The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1861-06-25

Z that poor spyglass---for il is nothing more
through which lie human eve tirst ais-
linciy beheld the surface Of the moon, tirst
discovered ,be satellites of Jupiter and
first dispersed the clouds of visual error
which, from The creation 81 the world, had
yelled the true theory of the universe
BY fll8a there ere occasions Ia liie ca
which o great mind lives years d rapi ea-
ioymem III 4 moment and can conceive
the emotions of Calico, when, having con.
strucled his little telescope, heiirsi pointed
/ il 10 tie skies, and saw fulfilled liic noble
prophecies Of Copeuicus; then be beheld
the planet, Venus, crescent like The moon.
II was q moment ike that when the im-
mortal printers Of Mentz and Strasburg re.
eeiyed ihc first copy Of the Biblc from the
press II was IN The dawn Of October,
1862, that the western world revealed IT,
self TO the eve Of Columbus. II was such
moment when the great law of gtayita-
ti0n beamcd into the mind Of Newton, and
affected his mind SO that he could not even
complete thedemonstration. II WAS q mo-
ment ike that when Franklin knew, by
/ the muscular thrill Of his arms, that he had
at last succeeded in grasping the lightning
| from the sky. Ii was moment like thai
when the astronomer, lie Nerrier Of Paris,
received q letter from his correspondent
there, saying that he had pointed to the
vault Of the heavens and had found the
planet which lie Nerrier had told him was,
concealed in lis depths.
Close now, venerable sage, that sightless
eye II has seen enough. Hang up that
/ poor little spyglass II has done its work
for neither 1erschel nor Lord Ross, com
paratiyely speaking, has done more
Franciscans dcride these discoveries now,
/ but, in uitcr-times, from two hundred OBJ
seryatories in Europe and America, their
glorious artillery shall salute the heavens,
and shall make conquest in those bound
/ less vaults Rest in peace, great Colum-
bus Of the heavens Like him, despiscd,
per6ecuted, heart-broken; in distant ages
and in another hemisphere, when the yo-
taries Of science shall speak Of its uses to
mankind, thy name shall be uttered with
honor!
/ THE USE OF UNIVERSAL sCIENcE.
But we must on In speaking of the
practical utility of astronomy, let US not
forget that the great use Of every branch
of science is to enlarge and purity the soul
TO fill the mind with noble and generous
coniemplatons and in this noble work Of
! improvement and refinement what branch
Of science rs there that takes precedence Of
astronomy? Where else can we find SO
palpable an embodiment Of the great doc
triucs that lie at the base Of our whole in
telecual system? The seven stars--if /
may so call them--in the intellectual sky !;
time and space, and expansion and magui-
tuda, and number, and motion, and power.
How exalted the conception Of the ages
which II has required to complete some Of
the secular equations Of our own solar sys-
j tcm of distance SO vast that the light Of
q fixed star would not reach Us in 20,000,-
600 years of moon, measured with which
that Of this earth is less than a grain Of
mustard-seed--of starry hosts, each sun
like our own, and numerous in numbers as
sands upon the sea-shore of worlds, and
uniyerses Of worlds, rushing through the in
fnitude Of space with velocity compared
TO which that of cannon-ball is a way
worn, lettering traveller
TIE SCENERY OF THE SKIES.
But, much as we ARE indebted 10 astron-
omical science and observation for our en-
largcd conceptions Of the heavenly bodies,
they all present, even to the naked eye,
scenes Of glory which words are too faint
to describe. ] had occasion, three or four
years ago, to take the earliest train from
Providence to Boston, and for this purpose
was obliged 70 repair TO the station at two
o'clock in The morning. All around was
wrapped in darkness and hushed in silence,
broken only by what seemed at that unu-
sual hour the unearthly rush and clank Of
the train. II was a mild, serene, midsum-
mcr's night the moon, then in the fourth
quarter, had but just risen, and The stars
shone with a spectral, stecly luslre, but III
tic affected by the presence Of the moon
Jupiter, the herald Of the dawn, was two
. lDUI8 NlLl ; lIk \ tkittA1S allLA 4itN8A EMtGi
influence in the East; Iyra, queen Of the
heavenly hosts, sparkled in the North
.Audromeda revealed her ncw-discoyercd
/ beauties IN the South; and the lesser stars
looked meekly up to his majesty, the Po.
lar Star on his northern throne. As Sc
pushed on, the approach oftwilight became
sensible; the intense blue Of the SKY be-
gan to soften the smaller stars, like littlc
children, went first the stronger beams d
, the Pleiades began to melt away-but tho
great consultations Of the West and NORTH
remained unchanged. Still the woudrou.
TRANSPORTATION went on; hands, as d an
gels unseen TO mortal eyes, shaped tho
. scenery Of the heavens the glories Of The
. night dissolved into the glories Of the dawn
, At length the blue Of the sky became more
softly gray-lhe gray with which stars
one after another, shut up their little eyes
and the East began TO kindle, aud fain
rurnla streaks were seen in the orient -