Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1826-03-25

that many things which nobody doubts,
are known only by analogy. How do
you know that the sun will rise to-mor-
row but from analogy ? You do not
doubt il because il has risen once in about
twenty four hours for 5000 years. How
do you know that your body will ever
debut from analogy? or because all
former generations have died, and all
around you are dropping off, one by one.
You may say you know these things be-
cause they are are asserted in scripture
but how do the heathfn know them |?
And so OF many other things, which
cannot be "proven 20 demonstrations
but which you yourself would think a
man fool if he did not believe.
You have endeavored to weaken my
analogies, by introducing hogs, heas,
chin'zes, galiinippers, snakes, and what
not, into the planets. This is Iudicrous,
and no doubt vastly witty; but should
think not atrofo8. Ii had suppos-
ed the planets exactly like this earth,
and their inhabitants exactly like US !;
you might then have supposed them
visited with exactly the same evils that
annoy us. But | only supposed them
possessed OF some kinds Of bodies q
did no: say like ours) and spirits" Can
they not have bodies and not have them
exactly like ours ? Sir, did you never
read that all flesh is not the same flesh !;
but" that "there is ore kind of flesh oil
men, another flesh of beasts, another OF
fishes, and another Of BIRDS" and thai
there are also celestial bodies, and bo-
dies Terrestrial ?" have. Besides, Mr..
Enquirer, how do you know but the in
habilanls Of the planets are all Je7vs, and
not SO fond OF PORK as You seem to be.
But my theory does not rest al,oge,h-
er On analogy and we will see how we
can get along without it:
| would ask for what purpose is the
planet Jupiter attended with four moons,
if not to give light to beings possessed
of some kind of organs OF vision F.? II
it were inhabited by pure spirits would
they need them Il not--then its inha-
bitants have some kind of bodies. But
they are not exactly like ours, tor | do
expect we should freeze to death, il
placed SO far from the sun. Neither
would their year (Which is as long as
Q of ours) suit as. Our bodies could
not stand The burning sun Of Mercury.
nor the frozen regions OF Herschel. But
that Being who fits the camel for the
burning deserts OF Sahara, and The rein
J.er frr I'M f,n, On ,na;onn of a,ot
scha,ka, can make bodies SO tempered,
as to be adapted 10 their situations.
Or if, as DR.. Herschel supposed, the
sun is not fire, but that the heat which
VIC experience from his rays is caused
by the friction of the rays against our
atmosphere, as they pass through it, then
those distant planets may have as much
heat as we have, by having deeher at
mosphere, which would cause more
friction to the less number OF so'ar.rays
which fall upon them. Or who knows
but Saturn's ring is SO constructed as
TO re/ract the rays which fall on it, SO as
10 throw them all on that planet which,
(il the ring is four times as large as the
planet) would throw four l,tnes as much
light aud heat on il as would Tall on thai
planet without the assistance Of the ring.
AS 10 the inhabitants of the planets
suffering natural evil canno, see how
they can possibly avoid it-unlcss, in
deed, heat and cold are confined TO our
earth--or unless they have natures IN.
sensible to either. For having all the
vicissi;udes Of summer and winter, oi
day and night, and having their torrid,
irigid, and temperate zones; the differ
ence in the degrees OF heat must be so
great, as would seem inconsistent with
the ferfect happiness of any one race oil
beings: however we'll their constitutions
may be adapted 10 their situation or eli
mate.
To set this in stronger point of view,
we will take an extreme case Can it be
supposed that one Of the comets--which
at one time almost drops into the sun,
and then for many years wanders TO a
vast distance beyond the orbit ct Her
schel--can be an abode OF felicity?
hardly know how or when the thought
first occurred to my mind: but think il
was in reading DR.. Chalmers four SER
mons on the starry heavens not because
lie suggested the idea, but because he
stopped when he got there, and did not
hazard conjecture on the subject. II
struck me that there were many good
reasons for-thinking them not the abodes
OF perfect felicity; and Of course not the
abodes of perfectly holy beings: and the
more | have thought on the subject, the
more hsveI been confirmed 10 this opin-
ion. And never having seen conjec.
ture on the subject, | thought would,