Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-11-29
ASTRONOMY IND RELIGION.
Prof. PrOctOr,s Ideas of the Conn &C.
ton Between the Two.

II
ton Between the Two.
"The Religion OF Astronomy was the title of
lecture Prof. Richard A. Proctor delivered
Sunday night I'm New York. AS Sunday ex-
pertinent 1t was an undeniable success, there
being almost as many people In attendance as
there were on any OF the previous weekday
lectures Nearly every seat was occupied by an
apparently very earnest and religiously dis
posed audience so that no point which the Pro-
lessor made for the purpose Of reconciling
science and the Bible failed to receive its due
meet of subdued applause.
The Professor began by saying that IL astro-
nomers had not been thoroughly honest they
would still be to-day what they were centuries
ag0-the priesthood or most powerful religion
The heavenly bodies had been recognized LOT
ages as gods themselves. and when they finally
lost their personality ana were SIMPLY regaroe e
the other parts OF creation, ana We're looked
upon as the Instruments through which the gods
executed their DEGREES relative TO mankind.
This view of their place in the system of the
universe they held down even to our own days,
and although people now wondered at the great
Importance attached to the aStroloSerS of other
times he vet ventured to think that these star
gazers OF old had 1t in their power to entirely
prevent or, at all events, to greatly retard the
progress OF that knowledge which has put an
end TO their former pretensiOnS. ST they had
kept all astronomical discoveries from the peo-
pie at large" he continued, land had persuaded
kings and emperorS into believing it was dan
gerous to the peace of the state that such knowi-
edge should be shared by others than the few
specially prepared for the purpose we would
not be able TO sneer at them in this enlightened
century,"
To show how completely astronomy dominated
religion In former times, Prof. Proctor referred
TO the names of days still preserved by US
Formerly, he said, the principal heavenly bodies
were the sun, moon, Mars. Mercury, Venus, Jul
piter and Saturn-Seven in ALL Each OF these
had day set apart, for itself, on which 1t was
wOrshipped. The division of the week was, how
ever, not due to this fact of the seven bodies.
That division was due to the various phases OF
the moon-from one quarter Of that luminary to
ha hlrh pi jarlt1 n yyi
sion for the computation OF sem-barbarous peo-
Piles. The counting by months followed the
counting by weeks, and when mankind came to
a stlli more advanced state OF progress years
were introduced.
Prof. Proctor then came to the Bible narrative
of the creation and the early history of the
world and said that with a few apparent ex-
cepttons that narrative was based on aStronom-
1cal conditions or occurrences of the period to
which 1t refers. He did not make himself very
clear on this point, but the drift of his argument
seemed to be that certain movements going on
In the zodiac at that time gave rise to appear
anceS which told in the oriental tendency to per
SOnify everything in nature led to the represent.
alton OF these movements as occurrences on
this planet. The institution of the Sabbath, he
thought, was borrowed by the Hebrews from
the Egyptians, who had already set it apart as
day OF rest.
All this, the Professor repeated, showed that
astronomers were the first priesthood that raised
itself TO power and influence In the worlds his
tory, and this therefore formed the ancient ac-
count of the religion of astronomy. The modern
part OF the subject was a far more important
and far grander part. No one who contemplated
the spectacle of the heavens, and for even a
moment only considered the vastneSs Of that
system OF worlds beyond us, could deny that the
discoveries OF modern investigators drew far
into the shade the knowledge possessed by the
astronomers of old. The perfection of the tela-
scope, for instance, had opened up an entirely
new vista in the Sidereal heavens. The whole
effect OF it all was to show us the magnitude OF
the Sidereal phenomena The sun, for instance
was million upon million times more powerful
than the earth measured by the intensity OF
that force which explains everything, but is
itself ineXplicable-thef force of gravity. half
ounce of matter. If raised one inch from the suns
surface would return to that surface by the
force Of gravity with velocity equal to three
times that OF one OF our express trains. Then
as for its heat, millions upon millions of tons OF
coal would fail to produce any approach to its
intensity.
Speaking of the moon, Prof Proctor said that
1t evidently had passed the stage where life
could exist on it. 1t was evidently all dried up
nothing but a mass of parched lava, with not
drop OF water anywhere as far as could be dis
covered with the most powerful instruments
The earth he expected would reach the same
condition at some future time, but at this date
1t was still in its YOUTH and we might feel easy
for some hundreds OF millions Of years to come
1t was now some 500 900 years old, according
to his reckoning. Jupiter, he thought, was still
In his prime, and 1T would take him at least
$500, 600 600 years to reach the Senlity OF Mis-
tress Moon. Some OF the other planets were
still too young to be able to support families OF
living creatures, but he had no doubt that in
course OF time they would find themselves able
to do so.
saturn's rings, the Professor said, were not
what some older astronomers claimed they
were-benehcial excreScenceS- They absorbed
an amount of light and heat which the planet
sadly needed and in return for which they gave
nothing worth mentioning. These rings, he be-
neved would in course Of time form themselves
into independent moons and possibly set up
housekeeping on their own account. This. he
also believed, would be the ultimate outcome OF
large masses OF nebuln surrounding other plane
tary bodies
"1f we could see with our unaided eyes as
wen as we can with Ross telescope" he said
further, and then had the telescope to aid u
further, what wonders we might behold! OF CO..
stars examined by the Italian astronomer, Semi
one-half were many times the size OF our sun
while only one-fourth We're appreciably smaller.
Now, with powerful telescope, we can see ten
times GOO stars in the small space that we can
cover at one time in the armament. There is no
telling how many thousands or millions or even
thousands OF millions OF other stars there may
be beyond our ken. Imagine what a sight might
be spread before our eyes II these eyes We're made
stronger and clearer! The entire sky might pre-
lime beauty. and as far as vision could reach my
RAIDS on myriadS of suns would shed their rays
before our admiring gaze"
On the subject OF the existence OF design or
purpose in the many planetary systems, Prof.
Proctor said that candor compelled him to say
that he could not discover any. Intention did
not seem to have any place in the constant evo-
luton OF new worlds, nevertheless he could not
there was design therein. The simple fact that
those most familiar with astronomical phe-
nomena could not conceive OF a directing power
was no reason that such power did not exist.
or to time, yet we could not deduce therefrom
that there was neither beginning or an end
Paradise of Nife.Beaters.