The mountain Democrat., 1863-03-07
RhS OeAsw Wsgs6a.

For more than century, astronomer
havS bern arguing the question. whssh6l
or not the planets are inhabited. Ths
latest controversy on the subject has bseu
bstwssN. Or. WhewelI and Sir David
Brewster, both eminent scientific men,
and their elaborate theories leave the grea.
problem just a. they found It All the
information which science affords on the
subject is, In truth. purely negative. II
Is clear enough that beings constituted ~
We are could not exist for an instant On
Mercury, which, from its proximily t0Ihs
sum- must have . climate - hot e that ol
the crater Of q volcano; nor on Ncptune--
on the OutermOst edge Of the planetary
domain-whieh receives 7s4. times less
heat and light than this pleasant lIttIs orb,
whose course IL through the tsmpesaas
gone Of the solar system.
IL Mercury or Venus We should COM
bust; in Neptune be turned Into adaman-
tine statues by the unspeakabas cOid. -
Nor is there an intermediate planst that
would be toleTable 70 our constitutie8a
Yet it by no means follows that they are
therefore unpeopled.
When wO consider that space has more
stars than earth has pebbles, and thst cur
star is q very smell concern as 10 siGs,
compared with many others Of lhs plane
tary family. to say nothing Of the incOm.
putable millions Of Orbs beyond the lines
Of our little group, it seems not impvOba.
bls that they too may have forms Of lie
adapted to their peculiaritieS, and that ali
the glorious floating worlds We see spark.
ling in the bOundless Pacific shove us,
may be inhabited.
But there are no sufficient data from
which to argue, convincingly, one way or
the other. DR.. Whewell, in his Essay
on the plurality Of Worlds," proves no.
thing. His theory Of the inhabitability
Of the planets. and his specuIatiOns e. to
the orders Of beings by which they may
be occupied. are ingenious and plausible
but they are not positive philosophy ;
while, on the other hand, the rejoindsr Ol
Sir David Brewster IL more remarkable
for its ssperity than Its logic.
To argue questions which can never be
set at rest, Is waste of time. Some Of as
may suppose that every twinkler Of the
skies teens with organic life-Others, that
this intniteSimal portion Of the universe
called Earth, is the one favored orb among
the innumerable starry hosts that is not
barren. silent, iifeless.
But it is not given Us to know which oi
the two suppositions comes nearest to the
truth, the less We speculate in the subject
the better. 1t is sufficient that Wisdom
and Bene6cence, which cannot be meas
ured or conceived OF by our purblind in.
telligence, has ordered all thia.s fer the
best. To insist that life pervadss ali the
worlds, or, on the other hand, that II Is
confined to one, is to assume that VIC, who
cannot even comprehend our insignificant
selves, are competent, in the absence u
all data, to say what God has done, in His
capacity Of Creator, throughout the inf.
mite realms Of space. Could presumption
be carried furtheri As far a science will
give US light, we may legitimately pursue
our inquiries; but there are mysteries
which It's brightest beams can never pen.
trate secrets Of OmnipOtence which it is
not intended that the wisest Of US should
attempt to exPOund.-MOOre's Rural New
Yorker.