Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1839-10-02

:" h'S tioiH' " ny SHoutu we sup tut
rest OF this princely attendance? Why
may not each OF them be the centre of his
own system, and give light TO his own
wOrldsE Ii is true that we see them not.
but could the eve of man take its fight |
into those distant regions, it should lose
sight of our little world, before il reached |
the outer limits of our system-the great.
er planets should disappear in their turn
before ii had described small portion
of that fixed abyss which separates us
from the fixed stars, the sun should de.
cline into little spot, and all its solend;d
retinue of worlds be lost in the obscuri,v
of distance-he should, at last, shrink in
to small indivisible atom, and all that
could be seen of this magnificent system.
should be reduced to the glimmering of a
little star. Why resist any longer the
grand and interesting conclusion Each
ofthese stars may be the token of a sys-
tenn as vast and as splendid as the one
which we iuhabit. Worlds roll in these
distant regions; and these worlds must he
tho mansions of life and intelligence. In
yon gilded canopy of heaven we see the
broad aspect of the universe, where each
shining poln. presents US with a sun. and
each sun with system Of worIds-vhere
The Divinity reigns in all the grandeur of
his attrlbutes--where he peoples immensi-
ity with his wonders; and travels in the
greatness of his strength through the do.
mInlons OF one vast and unlimited monar-
1chy.
The contemplation has no limits. 1t
We ask the number of suns and of svs-
TENS, the unassisted eye of man can take
IN thousand, and the best telescope which
the genius OF man has Constructed can
take in eighty millions. Fancy NAV take
its fight far beyond the ken Of eve or of
telescope. Shall we have the boldness 10
say, that there is nothing there-.hat the
wonders OF the Almighty are at an end
that the creative energy of God has sunk
into repose, because the ina gination is
enfeebled by the magnitude of its efforts :?
! There are two points ofinteresting spec
ulation, both of which serve to magnify
our conceptions of the universe. If =
body be struck in the direction OF its cen
ire, 1t obtains progressive motion. bu,
without any movement Of revolution be-
ing at the same time impressed upon it
But. again, should the stroke no. be in the
direction OF the centre-should the line
winch JOINS the point of percussion to the
centre, make an angle with that line in
which the impulse was communicated
then the body is both made TO 90 forward
in space, also 10 wheel upon its axis
mus, each OF our planets may have had
their compound motion Communicated to
1t by one single impulse; and, on the 9TH
er hand, if ever the rotatory motion be
communicated by one blow, then the pro-
gresslve motion must 60 along with it.
In order 10 have the first motion withou,
the second, there must be twofold force
applied to the body in opposite directions.
II must be set agoing in the same way as
sp'nnlng-top. so as to revolve about an
axis, and to keep unchanged its situation
in space.
! But at this stage of the argument the
matter only remains a coniectural point of
speculation. The sun NAV have had his
rotation impressed upon him by spin-
ming impulse; or. this movement NAV be
coeyal with his being. and he may have
derived both from an immediate fat oflhe
Creator. Butihere is an actually obsery.
ed phenomenon of the heavens which adj
vances the conjecture into probability
ln the course of age, the stars IN one quar-
ter Of the celestial sphere are apparently
recedng from each other; and in the oD-
posite quarter, they are apparently draw.
ing nearer to each other. If the sun he
approaching the former and recedinp from
the latter. this phenomenon admits of an
easy explanation, and we are furnished
with magnificent step ia the scale of the
Creators workmanship. In the s,ma
manner as the planets, with their satellites
revolve round the sun, NAV the SIM WIKI
all It's tributaries, be moving in common
with other stars, around some distant cen.
Ire, from which there emanates an influ.
ence to bind and to subordinate them all.
Our sun may, therefore. be only one mem
Der OF higher family-taking his part.
along with millions Of others in some
loftier system of mechanism. bv which
they are all subjected to one law. and r.
one arrangement-describing the sweep
OF such an orbit in space, and connletino
the mighty revolution in such period Of
Tine as to reduce our planetary seasons
ana our planetary movements. to very
humble and fractionary rank in the scale
OF higher astronomy There is room
Tor all this in immensely and there is
even argument for all this in the records
o. actual observation and. from the whole
OF thus speculation. do we gather a new
emphasis to the lesson, how minute is the
place. and how secondary is the impor-
lance OF our world. amid the glories of
such surrounding magnifcence
Another very interesting tract of specu-
la''on, has been opened up to us by the