LESSONS IN ASTEONOMY. 





poses of description, 'ilio great blot upun the plays of these 

 decency. All tbo literature of their age is 

 ooarje, for men'* taste* were coarse. But the indecency and 

 immorality of Buuum< ipros- 



aion ; it in too ofton w tin* of tho play, 



un.i j. ,:',. 1. 1 .ti.i. the character*, and the language. 



One, at luuut, of their plays in among tbo most impure 

 language. 



A better Bpocimou fur study can hardly bo chosen among the 

 playa ot '.n play wo hare already 



bablc. Arothusa, tho daughter of tho King of Sicily, is b ' 

 i/riiKv, IMI; 



..unit of tli'- t!u-'i:<i>, cxrludi'd I'.-oin it by tho result 

 iiijiist ''i\:. 



Philastr >y, who has by a 



strange chance come into his service, to : ..urn of com- 



miini.-:i n tin-in. Tliis ].' t> work admirably. 



But a wanton lady of tho court, d a scandalous in- 



trigut) with tho Spuni.-h prim-'', in i .argon tho princess 



with an unduo attachment to tho boy who attends her. This 

 charge is boliovod by tho kir ilaster. 



ual wandering* from homo and Buddcn meetings in 1 

 follow. In time Fhilastor and tho boy Bellario got 

 thrown into prison on a charge < f ng tho lifo of tho 



i. But tho people riso agaiiint tho king, and ; 

 rhilastor to his righta; and, all : .ridings being re- 



moved, and all parties reconciled, the play ends happily. 

 ono of the characters in this play is forcibly a:. 

 drawn. But tho main interest centres upon tho boy Bellario, in 

 whom, throughout tho play, the combination of c> 

 votion with a clinging tenderness is exquisitely d 

 the end Bollario turns out to be no boy, but Kuphrasia, tho 

 daughter of a lord at the court, who had been among the mo'st 

 eager of tho persecutors of Bellario. Tho passage in which this 

 discovery is made will afford a good example of the style of 

 Beaumont and Fletcher : 



" My father oft would speak 

 Tour worth and virtue ; and as I did grow 

 More and more apprehensive, I did tliirnt 

 To see the man so praised. But yet nil this 

 Was but a maiden lougiug, to be lost 

 As soon as found ; till, sitting in my window, 

 Printing iny thoughts in. lawn, I saw a gi.'l 

 I thought (but it was you) enter our gates. 

 My blood flew out and back again, a 

 As I had puffed it forth and Bucked it in 

 Like breath; then was I called away iu haute 

 To entertain you. Never was a 111:111, 

 Heaved from a sheep-cote to a sceptre, raised 

 So high in thoughts as I ; you left a kiss 

 Upon these lips then, which I menu to !. 

 Prom you for ever ; I did hear you talk 

 Tar above singing. After you wero gone, 

 I grew acquainted with my heart, and searched 

 What stirred it so; alas, I found i' 

 Yet far from lust; for could I but have lived 

 In presence of you, I had had my cud. 

 For this did I delude my noble fatlu-r 

 With a feigned pilgrimage, and dressed mys. -!f 

 In habit of a boy ; and for I knew 

 My birth no match for you, I was past 'u 

 Of having you; and understanding well 

 That when I made discovery of my scr 

 I could not stay with you, I made a vow 

 Sy all the most religious things a maid 

 Could call together, never to be known 

 "Whilst there was hope to hide mo from men's eyes, 

 For other than I seemed, that I might ever 

 Abide with you. Then sat I by tho fount 

 Where first you took mo up." 



The following is Philastcr'.s account of his meeting with the 

 disguised girl at tho fountain : 



" Hunting the buck, 

 I found him sitting by a fountain-side, 

 Of which he borrowed some to quench his thirst, 

 And paid tho nymph as much again iu tears. 

 A garland lay him by, made by himself, 

 Of many several flowers, bred in tho bay, 

 Stuck in that mystic order, that tho rareness 

 Delighted me ; but ever when ho turned 

 His tender eyes upon them he would wep. 



A* if ha iuf 



...-.-.., r .. ; 



ihwll iu hi. tea*. I Mkl Mat all hte story, 

 H* told DM thftt his paseets *raO 4**d, 

 Latvia* Inn to Uw m*nf of UM> fata*. 



,:* him rooUi art at DM crystal i 

 WhuU U.4 uot .10$, UMlr Manse i **4 Us SM. 



., iJit.k4 turn. >U14od ki Us UU. 

 .Ths IM took u|. hi* guted, aad <U4 show 

 What every Bower, M OOSbirjr stasis fcoM, 



.-nify t aad how sjtf ordmd tho.. 

 Express** hi* fTtof, sad to my Uuwchts 4*4 rwd 

 Tl.o pretU*** Isotaue of Us eountrjr art 



1 : to Ut moUMwgbt I oooM 

 iu*o .tu.ii.-i it. I fhvltr oa 

 Wbowataigl 



. :-. 



I\ 



.KBITS BKXAUKAnLX OWES PVYSICAI. 



COKBTITUTIOSf LIST or XMOWV OOMVTS. 



THE planets and their satellites were for long time considered 

 to bo tho only members of our r systwa. This view, however, is 

 now known to bo erroneous, M many comets have bed their 



> revolve around the SOB b 

 Those bodies have always from the earliest 



parent ;:<7, M wo ^ * from the snddsfinsss 



withwl :<,Md the rapidity with which thej 



:g taQ^^^B msueily distinguish them. 

 In most n 







, the death of monarch*, ot 

 Poetslpweof 



" The blazing stsr 



Threatening the world with famine, plsfne. sad war .- 

 To princes, death ; to kingdom*, nuuijr crosses j 

 To all estates, inevitable losses ; 

 ", " herdsmen, rot ; to ploughmen, bsptoss sassoos ; 

 To sailors, storms ; to cities, civil treasons." 



On account of this feeling, tho periods of their appearance have 



rablo assistance is at times derived from these ancient 

 records. 



Tho appearance in tho year 10GG of a brilliant comet with 

 throe tails was c< y many a sign of the invasion of 



William of v and hi* conquest. In some of the 



ancient chronicles it is referred to as affording a proof of bis 

 divino right to tho throne. 



nly were comets considered harbingers of evil, bat fears 

 were ofton ei that they might in their coarse come 



into collision with tho earth, thereby causing frightful result*. 

 This feeling still exists to a modified extent, considerable alarm 

 having been felt by many on tho appearance of the comet of 

 1858, wi a part of its journey passed across the orbit 



of the earth. The utter trroandlessnees of these fears wffl be 

 on wo learn something of the physical constitution of 

 these bodies. ._,._ 



As wo havo soon, tho planets revolve around the sun in orbiU 

 of small eccentricity, which approach closely to circles. Comets* 

 on tho other hand, move in extremely elongated ellipses, 

 parabolas, or hyj-erb .las, the sun being situated almost si one 

 extremity of their orbit*, so that often at their perihelion passage 

 they approach within less than a million miles of it, and then 

 swiftly dash away for a considerable period from his light and 

 heat. It is clearly only those that move in elliptical orbit* the* 

 can bo periodical, aa the parabola does not return again upon 

 itself. 



,t 300 comets have now had their orbits calculated, and 

 more than one-half are known to be parabolas, so that 

 no second r -hose oan occur, unless by the ttrao- 



tions of other heavenly bodies their orbits should be materu 

 altered. Only five or six have been found to move in hvperbo 

 orbits. The number of known periodic elliptic comets wb 

 orbits and periods have been ascertained is about twe 

 elliptic orbits have, however, been assigned to many others, U 

 no second returns of them ha?e yet been seen, so M to Tettty 

 the calculations. 



In former times, before the construction of the telescope. 



