170 BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 



breaking up into distinct bodies what previously appeared as one mass, 

 is a beautiful and satisfactory evidence of tbe constructive perfection 

 to which such instruments have been brought ; and it affords a plea- 

 sing illustration of the rapidity of progress of the mechanical arts, 

 when they are seen to attend science in all her flights, and offer their 

 friendly and valuable aid in the construction of more perfect instru- 

 ments for observation. Even that dim and misty shadow in Orion's 

 belt, though so vague as to be without outline, even under the 

 searching eye of Lord Eosse's six feet mirror, giving no conclusive 

 evidence as to the wonders which lie folded up within it, must write 

 down at some future day its history for us. 



The discovery, by Mr. Bond, in September, 1846, that that wisp of 

 light which seems, indeed, but the very shadow of a cloud, is a mass 

 of distinct and separate stars, goes very far to foreshadow the revela- 

 tions which are yet to come from thence, and affords the hope that the 

 telescope may yet pierce deeper into the great mystery, and unravel 

 for our contemplation new and grander harmonies, and bring us tidings 

 of the majestic wonders which lie hidden in that boundless deep — that 

 sea without a shore I 



With equal vigilance and vigour has science, like the eastern genii 

 of enchantment, opened a succession of wonders in every department 

 of nature to man's awakening mind. She has set out upon the track- 

 less deep, where the wild roar of waters and the crash and boom of 

 tempests made hollow dirges in the dark, and gathering the contending 

 elements, she has yoked them in a peaceful unity for the good of man, 

 making even the sunlight a painter of his pictures, and the enchained 

 lightning the messenger of his will. With a frail wire, buried in the 

 eartb, or carried underneath the sea, man has learned to wield this 

 most mysterious of all the powers of the universe with a firmer grasp 

 than the Olympian Thunderer himself. Now, with unmatched speed, 

 and a certainty which cannot err, it conveys his thoughts in the very 

 words in which he utters them himself to any distance, bounded only 

 by the limits of the world itself. '* The besieged and barricaded city 

 calls its allies to aid, and at the distance of hundreds of leagues, the 

 battalions beat the call to arms, ere yet the ink is dry which penned 

 the summons for their aid. The conquering armies, whom half the 

 circumference of the globe divides from home, bid their compatriots to 

 share their triumph in the first flush of victory ; and ere yet the battle 

 cloud is cleared away — ere the last shout of victory has ceased to rend 



