390 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE chap. 



VENUS 



The true morning or evening star, however, 

 is Venus — the peerless and capricious Venus. 



Venus, perhaps, "has not been noticed, 

 not been thought of, for many months. It is 

 a beautifully clear evening ; the sun has just 

 set. The lover of nature turns to admire the 

 sunset, as every lover of nature will. In the 

 golden glory of the west a beauteous gem is 

 seen to glisten; it is the evening star, the 

 planet Venus. A week or two later another 

 beautiful sunset is seen, and now the planet 

 is no longer a glistening point low down ; it 

 has risen high above the horizon, and con- 

 tinues a brilliant object long after the shades 

 of night have descended. Again a little 

 longer and Venus has gained its full brilliancy 

 and splendour. All the heavenly host — even 

 Sirius and Jupiter — must pale before the 

 splendid lustre of Venus, the unrivalled queen 

 of the firmament." ^ 



Venus is about as large as our Earth, and 

 when at her brightest outshines about fifty 



^ Ball, Story of the Heavens. 



