Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1892-06-02
firm bulwark of our present science
of ~

firm bulwark of our present science
of astronomy.
1t was this: Being acquainted
with the existence of a force that
drew all bodies to the earth, he
thought it would be strange if this
property belonged exclusively to
the earth; that this might be a
property of all matter, and showed
to the world that the movements
of bodies in our solar system could
be accounted for by the grand thes
DRY of gravitation.
Then direct your attention to
the molecular theory. which as
m that all matter is composed
of minute particles, separated from
each other by spaces which are
comparatively very great; that these
particles are always in a state of
motion, governed by the same
force that exists between the heav~
emily bodies, but having in this case
the special name Of cohesion.
So many Of the facts OF physics
and chemistry are accounted for
bv this theory that is now but little
doubted.
But to return to our stars. The
vast majority of those that we see
are known to shine by their own
light, to be suns like ours, and to
have small bodies revolving about
them, which may be inhabited.
"Shall we say of them, TASKS a
certain writer, "that they are e
ated in vain? Were they caused
into existence for no other purpose
than to throw a tide of useless
splendor over the solitude of im>
mensity2 Our u is only one of
these luminaries, and we know
that he has worlds in his train.
Why should we strip the
of this princely attendance! VI by
may not each n of them be the
center of his " system and give
light to his own worldss 1t is true
that we see them not; but could
the eye of man take its flight into
those distant regions it would lose
sight of our little worlds before it
reached the outer limits of our
system; the greater planets would
disappear, in their turn, before it
had passed a small portion of that
abyss which separates Us from the
fixed stars; the sun would shrink
into a little spot, and all its splen-
did retinue of world he lost in the
immensely Of distance. Why re-
sist the grand and interesting con
clusion? Each of these stars may
be the token Of a system as vast
and glorious as the one that we IN
habit. Worlds roll in these dis
tant regions, and must be the
mansions of lite and of inlelligence
In yon gilded canopy of heaven
we see the broad aspect Of the uni
verse, where each shining point
presents US with a sun, and each
sun with a system of worlds, where
the Divinity reigns in all the
grandeur of His attributes; where
He peoples immensely with Hil
wonders, and travels in the great.
ness of His strength through the
dominion of one vast and unlim
tied monarchy.
Each star that shines upon GU
earth. even the tiniest one, illumi'
mates our sky in a small degree
Now, if this was continued iudef'
nitely we should receive an infinite
amount of light even our mid
night sky would be SO bright as t.
blind us. We know this is not thu
case, and yet it undoubtedly woule
be, were stars distributed through
space as thickly as they are withir
the limit the eye OF mortal MAJ
has pierced. Hence our stella
system must be limited. Now il
} is impossible to suppose a limit t.
space, and it is improbable tina
there is nothing but our finite sola
system in all space. There must
therefore, be other systems, pei
haps grander than our own, thu
} never will be known to our world
The better way to explain this, lie
us 90 hack to our molecules. Her
we see a body composed of parti.
Giles separated by space. Turn t.
our stellar system:.Cannot we sup
r pose that to be some stupendou
body of which the sun, moon an
stars, together with our little earth
form the PARTICLES.
But let us not stop h~ere;carry on
theory further, and further yet, s
that we may be able to conceiv
somewhat of the grandeur of tn
works of God.