Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-12-26
STAR.
CngAL INTELLIGENCE.

hmN 4.
-, sarly hour on Monday night, the vel
., saiutes made the echoes ring. Every |
':at9 of exT 7osiOn was resOrted to, from the |
49, musket 70 the popping cracker, filling |
- - With SulphurOus OdOr, and frightening /
80 the grim akens into silence. Calathum-
- hands made night hideous, and occasion |
pp1Iy band of merry mssqueraders would |
along. enthusiastically declaring their |
f+oi,sticR Of " Ny Mary Ann, or protesting |
= they would not " 20 home till morning"
L. sT'v consideration. Daylight did ap- |
-; At Iass. and in many a happy home did
-, i,vsuiles scamper to their stockings, to
GO abat was in store for them. Joyous were
,Ls g,ee-notes Of happiness as the toys were
i-,Sgtt out compared and admired. Then
- the faithful servants for Christmas
20 massa'' How their eyes twinkled with
,r,ie;Dations Of the good time that the ample
oror{kons assured them, And then in came
otb,r iuveaiIes-why every one had so many
,,srhevs and nicces, and cousins and sisters,
tbaftbe genealogical tree was like the Christ
- tree, In the fullest bearing at midwinter
Hs,k 70 the church bells. Many of the sane
tnaries were handsomely decorated, and they
lvrv,uId all have been filled had not a pelting
ain then set in, sadly dampening the hopes of
|, any. Nomatter. There were goodly bowls
If puncb and esq nog, in many house, where
he cordial greeting of friends showed that
4 - vas a Merry Christmas" indeed The
| dinners need 10 description, and VIC are glad
1 - hear that the poor were not forgotten. The
J Tair continued throughout the afternoon and
4 arsniDr. but many pleasant parties tripped
L On {. the light fantastic toe, " while families
were united around the social hearthstOne.
4 With all its noise and rain. the day was hap
l nv festival in the National Metropolis.
LECTURE AT TEE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
II -LnII l. - Of Lat
mon Astronomy, on Monday night, before
: Isrg eaudience In opening, he stated that in
( This short course Of lectures he should give a
rapid outline of the history OF astronomy, dwell
I iuy more at length upon the discoveries of
/ modern science. We know not when the science
j az astronomy commenced its career; it pIoba-
Iybad Its origin in curiosity. From the earli-
est times these wonderful Orbs, these luminous
n hieroglyphs. must have excited the wonder Of
mankind. The first astronomical observations
1 had, doubtless. been made upon the moon. The
an sIva yg maintained the same figure. but the
moon waxing, and waning, and continually
changing its place, and in contrary direction
70 the general movement Of the Heavens, must
4 have attracted the attention Of the first OBJ
server For a long period of time it was difficult
4 tOdistiuguiSh between the real, and the appar-
- ert notions Of the planets At the outset there
were two difficulties; there was no way of
II ascertaiIiug If the earth was fixed, no one had
ever seen the world move, or felt it move, and
it was natural to suppose that the earth was
Il the great center. The next difficulty was, as
/ n he curve in which the star. described their
II orbits For three thousand years the world
4 Vas in ignorance. but finally genius arose of
szficient power to reach the truth. Coperni-
"A Gus after thirty years Of toll, announced the
F. true system Of the earth. Confusion disap-
Feared, and harmony and beauty reigned.
q Tbs vas q great step in the onward movement
Of the mind, but there was much yet to be
4 done. kepler arose at the proper time. CO.
Iernicu5 gave the first grand impulse; Kepler
determined 70 carry IL still further and ascer-
tain what were the true paths Of these wonder
fGl bodies. But FIRST il was necessary to gather
up facts and then form theory to account for
them. hspler Tossed no less than nineteen
different hypothesis before he was willing to
give ~ the theory IF the planets moving in
craze. kepler then supposed that their course
night be IN elliptic curve, and commenced
scme observations upon the planet Mars, to
ascertain If its computed places, agreed VIII
IL observed places. But he found it impossi-
be TO place the sun in the centre oft. At lat
he conceived, that by possibility, the sun might
be situated in enc arm Of the ellipse. He re-
rewod his observations upon the planet Mars
re truth Of his superstition was demon
stated. and he announced that the law Of plan
etI-g motion was the elliptic curve. The
rlyyemeut7 Of the planets in the elliptic curve.
Circular motion was unifOrm-a body passing
u over equal arcs o. q circle in equal times, but
:. lowing an ellpse its motion was now accel-
sFa; d, and low retarded The genius and
Perseverance Of heplcr enabled him TO tri-
unph again, and be announced his second
great discovery Of the law regulating the
nJ7ements OF the planets in this elliptic curve.
Nor had be paused here, but struggling on
ward and making new discoveries, had been
Justly entitled Sc the legislator Of the skies.
lie had noticed the phenomena Of the tides as
tley followed the course Of the moon, but
lai not sufficient data at that early period
i Z resolve the great problem. Calico made
i -;Aer discoveries In the laws Of falling
t'ties, and all these preparations were
handed down TO Sir Isaac Newton, who
Srasfei the question with an iron hand,
bhd worked out the law OF grsTitation
Starting upon the theory that body falls
-oWarl= the earth IN the inverse ratio Of the
square IF the distance, il suggested itself 10
lie MAD q Newton that this was the law
which held the heavenly bodies IL their posi-
uyas Gould lie have raised himself six or
elg-t thousand miles above the surface Of the
eaFil &c could have eIperImented satisfacto-
MY but IS thIs was not possible, he deter
mined 70 make the moon his falling body.
he NGie his observations, calculated the
earth diameter, 80 distance from the moon,
al consequent attractive powers ard when
Els obssrvatiOns were completed, he had the
ny-uheation 70 fnd difference OF more than
ss.zth part between the computed and the
Observed space through which the moon fell
NEaris The earth. lie had nearly siyenup
II ICE Investigation in despair, when at a meet
As Of the Royal Society, a. new measure
nelt Of the earth s diameter by French as
trclomer was presented. The keen vision of
Newton immediately saw that this enabled
ain % rectify lis own calculations, and he
nov worked them out successfully to the de-
n HcIstrstJn Of ths great law of gravitation
oa' 80 powerfully was lie excited as the mighty
discovery burst fC,ly LTou him that ne was
0ohsed 70 pass his final computations into
ot1er hands for completion. His triumph vas
complete All tbs mysterious movements Of
tae universe could now be traced, and it was
L." possible 20 write out the history Of the
universe in a cabalistic sentence
conclusion, Prof Mitchell announced that
Ls EeT: !,'ture would be upon " tie theory
4 u sf-dtation o applied 10 our own planeta-
Il :! ':s;em P.gf II Is evidently thorough
master Of his subject, and a very pleasing
l.. l. Z I I