gratifications as the nature and state of each require; when we further reflect that, some centuries ago, a great part of the earth was judged uninhabitable, till experience undeceived us; the torrid zone, on account of excessive heat; and both the frigid zones, on account of excessive cold; it seems highly probable, that such numerous and large masses of du rable matter as the comets are, not however, dissimilar to our earth, destitute of beings capable of contemplating with wonder, and acknowledging with gratitude, the wisdom, symmetry, and beauty of the creation, which is more plainly to be observed in their extensive tour through the heavens than in our confined circuit: yet, however difficult it may be for us, circumstanced as we are, to discover their par ticular designation, this is an undoubted truth, that, wherever the Deity exerts his power, there, also, he manifests his wisdom and goodness."

If, in addition to these judicious remarks of the learned Doctor, we take it into consideration that the vast rapidity of their movements, when in their perihelion, or part of their orbit nighest the sun, and the comparatively slow progress they make as they recede from him, till their motion is so languid as to be scarcely perceptible at their aphelion, or farthest distance from him, may not suffer these bodies to undergo such an alternate extreme of heat and cold as would otherwise have been the case, the proba bility is still the greater that comets are inhabited, especially if we make a proper allowance for the powerful effect of such an atmosphere as they may

be surrounded with, for attempering the sun's rays as they fall more directly or obliquely upon it. And we have an example of this in what we ourselves experience in winter, when our situation is nearer to the sun than it is in summer.

But whatever uses these eccentric bodies are of otherwise, the astonishing courses that the comets perform in empty space, suggest to our minds an idea of the vast distance between the sun and the nearest fixed stars, of whose attractions all the comets must keep clear, in order to return periodically and move round the sun, and, consequently, of the infinite greatness of that Being, who has stretched out the heavens like a curtain, and afforded such ample scope for all those numerous orbs. "I cannot forbear re. flecting," says the author of the Guardian, " on the insignificance of human art, when set in comparison with the designs of Providence. In the pursuit of this thought, I considered a comet, or, in the language of the vulgar, a blazing star, as a sky-rocket discharged by a hand that is Almighty. What an amazing thought is it to consider this stupendous body traversing the immensity of the creation with such a rapidity, and, at the same time, wheeling about in that line which the Almighty had prescribed for it! How spacious must the universe be, that gives such bodies as these their full play, without suffering the least disorder or confusion by it! What a glorious show are those beings entertained with, that can look into this great theatre of nature, and see myriads of such tremendous objects wandering through those

immeasurable depths of ether, and running their appointed courses! Our eyes may hereafter be strong enough to command this magnificent prospect, and our understandings able to find out the several uses of these great parts of the universe; in the meantime, they are very proper objects for our imagination to contemplate, that we may form more extensive notions of infinite wisdom and power, and learn to think humbly of ourselves, and of all the little works of human invention."

CHAP. XXI.

THE FIXED STARS.

"This prospect vast, what is it?-Weigh'd aright,

'Tis Nature's system of Divinity;

And ev'ry student of the night inspires.

'Tis elder scripture writ by God's own hand."

WHAT a glorious prospect does night unfold when she draws aside her sable curtains, and displays to the contemplative mind the azure canopy of the heavens bedecked with stars!

the expression of the poet :

We need not wonder at

"Devotion! daughter of Astronomy!

An undevout astronomer is mad!"

For who can take even the most transitory glance of these glowing beauties, on a fine frosty evening,

without feeling something of that indescribable impulse which every good man must feel when casting his eyes to the nocturnal heavens? "Something, like magic," says the pious Hervey, " has struck my mind, on a transient and unthinking survey of the etherial vault, tinged throughout with the purest azure, and decorated with innumerable starry lamps. I have felt, I know not what powerful and aggrandizing impulse, which seemed to snatch me from the low entanglements of vanity, and prompted an ardent desire for sublimer objects." What, then, must be his sensations, who, by means of the "sight invigorating tube," and the lights of philosophy, is led to explore the upper regions of this celestial canopy, which the Creator has so distinctly marked with the wonders of his power!

The first thing that strikes a superficial observer, is the apparent multitude of those heavenly hosts; but this will be found to be an illusion, and probably is occasioned by their twinkling, and the confused manner in which, by their distance, they are made to appear; for, strange as it may sound in the ears of the unlearned, the stars that are visible in our hemisphere to the naked eye, even in the most favourable weather, do not amount, in any one time, to one thousand. But let it not be imagined that, in mentioning this, we mean to derogate from the glory of the Almighty, as it is revealed in the heavens, or by any means wish to insinuate that the number of the stars is within the sphere of our finite powers and capacities to calculate.—No; as the more we descend

downwards in our researches among the animalcule creation, the more evident traces of divinity we discover; so the more we extend our discoveries upwards into the regions of the universe, the more do we observe of the glory of God.

The heavens, indeed, declare the glory of God in a most emphatic manner; and the important invention of the telescope, aided by modern improvements, has brought systems and worlds to light, that were not dreamt of by the ancients. The heavens of Thales and Hipparchus were poor and thinly sown, indeed, when compared to those of Tycho, Brahe and Flamstead; but what were even these to what the wonderful instruments of Dr. Herschel has brought to notice? Every new discovery of this indefatigable astronomer has tended to the glory of his Maker, and every increase of magnifying power has served to confirm the sublime truth, that "the stars of heaven cannot be numbered "

The Milky Way, or that white, luminous tract, which we observe in the heavens, is found to derive its appearance from the number of stars of which it is composed. No less than forty little stars are said to be in the Pleiades alone; and in the constellation of Orion, a number has been discovered, by far exceeding what can be observed by the naked eye in the whole heavens.

From an attentive examination of the stars with a good telescope, many which appear perfectly formed or single, to the naked eye, have been found to consist of two, three, or more stars; and Dr. Herschel,