The Grand Haven news. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1858-18??, 1858-12-22
Fer the Grand Haven News.
WINTER EVENINGS, OR A Journey
AMONG THE STARS.


my first recollections. Whom was little
boy, and sat on stool at mothers feet, and lis
tened 10 stories about Moses, David and Golah,
Daniel or Jonah, or saw horses, soldiers or
houses on the bright Goals in the ire-place--no
season was as pleasant to me as the long, CHEEKY
winter evenings. As grew up and exchanged
visions upon tho Goals for history, and nursery
tales, for books of travels, winter evenings still
maintained their place in my affections flowed
them more than spring, with its flowers and
birds, more than summer. with its fragrant
meads and waving fields Of butter-cups, and
meadow lilies, more than autumn, with its or
chards of fruit, and fields of yellow grain. And
now, since the skating and coasting parties of
boyhood, and the many amusements of school
days are all past winter evenings have charm
for me that nothing else in nature possesses
l love the long winter evening "from six to ten,
in which l can converse with the great, the good,
and the illustrious of the past But books and
the past are not all there are Of interest Alive,
active world, and universe, of which this world
is less than a grain Of sand, compared with its
whole mass, invite me to their contemplation.
Closely wrapped in overcoat and shawl / started
out, an evening not long since, and, in magma
ton, took a stroll among the stars.
Passing at once beyond the other planets,
halted at Neptune, the most distant planet yet
discovered in our solar system, distant from our
earth two thousand seven hundred and fifty five
millions Of miles. halted here for a moment
to look beyond and compute the distance to the
nearest fixed star--for had determined to spend
that evening in ramblo among those twinkling
worlds. found that had but just started on
my journey, for between me and Sirius there
was yet more than twenty billions of miles, moro
than seven thousand three hundred aud sixteen
times further than had already como. With
this distance before me, no time was to be lost,
so away went for Sirius. Having arrived at
that brightest star Of the heavens / looked
back to the place from whence had started, and
behold our little world appears not as left it,
but it was three years and one hundred and
four days before. This, at first, appeared strange
to me, but soon remembered that light passes
through space at the rate of only ono hundred
and ninety-three thousand miles per second,
hence the ray Of light by which saw our earth
had been nearly three and third years on its
journey. The scene before me was interesting
and amusing. All Of my friends, and myself
even, were plainly visible just as we were
ono thousand one hundred and ninety nine days
before. l had, really, gone back three years
and was living them over again. But could
not remain long in place, for was anxious to
see, aud 10 learn, so fastened on, passing star
~ftap-sia-- until 7 reaehsd of the sixth mag4
nitude, in the head Of Hercules From this
point again viewed our little earth There il
lay, "like a mote in the SUM-" more than nine
hundred millions Of millions Of miles away, and
presenting the phenomenon ofitsactual condition,
one hundred and seventy-fve years ago. Here,
while viewing our solar system, which appeared
to be only fixed star with telescope eompan-
ions, noticed that II constantly approached me.
"Does the sun mover" 1 asked myself, aston
ished at the phenomenon. ait NEST certainly
does" l was obliged to answer, after a season
Of careful observation. From observations from
this, and one or two other stand points, soon
was able to compute its notion and found, to my
great surprise, that our whole solar system is
constantly moving toward Hercules, at the rate
Of about eight miles per second, and that it
passes around its center once in 1920, 900 of
our years. From this star l fastened on still
! further, for wished to explore the arcana of
nature, and learn its mysteries, I did not stop
until reached a star Of the sixteenth magni-
tude--one Of the smallest seen from our planet
by the aid Of the telescope-hence was at the
boundary of telescope vision. Between me and
my carth-home-or rather within tho circle Of
which our earth is the center, and my position,
point in the circumference moro than mill
ion times million suns, and worlds with moons
were revolving in systems innumerable. Nor
had reached the boundary of tho universe.--l
Without this circle, and mingled and connected
with the systems within it, were suns and worlds,
compared with which, as to number, those with
in are but leaf in forest, or drop of water
in the ocean. Harmony everywhere prevailed, |
each system keeping its appointed track. Our
sun. With its planets and its satellites seemed to
be only one Of many similar systems, forming |
a larger system, each Of whose suns, or central
bodies, were so far distant from each other that
to observers, on the surface Of any one of them,
each Of the others appeared only as fixed star.
Tho center Of this large system seemed, in turn,
to be But one, perhaps, Of a thousand similar
bodies, revolving around their center, and that