Physical Astronomy; Or, New Theories Of The Universe.

PHYSICAL ASTRONOMY ; OR , NEW THEORIES OF THE UNIVERSE .

By Bro . J . C . MANNING . The mechanism of the Heavens is to the Infinite , what material Masonry is to the finite , mind—the only true bases of both are perfect order and perfect harmony . From the conglomerate mass the

human builder piles up in finished handicraft a thing of beauty ; and from chaos , by the Divine will , a monument of such architectural glory has been , slowly built up iu the shoreless sea of space , as can only be comprehended by an application of

immutable laws , whose influences , though unseen , commend themselves tj our faith as unerringtruth , which the ages have hitherto failed to disturb . Do we believe in the operation of these laws beyond our comprehension ? Yes . Then ,

to learn the mechanism of the Heavens is an easy problem . Do we not believe that which we cannot comprehend ? Then all is uncertainty , doubt , and confusion . Look at the dark blue dome above you on a calm summer night , fretted

as it is with golden fires that throb and pulsate in the vast expanse , as though instinct with life . What but the most harmonious arrangement could keep those millions of Avorlds han ging in their several spheres , each subservient to each , and , in

the aggregate , a profoundly intricate yet a perfect and majestic whole . Here is no confusion . The finger of the Great Architect of the Universe is traceable at every point of contemplation , and we stand in awe at the marvellous fretwork of beauty which overhangs us .

I should like it to be known that I am no astronomer—which those who profess to be will find out soon enough . But I have a something within me which tells me that a knowledge of created things is not reserved to those alone who make

such things their professed study . I feel within me that the principle which governed the formacion of one world , governed the formation of all ; that as the mountain is but an accumulation of grains , so the bright worlds which sweep through

space are but the products of atoms which have , in the lapse of ages , aided in their formation . I believe , as our own earth is but a community made up of communities , and mankind but an accumulation of the unit , so are the millions of worlds

which people space but one gigantic system made up of systems ; each system a group of worlds , and each world an accumulation of grains—that the vast whole , in its mighty aggregate , partakes

of the elements of the component part , and that the influence Avhich operates upon a world regulates a system of worlds , and sivays the whole system of systems in its boundless and incomprehensible aggregate .

I was spending the winter and spring of 1863-9 in London , amongst old friends and faces , and one day , at a book-stall in the city , I picked up a pamphlet , entitled " New Theories of the Universe , " explaining " how sun , moon , stars , & c ,

are formed , " and " showing the cause of what is erroneously called attraction and gravitation , and why that portion of the earth called the North Pole always points in the same direction in space , the origin of planetary motion , & c , & c , & c . I

found that the pamphlet was " a paper prepared for presentation to the British Association , assembled at Liverpool , in September , 1854 , " and that it was prepared by "James Bedford , Ph . D , " that it was entered at Stationers' Hall , that

the London publishers were the well-known firm of Simpkin , Marshall , and Co ., and the Liverpool publishers Edward Howell , Church Street .

I took the pamphlet home and perused it carefully . I was at once impressed with the great and marked originality of thought which I found thickly scattered throughout the essay , which occupied four-and-twenty pages of matter . It was

crudely written ; and strict hypercritical grammarians , looking only to the crust , might , with ease , gratify their taste for criticism in tbe serving-up of the literary trifle . But there was a boldness and a vigour in the enunciation of thoughts

absolutely startling in their ponderous meaning that arrested my attention , and awakened my wonder . Existing theories affecting the formation of worlds were grappled with , and with such startling force

as manifested conscious power m the hand that seized them ; while new ideas , propounding the germs of new and wonderful theories , were suggested in place of them . Celestial mechanism was limned as with a master-hand , and the origin

of worlds was traced to settled laws , based on perfect simplicity of design , and perfect harmony of arrangement , which are the perogatives alone of the great architect , whose glory the Heavens declare , aud whose handiwork the earth showeth

to the fulness of perfection . The writer of the pamphlet , in his preface , sets forth the anticipation that the contents of the book may " probably satisfy the laudable curiosity of of the human mind , " in reference to the " origin