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THE SCENERY OF THE HEAVENS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE SUN AND SOLAR PHENOMENA. 



THE Sun the central luminary of the sys- 

 tem the source of light and heat appears 

 to prosecute daily a stately procession through 

 the heavens, owing to the rotation of the 

 earth upon its axis, ascending like an in- 

 tensely brilliant ball from the eastern 

 horizon, and declining towards the west- 

 ern. Excepting the regions bordering 

 on the poles, every part of our globe, 

 within the interval of twenty-four hours, 

 is brought beneath the action of the 

 solar rays, and withdrawn from them 

 its " mountains and all hills, its fruit- 

 ful trees and all cedars." The unfail- 

 ing continuity and nice precision with 

 which this has transpired, age after age, 

 strikingly illustrate the stability of the 

 natural laws. The navigator on 

 a dangerous coast, watching for the 

 morning, knows that the vision 

 is for an appointed time, and 



