No man is so utterly dull and obtuse, with head i 

 so bent on earth, as never to lift himself up and rise 

 with all his soul to the contemplation of the starry 

 heavens, especially when some fresh wonder shows 

 a beacon-light in the sky. As long as the ordinary 

 course of heaven runs on, custom robs it of its real 

 size. Such is our constitution that objects of daily 

 occurrence pass us unnoticed even when most 

 worthy of our admiration. On the other hand, the 

 sight even of trifling things is attractive if their 

 appearance is unusual. So this concourse of stars, 2 

 which paints with beauty the spacious firmament on 

 high, gathers no concourse of the nation. But 

 when there is any change in the wonted order, 

 then all eyes are turned to the sky. The sun has 

 no observer unless he is in eclipse. No one watches 

 the moon unless she suffer obscuration. But then 

 whole cities cry out, groundless superstition drives 

 every one into panic. And yet how much greater 3 

 are the ordinary movements of the sun ! He takes, 

 so to speak, as many steps as there are days, com 

 pleting the year in his circuit. From the summer 

 solstice he turns back to the lessening days, from 

 the solstice he slopes his rays, 1 and gives more 



1 There is some corruption in the text, but no probable restoration has 

 been suggested. From the Latin words it would appear that this clause 

 is merely an explanation of the previous one, inserted by some officious copyist 

 and therefore spurious. 



271 



