preceding than in the following half of its path. The sixth satellite of Saturn varies similarly in brightness. This periodical variation seems to show that one side of the satellite has less power of giving back light than the other; and that the time of rotation upon its axis is equal to its periodic time round the planet, as is the case in our own Moon.

ON THE LATE NOTABLE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.

The morning of the 9th of October was so completely cloudy at Greenwich, that the Sun, by the most careful observers, was not seen from the time of his rising to the end of the eclipse. Such was the case at Salisbury, as I was informed by the Rev. Daniel Chapman. The morning was also very cloudy at Exeter, where the eclipse was nearly central. The weather was more favourable for my friends at Dover and Folkestone. Mr. J. L. Hulett, master of the Adelaide Academy, of the former place, says, in a letter to me, "The Sun arose beclouded, and continued so until it reached the state of figure 1," (referring to my representations of the eclipse for Dover, given in "The Youth's Instructer,")" when we had a most splendid view, with the exception of two or three intervals of a minute or two each, when some thin clouds passed over it, until it reached the state of No. 4, when the Sun became more clouded, and was scarcely visible again. Just before the greatest obscuration, we had the mortification to perceive a narrow cloud approach the Sun, and this obscured his lower limb during the existence of the annular appearance."

Mr. Davies, of Folkestone, informed me that numbers of persons assembled on the cliff near the church, where they were greatly entertained by frequent views of the eclipsed Sun through passing clouds; but it seems the annulus was not seen there, owing to intervening clouds. At a place between Folkestone and Canterbury the annular appearance was noticed; for a countryman, unacquainted with the nature of eclipses, was known to make this remarkable observation :-" How terrible queer the Moon looked in the morning between seven and eight o'clock: it had a ring round it!"

In the northern parts of the kingdom (where the eclipse was not annular) the weather proved very favourable, and thousands of persons beheld the interesting phenomenon without the interposition of a cloud.

My old astronomical friend, Mr. Moses Holden, of Preston, in Lancashire, observed the eclipse at Howick-House, the residence of Thomas Norris, Esq., where he made a number of observations on the eclipsed part of the Sun by one of Troughton's sextants. Respecting the end of the eclipse, Mr. Holden says," Having computed the time as near as we could judge of the latitude and longitude of Howick-House, I give the observed end of the eclipse 8 hours, 36 minutes, 48 seconds; the computed 8 hours, 36 minutes, 35 seconds: the difference was 13 seconds. The time was taken by a fine transit-instrument in the observatory at Howick-House."

POETRY.

THOUGHTS ON LIFE.

From an American Paper.

WHAT is this fleeting life?
A bubble on the wing;

The morning cloud, the vapoury dew,
The summer evening's short-lived hue,
The zephyr in the spring;

A passing thought, a thing of nought, The midnight's pleasing dream, At morning light forgot.

Yet short howe'er it be,

'Tis all that is assign'd

To' ensure a bliss of endless name, To save the soul from sin and shame, And have its dross refined;

To purify for joys on high,

That never know alloy,
That never, never die.

But O! how strange it seems!

The soul still rests secure,

As though its place were always here,
As though no death it had to fear,
Nor any change to' endure;
Confined to earth, that gave it birth,
It ne'er aspires on high

To joys of greater worth.

How darken'd, how depraved
This wretched, silly mind!
To catch at bubbles, aim at toys,
And yet neglect substantial joys;
How foolish and how blind!
To miss the way to realms of day,
By trifling thoughtlessness,
Far worse than childish play!

O come, thou heavenly Dove,

And rouse this slumbering mind, And fill with anxious cares and fears; Suffuse these eyes with gracious tears;

Nor blessing may I find, Until I feel thy blissful seal, To bind my broken heart, My wounded soul to heal.

O point me to the cross,

And cause my hope to glow;
Assurance firm and steadfast give,
That Jesus died that I might live,
And his salvation know;

And then his love my heart would move,
And raise my grovelling thoughts
To fix on things above.

O blest inspiring hope,

Such joy henceforth be mine, To know the Saviour is my Friend, On Him in all things to depend; All else I would resign; 'Twere bliss supreme, all else a dream; Be this my only trust,

Be this my only theme.

Then would my days present
A new and different scene:
A pilgrim bought by blood divine,
My all, dear Saviour, should be thine;
While in this dark terrene,

I'd live to thee, my strife should be
To spread thy fame abroad
Till I thy glory see.

And when this life shall close,
And fade away in death,
May some blest angel bear away
My soul to realms of endless day,
To catch the living breath;
To dwell on high, beyond the sky,
Where sorrow ne'er invades,
And pleasures never die.

EPOCHS.

AT ten a child,
At twenty wild,
At thirty strong, if ever;

At forty wise,
At fifty rich,

At sixty good, or never.

INDEX

то

VOL. XI. OF THE SECOND SERIES.

Earthquake in England in 1580, ac-
count of the, 518-reflections on the,
519-complaints of the moral evils of
the period, 540-prayer against anti-
christian tyranny and cruelty, 542
Earth-worm, utility of the, 91
Eclipse, of the moon, 138-of Jupiter's
satellites, 382-of the sun, 478, 570
Editor, the, to his readers, 507
Electric telegraph, feat performed by
the, in America, 419
Eloquence, occasional specimens of:
Flechier, Bishop of Nismes, 110,
215-Lord Erskine, 394, 503
Enemy, the way to conquer an, 472
English Poets and Poetry. Robert

Pollok, 7,79-The Transition School,
155-Blair, 157-Beattie, 548
Erskine, Lord, biographic notice of,
394-his defence of Captain Bailie,
395-remarks on the speeches of,
503-his defence of Lord George
Gordon, 504-his description of the
trial of Warren Hastings, 506

Letters on spiritual subjects to a young
convert, 29, 126

Literary Article. Notices of Cubitt's
"Christian Miracles," 326; "The
Young Botanists," 327; Smith's
"Patriarchal Age," 328; Dunn's
"Dictionary of the Gospels," 328;
Schmitz's "History of Rome," 330
-The Editor's chat with his readers
on subjects connected with his next
year's plans, 563

Llangollen, the Vale of, described, 433
Llewellyn, Prince, historic notices of,
242

Louis XIV., character and conse-
quences of the reign of, 69