A TRIP TO THE MOON. 



great current in the atmosphere rushes down into the 

 deep of the transparent ocean, and tells us in a roaring 

 tornado, or the destructive violence of a fearful hurri- 

 cane, of the mysterious movements in the airy waves, 

 that were charmed by the magic power of the moon, and 

 tried to leave their mother earth to hasten to the be- 

 witching island in the blue, starry heavens. 



But there is another strong, binding tie between moon 

 and earth, that makes us thankful for the precious things 

 put forth by the former. She has been the oldest and 

 safest teacher, to whom mankind ever listened. Even the 

 old Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians, and Greeks, whilst 

 they worshipped her as a goddess, failed not carefully to 

 observe the changes in her pale face and by them to 

 measure their time. Like a faithful porter, she has ever 

 stood at the gates of the great heavens with their count- 

 less stars, and taught us how to find times and distances. 

 In the upper rooms of the eighth story of the lofty towers 

 of Babylon, in the dark halls of the vast temples of 

 Egypt, sat the hoary priests of antiquity, and watched the 

 wanderings of the great star of the night, thus to order 

 the times of the year and the labors of man. The moon 

 has taught us the secrets of arithmetic and geometry; 

 she was the first mathematician, she aided agriculture and 

 navigation ; she taught historians the order of great events, 

 and gave to the priests of mankind their lofty positions 

 by confiding to them the secret of her constant changes. 

 Now, our astronomers make her the mirror on which the 

 earth throws her image, when the sun is behind both, 

 and thus prove on the moon's quiet surface, the round 



