THE SCENERY OE THE HEAVENS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE SUN AXD SOLAU PHENOMENA. 



THE Sun the central luminary of the sys 

 tem the source of light and heat appears 

 to prosecute daily a stately procession through 

 the heavens, owing to the rotation of the 

 I earth upon its axis, ascending like an in- 

 I tensely brilliant ball from the eastern 

 I horizon, and declining towards the west- 

 | ern. Excepting the regions bordering 

 on the poles, every part of our globe, 

 within the interval of twenty-four hours, 

 is brought beneath the action of the 

 solar rays, and withdrawn from them 

 its " mountains and all hills, its fruit 

 ful trees and all cedars." The unfail 

 ing continuity and nice precision with 

 which this has transpired, age after age, 

 strikingly illustrate the stability of the 

 natural laws. The navigator on 

 a dangerous coast, watching for the 

 morning, knows that the vision 

 is for an appointed time, and 



!W>r&G$&m&. 



