ASTRONOMY WITH AN OPERA-GLASS. 187 



Lastly, it is quite possible that much which is a puzzle to one gen- 

 eration will not be so to the next. It was often asked twenty years 

 ago what would become of faith when men no longer believed the 

 Bible to be infallible, and what of morality when they ceased to be- 

 lieve in eternal torments. But those who are now growing to maturi- 

 ty seem to find no lack of grounds for belief or of sanctions for prac- 

 tice. And the next generation may find no difficulty in the conditions 

 of theological thought described in the first half of this article. The 

 claims of Christian piety are strong, and the simplest doctrines are its 

 best support. Duty, philanthropy, love, social and political improve- 

 ment eai-nestly prosecuted in the fear of God and in the spirit of 

 Christ, are independent of the ideas of dogmatic theology, and often 

 unconscious of its changes. Fortnightly Revieio. 



ASTRONOMY WITH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



THE STARS OF SUMMER. 

 Br GARRETT P. SERVISS. 



A SINGULAR proof of popular ignorance of the starry heavens, 

 as well as of popular curiosity concerning any uncommon celes- 

 tial phenomenon, is furnished by the curious notions prevailing about 

 the planet Venus. When Venus began to attract general attention in 

 the western sky in the early evening some two months ago, speculation 

 quickly became rife about it, particularly on the great Brooklyn Bridge. 

 As the planet hung dazzlingly bright over the New Jersey horizon, 

 some people appeared to think it was the light of Liberty's torch, mis- 

 taking the bronze goddess's real flambeau for a part of the electric- 

 light system of the metropolis. Finally (to judge from the letters 

 written to the newspapers, and the questions asked of individuals sup- 

 posed to know something about the secrets of the sky), the conviction 

 seems to have become pretty widely distributed that the strange light 

 in the west was no less than an electrically illuminated balloon, nightly 

 sent skyward by Mr. Edison, for no other conceivable reason than a 

 wizardly desire to mystify his fellow-men. I have positive information 

 that this ridiculous notion has been actually entertained by more than 

 one person of intelligence. And it is not improbable, that as Venus 

 glows with increasing splendor in the serene evenings of June, she 

 will continue to be mistaken for some petty artificial light instead of 

 the magnificent world that she is, sparkling out there in the sunshine 

 like a globe of burnished silver. Yet Venus as an evening star is not 

 so rare a phenomenon that people of intelligence should be surprised 

 at it. Once in every 584 days she reappears in the sunset sky 



" Gem of the crimson-colored even, 

 Companion of retiring day." 



