A Journey in Other Worlds [111]
locomotive near the axle instead of near the circumference, and
with enough power will produce even greater results. As Cosmos
waxes greater from the result of these continual accretions, its
attraction for the stars will increase, until those coming from
the outer regions of its universe will move at such terrific
speed in their spiral orbits that before coming in contact they
will be almost invisible, having already absorbed all solid
matter revolving about themselves. These accessions of moving
matter, continually received at and near its equator, will cause
Cosmos to spread out like Saturn's rings till it becomes flat,
though the balance of forces will be so perfect that it is
doubtful whether an animal or a man placed there would feel much
change.
"But these universes--or, more accurately, divisions of the
universe--already planes, though the vast surfaces are not so
flat as to preclude beautiful and gently rolling slopes, are
spirit-lands, and will be inhabited only by spirits. Then there
are great phosphorescent areas, and the colour of the surface
changes with every hour of the day, from the most brilliant
crimson to the softest shade of blue, radiant with many colours
that your eyes cannot now see. There are also myriads of scented
streams, consisting of hundreds of different and multi-coloured
liquids, each with a perfume sweeter than the most delicate
flower, and pouring forth the most heavenly music as they go on
their way. But be not surprised at the magnitude of the change,
for is it not written in Revelation, 'I saw a new heaven and a
new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away'? Nor can we be surprised at vastness, sublimity, and
beauty such as never was conceived of, for do we not find this in
His word, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love Him'? In this blissful state, those that feared
God and obeyed their consciences will live on forever; but their
rest can never become stagnation, for evolution is one of the
most constant laws, and never ceases, and they must always go
onward and upward, unspeakably blessed by the consciences they
made their rule in life, till in purity and power they shall
equal or exceed the angels of their Lord in heaven.
"But you men of finite understanding will ask, as I myself should
have asked, How, by the law of hydrostatics, can liquids flow on
a plane? Remember that, though these divisions are astronomical
or geometrical planes, their surfaces undulate; but the moving
cause is this: At the centre of these planes is a pole, the
analogue, we will say, of the magnetic pole on earth, that has a
more effective attraction for a gas than for a liquid. When
liquids approach the periphery of the circle, the rapid rotation
and decreased pressure cause them to break up, whereupon the
elementary gases return to the centre in the atmosphere, if near
the surface, forming a gentle breeze. On nearing the centre, the
cause of the separation being removed, the gases reunite to form
a liquid, and the centrifugal force again sends this on its
journey."
"Is there no way," asked Bearwarden, "by which a man may retrieve
himself, if he has lost or misused his opportunities on earth?"
"The way a man lays up treasures in heaven, when on earth,"
replied the spirit, "is by gladly doing something for some one
else, usually in some form sacrificing self. In hell no one can
do anything for any one else, because every one can have the
semblance of anything he wishes by merely concentrating his mind
upon it, though, when he has it, it is but a shadow and gives him
no pleasure. Thus no one can give any one else anything he
cannot obtain himself; and if he could, since it would be no
sacrifice on his part, he would derive no great moral comfort
from it. Neither can any one comfort any one else by putting his
acts or offences in a new light, for every one knows the whole
truth about himself and