INTRODUCTION. C5 



the astronomer sees nothing in this period but the 

 completion of a certain number of planetary revo- 

 lutions, and the commencement of another series ; 

 the man of true wisdom is employed in attending 

 to other objects, and in pursuing different inquiries. 

 Rich were the stores of instruction, and great the 

 improvement, which an ancient king received from 

 retui^ningy after a long course of action^ and look- 

 ing upon all the zvorks which his hands had wrought^ 

 and the, labour zvhich he had laboitred to do. It 

 was upon this calm retracing of his steps, that he 

 discovered, more fully than ever before, wherein 

 he had been profitably employed ; and in what re- 

 spects his unwearied exertions had been but vanity 

 and vexation of spirit. 



Standing, therefore, as we do, upon the threshold 

 of a NEW CENTURY, it may prove both amusing and 

 instructive to take a hasty retrospect of that to 

 which we have just bidden adieu. In this retro- 

 spect, the scene which lies before us is large and 

 various. On w^hatever part we cast the eye, im- 

 portant objects, and interesting lessons, present 

 themselves to view. Out of these it will only be 

 possible to select a few of the most conspicuous 

 and striking, and to display each with the utmost 

 brevity. 



menced on the first day of January, 1801. In this "opinion he is 

 supported by the decision of many of those who are best qualified 

 to judge on the subject. De Lalande, the great French astro- 

 nomer, tells us that the same question was discussed with great 

 warmth at the close of the seventeenth century ; and that many 

 pamphlets were written with a view to settle it, of several of 

 which he is possessed. He decides, witliout hesitation, that the 

 century commenced on the day above-mentioned. — Sec Dc Lu- 

 lande*s History of Astronomy for 1799- 



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