New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-12-21

heavenly bodies outside OF our system sni that u
bodies obeyed the same laws this neither world
We did not needto so 70 the Bible 10 learn Astronomy;
net but that the Bible afforded Us some assistance IA
TIE prosecution of the study, upon the general prin
cipe that truth bcgat truth and error beSa, error
! The Scriptures teaching to the existence
! of one Gcd. led u to lcok for uniform laws
,hroushou, his vpst creation. We should no, ioaS,
then. entertaining the belief that He made all
creation. that in regard to those o;her worlds the
same Laws prevailed there ss here uniformity being
predominant The belief that Jupiter reisned in the
Heavens above Neptune in the sea- Pluto in the infer
ma regions and Ursnus in the and thus each part
Of creation being under the control Of some tu.esry
deity. would lead Us to exPec, different laws IN the
different realms Of creation and 50 common was that
opinion among tie sncien; philosophers thai uaiI
comparatively recent period, it not maxim in
Z philosophy that nature was uniform in all heropers-
tions Even in the time Of Aristotle it was held that
the laws Of motion were thing upon earth and
another ding among the heavenly bodies. Bur the be-
lief in one Cod and net In mSny Gods, aud II the uni
formiy Of His works led Us to very different con
clusiop AID constrained to suppose that If there
were other worlds beyond our system, they would
be subjected 70 the laws that governed planets
To the distance stars was for years onsid
cred one of the most difficult OF al Astronomical caleus-
tons After had measured the distance 70 the
moon and planets, ascertain the distance 70 the
stars it Necessary throw cut the sounding line
into the unialhomable depths OF space beyoad At
fret but a negative conclusion was obtained Il was
early ned that the parslsx of the fixed stars
could not exceed q second IL would be rsco.loctsd
that the "paralaxr the change of place which
bodies assumed when viewed them from different
positions the farther of the body the less L seemed
10 change its place, when viewed from the earth Ii
we changed position from side Of the
earth TO the other, still made differ
ence in the position of the stars it was necessary
TO take wider base-the diameter of the earhs orbit
10000 coo Of miles This however, did not change
their position but second. Then every one ac
quanted with geometry knew that If We constructed
triangle OF which the angle opposite the base
only one second, the sides would be greater in The
ratio of 10000 to one We accordingly arrived at this
negative result that though we could not ascertain
the exact distance of such a star from the earth it NJ
all events could not be less than hundred thousand
times one hundred aud ninety millions OF miles He
might here remark that second about the llsoo
part of the apparent breadth of the FIVE callcL
the moon ten inches across second would then be abOat
the llsO part Of an inch Il might be sskei why not
measure the angle Of paraax at less than secondl
Because reiraction variable element In all
astronomical admeasurements, that it was liable to
corrupt any measurement that be more accurate
than that In searching for the paralax OF the liked
stars though they did not achieve complete
to their first aim, astronomers made very
many valuable discoveries-such the velocity of
light. and the mutation of the fitting of the earth
upon her axes Bessel the celebrated prussan
astroncmer was most indehdgable searcher for
the parallax OF the fixed stars. The lecturer then
referred 70 the ascertanment of the parssx of the
star known 81 Cygni aud consequently It's distance
by TIE astronomer Bessel. The inquiry would then
arise, what the distance of 81 Cygnii When we
spoke OF the distance numbers swelled upon us and
could only judge Of it by Illustrating it by the velo
city of light. Light supposed to travel at the ratio
of about 100000 of miles a minnie At even that
rate il would take ten years for ray Of light
10 travel from 81 Cygn to this earth. To travel to
IL in a rail car at the rate of twenty miles an hour
would occupy 32i,O0o,OO0 of years [Appause
These statements were apt perhaps, 70 tax tho ere
duy of some who had not brought their minds up
to these great subjects but he should only have
refer TO the weknown accuracy Of astronomers and
their especial love Of truth to silence any objection
to the facts stated The best proof that these things
were true was that all the eminent astronomers of tho
age had believed them How astonishing had been the
progress Of this nobes science, beginning just but a
the discovery of gravitstion and coming down TO this
strange yet entirely accurate measurnent Of the dis
lance of the Fixed stars. Contemplating the patient
assduity and aborous research Of In this branch
of knowledge, we could not help excaiming--
How poor how rich, how abjeet, how august
How comphcae, how wonderful ia man
DISTINGUISHED link IN beings endless chain,
Midway from nothing 10 the Deity.
An heir OF goryi atrail child OF DUST
Helpless immortal; insect infinite
wOml-a God!
what miracle to man is mani
The lecturer then went to remark upon the mag.
nitude Of the star especially abiding to the star Sin
US which supposed TO be sxythree times the size
of our Did the Cresor make all these vast bodies
10 sdorn the night That could not be. because bu.
few comparatively speskng) Of the myrists Of stars
studding space were visible to the naked eye. Nor
could have been for the purpose of assisting nayga
ton that they placed in the sky for the reason
that saors did not need to take observations but by
very few Of them. What sort Of bodies were
they, Clearly large suns-some large and some
larger than the center Of our system. The planets
could not reflect light Of such intensity from
the distance which they stood Moreover, BY apply
ing the new OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES found that their
light was original and reflected. Beyond ques
ton they were stars = but for what purpose msdel
As the centers Of systems certainly Sir John Hersche
said that had made but little progress In astronomy
If be did not in the heavenly bodies so many con
trvances for the existence of animal life The earth
was made for man--tbe humber animals Of creation
his-s the operations Of Providence In regardto
them were for the ultimate benefit Of man. The wide
dominion hisal the regions ofbeauty and sublim
ity we're hs-sll the world Of art was his and all the
pleasure of exulting nature was his. Every thing
in nature mans, except what especially spper-
tanned to life. The sustenance of the animal was pro-
vided for BY the bene6cent Creator but the great oo
ject of consideration seemed TO be man. And now the
same train Of thought pursued would lead us to the
final conclusion, that # the worlds above were the
sbodes Of intelligence and life s was for the sbodes OF
morn, being. like unto man for whom they were made
(Applausel
FESTIVAL FOR THE FIVE PoNTs House OF