The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-25 00:00:00

T TrE

FRANCE. i roils personnel average per annum 3,534,990 f. Ac the ,;"
It is staid that it was not the intention of the time the statement was drawn up (1851) the hnig,ht
\ salaries were 4,500., and the lowest 25t. p..r rtto
instance,
Government to apply the drcree about taking the
a startling difference. F rmerly, in 1743, fir
oath of allegiance to the President, to general officers
the first ringer at the Gland Opera only receiv d 1,500 f.
wno were in exile. It was only applicable to those \ per annum; iu 1783, dme. Saint Hatierti's salary was
employed at a distance, for instance, Generals Aupick, only 4,0001. a year; and the celebr,ted danseuse, Matllle.
Castelbajue, and others, so far us the term granted to Guimard, only received 4,3301'. How different at pre-
them is concerned. And that consequently there sent! when, at the samt, theatre, artistes, scarcely of
as no intention of depriving them of their com- first-rate excellence, recrive as much as 80,000 f. aear!
missions. —nearly double the remuneration of the first magistrate
The Constitution/le/ announces that the French in France, the President of the High Cobuortthofines,,snatliondl
ship of-war, Cnariemagne, arrived on the 9th at Among the reforms now in pltiogtnreestso,
put a stop tog thisan
Smyrna, after being refused the passage of the Dar- and France, is there hl r• ti
tax on the good-natured folly ut the too easy public?—
danelles.
The sale of the pictures composing the gallery of Galignanis Messenger.
the late Marshal Soult terminated on Saturday even•
ng. The principal pictures sold on that day were—
St, Joseph and the Infant Jesus, by Alphonse de
Tobar, which brought 1,150 f.; Sc Catherine, by
Zurbaran, 1,600 f. ; the Interior of a Smoking room,
by Davi I Teniers, 1,210 f.; St. John, by Alonzo
Cane, 2,800 f.; St. James, by the same, 2,100 f.; a
Female Saint, by Zurbaran, 3,200 f.; another, by the
same, 3,300 f.; the Communion of a Saint, by the
same, 2,100 f. ; St. Anthony, by the same, I,ooof. ; a
Holy Family, by Ribero, 9,100f._; St. Anthony of
Padua and the lal,int Jesus, by Murillo, 10,20500 f. ;
the R- pentarice of Sr. Peter, by the same, ,0
the Deas?ius of Cxsar, by Titian, a picture
little more than two feet in height, 62,000 f. ; Sac.
The saJ'e on that day produced 223 925 f., w bleb added
to those of the two preceding days, give a total of
1,477,830 f. Among the persons who purchased the
principal pictures of the Spanish masters, are the
raulr, of G diem Count P.izzi di Borg", the Marquis
of Hertford, Count Ducbatel, Baron Devaux,
Messrs. Townend, Osborn, de Bruni, Roux, blundler,
Calle, for the Museum of Montpelier, Stc.
Tne following p,c•ures were either bought or with-
drawn by the family of the Marshal, viz.—the Birth
of the Virgin, by Murillo, which fetched 90,000 f. ;
the Glorification of the Virgin, by the same, 5,000 f. ;
Christ on the Cross, by the same, 3,100 f. ; the Miracle
of San Diego, by the same, 85 500 f.; a Brigand
Stopping a Monk, by the same, 15,000 f. ; Abraham
offering Hospitality to the Angels, by Fernandez de
Navaretta, surnamed El Mudo, 25,000 f., &c.

SATELLI7ES
ErDISCOVERYomGrGrant's
F HistoryJ
Physicalofl7 Astronomy )
When Galileo first turned his telescope to the planets,
he was deli4hted to perceive that they exhibited a round
'Appearance, like the sun or moon. Jupiter presented a
disc of consideraole magnitude, but in no other respect
was he distingutshable4 from the rest of the superior
['tenets. Having, however, examined him with
e, new telescope of superior power, on the 7th
of January, 1610, his attention was soon drawn
to three small but very bright stars that appeared in
his vicinity, two on the east side, and one on the
west side of him. He imagined them to be three fixed
stars, and still there was something in their appearance
which excited his admiration. They were all disposed
in a right line parallel to the plane of the ecliptic, and
were brighter than other stars of the same magnitude.
This did not, however, induce him to alter his opinion
that they were fixed stars, and therefore he paid no
stomtion to their distances from each other, or from
the planet. Happening by mere accident to examine
Jupiter again ou the Bth of January, he was surprised
to find that the stars were now arranged quite dif-
ferently from what they were when he first saw them.
They were all now on the west aide of the planet,
and were nearer to each other than they had been on
the previous evening; they were also disposed at Equal
distances from each other. The strange fact of the
mutual approach of the stars did not yet strike his
attention, but it excited his astonishment that Jupiter
should be seen to the east of them all, when only the pre-
ceding night he had been seen to the west of two of them.
He was induced on this account to suspect that the mo-
tion of the planet might be directly contrary to the
calculations of astronomers, and that he had get in ad-
vance of the stars by means of his proper motion.
He therefore waited for the following night with great
anxiety, but his hopes were disappointed, for the hea-
vens were on all sides enveloped in cloads. On the 10th
be saw only two stars, and they were both on the east
side of Jupiter. He suspected that the third might he
concealed behind the disc of the planet. They appeared
as before in the same right line with him, and lay in the
direction of the zodiac. Unable to account for such
changes by the motion of the planet, and being at the
same time fully assured that he always observed the
same stars, his doubts now resolved themselves into ad-
miration, and he found that the apparent motions should
be reterred to the stars themselves, and not to the
planet. He therefore deemed it an object of para-
mount importance to watch them with increased atten-
tion. On the 11th he again saw only two stars, and
they were also both on the east side of Jupiter. The
more eastern one appeared nearly twice as large as the
other, although on the previous evening he had found
them almost Equal. This f..ct, when considered in
connexion with the constant change of the relative
positions of the stars, and the total disappearance of one
of them, left no doubt on his mind of their real cha-
racter. He therefore came to the conclusion, that
there are in the heavens three stars revolving round
Jupiter in the same manner as Venus and Mercury
revlove round the Suo, On the 12th he saw three stars;
two on the east side of Jupiter and one on the west side.
The third began to appear about 3 o'clock in the morn-
ing, emerging from the eastern limb of the planet; it
was then exceedingly small, and was discernible only
with great difficulty. On the 13;h he finally saw four
stars. Three of them were on the west side of the
planet, and the remaining one on the east side. They
were all arranged in a line parallel to the ecliptic, with
the exception of the central star of the three western
ones, which declined a little towards the north. They
appeared of the same magnitude, and though small, were
very brilliant, shining with a much greater lustre than
fixed stars of the same magnitude. 'the future observa-
tions of Galileo established beyond all doubt that Jupiter
was attended by four satellites. He continued to exa-
mine them until the latter end of March, noting their
c 'nfigurations, and recording the stars which appeared
in the same field of view with them.

GERMANY.

The fact that the Prussian Chambers were pro
rogued, and had disappeared as a Legislature, a few
hours before the Emperor of Russia entered Berlin as
a visitor, has excited some notice and remark. Yet it
was an accident, and nothing else. The prorogation
had been fixed for the middle of 11,1ay even b-fore
the same period was notified as that of the Em-
peror's arrival ; and it has been evident for a much
longer period that the session could not be con-
tinued with advantage either to the Governor-at
or the country. For six weeks past it has some-
times been difficult to get a House together in the
numbers legally necessary to transact business.
Often during the sittings. the Deputies would
disappear, cumpelliog the President to suspend
proceedings. Six months of continual svorkhad
wearied all parties, especially as the public sittings
are not the largest or most irksome part of the De •
puties' duties ; it is the preliminary labours of the
bureaux and commissions that are the most trying.
Those who augured ill for the continued existence of
the Chambers and for the Constitution generally,
have been a little rea•sured by the handsome
acknowledgment of the Deputies' services made by
M. von Manteuff-1 in the address by which he ad-
j ,tirned them. The Government has no real cause of
quarrel with either House. No chamber could have
voted the budget less grudgingly or sanctioned the
present and future taxes more generously. They
voted one new tax even in the face of a surplus
revenue, and only negatived another because
it involved a positive breach of contract. In
all essential questions the Government is strong in
both houses; and would be in a for more difficult
position without them than with them. If they are
in any peril, it is neither from the policy of B,thisia,
nor the ill- will of its ruler to the constitutional form
of government, but the apathy and indifference of the
mass of the nation.