Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1826-01-28
FOR THE SPECTATOR.
THE SPECULATOR-NO. /.
Messrs. Editors,

L
MesSrs. Editors,
Although terrestrial being, and &C.
nerally engaged III worldly affairs, yet
am one OF those who sometimes soar
above this earth, and delight to travel,
on the pinions Of thought, from one pla-
net to another, and from one star TO an
other, I'LL | am lost in the boundless
space which iniervenes betwixt me and
the objects OF my contemplation, and
coniounded by the unnumbered worlds
which are visible to the eye, and present
to the imagination. l then delight to turn
my thoughts and attention to that great
and glorious being who made and who
governs all these worlds, and all the be-
ings who may inhabit them.
The human mind is SO constructed,
that 1t delights III exercise and it loves
that subject best for contemplation,which
will afford il the greatest stretch OF
thought. II abhors confnement--lt de.
lights to bound over creation; and, when
stated with contemp iatng on what it has
become familiar With, will, rather than
NC iuiC, iorui CICdlIOsi VI io oWh, WuiSu
is only ideal.
To crafty this propensity of the hu-
man mind, and to turn |, to their own ad-
vantage, the Great Unknozun" and ma
ny zueH known authors, write their fash
ionable Noveis. Not condem ming them,
their works, or their readers, design
to give my speculations to the public.
Should not be able TO give your readers
any instruction, l may, perhaps, cohtrl-
bule to their amusement.
And here, al tie threshold OF my sub
ject, will inform the reader that shall
take il for granted that he believes that
the Copernican or New,onian system oil
the universe is true-and shall reason
accordingly. For few men IN this en-
lightened age and nation doub. ii. The
best and shortest argument, with the un-
learned, TO prove its truth, is this As
tronomers, vino. calculate eclipses, &c.
make their calculations on the theory Of
the above system, and their calculations
prove precisely accurate, as 10 time and
place which they would not do it the
astronomers worked from false premises.
We shall therefore take for grained
the following things, unless some OF
your correspondents deny them, or ask
US to prove them, 10 vii:
lst. That the earth is round, and rolls
round from west TO east once 10 about
"a hours; which causes day and night
ID. That the earth, likewise, goes
round the sun, from ives, TO east, once in
a year; and that the obAquify o: the d.
urnal motion to the yearly, OF 22a de-
grees, combined with lis annual motion
round the sun, Is what causes The sea-
sons.
Sd. That the sun is the centre, around
which revolve, at different distances and
times, the following planets, IN the order
IN which they are mentioned; Mercury
being the planet neares, the sun OF any
YET DISCOVERED, and Eerschell ,he lar.
thest from ii n
Mercury Venus, the Earth, Mars,
Vesla, Juno, Ceres, Pallas, Jupiter, Sat
urn and Herschel.
4ih. That the earth has one moon or
ilile; that Jupiter has four and Sal.
urn seven. Probably some other OF the
large planets have moons, which are too
small aud too distant to be reached by
our glasses.
5th. That as the earth attracts all
things, near it to itself, even 10 our a,inos-
phere which attraction we call the
z0etght Of thing so the sun, which is
much larger and heavier than all the
planets which revolye about it, put to-
eelher, (being computed to be about
100000 times larger than this earth, at.
tracts and keeps the earth, and all the
above planets, from flying off from it in
straight lines. As stone flies away in
straight direction, when one end o: the
string that holds it is let go, so woul
the planets fly from the sun, were they
not kept in place, agreeaby TO law of
nature, by the attraction of the SUM-
There is likewise hrojectile force, ST.
milar to the force given the stone in the
sling, which impels the earth and other
planets forward, and which would impel
it in straight line, were it not for the
attra ction of the sun, which causes il 10
move in circle but this force we can.
not account for on any other principle
known to astronomers, than that this i'm.
hetus was given the planets at their ere.
alton by the great ARCHITECT; and that,
as there is no impedmen, in the way oil
their continuing the motion--no friction,
they keep, and will keep i, till the final
catastrophe Of nature.
9th. That the planets which revolve