66 Fixed Stars. 



pass of one or two degrees of space, and 

 more than forty in the nebulous star 

 Prsesepe, and the recent disco\ 7 eries of 

 Dr. Herschel have proved the fixed stars 

 to be immense, their regions unbounded, 

 and perhaps infinite ! 



As the stars, contrary to the moon and 

 planets, shine like our sun, by their own 

 native light, astronomers suppose that 

 each of them is a sun, with its system of 

 inhabited worlds revolving round it. Un- 

 der this idea or persuasion, of how innu- 

 merable a family do we seem to make a 

 part ! The immensity of the universe be- 

 comes peopled with fellow beings, and 

 we feel an interest in what appears to be 

 going on at distances so vast, that what 

 we see, as in time present, we have rea- 

 son to believe (swift, as is the progress of 

 light, darting from the spheres) must 

 have happ;n<, J many ages ago. Under 

 the idea of the universe being replenish- 

 ed with human brings, how magnificent, 

 how awful, are tne spectacles that present 

 themselves to the observer of the hea- 

 vens ! The creature of a day, of a few 

 fleeting moments, seems to obtain a 

 glimpse of a nqw creation, a glimpse of 



