Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1853-09-04
A Peen al the Stars.

My dear Little Friends:-I have often thought il
would be well for all Of grOwn-up people as well
as ltt!e children, if we wOuld accustom ourselves
more to contemplate the starry worlds on high the
veritable handiwoFk Of the Almighty 1t would
make Us think more humby of ourselves and the
trifies with which We are too apt 20 be enprossed
We would not be so likely to exhibit that most
pitiiul sight Of all others-a vain man. or vain
woman. or a vain ehilG Listen then 10 a few OF
the wonders of you spangled region.
It is well known that the great astronomer, the
late Sir William HerscheIl. concluded from un-
questionable evidence that his Telescope enabled
his eye to reach and rest on portions Of space SEQ
times further distant than the star SIRIUS. Now
this star is at an immense distance from our earth
50 immense that it is difficult TO comprehend it. Let
me try to give YOU some faint idea OF that distance
You know what single mile is; you have doubtless
often walked it,-perhaps you have walked FIVE
miles at one time. 1t has seemed a pretty long
walk to you and You were quite tired when yoagot
home. Suppose now yOa were to travel this FIVE
miles four hundred times over, you would then have
gone over 2OO0, miles, equal to the distance be-
tween this country and Europe. Suppose again,
you were to travel this 2G0O miles. fifteen times
over; you would then have gone over 10000 miles.
or have travelled round the Globe. Now. think
you can comprehend this distance; though, If You
had travelled but FIVE miles day, it would have
taken you sixteen wears to accomplish IT,
We viii now raise our thoughts to the Heavens
where those myriads of worlds are shining eaoi
vastly larger than this world Of ours, although II
appears so large to you. Wewill raise our thoughts
to that far distant star Sirius. Take this 10000
miles the circumference Of the earth) and extendit
up into the Heavens. When you reach the end Of
these. add 10000 more; and TO the end Of these
another 10000, and so on upward 10000 times.
When YOU have reached the end of these 10000
miles 10000 times repeated you viii have reached
distance of 9O0O00,0O0 mine hundred miRions)
But we are not at Sirius vet. We must add to the
end of these 90O,000,0OO miles, 90OOOOO0O more.
and we must do this 10000 times, We viii then
have travelled 20.0O0.000O0O0O 600 twenty bilious
of miles,, and not quite half way to Sirius yet
Can your mind take in these figures? Can you
comprehend that the star Sirius is G2,OOOOO0OO0,-
600 lsixty-two bilionsJ Of miles away from u.s.
But have said that Herschelis telescope ena-
bles his eye to penetrate to a distance 500 times
farther than this. 1t is hardly conceivable2
Sixty-two billions multiplied by 500, gives 81
OOO,OOO,OOO, 100000 tthirtyone thousand biIIions)
Of miles Now, to enable you somewhat better to
comprehend this vast distance, suppose a cannon
ball to be shot from this earth and travel at the
rate Of mile a second, or sixty miles minute. It
would take that cannon bali 1,OO0OO0,OGO Zone
thousand miiiiousj Of years to reach that point in
the Heavens which HerseheIs great telescope en-
abled him to see. The earth is supposed to be
about 1000 years Old. Had that cannon ball start
ed at the creation it would still have 4O0,0OOOOO
'o years to travel before it would reach that distant
point.
Now my dear children this thirty-one THOUSAND
billions of miles which Herschells telescope could
penetrate, is one half the diameter of a circle.
whose circumference would be l90OOO00OO00-
100000 (onc hundred and ninety-thOusaud bilions)'
Of miles, for that portion of Gods universe as de-
velOped by an instrument Of mans making alone
At such enlarged views Of amazing distances and
TIE mvriads of worlds filling them, as sounded by
the telescope the pioas and contenplative mind
may, we'll eycaim: .Great and marvellous are His
works,-Yet these are but part Of His ways"
The great God who made and sustains them ali Is
every where present in their midst. Think Of this,
nv dear children and turn your thoughts from this
poor perislIing life to that which lies beyond the
tomb for those who love Him in sincerity and truth.
But alas.
"See, how we grOvel here below,
Fond Of those earthly toys:
Our souls, how heavily they 90,
To reach eternal joys.
remain, aiectionally, yours.