Star.
London, England, 1826-10-21 00:00:00

THE OBSERVATORY AT COPENHAGEN.

FROM aTRAVEJ.B OF WILLIAM .RA2 WILSON, liB% LILA:
IN SWRDRN, NORWAY, AND lIINMARt."

This is a round tower, founded by Christian IV. for an'
Observatnty. The ascent is not lay a flight of steps, hot
gradually is' ilicting spiral path; there ate riches in seas•
sal parts of the wall in the inside, where relics are placed;
in one part of it is a door, leading to a library of the
University, which is attached to it. This mode of ascent
finishes near the tap of the tower, where a gate leads to
a wooden staircase, and a second of stone: these con.
duct to its summit, which is inclosed with a substantial
iron railing. There is here a circular room, with six
windows, containing various astroisonicil instruments,
and a bust of Tycho Bubb, a name which deserves to
be ranked among the fiery first in this country, an ac.
count of his enlightened mind, and those discoveries be
made in science, who may justly be proclaimed the
" Newton of Denmark." This bust, which is of bronze,
is placed in the centre; and the walls are ornamented
with paintings of Newton, Bradley, Ptolemeus, Coper-
nicus, and others. Ores Vie entrance is the following
inscription :

Muni'kends
Regis Christiani VII.
Suffultus
Com., Otto de Thhtt
NoTuna Hoc Observatcrium
. Optimis Instrutnentis•
Regalia Liberatitate Instructent
Sacrari Jussk Urania
DXM.Or M.DCC.LXML

• In reference to this science, which possesses such anti-
'walled splendourand sublimity,it has been well remarked,
that the Heavens present a great and elevating spectacle,
an immense concave, reptising upon the circular bouts.
dary of the wprld ; and the innumerable lights which
are suspended Trom on high, moving with Solemn regu-
laiity along its surface. It would appear that, during
night, the piety of the Psalmist was awakened by this
contemplation, when the moon and stars were visible;
and not a 6 that period when the sun, glorious as it is in
itself, had risen in hisstreugth, anithrown a dazzling
or blinding splendour around him, which bore down
and eclipsed all the lower glories of the fumament.—
There is; unquestionably, mhch in the scenery of a noc-
turnal sky, to elevate the soul to the most pious a •
delightful contemplation. That moon, and those stars,
what are they, it was he asked ? They are altogether
detached from the_world, and they raiseour mind above
it: we feel, as it were, withdrawn from the earth, and
rise in ls;fty abstiactions above this little theatre of hu-
man passions, anxieties, and pursuits. The mind aban-
dons itself to reverie, and is transferred in the ecstacy
of its eioughts,to distant and unexplored regions. It
sees nature, in the simplicity of her grand elements, and
also a GOD of nature, invested with the high attributes
of wisdom and majesty. " Such knowledge is too won-
dttful, it is high and cannot be attained. Or, another
question occurs, is, [lamely, What can these luminaries
br? The curiosity of the human mind is insatiable, and
the thechanism of these astonishing Heavens has, in all
ages, been its subject and employment. It has been
reserved for these latter days to resolve this great and
momentous question. The sublimest powers of philo-
sophy have been called into exercise, and astronomy*
may now be laid down as 'the most certain and best
established of all the sciences. _

But to return from this discussion. On the top of
this tower, (which is paved with stone, 15 feet in breadth
at one part, and six in another. the form of the room
occasioning this inequality,) a magnificent view is ob-
tained, of the whole city of Copenhagen, its environs,
the island of Amager, the Swedish coast, the ocean, and
nntnerons vessels moving on its bosom ; in short, -the
whole scene might afford one of the most beautiful sub-
jects for a Panorama that the imagination can figure.
In speaking of this striking edifice, st may be observed,
whathas been considered an act extraordinarily perilous,
-that Peter the Great and his Empress, in the reign of its
founder, ascended the spiral path in a carriage drawn
by four horses. I own, however, I cannot see the under-
taking in this light, since the elevation is gradual, and
the way paved as laid with brick en edge, and fifteen
feet in bresdtb. It might, I conceive, be accomplished
by almost any person without injury; that is to say, to
thegateway I mentioned near the top, where the steps
Commence, especially
if the animals were sufficiently
spirited to go orward ; and the only possible difficuky
to be mannered is, in their acquiring a proper footing,
for if they did not, they might be drawn back by the
force of the carriage-drag.
It may be proper here to mention. that some important
discoveries in the science of astronomy have been lately
made in this capital, by an individual. According to
his theory it would appear, that the moon and the other
planets haielbeir own lights.
The island of Hun, on the Danish coast, was the
birth-place of the celebrated Brahl, who made there
most of his important discoveries, and established also
an observatory. No part of it' remains. Among the
visits of other distinguished personages, he was honour-
ed by one from Jadies, King of Scotland, and after-
wards of England, in 1590, where be_ spent a week.—
The island is twelve aides in circumference, three in
breadth, and there is a town named Brahe. A curious'
watch, presented to this enlightened man from this Mo-
narch, is carefully preserved, with his chair, and other
curious relics, in the Museum, Copenhagen.
• It Is a singular circumstance, that such was the prejudice which
misted in Ragland in the year *554, against books which treated of
astronomy, that they were ordered to be publicly committed to the
lames, as infected with mask!

By private *deices from Mexico we learn, that the
demand for many Of the European nvouttfacturea had improved
considerably, and metal desaiptions of goods were becomini wane.
Altogrther these accounts are more cheering than previous ones.
PHYSIC WELL*entsto—A bailiff's follower
week stationed in a house at North Shields till the fur.
torture was sold for debt, the mistress of wirier was ex-
tremely complaisant, and as the evening advanced,
expressed her regret that She-had no substantial fold to
offer him, but if he would accept of a quart of ale, she
would make it very comfortable, by warming and add-
ing sugar and ginger to make it more palatable. The
offer was readily accepted with thanks; but 'in half an
hour after the man had swallowed the heart-reviviug
putian, necessity obliged him to hasten out of the
dwelling, and on his return he found his kind tio•tesu
had taken the liberty to lock the doer !
The node gives a letter from the Greek Admiral
TomaAzt to Mr: EYNAID. returning thanks for his el-
forts in behalt of Greece, and committing the Cafe and
education of his only son, NICHOLAS Turimazt, to the
city of Geneva. A coiumitsion of three members was
immediately appoiuted to superintend the education
of the youth.