THE PLANETS, AKE THEY INHABITED ? 



organised creatures to their weight. 16. Adaptation of the rotation 

 of the earth to this organisation. 17. Floral clock of Linnaeus. 



18. Time of rotation not the consequence of a physical law. 



19. Rotation of the other planets. 20. Of Mars. 21. Of Venus and 

 Mercury. 22. Their close analogy to the earth. 23. Inclination of 

 the earth's axis. 24. Produces the seasons. 25. Like provision in the 

 other planets 26. The Atmosphere. 



1. WHEN we walk abroad on a clear starlight night, and direct 

 our view to the aspect of the heavens, there are certain reflections 

 which will present themselves to every meditative mind. Are 

 those shining orbs, which in such countless numbers decorate the 

 firmament, peopled with creatures endowed like ourselves with 

 reason to discover, with sense to love, and with imagination to 

 expand to their boundless perfection the attributes of Him of 

 "whose fingers the heavens are the work?" Has He, who 

 "made man lower than the angels to crown him" with the glory 

 of discovering that light in which He has " decked himself as 

 with a garment," also made other creatures with like powers 

 and like destinies, with dominion over the works of His hands, 

 and having all things put in subjection under their feet ? 

 And are those resplendent globes which roll in silent majesty 

 through the measureless abysses of space, the dwellings of such 

 beings ? These are inquiries against which neither the urgency 

 of business nor the allurements of pleasure can block up the 

 avenues of the mind. 



2. Those whose information on topics of this nature is most 

 superficial, would be prompted to look immediately for direct 

 evidence on these questions ; and consequently to appeal to the 

 telescope, Such an appeal would, however, be fruitless. Vast 

 as are the powers of that instrument it still falls infinitely short 

 of the ability to give direct evidence on such inquiries. What 

 will a telescope do for us in the examination of any of the 

 heavenly bodies, or indeed of any distant object ? It will accom- 

 plish this, and nothing more ; it will enable us to behold it, as 

 we should see it at a lesser distance. But, strictly speaking, it 

 cannot accomplish even this : for to suppose it did, would be to 

 ascribe to it all the admirable optical perfection of the eye ; 

 for that instrument, however nearly it approaches the organ 

 of vision, is still deficient in some of the qualities which have 

 been conferred upon the eye by its Maker. 



3. Let us, however, assume that we resort to the use of a 

 telescope having such a magnifying power, for example, as a 

 thousand : what would such an instrument do for us ? It would 

 in fact place us a thousand times nearer to the object that we are 

 desirous to examine, and thus enable us to see it as we should at 



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