Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-12-04
ARE THE INHABITANTS OF
OTHER VyORLnS MENl


The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, an
swering in the Christian Union, of New
York, correspondent who interrogates
him concerning the spiritual condition of
the inhabitants of the other planets of the
solar system, first questions whether there
are any such Inhabitants at all, and then
goes on to remark as follows:
''But admitting that the other orbs are
populated with rational and intelligent
creatures, it by no means follows that
they have had history like our own race,
or that they psychologieally resemble US.
II is net probable that the human species
exhausts the possibilities of variation.
In the first place, Mr.. Beecher ought TO
be able to do more than barely admit the
possibility of there being other inhabited
worlds than our own. The New York
San insists that man of his large and
liberal views ought to see, without argu-
ment, the absurdity of supposing that the
countless stars, which astronomy teaches
us are so many suns, shine only for the
sake of the feeble light which, on moon
less nights, they afford this little earth, OF
even that the many planets which sur
round us are mere barren masses of mat
ter; and, adds that paper: If the Gre
alor be at all being of such power and
goodness combined as every religion rep
resents him to be, his creation of intelli-
gent beings cannot be limited to the mar
row area with which we are acquainted.
And, if there are such beings, 1t is
equally illogical to suppose that they
differ from us in any essential particular,
either as TO the body or as to the soul.
The tendency of science is, without ex-
ceptioD, towards the demonstration of
the unity of creation, and of the substan-
tial harmony of all its paris. From the
most elevated man down to the lowest
reptile, comparative zoology traces a
chain of gradual descent, each step of
which retains a resemblance to one COM
mon human form. The vegetable king
dom has its anslogics to the animal, and
the mineral, again, to the vegetable The
boianist shows that in the tree there is a
system of blOod-vessels and lungs and
physiological functions which are a per-
feet counterpart of the corresponding sys-
TEN III the human body; and in the pro-
cess of crystallization and chemical COM
binstion, there are many features of re-
semblsnce to vegetable growth. As to
the races of men, they differ among
themselves only in superficial details, and
not in essentials. No exploration has yet
revealed men without human bodies,
heads, legs, and arms, or without hearts
and lungs and other vital organs, Or want
ing in any of the fundamental acOnstit'
uenis of the human mind. To
crown all, we are told in the Bible
that man was created in the image
and likeness OF God, thus clearly iRdica
ting that the Deity himself is the common
type of which all men are finite and i'm.
perfect copies. But if the inhabitants OF
this earth, widely scattered as they are,
and differing as they do in color, features,
and outward appearance, are alike in theil
essential bodily and mental characteristics,
and if all the inferior works of creation
have a unity with man aud with each
other. by what process Of reasoning car
it be made to appear probable that the
creatures on any ether planet are not sub,
stantially Just such beings as we are! II
we find throughout the world with which
we are acquainted, q uniformity OF type
why should that uniformity cease witt
our boundaries, especially if we admit
that the same God created them and us
Mr.. Bccchcr may talk as much as he
plcases about rot cXbausting the "POssi
Mlit.cs of variation, but unless ne limit:
that variation by fidelity to the common
divine image, he talks of what is impossi
ble ON any other hypothesis Than that Of (
plurality of gods,