This page has been validated.
224
HERSCHEL AND HIS WORK

are closely connected, was largely his work. He laboured indefatigably himself; he invited, he also aroused into honourable emulation, the rivalry of others to equal or surpass his achievements.

What Herschel could only suspect or assert, the glass prism has proved. These mighty suns, "in number numberless," are made of the same materials as our earth and our sun—iron, magnesium, hydrogen, sodium, etc. The vast universe is governed by the same laws, and made of the same matter. It is, so to speak, the work of one and the same building hand. To have risen to this simple truth by exploring the suns and systems of the universe is a reward worth all the time and trouble spent in working it out. Mankind, in this respect alone, stands on a loftier platform now than half a century ago. Oneness of plan, manifested in this widespread oneness of working, implies oneness of the worker. A lofty moral truth has resulted from the labours and speculations of which leaders of scientific truth in Europe formerly saw only the inutility. The Maker, Governor, and Upholder of all these worlds and universes is one and the same. Who He is, what is His central seat of power no telescope, no glass prism can reveal. Amid the wonders of infinite space and time, our standards of measurement and knowledge may be said to be our five senses, and if one of these, sight, were taken from us, our sphere of knowledge would be immeasurably reduced in extent. On the other hand, an addition to the senses we have, a quickening of the inner light, might reveal this Builder of worlds. His palace. His living armies, with a distinctness, a fulness hitherto unknown. Herschel evidently thought