Georgium Sidus, Saturn, Jupiter, Pallas, Ceres, Juno, Vesta, Mars, the Earth, Venus, and Mercury are the names of the principal planets: some of these are accompanied by satellites or secondary planets. Of these eleven planets Mercury is the nearest to the Sun; and, in consequence of this circumstance, he is seldom seen except a little before sunrise and a little after sunset. It is about sixteen times smaller than our Earth, and contributes but little to the ornament of our firmament. Venus follows next: she is sometimes called an evening, sometimes a morning star: she is the most brilliant of all the stars, whether she appears as the harbinger of the rising Sun, or follows him after he sinks below the horizon: she is as large again as our Earth, and is thirteen millions of miles distant from the Sun. Next to Venus comes in order the Earth we inhabit, and around which the moon revolves, as a secondary planet. Mars, which is the fourth planet, is seven times smaller than our Earth, and its distance from the Sun is thirty millions of miles.

Olbers, of BreMarch, 1807, is

and the length Vesta appears JUNO, dis

VESTA, discovered by Dr. men, on the twenty-ninth of 225,435,000 miles from the Sun; of its year is about 1336 days. like a star of the fifth magnitude. covered by Harding, of Lilienthal, in the duchy of Bremen, on the first of September, 1804, appears like a star of the fourth magnitude: its distance from the Sun is 253,380,485 miles, and its periodical revolution is performed in about 1592 days. CERES, discovered by Piazzi.

astronomer royal, at Palermo, on the first of January, 1801, is distant from the Sun 262,903,570 miles, and its annual revolution is about 1682 days. This planet appears like a star of the eighth magnitude, and of course is invisible to the naked eye. Dr. Herschel says its diameter

is 162 miles. The diameters of Vesta and Juno perhaps exceed not 100 miles. PALLAS, discovered by Olbers, on the twenty-eighth of March, 1802, is 262,921,240 miles from the Sun, and the length of its year is about 1682 days. This planet, in diameter only 110 miles, is seen only by a telescope, as a star of the seventh magnitude. JUPITER, with his belts or zones, is always distinguished by his peculiar brilliancy, and he appears to exceed in size the largest of the fixed stars; yet yields, however, in precedence, to the lovely morning star, Venus, which far exceeds the most vivid of the starry host. How diminutive is the Earth, when compared to Jupiter! It would require no less than eight thousand globes like our own to form one equal in size to this magnificent planet. The GEORGIUM SIDUS is the most remote planet in the solar system that we are acquainted with, and was discovered the thirteenth of March, 1781, by Dr. Herschel; whence it is commonly called the Herschel Planet, in honour of the astronomer by whom it was first seen. When viewed through a telescope of a small magnifying power, it appears like a star of the sixth or seventh magnitude; yet, in a fine clear night, in the absence of the Moon, it may be perceived by a good eye without a telescope. It revolves

round the Sun in 83 years, 150 days, 11 hours; it is 80 times larger than our Earth, is attended by six satellites or moons, and its distance from the centre of the solar system is 1800 millions of miles.

Yet the Sun, with all his attendant planets, forms but a very small part of the immense fabric of the universe. Every fixed star, however small it may appear, is, in fact, an immense body, equal to the Sun in extent and splendour, and forms the centre of a planetary system. In this light we must consider those brilliant stars which spangle the canopy of heaven with peculiar splendour during the night season. The fixed stars are distinguishable from the planets by their twinkling light, and by their retaining the same position with regard to each other. They are classed according to their magnitudes, as they appear to the eye: La Lande has given a catalogue of 35,000 stars; La Borde's great catalogue contains 70,000: but their number must still be deemed incalculable, and it would be in vain to attempt their numeration: telescopes have, it is true, enlarged our views upon this subject, but it would be the height of presumption for man to set limits to the universe. If we reflect upon the distance of the fixed stars from our earth, we shall find fresh subject for admiring the grandeur of our Creator's plan. Our senses convince us that these stars are further from us than the planets: the smallness of their apparent size is a proof of their distance, although this distance can never be measured; for, supposing a cannon ball to be launched into the air, and preserving at all times the same de

gree of swiftness, it would not reach the nearest fixed star in less time than six hundred thousand years. What, then, are these wonderful productions of the Almighty? Their prodigious distance their extraordinary brilliancy inform us: they are Suns, whose innate light sends forth those rays of glory even to our far distant world -Suns which the all-powerful Creator has scattered with such profusion through the boundless realms of space; each of which is most probably accompanied by terrestrial worlds, to which it imparts light and heat.

But these considerations, extensive as they are, lead us but to the outskirts of the creation. If we launch into the pure ether, and rise beyond the planets-if we could reach the star which now appears as lost in the immensity of distance, we should discover new stars, new worlds, and perhaps more magnificent systems. But even here our astonishment would not end: we should observe, with the utmost surprise, that we had still but reached the very uttermost borders of the works of God: yet we know sufficient to admire the infinite wisdom, power, and goodness of the Almighty. Pause, Reader! and reflect. How great must be the power of that Being who has created these immense globes who has regulated their course, and whose powerful hand governs and maintains them! How do even the magnificent scenes of our nether world dwindle into insignificance, if compared to the starry heavens! Were it even to disappear suddenly, its absence would be no more remarked in the regions of space than that of a grain of sand on the sea shore. What,

the sunbeams.

then, are kingdoms-are countries, in comparison of these worlds? No more than motes in And what am I, amidst the immensity of God's works? Yet, however insignificant I may be in some respects by such a comparison, how infinitely superior am I with regard to others!

How beautiful are the heavens, which God has made his throne! What can exceed the celestial beauty of the starry firmament? Its splendour dazzles-its beauty enchants me: yet, however wonderful and resplendent the heavens may be, they are composed of unintelligent matter; they are ignorant of their own beauty: while I, formed by the hand of God from clay-I am endowed with an immortal and sensitive soul.

I can contemplate those radiant globes-nay, more, I can meditate upon their divine Creator, and am capable of receiving, in some degree, a ray of his celestial glory. Profiting by this peculiar privilege, I will daily endeavour to become more intimately acquainted with God and his works, until it shall please the Almighty to place me in that celestial region infinitely above all the planets, the Sun, and the stars.

JANUARY 13.

OF MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERIES.

NATURE is as perfect in her smallest works as in those which are constructed upon the most extensive plan. There are no less harmony and