EXTRACTS
FROM A FEW OF
THE MANY HIGHLY EULOGISTIC REVIEWS
THAT HAVE APPEARED OF
"'te Staru ant tUp Sartb.."
From the Border Watch, November 5.
"Our readers, we are confident, will thank us for introducing
them to' The Stars and the Earth.' Perhaps nothing we ever read,
of uninspired man's penmanship, has excited within us sensations
of a more startling yet pleasurable kind. We know not who the
author is, nor under what circumstances the sublime idea, the outline of which he has here so ably sketched, was first suggested to
his mind; but this we will say, that a life of scientific research has
often borne scantier fruit than is here presented to the world for a
shilling; and men have had their names handed down to posterity,
as the world's benefactors, who have not given birth to any thing
half so valuable as the theory we have just endeavored to explain.
We wait with impatience the promised development of the magnificent idea partially opened to us in' The Stars and the Earth.'"
From the Family Herald.
"This little book contains a new idea, which is saying a great
deal in these times of intelligence, when all creation is ransacked
by the genii of poetry, philosophy, science, and theology, for something new, striking. and entertaining. It is an idea, too, which is
infinitely sublime and beautiful. It is one of tie most poetical ideas
which the human mind can entertain,- an idea which is not merely
chimerical and imaginary, but based on scientific facts, and logically
true.  We wonder it has never been hit upon before.  We have
sometimes been very near it, and are only surprised that we never
caught it.  We give the author full credit for the discovery, and
thank him for it.
"Once more we thank the author for a magnificent poetitll ideri,
too rich ever to be forgotten by a mind that loves the sublime and
the beautiful."
I




REVIEW S.
From the Cambridge Advertiser.
"To our metaphysical readers -and to all who, as Christians, oi
even as Natural Theologians, desire to have clearer and more satisfactory views of the mysterious attributes of the Omniscient, and of
Time and Space - we cordially recommend this little work."
From the Cambridge Independent Press.
"This is a splendid little work, and cannot be too freely circulated.
It is written in a popular style, and with much simplicity; valuable,
not only to adults, but very instructive to children."
From the Critic.
"Forty-eight small pages, suggesting food for a life of thought."
From the Greenock Advertiser.
"A rare thing, - out of the common path, - and from its very
novelty worthy of a little examination."
From the Nottingham Review, October 30.
"A little work, full of bright guesses and lovely imaginings,
which will be right welcome to the bold-minded student who dares
to grapple with problems the most intricate, and who aspires after
that higher knowledge which is found above the region of sense,
and can only be even glanced at as the result of a complete and continued abstraction of the soul from all meaner and lower associations.
Many of the thoughts are striking in themselves, and will become
suggestive of ideas yet more novel in the intelligent reader's mind.
We have much pleasure in commending it to the perusal of all persons who are sufficiently blessed with imagination to comprehend
subjects which are above the level of commonplace."
From Dolman's 1Iagazine, December, 1846.
"Limited as is the space of this publication, it contains a fund of
deep thought which larger works on astronomical subjects have seldom developed. It is most logically written.  Step by step, from
undeniable premises, does the writer prove his point, until the om
niscience of the great one Deity is made apparent to our mera*l vision,
and in an extraordinary new and clearer light."




THE STARS AND THE EARTH;
OR,
THOUGHTS UPON
SPACE, TIME, AND  ETERNITY.
fFottrtb lmerican,
FROM THE THIRD ENGLISH EDITION.
BOSTON:
NOYES, HOLMES, AND COMPANY,
219 WASHINGTON STREET.
1874.




PORTLAND, Me., April 16, 1874.
MESSRS. NOYES, HOLMES, & CO. having informed me
that they propose publishing a new edition of the " Stars and
the Earth," I take occasion to add a word upon some points
ia that book. In the first American reprints I corrected some
trifling errors of scientific statement into which the writer
had fallen on pages 10-12. The planet Neptune was discovered soon after page 12 was written. The statement on page
9, that no attempts have been made to measure the velocity
of light in terrestrial spaces, now needs correction; the attempt was successfully made by Foucault and Fizeau in the
year succeeding the date of my letter. The statement on page
16, that the most recent astronomers hold that some nebulae
are distant stellar systems, is no longer true; the evidence
fails to show that we see aught beyond our Milky Way.
The fact assumed on pages 84-87 that a perfect lens could
reduce a picture to a point is not a fact; and I ought to
have noticed the error more distinctly than I did in my
phrase, "we think he fails."  The picture could not be reduced to a point unless either the picture were removed to an
infinite distance from the lens, or else the lens itself had an
infinitely short focus; that is, were itself only a point. But
these instances of inaccuracy as to fact do not detract from
the value of the little book in its office of stimulating the
imagination to unwonted flights in the realm of the possible
in Space, Time, and Eternity.
THOMAS HILL.




RECOMMENDATORY LETTER
FROM THE REV. THOMAS HILL.
MESSRS. CROSBY & NICHOLS: 
Many thanks, my dear Sirs, for the copy of
" THE STARS AND THE EARTH," a little book
which I had not before seen, but with which I
have been highly delighted. It does resemble,
in the nature of its topics, the concluding chapters of my own  " Geometry and  Faith," to
which you allude, and which is publishing by C.
S. Francis, of New York; but the author has
selected quite a different example for illustration,
and developed with much more minuteness and
fulness the leadings of this idea. I need not say
how  cordially I should welcome a reprint of
"The Stars and the Earth"; if for no other
reason, for this, that it is pleasant to have fellowlaborers in any good work.
* A revised edition in press by G. P Putnam's Sons.
2*




6       RECOMMENDATORY LETTER.
The identity of religion and philosophy, proclaimed by Erigena in the ninth century, is daily
becoming more evident. In all departments of
human thought, the deepest thinkers are striving
more earnestly after laws; that is, after expressions of the thoughts of God. The object of
science is defined by one of the most distinguished of its students to be, to unfold the harmony of creation; that is, to unfold the wisdom
and unity of the Creator; and in proportion to
the clearness with which the end of science is
perceived, will higher attainments be made in it.
No real advancement of any of the sciences can.
then, henceforward be made, but by men of de
vout and reverent spirit.  The state of human
knowledge, proposed by Comte as the aim o!
science, when all facts shall be included in on(
formula or law, must be accompanied by a state
of human faith which shall see.this law to be E
single thought of the wisdom of God, promptec
by his love and expressed by his will. To this
end all results of every science are leading
Not only is " the connection of the physical
sciences " becoming more manifest, showing one
Mind to have created heaven and earth, but the
connection between history and geography; geology and the life of man; logic, mathematics,




RECOMMENDATORY LETTER.             7
taste, and faith; daily revealing itself, reveals
also that one Mind as an infinitely kind Father
of men.
This little book, "The Stars and the Earth,"
takes up, in its first part, the phenomenon of
light, and from it shows, with great clearness,
how the past may be actually present to God,
and become hereafter actually present to men.
As Babbage, in his'" Ninth Bridgewater Treatise," demonstrates that the shores of the ocean
shall, through eternity, reecho the shriek of the
drowning slave, whom his Christian captor may
have thrown overboard to lighten the ship, when
hard pressed by pursuing police-boats of the
nations, so does this unknown author show that
we need only be present at a sufficient distance
to have at this instant the testimony of eyesight
to the monstrous guilt.
In the second part, the author endeavors to
show the unity of the Creator, by showing the
unity of the creation; and to show the unity of
the creation, by showing that it may be the embodiment of a single thought, and occupy neither
Space nor Time, -  these being only modes of
human perception.  In this last point we think
he fails; but the failure is of no consequence;
for it is enough to have shown, that the universe




8       RECOMMENDATORY LETTER.
may be the embodiment of a single thought,
The equation of a geometric curve is one for
mula, one thought, whether fulfilled by a curve
drawn in the skies or on an atom.  But in his
ingenious attempts to show that Space and Time
are capable of indefinite contraction, therefore of
annihilation, without the destruction of phenomena manifested in them, he suggests thoughts of
the relation of Space and Time to Eternity and
Omnipresence, which are surpassed only perhaps
by those suggested in Professor Lovering's paper
in the " Cambridge Miscellany."
The circulation of this book would be, I am
convinced, of benefit both to science and religion.
To religion, by showing, so far as it goes, that
science leads to faith. To science, by pointing
out to younger students the true spirit in which
she should be wooed; still more, by presenting
her in a lovely and attractive garb to the notice
of men.  It is a book of sublime poetry; and it
will be a happier day for all men, when they
have learned that, as poesy signifies creation, so
is the creation poesy; and science causes the
heart of its faithful student to sing a perpetual
hymn of praise and joy.
Yours, truly,
THOMAS HILL;




THE STARS AND THE EARTH.
IT is awell-known proposition, that a luminous body arising at a certain distance
from an observer cannot be perceived in
the very same instant of time in which it
becomes luminous, but that a period of
time, although infinitely short, exists whilst
the light, our only medium of vision, passes
through the space between the object and
our eyes.
The rate at which the light travels is so
exceedingly rapid, that it certainly has
never been observed, nor have any attempts
to measure it been made, in the insignificant
distances at which objects upon the earth
are visible to us. But since we see bodies at




10            TIE STARS
a distance immeasurably greater than the
compass of terrestrial dimensions (namely,
in viewing the stars above), the most acute
calculations and observations have enabled
astronomers to measure the speed of light
and to find that it travels at a rate of about
two hundred and thirteen thousand miles in
a second.
This number is not quite accurate; but,
as we now only propose to lay down a
general idea, for which the close reckoning
of astronomical calculation is not necessary, we will content ourselves here, and
in the following pages, with adducing a
general average number.
Thus light travels two hundred and thirteen thousand miles in a second; and, as
the moon is two hundred and forty thousand
miles distant, it follows that, when the first
narrow streak of the moon emerges from the
shadow of an eclipse, nearly a second and
a quarter elapses before we see it; for the




AND THE EARTH.            11
light takes this time to pass from the moon
to our eyes.  The moon, therefore, makes
each of her changes a second and a quarter
before it becomes visible to us.*
The sun, ninety-five millions of miles distant, four hundred times farther than the
moon, requires a period four hundred times
longer than the moon (i. e. four hundred
times five quarters of a second) to send its
light upon our earth.  Hence, when any
change takes place in the sun, when, for
instance, a solar spot creeps round the eastern limb, about eight minutes elapse before
the light reaches our eyes; and the spot
remains visible to us eight minutes after it
has passed behind the western limb.
The distance of the planet Jupiter from
our earth, at the time when it is the greatest,
is nearly six hundred and seventeen millions
of miles. This is six times and a half as
great as the distance of the sun, and there* We take no notice of the refraction of the light.




12             THE STARS
fore the light requires fifty-two minutes to
penetrate from Jupiter to us. Lastly, Uranus runs his solitary course at a distance of
eighteen hundred millions of miles from us:
his light requires, therefore, twenty times as
long a period to travel to us as that of the
sun, i. e. more than two hours; so that, for
two hours, he has been past that point of
his orbit in which we see him.
No planet has hitherto been discovered
more distant than Uranus; but an infinite
space exists beyond, separating our sun and
its system of planets from the nearest fixed
stars.
The distance of the fixed stars from our
earth was, until a very recent time, when
the measurements of Struve and Bessel
were crowned with such glittering results,
a deep, inscrutable secret; but now we
know that the nearest fixed star, namely,
the brightest star in the constellation of
Centaur, is about eighteen billions of miles




AND THE EARTH.            13
distant. Its rays of light, therefore, penetrate to us in about three years; that is, the
ray of light which meets our eyes from this
star was not developed and emitted at the
same moment, but three years ago.
Struve has calculated, with respect to the
well-known bright star Vega, in the constellation of the Lyre, that its light consumes
twelve years and one month in reaching the
earth; and, according to the measurements
of Harding and the inquiries of recent astronomers, the following numbers have been
deduced as the average distance of the fixed
stars from us.
A ray of light requires, before it reaches
the earth, from a star of the
1st magnitude...  3 to 12 years.
2d    "... 20 years.
3d    "..    30  "
4th    "...  45"
5th    "... 66"
6th    "... 96
7th    ".. 180  ".




14             THE STARS
Moreover, Struve, from the dimensions
of his telescope, and from the observation of
the fact that a star of the twelfth magnitude,
seen through it, has as much light as a star
of the sixth magnitude seen with the naked
eye, concludes that the distance of a star of
the twelfth magnitude is forty-one times
greater than that of one of the sixth magnitude; and, consequently, that the smallest
of these stars visible to him is at a distance
of twenty-three thousand billions of miles,
and requires a period of time, for the travelling of the light to the earth, as great as
four thousand years.  That is, the ray of
light from a star of the twelfth magnitude,
wilich, we may mention, is only perceptible
by means of a very good telescope, has, at
the time it meets our eyes, already left the
star four thousand years, and since that
time has wandered on in its own course,
unconnected with its origin.
We have hitherto confined our consider



AND THE EARTH.           1l
ations to our system of fixed stars; and we
will not at present overstep this limit, although it would be easy, were we to enter into hypotheses, to multiply indefinitely these
enormous proportions hitherto adduced.
According to a conjecture first made by
the great Herschel, and afterwards further
developed and rendered intelligible by Madler, this entire system of fixed stars forms,
if we may use the expression, a single lensshaped canopy.  That is, we, with our sun,
are situated nearly in the middle of a space,
having the form of two watch-glasses placed
with the concave surfaces towards each
other.  The surfaces of this canopy are
studded tolerably equally with fixed stars.
But as we are a thousand times nearer those
situated above and below than those at the
edges of this hollow lens, so the distances
between the stars immediately above us
seem  greater, whilst the legions of those
distributed at the edge are seen in densely




16             TIE STARS
crowded masses.  We may consider the
Milky Way as the edge and furthermost
limit of this set of fixed stars, where the infinitely distant crowds of stars are collected
in such masses that their light flows together
into a whitish cloud, and no longer permits
us to isolate one star from another.
Beyond this our lens, Herschel and the
most recent astronomers imagine, that the
spots of clouds which appear like oval flakes
in the sky are other entirely distinct and
independent systems, which float at such an
immeasurable distance from us, that the
light has to wander millions of years in
reaching to us.
It is, however, as we before remarked,
sufficient for our purpose to take into consideration only the stars of the twelfth magnitude, from which the light can travel to us
in four thousand years. From  what we
have already said, viz. that the ray of light
meeting our eye is not sent forth from the




AND THE EARTH.            17
star at the same moment, but arrives here
according to the corresponding and requisite
number of seconds, minutes, or years, it
follows that we do not see the star as it is,
but as it was at the time when the ray of
light was emitted.
Thus, we see the star in Centaur as it was
three years ago, Vega as it was twelve years
and one month ago, and so on to the star
of the twelfth magnitude, which we look
upon as it shone four thousand years ago.
Hence follows the conclusion, which has
frequently been made by astronomers, and
which in its result has become popular, viz.
that a star of the twelfth magnitude may
have been extinguished or set four thousand
years ago, whilst we, nevertheless, continue
to see its light shining.
This conclusion, when applied to each
of the former positions, gives the following
results.
We do not see the moon as it is, but as
2*




18            THE STARS
it was a second and a quarter before; i. e.
the moon may already have been dispersed
into atoms for more than a second, and we
should still see it entire and perfect.
We do not see the sun as it now is, but
as it was eight minutes before; Jupiter as
it was fifty-two minutes, Uranus as it was
more than two hours before; the star in
Centaur as it was three years ago; Vega as
it was nine and a quarter years, and a star
of the twelfth magnitude as it was four thousand years ago.
These propositions are well known, and
have already been published in popular
works upon astronomy.
It is really marvellous that nobody has
thought of reversing them, and of drawing
the very remarkable and astonishing conclusions which pour upon us in a full stream
from the converse; and it is our intention
here to examine the converse, and the inferences which may thence be drawn.




AND THE EARTH.            19
The following is the relative view of the
matter.  As we have before remarked, we
see the disc of the moon, not in the form in
which it now is, but as it was five quarters
of a second before the time of observation.
In exactly the same way, an imaginary
observer in the moon would not see the
earth as it was at the moment of observation, but as it was five quarters of a second
before. An observer from the sun sees the
earth as it was eight minutes before. From
Uranus the time between the reality and
the perception by the eye being two hours
and a half apart,- if, for example, the summit of the Alps on a certain morning was
illumined by the first ray of the sun at six
o'clock, an observer in this planet, who was
provided either with the requisite power of
vision or a sufficiently good telescope, would
see this indication of the rising of the sun
at half past eight of our time.
An observer in Centaur can, of course,




20             TIlE STARS
never see the Northern hemisphere of the
earth, because this constellation never rises
above our horizon. But supposing it possible, and that an observer were standing in
this star with such powerful vision as to be
able to distinguish all particulars upon our
little earth, shining but feebly luminous in
its borrowed light, he would see, in the year
1843, the public illuminations which, in the
year 1840, made the cities of our native
country shine with the brightness of day
during the darkness of night. An observer
in Vega would see what happened with us
twelve years ago; and so on, until an inhabitant of a star of the twelfth magnitude,
if we imagine him with unlimited power of
vision contemplating the earth, sees it as it
was four thousand years ago, when Memphis was founded, and the patriarch Abraham wandered upon its surface.
In the immeasurably great number of
fixed stars which are scattered about ill the




AND THE EARTH.           21
aniverse, floating in ether at a distance of
between fifteen and twenty billions of miles
from  us, reckoning backwards any given
number of years, doubtless a star could be
found which sees the past epochs of our
earth as if existing now, or so nearly corresponding to the time, that the observer need
wait no long time to see its condition at
the required moment.
Let us here stop for a moment to make
one of the inferences to be drawn from
these propositions, which we have laid
down, and which are so clear and evident
to every reasonable mind.
We have here a perfectly intelligible perception of the idea of the omniscience of
God with relation to past events. If we
imagine the Deity as a man with human
powers, but in a far superior degree, it will
be easy for us to attribute to Him  the




22             THE STARS
faculty and power of really overlooking and
discerning, even in the most minute particulars, every thing which may be sensibly
and actually overlooked and seen from  a
real point of observation.
Thus, if we wish to comprehend how
any past earthly deed or occurrence, even
after thousands of years, is as distinctly
and immediately in God's presence as if it
were actually taking place before his eyes,
it is sufficient for our purpose to imagine
Him  present at a certain point, at which
the light and the reflection of the circumstance is just arriving.
Supposing that this result is established;
Omniscience, with respect to the past, becomes identical and one and the same thing,
with actual Omnipresence with regard to
space.  For, if we imagine the eye of God
present at every point of space, the whole
course of the history of the world appears
to Him immediately and at once.




AND THE EARTH.           23
That which  occurred  on  earth eight
minutes before is glancing brightly and
evidently in His sight in the sun. Upon the
star of the twelfth magnitude, occurrences
which have passed away for four thousand
years are seen by Him; and in the intermediate points of space are the pictures of
the events which have happened in every
moment since.
Thus we have here the extension of Time,
which  corresponds with  that of Space,
brought so near to our sensible perception,
that time and space cannot be considered
as at all different from one another. For
those things which are consecutive one to
the other in point of time lie next to one
another in space. The effect does not follow after the cause, but it exists visibly in
space near it; and a picture has spread itself
out before us, embracing space and time
together, and representing both so entirely
and at once that we are no longer able to




24             THE STARS
separate or distinguish the extension of
space from that of time.
The omniscience of God, with regard to
the past, is become intelligible and easy to
us, as a sensible and material all-surveying
view. Before His eyes, endued with immeasurable powers of sight, the picture of
past thousands of years is, at the present
moment, actually extended in space.
Hence, when we imagine the purely human sense of sight rendered more extended
and acute, we are able actually to comprehend one of the attributes of the Deity.
But, according to the reverse, the excellence of this human sense becomes clear to
us, if we have by this time understood that
it only requires an increased optical and
mechanical intensity of it to communicate,
at least by approximation, a divine power,
viz. omniscience with regard to the past, to
beings endowed with such exalted powers
of vision.




AND THE EARTH.           25
Having drawn this clear and intelligible
inference from the previous considerations,
let us take a step further in advance. But
since from this point the ideas of Possibility
and Imnpossibility must be frequently referred
to, it is necessary that we and our readers
mutually understand each other on this subject.
We call that possible which does not
contradict the laws of thought; we call
that impossible which  contradicts these
laws.
Hence, every ultimate accomplishment of
a human discovery is possible. But it is
impossible to reach the limit which can only
be attained on such suppositions as are
themselves impossible according to the foregoing definition.
For example, it is possible to pass through
any given definite space in any fixed and
definite period of time.  For as with a
steam-carriage we can travel a geographical
3




26             THE STARS
mile in ten minutes, and with the electric
telegraph can ring a bell at a distance ol
ten miles in a second, so the supposition
that we may be enabled to move from one
place to another with a speed far surpassing
the rapidity of light, rests upon possibility.
We repeat that practically and experimentally such a result will never be arrived
at, and require simply that the following be
allowed.
If we show that something which hitherto
existed only in a dream, or in the imagination of the enthusiastic, can appear attainable and real; but has only such impediments
as arise from inability to render perfect certain known mechanical powers, and to move
from one place to another with sufficient
rapidity; I say that, when we have shown
this, the question is transferred from the
jurisdiction of dreams and enthusiasm to
the jurisdiction of that species of possibility which does not contradict the laws




AND'HE EARTH.           27
of thought. For example: the question
whether there is such a bird as the phcenix,
belongs to the dominion of dreams and
folly. But, I say, if, supposing it were
possible for us to prove that this bird actually were living in the centre of the earth,
or below the depths of the ocean; and if
this evidence were perfectly accurate, lucid,
and irrefutable, then indeed it would still be
impossible for us to see this bird with our
bodily eyes; but now that the impediments
which oppose the realization of the sight
are clearly and intelligibly demonstrated, we
n:ay proceed to our purpose of contriving
mechanical means to overcome them in the
present instance.
Thus, a question hitherto only referable
to the region of ideas, dreams, and enthusiasm, being brought to such a point that
the impediments against its resolution are
simply mechanical and relative to space, is
placed quite in another and much nearer




28             THE STARS
district; viz. under the dominion of what
we above designated as possible. We must
not here forget, that this possibility is not to
be mistaken for experimental practicability,
and not to be looked upon in reference to its
execution being attained at any time; but
it simply bears upon the question, inasmuch
as ideas which are, as it were, overcome
and won out of the region of empty thought
into this district of possibility, are now
brought nearer to our immediate perception (be it well observed, perception, and
not practicability), and are thus raised out
of mere cloudy and feverish fancies into
intelligible ideas.
I now continue in the supposition, that 1
have hitherto made myself perfectly understood.by the reader; that the idea of possibility which I have laid down has as little
to do with dreams, as it has, on the other
side, with the question of practicability.
With this idea we may maintain that it is




AND THE EARTH.           29
possible, i. e. not in contradiction to the laws
of thought, that a man may travel to a star
in a given time; and that he may effect this,
provided with so powerful a telescope as to
be able to overcome every given distance,
and every light and shadow in the object to
be examined. With this supposition, and
with the aid of a knowledge of the position
and distance of every given fixed star (to
be attained by the study of astronomy), it
will be possible to recall sensibly to our
very eyes an actual and true representation
of every moment of history that has passed.
If, for instance, we wish to see Luther before the council at Worms, we must transport ourselves in a second to a fixed star,
from which the light requires about three
hundred years (or so much more or less) in
order to reach the earth. Thence the earth
will appear in the same state, and with the
same persons moving upon it, as it actually
was at the time of the Reformation.
2




80             THE STARS
To the view of an observer from another
fixed star, our Saviour appears now upon
earth performing his miracles and ascending
into heaven; and thus every moment which
has passed during the lapse of centuries
down to the present time may be actually
recalled so as to be present.
Thus the universe incloses the pictures
of the past, like an indestructible and incorruptible record containing the purest and
clearest truth. And as sound propagates
itself in the air, wave after wave; and the
stroke of the bell, or the roar of the cannon,
is heard only by those who stand nearest
in the same moment when the clapper
strikes the bell, or the powder explodes;
but each more distant spectator remarks a
still greater interval between the light and
the sound, until the human ear is no longer
able to perceive the sound on account of the
distance; or, to take a still clearer example, as thunder and lightning are in reality




AND THE EARTH.           I1
sintutaneous, but in the storm the distant
thunder follows at the interval of some
minutes after the flash; so, in like manner,
according to our ideas, the pictures of every
occurrence propagate themselves into the
distant ether, upon the wings of the ray of
light; and, although they become weaker
and smaller, yet in immeasurable distance
they still have color and form; and as every
thing possessing color and form is visible,
so must these pictures also be said to be
visible, however impossible it may be for the
human eye to perceive it with the hitherto
discovered optical apparatus. It is, besides,
for the same reasons, the greatest rashness
to wish to determine beforehand the limits
beyond which the perfection of our optical
instruments may never step. Who could
have guessed at the wonderful results which
have been discovered by means of Herschel's telescope and Ehrenberg's microscope?  We do not, however, require its




32             THE STARS
practicability, nor even any indication that
it is to be hoped for, since we have before
explained to the reader the idea which we
intend to convey under the word possible;
and we wish only to move in the regions of
possibility of this kind.
Thus, that record which spreads itself out
further and further in the universe, by the
vibration of the light, really and actually
exists and is visible, but to eyes more powerful than those of man.
The pictures of all secret deeds, which
have ever been transacted, remain indissolubly and indelibly for ever, reaching from
one sun beyond another. Not only upon
the floor of the chamber is the blood-spot
of murder indelibly fixed, but the deed
glances further and further into the spacious heaven.
At this moment is seen, in one of the
stars, the image of the cradle from which
Caspar Hauser was taken to be inclQsed in




AND THE EARTH.          33
a living tomb for so many years; in another
star glances the flash of the shot which
killed Charles XII. But what need is there
to refer to individual instances? It would
be easy to carry it out to the smallest details; but we leave this to the fancy of the
reader, and only request that he will not
scorn these images as childish, until he has
gone through with us the very serious and
important inferences which we will now
proceed to make.
Let us imagine an observer, with infinite
powers of vision, in a star of the twelfth
magnitude. He would see the earth at this
moment as it existed at the time of Abraham. Let us, moreover, imagine him moved
forwards in the direction of our earth, with
such speed that in a short time (say in  an
hour) he comes to within the distance of a
hundred millions of miles, being then as




34             THE STARS
near to us as the sun is, whence the earth
is seen as it was eight minutes before; let
us imagine all this, quite apart from any
claims of possibility or reality, and then we
have indubitably the following result,-that
before the eye of this observer the entire
history of the world, from the time of Abraham to the present day, passes by in the
space of an hour.  For, when the motion
commenced, he viewed the earth as it was
four thousand years ago; at the half-way,
i. e. after half an hour, as it was two thousand years ago; after three quarters of an
hour, as it was one thousand years ago;
and after an hour, as it now is.
We want no further proof, and it is evident, beyond the possibility of contradiction,
that if an observer were able to comprehend
with his eye the whirling procession of these
consecutive images, he would have lived
through the entire history of the world,
with all the events and transactions which




AND THE EARTH.           35
have happened in the hemisphere of the
globe turned towards him, in a single hour.
If we divide the hour into four thousand
parts, so that about a second corresponds to
each, he has seen the events of a whole year
in a single second. They have passed before him with all the particulars, all the
motions and positions of the persons occupied, with the entire changing scenery, and
he has lived through them all, - every thing
entire and unshortened, but only in the
quickest succession, - and one hour was for
him crowded with quite as many events as
the space of four thousand years upon earth.
If we give the observer power also to halt
at pleasure in his path, as he is flying
through the ether, he will be able to represent to himself, as rapidly as he pleases,
that moment in the world's history which
he wishes to observe at leisure; provided he
remains at a distance when this moment of
history appears to have just arrived; allow



36            THE STARS
ing for the time which the light consumes
in travelling to the position of the observer.
Here again we leave to the fancy of the
poet the prosecution of further details, and
come to the conclusions which we intend
to make.
As we imagined an observer from a star
of the twelfth magnitude capable of approaching the earth in an hour, we will now
once more suppose that he can fly through
the space in a second; or, like the electromagnetic power, in an immeasurably short
time.
He would now live through the period of
four thousand years with all their events
completely, and as exactly in a moment of
time as he did before in the space of an
hour.
The human mind, it is true, grows giddy
at the thought of such a consecutive train
of images and events; but we can easily
attribute to a higher or the highest spirit




AND THE EARTH.           37
the power of distinguishing and comprehending with accuracy every individual
wave in this astonishing stream.
Hence, the notion, that the Deity makes
use of no measurement of time, is become
clear and intelligible to us.
When it is written, " Before God a thousand years are as one day," it is a mere
empty word, unless the idea is rendered
perceptible to our senses. But when, as
we have done, by sensible and actual suppositions, we are enabled to show that it is
possible for a being simply endowed with
a higher degree of human power to live
through the history of four thousand years
in a second, we think we have materially
contributed to render intelligible the philosophical statement, that time is nothing
existing for itself, but only the form and
repository, without which we cannot imagine its contents, viz. the series of consecutive events.
4




38             THE STARS
If time was something real and actually
existing, and necessary to the occurrence of
events, it would be impossible for that to
take place in a shorter time which occurs in
a longer time. But here we see the entire
contents of four thousand years concentrated into one second, and not mutilated
or isolated, but every event completely surrounded with all its individual particulars
and collateral circumstances. The duration of time is, therefore, unnecessary for
the occurrence of events.- Beginning and
end may coalesce, and still inclose every
thing intermediate.
Having thus laid our contemplations
before the reader, we will express a hope
that the images may appear as poetical and
sublime to him as to us, and that an hitherto
unknown clearness and insight has been




AND THE EARTH.           39
given to his ideas of the omniscience, omnipresence, and eternity of God.
In conclusion, we must acknowledge a
slight deception practised on the reader, of
which we have rendered ourselves guilty
with a quiet conscience. For the images of
human and earthly events are not carried
forward into the universe upon the wings of
the light in so complete a manner, and without any exception, as we have represented.
For example, what takes place within the
houses cannot be seen, because the roofs
and walls impede the passage of rays, &c.
Nevertheless, as we have frequently and
expressly declared, we do not treat of a
corporeal view, but of one indicated by
possibility in the sense in which we have
explained it; and we therefore consider it
conducive to the interest of these beautiful
and poetical ideas to defer this correction
until the end.




40    THE STARS AND THE EARTH.
We leave the further execution of the
details, as we before remarked, to the poet.
We hope, however, soon to lay before the
public, in continuation of these pages, a
development of the new and penetrating
ideas which have crowded upon us in such
abundance, as the result of the foregoing
considerations.




THE STARS AND THE EARTH.
PART SECOND.
4*








PREFACE.
THE Author hopes that the appearance of this Secoid Part of his reflections upon Space, Time, and
Eternity, will be received with as much indulgence as
the First. In place of supplying the reader with conclusions, he has here rather to stimulate him to more
distant and independent considerations.
Eternal Truth, says the proverb, lies at the bottom
of a well; but it works and strains to rise upwards to
the light.  Frequently have the bubbles which have
escaped from the fermentation underneath been mistaken for the lost treasure; and frequently, too, have
we greeted their appearance witt precipitate joy, as a
manifestation of Truth itself. But even if we have
been deceived, this sign of life and movement in the
Spiritual World deserves to be welcomed by us; and
on these grounds the following considerations mray be
taken as an indication, though perhaps a slight one,
that Truth lies at the bottom.








THE STARS AND THE EARTH.
IT has been shown, in the First Part,
how the reflection of earthly events is borne
further and further upon the wings of a ray
of light into the universe, so that the transactions which took place here thousands of
years ago are to-day visible in a distant
fixed star; for every thing that has form
and color, however weak the light and
however small its proportions, must be considered to be visible. Our theory has been
allowed up to this point; viz. that an
observer endowed with infinite powers of
vision, who in an immeasurably short time
has passed from a fixed star of the twelfth




46             THE STARS
magnitude to the vicinity of the earth, must
have seen completely, in this short space of
time, the reflection of every thing which
has passed during four thousand  years
upon the surface of the hemisphere directed towards him.
From these positions we deduced consequences which have the effect of rendering
the ideas of Space, Time, and Eternity
generally and easily intelligible.
The present little work is intended still
further to illustrate these ideas in the same
way, and to deliver to the public, in a comprehensible form, those truths and ideas
which have hitherto been the exclusive
property of professed philosophers; a service with which the reader should be so
much the more pleased, since the author of
these lines is very far from being willing
to reckon himself among the number of
these philosophers.
As the former treatise has already made




AND THE EARTH.           47
our readers well acquainted with the plan
of the argument, and the mode of demonstration which we employ, so much ceremony and so many details will not be necessary in the following considerations as
were found to be so in the former part; a
friendly amount of attention alone will enable us to go through together the following
points, which are thus briefly enunciated.
Let us come to the question.
Exactly in the same way in which an
infinitely quick passage from a fixed star
to the earth crowds together the images of
all earthly events into a single moment, so,
by reversing the process, the succession of
these pictures may, in the following way,
be indefinitely deferred. Let us suppose
that the light, and with it the reflection of
some earthly occurrence, arrives at a fixed
star of the second magnitude in about
twenty years. Let us also suppose, that the
observer mounts to this star in the space




48            THE STARS
of twenty years and one day, starting at
the moment when, for example, the blossom
of a flower was beginning to unfold itself:
he will there find the image of this flower in
that stage of development in which it was
one day after the commencement of its
blooming. If he was endowed with infinite
powers of sight and observation, and had
been able to follow the development of the
blossom throughout his entire journey, he
would have had time and opportunity of
studying for twenty years the changes which
occurred to the flower upon earth in a single
day. The successive changes in its form
are, as it were, fixed before his eyes. As it
is scarcely possible to catch with the eye a
butterfly which flits past us, so as to detect
the coloring of its wings; and, on the contrary, if we could follow and observe it in
its flight, we might count out and separate
even the minute grains of colored dust upon
its wings; so would the observer, who had




AND T'HE EARTH.          49
the power of following the reflection of a
transitory event upon the wings of the
light, be enabled to distinguish the most
sudden changes with the greatest accuracy
and leisure.
In this way we have, to a certain extent,
a Microscope for time; for as the magnifying-glass apparently enlarges a thousand
times the space which a minute object occupies, and thus renders it possible to separate the small contiguous portions of which
it consists, which appear to the naked eye
as collected into a single point, so he who
is able to follow the reflected images of the
stages of a rapid development with the
speed of a ray of light, will be enabled to
discover an endless number of separate
transactions, of the existence of which we
had no previous notion.
A flash of lightning, for example, appears as a momentary light, which blinds
us for a time, without permitting us any
5




50            THE STARS
power of distinguishing the causes which
produce it.
But if we could follow the image of such
a flash, only up to the sun, i. e. for eight
minutes, we should be able to unfold secrets
respecting the nature of the phenomenon,
which would not be less astounding of
their kind than the living worlds which the
microscope exposes to our view in a drop
of water.
Moreover, if, as we have remarked, the
revolutions of our earth, at the time of the
Deluge, are at the present time reflected upon a star of the twelfth magnitude, as we
should see (if we were provided with infinite
visual powers) the events which took place
upon the star, not as they are to-day, but
as they were thousands of years ago; so an
inhabitant of that star, mounting away with
the images and rays of light, would be able
to solve, by his own personal inspection, all
the problems of Geology and the Creation,




AND THE EARTH.            51
collcerning which our inquirers into natural
history are to this day puzzling themselves.
And this reflection does not refer to our
earth alone, but the inhabitant of each star
sees the past occurrences of other stars; and
the events, not only of our world, but of all
worlds, are at present expanded in space
as the greatest and truest History of the
Universe.
Itwas laid down and inculcated as strongly as possible in the First Part of this work,
that, in these considerations, we only treat of
such things as can be imagined to be possible,
and that we avoid altogether any claims
towards reality or practicability. To bring,
however, our ideas one step nearer to those
who cannot altogether resign their notions
of probability, we will make the following
remark: The fact that more distant objects
appear to us smaller and with less distinct
outlines and colors than those which are
near, depends in the first place upon the




52             THE STARS
formation of the human eye, and secondly
upon the opacity of the atmosphere.
The rays of sight diverge from the eye,
so that a very small body close to it fills up
the interval between two such rays; whilst,
at a greater distance, a much larger body is
necessary to fill up the proportionately increased space between them. If we hold up
a shilling at arm's length before our eyes,
we may completely conceal the sun with it.
If, on the contrary, an organ of vision was
constructed in such a manner that the rays
proceeded in parallel lines, every object
would appear in proportion to every other,
and of its own proper size, without any reference to the distance between it and the
eye. We certainly should not see distant
bodies entire, but only such small portions
of them as are proportionate to the size of
the organ of vision, constructed after this
fashion; but this little portion would be visible with equal clearness at every distance,




AND THE EARTH.           52
and a blade of grass upon the most distant
fixed star could not escape our sight, provided our atmosphere was clear, and freed
from all disturbing influences.
By the supposition of an organ of vision
of such a construction as this, which assuredly no one will consider impossible to be
imagined, it is hoped that the possibility of
all that we have brought forward is rendered
much more intelligible to many readers.
It would, nevertheless, be but fruitless
trouble to  spin out the thread of these
thoughts any longer, if no further result
could be deduced from them than the proof
that some one thing would be possible if
some other thing were possible; for one
such combination of assumptions, however
it may lay claim to some momentary interest, would remain but an empty sport of
the fancy, which flits across the mind of the
reader without leaving any lasting effect
behind.
5*




ri4            THE STARS
As we proceed in our reflections, we become convinced that we can build up a
more solid superstructure by the help of
this airy scaffolding, since the consequences
which we think we can deduce will enable
the reader to grasp the ideas of Space and
Time as it were by intuition, whilst, without
some such instructions, the description of
metaphysical objects is frequently mere
words for the generality of men. For it is
one thing to acknowledge a certain position
to be true because we cannot refute the
premises from  which it is deduced, and
another to comprehend it so immediately
and completely, that from this time it is
in itself intelligible to us, and we consider
any thing which contradicts it to be absurd.
Thus, for example, he to whom the geometrical proposition, that the angles of a
triangle are together equal to two right
angles, has been intelligibly demonstrated,
must acknowledge the truth of it; but he




AND THE EARTH.            55
has not necessarily comprehended the proposition in its strictest sense. For this, it is
requisite that he should get that close insight into the fact, that it belongs to the
very existence of a triangle that the angles
shall be together equal to two right angles,
and that a triangle without this property is
as inconceivable and as absurd as a fourcornered circle.
To prepare a way for such intuitive perception, and such immediate knowledge
with respect to the nature of Time and
Space, and to facilitate its acquisition, is
the object of the following reflections. They
shall from their plainness constrain the reader to understand, and shall force upon him
clear notions with respect to matters from
which he has often turned away without
any consideration.
Truly, the interest which men take in
things is very varied, and frequently contradictory: what appears to one as of the




5i6           THE STARS
highest importance, appears of no material
consequence to another. There is, however,
one question which must interest every one,
even though his leisure and the bent of his
mind may not permit him to devote himself
earnestly and without intermission to the
labor of attempting its solution.  This
question is the How and the Wherefore of
all things? It is one from which the mind
of man cannot be repulsed. When a child,
he asks after the Maker of heaven and
earth, and is relieved and contented by
being directed to an all-wise and perfectly
good Almighty Creator. To more mature
reflection, this answer is no longer sufficient,
because the attempt to deduce the multiplicity of things in the world around us from
one single cause, viz. from God, leads us
to contradictions which it is the province of
Philosophy to unravel. Our mind can indeed only attribute a single effect to a single
cause; and when we perceive manifold and




AND THE EARTH.           57
different effects, it becomes at once requisite
to our intellect to seek for manifold and
various causes. This is a law which is so
intolerant of exceptions, that we unwillingly
suppose a difference to exist even where our
senses cannot discern it. For example, the
single ray of the sun gives us light and
warmth: it is in our thoughts at once considered double, and analyzed into a lighting and a heating ray, because we are absolutely compelled, even against our inclination, to look out for two causes, a lighting
and a warming power, for the two effects,
light and heat.
Now, if, in consequence of some certain
inherent property of our minds, we are
compelled to look for a single First Cause
and a single Creator for the sum of all the
causes and effects which are manifest in the
world, which fill it, and which indeed are
the world, the First Cause must be entirely
single and one, because, if we are unwilling




58             THE STARS
to admit in It any difference or variety, we
are again as irresistibly driven to the question, What can be the cause of these differences and varieties? It is, however, absurd
to inquire after the origin of the First Cause
of all things, because the very essence of a
First Cause consists in the fact, that the
inquiry after some more distant origin is
impossible.
To solve and remove this contradiction
and absurdity is, as I have already remarked,
the province of philosophers.  It has frequently been asserted, that they have discovered the solution; but the answer to the
question " How? " is still due to the uninitiated; since philosophers allege, that the
most intense study of philosophy is requisite
to enable us to understand the results at
which they arrive.
We are not, however, sufficiently submissive to be put off with such a mysterious
answer; and the circumstance itself makes




AND THE EARTH.           5
us suspect, that the philosophers cannot
have convinced one another, but that the
successor always confutes his predecessor;
so that, in the most favorable view, philosophy has taken a step farther each time,
but has not yet arrived at the goal.
Now, since all hope, upon the side of
philosophers, has been cut off from us, of
our ever arriving at the solution of the contradiction from which the intellect in vain
struggles to free itself, we will make an
attempt to point out, in a generally intelligible manner, a path by which the solution
becomes conceivable: — to point out a path,
I say; that is, I point out the way, and
prove it, and render it intelligible that this
path, if it is really pervious, must lead to
the goal. Whether it can be travelled, must
be decided by the inquiries, to stimulate and
to advance which is the chief end of these
lines, and the most earnest wish of the author. The course which our reflections will




60             THE STARS
take apparently leads us away from  the
" Stars and the Earth"; but we shall return
to them, and beg the reader to accompany
us, step by step, to the conclusions which
are the end of our journey.
But, as I have already said, since there
is a contradiction between the assumption
of a single original Cause, and the world
with its manifold changes and phenomena,
it follows that there is either no First Cause
or no Multiplicity in the world, or, lastly,
that both these assumptions are false.
To point out one of these three possible
sources of error is, therefore, a step upon
the road to truth.
If, for example, it is shown that the various and manifold phenomena in the world
are really not various and manifold, but that
they are only apparently so, the necessity of
discovering for every variety a particular
cause no longer exists, and thus a Single
Cause becomes sufficient.  We will show




AND THE EARTH.           61
that such a view is possible, and how it
is so.
As a single and colorless ray of the sun,
when it is seen through a prism; is decomposed into a broad surface with seven different colors, so a world which was really
only a single undivisible point might, by
our human senses, and by man's method
of contemplation and comprehension, be
divided, as through a prism with a thousand sides, into the endless multitude of
phenomena which are round about us.
All differences and distinctions which we
perceive are of two kinds: first, the difference between things which are perceptible
to our senses, as the sun, the heavenly
bodies, men, beasts, and plants; and, secondly, the difference in matters beyond the
cognizance of our senses, as of thoughts
and truths. Thus, to mark out the way by
which we can lead ourselves to consider the
entire world as a single indivisible unit. we
6




62             THE STARS
must solve a double problem:- To show,
first, that the different thoughts and truths
may be looked upon as a single truth; and,
secondly, that the parts of the universe and
of the history of the world which bear reference to Time and Space can also be viewed
together as a single indivisible point.
The first part of the question is that which
may be solved most easily, and in the most
intelligible way.  There is only one Truth;
and if we think that we can distinguish
many, it only depends upon the limited
nature of our understanding, which separates and decomposes this unity into many
rays.
Let us begin with quite a simple example: Man is mortal, he thinks and he feels.
These are three separate and different truths,
according to our ordinary ideas. But the
difference only depends upon the fact, that
our mind is not able at once and completely
to grasp and understand the idea of Man,




AND THE EARTH.          63
with all its consequences. If this was the
case, and if, as soon as we heard the word
LMian, there was present in our minds every
thing which is requisite to the realization of
the idea, we should immediately entertain
the notion of Mortality, of Thought, and of
Sensation; and it would not at first occur
to us to analyze the idea, and to say " Man
is mortal," any more than we should think
that we are saying something particular,
when we state that a square has four corners, because this property is already understood in the object, and together with it.
A second example will make this more
evident. For one who has fully comprehended and knows what a triangle is, it is
not requisite that he should be first informed
that a triangle has three sides and three
angles, that the three angles are together
equal to two right angles, and that three
lines drawn perpendicularly from the angles
to the opposite sides cut one another at the




64.            THE STARS
same point; in short, all that mathematicians
have made out concerning the properties of
a triangle by a troublesome scientific process; but he understands it all at once. He
who has completely comprehended the idea
of the globe of our earth understands at
once and immediately that it is round, that
it is heavy, of what chemical components it
is formed, the course it runs, and what creatures it produces. He has included Man,
with all his deeds and transactions, his perceptions and ideas, his understanding and
the illusions of his senses, as necessary attributes of the earth; and has seen that he
could not bring himself to describe or imagine one of these points or truths as any
thing special or separate, because he has
comprehended all as indivisible and distinct
consequences, and components of the idea
Earth. He can put down and acknowledge
each of these positions as a distinct truth,
just as little as we can think that we are




AND THE EARTH.           65
saying something particular when we remark, " A square has four angles."
Lastly, if we enlarge our ideas to the
Universe, to the whole creation, in which all
experience, truths, and ideas are included,
it follows that, for the most perfect acquaintance with it, only one truth and one idea
exists, viz. the Universe; and that the subdivision of this one universal knowledge is
as purely human, and as certainly depends
upon the imperfection of human powers of
perception, as the necessity of dividing a
single ray of the sun into a double power,
viz. a lighting and heating ray, because it
enlightens and warms us at the same time.
For the universe is a great organic whole;
and he who has understood and entirely
comprehended the idea of an organized
being, has also grasped and comprehended
all its separate component parts.
In order to point out the way in which
we can bring ourselves to consider the
6g*




66            THE STARS
universe as one indivisible unit, we had, as
I have above remarked, two questions to
solve; first, that there is only one truth, or,
at least, that all truths may be considered
as a single one, and one which is only divisible from the imperfection of human
knowledge. This first part of the proposition I think we have proved; in the second
part we have to show that the phenomena
of the universe which are referrible to Space
and Time may be equally well conceived
as forming together a single point.
By means of the journey which we have
imagined an observer to take from a star of
the twelfth magnitude, down to the earth, in
an immeasurably short space of time, we
have shown that there is a point of observation from which the whole expanse of time,
with the occurrences which took place in it,
appear to be compressed into a single point.
But as, in such a case, the events themselves
do not in reality appear to us, but we see




AND THE EARTH.           67
their images on the light in the quickest
succession, the problem still remains:- to
compress these events into a single point,
and to make it intelligible that they themselves, and not only their images, can happen most completely in a single moment of
time; and, even more, that a space of time,
which we call long or short, is actually and
really caused by our human mode of com
prehension.
Let us suppose, that from some given
time, for example from to-day, the course
of the stars and of our earth becomes twice
as rapid as before, and that the year passes
by in six months, each season in six weeks,
and each day in twelve hours; that the
period of the life of man is in like manner
reduced to one half of its present duration,
so that, speaking in general terms, the longest human life, instead of eighty years, lasts
for forty, each of which contains as many of
the new days of twelve hours as the former




68            THE STARS
years did, when the days were twenty-four
hours long; the drawing of our breath and
the stroke of the pulse would proceed with
double their usual rapidity, and our new
period of life would appear to us of the
normal length.
The hands of the clock would no longer
make the circuit in one hour and in twelve,
but the long hand in thirty minutes, the
short one in six hours. The development
of plants and animals would take place with
double their usual speed; and the wind and
the lightning would consume, in their rapid
course, but one half of their present time.
With these suppositions, I ask, in what
way should we be affected by the change?
The answer to this question is, We should
be cognizant of no change. We should
even consider one who supposed or who
attempted to point out that such a change
had taken place was mad, or we should
look upon him as an enthusiast. We should




AND THE EARTH.           69
have no possible ground to consider that
any other condition had existed.
Now, as we can determine the lapse of
any period of time only by comparison, or
by measuring it with some other period, and
as every division of time which we use in our
comparison or in our measurements has been
lessened by one half its duration, the original
proportion would still remain unchanged.
Our forty years would pass as the eighty
did; we should perform every thing twice
as quickly as before; but as our life, our
breath, and movements are proportionately
hastened, it would be impossible to measure
the increased speed, or even to remark it.
As far as we could tell, every thing had
remained precisely as it was before, not
comparatively, but absolutely, provided we
had no standard, external to the accelerated
course of events in the world, by which we
could perceive the changes or measure them.
A similar result would follow, if we im



70             TIE STARS
agined the course of time reduced to the
fourth, instead of to the half, so that the year
would consist of three months, the greatest
age of man would be reduced to twenty of
the present years, and our entire life, with
that of all the creatures about us, would be
passed in a proportionately shortened period.
In this case, we should not only not perceive
the change, but we should in reality suffer
no change, since we should live to see every
thing which we should otherwise have seen;
and all the experience and the events of our
life, in their duration and with their consequences, would remain unchanged in the
relations which they bear to one another.
For the same reasons, if the period and
processes of life, and the course of events
in the world around us, were accelerated a
thousand or a million times, or, in short, if
they were infinitely shortened, we should
obtain a similar result; and we can in this
way imagine the entire course of the history




AND THE EARTH.           71
of the world compressed into a single immeasurably short space of time, without our
being able to perceive the change; in fact,
without our having undergone any change.
For, whether any space of time is longer
or shorter is a question which can only be
answered, and which can, indeed, only be
looked upon as reasonable, if we are able to
compare the time to be measured with some
other limited period, but not if we compare
it to the endless duration which is looked
upon as without beginning and without
end, which we call " Time."
Hence the proposition, that for the occurrence of any given event a certain lapse of
time is requisite, may be altogether rejected.
This time which elapses during the occurrence is rather accidental than necessary,
and it might as easily be any other period.
We shall bring another example to our aid
to illustrate the point more clearly: A tune
may be performed in different times, either




72             THE STARS
quicker or slower, without altering thereby
in any way its nature.  The intervals, the
succession of the tones, and the proportionate length of one note to another, remain
unchanged; but the impression which it
makes upon the hearer will be different, if
his entire life has not undergone a corresponding and proportionate change. Now,
suppose a musical clock is so contrived as
to play any piece in a space of time which
may be determined at pleasure: this time
may be lengthened or shortened, and it may
be so much shortened that it can become
almost infinitely small. It is therefore possible, according to the notion of possibility
which was laid down in the First Part, to
cause the longest piece of music to be played
in an immeasurably short space of time, and
even although our ears would be as little
able to distinguish and appreciate the succession of the separate parts, as our eyes
are to unravel the over-crowded and rush



AND THE EARTH.          7*
ing stream of the images in a history of four
thousand years in a single moment, yet, in
one case as in the other, we only require
that the human senses should become finer
and more perfect, in order to render such
comprehension possible.
Thus, as the tune remains unchanged in
its nature, even when performed in the
shortest space of time, —and it can and
must be imagined to exist in itself, without
reference to any time in which it sounds,and as such a space was only necessary for
the mode of organization of our senses,
which is of such a kind that the ear cannot
perceive the different tones in any other way
than successively, so the succession of events
can and must be considered independently
of the time in which they happen; and, on
the other hand, Time can as little be ima.gined to exist alone and in itself as we can
imagine " Allegro " and " Adagio " to exist
without any tune or melody.




74             TIHE STARS
But if it is objected, that, even when the
lapse of time has been infinitely shortened,
there still remains some period, and that the
expansion of time has not been completely
set aside, it may be answered scientifically,
that, in its strictest sense, the idea of any
thing infinitely small is the same as the idea
of nothing; for, as long as more than nothing remains, we must continue to divide it,
and the search after an infinitely small
space is only satisfied when we have arrived at that which is really indivisible,
viz. a point which has no parts.
But, by continuing the comparison to a
tune which we have commenced, we can
refute the objection in a popular way.
It does not require even the shortest space
ol time to comprehend the idea of the tune,
or even to present it to our senses, and comrnunicate it to those of others. This simply
follows from the consideration of the page
of music upon which it is written. Here




AND THE EARTH.           75
the tune exists entire and altogether, and
not in successive parts; and the time which
a musician requires to read it is not caused
by the nature of the melody, but is a consequence of the impossibility of taking in
and understanding the whole contents of the
page in an indivisibly short space of time.
Thus, a looking-glass represents the objects
which are placed opposite to it, not one after
the other, but altogether and at once, without requiring for the purpose the lapse of
any time whatever. From  all these considerations, it becomes sufficiently clear that
Time is merely a mode and condition by
which the human mind, with the assistance
of human senses, perceives the occurrence
of events; whilst the events themselves, in
all their fulness and perfection, may occur
in a longer or a shorter time, and thus must
be looked upon as independent of time. A
thought or an idea is something momentary.
He who has such an idea has it entire and




76            THE STARS
at once. But he who wishes to communicate it to others requires for the purpose a
certain time, just as such a space is also
necessary for those to whom it is communicated. Hence, time is not necessary for the
origination or existence of the idea, but only
for its communication and comprehension;
and the idea exists as independently of time
as, according to the points we have discussed before, the entire history of the world
can and must be looked upon as independent of time.  Time is only the rhythm of
the world's history.
Having arrived at this conclusion, it will
be useful to recapitulate, as clearly as we
can, the course of our reflections.
Of the three ways in which we thought
we could solve the contradiction between a
Manifold World and a Single Creator, we
entered upon that one which denied the existence of the multiplicity in the world, and
by which it can be supposed that the world




AND THE EARTH.           77
is really single and indivisible, and that it is
by the human mind and its limited mode of
comprehension subdivided into a multiplicity of phenomena.
In order to show how such Unity can be
imagined, we have first reduced the empire
of thought to the single idea of the universe,
and then the empire of phenomena appreciable to our senses remained, which is manifold in its nature, because its parts and its
events become perceptible to us by being
separated and referred to Time and Space.
But we have so far set aside the notion of
Time, in that we have pointed out that it
does not exist in and for itself, but that it is
only a mode by which we observe events,
and by which their occurrence comes to our
knowledge. We must, in like manner, examine the idea of Space.
As it appeared in our examination into the
essence of Time, that the question whether
any thing lasted a longer or a shorter time
7*




78             THE STARS
had any meaning only when the period was
compared with some other limited, given
period of time, but that, in comparison to
Endless Time, the question whether a certain space was long or short was nonsense,
since every finite thing compared-with something infinitely greater appears like nothing;
so, in like manner, it will appear with regard
to the expansion of Space. The entire created universe, considered with respect to its
limits, is a mere point il that which we call
endless space, even if we imagine these
limits to extend beyond the most distant
fixed stars and nebulae. This proposition,
which we have so often laid down and
argued from, does not become entirely intelligible to the generality of mankind, until we illustrate it in a way as appreciable
to our senses as we did with respect to time.
The plan of our illustration is also exactly
similar to the former one.
Let us suppose, for example, that, from




AND THE EARTH.           79
the present moment, all the measurements of
the universe are reduced to the half of their
size, and that all distances are equally shortened; it would be absolutely impossible for
us to perceive, or indeed to believe if it was
told to us, that any change had happened
to us, or to the world around; and we might,
like Gulliver's Liliputians, fairly consider
ourselves perfectly grown  men.  But if
every thing was lessened a million or a billion times, it would be as little noticed by us
as when the reduction of all measurements
to the half of their size took place; and if
our system of fixed stars, with all that it
contains, was suddenly contracted to the
size of a grain of sand, we should move and
exist with the same freedom from restraint,
and with the same convenience, in that little
world, as we now (do in this which seems so
large to us. No change would have taken
place in the universe, as long as we did not
imagine another universe beyond it; and




80             THE STARS
the question whether any such change had
taken place would have as little meaning in
reference to space as a similar question had
in respect to the duration of time, which we
supposed to have been suddenly shortened.
In this way it is shown, that, to our rec)llection and knowledge, a proportionate
change in the whole space of the universe
would be completely and altogether unobserved and imperceptible.
But even though in these considerations
we have imagined the universe to have been
compressed into so small and narrow a compass, yet we have not altogether done away
with space, because we can still imagine
something more minute than the infinitely
small space, viz. an indivisible point. In
our reflections concerning an infinitely short
period of time, we have already shown that,
strictly and scientifically considered, they
are one and the same thing. We can, however, show, in an intelligible way, that it is




AND THE EARTH.         81
conceivable, and not at all contrary to reason to assume, that the expanse of Space
and the distance and propinquity of various
objects do not really exist, but that Space or
propinquity is only apparent, and originates
from the fact, that, with our circumscribed
understanding and the limited powers of our
senses, we can contemplete the one indivisible point, the Universe, in no other way
than by dividing and stretching it out into
length, breadth, and height. These are the
only three properties which we need attribute
to Space; but they are, of course, indispensably necessary, and without them physical
existence cannot be imagined; and length
cannot exist without breadth, nor breadth
without height; for in those cases the body
would have only length and height, or
only breadth and length. That which has
only two of these dimensions is not a body,
but only the boundary of a body, viz. a
superficies. In like manner, that which




82              TIlE STARS
has only one dimension, viz. length, is no
longer a surface, but the edge of a surface,
viz. a line. Thus, in order that any physical space can exist, it is of course absolutely
necessary that all three dimensions should
exist, as, in other words, all three are necessary properties of Space.
But a necessary property of any thing is
that without which it is no longer the same,
but something else. For example, the necessary properties of a square are, that all
four sides should be equal, and all angles
right angles. If one side is no longer like
another, or if one angle is no longer a right
angle, the figure ceases to be a square, and
becomes some other kind of quadrilateral
figure, and we should not listen to any one
who would persuade us that it was still a
square.  Let us apply this to the idea of
Space, or, what is the same thing, to the
idea of a body. It is necessary to the existence of any limited body, that it should




AND THE EARTH.          83
have length, breadth, and height, that it
should be bounded by surfaces, and that
the edges of these surfaces should be
formed by lines, and that the ends of the
lines should be points. All these properties must exist together, otherwise the
body itself does not exist.
Now, if we can imagine evidence which
will bring us to the conclusion that in any
case a body has not three dimensions, and
a surface has not two, and if such evidence
is incontrovertible and not to be refuted, it
would necessarily follow, that this body and
this surface are not a body and a surface,
but that some delusion of our senses, or
some false conclusions, had induced us to
consider them so. The same may be said
of a point. A point is that which has no
parts. Now, if a point was found in which,
nevertheless, there were different parts, it
would not be a point; or the difference of
the parts would not be a real difference, but
only one which would become apparent




84            THE STARS
from our limited powers of thought and
perception.  These conclusions are cleaI
and incontrovertible; and, supposing that
the reader has completely agreed with us
up to this point, we proceed a step further.
There is an optical apparatus known to
all of us under the name of a Magic Lantern. It is constructed in the following
manner: A picture, painted upon glass with
transparent colors, is thrown upon a lens
which has the property of refracting all the
rays incident upon its surface, and of concentrating them to a single point, called the
focus.  Through this point the refracted
rays continue their course onwards, and
diverge from one another as much as they
previously converged: they form, therefore,
beyond the focus a cone of rays with the
apex at the focus, and which, at any distance
from the apex, forms an inverted image of
the picture which was originally thrown
upon the lens, as can be proved by directing




AND THE EARTH.           85
the cone of rays upon the wall, when the
reversed picture is seen, larger in proportion
to the distance of the focus from the wall.
If the necessary lenses were ground with
perfect optical and mathematical accuracy,
and if the position of the glasses was also
strictly perfect and the wall completely
smooth, upon approaching the magic lantern
so near that the focus falls upon the wall,
the light would be seen as a single distinct
bright point. In this point, the entire surface of the picture is concentrated, and from
it the picture spreads out again upon the
wall if the apparatus is moved to a greater
distance.  Now  this Point contains the
many-colored surface of the picture completely, with all the parts which actually
compose it, and withi the form and color of
every single figure; and the whole picture
is really and truly in this single point, for
here it has been concentrated by the refraction of the rays. We have thus made it
readily apparent to our senses, that the in8




86            THE STARS
divisible point contains within it different
parts, contiguous to one another according
to our usual mode of comprehension; and
thus we have come to a direct contradiction
of an idea which has generally been considered quite clear and incontrovertible. The
solution of the contradiction is found in the
proposition of which it is the object of this
little work to prove the possibility; viz. that
the Universe, or Space, as far as it is within
the scope of our senses, does not exist in
the expanded and varied forms which we
see around us, but that the expansion and
the differences only depend upon our human
mode of perception, and are caused by it;
for, if here, by means of the magic lantern,
a surface has become a point, and if the
point contains all the various and distinct
parts of the surface, we have shown that
the differences which appear by the separation or juxtaposition of the component parts
do not require Space as absolutely necessary
to their existence, but that one single and




AND THE EARTH.           87
indivisible point can contain them all. But,
if a surface is no longer necessary that we
may understand the juxtaposition of bodies,
its very existence is disturbed, and a point
is advanced to the dignity of a surface, for
it contains and embraces the whole contents
of a surface; but, when we wish to perceive
the contents with human eyes, we must return and expand the point into the surface
which it had before included.
Now, since we have in this way shown
that a surface can only be considered a
means of rendering the juxtaposition and
relation of images cognizable to our senses,
in other words, that it is a mere mode of
observation, for that which, as far as its
essence is concerned, may be contained in
a single point, and since one of the three
dimensions of Space has in this way been
brought down from  something real to a
mere mode of contemplation, we have deprived Space of one of its necessary properties, and it is no longer real and true




88    THE STARS AND TIlE EARTH.
Space, but has become a mere condition by
which objects are rendered perceptible to us.
We have thus completed the course of the
argument which we proposed; for we have
shown that a point of view is conceivable,
from which the universe no longer requires
the expansion of Time and Space in order
to exist, and to be intelligible to us; and
since our human Ihethod of contemplation,
inasmuch as it considers this expansion,with
all its phenomena, as real and necessary,
leads only into inextricable contradictions,
so we are compelled to seek for the higher
point, and to look upon it as conceivable
and possible, even if we are never able
actually to realize it, or to look down upon
the World from it, in consequence of the
limited nature of our powers; for with such
a point of view, and by it alone, can we
imagine and completely understand the universe to be the work of a Single Creator.
THIE END.