An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe /

by Thomas Wright

LETTER the SEVENTH.

The Hypothesis, or Theory, fully explained and demonstrated, proving the sidereal Creation to be finite.

SIR,

I

I KNOW you are an Enemy to all Sorts of Schemes where they are not absolutely necessary, and may possibly be avoided; and for that Reason I have purposely omitted many geometrical Figures, and other Representations in this Work, which might have been inserted and in some Places, especially here I might have introduced Diagrams, perhaps more explicit than Words; but as you have frequently observed, they are only of Use to the few Learned, and contribute more to the taking away the little Ideas and Knowledge the more ignorant Many may be endued with, by a prejudicial Impression of imperfect Images, rather than the adding any new Light to their Understanding, I have purposely avoided, as much as possible, both here and every where, all such complex Diagrams as might be in Danger of betraying any the least such conscious Diffidence in you, arising from the Want of a proper Precognita in the Sciences.

This Imperfection, much to be lamented, as greatly to the Disadvantage of all mathematical Reasoning, I would willingly always prevent, in my Readers, and to chuse in my Friend; I shall therefore content myself with referring you to a few orbicular Figures, concave and convex, as may best suggest to your Fancy the simplest Way, a just Idea of the Hypothesis I have fram'd, and naturally enough I hope, render my Theory so intelligible, as to help you sufficiently to conceive the Solution aimed at, of the important Problem I have attempted.

As I have said before, we cannot long observe the beauteous Parts of the visible Creation, not only those of this World on which we live, but also the Myriads of bright Bodies round us, with any Attention, without being convinced, that a Power supreme, and of a Nature unknown to us, presides in, and governs it.

The Course and Frame of this vast Bulk, display

A Reason and fix'd Law, which all obey.

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. Now, as we have no Reason to suppose, that the Nature of our Sun is different from that of the rest of the Stars; and since we can no way prove him superior even to the least of those surprising Bodies, how can we, with any Shew of Reason, imagine him to be the general Center of the whole, i. e. of the visible Creation, and seated in the Center of the mundane Space? This, in my humble Opinion, is too weak even for Conjecture, their apparent Distribution, and [AO]irregular Order argue so much against it.

[AO] See the Zodaical Constellations, you'll find that in some Signs there are several Stars of the first, second, and third Magnitude, and in many others none of these at all.

The Earth indeed has long possessed the chief Seat of our System, and peaceably reigned there, as in the Center of the Universe for many Ages past; but it was human Ignorance, and not divine Wisdom, that placed it there; some few indeed from the Beginning have disputed its Right to it, as judging it no way worthy of such high Eminence. 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.

Now it is no longer the only terrestrial Globe in the Universe, but is proved to be one of the least Planets of the solar System, and surprizingly inferior to some of its Fellow Worlds. The Sun, or rather the System, has almost as long usurped the Center of Infinity, with as little Pretence to such Pre-heminence; but now, Thanks to the Sciences, the Scene begins to open to us on all Sides, and Truths scarce to have been dreamt of, before Persons of Observation had proved them possible, invades our Senses with a Subject too deep for the human Understanding, and where our very Reason is lost in infinite Wonders. How ought this to humble every Mind susceptible of Reason!

In this Place, I believe, you will pardon a Digression; which, in Answer to Part of your last Letter, I judge will not be very impertinent, tho' perhaps just here I cannot so well justify it.

Your late Conversation with our Friend Mr. * * *, I am perswaded, must have been very entertaining; but I cannot help thinking his Reflections upon the Wonders of Nature and the Wisdom of Providence, though I must allow them all to be very just and curious, instead of elevating the Mind to the Pitch he would have it, rather as considered above, depress it below the proper, nay I might say necessary, Standard of human Ideas.

This, probably, you'll say is an odd Turn, and may want some Explanation, since every Object in the Chain of Nature, must of Force be granted, a Subject worthy of our Speculations, being all together made, as in the Maximum of Wisdom: But what I mean is this, since nothing is more natural for Beings in every State in search after their own Advantages, and the Enlargement of their Ideas to look upward, sure it may be presumed, that Time may be mispent, if not lost in inspecting too narrowly Things so little benefical in States below us; as Mr. Pope says,

Why has not Man a microscopic Eye?

For this plain Reason, Man is not a Fly.

Say what the Use, were finer Opticks given,

To inspect a Mite, not comprehend the Heav'n.

Amusement alone can never be supposed to be the sole End of human Life, where even true Happiness is a Thing we rather taste than enjoy. The Mind we find capable of much more rational Pleasure than can possibly fall within the Reach of human Power, either to promise or procure it; but then this very Defect in our present State of Existence affords us no less than a moral Assurance, that some where in a future, we may, if we please, be entitled to the very Plenum of all Enjoyments.

The peculiar Business then of the human Mind naturally precedes its Amusements, as evidently ordained to soar above all the inferior Beings of this World; and however our Natures may, thro' Indolence, or thro' Ignorance, degenerate, that of the Man can never be supposed to sink into the Mole.

The properest Way then sure for Men to preserve their Pre-heminence over the Brute Creation, is to make use of that Reason and Reflection, which so manifestly distinguishes their natural Superiority. A right Application of which, must of course then direct us to a forward, rather than a backward Search in the vast visible Chain of our Existence, which clearly connects all Beings and States as under the Direction of one supreme Agent.

This is all I would have understood by the foregoing Position, which, in one Word, implies no more than that the sublime Philosophy ought in all Reason to be preferred to the Minute; but I hope you will not infer from this my seeming Partiality for the celestial Sciences, that I mean to insinuate, that the Study of terrestrial Physicks is not a rational Amusement.

Mr. ***, you say, seems to lament the Taste of Mankind in general much in the same Degree as you do his I readily grant you; a Man who can talk so well upon an Ant, might make a more entertaining Discourse upon the Eagle; but I beg his Pardon, and though we are all too ready, and most apt to condemn all such Pleasures as vain or trifling, which we have no Share in, or Taste for ourselves; yet I don't think it follows, that those ingenious Labours of his are useless. 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. This is the only Return our Gratitude can make for all those Blessings he daily bestows upon us, and to this great Author of her Laws; Nature herself cries aloud through Myriads of various Objects, and after her own expressive and peculiar Manner, seems to command us with an attractive Grace, to observe her Sovereign, and admire his Wisdom. The Majesty, Power, and Dominion of God is best displayed in the external Direction of Things, his Wisdom and visible Agency in the internal: Hence, by proper Objects, selected from both, attended with just Reflections, we may certainly raise our Ideas almost to the Pitch of Immortals; but how far the human Imagination may possibly go, or how much Minds like ours may be improved, is a Question not easily determined; but as natural Knowledge evidently increases daily, and astronomical Enquiries are the most capable of opening our Minds, and enlarging our Conception, of consequence they must be most worthy our Attention of all other Studies. But of this I have said enough, and think it is now more than Time to attempt the remaining Part of my Theory.

When we reflect upon the various Aspects, and perpetual Changes of the Planets, both with regard to their[AP] heliocentric and geocentric Motion, we may readily imagine, that nothing but a like eccentric Position of the Stars could any way produce such an apparently promiscuous Difference in such otherwise regular Bodies. And that in like manner, as the Planets would, if viewed from the Sun, there may be one Place in the Universe to which their Order and primary Motions must appear most regular and most beautiful. Such a Point, I may presume, is not unnatural to be supposed, altho' hitherto we have not been able to produce any absolute Proof of it. See Plate XXV.

[AP] Not to mention their several Conjunctions and Apulces to fixed Stars, &c. see the State of the Heavens in 1662, December the first, when all the known Planets were in one Sign of the Zodiac, viz. Sagittarius.

This is the great Order of Nature, which I shall now endeavour to prove, and thereby solve the Phænomena of the Via Lactea; and in order thereto, I want nothing to be granted but what may easily be allowed, namely, that the Milky Way is formed of an infinite Number of small Stars.

Let us imagine a vast infinite Gulph, or Medium, every Way extended like a Plane, and inclosed between two Surfaces, nearly even on both Sides, but of such a Depth or Thickness as to occupy a Space equal to the double Radius, or Diameter of the visible Creation, that is to take in one of the smallest Stars each Way, from the middle Station, perpendicular to the Plane's Direction, and, as near as possible, according to our Idea of their true Distance.

But to bring this Image a little lower, and as near as possible level to every Capacity, I mean such as cannot conceive this kind of continued Zodiac, let us suppose the whole Frame of Nature in the Form of an artificial Horizon of a Globe, I don't mean to affirm that it really is so in Fact, but only state the Question thus, to help your Imagination to conceive more aptly what I would explain[AP]. Plate XXI. will then represent a just Section of it. Now in this Space let us imagine all the Stars scattered promiscuously, but at such an adjusted Distance from one another, as to fill up the whole Medium with a kind of regular Irregularity of Objects. And next let us consider what the Consequence would be to an Eye situated near the Center Point, or any where about the middle Plane, as at the Point A. Is it not, think you, very evident, that the Stars would there appear promiscuously dispersed on each Side, and more and more inclining to Disorder, as the Observer would advance his Station towards either Surface, and nearer to B or C, but in the Direction of the general Plane towards H or D, by the continual Approximation of the visual Rays, crowding together as at H, betwixt the Limits D and G, they must infallibly terminate in the utmost Confusion. If your Opticks fails you before you arrive at these external Regions, only imagine how infinitely greater the Number of Stars would be in those remote Parts, arising thus from their continual crowding behind one another, as all other Objects do towards the Horizon Point of their Perspective, which ends but with Infinity: Thus, all their Rays at last so near uniting, must meeting in the Eye appear, as almost, in Contact, and form a perfect Zone of Light; this I take to be the real Case, and the true Nature of our Milky Way, and all the Irregularity we observe in it at the Earth, I judge to be intirely owing to our Sun's Position in this great Firmament, and may easily be solved by his Excentricity, and the Diversity of Motion that may naturally be conceived amongst the Stars themselves, which may here and there, in different Parts of the Heavens, occasion a cloudy Knot of Stars, as perhaps at E.

Plate XXI.

Plate XXII.

But now to apply this Hypothesis to our present Purpose, and reconcile it to our Ideas of a circular Creation, and the known Laws of orbicular Motion, so as to make the Beauty and Harmony of the Whole consistent with the visible Order of its Parts, our Reason must now have recourse to the Analogy of Things. It being once agreed, that the Stars are in Motion, which, as I have endeavoured in my last Letter to shew is not far from an undeniable Truth, we must next consider in what Manner they move. First then, to suppose them to move in right Lines, you know is contrary to all the Laws and Principles we at present know of; and since there are but two Ways that they can possibly move in any natural Order, that is, either in right Lines, or in Curves, this being one, it must of course be the other, i. e. in an Orbit; and consequently, were we able to view them from their middle Position, as from the Eye seated in the Center of Plate XXV. we might expect to find them separately moving in all manner of Directions round a general Center, such as is there represented. It only now remains to shew how a Number of Stars, so disposed in a circular Manner round any given Center, may solve the Phænomena before us. There are but two Ways possible to be proposed by which it can be done, and one of which I think is highly probable; but which of the two will meet your Approbation, I shall not venture to determine, only here inclosed I intend to send you both. The first is in the Manner I have above described, i. e. all moving the same Way, and not much deviating from the same Plane, as the Planets in their heliocentric Motion do round the solar Body. In this Case the primary, secondary, and tertiary constituent Orbits, &c. framing the Hypotheses, are represented in Plate XXII, and the Consequence of such a Theory arising from such an universal Law of Motion in Plate XXIII. where B, D denotes the local Motion of the Sun in the true Orbis Magnus, and E, C that of the Earth in her proper secondary Orbit, which of course is supposed, as is shewn in the Figure to change its sidereal Positions, in the same Manner as the Moon does round the Earth, and consequently will occasion a kind of Procession, or annual Variation in the Place of the Sun, not unlike that of the Equinoxes, or Motion of all the Stars together, from West to East round the Ecliptic Poles, and probably may in some Degree be the Occasion of it. This Angle is represented, but much magnified, by the Lines F, C, G, and the Unnaturalness, or Absurdity of a right Line Motion of the Sun by the Line I, H.

The second Method of solving this Phænomena, is by a spherical Order of the Stars, all moving with different Direction round one common Center, as the Planets and Comets together do round the Sun, but in a kind of Shell, or concave Orb. The former is easily conceived, from what has been already said, and the latter is as easy to be understood, if you have any Idea of the Segment of a Globe, which the adjacent Figures, will, I hope, assist you to. The Doctrine of these Motions will perhaps be made very obvious to you, by inspecting the following Plates.