The Greenbrier era. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1853-1854, 1854-06-24
The Solar System.

wo,lrI., ~ 'O''' ''on''sS
WoIli, in whose Lrsom, living things rejoice,
And drink the bliss II being from the fDuut
on all-lsr'~lins love. What mini can Know,
What tongue can utter all their lnultitul.s:
II. WARE.
TWAS declaration Of Ferguson that
an undcvout astronomer vas mad" -
Who can look into surrounding space.
as wide and deep as eternity itself, nor
feel that power-a Being whom VIC
can scarcely comprchcnd-has made its
countless worlds and adjusted their new
er-varying motion! Yondcr sun is the
centre Of our universe but still even
almost beyond the ken Of the most
searching glass, other suns arc the cen
tres Of other systems. But, leaving the
Imagination to weary if it will amid
those UNNECESSARILY distant worlds and
systems, let US turn to our own, Of less
fruitlcss stretches. The sun, the COM
mon centre Of our own solar system, is
l9O,00O,O00 Of miles from us; it
is UNNECESSARILY more distant from
some Of the fixed stars; yet it attracts
and coutrols ovcry planet, such is its i'm
mcnso sphere. Our globe is inhabited
with more shapes and phases Of animal
and vegetable life than the most fertile
imagination could body forth in millions
of years; aud it is not improbable that
each planet in our system is likewise
pcoplcd and adorned.
What wonder is displayed in the
motion Of the spheres! Our globe,
with only $4,000 miles Of circumfer.
cncc, rcvolvcs round the sun every
twcnty-four hours; consequently any
given spot on its surface would pass that
distance from a given point in the hcav :
ems; which is at tho rate Of over 10
miles minute The earth travels
round tho sun annually, the circumfcr-
cncc Of whose orbit being l,225, 600, 600
miles, makes the rate Of the earth s
travel 100000 miles All hour, or $3.50
in single minute !! Compared with this
mans railroad speed Of sixty miles an
hour is but suail's pace. How won
dcrful and bcncficcnt tho power of
Him who regulated tho affairs Of a
world on q ball whirlcd through i'm.
mcnsity at such tremendous rate -
None but all Omnipotont God could fash,
ion and control such systems--none but
a God Of love protect our being and
happiness amidst such celestial machin-
cry. Amid tho whirl Of worlds and
the flash Of comets and the blaze OF
stars. no living creature is Eorsakcu oil
His watchful care.
"No, not even tho humblc.t soul that lwolls
Upon the humbicst globe, which wheels its course
Amid tho giant glorics Of tho sky,
Like tho mean motc that dances in the beam
Amongst tho mirrorcd lamps, Which ding
Their wasteful spicndor from the palace wall
Mono, none escape the kindness Of Ills care"
What an enlargement os celestial
knowledge has been opened to us by the
telescope Stars, even suns, are shown
to us at such immense distance in space
that light (Which travels 100000 miles
secondly must have been hundreds Of
years in reaching us. Ono Of these
may have persisted century ago nor
VIC yet know it.
"lcn, glorious lamp of Cod, lilo may have
uucnchrd
Your ancient flames, and bib eternal night
Rest on your spheres, and yet no things reach
Tins distant planet. Messengers still come
ja'lcn with your far fire, ami VIC may seem
Io see your lights still burning, whilo the blaze
but hides tho black wrecks Of extinguisc,l
renlms.'
Bcsscl observes that tho nearest fix.
cd star is sixty billions Of miles distant
from our planet; those clusters Of stars
called ncbulO are often ITO, 500, 00O,-
100000, 600 miles distant! 1t is vain
the mind tires Of these immensitics
and sinks back upon its own insignifi-
canoe. We can only know that VIC arc
atoms Of living matter Gin the centre
Of sphere, whose circumference is
$4,000 times rs far as Sirius, and be.
yonl whose circuit, iuiinity, boundlcs
lninity, stretches unfathoincd forever"
----~oooA-
1T WAS MI GoLD.-Oar attentive
and oblieing Nicholas correspondent,
iona. Fitzhugh," sends us some spoci.
mems Of stone from The banks Of the
Elk River, which "is thought to con.
tain gold" This is only another illus.
tration Of the saying that " all is not
gold that glitcrs;" for the "golt" is
only sulpburct Of iron, as tho carbonate
Of irou with which tho specimens arc in.
crustcd ought have suggested. We
wish it had turned out better; but it
will DO as we'll for Nicholas, after all, 10
look for "gold" in her corniclAs.-
Truly said old Wilhcr
" That in the places " here such minerals be
is neither grass nor herb nor plant nor tree;
Ana Ike enough, for This ut homo find,
those who too earnestly employ the mind
ABOUT thll tc1RI1. hurr 1raFfu I ,lrrC ,,,,1,Lj