Southern standard. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1851-1856, 1853-05-21
From tie North British Reu;e,,
Astronomy,

From tie North British Review
Astronomy.
The Ian Of tie stars, has ever been. and
will be, subject of the most intense and v.s T
nterest-the widest in its range-tbe mos, s
mating in its details-the most STARTLING in ;,. '"s0
cluslons-and the most exciting to the suecuIssu
and spiritual nature of man. CARVING no ~
10 prm9val times, before the birth Of Eh -
reason, It's truths are the earliest TO be imnroa1
upon the youthful mind; and CARRYING US forv.,i
to the future, when life shall be without end nv
reason without error, it would be well we,e al
among the last when the soul wings its wav ~
happier sphere A planet has been our birth. nIa.e
/ "a star may be our home. Thus associa, ed wTt
our earliest intelligence-aud thus related r. as'
final destiny, Astronomy is indeed the upiva,s.l
science, and lis laws the laws Of the Uniye,ss
Embracing 1T once all that Is sidereal as v.g..
all that l., ~ublunary, Astronomy proclains tLs
SANE la" OF force for the most remote as we'll.
Tor the nearest OF the celestial motions If,L.
law OF gravity guides our satellite in Is mop,Ilr
course, II guides also the most distant plaret q
oar system; and if it is thus the law OF The Sl,,
System, il must be the law which guides tia. sr,
tenn round the distant centre abou; which il >pax
proved 10 revolTe. The law Of gravity is. thert-
fore. the law of the Universe, ana with this bern
L. lrE
Us to declare what were the phenomena, AID what
the position of the heavenly bodies for thousands
Of years that past, and to predict the same for
thousands OF years that are to come Ii givr,u>
no information respecting the soil or production u
the planets OF our system, but it enables Us 10
compute with an accuracy ineo8ceiva5se the weight
and density OF matter in the sun, the planets and
the satellites, result which Adam Smith prO-
nounced to be almost ''above the reach of human
reason and experience " flor does it gratify our
curiosity respecting the forms of life, intellectual
and organic, which doubtless adorn the planetary
domains 1t is to the telescope alone that We must
look for the solution of this great problem-a
problem, however, which would not be solved
even were it proved that there were no inhabitants
in the moon. We are thus l,ft and probably ev-
er will be left, in the belief. if We choose to be-
lieve, that the planet We inhabit though occupy
ing no peculiar place, and marked with no disin-
gushing character, is yet the favOuTed spot from
which alone 1t has pleased the Almighty to pro-
mitigate the constitution and the laws Of his gOri-
Gus universe
By what means and by what men this great
work has been accomplished, the historian Of
tronomy delights to tell us. Placed on an extend
ed plane Of bill and dale, of earth and ocean, and
viewing the revolving armament with its host Of
sun and moon and stars. the very idea of sys-
tenn seems to be excluded. Our own earth be-
comes the centre and the favoured 500: of crra-
ton, while the orbs that rule the day and the night
seem created for our specific use. In travelling
however from his own observatory, the asronU
mer finds each horizon descending from his view,
and uniting them together, in every direction
around him, he is driven to the conclusion that he
dweis upon globe that is round like the lumn-
aries that accompany it. In continuing his studies
he finds that all the stars except few, are fixed
at lnVarIabe distances; and the studded frma
ment thus becomes a scale BY which be can meas
ure the motions of the sun, moon, and movable
stars, which change their places in the heavens
In TINS manner he soon ascertainS the apparent
motions OF the planets, their stations their retro
gradatIons, and the general character Of their
movements. BY measuring base line on the sea
shore or on level plane, he obtains the length OF
circular arch or of degree of the meridian, and
thus aScertains the diameter of his own planet;
and with this as an element he determines the dis
lance and magnitude of the sun and moon The
motion of the moon round the earth, and of the
eartA round the su display to him the character
oil that part OF the system with which he IS more
immediately connected-a planet with It's SATELLITE
revolving round the sun. The periods and rtla-
ave distances OF the other planets and OF the sal
eiiilts OF those that have them next dcteTmb-
ed, and the Solar System, with the number and
nature OF lis planets, primary and secondary, IS
thus revealed to him in ali its extent and grandeur
Wien the earth is at the two opposite points o
Its orbit, distant from each other nearly goo NIL
lions of miles, he views the stars with the nictst
instruments, and e learns tie startling truth thai
the nearest of them is placed at a dis ance from
his own system almost inconceivable. Unlike The
Planets they have from their distance no visible
discs, even when highly magnifed: and were the
earth annual orbit filed with light, and rom
hxed star above it, it would appear smaller than
The smallest of our planets. By the aid OF the
telescope he astronomer discovers among the
stars dould, triple, and multiple systems, in when
one or more stars revolve round another. and Oy
the gigantic instrument which Lord Rose hso
elevated to the heavens, We descry in the falnteS'
neonlae groups of stars, and spiral forms OF az
rangement, indicating forces of which we know
nothing, and on q scale of magnitude which inc
highest reason will probably never grasp.
We are thus conducted to the almost Invisible
verge OF the universe--to that mysterious bourne
which the human eye is too dim 70 explore, ana
the human faculties too feeble to apprehend. VIC
ponder over the Wondrous scene, and failing !"
comprehend the infinite in space and time, Reason
resigns itself to Faith, and pants for that eternal
day under whose sunshine We shall no longer see
through glass darkly. but know even as We af'
known.