Middletown transcript., 1874-02-14
LETTERS
To the Boys and Girls Of the Middle
town Academy, Delaware.
BY REV. IosErn WILSON.
Ne. 9.-TaE Stars.


Ne 9.-THE SrARs.
My Young Friends The earth is nine
ty-five milliens Of miles from the sun, but
the star Sirius or Dog Star. is said to be
at least twenty-five billions Of miles from
the sun, and therefore more than two hun
drcd and thirty-one times further from him
than we are.
What an immense distance that il, and
yet Sirius is the nearest star to US, and
there must be thousands and tens of thou
sands (and it may be millions) of stars at
an inconcsivablc distance which we have
not the means of measuring.
There are about two thousand stars dis
tinctly visible to the naked eye, though
less than one half are seen at the same
time, because we can see only those which
are on the same side with US: But if you
watch the stars every month in the year,
you will see all Of them that are visible to
those living north of the Equator.
Nearly half the stars, and some of them
very brilliant, are visible only to those
who inhabit the Southern Hemisphere,
and if you want to see them, you must
take a.yoyage nearly as far as Cape Horn,
the southern extremity of South America.
But, besides the stars visible to the ma
ked eye. there are vaytly more that We
cannot distinguish without the telescope
Tho Vis Lactsa or.Milky Way (as, it 10
called) ia seen. through the telescope, to
be composed Of . countless multitude of
distinct stars. which no Astronomer has
been able to number. = ~ taa
The Milky Way is visible from every
part Of the earth's surface, and entirely
surrounds it. It may DO considered as one
grand System Of Worlds. Of which the So
lar Systom and the visible stars form a
part. = '-,a' y Ass
Besides the Milky Way there are other
clusters Of stars seen through the telescope
which Astronomers call Nebul1, or Clouds,
because they look like little clouds that
you often see in the heavens. -'''
Astronomers think that these Nebulae
are clusters Of stars that may be as great
as those that we see, but til at so great is
their distance they cannot be distinguish
ed by the most powerful glass yet invent-
ed.
II We may compare little things with
great. We may call the Solar System a
single family. the Milky Way nation.
and the rest Of the stars World or Uni
verse. Our System then would compare
with the whole as one family compares
with . patton or The whole world.
Z The universe Of worlds is then a glori-
Gus object to contemplate and il the
things made are glorious, how infinitely
glorious must He BE- who made them all.
"Whe spake. and it was donc," "Who
commanded. and it stood fast" e .lLaal
1t is related Of the great Napoleon, the
first, the Emperer of France that be wss
in company with some of his sficers on
one bright night. who we're professed A
thsists. aud'amused themselves with ridi-
culing tho idea that there was God. Ma
Polson listened to them for time. and
then, taking them out Of the house and
pointing to the stars. said. eff there be
no God, pho made alIthese 2" The officers
felt the rebuke and usrs completely silenc-
ed. hs H
Well may We say. in the language Of
David The bssvsnsi declare the glory
of God. and the armament (of stars) show
eth His handy work :. He hath set His
glory abovs the Heavens"
Ny dear young friends. the God thai
made the haavsns made you alss. and let
each one Of youtry to show forth his glory.