or come to us from a niggardly hand. The rays of light are opiously diffused, and in sufficient abundance to chase away he most minute vestige of the shades of night. The extension f light is a most valuable property of that great and invalu ble blessing, for it is by it that we are enabled to see bodies at distance during the day, and by the same operating cause, he mariner, during the hours of darkness, observes the fiery cacon glimmering from afar. The heat of the sun is also most potent in its operations. Vith ease it penetrates into the bowels of the earth, and finds 8 way into the most secret recesses of nature; so that, in the xpressive language of Scripture, "there is nothing hid from e heat thereof. But, indeed, what could possibly exist with ut it? The Sun may be truly styled the grand enlivening rinciple of the universe; without his influence the crimson de behoved to stagnate in the veins of animated beings ;the trees could never break forth into leaves, nor plants pring up into flowers; we would no more behold the meaows mantled over with green, nor the vallies standing thick ith corn; or, to speak in the beautiful language of a prohet: No longer would the fig tree blossom, nor fruit be in the ine: The labour of the olive would fail, and the fields could yield meat: The flocks must be cut off from the fold, and there ould be no herd in the stall. It penetrates the beds of metal, nd finds its way to the place of sapphires. In short, the eneficial agency of this magnificent luminary is inexpressle t. While all The sun is also the fountain of cheerfulness. ature is enlivened by his presence, it is also cheered by his ifts. "6 Truly (says SOLOMON,) the light is sweet, and a leasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." And the uthor of "the Spectator" has well observed, that the sunas a particular influence on the mind of man and making the Heart glad, for a proof of which he refers us to a consideration f the natural world, when this luminous globe withdraws his ays for a few moments by an eclipse. The human mind delights in variety, and one great cause at produces cheerfulness in the heart of man, as he walks broad and contemplates the face of nature, is no doubt that iversity of light and shade, of colour and hue, that in every irection salutes his eye. In this respect also, the sun may e said to be the fountain of cheerfulness, as it is certainly he cause of colour. The sun is the great limner of nature, whose beautifying rays paint creation. "The blushing eauties of the rose, the modest blue of the violet," as GOLDU U Habak, iii. 17. HERVEY. EMITH SMITH observes, "are not in the flowers themselves, but in the light that adorns them. Odour, softness and beauty of figure, are their own; but it is light alone that dresses them up in those robes which shame the monarch's glory*. The sun may, therefore, also be well styled the fountain of colour; and, but for this, what disadvantages would we labour under, notwithstanding the beneficial distribution of light and heat. In that case, we would not only be unable to distin guish objects at a distance, and to perceive the colour of the raiment of our nearest friends, but be incapable of observing any difference of complexion betwixt the ink that flows from our pen, and the paper on which we write ;-without this discriminating property of light, no pleasing variety would over spread the great carpet of nature; the same unvaried hue, in every direction, would meet our eye; the same dull uniformity would every where prevail. Such are some of the beneficial consequences that result from the SUN, with respect to the earth. We shall now con sider him in another and a more exalted light, as the centre of THE SOLAR SYSTEM. "Observe how regular the planets run, In stated times, their courses round the sun : While GOD's unerring finger points the way." FROM * Colours are not, indeed, as many have been apt to imagine, in nate in bodies, but are found to proceed from that particular texture of their particles by which they are disposed to modify and reflect the rays of the sun in a certain manner, and this is not merely a modern opinion, for PYTHAGORAS and PLATO taught, that colours resulted solely from the different modifications of reflected light. What my reader may exclaim, is there, in reality, no such thing colour in nature but what is produced by the sun's rays? Then t things must be the same in the dark, and it may be possible so to alter the modification of the particles of matter in some bodies, as t All bodies must indeed make them assume a different complexion. as to colour be the same in the dark, and that it is possible so to alter the structure of the constituent particles of some bodies, as to make them put on a different appearance, we need not have recourse to some of the mysterious operations of chemistry to prove. Take but i handful of snow, and put it into a vessel by the side of the fire, and what becomes of its whiteness or light a candle, and place it under a cover, placed at such a convenient distance as to arrest the smoke is its ascent, and from what coloured body does the soot proceed White loaf-sugar melted over the fire, first turns brown, afterward black, and a single grain of this tinges a quart of fair water with a beautiful yellow. FROM the consideration, that, by the laws of nature, all the esser heavenly bodies are made to revolve round the greater, n the same manner that the moon is made to move round he earth, it was to be expected, that the SUN, the centre of system in which so many planetary and cometary bodies were made to move within the sphere, or verge, of his attracion, would be a body of very considerable magnitude; and that he is said to be to such an extent, that his solid bulk is computed to be 64 million of times larger than the moon, a million of times bigger than the earth, or 500 times greater han all the other planets put together* ! From what we ourselves experience of the benefits of this uminary, we have reason to conclude, that the sun is placed in the most convenient situation in the heavens, and at the most suitable distance from each of the respective bodies which move around him; and that, however nigh or remote their courses may be to the common centre, or however slow or rapid in their movements, the inhabitants of all those bodies which are inhabited, will have forms and powers no less suited to their situations than ours: "And constitutions fitted for that spot, "Where providence, all-wise, has fix'd their lot." The sun, although generally considered as fixed, is known by his spots to make a revolution on his axis, in somewhat less than our month, and is likewise said to be agitated by a small motion round, what is called, the centre of gravity of the Solar System. His motion, however, is so comparatively small, that he may, indeed, be said to be fixed, with respect to THE PLANETS. Of the planets, which have yet been discovered, the first, or nighest to the Sun, is MERCURY. His diameter is computed to be less than the half of that of the Earth, and his year is not quite so long as three of our months: The light and heat of this planet are supposed to be about seven times greater than the earth receives, yet he is said to move at the rate of more than 109,000 miles in an hour! Being so nigh the Sun, Mercury is seldom seen, but when he is, it is a little after sunset, and before sunrise, and he appears to emit a bright white light. *In a treatise of this nature, it may be better to impart to our readers an idea of the bulk of the planets, and the time of their revolutions by comparison, than otherwise, on which account, we shall confine ourselves to this method, just stating the extent of the diameter of the earth, the time of its revolution, &c. as a criterion to judge by. The diameter of VENUS is somewhat less than that of the i Earth, and her year is not quite eight of our months. I the heavens she moves next in order to Mercury, and hot withstanding she is supposed to be surrounded by an atmo sphere like the Earth, her light and heat are said to be twic as much as ours. Like the Sun, this brilliant planet has her spots, like the Moon she has her phases, and she moves at the rate of upwards of 80,000 miles an hour! Venus ap pears in the heavens the brightest of all the planets, and cording as she is situated, is sometimes called the Morning sometimes the Evening Star*. Next to Venus comes our EARTH, attended by her constat companion, or satellite, the moon. The diameter of the Earth may be computed to be about 7,964 miles, her distance from the sun 95 millions of miles, and, moving at the rate of 68,000 miles an hour, she completes her annual revolution in 385 days and somewhat less than 6 hourst ; all the while whirling round on her axis once in 24 hours with such velocity, that the inhabitants at the equator are carried round at the rate of 1,042 miles, and those in the latitude of London about 641 miles in an hour. I have already explained several of the phenomcra resulting from the motion of the Earth, but there is one astronomi cal fact I would here mention, which may sound strange the ears of some of my readers; viz. that we are actually -nigher the sun in winter than in summer! Were it not for this, it is presumed, that the severity of our winters, (being chiefly occasioned by the obliquity of the sun's rays, as they, at those seasons, fall on our atmosphere,) would be rendered still more intolerable and severe. The magnitude of the Moon, is said to be about of that of the Earth, about which she moves at the distance of 236,847 miles, and completes her revolution in somewhat less than 28 days, travelling at the rate of 2270 miles an hour. MABS, * What is called the transit of Venus, is the passing of this planet over the sun's face, which happens only twice in about 120 years. + Did the year consist exactly of 365 days, 6 hours, in adding & day to every fourth year, as we do in the leap year, to bring things square, time would be kept perfectly regular without any farther at tention; but as the year is not quite out the 365 days, 6 hours but a few minutes and seconds short, it necessarily follows, that i every leap year when we add a day, we add so many minutes and seconds too much, and consequently, when, in progress of time, so many of these odd minutes and seconds shall be added, as to amount to a a day, it is no less proper to take off a day from our time, than it wa to add a day every leap year; and this at once shows the necessity f and accounts for, the alteration of style. MARS, whose diameter is little more than one balf of our Earth, moves next her in the order of the planets: He comletes his revolution in something less than 687 of our days, o that his year is nigh twice the length of ours, while his ight and heat are considered to be not quite the half of what ve enjoy. Mars revolves at the rate of 55,223 miles an hour, and appears in the heavens of a dusky red colour. What are called the NEW PLANETS, are to be found betwixt he orbits of Mars and of Jupiter: but as so little is yet known respecting them, I shall just mention their names, with the dates of their discoveries: Ceres was discovered by M. Piazzi in Sicily on the 1st Jan. 1801; Pallas, was dis covered by Dr. OLBERS, of Bremen, on the 28th March, 1802; Tuno, was discovered by Mr. HARDING of Lilienthal, Bremen, 1st Sept., 1804; and Vesta, was discovered by Dr. OLBERS, 29th March, 1807. These being so very small in comparison with the others, Dr. HERSCHEL does not deign to denominate them planets, but Asteroids. But very different is the case with JUPITER, which is the largest of all the planets, and adorned by his belts, attended with his glorious retinue of four moons, comes next in order in the heavens. The magnitude of this stupendous planet, is indeed said to be no less than 1400 times larger than the earth: His year is something less than twelve of ours, and he moves at the rate of 29,894 miles in an hour. In con sequence of his distance from the sun, his light and heat are computed to be only about of what the earth receives, but the former of these may be compensated by the number of his moons; by one, or more, of which, there is scarcely any part of this planet but what is enlightened during the whole night, except his poles, and there is no saying, but what has the appearance of Jupiter's belts, may be something of an atmospheric nature, so constituted as-to imbibe, and considerably increase, the heat of the sun's rays. Jupiter in the heavens, appears to the eye next in magnitude to Venus.. Beyond the orbit of Jupiter, moves SATURN, attended by a retinue of no less than seven satellites or moons, and having his body surrounded by an interior and exterior ring. Although the diameter of this planet is not so large as Jupiter, his magnitude is said to be no less than 966 times that of the earth, and moving at the rate of 22,072 miles in an hour, he completes the revolution of his wide circle in a periòd not much less than 20 of our years! The light and heat which he receives from the sun, are computed to be about part of what the earth receives, but to compensate for this, besides the rings and moons already mentioned, UU 3 |