Now as the Distance from the Sun to the Earth is so small in Proportion to the Distance of the Stars from us, and from one another, we may very well consider the Sun as the Center of our Station, or Position in the general System or Frame of Nature. And as the Stars are very visible thro' good Telescopes, to the ninth or tenth Magnitude, if we multiply the primary Distance of Syrius, or of any other of his Class, by this Number of common intermediate Spaces, the Product will be equal to the Radius of the visible Creation to the solar Eye; which, by this Rule, you will find in capital Numbers to be [AI]nearly 6,000,000,000,000 Miles, taking in a Star of the sixth Magnitude, and to a Star of the ninth, 9,000,000,000,000 Miles: But this Computation supposes a mean common Distance of the Stars in a sort of Syzygia, or Direction of a Right Line, which is not the real Case; for the Stars cannot be supposed to diminish in a proportional Magnitude by any mathematical Ratio, but by some geometrical, or rather musical one; for Instance, if the Distance of a first be 3, that of a second should be about 5, and of a proportional Third 8,333, &c. ad infinitum: But as their true proportional Distance is unknown, the above will be sufficient for our present Purpose; which is only to shew, without Exaggeration, the Space we now are truly sensible of.
[AI] If the Distance of the Sun and Earth is found too much, which I must own I have a violent Suspicion of, these Numbers must be reduced in like Proportion.
This I have here considered more extensively, to obviate all Objections that you may make to the Probability of the general Motion of the Stars, by shewing no Difficulty can possibly arise from their apparent Proximity, Number, or irregular Distribution: Their Distances being so immensely large, no Disorder or Confusion can be supposed in any Direction of them, or Motion whatever. The greatest Distance of the Planets, which all move undisturbed round the Sun, is about three hundred and fifty-three Million of Miles: But the least Distance of one Star from another, is upwards of two thousand eight hundred and thirty-two Times that Distance, or one Million of Millions of Miles: And as no sensible Disorder can be observed amongst the solar Planets, what Reason have we to suppose any can be occasioned amongst the Stars, or that a general Motion of these primary Luminaries round a common Center, should be any way irrational, or unnatural?
What an amazing Scene does this display to us! what inconceivable Vastness and Magnificence of Power does such a Frame unfold! Suns crowding upon Suns, to our weak Sense, indefinitely distant from each other; and Miriads of Miriads of Mansions, like our own, peopling Infinity, all subject to the same Creator's Will; a Universe of Worlds, all deck'd with Mountains, Lakes, and Seas, Herbs, Animals, and Rivers, Rocks, Caves, and Trees; and all the Produce of indulgent Wisdom, to chear Infinity with endless Beings, to whom his Omnipotence may give a variegated eternal Life.
The astonishing Distance of the starry Mansions undoubtedly was design'd to answer some wise End: One Consequence is this, and probably is not without its Use: To every Planet of the same System, the same sidereal Face of Heaven appears without the least Degree of Change; and as the remotest Regions upon Earth see the same Moon and Planets, so also the Inhabitants of the most distant Planets in ours, or in any other System, see the same Forms and Order of the Stars in common with the rest. The whole Sphere of Heaven being common and unchangeable through all their various Revolutions.
Thus those (the People) in the Planet Venus will see the Constellation of Orion just as we do, and the People in the Planet Saturn, much farther still removed, alike will view this Constellation in all respects the same; here then, (in the System of the Sun) the Eye removed from us must only hope to find a new Earth surrounded with the same sort of Sky: But Beings in another System, behold not only a new Heaven above, but also new Earths below; and all the Frame of Nature to them puts on a new Dress, new Signs, new Seasons, and new Planets roll, and a new Sun renews the Day.
The Heathen Fables here are all erased with all the Immortality of their vain earthly Gods and Heroes; Perseus and Alcides are no more, and both the Bears are vanished; the Pleiades and the Hyads join, and shining Leo, though boasting two Stars of the first Magnitude with us, there no where can be found, lost in the common undistinguished Herd. But still Astronomy will exist, and new-framed Forms may fill the varied Scene.
Perhaps you may expect that I should here give you my Conjectures of what sort of Beings may be supposed to reside in the Ens Primum, or Sedes Beatorum of the known Universe, whether mortal, immortal, or Creatures partaking in some Degree of the Properties of both; as such may be conceiv'd to change their Natures and States, without a total Dissolution of their Senses by Death: And farther, it may possibly be judged unpardonable in me not to point out every blessed Abode, suited to the Virtues, and all the various States an immortal Soul may be translated to; but this is a Task above the human Capacity, or is the pure Province of Religion alone; the Business of a Revelation rather than Reason to discover. Besides, it is enough for the present Purpose, to prove, that Miriads of celestial Mansions, are to be discovered within our finite View, and by a kind of ocular Revelation, which visibly extends the human Prospect, as it were, far beyond the Grave. It matters not whether a Race of Heroes fill these Worlds, or a Tribe of happy Lovers people those; whether a Peasant in the Realms of Orion shall ever become a Prince in the Regions of Arcturus, or a Patriarch in Procion, a Prophet in the Precepæ. Not to mention all the Stages human Nature may, or have been destined to in any one World, as believ'd by the ancient Philosophers, besides the final Coalition of all Beings much more naturally to be expected in the Sedes Beatorum.
I say, whatever our Case may be with regard to these Queries and Futurity, the Plan and Principles of this Theory will not be at all changed by it, since what it is chiefly founded upon may be clearly demonstrated, so clearly and incontestably, that, with the Reverend Dr. Young, we may justly conclude,
Devotion! Daughter of Astronomy!