the Universal +agglomeration and dissolution, we can readily conceive that +a new and perhaps totally different series of conditions may +ensue—another creation and irradiation, returning into +itself—another action and rëaction of the Divine Will. +Guiding our imaginations by that omniprevalent law of +laws, the law of periodicity, are we not, indeed, more than +justified in entertaining a belief—let us say, rather, in indulging +a hope—that the processes we have here ventured +to contemplate will be renewed forever, and forever, and +forever; a novel Universe swelling into existence, and then +subsiding into nothingness, at every throb of the Heart +Divine?</p> + +<p>And now—this Heart Divine—what is it? <i>It is our +own.</i></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p> +<p>Let not the merely seeming irreverence of this idea +frighten our souls from that cool exercise of consciousness—from +that deep tranquillity of self-inspection—through +which alone we can hope to attain the presence of this, +the most sublime of truths, and look it leisurely in the +face.</p> + +<p>The <i>phænomena</i> on which our conclusions must at this +point depend, are merely spiritual shadows, but not the less +thoroughly substantial.</p> + +<p>We walk about, amid the destinies of our world-existence, +encompassed by dim but ever present <i>Memories</i> of a +Destiny more vast—very distant in the by-gone time, and +infinitely awful.</p> + +<p>We live out a Youth peculiarly haunted by such dreams; +yet never mistaking them for dreams. As Memories we +<i>know</i> them. <i>During our Youth</i> the distinction is too clear +to deceive us even for a moment.</p> + +<p>So long as this Youth endures, the feeling <i>that we exist</i>, +is the most natural of all feelings. We understand it <i>thoroughly</i>. +That there was a period at which we did <i>not</i> +exist—or, that it might so have happened that we never +had existed at all—are the considerations, indeed, which +<i>during this youth</i>, we find difficulty in understanding. Why +we should <i>not</i> exist, is, <i>up to the epoch of our Manhood</i>, of +all queries the most unanswerable. Existence—self-existence—existence +from all Time and to all Eternity—seems, +up to the epoch of Manhood, a normal and unquestionable +condition:—<i>seems, because it is</i>.</p> + +<p>But now comes the period at which a conventional +World-Reason awakens us from the truth of our dream.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +Doubt, Surprise and Incomprehensibility arrive at the same +moment. They say:—“You live and the time was when +you lived not. You have been created. An Intelligence +exists greater than your own; and it is only through this +Intelligence you live at all.” These things we struggle to +comprehend and cannot:—<i>cannot</i>, because these things, +being untrue, are thus, of necessity, incomprehensible.</p> + +<p>No thinking being lives who, at some luminous point of +his life of thought, has not felt himself lost amid the surges +of futile efforts at understanding, or believing, that anything +exists <i>greater than his own soul</i>. The utter impossibility +of any one’s soul feeling itself inferior to another; the intense, +overwhelming dissatisfaction and rebellion at the +thought;—these, with the omniprevalent aspirations at perfection, +are but the spiritual, coincident with the material, +struggles towards the original Unity—are, to my mind at +least, a species of proof far surpassing what Man terms demonstration, +that no one soul <i>is</i> inferior to another—that +nothing is, or can be, superior to any one soul—that each +soul is, in part, its own God—its own Creator:—in a word, +that God—the material <i>and</i> spiritual God—<i>now</i> exists solely +in the diffused Matter and Spirit of the Universe; and that +the regathering of this diffused Matter and Spirit will be +but the re-constitution of the <i>purely</i> Spiritual and Individual +God.</p> + +<p>In this view, and in this view alone, we comprehend +the riddles of Divine Injustice—of Inexorable Fate. In this +view alone the existence of Evil becomes intelligible; but +in this view it becomes more—it becomes endurable. Our +souls no longer rebel at a <i>Sorrow</i> which we ourselves have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +imposed upon ourselves, in furtherance of our own purposes—with +a view—if even with a futile view—to the +extension of our own <i>Joy</i>.</p> + +<p>I have spoken of <i>Memories</i> that haunt us during our +youth. They sometimes pursue us even in our Manhood:—assume +gradually less and less indefinite shapes:—now +and then speak to us with low voices, saying:</p> + +<p>“There was an epoch in the Night of Time, when a +still-existent Being existed—one of an absolutely infinite +number of similar Beings that people the absolutely infinite +domains of the absolutely infinite space.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> It was not and +is not in the power of this Being—any more than it is in +your own—to extend, by actual increase, the joy of his +Existence; but just as it <i>is</i> in your power to expand or to +concentrate your pleasures (the absolute amount of happiness +remaining always the same) so did and does a similar +capability appertain to this Divine Being, who thus passes +his Eternity in perpetual variation of Concentrated Self +and almost Infinite Self-Diffusion. What you call The +Universe is but his present expansive existence. He now +feels his life through an infinity of imperfect pleasures—the +partial and pain-intertangled pleasures of those inconceivably +numerous things which you designate as his creatures, +but which are really but infinite individualizations of Himself. +All these creatures—<i>all</i>—those which you term animate, +as well as those to whom you deny life for no better +reason than that you do not behold it in operation—<i>all</i> +these creatures have, in a greater or less degree, a capacity</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> +<p>for pleasure and for pain:—<i>but the general sum of their sensations +is precisely that amount of Happiness which appertains +by right to the Divine Being when concentrated within +Himself</i>. These creatures are all, too, more or less conscious +Intelligences; conscious, first, of a proper identity; +conscious, secondly and by faint indeterminate glimpses, of +an identity with the Divine Being of whom we speak—of +an identity with God. Of the two classes of consciousness, +fancy that the former will grow weaker, the latter stronger, +during the long succession of ages which must elapse before +these myriads of individual Intelligences become blended—when +the bright stars become blended—into One. Think +that the sense of individual identity will be gradually merged +in the general consciousness—that Man, for example, ceasing +imperceptibly to feel himself Man, will at length attain that +awfully triumphant epoch when he shall recognize his existence +as that of Jehovah. In the meantime bear in mind +that all is Life—Life—Life within Life—the less within the +greater, and all within the <i>Spirit Divine</i>.”</p> + +<p class="center" style="padding-top: 2em; font-size: 80%">THE END.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> “<i>Murders in the Rue Morgue</i>”—p. 133.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Succinctly—The surfaces of spheres are as the squares of their radii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <a href="#Page_44">Page 44.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Limited sphere—A sphere is <i>necessarily</i> limited. I prefer tautology +to a chance of misconception.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Laplace assumed his nebulosity heterogeneous, merely that he might be +thus enabled to account for the breaking up of the rings; for had the nebulosity +been homogeneous, they would not have broken. I reach the same result—heterogeneity +of the secondary masses immediately resulting from the atoms—purely +from an <i>à priori</i> consideration of their general design—<i>Relation</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> I am prepared to show that the anomalous revolution of the satellites of +Uranus is a simply perspective anomaly arising from the inclination of the axis +of the planet.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See <a href="#Page_70">page 70</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <a href="#Page_36">Page 36.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> “<i>Views of the Architecture of the Heavens.</i>” A letter, purporting to be +from Dr. Nichol to a friend in America, went the rounds of our newspapers, +about two years ago, I think, admitting “the necessity” to which I refer. In +a subsequent Lecture, however, Dr. N. appears in some manner to have gotten +the better of the necessity, and does not quite <i>renounce</i> the theory, although he +seems to wish that he could sneer at it as “a purely hypothetical one.” What +else was the Law of Gravity before the Maskelyne experiments? and who +questioned the Law of Gravity, even then?</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> It is not <i>impossible</i> that some unlooked-for optical improvement may disclose +to us, among innumerable varieties of systems, a luminous sun, encircled +by luminous and non-luminous rings, within and without and between which, +revolve luminous and non-luminous planets, attended by moons having moons—and +even these latter again having moons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <a href="#Page_62">Page 62.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> I must be understood as denying, <i>especially</i>, only the <i>revolutionary</i> portion +of Mädler’s hypothesis. Of course, if no great central orb exists <i>now</i> in +our cluster, such will exist hereafter. Whenever existing, it will be merely +the <i>nucleus</i> of the consolidation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Betrachtet man die nicht perspectivischen eigenen Bewegungen der +Sterne, so scheinen viele gruppenweise in ihrer Richtung entgegengesetzt; +und die bisher gesammelten Thatsachen machen es auf’s wenigste nicht nothwendig, +anzunehmen, dass alle Theile unserer Sternenschicht oder gar der +gesammten Sterneninseln, welche den Weltraum füllen, sich um einen grossen, +unbekannten, leuchtenden oder dunkeln Centralkörper bewegen. Das Streben +nach den letzten und höchsten Grundursachen macht freilich die reflectirende +Thätigkeit des Menschen, wie seine Phantasie, zu einer solchen Annahme +geneigt.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <a href="#Page_37">Page 37.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> “Gravity, therefore, must be the strongest of forces.”—See <a href="#Page_39">page 39</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> See pages <a href="#Page_102">102</a>-<a href="#Page_103">103</a>—Paragraph commencing “I reply that the right,” and +ending “proper and particular God.”</p></div> +</div> + + +<div class="advertisements"> +<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 0.20ex">155 Broadway, <span class="smcap">New York</span>.<span style="padding-left: 4em">142 Strand, <span class="smcap">London</span>.</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1a" id="Page_1a">[1]</a></span><br /> + +<small>Of late firm of <span class="smcap">Wiley & Putnam.</span></small></p> + +<hr class="a1" /> + +<p class="btit">New Works in Press,<br /> + +<small>Or recently published, by</small><br /> + +<span class="name">GEORGE P. PUTNAM,</span><br /> + +<small>155 Broadway, New York.</small></p> + +<hr class="a1" /> + +<p class="ads">G. P. PUTNAM has the pleasure of announcing that, agreeably to his contract with the +distinguished author, he has now in the course of publication</p> + +<p class="btit"><i>A new, uniform, and complete edition</i><br /> + +<small>OF THE</small><br /> + +<span class="name">Works of Washington Irving,</span><br /> + +Revised and enlarged by the Author,<br /> + +<small><i>In Twelve Elegant Duodecimo Volumes</i>,</small></p> + +<p class="ads">Beautifully printed with new type, and on superior paper, made expressly for the purpose.</p> + + +<p class="btit">The first volume of the Series will be<br /> + +<span class="name">The Sketch-Book,</span><br /> + +complete in one volume,<br /> + +<small>which will be ready on the first day of September.</small><br /> + + +<span class="name">Knickerbocker’s History of New York,</span><br /> + +with revisions and copious additions,<br /> + +<small>will be published on the 1st of October.</small><br /> + + +<span class="name">The Life and Voyages of Columbus,</span><br /> + +Vol. I. on the 1st of November,</p> + +<p class="ads2">and the succeeding volumes will be issued on the first day of each month until completed;—as +follows:</p> + +<ul class="booklist"><li>The Sketch-Book, in one volume.</li> +<li>Knickerbocker’s New York, in one volume.</li> +<li>Tales of a Traveller, in one volume.</li> +<li>Bracebridge Hall, in one volume.</li> +<li>The Conquest of Grenada, in one volume.</li> +<li>The Alhambra, in one volume.</li> +<li>The Spanish Legends, in one vol.</li> +<li>The Crayon Miscellany, in one vol.—Abbotsford, Newstead, The Prairies, &c.</li> +<li>Life and Voyages of Columbus, and The Companions of Columbus, 2 vols.</li> +<li>Adventures of Captain Bonneville, one vol.</li> +<li>Astoria, one volume.</li></ul> + + + +<p class="btit"><span class="name">The Illustrated Sketch-Book.</span><br /> + +<small>In October will be published,</small><br /> + +The Sketch-Book.<br /> + +<span class="smcap">By Washington Irving.</span><br /> + +<small>One volume, square octavo.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Illustrated with a series of highly-finished Engravings on wood, from Designs by Darley +and others, engraved in the best style by Childs, Herrick, &c. This edition will be printed +on paper of the finest quality, similar in size and style to the new edition of “Halleck’s +Poems.” It is intended that the illustrations shall be superior to any engravings on wood +yet produced in this country, and that the mechanical execution of the volume, altogether, +shall be worthy of the author’s reputation. It will form an elegant and appropriate gift-book +for all seasons.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2a" id="Page_2a">[2]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="btit"><span class="name">The Illustrated Knickerbocker,</span><br /> + +With a series of Original Designs, in one vol., octavo, is also in preparation.</p> + +<hr class="a1" /> + +<p class="ads">Mr. Putnam has also the honor to announce that he will publish at intervals (in connexion, +and uniform with the other collected writings),</p> + +<p class="center"><big><i>Mr. Irving’s New Works</i>,</big><br /> + +now nearly ready for the press: including<br /> + +The Life of Mohammed; The Life of Washington; new<br /> +volumes of Miscellanies, Biographies, &c.</p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ This being the first uniform and complete edition of Mr. Irving’s works, either in this +country or in Europe, the publisher confidently believes that the undertaking will meet +with a prompt and cordial response. To say this, is perhaps superfluous and impertinent; +for it is a truism that no <i>American</i> book-case (not to say <i>library</i>) can be well filled without +the works of Washington Irving; while the English language itself comprises no purer +models of composition.</p> + +<hr class="a1" /> + +<p class="ads">G. P. Putnam has also made arrangements for the early commencement of new works +or new editions of the works of</p> + + +<table class="namelist" summary="list of names"> +<tr><td>Miss C. M. Sedgwick,</td><td>George H. Calvert,</td><td>S. Wells Williams,</td></tr> +<tr><td>Prof. A. Gray,</td><td>Mrs. C. M. Kirkland,</td><td>W. M. Thackeray,</td></tr> +<tr><td>Leigh Hunt,</td><td>R. Monckton Milnes,</td><td>Charles Lamb,</td></tr> +<tr><td>Chas. Fenno Hoffman,</td><td>J. Bayard Taylor,</td><td>A. J. Downing,</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mrs. E. Oakes Smith,</td><td>Mary Howitt,</td><td>Thos. Hood,</td></tr> +<tr><td>Thomas Carlyle,</td><td>Mrs. Jameson,</td><td>Elliot Warburton.</td></tr> +</table> + +<hr class="a1" /> + +<p class="ads">The following new works are now ready, or will be published this season:</p> + +<p class="center">I.</p> + +<p class="name center">Sophisms of the Protective Policy.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Translated from the French of F. Bastiat. With an introduction by Francis Lieber, LL.D. +Professor in South Carolina College, Editor of the Encyclopedia Americana, &c. 12mo. 75 +cents.</p> + +<p class="ads">“It is a book not for the million but for millions, and we believe if a copy could be put +into the hands of every school-boy in the Union, the next generation would be inconceivably +wiser, richer, and happier than the present.”—<i>Mirror.</i></p> + +<p class="center">II.</p> + +<p class="name center">Grecian and Roman Mythology:</p> + +<p class="ads2">With original illustrations. Adapted for the use of Universities and High Schools, and for +popular reading. By M. A. Dwight. With an introduction by Tayler Lewis, Professor of +Greek, University of New York. 12mo. (On 1st September.)</p> + +<p class="ads">Also a fine edition in octavo, with illustrations.</p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ This work has been prepared with great care, illustrated with 20 effective outline +drawings, and is designed to treat the subject in an original, comprehensive, and unexceptionable +manner, so as to fill the place as a text book which is yet unsupplied; while +it will also be an attractive and readable table book for general use. It will be at once +introduced as a text book in the University of New York and other colleges and schools.</p> + +<p class="center">III.</p> + +<p class="btit"><span class="name">Eureka: a Prose Poem.</span><br /> + +Or the Physical and Metaphysical Universe.<br /> + +<small>By Edgar A. Poe, Esq. Handsomely printed, 12mo. Cloth, 75 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“A most extraordinary Essay. We shall be greatly surprised if this work does not +create a most profound sensation among the literary and scientific classes.”—<i>New York +Express.</i></p> + +<p class="center">IV.</p> + +<p class="btit"><span class="name">Oriental Life Illustrated.</span><br /> + +Being a new edition of Eöthen, or Traces of Travel in the East. With fine illustrations<br /> +on Steel. 12mo. elegantly bound, $1 50.</p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ This new and unique volume, superbly illuminated by Mapleson, and comprising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3a" id="Page_3a">[3]</a></span> +original articles by distinguished writers, will be the most elegant and recherché book of +the kind ever produced in this country. It will be ready in October.</p> + +<p class="ads">A new and superior edition of the PEARLS OF AMERICAN POETRY will also be +published this season.</p> + +<p class="center">V.</p> + +<p class="btit"><b>The Book of Dainty Devices.</b><br /> + +<small>In an elegant small folio volume.</small><br /> + +<span class="name">Lays of the Western World.</span></p> + +<p class="center">VI.</p> + +<p class="btit"><span class="name">Dr. Klipstein’s Anglo-Saxon Course of Study.</span><br /> + +<small>In uniform 12mo. volumes.</small></p> + +<p class="center">I.</p> + +<p class="ads2">A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Language. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and +PH.D., of the University of Giessen.</p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ This work recommends itself particularly to the attention of every American +student who “glories in his Anglo-Saxon descent” or Teutonic lineage, as well as of all +who desire an acquaintance with a language which lies as the foundation of the English, +and throws a light upon its elements and structure, derivable from no other source. Of +the importance and interesting nature of the study there can be no doubt, and we agree +with those who think that the time is coming when it will be considered “utterly disgraceful +for any well-bred Englishman or American” to have neglected it. With regard to the +merits of Dr. Klipstein’s Grammar, we will only say, that it has been already adopted as +a text-book in some of the leading Institutions of our country.</p> + +<p class="ads" style="text-align: center">[The following are also in press.]</p> + +<p class="center">II.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, with an Introductory Ethnographical Essay, Copious Notes, Critical +and Explanatory, and a Glossary in which are shown the Indo-Germanic and other +Affinities of the Language. <i>By the same.</i></p> + +<p class="ads">In this work appear the fruits of considerable research, and, we may add, learning. +The Ethnology of Europe is succinctly, but clearly illustrated, the Anglo-Saxon language +completely analysed, revealing the utmost harmony of combination from its elements, its +forms and roots compared with those in kindred dialects and cognate tongues, its position +in the Teutonic family and Indo-Germanic range established, and the genuine relation of the +English to its great parent properly set forth. To those who are fond of the comparative +study of language, the Glossary will prove an invaluable aid, apart from its particular +object.</p> + +<p class="center">III.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Natale Sancti Gregorii Papæ.—Ælfric’s Homily on the Birth-day of St. Gregory, and Collateral +Extracts from King Alfred’s version of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History and the +Saxon Chronicle, with a full rendering into English, Notes Critical and Explanatory, +and an Index of Words. <i>By the same.</i></p> + +<p class="center">IV.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Extracts from the Anglo-Saxon-Gospels, a Portion of the Anglo-Saxon Paraphrase of the +Book of Psalms, and other Selections of a Sacred Order in the same Language, with a +Translation into English, and Notes Critical and Explanatory. <i>By the same.</i></p> + +<p class="ads">These two works are prepared in such a way as in themselves, with the aid of the +Grammar, to afford every facility to the Anglo-Saxon Student. Ælfric’s Homily is remarkable +for beauty of composition, and interesting as setting forth Augustine’s Mission to the +“Land of the Angles.”</p> + +<p class="center">V.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Tha Halgan Godspel on Englisc—the Anglo-Saxon Version of the Holy Gospels. Edited +by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A. <i>Reprinted by the same. Now ready.</i></p> + +<p class="ads">This, the earliest “English” version of the Four Gospels, will be found interesting to +the antiquarian and theologian, as well as serviceable to the student in his investigations +of the language. The Text, besides the usual but unbroken division, appears, with the +Rubrics, as read in the early Anglican Church.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="btit"><i>Nearly Ready.</i><br /> + +<span class="name">Dr. Bosworth’s Compendious Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. +Small 8vo.</span></p> + +<p class="center">VII.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4a" id="Page_4a">[4]</a></span></p> + +<p class="btit"><span class="name">Study of Modern Languages.</span><br /> + +Part First; French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English.<br /> + +<small>By L. F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and Ph.D. One Vol. Imperial 8vo. +75 cents paper; $1 00 cloth.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">This work, which is intended equally for the simultaneous and the separate study of the +languages that it sets forth, and which is adapted as well for the native of Germany, +France, Italy, Spain, or Portugal, as for him to whom English is vernacular, in the acquirement +of any one of the other tongues besides his own, will be found an acceptable manual +not only to the tyro, but to the more advanced scholar. The reading portion of the matter +is interesting, and the text in every case remarkably correct, while the Elementary Phrases, +forms of Cards, Letters, Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Receipts, &c., in the six +languages, constitute what has long been a desideratum from the American press. For +the comparative study of the <i>Romanic</i> tongues the work affords unusual facilities.</p> + +<p class="center">VIII.</p> + +<p class="btit"><span class="name">Pedestrian Tour in Europe.</span><br /> + +Views a-Foot; or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff.<br /> + +<small>By J. Bayard Taylor.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">A new edition with an additional chapter, and a sketch of the author in pedestrian costume, +from a drawing by T. Buchanan Read. 12mo. Cloth.</p> + +<p class="center">IX.</p> + +<p class="btit">A New Edition of<br /> + +<span class="name">Clarke’s Shakspeare Concordance.</span><br /> + +A Complete Concordance to Shakspeare: being a Verbal Index to ALL the PASSAGES +in the Dramatic Works of the Poet. By Mrs. Cowden Clarke.<br /> + +“Order gave each thing view.”</p> + +<p class="ads">One large Vol. comprising 2560 closely printed columns,—(indicating <i>every word and +passage</i> in Shakspeare’s Works). Price $6. Cloth.</p> + +<p class="ads">“The result of sixteen years of untiring labor. The different editions of Shakspeare +have been carefully collated by the compiler, and every possible means taken to insure +the correctness of the work. As it now stands, a person can find a particular passage in +Shakspeare by simply remembering one word of it, and is also referred to the act and scene +of the play in which it occurs. As a mere dictionary of Shakspearian language and +phrases, it is of great value; but it is also a dictionary of his thoughts and imaginations. +It altogether supersedes the volumes of Twiss and Ayscough, and should be on every +student’s shelves”—<i>Boston Courier.</i></p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ This extraordinary work is printed in London and the price there <i>at present</i> is +£2. 5s. 0d. or about $12. A large part of the edition having been purchased for this market, +it is furnished here for the very low price of $6, bound in cloth.</p> + +<p class="btit"><i>Also—By same Author.</i><br /> + +<span class="name">The Book of Shakspeare Proverbs.</span><br /> + +18mo. 75 cts.</p> + +<hr class="a1" /> + +<p class="btit"><i>Dr. Lieber’s Poetical Address to the American Republic.</i><br /> +16mo. 25 cents.</p> + +<p class="btit"><span class="name">The West:</span><br /> + +A Metrical Epistle.<br /> + +<span class="smcap">By Francis Lieber.</span></p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ Dr. Lieber, the distinguished Professor of Political Economy in South Carolina College, +Author of “Political Ethics,” &c., has just sailed for his native country—Germany—with +the view of aiding in the great cause of Constitutional and Rational Freedom. This +little volume proves that he has well studied that subject during his long residence in this +his adopted country—and his able and valuable opinions on American Society and Progress, +carry with them a peculiar interest at this time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5a" id="Page_5a">[5]</a></span></p> + + +<h4>RECENT PUBLICATIONS.</h4> + +<p class="ads2">Alexander.—Commentary on the Earlier Prophecies of Isaiah. +By Prof. J. A. Alexander. <small>Royal 8vo. cloth, $3.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Alexander.—Commentary on the Later Prophecies of Isaiah. +By Prof. J. A. Alexander. <small>Royal 8vo. cloth, $2 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Ancient Moral Tales, from the Gesta Romanorum, &c. <small>1 +vol. 12mo. green cloth.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“A quiet humor, a quaintness and terseness of style, will strongly recommend them.”—<i>English +Churchman.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Architecture.—Hints on Public Architecture; issued under the +Direction of the “Smithsonian Institution.” <small>Imperial 4to. with Illustrations. (In +preparation.)</small></p> + +<p class="ads">This work will contain numerous and valuable illustrations, including two perspective +views of the buildings of the Smithsonian Institution. The Appendix will contain the +results of a research under the auspices of the Institution to test the properties of the +most important building materials throughout the United States.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Bastiat.—Sophisms of the Protective Policy. Translated from +the French of F. Bastiat. With an Introduction, by Francis Lieber, LL.D., Professor +in South Carolina College, Editor of the Encyclopædia Americana, &c., &c. <small>12mo. 75 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Review. Conducted by +B. B. Edwards and E. A. Park, Professors at Andover, with the Special Aid of Dr. +Robinson and Professor Stuart. Published quarterly in February, May, August, and +November <small>$4 per annum. Vols. 1, 2, 3, and 4, 8vo. cloth, each $4.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“This is, perhaps, the most ambitious journal in the United States. We use the word +in a good sense, as meaning that there is no journal among us which seems more laudably +desirous to take the lead in literary and theological science. Its handsome type +and paper give it a pleasing exterior; its typographical errors, though sufficiently numerous, +are so comparatively few, as to show that it has the advantage of the best +American proof-reading; while for thoroughness of execution in the departments of +history and criticism, it aims to be pre-eminent.”—<i>N. Y. Churchman.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Burton.—The Anatomy of Melancholy. By Burton. New and +beautiful edition, with Engravings. <small>1 vol. royal 8vo. cloth, $2 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ This is one of those sterling old works which were written for “all time,” full of +learning, humor, and quaint conceits. No library can be complete without it.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Calvert.—Scenes and Thoughts in Europe. By an American. +<small>1 vol. 12mo. green cloth, 50 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“His descriptions of scenery, his remarks on art, his accounts of the different people +among whom he sojourned, are all good.”—<i>Cincinnati Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Carlyle.—The French Revolution: a History. By Thomas +Carlyle. <small>2 vols. 12mo. green cloth, $2.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“His French Revolution is considered one of the most remarkable works of the age—as +at once the poetry and philosophy of history.”—<i>Hunt’s Merchants’ Mag.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Carlyle.—Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell. By Thos. +Carlyle. <small>2 vols. 12mo. green cloth, $2 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“A work more valuable as a guide to the study of the singular and complex character +of our pious revolutionist, our religious demagogue, our preaching and praying warrior, +has not been produced.”—<i>Blackwood’s Magazine.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Carlyle.—Past and Present: Chartism. By Thomas Carlyle. +<small>1 vol. 12mo. green cloth, $1</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“To say that the book is replete with instruction, thought, and quaint fancy, is unnecessary: +but we may mention it as one, <i>par excellence</i>, which should be read at the +present juncture.”-<i>Tribune.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6a" id="Page_6a">[6]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ads2">Chaucer and Spenser.—Selections from the Poetical Works of +Geoffrey Chaucer. By Charles D. Deshler. Spenser, and the Faery Queen. By Mrs. +C. M. Kirkland. <small>1 vol. 12mo. $1 13.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2"><small>—— The same, extra gilt, $1 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“A portion of their writings are presented in a beautiful and convenient form, and +with the requisite notes and modifications.”—<i>Home Journal.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Coe.—Studies in Drawing, in a Progressive Series of Lessons on +Cards; beginning with the most Elementary Studies, and Adapted for Use at Home +and Schools. By Benjamin H. Coe, Teacher of Drawing. In Ten Series—marked 1 and +10—each containing about eighteen Studies. <small>25 cents each.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">The design is:</p> + +<p class="ads2">I.—To make the exercises in drawing highly interesting to the pupil.</p> + +<p class="ads2">II.—To make drawings so simple, and so gradually progressive, as to enable any teacher, +whether acquainted with drawing or not, to instruct his pupils to advantage.</p> + +<p class="ads2">III.—To take the place of one-half of the writing lessons, with confidence that the learner +will acquire a knowledge of writing in less than time is usually required.</p> + +<p class="ads2">IV.—To give the pupils a bold, rapid, and artist-like style of drawing.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Coleridge.—Biographia Literaria; or, Biographical Sketches of +my Literary Life and Opinions. By Samuel Taylor Coleridge. From the 2d London +edition, Edited by H. N. Coleridge. <small>2 vols. 12mo. green cloth, $2.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Cortez.—Letters and Despatches of Hernando Cortez. Translated +by Hon. George Folsom. <small>1 vol. 8vo. $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Dana.—A System of Mineralogy, comprising the most Recent +Discoveries. By James D. Dana. <small>Woodcuts and copperplates, 8vo. cloth, $3 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Downing.—Cottage Residences; or, a Series of Designs for +Rural Cottages and Cottage Villas, and their Gardens and Grounds; adapted to North +America. By A. J. Downing. <small>Numerous plates, 3d edition, 8vo. cloth, $2.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Downing.—A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape +<small>Gardening adapted to North America; with Remarks on Rural Architecture. By A. J. +Downing. Plates, 2d edition, thick 8vo. cloth, $3 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Downing.—The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America; or, the +Culture, Propagation, and Management, in the Garden and Orchard, of Fruit Trees +generally. By A. J. Downing. <small>Plates, 9th edition, revised, 12mo. cloth, $1 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, 8vo. cloth, $2 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, with 80 superb Illustrations, drawn and beautifully colored by Paris +Artists, royal 8vo. half morocco, top edge gilt. New edition shortly.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Dwight.—Grecian and Roman Mythology; with original Illustrations. +Adapted for the Use of Universities and High Schools, and for Popular Reading. +By M. A. Dwight. With an Introduction by Tayler Lewis, Professor of Greek, +University of New York. <small>12mo. [In September.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>Also a fine edition in octavo, with Illustrations.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ This work has been prepared with great care, illustrated with twenty effective +outline drawings, and is designed to treat the subject in an original, comprehensive, and +unexceptionable manner, so as to fill the place as a text-book which is yet unsupplied; +while it will also be an attractive and readable table-book for general use. It will be at +once introduced as a text-book in the University of New York, and other colleges and +schools.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Ford.—The Spaniards and their Country. By Richard Ford. +<small>1 vol. 12mo. green cloth, 87 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“The best description of national character and manners of Spain that has ever +appeared.”—<i>Quarterly Review.</i></p> + +<p class="ads">“The volumes appear to treat of almost everything save the graver questions of religion +and politics, which may possibly be taken up hereafter. In one respect it has the +advantage over more directly historical works—it portrays the Spanish character, as well +as country, with fidelity.”—<i>Commercial Advertiser.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7a" id="Page_7a">[7]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ads2">Fouqué.—Undine, a Tale; and Sintram and his Companions, a +Tale. From the German of La Motte Fouqué. <small>1 vol. 12mo. green cloth. 50 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“The style and execution of this delightful romance are very graceful.”—<i>Hawkins’s +Germany.</i></p> + +<p class="ads">“Fouqué’s romances I always recommend—especially the wild, graceful, and touching +Undine.”—<i>Sarah Austin.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">French.—Historical Collections of Louisiana. By B. F. French. +<small>8vo. cloth, $1 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Goldsmith.—The Vicar of Wakefield. By Oliver Goldsmith. +<small>1 vol. 12mo. neatly printed, cloth, 50 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, with Illustrated Designs by Mulready, elegantly bound, gilt edges, $1.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Gray.—Botanical Text-Book. By Prof. Asa Gray. <small>Many +hundred cuts, 2d edition, large 12mo. cloth, $1 75.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Green.—A Treatise on Diseases of the Air Passages; comprising +an Inquiry into the History, Pathology, Causes, and Treatment of those Affections of +the Throat called Bronchitis, &c. By Horace Green, M.D. <small>Colored plates, 8vo. cloth. +$2 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“A new and eminently successful treatment of lung complaints.”</p> + +<p class="ads2">Hackley.—Elements of Trigonometry, Plane and Spherical. +By Rev. C. W. Hackley, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia College, New York. <small>8vo. +cloth, $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Hamilton Papers.—The Official Papers of the late Major-General +Alexander Hamilton. Compiled from the Originals in the Possession of Mrs. Hamilton. +<small>1 vol. 8vo. cloth, $2 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Hahn’s Hebrew Bible.—New and complete stereotype edition, +being a fac-simile of the Leipsic edition. <small>In 1 vol. 8vo. In press.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Hazlitt’s (William) Miscellaneous Works. <small>4 vols. 12mo. cloth, $5.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Hazlitt’s Life of Napoleon. <small>3 vols. 12mo. cloth.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— Spirit of the Age. <small>12mo., 50 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— Table Talk, both series, <small>in 2 vols. cloth, $2 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— Characters of Shakspeare, <small>12mo. 50 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— Literature of the Age of Queen Elizabeth, <small>12mo. 50 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— English Comic Writers, <small>50 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— Lectures on English Poets, <small>50 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Head.—Bubbles from the Brunnen. By Sir Francis Head. +<small>12mo. green cloth.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“At once an instructive and amusing book. It contains a great deal of information.”—<i>London +Times.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Hervey.—The Book of Christmas; descriptive of the Customs, +Ceremonies, Traditions, Superstitions, Fun, Feeling, and Festivities of the Christmas +Season. By Thomas K. Hervey. <small>12mo. green cloth, 63 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, gilt extra. $1.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“Every leaf of this book affords a feast worthy of the season.”—<i>Dr. Hawks’s Church +Record.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Hood.—Prose and Verse. By Thomas Hood. <small>12mo. green +cloth. 87 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, gilt extra, $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“A very judicious selection, designed to embrace Hood’s more earnest writings, those +which were written most directly from the heart, which reflect most faithfully his life +and opinions.”—<i>Broadway Journal.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8a" id="Page_8a">[8]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ads2">Howitt.—Ballads and other Poems. By Mary Howitt. <small>1 vol. +12mo. green cloth, 63 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, with fine Portrait, gilt extra, $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“Her poems are always graceful and beautiful.”—<i>Mrs. S. C. Hall.</i></p> + +<p class="ads">“We cannot commend too highly the present publication, and only hope that the +reading public will relish ‘Mary Howitt’s Ballads and other Poems,’ now for the first +time put forth in a collected form.”—<i>Albion.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Hunt.—Imagination and Fancy. By Leigh Hunt. <small>1 vol. +12mo. green cloth, 62 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, gilt extra, $1.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Hunt.—Stories from the Italian Poets: being a Summary in +Prose of the Poems of Dante, Pulci, Boiardo, Aristo, and Tasso; with Comments throughout, +occasional passages Versified, and Critical Notices of the Lives and Genius of the +Authors. By Leigh Hunt. <small>12mo. cloth, $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, fancy gilt. $1 75.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“Mr. Hunt’s book has been aptly styled, a series of exquisite engravings of the magnificent +pictures painted by these great Italian masters.”—<i>Journal of Commerce.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Irving.—Works of Washington Irving; Revised and Enlarged +by the Author. <small>In twelve elegant duodecimo volumes, beautifully printed with new +type, and on superior paper, made expressly for the purpose, and bound in cloth.</small></p> + +<p>As follows:—</p> + + +<ul class="booklist" style="font-style: normal"><li><i>The Sketch-Book</i>, in one volume.</li> +<li><i>Knickerbocker’s New York</i>, in one volume.</li> +<li><i>Tales of a Traveller</i>, in one vol.</li> +<li><i>Bracebridge Hall</i>, in one volume.</li> +<li><i>The Conquest of Grenada</i>, in one volume.</li> +<li><i>The Alhambra</i>, in one volume.</li> +<li><i>Astoria</i>, in one volume.</li> +<li><i>The Crayon Miscellany</i>, in one volume. Abbotsford, Newstead, The Prairies, &c.</li> +<li><i>The Spanish Legends</i>, in one vol.</li> +<li><i>The Life and Voyages of Columbus</i>, and <i>The Companions of Columbus</i>, in two volumes.</li> +<li><i>Adventures of Capt. Bonneville</i>, in one volume.</li></ul> + + +<p class="ads" style="text-align: center">(Now publishing.)</p> + +<p class="ads2">Irving.—The Sketch-Book. By Washington Irving. <small>Complete +in one volume, 12mo. cloth. In September.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Irving.—The Illustrated Sketch-Book. By Washington Irving. +In October will be published, <span class="smcap">The Sketch-Book</span>, by Washington Irving, one vol. square +octavo, Illustrated with a series of highly-finished Engravings on Wood, from Designs +by <span class="smcap">Darley</span> and others, engraved in the best style by <span class="smcap">Childs, Herrick</span>, &c. This +edition will be printed on paper of the finest quality, similar in size and style to the new +edition of “Halleck’s Poems.” It is intended that the illustrations shall be superior to +any engravings on wood yet produced in this country, and that the mechanical execution +of the volume, altogether, shall be worthy of the author’s reputation. It will form +an elegant and appropriate gift-book for all seasons.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Irving.—Knickerbocker’s History of New York. By Washington +Irving. With Revisions and copious Additions. Will be published on the 1st of +October.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Irving.—The Illustrated Knickerbocker; with a series of original +Designs, in one volume, octavo, uniform with the “Sketch-Book,” is also in preparation.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Irving.—The Life and Voyages of Columbus. By Washington +Irving. Vol. I. on the 1st of November.</p> + +<p class="ads2">The succeeding volumes will be issued on the first day of each month until completed.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Keats.—The Poetical Works of John Keats. <small>1 vol. 12mo. +cloth.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, gilt extra.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“They are flushed all over with the rich lights of fancy; and so colored and bestrewn +with the flowers of poetry that, even while perplexed and bewildered in their labyrinths, +it is impossible to resist the intoxication of their sweetness, or to shut our hearts to the +enchantment they so lavishingly present.”—<i>Francis Jeffrey.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9a" id="Page_9a">[9]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ads2">Kinglake.—Eöthen; or, Traces of Travel brought from the +East. <small>12mo. green cloth. 50 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“Eöthen is a book with which everybody, fond of eloquent prose and racy description, +should be well acquainted.”—<i>U. S. Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Klipstein’s Anglo-Saxon Course of Study. <small>In uniform 12mo. +volumes, as follows:</small></p> + +<p class="center">I.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Klipstein.—A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Language. By +Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of Giessen. <small>12mo. cloth, +$1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="center">II.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Klipstein.—Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, with an Introductory Ethnographical +Essay, Copious Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Glossary in which +are shown the Indo-Germanic and other Affinities of the Language. By Louis F. Klipstein, +AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of Giessen.</p> + +<p class="center">III.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Klipstein.—Natale Sancti Gregorii Papæ.—Ælfric’s Homily on +the Birth-day of St. Gregory, and Collateral Extracts from King Alfred’s Version of +Bede’s Ecclesiastical History and the Saxon Chronicle, with a full Rendering into English, +Notes Critical and Explanatory, and an Index of Words. By Louis F. Klipstein, +AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of Giessen.</p> + +<p class="center">IV.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Klipstein.—Extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Gospels, a Portion of +the Anglo-Saxon Paraphrase of the Book of Psalms, and other Selections of a Sacred +Order in the same Language, with a Translation into English, and Notes Critical and +Explanatory. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of +Giessen.</p> + +<p class="center">V.</p> + +<p class="ads2">Klipstein.—Tha Halgan Godspel on Englisc—the Anglo-Saxon +Version of the Holy Gospels. Edited by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A. <i>Reprinted by the +same. Now ready.</i> <small>12mo. cloth, $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Klipstein.—Study of Modern Languages.—Part First; French, +Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English. By L. F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and +PH.D. <small>One vol. Imperial 8vo. Cloth, $1; paper 75 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Lamb.—Essays of Elia. By Charles Lamb. <small>1 vol. 12mo., +cloth. $1.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, gilt extra, $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“Shakspeare himself might have read them, and Hamlet have quoted them: for truly +was our excellent friend of the genuine line of Yorick.”—<i>Leigh Hunt’s London Journal.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Lamb.—Specimens of the English Dramatic Poets. By Charles +Lamb. <small>1 vol. 12mo., green cloth, $1 13.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same, gilt extra, $1 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“Nowhere are the resources of the English tongue in power, in sweetness, terror, +pathos; in description and dialogue, so well displayed.”—<i>Broadway Journal.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Mahan.—On Advanced Guards, Outposts, and Military Duty. +By D. H. Mahan, M.A. <small>18mo. cloth, 75 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Mahan’s Course of Civil Engineering. Third edition, <small>8vo. Illustrated. +$3 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Milton.—The Prose Works of John Milton. Edited by Rev. +Rufus Wilmott Griswold. <small>2 vols. 8vo., cloth, $4.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Modern Painters. By a Graduate of Oxford. <small>12mo. cloth, +$1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">—— <small>The same. Second vol. 12mo.</small><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10a" id="Page_10a">[10]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ads2">Montagu.—Selections from the Works of Taylor, Latimer, Hall, +Milton, Barrow, Lowth, Brown, Fuller, and Bacon. By Basil Montagu. <small>1 vol. 12mo., +green cloth, 50 cents; cloth gilt, $1.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“This volume contains choice extracts from some of the noblest of the old English +writers.”—<i>Cincinnati Atlas.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Nordheimer.—A Critical Grammar of the Hebrew Language. +By Isaac Nordheimer, Phil. Doctor. <small>8vo. cloth, $3 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Oriental Life Illustrated. Being a new edition of Eöthen, or +Traces of Travel in the East. <small>With fine Illustrations on Steel.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Parsons.—The Rose; its History, Poetry, and Culture. By S. B. +Parsons. <small>With colored Plates. Royal 8vo. cloth, $1 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Patrick, Lowth, Arnold, and Whitby.—Commentary on the +Bible, by Bishops Patrick, Lowth, Arnold, Whitby, and Lowman. <small>4 vols. imperial 8vo. +cloth, $16.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Peacock.—Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey. <small>1 vol. 12mo., +green cloth, 50 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“This is a witty and amusing book.”—<i>Tribune.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Poe.—Eureka, A Prose Poem: Or the Physical and Metaphysical +Universe. By Edgar A. Poe, Esq. <small>Handsomely printed. 12mo. cloth, 75 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Pearls of American Poetry. Second edition, superbly illuminated +in the manner of the ancient missals by T. W. Gwilt Mapleson, Esq. Printed in +gold and colors on Bristol board. 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Altogether this is a volume of +great attraction for the rare beauty of its adorning and the discrimination of its selections.”—<i>Courier.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Princeton Theological Essays. First Series. <small>Royal 8vo. cloth, +$2 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Princeton Theological Essays. Second Series. <small>Royal 8vo. +cloth, $2 50.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">St. John.—The Three Days of February, 1848: with Portrait +of Lamartine. <small>18mo. cloth, 63 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Tappan.—Elementary Logic. By Prof. H. P. Tappan. <small>1 vol. +12mo. cloth. $1.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Tasso.—Godfrey of Bulloigne; or, the Recovery of Jerusalem: +done into English Heroical Verse. From the Italian of Tasso, by Edward Fairfax. +Introductory Essay, by Leigh Hunt, and the Lives of Tasso and Fairfax, by Charles +Knight. <small>1 vol. 12mo. $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“The completest translation, and nearest like its original of any we have seen.”—<i>Leigh +Hunt.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Taylor.—Views a-Foot; or, Europe seen with Knapsack and +Staff. By J. Bayard Taylor. New edition, with an additional Chapter, &c., and a +Sketch of the Author in Pedestrian Costume, from a Drawing by T. Buchanan Read. +<small>12mo. cloth. Nearly ready. $1 25.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“Besides being one of the most entertaining books of travel we ever read, it is written +under circumstances of the most interesting; although at a first glance, seemingly the +most unfavorable.”—<i>Boston Atlas.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11a" id="Page_11a">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ads2">Thackeray.—Journey from Cornhill to Cairo. By Michael +Angelo Titmarsh. <small>1 vol. 12mo. green cloth. 50 cts.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“It is wonderful what a description of people and things, what numerous pictures, +what innumerable remarks and allusions it contains.”—<i>Douglas Jerrold’s Mag.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Torrey and Gray.—Flora of North America. By Professors +Torrey and Gray. <small>1 vol. 8vo. cloth, $6. Parts 1 and 6, each $1 50; Part 7, $1.</small></p> + +<p class="ads2">Tschudi.—Travels in Peru. By Dr. J. J. Von Tschudi. <small>1 +vol. 12mo. cloth, 87 cents.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“The book contains a great deal of curious information, and will be found useful as +a book of reference by all who are interested in the commerce, natural history, and +general statistics of Peru.”—<i>Blackwood’s Magazine.</i></p> + +<p class="ads2">Tupper.—Proverbial Philosophy. 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By Elliot Warburton. <small>1 vol. 12mo. green cloth, $1.</small></p> + +<p class="ads">“This delightful work is, from first to last, a splendid panorama of Eastern scenery, +in the full blaze of its magnificence.”—<i>London Morning Post.</i></p> + +<hr class="a1" /> + +<p class="center"><i>A valuable Work for Libraries.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><small>Now Ready. 8vo. $1 in paper, or $1 25 half bound.</small></p> + +<p class="btit">An Alphabetical Index to Subjects treated in the Reviews, and +other Periodicals, to which no Indexes have been Published.</p> + +<p class="ads">⁂ This volume comprises an Index to all articles in 560 volumes of the most important +periodical works.</p> + + +<h4>POPULAR VOLUMES FOR PRESENTATION,</h4> + +<p class="center"><i>Elegantly bound in extra cloth, gilt edges.</i></p> + +<table summary="list" class="list2"> +<tr><td>Chaucer and Spenser</td><td class="ral">$1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td>Fairfax’s Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered</td><td class="ral">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td>Fouqué’s Undine, and Sintram</td><td class="ral">1 00</td></tr> +<tr><td>Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield, with plates</td><td class="ral">1 00</td></tr> +<tr><td>Hervey’s Book of Christmas</td><td class="ral">1 00</td></tr> +<tr><td>Howitt’s (Mary) Ballads and Poems</td><td class="ral">1 00</td></tr> +<tr><td>Hood’s Prose and Verse</td><td class="ral">1 25</td></tr> +<tr><td>Hunt’s Imagination and Fancy</td><td class="ral">1 00</td></tr> +<tr><td>—— Italian Poets</td><td class="ral">1 75</td></tr> +<tr><td>Keats’s Poems</td><td class="ral">1 25</td></tr> +<tr><td>Lamb’s Dramatic Specimens</td><td class="ral">1 50</td></tr> +<tr><td>Lamb’s Essays of Elia</td><td class="ral">1 25</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Sybil</span>; or, New Oracles +from the Poets. By Mrs. Gilman. An elegant and attractive book</td><td class="ral">1 50</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h4>ILLUSTRATED JUVENILES.</h4> + +<table summary="list" class="list2"> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Facts and Fancies.</span> By Miss Sedgwick. +16mo. with cuts, cloth</td><td class="ral">.50</td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Glimpses of the Wonderful.</span>—An +entertaining Account of Curiosities +of Nature and Art. First, Second, +and Third Series, with numerous +fine Illustrations engraved in London. +Square 16mo. cloth, each</td><td class="ral">.75</td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Home Treasury, The</span>; Comprising +new versions of Cinderella, Beauty +and the Beast, Grumble and Cheery, +The Eagle’s Verdict, The Sleeping +Beauty. Revised and illustrated. +Small 4to</td><td class="ral">.50</td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Morals and Manners</span>; or, Hints for +our Young People. By Miss Sedgwick. +16mo</td><td class="ral">.25</td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Young Naturalist’s Rambles</span>—through +many Lands, with an account +of the principal Animals and +Birds of the Old and New Continents. +Cloth</td><td class="ral">.50</td></tr> +</table> + + +<p class="btit" style="line-height: 180%"><span class="name">George P. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Eureka: + A Prose Poem + +Author: Edgar A. Poe + +Release Date: April 18, 2010 [EBook #32037] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EUREKA: *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Bach, Irma Spehar and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + EUREKA: + A PROSE POEM. + + BY + + EDGAR A. POE. + + NEW-YORK: + GEO. P. PUTNAM, + OF LATE FIRM OF "WILEY & PUTNAM," + 155 BROADWAY. + + MDCCCXLVIII. + + + ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, + BY EDGAR A. POE, + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the + Southern District of New-York. + + LEAVITT, TROW & CO Prs., + 33 Ann-street. + + + WITH VERY PROFOUND RESPECT, + This Work is Dedicated + TO + ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +To the few who love me and whom I love--to those who feel rather than to +those who think--to the dreamers and those who put faith in dreams as in +the only realities--I offer this Book of Truths, not in its character of +Truth-Teller, but for the Beauty that abounds in its Truth; constituting +it true. To these I present the composition as an Art-Product alone:--let +us say as a Romance; or, if I be not urging too lofty a claim, as a +Poem. + +_What I here propound is true_:--therefore it cannot die:--or if by any +means it be now trodden down so that it die, it will "rise again to the +Life Everlasting." + +Nevertheless it is as a Poem only that I wish this work to be judged +after I am dead. + +E. A. P. + + + + +EUREKA: + +AN ESSAY ON THE MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE. + + +It is with humility really unassumed--it is with a sentiment even of +awe--that I pen the opening sentence of this work: for of all conceivable +subjects I approach the reader with the most solemn--the most +comprehensive--the most difficult--the most august. + +What terms shall I find sufficiently simple in their +sublimity--sufficiently sublime in their simplicity--for the mere +enunciation of my theme? + +I design to speak of the _Physical, Metaphysical and Mathematical--of the +Material and Spiritual Universe:--of its Essence, its Origin, its +Creation, its Present Condition and its Destiny_. I shall be so rash, +moreover, as to challenge the conclusions, and thus, in effect, to +question the sagacity, of many of the greatest and most justly +reverenced of men. + +In the beginning, let me as distinctly as possible announce--not the +theorem which I hope to demonstrate--for, whatever the mathematicians may +assert, there is, in this world at least, _no such thing_ as +demonstration--but the ruling idea which, throughout this volume, I shall +be continually endeavoring to suggest. + +My general proposition, then, is this:--_In the Original Unity of the +First Thing lies the Secondary Cause of All Things, with the Germ of +their Inevitable Annihilation_. + +In illustration of this idea, I propose to take such a survey of the +Universe that the mind may be able really to receive and to perceive an +individual impression. + +He who from the top of AEtna casts his eyes leisurely around, is affected +chiefly by the _extent_ and _diversity_ of the scene. Only by a rapid +whirling on his heel could he hope to comprehend the panorama in the +sublimity of its _oneness_. But as, on the summit of AEtna, _no_ man has +thought of whirling on his heel, so no man has ever taken into his brain +the full uniqueness of the prospect; and so, again, whatever +considerations lie involved in this uniqueness, have as yet no practical +existence for mankind. + +I do not know a treatise in which a survey of the _Universe_--using the +word in its most comprehensive and only legitimate acceptation--is taken +at all:--and it may be as well here to mention that by the term +"Universe," wherever employed without qualification in this essay, I +mean to designate _the utmost conceivable expanse of space, with all +things, spiritual and material, that can be imagined to exist within the +compass of that expanse_. In speaking of what is ordinarily implied by +the expression, "Universe," I shall take a phrase of limitation--"the +Universe of stars." Why this distinction is considered necessary, will +be seen in the sequel. + +But even of treatises on the really limited, although always assumed as +the _un_limited, Universe of _stars_, I know none in which a survey, +even of this limited Universe, is so taken as to warrant deductions from +its _individuality_. The nearest approach to such a work is made in the +"Cosmos" of Alexander Von Humboldt. He presents the subject, however, +_not_ in its individuality but in its generality. His theme, in its last +result, is the law of _each_ portion of the merely physical Universe, as +this law is related to the laws of _every other_ portion of this merely +physical Universe. His design is simply synoeretical. In a word, he +discusses the universality of material relation, and discloses to the +eye of Philosophy whatever inferences have hitherto lain hidden _behind_ +this universality. But however admirable be the succinctness with which +he has treated each particular point of his topic, the mere multiplicity +of these points occasions, necessarily, an amount of detail, and thus an +involution of idea, which precludes all _individuality_ of impression. + +It seems to me that, in aiming at this latter effect, and, through it, +at the consequences--the conclusions--the suggestions--the +speculations--or, if nothing better offer itself the mere guesses which +may result from it--we require something like a mental gyration on the +heel. We need so rapid a revolution of all things about the central +point of sight that, while the minutiae vanish altogether, even the more +conspicuous objects become blended into one. Among the vanishing +minutiae, in a survey of this kind, would be all exclusively terrestrial +matters. The Earth would be considered in its planetary relations alone. +A man, in this view, becomes mankind; mankind a member of the cosmical +family of Intelligences. + +And now, before proceeding to our subject proper, let me beg the +reader's attention to an extract or two from a somewhat remarkable +letter, which appears to have been found corked in a bottle and floating +on the _Mare Tenebrarum_--an ocean well described by the Nubian +geographer, Ptolemy Hephestion, but little frequented in modern days +unless by the Transcendentalists and some other divers for crotchets. +The date of this letter, I confess, surprises me even more particularly +than its contents; for it seems to have been written in the year _two_ +thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. As for the passages I am about +to transcribe, they, I fancy, will speak for themselves. + +"Do you know, my dear friend," says the writer, addressing, no doubt, a +contemporary--"Do you know that it is scarcely more than eight or nine +hundred years ago since the metaphysicians first consented to relieve +the people of the singular fancy that there exist _but two practicable +roads to Truth_? Believe it if you can! It appears, however, that long, +long ago, in the night of Time, there lived a Turkish philosopher called +Aries and surnamed Tottle." [Here, possibly, the letter-writer means +Aristotle; the best names are wretchedly corrupted in two or three +thousand years.] "The fame of this great man depended mainly upon his +demonstration that sneezing is a natural provision, by means of which +over-profound thinkers are enabled to expel superfluous ideas through +the nose; but he obtained a scarcely less valuable celebrity as the +founder, or at all events as the principal propagator, of what was +termed the _de_ductive or _a priori_ philosophy. He started with what he +maintained to be axioms, or self-evident truths:--and the now well +understood fact that _no_ truths are _self_-evident, really does not +make in the slightest degree against his speculations:--it was sufficient +for his purpose that the truths in question were evident at all. From +axioms he proceeded, logically, to results. His most illustrious +disciples were one Tuclid, a geometrician," [meaning Euclid] "and one +Kant, a Dutchman, the originator of that species of Transcendentalism +which, with the change merely of a C for a K, now bears his peculiar +name. + +"Well, Aries Tottle flourished supreme, until the advent of one Hog, +surnamed 'the Ettrick shepherd,' who preached an entirely different +system, which he called the _a posteriori_ or _in_ductive. His plan +referred altogether to sensation. He proceeded by observing, analyzing, +and classifying facts--_instantiae Naturae_, as they were somewhat +affectedly called--and arranging them into general laws. In a word, while +the mode of Aries rested on _noumena_, that of Hog depended on +_phenomena_; and so great was the admiration excited by this latter +system that, at its first introduction, Aries fell into general +disrepute. Finally, however, he recovered ground, and was permitted to +divide the empire of Philosophy with his more modern rival:--the savans +contenting themselves with proscribing all _other_ competitors, past, +present, and to come; putting an end to all controversy on the topic by +the promulgation of a Median law, to the effect that the Aristotelian +and Baconian roads are, and of right ought to be, the solo possible +avenues to knowledge:--'Baconian,' you must know, my dear friend," adds +the letter-writer at this point, "was an adjective invented as +equivalent to Hog-ian, and at the same time more dignified and +euphonious. + +"Now I do assure you most positively"--proceeds the epistle--"that I +represent these matters fairly; and you can easily understand how +restrictions so absurd on their very face must have operated, in those +days, to retard the progress of true Science, which makes its most +important advances--as all History will show--by seemingly intuitive +_leaps_. These ancient ideas confined investigation to crawling; and I +need not suggest to you that crawling, among varieties of locomotion, is +a very capital thing of its kind;--but because the tortoise is sure of +foot, for this reason must we clip the wings of the eagles? For many +centuries, so great was the infatuation, about Hog especially, that a +virtual stop was put to all thinking, properly so called. No man dared +utter a truth for which he felt himself indebted to his soul alone. It +mattered not whether the truth was even demonstrably such; for the +dogmatizing philosophers of that epoch regarded only _the road_ by which +it professed to have been attained. The end, with them, was a point of +no moment, whatever:--'the means!' they vociferated--'let us look at the +means!'--and if, on scrutiny of the means, it was found to come neither +under the category Hog, nor under the category Aries (which means ram), +why then the savans went no farther, but, calling the thinker a fool +and branding him a 'theorist,' would never, thenceforward, have any +thing to do either with _him_ or with his truths. + +"Now, my dear friend," continues the letter-writer, "it cannot be +maintained that by the crawling system, exclusively adopted, men would +arrive at the maximum amount of truth, even in any long series of ages; +for the repression of imagination was an evil not to be counterbalanced +even by _absolute_ certainty in the snail processes. But their certainty +was very far from absolute. The error of our progenitors was quite +analogous with that of the wiseacre who fancies he must necessarily see +an object the more distinctly, the more closely he holds it to his eyes. +They blinded themselves, too, with the impalpable, titillating Scotch +snuff of _detail_; and thus the boasted facts of the Hog-ites were by no +means always facts--a point of little importance but for the assumption +that they always _were_. The vital taint, however, in Baconianism--its +most lamentable fount of error--lay in its tendency to throw power and +consideration into the hands of merely perceptive men--of those +inter-Tritonic minnows, the microscopical savans--the diggers and pedlers +of minute _facts_, for the most part in physical science--facts all of +which they retailed at the same price upon the highway; their value +depending, it was supposed, simply upon the _fact of their fact_, +without reference to their applicability or inapplicability in the +development of those ultimate and only legitimate facts, called Law. + +"Than the persons"--the letter goes on to say--"Than the persons thus +suddenly elevated by the Hog-ian philosophy into a station for which +they were unfitted--thus transferred from the sculleries into the parlors +of Science--from its pantries into its pulpits--than these individuals a +more intolerant--a more intolerable set of bigots and tyrants never +existed on the face of the earth. Their creed, their text and their +sermon were, alike, the one word '_fact_'--but, for the most part, even +of this one word, they knew not even the meaning. On those who ventured +to _disturb_ their facts with the view of putting them in order and to +use, the disciples of Hog had no mercy whatever. All attempts at +generalization were met at once by the words 'theoretical,' 'theory,' +'theorist'--all _thought_, to be brief, was very properly resented as a +personal affront to themselves. Cultivating the natural sciences to the +exclusion of Metaphysics, the Mathematics, and Logic, many of these +Bacon-engendered philosophers--one-idead, one-sided and lame of a +leg--were more wretchedly helpless--more miserably ignorant, in view of +all the comprehensible objects of knowledge, than the veriest unlettered +hind who proves that he knows something at least, in admitting that he +knows absolutely nothing. + +"Nor had our forefathers any better right to talk about _certainty_, +when pursuing, in blind confidence, the _a priori_ path of axioms, or of +the Ram. At innumerable points this path was scarcely as straight as a +ram's-horn. The simple truth is, that the Aristotelians erected their +castles upon a basis far less reliable than air; _for no such things as +axioms ever existed or can possibly exist at all_. This they must have +been very blind, indeed, not to see, or at least to suspect; for, even +in their own day, many of their long-admitted 'axioms' had been +abandoned:--'_ex nihilo nihil fit_,' for example, and a 'thing cannot act +where it is not,' and 'there cannot be antipodes,' and 'darkness cannot +proceed from light.' These and numerous similar propositions formerly +accepted, without hesitation, as axioms, or undeniable truths, were, +even at the period of which I speak, seen to be altogether +untenable:--how absurd in these people, then, to persist in relying upon +a basis, as immutable, whose mutability had become so repeatedly +manifest! + +"But, even through evidence afforded by themselves against themselves, +it is easy to convict these _a priori_ reasoners of the grossest +unreason--it is easy to show the futility--the impalpability of their +axioms in general. I have now lying before me"--it will be observed that +we still proceed with the letter--"I have now lying before me a book +printed about a thousand years ago. Pundit assures me that it is +decidedly the cleverest ancient work on its topic, which is 'Logic.' The +author, who was much esteemed in his day, was one Miller, or Mill; and +we find it recorded of him, as a point of some importance, that he rode +a mill-horse whom he called Jeremy Bentham:--but let us glance at the +volume itself! + +"Ah!--'Ability or inability to conceive,' says Mr. Mill very properly, +'is _in no case_ to be received as a criterion of axiomatic truth.' Now, +that this is a palpable truism no one in his senses will deny. _Not_ to +admit the proposition, is to insinuate a charge of variability in Truth +itself, whose very title is a synonym of the Steadfast. If ability to +conceive be taken as a criterion of Truth, then a truth to _David_ Hume +would very seldom be a truth to _Joe_; and ninety-nine hundredths of +what is undeniable in Heaven would be demonstrable falsity upon Earth. +The proposition of Mr. Mill, then, is sustained. I will not grant it to +be an _axiom_; and this merely because I am showing that _no_ axioms +exist; but, with a distinction which could not have been cavilled at +even by Mr. Mill himself, I am ready to grant that, _if_ an axiom _there +be_, then the proposition of which we speak has the fullest right to be +considered an axiom--that no _more_ absolute axiom _is_--and, +consequently, that any subsequent proposition which shall conflict with +this one primarily advanced, must be either a falsity in itself--that is +to say no axiom--or, if admitted axiomatic, must at once neutralize both +itself and its predecessor. + +"And now, by the logic of their own propounder, let us proceed to test +any one of the axioms propounded. Let us give Mr. Mill the fairest of +play. We will bring the point to no ordinary issue. We will select for +investigation no common-place axiom--no axiom of what, not the less +preposterously because only impliedly, he terms his secondary class--as +if a positive truth by definition could be either more or less +positively a truth:--we will select, I say, no axiom of an +unquestionability so questionable as is to be found in Euclid. We will +not talk, for example, about such propositions as that two straight +lines cannot enclose a space, or that the whole is greater than any one +of its parts. We will afford the logician _every_ advantage. We will +come at once to a proposition which he regards as the acme of the +unquestionable--as the quintessence of axiomatic undeniability. Here it +is:--'Contradictions cannot _both_ be true--that is, cannot coeexist in +nature.' Here Mr. Mill means, for instance,--and I give the most forcible +instance conceivable--that a tree must be either a tree or _not_ a +tree--that it cannot be at the same time a tree _and_ not a tree:--all +which is quite reasonable of itself and will answer remarkably well as +an axiom, until we bring it into collation with an axiom insisted upon a +few pages before--in other words--words which I have previously +employed--until we test it by the logic of its own propounder. 'A tree,' +Mr. Mill asserts, 'must be either a tree or _not_ a tree.' Very +well:--and now let me ask him, _why_. To this little query there is but +one response:--I defy any man living to invent a second. The sole answer +is this:--'Because we find it _impossible to conceive_ that a tree can be +any thing else than a tree or not a tree.' This, I repeat, is Mr. Mill's +sole answer:--he will not _pretend_ to suggest another:--and yet, by his +own showing, his answer is clearly no answer at all; for has he not +already required us to admit, _as an axiom_, that ability or inability +to conceive is _in no case_ to be taken as a criterion of axiomatic +truth? Thus all--absolutely _all_ his argumentation is at sea without a +rudder. Let it not be urged that an exception from the general rule is +to be made, in cases where the 'impossibility to conceive' is so +peculiarly great as when we are called upon to conceive a tree _both_ a +tree and _not_ a tree. Let no attempt, I say, be made at urging this +sotticism; for, in the first place, there are no _degrees_ of +'impossibility,' and thus no one impossible conception can be _more_ +peculiarly impossible than another impossible conception:--in the second +place, Mr. Mill himself, no doubt after thorough deliberation, has most +distinctly, and most rationally, excluded all opportunity for exception, +by the emphasis of his proposition, that, _in no case_, is ability or +inability to conceive, to be taken as a criterion of axiomatic +truth:--in the third place, even were exceptions admissible at all, it +remains to be shown how any exception is admissible _here_. That a tree +can be both a tree and not a tree, is an idea which the angels, or the +devils, _may_ entertain, and which no doubt many an earthly Bedlamite, +or Transcendentalist, _does_. + +"Now I do not quarrel with these ancients," continues the letter-writer, +"_so much_ on account of the transparent frivolity of their logic--which, +to be plain, was baseless, worthless and fantastic altogether--as on +account of their pompous and infatuate proscription of all _other_ roads +to Truth than the two narrow and crooked paths--the one of creeping and +the other of crawling--to which, in their ignorant perversity, they have +dared to confine the Soul--the Soul which loves nothing so well as to +soar in those regions of illimitable intuition which are utterly +incognizant of '_path_.' + +"By the bye, my dear friend, is it not an evidence of the mental slavery +entailed upon those bigoted people by their Hogs and Rams, that in spite +of the eternal prating of their savans about _roads_ to Truth, none of +them fell, even by accident, into what we now so distinctly perceive to +be the broadest, the straightest and most available of all mere +roads--the great thoroughfare--the majestic highway of the _Consistent_? +Is it not wonderful that they should have failed to deduce from the +works of God the vitally momentous consideration that _a perfect +consistency can be nothing but an absolute truth_? How plain--how rapid +our progress since the late announcement of this proposition! By its +means, investigation has been taken out of the hands of the ground-moles, +and given as a duty, rather than as a task, to the true--to the _only_ true +thinkers--to the generally-educated men of ardent imagination. These +latter--our Keplers--our Laplaces--'speculate'--'theorize'--these are the +terms--can you not fancy the shout of scorn with which they would be +received by our progenitors, were it possible for them to be looking over +my shoulders as I write? The Keplers, I repeat, speculate--theorize--and +their theories are merely corrected--reduced--sifted--cleared, little by +little, of their chaff of inconsistency--until at length there stands +apparent an unencumbered _Consistency_--a consistency which the most +stolid admit--because it _is_ a consistency--to be an absolute and an +unquestionable _Truth_. + +"I have often thought, my friend, that it must have puzzled these +dogmaticians of a thousand years ago, to determine, even, by which of +their two boasted roads it is that the cryptographist attains the +solution of the more complicate cyphers--or by which of them Champollion +guided mankind to those important and innumerable truths which, for so +many centuries, have lain entombed amid the phonetical hieroglyphics of +Egypt. In especial, would it not have given these bigots some trouble to +determine by which of their two roads was reached the most momentous and +sublime of _all_ their truths--the truth--the fact of _gravitation_? +Newton deduced it from the laws of Kepler. Kepler admitted that these +laws he _guessed_--these laws whose investigation disclosed to the +greatest of British astronomers that principle, the basis of all +(existing) physical principle, in going behind which we enter at once +the nebulous kingdom of Metaphysics. Yes!--these vital laws Kepler +_guessed_--that is to say, he _imagined_ them. Had he been asked to point +out either the _de_ductive or _in_ductive route by which he attained +them, his reply might have been--'I know nothing about _routes_--but I +_do_ know the machinery of the Universe. Here it is. I grasped it with +_my soul_--I reached it through mere dint of _intuition_.' Alas, poor +ignorant old man! Could not any metaphysician have told him that what he +called 'intuition' was but the conviction resulting from _de_ductions or +_in_ductions of which the processes were so shadowy as to have escaped +his consciousness, eluded his reason, or bidden defiance to his capacity +of expression? How great a pity it is that some 'moral philosopher' had +not enlightened him about all this! How it would have comforted him on +his death-bed to know that, instead of having gone intuitively and thus +unbecomingly, he had, in fact, proceeded decorously and +legitimately--that is to say Hog-ishly, or at least Ram-ishly--into the +vast halls where lay gleaming, untended, and hitherto untouched by +mortal hand--unseen by mortal eye--the imperishable and priceless secrets +of the Universe! + +"Yes, Kepler was essentially a _theorist_; but this title, _now_ of so +much sanctity, was, in those ancient days, a designation of supreme +contempt. It is only _now_ that men begin to appreciate that divine old +man--to sympathize with the prophetical and poetical rhapsody of his +ever-memorable words. For _my_ part," continues the unknown +correspondent, "I glow with a sacred fire when I even think of them, and +feel that I shall never grow weary of their repetition:--in concluding +this letter, let me have the real pleasure of transcribing them once +again:--'_I care not whether my work be read now or by posterity. I can +afford to wait a century for readers when God himself has waited six +thousand years for an observer. I triumph. I have stolen the golden +secret of the Egyptians. I will indulge my sacred fury._'" + +Here end my quotations from this very unaccountable and, perhaps, +somewhat impertinent epistle; and perhaps it would be folly to comment, +in any respect, upon the chimerical, not to say revolutionary, fancies +of the writer--whoever he is--fancies so radically at war with the +well-considered and well-settled opinions of this age. Let us proceed, +then, to our legitimate thesis, _The Universe_. + +This thesis admits a choice between two modes of discussion:--We may +_as_cend or _de_scend. Beginning at our own point of view--at the Earth +on which we stand--we may pass to the other planets of our system--thence +to the Sun--thence to our system considered collectively--and thence, +through other systems, indefinitely outwards; or, commencing on high at +some point as definite as we can make it or conceive it, we may come +down to the habitation of Man. Usually--that is to say, in ordinary +essays on Astronomy--the first of these two modes is, with certain +reservation, adopted:--this for the obvious reason that astronomical +_facts_, merely, and principles, being the object, that object is best +fulfilled in stepping from the known because proximate, gradually onward +to the point where all certitude becomes lost in the remote. For my +present purpose, however,--that of enabling the mind to take in, as if +from afar and at one glance, a distinct conception of the _individual_ +Universe--it is clear that a descent to small from great--to the outskirts +from the centre (if we could establish a centre)--to the end from the +beginning (if we could fancy a beginning) would be the preferable +course, but for the difficulty, if not impossibility, of presenting, in +this course, to the unastronomical, a picture at all comprehensible in +regard to such considerations as are involved in _quantity_--that is to +say, in number, magnitude and distance. + +Now, distinctness--intelligibility, at all points, is a primary feature +in my general design. On important topics it is better to be a good deal +prolix than even a very little obscure. But abstruseness is a quality +appertaining to no subject _per se_. All are alike, in facility of +comprehension, to him who approaches them by properly graduated steps. +It is merely because a stepping-stone, here and there, is heedlessly +left unsupplied in our road to the Differential Calculus, that this +latter is not altogether as simple a thing as a sonnet by Mr. Solomon +Seesaw. + +By way of admitting, then, no _chance_ for misapprehension, I think it +advisable to proceed as if even the more obvious facts of Astronomy were +unknown to the reader. In combining the two modes of discussion to which +I have referred, I propose to avail myself of the advantages peculiar to +each--and very especially of the _iteration in detail_ which will be +unavoidable as a consequence of the plan. Commencing with a descent, I +shall reserve for the return upwards those indispensable considerations +of _quantity_ to which allusion has already been made. + +Let us begin, then, at once, with that merest of words, "Infinity." +This, like "God," "spirit," and some other expressions of which the +equivalents exist in all languages, is by no means the expression of an +idea--but of an effort at one. It stands for the possible attempt at an +impossible conception. Man needed a term by which to point out the +_direction_ of this effort--the cloud behind which lay, forever +invisible, the _object_ of this attempt. A word, in fine, was demanded, +by means of which one human being might put himself in relation at once +with another human being and with a certain _tendency_ of the human +intellect. Out of this demand arose the word, "Infinity;" which is thus +the representative but of the _thought of a thought_. + +As regards _that_ infinity now considered--the infinity of space--we often +hear it said that "its idea is admitted by the mind--is acquiesced in--is +entertained--on account of the greater difficulty which attends the +conception of a limit." But this is merely one of those _phrases_ by +which even profound thinkers, time out of mind, have occasionally taken +pleasure in deceiving _themselves_. The quibble lies concealed in the +word "difficulty." "The mind," we are told, "entertains the idea of +_limitless_, through the greater _difficulty_ which it finds in +entertaining that of _limited_, space." Now, were the proposition but +fairly _put_, its absurdity would become transparent at once. Clearly, +there is no mere _difficulty_ in the case. The assertion intended, if +presented _according_ to its intention and without sophistry, would run +thus:--"The mind admits the idea of limitless, through the greater +_impossibility_ of entertaining that of limited, space." + +It must be immediately seen that this is not a question of two +statements between whose respective credibilities--or of two arguments +between whose respective validities--the _reason_ is called upon to +decide:--it is a matter of two conceptions, directly conflicting, and +each avowedly impossible, one of which the _intellect_ is supposed to be +capable of entertaining, on account of the greater _impossibility_ of +entertaining the other. The choice is _not_ made between two +difficulties;--it is merely _fancied_ to be made between two +impossibilities. Now of the former, there _are_ degrees--but of the +latter, none:--just as our impertinent letter-writer has already +suggested. A task _may_ be more or less difficult; but it is either +possible or not possible:--there are no gradations. It _might_ be more +_difficult_ to overthrow the Andes than an ant-hill; but it _can_ be no +more _impossible_ to annihilate the matter of the one than the matter of +the other. A man may jump ten feet with less _difficulty_ than he can +jump twenty, but the _impossibility_ of his leaping to the moon is not a +whit less than that of his leaping to the dog-star. + +Since all this is undeniable: since the choice of the mind is to be made +between _impossibilities_ of conception: since one impossibility cannot +be greater than another: and since, thus, one cannot be preferred to +another: the philosophers who not only maintain, on the grounds +mentioned, man's _idea_ of infinity but, on account of such +supposititious idea, _infinity itself_--are plainly engaged in +demonstrating one impossible thing to be possible by showing how it is +that some one other thing--is impossible too. This, it will be said, is +nonsense; and perhaps it is:--indeed I think it very capital +nonsense--but forego all claim to it as nonsense of mine. + +The readiest mode, however, of displaying the fallacy of the +philosophical argument on this question, is by simply adverting to a +_fact_ respecting it which has been hitherto quite overlooked--the fact +that the argument alluded to both proves and disproves its own +proposition. "The mind is impelled," say the theologians and others, "to +admit a _First Cause_, by the superior difficulty it experiences in +conceiving cause beyond cause without end." The quibble, as before, lies +in the word "difficulty"--but _here_ what is it employed to sustain? A +First Cause. And what is a First Cause? An ultimate termination of +causes. And what is an ultimate termination of causes? Finity--the +Finite. Thus the one quibble, in two processes, by God knows how many +philosophers, is made to support now Finity and now Infinity--could it +not be brought to support something besides? As for the +quibblers--_they_, at least, are insupportable. But--to dismiss them:--what +they prove in the one case is the identical nothing which they +demonstrate in the other. + +Of course, no one will suppose that I here contend for the absolute +impossibility of _that_ which we attempt to convey in the word +"Infinity." My purpose is but to show the folly of endeavoring to prove +Infinity itself or even our conception of it, by any such blundering +ratiocination as that which is ordinarily employed. + +Nevertheless, as an individual, I may be permitted to say that _I +cannot_ conceive Infinity, and am convinced that no human being can. A +mind not thoroughly self-conscious--not accustomed to the introspective +analysis of its own operations--will, it is true, often deceive itself by +supposing that it _has_ entertained the conception of which we speak. In +the effort to entertain it, we proceed step beyond step--we fancy point +still beyond point; and so long as we _continue_ the effort, it may be +said, in fact, that we are _tending_ to the formation of the idea +designed; while the strength of the impression that we actually form or +have formed it, is in the ratio of the period during which we keep up +the mental endeavor. But it is in the act of discontinuing the +endeavor--of fulfilling (as we think) the idea--of putting the finishing +stroke (as we suppose) to the conception--that we overthrow at once the +whole fabric of our fancy by resting upon some one ultimate and +therefore definite point. This fact, however, we fail to perceive, on +account of the absolute coincidence, in time, between the settling down +upon the ultimate point and the act of cessation in thinking.--In +attempting, on the other hand, to frame the idea of a _limited_ space, +we merely converse the processes which involve the impossibility. + +We _believe_ in a God. We may or may not _believe_ in finite or in +infinite space; but our belief, in such cases, is more properly +designated as _faith_, and is a matter quite distinct from that belief +proper--from that _intellectual_ belief--which presupposes the mental +conception. + +The fact is, that, upon the enunciation of any one of that class of +terms to which "Infinity" belongs--the class representing _thoughts of +thought_--he who has a right to say that he thinks _at all_, feels +himself called upon, _not_ to entertain a conception, but simply to +direct his mental vision toward some given point, in the intellectual +firmament, where lies a nebula never to be resolved. To solve it, +indeed, he makes no effort; for with a rapid instinct he comprehends, +not only the impossibility, but, as regards all human purposes, the +_inessentiality_, of its solution. He perceives that the Deity has not +_designed_ it to be solved. He sees, at once, that it lies _out_ of the +brain of man, and even _how_, if not exactly _why_, it lies out of it. +There _are_ people, I am aware, who, busying themselves in attempts at +the unattainable, acquire very easily, by dint of the jargon they emit, +among those thinkers-that-they-think with whom darkness and depth are +synonymous, a kind of cuttle-fish reputation for profundity; but the +finest quality of Thought is its self-cognizance; and, with some little +equivocation, it may be said that no fog of the mind can well be greater +than that which, extending to the very boundaries of the mental domain, +shuts out even these boundaries themselves from comprehension. + +It will now be understood that, in using the phrase, "Infinity of +Space," I make no call upon the reader to entertain the impossible +conception of an _absolute_ infinity. I refer simply to the "_utmost +conceivable expanse_" of space--a shadowy and fluctuating domain, now +shrinking, now swelling, in accordance with the vacillating energies of +the imagination. + +_Hitherto_, the Universe of stars has always been considered as +coincident with the Universe proper, as I have defined it in the +commencement of this Discourse. It has been always either directly or +indirectly assumed--at least since the dawn of intelligible +Astronomy--that, were it possible for us to attain any given point in +space, we should still find, on all sides of us, an interminable +succession of stars. This was the untenable idea of Pascal when making +perhaps the most successful attempt ever made, at periphrasing the +conception for which we struggle in the word "Universe." "It is a +sphere," he says, "of which the centre is everywhere, the circumference, +nowhere." But although this intended definition is, in fact, _no_ +definition of the Universe of _stars_, we may accept it, with some +mental reservation, as a definition (rigorous enough for all practical +purposes) of the Universe _proper_--that is to say, of the Universe of +_space_. This latter, then, let us regard as "_a sphere of which the +centre is everywhere, the circumference nowhere_." In fact, while we +find it impossible to fancy an _end_ to space, we have no difficulty in +picturing to ourselves any one of an infinity of _beginnings_. + +As our starting-point, then, let us adopt the _Godhead_. Of this +Godhead, _in itself_, he alone is not imbecile--he alone is not impious +who propounds--nothing. "_Nous ne connaissons rien_," says the Baron de +Bielfeld--"_Nous ne connaissons rien de la nature ou de l'essence de +Dieu:--pour savoir ce qu'il est, il faut etre Dieu meme._"--"We know +absolutely _nothing_ of the nature or essence of God:--in order to +comprehend what he is, we should have to be God ourselves." + +"_We should have to be God ourselves!_"--With a phrase so startling as +this yet ringing in my ears, I nevertheless venture to demand if this +our present ignorance of the Deity is an ignorance to which the soul is +_everlastingly_ condemned. + +By _Him_, however--_now_, at least, the Incomprehensible--by Him--assuming +him as _Spirit_--that is to say, as _not Matter_--a distinction which, for +all intelligible purposes, will stand well instead of a definition--by +Him, then, existing as Spirit, let us content ourselves, to-night, with +supposing to have been _created_, or made out of Nothing, by dint of his +Volition--at some point of Space which we will take as a centre--at some +period into which we do not pretend to inquire, but at all events +immensely remote--by Him, then again, let us suppose to have been +created----_what_? This is a vitally momentous epoch in our +considerations. _What_ is it that we are justified--that alone we are +justified in supposing to have been, primarily and solely, _created_? + +We have attained a point where only _Intuition_ can aid us:--but now let +me recur to the idea which I have already suggested as that alone which +we can properly entertain of intuition. It is but _the conviction +arising from those inductions or deductions of which the processes are +so shadowy as to escape our consciousness, elude our reason, or defy our +capacity of expression_. With this understanding, I now assert--that an +intuition altogether irresistible, although inexpressible, forces me to +the conclusion that what God originally created--that that Matter which, +by dint of his Volition, he first made from his Spirit, or from +Nihility, _could_ have been nothing but Matter in its utmost conceivable +state of----what?--of _Simplicity_? + +This will be found the sole absolute _assumption_ of my Discourse. I use +the word "assumption" in its ordinary sense; yet I maintain that even +this my primary proposition, is very, very far indeed, from being really +a mere assumption. Nothing was ever more certainly--no human conclusion +was ever, in fact, more regularly--more rigorously _de_duced:--but, alas! +the processes lie out of the human analysis--at all events are beyond the +utterance of the human tongue. + +Let us now endeavor to conceive what Matter must be, when, or if, in its +absolute extreme of _Simplicity_. Here the Reason flies at once to +Imparticularity--to a particle--to _one_ particle--a particle of _one_ +kind--of _one_ character--of _one_ nature--of _one size_--of one form--a +particle, therefore, "_without_ form and void"--a particle positively a +particle at all points--a particle absolutely unique, individual, +undivided, and not indivisible only because He who _created_ it, by dint +of his Will, can by an infinitely less energetic exercise of the same +Will, as a matter of course, divide it. + +_Oneness_, then, is all that I predicate of the originally created +Matter; but I propose to show that this _Oneness is a principle +abundantly sufficient to account for the constitution, the existing +phaenomena and the plainly inevitable annihilation of at least the +material Universe_. + +The willing into being the primordial particle, has completed the act, +or more properly the _conception_, of Creation. We now proceed to the +ultimate purpose for which we are to suppose the Particle created--that +is to say, the ultimate purpose so far as our considerations _yet_ +enable us to see it--the constitution of the Universe from it, the +Particle. + +This constitution has been effected by _forcing_ the originally and +therefore normally _One_ into the abnormal condition of _Many_. An +action of this character implies reaction. A diffusion from Unity, under +the conditions, involves a tendency to return into Unity--a tendency +ineradicable until satisfied. But on these points I will speak more +fully hereafter. + +The assumption of absolute Unity in the primordial Particle includes +that of infinite divisibility. Let us conceive the Particle, then, to be +only not totally exhausted by diffusion into Space. From the one +Particle, as a centre, let us suppose to be irradiated spherically--in +all directions--to immeasurable but still to definite distances in the +previously vacant space--a certain inexpressibly great yet limited number +of unimaginably yet not infinitely minute atoms. + +Now, of these atoms, thus diffused, or upon diffusion, what conditions +are we permitted--not to assume, but to infer, from consideration as well +of their source as of the character of the design apparent in their +diffusion? _Unity_ being their source, and _difference from Unity_ the +character of the design manifested in their diffusion, we are warranted +in supposing this character to be at least _generally_ preserved +throughout the design, and to form a portion of the design itself:--that +is to say, we shall be warranted in conceiving continual differences at +all points from the uniquity and simplicity of the origin. But, for +these reasons, shall we be justified in imagining the atoms +heterogeneous, dissimilar, unequal, and inequidistant? More +explicitly--are we to consider no two atoms as, at their diffusion, of +the same nature, or of the same form, or of the same size?--and, after +fulfilment of their diffusion into Space, is absolute inequidistance, +each from each, to be understood of all of them? In such arrangement, +under such conditions, we most easily and immediately comprehend the +subsequent most feasible carrying out to completion of any such design as +that which I have suggested--the design of variety out of unity--diversity +out of sameness--heterogeneity out of homogeneity--complexity out of +simplicity--in a word, the utmost possible multiplicity of _relation_ +out of the emphatically irrelative _One_. Undoubtedly, therefore, we +_should_ be warranted in assuming all that has been mentioned, but for +the reflection, first, that supererogation is not presumable of any +Divine Act; and, secondly, that the object supposed in view, appears as +feasible when some of the conditions in question are dispensed with, in +the beginning, as when all are understood immediately to exist. I mean +to say that some are involved in the rest, or so instantaneous a +consequence of them as to make the distinction inappreciable. Difference +of _size_, for example, will at once be brought about through the +tendency of one atom to a second, in preference to a third, on account +of particular inequidistance; which is to be comprehended as _particular +inequidistances between centres of quantity, in neighboring atoms of +different form_--a matter not at all interfering with the +generally-equable distribution of the atoms. Difference of _kind_, too, +is easily conceived to be merely a result of differences in size and +form, taken more or less conjointly:--in fact, since the _Unity_ of the +Particle Proper implies absolute homogeneity, we cannot imagine the +atoms, at their diffusion, differing in kind, without imagining, at the +same time, a special exercise of the Divine Will, at the emission of +each atom, for the purpose of effecting, in each, a change of its +essential nature:--so fantastic an idea is the less to be indulged, as +the object proposed is seen to be thoroughly attainable without such +minute and elaborate interposition. We perceive, therefore, upon the +whole, that it would be supererogatory, and consequently +unphilosophical, to predicate of the atoms, in view of their purposes, +any thing more than _difference of form_ at their dispersion, with +particular inequidistance after it--all other differences arising at +once out of these, in the very first processes of mass-constitution:--We +thus establish the Universe on a purely _geometrical_ basis. Of course, +it is by no means necessary to assume absolute difference, even of form, +among _all_ the atoms irradiated--any more than absolute particular +inequidistance of each from each. We are required to conceive merely +that no _neighboring_ atoms are of similar form--no atoms which can ever +approximate, until their inevitable reunition at the end. + +Although the immediate and perpetual _tendency_ of the disunited atoms +to return into their normal Unity, is implied, as I have said, in their +abnormal diffusion; still it is clear that this tendency will be without +consequence--a tendency and no more--until the diffusive energy, in +ceasing to be exerted, shall leave _it_, the tendency, free to seek its +satisfaction. The Divine Act, however, being considered as determinate, +and discontinued on fulfilment of the diffusion, we understand, at once, +a _reaction_--in other words, a _satisfiable_ tendency of the disunited +atoms to return into _One_. + +But the diffusive energy being withdrawn, and the reaction having +commenced in furtherance of the ultimate design--_that of the utmost +possible Relation_--this design is now in danger of being frustrated, in +detail, by reason of that very tendency to return which is to effect its +accomplishment in general. _Multiplicity_ is the object; but there is +nothing to prevent proximate atoms, from lapsing _at once_, through the +now satisfiable tendency--_before_ the fulfilment of any ends proposed in +multiplicity--into absolute oneness among themselves:--there is nothing to +impede the aggregation of various _unique_ masses, at various points of +space:--in other words, nothing to interfere with the accumulation of +various masses, each absolutely One. + +For the effectual and thorough completion of the general design, we thus +see the necessity for a repulsion of limited capacity--a separative +_something_ which, on withdrawal of the diffusive Volition, shall at the +same time allow the approach, and forbid the junction, of the atoms; +suffering them infinitely to approximate, while denying them positive +contact; in a word, having the power--_up to a certain epoch_--of +preventing their _coalition_, but no ability to interfere with their +_coalescence_ in any respect _or degree_. The repulsion, already +considered as so peculiarly limited in other regards, must be +understood, let me repeat, as having power to prevent absolute +coalition, _only up to a certain epoch_. Unless we are to conceive that +the appetite for Unity among the atoms is doomed to be satisfied +_never_;--unless we are to conceive that what had a beginning is to have +no end--a conception which cannot _really_ be entertained, however much +we may talk or dream of entertaining it--we are forced to conclude that +the repulsive influence imagined, will, finally--under pressure of the +_Unitendency collectively_ applied, but never and in no degree _until_, +on fulfilment of the Divine purposes, such collective application shall +be naturally made--yield to a force which, at that ultimate epoch, shall +be the superior force precisely to the extent required, and thus permit +the universal subsidence into the inevitable, because original and +therefore normal, _One_.--The conditions here to be reconciled are +difficult indeed:--we cannot even comprehend the possibility of their +conciliation;--nevertheless, the apparent impossibility is brilliantly +suggestive. + +That the repulsive something actually exists, _we see_. Man neither +employs, nor knows, a force sufficient to bring two atoms into contact. +This is but the well-established proposition of the impenetrability of +matter. All Experiment proves--all Philosophy admits it. The _design_ of +the repulsion--the necessity for its existence--I have endeavored to show; +but from all attempt at investigating its nature have religiously +abstained; this on account of an intuitive conviction that the principle +at issue is strictly spiritual--lies in a recess impervious to our +present understanding--lies involved in a consideration of what now--in +our human state--is _not_ to be considered--in a consideration of _Spirit +in itself_. I feel, in a word, that here the God has interposed, and +here only, because here and here only the knot demanded the +interposition of the God. + +In fact, while the tendency of the diffused atoms to return into Unity, +will be recognized, at once, as the principle of the Newtonian Gravity, +what I have spoken of as a repulsive influence prescribing limits to the +(immediate) satisfaction of the tendency, will be understood as _that_ +which we have been in the practice of designating now as heat, now as +magnetism, now as _electricity_; displaying our ignorance of its awful +character in the vacillation of the phraseology with which we endeavor +to circumscribe it. + +Calling it, merely for the moment, electricity, we know that all +experimental analysis of electricity has given, as an ultimate result, +the principle, or seeming principle, _heterogeneity_. _Only_ where +things differ is electricity apparent; and it is presumable that they +_never_ differ where it is not developed at least, if not apparent. Now, +this result is in the fullest keeping with that which I have reached +unempirically. The design of the repulsive influence I have maintained +to be that of preventing immediate Unity among the diffused atoms; and +these atoms are represented as different each from each. _Difference_ is +their character--their essentiality--just as _no-difference_ was the +essentiality of their source. When we say, then, that an attempt to +bring any two of these atoms together would induce an effort, on the +part of the repulsive influence, to prevent the contact, we may as well +use the strictly convertible sentence that an attempt to bring together +any two differences will result in a development of electricity. All +existing bodies, of course, are composed of these atoms in proximate +contact, and are therefore to be considered as mere assemblages of more +or fewer differences; and the resistance made by the repulsive spirit, +on bringing together any two such assemblages, would be in the ratio of +the two sums of the differences in each:--an expression which, when +reduced, is equivalent to this:--_The amount of electricity developed on +the approximation of two bodies, is proportional to the difference +between the respective sums of the atoms of which the bodies are +composed._ That _no_ two bodies are absolutely alike, is a simple +corollary from all that has been here said. Electricity, therefore, +existing always, is _developed_ whenever _any_ bodies, but _manifested_ +only when bodies of appreciable difference, are brought into +approximation. + +To electricity--so, for the present, continuing to call it--we _may_ not +be wrong in referring the various physical appearances of light, heat +and magnetism; but far less shall we be liable to err in attributing to +this strictly spiritual principle the more important phaenomena of +vitality, consciousness and _Thought_. On this topic, however, I need +pause _here_ merely to suggest that these phaenomena, whether observed +generally or in detail, seem to proceed _at least in the ratio of the +heterogeneous_. + +Discarding now the two equivocal terms, "gravitation" and "electricity," +let us adopt the more definite expressions, "_attraction_" and +"_repulsion_." The former is the body; the latter the soul: the one is +the material; the other the spiritual, principle of the Universe. _No +other principles exist._ _All_ phaenomena are referable to one, or to the +other, or to both combined. So rigorously is this the case--so thoroughly +demonstrable is it that attraction and repulsion are the _sole_ +properties through which we perceive the Universe--in other words, by +which Matter is manifested to Mind--that, for all merely argumentative +purposes, we are fully justified in assuming that matter _exists_ only +as attraction and repulsion--that attraction and repulsion _are_ +matter:--there being no conceivable case in which we may not employ the +term "matter" and the terms "attraction" and "repulsion," taken +together, as equivalent, and therefore convertible, expressions in +Logic. + +I said, just now, that what I have described as the tendency of the +diffused atoms to return into their original unity, would be understood +as the principle of the Newtonian law of gravity: and, in fact, there +can be little difficulty in such an understanding, if we look at the +Newtonian gravity in a merely general view, as a force impelling matter +to seek matter; that is to say, when we pay no attention to the known +_modus operandi_ of the Newtonian force. The general coincidence +satisfies us; but, upon looking closely, we see, in detail, much that +appears _in_coincident, and much in regard to which no coincidence, at +least, is established. For example; the Newtonian gravity, when we think +of it in certain moods, does _not_ seem to be a tendency to _oneness_ at +all, but rather a tendency of all bodies in all directions--a phrase +apparently expressive of a tendency to diffusion. Here, then, is an +_in_coincidence. Again; when we reflect on the mathematical _law_ +governing the Newtonian tendency, we see clearly that no coincidence has +been made good, in respect of the _modus operandi_, at least, between +gravitation as known to exist and that seemingly simple and direct +tendency which I have assumed. + +In fact, I have attained a point at which it will be advisable to +strengthen my position by reversing my processes. So far, we have gone +on _a priori_, from an abstract consideration of _Simplicity_, as that +quality most likely to have characterized the original action of God. +Let us now see whether the established facts of the Newtonian +Gravitation may not afford us, _a posteriori_, some legitimate +inductions. + +What does the Newtonian law declare?--That all bodies attract each other +with forces proportional to their quantities of matter and inversely +proportional to the squares of their distances. Purposely, I have here +given, in the first place, the vulgar version of the law; and I confess +that in this, as in most other vulgar versions of great truths, we find +little of a suggestive character. Let us now adopt a more philosophical +phraseology:--_Every atom, of every body, attracts every other atom, both +of its own and of every other body, with a force which varies inversely +as the squares of the distances between the attracting and attracted +atom._--Here, indeed, a flood of suggestion bursts upon the mind. + +But let us see distinctly what it was that Newton _proved_--according to +the grossly irrational definitions of _proof_ prescribed by the +metaphysical schools. He was forced to content himself with showing how +thoroughly the motions of an imaginary Universe, composed of attracting +and attracted atoms obedient to the law he announced, coincide with +those of the actually existing Universe so far as it comes under our +observation. This was the amount of his _demonstration_--that is to say, +this was the amount of it, according to the conventional cant of the +"philosophies." His successes added proof multiplied by proof--such proof +as a sound intellect admits--but the _demonstration_ of the law itself, +persist the metaphysicians, had not been strengthened in any degree. +"_Ocular_, _physical_ proof," however, of attraction, here upon Earth, +in accordance with the Newtonian theory, was, at length, much to the +satisfaction of some intellectual grovellers, afforded. This proof arose +collaterally and incidentally (as nearly all important truths have +arisen) out of an attempt to ascertain the mean density of the Earth. In +the famous Maskelyne, Cavendish and Bailly experiments for this purpose, +the attraction of the mass of a mountain was seen, felt, measured, and +found to be mathematically consistent with the immortal theory of the +British astronomer. + +But in spite of this confirmation of that which needed none--in spite of +the so-called corroboration of the "theory" by the so-called "ocular and +physical proof"--in spite of the _character_ of this corroboration--the +ideas which even really philosophical men cannot help imbibing of +gravity--and, especially, the ideas of it which ordinary men get and +contentedly maintain, are _seen_ to have been derived, for the most +part, from a consideration of the principle as they find it +developed--_merely in the planet upon which they stand_. + +Now, to what does so partial a consideration tend--to what species of +error does it give rise? On the Earth we _see_ and _feel_, only that +gravity impels all bodies towards the _centre_ of the Earth. No man in +the common walks of life could be _made_ to see or to feel anything +else--could be made to perceive that anything, anywhere, has a perpetual, +gravitating tendency in any _other_ direction than to the centre of the +Earth; yet (with an exception hereafter to be specified) it is a fact +that every earthly thing (not to speak now of every heavenly thing) has +a tendency not _only_ to the Earth's centre but in every conceivable +direction besides. + +Now, although the philosophic cannot be said to _err with_ the vulgar in +this matter, they nevertheless permit themselves to be influenced, +without knowing it, by the _sentiment_ of the vulgar idea. "Although the +Pagan fables are not believed," says Bryant, in his very erudite +"Mythology," "yet we forget ourselves continually and make inferences +from them as from existing realities." I mean to assert that the merely +_sensitive perception_ of gravity as we experience it on Earth, beguiles +mankind into the fancy of _concentralization_ or _especiality_ +respecting it--has been continually biasing towards this fancy even the +mightiest intellects--perpetually, although imperceptibly, leading them +away from the real characteristics of the principle; thus preventing +them, up to this date, from ever getting a glimpse of that vital truth +which lies in a diametrically opposite direction--behind the principle's +_essential_ characteristics--those, _not_ of concentralization or +especiality--but of _universality_ and _diffusion_. This "vital truth" is +_Unity_ as the _source_ of the phaenomenon. + +Let me now repeat the definition of gravity:--_Every atom, of every body, +attracts every other atom, both of its own and of every other body_, +with a force which varies inversely as the squares of the distances of +the attracting and attracted atom. + +Here let the reader pause with me, for a moment, in contemplation of the +miraculous--of the ineffable--of the altogether unimaginable complexity of +relation involved in the fact that _each atom attracts every other +atom_--involved merely in this fact of the attraction, without reference +to the law or mode in which the attraction is manifested--involved +_merely_ in the fact that each atom attracts every other atom _at all_, +in a wilderness of atoms so numerous that those which go to the +composition of a cannon-ball, exceed, probably, in mere point of number, +all the stars which go to the constitution of the Universe. + +Had we discovered, simply, that each atom tended to some one favorite +point--to some especially attractive atom--we should still have fallen +upon a discovery which, in itself, would have sufficed to overwhelm the +mind:--but what is it that we are actually called upon to comprehend? +That each atom attracts--sympathizes with the most delicate movements of +every other atom, and with each and with all at the same time, and +forever, and according to a determinate law of which the complexity, +even considered by itself solely, is utterly beyond the grasp of the +imagination of man. If I propose to ascertain the influence of one mote +in a sunbeam upon its neighboring mote, I cannot accomplish my purpose +without first counting and weighing all the atoms in the Universe and +defining the precise positions of all at one particular moment. If I +venture to displace, by even the billionth part of an inch, the +microscopical speck of dust which lies now upon the point of my finger, +what is the character of that act upon which I have adventured? I have +done a deed which shakes the Moon in her path, which causes the Sun to +be no longer the Sun, and which alters forever the destiny of the +multitudinous myriads of stars that roll and glow in the majestic +presence of their Creator. + +_These_ ideas--conceptions such as _these_--unthoughtlike +thoughts--soul-reveries rather than conclusions or even considerations +of the intellect:--ideas, I repeat, such as these, are such as we can +alone hope profitably to entertain in any effort at grasping the great +principle, _Attraction_. + +But now,--_with_ such ideas--with such a _vision_ of the marvellous +complexity of Attraction fairly in his mind--let any person competent of +thought on such topics as these, set himself to the task of imagining a +_principle_ for the phaenomena observed--a condition from which they +sprang. + +Does not so evident a brotherhood among the atoms point to a common +parentage? Does not a sympathy so omniprevalent, so ineradicable, and so +thoroughly irrespective, suggest a common paternity as its source? Does +not one extreme impel the reason to the other? Does not the infinitude +of division refer to the utterness of individuality? Does not the +entireness of the complex hint at the perfection of the simple? It is +_not_ that the atoms, as we see them, are divided or that they are +complex in their relations--but that they are inconceivably divided and +unutterably complex:--it is the extremeness of the conditions to which I +now allude, rather than to the conditions themselves. In a word, is it +not because the atoms were, at some remote epoch of time, even _more +than together_--is it not because originally, and therefore normally, +they were _One_--that now, in all circumstances--at all points--in all +directions--by all modes of approach--in all relations and through all +conditions--they struggle _back_ to this absolutely, this irrelatively, +this unconditionally _one_? + +Some person may here demand:--"Why--since it is to the _One_ that the +atoms struggle back--do we not find and define Attraction 'a merely +general tendency to a centre?'--why, in especial, do not _your_ +atoms--the atoms which you describe as having been irradiated from a +centre--proceed at once, rectilinearly, back to the central point of +their origin?" + +I reply that _they do_; as will be distinctly shown; but that the cause +of their so doing is quite irrespective of the centre _as such_. They +all tend rectilinearly towards a centre, because of the sphereicity with +which they have been irradiated into space. Each atom, forming one of a +generally uniform globe of atoms, finds more atoms in the direction of +the centre, of course, than in any other, and in that direction, +therefore, is impelled--but is _not_ thus impelled because the centre is +_the point of its origin_. It is not to any _point_ that the atoms are +allied. It is not any _locality_, either in the concrete or in the +abstract, to which I suppose them bound. Nothing like _location_ was +conceived as their origin. Their source lies in the principle, _Unity_. +_This_ is their lost parent. _This_ they seek always--immediately--in all +directions--wherever it is even partially to be found; thus appeasing, in +some measure, the ineradicable tendency, while on the way to its +absolute satisfaction in the end. It follows from all this, that any +principle which shall be adequate to account for the _law_, or _modus +operandi_, of the attractive force in general, will account for this law +in particular:--that is to say, any principle which will show why the +atoms should tend to their _general centre of irradiation_ with forces +inversely proportional to the squares of the distances, will be admitted +as satisfactorily accounting, at the same time, for the tendency, +according to the same law, of these atoms each to each:--_for_ the +tendency to the centre _is_ merely the tendency each to each, and not +any tendency to a centre as such.--Thus it will be seen, also, that the +establishment of my propositions would involve no _necessity_ of +modification in the terms of the Newtonian definition of Gravity, which +declares that each atom attracts each other atom and so forth, and +declares this merely; but (always under the supposition that what I +propose be, in the end, admitted) it seems clear that some error might +occasionally be avoided, in the future processes of Science, were a more +ample phraseology adopted:--for instance:--"Each atom tends to every other +atom &c. with a force &c.: _the general result being a tendency of all, +with a similar force, to a general centre_." + +The reversal of our processes has thus brought us to an identical +result; but, while in the one process _intuition_ was the +starting-point, in the other it was the goal. In commencing the former +journey I could only say that, with an irresistible intuition, I _felt_ +Simplicity to have been the characteristic of the original action of +God:--in ending the latter I can only declare that, with an irresistible +intuition, I perceive Unity to have been the source of the observed +phaenomena of the Newtonian gravitation. Thus, according to the schools, +I _prove_ nothing. So be it:--I design but to suggest--and to _convince_ +through the suggestion. I am proudly aware that there exist many of the +most profound and cautiously discriminative human intellects which +cannot _help_ being abundantly content with my--suggestions. To these +intellects--as to my own--there is no mathematical demonstration which +_could_ bring the least additional _true proof_ of the great _Truth_ +which I have advanced--_the truth of Original Unity as the source--as the +principle of the Universal Phaenomena_. For my part, I am not so sure +that I speak and see--I am not so sure that my heart beats and that my +soul lives:--of the rising of to-morrow's sun--a probability that as yet +lies in the Future--I do not pretend to be one thousandth part as sure--as +I am of the irretrievably by-gone _Fact_ that All Things and All +Thoughts of Things, with all their ineffable Multiplicity of Relation, +sprang at once into being from the primordial and irrelative _One_. + +Referring to the Newtonian Gravity, Dr. Nichol, the eloquent author of +"The Architecture of the Heavens," says:--"In truth we have no reason to +suppose this great Law, as now revealed, to be the ultimate or simplest, +and therefore the universal and all-comprehensive, form of a great +Ordinance. The mode in which its intensity diminishes with the element +of distance, has not the aspect of an ultimate _principle_; which always +assumes the simplicity and self-evidence of those axioms which +constitute the basis of Geometry." + +Now, it is quite true that "ultimate principles," in the common +understanding of the words, always assume the simplicity of geometrical +axioms--(as for "self-evidence," there is no such thing)--but these +principles are clearly _not_ "ultimate;" in other terms what we are in +the habit of calling principles are no principles, properly +speaking--since there can be but one _principle_, the Volition of God. We +have no right to assume, then, from what we observe in rules that we +choose foolishly to name "principles," anything at all in respect to the +characteristics of a principle proper. The "ultimate principles" of +which Dr. Nichol speaks as having geometrical simplicity, may and do +have this geometrical turn, as being part and parcel of a vast +geometrical system, and thus a system of simplicity itself--in which, +nevertheless, the _truly_ ultimate principle is, _as we know_, the +consummation of the complex--that is to say, of the unintelligible--for is +it not the Spiritual Capacity of God? + +I quoted Dr. Nichol's remark, however, not so much to question its +philosophy, as by way of calling attention to the fact that, while all +men have admitted _some_ principle as existing behind the Law of +Gravity, no attempt has been yet made to point out what this principle +in particular _is_:--if we except, perhaps, occasional fantastic efforts +at referring it to Magnetism, or Mesmerism, or Swedenborgianism, or +Transcendentalism, or some other equally delicious _ism_ of the same +species, and invariably patronized by one and the same species of +people. The great mind of Newton, while boldly grasping the Law itself, +shrank from the principle of the Law. The more fluent and comprehensive +at least, if not the more patient and profound, sagacity of Laplace, had +not the courage to attack it. But hesitation on the part of these two +astronomers it is, perhaps, not so very difficult to understand. They, +as well as all the first class of mathematicians, were mathematicians +_solely_:--their intellect, at least, had a firmly-pronounced +mathematico-physical tone. What lay not distinctly within the domain of +Physics, or of Mathematics, seemed to them either Non-Entity or Shadow. +Nevertheless, we may well wonder that Leibnitz, who was a marked +exception to the general rule in these respects, and whose mental +temperament was a singular admixture of the mathematical with the +physico-metaphysical, did not at once investigate and establish the +point at issue. Either Newton or Laplace, seeking a principle and +discovering none _physical_, would have rested contentedly in the +conclusion that there was absolutely none; but it is almost impossible +to fancy, of Leibnitz, that, having exhausted in his search the physical +dominions, he would not have stepped at once, boldly and hopefully, amid +his old familiar haunts in the kingdom of Metaphysics. Here, indeed, it +is clear that he _must_ have adventured in search of the treasure:--that +he did not find it after all, was, perhaps, because his fairy guide, +Imagination, was not sufficiently well-grown, or well-educated, to +direct him aright. + +I observed, just now, that, in fact, there had been certain vague +attempts at referring Gravity to some very uncertain _isms_. These +attempts, however, although considered bold and justly so considered, +looked no farther than to the generality--the merest generality--of the +Newtonian Law. Its _modus operandi_ has never, to my knowledge, been +approached in the way of an effort at explanation. It is, therefore, +with no unwarranted fear of being taken for a madman at the outset, and +before I can bring my propositions fairly to the eye of those who alone +are competent to decide upon them, that I here declare the _modus +operandi_ of the Law of Gravity to be an exceedingly simple and +perfectly explicable thing--that is to say, when we make our advances +towards it in just gradations and in the true direction--when we regard +it from the proper point of view. + +Whether we reach the idea of absolute _Unity_ as the source of All +Things, from a consideration of Simplicity as the most probable +characteristic of the original action of God;--whether we arrive at it +from an inspection of the universality of relation in the gravitating +phaenomena;--or whether we attain it as a result of the mutual +corroboration afforded by both processes;--still, the idea itself, if +entertained at all, is entertained in inseparable connection with +another idea--that of the condition of the Universe of stars as we _now_ +perceive it--that is to say, a condition of immeasurable _diffusion_ +through space. Now a connection between these two ideas--unity and +diffusion--cannot be established unless through the entertainment of a +third idea--that of _irradiation_. Absolute Unity being taken as a +centre, then the existing Universe of stars is the result of +_irradiation_ from that centre. + +Now, the laws of irradiation are _known_. They are part and parcel of +the _sphere_. They belong to the class of _indisputable geometrical +properties_. We say of them, "they are true--they are evident." To demand +_why_ they are true, would be to demand why the axioms are true upon +which their demonstration is based. _Nothing_ is demonstrable, strictly +speaking; but _if_ anything _be_, then the properties--the laws in +question are demonstrated. + +But these laws--what do they declare? Irradiation--how--by what steps does +it proceed outwardly from a centre? + +From a _luminous_ centre, _Light_ issues by irradiation; and the +quantities of light received upon any given plane, supposed to be +shifting its position so as to be now nearer the centre and now farther +from it, will be diminished in the same proportion as the squares of the +distances of the plane from the luminous body, are increased; and will +be increased in the same proportion as these squares are diminished. + +The expression of the law may be thus generalized:--the number of +light-particles (or, if the phrase be preferred, the number of +light-impressions) received upon the shifting plane, will be _inversely_ +proportional with the squares of the distances of the plane. +Generalizing yet again, we may say that the diffusion--the scattering--the +irradiation, in a word--is _directly_ proportional with the squares of +the distances. + +[Illustration] + +For example: at the distance B, from the luminous centre A, a certain +number of particles are so diffused as to occupy the surface B. Then at +double the distance--that is to say at C--they will be so much farther +diffused as to occupy four such surfaces:--at treble the distance, or at +D, they will be so much farther separated as to occupy nine such +surfaces:--while, at quadruple the distance, or at E, they will have +become so scattered as to spread themselves over sixteen such +surfaces--and so on forever. + +In saying, generally, that the irradiation proceeds in direct proportion +with the squares of the distances, we use the term irradiation to +express _the degree of the diffusion_ as we proceed outwardly from the +centre. Conversing the idea, and employing the word "concentralization" +to express _the degree of the drawing together_ as we come back toward +the centre from an outward position, we may say that concentralization +proceeds _inversely_ as the squares of the distances. In other words, we +have reached the conclusion that, on the hypothesis that matter was +originally irradiated from a centre and is now returning to it, the +concentralization, in the return, proceeds _exactly as we know the force +of gravitation to proceed_. + +Now here, if we could be permitted to assume that concentralization +exactly represented the _force of the tendency to the centre_--that the +one was exactly proportional to the other, and that the two proceeded +together--we should have shown all that is required. The sole difficulty +existing, then, is to establish a direct proportion between +"concentralization" and the _force_ of concentralization; and this is +done, of course, if we establish such proportion between "irradiation" +and the _force_ of irradiation. + +A very slight inspection of the Heavens assures us that the stars have a +certain general uniformity, equability, or equidistance, of distribution +through that region of space in which, collectively, and in a roughly +globular form, they are situated:--this species of very general, rather +than absolute, equability, being in full keeping with my deduction of +inequidistance, within certain limits, among the originally diffused +atoms, as a corollary from the evident design of infinite complexity of +relation out of irrelation. I started, it will be remembered, with the +idea of a generally uniform but particularly _un_uniform distribution of +the atoms;--an idea, I repeat, which an inspection of the stars, as they +exist, confirms. + +But even in the merely general equability of distribution, as regards +the atoms, there appears a difficulty which, no doubt, has already +suggested itself to those among my readers who have borne in mind that I +suppose this equability of distribution effected through _irradiation +from a centre_. The very first glance at the idea, irradiation, forces +us to the entertainment of the hitherto unseparated and seemingly +inseparable idea of agglomeration about a centre, with dispersion as we +recede from it--the idea, in a word, of _in_equability of distribution in +respect to the matter irradiated. + +Now, I have elsewhere[1] observed that it is by just such difficulties +as the one now in question--such roughnesses--such peculiarities--such +protuberances above the plane of the ordinary--that Reason feels her way, +if at all, in her search for the True. By the difficulty--the +"peculiarity"--now presented, I leap at once to _the_ secret--a secret +which I might never have attained _but_ for the peculiarity and the +inferences which, _in its mere character of peculiarity_, it affords me. + + [1] "_Murders in the Rue Morgue_"--p. 133. + +The process of thought, at this point, may be thus roughly sketched:--I +say to myself--"Unity, as I have explained it, is a truth--I feel it. +Diffusion is a truth--I see it. Irradiation, by which alone these two +truths are reconciled, is a consequent truth--I perceive it. _Equability_ +of diffusion, first deduced _a priori_ and then corroborated by the +inspection of phaenomena, is also a truth--I fully admit it. So far all is +clear around me:--there are no clouds behind which _the_ secret--the great +secret of the gravitating _modus operandi_--can possibly lie hidden;--but +this secret lies _hereabouts_, most assuredly; and _were_ there but a +cloud in view, I should be driven to suspicion of that cloud." And now, +just as I say this, there actually comes a cloud into view. This cloud +is the seeming impossibility of reconciling my truth, _irradiation_, +with my truth, _equability of diffusion_. I say now:--"Behind this +_seeming_ impossibility is to be found what I desire." I do not say +"_real_ impossibility;" for invincible faith in my truths assures me +that it is a mere difficulty after all--but I go on to say, with +unflinching confidence, that, _when_ this _difficulty_ shall be solved, +we shall find, _wrapped up in the process of solution_, the key to the +secret at which we aim. Moreover--I _feel_ that we shall discover _but +one_ possible solution of the difficulty; this for the reason that, were +there two, one would be supererogatory--would be fruitless--would be +empty--would contain no key--since no duplicate key can be needed to any +secret of Nature. + +And now, let us see:--Our usual notions of irradiation--in fact _all_ our +distinct notions of it--are caught merely from the process as we see it +exemplified in _Light_. Here there is a _continuous_ outpouring of +_ray-streams_, and _with a force which we have at least no right to +suppose varies at all_. Now, in any such irradiation _as +this_--continuous and of unvarying force--the regions nearer the centre +must _inevitably_ be always more crowded with the irradiated matter than +the regions more remote. But I have assumed _no_ such irradiation _as +this_. I assumed no _continuous_ irradiation; and for the simple reason +that such an assumption would have involved, first, the necessity of +entertaining a conception which I have shown no man _can_ entertain, and +which (as I will more fully explain hereafter) all observation of the +firmament refutes--the conception of the absolute infinity of the +Universe of stars--and would have involved, secondly, the impossibility +of understanding a reaction--that is, gravitation--as existing now--since, +while an act is continued, no reaction, of course, can take place. My +assumption, then, or rather my inevitable deduction from just +premises--was that of a _determinate_ irradiation--one finally +_dis_continued. + +Let me now describe the sole possible mode in which it is conceivable +that matter could have been diffused through space, so as to fulfil the +conditions at once of irradiation and of generally equable distribution. + +For convenience of illustration, let us imagine, in the first place, a +hollow sphere of glass, or of anything else, occupying the space +throughout which the universal matter is to be thus equally diffused, by +means of irradiation, from the absolute, irrelative, unconditional +particle, placed in the centre of the sphere. + +Now, a certain exertion of the diffusive power (presumed to be the +Divine Volition)--in other words, a certain _force_--whose measure is the +quantity of matter--that is to say, the number of atoms--emitted; emits, +by irradiation, this certain number of atoms; forcing them in all +directions outwardly from the centre--their proximity to each other +diminishing as they proceed--until, finally, they are distributed, +loosely, over the interior surface of the sphere. + +When these atoms have attained this position, or while proceeding to +attain it, a second and inferior exercise of the same force--or a second +and inferior force of the same character--emits, in the same manner--that +is to say, by irradiation as before--a second stratum of atoms which +proceeds to deposit itself upon the first; the number of atoms, in this +case as in the former, being of course the measure of the force which +emitted them; in other words the force being precisely adapted to the +purpose it effects--the force and the number of atoms sent out by the +force, being _directly proportional_. + +When this second stratum has reached its destined position--or while +approaching it--a third still inferior exertion of the force, or a third +inferior force of a similar character--the number of atoms emitted being +in _all_ cases the measure of the force--proceeds to deposit a third +stratum upon the second:--and so on, until these concentric strata, +growing gradually less and less, come down at length to the central +point; and the diffusive matter, simultaneously with the diffusive +force, is exhausted. + +We have now the sphere filled, through means of irradiation, with atoms +equably diffused. The two necessary conditions--those of irradiation and +of equable diffusion--are satisfied; and by the _sole_ process in which +the possibility of their simultaneous satisfaction is conceivable. For +this reason, I confidently expect to find, lurking in the present +condition of the atoms as distributed throughout the sphere, the secret +of which I am in search--the all-important principle of the _modus +operandi_ of the Newtonian law. Let us examine, then, the actual +condition of the atoms. + +They lie in a series of concentric strata. They are equably diffused +throughout the sphere. They have been irradiated into these states. + +The atoms being _equably_ distributed, the greater the superficial +extent of any of these concentric strata, or spheres, the more atoms +will lie upon it. In other words, the number of atoms lying upon the +surface of any one of the concentric spheres, is directly proportional +with the extent of that surface. + +_But, in any series of concentric spheres, the surfaces are directly +proportional with the squares of the distances from the centre._[2] + + [2] Succinctly--The surfaces of spheres are as the squares of + their radii. + +Therefore the number of atoms in any stratum is directly proportional +with the square of that stratum's distance from the centre. + +But the number of atoms in any stratum is the measure of the force which +emitted that stratum--that is to say, is _directly proportional_ with the +force. + +Therefore the force which irradiated any stratum is directly +proportional with the square of that stratum's distance from the +centre:--or, generally, + +_The force of the irradiation has been directly proportional with the +squares of the distances._ + +Now, Reaction, as far as we know anything of it, is Action conversed. +The _general_ principle of Gravity being, in the first place, understood +as the reaction of an act--as the expression of a desire on the part of +Matter, while existing in a state of diffusion, to return into the Unity +whence it was diffused; and, in the second place, the mind being called +upon to determine the _character_ of the desire--the manner in which it +would, naturally, be manifested; in other words, being called upon to +conceive a probable law, or _modus operandi_, for the return; could not +well help arriving at the conclusion that this law of return would be +precisely the converse of the law of departure. That such would be the +case, any one, at least, would be abundantly justified in taking for +granted, until such time as some person should suggest something like a +plausible reason why it should _not_ be the case--until such period as a +law of return shall be imagined which the intellect can consider as +preferable. + +Matter, then, irradiated into space with a force varying as the squares +of the distances, might, _a priori_, be supposed to return towards its +centre of irradiation with a force varying _inversely_ as the squares of +the distances: and I have already shown[3] that any principle which will +explain why the atoms should tend, according to any law, to the general +centre, must be admitted as satisfactorily explaining, at the same time, +why, according to the same law, they should tend each to each. For, in +fact, the tendency to the general centre is not to a centre as such, but +because of its being a point in tending towards which each atom tends +most directly to its real and essential centre, _Unity_--the absolute +and final Union of all. + + [3] Page 44. + +The consideration here involved presents to my own mind no embarrassment +whatever--but this fact does not blind me to the possibility of its being +obscure to those who may have been less in the habit of dealing with +abstractions:--and, upon the whole, it may be as well to look at the +matter from one or two other points of view. + +The absolute, irrelative particle primarily created by the Volition of +God, must have been in a condition of positive _normality_, or +rightfulness--for wrongfulness implies _relation_. Right is positive; +wrong is negative--is merely the negation of right; as cold is the +negation of heat--darkness of light. That a thing may be wrong, it is +necessary that there be some other thing in _relation_ to which it _is_ +wrong--some condition which it fails to satisfy; some law which it +violates; some being whom it aggrieves. If there be no such being, law, +or condition, in respect to which the thing is wrong--and, still more +especially, if no beings, laws, or conditions exist at all--then the +thing can_not_ be wrong and consequently must be _right_. Any deviation +from normality involves a tendency to return into it. A difference from +the normal--from the right--from the just--can be understood as effected +only by the overcoming a difficulty; and if the force which overcomes +the difficulty be not infinitely continued, the ineradicable tendency to +return will at length be permitted to act for its own satisfaction. Upon +withdrawal of the force, the tendency acts. This is the principle of +reaction as the inevitable consequence of finite action. Employing a +phraseology of which the seeming affectation will be pardoned for its +expressiveness, we may say that Reaction is the return from the +condition of _as it is and ought not to be_ into the condition of _as it +was, originally, and therefore ought to be_:--and let me add here that +the _absolute_ force of Reaction would no doubt be always found in +direct proportion with the reality--the truth--the absoluteness--of the +_originality_--if ever it were possible to measure this latter:--and, +consequently, the greatest of all conceivable reactions must be that +produced by the tendency which we now discuss--the tendency to return +into the _absolutely original_--into the _supremely_ primitive. Gravity, +then, _must be the strongest of forces_--an idea reached _a priori_ and +abundantly confirmed by induction. What use I make of the idea, will be +seen in the sequel. + +The atoms, now, having been diffused from their normal condition of +Unity, seek to return to----what? Not to any particular _point_, +certainly; for it is clear that if, upon the diffusion, the whole +Universe of matter had been projected, collectively, to a distance from +the point of irradiation, the atomic tendency to the general centre of +the sphere would not have been disturbed in the least:--the atoms would +not have sought the point _in absolute space_ from which they were +originally impelled. It is merely the _condition_, and not the point or +locality at which this condition took its rise, that these atoms seek to +re-establish;--it is merely _that condition which is their normality_, +that they desire. "But they seek a centre," it will be said, "and a +centre is a point." True; but they seek this point not in its character +of point--(for, were the whole sphere moved from its position, they would +seek, equally, the centre; and the centre _then_ would be a _new_ +point)--but because it so happens, on account of the form in which they +collectively exist--(that of the sphere)--that only _through_ the point in +question--the sphere's centre--they can attain their true object, Unity. +In the direction of the centre each atom perceives more atoms than in +any other direction. Each atom is impelled towards the centre because +along the straight line joining it and the centre and passing on to the +circumference beyond, there lie a greater number of atoms than along any +other straight line--a greater number of objects that seek it, the +individual atom--a greater number of tendencies to Unity--a greater number +of satisfactions for its own tendency to Unity--in a word, because in the +direction of the centre lies the utmost possibility of satisfaction, +generally, for its own individual appetite. To be brief, the +_condition_, Unity, is all that is really sought; and if the atoms +_seem_ to seek the centre of the sphere, it is only impliedly, through +implication--because such centre happens to imply, to include, or to +involve, the only essential centre, Unity. But _on account of_ this +implication or involution, there is no possibility of practically +separating the tendency to Unity in the abstract, from the tendency to +the concrete centre. Thus the tendency of the atoms to the general +centre _is_, to all practical intents and for all logical purposes, the +tendency each to each; and the tendency each to each _is_ the tendency +to the centre; and the one tendency may be assumed _as_ the other; +whatever will apply to the one must be thoroughly applicable to the +other; and, in conclusion, whatever principle will satisfactorily +explain the one, cannot be questioned as an explanation of the other. + +In looking carefully around me for rational objection to what I have +advanced, I am able to discover _nothing_;--but of that class of +objections usually urged by the doubters for Doubt's sake, I very +readily perceive _three_; and proceed to dispose of them in order. + +It may be said, first: "The proof that the force of irradiation (in the +case described) is directly proportional to the squares of the +distances, depends upon an unwarranted assumption--that of the number of +atoms in each stratum being the measure of the force with which they are +emitted." + +I reply, not only that I am warranted in such assumption, but that I +should be utterly _un_warranted in any other. What I assume is, simply, +that an effect is the measure of its cause--that every exercise of the +Divine Will will be proportional to that which demands the exertion--that +the means of Omnipotence, or of Omniscience, will be exactly adapted to +its purposes. Neither can a deficiency nor an excess of cause bring to +pass any effect. Had the force which irradiated any stratum to its +position, been either more or less than was needed for the purpose--that +is to say, not _directly proportional_ to the purpose--then to its +position that stratum could not have been irradiated. Had the force +which, with a view to general equability of distribution, emitted the +proper number of atoms for each stratum, been not _directly +proportional_ to the number, then the number would _not_ have been the +number demanded for the equable distribution. + +The second supposable objection is somewhat better entitled to an +answer. + +It is an admitted principle in Dynamics that every body, on receiving an +impulse, or disposition to move, will move onward in a straight line, in +the direction imparted by the impelling force, until deflected, or +stopped, by some other force. How then, it may be asked, is my first or +external stratum of atoms to be understood as discontinuing their +movement at the circumference of the imaginary glass sphere, when no +second force, of more than an imaginary character, appears, to account +for the discontinuance? + +I reply that the objection, in this case, actually does arise out of "an +unwarranted assumption"--on the part of the objector--the assumption of a +principle, in Dynamics, at an epoch when _no_ "principles," in +_anything_, exist:--I use the word "principle," of course, in the +objector's understanding of the word. + +"In the beginning" we can admit--indeed we can comprehend--but one _First +Cause_--the truly ultimate _Principle_--the Volition of God. The primary +_act_--that of Irradiation from Unity--must have been independent of all +that which the world now calls "principle"--because all that we so +designate is but a consequence of the reaction of that primary act:--I +say "_primary_" act; for the creation of the absolute material particle +is more properly to be regarded as a _conception_ than as an "_act_" in +the ordinary meaning of the term. Thus, we must regard the primary act +as an act for the establishment of what we now call "principles." But +this primary act itself is to be considered as _continuous Volition_. +The Thought of God is to be understood as originating the Diffusion--as +proceeding with it--as regulating it--and, finally, as being withdrawn +from it upon its completion. _Then_ commences Reaction, and through +Reaction, "Principle," as we employ the word. It will be advisable, +however, to limit the application of this word to the two _immediate_ +results of the discontinuance of the Divine Volition--that is, to the two +agents, _Attraction_ and _Repulsion_. Every other Natural agent depends, +either more or less immediately, upon these two, and therefore would be +more conveniently designated as _sub_-principle. + +It may be objected, thirdly, that, in general, the peculiar mode of +distribution which I have suggested for the atoms, is "an hypothesis and +nothing more." + +Now, I am aware that the word hypothesis is a ponderous sledge-hammer, +grasped immediately, if not lifted, by all very diminutive thinkers, +upon the first appearance of any proposition wearing, in any particular, +the garb of _a theory_. But "hypothesis" cannot be wielded _here_ to any +good purpose, even by those who succeed in lifting it--little men or +great. + +I maintain, first, that _only_ in the mode described is it conceivable +that Matter could have been diffused so as to fulfil at once the +conditions of irradiation and of generally equable distribution. I +maintain, secondly, that these conditions themselves have been imposed +upon me, as necessities, in a train of ratiocination _as rigorously +logical as that which establishes any demonstration in Euclid_; and I +maintain, thirdly, that even if the charge of "hypothesis" were as fully +sustained as it is, in fact, unsustained and untenable, still the +validity and indisputability of my result would not, even in the +slightest particular, be disturbed. + +To explain:--The Newtonian Gravity--a law of Nature--a law whose existence +as such no one out of Bedlam questions--a law whose admission as such +enables us to account for nine-tenths of the Universal phaenomena--a law +which, merely because it does so enable us to account for these +phaenomena, we are perfectly willing, without reference to any other +considerations, to admit, and cannot help admitting, as a law--a law, +nevertheless, of which neither the principle nor the _modus operandi_ of +the principle, has ever yet been traced by the human analysis--a law, in +short, which, neither in its detail nor in its generality, has been +found susceptible of explanation _at all_--is at length seen to be at +every point thoroughly explicable, provided only we yield our assent +to----what? To an hypothesis? Why _if_ an hypothesis--if the merest +hypothesis--if an hypothesis for whose assumption--as in the case of that +_pure_ hypothesis the Newtonian law itself--no shadow of _a priori_ +reason could be assigned--if an hypothesis, even so absolute as all this +implies, would enable us to perceive a principle for the Newtonian +law--would enable us to understand as satisfied, conditions so +miraculously--so ineffably complex and seemingly irreconcileable as those +involved in the relations of which Gravity tells us,--what rational being +_could_ so expose his fatuity as to call even this absolute hypothesis +an hypothesis any longer--unless, indeed, he were to persist in so +calling it, with the understanding that he did so, simply for the sake +of consistency _in words_? + +But what is the true state of our present case? What is _the fact_? Not +only that it is _not_ an hypothesis which we are required _to adopt_, +in order to admit the principle at issue explained, but that it _is_ a +logical conclusion which we are requested _not_ to adopt if we can avoid +it--which we are simply invited to _deny if we can_:--a conclusion of so +accurate a logicality that to dispute it would be the effort--to doubt +its validity beyond our power:--a conclusion from which we see no mode of +escape, turn as we will; a result which confronts us either at the end +of an _in_ductive journey from the phaenomena of the very Law discussed, +or at the close of a _de_ductive career from the most rigorously simple +of all conceivable assumptions--_the assumption, in a word, of Simplicity +itself_. + +And if here, for the mere sake of cavilling, it be urged, that although +my starting-point is, as I assert, the assumption of absolute +Simplicity, yet Simplicity, considered merely in itself, is no axiom; +and that only deductions from axioms are indisputable--it is thus that I +reply:-- + +Every other science than Logic is the science of certain concrete +relations. Arithmetic, for example, is the science of the relations of +number--Geometry, of the relations of form--Mathematics in general, of the +relations of quantity in general--of whatever can be increased or +diminished. Logic, however, is the science of Relation in the +abstract--of absolute Relation--of Relation considered solely in itself. +An axiom in any particular science other than Logic is, thus, merely a +proposition announcing certain concrete relations which seem to be too +obvious for dispute--as when we say, for instance, that the whole is +greater than its part:--and, thus again, the principle of the _Logical_ +axiom--in other words, of an axiom in the abstract--is, simply, +_obviousness of relation_. Now, it is clear, not only that what is +obvious to one mind may not be obvious to another, but that what is +obvious to one mind at one epoch, may be anything but obvious, at +another epoch, to the same mind. It is clear, moreover, that what, +to-day, is obvious even to the majority of mankind, or to the majority +of the best intellects of mankind, may to-morrow be, to either majority, +more or less obvious, or in no respect obvious at all. It is seen, then, +that the _axiomatic principle_ itself is susceptible of variation, and +of course that axioms are susceptible of similar change. Being mutable, +the "truths" which grow out of them are necessarily mutable too; or, in +other words, are never to be positively depended upon as truths at +all--since Truth and Immutability are one. + +It will now be readily understood that no axiomatic idea--no idea founded +in the fluctuating principle, obviousness of relation--can possibly be so +secure--so reliable a basis for any structure erected by the Reason, as +_that_ idea--(whatever it is, wherever we can find it, or _if_ it be +practicable to find it anywhere)--which is _ir_relative altogether--which +not only presents to the understanding _no obviousness_ of relation, +either greater or less, to be considered, but subjects the intellect, +not in the slightest degree, to the necessity of even looking at _any +relation at all_. If such an idea be not what we too heedlessly term "an +axiom," it is at least preferable, as a Logical basis, to any axiom ever +propounded, or to all imaginable axioms combined:--and such, precisely, +is the idea with which my deductive process, so thoroughly corroborated +by induction, commences. My _particle proper_ is but _absolute +Irrelation_. To sum up what has been here advanced:--As a starting point +I have taken it for granted, simply, that the Beginning had nothing +behind it or before it--that it was a Beginning in fact--that it was a +beginning and nothing different from a beginning--in short that this +Beginning was----_that which it was_. If this be a "mere assumption" then +a "mere assumption" let it be. + +To conclude this branch of the subject:--I am fully warranted in +announcing that _the Law which we have been in the habit of calling +Gravity exists on account of Matter's having been irradiated, at its +origin, atomically, into a limited[4] sphere of Space, from one, +individual, unconditional, irrelative, and absolute Particle Proper, by +the sole process in which it was possible to satisfy, at the same time, +the two conditions, irradiation, and generally-equable distribution +throughout the sphere--that is to say, by a force varying in direct +proportion with the squares of the distances between the irradiated +atoms, respectively, and the Particular centre of Irradiation_. + + [4] Limited sphere--A sphere is _necessarily_ limited. I prefer + tautology to a chance of misconception. + +I have already given my reasons for presuming Matter to have been +diffused by a determinate rather than by a continuous or infinitely +continued force. Supposing a continuous force, we should be unable, in +the first place, to comprehend a reaction at all; and we should be +required, in the second place, to entertain the impossible conception of +an infinite extension of Matter. Not to dwell upon the impossibility of +the conception, the infinite extension of Matter is an idea which, if +not positively disproved, is at least not in any respect warranted by +telescopic observation of the stars--a point to be explained more fully +hereafter; and this empirical reason for believing in the original +finity of Matter is unempirically confirmed. For example:--Admitting, for +the moment, the possibility of understanding Space _filled_ with the +irradiated atoms--that is to say, admitting, as well as we can, for +argument's sake, that the succession of the irradiated atoms had +absolutely _no end_--then it is abundantly clear that, even when the +Volition of God had been withdrawn from them, and thus the tendency to +return into Unity permitted (abstractly) to be satisfied, this +permission would have been nugatory and invalid--practically valueless +and of no effect whatever. No Reaction could have taken place; no +movement toward Unity could have been made; no Law of Gravity could have +obtained. + +To explain:--Grant the _abstract_ tendency of any one atom to any one +other as the inevitable result of diffusion from the normal Unity:--or, +what is the same thing, admit any given atom as _proposing_ to move in +any given direction--it is clear that, since there is an _infinity_ of +atoms on all sides of the atom proposing to move, it never can actually +move toward the satisfaction of its tendency in the direction given, on +account of a precisely equal and counterbalancing tendency in the +direction diametrically opposite. In other words, exactly as many +tendencies to Unity are behind the hesitating atom as before it; for it +is a mere sotticism to say that one infinite line is longer or shorter +than another infinite line, or that one infinite number is greater or +less than another number that is infinite. Thus the atom in question +must remain stationary forever. Under the impossible circumstances which +we have been merely endeavoring to conceive for argument's sake, there +could have been no aggregation of Matter--no stars--no worlds--nothing but +a perpetually atomic and inconsequential Universe. In fact, view it as +we will, the whole idea of unlimited Matter is not only untenable, but +impossible and preposterous. + +With the understanding of a _sphere_ of atoms, however, we perceive, at +once, a _satisfiable_ tendency to union. The general result of the +tendency each to each, being a tendency of all to the centre, the +_general_ process of condensation, or approximation, commences +immediately, by a common and simultaneous movement, on withdrawal of the +Divine Volition; the _individual_ approximations, or coalescences--_not_ +coealitions--of atom with atom, being subject to almost infinite +variations of time, degree, and condition, on account of the excessive +multiplicity of relation, arising from the differences of form assumed +as characterizing the atoms at the moment of their quitting the Particle +Proper; as well as from the subsequent particular inequidistance, each +from each. + +What I wish to impress upon the reader is the certainty of there +arising, at once, (on withdrawal of the diffusive force, or Divine +Volition,) out of the condition of the atoms as described, at +innumerable points throughout the Universal sphere, innumerable +agglomerations, characterized by innumerable specific differences of +form, size, essential nature, and distance each from each. The +development of Repulsion (Electricity) must have commenced, of course, +with the very earliest particular efforts at Unity, and must have +proceeded constantly in the ratio of Coalescence--that is to say, _in +that of Condensation_, or, again, of Heterogeneity. + +Thus the two Principles Proper, _Attraction_ and _Repulsion_--the +Material and the Spiritual--accompany each other, in the strictest +fellowship, forever. Thus _The Body and The Soul walk hand in hand_. + +If now, in fancy, we select _any one_ of the agglomerations considered +as in their primary stages throughout the Universal sphere, and suppose +this incipient agglomeration to be taking place at that point where the +centre of our Sun exists--or rather where it _did_ exist originally; for +the Sun is perpetually shifting his position--we shall find ourselves +met, and borne onward for a time at least, by the most magnificent of +theories--by the Nebular Cosmogony of Laplace:--although "Cosmogony" is +far too comprehensive a term for what he really discusses--which is the +constitution of our solar system alone--of one among the myriad of +similar systems which make up the Universe Proper--that Universal +sphere--that all-inclusive and absolute _Kosmos_ which forms the subject +of my present Discourse. + +Confining himself to an _obviously limited_ region--that of our solar +system with its comparatively immediate vicinity--and _merely_ +assuming--that is to say, assuming without any basis whatever, either +deductive or inductive--_much_ of what I have been just endeavoring to +place upon a more stable basis than assumption; assuming, for example, +matter as diffused (without pretending to account for the diffusion) +throughout, and somewhat beyond, the space occupied by our +system--diffused in a state of heterogeneous nebulosity and obedient to +that omniprevalent law of Gravity at whose principle he ventured to make +no guess;--assuming all this (which is quite true, although he had no +logical right to its assumption) Laplace has shown, dynamically and +mathematically, that the results in such case necessarily ensuing, are +those and those alone which we find manifested in the actually existing +condition of the system itself. + +To explain:--Let us conceive _that_ particular agglomeration of which we +have just spoken--the one at the point designated by our Sun's centre--to +have so far proceeded that a vast quantity of nebulous matter has here +assumed a roughly globular form; its centre being, of course, coincident +with what is now, or rather was originally, the centre of our Sun; and +its periphery extending out beyond the orbit of Neptune, the most remote +of our planets:--in other words, let us suppose the diameter of this +rough sphere to be some 6000 millions of miles. For ages, this mass of +matter has been undergoing condensation, until at length it has become +reduced into the bulk we imagine; having proceeded gradually, of course, +from its atomic and imperceptible state, into what we understand of +visible, palpable, or otherwise appreciable nebulosity. + +Now, the condition of this mass implies a rotation about an imaginary +axis--a rotation which, commencing with the absolute incipiency of the +aggregation, has been ever since acquiring velocity. The very first two +atoms which met, approaching each other from points not diametrically +opposite, would, in rushing partially past each other, form a nucleus +for the rotary movement described. How this would increase in velocity, +is readily seen. The two atoms are joined by others:--an aggregation is +formed. The mass continues to rotate while condensing. But any atom at +the circumference has, of course, a more rapid motion than one nearer +the centre. The outer atom, however, with its superior velocity, +approaches the centre; carrying this superior velocity with it as it +goes. Thus every atom, proceeding inwardly, and finally attaching itself +to the condensed centre, adds something to the original velocity of that +centre--that is to say, increases the rotary movement of the mass. + +Let us now suppose this mass so far condensed that it occupies +_precisely_ the space circumscribed by the orbit of Neptune, and that +the velocity with which the surface of the mass moves, in the general +rotation, is precisely that velocity with which Neptune now revolves +about the Sun. At this epoch, then, we are to understand that the +constantly increasing centrifugal force, having gotten the better of the +non-increasing centripetal, loosened and separated the exterior and +least condensed stratum, or a few of the exterior and least condensed +strata, at the equator of the sphere, where the tangential velocity +predominated; so that these strata formed about the main body an +independent ring encircling the equatorial regions:--just as the exterior +portion thrown off, by excessive velocity of rotation, from a +grindstone, would form a ring about the grindstone, but for the solidity +of the superficial material: were this caoutchouc, or anything similar +in consistency, precisely the phaenomenon I describe would be presented. + +The ring thus whirled from the nebulous mass, _revolved_, of course, +_as_ a separate ring, with just that velocity with which, while the +surface of the mass, it _rotated_. In the meantime, condensation still +proceeding, the interval between the discharged ring and the main body +continued to increase, until the former was left at a vast distance from +the latter. + +Now, admitting the ring to have possessed, by some seemingly accidental +arrangement of its heterogeneous materials, a constitution nearly +uniform, then this ring, _as_ such, would never have ceased revolving +about its primary; but, as might have been anticipated, there appears to +have been enough irregularity in the disposition of the materials, to +make them cluster about centres of superior solidity; and thus the +annular form was destroyed.[5] No doubt, the band was soon broken up +into several portions, and one of these portions, predominating in mass, +absorbed the others into itself; the whole settling, spherically, into a +planet. That this latter, _as_ a planet, continued the revolutionary +movement which characterized it while a ring, is sufficiently clear; and +that it took upon itself also, an additional movement in its new +condition of sphere, is readily explained. The ring being understood as +yet unbroken, we see that its exterior, while the whole revolves about +the parent body, moves more rapidly than its interior. When the rupture +occurred, then, some portion in each fragment must have been moving +with greater velocity than the others. The superior movement prevailing, +must have whirled each fragment round--that is to say, have caused it to +rotate; and the direction of the rotation must, of course, have been the +direction of the revolution whence it arose. _All_ the fragments having +become subject to the rotation described, must, in coalescing, have +imparted it to the one planet constituted by their coalescence.--This +planet was Neptune. Its material continuing to undergo condensation, and +the centrifugal force generated in its rotation getting, at length, the +better of the centripetal, as before in the case of the parent orb, a +ring was whirled also from the equatorial surface of this planet: this +ring, having been ununiform in its constitution, was broken up, and its +several fragments, being absorbed by the most massive, were collectively +spherified into a moon. Subsequently, the operation was repeated, and a +second moon was the result. We thus account for the planet Neptune, with +the two satellites which accompany him. + + [5] Laplace assumed his nebulosity heterogeneous, merely that + he might be thus enabled to account for the breaking up of the + rings; for had the nebulosity been homogeneous, they would not + have broken. I reach the same result--heterogeneity of the + secondary masses immediately resulting from the atoms--purely + from an _a priori_ consideration of their general + design--_Relation_. + +In throwing off a ring from its equator, the Sun re-established that +equilibrium between its centripetal and centrifugal forces which had +been disturbed in the process of condensation; but, as this condensation +still proceeded, the equilibrium was again immediately disturbed, +through the increase of rotation. By the time the mass had so far shrunk +that it occupied a spherical space just that circumscribed by the orbit +of Uranus, we are to understand that the centrifugal force had so far +obtained the ascendency that new relief was needed: a second equatorial +band was, consequently, thrown off, which, proving ununiform, was +broken up, as before in the case of Neptune; the fragments settling into +the planet Uranus; the velocity of whose actual revolution about the Sun +indicates, of course, the rotary speed of that Sun's equatorial surface +at the moment of the separation. Uranus, adopting a rotation from the +collective rotations of the fragments composing it, as previously +explained, now threw off ring after ring; each of which, becoming broken +up, settled into a moon:--three moons, at different epochs, having been +formed, in this manner, by the rupture and general spherification of as +many distinct ununiform rings. + +By the time the Sun had shrunk until it occupied a space just that +circumscribed by the orbit of Saturn, the balance, we are to suppose, +between its centripetal and centrifugal forces had again become so far +disturbed, through increase of rotary velocity, the result of +condensation, that a third effort at equilibrium became necessary; and +an annular band was therefore whirled off as twice before; which, on +rupture through ununiformity, became consolidated into the planet +Saturn. This latter threw off, in the first place, seven uniform bands, +which, on rupture, were spherified respectively into as many moons; but, +subsequently, it appears to have discharged, at three distinct but not +very distant epochs, three rings whose equability of constitution was, +by apparent accident, so considerable as to present no occasion for +their rupture; thus they continue to revolve as rings. I use the phrase +"_apparent_ accident;" for of accident in the ordinary sense there was, +of course, nothing:--the term is properly applied only to the result of +indistinguishable or not immediately traceable _law_. + +Shrinking still farther, until it occupied just the space circumscribed +by the orbit of Jupiter, the Sun now found need of farther effort to +restore the counterbalance of its two forces, continually disarranged in +the still continued increase of rotation. Jupiter, accordingly, was now +thrown off; passing from the annular to the planetary condition; and, on +attaining this latter, threw off in its turn, at four different epochs, +four rings, which finally resolved themselves into so many moons. + +Still shrinking, until its sphere occupied just the space defined by the +orbit of the Asteroids, the Sun now discarded a ring which appears to +have had _eight_ centres of superior solidity, and, on breaking up, to +have separated into eight fragments no one of which so far predominated +in mass as to absorb the others. All therefore, as distinct although +comparatively small planets, proceeded to revolve in orbits whose +distances, each from each, may be considered as in some degree the +measure of the force which drove them asunder:--all the orbits, +nevertheless, being so closely coincident as to admit of our calling +them _one_, in view of the other planetary orbits. + +Continuing to shrink, the Sun, on becoming so small as just to fill the +orbit of Mars, now discharged this planet--of course by the process +repeatedly described. Having no moon, however, Mars could have thrown +off no ring. In fact, an epoch had now arrived in the career of the +parent body, the centre of the system. The _de_crease of its nebulosity, +which is the _in_crease of its density, and which again is the +_de_crease of its condensation, out of which latter arose the constant +disturbance of equilibrium--must, by this period, have attained a point +at which the efforts for restoration would have been more and more +ineffectual just in proportion as they were less frequently needed. Thus +the processes of which we have been speaking would everywhere show signs +of exhaustion--in the planets, first, and secondly, in the original mass. +We must not fall into the error of supposing the decrease of interval +observed among the planets as we approach the Sun, to be in any respect +indicative of an increase of frequency in the periods at which they were +discarded. Exactly the converse is to be understood. The longest +interval of time must have occurred between the discharges of the two +interior; the shortest, between those of the two exterior, planets. The +decrease of the interval of space is, nevertheless, the measure of the +density, and thus inversely of the condensation, of the Sun, throughout +the processes detailed. + +Having shrunk, however, so far as to fill only the orbit of our Earth, +the parent sphere whirled from itself still one other body--the Earth--in +a condition so nebulous as to admit of this body's discarding, in its +turn, yet another, which is our Moon;--but here terminated the lunar +formations. + +Finally, subsiding to the orbits first of Venus and then of Mercury, the +Sun discarded these two interior planets; neither of which has given +birth to any moon. + +Thus from his original bulk--or, to speak more accurately, from the +condition in which we first considered him--from a partially spherified +nebular mass, _certainly_ much more than 5,600 millions of miles in +diameter--the great central orb and origin of our solar-planetary-lunar +system, has gradually descended, by condensation, in obedience to the +law of Gravity, to a globe only 882,000 miles in diameter; but it by no +means follows, either that its condensation is yet complete, or that it +may not still possess the capacity of whirling from itself another +planet. + +I have here given--in outline of course, but still with all the detail +necessary for distinctness--a view of the Nebular Theory as its author +himself conceived it. From whatever point we regard it, we shall find it +_beautifully true_. It is by far too beautiful, indeed, _not_ to possess +Truth as its essentiality--and here I am very profoundly serious in what +I say. In the revolution of the satellites of Uranus, there does appear +something seemingly inconsistent with the assumptions of Laplace; but +that _one_ inconsistency can invalidate a theory constructed from a +million of intricate consistencies, is a fancy fit only for the +fantastic. In prophecying, confidently, that the apparent anomaly to +which I refer, will, sooner or later, be found one of the strongest +possible corroborations of the general hypothesis, I pretend to no +especial spirit of divination. It is a matter which the only difficulty +seems _not_ to foresee.[6] + + [6] I am prepared to show that the anomalous revolution of the + satellites of Uranus is a simply perspective anomaly arising + from the inclination of the axis of the planet. + +The bodies whirled off in the processes described, would exchange, it +has been seen, the superficial _rotation_ of the orbs whence they +originated, for a _revolution_ of equal velocity about these orbs as +distant centres; and the revolution thus engendered must proceed, so +long as the centripetal force, or that with which the discarded body +gravitates toward its parent, is neither greater nor less than that by +which it was discarded; that is, than the centrifugal, or, far more +properly, than the tangential, velocity. From the unity, however, of the +origin of these two forces, we might have expected to find them as they +are found--the one accurately counterbalancing the other. It has been +shown, indeed, that the act of whirling-off is, in every case, merely an +act for the preservation of the counterbalance. + +After referring, however, the centripetal force to the omniprevalent law +of Gravity, it has been the fashion with astronomical treatises, to seek +beyond the limits of mere Nature--that is to say, of _Secondary_ Cause--a +solution of the phaenomenon of tangential velocity. This latter they +attribute directly to a _First_ Cause--to God. The force which carries a +stellar body around its primary they assert to have originated in an +impulse given immediately by the finger--this is the childish phraseology +employed--by the finger of Deity itself. In this view, the planets, fully +formed, are conceived to have been hurled from the Divine hand, to a +position in the vicinity of the suns, with an impetus mathematically +adapted to the masses, or attractive capacities, of the suns themselves. +An idea so grossly unphilosophical, although so supinely adopted, could +have arisen only from the difficulty of otherwise accounting for the +absolutely accurate adaptation, each to each, of two forces so seemingly +independent, one of the other, as are the gravitating and tangential. +But it should be remembered that, for a long time, the coincidence +between the moon's rotation and her sidereal revolution--two matters +seemingly far more independent than those now considered--was looked +upon as positively miraculous; and there was a strong disposition, even +among astronomers, to attribute the marvel to the direct and continual +agency of God--who, in this case, it was said, had found it necessary to +interpose, specially, among his general laws, a set of subsidiary +regulations, for the purpose of forever concealing from mortal eyes the +glories, or perhaps the horrors, of the other side of the Moon--of that +mysterious hemisphere which has always avoided, and must perpetually +avoid, the telescopic scrutiny of mankind. The advance of Science, +however, soon demonstrated--what to the philosophical instinct needed +_no_ demonstration--that the one movement is but a portion--something +more, even, than a consequence--of the other. + +For my part, I have no patience with fantasies at once so timorous, so +idle, and so awkward. They belong to the veriest _cowardice_ of thought. +That Nature and the God of Nature are distinct, no thinking being can +long doubt. By the former we imply merely the laws of the latter. But +with the very idea of God, omnipotent, omniscient, we entertain, also, +the idea of _the infallibility_ of his laws. With Him there being +neither Past nor Future--with Him all being _Now_--do we not insult him in +supposing his laws so contrived as not to provide for every possible +contingency?--or, rather, what idea _can_ we have of _any_ possible +contingency, except that it is at once a result and a manifestation of +his laws? He who, divesting himself of prejudice, shall have the rare +courage to think absolutely for himself, cannot fail to arrive, in the +end, at the condensation of _laws_ into _Law_--cannot fail of reaching +the conclusion that _each law of Nature is dependent at all points upon +all other laws_, and that all are but consequences of one primary +exercise of the Divine Volition. Such is the principle of the Cosmogony +which, with all necessary deference, I here venture to suggest and to +maintain. + +In this view, it will be seen that, dismissing as frivolous, and even +impious, the fancy of the tangential force having been imparted to the +planets immediately by "the finger of God," I consider this force as +originating in the rotation of the stars:--this rotation as brought about +by the in-rushing of the primary atoms, towards their respective centres +of aggregation:--this in-rushing as the consequence of the law of +Gravity:--this law as but the mode in which is necessarily manifested the +tendency of the atoms to return into imparticularity:--this tendency to +return as but the inevitable reaction of the first and most sublime of +Acts--that act by which a God, self-existing and alone existing, became +all things at once, through dint of his volition, while all things were +thus constituted a portion of God. + +The radical assumptions of this Discourse suggest to me, and in fact +imply, certain important _modifications_ of the Nebular Theory as given +by Laplace. The efforts of the repulsive power I have considered as made +for the purpose of preventing contact among the atoms, and thus as made +in the ratio of the approach to contact--that is to say, in the ratio of +condensation.[7] In other words, _Electricity_, with its involute +phaenomena, heat, light and magnetism, is to be understood as proceeding +as condensation proceeds, and, of course, inversely as density proceeds, +or the _cessation to condense_. Thus the Sun, in the process of its +aggregation, must soon, in developing repulsion, have become excessively +heated--perhaps incandescent: and we can perceive how the operation of +discarding its rings must have been materially assisted by the slight +incrustation of its surface consequent on cooling. Any common experiment +shows us how readily a crust of the character suggested, is separated, +through heterogeneity, from the interior mass. But, on every successive +rejection of the crust, the new surface would appear incandescent as +before; and the period at which it would again become so far encrusted +as to be readily loosened and discharged, may well be imagined as +exactly coincident with that at which a new effort would be needed, by +the whole mass, to restore the equilibrium of its two forces, +disarranged through condensation. In other words:--by the time the +electric influence (Repulsion) has prepared the surface for rejection, +we are to understand that the gravitating influence (Attraction) is +precisely ready to reject it. Here, then, as everywhere, _the Body and +the Soul walk hand in hand_. + + [7] See page 70. + +These ideas are empirically confirmed at all points. Since condensation +can never, in any body, be considered as absolutely at an end, we are +warranted in anticipating that, whenever we have an opportunity of +testing the matter, we shall find indications of resident luminosity in +_all_ the stellar bodies--moons and planets as well as suns. That our +Moon is strongly self-luminous, we see at her every total eclipse, when, +if not so, she would disappear. On the dark part of the satellite, too, +during her phases, we often observe flashes like our own Auroras; and +that these latter, with our various other so-called electrical +phaenomena, without reference to any more steady radiance, must give our +Earth a certain appearance of luminosity to an inhabitant of the Moon, +is quite evident. In fact, we should regard all the phaenomena referred +to, as mere manifestations, in different moods and degrees, of the +Earth's feebly-continued condensation. + +If my views are tenable, we should be prepared to find the newer +planets--that is to say, those nearer the Sun--more luminous than those +older and more remote:--and the extreme brilliancy of Venus (on whose +dark portions, during her phases, the Auroras are frequently visible) +does not seem to be altogether accounted for by her mere proximity to +the central orb. She is no doubt vividly self-luminous, although less so +than Mercury: while the luminosity of Neptune may be comparatively +nothing. + +Admitting what I have urged, it is clear that, from the moment of the +Sun's discarding a ring, there must be a continuous diminution both of +his heat and light, on account of the continuous encrustation of his +surface; and that a period would arrive--the period immediately previous +to a new discharge--when a _very material_ decrease of both light and +heat, must become apparent. Now, we know that tokens of such changes are +distinctly recognizable. On the Melville islands--to adduce merely one +out of a hundred examples--we find traces of _ultra-tropical_ +vegetation--of plants that never could have flourished without immensely +more light and heat than are at present afforded by our Sun to any +portion of the surface of the Earth. Is such vegetation referable to an +epoch immediately subsequent to the whirling-off of Venus? At this epoch +must have occurred to us our greatest access of solar influence; and, +in fact, this influence must then have attained its maximum:--leaving out +of view, of course, the period when the Earth itself was discarded--the +period of its mere organization. + +Again:--we know that there exist _non-luminous suns_--that is to say, suns +whose existence we determine through the movements of others, but whose +luminosity is not sufficient to impress us. Are these suns invisible +merely on account of the length of time elapsed since their discharge of +a planet? And yet again:--may we not--at least in certain cases--account +for the sudden appearances of suns where none had been previously +suspected, by the hypothesis that, having rolled with encrusted surfaces +throughout the few thousand years of our astronomical history, each of +these suns, in whirling off a new secondary, has at length been enabled +to display the glories of its still incandescent interior?--To the +well-ascertained fact of the proportional increase of heat as we descend +into the Earth, I need of course, do nothing more than refer:--it comes +in the strongest possible corroboration of all that I have said on the +topic now at issue. + +In speaking, not long ago, of the repulsive or electrical influence, I +remarked that "the important phaenomena of vitality, consciousness, and +thought, whether we observe them generally or in detail, seem to proceed +_at least in the ratio of the heterogeneous_."[8] I mentioned, too, that +I would recur to the suggestion:--and this is the proper point at which +to do so. Looking at the matter, first, in detail, we perceive that not +merely the _manifestation_ of vitality, but its importance, consequence, +and elevation of character, keep pace, very closely, with the +heterogeneity, or complexity, of the animal structure. Looking at the +question, now, in its generality, and referring to the first movements +of the atoms towards mass-constitution, we find that heterogeneousness, +brought about directly through condensation, is proportional with it +forever. We thus reach the proposition that _the importance of the +development of the terrestrial vitality proceeds equably with the +terrestrial condensation_. + + [8] Page 36. + +Now this is in precise accordance with what we know of the succession of +animals on the Earth. As it has proceeded in its condensation, superior +and still superior races have appeared. Is it impossible that the +successive geological revolutions which have attended, at least, if not +immediately caused, these successive elevations of vitalic character--is +it improbable that these revolutions have themselves been produced by +the successive planetary discharges from the Sun--in other words, by the +successive variations in the solar influence on the Earth? Were this +idea tenable, we should not be unwarranted in the fancy that the +discharge of yet a new planet, interior to Mercury, may give rise to yet +a new modification of the terrestrial surface--a modification from which +may spring a race both materially and spiritually superior to Man. These +thoughts impress me with all the force of truth--but I throw them out, of +course, merely in their obvious character of suggestion. + +The Nebular Theory of Laplace has lately received far more confirmation +than it needed, at the hands of the philosopher, Compte. These two have +thus together shown--_not_, to be sure, that Matter at any period +actually existed as described, in a state of nebular diffusion, but +that, admitting it so to have existed throughout the space and much +beyond the space now occupied by our solar system, _and to have +commenced a movement towards a centre_--it must gradually have assumed +the various forms and motions which are now seen, in that system, to +obtain. A demonstration such as this--a dynamical and mathematical +demonstration, as far as demonstration can be--unquestionable and +unquestioned--unless, indeed, by that unprofitable and disreputable +tribe, the professional questioners--the mere madmen who deny the +Newtonian law of Gravity on which the results of the French +mathematicians are based--a demonstration, I say, such as this, would to +most intellects be conclusive--and I confess that it is so to mine--of the +validity of the nebular hypothesis upon which the demonstration depends. + +That the demonstration does not _prove_ the hypothesis, according to the +common understanding of the word "proof," I admit, of course. To show +that certain existing results--that certain established facts--may be, +even mathematically, accounted for by the assumption of a certain +hypothesis, is by no means to establish the hypothesis itself. In other +words:--to show that, certain data being given, a certain existing result +might, or even _must_, have ensued, will fail to prove that this result +_did_ ensue, _from the data_, until such time as it shall be also shown +that there are, _and can be_, no other data from which the result in +question might _equally_ have ensued. But, in the case now discussed, +although all must admit the deficiency of what we are in the habit of +terming "proof," still there are many intellects, and those of the +loftiest order, to which _no_ proof could bring one iota of additional +_conviction_. Without going into details which might impinge upon the +Cloud-Land of Metaphysics, I may as well here observe that the force of +conviction, in cases such as this, will always, with the right-thinking, +be proportional to the amount of _complexity_ intervening between the +hypothesis and the result. To be less abstract:--The greatness of the +complexity found existing among cosmical conditions, by rendering great +in the same proportion the difficulty of accounting for all these +conditions _at once_, strengthens, also in the same proportion, our +faith in that hypothesis which does, in such manner, satisfactorily +account for them:--and as _no_ complexity can well be conceived greater +than that of the astronomical conditions, so no conviction can be +stronger--to _my_ mind at least--than that with which I am impressed by an +hypothesis that not only reconciles these conditions, with mathematical +accuracy, and reduces them into a consistent and intelligible whole, but +is, at the same time, the _sole_ hypothesis by means of which the human +intellect has been ever enabled to account for them _at all_. + +A most unfounded opinion has become latterly current in gossiping and +even in scientific circles--the opinion that the so-called Nebular +Cosmogony has been overthrown. This fancy has arisen from the report of +late observations made, among what hitherto have been termed the +"nebulae," through the large telescope of Cincinnati, and the +world-renowned instrument of Lord Rosse. Certain spots in the firmament +which presented, even to the most powerful of the old telescopes, the +appearance of nebulosity, or haze, had been regarded for a long time as +confirming the theory of Laplace. They were looked upon as stars in that +very process of condensation which I have been attempting to describe. +Thus it was supposed that we "had ocular evidence"--an evidence, by the +way, which has always been found very questionable--of the truth of the +hypothesis; and, although certain telescopic improvements, every now and +then, enabled us to perceive that a spot, here and there, which we had +been classing among the nebulae, was, in fact, but a cluster of stars +deriving its nebular character only from its immensity of distance--still +it was thought that no doubt could exist as to the actual nebulosity of +numerous other masses, the strong-holds of the nebulists, bidding +defiance to every effort at segregation. Of these latter the most +interesting was the great "nebulae" in the constellation Orion:--but this, +with innumerable other mis-called "nebulae," when viewed through the +magnificent modern telescopes, has become resolved into a simple +collection of stars. Now this fact has been very generally understood as +conclusive against the Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace; and, on +announcement of the discoveries in question, the most enthusiastic +defender and most eloquent popularizer of the theory, Dr. Nichol, went +so far as to "admit the necessity of abandoning" an idea which had +formed the material of his most praiseworthy book.[9] + + [9] "_Views of the Architecture of the Heavens._" A letter, + purporting to be from Dr. Nichol to a friend in America, went + the rounds of our newspapers, about two years ago, I think, + admitting "the necessity" to which I refer. In a subsequent + Lecture, however, Dr. N. appears in some manner to have gotten + the better of the necessity, and does not quite _renounce_ the + theory, although he seems to wish that he could sneer at it as + "a purely hypothetical one." What else was the Law of Gravity + before the Maskelyne experiments? and who questioned the Law of + Gravity, even then? + +Many of my readers will no doubt be inclined to say that the result of +these new investigations _has_ at least a strong _tendency_ to overthrow +the hypothesis; while some of them, more thoughtful, will suggest that, +although the theory is by no means disproved through the segregation of +the particular "nebulae," alluded to, still a _failure_ to segregate +them, with such telescopes, might well have been understood as a +triumphant _corroboration_ of the theory:--and this latter class will be +surprised, perhaps, to hear me say that even with _them_ I disagree. If +the propositions of this Discourse have been comprehended, it will be +seen that, in my view, a failure to segregate the "nebulae" would have +tended to the refutation, rather than to the confirmation, of the +Nebular Hypothesis. + +Let me explain:--The Newtonian Law of Gravity we may, of course, assume +as demonstrated. This law, it will be remembered, I have referred to the +reaction of the first Divine Act--to the reaction of an exercise of the +Divine Volition temporarily overcoming a difficulty. This difficulty is +that of forcing the normal into the abnormal--of impelling that whose +originality, and therefore whose rightful condition, was _One_, to take +upon itself the wrongful condition of _Many_. It is only by conceiving +this difficulty as _temporarily_ overcome, that we can comprehend a +reaction. There could have been no reaction had the act been infinitely +continued. So long as the act _lasted_, no reaction, of course, could +commence; in other words, no _gravitation_ could take place--for we have +considered the one as but the manifestation of the other. But +gravitation _has_ taken place; therefore the act of Creation has ceased: +and gravitation has long ago taken place; therefore the act of Creation +has long ago ceased. We can no more expect, then, to observe _the +primary processes_ of Creation; and to these primary processes the +condition of nebulosity has already been explained to belong. + +Through what we know of the propagation of light, we have direct proof +that the more remote of the stars have existed, under the forms in which +we now see them, for an inconceivable number of years. So far back _at +least_, then, as the period when these stars underwent condensation, +must have been the epoch at which the mass-constitutive processes began. +That we may conceive these processes, then, as still going on in the +case of certain "nebulae," while in all other cases we find them +thoroughly at an end, we are forced into assumptions for which we have +really _no_ basis whatever--we have to thrust in, again, upon the +revolting Reason, the blasphemous idea of special interposition--we have +to suppose that, in the particular instances of these "nebulae," an +unerring God found it necessary to introduce certain supplementary +regulations--certain improvements of the general law--certain retouchings +and emendations, in a word, which had the effect of deferring the +completion of these individual stars for centuries of centuries beyond +the aera during which all the other stellar bodies had time, not only to +be fully constituted, but to grow hoary with an unspeakable old age. + +Of course, it will be immediately objected that since the light by which +we recognize the nebulae now, must be merely that which left their +surfaces a vast number of years ago, the processes at present observed, +or supposed to be observed, are, in fact, _not_ processes now actually +going on, but the phantoms of processes completed long in the Past--just +as I maintain all these mass-constitutive processes _must_ have been. + +To this I reply that neither is the now-observed condition of the +condensed stars their actual condition, but a condition completed long +in the Past; so that my argument drawn from the _relative_ condition of +the stars and the "nebulae," is in no manner disturbed. Moreover, those +who maintain the existence of nebulae, do _not_ refer the nebulosity to +extreme distance; they declare it a real and not merely a perspective +nebulosity. That we may conceive, indeed, a nebular mass as visible at +all, we must conceive it as _very near us_ in comparison with the +condensed stars brought into view by the modern telescopes. In +maintaining the appearances in question, then, to be really nebulous, we +maintain their comparative vicinity to our point of view. Thus, their +condition, as we see them now, must be referred to an epoch _far less +remote_ than that to which we may refer the now-observed condition of at +least the majority of the stars.--In a word, should Astronomy ever +demonstrate a "nebula," in the sense at present intended, I should +consider the Nebular Cosmogony--_not_, indeed, as corroborated by the +demonstration--but as thereby irretrievably overthrown. + +By way, however, of rendering unto Caesar _no more_ than the things that +are Caesar's, let me here remark that the assumption of the hypothesis +which led him to so glorious a result, seems to have been suggested to +Laplace in great measure by a misconception--by the very misconception of +which we have just been speaking--by the generally prevalent +misunderstanding of the character of the nebulae, so mis-named. These he +supposed to be, in reality, what their designation implies. The fact is, +this great man had, very properly, an inferior faith in his own merely +_perceptive_ powers. In respect, therefore, to the actual existence of +nebulae--an existence so confidently maintained by his telescopic +contemporaries--he depended less upon what he saw than upon what he +heard. + +It will be seen that the only valid objections to his theory, are those +made to its hypothesis _as_ such--to what suggested it--not to what it +suggests; to its propositions rather than to its results. His most +unwarranted assumption was that of giving the atoms a movement towards a +centre, in the very face of his evident understanding that these atoms, +in unlimited succession, extended throughout the Universal space. I have +already shown that, under such circumstances, there could have occurred +no movement at all; and Laplace, consequently, assumed one on no more +philosophical ground than that something of the kind was necessary for +the establishment of what he intended to establish. + +His original idea seems to have been a compound of the true Epicurean +atoms with the false nebulae of his contemporaries; and thus his theory +presents us with the singular anomaly of absolute truth deduced, as a +mathematical result, from a hybrid datum of ancient imagination +intertangled with modern inacumen. Laplace's real strength lay, in fact, +in an almost miraculous mathematical instinct:--on this he relied; and in +no instance did it fail or deceive him:--in the case of the Nebular +Cosmogony, it led him, blindfolded, through a labyrinth of Error, into +one of the most luminous and stupendous temples of Truth. + +Let us now fancy, for the moment, that the ring first thrown off by the +Sun--that is to say, the ring whose breaking-up constituted Neptune--did +not, in fact, break up until the throwing-off of the ring out of which +Uranus arose; that this latter ring, again, remained perfect until the +discharge of that out of which sprang Saturn; that this latter, again, +remained entire until the discharge of that from which originated +Jupiter--and so on. Let us imagine, in a word, that no dissolution +occurred among the rings until the final rejection of that which gave +birth to Mercury. We thus paint to the eye of the mind a series of +coeexistent concentric circles; and looking as well at _them_ as at the +processes by which, according to Laplace's hypothesis, they were +constructed, we perceive at once a very singular analogy with the atomic +strata and the process of the original irradiation as I have described +it. Is it impossible that, on measuring the _forces_, respectively, by +which each successive planetary circle was thrown off--that is to say, on +measuring the successive excesses of rotation over gravitation which +occasioned the successive discharges--we should find the analogy in +question more decidedly confirmed? _Is it improbable that we should +discover these forces to have varied--as in the original +radiation--proportionally to the squares of the distances?_ + +Our solar system, consisting, in chief, of one sun, with sixteen planets +certainly, and possibly a few more, revolving about it at various +distances, and attended by seventeen moons assuredly, but _very_ +probably by several others--is now to be considered as _an example_ of +the innumerable agglomerations which proceeded to take place throughout +the Universal Sphere of atoms on withdrawal of the Divine Volition. I +mean to say that our solar system is to be understood as affording a +_generic instance_ of these agglomerations, or, more correctly, of the +ulterior conditions at which they arrived. If we keep our attention +fixed on the idea of _the utmost possible Relation_ as the Omnipotent +design, and on the precautions taken to accomplish it through difference +of form, among the original atoms, and particular inequidistance, we +shall find it impossible to suppose for a moment that even any two of +the incipient agglomerations reached precisely the same result in the +end. We shall rather be inclined to think that _no two_ stellar bodies +in the Universe--whether suns, planets or moons--are particularly, while +_all_ are generally, similar. Still less, then, can we imagine any two +_assemblages_ of such bodies--any two "systems"--as having more than a +general resemblance.[10] Our telescopes, at this point, thoroughly +confirm our deductions. Taking our own solar system, then, as merely a +loose or general type of all, we have so far proceeded in our subject as +to survey the Universe under the aspect of a spherical space, throughout +which, dispersed with merely general equability, exist a number of but +generally similar _systems_. + + [10] It is not _impossible_ that some unlooked-for optical + improvement may disclose to us, among innumerable varieties of + systems, a luminous sun, encircled by luminous and non-luminous + rings, within and without and between which, revolve luminous + and non-luminous planets, attended by moons having moons--and + even these latter again having moons. + +Let us now, expanding our conceptions, look upon each of these systems +as in itself an atom; which in fact it is, when we consider it as but +one of the countless myriads of systems which constitute the Universe. +Regarding all, then, as but colossal atoms, each with the same +ineradicable tendency to Unity which characterizes the actual atoms of +which it consists--we enter at once upon a new order of aggregations. +The smaller systems, in the vicinity of a larger one, would, inevitably, +be drawn into still closer vicinity. A thousand would assemble here; a +million there--perhaps here, again, even a billion--leaving, thus, +immeasurable vacancies in space. And if now, it be demanded why, in the +case of these systems--of these merely Titanic atoms--I speak, simply, +of an "assemblage," and not, as in the case of the actual atoms, of a +more or less consolidated agglomeration:--if it be asked, for instance, +why I do not carry what I suggest to its legitimate conclusion, and +describe, at once, these assemblages of system-atoms as rushing to +consolidation in spheres--as each becoming condensed into one +magnificent sun--my reply is that [Greek: mellonta tauta]--I am but +pausing, for a moment, on the awful threshold of _the Future_. For the +present, calling these assemblages "clusters," we see them in the +incipient stages of their consolidation. Their _absolute_ consolidation +is _to come_. + +We have now reached a point from which we behold the Universe as a +spherical space, interspersed, _unequably_, with _clusters_. It will be +noticed that I here prefer the adverb "unequably" to the phrase "with a +merely general equability," employed before. It is evident, in fact, +that the equability of distribution will diminish in the ratio of the +agglomerative processes--that is to say, as the things distributed +diminish in number. Thus the increase of _in_-equability--an increase +which must continue until, sooner or later, an epoch will arrive at +which the largest agglomeration will absorb all the others--should be +viewed as, simply, a corroborative indication of the _tendency to One_. + +And here, at length, it seems proper to inquire whether the ascertained +_facts_ of Astronomy confirm the general arrangement which I have thus, +deductively, assigned to the Heavens. Thoroughly, they _do_. Telescopic +observation, guided by the laws of perspective, enables us to understand +that the perceptible Universe exists as _a cluster of clusters, +irregularly disposed_. + +The "clusters" of which this Universal "_cluster of clusters_" consists, +are merely what we have been in the practice of designating +"nebulae"--and, of these "nebulae," _one_ is of paramount interest to +mankind. I allude to the Galaxy, or Milky Way. This interests us, first +and most obviously, on account of its great superiority in apparent +size, not only to any one other cluster in the firmament, but to all the +other clusters taken together. The largest of these latter occupies a +mere point, comparatively, and is distinctly seen only with the aid of a +telescope. The Galaxy sweeps throughout the Heaven and is brilliantly +visible to the naked eye. But it interests man chiefly, although less +immediately, on account of its being his home; the home of the Earth on +which he exists; the home of the Sun about which this Earth revolves; +the home of that "system" of orbs of which the Sun is the centre and +primary--the Earth one of sixteen secondaries, or planets--the Moon one of +seventeen tertiaries, or satellites. The Galaxy, let me repeat, is but +one of the _clusters_ which I have been describing--but one of the +mis-called "nebulae" revealed to us--by the telescope alone, sometimes--as +faint hazy spots in various quarters of the sky. We have no reason to +suppose the Milky Way _really_ more extensive than the least of these +"nebulae." Its vast superiority in size is but an apparent superiority +arising from our position in regard to it--that is to say, from our +position in its midst. However strange the assertion may at first appear +to those unversed in Astronomy, still the astronomer himself has no +hesitation in asserting that we are _in the midst_ of that inconceivable +host of stars--of suns--of systems--which constitute the Galaxy. Moreover, +not only have _we_--not only has _our_ Sun a right to claim the Galaxy as +its own especial cluster, but, with slight reservation, it may be said +that all the distinctly visible stars of the firmament--all the stars +Visible to the naked eye--have equally a right to claim it as _their_ +own. + +There has been a great deal of misconception in respect to the _shape_ +of the Galaxy; which, in nearly all our astronomical treatises, is said +to resemble that of a capital Y. The cluster in question has, in +reality, a certain general--_very_ general resemblance to the planet +Saturn, with its encompassing triple ring. Instead of the solid orb of +that planet, however, we must picture to ourselves a lenticular +star-island, or collection of stars; our Sun lying excentrically--near +the shore of the island--on that side of it which is nearest the +constellation of the Cross and farthest from that of Cassiopeia. The +surrounding ring, where it approaches our position, has in it a +longitudinal _gash_, which does, in fact, cause _the ring, in our +vicinity_, to assume, loosely, the appearance of a capital Y. + +We must not fall into the error, however, of conceiving the somewhat +indefinite girdle as at all _remote_, comparatively speaking, from the +also indefinite lenticular cluster which it surrounds; and thus, for +mere purpose of explanation, we may speak of our Sun as actually +situated at that point of the Y where its three component lines unite; +and, conceiving this letter to be of a certain solidity--of a certain +thickness, very trivial in comparison with its length--we may even speak +of our position as _in the middle_ of this thickness. Fancying ourselves +thus placed, we shall no longer find difficulty in accounting for the +phaenomena presented--which are perspective altogether. When we look +upward or downward--that is to say, when we cast our eyes in the +direction of the letter's _thickness_--we look through fewer stars than +when we cast them in the direction of its _length_, or _along_ either of +the three component lines. Of course, in the former case, the stars +appear scattered--in the latter, crowded.--To reverse this explanation:--An +inhabitant of the Earth, when looking, as we commonly express ourselves, +_at_ the Galaxy, is then beholding it in some of the directions of its +length--is looking _along_ the lines of the Y--but when, looking out into +the general Heaven, he turns his eyes _from_ the Galaxy, he is then +surveying it in the direction of the letter's thickness; and on this +account the stars seem to him scattered; while, in fact, they are as +close together, on an average, as in the mass of the cluster. _No_ +consideration could be better adapted to convey an idea of this +cluster's stupendous extent. + +If, with a telescope of high space-penetrating power, we carefully +inspect the firmament, we shall become aware of _a belt of clusters_--of +what we have hitherto called "nebulae"--a _band_, of varying breadth, +stretching from horizon to horizon, at right angles to the general +course of the Milky Way. This band is the ultimate _cluster of +clusters_. This belt is _The Universe_. Our Galaxy is but one, and +perhaps one of the most inconsiderable, of the clusters which go to the +constitution of this ultimate, Universal _belt_ or _band_. The +appearance of this cluster of clusters, to our eyes, _as_ a belt or +band, is altogether a perspective phaenomenon of the same character as +that which causes us to behold our own individual and roughly-spherical +cluster, the Galaxy, under guise also of a belt, traversing the Heavens +at right angles to the Universal one. The shape of the all-inclusive +cluster is, of course _generally_, that of each individual cluster which +it includes. Just as the scattered stars which, on looking _from_ the +Galaxy, we see in the general sky, are, in fact, but a portion of that +Galaxy itself, and as closely intermingled with it as any of the +telescopic points in what seems the densest portion of its mass--so are +the scattered "nebulae" which, on casting our eyes _from_ the Universal +_belt_, we perceive at all points of the firmament--so, I say, are these +scattered "nebulae" to be understood as only perspectively scattered, and +as part and parcel of the one supreme and Universal _sphere_. + +No astronomical fallacy is more untenable, and none has been more +pertinaciously adhered to, than that of the absolute _illimitation_ of +the Universe of Stars. The reasons for limitation, as I have already +assigned them, _a priori_, seem to me unanswerable; but, not to speak of +these, _observation_ assures us that there is, in numerous directions +around us, certainly, if not in all, a positive limit--or, at the very +least, affords us no basis whatever for thinking otherwise. Were the +succession of stars endless, then the background of the sky would +present us an uniform luminosity, like that displayed by the +Galaxy--_since there could be absolutely no point, in all that +background, at which would not exist a star._ The only mode, therefore, +in which, under such a state of affairs, we could comprehend the _voids_ +which our telescopes find in innumerable directions, would be by +supposing the distance of the invisible background so immense that no +ray from it has yet been able to reach us at all. That this _may_ be so, +who shall venture to deny? I maintain, simply, that we have not even the +shadow of a reason for believing that it _is_ so. + +When speaking of the vulgar propensity to regard all bodies on the Earth +as tending merely to the Earth's centre, I observed that, "with certain +exceptions to be specified hereafter, every body on the Earth tended not +only to the Earth's centre, but in every conceivable direction +besides."[11] The "exceptions" refer to those frequent gaps in the +Heavens, where our utmost scrutiny can detect not only no stellar +bodies, but no indications of their existence:--where yawning chasms, +blacker than Erebus, seem to afford us glimpses, through the boundary +walls of the Universe of Stars, into the illimitable Universe of +Vacancy, beyond. Now as any body, existing on the Earth, chances to +pass, either through its own movement or the Earth's, into a line with +any one of these voids, or cosmical abysses, it clearly is no longer +attracted _in the direction of that void_, and for the moment, +consequently, is "heavier" than at any period, either after or before. +Independently of the consideration of these voids, however, and looking +only at the generally unequable distribution of the stars, we see that +the absolute tendency of bodies on the Earth to the Earth's centre, is +in a state of perpetual variation. + + [11] Page 62. + +We comprehend, then, the insulation of our Universe. We perceive the +isolation of _that_--of _all_ that which we grasp with the senses. We +know that there exists one _cluster of clusters_--a collection around +which, on all sides, extend the immeasurable wildernesses of a Space _to +all human perception_ untenanted. But _because_ upon the confines of +this Universe of Stars we are compelled to pause, through want of +farther evidence from the senses, is it right to conclude that, in fact, +there _is_ no material point beyond that which we have thus been +permitted to attain? Have we, or have we not, an analogical right to the +inference that this perceptible Universe--that this cluster of +clusters--is but one of _a series_ of clusters of clusters, the rest of +which are invisible through distance--through the diffusion of their +light being so excessive, ere it reaches us, as not to produce upon our +retinas a light-impression--or from there being no such emanation as +light at all, in these unspeakably distant worlds--or, lastly, from the +mere interval being so vast, that the electric tidings of their presence +in Space, have not yet--through the lapsing myriads of years--been enabled +to traverse that interval? + +Have we any right to inferences--have we any ground whatever for visions +such as these? If we have a right to them in _any_ degree, we have a +right to their infinite extension. + +The human brain has obviously a leaning to the "_Infinite_," and fondles +the phantom of the idea. It seems to long with a passionate fervor for +this impossible conception, with the hope of intellectually believing it +when conceived. What is general among the whole race of Man, of course +no individual of that race can be warranted in considering abnormal; +nevertheless, there _may_ be a class of superior intelligences, to whom +the human bias alluded to may wear all the character of monomania. + +My question, however, remains unanswered:--Have we any right to infer--let +us say, rather, to imagine--an interminable succession of the "clusters +of clusters," or of "Universes" more or less similar? + +I reply that the "right," in a case such as this, depends absolutely +upon the hardihood of that imagination which ventures to claim the +right. Let me declare, only, that, as an individual, I myself feel +impelled to the _fancy_--without daring to call it more--that there _does_ +exist a _limitless_ succession of Universes, more or less similar to +that of which we have cognizance--to that of which _alone_ we shall ever +have cognizance--at the very least until the return of our own particular +Universe into Unity. _If_ such clusters of clusters exist, however--_and +they do_--it is abundantly clear that, having had no part in our origin, +they have no portion in our laws. They neither attract us, nor we them. +Their material--their spirit is not ours--is not that which obtains in any +part of our Universe. They could not impress our senses or our souls. +Among them and us--considering all, for the moment, collectively--there +are no influences in common. Each exists, apart and independently, _in +the bosom of its proper and particular God_. + +In the conduct of this Discourse, I am aiming less at physical than at +metaphysical order. The clearness with which even material phaenomena are +presented to the understanding, depends very little, I have long since +learned to perceive, upon a merely natural, and almost altogether upon a +moral, arrangement. If then I seem to step somewhat too discursively +from point to point of my topic, let me suggest that I do so in the hope +of thus the better keeping unbroken that chain of _graduated impression_ +by which alone the intellect of Man can expect to encompass the +grandeurs of which I speak, and, in their majestic totality, to +comprehend them. + +So far, our attention has been directed, almost exclusively, to a +general and relative grouping of the stellar bodies in space. Of +specification there has been little; and whatever ideas of _quantity_ +have been conveyed--that is to say, of number, magnitude, and +distance--have been conveyed incidentally and by way of preparation for +more definitive conceptions. These latter let us now attempt to +entertain. + +Our solar system, as has been already mentioned, consists, in chief, of +one sun and sixteen planets certainly, but in all probability a few +others, revolving around it as a centre, and attended by seventeen moons +of which we know, with possibly several more of which as yet we know +nothing. These various bodies are not true spheres, but oblate +spheroids--spheres flattened at the poles of the imaginary axes about +which they rotate:--the flattening being a consequence of the rotation. +Neither is the Sun absolutely the centre of the system; for this Sun +itself, with all the planets, revolves about a perpetually shifting +point of space, which is the system's general centre of gravity. Neither +are we to consider the paths through which these different spheroids +move--the moons about the planets, the planets about the Sun, or the Sun +about the common centre--as circles in an accurate sense. They are, in +fact, _ellipses--one of the foci being the point about which the +revolution is made_. An ellipse is a curve, returning into itself, one +of whose diameters is longer than the other. In the longer diameter are +two points, equidistant from the middle of the line, and so situated +otherwise that if, from each of them a straight line be drawn to any one +point of the curve, the two lines, taken together, will be equal to the +longer diameter itself. Now let us conceive such an ellipse. At one of +the points mentioned, which are the _foci_, let us fasten an orange. By +an elastic thread let us connect this orange with a pea; and let us +place this latter on the circumference of the ellipse. Let us now move +the pea continuously around the orange--keeping always on the +circumference of the ellipse. The elastic thread, which, of course, +varies in length as we move the pea, will form what in geometry is +called a _radius vector_. Now, if the orange be understood as the Sun, +and the pea as a planet revolving about it, then the revolution should +be made at such a rate--with a velocity so varying--that the _radius +vector_ may pass over _equal areas of space in equal times_. The +progress of the pea _should be_--in other words, the progress of the +planet _is_, of course,--slow in proportion to its distance from the +Sun--swift in proportion to its proximity. Those planets, moreover, move +the more slowly which are the farther from the Sun; _the squares of +their periods of revolution having the same proportion to each other, as +have to each other the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun_. + +The wonderfully complex laws of revolution here described, however, are +not to be understood as obtaining in our system alone. They _everywhere_ +prevail where Attraction prevails. They control _the Universe_. Every +shining speck in the firmament is, no doubt, a luminous sun, resembling +our own, at least in its general features, and having in attendance upon +it a greater or less number of planets, greater or less, whose still +lingering luminosity is not sufficient to render them visible to us at +so vast a distance, but which, nevertheless, revolve, moon-attended, +about their starry centres, in obedience to the principles just +detailed--in obedience to the three omniprevalent laws of revolution--the +three immortal laws _guessed_ by the imaginative Kepler, and but +subsequently demonstrated and accounted for by the patient and +mathematical Newton. Among a tribe of philosophers who pride themselves +excessively upon matter-of-fact, it is far too fashionable to sneer at +all speculation under the comprehensive _sobriquet_, "guess-work." The +point to be considered is, _who_ guesses. In guessing with Plato, we +spend our time to better purpose, now and then, than in hearkening to a +demonstration by Alcmaeon. + +In many works on Astronomy I find it distinctly stated that the laws of +Kepler are _the basis_ of the great principle, Gravitation. This idea +must have arisen from the fact that the suggestion of these laws by +Kepler, and his proving them _a posteriori_ to have an actual existence, +led Newton to account for them by the hypothesis of Gravitation, and, +finally, to demonstrate them _a priori_, as necessary consequences of +the hypothetical principle. Thus so far from the laws of Kepler being +the basis of Gravity, Gravity is the basis of these laws--as it is, +indeed, of all the laws of the material Universe which are not referable +to Repulsion alone. + +The mean distance of the Earth from the Moon--that is to say, from the +heavenly body in our closest vicinity--is 237,000 miles. Mercury, the +planet nearest the Sun, is distant from him 37 millions of miles. Venus, +the next, revolves at a distance of 68 millions:--the Earth, which comes +next, at a distance of 95 millions:--Mars, then, at a distance of 144 +millions. Now come the eight Asteroids (Ceres, Juno, Vesta, Pallas, +Astraea, Flora, Iris, and Hebe) at an average distance of about 250 +millions. Then we have Jupiter, distant 490 millions; then Saturn, 900 +millions; then Uranus, 19 hundred millions; finally Neptune, lately +discovered, and revolving at a distance, say of 28 hundred millions. +Leaving Neptune out of the account--of which as yet we know little +accurately and which is, possibly, one of a system of Asteroids--it will +be seen that, within certain limits, there exists an _order of interval_ +among the planets. Speaking loosely, we may say that each outer planet +is twice as far from the Sun as is the next inner one. May not the +_order_ here mentioned--_may not the law of Bode--be deduced from +consideration of the analogy suggested by me as having place between the +solar discharge of rings and the mode of the atomic irradiation_? + +The numbers hurriedly mentioned in this summary of distance, it is folly +to attempt comprehending, unless in the light of abstract arithmetical +facts. They are not practically tangible ones. They convey no precise +ideas. I have stated that Neptune, the planet farthest from the Sun, +revolves about him at a distance of 28 hundred millions of miles. So far +good:--I have stated a mathematical fact; and, without comprehending it +in the least, we may put it to use--mathematically. But in mentioning, +even, that the Moon revolves about the Earth at the comparatively +trifling distance of 237,000 miles, I entertained no expectation of +giving any one to understand--to know--to feel--how far from the Earth the +Moon actually _is_. 237,000 _miles_! There are, perhaps, few of my +readers who have not crossed the Atlantic ocean; yet how many of them +have a distinct idea of even the 3,000 miles intervening between shore +and shore? I doubt, indeed, whether the man lives who can force into his +brain the most remote conception of the interval between one milestone +and its next neighbor upon the turnpike. We are in some measure aided, +however, in our consideration of distance, by combining this +consideration with the kindred one of velocity. Sound passes through +1100 feet of space in a second of time. Now were it possible for an +inhabitant of the Earth to see the flash of a cannon discharged in the +Moon, and to hear the report, he would have to wait, after perceiving +the former, more than 13 entire days and nights before getting any +intimation of the latter. + +However feeble be the impression, even thus conveyed, of the Moon's real +distance from the Earth, it will, nevertheless, effect a good object in +enabling us more clearly to see the futility of attempting to grasp such +intervals as that of the 28 hundred millions of miles between our Sun +and Neptune; or even that of the 95 millions between the Sun and the +Earth we inhabit. A cannon-ball, flying at the greatest velocity with +which such a ball has ever been known to fly, could not traverse the +latter interval in less than 20 years; while for the former it would +require 590. + +Our Moon's real diameter is 2160 miles; yet she is comparatively so +trifling an object that it would take nearly 50 such orbs to compose one +as great as the Earth. + +The diameter of our own globe is 7912 miles--but from the enunciation of +these numbers what positive idea do we derive? + +If we ascend an ordinary mountain and look around us from its summit, we +behold a landscape stretching, say 40 miles, in every direction; forming +a circle 250 miles in circumference; and including an area of 5000 +square miles. The extent of such a prospect, on account of the +_successiveness_ with which its portions necessarily present themselves +to view, can be only very feebly and very partially appreciated:--yet the +entire panorama would comprehend no more than one 40,000th part of the +mere _surface_ of our globe. Were this panorama, then, to be succeeded, +after the lapse of an hour, by another of equal extent; this again by a +third, after the lapse of another hour; this again by a fourth after +lapse of another hour--and so on, until the scenery of the whole Earth +were exhausted; and were we to be engaged in examining these various +panoramas for twelve hours of every day; we should nevertheless, be 9 +years and 48 days in completing the general survey. + +But if the mere surface of the Earth eludes the grasp of the +imagination, what are we to think of its cubical contents? It embraces a +mass of matter equal in weight to at least 2 sextillions, 200 +quintillions of tons. Let us suppose it in a state of quiescence; and +now let us endeavor to conceive a mechanical force sufficient to set it +in motion! Not the strength of all the myriads of beings whom we may +conclude to inhabit the planetary worlds of our system--not the combined +physical strength of _all_ these beings--even admitting all to be more +powerful than man--would avail to stir the ponderous mass _a single inch_ +from its position. + +What are we to understand, then, of the force, which under similar +circumstances, would be required to move the _largest_ of our planets, +Jupiter? This is 86,000 miles in diameter, and would include within its +periphery more than a thousand orbs of the magnitude of our own. Yet +this stupendous body is actually flying around the Sun at the rate of +29,000 miles an hour--that is to say, with a velocity 40 times greater +than that of a cannon-ball! The thought of such a phaenomenon cannot well +be said to _startle_ the mind:--it palsies and appals it. Not +unfrequently we task our imagination in picturing the capacities of an +angel. Let us fancy such a being at a distance of some hundred miles +from Jupiter--a close eye-witness of this planet as it speeds on its +annual revolution. Now _can_ we, I demand, fashion for ourselves any +conception so distinct of this ideal being's spiritual exaltation, as +_that_ involved in the supposition that, even by this immeasurable mass +of matter, whirled immediately before his eyes, with a velocity so +unutterable, he--an angel--angelic though he be--is not at once struck into +nothingness and overwhelmed? + +At this point, however, it seems proper to suggest that, in fact, we +have been speaking of comparative trifles. Our Sun, the central and +controlling orb of the system to which Jupiter belongs, is not only +greater than Jupiter, but greater by far than all the planets of the +system taken together. This fact is an essential condition, indeed, of +the stability of the system itself. The diameter of Jupiter has been +mentioned:--it is 86,000 miles:--that of the Sun is 882,000 miles. An +inhabitant of the latter, travelling 90 miles a day, would be more than +80 years in going round a great circle of its circumference. It occupies +a cubical space of 681 quadrillions, 472 trillions of miles. The Moon, +as has been stated, revolves about the Earth at a distance of 237,000 +miles--in an orbit, consequently, of nearly a million and a half. Now, +were the Sun placed upon the Earth, centre over centre, the body of the +former would extend, in every direction, not only to the line of the +Moon's orbit, but beyond it, a distance of 200,000 miles. + +And here, once again, let me suggest that, in fact, we have _still_ been +speaking of comparative trifles. The distance of the planet Neptune from +the Sun has been stated:--it is 28 hundred millions of miles; the +circumference of its orbit, therefore, is about 17 billions. Let this be +borne in mind while we glance at some one of the brightest stars. +Between this and the star of _our_ system, (the Sun,) there is a gulf of +space, to convey any idea of which we should need the tongue of an +archangel. From _our_ system, then, and from _our_ Sun, or star, the +star at which we suppose ourselves glancing is a thing altogether +apart:--still, for the moment, let us imagine it placed upon our Sun, +centre over centre, as we just now imagined this Sun itself placed upon +the Earth. Let us now conceive the particular star we have in mind, +extending, in every direction, beyond the orbit of Mercury--of Venus--of +the Earth:--still _on_, beyond the orbit of Mars--of Jupiter--of +Uranus--until, finally, we fancy it filling the circle--17 _billions of +miles in circumference_--which is described by the revolution of +Leverrier's planet. When we have conceived all this, we shall have +entertained no extravagant conception. There is the very best reason for +believing that many of the stars are even far larger than the one we +have imagined. I mean to say that we have the very best _empirical_ +basis for such belief:--and, in looking back at the original, atomic +arrangements for _diversity_, which have been assumed as a part of the +Divine plan in the constitution of the Universe, we shall be enabled +easily to understand, and to credit, the existence of even far vaster +disproportions in stellar size than any to which I have hitherto +alluded. The largest orbs, of course, we must expect to find rolling +through the widest vacancies of Space. + +I remarked, just now, that to convey an idea of the interval between our +Sun and any one of the other stars, we should require the eloquence of +an archangel. In so saying, I should not be accused of exaggeration; +for, in simple truth, these are topics on which it is scarcely possible +to exaggerate. But let us bring the matter more distinctly before the +eye of the mind. + +In the first place, we may get a general, _relative_ conception of the +interval referred to, by comparing it with the inter-planetary spaces. +If, for example, we suppose the Earth, which is, in reality, 95 millions +of miles from the Sun, to be only _one foot_ from that luminary; then +Neptune would be 40 feet distant; _and the star Alpha Lyrae, at the very +least_, 159. + +Now I presume that, in the termination of my last sentence, few of my +readers have noticed anything especially objectionable--particularly +wrong. I said that the distance of the Earth from the Sun being taken at +_one foot_, the distance of Neptune would be 40 feet, and that of Alpha +Lyrae, 159. The proportion between one foot and 159 has appeared, +perhaps, to convey a sufficiently definite impression of the proportion +between the two intervals--that of the Earth from the Sun and that of +Alpha Lyrae from the same luminary. But my account of the matter should, +in reality, have run thus:--The distance of the Earth from the Sun being +taken at one foot, the distance of Neptune would be 40 feet, and that of +Alpha Lyrae, 159----_miles_:--that is to say, I had assigned to Alpha Lyrae, +in my first statement of the case, only the 5280_th_ _part_ of that +distance which is the _least distance possible_ at which it can actually +lie. + +To proceed:--However distant a mere _planet_ is, yet when we look at it +through a telescope, we see it under a certain form--of a certain +appreciable size. Now I have already hinted at the probable bulk of many +of the stars; nevertheless, when we view any one of them, even through +the most powerful telescope, it is found to present us with _no form_, +and consequently with _no magnitude_ whatever. We see it as a point and +nothing more. + +Again;--Let us suppose ourselves walking, at night, on a highway. In a +field on one side of the road, is a line of tall objects, say trees, the +figures of which are distinctly defined against the background of the +sky. This line of objects extends at right angles to the road, and from +the road to the horizon. Now, as we proceed along the road, we see these +objects changing their positions, respectively, in relation to a certain +fixed point in that portion of the firmament which forms the background +of the view. Let us suppose this fixed point--sufficiently fixed for our +purpose--to be the rising moon. We become aware, at once, that while the +tree nearest us so far alters its position in respect to the moon, as to +seem flying behind us, the tree in the extreme distance has scarcely +changed at all its relative position with the satellite. We then go on +to perceive that the farther the objects are from us, the less they +alter their positions; and the converse. Then we begin, unwittingly, to +estimate the distances of individual trees by the degrees in which they +evince the relative alteration. Finally, we come to understand how it +might be possible to ascertain the actual distance of any given tree in +the line, by using the amount of relative alteration as a basis in a +simple geometrical problem. Now this relative alteration is what we call +"parallax;" and by parallax we calculate the distances of the heavenly +bodies. Applying the principle to the trees in question, we should, of +course, be very much at a loss to comprehend the distance of _that_ +tree, which, however far we proceeded along the road, should evince _no_ +parallax at all. This, in the case described, is a thing impossible; but +impossible only because all distances on our Earth are trivial +indeed:--in comparison with the vast cosmical quantities, we may speak of +them as absolutely nothing. + +Now, let us suppose the star Alpha Lyrae directly overhead; and let us +imagine that, instead of standing on the Earth, we stand at one end of a +straight road stretching through Space to a distance equalling the +diameter of the Earth's orbit--that is to say, to a distance of 190 +_millions of miles_. Having observed, by means of the most delicate +micrometrical instruments, the exact position of the star, let us now +pass along this inconceivable road, until we reach its other extremity. +Now, once again, let us look at the star. It is _precisely_ where we +left it. Our instruments, however delicate, assure us that its relative +position is absolutely--is identically the same as at the commencement of +our unutterable journey. _No_ parallax--none whatever--has been found. + +The fact is, that, in regard to the distance of the fixed stars--of any +one of the myriads of suns glistening on the farther side of that awful +chasm which separates our system from its brothers in the cluster to +which it belongs--astronomical science, until very lately, could speak +only with a negative certainty. Assuming the brightest as the nearest, +we could say, even of _them_, only that there is a certain +incomprehensible distance on the _hither_ side of which they cannot +be:--how far they are beyond it we had in no case been able to ascertain. +We perceived, for example, that Alpha Lyrae cannot be nearer to us than +19 trillions, 200 billions of miles; but, for all we knew, and indeed +for all we now know, it may be distant from us the square, or the cube, +or any other power of the number mentioned. By dint, however, of +wonderfully minute and cautious observations, continued, with novel +instruments, for many laborious years, _Bessel_, not long ago deceased, +has lately succeeded in determining the distance of six or seven stars; +among others, that of the star numbered 61 in the constellation of the +Swan. The distance in this latter instance ascertained, is 670,000 times +that of the Sun; which last it will be remembered, is 95 millions of +miles. The star 61 Cygni, then, is nearly 64 trillions of miles from +us--or more than three times the distance assigned, _as the least +possible_, for Alpha Lyrae. + +In attempting to appreciate this interval by the aid of any +considerations of _velocity_, as we did in endeavoring to estimate the +distance of the moon, we must leave out of sight, altogether, such +nothings as the speed of a cannon-ball, or of sound. Light, however, +according to the latest calculations of Struve, proceeds at the rate of +167,000 miles in a second. Thought itself cannot pass through this +interval more speedily--if, indeed, thought can traverse it at all. Yet, +in coming from 61 Cygni to us, even at this inconceivable rate, light +occupies more than _ten years_; and, consequently, were the star this +moment blotted out from the Universe, still, _for ten years_, would it +continue to sparkle on, undimmed in its paradoxical glory. + +Keeping now in mind whatever feeble conception we may have attained of +the interval between our Sun and 61 Cygni, let us remember that this +interval, however unutterably vast, we are permitted to consider as but +the _average_ interval among the countless host of stars composing that +cluster, or "nebula," to which our system, as well as that of 61 Cygni, +belongs. I have, in fact, stated the case with great moderation:--we have +excellent reason for believing 61 Cygni to be one of the _nearest_ +stars, and thus for concluding, at least for the present, that its +distance from us is _less_ than the average distance between star and +star in the magnificent cluster of the Milky Way. + +And here, once again and finally, it seems proper to suggest that even +as yet we have been speaking of trifles. Ceasing to wonder at the space +between star and star in our own or in any particular cluster, let us +rather turn our thoughts to the intervals between cluster and cluster, +in the all comprehensive cluster of the Universe. + +I have already said that light proceeds at the rate of 167,000 miles in +a second--that is, about 10 millions of miles in a minute, or about 600 +millions of miles in an hour:--yet so far removed from us are some of +the "nebulae" that even light, speeding with this velocity, could not +and does not reach us, from those mysterious regions, in less than 3 +_millions of years_. This calculation, moreover, is made by the elder +Herschell, and in reference merely to those comparatively proximate +clusters within the scope of his own telescope. There _are_ "nebulae," +however, which, through the magical tube of Lord Rosse, are this instant +whispering in our ears the secrets of _a million of ages_ by-gone. In a +word, the events which we behold now--at this moment--in those worlds--are +the identical events which interested their inhabitants _ten hundred +thousand centuries ago_. In intervals--in distances such as this +suggestion forces upon the _soul_--rather than upon the mind--we find, at +length, a fitting climax to all hitherto frivolous considerations of +_quantity_. + +Our fancies thus occupied with the cosmical distances, let us take the +opportunity of referring to the difficulty which we have so often +experienced, while pursuing _the beaten path_ of astronomical +reflection, _in accounting_ for the immeasurable voids alluded to--in +comprehending why chasms so totally unoccupied and therefore apparently +so needless, have been made to intervene between star and star--between +cluster and cluster--in understanding, to be brief, a sufficient reason +for the Titanic scale, in respect of mere _Space_, on which the Universe +is seen to be constructed. A rational cause for the phaenomenon, I +maintain that Astronomy has palpably failed to assign:--but the +considerations through which, in this Essay, we have proceeded step by +step, enable us clearly and immediately to perceive that _Space and +Duration are one_. That the Universe might _endure_ throughout an aera +at all commensurate with the grandeur of its component material portions +and with the high majesty of its spiritual purposes, it was necessary +that the original atomic diffusion be made to so inconceivable an extent +as to be only not infinite. It was required, in a word, that the stars +should be gathered into visibility from invisible nebulosity--proceed +from nebulosity to consolidation--and so grow grey in giving birth and +death to unspeakably numerous and complex variations of vitalic +development:--it was required that the stars should do all this--should +have time thoroughly to accomplish all these Divine purposes--_during the +period_ in which all things were effecting their return into Unity with +a velocity accumulating in the inverse proportion of the squares of the +distances at which lay the inevitable End. + +Throughout all this we have no difficulty in understanding the absolute +accuracy of the Divine _adaptation_. The density of the stars, +respectively, proceeds, of course, as their condensation diminishes; +condensation and heterogeneity keep pace with each other; through the +latter, which is the index of the former, we estimate the vitalic and +spiritual development. Thus, in the density of the globes, we have the +measure in which their purposes are fulfilled. _As_ density +proceeds--_as_ the divine intentions _are_ accomplished--_as_ less and +still less remains _to be_ accomplished--so--in the same ratio--should we +expect to find an acceleration of _the End_:--and thus the philosophical +mind will easily comprehend that the Divine designs in constituting the +stars, advance _mathematically_ to their fulfilment:--and more; it will +readily give the advance a mathematical expression; it will decide that +this advance is inversely proportional with the squares of the distances +of all created things from the starting-point and goal of their +creation. + +Not only is this Divine adaptation, however, mathematically accurate, +but there is that about it which stamps it _as divine_, in distinction +from that which is merely the work of human constructiveness. I allude +to the complete _mutuality_ of adaptation. For example; in human +constructions a particular cause has a particular effect; a particular +intention brings to pass a particular object; but this is all; we see no +reciprocity. The effect does not re-act upon the cause; the intention +does not change relations with the object. In Divine constructions the +object is either design or object as we choose to regard it--and we may +take at any time a cause for an effect, or the converse--so that we can +never absolutely decide which is which. + +To give an instance:--In polar climates the human frame, to maintain its +animal heat, requires, for combustion in the capillary system, an +abundant supply of highly azotized food, such as train-oil. But +again:--in polar climates nearly the sole food afforded man is the oil of +abundant seals and whales. Now, whether is oil at hand because +imperatively demanded, or the only thing demanded because the only thing +to be obtained? It is impossible to decide. There is an absolute +_reciprocity of adaptation_. + +The pleasure which we derive from any display of human ingenuity is in +the ratio of _the approach_ to this species of reciprocity. In the +construction of _plot_, for example, in fictitious literature, we +should aim at so arranging the incidents that we shall not be able to +determine, of any one of them, whether it depends from any one other or +upholds it. In this sense, of course, _perfection_ of _plot_ is really, +or practically, unattainable--but only because it is a finite +intelligence that constructs. The plots of God are perfect. The Universe +is a plot of God. + +And now we have reached a point at which the intellect is forced, again, +to struggle against its propensity for analogical inference--against its +monomaniac grasping at the infinite. Moons have been seen _revolving_ +about planets; planets about stars; and the poetical instinct of +humanity--its instinct of the symmetrical, if the symmetry be but a +symmetry of surface:--this _instinct_, which the Soul, not only of Man +but of all created beings, took up, in the beginning, from the +_geometrical_ basis of the Universal irradiation--impels us to the fancy +of an endless extension of this system of _cycles_. Closing our eyes +equally to _de_duction and _in_duction, we insist upon imagining a +_revolution_ of all the orbs of the Galaxy about some gigantic globe +which we take to be the central pivot of the whole. Each cluster in the +great cluster of clusters is imagined, of course, to be similarly +supplied and constructed; while, that the "analogy" may be wanting at no +point, we go on to conceive these clusters themselves, again, as +_revolving_ about some still more august sphere;--this latter, still +again, _with_ its encircling clusters, as but one of a yet more +magnificent series of agglomerations, _gyrating_ about yet another orb +central _to them_--some orb still more unspeakably sublime--some orb, let +us rather say, of infinite sublimity endlessly multiplied by the +infinitely sublime. Such are the conditions, continued in perpetuity, +which the voice of what some people term "analogy" calls upon the Fancy +to depict and the Reason to contemplate, if possible, without becoming +dissatisfied with the picture. Such, _in general_, are the interminable +gyrations beyond gyration which we have been instructed by Philosophy to +comprehend and to account for, at least in the best manner we can. Now +and then, however, a philosopher proper--one whose phrenzy takes a very +determinate turn--whose genius, to speak more reverentially, has a +strongly-pronounced washerwomanish bias, doing every thing up by the +dozen--enables us to see _precisely_ that point out of sight, at which +the revolutionary processes in question do, and of right ought to, come +to an end. + +It is hardly worth while, perhaps, even to sneer at the reveries of +Fourrier:--but much has been said, latterly, of the hypothesis of +Maedler--that there exists, in the centre of the Galaxy, a stupendous +globe about which all the systems of the cluster revolve. The _period_ +of our own, indeed, has been stated--117 millions of years. + +That our Sun has a motion in space, independently of its rotation, and +revolution about the system's centre of gravity, has long been +suspected. This motion, granting it to exist, would be manifested +perspectively. The stars in that firmamental region which we were +leaving behind us, would, in a very long series of years, become +crowded; those in the opposite quarter, scattered. Now, by means of +astronomical History, we ascertain, cloudily, that some such phaenomena +have occurred. On this ground it has been declared that our system is +moving to a point in the heavens diametrically opposite the star Zeta +Herculis:--but this inference is, perhaps, the maximum to which we have +any logical right. Maedler, however, has gone so far as to designate a +particular star, Alcyone in the Pleiades, as being at or about the very +spot around which a general _revolution_ is performed. + +Now, since by "analogy" we are led, in the first instance, to these +dreams, it is no more than proper that we should abide by analogy, at +least in some measure, during their development; and that analogy which +suggests the revolution, suggests at the same time a central orb about +which it should be performed:--so far the astronomer was consistent. This +central orb, however, should, dynamically, be greater than all the orbs, +taken together, which surround it. Of these there are about 100 +millions. "Why, then," it was of course demanded, "do we not _see_ this +vast central sun--_at least equal_ in mass to 100 millions of such suns +as ours--why do we not _see_ it--_we_, especially, who occupy the mid +region of the cluster--the very locality _near_ which, at all events, +must be situated this incomparable star?" The reply was ready--"It must +be non-luminous, as are our planets." Here, then, to suit a purpose, +analogy is suddenly let fall. "Not so," it may be said--"we know that +non-luminous suns actually exist." It is true that we have reason at +least for supposing so; but we have certainly no reason whatever for +supposing that the non-luminous suns in question are encircled by +_luminous_ suns, while these again are surrounded by non-luminous +planets:--and it is precisely all this with which Maedler is called upon +to find any thing analogous in the heavens--for it is precisely all this +which he imagines in the case of the Galaxy. Admitting the thing to be +so, we cannot help here picturing to ourselves how sad a puzzle the _why +it is so_ must prove to all _a priori_ philosophers. + +But granting, in the very teeth of analogy and of every thing else, the +non-luminosity of the vast central orb, we may still inquire how this +orb, so enormous, could fail of being rendered visible by the flood of +light thrown upon it from the 100 millions of glorious suns glaring in +all directions about it. Upon the urging of this question, the idea of +an actually solid central sun appears, in some measure, to have been +abandoned; and speculation proceeded to assert that the systems of the +cluster perform their revolutions merely about an immaterial centre of +gravity common to all. Here again then, to suit a purpose, analogy is +let fall. The planets of our system revolve, it is true, about a common +centre of gravity; but they do this in connexion with, and in +consequence of, a material sun whose mass more than counterbalances the +rest of the system. + +The mathematical circle is a curve composed of an infinity of straight +lines. But this idea of the circle--an idea which, in view of all +ordinary geometry, is merely the mathematical, as contradistinguished +from the practical, idea--is, in sober fact, the _practical_ conception +which alone we have any right to entertain in regard to the majestic +circle with which we have to deal, at least in fancy, when we suppose +our system revolving about a point in the centre of the Galaxy. Let the +most vigorous of human imaginations attempt but to take a single step +towards the comprehension of a sweep so ineffable! It would scarcely be +paradoxical to say that a flash of lightning itself, travelling +_forever_ upon the circumference of this unutterable circle, would +still, _forever_, be travelling in a straight line. That the path of our +Sun in such an orbit would, to any human perception, deviate in the +slightest degree from a straight line, even in a million of years, is a +proposition not to be entertained:--yet we are required to believe that a +curvature has become apparent during the brief period of our +astronomical history--during a mere point--during the utter nothingness of +two or three thousand years. + +It may be said that Maedler _has_ really ascertained a curvature in the +direction of our system's now well-established progress through Space. +Admitting, if necessary, this fact to be in reality such, I maintain +that nothing is thereby shown except the reality of this fact--the fact +of a curvature. For its _thorough_ determination, ages will be required; +and, when determined, it will be found indicative of some binary or +other multiple relation between our Sun and some one or more of the +proximate stars. I hazard nothing however, in predicting, that, after +the lapse of many centuries, all efforts at determining the path of our +Sun through Space, will be abandoned as fruitless. This is easily +conceivable when we look at the infinity of perturbation it must +experience, from its perpetually-shifting relations with other orbs, in +the common approach of all to the nucleus of the Galaxy. + +But in examining other "nebulae" than that of the Milky Way--in surveying, +generally, the clusters which overspread the heavens--do we or do we not +find confirmation of Maedler's hypothesis? We do _not_. The forms of the +clusters are exceedingly diverse when casually viewed; but on close +inspection, through powerful telescopes, we recognize the sphere, very +distinctly, as at least the proximate form of all:--their constitution, +in general, being at variance with the idea of revolution about a common +centre. + +"It is difficult," says Sir John Herschell, "to form any conception of +the dynamical state of such systems. On one hand, without a rotary +motion and a centrifugal force, it is hardly possible not to regard them +as in a state of _progressive collapse_. On the other, granting such a +motion and such a force, we find it no less difficult to reconcile their +forms with the rotation of the whole system [meaning cluster] around any +single axis, without which internal collision would appear to be +inevitable." + +Some remarks lately made about the "nebulae" by Dr. Nichol, in taking +quite a different view of the cosmical conditions from any taken in this +Discourse--have a very peculiar applicability to the point now at issue. +He says: + +"When our greatest telescopes are brought to bear upon them, we find +that those which were thought to be irregular, are not so; they approach +nearer to a globe. Here is one that looked oval; but Lord Rosse's +telescope brought it into a circle.... Now there occurs a very +remarkable circumstance in reference to these comparatively sweeping +circular masses of nebulae. We find they are not entirely circular, but +the reverse; and that all around them, on every side, there are volumes +of stars, _stretching out apparently as if they were rushing towards a +great central mass in consequence of the action of some great +power_."[12] + + [12] I must be understood as denying, _especially_, only the + _revolutionary_ portion of Maedler's hypothesis. Of course, if + no great central orb exists _now_ in our cluster, such will + exist hereafter. Whenever existing, it will be merely the + _nucleus_ of the consolidation. + +Were I to describe, in my own words, what must necessarily be the +existing condition of each nebula on the hypothesis that all matter is, +as I suggest, now returning to its original Unity, I should simply be +going over, nearly verbatim, the language here employed by Dr. Nichol, +without the faintest suspicion of that stupendous truth which is the key +to these nebular phaenomena. + +And here let me fortify my position still farther, by the voice of a +greater than Maedler--of one, moreover, to whom all the data of Maedler +have long been familiar things, carefully and thoroughly considered. +Referring to the elaborate calculations of Argelander--the very +researches which form Maedler's basis--_Humboldt_, whose generalizing +powers have never, perhaps been equalled, has the following observation: + +"When we regard the real, proper, or non-perspective motions of the +stars, we find _many groups of them moving in opposite directions_; and +the data as yet in hand render it not necessary, at least, to conceive +that the systems composing the Milky Way, or the clusters, generally, +composing the Universe, are revolving about any particular centre +unknown, whether luminous or non-luminous. It is but Man's longing for a +fundamental First Cause, that impels both his intellect and his fancy +to the adoption of such an hypothesis."[13] + + [13] Betrachtet man die nicht perspectivischen eigenen + Bewegungen der Sterne, so scheinen viele gruppenweise in ihrer + Richtung entgegengesetzt; und die bisher gesammelten Thatsachen + machen es auf's wenigste nicht nothwendig, anzunehmen, dass + alle Theile unserer Sternenschicht oder gar der gesammten + Sterneninseln, welche den Weltraum fuellen, sich um einen + grossen, unbekannten, leuchtenden oder dunkeln Centralkoerper + bewegen. Das Streben nach den letzten und hoechsten + Grundursachen macht freilich die reflectirende Thaetigkeit des + Menschen, wie seine Phantasie, zu einer solchen Annahme + geneigt. + +The phaenomenon here alluded to--that of "many groups moving in opposite +directions"--is quite inexplicable by Maedler's idea; but arises, as a +necessary consequence, from that which forms the basis of this +Discourse. While the _merely general direction_ of each atom--of each +moon, planet, star, or cluster--would, on my hypothesis, be, of course, +absolutely rectilinear; while the _general_ path of all bodies would be +a right line leading to the centre of all; it is clear, nevertheless, +that this general rectilinearity would be compounded of what, with +scarcely any exaggeration, we may term an infinity of particular +curves--an infinity of local deviations from rectilinearity--the result of +continuous differences of relative position among the multitudinous +masses, as each proceeded on its own proper journey to the End. + +I quoted, just now, from Sir John Herschell, the following words, used +in reference to the clusters:--"On one hand, without a rotary motion and +a centrifugal force, it is hardly possible not to regard them as in a +state of _progressive collapse_." The fact is, that, in surveying the +"nebulae" with a telescope of high power, we shall find it quite +impossible, having once conceived this idea of "collapse," not to +gather, at all points, corroboration of the idea. A nucleus is always +apparent, in the direction of which the stars seem to be precipitating +themselves; nor can these nuclei be mistaken for merely perspective +phaenomena:--the clusters are _really_ denser near the centre--sparser in +the regions more remote from it. In a word, we see every thing as we +_should_ see it were a collapse taking place; but, in general, it may be +said of these clusters, that we can fairly entertain, while looking at +them, the idea of _orbitual movement about a centre_, only by admitting +the _possible_ existence, in the distant domains of space, of dynamical +laws with which _we_ are unacquainted. + +On the part of Herschell, however, there is evidently _a reluctance_ to +regard the nebulae as in "a state of progressive collapse." But if +facts--if even appearances justify the supposition of their being in this +state, _why_, it may well be demanded, is he disinclined to admit it? +Simply on account of a prejudice;--merely because the supposition is at +war with a preconceived and utterly baseless notion--that of the +endlessness--that of the eternal stability of the Universe. + +If the propositions of this Discourse are tenable, the "state of +progressive collapse" is _precisely_ that state in which alone we are +warranted in considering All Things; and, with due humility, let me here +confess that, for my part, I am at a loss to conceive how any _other_ +understanding of the existing condition of affairs, could ever have made +its way into the human brain. "The tendency to collapse" and "the +attraction of gravitation" are convertible phrases. In using either, we +speak of the reaction of the First Act. Never was necessity less obvious +than that of supposing Matter imbued with an ineradicable _quality_ +forming part of its material nature--a quality, or instinct, _forever_ +inseparable from it, and by dint of which inalienable principle every +atom is _perpetually_ impelled to seek its fellow-atom. Never was +necessity less obvious than that of entertaining this unphilosophical +idea. Going boldly behind the vulgar thought, we have to conceive, +metaphysically, that the gravitating principle appertains to Matter +_temporarily_--only while diffused--only while existing as Many instead of +as One--appertains to it by virtue of its state of irradiation +alone--appertains, in a word, altogether to its _condition_, and not in +the slightest degree to _itself_. In this view, when the irradiation +shall have returned into its source--when the reaction shall be +completed--the gravitating principle will no longer exist. And, in fact, +astronomers, without at any time reaching the idea here suggested, seem +to have been approximating it, in the assertion that "if there were but +one body in the Universe, it would be impossible to understand how the +principle, Gravity, could obtain:"--that is to say, from a consideration +of Matter as they find it, they reach a conclusion at which I +deductively arrive. That so pregnant a suggestion as the one just quoted +should have been permitted to remain so long unfruitful, is, +nevertheless, a mystery which I find it difficult to fathom. + +It is, perhaps, in no little degree, however, our propensity for the +continuous--for the analogical--in the present case more particularly for +the symmetrical--which has been leading us astray. And, in fact, the +sense of the symmetrical is an instinct which may be depended upon with +an almost blindfold reliance. It is the poetical essence of the +Universe--_of the Universe_ which, in the supremeness of its symmetry, is +but the most sublime of poems. Now symmetry and consistency are +convertible terms:--thus Poetry and Truth are one. A thing is consistent +in the ratio of its truth--true in the ratio of its consistency. _A +perfect consistency, I repeat, can be nothing but an absolute truth._ We +may take it for granted, then, that Man cannot long or widely err, if he +suffer himself to be guided by his poetical, which I have maintained to +be his truthful, in being his symmetrical, instinct. He must have a +care, however, lest, in pursuing too heedlessly the superficial symmetry +of forms and motions, he leave out of sight the really essential +symmetry of the principles which determine and control them. + +That the stellar bodies would finally be merged in one--that, at last, +all would be drawn into the substance of _one stupendous central orb +already existing_--is an idea which, for some time past, seems, vaguely +and indeterminately, to have held possession of the fancy of mankind. It +is an idea, in fact, which belongs to the class of the _excessively +obvious_. It springs, instantly, from a superficial observation of the +cyclic and seemingly _gyrating_, or _vorticial_ movements of those +individual portions of the Universe which come most immediately and most +closely under our observation. There is not, perhaps, a human being, of +ordinary education and of average reflective capacity, to whom, at some +period, the fancy in question has not occurred, as if spontaneously, or +intuitively, and wearing all the character of a very profound and very +original conception. This conception, however, so commonly entertained, +has never, within my knowledge, arisen out of any abstract +considerations. Being, on the contrary, always suggested, as I say, by +the vorticial movements about centres, a reason for it, also,--a _cause_ +for the ingathering of all the orbs into one, _imagined to be already +existing_, was naturally sought in the same direction--among these cyclic +movements themselves. + +Thus it happened that, on announcement of the gradual and perfectly +regular decrease observed in the orbit of Enck's comet, at every +successive revolution about our Sun, astronomers were nearly unanimous +in the opinion that the cause in question was found--that a principle was +discovered sufficient to account, physically, for that final, universal +agglomeration which, I repeat, the analogical, symmetrical or poetical +instinct of Man had predetermined to understand as something more than a +simple hypothesis. + +This cause--this sufficient reason for the final ingathering--was declared +to exist in an exceedingly rare but still material medium pervading +space; which medium, by retarding, in some degree, the progress of the +comet, perpetually weakened its tangential force; thus giving a +predominance to the centripetal; which, of course, drew the comet nearer +and nearer at each revolution, and would eventually precipitate it upon +the Sun. + +All this was strictly logical--admitting the medium or ether; but this +ether was assumed, most illogically, on the ground that no _other_ mode +than the one spoken of could be discovered, of accounting for the +observed decrease in the orbit of the comet:--as if from the fact that we +could _discover_ no other mode of accounting for it, it followed, in any +respect, that no other mode of accounting for it existed. It is clear +that innumerable causes might operate, in combination, to diminish the +orbit, without even a possibility of our ever becoming acquainted with +one of them. In the meantime, it has never been fairly shown, perhaps, +why the retardation occasioned by the skirts of the Sun's atmosphere, +through which the comet passes at perihelion, is not enough to account +for the phaenomenon. That Enck's comet will be absorbed into the Sun, is +probable; that all the comets of the system will be absorbed, is more +than merely possible; but, in such case, the principle of absorption +must be referred to eccentricity of orbit--to the close approximation to +the Sun, of the comets at their perihelia; and is a principle not +affecting, in any degree, the ponderous _spheres_, which are to be +regarded as the true material constituents of the Universe.--Touching +comets, in general, let me here suggest, in passing, that we cannot be +far wrong in looking upon them as the _lightning-flashes of the cosmical +Heaven_. + +The idea of a retarding ether and, through it, of a final agglomeration +of all things, seemed at one time, however, to be confirmed by the +observation of a positive decrease in the orbit of the solid moon. By +reference to eclipses recorded 2500 years ago, it was found that the +velocity of the satellite's revolution _then_ was considerably less than +it is _now_; that on the hypothesis that its motions in its orbit is +uniformly in accordance with Kepler's law, and was accurately determined +_then_--2500 years ago--it is now in advance of the position it _should_ +occupy, by nearly 9000 miles. The increase of velocity proved, of +course, a diminution of orbit; and astronomers were fast yielding to a +belief in an ether, as the sole mode of accounting for the phaenomenon, +when Lagrange came to the rescue. He showed that, owing to the +configurations of the spheroids, the shorter axes of their ellipses are +subject to variation in length; the longer axes being permanent; and +that this variation is continuous and vibratory--so that every orbit is +in a state of transition, either from circle to ellipse, or from ellipse +to circle. In the case of the moon, where the shorter axis is +_de_creasing, the orbit is passing from circle to ellipse and, +consequently, is _de_creasing too; but, after a long series of ages, the +ultimate eccentricity will be attained; then the shorter axis will +proceed to _in_crease, until the orbit becomes a circle; when the +process of shortening will again take place;--and so on forever. In the +case of the Earth, the orbit is passing from ellipse to circle. The +facts thus demonstrated do away, of course, with all necessity for +supposing an ether, and with all apprehension of the system's +instability--on the ether's account. + +It will be remembered that I have myself assumed what we may term _an +ether_. I have spoken of a subtle _influence_ which we know to be ever +in attendance upon matter, although becoming manifest only through +matter's heterogeneity. To this _influence_--without daring to touch it +at all in any effort at explaining its awful _nature_--I have referred +the various phaenomena of electricity, heat, light, magnetism; and +more--of vitality, consciousness, and thought--in a word, of spirituality. +It will be seen, at once, then, that the ether thus conceived is +radically distinct from the ether of the astronomers; inasmuch as theirs +is _matter_ and mine _not_. + +With the idea of a material ether, seems, thus, to have departed +altogether the thought of that universal agglomeration so long +predetermined by the poetical fancy of mankind:--an agglomeration in +which a sound Philosophy might have been warranted in putting faith, at +least to a certain extent, if for no other reason than that by this +poetical fancy it _had_ been so predetermined. But so far as +Astronomy--so far as mere Physics have yet spoken, the cycles of the +Universe are perpetual--the Universe has no conceivable end. Had an end +been demonstrated, however, from so purely collateral a cause as an +ether, Man's instinct of the Divine _capacity to adapt_, would have +rebelled against the demonstration. We should have been forced to regard +the Universe with some such sense of dissatisfaction as we experience in +contemplating an unnecessarily complex work of human art. Creation would +have affected us as an imperfect _plot_ in a romance, where the +_denoument_ is awkwardly brought about by interposed incidents external +and foreign to the main subject; instead of springing out of the bosom +of the thesis--out of the heart of the ruling idea--instead of arising as +a result of the primary proposition--as inseparable and inevitable part +and parcel of the fundamental conception of the book. + +What I mean by the symmetry of mere surface will now be more clearly +understood. It is simply by the blandishment of this symmetry that we +have been beguiled into the general idea of which Maedler's hypothesis is +but a part--the idea of the vorticial indrawing of the orbs. Dismissing +this nakedly physical conception, the symmetry of principle sees the end +of all things metaphysically involved in the thought of a beginning; +seeks and finds in this origin of all things the _rudiment_ of this end; +and perceives the impiety of supposing this end likely to be brought +about less simply--less directly--less obviously--less artistically--than +through _the reaction of the originating Act_. + +Recurring, then, to a previous suggestion, let us understand the +systems--let us understand each star, with its attendant planets--as but a +Titanic atom existing in space with precisely the same inclination for +Unity which characterized, in the beginning, the actual atoms after +their irradiation throughout the Universal sphere. As these original +atoms rushed towards each other in generally straight lines, so let us +conceive as at least generally rectilinear, the paths of the +system-atoms towards their respective centres of aggregation:--and in +this direct drawing together of the systems into clusters, with a +similar and simultaneous drawing together of the clusters themselves +while undergoing consolidation, we have at length attained the great +_Now_--the awful Present--the Existing Condition of the Universe. + +Of the still more awful Future a not irrational analogy may guide us in +framing an hypothesis. The equilibrium between the centripetal and +centrifugal forces of each system, being necessarily destroyed upon +attainment of a certain proximity to the nucleus of the cluster to which +it belongs, there must occur, at once, a chaotic or seemingly chaotic +precipitation, of the moons upon the planets, of the planets upon the +suns, and of the suns upon the nuclei; and the general result of this +precipitation must be the gathering of the myriad now-existing stars of +the firmament into an almost infinitely less number of almost infinitely +superior spheres. In being immeasurably fewer, the worlds of that day +will be immeasurably greater than our own. Then, indeed, amid +unfathomable abysses, will be glaring unimaginable suns. But all this +will be merely a climacic magnificence foreboding the great End. Of this +End the new genesis described, can be but a very partial postponement. +While undergoing consolidation, the clusters themselves, with a speed +prodigiously accumulative, have been rushing towards their own general +centre--and now, with a thousand-fold electric velocity, commensurate +only with their material grandeur and with the spiritual passion of +their appetite for oneness, the majestic remnants of the tribe of Stars +flash, at length, into a common embrace. The inevitable catastrophe is +at hand. + +But this catastrophe--what is it? We have seen accomplished the +ingathering of the orbs. Henceforward, are we not to understand _one +material globe of globes_ as constituting and comprehending the +Universe? Such a fancy would be altogether at war with every assumption +and consideration of this Discourse. + +I have already alluded to that absolute _reciprocity of adaptation_ +which is the idiosyncrasy of the divine Art--stamping it divine. Up to +this point of our reflections, we have been regarding the electrical +influence as a something by dint of whose repulsion alone Matter is +enabled to exist in that state of diffusion demanded for the fulfilment +of its purposes:--so far, in a word, we have been considering the +influence in question as ordained for Matter's sake--to subserve the +objects of matter. With a perfectly legitimate reciprocity, we are now +permitted to look at Matter, as created _solely for the sake of this +influence_--solely to serve the objects of this spiritual Ether. Through +the aid--by the means--through the agency of Matter, and by dint of its +heterogeneity--is this Ether manifested--is _Spirit individualized_. It is +merely in the development of this Ether, through heterogeneity, that +particular masses of Matter become animate--sensitive--and in the ratio of +their heterogeneity;--some reaching a degree of sensitiveness involving +what we call _Thought_ and thus attaining Conscious Intelligence. + +In this view, we are enabled to perceive Matter as a Means--not as an +End. Its purposes are thus seen to have been comprehended in its +diffusion; and with the return into Unity these purposes cease. The +absolutely consolidated globe of globes would be _objectless_:--therefore +not for a moment could it continue to exist. Matter, created for an end, +would unquestionably, on fulfilment of that end, be Matter no longer. +Let us endeavor to understand that it would disappear, and that God +would remain all in all. + +That every work of Divine conception must coeexist and coeexpire with its +particular design, seems to me especially obvious; and I make no doubt +that, on perceiving the final globe of globes to be _objectless_, the +majority of my readers will be satisfied with my "_therefore_ it cannot +continue to exist." Nevertheless, as the startling thought of its +instantaneous disappearance is one which the most powerful intellect +cannot be expected readily to entertain on grounds so decidedly +abstract, let us endeavor to look at the idea from some other and more +ordinary point of view:--let us see how thoroughly and beautifully it is +corroborated in an _a posteriori_ consideration of Matter as we actually +find it. + +I have before said that "Attraction and Repulsion being undeniably the +sole properties by which Matter is manifested to Mind, we are justified +in assuming that Matter _exists_ only as Attraction and Repulsion--in +other words that Attraction and Repulsion _are_ Matter; there being no +conceivable case in which we may not employ the term Matter and the +terms 'Attraction' and 'Repulsion' taken together, as equivalent, and +therefore convertible, expressions in Logic."[14] + + [14] Page 37. + +Now the very definition of Attraction implies particularity--the +existence of parts, particles, or atoms; for we define it as the +tendency of "each atom &c. to every other atom" &c. according to a +certain law. Of course where there are _no_ parts--where there is +absolute Unity--where the tendency to oneness is satisfied--there can be +no Attraction:--this has been fully shown, and all Philosophy admits it. +When, on fulfilment of its purposes, then, Matter shall have returned +into its original condition of _One_--a condition which presupposes the +expulsion of the separative ether, whose province and whose capacity are +limited to keeping the atoms apart until that great day when, this ether +being no longer needed, the overwhelming pressure of the finally +collective Attraction shall at length just sufficiently predominate[15] +and expel it:--when, I say, Matter, finally, expelling the Ether, shall +have returned into absolute Unity,--it will then (to speak paradoxically +for the moment) be Matter without Attraction and without Repulsion--in +other words, Matter without Matter--in other words, again, _Matter no +more_. In sinking into Unity, it will sink at once into that Nothingness +which, to all Finite Perception, Unity must be--into that Material +Nihility from which alone we can conceive it to have been evoked--to have +been _created_ by the Volition of God. + + [15] "Gravity, therefore, must be the strongest of forces."--See + page 39. + +I repeat then--Let us endeavor to comprehend that the final globe of +globes will instantaneously disappear, and that God will remain all in +all. + +But are we here to pause? Not so. On the Universal agglomeration and +dissolution, we can readily conceive that a new and perhaps totally +different series of conditions may ensue--another creation and +irradiation, returning into itself--another action and reaction of the +Divine Will. Guiding our imaginations by that omniprevalent law of laws, +the law of periodicity, are we not, indeed, more than justified in +entertaining a belief--let us say, rather, in indulging a hope--that the +processes we have here ventured to contemplate will be renewed forever, +and forever, and forever; a novel Universe swelling into existence, and +then subsiding into nothingness, at every throb of the Heart Divine? + +And now--this Heart Divine--what is it? _It is our own._ + +Let not the merely seeming irreverence of this idea frighten our souls +from that cool exercise of consciousness--from that deep tranquillity of +self-inspection--through which alone we can hope to attain the presence +of this, the most sublime of truths, and look it leisurely in the face. + +The _phaenomena_ on which our conclusions must at this point depend, are +merely spiritual shadows, but not the less thoroughly substantial. + +We walk about, amid the destinies of our world-existence, encompassed by +dim but ever present _Memories_ of a Destiny more vast--very distant in +the by-gone time, and infinitely awful. + +We live out a Youth peculiarly haunted by such dreams; yet never +mistaking them for dreams. As Memories we _know_ them. _During our +Youth_ the distinction is too clear to deceive us even for a moment. + +So long as this Youth endures, the feeling _that we exist_, is the most +natural of all feelings. We understand it _thoroughly_. That there was a +period at which we did _not_ exist--or, that it might so have happened +that we never had existed at all--are the considerations, indeed, which +_during this youth_, we find difficulty in understanding. Why we should +_not_ exist, is, _up to the epoch of our Manhood_, of all queries the most +unanswerable. Existence--self-existence--existence from all Time and to +all Eternity--seems, up to the epoch of Manhood, a normal and +unquestionable condition:--_seems, because it is_. + +But now comes the period at which a conventional World-Reason awakens us +from the truth of our dream. Doubt, Surprise and Incomprehensibility +arrive at the same moment. They say:--"You live and the time was when you +lived not. You have been created. An Intelligence exists greater than +your own; and it is only through this Intelligence you live at all." +These things we struggle to comprehend and cannot:--_cannot_, because +these things, being untrue, are thus, of necessity, incomprehensible. + +No thinking being lives who, at some luminous point of his life of +thought, has not felt himself lost amid the surges of futile efforts at +understanding, or believing, that anything exists _greater than his own +soul_. The utter impossibility of any one's soul feeling itself inferior +to another; the intense, overwhelming dissatisfaction and rebellion at +the thought;--these, with the omniprevalent aspirations at perfection, +are but the spiritual, coincident with the material, struggles towards +the original Unity--are, to my mind at least, a species of proof far +surpassing what Man terms demonstration, that no one soul _is_ inferior +to another--that nothing is, or can be, superior to any one soul--that +each soul is, in part, its own God--its own Creator:--in a word, that +God--the material _and_ spiritual God--_now_ exists solely in the diffused +Matter and Spirit of the Universe; and that the regathering of this +diffused Matter and Spirit will be but the re-constitution of the +_purely_ Spiritual and Individual God. + +In this view, and in this view alone, we comprehend the riddles of +Divine Injustice--of Inexorable Fate. In this view alone the existence of +Evil becomes intelligible; but in this view it becomes more--it becomes +endurable. Our souls no longer rebel at a _Sorrow_ which we ourselves +have imposed upon ourselves, in furtherance of our own purposes--with a +view--if even with a futile view--to the extension of our own _Joy_. + +I have spoken of _Memories_ that haunt us during our youth. They +sometimes pursue us even in our Manhood:--assume gradually less and less +indefinite shapes:--now and then speak to us with low voices, saying: + +"There was an epoch in the Night of Time, when a still-existent Being +existed--one of an absolutely infinite number of similar Beings that +people the absolutely infinite domains of the absolutely infinite +space.[16] It was not and is not in the power of this Being--any more +than it is in your own--to extend, by actual increase, the joy of his +Existence; but just as it _is_ in your power to expand or to concentrate +your pleasures (the absolute amount of happiness remaining always the +same) so did and does a similar capability appertain to this Divine +Being, who thus passes his Eternity in perpetual variation of +Concentrated Self and almost Infinite Self-Diffusion. What you call The +Universe is but his present expansive existence. He now feels his life +through an infinity of imperfect pleasures--the partial and +pain-intertangled pleasures of those inconceivably numerous things which +you designate as his creatures, but which are really but infinite +individualizations of Himself. All these creatures--_all_--those which you +term animate, as well as those to whom you deny life for no better +reason than that you do not behold it in operation--_all_ these +creatures have, in a greater or less degree, a capacity for pleasure +and for pain:--_but the general sum of their sensations is precisely +that amount of Happiness which appertains by right to the Divine Being +when concentrated within Himself_. These creatures are all, too, more or +less conscious Intelligences; conscious, first, of a proper identity; +conscious, secondly and by faint indeterminate glimpses, of an identity +with the Divine Being of whom we speak--of an identity with God. Of the +two classes of consciousness, fancy that the former will grow weaker, +the latter stronger, during the long succession of ages which must +elapse before these myriads of individual Intelligences become +blended--when the bright stars become blended--into One. Think that the +sense of individual identity will be gradually merged in the general +consciousness--that Man, for example, ceasing imperceptibly to feel +himself Man, will at length attain that awfully triumphant epoch when he +shall recognize his existence as that of Jehovah. In the meantime bear +in mind that all is Life--Life--Life within Life--the less within the +greater, and all within the _Spirit Divine_." + + [16] See pages 102-103--Paragraph commencing "I reply that the + right," and ending "proper and particular God." + +THE END. + + + + +155 Broadway, NEW YORK. 142 Strand, LONDON. + +Of late firm of WILEY & PUTNAM. + + +New Works in Press, + +Or recently published, by + +GEORGE P. PUTNAM, + +155 Broadway, New York. + + +G. P. PUTNAM has the pleasure of announcing that, agreeably to his +contract with the distinguished author, he has now in the course of +publication + +_A new, uniform, and complete edition_ + +OF THE + +Works of Washington Irving, + +Revised and enlarged by the Author, + +_In Twelve Elegant Duodecimo Volumes_, + +Beautifully printed with new type, and on superior paper, made expressly +for the purpose. + + +The first volume of the Series will be + +The Sketch-Book, + +complete in one volume, + +which will be ready on the first day of September. + + +Knickerbocker's History of New York, + +with revisions and copious additions, + +will be published on the 1st of October. + + +The Life and Voyages of Columbus, + +Vol. I. on the 1st of November, + +and the succeeding volumes will be issued on the first day of each month +until completed;--as follows: + + _The Sketch-Book, in one volume. + Knickerbocker's New York, in one volume. + Tales of a Traveller, in one volume. + Bracebridge Hall, in one volume. + The Conquest of Grenada, in one volume. + The Alhambra, in one volume. + The Spanish Legends, in one vol. + The Crayon Miscellany, in one vol.--Abbotsford, Newstead, + The Prairies, &c. + Life and Voyages of Columbus, and The Companions of Columbus, 2 vols. + Adventures of Captain Bonneville, one vol. + Astoria, one volume._ + + +The Illustrated Sketch-Book. + +In October will be published, + +The Sketch-Book. + +BY WASHINGTON IRVING. + +One volume, square octavo. + +Illustrated with a series of highly-finished Engravings on wood, from +Designs by Darley and others, engraved in the best style by Childs, +Herrick, &c. This edition will be printed on paper of the finest +quality, similar in size and style to the new edition of "Halleck's +Poems." It is intended that the illustrations shall be superior to any +engravings on wood yet produced in this country, and that the mechanical +execution of the volume, altogether, shall be worthy of the author's +reputation. It will form an elegant and appropriate gift-book for all +seasons. + + +The Illustrated Knickerbocker, + +With a series of Original Designs, in one vol., octavo, is also in +preparation. + + +Mr. Putnam has also the honor to announce that he will publish at +intervals (in connexion, and uniform with the other collected writings), + +_Mr. Irving's New Works_, + +now nearly ready for the press: including + +The Life of Mohammed; The Life of Washington; new volumes of +Miscellanies, Biographies, &c. + + * * * This being the first uniform and complete edition of Mr. + Irving's works, either in this country or in Europe, the + publisher confidently believes that the undertaking will meet + with a prompt and cordial response. To say this, is perhaps + superfluous and impertinent; for it is a truism that no + _American_ book-case (not to say _library_) can be well filled + without the works of Washington Irving; while the English + language itself comprises no purer models of composition. + + +G. P. Putnam has also made arrangements for the early commencement of +new works or new editions of the works of + + _Miss C. M. Sedgwick, + Prof. A. Gray, + Leigh Hunt, + Chas. Fenno Hoffman, + Mrs. E. Oakes Smith, + Thomas Carlyle, + George H. Calvert, + Mrs. C. M. Kirkland, + R. Monckton Milnes, + J. Bayard Taylor, + Mary Howitt, + Mrs. Jameson, + S. Wells Williams, + W. M. Thackeray, + Charles Lamb, + A. J. Downing, + Thos. Hood, + Elliot Warburton_. + + +The following new works are now ready, or will be published this season: + +I. + +Sophisms of the Protective Policy. + +Translated from the French of F. Bastiat. With an introduction by +Francis Lieber, LL.D. 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(On 1st September.) + +Also a fine edition in octavo, with illustrations. + + * * * This work has been prepared with great care, illustrated with + 20 effective outline drawings, and is designed to treat the + subject in an original, comprehensive, and unexceptionable + manner, so as to fill the place as a text book which is yet + unsupplied; while it will also be an attractive and readable + table book for general use. It will be at once introduced as a + text book in the University of New York and other colleges and + schools. + +III. + +Eureka: a Prose Poem. + +Or the Physical and Metaphysical Universe. + +By Edgar A. Poe, Esq. Handsomely printed, 12mo. Cloth, 75 cents. + + "A most extraordinary Essay. We shall be greatly surprised if + this work does not create a most profound sensation among the + literary and scientific classes."--_New York Express._ + +IV. + +Oriental Life Illustrated. + +Being a new edition of Eoethen, or Traces of Travel in the East. With +fine illustrations on Steel. 12mo. elegantly bound, $1 50. + + * * * This new and unique volume, superbly illuminated by Mapleson, + and comprising original articles by distinguished writers, will + be the most elegant and recherche book of the kind ever + produced in this country. It will be ready in October. + +A new and superior edition of the PEARLS OF AMERICAN POETRY will also be +published this season. + +V. + +The Book of Dainty Devices. + +In an elegant small folio volume. + +Lays of the Western World. + +VI. + +Dr. Klipstein's Anglo-Saxon Course of Study. + +In uniform 12mo. volumes. + +I. + +A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Language. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. +and PH.D., of the University of Giessen. + + * * * This work recommends itself particularly to the attention of + every American student who "glories in his Anglo-Saxon descent" + or Teutonic lineage, as well as of all who desire an + acquaintance with a language which lies as the foundation of + the English, and throws a light upon its elements and + structure, derivable from no other source. Of the importance + and interesting nature of the study there can be no doubt, and + we agree with those who think that the time is coming when it + will be considered "utterly disgraceful for any well-bred + Englishman or American" to have neglected it. With regard to + the merits of Dr. Klipstein's Grammar, we will only say, that + it has been already adopted as a text-book in some of the + leading Institutions of our country. + +[The following are also in press.] + +II. + +Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, with an Introductory Ethnographical Essay, +Copious Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Glossary in which are +shown the Indo-Germanic and other Affinities of the Language. _By the +same._ + +In this work appear the fruits of considerable research, and, we may +add, learning. The Ethnology of Europe is succinctly, but clearly +illustrated, the Anglo-Saxon language completely analysed, revealing the +utmost harmony of combination from its elements, its forms and roots +compared with those in kindred dialects and cognate tongues, its +position in the Teutonic family and Indo-Germanic range established, and +the genuine relation of the English to its great parent properly set +forth. To those who are fond of the comparative study of language, the +Glossary will prove an invaluable aid, apart from its particular object. + +III. + +Natale Sancti Gregorii Papae.--AElfric's Homily on the Birth-day of St. +Gregory, and Collateral Extracts from King Alfred's version of Bede's +Ecclesiastical History and the Saxon Chronicle, with a full rendering +into English, Notes Critical and Explanatory, and an Index of Words. _By +the same._ + +IV. + +Extracts from the Anglo-Saxon-Gospels, a Portion of the Anglo-Saxon +Paraphrase of the Book of Psalms, and other Selections of a Sacred Order +in the same Language, with a Translation into English, and Notes +Critical and Explanatory. _By the same._ + +These two works are prepared in such a way as in themselves, with the +aid of the Grammar, to afford every facility to the Anglo-Saxon Student. +AElfric's Homily is remarkable for beauty of composition, and interesting +as setting forth Augustine's Mission to the "Land of the Angles." + +V. + +Tha Halgan Godspel on Englisc--the Anglo-Saxon Version of the Holy +Gospels. Edited by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A. _Reprinted by the same. Now +ready._ + +This, the earliest "English" version of the Four Gospels, will be found +interesting to the antiquarian and theologian, as well as serviceable to +the student in his investigations of the language. The Text, besides the +usual but unbroken division, appears, with the Rubrics, as read in the +early Anglican Church. + + +_Nearly Ready._ + +Dr. Bosworth's Compendious Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Small 8vo. + +VII. + +Study of Modern Languages. + +Part First; French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English. + +By L. F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and Ph.D. One Vol. Imperial 8vo. 75 cents +paper; $1 00 cloth. + +This work, which is intended equally for the simultaneous and the +separate study of the languages that it sets forth, and which is adapted +as well for the native of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, or Portugal, as +for him to whom English is vernacular, in the acquirement of any one of +the other tongues besides his own, will be found an acceptable manual +not only to the tyro, but to the more advanced scholar. The reading +portion of the matter is interesting, and the text in every case +remarkably correct, while the Elementary Phrases, forms of Cards, +Letters, Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Receipts, &c., in the six +languages, constitute what has long been a desideratum from the American +press. For the comparative study of the _Romanic_ tongues the work +affords unusual facilities. + +VIII. + +Pedestrian Tour in Europe. + +Views a-Foot; or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff. + +By J. Bayard Taylor. + +A new edition with an additional chapter, and a sketch of the author in +pedestrian costume, from a drawing by T. Buchanan Read. 12mo. Cloth. + +IX. + +A New Edition of + +Clarke's Shakspeare Concordance. + +A Complete Concordance to Shakspeare: being a Verbal Index to ALL the +PASSAGES in the Dramatic Works of the Poet. By Mrs. Cowden Clarke. + +"Order gave each thing view." + +One large Vol. comprising 2560 closely printed columns,--(indicating +_every word and passage_ in Shakspeare's Works). Price $6. Cloth. + + "The result of sixteen years of untiring labor. The different + editions of Shakspeare have been carefully collated by the + compiler, and every possible means taken to insure the + correctness of the work. As it now stands, a person can find a + particular passage in Shakspeare by simply remembering one word + of it, and is also referred to the act and scene of the play in + which it occurs. As a mere dictionary of Shakspearian language + and phrases, it is of great value; but it is also a dictionary + of his thoughts and imaginations. It altogether supersedes the + volumes of Twiss and Ayscough, and should be on every student's + shelves"--_Boston Courier._ + + * * * This extraordinary work is printed in London and the price + there _at present_ is L2. 5s. 0d. or about $12. A large part of + the edition having been purchased for this market, it is + furnished here for the very low price of $6, bound in cloth. + +_Also--By same Author._ + +The Book of Shakspeare Proverbs. + +18mo. 75 cts. + + +_Dr. Lieber's Poetical Address to the American Republic._ + +16mo. 25 cents. + +The West: + +A Metrical Epistle. + +BY FRANCIS LIEBER. + + * * * Dr. Lieber, the distinguished Professor of Political Economy + in South Carolina College, Author of "Political Ethics," &c., + has just sailed for his native country--Germany--with the view of + aiding in the great cause of Constitutional and Rational + Freedom. This little volume proves that he has well studied + that subject during his long residence in this his adopted + country--and his able and valuable opinions on American Society + and Progress, carry with them a peculiar interest at this time. + + +RECENT PUBLICATIONS. + +Alexander.--Commentary on the Earlier Prophecies of Isaiah. By Prof. J. +A. Alexander. Royal 8vo. cloth, $3. + +Alexander.--Commentary on the Later Prophecies of Isaiah. By Prof. J. A. +Alexander. Royal 8vo. cloth, $2 50. + +Ancient Moral Tales, from the Gesta Romanorum, &c. 1 vol. 12mo. green +cloth. + + "A quiet humor, a quaintness and terseness of style, will + strongly recommend them."--_English Churchman._ + +Architecture.--Hints on Public Architecture; issued under the Direction +of the "Smithsonian Institution." Imperial 4to. with Illustrations. (In +preparation.) + + This work will contain numerous and valuable illustrations, + including two perspective views of the buildings of the + Smithsonian Institution. The Appendix will contain the results + of a research under the auspices of the Institution to test the + properties of the most important building materials throughout + the United States. + +Bastiat.--Sophisms of the Protective Policy. Translated from the French +of F. Bastiat. With an Introduction, by Francis Lieber, LL.D., Professor +in South Carolina College, Editor of the Encyclopaedia Americana, &c., +&c. 12mo. 75 cts. + +Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Review. Conducted by B. B. Edwards and +E. A. Park, Professors at Andover, with the Special Aid of Dr. Robinson +and Professor Stuart. Published quarterly in February, May, August, and +November $4 per annum. Vols. 1, 2, 3, and 4, 8vo. cloth, each $4. + + "This is, perhaps, the most ambitious journal in the United + States. We use the word in a good sense, as meaning that there + is no journal among us which seems more laudably desirous to + take the lead in literary and theological science. Its handsome + type and paper give it a pleasing exterior; its typographical + errors, though sufficiently numerous, are so comparatively few, + as to show that it has the advantage of the best American + proof-reading; while for thoroughness of execution in the + departments of history and criticism, it aims to be + pre-eminent."--_N. Y. Churchman._ + +Burton.--The Anatomy of Melancholy. By Burton. New and beautiful edition, +with Engravings. 1 vol. royal 8vo. cloth, $2 50. + + * * * This is one of those sterling old works which were written + for "all time," full of learning, humor, and quaint conceits. + No library can be complete without it. + +Calvert.--Scenes and Thoughts in Europe. By an American. 1 vol. 12mo. +green cloth, 50 cents. + + "His descriptions of scenery, his remarks on art, his accounts + of the different people among whom he sojourned, are all + good."--_Cincinnati Gazette._ + +Carlyle.--The French Revolution: a History. By Thomas Carlyle. 2 vols. +12mo. green cloth, $2. + + "His French Revolution is considered one of the most remarkable + works of the age--as at once the poetry and philosophy of + history."--_Hunt's Merchants' Mag._ + +Carlyle.--Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell. By Thos. Carlyle. 2 +vols. 12mo. green cloth, $2 50. + + "A work more valuable as a guide to the study of the singular + and complex character of our pious revolutionist, our religious + demagogue, our preaching and praying warrior, has not been + produced."--_Blackwood's Magazine._ + +Carlyle.--Past and Present: Chartism. By Thomas Carlyle. 1 vol. 12mo. +green cloth, $1 + + "To say that the book is replete with instruction, thought, and + quaint fancy, is unnecessary: but we may mention it as one, + _par excellence_, which should be read at the present + juncture."-_Tribune._ + +Chaucer and Spenser.--Selections from the Poetical Works of Geoffrey +Chaucer. By Charles D. Deshler. Spenser, and the Faery Queen. By Mrs. C. +M. Kirkland. 1 vol. 12mo. $1 13. + +---- The same, extra gilt, $1 50. + + "A portion of their writings are presented in a beautiful and + convenient form, and with the requisite notes and + modifications."--_Home Journal._ + +Coe.--Studies in Drawing, in a Progressive Series of Lessons on Cards; +beginning with the most Elementary Studies, and Adapted for Use at Home +and Schools. By Benjamin H. Coe, Teacher of Drawing. In Ten +Series--marked 1 and 10--each containing about eighteen Studies. 25 cents +each. + + The design is: + + I.--To make the exercises in drawing highly interesting to the + pupil. + + II.--To make drawings so simple, and so gradually progressive, + as to enable any teacher, whether acquainted with drawing or + not, to instruct his pupils to advantage. + + III.--To take the place of one-half of the writing lessons, with + confidence that the learner will acquire a knowledge of writing + in less than time is usually required. + + IV.--To give the pupils a bold, rapid, and artist-like style of + drawing. + +Coleridge.--Biographia Literaria; or, Biographical Sketches of my +Literary Life and Opinions. By Samuel Taylor Coleridge. From the 2d +London edition, Edited by H. N. Coleridge. 2 vols. 12mo. green cloth, +$2. + +Cortez.--Letters and Despatches of Hernando Cortez. Translated by Hon. +George Folsom. 1 vol. 8vo. $1 25. + +Dana.--A System of Mineralogy, comprising the most Recent Discoveries. By +James D. Dana. Woodcuts and copperplates, 8vo. cloth, $3 50. + +Downing.--Cottage Residences; or, a Series of Designs for Rural Cottages +and Cottage Villas, and their Gardens and Grounds; adapted to North +America. By A. J. Downing. Numerous plates, 3d edition, 8vo. cloth, $2. + +Downing.--A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening +adapted to North America; with Remarks on Rural Architecture. By A. J. +Downing. Plates, 2d edition, thick 8vo. cloth, $3 50. + +Downing.--The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America; or, the Culture, +Propagation, and Management, in the Garden and Orchard, of Fruit Trees +generally. By A. J. Downing. Plates, 9th edition, revised, 12mo. cloth, +$1 50. + +---- The same, 8vo. cloth, $2 50. + +---- The same, with 80 superb Illustrations, drawn and beautifully colored +by Paris Artists, royal 8vo. half morocco, top edge gilt. New edition +shortly. + +Dwight.--Grecian and Roman Mythology; with original Illustrations. +Adapted for the Use of Universities and High Schools, and for Popular +Reading. By M. A. Dwight. With an Introduction by Tayler Lewis, +Professor of Greek, University of New York. 12mo. [In September. + +---- Also a fine edition in octavo, with Illustrations. + + * * * This work has been prepared with great care, illustrated with + twenty effective outline drawings, and is designed to treat the + subject in an original, comprehensive, and unexceptionable + manner, so as to fill the place as a text-book which is yet + unsupplied; while it will also be an attractive and readable + table-book for general use. It will be at once introduced as a + text-book in the University of New York, and other colleges and + schools. + +Ford.--The Spaniards and their Country. By Richard Ford. 1 vol. 12mo. +green cloth, 87 cents. + + "The best description of national character and manners of + Spain that has ever appeared."--_Quarterly Review._ + + "The volumes appear to treat of almost everything save the + graver questions of religion and politics, which may possibly + be taken up hereafter. In one respect it has the advantage over + more directly historical works--it portrays the Spanish + character, as well as country, with fidelity."--_Commercial + Advertiser._ + +Fouque.--Undine, a Tale; and Sintram and his Companions, a Tale. From the +German of La Motte Fouque. 1 vol. 12mo. green cloth. 50 cts. + + "The style and execution of this delightful romance are very + graceful."--_Hawkins's Germany._ + + "Fouque's romances I always recommend--especially the wild, + graceful, and touching Undine."--_Sarah Austin._ + +French.--Historical Collections of Louisiana. By B. F. French. 8vo. +cloth, $1 50. + +Goldsmith.--The Vicar of Wakefield. By Oliver Goldsmith. 1 vol. 12mo. +neatly printed, cloth, 50 cents. + +---- The same, with Illustrated Designs by Mulready, elegantly bound, gilt +edges, $1. + +Gray.--Botanical Text-Book. By Prof. Asa Gray. Many hundred cuts, 2d +edition, large 12mo. cloth, $1 75. + +Green.--A Treatise on Diseases of the Air Passages; comprising an Inquiry +into the History, Pathology, Causes, and Treatment of those Affections +of the Throat called Bronchitis, &c. By Horace Green, M.D. Colored +plates, 8vo. cloth. $2 50. + + "A new and eminently successful treatment of lung complaints." + +Hackley.--Elements of Trigonometry, Plane and Spherical. By Rev. C. W. +Hackley, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia College, New York. 8vo. +cloth, $1 25. + +Hamilton Papers.--The Official Papers of the late Major-General Alexander +Hamilton. Compiled from the Originals in the Possession of Mrs. +Hamilton. 1 vol. 8vo. cloth, $2 50. + +Hahn's Hebrew Bible.--New and complete stereotype edition, being a +fac-simile of the Leipsic edition. In 1 vol. 8vo. In press. + +Hazlitt's (William) Miscellaneous Works. 4 vols. 12mo. cloth, $5. + +Hazlitt's Life of Napoleon. 3 vols. 12mo. cloth. + +---- Spirit of the Age. 12mo., 50 cents. + +---- Table Talk, both series, in 2 vols. cloth, $2 25. + +---- Characters of Shakspeare, 12mo. 50 cts. + +---- Literature of the Age of Queen Elizabeth, 12mo. 50 cts. + +---- English Comic Writers, 50 cts. + +---- Lectures on English Poets, 50 cts. + +Head.--Bubbles from the Brunnen. By Sir Francis Head. 12mo. green cloth. + + "At once an instructive and amusing book. It contains a great + deal of information."--_London Times._ + +Hervey.--The Book of Christmas; descriptive of the Customs, Ceremonies, +Traditions, Superstitions, Fun, Feeling, and Festivities of the +Christmas Season. By Thomas K. Hervey. 12mo. green cloth, 63 cents. + +---- The same, gilt extra. $1. + + "Every leaf of this book affords a feast worthy of the + season."--_Dr. Hawks's Church Record._ + +Hood.--Prose and Verse. 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By Leigh Hunt. 1 vol. 12mo. green cloth, 62 +cents. + +---- The same, gilt extra, $1. + +Hunt.--Stories from the Italian Poets: being a Summary in Prose of the +Poems of Dante, Pulci, Boiardo, Aristo, and Tasso; with Comments +throughout, occasional passages Versified, and Critical Notices of the +Lives and Genius of the Authors. By Leigh Hunt. 12mo. cloth, $1 25. + +---- The same, fancy gilt. $1 75. + + "Mr. Hunt's book has been aptly styled, a series of exquisite + engravings of the magnificent pictures painted by these great + Italian masters."--_Journal of Commerce._ + +Irving.--Works of Washington Irving; Revised and Enlarged by the Author. +In twelve elegant duodecimo volumes, beautifully printed with new type, +and on superior paper, made expressly for the purpose, and bound in +cloth. + +As follows:-- + + _The Sketch-Book_, in one volume. + _Knickerbocker's New York_, in one volume. + _Tales of a Traveller_, in one vol. + _Bracebridge Hall_, in one volume. + _The Conquest of Grenada_, in one volume. + _The Alhambra_, in one volume. + _Astoria_, in one volume. + _The Crayon Miscellany_, in one volume. Abbotsford, Newstead, + The Prairies, &c. + _The Spanish Legends_, in one vol. + _The Life and Voyages of Columbus_, and _The Companions of + Columbus_, in two volumes. + _Adventures of Capt. Bonneville_, in one volume. + +(Now publishing.) + +Irving.--The Sketch-Book. By Washington Irving. Complete in one volume, +12mo. cloth. In September. + +Irving.--The Illustrated Sketch-Book. By Washington Irving. In October +will be published, THE SKETCH-BOOK, by Washington Irving, one vol. +square octavo, Illustrated with a series of highly-finished Engravings +on Wood, from Designs by DARLEY and others, engraved in the best style +by CHILDS, HERRICK, &c. This edition will be printed on paper of the +finest quality, similar in size and style to the new edition of +"Halleck's Poems." It is intended that the illustrations shall be +superior to any engravings on wood yet produced in this country, and +that the mechanical execution of the volume, altogether, shall be worthy +of the author's reputation. It will form an elegant and appropriate +gift-book for all seasons. + +Irving.--Knickerbocker's History of New York. By Washington Irving. With +Revisions and copious Additions. Will be published on the 1st of +October. + +Irving.--The Illustrated Knickerbocker; with a series of original +Designs, in one volume, octavo, uniform with the "Sketch-Book," is also +in preparation. + +Irving.--The Life and Voyages of Columbus. By Washington Irving. Vol. I. +on the 1st of November. + + The succeeding volumes will be issued on the first day of each + month until completed. + +Keats.--The Poetical Works of John Keats. 1 vol. 12mo. cloth. + +---- The same, gilt extra. + + "They are flushed all over with the rich lights of fancy; and + so colored and bestrewn with the flowers of poetry that, even + while perplexed and bewildered in their labyrinths, it is + impossible to resist the intoxication of their sweetness, or to + shut our hearts to the enchantment they so lavishingly + present."--_Francis Jeffrey._ + +Kinglake.--Eoethen; or, Traces of Travel brought from the East. 12mo. +green cloth. 50 cts. + + "Eoethen is a book with which everybody, fond of eloquent prose + and racy description, should be well acquainted."--_U. S. + Gazette._ + +Klipstein's Anglo-Saxon Course of Study. In uniform 12mo. volumes, as +follows: + +I. + +Klipstein.--A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Language. By Louis F. Klipstein, +AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of Giessen. 12mo. cloth, $1 25. + +II. + +Klipstein.--Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, with an Introductory Ethnographical +Essay, Copious Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Glossary in which +are shown the Indo-Germanic and other Affinities of the Language. By +Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of Giessen. + +III. + +Klipstein.--Natale Sancti Gregorii Papae.--AElfric's Homily on the Birth-day +of St. Gregory, and Collateral Extracts from King Alfred's Version of +Bede's Ecclesiastical History and the Saxon Chronicle, with a full +Rendering into English, Notes Critical and Explanatory, and an Index of +Words. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and PH.D., of the University of +Giessen. + +IV. + +Klipstein.--Extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Gospels, a Portion of the +Anglo-Saxon Paraphrase of the Book of Psalms, and other Selections of a +Sacred Order in the same Language, with a Translation into English, and +Notes Critical and Explanatory. By Louis F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. and +PH.D., of the University of Giessen. + +V. + +Klipstein.--Tha Halgan Godspel on Englisc--the Anglo-Saxon Version of the +Holy Gospels. Edited by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A. _Reprinted by the same. +Now ready._ 12mo. cloth, $1 25. + +Klipstein.--Study of Modern Languages.--Part First; French, Italian, +Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English. By L. F. Klipstein, AA.LL.M. +and PH.D. One vol. Imperial 8vo. Cloth, $1; paper 75 cents. + +Lamb.--Essays of Elia. By Charles Lamb. 1 vol. 12mo., cloth. $1. + +---- The same, gilt extra, $1 25. + + "Shakspeare himself might have read them, and Hamlet have + quoted them: for truly was our excellent friend of the genuine + line of Yorick."--_Leigh Hunt's London Journal._ + +Lamb.--Specimens of the English Dramatic Poets. By Charles Lamb. 1 vol. +12mo., green cloth, $1 13. + +---- The same, gilt extra, $1 50. + + "Nowhere are the resources of the English tongue in power, in + sweetness, terror, pathos; in description and dialogue, so well + displayed."--_Broadway Journal._ + +Mahan.--On Advanced Guards, Outposts, and Military Duty. By D. H. Mahan, +M.A. 18mo. cloth, 75 cents + +Mahan's Course of Civil Engineering. Third edition, 8vo. Illustrated. $3 +50. + +Milton.--The Prose Works of John Milton. Edited by Rev. Rufus Wilmott +Griswold. 2 vols. 8vo., cloth, $4. + +Modern Painters. By a Graduate of Oxford. 12mo. cloth, $1 25. + +---- The same. Second vol. 12mo. + +Montagu.--Selections from the Works of Taylor, Latimer, Hall, Milton, +Barrow, Lowth, Brown, Fuller, and Bacon. By Basil Montagu. 1 vol. 12mo., +green cloth, 50 cents; cloth gilt, $1. + + "This volume contains choice extracts from some of the noblest + of the old English writers."--_Cincinnati Atlas._ + +Nordheimer.--A Critical Grammar of the Hebrew Language. By Isaac +Nordheimer, Phil. Doctor. 8vo. cloth, $3 50. + +Oriental Life Illustrated. Being a new edition of Eoethen, or Traces of +Travel in the East. With fine Illustrations on Steel. + +Parsons.--The Rose; its History, Poetry, and Culture. By S. B. Parsons. +With colored Plates. Royal 8vo. cloth, $1 50. + +Patrick, Lowth, Arnold, and Whitby.--Commentary on the Bible, by Bishops +Patrick, Lowth, Arnold, Whitby, and Lowman. 4 vols. imperial 8vo. cloth, +$16. + +Peacock.--Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey. 1 vol. 12mo., green cloth, +50 cents. + + "This is a witty and amusing book."--_Tribune._ + +Poe.--Eureka, A Prose Poem: Or the Physical and Metaphysical Universe. By +Edgar A. Poe, Esq. Handsomely printed. 12mo. cloth, 75 cents. + +Pearls of American Poetry. Second edition, superbly illuminated in the +manner of the ancient missals by T. W. Gwilt Mapleson, Esq. Printed in +gold and colors on Bristol board. Elegantly and strongly bound in full +Morocco, Antique style. One volume quarto, $12. + + * * * Of this splendid and costly work, a small number were issued + for this season, but it was not ready for actual publication. + It is now completed in a superior style, and is the most + splendid book of the time. + + "On beautiful vellum paper, are printed in colored characters + and with every variety of type, some of the choicest brief + poems of American writers--Bryant, Longfellow, C. F. Hoffman, + and others. Each initial letter is a picture, and each page is + illuminated as exquisitely as any of the choicest of antique + illuminated volumes--and all from original designs. The + conception of these works of art, as they richly deserve to be + called, the drawing, painting, gilding, are of the highest + order. The binding is in keeping with the rest--that of the + olden day--solid, rich, and tasteful. 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