Trilune Extras Lecture and Letter Scries. 



space and Infinite time are brought to our knowledge, 



we must admit the idea of infinite power. 



TILE ATTRIBUTES OF DEITY DEDUCED FROM ASTP.OX- 



OMY. 



Why, then, stop short of the idea of inflniio wisdom 

 end beneficence of the design of the Creator merely bo- 

 cause it is something that is inconceivable to us J I; 

 seems to me, then, we may fairly turn from this to the 

 consideration of the possible attributes of D.-ity with- 

 out being disturbed by the thought that tlio very notion 

 of the Deity of a being infinite in existence, infinite in 

 space, infinite in time, infinite in power, is inconceivable 

 to us. Why, those very attributes that have been as- 

 cribed to Deity are the things we have been, forced to 

 6ee. We began with infinity of space, and it is infinity 

 of space we attribute tu the Almighty. We are led 1'rmn 

 that to infinity of tiu.e; thence to an infinity of power; 

 und it is by that we ure led to the mere physical con- 

 sideration of the qualities of the universe. Thus, then, 

 naturally we may turn to the thought of possible quali- 

 ties on the part of the Deity and the way in which, in 

 Borne sense, His authoriiv may be exercised over the 

 dominions of the universe. Take, for instance, the 

 senses by which wo became acquainted with the uar.ure 

 of the uuiver.se, and let us remember how utterly feeble 

 those senses are ; on how narrow a basis we form ail our 

 codc^ ptions of the universe. Tnere are five feebla 

 senses ; only one of those senses-, the sense or 

 sight, brings to us any kno.vledgi of outlying 

 space : and that sense existing only in two small pupils 

 which are to tell us of the universe. We may. indeed, 

 extend the powers of the eyesight by means of the tele- 

 ecope; but thcu we, in point of fact (I do 1101 use the word 

 in jest), see as through a glass darkly, because we have 

 only a small part, a small portion of the heavens brought 

 out iutoviaw; find it is only by combining the views 

 thus formed, combining them iu the imagination, that 

 we can form an estimate of the real wonders whicli ap- 

 pear; so we can imagine what might be seen if 

 the power of the eye was increased to that of the largest 

 telescope, and we can conceive what would bo seen if 

 the power of the eye was increased a million fold 03 . 

 j - ond that of the largest telescope; the wonderful dis . 

 plays of the dark clouds and masses of matter gathering 

 in various portions of spice, tlie power of recognizing 

 their motions as the telescope enables the astronomer to 

 do, learning the harmony existing in their motion?. 

 That is something that the feeble sense ot sight only 

 adequately extended might bring before us. 



THE LIMITS IMPOSED BY OUR SENSES. 

 Nav, there is another thought connected with this 

 subject, which is dwelt uooti HI a little book called 

 "The Stars and E ir.h," which you in ly have si-en tbr> 

 aufhor of that book is unfortunately unk nown that 

 wonderful thought that everything taat has gone on in 

 the universe, everything that has occurred, is at the 

 present moment eonveving its messaire into tin? dept IM 

 of space; the time when ijfo began on this oarth, al 

 though it may have been 11 mi:lion of years away, all 

 that has happened t\< m the earth, is at this very mo- 

 ment conveying Its message mto the depths <>r cp iee ; 

 nil that was hai>p -nm._' iluring the millions an.l millions 

 of years In which the earth \\as forming, is eonveying 

 its record hit" spic '. N i.y, further bar If, when the 

 world was a nebulous mass, ami when 1 1n- 

 polar system was beginning, as we understand , 

 that message is still being conveyed into the 

 depths of spapp. Now if We a. unit the idc-u of a Deitv, 



Inllaite iu the power of cune and ID the power of per- 



ception, then to Him ail those records are being at this 

 \vrv moment conveyed. But after all the sense of sight 

 affords but one of tno feeblest methods of ascertaining 

 what is going ou. Our conceptions are feeble; but we 

 can conceive more powerful means of learning what is 

 going on. Light takes a certain time in traveling ; it 

 travels with enormous velocity; but still our sense of 

 sight is not a cotempor.ineous ouc. We have ii>- 

 formatiou about a star at one time, whilo an- 

 other star is presented to us at another time. The 

 seen" is not that which exists at the time H ia 

 presented to us. We turn to another force, the mes- 

 sage of gravity, which, according to our present modes 

 ot measurement, acts instantaneously, and conceive tho 

 possibility of a creature perceiving by it, as we see. 

 at the moment. We caimot doubt bat that all the ID- 

 formation that will be conveyed to such senses must be, 

 as it were, possessed by the infinite and inconceivable 

 Being oi -c-upying all space an:l existing for all time. If 

 we have these various conceptions presented before us, 

 we can think as to what 1s possible on the part of the 

 Almighty; but we have to remember that we too must 

 be Ma absolute part, as it were, of His exi-tenee. The 

 whole universe is at this very moment conveying 

 information not only and not merely about its present 

 slate, but about its past ttate. Every p.irt of the uni- 

 verse at this present moment is conveying its message, 

 as it were, to the Almighty. Nor can we doubt that o 

 being of infinite power, of Infinite future existence is 

 indicated by the present state of matters on this earth, 

 for precisely tho saiuo reason that the present state ot 

 things throughout the universe indicates what is past, 

 it also indicates what will follow. We hays then a now 

 conception brought -before us, or at least a new idea, 

 which is utterly inconceivable; and added to tho ideas of 

 infinite space and infinite time and infinite power, "We 

 have an idea of an infl-iito knowledge of the Almighty. 

 You see, then, we have been gradually led by the f tudy 

 of these, various orders of inconceivable ideas we have 

 been grailua'ily led to those ideas about the Almighty 

 whicli form so great a subject of dispute. It seems to 

 me to dispute this matter is hopeless and must be end- 

 less, because it is based upon that which is inconceivable. 



THE VAST VARIETY OF THE UXIVEKSE. 



Rut now let us consider the field through which the 

 action ot the Almighty is exteiried. And hero we have 

 the teachings of astronomy before us. We have thought 

 of tut> wonderful power displayed, but have not con- 

 sidered the wonderful variety. We have in our solar 

 svstem, for instance, the great central orb that controls 

 the system, an orb swept by cyclonic 8tortD3, surrounded 

 by tho zodiacal light, circle 1 by various planets, these 

 planets differing from each other in kmd; there is thf 

 terrestrial order of small planets ami giant planets, the 

 asteroids and the multitudes of satellites and the meteoric 

 sx.stem-*. All are traveling aroun 1 the sun. Wo must 

 recogniz* the fact not merely of variety, but that these 

 varieties must extend through infinity. We see. that I be 

 various Hiins, for instance, are not alike. Some are 

 double and others are single; some arc variable and 

 others are fixed. Tlion we co:n.< to these \\oiiilc-r- 

 fnl star clusters, chaiiiriai? like el. nils before tho 

 Summer br.-ezf. Wo seo ail th".so processes 

 talcing place whicli itilicate a vauety of cxust- 

 mce in worlds circling around tho*o suns. 

 Then wo are lO'l t>> the o,u:-stion of lile, lile in other 

 worlds and of inflmt'- life, I have brought it before vou 

 u ifb more detail iu this, the oonoiusioii or tin-' c mrse of 

 lacturcs, because in the theory of life iu other ivoi-iAs we 



