of the human brain, and peering in equally unproductive inquiry over the gam- 

 bols of an animalcule. But how nobly is the darkness which envelopes meta- 

 physical inquiries compensated by the flood of light which is shed upon the 

 physical creation! There all is harmony, and order, and majesty, and beauty. 

 From the chaos of social and political phenomena exhibited in human records ( 

 phenomena unconnected to our imperfect vision by any discoverable law, a war ; 

 of passions and prejudices, governed by no apparent purpose, tending to no ap- ( 

 parent end, and setting all intelligible order at defiance how soothing and yet j 

 how elevating it is to turn to the splendid spectacle which offers itself to the ( 

 habitual contemplation of the astronomer ! How favorable to the development 

 of all the best and highest feelings of the soul are such objects ! The only 

 passion they inspire being the love of truth, and the chiefest pleasure of their 

 votaries arising from excursions through the imposing scenery of the universe 

 scenery on a scale of grandeur and magnificence, compared with which whatever 

 we are accustomed to call sublimity on our planet, dwindles into ridiculous insig- 

 nificancy. Most justly has it been said, that nature has implanted in our bosoms 

 a craving after the discovery of truth, and assuredly that glorious instinct is 

 never more irresistibly awakened then when our notice is directed to what is 

 going on in the heavens. " Quoniam eadem Natura cupiditatem ingenuit homi- 

 nibus veri inveniendi, quod facillime apparet, cum vacui curis, etiam quid in } 

 cffilo fiat, scire avemus ; his initiis indued omnia vera diligimus ; id est, fidelia, <. 

 simplicia, constantia ; turn vana, falsa, fallentia odimus."* 



Among the multitude of appearances which succeed each other in their ap- , 

 pointed order, and of the times and manner of which the perfect knowledge ^ 

 of the astronomer enables him to advertise us, there are some which mor; I 

 powerfully seize upon the popular mind, as well by reason of their infrequenc/ ) 

 and the extraordinary circumstances which attend them, as by the imaginary > 

 consequences with which ignorance and superstition have, in times past and. ' 

 present, invested them. Among these, Solar Eclipses had a prominent place ; , 

 but a still more interesting position must be assigned to Comets. 



It is well known that the solar system, of which our planet forms a part, con- ^ 

 sists of a number of smaller bodies revolving in paths, which are very nearly ) 

 circular, round the great mass of the sun placed in the centre. Thes3 paths, > 

 or orbits, are very nearly in the same plane ; that is to say, if the earth, for / 

 example, be conceived to be moving on a flat surface, extended as well beyond ( 

 its orbit as within it, then the other planets never depart much above or below > 

 this plane. A spectator placed upon the earth keeps within his view each of <* 

 the other planets of the system throughout nearly the whole of its course. In- 

 deed, there is no part of the orbit of any planet in which, at some time or other, ', 

 it may not be seen from the earth. Every point of the path of each planet , 

 can therefore be observed ; and although without waiting for such observation > 

 its course might be determined, yet it is material here to attend to the fact, that > 

 the whole orbit may be submitted to direct observation. The different planets , 

 also present peculiar features by which each may be distinguished. Thus they > 

 are observed to be spherical bodies of various 'magnitudes. The surfaces of J 

 some are marked by peculiar modes of light and shade, which, although varia- > 

 ble and shifting, still, in each case, possess some prevailing and permanent \ 

 characters by which the identity of the object may be established, even were \ 

 there no other means of determining it. The sun is the common centre of at- < 

 traction, the physical bond by which this planetary family are united, and pre- / 

 vented from wandering independently through the abyss of space. Fach planet 

 thus revolving in a circle, has the same tendency to fly from the centre that a < 



Cic. de Fin. Bon. et Mai. ii. 14. 



