rived from attentive surveys of the STARRY HEAVENS. These heavens present, even to the untutored observer, a sublime and elevating spectacle. He beholds an immense concave hemisphere, surrounding the earth in every region, and resting, as it were, upon the circle of the horizon. Wherever he roams abroad, on the surface of the land or of the ocean, this celestial vault still appears encompassing the world; and after travelling thousands of miles, it seems to make no nearer an approach than when the journey commenced. From every quarter of this mighty arch numerous lights are displayed, moving onward in solemn silence, and calculated to inspire admiration and awe. Even the rudest savages have been struck with admiration at the view of the nocturnal heavens, and have regarded the celestial luminaries either as the residences of their gods, or the arbiters of their future destinies.

But to minds enlightened with the discoveries of science and revelation the firmament presents a scene incomparably more magnificent and august. Its concave rises towards immensity, and stretches, on every hand, to regions immeasurable by any finite intelligence; it opens to the view a glimpse of orbs of inconceivable magnitude and grandeur, and arranged in multitudes which no man can number, which have diffused their radiance on the earth during hundreds of generations; it opens a vista which carries our views into the regions of infinity, and exhibits a sensible display of the immensity of space, and of the boundless operations of Omnipotence; it demonstrates the existence of an eternal and incomprehensible Divinity, who presides in all the grandeur of his attributes over an unlimited empire; it overwhelms the contemplative mind with a display of the riches of his wisdom and the glories of his OMNIPOTENCE; it directs our prospects to the regions of other worlds, where ten thousand times ten thousands of intelligences, of various orders, experience the effects of divine love and benefi

cence.

Amidst 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 affec

tions 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, amidst 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 were 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 dimen sions of those heavens, or explore them throughout all their departments? Is there a boundary to creation beyond which the ener gies 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.

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 its 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 conspicious 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 52° north. At that time, if we turn our faces toward 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 recognized 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 mordern times, form a portion of this constella

tion. At the time now supposed, they are a very little beyond the meridian to the west, and about thirty-seven degrees L rth by west of the belt of Orion, at an elevation above the horizon of about sixty-four 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 south-east 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 south-east 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 south-west of Castor and Pollux are three small stars, nearly in a straight 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 mid-way between Gemini and

Canis Major, or the Greater Dog, and has Hydra on the east, and Orion on the west. It consists of only about 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 twentyfour degrees. The next brightest star in this constellation, which is considerably smaller than Procyon, is called Gomelza, and is situated about four degrees north-west.of Procyon. South by west of Canis Minor, at the distance of nearly thirty degrees, is Canis Major, or the Greater Dog. It is south-east from the belt of Orion, and due east from the constellation of Lepus, or the Hare, at the distance of ten degrees. Canis Major is easily distinguished by the brilliancy of its principal star, Sirius, which is apparently the largest and brightest fixed star in the heavens, so that it is generally considered as one of the nearest of these distant orbs, though its distance from the earth is computed at not less than twenty billions of miles; and a cannon ball, moving over this immense space at the rate of nineteen miles a minute, would require more than two millions of years before it could reach this distant orb. Sirius is south by east of Betelguese in the left shoulder of Orion, at the distance of twenty-seven degrees, and south-east from the lower star in the belt, at the distance of twenty-three degrees. A line drawn through the three stars which form the belt, towards the south-east, leads the eye directly to Sirius, which, at the period and hour we have stated, is about twelve degrees above the south-easterly point of the horizon; a line drawn from Betelguese south-east towards Sirius, and thence to the north-east meets Procyon in Canis Minor, and continued nearly due west, it again meets Betelguese, so that these three stars seem to form a large triangle, which is nearly equilateral. Another triangle is formed.by drawing a line eastward from Betelguese to Procyon, as a base, from Procyon straight north to Pollux, and from thence again south-west to Betelguese, which forms a right-angled triangle, having the right angle at the star Procyon, and the line extending from Pollux to Betelguese forms the hypothenuse.

In order to render these descriptions more definite, I have sketched in Plate I. a small map of this portion of the heavens, in which the principal stars in the constellations above described are represented. The left-hand side of this map represents the east; the right-hand side the west; the lower part, the south; and the upper part the north, or higher portion of the heavens. When used so as to compare it with the real firmament, the observer is supposed to have his face directed

stars here represented with respect to the meridian, at the time these observations are supposed to be made. The stars on the right of this line are west of the meridian, and all those to the left are to the east of it.

By attending to the above directions, and comparing the delineations on the map with the heavens, all the stars and constellations noted above may be readily distinguished. The triangles formed by Betelguese, Procyon, and Sirius, and by Pollux, Procyon, and Betelguese, will likewise be seen on the map, as

formerly described, and may be easily traced in the heavens. Although I have fixed on the middle of January, at eight o'clock in the evening, for these observations, yet the same stars may be traced, at different hours, during the months of November, December, January, February, and March. About the middle of November, at midnight, and the middle of December, at ten o'clock, P. M., this portion of the heavens will appear nearly in the same position as here represented. About the middle of February, Orion will be on the meri

dian about eight in the evening; and in the month of March, at the same hour, considerably to the west of it; but all the adjacent stars and constellations may be traced at this time in the mammer already described. The stars and constellations delineated on this map comprehend a space in the heavens extending in breadth, from north to south, about fifty degrees namely, from thirty-three degrees of north declination to seventeen degrees south; and in length, from west to east, about sixty degrees. The equator runs through