The Books That Comforted the Pioneers: Including Speculation About the Universe

WHAT WERE THE HOMESTEADERS READING IN THEIR BACKWOODS ISOLATION OTHER THAN THE FAMILY BIBLE?

SOME BOOKS, YOU WOULD EXPECT, OTHERS, WELL NOT REALLY!

     EVEN WHEN I VISITED HALF-FALLEN IN FARMSTEADS, IN SOUTH MUSKOKA, IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON AT ALL, TO FIND A HIGH, CORNER BOOKSHELF, WITH TEXTS STILL LINED UP, AS IF THE RESIDENT GHOSTS, HAD BECOME ENDURING, FAITHFUL STEWARDS TO THE WRITTEN WORD. MANY WERE STILL IN FAIR CONDITION, AFTER DECADES OF BEING EXPOSED TO SEASONAL WEATHER FLUCTUATIONS, AND MOISTURE CONTAMINATION. MANY WERE AGRICULTURAL BOOKS, AND A FEW HOMESTEAD SURVIVAL GUIDES, SUCH AS THE 1850'S "FARMERS' EVERYDAY BOOK," THAT I PURCHASED, AT AN AUCTION SALE, HELD ON THE PROPERTY OF THE HISTORIC EWING FARM, WEST OF BRACEBRIDGE, NEAR MILFORD BAY. YOU COULD FIND THE OCCASIONAL COOK BOOK, IN ROUGH CONDITION, AND OTHER RELIGIOUS BOOKS, WITH A SMATTERING OF POETRY COLLECTIONS, ALL OF THE MORE ROMANTIC KIND. FEEL GOOD POETRY! BUT THERE ARE SOME EXCEPTIONS, THAT MAKES THE VOYEUR RE-THINK WHAT HAS BEEN ASSUMED OF THE PIONEER PERIOD, AND WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION MADE IT ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE WILDS. BOOKS WERE A LUXURY, AND HEAVY CARGO, ESPECIALLY IF THE HOMESTEADER HAD TO WALK TWENTY OR THIRTY MILES THROUGH THE BUSH, TO GET TO A FREE LAND GRANT PROPERTY. THERE IS ONE STORY TOLD, OF AN ELDERLY WOMAN BEING ASKED TO GET OUT OF A CART, AS IT WAS BEING PULLED UP THE A HILL, NEAR BAYSVILLE, BY AN EXHAUSTED, FALTERING TEAM OF HORSES. SHE AGREED TO GET OUT, BUT INSISTED THAT THE CLOCK CAME WITH HER, AS IT WAS HER DEAREST POSSESSION, BROUGHT FROM HOME. WE KNOW THAT SOME BOOKS, ESPECIALLY FAMILY BIBLES, MADE THE TRIP AS "COVETED," POSSESSIONS, AND I DARE SAY, SOME WERE WALKED UP HILLS AS WELL, WHEN THE LOAD AND THE CHALLENGE AHEAD BECAME TOO MUCH FOR THE TEAM.

     I PURCHASED TWO AMAZING OLD BOOKS THIS AFTERNOON, THAT I SUSPECT WERE FROM (AREA) FARMSTEADS, LOCATED IN THIS REGION OF ONTARIO. AND AMONG THE MANY I HAVE COLLECTED OVER THE DECADES, AS A BIBLIOPHILE, THERE ARE OCCASIONAL SURPRISES. I LIKE PROVENANCE WITH MY BOOKS, SO THAT I CAN INCLUDE THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO OWNED THE BOOKS IN THE PAST, AND WHERE THEY WERE FROM IN THE WORLD. OLD AND DEAR BOOKS, WERE OFTEN HAULED AROUND THE GLOBE, FROM TRANSPORT IN HORSE DRAWN CARTS, IN SCHOONERS, IN PACKS UP MOUNTAIN SIDES, AND VIA TRAIN PULLED BY STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. IN THE ANTIQUE COLLECTING ENTERPRISE, HAVING PROVENANCE TO ATTACH TO AN ACQUISITION, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS, IS A VALUE ENHANCEMENT, AND KNOWING IT WAS FROM A SPECIFIC REGION, A CASTLE, A WELL KNOWN ESTATE, THE AUTHOR'S OWN COLLECTION, OR FROM THE MODEST LIBRARY OF A KNOWN FARMSTEAD, OFFERS AN HISTORIAN /WRITER, LIKE ME, A LITTLE EXTRA TO SHARE WITH READERS. TODAY I GOT TWO GEMS; ONE OF THE TWO 1854 BOOKS, WAS A PREDICTABLE FIND, THE OTHER, WELL, IT BLEW ME AWAY. THE FACT THAT BOTH WERE FROM 1854, AND WERE THE ONLY TWO GENUINELY ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS I HANDLED TODAY, WAS ALSO ONE OF THOSE COINCIDENCES WE COLLECTORS SPIN STORIES ABOUT. AND HERE'S ONE FOR TODAY.

     THE FIRST BOOK ACQUISITION, WAS AN 1854, GOOD CONDITION COPY OF "A THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY, CONTAINING OF ALL RELIGIOUS TERMS, A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF EVERY ARTICLE IN THE SYSTEM OF DIVINITY, AN IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT OF ALL THE PRINCIPAL DENOMINATION, WHICH HAVE SUBSISTED IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE PRESENT DAY - AN ACCURATE STATEMENT OF THE MOST REMARKABLE TRANSACTIONS AND EVENTS RECORDED IN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY." BY THE REVEREND CHARLES BUCK. A SECTION ENTITLED "NEW AMERICAN, FROM THE LATEST LONDON EDITION," WAS COMPOSED BY REVEREND GEORGE BUSH, A.M. (COULD IT BE ANY RELATION TO THE PRESIDENTIAL BUSH FAMILY? AND YES WE FOUND OUT HE WAS A DISTANT RELATIVE FROM VERMONT)

     THERE IS AN OPENING SECTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE BOOK, SHOWING RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION THROUGH THE YEARS, AND HONESTLY, I STARTED TO GET NAUSEOUS. YES, IT IS THAT BAD. SO THIS WAS A PRETTY SOUL WRENCHING INTRODUCTION, TO THE HISTORY FREEDOM OF RELIGION, OR NOT, WITH THE KIND OF GRAPHICS THAT WOULD CERTAINLY MAKE A FORLORN, WEARY HOMESTEADER, FEEL A LITTLE MORE WRETCHED THAN USUAL. THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF ENDEARING COLLECTION OF GRAPHICS, THAT MAKE YOU WANT TO READ FURTHER. BUT, IN TERMS OF EXPLANATIONS, OF BIBLE REFERENCES, AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT "ANGELS" FOR EXAMPLE, IT WAS A SUBSTANTIALLY WELL PROPORTIONED AND USEFUL RESOURCE. IF THE HOMESTEAD MOTHER, OR FATHER, WANTED TO SCARE THEIR CHILDREN, AND WARN THEM ABOUT THE EVILS OF THE WORLD, THE FIRST TWELVE OR SO PAGES OF THIS BOOK, WOULD EITHER SCARE THEM STRAIGHT, OR TURN THEM OFF RELIGION FOREVER.

     THE SECOND BOOK, FROM A HOMESTEAD BOOKSHELF, IS PARTICULARLY FASCINATING. JUST LAST NIGHT, I SAT OUT HERE ON THE VERANDAH OF BIRCH HOLLOW, ENJOYING THE BEAUTIFUL SUMMER EVENING (IN AUTUMN), AND WONDERED HOW THE MUSKOKA HOMESTEADERS, FELT ABOUT THINGS LIKE THE MOON AND STARS, AND WHAT THEY COULD SEE OF THE UNIVERSE. IN THEIR ISOLATED SITUATIONS, ON NIGHTS AS BLACK AS COAL, (AS THEY SAY), HOW WOULD THEY HAVE INTERPRETED THE STARSCAPE, AND SPECULATED ON WHAT EXISTED OUT THERE IN THE SPACE ABOVE THEM. WAS IT OF GOD'S CREATION? WAS IT A SPARKLING UNKNOWN QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF NATURE, UNDERSTOOD BY SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHERS? THE BOOK I FOUND TODAY, MAY OFFER SOME EXPLANATION, IN THIS REGARD, AND PROVIDE REASONABLE INSIGHT, ABOUT WHAT HOMESTEADERS COULD SPECULATE ABOUT THE UNIVERSE, DAZZLING IN TINY LIGHTS, AROUND THE GREAT AND MYSTERIOUS MOON-FACE, ABOVE THEIR TINY RURAL HOMESTEADS. IT DEMONSTRATES, THAT EVEN IN THE HOMESTEAD PERIOD OF MUSKOKA, THERE WERE "OTHER WORLDLY" INSIGHTS AND SPECULATIONS, ABOUT THE MOTHER EARTH, AND HUMANITY'S PLACE IN IT, THAT DIDN'T ALWAYS FALL TIGHTLY INTO NEAT COMPONENTS OF RELIGION, AS IT WAS BEING OFFERED IN COUNTRY CHURCHES, WHICH WERE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN, HERE IN THE EARLY 1860'S. IN MANY ENCAMPMENT AREAS, IN THE SETTLEMENT TERRITORY, HOMESTEADERS MIGHT MEET IN THE HUMBLE LOG CABINS, WHERE NEIGHBORS COULD CONGREGATE FOR CONVENIENCES ON SUNDAYS, TO PRAY AS A GROUP.

     THE BOOK IS ENTITLED "MORE WORLDS THAN ONE, THE CREED OF THE PHILOSOPHER - AND THE HOPE OF THE CHRISTIANS," BY SIR DAVID BREWSTER, AND PUBLISHED IN 1854, IN LONDON, ENGLAND, BY JOHN MURRAY OF ALBEMARLE STREET. THIS WAS NOTED AS BEING WITHIN THE FIRST 6,000 COPIES PUBLISHED AT THAT TIME. THINKING ABOUT THOSE SETTLERS, LOOKING AT THE NIGHT SKY, WITH THIS BOOK HAVING BEEN AVAILABLE TO THEM AS REFERENCE, WOULD HAVE CERTAINLY CREATED AN UNEXPECTED ENLIGHTENMENT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY, EARTH WASN'T THE ONLY HABITABLE PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. THIS WASN'T A BOOK CONFINED TO A UNIVERSITY COLLECTION, FOR THE BENEFIT OF SCHOLARS. THIS WAS AVAILABLE TO THOSE INTERESTED IN SUCH THINGS, WHO COULD AFFORD SUCH A LUXURY. IT'S NOT A BOOK THAT DISMISSES RELIGION, BUT OPENS THE READER'S MIND TO THE POSSIBILITIES OF LIFE IN OTHER PARTS OF THE UNIVERSE. IT'S WILD WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT. HERE WE ARE, IN 2014, STILL TRYING TO ANSWER ROUGHLY THE SAME QUESTIONS. OBVIOUSLY IN 1854, THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME ADVANTAGES WE HAVE TODAY, TO SEEK OUT THESE ANSWERS. I CAN VISUALIZE THE HOMESTEADER, SITTING BY AN ILLUMINATED OIL LAMP, READING FROM THIS BOOK, AND THEN HEADING OUTSIDE, IN THE DARKNESS, LOOKING UP TO EXPLORE WITH THEIR OWN EYES, THIS MAGNIFICENT DEEPNESS OF UNIVERSE STRETCHING TO INFINITY. BUT THEN, WHAT IN 1854 WAS INFINITY? WHAT WOULD A SETTLER, CIRCA THE 1850'S, EXPECT, AND IMAGINE, OF LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS. ALIENS? DID THEY KNOW WHAT THIS MEANT? WELL, LET'S FIND OUT WHAT THIS BOOK WAS ALL ABOUT, AND WHAT IT MEANT TO THE HOMESTEADERS, TRYING TO GET THROUGH THE DAYS AND WEEKS, WITHOUT STARVING TO DEATH; TOO BUSY GENERALLY TO WORRY ABOUT SPACE INVADERS. BUT WHAT IF THEY SAW A HOVERING DISC, LIKE WHAT WE WOULD CALL "A FLYING SAUCER" TODAY?

     I WILL CARRY-ON THIS BOOK REVIEW, AS IT RELATES TO THE HOMESTEAD LIBRARY, FOR SEVERAL BLOGS THIS WEEK, BECAUSE IT'S SUCH A FASCINATING STORY. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS COLUMN, TRY TO IMAGINE YOURSELF IN THAT BLEAK, ISOLATED HOMESTEAD SITUATION, SUCH AS THE DESCRIPTION I'VE OFFERED OF THE PIONEER ENCAMPMENT OF "JERUSALEM," NEAR BRACEBRIDGE, AND LOOKING UP FROM THE VALLEY BELOW WHAT THEY CALLED, "THE HILL OF JUDEA," IN THE PITCH-BLACK OF NIGHT, LOOKING UP AT THE INFINITY OF TWINKLING LIGHTS, AND SHOOTING STARS, ACROSS THE FACE OF THE HARVEST MOON. IT MAKES ME SHIVER JUST THINKING ABOUT IT.

     "There is no subject within the whole range of knowledge so universally interesting, as that of a Plurality of Worlds. It commands the sympathies, and appeals to the judgement of men of all nations, of all creeds, and of all times; and no sooner do we comprehend the few simple facts on which it rests, than the mind rushes instinctively to embrace it. Before the great truths of Astronomy were demonstrated - before the dimensions and motions of the planets were ascertained, and the fixed stars placed at inconceivable distances from the system to which we belong, philosophers and poets descried in the celestial spheres the abodes of the blest; but it was not till the form and size and motions of the earth were known, and till the condition of the other planets was found to be the same, that analogy compelled us to believe that these planets must be inhabited like our own."

     Sir David Brewster writes, "Although this opinion was maintained incidentally, by various writers both on astronomy and natural religion, yet M. Fontenelle, Secretary to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, was the first individual who wrote a treatise expressly on the subject. It was published in 1686, the year before Sir Isaac Newton, gave his immortal work, the 'Principia,' to the world, and was entitled "Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds.' It consisted of five chapters with the following titles. 1. The earth is a planet which turns round its own axis and also round the sun. 2. The moon is a habitable world. 3. Particulars concerning the world in the moon, and that the other planets are also inhabited. 4. Particulars of the worlds of Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. 5. The fixed stars are as many suns, each of which illuminates a world.' In another edition, of the work published in 1719, Fontenelle, added a sixth chapter, entitled, '6. New thoughts which confirm those in the preceding conversations. The latest discoveries which have been made in the heavens.' This singular work, written by a man of great genius, and with sufficient knowledge of astronomy, excited a high degree of interest, both from the nature of the subject and the vivacity and humour with which was written. The conversations are carried on with the Marchioness of G___, with whom the author is supposed to be reading. The lady is, of course, distinguished by youth, beauty, and talent, and the share which she takes in the dialogue is not less interesting than the more scientific part assumed by the philosopher.

     "The Plurality of Worlds,' as the work was called, was read with unexplained avidity, and was speedily circulated through every part of Europe. It was translated into al the languages of the continent, and was honoured by annotations from the pen of celebrated astronomer, La Lande, and of M. Gottsched, one of the German editors. No fewer than three English translations were published, and one of these, we believe the first, had run through six editions so early as the year 1737. Wherever it was read, it was admired, and though one hundred and sixty-seven years have elapsed since its publication, (to 1854) we have not been able to learn than any attempt has been made, during that long period, either to ridicule or controvert the fascinating doctrines which it taught. A few years after the publication of Fontenelle's work, the celebrated philosopher, Christian Huygens. the contemporary of Newton, and the discoverer of the ring and one of the satellites of Saturn, composed a work on the 'Plurality of Worlds,' under the title of the 'Theory of the Universe, or Conjectures concerning the Celestial Bodies and Their Inhabitats.' This interesting treatise, as large as that of Fontenelle, was translated into English, and went through at least two editions. It was written at the age of sixty-seven, a short time before the author's death; and so great was the interest which he felt in its publication, that he earnestly besought his brother, to carry his wishes into effect. He mentions the great pleasure he had derived from the composition of it, and from the communications of his views to his friends. About to enter the world of the future, the philosopher who had added a new planet to our solar system, and discovered the most magnificent and incomprehensible of its structures, looked forward with a peculiar interest to a solution of the mysteries which it had been the business and the happiness of his life to contemplate. He was anxious that his fellow-men should derive the same pleasures that he did, from viewing the planets and the stars, as the seats of intellectual life, and he left them his 'Theory of the Universe,' a legacy worthy of his name."