Thomas Wright

“ The Pleasures arising from natural Philosophy are all undoubtedly great ones, whether we consider Nature in her highest, or in her lowest Capacity; the Beauties of the Creation are every Day varied to us below, as much as they are every Night above, and in both Cases, through every Object, the Creator shines so manifest, that we may justly consider him every where smiling full in the Face of all his Creatures, commanding as it were an awful Reverence, and Respect, due not only to his Omnipotency, but also to his infinite Goodness and endless Indulgencies. ”

“ To this we may add, that this System of the Universe, as it is physically demonstrable, is far the most rational and probable of any. Because,
"It is far the most magnificent of any, and worthy of an infinite Creator, whose Power and Wisdom, as they are without Bounds and Measure, so may they, in all Probability, exert themselves in the Creation of many Systems as well as one. And as Myriads of Systems are more for the Glory of God, and more demonstrate his Attributes than one; so it is no less probable than possible, there may be many besides this which we have the Privilege of living in." ”

“ Hence we may truly infer, that the Soul must be immaterial, and that in all Probability there may be States in the Universe so much more longer lived than ours, that, compared with the Age of Man, the Age of such Beings may be almost as an Eternity, or rather, as that of the human Species to that of a Sun-born Insect.
Again, if there are still Stars beyond all these of other Denomination, which we do not here perceive, how vastly must these Numbers be increased, to express, almost without Idea, the amazing Whole of this one visible Creation ”

“ And yet, as by a Sort of Instinct, or natural Reason, and Consciousness of a good Principle, we see how many noble Steps they made towards it, and was convinc'd at last of this great Truth, that since there was a Mind in so imperfect a Creature as Man, the perfect Universe, which comprehended all Things, could not possibly be without one; and as Sir Isaac Newton has justly observed in his Principia, "If every Particle of Space be always, and every individual Moment of Duration every where; surely the Maker and Lord of all Things, cannot be never and no where." ”

“ The Sun himself lost in superior Light,
No more renews the Day, or drives away the Night:
The Moon, the Stars, and Planets disappear,
And Nature fix't makes one eternal Year.
Here and here alone center'd in the Realms of inexpressible Glory, we justly may imagine that primogenial Globe or Sphere of all Perfections, - 81 - subject to the Extreams of neither Cold nor Heat, of eternal Temperance and Duration. Here we may not irrationally suppose the Vertues of the meritorious are at last rewarded and received into the full Possession of every Happiness, and to perfect Joy. ”

“ Again, The Sun, with all its attendant Planets is but a very little Part of the grand Machine of the Universe. Every Star—is really a vast Globe, like the Sun, in Size and in Glory, no less spacious, no less luminous, than the radiant Source of our Day; so that every Star is the Center of a magnificent System, has a Retinue of Worlds irradiated by its Beams, and revolves round its active Influence ”

“ Thus in the Focus, or Center of Creation, I would willingly introduce a primitive Fountain, perpetually overflowing with divine Grace, from whence all the Laws of Nature have their Origin, and this I think would reduce the whole Universe into regular Order and just Harmony, and at the same time, inlarge our Ideas of the divine Indulgence, open our Prospect into Nature's fair Vineyard, the vast Field of all our future Inheritance. ”

“ Thus, Sir, you have had my full Opinion, without the least Reserve, concerning the visible Creation, considered as Part of the finite Universe; how far I have succeeded in my designed Solution of the Via Lactea, upon which the Theory of the Whole is formed, is a Thing will hardly be known in the present Century, as in all Probability it may require some Ages of Observation to discover the Truth of it. ”

“ The Ideas I have fram'd of Time and Space, will now more gradually fill your Imagination both with Wonder and Delight, before they can arise so high as to be lost in an Eternity and the Infinity of Space. ”

“ A Universe so well designed, and fill'd with such an endless Structure of material Beings, and all the Result of Prescience and infinite reflected Reason, flowing from a Mind all perfect, full of all Ideas, could never be designed in vain; and tho' our narrow Bounds of Reason limited, by finite Senses, cannot directly see the Consequence dependant on a Sequel, yet from what we do see, great Room we have to hope the next Stage of Existence will be more lasting and more perfect ”

“ If the Stars were ordained merely for the Use of us, why so much Extravagance and Ostentation in their Number, Nature, and Make? For a much less Quantity, and smaller Bodies, placed nearer to us, would every Way answer the vain End we put them to; and besides, in all Things else, Nature is most frugal, and takes the nearest Way, through all her Works, to operate and effect the Will of God. ”

“ The Sun we have justly reduced to the State of a Star, why then in Reason should he have his attendant Planets round him, more than any of the rest, his undoubted Equals? No Shadow even of a Reason can be given for such an Absurdity.
May we not with the greatest Confidence imagine, that Nature as justly abhors a Vacuum in Place, as much as Virtue does in Time? Surely yes: And by supposing the Infinity of Stars, all centers to as many Systems of innumerable Worlds, all alike unknown to us ”

“ If therefore what I shall hereafter advance, extend so far without the known Creation, that you can possibly conceive no Bounds to the Works of infinite Wisdom and Power, I hope you will be in no Danger of looking upon it as more ridiculous, or absurd, than what so many of the wisest Men of every Age have thought proper to attempt, and have judged worthy of their Attention so long before me. ”

“ How absurd and impious this is I leave to your own Reason and Reflection: This is the fatal Rock upon which all weak Heads and narrow Minds are lost and split upon, consequently ought to be the most carefully avoided, not only as the Nurse of Atheism, but as the dreadful Father of Despair: "For, say they, these unhappy Wretches, to be always the same, is inconsistent with a Change; and to be less than what we are, any where hereafter, is full as difficult to conceive as to be more." ”

“ Time takes its first Denomination from the diurnal Rotation of the Earth upon its Axis, which we call a natural Day, and this for obvious Reasons we subdivide in twenty-four Parts or Hours. This diurnal Motion having been successively repeated, and the Day renewed three hundred and sixty-five Times, we find that all the vegetable World has gone through all its Variegations, and Nature has again put on the same Face, adapted to the Season; during which Time, and indeed which occasions this general Change and Repetition, the Earth is found to make one intire Revolution round the Sun. ”

“ Having, I say, once granted that all the Stars may move round one common Center, I think it is very natural to one, who loves to pursue Nature as far as we may, to enquire what most likely may be in that Center; for since we must allow it to be far superior to any other Point of Situation in the known Universe, it is highly probable, there may be some one Body of siderial or earthy Substance seated there, where the divine Presence, or some corporeal Agent, full of all Virtues and Perfections, more immediately presides over his own Creation. ”

“ These several Systems of the fixed Stars, as they are at a great and sufficient Distance from the Sun and us; so they are imagined to be at as due, and regular Distances from one another: By which means it is that those Multitudes of fixed Stars appear to us of different Magnitudes, the nearest to us large; those farther and farther, less and less; and that some, if not all of those vast Globes of the Universe, have a Motion, is manifest to our Sight, and may easily be concluded of all, from the constant Similitude and Consent that the Works of Nature have with one another. ”

“ In this great Celestial Creation, the Catastrophy of a World, such as ours, or even the total Dissolution of a System of Worlds, may possibly be no more to the great Author of Nature, than the most common Accident in Life with us, and in all Probability such final and general Doom-Days may be as frequent there, as even Birth-Days, or Mortality with us upon the Earth. ”

“ Besides the Nobleness and Pleasure of these Studies, Wisdom and Morality are naturally advanced, and much benefited by them, and even Religion itself receives a double Lustre, "to the Confusion of those who would have the Earth, and all Things formed by the shuffling Concourse of Atoms, or to be without Beginning." In Astronomy, as well as in natural Philosophy, though we cannot positively affirm every thing we say to be Facts and Truth, yet in so noble and sublime a Study as that of Nature, it is glorious, as Mr. Huygens says, even to arrive at Probability. ”

“ Since the Sun and fix'd Stars, says Dr. Gregory, are the only great Bodies of the Universe that have any native Light, they are justly esteemed by Philosophers to be of the same Kind, and designed for the same Uses; and it is the Effect of a Man's Temper that sets a greater Value upon his own Things than he ought, that makes him judge the Sun to be the biggest of them all. ”

“ And notwithstanding the many wonderful Productions of Nature in this our known Habitation, yet the Earth, when compared with other Bodies of our own System, seems far from being the most considerable in it; and it appears not only very possible, but highly probable, from what has been said, and from what we can farther demonstrate, that there is as great a Multiplicity of Worlds, variously dispersed in different Parts of the Universe, as there are variegated Objects in this we live upon. ”

“ But what this central Body really is, I shall not here presume to say, yet I can't help observing it must of Necessity, if the Creation is real and not merely Ideal, be either a Globe of Fire superior to the Sun, or otherwise a vast terraqueous or terrestrial Sphere, surrounded with an Æther like our Earth, but more refined, transparent and serene. ”

“ This sort of Reasoning, though some perhaps may neglect it, I am perswaded you will look upon as abundantly sufficient for Things out of the Reach of Science to determine; and that the collective Body of Stars have not been discovered, to be together a proper Subject for such Conjectures before, can surely only proceed from the Want of Time, necessary to compleat the Observations proper for a Foundation to build such an Hypothesis, or Theory upon. This is the great Article in which the Moderns have so much, and ever will have, an Advantage over the Antients. ”

“ To expect that so new an Hypothesis should meet with universal Approbation, would be an unpardonable Vanity; nor is it reasonable every Reader should think the Author obliged to remove all his Prejudices and Partialities, so far as to give him the perfect Picture of the Universe he likes best. ”

“ To give you therefore a clearer Idea of Distance, and impress the Proportions of Space more strongly and fully in your Mind, let us suppose the Body of the Sun, as I have said before, to be represented by the Dome of St. Paul's; in such Proportion a spherical Body eighteen Inches Diameter, moving at Mary-le-bone, will justly represent the Earth, and another of five Inches Diameter, describing a Circle of forty-five Feet and a half Radius round it, will represent the Orbit and Globe of the Moon. A Body at the Tower of 9,7 Inches, will represent Mercury ”

“ This Idea has something so chearful in it, that I own I can never look upon the Stars without wondering why the whole World does not become Astronomers; and that Men endowed with Sense and Reason, should neglect a Science they are naturally so much interested in, and so capable of inlarging the Understanding, as next to a Demonstration, must convince them of their Immortality, and reconcile them to all those little Difficulties incident to human Nature, without the least Anxiety. ”

“ But Chance only can effect Disorder, Discord, and Confusion; ergo, the visible Harmony and Beauty of the Creation declare for a Direction; and this must of Consequence, from its perfect Nature, proceed from the Wisdom and Power of an eternal Being, God of Infinity, the Author of all Ideas: And if this primitive Power produced us his Creatures from nothing, nothing can be wanting to revive our Frames again; and if from something, that something must remain to establish us in a future Life. ”

“ Time at length has discovered the Truth to every body, and now it is justly displaced by the united Consent of all its Inhabitants, and instead of being thought the most majestick of all Nature's lower Works, now rather disgraces the Creation, so much it is reduced in its present State from what it had Reason to expect in the former. ”