The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-05-15

| then he observes with Increasing disap-
proval that there arc great unoccupied
spaces beyond the tree itself. Here he falls
| in with a scientific worm who has arti-
fcally increased his range of vision. and
discovers many other trees richly laden
with apples, but his exultation is brief for
he fnds that the great majority of other
trees bear no apples at all and are therefore
utterly worthless. 1t matters not to the
worm that these other trees are grand,
majestic, symmetrical, beautiful, and may
serve purposes Of which he is ignorant
They do not bear apples and are to his mind
simply a monstrous waste Of creative skill.
| 1t Is plain that a tree which does not serve
the useful and beneflcent purpose of nour-
ishing and developing this apple worm was
idly created and seriously reflects upon the
wisdom Of its creator.
Leaving the disconnected worm which
has reasoned correctly enough from its own
standpoint and limited outlook, let us now
return to the broader outlook of man en-
dowed with the accumulated wisdom of
ages, and armed with the space-penetrating
telescopes of modern scientific mechanism
As he sweeps the celestial sphere what does
he behold? With his, naked eye he counts
1000 suns; with an opera glass. IL. 900; with n
five-inch aperture, 100000; with Lick or a
Yerkes, 5o.00O,ooO and with Photographic
lens, thousand millions. Thus each aug
mentation of power enlarges the universe
that comes within his ken.
But, you say, these stars are all burning
suns; not one Of them is habitable. Granted
what then will analogy suggest? Among
the eight planets and twenty satellites re-
volving round our own burning sun, there
Is at least one little world with fifteen hun
dred millions of more or less intelligent
beings on 1t, and somehow, either the
physical conditions have adapted them
selves to the creatures or the creatures
to the physical conditions, or omnipotent
wisdom has adapted them to each other.
So much we are assured of. Would 1t be
violent stretch of Imagination to suppose
that each of the visible stars is the center
of family Of planets as numerous on an
average as our own? But it would, per-
haps. be too much to expect that there
would be at least one inhabited world
on an average in each of those setllar
families. II the earth Is peopled today and
has been for a hundred thousand years,
there were many millions of years in
which 1t was certainly unfit for life in any
Ao.n' ~ iac'' II was niue burning star
snilins w us wv" "snt lor 'nousanos anu
'''oasa"uS =. aeo"s' rIior 10 tna'' lor
periou reasoning lar oach INTO ETERNITY ~
was neouious clouo OF unused meteor'c
matter orlsnt with incessant coi1sions' or
neio OF soitiy luminous incandescent gas.
out ehe o'her planets OF our system We're
IN tne same conoition. NO organized lie
existed IN our part OF the universe Tor al
most an eternity' numaniy speaking pre-
vious 70 the present astronomical era. On
tne other mana one AFTER anotner OF the
o'ner planets, II Is presumed VIII come
ln'o haoitaoie conoition' ana IL Is not
unreasonaoie 10 suppose tnat TWO OF more
VI ene grant planets VIII De naoltapie at
the same time, LOT tneir vast size ana neat
storing capacity Will inoennitely proiong
each stage oh tneir planet lie. mus wniie
lor vas. per'oo OF ,ifne IN the past there
was no ne IN the SOAR system yet Tor
vast period ol time IN the future, the solar
Gated on two or more OF It's planets.
invoking the law OF averages, then, may
we not tairiy presume that II we were to
make tour OF inspection through the
starry realms we should find at least one
.'.Aaueu WIN aniohs eacH one hundred
'Nose nai ."iniiies' III eiae case
">-N ~ ~ As'' ea'oAi @eAA AAi'Aiiohe VI