Page images
PDF
EPUB

Philosophy.

IS THE NOTION OF A PLURALITY OF INHABITED WORLDS CONSONANT WITH SCIENCE AND REVELATION?

AFFIRMATIVE ARTICLE.-I.

AN inquiry into the probability of the existence of inhabited worlds other than our own, whilst invested with much interest to the curious mind, will, we think, be found not entirely devoid of practical benefit. It is true, that the world in which we live is so far isolated from the surrounding spheres, that the discovery of the certainty of all of them being populous with intelligent beings would be of no practical utility, as no possible communication could ever take place between them and ourselves. The present inquiry, nevertheless, opens to us a grand field for the exercise of our reasoning powers; leads us to contemplate the infinitude of the realm over which God reigns, thus assisting our conception of his almighty power and wisdom; and, bringing us into communication with nature in all its grandeur, arousing within us thoughts of the most solemn character, carrying with them many humbling yet ennobling tendencies. As Humboldt remarks, in the beautiful introduction to his "Cosmos," "The earnest and solemn thoughts awakened by a communion with nature, intuitively arise from a presentiment of the order and harmony pervading the whole universe, and from the contrast we draw between the narrow limits of our own existence and the image of infinity revealed on every side, whether we look upwards to the starry vault of heaven, scan the far-stretching plain before us, or seek to trace the dim horizon across the vast expanse of ocean."

us, then, at once proceed to the examination of this subject; and pursuing this inductive line of argument, we will, in the first place, give our attention to the formation of the earth, and then direct our inquiry to the stars and planets which surround it.

Standing upon that hill-top, cast your eye over the boundless expanse before you. Hill, dale, and plain lie stretching out, one beyond the other, in endless succession, until all fade in dim indistinctness. But all are teeming with organic life. The yellow corn is gently waving upon the hill-side; the dancing leaves of a thousand lofty trees are rustling in the dale; the bleating sheep and lowing cattle are grazing peacefully in the plain; and the tapering spires and ascending smoke from a thousand chimneys, scattered in clusters here and there over the landscape, speak plainly of the art of an intelligent being; whilst the distant roar and busy hum, wafted by the breeze to your attentive ear, proclaim that men are toiling and labouring in their various avocations. All is full of life. Turn you round, and gaze now in an opposite direction, and you see the restless ocean glittering in the sunlight; and, borne upon its heaving bosom, the eye is attracted to a brightly white object slowly but steadily drawing nearer, and you know that a vessel is coming to cast the spoils of other and far distant lands at your feet, attesting the fact that other shores besides that on which you stand are teeming with organic life. But other sights and other sounds claim your attention; and turning reluctantly away from the contemplation of the snowy sail, you perceive a quarryman hewing and blasting his way deep into the bowels of the earth; and upon some of the slabs of rock which his labours have exposed to view, you see undulating marks, similar to those left upon the sands of the sea shore by the retiring tide. And there, also, you find shells, and what appear to be Let the remains of fishes and other aquatic or

We are aware that the slight knowledge which we possess of the construction and development of the spheres inhabiting space, places many difficulties in the path we have to traverse. Making, however, a free use of the knowledge the discoveries of science has presented to us with regard to our own Earth, and taking it as a base, and comparing with it the little we do know of the surrounding spheres, we trust, by this analogical line of reasoning, to arrive at a safe conclusion upon the matter before us.

ganisms, both animal and vegetable. And the remains of land plants and animals you also discover; but many of them are of an entirely different species and of a more gigantic character than any with which you are acquainted. You examine farther, and perceive signs which lead you to suppose that there must have been an alternation of dry land and water: for now the strata are loaded with the remains of sea plants, fish, and shells, and you say, "The ocean once made this place its bed"-now a seam of coal tells you that upon this same spot a mighty forest once grew and flourished: again the strata present the remains of fresh water plants and fish, and land plants and animals, and you say, "Here has been the site of a fresh water lake, or of a river's mouth." Vast chasms and fissures, and the broken and fused strata, tell you of the agency of fire and other mighty disturbing causes. You ask yourself, "How is this? -the earliest historical records tell me not of these great changes. The Mount Ararat of the present day is the same Ararat upon which Noah's ark rested." You observe further that no traces of man can be found in any but the most recent alluvial deposits. And you put all these, and many other things which you have observed, together, and, as a philosopher, reason upon them; and the result is, that you conclude that this earth has passed through many different stages of existence, and was the scene of organic life many long ages before man became an inhabitant of it. Yes; this is as plainly written on the page of nature by the finger of God, as the fact that "on the sixth day God created man" is recorded in the scriptures, by the same finger of the same Almighty Being.

Whilst you have been thus employed, and stand lost in wonder at the discoveries you have made, the sun-that same sun which in the morning you saw rise in its blushing glory in the east, and walk triumphantly across the arch of heaven, pouring forth such beautiful streams of light and heat in its course-has now sunk to rest below the western horizon. One by one the stars appear in the dark vault above, till the whole heavens are studded with them, and in one place so thickly as to assume the appearance of a milky band, spread out like a veil over the dark face of night; and at last heaven's

pale queen herself meekly looks down upon you from the zenith of her lofty throne. You observe that that bright star, which shone with so lustrous a white light in the west when the gloom of night first gathered over you, has now disappeared below the horizon, following the track of the sun. And other stars and constellations, which strove to penetrate the mists that hung over the east, are now glittering brightly high over your head. Some of these, you observe, shine with a steady beam, whilst the greater number twinkle and flicker, so that you almost imagine that the winds of heaven will presently extinguish them. Night after night, and year after year, and century after century, you, the philosopher of many ages, closely and perseveringly watching these heavenly bodies, at last discover that those steadily shining orbs which first attracted your attention, pendant in space, move, at various distances from it, constantly round one centre; that the earth on which you stand, like them, whilst revolving on its own axis, moves round the same common centre, and that centre the sun, or, rather, situated in the sun, shining with the same warm and life-giving beam upon all alike. And you further discover that the splendid orb of pale light, which walks with such a queenly dignity across the vault of heaven, is a satellite attendant upon and revolving round the earth; and that some of the other planets have similar satellites, accompanying their primary spheres in their course round the sun. And finally, all the beauty and grandeur of the solar system is disclosed to your mental gaze.

But those myriads of twinkling stars, what are they? Wondrous fact! They are suns, and the centres of other planetary systems like our own. Millions of these suns form the astral system, and the infinitude of space is filled with them, whirling and rushing headlong through its boundless realms, guided in their mazy dances by a Hand that never errs. Oh! philosopher, what mighty thoughts rise within us, struggle with our weak nature, and overwhelm us at the contemplation of your imperfect discoveries! And yet, whilst man's fancy cannot wander amidst these boundless fields of thought without being lost in their vastness, there is a Mind that conceived and a Hand that executed and still presides over a

C

design, of which that which you have discovered is but a most imperfect and atomical part. Oh God! how mighty art thou in thy works and ways!

You do not, however, rest satisfied with what you have discovered; but are stimulated to inquire farther into the grand secrets of nature. Accordingly, you wish to know something of the way in which the Deity caused these innumerable worlds to assume their present shape and position. You perceive that certain causes lead to certain effects in things with which you come in closer contact; and observing effects similar in their nature in the regions of space, you ask, "Why should not the same causes have given birth to them?" You have reason to suppose that all space was once filled with a luminous matter, or "fire mist," of irregular constitution. The laws of attraction and gravitation were impressed upon it by a divine hand. Nuclei were established in it, which became the centres of aggregation; and the fiery matter, rushing in all directions towards these centres, became broken up into various masses. The conflicting currents of matter meeting together gave a rotatory motion to them. Centrifugal force caused them, whilst in a soft state, to swell out at their equators; and soon rings were cast off, having the same motion as their primary spheres, and which in their turn became broken up, forming other spheres, revolving round those from which they were detached. And thus you have astral, solar, planetary, and satellitary systems. It is a beautiful theory; but still, only a theory.*

We

Let us apply, then, this theory and these facts the discoveries of philosophy—to the subject more immediately before us. have seen that it is probable that the various spheres forming our solar system had a common origin from the same mass of luminous matter. We are sure that the planets and their satellites, in common with one another, revolve on their own axes, and, at various distances, round a common centre, the sun (supposed by the above theory to be the remains of the fire mist, and from which all the planets were thrown off); that they all in common, though in different degrees, derive light and heat from that sun. Fur

*Such is a very brief and necessa: ily imperfect

sketch of La Place's theory of the cu smography.

ther, science has taught us that some of them agree in having one or more satellites; that the nearest to us, and consequently those most capable of accurate observation, and also the moon, possess in common with our earth an atmosphere and volcanic mountains, and possibly seas; and that the situation of our earth is not a peculiar one, being neither the nearest to, nor most distant from, the sun. Is it, then, inconsistent with science to suppose that the analogy can be carried still farther? Our philosopher, as he stood upon the hill-top, gazed long and wistfully at the smiling landscape, teeming with vegetable and animal life, stretching out before him. Is it not probable that equally glorious prospects charm the senses of philosophers dwelling in those worlds, so like our own in so many respects? The fact that some of them possess an atmosphere and volcanic mountains seems to us particularly to point to an affirmative answer. Those of our readers who have any acquaintance with the science of geology well know how important a part the atmosphere and volcanic action, in conjunction with water, have played in reducing our earth to a state fit for organic life. They well know that it was by means of the atmosphere and water, acting upon the hard surfaces of the primeval rock, broken up by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, that were deposited those strata, composed of many elements, from which a soil capable of supporting vegetable life was ultimately derived. We are not aware whether positive signs of water have yet been discovered, either in the moon or any of the planets. But the discovery of volcanic eruptions points plainly, we think, to its existence. For the formation of steam, by water coming in contact with the heated rocks in the bowels of the earth, is a chief agent in causing the upheaving and upbreaking of the earth's crust, as is proved by the volumes of steam escaping from the crater of an active volcano. It is not far-fetched, then, to suppose that it is also an agent in effecting the eruptions that have been observed to take place in the moon and some of the planets. Would not, also, the various gases set free by these eruptions, combine with the gases in the air and form water. Presuming, then, the existence of water, may we not fairly suppose that the atmosphere, fire, and water, have produced similar effects in the

moon and planets that they have done upon this earth; and that soils capable of supporting vegetable, life may exist there as well as here? If such soils, why not vegetable life? And if vegetable, why not animal life also?

It would not, of course, necessarily follow that if vegetable and animal organisms exist in these worlds, that man dwells there also. For, as we have seen, our earth was gradually prepared for the habitation of man; and races after races of vegetables and animals were introduced, flourished, and decayed, long ages before man came upon the scene. It is, therefore, highly probable that many of the planets may yet be only in a state of preparation for the habitation of man, or some other intelligent being. But we are acquainted with no facts in science which prove that our world is in a more advanced state than many others. Than some others it may be: for if there be any truth in the La Placean theory of the cosmogony, the rings of Saturn, not yet broken up into satellites, would lead to the supposition of that planet being in a less advanced stage than our own; and that it is, perhaps, not yet fitted for the existence of sentient beings.

The difference in the degree of heat received from the sun by the other planets, in comparison with our earth, may be urged as a reason against the probability of their being, like it, inhabited. For whereas the amount of heat received by Mercury and Venus, as compared with that received by the Earth, is respectively as 7 and 2 to 1, that received by Jupiter and Saturn is only as and to 1; so that the heat of some is too great, and that of others too small, to support such animal life as ours. But in the first place, it is not necessary to suppose that the inhabitants of the various spheres are all constituted alike; nor that the heat of the planets is in proportion to the power of the sun's rays falling upon them. The more distant planets may have more inherent heat, and atmospheres that are more powerfu! conductors of it, than those in closer proximity to the sun. It is, also, a curious but well authenticated fact, that the velocity at which the planets travel round the sun is greater, the nearer they approximate to it. Thus, whilst their respective mean distances from that luminary are, in round numbers,

as follows, viz., Mercury, 37,000,000; Venus, 68,000,000; Earth, 95,000,000; Mars, 145,000,000; Jupiter, 494,000,000; Saturn, 906,000,000; and Uranus, 1,822,000,000 of miles, their respective mean velocities in travelling round it are-Mercury, 109,442, Venus, 80,062, Earth, 68,092, Mars, 55,166, Jupiter, 29,866, Saturn, 22,050, and Uranus 15,546 miles per hour. May not-and we put forth the idea timidly-may not the great velocity at which the nearer planets travel be the means of decreasing the power of the action of the sun's rays upon them, and the slower rate at which the more distant ones travel be the means of increasing, or rather of allowing greater effect to, the power of the solar rays? It is, at least, not impossible; and if these ideas be worth anything, it is by no means certain that the comparative degrees of heat possessed by the planets are correctly represented by the figures quoted above. We would also suggest that the extraordinary difference in the amount of heat experienced by the inhabitants of the torrid zone from that experienced by those who dwell in the frigid zone, should make us hesitate to assume the uninhabitability of all the planets on account of the difference in their temperatures.

But we hasten on, and must be very brief in another consideration. Whilst revelation and history lead us to the conclusion that man has not been an inhabitant of this world for more than some 6,000 years, geology, as we have already seen, has disclosed the marvellous facta fact there is no gainsaying→ of the existence of this world for countless ages. But the Great Creator, reason and revelation tell us, could have no beginning; He was from, and will be to, all eternity. Is it consistent with our ideas of this Supreme Being to suppose that he, until within some few short thousand years, has been reigning over inorganic matter and "beasts that perish"? Can we imagine God sitting on his lofty throne, alone in his glory? We cannot; no, we cannot. Nor can we conceive of him otherwise than as surrounded with hosts of adoring spirits, worshipping him, and doing his behests. Revelation tells us of angels, and leads us to believe that they existed before our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created. Whence these spirits, if this earth be the only inhabited world? Wherefore this vast, extended

creation-these countless stars, forming solar and astral systems? "To give light upon the earth." But not one millionth part of them are visible without the aid of powerful telescopes!

is the notion of a plurality of inhabited worlds perfectly consonant with the teachings of science, but is positively supported by the general testimony of revelation.

We now leave this subject in the hands of other writers, remarking only in conclusion, that our aim in this opening article has been to lay down the groundwork of an argument upon which others might build, rather than to raise up an elaborate superstructure of PHILALETHES.

The idea that this globe, this single grain of sand upon the desert, is the only sphere in which God has placed intelligent beings is presumptuous, and derogates from the infinite nature of the Creator; and most conscientiously do we believe, that not only our own.

NEGATIVE ARTICLE.-I.

derive but little benefit from our discussion. When we use the terms, "Plurality of Inhabited Worlds," we do not mean to include as their supposed inhabitants, angelic beings, spiritual existences, or any ethereal forms. We place the same restrictions upon the term as Dr. Whewell, probably the anonymous author alluded to, does, and limit the question to beings of similar nature, disposition, and character to ourselves, formed like us in a body out of the dust of the ground, and endowed with the same intellectual, moral, and religious capabilities-in short, we limit the question to man, This, then, is the point which we propose to examine,-"Is the supposition that there are more worlds than one inhabited by men, consistent with science and revelation?" To this we give a decided negative, and we firmly believe that not only do all our present discoveries support it, but that all future ones will tend to the same conclusion.

NEVER did we enter upon a discussion | may fall into a similar mistake, and thus with feelings less excited, and a mind less prejudiced, than at present. The subject is so speculative, and so unconnected with practical life, that we cannot attach much importance, at least in the present imperfect state of our knowledge, to either defeat or victory. The necessary uncertainty in which both views must be involved, the comparatively indefinite arguments by which each must be supported, the extravagant theories into which, by their fascination, we are so liable to be drawn, and that at the slightest impulse, tend, in a considerable degree, to remove from our hearts the rancour of disputants and the hostility of antagonists; while,, on the other hand, they have a great and advantageous influence in imparting to us the coolness of reasoners, and the caution of logicians. Accordingly, we have no fears of transgressing the bounds of moderation and decorum in the present debate, and we sincerely trust that the pages of the British Controversialist will not be tarnished with those violent outbursts of temper which are the characteristics of many, who, with an excess of imprudence and recklessness, endeavour to overthrow the old and establish the new; nor be degraded by those extreme conservatives, who would deny the utility of change and progression to a rational being, and restrict him to antiquated notions which cannot be supported either by scrip

ture or science.

Previous to our examination of the arguments which we intend to bring forward, we think it necessary clearly to define the meaning of the question before us; for if the mighty veteran, Sir David Brewster, has misapprehended it in his reply to the anonymous author who so electrified us all, we cannot but expect that a few of our readers

To prove the view we have thus defined, we purpose to bring forward, Ist, Arguments derived from the outer world; and 2ndly, Arguments of a moral kind.

1st. We are told that there is a great and undeniable similarity between our earth and the planets, in several important particulars, and therefore, as the former is inhabited, the probability is that the latter also is inhabited. "With so many striking points of resemblance between the earth and Jupiter," says Sir D. Brewster,* "the unprejudiced mind cannot resist the conclusion, that Jupiter has been created for the express purpose of being the seat of animal and intellectual life." In spite, however, of the respectable authority which this name must give to every

"More Worlds than One," p. 59.

« PreviousContinue »