The Sun.
London, England, 1825-12-28 00:00:00

PLURALITY OF WORLDS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE,SUN.
Sin—Although there were some among the
philosophers of antiquity, such as Dernocritus and
others, who.taught that the fixed stars were suns
itlneninating systems of Varsiti-,..-yet the eotionsof
a plurality of .worlds was not..generally adopted
by the indents. Nor can we feel surprised at
Ibis, shire many ages elapsed ere astronomers
could succeed in acquiring correct notions res-
pecting the nature, magnitudes, and distances of
the heavenly bodies. Yet, without such previous
knowledge, every attempt to establish, as a mat.
ter of fact, the existence of other suns and other
planets, scattered through the immensity of
space, performing with singular precision, their
vast and complicated revolutions, must appear
inconsiderate and fanciful. - But when a succes-
sion of discoveries, accumulated by the labours
of the ablestarien in each succeeding age, had at
length clearly demonstrated the real state of the
heavens ; when it had taught us, that the. dis-
tance which separates us from the fixed
stars, is ,immeasurably great ; that these seeming
specks scattered with such magnificent profusion,
tlaroughout the firmament, were, in reality, globes
inconceivably -larger .than. ours ; the idea that.
such wonderful masses should be placed ut such
amazing -distances for the mere purpose of orna-
meeting. the vaulted sky,.. and of enlivening the
m a
gloo ottrmoonless nights, appears..contrary to
asommonsSenSe, and even insultieg to the Divine
wisdom that had presided. over the formation of
'the iastsoniverse.
The: celebrated Dutch philosopher, Huygetts,
in his Cosmotheorot, may be considered as the
rst who laboured to establish the. doctrine of a
plurality of worlds, for Foutenelle'a Pluraliti des
;Wonder, were published at a subsequent period.
The small work of Huygens is curious and amus-
iug, its main object is.sto demonstrate, that the
idea of the planets being filled with rational in-
habitants, far from being irrational, is perfectly
-consonant with reason,,and still more so with the
notion► we must entertain of the wisdom of the
,Creator. Ilis arguinents in support of this hy-
pothesis are at once forcible and convincing, as
far as concerns this queStion in general.- But the
.:analogy which the author strives to establish
between his planetariane and the inhabitants of
our globe, is, 1 am inclined to think, carried to
something like an unwarrantable length.
There can be now no difficulty in admitting
that the planets are filled with inhabitants, and
thus much being granted, it cannot be denied
:that these inhabitants must be rational beings,
possessing like ourselves the faculty of thought
and of reflection, and capable of enjoying the
beauty of c, cation,. and of admiring the wisdom
which created them. Thus far I am ready to agree
with the author of the Cusmutheoros, but when
I find him labouring hard to prove that his pia.-
snetarians are possessed of similar senses, and
therefore have similar ideas, are subjected to
snecessities, and 'consequently have the same arts,
the same sciences, and the sane manufactures
sis ourselves ; as I cannot perceive anything like
the absolute necessity of such an exact re-
semblance, I must . lament that the learned
author should have gone so far astray in the wide
regions of analogy and of imaginations. The
.truth of his doctrine must indeed be admitted,
could we imagine for an instant, that God could
not create any beings capable of knowing and of
adoring him,
,without proving them upon the
exact model he has chosen for -man, and
subjecting them to the passions, the desires
and the necessities which appertain to human na-
ture. That this may be the case, is certainly
possible, but scarcely probable. Throughout
our own globe, we find an endless variety of or-
ganization, carried to such an extent, that every
climate has productions peculiar to itself. When,
-therefore, we reflect upon the almost endless
diversity of form under, which organized matter
is presented to our view, and consider the immen-
sity of universal creation, we do not feel justified
in concluding that man, the inhabitant of •one of
the least among the Planets, is necessarily the
most perfect model of rational creation..
Again, the immense difference. which Nee know
-to exist, in the distances from the Suns the mag-
snitudes, revolutions of the Planets belonging to
-our system, must rather induce us to believe, that
similar differences are, thereby, occasioned in
their respective productions and inhabitants ; and
ihese'differences may even be, and probably are,
-such that we can form no correct idea of them.
A. P.

COUNTERFEIT COIN.-NoholllSlandinp,r the nu-
merous examples that have been made, in order to effect the
suppression of coining, the practice was never before carried to
such an alarming extent. Within the last week, there • have
been no less than eight capital committals. Another Concern
of this nature has just been detected in Somerstown. The dis,
col/cry was made in consequence of private information con,
ve.yed to the Magistrates of Hatton-garden Police Office, ivho
dispatched Edwards and Limbrielt,.two very active offiers,
there on Friday : the principal was seized on the Spot,' in-the
act of 'colouring' a quantity of bad half-crowns, by the applica-
tion of a chemical mixture, which is rubbed over the surface,
and gives them the appearance of silver. A large box, con-'
tamping nearly 401. worth of the same spurious metal, -was also
Yured. The felloW has been cmornitted pro tens. us the New
Prison, as the officers expect to beable to secure the remainder
•of the gang.
SEASONABLE WEATHER.--Yesterday the first
appearance of winter' was experienced .in the
metropolis.. About eleven o'clock at night a
smart fall of snow descended, and the greatest
inconvenience was experienced by theliackney
coachmen on their return from the Theatres, by
the falling of their horses. We.saw no less than
five horses down at the same time in Tottenham
.Court-road, between eleven and twelve o'clock.
COAL.--.The persevering exertions of some
.gentlemen in Lancaster to discover this inva-
Actable article in their neighbourhood, merit the
-highest praise. After penetrating to the: depth
of 130 yards, a seam has been discovered, 16
inches thick, some say 20, but sanguine in expec-
tation, they are going still deeper,..in hopes of
,finding a better vein. The situation islavourable,
.being at the point of land in Overton, and only
a few hundred yards to the northward of Glass.
Dock, on the opposite, bank of the river Lune.:.
• The acquisition to the surrounding conntry.
should coal be discovered here, will be almost
:•incalculable.—( Westmorland Gazette.)