The Washington herald., 1907-10-14

~ WASASS LUZ OSS Ah1AAA5'
Editor The Washington Heald:
The wisdom of The Herald ia opening
its valued columns to a. free discussion
of all topics was amply shown on last
Monday, the 7th instant, In the pubIca-
ton Of the letter Of Mr.. J. B. n. Berry,
upon the Immortality OF the soul.
1t seems TO me that this letter Is worthy
Of reproduction in your Sunday issue.
and that everybody should read IT, Such
letters as this will surely popularize your
Mondays issue. and it is 20 be hoped
Mr. Berry will be a frequent contributor.
Mr.. Berry. after speaking of the Law
ished grandeur and magnihcence of Gods
/ creation. as displayed in the vast mag
nificent field OF space, says: rs It think
able that such manifestations of Deity
are irrelevant to the eternal welfare OF
man?' The inward response to this is
| No! It is not thinkable. In mathematics
We have millions, billions, trillions, quad
rillions, &c; the human mind has its
! limits in its ability TO grasp these high
numbers. and some Of our best informed
/ thinkers claim that one billion is the
I
/ numbers, and that beyond this every
thing is a mist Ask a rather well edu-
| Gated man, man occupying a 81 200 posi-
| tion in the government. and who earns Il,
too, what a billion is, and he VIII tell
/ you that it is o1e thousand millions. Ask
/ him how long 4 would take TO count It,
and he viii tell you two or three hours.
/ This will show, even with those who pos
sess knowledge enough to fiji $3.50 clerk
ships and one who deals exclusively in
/ figures. what a conception they have Of
/ billion. II a person were 10 do nothing
/ but count, and were to count 120 in a
minute, and 60 minutes in an hour, "A
hours in a day. and 36j days in a year it
would require nearly sixteen years 20
count one billion. Under ordinary condi-
tiOns and count, 1t would take a lifetime.
| But let US be extremely liberal and fix
the limits Of the human mind at a tril-
/ ion; this is but a fraction in mathematics
! in comparison to the array OF numbers
above it-septillions. cons. &c. And these
in their turn astronomers find too small
to be practical in their calculations OF the
/ immense distances ana velocity OF the
stars. Light years" have been 10 a large
degree substituted. "A light year" means
the distance which light that moves at a
velocity Of 10000 miles a second, would
/ travel in one year.
The nearest star to US, outside our own
system is found TO be Alpha Centuri IN
stead of telling US that this sun Is
so many sextillions Of miles away, we
are told that it is six and one-half Tight
years" distant.
This earth, compared in size 10 these
stars, would be as Insignificant as the
point of a needle compared in size TO
this earth And II these suns could re-
place our sun at the distance the sun is
! from Us, 100000 miles, it would almost
cover the entire sky, and our sun would
be quite as insignificant in comparison
as the needle point to our earth.
But here are the limits Of the human
mind. Who can say that the mind Of
man can carry all these figures and de-
termine by them our place in space, and
that the mind is destined 20 stop there?
That which we know in part to the ca
pabe mind, We will know entirely. That
which the mind longs for, it will III
timately realize.
Mr.. Berry very truthfully says: NO
normal mind ever conceived Of a thing
nOnexistent."
The sun, which is 100000 miles from
the earth, furnishes us with our life It's
stored-up energies, in wheat, corn. veg
etables. &c, nOurish US. Other foods, in
the way of flesh, are to our detriment;
we draw all our nourishment from the
sun; in our ignorance we do il by eat
ing those things in which we find the
greater amount of those stored-up ell
ergieS. The day will come, whether IN
this life or not we cannot say, when we
will get our food directly from the sun
itself, or from some other source of efful-
gence
No one can conjecture whence the sun
receives its light; whether from native
conditions, or whether ii is receptive and
responsive to some great influence that
excites its effulgence. Plato says, God
is light. and truth is His shadow" This
being true it is not out of the range
Of probability that all the vast array Of
suns, scattered in rich profusion through