THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. ae 
for their contributions to the entertaining program, in which 
Secretary Williams and Treasurer Green particularly excelled 
themselves, as well as did all the others, but lack of time to- 
night prevents me from giving a full account in this paper of 
what all said and did so happily. 
The president then called on your humble servant to say 
something about the planet Saturn, toward which we were fly- 
ing with the speed of lightning. 
THE PLANET SATURN. 
The planet Saturn may be justly considered as the most 
magnificent and interesting body within the known limits of 
our planetary system, so far as yet discovered. 
With its eight satellites and rings it comprehends a greater 
extent of surface than even the planet of Jupiter, great as that 
planet undoubtedly is. Its majestic and magnificent rings are 
the most singular and wonderful phenomena that have yet been 
discovered by mortal man, and it mav be called the sovereign 
planet of the skies. 
Each person present has no doubt often seen Saturn with 
the naked eye, presenting no appearance of beauty, grandeur 
or brightness, but shining as a dull nebulous star, scarcely 
worth looking at, as there appears nothing to attract our atten- 
tion, but the moment we place our eye to a good telescope, it 
sents a more singular and magnificent appearance than any 
other body connected with the Solar system, and were it as 
near to us as Mars, or even, Jupiter, it would present a glorious 
aspect even to the naked eye. 
The ancients, with all their close attention and observa- 
tion of the heavens, could form no idea of the greatness and 
grandeur of the planet Saturn, as they had no telescope to as- 
sist their vision, and their astrologers, viewed the planet, on ac- 
count of its pale leaden color, as a cheerless unfortunate planet 
that shed an evil influence upon the inhabitants of the earth, 
but after ages of darkness and superstition had passed away, 
and man’s inventive facilities in optics had invented the tele- 
scope, which enabled him to see farther into the mysteries of 
