Plurality of the worlds.

Who has not yet asked himself, considering the Moon and the other heavenly bodies, whether these globes are inhabited? Before Science had initiated us into the nature of these bodies, one could doubt it; today, in the present state of our knowledge, there is at least a probability; but, to this truly seductive idea, objections drawn from Science itself are raised. It seems, they say, that the Moon has no atmosphere and, probably, has no water. On Mercury, in view of its proximity to the Sun, the average temperature must be that of molten lead, so that, if this metal exists there, it must flow like the water of our rivers. On Saturn exactly the opposite occurs; we have no term of comparison for the cold that must reign there; the light of the Sun must be very feeble, despite the reflection of its seven moons and its ring, since, at that distance, the Sun must appear only as a star of the first magnitude. Under such conditions, one asks whether it would be possible to live.

It is inconceivable that such an objection could be made by serious men. If the atmosphere of the Moon has not been perceived, would it be rational to infer that it does not exist? Might it not be formed of unknown elements, or sufficiently rarefied so as not to produce sensible refraction? We will say the same thing of the water or of the liquids existing there. With regard to living beings, would it not be to deny the divine power to judge impossible an organization different from the one we know, when, before our very eyes, the providence of Nature extends with so admirable a solicitude even to the smallest insect, giving to all beings organs suited to the environment in which they must live, whether it be water, air or earth, whether they be immersed in darkness or exposed to the light of the Sun? If we had never seen fish, we could not conceive of beings living in water; we would form no idea of their structure. Only a short time ago, who would have believed that an animal could live indefinitely within the heart of a stone? But, without speaking of these extremes, could the beings that live under the strong heat of the torrid zone exist in the polar ices? And yet, there are in those ices beings organized for that rigorous climate, incapable of bearing the ardor of a tropical sun. Why, then, not admit that beings may be constituted in such a way as to live on other globes and in an environment entirely different from ours? Assuredly, without knowing the physical constitution of the Moon, we know enough of it to be certain that, such as we are, we could not live there, just as we cannot in the heart of the ocean, in the company of the fish. For the same reason, if the inhabitants of the Moon, constituted to live without air or in a very rarefied air, perhaps entirely different from ours, could one day come to the Earth, they would be asphyxiated in our thick atmosphere, as happens to us when we fall into the water. Once again, even if we do not have the material proof and the proof de visu of the presence of living beings in other worlds, nothing proves that organisms suited to any environment or climate cannot exist. On the contrary, simple common sense tells us that it must be so, since it is repugnant to reason to believe that these innumerable globes that circulate in space are nothing but inert and unproductive masses. Observation shows us there surfaces broken, as here, by mountains, valleys, ravines, extinct or active volcanoes; why, then, would there not be organic beings there? Be it so, they will say; that there be plants, even animals, is possible; but human beings, civilized men like us, knowing God, cultivating the arts, the sciences, is that possible? Certainly nothing proves mathematically that the beings inhabiting the other worlds are men like us, nor that they are more or less advanced than we are, morally speaking; but, when the savages of America saw the Spaniards disembark, they had no more doubt that, beyond the seas, there existed another world, cultivating arts that were unknown to them. The Earth is dotted with an innumerable quantity of islands, small or large, and all that is habitable is inhabited; no rock rises from the sea without man planting his flag upon it. What would we say if the inhabitants of one of those smaller islands, knowing perfectly well the existence of the other islands and continents, but having never had relations with those who inhabit them, believed themselves to be the only living beings of the globe? We would say to them: How can you believe that God made the world for you alone? By what strange whim would your little island, lost in a corner of the ocean, have the privilege of being the only one inhabited? We can say the same thing in regard to the other spheres. Why would the Earth, a small globe imperceptible in the immensity of the Universe, which is distinguished from the other planets neither by its position, nor by its volume, nor by its structure, since it is neither the smallest, nor the largest, nor is it at the center, nor at the extremity; why, we were saying, among so many others, would it be the only abode of rational and thinking beings? What sensible man could believe that these millions of heavenly bodies that twinkle above our heads were made solely to delight our eyes? What, then, would be the use of those other millions of globes invisible to the naked eye and which do not even serve to illuminate us? Would there not be at once pride and impiety in thinking that it were so? To those to whom impiety matters little, we will say that it is illogical. We arrive, then, by a simple reasoning, which many others have made before us, at the conclusion of the plurality of the [inhabited] worlds, and this reasoning is confirmed by the revelations of the Spirits. Indeed, they teach us that all these worlds are inhabited by corporeal beings suited to the physical constitution of each globe; that, among the inhabitants of these worlds, some are more, others less advanced than we are, from the intellectual, moral and even physical point of view. Still more: we know today that we can enter into relation with them and obtain information about their state; we likewise know that not only are all the globes inhabited by corporeal beings, but that space is peopled with intelligent beings, invisible to us because of the material veil cast over our soul, and which reveal their existence by hidden or manifest means. Thus, everything is peopled in the Universe, life and intelligence are everywhere: on the solid globes, in the air, in the bowels of the Earth, and even in the ethereal depths. Is there in this doctrine anything that is repugnant to reason? Is it not at once grand and sublime? It elevates us by our very smallness, quite contrary to that egoistic and petty thought, which sets us up as the only beings worthy to occupy the thought of God.