or may be the probable history of the various worlds in our firmament,
we must study the constitution and physical history of our own.
The men of limited reason who believed that the earth was created
and launched into its ethereal course when man was summoned to its
occupation, must have either denied altogether the existence of our
solar system, or have regarded all its planets as coeval with their
own, and as but the ministers to its convenience. Science, however,
has now corrected this error, and liberated the pious mind from its
embarrassments. The Palæontologist--the student of ancient life--has
demonstrated, by evidence not to be disputed, that the earth had been
inhabited by animals and adorned with plants during immeasurable cycles
of time antecedent to the creation of man--that when the volcano, the
earthquake, and the flood, had destroyed and buried them, nobler forms
of life were created to undergo the same fiery ordeal:--and that,
by a series of successive creations and catastrophes, the earth was
prepared for the residence of man, and the rich materials in its bosom
elaborated for his use, and thrown within his grasp. In the age of our
own globe, then, we see the age of its brother planets, and in the
antiquity of our own system we see the antiquity of the other systems
of the universe. In our catastrophes, too, we recognise theirs, and in
our advancing knowledge and progressive civilization, we witness the
development of the universal mind--the march of the immortal spirit to
its final destiny of glory or of shame.
The following are the names which have been given to the mountains and
valleys, or hollows, in the moon, and which are referred to in the
accompanying picture [See title page].
MOUNTAINS.
1. The Apennines.
2. The Caucasus.
3. The Alps.
4. Taurus.
5. Hæmus.
6. The Altai Mountains.
7. The Cordilleras.
8. The Riphæ Mountains.
9. The Carpathians.
10. The Hercynian Mountains.
HOLLOWS, OR VALLEYS.
A. The Crisian Sea.
B. The Sea of Fertility (!!).
C. The Sea of Nectar.
D. The Tranquil Sea.
E. The Serene Sea.
F. The Sea of Dreams.
G. The Sea of Death.
H. The Dreamy Marsh.
I. The Cold Sea.
K. The Sea of Vapors.
L. The Middle Bay.
M. The Sea of Clouds.
N. The Sea of Mist.
O. The Bay of Epidemics.
P. The Stormy Ocean.
Q. The Showery Sea.
R. The Sea of Rainbows.
S. The Sea of Dews.
T. Humboldt's Sea.
As will be seen, astronomers have done what they could to relieve the
dreariness of nature by a free indulgence in fanciful names.
Dr. Chalmers, speaking of the advantages derived from the discovery of
the telescope and microscope, says, "The one led me to see a system
in every star. The other leads me to see a world in every atom. The
one taught me that this mighty globe, with the whole burden of its
people, and of its countries, is but a grain of sand on the high field
of immensity. The other teaches me that every grain of sand may harbor
within it the tribes and families of a busy population. The one told
me of the insignificance of the world I tread upon. The other redeems
it from all its insignificance; for it tells me that in the leaves of
every forest, and in the flowers of every garden, and in the waters
of every rivulet, there are worlds teeming with life, and numberless
as are the glories of the firmament. The one has suggested to me that
beyond and above all that is visible to man, there may lie fields
of creation which sweep immeasurably along, and carry the impress of
the Almighty's hand to the remotest scenes of the universe. The other
suggests to me, that within and beneath all that minuteness which the
aided eye of man has been able to explore, there may lie a region of
invisibles; and that, could we draw aside the mysterious curtain which
shrouds it from our senses, we might there see a theatre of as many
wonders as astronomy has unfolded; a universe within the compass of
a point so small, as to elude all the powers of the microscope, but
where the wonder-working God finds room for the exercise of all his
attributes, where he can raise another mechanism of worlds, and fill
and animate them all with the evidences of his glory."
* * * * *
_Opinions of the American Press Respecting the Foregoing Discovery._
"HERSCHEL'S GREAT DISCOVERIES.--We are too much pleased with the
remarks of the sensible, candid, and scientific portions of the public
press upon the extracts which we have published relative to these
wonders of the age, to direct our attention very severely to-day to
that sceptical class of our contemporaries to whom none of these
attributes can be ascribed. Consummate ignorance is always incredulous
to the higher order of scientific discoveries, because it cannot
possibly comprehend them. Its mental thorax is quite capacious enough
to swallow any dogmas, however great, that are given upon the authority
of names; but it strains most perilously to receive the great truths
of reason and science. We scarcely ever knew a very ignorant person
who would believe in the existence of those myriads of invisible
beings which inhabit a drop of water, and every grain of dust, until
he had actually beheld them through the microscope by which they are
developed. Yet these very persons will readily believe in the divinity
of Matthias the prophet, and in the most improbable credenda of
extravagant systems of faith. The _Journal of Commerce_, for instance,
says it cannot believe in these great discoveries of Dr. Herschel, yet
it believes and defends the innocence of the murderer Avery. These
who in a former age imprisoned Galileo for asserting _his_ great
discoveries with the telescope, and determined upon sentencing him to
be burnt alive, nevertheless believed that Simon Magus actually flew in
the air by the aid of the devil, and that when that aid was withdrawn
he fell to the ground and broke his neck. The great mechanical
discoverer, Worcester, obtained no credence for his theories in his
day, though they are now being continually demonstrated by practical
operation. Happily, however, those who impudently and ignorantly deny
the great discoveries of Herschel, are chiefly to be found among those
whose faith or whose scepticism, would never be received as a guide for
the opinions of other men. From among that portion of the public press
whose intelligence and acquirements render them competent judges of the
great scientific questions now before the community, we extract the
following frank declarations of their opinions."--_New York Sun_, Sep.
1, 1835.
"No article, we believe, has appeared for years, that will command
so general a perusal and publication. Sir John has added a stock of
knowledge to the present age that will immortalize his name, and place
it high on the page of science."--_Daily Advertiser._
"DISCOVERIES IN THE MOON.--We commence to-day the publication of an
interesting article which is stated to have been copied from the
_Edinburgh Journal of Science_, and which made its first appearance
here in a contemporary journal of this city. It appears to carry
intrinsic evidence of being an authentic document."--_Mercantile
Advertiser._
"STUPENDOUS DISCOVERY IN ASTRONOMY.--We have read with unspeakable
emotions of pleasure and astonishment, an article from the last
_Edinburgh Scientific Journal_, containing an account of the recent
discoveries of Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope."--_Albany
Daily Advertiser._
"It is quite proper that the _Sun_ should be the means of shedding
so much light on the _Moon_. That there should be winged people in
the Moon does not strike us as more wonderful than the existence of
such a race of beings on earth; and that there does or did exist such
a race rests on the evidence of that most veracious of voyagers and
circumstantial of chroniclers, Peter Wilkins, whose celebrated work
not only gives an account of the general appearance and habits of a
most interesting tribe of flying Indians, but also of all those more
delicate and engaging traits which the author was enabled to discover
by reason of the conjugal relations he entered into with one of the
females of the winged tribe."--_N. Y. Evening Post._
"We think we can trace in it marks of transatlantic origin."--_N. Y.
Commercial Advertiser._
"The writer (Dr. Andrew Grant) displays the most extensive and
accurate knowledge of astronomy, and the description of Sir John's
recently improved instruments, the principle on which the inestimable
improvements were founded, the account of the wonderful discoveries
in the moon, &c., are all probable and plausible, and have an air of
intense verisimilitude."--_N. Y. Times._
"GREAT ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES!--By the late arrivals from England
there has been received in this country a supplement to the _Edinburgh
Journal of Science_ containing intelligence of the most astounding
interest from Prof. Herschel's observatory at the Cape of Good Hope....
The promulgation of these discoveries creates a new era in astronomy
and science generally."--_New Yorker._
"Our enterprising neighbors of the _Sun_, we are pleased to learn, are
likely to enjoy a rich reward from the late _lunar_ discoveries. They
deserve all they receive from the public--'they are worthy.'"--_N. Y.
Spirit of '76._
"After all, however, our doubts and incredulity may be a wrong to the
learned astronomer, and the circumstances of this wonderful discovery
may be correct. Let us do him justice, and allow him to tell his story
in his own way."--_N. Y. Sunday News._
"The article is said to be an extract from a supplement to the
_Edinburgh Journal of Science_. It sets forth difficulties encountered
by Sir John, on obtaining his glass castings for his great telescope,
with magnifying powers of 42,000. _The account, excepting the
magnifying power, has been before published_" [_i. e._, in the
Supplement to the _Edinburgh Journal of Science_.--Ed. _Sun_].--_U. S.
Gazette._
"It is not worth while for us to express an opinion as to the truth
or falsity of the narrative, as our readers can, after an attentive
perusal of the whole story, decide for themselves. Whether true or
false, the article is written with consummate ability, and possesses
intense interest."--_Philadelphia Inquirer._
"These are but a handful of the innumerable certificates of credence,
and of complimentary testimonials with which the universal press of
the country is loading our tables. Indeed, we find very few of the
public papers express any other opinion. We have named the _Journal of
Commerce_ as an exception, because it not only ignorantly doubted the
authenticity of the discoveries, but ill-naturedly said that we had
fabricated them for the purpose of making a noise and drawing attention
to our paper.
"Col. Webb of the _Courier and Inquirer_ has said nothing upon the
subject; but he only feels the more, and we are this moment assured
that he has made arrangements with the proprietors of the Charleston
steam-packets to take the splendid boat William Gibbons of that line,
and charter her for the Cape of Good Hope, whither he is going with all
his family--including Hoskin.
"We yesterday extracted from the celebrated Supplement, a mathematical
problem demonstrating an entirely new, and the only true method of
measuring the height of the lunar mountains. We were not then aware of
its great importance as a demonstration, also, of the authenticity of
the great discoveries. But several eminent mathematicians have since
called and assured us, that it is the greatest mathematical discovery
of the present age. Now, that problem was either predicated by us, or
by some other person, who has thereby made the greatest of all modern
discoveries in mathematical astronomy. We did not make it, for we know
nothing of mathematics whatever; therefore, it was made by the only
person to whom it can rationally be ascribed, namely, Herschel the
astronomer, its only avowed and undeniable author."--_Editor of the
Sun._
FOOTNOTES:
[1]
"As when the Moon,[2] refulgent lamp of night!
O'er heav'n's clear azure spreads her sacred light,
When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,
And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene;
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole,
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,
And tip with silver ev'ry mountain's head;
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies."
HOMER.
The earth is accompanied by a MOON or satellite, whose distance is
237,000 miles, and diameter 2,160. Her surface is composed of hill and
dale, of rocks and mountains, nearly two miles high, and of circular
cavities, sometimes five miles in depth and forty in diameter. She
possesses neither _rivers_, nor _lakes_, nor _seas_, and we cannot
discover with the telescope any traces of living beings, or any
monuments of their hands. Viewing the earth as we now do, as the
_third_ planet in order from the sun, can we doubt that it is a globe
like the rest, poised in ether like them, and, like them, moving round
the central luminary?
[2] _As when the moon, &c._ This comparison is inferior to none in
_Homer_. It is the most beautiful night-piece that can be found in
poetry. He presents you with a prospect of the heavens, the seas, and
the earth; the stars shine, the air is serene, the world enlighten'd,
and the moon mounted in glory.
[3] For an account of the singular views which the ancients had
entertained on this subject, see "The Theology of the Phœnicians,"
by _Sanchoniatho_, who flourished about the time of the Trojan war.
Published in a collection of _Ancient Fragments_. New York. 1835.