Such is the scale upon which the universe is built. Its remote luminaries are no longer measured by miles, or by diameters of the earth's orbit. These standards of measure, though scarcely comprehensible to our senses-they are so great-when applied to the distant fixed stars, are so small that they do not convey the ideas which Astronomers profess and desire to communicate. When they spoke of the comparative distance of the stars among themselves, they state how many years the light of the various stars will occupy in traversing the space between them. The distance of a star of the first magnitude, like Sirius, Aldeboran, or Beletyeuse, in the shoulder of Orion, they say is seventeen (17) years away from the sun. Stars of the second magnitude, thirty (30) years; and those of the sixth magnitude, being the most remote that are visible to the naked eye, are (130) one hundred and thirty years from the sun. Those that lie so far out in the ocean of the sky, that Herschel's great telescope could just discover them, require 3,541 years to make known their existence to us. We may be overwhelmed by such considerations, our finite minds may be strained and fatigued by them—but we must go farther still. The sun itself is in motion, hearing along with it the whole train of planets, satellites and comets, which constitute our system. You will ask where is it travelling to? and moving as it does 33,350,000 miles each year; how long before it will encounter some other system, and produce confusion there? Its movement is now towards the constellation of Hercules. We should consider here, what I have stated before, that between the outside of our solar system; which as now defined, is the planet of Leverrier; and the nearest fixed star, or sun, or other system; there is a space which it takes light-moving 12,000,000 of miles every minute of time-ten years to cross; and would require 105,882 years, for our earth, going on an errand through space as fast as it does in its own orbit, to reach our nearest celestial neighbor. The star R in Hercules, to which the sun is directing his course, is much more distant; its light, instead of being ten years, is forty-six years, in reaching us. The annual rate VOL 1.-16. at which the sun moves, as I have just stated, or 33,350,000 miles, is such, that it will require from this time, about 1,800,000 years for us to reach Hercules; provided he remains at rest. But not only the constellation "Hercules," but all the constellations and all the stars, have a motion, and revolve around a central point, which is called the "centre of gravity" of the stellar universe. This point is near the star Alcyone; one of the Pleaides; so far from the earth, that its light is 537 years in its flight from there to us. As a right line motion is not known in nature, and since it is well settled that all the planets, satellites and comets, move in curves, we must conclude from analogy, that the sun, and all the stars, move in curves also, such as circles or eclipses; which curves return to themselves, and constitute an orbit like those of the planets, but inconceivably larger. On this hypothesis, how long must time flow on, before our sun will complete one journey around Alcyone, and come back to its present position? Astronomers have computed this period, knowing its present rate of progress, and fix it at 18,200,000 years!! I have introduced these sublime facts, to accustom you to the idea of great periods of time, as well as immense distances in space. By the side of these vast cycles, what is the historic period of 6,000 years! what is a century! what the life of man! If the ten millions of suns which the telescope discovers in the heavens, have been in existence only 6,000 years, our lot is cast in the earliest infancy of the world. For if but 6,000 years of the existence of the universe have elapsed, what figures can express the period, when its being shall draw to a close. It is reasonable to consider that a work of such extent and grandeur, should have a length of life in proportion to its dimensions. That it was not made for display, but for some useful and protracted purpose; and if it is true that the stars, like the planets, have their orbits, and periods of revolution, it is no doubt true, that they will be permitted to make, at least one grand circuit around the universe, before they are blotted out. The above Lecture was delivered before the Akron (Ohio) Lyceum, Wednes day evening, March 7, 1849, and contributed to the Western Quarterly Review by CHARLES WHITTLESEY, ESQ., of Cleveland, Ohio. ART. XVIII.-DECLINE OF THE CHURCH.. The Church has wielded the most powerful empire over the human mind in all ages of the world. If we peruse the Jewish history, we find the Church standing out as the prominent feature of that nation. So all-engrossing was the religious organization of that people, that the government was a theocracy-the civil and ecclesi-astical power being almost identical. If we look back to the Chaldean and Persian nations, we shall find the Astrologers and the Magi keeping a guardian watchfulness over the people, and with religious solemnity invoking the sun, the moon and the stars, for guidance in fulfilling their mission. The fire worshippers were among the most devoted people the world ever knew; at the rising of the sun, the whole nation prostrated themselves in most hearty adoration, as though the great God of the universe had suddenly stripped the veil from his radiant countenance and smiled once more upon an abandoned people. Zoroaster, the Christ of the Chaldeans, ruled the people for many ages; and the Magi of Persia, were not less omnipotent over the public mind. If we pass on to Egypt, lo, the land is yet full of the monuments of the peoples' religious devotion, that have withstood the storms of the long centuries. Her mighty temples are yet described from the large pillars that have survived the destructive power of time, and her pyramids,. built for an eternity of endurance, testify to the superiority. of the ecclesiastical over the temporal power. The Apis, the Isis and Osiris were symbols of the Almighty Infinitude, and the object of political regulations seemed to be rather the protection of religious devotion, than as the supreme authority. Religion, too, was deeply seated in the Greecian mind. The Church sat aloft o'er the state, and commanded the first homage and offering of the people. Did a Lawgiver appear to reform political abuses, he was careful to invest himself with the mantle of religion, and appear before the people. annointed for his mission, and bearing the metre as a sym- bol of his divine commission. Solon mounted the rostrum, and announced himself as the one sent from the Gods to regenerate the Athenian state. Lycurgus appeared in the same attitude before the Spartans, and to insure the perpetuity of his laws, departed under the pretence of visiting a Goddess in a distant temple, to see if he had done all in his power, and he administered an oath to support his institutions until his return. He never returned, and the people were persuaded that he had ascended to the abode of the Gods, as one who had fulfiled a glorious mission, and proved a claim to a seat in the mansion of the skies. The Church was not less omnipotent among the Romans. The "Eternal City" was built by the especial direction of the Gods, and that mighty people were cradled in the bosom of the Church. The sacred fires were not suffered to go out during the period of the nation's glory, and the purest of the purer sex-the vestal virgins ministered at the altar. The Roman people recognised the Divine hand in all events, and their Augurs were consulted on all trying occasions. The mightiest of her heroes trembled under an anathema of the Priest-they were shorn of their power by a curse from the Church. Neither were those savage hords that came down upon them like an Alpine avalanch and dissolved the institutions of a corrupt people, destitute of the power of the Church. Odin was a God omnipotent to them, and the Druids were Priests who ministered in his temples, more powerful than the tall chiefs who led the dauntless hosts to battle. But these barbarians were destined to become civilized, and to be the guardians of liberty and learning. They saw something of nobility in the manners and customs of those they had conquered, though dishonored by a degenerate people, and they improved the means that their valor had thus brought within their reach. The first Kings of France, Germany, Spain and England, were the roughest savages; but such as were susceptible to the influence of knowledge and virtue. A gradual improvement took place, until these became the leading nations of the earth, and now with America, the daughter, are the only enlightened nations of the present age. Yet, during this transitional period, one religion was eradicated from the affections of the people and another substituted in its place. The new system-being the Catholic or Christian religion-did not come with any diminution of authority, but rather claimed a commission direct from the Eternal God, to sit in judgment over Kings, Emperors and people. The Church used no armor nor marched to battle; but, through the Pontifical head-the vicegerent of God-the successor of St. Peter, she thundered her anathemas against all offenders, and the people fled affrighted from their standards, and the stoutest hearts quailed with fear. Neither did the Church lose its authority when Protestantism took the place of Catholicism. But in both Europe and America, where she held the supremacy, her influence was omnipotent for two centuries and a half. All were born into the Church, and the reputation of no man was safe who should straggle out of it. Until within the last half century, few individuals were found on either side of the great waters who was not a communicant of the Church. But a great change has been wrought during this period. The Church has lost her hold upon the reverence of the people, and instead of all flocking to her altars for temporal and eternal safety, a vast majority of the people are disconnected from any religious society. In the United States there are now 21,000,000 of people, of whom about 4,000,000, or not one to four, belong to the Church. If we make allowance for children considered too young to hold a fellowship in the Church, we shall find that at least three-fourths of the people who have reached to years of discretion, have no connection with any christian denomination. But of these 4,000,000 only 3,000,000 are Evangelical Christians-the remainder being chiefly Catholics. But with this small portion of the whole population, the Church is not increasing nor even preserving her strength. She is at this moment losing numbers and consequently power. In 1846 the various Evangelical Churches stood thus: Presbyterians, 322,079 644,299 1,116,176 651,332 69,066 2,802,952 |