to the regions of other worlds, where ten thousand times ten thousands of intelligences, of various orders, experience the effects of divine love and beneficence. Amid the silence and the solitude of the midnight scene, it inspires the soul with a solemn awe and with reverential emotions; it excites admiration, astonishment, and wonder in every reflecting mind, and has a tendency to enkindle, the fire of devotion, and to raise the affections to that ineffable Being who presides in high authority over all its movements. While contemplating, with the eye of intelligence, this immeasurable expanse, it teaches us the littleness of man, and of all that earthly pomp and splendour of which he is so proud; it shows us that this world, with all its furniture and decorations, is but an almost invisible speck on the great map of the universe; and that our thoughts and affections ought to soar above all its sinful pursuits and its transitory enjoyments. In short, in this universal temple, hung with innumerable lights, we behold, with the eye of imagination, unnumbered legions of bright intelligences, unseen by mortal eyes, celebrating, in ecstatic strains, the perfections of Him who is the creator and governor of all worlds; we are carried forward to an eternity to come, amid whose scenes and revolutions alone the magnificent objects it contains can be contemplated in all their extent and grandeur.

It is an evidence of the depraved and grovelling dispositions of man that the firmament is so seldom contemplated with the eye of reason and devotion. No other studies can present an assemblage of objects so wonderful and sublime; and yet, of all the departments of knowledge which are generally prosecuted, no one is so little understood or appreciated by the bulk of mankind as the science of the heavens. Were it more generally studied, or its objects more frequently contemplated, it would have a tendency to purify and elevate the soul, to expand and ennoble the intellectual faculty, and to supply interesting topics for conversation and reflection. The objects in the heavens are so grand, so numerous, so diversified, and so magnificent, both in their size and in the rapidity of their motions, that there appears no end to speculation, to inquiry, to conjecture, to incessant admiration. There is ample room for all the faculties of the brightest genius to be employed, and to expatiate in all their energy on this boundless theme; and were they thus employed more frequently than they are, our views of the arrangement and the nature

of the magnificent globes of heaven might be rendered still more definite and expansive.

While contemplating the expanse of the starry heavens, the mind is naturally led into a boundless train of speculations and inquiries. Where do these mighty heavens begin, and where do they end? Can imagination fathom their depth, or human calculations and figures express their extent? Have angels or archangels ever winged their flight across the boundaries of the firmament? Can the highest created beings measure the dimensions of those heavens, or explore them throughout all their departments? Is there a boundary to creation beyond which the energies of Omnipotence are unknown, or does it extend throughout the infinity of space? Is the immense fabric of the universe yet completed, or is almighty power still operating throughout the boundless dimensions of space, and new creations still starting into existence? At what period in duration did this mighty fabric commence, and when will it be completed? Will a period ever arrive when the operations of creating power shall cease, or will they be continued throughout all the revolutions of eternity? What various orders of intellectual beings people the vast regions of the universe? With what mental energies and corporeal powers are they endowed? Are they confined to one region of space, or are they invested with powers of locomotion, which enable them to wing their flight from world to world? Are they making rapid advances, from age to age, in intellectual improvement? Has moral evil ever made inroads into those remote regions of creation, or are all their inhabitants confirmed in a state of innocence and bliss? Is their history diversified by new and wonderful events, and do changes and revolutions happen among them? Are all the tribes of intellectual natures throughout creation connected together by certain relations and bonds of union, and will a period ever arrive in the future revolutions of eternity when they shall have had an intimate correspondence with one another? These, and hundreds of similar inquiries, are naturally suggested by serious contemplations of the objects connected with the starry heavens, and they have a tendency to lead the mind to sublime and interesting trains of thought and reflection, and to afford scope for the noblest energies of the human soul.

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But leaving such reflections, in the mean time, let us now

take a general view of the starry heavens as they appear to the eye of a common spectator.

When an untutored observer attempts to take a serious survey of the starry firmament for the first time, he is apt to be bewildered at the idea of the immense multitude of stars which seem to present themselves in every part of the sky, and the apparent confusion with which they seem to be arranged. He is apt to think that they are absolutely innumerable, and that all attempts to enumerate or to classify them would be in vain. There is something so magnificent and overpowering in a cursory view of a clear starry sky, that the mind shrinks from the idea of ever being able to form a distinct conception of the number and order of those luminous orbs, or of their distances and magnitudes; but the genius and industry of man have, in numerous instances, accomplished what at first view appeared beyond the reach of the human faculties. All the stars visible to the naked eye have been numbered, and their relative positions determined, with as much precision as the longitudes, latitudes, and bearings of places on the surface of the globe; and there is not a star visible to the unassisted eye, but its precise position can be pointed out, not only during the shades of night, but even during the day, when the sun is shining in all his splendour.

In order to prevent confusion in our first surveys of the starry heavens, let us fix upon a certain portion of the firmament, and the more conspicuous stars which lie in its immediate vicinity. Let us suppose ourselves contemplating the heavens about the middle of January, at eight o'clock in the evening, in the latitude of 52° north. At that time, if we turn our faces towards the south, we shall behold the splendid constellation of Orion a little to the east of the meridian, or nearly approaching the south. This constellation forms one of the most striking and beautiful clusters of stars in the heavens, and is generally recognised even by common observers. It is distinguished by four brilliant stars in the form of an oblong or parallelogram; and particularly by three bright stars in a straight line near the middle of the square, or parallelogram, which are known by the names of "the Three Kings," or the " Ell," or "Yard." They are also termed Orion's belt; and in the book of Job, "the bands of Orion ;" and the space they occupy is exactly three degrees in length. The line passing through these three stars points to the Pleiades,

or seven stars, on the one side, and to Sirius, or the Dog Star, on the other. The equinoctial circle passes through the uppermost of these stars, which is called Mintika. They are situated about eight degrees west from the solstitial colure, or that great circle which passes through the poles of the heavens, and the first points of Cancer and Capricorn, in which the sun is in his greatest declination north and south, which happens on the 21st of June and 21st of December. There is a row of small stars which run down obliquely below the belt, and seem to hang from it, which is denominated the sword of Orion. About the middle of this row of stars there is perceived, by means of the telescope, one of the most remarkable nebula in the heavens. The whole number of stars visible by the naked eye in this constellation has been reckoned at about 78; of which two are of the first magnitude, namely, Rigel, in the left foot on the west, and Betelguese, on the east shoulder. They are connected by a line drawn through the uppermost star of the belt. There are four stars of the second magnitude, three of the third, and fifteen of the fourth; but several thousands of stars have been perceived by good telescopes within the limits of this constellation.

North by west of Orion is the constellation Taurus, or the Bull, one of the signs of the zodiac, The Pleiades, or the seven stars, so frequently alluded to both in ancient and modern times, form a portion of this constellation. At the time now supposed, they are a very little beyond the meridian to the west, and about thirty-seven degrees north by west of the belt of Orion, at an elevation above the horizon of about sixtyfour degrees. This cluster was described by the ancients as consisting of seven stars, but at present only six can be distinguished by the naked eye. With powerful telescopes, however, more than 200 stars have been counted within the limits of this group. The Hyades is another cluster, situated about eleven degrees southeast from the Pleiades, consisting chiefly of small stars, so arranged as to form a figure somewhat like the letter V. On the left, at the top of the letter, is a star of the first magnitude, named Aldebaran, or the Bull's Eye, which is distinguished from most of the other stars by its ruddy appearance. This constellation is situated between Perseus and Auriga on the north, and has Gemini on the east, Aries on the west, and Orion and Eridanus on the south. It consists of about 140 stars visible to the naked eye.

The constellation Gemini is situated northeast from Orion, and almost due east from the Pleiades, and is one of the signs. of the zodiac. It has Cancer on the east, Taurus on the west, and the Lynx on the north. The orbit of the earth, or the apparent circle described by the sun in his annual course, passes through the middle of this constellation. From the 21st of June till the 23d of July, the sun passes through this sign, but the stars of which it is composed are then invisible, being overpowered by the superior brightness of the solar rays. This constellation is easily distinguished by two brilliant stars, denominated Castor and Pollux, which are within five degrees of each other. Castor, a star of the first magnitude, is the northernmost of the two; and Pollux, a star of the second magnitude, is situated a little to the southeast of it. Castor is found by the telescope to be a double star, the smaller one being invisible to the naked eye; and, from a long series of observations, it is found that the smaller star is revolving around the larger with a slow motion, and that a complete revolution will occupy more than 300 years. About twenty degrees southwest of Castor and Pollux are three small stars, nearly in a stright line, and about three or four degrees distant from each other. The southernmost of the three lies nearly in a line with Pollux and the star Betelguese, in the constellation of Orion, but somewhat nearer to Betelguese than to Pollux. These stars, in the hieroglyphic figure of Gemini, form the feet of the twins.

Directly south of Gemini is the constellation of Canis Minor, or the Lesser Dog. It is situated about midway between Gemini and Canis Major, or the Greater Dog, and has Hydra on the east and Orion on the west. It consists of only fourteen stars visible to the naked eye, the principal of which is Procyon, a bright star between the first and second magnitude. It is almost directly south from Pollux, and distant from it about twenty-four degrees. The next brightest star in this constellation, which is considerably smaller than Procyon, is called Gomelza, and is situated about four degrees northwest of Procyon.

South by west of Canis Minor, at the distance of nearly thirty degrees, is Canis Major, or the Greater Dog. It is southeast from the belt of Orion, and due east from the constellation of Lepus, or the Hare, at the distance of ten deCanis Major is easily distinguished by the brilliancy

grees.