with the greater part: for it is impossible to be convinced of the grandeur of the works of God, or contemplate the Majesty of the Most High, without feeling an ecstasy which has something of heaven in it! I wish my divine reader to partake of this divine pleasure. To this end, raise your thoughts to heaven. It will suffice for me to name to you those immense bodies which are dispersed through that vast space, to fill you with astonishment at the majesty of the workman. In the centre of our world, the Sun has established his throne. This luminary is at least 1,380,000 times greater than the Earth, and is distant from it, at least 95,000,000 of miles! Yet, notwithstanding this prodigious distance, he has the most sensible influence upon our sphere. Seven globes, which we term Planets, move round the Sun. These are opaque bodies, which receive light and heat, and perhaps their inward motion, from the Sun. Herschel, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Earth, Venus, and Mercury, are the names of these seven primary Planets. Of these seven globes, Mercury is the nearest to the Sun; and it is on this account, that he is in general, invisible to Astronomers. As he is about fourteeen times less than our Earth, he scarcely contributes to beautify the firmament. He is 37,000,000 miles distant from the Sun. Venus follows him; and we sometimes call her the morning, sometimes the evening star. She is (for her size) the most luminous of the heavenly bodies, whether she precede the rising of the sun, or succeed his setting. She is somewhat larger than our Earth; and is distant from the Sun about 68,000,000 of miles! Contemplation on the Starry Heavens. After Venus, comes our Earth, round which the Moon moves as a secondary planet, distant from the Sun 95,000,000 of miles. Mars is the fourth planet, and is seven times smaller than our globe; his distance from the Sun is about 144,000,000 of miles. Jupiter with his belts, distinguishes himself always by his light in the starry vault. To the naked eye his magnitude surpasses that of any of the fixed stars. He shines nearly equal to Venus, when she is in all her splendor, only his splendor is not so vivid as that of the evening star. His distance from the Earth is 490,000,000 of miles. How little is our Earth in comparison of Jupiter! Fourteen hundred globes as large as our Earth, would scarcely make one equal to Jupiter! Next comes Saturn, with his ring, at the distance of 900,000,000 of miles from the Sun, and is 1000 times larger than the Earth! The planet Herschel, or Georgium Sidus, is the last in our system, which has hitherto been discovered, it is 1800 millions of miles distant from the Sun, and 90 times larger than the Earth. The Sun, and all the planets which accompany him, are but a point in comparison of the vortex of Nature. Each star which appears to us no larger than a brilliant in a ring, is in reality an immense body, probably equal to the Sun in dimensions and splendor! Every star is not only a world, but the centre of a planetary system! And it is in this light that we should consider the stars which burn over our heads, in the winter nights. They are to be distinguished from the planets by their sparkling light, and by their always occupying the same place in the heavens. According te Contemplation on the Starry Heavens. their apparent greatness, they are divided into six classes; and all put together make up about 3000 stars, according to Mr. Flamstead's catalogue. But though men have endeavoured to determine their number, it is certain they are innumerable. The number of stars apparent here and there, which the most piercing eye cannot perceive but with difficulty, will, of itself shew, that the attempt to make the calculation must be in vain. Telescopes, undoubtedly, have opened to us new points of view in the heavens, and have discovered to us some thousands of stars: but it would be a most foolish pride in man, to wish to determine the limits of the universe, by those of his telescope. If we reflect on the distance of the fixed stars from our earth, we shall have new reason to admire the immensity of the universe. Our senses alone discover to us that the stars must be much further distant from us than the planets. Their apparent smallness arises only from their being at such a distance from the earth. In fact, this distance cannot be measured: a cannon-ball, supposing it could preserve the same velocity, would not reach the nearest of the fixed stars in 600,000 years! What then are these fixed stars? Their prodigious distance, and their splendor tell us :-they are suns, which pour down upon us, not a borrowed light, but a light which is essentially their own. They are suns, which the Creator has sown by millions in illimitable space, each of which is accompanied by many terrestrial (or such like) globes, which it is destined to warm and illuminate. Contemplation on the Starry Heavens. However surprising these observations may appear, they have only led us to the first limits of the creation. If we could dart beyond the moon, and approach the planets: if we could reach the most elevated star above our heads, we should discover new heavens, and new suns; new stars, and new systems of worlds; and perhaps, still more and more magnificent. But all these would not fix the bounds of the Empire of the Great Creator; and we should observe with the utmost astonishment, that we were only come to the frontiers of the place of worlds! Little as we know of his works, it is sufficient to induce us to admire the wisdom, power, and infinite goodness of our adorable Creator. Reader! stop here, and reflect.-How great must that God be who has created all these immense globes! who regulates their revolutions, and whose powerful hand governs and supports them! And what is this speck of earth which we inhabit, with all the magnificent scenes which it exhibits, in comparison of the extent and beauty of the firmament! Though this earth were annihilated, its absence from the universe would be no more observed than a grain of sand from the sea shore! What, in comparison of these worlds, are provinces and kingdoms? Nothing but atoms, which sport in the air, and are only perceivable in the rays of the sun! And what am I, when I reckon myself among the infinite number of the creatures of God! I am lost in my own nothingness! But, however little I may appear to myself here, how great do Lfind myself in other respects! "How beautiful is this starry fir Discoveries made by Means of the Microscope. mament, which God has chosen for his throne! What more admirable than the celestial bodies! Their splendor dazzles, their beauty enchants me. Nevertheless, however marvellous and richly adorned this heaven is, it is destitute of intelligence: it does not know its own beauty and my feeble clay, which God has kneaded by his hand, is endued with sense and reason." I can contemplate the beauty of those radiant globes: what is more, I can, in a certain measure, know their sublime Author, and take a glimpse of some rays of his glory. Oh! may I attach myself more and more to know him and his works; and may this be my occupation, till he shall raise me above planets, suns, and worlds! Amen. JANUARY XIII. THE DISCOVERIES WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE BY MEANS OF THE MICROSCOPE. NATURE is the same in little objects as she is in great ones: there is not less regularity and harmony in the structure of the mite, than in that of the elephant: the only difference is, that the weakness of our sight does not permit us to penetrate the nature and organization of small bodies, which often escape our notice, nor do we get a proper discovery of them but by foreign assistance. The Microscope has discovered to us a new world, both of vegetables and animals. It has |