390 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 



VENUS 



The true morning or evening star, however, 

 is Venus the peerless and capricious Venus. 



Venus, perhaps, " has not been noticed, 

 not been thought of, for many months. It is 

 a beautifully clear evening ; the sun has just 

 set. The lover of nature turns to admire the 

 sunset, as every lover of nature will. In the 

 golden glory of the west a beauteous gem is 

 seen to glisten; it is the evening star, the 

 planet Venus. A week or two later another 

 beautiful sunset is seen, and now the planet 

 is no longer a glistening point low down ; it 

 has risen high above the horizon, and con- 

 tinues a brilliant object long after the shades 

 of night have descended. Again a little 

 longer and Venus has gained its full brilliancy 

 and splendour. All the heavenly host even 

 Sirius and Jupiter must pale before the 

 splendid lustre of Venus, the unrivalled queen 

 of the firmament." l 



Venus is about as large as our Earth, and 

 when at her brightest outshines about fifty 



1 Ball, Story of the Heavens. 



