with respect to the earth; nor was it a nebula, either stationary or wandering lawless through space. Such a collection of matter could not remain stationary within the solar system; and had it been in motion in any other direction than that in which the earth was moving, it would soon have been separated from the earth, since, during the eight hours while the meteoric shower lasted, the earth moved in its orbit through the space of 540,000 miles. The conclusion to which Professor Olmsted arrives, after a due consideration of all circumstances, is the following: That the meteors of November 13th consisted of portions of the extreme parts of a nebulous body, which revolves around the sun in an orbit interior to that of the earth, but little inclined to the plane of the ecliptic, having its aphelion near to the earth's path, and having a periodic time of 182 days nearly. This conclusion, the professor thinks, will account for the following, among other circumstances: Why the phenomenon remained so long stationary with respect to the earth; why it was seen in that particular part of the heavens; and why it returns at stated periods, having appeared at Mocha, in Arabia, just one year preceding, and in a manner very similar to the present, as described by Humboldt and by Ellicot thirtyfour years before. It will likewise account for an auroral light, resembling daybreak, which was seen in the east several hours before the dawn of day, and it is also supposed it may account for the different appearances of the zodiacal light. The professor is of opinion that the body alluded to is somewhat analogous to that of a comet. Fig. 77 represents the supposed orbit of this body in relation to that of the earth. EHIK represents the orbit of the earth; S, the position of the sun; and CDFG, the supposed orbit of the body which was the source of the meteoric phenomena. At the time these phenomena were seen, the body is supposed to have been at C when the earth was at E. Arago appears to entertain an opinion on this subject not very different from that of Dr. Olmsted. He supposes that there may be myriads of bodies, composed probably of nebulous inatter similar to the tails of comets, circulating round the sun in a zone or ring, that crosses the earth's orbit at that part where it is about the 12th November, and that some of them, drawn from their course by the earth's attraction, fall towards it, and taking fire when they enter the atmosphere, in consequence of Fig. 77. H K E their prodigiously rapid motion, present the luminous phenomena of falling stars. The body or bodies from which these meteors proceed, he considers as unquestionably in rapid mo. tion, performing a revolution round the sun in some plane different from that of the earth's orbit; and that the apparent course of the meteors will be compounded of this proper motion and of the earth's motion in its orbit at the time. It follows, that the point from which they seem to come will be that towards which the earth is moving at the time, namely, the constellation Leo; for the line or tangent of the earth's annual motion at the 13th and 14th November points exactly to that constellation.* * A gentleman in South Carolina thus describes the effect of the phenomenon of 1833 upon his negroes: "I was suddenly awakened by the most distressing cries that ever fell on my ears. Shrieks of horror and cries Thus it appears that celestial bodies are revolving around us of which we formerly had no knowledge or conception. A new planetary system, within the limits of the old, is beginning to be revealed to us, the number of the bodies belonging to which may be much greater than we are yet aware of, and their particular properties and motions may at no distant period be detected and explained. This is one proof, among others, that bodies of a considerable size may exist in the heavens, and be prosecuting their courses in various directions, though they have never been detected by our telescopes. The subject is peculiarly interesting to philosophers and astronomers. The facts which have already been observed afford a sensible proof of the attractive power of the earth over bodies at a distance in the heavens; and it is to be hoped that the future observations and investigations of scientific men, in relation to such phenomena, will throw some farther light on the nature and properties of bodies which have hitherto been involved in darkness and mystery. What the destination of such bodies may be, or the ends they serve in the economy of nature, we are as yet entirely ignorant of. It appears pretty evident that they are bodies of no great density, otherwise their effect on the earth might have been more terrific and disastrous. Had their quantity of matter been considerable, when accompanied with so prodigious a velocity as they evidently had, their momentum would have been such as to dash them with violence upon the earth, where the most appalling effects might have been produced, in the demolition of human habitations, and the destruction of thousands of their inhabitants. But it does not appear that any of them made their way through the atmosphere to the surface of the earth, which was doubtless owing to the comparatively light materials of which they were composed. This circumstance, of mercy I could hear from most of the negroes on three plantations, amounting in all to about six or eight hundred. While earnestly listen. ing for the cause, I heard a faint voice near the door calling my name. I arose, and, taking my sword, stood at the door. At this moment I heard the same voice still beseeching me to rise, and saying, Oh, my God! the world is on fire! I then opened the door, and it is difficult to say which excited me most; the awfulness of the scene, or the distressed cries of the negroes. Upward of one hundred lay prostrate on the ground; some speechless, and some uttering the bitterest cries, but most with their hands raised, imploring God to save the world and them. The scene was truly awful; for never did rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell towards the earth; east, west, north, and south, it was the same!" Y along with many others, evidently shows that we may be surrounded with numerous bodies and substances impalpable to the organs of vision, any one of which might be sufficient to deprive us of our comforts, and even prove destructive to our existence, were it not under the direction and control of Infinite Wisdom and Benevolence. CHAPTER XVI. ARGUMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE DOCTRINE OF A PLURALITY OF WORLDS. HAVING in the preceding pages exhibited a condensed view of the principal facts in relation to the Sidereal Heavens, I shall now inquire into some of the designs which the Almighty Creator appears to have had in view in replenishing his universe with such an immense number and variety of magnificent orbs. In Chapter IX. of "Celestial Scenery," I entered on a consideration of this subject, and illustrated at some length a few leading arguments, which tend to prove that matter was created chiefly in subservience to mind, and that the main object of the creation of the planets, as proved from all the decorations and special arrangements connected with them, was to afford habitations for numerous orders of sensitive and intellectual beings. Without resuming the consideration of any of the arguments there stated, I shall in this chapter offer a few additional arguments corroborative of the same position, which, taken in connexion with the former, will, I trust, amount to a moral demonstration that all the great globes in the universe are in some respect or another connected with intelligent existence. I. The first class of arguments I shall illustrate is the following: That the doctrine of a plurality of worlds is more worthy of the perfections of the Infinite Creator, and gives us a more glorious and magnificent idea of his character and operations than to suppose his benevolent regards confined to the globe on which we dwell. 1. The doctrine of a plurality of worlds is more accordant with the idea of the infinity of the Divine Mind than any other position. It is admitted by all rational theists and theologians that the Divine nature fills the immensity of space, and we consequently adore the Creator as an infinite and incomprehensible being. But we can have no ideas approximating to what infinity really is, unless by the prospects opened to us of the indefinite extension of material existence. Beyond the limits we may assign to the material world, our ideas, if we have any ideas at all, run into confusion and approximate to inanity. It does not comport with the idea of a Being of infinite perfection that his works should be confined to one point of infinite space, or that one comparatively small race of intelligent beings should be the sole object of the moral government of Him whose presence fills the regions of immensity. It is more corresponding to the conceptions we ought to form of such a Being that the immensity of his works should correspond, in some degree, to the immensity of his nature; and, so far as our knowledge and observation extend, this is in reality the case. Beyond the range of natural vision the telescope enables us to descry numerous objects of amazing magnitude; and, in proportion to the excellence of the instrument and the powers applied, objects still more remote in the spaces of immensity are unfolded to our view, leaving us no room to doubt that countless globes and masses of matter lie concealed in the still remoter regions of infinity, far beyond the utmost stretch of mortal vision. But huge masses of matter, however numerous and widely extended, if devoid of intelligent beings, could never comport with the idea of happiness being coextensive with the range of the Creator's dominions. Such an idea would completely obscure the lustre of all his other attributes, and prevent them from being known and appreciated wherever his Omnipotence is displayed. To consider creation, therefore, in all its departments, as extending throughout regions of space illimitable to mortal view, and filled with intelligent existence, is nothing more than what comports with the idea of HIM who inhabiteth immensity, and whose perfections are boundless and past finding out. 2. The idea of the indefinite extension of the universe and a plurality of worlds is most accordant with the eternity of the Divine Mind. When we go back in imagination to ages and centuries of duration more numerous than the drops of ocean or the sands on the seashore, we find the Deity existing in all the plenitude of his incommunicable attributes; for "He |