UNITY OF SYSTEM. 2G5 



has a diameter of more than one hundred and forty thousand millions 

 of miles, and is included in the orbit of a comet. The revolution round 

 the sun of one comet exceeds in length five hundred years; and another 

 comet is supposed to occupy a far longer period of time in its orbit. The 

 solar system just noticed is but one star among the many millions of 

 stars in one astral system. Light in one minute travels more than ten 

 millions of miles, and thus it is eight minutes in passing from the Sun 

 to the Earth, four hours in passing from the Sun to Neptune, and 

 ninety-six hours in passing from the Sun to one of the comets. But 

 the distance of the nearest star is about eighteen million million miles, 

 and therefore light takes three years in coming from it to the Earth. 

 Again, light occupies four thousand years in its passage to the Earth 

 from a star of the twelfth magnitude, the latter being at a distance of 

 twenty-three thousand million million miles. Thus, such a star appears to the 

 Earth, not as it is now, but as it was four thousand years ago; and if 

 a being on the star at this time had the sense of sight sufficiently powerful 

 to behold the history of this Earth, he would see the events which 

 occurred four thousand years ago. And if he possessed the faculty of pas- 

 sing through the intervening space in one day, or in less, the history of 

 four thousand years would be brought together within the lapse of a few 

 hours, or of a few minutes, or of one second. And if he used the speed 

 of light in passing from the star to the Earth, or from the Earth to the 

 star, a momentary event in one of the two spheres would remain fixed 

 to his sight during his transit of four thousand years. 



The distance of other stars requires twenty thousand years for light 

 to pass from them to the Earth. All these stars belong to one system 

 or cluster, but other astral systems scattered at immeasurable distances 

 through boundless space, appear to the Earth as they existed millions of 

 years ago. From this Earth therefore, as from other spheres, the aspects 

 of nature in former epochs extending over myriads of years, are for ever 

 radiatory or spreading in concentric circles through infinite space. When 

 this Earth in all its epochs is fully known, its adaptation to one purpose 

 will doubtless be manifest, and this knowledge of the Earth will be 

 much modified or comparatively "done away," when the sun and all the 

 planets are equally well understood. This last degree of knowledge will 

 be still more changed when it is combined with that of the millions of 

 stars which form one astral system. But there are innumerable other 

 astral systems, and as each of them is successively understood, the 

 knowledge previously acquired will be altered as well as increased. It 

 thus appears that time is wholly controlled by space, and may be arres- 



* See "The Stars and the Earth." Bailliere, 219, Regent Street, London. 



