New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-06
MILLIONS ASTRONOMY.
A VOLUME OF SUGGESTIVE CRITICISM

ci4fiO
Der OF the British Astronomical AsSoOi""'''
PIP. vi. 1888. Longmans. Green q 70
1t would be difficult, perhaps. even WITH
minute study to make a volume OF 'oo pas
solely out of Milton's astronomer
Dr. Orchards work has so many eNcuis'o
yond the boundaries Of his theme as HUI" 'N'
on his title-page that the latter Seems a. I'M
to be forgotten. Milton could not la'e WV
saor the theories and discoveries which nave
been made public since his time nu' ia me
noetrv he revealed that sublime conception OF
space and Of the universe which men oil "eaNei
,mae,naton have only been able to think OF
with the aid of the modern telescope Ai'e'
Milton Sir William Herschel seems to DE the
,,ar who cou,d give adequate expression to the
sense Of immensely The poet couid MAKE '"e
absolute void a potent reality; the later as-
tronomer makes others share his own starueo
wonder as his telescope peers into one Oh thoSe
vast chasms which intervene between the eA-
nanse thickset with stars. 1t was there tha' lie
actually caught a glimpse of the INFINITE ua'
ness beyond the furthest glimmer OF 'ne ui'
verse A thought like this seems to JUSTIFY '"e
author Of this book in linking the Iar-iea'''e
observations of modern astronom! WIN "'
splendid though sometimes vague. 1mashi"eo
OF the blind poet who standing on 'he Neie "
modern achievement. saw with the eye Oh ia''i'
things that were long hidden from the sis"' u
other men, Thus Milton was the seer the Na'es'
in the mystic sense of the |ord as we'll as IN ''s
palmer meaning Of q master OF expressioh '''
was prophet as well as poet.
Nuton,s position relative to modern science
"a made clear by the fact that when young
man ne visited the aged Calico. England had
as yet given little hospitality to the new ois-
coyeries associated with the names of Calico
ions IN
of teaching astronomy in the universities "hen
Milton himself included it in the list OF sciences
taught at the private school which he Kept III
Alderseate the textbook which he used was
John Holywoods de Sphaera Mundi, work
Of the thirteenth century. widely used Out
hardly one which a man who had seen Gallleo
and who knew all about Coperncus ana hepier
would be expected to use. 1t was mere! an
epitome of the work of Ptolemy. the last OF the
ancient Greek astronomers. Thus Milton s'a"u
ing between the old and the new, showed '""'
he considered the demonstrations or oierh'cuS
and Kepler and the observations OF Gaiileo as
still oren to DISPUTE His uncertainty was the
s.me in his later wears When he put into the
mouth of Adams angelic visitor discourse OH
the visible universe he argued both sides or the
case as II was then understood, and finally left
II in doubt He satrizes the Ptoemaic sphere
With Centric and Eccentric scrubbed oe
Cycle and Epicycle Orb in ORD
Al thesa irnaginines the angel foresaw. would
occur to men in their efforts to explain the
work of the Creator He even limited that the
Crest Architect had left His fabric of the heav-
ems TO the disputes Of men that their quaint opih-
ions might move His laughter. But, neverthe-
less Adam must not think because the earth Is
small and the universe vast that the FORMER
cannot be the centre of all motion as 1t seems
II Is for earth's habitant. not for the earth IL
self. that the bright uminaries glow In their
swift circles Man is TO learn that the universe
is great simply to show him his own littlehess
and in the wide circuit of the heavens ne Is 10
study the high magniicence OF the Maker Inc
swift diurnal motion of all the heavenly pou'eS
around the earth provokes doubt in Adams
mind but the angel hints that even this III
credible swiftness, il it were just what it seems
10 be to human sight, would be only announcer
proof Of the Creators power giving to corporal
substances speed almost spiritual Adams DOUBT
IL invalid and yet adds the angel, the universe
NAV after all not be subject to this apparent
daily revolution What If things were other
wise? Suppose that the sun is the centre OF
this planetary world and that the earth Is only
a seventh planet moving like the other six
There Is no need to believe in the motion OF vast
invisible spheres If it can be believed that the
steadfast earth whirls upon Its own axis ana
circles in an orbit around the sun 1t Is IN TINS
tentative way that the angel advances the Co
perncan theory at the same time qualifying IL
with the Ptolemaic conception OF the planets IN
Their wandering course now high now low.
then hid
Progressive r.trograde, or standing still.
The massage IN which these lines are found is
significant of its direct illusions first 10
CaIileo's theory a revival Of an antique opin-
ion that the moon is inhabited, and. second TO
his real discovery Of Jupiter's satellites The
nseudo- Orphic theogony contained specuations
about inhabited cities In the moon, and Plu-
tarch in that curious essay Of his on the race IN
the moon, dilated on the fancy that the spirits
of the good went from earth to the moon AFTER
death, as to a sort Of mild and pleasant purga-
tory But Calico. and after him Milton I'M
arfned conditions like those on earth, with
clouds and rain and fruitful fields All this was
pure error. as is now known. But Jupiter with
his array Of moons observed fact, did not
satisfy Milton until he aided some strange
speculations characteristic Of his time out OF
which the only credible thing to be ehcited IL
the opinion still maintained that the planets
ere Inhabited probably by beings rational
as
Milton's cosmogony was. in fact. as imaginary
as that Of Dante 1t was even less rational than
Dante's. because the advance in astronomical
knowledge had made 1T Impossible TO put neil
inside OF the earth and heaven all around on the
outer surface of the armament Milton had no
occasion for purgatory. but If he had required
II he would not have found it. for exploration
in his time had effaced the terraced mountain
Of Dante's vision from the antipodes. The
scheme Of the universe. according to Ptolemy,
was all that Dante needed. But Milton de-
manded more than either ancient or modern
science could give him. Hesiod suggested
vaguely the ideas that the English poet worked
out To the ancient Greek. heaven was al owe