EVOL UTION IN ASTRONOMY AND PHILOLOGY. 33 



It has been supposed by some writers * that 

 the planets are receding from the sun, and will 

 ultimately become suns themselves ; but it is a 

 more general opinion, and more in accordance 

 with received scientific theories, that the reverse 

 is the case, and that the planets are gradually 

 approaching the sun, and will ultimately become 

 absorbed into its substance. 



A very remarkable phenomenon was observed 

 in the star T Coronas Borealis a few years ago, 

 which appeared to indicate that a planet possess- 

 ing an ocean had fallen into its primary.f 



If therefore, we accept the teachings of the 

 Mystics, and look upon God as the Spiritual Sun, 

 analogy would at once lead us to the doctrines 

 of Emanation and Absorption, which form so 

 important a part of the profound philosophies 

 of the East, and are not regarded with dis- 

 favour by many unprejudiced thinkers among 

 ourselves. 



Little is at present known of the nature of 

 the more distant planets ; but the largest are 

 those furthest from the sun, and are also those 



* Luke Burke, and J. W. Jackson, for example. 



t See Good Words for April, 1867. A similar appearance was 

 presented by another star in November, 1876. 



D 



