The Central Nevadan. [volume] (Battle Mountain, Nev.) 1885-1907, 1888-05-03

ing rather to the domain Of philoso-
ply than Ut science. But it never
was discussed as q question either OF
science or philosophy until some three
hundred years ago. Before that time
men no more imagined that besides
our earth there may be other, worlds,
like her, the abode of thousands of
races of animal life and myriads of
forms Of vegetable life, than they con-
ceived the possibility that the heavens
with all their thousands of stars, with
the sun the glory OF day and the moon
the lighs Of night, were intended for
any other purpose than to a1orn and
benefit the earth. The superstition
that among the orbs in the heavens
there might be some akin to the earth
in character and dimensions, or even
much larger than her, while the fixed
stars themselves might belong to an
even higher order in the scale of crea-
tien-belng suns like our own and the
centers Of families of worlds akin to
the solar systsm-w would have seemed
wild and fanciful in the extreme. II
was not until the power Of measur-
ing the solar system and comparing
the various planets together with the
earth that men began clearly to per-
ceive our earth's position us but one
among family of orbs, some of which,
indeed. are smaller than herself, but
twu Of which could be seen even III
those Gays to be very much larger.
Even u they had supposed our earth
to be primus inter par-s they would
still have been obliged to regard the
o, hers AS in all probability akin to her.
But when she was perceived to be
neither first nor last in size and Im-
portauce, the more thoughtful per-
ceived the absurdify OF regarding her
as the only one among the planets
which is the abode Of life. An insect
living in a tree In the midst OF a
forest might as reasonably think his
tree the only possible home for insect
race. As astronomers peuetraged more
and more profoundly into the depths
Of space the belief in other worlds and
other suns naturally became more Ger.
tain and more general. As they
studied The members Of the solar sys-
TEN wlih the telescope they began TO
recognize features of Resemblance be-
tween other planets and the earth
which confirmed them in the opinion
that all the planets are worlds. With
growing knowledge the doctrine of life
in other worlds grew in favor and in
interest. Christian auyghens spoke
earnestly in its favor. Fountenelle
was enthusiastic in urging it; writers
like Chalmers gave to it an almost ie-
ligious coloring. aud at last when Dr.
Wheweli, after advocating the doctrine
Of other worlds in his Contribution to
the Bridgewater Trcatises, called it
seriously In question in his Plurality
Of Worlds" the venerable Brewster
(Sir David If that ilk) was moved in
his wrath to denounce the master d
Trinity as one WHO stroye to shake
mems faith in doctrine which hs
described as "the hope of the philoso-
pher and the faith of the Christian.
So long as men recognized the past #
the earth and of the solar system as
measurable by few thousands of
years it was natural that they should
regard the planets as simply family
of worlds ali in the same stage Of
world life. Their view of the solar
system may be compsrcd to the view
we should take of a plantation known
to be but few years old, in which we
should expect to find no marked varie-
ties Of age or condition among the
trees supposed all to be of one kind.
But precisely as one who approached a
portion of 'lhe forest primeval' would
expect to fnd, even among trees of
the same order, all varieties Of age,
the seeding, the sapling, the tree
growing old and decayed, and the
dead aud withered stump, SO, recogniz-
ing as science now does that the age Of
the solar system must be measured by
tens if not by hundreds Of millions OF
years, we must admit the probability,
one may fairly say the certainty, that
we shall find in that system every stage
of orb life from those orbs which be-
ing very large and massive have passed
though bit small portion of their ex-
ceedinply long lives. to those which