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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost', by 
+Thomas Orchard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'
+
+Author: Thomas Orchard
+
+Release Date: March 29, 2009 [EBook #28434]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTRONOMY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Nigel Blower and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
+
+
+Greek letters used to identify stars (Bayer designation), are replaced
+with the full name of the Greek letter, e.g. Alpha Centauri.
+
+The single Greek word in the text is transliterated within braces, {komê}.
+
+Minor punctuation and hyphenation inconsistencies have been corrected.
+
+The spelling "Bernices" for "Berenices" has been retained throughout.
+
+The following minor typographical errors have been corrected:
+p75:  "establish" changed to "established"
+p99:  "Firmanent" changed to "Firmament"
+p111: "they thoughts" changed to "thy thoughts"
+p120: "suen" changed to "seuen"
+p134: "consequenc" changed to "consequence"
+p146: "geographieal" changed to "geographical"
+p167: "Lyrae" changed to "Lyræ" for consistency
+p286: Removed redundant word "degrees" following the degree symbol
+
+
+
+
+                THE ASTRONOMY
+                     OF
+           MILTON'S 'PARADISE LOST'
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A TYPICAL SUN-SPOT]
+
+
+
+
+                THE ASTRONOMY
+                     OF
+           MILTON'S 'PARADISE LOST'
+
+                     BY
+
+           THOMAS N. ORCHARD, M.D.
+
+MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION
+
+
+_These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
+Almighty! thine this universal frame,
+Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then!
+Unspeakable._
+
+
+           LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
+         LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY
+                     1896
+
+             All rights reserved
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                                             PAGE
+   I. A Short Historical Sketch of Astronomy                           1
+  II. Astronomy in the Seventeenth Century                            45
+ III. Milton's Astronomical Knowledge                                 81
+  IV. Milton and Galileo                                             113
+   V. The Seasons                                                    140
+  VI. The Starry Heavens                                             152
+ VII. The Starry Heavens                                             200
+VIII. Description of Celestial Objects Mentioned in 'Paradise Lost'  244
+  IX. Milton's Imaginative and Descriptive Astronomy                 306
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+_PLATES_
+
+A Typical Sun-spot                                        _Frontispiece_
+Venus on the Sun's Disc                               _To face page_  66
+Cluster in Hercules                                          "       218
+Great Nebula in Orion                                        "       230
+A Portion of the Moon's Surface                              "       268
+
+
+_IN TEXT_
+
+FIG.                                                                PAGE
+1.  The Ptolemaic System of the Universe                              86
+2.  Milton's Division of Universal Space                              96
+3.  A Binary Star System--70 Ophiuchi                                184
+4.  The Orbits of the Components of Gamma Virginis                   189
+5.  Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius                        190
+6.  A Sun-spot Magnified                                             247
+7.  The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883                        254
+8.  A Portion of the Milky Way                                       289
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Many able and cultured writers have delighted to expatiate on the
+beauties of Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' and to linger with admiration over
+the lofty utterances expressed in his poem. Though conscious of his
+inability to do justice to the sublimest of poets and the noblest of
+sciences, the author has ventured to contribute to Miltonic literature a
+work which he hopes will prove to be of an interesting and instructive
+character. Perhaps the choicest passages in the poem are associated with
+astronomical allusion, and it is chiefly to the exposition and
+illustration of these that this volume is devoted.
+
+The writer is indebted to many authors for information and reference,
+and especially to Miss Agnes M. Clerke, Professors Masson and Young, Mr.
+James Nasmyth, Mr. G. F. Chambers, and Sir Robert Ball. Also to the
+works of the late Mr. R. A. Proctor, Sirs W. and J. Herschel, Admiral
+Smyth, Professor Grant, Mr. J. R. Hind, Sir David Brewster, Rev. A. B.
+Whatton, and Prebendary Webb.
+
+Most of the illustrations have been supplied by the Publishers: Messrs.
+Macmillan and W. Hunt & Co. have kindly permitted the reproduction of
+some of their drawings.
+
+MANCHESTER, _March 1896_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ASTRONOMY
+
+
+Astronomy is the oldest and most sublime of all the sciences. To a
+contemplative observer of the heavens, the number and brilliancy of the
+stars, the lustre of the planets, the silvery aspect of the Moon, with
+her ever-changing phases, together with the order, the harmony, and
+unison pervading them all, create in his mind thoughts of wonder and
+admiration. Occupying the abyss of space indistinguishable from
+infinity, the starry heavens in grandeur and magnificence surpass the
+loftiest conceptions of the human mind; for, at a distance beyond the
+range of ordinary vision, the telescope reveals clusters, systems,
+galaxies, universes of stars--suns--the innumerable host of heaven, each
+shining with a splendour comparable with that of our Sun, and, in all
+likelihood, fulfilling in a similar manner the same beneficent purposes.
+
+The time when man began to study the stars is lost in the antiquity of
+prehistoric ages. The ancient inhabitants of the Earth regarded the
+heavenly bodies with veneration and awe, erected temples in their
+honour, and worshipped them as deities. Historical records of astronomy
+carry us back several thousand years. During the greater part of this
+time, and until a comparatively recent period, astronomy was associated
+with astrology--a science which originated from a desire on the part of
+mankind to penetrate the future, and which was based upon the supposed
+influence of the heavenly bodies upon human and terrestrial affairs. It
+was natural to imagine that the overruling power which governed and
+directed the course of sublunary events resided in the heavens, and that
+its decrees might be understood by watching the movements of the
+heavenly bodies under its control. It was, therefore, believed that by
+observing the configuration of the planets and the positions of the
+constellations at the instant of the birth of an individual, his
+horoscope, or destiny, could be foretold; and that by making
+observations of a somewhat similar nature the occurrence of events of
+public importance could be predicted. When, however, the laws which
+govern the motions of the heavenly bodies became better known, and
+especially after the discovery of the great law of gravitation,
+astrology ceased to be a belief, though for long after it retained its
+power over the imagination, and was often alluded to in the writings of
+poets and other authors.
+
+In the early dawn of astronomical science, the theories upheld with
+regard to the structure of the heavens were of a simple and primitive
+nature, and might even be described as grotesque. This need occasion no
+surprise when we consider the difficulties with which ancient
+astronomers had to contend in their endeavours to reduce to order and
+harmony the complicated motions of the orbs which they beheld circling
+around them.
+
+The grouping of the stars into constellations having fanciful names,
+derived from fable or ancient mythology, occurred at a very early
+period, and though devoid of any methodical arrangement, is yet
+sufficiently well-defined to serve the purposes of modern astronomers.
+Several of the ancient nations of the earth, including the Chaldeans,
+Egyptians, Hindus, and Chinese, claim to have been the earliest
+astronomers. Chinese records of astronomy reveal an antiquity of near
+3,000 years B.C., but they contain no evidence that their authors
+possessed any scientific knowledge, and they merely record the
+occurrence of solar eclipses and the appearances of comets.
+
+It is not known when astronomy was first studied by the Egyptians; but
+what astronomical information they have handed down is not of a very
+intelligible kind, nor have they left behind any data that can be relied
+upon. The Great Pyramid, judging from the exactness with which it faces
+the cardinal points, must have been designed by persons who possessed a
+good knowledge of astronomy, and it was probably made use of for
+observational purposes.
+
+It is now generally admitted that correct astronomical observations were
+first made on the plains of Chaldea, records of eclipses having been
+discovered in Chaldean cities which date back 2,234 years B.C. The
+Chaldeans were true astronomers: they made correct observations of the
+risings and settings of the heavenly bodies; and the exact orientation
+of their temples and public buildings indicates the precision with which
+they observed the positions of celestial objects. They invented the
+zodiac and gnomon, made use of several kinds of dials, notified
+eclipses, and divided the day into twenty-four hours.
+
+To the Greeks belongs the credit of having first studied astronomy in a
+regular and systematic manner. THALES (640 B.C.) was one of the earliest
+of Greek astronomers, and may be regarded as the founder of the science
+among that people. He was born at Miletus, and afterwards repaired to
+Egypt for the purpose of study. On his return to Greece he founded the
+Ionian school, and taught the sphericity of the Earth, the obliquity of
+the ecliptic, and the true causes of eclipses of the Sun and Moon. He
+also directed the attention of mariners to the superiority of the Lesser
+Bear, as a guide for the navigation of vessels, as compared with the
+Great Bear, by which constellation they usually steered. Thales believed
+the Earth to be the centre of the universe, and that the stars were
+composed of fire; he also predicted the occurrence of a great solar
+eclipse.
+
+Thales had for his successors Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Anaxagoras,
+who taught the doctrines of the Ionian school.
+
+The next great astronomer that we read of is PYTHAGORAS, who was born at
+Samos 590 B.C. He studied under Thales, and afterwards visited Egypt and
+India, in order that he might make himself familiar with the scientific
+theories adopted by those nations. On his return to Europe he founded
+his school in Italy, and taught in a more extended form the doctrines of
+the Ionian school. In his speculations with regard to the structure of
+the universe he propounded the theory (though the reasons by which he
+sustained it were fanciful) that the Sun is the centre of the planetary
+system, and that the Earth revolves round him. This theory--the accuracy
+of which has since been confirmed--received but little attention from
+his successors, and it sank into oblivion until the time of Copernicus,
+by whom it was revived. Pythagoras discovered that the Morning and
+Evening Stars are one and the same planet.
+
+Among the famous astronomers who lived about this period we find
+recorded the names of Meton, who introduced the Metonic cycle into
+Greece and erected the first sundial at Athens; Eudoxus, who persuaded
+the Greeks to adopt the year of 365-1/4 days; and Nicetas, who taught
+that the Earth completed a daily revolution on her axis.
+
+The Alexandrian school, which flourished for three centuries prior to
+the Christian era, produced men of eminence whose discoveries and
+investigations, when arranged and classified, enabled astronomy to be
+regarded as a true theoretical science. The positions of the fixed stars
+and the paths of the planets were determined with greater accuracy, and
+irregularities of the motions of the Sun and Moon were investigated with
+greater precision. Attempts were made to ascertain the distance of the
+Sun from the Earth, and also the dimensions of the terrestrial sphere.
+The obliquity of the ecliptic was accurately determined, and an arc of
+the meridian was measured between Syene and Alexandria. The names of
+Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Aristyllus, Timocharis, and Autolycus, are
+familiarly known in association with the advancement of the astronomy of
+this period.
+
+We now reach the name of HIPPARCHUS of Bithynia (140 B.C.), the most
+illustrious astronomer of antiquity, who did much to raise astronomy to
+the position of a true science, and who has also left behind him ample
+evidence of his genius 'as a mathematician, an observer, and a
+theorist.' We are indebted to him for the earliest star catalogue, in
+which he included 1,081 stars. He discovered the Precession of the
+Equinoxes, and determined the motions of the Sun and Moon, and also the
+length of the year, with greater precision than any of his predecessors.
+He invented the sciences of plane and spherical trigonometry, and was
+the first to use right ascensions and declinations.
+
+The next astronomer of eminence after Hipparchus was PTOLEMY (130 A.D.),
+who resided at Alexandria. He was skilled as a mathematician and
+geographer, and also excelled as a musician. His chief discovery was an
+irregularity of the lunar motion, called the '_evection_.' He was also
+the first to observe the effect of the refraction of light in causing
+the apparent displacement of a heavenly body from its true position.
+Ptolemy devoted much of his time to extending and improving the theories
+of Hipparchus, and compiled a great treatise, called the 'Almagest,'
+which contains nearly all the knowledge we possess of ancient astronomy.
+Ptolemy's name is, however, most widely known in association with what
+is called the Ptolemaic theory. This system, which originated long
+before his time, but of which he was one of the ablest expounders, was
+an attempt to establish on a scientific basis the conclusions and
+results arrived at by early astronomers who studied and observed the
+motions of the heavenly bodies. Ptolemy regarded the Earth as the
+immovable centre of the universe, round which the Sun, Moon, planets,
+and the entire heavens completed a daily revolution in twenty-four
+hours. After the death of Ptolemy no worthy successor was found to
+occupy his place, the study of astronomy began to decline among the
+Greeks, and after a time it ceased to be cultivated by that people.
+
+The Arabs next took up the study of astronomy, which they prosecuted
+most assiduously for a period of four centuries. Their labours were,
+however, confined chiefly to observational work, in which they
+excelled; unlike their predecessors, they paid but little attention to
+speculative theories--indeed, they regarded with such veneration the
+opinions held by the Greeks, that they did not feel disposed to question
+the accuracy of their doctrines. The most eminent astronomer among the
+Arabs was ALBATEGNIUS (680 A.D.). He corrected the Greek observations,
+and made several discoveries which testified to his abilities as an
+observer. IBN YUNIS and ABUL WEFU were Arab astronomers who earned a
+high reputation on account of the number and accuracy of their
+observations. In Persia, a descendant of the famous Genghis Khan erected
+an observatory, where astronomical observations were systematically
+made. Omar, a Persian astronomer, suggested a reformation of the
+calendar which, if it had been adopted, would have insured greater
+accuracy than can be attained by the Gregorian style now in use. In
+1433, Ulugh Beg, who resided at Samarcand, made many observations, and
+constructed a star catalogue of greater exactness than was known to
+exist prior to his time. The Arabs may be regarded as having been the
+custodians of astronomy until the time of its revival in another quarter
+of the Globe.
+
+After the lapse of many centuries, astronomy was introduced into Western
+Europe in 1220, and from that date to the present time its career has
+been one of triumphant progress. In 1230, a translation of Ptolemy's
+'Almagest' from Arabic into Latin was accomplished by order of the
+German Emperor, Frederick II.; and in 1252 Alphonso X., King of Castile,
+himself a zealous patron of astronomy, caused a new set of astronomical
+tables to be constructed at his own expense, which, in honour of his
+Majesty, were called the 'Alphonsine Tables.' Purbach and Regiomontanus,
+two German astronomers of distinguished reputation, and Waltherus, a man
+of considerable renown, made many important observations in the
+fifteenth century.
+
+The most eminent astronomer who lived during the latter part of this
+century was Copernicus. NICOLAS COPERNICUS was born February 19, 1473,
+at Thorn, a small town situated on the Vistula, which formed the
+boundary between the kingdoms of Prussia and Poland. His father was a
+Polish subject, and his mother of German extraction. Having lost his
+parents early in life, he was educated under the supervision of his
+uncle Lucas, Bishop of Ermland. Copernicus attended a school at Thorn,
+and afterwards entered the University of Cracow, in 1491, where he
+devoted four years to the study of mathematics and science. On leaving
+Cracow he attached himself to the University of Bologna as a student of
+canon law, and attended a course of lectures on astronomy given by
+Novarra. In the ensuing year he was appointed canon of Frauenburg, the
+cathedral city of the Diocese of Ermland, situated on the shores of the
+Frisches Haff. In the year 1500 he was at Rome, where he lectured on
+mathematics and astronomy. He next spent a few years at the University
+of Padua, where, besides applying himself to mathematics and astronomy,
+he studied medicine and obtained a degree. In 1505 Copernicus returned
+to his native country, and was appointed medical attendant to his uncle,
+the Bishop of Ermland, with whom he resided in the stately castle of
+Heilsberg, situated at a distance of forty-six miles from Frauenburg.
+Copernicus lived with his uncle from 1507 till 1512, and during that
+time prosecuted his astronomical studies, and undertook, besides, many
+arduous duties associated with the administration of the diocese; these
+he faithfully discharged until the death of the Bishop, which occurred
+in 1512. After the death of his uncle he took up his residence at
+Frauenburg, where he occupied his time in meditating on his new
+astronomy and undertaking various duties of a public character, which he
+fulfilled with credit and distinction. In 1523 he was appointed
+Administrator-General of the diocese. Though a canon of Frauenburg,
+Copernicus never became a priest.
+
+After many years of profound meditation and thought, Copernicus, in a
+treatise entitled 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium,' propounded a new
+theory, or, more correctly speaking, revived the ancient Pythagorean
+system of the universe. This great work, which he dedicated to Pope Paul
+III., was completed in 1530; but he could not be prevailed upon to have
+it published until 1543, the year in which he died. In 1542 Copernicus
+had an apoplectic seizure, followed by paralysis and a gradual decay of
+his mental and vital powers. His book was printed at Nuremberg, and the
+first copy arrived at Frauenburg on May 24, 1543, in time to be touched
+by the hands of the dying man, who in a few hours after expired. The
+house in which Copernicus lived at Allenstein is still in existence, and
+in the walls of his chamber are visible the perforations which he made
+for the purpose of observing the stars cross the meridian.
+
+Copernicus was the means of creating an entire revolution in the science
+of astronomy, by transferring the centre of our system from the Earth to
+the Sun. He accounted for the alternation of day and night by the
+rotation of the Earth on her axis, and for the vicissitudes of the
+seasons by her revolution round the Sun. He devoted the greater part of
+his life to meditating on this theory, and adduced several weighty
+reasons in its support. Copernicus could not help perceiving the
+complications and entanglements by which the Ptolemaic system of the
+universe was surrounded, and which compared unfavourably with the simple
+and orderly manner in which other natural phenomena presented themselves
+to his observation. By perceiving that Mars when in opposition was not
+much inferior in lustre to Jupiter, and when in conjunction resembled a
+star of the second magnitude, he arrived at the conclusion that the
+Earth could not be the centre of the planet's motion. Having discovered
+in some ancient manuscripts a theory, ascribed to the Egyptians, that
+Mercury and Venus revolved round the Sun, whilst they accompanied the
+orb in his revolution round the Earth, Copernicus was able to perceive
+that this afforded him a means of explaining the alternate appearance of
+those planets on each side of the Sun. The varied aspects of the
+superior planets, when observed in different parts of their orbits, also
+led him to conclude that the Earth was not the central body round which
+they accomplished their revolutions. As a combined result of his
+observation and reasoning Copernicus propounded the theory that the Sun
+is the centre of our system, and that all the planets, including the
+Earth, revolve in orbits around him. This, which is called the
+Copernican system, is now regarded as, and has been proved to be, the
+true theory of the solar system.
+
+TYCHO BRAHÉ was a celebrated Danish astronomer, who earned a deservedly
+high reputation on account of the number and accuracy of his
+astronomical observations and calculations. The various astronomical
+tables that were in use in his time contained many inaccuracies, and it
+became necessary that they should be reconstructed upon a more correct
+basis. Tycho possessed the practical skill required for this kind of
+work.
+
+He was born December 14, 1546, at Knudstorp, near Helsingborg. His
+father, Otto Brahé, traced his descent from a Swedish family of noble
+birth. At the age of thirteen Tycho was sent to the University of
+Copenhagen, where it was intended he should prepare himself for the
+study of the law.
+
+The prediction of a great solar eclipse, which was to happen on August
+21, 1560, caused much public excitement in Denmark, for in those days
+such phenomena were regarded as portending the occurrence of events of
+national importance. Tycho looked forward with great eagerness to the
+time of the eclipse. He watched its progress with intense interest, and
+when he perceived all the details of the phenomenon occur exactly as
+they were predicted, he resolved to pursue the study of a science by
+which, as was then believed, the occurrence of future events could be
+foretold. From Copenhagen Tycho Brahé was sent to Leipsic to study
+jurisprudence, but astronomy absorbed all his thoughts. He spent his
+pocket-money in purchasing astronomical books, and, when his tutor had
+retired to sleep, he occupied his time night after night in watching the
+stars and making himself familiar with their courses. He followed the
+planets in their direct and retrograde movements, and with the aid of a
+small globe and pair of compasses was able by means of his own
+calculations to detect serious discrepancies in the Alphonsine and
+Prutenic tables. In order to make himself more proficient in calculating
+astronomical tables he studied arithmetic and geometry, and learned
+mathematics without the aid of a master. Having remained at Leipsic for
+three years, during which time he paid far more attention to the study
+of astronomy than to that of law, he returned to his native country in
+consequence of the death of an uncle, who bequeathed him a considerable
+estate. In Denmark he continued to prosecute his astronomical studies,
+and incurred the displeasure of his friends, who blamed him for
+neglecting his intended profession and wasting his time on astronomy,
+which they regarded as useless and unprofitable.
+
+Not caring to remain among his relatives, Tycho Brahé returned to
+Germany, and arrived at Wittenberg in 1566. Whilst residing here he had
+an altercation with a Danish gentleman over some question in
+mathematics. The quarrel led to a duel with swords, which terminated
+rather unfortunately for Tycho, who had a portion of his nose cut off.
+This loss he repaired by ingeniously contriving one of gold, silver, and
+wax, which was said to bear a good resemblance to the original. From
+Wittenberg Tycho proceeded to Augsburg, where he resided for two years.
+Here he made the acquaintance of several men distinguished for their
+learning and their love of astronomy. During his stay at Augsburg he
+constructed a quadrant of fourteen cubits radius, on which were
+indicated the single minutes of a degree; he made many valuable
+observations with this instrument, which he used in combination with a
+large sextant.
+
+In 1571 Tycho returned to Denmark, where his fame as an astronomer had
+preceded him, and was the means of procuring for him a hearty welcome
+from his relatives and friends. In 1572, when returning one night from
+his laboratory--for Tycho studied alchemy as well as astronomy--he
+beheld what appeared to be a new and brilliant star in the
+constellation Cassiopeia, which was situated overhead. He directed the
+attention of his companions to this wonderful object, and all declared
+that they had never observed such a star before. On the following night
+he measured its distance from the nearest stars in the constellation,
+and arrived at the conclusion that it was a fixed star, and beyond our
+system.
+
+This remarkable object remained visible for sixteen months, and when at
+its brightest rivalled Sirius. At first it was of a brilliant white
+colour, but as it diminished in size it became yellow; it next changed
+to a red colour, resembling Aldebaran; afterwards it appeared like
+Saturn, and as it grew smaller it decreased in brightness, until it
+finally became invisible. In 1573 Tycho Brahé married a peasant-girl
+from the village of Knudstorp. This imprudent act roused the resentment
+of his relatives, who, being of noble birth, were indignant that he
+should have contracted such an alliance. The bitterness and mutual
+ill-feeling created by this affair became so intense that the King of
+Denmark deemed it advisable to endeavour to bring about a
+reconciliation.
+
+After this Tycho returned to Germany, and visited several cities before
+deciding where he should take up his permanent residence.
+
+His fame as an astronomer was now so great that he was received with
+distinction wherever he went, and on the occasion of a visit to
+Hesse-Cassel he spent a few pleasant days with William, Landgrave of
+Hesse, who was himself skilled in astronomy.
+
+Frederick II., King of Denmark, having recognised Tycho Brahé's great
+merits as an astronomer, and not wishing that his fame should add lustre
+to a foreign Court, expressed a desire that he should return to his
+native country, and as an inducement offered him a life interest in the
+island of Huen, in the Sound, where he undertook to erect and equip an
+observatory at his own expense; the King also promised to bestow upon
+him a pension, and grant him other emoluments besides.
+
+Tycho gladly accepted this generous offer, and during the construction
+of the observatory occupied his time in making a magnificent collection
+of instruments and appliances adapted for observational purposes. This
+handsome edifice, upon which the King of Denmark expended a sum of
+20,000_l._, was called 'Uranienburg' ('The Citadel of the Heavens').
+Here Tycho resided for a period of twenty years, during which time he
+pursued his astronomical labours with untiring energy and zeal, and made
+a large number of observations and calculations of much superior
+accuracy to any that existed previously, which were afterwards of great
+service to his successors. During his long residence at Huen, Tycho was
+visited by many distinguished persons, who were attracted to his island
+home by his fame and the magnificence of his observatory. Among them was
+James VI. of Scotland, who, whilst journeying to the Court of Denmark
+on the occasion of his marriage to a Danish princess, paid Tycho a
+visit, and enjoyed his hospitality for a week. The King was delighted
+with all that he saw, and on his departure presented Tycho with a
+handsome donation, and at his request composed some Latin verses, in
+which he eulogised his host and praised his observatory.
+
+The island of Huen is situated about six miles from the coast of
+Zealand, and fourteen from Copenhagen. It has a circumference of six
+miles, and consists chiefly of an elevated plateau, in the centre of
+which Tycho erected his observatory, the site of which is now marked by
+two pits and a few mounds of earth--all that remains of Uranienburg. All
+went well with Tycho Brahé during the lifetime of his noble patron; but
+in 1588 Frederick II. died, and was succeeded by his son, a youth eleven
+years of age.
+
+The Danish nobles had long been jealous of Tycho's fame and reputation,
+and on the death of the King an opportunity was afforded them of
+intriguing with the object of accomplishing his downfall. Several false
+accusations were brought against him, and the Court party made the
+impoverished state of the Treasury an excuse for depriving him of his
+pension and emoluments granted by the late King.
+
+Tycho was no longer able to bear the expense of maintaining his
+establishment at Huen, and fearing that he might be deprived of the
+island itself, he took a house in Copenhagen, to which he removed all
+his smaller instruments.
+
+During his residence in the capital he was subjected to annoyance and
+persecution. An order was issued in the King's name preventing him from
+carrying on his chemical experiments, and he besides suffered the
+indignity of a personal assault. Tycho Brahé resolved to quit his
+ungrateful country and seek a home in some foreign land, where he should
+be permitted to pursue his studies unmolested and live in quietness and
+peace. He accordingly removed from the island of Huen all his
+instruments and appliances that were of a portable nature, and packed
+them on board a vessel which he hired for the purpose of transport, and,
+having embarked with his family, his servants, and some of his pupils
+and assistants, 'this interesting barque, freighted with the glory of
+Denmark,' set sail from Copenhagen about the end of 1597, and having
+crossed the Baltic in safety, arrived at Rostock, where Tycho found some
+old friends waiting to receive him. He was now in doubt as to where he
+should find a home, when the Austrian Emperor Rudolph, himself a liberal
+patron of science and the fine arts, having heard of Tycho Brahé's
+misfortunes, sent him an invitation to take up his abode in his
+dominions, and promised that he should be treated in a manner worthy of
+his reputation and fame.
+
+Tycho resolved to accept the Emperor's kind invitation, and in the
+spring of 1599 arrived at Prague, where he found a handsome residence
+prepared for his reception.
+
+He was received by the Emperor in a most cordial manner and treated with
+the greatest kindness. An annual pension of three thousand crowns was
+settled upon him for life, and he was to have his choice of several
+residences belonging to his Majesty, where he might reside and erect a
+new observatory. From among these he selected the Castle of Benach, in
+Bohemia, which was situated on an elevated plateau and commanded a wide
+view of the horizon.
+
+During his residence at Benach Tycho received a visit from Kepler, who
+stayed with him for several months in order that he might carry out some
+astronomical observations. In the following year Kepler returned, and
+took up his permanent residence with Tycho, having been appointed
+assistant in his observatory, a post which, at Tycho's request, was
+conferred upon him by the Emperor.
+
+Tycho Brahé soon discovered that his ignorance of the language and
+unfamiliarity with the customs of the people caused him much
+inconvenience. He therefore asked permission from the Emperor to be
+allowed to remove to Prague. This request was readily granted, and a
+suitable residence was provided for him in the city.
+
+In the meantime his family, his large instruments, and other property,
+having arrived at Prague, Tycho was soon comfortably settled in his new
+home.
+
+Though Tycho Brahé continued his astronomical observations, yet he could
+not help feeling that he lived among a strange people; nor did the
+remembrance of his sufferings and the cruel treatment he received at the
+hands of his fellow-countrymen subdue the affection which he cherished
+towards his native land. Pondering over the past, he became despondent
+and low-spirited; a morbid imagination caused him to brood over small
+troubles, and gloomy, melancholy thoughts possessed his mind--symptoms
+which seemed to presage the approach of some serious malady. One
+evening, when visiting at the house of a friend, he was seized with a
+painful illness, to which he succumbed in less than a fortnight. He died
+at Prague on October 24, 1601, when in his fifty-fifth year.
+
+The Emperor Rudolph, when informed of Tycho Brahé's death, expressed his
+deep regret, and commanded that he should be interred in the principal
+church in the city, and that his obsequies should be celebrated with
+every mark of honour and respect.
+
+Tycho Brahé stands out as the most romantic and prominent figure in the
+history of astronomy. His independence of character, his ardent
+attachments, his strong hatreds, and his love of splendour, are
+characteristics which distinguish him from all other men of his age.
+This remarkable man was an astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist; but in
+his latter years he renounced astrology, and believed that the stars
+exercised no influence over the destinies of mankind.
+
+As a practical astronomer, Tycho Brahé has not been excelled by any
+other observer of the heavens. The magnificence of his observatory at
+Huen, upon the equipment and embellishment of which it is stated he
+expended a ton of gold; the splendour and variety of his instruments,
+and his ingenuity in inventing new ones, would alone have made him
+famous. But it was by the skill and assiduity with which he carried out
+his numerous and important observations that he has earned for himself a
+position of the most honourable distinction among astronomers. In his
+investigation of the Lunar theory Tycho Brahé discovered the Moon's
+_annual equation_, a yearly effect produced by the Sun's disturbing
+force as the Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit. He also
+discovered another inequality in the Moon's motion, called the
+_variation_. He determined with greater exactness astronomical
+refractions from an altitude of 45° downwards to the horizon, and
+constructed a catalogue of 777 stars. He also made a vast number of
+observations on planets, which formed the basis of the 'Rudolphine
+Tables,' and were of invaluable assistance to Kepler in his
+investigation of the laws relating to planetary motion.
+
+Tycho Brahé declined to accept the Copernican theory, and devised a
+system of his own, which he called the 'Tychonic.' By this arrangement
+the Earth remained stationary, whilst all the planets revolved round
+the Sun, who in his turn completed a daily revolution round the Earth.
+All the phenomena associated with the motions of those bodies could be
+explained by means of this system; but it did not receive much support,
+and after the Copernican theory became better understood it was given
+up, and heard of no more.
+
+We now arrive at the name of KEPLER, one of the very greatest of
+astronomers, and a man of remarkable genius, who was the first to
+discover the real nature of the paths pursued by the Earth and planets
+in their revolution round the Sun. After seventeen years of close
+observation, he announced that those bodies travelled round the Sun in
+elliptical or oval orbits, and not in circular paths, as was believed by
+Copernicus. In his investigation of the laws which govern the motions of
+the planets he formulated those famous theorems known as 'Kepler's
+Laws,' which will endure for all time as a proof of his sagacity and
+surpassing genius. Prior to the discovery of those laws the Sun, though
+acknowledged to be the centre of the system, did not appear to occupy a
+central position as regards the motions of the planets; but Kepler, by
+demonstrating that the planes of the orbits of all the planets, and the
+lines connecting their apsides, passed through the Sun, was enabled to
+assign the orb his true position with regard to those bodies.
+
+JOHN KEPLER was born at Weil, in the Duchy of Wurtemberg, December 21,
+1571. His parents, though of noble family, lived in reduced
+circumstances, owing to causes for which they were themselves chiefly
+responsible. In his youth Kepler suffered so much from ill-health that
+his education had to be neglected. In 1586 he was sent to a monastic
+school at Maulbronn, which had been established at the Reformation, and
+was under the patronage of the Duke of Wurtemberg. Afterwards he studied
+at the University of Tubingen, where he distinguished himself and took a
+degree. Kepler devoted his attention chiefly to science and mathematics,
+but paid no particular attention to the study of astronomy. Maestlin,
+the professor of mathematics, whose lectures he attended, upheld the
+Copernican theory, and Kepler, who adopted the views of his teacher,
+wrote an essay in favour of the diurnal rotation of the Earth, in which
+he supported the more recent astronomical doctrines. In 1594, a vacancy
+having occurred in the professorship of astronomy at Gratz consequent
+upon the death of George Stadt, Kepler was appointed his successor. He
+did not seek this office, as he felt no particular desire to take up the
+study of astronomy, but was recommended by his tutors as a man well
+fitted for the post. He was thus in a manner compelled to devote his
+time and talents to the science of astronomy. Kepler directed his
+attention to three subjects--viz. 'the number, the size, and the motion
+of the orbits of the planets.' He endeavoured to ascertain if any
+regular proportion existed between the sizes of the planetary orbits, or
+in the difference of their sizes, but in this he was unsuccessful. He
+then thought that, by imagining the existence of a planet between Mars
+and Jupiter, and another between Venus and Mercury, he might be able to
+attain his object; but he found that this assumption afforded him no
+assistance. Kepler then imagined that as there were five regular
+geometrical solids, and five planets, the distances of the latter were
+regulated by the size of the solids described round one another. The
+discovery afterwards of two additional planets testified to the
+absurdity of this speculation. A description of these extraordinary
+researches was published, in 1596, in a work entitled 'Prodromus of
+Cosmographical Dissertations; containing the cosmographical mystery
+respecting the admirable proportion of the celestial orbits, and the
+genuine and real causes of the number, magnitude, and periods of the
+planets, demonstrated by the five regular geometrical solids.' This
+volume, notwithstanding the fanciful speculations which it contained,
+was received with much favour by astronomers, and both Tycho Brahé and
+Galileo encouraged Kepler to continue his researches. Galileo admired
+his ingenuity, and Tycho advised him 'to lay a solid foundation for his
+views by actual observation, and then, by ascending from these, to
+strive to reach the causes of things.' Kepler spent many years in these
+fruitless endeavours before he made those grand discoveries in search of
+which he laboured so long.
+
+The religious dissensions which at this time agitated Germany were
+accompanied in many places by much tumult and excitement. At Gratz the
+Catholics threatened to expel the Protestants from the city. Kepler, who
+was of the Reformed faith, having recognised the danger with which he
+was threatened, retired to Hungary with his wife, whom he had recently
+married, and remained there for near twelve months, during which time he
+occupied himself with writing several short treatises on subjects
+connected with astronomy. In 1599 he returned to Gratz and resumed his
+professorship.
+
+In the year 1600 Kepler set out to pay Tycho Brahé a visit at Prague, in
+order that he might be able to avail himself of information contained in
+observations made by Tycho with regard to the eccentricities of the
+orbits of the planets. He was received by Tycho with much cordiality,
+and stayed with him for four months at his residence at Benach, Tycho in
+the meantime having promised that he would use his influence with the
+Emperor Rudolph to have him appointed as assistant in his observatory.
+On the termination of his visit Kepler returned to Gratz, and as there
+was a renewal of the religious trouble in the city, he resigned his
+professorship, from which he only derived a small income, and, relying
+on Tycho's promise, he again journeyed to Prague, and arrived there in
+1601. Kepler was presented to the Emperor by Tycho, and the post of
+Imperial Mathematician was conferred upon him, with a salary of 100
+florins a year, upon condition that he should assist Tycho in his
+observatory. This appointment was of much value to Kepler, because it
+afforded him an opportunity of obtaining access to the numerous
+astronomical observations made by Tycho, which were of great assistance
+to him in the investigation of the subject which he had chosen--viz. the
+laws which govern the motions of the planets, and the form and size of
+the planetary orbits.
+
+As an acknowledgment of the Emperor's great kindness, the two
+astronomers resolved to compute a new set of astronomical tables, and in
+honour of his Majesty they were to be called the 'Rudolphine Tables.'
+This project pleased the Emperor, who promised to defray the expense of
+their publication. Logomontanus, Tycho's chief assistant, had entrusted
+to him that portion of the work relating to observations on the stars,
+and Kepler had charge of the part which embraced the calculations
+belonging to the planets and their orbits. This important work had
+scarcely been begun when the departure of Logomontanus, who obtained an
+appointment in Denmark, and the death of Tycho Brahé in October 1601,
+necessitated its suspension for a time. Kepler was appointed Chief
+Mathematician to the Emperor in succession to Tycho--a position of
+honour and distinction, and to which was attached a handsome salary,
+that was paid out of the Imperial treasury. But owing to the continuance
+of expensive wars, which entailed a severe drain upon the resources of
+the country, the public funds became very low, and Kepler's salary was
+always in arrear. This condition of things involved him in serious
+pecuniary difficulties, and the responsibility of having to maintain an
+increasing family added to his anxieties. It was with the greatest
+difficulty that he succeeded in obtaining payment of even a portion of
+his salary, and he was reduced to such straits as to be under the
+necessity of casting nativities in order to obtain money to meet his
+most pressing requirements.
+
+In 1609 Kepler published his great work, entitled 'The New Astronomy;
+or, Commentaries on the Motions of Mars.' It was by his observation of
+Mars, which has an orbit of greater eccentricity than that of any of the
+other planets, with the exception of Mercury, that he was enabled, after
+years of patient study, to announce in this volume the discovery of two
+of the three famous theorems known as Kepler's Laws. The first is, that
+all the planets move round the Sun in elliptic orbits, and that the orb
+occupies one of the foci. The second is, that the radius-vector, or
+imaginary line joining the centre of the planet and the centre of the
+Sun, describes equal areas in equal times. The third law, which relates
+to the connection between the periodic times and the distances of the
+planets, was not discovered until ten years later, when Kepler, in 1619,
+issued another work, called the 'Harmonies of the World,' dedicated to
+James I. of England, in which was contained this remarkable law. These
+laws have elevated astronomy to the position of a true physical science,
+and also formed the starting-point of Newton's investigations which led
+to the discovery of the law of gravitation. Kepler's delight on the
+discovery of his third law was unbounded. He writes: 'Nothing holds me.
+I will indulge in my sacred fury. I will triumph over mankind by the
+honest confession that I have stolen the golden vases of the Egyptians
+to build up a tabernacle for my God far away from the confines of Egypt.
+If you forgive me, I rejoice; if you are angry, I can bear it. The die
+is cast; the book is written, to be read either now or by posterity I
+care not which. It may well wait a century for a reader, as God has
+waited six thousand years for an observer.'
+
+When Kepler presented his celebrated book to the Emperor, he remarked
+that it was his intention to make a similar attack upon the other
+planets, and promised that he would be successful if his Majesty would
+undertake to find the means necessary for carrying on operations. But
+the Emperor had more formidable enemies to contend with nearer home than
+Jupiter and Saturn, and no funds were forthcoming to assist Kepler in
+his undertaking.
+
+The chair of mathematics in the University of Linz having become vacant,
+Kepler offered himself as a candidate for the appointment, which he was
+anxious to obtain; but the Emperor Rudolph was averse to his leaving
+Prague, and encouraged him to hope that the arrears of his salary would
+be paid. But past experience led Kepler to have no very sanguine
+expectations on this point; nor was it until after the death of Rudolph,
+in 1612, that he was relieved from his pecuniary embarrassments.
+
+On the accession of Rudolph's brother, Matthias, to the Austrian throne,
+Kepler was reappointed Imperial Mathematician; he was also permitted to
+hold the professorship at Linz, to which he had been elected. Kepler was
+not loth to remove from Prague, where he had spent eleven years harassed
+by poverty and other domestic afflictions. Having settled with his
+family at Linz, Kepler issued another work, in 1618, entitled 'Epitome
+of the Copernican Astronomy,' in which he gave a general account of his
+astronomical observations and discoveries, and a summary of his opinions
+with regard to the theories which in those days were the subject of
+controversial discussion. Almost immediately after its publication it
+was included by the Congregation of the Index, at Rome, in the list of
+prohibited books. This occasioned Kepler considerable alarm, as he
+imagined it might interfere with the sale of his works, or give rise to
+difficulties in the issue of others. He, however, was assured by his
+friend Remus that the action of the Papal authorities need cause him no
+anxiety.
+
+The Emperor Matthias died in 1619, and was succeeded by Ferdinand III.,
+who not only retained Kepler in his office, but gave orders that all the
+arrears of his salary should be paid, including those which accumulated
+during the reign of Rudolph; he also expressed a desire that the
+'Rudolphine Tables' should be published without delay and at his cost.
+But other obstacles intervened, for at this time Germany was involved in
+a civil and religious war, which interfered with all peaceful
+vocations. Kepler's library at Linz was sealed up by order of the
+Jesuits, and the city was for a time besieged by troops. This state of
+public affairs necessitated a considerable delay in the publication of
+the 'Tables.'
+
+The 'Rudolphine Tables' were published at Ulm in 1627. They were
+commenced by Tycho Brahé, and completed by Kepler, who made his
+calculations from Tycho's observations, and based them upon his own
+great discovery of the ellipticity of the orbits of the planets. They
+are divided into four parts. The first and third parts contain
+logarithmic and other tables for the purpose of facilitating
+astronomical calculations; in the second are tables of the Sun, Moon,
+and planets; and in the fourth are indicated the positions of one
+thousand stars as determined by Tycho. Kepler made a special journey to
+Prague in order to present the 'Tables' to the Emperor, and afterwards
+the Grand Duke of Tuscany sent him a gold chain as an acknowledgment of
+his appreciation of the completion of this great work.
+
+Albert Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, an accomplished scholar and a man
+fond of scientific pursuits, made Kepler a most liberal offer if he
+would take up his residence in his dominions. After duly considering
+this proposal, Kepler decided to accept the Duke's offer, provided it
+received the sanction of the Emperor. This was readily given, and
+Kepler, in 1629, removed with his family from Linz to Sagan, in Silesia.
+The Duke of Friedland treated him with great kindness and liberality,
+and through his influence he was appointed to a professorship in the
+University of Rostock. Though Kepler was permitted to retain the pension
+bestowed upon him by the late Emperor Rudolph, he was unable after his
+removal to Silesia to obtain payment of it, and there was a large
+accumulation of arrears. In a final endeavour to recover the amount
+owing to him he travelled to Ratisbon, and appealed to the Imperial
+Assembly, but without success. The fatigue which Kepler endured on his
+journey, combined with vexation and disappointment, brought on a fever,
+which terminated fatally. He died on November 15, 1630, when in the
+sixtieth year of his age, and was interred in St. Peter's churchyard,
+Ratisbon.
+
+Kepler was a man of indomitable energy and perseverance, and spared
+neither time nor trouble in the accomplishment of any object which he
+took in hand. In thinking over the form of the orbits of the planets, he
+writes: 'I brooded with the whole energy of my mind on this
+subject--asking why they are not other than they are--the number, the
+size, and the motions of the orbits.' But many fanciful ideas passed
+through Kepler's imaginative brain before he hit upon the true form of
+the planetary orbits. In his 'Mysterium Cosmographicum' he asserts that
+the five kinds of regular polyhedral solids, when described round one
+another, regulated the distances of the planets and size of the
+planetary orbits. In support of this theory he writes as follows: 'The
+orbit of the Earth is the measure of the rest. About it circumscribe a
+dodecahedron. The sphere including this will be that of Mars. About
+Mars' orbit describe a tetrahedron; the sphere containing this will be
+Jupiter's orbit. Round Jupiter's describe a cube; the sphere including
+this will be Saturn's. Within the Earth's orbit inscribe an icosahedron;
+the sphere inscribed in it will be Venus's orbit. In Venus inscribe an
+octahedron; the sphere inscribed in it will be Mercury's.'
+
+The above quotation is an instance of Kepler's wild and imaginative
+genius, which ultimately led him to make those sublime discoveries
+associated with planetary motion which are known as 'Kepler's Laws.'
+
+He describes himself as 'troublesome and choleric in politics and
+domestic matters;' but in his relations with scientific men he was
+affable and pleasant. He showed no jealousy of a rival, and was always
+ready to recognise merit in others; nor did he hesitate to acknowledge
+any error of his own when more recent discoveries proved that he was
+wrong.
+
+Some of his works contain passages, written in a jocular strain,
+indicative of a bright and cheerful temperament. The following
+characteristic paragraph refers to the opinions of the Epicureans with
+regard to the appearance of a new star, which they ascribed to a
+fortuitous concourse of atoms: 'When I was a youth, with plenty of idle
+time on my hands, I was much taken with the vanity, of which some grown
+men are not ashamed, of making anagrams by transposing the letters of my
+name written in Latin so as to make another sentence. Out of Ioannes
+Keplerus came _Serpens in akuleo_ (a serpent in his sting); but not
+being satisfied with the meaning of these words, and being unable to
+make another, I trusted the thing to chance, and, taking out of a pack
+of playing-cards as many as there were letters in the name, I wrote one
+upon each, and then began to shuffle them, and at each shuffle to read
+them in the order they came, to see if any meaning came of it. Now, may
+all the Epicurean gods and goddesses confound this same chance, which,
+although I have spent a good deal of time over it, never showed me
+anything like sense, even from a distance. So I gave up my cards to the
+Epicurean eternity, to be carried away into infinity; and it is said
+they are still flying about there, in the utmost confusion, among the
+atoms, and have never yet come to any meaning. I will tell those
+disputants, my opponents, not my own opinion, but my wife's. Yesterday,
+when weary with writing, and my mind quite dusty with considering these
+atoms, I was called to supper, and a salad I had asked for was set
+before me. "It seems, then," said I aloud, "that if pewter dishes,
+leaves of lettuce, grains of salt, drops of water, vinegar and oil, and
+slices of egg, had been flying about in the air from all eternity, it
+might at last happen by chance that there would come a salad." "Yes,"
+says my wife, "but not so nice and well dressed as this of mine is."'
+
+Notwithstanding the frequent interruptions which, owing to various
+reasons, retarded his labours, Kepler was able to bring to a successful
+completion the numerous and important works upon which he was engaged
+during his lifetime, the voluminous nature of which may be imagined when
+it is stated that he published thirty-three separate works, besides
+leaving behind twenty-two volumes of manuscript.
+
+During his researches on the motions of Mars, Kepler discovered that the
+planet sometimes travelled at an accelerated rate of speed, and at
+another time its pace was diminished. At one time he observed it to be
+in advance of the place where he calculated it should be found, and at
+another time it was behind it. This caused him considerable perplexity,
+and, feeling convinced in his mind that the form of the planet's orbit
+could not be circular, he was compelled to turn his attention to some
+other closed curve, by which those inequalities of motion could be
+explained.
+
+After years of careful observation and study, Kepler arrived at the
+conclusion that the form of the planet's orbit is an ellipse, and that
+the Sun occupies one of the foci. He afterwards determined that the
+orbits of all the planets are of an elliptical form.
+
+Having discovered the true form of the planetary orbits, Kepler next
+endeavoured to ascertain the cause which regulates the unequal motion
+that a planet pursues in its path. He observed that when a planet
+approached the Sun its motion was accelerated, and as it receded from
+him its pace became slower.
+
+This he explained in his next great discovery by proving that an
+imaginary line, or radius-vector, extending from the centre of the Sun
+to the centre of the planet 'describes equal areas in equal times.' When
+near the Sun, or at perihelion, a planet traverses a larger portion of
+its arc in the same period of time than it does when at the opposite
+part of its orbit, or when at aphelion; but, as the areas of both are
+equal, it follows that the planet does not always maintain the same rate
+of speed, and that its velocity is greatest when nearest the Sun, and
+least when most distant from him.
+
+By the application of his first and second laws Kepler was able to
+formulate a third law. He found that there existed a remarkable
+relationship between the mean distances of the planets and the times in
+which they complete their revolutions round the Sun, and discovered
+'that the squares of the periodic times are to each in the same
+proportion as the cubes of the mean distances.' The periodic time of a
+planet having been ascertained, the square of the mean distance and the
+mean distance itself can be obtained. It is by the application of this
+law that the distances of the planets are usually calculated.
+
+These discoveries are known as Kepler's Laws, and are usually classified
+as follows:--
+
+1. 'The orbit described by every planet is an ellipse, of which the
+centre of the Sun occupies one of the foci.
+
+2. 'Every planet moves round the Sun in a plane orbit, and the
+radius-vector, or imaginary line joining the centre of the planet and
+the centre of the Sun, describes equal areas in equal times.
+
+3. 'The squares of the periodic times of any two planets are
+proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun.'[1]
+
+These remarkable discoveries do not embrace all the achievements by
+which Kepler has immortalised his name, and earned for himself the proud
+title of 'Legislator of the Heavens;' he predicted transits of Mercury
+and Venus, made important discoveries in optics, and was the inventor of
+the astronomical telescope.
+
+GALILEO GALILEI, the famous Italian astronomer and philosopher, and the
+contemporary of Kepler and of Milton, was born at Pisa on February 15,
+1564.
+
+His father, who traced his descent from an ancient Florentine family,
+was desirous that his son should adopt the profession of medicine, and
+with this intention he entered him as a student at the University of
+Pisa. Galileo, however, soon discovered that the study of mathematics
+and mechanical science possessed a greater attraction for his mind,
+and, following his inclinations, he resolved to devote his energies to
+acquiring proficiency in those subjects.
+
+In 1583 his attention was attracted by the oscillation of a brass lamp
+suspended from the ceiling of the cathedral at Pisa. Galileo was
+impressed with the regularity of its motion as it swung backwards and
+forwards, and was led to imagine that the pendulum movement might prove
+a valuable method for the correct measurement of time. The practical
+application of this idea he afterwards adopted in the construction of an
+astronomical clock.
+
+Having become proficient in mathematics, Galileo, whilst engaged in
+studying the writings of Archimedes, wrote an essay on 'The Hydrostatic
+Balance,' and composed a treatise on 'The Centre of Gravity in Solid
+Bodies.' The reputation which he earned by these contributions to
+science procured for him the appointment of Lecturer on Mathematics at
+the University of Pisa. Galileo next directed his attention to the works
+of Aristotle, and made no attempt to conceal the disfavour with which he
+regarded many of the doctrines taught by the Greek philosopher; nor had
+he any difficulty in exposing their inaccuracies. One of these, which
+maintained that the heavier of two bodies descended to the earth with
+the greater rapidity, he proved to be incorrect, and demonstrated by
+experiment from the top of the tower at Pisa that, except for the
+unequal resistance of the air, all bodies fell to the ground with the
+same velocity.
+
+As the chief expounder of the new philosophy, Galileo had to encounter
+the prejudices of the followers of Aristotle, and of all those who
+disliked any innovation or change in the established order of things.
+The antagonism which existed between Galileo and his opponents, who were
+both numerous and influential, was intensified by the bitterness and
+sarcasm which he imparted into his controversies, and the attitude
+assumed by his enemies at last became so threatening that he deemed it
+prudent to resign the Chair of Mathematics in the University of Pisa.
+
+In the following year he was appointed to a similar post at Padua, where
+his fame attracted crowds of pupils from all parts of Europe.
+
+In 1611 Galileo visited Rome. He was received with much distinction by
+the different learned societies, and was enrolled a member of the
+Lyncæan Academy. In two years after his visit to the capital he
+published a work in which he declared his adhesion to the Copernican
+theory, and openly avowed his disbelief in the astronomical facts
+recorded in the Scriptures. Galileo maintained that the sacred writings
+were not intended for the purpose of imparting scientific information,
+and that it was impossible for men to ignore phenomena witnessed with
+their eyes, or disregard conclusions arrived at by the exercise of their
+reasoning powers.
+
+The champions of orthodoxy having become alarmed, an appeal was made to
+the ecclesiastical authorities to assist in suppressing this recent
+astronomical heresy, and other obnoxious doctrines, the authorship of
+which was ascribed to Galileo.
+
+In 1615, Galileo was summoned before the Inquisition to reply to the
+accusation of heresy. 'He was charged with maintaining the motion of the
+Earth and the stability of the Sun; with teaching this doctrine to his
+pupils; with corresponding on the subject with several German
+mathematicians; and with having published it, and attempted to reconcile
+it to Scripture in his letters to Mark Velser in 1612.'
+
+These charges having been formally investigated by the Inquisition,
+Cardinal Bellarmine was authorised to communicate with Galileo, and
+inform him that unless he renounced the obnoxious doctrines, and
+promised 'neither to teach, defend, or publish them in future,' it was
+decreed that he should be committed to prison. Galileo appeared next day
+before the Cardinal, and, without any hesitation, pledged himself that
+for the future he would adhere to the pronouncement of the Inquisition.
+
+Having, as they imagined, silenced Galileo, the Inquisition resolved to
+condemn the entire Copernican system as heretical; and in order to
+effectually accomplish this, besides condemning the writings of Galileo,
+they inhibited Kepler's 'Epitome of the Copernican System,' and
+Copernicus's own work, 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium.'
+
+Whether it was that Galileo regarded the Inquisition as a body whose
+decrees were too absurd and unreasonable to be heeded, or that he
+dreaded the consequences which might have followed had he remained
+obstinate, we know that, notwithstanding the pledges which he gave, he
+was soon afterwards engaged in controversial discussion on those
+subjects which he promised not to mention again.
+
+On the accession of his friend Cardinal Barberini to the pontifical
+throne in 1623, under the title of Urban VIII., Galileo undertook a
+journey to Rome to offer him his congratulations upon his elevation to
+the papal chair. He was received by his Holiness with marked attention
+and kindness, was granted several prolonged audiences, and had conferred
+upon him several valuable gifts.
+
+Notwithstanding the kindness of Pope Urban and the leniency with which
+he was treated by the Inquisition, Galileo, having ignored his pledge,
+published in 1632 a book, in dialogue form, in which three persons were
+supposed to express their scientific opinions. The first upheld the
+Copernican theory and the more recent philosophical views; the second
+person adopted a neutral position, suggested doubts, and made remarks of
+an amusing nature; the third individual, called Simplicio, was a
+believer in Ptolemy and Aristotle, and based his arguments upon the
+philosophy of the ancients.
+
+As soon as this work became publicly known, the enemies of Galileo
+persuaded the Pope that the third person held up to ridicule was
+intended as a representation of himself--an individual regardless of
+scientific truth, and firmly attached to the ideas and opinions
+associated with the writings of antiquity.
+
+Almost immediately after the publication of the 'Dialogues' Galileo was
+summoned before the Inquisition, and, notwithstanding his feeble health
+and the infirmities of advanced age, he was, after a long and tedious
+trial, condemned to abjure by oath on his knees his scientific beliefs.
+
+'The ceremony of Galileo's abjuration was one of exciting interest and
+of awful formality. Clothed in the sackcloth of a repentant criminal,
+the venerable sage fell upon his knees before the assembled cardinals,
+and, laying his hand upon the Holy Evangelists, he invoked the Divine
+aid in abjuring, and detesting, and vowing never again to teach the
+doctrines of the Earth's motion and of the Sun's stability. He pledged
+himself that he would nevermore, either in words or in writing,
+propagate such heresies; and he swore that he would fulfil and observe
+the penances which had been inflicted upon him.' 'At the conclusion of
+this ceremony, in which he recited his abjuration word for word and then
+signed it, he was conveyed, in conformity with his sentence, to the
+prison of the Inquisition.'[2]
+
+Galileo's sarcasm, and the bitterness which he imparted into his
+controversies, were more the cause of his misfortunes than his
+scientific beliefs. When he became involved in difficulties he did not
+possess the moral courage to enable him to abide by the consequences of
+his acts; nor did he care to become a martyr for the sake of science,
+his submission to the Inquisition having probably saved him from a fate
+similar to what befell Bruno. Though it would be impossible to justify
+Galileo's want of faith in his dealings with the Inquisition, yet one
+cannot help sympathising deeply with the aged philosopher, who, in this
+painful episode of his life, was compelled to go through the form of
+making a retractation of his beliefs under circumstances of a most
+humiliating nature.
+
+But the persecution of Galileo did not delay the progress of scientific
+inquiry nor retard the advancement of the Copernican theory, which,
+after the discovery by Newton of the law of gravitation, was universally
+adopted as the true theory of the solar system.
+
+Ferdinand, Duke of Tuscany, having exerted his influence with Pope Urban
+on behalf of Galileo, he was, after a few days' incarceration, released
+from prison, and permission was given him to reside at Siena, where he
+remained for six months. He was afterwards allowed to return to his
+villa at Arcetri, and, though regarded as a prisoner of the Inquisition,
+was permitted to pursue his studies unmolested for the remainder of his
+days.
+
+Galileo died at Arcetri on January 8, 1642, when in the seventy-eighth
+year of his age.
+
+Though not the inventor, he was the first to construct a refracting
+telescope and apply it to astronomical research. With this instrument
+he made a number of important discoveries which tended to confirm his
+belief in the truthfulness of the Copernican theory.
+
+On directing his telescope to the Sun, he discovered movable spots on
+his disc, and concluded from his observation of them that the orb
+rotated on his axis in about twenty-eight days. He also ascertained that
+the Moon's illumination is due to reflected sunlight, and that her
+surface is diversified by mountains, valleys, and plains.
+
+On the night of January 7, 1610, Galileo discovered the four moons of
+Jupiter. This discovery may be regarded as one of his most brilliant
+achievements with the telescope; and, notwithstanding the improvement in
+construction and size of modern instruments, no other satellite was
+discovered until near midnight on September 9, 1892, when Mr. E. E.
+Barnard, with the splendid telescope of the Lick Observatory, added
+'another gem to the diadem of Jupiter.'
+
+The phases of Venus and Mars, the triple form of Saturn, and the
+constitution of the Milky Way, which he found to consist of a countless
+multitude of stars, were additional discoveries for our knowledge of
+which we are indebted to Galileo and his telescope. Galileo made many
+other important discoveries in mechanical and physical science. He
+detected the law of falling bodies in their accelerated motion towards
+the Earth, determined the parabolic law of projectiles, and
+demonstrated that matter, even if invisible, possessed the property of
+weight.
+
+In these pages a short historical description is given of the progress
+made in astronomical science from an early period to the time in which
+Milton lived. The discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo had
+raised it to a position of lofty eminence, though the law of
+gravitation, which accounts for the form and permanency of the planetary
+orbits, still remained undiscovered. Theories formerly obscure or
+conjectural were either rejected or elucidated with accuracy and
+precision, and the solar system, having the Sun as its centre, with his
+attendant family of planets and their satellites revolving in majestic
+orbits around him, presented an impressive spectacle of order, harmony,
+and design.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ASTRONOMY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
+
+
+The seventeenth century embraces the most remarkable epoch in the whole
+history of astronomy. It was during this period that those wonderful
+discoveries were made which have been the means of raising astronomy to
+the lofty position which it now occupies among the sciences. The
+unrivalled genius and patient labours of the illustrious men whose names
+stand out in such prominence on the written pages of the history of this
+era have rendered it one of the most interesting and elevating of
+studies. Though Copernicus lived in the preceding century, yet the names
+of Tycho Brahé, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, testify to the greatness of
+the discoveries that were made during this period, which have surrounded
+the memories of those men with a lustre of undying fame.
+
+Foremost among astronomers of less conspicuous eminence who made
+important discoveries in this century we find the name of Huygens.
+
+CHRISTIAN HUYGENS was born at The Hague in 1629. He was the second son
+of Constantine Huygens, an eminent diplomatist, and secretary to the
+Prince of Orange. Huygens studied at Leyden and Breda, and became
+highly distinguished as a geometrician and scientist. He made important
+investigations relative to the figure of the Earth, and wrote a learned
+treatise on the cause of gravity; he also determined with greater
+accuracy investigations made by Galileo regarding the accelerated motion
+of bodies when subjected to the influence of that force.
+
+Huygens admitted that the planets and their satellites attracted each
+other with a force varying according to the inverse ratio of the squares
+of their distances, but rejected the mutual attraction of the molecules
+of matter, believing that they possessed gravity towards a central point
+only, to which they were attracted. This supposition was at variance
+with the Newtonian theory, which, however, was universally regarded as
+the correct one.
+
+Huygens originated the theory by which it is believed that light is
+produced by the undulatory vibration of the ether; he also discovered
+polarization.
+
+Up to this time the method adopted in the construction of clocks was not
+capable of producing a mechanism which measured time with sufficient
+accuracy to satisfy the requirements of astronomers. Huygens endeavoured
+to supply this want, and applied his mechanical ingenuity in
+constructing a clock that could be relied upon to keep accurate time.
+Though the pendulum motion was first adopted by Galileo, he was unable
+to arrange its mechanism so that it should keep up a continuous
+movement. The oscillation of the pendulum ceased after a time, and a
+fresh impulse had to be applied to set it in motion. Consequently,
+Galileo's clock was of no service as a timekeeper.
+
+Huygens overcame this difficulty by so arranging the mechanism of his
+clock that the balance, instead of being horizontal, was directed
+perpendicularly, and prolonged downwards to form a pendulum, the
+oscillations of which regulated the downward motion of the weight. This
+invention, which was highly applauded, proved to be of great service
+everywhere, and was especially valuable for astronomical purposes.
+
+Huygens next directed his attention to the construction of telescopes,
+and displayed much skill in the grinding and polishing of lenses. He
+made several instruments superior in power and accuracy to any that
+existed previously, and with one of these made some remarkable
+discoveries when observing the planet Saturn.
+
+The telescopic appearance of Saturn is one of the most beautiful in the
+heavens. The planet, surrounded by two brilliant rings, and accompanied
+by eight attendant moons, surpasses all the other orbs of the firmament
+as an object of interest and admiration. To the naked eye, Saturn is
+visible as a star of the first magnitude, and was known to the ancients
+as the most remote of the planets. Travelling in space at a distance of
+nearly one thousand millions of miles from the Sun, the planet
+accomplishes a revolution of its mighty orbit in twenty-nine and a half
+years.
+
+Galileo was the first astronomer who directed a telescope to Saturn. He
+observed that the planet presented a triform appearance, and that on
+each side of the central globe there were two objects, in close contact
+with it, which caused it to assume an ovoid shape. After further
+observation, Galileo perceived that the lateral bodies gradually
+decreased in size, until they became invisible. At the expiration of a
+certain period of time they reappeared, and were observed to go through
+a certain cycle of changes. By the application of increased telescopic
+power it was discovered that the appendages were not of a rounded form,
+but appeared as two small crescents, having their concave surfaces
+directed towards the planet and their extremities in contact with it,
+resembling the manner in which the handles are attached to a cup.
+
+These objects were observed to go through a series of periodic changes.
+After having become invisible, they reappeared as two luminous straight
+bands, projecting from each side of the planet; during the next seven or
+eight years they gradually opened out, and assumed a crescentic form;
+they afterwards began to contract, and on the expiration of a similar
+period, during which time they gradually decreased in size, they again
+became invisible. It was perceived that the appendages completed a cycle
+of their changes in about fifteen years.
+
+In 1656, Huygens, with a telescope constructed by himself, was enabled
+to solve the enigma which for so many years baffled the efforts of the
+ablest astronomers. He announced his discovery in the form of a Latin
+cryptograph which, when deciphered, read as follows:--
+
+'Annulo cingitur, tenui plano, nusquam cohaerente, ad eclipticam
+inclinatio.'
+
+'The planet is surrounded by a slender flat ring everywhere distinct
+from its surface, and inclined to the ecliptic.'
+
+Huygens perceived the shadow of the ring thrown on the planet, and was
+able to account in a satisfactory manner for all the phenomena observed
+in connection with its variable appearance.
+
+The true form of the ring is circular, but by us it is seen
+foreshortened; consequently, when the Earth is above or below its plane,
+it appears of an elliptical shape. When the position of the planet is
+such that the plane of the ring passes through the Sun, the edge of the
+ring only is illumined, and then it becomes invisible for a short
+period. In the same manner, when the plane of the ring passes through
+the Earth, the illumined edge of the ring is not of sufficient magnitude
+to appear visible, but as the enlightened side of the plane becomes more
+inclined towards the Earth, the ring comes again into view. When the
+plane of the ring passes between the Earth and the Sun, the unillumined
+side of the ring is turned towards the Earth, and during the time it
+remains in this position it is invisible.
+
+Huygens discovered the sixth satellite of Saturn (Titan), and also the
+Great Nebula in Orion.
+
+JOHANN HEVELIUS, a celebrated Prussian astronomer, was born at Dantzig
+in 1611, and died in that city in 1687. He was a man of wealth, and
+erected an observatory at his residence, where, for a period of forty
+years, he carried out a series of astronomical observations.
+
+He constructed a chart of the stars, and in order to complete his work,
+formed nine new constellations in those spaces in the celestial vault
+which were previously un-named. They are known by the names
+Camelopardus, Canes Venatici, Coma Bernices, Lacerta, Leo Minor, Lynx,
+Monoceros, Sextans, and Vulpecula. He also executed a chart of the
+Moon's surface, wrote a description of the lunar spots, and discovered
+the Libration of the Moon in Longitude.
+
+On May 30, 1661, Hevelius observed a transit of Mercury, a description
+of which he published, and included with it Horrox's treatise on the
+first-recorded transit of Venus. This work, after having passed through
+several hands, became the property of Hevelius, who was capable of
+appreciating its merits. The manuscript was sent to him by Huygens, and
+in acknowledging it he writes: 'How greatly does my Mercury exult in the
+joyous prospect that he may shortly fold within his arms Horrox's long
+looked-for and beloved Venus! He renders you unfeigned thanks that by
+your permission this much-desired union is about to be celebrated, and
+that the writer is able, with your concurrence, to introduce them both
+together to the public.'
+
+Hevelius made numerous researches on comets, and suggested that the
+form of their paths might be a parabola.
+
+GIOVANNI DOMENICO CASSINI was born at Perinaldo, near Nice, in 1625. He
+studied at Genoa and Bologna, and was afterwards appointed to the Chair
+of Astronomy at the latter University. He was a man of high scientific
+attainments, and made many important astronomical discoveries.
+
+In 1671 he became Director of the Royal Observatory at Paris, and
+devoted a long life to trying and difficult observations, which in his
+later years deprived him of his eyesight.
+
+In 1644 Cassini proved beyond doubt that Jupiter rotated on his axis,
+and also assigned his period of rotation with considerable accuracy. He
+published tables of the planet's satellites, and determined their
+motions from observations of their eclipses. He ascertained the periods
+of rotation of Venus and Mars; executed a chart of the lunar surface,
+and observed an occultation of Jupiter by the Moon.
+
+Cassini discovered the dual nature of Saturn's ring, having perceived
+that instead of one there are two concentric rings separated by a dark
+space. He also discovered four of the planet's satellites--viz. Japetus,
+Rhea, Dione, and Tethys. He made a near approximation to the solar
+parallax by means of researches on the parallax of Mars, and
+investigated some irregularities of the Moon's motion. Cassini
+discovered the belts of Jupiter, and also the Zodiacal Light, and
+established the coincidence of the nodes of the lunar equator and orbit.
+
+JAQUES CASSINI, son of Giovanni, was born at Paris in 1677. He followed
+in his father's footsteps, and wrote several treatises on astronomical
+subjects. He investigated the period of the rotation of Venus on her
+axis, and upheld the results arrived at by his father, which were
+afterwards confirmed by observations made by Schroeter. Cassini made
+some valuable researches with regard to the proper motion of the stars,
+and demonstrated that their change of position on the celestial vault
+was real, and not caused by a displacement of the ecliptic. He attempted
+to ascertain the apparent diameter of Sirius, and made observations with
+regard to the visibility of the stars. The Cassini family produced
+several generations of eminent astronomers, whose discoveries and
+investigations were of much value in advancing the science of astronomy.
+
+OLAUS ROEMER, an eminent Danish astronomer, was born at Copenhagen
+September 25, 1644. When Picard, a French astronomer, visited Denmark in
+1671, for the purpose of ascertaining the exact position of
+'Uranienburg,' the site of Tycho Brahé's observatory, he made the
+acquaintance of Roemer, who was engaged in studying mathematics and
+astronomy under Erasmus Bartolinus. Having perceived that the young man
+was gifted with no ordinary degree of talent, he secured his services to
+assist him in his observations, and, on the conclusion of his labours,
+Picard was so much impressed with the ability displayed by Roemer, that
+he invited him to accompany him to France. This invitation he accepted,
+and took up his residence in the French capital, where he continued to
+prosecute his astronomical studies.
+
+In 1675 Roemer communicated to the Academy of Sciences a paper, in which
+he announced his discovery of the progressive transmission of light. It
+was believed that light travelled instantaneously, but Roemer was able
+to demonstrate the inaccuracy of this conclusion, and determined that
+light travels through space with a measurable velocity.
+
+By diligently observing the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, Roemer
+perceived that sometimes they occurred before, and sometimes after their
+predicted times. This irregularity, he discovered, depended upon the
+position of the Earth with regard to Jupiter. When the Earth, in
+traversing her orbit, moved round to the opposite side of the Sun,
+thereby bringing Jupiter into conjunction, an eclipse occurred sixteen
+minutes twenty-six seconds later than it did when Jupiter was in
+opposition or nearest to the Earth. As there existed an impression that
+light travelled instantaneously, it was believed that an eclipse
+occurred at the moment it was perceived in the telescope. This, however,
+was not so. Roemer, after a long series of observations, concluded that
+the discrepancies were due to the fact that light travels with a
+measurable velocity, and that it requires a greater length of time,
+upwards of sixteen minutes, to traverse the additional distance--the
+diameter of the Earth's orbit--which intervenes between the Earth and
+Jupiter, when the planet is in conjunction, as compared with the
+distance between the Earth and Jupiter, when the latter is in
+opposition. This discovery of Roemer's was the means of enabling the
+velocity of light to be ascertained, which, according to recent
+calculations, is about 187,000 miles a second. As an acknowledgment of
+the importance of his communication, Roemer was awarded a seat in the
+Academy, and apartments were assigned to him at the Royal Observatory,
+where he carried on his astronomical studies.
+
+In 1681 Roemer returned to Denmark, and was appointed Professor of
+Mathematics in the University of Copenhagen; he was also entrusted with
+the care of the city observatory--a duty which his reputation as an
+astronomer eminently qualified him to undertake. The transit
+instrument--a mechanism of much importance to astronomers--was invented
+by Roemer in 1690; it consists of a telescope fixed to a horizontal
+axis, and adjusted so as to revolve in the plane of the meridian. It is
+employed in observing the passage of the heavenly bodies across the
+observer's meridian. To note accurately by means of the astronomical
+clock the exact instant of time at which a celestial body crosses the
+centre of the field of view is the essential part of a transit
+observation. Small transit instruments are employed for taking the time
+and for regulating the observatory clock, but large instruments are
+used for delicate and exact observations of Right Ascensions and
+Declinations of stars of different magnitudes. Meridian, and altitude
+and azimuth circles, are important astronomical appliances, which owe
+their existence to the inventive skill of this distinguished astronomer.
+
+Roemer resided for many years at the observatory in the city of
+Copenhagen, where he pursued his astronomical studies until the time of
+his death, which occurred in 1710. He meritoriously attempted to
+determine the parallax of the fixed stars; and it is said that the
+astronomical calculations and observations which he left behind him were
+so voluminous as to equal in number those made by Tycho Brahé, nearly
+all of which perished in a great conflagration that destroyed the
+observatory and a large portion of the city of Copenhagen in 1728.
+
+Among other astronomers of this century whose names deserve recording
+were Descartes and Gassendi, whose mathematical researches in their
+application to astronomy were of much value; Fabricius, Torricelli, and
+Maraldi, who by their observations and investigations added many facts
+to the general knowledge of the science; and Bayer, to whom belongs the
+distinction of having constructed the first star-atlas.
+
+In our own country during this period astronomy was cultivated by a few
+enthusiastic men, who devoted their time and talents to promoting the
+advancement of the science. It, however, received no recognition as a
+subject of study at any of the Universities, and no public observatory
+existed in Great Britain.
+
+Though it was not until towards the close of the century that the
+attention of all Europe was directed to England in admiration of the
+discoveries of the illustrious Newton, yet astronomy had its humble
+votaries, and chief among those was a young clergyman of the name of
+Horrox.
+
+JEREMIAH HORROX was born at Toxteth, near Liverpool, in 1619--close on
+three centuries ago. Little is known of his family. His parents have
+been described as persons who occupied a humble position in life, but,
+as they were able to give their son a classical education which fitted
+him for one of the learned professions, it is probable they were not so
+obscure as they have been represented to be.
+
+Having received his early education at Toxteth, Horrox afterwards
+proceeded to Cambridge, and was entered as a student at Emmanuel College
+on May 18, 1632, when in his fourteenth year.
+
+At the University he devoted himself to the study of classics,
+especially Latin, which in those days was the language adopted by men of
+learning, when engaged in writing works of a philosophical and
+scientific character.
+
+After having remained at Cambridge for three years, Horrox returned to
+his native county, and was appointed curate of Hoole, a place about
+eight miles distant from Preston. Hoole is described as a narrow
+low-lying strip of land consisting largely of moss, and almost converted
+into an island by the waters of Martin Mere on the south, and the Ribble
+on the north; and, though doubtless an open and favourable situation for
+astronomical observation, it could not have been attractive as a place
+of residence. Yet it was here on November 24, 1639, that Horrox made his
+famous observation of the first recorded transit of Venus, an occurrence
+with which his name will be for ever associated.
+
+It was while at Cambridge that Horrox first turned his attention to the
+study of astronomy. His love of the sublime, and the captivating
+influence exerted on his mind by the contemplation of the heavenly
+bodies, induced him to adopt astronomy as a pursuit congenial to his
+tastes, and capable of exercising his highest mental powers. Having this
+object in view, he applied himself with much earnestness to the study of
+mathematics; he had, however, to rely mainly upon his own exertions, for
+at that time no branch of physical or mathematical science was taught at
+Cambridge, and consequently he obtained no professional instruction.
+
+It was so also with astronomy, which, as a science, was scarcely known
+in this country; no regular record of astronomical observations was kept
+by any individual observer, and no public observatory existed in England
+or in France.
+
+The disadvantages and obstacles which Horrox had to encounter may be
+best described by quoting his own words. He writes: 'There were many
+hindrances. The abstruse nature of the study, my inexperience and want
+of means dispirited me. I was much pained not to have any one to whom I
+could look for guidance, or indeed for the sympathy of companionship in
+my endeavours, and I was assailed by the languor and weariness which are
+inseparable from every great undertaking. What then was to be done? I
+could not make the pursuit an easy one, much less increase my fortune,
+and least of all imbue others with a love for astronomy; and yet to
+complain of philosophy on account of its difficulties would be foolish
+and unworthy. I determined, therefore, that the tediousness of study
+should be overcome by industry; my poverty--failing a better method--by
+patience; and that instead of a master I would use astronomical books.
+Armed with these weapons I would contend successfully; and, having heard
+of others acquiring knowledge without greater help, I would blush that
+any one should be able to do more than I, always remembering that word
+of Virgil's--
+
+    Totidem nobis animaeque manusque.
+
+Having heard much praise bestowed upon the works of Lansberg, a Flemish
+astronomer, Horrox thought it would be to his advantage to procure a
+copy of his writings. This he succeeded in obtaining after some
+difficulty, and devoted a considerable time to calculating Ephemerides,
+based upon the Lansberg Tables, but after making a number of
+computations he discovered that they were unreliable and inaccurate.
+
+In the year 1636 Horrox made the acquaintance of William Crabtree, a
+devoted astronomer, who lived at Broughton, a suburb of Manchester. A
+close friendship soon existed between the two men, and they carried on
+an active correspondence about matters relating to the science which
+they both loved so well.
+
+Crabtree, who was an unbeliever in Lansberg, urged Horrox to discard the
+Flemish astronomer's works, and devote his talents to the study of Tycho
+Brahé and Kepler. This advice led Horrox to make a more rigorous
+examination of the Lansberg Tables, and after comparing them with the
+observations made by Crabtree, which coincided with his own, he resolved
+to renounce them. Acting on the advice of his friend, Horrox directed
+his attention to the writings of Kepler. The youthful astronomer soon
+realised their value, and was charmed with the accuracy of observation
+and inductive reasoning displayed in the elucidation of those general
+laws which constituted a new era in the history of astronomy.
+
+The Rudolphine Tables, which were the astronomical calculations
+commenced by Tycho Brahé, and completed by Kepler, were regarded by
+Horrox as much superior to those of Lansberg; but it occurred to him
+that they might be improved by changing some of the numbers, and yet
+retaining the hypotheses. To this task he applied himself with much
+earnestness and assiduity, and after close application and laborious
+study he accomplished the arduous undertaking of bringing those tables
+to a high state of perfection.
+
+In his investigation of the Lunar theory, Horrox outstripped all his
+predecessors, and Sir Isaac Newton distinctly affirms he was the first
+to discover that the Moon's motion round the Earth is in the form of an
+ellipse with the centre in the lower focus. Besides having made this
+discovery, Horrox was able to explain the causes of the inequalities of
+the Moon's motion, which render the exact computation of her elements so
+difficult.
+
+The Annual Equation, an irregularity discovered by Tycho Brahé, which is
+produced by the increase and decrease of the Sun's disturbing force as
+the Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit, had its value
+first assigned by Horrox. This he calculated to be eleven minutes
+sixteen seconds, which is within four seconds of what it has since been
+proved to be by the most recent observations.
+
+The Evection, an irregular motion of the Moon discovered by Ptolemy,
+whereby her mean longitude is increased or diminished, was explained by
+Horrox as depending upon the libratory motion of the apsides, and the
+change which takes place in the eccentricity of the lunar orbit.
+
+These discoveries were made by Horrox before he attained the age of
+twenty years, and if his reputation had alone rested upon them his name
+would have been honourably associated with those who have attained to
+the highest eminence in astronomy.
+
+Another achievement which adds lustre to Horrox's name consists in his
+detection of the inequality in the mean motions of Jupiter and Saturn.
+
+He also directed his attention to the study of cometary bodies, and
+arrived at certain conclusions with regard to the nature of their
+movements. At first, he believed like Kepler that comets were projected
+in straight lines from the Sun; this supposition having been upheld on
+account of the great elongation of their orbits. He next perceived that
+their velocity increased as they approached the Sun, and decreased as
+they receded from him. Afterwards he says, 'They move in an elliptic
+figure or near it,' and finally he arrived at the conclusion that
+'comets move in elliptical orbits, being carried round the Sun with a
+velocity which is probably variable.' This theory has been verified by
+numerous observations, and is now generally accepted by astronomers.
+
+Horrox also made a series of observations on the tides. He notified the
+extent of their rise and fall at different periods, and investigated
+other phenomena associated with their ebb and flow. After having
+continued his observations for some time, he wrote to his friend
+Crabtree, and informed him that he had perceived many interesting
+details which had not been previously described, and he hoped to be
+able to arrive at some important conclusions with regard to their nature
+and cause. Unfortunately, Horrox's writings on this subject, along with
+many other important papers, have been lost or destroyed. We are
+therefore ignorant of the result of his researches, which were the first
+undertaken by any person for the purpose of scientific inquiry.
+
+From his study of the Lansberg and Rudolphine Tables, Horrox arrived at
+the conclusion that a transit of Venus would occur on November 24, 1639.
+This transit was for some unaccountable reason overlooked by Kepler, who
+predicted one in 1631, and the next not until 1761. The transit of 1631
+was not visible in Europe.
+
+We are indebted to Horrox for a description of the transit of 1639--the
+first that was ever observed of which there is any record; and were it
+not for the accuracy of his calculations, the occurrence of the
+phenomenon would have been unperceived, and no history of the
+conjunction would have been handed down to posterity. As soon as Horrox
+had assured himself of the time when the transit would take place, he
+wrote to Crabtree to inform him of the date, and asked him to make
+observations with his telescope, and especially to examine the diameter
+of the planet, which he thought had been over-estimated. He also
+requested him to write to Dr. Foster of Cambridge, and inform him of the
+expected event, as it was desirable that the transit should be observed
+from several places in consequence of the possibility of failure, owing
+to an overcast sky. His letter is dated October 26, 1639. He says: 'My
+reason for now writing is to advise you of a remarkable conjunction of
+the Sun and Venus on the 24th of November, when there will be a transit.
+As such a thing has not happened for many years past, and will not occur
+again in this century, I earnestly entreat you to watch attentively with
+your telescope in order to observe it as well as you can.
+
+'Notice particularly the diameter of Venus, which is stated by Kepler to
+be seven minutes, and by Lansberg to be eleven, but which I believe to
+be scarcely greater than one minute.'
+
+In describing the method which he adopted for observing the transit,
+Horrox writes as follows: 'Having attentively examined Venus with my
+instrument, I described on a sheet of paper a circle, whose diameter was
+nearly equal to six inches--the narrowness of the apartment not
+permitting me conveniently to use a larger size. I divided the
+circumference of this circle into 360 degrees in the usual manner, and
+its diameter into thirty equal parts, which gives about as many minutes
+as are equivalent to the Sun's apparent diameter. Each of these thirty
+parts was again divided into four equal portions, making in all one
+hundred and twenty; and these, if necessary, may be more minutely
+subdivided. The rest I left to ocular computation, which, in such small
+sections, is quite as certain as any mechanical division. Suppose,
+then, each of these thirty parts to be divided into sixty seconds,
+according to the practice of astronomers. When the time of the
+observation approached, I retired to my apartment, and, having closed
+the windows against the light, I directed my telescope--previously
+adjusted to a focus--through the aperture towards the Sun, and received
+his rays at right angles upon the paper already mentioned. The Sun's
+image exactly filled the circle, and I watched carefully and unceasingly
+for any dark body that might enter upon the disc of light.
+
+'Although the corrected computation of Venus' motions which I had before
+prepared, and on the accuracy of which I implicitly relied, forbade me
+to expect anything before three o'clock in the afternoon of the 24th,
+yet since, according to the calculations of most astronomers, the
+conjunction should take place sooner--by some even on the 23rd--I was
+unwilling to depend entirely on my own opinion, which was not
+sufficiently confirmed, lest by too much self-confidence I might
+endanger the observation. Anxiously intent, therefore, on the
+undertaking through the greater part of the 23rd, and on the whole of
+the 24th, I omitted no available opportunity of observing her ingress. I
+watched carefully on the 24th from sunrise to nine o'clock, and from a
+little before ten until noon, and at one in the afternoon, being called
+away in the intervals by business of the highest importance, which for
+these ornamental pursuits I could not with propriety neglect.[3] But
+during all this time I saw nothing in the Sun except a small and common
+spot, consisting as it were of three points at a distance from the
+centre towards the left, which I noticed on the preceding and following
+days. This evidently had nothing to do with Venus. About fifteen minutes
+past three in the afternoon, when I was again at liberty to continue my
+labours, the clouds, as if by divine interposition, were entirely
+dispersed, and I was once more invited to the grateful task of repeating
+my observations. I then beheld a most agreeable spectacle--the object of
+my sanguine wishes; a spot of unusual magnitude and of a perfectly
+circular shape, which had already fully entered upon the Sun's disc on
+the left, so that the limbs of the Sun and Venus precisely coincided,
+forming an angle of contact. Not doubting that this was really the
+shadow of the planet, I immediately applied myself sedulously to observe
+it.
+
+'In the first place, with respect to the inclination, the line of the
+diameter of the circle being perpendicular to the horizon, although its
+plane was somewhat inclined on account of the Sun's altitude, I found
+that the shadow of Venus at the aforesaid hour--namely, fifteen minutes
+past three--had entered the Sun's disc about 62° 30´, certainly between
+60° and 65°, from the top towards the right. This was the appearance in
+the dark apartment; therefore, out of doors, beneath the open sky,
+according to the laws of optics, the contrary would be the case, and
+Venus would be below the centre of the Sun, distant 62° 30´ from the
+lower limbs or the nadir, as the Arabians term it. The inclination
+remained to all appearances the same until sunset, when the observation
+was concluded.
+
+'In the second place, the distance between the centres of Venus and the
+Sun I found by three observations to be as follows:--
+
+          The Hour.          | Distance of the Centres.
+                             |
+At 3·15 by the clock         |        14´ 24´´
+ " 3·35      "               |        13´ 30´´
+ " 3·45      "               |        13´  0´´
+ " 3·50 the apparent sunset. |
+
+The true setting being 3·45, and the apparent about 5 minutes later, the
+difference being caused by refraction. The clock therefore was
+sufficiently correct.
+
+'In the third place I found after careful and repeated observation that
+the diameter of Venus, as her shadow was depicted on the paper, was
+larger indeed than the thirtieth part of the solar diameter, though not
+more so than the sixth, or at the utmost the fifth of such a part.
+Therefore let the diameter of the Sun be to the diameter of Venus as 30´
+to 1´ 12´´. Certainly her diameter never equalled 1´ 30´´, scarcely
+perhaps 1´ 20´´, and this was evident as well when the planet was near
+the Sun's limb as when far distant from it.
+
+[Illustration: VENUS ON THE SUN'S DISC.]
+
+'This observation was made in an obscure village where I have long been
+in the habit of observing, about fifteen miles to the north of
+Liverpool, the latitude of which I believe to be 53° 20´, although by
+common maps it is stated at 54° 12´, therefore the latitude of the
+village will be 53° 35´, and longitude of both 22° 30´ from the
+Fortunate Islands, now called the Canaries. This is 14° 15´ to the west
+of Uraniburg in Denmark, the longitude of which is stated by Brahé, a
+native of the place, to be 36° 45´ from these islands.
+
+'This is all I could observe respecting this celebrated conjunction
+during the short time the Sun remained in the horizon: for although
+Venus continued on his disc for several hours, she was not visible to me
+longer than half an hour on account of his so quickly setting.
+Nevertheless, all the observations which could possibly be made in so
+short a time I was enabled by Divine Providence to complete so
+effectually that I could scarcely have wished for a more extended
+period. The inclination was the only point upon which I failed to attain
+the utmost precision; for, owing to the rapid motion of the Sun it was
+difficult to observe with certainty to a single degree, and I frankly
+confess that I neither did nor could ascertain it. But all the rest is
+sufficiently accurate, and as exact as I could desire.'
+
+Besides having ascertained that the diameter of Venus subtends an angle
+not much greater than one minute of arc, Horrox reduced the horizontal
+solar parallax from fifty-seven seconds as stated by Kepler to fourteen
+seconds, a calculation within one and a half second of the value
+assigned to it by Halley sixty years after. He also reduced the Sun's
+semi-diameter.
+
+Crabtree, to whom Horrox refers as 'his most esteemed friend and a
+person who has few superiors in mathematical learning,' made
+preparations to observe the transit similar to those already described.
+But the day was unfavourable, dark clouds obscured the sky and rendered
+the Sun invisible. Crabtree was in despair, and relinquished all hope of
+being able to witness the conjunction. However, just before sunset there
+was a break in the clouds, and the Sun shone brilliantly for a short
+interval. Crabtree at once seized his opportunity, and to his intense
+delight observed the planet fully entered upon the Sun's disc. Instead
+of proceeding to take observations, he was so overcome with emotion at
+the sight of the phenomenon, that he continued to gaze upon it with rapt
+attention, nor did he recover his self-possession until the clouds again
+hid from his view the setting Sun.[4]
+
+Crabtree's observation of the transit was, however, not a fruitless one.
+He drew from memory a diagram showing the exact position of Venus on the
+Sun's disc, which corresponded in every respect with Horrox's
+observation; he also estimated the diameter of the planet to be 7/200
+that of the Sun, which when calculated gives one minute three seconds;
+Horrox having found it to be one minute twelve seconds. This transit of
+Venus is remarkable as having been the first ever observed of which
+there is any record, and for this we are indebted to the genius of
+Horrox, who by a series of calculations, displaying a wonderfully
+accurate knowledge of mathematics, was enabled to predict the occurrence
+of the phenomenon on the very day, and almost at the hour it appeared,
+and of which he and his friend Crabtree were the only observers.
+
+Having thought it desirable to write an account of the transit, Horrox
+prepared an elegant Latin treatise, entitled 'Venus in Sole
+Visa'--'Venus seen in the Sun;' but not knowing what steps to take with
+regard to its publication, he requested Crabtree to communicate with his
+bookseller and obtain his advice on the matter.
+
+In the meantime Horrox returned to Toxteth, and arranged to fulfil a
+long-promised visit to Crabtree, which he looked forward to with much
+pleasure, as it would afford him an opportunity of discussing with his
+friend many matters of interest to both. This visit was frustrated in a
+manner altogether unexpected. For we read that Horrox was seized with a
+sudden and severe illness, the nature of which is not known, and that
+his death occurred on the day previous to that of his intended visit to
+his friend at Broughton. He expired on January 3, 1641, when in the 23rd
+year of his age.
+
+His death was a great grief to Crabtree, who, in one of his letters,
+describes it as 'an irreparable loss:' and it is believed that he only
+survived him a few years.[5] Of the papers left by Horrox, only a few
+have been preserved, and these were discovered in Crabtree's house after
+his death. Among them was his treatise on the transit of Venus which,
+with other papers, was purchased by Dr. Worthington, Fellow of Emmanuel
+College, Cambridge, a man of learning, who was capable of appreciating
+their value. Ultimately, the treatise fell into the possession of
+Hevelius, a celebrated German astronomer, who published it along with a
+dissertation of his own, describing a transit of Mercury.
+
+Horrox did not live to see any of his writings published, nor was any
+monument erected to his memory until nearly two hundred years after his
+death. But his name, though long forgotten except by astronomers, is now
+engraved on marble in Westminster Abbey. Had his life been spared, it
+would have been difficult to foretell to what eminence and fame he might
+have risen, or what further discoveries his genius might have enabled
+him to make. Few among English astronomers will hesitate to rank him
+next with the illustrious Newton, and all will agree with Herschel, who
+called him 'the pride and the boast of British Astronomy.'
+
+WILLIAM GASCOIGNE was born in 1612, in the parish of Rothwell, in the
+county of York, and afterwards resided at Middleton, near Leeds.
+
+He was a man of an inventive turn of mind, and possessed good abilities,
+which he devoted to improving the methods of telescopic observation.
+
+At an early age he was occupied in observing celestial objects, making
+researches in optics, and acquiring a proficient knowledge of astronomy.
+
+Among his acquaintances were Crabtree and Horrox, with whom he carried
+on a correspondence on matters appertaining to their favourite study.
+
+The measurement of small angles was found at all times to be one of the
+greatest difficulties which astronomers had to contend with. Tycho Brahé
+was so misled by his measurements of the apparent diameters of the Sun
+and Moon, that he concluded a total eclipse of the Sun was impossible.
+
+Gascoigne overcame this difficulty by his invention of the micrometer.
+This instrument, when applied to a telescope, was found to be of great
+service in the correct measurement of minute angles and distances, and
+was the means of greatly advancing the progress of practical astronomy
+in the seventeenth century. A micrometer consists of a short tube,
+across the opening of which are stretched two parallel wires; these
+being intersected at right angles by a third. The wires are moved to or
+from each other by delicately constructed screws, to which they are
+attached. Each revolution, or part of a revolution, of a screw indicates
+the distance by which the wires are moved.
+
+This apparatus, when placed in the focus of a lens, gives very accurate
+measurements of the diameters of celestial objects. It was successfully
+used by Gascoigne in determining the apparent diameters of the Sun,
+Moon, and several of the planets, and the mutual distances of the stars
+which form the Pleiades.
+
+Crabtree, after having paid Gascoigne a visit in 1639, describes in a
+letter to Horrox the impression created on his mind by the micrometer.
+He writes: 'The first thing Mr. Gascoigne showed me was a large
+telescope, amplified and adorned with new inventions of his own, whereby
+he can take the diameters of the Sun or Moon, or any small angle in the
+heavens or upon the earth, most exactly through the glass to a second.'
+
+The micrometer is now regarded as an indispensable appliance in the
+observatory; the use of a spider web reticule instead of wire having
+improved its efficiency. Gascoigne was one of the earliest astronomers
+who recognised the value of the Keplerian telescope for observational
+purposes, and Sherburn affirms that he was the first to construct an
+instrument of this description having two convex lenses. Whether this be
+true or not, it is certain that he applied the micrometer to the
+telescope, and was the first to use telescopic sights, by means of which
+he was able to fix the optical axis of his telescope, and ascertain by
+observation the apparent positions of the heavenly bodies.
+
+Crabtree, in a letter to Gascoigne, says: 'Could I purchase it with
+travel, or procure it with gold, I would not be without a telescope for
+observing small angles in the heavens; or want the use of your device of
+a glass in a cane upon the movable ruler of your sextant, as I remember
+for helping to the exact point of the Sun's rays.'
+
+It was not known until the beginning of the eighteenth century that
+Gascoigne had invented and used telescopic sights for the purpose of
+making accurate astronomical observations. The accidental discovery of
+some documents which contained a description of his appliances was the
+means by which this became known.
+
+Townley states that Gascoigne had completed a treatise on optics, which
+was ready for publication, but that no trace of the manuscript could be
+discovered after his death. Having embraced the Royalist cause, William
+Gascoigne joined the forces of Charles I., and fell in the battle of
+Marston Moor on July 2, 1644.
+
+The early death of this young and remarkably clever man was a severe
+blow to the science of astronomy in England.
+
+The invention of logarithms, by Baron Napier, of Merchistoun, was found
+to be of inestimable value to astronomers in facilitating and
+abbreviating the methods of astronomical calculation.
+
+By the use of logarithms, arithmetical computations which necessitated
+laborious application for several months could with ease be completed in
+as many days. It was remarked by Laplace that this invention was the
+means of doubling the life of an astronomer, besides enabling him to
+avoid errors and the tediousness associated with long and abstruse
+calculations.
+
+THOMAS HARRIOT, an eminent mathematician, and an assiduous astronomer,
+made some valuable observations of the comet of 1607. He was one of the
+earliest observers who made use of the telescope, and it was claimed on
+his behalf that he discovered Jupiter's satellites, and the spots on the
+Sun, independently of Galileo. Other astronomers have been desirous of
+sharing this honour, but it has been conclusively proved that Galileo
+was the first who made those discoveries.
+
+The investigations of Norwood and Gilbert, the mechanical genius of
+Hooke, and the patient researches of Flamsteed--the first Astronomer
+Royal--were of much value in perfecting many details associated with the
+study of astronomy.
+
+The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was founded in 1675. The building was
+erected under a warrant from Charles II. It announces the desire of the
+Sovereign to build a small observatory in the park at Greenwich, 'in
+order to the finding out of the longitude for perfecting the art of
+navigation and astronomy.' This action on the part of the King may be
+regarded as the first public acknowledgment of the usefulness of
+astronomy for national purposes.
+
+Since its erection, the observatory has been presided over by a
+succession of talented men, who have raised it to a position of eminence
+and usefulness unsurpassed by any similar institution in this or any
+other country. The well-known names of Flamsteed, Halley, Bradley, and
+Airy, testify to the valuable services rendered by those past directors
+of the Greenwich Observatory in the cause of astronomical science.
+
+If we take a general survey of the science of astronomy as it existed
+from 1608 to 1674--a period that embraced the time in which Milton
+lived--we shall find that it was still compassed by ignorance,
+superstition, and mystery. Astrology was zealously cultivated; most
+persons of rank and position had their nativity or horoscope cast, and
+the belief in the ruling of the planets, and their influence on human
+and terrestrial affairs, was through long usage firmly established in
+the public mind. Indeed, at this time, astronomy was regarded as a
+handmaid to astrology; for, with the aid of astronomical calculation,
+the professors of this occult science were enabled to predict the
+positions of the planets, and by this means practised their art with an
+apparent degree of truthfulness.
+
+Although over one hundred years had elapsed since the death of
+Copernicus, his theory of the solar system did not find many supporters,
+and the old forms of astronomical belief still retained their hold on
+the minds of the majority of philosophic thinkers. This can be partly
+accounted for, as many of the Ptolemaic doctrines were at first
+associated with the Copernican theory, nor was it until a later period
+that they were eliminated from the system.
+
+Though Copernicus deserved the credit of having transferred the centre
+of our system from the Earth to the Sun, yet his theory was imperfect in
+its details, and contained many inaccuracies. He believed that the
+planets could only move round the Sun in circular paths, nor was he
+capable of conceiving of any other form of orbit in which they could
+perform their revolutions. He was therefore compelled to retain the use
+of cycles and epicycles, in order to account for irregularities in the
+uniformly circular motions of those bodies.
+
+We are indebted to the genius of Kepler for having placed the Copernican
+system upon a sure and irremovable basis, and for having raised
+astronomy to the position of a true physical science. By his discovery
+that the planets travel round the Sun in elliptical orbits, he was
+enabled to abolish cycles and epicycles, which created such confusion
+and entanglement in the system, and to explain many apparent
+irregularities of motion by ascribing to the Sun his true position with
+regard to the motions of the planets.
+
+After the death of Kepler, which occurred in 1630, the most eminent
+supporter of the Copernican theory was the illustrious Galileo, whose
+belief in its accuracy and truthfulness was confirmed by his own
+discoveries.
+
+Five of the planets were known at this time--viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars,
+Jupiter, and Saturn; the latter, which revolves in its orbit at a
+profound distance from the Sun, formed what at that time was believed to
+be the boundary of the planetary system. The distance of the Earth from
+the Sun was approximately known, and the orb was observed to rotate on
+his axis.
+
+It was also ascertained that the Moon shone by reflected light, and that
+her surface was varied by inequalities resembling those of our Earth.
+The elliptical form of her orbit had been discovered by Horrox, and her
+elements were computed with a certain degree of accuracy.
+
+The cloudy luminosity of the Milky Way had been resolved into a
+multitude of separate stars, disclosing the immensity of the stellar
+universe.
+
+The crescent form of the planet Venus, the satellites of Jupiter and of
+Saturn, and the progressive motion and measurement of light, had also
+been discovered. Observations were made of transits of Mercury and
+Venus, and refracting and reflecting telescopes were invented.
+
+The law of universal gravitation, a power which retains the Earth and
+planets in their orbits, causing them year after year to describe with
+unerring regularity their oval paths round the Sun, was not known at
+this time. Though Newton was born in 1642, he did not disclose the
+results of his philosophic investigations until 1687--thirteen years
+after the death of Milton--when, in the 'Principia,' he announced his
+discovery of the great law of universal gravitation.
+
+Kepler, though he discovered the laws of planetary motion, was unable to
+determine the motive force which guided and retained those bodies in
+their orbits. It was reserved for the genius of Newton to solve this
+wonderful problem. This great philosopher was able to prove 'that every
+particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a
+force proportioned to the mass of the attracting body, and inversely as
+the square of the distance between them.' Newton was capable of
+demonstrating that the force which guides and retains the Earth and
+planets in their orbits resides in the Sun, and by the application of
+this law of gravitation he was able to explain the motions of all
+celestial bodies entering into the structure of the solar system.
+
+This discovery may be regarded as the crowning point of the science of
+astronomy, for, upon the unfailing energy of this mysterious power
+depend the order and stability of the universe, extending as it does to
+all material bodies existing in space, guiding, controlling, and
+retaining them in their several paths and orbits, whether it be a tiny
+meteor, a circling planet, or a mighty sun.
+
+The nature of cometary bodies and the laws which govern their motions
+were at this time still enshrouded in mystery, and when one of those
+erratic wanderers made its appearance in the sky it was beheld by the
+majority of mankind with feelings of awe and superstitious dread, and
+regarded as a harbinger of evil and disaster, the precursor of war, of
+famine, or the overthrow of an empire.
+
+Newton, however, was able to divest those bodies of the mystery with
+which they were surrounded by proving that any conic section may be
+described about the Sun, consistent with the law of gravitation, and
+that comets, notwithstanding the eccentricity of their orbits, obey the
+laws of planetary motion.
+
+Beyond the confines of our solar system, little was known of the
+magnitude and extent of the sidereal universe which occupies the
+infinitude of space by which we are surrounded. The stars were
+recognised as self-luminous bodies, inconceivably remote, and although
+they excited the curiosity of observers, and conjectures were made as to
+their origin, yet no conclusive opinions were arrived at with regard to
+their nature and constitution, and except that they were regarded as
+glittering points of light which illumine the firmament, all else
+appertaining to them remained an unravelled mystery. Even Copernicus had
+no notion of a universe of stars.
+
+Galileo, by his discovery that the galaxy consists of a multitude of
+separate stars too remote to be defined by ordinary vision, demonstrated
+how vast are the dimensions of the starry heavens, and on what a
+stupendous scale the universe is constructed. But at this time it had
+not occurred to astronomers, nor was it known until many years after,
+that the stars are suns which shine with a splendour resembling that of
+our Sun, and in many instances surpassing it. It was not until this
+truth became known that the glories of the sidereal heavens were fully
+comprehended, and their magnificence revealed. It was then ascertained
+that the minute points of light which crowd the fields of our largest
+telescopes, in their aggregations forming systems, clusters, galaxies,
+and universes of stars, are shining orbs of light, among the countless
+multitudes of which our Sun may be numbered as one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MILTON'S ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE
+
+
+It would be reasonable to imagine that Milton's knowledge of astronomy
+was comprehensive and accurate, and superior to that possessed by most
+scientific men of his age. His scholarly attainments, his familiarity
+with ancient history and philosophy, his profound learning, and the
+universality of his general knowledge, would lead one to conclude that
+the science which treats of the mechanism of the heavens, and especially
+the observational part of it--which at all times has been a source of
+inspiration to poets of every degree of excellence--was to him a study
+of absorbing interest, and one calculated to make a deep impression upon
+his devoutly poetical mind. The serious character of Milton's verse, and
+the reverent manner in which celestial incidents and objects are
+described in it, impress one with the belief that his contemplation of
+the heavens, and of the orbs that roll and shine in the firmament
+overhead, afforded him much enjoyment and meditative delight. For no
+poet, in ancient or in modern times, has introduced into his writings
+with such frequency, or with such pleasing effect, so many passages
+descriptive of the beauty and grandeur of the heavens. No other poet,
+by the creative effort of his imagination, has soared to such a height;
+nor has he ever been excelled in his descriptions of the celestial orbs,
+and of the beautiful phenomena associated with their different motions.
+
+In his minor poems, which were composed during his residence at Horton,
+a charming rural retreat in Buckinghamshire, where the freshness and
+varied beauty of the landscape and the attractive aspects of the
+midnight sky were ever before him, we find enchanting descriptions of
+celestial objects, and especially of those orbs which, by their
+brilliancy and lustre, have always commanded the admiration of mankind.
+
+For example, in 'L'Allegro' there are the following lines:--
+
+    Right against the eastern gate
+    Where the great Sun begins his state,
+    Robed in flames and amber light,
+    The clouds in thousand liveries dight;
+
+and in 'Il Penseroso'--
+
+    To behold the wandering Moon,
+    Riding near her highest noon,
+    Like one that had been led astray
+    Through the heaven's wide pathless way,
+    And oft as if her head she bowed,
+    Stooping through a fleecy cloud.
+
+In the happy choice of his theme, and by the comprehensive manner in
+which he has treated it, Milton has been enabled by his poetic genius to
+give to the world in his 'Paradise Lost' a poem which, for sublimity of
+thought, loftiness of imagination, and beauty of expression in metrical
+verse, is unsurpassed in any language.
+
+It is, however, our intention to deal only with those passages in the
+poem in which allusion is made to the heavenly bodies, and to incidents
+and occurrences associated with astronomical phenomena. In the
+exposition and illustration of these it has been considered desirable to
+adopt the following general classification:--
+
+1. To ascertain the extent of Milton's astronomical knowledge.
+
+2. To describe the starry heavens and the celestial objects mentioned in
+'Paradise Lost.'
+
+3. To exemplify the use which Milton has made of astronomy in the
+exercise of his imaginative and descriptive powers.
+
+In the earlier half of the seventeenth century the Ptolemaic theory--by
+which it was believed that the Earth was the immovable centre of the
+universe, and that round it all the heavenly bodies completed a diurnal
+revolution--still retained its ascendency over the minds of men of
+learning and science, and all the doctrines associated with this ancient
+astronomical creed were still religiously upheld by the educated classes
+among the peoples inhabiting the different civilised regions of the
+globe. The Copernican theory--by which the Sun is assigned the central
+position in our system, with the Earth and planets revolving in orbits
+round him--obtained the support of a few persons of advanced views and
+high scientific attainments, but its doctrines had not yet seriously
+threatened the supremacy of the older system. Though upwards of one
+hundred years had elapsed since the death of Copernicus, yet the
+doctrines associated with the system of which he was the founder were
+but very tardily adopted up to this time. There were several reasons
+which accounted for this. The Copernican system was at first imperfect
+in its details, and included several of the Ptolemaic, doctrines which
+rendered it less intelligible, and retarded its acceptance by persons
+who would otherwise have been inclined to adopt it. Copernicus believed
+that the planets travelled round the Sun in circular paths. This
+necessitated the retention of cycles and epicycles, which gave rise to
+much confusion; nor was it until Kepler made his great discovery of the
+ellipticity of the planetary orbits that they were eliminated from the
+system.
+
+As the Ptolemaic system of the universe held complete sway over the
+minds of men for upwards of twenty centuries, it was difficult to
+persuade many persons to renounce the astronomical beliefs to which they
+were so firmly attached, in favour of those of any other system; so that
+the overthrow of this venerable theory required a lengthened period of
+time for its accomplishment.
+
+It was thus in his earlier years, when Milton devoted his time to the
+study of literature and philosophy, which he read extensively when
+pursuing his academic career at Christ's College, Cambridge, and
+afterwards at Horton, where he spent several years in acquiring a more
+proficient knowledge of the literary, scientific, and philosophical
+writings of the age, that he found the beliefs associated with the
+Ptolemaic theory adopted without doubt or hesitation by the numerous
+authors whose works he perused. His knowledge of Italian enabled him to
+become familiar with Dante--one of his favourite authors, whose poetical
+writings were deeply read by him, and who, in the elaboration of his
+poem, the 'Divina Commedia,' included the entire Ptolemaic cosmology.
+
+In England the Copernican theory had few supporters, and the majority of
+those who represented the intellect and learning of the country still
+retained their adherence to the old form of astronomical belief. We
+therefore find that Milton followed the traditional way of thinking by
+adopting the views associated with the Ptolemaic theory.
+
+According to the Ptolemaic system, the Earth was regarded as the
+immovable centre of the universe, and surrounding it were ten
+crystalline spheres, or heavens, arranged in concentric circles, the
+larger spheres enclosing the smaller ones; and within those was situated
+the cosmos, or mundane universe, usually described as 'the Heavens and
+the Earth.' To each of the first seven spheres there was attached a
+heavenly body, which was carried round the Earth by the revolution of
+the crystalline.
+
+1st sphere: that of the Moon.
+
+2nd sphere: that of the planet Mercury.
+
+3rd sphere: that of the planet Venus.
+
+4th sphere: that of the Sun; regarded as a planet.
+
+5th sphere: that of the planet Mars.
+
+6th sphere: that of the planet Jupiter.
+
+7th sphere: that of the planet Saturn.
+
+8th sphere: that of the fixed stars.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1]
+
+The eighth sphere included all the fixed stars, and was called the
+firmament, because it was believed to impart steadiness to the inner
+spheres, and, by its diurnal revolution, to carry them round the Earth,
+causing the change of day and night.
+
+The separate motions of the spheres, revolving with different
+velocities, and at different angles to each other, accounted for the
+astronomical phenomena associated with the orbs attached to each.
+According to Ptolemy's scheme, the eighth sphere formed the outermost
+boundary of the universe; but later astronomers added to this system two
+other spheres--a _ninth_, called the _Crystalline_, which caused
+Precession of the Equinoxes; and a _tenth_, called the _Primum Mobile_,
+or First Moved, which brought about the alternation of day and night, by
+carrying all the other spheres round the Earth once in every twenty-four
+hours. The Primum Mobile enclosed, as if in a shell, all the other
+spheres, in which was included the created universe, and, although of
+vast dimensions, its conception did not overwhelm the mind in the same
+manner that the effort to comprehend infinitude does.
+
+Beyond this last sphere there was believed to exist a boundless,
+uncircumscribed region, of immeasurable extent, called the Empyrean, or
+Heaven of Heavens, the incorruptible abode of the Deity, the place of
+eternal mysteries, which the comprehension of man was unable to fathom,
+and of which it was impossible for his mind to form any conception. Such
+were the imaginative beliefs upon which this ancient astronomical theory
+was founded, that for a period of upwards of two thousand years held
+undisputed sway over the minds of men, and exercised during that time a
+predominating influence upon the imagination, thoughts, and conceptions
+of all those who devoted themselves to literature, science, and art. Of
+the truthfulness of this assertion there is ample evidence in the
+poetical, philosophical, and historical writings of ancient authors,
+whose ideas and conceptions regarding the created universe were limited
+and circumscribed by this form of astronomical belief. In the works of
+more recent writers we find that it continued to assert its influence;
+and among our English poets, from Chaucer down to Shakespeare, there are
+numerous references to the natural phenomena associated with this
+system, and most frequently expressed by poetical allusions to 'the
+music of the spheres.'
+
+The ideas associated with the Ptolemaic theory were gratifying to the
+pride and vanity of man, who could regard with complacency the paramount
+importance of the globe which he inhabited, and of which he was the
+absolute ruler, fixed in the centre of the universe, and surrounded by
+ten revolving spheres, that carried along with them in their circuit all
+other celestial bodies--Sun, Moon, and stars, which would appear to have
+been created for his delectation, and for the purpose of ministering to
+his requirements. But when the Copernican theory became better
+understood, and especially after the discovery of the law of universal
+gravitation, this venerable system of the universe, based upon a pile of
+unreasonable and false hypotheses, after an existence of over twenty
+centuries, sank into oblivion, and was no more heard of.
+
+Milton's Ptolemaism is apparent in some of his shorter pieces, and also
+in his minor poems, 'Arcades' and 'Comus.' His 'Ode on the Nativity' is
+written in conformity with this belief, and the expression,
+
+    Ring out ye crystal spheres,
+
+indicates a poetical allusion to this theory. But as Milton grew older
+his Ptolemaism became greatly modified, and there are good reasons for
+believing that in his latter years he renounced it entirely in favour of
+Copernicanism. When on his continental tour in 1638, he made the
+acquaintance of eminent men who held views different from those with
+which he was familiar; and in his interview with Galileo at Arcetri, the
+aged astronomer may have impressed upon his mind the superiority of the
+Copernican theory, in accounting for the occurrence of celestial
+phenomena, as compared with the Ptolemaic.
+
+On his return to England from the Continent, Milton took up his
+residence in London, and lived in apartments in a house in St. Bride's
+Churchyard. Having no regular vocation, and not wishing to be dependent
+upon his father, he undertook the education of his two nephews, John and
+Edward Phillips, aged nine and ten years respectively. From St. Bride's
+Churchyard he removed to a larger house in Aldersgate, where he received
+as pupils the sons of some of his most intimate acquaintances. In the
+list of subjects which Milton selected for the purpose of imparting
+instruction to those youths he included astronomy and mathematics,
+which formed part of the curriculum of this educational establishment.
+The text-book from which he taught his nephews and other pupils
+astronomy was called 'De Sphæra Mundi,' a work written by Joannes
+Sacrobasco (John Holywood) in the thirteenth century. This book was an
+epitome of Ptolemy's 'Almagest,' and therefore entirely Ptolemaic in its
+teaching. It enjoyed great popularity during the Middle Ages, and is
+reported to have gone through as many as forty editions.
+
+The selection of astronomy as one of the subjects in which Milton
+instructed his pupils affords us evidence that he must have devoted
+considerable time and attention to acquiring a knowledge of the facts
+and details associated with the study of the science. In the attainment
+of this he had to depend upon his own exertions and the assistance
+derived from astronomical books; for at this time astronomy received no
+recognition as a branch of study at any of the universities; and in
+Britain the science attracted less attention than on the Continent,
+where the genius of Kepler and Galileo elevated it to a position of
+national importance.
+
+We shall find as we proceed that Milton's knowledge of astronomy was
+comprehensive and accurate; that he was familiar with the astronomical
+reasons by which many natural phenomena which occur around us can be
+explained; and that he understood many of the details of the science
+which are unknown to ordinary observers of the heavens.
+
+It is remarkable how largely astronomy enters into the composition of
+'Paradise Lost,' and we doubt if any author could have written such a
+poem without possessing a knowledge of the heavens and of the celestial
+orbs such as can only be attained by a proficient and intimate
+acquaintance with this science.
+
+The arguments in favour of or against the Ptolemaic and Copernican
+theories were well known to Milton, even as regards their minute
+details; and in Book viii. he introduces a scientific discussion based
+upon the respective merits of those theories. The configuration of the
+celestial and terrestrial spheres, and the great circles by which they
+are circumscribed, he also knew. The causes which bring about the change
+of the seasons; the obliquity of the ecliptic; the zodiacal
+constellations through which the Sun travels, and the periods of the
+year in which he occupies them, are embraced in Milton's knowledge of
+the science of astronomy. The motions of the Earth, including the
+Precession of the Equinoxes; the number and distinctive appearances of
+the planets, their direct and retrograde courses, and their satellites,
+are also described by him. The constellations, and their relative
+positions on the celestial sphere; the principal stars, star-groups, and
+clusters, and the Galaxy, testify to Milton's knowledge of astronomy,
+and to the use which he has made of the science in the elaboration of
+his poem.
+
+The names of fourteen of the constellations are mentioned in 'Paradise
+Lost.' These, when arranged alphabetically, read as follows:--
+
+Andromeda, Aries, Astrea, Centaurus, Cancer, Capricornus, Gemini, Leo,
+Libra, Ophiuchus, Orion, Scorpio, Taurus, and Virgo. Milton's allusions
+to the zodiacal constellations are chiefly associated with his
+description of the Sun's path in the heavens; but with the celestial
+sign Libra (the _Scales_) he has introduced a lofty and poetical
+conception of the means by which the Creator made known His will when
+there arose a contention between Gabriel and Satan on his discovery in
+Paradise.
+
+    The Eternal, to prevent such horrid fray,
+    Hung forth in Heaven his golden scales, yet seen
+    Betwixt Astrea[6] and the Scorpion sign,
+    Wherein all things created first he weighed,
+    The pendulous round Earth with balanced air
+    In counterpoise, now ponders all events,
+    Battles and realms. In these he put two weights,
+    The sequel each of parting and of fight:
+    The latter quick up flew, and kicked the beam.--iv. 996-1004.
+
+Orion, the finest constellation in the heavens, did not escape Milton's
+observation, and there is one allusion to it in his poem. It arrives on
+the meridian in winter, where it is conspicuous as a brilliant
+assemblage of stars, and represents an armed giant, or hunter, holding a
+massive club in his right hand, and having a shield of lion's hide on
+his left arm. A triple-gemmed belt encircles his waist, from which is
+suspended a glittering sword, tipped with a bright star. The two
+brilliants Betelgeux and Bellatrix form the giant's shoulders, and the
+bright star Rigel marks the position of his advanced foot. The rising of
+Orion was believed to be accompanied by stormy and tempestuous weather.
+Milton alludes to this in the following lines:--
+
+          When with fierce winds Orion armed
+    Hath vexed the Red Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew
+    Busiris and his Memphian chivalry.--i. 305-7.
+
+Andromeda is described as being borne by Aries, and in 'Ophiuchus huge'
+Milton locates a comet which extends the whole length of the
+constellation. It is evident that Milton possessed a precise knowledge
+of the configuration and size of the constellations, and of the
+positions which they occupy relatively to each other on the celestial
+sphere.
+
+Though Milton was conversant with the Copernican theory, and entertained
+a conviction of its accuracy and truthfulness, and doubtless recognised
+the superiority of this system, which, besides conveying to the mind a
+nobler conception of the universe and of the solar system--though it
+diminished the importance of the Earth as a member of it--was capable of
+explaining the occurrence of celestial phenomena in a manner more
+satisfactory than could be arrived at by the Ptolemaic theory.
+Notwithstanding this, he selected the Ptolemaic cosmology as the
+scientific basis upon which he constructed his 'Paradise Lost,' and in
+its elaboration adhered with marked fidelity to this system. There were
+many reasons why Milton, in the composition of an imaginative poem,
+should have chosen the Ptolemaic system of the universe rather than the
+Copernican. This form of astronomical belief was adopted by all the
+authors whose works he perused and studied in his younger days,
+including his favourite poet, Dante; and his own poetic imaginings, as
+indicated by his early poems, were in harmony with the doctrines of this
+astronomical creed, a long acquaintance with which had, without doubt,
+influenced his mind in its favour. This system of revolving spheres,
+with the steadfast Earth at its centre, and the whole enclosed by the
+Primum Mobile, constituted a more attractive and picturesque object for
+poetic description than the simple and uncircumscribed arrangement of
+the universe expressed by the Copernican theory. It also afforded him an
+opportunity of localising those regions of space in which the chief
+incidents in his poem are described--viz. HEAVEN, or THE EMPYREAN,
+CHAOS, HELL, and the MUNDANE UNIVERSE. Milton's Ptolemaism, with its
+adjuncts, may be understood by the following:
+
+All that portion of space above the newly created universe, and beyond
+the Primum Mobile, was known as HEAVEN, or THE EMPYREAN--a region of
+light, of glory, and of happiness; the dwelling-place of the Deity, Who,
+though omnipresent, here visibly revealed Himself to all the multitude
+of angels whom He created, and who surrounded his throne in adoration
+and worship.
+
+Underneath the universe there existed a vast region of similar
+dimensions to the Empyrean, called CHAOS, which was occupied by the
+embryo elements of matter, that with incessant turmoil and confusion
+warred with each other for supremacy--a wild abyss--
+
+    The womb of Nature and perhaps her grave.--ii. 911.
+
+The lower portion of this region was divided off from the remainder, and
+embraced the locality known as HELL--the place of torment, where the
+rebellious angels were driven and shut in after their expulsion from
+Heaven.
+
+    As far removed from God and light of Heaven
+    As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole.--i. 73-74.
+
+The NEW UNIVERSE, which included the Earth and all the orbs of the
+firmament known as the Starry Heavens, was created out of Chaos, and
+hung, as if suspended by a golden chain, from the Empyrean above; and
+although its magnitude and dimensions were inconceivable, yet, according
+to the Ptolemaic theory, it was enclosed by the tenth sphere or Primum
+Mobile.
+
+By this partitioning of space Milton was able to contrive a system which
+fulfilled the requirements of his great poem.
+
+The annexed diagram explains the relative positions of the different
+regions into which space was divided.
+
+Though there are traces of Copernicanism found in 'Paradise Lost,' yet
+Milton has very faithfully adhered to the Ptolemaic mechanism and
+nomenclature throughout his poem.
+
+In his description of the Creation, the Earth is formed first, then the
+Sun, followed by the Moon, and afterwards the stars, all of which are
+described as being in motion round the Earth. Allusion is also made to
+this ancient system in several prominent passages, and in the following
+lines there is a distinct reference to the various revolving spheres.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2]
+
+    They pass the planets seven, and pass the fixed,
+    And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs
+    The trepidation talked, and that first moved.--iii. 481-83.
+
+The seven planetary spheres are first mentioned; then the eighth sphere,
+or that of the fixed stars; then the ninth, or crystalline, which was
+believed to cause a shaking, or trepidation, to account for certain
+irregularities in the motions of the stars; and, lastly, the tenth
+sphere, or Primum Mobile, called the 'first moved' because it set the
+other spheres in motion.
+
+To an uninstructed observer, the apparent motion of the heavenly bodies
+round the Earth would naturally lead him to conclude that, of the two
+theories, the Ptolemaic was the correct one. We therefore find that
+Milton adopted the system most in accord with the knowledge and
+intelligence possessed by the persons portrayed by him in his poem; and
+in describing the natural phenomena witnessed in the heavens by our
+first parents, he adheres to the doctrines of the Ptolemaic system, as
+being most in harmony with the simple and primitive conceptions of those
+created beings.
+
+To their upward gaze, the orbs of heaven appeared to be in ceaseless
+motion; the solid Earth, upon which they stood, was alone immovable and
+at rest. Day after day they observed the Sun pursue his steadfast course
+with unerring regularity: his rising in the east, accompanied by the
+rosy hues of morn; his meridian splendour, and his sinking in the west,
+tinting in colours of purple and gold inimitable the fleecy clouds
+floating in the azure sky, as he bids farewell for a time to scenes of
+life and happiness, rejoicing in the light and warmth of his
+all-cheering beams. With the advent of night they beheld the Moon, now
+increasing, now waning, pursue her irregular path, also to disappear in
+the west; whilst, like the bands of an army marshalled in loose array,
+the constellations of glittering stars, with stately motion, traversed
+their nocturnal arcs, circling the pole of the heavens.
+
+By referring to Book viii., 15-175, we find an account of an interesting
+scientific discussion, or conversation, between Adam and Raphael
+regarding the merits of the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems, and of the
+relative importance and size of the heavenly bodies. By it we are
+afforded an opportunity of learning how accurate and precise a knowledge
+Milton possessed of both theories, and in what clear and perspicuous
+language he expresses his arguments in favour of or against the
+doctrines associated with each.
+
+We may, with good reason, regard the views expressed by Adam as
+representing Milton's own opinions, which were in conformity with the
+Copernican theory; and in the Angel's reply, though of an undecided
+character, we are able to perceive how aptly Milton describes the
+erroneous conclusions upon which the Ptolemaic theory was based.
+
+In this scientific discussion, it would seem rather strange that Adam,
+the first of men, should have been capable of such philosophic
+reasoning, propounding, as if by intuition, a theory upon which was
+founded a system that had not been discovered until many centuries after
+the time that astronomy became a science. By attributing to Adam such a
+degree of intelligence and wisdom, the poet has taken a liberty which
+enabled him to carry on this discussion in a manner befitting the
+importance of the subject.
+
+In the following lines Adam expresses to his Angel-guest, in forcible
+and convincing language, his reasons in support of the Copernican
+theory:--
+
+    When I behold this goodly frame, this World,
+    Of Heaven and Earth consisting, and compute
+    Their magnitudes--this Earth, a spot, a grain,
+    An atom, with the Firmament compared
+    And all her numbered stars, that seem to roll
+    Spaces incomprehensible (for such
+    Their distance argues, and their swift return
+    Diurnal) merely to officiate light
+    Round this opacous Earth, this punctual spot,
+    One day and night, in all her vast survey
+    Useless besides--reasoning, I oft admire,
+    How Nature, wise and frugal could commit
+    Such disproportions, with superfluous hand
+    So many nobler bodies to create,
+    Greater so manifold, to this one use,
+    For aught appears, and on their Orbs impose
+    Such restless revolution day by day
+    Repeated, while the sedentary Earth,
+    That better might with far less compass move,
+    Served by more noble than herself, attains
+    Her end without least motion, and receives,
+    As tribute, such a sumless journey brought
+    Of incorporeal speed, her warmth and light;
+    Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails.--viii. 15-38.
+
+We are enabled to perceive that Milton had formed a correct conception
+of the magnitude and proportions of the universe, and also of the
+relative size and importance of the Earth, which he describes as 'a
+spot, a grain, an atom,' when compared with the surrounding heavens. He
+expresses his surprise that all the stars of the firmament, whose
+distances are so remote, and whose dimensions so greatly exceed those of
+this globe, should in their diurnal revolution have 'such a sumless
+journey of incorporeal speed imposed upon them' merely to officiate
+light to the Earth, 'this punctual spot;' and reasoning, wonders how
+Nature, wise and frugal in her ways, should commit such disproportions,
+by adopting means so great to accomplish a result so small, when motion
+imparted to the sedentary Earth would with greater ease produce the same
+effect.
+
+The inconceivable velocity with which it would be necessary for those
+orbs to travel in order to accomplish a daily revolution round the Earth
+might be described as almost spiritual, and beyond the power of
+calculation by numbers.
+
+The Angel, after listening to Adam's argument, expresses approval of his
+desire to obtain knowledge, but answers him dubiously, and at the same
+time criticises in a severe and adverse manner the Ptolemaic theory.
+
+    To ask or search I blame thee not; for Heaven
+    Is as the Book of God before thee set,
+    Wherein to read his wondrous works, and learn
+    His seasons, hours, or days, or months, or years.
+    This to attain, whether Heaven move or Earth,
+    Imports not, if thou reckon right; the rest
+    From Man or Angel the Great Architect
+    Did wisely to conceal, and not divulge
+    His secrets, to be scanned by them who ought
+    Rather admire. Or, if they list to try
+    Conjecture, he his fabric of the Heavens
+    Hath left to their disputes, perhaps to move
+    His laughter at their quaint opinions wide
+    Hereafter, when they come to model Heaven,
+    And calculate the stars; how they will wield
+    The mighty frame; how build, unbuild, contrive
+    To save appearances; how gird the Sphere
+    With Centric and Eccentric scribbled o'er
+    Cycle and Epicycle, Orb in Orb.--viii. 66-84.
+
+When, with the advancement of science, astronomical observations were
+made with greater accuracy, it was discovered that uniformity of motion
+was not always maintained by those bodies which were believed to move in
+circles round the Earth. It was observed that the Sun, when on one side
+of his orbit, had an accelerated motion, as compared with the speed at
+which he travelled when on the other side. The planets, also, appeared
+to move with irregularity: sometimes a planet was observed to advance,
+then become stationary, and afterwards affect a retrograde movement.
+Those inequalities of motion could not be explained by means of the
+revolution of crystalline spheres alone, but were accounted for by
+imagining the existence of a small circle, or epicycle, whose centre
+corresponded with a fixed point in the larger circle, or eccentric, as
+it was called. This small circle revolved on its axis when carried round
+with the larger one, and round it the planet also revolved, which when
+situated in its outer portion would have a forward, and when in its
+inner portion a retrograde, motion.
+
+The theory of eccentrics and epicycles was sufficient for a time to
+account for the inequalities of motion already described, and by this
+means the Ptolemaic system was enabled to retain its ascendency for a
+longer period than it otherwise would have done. But more recent
+discoveries brought to light discrepancies and difficulties which were
+explained away by adding epicycle to epicycle. This created a most
+complicated entanglement, and hastened the downfall of a system which,
+after an existence of many centuries, sank into oblivion, and is now
+remembered as a belief of bygone ages.
+
+The devices which the upholders of this system were compelled to adopt,
+in order 'to save appearances,' with 'centric and eccentric,' cycle and
+epicycle, 'orb in orb,' are in this manner appropriately described by
+Milton, as indicating the confusion arising from a theory based upon
+false hypotheses.
+
+Continuing his reply, the Angel says:--
+
+    Already by thy reasoning this I guess,
+    Who art to lead thy offspring, and supposest
+    That bodies bright and greater should not serve
+    The less not bright, nor Heaven such journies run,
+    Earth sitting still, when she alone receives
+    The benefit. Consider, first, that great
+    Or bright infers not excellence. The Earth,
+    Though, in comparison of Heaven, so small,
+    Nor glistering, may of solid good contain
+    More plenty than the Sun that barren shines,
+    Whose virtue on itself works no effect,
+    But in the fruitful Earth; there first received,
+    His beams, inactive else, their vigour find,
+    Yet not to Earth are those bright luminaries
+    Officious, but to thee, Earth's habitant.
+    And, for the Heaven's wide circuit, let it speak
+    The Maker's high magnificence, who built
+    So spacious, and his line stretched out so far,
+    That Man may know he dwells not in his own--
+    An edifice too large for him to fill,
+    Lodged in a small partition; and the rest
+    Ordained for uses to his Lord best known,
+    The swiftness of those Circles attribute,
+    Though numberless, to his Omnipotence,
+    That to corporeal substances could add
+    Speed almost spiritual. Me thou think'st not slow,
+    Who since the morning-hour set out from Heaven
+    Where God resides, and ere midday arrived
+    In Eden--distance inexpressible
+    By numbers that have name. But this I urge,
+    Admitting motion in the Heavens, to show
+    Invalid that which thee to doubt it moved;
+    Not that I so affirm, though so it seem
+    To thee who hast thy dwelling here on Earth.
+    God, to remove his ways from human sense,
+    Placed Heaven from Earth so far, that earthly sight,
+    If it presume, might err in things too high,
+    And no advantage gain.--viii. 85-122.
+
+Notwithstanding the Angel's severe criticism of the Ptolemaic system, he
+does not unreservedly support the conclusions arrived at by Adam, but
+endeavours to show that his reasoning may not be altogether correct. He
+questions the validity of his argument that bodies of greater size and
+brightness should not serve the smaller, though not bright, and that
+heaven should move, while the Earth remained at rest. He argues that
+great or bright infers not excellence, and that the Earth, though small,
+may contain more virtue than the Sun, that 'barren shines,' whose beams
+create no beneficial effect, except when directed on the fruitful
+Earth. He reminds Adam that those bright luminaries minister not to the
+Earth, but to himself, 'Earth's habitant,' and directs his attention to
+the magnificence and extent of the surrounding universe, of which he
+occupies but a small portion. The diurnal swiftness of the orbs that
+move round the Earth he attributes to God's omnipotence, that to
+material bodies 'could add speed almost spiritual.'
+
+The Angel, after alluding to his rapid flight through space, suggests
+that God placed heaven so far from Earth that man might not presume to
+inquire into things which it would be of no advantage for him to know.
+He then suddenly changes to the Copernican system, which he lucidly
+describes in the following lines:--
+
+                              What if the Sun
+    Be centre to the World, and other stars
+    By his attractive virtue and their own
+    Incited, dance about him various rounds?
+    Their wandering course, now high, now low, then hid,
+    Progressive, retrograde, or standing still,
+    In six thou seest; and what if, seventh to these
+    The planet Earth, so steadfast though she seem,
+    Insensibly three different motions move?
+    Which else to several spheres thou must ascribe,
+    Moved contrary with thwart obliquities,
+    Or save the Sun his labour, and that swift
+    Nocturnal and diurnal rhomb supposed
+    Invisible else above all stars, the wheel
+    Of day and night; which needs not thy belief,
+    If Earth, industrious of herself, fetch day
+    Travelling east, and with her part averse
+    From the Sun's beam meet night, her other part
+    Still luminous by his ray. What if that light,
+    Sent from her through the wide transpicuous air,
+    To the terrestrial Moon be as a star,
+    Enlightening her by day, as she by night
+    This Earth--reciprocal, if land be there,
+    Fields and inhabitants? Her spots thou seest
+    As clouds, and clouds may rain, and rain produce
+    Fruits in her softened soil, for some to eat
+    Allotted there; and other Suns, perhaps,
+    With their attendant Moons, thou wilt descry,
+    Communicating male and female light--
+    Which two great sexes animate the World,
+    Stored in each orb perhaps with some that live.
+    For such vast room in Nature unpossessed
+    By living soul, desert and desolate,
+    Only to shine, yet scarce to contribute
+    Each orb a glimpse of light, conveyed so far
+    Down to this habitable, which returns
+    Light back to them, is obvious to dispute.--viii. 122-58.
+
+The Copernican theory, which is less complicated and more easily
+understood than the Ptolemaic, is described by Milton with accuracy and
+methodical skill.
+
+The Sun having been assigned that central position in the system which
+his magnitude and importance claim as his due, the planets circling in
+orbits around him have their motions described in a manner indicative of
+the precise knowledge which Milton acquired of this theory. At this time
+the law of gravitation was unknown, and, although the ellipticity of the
+orbits of the planets had been discovered by Kepler, the nature of the
+motive force which guided and retained them in their paths still
+remained a mystery. It was believed that the planets were whirled round
+the Sun, as if by the action of magnetic fibres; a mutual attractive
+influence having been supposed to exist between them and the orb,
+similar to that of the opposite poles of magnets.
+
+Milton alludes to this theory in the following lines:--
+
+                            They, as they move
+    Their starry dance in numbers that compute
+    Days, months, and years, towards his all-cheering lamp
+    Turn swift their various motions, or are turned
+    By his magnetic beam.--iii. 579-83.
+
+An important advance upon this theory was made by Horrox, who, in his
+study of celestial dynamics, attributed the curvilineal motion of the
+planets to the influence of two forces, one projective, the other
+attractive. He illustrated this by observing the path described by a
+stone when thrown obliquely into the air. He perceived that its motion
+was governed by the impulse imparted to it by the hand, and also by the
+attractive force of the Earth. Under these two influences, the stone
+describes a graceful curve, and in its descent falls at the same angle
+at which it rose. Hence arises the general law: 'When two spheres are
+mutually attracted, and if not prevented by foreign influences, their
+straight paths are deflected into curves concave to each other, and
+corresponding with one of the sections of a cone, according to the
+velocity of the revolving body. If the velocity with which the revolving
+body is impelled be equal to what it would acquire by falling through
+half the radius of a circle described from the centre of deflection, its
+orbit will be circular; but if it be less than that quantity, its path
+becomes elliptical.'
+
+Newton afterwards embraced this law in his great principle of
+gravitation, and demonstrated that the force which guides and retains
+the Earth and planets in their orbits resides in the Sun. By the orb's
+attractive influence a planet, after having received its first impulse,
+is deflected from its original straight path, and bent towards that
+luminary, and by the combined action of the projective and attractive
+forces is made to describe an orbit which, if elliptical, has one of its
+foci occupied by the Sun. So evenly balanced are those two forces, that
+one is unable to gain any permanent ascendency over the other, and
+consequently the planet traverses its orbit with unerring regularity,
+and, if undisturbed by external influences, will continue in its path
+for all time.
+
+Milton describes the position of the planets in the sky as--
+
+    Now high, now low, then hid;
+
+and their motions--
+
+    Progressive, retrograde, or standing still.
+
+It is evident that Milton was familiar with the apparently irregular
+paths pursued by the planets when observed from the Earth. He knew of
+their stationary points, and also the backward loopings traced out by
+them on the surface of the sphere.
+
+If observed from the Sun, all the planets would be seen to follow their
+true paths round that body; their motion would invariably lie in the
+same direction, and any variation in their speed as they approached
+perihelion or aphelion would be real. But the planets, when observed
+from the Earth, which is itself in motion, appear to move irregularly.
+Sometimes they remain stationary for a brief period, and, instead of
+progressing onward, affect a retrograde movement. This irregularity of
+motion is only apparent, and can be explained as a result of the
+combined motions of the Earth and planets, which are travelling together
+round the Sun with different velocities, and in orbits of unequal
+magnitude.
+
+In his allusion to the Copernican system the 'planet' 'Earth' is
+described by Milton as seventh. This is not strictly accurate, as only
+five planets were known--viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn;
+but to make up the number Milton has included the Moon, which may be
+regarded as the Earth's planet.
+
+The three motions ascribed to the Earth are--(1) The diurnal rotation on
+her axis; (2) her annual revolution round the Sun; (3) Precession of the
+Equinoxes.
+
+The rotation of the Earth on her axis may be likened to the spinning
+motion of a top, and is the cause of the alternation of day and night.
+This rotatory motion is sustained with such exact precision that, during
+the past 2,000 years, it has been impossible to detect the minutest
+difference in the time in which the Earth accomplishes a revolution on
+her axis, and therefore the length of the sidereal day, which is 3
+minutes 56 seconds shorter than the mean solar day, is invariable. In
+this motion of the Earth we have a time-measuring unit which may be
+regarded as absolutely correct.
+
+The Earth completes a revolution of her orbit in 365-1/4 days. In this
+period of time she accomplishes a journey of 580 millions of miles,
+travelling at the average rate of 66,000 miles an hour. The change of
+the seasons, and the lengthening and shortening of the day, are natural
+phenomena, which occur as a consequence of the Earth's annual revolution
+round the Sun. Precession is a retrograde or westerly motion of the
+equinoctial points, caused by the attraction of the Sun, Moon, and
+planets on the spheroidal figure of the Earth. By this movement the
+poles of the Earth are made to describe a circular path in that part of
+the heavens to which they point; so that, after the lapse of many years,
+the star which is known as the Pole Star will not occupy the position
+indicated by its name, but will be situated at a considerable distance
+from the pole. These motions, Milton says, unless attributed to the
+Earth, must be ascribed to several spheres crossing and thwarting each
+other obliquely; but the Earth, by rotating from west to east, will of
+herself fetch day, her other half, averted from the Sun's rays, being
+enveloped in night. Thus saving the Sun his labour, and the 'primum
+mobile,' 'that swift nocturnal and diurnal rhomb,' which carried all the
+lower spheres along with it, and brought about the change of day and
+night.
+
+Milton's allusion to the occurrence of natural phenomena in the Moon
+similar to those which happen on the Earth is in keeping with the
+opinions entertained regarding our satellite, Galileo having imagined
+that he discovered with his telescope continents and seas on the lunar
+surface, which led to the belief that the Moon was the abode of
+intelligent life.
+
+    ... and other suns, perhaps,
+    With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry
+    Communicating male and female light.--viii. 148-50.
+
+Milton in these lines refers to Jupiter and Saturn, and their
+satellites, which had been recently discovered; those of the former by
+Galileo, and four of those of the latter by Cassini. The existence of
+male and female light was an idea entertained by the ancients, and which
+is mentioned by Pliny. The Sun was regarded as a masculine star, and the
+Moon as feminine; the light emanating from each being similarly
+distinguished, and possessing different properties.
+
+Milton supposes that, as the Earth receives light from the stars, she
+returns light back to them. But in his time little was known about the
+stars, nor was it ascertained how distant they are.
+
+The Angel, in bringing to a conclusion his conversation with Adam, deems
+it unadvisable to vouchsafe him a decisive reply to his inquiry
+regarding the motions of celestial bodies, and in the following lines
+gives a beautifully poetical summary of this elevated and philosophic
+discussion:--
+
+    But whether thus these things, or whether not,
+    Whether the Sun, predominant in Heaven,
+    Rise on the Earth, or Earth rise on the Sun;
+    He from the east his flaming round begin,
+    Or she from west her silent course advance
+    With inoffensive pace that spinning sleeps
+    On her soft axle, whilst she paces even,
+    And bears thee soft with the smooth air along--
+    Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid.--viii. 159-67.
+
+In this scientific discourse between Adam and Raphael, in which they
+discuss the structural arrangement of the heavens and the motions of
+celestial bodies, we are afforded an opportunity of learning what exact
+and comprehensive knowledge Milton possessed of both the Ptolemaic and
+Copernican theories. The concise and accurate manner in which he
+describes the doctrines belonging to each system indicates that he must
+have devoted considerable time and attention to making himself master of
+the details associated with both theories, which in his time were the
+cause of much controversy and discussion among philosophers and men of
+science.
+
+The Ptolemaic system, with its crystalline spheres revolving round the
+Earth, the addition to those of cycles and epicycles, and the heaping of
+them upon each other, in order to account for phenomena associated with
+the motions of celestial bodies, are concisely and accurately described.
+
+The unreasonableness of this theory, when compared with the Copernican,
+is clearly delineated by Milton where Adam is made to express his views
+with regard to motion in the heavens. His argument, declared in logical
+and persuasive language, demonstrates how contrary to reason it would be
+to imagine that the entire heavens should revolve round the Earth to
+bring about a result which could be more easily attained by imparting
+motion to the Earth herself. The inconceivable velocity with which it
+would be necessary for the celestial orbs to travel in order to
+accomplish their daily revolution is described by him as opposed to all
+reason, and entailing upon them a journey which it would be impossible
+for material bodies to perform. None the less accurate is Milton's
+description of the Copernican system. He describes the Sun as occupying
+that position in the system which his magnitude and supreme importance
+claim as his sole right, having the planets with their satellites,
+
+    That from his lordly eye keep distance due.--iii. 578,
+
+circling in majestic orbits around him, acknowledging his controlling
+power, and bending to his firm but gentle sway. Their positions, their
+paths, and their motions, real and apparent, are described in flowing
+and harmonious verse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+MILTON AND GALILEO
+
+
+After the death of his mother, which occurred in 1637, Milton expressed
+a desire to visit the Continent, where there were many places of
+interest which he often longed to see. Having obtained the consent of
+his kind and indulgent father, he set out on his travels in April 1638,
+accompanied by a single man-servant, and arrived in Paris, where he only
+stayed a few days. During his residence in the French capital he was
+introduced by Lord Scudamore, the English Ambassador at the Court of
+Versailles, to Hugo Grotius, one of the most distinguished scholars and
+philosophic thinkers of his age. From Paris Milton journeyed to Nice,
+where he first beheld the beauty of Italian scenery and the classic
+shores of the Mediterranean Sea. From Nice he sailed to Genoa and
+Leghorn, and after a short stay at those places continued his journey to
+Florence, one of the most interesting and picturesque of Italian cities.
+Situated in the Valley of the Arno, and encircled by sloping hills
+covered with luxuriant vegetation, the sides of which were studded with
+residences half-hidden among the foliage of gardens and vineyards,
+Florence, besides being famed for its natural beauty, was at that time
+the centre of Italian culture and learning, and the abode of men eminent
+in literature and science. Here Milton remained for a period of two
+months, and enjoyed the friendship and hospitality of its most noted
+citizens, many of whom delighted to honour their English visitor. He was
+warmly welcomed by the members of the various literary academies, who
+admired his compositions and conversation; the flattering encomiums
+bestowed upon him by those learned societies having been amply repaid by
+Milton in choice and elegant Latin verse.
+
+Among those who resided in the vicinity of Florence was the illustrious
+Galileo, who in his sorrow-stricken old age was held a prisoner of the
+Inquisition for having upheld and taught scientific doctrines which were
+declared to be heretical. After his abjuration he was committed to
+prison, but on the intervention of influential friends was released
+after a few days' incarceration, and permitted to return to his home at
+Arcetri. He was, however, kept under strict surveillance, and forbidden
+to leave his house or receive any of his intimate friends without having
+first obtained the sanction of the ecclesiastical authorities. After
+several years of close confinement at Arcetri, during which time he
+suffered much from rheumatism and continued ill-health, aggravated by
+grief and mental depression consequent upon the death of his favourite
+daughter, Galileo applied for permission to go to Florence in order to
+place himself under medical treatment. This request was granted by the
+Pope subject to certain conditions, which would be communicated to him
+when he presented himself at the office of the Inquisition at Florence.
+These were more severe than he anticipated. He was forbidden to leave
+his house or receive any of his friends there, and those injunctions
+were so strictly adhered to that during Passion Week he had to obtain a
+special order so that he might be able to attend mass. At the expiration
+of a few months Galileo was ordered to return to Arcetri, which he never
+left again.
+
+An affliction, perhaps the most deplorable that can happen to any human
+being, was added to the burden of Galileo's misfortunes and woes. A
+disorder which had some years previously injured the sight of his right
+eye returned in 1636. In the following year the left eye became
+similarly affected, with the result that in a few months Galileo became
+totally blind. His friends at first hoped that the disease was cataract,
+and that some relief might be afforded by means of an operation; but it
+was discovered to be an opacity of the cornea, which at his age was
+considered unamenable to treatment. This sudden and unexpected calamity
+was to Galileo a most deplorable occurrence, for it necessitated the
+relinquishment of his favourite pursuit, which he followed with such
+intense interest and delight. His friend Castelli writes: 'The noblest
+eye is darkened which Nature ever made; an eye so privileged, and gifted
+with such rare qualities that it may with truth be said to have seen
+more than all of those eyes who are gone, and to have opened the eyes of
+all who are to come.' Galileo endured his affliction with patient
+resignation and fortitude, and in the following extract from a letter by
+him he acknowledges the chastening hand of a Divine Providence: 'Alas!
+your dear friend and servant Galileo has become totally blind, so that
+this heaven, this earth, this universe, which with wonderful
+observations I had enlarged a hundred and a thousand times beyond the
+belief of bygone ages, henceforward for me is shrunk into the narrow
+space which I myself fill in it. So it pleases God; it shall then please
+me also.' The rigorous curtailment of his liberty which prompted Galileo
+to head his letters, 'From my prison at Arcetri,' was relaxed when total
+blindness had supervened upon the infirmities of age. Permission was
+given him to receive his friends, and he was allowed to have free
+intercourse with his neighbours.
+
+Milton, during his stay at Florence, visited Galileo at Arcetri. We are
+ignorant of the details of this eventful and interesting interview
+between the aged and blind astronomer and the young English poet, who
+afterwards immortalised his name in heroic verse, and who in his
+declining years suffered from an affliction similar to that which befel
+Galileo, and to which he alludes so pathetically in the following
+lines:--
+
+                          Thee I revisit safe,
+    And feel thy sovran vital lamp; but thou
+    Revisitest not these eyes, that roll in vain
+    To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
+    So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs,
+    Or dim suffusion veiled.--iii. 21-26.
+
+We can imagine that Galileo's astronomical views, which at that time
+were the subject of much discussion among scientific men and professors
+of religion, and on account of which he suffered persecution, were
+eagerly discussed. It is also probable that the information communicated
+by Galileo, or by some of his followers, may have persuaded Milton to
+entertain a more favourable opinion of the Copernican theory. The
+interesting discoveries made by Galileo with his telescope without doubt
+formed a pleasant subject of conversation, and Milton enjoyed the
+privilege of listening to a detailed description of these from the lips
+of the aged astronomer. The telescope, its principle, its mechanism, and
+the method of observing, were most probably explained to him; and we can
+believe that an opportunity was afforded him of examining those in
+Galileo's observatory, and of perhaps testing their magnifying power
+upon some celestial object favourably situated for observation. Though
+Milton has not favoured us with any details of his visit to Galileo, yet
+it was one which made a lasting impression upon his mind, and was never
+afterwards forgotten by him. 'There it was,' he writes, 'I found and
+visited the famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner of the Inquisition for
+thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican
+licensers thought.' In years long after, when Milton, himself feeble
+and blind, sat down to compose his 'Paradise Lost,' the remembrance of
+the Tuscan artist and his telescope was still fresh in his memory.
+
+By the invention of the telescope and its application to astronomical
+research, a vast amount of information and additional detail have been
+learned regarding the bodies which enter into the formation of the solar
+system; and by its aid many new ones were also discovered. On sweeping
+the heavens with the instrument, the illimitable extent of the sidereal
+universe became apparent, and numberless objects of interest were
+brought within the range of vision the existence of which had not been
+previously imagined.
+
+The Galilean telescope was invented in 1609. But the magnifying power of
+certain lenses, and their combination in producing singular visual
+effects, are alluded to in the writings of several early authors. The
+value of single lenses as an aid to sight had been long known, and
+spectacles were in common use in the fourteenth century. Several
+mathematicians have described the wonderful optical results obtained
+from glasses concave and convex, of parabolic and circular forms, and
+from 'perspective glasses,' in which were embodied the principle of the
+telescope. It is asserted that our countryman, Roger Bacon (1214), had
+some notion of the properties of the telescope; but among those familiar
+with the combination of lenses the two men who made the nearest approach
+to the invention of the instrument were Baptista Porta and Gerolamo
+Fracastro. The latter, who died in 1553, writes as follows: 'For which
+reason those things which are seen at the bottom of water appear greater
+than those which are at the top; and if anyone look through two
+eye-glasses, one placed upon the other, he will see everything much
+larger and nearer.' It is doubtful if Fracastro had any notion of
+constructing a mechanism which might answer the purpose of a telescopic
+tube. Baptista Porta (1611) is more explicit in what he describes. He
+writes: 'Concave lenses show distant objects most clearly, convex those
+which are nearer; whence they may be used to assist the sight. With a
+concave glass distant objects will be seen, small, but distinct; with a
+convex one, those near at hand, larger, but confused; if you know
+_rightly_ how to combine one of each sort, you will see both far and
+near objects larger and clearer.' He then goes on to say: 'I shall now
+endeavour to show in what manner we may continue to recognise our
+friends at the distance of several miles, and how those of weak sight
+may read the most minute letters from a distance. It is an invention of
+great utility, and grounded on optical principles; nor is at all
+difficult of execution; but it must be so divulged as not to be
+understood by the vulgar, and yet be clear to the sharp-sighted.' After
+this, he proceeds to describe a mechanism the details of which are
+confusing and unintelligible, nor did it appear to bear any resemblance
+to a telescopic tube.
+
+In a work published by Thomas Digges in 1591, he makes the following
+allusion to his father's experiments with the lenses: 'My father, by his
+continuall painfull practices, assisted with demonstrations
+mathematicall, was able, and sundry times hath by proportionall glasses,
+duely situate in convenient angles, not only discouered things farre
+off, read letters, numbered peeces of money with the verye coyne and
+superscription thereof cast by some of his freends of purpose, upon
+downes in open fields; but also seuen miles off, declared what hath beene
+doone at that instant in priuate places.' It must be admitted that if
+Leonard Digges had not constructed a telescope, he knew how to combine
+lenses by the aid of which a visual effect was created similar to that
+produced by the use of the instrument.
+
+The inventor of the telescope was a Dutchman named Hans Lippershey, who
+carried on the business of a spectacle-maker in the town of Middelburg.
+His discovery was purely accidental. It is said that the
+instrument--which was directed towards a weather-cock on a church spire,
+of which it gave a large and inverted image--was for some time exhibited
+in his shop as a curiosity before its importance was recognised. The
+Marquis Spinola, happening to see this philosophical toy, purchased it,
+and presented it to Prince Maurice of Nassau, who imagined it might be
+of service for the purpose of military reconnoitring. The value of the
+invention was, however, soon realised, and in the following year
+telescopes were sold in Paris. In 1609, Galileo, when on a visit to a
+friend at Venice, received intelligence of the invention of an
+instrument by a Dutch optician which possessed the power of causing
+distant objects to appear much nearer than when observed by ordinary
+vision. The accuracy of this information was confirmed by letters which
+he received from Paris; and this general report, Galileo asserted, was
+all he knew of the subject. Fuccarius, in a disparaging letter, says
+that one of the Dutch telescopes had been brought to Venice, and that he
+himself had seen it. This statement is not incompatible with Galileo's
+affirmation that he had not seen the original instrument, and knew no
+more about it than what had been communicated to him in the letters from
+the French capital. It was insinuated by Fuccarius that Galileo had seen
+the telescope at Venice, but, as he denied this, we should not hesitate
+to believe in his veracity.
+
+Immediately after his return to Padua, Galileo began to think how he
+might be able to contrive an instrument with properties similar to the
+one of which he had been informed; and in the following words describes
+the process of reasoning by which he arrived at a successful result: 'I
+argued in the following manner. The contrivance consists either of one
+glass or of more--one is not sufficient, since it must be either convex,
+concave, or plane. The last does not produce any sensible alteration in
+objects; the concave diminishes them. It is true that the convex
+magnifies, but it renders them confused and indistinct; consequently,
+one glass is insufficient to produce the desired effect. Proceeding to
+consider two glasses, and bearing in mind that the plane causes no
+change, I determined that the instrument could not consist of the
+combination of a plane glass with either of the other two. I therefore
+applied myself to make experiments on combinations of the two other
+kinds, and thus obtained that of which I was in search.' Galileo's
+telescope consisted of two lenses--one plano-convex, the other
+plano-concave, the latter being held next the eye. These he fixed in a
+piece of organ pipe, which served the purpose of a tube, the glasses
+being distant from each other by the difference of their focal lengths.
+An exactly similar principle is adopted in the construction of an
+opera-glass, which can be accurately described as a double Galilean
+telescope. Galileo must be regarded as the inventor of this kind of
+telescope, which in one respect differed very materially from the one
+constructed by the Dutch optician. If what has been said with regard to
+the _inverted_ weather-cock be true, then Lippershey's telescope was
+made with two convex lenses, distant from each other by the sum of their
+focal lengths, and all objects observed with it were seen inverted.
+Refracting astronomical telescopes are now constructed on this
+principle, it having been discovered that for observational purposes
+they possess several advantages over the Galilean instrument. When
+Galileo had completed his first telescope he returned with it to
+Venice, where he exhibited it to his friends. The sensation created by
+this small instrument, which magnified only three times, was most
+extraordinary, and almost amounted to a frenzy. Crowds of the principal
+citizens of Venice flocked to Galileo's house in order that they might
+see the magical tube about which such wonderful reports were circulated;
+and for upwards of a month he was daily occupied in describing his
+invention to attentive audiences. At the expiration of this time the
+Doge of Venice, Leonardo Deodati, hinted that the Senate would not be
+averse to receive the telescope as a gift. Galileo readily acquiesced
+with this desire, and, as an acknowledgment of his merits, a decree was
+issued confirming his appointment as professor at Padua for life, and
+increasing his salary from 500 to 1,000 florins. The public excitement
+created by the telescope showed no signs of abatement. Sirturi mentions
+that, having succeeded in constructing an instrument, he ascended the
+tower of St. Mark's at Venice, hoping to be able to use it there without
+interruption. He was, however, detected by a few individuals, and soon
+surrounded by a crowd, which took possession of his telescope, and
+detained him for several hours until their curiosity was satisfied.
+Eager inquiries having been made as to where he lodged, Sirturi, fearing
+a repetition of his experience in the church tower, decided to quit
+Venice early next morning, and betake himself to a quieter and less
+frequented neighbourhood.
+
+The instrument was at first called Galileo's tube; the double eye-glass;
+the perspective; the trunk; the cylinder. The appellation _telescope_
+was given it by Demisiano.
+
+Galileo next directed his attention to the construction of telescopes,
+and applied his mechanical skill in making instruments of a larger size,
+one of which magnified _eight_ times. 'And at length,' he writes,
+'sparing neither labour nor expense, he completed an instrument that was
+capable of magnifying more than _thirty_ times.'
+
+Galileo now commenced an exploration of the celestial regions with his
+telescope, and on carefully examining some of the heavenly bodies, made
+many wonderful discoveries which added greatly to the fame and lustre of
+his name.
+
+The first celestial object to which Galileo directed his telescope was
+the Moon. He was deeply interested to find how much her surface
+resembled that of the Earth, and was able to perceive lofty mountain
+ranges, the illumined peaks of which reflected the sunlight, whilst
+their bases and sides were still enveloped in dark shadow; great plains
+which he imagined were seas, valleys, elevated ridges, depressions, and
+inequalities similar to what are found on our globe. Galileo believed
+the Moon to be a habitable world, and concluded that the dark and
+luminous portions of her surface were land and water, which reflected
+with unequal intensity the light of the Sun. The followers of Aristotle
+received the announcement of these discoveries with much displeasure.
+They maintained that the Moon was perfectly spherical and smooth--a vast
+mirror, the dark portions of which were the reflection of our
+terrestrial mountains and forests--and accused Galileo 'of taking a
+delight in distorting and ruining the fairest works of Nature.' He
+appealed to the unequal condition of the surface of our globe, but this
+was of no avail in altering their preconceived notions of the lunar
+surface.
+
+Perhaps the most important discovery made by Galileo with the telescope
+was that of the four moons of Jupiter. On the night of January 7, 1610,
+when engaged in observing the planet, his attention was attracted by
+three small stars which appeared brighter than those in their immediate
+neighbourhood. They were all in a straight line and parallel with the
+ecliptic; two of them were situated to the east, and one to the west of
+Jupiter. On the following night he was surprised to find all three to
+the west of the planet, and nearer to each other. This caused him
+considerable perplexity, and he was at a loss to understand how Jupiter
+could be east of the three stars, when on the preceding night he was
+observed to the west of two of them. Galileo was unable to reconcile the
+altered positions of those bodies with the apparent motion of Jupiter
+among the fixed stars as indicated by the astronomical tables. The next
+opportunity he had of observing them was on the 10th, when two stars
+only were visible, and they were to the east of the planet. As it was
+impossible for Jupiter to move from west to east on January 8 and from
+east to west on the 10th, he concluded that it was the motion of the
+stars and not that of Jupiter which accounted for the observed
+phenomena. Galileo watched the stars attentively on successive evenings
+and discovered a fourth, and on observing how they changed their
+positions relatively to each other he soon arrived at the conclusion
+that the stars were four moons which revolved round Jupiter after the
+manner in which the Moon revolves round the Earth. Having assured
+himself that the four new stars were four moons that with periodical
+regularity circled round the great planet, Galileo named them the
+Medicean Stars in honour of his patron, Cosmo de' Medici, Grand Duke of
+Tuscany. He also published an essay entitled 'Nuncius Sidereus,' or the
+'Sidereal Messenger,' which contained an account of this important
+discovery.
+
+The announcement of Galileo's discovery of the four satellites of
+Jupiter created a profound sensation, and its significance became at
+once apparent. Aristotelians and Ptolemaists received the information
+with much disfavour and incredulity, and many persons positively refused
+to believe Galileo, whom they accused of inventing fables. On the other
+hand, the upholders of the Copernican theory hailed it with
+satisfaction, as it declared that Jupiter with his four moons
+constituted a system of greater magnitude and importance than that of
+our globe with her single satellite, and that consequently the Earth
+could not be regarded as the centre of the universe.
+
+When Kepler heard of this remarkable discovery, he wrote to Galileo and
+expressed himself in the following characteristic manner: 'I was sitting
+idle at home thinking of you, most excellent Galileo, and your letters,
+when the news was brought me of the discovery of four planets by the
+help of the double eye-glass. Wachenfels stopped his carriage at my door
+to tell me, when such a fit of wonder seized me at a report which seemed
+so very absurd, and I was thrown into such agitation at seeing an old
+dispute between us decided in this way, that between his joy, my
+colouring, and the laughter of both, confounded as we were by such a
+novelty, we were hardly capable, he of speaking, or I of listening.... I
+am so far from disbelieving in the existence of the four circumjovial
+planets, that I long for a telescope to anticipate you, if possible, in
+discovering two round Mars (as the proportion seems to me to require),
+six or eight round Saturn, and perhaps one each round Mercury and
+Venus.' The intelligence of Galileo's discoveries was received by his
+opponents in a spirit entirely different from that manifested by Kepler.
+The principal professor of philosophy at Padua, when requested to look
+at the Moon and planets through Galileo's glass, persistently declined,
+and did his utmost to persuade the Grand Duke that the four satellites
+of Jupiter could not possibly exist. Francesco Sizzi, a Florentine
+astronomer, argued that, as there are seven apertures in the head,
+seven known metals, and seven days in the week, so there could only be
+seven planets. To these absurd remarks Galileo replied by saying that,
+'whatever their force might be as a reason for believing beforehand that
+no more than seven planets would be discovered, they hardly seemed of
+sufficient weight to destroy the new ones when actually seen.' Another
+individual, named Christmann, writes: 'We are not to think that Jupiter
+has four satellites given him by Nature in order, by revolving round
+him, to immortalize the name of the Medici, who first had notice of the
+observation. These are the dreams of idle men, who love ludicrous ideas
+better than our laborious and industrious correction of the heavens.
+Nature abhors so horrible a chaos, and to the truly wise such vanity is
+detestable.' Martin Horky, a _protégé_ of Kepler's, issued a pamphlet in
+which he made a violent attack on Galileo. He says: 'I will never
+concede his four new planets to that Italian from Padua though I die for
+it.' He then asks the following questions, and replies to them himself:
+(1) Whether they exist? (2) What they are? (3) What they are like? (4)
+Why they are? 'The first question is soon disposed of by Horky's
+declaring positively that he has examined the heavens with Galileo's own
+glass, and that no such thing as a satellite about Jupiter exists. To
+the second, he declared solemnly that he does not more surely know that
+he has a soul in his body than that reflected rays are the sole cause of
+Galileo's erroneous observations. In regard to the third question, he
+says that these planets are like the smallest fly compared to an
+elephant; and, finally, concludes on the fourth, that the only use of
+them is to gratify Galileo's "thirst of gold," and to afford himself a
+subject of discussion.'[7] Galileo did not condescend to take any notice
+of this scurrilous production; but Horky, who imagined that he had done
+something clever, sent a copy of his pamphlet to Kepler. In a few days
+after he called to see him, and was received with such a storm of
+indignation that he begged for mercy and implored his forgiveness.
+Kepler forgave him, but insisted on his making amends. He writes: 'I
+have taken him again into favour upon this preliminary condition, to
+which he has agreed--that I am to show him Jupiter's satellites, _and he
+is to see them_, and own that they are there.'
+
+The evidence in support of the existence of Jupiter's satellites became
+so conclusive that the opponents of Galileo were compelled to renounce
+their disbelief in those bodies, whether real or pretended. The Grand
+Duke, preferring to trust to his eyes rather than believe in the
+arguments of the professor at Padua, observed the satellites on several
+occasions, along with Galileo, at Pisa, and on his departure bestowed
+upon him a gift of one thousand florins. Several of Galileo's enemies,
+as a result of their observations, now arrived at the conclusion that
+his discovery was incomplete, and that Jupiter had more than four
+satellites in attendance upon him. Scheiner counted five, Rheita nine,
+and other observers increased the number to twelve. But it was found to
+be quite as hazardous to exceed the number stated by Galileo as it was
+to deny the existence of any; for, when Jupiter had traversed a short
+distance of his path among the fixed stars, the only bodies that
+accompanied him were his four original attendants, which continued to
+revolve round him with unerring regularity in every part of his orbit.
+
+Galileo did not afford his opponents much time to oppose or controvert
+with argument the discoveries made by him with the telescope before his
+announcement of a new one attracted public attention from those already
+known. He, however, exercised greater caution in disclosing the results
+of his observations, as other persons laid claim to having made similar
+discoveries prior to the time at which his were announced. He therefore
+adopted a method in common use among astronomers in those days, by which
+the letters in a sentence announcing a discovery were transposed so as
+to form an anagram.
+
+Galileo announced his next discovery in this manner, and which read as
+follows:--
+
+    Smaismrmilme poeta leumi bvne nugttaviras.
+
+This, when deciphered, formed the sentence:--
+
+    Altissimum planetam tergeminum observavi.
+
+    I have observed that the remotest planet is triple.
+
+Galileo perceived that Saturn presented a triform appearance, and that,
+instead of one body, there were three, all in a straight line, and
+apparently in contact with each other, the middle one being larger than
+the two lateral ones. In a letter to Kepler he remarked: 'Now I have
+discovered a Court for Jupiter, and two servants for this old man, who
+aid his steps and never quit his side.' Kepler, who excelled as an
+imaginative writer, replied: 'I will not make an old man of Saturn, nor
+slaves of his attendant globes; but rather let this tricorporate form be
+Geryon--so shall Galileo be Hercules, and the telescope his club, armed
+with which he has conquered that distant planet, and dragged him from
+the remotest depths of Nature, and exposed him to the view of all.'
+Continuing his observations, Galileo perceived that the two lateral
+objects gradually decreased in size, and at the expiration of two years
+entirely disappeared, leaving the central globe visible only. He was
+unable to assign any reason for this peculiar occurrence, which caused
+him much perplexity, and he expresses himself thus: 'What is to be said
+concerning so strange a metamorphosis? Are the two lesser stars consumed
+after the manner of the solar spots? Have they vanished and suddenly
+fled? Has Saturn, perhaps, devoured his own children? Or were the
+appearances, indeed, illusion or fraud, with which the glasses have so
+long deceived me, as well as many others to whom I have shown them? Now,
+perhaps, is the time to revive the well-nigh withered hopes of those
+who, guided by more profound contemplations, have discovered the fallacy
+of the new observations, and demonstrated the utter impossibility of
+their existence. I do not know what to say in a case so surprising, so
+unlooked-for, and so novel. The shortness of the time, the unexpected
+nature of the event, the weakness of my understanding, and the fear of
+being mistaken, have greatly confounded me.' After a certain interval
+those bodies reappeared; but Galileo's glass was not sufficiently
+powerful to enable him to ascertain their nature nor solve the mystery,
+which for upwards of half a century perplexed the ablest astronomers.
+
+The elucidation of this inexplicable phenomenon was reserved for
+Christian Huygens, who, with an improved telescope of his own
+construction, was able to declare that Saturn's appendages were portions
+of a ring which surrounds the planet, and is everywhere distinct from
+its surface.
+
+Galileo next directed his attention to the planet Venus, and as a result
+of his observations was led to communicate to the public another
+anagram:--
+
+    Haec immatura a me jam frustra leguntur oy.
+
+This, when rendered correctly, reads:--
+
+    Cynthiae figuras aemulatur mater amorum.
+
+    Venus rivals the appearances of the Moon.
+
+The phases of Venus were one of the most interesting of Galileo's
+discoveries with the telescope. When observed near inferior conjunction
+the planet presents the appearance of a slender crescent, resembling
+the Moon when a few days old. Travelling from this point to superior
+conjunction, the illumined portion of her disc gradually increases,
+until it becomes circular, like the full Moon. This changing appearance
+of Venus afforded Galileo irresistible proof that the planet is an
+opaque body, which derives its light from the Sun, and that it circles
+round the orb--convincing evidence of the accuracy and truthfulness of
+the Copernican theory.
+
+It was in this manner that Galileo announced his discovery of the phases
+of Venus, the peerless planet of our morning and evening skies, whose
+slender crescent forms such a beautiful object in the telescope, and
+who, as she traverses her orbit, exhibits all the varied changes of form
+presented by the Moon in her monthly journey round the Earth. These
+varying aspects of Venus were not unknown to Milton; and, indeed, he may
+have been informed of them by Galileo in his conversation with him at
+Arcetri; nor has he failed to introduce an allusion to this beautiful
+phenomenon in his poem. In his description of the Creation, after the
+Sun was formed, he adds:--
+
+    Hither, as to their fountain, other stars
+    Repairing, in their golden urns draw light,
+    And hence the morning planet gilds her horns.--vii. 364-66.
+
+Galileo also discovered that the planet Mars does not always present the
+appearance of a circular disc. When near opposition the full disc of the
+planet is visible, but at all other times it is gibbous, and approaches
+nearest to that of a half-moon when at the quadratures.
+
+In the year 1610, on directing his telescope to the Sun, Galileo
+detected dark spots on the solar disc. Similar spots, sufficiently large
+to be distinguished by the naked eye, had been observed from time to
+time for centuries prior to the invention of the telescope, but nothing
+was known of their nature. In 1609 Kepler observed a spot on the Sun,
+which he thought was the planet Mercury in conjunction with the orb; the
+short time during which it was visible, in consequence of clouds having
+obscured the face of the luminary, prevented him from being able to
+determine the accuracy of his surmise, but since then it has been
+ascertained that no transit of Mercury took place at that time, and
+Kepler afterwards acknowledged that he had arrived at an erroneous
+conclusion. Galileo was much puzzled in trying to find out the true
+nature of the spots. At first he was led to imagine that planets like
+Mercury and Venus revolved round the Sun at a short distance from the
+orb, and that their dark bodies, travelling across the solar disc, gave
+rise to the phenomenon of the spots. After further observation, he
+ascertained that the spots were in actual contact with the Sun; that
+they were irregular in shape and size, and continued to appear and
+disappear. Sometimes a large spot would break up into several smaller
+ones, and at other times three or four small spots would unite to form a
+large one. They all had a common motion, and appeared to rotate with
+the Sun, from which Galileo concluded that the orb rotated on his axis
+in about twenty-eight days. Galileo believed that the spots were clouds
+floating in the solar atmosphere, and that they intercepted a portion of
+the light of the Sun.
+
+The Milky Way, that wondrous zone of light which encircles the heavens,
+remained for many ages a source of perplexity to ancient astronomers and
+philosophers, who, in their endeavours to ascertain its nature, had
+arrived at various absurd and erroneous conclusions. On directing his
+telescope to this luminous tract, Galileo discovered, to his
+inexpressible admiration, that it consists of a vast multitude of stars,
+too minute to be visible to the naked eye. He also discerned that its
+milky luminosity is created by the blended light of myriads of stars, so
+remote as to be incapable of definition by his telescope. In his
+'Nuncius Sidereus' he gives an account of his observations of the Galaxy
+and expresses his satisfaction that he has been enabled to terminate an
+ancient controversy by demonstrating to the senses the stellar structure
+of the Milky Way. When engaged in exploring the celestial regions with
+his telescope, Galileo observed a marked difference in the appearance of
+the fixed stars, as compared with that of the planets. Each of the
+latter showed a rounded disc resembling that of a small moon, but the
+stars exhibited no disc, and shone as vivid sparkling points of light;
+all of them, whether of large or small magnitude, presenting the same
+appearance in the telescope. This led him to conclude that the fixed
+stars were not illumined by the Sun, because their brilliancy in all
+their changes of position remained unaltered. But, in the case of the
+planets, he found that their lustre varied according to their distance
+from the Sun; consequently, he believed they were opaque bodies which
+reflected the solar rays. On directing his telescope to the Pleiades,
+which, to the naked eye, appear as a group of seven stars, he succeeded
+in counting forty lucid points. The nebula Praesepe in Cancer, he was
+also able to resolve into a cluster of stars. Galileo made many other
+observations of the heavenly bodies with his telescope, all of which he
+describes as having afforded him 'incredible delight.'
+
+Shortly before the failure of his eyesight, Galileo discovered the
+Moon's diurnal libration, a variation in the visible edges of the Moon
+caused by its oscillatory motion, and the diurnal rotation of the Earth
+on her axis.
+
+Though Milton has not favoured us with any interesting details of his
+interview with Galileo, nor expressed his opinions with regard to the
+controversies which at that time agitated both the religious and
+scientific worlds of thought, and which eventually culminated in a storm
+of rancour and hatred that burst over the devoted head of the aged
+astronomer, and brought him to his knees, yet he informs us that he
+'found and visited' Galileo, whom he describes as 'grown old,' and
+cynically remarks that he 'was held a prisoner of the Inquisition for
+thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican
+licensers thought.' Milton does not allude to his blindness, and yet it
+would be natural to imagine that, had his host suffered from this
+affliction at the time of his visit, he would have referred to it. We
+learn that Milton arrived in Italy in the spring of 1638. In 1637, the
+affection which, in the preceding year, deprived Galileo of the use of
+his right eye, attacked the left also, which began to grow dim, and in
+the course of a few months became sightless; so that, although Milton
+has not alluded to this calamity, Galileo had become totally blind at
+the time of his visit.
+
+How much Milton was impressed with the fame of Galileo and his telescope
+becomes apparent on referring to his 'Paradise Lost.' In it he alludes
+to the instrument upon three different occasions, twice when in the
+hands of Galileo; and the remembrance of the same artist was doubtless
+in his mind when he mentions the 'glazed optic tube' in another part of
+his poem. The interval that elapsed from the date of Milton's visit to
+Galileo in 1638, to the publication of 'Paradise Lost' in 1667, included
+a period of about thirty years, yet this length of time did not erase
+from Milton's memory his recollection of Galileo and of his pleasant
+sojourn at Florence.
+
+The first allusion in the poem to the Italian astronomer is in the lines
+in which Milton describes the shield carried by Satan:--
+
+                      The broad circumference
+    Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whose orb
+    Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
+    At evening, from the top of Fesolé,
+    Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands,
+    Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe.--i. 286-91.
+
+Galileo is described as having observed the Moon from the heights of
+Fesolé, which formed part of the suburbs of Florence, or from Valdarno,
+the valley of the Arno, in which the city is situated. The belief that
+Galileo had discovered continents and seas on the Moon justified Milton
+in imagining the existence of rivers and mountains on the lunar surface.
+The expression 'spotty globe' is more descriptive of the appearance of
+our satellite when observed with the telescope, than when seen with the
+naked eye. Galileo's attention was attracted by the freckled aspect of
+the Moon--a visual effect created by the number of extinct volcanoes
+scattered over the surface of the orb.
+
+In his next allusion to the telescope Milton associates Galileo's name
+with the instrument:--
+
+                      As when by night the glass
+    Of Galileo, less assured, observes
+    Imagined lands and regions in the Moon.--v. 261-63.
+
+In these lines Milton describes with accuracy the extent of Galileo's
+knowledge of our satellite. The conclusions which the Italian astronomer
+arrived at with regard to its habitability were not supported by
+telescopic evidence sufficient to justify such a belief. Galileo writes:
+'Had its surface been absolutely smooth it would have been but a vast,
+unblessed desert, void of animals, of plants, of cities and men; the
+abode of silence and inaction--senseless, lifeless, soulless, and
+stripped of all those ornaments which now render it so variable and so
+beautiful:'--
+
+    There lands the Fiend, a spot like which perhaps
+    Astronomer in the Sun's lucent orb
+    Through his glazed optic tube yet never saw.--iii. 588-90.
+
+Milton may have remembered that Galileo was the first astronomer who
+directed a telescope to the Sun; and that he discovered the dark spots
+frequently seen on the solar disc.
+
+Anyone who has read a history of the life of Galileo, and contemplated
+the career of this remarkable man, his ardent struggles in the cause of
+freedom and philosophic truth, his victories and reverses, his brilliant
+astronomical discoveries, and his investigation of the laws of motion,
+and other natural phenomena, will arrive at the conclusion that he
+merited the distinction conferred upon him by our great English poet,
+when he included him among the renowned few whose names are found in the
+pages of 'Paradise Lost.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE SEASONS
+
+
+The great path of the Sun among the constellations as seen from the
+Earth is called the Ecliptic. It is divided into 360°, and again into
+twelve equal parts of 30°, called Signs. As one half of the ecliptic is
+north, and the other half south, of the equator, the line of
+intersection of their planes is at two points which are known as the
+equinoctial points, because, when the Sun on his upward and downward
+journey arrives at either of them the days and nights are of equal
+length all over the world. The equinoctial points are not stationary,
+but have a westerly motion of 50´´ annually along the ecliptic; at this
+rate they will require a period of 25,868 years to complete an entire
+circuit of the heavens.
+
+Milton alludes to the ecliptic when he mentions the arrival of Satan
+upon the Earth:--
+
+    Down from the ecliptic, sped with hoped success,
+    Throws his steep flight in many an airy wheel,
+    Nor staid till on Niphates top he lights.--iii. 740-42.
+
+Extending for 9° on each side of the ecliptic is a zone or belt called
+the Zodiac, the mesial line of which is occupied by the Sun, and within
+this space the principal planets perform their annual revolutions. It
+was for long believed that the paths of all the planets lay within the
+zodiac, but on the discovery of the minor planets, Ceres, Pallas, and
+Juno, it was ascertained that they travelled beyond this zone. The stars
+situated within the zodiac are divided into twelve groups or
+constellations, which correspond with the twelve signs, and each is
+named after an animal or some figure which it is supposed to resemble.
+The zodiac is of great antiquity; the ancient Egyptians and Hindoos made
+use of it, and there are allusions to it in the earliest astronomical
+records. The twelve constellations of the zodiac bear the following
+names:--
+
+Aries the Ram
+Taurus the Bull
+Gemini the Twins
+Cancer the Crab
+Leo the Lion
+Virgo the Virgin
+Libra the Balance
+Scorpio the Scorpion
+Sagittarius the Archer
+Capricornus the Goat
+Aquarius the Water-bearer
+Pisces the Fishes
+
+In close association with the Sun's annual journey are the seasons, upon
+the regular sequence of which mankind depend for the various products of
+the soil essential for the maintenance and enjoyment of life. The
+revolution of the Earth in her orbit, and the inclination of her axis to
+her annual path, causing the plane of the equator to be inclined 23-1/2°
+to that of the ecliptic, are the reasons which account for the
+succession of the seasons--Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Owing to
+the position of the Earth's axis with regard to her orbit, the Sun
+appears to travel 23-1/2° north and 23-1/2° south of the equator. When,
+on June 21, the orb attains his highest northern altitude, we have the
+summer solstice and the longest days; when, by retracing his steps, he
+declines 23-1/2° below the equator, at which point he arrives on
+December 21, we have the winter solstice and the shortest days.
+Intermediate between those two seasons are spring and autumn. When the
+Sun, on his journey northward, reaches the equator, we have the vernal
+equinox, and at this period of the year the days and nights are of equal
+length all over the globe. In a similar manner, when, on his return
+journey, the Sun is again on the equator, the autumnal equinox occurs.
+In summer the North Pole is inclined towards the Sun, consequently his
+rays fall more direct and impart much more heat to the northern
+hemisphere than in winter, when the Pole is turned away from the Sun.
+This difference in the incidence of the solar rays upon the surface of
+the globe, along with the increased length of the day, mainly accounts
+for the high temperature of summer as compared with that of winter.
+
+Astronomically, the seasons commence at the periods of the equinoxes and
+solstices. Spring begins on March 21, the time of the vernal equinox;
+summer on June 21, at the summer solstice; autumn on September 22, at
+the autumnal equinox; and winter on December 21, at the winter solstice.
+This conventional division of the year is not equally applicable to all
+parts of the globe. In the arctic and antarctic regions spring and
+autumn are very brief, the summer is short and the winter of long
+duration. In the tropics, owing to the comparatively slight difference
+in the obliquity of the Sun's rays, one season is, as regards
+temperature, not much different from the other; but in the temperate
+regions of the Earth the vicissitudes of the seasons are more
+perceptible and can be best distinguished by the growth of vegetation,
+and the changes observable in the foliage of shrubs and trees. In spring
+there is the budding, in summer the blossom, in autumn the
+fruit-bearing, and in winter the leafless condition of deciduous trees,
+and the repose of vegetable life.
+
+The legendary belief that before the Fall there reigned on the Earth a
+perpetual spring, is introduced by Milton in his poem when he describes
+the pleasant surroundings associated with the happy conditions of life
+that existed in Paradise:--
+
+                                Thus was this place,
+    A happy rural seat of various view:
+    Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm;
+    Others whose fruit, burnished with golden rind,
+    Hung amiable--Hesperian fables true,
+    If true here only--and of delicious taste.
+    Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks
+    Grazing the tender herb, were interposed,
+    Or palmy hillock; or the flowery lap
+    Of some irriguous valley spread her store,
+    Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose.
+    Another side, umbrageous grots and caves
+    Of cool recess, o'er which the mantling vine
+    Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps
+    Luxuriant; meanwhile murmuring waters fall
+    Down the slope hill dispersed, or in a lake
+    That to the fringèd bank with myrtle crowned
+    Her crystal mirror holds, unite their streams.
+    The birds their quire apply; airs, vernal airs,
+    Breathing the smell of field and grove, attune
+    The trembling leaves, while universal Pan,
+    Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
+    Led on the eternal Spring.--iv. 246-68.
+
+In sad contrast with this charming sylvan scene, we turn to the unhappy
+consequences which ensued as a result of the first act of transgression.
+Milton describes a change of climate characterised by extremes of heat
+and cold which succeeded the perpetual spring. The Sun was made to shine
+so that the Earth should be exposed to torrid heat and icy cold
+unpleasant to endure. The pale Moon and the planets were given power to
+combine with noxious effect, and the fixed stars to shed their malignant
+influences:--
+
+                                            The Sun
+    Had first his precept so to move, so shine,
+    As might affect the Earth with cold and heat
+    Scarce tolerable, and from the north to call
+    Decrepit winter, from the south to bring
+    Solstitial summer's heat. To the blanc Moon
+    Her office they prescribed; to the other five
+    Their planetary motions and aspects,
+    In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite,
+    Of noxious efficacy, and when to join
+    In synod unbenign; and taught the fixed
+    Their influence malignant when to shower--
+    Which of them rising with the Sun or falling,
+    Should prove tempestuous. To the winds they set
+    Their corners, when with bluster to confound
+    Sea, air, and shore; the thunder when to roll
+    With terror through the dark aerial hall.--x. 651-67.
+
+We are here afforded an opportunity of learning that Milton possessed
+some knowledge of astrology, to which he makes allusion in other parts
+of his poem besides. In his time, astrology was believed in by many
+persons, and there were few learned men but who knew something of that
+occult science. Milton may be included among those who devoted some
+attention to astrology. Of this there is ample evidence, by the manner
+in which he expresses himself in words and phrases in common use among
+astrologers.
+
+The professors of this art recognised five planetary aspects, viz.,
+opposition, conjunction, sextile, square, and trine, each possessing its
+peculiar kind of influence on events. The Moon, the planets, and the
+constellations in their conjunctions and configurations, were believed
+to reveal to those who could understand the significance of their
+aspects, the destiny of individuals and the occurrence of future events.
+The inauspicious influences of the heavenly bodies are described by
+Milton as contributing to the general disarrangement of the happy
+condition of things that existed before the Fall.
+
+After having described the adverse physical changes which occurred in
+Nature as a consequence of the Fall, Milton makes use of his
+astronomical knowledge in explaining how they were brought about, and
+suggests two hypotheses: (1) a change of position of the Earth's axis;
+(2) an alteration of the Sun's path from the equinoctial road:--
+
+    Some say he bid his Angels turn askance
+    The poles of Earth twice ten degrees and more
+    From the Sun's axle; they with labour pushed
+    Oblique the centric globe: some say the Sun
+    Was bid turn reins from the equinoctial road
+    Like distant breadth--to Taurus with the seven
+    Atlantic Sisters, and the Spartan Twins,
+    Up to the Tropic Crab; thence down amain
+    By Leo, and the Virgin, and the Scales,
+    As deep as Capricorn; to bring in change
+    Of seasons to each clime. Else had the spring
+    Perpetual smiled on Earth with vernant flowers.--x. 668-79.
+
+In support of the theory of a perpetual spring, Milton assumes that the
+Earth's axis was directed at right angles to her orbit, and that the
+plane of the equator coincided with that of the ecliptic. Consequently,
+the Sun's path remained always on the equator, where his rays were
+vertical, and north and south of this line each locality on the Earth
+enjoyed one constant season, the character of which depended upon its
+geographical position. In what are now the temperate regions of the
+globe there was one continuous season, similar in climate and length of
+day to what is experienced at the vernal equinox, when the Sun is for a
+few days on the equator. There was then no winter, no summer, nor
+autumn; and, consequently, the growth of vegetation must have taken
+place under conditions of climate entirely different to what exist on
+the Earth at the present time.
+
+The change of position of the Earth's axis, 'twice ten degrees and more
+from the Sun's axle,' is described by Milton as having been
+accomplished by the might of angels, who 'with labour pushed oblique the
+centric globe.'
+
+(2) According to the Ptolemaic belief, the Sun revolved round the Earth,
+but his course was altered from the equinoctial road to the path that he
+now pursues, which is the ecliptic. Instead of remaining on the equator,
+he travels an equal distance from this line upwards and downwards in
+each hemisphere.
+
+The path of the Sun in the heavens is described by Milton with marked
+precision, and he mentions in regular order the names of the zodiacal
+constellations through which the orb travels. Passing through Taurus
+with the seven Atlantic Sisters (the Pleiades) and the Spartan Twins
+(Gemini), he enters the Tropic Crab (Cancer), in which constellation he
+attains his highest northern altitude; thence downwards he travels
+through Leo, Virgo, and the Scales (Libra), as deep as Capricornus,
+reaching his lowest point of declination at the winter solstice; and
+were it not for this alteration of the Sun's path, the poet informs us
+that perpetual spring would have reigned upon the Earth.
+
+Milton was evidently well acquainted with the astronomical reasons (the
+revolution of the Earth in her orbit and the obliquity of the ecliptic)
+by which the occurrence and regular sequence of the seasons can be
+explained.
+
+The path of the Sun in the heavens; his upward and downward course from
+the equator; the names of the constellations through which the orb
+travels, and the periods of the year at which he enters them, were also
+familiar to him.
+
+The grateful change of the seasons, and the varied aspects of nature
+peculiar to each, which give a charm and freshness to the rolling year,
+must have been to Milton a source of pleasure and delight, and have
+stimulated his poetic fancy.
+
+His observation of natural phenomena, and his keen perception of the
+pleasing changes which accompany them, are described in the following
+lines:--
+
+    As, when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds
+    Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread
+    Heaven's cheerful face, the louring element
+    Scowls o'er the darkened landskip snow or shower,
+    If chance the radiant Sun, with farewell sweet,
+    Extend his evening beam, the fields revive,
+    The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds
+    Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings.--ii. 488-95.
+
+The ancient poets Virgil and Ovid describe the Earth as having been
+created in the spring; and associated with this season, which
+
+                    to the heart inspires
+    Vernal delight and joy--iv. 154-55,
+
+were the Graces and the Hours, which danced hand in hand as they led on
+the eternal Spring.
+
+Milton alludes to the seasons on several occasions throughout his poem,
+and to the natural phenomena associated with them:--
+
+                                        As bees
+    In springtime when the Sun with Taurus rides,
+    Pour forth their populous youth about the hive
+    In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
+    Fly to and fro, or on the smoothèd plank
+    The suburb of their straw-built citadel
+    New rubbed with balm, expatiate and confer
+    Their state affairs.--i. 768-75.
+
+The Sun is in the constellation Taurus in April, when the warmth of his
+rays begins to impart new life and activity to the insect world after
+their long winter's sleep.
+
+In his description of the repast partaken by the Angel Raphael with Adam
+and Eve in Paradise, Milton writes:--
+
+                              Raised of grassy turf
+    Their table was, and mossy seats had round,
+    And on her ample square, from side to side,
+    All Autumn piled, though Spring and Autumn here
+    Danced hand in hand.--v. 391-95.
+
+In describing Beelzebub when about to address the Stygian Council, he
+says:--
+
+                                          His look
+    Drew audience and attention still as night
+    Or summer's noontide air, while thus he spake.--ii. 307-309.
+
+The failing vision from which Milton suffered in his declining years was
+succeeded by total blindness. This sad affliction he alludes to in the
+following lines:--
+
+                              Thus with the year
+    Seasons return; but not to me returns
+    Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
+    Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose.--iii. 40-43.
+
+We are able to perceive how much Milton was impressed with the beautiful
+seasons, and the varying aspects of the year which accompany them, and
+how his poetic imagination luxuriated in the changing variety of nature
+observable in earth and sky that from day to day afforded him exquisite
+delight; and, although his poem was written when blindness had overtaken
+him, yet those glad remembrances remained as fresh in his memory as when
+in his youth he roamed among the flowery meadows, the vocal woodlands,
+and the winding lanes of Buckinghamshire.
+
+The idea expressed by Milton that the primitive earth enjoyed a
+perpetual spring, though pleasing to the imagination, and well adapted
+for poetic description, is not sustained by any astronomical testimony.
+Indeed, the position of the Earth, with her axis at right angles to her
+orbit, is one which may be regarded as being ill adapted for the support
+and maintenance of life on her surface, just as her present position is
+the best that can be imagined for fulfilling this purpose.
+
+Astronomy teaches us to rely with certainty upon the permanence and
+regular sequence of the seasons. The position of the Earth's axis as she
+speeds along in her orbit through the unresisting ether remains
+unchanged, and her rapid rotation has the effect of increasing its
+stability. Yet, the Earth performs none of her motions with rigid
+precision, and there is a very slow alteration of the position of her
+axis occurring, which, if unchecked, would eventually produce a
+coincidence of the equator and the ecliptic. Instead of a succession of
+the seasons, there would then be perpetual spring upon the Earth, and,
+although it would require a great epoch of time to bring about such a
+change, there would result a condition of things entirely different to
+what now exists on the globe. But, before the ecliptic can have
+approached sufficiently near the equator to produce any appreciable
+effect upon the climate of the Earth, its motion must cease, and after
+remaining stationary for a time, it will begin to recede to its former
+position. The seasons must therefore follow each other in regular
+sequence, and throughout all time, reminding us of the promise of the
+Creator, 'that while the Earth remaineth seed-time and harvest, and cold
+and heat, and summer and winter shall not cease.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE STARRY HEAVENS
+
+
+The celestial vault, that, like a circling canopy of sapphire hue,
+stretches overhead from horizon to horizon, resplendent by night with
+myriad stars of different magnitudes and varied brilliancy, forming
+clusterings and configurations of fantastic shape and beauty, arrests
+the attention of the most casual observer. But to one who has studied
+the heavens, and followed the efforts of human genius in unravelling the
+mysteries associated with those bright orbs, the impression created on
+his mind as he gazes upon them in the still hours of the night, when the
+turmoil of life is hushed in repose, is one of wonder and longing to
+know more of their being and the hidden causes which brought them forth.
+Here, we have poetry written in letters of gold on the sable vestment of
+night; music in the gliding motion of the spheres; and harmony in the
+orbital sweep of sun, planet, and satellite.
+
+Milton was not only familiar with 'the face of the sky,' as it is
+popularly called, but also knew the structure of the celestial sphere,
+and the great circles by which it is circumscribed. Two of those--the
+colures--he alludes to in the following lines, when he describes the
+manner in which Satan, to avoid detection, compassed the Earth, after
+his discovery by Gabriel in Paradise, and his flight thence:--
+
+    The space of seven continued nights he rode
+    With darkness--thrice the equinoctial line
+    He circled, four times crossed the car of night
+    From pole to pole, traversing each colure.--ix. 63-66.
+
+Aristarchus of Samos believed the stars were golden studs, that
+illumined the crystal dome of heaven; but modern research has
+transformed this conception of the ancient astronomer's into a universe
+of blazing suns rushing through regions of illimitable space. In
+Milton's time astronomers had arrived at no definite conclusion with
+regard to the nature of the stars. They were known to be self-luminous
+bodies, situated at a remote distance in space, but it had not been
+ascertained with any degree of certainty that they were suns, resembling
+in magnitude and brilliancy our Sun. Indeed, little was known of those
+orbs until within the past hundred years, when the exploration of the
+heavens by the aid of greatly increased telescopic power, was the means
+of creating a new branch of astronomical science, called sidereal
+astronomy.
+
+We are indebted to Sir William Herschel, more than to any other
+astronomer, for our knowledge of the stellar universe. It was he who
+ascertained the vastness of its dimensions, and attempted to delineate
+its structural configuration. He also explored the star depths, which
+occupy the infinitude of space by which we are surrounded, and made
+many wonderful discoveries, which testify to his ability as an observer,
+and to his greatness as an astronomer.
+
+William Herschel was born at Hanover, November 15, 1738. His father was
+a musician in the band of the Hanoverian Guard, and trained his son in
+his own profession. After four years of military service, young Herschel
+arrived in England when nineteen years of age, and maintained himself by
+giving lessons in music. We hear of him first at Leeds, where he
+followed his profession, and instructed the band of the Durham Militia.
+From Leeds he went to Halifax, and was appointed organist there; on the
+expiration of twelve months he removed to Bath, and was elected to a
+similar post at the Octagon Chapel in that city. Here, fortune smiled
+upon him, and he became a busy and prosperous man. Besides attending to
+his numerous private engagements, he organised concerts, oratorios, and
+other public musical entertainments, which gained him much popularity
+among the cultivated classes which frequented this fashionable resort.
+Notwithstanding his numerous professional engagements, Herschel was able
+to devote a portion of his time to acquiring knowledge on other
+subjects. He became proficient in Italian and Greek, studied
+mathematics, and read books on astronomy. In 1773 he borrowed a small
+telescope, which he used for observational purposes, and was so
+captivated with the appearances presented by the celestial bodies, that
+he resolved to dedicate his life to acquiring 'a knowledge of the
+construction of the heavens.' This resolution he nobly adhered to, and
+became one of the most distinguished of astronomers. Like many other
+astronomers, Herschel possessed the requisite skill which enabled him to
+construct his own telescopes. Being desirous of possessing a more
+powerful instrument, and not having the means to purchase one, he
+commenced the manufacture of specula, the grinding and polishing of
+which had to be done by hand, entailing the necessity of tedious labour
+and the exercise of much patience. After repeated failures he at length
+completed a 5-1/2-foot Gregorian reflector, and with this instrument
+made his first survey of the heavens. Having perceived the desirability
+of possessing a more powerful telescope, he equipped himself with a
+reflector of twenty feet focal length, and it was with this instrument
+that he made those wonderful discoveries which established his
+reputation as a great astronomer.
+
+On March 31, 1781, when examining the stars in the constellation Gemini,
+Herschel observed a star which presented an appearance slightly
+different to that of the other stars by which it was surrounded; it
+looked larger, had a perceptible disc, and its light became fainter when
+viewed with a higher magnifying power. After having carefully examined
+this object, Herschel arrived at the conclusion that he had discovered a
+comet. He communicated intelligence of his discovery to the Royal
+Society, and, a notification of it having been sent to the Continental
+observatories, this celestial visitor was subjected to a close scrutiny;
+its progressive motion among the stars was carefully observed, and an
+orbit was assigned to it. After it had been under observation for some
+time, doubts were expressed as to its being a comet, these were
+increased on further examination, and eventually it was discovered that
+this interesting object was a new planet. This important discovery at
+once raised Herschel to a position of eminence and distinction, and from
+a star-gazing musician he became a famous astronomer. A new planet named
+Uranus was added to our system, which completes a revolution round the
+Sun in a little over eighty-four years, and at a distance of near 1,000
+millions of miles beyond the orbit of Saturn. Herschel's name became a
+household word. George III. invited him to Court in order that he might
+obtain from his own lips an account of his discovery of the new planet;
+and so favourable was the impression made by Herschel upon the King,
+that he proposed to create him Royal Astronomer at Windsor, and bestow
+upon him a salary of 200_l._ a year. Herschel decided to accept the
+proffered appointment, and, with his sister Caroline, removed from Bath
+to Datchet, near Windsor, in 1782, and from there to Slough in 1786. In
+1788 he married the wealthy widow of a London merchant, by whom he had
+one son, who worthily sustained his father's high reputation as an
+astronomer. Herschel was created a Knight in 1816, and in 1821 was
+elected first President of the Royal Astronomical Society. He died at
+Slough on August 25, 1822, when in the eighty-fourth year of his age,
+and was buried in Upton Churchyard.
+
+It is inscribed on his tomb, that 'he burst the barriers of heaven;' the
+lofty praise conveyed by this expression is not greater than what
+Herschel merited when we consider with what unwearied assiduity and
+patience he laboured to accomplish the results described in the words
+which have been quoted. By a method called 'star-gauging' he
+accomplished an entire survey of the heavens and examined minutely all
+the stars in their groups and aggregations as they passed before his eye
+in the field of the telescope. He sounded the depths of the Milky Way,
+and explored the wondrous regions of that shining zone, peopled with
+myriads of suns so closely aggregated in some of its tracts as to
+suggest the appearance of a mosaic of stars. He resolved numerous nebulæ
+into clusters of stars, and penetrated with his great telescope depth
+after depth of space crowded with 'island universes of stars,' beyond
+which he was able to discern luminous haze and filmy streaks of light,
+the evidence of the existence of other universes plunged in depths still
+more profound, where space verges on infinity. In his exploration of the
+starry heavens Herschel's labours were truly amazing. On four different
+occasions he completed a survey of the firmament, and counted the stars
+in several thousand gauge-fields; he discovered 2,400 nebulæ, 800
+double stars, and attempted to ascertain the approximate distances of
+the stars by a comparison of their relative brightness.
+
+It had long been surmised, though no actual proof was forthcoming, that
+the law of gravitation by which the order and stability of our system
+are maintained exercises its potent influence over other material bodies
+existing in space, and that other systems, though differing in many
+respects from that of ours, and presenting a more complex arrangement in
+their structure, perform their motions subject to the guidance of this
+universal law. The uncertainty with regard to the controlling influence
+of gravity was removed by Herschel when he made his important discovery
+of binary star systems. The components of a binary star are usually in
+such close proximity that, to the naked eye, they appear as one star,
+and sometimes, even with telescopic aid, it is impossible to distinguish
+them individually; but when observed with sufficient magnifying power
+they can be easily perceived as two lucid points. Double stars were for
+a long time believed to be a purely optical phenomenon--an effect
+created by two stars projected on the sphere so as to appear nearly in
+the same line of vision, and, although apparently almost in contact,
+situated at great distances apart. At one time Herschel entertained a
+similar opinion with regard to those stars. In 1779 he undertook an
+extensive exploration of the heavens with the object of discovering
+double stars. As a result of his labours he presented to the Royal
+Society in 1782 a list of 269 newly discovered double stars, and in
+three years after he supplemented this list with another which contained
+434 more new stars. He carefully measured the distances by which the
+component stars were separated, and determined their position angles, in
+order that he might be able to detect the existence of any sensible
+parallax. On repeating his observations twenty years after, he
+discovered that the relative positions of many of the stars had changed,
+and in 1802 he made the important announcement of his discovery that the
+components of many double stars form independent systems, held together
+in a mutual bond of union and revolving round one common centre of
+gravity.
+
+The importance of this discovery, which we owe to Herschel's sagacity
+and accuracy of observation, cannot be over-estimated; what was
+previously conjecture and surmise, now became precise knowledge
+established upon a sure and accurate basis. It was ascertained that the
+law of gravity exerts its power in regulating and controlling the
+motions of all celestial bodies within the range of telescopic vision,
+and that the order and harmony which pervade our system are equally
+present among other systems of suns and worlds distributed throughout
+the regions of space. The spectacle of two or more suns revolving round
+each other, forming systems of greater magnitude and importance than
+that of ours, conveyed to the minds of astronomers a knowledge of the
+mechanism of the heavens which had hitherto been unknown to them.
+
+During the many years which Herschel devoted to the exploration of the
+starry heavens, and when engaged night after night in examining and
+enumerating the various groups and clusters of stars which passed before
+his eye in the field of his powerful telescope, he did not fail to
+remember the sublime object of his life, and to which he made all his
+other investigations subordinate, viz., the delineation of the
+structural configuration of the heavens, and the inclusion of all
+aggregations, groups, clusters, and galaxies of stars which are
+apparently scattered promiscuously throughout the regions of space into
+one grand harmonious design of celestial architecture.
+
+Having this object in view, he explored the wondrous zone of the Milky
+Way, gauged its depths, measured its dimensions, and, in attempting to
+unravel the intricacies of its structure, penetrated its recesses far
+beyond the limit attained by any other observer. Acting on the
+assumption that the stars are uniformly distributed throughout space,
+Herschel, by his method of star-gauging, concluded that the sidereal
+system consists of an irregular stratum of evenly distributed suns,
+resembling in form a cloven flat disc, and that the apparent richness of
+some regions as compared with that of others could be accounted for by
+the position from which it was viewed by an observer. The stars would
+appear least numerous where the visual line was shortest, and, as it
+became lengthened, they would increase in number until, by crowding
+behind each other as a greater depth of stratum was penetrated, they
+would, when very remote, present the appearance of a luminous cloud or
+zone of light. After further observation Herschel was compelled to
+relinquish his theory of equal star distribution, and found, as he
+approached the Galaxy, that the stars became much more numerous, and
+that in the Milky Way itself there was evidence of the gravitation of
+stars towards certain regions forming aggregations and clusters which
+would ultimately lead to its breaking up into numerous separate sidereal
+systems. As he extended his survey of the heavens and examined with
+greater minuteness the stellar regions in the Galactic tract, he
+discovered that by his method of star-gauging he was unable to define
+the complexity of structure and variety of arrangement which came under
+his observation; he also perceived that the star-depths are
+unfathomable, and discerned that beyond the reach of his telescope there
+existed systems and galaxies of stars situated at an appalling distance
+in the abysmal depths of space. Though the magnitude of that portion of
+the sidereal heavens which came under his observation was inconceivable
+as regards its dimensions, Herschel was able to perceive that it formed
+but a part--and most probably a small part--of the stellar universe, and
+that without a more extended knowledge of this universe, which at
+present is unattainable, it would be impossible to determine its
+structural configuration or discover the relationships that exist among
+the sidereal systems and Galactic concourses of stars distributed
+throughout space. Herschel ultimately abandoned his star-gauging method
+of observation and confined his attention to exploring the star depths
+and investigating the laws and theories associated with the bodies
+occupying those distant regions.
+
+Since all the planets if viewed from the Sun would be seen to move
+harmoniously and in regular order round that body, so there may be
+somewhere in the universe a central point, or, as some persons imagine,
+a great central sun, round which all the systems of stars perform their
+majestic revolutions with the same beautiful regularity; having their
+motions controlled by the same law of gravitation, and possessing the
+same dynamical stability which characterises the mechanism of the solar
+system.
+
+The extent of the distance which intervenes between our system and the
+fixed stars constituted a problem which exercised the minds of
+astronomers from an early period until the middle of the present
+century.
+
+Tycho Brahé, who repudiated the Copernican theory, asserted as one of
+his reasons against it that the distances by which the heavenly bodies
+are separated from each other were greater than even the upholders of
+this theory believed them to be. Although the distance of the Sun from
+the Earth was unknown, Tycho was aware that the diameter of the Earth's
+orbit must be measured by millions of miles, and yet there was no
+perceptible motion or change of position of the stars when viewed from
+any point of the vast circumference which she traverses. Consequently,
+the Earth, if viewed from the neighbourhood of a star, would also appear
+motionless, and the dimensions of her orbit would be reduced to that of
+a point. This seemed incredible to Tycho, and he therefore concluded
+that the Copernican theory was incorrect.
+
+The conclusion that the stars are orbs resembling our Sun in magnitude
+and brilliancy was one which, Tycho urged, should not be hastily
+adopted; and yet, if it were conceded that the Earth is a body which
+revolves round the Sun, it would be necessary to admit that the stars
+are suns also. If the Earth's orbit, as seen from a star, were reduced
+to a point, then the Sun, which occupies its centre, would be reduced to
+a point of light also, and, when observed from a star of equal
+brilliancy and magnitude, would have the same resemblance that the star
+has when viewed from the Earth, which may be regarded as being in
+proximity to the Sun. Tycho Brahé would not admit the accuracy of these
+conclusions, which were too bewildering and overwhelming for his mental
+conception.
+
+But the investigations of later astronomers disclosed the fact that the
+heavenly bodies are situated at distances more remote from each other
+than had been previously imagined, and that the reasons which led Tycho
+to reject the Copernican theory were based upon erroneous conclusions,
+and could, with greater aptitude, be employed in its support. It was
+ascertained that the distance of the Sun from the Earth, which at
+different periods was surmised to be ten, twenty, and forty millions of
+miles, was much greater than had been previously estimated. Later
+calculations determined it to be not less than eighty millions of miles,
+and, according to the most recent observations, the distance of the Sun
+from the Earth is believed to be about ninety-three millions of miles.
+
+Having once ascertained the distance between the Earth and the Sun,
+astronomers were enabled to determine with greater facility the
+distances of other heavenly bodies.
+
+It was now known that the diameter of the Earth's orbit exceeded 183
+millions of miles, and yet, with a base line of such enormous length,
+and with instruments of the most perfect construction, astronomers were
+only able to perceive the minutest appreciable alteration in the
+positions of a few stars when observed from opposite points of the
+terrestrial orbit.
+
+It had long been the ambitious desire of astronomers to accomplish, if
+possible, a measurement of the abyss which separates our system from the
+nearest of the fixed stars. No imaginary measuring line had ever been
+stretched across this region of space, nor had its unfathomed depths
+ever been sounded by any effort of the human mind. The stars were known
+to be inconceivably remote, but how far away no person could tell, nor
+did there exist any guide by which an approximation of their distances
+could be arrived at.
+
+In attempting to calculate the distances of the stars, astronomers have
+had recourse to a method called 'Parallax,' by which is meant the
+apparent change of position of a heavenly body when viewed from two
+different points of observation.
+
+The annual parallax of a heavenly body is the angle subtended at that
+body by the radius of the Earth's orbit.
+
+The stars have no diurnal parallax, because, owing to their great
+distance, the Earth's radius does not subtend any measurable angle, but
+the radius of the Earth's orbit, which is immensely larger, does, in the
+case of a few stars, subtend a very minute angle.
+
+'This enormous base line of 183 millions of miles is barely sufficient,
+in conjunction with the use of the most delicate and powerful
+astronomical instruments, to exhibit the minutest measureable
+displacement of two or three of the nearest stars.'--Proctor.
+
+The efforts of early astronomers to detect any perceptible alteration in
+the positions of the stars when observed from any point of the
+circumference of the Earth's orbit were unsuccessful. Copernicus
+ascribed the absence of any parallax to the immense distances of the
+stars as compared with the dimensions of the terrestrial orbit. Tycho
+Brahé, though possessing better appliances, and instruments of more
+perfect construction, was unable to perceive any annual displacement of
+the stars, and brought this forward as evidence against the Copernican
+theory.
+
+Galileo suggested a method of obtaining the parallax of the fixed stars,
+by observing two stars of unequal magnitude apparently near to each
+other, though really far apart. Those, when observed from different
+points of the Earth's orbit, would appear to change their positions
+relatively to each other. The smaller and more distant star would remain
+unaltered, whilst the larger and nearer star would have changed its
+position with respect to the other. By continuing to observe the larger
+star during the time that the Earth accomplished a revolution of her
+orbit, Galileo believed that its parallax might be successfully
+determined. Though he did not himself put this method into practice, it
+has been tried by others with successful results.
+
+In 1669, Hooke made the first attempt to ascertain the parallax of a
+fixed star, and selected for this purpose Gamma Draconis, a bright star
+in the Head of the Dragon. This constellation passed near the zenith of
+London at the time that he made his observations, and was favourably
+situated, so as to avoid the effects of refraction. Hooke made four
+observations in the months of July, August, and October, and believed
+that he determined the parallax of the star; but it was afterwards
+discovered that he was in error, and that the apparent displacement of
+the star was mainly due to the aberration of light--a phenomenon which
+was not discovered at that time.
+
+A few years later, Picard, a French astronomer, attempted to find the
+parallax of Alpha Lyræ, but was unsuccessful. In 1692-93, Roemer, a
+Danish astronomer, observed irregularities in the declinations of the
+stars which could neither be ascribed to parallax or refraction, and
+which he imagined resulted from a changing position of the Earth's axis.
+
+One of the principal causes which baffled astronomers in their
+endeavours to determine the parallax of the fixed stars was a phenomenon
+called the 'Aberration of Light,' which was discovered and explained by
+Bradley in 1727. The peculiar effect of aberration was perceived by him
+when endeavouring to obtain the parallax of Gamma Draconis.
+
+Owing to the progressive transmission of light, conjointly with the
+motion of the Earth in her orbit, there results an apparent slight
+displacement of a star from its true position. The extent of the
+displacement depends upon the ratio of the velocity of light as compared
+with the speed of the Earth in her orbit, which is as 10,000 to 1. As a
+consequence of this, each star describes a small ellipse in the course
+of a year, the central point of which would indicate the place occupied
+by the star if the Earth were at rest. The shifting position of the star
+is very slight, and at the end of a year it returns to its former place.
+
+Prior to the discovery of aberration, astronomers ascribed the apparent
+displacement of the stars arising from this cause as being due to
+parallax--a conclusion which led to erroneous results; but after
+Bradley's discovery this source of error was avoided, and it was found
+that the parallax of the stars had to be considerably reduced.
+
+Bessel was the first astronomer who merited the high distinction of
+having determined the first reliable stellar parallax, and by this
+achievement he was enabled to fathom the profound abyss which separates
+our solar system from the stars.
+
+Frederick William Bessel was born in 1764 at Minden, in Westphalia. It
+was his intention to pursue a mercantile career, and he commenced life
+by becoming apprenticed to a firm of merchants at Bremen. Soon
+afterwards he accompanied a trading expedition to China and the East
+Indies, and while on this voyage picked up a good deal of information
+with regard to many matters which came under his observation. He
+acquired a knowledge of Spanish and English, and made himself acquainted
+with the art of navigation. On his return home, Bessel endeavoured to
+determine the longitude of Bremen. The only appliances which he made use
+of were a sextant constructed by himself, and a common clock; and yet,
+with those rude instruments, he successfully accomplished his object.
+During the next two years he devoted all his spare time to the study of
+mathematics and astronomy, and, having obtained possession of Harriot's
+observations of the celebrated comet of 1607--known as Halley's
+comet--Bessel, after much diligent application and careful calculation,
+was enabled to deduce from them an orbit, which he assigned to that
+remarkable body. This meritorious achievement was the means of procuring
+for him a widely known reputation.
+
+A vacancy for an assistant having occurred at Schröter's Observatory at
+Lilienthal, the post was offered to Bessel and accepted by him. Here he
+remained for four years, and was afterwards appointed Director of the
+new Prussian Observatory at Königsberg, where he pursued his
+astronomical labours for a period of upwards of thirty years. Bessel
+directed his energies chiefly to the study of stellar astronomy, and
+made many observations in determining the number, the exact positions,
+and proper motions of the stars. He was remarkable for the precision
+with which he carried out his observations, and for the accuracy which
+characterised all his calculations.
+
+In 1837 Bessel, by the exercise of his consummate skill, endeavoured to
+solve a problem which for many years baffled the efforts of the ablest
+astronomers, viz., the determination of the parallax of the fixed stars.
+This had been so frequently attempted, and without success, that the
+results of any new observations were received with incredulity before
+their value could be ascertained.
+
+Bessel was ably assisted by Joseph Frauenhofer, an eminent optician of
+Munich, who constructed a magnificent heliometer for the Observatory at
+Königsberg, and in its design introduced a principle which admirably
+adapted it for micrometrical measurement.
+
+The star selected by Bessel is a binary known as 61 Cygni, the
+components being of magnitudes 5·5 and 6 respectively. It has a large
+proper motion, which led him to conclude that its parallax must be
+considerable.
+
+This star will always be an object of interest to astronomers, as it was
+the first of the stellar multitude that revealed to Bessel the secret of
+its distance.
+
+Bessel commenced his observations in October 1837, and continued them
+until March 1840. During this time he made 402 measurements, and, before
+arriving at a conclusive result, carefully considered every imaginable
+cause of error, and rigorously calculated any inaccuracies that might
+arise therefrom. Finally, he determined the parallax of the star to be
+0´´·3483--a result equivalent to a distance about 600,000 times that of
+the Earth from the Sun. In 1842-43 M. Peters, of the Pulkova
+Observatory, arrived at an almost similar result, having obtained a
+parallax of 0´´·349; but by more recent observations the parallax of the
+star has been increased to about half a second.
+
+About the same time that Bessel was occupied with his observation of 61
+Cygni, Professor Henderson, of Edinburgh, when in charge of the
+Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, directed his attention to Alpha
+Centauri, one of the brightest stars in the Southern Hemisphere. During
+1832-33 he made a series of observations of the star, with the object
+of ascertaining its mean declination; and, having been informed
+afterwards of its large proper motion, he resolved to make an endeavour
+to determine its parallax. This he accomplished after his return to
+Scotland, having been appointed Astronomer Royal in that country. By an
+examination of the observations made by him at the Cape, he determined
+the parallax of Alpha Centauri to be 1´´·16, but later astronomers have
+reduced it to 0´´·75.
+
+Professor Henderson's detection of the parallax of Alpha Centauri was
+communicated to the Astronomical Society two months after Bessel
+announced his determination of the parallax of 61 Cygni.
+
+The parallax of 61 Cygni assigns to the star a distance of forty
+billions of miles from the Earth, and that of Alpha Centauri--regarded
+as the nearest star to our system--a distance of twenty-five billions of
+miles.
+
+It is utterly beyond the capacity of the human mind to form any adequate
+conception of those vast distances, even when measured by the velocity
+with which the ether of space is thrilled into light. Light, which
+travels twelve millions of miles in a minute, requires 4-1/3 years to
+cross the abyss which intervenes between Alpha Centauri and the Earth,
+and from 61 Cygni the period required for light to reach our globe is
+rather less than double that time.
+
+The parallax of more than a dozen other stars has been determined, and
+the light passage of a few of the best known is estimated as
+follows:--Sirius, eight years; Procyon, twelve; Altair, sixteen;
+Aldebaran, twenty-eight; Capella, thirty; Regulus, thirty-five; Polaris,
+sixty-three; and Vega, ninety-six years.
+
+It does not always follow that the brightest stars are those situated
+nearest to our system, though in a general way this may be regarded as
+correct. The diminishing magnitudes of the stars can be accounted for
+mainly by their increased distances, rather than by any difference in
+their intrinsic brilliancy. We should not err by inferring that the most
+minute stars are also the most remote; the telescope revealing thousands
+that are invisible to the naked eye. There are, however, exceptions to
+this general rule, and there are many stars of small magnitude less
+remote than those whose names have been enumerated, and whose light
+passage testifies to their profound distances and surpassing magnitude
+when compared with that of our Sun.
+
+Sirius, 'the leader of the heavenly host,' is distant fifty billions of
+miles. The orb shines with a brilliancy far surpassing that of the Sun,
+and greatly exceeds him in mass and dimensions. Arcturus, the bright
+star in Boötes, whose golden yellow light renders it such a conspicuous
+object, is so far distant that its measurement gives no reliable
+parallax; and if we may infer from what little we know of the stars,
+Arcturus is believed to be the most magnificent and massive orb entering
+into the structure of that portion of the sidereal system which comes
+within our cognisance. Judging by its relative size and brightness,
+this star is ten thousand times more luminous, and may exceed the Sun
+one million times in volume.
+
+Deneb, in the constellation of the Swan, though a first-magnitude star,
+possesses no perceptible proper motion or parallax--a circumstance
+indicative of amazing distance, and magnitude equalling, or surpassing,
+Arcturus and Sirius.
+
+Canopus, in the constellation Argo, in the Southern Hemisphere, the
+brightest star in the heavens with the exception of Sirius, possesses no
+sensible parallax; consequently, its distance is unknown, though it has
+been estimated that its light passage cannot be less than sixty-five
+years.
+
+By establishing a mean value for the parallax of stars of different
+magnitudes, it was believed that an approximation of their distances
+could be obtained by calculating the time occupied in their light
+passage. The light period for stars of the first magnitude has been
+estimated at thirty-six and a half years; this applies to the brightest
+stars, which are also regarded as the nearest. At the distance indicated
+by this period, the Sun would shrink to the dimensions of a
+seventh-magnitude star and become invisible to the naked eye; this of
+itself affords sufficient proof that the great luminary of our system
+cannot be regarded as one of the leading orbs of the firmament. Stars of
+the second magnitude have a mean distance of fifty-eight light years,
+those of the third magnitude ninety-two years, and so on. M. Peters
+estimated that light from stars of the sixth magnitude, which are just
+visible to the naked eye, requires a period of 138 years to accomplish
+its journey hither; whilst light emitted from the smallest stars visible
+in large telescopes does not reach the Earth until after the lapse of
+thousands of years from the time of leaving its source.
+
+The profound distances of the nearest stars by which we are surrounded
+lead us to consider the isolated position of the solar system in space.
+A pinnacle of rock, or forsaken raft floating in mid-ocean, is not more
+distant from the shore than is the Sun from his nearest neighbours. The
+inconceivable dimensions of the abyss by which the orb and his
+attendants are surrounded in utter loneliness may be partially
+comprehended when it is known that light, which travels from the Sun to
+the Earth--a distance of ninety-three millions of miles--in eight
+minutes, requires a period of four and a third years to reach us from
+the nearest fixed star. A sphere having the Sun at its centre and this
+nearest star at its circumference would have a diameter of upwards of
+fifty billions of miles; the volume of the orb when compared with the
+dimensions of this circular vacuity of space is as a small shot to a
+globe 900 miles in diameter. It has been estimated by Father Secchi
+that, if a comet when at aphelion were to arrive at a point midway
+between the Sun and the nearest fixed star, it would require one hundred
+million years in the accomplishment of its journey thither. And yet the
+Sun is one of a group of stars which occupy a region of the heavens
+adjacent to the Milky Way and surrounded by that zone; nor is his
+isolation greater than that of those stars which are his companions, and
+who, notwithstanding their profound distance, influence his movements by
+their gravitational attraction, and in combination with the other stars
+of the firmament control his destiny.
+
+Ancient astronomers, for the purpose of description, have mapped out the
+heavens into numerous irregular divisions called 'constellations.' They
+are of various forms and sizes, according to the configuration of the
+stars which occupy them, and have been named after different animals,
+mythological heroes, and other objects which they appear to resemble. In
+a few instances there does exist a similitude to the object after which
+a constellation is called; this is evident in the case of Corona
+Borealis (the Northern Crown), in which there can be seen a conspicuous
+arrangement of stars resembling a coronet, and in the constellations of
+the Dolphin and Scorpion, where the stars are so distributed that the
+forms of those creatures can be readily recognised. There is some slight
+resemblance to a bear in Ursa Major, and to a lion in Leo, and no great
+effort of the mind is required to imagine a chair in Cassiopeia, and a
+giant in Orion; but in the majority of instances it is difficult to
+perceive any likeness of the object after which a constellation is
+named, and in many cases there is no resemblance whatever.
+
+The constellations are sixty-seven in number: excluding those of the
+Zodiac, which have been already mentioned, the constellations of the
+Northern Hemisphere number twenty-nine. The most important of these are
+Ursa Major and Minor, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Lyra,
+Aquila, Auriga, Draco, Boötes, Hercules, Pegasus, and Corona Borealis.
+
+To an observer of the nocturnal sky the stars appear to be very
+unequally distributed over the celestial sphere. In some regions they
+are few in number and of small magnitude, whilst in other parts of the
+heavens, and especially in the vicinity of the Milky Way, they are
+present in great numbers and form groups and aggregations of striking
+appearance and conspicuous brilliancy. On taking a casual glance at the
+midnight sky on a clear moonless night, one is struck with the apparent
+countless multitude of the stars; yet this impression of their vast
+number is deceptive, for not more than two thousand stars are usually
+visible at one time.
+
+Much, however, depends upon the keenness of vision of the observer, and
+the transparency of the atmosphere. Argelander counted at Bonn more than
+3,000 stars, and Hozeau, near the equator, where all the stars of the
+sphere successively appear in view, enumerated 6,000 stars. This number
+may be regarded as including all the stars in the heavens that are
+visible to the naked eye. With the aid of an opera glass thousands of
+stars can be seen that are imperceptible to ordinary vision.
+Argelander, with a small telescope of 2-1/2 inches aperture, was able to
+count 234,000 stars in the Northern Hemisphere. Large telescopes reveal
+multitudes of stars utterly beyond the power of enumeration, nor do they
+appear to diminish in number as depth after depth of space is penetrated
+by powerful instruments. The star-population of the heavens has been
+reckoned at 100,000,000, but this estimate is merely an assumption;
+recent discoveries made by means of stellar photography indicate that
+the stars exist in myriads. It is reasonable to believe that there is a
+limit to the sidereal universe, but it is impossible to assign its
+bounds or comprehend the apparently infinite extent of its dimensions.
+
+Scintillation or twinkling of the stars is a property which
+distinguishes them from the planets. It is due to a disturbed condition
+of the atmosphere and is most apparent when a star is near the horizon;
+at the zenith it almost entirely vanishes. Humboldt states that in the
+clear air of Cumana, in South America, the stars do not twinkle after
+they reach an elevation of 15° above the horizon. The presence of
+moisture in the atmosphere intensifies scintillation, and this is
+usually regarded as a prognostication of rain. White stars twinkle more
+than red ones. The occurrence of scintillation can be accounted for by
+the fact that the stars are visible as single points of light which
+twinkle as a whole, but in the case of the Sun, Moon, and planets, they
+form discs from which many points of light are emitted; they,
+therefore, do not scintillate as a whole, for the absence of rays of
+light from one portion of their surface is compensated by those from
+other parts of their discs, giving a mean average which creates a
+steadiness of vision.
+
+The stars are divided into separate classes called 'magnitudes,' by
+which their relative apparent size and degree of brightness are
+distinguished. The magnitude of a star does not indicate its mass or
+dimensions, but its light-giving power, which depends partly upon its
+size and distance, though mainly upon the intensity of its luminosity.
+The most conspicuous are termed stars of the first magnitude; there are
+ten of those in the Northern Hemisphere, and an equal number south of
+the equator, but they are not all of the same brilliancy. Sirius
+outshines every other star of the firmament, and Arcturus has no rival
+in the northern heavens. The names of the first-magnitude stars north of
+the equator are: Arcturus, Capella, Vega, Betelgeux, Procyon, Aldebaran,
+Altair, Pollux, Regulus, and Deneb. The next class in order of
+brightness are called second-magnitude stars; they are fifty or sixty in
+number, the most important of which is the Pole Star. The stars diminish
+in luminosity by successive gradations, and when they sink to the sixth
+magnitude reach the utmost limit at which they appear visible to the
+naked eye. In great telescopes this classification is carried so low as
+to include stars of the eighteenth and twentieth magnitudes.
+
+Entering into the structure of the stellar universe we have Single
+Stars, Double Stars, Triple, Quadruple, and Multiple Stars, Temporary,
+Periodical, and Variable Stars, Star-groups, Star-clusters, Galaxies,
+and Nebulæ.
+
+SINGLE OR INSULATED STARS include all those orbs sufficiently isolated
+in space so as not to be perceptibly influenced by the attraction of
+other similar bodies. They are believed to constitute the centres of
+planetary systems, and fulfil the purpose for which they were created by
+dispensing light and heat to the worlds which circle around them.
+
+The Sun is an example of this class of star, and constitutes the centre
+of the system to which the Earth belongs. Reasoning from analogy, it
+would be natural to conclude that there are other suns, numberless
+beyond conception, the centres of systems of revolving worlds, and
+although we are utterly unable to catch a glimpse of their planetary
+attendants, even with the aid of the most powerful telescopes, yet they
+have in a few instances been _felt_, and have afforded unmistakable
+indications of their existence.
+
+Since the Sun must be regarded as one of the stellar multitude that
+people the regions of space, and whose surpassing splendour when
+contrasted with that of other luminaries can be accounted for by his
+proximity to us, it would be of interest to ascertain his relative
+importance when compared with other celestial orbs which may be his
+peers or his superiors in magnitude and brilliancy.
+
+The Sun is one of a widely scattered group of stars situated in the
+plane of the Milky Way and surrounded by that zone, and, as a star among
+the stars, would be included in the constellation of the Centaur.
+
+Although regarded as one of the leading orbs of the firmament, and of
+supreme importance to us, astronomers are undecided whether to classify
+the Sun with stars of greater magnitude and brightness, or assign him a
+position among minor orbs of smaller size. Much uncertainty exists with
+regard to star magnitudes. This arises from inability on the part of
+astronomers to ascertain the distances of the vast majority of stars
+visible to the naked eye, and also on account of inequality in their
+intrinsic brilliancy. Among the stars there exists an indefinite range
+of stellar magnitudes. There are many stars known whose dimensions have
+been ascertained to greatly exceed those of the Sun, and there are
+others of much smaller size. No approximation of the magnitude of
+telescopic stars can be arrived at; many of them may rival Sirius,
+Canopus, and Arcturus, in size and splendour, their apparent minuteness
+being a consequence of their extreme remoteness. If the Sun were removed
+a distance in space equal to that of many of the brightest stars, he
+would in appearance be reduced to a minute point of light or become
+altogether invisible; and there are other stars, situated at distances
+still more remote, of which sufficient is known to justify us in
+arriving at the conclusion that the Sun must be ranked among the minor
+orbs of the firmament, and that many of the stars surpass him in
+brilliancy and magnitude.
+
+DOUBLE STARS.--To the unaided eye, these appear as single points of
+light; but, when observed with a telescope of sufficient magnifying
+power, their dual nature can be detected.
+
+The first double star discovered was Mizar, the middle star of the three
+in Ursa Major which form the tail of the bear. The components are of the
+fourth and fifth magnitudes, of a brilliant white colour, and distant
+fourteen seconds of arc.
+
+In 1678, Cassini perceived stars which appeared as single points of
+light when viewed with the naked eye, but when observed with the
+telescope presented the appearance of being double.
+
+The astronomer Bode, in 1781, published a list of eighty double stars,
+and, in a few years after, Sir William Herschel discovered several
+hundreds more of those objects. They are now known to exist in
+thousands, Mr. Burnham, of the Lick Observatory, having, by his keen
+perception of vision, contributed more than any other observer to swell
+their number.
+
+All double stars are not binaries; many of them are known as 'optical
+doubles'--an impression created by two stars when almost in the same
+line of vision, and, though apparently near, are situated at a great
+distance apart and devoid of any physical relationship.
+
+Binary stars consist of two suns which revolve round their common
+centre of gravity, and form real dual systems.
+
+The close proximity of the components of double stars impressed the
+minds of some astronomers with the belief that a physical bond of union
+existed between them. In the interval between 1718 and 1759, Bradley
+detected a change of 30° in the position angle of the two stars forming
+Castor, and was very nearly discovering their physical connection.
+
+In 1767, the Rev. John Michell wrote: 'It is highly probable in
+particular, and next to a certainty in general, that such double stars
+as appear to consist of two or more stars placed very near together do
+really consist of stars placed near together and under the influence of
+some general law.' Afterwards he says: 'It is not improbable that a few
+years may inform us that some of the great number of double and triple
+stars which have been observed by Mr. Herschel are systems of bodies
+revolving about each other.' Christian Mayer, a German astronomer,
+formed a list of stellar pairs, and announced, in 1776, the supposed
+discovery of 'satellites' to many of the principal stars. His
+observations were, however, not exact enough to lead to any useful
+results, and the existence of his 'planet stars' was at that time
+derided, and believed to find a place only in his imagination.
+
+The conclusions arrived at by some astronomers with regard to double
+stars were afterwards confirmed by Herschel, when, by his observation of
+a change in the relative positions of many of their components, he was
+able to announce that they form independent systems in mutual
+revolution, and are controlled by the law of gravitation.
+
+The number of binary stars in active revolution is known to exceed 500;
+but, besides these, there are doubtless numerous other compound stars
+which, on account of their extreme remoteness and the close proximity of
+their components, are irresolvable into pairs by any optical appliances
+which we possess.
+
+The revolution of two suns in one sphere presents to our observation a
+scheme of creative design entirely different to the single-star system
+with which we are familiar--one of a higher and more complex order in
+the ascending scale of celestial architecture. For, if we assume that
+around each revolving sun there circles a retinue of planetary worlds,
+it is obvious that a much more complicated arrangement must exist among
+the orbs which enter into the formation of such a system than is found
+among those which gravitate round our Sun.
+
+The common centre of gravity of a binary system is situated on a line
+between both stars, and distant from each in inverse proportion to their
+respective masses. When the stars are of equal mass their orbits are of
+equal dimensions, but when the mass of one star exceeds that of the
+other, the orbit of the larger star is proportionately diminished as
+compared with the circumference traversed by the smaller star. When
+their orbits are circular--a rare occurrence--both stars pursue each
+other in the same path, and invariably occupy it at diametrically
+opposite points; nor is it possible for one star to approach the other
+by the minutest interval of space in any duration of time, so long as
+the synchronous harmony of their revolution remains undisturbed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3.--A Binary Star System--70 Ophiuchi
+
+(_Drawn by Mr. J. E. Gore._)]
+
+When a pair of suns move in an ellipse, their orbits intersect and are
+of equal dimensions when the stars are of equal mass, their common
+centre of gravity being then at a point equidistant from each.
+Consequently, neither star can approach or recede from this point
+without the other affecting a similar motion, they must be at periastron
+and apastron together, and any acceleration or retardation of speed must
+occur simultaneously with each. Stars of unequal magnitude always
+maintain a proportionate distance from their common focus, and both
+simultaneously occupy corresponding parts of their orbits.
+
+The nature of the motions of those distant suns, and the form of the
+orbits which they traverse, have been investigated by several eminent
+astronomers, and although the subject is one of much difficulty, on
+account of their extreme remoteness and the minute angles which have to
+be dealt with, necessitating the carrying out of very refined
+observations, yet a considerable amount of information has been obtained
+with regard to the paths which they pursue in the accomplishment of
+their revolutions round each other.
+
+The orbits of about sixty stellar pairs have been computed, but only
+with partial success. Some stars have shown themselves to be totally
+regardless of theory and computation, and have shot ahead far beyond the
+limits ascribed to them, whilst others, by the slowness of their
+motions, have upset the calculations of astronomers as much in the
+opposite direction. So that out of this number the orbits of not more
+than half a dozen are satisfactorily known.
+
+The dimensions of stellar orbits are of very varied extent. Some pairs
+are apparently so close that the best optical means which we possess are
+incapable of dividing them, whilst others revolve in wide and spacious
+orbits.
+
+The most marked peculiarity of the orbits of binary stars is their high
+eccentricity; they are usually much more eccentric than are those of
+the planets, and in some instances approach in form that of a comet.
+
+The finest binary star in the northern heavens is Castor, the brighter
+of the two leading stars in the constellation Gemini. The components are
+of the second and third magnitudes, and over five seconds apart. They
+are of a brilliant white colour, and form a beautiful object in the
+telescope.
+
+In 1719 Bradley determined the relative positions of those stars, and on
+comparing the results obtained by him with recent measurements it was
+found that they had altered to the extent of 125°. Travelling at the
+same rate of speed, they will require a period of about 420 years to
+complete an entire circuit of their orbits. This pace, however, has not
+been maintained, for, their periastron having occurred in 1750, they
+travelled more rapidly in the last century than they are doing at
+present, and, as their orbits are so eccentric that when at apastron the
+stars are twice as remote from each other as at periastron, they will
+for the next three and a half centuries continue to slacken their pace,
+until they shall have reached the most remote points of their orbits,
+when they will again begin to approach with an increasing velocity; so
+that the time in which an entire revolution can be accomplished will not
+be much less than 1,000 years.[8]
+
+As the distance of Castor is unknown, it is impossible to compute the
+combined mass of its components. They are very remote, their light
+period being estimated at forty-four years. Castor is doubtless a more
+massive orb than our Sun, and possesses a higher degree of luminosity.
+
+Alpha Centauri, in the Southern Hemisphere, is the brightest binary, and
+also the nearest known star in the heavens; its estimated distance being
+twenty-five billions of miles. Both components equal stars of the first
+magnitude, and are of a brilliant white colour. Since they were first
+observed, in 1709, they have completed two revolutions, and are now
+accomplishing a third. The eccentricity of their orbit approaches in
+form that of Faye's comet, which travels round the Sun; consequently the
+stars, when at apastron, are twice their periastron distance. Their
+period of revolution is about eighty-eight years. The mean radius of
+their orbit corresponds to a span of 1,000 millions of miles, so that
+those orbs are sometimes as close to each other as Jupiter is to the
+Sun, and never so far distant as Uranus.[9] Their combined mass is twice
+that of the Sun, and the luminosity of each star is slightly greater.
+
+The double star 61 Cygni--one of the nearest to our system--is believed
+to be a binary the components of which move in an orbit of more spacious
+dimensions than that of any other known revolving pair. Though they have
+been under continuous observation since 1753, it is only within the last
+few years that any orbital motion has been perceived. Some observers
+are disinclined to admit the accuracy of this statement; whilst others
+believe that the stars have executed a hyperbolic sweep round their
+common centre of gravity and are now separating.
+
+The radius of the orbit in which those bodies travel is sixty-five times
+the distance of the Earth from the Sun; which means that they travel in
+an orbit twice the width of that of the planet Neptune. It has been
+estimated that they complete a revolution in about eight centuries. The
+united mass of the system is about one-half that of the Sun, and in
+point of luminosity they are much inferior to that orb.
+
+The star 70 Ophiuchi (fig. 3) may be regarded as typical of a binary
+system. The components are five seconds apart, and of the fourth and
+sixth magnitudes. Their light period is stated to be twenty years, and
+the combined mass of the system is nearly three times that of the Sun.
+The pair travel in an orbit from fourteen to forty-two times the radius
+of the Earth's orbit; so that when at apastron they are three times as
+distant from each other as when at periastron. They complete a
+revolution in eighty-eight years.
+
+The accompanying diagram (fig. 4) is a delineation of the beautiful
+orbits of the components of Gamma Virginis. These may be described as
+elongated ellipses. Both stars being of equal mass, their orbits are of
+equal dimensions, and their common centre of gravity at a point
+equidistant from each. Any approach to, or recession from this point,
+must occur simultaneously with each; they must always occupy
+corresponding parts of their orbits, and be in apastron and at
+periastron in the same period of time. The ellipse described by this
+pair is the most eccentric of known binary orbits, and approaches in
+form the path pursued by Encke's comet round the Sun. These orbs
+complete a revolution in 180 years, and when in apastron are seventeen
+times more remote from each other than when at periastron.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.--The Orbits of the Components of Gamma Virginis.]
+
+From his observation of the motion of Sirius in 1844, Bessel was led to
+believe that the brilliant orb was accompanied by another body, whose
+gravitational attraction was responsible for the irregularities observed
+in the path of the great dog-star when pursuing his journey through
+space. The elements of this hypothetical body were afterwards computed
+by Peters and Auwers, and its exact position assigned by Safford in
+1861.
+
+On January 31, 1862, Mr. Alvan Clarke, of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts,
+when engaged in testing a recently constructed telescope of great power,
+directed it on Sirius, and was enabled by good fortune to discover the
+companion star at a distance of ten seconds from its primary. Since its
+discovery, the star has pursued with such precision the theoretical path
+previously assigned to it that astronomers have had no hesitation in
+identifying it as the hypothetical body whose existence Bessel had
+correctly surmised.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius.
+
+(_Drawn by Mr. Burnham._)]
+
+The Sirian satellite is a yellow star of the eighth magnitude, and
+shines with a feeble light when contrasted with the surpassing
+brilliancy of its neighbour.
+
+Astronomers were for some time in doubt as to whether the uneven motion
+which characterised the path of Sirius could be ascribed to the
+attraction of its obscure attendant, which presented such a marked
+contrast to its primary, and several observers were inclined to believe
+that the disturbing body still remained undiscovered. When, however, the
+density of the lesser star became known, it was discovered that, weight
+for weight, that of Sirius exceeded it only in the proportion of two to
+one, though as a light-giver the great orb is believed to be 5,000 times
+more luminous. The Sirian satellite revolves round its primary in about
+fifty years, and at a distance twenty-eight times that of the Earth from
+the Sun.
+
+The surpassing brilliancy of Sirius as compared with that of the other
+stars of the firmament has rendered it at all times an object of
+interest to observers. The Egyptians worshipped the star as Sothis, and
+it was believed to be the abode of the soul of Isis. The nations
+inhabiting the region of the Nile commenced their year with the heliacal
+rising of Sirius, and its appearance was regarded as a sure forerunner
+of the rising of the great river, the fertilising flood of which was
+attributed to the influence of this beautiful star. It is believed that
+the Mazzaroth in Job is an allusion to this brilliant orb. Among the
+Romans Sirius was regarded as a star of evil omen; its appearance above
+the horizon after the summer solstice was believed to be associated with
+pestilence and fevers, consequent upon the oppressive heat of the
+season of the year. The _dies caniculares_, or dog-days, were reckoned
+to begin twenty days before, and to continue for twenty days after, the
+heliacal rising of Sirius, the dog-star. During those days a peculiar
+influence was believed to exist which created diseases in men and
+madness among dogs. Homer alludes to the star
+
+                                'whose burning breath
+    Taints the red air with fevers, plagues and death.'
+
+Sirius, which is in Canis Major (one of Orion's hunting dogs), is a far
+more glorious orb than our Sun. According to recent photometric
+measurements it emits seventy times the quantity of light, and is three
+times more massive than the great luminary of our system. At the
+distance of Sirius (fifty billions of miles) the Sun would shrink to the
+dimensions of a third-magnitude star, and the light of seventy such
+stars would be required to equal in appearance the brilliant radiance of
+the great dog-star. The orb, with his retinue of attendant worlds--some
+of which are reported as having been seen--is travelling through space
+with a velocity of not less than 1,000 miles a minute.
+
+An irregularity of motion resembling that of Sirius has been detected
+with regard to Procyon, the lesser dog-star. But in this case the
+companion star has not as yet been seen, though a careful search has
+been made for it with the most powerful of telescopes. Should it be a
+planetary body, illumined by its primary, its reflected light would not
+appear visible to us, even if it were much less remote than it is.
+
+We are able only to perceive the effulgence of brilliant suns scattered
+throughout the regions of space; but besides those, there are doubtless
+many faintly luminous orbs and opaque bodies of vast dimensions
+occupying regions unknown to us, but by a knowledge of the existence of
+which an enlarged conception is conveyed to our minds of the greatness
+of the universe.
+
+The most rapid of known revolving pairs is Delta Equulei. The components
+are so close that only the finest instruments can separate them, and
+this they cannot do at all times. They accomplish a revolution in eleven
+and a half years. The slowest revolving pair is Zeta Aquarii. The motion
+of the components is so tardy that to complete a circuit of their orbits
+they require a period of about sixteen centuries. Other binary stars
+have had different periods assigned to them; eleven pairs have been
+computed to revolve round each other in less than fifty years, and
+fifteen in less than 100 but more than fifty. There are other compound
+stars whose motions appear to be much more leisurely than those just
+mentioned, and although no orbital movement has, so far, been detected
+among them, yet, so vast is the scale upon which the sidereal system is
+constructed, that thousands of years must elapse before they can have
+accomplished a revolution of their orbits.
+
+The Pole Star is an optical double, but the components are of very
+unequal magnitude. The Pole Star itself is of the second magnitude, but
+its companion is only of the ninth, and on account of its minuteness is
+regarded as a good test for telescopes of small aperture. Mizar, in the
+constellation Ursa Major, is a beautiful double star. The components are
+wide apart, and can be easily observed with a small instrument.
+
+There is a remarkable star in the constellation of the Lyre (Epsilon
+Lyræ), described as a double double. This object can just be
+distinguished by a person with keen eyesight as consisting of two stars;
+when observed with a telescope they appear widely separated, and each
+star is seen to have a companion, the entire system forming two binary
+pairs in active revolution. The pair which first cross the meridian
+complete a revolution in about 2,000 years; the second pair have a more
+rapid motion, and accomplish it in half that time. The two pairs are
+believed to be physically connected, and revolve round their common
+centre of gravity in a period of time not much under one million years.
+
+Cor Caroli, in Canes Venatici, is a pleasing double star, the components
+being of a pale white and lilac colour.
+
+Albireo, in the constellation of the Swan, is one of the loveliest of
+double stars. The larger component is of the third magnitude, and of a
+golden yellow colour; the smaller of the sixth magnitude, and of a
+sapphire blue.
+
+Epsilon Boötis, known also as Mirac, and called by Admiral Smyth
+'Pulcherrima,' on account of its surpassing beauty, is a delicate object
+of charming appearance. The components of this lovely star are of the
+third and seventh magnitudes: the primary orange, the secondary
+sea-green.
+
+The late Mr. R. A. Proctor, in describing a binary star system, writes
+as follows: 'If we regard a pair of stars as forming a double sun, round
+which--or, rather, round the common centre of which--other orbs revolve
+as planets, we are struck by the difference between such a scheme and
+our own solar system; but we find the difference yet more surprising
+when we consider the possibility that in some such schemes each
+component sun may have its own distinct system of dependent worlds. In
+the former case the ordinary state of things would probably be such that
+both suns would be above the horizon at the same time, and then,
+probably, their distinctive peculiarities would only be recognisable
+when one chanced to pass over the disc of the other, as our Moon passes
+over the Sun's disc in eclipses. For short intervals of time, however,
+at rising or setting, one or other would be visible alone; and the
+phenomena of sunset and sunrise must therefore be very varied, and also
+exquisitely beautiful, in worlds circling round such double suns. But
+when each sun has a separate system, even more remarkable relations must
+be presented. For each system of dependent worlds, besides its own
+proper sun, must have another sun--less splendid, perhaps (because
+farther off), but still brighter beyond comparison than our moon at the
+full. And, according to the position of any planet of either system,
+there will result for the time being either an interchange of suns,
+instead of the change from night to day, or else double sunlight during
+the day, and a corresponding intensified contrast between night and day.
+Where the two suns are very unequal or very differently coloured, or
+where the orbital path of each is very eccentric, so that they are
+sometimes close together and at others far apart, the varieties in the
+worlds circling round either, or around the common centre of both, must
+be yet more remarkable. "It must be confessed," we may well say with Sir
+John Herschel, "that we have here a strangely wide and novel field for
+speculative excursions, and one which it is not easy to avoid
+luxuriating in."'
+
+Anyone who takes a cursory glance at the heavens on a clear night can
+readily perceive that there exists considerable diversity of colour
+among the stars. The contrast between some is pronounced and well
+marked, whilst others exhibit refined gradations of hue.
+
+The most numerous class of stars are those which are described as white
+or colourless. They comprise about one-half of the stars visible to the
+naked eye. Among the most conspicuous examples of this type are
+Sirius--whose diamond blaze is sometimes mingled with an occasional
+flash of blue and red--Altair, Spica, Castor, Regulus, Rigel, all the
+stars of Ursa Major with the exception of one, and Vega--a glittering
+gem of pale sapphire, almost colourless. The light emitted by stars of
+this class gives a continuous spectrum, the predominating element being
+hydrogen, having a very elevated temperature and under relatively high
+pressure. The vapours of iron, sodium, magnesium, and other metals, are
+indicated as existing in small quantities.
+
+The second class of stars is that to which our Sun belongs. They are of
+a yellow colour, and embrace two-thirds of the remaining stars. The most
+prominent examples of this type are Arcturus, Capella, Aldebaran,
+Procyon, and Pollux. Hydrogen does not predominate so much in these as
+in the Sirian stars, and their spectra resemble closely the solar
+spectrum, indicating that they are composed of elements similar to those
+which exist in the Sun.
+
+The star which bears the nearest resemblance to our Sun, both as regards
+the colour of its light and physical structure, is Capella, the most
+conspicuous star in the constellation Auriga, and one of the leading
+brilliants in the Northern Hemisphere. Its spectrum presents all the
+characteristics observed in the solar spectrum, and there exists an
+almost identical similarity in their physical constitution, though
+Capella is a much more magnificent orb than the Sun.
+
+The third class of stars includes those which are of a ruddy hue, such
+as Betelgeux in the right shoulder of Orion, Antares in Scorpio, and
+Alpha Herculis. Their spectra present a banded or columnar appearance,
+and there is greater absorption, especially of the blue rays of light.
+It is believed that the temperature of stars of this colour is not so
+elevated as that of those belonging to the other two orders, and that
+this is a sufficient reason to account for the different appearance of
+their spectra.
+
+The aid of a good telescope is, however, necessary to enable us to
+perceive the varied colours and tints of the sparkling gems with which
+Nature has adorned her star-built edifice of the universe. Most of the
+precious stones on Earth have their counterparts in the heavens,
+presenting in a jewelled form contrasts of colour, pleasing harmonies,
+and endless variety of shade. The diamond, sapphire, emerald, amethyst,
+topaz, and ruby sparkle among crowds of stars of more sombre hue. Agate,
+chalcedony, onyx, opal, beryl, lapis-lazuli, and aquamarine are
+represented by the radiant sheen emanating from distant suns, displaying
+an inexhaustible variety of colour, blended in tints of untold harmony.
+
+It is among double stars that the richest and most varied colours
+predominate. There are pairs of white, yellow, orange, and red stars;
+yellow and blue, yellow and pale emerald, yellow and rose red, yellow
+and fawn, green and gold, azure and crimson, golden and azure, orange
+and emerald, orange and lilac, orange and purple, orange and green,
+white and blue, white and lilac, lilac and dark purple, &c., &c. There
+are companion stars revolving round their primaries, coloured olive,
+lilac, russet, fawn, dun, buff, grey, and other shades indistinguishable
+by any name.
+
+Our knowledge of binary star systems brings us to what may be regarded
+as the threshold of the fabric of the heavens. For it is known that
+other systems exist into the construction of which numerous stars enter.
+These form intricate and complex stellar arrangements, in which the
+component stars are physically united and retained in their orbits by
+their mutual attraction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE STARRY HEAVENS
+
+
+TRIPLE, QUADRUPLE, AND MULTIPLE STARS.--These, when observed with the
+naked eye, appear as single stars, but, when examined with a high
+magnifying power, each lucid point can be resolved into several
+component stars. They vary in number from three to half a dozen or more,
+and form systems of a more complex character than what are observed in
+the case of binary stars. In the usual construction of a triple system,
+the secondary star of a binary is resolvable into two, each star being
+in mutual revolution, whilst they both gravitate round their primary. By
+another arrangement, a close pair control the movements of a distant
+attendant.
+
+One of the most interesting of triple stars is the tricoloured Gamma
+Andromedæ. The brilliant components of this system have their
+counterparts in the topaz, the emerald, and the sapphire--the larger
+star is of the third magnitude and of a golden yellow colour; the
+secondary of the fifth magnitude and of an emerald green. These stars
+are ten seconds apart, and, though they have been under observation
+since 1777, no orbital movement has as yet been detected, but their
+common proper motion indicates their close relationship and physical
+connection. In 1842, Otto Struve discovered that the companion star is
+itself double, and round it there gravitates a sapphire sun, which is
+believed to accomplish a revolution of its orbit in about 500 years. If
+round those suns there should be circling planetary systems of worlds
+inhabited by intelligent beings, the varied effects produced by the
+light emanating from those different coloured orbs would be of a very
+beautiful and pleasing nature.
+
+A system suggestive of the endless variety of stellar arrangement that
+exists throughout the sidereal regions is apparent in the case of the
+triple star Zeta Cancri. Two of the stars, of magnitudes six and seven,
+form a binary in rapid revolution, the components of which complete a
+circuit of their orbits in fifty-eight years, whilst the more distant
+third star, of almost similar magnitude, accomplishes a wide orbital
+ellipse round the other two in 500 or 600 years. These stars have been
+closely observed by astronomers during the past forty years, with the
+result that their motions have appeared most perplexing, and complicated
+beyond precedent. 'If this be really a ternary system,' wrote Sir John
+Herschel, 'connected by the mutual attraction of its parts, its
+perturbations will present one of the most intricate problems in
+physical astronomy.' The second star revolves round its primary, whilst
+the third pursues a retrograde course, but its path, instead of being
+even, presents the appearance of a series of circular loopings, in
+traversing which the star alternately quickens and slackens its pace,
+or at times appears to be stationary.
+
+Astronomers have arrived at the conclusion that these perturbations are
+produced by the presence of a fourth member, which, though invisible, is
+probably the most massive of the system--perhaps a magnificent world
+teeming with animated beings, and attended by three suns which gravitate
+round it, dispensing light and heat to meet the requirements of the
+various forms of life which exist on its surface. In this system we have
+an arrangement the reverse of what exists in the solar system, where all
+the planets revolve round a predominant sun; but here there is a strange
+verification of the old Ptolemaic belief with regard to the path of a
+sun, though in this instance there are three suns circling round a dark
+globe which they illumine and vivify.
+
+Triple stars occur with comparative frequency throughout the heavens. In
+Monoceros there is a fine triple star, discovered by Herschel, which he
+describes as 'one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens.' The
+stars Xi and Beta Scorpii form triple systems in which the components
+are differently arranged. In Xi the primary and secondary consist of two
+revolving stars which control the movements of a distant attendant; in
+Beta the primary and secondary stars are in mutual revolution, whilst
+round the former there circles a very close minute companion. There are
+doubtless many binary stars which, if examined with adequate telescopic
+power, would resolve themselves into triple and multiple systems, but
+the profound distances of those objects render the detection of their
+components a most difficult task.
+
+Quadruple stars are usually arranged in pairs, _i.e._ the primary and
+secondary of a binary system are each resolvable into two, forming two
+pairs, each pair being in mutual revolution, while they both gravitate
+round their common centre of gravity. Epsilon Lyræ, which has been
+described as a double double, is an example of a quadruple system, and
+Nu Scorpii is of a similar construction, but more beautiful because its
+components are in closer proximity to each other. Close upon twenty of
+those double double systems have been discovered in different parts of
+the heavens.
+
+One of the most interesting of quadruple systems is Theta Orionis, which
+is situated in the Great Nebula, by which it is surrounded. This star,
+when observed with a telescope of low power, can be at once resolved
+into four separate lucent points, so arranged as to form a quadrilateral
+figure or trapezium. They are of the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
+magnitudes, and described as pale white, garnet, faint lilac, and red.
+Though they have been under careful observation for upwards of two
+centuries, no perceptible motion has been perceived as occurring among
+them, nor has there been any change in their relative positions--they
+appear to be perfectly motionless; but we must not infer from this that
+no physical bond of union exists between them, for they are situated at
+an amazing distance from the Earth. Ascending higher in the scale of
+celestial architecture, we have multiple stars forming systems still
+more elaborate and complex, into the structure of which numerous stars
+enter, and they, as they increase in number, gradually merge into
+star-clusters.
+
+If we assume that around each of the components of a multiple star there
+circles a retinue of planetary worlds, we are confronted with a most
+perplexing problem as to how the dynamical stability of a system so
+different from, and so vastly more complicated than, that of our solar
+system is maintained--where, as it were, suns and planets
+intermingle--how numerous circling orbs can accomplish their revolutions
+without being swayed and deflected from their paths by the gravitational
+attraction of adjacent members of the same system. Perplexing though the
+arrangement of such a scheme may be to our conception, yet, each orb has
+been weighed, poised, and adjusted by Infinite Wisdom, to perform its
+intricate motions in synchronous harmony with other members of the
+system--all moving in unison like the parts of a complicated piece of
+mechanism, and maintained in stable equilibrium by their mutual
+attraction--
+
+    Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere
+    Of planets and of fixed in all her wheels
+    Resembles nearest; mazes intricate,
+    Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
+    Then most, when most irregular they seem;
+    And in their motions harmony divine
+    So smooths her charming tones that God's own ear
+    Listens delighted.--v. 620-27.
+
+All the natural phenomena with which we are familiar would, in the case
+of planets revolving round the component suns of a multiple system, be
+of a different kind or altogether absent. Instead of being illumined by
+one sun, those worlds would, at certain times, have several suns--some
+more distant than others--above their horizons, and upon very rare
+occasions, if ever, would there be an entire absence of all of those
+orbs from their skies. Consequently there would be no year such as we
+are familiar with; no regular sequence of seasons similar to what is
+experienced on Earth; no alternation of day and night, for there would
+be '_no night there_,' though, in the absence of the primary orb, the
+light emitted by distant suns, whilst sufficient to banish night, and
+beyond comparison brighter than the Moon when at full, would, in the
+diminution of its intensity from that of noonday, be as grateful a
+change as that of from day to night which occurs on our globe.
+
+Should those suns be differently coloured, each emitting its own
+peculiar shade of light as it appears above the horizon, the varied
+aspects of the perpetual day enjoyed by the inhabitants of those
+circling worlds present to the imagination harmonies of light and shade
+over which it is pleasant to linger.
+
+TEMPORARY, PERIODICAL, AND VARIABLE STARS.--It may seem remarkable that
+among so many thousands of stars which spangle the firmament, there
+should occur no very perceptible change or variation in their aspect
+and brilliancy. From age to age they present the same appearance, shine
+with the same undiminished splendour, and rise and set with the same
+regularity. So that from time immemorial the stars have been regarded by
+mankind as the embodiment of all that is eternal and unchangeable. Yet,
+the serenity of the celestial regions does not always remain
+undisturbed--at occasional times a 'Nova,' or new star, blazes forth
+unexpectedly in the heavens, and perplexes astronomers; and, after
+shining with a varying degree of brilliancy for a few weeks or months,
+gradually diminishes in size and brightness and eventually becomes lost
+to sight.
+
+A record has been kept of about twenty temporary stars that have been
+observed at various periods since the time that reliable data of those
+objects have been published. Pliny mentions the appearance of a new star
+in the time of Hipparchus (134 B.C.); it was seen in the constellation
+of the Scorpion, and it is said that it was the apparition of this star
+which induced the celebrated astronomer to construct what is known as
+the earliest star catalogue. A new star is said to have become visible
+when the Emperor Honorius ruled, and another during the reign of the
+Emperor Otho, about 945 A.D. In May 1012 a new star appeared in Aries,
+and in July 1203 another was observed in Scorpio, which resembled
+Saturn. The most remarkable star of this kind was one observed by Tycho
+Brahé, which appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia. He first
+perceived it on November 11, 1572. In lustre it equalled Jupiter, and
+when at its brightest rivalled Venus; it was visible at noonday, and at
+night its light could be perceived through strata of cloud which
+rendered all other stars invisible. The star maintained its brilliancy
+for three weeks, when it became of a yellowish colour and perceptibly
+decreased in size; it afterwards assumed a ruddy hue resembling
+Aldebaran, and, diminishing gradually in magnitude and brightness,
+ceased to be visible in March 1574. It twinkled more than the other
+stars, and during the time it could be perceived its position remained
+unchanged. In 1604 a conspicuous new star burst forth in Ophiuchus. It
+surpassed in brilliancy stars of the first magnitude, and outshone the
+planet Jupiter, which was in its proximity. Kepler observed this star,
+and described it as 'sparkling like a diamond with prismatic tints.' It
+soon began to decline after its appearance; in March 1605 it had shrunk
+to the dimensions of a third-magnitude star, and in a year later it
+became entirely lost to view. Other stars of the same class, though of a
+less conspicuous character, have been observed at occasional times.
+Anthelme, a Carthusian monk, discovered one near Beta Cygni in 1670;
+another appeared in Ophiuchus in 1848; one in Scorpio in 1860; one in
+Corona Borealis in 1866; in Cygnus in 1876; in Andromeda in 1885; and in
+Auriga in 1892.
+
+Various theories have been advanced in order to account for the sudden
+outbursts of those stars, the light from which has probably occupied
+not much less than one hundred years in its passage hither. It has been
+suggested that the collision of two suns, or of two great masses of
+matter, would create such phenomena; but, apart from the improbability
+of such a catastrophe occurring among the celestial orbs, the rapid
+subsidence in the luminosity of the observed objects would indicate that
+the outburst was produced by causes of a more rapidly transitory nature
+than what would result from the collision of two condensed masses of
+matter. A collision occurring between two swarms of meteors has been
+suggested as one way of accounting for the sudden appearance of those
+stars; but another, and more plausible, explanation is that they are
+produced by a great eruption of glowing gas from the interior of a sun,
+causing an enormous increase in its luminosity, which subsides after a
+time, and is succeeded by a normal condition of things. It has been
+observed that all those temporary stars, with the exception of two, have
+appeared in the region of the Milky Way. In this luminous zone the
+condensation of small gaseous stars and nebulæ is more pronounced than
+in any other part of the heavens, and this would seem to indicate that
+there may be cosmical changes taking place among them which need not be
+associated with the occurrence of catastrophes resulting in the
+conflagration of worlds, and that Nature, in accomplishing her purposes,
+does not overstep the uniform working of her laws, upon which depend the
+stability and existence of the universe.
+
+PERIODICAL AND VARIABLE STARS are distinguished from other similar
+objects by the fluctuations which occur in the quantity of light emitted
+by them. The difference in the luminosity of some stars is at times so
+marked that, in a few weeks or months, they decline from the first or
+second magnitudes to invisibility, and, after the expiration of a
+certain period, they again gradually regain their pristine condition.
+When these changes take place with regular recurrence, they are called
+'periodical;' when they occur in a variable and uncertain manner, they
+are called 'irregular.' About 300 stars are known as variable, but the
+majority of them are telescopic objects. Their periodical changes of
+brilliancy present every degree of variety; in some stars they are
+scarcely perceptible and occur at long intervals; in others, changes of
+brightness occur in a few hours or days, by which the light emitted is
+intensified many hundreds of times.
+
+Some stars accomplish their cycle of change in a few days, many in a few
+weeks or months, and there are others which do not complete their
+periods until the expiration of a number of years.
+
+One of the most remarkable of variable stars is called Mira 'the
+wonderful,' in the constellation Cetus. When at its maximum brilliancy
+it shines for two or three weeks as a star of the second magnitude. It
+then begins to gradually decline, and at the end of three months becomes
+invisible. It remains invisible for five months, and then reappears, and
+during the ensuing three months it regains by degrees its former
+brilliancy. Mira completes a cycle of its changes in 334 days, and,
+during that time, oscillates between a star of the second and tenth
+magnitude. The variability of Mira Ceti was first observed by David
+Fabricius in the sixteenth century.
+
+Another remarkable star is Eta Argus, which is surrounded by the great
+nebula in the constellation Argo Navis. It is invisible to the naked
+eye, but in the telescope it has a reddish appearance, and is slightly
+brighter than the stars in its vicinity. It was first observed by Halley
+in 1677, and it was then of the fourth magnitude. In 1751 it had risen
+to the second magnitude, and maintained its position as a star of this
+class until 1837, when, on December 16 of that year, its brilliancy
+suddenly increased, and it equalled in a short time Alpha Centauri. It
+reached its maximum in 1843, and then it was surpassed only by Sirius.
+It maintained its brilliancy for about ten years. In 1858, it declined
+to the second magnitude, in 1859 to the third, and, gradually
+diminishing, it became invisible to the naked eye in 1868. It is now of
+the seventh magnitude, and is again increasing, and may soon resume its
+position among the other stars. It is believed to have a period of
+seventy years, and in that time its light ebbs and flows between the
+seventh and first magnitudes.
+
+The most interesting variable star in the heavens is Algol (the demon),
+in the constellation Perseus. Its light fluctuations can be observed
+without the aid of a telescope, and it completes a cycle of its changes
+in two or three days. For about two days and thirteen hours it is
+conspicuously visible as a star of the second magnitude; it then begins
+to decline, and in about four hours sinks to the dimensions of a
+fourth-magnitude star; it remains in this condition for twenty minutes,
+and then increases gradually until, at the expiration of four hours, it
+regains its former brilliancy, which it sustains for two days and
+thirteen hours, when it again goes through the same cycle of changes in
+a precisely similar manner to what has been described. Astrologers have
+ascribed many evil influences to the demon star, which adorned the head
+of Medusa; nor did it escape the observation of ancient astronomers that
+this malevolent orb is--as a modern writer amusingly remarks--slowly
+winking at us from out the depths of space.
+
+Variable stars are found in greater numbers in some parts of the heavens
+than in others. Those of a white colour, and with shorter and more
+regular periods, are most numerous in the region of the Milky Way; those
+that are small, with long periods and of a reddish hue, are more widely
+removed from that zone. Stars of this class are all very remote, and no
+attempt has as yet been made to ascertain the parallax of Algol.
+
+Several theories have been suggested in order to account for the
+periodical brilliancy of those stars. It has been suggested that the
+stars have opaque non-luminous patches on their surfaces, and that
+during axial rotation their light ebbs and flows according as the dark
+or bright portions are turned towards us. This theory is highly
+improbable. Another and more plausible reason, especially with regard to
+short period variables, is, that around those stars there revolve opaque
+bodies or satellites which at times intercept a portion of their light
+by producing a partial eclipse of their discs, similar to that caused by
+the dark body of the Moon when passing between the Sun and the Earth.
+
+It is now known that in the case of variables of the Algol type, the
+periodical fluctuations of their light arises from this cause, and that
+round Algol there is a dark world or satellite travelling, which
+completes a revolution of its orbit in about sixty-nine hours, and that,
+during each circuit, it intercepts one half of the light of its primary
+by partially eclipsing the orb, and thereby creating a diminution in its
+apparent magnitude which becomes perceptible at recurring intervals.
+
+STAR GROUPS.--These are plentifully scattered over the heavens and, by
+their conspicuous brilliancy, add to the grandeur and magnificence of
+the midnight sky. The Hyades in Taurus, of which Aldebaran is the chief,
+forming the eye of the Bull, attract attention.
+
+The stars in Coma Bernices form a rich group; the sickle in Leo, the
+seven stars in Ursa Major, and those in Cassiopeia and Aquila are
+familiarly known to all observers. Besides these, there are many other
+groups and aggregations of stars which adorn the celestial vault and
+enhance the beauty of the heavens.
+
+STAR CLUSTERS.--On observing the heavens on a clear, dark night, there
+can be seen in different parts of the sky closely aggregated groups of
+stars called clusters. In some instances the component stars are so near
+together that the naked eye is unable to discern the individual members
+of the cluster. They then assume an indistinct, hazy, cloudlike
+appearance. Upwards of 500 clusters are known to astronomers, the
+majority of which are very remote. Many of them contain thousands of
+stars compressed into a very small space, and others are so distant that
+the largest telescopes are incapable of resolving their nebulous
+appearance into separate stars.
+
+Star clusters have been arranged into two classes, 'irregular' and
+'globular;' but no sharp line of demarcation exists between them, though
+each have their distinctive peculiarities. Irregular clusters consist of
+aggregations of stars brought promiscuously together, and presenting an
+appearance devoid of any structural arrangement. They are of different
+shapes and sizes, possess no distinct outline, and are not condensed
+towards their centre, like those that are globular. On examination, they
+present an intricate reticulated appearance; streams and branches of
+stars extend outwards from the parent cluster, sometimes in rows and
+sinuous lines, and, in other instances, diverging from a common centre,
+forming sprays. Sometimes the stars are seen to follow each other on the
+same curve which terminates in loops and arches of symmetrical
+proportions.
+
+There are three conspicuous clusters in the northern sky that are
+visible to the naked eye--viz. the Pleiades in Taurus, the Great Cluster
+in the sword-handle of Perseus, and Praesepe in Cancer, commonly called
+the Beehive.
+
+The cluster which from time immemorial has had bestowed upon it the
+chief attention of mankind are the beautiful Pleiades or Seven Sisters,
+and intertwined among its stars are the legendary and mythological
+beliefs of ancient nations and untutored tribes inhabiting the different
+regions of the globe. When viewed with a telescope of moderate size the
+cluster appears as a scattered group, and numerous stars become visible
+that are imperceptible to ordinary vision.
+
+In the sword-handle of Perseus there is a cluster which, to the naked
+eye, appears as a small patch of luminous cloud. This inconspicuous
+object when observed with an instrument of moderate power is resolved
+into a magnificent assemblage of stars, and presents a spectacle which
+creates in the mind of the beholder mingled feelings of admiration and
+amazement. No telescope has yet penetrated its utmost depths, or
+revealed all the glories of this shining region, crowded with glittering
+points of light comparable in number to the pebbles strewn on the shore
+of a troubled sea.
+
+The cluster Praesepe in Cancer is visible on a clear night to the
+unaided eye as a small nebula. This object attracted the attention of
+Galileo, to which he applied his newly invented telescope, and was
+delighted to find that his glass was capable of resolving it into a
+group of stars thirty-six in number, and all of comparatively large
+magnitude. The disappearance of Praesepe in consequence of the
+condensation of vapour in the atmosphere was regarded by the ancients as
+a sure indication of approaching rain. In the same constellation, near
+the Crab's southern claw, there is another rich cluster, which consists
+of 200 stars of the ninth and tenth magnitudes.
+
+In Sobieski's Shield there is a magnificent fan-shaped cluster of minute
+stars with a prominent one in its centre; and in the constellation of
+the Southern Cross there is a cluster which, on account of the varied
+colours of its component stars, has been compared by Sir John Herschel
+to 'a piece of rich fancy jewellery;' eight of the principal stars being
+coloured red, green, and blue.
+
+GLOBULAR CLUSTERS.--These have been described by Herschel as 'the most
+magnificent objects that can be seen in the heavens.' They are all very
+remote, of a rounded form, and when viewed with a telescope present the
+appearance of 'a ball of stars.' In some clusters the constituent stars
+are distinguishable as minute points of light; in others, more remote,
+they are of a coarse granular texture, and in those still more distant
+they resemble a 'heap of golden sand.' Some clusters are situated at
+such a profound distance in space that it is impossible with the most
+powerful of telescopes to define their stellar structure; all that can
+be distinguished of these is a cloudy luminosity resembling in
+appearance an irresolvable nebula. Globular clusters usually present a
+radiated appearance. Rays, branches, and spiral-shaped streams of stars
+appear to flow from the circumference of some; and, in other instances,
+fantastic appendages of stars project outwards from the parent cluster.
+There doubtless exists much variety in the structural arrangement of
+these clusters, and an equal diversity in the magnitude and number of
+the stars which enter into their formation. The stars in some clusters
+may equal those of the first magnitude, and in others they may not
+exceed in dimensions the minor planets. In the telescope they vary in
+size from the eleventh to the fifteenth magnitude; the smaller stars
+occupy the centre of a cluster, whilst the larger ones are found near
+its circumference. Globular clusters are more condensed towards their
+centre than those of irregular shape, and some have a nucleated
+appearance. This apparent condensation is not altogether owing to the
+depth of star strata as viewed from the circumference of the cluster,
+but there appears to exist an attractive force (probably gravitational)
+which draws the stars towards its centre, and if this 'clustering power'
+were not opposed by some other counteracting force, those bodies would
+coalesce into one mass. It may be 'that a centrifugal impulse
+predominates by which full-grown orbs are driven from the nursery of
+suns in which they were reared to seek their separate fortunes and enter
+on an independent career elsewhere.'
+
+It is not known how the dynamical equilibrium of a star cluster is
+maintained; and on account of its extreme distance no motion is
+perceptible among its component stars. The laws by which those stellar
+aggregations are produced and governed are wrapped in obscurity, and the
+nature of the motions of their stars, whether towards concentration or
+diffusion, cannot at present be ascertained. If those globular clusters
+could be observed sufficiently near, they would most probably expand
+into vast systems of suns occupying immense regions of space.
+
+The largest and most magnificent globular cluster in the heavens is
+Omega Centauri, in the Southern Hemisphere. To the naked eye it
+resembles a round, indistinct, cometary object, about equal to a star of
+the fourth magnitude; but when observed with a powerful telescope it
+appears as a globe of considerable dimensions composed of innumerable
+stars of the thirteenth and fifteenth magnitudes, all exceedingly minute
+and gathered into small knots and groups. A remarkable cluster in
+Toucani is described by Sir John Herschel as 'most magnificent; very
+large; very bright, and very much compressed in the middle.' The
+interior mass consists of closely aggregated pale rose-coloured stars,
+surrounded by others of a pure white which embrace the remainder of the
+cluster. There is a fine globular cluster in Sagittarius between the
+Archer's head and the bow. It was observed by Hevelius in 1665. The
+central portion is very much compressed, and consists of excessively
+minute stars enclosed by others of larger size. In Aquarius there is a
+magnificent ball of stars of a beautiful spherical form, which Sir J.
+Herschel compared to a heap of fine sand. Numerous other clusters are
+profusely distributed over the heavens, occupying regions in the
+profound depths of space which can only be reached by the aid of most
+powerful instruments.
+
+The finest and most remarkable object of this class visible in the
+northern heavens is the Great Cluster which lies between Eta and Zeta
+Herculis. It was discovered by Halley in 1714, who writes: 'This is but
+a little patch, but it shows itself to the naked eye when the sky is
+serene and the moon absent.' When observed with a powerful telescope its
+magnificence at once becomes apparent to the beholder. 'Perhaps,' says
+Dr. Nichol, 'no one ever saw it for the first time through a telescope
+without uttering a shout of wonder.' At its circumference the stars are
+rather scattered, but towards the centre they appear so closely
+aggregated that their combined effulgence forms a perfect blaze of
+light. Sir William Herschel estimated that there are 14,000 stars in the
+cluster, each a magnificent world but unaccompanied by any planetary
+attendants.
+
+[Illustration: CLUSTER IN HERCULES]
+
+As a result of more recent investigations this number has been
+considerably reduced, and it is now generally believed that about 4,000
+stars enter into the formation of the cluster. As its distance from the
+Earth is unknown, it follows that there must be some uncertainty
+attached to any conclusions that may be arrived at with regard to this
+superb object. Miss Agnes Clerke estimates the number of the constituent
+stars at 4,000, and in support of her conclusion this talented lady
+writes as follows: 'The apparent diameter of this object, including most
+of the "scattered stars in streaky masses and lines" which form a sort
+of "glory" round it, is 8´; that of its truly spherical portion may be
+put at 5´. Now, a globe subtending an angle of 5´ must have (because the
+sine of that angle is to radius nearly as to 1 : 687) a real diameter
+1/687 of its distance from the eye, which, if we assume to be such as
+would correspond to a parallax of 1/20 of a second, we find that the
+cluster, outliers apart, measures 558,000 millions of miles across.
+Light, in other words, occupies thirty-six days in traversing it, but
+sixty-five years in journeying thence hither. Its components may be
+regarded, on an average, as of the twelfth magnitude; for, although the
+divergent stars rank much higher in the scale of brightness, the central
+ones, there is reason to believe, are notably fainter. The sum total of
+their light, if concentrated into one stellar point, would at any rate
+very little (if at all) exceed that of a third-magnitude star. And one
+star of the third is equivalent to just four thousand stars of the
+twelfth magnitude. Hence we arrive at the conclusion that the stars in
+the Hercules Cluster number much more nearly four than fourteen
+thousand.'
+
+For what purpose do those thousands of clustering orbs shine? Who can
+tell? Night is unknown in the regions illumined by their brilliant
+radiance. This stupendous aggregation of suns testifies to the
+magnificence of the starry heavens, and to the omnipotence of the
+Creator.
+
+GALAXIES.--These consist of vast aggregations of stars which form
+separate 'island universes' floating in the depths of space; they are
+believed to equal in magnitude and magnificence the Milky Way--the
+galaxy to which our system belongs.
+
+NEBULÆ.--We now reach the last, and what are believed to be the most
+distant of the known contents of the heavens. They are all exceedingly
+remote, devoid of any perceptible motion, faintly luminous, and, with
+the exception of two of their number, invisible to the naked eye. Halley
+was the first astronomer who paid any attention to those objects. In
+1716 he enumerated six of them, but of this number only two can, in a
+strict sense, be regarded as nebulæ, the others since then have been
+resolved into magnificent star clusters. In 1784, Messier catalogued 103
+nebulæ, and the Herschels--father and son--in their survey of the
+stellar regions, discovered 4,000 of those objects. There are now 8,000
+known nebulæ in the heavens, but the majority of them are not of much
+interest to astronomers. Prior to the invention of the spectroscope it
+was believed that all nebulæ were irresolvable star clusters, but the
+analysis of their light by this instrument indicated that their
+composition was not stellar but gaseous. Their spectra consist of a few
+bright lines revealing the presence of hydrogen, nitrogen, and other
+gaseous elements.
+
+Much that is mysterious and uncertain is associated with those objects
+which appear to lie far beyond the limits of our sidereal system. It is
+now generally believed that they exhibit the earliest stage in the
+formation of stars and planets--inchoate worlds in process of slow
+evolution, which will eventually condense into systems of suns, and
+planetary worlds.
+
+Nebulæ present every variety of form. Some are annular, elliptic,
+circular, and spiral; others are fan-shaped, cylindrical, and irregular,
+with tufted appendages, rays, and filaments. A fancied resemblance to
+different animated creatures has been observed in some. In Taurus there
+is a nebula called the 'Crab' on account of its likeness to the
+crustacean; another is called the 'Owl Nebula' from its resemblance to
+the face of that bird. The Orion Nebula suggests the opened jaws of a
+fish or sea monster, hence called the Fish-Mouth Nebula. There is a
+Horse-Shoe Nebula, a Dumb-Bell Nebula, and many others of various shapes
+and forms. They are classified as follows: (1) Annular Nebulæ, (2)
+Elliptic Nebulæ, (3) Spiral Nebulæ, (4) Planetary Nebulæ, (5) Nebulous
+Stars, (6) Large Irregular Nebulæ.
+
+ANNULAR NEBULÆ.--These resemble in appearance an oval-shaped luminous
+ring; they are comparatively few in number, and not more than a dozen
+have been discovered in the whole heavens. The most remarkable object of
+this class is the Ring Nebula, which is situated between the stars Beta
+and Gamma Lyræ. It is visible in a moderate-sized telescope as a
+well-defined, flat, oval ring; its central part is not quite dark but is
+occupied by a filmy haze of luminous matter which is prolonged inwards
+from the margin of the ring. When examined with a high power the edges
+of the ring have a fringed appearance, and numerous glittering stellar
+points become visible both within and without its circumference. This
+nebulous ring, though a small object in the telescope, is of enormous
+magnitude, and if it were not more distant than 61 Cygni, one of the
+nearest of the fixed stars, its diameter would not be less than 20,000
+millions of miles, but it has been estimated by Herschel that it is 900
+times more remote than Sirius. How stupendous, then, must be its
+dimensions, and how bewildering to our conception is the profound
+immensity of space in which it is located! An annular nebula similar to
+that of Lyra, but on a smaller scale, is found in Cygnus, and within it
+there can be seen a conspicuous star. Another exists in Scorpio which
+contains two stars situated within the ring at diametrically opposite
+points to each other.
+
+ELLIPTICAL NEBULÆ.--The most interesting object of this class is the
+Great Nebula in Andromeda, called 'the transcendentally beautiful queen
+of the nebulæ'--an appellation which it scarcely merits. This object,
+which is plainly visible to the naked eye, is of an oval shape, of a
+milky white colour, and is situated near the most northern star of the
+three which form the girdle of Andromeda. It was known to the ancients,
+and Ali Sufi, a Persian astronomer who flourished in the tenth century,
+alludes to it; but it did not attract much attention until the
+seventeenth century. Simon Marius was the first to observe this object
+with a telescope. This he did on December 15, 1612; he describes it as
+shining with a pale white light resembling in appearance the flame of a
+candle when seen through a semi-transparent piece of horn. When examined
+with a high magnifying power it is seen to occupy a largely extended
+area measuring 4° in length and 2-1/2° in breadth. Its luminosity
+increases from the circumference to the centre, where there can be seen
+a small nucleus with an ill-defined boundary, which has the appearance
+of being granular, but its composition is not stellar. Two dark channels
+running almost parallel to each other and to the axis of the nebula have
+been observed by Bond; these, when prolonged, form into curves which
+terminate in two great rings. They are wide rifts which separate streams
+of nebulous matter, and are indicative that some formative processes may
+be going on within the nebula.
+
+Astronomers have been baffled in their attempts to discover the nature
+of the Andromeda Nebula. Though great telescopes have been able to
+render visible thousands of stars over and around it, yet the nebula
+itself is irresolvable and bears no trace of stellar formation;
+neither, according to Dr. Huggins, is its spectrum gaseous, a
+circumstance which deepens the mystery associated with this object. Its
+distance is unknown, and its dimensions cannot be ascertained.
+
+Other elliptical nebulæ are found in different regions of the heavens.
+In Ursa Major there is an oval nebula resembling that of Andromeda, but
+on a much smaller scale. It possesses a nucleus, and on the photographic
+plate there can be detected the presence of spiral structure, indicating
+the existence of streams of nebulous matter. Adjacent to this nebula is
+another of the same class with a double nucleus, and associated with it
+is a nebulous star.
+
+SPIRAL NEBULÆ.--The great reflector of Earl Rosse at Parsonstown was the
+successful means by which nebulæ of this form were discovered. This
+powerful telescope was capable of defining with greater accuracy the
+structural formation of those objects than any other instrument in use.
+It was ascertained that spiral coils and convoluted whorls enter into
+the structure of most nebulæ, indicating a similarity in the process of
+change which may be going on in these vast accumulations of cosmical
+matter. The most interesting specimen of a spiral nebula is situated in
+Canes Venatici. It consists of spiral coils emanating from a centre with
+a nucleus and surrounded by a narrow luminous ring. In appearance it
+resembles the coiled mainspring of a watch.
+
+PLANETARY NEBULÆ.--These have been so named on account of the
+resemblance which they bear to the discs of planets. They are of uniform
+brightness, circular in shape, with sharply-defined edges, and are
+frequently of a bluish colour. They are more numerous than annular
+nebulæ; three-fourths of their number are in the Southern Hemisphere,
+and they are situated in or very near the Milky Way. Those objects were
+first described by Sir William Herschel, who was rather perplexed as to
+what was their real nature and how he should classify them. He remarked
+that they could not be planets belonging to far-off suns, nor distant
+comets, nor distended stars. Consequently, he concluded rightly that
+they were nebulæ. When observed with large telescopes, they lose their
+planetary aspect, and their sharpness of outline is less apparent; their
+discs become broken up into bright and dark portions, and in some,
+numerous minute stars have been observed, whilst others have
+well-defined nuclei.
+
+The most prominent nebula of this class is situated in the constellation
+Ursa Major, and is called the Owl Nebula, from its fancied resemblance
+to the face of that bird. Sir John Herschel describes it as 'a most
+extraordinary object, a large, uniform nebulous disc, quite round, very
+bright, not sharply defined, but yet very suddenly fading away to
+darkness.' When examined in 1848 with Earl Rosse's reflector, two bright
+stars were discovered in its interior; each was in the centre of a
+circular dark space surrounded by whorls of nebulous matter--hence the
+origin of its name. This nebula gives a bright line spectrum indicative
+of gaseous composition. It is believed to consist chiefly of hydrogen
+and other gases which form a globe of such stupendous magnitude that, if
+we surmise its distance from the earth to be sixty-five light years--an
+estimate much too low--'its diameter would exceed that of the orbit of
+Neptune upwards of 100 times.'[10] Within its compass the orbs of
+hundreds of solar systems as large as that of ours would be able to
+perform their revolutions, having spacious intervals existing between
+each system. Another interesting planetary nebula is in the
+constellation of the Dragon, near to the pole of the ecliptic; it is
+slightly oval, of a pale blue colour, and contains a star of the
+eleventh magnitude in its centre. It gives a gaseous spectrum. Attempts
+have been made to determine its parallax, but without success, and
+during the eighty years it has been under observation it has remained
+apparently motionless. Its light period, if estimated at 140 years,
+would indicate the existence of a globe with a diameter equal to
+forty-four diameters of the orbit of the planet Neptune.[11] A nebula of
+this class was discovered by Sir John Herschel in the Centaur. He
+described it as resembling Uranus, but larger; its colour was of a
+beautiful rich blue, and its light equalled that of a star of the
+seventh magnitude.
+
+NEBULOUS STARS.--These stars are each surrounded by a luminous haze
+several minutes of arc in diameter and of a circular form. Sir William
+Herschel, by his observation of those objects, arrived at the conclusion
+'that there exists in space a shining fluid of a nature totally unknown
+to us, and that the nebulosity about those stars was not of a starry
+nature.' Thirteen stars of this type have been enumerated by him and
+many others have since been discovered. The 'glow' which surrounds them
+has been observed in a few instances to have vanished without leaving
+any trace of nebulosity behind, but the causes which have brought about
+such a result are entirely unknown. The nature of those stars is
+involved in considerable obscurity, and one class of nebula would seem
+to merge into the other; nebulous stars with faint aureolæ do not differ
+much from small nebulæ interspersed with stellar points.
+
+LARGE IRREGULAR NEBULÆ.--These are found in both hemispheres, and are
+remarkable on account of the varied appearances which they present, and
+the large extent of space which many of them occupy. In some, the
+nebulous matter of which they are composed can be seen like masses of
+tufted flocculi, sometimes piled up, and at other times promiscuously
+scattered, resembling in appearance the foam on the crested billows of a
+surging ocean rendered suddenly motionless, or cirro-cumuli floating in
+a tranquil sky. Islands of light with intervening dark channels,
+promontories projecting into gulfs of deep shade, sprays of luminous
+matter, convoluted filaments, whorls, wreaths, and spiral streams all
+enter into the structural formation of a great nebula.
+
+The Great Nebula in Argo, in the Southern Hemisphere, is one of the most
+remarkable objects of this class. It consists of bright irregular masses
+of luminous matter, streaks and branches, and occupies an area about
+equal to one square degree. At its eastern border is situated the
+variable star Eta Argus, which fluctuates between the first and seventh
+magnitudes in a period of about seventy years.
+
+A rich portion of the Galaxy lies in front of the nebula, which creates
+an effect as if it were studded over with stars. Sir John Herschel, in
+describing this nebula, writes as follows:--'The whole is situated in a
+very rich and brilliant part of the Milky Way, so thickly strewed with
+stars that, in the area occupied by the nebula, not less than 1,200 have
+been actually counted. Yet it is obvious that these have no connection
+whatever with the nebula, being, in fact, only a simple continuation
+over it of the general ground of the Galaxy. The conclusion can hardly
+be avoided that, in looking at it, we see through and beyond the Milky
+Way, far out into space, through a starless region, disconnecting it
+altogether from our system. It is not easy for language to convey a full
+impression of the beauty and sublimity of the spectacle which this
+nebula offers as it enters the field of view of a telescope, fixed in
+right ascension, by the diurnal motion, ushered in as it is by so
+glorious and innumerable a procession of stars, to which it forms a sort
+of climax, and in a part of the heavens otherwise full of interest.'
+Another large bright nebula (called 30 Doradus), also in the Southern
+Hemisphere, is composed of a series of loops with intricate windings
+forming a kind of open network against the background of the sky which
+it adorns. Sir John Herschel describes it as one of the most
+extraordinary objects in the heavens.
+
+The 'Crab' Nebula in Taurus, the 'Horse-Shoe' Nebula in Sobieski's
+Shield, and the 'Dumb-Bell' Nebula in Vulpecula are remarkable objects,
+but the assistance of a powerful telescope is required to bring out
+their distinctive features. The 'Crab' Nebula is partially resolvable
+into stars; the other two are believed to be gaseous.
+
+The largest and most remarkable of all the nebulæ is that known as the
+Great Nebula in Orion, which was discovered and delineated by Huygens in
+the middle of the seventeenth century. It is perceptible to the naked
+eye, and when viewed with a glass of low power can be seen as a circular
+luminous haze surrounding the multiple star Theta Orionis--one of the
+stars in the Giant's Sword, and which is of itself a remarkable object.
+The most conspicuous part of the nebula bears a slight resemblance to
+the wing of a bird; it consists of flocculent masses of nebulous matter
+possessing a faint greenish tinge. Sir John Herschel compared it to a
+surface studded over with flocks of wool, or to the breaking up of a
+mackerel sky when the clouds of which it consists begin to assume a
+cirrous appearance. Its brightest portion is occupied by four
+conspicuous stars, which form a trapezium; around each there is a dark
+space free from nebulosity, a circumstance which would seem to indicate
+that the stars possess the power either of absorbing or of repelling the
+nebulous matter in their immediate vicinity. When observed with a
+powerful telescope, this nebula appears to be of vast dimensions, and,
+with its effluents, occupies an area of 4° by 5-1/2°. Irregular
+branching masses, streams, sprays, filaments, and curved spiral wreaths
+project outward from the parent mass, and become gradually lost in the
+surrounding space. This object remained for long a profound mystery; no
+telescope was capable of resolving it, nor was it known what this
+'unformed fiery mist, the chaotic material of future suns,' was, until
+the spectroscope revealed that it consists of a stupendous mass of
+incandescent gases--nitrogen, hydrogen, and other elementary substances,
+occupying a region of space believed by some to equal in extent the
+whole stellar system to which our Sun belongs.
+
+In the Southern Hemisphere, near to the pole of the equator, are two
+nebulous clouds of unequal size; the larger having an area about four
+times that of the smaller. They are known as the Magellanic Clouds,
+having been called after the navigator Magellan. Both are visible on a
+moonless night, but in bright moonlight the smaller disappears. Sir John
+Herschel, when at the Cape of Good Hope, examined those objects with his
+powerful telescope. He described them 'as consisting of swarms of stars,
+globular clusters, and nebulæ of various kinds, some portions of them
+being quite irresolvable, and presenting the same milky appearance in
+the telescope that the nebulæ themselves do to the naked eye.' These are
+believed to be other universes of stars sunk in the profound depths of
+space, our knowledge of their existence being dependent upon the faint
+nebulous light which left them, perhaps, several thousand years ago.
+
+[Illustration: GREAT NEBULA IN ORION]
+
+The description of the various kinds of nebulæ leads us to consider what
+is called the Nebular Hypothesis. That the stars and solar system had at
+some time in the past a beginning, is as much a matter of certainty as
+that they will at some future time cease to be. Stars, like organic
+beings, have their birth, grow and arrive at maturity, then decline into
+a state of decrepitude, and finally die out. The duration of the life of
+a star, which may be reckoned by millions of years, depends upon the
+length of time during which it can maintain a temperature that renders
+it capable of emitting light. By the constant radiation of its heat into
+space, a condition of its constituent particles consequent upon the
+gradual contraction of its mass will ultimately occur, which will result
+in the exhaustion of its stores of thermal energy, the extinction of its
+light, and the reduction of what was once a brilliant orb to the
+condition of a mass of cold, opaque, inert matter. Inquiries as to the
+origin of the stars have led scientific men to conclude that they have
+been evolved from gaseous nebulæ, and these have therefore been regarded
+as indicating the earliest stage in the formation of suns and planets.
+It is believed that the condensation of those attenuated masses of
+luminous matter into stars is capable of accounting for the generation
+and formation of all the shining orbs which enter into the structure of
+the starry heavens. In the evolution of a 'cosmos out of a chaos' we
+should expect to find stars presenting every stage of development--some
+in an embryo state and others more advanced; stars in full vigour and
+activity, stars that have passed the meridian of life, and stars in a
+condition of decay and on the verge of extinction. The observations of
+astronomers have led them to conclude that this condition of 'youth and
+age' exists among the stellar multitude; but the characteristics by
+which it is distinguished are neither very obvious nor reliable.
+
+The nebular theory is incapable of proof or demonstration; but modern
+discoveries tend to support the accuracy of its conclusions, and its
+principles have now been adopted by the majority of philosophic
+thinkers. The physical changes which are going on in the nebulæ towards
+stellar evolution, or in fully formed stars towards dissolution, are so
+slow that the life of an individual, or even the historical records of
+the past, are incapable of furnishing any evidence of alteration in
+their condition. A period of time infinitely greater than what has
+elapsed since the birth of science must pass before anything can be
+known of the life history of the stars; indeed, the allotted span of
+man's existence on this planet may have terminated ere the evolution of
+a large nebula into a star cluster can have taken place.
+
+The nebular hypothesis was first propounded by Kant, who suggested that
+the sun and planets originated from a vast and diffused mass of cosmical
+matter. This theory was afterwards supported by Herschel and by the
+great French astronomer Laplace. As a result of close and continued
+observation of the different classes of nebulæ, Herschel arrived at the
+conclusion that there exists in space a widely diffused 'shining fluid,'
+of a nature totally unknown to us, and that the nebulosity which he
+perceived to surround some stars was not of a starry nature. He further
+adds that this self-luminous matter 'seemed more fit to produce a star
+by its condensation than to depend on the star for its existence.' His
+sagacious conclusion with regard to the non-stellar nature of this
+nebulous matter was afterwards confirmed by the spectroscope; for at
+that time it was believed that even the faintest nebulæ were
+irresolvable star clusters.
+
+In 1811 Herschel read a paper before the Royal Society in which he
+propounded his famous nebular hypothesis, and stated his reasons for
+believing that nebulæ, by their gradual condensation, were transformed
+into stars. Having assumed that there exists a highly attenuated
+self-luminous substance diffused over vast regions of space, he
+endeavoured to show that by the law of attraction its particles would
+have a tendency to coalesce and form aggregations of nebulous matter,
+and that each of these, by the continued action of the same force, would
+gradually condense and ultimately acquire the consistence of a star. In
+the case of large irregular nebulæ, numerous centres of attraction would
+originate in the mass, round which the nebulous particles of matter
+would arrange themselves; each nucleus, when condensation had been
+completed, would become a star, and the entire nebula would in this
+manner be transformed into a cluster of stars. Herschel believed that he
+could trace the different stages of nebular condensation which result in
+the evolution of a star. In large, faintly luminous nebulæ the process
+of condensation had only commenced; in others that were smaller and
+brighter it was in a more advanced stage; in those that contained nuclei
+there was evidence of nascent stars; and, finally, there could be seen
+in some nebulæ minute stellar points--new-born suns--interspersed among
+the haze of the transforming mass. By this theory Herschel was able to
+account for the phenomena associated with nebulous stars and the
+supposed changes which were observed in some nebulæ. The nebular
+hypothesis as described by Herschel was not received with much favour,
+nor did it unsettle much the belief that all nebulæ were vast stellar
+aggregations, and that their cloudy luminosity was a consequence of the
+inadequacy of telescopic power to resolve them into their component
+stars. Laplace, who was highly gifted as a geometrician, demonstrated
+how the solar system could have been evolved in accordance with
+dynamical principles from a slowly rotating and slowly contracting
+spheroidal nebula. The rotatory motion of a nebula, in obedience to a
+well-known mechanical law, increases as its density becomes greater, and
+this goes on until the tangential force at the equator overcomes the
+gravitational attraction at its centre. When this occurs, a revolving
+ring of nebulous matter is thrown off from the parent mass, and by this
+means equilibrium is restored between the two forces. As the rotatory
+velocity of the nebula continues to increase with its contraction,
+another ring is cast off, and in this manner a succession of revolving
+rings may be detached from the condensing spheroid; each newly-formed
+ring being nearer to the centre of the contracting mass and revolving in
+a shorter period than its predecessor. In the evolution of our system,
+the central mass of the nebula became the Sun and each of the revolving
+rings, by their condensation into one mass, formed a planet. In a
+similar manner, though on a diminished scale, the elementary planets,
+whilst in a nebulous state, parted with annular portions of their
+substance, out of which were evolved their systems of satellites. This
+theory furnished a plausible reason, which was capable of explaining how
+the orbs which constitute the solar system came into existence, and,
+though hypothetical, yet the manner in which it accounted for the
+orderly and symmetrical genesis of the system rendered it attractive and
+fascinating to scientific minds.
+
+The evidence in support of the nebulous origin of the solar system, if
+not conclusive, is of much weight and importance. The remarkable harmony
+with which the orbs of the system perform their motions is strongly
+indicative of their common origin and that their evolution occurred in
+subordination to the law of universal gravitation. The following are the
+characteristic points in favour of this theory:--
+
+1. All the planets revolve round the Sun in the same direction, and they
+all occupy nearly the same plane.
+
+2. Their satellites, with the exception of those of Uranus and Neptune,
+perform their revolutions in obedience to the same law.
+
+3. The rotation on their axes of the Sun, planets, and satellites is in
+the same direction as their orbital motion.
+
+Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter there revolves a remarkable group
+of small planets or planetoids. On account of the absence of a planet in
+this region, where, according to the laws of planetary distances, one
+ought to be found, the existence of those small bodies was suspected for
+some years prior to their discovery. The first was detected by Piazzi at
+Palermo in 1801; two others were discovered by Olbers in 1802 and 1807,
+and one by Harding in 1804. For some time it was believed that no more
+planetoids existed, but in 1845 a fifth was detected by Hencke, and from
+that year until now upwards of 300 of those small bodies have been
+discovered. Their magnitudes are of varied extent; the diameter of the
+largest is believed not to exceed 450 miles, and that of the smaller
+ones from twenty to thirty miles. It was surmised at one time, when only
+a few of those bodies were known, that they were the fragments of a
+planet which met with some terrible catastrophe; but since the discovery
+of so many other planetoids this theory cannot be maintained. According
+to the nebular hypothesis, these bodies are the consolidated portions of
+a nebulous ring which remained separate instead of having coalesced into
+one mass so as to form a planet. The uniform condensation of the ring
+would result in the formation of a multitude of small planets similar to
+what are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. In Saturn's ring
+we have a remarkable instance of annular consolidation in which the form
+of the ring has been preserved. The ring is believed to consist of
+myriads of minute bodies, each of which travels in an orbit of its own
+as it pursues its path round the planet; the close approximation and
+exceeding minuteness of those moving objects create the appearance of a
+solid continuous ring.
+
+Though, by means of the nebular hypothesis, it is impossible to explain
+all the phenomena associated with the motions of the orbs which enter
+into the structure of the solar system, yet this does not detract much
+from the merits of the theory, the fundamental principles of which are
+based upon the evolution of the solar system from a rotating nebula.
+The retrograde motions of the satellites of Uranus and Neptune, the
+velocity of the inner Martian moon, and other abnormalities in the
+system, have not as yet been explained, but doubtless there are reasons
+by which those peculiarities can be accounted for if they were only
+known, '_felix qui potuit cognoscere causas omnium rerum_.'
+
+No attempt has been made to supplant the nebular hypothesis by any other
+theory of cosmical evolution. Modern investigations and discoveries have
+strengthened its position, and at present it is the only means by which
+we can account for the existence of the visible material universe by
+which we are surrounded.
+
+In the days when Milton lived--three hundred years ago--the nocturnal
+heavens presented the same appearance to an observer as they do at the
+present time. The stars pursued their identical paths, and looked down
+upon the Earth with the same aspect of serene tranquillity, regardless
+of the vicissitudes which affect the inhabitants of this terrestrial
+sphere. The constellations that adorn the celestial vault duly appeared
+in their seasons,
+
+                    and in the ascending scale
+    Of Heaven the stars that usher evening rose.--iv. 354-55.
+
+The winter glories of Orion, the scintillating brilliancy of Sirius, and
+the spangled firmament, bearing no impress of change or variation which
+would lead one to conclude that the heavens were other than eternal,
+attracted then, as now, the admiration of beholders.
+
+Apart from the orbs which constitute the solar system, little was known
+of the sidereal heavens beyond the visual effect created by the
+nocturnal aspect of the star-lit sky. Though ancient philosophers
+hazarded an opinion that the stars were suns, they received but scant
+attention from early astronomers, by whom they were merely regarded as
+convenient fixed points which enabled them to determine with greater
+accuracy the positions of the planets and the paths traced out by them
+in the heavens. The Ptolemaists, who believed in the diurnal revolution
+of the spheres, assigned to the stars a very subordinate place in their
+cosmology, which was the one adopted by Milton; and although Copernicus
+relegated them to their proper location in space, yet he had no clear
+conception of a universe of stars. Tycho Brahé, who declined to accept
+the Copernican theory, disbelieved that the stars were suns, and
+Galileo, who discovered the stellar nature of the Milky Way, remarked
+that the stars were not illumined by the Sun's rays in the same manner
+that the planets are, but expressed no opinion with regard to their
+physical constitution. It is only within the past fifty years that proof
+has been obtained of the real nature of the stars. By the spectroscopic
+analysis of their light it has been ascertained that the elements of
+matter which enter into their composition exist in a condition similar
+to what is found in the Sun. The stars are therefore suns, many of them
+surpassing in magnitude and brilliancy the great luminary of our
+system.
+
+Though Milton makes frequent allusion to the magnificence of the starry
+heavens, we have no evidence that he regarded the stars as suns, nor
+does he refer to them as such in any part of his poem.[12] What
+impressed him most was their number and brilliancy, to which reference
+is made in the following passages:
+
+    About him all the Sanctities of Heaven
+    Stood thick as stars.--iii. 60-61.
+
+    And sowed with stars the Heavens thick as a field.--vii. 358.
+
+    Amongst innumerable stars, that shone
+    Stars distant, but nigh hand seemed other worlds.--iii. 564-65.
+
+                                            her reign
+    With thousand lesser lights dividual holds,
+    With thousand thousand stars, that then appeared
+    Spangling the hemisphere.--vii. 381-84.
+
+Milton describes the number of the fallen angels as
+
+                              an host
+    Innumerable as the stars of night.--v. 744-45,
+
+and the attention of Satan is directed by the archangel Uriel to the
+multitude of stars formed from the chaotic elements of matter:
+
+    Numberless as thou seest, and how they move;
+    Each had his place appointed, each his course;
+    The rest in circuit walls this universe.--iii. 719-21.
+
+
+
+Though Milton was doubtless familiar with the leading orbs of the
+firmament and knew their names, and the constellations in which they are
+situated, yet he makes no direct allusion to any of them in his poem.
+Neither Arcturus, which is mentioned in the Book of Job, nor Sirius,
+which attracted the attention of Homer, who compared the brightness of
+Achilles' armour to the dazzling brilliancy of the dog-star, finds a
+place in 'Paradise Lost.' And yet the superior magnitude and brilliancy
+of some stars when compared with those of others did not escape Milton's
+observation when, in describing the lofty eminence of Satan in heaven,
+prior to his fall, he represents him as
+
+                      brighter once amidst the host
+    Of angels than that star the stars among.--vii. 132-33.
+
+There is but one star to which Milton makes individual allusion, and,
+though not of any conspicuous brilliancy, yet it is one of much
+importance to astronomers--
+
+            the fleecy star that bears
+    Andromeda far off Atlantic seas
+    Beyond the horizon.--iii. 558-60.
+
+This is Alpha Arietis, the first point in the constellation of that
+name, which signifies the Ram, and from which the right ascensions of
+the stars are measured on the celestial sphere. In the time of
+Hipparchus the ecliptic intersected the celestial equator in Aries,
+which indicated the commencement of the astronomical year and the
+occurrence of the vernal equinox; but, owing to precession, this point
+is now 30° westward of Aries and in the constellation Pisces. The star
+was called Hamal by the Arabs, signifying a sheep, and the animal is
+represented as looking backwards. Manilius writes:--
+
+    First Aries, glorious in his golden wool,
+    Looks back and wonders at the mighty Bull.
+
+Aries is associated with the legend of the Golden Fleece, in quest of
+which Jason and his valiant crew sailed in the ship 'Argo.' In the
+autumn, Andromeda is situated above Aries, and would seem to be borne by
+the latter, which accounts for Milton's description of the relative
+positions of those two constellations.
+
+Milton alludes to the starry sphere in several passages in his poem, and
+also mentions the starry pole above which he soared in imagination up to
+the Empyrean or Heaven of Heavens. His contemplation of the Galaxy must
+have impressed his mind with the magnitude and extent of the sidereal
+universe, for he was aware that this luminous zone which encircles the
+heavens consists of myriads of stars, so remote as to be incapable of
+definition by unaided vision. Milton's description of this vast
+assemblage of stars is worthy of its magnificence, and the purpose with
+which he poetically associates this glorified highway testifies to the
+sublimity of his thoughts and to the originality of his genius. In those
+parts of his poem in which he describes the glories of the celestial
+regions, and instances the beautiful phenomena associated with the
+individual orbs of the firmament, we are able to perceive with what
+exquisite delight he beheld them all.
+
+The invention of the telescope, and the important discoveries made by
+Kepler, Galileo, and Newton in the seventeenth century, were the means
+of effecting a rapid advance in the science of astronomy; but that
+branch of it known as sidereal astronomy was not then in existence. The
+star depths, owing to inadequate telescopic power, remained unexplored,
+and the secrets associated with those distant regions were inviolable,
+and lay beyond the reach of human knowledge. The physical constitution
+of the stars was unknown, nor was it ascertained with any degree of
+certainty that they were suns. The knowledge possessed by astronomers in
+those days was but meagre compared with what is now known of the
+sidereal heavens. Milton's astronomical knowledge, we find, was
+commensurate with what was known of the stellar universe, and this he
+has conspicuously displayed in his poem.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+DESCRIPTION OF CELESTIAL OBJECTS MENTIONED IN 'PARADISE LOST'
+
+
+THE SUN
+
+The surpassing splendour of the Sun, as compared with that of any of the
+other orbs of the firmament, is not more impressive than his stupendous
+magnitude, and the important functions which it is his prerogative to
+fulfil. Situated at the centre of our system--of which he may be
+regarded as 'both eye and soul'--the orb has a diameter approaching
+1,000,000 miles, and a mass 750 times greater than that of all the
+planets combined. These, by his attractive power, he retains in their
+several paths and orbits, and even far distant Neptune acknowledges his
+potent sway. With prodigal liberality he dispenses his vast stores of
+light and heat, which illumine and vivify the worlds circling around
+him, and upon the constant supply of which all animated beings depend
+for their existence. Deprived of the light of the Sun, this world would
+be enveloped in perpetual darkness, and we should all miserably perish.
+
+The Sun is distant from the Earth about 93,000,000 miles. His diameter
+is 867,000 miles, or nearly four times the extent of the radius of the
+Moon's orbit. The mass of the orb exceeds that of the Earth 330,000
+times, and in volume 1,305,000 times. The Sun is a sphere, and rotates
+on his axis from west to east in 25 days 8 hours. The velocity of a
+point at the solar equator is 4,407 miles an hour. The density of the
+Sun is only one-fourth that of the Earth, or, in other words, bulk for
+bulk, the Earth is four times heavier than the Sun. The force of gravity
+at the Sun's surface is twenty-seven times greater than it is on the
+Earth; it would therefore be impossible for beings constituted as we are
+to exist on the solar surface.
+
+The dazzling luminous envelope which indicates to the naked eye the
+boundary of the solar disc is called the PHOTOSPHERE. It is most
+brilliant at the centre of the Sun, and diminishes in brightness towards
+the circumference, where its luminosity is but one-fourth that of the
+central portion of the disc. The photosphere consists of gaseous vapours
+or clouds, of irregular form and size, separated by less brilliant
+interstices, and glowing white with the heat derived from the interior
+of the Sun. In the telescope the photosphere is not of uniform
+brilliancy, but presents a mottled or granular appearance, an effect
+created by the intermixture of spaces of unequal brightness. Small
+nodules of intense brilliance, resembling 'rice-grains,' but which,
+according to Nasmyth, are of a willow-leaf shape with pointed
+extremities, which form a network over portions of the photosphere, are
+sprinkled profusely over a more faintly luminous background. These
+'grains' consist of irregular rounded masses, having an area of several
+hundred miles. By the application of a high magnifying power they can be
+resolved into 'granules'--minute luminous dots which constitute
+one-fifth of the Sun's surface and emit three-fourths of the light. This
+granulation is not uniform over the surface of the photosphere; in some
+parts it is indistinct, and appears to be replaced by interlacing
+filamentous bands, which are most apparent in the penumbræ of the spots
+and around the spots themselves. The 'granules' are the tops of
+ascending masses of intensely luminous vapour; the comparatively dark
+'pores' consist of similar descending masses, which, having radiated
+their energy, are returning to be again heated underneath the surface of
+the photosphere.
+
+In certain regions of the photosphere several dark patches are usually
+visible, which are called 'sun-spots.' At occasional times they are
+almost entirely absent from the solar disc. It has been observed that
+they occupy a zone extending from 10° to 35° north and south of the
+solar equator, but are not found in the equatorial and polar regions of
+the Sun. A sun-spot is usually described as consisting of an irregular
+dark central portion, called the _umbra_; surrounding it is an edging or
+fringe less dark, consisting of filaments radiating inwards called the
+_penumbra_. Within the umbra there is sometimes seen a still darker
+spot, called the _nucleus_. The umbra is generally uniformly dark, but
+at times filmy luminous clouds have been observed floating over it. The
+nucleus is believed to be the orifice of a tubular depression in the
+floor of the umbra, prolonged downwards to an unknown depth. The
+penumbra is brightest at its inner edge, where the filaments present a
+marked contrast when compared with the dark cavity of the umbra which
+they surround and overhang. Sometimes lengthened processes unite with
+those of the opposite side and form bands and 'bridges' across the
+umbra. The darkest portion of the penumbra is its external edge, which
+stands out conspicuously against the adjoining bright surface of the
+Sun. One penumbra will sometimes enclose several umbræ whilst the nuclei
+may be entirely wanting.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.--A Sun-spot magnified.
+
+(_Janssen._)]
+
+Sun-spots usually appear in groups; large isolated spots are of rare
+occurrence, and are generally accompanied by several smaller ones of
+less perfect formation. The exact moment of the origin of a sun-spot
+cannot be ascertained, because it arises from an imperceptible point; it
+grows very rapidly, and often attains its full size in a day.
+
+Prior to its appearance there is an unusual disturbance of the solar
+surface over the site of the spot: luminous ridges, called _faculæ_, and
+dark 'pores' become conspicuous, between which greyish patches appear,
+that seem to lie underneath a thin layer of the photosphere; this is
+rapidly dispelled and a fully formed spot comes into view. When a
+sun-spot has completed its period of existence, the photospheric matter
+overwhelms the penumbra, and rushes into the umbra, which it
+obliterates, causing the spot to disappear. The duration of sun-spots is
+subject to considerable variation; some last for weeks or months, and
+others for a few days or hours. A spot when once fully formed maintains
+its shape, which is usually rounded, until the period of its breaking
+up. Spots of long duration rotate with the Sun. Those which become
+visible at the edge of the Sun's limb have been observed to travel
+across his disc in less than a fortnight, disappearing at the margin of
+the opposite limb; afterwards, if sufficiently long-lived, they have
+reappeared in twelve or thirteen days on the surface of the orb where
+first observed. It was by observation of the spots that the period of
+the axial rotation of the Sun became known.
+
+Sun-spots vary very much in size--some are only a few hundred miles in
+width, whilst others have a diameter of 40,000 or 50,000 miles or
+upwards. In some instances the umbra alone has a breadth of 20,000 or
+30,000 miles--three times the extent of the diameter of the Earth. Spots
+of this size are visible to the naked eye when the Sun is partially
+obscured by fog, or when his brilliancy is diminished by vapours near
+the horizon. A year seldom passes without the occurrence of several of
+such spots being recorded. The largest sun-spot ever observed had a
+diameter of about 150,000 miles. A group of spots, including their
+penumbræ, will occupy an area of many millions of square miles.
+
+By long observation it has been ascertained that sun-spots increase and
+diminish in number with periodical regularity, and that a maximum
+sun-spot period occurs at the end of each eleven years. When spots are
+numerous on the Sun's disc there is great disturbance of the solar
+surface, accompanied by fierce rushes of intensely heated gases. This
+solar activity is known to influence terrestrial magnetism by causing a
+marked oscillation of the magnetic needle, and giving rise to so-called
+'magnetic storms,' accompanied by magnificent displays of auroræ, with
+variations in electrical earth-currents. It would therefore appear that
+sun-spots have a pronounced effect upon magnetic terrestrial phenomena,
+but how this is produced remains unknown.
+
+Besides sun-spots, there are seen on the solar disc bright flocculent
+streaks or ridges of luminous matter called _faculæ_; they are found
+over the whole surface of the Sun, but are most numerous near the limb
+and in the immediate vicinity of the spots. They have been compared to
+immense waves--vast upheavals of photospheric matter, indicative of
+enormous pressure, and often extending in length for many thousands of
+miles.
+
+Nearly all observers have arrived at the conclusion that sun-spots are
+depressions or cavities in the photosphere, but considerable difference
+of opinion exists as to how they are formed. The most commonly accepted
+theory is that they are caused by the pressure of descending masses of
+vapour having a reduced temperature, which absorb the light and prevent
+it reaching us. Our knowledge of the Sun is insufficient to admit of any
+accurate conclusion on this point; though we are able to perceive that
+the surface of the orb is in a state of violent agitation and perpetual
+change, yet his great distance and intense luminosity prevent our
+capability of perceiving the ultimate minuter details which go to form
+the _texture_ of the solar surface. 'Bearing in mind that a second of
+arc on the Sun represents 455 miles, it follows that an object 150 miles
+in diameter is about the _minimum visible_ even as a mere mathematical
+point, and that anything that is sufficiently large to give the
+slightest impression of shape and extension of surface must have an
+area of at least a quarter of a million square miles; ordinarily
+speaking, we shall not gather much information about any object that
+covers less than a million.'[13] Since the British Islands have only an
+area of 120,700 square miles, it is evident that on the surface of the
+Sun there are many phenomena and physical changes occurring which escape
+our observation. Though the changes which occur in the spots and faculæ
+appear to be slow when observed through the telescope, yet in reality
+they are not so. Tremendous storms and cyclones of intensely heated
+gases, which may be compared to the flames arising from a great furnace,
+sweep over different areas of the Sun with a velocity of hundreds of
+miles an hour. Vast ridges and crests of incandescent vapour are
+upheaved by the action of internal heat, which exceeds in intensity the
+temperature at which the most refractory of terrestrial substances can
+be volatilised; and downrushes of the same photospheric matter take
+place after it has parted with some of its stores of thermal energy.
+Sun-spots of considerable magnitude have been observed to grow rapidly
+and then disappear in a very short period of time; occasionally a spot
+is seen to divide into two or more portions, the fragments flying
+asunder with a velocity of not less than 1,000 miles an hour. It is by
+these upheavals and convulsions of the solar atmosphere that the light
+and heat are maintained which illumine and vivify the worlds that
+gravitate round the Sun.
+
+During total eclipses of the Sun, several phenomena become visible which
+have enabled astronomers to gain some further knowledge of the nature of
+the solar appendages. The most important of these is the CHROMOSPHERE,
+which consists of layers of incandescent gases that envelop the
+photosphere and completely surround the Sun. Its average depth is from
+5,000 to 6,000 miles, and when seen during an eclipse is of a beautiful
+rose colour, resembling a sheet of flame. As seen in profile at the edge
+of the Sun's disc, it presents an irregular serrated appearance, an
+effect created by the protuberance of luminous ridges and
+processes--masses of flame which arise from over its entire surface. The
+chromosphere consists chiefly of glowing hydrogen, and an element called
+_helium_, which has been recently discovered in a terrestrial substance
+called cleveite; there are also present the vapours of iron, calcium,
+cerium, titanium, barium, and magnesium. From the surface of this ocean
+of fire, jets and pointed spires of flaming hydrogen shoot up with
+amazing velocity, and attain an altitude of ten, twenty, fifty, and even
+one hundred thousand miles in a very short period of time. They are,
+however, of an evanescent nature, change rapidly in form and appearance,
+and often in the course of an hour or two die down so as not to be
+recognisable. These _prominences_, as they are called, have been divided
+into two classes. Some are in masses that float like clouds in the
+atmosphere, which they resemble in form and appearance; they are
+usually attached to the chromosphere by a single stem, or by slender
+columns; occasionally they are entirely free. These are called
+_quiescent_ prominences; they consist of clouds of hydrogen, and are of
+more lasting duration than the other variety, called _eruptive_ or
+metallic prominences. The latter are usually found in the vicinity of
+sun-spots, and, besides hydrogen, contain the vapours of various metals.
+They are of different forms, and present the appearance of filaments,
+spikes, and jets of liquid fire; others are pyramidal, convoluted, and
+parabolic.
+
+These outbursts, bending over like the jets from a fountain, and
+descending in graceful curves of flame, ascend from the surface of the
+chromosphere with a velocity often exceeding 100 miles in a second, and
+frequently reach an enormous height, but are of transient duration. They
+are closely connected with sun-spots, and are evidence of the tremendous
+forces that are in action on the surface of the Sun.
+
+The CORONA is an aureole of light which is seen to surround the Sun
+during a total eclipse. It is an impressive and beautiful phenomenon,
+and is only visible when the Sun is concealed behind the dark body of
+the Moon. Professor Young gives the following graphic description of the
+corona: 'From behind it [the Moon] stream out on all sides radiant
+filaments, beams, and sheets of pearly light, which reach to a distance
+sometimes of several degrees from the solar surface, forming an
+irregular stellate halo, with the black globe of the Moon in its
+apparent centre. The portion nearest the Sun is of dazzling brightness,
+but still less brilliant than the prominences, which blaze through it
+like carbuncles. Generally this inner corona has a pretty uniform
+height, forming a ring three or four minutes of arc in width, separated
+by a somewhat definite outline from the outer corona, which reaches to a
+much greater distance and is far more irregular in form. Usually there
+are several "rifts," as they have been called, like narrow beams of
+darkness, extending from the very edge of the Sun to the outer night,
+and much resembling the cloud shadows which radiate from the Sun before
+a thundershower. But the edges of these rifts are frequently curved,
+showing them to be something else than real shadows. Sometimes there are
+narrow bright streamers as long as the rifts, or longer. These are often
+inclined, or occasionally even nearly tangential to the solar surface,
+and frequently are curved. On the whole, the corona is usually less
+extensive and brilliant over the solar poles, and there is a
+recognisable tendency to accumulation above the middle latitudes, or
+spot zones; so that, speaking roughly, the corona shows a disposition to
+assume the form of a quadrilateral or four-rayed star, though in almost
+every individual case this form is greatly modified by abnormal
+streamers at some point or other.' The corona surrounds the Sun and its
+other envelopes to a depth of many thousands of miles. It consists of
+various elements which exist in a condition of extreme tenuity;
+hydrogen, helium, and a substance called coronium appear to predominate,
+whilst finely divided shining particles of matter and electrical
+discharges resembling those of an aurora assist in its illumination.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.--The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883.]
+
+We possess no knowledge of the physical structure of the interior of the
+Sun, nor have we any terrestrial analogy to guide us as to how matter
+would behave when subjected to such conditions of extreme temperature
+and pressure as exist in the interior of the orb. Yet we are justified
+in concluding that the Sun is mainly a gaseous sphere which is slowly
+contracting, and that the energy expended in this process is being
+transformed into heat so extreme as to render the orb a great fountain
+of light.
+
+Milton in his poem makes more frequent allusion to the Sun than to any
+of the other orbs of the firmament, and, in all his references to the
+great luminary, describes him in a manner worthy of his unrivalled
+splendour, and of his supreme importance in the system which he upholds
+and governs. After having alighted on Mount Niphates, Satan is described
+as looking
+
+    Sometimes towards Heaven and the full-blazing Sun,
+    Which now sat high in his meridian tower.--iv. 29-30.
+
+He then addresses him thus:--
+
+    O thou that with surpassing glory crowned,
+    Look'st from thy sole dominion like the god
+    Of this new World--at whose sight all the stars
+    Hide their diminished heads--to thee I call,
+    But with no friendly voice, and add thy name,
+    O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams,
+    That bring to my remembrance from what state
+    I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere.--iv. 32-39.
+
+On another occasion:--
+
+    The golden Sun in splendour likest Heaven
+    Allured his eye.--iii. 572-73.
+
+In describing the different periods of the day, Milton seldom fails to
+associate the Sun with these times, and rightly so, since they are
+brought about by the apparent diurnal journey of the orb across the
+heavens. Commencing with morning, he says:--
+
+                                    Meanwhile,
+    To re-salute the world with sacred light,
+    Leucothea waked, and with fresh dews embalmed
+    The Earth.--xi. 133-36.
+
+    Soon as they forth were come to open sight
+    Of day-spring, and the Sun--who, scarce up-risen,
+    With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean-brim,
+    Shot parallel to the Earth his dewy ray,
+    Discovering in wide landskip all the east
+    Of Paradise and Eden's happy plains.--v. 138-43
+
+                          or some renowned metropolis
+    With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned,
+    Which now the rising Sun gilds with his beams.--iii. 549-51.
+
+                      while now the mounted Sun
+    Shot down direct his fervid rays, to warm
+    Earth's inmost womb.--v. 300-302.
+
+                                  for scarce the Sun
+    Hath finished half his journey, and scarce begins
+    His other half in the great zone of Heaven.--v. 558-60.
+
+    To sit and taste, till this meridian heat
+    Be over, and the Sun more cool decline.--v. 369-70.
+
+    And the great Light of Day yet wants to run
+    Much of his race, though steep. Suspense in Heaven,
+    Held by thy voice, thy potent voice he hears,
+    And longer will delay, to hear thee tell
+    His generation, and the rising birth
+    Of Nature from the unapparent deep.--vii. 98-103.
+
+The declining day and approach of evening are described as follows:--
+
+    Meanwhile in utmost longitude, where Heaven
+    With Earth and Ocean meets, the setting Sun
+    Slowly descended, and with right aspect
+    Against the eastern gate of Paradise
+    Levelled his evening rays.--iv. 539-43.
+
+                            the Sun now fallen
+    Beneath the Azores; whether the Prime Orb,
+    Incredible how swift, had thither rolled
+    Diurnal, or this less volubil Earth,
+    By shorter flight to the east, had left him there
+    Arraying with reflected purple and gold
+    The clouds that on his western throne attend.--iv. 591-97.
+
+                                  the parting Sun
+    Beyond the Earth's green Cape and verdant Isles
+    Hesperian sets, my signal to depart.--viii. 630-32.
+
+    Now was the Sun in western cadence low
+    From noon, and gentle airs due at their hour
+    To fan the Earth now waked, and usher in
+    The evening cool.--x. 92-95.
+
+                                      for the Sun,
+    Declined, was hasting now with prone career
+    To the Ocean Isles, and in the ascending scale
+    Of Heaven the stars that usher evening rose.--iv. 352-55.
+
+In the combat between Michael and Satan, which ended in the overthrow of
+the rebel angels, Milton, in his description of their armour, says:--
+
+                  two broad suns their shields
+    Blazed opposite.--vi. 305-306,
+
+and in describing the faded splendour of the ruined Archangel, the poet
+compares him to the Sun when seen under conditions which temporarily
+deprive him of his dazzling brilliancy and glory:--
+
+                        as when the Sun new-risen
+    Looks through the horizontal misty air
+    Shorn of his beams, or, from behind the Moon
+    In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds
+    On half the nations, and with fear of change
+    Perplexes monarchs.--i. 594-99.
+
+This passage affords us an example of the sublimity of Milton's
+imagination and of his skill in adapting the grandest phenomena in
+Nature to the illustration of his subject.
+
+
+THE MOON
+
+The Moon is the Earth's satellite, and next to the Sun is the most
+important of the celestial orbs so far as its relations with our globe
+are concerned. Besides affording us light by night, the Moon is the
+principal cause of the ebb and flow of the tide--a phenomenon of much
+importance to navigators. The Moon is almost a perfect sphere, and is
+2,160 miles in diameter. The form of its orbit is that of an ellipse
+with the Earth in the lower focus. It revolves round its primary in 27
+days 7 hours, at a mean distance of 237,000 miles, and with a velocity
+of 2,273 miles an hour. Its equatorial velocity of rotation is 10 miles
+an hour. The density of the Moon is 3·57 that of water, or 0·63 that of
+the Earth; eighty globes, each of the weight of the Moon, would be
+required to counterbalance the weight of the Earth, and fifty globes of
+a similar size to equal it in dimensions. The orb rotates on its axis in
+the same period of time in which it accomplishes a revolution of its
+orbit; consequently the same illumined surface of the Moon is always
+directed towards the Earth. To the naked eye the Moon appears as large
+as the Sun, and it very rapidly changes its form and position in the
+sky. Its motions, which are of a very complex character, have been for
+many ages the subject of investigation by mathematicians and
+astronomers, but their difficulties may now be regarded as having been
+finally overcome.
+
+The phases of the Moon are always interesting and very beautiful. The
+orb is first seen in the west, after sunset, as a delicate slender
+crescent of pale light; each night it increases in size, whilst it
+travels eastward, until it attains the figure of a half moon; still
+growing larger as it pursues its course, it finally becomes a full
+resplendent globe, rising about the time that the Sun sets and situated
+directly opposite to him. Then, in a reverse manner, after full moon, it
+goes through the same phases, until, as a slender crescent, it becomes
+invisible in the solar rays; afterwards to re-appear in a few days, and,
+in its monthly round, to undergo the same cycle of changes. The phases
+of the Moon depend upon the changing position of the orb with regard to
+the Sun. The Moon shines by reflected light derived from the Sun, and as
+one half of its surface is always illumined and the other half totally
+dark, the crescent increases or diminishes when, by the Moon's change of
+position, we see more or less of the bright side. Visible at first as a
+slender crescent near the setting Sun, the angular distance from the orb
+and the width of the crescent increase daily, until, at the expiration
+of seven days, the Moon is distant one quarter of the circumference of
+the heavens from the Sun. The Moon is then a semi-circle, or in
+quadrature. At the end of other seven days, the distance of the Moon
+from the Sun is at its greatest--half the circumference of its orbit. It
+is then visible as a circular disc and we behold the orb as full moon.
+The waning Moon, as it gradually decreases, presents the same aspects
+reversed, and, finally, its slender crescent disappears in the Sun's
+rays. The convex edge of the crescent is always turned towards the Sun.
+The rising of the Moon in the east and its setting in the west is an
+effect due to the diurnal rotation of the Earth on her axis, but the orb
+can be perceived to have two motions besides: one from west to east,
+which carries it round the heavens in 29·53 days, and another from north
+to south. The west to east motion is steady and continuous, but, owing
+to the Sun's attractive force, the Moon is made to swerve from its path,
+giving rise to irregularities of its motion called PERTURBATIONS. The
+most important of these is the _annual equation_, discovered by Tycho
+Brahé--a yearly effect produced by the Sun's disturbing influence as the
+Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit; another irregularity,
+called the _evection_, is a change in the eccentricity of the lunar
+orbit, by which the mean longitude of the Moon is increased or
+diminished. _Elliptic inequality_, _parallactic inequality_, the
+_variation_, and _secular acceleration_, are other perturbations of the
+lunar motion, which depend directly or indirectly on the attractive
+influence of the Sun and the motion of the Earth in her orbit.
+
+As the plane of the Moon's orbit is inclined at an angle of rather more
+than 5° to the ecliptic, it follows that the orb, in its journey round
+the Earth, intersects this great circle at two points called the
+'Nodes.' When crossing the ecliptic from south to north the Moon is in
+its ascending node, and when crossing from north to south in its
+descending node. In December the Moon reaches the most northern point of
+its course, and in June the southernmost. Consequently we have during
+the winter nights the greatest amount of moonlight, and in summer the
+least. In the evenings the moonlight is least in March and greatest in
+September, when we have what is called the Harvest Moon.
+
+The telescopic appearance of the Moon is very interesting and beautiful,
+especially if the orb is observed when waxing and waning. As no aqueous
+vapour or cloud obscures the lunar surface, all its details can be
+perceived with great clearness and distinctness. Indeed, the topography
+of the Moon is better known than that of the Earth, for the whole of its
+surface has been mapped and delineated with great accuracy and
+precision. The Moon is in no sense a duplicate of its primary, and no
+analogy exists between the Earth and her satellite. Evidence is wanting
+of the existence of an atmosphere surrounding the Moon; no clouds or
+exhalations can be perceived, and no water is believed to exist on the
+lunar surface. Consequently there are no oceans, seas, rivers, or lakes;
+no fertile plains or forest-clad mountains, such as are found upon the
+Earth. Indeed, all the conditions essential for the support and
+maintenance of organic life by which we are surrounded appear to be
+nonexistent on the Moon. Our satellite has no seasons; its axial
+rotation is so slow that one lunar day is equal in length to fourteen of
+our days; this period of sunshine is succeeded by a night of similar
+duration. The alternation of such lengthened days and nights subjects
+the lunar surface to great extremes of heat and cold.
+
+When viewed with a telescope, the surface of the Moon is perceived to
+consist of lofty mountain chains with rugged peaks, numerous extinct
+volcanoes called crater mountains, hills, clefts, chasms, valleys, and
+level plains--a region of desolation, presenting to our gaze the
+shattered and upturned fragments of the Moon's crust, convulsed by
+forces of a volcanic nature which have long since expended their
+energies and died out. The mountain ranges on the Moon resemble those of
+the Earth, but they have a more rugged outline, and their peaks are more
+precipitous, some of them rising to a height of 20,000 feet. They are
+called the Lunar Alps, Apennines, and Cordilleras, and embrace every
+variety of hill, cliff, mound, and ridge of comparatively low
+elevation. The plains are large level areas, which are situated on
+various parts of the lunar surface; they are of a darker hue than the
+mountainous regions by which they are surrounded, and were at one time
+believed to be seas. They are analogous to the prairies, steppes, and
+deserts of the Earth.
+
+_Valleys._--Some of these are of spacious dimensions; others are narrow,
+and contract into gorges and chasms. Clefts or rills are long cracks or
+fissures of considerable depth, which extend sometimes for hundreds of
+miles across the various strata of which the Moon's crust is composed.
+
+The characteristic features of the Moon's surface are the crater
+mountains: they are very numerous on certain portions of the lunar disc,
+and give the Moon the freckled appearance which it presents in the
+telescope, and which Galileo likened to the eyes in the feathers of a
+peacock's tail. They are believed to be of volcanic origin, and have
+been classified as follows: 'Walled plains, mountain rings, ring plains,
+crater plains, craters, craterlets, and crater cones.' Upwards of 13,000
+of these mountains have been enumerated, and 1,000 are known to have a
+diameter exceeding nine miles. Walled plains consist of circular areas
+which have a width varying from 150 miles to a few hundred yards. They
+are enclosed by rocky ramparts, whilst the centre is occupied by an
+elevated peak. The depth of these formations, which are often far below
+the level of the Moon's surface, ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 feet.
+Mountain rings, ring plains, and crater plains resemble those already
+described, but are on a smaller scale; the floors of the larger ones are
+frequently occupied by craters and craterlets. The latter exist in large
+numbers, and some portions of the Moon's surface appear honeycombed with
+them, the smaller craters resting on the sides of larger ones and
+occupying the bottoms of the more extensive areas. There is no kind of
+formation on the Earth's surface that can be compared with these crater
+mountains, which indicate that the Moon was at one time a fiery globe
+convulsed by internal forces which found an outlet in the numerous
+volcanoes scattered over her surface.
+
+The most remarkable of these volcanic mountains have been named after
+distinguished men. (1) Copernicus is one of the most imposing; its
+crater is 56 miles in diameter, and situated at its centre is a mountain
+with six peaks 2,400 feet in height. The ring by which it is surrounded
+rises 11,000 feet above the floor of the crater, and consists of
+terraces believed to have been created by the partial congelation and
+periodic subsidence of a lake of molten lava which occupied the enclosed
+area.
+
+(2) Tycho is one of the most magnificent and perfect of lunar volcanoes,
+and is also remarkable as being a centre from which, when the Moon is
+full, there radiates a number of bright streaks which extend across the
+lunar surface, over mountain and valley, through ring and crater, for
+many hundreds of miles. Their nature is unknown, and nothing resembling
+them is found on the Earth. Tycho has a diameter of 50 miles and a
+depth of 17,000 feet. The peak which rises from the floor of the crater
+attains a height of 6,000 feet, and the rampart consists of a series of
+terraces which give variety to the appearance of the inner wall. The
+surface of the Moon round Tycho is honeycombed with small volcanoes.
+
+(3) Clavius is one of the most extensive of the walled plains; it has a
+diameter of 142 miles and an area of 16,500 square miles. The rocky
+annulus which surrounds it is very lofty and precipitous, and at one
+point reaches a height of 17,300 feet. Upwards of 90 craters have been
+counted within this space, one of the peaks attaining to an elevation of
+24,000 feet above the level floor of the plain. It is believed that the
+lowest depths of this wild and precipitous region are never penetrated
+by sunlight, they are so overshadowed by towering crag and fell which
+intercept the solar rays; and, as there is no atmosphere to cause
+reflection, they are consequently enveloped in perpetual darkness.
+
+(4) Plato has a diameter of about 60 miles and an area of 2,700 square
+miles; its central peak rises to a height of 7,300 feet. It has an
+irregular rampart which is broken up into terraces averaging about 4,000
+feet high; three cones, each with an elevation of from 7,000 to 9,000
+feet, rest on its western border.
+
+(5) Theophilus is the deepest of the visible craters on the Moon. It has
+a diameter of 64 miles, and the inner edge of the ring rises from the
+level floor to a height ranging from 14,000 to 18,000 feet. A group of
+mountains occupies the centre of the area, the highest peak of which
+reaches an elevation of 5,200 feet. Cyrillus and Catharina, two adjacent
+craters, are each about 16,000 feet deep and connected by a wide valley.
+
+(6) Aristarchus is the brightest spot on the Moon, and appears almost
+dazzling in the telescope. The crater has a diameter of 42 miles, the
+centre of which is occupied by a steep mountain. The rampart on the
+western side rises to a height of 7,500 feet, on the east it becomes a
+plateau which connects it with a smaller crater called Herodotus. Bright
+streaks radiate from Aristarchus when there is full moon, and extend for
+a considerable distance over the surface of the orb.
+
+Though the face of the Moon has been carefully scanned for two centuries
+and a half, and selenographers have mapped and delineated her features
+with the utmost accuracy and precision, yet no perceptible change of a
+reliable character has been perceived to occur on any part of the orb.
+The surface of the hemisphere directed towards the Earth appears to be
+an alternation of desert plains, craggy wildernesses, and extinct
+volcanoes--a region of desolation unoccupied by any living thing, and
+'upon which the light of life has never dawned.' Owing to the absence of
+an atmosphere, there is neither diffuse daylight nor twilight on the
+Moon. Every portion of the lunar surface not exposed to the Sun's rays
+is shrouded in darkness, and black shadows can be observed fringing
+prominences of silvery whiteness. If the Moon were enveloped in an
+atmosphere similar to that which surrounds the Earth, the reflection and
+diffusion of light among the minute particles of watery vapour which
+permeate it would give rise to a gradual transition from light to
+darkness; the lunar surface would be visible when not illumined by the
+direct rays of the Sun, and before sunrise and after sunset, dawn and
+twilight would occur as upon the Earth. But upon the Moon there is no
+dawn, and the darkness of night envelops the orb until the appearance of
+the edge of the Sun's disc above the horizon, then his dazzling rays
+illumine the summits and loftiest peaks of the lunar mountains whilst
+yet their sides and bases are wrapped in deep gloom. Since the pace of
+the Sun across the lunar heavens is 28 times slower than it is with us,
+there is continuous sunshine on the Moon for 304 hours, and this long
+day--equal to about a fortnight of our time--is succeeded by a night of
+similar duration. As there is no atmosphere overhead to diffuse or
+reflect the light, the Sun shines in a pitch-black sky, and at lunar
+noonday the planets and constellations can be seen displaying a
+brilliancy of greater intensity than can be perceived on Earth during
+the darkest night. Every portion of the Moon's surface is bleak, bare,
+and untouched by any softening influences. No gentle gale ever sweeps
+down her valleys or disturbs the dead calm that hangs over this world;
+no cloud ever tempers the fierce glare of the Sun that pours down his
+unmitigated rays from a sky of inky blackness; no refreshing shower ever
+falls upon her arid mountains and plains; no sound ever breaks the
+profound stillness that reigns over this realm of solitude and
+desolation.
+
+[Illustration: A PORTION OF THE MOON'S SURFACE]
+
+As might be expected, Milton makes frequent allusion to the Moon in
+'Paradise Lost,' and does not fail to set forth the distinctive charms
+associated with the unrivalled queen of the firmament. The majority of
+poets would most likely regard a description of evening as incomplete
+without an allusion to the Moon. Milton has adhered to this sentiment,
+as may be perceived in the following lines:--
+
+                                    till the Moon,
+    Rising in clouded majesty, at length
+    Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light,
+    And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.--iv. 606-609.
+
+                                        now reigns
+    Full-orbed the Moon, and with more pleasing light,
+    Shadowy sets off the face of things.--v. 41-43.
+
+The association of the Moon with the nocturnal revels and dances of
+elves and fairies is felicitously expressed in the following passage:--
+
+                                or faëry elves,
+    Whose midnight revels, by a forest side
+    Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
+    Or dreams he sees, while overhead the Moon
+    Sits arbitress, and nearer to the Earth
+    Wheels her pale course.--i. 781-86.
+
+In contrast with this, we have Milton's description of the Moon when
+affected by the demoniacal practices of the 'night-hag' who was believed
+to destroy infants for the sake of drinking their blood, and applying
+their mangled limbs to the purposes of incantation. The legend is of
+Scandinavian origin and the locality Lapland:--
+
+    Nor uglier follow the night-hag, when called
+    In secret, riding through the air she comes,
+    Lured with the smell of infant blood, to dance
+    With Lapland witches, while the labouring Moon
+    Eclipses at their charms.--ii. 662-66.
+
+In his description of the massive shield carried by Satan, the poet
+compares it with the full moon:--
+
+                                his ponderous shield
+    Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round,
+    Behind him cast. The broad circumference
+    Hung on his shoulders like the Moon.--i. 284-87.
+
+The phases displayed by the Moon in her monthly journey round the Earth,
+and which lend a variety of charm to the appearances presented by the
+orb, are poetically described by Milton in the following lines:--
+
+                      but there the neighbouring Moon
+    (So call that opposite fair star) her aid
+    Timely interposes, and her monthly round
+    Still ending, still renewing, through mid-Heaven
+    With borrowed light her countenance triform
+    Hence fills and empties, to enlighten the Earth,
+    And in her pale dominion checks the night.--iii. 726-32.
+
+It is interesting to observe how aptly Milton describes the subdued
+illumination of the Moon's reflected light, as compared with the
+brilliant radiance of the blazing Sun, and how the distinguishing glory
+peculiar to each orb is appropriately set forth in the various passages
+in which they are described; their contrasted splendour enhancing rather
+than detracting from the grandeur and beauty belonging to each.
+
+
+THE PLANET EARTH[14]
+
+No lovelier planet circles round the Sun than the planet Earth, with her
+oceans and continents, her mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, and
+plains; surrounded by heaven's azure, radiant with the sunlight of her
+day and adorned by night with countless sparkling points of gold. This
+beautiful world, the abode of MAN, is of paramount importance to us, and
+is the only part of the universe of which we have any direct knowledge.
+
+The Earth may be regarded as one of the Sun's numerous family, and is
+situated third in order from the refulgent orb, round which it revolves
+in an elliptical orbit at a mean distance of 92,800,000 miles. The Earth
+is nearest to the Sun at the end of December, and furthest away at the
+beginning of July; the difference between those distances is 3,250,000
+miles--the extent of the eccentricity of the planet's orbit. The figure
+of the Earth is that of an oblate spheroid; it is slightly flattened at
+the poles and bulges at the equator. Its polar or shortest diameter is
+7,899 miles, its equatorial diameter is 7,926 miles--greater than the
+other by 27 miles. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is
+24,899 miles, and the total area of its surface is 197,000,000 square
+miles. Its mean density is 5-1/2 times greater than that of water.
+
+The two principal motions performed by the Earth are: (1) Rotation on
+its axis; (2) its annual revolution round the Sun. The Earth always
+rotates in the same manner, and in the same direction, from west to
+east. As the axis of rotation corresponds with the shortest diameter of
+the planet, it affords strong evidence that the Earth assumed its
+present shape whilst rapidly rotating round its axis when in a fluid or
+plastic condition. This would accord with the nebular hypothesis. The
+ends of the Earth's axis are called the poles of the Earth; one is the
+north, the other the south pole. The north pole is directed towards a
+star in the Lesser Bear called the Pole Star. The south pole is directed
+to a corresponding opposite part of the heavens. The Earth's axis is
+inclined 63° 33´ to the plane of the ecliptic, and is always directed to
+the same point in the heavens. The Earth accomplishes a revolution on
+its axis in 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds mean solar time, which is the
+length of the sidereal day. This rate of rotation is invariable. At the
+equator, where the circumference of the globe exceeds 24,000 miles, the
+velocity of a point on its surface is upwards of 1,000 miles an hour,
+but, as the poles are approached, the tangential velocity diminishes,
+and at those points it is entirely absent. The Earth accomplishes a
+revolution of her orbit in 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes; in her journey
+round the Sun she travels a circuit of 580,000,000 miles at an average
+pace of 66,000 miles an hour. The Earth has other slight motions called
+_perturbations_, which are produced by the gravitational attraction of
+other members of the solar system. The most important of these is
+Precession of the Equinoxes, which is caused by the attraction of the
+Sun, Moon, and planets, on the protuberant equatorial region of the
+globe. This attraction has a tendency to turn the Earth's axis at right
+angles to her orbit, but it only results in the slow rotation of the
+pole of the equator round that of the ecliptic, which is occurring at
+the rate of 1° in 70 years, and will require a period of 25,868 years to
+complete an entire revolution of the heavens.
+
+The spot on Earth round which is centred the chief interest in Milton's
+poem is Paradise, which was situated in the east of Eden, a district of
+Central Asia. It was here where God ordained that man should first
+dwell--a place created for his enjoyment and delight. Satan, after his
+soliloquy on Mount Niphates, directs his way to Paradise, and arrives
+first in Eden, where he beholds from a distance the Happy Garden--
+
+    So on he fares, and to the border comes
+    Of Eden, where delicious Paradise,
+    Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green,
+    As with a rural mound, the champain head
+    Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides
+    With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
+    Access denied; and overhead upgrew
+    Insuperable highth of loftiest shade,
+    Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm,
+    A sylvan scene, and, as the ranks ascend,
+    Shade above shade, a woody theatre
+    Of stateliest view. Yet higher than their tops
+    The verdurous wall of Paradise up-sprung;
+    Which to our general sire gave prospect large
+    Into his nether empire neighbouring round.
+    And higher than that wall, a circling row
+    Of goodliest trees, loaden with fairest fruit,
+    Blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue,
+    Appeared, with gay enamelled colours mixed;
+    On which the Sun more glad impressed his beams
+    Than in fair evening cloud, or humid bow,
+    When God hath showered the Earth: so lovely seemed
+    That landskip. And of pure now purer air
+    Meets his approach, and to the heart inspires
+    Vernal delight and joy, able to drive
+    All sadness but despair. Now gentle gales,
+    Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense
+    Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole
+    Those balmy spoils.--iv. 131-59.
+
+Satan, having gained admission to the Garden by overleaping the tangled
+thicket of shrubs and bushes which formed an impenetrable barrier and
+prevented any access to the enclosure within, he flew up on to the Tree
+of Life--
+
+    Beneath him, with new wonder, now he views,
+    To all delight of human sense exposed,
+    In narrow room Nature's whole wealth; yea, more!--
+    A Heaven on Earth: for blissful Paradise
+    Of God the garden was, by Him in the east
+    Of Eden planted, Eden stretched her line
+    From Auran eastward to the royal towers
+    Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings,
+    Or where the sons of Eden long before
+    Dwelt in Telassar. In this pleasant soil
+    His far more pleasant garden God ordained.
+    Out of the fertile ground he caused to grow
+    All trees of noblest kind for sight, smell, taste;
+    And all amid them stood the Tree of Life,
+    High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit
+    Of vegetable gold; and next to life,
+    Our death, the Tree of Knowledge, grew fast by--
+    Knowledge of good, bought dear by knowing ill.
+    Southward through Eden went a river large,
+    Nor changed his course, but through the shaggy hill
+    Passed underneath ingulfed; for God had thrown
+    That mountain, as his garden mould, high raised
+    Upon the rapid current, which, through veins
+    Of porous earth with kindly thirst up-drawn,
+    Rose a fresh fountain, and with many a rill
+    Watered the garden; thence united fell
+    Down the steep glade, and met the nether flood,
+    Which from his darksome passage now appears,
+    And now, divided into four main streams,
+    Runs diverse, wandering many a famous realm
+    And country whereof here needs no account;
+    But rather to tell how, if Art could tell
+    How, from that sapphire fount the crisped brooks,
+    Boiling on orient-pearl and sands of gold,
+    With mazy error under pendent shades
+    Ran nectar, visiting each plant, and fed
+    Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice Art
+    In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon
+    Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain,
+    Both where the morning Sun first warmly smote
+    The open field, and where the unpierced shade
+    Imbrowned the noontide bowers.--iv. 205-46.
+
+Milton's description of Paradise is not less remarkable in its way than
+the lurid scenes depicted by him in Pandemonium. The versatility of his
+poetic genius is nowhere more apparent than in the charming pastoral
+verse contained in this part of his poem. The poet has lavished the
+whole wealth of his luxuriant imagination in his description of Eden and
+blissful Paradise with its 'vernal airs' and 'gentle gales,' its verdant
+meads, and murmuring streams, 'rolling on orient-pearl and sands of
+gold;' its stately trees laden with blossom and fruit; its spicy groves
+and shady bowers, over which there breathed the eternal Spring.
+
+In Book IX. Satan expresses himself in an eloquent apostrophe to the
+primitive Earth, over which he previously wandered for seven days--
+
+    O Earth, how like to Heaven, if not preferred
+    More justly, seat worthier of gods, as built
+    With second thoughts, reforming what was old!
+    For what God, after better, worse would build?
+    Terrestrial Heaven, danced round by other Heavens,
+    That shine, yet bear their bright officious lamps,
+    Light above light, for thee alone, as seems,
+    In thee concentring all their precious beams
+    Of sacred influence! As God in Heaven
+    Is centre, yet extends to all, so thou
+    Centring receiv'st from all those orbs; in thee,
+    Not in themselves, all their known virtue appears,
+    Productive in herb, plant, and nobler birth
+    Of creatures animate with gradual life
+    Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in Man,
+    With what delight I could have walked thee round,
+    If I could joy in aught--sweet interchange
+    Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains,
+    Now land, now sea, and shores with forest crowned,
+    Rocks, dens, and caves.--ix. 99-118.
+
+Though it is impossible to regard the Earth as possessing the importance
+ascribed to it by the ancient Ptolemaists; nevertheless, our globe is a
+great and mighty world, and appears to be one of the most favourably
+situated of all the planets, being neither near the Sun nor yet very far
+distant from the orb; and although, when compared with the universe, it
+is no more than a leaf on a tree in the midst of a vast forest; still,
+it is not the least important among other circling worlds, and
+unfailingly fulfils the part allotted to it in the great scheme of
+creation.
+
+
+THE PLANET HESPERUS
+
+This is the beautiful morning and evening star, the peerless planet that
+ushers in the twilight and the dawn, the harbinger of day and unrivalled
+queen of the evening. Venus, called after the Roman goddess of Love, and
+also identified with the Greek Aphrodite of ideal beauty, is the name by
+which the planet is popularly known; but Milton does not so designate
+it, and the name 'Venus' is not found in 'Paradise Lost.' The ancients
+called it Lucifer and Phosphor when it shone as a morning star before
+sunrise, and Hesperus and Vesper when it became visible after sunset. It
+is the most lustrous of all the planets, and at times its brilliancy is
+so marked as to throw a distinct shadow at night.
+
+Venus is the second planet in order from the Sun. Its orbit lies between
+that of Mercury and the Earth, and in form approaches nearer to a circle
+than that of any of the other planets. It travels round the Sun in
+224·7 days, at a mean distance of 67,000,000 miles, and with an average
+velocity of 80,000 miles an hour. Its period of rotation is unknown. By
+the observation of dusky spots on its surface, it has been surmised that
+the planet completes a revolution on its axis in 23-1/4 hours; but other
+observers doubt this and are inclined to believe that it always presents
+the same face to the Sun. When at inferior conjunction Venus approaches
+nearer to the Earth than any other planet, its distance then being
+27,000,000 miles. Its greatest elongation varies from 45° to 47° 12´; it
+therefore can never be much more than three hours above the horizon
+before sunrise, or after sunset. Venus is a morning star when passing
+from inferior to superior conjunction, and during the other half of its
+synodical period it is an evening star. The planet attains its greatest
+brilliancy at an elongation 40° west or east of the Sun--five weeks
+before and after inferior conjunction. It is at these periods, when at
+its greatest brilliancy, that it casts a shadow at night.
+
+Though so pleasing an object to the unaided eye, Venus, when observed
+with the telescope, is often a source of disappointment--this is on
+account of its dazzling brilliancy, which renders any accurate
+definition of its surface impossible. Sir John Herschel writes: 'The
+intense lustre of its illuminated part dazzles the sight, and
+exaggerates every imperfection of the telescope; yet we see clearly that
+its surface is not mottled over with permanent spots like the Moon; we
+notice in it neither mountains nor shadows, but a uniform brightness, in
+which sometimes we may indeed fancy, or perhaps more than fancy,
+brighter or obscurer portions, but can seldom or never rest fully
+satisfied of the fact.' It is believed that the surface of the planet is
+invisible on account of the existence of a cloud-laden atmosphere by
+which it is enveloped, and which may serve as a protection against the
+intense glare of the sunshine and heat poured down by the not
+far-distant Sun. Schröter, a German astronomer, believed that he saw
+lofty mountains on the surface of the planet, but their existence has
+not been confirmed by any other observer. The Sun if viewed from Venus
+would have a diameter nearly half as large again as when seen from the
+Earth; it is therefore probable that the planet is subjected to a much
+higher temperature than what is experienced on our globe.
+
+The phases of Venus are similar to those exhibited by the Moon, and are
+caused by a change in position of the illumined hemisphere of the planet
+with regard to the Earth. At superior conjunction the whole enlightened
+disc of the planet is turned towards the Earth, but is invisible by
+being lost in the Sun's rays. Shortly before or after it arrives at this
+point, its form is gibbous, the illumined portion being less than a
+circle but greater than a semi-circle. At its greatest elongation west
+or east of the Sun the planet resembles the Moon in quadrature--a half
+moon--and between those points and inferior conjunction it is visible
+as a beautiful crescent. It becomes narrower and sharper as it
+approaches inferior conjunction, until it resembles a curved luminous
+thread prior to its disappearance at the conjunction. After having
+passed this point it reappears on the other side of the Sun as the
+morning star.
+
+It would be only natural to imagine that this peerless orb, the most
+beautiful and lustrous of the planets, upon which men have gazed with
+longing admiration, and designated the emblem of 'all beauty and all
+love,' should have impressed Milton's poetical imagination with its
+charming appearance, and stimulated the flow of his captivating muse. He
+addresses the orb as
+
+    Fairest of Stars, last in the train of night,
+    If better thou belong not to the dawn,
+    Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn
+    With thy bright circlet, praise Him in thy sphere
+    While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.--v. 166-70.
+
+In these lines the poet alludes to Venus as the morning star.
+
+In the other passages in his poem Milton associates the planet sometimes
+with the morning and at other times with the evening--
+
+    His countenance, as the Morning Star that guides
+    The starry flock.--v. 708-709.
+
+    Or if the Star of Evening and the Moon
+    Haste to thy audience, Night with her will bring
+    Silence, and Sleep listening to thee will watch.--vii. 104-106.
+
+    And hence the morning planet gilds her horns.--vii. 366.
+
+    The Sun was sunk and after him the Star
+    Of Hesperus, whose office is to bring
+    Twilight upon the Earth, short arbiter
+    Twixt day and night.--ix. 47-50.
+
+                      and bid haste the Evening Star
+    On his hill top to light the bridal lamp.--viii. 519-20.
+
+Milton knew of the phases of Venus and was aware that at certain times
+the planet was visible in the telescope as a beautiful crescent. The
+line in which he mentions her as gilding her horns is an allusion to
+this appearance of Venus.
+
+
+THE PLEIADES
+
+The beautiful cluster of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters has been regarded
+with hallowed veneration from time immemorial. The happy influences
+believed to be shed down upon the Earth by those stars and their close
+association with human destinies have rendered them objects of almost
+sacred interest among the different races of mankind. In every region of
+the globe and in every clime, among civilised nations and savage
+fetish-worshipping tribes, the same benign influences were ascribed to
+the stars which form this interesting group.
+
+In Greek mythology they were known as the seven daughters of Atlas and
+Pleione. Different versions are given of their fate. By some writers it
+is said they died from grief in consequence of the death of their
+sisters, the Hyades, or on account of the fate of their father, who,
+for treason, was condemned by Zeus to bear on his head and hands the
+vault of heaven, on the mountains of north-west Africa which bear his
+name. According to others they were the companions of Diana, and, in
+order to escape from Orion, by whom they were pursued, the gods
+translated them to the sky.
+
+All writers agree in saying that after their death or translation they
+were transformed into stars. Their names are Alcyone, Electra, Maia,
+Merope, Sterope, Taygeta, and Celaeno. The seventh Atlantid is said to
+be the 'lost Pleiad,' but it can be perceived without difficulty by a
+person possessing good eyesight. In the book of Job there is a beautiful
+allusion to the Pleiades (chap. xxxviii.) when God speaks out of the
+whirlwind and asks the patriarch to answer Him--
+
+    Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the
+        bands of Orion?
+    Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide
+        Arcturus with his sons?
+    Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion
+        thereof in the earth?
+
+Admiral Smyth says that this noble passage is more correctly rendered as
+follows:
+
+    Canst thou bind the delightful teemings of Cheemah?
+    Or the contractions of Chesil canst thou open?
+    Canst thou draw forth Mazzaroth in his season
+    Or Ayeesh and his sons canst thou guide?
+
+He writes: 'In this very early description of the cardinal
+constellations, _Cheemah_ denotes Taurus with the Pleiades; _Chesil_ is
+Scorpio; Mazzaroth is Sirius in "the chambers of the south;" and Ayeesh
+the Greater Bear, the Hebrew word signifying a _bier_, which was shaped
+by the four well-known bright stars, while the three forming the tail
+were considered as children attending a funeral.' The Greeks at an early
+period were attracted by this cluster of stars, and Hesiod alludes to
+them in his writings. One passage converted into rhyme reads as follows:
+
+    There is a time when forty days they lie,
+    And forty nights, conceal'd from human eye;
+    But in the course of the revolving year,
+    When the swain sharps the scythe, again appear.
+
+Their heliacal rising was considered a favourable time for setting out
+on a voyage, and their midnight culmination, which occurred shortly
+after the middle of November, was celebrated by some nations with
+festivals and public ceremonies. Considerable diversity of opinion
+existed among the ancients with regard to the number of stars which
+constitute this group. It was affirmed by some that only six were
+visible, whilst others maintained that seven could be seen. Ovid writes:
+
+    Quae septem dici, sex tamen esse solent.
+
+Homer and Attalus mention six; Hipparchus and Aratus seven. The legend
+with regard to the lost Pleiad would seem to indicate that, during a
+period in the past, the star possessed a superior brilliancy and was
+more distinctly visible than it is at the present time. This may have
+been so, for, should it belong to the class of variable stars, there
+would be a periodic ebb and flow of its light, by which its fluctuating
+brilliance could be explained. When looked at directly only six stars
+can be seen in the group, but should the eye be turned sideways more
+than this number become visible. Several observers have counted as many
+as ten or twelve, and it is stated by Kepler that his tutor, Maestlin,
+was able to enumerate fourteen stars and mapped eleven in their relative
+positions. With telescopic aid the number is largely increased--Galileo
+observed thirty-six with his instrument and Hooke, in 1664, counted
+seventy-eight. Large modern telescopes bring into view several thousand
+stars in this region.
+
+The Pleiades are situated at a profound distance in space. Their light
+period is estimated at 250 years, indicating a distance of 1,500
+billions of miles. Our Sun if thus far removed would be reduced to a
+tenth-magnitude star. 'There can be little doubt,' says Miss Agnes
+Clerke, 'that the solar brilliancy is surpassed by sixty to seventy of
+the Pleiades. And it must be in some cases enormously surpassed; by
+Alcyone 1,000, by Electra 480, by Maia nearly 400 times. Sirius itself
+takes a subordinate rank when compared with the five most brilliant
+members of a group, the real magnificence of which we can thus in some
+degree apprehend.' This is the only star cluster which can be perceived
+to be moving in space, or which has an ascertained common proper motion.
+Its constituents form a magnificent system in which the stars bear a
+mutual relationship to each other, and perform intricate internal
+revolutions, whilst they in systemic union drift along through the
+depths of space. There are two allusions to the Pleiades in 'Paradise
+Lost.' In describing the path of the newly created Sun, Milton
+introduces them as indicative of the joyfulness associated with the
+birth of the Universe--
+
+    First in his east the glorious lamp was seen,
+    Regent of day, and all the horizon round
+    Invested with bright rays, jocund to run
+    His longitude through heaven's high road; the grey
+    Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danced,
+    Shedding sweet influence.--vii. 370-75.
+
+It was believed that the Earth was created in the spring; and towards
+the end of April this group rises a little before the Sun and precedes
+him in his course, 'shedding sweet influences.' The ancients believed
+that the good or evil influences of the stars were exercised not in the
+night but during the day, when their rays mingled with those of the Sun.
+The pernicious influence of the Dog-star is mentioned by Latin writers
+as being most pronounced during the dog-days, at the end of summer and
+commencement of autumn, the time of the heliacal rising of this star.
+
+The other allusion to the Pleiades is in Book X., line 673, where
+Milton, in describing the altered path of the Sun consequent upon the
+Fall, mentions how the orb travels through Taurus with the Seven
+Atlantic Sisters--the seven daughters of Atlas, the Pleiades, which are
+situated on the shoulder of the animal representing this zodiacal
+constellation.
+
+
+THE GALAXY
+
+The Galaxy or Milky Way is the great luminous zone encircling the
+heavens, which can be seen extending across the sky from horizon to
+horizon. Its diffused nebulous appearance caused the ancients much
+perplexity, and many quaint opinions were hazarded as to the nature of
+this celestial highway; but the mystery associated with it was not
+solved until Galileo directed his newly invented telescope to this
+lucent object, when, to his intense delight, he discovered that it
+consists of myriads of stars--millions upon millions of suns so distant
+as to be individually indistinguishable to ordinary vision, and so
+closely aggregated, that their blended light gives rise to the milky
+luminosity signified by its name. This stelliferous zone almost
+completely encircles the sphere, which it divides into two nearly equal
+parts, and is inclined at an angle of 63° to the celestial equator. In
+Centaurus it divides into two portions, one indistinct and of
+interrupted continuity, the other bright and well defined; these, after
+remaining apart for 120°, reunite in Cygnus. The Milky Way is of
+irregular outline and varies in breadth from 5° to 16°; it intersects
+the equinoctial in the constellations Monoceros and Aquila, and
+approaches in Cassiopeia to within 27° of the north pole of the heavens;
+an equal distance intervenes between it and the south pole. Its poles
+are in Coma Bernices and Cetus. The stars in the galactic tract are very
+unevenly distributed; in some of its richest regions as many stars as
+are visible to the naked eye on a clear night have been counted within
+the space of a square degree. In other parts they are much less
+numerous, and there have been observed besides, adjacent to the most
+luminous portions of the zone, dark intervals and winding channels
+almost entirely devoid of stars. An instance of this kind occurs in the
+constellation of the Southern Cross, where there exists in a rich
+stellar region a large oval-shaped dark vacuity, 8° by 5° in extent,
+that appears to be almost entirely denuded of stars. In looking at it,
+an impression is created that one is gazing into an empty void of space
+far beyond the Milky Way. This gulf of Cimmerian darkness was called by
+early navigators the Coal Sack. Similar dark spaces, though not of such
+magnitude, are seen in Ophiuchus, Scorpio, and Cygnus.
+
+The Galaxy, when viewed with a powerful telescope, is found to consist
+of congeries of stars, vast stellar aggregations, great luminous tracts
+resolvable into clouds of stars of overpowering magnificence, superb
+clusters of various orders, and convoluted nebulous streams wandering
+'with mazy error' among 'islands of light and lakes of darkness,'
+resolved by the telescope into banks of shining worlds. The concourses
+of stars which enter into the formation of this wonderful zone exhibit
+in a marvellous degree the amazing profusion in which these orbs exist
+in certain regions of space; yet those multitudes of stars perform their
+motions in harmonious unison and in orderly array, and by their mutual
+attraction sustain the dynamical equilibrium of this stupendous galactic
+ring, the diameter of which, according to one authority, is not
+traversed by light in less than 13,000 years.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.--A Portion of the Milky Way.]
+
+Sir William Herschel, to whom we are indebted for most of what we know
+of the Milky Way, commenced a series of observations in 1785 with the
+object of acquiring a knowledge of the structure of the sidereal
+heavens. In the accomplishment of this object, to which he devoted a
+considerable part of his life, he undertook a systematic survey of that
+portion of the Galaxy which is visible in the Northern Hemisphere. By a
+method called star-gauging, which consisted in the enumeration of the
+stars in each successive telescopic field as the instrument moved slowly
+over the region under observation, he found that the depth of the star
+strata could be approximately ascertained by counting the stars along
+the line of vision; those were most numerous where the visual line
+appeared of the greatest length and fewest in number where it was
+shortest. Herschel perceived the internal structure of the Galaxy to be
+exceedingly intricate and complex, and that it embraced within its
+confines an endless variety of systems, clusters, and groups, branches,
+sprays, arches, loops, and streaming filaments of stars, all of which
+combined to form this luminous zone. 'It is indeed,' says a well-known
+astronomer, 'only to the most careless glance, or when viewed through an
+atmosphere of imperfect transparency, that the Milky Way seems a
+continuous zone. Let the naked eye rest thoughtfully on any part of it,
+and, if circumstances be favourable, it will stand out rather as an
+accumulation of patches and streams of light of every conceivable
+variety of form and brightness, now side by side, now heaped on each
+other; again spanning across dark spaces, intertwining and forming a
+most curious and complex network; and at other times darting off into
+the neighbouring skies in branches of capricious length and shape which
+gradually thin away and disappear.' Sir John Herschel, who was occupied
+for four years at the Cape of Good Hope in exploring the celestial
+regions of the Southern Hemisphere, describes the coming on of the Milky
+Way as seen in his 20-foot reflector. He first remarks 'that all the
+stars visible to us, whether by unassisted vision or through the best
+telescopes, belong to and form part of a vast stratum or considerably
+flattened and unsymmetrical congeries of stars in which our system is
+deeply and eccentrically plunged; and, moreover, situated near a point
+where the stratum bifurcates or spreads itself out into two sheets.' 'As
+the main body of the Milky Way comes on the frequency and variety of
+those masses (nebulous) increases; here the Milky Way is composed of
+separate or slight or strongly connected clouds of semi-nebulous light,
+and, as the telescope moves, the appearance is that of clouds passing in
+a scud, as sailors call it.' The Milky Way is like sand, not strewed
+evenly as with a sieve, but as if flung down by handfuls (and both hands
+at once), leaving dark intervals, and all consisting of stars of the
+fourteenth, sixteenth, twentieth magnitudes down to nebulosity, in a
+most astonishing manner. After an interval of comparative poverty, the
+same phenomenon, and even more remarkable, I cannot say it is nebulous,
+it is all resolved, but the stars are inconceivably numerous and minute;
+there must be millions and all almost equally massed together. Yet they
+nowhere run to nuclei or clusters much brighter in the middle. Towards
+the end of the seventeenth hour (Right Ascension) the globular clusters
+begin to come in; they consist of stars of excessive minuteness, but
+yet not more so than the ground of the Milky Way, on which not only they
+appear projected, but of which it is very probable they form a part.
+'From the foregoing analysis of the telescopic aspect of the Milky Way
+in this interesting region, I think it can hardly be doubted that it
+consists of portions differing exceedingly in distance, but brought by
+the effect of projection into the same, or nearly the same, visual line;
+in particular, that at the anterior edge of what we have called the main
+stream, we see foreshortened a vast and illimitable area scattered over
+with discontinuous masses and aggregates of stars in the manner of the
+cumuli of a mackerel sky, rather than of a stratum of regular thickness
+and homogeneous formation.'
+
+The profound distance at which the stars of the Galaxy are situated in
+space precludes the possibility of our obtaining any definite knowledge
+of their magnitude and of the extent of the intervals by which they are
+separated from each other, nor can we learn anything of the details
+associated with the systems and combinations into which they enter. It
+is believed that the majority of the stars in the Milky Way equal or
+surpass the Sun in brilliancy and splendour. They are tenth to fifteenth
+magnitude stars; now, the Sun at the distance indicated by these
+magnitudes would in the telescope appear a much fainter object; he would
+not reach the fifteenth magnitude. Consequently, the galactic stars are
+regarded as his peers or superiors in magnitude and brilliancy. Those
+myriads of suns are all in motion--in nature a stationary body is
+unknown--and they are sufficiently far apart so as not to be unduly
+influenced by their mutual gravitational attraction; a distance perhaps
+equal to that which separates our Sun from the nearest fixed star may
+intervene between each of those orbs. In the deepest recesses of the
+Milky Way, Sir William Herschel was able to count 500 stars receding in
+regular order behind each other; between each there existed an interval
+of space, probably not less extensive than the interstellar spaces among
+the stars by which we are surrounded.
+
+The richest galactic regions in the Northern Hemisphere are found in
+Perseus, Cygnus, and Aquila. Night after night could be spent in
+sweeping the telescope over fields where the stars can be seen in
+amazing profusion. In the interval of a quarter of an hour, Sir William
+Herschel observed 116,000 stars pass before him in the telescope, and on
+another occasion he perceived 258,000 stars in the space of forty-one
+minutes. In the constellation of the Swan there is a region about 5° in
+breadth which contains 331,000 stars. Photography reveals in a
+remarkable manner the amazing richness of this stelliferous zone; the
+impress of the stars on the sensitive plate of the camera, in some
+instances, resembles a shower of descending snowflakes.
+
+Though Sir William Herschel was able to fathom the Galaxy in most of its
+tracts, yet there were regions which his great telescopes were unable
+to penetrate entirely through. In Cepheus there is a spot where he
+observed the stars become 'gradually less till they escape the eye so
+that appearances here favour the idea of a succeeding more distant
+clustering part.' He perceived another in Scorpio 'where, through the
+hollows and deep recesses of its complicated structure, we behold what
+has all the appearance of a wide and indefinitely prolonged area strewed
+over with discontinuous masses and clouds of stars which the telescope
+at length refuses to analyse.' The Great Cluster in Perseus, which lies
+in the Milky Way, also baffled the penetrative capacity of Herschel's
+instruments. We cannot help quoting Professor Nichol's description of
+Herschel's observation of this remarkable object. He says: 'In the Milky
+Way, thronged all over with splendours, there is one portion not
+unnoticed by the general observer, the spot in the sword-hand of
+Perseus. That spot shows no stars to the naked eye; the milky light
+which glorifies it comes from regions to which unaided we cannot pierce.
+But to a telescope of considerable power the space appears lighted up
+with unnumbered orbs; and these pass on through the depths of the
+infinite, until, even to that penetrating glass, they escape all
+scrutiny, withdrawing into regions unvisited by its power. Shall we
+adventure into these deeper retirements? Then, assume an instrument of
+higher efficacy, and lo! the change is only repeated; those scarce
+observed before appear as large orbs, and, behind, a new series begins,
+shading gradually away, leading towards farther mysteries! The
+illustrious Herschel penetrated on one occasion into this spot, until he
+found himself among depths whose light could not have reached him in
+much less than 4,000 years; no marvel that he withdrew from the pursuit,
+conceiving that such abysses must be endless!' The Milky Way may be
+regarded as a universe by itself, and our Sun as one of its myriad
+stars.
+
+Milton was aware of the stellar constitution of the Milky Way, which was
+one of Galileo's discoveries. The poet gives a singularly accurate
+description of this luminous path, which he glorifies as the way by
+which the Deity returned up to the Heaven of Heavens after He finished
+His great work of creation--
+
+                                          So sung
+    The glorious train ascending: He through Heaven,
+    That opened wide her blazing portals, led
+    To God's eternal house direct the way--
+    A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,
+    And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear
+    Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way
+    Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest
+    Powdered with stars.--vii. 573-81.
+
+
+COMETS
+
+Records of the appearance of these remarkable objects have been handed
+down from earliest times; and when one of those mysterious visitors,
+travelling from out the depths of space, became visible in our skies, it
+was regarded with apprehension and dread as betokening the occurrence
+of calamities and direful events among the nations of the Earth.
+
+The word comet is derived from the Greek {komê}, signifying
+'hair,' to which the hazy, luminous appearance of those objects bears
+some resemblance. A comet consists of a bright central part called the
+_nucleus_; this is surrounded by layers of nebulous matter called the
+_coma_, and both combined form the _head_, from which a long appendage
+extends called the _tail_. The nucleus and tail are not essential parts
+of a comet, for many have been observed in which both have been wanting.
+The tail is frequently very conspicuous, and presents considerable
+diversity both as regards its appearance and length. In some comets it
+is entirely absent, and in others it has been observed to stretch over
+an arc of sixty or seventy degrees, indicating a length of 100 to 150
+million miles. Sometimes it is straight, and at other times it is curved
+at the extremity; it has been observed bifurcated into two branches;
+and, on rare occasions, comets have been seen with two or more tails.
+The tail of a comet is always directed away from the Sun; it increases
+in size as the comet approaches the orb, and diminishes as it recedes
+from him. This depends upon the degree of heat to which the comet is
+exposed, which has the effect of driving off or evaporating some of the
+matter composing the head. During the time the comet is travelling round
+the Sun there is a continuous emission of this highly attenuated matter,
+which is visible as the tail, but when the comet begins to recede from
+the orb and reaches cooler regions of space the tail diminishes in size
+as the temperature becomes reduced, and ultimately it disappears.
+
+The appearance of a comet in the sky is often sudden and unexpected, and
+one of those erratic wanderers may become visible at any time and in any
+part of the heavens. It was remarked by Kepler that there are as many
+comets in the sky as there are fishes in the ocean. This may or may not
+be true, for they only become visible when they approach the Sun, and
+the time during which they remain so does not usually exceed a few weeks
+or months. Ancient astronomers were much perplexed with the motions of
+comets, which appeared to be much more irregular than those of other
+celestial bodies and unconformed to any known laws. Tycho Brahé believed
+that comets moved in circular orbits, and Kepler imagined that they
+travelled in straight lines outwards from the Sun. Newton, however, was
+able to demonstrate that any conic section can be described about the
+Sun consistent with the law of gravitation, and that the orbits of
+comets correspond with three of the four sections into which a cone can
+be divided. Consequently, they obey the laws of planetary motion. Comets
+which move in ellipses of known eccentricity and return with periodical
+regularity may be regarded as belonging to the solar system. Twenty of
+these are known, and eleven of them have more than once passed their
+perihelion. Those most familiarly known complete their periods in years
+as follows:--Encke's 3·3; Swift's, 5·5; Winnecke's, 5·6; Tempel's, 6;
+Brorsen's, 5·5; Faye's, 7·4; Tuttle's, 13·8, and Halley's, 76. Comets
+with parabolic and hyperbolic orbits may be regarded as stray objects
+which visit our system once, and depart never to return again. Besides
+those already mentioned there are many comets with orbits of such marked
+eccentricity that their ellipses when near perihelion cannot be
+distinguished from parabolæ. The great comets of 1780, 1811, 1843, 1858,
+1861, and 1882 traverse orbits approaching this form, and some of them
+require hundreds and thousands of years to accomplish a circuit of their
+paths.
+
+Numerous instances of the appearance of remarkable comets have been
+recorded in the annals of ancient nations. The earliest records of
+comets are by the Chinese, who were careful observers of celestial
+phenomena. A comet is said to have appeared at the time of the birth of
+Mithridates (134 B.C.), which had a disc as large as that of the Sun; a
+great comet also became visible in the heavens about the time of the
+death of Julius Cæsar (44 B.C.), and another was seen in the reign of
+Justinian (531 A.D.). A remarkable comet was observed in 1106, and in
+1456, the year in which the Turks obtained possession of Constantinople
+and threatened to overrun Europe, a great comet appeared, which was
+regarded by Christendom with ominous forebodings. The celebrated
+astronomer Halley was the first to predict the return of a comet.
+Having become acquainted with Newton's investigations, which showed that
+the forms of the orbits of comets were either parabolæ or extremely
+elongated ellipses, he subjected the next great comet, which appeared in
+1682, to a series of observations, calculated its orbit, and predicted
+that it would return to perihelion in seventy-five or seventy-six years.
+On referring to past records he discovered that a great comet appeared
+in 1607, which pursued a path similar to the one traced out for his
+comet, another was seen in 1531, and one in 1456. Halley perceived that
+the intervals between those dates corresponded to a period of about
+seventy-six years, the time which he calculated would be required for
+his comet to complete a revolution of its orbit. He therefore had no
+hesitation in predicting that the comet would appear again in 1758.
+Halley knew that he would not be alive to witness the event, and alludes
+to it in the following sentence: 'Wherefore if it should return
+according to our prediction about the year 1758, impartial posterity
+will not refuse to acknowledge that this was first discovered by an
+Englishman.' As the time approached when the comet should be drawing
+near to our system, much interest was excited among astronomers, who
+would have an opportunity afforded them of testing the accuracy of
+Halley's prediction. An eminent French mathematician named Clairaut
+computed anew, by a method rather different to that adopted by Halley,
+the retarding effect of the attraction of the planets upon the speed of
+the comet, and arrived at the conclusion that it would reach perihelion
+about the middle of April 1759; but, owing to unknown influences--Uranus
+and Neptune not having been discovered--it might be a month before or
+behind the calculated time. Clairaut made this announcement on November
+14, 1758. Astronomers were now intently on the look-out for the comet,
+and night after night the sky was swept by telescopes in search of the
+expected visitor, which for upwards of seventy years had been pursuing
+its solitary path invisible to mortal eyes. But the mental vision of the
+mathematician did not fail to follow this celestial object, which was
+now announced as being on the confines of our system. The comet was
+first observed on December 25, 1758, it soon became conspicuous in the
+heavens, and reached perihelion on March 12, 1759, a month before the
+time assigned to it by Clairaut but within the limit of error allowed
+for unknown influences. Halley's comet returned again in 1835, and may
+be expected about the year 1911. The periodic appearance of this comet
+has been traced back to the year 1305.
+
+The celebrated comet of 1680 was noted as having been the one which
+afforded Newton an opportunity of making observations which led to his
+discovery that comets describe orbits round the Sun in conformity with
+the different sections of a cone. The comet of 1811 was observed for
+many weeks in the northern heavens as a brilliant object with a
+beautiful fan-shaped tail; it completes a revolution of its orbit in
+about 3,000 years. The comet of 1843 was also a splendid object. It
+possessed a tail 200 million miles in length, and approached within
+32,000 miles of the Sun. The heat to which it was exposed was sufficient
+to volatilize the most infusible substances known to exist. Donati's
+comet of 1858 will be long remembered as one of the most impressive of
+celestial spectacles: its tail extended over an area of forty degrees,
+and enveloped the star Arcturus, which could be seen shining through it
+with undiminished brilliancy. Its period is estimated to be 2,100 years.
+A great comet appeared in 1861, through the tail of which the Earth
+passed without any perceptible effect having resulted. No remarkable
+comets have appeared during recent years. In 1880, 1881, and 1882,
+several were observed, and that of 1881 was the first successfully
+photographed.
+
+Comets consist of cosmical matter which exists in a condition of extreme
+tenuity, and especially so in the coma and tail. Sir John Herschel
+described them as almost spiritual in texture, and small stars have been
+seen shining through their densest parts without any perceptible
+diminution of their light. The nucleus is believed to be composed of a
+congeries of meteoric fragments, and these, when exposed to the Sun's
+heat, throw off luminous nebulous particles that are swept by some
+repulsive force into space and form the appendage known as the tail.
+Comets may be regarded as celestial objects that are perfectly
+innocuous. Neither fear nor dread need be apprehended from their visits;
+they come to please and instruct, not to injure or destroy.
+
+Milton does not fail to introduce into his poem several allusions to
+comets, and in doing so expresses the ideas and sentiments which in his
+time were associated with those objects.
+
+In describing the hostile meeting between Satan and Death before the
+Gates of Hell, he writes:
+
+                            On the other side,
+    Incensed with indignation, Satan stood
+    Unterrified, and like a comet burned,
+    That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge
+    In the arctic sky, and from his horrid hair
+    Shakes pestilence and war.--ii. 706-11.
+
+This passage is eminently descriptive of the appearance of a great
+comet, and the occasion on which it is introduced adds to the intensity
+of the lurid imaginings and feelings of terror and dismay with which
+these objects have always been regarded. The comparison of the enraged
+Prince of Hell with one of those mysterious and fiery looking visitors
+to our skies was a grand conception of the poet's, and one worthy of the
+mighty combatant. Ophiuchus (the Serpent-bearer) is a large
+constellation which occupies a rather barren region of the heavens to
+the south of Hercules. It has a length of about forty degrees, and is
+represented by the figure of a man bearing a serpent in both hands. It
+is not easy to imagine why Milton should have assigned the comet to
+this uninteresting constellation; he may possibly have seen one in this
+part of the sky, or his poetical ear may have perceived that the
+expression 'Ophiuchus huge,' which has about it a ponderous rhythm, was
+well adapted for the poetic description of a comet.
+
+The only other allusion in the poem to a comet is near its conclusion,
+when the Cherubim descend to take possession of the Garden, prior to the
+removal of Adam and Eve--
+
+                              High in front advanced,
+    The brandished sword of God before them blazed,
+    Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,
+    And vapour as the Lybian air adust
+    Began to parch that temperate clime.--xii. 632-36.
+
+
+FALLING STARS
+
+On any clear night an observer can, by attentively watching the heavens,
+perceive a few of those objects which become visible for a moment as a
+streak of light and then vanish. They are the result of the combustion
+of small meteoric masses having a celestial origin, and travelling with
+cosmical velocity, and which, in their headlong flight, become so heated
+by contact with the Earth's atmosphere that they are converted into
+glowing vapour. This vapour when it cools condenses into fine powder or
+dust, and gradually descends upon the Earth's surface, where it can be
+detected.
+
+Shooting stars become visible at a height varying between twenty and one
+hundred and thirty miles, and their average velocity has been estimated
+at about thirty miles a second. Though casual falling stars can be seen
+at all times in every part of the heavens, yet there are certain periods
+at which they appear in large numbers, and have been observed to radiate
+from certain well-defined parts of the sky. When the radiant point is
+overhead, the falling stars spread out and resemble a parachute of fire;
+but when it is below the horizon, the stars ascend upwards like rockets
+into the sky. The radiant point is fixed among the stars, so that at the
+commencement of a shower it may be overhead, and before the termination
+of the display it may have travelled below the horizon. The radiant is
+usually named after the constellation in which it is observed.
+
+The November meteors are called Leonids, because they radiate from a
+point in the constellation Leo; those in Taurus are called Taurids; in
+Perseus, Perseids; in Lyra, Lyraïds; and in Andromeda, Andromedes,
+because their radiant points are situated in those constellations.
+
+The falling stars that have attracted most attention are those which
+appear on or about November 13. Every year at this period they can be
+seen in greater or less numbers, and on referring to numerous past
+records it has been ascertained that a magnificent display of those
+objects occurs every thirty-three years. The earliest historical
+allusion to this meteoric shower is by Theophanes, who wrote that in the
+year 472 A.D. the sky at Constantinople appeared to be on fire with
+falling stars. In the year 902 A.D. another remarkable display took
+place, and from that time until 1833 twelve conspicuous displays are
+recorded as having occurred at recurring intervals of thirty-three
+years. The grandest display of this kind that was ever witnessed
+occurred in 1833. It was visible over nearly the whole of the American
+continent, and, having commenced at midnight, lasted for four or five
+hours. The falling stars were so numerous that they appeared to rain
+upon the Earth, and caused the utmost consternation and terror among
+those who witnessed the phenomenon, many persons having imagined that
+the end of the world was at hand. The regular recurrence of these
+meteoric displays has been satisfactorily explained by the assumption
+that round the Sun there travels in an elliptical orbit with planetary
+velocity a vast shoal of meteoric bodies some millions of miles in
+length and several hundred thousand miles in breadth. The nearest point
+of their orbit to the Sun coincides with the Earth's orbit, and the most
+distant part extends beyond the orbit of Uranus. These bodies accomplish
+a circuit of their orbit in 33-1/4 years. The Earth in her annual
+revolution intersects the path of the meteors, and when this occurs some
+falling stars can always be seen; but when the intersection happens at
+the time the shoal is passing, then there results a grand meteoric
+display. Numerous other meteoric swarms travel in orbital paths round
+the Sun.
+
+Milton, in his poem, alludes to falling stars upon two occasions. In
+describing the fall of Mulciber from Heaven he says:--
+
+                                      from morn
+    To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
+    A summer's day; and with the setting sun
+    Dropt from the zenith like a falling star,
+    On Lemnos the Ægaean isle.--i. 742-46.
+
+The rapid flight of the archangel Uriel from the Sun to the Earth is
+described in the following lines:--
+
+    Thither came Uriel, gliding through the even
+    On a sunbeam, swift as a shooting star
+    In autumn thwarts the night, when vapours fired
+    Impress the air, and shows the mariner
+    From what point of his compass to beware
+    Impetuous winds.--iv. 555-60.
+
+Milton mentions the season of the year in which those stars are most
+frequently seen, and refers to an ancient belief by which they were
+regarded as the precursors of stormy weather. A translation from Virgil
+contains a similar allusion to them--
+
+    Oft shalt thou see ere brooding storms arise,
+    Star after star glide headlong down the skies.
+
+The standard borne by the Cherub Azazel is described as having--
+
+    Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind.--i. 537.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+MILTON'S IMAGINATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY
+
+
+The theme chosen by Milton for his great epic, viz. the Fall of Man and
+his expulsion from Paradise--perhaps the most momentous incident in the
+history of the human race--was one worthy of the genius of a great poet
+and in the treatment of which Milton has been sublimely successful. The
+newly created Earth; the untainted loveliness of the Paradise in which
+our first parents dwelt during their innocence; their temptation; their
+fall and removal from the happy garden, furnished a theme which afforded
+him an opportunity for the display of his unrivalled poetic genius.
+
+Though the chief interest in the poem is centred in the Garden of Eden
+and its occupants, yet Milton was enabled, by the comprehensive manner
+in which he treated his subject, to introduce into his work a cosmology
+which embraced not only the system to which our globe belongs, but the
+entire starry heavens by which we are surrounded. But the universality
+of his genius did not rest here. In the utterance of his sacred song he
+soared beyond the starry sphere, describing himself as wrapt above the
+pole--the starry pole--up to the Empyrean, or Heaven of Heavens, the
+ineffable abode of the Deity and the blissful habitation of angelic
+beings who, in adoration and worship, surround the throne of the Most
+High.
+
+Descending to that nether world at the opposite pole of the universe, in
+the lowest depth of Chaos, the place prepared by Eternal Justice for the
+rebellious, he unfolds to our horror-stricken gaze the terrors of this
+infernal region; its fiery deluge of ever-burning sulphur; its 'regions
+of sorrow;' its 'doleful shades'--the unhappy abode of fallen angels who
+'in floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,' alternated by exposure
+to unendurable cold and icy torment, experience the direful consequences
+of their apostacy.
+
+Milton's 'Paradise Lost' may be regarded as the loftiest intellectual
+effort in the whole range of literature. In it we find all that was
+known of science, philosophy, and theology. The theme, founded upon a
+Bible narrative, itself written under divine inspiration, embraces the
+entire system of Christian doctrine as revealed in the Scriptures, and
+many of the noblest passages in the sacred volume are introduced into
+the poem expressed in the lofty utterance of flowing and harmonious
+verse. The choicest classical writings of Greek and Latin authors; the
+mythological and traditional beliefs of ancient nations; historical
+incidents of valour and renown and all that was great and good in the
+annals of mankind were laid under contribution by Milton in the
+illustration and embellishment of his poem.
+
+In order to obtain a basis or foundation upon which to construct his
+great epic, Milton found it necessary to localise the regions of space
+in which the principal events mentioned in his poem are described as
+having occurred. The unfathomable abyss of space may be regarded as an
+uncircumscribed sphere boundless on all sides round, and so far as we
+can comprehend of infinite extent. This sphere Milton divided into two
+hemispheres--an upper and a lower. The upper was called Heaven, or the
+Empyrean--a glorified region of boundless dimensions; the lower
+hemisphere embraced Chaos--a dark, fathomless abyss in which the
+elements of matter existed in a state of perpetual tumult and wild
+uproar. The occurrence of a rebellion in Heaven necessitated a further
+division of the sphere. The revolt, headed by Lucifer, one of the
+highest archangels, afterwards known as Satan, who drew after him a
+third of the angelic host, contested the supremacy of Heaven with
+Michael and the angels which kept their loyalty. After two days'
+battle--
+
+                        Him the Almighty Power
+    Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky,
+    With hideous ruin and combustion, down
+    To bottomless perdition; there to dwell
+    In adamantine chains and penal fire.--i. 44-48.
+
+Having been precipitated over the crystal wall of Heaven into the deep
+abyss, Milton says:--
+
+    Nine days they fell; confounded Chaos roared,
+    And felt tenfold confusion in their fall
+    Through his wild Anarchy; so huge a rout
+    Encumbered him with ruin. Hell at last,
+    Yawning, received them whole, and on them closed.--vi. 871-75.
+
+Hell, Milton locates in the lowest depth of Chaos, a region cut off from
+the body of Chaos, through which the expelled angels fell for nine days
+before reaching their destined habitation. There are now three divisions
+of space: HEAVEN, CHAOS, and HELL. But a fourth is required to enable
+Milton to complete his scheme for the delineation of his poem. The Earth
+and starry universe were not as yet called into existence, but after the
+overthrow of the rebellious angels, God, by circumscribing a portion of
+Chaos situated immediately underneath the Empyrean, created the Mundane
+Universe, or the 'Heavens and the Earth.'[15] This new universe He
+reclaimed from Chaos, and with the embryo elements of matter--
+
+    His dark materials to create new worlds.--ii. 916.
+
+He formed the Earth and all the countless shining orbs visible overhead,
+and the myriads more which the telescope reveals, scattered in
+apparently endless profusion over the circular immensity of space. It is
+this new universe--the Earth and Starry Heavens--that claims our chief
+attention, and in the delineation of Milton's imaginative and
+descriptive powers it is to this latest manifestation of Divine wisdom
+and might that our remarks shall principally apply. After the expulsion
+of the rebel angels from Heaven, God sent His Son, the Messiah to create
+the new universe--a work of omnipotence described by Milton in a manner
+worthy of so magnificent a display of almighty power--
+
+                                Meanwhile the Son
+    On his great expedition now appeared,
+    Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crowned
+    Of majesty divine: sapience and love
+    Immense; and all his Father in Him shone.
+    About his chariot numberless were poured
+    Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones,
+    And Virtues, winged Spirits, and chariots winged
+    From the armoury of God, where stand of old
+    Myriads, between two brazen mountains lodged
+    Against a solemn day, harnessed at hand,
+    Celestial equipage; and now came forth
+    Spontaneous, for within them Spirit lived,
+    Attendant on their Lord. Heaven opened wide
+    Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound!
+    On golden hinges moving, to let forth
+    The King of Glory, in his powerful Word
+    And Spirit, coming to create new worlds.
+    On Heavenly ground they stood, and from the shore
+    They viewed the vast immeasurable abyss
+    Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild,
+    Up from the bottom turned by furious winds
+    And surging waves, as mountains to assault
+    Heaven's highth, and with the centre mix the pole.
+    'Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou Deep, peace!'
+    Said then the omnific Word: 'your discord end!'
+    Nor stayed; but on the wings of Cherubim
+    Uplifted, in paternal glory rode
+    Far into Chaos, and the World unborn;
+    For Chaos heard his voice. Him all his train
+    Followed in bright procession, to behold
+    Creation, and the wonders of his might.
+    Then stayed the fervid wheels, and in his hand
+    He took the golden compasses, prepared
+    In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
+    This Universe, and all created things.
+    One foot he centred, and the other turned
+    Round through the vast profundity obscure;
+    And said, 'Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds;
+    This be thy just circumference, O World!'
+    Thus God the Heaven created, thus the Earth,
+    Matter unformed and void. Darkness profound
+    Covered the abyss; but on the watery calm
+    His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread,
+    And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth,
+    Throughout the fluid mass; but downward purged
+    The black, tartareous, cold, infernal dregs,
+    Adverse to life; then founded, then conglobed
+    Like things to like; the rest to several place
+    Disparted, and between spun out the Air;
+    And Earth self balanced on her centre hung.--vii. 192-242.
+
+Milton begins his narrative of the Creation by describing the progress
+of the Deity on His great expedition, accompanied by hosts of angels and
+surrounded with all the solemn pomp and splendour of Heaven. The
+brilliant throng having passed through Heaven's gates, which opened wide
+their portals, they beheld in front of them the dark abyss of Chaos--a
+tempest-tossed sea of warring elements upturned in wild confusion. At
+God's instant command silence and peace reigned over the deep, and
+tranquil calm succeeded noisy discord. Then on the wings of Cherubim He
+rode far into Chaos, and with His golden compasses decreed the
+dimensions of the universe by circumscribing the vast vacuity of space.
+Into the elements which hasted to their several places, His Spirit
+infused vital warmth and caused the formless mass of matter to assume
+the figure of a sphere, and thus the Earth poised on her axis
+unsupported, and in darkness shrouded hung suspended in space. The
+placing of the golden compasses in the hands of the Creator, with which
+He measured out the heavens, is a noble conception on the part of
+Milton, and one most appropriate, since the construction of the universe
+is based upon the principles of geometrical science.
+
+    'Let there be Light!' said God; and forthwith Light
+    Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure,
+    Sprung from the Deep; and from her native east
+    To journey through the aëry gloom began,
+    Sphered in a radiant cloud; for yet the Sun
+    Was not; she in a cloudy tabernacle
+    Sojourned the while. God saw the light was good;
+    And light from darkness by the hemisphere
+    Divided; light the day, and darkness night
+    He named. Thus was the first day even and morn:
+    Nor passed uncelebrated, nor unsung
+    By the celestial quires, when orient light
+    Exhaling first from darkness they beheld;
+    Birthday of Heaven and Earth; with joy and shout
+    The hollow universal orb they filled,
+    And touched their golden harps, and hymning praised
+    God and his works: Creator Him they sung,
+    Both when first evening was, and when first morn.--vii. 243-60.
+
+The appearance of Light, which sprung into existence at the fiat of the
+Creator, was the next great event witnessed by beholding
+angels--birthday of Heaven and Earth, first morning and first evening,
+which the celestial choirs celebrated with praise and shouts of joy.
+The creation of the firmament was the great work of the second day.
+
+    Again God said, 'Let there be firmament
+    Amid the waters, and let it divide
+    The waters from the waters!' And God made
+    The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure,
+    Transparent, elemental air, diffused
+    In circuit to the uttermost convex
+    Of this great round--partition firm and sure,
+    The waters underneath from those above
+    Dividing; for as the Earth, so He the World
+    Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide
+    Crystalline ocean, and the loud misrule
+    Of Chaos far removed, lest fierce extremes
+    Contiguous might distemper the whole frame:
+    And Heaven he named the Firmament. So even
+    And morning chorus sung the second day.--vii. 261-275.
+
+After describing the gathering of the waters off the face of the globe
+into seas, causing the dry land to appear, which at the word of God
+became clothed with vegetation, rendering the Earth a habitable abode,
+Milton proceeds to describe the creation of the heavenly bodies--
+
+    Again the Almighty spake: 'Let there be Lights
+    High in the expanse of Heaven, to divide
+    The day from night; and let them be for signs,
+    For seasons, and for days, and circling years;
+    And let them be for lights, as I ordain
+    Their office in the firmament of Heaven,
+    To give light on the Earth!' and it was so.
+    And God made two great Lights, great for their use
+    To Man, the greater to have rule by day,
+    The less by night, altern; and made the Stars,
+    And set them in the firmament of Heaven
+    To illuminate the Earth, and rule the day
+    In their vicissitude, and rule the night,
+    And light from darkness to divide. God saw,
+    Surveying his great work, that it was good:
+    For, of celestial bodies, first, the Sun,
+    A mighty sphere He framed, unlightsome first,
+    Though of ethereal mould; then formed the Moon
+    Globose, and every magnitude of Stars,
+    And sowed with stars the Heaven thick as a field.
+    Of light by far the greater part he took,
+    Transplanted from her cloudy shrine, and placed
+    In the Sun's orb, made porous to receive
+    And drink the liquid light; firm to retain
+    Her gathered beams, great palace now of Light.
+    Hither, as to their fountain, other stars
+    Repairing, in their golden urns draw light,
+    And hence the morning planet gilds her horns;
+    By tincture or reflection they augment
+    Their small peculiar, though, from human sight
+    So far remote, with diminution seen.
+    First in his east the glorious lamp was seen,
+    Regent of day, and all the horizon round
+    Invested with bright rays, jocund to run
+    His longitude through Heaven's high road; the grey
+    Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danced,
+    Shedding sweet influence. Less bright the Moon,
+    But opposite in levelled west was set
+    His mirror, with full face borrowing her light
+    From him; for other light she needed none
+    In that aspect, and still that distance keeps
+    Till night; then in the east her turn she shines,
+    Revolved on Heaven's great axle, and her reign
+    With thousand lesser lights dividual holds,
+    With thousand thousand stars that then appeared
+    Spangling the hemisphere. Then first adorned
+    With their bright luminaries, that set and rose,
+    Glad evening and glad morn crowned the fourth day.--vii. 339-86.
+
+The first creation was Light, and Milton, according to Scriptural
+testimony, ascribes its origin to the bidding of the Creator. 'God said,
+Let there be light; and there was light!' The Sun he describes as a
+mighty sphere, but at first non-luminous. There was light, but no sun.
+The reason usually given in explanation of this phenomenon is, that the
+heavenly bodies were created at the same time as the Earth, but were
+rendered invisible by a canopy of vapour and cloud which enveloped the
+newly-formed globe; and that afterwards, when it dispersed, they
+appeared in the firmament, shining in all their pristine splendour.
+Milton does not, however, adhere to this view of things, but says that
+light for the first three days sojourned in a cloudy shrine or
+tabernacle, and was afterwards transplanted in the Sun, which became a
+great palace of light.
+
+He expresses himself in a somewhat similar manner in Book III., which
+opens with an address to Light--one of the most beautiful passages in
+the poem, in which he alludes to his blindness when expressing his
+thoughts and sentiments with regard to this ethereal medium, which
+conveys to us the pleasurable sensation of vision--
+
+    Hail, holy Light! offspring of Heaven first-born!
+    Or of the Eternal co-eternal beam,
+    May I express thee unblamed? since God is light,
+    And never but in unapproached light
+    Dwelt from eternity--dwelt then in thee,
+    Bright effluence of bright essence increate!
+    Or hear'st thou rather, pure Ethereal stream,
+    Whose fountain who shall tell? Before the Sun,
+    Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice
+    Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest
+    The rising world of waters dark and deep,
+    Won from the void and formless Infinite.--iii. 1-12.
+
+The Sun having become a lucent orb, Milton poetically describes how the
+planets repair to him as to a fountain, and in their golden urns draw
+light; and how the morning planet Venus gilds her horns illumined by his
+rays. The poet associates joyous ideas with the new-born universe. The
+Sun, now the glorious regent of day, begins his journey in the east,
+lighting up the horizon with his beams; whilst before him danced the
+grey dawn, and the Pleiades shedding sweet influences. There existed an
+ancient belief that the Earth was created in the spring, and in April
+the Sun is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, in which are also
+situated the Pleiades; they rise a little before the orb, and precede
+him in his path through the heavens. The stars of this group have always
+been regarded with a peculiar sacredness, and their rays, mingling with
+those of the Sun, were believed to shed sweet influences upon the Earth.
+The Moon, less bright, with borrowed light, in her turn shines in the
+east, and, with the thousand thousand luminaries that spangle the
+firmament, reigns over the night.
+
+We learn in Book III. that the archangel Uriel, who was beguiled by
+Satan, witnessed the Creation, and described how the heavenly bodies
+were brought into existence, he having perceived what we should call the
+gaseous elements of matter rolled into whorls and vortices which became
+condensed into suns and systems of worlds. This mighty angel says:--
+
+    I saw when, at his word the formless mass,
+    This World's material mould, came to a heap:
+    Confusion heard his voice, and wild Uproar
+    Stood ruled, stood vast Infinitude confined;
+    Till at his second bidding darkness fled,
+    Light shone, and order from disorder sprung.
+    Swift to their several quarters hasted then
+    The cumbrous elements, Earth, Flood, Air, Fire;
+    And this ethereal quintessence of Heaven
+    Flew upward, spirited with various forms,
+    That rolled orbicular, and turned to stars
+    Numberless, as thou seest, and how they move;
+    Each had his place appointed, each his course;
+    The rest in circuit walls this Universe.--iii. 708-21.
+
+In his sublime description of the Creation Milton has adhered with
+marked fidelity to the Mosaic version, as narrated in the first two
+chapters of Genesis, when God, by specific acts in certain stated
+periods of time, created the visible universe and all that it contains.
+
+The successive acts of creation are described in words almost identical
+with those of Scripture, embellished and adorned with all the wealth of
+expression which our language is capable of affording. The several
+scenes presented to the imagination, and witnessed by hosts of admiring
+angels as each portion of the magnificent work was accomplished, are
+full of a grandeur and majesty worthy of the loftiest conceivable effort
+of Divine power and might.
+
+The return of the Creator after the completion of His great work is
+described by Milton in a manner worthy of the progress of Deity through
+the celestial regions. The whole creation rang with jubilant delight,
+and the bright throng which witnessed the wonders of His might followed
+Him with acclamation, ascending by the glorified path of the Milky Way
+up to His high abode--the Heaven of Heavens--
+
+    Here finished He, and all that He had made
+    Viewed, and behold! all was entirely good.
+    So even and morn accomplished the sixth day:
+    Yet not till the Creator from his work
+    Desisting, though unwearied, up returned,
+    Up to the Heaven of Heavens, His high abode,
+    Thence to behold this new created World,
+    The addition of his empire, how it showed
+    In prospect from His throne, how good, how fair,
+    Answering his great idea. Up He rode,
+    Followed with acclamation, and the sound
+    Symphonious of ten thousand harps, that tuned
+    Angelic harmonies: The Earth, the Air
+    Resounded (thou remember'st, for thou heard'st)
+    The Heavens and all the constellations rung,
+    The planets in their stations listening stood,
+    While the bright pomp ascended jubilant.
+    'Open ye everlasting gates!' they sung;
+    'Open ye Heavens! your living doors; let in
+    The great Creator, from his work returned
+    Magnificent, his six days' work, a World;
+    Open, and henceforth oft; for God will deign
+    To visit oft the dwellings of just men,
+    Delighted; and with frequent intercourse
+    Thither will send his winged messengers
+    On errands of supernal grace.' So sung
+    The glorious train ascending: He through Heaven,
+    That opened wide her blazing portals, led
+    To God's eternal house direct the way--
+    A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,
+    And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear
+    Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way
+    Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest
+    Powdered with stars.--vii. 548-81.
+
+Milton, throughout his description of the Creation, sustains with lofty
+eloquence his sublime conception of this latest display of almighty
+power; and invests with becoming majesty all the acts of the Creator,
+who, when He finished His great work, saw that all was entirely good.
+
+Shortly after the creation of the new universe, Satan, having escaped
+from Hell, plunged into the abyss of Chaos, and, after a long and
+arduous journey upwards, in which he had to fight his way through the
+surging elements that raged around him like a tempestuous sea, he
+reached the upper confines of this region where less confusion
+prevailed, and where a glimmering dawn of light penetrated its darkness
+and gloom, indicating that the limit of the empire of Chaos and ancient
+Night had been reached by the adventurous fiend. Pursuing his way with
+greater ease, he leisurely beholds the sight which is opening to his
+eyes--a sight rendered more glorious by his long sojourn in darkness. He
+sees:--
+
+    Far off the empyreal Heaven, extended wide
+    In circuit, undetermined square or round,
+    With opal towers and battlements adorned
+    Of living sapphire, once his native seat,
+    And, fast by, hanging in a golden chain,
+    This pendent World, in bigness as a star
+    Of smallest magnitude close by the Moon.--ii. 1047-53.
+
+He gazes upon his native Heaven where once he dwelt, and observes the
+pendent world in quest of which he journeyed hither--hung by a golden
+chain from the Empyrean and no larger than a star of the smallest
+magnitude when close by the Moon. In this passage Milton does not allude
+to the Earth, which was invisible, but to the entire starry heavens--the
+newly created universe reclaimed from Chaos, which, when contrasted with
+the Empyrean, appeared in size no larger than the minutest star when
+compared with the full moon. Pursuing his journey, the new universe as
+it is approached expands into a globe of vast dimensions; its convex
+surface--round which the chaotic elements in stormy aspect
+lowered--seemed a boundless continent, dark, desolate, and starless,
+except on the side next to the wall of Heaven, which though far-distant
+afforded it some illumination by its reflected light. Satan, having
+alighted on this convex shell which enclosed the universe, wandered long
+over its bleak and dismal surface, until his attention was attracted by
+a gleam of light which appeared through an opening at its zenith right
+underneath the Empyrean. Thither he directed his steps, and perceived a
+structure resembling a staircase, or ladder, which formed the only means
+of communication between Heaven and the new creation, and upon which
+angels descended and ascended--
+
+                        Far distant he descries,
+    Ascending by degrees magnificent
+    Up to the wall of Heaven, a structure high;
+    At top whereof, but far more rich, appeared
+    The work as of a kingly palace gate,
+    With frontispiece of diamond and gold
+    Embellished; thick with sparkling orient gems
+    The portal shone, inimitable on Earth
+    By model, or by shading pencil drawn.
+    The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw
+    Angels ascending and descending, bands
+    Of Guardians bright, when he from Esau fled
+    To Padan Aram, in the field of Luz
+    Dreaming by night under the open sky,
+    And waking cried, '_This is the gate of Heaven._'--iii. 501-15.
+
+Sometimes this mysterious structure was drawn up to Heaven and
+invisible. At the time that Satan reached the opening, the stairs were
+lowered, and standing at their base he looked down with wonder upon the
+entire starry universe--
+
+    Such wonder seized, though after Heaven seen,
+    The Spirit malign, but much more envy seized,
+    At sight of all this World beheld so fair,
+    Round he surveys (and well might, where he stood
+    So high above the circling canopy
+    Of night's extended shade) from eastern point
+    Of Libra to the fleecy star that bears
+    Andromeda far off Atlantic seas
+    Beyond the horizon; then from pole to pole
+    He views in breadth, and without longer pause,
+    Down right into the World's first region throws
+    His flight precipitant, and winds with ease
+    Through the pure marble air his oblique way
+    Amongst innumerable stars, that shone
+    Stars distant, but nigh hand seemed other worlds,
+    Or other worlds they seemed, or happy isles,
+    Like those Hesperian Gardens famed of old,
+    Fortunate fields, and groves, and flowery vales;
+    Thrice happy isles! But who dwelt happy there
+    He staid not to inquire: above them all
+    The golden Sun, in splendour likest Heaven
+    Allured his eye: thither his course he bends
+    Through the calm firmament, (but up or down
+    By centre or eccentric hard to tell
+    Or longitude) where the great luminary,
+    Aloof the vulgar constellations thick,
+    That from his lordly eye keep distance due,
+    Dispenses light from far. They, as they move
+    Their starry dance in numbers that compute
+    Days, months, and years, towards his all-cheering lamp
+    Turn swift their various motions, or are turned
+    By his magnetic beam, that gently warms
+    The Universe, and to each inward part
+    With gentle penetration, though unseen,
+    Shoots invisible virtue even to the Deep;
+    So wondrously was set his station bright.--iii. 552-87.
+
+The Ptolemaic cosmology having been adopted by Milton in the elaboration
+of his poem, he describes the universe in conformity with the doctrines
+associated with this form of astronomical belief. To each of the first
+seven spheres which revolved round the steadfast Earth there was
+attached a heavenly body; the eighth sphere embraced all the fixed
+stars, a countless multitude; the ninth the crystalline; and enclosing
+all the other spheres as if in a shell was the tenth sphere, or Primum
+Mobile, which in its diurnal revolution carried round with it all the
+other spheres. The nine inner spheres were transparent, but the tenth
+was an opaque solid shell-like structure, which enclosed the new
+universe and constituted the boundary between it and Chaos underneath
+and the Empyrean above. It was on the surface of this sphere that Satan
+wandered until he discovered the opening at its zenith, where, by means
+of a staircase or ladder, communication was maintained with the
+Empyrean. Standing on the lower steps of this structure he paused for a
+moment to look down into the glorious universe which lay beneath him--
+
+                                  another Heaven
+    From Heaven-gate not far, founded in view
+    On the clear hyaline the glassy sea.--vii. 617-19.
+
+He beholds it in all its dimensions, from pole to pole, and
+longitudinally from Libra to Aries, then without hesitation precipitates
+himself down into the world's first region, and winds his way with ease
+among the fixed stars. Around him he sees innumerable shining worlds,
+sparkling and glittering in endless profusion over the circumscribed
+immensity of space--mighty constellations that shone from afar;
+clustering aggregations of stars; floating islands of light; twinkling
+systems rising out of depths still more profound, and a zone luminous
+with the light of myriads of lucid orbs verging on the confines of the
+universe. All these worlds the fiend passed unheeded, nor stayed he to
+inquire who dwelt happy there. In splendour above them all the Sun
+attracted his attention and, directing his course towards the great
+luminary of our system, he alights on the surface of the orb.
+
+Milton now makes a digression in order to describe what Satan observed
+in the Sun after having landed there. The poet embraces an opportunity
+for exercising his imaginative and descriptive powers by giving an ideal
+description of what, judging from the appearance of the orb, might be
+the natural condition of things existing on his surface--
+
+    There lands the Fiend, a spot like which perhaps
+    Astronomer in the Sun's lucent orb
+    Through his glazed optic tube, yet never saw.
+    The place he found beyond expression bright,
+    Compared with aught on Earth, metal or stone;
+    Not all parts like, but all alike informed
+    With radiant light, as glowing iron with fire;
+    If metal, part seemed gold, part silver clear;
+    If stone, carbuncle most or chrysolite,
+    Ruby or topaz, to the twelve that shone
+    In Aaron's breastplate, and a stone besides,
+    Imagined rather oft than elsewhere seen;
+    That stone, or like to that, which here below
+    Philosophers in vain so long have sought,
+    In vain, though by their powerful art they bind
+    Volatile Hermes, and call up unbound
+    In various shapes old Proteus from the sea,
+    Drained through a limbec to his native form.
+    What wonder then if fields and regions here
+    Breathe forth elixir pure, and rivers run
+    Potable gold, when, with one virtuous touch,
+    The arch-chemic Sun, so far from us remote,
+    Produces, with terrestrial humour mixed,
+    Here in the dark so many precious things
+    Of colour glorious, and effect so rare?
+    Here matter new to gaze the Devil met
+    Undazzled; far and wide his eye commands;
+    For sight no obstacle found here, nor shade,
+    But all sunshine, as when his beams at noon
+    Culminate from the equator, as they now
+    Shot upward still direct, whence no way round
+    Shadow from body opaque can fall; and the air,
+    Nowhere so clear sharpened his visual ray
+    To objects distant far, whereby he soon
+    Saw within here a glorious Angel stand.--iii. 588-622.
+
+The physical structure of the interior of the Sun is unknown; all that
+we see of the orb is the photosphere--the dazzling luminous envelope
+which indicates to the eye the boundary of the solar disc, and which is
+the source of light and heat. Milton, in his imaginative and beautifully
+poetical description of the Sun, is not more fanciful in his conception
+of the nature of the refulgent orb than a renowned astronomer (Sir
+William Herschel) who writes in the following strain: 'A cool, dark,
+solid globe, its surface diversified with mountains and valleys, clothed
+in luxuriant vegetation and richly stored with inhabitants, protected by
+a heavy cloud-canopy from the intolerable glare of the upper luminous
+region, where the dazzling coruscations of a solar aurora some thousands
+of miles in depth evolved the stores of light and heat which vivify our
+world.' Satan, disguised as a cherub, makes himself known to Uriel,
+Regent of the Sun. The upright Seraph in response to his request directs
+him to the Earth, the abode of Man--
+
+    Look downward on that Globe, whose hither side
+    With light from hence, though but reflected, shines,
+    That place is Earth, the seat of Man; that light
+    His day, which else, as the other hemisphere,
+    Night would invade; but there neighbouring Moon
+    (So call that opposite fair star) her aid
+    Timely interposes, and her monthly round
+    Still ending, still renewing, through mid-Heaven,
+    With borrowed light her countenance triform
+    Hence fills and empties, to enlighten the Earth,
+    And in her pale dominion checks the night.--iii. 722-32.
+
+It would be impossible not to feel impressed with the accuracy and
+comprehensiveness of Milton's astronomical knowledge; and how he has
+united in charming poetic expression the dry details of science with the
+divine inspiration of the heavenly muse. The distinctive appearances of
+the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars; their functional importance as
+regards this terrestrial sphere; the splendour and lustre peculiar to
+each; and the glory displayed in the entire created heavens, are
+portrayed with a skill indicative of a masterly knowledge of the science
+of astronomy.
+
+    Descend from Heaven, Urania, by that name
+    If rightly thou art called, whose voice divine
+    Following, above the Olympian hill I soar,
+    Above the flight of Pegasean wing!
+    The meaning, not the name, I call; for thou
+    Nor of the Muses nine, nor on the top
+    Of old Olympus dwell'st; but heavenly-born,
+    Before the hills appeared or fountain flowed,
+    Thou with Eternal Wisdom didst converse,
+    Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play
+    In presence of the Almighty Father, pleased
+    With thy celestial song. Up led by thee,
+    Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,
+    An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air,
+    Thy tempering. With like safety guided down,
+    Return me to my native element;
+    Lest, from this flying steed unreined, (as once
+    Belerophon, though from a lower clime)
+    Dismounted, on the Aleian field I fall,
+    Erroneous there to wander, and forlorn.
+    Half yet remains unsung, but narrower bound
+    Within the visible diurnal sphere.
+    Standing on Earth, not rapt above the pole,
+    More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchanged
+    To hoarse or mute, though fallen on evil days,
+    On evil days though fallen, and evil tongues,
+    In darkness, and with dangers compassed round,
+    And solitude; yet not alone, while thou
+    Visit'st my slumbers nightly, or when morn
+    Purples the east. Still govern thou my song,
+    Urania, and fit audience find though few.--vii. 1-32.
+
+The Muses were Greek mythological divinities who possessed the power of
+inspiring song, and were the patrons of poets and musicians. According
+to Hesiod they were nine in number and presided over the arts. Urania
+was the Goddess of Astronomy, and Calliope the Goddess of Epic Poetry.
+They are described as the daughters of Zeus, and Homer alludes to them
+as the goddesses of song who dwelt on the summit of Mount Olympus. They
+were the companions of Apollo, and accompanied with song his playing on
+the lyre at the banquets of the Immortals. Milton does not invoke the
+mythological goddess, but Urania the Heavenly Muse, whose aid he also
+implores at the commencement of his poem prior to his flight above the
+Aonian Mount. Under her divine guidance he ascended to the Heaven of
+Heavens and breathed empyreal air, her tempering; in like manner he
+requests her to lead him down to his native element lest he should meet
+with a fate similar to what befell Bellerophon. Half his task he has
+completed, the other half, confined to narrower bounds within the
+visible diurnal sphere, remains unsung, and in its fulfilment he still
+implores his celestial patroness to govern his song.
+
+The natural phenomena which occur as a consequence of the motions of the
+heavenly bodies and the diurnal rotation of the Earth on her axis, are
+accompanied by agreeable alternations in the aspect of nature with which
+every one is familiar. The rosy footsteps of morn; the solar splendour
+of noonday; the fading hues of even; and night with her jewelled courts
+and streams of molten stars, have been sung with rapturous admiration by
+poets of every nation and in every age. They, as ardent lovers of
+nature, have described in choicest language the pleasing vicissitudes
+brought about by the real and apparent motions of the celestial orbs.
+
+In this respect Milton is unsurpassed by any poet in ancient or in
+modern times. The occasions on which he describes the heavenly bodies,
+or alludes to them in association with other phenomena, testify to the
+felicity of his thoughts and to the greatness of his poetic genius.
+Surely no poet has ever given us a lovelier description of evening, or
+has added more to its exquisite beauty by his allusion to the celestial
+orbs, than Milton when he describes the first evening in Paradise--
+
+    Now came still Evening on, and Twilight gray
+    Had in her sober livery all things clad;
+    Silence accompanied; for beast and bird,
+    They to their grassy couch, these to their nests
+    Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale.
+    She all night long her amorous descant sung;
+    Silence was pleased. Now glowed the firmament
+    With living sapphires: Hesperus that led
+    The starry host, rode brightest, till the Moon,
+    Rising in clouded majesty, at length
+    Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light,
+    And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.--iv. 598-609.
+
+In the avowal of her conjugal love, Eve, with charming expression,
+associates the orbs of the firmament with the delightful appearances of
+nature which presented themselves to her observation after she awoke to
+the consciousness of intelligent existence.
+
+    Sweet is the breath of Morn, her rising sweet,
+    With charm of earliest birds: pleasant the Sun,
+    When first on this delightful land he spreads
+    His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
+    Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile Earth
+    After soft showers; and sweet the coming on
+    Of grateful Evening mild; then silent Night,
+    With this her solemn bird, and this fair Moon,
+    And these the gems of Heaven, her starry train:
+    But neither breath of Morn, when she ascends
+    With charm of earliest birds; nor rising Sun
+    On this delightful land; nor herb, fruit, flower,
+    Glistering with dew; nor fragrance after showers;
+    Nor grateful Evening mild; nor silent Night,
+    With this her solemn bird; nor walk by Moon,
+    Or glittering star-light, without thee is sweet.
+    But wherefore all night long shine these? for whom
+    This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes?--iv. 641-58.
+
+One of the charms of Milton's verse is the devoutly poetical sentiment
+which pervades it. His thoughts, though serious, are not austere or
+gloomy, and it is in his loftiest musings that his reverence becomes
+most apparent. This feeling is conspicuous in Adam's reply to the
+inquiry addressed to him by Eve--
+
+    Daughter of God and Man, accomplished Eve,
+    These have their course to finish round the Earth
+    By morrow evening, and from land to land
+    In order, though to nations yet unborn,
+    Ministering light prepared, they set and rise;
+    Lest total Darkness should by night regain
+    Her old possession, and extinguish life
+    In Nature and all things; which these soft fires
+    Not only enlighten, but with kindly heat
+    Of various influence foment and warm,
+    Temper or nourish, or in part shed down
+    Their stellar virtue on all kinds that grow
+    On Earth, made hereby apter to receive
+    Perfection from the Sun's more potent ray.
+    These, then, though unbeheld in deep of night,
+    Shine not in vain; nor think, though men were none,
+    That Heaven would want spectators, God want praise:
+    Millions of spiritual creatures walk the Earth
+    Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep:
+    All these with ceaseless praise his works behold
+    Both day and night. How often from the steep
+    Of echoing hill or thicket, have we heard
+    Celestial voices to the midnight air,
+    Sole, or responsive each to other's note
+    Singing their Great Creator! Oft in bands
+    While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk,
+    With heavenly touch of instrumental sounds
+    In full harmonic number joined, their songs
+    Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to Heaven.--iv. 660-88.
+
+The Morning Hymn of Praise which Adam and Eve offer up in concert to
+their Maker contains their loftiest thoughts and most reverent
+sentiments, expressed in melodiously flowing verse. In their solemn
+invocations they call upon the orbs of the firmament to join in
+praising and extolling the Creator, and in their devout enthusiasm and
+adoration address by name those that are most conspicuous. Hesperus,
+'fairest of stars,' is asked to praise Him in her sphere. The Sun, great
+image of his Maker, is told to acknowledge Him his greater, and to sound
+His praise in his eternal course. The Moon, the fixed stars, and the
+planets are called upon to resound the praise of the Creator, whose
+glory is declared in the Heavens--
+
+    Fairest of Stars, last in the train of night,
+    If better thou belong not to the dawn,
+    Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn
+    With thy bright circlet, praise Him in thy sphere
+    While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.
+    Thou Sun, of this great world both eye and soul,
+    Acknowledge Him thy greater; sound his praise
+    In thy eternal course, both when thou climb'st,
+    And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fall'st.
+    Moon, that now meet'st the orient Sun, now fliest
+    With the fixed stars, fixed in their orb that flies;
+    And ye five other wandering Fires, that move
+    In mystic dance, not without song, resound
+    His praise, who out of darkness called up Light.--v. 166-79.
+
+Milton's conception of celestial distances, and of the vast regions of
+interstellar space, is finely described in the following lines:--
+
+                        Down thither prone in flight
+    He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky
+    Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing
+    Now on the polar winds; then with quick fan
+    Winnows the buxom air, till, within soar
+    Of towering eagles.--v. 266-71.
+
+As in their morning, so in their evening devotions, our first parents
+never fail to introduce a reference to the celestial orbs as indicating
+the power and goodness of the Creator, made manifest in the beauty and
+greatness of His works--
+
+    Thus, at their shady lodge arrived, both stood,
+    Both turned, and under open sky adored
+    The God that made both Sky, Air, Earth and Heaven
+    Which they beheld; the Moon's resplendent globe,
+    And starry pole.--iv. 720-24.
+
+The numerous extracts contained in this volume impress upon one's mind
+how largely astronomy enters into the composition of 'Paradise Lost,'
+and of how much assistance the knowledge of this science was to Milton
+in the elaboration of his poem. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine how
+such a work could have been written except by a poet who possessed a
+proficient and comprehensive knowledge of astronomy. The chief
+characteristic of Milton's poetry is its sublimity, which is the natural
+outcome of the magnificence of his conceptions and of his own pure
+imaginative genius. Among all the fields of literature, science, and
+philosophy explored by him, he found none more congenial to his tastes,
+or that afforded his imagination more freedom for its loftiest flights,
+than the sublimest of sciences--astronomy. Whether we admire most the
+accuracy of his astronomical knowledge, or the wonderful creations of
+his poetic fancy, or his beautiful descriptions of the celestial orbs,
+it is apparent that in this domain of science, as a poet, he stands
+alone and without a rival. In his choice of the Ptolemaic cosmology
+Milton adopted a system with which he had been familiar from his
+youth--the same which his favourite poet Dante introduced into his poem,
+'The Divina Commedia,' and which was well adapted for poetic
+description. The picturesque conception of ten revolving spheres,
+carrying along with them the orbs assigned to each, which, by their
+revolution round the steadfast Earth, brought about with unfailing
+regularity the successive alternation of day and night, and in every
+twenty-four hours exhibited the pleasing vicissitudes of dawn, of
+sunshine, of twilight, and of darkness, relieved by the soft effulgence
+of the nocturnal sky, afforded Milton a favourable basis upon which to
+construct a cosmical epic. The Copernican theory--with which he was
+equally conversant, and in the accuracy and truthfulness of which he
+believed--though less complicated than the Ptolemaic in its details, did
+not possess the same attractiveness for poetic description that belonged
+to the older system. According to this theory there is, surrounding us
+on all sides, a boundless uncircumscribed ocean of space, to which it is
+impossible to assign any conceivable limit; in every effort to
+comprehend its dimensions or fathom its depths, the mind recoils upon
+itself, baffled and discomfited, with a conscious feeling that there can
+be no nearer approach to the end when end there is none that can be
+conceived of. Interspersed throughout the regions of this azure vast of
+space is the stellar universe, which to our comprehension is as infinite
+as the abyss in which it exists. The solar system, though of magnificent
+dimensions, is but a unit in the astronomical whole, in which are
+embraced millions of other similar units--other solar systems, perhaps
+differing in construction from that of ours, with billions of miles of
+interstellar space intervening between each; yet so vast are the
+dimensions of the celestial sphere that those distances when measured
+upon it sink into utter insignificance. As the receding depths of space
+are penetrated by powerful telescopes, they are found to be pervaded
+with stars and starry archipelagoes, distributed in profusion over the
+circular immensity and extending away into abysmal depths, beyond the
+reach of visibility by any optical means which we possess. To the
+universe there is no known end--nowhere in imagination can its boundary
+be reached! This bewildering conception of the cosmos did not trouble
+the minds of pre-Copernican thinkers. They regarded the steadfast Earth
+as the most important body in the universe; nor were the celestial orbs
+which circled round it believed to be very far distant. Tycho Brahé
+imagined that the stars were not much more remote than the planets.
+Epicurus thought the stars were small crystal mirrors in the sky which
+reflected the solar rays, and the Venerable Bede remarked that they
+needed assistance from the Sun's light in order to render them more
+luminous.
+
+The adoption of the Ptolemaic system by Milton afforded greater scope
+for the exercise of his imaginative powers, and enabled him to bring
+within the mental grasp of his readers a conception of the universe
+which was not lost in the immensity associated with the Copernican view
+of things. Besides, it also furnished him with a distinctly defined
+basis upon which to erect the superstructure of his poem. Above the
+circumscribed universe was Heaven or the Empyrean; underneath it was
+Chaos, from which it had been reclaimed, and in the lowest depth of
+which Milton located the infernal world called Hell. These four regions
+embraced universal space; and in the elaboration of his great epic
+Milton relied upon his imaginative genius, his brilliant scholarship,
+his vast erudition, and the divine inspiration of the heavenly muse.
+With these, aided by the power and vigour of his intellect, he was
+enabled to produce a cosmical epic that surpassed all previous efforts
+of a similar kind, and which still remains without a parallel.
+
+One of the distinguishing features of Milton's mind was his wonderful
+imagination, and in its exercise he beheld those sublime celestial and
+terrestrial visions on which he reared fabrics of splendour and beauty,
+described in harmonious numbers with the fervid eloquence and charm of a
+true poet. An example of the loftiness and originality of his
+imagination is afforded us in his description of the Creation, the main
+facts of which he derived from the first two chapters of Genesis, and
+upon these he elaborated in full and striking detail his magnificent
+conception of the efforts of Divine Might, which in six successive
+creative acts called into existence the universe and all that it
+contains. The rising of the Earth out of Chaos; the creation of light
+and of the orbs of the firmament; the joyfulness associated with the
+onward career of the new-born Sun; the subdued illumination of the
+full-orbed Moon, and the thousand thousand stars that spangle the
+nocturnal sky--all these afforded Milton a rich field in which his
+imagination luxuriated, and in the description of which he found
+subject-matter worthy of his gifted intellect.
+
+Milton gives an ampler and more detailed description of the new universe
+in his narration of Satan's journey through space in search of this
+world, and brings more vividly before the imagination of his readers the
+glories of the celestial regions. The fiend, having emerged from the
+dark abyss of Chaos into a region of light, first beheld the new
+creation from such a distance that to his view it appeared as a star
+suspended by a golden chain from the Empyrean. This stellar conception
+of the poet's harmonised with the views of the Ptolemaists, who believed
+that the universe was of limited extent, and though its dimensions were
+vast beyond comprehension, it was, nevertheless, enclosed by the tenth
+sphere or Primum Mobile. It was on the surface of this sphere that Satan
+alighted, and over which he wandered, until attracted by a beam of light
+that appeared through an opening at its zenith, where, by means of a
+stair or ladder, communication was maintained between the new universe
+and Heaven above. Hither the undaunted fiend hied, and, standing on the
+lower steps of this structure, momentarily paused to gaze upon the
+glorious sight which burst upon his view before directing his flight
+down into the newly created universe. Milton then describes his progress
+through the stellar regions, his landing in the Sun and what he saw
+there, and the termination of his journey when he descends from the
+ecliptic down to the Earth. In doing so the poet gives a wonderfully
+beautiful description of the starry universe, of the Sun, Moon, and
+Earth (Book III. 540-742), enhanced and adorned with his own poetic
+imaginings derived from fable, philosophy, and science.
+
+Milton makes more frequent allusion to the Sun than to any of the other
+orbs of the firmament. This we should expect: the poet always gives the
+orb the precedence which is his due, and never fails, when the occasion
+requires it, to surround him with the 'surpassing glory' which marks his
+pre-eminence above all other occupants of the sky. The Moon, his
+consort--peerless in the subdued effulgence of her borrowed light; the
+beautiful star of evening, Hesperus; the sidereal heavens with their
+untold glories; the Galaxy, overpowering in the magnificence of its
+clouds and streams of stars--all these have their beauties and charms
+mirrored in the pages of this remarkable poem.
+
+That the observation of the celestial orbs, their phases, and the varied
+phenomena which occur as a consequence of their motions, were to Milton
+an unfailing source of enjoyment and of meditative delight, is evident
+from the frequency with which he alludes to them. The following lines
+also testify to this:--
+
+    For wonderful indeed are all his works,
+    Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all
+    Had in remembrance always with delight!
+    But what created mind can comprehend
+    Their number, or the wisdom infinite
+    That brought them forth, but hid their causes deep?--iii. 703-708.
+
+It is very pleasant, as Milton says, to
+
+                        sit and rightly spell
+    Of every star that heaven doth show.
+
+It is also pleasant to know the astronomy of his 'Paradise Lost,' and to
+linger over the delightful and harmonious utterances associated with the
+sublimest of sciences, expressed in the melodious language of England's
+greatest epic poet.
+
+
+              PRINTED BY
+SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
+                LONDON
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[1] Chambers's _Handbook of Astronomy_.
+
+[2] Brewster's _Martyrs of Science_.
+
+[3] The transit occurred on a Sunday, and the 'business of the highest
+importance' to which Horrox alludes was his clerical duties.
+
+[4] A fresco by the late Mr. Ford Maddox-Brown, depicting Crabtree
+observing the transit of Venus, adorns the interior of the Manchester
+Town Hall.
+
+[5] William Crabtree died on August 1, 1644, aged 34 years.
+
+[6] The constellation Virgo.
+
+[7] _Life of Galileo_ (Library of Useful Knowledge).
+
+[8] Miss Clerke's _System of the Stars_.
+
+[9] Miss Clerke's _System of the Stars_.
+
+[10] Miss Clerke's _System of the Stars_.
+
+[11] _Ibid._
+
+[12] An expression in Book VIII. 148-49 would seem to indicate that this
+was inaccurate, but the lines
+
+                          'and other suns perhaps
+    With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry,'
+
+are an allusion to the planets Jupiter and Saturn, whose satellites had
+been recently discovered.
+
+[13] Mr. E. W. Maunder, in _Knowledge_, March 1894.
+
+[14] Though not a celestial body, it is considered desirable to describe
+the Earth as a member of the solar system.
+
+[15] See diagram, chap. iii. p. 96.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise
+Lost', by Thomas Orchard
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost', by Thomas N. Orchard.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost', by 
+Thomas Orchard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'
+
+Author: Thomas Orchard
+
+Release Date: March 29, 2009 [EBook #28434]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTRONOMY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Nigel Blower and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="notes">
+
+<h3>Transcriber&#8217;s Note</h3>
+
+<p>Minor punctuation and hyphenation inconsistencies have been corrected.</p>
+
+<p>The following minor typographical errors have been corrected:<br />
+p75:  &ldquo;establish&rdquo; changed to &ldquo;established&rdquo;<br />
+p99:  &ldquo;Firmanent&rdquo; changed to &ldquo;Firmament&rdquo;<br />
+p111: &ldquo;they thoughts&rdquo; changed to &ldquo;thy thoughts&rdquo;<br />
+p120: &ldquo;suen&rdquo; changed to &ldquo;seuen&rdquo;<br />
+p134: &ldquo;consequenc&rdquo; changed to &ldquo;consequence&rdquo;<br />
+p146: &ldquo;geographieal&rdquo; changed to &ldquo;geographical&rdquo;<br />
+p167: &ldquo;Lyrae&rdquo; changed to &ldquo;Lyræ&rdquo; for consistency<br />
+p286: Removed redundant word &ldquo;degrees&rdquo; following the degree symbol</p>
+
+<p>The spelling &ldquo;Bernices&rdquo; for &ldquo;Berenices&rdquo; has been retained throughout.</p>
+
+<p>Ditto marks in the table on page 66 have been replaced with words.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h1>
+THE ASTRONOMY<br />
+<span class="halfsize">OF</span><br />
+MILTON&#8217;S &lsquo;PARADISE LOST&rsquo;
+</h1>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<a name="FRONT" id="FRONT"></a>
+<a href="images/frontispiece.jpg">
+<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="400"
+alt="A TYPICAL SUN-SPOT" title="A TYPICAL SUN-SPOT" /></a>
+<span class="caption">A TYPICAL SUN-SPOT</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h1>THE ASTRONOMY<br />
+<span class="halfsize">OF</span><br />
+MILTON&#8217;S &lsquo;PARADISE LOST&rsquo;</h1>
+
+<h3><span class="halfsize">BY</span><br /><br />
+
+THOMAS N. ORCHARD, M.D.<br />
+
+<span class="halfsize">MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION</span></h3>
+
+<table summary="Title page poem" style="margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em;">
+<tr><td class="small">
+<i>These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,<br />
+Almighty! thine this universal frame,<br />
+Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then!<br />
+Unspeakable.</i>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<h3>LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.<br />
+<span class="halfsize"><br />LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY<br /><br />
+1896<br /><br /><br />
+All rights reserved</span></h3>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<table class="contents" cellspacing="8" summary="Contents">
+<tr>
+<th class="rt"><span class="small smcap lowercase">CHAPTER</span></th>
+<th class="lt">&nbsp;</th>
+<th class="rb"><span class="small smcap lowercase">PAGE</span></th>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">A Short Historical Sketch of Astronomy</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">Astronomy in the Seventeenth Century</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">45</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">Milton&#8217;s Astronomical Knowledge</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">81</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Milton and Galileo</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">113</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">The Seasons</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">140</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">The Starry Heavens</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">152</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">The Starry Heavens</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">200</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">Description of Celestial Objects Mentioned in &lsquo;Paradise Lost&rsquo;</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">244</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">Milton&#8217;s Imaginative and Descriptive Astronomy</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">306</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<h4><i>PLATES</i></h4>
+
+<table class="contents" cellspacing="8" summary="Plates">
+<tr>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FRONT"><span class="smcap">A Typical Sun-spot</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FRONT"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#PLATE66"><span class="smcap">Venus on the Sun&#8217;s Disc</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><i>To face page</i> &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#PLATE66">66</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#PLATE218"><span class="smcap">Cluster in Hercules</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><span class="rightgap">&rdquo;</span><a href="#PLATE218">218</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#PLATE230"><span class="smcap">Great Nebula in Orion</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><span class="rightgap">&rdquo;</span><a href="#PLATE230">230</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#PLATE268"><span class="smcap">A Portion of the Moon&#8217;s Surface</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><span class="rightgap">&rdquo;</span><a href="#PLATE268">268</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<h4><i>IN TEXT</i></h4>
+
+<table class="contents" cellspacing="8" summary="Illustrations in text">
+<tr>
+<th class="rt"><span class="small smcap lowercase">FIG.</span></th>
+<th class="lt">&nbsp;</th>
+<th class="rb"><span class="small smcap lowercase">PAGE</span></th>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#FIG1">1.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FIG1"><span class="smcap">The Ptolemaic System of the Universe</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FIG1">86</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#FIG2">2.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FIG2"><span class="smcap">Milton&#8217;s Division of Universal Space</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FIG2">96</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#FIG3">3.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FIG3"><span class="smcap">A Binary Star System&mdash;70 Ophiuchi</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FIG3">184</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#FIG4">4.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FIG4"><span class="smcap">The Orbits of the Components of <span style="font-variant: normal;">&gamma;</span> Virginis</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FIG4">189</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#FIG5">5.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FIG5"><span class="smcap">Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FIG5">190</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#FIG6">6.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FIG6"><span class="smcap">A Sun-spot Magnified</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FIG6">247</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#FIG7">7.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FIG7"><span class="smcap">The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FIG7">254</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#FIG8">8.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FIG8"><span class="smcap">A Portion of the Milky Way</span></a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#FIG8">289</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p>Many able and cultured writers have delighted to expatiate on the
+beauties of Milton&#8217;s &lsquo;Paradise Lost,&rsquo; and to linger with admiration over
+the lofty utterances expressed in his poem. Though conscious of his
+inability to do justice to the sublimest of poets and the noblest of
+sciences, the author has ventured to contribute to Miltonic literature a
+work which he hopes will prove to be of an interesting and instructive
+character. Perhaps the choicest passages in the poem are associated with
+astronomical allusion, and it is chiefly to the exposition and
+illustration of these that this volume is devoted.</p>
+
+<p>The writer is indebted to many authors for information and reference,
+and especially to Miss Agnes M. Clerke, Professors Masson and Young, Mr.
+James Nasmyth, Mr. G. F. Chambers, and Sir Robert Ball. Also to the
+works of the late Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>
+R. A. Proctor, Sirs W. and J. Herschel, Admiral
+Smyth, Professor Grant, Mr. J. R. Hind, Sir David Brewster, Rev. A. B.
+Whatton, and Prebendary Webb.</p>
+
+<p class="topgap">Most of the illustrations have been supplied by the Publishers: Messrs.
+Macmillan and W. Hunt &amp; Co. have kindly permitted the reproduction of
+some of their drawings.</p>
+
+<p class="topgap"><span class="smcap">Manchester</span>, <i>March 1896</i>.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1>
+THE ASTRONOMY<br />
+<span class="halfsize">OF</span><br />
+MILTON&#8217;S &lsquo;PARADISE LOST&rsquo;
+</h1>
+
+<hr class="micro" />
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h4>A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ASTRONOMY</h4>
+
+<p>Astronomy is the oldest and most sublime of all the sciences. To a
+contemplative observer of the heavens, the number and brilliancy of the
+stars, the lustre of the planets, the silvery aspect of the Moon, with
+her ever-changing phases, together with the order, the harmony, and
+unison pervading them all, create in his mind thoughts of wonder and
+admiration. Occupying the abyss of space indistinguishable from
+infinity, the starry heavens in grandeur and magnificence surpass the
+loftiest conceptions of the human mind; for, at a distance beyond the
+range of ordinary vision, the telescope reveals clusters, systems,
+galaxies, universes of stars&mdash;suns&mdash;the innumerable host of heaven, each
+shining with a splendour comparable with that of our Sun, and, in all
+likelihood, fulfilling in a similar manner the same beneficent purposes.</p>
+
+<p>The time when man began to study the stars is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> lost in the antiquity of
+prehistoric ages. The ancient inhabitants of the Earth regarded the
+heavenly bodies with veneration and awe, erected temples in their
+honour, and worshipped them as deities. Historical records of astronomy
+carry us back several thousand years. During the greater part of this
+time, and until a comparatively recent period, astronomy was associated
+with astrology&mdash;a science which originated from a desire on the part of
+mankind to penetrate the future, and which was based upon the supposed
+influence of the heavenly bodies upon human and terrestrial affairs. It
+was natural to imagine that the overruling power which governed and
+directed the course of sublunary events resided in the heavens, and that
+its decrees might be understood by watching the movements of the
+heavenly bodies under its control. It was, therefore, believed that by
+observing the configuration of the planets and the positions of the
+constellations at the instant of the birth of an individual, his
+horoscope, or destiny, could be foretold; and that by making
+observations of a somewhat similar nature the occurrence of events of
+public importance could be predicted. When, however, the laws which
+govern the motions of the heavenly bodies became better known, and
+especially after the discovery of the great law of gravitation,
+astrology ceased to be a belief, though for long after it retained its
+power over the imagination, and was often alluded to in the writings of
+poets and other authors.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>
+In the early dawn of astronomical science, the theories upheld with
+regard to the structure of the heavens were of a simple and primitive
+nature, and might even be described as grotesque. This need occasion no
+surprise when we consider the difficulties with which ancient
+astronomers had to contend in their endeavours to reduce to order and
+harmony the complicated motions of the orbs which they beheld circling
+around them.</p>
+
+<p>The grouping of the stars into constellations having fanciful names,
+derived from fable or ancient mythology, occurred at a very early
+period, and though devoid of any methodical arrangement, is yet
+sufficiently well-defined to serve the purposes of modern astronomers.
+Several of the ancient nations of the earth, including the Chaldeans,
+Egyptians, Hindus, and Chinese, claim to have been the earliest
+astronomers. Chinese records of astronomy reveal an antiquity of near
+3,000 years <span class="smcap lowercase">B.C.</span>, but they contain no evidence that their authors
+possessed any scientific knowledge, and they merely record the
+occurrence of solar eclipses and the appearances of comets.</p>
+
+<p>It is not known when astronomy was first studied by the Egyptians; but
+what astronomical information they have handed down is not of a very
+intelligible kind, nor have they left behind any data that can be relied
+upon. The Great Pyramid, judging from the exactness with which it faces
+the cardinal points, must have been designed by persons who possessed a
+good knowledge of astronomy, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> it was probably made use of for
+observational purposes.</p>
+
+<p>It is now generally admitted that correct astronomical observations were
+first made on the plains of Chaldea, records of eclipses having been
+discovered in Chaldean cities which date back 2,234 years <span class="smcap lowercase">B.C.</span> The
+Chaldeans were true astronomers: they made correct observations of the
+risings and settings of the heavenly bodies; and the exact orientation
+of their temples and public buildings indicates the precision with which
+they observed the positions of celestial objects. They invented the
+zodiac and gnomon, made use of several kinds of dials, notified
+eclipses, and divided the day into twenty-four hours.</p>
+
+<p>To the Greeks belongs the credit of having first studied astronomy in a
+regular and systematic manner. <span class="smcap">Thales</span> (640 <span class="smcap lowercase">B.C.</span>) was one of the earliest
+of Greek astronomers, and may be regarded as the founder of the science
+among that people. He was born at Miletus, and afterwards repaired to
+Egypt for the purpose of study. On his return to Greece he founded the
+Ionian school, and taught the sphericity of the Earth, the obliquity of
+the ecliptic, and the true causes of eclipses of the Sun and Moon. He
+also directed the attention of mariners to the superiority of the Lesser
+Bear, as a guide for the navigation of vessels, as compared with the
+Great Bear, by which constellation they usually steered. Thales believed
+the Earth to be the centre of the universe, and that the stars were
+composed of fire;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> he also predicted the occurrence of a great solar
+eclipse.</p>
+
+<p>Thales had for his successors Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Anaxagoras,
+who taught the doctrines of the Ionian school.</p>
+
+<p>The next great astronomer that we read of is <span class="smcap">Pythagoras</span>, who was born at
+Samos 590 <span class="smcap lowercase">B.C.</span> He studied under Thales, and afterwards visited Egypt and
+India, in order that he might make himself familiar with the scientific
+theories adopted by those nations. On his return to Europe he founded
+his school in Italy, and taught in a more extended form the doctrines of
+the Ionian school. In his speculations with regard to the structure of
+the universe he propounded the theory (though the reasons by which he
+sustained it were fanciful) that the Sun is the centre of the planetary
+system, and that the Earth revolves round him. This theory&mdash;the accuracy
+of which has since been confirmed&mdash;received but little attention from
+his successors, and it sank into oblivion until the time of Copernicus,
+by whom it was revived. Pythagoras discovered that the Morning and
+Evening Stars are one and the same planet.</p>
+
+<p>Among the famous astronomers who lived about this period we find
+recorded the names of Meton, who introduced the Metonic cycle into
+Greece and erected the first sundial at Athens; Eudoxus, who persuaded
+the Greeks to adopt the year of 365&frac14; days; and Nicetas, who taught
+that the Earth completed a daily revolution on her axis.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+The Alexandrian school, which flourished for three centuries prior to
+the Christian era, produced men of eminence whose discoveries and
+investigations, when arranged and classified, enabled astronomy to be
+regarded as a true theoretical science. The positions of the fixed stars
+and the paths of the planets were determined with greater accuracy, and
+irregularities of the motions of the Sun and Moon were investigated with
+greater precision. Attempts were made to ascertain the distance of the
+Sun from the Earth, and also the dimensions of the terrestrial sphere.
+The obliquity of the ecliptic was accurately determined, and an arc of
+the meridian was measured between Syene and Alexandria. The names of
+Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Aristyllus, Timocharis, and Autolycus, are
+familiarly known in association with the advancement of the astronomy of
+this period.</p>
+
+<p>We now reach the name of <span class="smcap">Hipparchus</span> of Bithynia (140 <span class="smcap lowercase">B.C.</span>), the most
+illustrious astronomer of antiquity, who did much to raise astronomy to
+the position of a true science, and who has also left behind him ample
+evidence of his genius &lsquo;as a mathematician, an observer, and a
+theorist.&rsquo; We are indebted to him for the earliest star catalogue, in
+which he included 1,081 stars. He discovered the Precession of the
+Equinoxes, and determined the motions of the Sun and Moon, and also the
+length of the year, with greater precision than any of his predecessors.
+He invented the sciences of plane and spherical trigonometry, and was
+the first to use right ascensions and declinations.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+The next astronomer of eminence after Hipparchus was
+<span class="smcap">Ptolemy</span> (130 <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span>),
+who resided at Alexandria. He was skilled as a mathematician and
+geographer, and also excelled as a musician. His chief discovery was an
+irregularity of the lunar motion, called the &lsquo;<i>evection</i>.&rsquo; He was also
+the first to observe the effect of the refraction of light in causing
+the apparent displacement of a heavenly body from its true position.
+Ptolemy devoted much of his time to extending and improving the theories
+of Hipparchus, and compiled a great treatise, called the &lsquo;Almagest,&rsquo;
+which contains nearly all the knowledge we possess of ancient astronomy.
+Ptolemy&#8217;s name is, however, most widely known in association with what
+is called the Ptolemaic theory. This system, which originated long
+before his time, but of which he was one of the ablest expounders, was
+an attempt to establish on a scientific basis the conclusions and
+results arrived at by early astronomers who studied and observed the
+motions of the heavenly bodies. Ptolemy regarded the Earth as the
+immovable centre of the universe, round which the Sun, Moon, planets,
+and the entire heavens completed a daily revolution in twenty-four
+hours. After the death of Ptolemy no worthy successor was found to
+occupy his place, the study of astronomy began to decline among the
+Greeks, and after a time it ceased to be cultivated by that people.</p>
+
+<p>The Arabs next took up the study of astronomy, which they prosecuted
+most assiduously for a period of four centuries. Their labours were,
+however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> confined chiefly to observational work, in which they
+excelled; unlike their predecessors, they paid but little attention to
+speculative theories&mdash;indeed, they regarded with such veneration the
+opinions held by the Greeks, that they did not feel disposed to question
+the accuracy of their doctrines. The most eminent astronomer among the
+Arabs was <span class="smcap">Albategnius</span> (680 <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span>). He corrected the Greek observations,
+and made several discoveries which testified to his abilities as an
+observer. <span class="smcap">Ibn Yunis</span> and <span class="smcap">Abul Wefu</span> were Arab astronomers who earned a
+high reputation on account of the number and accuracy of their
+observations. In Persia, a descendant of the famous Genghis Khan erected
+an observatory, where astronomical observations were systematically
+made. Omar, a Persian astronomer, suggested a reformation of the
+calendar which, if it had been adopted, would have insured greater
+accuracy than can be attained by the Gregorian style now in use. In
+1433, Ulugh Beg, who resided at Samarcand, made many observations, and
+constructed a star catalogue of greater exactness than was known to
+exist prior to his time. The Arabs may be regarded as having been the
+custodians of astronomy until the time of its revival in another quarter
+of the Globe.</p>
+
+<p>After the lapse of many centuries, astronomy was introduced into Western
+Europe in 1220, and from that date to the present time its career has
+been one of triumphant progress. In 1230, a translation of Ptolemy&#8217;s
+&lsquo;Almagest&rsquo; from Arabic into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> Latin was accomplished by order of the
+German Emperor, Frederick II.; and in 1252 Alphonso X., King of Castile,
+himself a zealous patron of astronomy, caused a new set of astronomical
+tables to be constructed at his own expense, which, in honour of his
+Majesty, were called the &lsquo;Alphonsine Tables.&rsquo; Purbach and Regiomontanus,
+two German astronomers of distinguished reputation, and Waltherus, a man
+of considerable renown, made many important observations in the
+fifteenth century.</p>
+
+<p>The most eminent astronomer who lived during the latter part of this
+century was Copernicus. <span class="smcap">Nicolas Copernicus</span> was born February 19, 1473,
+at Thorn, a small town situated on the Vistula, which formed the
+boundary between the kingdoms of Prussia and Poland. His father was a
+Polish subject, and his mother of German extraction. Having lost his
+parents early in life, he was educated under the supervision of his
+uncle Lucas, Bishop of Ermland. Copernicus attended a school at Thorn,
+and afterwards entered the University of Cracow, in 1491, where he
+devoted four years to the study of mathematics and science. On leaving
+Cracow he attached himself to the University of Bologna as a student of
+canon law, and attended a course of lectures on astronomy given by
+Novarra. In the ensuing year he was appointed canon of Frauenburg, the
+cathedral city of the Diocese of Ermland, situated on the shores of the
+Frisches Haff. In the year 1500 he was at Rome, where he lectured on
+mathematics and astronomy. He next<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> spent a few years at the University
+of Padua, where, besides applying himself to mathematics and astronomy,
+he studied medicine and obtained a degree. In 1505 Copernicus returned
+to his native country, and was appointed medical attendant to his uncle,
+the Bishop of Ermland, with whom he resided in the stately castle of
+Heilsberg, situated at a distance of forty-six miles from Frauenburg.
+Copernicus lived with his uncle from 1507 till 1512, and during that
+time prosecuted his astronomical studies, and undertook, besides, many
+arduous duties associated with the administration of the diocese; these
+he faithfully discharged until the death of the Bishop, which occurred
+in 1512. After the death of his uncle he took up his residence at
+Frauenburg, where he occupied his time in meditating on his new
+astronomy and undertaking various duties of a public character, which he
+fulfilled with credit and distinction. In 1523 he was appointed
+Administrator-General of the diocese. Though a canon of Frauenburg,
+Copernicus never became a priest.</p>
+
+<p>After many years of profound meditation and thought, Copernicus, in a
+treatise entitled &lsquo;De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium,&rsquo; propounded a new
+theory, or, more correctly speaking, revived the ancient Pythagorean
+system of the universe. This great work, which he dedicated to Pope Paul
+III., was completed in 1530; but he could not be prevailed upon to have
+it published until 1543, the year in which he died. In 1542 Copernicus
+had an apoplectic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> seizure, followed by paralysis and a gradual decay of
+his mental and vital powers. His book was printed at Nuremberg, and the
+first copy arrived at Frauenburg on May 24, 1543, in time to be touched
+by the hands of the dying man, who in a few hours after expired. The
+house in which Copernicus lived at Allenstein is still in existence, and
+in the walls of his chamber are visible the perforations which he made
+for the purpose of observing the stars cross the meridian.</p>
+
+<p>Copernicus was the means of creating an entire revolution in the science
+of astronomy, by transferring the centre of our system from the Earth to
+the Sun. He accounted for the alternation of day and night by the
+rotation of the Earth on her axis, and for the vicissitudes of the
+seasons by her revolution round the Sun. He devoted the greater part of
+his life to meditating on this theory, and adduced several weighty
+reasons in its support. Copernicus could not help perceiving the
+complications and entanglements by which the Ptolemaic system of the
+universe was surrounded, and which compared unfavourably with the simple
+and orderly manner in which other natural phenomena presented themselves
+to his observation. By perceiving that Mars when in opposition was not
+much inferior in lustre to Jupiter, and when in conjunction resembled a
+star of the second magnitude, he arrived at the conclusion that the
+Earth could not be the centre of the planet&#8217;s motion. Having discovered
+in some ancient manuscripts a theory, ascribed to the Egyptians, that
+Mercury<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> and Venus revolved round the Sun, whilst they accompanied the
+orb in his revolution round the Earth, Copernicus was able to perceive
+that this afforded him a means of explaining the alternate appearance of
+those planets on each side of the Sun. The varied aspects of the
+superior planets, when observed in different parts of their orbits, also
+led him to conclude that the Earth was not the central body round which
+they accomplished their revolutions. As a combined result of his
+observation and reasoning Copernicus propounded the theory that the Sun
+is the centre of our system, and that all the planets, including the
+Earth, revolve in orbits around him. This, which is called the
+Copernican system, is now regarded as, and has been proved to be, the
+true theory of the solar system.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Tycho Brahé</span> was a celebrated Danish astronomer, who earned a deservedly
+high reputation on account of the number and accuracy of his
+astronomical observations and calculations. The various astronomical
+tables that were in use in his time contained many inaccuracies, and it
+became necessary that they should be reconstructed upon a more correct
+basis. Tycho possessed the practical skill required for this kind of
+work.</p>
+
+<p>He was born December 14, 1546, at Knudstorp, near Helsingborg. His
+father, Otto Brahé, traced his descent from a Swedish family of noble
+birth. At the age of thirteen Tycho was sent to the University of
+Copenhagen, where it was intended he should prepare himself for the
+study of the law.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+The prediction of a great solar eclipse, which was to happen on August
+21, 1560, caused much public excitement in Denmark, for in those days
+such phenomena were regarded as portending the occurrence of events of
+national importance. Tycho looked forward with great eagerness to the
+time of the eclipse. He watched its progress with intense interest, and
+when he perceived all the details of the phenomenon occur exactly as
+they were predicted, he resolved to pursue the study of a science by
+which, as was then believed, the occurrence of future events could be
+foretold. From Copenhagen Tycho Brahé was sent to Leipsic to study
+jurisprudence, but astronomy absorbed all his thoughts. He spent his
+pocket-money in purchasing astronomical books, and, when his tutor had
+retired to sleep, he occupied his time night after night in watching the
+stars and making himself familiar with their courses. He followed the
+planets in their direct and retrograde movements, and with the aid of a
+small globe and pair of compasses was able by means of his own
+calculations to detect serious discrepancies in the Alphonsine and
+Prutenic tables. In order to make himself more proficient in calculating
+astronomical tables he studied arithmetic and geometry, and learned
+mathematics without the aid of a master. Having remained at Leipsic for
+three years, during which time he paid far more attention to the study
+of astronomy than to that of law, he returned to his native country in
+consequence of the death of an uncle, who bequeathed him a considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+estate. In Denmark he continued to prosecute his astronomical studies,
+and incurred the displeasure of his friends, who blamed him for
+neglecting his intended profession and wasting his time on astronomy,
+which they regarded as useless and unprofitable.</p>
+
+<p>Not caring to remain among his relatives, Tycho Brahé returned to
+Germany, and arrived at Wittenberg in 1566. Whilst residing here he had
+an altercation with a Danish gentleman over some question in
+mathematics. The quarrel led to a duel with swords, which terminated
+rather unfortunately for Tycho, who had a portion of his nose cut off.
+This loss he repaired by ingeniously contriving one of gold, silver, and
+wax, which was said to bear a good resemblance to the original. From
+Wittenberg Tycho proceeded to Augsburg, where he resided for two years.
+Here he made the acquaintance of several men distinguished for their
+learning and their love of astronomy. During his stay at Augsburg he
+constructed a quadrant of fourteen cubits radius, on which were
+indicated the single minutes of a degree; he made many valuable
+observations with this instrument, which he used in combination with a
+large sextant.</p>
+
+<p>In 1571 Tycho returned to Denmark, where his fame as an astronomer had
+preceded him, and was the means of procuring for him a hearty welcome
+from his relatives and friends. In 1572, when returning one night from
+his laboratory&mdash;for Tycho studied alchemy as well as astronomy&mdash;he
+beheld<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> what appeared to be a new and brilliant star in the
+constellation Cassiopeia, which was situated overhead. He directed the
+attention of his companions to this wonderful object, and all declared
+that they had never observed such a star before. On the following night
+he measured its distance from the nearest stars in the constellation,
+and arrived at the conclusion that it was a fixed star, and beyond our
+system.</p>
+
+<p>This remarkable object remained visible for sixteen months, and when at
+its brightest rivalled Sirius. At first it was of a brilliant white
+colour, but as it diminished in size it became yellow; it next changed
+to a red colour, resembling Aldebaran; afterwards it appeared like
+Saturn, and as it grew smaller it decreased in brightness, until it
+finally became invisible. In 1573 Tycho Brahé married a peasant-girl
+from the village of Knudstorp. This imprudent act roused the resentment
+of his relatives, who, being of noble birth, were indignant that he
+should have contracted such an alliance. The bitterness and mutual
+ill-feeling created by this affair became so intense that the King of
+Denmark deemed it advisable to endeavour to bring about a
+reconciliation.</p>
+
+<p>After this Tycho returned to Germany, and visited several cities before
+deciding where he should take up his permanent residence.</p>
+
+<p>His fame as an astronomer was now so great that he was received with
+distinction wherever he went, and on the occasion of a visit to
+Hesse-Cassel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> he spent a few pleasant days with William, Landgrave of
+Hesse, who was himself skilled in astronomy.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick II., King of Denmark, having recognised Tycho Brahé&#8217;s great
+merits as an astronomer, and not wishing that his fame should add lustre
+to a foreign Court, expressed a desire that he should return to his
+native country, and as an inducement offered him a life interest in the
+island of Huen, in the Sound, where he undertook to erect and equip an
+observatory at his own expense; the King also promised to bestow upon
+him a pension, and grant him other emoluments besides.</p>
+
+<p>Tycho gladly accepted this generous offer, and during the construction
+of the observatory occupied his time in making a magnificent collection
+of instruments and appliances adapted for observational purposes. This
+handsome edifice, upon which the King of Denmark expended a sum of
+20,000<i>l.</i>, was called &lsquo;Uranienburg&rsquo; (&lsquo;The Citadel of the Heavens&rsquo;).
+Here Tycho resided for a period of twenty years, during which time he
+pursued his astronomical labours with untiring energy and zeal, and made
+a large number of observations and calculations of much superior
+accuracy to any that existed previously, which were afterwards of great
+service to his successors. During his long residence at Huen, Tycho was
+visited by many distinguished persons, who were attracted to his island
+home by his fame and the magnificence of his observatory. Among them was
+James VI. of Scotland, who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> whilst journeying to the Court of Denmark
+on the occasion of his marriage to a Danish princess, paid Tycho a
+visit, and enjoyed his hospitality for a week. The King was delighted
+with all that he saw, and on his departure presented Tycho with a
+handsome donation, and at his request composed some Latin verses, in
+which he eulogised his host and praised his observatory.</p>
+
+<p>The island of Huen is situated about six miles from the coast of
+Zealand, and fourteen from Copenhagen. It has a circumference of six
+miles, and consists chiefly of an elevated plateau, in the centre of
+which Tycho erected his observatory, the site of which is now marked by
+two pits and a few mounds of earth&mdash;all that remains of Uranienburg. All
+went well with Tycho Brahé during the lifetime of his noble patron; but
+in 1588 Frederick II. died, and was succeeded by his son, a youth eleven
+years of age.</p>
+
+<p>The Danish nobles had long been jealous of Tycho&#8217;s fame and reputation,
+and on the death of the King an opportunity was afforded them of
+intriguing with the object of accomplishing his downfall. Several false
+accusations were brought against him, and the Court party made the
+impoverished state of the Treasury an excuse for depriving him of his
+pension and emoluments granted by the late King.</p>
+
+<p>Tycho was no longer able to bear the expense of maintaining his
+establishment at Huen, and fearing that he might be deprived of the
+island itself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> he took a house in Copenhagen, to which he removed all
+his smaller instruments.</p>
+
+<p>During his residence in the capital he was subjected to annoyance and
+persecution. An order was issued in the King&#8217;s name preventing him from
+carrying on his chemical experiments, and he besides suffered the
+indignity of a personal assault. Tycho Brahé resolved to quit his
+ungrateful country and seek a home in some foreign land, where he should
+be permitted to pursue his studies unmolested and live in quietness and
+peace. He accordingly removed from the island of Huen all his
+instruments and appliances that were of a portable nature, and packed
+them on board a vessel which he hired for the purpose of transport, and,
+having embarked with his family, his servants, and some of his pupils
+and assistants, &lsquo;this interesting barque, freighted with the glory of
+Denmark,&rsquo; set sail from Copenhagen about the end of 1597, and having
+crossed the Baltic in safety, arrived at Rostock, where Tycho found some
+old friends waiting to receive him. He was now in doubt as to where he
+should find a home, when the Austrian Emperor Rudolph, himself a liberal
+patron of science and the fine arts, having heard of Tycho Brahé&#8217;s
+misfortunes, sent him an invitation to take up his abode in his
+dominions, and promised that he should be treated in a manner worthy of
+his reputation and fame.</p>
+
+<p>Tycho resolved to accept the Emperor&#8217;s kind invitation, and in the
+spring of 1599 arrived at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> Prague, where he found a handsome residence
+prepared for his reception.</p>
+
+<p>He was received by the Emperor in a most cordial manner and treated with
+the greatest kindness. An annual pension of three thousand crowns was
+settled upon him for life, and he was to have his choice of several
+residences belonging to his Majesty, where he might reside and erect a
+new observatory. From among these he selected the Castle of Benach, in
+Bohemia, which was situated on an elevated plateau and commanded a wide
+view of the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>During his residence at Benach Tycho received a visit from Kepler, who
+stayed with him for several months in order that he might carry out some
+astronomical observations. In the following year Kepler returned, and
+took up his permanent residence with Tycho, having been appointed
+assistant in his observatory, a post which, at Tycho&#8217;s request, was
+conferred upon him by the Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>Tycho Brahé soon discovered that his ignorance of the language and
+unfamiliarity with the customs of the people caused him much
+inconvenience. He therefore asked permission from the Emperor to be
+allowed to remove to Prague. This request was readily granted, and a
+suitable residence was provided for him in the city.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime his family, his large instruments, and other property,
+having arrived at Prague, Tycho was soon comfortably settled in his new
+home.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+Though Tycho Brahé continued his astronomical observations, yet he could
+not help feeling that he lived among a strange people; nor did the
+remembrance of his sufferings and the cruel treatment he received at the
+hands of his fellow-countrymen subdue the affection which he cherished
+towards his native land. Pondering over the past, he became despondent
+and low-spirited; a morbid imagination caused him to brood over small
+troubles, and gloomy, melancholy thoughts possessed his mind&mdash;symptoms
+which seemed to presage the approach of some serious malady. One
+evening, when visiting at the house of a friend, he was seized with a
+painful illness, to which he succumbed in less than a fortnight. He died
+at Prague on October 24, 1601, when in his fifty-fifth year.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor Rudolph, when informed of Tycho Brahé&#8217;s death, expressed his
+deep regret, and commanded that he should be interred in the principal
+church in the city, and that his obsequies should be celebrated with
+every mark of honour and respect.</p>
+
+<p>Tycho Brahé stands out as the most romantic and prominent figure in the
+history of astronomy. His independence of character, his ardent
+attachments, his strong hatreds, and his love of splendour, are
+characteristics which distinguish him from all other men of his age.
+This remarkable man was an astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist; but in
+his latter years he renounced astrology, and believed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> that the stars
+exercised no influence over the destinies of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>As a practical astronomer, Tycho Brahé has not been excelled by any
+other observer of the heavens. The magnificence of his observatory at
+Huen, upon the equipment and embellishment of which it is stated he
+expended a ton of gold; the splendour and variety of his instruments,
+and his ingenuity in inventing new ones, would alone have made him
+famous. But it was by the skill and assiduity with which he carried out
+his numerous and important observations that he has earned for himself a
+position of the most honourable distinction among astronomers. In his
+investigation of the Lunar theory Tycho Brahé discovered the Moon&#8217;s
+<i>annual equation</i>, a yearly effect produced by the Sun&#8217;s disturbing
+force as the Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit. He also
+discovered another inequality in the Moon&#8217;s motion, called the
+<i>variation</i>. He determined with greater exactness astronomical
+refractions from an altitude of 45° downwards to the horizon, and
+constructed a catalogue of 777 stars. He also made a vast number of
+observations on planets, which formed the basis of the &lsquo;Rudolphine
+Tables,&rsquo; and were of invaluable assistance to Kepler in his
+investigation of the laws relating to planetary motion.</p>
+
+<p>Tycho Brahé declined to accept the Copernican theory, and devised a
+system of his own, which he called the &lsquo;Tychonic.&rsquo; By this arrangement
+the Earth remained stationary, whilst all the planets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> revolved round
+the Sun, who in his turn completed a daily revolution round the Earth.
+All the phenomena associated with the motions of those bodies could be
+explained by means of this system; but it did not receive much support,
+and after the Copernican theory became better understood it was given
+up, and heard of no more.</p>
+
+<p>We now arrive at the name of <span class="smcap">Kepler</span>, one of the very greatest of
+astronomers, and a man of remarkable genius, who was the first to
+discover the real nature of the paths pursued by the Earth and planets
+in their revolution round the Sun. After seventeen years of close
+observation, he announced that those bodies travelled round the Sun in
+elliptical or oval orbits, and not in circular paths, as was believed by
+Copernicus. In his investigation of the laws which govern the motions of
+the planets he formulated those famous theorems known as &lsquo;Kepler&#8217;s
+Laws,&rsquo; which will endure for all time as a proof of his sagacity and
+surpassing genius. Prior to the discovery of those laws the Sun, though
+acknowledged to be the centre of the system, did not appear to occupy a
+central position as regards the motions of the planets; but Kepler, by
+demonstrating that the planes of the orbits of all the planets, and the
+lines connecting their apsides, passed through the Sun, was enabled to
+assign the orb his true position with regard to those bodies.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">John Kepler</span> was born at Weil, in the Duchy of Wurtemberg, December 21,
+1571. His parents, though of noble family, lived in reduced
+circumstances,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> owing to causes for which they were themselves chiefly
+responsible. In his youth Kepler suffered so much from ill-health that
+his education had to be neglected. In 1586 he was sent to a monastic
+school at Maulbronn, which had been established at the Reformation, and
+was under the patronage of the Duke of Wurtemberg. Afterwards he studied
+at the University of Tubingen, where he distinguished himself and took a
+degree. Kepler devoted his attention chiefly to science and mathematics,
+but paid no particular attention to the study of astronomy. Maestlin,
+the professor of mathematics, whose lectures he attended, upheld the
+Copernican theory, and Kepler, who adopted the views of his teacher,
+wrote an essay in favour of the diurnal rotation of the Earth, in which
+he supported the more recent astronomical doctrines. In 1594, a vacancy
+having occurred in the professorship of astronomy at Gratz consequent
+upon the death of George Stadt, Kepler was appointed his successor. He
+did not seek this office, as he felt no particular desire to take up the
+study of astronomy, but was recommended by his tutors as a man well
+fitted for the post. He was thus in a manner compelled to devote his
+time and talents to the science of astronomy. Kepler directed his
+attention to three subjects&mdash;viz. &lsquo;the number, the size, and the motion
+of the orbits of the planets.&rsquo; He endeavoured to ascertain if any
+regular proportion existed between the sizes of the planetary orbits, or
+in the difference of their sizes, but in this he was unsuccessful. He
+then thought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> that, by imagining the existence of a planet between Mars
+and Jupiter, and another between Venus and Mercury, he might be able to
+attain his object; but he found that this assumption afforded him no
+assistance. Kepler then imagined that as there were five regular
+geometrical solids, and five planets, the distances of the latter were
+regulated by the size of the solids described round one another. The
+discovery afterwards of two additional planets testified to the
+absurdity of this speculation. A description of these extraordinary
+researches was published, in 1596, in a work entitled &lsquo;Prodromus of
+Cosmographical Dissertations; containing the cosmographical mystery
+respecting the admirable proportion of the celestial orbits, and the
+genuine and real causes of the number, magnitude, and periods of the
+planets, demonstrated by the five regular geometrical solids.&rsquo; This
+volume, notwithstanding the fanciful speculations which it contained,
+was received with much favour by astronomers, and both Tycho Brahé and
+Galileo encouraged Kepler to continue his researches. Galileo admired
+his ingenuity, and Tycho advised him &lsquo;to lay a solid foundation for his
+views by actual observation, and then, by ascending from these, to
+strive to reach the causes of things.&rsquo; Kepler spent many years in these
+fruitless endeavours before he made those grand discoveries in search of
+which he laboured so long.</p>
+
+<p>The religious dissensions which at this time agitated Germany were
+accompanied in many places by much tumult and excitement. At Gratz<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> the
+Catholics threatened to expel the Protestants from the city. Kepler, who
+was of the Reformed faith, having recognised the danger with which he
+was threatened, retired to Hungary with his wife, whom he had recently
+married, and remained there for near twelve months, during which time he
+occupied himself with writing several short treatises on subjects
+connected with astronomy. In 1599 he returned to Gratz and resumed his
+professorship.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1600 Kepler set out to pay Tycho Brahé a visit at Prague, in
+order that he might be able to avail himself of information contained in
+observations made by Tycho with regard to the eccentricities of the
+orbits of the planets. He was received by Tycho with much cordiality,
+and stayed with him for four months at his residence at Benach, Tycho in
+the meantime having promised that he would use his influence with the
+Emperor Rudolph to have him appointed as assistant in his observatory.
+On the termination of his visit Kepler returned to Gratz, and as there
+was a renewal of the religious trouble in the city, he resigned his
+professorship, from which he only derived a small income, and, relying
+on Tycho&#8217;s promise, he again journeyed to Prague, and arrived there in
+1601. Kepler was presented to the Emperor by Tycho, and the post of
+Imperial Mathematician was conferred upon him, with a salary of 100
+florins a year, upon condition that he should assist Tycho in his
+observatory. This appointment was of much value to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> Kepler, because it
+afforded him an opportunity of obtaining access to the numerous
+astronomical observations made by Tycho, which were of great assistance
+to him in the investigation of the subject which he had chosen&mdash;viz. the
+laws which govern the motions of the planets, and the form and size of
+the planetary orbits.</p>
+
+<p>As an acknowledgment of the Emperor&#8217;s great kindness, the two
+astronomers resolved to compute a new set of astronomical tables, and in
+honour of his Majesty they were to be called the &lsquo;Rudolphine Tables.&rsquo;
+This project pleased the Emperor, who promised to defray the expense of
+their publication. Logomontanus, Tycho&#8217;s chief assistant, had entrusted
+to him that portion of the work relating to observations on the stars,
+and Kepler had charge of the part which embraced the calculations
+belonging to the planets and their orbits. This important work had
+scarcely been begun when the departure of Logomontanus, who obtained an
+appointment in Denmark, and the death of Tycho Brahé in October 1601,
+necessitated its suspension for a time. Kepler was appointed Chief
+Mathematician to the Emperor in succession to Tycho&mdash;a position of
+honour and distinction, and to which was attached a handsome salary,
+that was paid out of the Imperial treasury. But owing to the continuance
+of expensive wars, which entailed a severe drain upon the resources of
+the country, the public funds became very low, and Kepler&#8217;s salary was
+always in arrear. This condition of things involved him in serious
+pecuniary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> difficulties, and the responsibility of having to maintain an
+increasing family added to his anxieties. It was with the greatest
+difficulty that he succeeded in obtaining payment of even a portion of
+his salary, and he was reduced to such straits as to be under the
+necessity of casting nativities in order to obtain money to meet his
+most pressing requirements.</p>
+
+<p>In 1609 Kepler published his great work, entitled &lsquo;The New Astronomy;
+or, Commentaries on the Motions of Mars.&rsquo; It was by his observation of
+Mars, which has an orbit of greater eccentricity than that of any of the
+other planets, with the exception of Mercury, that he was enabled, after
+years of patient study, to announce in this volume the discovery of two
+of the three famous theorems known as Kepler&#8217;s Laws. The first is, that
+all the planets move round the Sun in elliptic orbits, and that the orb
+occupies one of the foci. The second is, that the radius-vector, or
+imaginary line joining the centre of the planet and the centre of the
+Sun, describes equal areas in equal times. The third law, which relates
+to the connection between the periodic times and the distances of the
+planets, was not discovered until ten years later, when Kepler, in 1619,
+issued another work, called the &lsquo;Harmonies of the World,&rsquo; dedicated to
+James I. of England, in which was contained this remarkable law. These
+laws have elevated astronomy to the position of a true physical science,
+and also formed the starting-point of Newton&#8217;s investigations which led
+to the discovery of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> the law of gravitation. Kepler&#8217;s delight on the
+discovery of his third law was unbounded. He writes: &lsquo;Nothing holds me.
+I will indulge in my sacred fury. I will triumph over mankind by the
+honest confession that I have stolen the golden vases of the Egyptians
+to build up a tabernacle for my God far away from the confines of Egypt.
+If you forgive me, I rejoice; if you are angry, I can bear it. The die
+is cast; the book is written, to be read either now or by posterity I
+care not which. It may well wait a century for a reader, as God has
+waited six thousand years for an observer.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>When Kepler presented his celebrated book to the Emperor, he remarked
+that it was his intention to make a similar attack upon the other
+planets, and promised that he would be successful if his Majesty would
+undertake to find the means necessary for carrying on operations. But
+the Emperor had more formidable enemies to contend with nearer home than
+Jupiter and Saturn, and no funds were forthcoming to assist Kepler in
+his undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>The chair of mathematics in the University of Linz having become vacant,
+Kepler offered himself as a candidate for the appointment, which he was
+anxious to obtain; but the Emperor Rudolph was averse to his leaving
+Prague, and encouraged him to hope that the arrears of his salary would
+be paid. But past experience led Kepler to have no very sanguine
+expectations on this point; nor was it until after the death of Rudolph,
+in 1612, that he was relieved from his pecuniary embarrassments.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+On the accession of Rudolph&#8217;s brother, Matthias, to the Austrian throne,
+Kepler was reappointed Imperial Mathematician; he was also permitted to
+hold the professorship at Linz, to which he had been elected. Kepler was
+not loth to remove from Prague, where he had spent eleven years harassed
+by poverty and other domestic afflictions. Having settled with his
+family at Linz, Kepler issued another work, in 1618, entitled &lsquo;Epitome
+of the Copernican Astronomy,&rsquo; in which he gave a general account of his
+astronomical observations and discoveries, and a summary of his opinions
+with regard to the theories which in those days were the subject of
+controversial discussion. Almost immediately after its publication it
+was included by the Congregation of the Index, at Rome, in the list of
+prohibited books. This occasioned Kepler considerable alarm, as he
+imagined it might interfere with the sale of his works, or give rise to
+difficulties in the issue of others. He, however, was assured by his
+friend Remus that the action of the Papal authorities need cause him no
+anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor Matthias died in 1619, and was succeeded by Ferdinand III.,
+who not only retained Kepler in his office, but gave orders that all the
+arrears of his salary should be paid, including those which accumulated
+during the reign of Rudolph; he also expressed a desire that the
+&lsquo;Rudolphine Tables&rsquo; should be published without delay and at his cost.
+But other obstacles intervened, for at this time Germany was involved in
+a civil and religious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> war, which interfered with all peaceful
+vocations. Kepler&#8217;s library at Linz was sealed up by order of the
+Jesuits, and the city was for a time besieged by troops. This state of
+public affairs necessitated a considerable delay in the publication of
+the &lsquo;Tables.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>The &lsquo;Rudolphine Tables&rsquo; were published at Ulm in 1627. They were
+commenced by Tycho Brahé, and completed by Kepler, who made his
+calculations from Tycho&#8217;s observations, and based them upon his own
+great discovery of the ellipticity of the orbits of the planets. They
+are divided into four parts. The first and third parts contain
+logarithmic and other tables for the purpose of facilitating
+astronomical calculations; in the second are tables of the Sun, Moon,
+and planets; and in the fourth are indicated the positions of one
+thousand stars as determined by Tycho. Kepler made a special journey to
+Prague in order to present the &lsquo;Tables&rsquo; to the Emperor, and afterwards
+the Grand Duke of Tuscany sent him a gold chain as an acknowledgment of
+his appreciation of the completion of this great work.</p>
+
+<p>Albert Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, an accomplished scholar and a man
+fond of scientific pursuits, made Kepler a most liberal offer if he
+would take up his residence in his dominions. After duly considering
+this proposal, Kepler decided to accept the Duke&#8217;s offer, provided it
+received the sanction of the Emperor. This was readily given, and
+Kepler, in 1629, removed with his family from Linz to Sagan, in Silesia.
+The Duke of Friedland<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> treated him with great kindness and liberality,
+and through his influence he was appointed to a professorship in the
+University of Rostock. Though Kepler was permitted to retain the pension
+bestowed upon him by the late Emperor Rudolph, he was unable after his
+removal to Silesia to obtain payment of it, and there was a large
+accumulation of arrears. In a final endeavour to recover the amount
+owing to him he travelled to Ratisbon, and appealed to the Imperial
+Assembly, but without success. The fatigue which Kepler endured on his
+journey, combined with vexation and disappointment, brought on a fever,
+which terminated fatally. He died on November 15, 1630, when in the
+sixtieth year of his age, and was interred in St. Peter&#8217;s churchyard,
+Ratisbon.</p>
+
+<p>Kepler was a man of indomitable energy and perseverance, and spared
+neither time nor trouble in the accomplishment of any object which he
+took in hand. In thinking over the form of the orbits of the planets, he
+writes: &lsquo;I brooded with the whole energy of my mind on this
+subject&mdash;asking why they are not other than they are&mdash;the number, the
+size, and the motions of the orbits.&rsquo; But many fanciful ideas passed
+through Kepler&#8217;s imaginative brain before he hit upon the true form of
+the planetary orbits. In his &lsquo;Mysterium Cosmographicum&rsquo; he asserts that
+the five kinds of regular polyhedral solids, when described round one
+another, regulated the distances of the planets and size of the
+planetary orbits. In support of this theory he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> writes as follows: &lsquo;The
+orbit of the Earth is the measure of the rest. About it circumscribe a
+dodecahedron. The sphere including this will be that of Mars. About
+Mars&#8217; orbit describe a tetrahedron; the sphere containing this will be
+Jupiter&#8217;s orbit. Round Jupiter&#8217;s describe a cube; the sphere including
+this will be Saturn&#8217;s. Within the Earth&#8217;s orbit inscribe an icosahedron;
+the sphere inscribed in it will be Venus&#8217;s orbit. In Venus inscribe an
+octahedron; the sphere inscribed in it will be Mercury&#8217;s.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>The above quotation is an instance of Kepler&#8217;s wild and imaginative
+genius, which ultimately led him to make those sublime discoveries
+associated with planetary motion which are known as &lsquo;Kepler&#8217;s Laws.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>He describes himself as &lsquo;troublesome and choleric in politics and
+domestic matters;&rsquo; but in his relations with scientific men he was
+affable and pleasant. He showed no jealousy of a rival, and was always
+ready to recognise merit in others; nor did he hesitate to acknowledge
+any error of his own when more recent discoveries proved that he was
+wrong.</p>
+
+<p>Some of his works contain passages, written in a jocular strain,
+indicative of a bright and cheerful temperament. The following
+characteristic paragraph refers to the opinions of the Epicureans with
+regard to the appearance of a new star, which they ascribed to a
+fortuitous concourse of atoms: &lsquo;When I was a youth, with plenty of idle
+time on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> my hands, I was much taken with the vanity, of which some grown
+men are not ashamed, of making anagrams by transposing the letters of my
+name written in Latin so as to make another sentence. Out of Ioannes
+Keplerus came <i>Serpens in akuleo</i> (a serpent in his sting); but not
+being satisfied with the meaning of these words, and being unable to
+make another, I trusted the thing to chance, and, taking out of a pack
+of playing-cards as many as there were letters in the name, I wrote one
+upon each, and then began to shuffle them, and at each shuffle to read
+them in the order they came, to see if any meaning came of it. Now, may
+all the Epicurean gods and goddesses confound this same chance, which,
+although I have spent a good deal of time over it, never showed me
+anything like sense, even from a distance. So I gave up my cards to the
+Epicurean eternity, to be carried away into infinity; and it is said
+they are still flying about there, in the utmost confusion, among the
+atoms, and have never yet come to any meaning. I will tell those
+disputants, my opponents, not my own opinion, but my wife&#8217;s. Yesterday,
+when weary with writing, and my mind quite dusty with considering these
+atoms, I was called to supper, and a salad I had asked for was set
+before me. &ldquo;It seems, then,&rdquo; said I aloud, &ldquo;that if pewter dishes,
+leaves of lettuce, grains of salt, drops of water, vinegar and oil, and
+slices of egg, had been flying about in the air from all eternity, it
+might at last happen by chance that there would come a salad.&rdquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo;
+says my wife, &ldquo;but not so nice and well dressed as this of mine is.&rdquo;&lsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the frequent interruptions which, owing to various
+reasons, retarded his labours, Kepler was able to bring to a successful
+completion the numerous and important works upon which he was engaged
+during his lifetime, the voluminous nature of which may be imagined when
+it is stated that he published thirty-three separate works, besides
+leaving behind twenty-two volumes of manuscript.</p>
+
+<p>During his researches on the motions of Mars, Kepler discovered that the
+planet sometimes travelled at an accelerated rate of speed, and at
+another time its pace was diminished. At one time he observed it to be
+in advance of the place where he calculated it should be found, and at
+another time it was behind it. This caused him considerable perplexity,
+and, feeling convinced in his mind that the form of the planet&#8217;s orbit
+could not be circular, he was compelled to turn his attention to some
+other closed curve, by which those inequalities of motion could be
+explained.</p>
+
+<p>After years of careful observation and study, Kepler arrived at the
+conclusion that the form of the planet&#8217;s orbit is an ellipse, and that
+the Sun occupies one of the foci. He afterwards determined that the
+orbits of all the planets are of an elliptical form.</p>
+
+<p>Having discovered the true form of the planetary orbits, Kepler next
+endeavoured to ascertain the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> cause which regulates the unequal motion
+that a planet pursues in its path. He observed that when a planet
+approached the Sun its motion was accelerated, and as it receded from
+him its pace became slower.</p>
+
+<p>This he explained in his next great discovery by proving that an
+imaginary line, or radius-vector, extending from the centre of the Sun
+to the centre of the planet &lsquo;describes equal areas in equal times.&rsquo; When
+near the Sun, or at perihelion, a planet traverses a larger portion of
+its arc in the same period of time than it does when at the opposite
+part of its orbit, or when at aphelion; but, as the areas of both are
+equal, it follows that the planet does not always maintain the same rate
+of speed, and that its velocity is greatest when nearest the Sun, and
+least when most distant from him.</p>
+
+<p>By the application of his first and second laws Kepler was able to
+formulate a third law. He found that there existed a remarkable
+relationship between the mean distances of the planets and the times in
+which they complete their revolutions round the Sun, and discovered
+&lsquo;that the squares of the periodic times are to each in the same
+proportion as the cubes of the mean distances.&rsquo; The periodic time of a
+planet having been ascertained, the square of the mean distance and the
+mean distance itself can be obtained. It is by the application of this
+law that the distances of the planets are usually calculated.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+These discoveries are known as Kepler&#8217;s Laws, and are usually classified
+as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>1. &lsquo;The orbit described by every planet is an ellipse, of which the
+centre of the Sun occupies one of the foci.</p>
+
+<p>2. &lsquo;Every planet moves round the Sun in a plane orbit, and the
+radius-vector, or imaginary line joining the centre of the planet and
+the centre of the Sun, describes equal areas in equal times.</p>
+
+<p>3. &lsquo;The squares of the periodic times of any two planets are
+proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun.&rsquo;<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
+
+<p>These remarkable discoveries do not embrace all the achievements by
+which Kepler has immortalised his name, and earned for himself the proud
+title of &lsquo;Legislator of the Heavens;&rsquo; he predicted transits of Mercury
+and Venus, made important discoveries in optics, and was the inventor of
+the astronomical telescope.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Galileo Galilei</span>, the famous Italian astronomer and philosopher, and the
+contemporary of Kepler and of Milton, was born at Pisa on February 15,
+1564.</p>
+
+<p>His father, who traced his descent from an ancient Florentine family,
+was desirous that his son should adopt the profession of medicine, and
+with this intention he entered him as a student at the University of
+Pisa. Galileo, however, soon discovered that the study of mathematics
+and mechanical science possessed a greater attraction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> for his mind,
+and, following his inclinations, he resolved to devote his energies to
+acquiring proficiency in those subjects.</p>
+
+<p>In 1583 his attention was attracted by the oscillation of a brass lamp
+suspended from the ceiling of the cathedral at Pisa. Galileo was
+impressed with the regularity of its motion as it swung backwards and
+forwards, and was led to imagine that the pendulum movement might prove
+a valuable method for the correct measurement of time. The practical
+application of this idea he afterwards adopted in the construction of an
+astronomical clock.</p>
+
+<p>Having become proficient in mathematics, Galileo, whilst engaged in
+studying the writings of Archimedes, wrote an essay on &lsquo;The Hydrostatic
+Balance,&rsquo; and composed a treatise on &lsquo;The Centre of Gravity in Solid
+Bodies.&rsquo; The reputation which he earned by these contributions to
+science procured for him the appointment of Lecturer on Mathematics at
+the University of Pisa. Galileo next directed his attention to the works
+of Aristotle, and made no attempt to conceal the disfavour with which he
+regarded many of the doctrines taught by the Greek philosopher; nor had
+he any difficulty in exposing their inaccuracies. One of these, which
+maintained that the heavier of two bodies descended to the earth with
+the greater rapidity, he proved to be incorrect, and demonstrated by
+experiment from the top of the tower at Pisa that, except for the
+unequal resistance of the air, all bodies fell to the ground with the
+same velocity.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+As the chief expounder of the new philosophy, Galileo had to encounter
+the prejudices of the followers of Aristotle, and of all those who
+disliked any innovation or change in the established order of things.
+The antagonism which existed between Galileo and his opponents, who were
+both numerous and influential, was intensified by the bitterness and
+sarcasm which he imparted into his controversies, and the attitude
+assumed by his enemies at last became so threatening that he deemed it
+prudent to resign the Chair of Mathematics in the University of Pisa.</p>
+
+<p>In the following year he was appointed to a similar post at Padua, where
+his fame attracted crowds of pupils from all parts of Europe.</p>
+
+<p>In 1611 Galileo visited Rome. He was received with much distinction by
+the different learned societies, and was enrolled a member of the
+Lyncæan Academy. In two years after his visit to the capital he
+published a work in which he declared his adhesion to the Copernican
+theory, and openly avowed his disbelief in the astronomical facts
+recorded in the Scriptures. Galileo maintained that the sacred writings
+were not intended for the purpose of imparting scientific information,
+and that it was impossible for men to ignore phenomena witnessed with
+their eyes, or disregard conclusions arrived at by the exercise of their
+reasoning powers.</p>
+
+<p>The champions of orthodoxy having become alarmed, an appeal was made to
+the ecclesiastical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> authorities to assist in suppressing this recent
+astronomical heresy, and other obnoxious doctrines, the authorship of
+which was ascribed to Galileo.</p>
+
+<p>In 1615, Galileo was summoned before the Inquisition to reply to the
+accusation of heresy. &lsquo;He was charged with maintaining the motion of the
+Earth and the stability of the Sun; with teaching this doctrine to his
+pupils; with corresponding on the subject with several German
+mathematicians; and with having published it, and attempted to reconcile
+it to Scripture in his letters to Mark Velser in 1612.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>These charges having been formally investigated by the Inquisition,
+Cardinal Bellarmine was authorised to communicate with Galileo, and
+inform him that unless he renounced the obnoxious doctrines, and
+promised &lsquo;neither to teach, defend, or publish them in future,&rsquo; it was
+decreed that he should be committed to prison. Galileo appeared next day
+before the Cardinal, and, without any hesitation, pledged himself that
+for the future he would adhere to the pronouncement of the Inquisition.</p>
+
+<p>Having, as they imagined, silenced Galileo, the Inquisition resolved to
+condemn the entire Copernican system as heretical; and in order to
+effectually accomplish this, besides condemning the writings of Galileo,
+they inhibited Kepler&#8217;s &lsquo;Epitome of the Copernican System,&rsquo; and
+Copernicus&#8217;s own work, &lsquo;De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Whether it was that Galileo regarded the Inquisition as a body whose
+decrees were too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> absurd and unreasonable to be heeded, or that he
+dreaded the consequences which might have followed had he remained
+obstinate, we know that, notwithstanding the pledges which he gave, he
+was soon afterwards engaged in controversial discussion on those
+subjects which he promised not to mention again.</p>
+
+<p>On the accession of his friend Cardinal Barberini to the pontifical
+throne in 1623, under the title of Urban VIII., Galileo undertook a
+journey to Rome to offer him his congratulations upon his elevation to
+the papal chair. He was received by his Holiness with marked attention
+and kindness, was granted several prolonged audiences, and had conferred
+upon him several valuable gifts.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the kindness of Pope Urban and the leniency with which
+he was treated by the Inquisition, Galileo, having ignored his pledge,
+published in 1632 a book, in dialogue form, in which three persons were
+supposed to express their scientific opinions. The first upheld the
+Copernican theory and the more recent philosophical views; the second
+person adopted a neutral position, suggested doubts, and made remarks of
+an amusing nature; the third individual, called Simplicio, was a
+believer in Ptolemy and Aristotle, and based his arguments upon the
+philosophy of the ancients.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as this work became publicly known, the enemies of Galileo
+persuaded the Pope that the third person held up to ridicule was
+intended as a representation of himself&mdash;an individual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> regardless of
+scientific truth, and firmly attached to the ideas and opinions
+associated with the writings of antiquity.</p>
+
+<p>Almost immediately after the publication of the &lsquo;Dialogues&rsquo; Galileo was
+summoned before the Inquisition, and, notwithstanding his feeble health
+and the infirmities of advanced age, he was, after a long and tedious
+trial, condemned to abjure by oath on his knees his scientific beliefs.</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;The ceremony of Galileo&#8217;s abjuration was one of exciting interest and
+of awful formality. Clothed in the sackcloth of a repentant criminal,
+the venerable sage fell upon his knees before the assembled cardinals,
+and, laying his hand upon the Holy Evangelists, he invoked the Divine
+aid in abjuring, and detesting, and vowing never again to teach the
+doctrines of the Earth&#8217;s motion and of the Sun&#8217;s stability. He pledged
+himself that he would nevermore, either in words or in writing,
+propagate such heresies; and he swore that he would fulfil and observe
+the penances which had been inflicted upon him.&rsquo; &lsquo;At the conclusion of
+this ceremony, in which he recited his abjuration word for word and then
+signed it, he was conveyed, in conformity with his sentence, to the
+prison of the Inquisition.&rsquo;<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>Galileo&#8217;s sarcasm, and the bitterness which he imparted into his
+controversies, were more the cause of his misfortunes than his
+scientific beliefs. When he became involved in difficulties he did not
+possess the moral courage to enable him to abide<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> by the consequences of
+his acts; nor did he care to become a martyr for the sake of science,
+his submission to the Inquisition having probably saved him from a fate
+similar to what befell Bruno. Though it would be impossible to justify
+Galileo&#8217;s want of faith in his dealings with the Inquisition, yet one
+cannot help sympathising deeply with the aged philosopher, who, in this
+painful episode of his life, was compelled to go through the form of
+making a retractation of his beliefs under circumstances of a most
+humiliating nature.</p>
+
+<p>But the persecution of Galileo did not delay the progress of scientific
+inquiry nor retard the advancement of the Copernican theory, which,
+after the discovery by Newton of the law of gravitation, was universally
+adopted as the true theory of the solar system.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand, Duke of Tuscany, having exerted his influence with Pope Urban
+on behalf of Galileo, he was, after a few days&#8217; incarceration, released
+from prison, and permission was given him to reside at Siena, where he
+remained for six months. He was afterwards allowed to return to his
+villa at Arcetri, and, though regarded as a prisoner of the Inquisition,
+was permitted to pursue his studies unmolested for the remainder of his
+days.</p>
+
+<p>Galileo died at Arcetri on January 8, 1642, when in the seventy-eighth
+year of his age.</p>
+
+<p>Though not the inventor, he was the first to construct a refracting
+telescope and apply it to astronomical research. With this instrument
+he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> made a number of important discoveries which tended to confirm his
+belief in the truthfulness of the Copernican theory.</p>
+
+<p>On directing his telescope to the Sun, he discovered movable spots on
+his disc, and concluded from his observation of them that the orb
+rotated on his axis in about twenty-eight days. He also ascertained that
+the Moon&#8217;s illumination is due to reflected sunlight, and that her
+surface is diversified by mountains, valleys, and plains.</p>
+
+<p>On the night of January 7, 1610, Galileo discovered the four moons of
+Jupiter. This discovery may be regarded as one of his most brilliant
+achievements with the telescope; and, notwithstanding the improvement in
+construction and size of modern instruments, no other satellite was
+discovered until near midnight on September 9, 1892, when Mr. E. E.
+Barnard, with the splendid telescope of the Lick Observatory, added
+&lsquo;another gem to the diadem of Jupiter.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>The phases of Venus and Mars, the triple form of Saturn, and the
+constitution of the Milky Way, which he found to consist of a countless
+multitude of stars, were additional discoveries for our knowledge of
+which we are indebted to Galileo and his telescope. Galileo made many
+other important discoveries in mechanical and physical science. He
+detected the law of falling bodies in their accelerated motion towards
+the Earth, determined the parabolic law of projectiles, and
+demonstrated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> that matter, even if invisible, possessed the property of
+weight.</p>
+
+<p>In these pages a short historical description is given of the progress
+made in astronomical science from an early period to the time in which
+Milton lived. The discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo had
+raised it to a position of lofty eminence, though the law of
+gravitation, which accounts for the form and permanency of the planetary
+orbits, still remained undiscovered. Theories formerly obscure or
+conjectural were either rejected or elucidated with accuracy and
+precision, and the solar system, having the Sun as its centre, with his
+attendant family of planets and their satellites revolving in majestic
+orbits around him, presented an impressive spectacle of order, harmony,
+and design.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h4>ASTRONOMY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY</h4>
+
+<p>The seventeenth century embraces the most remarkable epoch in the whole
+history of astronomy. It was during this period that those wonderful
+discoveries were made which have been the means of raising astronomy to
+the lofty position which it now occupies among the sciences. The
+unrivalled genius and patient labours of the illustrious men whose names
+stand out in such prominence on the written pages of the history of this
+era have rendered it one of the most interesting and elevating of
+studies. Though Copernicus lived in the preceding century, yet the names
+of Tycho Brahé, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, testify to the greatness of
+the discoveries that were made during this period, which have surrounded
+the memories of those men with a lustre of undying fame.</p>
+
+<p>Foremost among astronomers of less conspicuous eminence who made
+important discoveries in this century we find the name of Huygens.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Christian Huygens</span> was born at The Hague in 1629. He was the second son
+of Constantine Huygens, an eminent diplomatist, and secretary to the
+Prince of Orange. Huygens studied at Leyden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> and Breda, and became
+highly distinguished as a geometrician and scientist. He made important
+investigations relative to the figure of the Earth, and wrote a learned
+treatise on the cause of gravity; he also determined with greater
+accuracy investigations made by Galileo regarding the accelerated motion
+of bodies when subjected to the influence of that force.</p>
+
+<p>Huygens admitted that the planets and their satellites attracted each
+other with a force varying according to the inverse ratio of the squares
+of their distances, but rejected the mutual attraction of the molecules
+of matter, believing that they possessed gravity towards a central point
+only, to which they were attracted. This supposition was at variance
+with the Newtonian theory, which, however, was universally regarded as
+the correct one.</p>
+
+<p>Huygens originated the theory by which it is believed that light is
+produced by the undulatory vibration of the ether; he also discovered
+polarization.</p>
+
+<p>Up to this time the method adopted in the construction of clocks was not
+capable of producing a mechanism which measured time with sufficient
+accuracy to satisfy the requirements of astronomers. Huygens endeavoured
+to supply this want, and applied his mechanical ingenuity in
+constructing a clock that could be relied upon to keep accurate time.
+Though the pendulum motion was first adopted by Galileo, he was unable
+to arrange its mechanism so that it should keep up a continuous
+movement. The oscillation of the pendulum ceased<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> after a time, and a
+fresh impulse had to be applied to set it in motion. Consequently,
+Galileo&#8217;s clock was of no service as a timekeeper.</p>
+
+<p>Huygens overcame this difficulty by so arranging the mechanism of his
+clock that the balance, instead of being horizontal, was directed
+perpendicularly, and prolonged downwards to form a pendulum, the
+oscillations of which regulated the downward motion of the weight. This
+invention, which was highly applauded, proved to be of great service
+everywhere, and was especially valuable for astronomical purposes.</p>
+
+<p>Huygens next directed his attention to the construction of telescopes,
+and displayed much skill in the grinding and polishing of lenses. He
+made several instruments superior in power and accuracy to any that
+existed previously, and with one of these made some remarkable
+discoveries when observing the planet Saturn.</p>
+
+<p>The telescopic appearance of Saturn is one of the most beautiful in the
+heavens. The planet, surrounded by two brilliant rings, and accompanied
+by eight attendant moons, surpasses all the other orbs of the firmament
+as an object of interest and admiration. To the naked eye, Saturn is
+visible as a star of the first magnitude, and was known to the ancients
+as the most remote of the planets. Travelling in space at a distance of
+nearly one thousand millions of miles from the Sun, the planet
+accomplishes a revolution of its mighty orbit in twenty-nine and a half
+years.</p>
+
+<p>Galileo was the first astronomer who directed a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> telescope to Saturn. He
+observed that the planet presented a triform appearance, and that on
+each side of the central globe there were two objects, in close contact
+with it, which caused it to assume an ovoid shape. After further
+observation, Galileo perceived that the lateral bodies gradually
+decreased in size, until they became invisible. At the expiration of a
+certain period of time they reappeared, and were observed to go through
+a certain cycle of changes. By the application of increased telescopic
+power it was discovered that the appendages were not of a rounded form,
+but appeared as two small crescents, having their concave surfaces
+directed towards the planet and their extremities in contact with it,
+resembling the manner in which the handles are attached to a cup.</p>
+
+<p>These objects were observed to go through a series of periodic changes.
+After having become invisible, they reappeared as two luminous straight
+bands, projecting from each side of the planet; during the next seven or
+eight years they gradually opened out, and assumed a crescentic form;
+they afterwards began to contract, and on the expiration of a similar
+period, during which time they gradually decreased in size, they again
+became invisible. It was perceived that the appendages completed a cycle
+of their changes in about fifteen years.</p>
+
+<p>In 1656, Huygens, with a telescope constructed by himself, was enabled
+to solve the enigma which for so many years baffled the efforts of the
+ablest astronomers. He announced his discovery in the form<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> of a Latin
+cryptograph which, when deciphered, read as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;Annulo cingitur, tenui plano, nusquam cohaerente, ad eclipticam
+inclinatio.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;The planet is surrounded by a slender flat ring everywhere distinct
+from its surface, and inclined to the ecliptic.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Huygens perceived the shadow of the ring thrown on the planet, and was
+able to account in a satisfactory manner for all the phenomena observed
+in connection with its variable appearance.</p>
+
+<p>The true form of the ring is circular, but by us it is seen
+foreshortened; consequently, when the Earth is above or below its plane,
+it appears of an elliptical shape. When the position of the planet is
+such that the plane of the ring passes through the Sun, the edge of the
+ring only is illumined, and then it becomes invisible for a short
+period. In the same manner, when the plane of the ring passes through
+the Earth, the illumined edge of the ring is not of sufficient magnitude
+to appear visible, but as the enlightened side of the plane becomes more
+inclined towards the Earth, the ring comes again into view. When the
+plane of the ring passes between the Earth and the Sun, the unillumined
+side of the ring is turned towards the Earth, and during the time it
+remains in this position it is invisible.</p>
+
+<p>Huygens discovered the sixth satellite of Saturn (Titan), and also the
+Great Nebula in Orion.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Johann Hevelius</span>, a celebrated Prussian astronomer, was born at Dantzig
+in 1611, and died in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> that city in 1687. He was a man of wealth, and
+erected an observatory at his residence, where, for a period of forty
+years, he carried out a series of astronomical observations.</p>
+
+<p>He constructed a chart of the stars, and in order to complete his work,
+formed nine new constellations in those spaces in the celestial vault
+which were previously un-named. They are known by the names
+Camelopardus, Canes Venatici, Coma Bernices, Lacerta, Leo Minor, Lynx,
+Monoceros, Sextans, and Vulpecula. He also executed a chart of the
+Moon&#8217;s surface, wrote a description of the lunar spots, and discovered
+the Libration of the Moon in Longitude.</p>
+
+<p>On May 30, 1661, Hevelius observed a transit of Mercury, a description
+of which he published, and included with it Horrox&#8217;s treatise on the
+first-recorded transit of Venus. This work, after having passed through
+several hands, became the property of Hevelius, who was capable of
+appreciating its merits. The manuscript was sent to him by Huygens, and
+in acknowledging it he writes: &lsquo;How greatly does my Mercury exult in the
+joyous prospect that he may shortly fold within his arms Horrox&#8217;s long
+looked-for and beloved Venus! He renders you unfeigned thanks that by
+your permission this much-desired union is about to be celebrated, and
+that the writer is able, with your concurrence, to introduce them both
+together to the public.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Hevelius made numerous researches on comets,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> and suggested that the
+form of their paths might be a parabola.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Giovanni Domenico Cassini</span> was born at Perinaldo, near Nice, in 1625. He
+studied at Genoa and Bologna, and was afterwards appointed to the Chair
+of Astronomy at the latter University. He was a man of high scientific
+attainments, and made many important astronomical discoveries.</p>
+
+<p>In 1671 he became Director of the Royal Observatory at Paris, and
+devoted a long life to trying and difficult observations, which in his
+later years deprived him of his eyesight.</p>
+
+<p>In 1644 Cassini proved beyond doubt that Jupiter rotated on his axis,
+and also assigned his period of rotation with considerable accuracy. He
+published tables of the planet&#8217;s satellites, and determined their
+motions from observations of their eclipses. He ascertained the periods
+of rotation of Venus and Mars; executed a chart of the lunar surface,
+and observed an occultation of Jupiter by the Moon.</p>
+
+<p>Cassini discovered the dual nature of Saturn&#8217;s ring, having perceived
+that instead of one there are two concentric rings separated by a dark
+space. He also discovered four of the planet&#8217;s satellites&mdash;viz. Japetus,
+Rhea, Dione, and Tethys. He made a near approximation to the solar
+parallax by means of researches on the parallax of Mars, and
+investigated some irregularities of the Moon&#8217;s motion. Cassini
+discovered the belts of Jupiter, and also the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> Zodiacal Light, and
+established the coincidence of the nodes of the lunar equator and orbit.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Jaques Cassini</span>, son of Giovanni, was born at Paris in 1677. He followed
+in his father&#8217;s footsteps, and wrote several treatises on astronomical
+subjects. He investigated the period of the rotation of Venus on her
+axis, and upheld the results arrived at by his father, which were
+afterwards confirmed by observations made by Schroeter. Cassini made
+some valuable researches with regard to the proper motion of the stars,
+and demonstrated that their change of position on the celestial vault
+was real, and not caused by a displacement of the ecliptic. He attempted
+to ascertain the apparent diameter of Sirius, and made observations with
+regard to the visibility of the stars. The Cassini family produced
+several generations of eminent astronomers, whose discoveries and
+investigations were of much value in advancing the science of astronomy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Olaus Roemer</span>, an eminent Danish astronomer, was born at Copenhagen
+September 25, 1644. When Picard, a French astronomer, visited Denmark in
+1671, for the purpose of ascertaining the exact position of
+&lsquo;Uranienburg,&rsquo; the site of Tycho Brahé&#8217;s observatory, he made the
+acquaintance of Roemer, who was engaged in studying mathematics and
+astronomy under Erasmus Bartolinus. Having perceived that the young man
+was gifted with no ordinary degree of talent, he secured his services to
+assist him in his observations, and, on the conclusion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> of his labours,
+Picard was so much impressed with the ability displayed by Roemer, that
+he invited him to accompany him to France. This invitation he accepted,
+and took up his residence in the French capital, where he continued to
+prosecute his astronomical studies.</p>
+
+<p>In 1675 Roemer communicated to the Academy of Sciences a paper, in which
+he announced his discovery of the progressive transmission of light. It
+was believed that light travelled instantaneously, but Roemer was able
+to demonstrate the inaccuracy of this conclusion, and determined that
+light travels through space with a measurable velocity.</p>
+
+<p>By diligently observing the eclipses of Jupiter&#8217;s satellites, Roemer
+perceived that sometimes they occurred before, and sometimes after their
+predicted times. This irregularity, he discovered, depended upon the
+position of the Earth with regard to Jupiter. When the Earth, in
+traversing her orbit, moved round to the opposite side of the Sun,
+thereby bringing Jupiter into conjunction, an eclipse occurred sixteen
+minutes twenty-six seconds later than it did when Jupiter was in
+opposition or nearest to the Earth. As there existed an impression that
+light travelled instantaneously, it was believed that an eclipse
+occurred at the moment it was perceived in the telescope. This, however,
+was not so. Roemer, after a long series of observations, concluded that
+the discrepancies were due to the fact that light travels with a
+measurable velocity, and that it requires a greater length of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> time,
+upwards of sixteen minutes, to traverse the additional distance&mdash;the
+diameter of the Earth&#8217;s orbit&mdash;which intervenes between the Earth and
+Jupiter, when the planet is in conjunction, as compared with the
+distance between the Earth and Jupiter, when the latter is in
+opposition. This discovery of Roemer&#8217;s was the means of enabling the
+velocity of light to be ascertained, which, according to recent
+calculations, is about 187,000 miles a second. As an acknowledgment of
+the importance of his communication, Roemer was awarded a seat in the
+Academy, and apartments were assigned to him at the Royal Observatory,
+where he carried on his astronomical studies.</p>
+
+<p>In 1681 Roemer returned to Denmark, and was appointed Professor of
+Mathematics in the University of Copenhagen; he was also entrusted with
+the care of the city observatory&mdash;a duty which his reputation as an
+astronomer eminently qualified him to undertake. The transit
+instrument&mdash;a mechanism of much importance to astronomers&mdash;was invented
+by Roemer in 1690; it consists of a telescope fixed to a horizontal
+axis, and adjusted so as to revolve in the plane of the meridian. It is
+employed in observing the passage of the heavenly bodies across the
+observer&#8217;s meridian. To note accurately by means of the astronomical
+clock the exact instant of time at which a celestial body crosses the
+centre of the field of view is the essential part of a transit
+observation. Small transit instruments are employed for taking the time
+and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> for regulating the observatory clock, but large instruments are
+used for delicate and exact observations of Right Ascensions and
+Declinations of stars of different magnitudes. Meridian, and altitude
+and azimuth circles, are important astronomical appliances, which owe
+their existence to the inventive skill of this distinguished astronomer.</p>
+
+<p>Roemer resided for many years at the observatory in the city of
+Copenhagen, where he pursued his astronomical studies until the time of
+his death, which occurred in 1710. He meritoriously attempted to
+determine the parallax of the fixed stars; and it is said that the
+astronomical calculations and observations which he left behind him were
+so voluminous as to equal in number those made by Tycho Brahé, nearly
+all of which perished in a great conflagration that destroyed the
+observatory and a large portion of the city of Copenhagen in 1728.</p>
+
+<p>Among other astronomers of this century whose names deserve recording
+were Descartes and Gassendi, whose mathematical researches in their
+application to astronomy were of much value; Fabricius, Torricelli, and
+Maraldi, who by their observations and investigations added many facts
+to the general knowledge of the science; and Bayer, to whom belongs the
+distinction of having constructed the first star-atlas.</p>
+
+<p>In our own country during this period astronomy was cultivated by a few
+enthusiastic men, who devoted their time and talents to promoting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> the
+advancement of the science. It, however, received no recognition as a
+subject of study at any of the Universities, and no public observatory
+existed in Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p>Though it was not until towards the close of the century that the
+attention of all Europe was directed to England in admiration of the
+discoveries of the illustrious Newton, yet astronomy had its humble
+votaries, and chief among those was a young clergyman of the name of
+Horrox.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Jeremiah Horrox</span> was born at Toxteth, near Liverpool, in 1619&mdash;close on
+three centuries ago. Little is known of his family. His parents have
+been described as persons who occupied a humble position in life, but,
+as they were able to give their son a classical education which fitted
+him for one of the learned professions, it is probable they were not so
+obscure as they have been represented to be.</p>
+
+<p>Having received his early education at Toxteth, Horrox afterwards
+proceeded to Cambridge, and was entered as a student at Emmanuel College
+on May 18, 1632, when in his fourteenth year.</p>
+
+<p>At the University he devoted himself to the study of classics,
+especially Latin, which in those days was the language adopted by men of
+learning, when engaged in writing works of a philosophical and
+scientific character.</p>
+
+<p>After having remained at Cambridge for three years, Horrox returned to
+his native county, and was appointed curate of Hoole, a place about
+eight miles distant from Preston. Hoole is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> described as a narrow
+low-lying strip of land consisting largely of moss, and almost converted
+into an island by the waters of Martin Mere on the south, and the Ribble
+on the north; and, though doubtless an open and favourable situation for
+astronomical observation, it could not have been attractive as a place
+of residence. Yet it was here on November 24, 1639, that Horrox made his
+famous observation of the first recorded transit of Venus, an occurrence
+with which his name will be for ever associated.</p>
+
+<p>It was while at Cambridge that Horrox first turned his attention to the
+study of astronomy. His love of the sublime, and the captivating
+influence exerted on his mind by the contemplation of the heavenly
+bodies, induced him to adopt astronomy as a pursuit congenial to his
+tastes, and capable of exercising his highest mental powers. Having this
+object in view, he applied himself with much earnestness to the study of
+mathematics; he had, however, to rely mainly upon his own exertions, for
+at that time no branch of physical or mathematical science was taught at
+Cambridge, and consequently he obtained no professional instruction.</p>
+
+<p>It was so also with astronomy, which, as a science, was scarcely known
+in this country; no regular record of astronomical observations was kept
+by any individual observer, and no public observatory existed in England
+or in France.</p>
+
+<p>The disadvantages and obstacles which Horrox<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> had to encounter may be
+best described by quoting his own words. He writes: &lsquo;There were many
+hindrances. The abstruse nature of the study, my inexperience and want
+of means dispirited me. I was much pained not to have any one to whom I
+could look for guidance, or indeed for the sympathy of companionship in
+my endeavours, and I was assailed by the languor and weariness which are
+inseparable from every great undertaking. What then was to be done? I
+could not make the pursuit an easy one, much less increase my fortune,
+and least of all imbue others with a love for astronomy; and yet to
+complain of philosophy on account of its difficulties would be foolish
+and unworthy. I determined, therefore, that the tediousness of study
+should be overcome by industry; my poverty&mdash;failing a better method&mdash;by
+patience; and that instead of a master I would use astronomical books.
+Armed with these weapons I would contend successfully; and, having heard
+of others acquiring knowledge without greater help, I would blush that
+any one should be able to do more than I, always remembering that word
+of Virgil&#8217;s&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Totidem nobis animaeque manusque.&rsquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Having heard much praise bestowed upon the works of Lansberg, a Flemish
+astronomer, Horrox thought it would be to his advantage to procure a
+copy of his writings. This he succeeded in obtaining after some
+difficulty, and devoted a considerable time to calculating Ephemerides,
+based upon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> Lansberg Tables, but after making a number of
+computations he discovered that they were unreliable and inaccurate.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1636 Horrox made the acquaintance of William Crabtree, a
+devoted astronomer, who lived at Broughton, a suburb of Manchester. A
+close friendship soon existed between the two men, and they carried on
+an active correspondence about matters relating to the science which
+they both loved so well.</p>
+
+<p>Crabtree, who was an unbeliever in Lansberg, urged Horrox to discard the
+Flemish astronomer&#8217;s works, and devote his talents to the study of Tycho
+Brahé and Kepler. This advice led Horrox to make a more rigorous
+examination of the Lansberg Tables, and after comparing them with the
+observations made by Crabtree, which coincided with his own, he resolved
+to renounce them. Acting on the advice of his friend, Horrox directed
+his attention to the writings of Kepler. The youthful astronomer soon
+realised their value, and was charmed with the accuracy of observation
+and inductive reasoning displayed in the elucidation of those general
+laws which constituted a new era in the history of astronomy.</p>
+
+<p>The Rudolphine Tables, which were the astronomical calculations
+commenced by Tycho Brahé, and completed by Kepler, were regarded by
+Horrox as much superior to those of Lansberg; but it occurred to him
+that they might be improved by changing some of the numbers, and yet
+retaining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> the hypotheses. To this task he applied himself with much
+earnestness and assiduity, and after close application and laborious
+study he accomplished the arduous undertaking of bringing those tables
+to a high state of perfection.</p>
+
+<p>In his investigation of the Lunar theory, Horrox outstripped all his
+predecessors, and Sir Isaac Newton distinctly affirms he was the first
+to discover that the Moon&#8217;s motion round the Earth is in the form of an
+ellipse with the centre in the lower focus. Besides having made this
+discovery, Horrox was able to explain the causes of the inequalities of
+the Moon&#8217;s motion, which render the exact computation of her elements so
+difficult.</p>
+
+<p>The Annual Equation, an irregularity discovered by Tycho Brahé, which is
+produced by the increase and decrease of the Sun&#8217;s disturbing force as
+the Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit, had its value
+first assigned by Horrox. This he calculated to be eleven minutes
+sixteen seconds, which is within four seconds of what it has since been
+proved to be by the most recent observations.</p>
+
+<p>The Evection, an irregular motion of the Moon discovered by Ptolemy,
+whereby her mean longitude is increased or diminished, was explained by
+Horrox as depending upon the libratory motion of the apsides, and the
+change which takes place in the eccentricity of the lunar orbit.</p>
+
+<p>These discoveries were made by Horrox before he attained the age of
+twenty years, and if his reputation had alone rested upon them his name<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+would have been honourably associated with those who have attained to
+the highest eminence in astronomy.</p>
+
+<p>Another achievement which adds lustre to Horrox&#8217;s name consists in his
+detection of the inequality in the mean motions of Jupiter and Saturn.</p>
+
+<p>He also directed his attention to the study of cometary bodies, and
+arrived at certain conclusions with regard to the nature of their
+movements. At first, he believed like Kepler that comets were projected
+in straight lines from the Sun; this supposition having been upheld on
+account of the great elongation of their orbits. He next perceived that
+their velocity increased as they approached the Sun, and decreased as
+they receded from him. Afterwards he says, &lsquo;They move in an elliptic
+figure or near it,&rsquo; and finally he arrived at the conclusion that
+&lsquo;comets move in elliptical orbits, being carried round the Sun with a
+velocity which is probably variable.&rsquo; This theory has been verified by
+numerous observations, and is now generally accepted by astronomers.</p>
+
+<p>Horrox also made a series of observations on the tides. He notified the
+extent of their rise and fall at different periods, and investigated
+other phenomena associated with their ebb and flow. After having
+continued his observations for some time, he wrote to his friend
+Crabtree, and informed him that he had perceived many interesting
+details which had not been previously described, and he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> hoped to be
+able to arrive at some important conclusions with regard to their nature
+and cause. Unfortunately, Horrox&#8217;s writings on this subject, along with
+many other important papers, have been lost or destroyed. We are
+therefore ignorant of the result of his researches, which were the first
+undertaken by any person for the purpose of scientific inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>From his study of the Lansberg and Rudolphine Tables, Horrox arrived at
+the conclusion that a transit of Venus would occur on November 24, 1639.
+This transit was for some unaccountable reason overlooked by Kepler, who
+predicted one in 1631, and the next not until 1761. The transit of 1631
+was not visible in Europe.</p>
+
+<p>We are indebted to Horrox for a description of the transit of 1639&mdash;the
+first that was ever observed of which there is any record; and were it
+not for the accuracy of his calculations, the occurrence of the
+phenomenon would have been unperceived, and no history of the
+conjunction would have been handed down to posterity. As soon as Horrox
+had assured himself of the time when the transit would take place, he
+wrote to Crabtree to inform him of the date, and asked him to make
+observations with his telescope, and especially to examine the diameter
+of the planet, which he thought had been over-estimated. He also
+requested him to write to Dr. Foster of Cambridge, and inform him of the
+expected event, as it was desirable that the transit should be observed
+from several places in consequence of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> possibility of failure, owing
+to an overcast sky. His letter is dated October 26, 1639. He says: &lsquo;My
+reason for now writing is to advise you of a remarkable conjunction of
+the Sun and Venus on the 24th of November, when there will be a transit.
+As such a thing has not happened for many years past, and will not occur
+again in this century, I earnestly entreat you to watch attentively with
+your telescope in order to observe it as well as you can.</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;Notice particularly the diameter of Venus, which is stated by Kepler to
+be seven minutes, and by Lansberg to be eleven, but which I believe to
+be scarcely greater than one minute.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>In describing the method which he adopted for observing the transit,
+Horrox writes as follows: &lsquo;Having attentively examined Venus with my
+instrument, I described on a sheet of paper a circle, whose diameter was
+nearly equal to six inches&mdash;the narrowness of the apartment not
+permitting me conveniently to use a larger size. I divided the
+circumference of this circle into 360 degrees in the usual manner, and
+its diameter into thirty equal parts, which gives about as many minutes
+as are equivalent to the Sun&#8217;s apparent diameter. Each of these thirty
+parts was again divided into four equal portions, making in all one
+hundred and twenty; and these, if necessary, may be more minutely
+subdivided. The rest I left to ocular computation, which, in such small
+sections, is quite as certain as any mechanical division. Suppose,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+then, each of these thirty parts to be divided into sixty seconds,
+according to the practice of astronomers. When the time of the
+observation approached, I retired to my apartment, and, having closed
+the windows against the light, I directed my telescope&mdash;previously
+adjusted to a focus&mdash;through the aperture towards the Sun, and received
+his rays at right angles upon the paper already mentioned. The Sun&#8217;s
+image exactly filled the circle, and I watched carefully and unceasingly
+for any dark body that might enter upon the disc of light.</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;Although the corrected computation of Venus&#8217; motions which I had before
+prepared, and on the accuracy of which I implicitly relied, forbade me
+to expect anything before three o&#8217;clock in the afternoon of the 24th,
+yet since, according to the calculations of most astronomers, the
+conjunction should take place sooner&mdash;by some even on the 23rd&mdash;I was
+unwilling to depend entirely on my own opinion, which was not
+sufficiently confirmed, lest by too much self-confidence I might
+endanger the observation. Anxiously intent, therefore, on the
+undertaking through the greater part of the 23rd, and on the whole of
+the 24th, I omitted no available opportunity of observing her ingress. I
+watched carefully on the 24th from sunrise to nine o&#8217;clock, and from a
+little before ten until noon, and at one in the afternoon, being called
+away in the intervals by business of the highest importance, which for
+these ornamental pursuits I could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> with propriety neglect.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> But
+during all this time I saw nothing in the Sun except a small and common
+spot, consisting as it were of three points at a distance from the
+centre towards the left, which I noticed on the preceding and following
+days. This evidently had nothing to do with Venus. About fifteen minutes
+past three in the afternoon, when I was again at liberty to continue my
+labours, the clouds, as if by divine interposition, were entirely
+dispersed, and I was once more invited to the grateful task of repeating
+my observations. I then beheld a most agreeable spectacle&mdash;the object of
+my sanguine wishes; a spot of unusual magnitude and of a perfectly
+circular shape, which had already fully entered upon the Sun&#8217;s disc on
+the left, so that the limbs of the Sun and Venus precisely coincided,
+forming an angle of contact. Not doubting that this was really the
+shadow of the planet, I immediately applied myself sedulously to observe
+it.</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;In the first place, with respect to the inclination, the line of the
+diameter of the circle being perpendicular to the horizon, although its
+plane was somewhat inclined on account of the Sun&#8217;s altitude, I found
+that the shadow of Venus at the aforesaid hour&mdash;namely, fifteen minutes
+past three&mdash;had entered the Sun&#8217;s disc about 62° 30', certainly between
+60° and 65°, from the top towards the right. This was the appearance in
+the dark apartment;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> therefore, out of doors, beneath the open sky,
+according to the laws of optics, the contrary would be the case, and
+Venus would be below the centre of the Sun, distant 62° 30' from the
+lower limbs or the nadir, as the Arabians term it. The inclination
+remained to all appearances the same until sunset, when the observation
+was concluded.</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;In the second place, the distance between the centres of Venus and the
+Sun I found by three observations to be as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<table summary="Transit observations">
+<tr>
+<th class="cb"><span class="small">The Hour.</span></th>
+<th class="cb pad"><span class="small">Distance of the Centres.</span></th>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt">At 3·15 by the clock</td>
+<td class="cb pad">14'&nbsp;24''</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt">At 3·35 by the clock</td>
+<td class="cb pad">13'&nbsp;30''</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt">At 3·35 by the clock</td>
+<td class="cb pad">13'&nbsp;30''</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt">At 3·45 by the clock</td>
+<td class="cb pad">13'&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;0''</td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="lt">At 3·50 the apparent sunset.</td>
+<td class="cb pad">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The true setting being 3·45, and the apparent about 5 minutes later, the
+difference being caused by refraction. The clock therefore was
+sufficiently correct.</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;In the third place I found after careful and repeated observation that
+the diameter of Venus, as her shadow was depicted on the paper, was
+larger indeed than the thirtieth part of the solar diameter, though not
+more so than the sixth, or at the utmost the fifth of such a part.
+Therefore let the diameter of the Sun be to the diameter of Venus as 30'
+to 1' 12''. Certainly her diameter never equalled 1' 30'', scarcely
+perhaps 1' 20'', and this was evident as well when the planet was near
+the Sun&#8217;s limb as when far distant from it.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="PLATE66" id="PLATE66"></a>
+<a href="images/plate66.jpg">
+<img src="images/plate66.jpg" width="400"
+alt="VENUS ON THE SUN&#8217;S DISC." title="VENUS ON THE SUN&#8217;S DISC." /></a>
+<span class="caption">VENUS ON THE SUN&#8217;S DISC.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+&lsquo;This observation was made in an obscure village where I have long been
+in the habit of observing, about fifteen miles to the north of
+Liverpool, the latitude of which I believe to be 53° 20', although by
+common maps it is stated at 54° 12', therefore the latitude of the
+village will be 53° 35', and longitude of both 22° 30' from the
+Fortunate Islands, now called the Canaries. This is 14° 15' to the west
+of Uraniburg in Denmark, the longitude of which is stated by Brahé, a
+native of the place, to be 36° 45' from these islands.</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;This is all I could observe respecting this celebrated conjunction
+during the short time the Sun remained in the horizon: for although
+Venus continued on his disc for several hours, she was not visible to me
+longer than half an hour on account of his so quickly setting.
+Nevertheless, all the observations which could possibly be made in so
+short a time I was enabled by Divine Providence to complete so
+effectually that I could scarcely have wished for a more extended
+period. The inclination was the only point upon which I failed to attain
+the utmost precision; for, owing to the rapid motion of the Sun it was
+difficult to observe with certainty to a single degree, and I frankly
+confess that I neither did nor could ascertain it. But all the rest is
+sufficiently accurate, and as exact as I could desire.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Besides having ascertained that the diameter of Venus subtends an angle
+not much greater than one minute of arc, Horrox reduced the horizontal
+solar parallax from fifty-seven seconds as stated by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> Kepler to fourteen
+seconds, a calculation within one and a half second of the value
+assigned to it by Halley sixty years after. He also reduced the Sun&#8217;s
+semi-diameter.</p>
+
+<p>Crabtree, to whom Horrox refers as &lsquo;his most esteemed friend and a
+person who has few superiors in mathematical learning,&rsquo; made
+preparations to observe the transit similar to those already described.
+But the day was unfavourable, dark clouds obscured the sky and rendered
+the Sun invisible. Crabtree was in despair, and relinquished all hope of
+being able to witness the conjunction. However, just before sunset there
+was a break in the clouds, and the Sun shone brilliantly for a short
+interval. Crabtree at once seized his opportunity, and to his intense
+delight observed the planet fully entered upon the Sun&#8217;s disc. Instead
+of proceeding to take observations, he was so overcome with emotion at
+the sight of the phenomenon, that he continued to gaze upon it with rapt
+attention, nor did he recover his self-possession until the clouds again
+hid from his view the setting Sun.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<p>Crabtree&#8217;s observation of the transit was, however, not a fruitless one.
+He drew from memory a diagram showing the exact position of Venus on the
+Sun&#8217;s disc, which corresponded in every respect with Horrox&#8217;s
+observation; he also estimated the diameter of the planet to be 7/200
+that of the Sun, which when calculated gives one minute three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> seconds;
+Horrox having found it to be one minute twelve seconds. This transit of
+Venus is remarkable as having been the first ever observed of which
+there is any record, and for this we are indebted to the genius of
+Horrox, who by a series of calculations, displaying a wonderfully
+accurate knowledge of mathematics, was enabled to predict the occurrence
+of the phenomenon on the very day, and almost at the hour it appeared,
+and of which he and his friend Crabtree were the only observers.</p>
+
+<p>Having thought it desirable to write an account of the transit, Horrox
+prepared an elegant Latin treatise, entitled &lsquo;Venus in Sole
+Visa&rsquo;&mdash;&lsquo;Venus seen in the Sun;&rsquo; but not knowing what steps to take with
+regard to its publication, he requested Crabtree to communicate with his
+bookseller and obtain his advice on the matter.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Horrox returned to Toxteth, and arranged to fulfil a
+long-promised visit to Crabtree, which he looked forward to with much
+pleasure, as it would afford him an opportunity of discussing with his
+friend many matters of interest to both. This visit was frustrated in a
+manner altogether unexpected. For we read that Horrox was seized with a
+sudden and severe illness, the nature of which is not known, and that
+his death occurred on the day previous to that of his intended visit to
+his friend at Broughton. He expired on January 3, 1641, when in the 23rd
+year of his age.</p>
+
+<p>His death was a great grief to Crabtree, who, in one of his letters,
+describes it as &lsquo;an irreparable loss:&rsquo; and it is believed that he only
+survived him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> a few years.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Of the papers left by Horrox, only a few
+have been preserved, and these were discovered in Crabtree&#8217;s house after
+his death. Among them was his treatise on the transit of Venus which,
+with other papers, was purchased by Dr. Worthington, Fellow of Emmanuel
+College, Cambridge, a man of learning, who was capable of appreciating
+their value. Ultimately, the treatise fell into the possession of
+Hevelius, a celebrated German astronomer, who published it along with a
+dissertation of his own, describing a transit of Mercury.</p>
+
+<p>Horrox did not live to see any of his writings published, nor was any
+monument erected to his memory until nearly two hundred years after his
+death. But his name, though long forgotten except by astronomers, is now
+engraved on marble in Westminster Abbey. Had his life been spared, it
+would have been difficult to foretell to what eminence and fame he might
+have risen, or what further discoveries his genius might have enabled
+him to make. Few among English astronomers will hesitate to rank him
+next with the illustrious Newton, and all will agree with Herschel, who
+called him &lsquo;the pride and the boast of British Astronomy.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">William Gascoigne</span> was born in 1612, in the parish of Rothwell, in the
+county of York, and afterwards resided at Middleton, near Leeds.</p>
+
+<p>He was a man of an inventive turn of mind, and possessed good abilities,
+which he devoted to improving the methods of telescopic observation.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+At an early age he was occupied in observing celestial objects, making
+researches in optics, and acquiring a proficient knowledge of astronomy.</p>
+
+<p>Among his acquaintances were Crabtree and Horrox, with whom he carried
+on a correspondence on matters appertaining to their favourite study.</p>
+
+<p>The measurement of small angles was found at all times to be one of the
+greatest difficulties which astronomers had to contend with. Tycho Brahé
+was so misled by his measurements of the apparent diameters of the Sun
+and Moon, that he concluded a total eclipse of the Sun was impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Gascoigne overcame this difficulty by his invention of the micrometer.
+This instrument, when applied to a telescope, was found to be of great
+service in the correct measurement of minute angles and distances, and
+was the means of greatly advancing the progress of practical astronomy
+in the seventeenth century. A micrometer consists of a short tube,
+across the opening of which are stretched two parallel wires; these
+being intersected at right angles by a third. The wires are moved to or
+from each other by delicately constructed screws, to which they are
+attached. Each revolution, or part of a revolution, of a screw indicates
+the distance by which the wires are moved.</p>
+
+<p>This apparatus, when placed in the focus of a lens, gives very accurate
+measurements of the diameters of celestial objects. It was successfully
+used by Gascoigne in determining the apparent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> diameters of the Sun,
+Moon, and several of the planets, and the mutual distances of the stars
+which form the Pleiades.</p>
+
+<p>Crabtree, after having paid Gascoigne a visit in 1639, describes in a
+letter to Horrox the impression created on his mind by the micrometer.
+He writes: &lsquo;The first thing Mr. Gascoigne showed me was a large
+telescope, amplified and adorned with new inventions of his own, whereby
+he can take the diameters of the Sun or Moon, or any small angle in the
+heavens or upon the earth, most exactly through the glass to a second.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>The micrometer is now regarded as an indispensable appliance in the
+observatory; the use of a spider web reticule instead of wire having
+improved its efficiency. Gascoigne was one of the earliest astronomers
+who recognised the value of the Keplerian telescope for observational
+purposes, and Sherburn affirms that he was the first to construct an
+instrument of this description having two convex lenses. Whether this be
+true or not, it is certain that he applied the micrometer to the
+telescope, and was the first to use telescopic sights, by means of which
+he was able to fix the optical axis of his telescope, and ascertain by
+observation the apparent positions of the heavenly bodies.</p>
+
+<p>Crabtree, in a letter to Gascoigne, says: &lsquo;Could I purchase it with
+travel, or procure it with gold, I would not be without a telescope for
+observing small angles in the heavens; or want the use of your device of
+a glass in a cane upon the movable ruler<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> of your sextant, as I remember
+for helping to the exact point of the Sun&#8217;s rays.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>It was not known until the beginning of the eighteenth century that
+Gascoigne had invented and used telescopic sights for the purpose of
+making accurate astronomical observations. The accidental discovery of
+some documents which contained a description of his appliances was the
+means by which this became known.</p>
+
+<p>Townley states that Gascoigne had completed a treatise on optics, which
+was ready for publication, but that no trace of the manuscript could be
+discovered after his death. Having embraced the Royalist cause, William
+Gascoigne joined the forces of Charles I., and fell in the battle of
+Marston Moor on July 2, 1644.</p>
+
+<p>The early death of this young and remarkably clever man was a severe
+blow to the science of astronomy in England.</p>
+
+<p>The invention of logarithms, by Baron Napier, of Merchistoun, was found
+to be of inestimable value to astronomers in facilitating and
+abbreviating the methods of astronomical calculation.</p>
+
+<p>By the use of logarithms, arithmetical computations which necessitated
+laborious application for several months could with ease be completed in
+as many days. It was remarked by Laplace that this invention was the
+means of doubling the life of an astronomer, besides enabling him to
+avoid errors and the tediousness associated with long and abstruse
+calculations.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+<span class="smcap">Thomas Harriot</span>, an eminent mathematician, and an assiduous astronomer,
+made some valuable observations of the comet of 1607. He was one of the
+earliest observers who made use of the telescope, and it was claimed on
+his behalf that he discovered Jupiter&#8217;s satellites, and the spots on the
+Sun, independently of Galileo. Other astronomers have been desirous of
+sharing this honour, but it has been conclusively proved that Galileo
+was the first who made those discoveries.</p>
+
+<p>The investigations of Norwood and Gilbert, the mechanical genius of
+Hooke, and the patient researches of Flamsteed&mdash;the first Astronomer
+Royal&mdash;were of much value in perfecting many details associated with the
+study of astronomy.</p>
+
+<p>The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was founded in 1675. The building was
+erected under a warrant from Charles II. It announces the desire of the
+Sovereign to build a small observatory in the park at Greenwich, &lsquo;in
+order to the finding out of the longitude for perfecting the art of
+navigation and astronomy.&rsquo; This action on the part of the King may be
+regarded as the first public acknowledgment of the usefulness of
+astronomy for national purposes.</p>
+
+<p>Since its erection, the observatory has been presided over by a
+succession of talented men, who have raised it to a position of eminence
+and usefulness unsurpassed by any similar institution in this or any
+other country. The well-known names of Flamsteed, Halley, Bradley, and
+Airy, testify to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> the valuable services rendered by those past directors
+of the Greenwich Observatory in the cause of astronomical science.</p>
+
+<p>If we take a general survey of the science of astronomy as it existed
+from 1608 to 1674&mdash;a period that embraced the time in which Milton
+lived&mdash;we shall find that it was still compassed by ignorance,
+superstition, and mystery. Astrology was zealously cultivated; most
+persons of rank and position had their nativity or horoscope cast, and
+the belief in the ruling of the planets, and their influence on human
+and terrestrial affairs, was through long usage firmly established in the
+public mind. Indeed, at this time, astronomy was regarded as a handmaid
+to astrology; for, with the aid of astronomical calculation, the
+professors of this occult science were enabled to predict the positions
+of the planets, and by this means practised their art with an apparent
+degree of truthfulness.</p>
+
+<p>Although over one hundred years had elapsed since the death of
+Copernicus, his theory of the solar system did not find many supporters,
+and the old forms of astronomical belief still retained their hold on
+the minds of the majority of philosophic thinkers. This can be partly
+accounted for, as many of the Ptolemaic doctrines were at first
+associated with the Copernican theory, nor was it until a later period
+that they were eliminated from the system.</p>
+
+<p>Though Copernicus deserved the credit of having transferred the centre
+of our system from the Earth to the Sun, yet his theory was imperfect in
+its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> details, and contained many inaccuracies. He believed that the
+planets could only move round the Sun in circular paths, nor was he
+capable of conceiving of any other form of orbit in which they could
+perform their revolutions. He was therefore compelled to retain the use
+of cycles and epicycles, in order to account for irregularities in the
+uniformly circular motions of those bodies.</p>
+
+<p>We are indebted to the genius of Kepler for having placed the Copernican
+system upon a sure and irremovable basis, and for having raised
+astronomy to the position of a true physical science. By his discovery
+that the planets travel round the Sun in elliptical orbits, he was
+enabled to abolish cycles and epicycles, which created such confusion
+and entanglement in the system, and to explain many apparent
+irregularities of motion by ascribing to the Sun his true position with
+regard to the motions of the planets.</p>
+
+<p>After the death of Kepler, which occurred in 1630, the most eminent
+supporter of the Copernican theory was the illustrious Galileo, whose
+belief in its accuracy and truthfulness was confirmed by his own
+discoveries.</p>
+
+<p>Five of the planets were known at this time&mdash;viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars,
+Jupiter, and Saturn; the latter, which revolves in its orbit at a
+profound distance from the Sun, formed what at that time was believed to
+be the boundary of the planetary system. The distance of the Earth from
+the Sun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> was approximately known, and the orb was observed to rotate on
+his axis.</p>
+
+<p>It was also ascertained that the Moon shone by reflected light, and that
+her surface was varied by inequalities resembling those of our Earth.
+The elliptical form of her orbit had been discovered by Horrox, and her
+elements were computed with a certain degree of accuracy.</p>
+
+<p>The cloudy luminosity of the Milky Way had been resolved into a
+multitude of separate stars, disclosing the immensity of the stellar
+universe.</p>
+
+<p>The crescent form of the planet Venus, the satellites of Jupiter and of
+Saturn, and the progressive motion and measurement of light, had also
+been discovered. Observations were made of transits of Mercury and
+Venus, and refracting and reflecting telescopes were invented.</p>
+
+<p>The law of universal gravitation, a power which retains the Earth and
+planets in their orbits, causing them year after year to describe with
+unerring regularity their oval paths round the Sun, was not known at
+this time. Though Newton was born in 1642, he did not disclose the
+results of his philosophic investigations until 1687&mdash;thirteen years
+after the death of Milton&mdash;when, in the &lsquo;Principia,&rsquo; he announced his
+discovery of the great law of universal gravitation.</p>
+
+<p>Kepler, though he discovered the laws of planetary motion, was unable to
+determine the motive force which guided and retained those bodies in
+their orbits. It was reserved for the genius of Newton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> to solve this
+wonderful problem. This great philosopher was able to prove &lsquo;that every
+particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a
+force proportioned to the mass of the attracting body, and inversely as
+the square of the distance between them.&rsquo; Newton was capable of
+demonstrating that the force which guides and retains the Earth and
+planets in their orbits resides in the Sun, and by the application of
+this law of gravitation he was able to explain the motions of all
+celestial bodies entering into the structure of the solar system.</p>
+
+<p>This discovery may be regarded as the crowning point of the science of
+astronomy, for, upon the unfailing energy of this mysterious power
+depend the order and stability of the universe, extending as it does to
+all material bodies existing in space, guiding, controlling, and
+retaining them in their several paths and orbits, whether it be a tiny
+meteor, a circling planet, or a mighty sun.</p>
+
+<p>The nature of cometary bodies and the laws which govern their motions
+were at this time still enshrouded in mystery, and when one of those
+erratic wanderers made its appearance in the sky it was beheld by the
+majority of mankind with feelings of awe and superstitious dread, and
+regarded as a harbinger of evil and disaster, the precursor of war, of
+famine, or the overthrow of an empire.</p>
+
+<p>Newton, however, was able to divest those bodies of the mystery with
+which they were surrounded by proving that any conic section may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+described about the Sun, consistent with the law of gravitation, and
+that comets, notwithstanding the eccentricity of their orbits, obey the
+laws of planetary motion.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond the confines of our solar system, little was known of the
+magnitude and extent of the sidereal universe which occupies the
+infinitude of space by which we are surrounded. The stars were
+recognised as self-luminous bodies, inconceivably remote, and although
+they excited the curiosity of observers, and conjectures were made as to
+their origin, yet no conclusive opinions were arrived at with regard to
+their nature and constitution, and except that they were regarded as
+glittering points of light which illumine the firmament, all else
+appertaining to them remained an unravelled mystery. Even Copernicus had
+no notion of a universe of stars.</p>
+
+<p>Galileo, by his discovery that the galaxy consists of a multitude of
+separate stars too remote to be defined by ordinary vision, demonstrated
+how vast are the dimensions of the starry heavens, and on what a
+stupendous scale the universe is constructed. But at this time it had
+not occurred to astronomers, nor was it known until many years after,
+that the stars are suns which shine with a splendour resembling that of
+our Sun, and in many instances surpassing it. It was not until this
+truth became known that the glories of the sidereal heavens were fully
+comprehended, and their magnificence revealed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> It was then ascertained
+that the minute points of light which crowd the fields of our largest
+telescopes, in their aggregations forming systems, clusters, galaxies,
+and universes of stars, are shining orbs of light, among the countless
+multitudes of which our Sun may be numbered as one.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h4>MILTON&#8217;S ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE</h4>
+
+<p>It would be reasonable to imagine that Milton&#8217;s knowledge of astronomy
+was comprehensive and accurate, and superior to that possessed by most
+scientific men of his age. His scholarly attainments, his familiarity
+with ancient history and philosophy, his profound learning, and the
+universality of his general knowledge, would lead one to conclude that
+the science which treats of the mechanism of the heavens, and especially
+the observational part of it&mdash;which at all times has been a source of
+inspiration to poets of every degree of excellence&mdash;was to him a study
+of absorbing interest, and one calculated to make a deep impression upon
+his devoutly poetical mind. The serious character of Milton&#8217;s verse, and
+the reverent manner in which celestial incidents and objects are
+described in it, impress one with the belief that his contemplation of
+the heavens, and of the orbs that roll and shine in the firmament
+overhead, afforded him much enjoyment and meditative delight. For no
+poet, in ancient or in modern times, has introduced into his writings
+with such frequency, or with such pleasing effect, so many passages
+descriptive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> of the beauty and grandeur of the heavens. No other poet,
+by the creative effort of his imagination, has soared to such a height;
+nor has he ever been excelled in his descriptions of the celestial orbs,
+and of the beautiful phenomena associated with their different motions.</p>
+
+<p>In his minor poems, which were composed during his residence at Horton,
+a charming rural retreat in Buckinghamshire, where the freshness and
+varied beauty of the landscape and the attractive aspects of the
+midnight sky were ever before him, we find enchanting descriptions of
+celestial objects, and especially of those orbs which, by their
+brilliancy and lustre, have always commanded the admiration of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>For example, in &lsquo;L&#8217;Allegro&rsquo; there are the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Right against the eastern gate<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the great Sun begins his state,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Robed in flames and amber light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The clouds in thousand liveries dight;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and in &lsquo;Il Penseroso&rsquo;&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">To behold the wandering Moon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Riding near her highest noon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like one that had been led astray<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through the heaven&#8217;s wide pathless way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And oft as if her head she bowed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stooping through a fleecy cloud.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In the happy choice of his theme, and by the comprehensive manner in
+which he has treated it, Milton has been enabled by his poetic genius to
+give to the world in his &lsquo;Paradise Lost&rsquo; a poem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> which, for sublimity of
+thought, loftiness of imagination, and beauty of expression in metrical
+verse, is unsurpassed in any language.</p>
+
+<p>It is, however, our intention to deal only with those passages in the
+poem in which allusion is made to the heavenly bodies, and to incidents
+and occurrences associated with astronomical phenomena. In the
+exposition and illustration of these it has been considered desirable to
+adopt the following general classification:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>1. To ascertain the extent of Milton&#8217;s astronomical knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>2. To describe the starry heavens and the celestial objects mentioned in
+&lsquo;Paradise Lost.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>3. To exemplify the use which Milton has made of astronomy in the
+exercise of his imaginative and descriptive powers.</p>
+
+<p>In the earlier half of the seventeenth century the Ptolemaic theory&mdash;by
+which it was believed that the Earth was the immovable centre of the
+universe, and that round it all the heavenly bodies completed a diurnal
+revolution&mdash;still retained its ascendency over the minds of men of
+learning and science, and all the doctrines associated with this ancient
+astronomical creed were still religiously upheld by the educated classes
+among the peoples inhabiting the different civilised regions of the
+globe. The Copernican theory&mdash;by which the Sun is assigned the central
+position in our system, with the Earth and planets revolving in orbits
+round him&mdash;obtained the support of a few persons of advanced views and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+high scientific attainments, but its doctrines had not yet seriously
+threatened the supremacy of the older system. Though upwards of one
+hundred years had elapsed since the death of Copernicus, yet the
+doctrines associated with the system of which he was the founder were
+but very tardily adopted up to this time. There were several reasons
+which accounted for this. The Copernican system was at first imperfect
+in its details, and included several of the Ptolemaic, doctrines which
+rendered it less intelligible, and retarded its acceptance by persons
+who would otherwise have been inclined to adopt it. Copernicus believed
+that the planets travelled round the Sun in circular paths. This
+necessitated the retention of cycles and epicycles, which gave rise to
+much confusion; nor was it until Kepler made his great discovery of the
+ellipticity of the planetary orbits that they were eliminated from the
+system.</p>
+
+<p>As the Ptolemaic system of the universe held complete sway over the
+minds of men for upwards of twenty centuries, it was difficult to
+persuade many persons to renounce the astronomical beliefs to which they
+were so firmly attached, in favour of those of any other system; so that
+the overthrow of this venerable theory required a lengthened period of
+time for its accomplishment.</p>
+
+<p>It was thus in his earlier years, when Milton devoted his time to the
+study of literature and philosophy, which he read extensively when
+pursuing his academic career at Christ&#8217;s College, Cambridge,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> and
+afterwards at Horton, where he spent several years in acquiring a more
+proficient knowledge of the literary, scientific, and philosophical
+writings of the age, that he found the beliefs associated with the
+Ptolemaic theory adopted without doubt or hesitation by the numerous
+authors whose works he perused. His knowledge of Italian enabled him to
+become familiar with Dante&mdash;one of his favourite authors, whose poetical
+writings were deeply read by him, and who, in the elaboration of his
+poem, the &lsquo;Divina Commedia,&rsquo; included the entire Ptolemaic cosmology.</p>
+
+<p>In England the Copernican theory had few supporters, and the majority of
+those who represented the intellect and learning of the country still
+retained their adherence to the old form of astronomical belief. We
+therefore find that Milton followed the traditional way of thinking by
+adopting the views associated with the Ptolemaic theory.</p>
+
+<p>According to the Ptolemaic system, the Earth was regarded as the
+immovable centre of the universe, and surrounding it were ten
+crystalline spheres, or heavens, arranged in concentric circles, the
+larger spheres enclosing the smaller ones; and within those was situated
+the cosmos, or mundane universe, usually described as &lsquo;the Heavens and
+the Earth.&rsquo; To each of the first seven spheres there was attached a
+heavenly body, which was carried round the Earth by the revolution of
+the crystalline.</p>
+
+<p>1st sphere: that of the Moon.</p>
+
+<p>2nd sphere: that of the planet Mercury.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+3rd sphere: that of the planet Venus.</p>
+
+<p>4th sphere: that of the Sun; regarded as a planet.</p>
+
+<p>5th sphere: that of the planet Mars.</p>
+
+<p>6th sphere: that of the planet Jupiter.</p>
+
+<p>7th sphere: that of the planet Saturn.</p>
+
+<p>8th sphere: that of the fixed stars.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="FIG1" id="FIG1"></a>
+<a href="images/fig1.jpg">
+<img src="images/fig1.jpg" width="400"
+alt="FIG. 1" title="FIG. 1" /></a>
+<span class="caption smcap">Fig. 1</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The eighth sphere included all the fixed stars, and was called the
+firmament, because it was believed to impart steadiness to the inner
+spheres, and, by its diurnal revolution, to carry them round the Earth,
+causing the change of day and night.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+The separate motions of the spheres, revolving with different
+velocities, and at different angles to each other, accounted for the
+astronomical phenomena associated with the orbs attached to each.
+According to Ptolemy&#8217;s scheme, the eighth sphere formed the outermost
+boundary of the universe; but later astronomers added to this system two
+other spheres&mdash;a <i>ninth</i>, called the <i>Crystalline</i>, which caused
+Precession of the Equinoxes; and a <i>tenth</i>, called the <i>Primum Mobile</i>,
+or First Moved, which brought about the alternation of day and night, by
+carrying all the other spheres round the Earth once in every twenty-four
+hours. The Primum Mobile enclosed, as if in a shell, all the other
+spheres, in which was included the created universe, and, although of
+vast dimensions, its conception did not overwhelm the mind in the same
+manner that the effort to comprehend infinitude does.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond this last sphere there was believed to exist a boundless,
+uncircumscribed region, of immeasurable extent, called the Empyrean, or
+Heaven of Heavens, the incorruptible abode of the Deity, the place of
+eternal mysteries, which the comprehension of man was unable to fathom,
+and of which it was impossible for his mind to form any conception. Such
+were the imaginative beliefs upon which this ancient astronomical theory
+was founded, that for a period of upwards of two thousand years held
+undisputed sway over the minds of men, and exercised during that time a
+predominating influence upon the imagination, thoughts, and conceptions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+of all those who devoted themselves to literature, science, and art. Of
+the truthfulness of this assertion there is ample evidence in the
+poetical, philosophical, and historical writings of ancient authors,
+whose ideas and conceptions regarding the created universe were limited
+and circumscribed by this form of astronomical belief. In the works of
+more recent writers we find that it continued to assert its influence;
+and among our English poets, from Chaucer down to Shakespeare, there are
+numerous references to the natural phenomena associated with this
+system, and most frequently expressed by poetical allusions to &lsquo;the
+music of the spheres.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>The ideas associated with the Ptolemaic theory were gratifying to the
+pride and vanity of man, who could regard with complacency the paramount
+importance of the globe which he inhabited, and of which he was the
+absolute ruler, fixed in the centre of the universe, and surrounded by
+ten revolving spheres, that carried along with them in their circuit all
+other celestial bodies&mdash;Sun, Moon, and stars, which would appear to have
+been created for his delectation, and for the purpose of ministering to
+his requirements. But when the Copernican theory became better
+understood, and especially after the discovery of the law of universal
+gravitation, this venerable system of the universe, based upon a pile of
+unreasonable and false hypotheses, after an existence of over twenty
+centuries, sank into oblivion, and was no more heard of.</p>
+
+<p>Milton&#8217;s Ptolemaism is apparent in some of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> shorter pieces, and also
+in his minor poems, &lsquo;Arcades&rsquo; and &lsquo;Comus.&rsquo; His &lsquo;Ode on the Nativity&rsquo; is
+written in conformity with this belief, and the expression,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ring out ye crystal spheres,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>indicates a poetical allusion to this theory. But as Milton grew older
+his Ptolemaism became greatly modified, and there are good reasons for
+believing that in his latter years he renounced it entirely in favour of
+Copernicanism. When on his continental tour in 1638, he made the
+acquaintance of eminent men who held views different from those with
+which he was familiar; and in his interview with Galileo at Arcetri, the
+aged astronomer may have impressed upon his mind the superiority of the
+Copernican theory, in accounting for the occurrence of celestial
+phenomena, as compared with the Ptolemaic.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to England from the Continent, Milton took up his
+residence in London, and lived in apartments in a house in St. Bride&#8217;s
+Churchyard. Having no regular vocation, and not wishing to be dependent
+upon his father, he undertook the education of his two nephews, John and
+Edward Phillips, aged nine and ten years respectively. From St. Bride&#8217;s
+Churchyard he removed to a larger house in Aldersgate, where he received
+as pupils the sons of some of his most intimate acquaintances. In the
+list of subjects which Milton selected for the purpose of imparting
+instruction to those youths he included astronomy and mathematics,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+which formed part of the curriculum of this educational establishment.
+The text-book from which he taught his nephews and other pupils
+astronomy was called &lsquo;De Sphæra Mundi,&rsquo; a work written by Joannes
+Sacrobasco (John Holywood) in the thirteenth century. This book was an
+epitome of Ptolemy&#8217;s &lsquo;Almagest,&rsquo; and therefore entirely Ptolemaic in its
+teaching. It enjoyed great popularity during the Middle Ages, and is
+reported to have gone through as many as forty editions.</p>
+
+<p>The selection of astronomy as one of the subjects in which Milton
+instructed his pupils affords us evidence that he must have devoted
+considerable time and attention to acquiring a knowledge of the facts
+and details associated with the study of the science. In the attainment
+of this he had to depend upon his own exertions and the assistance
+derived from astronomical books; for at this time astronomy received no
+recognition as a branch of study at any of the universities; and in
+Britain the science attracted less attention than on the Continent,
+where the genius of Kepler and Galileo elevated it to a position of
+national importance.</p>
+
+<p>We shall find as we proceed that Milton&#8217;s knowledge of astronomy was
+comprehensive and accurate; that he was familiar with the astronomical
+reasons by which many natural phenomena which occur around us can be
+explained; and that he understood many of the details of the science
+which are unknown to ordinary observers of the heavens.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+It is remarkable how largely astronomy enters into the composition of
+&lsquo;Paradise Lost,&rsquo; and we doubt if any author could have written such a
+poem without possessing a knowledge of the heavens and of the celestial
+orbs such as can only be attained by a proficient and intimate
+acquaintance with this science.</p>
+
+<p>The arguments in favour of or against the Ptolemaic and Copernican
+theories were well known to Milton, even as regards their minute
+details; and in Book viii. he introduces a scientific discussion based
+upon the respective merits of those theories. The configuration of the
+celestial and terrestrial spheres, and the great circles by which they
+are circumscribed, he also knew. The causes which bring about the change
+of the seasons; the obliquity of the ecliptic; the zodiacal
+constellations through which the Sun travels, and the periods of the
+year in which he occupies them, are embraced in Milton&#8217;s knowledge of
+the science of astronomy. The motions of the Earth, including the
+Precession of the Equinoxes; the number and distinctive appearances of
+the planets, their direct and retrograde courses, and their satellites,
+are also described by him. The constellations, and their relative
+positions on the celestial sphere; the principal stars, star-groups, and
+clusters, and the Galaxy, testify to Milton&#8217;s knowledge of astronomy,
+and to the use which he has made of the science in the elaboration of
+his poem.</p>
+
+<p>The names of fourteen of the constellations are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> mentioned in &lsquo;Paradise
+Lost.&rsquo; These, when arranged alphabetically, read as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Andromeda, Aries, Astrea, Centaurus, Cancer, Capricornus, Gemini, Leo,
+Libra, Ophiuchus, Orion, Scorpio, Taurus, and Virgo. Milton&#8217;s allusions
+to the zodiacal constellations are chiefly associated with his
+description of the Sun&#8217;s path in the heavens; but with the celestial
+sign Libra (the <i>Scales</i>) he has introduced a lofty and poetical
+conception of the means by which the Creator made known His will when
+there arose a contention between Gabriel and Satan on his discovery in
+Paradise.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Eternal, to prevent such horrid fray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hung forth in Heaven his golden scales, yet seen<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Betwixt Astrea<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> and the Scorpion sign,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wherein all things created first he weighed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The pendulous round Earth with balanced air<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In counterpoise, now ponders all events,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Battles and realms. In these he put two weights,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sequel each of parting and of fight:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The latter quick up flew, and kicked the beam.&mdash;iv. 996-1004.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Orion, the finest constellation in the heavens, did not escape Milton&#8217;s
+observation, and there is one allusion to it in his poem. It arrives on
+the meridian in winter, where it is conspicuous as a brilliant
+assemblage of stars, and represents an armed giant, or hunter, holding a
+massive club in his right hand, and having a shield of lion&#8217;s hide on
+his left arm. A triple-gemmed belt encircles his waist, from which is
+suspended a glittering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> sword, tipped with a bright star. The two
+brilliants Betelgeux and Bellatrix form the giant&#8217;s shoulders, and the
+bright star Rigel marks the position of his advanced foot. The rising of
+Orion was believed to be accompanied by stormy and tempestuous weather.
+Milton alludes to this in the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">When with fierce winds Orion armed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hath vexed the Red Sea coast, whose waves o&#8217;erthrew<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Busiris and his Memphian chivalry.&mdash;i. 305-7.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Andromeda is described as being borne by Aries, and in &lsquo;Ophiuchus huge&rsquo;
+Milton locates a comet which extends the whole length of the
+constellation. It is evident that Milton possessed a precise knowledge
+of the configuration and size of the constellations, and of the
+positions which they occupy relatively to each other on the celestial
+sphere.</p>
+
+<p>Though Milton was conversant with the Copernican theory, and entertained
+a conviction of its accuracy and truthfulness, and doubtless recognised
+the superiority of this system, which, besides conveying to the mind a
+nobler conception of the universe and of the solar system&mdash;though it
+diminished the importance of the Earth as a member of it&mdash;was capable of
+explaining the occurrence of celestial phenomena in a manner more
+satisfactory than could be arrived at by the Ptolemaic theory.
+Notwithstanding this, he selected the Ptolemaic cosmology as the
+scientific basis upon which he constructed his &lsquo;Paradise Lost,&rsquo; and in
+its elaboration adhered with marked fidelity to this system. There were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+many reasons why Milton, in the composition of an imaginative poem,
+should have chosen the Ptolemaic system of the universe rather than the
+Copernican. This form of astronomical belief was adopted by all the
+authors whose works he perused and studied in his younger days,
+including his favourite poet, Dante; and his own poetic imaginings, as
+indicated by his early poems, were in harmony with the doctrines of this
+astronomical creed, a long acquaintance with which had, without doubt,
+influenced his mind in its favour. This system of revolving spheres,
+with the steadfast Earth at its centre, and the whole enclosed by the
+Primum Mobile, constituted a more attractive and picturesque object for
+poetic description than the simple and uncircumscribed arrangement of
+the universe expressed by the Copernican theory. It also afforded him an
+opportunity of localising those regions of space in which the chief
+incidents in his poem are described&mdash;viz. <span class="smcap">Heaven</span>, or <span class="smcap">the Empyrean</span>,
+<span class="smcap">Chaos</span>, <span class="smcap">Hell</span>, and the <span class="smcap">Mundane Universe</span>. Milton&#8217;s Ptolemaism, with its
+adjuncts, may be understood by the following:</p>
+
+<p>All that portion of space above the newly created universe, and beyond
+the Primum Mobile, was known as <span class="smcap">Heaven</span>, or <span class="smcap">The Empyrean</span>&mdash;a region of
+light, of glory, and of happiness; the dwelling-place of the Deity, Who,
+though omnipresent, here visibly revealed Himself to all the multitude
+of angels whom He created, and who surrounded his throne in adoration
+and worship.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+Underneath the universe there existed a vast region of similar
+dimensions to the Empyrean, called <span class="smcap">Chaos</span>, which was occupied by the
+embryo elements of matter, that with incessant turmoil and confusion
+warred with each other for supremacy&mdash;a wild abyss&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The womb of Nature and perhaps her grave.&mdash;ii. 911.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The lower portion of this region was divided off from the remainder, and
+embraced the locality known as <span class="smcap">Hell</span>&mdash;the place of torment, where the
+rebellious angels were driven and shut in after their expulsion from
+Heaven.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">As far removed from God and light of Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole.&mdash;i. 73-74.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The <span class="smcap">New Universe</span>, which included the Earth and all the orbs of the
+firmament known as the Starry Heavens, was created out of Chaos, and
+hung, as if suspended by a golden chain, from the Empyrean above; and
+although its magnitude and dimensions were inconceivable, yet, according
+to the Ptolemaic theory, it was enclosed by the tenth sphere or Primum
+Mobile.</p>
+
+<p>By this partitioning of space Milton was able to contrive a system which
+fulfilled the requirements of his great poem.</p>
+
+<p>The annexed diagram explains the relative positions of the different
+regions into which space was divided.</p>
+
+<p>Though there are traces of Copernicanism found in &lsquo;Paradise Lost,&rsquo; yet
+Milton has very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> faithfully adhered to the Ptolemaic mechanism and
+nomenclature throughout his poem.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="FIG2" id="FIG2"></a>
+<a href="images/fig2.jpg">
+<img src="images/fig2.jpg" width="400"
+alt="FIG. 2" title="FIG. 2" /></a>
+<span class="caption smcap">Fig. 2</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>In his description of the Creation, the Earth is formed first, then the
+Sun, followed by the Moon, and afterwards the stars, all of which are
+described as being in motion round the Earth. Allusion is also made to
+this ancient system in several prominent passages, and in the following
+lines there is a distinct reference to the various revolving spheres.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">They pass the planets seven, and pass the fixed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The trepidation talked, and that first moved.&mdash;iii. 481-83.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The seven planetary spheres are first mentioned; then the eighth sphere,
+or that of the fixed stars; then the ninth, or crystalline, which was
+believed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> to cause a shaking, or trepidation, to account for certain
+irregularities in the motions of the stars; and, lastly, the tenth
+sphere, or Primum Mobile, called the &lsquo;first moved&rsquo; because it set the
+other spheres in motion.</p>
+
+<p>To an uninstructed observer, the apparent motion of the heavenly bodies
+round the Earth would naturally lead him to conclude that, of the two
+theories, the Ptolemaic was the correct one. We therefore find that
+Milton adopted the system most in accord with the knowledge and
+intelligence possessed by the persons portrayed by him in his poem; and
+in describing the natural phenomena witnessed in the heavens by our
+first parents, he adheres to the doctrines of the Ptolemaic system, as
+being most in harmony with the simple and primitive conceptions of those
+created beings.</p>
+
+<p>To their upward gaze, the orbs of heaven appeared to be in ceaseless
+motion; the solid Earth, upon which they stood, was alone immovable and
+at rest. Day after day they observed the Sun pursue his steadfast course
+with unerring regularity: his rising in the east, accompanied by the
+rosy hues of morn; his meridian splendour, and his sinking in the west,
+tinting in colours of purple and gold inimitable the fleecy clouds
+floating in the azure sky, as he bids farewell for a time to scenes of
+life and happiness, rejoicing in the light and warmth of his
+all-cheering beams. With the advent of night they beheld the Moon, now
+increasing, now waning, pursue her irregular path, also to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> disappear in
+the west; whilst, like the bands of an army marshalled in loose array,
+the constellations of glittering stars, with stately motion, traversed
+their nocturnal arcs, circling the pole of the heavens.</p>
+
+<p>By referring to Book viii., 15-175, we find an account of an interesting
+scientific discussion, or conversation, between Adam and Raphael
+regarding the merits of the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems, and of the
+relative importance and size of the heavenly bodies. By it we are
+afforded an opportunity of learning how accurate and precise a knowledge
+Milton possessed of both theories, and in what clear and perspicuous
+language he expresses his arguments in favour of or against the
+doctrines associated with each.</p>
+
+<p>We may, with good reason, regard the views expressed by Adam as
+representing Milton&#8217;s own opinions, which were in conformity with the
+Copernican theory; and in the Angel&#8217;s reply, though of an undecided
+character, we are able to perceive how aptly Milton describes the
+erroneous conclusions upon which the Ptolemaic theory was based.</p>
+
+<p>In this scientific discussion, it would seem rather strange that Adam,
+the first of men, should have been capable of such philosophic
+reasoning, propounding, as if by intuition, a theory upon which was
+founded a system that had not been discovered until many centuries after
+the time that astronomy became a science. By attributing to Adam such a
+degree of intelligence and wisdom, the poet has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> taken a liberty which
+enabled him to carry on this discussion in a manner befitting the
+importance of the subject.</p>
+
+<p>In the following lines Adam expresses to his Angel-guest, in forcible
+and convincing language, his reasons in support of the Copernican
+theory:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When I behold this goodly frame, this World,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Heaven and Earth consisting, and compute<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their magnitudes&mdash;this Earth, a spot, a grain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An atom, with the Firmament compared<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And all her numbered stars, that seem to roll<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Spaces incomprehensible (for such<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their distance argues, and their swift return<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Diurnal) merely to officiate light<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Round this opacous Earth, this punctual spot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One day and night, in all her vast survey<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Useless besides&mdash;reasoning, I oft admire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How Nature, wise and frugal could commit<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Such disproportions, with superfluous hand<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So many nobler bodies to create,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Greater so manifold, to this one use,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For aught appears, and on their Orbs impose<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Such restless revolution day by day<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Repeated, while the sedentary Earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That better might with far less compass move,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Served by more noble than herself, attains<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her end without least motion, and receives,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As tribute, such a sumless journey brought<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of incorporeal speed, her warmth and light;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails.&mdash;viii. 15-38.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We are enabled to perceive that Milton had formed a correct conception
+of the magnitude and proportions of the universe, and also of the
+relative size and importance of the Earth, which he describes as &lsquo;a
+spot, a grain, an atom,&rsquo; when compared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> with the surrounding heavens. He
+expresses his surprise that all the stars of the firmament, whose
+distances are so remote, and whose dimensions so greatly exceed those of
+this globe, should in their diurnal revolution have &lsquo;such a sumless
+journey of incorporeal speed imposed upon them&rsquo; merely to officiate
+light to the Earth, &lsquo;this punctual spot;&rsquo; and reasoning, wonders how
+Nature, wise and frugal in her ways, should commit such disproportions,
+by adopting means so great to accomplish a result so small, when motion
+imparted to the sedentary Earth would with greater ease produce the same
+effect.</p>
+
+<p>The inconceivable velocity with which it would be necessary for those
+orbs to travel in order to accomplish a daily revolution round the Earth
+might be described as almost spiritual, and beyond the power of
+calculation by numbers.</p>
+
+<p>The Angel, after listening to Adam&#8217;s argument, expresses approval of his
+desire to obtain knowledge, but answers him dubiously, and at the same
+time criticises in a severe and adverse manner the Ptolemaic theory.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">To ask or search I blame thee not; for Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is as the Book of God before thee set,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wherein to read his wondrous works, and learn<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His seasons, hours, or days, or months, or years.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This to attain, whether Heaven move or Earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Imports not, if thou reckon right; the rest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From Man or Angel the Great Architect<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Did wisely to conceal, and not divulge<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His secrets, to be scanned by them who ought<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rather admire. Or, if they list to try<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Conjecture, he his fabric of the Heavens<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hath left to their disputes, perhaps to move<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His laughter at their quaint opinions wide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hereafter, when they come to model Heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And calculate the stars; how they will wield<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The mighty frame; how build, unbuild, contrive<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To save appearances; how gird the Sphere<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With Centric and Eccentric scribbled o&#8217;er<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cycle and Epicycle, Orb in Orb.&mdash;viii. 66-84.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>When, with the advancement of science, astronomical observations were
+made with greater accuracy, it was discovered that uniformity of motion
+was not always maintained by those bodies which were believed to move in
+circles round the Earth. It was observed that the Sun, when on one side
+of his orbit, had an accelerated motion, as compared with the speed at
+which he travelled when on the other side. The planets, also, appeared
+to move with irregularity: sometimes a planet was observed to advance,
+then become stationary, and afterwards affect a retrograde movement.
+Those inequalities of motion could not be explained by means of the
+revolution of crystalline spheres alone, but were accounted for by
+imagining the existence of a small circle, or epicycle, whose centre
+corresponded with a fixed point in the larger circle, or eccentric, as
+it was called. This small circle revolved on its axis when carried round
+with the larger one, and round it the planet also revolved, which when
+situated in its outer portion would have a forward, and when in its
+inner portion a retrograde, motion.</p>
+
+<p>The theory of eccentrics and epicycles was sufficient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> for a time to
+account for the inequalities of motion already described, and by this
+means the Ptolemaic system was enabled to retain its ascendency for a
+longer period than it otherwise would have done. But more recent
+discoveries brought to light discrepancies and difficulties which were
+explained away by adding epicycle to epicycle. This created a most
+complicated entanglement, and hastened the downfall of a system which,
+after an existence of many centuries, sank into oblivion, and is now
+remembered as a belief of bygone ages.</p>
+
+<p>The devices which the upholders of this system were compelled to adopt,
+in order &lsquo;to save appearances,&rsquo; with &lsquo;centric and eccentric,&rsquo; cycle and
+epicycle, &lsquo;orb in orb,&rsquo; are in this manner appropriately described by
+Milton, as indicating the confusion arising from a theory based upon
+false hypotheses.</p>
+
+<p>Continuing his reply, the Angel says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Already by thy reasoning this I guess,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who art to lead thy offspring, and supposest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That bodies bright and greater should not serve<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The less not bright, nor Heaven such journies run,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Earth sitting still, when she alone receives<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The benefit. Consider, first, that great<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or bright infers not excellence. The Earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though, in comparison of Heaven, so small,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor glistering, may of solid good contain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">More plenty than the Sun that barren shines,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whose virtue on itself works no effect,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But in the fruitful Earth; there first received,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His beams, inactive else, their vigour find,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet not to Earth are those bright luminaries<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Officious, but to thee, Earth&#8217;s habitant.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, for the Heaven&#8217;s wide circuit, let it speak<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">The Maker&#8217;s high magnificence, who built<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So spacious, and his line stretched out so far,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That Man may know he dwells not in his own&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An edifice too large for him to fill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lodged in a small partition; and the rest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ordained for uses to his Lord best known,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The swiftness of those Circles attribute,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though numberless, to his Omnipotence,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That to corporeal substances could add<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Speed almost spiritual. Me thou think&#8217;st not slow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who since the morning-hour set out from Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where God resides, and ere midday arrived<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In Eden&mdash;distance inexpressible<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By numbers that have name. But this I urge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Admitting motion in the Heavens, to show<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Invalid that which thee to doubt it moved;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not that I so affirm, though so it seem<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To thee who hast thy dwelling here on Earth.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">God, to remove his ways from human sense,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Placed Heaven from Earth so far, that earthly sight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If it presume, might err in things too high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And no advantage gain.&mdash;viii. 85-122.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the Angel&#8217;s severe criticism of the Ptolemaic system, he
+does not unreservedly support the conclusions arrived at by Adam, but
+endeavours to show that his reasoning may not be altogether correct. He
+questions the validity of his argument that bodies of greater size and
+brightness should not serve the smaller, though not bright, and that
+heaven should move, while the Earth remained at rest. He argues that
+great or bright infers not excellence, and that the Earth, though small,
+may contain more virtue than the Sun, that &lsquo;barren shines,&rsquo; whose beams
+create no beneficial effect, except when directed on the fruitful
+Earth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> He reminds Adam that those bright luminaries minister not to the
+Earth, but to himself, &lsquo;Earth&#8217;s habitant,&rsquo; and directs his attention to
+the magnificence and extent of the surrounding universe, of which he
+occupies but a small portion. The diurnal swiftness of the orbs that
+move round the Earth he attributes to God&#8217;s omnipotence, that to
+material bodies &lsquo;could add speed almost spiritual.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Angel, after alluding to his rapid flight through space, suggests
+that God placed heaven so far from Earth that man might not presume to
+inquire into things which it would be of no advantage for him to know.
+He then suddenly changes to the Copernican system, which he lucidly
+describes in the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">What if the Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be centre to the World, and other stars<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By his attractive virtue and their own<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Incited, dance about him various rounds?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their wandering course, now high, now low, then hid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Progressive, retrograde, or standing still,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In six thou seest; and what if, seventh to these<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The planet Earth, so steadfast though she seem,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Insensibly three different motions move?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which else to several spheres thou must ascribe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Moved contrary with thwart obliquities,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or save the Sun his labour, and that swift<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nocturnal and diurnal rhomb supposed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Invisible else above all stars, the wheel<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of day and night; which needs not thy belief,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If Earth, industrious of herself, fetch day<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Travelling east, and with her part averse<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the Sun&#8217;s beam meet night, her other part<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Still luminous by his ray. What if that light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sent from her through the wide transpicuous air,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">To the terrestrial Moon be as a star,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Enlightening her by day, as she by night<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This Earth&mdash;reciprocal, if land be there,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fields and inhabitants? Her spots thou seest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As clouds, and clouds may rain, and rain produce<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fruits in her softened soil, for some to eat<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Allotted there; and other Suns, perhaps,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With their attendant Moons, thou wilt descry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Communicating male and female light&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which two great sexes animate the World,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stored in each orb perhaps with some that live.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For such vast room in Nature unpossessed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By living soul, desert and desolate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Only to shine, yet scarce to contribute<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each orb a glimpse of light, conveyed so far<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Down to this habitable, which returns<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Light back to them, is obvious to dispute.&mdash;viii. 122-58.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The Copernican theory, which is less complicated and more easily
+understood than the Ptolemaic, is described by Milton with accuracy and
+methodical skill.</p>
+
+<p>The Sun having been assigned that central position in the system which
+his magnitude and importance claim as his due, the planets circling in
+orbits around him have their motions described in a manner indicative of
+the precise knowledge which Milton acquired of this theory. At this time
+the law of gravitation was unknown, and, although the ellipticity of the
+orbits of the planets had been discovered by Kepler, the nature of the
+motive force which guided and retained them in their paths still
+remained a mystery. It was believed that the planets were whirled round
+the Sun, as if by the action of magnetic fibres; a mutual attractive
+influence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> having been supposed to exist between them and the orb,
+similar to that of the opposite poles of magnets.</p>
+
+<p>Milton alludes to this theory in the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">They, as they move<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their starry dance in numbers that compute<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Days, months, and years, towards his all-cheering lamp<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Turn swift their various motions, or are turned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By his magnetic beam.&mdash;iii. 579-83.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>An important advance upon this theory was made by Horrox, who, in his
+study of celestial dynamics, attributed the curvilineal motion of the
+planets to the influence of two forces, one projective, the other
+attractive. He illustrated this by observing the path described by a
+stone when thrown obliquely into the air. He perceived that its motion
+was governed by the impulse imparted to it by the hand, and also by the
+attractive force of the Earth. Under these two influences, the stone
+describes a graceful curve, and in its descent falls at the same angle
+at which it rose. Hence arises the general law: &lsquo;When two spheres are
+mutually attracted, and if not prevented by foreign influences, their
+straight paths are deflected into curves concave to each other, and
+corresponding with one of the sections of a cone, according to the
+velocity of the revolving body. If the velocity with which the revolving
+body is impelled be equal to what it would acquire by falling through
+half the radius of a circle described from the centre of deflection, its
+orbit will be circular; but if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> it be less than that quantity, its path
+becomes elliptical.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Newton afterwards embraced this law in his great principle of
+gravitation, and demonstrated that the force which guides and retains
+the Earth and planets in their orbits resides in the Sun. By the orb&#8217;s
+attractive influence a planet, after having received its first impulse,
+is deflected from its original straight path, and bent towards that
+luminary, and by the combined action of the projective and attractive
+forces is made to describe an orbit which, if elliptical, has one of its
+foci occupied by the Sun. So evenly balanced are those two forces, that
+one is unable to gain any permanent ascendency over the other, and
+consequently the planet traverses its orbit with unerring regularity,
+and, if undisturbed by external influences, will continue in its path
+for all time.</p>
+
+<p>Milton describes the position of the planets in the sky as&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Now high, now low, then hid;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and their motions&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Progressive, retrograde, or standing still.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It is evident that Milton was familiar with the apparently irregular
+paths pursued by the planets when observed from the Earth. He knew of
+their stationary points, and also the backward loopings traced out by
+them on the surface of the sphere.</p>
+
+<p>If observed from the Sun, all the planets would be seen to follow their
+true paths round that body; their motion would invariably lie in the
+same direction,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> and any variation in their speed as they approached
+perihelion or aphelion would be real. But the planets, when observed
+from the Earth, which is itself in motion, appear to move irregularly.
+Sometimes they remain stationary for a brief period, and, instead of
+progressing onward, affect a retrograde movement. This irregularity of
+motion is only apparent, and can be explained as a result of the
+combined motions of the Earth and planets, which are travelling together
+round the Sun with different velocities, and in orbits of unequal
+magnitude.</p>
+
+<p>In his allusion to the Copernican system the &lsquo;planet&rsquo; &lsquo;Earth&rsquo; is
+described by Milton as seventh. This is not strictly accurate, as only
+five planets were known&mdash;viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn;
+but to make up the number Milton has included the Moon, which may be
+regarded as the Earth&#8217;s planet.</p>
+
+<p>The three motions ascribed to the Earth are&mdash;(1) The diurnal rotation on
+her axis; (2) her annual revolution round the Sun; (3) Precession of the
+Equinoxes.</p>
+
+<p>The rotation of the Earth on her axis may be likened to the spinning
+motion of a top, and is the cause of the alternation of day and night.
+This rotatory motion is sustained with such exact precision that, during
+the past 2,000 years, it has been impossible to detect the minutest
+difference in the time in which the Earth accomplishes a revolution on
+her axis, and therefore the length of the sidereal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> day, which is 3
+minutes 56 seconds shorter than the mean solar day, is invariable. In
+this motion of the Earth we have a time-measuring unit which may be
+regarded as absolutely correct.</p>
+
+<p>The Earth completes a revolution of her orbit in 365&frac14; days. In this
+period of time she accomplishes a journey of 580 millions of miles,
+travelling at the average rate of 66,000 miles an hour. The change of
+the seasons, and the lengthening and shortening of the day, are natural
+phenomena, which occur as a consequence of the Earth&#8217;s annual revolution
+round the Sun. Precession is a retrograde or westerly motion of the
+equinoctial points, caused by the attraction of the Sun, Moon, and
+planets on the spheroidal figure of the Earth. By this movement the
+poles of the Earth are made to describe a circular path in that part of
+the heavens to which they point; so that, after the lapse of many years,
+the star which is known as the Pole Star will not occupy the position
+indicated by its name, but will be situated at a considerable distance
+from the pole. These motions, Milton says, unless attributed to the
+Earth, must be ascribed to several spheres crossing and thwarting each
+other obliquely; but the Earth, by rotating from west to east, will of
+herself fetch day, her other half, averted from the Sun&#8217;s rays, being
+enveloped in night. Thus saving the Sun his labour, and the &lsquo;primum
+mobile,&rsquo; &lsquo;that swift nocturnal and diurnal rhomb,&rsquo; which carried all the
+lower spheres along with it, and brought about the change of day and
+night.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+Milton&#8217;s allusion to the occurrence of natural phenomena in the Moon
+similar to those which happen on the Earth is in keeping with the
+opinions entertained regarding our satellite, Galileo having imagined
+that he discovered with his telescope continents and seas on the lunar
+surface, which led to the belief that the Moon was the abode of
+intelligent life.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">... and other suns, perhaps,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Communicating male and female light.&mdash;viii. 148-50.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Milton in these lines refers to Jupiter and Saturn, and their
+satellites, which had been recently discovered; those of the former by
+Galileo, and four of those of the latter by Cassini. The existence of
+male and female light was an idea entertained by the ancients, and which
+is mentioned by Pliny. The Sun was regarded as a masculine star, and the
+Moon as feminine; the light emanating from each being similarly
+distinguished, and possessing different properties.</p>
+
+<p>Milton supposes that, as the Earth receives light from the stars, she
+returns light back to them. But in his time little was known about the
+stars, nor was it ascertained how distant they are.</p>
+
+<p>The Angel, in bringing to a conclusion his conversation with Adam, deems
+it unadvisable to vouchsafe him a decisive reply to his inquiry
+regarding the motions of celestial bodies, and in the following lines
+gives a beautifully poetical summary of this elevated and philosophic
+discussion:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">But whether thus these things, or whether not,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whether the Sun, predominant in Heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rise on the Earth, or Earth rise on the Sun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He from the east his flaming round begin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or she from west her silent course advance<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With inoffensive pace that spinning sleeps<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On her soft axle, whilst she paces even,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And bears thee soft with the smooth air along&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid.&mdash;viii. 159-67.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In this scientific discourse between Adam and Raphael, in which they
+discuss the structural arrangement of the heavens and the motions of
+celestial bodies, we are afforded an opportunity of learning what exact
+and comprehensive knowledge Milton possessed of both the Ptolemaic and
+Copernican theories. The concise and accurate manner in which he
+describes the doctrines belonging to each system indicates that he must
+have devoted considerable time and attention to making himself master of
+the details associated with both theories, which in his time were the
+cause of much controversy and discussion among philosophers and men of
+science.</p>
+
+<p>The Ptolemaic system, with its crystalline spheres revolving round the
+Earth, the addition to those of cycles and epicycles, and the heaping of
+them upon each other, in order to account for phenomena associated with
+the motions of celestial bodies, are concisely and accurately described.</p>
+
+<p>The unreasonableness of this theory, when compared with the Copernican,
+is clearly delineated by Milton where Adam is made to express his views<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>
+with regard to motion in the heavens. His argument, declared in logical
+and persuasive language, demonstrates how contrary to reason it would be
+to imagine that the entire heavens should revolve round the Earth to
+bring about a result which could be more easily attained by imparting
+motion to the Earth herself. The inconceivable velocity with which it
+would be necessary for the celestial orbs to travel in order to
+accomplish their daily revolution is described by him as opposed to all
+reason, and entailing upon them a journey which it would be impossible
+for material bodies to perform. None the less accurate is Milton&#8217;s
+description of the Copernican system. He describes the Sun as occupying
+that position in the system which his magnitude and supreme importance
+claim as his sole right, having the planets with their satellites,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">That from his lordly eye keep distance due.&mdash;iii. 578,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>circling in majestic orbits around him, acknowledging his controlling
+power, and bending to his firm but gentle sway. Their positions, their
+paths, and their motions, real and apparent, are described in flowing
+and harmonious verse.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h4>MILTON AND GALILEO</h4>
+
+<p>After the death of his mother, which occurred in 1637, Milton expressed
+a desire to visit the Continent, where there were many places of
+interest which he often longed to see. Having obtained the consent of
+his kind and indulgent father, he set out on his travels in April 1638,
+accompanied by a single man-servant, and arrived in Paris, where he only
+stayed a few days. During his residence in the French capital he was
+introduced by Lord Scudamore, the English Ambassador at the Court of
+Versailles, to Hugo Grotius, one of the most distinguished scholars and
+philosophic thinkers of his age. From Paris Milton journeyed to Nice,
+where he first beheld the beauty of Italian scenery and the classic
+shores of the Mediterranean Sea. From Nice he sailed to Genoa and
+Leghorn, and after a short stay at those places continued his journey to
+Florence, one of the most interesting and picturesque of Italian cities.
+Situated in the Valley of the Arno, and encircled by sloping hills
+covered with luxuriant vegetation, the sides of which were studded with
+residences half-hidden among the foliage of gardens and vineyards,
+Florence, besides being famed for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> its natural beauty, was at that time
+the centre of Italian culture and learning, and the abode of men eminent
+in literature and science. Here Milton remained for a period of two
+months, and enjoyed the friendship and hospitality of its most noted
+citizens, many of whom delighted to honour their English visitor. He was
+warmly welcomed by the members of the various literary academies, who
+admired his compositions and conversation; the flattering encomiums
+bestowed upon him by those learned societies having been amply repaid by
+Milton in choice and elegant Latin verse.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who resided in the vicinity of Florence was the illustrious
+Galileo, who in his sorrow-stricken old age was held a prisoner of the
+Inquisition for having upheld and taught scientific doctrines which were
+declared to be heretical. After his abjuration he was committed to
+prison, but on the intervention of influential friends was released
+after a few days&#8217; incarceration, and permitted to return to his home at
+Arcetri. He was, however, kept under strict surveillance, and forbidden
+to leave his house or receive any of his intimate friends without having
+first obtained the sanction of the ecclesiastical authorities. After
+several years of close confinement at Arcetri, during which time he
+suffered much from rheumatism and continued ill-health, aggravated by
+grief and mental depression consequent upon the death of his favourite
+daughter, Galileo applied for permission to go to Florence in order to
+place himself under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> medical treatment. This request was granted by the
+Pope subject to certain conditions, which would be communicated to him
+when he presented himself at the office of the Inquisition at Florence.
+These were more severe than he anticipated. He was forbidden to leave
+his house or receive any of his friends there, and those injunctions
+were so strictly adhered to that during Passion Week he had to obtain a
+special order so that he might be able to attend mass. At the expiration
+of a few months Galileo was ordered to return to Arcetri, which he never
+left again.</p>
+
+<p>An affliction, perhaps the most deplorable that can happen to any human
+being, was added to the burden of Galileo&#8217;s misfortunes and woes. A
+disorder which had some years previously injured the sight of his right
+eye returned in 1636. In the following year the left eye became
+similarly affected, with the result that in a few months Galileo became
+totally blind. His friends at first hoped that the disease was cataract,
+and that some relief might be afforded by means of an operation; but it
+was discovered to be an opacity of the cornea, which at his age was
+considered unamenable to treatment. This sudden and unexpected calamity
+was to Galileo a most deplorable occurrence, for it necessitated the
+relinquishment of his favourite pursuit, which he followed with such
+intense interest and delight. His friend Castelli writes: &lsquo;The noblest
+eye is darkened which Nature ever made; an eye so privileged, and gifted
+with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> such rare qualities that it may with truth be said to have seen
+more than all of those eyes who are gone, and to have opened the eyes of
+all who are to come.&rsquo; Galileo endured his affliction with patient
+resignation and fortitude, and in the following extract from a letter by
+him he acknowledges the chastening hand of a Divine Providence: &lsquo;Alas!
+your dear friend and servant Galileo has become totally blind, so that
+this heaven, this earth, this universe, which with wonderful
+observations I had enlarged a hundred and a thousand times beyond the
+belief of bygone ages, henceforward for me is shrunk into the narrow
+space which I myself fill in it. So it pleases God; it shall then please
+me also.&rsquo; The rigorous curtailment of his liberty which prompted Galileo
+to head his letters, &lsquo;From my prison at Arcetri,&rsquo; was relaxed when total
+blindness had supervened upon the infirmities of age. Permission was
+given him to receive his friends, and he was allowed to have free
+intercourse with his neighbours.</p>
+
+<p>Milton, during his stay at Florence, visited Galileo at Arcetri. We are
+ignorant of the details of this eventful and interesting interview
+between the aged and blind astronomer and the young English poet, who
+afterwards immortalised his name in heroic verse, and who in his
+declining years suffered from an affliction similar to that which befel
+Galileo, and to which he alludes so pathetically in the following
+lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i16">Thee I revisit safe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And feel thy sovran vital lamp; but thou<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Revisitest not these eyes, that roll in vain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or dim suffusion veiled.&mdash;iii. 21-26.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We can imagine that Galileo&#8217;s astronomical views, which at that time
+were the subject of much discussion among scientific men and professors
+of religion, and on account of which he suffered persecution, were
+eagerly discussed. It is also probable that the information communicated
+by Galileo, or by some of his followers, may have persuaded Milton to
+entertain a more favourable opinion of the Copernican theory. The
+interesting discoveries made by Galileo with his telescope without doubt
+formed a pleasant subject of conversation, and Milton enjoyed the
+privilege of listening to a detailed description of these from the lips
+of the aged astronomer. The telescope, its principle, its mechanism, and
+the method of observing, were most probably explained to him; and we can
+believe that an opportunity was afforded him of examining those in
+Galileo&#8217;s observatory, and of perhaps testing their magnifying power
+upon some celestial object favourably situated for observation. Though
+Milton has not favoured us with any details of his visit to Galileo, yet
+it was one which made a lasting impression upon his mind, and was never
+afterwards forgotten by him. &lsquo;There it was,&rsquo; he writes, &lsquo;I found and
+visited the famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner of the Inquisition for
+thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican
+licensers thought.&rsquo; In years long after, when Milton, himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> feeble
+and blind, sat down to compose his &lsquo;Paradise Lost,&rsquo; the remembrance of
+the Tuscan artist and his telescope was still fresh in his memory.</p>
+
+<p>By the invention of the telescope and its application to astronomical
+research, a vast amount of information and additional detail have been
+learned regarding the bodies which enter into the formation of the solar
+system; and by its aid many new ones were also discovered. On sweeping
+the heavens with the instrument, the illimitable extent of the sidereal
+universe became apparent, and numberless objects of interest were
+brought within the range of vision the existence of which had not been
+previously imagined.</p>
+
+<p>The Galilean telescope was invented in 1609. But the magnifying power of
+certain lenses, and their combination in producing singular visual
+effects, are alluded to in the writings of several early authors. The
+value of single lenses as an aid to sight had been long known, and
+spectacles were in common use in the fourteenth century. Several
+mathematicians have described the wonderful optical results obtained
+from glasses concave and convex, of parabolic and circular forms, and
+from &lsquo;perspective glasses,&rsquo; in which were embodied the principle of the
+telescope. It is asserted that our countryman, Roger Bacon (1214), had
+some notion of the properties of the telescope; but among those familiar
+with the combination of lenses the two men who made the nearest approach
+to the invention of the instrument were Baptista Porta and Gerolamo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+Fracastro. The latter, who died in 1553, writes as follows: &lsquo;For which
+reason those things which are seen at the bottom of water appear greater
+than those which are at the top; and if anyone look through two
+eye-glasses, one placed upon the other, he will see everything much
+larger and nearer.&rsquo; It is doubtful if Fracastro had any notion of
+constructing a mechanism which might answer the purpose of a telescopic
+tube. Baptista Porta (1611) is more explicit in what he describes. He
+writes: &lsquo;Concave lenses show distant objects most clearly, convex those
+which are nearer; whence they may be used to assist the sight. With a
+concave glass distant objects will be seen, small, but distinct; with a
+convex one, those near at hand, larger, but confused; if you know
+<i>rightly</i> how to combine one of each sort, you will see both far and
+near objects larger and clearer.&rsquo; He then goes on to say: &lsquo;I shall now
+endeavour to show in what manner we may continue to recognise our
+friends at the distance of several miles, and how those of weak sight
+may read the most minute letters from a distance. It is an invention of
+great utility, and grounded on optical principles; nor is at all
+difficult of execution; but it must be so divulged as not to be
+understood by the vulgar, and yet be clear to the sharp-sighted.&rsquo; After
+this, he proceeds to describe a mechanism the details of which are
+confusing and unintelligible, nor did it appear to bear any resemblance
+to a telescopic tube.</p>
+
+<p>In a work published by Thomas Digges in 1591,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> he makes the following
+allusion to his father&#8217;s experiments with the lenses: &lsquo;My father, by his
+continuall painfull practices, assisted with demonstrations
+mathematicall, was able, and sundry times hath by proportionall glasses,
+duely situate in convenient angles, not only discouered things farre
+off, read letters, numbered peeces of money with the verye coyne and
+superscription thereof cast by some of his freends of purpose, upon
+downes in open fields; but also seuen miles off, declared what hath beene
+doone at that instant in priuate places.&rsquo; It must be admitted that if
+Leonard Digges had not constructed a telescope, he knew how to combine
+lenses by the aid of which a visual effect was created similar to that
+produced by the use of the instrument.</p>
+
+<p>The inventor of the telescope was a Dutchman named Hans Lippershey, who
+carried on the business of a spectacle-maker in the town of Middelburg.
+His discovery was purely accidental. It is said that the
+instrument&mdash;which was directed towards a weather-cock on a church spire,
+of which it gave a large and inverted image&mdash;was for some time exhibited
+in his shop as a curiosity before its importance was recognised. The
+Marquis Spinola, happening to see this philosophical toy, purchased it,
+and presented it to Prince Maurice of Nassau, who imagined it might be
+of service for the purpose of military reconnoitring. The value of the
+invention was, however, soon realised, and in the following year
+telescopes were sold in Paris. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> 1609, Galileo, when on a visit to a
+friend at Venice, received intelligence of the invention of an
+instrument by a Dutch optician which possessed the power of causing
+distant objects to appear much nearer than when observed by ordinary
+vision. The accuracy of this information was confirmed by letters which
+he received from Paris; and this general report, Galileo asserted, was
+all he knew of the subject. Fuccarius, in a disparaging letter, says
+that one of the Dutch telescopes had been brought to Venice, and that he
+himself had seen it. This statement is not incompatible with Galileo&#8217;s
+affirmation that he had not seen the original instrument, and knew no
+more about it than what had been communicated to him in the letters from
+the French capital. It was insinuated by Fuccarius that Galileo had seen
+the telescope at Venice, but, as he denied this, we should not hesitate
+to believe in his veracity.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately after his return to Padua, Galileo began to think how he
+might be able to contrive an instrument with properties similar to the
+one of which he had been informed; and in the following words describes
+the process of reasoning by which he arrived at a successful result: &lsquo;I
+argued in the following manner. The contrivance consists either of one
+glass or of more&mdash;one is not sufficient, since it must be either convex,
+concave, or plane. The last does not produce any sensible alteration in
+objects; the concave diminishes them. It is true that the convex
+magnifies, but it renders them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> confused and indistinct; consequently,
+one glass is insufficient to produce the desired effect. Proceeding to
+consider two glasses, and bearing in mind that the plane causes no
+change, I determined that the instrument could not consist of the
+combination of a plane glass with either of the other two. I therefore
+applied myself to make experiments on combinations of the two other
+kinds, and thus obtained that of which I was in search.&rsquo; Galileo&#8217;s
+telescope consisted of two lenses&mdash;one plano-convex, the other
+plano-concave, the latter being held next the eye. These he fixed in a
+piece of organ pipe, which served the purpose of a tube, the glasses
+being distant from each other by the difference of their focal lengths.
+An exactly similar principle is adopted in the construction of an
+opera-glass, which can be accurately described as a double Galilean
+telescope. Galileo must be regarded as the inventor of this kind of
+telescope, which in one respect differed very materially from the one
+constructed by the Dutch optician. If what has been said with regard to
+the <i>inverted</i> weather-cock be true, then Lippershey&#8217;s telescope was
+made with two convex lenses, distant from each other by the sum of their
+focal lengths, and all objects observed with it were seen inverted.
+Refracting astronomical telescopes are now constructed on this
+principle, it having been discovered that for observational purposes
+they possess several advantages over the Galilean instrument. When
+Galileo had completed his first telescope he returned with it to
+Venice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> where he exhibited it to his friends. The sensation created by
+this small instrument, which magnified only three times, was most
+extraordinary, and almost amounted to a frenzy. Crowds of the principal
+citizens of Venice flocked to Galileo&#8217;s house in order that they might
+see the magical tube about which such wonderful reports were circulated;
+and for upwards of a month he was daily occupied in describing his
+invention to attentive audiences. At the expiration of this time the
+Doge of Venice, Leonardo Deodati, hinted that the Senate would not be
+averse to receive the telescope as a gift. Galileo readily acquiesced
+with this desire, and, as an acknowledgment of his merits, a decree was
+issued confirming his appointment as professor at Padua for life, and
+increasing his salary from 500 to 1,000 florins. The public excitement
+created by the telescope showed no signs of abatement. Sirturi mentions
+that, having succeeded in constructing an instrument, he ascended the
+tower of St. Mark&#8217;s at Venice, hoping to be able to use it there without
+interruption. He was, however, detected by a few individuals, and soon
+surrounded by a crowd, which took possession of his telescope, and
+detained him for several hours until their curiosity was satisfied.
+Eager inquiries having been made as to where he lodged, Sirturi, fearing
+a repetition of his experience in the church tower, decided to quit
+Venice early next morning, and betake himself to a quieter and less
+frequented neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
+The instrument was at first called Galileo&#8217;s tube; the double eye-glass;
+the perspective; the trunk; the cylinder. The appellation <i>telescope</i>
+was given it by Demisiano.</p>
+
+<p>Galileo next directed his attention to the construction of telescopes,
+and applied his mechanical skill in making instruments of a larger size,
+one of which magnified <i>eight</i> times. &lsquo;And at length,&rsquo; he writes,
+&lsquo;sparing neither labour nor expense, he completed an instrument that was
+capable of magnifying more than <i>thirty</i> times.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Galileo now commenced an exploration of the celestial regions with his
+telescope, and on carefully examining some of the heavenly bodies, made
+many wonderful discoveries which added greatly to the fame and lustre of
+his name.</p>
+
+<p>The first celestial object to which Galileo directed his telescope was
+the Moon. He was deeply interested to find how much her surface
+resembled that of the Earth, and was able to perceive lofty mountain
+ranges, the illumined peaks of which reflected the sunlight, whilst
+their bases and sides were still enveloped in dark shadow; great plains
+which he imagined were seas, valleys, elevated ridges, depressions, and
+inequalities similar to what are found on our globe. Galileo believed
+the Moon to be a habitable world, and concluded that the dark and
+luminous portions of her surface were land and water, which reflected
+with unequal intensity the light of the Sun. The followers of Aristotle
+received the announcement of these discoveries<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> with much displeasure.
+They maintained that the Moon was perfectly spherical and smooth&mdash;a vast
+mirror, the dark portions of which were the reflection of our
+terrestrial mountains and forests&mdash;and accused Galileo &lsquo;of taking a
+delight in distorting and ruining the fairest works of Nature.&rsquo; He
+appealed to the unequal condition of the surface of our globe, but this
+was of no avail in altering their preconceived notions of the lunar
+surface.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the most important discovery made by Galileo with the telescope
+was that of the four moons of Jupiter. On the night of January 7, 1610,
+when engaged in observing the planet, his attention was attracted by
+three small stars which appeared brighter than those in their immediate
+neighbourhood. They were all in a straight line and parallel with the
+ecliptic; two of them were situated to the east, and one to the west of
+Jupiter. On the following night he was surprised to find all three to
+the west of the planet, and nearer to each other. This caused him
+considerable perplexity, and he was at a loss to understand how Jupiter
+could be east of the three stars, when on the preceding night he was
+observed to the west of two of them. Galileo was unable to reconcile the
+altered positions of those bodies with the apparent motion of Jupiter
+among the fixed stars as indicated by the astronomical tables. The next
+opportunity he had of observing them was on the 10th, when two stars
+only were visible, and they were to the east of the planet. As it was
+impossible for Jupiter to move<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> from west to east on January 8 and from
+east to west on the 10th, he concluded that it was the motion of the
+stars and not that of Jupiter which accounted for the observed
+phenomena. Galileo watched the stars attentively on successive evenings
+and discovered a fourth, and on observing how they changed their
+positions relatively to each other he soon arrived at the conclusion
+that the stars were four moons which revolved round Jupiter after the
+manner in which the Moon revolves round the Earth. Having assured
+himself that the four new stars were four moons that with periodical
+regularity circled round the great planet, Galileo named them the
+Medicean Stars in honour of his patron, Cosmo de&#8217; Medici, Grand Duke of
+Tuscany. He also published an essay entitled &lsquo;Nuncius Sidereus,&rsquo; or the
+&lsquo;Sidereal Messenger,&rsquo; which contained an account of this important
+discovery.</p>
+
+<p>The announcement of Galileo&#8217;s discovery of the four satellites of
+Jupiter created a profound sensation, and its significance became at
+once apparent. Aristotelians and Ptolemaists received the information
+with much disfavour and incredulity, and many persons positively refused
+to believe Galileo, whom they accused of inventing fables. On the other
+hand, the upholders of the Copernican theory hailed it with
+satisfaction, as it declared that Jupiter with his four moons
+constituted a system of greater magnitude and importance than that of
+our globe with her single satellite, and that consequently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> the Earth
+could not be regarded as the centre of the universe.</p>
+
+<p>When Kepler heard of this remarkable discovery, he wrote to Galileo and
+expressed himself in the following characteristic manner: &lsquo;I was sitting
+idle at home thinking of you, most excellent Galileo, and your letters,
+when the news was brought me of the discovery of four planets by the
+help of the double eye-glass. Wachenfels stopped his carriage at my door
+to tell me, when such a fit of wonder seized me at a report which seemed
+so very absurd, and I was thrown into such agitation at seeing an old
+dispute between us decided in this way, that between his joy, my
+colouring, and the laughter of both, confounded as we were by such a
+novelty, we were hardly capable, he of speaking, or I of listening.... I
+am so far from disbelieving in the existence of the four circumjovial
+planets, that I long for a telescope to anticipate you, if possible, in
+discovering two round Mars (as the proportion seems to me to require),
+six or eight round Saturn, and perhaps one each round Mercury and
+Venus.&rsquo; The intelligence of Galileo&#8217;s discoveries was received by his
+opponents in a spirit entirely different from that manifested by Kepler.
+The principal professor of philosophy at Padua, when requested to look
+at the Moon and planets through Galileo&#8217;s glass, persistently declined,
+and did his utmost to persuade the Grand Duke that the four satellites
+of Jupiter could not possibly exist. Francesco Sizzi, a Florentine
+astronomer, argued that, as there are seven<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> apertures in the head,
+seven known metals, and seven days in the week, so there could only be
+seven planets. To these absurd remarks Galileo replied by saying that,
+&lsquo;whatever their force might be as a reason for believing beforehand that
+no more than seven planets would be discovered, they hardly seemed of
+sufficient weight to destroy the new ones when actually seen.&rsquo; Another
+individual, named Christmann, writes: &lsquo;We are not to think that Jupiter
+has four satellites given him by Nature in order, by revolving round
+him, to immortalize the name of the Medici, who first had notice of the
+observation. These are the dreams of idle men, who love ludicrous ideas
+better than our laborious and industrious correction of the heavens.
+Nature abhors so horrible a chaos, and to the truly wise such vanity is
+detestable.&rsquo; Martin Horky, a <i>protégé</i> of Kepler&#8217;s, issued a pamphlet in
+which he made a violent attack on Galileo. He says: &lsquo;I will never
+concede his four new planets to that Italian from Padua though I die for
+it.&rsquo; He then asks the following questions, and replies to them himself:
+(1) Whether they exist? (2) What they are? (3) What they are like? (4)
+Why they are? &lsquo;The first question is soon disposed of by Horky&#8217;s
+declaring positively that he has examined the heavens with Galileo&#8217;s own
+glass, and that no such thing as a satellite about Jupiter exists. To
+the second, he declared solemnly that he does not more surely know that
+he has a soul in his body than that reflected rays are the sole cause of
+Galileo&#8217;s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> erroneous observations. In regard to the third question, he
+says that these planets are like the smallest fly compared to an
+elephant; and, finally, concludes on the fourth, that the only use of
+them is to gratify Galileo&#8217;s &ldquo;thirst of gold,&rdquo; and to afford himself a
+subject of discussion.&rsquo;<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Galileo did not condescend to take any notice
+of this scurrilous production; but Horky, who imagined that he had done
+something clever, sent a copy of his pamphlet to Kepler. In a few days
+after he called to see him, and was received with such a storm of
+indignation that he begged for mercy and implored his forgiveness.
+Kepler forgave him, but insisted on his making amends. He writes: &lsquo;I
+have taken him again into favour upon this preliminary condition, to
+which he has agreed&mdash;that I am to show him Jupiter&#8217;s satellites, <i>and he
+is to see them</i>, and own that they are there.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>The evidence in support of the existence of Jupiter&#8217;s satellites became
+so conclusive that the opponents of Galileo were compelled to renounce
+their disbelief in those bodies, whether real or pretended. The Grand
+Duke, preferring to trust to his eyes rather than believe in the
+arguments of the professor at Padua, observed the satellites on several
+occasions, along with Galileo, at Pisa, and on his departure bestowed
+upon him a gift of one thousand florins. Several of Galileo&#8217;s enemies,
+as a result of their observations, now arrived at the conclusion that
+his discovery was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> incomplete, and that Jupiter had more than four
+satellites in attendance upon him. Scheiner counted five, Rheita nine,
+and other observers increased the number to twelve. But it was found to
+be quite as hazardous to exceed the number stated by Galileo as it was
+to deny the existence of any; for, when Jupiter had traversed a short
+distance of his path among the fixed stars, the only bodies that
+accompanied him were his four original attendants, which continued to
+revolve round him with unerring regularity in every part of his orbit.</p>
+
+<p>Galileo did not afford his opponents much time to oppose or controvert
+with argument the discoveries made by him with the telescope before his
+announcement of a new one attracted public attention from those already
+known. He, however, exercised greater caution in disclosing the results
+of his observations, as other persons laid claim to having made similar
+discoveries prior to the time at which his were announced. He therefore
+adopted a method in common use among astronomers in those days, by which
+the letters in a sentence announcing a discovery were transposed so as
+to form an anagram.</p>
+
+<p>Galileo announced his next discovery in this manner, and which read as
+follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Smaismrmilme poeta leumi bvne nugttaviras.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This, when deciphered, formed the sentence:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Altissimum planetam tergeminum observavi.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I have observed that the remotest planet is triple.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
+Galileo perceived that Saturn presented a triform appearance, and that,
+instead of one body, there were three, all in a straight line, and
+apparently in contact with each other, the middle one being larger than
+the two lateral ones. In a letter to Kepler he remarked: &lsquo;Now I have
+discovered a Court for Jupiter, and two servants for this old man, who
+aid his steps and never quit his side.&rsquo; Kepler, who excelled as an
+imaginative writer, replied: &lsquo;I will not make an old man of Saturn, nor
+slaves of his attendant globes; but rather let this tricorporate form be
+Geryon&mdash;so shall Galileo be Hercules, and the telescope his club, armed
+with which he has conquered that distant planet, and dragged him from
+the remotest depths of Nature, and exposed him to the view of all.&rsquo;
+Continuing his observations, Galileo perceived that the two lateral
+objects gradually decreased in size, and at the expiration of two years
+entirely disappeared, leaving the central globe visible only. He was
+unable to assign any reason for this peculiar occurrence, which caused
+him much perplexity, and he expresses himself thus: &lsquo;What is to be said
+concerning so strange a metamorphosis? Are the two lesser stars consumed
+after the manner of the solar spots? Have they vanished and suddenly
+fled? Has Saturn, perhaps, devoured his own children? Or were the
+appearances, indeed, illusion or fraud, with which the glasses have so
+long deceived me, as well as many others to whom I have shown them? Now,
+perhaps, is the time to revive the well-nigh withered hopes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> those
+who, guided by more profound contemplations, have discovered the fallacy
+of the new observations, and demonstrated the utter impossibility of
+their existence. I do not know what to say in a case so surprising, so
+unlooked-for, and so novel. The shortness of the time, the unexpected
+nature of the event, the weakness of my understanding, and the fear of
+being mistaken, have greatly confounded me.&rsquo; After a certain interval
+those bodies reappeared; but Galileo&#8217;s glass was not sufficiently
+powerful to enable him to ascertain their nature nor solve the mystery,
+which for upwards of half a century perplexed the ablest astronomers.</p>
+
+<p>The elucidation of this inexplicable phenomenon was reserved for
+Christian Huygens, who, with an improved telescope of his own
+construction, was able to declare that Saturn&#8217;s appendages were portions
+of a ring which surrounds the planet, and is everywhere distinct from
+its surface.</p>
+
+<p>Galileo next directed his attention to the planet Venus, and as a result
+of his observations was led to communicate to the public another
+anagram:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Haec immatura a me jam frustra leguntur oy.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This, when rendered correctly, reads:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Cynthiae figuras aemulatur mater amorum.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Venus rivals the appearances of the Moon.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The phases of Venus were one of the most interesting of Galileo&#8217;s
+discoveries with the telescope. When observed near inferior conjunction
+the planet presents the appearance of a slender crescent, resembling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+the Moon when a few days old. Travelling from this point to superior
+conjunction, the illumined portion of her disc gradually increases,
+until it becomes circular, like the full Moon. This changing appearance
+of Venus afforded Galileo irresistible proof that the planet is an
+opaque body, which derives its light from the Sun, and that it circles
+round the orb&mdash;convincing evidence of the accuracy and truthfulness of
+the Copernican theory.</p>
+
+<p>It was in this manner that Galileo announced his discovery of the phases
+of Venus, the peerless planet of our morning and evening skies, whose
+slender crescent forms such a beautiful object in the telescope, and
+who, as she traverses her orbit, exhibits all the varied changes of form
+presented by the Moon in her monthly journey round the Earth. These
+varying aspects of Venus were not unknown to Milton; and, indeed, he may
+have been informed of them by Galileo in his conversation with him at
+Arcetri; nor has he failed to introduce an allusion to this beautiful
+phenomenon in his poem. In his description of the Creation, after the
+Sun was formed, he adds:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hither, as to their fountain, other stars<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Repairing, in their golden urns draw light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hence the morning planet gilds her horns.&mdash;vii. 364-66.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Galileo also discovered that the planet Mars does not always present the
+appearance of a circular disc. When near opposition the full disc of the
+planet is visible, but at all other times it is gibbous,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> and approaches
+nearest to that of a half-moon when at the quadratures.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1610, on directing his telescope to the Sun, Galileo
+detected dark spots on the solar disc. Similar spots, sufficiently large
+to be distinguished by the naked eye, had been observed from time to
+time for centuries prior to the invention of the telescope, but nothing
+was known of their nature. In 1609 Kepler observed a spot on the Sun,
+which he thought was the planet Mercury in conjunction with the orb; the
+short time during which it was visible, in consequence of clouds having
+obscured the face of the luminary, prevented him from being able to
+determine the accuracy of his surmise, but since then it has been
+ascertained that no transit of Mercury took place at that time, and
+Kepler afterwards acknowledged that he had arrived at an erroneous
+conclusion. Galileo was much puzzled in trying to find out the true
+nature of the spots. At first he was led to imagine that planets like
+Mercury and Venus revolved round the Sun at a short distance from the
+orb, and that their dark bodies, travelling across the solar disc, gave
+rise to the phenomenon of the spots. After further observation, he
+ascertained that the spots were in actual contact with the Sun; that
+they were irregular in shape and size, and continued to appear and
+disappear. Sometimes a large spot would break up into several smaller
+ones, and at other times three or four small spots would unite to form a
+large one. They all had a common motion, and appeared to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> rotate with
+the Sun, from which Galileo concluded that the orb rotated on his axis
+in about twenty-eight days. Galileo believed that the spots were clouds
+floating in the solar atmosphere, and that they intercepted a portion of
+the light of the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>The Milky Way, that wondrous zone of light which encircles the heavens,
+remained for many ages a source of perplexity to ancient astronomers and
+philosophers, who, in their endeavours to ascertain its nature, had
+arrived at various absurd and erroneous conclusions. On directing his
+telescope to this luminous tract, Galileo discovered, to his
+inexpressible admiration, that it consists of a vast multitude of stars,
+too minute to be visible to the naked eye. He also discerned that its
+milky luminosity is created by the blended light of myriads of stars, so
+remote as to be incapable of definition by his telescope. In his
+&lsquo;Nuncius Sidereus&rsquo; he gives an account of his observations of the Galaxy
+and expresses his satisfaction that he has been enabled to terminate an
+ancient controversy by demonstrating to the senses the stellar structure
+of the Milky Way. When engaged in exploring the celestial regions with
+his telescope, Galileo observed a marked difference in the appearance of
+the fixed stars, as compared with that of the planets. Each of the
+latter showed a rounded disc resembling that of a small moon, but the
+stars exhibited no disc, and shone as vivid sparkling points of light;
+all of them, whether of large or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> small magnitude, presenting the same
+appearance in the telescope. This led him to conclude that the fixed
+stars were not illumined by the Sun, because their brilliancy in all
+their changes of position remained unaltered. But, in the case of the
+planets, he found that their lustre varied according to their distance
+from the Sun; consequently, he believed they were opaque bodies which
+reflected the solar rays. On directing his telescope to the Pleiades,
+which, to the naked eye, appear as a group of seven stars, he succeeded
+in counting forty lucid points. The nebula Praesepe in Cancer, he was
+also able to resolve into a cluster of stars. Galileo made many other
+observations of the heavenly bodies with his telescope, all of which he
+describes as having afforded him &lsquo;incredible delight.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Shortly before the failure of his eyesight, Galileo discovered the
+Moon&#8217;s diurnal libration, a variation in the visible edges of the Moon
+caused by its oscillatory motion, and the diurnal rotation of the Earth
+on her axis.</p>
+
+<p>Though Milton has not favoured us with any interesting details of his
+interview with Galileo, nor expressed his opinions with regard to the
+controversies which at that time agitated both the religious and
+scientific worlds of thought, and which eventually culminated in a storm
+of rancour and hatred that burst over the devoted head of the aged
+astronomer, and brought him to his knees, yet he informs us that he
+&lsquo;found and visited&rsquo; Galileo, whom he describes as &lsquo;grown old,&rsquo; and
+cynically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> remarks that he &lsquo;was held a prisoner of the Inquisition for
+thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican
+licensers thought.&rsquo; Milton does not allude to his blindness, and yet it
+would be natural to imagine that, had his host suffered from this
+affliction at the time of his visit, he would have referred to it. We
+learn that Milton arrived in Italy in the spring of 1638. In 1637, the
+affection which, in the preceding year, deprived Galileo of the use of
+his right eye, attacked the left also, which began to grow dim, and in
+the course of a few months became sightless; so that, although Milton
+has not alluded to this calamity, Galileo had become totally blind at
+the time of his visit.</p>
+
+<p>How much Milton was impressed with the fame of Galileo and his telescope
+becomes apparent on referring to his &lsquo;Paradise Lost.&rsquo; In it he alludes
+to the instrument upon three different occasions, twice when in the
+hands of Galileo; and the remembrance of the same artist was doubtless
+in his mind when he mentions the &lsquo;glazed optic tube&rsquo; in another part of
+his poem. The interval that elapsed from the date of Milton&#8217;s visit to
+Galileo in 1638, to the publication of &lsquo;Paradise Lost&rsquo; in 1667, included
+a period of about thirty years, yet this length of time did not erase
+from Milton&#8217;s memory his recollection of Galileo and of his pleasant
+sojourn at Florence.</p>
+
+<p>The first allusion in the poem to the Italian astronomer is in the lines
+in which Milton describes the shield carried by Satan:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+<span class="i16">The broad circumference<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whose orb<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At evening, from the top of Fesolé,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe.&mdash;i. 286-91.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Galileo is described as having observed the Moon from the heights of
+Fesolé, which formed part of the suburbs of Florence, or from Valdarno,
+the valley of the Arno, in which the city is situated. The belief that
+Galileo had discovered continents and seas on the Moon justified Milton
+in imagining the existence of rivers and mountains on the lunar surface.
+The expression &lsquo;spotty globe&rsquo; is more descriptive of the appearance of
+our satellite when observed with the telescope, than when seen with the
+naked eye. Galileo&#8217;s attention was attracted by the freckled aspect of
+the Moon&mdash;a visual effect created by the number of extinct volcanoes
+scattered over the surface of the orb.</p>
+
+<p>In his next allusion to the telescope Milton associates Galileo&#8217;s name
+with the instrument:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i14">As when by night the glass<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Galileo, less assured, observes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Imagined lands and regions in the Moon.&mdash;v. 261-63.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In these lines Milton describes with accuracy the extent of Galileo&#8217;s
+knowledge of our satellite. The conclusions which the Italian astronomer
+arrived at with regard to its habitability were not supported by
+telescopic evidence sufficient to justify such a belief. Galileo writes:
+&lsquo;Had its surface been absolutely smooth it would have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> but a vast,
+unblessed desert, void of animals, of plants, of cities and men; the
+abode of silence and inaction&mdash;senseless, lifeless, soulless, and
+stripped of all those ornaments which now render it so variable and so
+beautiful:&rsquo;&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There lands the Fiend, a spot like which perhaps<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Astronomer in the Sun&#8217;s lucent orb<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through his glazed optic tube yet never saw.&mdash;iii. 588-90.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Milton may have remembered that Galileo was the first astronomer who
+directed a telescope to the Sun; and that he discovered the dark spots
+frequently seen on the solar disc.</p>
+
+<p>Anyone who has read a history of the life of Galileo, and contemplated
+the career of this remarkable man, his ardent struggles in the cause of
+freedom and philosophic truth, his victories and reverses, his brilliant
+astronomical discoveries, and his investigation of the laws of motion,
+and other natural phenomena, will arrive at the conclusion that he
+merited the distinction conferred upon him by our great English poet,
+when he included him among the renowned few whose names are found in the
+pages of &lsquo;Paradise Lost.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h4>THE SEASONS</h4>
+
+<p>The great path of the Sun among the constellations as seen from the
+Earth is called the Ecliptic. It is divided into 360°, and again into
+twelve equal parts of 30°, called Signs. As one half of the ecliptic is
+north, and the other half south, of the equator, the line of
+intersection of their planes is at two points which are known as the
+equinoctial points, because, when the Sun on his upward and downward
+journey arrives at either of them the days and nights are of equal
+length all over the world. The equinoctial points are not stationary,
+but have a westerly motion of 50'' annually along the ecliptic; at this
+rate they will require a period of 25,868 years to complete an entire
+circuit of the heavens.</p>
+
+<p>Milton alludes to the ecliptic when he mentions the arrival of Satan
+upon the Earth:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Down from the ecliptic, sped with hoped success,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Throws his steep flight in many an airy wheel,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor staid till on Niphates top he lights.&mdash;iii. 740-42.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Extending for 9° on each side of the ecliptic is a zone or belt called
+the Zodiac, the mesial line of which is occupied by the Sun, and within
+this space the principal planets perform their annual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> revolutions. It
+was for long believed that the paths of all the planets lay within the
+zodiac, but on the discovery of the minor planets, Ceres, Pallas, and
+Juno, it was ascertained that they travelled beyond this zone. The stars
+situated within the zodiac are divided into twelve groups or
+constellations, which correspond with the twelve signs, and each is
+named after an animal or some figure which it is supposed to resemble.
+The zodiac is of great antiquity; the ancient Egyptians and Hindoos made
+use of it, and there are allusions to it in the earliest astronomical
+records. The twelve constellations of the zodiac bear the following
+names:&mdash;</p>
+
+<table summary="Constellations of the zodiac">
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Aries</td><td class="lb pad">the Ram</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Taurus</td><td class="lb pad">the Bull</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Gemini</td><td class="lb pad">the Twins</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Cancer</td><td class="lb pad">the Crab</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Leo</td><td class="lb pad">the Lion</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Virgo</td><td class="lb pad">the Virgin</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Libra</td><td class="lb pad">the Balance</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Scorpio</td><td class="lb pad">the Scorpion</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Sagittarius</td><td class="lb pad">the Archer</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Capricornus</td><td class="lb pad">the Goat</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Aquarius</td><td class="lb pad">the Water-bearer</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="lt pad">Pisces</td><td class="lb pad">the Fishes</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>In close association with the Sun&#8217;s annual journey are the seasons, upon
+the regular sequence of which mankind depend for the various products of
+the soil essential for the maintenance and enjoyment of life. The
+revolution of the Earth in her orbit, and the inclination of her axis to
+her annual path, causing the plane of the equator to be inclined 23&frac12;°
+to that of the ecliptic, are the reasons which account for the
+succession of the seasons&mdash;Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Owing to
+the position of the Earth&#8217;s axis with regard to her orbit, the Sun
+appears to travel 23&frac12;° north and 23&frac12;° south of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> equator. When,
+on June 21, the orb attains his highest northern altitude, we have the
+summer solstice and the longest days; when, by retracing his steps, he
+declines 23&frac12;° below the equator, at which point he arrives on
+December 21, we have the winter solstice and the shortest days.
+Intermediate between those two seasons are spring and autumn. When the
+Sun, on his journey northward, reaches the equator, we have the vernal
+equinox, and at this period of the year the days and nights are of equal
+length all over the globe. In a similar manner, when, on his return
+journey, the Sun is again on the equator, the autumnal equinox occurs.
+In summer the North Pole is inclined towards the Sun, consequently his
+rays fall more direct and impart much more heat to the northern
+hemisphere than in winter, when the Pole is turned away from the Sun.
+This difference in the incidence of the solar rays upon the surface of
+the globe, along with the increased length of the day, mainly accounts
+for the high temperature of summer as compared with that of winter.</p>
+
+<p>Astronomically, the seasons commence at the periods of the equinoxes and
+solstices. Spring begins on March 21, the time of the vernal equinox;
+summer on June 21, at the summer solstice; autumn on September 22, at
+the autumnal equinox; and winter on December 21, at the winter solstice.
+This conventional division of the year is not equally applicable to all
+parts of the globe. In the arctic and antarctic regions spring and
+autumn are very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> brief, the summer is short and the winter of long
+duration. In the tropics, owing to the comparatively slight difference
+in the obliquity of the Sun&#8217;s rays, one season is, as regards
+temperature, not much different from the other; but in the temperate
+regions of the Earth the vicissitudes of the seasons are more
+perceptible and can be best distinguished by the growth of vegetation,
+and the changes observable in the foliage of shrubs and trees. In spring
+there is the budding, in summer the blossom, in autumn the
+fruit-bearing, and in winter the leafless condition of deciduous trees,
+and the repose of vegetable life.</p>
+
+<p>The legendary belief that before the Fall there reigned on the Earth a
+perpetual spring, is introduced by Milton in his poem when he describes
+the pleasant surroundings associated with the happy conditions of life
+that existed in Paradise:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">Thus was this place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A happy rural seat of various view:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Others whose fruit, burnished with golden rind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hung amiable&mdash;Hesperian fables true,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If true here only&mdash;and of delicious taste.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Grazing the tender herb, were interposed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or palmy hillock; or the flowery lap<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of some irriguous valley spread her store,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Another side, umbrageous grots and caves<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of cool recess, o&#8217;er which the mantling vine<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Luxuriant; meanwhile murmuring waters fall<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Down the slope hill dispersed, or in a lake<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">That to the fringèd bank with myrtle crowned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her crystal mirror holds, unite their streams.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The birds their quire apply; airs, vernal airs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Breathing the smell of field and grove, attune<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The trembling leaves, while universal Pan,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Led on the eternal Spring.&mdash;iv. 246-68.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In sad contrast with this charming sylvan scene, we turn to the unhappy
+consequences which ensued as a result of the first act of transgression.
+Milton describes a change of climate characterised by extremes of heat
+and cold which succeeded the perpetual spring. The Sun was made to shine
+so that the Earth should be exposed to torrid heat and icy cold
+unpleasant to endure. The pale Moon and the planets were given power to
+combine with noxious effect, and the fixed stars to shed their malignant
+influences:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i30">The Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Had first his precept so to move, so shine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As might affect the Earth with cold and heat<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Scarce tolerable, and from the north to call<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Decrepit winter, from the south to bring<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Solstitial summer&#8217;s heat. To the blanc Moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her office they prescribed; to the other five<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their planetary motions and aspects,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of noxious efficacy, and when to join<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In synod unbenign; and taught the fixed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their influence malignant when to shower&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which of them rising with the Sun or falling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Should prove tempestuous. To the winds they set<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their corners, when with bluster to confound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sea, air, and shore; the thunder when to roll<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With terror through the dark aerial hall.&mdash;x. 651-67.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+We are here afforded an opportunity of learning that Milton possessed
+some knowledge of astrology, to which he makes allusion in other parts
+of his poem besides. In his time, astrology was believed in by many
+persons, and there were few learned men but who knew something of that
+occult science. Milton may be included among those who devoted some
+attention to astrology. Of this there is ample evidence, by the manner
+in which he expresses himself in words and phrases in common use among
+astrologers.</p>
+
+<p>The professors of this art recognised five planetary aspects, viz.,
+opposition, conjunction, sextile, square, and trine, each possessing its
+peculiar kind of influence on events. The Moon, the planets, and the
+constellations in their conjunctions and configurations, were believed
+to reveal to those who could understand the significance of their
+aspects, the destiny of individuals and the occurrence of future events.
+The inauspicious influences of the heavenly bodies are described by
+Milton as contributing to the general disarrangement of the happy
+condition of things that existed before the Fall.</p>
+
+<p>After having described the adverse physical changes which occurred in
+Nature as a consequence of the Fall, Milton makes use of his
+astronomical knowledge in explaining how they were brought about, and
+suggests two hypotheses: (1) a change of position of the Earth&#8217;s axis;
+(2) an alteration of the Sun&#8217;s path from the equinoctial road:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Some say he bid his Angels turn askance<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The poles of Earth twice ten degrees and more<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the Sun&#8217;s axle; they with labour pushed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oblique the centric globe: some say the Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was bid turn reins from the equinoctial road<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like distant breadth&mdash;to Taurus with the seven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Atlantic Sisters, and the Spartan Twins,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Up to the Tropic Crab; thence down amain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By Leo, and the Virgin, and the Scales,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As deep as Capricorn; to bring in change<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of seasons to each clime. Else had the spring<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Perpetual smiled on Earth with vernant flowers.&mdash;x. 668-79.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In support of the theory of a perpetual spring, Milton assumes that the
+Earth&#8217;s axis was directed at right angles to her orbit, and that the
+plane of the equator coincided with that of the ecliptic. Consequently,
+the Sun&#8217;s path remained always on the equator, where his rays were
+vertical, and north and south of this line each locality on the Earth
+enjoyed one constant season, the character of which depended upon its
+geographical position. In what are now the temperate regions of the
+globe there was one continuous season, similar in climate and length of
+day to what is experienced at the vernal equinox, when the Sun is for a
+few days on the equator. There was then no winter, no summer, nor
+autumn; and, consequently, the growth of vegetation must have taken
+place under conditions of climate entirely different to what exist on
+the Earth at the present time.</p>
+
+<p>The change of position of the Earth&#8217;s axis, &lsquo;twice ten degrees and more
+from the Sun&#8217;s axle,&rsquo;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> is described by Milton as having been
+accomplished by the might of angels, who &lsquo;with labour pushed oblique the
+centric globe.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>(2) According to the Ptolemaic belief, the Sun revolved round the Earth,
+but his course was altered from the equinoctial road to the path that he
+now pursues, which is the ecliptic. Instead of remaining on the equator,
+he travels an equal distance from this line upwards and downwards in
+each hemisphere.</p>
+
+<p>The path of the Sun in the heavens is described by Milton with marked
+precision, and he mentions in regular order the names of the zodiacal
+constellations through which the orb travels. Passing through Taurus
+with the seven Atlantic Sisters (the Pleiades) and the Spartan Twins
+(Gemini), he enters the Tropic Crab (Cancer), in which constellation he
+attains his highest northern altitude; thence downwards he travels
+through Leo, Virgo, and the Scales (Libra), as deep as Capricornus,
+reaching his lowest point of declination at the winter solstice; and
+were it not for this alteration of the Sun&#8217;s path, the poet informs us
+that perpetual spring would have reigned upon the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>Milton was evidently well acquainted with the astronomical reasons (the
+revolution of the Earth in her orbit and the obliquity of the ecliptic)
+by which the occurrence and regular sequence of the seasons can be
+explained.</p>
+
+<p>The path of the Sun in the heavens; his upward and downward course from
+the equator; the names<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> of the constellations through which the orb
+travels, and the periods of the year at which he enters them, were also
+familiar to him.</p>
+
+<p>The grateful change of the seasons, and the varied aspects of nature
+peculiar to each, which give a charm and freshness to the rolling year,
+must have been to Milton a source of pleasure and delight, and have
+stimulated his poetic fancy.</p>
+
+<p>His observation of natural phenomena, and his keen perception of the
+pleasing changes which accompany them, are described in the following
+lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">As, when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o&#8217;erspread<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Heaven&#8217;s cheerful face, the louring element<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Scowls o&#8217;er the darkened landskip snow or shower,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If chance the radiant Sun, with farewell sweet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Extend his evening beam, the fields revive,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings.&mdash;ii. 488-95.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The ancient poets Virgil and Ovid describe the Earth as having been
+created in the spring; and associated with this season, which</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i14">to the heart inspires<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Vernal delight and joy&mdash;iv. 154-55,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>were the Graces and the Hours, which danced hand in hand as they led on
+the eternal Spring.</p>
+
+<p>Milton alludes to the seasons on several occasions throughout his poem,
+and to the natural phenomena associated with them:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i30">As bees<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In springtime when the Sun with Taurus rides,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pour forth their populous youth about the hive<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fly to and fro, or on the smoothèd plank<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The suburb of their straw-built citadel<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">New rubbed with balm, expatiate and confer<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their state affairs.&mdash;i. 768-75.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The Sun is in the constellation Taurus in April, when the warmth of his
+rays begins to impart new life and activity to the insect world after
+their long winter&#8217;s sleep.</p>
+
+<p>In his description of the repast partaken by the Angel Raphael with Adam
+and Eve in Paradise, Milton writes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">Raised of grassy turf<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their table was, and mossy seats had round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And on her ample square, from side to side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All Autumn piled, though Spring and Autumn here<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Danced hand in hand.&mdash;v. 391-95.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In describing Beelzebub when about to address the Stygian Council, he
+says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i30">His look<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Drew audience and attention still as night<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or summer&#8217;s noontide air, while thus he spake.&mdash;ii. 307-309.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The failing vision from which Milton suffered in his declining years was
+succeeded by total blindness. This sad affliction he alludes to in the
+following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">Thus with the year<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Seasons return; but not to me returns<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer&#8217;s rose.&mdash;iii. 40-43.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We are able to perceive how much Milton was impressed with the beautiful
+seasons, and the varying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> aspects of the year which accompany them, and
+how his poetic imagination luxuriated in the changing variety of nature
+observable in earth and sky that from day to day afforded him exquisite
+delight; and, although his poem was written when blindness had overtaken
+him, yet those glad remembrances remained as fresh in his memory as when
+in his youth he roamed among the flowery meadows, the vocal woodlands,
+and the winding lanes of Buckinghamshire.</p>
+
+<p>The idea expressed by Milton that the primitive earth enjoyed a
+perpetual spring, though pleasing to the imagination, and well adapted
+for poetic description, is not sustained by any astronomical testimony.
+Indeed, the position of the Earth, with her axis at right angles to her
+orbit, is one which may be regarded as being ill adapted for the support
+and maintenance of life on her surface, just as her present position is
+the best that can be imagined for fulfilling this purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Astronomy teaches us to rely with certainty upon the permanence and
+regular sequence of the seasons. The position of the Earth&#8217;s axis as she
+speeds along in her orbit through the unresisting ether remains
+unchanged, and her rapid rotation has the effect of increasing its
+stability. Yet, the Earth performs none of her motions with rigid
+precision, and there is a very slow alteration of the position of her
+axis occurring, which, if unchecked, would eventually produce a
+coincidence of the equator and the ecliptic. Instead of a succession<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> of
+the seasons, there would then be perpetual spring upon the Earth, and,
+although it would require a great epoch of time to bring about such a
+change, there would result a condition of things entirely different to
+what now exists on the globe. But, before the ecliptic can have
+approached sufficiently near the equator to produce any appreciable
+effect upon the climate of the Earth, its motion must cease, and after
+remaining stationary for a time, it will begin to recede to its former
+position. The seasons must therefore follow each other in regular
+sequence, and throughout all time, reminding us of the promise of the
+Creator, &lsquo;that while the Earth remaineth seed-time and harvest, and cold
+and heat, and summer and winter shall not cease.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h4>THE STARRY HEAVENS</h4>
+
+<p>The celestial vault, that, like a circling canopy of sapphire hue,
+stretches overhead from horizon to horizon, resplendent by night with
+myriad stars of different magnitudes and varied brilliancy, forming
+clusterings and configurations of fantastic shape and beauty, arrests
+the attention of the most casual observer. But to one who has studied
+the heavens, and followed the efforts of human genius in unravelling the
+mysteries associated with those bright orbs, the impression created on
+his mind as he gazes upon them in the still hours of the night, when the
+turmoil of life is hushed in repose, is one of wonder and longing to
+know more of their being and the hidden causes which brought them forth.
+Here, we have poetry written in letters of gold on the sable vestment of
+night; music in the gliding motion of the spheres; and harmony in the
+orbital sweep of sun, planet, and satellite.</p>
+
+<p>Milton was not only familiar with &lsquo;the face of the sky,&rsquo; as it is
+popularly called, but also knew the structure of the celestial sphere,
+and the great circles by which it is circumscribed. Two of those&mdash;the
+colures&mdash;he alludes to in the following lines, when he describes the
+manner in which Satan, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> avoid detection, compassed the Earth, after
+his discovery by Gabriel in Paradise, and his flight thence:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The space of seven continued nights he rode<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With darkness&mdash;thrice the equinoctial line<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He circled, four times crossed the car of night<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From pole to pole, traversing each colure.&mdash;ix. 63-66.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Aristarchus of Samos believed the stars were golden studs, that
+illumined the crystal dome of heaven; but modern research has
+transformed this conception of the ancient astronomer&#8217;s into a universe
+of blazing suns rushing through regions of illimitable space. In
+Milton&#8217;s time astronomers had arrived at no definite conclusion with
+regard to the nature of the stars. They were known to be self-luminous
+bodies, situated at a remote distance in space, but it had not been
+ascertained with any degree of certainty that they were suns, resembling
+in magnitude and brilliancy our Sun. Indeed, little was known of those
+orbs until within the past hundred years, when the exploration of the
+heavens by the aid of greatly increased telescopic power, was the means
+of creating a new branch of astronomical science, called sidereal
+astronomy.</p>
+
+<p>We are indebted to Sir William Herschel, more than to any other
+astronomer, for our knowledge of the stellar universe. It was he who
+ascertained the vastness of its dimensions, and attempted to delineate
+its structural configuration. He also explored the star depths, which
+occupy the infinitude of space by which we are surrounded, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> made
+many wonderful discoveries, which testify to his ability as an observer,
+and to his greatness as an astronomer.</p>
+
+<p>William Herschel was born at Hanover, November 15, 1738. His father was
+a musician in the band of the Hanoverian Guard, and trained his son in
+his own profession. After four years of military service, young Herschel
+arrived in England when nineteen years of age, and maintained himself by
+giving lessons in music. We hear of him first at Leeds, where he
+followed his profession, and instructed the band of the Durham Militia.
+From Leeds he went to Halifax, and was appointed organist there; on the
+expiration of twelve months he removed to Bath, and was elected to a
+similar post at the Octagon Chapel in that city. Here, fortune smiled
+upon him, and he became a busy and prosperous man. Besides attending to
+his numerous private engagements, he organised concerts, oratorios, and
+other public musical entertainments, which gained him much popularity
+among the cultivated classes which frequented this fashionable resort.
+Notwithstanding his numerous professional engagements, Herschel was able
+to devote a portion of his time to acquiring knowledge on other
+subjects. He became proficient in Italian and Greek, studied
+mathematics, and read books on astronomy. In 1773 he borrowed a small
+telescope, which he used for observational purposes, and was so
+captivated with the appearances presented by the celestial bodies, that
+he resolved to dedicate his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> life to acquiring &lsquo;a knowledge of the
+construction of the heavens.&rsquo; This resolution he nobly adhered to, and
+became one of the most distinguished of astronomers. Like many other
+astronomers, Herschel possessed the requisite skill which enabled him to
+construct his own telescopes. Being desirous of possessing a more
+powerful instrument, and not having the means to purchase one, he
+commenced the manufacture of specula, the grinding and polishing of
+which had to be done by hand, entailing the necessity of tedious labour
+and the exercise of much patience. After repeated failures he at length
+completed a 5&frac12;-foot Gregorian reflector, and with this instrument
+made his first survey of the heavens. Having perceived the desirability
+of possessing a more powerful telescope, he equipped himself with a
+reflector of twenty feet focal length, and it was with this instrument
+that he made those wonderful discoveries which established his
+reputation as a great astronomer.</p>
+
+<p>On March 31, 1781, when examining the stars in the constellation Gemini,
+Herschel observed a star which presented an appearance slightly
+different to that of the other stars by which it was surrounded; it
+looked larger, had a perceptible disc, and its light became fainter when
+viewed with a higher magnifying power. After having carefully examined
+this object, Herschel arrived at the conclusion that he had discovered a
+comet. He communicated intelligence of his discovery to the Royal
+Society, and, a notification of it having been sent to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> the Continental
+observatories, this celestial visitor was subjected to a close scrutiny;
+its progressive motion among the stars was carefully observed, and an
+orbit was assigned to it. After it had been under observation for some
+time, doubts were expressed as to its being a comet, these were
+increased on further examination, and eventually it was discovered that
+this interesting object was a new planet. This important discovery at
+once raised Herschel to a position of eminence and distinction, and from
+a star-gazing musician he became a famous astronomer. A new planet named
+Uranus was added to our system, which completes a revolution round the
+Sun in a little over eighty-four years, and at a distance of near 1,000
+millions of miles beyond the orbit of Saturn. Herschel&#8217;s name became a
+household word. George III. invited him to Court in order that he might
+obtain from his own lips an account of his discovery of the new planet;
+and so favourable was the impression made by Herschel upon the King,
+that he proposed to create him Royal Astronomer at Windsor, and bestow
+upon him a salary of 200<i>l.</i> a year. Herschel decided to accept the
+proffered appointment, and, with his sister Caroline, removed from Bath
+to Datchet, near Windsor, in 1782, and from there to Slough in 1786. In
+1788 he married the wealthy widow of a London merchant, by whom he had
+one son, who worthily sustained his father&#8217;s high reputation as an
+astronomer. Herschel was created a Knight in 1816, and in 1821 was
+elected first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> President of the Royal Astronomical Society. He died at
+Slough on August 25, 1822, when in the eighty-fourth year of his age,
+and was buried in Upton Churchyard.</p>
+
+<p>It is inscribed on his tomb, that &lsquo;he burst the barriers of heaven;&rsquo; the
+lofty praise conveyed by this expression is not greater than what
+Herschel merited when we consider with what unwearied assiduity and
+patience he laboured to accomplish the results described in the words
+which have been quoted. By a method called &lsquo;star-gauging&rsquo; he
+accomplished an entire survey of the heavens and examined minutely all
+the stars in their groups and aggregations as they passed before his eye
+in the field of the telescope. He sounded the depths of the Milky Way,
+and explored the wondrous regions of that shining zone, peopled with
+myriads of suns so closely aggregated in some of its tracts as to
+suggest the appearance of a mosaic of stars. He resolved numerous nebulæ
+into clusters of stars, and penetrated with his great telescope depth
+after depth of space crowded with &lsquo;island universes of stars,&rsquo; beyond
+which he was able to discern luminous haze and filmy streaks of light,
+the evidence of the existence of other universes plunged in depths still
+more profound, where space verges on infinity. In his exploration of the
+starry heavens Herschel&#8217;s labours were truly amazing. On four different
+occasions he completed a survey of the firmament, and counted the stars
+in several thousand gauge-fields; he discovered 2,400 nebulæ,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> 800
+double stars, and attempted to ascertain the approximate distances of
+the stars by a comparison of their relative brightness.</p>
+
+<p>It had long been surmised, though no actual proof was forthcoming, that
+the law of gravitation by which the order and stability of our system
+are maintained exercises its potent influence over other material bodies
+existing in space, and that other systems, though differing in many
+respects from that of ours, and presenting a more complex arrangement in
+their structure, perform their motions subject to the guidance of this
+universal law. The uncertainty with regard to the controlling influence
+of gravity was removed by Herschel when he made his important discovery
+of binary star systems. The components of a binary star are usually in
+such close proximity that, to the naked eye, they appear as one star,
+and sometimes, even with telescopic aid, it is impossible to distinguish
+them individually; but when observed with sufficient magnifying power
+they can be easily perceived as two lucid points. Double stars were for
+a long time believed to be a purely optical phenomenon&mdash;an effect
+created by two stars projected on the sphere so as to appear nearly in
+the same line of vision, and, although apparently almost in contact,
+situated at great distances apart. At one time Herschel entertained a
+similar opinion with regard to those stars. In 1779 he undertook an
+extensive exploration of the heavens with the object of discovering
+double stars. As a result of his labours he presented to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> Royal
+Society in 1782 a list of 269 newly discovered double stars, and in
+three years after he supplemented this list with another which contained
+434 more new stars. He carefully measured the distances by which the
+component stars were separated, and determined their position angles, in
+order that he might be able to detect the existence of any sensible
+parallax. On repeating his observations twenty years after, he
+discovered that the relative positions of many of the stars had changed,
+and in 1802 he made the important announcement of his discovery that the
+components of many double stars form independent systems, held together
+in a mutual bond of union and revolving round one common centre of
+gravity.</p>
+
+<p>The importance of this discovery, which we owe to Herschel&#8217;s sagacity
+and accuracy of observation, cannot be over-estimated; what was
+previously conjecture and surmise, now became precise knowledge
+established upon a sure and accurate basis. It was ascertained that the
+law of gravity exerts its power in regulating and controlling the
+motions of all celestial bodies within the range of telescopic vision,
+and that the order and harmony which pervade our system are equally
+present among other systems of suns and worlds distributed throughout
+the regions of space. The spectacle of two or more suns revolving round
+each other, forming systems of greater magnitude and importance than
+that of ours, conveyed to the minds of astronomers a knowledge of the
+mechanism of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> the heavens which had hitherto been unknown to them.</p>
+
+<p>During the many years which Herschel devoted to the exploration of the
+starry heavens, and when engaged night after night in examining and
+enumerating the various groups and clusters of stars which passed before
+his eye in the field of his powerful telescope, he did not fail to
+remember the sublime object of his life, and to which he made all his
+other investigations subordinate, viz., the delineation of the
+structural configuration of the heavens, and the inclusion of all
+aggregations, groups, clusters, and galaxies of stars which are
+apparently scattered promiscuously throughout the regions of space into
+one grand harmonious design of celestial architecture.</p>
+
+<p>Having this object in view, he explored the wondrous zone of the Milky
+Way, gauged its depths, measured its dimensions, and, in attempting to
+unravel the intricacies of its structure, penetrated its recesses far
+beyond the limit attained by any other observer. Acting on the
+assumption that the stars are uniformly distributed throughout space,
+Herschel, by his method of star-gauging, concluded that the sidereal
+system consists of an irregular stratum of evenly distributed suns,
+resembling in form a cloven flat disc, and that the apparent richness of
+some regions as compared with that of others could be accounted for by
+the position from which it was viewed by an observer. The stars would
+appear least numerous where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> visual line was shortest, and, as it
+became lengthened, they would increase in number until, by crowding
+behind each other as a greater depth of stratum was penetrated, they
+would, when very remote, present the appearance of a luminous cloud or
+zone of light. After further observation Herschel was compelled to
+relinquish his theory of equal star distribution, and found, as he
+approached the Galaxy, that the stars became much more numerous, and
+that in the Milky Way itself there was evidence of the gravitation of
+stars towards certain regions forming aggregations and clusters which
+would ultimately lead to its breaking up into numerous separate sidereal
+systems. As he extended his survey of the heavens and examined with
+greater minuteness the stellar regions in the Galactic tract, he
+discovered that by his method of star-gauging he was unable to define
+the complexity of structure and variety of arrangement which came under
+his observation; he also perceived that the star-depths are
+unfathomable, and discerned that beyond the reach of his telescope there
+existed systems and galaxies of stars situated at an appalling distance
+in the abysmal depths of space. Though the magnitude of that portion of
+the sidereal heavens which came under his observation was inconceivable
+as regards its dimensions, Herschel was able to perceive that it formed
+but a part&mdash;and most probably a small part&mdash;of the stellar universe, and
+that without a more extended knowledge of this universe, which at
+present is unattainable, it would be impossible to determine its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+structural configuration or discover the relationships that exist among
+the sidereal systems and Galactic concourses of stars distributed
+throughout space. Herschel ultimately abandoned his star-gauging method
+of observation and confined his attention to exploring the star depths
+and investigating the laws and theories associated with the bodies
+occupying those distant regions.</p>
+
+<p>Since all the planets if viewed from the Sun would be seen to move
+harmoniously and in regular order round that body, so there may be
+somewhere in the universe a central point, or, as some persons imagine,
+a great central sun, round which all the systems of stars perform their
+majestic revolutions with the same beautiful regularity; having their
+motions controlled by the same law of gravitation, and possessing the
+same dynamical stability which characterises the mechanism of the solar
+system.</p>
+
+<p>The extent of the distance which intervenes between our system and the
+fixed stars constituted a problem which exercised the minds of
+astronomers from an early period until the middle of the present
+century.</p>
+
+<p>Tycho Brahé, who repudiated the Copernican theory, asserted as one of
+his reasons against it that the distances by which the heavenly bodies
+are separated from each other were greater than even the upholders of
+this theory believed them to be. Although the distance of the Sun from
+the Earth was unknown, Tycho was aware that the diameter of the Earth&#8217;s
+orbit must be measured by millions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> of miles, and yet there was no
+perceptible motion or change of position of the stars when viewed from
+any point of the vast circumference which she traverses. Consequently,
+the Earth, if viewed from the neighbourhood of a star, would also appear
+motionless, and the dimensions of her orbit would be reduced to that of
+a point. This seemed incredible to Tycho, and he therefore concluded
+that the Copernican theory was incorrect.</p>
+
+<p>The conclusion that the stars are orbs resembling our Sun in magnitude
+and brilliancy was one which, Tycho urged, should not be hastily
+adopted; and yet, if it were conceded that the Earth is a body which
+revolves round the Sun, it would be necessary to admit that the stars
+are suns also. If the Earth&#8217;s orbit, as seen from a star, were reduced
+to a point, then the Sun, which occupies its centre, would be reduced to
+a point of light also, and, when observed from a star of equal
+brilliancy and magnitude, would have the same resemblance that the star
+has when viewed from the Earth, which may be regarded as being in
+proximity to the Sun. Tycho Brahé would not admit the accuracy of these
+conclusions, which were too bewildering and overwhelming for his mental
+conception.</p>
+
+<p>But the investigations of later astronomers disclosed the fact that the
+heavenly bodies are situated at distances more remote from each other
+than had been previously imagined, and that the reasons which led Tycho
+to reject the Copernican theory were based upon erroneous conclusions,
+and could,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> with greater aptitude, be employed in its support. It was
+ascertained that the distance of the Sun from the Earth, which at
+different periods was surmised to be ten, twenty, and forty millions of
+miles, was much greater than had been previously estimated. Later
+calculations determined it to be not less than eighty millions of miles,
+and, according to the most recent observations, the distance of the Sun
+from the Earth is believed to be about ninety-three millions of miles.</p>
+
+<p>Having once ascertained the distance between the Earth and the Sun,
+astronomers were enabled to determine with greater facility the
+distances of other heavenly bodies.</p>
+
+<p>It was now known that the diameter of the Earth&#8217;s orbit exceeded 183
+millions of miles, and yet, with a base line of such enormous length,
+and with instruments of the most perfect construction, astronomers were
+only able to perceive the minutest appreciable alteration in the
+positions of a few stars when observed from opposite points of the
+terrestrial orbit.</p>
+
+<p>It had long been the ambitious desire of astronomers to accomplish, if
+possible, a measurement of the abyss which separates our system from the
+nearest of the fixed stars. No imaginary measuring line had ever been
+stretched across this region of space, nor had its unfathomed depths
+ever been sounded by any effort of the human mind. The stars were known
+to be inconceivably remote, but how far away no person could tell, nor
+did there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> exist any guide by which an approximation of their distances
+could be arrived at.</p>
+
+<p>In attempting to calculate the distances of the stars, astronomers have
+had recourse to a method called &lsquo;Parallax,&rsquo; by which is meant the
+apparent change of position of a heavenly body when viewed from two
+different points of observation.</p>
+
+<p>The annual parallax of a heavenly body is the angle subtended at that
+body by the radius of the Earth&#8217;s orbit.</p>
+
+<p>The stars have no diurnal parallax, because, owing to their great
+distance, the Earth&#8217;s radius does not subtend any measurable angle, but
+the radius of the Earth&#8217;s orbit, which is immensely larger, does, in the
+case of a few stars, subtend a very minute angle.</p>
+
+<p>&lsquo;This enormous base line of 183 millions of miles is barely sufficient,
+in conjunction with the use of the most delicate and powerful
+astronomical instruments, to exhibit the minutest measureable
+displacement of two or three of the nearest stars.&rsquo;&mdash;Proctor.</p>
+
+<p>The efforts of early astronomers to detect any perceptible alteration in
+the positions of the stars when observed from any point of the
+circumference of the Earth&#8217;s orbit were unsuccessful. Copernicus
+ascribed the absence of any parallax to the immense distances of the
+stars as compared with the dimensions of the terrestrial orbit. Tycho
+Brahé, though possessing better appliances, and instruments of more
+perfect construction, was unable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> to perceive any annual displacement of
+the stars, and brought this forward as evidence against the Copernican
+theory.</p>
+
+<p>Galileo suggested a method of obtaining the parallax of the fixed stars,
+by observing two stars of unequal magnitude apparently near to each
+other, though really far apart. Those, when observed from different
+points of the Earth&#8217;s orbit, would appear to change their positions
+relatively to each other. The smaller and more distant star would remain
+unaltered, whilst the larger and nearer star would have changed its
+position with respect to the other. By continuing to observe the larger
+star during the time that the Earth accomplished a revolution of her
+orbit, Galileo believed that its parallax might be successfully
+determined. Though he did not himself put this method into practice, it
+has been tried by others with successful results.</p>
+
+<p>In 1669, Hooke made the first attempt to ascertain the parallax of a
+fixed star, and selected for this purpose &gamma; Draconis, a bright
+star in the Head of the Dragon. This constellation passed near the
+zenith of London at the time that he made his observations, and was
+favourably situated, so as to avoid the effects of refraction. Hooke
+made four observations in the months of July, August, and October, and
+believed that he determined the parallax of the star; but it was
+afterwards discovered that he was in error, and that the apparent
+displacement of the star was mainly due to the aberration of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> light&mdash;a
+phenomenon which was not discovered at that time.</p>
+
+<p>A few years later, Picard, a French astronomer, attempted to find the
+parallax of &alpha; Lyræ, but was unsuccessful. In 1692-93, Roemer, a
+Danish astronomer, observed irregularities in the declinations of the
+stars which could neither be ascribed to parallax or refraction, and
+which he imagined resulted from a changing position of the Earth&#8217;s axis.</p>
+
+<p>One of the principal causes which baffled astronomers in their
+endeavours to determine the parallax of the fixed stars was a phenomenon
+called the &lsquo;Aberration of Light,&rsquo; which was discovered and explained by
+Bradley in 1727. The peculiar effect of aberration was perceived by him
+when endeavouring to obtain the parallax of &gamma; Draconis.</p>
+
+<p>Owing to the progressive transmission of light, conjointly with the
+motion of the Earth in her orbit, there results an apparent slight
+displacement of a star from its true position. The extent of the
+displacement depends upon the ratio of the velocity of light as compared
+with the speed of the Earth in her orbit, which is as 10,000 to 1. As a
+consequence of this, each star describes a small ellipse in the course
+of a year, the central point of which would indicate the place occupied
+by the star if the Earth were at rest. The shifting position of the star
+is very slight, and at the end of a year it returns to its former place.</p>
+
+<p>Prior to the discovery of aberration, astronomers ascribed the apparent
+displacement of the stars<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> arising from this cause as being due to
+parallax&mdash;a conclusion which led to erroneous results; but after
+Bradley&#8217;s discovery this source of error was avoided, and it was found
+that the parallax of the stars had to be considerably reduced.</p>
+
+<p>Bessel was the first astronomer who merited the high distinction of
+having determined the first reliable stellar parallax, and by this
+achievement he was enabled to fathom the profound abyss which separates
+our solar system from the stars.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick William Bessel was born in 1764 at Minden, in Westphalia. It
+was his intention to pursue a mercantile career, and he commenced life
+by becoming apprenticed to a firm of merchants at Bremen. Soon
+afterwards he accompanied a trading expedition to China and the East
+Indies, and while on this voyage picked up a good deal of information
+with regard to many matters which came under his observation. He
+acquired a knowledge of Spanish and English, and made himself acquainted
+with the art of navigation. On his return home, Bessel endeavoured to
+determine the longitude of Bremen. The only appliances which he made use
+of were a sextant constructed by himself, and a common clock; and yet,
+with those rude instruments, he successfully accomplished his object.
+During the next two years he devoted all his spare time to the study of
+mathematics and astronomy, and, having obtained possession of Harriot&#8217;s
+observations of the celebrated comet of 1607&mdash;known as Halley&#8217;s
+comet&mdash;Bessel, after much diligent application<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> and careful calculation,
+was enabled to deduce from them an orbit, which he assigned to that
+remarkable body. This meritorious achievement was the means of procuring
+for him a widely known reputation.</p>
+
+<p>A vacancy for an assistant having occurred at Schröter&#8217;s Observatory at
+Lilienthal, the post was offered to Bessel and accepted by him. Here he
+remained for four years, and was afterwards appointed Director of the
+new Prussian Observatory at Königsberg, where he pursued his
+astronomical labours for a period of upwards of thirty years. Bessel
+directed his energies chiefly to the study of stellar astronomy, and
+made many observations in determining the number, the exact positions,
+and proper motions of the stars. He was remarkable for the precision
+with which he carried out his observations, and for the accuracy which
+characterised all his calculations.</p>
+
+<p>In 1837 Bessel, by the exercise of his consummate skill, endeavoured to
+solve a problem which for many years baffled the efforts of the ablest
+astronomers, viz., the determination of the parallax of the fixed stars.
+This had been so frequently attempted, and without success, that the
+results of any new observations were received with incredulity before
+their value could be ascertained.</p>
+
+<p>Bessel was ably assisted by Joseph Frauenhofer, an eminent optician of
+Munich, who constructed a magnificent heliometer for the Observatory at
+Königsberg, and in its design introduced a principle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> which admirably
+adapted it for micrometrical measurement.</p>
+
+<p>The star selected by Bessel is a binary known as 61 Cygni, the
+components being of magnitudes 5·5 and 6 respectively. It has a large
+proper motion, which led him to conclude that its parallax must be
+considerable.</p>
+
+<p>This star will always be an object of interest to astronomers, as it was
+the first of the stellar multitude that revealed to Bessel the secret of
+its distance.</p>
+
+<p>Bessel commenced his observations in October 1837, and continued them
+until March 1840. During this time he made 402 measurements, and, before
+arriving at a conclusive result, carefully considered every imaginable
+cause of error, and rigorously calculated any inaccuracies that might
+arise therefrom. Finally, he determined the parallax of the star to be
+0''·3483&mdash;a result equivalent to a distance about 600,000 times that of
+the Earth from the Sun. In 1842-43 M. Peters, of the Pulkova
+Observatory, arrived at an almost similar result, having obtained a
+parallax of 0''·349; but by more recent observations the parallax of the
+star has been increased to about half a second.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time that Bessel was occupied with his observation of 61
+Cygni, Professor Henderson, of Edinburgh, when in charge of the
+Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, directed his attention to &alpha;
+Centauri, one of the brightest stars in the Southern Hemisphere.
+During 1832-33 he made a series of observations of the star, with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+object of ascertaining its mean declination; and, having been informed
+afterwards of its large proper motion, he resolved to make an endeavour
+to determine its parallax. This he accomplished after his return to
+Scotland, having been appointed Astronomer Royal in that country. By an
+examination of the observations made by him at the Cape, he determined
+the parallax of &alpha; Centauri to be 1''·16, but later astronomers
+have reduced it to 0''·75.</p>
+
+<p>Professor Henderson&#8217;s detection of the parallax of &alpha; Centauri
+was communicated to the Astronomical Society two months after Bessel
+announced his determination of the parallax of 61 Cygni.</p>
+
+<p>The parallax of 61 Cygni assigns to the star a distance of forty
+billions of miles from the Earth, and that of &alpha;
+Centauri&mdash;regarded as the nearest star to our system&mdash;a distance of
+twenty-five billions of miles.</p>
+
+<p>It is utterly beyond the capacity of the human mind to form any adequate
+conception of those vast distances, even when measured by the velocity
+with which the ether of space is thrilled into light. Light, which
+travels twelve millions of miles in a minute, requires 4-1/3 years to
+cross the abyss which intervenes between &alpha; Centauri and the
+Earth, and from 61 Cygni the period required for light to reach our
+globe is rather less than double that time.</p>
+
+<p>The parallax of more than a dozen other stars has been determined, and
+the light passage of a few of the best known is estimated as
+follows:&mdash;Sirius, eight years; Procyon, twelve; Altair, sixteen;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+Aldebaran, twenty-eight; Capella, thirty; Regulus, thirty-five; Polaris,
+sixty-three; and Vega, ninety-six years.</p>
+
+<p>It does not always follow that the brightest stars are those situated
+nearest to our system, though in a general way this may be regarded as
+correct. The diminishing magnitudes of the stars can be accounted for
+mainly by their increased distances, rather than by any difference in
+their intrinsic brilliancy. We should not err by inferring that the most
+minute stars are also the most remote; the telescope revealing thousands
+that are invisible to the naked eye. There are, however, exceptions to
+this general rule, and there are many stars of small magnitude less
+remote than those whose names have been enumerated, and whose light
+passage testifies to their profound distances and surpassing magnitude
+when compared with that of our Sun.</p>
+
+<p>Sirius, &lsquo;the leader of the heavenly host,&rsquo; is distant fifty billions of
+miles. The orb shines with a brilliancy far surpassing that of the Sun,
+and greatly exceeds him in mass and dimensions. Arcturus, the bright
+star in Boötes, whose golden yellow light renders it such a conspicuous
+object, is so far distant that its measurement gives no reliable
+parallax; and if we may infer from what little we know of the stars,
+Arcturus is believed to be the most magnificent and massive orb entering
+into the structure of that portion of the sidereal system which comes
+within our cognisance. Judging by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> its relative size and brightness,
+this star is ten thousand times more luminous, and may exceed the Sun
+one million times in volume.</p>
+
+<p>Deneb, in the constellation of the Swan, though a first-magnitude star,
+possesses no perceptible proper motion or parallax&mdash;a circumstance
+indicative of amazing distance, and magnitude equalling, or surpassing,
+Arcturus and Sirius.</p>
+
+<p>Canopus, in the constellation Argo, in the Southern Hemisphere, the
+brightest star in the heavens with the exception of Sirius, possesses no
+sensible parallax; consequently, its distance is unknown, though it has
+been estimated that its light passage cannot be less than sixty-five
+years.</p>
+
+<p>By establishing a mean value for the parallax of stars of different
+magnitudes, it was believed that an approximation of their distances
+could be obtained by calculating the time occupied in their light
+passage. The light period for stars of the first magnitude has been
+estimated at thirty-six and a half years; this applies to the brightest
+stars, which are also regarded as the nearest. At the distance indicated
+by this period, the Sun would shrink to the dimensions of a
+seventh-magnitude star and become invisible to the naked eye; this of
+itself affords sufficient proof that the great luminary of our system
+cannot be regarded as one of the leading orbs of the firmament. Stars of
+the second magnitude have a mean distance of fifty-eight light years,
+those of the third magnitude ninety-two years, and so on. M. Peters
+estimated that light<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> from stars of the sixth magnitude, which are just
+visible to the naked eye, requires a period of 138 years to accomplish
+its journey hither; whilst light emitted from the smallest stars visible
+in large telescopes does not reach the Earth until after the lapse of
+thousands of years from the time of leaving its source.</p>
+
+<p>The profound distances of the nearest stars by which we are surrounded
+lead us to consider the isolated position of the solar system in space.
+A pinnacle of rock, or forsaken raft floating in mid-ocean, is not more
+distant from the shore than is the Sun from his nearest neighbours. The
+inconceivable dimensions of the abyss by which the orb and his
+attendants are surrounded in utter loneliness may be partially
+comprehended when it is known that light, which travels from the Sun to
+the Earth&mdash;a distance of ninety-three millions of miles&mdash;in eight
+minutes, requires a period of four and a third years to reach us from
+the nearest fixed star. A sphere having the Sun at its centre and this
+nearest star at its circumference would have a diameter of upwards of
+fifty billions of miles; the volume of the orb when compared with the
+dimensions of this circular vacuity of space is as a small shot to a
+globe 900 miles in diameter. It has been estimated by Father Secchi
+that, if a comet when at aphelion were to arrive at a point midway
+between the Sun and the nearest fixed star, it would require one hundred
+million years in the accomplishment of its journey thither. And yet the
+Sun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> is one of a group of stars which occupy a region of the heavens
+adjacent to the Milky Way and surrounded by that zone; nor is his
+isolation greater than that of those stars which are his companions, and
+who, notwithstanding their profound distance, influence his movements by
+their gravitational attraction, and in combination with the other stars
+of the firmament control his destiny.</p>
+
+<p>Ancient astronomers, for the purpose of description, have mapped out the
+heavens into numerous irregular divisions called &lsquo;constellations.&rsquo; They
+are of various forms and sizes, according to the configuration of the
+stars which occupy them, and have been named after different animals,
+mythological heroes, and other objects which they appear to resemble. In
+a few instances there does exist a similitude to the object after which
+a constellation is called; this is evident in the case of Corona
+Borealis (the Northern Crown), in which there can be seen a conspicuous
+arrangement of stars resembling a coronet, and in the constellations of
+the Dolphin and Scorpion, where the stars are so distributed that the
+forms of those creatures can be readily recognised. There is some slight
+resemblance to a bear in Ursa Major, and to a lion in Leo, and no great
+effort of the mind is required to imagine a chair in Cassiopeia, and a
+giant in Orion; but in the majority of instances it is difficult to
+perceive any likeness of the object after which a constellation is
+named, and in many cases there is no resemblance whatever.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+The constellations are sixty-seven in number: excluding those of the
+Zodiac, which have been already mentioned, the constellations of the
+Northern Hemisphere number twenty-nine. The most important of these are
+Ursa Major and Minor, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Lyra,
+Aquila, Auriga, Draco, Boötes, Hercules, Pegasus, and Corona Borealis.</p>
+
+<p>To an observer of the nocturnal sky the stars appear to be very
+unequally distributed over the celestial sphere. In some regions they
+are few in number and of small magnitude, whilst in other parts of the
+heavens, and especially in the vicinity of the Milky Way, they are
+present in great numbers and form groups and aggregations of striking
+appearance and conspicuous brilliancy. On taking a casual glance at the
+midnight sky on a clear moonless night, one is struck with the apparent
+countless multitude of the stars; yet this impression of their vast
+number is deceptive, for not more than two thousand stars are usually
+visible at one time.</p>
+
+<p>Much, however, depends upon the keenness of vision of the observer, and
+the transparency of the atmosphere. Argelander counted at Bonn more than
+3,000 stars, and Hozeau, near the equator, where all the stars of the
+sphere successively appear in view, enumerated 6,000 stars. This number
+may be regarded as including all the stars in the heavens that are
+visible to the naked eye. With the aid of an opera glass thousands of
+stars can be seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> that are imperceptible to ordinary vision.
+Argelander, with a small telescope of 2&frac12; inches aperture, was able to
+count 234,000 stars in the Northern Hemisphere. Large telescopes reveal
+multitudes of stars utterly beyond the power of enumeration, nor do they
+appear to diminish in number as depth after depth of space is penetrated
+by powerful instruments. The star-population of the heavens has been
+reckoned at 100,000,000, but this estimate is merely an assumption;
+recent discoveries made by means of stellar photography indicate that
+the stars exist in myriads. It is reasonable to believe that there is a
+limit to the sidereal universe, but it is impossible to assign its
+bounds or comprehend the apparently infinite extent of its dimensions.</p>
+
+<p>Scintillation or twinkling of the stars is a property which
+distinguishes them from the planets. It is due to a disturbed condition
+of the atmosphere and is most apparent when a star is near the horizon;
+at the zenith it almost entirely vanishes. Humboldt states that in the
+clear air of Cumana, in South America, the stars do not twinkle after
+they reach an elevation of 15° above the horizon. The presence of
+moisture in the atmosphere intensifies scintillation, and this is
+usually regarded as a prognostication of rain. White stars twinkle more
+than red ones. The occurrence of scintillation can be accounted for by
+the fact that the stars are visible as single points of light which
+twinkle as a whole, but in the case of the Sun, Moon, and planets, they
+form discs from which many points of light<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> are emitted; they,
+therefore, do not scintillate as a whole, for the absence of rays of
+light from one portion of their surface is compensated by those from
+other parts of their discs, giving a mean average which creates a
+steadiness of vision.</p>
+
+<p>The stars are divided into separate classes called &lsquo;magnitudes,&rsquo; by
+which their relative apparent size and degree of brightness are
+distinguished. The magnitude of a star does not indicate its mass or
+dimensions, but its light-giving power, which depends partly upon its
+size and distance, though mainly upon the intensity of its luminosity.
+The most conspicuous are termed stars of the first magnitude; there are
+ten of those in the Northern Hemisphere, and an equal number south of
+the equator, but they are not all of the same brilliancy. Sirius
+outshines every other star of the firmament, and Arcturus has no rival
+in the northern heavens. The names of the first-magnitude stars north of
+the equator are: Arcturus, Capella, Vega, Betelgeux, Procyon, Aldebaran,
+Altair, Pollux, Regulus, and Deneb. The next class in order of
+brightness are called second-magnitude stars; they are fifty or sixty in
+number, the most important of which is the Pole Star. The stars diminish
+in luminosity by successive gradations, and when they sink to the sixth
+magnitude reach the utmost limit at which they appear visible to the
+naked eye. In great telescopes this classification is carried so low as
+to include stars of the eighteenth and twentieth magnitudes.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+Entering into the structure of the stellar universe we have Single
+Stars, Double Stars, Triple, Quadruple, and Multiple Stars, Temporary,
+Periodical, and Variable Stars, Star-groups, Star-clusters, Galaxies,
+and Nebulæ.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Single or Insulated Stars</span> include all those orbs sufficiently isolated
+in space so as not to be perceptibly influenced by the attraction of
+other similar bodies. They are believed to constitute the centres of
+planetary systems, and fulfil the purpose for which they were created by
+dispensing light and heat to the worlds which circle around them.</p>
+
+<p>The Sun is an example of this class of star, and constitutes the centre
+of the system to which the Earth belongs. Reasoning from analogy, it
+would be natural to conclude that there are other suns, numberless
+beyond conception, the centres of systems of revolving worlds, and
+although we are utterly unable to catch a glimpse of their planetary
+attendants, even with the aid of the most powerful telescopes, yet they
+have in a few instances been <i>felt</i>, and have afforded unmistakable
+indications of their existence.</p>
+
+<p>Since the Sun must be regarded as one of the stellar multitude that
+people the regions of space, and whose surpassing splendour when
+contrasted with that of other luminaries can be accounted for by his
+proximity to us, it would be of interest to ascertain his relative
+importance when compared with other celestial orbs which may be his
+peers or his superiors in magnitude and brilliancy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+The Sun is one of a widely scattered group of stars situated in the
+plane of the Milky Way and surrounded by that zone, and, as a star among
+the stars, would be included in the constellation of the Centaur.</p>
+
+<p>Although regarded as one of the leading orbs of the firmament, and of
+supreme importance to us, astronomers are undecided whether to classify
+the Sun with stars of greater magnitude and brightness, or assign him a
+position among minor orbs of smaller size. Much uncertainty exists with
+regard to star magnitudes. This arises from inability on the part of
+astronomers to ascertain the distances of the vast majority of stars
+visible to the naked eye, and also on account of inequality in their
+intrinsic brilliancy. Among the stars there exists an indefinite range
+of stellar magnitudes. There are many stars known whose dimensions have
+been ascertained to greatly exceed those of the Sun, and there are
+others of much smaller size. No approximation of the magnitude of
+telescopic stars can be arrived at; many of them may rival Sirius,
+Canopus, and Arcturus, in size and splendour, their apparent minuteness
+being a consequence of their extreme remoteness. If the Sun were removed
+a distance in space equal to that of many of the brightest stars, he
+would in appearance be reduced to a minute point of light or become
+altogether invisible; and there are other stars, situated at distances
+still more remote, of which sufficient is known to justify us in
+arriving at the conclusion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> that the Sun must be ranked among the minor
+orbs of the firmament, and that many of the stars surpass him in
+brilliancy and magnitude.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Double Stars.</span>&mdash;To the unaided eye, these appear as single points of
+light; but, when observed with a telescope of sufficient magnifying
+power, their dual nature can be detected.</p>
+
+<p>The first double star discovered was Mizar, the middle star of the three
+in Ursa Major which form the tail of the bear. The components are of the
+fourth and fifth magnitudes, of a brilliant white colour, and distant
+fourteen seconds of arc.</p>
+
+<p>In 1678, Cassini perceived stars which appeared as single points of
+light when viewed with the naked eye, but when observed with the
+telescope presented the appearance of being double.</p>
+
+<p>The astronomer Bode, in 1781, published a list of eighty double stars,
+and, in a few years after, Sir William Herschel discovered several
+hundreds more of those objects. They are now known to exist in
+thousands, Mr. Burnham, of the Lick Observatory, having, by his keen
+perception of vision, contributed more than any other observer to swell
+their number.</p>
+
+<p>All double stars are not binaries; many of them are known as &lsquo;optical
+doubles&rsquo;&mdash;an impression created by two stars when almost in the same
+line of vision, and, though apparently near, are situated at a great
+distance apart and devoid of any physical relationship.</p>
+
+<p>Binary stars consist of two suns which revolve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> round their common
+centre of gravity, and form real dual systems.</p>
+
+<p>The close proximity of the components of double stars impressed the
+minds of some astronomers with the belief that a physical bond of union
+existed between them. In the interval between 1718 and 1759, Bradley
+detected a change of 30° in the position angle of the two stars forming
+Castor, and was very nearly discovering their physical connection.</p>
+
+<p>In 1767, the Rev. John Michell wrote: &lsquo;It is highly probable in
+particular, and next to a certainty in general, that such double stars
+as appear to consist of two or more stars placed very near together do
+really consist of stars placed near together and under the influence of
+some general law.&rsquo; Afterwards he says: &lsquo;It is not improbable that a few
+years may inform us that some of the great number of double and triple
+stars which have been observed by Mr. Herschel are systems of bodies
+revolving about each other.&rsquo; Christian Mayer, a German astronomer,
+formed a list of stellar pairs, and announced, in 1776, the supposed
+discovery of &lsquo;satellites&rsquo; to many of the principal stars. His
+observations were, however, not exact enough to lead to any useful
+results, and the existence of his &lsquo;planet stars&rsquo; was at that time
+derided, and believed to find a place only in his imagination.</p>
+
+<p>The conclusions arrived at by some astronomers with regard to double
+stars were afterwards confirmed by Herschel, when, by his observation of
+a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> change in the relative positions of many of their components, he was
+able to announce that they form independent systems in mutual
+revolution, and are controlled by the law of gravitation.</p>
+
+<p>The number of binary stars in active revolution is known to exceed 500;
+but, besides these, there are doubtless numerous other compound stars
+which, on account of their extreme remoteness and the close proximity of
+their components, are irresolvable into pairs by any optical appliances
+which we possess.</p>
+
+<p>The revolution of two suns in one sphere presents to our observation a
+scheme of creative design entirely different to the single-star system
+with which we are familiar&mdash;one of a higher and more complex order in
+the ascending scale of celestial architecture. For, if we assume that
+around each revolving sun there circles a retinue of planetary worlds,
+it is obvious that a much more complicated arrangement must exist among
+the orbs which enter into the formation of such a system than is found
+among those which gravitate round our Sun.</p>
+
+<p>The common centre of gravity of a binary system is situated on a line
+between both stars, and distant from each in inverse proportion to their
+respective masses. When the stars are of equal mass their orbits are of
+equal dimensions, but when the mass of one star exceeds that of the
+other, the orbit of the larger star is proportionately diminished as
+compared with the circumference traversed by the smaller star. When
+their orbits are circular&mdash;a rare<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> occurrence&mdash;both stars pursue each
+other in the same path, and invariably occupy it at diametrically
+opposite points; nor is it possible for one star to approach the other
+by the minutest interval of space in any duration of time, so long as
+the synchronous harmony of their revolution remains undisturbed.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="FIG3" id="FIG3"></a>
+<a href="images/fig3.jpg">
+<img src="images/fig3.jpg" width="400"
+alt="FIG. 3.&mdash;A Binary Star System&mdash;70 Ophiuchi."
+title="FIG. 3.&mdash;A Binary Star System&mdash;70 Ophiuchi." /></a>
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 3.&mdash;A Binary Star System&mdash;70 Ophiuchi.<br />
+(<i>Drawn by Mr. J. E. Gore.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>When a pair of suns move in an ellipse, their orbits intersect and are
+of equal dimensions when the stars are of equal mass, their common
+centre of gravity being then at a point equidistant from each.
+Consequently, neither star can approach or recede from this point
+without the other affecting a similar motion, they must be at periastron
+and apastron together, and any acceleration or retardation of speed must
+occur simultaneously with each. Stars of unequal magnitude always
+maintain a proportionate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> distance from their common focus, and both
+simultaneously occupy corresponding parts of their orbits.</p>
+
+<p>The nature of the motions of those distant suns, and the form of the
+orbits which they traverse, have been investigated by several eminent
+astronomers, and although the subject is one of much difficulty, on
+account of their extreme remoteness and the minute angles which have to
+be dealt with, necessitating the carrying out of very refined
+observations, yet a considerable amount of information has been obtained
+with regard to the paths which they pursue in the accomplishment of
+their revolutions round each other.</p>
+
+<p>The orbits of about sixty stellar pairs have been computed, but only
+with partial success. Some stars have shown themselves to be totally
+regardless of theory and computation, and have shot ahead far beyond the
+limits ascribed to them, whilst others, by the slowness of their
+motions, have upset the calculations of astronomers as much in the
+opposite direction. So that out of this number the orbits of not more
+than half a dozen are satisfactorily known.</p>
+
+<p>The dimensions of stellar orbits are of very varied extent. Some pairs
+are apparently so close that the best optical means which we possess are
+incapable of dividing them, whilst others revolve in wide and spacious
+orbits.</p>
+
+<p>The most marked peculiarity of the orbits of binary stars is their high
+eccentricity; they are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> usually much more eccentric than are those of
+the planets, and in some instances approach in form that of a comet.</p>
+
+<p>The finest binary star in the northern heavens is Castor, the brighter
+of the two leading stars in the constellation Gemini. The components are
+of the second and third magnitudes, and over five seconds apart. They
+are of a brilliant white colour, and form a beautiful object in the
+telescope.</p>
+
+<p>In 1719 Bradley determined the relative positions of those stars, and on
+comparing the results obtained by him with recent measurements it was
+found that they had altered to the extent of 125°. Travelling at the
+same rate of speed, they will require a period of about 420 years to
+complete an entire circuit of their orbits. This pace, however, has not
+been maintained, for, their periastron having occurred in 1750, they
+travelled more rapidly in the last century than they are doing at
+present, and, as their orbits are so eccentric that when at apastron the
+stars are twice as remote from each other as at periastron, they will
+for the next three and a half centuries continue to slacken their pace,
+until they shall have reached the most remote points of their orbits,
+when they will again begin to approach with an increasing velocity; so
+that the time in which an entire revolution can be accomplished will not
+be much less than 1,000 years.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>
+
+<p>As the distance of Castor is unknown, it is impossible to compute the
+combined mass of its components.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> They are very remote, their light
+period being estimated at forty-four years. Castor is doubtless a more
+massive orb than our Sun, and possesses a higher degree of luminosity.</p>
+
+<p>&alpha; Centauri, in the Southern Hemisphere, is the brightest
+binary, and also the nearest known star in the heavens; its estimated
+distance being twenty-five billions of miles. Both components equal
+stars of the first magnitude, and are of a brilliant white colour. Since
+they were first observed, in 1709, they have completed two revolutions,
+and are now accomplishing a third. The eccentricity of their orbit
+approaches in form that of Faye&#8217;s comet, which travels round the Sun;
+consequently the stars, when at apastron, are twice their periastron
+distance. Their period of revolution is about eighty-eight years. The
+mean radius of their orbit corresponds to a span of 1,000 millions of
+miles, so that those orbs are sometimes as close to each other as
+Jupiter is to the Sun, and never so far distant as Uranus.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Their
+combined mass is twice that of the Sun, and the luminosity of each star
+is slightly greater.</p>
+
+<p>The double star 61 Cygni&mdash;one of the nearest to our system&mdash;is believed
+to be a binary the components of which move in an orbit of more spacious
+dimensions than that of any other known revolving pair. Though they have
+been under continuous observation since 1753, it is only within the last
+few years that any orbital motion has been perceived.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> Some observers
+are disinclined to admit the accuracy of this statement; whilst others
+believe that the stars have executed a hyperbolic sweep round their
+common centre of gravity and are now separating.</p>
+
+<p>The radius of the orbit in which those bodies travel is sixty-five times
+the distance of the Earth from the Sun; which means that they travel in
+an orbit twice the width of that of the planet Neptune. It has been
+estimated that they complete a revolution in about eight centuries. The
+united mass of the system is about one-half that of the Sun, and in
+point of luminosity they are much inferior to that orb.</p>
+
+<p>The star 70 Ophiuchi (<a href="#FIG3">fig. 3</a>) may be regarded as typical of a binary
+system. The components are five seconds apart, and of the fourth and
+sixth magnitudes. Their light period is stated to be twenty years, and
+the combined mass of the system is nearly three times that of the Sun.
+The pair travel in an orbit from fourteen to forty-two times the radius
+of the Earth&#8217;s orbit; so that when at apastron they are three times as
+distant from each other as when at periastron. They complete a
+revolution in eighty-eight years.</p>
+
+<p>The accompanying diagram (<a href="#FIG4">fig. 4</a>) is a delineation of the beautiful
+orbits of the components of &gamma; Virginis. These may be described
+as elongated ellipses. Both stars being of equal mass, their orbits are
+of equal dimensions, and their common centre of gravity at a point
+equidistant from each.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> Any approach to, or recession from this point,
+must occur simultaneously with each; they must always occupy
+corresponding parts of their orbits, and be in apastron and at
+periastron in the same period of time. The ellipse described by this
+pair is the most eccentric of known binary orbits, and approaches in
+form the path pursued by Encke&#8217;s comet round the Sun. These orbs
+complete a revolution in 180 years, and when in apastron are seventeen
+times more remote from each other than when at periastron.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="FIG4" id="FIG4"></a>
+<a href="images/fig4.jpg">
+<img src="images/fig4.jpg" width="400"
+alt="FIG. 4.&mdash;The Orbits of the Components of &gamma; Virginis."
+title="FIG. 4.&mdash;The Orbits of the Components of &gamma; Virginis." /></a>
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 4.&mdash;The Orbits of the Components of &gamma; Virginis.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>From his observation of the motion of Sirius in 1844, Bessel was led to
+believe that the brilliant orb was accompanied by another body, whose
+gravitational attraction was responsible for the irregularities observed
+in the path of the great dog-star when pursuing his journey through
+space. The elements of this hypothetical body were afterwards computed
+by Peters and Auwers, and its exact position assigned by Safford in
+1861.</p>
+
+<p>On January 31, 1862, Mr. Alvan Clarke, of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts,
+when engaged in testing a recently constructed telescope of great power,
+directed it on Sirius, and was enabled by good fortune to discover the
+companion star at a distance of ten seconds from its primary. Since<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> its
+discovery, the star has pursued with such precision the theoretical path
+previously assigned to it that astronomers have had no hesitation in
+identifying it as the hypothetical body whose existence Bessel had
+correctly surmised.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="FIG5" id="FIG5"></a>
+<a href="images/fig5.jpg">
+<img src="images/fig5.jpg" width="400"
+alt="FIG. 5.&mdash;Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius."
+title="FIG. 5.&mdash;Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius." /></a>
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 5.&mdash;Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius.<br />
+(<i>Drawn by Mr. Burnham.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The Sirian satellite is a yellow star of the eighth magnitude, and
+shines with a feeble light when contrasted with the surpassing
+brilliancy of its neighbour.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+Astronomers were for some time in doubt as to whether the uneven motion
+which characterised the path of Sirius could be ascribed to the
+attraction of its obscure attendant, which presented such a marked
+contrast to its primary, and several observers were inclined to believe
+that the disturbing body still remained undiscovered. When, however, the
+density of the lesser star became known, it was discovered that, weight
+for weight, that of Sirius exceeded it only in the proportion of two to
+one, though as a light-giver the great orb is believed to be 5,000 times
+more luminous. The Sirian satellite revolves round its primary in about
+fifty years, and at a distance twenty-eight times that of the Earth from
+the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>The surpassing brilliancy of Sirius as compared with that of the other
+stars of the firmament has rendered it at all times an object of
+interest to observers. The Egyptians worshipped the star as Sothis, and
+it was believed to be the abode of the soul of Isis. The nations
+inhabiting the region of the Nile commenced their year with the heliacal
+rising of Sirius, and its appearance was regarded as a sure forerunner
+of the rising of the great river, the fertilising flood of which was
+attributed to the influence of this beautiful star. It is believed that
+the Mazzaroth in Job is an allusion to this brilliant orb. Among the
+Romans Sirius was regarded as a star of evil omen; its appearance above
+the horizon after the summer solstice was believed to be associated with
+pestilence and fevers, consequent upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> the oppressive heat of the
+season of the year. The <i>dies caniculares</i>, or dog-days, were reckoned
+to begin twenty days before, and to continue for twenty days after, the
+heliacal rising of Sirius, the dog-star. During those days a peculiar
+influence was believed to exist which created diseases in men and
+madness among dogs. Homer alludes to the star</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">&lsquo;whose burning breath<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Taints the red air with fevers, plagues and death.&rsquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Sirius, which is in Canis Major (one of Orion&#8217;s hunting dogs), is a far
+more glorious orb than our Sun. According to recent photometric
+measurements it emits seventy times the quantity of light, and is three
+times more massive than the great luminary of our system. At the
+distance of Sirius (fifty billions of miles) the Sun would shrink to the
+dimensions of a third-magnitude star, and the light of seventy such
+stars would be required to equal in appearance the brilliant radiance of
+the great dog-star. The orb, with his retinue of attendant worlds&mdash;some
+of which are reported as having been seen&mdash;is travelling through space
+with a velocity of not less than 1,000 miles a minute.</p>
+
+<p>An irregularity of motion resembling that of Sirius has been detected
+with regard to Procyon, the lesser dog-star. But in this case the
+companion star has not as yet been seen, though a careful search has
+been made for it with the most powerful of telescopes. Should it be a
+planetary body, illumined by its primary, its reflected light would not
+appear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> visible to us, even if it were much less remote than it is.</p>
+
+<p>We are able only to perceive the effulgence of brilliant suns scattered
+throughout the regions of space; but besides those, there are doubtless
+many faintly luminous orbs and opaque bodies of vast dimensions
+occupying regions unknown to us, but by a knowledge of the existence of
+which an enlarged conception is conveyed to our minds of the greatness
+of the universe.</p>
+
+<p>The most rapid of known revolving pairs is &delta; Equulei. The
+components are so close that only the finest instruments can separate
+them, and this they cannot do at all times. They accomplish a revolution
+in eleven and a half years. The slowest revolving pair is &zeta;
+Aquarii. The motion of the components is so tardy that to complete a
+circuit of their orbits they require a period of about sixteen
+centuries. Other binary stars have had different periods assigned to
+them; eleven pairs have been computed to revolve round each other in
+less than fifty years, and fifteen in less than 100 but more than fifty.
+There are other compound stars whose motions appear to be much more
+leisurely than those just mentioned, and although no orbital movement
+has, so far, been detected among them, yet, so vast is the scale upon
+which the sidereal system is constructed, that thousands of years must
+elapse before they can have accomplished a revolution of their orbits.</p>
+
+<p>The Pole Star is an optical double, but the components are of very
+unequal magnitude. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> Pole Star itself is of the second magnitude, but
+its companion is only of the ninth, and on account of its minuteness is
+regarded as a good test for telescopes of small aperture. Mizar, in the
+constellation Ursa Major, is a beautiful double star. The components are
+wide apart, and can be easily observed with a small instrument.</p>
+
+<p>There is a remarkable star in the constellation of the Lyre (&epsilon;
+Lyræ), described as a double double. This object can just be
+distinguished by a person with keen eyesight as consisting of two stars;
+when observed with a telescope they appear widely separated, and each
+star is seen to have a companion, the entire system forming two binary
+pairs in active revolution. The pair which first cross the meridian
+complete a revolution in about 2,000 years; the second pair have a more
+rapid motion, and accomplish it in half that time. The two pairs are
+believed to be physically connected, and revolve round their common
+centre of gravity in a period of time not much under one million years.</p>
+
+<p>Cor Caroli, in Canes Venatici, is a pleasing double star, the components
+being of a pale white and lilac colour.</p>
+
+<p>Albireo, in the constellation of the Swan, is one of the loveliest of
+double stars. The larger component is of the third magnitude, and of a
+golden yellow colour; the smaller of the sixth magnitude, and of a
+sapphire blue.</p>
+
+<p>&epsilon; Boötis, known also as Mirac, and called by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> Admiral Smyth
+&lsquo;Pulcherrima,&rsquo; on account of its surpassing beauty, is a delicate object
+of charming appearance. The components of this lovely star are of the
+third and seventh magnitudes: the primary orange, the secondary
+sea-green.</p>
+
+<p>The late Mr. R. A. Proctor, in describing a binary star system, writes
+as follows: &lsquo;If we regard a pair of stars as forming a double sun, round
+which&mdash;or, rather, round the common centre of which&mdash;other orbs revolve
+as planets, we are struck by the difference between such a scheme and
+our own solar system; but we find the difference yet more surprising
+when we consider the possibility that in some such schemes each
+component sun may have its own distinct system of dependent worlds. In
+the former case the ordinary state of things would probably be such that
+both suns would be above the horizon at the same time, and then,
+probably, their distinctive peculiarities would only be recognisable
+when one chanced to pass over the disc of the other, as our Moon passes
+over the Sun&#8217;s disc in eclipses. For short intervals of time, however,
+at rising or setting, one or other would be visible alone; and the
+phenomena of sunset and sunrise must therefore be very varied, and also
+exquisitely beautiful, in worlds circling round such double suns. But
+when each sun has a separate system, even more remarkable relations must
+be presented. For each system of dependent worlds, besides its own
+proper sun, must have another sun&mdash;less splendid, perhaps (because
+farther off), but still brighter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> beyond comparison than our moon at the
+full. And, according to the position of any planet of either system,
+there will result for the time being either an interchange of suns,
+instead of the change from night to day, or else double sunlight during
+the day, and a corresponding intensified contrast between night and day.
+Where the two suns are very unequal or very differently coloured, or
+where the orbital path of each is very eccentric, so that they are
+sometimes close together and at others far apart, the varieties in the
+worlds circling round either, or around the common centre of both, must
+be yet more remarkable. &ldquo;It must be confessed,&rdquo; we may well say with Sir
+John Herschel, &ldquo;that we have here a strangely wide and novel field for
+speculative excursions, and one which it is not easy to avoid
+luxuriating in.&rdquo;&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>Anyone who takes a cursory glance at the heavens on a clear night can
+readily perceive that there exists considerable diversity of colour
+among the stars. The contrast between some is pronounced and well
+marked, whilst others exhibit refined gradations of hue.</p>
+
+<p>The most numerous class of stars are those which are described as white
+or colourless. They comprise about one-half of the stars visible to the
+naked eye. Among the most conspicuous examples of this type are
+Sirius&mdash;whose diamond blaze is sometimes mingled with an occasional
+flash of blue and red&mdash;Altair, Spica, Castor, Regulus, Rigel, all the
+stars of Ursa Major with the exception of one, and Vega<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>&mdash;a glittering
+gem of pale sapphire, almost colourless. The light emitted by stars of
+this class gives a continuous spectrum, the predominating element being
+hydrogen, having a very elevated temperature and under relatively high
+pressure. The vapours of iron, sodium, magnesium, and other metals, are
+indicated as existing in small quantities.</p>
+
+<p>The second class of stars is that to which our Sun belongs. They are of
+a yellow colour, and embrace two-thirds of the remaining stars. The most
+prominent examples of this type are Arcturus, Capella, Aldebaran,
+Procyon, and Pollux. Hydrogen does not predominate so much in these as
+in the Sirian stars, and their spectra resemble closely the solar
+spectrum, indicating that they are composed of elements similar to those
+which exist in the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>The star which bears the nearest resemblance to our Sun, both as regards
+the colour of its light and physical structure, is Capella, the most
+conspicuous star in the constellation Auriga, and one of the leading
+brilliants in the Northern Hemisphere. Its spectrum presents all the
+characteristics observed in the solar spectrum, and there exists an
+almost identical similarity in their physical constitution, though
+Capella is a much more magnificent orb than the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>The third class of stars includes those which are of a ruddy hue, such
+as Betelgeux in the right shoulder of Orion, Antares in Scorpio, and
+&alpha; Herculis. Their spectra present a banded or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> columnar
+appearance, and there is greater absorption, especially of the blue rays
+of light. It is believed that the temperature of stars of this colour is
+not so elevated as that of those belonging to the other two orders, and
+that this is a sufficient reason to account for the different appearance
+of their spectra.</p>
+
+<p>The aid of a good telescope is, however, necessary to enable us to
+perceive the varied colours and tints of the sparkling gems with which
+Nature has adorned her star-built edifice of the universe. Most of the
+precious stones on Earth have their counterparts in the heavens,
+presenting in a jewelled form contrasts of colour, pleasing harmonies,
+and endless variety of shade. The diamond, sapphire, emerald, amethyst,
+topaz, and ruby sparkle among crowds of stars of more sombre hue. Agate,
+chalcedony, onyx, opal, beryl, lapis-lazuli, and aquamarine are
+represented by the radiant sheen emanating from distant suns, displaying
+an inexhaustible variety of colour, blended in tints of untold harmony.</p>
+
+<p>It is among double stars that the richest and most varied colours
+predominate. There are pairs of white, yellow, orange, and red stars;
+yellow and blue, yellow and pale emerald, yellow and rose red, yellow
+and fawn, green and gold, azure and crimson, golden and azure, orange
+and emerald, orange and lilac, orange and purple, orange and green,
+white and blue, white and lilac, lilac and dark purple, &amp;c., &amp;c. There
+are companion stars<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> revolving round their primaries, coloured olive,
+lilac, russet, fawn, dun, buff, grey, and other shades indistinguishable
+by any name.</p>
+
+<p>Our knowledge of binary star systems brings us to what may be regarded
+as the threshold of the fabric of the heavens. For it is known that
+other systems exist into the construction of which numerous stars enter.
+These form intricate and complex stellar arrangements, in which the
+component stars are physically united and retained in their orbits by
+their mutual attraction.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h4>THE STARRY HEAVENS</h4>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Triple, Quadruple, and Multiple Stars.</span>&mdash;These, when observed with the
+naked eye, appear as single stars, but, when examined with a high
+magnifying power, each lucid point can be resolved into several
+component stars. They vary in number from three to half a dozen or more,
+and form systems of a more complex character than what are observed in
+the case of binary stars. In the usual construction of a triple system,
+the secondary star of a binary is resolvable into two, each star being
+in mutual revolution, whilst they both gravitate round their primary. By
+another arrangement, a close pair control the movements of a distant
+attendant.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most interesting of triple stars is the tricoloured &gamma;
+Andromedæ. The brilliant components of this system have their
+counterparts in the topaz, the emerald, and the sapphire&mdash;the larger
+star is of the third magnitude and of a golden yellow colour; the
+secondary of the fifth magnitude and of an emerald green. These stars
+are ten seconds apart, and, though they have been under observation
+since 1777, no orbital movement has as yet been detected, but their
+common proper motion indicates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> their close relationship and physical
+connection. In 1842, Otto Struve discovered that the companion star is
+itself double, and round it there gravitates a sapphire sun, which is
+believed to accomplish a revolution of its orbit in about 500 years. If
+round those suns there should be circling planetary systems of worlds
+inhabited by intelligent beings, the varied effects produced by the
+light emanating from those different coloured orbs would be of a very
+beautiful and pleasing nature.</p>
+
+<p>A system suggestive of the endless variety of stellar arrangement that
+exists throughout the sidereal regions is apparent in the case of the
+triple star &zeta; Cancri. Two of the stars, of magnitudes six and
+seven, form a binary in rapid revolution, the components of which
+complete a circuit of their orbits in fifty-eight years, whilst the more
+distant third star, of almost similar magnitude, accomplishes a wide
+orbital ellipse round the other two in 500 or 600 years. These stars
+have been closely observed by astronomers during the past forty years,
+with the result that their motions have appeared most perplexing, and
+complicated beyond precedent. &lsquo;If this be really a ternary system,&rsquo;
+wrote Sir John Herschel, &lsquo;connected by the mutual attraction of its
+parts, its perturbations will present one of the most intricate problems
+in physical astronomy.&rsquo; The second star revolves round its primary,
+whilst the third pursues a retrograde course, but its path, instead of
+being even, presents the appearance of a series of circular loopings, in
+traversing which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> star alternately quickens and slackens its pace,
+or at times appears to be stationary.</p>
+
+<p>Astronomers have arrived at the conclusion that these perturbations are
+produced by the presence of a fourth member, which, though invisible, is
+probably the most massive of the system&mdash;perhaps a magnificent world
+teeming with animated beings, and attended by three suns which gravitate
+round it, dispensing light and heat to meet the requirements of the
+various forms of life which exist on its surface. In this system we have
+an arrangement the reverse of what exists in the solar system, where all
+the planets revolve round a predominant sun; but here there is a strange
+verification of the old Ptolemaic belief with regard to the path of a
+sun, though in this instance there are three suns circling round a dark
+globe which they illumine and vivify.</p>
+
+<p>Triple stars occur with comparative frequency throughout the heavens. In
+Monoceros there is a fine triple star, discovered by Herschel, which he
+describes as &lsquo;one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens.&rsquo; The
+stars &xi; and &beta; Scorpii form triple systems in which the
+components are differently arranged. In &xi; the primary and
+secondary consist of two revolving stars which control the movements of
+a distant attendant; in &beta; the primary and secondary stars are
+in mutual revolution, whilst round the former there circles a very close
+minute companion. There are doubtless many binary stars which, if
+examined with adequate telescopic power, would resolve themselves into
+triple and multiple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> systems, but the profound distances of those
+objects render the detection of their components a most difficult task.</p>
+
+<p>Quadruple stars are usually arranged in pairs, <i>i.e.</i> the primary and
+secondary of a binary system are each resolvable into two, forming two
+pairs, each pair being in mutual revolution, while they both gravitate
+round their common centre of gravity. &epsilon; Lyræ, which has been
+described as a double double, is an example of a quadruple system, and
+&nu; Scorpii is of a similar construction, but more beautiful
+because its components are in closer proximity to each other. Close upon
+twenty of those double double systems have been discovered in different
+parts of the heavens.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most interesting of quadruple systems is &theta; Orionis,
+which is situated in the Great Nebula, by which it is surrounded. This
+star, when observed with a telescope of low power, can be at once
+resolved into four separate lucent points, so arranged as to form a
+quadrilateral figure or trapezium. They are of the fifth, sixth,
+seventh, and eighth magnitudes, and described as pale white, garnet,
+faint lilac, and red. Though they have been under careful observation
+for upwards of two centuries, no perceptible motion has been perceived
+as occurring among them, nor has there been any change in their relative
+positions&mdash;they appear to be perfectly motionless; but we must not infer
+from this that no physical bond of union exists between them, for they
+are situated at an amazing distance from the Earth. Ascending higher in
+the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> scale of celestial architecture, we have multiple stars forming
+systems still more elaborate and complex, into the structure of which
+numerous stars enter, and they, as they increase in number, gradually
+merge into star-clusters.</p>
+
+<p>If we assume that around each of the components of a multiple star there
+circles a retinue of planetary worlds, we are confronted with a most
+perplexing problem as to how the dynamical stability of a system so
+different from, and so vastly more complicated than, that of our solar
+system is maintained&mdash;where, as it were, suns and planets
+intermingle&mdash;how numerous circling orbs can accomplish their revolutions
+without being swayed and deflected from their paths by the gravitational
+attraction of adjacent members of the same system. Perplexing though the
+arrangement of such a scheme may be to our conception, yet, each orb has
+been weighed, poised, and adjusted by Infinite Wisdom, to perform its
+intricate motions in synchronous harmony with other members of the
+system&mdash;all moving in unison like the parts of a complicated piece of
+mechanism, and maintained in stable equilibrium by their mutual
+attraction&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of planets and of fixed in all her wheels<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Resembles nearest; mazes intricate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then most, when most irregular they seem;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And in their motions harmony divine<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So smooths her charming tones that God&#8217;s own ear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Listens delighted.&mdash;v. 620-27.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
+All the natural phenomena with which we are familiar would, in the case
+of planets revolving round the component suns of a multiple system, be
+of a different kind or altogether absent. Instead of being illumined by
+one sun, those worlds would, at certain times, have several suns&mdash;some
+more distant than others&mdash;above their horizons, and upon very rare
+occasions, if ever, would there be an entire absence of all of those
+orbs from their skies. Consequently there would be no year such as we
+are familiar with; no regular sequence of seasons similar to what is
+experienced on Earth; no alternation of day and night, for there would
+be &lsquo;<i>no night there</i>,&rsquo; though, in the absence of the primary orb, the
+light emitted by distant suns, whilst sufficient to banish night, and
+beyond comparison brighter than the Moon when at full, would, in the
+diminution of its intensity from that of noonday, be as grateful a
+change as that of from day to night which occurs on our globe.</p>
+
+<p>Should those suns be differently coloured, each emitting its own
+peculiar shade of light as it appears above the horizon, the varied
+aspects of the perpetual day enjoyed by the inhabitants of those
+circling worlds present to the imagination harmonies of light and shade
+over which it is pleasant to linger.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Temporary, Periodical, and Variable Stars.</span>&mdash;It may seem remarkable that
+among so many thousands of stars which spangle the firmament, there
+should occur no very perceptible change or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> variation in their aspect
+and brilliancy. From age to age they present the same appearance, shine
+with the same undiminished splendour, and rise and set with the same
+regularity. So that from time immemorial the stars have been regarded by
+mankind as the embodiment of all that is eternal and unchangeable. Yet,
+the serenity of the celestial regions does not always remain
+undisturbed&mdash;at occasional times a &lsquo;Nova,&rsquo; or new star, blazes forth
+unexpectedly in the heavens, and perplexes astronomers; and, after
+shining with a varying degree of brilliancy for a few weeks or months,
+gradually diminishes in size and brightness and eventually becomes lost
+to sight.</p>
+
+<p>A record has been kept of about twenty temporary stars that have been
+observed at various periods since the time that reliable data of those
+objects have been published. Pliny mentions the appearance of a new star
+in the time of Hipparchus (134 <span class="smcap lowercase">B.C.</span>); it was seen in the constellation
+of the Scorpion, and it is said that it was the apparition of this star
+which induced the celebrated astronomer to construct what is known as
+the earliest star catalogue. A new star is said to have become visible
+when the Emperor Honorius ruled, and another during the reign of the
+Emperor Otho, about 945 <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> In May 1012 a new star appeared in Aries,
+and in July 1203 another was observed in Scorpio, which resembled
+Saturn. The most remarkable star of this kind was one observed by Tycho
+Brahé, which appeared in the constellation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> Cassiopeia. He first
+perceived it on November 11, 1572. In lustre it equalled Jupiter, and
+when at its brightest rivalled Venus; it was visible at noonday, and at
+night its light could be perceived through strata of cloud which
+rendered all other stars invisible. The star maintained its brilliancy
+for three weeks, when it became of a yellowish colour and perceptibly
+decreased in size; it afterwards assumed a ruddy hue resembling
+Aldebaran, and, diminishing gradually in magnitude and brightness,
+ceased to be visible in March 1574. It twinkled more than the other
+stars, and during the time it could be perceived its position remained
+unchanged. In 1604 a conspicuous new star burst forth in Ophiuchus. It
+surpassed in brilliancy stars of the first magnitude, and outshone the
+planet Jupiter, which was in its proximity. Kepler observed this star,
+and described it as &lsquo;sparkling like a diamond with prismatic tints.&rsquo; It
+soon began to decline after its appearance; in March 1605 it had shrunk
+to the dimensions of a third-magnitude star, and in a year later it
+became entirely lost to view. Other stars of the same class, though of a
+less conspicuous character, have been observed at occasional times.
+Anthelme, a Carthusian monk, discovered one near &beta; Cygni in
+1670; another appeared in Ophiuchus in 1848; one in Scorpio in 1860; one
+in Corona Borealis in 1866; in Cygnus in 1876; in Andromeda in 1885; and
+in Auriga in 1892.</p>
+
+<p>Various theories have been advanced in order to account for the sudden
+outbursts of those stars,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> the light from which has probably occupied
+not much less than one hundred years in its passage hither. It has been
+suggested that the collision of two suns, or of two great masses of
+matter, would create such phenomena; but, apart from the improbability
+of such a catastrophe occurring among the celestial orbs, the rapid
+subsidence in the luminosity of the observed objects would indicate that
+the outburst was produced by causes of a more rapidly transitory nature
+than what would result from the collision of two condensed masses of
+matter. A collision occurring between two swarms of meteors has been
+suggested as one way of accounting for the sudden appearance of those
+stars; but another, and more plausible, explanation is that they are
+produced by a great eruption of glowing gas from the interior of a sun,
+causing an enormous increase in its luminosity, which subsides after a
+time, and is succeeded by a normal condition of things. It has been
+observed that all those temporary stars, with the exception of two, have
+appeared in the region of the Milky Way. In this luminous zone the
+condensation of small gaseous stars and nebulæ is more pronounced than
+in any other part of the heavens, and this would seem to indicate that
+there may be cosmical changes taking place among them which need not be
+associated with the occurrence of catastrophes resulting in the
+conflagration of worlds, and that Nature, in accomplishing her purposes,
+does not overstep the uniform working of her laws, upon which depend the
+stability and existence of the universe.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
+<span class="smcap">Periodical and Variable Stars</span> are distinguished from other similar
+objects by the fluctuations which occur in the quantity of light emitted
+by them. The difference in the luminosity of some stars is at times so
+marked that, in a few weeks or months, they decline from the first or
+second magnitudes to invisibility, and, after the expiration of a
+certain period, they again gradually regain their pristine condition.
+When these changes take place with regular recurrence, they are called
+&lsquo;periodical;&rsquo; when they occur in a variable and uncertain manner, they
+are called &lsquo;irregular.&rsquo; About 300 stars are known as variable, but the
+majority of them are telescopic objects. Their periodical changes of
+brilliancy present every degree of variety; in some stars they are
+scarcely perceptible and occur at long intervals; in others, changes of
+brightness occur in a few hours or days, by which the light emitted is
+intensified many hundreds of times.</p>
+
+<p>Some stars accomplish their cycle of change in a few days, many in a few
+weeks or months, and there are others which do not complete their
+periods until the expiration of a number of years.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most remarkable of variable stars is called Mira &lsquo;the
+wonderful,&rsquo; in the constellation Cetus. When at its maximum brilliancy
+it shines for two or three weeks as a star of the second magnitude. It
+then begins to gradually decline, and at the end of three months becomes
+invisible. It remains invisible for five months, and then reappears, and
+during the ensuing three months it regains by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> degrees its former
+brilliancy. Mira completes a cycle of its changes in 334 days, and,
+during that time, oscillates between a star of the second and tenth
+magnitude. The variability of Mira Ceti was first observed by David
+Fabricius in the sixteenth century.</p>
+
+<p>Another remarkable star is &eta; Argus, which is surrounded by the
+great nebula in the constellation Argo Navis. It is invisible to the
+naked eye, but in the telescope it has a reddish appearance, and is
+slightly brighter than the stars in its vicinity. It was first observed
+by Halley in 1677, and it was then of the fourth magnitude. In 1751 it
+had risen to the second magnitude, and maintained its position as a star
+of this class until 1837, when, on December 16 of that year, its
+brilliancy suddenly increased, and it equalled in a short time &alpha;
+Centauri. It reached its maximum in 1843, and then it was surpassed
+only by Sirius. It maintained its brilliancy for about ten years. In
+1858, it declined to the second magnitude, in 1859 to the third, and,
+gradually diminishing, it became invisible to the naked eye in 1868. It
+is now of the seventh magnitude, and is again increasing, and may soon
+resume its position among the other stars. It is believed to have a
+period of seventy years, and in that time its light ebbs and flows
+between the seventh and first magnitudes.</p>
+
+<p>The most interesting variable star in the heavens is Algol (the demon),
+in the constellation Perseus. Its light fluctuations can be observed
+without the aid of a telescope, and it completes a cycle of its changes
+in two or three days. For about two days<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> and thirteen hours it is
+conspicuously visible as a star of the second magnitude; it then begins
+to decline, and in about four hours sinks to the dimensions of a
+fourth-magnitude star; it remains in this condition for twenty minutes,
+and then increases gradually until, at the expiration of four hours, it
+regains its former brilliancy, which it sustains for two days and
+thirteen hours, when it again goes through the same cycle of changes in
+a precisely similar manner to what has been described. Astrologers have
+ascribed many evil influences to the demon star, which adorned the head
+of Medusa; nor did it escape the observation of ancient astronomers that
+this malevolent orb is&mdash;as a modern writer amusingly remarks&mdash;slowly
+winking at us from out the depths of space.</p>
+
+<p>Variable stars are found in greater numbers in some parts of the heavens
+than in others. Those of a white colour, and with shorter and more
+regular periods, are most numerous in the region of the Milky Way; those
+that are small, with long periods and of a reddish hue, are more widely
+removed from that zone. Stars of this class are all very remote, and no
+attempt has as yet been made to ascertain the parallax of Algol.</p>
+
+<p>Several theories have been suggested in order to account for the
+periodical brilliancy of those stars. It has been suggested that the
+stars have opaque non-luminous patches on their surfaces, and that
+during axial rotation their light ebbs and flows according as the dark
+or bright portions are turned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> towards us. This theory is highly
+improbable. Another and more plausible reason, especially with regard to
+short period variables, is, that around those stars there revolve opaque
+bodies or satellites which at times intercept a portion of their light
+by producing a partial eclipse of their discs, similar to that caused by
+the dark body of the Moon when passing between the Sun and the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>It is now known that in the case of variables of the Algol type, the
+periodical fluctuations of their light arises from this cause, and that
+round Algol there is a dark world or satellite travelling, which
+completes a revolution of its orbit in about sixty-nine hours, and that,
+during each circuit, it intercepts one half of the light of its primary
+by partially eclipsing the orb, and thereby creating a diminution in its
+apparent magnitude which becomes perceptible at recurring intervals.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Star Groups.</span>&mdash;These are plentifully scattered over the heavens and, by
+their conspicuous brilliancy, add to the grandeur and magnificence of
+the midnight sky. The Hyades in Taurus, of which Aldebaran is the chief,
+forming the eye of the Bull, attract attention.</p>
+
+<p>The stars in Coma Bernices form a rich group; the sickle in Leo, the
+seven stars in Ursa Major, and those in Cassiopeia and Aquila are
+familiarly known to all observers. Besides these, there are many other
+groups and aggregations of stars which adorn the celestial vault and
+enhance the beauty of the heavens.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>
+<span class="smcap">Star Clusters.</span>&mdash;On observing the heavens on a clear, dark night, there
+can be seen in different parts of the sky closely aggregated groups of
+stars called clusters. In some instances the component stars are so near
+together that the naked eye is unable to discern the individual members
+of the cluster. They then assume an indistinct, hazy, cloudlike
+appearance. Upwards of 500 clusters are known to astronomers, the
+majority of which are very remote. Many of them contain thousands of
+stars compressed into a very small space, and others are so distant that
+the largest telescopes are incapable of resolving their nebulous
+appearance into separate stars.</p>
+
+<p>Star clusters have been arranged into two classes, &lsquo;irregular&rsquo; and
+&lsquo;globular;&rsquo; but no sharp line of demarcation exists between them, though
+each have their distinctive peculiarities. Irregular clusters consist of
+aggregations of stars brought promiscuously together, and presenting an
+appearance devoid of any structural arrangement. They are of different
+shapes and sizes, possess no distinct outline, and are not condensed
+towards their centre, like those that are globular. On examination, they
+present an intricate reticulated appearance; streams and branches of
+stars extend outwards from the parent cluster, sometimes in rows and
+sinuous lines, and, in other instances, diverging from a common centre,
+forming sprays. Sometimes the stars are seen to follow each other on the
+same curve which terminates in loops and arches of symmetrical
+proportions.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+There are three conspicuous clusters in the northern sky that are
+visible to the naked eye&mdash;viz. the Pleiades in Taurus, the Great Cluster
+in the sword-handle of Perseus, and Praesepe in Cancer, commonly called
+the Beehive.</p>
+
+<p>The cluster which from time immemorial has had bestowed upon it the
+chief attention of mankind are the beautiful Pleiades or Seven Sisters,
+and intertwined among its stars are the legendary and mythological
+beliefs of ancient nations and untutored tribes inhabiting the different
+regions of the globe. When viewed with a telescope of moderate size the
+cluster appears as a scattered group, and numerous stars become visible
+that are imperceptible to ordinary vision.</p>
+
+<p>In the sword-handle of Perseus there is a cluster which, to the naked
+eye, appears as a small patch of luminous cloud. This inconspicuous
+object when observed with an instrument of moderate power is resolved
+into a magnificent assemblage of stars, and presents a spectacle which
+creates in the mind of the beholder mingled feelings of admiration and
+amazement. No telescope has yet penetrated its utmost depths, or
+revealed all the glories of this shining region, crowded with glittering
+points of light comparable in number to the pebbles strewn on the shore
+of a troubled sea.</p>
+
+<p>The cluster Praesepe in Cancer is visible on a clear night to the
+unaided eye as a small nebula. This object attracted the attention of
+Galileo, to which he applied his newly invented telescope, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> was
+delighted to find that his glass was capable of resolving it into a
+group of stars thirty-six in number, and all of comparatively large
+magnitude. The disappearance of Praesepe in consequence of the
+condensation of vapour in the atmosphere was regarded by the ancients as
+a sure indication of approaching rain. In the same constellation, near
+the Crab&#8217;s southern claw, there is another rich cluster, which consists
+of 200 stars of the ninth and tenth magnitudes.</p>
+
+<p>In Sobieski&#8217;s Shield there is a magnificent fan-shaped cluster of minute
+stars with a prominent one in its centre; and in the constellation of
+the Southern Cross there is a cluster which, on account of the varied
+colours of its component stars, has been compared by Sir John Herschel
+to &lsquo;a piece of rich fancy jewellery;&rsquo; eight of the principal stars being
+coloured red, green, and blue.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Globular Clusters.</span>&mdash;These have been described by Herschel as &lsquo;the most
+magnificent objects that can be seen in the heavens.&rsquo; They are all very
+remote, of a rounded form, and when viewed with a telescope present the
+appearance of &lsquo;a ball of stars.&rsquo; In some clusters the constituent stars
+are distinguishable as minute points of light; in others, more remote,
+they are of a coarse granular texture, and in those still more distant
+they resemble a &lsquo;heap of golden sand.&rsquo; Some clusters are situated at
+such a profound distance in space that it is impossible with the most
+powerful of telescopes to define their stellar structure; all that can
+be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> distinguished of these is a cloudy luminosity resembling in
+appearance an irresolvable nebula. Globular clusters usually present a
+radiated appearance. Rays, branches, and spiral-shaped streams of stars
+appear to flow from the circumference of some; and, in other instances,
+fantastic appendages of stars project outwards from the parent cluster.
+There doubtless exists much variety in the structural arrangement of
+these clusters, and an equal diversity in the magnitude and number of
+the stars which enter into their formation. The stars in some clusters
+may equal those of the first magnitude, and in others they may not
+exceed in dimensions the minor planets. In the telescope they vary in
+size from the eleventh to the fifteenth magnitude; the smaller stars
+occupy the centre of a cluster, whilst the larger ones are found near
+its circumference. Globular clusters are more condensed towards their
+centre than those of irregular shape, and some have a nucleated
+appearance. This apparent condensation is not altogether owing to the
+depth of star strata as viewed from the circumference of the cluster,
+but there appears to exist an attractive force (probably gravitational)
+which draws the stars towards its centre, and if this &lsquo;clustering power&rsquo;
+were not opposed by some other counteracting force, those bodies would
+coalesce into one mass. It may be &lsquo;that a centrifugal impulse
+predominates by which full-grown orbs are driven from the nursery of
+suns in which they were reared to seek their separate fortunes and enter
+on an independent career elsewhere.&rsquo;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is not known how the dynamical equilibrium of a star cluster is
+maintained; and on account of its extreme distance no motion is
+perceptible among its component stars. The laws by which those stellar
+aggregations are produced and governed are wrapped in obscurity, and the
+nature of the motions of their stars, whether towards concentration or
+diffusion, cannot at present be ascertained. If those globular clusters
+could be observed sufficiently near, they would most probably expand
+into vast systems of suns occupying immense regions of space.</p>
+
+<p>The largest and most magnificent globular cluster in the heavens is
+&omega; Centauri, in the Southern Hemisphere. To the naked eye it
+resembles a round, indistinct, cometary object, about equal to a star of
+the fourth magnitude; but when observed with a powerful telescope it
+appears as a globe of considerable dimensions composed of innumerable
+stars of the thirteenth and fifteenth magnitudes, all exceedingly minute
+and gathered into small knots and groups. A remarkable cluster in
+Toucani is described by Sir John Herschel as &lsquo;most magnificent; very
+large; very bright, and very much compressed in the middle.&rsquo; The
+interior mass consists of closely aggregated pale rose-coloured stars,
+surrounded by others of a pure white which embrace the remainder of the
+cluster. There is a fine globular cluster in Sagittarius between the
+Archer&#8217;s head and the bow. It was observed by Hevelius in 1665. The
+central portion is very much compressed, and consists of excessively<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>
+minute stars enclosed by others of larger size. In Aquarius there is a
+magnificent ball of stars of a beautiful spherical form, which Sir J.
+Herschel compared to a heap of fine sand. Numerous other clusters are
+profusely distributed over the heavens, occupying regions in the
+profound depths of space which can only be reached by the aid of most
+powerful instruments.</p>
+
+<p>The finest and most remarkable object of this class visible in the
+northern heavens is the Great Cluster which lies between &eta; and
+&zeta; Herculis. It was discovered by Halley in 1714, who writes:
+&lsquo;This is but a little patch, but it shows itself to the naked eye when
+the sky is serene and the moon absent.&rsquo; When observed with a powerful
+telescope its magnificence at once becomes apparent to the beholder.
+&lsquo;Perhaps,&rsquo; says Dr. Nichol, &lsquo;no one ever saw it for the first time
+through a telescope without uttering a shout of wonder.&rsquo; At its
+circumference the stars are rather scattered, but towards the centre
+they appear so closely aggregated that their combined effulgence forms a
+perfect blaze of light. Sir William Herschel estimated that there are
+14,000 stars in the cluster, each a magnificent world but unaccompanied
+by any planetary attendants.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="PLATE218" id="PLATE218"></a>
+<a href="images/plate218.jpg">
+<img src="images/plate218.jpg" width="400"
+alt="CLUSTER IN HERCULES" title="CLUSTER IN HERCULES" /></a>
+<span class="caption">CLUSTER IN HERCULES</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>As a result of more recent investigations this number has been
+considerably reduced, and it is now generally believed that about 4,000
+stars enter into the formation of the cluster. As its distance from the
+Earth is unknown, it follows that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> there must be some uncertainty
+attached to any conclusions that may be arrived at with regard to this
+superb object. Miss Agnes Clerke estimates the number of the constituent
+stars at 4,000, and in support of her conclusion this talented lady
+writes as follows: &lsquo;The apparent diameter of this object, including most
+of the &ldquo;scattered stars in streaky masses and lines&rdquo; which form a sort
+of &ldquo;glory&rdquo; round it, is 8'; that of its truly spherical portion may be
+put at 5'. Now, a globe subtending an angle of 5' must have (because the
+sine of that angle is to radius nearly as to 1 : 687) a real diameter
+1/687 of its distance from the eye, which, if we assume to be such as
+would correspond to a parallax of 1/20 of a second, we find that the
+cluster, outliers apart, measures 558,000 millions of miles across.
+Light, in other words, occupies thirty-six days in traversing it, but
+sixty-five years in journeying thence hither. Its components may be
+regarded, on an average, as of the twelfth magnitude; for, although the
+divergent stars rank much higher in the scale of brightness, the central
+ones, there is reason to believe, are notably fainter. The sum total of
+their light, if concentrated into one stellar point, would at any rate
+very little (if at all) exceed that of a third-magnitude star. And one
+star of the third is equivalent to just four thousand stars of the
+twelfth magnitude. Hence we arrive at the conclusion that the stars in
+the Hercules Cluster number much more nearly four than fourteen
+thousand.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+For what purpose do those thousands of clustering orbs shine? Who can
+tell? Night is unknown in the regions illumined by their brilliant
+radiance. This stupendous aggregation of suns testifies to the
+magnificence of the starry heavens, and to the omnipotence of the
+Creator.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Galaxies.</span>&mdash;These consist of vast aggregations of stars which form
+separate &lsquo;island universes&rsquo; floating in the depths of space; they are
+believed to equal in magnitude and magnificence the Milky Way&mdash;the
+galaxy to which our system belongs.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Nebulæ.</span>&mdash;We now reach the last, and what are believed to be the most
+distant of the known contents of the heavens. They are all exceedingly
+remote, devoid of any perceptible motion, faintly luminous, and, with
+the exception of two of their number, invisible to the naked eye. Halley
+was the first astronomer who paid any attention to those objects. In
+1716 he enumerated six of them, but of this number only two can, in a
+strict sense, be regarded as nebulæ, the others since then have been
+resolved into magnificent star clusters. In 1784, Messier catalogued 103
+nebulæ, and the Herschels&mdash;father and son&mdash;in their survey of the
+stellar regions, discovered 4,000 of those objects. There are now 8,000
+known nebulæ in the heavens, but the majority of them are not of much
+interest to astronomers. Prior to the invention of the spectroscope it
+was believed that all nebulæ were irresolvable star clusters, but the
+analysis of their light by this instrument indicated that their
+composition was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> stellar but gaseous. Their spectra consist of a few
+bright lines revealing the presence of hydrogen, nitrogen, and other
+gaseous elements.</p>
+
+<p>Much that is mysterious and uncertain is associated with those objects
+which appear to lie far beyond the limits of our sidereal system. It is
+now generally believed that they exhibit the earliest stage in the
+formation of stars and planets&mdash;inchoate worlds in process of slow
+evolution, which will eventually condense into systems of suns, and
+planetary worlds.</p>
+
+<p>Nebulæ present every variety of form. Some are annular, elliptic,
+circular, and spiral; others are fan-shaped, cylindrical, and irregular,
+with tufted appendages, rays, and filaments. A fancied resemblance to
+different animated creatures has been observed in some. In Taurus there
+is a nebula called the &lsquo;Crab&rsquo; on account of its likeness to the
+crustacean; another is called the &lsquo;Owl Nebula&rsquo; from its resemblance to
+the face of that bird. The Orion Nebula suggests the opened jaws of a
+fish or sea monster, hence called the Fish-Mouth Nebula. There is a
+Horse-Shoe Nebula, a Dumb-Bell Nebula, and many others of various shapes
+and forms. They are classified as follows: (1) Annular Nebulæ, (2)
+Elliptic Nebulæ, (3) Spiral Nebulæ, (4) Planetary Nebulæ, (5) Nebulous
+Stars, (6) Large Irregular Nebulæ.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Annular Nebulæ.</span>&mdash;These resemble in appearance an oval-shaped luminous
+ring; they are comparatively few in number, and not more than a dozen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
+have been discovered in the whole heavens. The most remarkable object of
+this class is the Ring Nebula, which is situated between the stars
+&beta; and &gamma; Lyræ. It is visible in a moderate-sized
+telescope as a well-defined, flat, oval ring; its central part is not
+quite dark but is occupied by a filmy haze of luminous matter which is
+prolonged inwards from the margin of the ring. When examined with a high
+power the edges of the ring have a fringed appearance, and numerous
+glittering stellar points become visible both within and without its
+circumference. This nebulous ring, though a small object in the
+telescope, is of enormous magnitude, and if it were not more distant
+than 61 Cygni, one of the nearest of the fixed stars, its diameter would
+not be less than 20,000 millions of miles, but it has been estimated by
+Herschel that it is 900 times more remote than Sirius. How stupendous,
+then, must be its dimensions, and how bewildering to our conception is
+the profound immensity of space in which it is located! An annular
+nebula similar to that of Lyra, but on a smaller scale, is found in
+Cygnus, and within it there can be seen a conspicuous star. Another
+exists in Scorpio which contains two stars situated within the ring at
+diametrically opposite points to each other.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Elliptical Nebulæ.</span>&mdash;The most interesting object of this class is the
+Great Nebula in Andromeda, called &lsquo;the transcendentally beautiful queen
+of the nebulæ&rsquo;&mdash;an appellation which it scarcely merits. This object,
+which is plainly visible to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> naked eye, is of an oval shape, of a
+milky white colour, and is situated near the most northern star of the
+three which form the girdle of Andromeda. It was known to the ancients,
+and Ali Sufi, a Persian astronomer who flourished in the tenth century,
+alludes to it; but it did not attract much attention until the
+seventeenth century. Simon Marius was the first to observe this object
+with a telescope. This he did on December 15, 1612; he describes it as
+shining with a pale white light resembling in appearance the flame of a
+candle when seen through a semi-transparent piece of horn. When examined
+with a high magnifying power it is seen to occupy a largely extended
+area measuring 4° in length and 2&frac12;° in breadth. Its luminosity
+increases from the circumference to the centre, where there can be seen
+a small nucleus with an ill-defined boundary, which has the appearance
+of being granular, but its composition is not stellar. Two dark channels
+running almost parallel to each other and to the axis of the nebula have
+been observed by Bond; these, when prolonged, form into curves which
+terminate in two great rings. They are wide rifts which separate streams
+of nebulous matter, and are indicative that some formative processes may
+be going on within the nebula.</p>
+
+<p>Astronomers have been baffled in their attempts to discover the nature
+of the Andromeda Nebula. Though great telescopes have been able to
+render visible thousands of stars over and around it, yet the nebula
+itself is irresolvable and bears no trace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> of stellar formation;
+neither, according to Dr. Huggins, is its spectrum gaseous, a
+circumstance which deepens the mystery associated with this object. Its
+distance is unknown, and its dimensions cannot be ascertained.</p>
+
+<p>Other elliptical nebulæ are found in different regions of the heavens.
+In Ursa Major there is an oval nebula resembling that of Andromeda, but
+on a much smaller scale. It possesses a nucleus, and on the photographic
+plate there can be detected the presence of spiral structure, indicating
+the existence of streams of nebulous matter. Adjacent to this nebula is
+another of the same class with a double nucleus, and associated with it
+is a nebulous star.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Spiral Nebulæ.</span>&mdash;The great reflector of Earl Rosse at Parsonstown was the
+successful means by which nebulæ of this form were discovered. This
+powerful telescope was capable of defining with greater accuracy the
+structural formation of those objects than any other instrument in use.
+It was ascertained that spiral coils and convoluted whorls enter into
+the structure of most nebulæ, indicating a similarity in the process of
+change which may be going on in these vast accumulations of cosmical
+matter. The most interesting specimen of a spiral nebula is situated in
+Canes Venatici. It consists of spiral coils emanating from a centre with
+a nucleus and surrounded by a narrow luminous ring. In appearance it
+resembles the coiled mainspring of a watch.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Planetary Nebulæ.</span>&mdash;These have been so named<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> on account of the
+resemblance which they bear to the discs of planets. They are of uniform
+brightness, circular in shape, with sharply-defined edges, and are
+frequently of a bluish colour. They are more numerous than annular
+nebulæ; three-fourths of their number are in the Southern Hemisphere,
+and they are situated in or very near the Milky Way. Those objects were
+first described by Sir William Herschel, who was rather perplexed as to
+what was their real nature and how he should classify them. He remarked
+that they could not be planets belonging to far-off suns, nor distant
+comets, nor distended stars. Consequently, he concluded rightly that
+they were nebulæ. When observed with large telescopes, they lose their
+planetary aspect, and their sharpness of outline is less apparent; their
+discs become broken up into bright and dark portions, and in some,
+numerous minute stars have been observed, whilst others have
+well-defined nuclei.</p>
+
+<p>The most prominent nebula of this class is situated in the constellation
+Ursa Major, and is called the Owl Nebula, from its fancied resemblance
+to the face of that bird. Sir John Herschel describes it as &lsquo;a most
+extraordinary object, a large, uniform nebulous disc, quite round, very
+bright, not sharply defined, but yet very suddenly fading away to
+darkness.&rsquo; When examined in 1848 with Earl Rosse&#8217;s reflector, two bright
+stars were discovered in its interior; each was in the centre of a
+circular dark space surrounded by whorls of nebulous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> matter&mdash;hence the
+origin of its name. This nebula gives a bright line spectrum indicative
+of gaseous composition. It is believed to consist chiefly of hydrogen
+and other gases which form a globe of such stupendous magnitude that, if
+we surmise its distance from the earth to be sixty-five light years&mdash;an
+estimate much too low&mdash;&lsquo;its diameter would exceed that of the orbit of
+Neptune upwards of 100 times.&rsquo;<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Within its compass the orbs of
+hundreds of solar systems as large as that of ours would be able to
+perform their revolutions, having spacious intervals existing between
+each system. Another interesting planetary nebula is in the
+constellation of the Dragon, near to the pole of the ecliptic; it is
+slightly oval, of a pale blue colour, and contains a star of the
+eleventh magnitude in its centre. It gives a gaseous spectrum. Attempts
+have been made to determine its parallax, but without success, and
+during the eighty years it has been under observation it has remained
+apparently motionless. Its light period, if estimated at 140 years,
+would indicate the existence of a globe with a diameter equal to
+forty-four diameters of the orbit of the planet Neptune.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> A nebula of
+this class was discovered by Sir John Herschel in the Centaur. He
+described it as resembling Uranus, but larger; its colour was of a
+beautiful rich blue, and its light equalled that of a star of the
+seventh magnitude.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Nebulous Stars.</span>&mdash;These stars are each surrounded by a luminous haze
+several minutes of arc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> in diameter and of a circular form. Sir William
+Herschel, by his observation of those objects, arrived at the conclusion
+&lsquo;that there exists in space a shining fluid of a nature totally unknown
+to us, and that the nebulosity about those stars was not of a starry
+nature.&rsquo; Thirteen stars of this type have been enumerated by him and
+many others have since been discovered. The &lsquo;glow&rsquo; which surrounds them
+has been observed in a few instances to have vanished without leaving
+any trace of nebulosity behind, but the causes which have brought about
+such a result are entirely unknown. The nature of those stars is
+involved in considerable obscurity, and one class of nebula would seem
+to merge into the other; nebulous stars with faint aureolæ do not differ
+much from small nebulæ interspersed with stellar points.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Large Irregular Nebulæ.</span>&mdash;These are found in both hemispheres, and are
+remarkable on account of the varied appearances which they present, and
+the large extent of space which many of them occupy. In some, the
+nebulous matter of which they are composed can be seen like masses of
+tufted flocculi, sometimes piled up, and at other times promiscuously
+scattered, resembling in appearance the foam on the crested billows of a
+surging ocean rendered suddenly motionless, or cirro-cumuli floating in
+a tranquil sky. Islands of light with intervening dark channels,
+promontories projecting into gulfs of deep shade, sprays of luminous
+matter, convoluted filaments, whorls,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> wreaths, and spiral streams all
+enter into the structural formation of a great nebula.</p>
+
+<p>The Great Nebula in Argo, in the Southern Hemisphere, is one of the most
+remarkable objects of this class. It consists of bright irregular masses
+of luminous matter, streaks and branches, and occupies an area about
+equal to one square degree. At its eastern border is situated the
+variable star &eta; Argus, which fluctuates between the first and
+seventh magnitudes in a period of about seventy years.</p>
+
+<p>A rich portion of the Galaxy lies in front of the nebula, which creates
+an effect as if it were studded over with stars. Sir John Herschel, in
+describing this nebula, writes as follows:&mdash;&lsquo;The whole is situated in a
+very rich and brilliant part of the Milky Way, so thickly strewed with
+stars that, in the area occupied by the nebula, not less than 1,200 have
+been actually counted. Yet it is obvious that these have no connection
+whatever with the nebula, being, in fact, only a simple continuation
+over it of the general ground of the Galaxy. The conclusion can hardly
+be avoided that, in looking at it, we see through and beyond the Milky
+Way, far out into space, through a starless region, disconnecting it
+altogether from our system. It is not easy for language to convey a full
+impression of the beauty and sublimity of the spectacle which this
+nebula offers as it enters the field of view of a telescope, fixed in
+right ascension, by the diurnal motion, ushered in as it is by so
+glorious and innumerable a procession of stars, to which it forms a sort
+of climax, and in a part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> the heavens otherwise full of interest.&rsquo;
+Another large bright nebula (called 30 Doradus), also in the Southern
+Hemisphere, is composed of a series of loops with intricate windings
+forming a kind of open network against the background of the sky which
+it adorns. Sir John Herschel describes it as one of the most
+extraordinary objects in the heavens.</p>
+
+<p>The &lsquo;Crab&rsquo; Nebula in Taurus, the &lsquo;Horse-Shoe&rsquo; Nebula in Sobieski&#8217;s
+Shield, and the &lsquo;Dumb-Bell&rsquo; Nebula in Vulpecula are remarkable objects,
+but the assistance of a powerful telescope is required to bring out
+their distinctive features. The &lsquo;Crab&rsquo; Nebula is partially resolvable
+into stars; the other two are believed to be gaseous.</p>
+
+<p>The largest and most remarkable of all the nebulæ is that known as the
+Great Nebula in Orion, which was discovered and delineated by Huygens in
+the middle of the seventeenth century. It is perceptible to the naked
+eye, and when viewed with a glass of low power can be seen as a circular
+luminous haze surrounding the multiple star &theta; Orionis&mdash;one of
+the stars in the Giant&#8217;s Sword, and which is of itself a remarkable
+object. The most conspicuous part of the nebula bears a slight
+resemblance to the wing of a bird; it consists of flocculent masses of
+nebulous matter possessing a faint greenish tinge. Sir John Herschel
+compared it to a surface studded over with flocks of wool, or to the
+breaking up of a mackerel sky when the clouds of which it consists begin
+to assume a cirrous appearance. Its brightest portion is occupied by
+four conspicuous stars, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> form a trapezium; around each there is a
+dark space free from nebulosity, a circumstance which would seem to
+indicate that the stars possess the power either of absorbing or of
+repelling the nebulous matter in their immediate vicinity. When observed
+with a powerful telescope, this nebula appears to be of vast dimensions,
+and, with its effluents, occupies an area of 4° by 5&frac12;°. Irregular
+branching masses, streams, sprays, filaments, and curved spiral wreaths
+project outward from the parent mass, and become gradually lost in the
+surrounding space. This object remained for long a profound mystery; no
+telescope was capable of resolving it, nor was it known what this
+&lsquo;unformed fiery mist, the chaotic material of future suns,&rsquo; was, until
+the spectroscope revealed that it consists of a stupendous mass of
+incandescent gases&mdash;nitrogen, hydrogen, and other elementary substances,
+occupying a region of space believed by some to equal in extent the
+whole stellar system to which our Sun belongs.</p>
+
+<p>In the Southern Hemisphere, near to the pole of the equator, are two
+nebulous clouds of unequal size; the larger having an area about four
+times that of the smaller. They are known as the Magellanic Clouds,
+having been called after the navigator Magellan. Both are visible on a
+moonless night, but in bright moonlight the smaller disappears. Sir John
+Herschel, when at the Cape of Good Hope, examined those objects with his
+powerful telescope. He described them &lsquo;as consisting of swarms of stars,
+globular clusters, and nebulæ of various kinds, some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> portions of them
+being quite irresolvable, and presenting the same milky appearance in
+the telescope that the nebulæ themselves do to the naked eye.&rsquo; These are
+believed to be other universes of stars sunk in the profound depths of
+space, our knowledge of their existence being dependent upon the faint
+nebulous light which left them, perhaps, several thousand years ago.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="PLATE230" id="PLATE230"></a>
+<a href="images/plate230.jpg">
+<img src="images/plate230.jpg" width="400"
+alt="GREAT NEBULA IN ORION"
+title="GREAT NEBULA IN ORION" /></a>
+<span class="caption">GREAT NEBULA IN ORION</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>The description of the various kinds of nebulæ leads us to consider what
+is called the Nebular Hypothesis. That the stars and solar system had at
+some time in the past a beginning, is as much a matter of certainty as
+that they will at some future time cease to be. Stars, like organic
+beings, have their birth, grow and arrive at maturity, then decline into
+a state of decrepitude, and finally die out. The duration of the life of
+a star, which may be reckoned by millions of years, depends upon the
+length of time during which it can maintain a temperature that renders
+it capable of emitting light. By the constant radiation of its heat into
+space, a condition of its constituent particles consequent upon the
+gradual contraction of its mass will ultimately occur, which will result
+in the exhaustion of its stores of thermal energy, the extinction of its
+light, and the reduction of what was once a brilliant orb to the
+condition of a mass of cold, opaque, inert matter. Inquiries as to the
+origin of the stars have led scientific men to conclude that they have
+been evolved from gaseous nebulæ, and these have therefore been regarded
+as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> indicating the earliest stage in the formation of suns and planets.
+It is believed that the condensation of those attenuated masses of
+luminous matter into stars is capable of accounting for the generation
+and formation of all the shining orbs which enter into the structure of
+the starry heavens. In the evolution of a &lsquo;cosmos out of a chaos&rsquo; we
+should expect to find stars presenting every stage of development&mdash;some
+in an embryo state and others more advanced; stars in full vigour and
+activity, stars that have passed the meridian of life, and stars in a
+condition of decay and on the verge of extinction. The observations of
+astronomers have led them to conclude that this condition of &lsquo;youth and
+age&rsquo; exists among the stellar multitude; but the characteristics by
+which it is distinguished are neither very obvious nor reliable.</p>
+
+<p>The nebular theory is incapable of proof or demonstration; but modern
+discoveries tend to support the accuracy of its conclusions, and its
+principles have now been adopted by the majority of philosophic
+thinkers. The physical changes which are going on in the nebulæ towards
+stellar evolution, or in fully formed stars towards dissolution, are so
+slow that the life of an individual, or even the historical records of
+the past, are incapable of furnishing any evidence of alteration in
+their condition. A period of time infinitely greater than what has
+elapsed since the birth of science must pass before anything can be
+known of the life history of the stars; indeed, the allotted span of
+man&#8217;s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> existence on this planet may have terminated ere the evolution of
+a large nebula into a star cluster can have taken place.</p>
+
+<p>The nebular hypothesis was first propounded by Kant, who suggested that
+the sun and planets originated from a vast and diffused mass of cosmical
+matter. This theory was afterwards supported by Herschel and by the
+great French astronomer Laplace. As a result of close and continued
+observation of the different classes of nebulæ, Herschel arrived at the
+conclusion that there exists in space a widely diffused &lsquo;shining fluid,&rsquo;
+of a nature totally unknown to us, and that the nebulosity which he
+perceived to surround some stars was not of a starry nature. He further
+adds that this self-luminous matter &lsquo;seemed more fit to produce a star
+by its condensation than to depend on the star for its existence.&rsquo; His
+sagacious conclusion with regard to the non-stellar nature of this
+nebulous matter was afterwards confirmed by the spectroscope; for at
+that time it was believed that even the faintest nebulæ were
+irresolvable star clusters.</p>
+
+<p>In 1811 Herschel read a paper before the Royal Society in which he
+propounded his famous nebular hypothesis, and stated his reasons for
+believing that nebulæ, by their gradual condensation, were transformed
+into stars. Having assumed that there exists a highly attenuated
+self-luminous substance diffused over vast regions of space, he
+endeavoured to show that by the law of attraction its particles would
+have a tendency to coalesce and form aggregations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> of nebulous matter,
+and that each of these, by the continued action of the same force, would
+gradually condense and ultimately acquire the consistence of a star. In
+the case of large irregular nebulæ, numerous centres of attraction would
+originate in the mass, round which the nebulous particles of matter
+would arrange themselves; each nucleus, when condensation had been
+completed, would become a star, and the entire nebula would in this
+manner be transformed into a cluster of stars. Herschel believed that he
+could trace the different stages of nebular condensation which result in
+the evolution of a star. In large, faintly luminous nebulæ the process
+of condensation had only commenced; in others that were smaller and
+brighter it was in a more advanced stage; in those that contained nuclei
+there was evidence of nascent stars; and, finally, there could be seen
+in some nebulæ minute stellar points&mdash;new-born suns&mdash;interspersed among
+the haze of the transforming mass. By this theory Herschel was able to
+account for the phenomena associated with nebulous stars and the
+supposed changes which were observed in some nebulæ. The nebular
+hypothesis as described by Herschel was not received with much favour,
+nor did it unsettle much the belief that all nebulæ were vast stellar
+aggregations, and that their cloudy luminosity was a consequence of the
+inadequacy of telescopic power to resolve them into their component
+stars. Laplace, who was highly gifted as a geometrician, demonstrated
+how the solar system<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> could have been evolved in accordance with
+dynamical principles from a slowly rotating and slowly contracting
+spheroidal nebula. The rotatory motion of a nebula, in obedience to a
+well-known mechanical law, increases as its density becomes greater, and
+this goes on until the tangential force at the equator overcomes the
+gravitational attraction at its centre. When this occurs, a revolving
+ring of nebulous matter is thrown off from the parent mass, and by this
+means equilibrium is restored between the two forces. As the rotatory
+velocity of the nebula continues to increase with its contraction,
+another ring is cast off, and in this manner a succession of revolving
+rings may be detached from the condensing spheroid; each newly-formed
+ring being nearer to the centre of the contracting mass and revolving in
+a shorter period than its predecessor. In the evolution of our system,
+the central mass of the nebula became the Sun and each of the revolving
+rings, by their condensation into one mass, formed a planet. In a
+similar manner, though on a diminished scale, the elementary planets,
+whilst in a nebulous state, parted with annular portions of their
+substance, out of which were evolved their systems of satellites. This
+theory furnished a plausible reason, which was capable of explaining how
+the orbs which constitute the solar system came into existence, and,
+though hypothetical, yet the manner in which it accounted for the
+orderly and symmetrical genesis of the system rendered it attractive and
+fascinating to scientific minds.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>
+The evidence in support of the nebulous origin of the solar system, if
+not conclusive, is of much weight and importance. The remarkable harmony
+with which the orbs of the system perform their motions is strongly
+indicative of their common origin and that their evolution occurred in
+subordination to the law of universal gravitation. The following are the
+characteristic points in favour of this theory:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>1. All the planets revolve round the Sun in the same direction, and they
+all occupy nearly the same plane.</p>
+
+<p>2. Their satellites, with the exception of those of Uranus and Neptune,
+perform their revolutions in obedience to the same law.</p>
+
+<p>3. The rotation on their axes of the Sun, planets, and satellites is in
+the same direction as their orbital motion.</p>
+
+<p>Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter there revolves a remarkable group
+of small planets or planetoids. On account of the absence of a planet in
+this region, where, according to the laws of planetary distances, one
+ought to be found, the existence of those small bodies was suspected for
+some years prior to their discovery. The first was detected by Piazzi at
+Palermo in 1801; two others were discovered by Olbers in 1802 and 1807,
+and one by Harding in 1804. For some time it was believed that no more
+planetoids existed, but in 1845 a fifth was detected by Hencke, and from
+that year until now upwards of 300 of those small bodies have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+discovered. Their magnitudes are of varied extent; the diameter of the
+largest is believed not to exceed 450 miles, and that of the smaller
+ones from twenty to thirty miles. It was surmised at one time, when only
+a few of those bodies were known, that they were the fragments of a
+planet which met with some terrible catastrophe; but since the discovery
+of so many other planetoids this theory cannot be maintained. According
+to the nebular hypothesis, these bodies are the consolidated portions of
+a nebulous ring which remained separate instead of having coalesced into
+one mass so as to form a planet. The uniform condensation of the ring
+would result in the formation of a multitude of small planets similar to
+what are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. In Saturn&#8217;s ring
+we have a remarkable instance of annular consolidation in which the form
+of the ring has been preserved. The ring is believed to consist of
+myriads of minute bodies, each of which travels in an orbit of its own
+as it pursues its path round the planet; the close approximation and
+exceeding minuteness of those moving objects create the appearance of a
+solid continuous ring.</p>
+
+<p>Though, by means of the nebular hypothesis, it is impossible to explain
+all the phenomena associated with the motions of the orbs which enter
+into the structure of the solar system, yet this does not detract much
+from the merits of the theory, the fundamental principles of which are
+based upon the evolution of the solar system from a rotating nebula.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+The retrograde motions of the satellites of Uranus and Neptune, the
+velocity of the inner Martian moon, and other abnormalities in the
+system, have not as yet been explained, but doubtless there are reasons
+by which those peculiarities can be accounted for if they were only
+known, &lsquo;<i>felix qui potuit cognoscere causas omnium rerum</i>.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>No attempt has been made to supplant the nebular hypothesis by any other
+theory of cosmical evolution. Modern investigations and discoveries have
+strengthened its position, and at present it is the only means by which
+we can account for the existence of the visible material universe by
+which we are surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>In the days when Milton lived&mdash;three hundred years ago&mdash;the nocturnal
+heavens presented the same appearance to an observer as they do at the
+present time. The stars pursued their identical paths, and looked down
+upon the Earth with the same aspect of serene tranquillity, regardless
+of the vicissitudes which affect the inhabitants of this terrestrial
+sphere. The constellations that adorn the celestial vault duly appeared
+in their seasons,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i14">and in the ascending scale<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Heaven the stars that usher evening rose.&mdash;iv. 354-55.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The winter glories of Orion, the scintillating brilliancy of Sirius, and
+the spangled firmament, bearing no impress of change or variation which
+would lead one to conclude that the heavens were other than eternal,
+attracted then, as now, the admiration of beholders.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+Apart from the orbs which constitute the solar system, little was known
+of the sidereal heavens beyond the visual effect created by the
+nocturnal aspect of the star-lit sky. Though ancient philosophers
+hazarded an opinion that the stars were suns, they received but scant
+attention from early astronomers, by whom they were merely regarded as
+convenient fixed points which enabled them to determine with greater
+accuracy the positions of the planets and the paths traced out by them
+in the heavens. The Ptolemaists, who believed in the diurnal revolution
+of the spheres, assigned to the stars a very subordinate place in their
+cosmology, which was the one adopted by Milton; and although Copernicus
+relegated them to their proper location in space, yet he had no clear
+conception of a universe of stars. Tycho Brahé, who declined to accept
+the Copernican theory, disbelieved that the stars were suns, and
+Galileo, who discovered the stellar nature of the Milky Way, remarked
+that the stars were not illumined by the Sun&#8217;s rays in the same manner
+that the planets are, but expressed no opinion with regard to their
+physical constitution. It is only within the past fifty years that proof
+has been obtained of the real nature of the stars. By the spectroscopic
+analysis of their light it has been ascertained that the elements of
+matter which enter into their composition exist in a condition similar
+to what is found in the Sun. The stars are therefore suns, many of them
+surpassing in magnitude and brilliancy the great luminary of our
+system.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
+Though Milton makes frequent allusion to the magnificence of the starry
+heavens, we have no evidence that he regarded the stars as suns, nor
+does he refer to them as such in any part of his poem.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> What
+impressed him most was their number and brilliancy, to which reference
+is made in the following passages:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">About him all the Sanctities of Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stood thick as stars.&mdash;iii. 60-61.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And sowed with stars the Heavens thick as a field.&mdash;vii. 358.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Amongst innumerable stars, that shone<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stars distant, but nigh hand seemed other worlds.&mdash;iii. 564-65.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i40">her reign<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With thousand lesser lights dividual holds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With thousand thousand stars, that then appeared<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Spangling the hemisphere.&mdash;vii. 381-84.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Milton describes the number of the fallen angels as</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">an host<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Innumerable as the stars of night.&mdash;v. 744-45,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and the attention of Satan is directed by the archangel Uriel to the
+multitude of stars formed from the chaotic elements of matter:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Numberless as thou seest, and how they move;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each had his place appointed, each his course;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The rest in circuit walls this universe.&mdash;iii. 719-21.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>
+Though Milton was doubtless familiar with the leading orbs of the
+firmament and knew their names, and the constellations in which they are
+situated, yet he makes no direct allusion to any of them in his poem.
+Neither Arcturus, which is mentioned in the Book of Job, nor Sirius,
+which attracted the attention of Homer, who compared the brightness of
+Achilles&#8217; armour to the dazzling brilliancy of the dog-star, finds a
+place in &lsquo;Paradise Lost.&rsquo; And yet the superior magnitude and brilliancy
+of some stars when compared with those of others did not escape Milton&#8217;s
+observation when, in describing the lofty eminence of Satan in heaven,
+prior to his fall, he represents him as</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i14">brighter once amidst the host<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of angels than that star the stars among.&mdash;vii. 132-33.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>There is but one star to which Milton makes individual allusion, and,
+though not of any conspicuous brilliancy, yet it is one of much
+importance to astronomers&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">the fleecy star that bears<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Andromeda far off Atlantic seas<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beyond the horizon.&mdash;iii. 558-60.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This is &alpha; Arietis, the first point in the constellation of that
+name, which signifies the Ram, and from which the right ascensions of
+the stars are measured on the celestial sphere. In the time of
+Hipparchus the ecliptic intersected the celestial equator in Aries,
+which indicated the commencement of the astronomical year and the
+occurrence of the vernal equinox; but, owing to precession, this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> point
+is now 30° westward of Aries and in the constellation Pisces. The star
+was called Hamal by the Arabs, signifying a sheep, and the animal is
+represented as looking backwards. Manilius writes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">First Aries, glorious in his golden wool,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Looks back and wonders at the mighty Bull.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Aries is associated with the legend of the Golden Fleece, in quest of
+which Jason and his valiant crew sailed in the ship &lsquo;Argo.&rsquo; In the
+autumn, Andromeda is situated above Aries, and would seem to be borne by
+the latter, which accounts for Milton&#8217;s description of the relative
+positions of those two constellations.</p>
+
+<p>Milton alludes to the starry sphere in several passages in his poem, and
+also mentions the starry pole above which he soared in imagination up to
+the Empyrean or Heaven of Heavens. His contemplation of the Galaxy must
+have impressed his mind with the magnitude and extent of the sidereal
+universe, for he was aware that this luminous zone which encircles the
+heavens consists of myriads of stars, so remote as to be incapable of
+definition by unaided vision. Milton&#8217;s description of this vast
+assemblage of stars is worthy of its magnificence, and the purpose with
+which he poetically associates this glorified highway testifies to the
+sublimity of his thoughts and to the originality of his genius. In those
+parts of his poem in which he describes the glories of the celestial
+regions, and instances the beautiful phenomena associated with the
+individual orbs of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> firmament, we are able to perceive with what
+exquisite delight he beheld them all.</p>
+
+<p>The invention of the telescope, and the important discoveries made by
+Kepler, Galileo, and Newton in the seventeenth century, were the means
+of effecting a rapid advance in the science of astronomy; but that
+branch of it known as sidereal astronomy was not then in existence. The
+star depths, owing to inadequate telescopic power, remained unexplored,
+and the secrets associated with those distant regions were inviolable,
+and lay beyond the reach of human knowledge. The physical constitution
+of the stars was unknown, nor was it ascertained with any degree of
+certainty that they were suns. The knowledge possessed by astronomers in
+those days was but meagre compared with what is now known of the
+sidereal heavens. Milton&#8217;s astronomical knowledge, we find, was
+commensurate with what was known of the stellar universe, and this he
+has conspicuously displayed in his poem.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h4>DESCRIPTION OF CELESTIAL OBJECTS MENTIONED IN &lsquo;PARADISE LOST&rsquo;</h4>
+
+<h3>THE SUN</h3>
+
+<p>The surpassing splendour of the Sun, as compared with that of any of the
+other orbs of the firmament, is not more impressive than his stupendous
+magnitude, and the important functions which it is his prerogative to
+fulfil. Situated at the centre of our system&mdash;of which he may be
+regarded as &lsquo;both eye and soul&rsquo;&mdash;the orb has a diameter approaching
+1,000,000 miles, and a mass 750 times greater than that of all the
+planets combined. These, by his attractive power, he retains in their
+several paths and orbits, and even far distant Neptune acknowledges his
+potent sway. With prodigal liberality he dispenses his vast stores of
+light and heat, which illumine and vivify the worlds circling around
+him, and upon the constant supply of which all animated beings depend
+for their existence. Deprived of the light of the Sun, this world would
+be enveloped in perpetual darkness, and we should all miserably perish.</p>
+
+<p>The Sun is distant from the Earth about 93,000,000 miles. His diameter
+is 867,000 miles,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> or nearly four times the extent of the radius of the
+Moon&#8217;s orbit. The mass of the orb exceeds that of the Earth 330,000
+times, and in volume 1,305,000 times. The Sun is a sphere, and rotates
+on his axis from west to east in 25 days 8 hours. The velocity of a
+point at the solar equator is 4,407 miles an hour. The density of the
+Sun is only one-fourth that of the Earth, or, in other words, bulk for
+bulk, the Earth is four times heavier than the Sun. The force of gravity
+at the Sun&#8217;s surface is twenty-seven times greater than it is on the
+Earth; it would therefore be impossible for beings constituted as we are
+to exist on the solar surface.</p>
+
+<p>The dazzling luminous envelope which indicates to the naked eye the
+boundary of the solar disc is called the <span class="smcap">Photosphere</span>. It is most
+brilliant at the centre of the Sun, and diminishes in brightness towards
+the circumference, where its luminosity is but one-fourth that of the
+central portion of the disc. The photosphere consists of gaseous vapours
+or clouds, of irregular form and size, separated by less brilliant
+interstices, and glowing white with the heat derived from the interior
+of the Sun. In the telescope the photosphere is not of uniform
+brilliancy, but presents a mottled or granular appearance, an effect
+created by the intermixture of spaces of unequal brightness. Small
+nodules of intense brilliance, resembling &lsquo;rice-grains,&rsquo; but which,
+according to Nasmyth, are of a willow-leaf shape with pointed
+extremities, which form a network over portions of the photosphere, are
+sprinkled profusely over a more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> faintly luminous background. These
+&lsquo;grains&rsquo; consist of irregular rounded masses, having an area of several
+hundred miles. By the application of a high magnifying power they can be
+resolved into &lsquo;granules&rsquo;&mdash;minute luminous dots which constitute
+one-fifth of the Sun&#8217;s surface and emit three-fourths of the light. This
+granulation is not uniform over the surface of the photosphere; in some
+parts it is indistinct, and appears to be replaced by interlacing
+filamentous bands, which are most apparent in the penumbræ of the spots
+and around the spots themselves. The &lsquo;granules&rsquo; are the tops of
+ascending masses of intensely luminous vapour; the comparatively dark
+&lsquo;pores&rsquo; consist of similar descending masses, which, having radiated
+their energy, are returning to be again heated underneath the surface of
+the photosphere.</p>
+
+<p>In certain regions of the photosphere several dark patches are usually
+visible, which are called &lsquo;sun-spots.&rsquo; At occasional times they are
+almost entirely absent from the solar disc. It has been observed that
+they occupy a zone extending from 10° to 35° north and south of the
+solar equator, but are not found in the equatorial and polar regions of
+the Sun. A sun-spot is usually described as consisting of an irregular
+dark central portion, called the <i>umbra</i>; surrounding it is an edging or
+fringe less dark, consisting of filaments radiating inwards called the
+<i>penumbra</i>. Within the umbra there is sometimes seen a still darker
+spot, called the <i>nucleus</i>. The umbra is generally uniformly dark, but
+at times<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> filmy luminous clouds have been observed floating over it. The
+nucleus is believed to be the orifice of a tubular depression in the
+floor of the umbra, prolonged downwards to an unknown depth. The
+penumbra is brightest at its inner edge, where the filaments present a
+marked contrast when compared with the dark cavity of the umbra which
+they surround and overhang. Sometimes lengthened processes unite with
+those of the opposite side and form bands and &lsquo;bridges&rsquo; across the
+umbra. The darkest portion of the penumbra is its external edge, which
+stands out conspicuously against the adjoining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> bright surface of the
+Sun. One penumbra will sometimes enclose several umbræ whilst the nuclei
+may be entirely wanting.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="FIG6" id="FIG6"></a>
+<a href="images/fig6.jpg">
+<img src="images/fig6.jpg" width="400"
+alt="FIG. 6.&mdash;A Sun-spot magnified."
+title="FIG. 6.&mdash;A Sun-spot magnified." /></a>
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 6.&mdash;A Sun-spot magnified.<br />
+(<i>Janssen.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sun-spots usually appear in groups; large isolated spots are of rare
+occurrence, and are generally accompanied by several smaller ones of
+less perfect formation. The exact moment of the origin of a sun-spot
+cannot be ascertained, because it arises from an imperceptible point; it
+grows very rapidly, and often attains its full size in a day.</p>
+
+<p>Prior to its appearance there is an unusual disturbance of the solar
+surface over the site of the spot: luminous ridges, called <i>faculæ</i>, and
+dark &lsquo;pores&rsquo; become conspicuous, between which greyish patches appear,
+that seem to lie underneath a thin layer of the photosphere; this is
+rapidly dispelled and a fully formed spot comes into view. When a
+sun-spot has completed its period of existence, the photospheric matter
+overwhelms the penumbra, and rushes into the umbra, which it
+obliterates, causing the spot to disappear. The duration of sun-spots is
+subject to considerable variation; some last for weeks or months, and
+others for a few days or hours. A spot when once fully formed maintains
+its shape, which is usually rounded, until the period of its breaking
+up. Spots of long duration rotate with the Sun. Those which become
+visible at the edge of the Sun&#8217;s limb have been observed to travel
+across his disc in less than a fortnight, disappearing at the margin of
+the opposite limb; afterwards, if sufficiently long-lived, they have
+reappeared in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> twelve or thirteen days on the surface of the orb where
+first observed. It was by observation of the spots that the period of
+the axial rotation of the Sun became known.</p>
+
+<p>Sun-spots vary very much in size&mdash;some are only a few hundred miles in
+width, whilst others have a diameter of 40,000 or 50,000 miles or
+upwards. In some instances the umbra alone has a breadth of 20,000 or
+30,000 miles&mdash;three times the extent of the diameter of the Earth. Spots
+of this size are visible to the naked eye when the Sun is partially
+obscured by fog, or when his brilliancy is diminished by vapours near
+the horizon. A year seldom passes without the occurrence of several of
+such spots being recorded. The largest sun-spot ever observed had a
+diameter of about 150,000 miles. A group of spots, including their
+penumbræ, will occupy an area of many millions of square miles.</p>
+
+<p>By long observation it has been ascertained that sun-spots increase and
+diminish in number with periodical regularity, and that a maximum
+sun-spot period occurs at the end of each eleven years. When spots are
+numerous on the Sun&#8217;s disc there is great disturbance of the solar
+surface, accompanied by fierce rushes of intensely heated gases. This
+solar activity is known to influence terrestrial magnetism by causing a
+marked oscillation of the magnetic needle, and giving rise to so-called
+&lsquo;magnetic storms,&rsquo; accompanied by magnificent displays of auroræ, with
+variations in electrical earth-currents. It would therefore appear that
+sun-spots have a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> pronounced effect upon magnetic terrestrial phenomena,
+but how this is produced remains unknown.</p>
+
+<p>Besides sun-spots, there are seen on the solar disc bright flocculent
+streaks or ridges of luminous matter called <i>faculæ</i>; they are found
+over the whole surface of the Sun, but are most numerous near the limb
+and in the immediate vicinity of the spots. They have been compared to
+immense waves&mdash;vast upheavals of photospheric matter, indicative of
+enormous pressure, and often extending in length for many thousands of
+miles.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly all observers have arrived at the conclusion that sun-spots are
+depressions or cavities in the photosphere, but considerable difference
+of opinion exists as to how they are formed. The most commonly accepted
+theory is that they are caused by the pressure of descending masses of
+vapour having a reduced temperature, which absorb the light and prevent
+it reaching us. Our knowledge of the Sun is insufficient to admit of any
+accurate conclusion on this point; though we are able to perceive that
+the surface of the orb is in a state of violent agitation and perpetual
+change, yet his great distance and intense luminosity prevent our
+capability of perceiving the ultimate minuter details which go to form
+the <i>texture</i> of the solar surface. &lsquo;Bearing in mind that a second of
+arc on the Sun represents 455 miles, it follows that an object 150 miles
+in diameter is about the <i>minimum visible</i> even as a mere mathematical
+point, and that anything that is sufficiently large to give the
+slightest impression of shape and extension<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> of surface must have an
+area of at least a quarter of a million square miles; ordinarily
+speaking, we shall not gather much information about any object that
+covers less than a million.&rsquo;<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Since the British Islands have only an
+area of 120,700 square miles, it is evident that on the surface of the
+Sun there are many phenomena and physical changes occurring which escape
+our observation. Though the changes which occur in the spots and faculæ
+appear to be slow when observed through the telescope, yet in reality
+they are not so. Tremendous storms and cyclones of intensely heated
+gases, which may be compared to the flames arising from a great furnace,
+sweep over different areas of the Sun with a velocity of hundreds of
+miles an hour. Vast ridges and crests of incandescent vapour are
+upheaved by the action of internal heat, which exceeds in intensity the
+temperature at which the most refractory of terrestrial substances can
+be volatilised; and downrushes of the same photospheric matter take
+place after it has parted with some of its stores of thermal energy.
+Sun-spots of considerable magnitude have been observed to grow rapidly
+and then disappear in a very short period of time; occasionally a spot
+is seen to divide into two or more portions, the fragments flying
+asunder with a velocity of not less than 1,000 miles an hour. It is by
+these upheavals and convulsions of the solar atmosphere that the light
+and heat are maintained which illumine and vivify the worlds that
+gravitate round the Sun.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
+During total eclipses of the Sun, several phenomena become visible which
+have enabled astronomers to gain some further knowledge of the nature of
+the solar appendages. The most important of these is the <span class="smcap">Chromosphere</span>,
+which consists of layers of incandescent gases that envelop the
+photosphere and completely surround the Sun. Its average depth is from
+5,000 to 6,000 miles, and when seen during an eclipse is of a beautiful
+rose colour, resembling a sheet of flame. As seen in profile at the edge
+of the Sun&#8217;s disc, it presents an irregular serrated appearance, an
+effect created by the protuberance of luminous ridges and
+processes&mdash;masses of flame which arise from over its entire surface. The
+chromosphere consists chiefly of glowing hydrogen, and an element called
+<i>helium</i>, which has been recently discovered in a terrestrial substance
+called cleveite; there are also present the vapours of iron, calcium,
+cerium, titanium, barium, and magnesium. From the surface of this ocean
+of fire, jets and pointed spires of flaming hydrogen shoot up with
+amazing velocity, and attain an altitude of ten, twenty, fifty, and even
+one hundred thousand miles in a very short period of time. They are,
+however, of an evanescent nature, change rapidly in form and appearance,
+and often in the course of an hour or two die down so as not to be
+recognisable. These <i>prominences</i>, as they are called, have been divided
+into two classes. Some are in masses that float like clouds in the
+atmosphere, which they resemble in form and appearance; they are
+usually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> attached to the chromosphere by a single stem, or by slender
+columns; occasionally they are entirely free. These are called
+<i>quiescent</i> prominences; they consist of clouds of hydrogen, and are of
+more lasting duration than the other variety, called <i>eruptive</i> or
+metallic prominences. The latter are usually found in the vicinity of
+sun-spots, and, besides hydrogen, contain the vapours of various metals.
+They are of different forms, and present the appearance of filaments,
+spikes, and jets of liquid fire; others are pyramidal, convoluted, and
+parabolic.</p>
+
+<p>These outbursts, bending over like the jets from a fountain, and
+descending in graceful curves of flame, ascend from the surface of the
+chromosphere with a velocity often exceeding 100 miles in a second, and
+frequently reach an enormous height, but are of transient duration. They
+are closely connected with sun-spots, and are evidence of the tremendous
+forces that are in action on the surface of the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>The <span class="smcap">Corona</span> is an aureole of light which is seen to surround the Sun
+during a total eclipse. It is an impressive and beautiful phenomenon,
+and is only visible when the Sun is concealed behind the dark body of
+the Moon. Professor Young gives the following graphic description of the
+corona: &lsquo;From behind it [the Moon] stream out on all sides radiant
+filaments, beams, and sheets of pearly light, which reach to a distance
+sometimes of several degrees from the solar surface, forming an
+irregular stellate halo, with the black globe of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> Moon in its
+apparent centre. The portion nearest the Sun is of dazzling brightness,
+but still less brilliant than the prominences, which blaze through it
+like carbuncles. Generally this inner corona has a pretty uniform
+height, forming a ring three or four minutes of arc in width, separated
+by a somewhat definite outline from the outer corona, which reaches to a
+much greater distance and is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> far more irregular in form. Usually there
+are several &ldquo;rifts,&rdquo; as they have been called, like narrow beams of
+darkness, extending from the very edge of the Sun to the outer night,
+and much resembling the cloud shadows which radiate from the Sun before
+a thundershower. But the edges of these rifts are frequently curved,
+showing them to be something else than real shadows. Sometimes there are
+narrow bright streamers as long as the rifts, or longer. These are often
+inclined, or occasionally even nearly tangential to the solar surface,
+and frequently are curved. On the whole, the corona is usually less
+extensive and brilliant over the solar poles, and there is a
+recognisable tendency to accumulation above the middle latitudes, or
+spot zones; so that, speaking roughly, the corona shows a disposition to
+assume the form of a quadrilateral or four-rayed star, though in almost
+every individual case this form is greatly modified by abnormal
+streamers at some point or other.&rsquo; The corona surrounds the Sun and its
+other envelopes to a depth of many thousands of miles. It consists of
+various elements which exist in a condition of extreme tenuity;
+hydrogen, helium, and a substance called coronium appear to predominate,
+whilst finely divided shining particles of matter and electrical
+discharges resembling those of an aurora assist in its illumination.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="FIG7" id="FIG7"></a>
+<a href="images/fig7.jpg">
+<img src="images/fig7.jpg" width="400"
+alt="FIG. 7.&mdash;The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883."
+title="FIG. 7.&mdash;The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883." /></a>
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 7.&mdash;The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>We possess no knowledge of the physical structure of the interior of the
+Sun, nor have we any terrestrial analogy to guide us as to how matter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>
+would behave when subjected to such conditions of extreme temperature
+and pressure as exist in the interior of the orb. Yet we are justified
+in concluding that the Sun is mainly a gaseous sphere which is slowly
+contracting, and that the energy expended in this process is being
+transformed into heat so extreme as to render the orb a great fountain
+of light.</p>
+
+<p>Milton in his poem makes more frequent allusion to the Sun than to any
+of the other orbs of the firmament, and, in all his references to the
+great luminary, describes him in a manner worthy of his unrivalled
+splendour, and of his supreme importance in the system which he upholds
+and governs. After having alighted on Mount Niphates, Satan is described
+as looking</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sometimes towards Heaven and the full-blazing Sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which now sat high in his meridian tower.&mdash;iv. 29-30.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He then addresses him thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">O thou that with surpassing glory crowned,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Look&#8217;st from thy sole dominion like the god<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of this new World&mdash;at whose sight all the stars<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hide their diminished heads&mdash;to thee I call,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But with no friendly voice, and add thy name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That bring to my remembrance from what state<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere.&mdash;iv. 32-39.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>On another occasion:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The golden Sun in splendour likest Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Allured his eye.&mdash;iii. 572-73.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In describing the different periods of the day, Milton seldom fails to
+associate the Sun with these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> times, and rightly so, since they are
+brought about by the apparent diurnal journey of the orb across the
+heavens. Commencing with morning, he says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i24">Meanwhile,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To re-salute the world with sacred light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Leucothea waked, and with fresh dews embalmed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Earth.&mdash;xi. 133-36.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Soon as they forth were come to open sight<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of day-spring, and the Sun&mdash;who, scarce up-risen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With wheels yet hovering o&#8217;er the ocean-brim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shot parallel to the Earth his dewy ray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Discovering in wide landskip all the east<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Paradise and Eden&#8217;s happy plains.&mdash;v. 138-43<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">or some renowned metropolis<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which now the rising Sun gilds with his beams.&mdash;iii. 549-51.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i14">while now the mounted Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shot down direct his fervid rays, to warm<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Earth&#8217;s inmost womb.&mdash;v. 300-302.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i24">for scarce the Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hath finished half his journey, and scarce begins<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His other half in the great zone of Heaven.&mdash;v. 558-60.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">To sit and taste, till this meridian heat<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be over, and the Sun more cool decline.&mdash;v. 369-70.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And the great Light of Day yet wants to run<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Much of his race, though steep. Suspense in Heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Held by thy voice, thy potent voice he hears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And longer will delay, to hear thee tell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His generation, and the rising birth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Nature from the unapparent deep.&mdash;vii. 98-103.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The declining day and approach of evening are described as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Meanwhile in utmost longitude, where Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With Earth and Ocean meets, the setting Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Slowly descended, and with right aspect<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Against the eastern gate of Paradise<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Levelled his evening rays.&mdash;iv. 539-43.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">the Sun now fallen<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beneath the Azores; whether the Prime Orb,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Incredible how swift, had thither rolled<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Diurnal, or this less volubil Earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By shorter flight to the east, had left him there<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Arraying with reflected purple and gold<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The clouds that on his western throne attend.&mdash;iv. 591-97.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i24">the parting Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beyond the Earth&#8217;s green Cape and verdant Isles<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hesperian sets, my signal to depart.&mdash;viii. 630-32.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Now was the Sun in western cadence low<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From noon, and gentle airs due at their hour<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To fan the Earth now waked, and usher in<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The evening cool.&mdash;x. 92-95.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i28">for the Sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Declined, was hasting now with prone career<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To the Ocean Isles, and in the ascending scale<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Heaven the stars that usher evening rose.&mdash;iv. 352-55.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In the combat between Michael and Satan, which ended in the overthrow of
+the rebel angels, Milton, in his description of their armour, says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i14">two broad suns their shields<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Blazed opposite.&mdash;vi. 305-306,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and in describing the faded splendour of the ruined Archangel, the poet
+compares him to the Sun when seen under conditions which temporarily
+deprive him of his dazzling brilliancy and glory:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>
+<span class="i16">as when the Sun new-risen<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Looks through the horizontal misty air<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shorn of his beams, or, from behind the Moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On half the nations, and with fear of change<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Perplexes monarchs.&mdash;i. 594-99.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This passage affords us an example of the sublimity of Milton&#8217;s
+imagination and of his skill in adapting the grandest phenomena in
+Nature to the illustration of his subject.</p>
+
+<h3>THE MOON</h3>
+
+<p>The Moon is the Earth&#8217;s satellite, and next to the Sun is the most
+important of the celestial orbs so far as its relations with our globe
+are concerned. Besides affording us light by night, the Moon is the
+principal cause of the ebb and flow of the tide&mdash;a phenomenon of much
+importance to navigators. The Moon is almost a perfect sphere, and is
+2,160 miles in diameter. The form of its orbit is that of an ellipse
+with the Earth in the lower focus. It revolves round its primary in 27
+days 7 hours, at a mean distance of 237,000 miles, and with a velocity
+of 2,273 miles an hour. Its equatorial velocity of rotation is 10 miles
+an hour. The density of the Moon is 3·57 that of water, or 0·63 that of
+the Earth; eighty globes, each of the weight of the Moon, would be
+required to counterbalance the weight of the Earth, and fifty globes of
+a similar size to equal it in dimensions. The orb rotates on its axis in
+the same period of time in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> which it accomplishes a revolution of its
+orbit; consequently the same illumined surface of the Moon is always
+directed towards the Earth. To the naked eye the Moon appears as large
+as the Sun, and it very rapidly changes its form and position in the
+sky. Its motions, which are of a very complex character, have been for
+many ages the subject of investigation by mathematicians and
+astronomers, but their difficulties may now be regarded as having been
+finally overcome.</p>
+
+<p>The phases of the Moon are always interesting and very beautiful. The
+orb is first seen in the west, after sunset, as a delicate slender
+crescent of pale light; each night it increases in size, whilst it
+travels eastward, until it attains the figure of a half moon; still
+growing larger as it pursues its course, it finally becomes a full
+resplendent globe, rising about the time that the Sun sets and situated
+directly opposite to him. Then, in a reverse manner, after full moon, it
+goes through the same phases, until, as a slender crescent, it becomes
+invisible in the solar rays; afterwards to re-appear in a few days, and,
+in its monthly round, to undergo the same cycle of changes. The phases
+of the Moon depend upon the changing position of the orb with regard to
+the Sun. The Moon shines by reflected light derived from the Sun, and as
+one half of its surface is always illumined and the other half totally
+dark, the crescent increases or diminishes when, by the Moon&#8217;s change of
+position, we see more or less of the bright side. Visible at first as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
+slender crescent near the setting Sun, the angular distance from the orb
+and the width of the crescent increase daily, until, at the expiration
+of seven days, the Moon is distant one quarter of the circumference of
+the heavens from the Sun. The Moon is then a semi-circle, or in
+quadrature. At the end of other seven days, the distance of the Moon
+from the Sun is at its greatest&mdash;half the circumference of its orbit. It
+is then visible as a circular disc and we behold the orb as full moon.
+The waning Moon, as it gradually decreases, presents the same aspects
+reversed, and, finally, its slender crescent disappears in the Sun&#8217;s
+rays. The convex edge of the crescent is always turned towards the Sun.
+The rising of the Moon in the east and its setting in the west is an
+effect due to the diurnal rotation of the Earth on her axis, but the orb
+can be perceived to have two motions besides: one from west to east,
+which carries it round the heavens in 29·53 days, and another from north
+to south. The west to east motion is steady and continuous, but, owing
+to the Sun&#8217;s attractive force, the Moon is made to swerve from its path,
+giving rise to irregularities of its motion called <span class="smcap lowercase">PERTURBATIONS</span>. The
+most important of these is the <i>annual equation</i>, discovered by Tycho
+Brahé&mdash;a yearly effect produced by the Sun&#8217;s disturbing influence as the
+Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit; another irregularity,
+called the <i>evection</i>, is a change in the eccentricity of the lunar
+orbit, by which the mean longitude of the Moon is increased or
+diminished.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+<i>Elliptic inequality</i>, <i>parallactic inequality</i>, the
+<i>variation</i>, and <i>secular acceleration</i>, are other perturbations of the
+lunar motion, which depend directly or indirectly on the attractive
+influence of the Sun and the motion of the Earth in her orbit.</p>
+
+<p>As the plane of the Moon&#8217;s orbit is inclined at an angle of rather more
+than 5° to the ecliptic, it follows that the orb, in its journey round
+the Earth, intersects this great circle at two points called the
+&lsquo;Nodes.&rsquo; When crossing the ecliptic from south to north the Moon is in
+its ascending node, and when crossing from north to south in its
+descending node. In December the Moon reaches the most northern point of
+its course, and in June the southernmost. Consequently we have during
+the winter nights the greatest amount of moonlight, and in summer the
+least. In the evenings the moonlight is least in March and greatest in
+September, when we have what is called the Harvest Moon.</p>
+
+<p>The telescopic appearance of the Moon is very interesting and beautiful,
+especially if the orb is observed when waxing and waning. As no aqueous
+vapour or cloud obscures the lunar surface, all its details can be
+perceived with great clearness and distinctness. Indeed, the topography
+of the Moon is better known than that of the Earth, for the whole of its
+surface has been mapped and delineated with great accuracy and
+precision. The Moon is in no sense a duplicate of its primary, and no
+analogy exists between the Earth and her satellite.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> Evidence is wanting
+of the existence of an atmosphere surrounding the Moon; no clouds or
+exhalations can be perceived, and no water is believed to exist on the
+lunar surface. Consequently there are no oceans, seas, rivers, or lakes;
+no fertile plains or forest-clad mountains, such as are found upon the
+Earth. Indeed, all the conditions essential for the support and
+maintenance of organic life by which we are surrounded appear to be
+nonexistent on the Moon. Our satellite has no seasons; its axial
+rotation is so slow that one lunar day is equal in length to fourteen of
+our days; this period of sunshine is succeeded by a night of similar
+duration. The alternation of such lengthened days and nights subjects
+the lunar surface to great extremes of heat and cold.</p>
+
+<p>When viewed with a telescope, the surface of the Moon is perceived to
+consist of lofty mountain chains with rugged peaks, numerous extinct
+volcanoes called crater mountains, hills, clefts, chasms, valleys, and
+level plains&mdash;a region of desolation, presenting to our gaze the
+shattered and upturned fragments of the Moon&#8217;s crust, convulsed by
+forces of a volcanic nature which have long since expended their
+energies and died out. The mountain ranges on the Moon resemble those of
+the Earth, but they have a more rugged outline, and their peaks are more
+precipitous, some of them rising to a height of 20,000 feet. They are
+called the Lunar Alps, Apennines, and Cordilleras, and embrace every
+variety of hill, cliff, mound, and ridge of comparatively low
+elevation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> The plains are large level areas, which are situated on
+various parts of the lunar surface; they are of a darker hue than the
+mountainous regions by which they are surrounded, and were at one time
+believed to be seas. They are analogous to the prairies, steppes, and
+deserts of the Earth.</p>
+
+<p><i>Valleys.</i>&mdash;Some of these are of spacious dimensions; others are narrow,
+and contract into gorges and chasms. Clefts or rills are long cracks or
+fissures of considerable depth, which extend sometimes for hundreds of
+miles across the various strata of which the Moon&#8217;s crust is composed.</p>
+
+<p>The characteristic features of the Moon&#8217;s surface are the crater
+mountains: they are very numerous on certain portions of the lunar disc,
+and give the Moon the freckled appearance which it presents in the
+telescope, and which Galileo likened to the eyes in the feathers of a
+peacock&#8217;s tail. They are believed to be of volcanic origin, and have
+been classified as follows: &lsquo;Walled plains, mountain rings, ring plains,
+crater plains, craters, craterlets, and crater cones.&rsquo; Upwards of 13,000
+of these mountains have been enumerated, and 1,000 are known to have a
+diameter exceeding nine miles. Walled plains consist of circular areas
+which have a width varying from 150 miles to a few hundred yards. They
+are enclosed by rocky ramparts, whilst the centre is occupied by an
+elevated peak. The depth of these formations, which are often far below
+the level of the Moon&#8217;s surface, ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 feet.
+Mountain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> rings, ring plains, and crater plains resemble those already
+described, but are on a smaller scale; the floors of the larger ones are
+frequently occupied by craters and craterlets. The latter exist in large
+numbers, and some portions of the Moon&#8217;s surface appear honeycombed with
+them, the smaller craters resting on the sides of larger ones and
+occupying the bottoms of the more extensive areas. There is no kind of
+formation on the Earth&#8217;s surface that can be compared with these crater
+mountains, which indicate that the Moon was at one time a fiery globe
+convulsed by internal forces which found an outlet in the numerous
+volcanoes scattered over her surface.</p>
+
+<p>The most remarkable of these volcanic mountains have been named after
+distinguished men. (1) Copernicus is one of the most imposing; its
+crater is 56 miles in diameter, and situated at its centre is a mountain
+with six peaks 2,400 feet in height. The ring by which it is surrounded
+rises 11,000 feet above the floor of the crater, and consists of
+terraces believed to have been created by the partial congelation and
+periodic subsidence of a lake of molten lava which occupied the enclosed
+area.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Tycho is one of the most magnificent and perfect of lunar volcanoes,
+and is also remarkable as being a centre from which, when the Moon is
+full, there radiates a number of bright streaks which extend across the
+lunar surface, over mountain and valley, through ring and crater, for
+many hundreds of miles. Their nature is unknown, and nothing resembling
+them is found on the Earth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> Tycho has a diameter of 50 miles and a
+depth of 17,000 feet. The peak which rises from the floor of the crater
+attains a height of 6,000 feet, and the rampart consists of a series of
+terraces which give variety to the appearance of the inner wall. The
+surface of the Moon round Tycho is honeycombed with small volcanoes.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Clavius is one of the most extensive of the walled plains; it has a
+diameter of 142 miles and an area of 16,500 square miles. The rocky
+annulus which surrounds it is very lofty and precipitous, and at one
+point reaches a height of 17,300 feet. Upwards of 90 craters have been
+counted within this space, one of the peaks attaining to an elevation of
+24,000 feet above the level floor of the plain. It is believed that the
+lowest depths of this wild and precipitous region are never penetrated
+by sunlight, they are so overshadowed by towering crag and fell which
+intercept the solar rays; and, as there is no atmosphere to cause
+reflection, they are consequently enveloped in perpetual darkness.</p>
+
+<p>(4) Plato has a diameter of about 60 miles and an area of 2,700 square
+miles; its central peak rises to a height of 7,300 feet. It has an
+irregular rampart which is broken up into terraces averaging about 4,000
+feet high; three cones, each with an elevation of from 7,000 to 9,000
+feet, rest on its western border.</p>
+
+<p>(5) Theophilus is the deepest of the visible craters on the Moon. It has
+a diameter of 64 miles, and the inner edge of the ring rises<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> from the
+level floor to a height ranging from 14,000 to 18,000 feet. A group of
+mountains occupies the centre of the area, the highest peak of which
+reaches an elevation of 5,200 feet. Cyrillus and Catharina, two adjacent
+craters, are each about 16,000 feet deep and connected by a wide valley.</p>
+
+<p>(6) Aristarchus is the brightest spot on the Moon, and appears almost
+dazzling in the telescope. The crater has a diameter of 42 miles, the
+centre of which is occupied by a steep mountain. The rampart on the
+western side rises to a height of 7,500 feet, on the east it becomes a
+plateau which connects it with a smaller crater called Herodotus. Bright
+streaks radiate from Aristarchus when there is full moon, and extend for
+a considerable distance over the surface of the orb.</p>
+
+<p>Though the face of the Moon has been carefully scanned for two centuries
+and a half, and selenographers have mapped and delineated her features
+with the utmost accuracy and precision, yet no perceptible change of a
+reliable character has been perceived to occur on any part of the orb.
+The surface of the hemisphere directed towards the Earth appears to be
+an alternation of desert plains, craggy wildernesses, and extinct
+volcanoes&mdash;a region of desolation unoccupied by any living thing, and
+&lsquo;upon which the light of life has never dawned.&rsquo; Owing to the absence of
+an atmosphere, there is neither diffuse daylight nor twilight on the
+Moon. Every portion of the lunar surface not exposed to the Sun&#8217;s rays
+is shrouded in darkness, and black<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> shadows can be observed fringing
+prominences of silvery whiteness. If the Moon were enveloped in an
+atmosphere similar to that which surrounds the Earth, the reflection and
+diffusion of light among the minute particles of watery vapour which
+permeate it would give rise to a gradual transition from light to
+darkness; the lunar surface would be visible when not illumined by the
+direct rays of the Sun, and before sunrise and after sunset, dawn and
+twilight would occur as upon the Earth. But upon the Moon there is no
+dawn, and the darkness of night envelops the orb until the appearance of
+the edge of the Sun&#8217;s disc above the horizon, then his dazzling rays
+illumine the summits and loftiest peaks of the lunar mountains whilst
+yet their sides and bases are wrapped in deep gloom. Since the pace of
+the Sun across the lunar heavens is 28 times slower than it is with us,
+there is continuous sunshine on the Moon for 304 hours, and this long
+day&mdash;equal to about a fortnight of our time&mdash;is succeeded by a night of
+similar duration. As there is no atmosphere overhead to diffuse or
+reflect the light, the Sun shines in a pitch-black sky, and at lunar
+noonday the planets and constellations can be seen displaying a
+brilliancy of greater intensity than can be perceived on Earth during
+the darkest night. Every portion of the Moon&#8217;s surface is bleak, bare,
+and untouched by any softening influences. No gentle gale ever sweeps
+down her valleys or disturbs the dead calm that hangs over this world;
+no cloud ever tempers the fierce<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> glare of the Sun that pours down his
+unmitigated rays from a sky of inky blackness; no refreshing shower ever
+falls upon her arid mountains and plains; no sound ever breaks the
+profound stillness that reigns over this realm of solitude and
+desolation.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="PLATE268" id="PLATE268"></a>
+<a href="images/plate268.jpg">
+<img src="images/plate268.jpg" width="400"
+alt="A PORTION OF THE MOON&#8217;S SURFACE"
+title="A PORTION OF THE MOON&#8217;S SURFACE" /></a>
+<span class="caption">A PORTION OF THE MOON&#8217;S SURFACE</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>As might be expected, Milton makes frequent allusion to the Moon in
+&lsquo;Paradise Lost,&rsquo; and does not fail to set forth the distinctive charms
+associated with the unrivalled queen of the firmament. The majority of
+poets would most likely regard a description of evening as incomplete
+without an allusion to the Moon. Milton has adhered to this sentiment,
+as may be perceived in the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i24">till the Moon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rising in clouded majesty, at length<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And o&#8217;er the dark her silver mantle threw.&mdash;iv. 606-609.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i28">now reigns<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Full-orbed the Moon, and with more pleasing light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shadowy sets off the face of things.&mdash;v. 41-43.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The association of the Moon with the nocturnal revels and dances of
+elves and fairies is felicitously expressed in the following passage:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">or faëry elves,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whose midnight revels, by a forest side<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or dreams he sees, while overhead the Moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sits arbitress, and nearer to the Earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wheels her pale course.&mdash;i. 781-86.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In contrast with this, we have Milton&#8217;s description<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> of the Moon when
+affected by the demoniacal practices of the &lsquo;night-hag&rsquo; who was believed
+to destroy infants for the sake of drinking their blood, and applying
+their mangled limbs to the purposes of incantation. The legend is of
+Scandinavian origin and the locality Lapland:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Nor uglier follow the night-hag, when called<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In secret, riding through the air she comes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lured with the smell of infant blood, to dance<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With Lapland witches, while the labouring Moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Eclipses at their charms.&mdash;ii. 662-66.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In his description of the massive shield carried by Satan, the poet
+compares it with the full moon:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">his ponderous shield<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Behind him cast. The broad circumference<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hung on his shoulders like the Moon.&mdash;i. 284-87.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The phases displayed by the Moon in her monthly journey round the Earth,
+and which lend a variety of charm to the appearances presented by the
+orb, are poetically described by Milton in the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i14">but there the neighbouring Moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(So call that opposite fair star) her aid<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Timely interposes, and her monthly round<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Still ending, still renewing, through mid-Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With borrowed light her countenance triform<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hence fills and empties, to enlighten the Earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And in her pale dominion checks the night.&mdash;iii. 726-32.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It is interesting to observe how aptly Milton describes the subdued
+illumination of the Moon&#8217;s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> reflected light, as compared with the
+brilliant radiance of the blazing Sun, and how the distinguishing glory
+peculiar to each orb is appropriately set forth in the various passages
+in which they are described; their contrasted splendour enhancing rather
+than detracting from the grandeur and beauty belonging to each.</p>
+
+<h3>THE PLANET EARTH<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></h3>
+
+<p>No lovelier planet circles round the Sun than the planet Earth, with her
+oceans and continents, her mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, and
+plains; surrounded by heaven&#8217;s azure, radiant with the sunlight of her
+day and adorned by night with countless sparkling points of gold. This
+beautiful world, the abode of <span class="smcap lowercase">MAN</span>, is of paramount importance to us, and
+is the only part of the universe of which we have any direct knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>The Earth may be regarded as one of the Sun&#8217;s numerous family, and is
+situated third in order from the refulgent orb, round which it revolves
+in an elliptical orbit at a mean distance of 92,800,000 miles. The Earth
+is nearest to the Sun at the end of December, and furthest away at the
+beginning of July; the difference between those distances is 3,250,000
+miles&mdash;the extent of the eccentricity of the planet&#8217;s orbit. The figure
+of the Earth is that of an oblate spheroid; it is slightly flattened at
+the poles and bulges at the equator. Its polar or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> shortest diameter is
+7,899 miles, its equatorial diameter is 7,926 miles&mdash;greater than the
+other by 27 miles. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is
+24,899 miles, and the total area of its surface is 197,000,000 square
+miles. Its mean density is 5&frac12; times greater than that of water.</p>
+
+<p>The two principal motions performed by the Earth are: (1) Rotation on
+its axis; (2) its annual revolution round the Sun. The Earth always
+rotates in the same manner, and in the same direction, from west to
+east. As the axis of rotation corresponds with the shortest diameter of
+the planet, it affords strong evidence that the Earth assumed its
+present shape whilst rapidly rotating round its axis when in a fluid or
+plastic condition. This would accord with the nebular hypothesis. The
+ends of the Earth&#8217;s axis are called the poles of the Earth; one is the
+north, the other the south pole. The north pole is directed towards a
+star in the Lesser Bear called the Pole Star. The south pole is directed
+to a corresponding opposite part of the heavens. The Earth&#8217;s axis is
+inclined 63° 33' to the plane of the ecliptic, and is always directed to
+the same point in the heavens. The Earth accomplishes a revolution on
+its axis in 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds mean solar time, which is the
+length of the sidereal day. This rate of rotation is invariable. At the
+equator, where the circumference of the globe exceeds 24,000 miles, the
+velocity of a point on its surface is upwards of 1,000 miles an hour,
+but, as the poles are approached, the tangential<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> velocity diminishes,
+and at those points it is entirely absent. The Earth accomplishes a
+revolution of her orbit in 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes; in her journey
+round the Sun she travels a circuit of 580,000,000 miles at an average
+pace of 66,000 miles an hour. The Earth has other slight motions called
+<i>perturbations</i>, which are produced by the gravitational attraction of
+other members of the solar system. The most important of these is
+Precession of the Equinoxes, which is caused by the attraction of the
+Sun, Moon, and planets, on the protuberant equatorial region of the
+globe. This attraction has a tendency to turn the Earth&#8217;s axis at right
+angles to her orbit, but it only results in the slow rotation of the
+pole of the equator round that of the ecliptic, which is occurring at
+the rate of 1° in 70 years, and will require a period of 25,868 years to
+complete an entire revolution of the heavens.</p>
+
+<p>The spot on Earth round which is centred the chief interest in Milton&#8217;s
+poem is Paradise, which was situated in the east of Eden, a district of
+Central Asia. It was here where God ordained that man should first
+dwell&mdash;a place created for his enjoyment and delight. Satan, after his
+soliloquy on Mount Niphates, directs his way to Paradise, and arrives
+first in Eden, where he beholds from a distance the Happy Garden&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">So on he fares, and to the border comes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Eden, where delicious Paradise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As with a rural mound, the champain head<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Access denied; and overhead upgrew<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Insuperable highth of loftiest shade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A sylvan scene, and, as the ranks ascend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shade above shade, a woody theatre<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of stateliest view. Yet higher than their tops<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The verdurous wall of Paradise up-sprung;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which to our general sire gave prospect large<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Into his nether empire neighbouring round.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And higher than that wall, a circling row<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of goodliest trees, loaden with fairest fruit,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Appeared, with gay enamelled colours mixed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On which the Sun more glad impressed his beams<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Than in fair evening cloud, or humid bow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When God hath showered the Earth: so lovely seemed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That landskip. And of pure now purer air<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Meets his approach, and to the heart inspires<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Vernal delight and joy, able to drive<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All sadness but despair. Now gentle gales,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Those balmy spoils.&mdash;iv. 131-59.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Satan, having gained admission to the Garden by overleaping the tangled
+thicket of shrubs and bushes which formed an impenetrable barrier and
+prevented any access to the enclosure within, he flew up on to the Tree
+of Life&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Beneath him, with new wonder, now he views,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To all delight of human sense exposed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In narrow room Nature&#8217;s whole wealth; yea, more!&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Heaven on Earth: for blissful Paradise<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of God the garden was, by Him in the east<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Eden planted, Eden stretched her line<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From Auran eastward to the royal towers<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Or where the sons of Eden long before<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dwelt in Telassar. In this pleasant soil<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His far more pleasant garden God ordained.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Out of the fertile ground he caused to grow<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All trees of noblest kind for sight, smell, taste;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And all amid them stood the Tree of Life,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of vegetable gold; and next to life,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our death, the Tree of Knowledge, grew fast by&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Knowledge of good, bought dear by knowing ill.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Southward through Eden went a river large,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor changed his course, but through the shaggy hill<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Passed underneath ingulfed; for God had thrown<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That mountain, as his garden mould, high raised<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Upon the rapid current, which, through veins<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of porous earth with kindly thirst up-drawn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rose a fresh fountain, and with many a rill<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Watered the garden; thence united fell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Down the steep glade, and met the nether flood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which from his darksome passage now appears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And now, divided into four main streams,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Runs diverse, wandering many a famous realm<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And country whereof here needs no account;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But rather to tell how, if Art could tell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How, from that sapphire fount the crisped brooks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Boiling on orient-pearl and sands of gold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With mazy error under pendent shades<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ran nectar, visiting each plant, and fed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice Art<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both where the morning Sun first warmly smote<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The open field, and where the unpierced shade<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Imbrowned the noontide bowers.&mdash;iv. 205-46.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Milton&#8217;s description of Paradise is not less remarkable in its way than
+the lurid scenes depicted by him in Pandemonium. The versatility of his
+poetic genius is nowhere more apparent than in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> charming pastoral
+verse contained in this part of his poem. The poet has lavished the
+whole wealth of his luxuriant imagination in his description of Eden and
+blissful Paradise with its &lsquo;vernal airs&rsquo; and &lsquo;gentle gales,&rsquo; its verdant
+meads, and murmuring streams, &lsquo;rolling on orient-pearl and sands of
+gold;&rsquo; its stately trees laden with blossom and fruit; its spicy groves
+and shady bowers, over which there breathed the eternal Spring.</p>
+
+<p>In Book IX. Satan expresses himself in an eloquent apostrophe to the
+primitive Earth, over which he previously wandered for seven days&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">O Earth, how like to Heaven, if not preferred<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">More justly, seat worthier of gods, as built<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With second thoughts, reforming what was old!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For what God, after better, worse would build?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Terrestrial Heaven, danced round by other Heavens,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That shine, yet bear their bright officious lamps,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Light above light, for thee alone, as seems,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In thee concentring all their precious beams<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of sacred influence! As God in Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is centre, yet extends to all, so thou<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Centring receiv&#8217;st from all those orbs; in thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not in themselves, all their known virtue appears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Productive in herb, plant, and nobler birth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of creatures animate with gradual life<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in Man,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With what delight I could have walked thee round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If I could joy in aught&mdash;sweet interchange<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now land, now sea, and shores with forest crowned,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rocks, dens, and caves.&mdash;ix. 99-118.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Though it is impossible to regard the Earth as possessing the importance
+ascribed to it by the ancient Ptolemaists; nevertheless, our globe is a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>
+great and mighty world, and appears to be one of the most favourably
+situated of all the planets, being neither near the Sun nor yet very far
+distant from the orb; and although, when compared with the universe, it
+is no more than a leaf on a tree in the midst of a vast forest; still,
+it is not the least important among other circling worlds, and
+unfailingly fulfils the part allotted to it in the great scheme of
+creation.</p>
+
+<h3>THE PLANET HESPERUS</h3>
+
+<p>This is the beautiful morning and evening star, the peerless planet that
+ushers in the twilight and the dawn, the harbinger of day and unrivalled
+queen of the evening. Venus, called after the Roman goddess of Love, and
+also identified with the Greek Aphrodite of ideal beauty, is the name by
+which the planet is popularly known; but Milton does not so designate
+it, and the name &lsquo;Venus&rsquo; is not found in &lsquo;Paradise Lost.&rsquo; The ancients
+called it Lucifer and Phosphor when it shone as a morning star before
+sunrise, and Hesperus and Vesper when it became visible after sunset. It
+is the most lustrous of all the planets, and at times its brilliancy is
+so marked as to throw a distinct shadow at night.</p>
+
+<p>Venus is the second planet in order from the Sun. Its orbit lies between
+that of Mercury and the Earth, and in form approaches nearer to a circle
+than that of any of the other planets.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> It travels round the Sun in
+224·7 days, at a mean distance of 67,000,000 miles, and with an average
+velocity of 80,000 miles an hour. Its period of rotation is unknown. By
+the observation of dusky spots on its surface, it has been surmised that
+the planet completes a revolution on its axis in 23&frac14; hours; but other
+observers doubt this and are inclined to believe that it always presents
+the same face to the Sun. When at inferior conjunction Venus approaches
+nearer to the Earth than any other planet, its distance then being
+27,000,000 miles. Its greatest elongation varies from 45° to 47° 12'; it
+therefore can never be much more than three hours above the horizon
+before sunrise, or after sunset. Venus is a morning star when passing
+from inferior to superior conjunction, and during the other half of its
+synodical period it is an evening star. The planet attains its greatest
+brilliancy at an elongation 40° west or east of the Sun&mdash;five weeks
+before and after inferior conjunction. It is at these periods, when at
+its greatest brilliancy, that it casts a shadow at night.</p>
+
+<p>Though so pleasing an object to the unaided eye, Venus, when observed
+with the telescope, is often a source of disappointment&mdash;this is on
+account of its dazzling brilliancy, which renders any accurate
+definition of its surface impossible. Sir John Herschel writes: &lsquo;The
+intense lustre of its illuminated part dazzles the sight, and
+exaggerates every imperfection of the telescope; yet we see clearly that
+its surface is not mottled over with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> permanent spots like the Moon; we
+notice in it neither mountains nor shadows, but a uniform brightness, in
+which sometimes we may indeed fancy, or perhaps more than fancy,
+brighter or obscurer portions, but can seldom or never rest fully
+satisfied of the fact.&rsquo; It is believed that the surface of the planet is
+invisible on account of the existence of a cloud-laden atmosphere by
+which it is enveloped, and which may serve as a protection against the
+intense glare of the sunshine and heat poured down by the not
+far-distant Sun. Schröter, a German astronomer, believed that he saw
+lofty mountains on the surface of the planet, but their existence has
+not been confirmed by any other observer. The Sun if viewed from Venus
+would have a diameter nearly half as large again as when seen from the
+Earth; it is therefore probable that the planet is subjected to a much
+higher temperature than what is experienced on our globe.</p>
+
+<p>The phases of Venus are similar to those exhibited by the Moon, and are
+caused by a change in position of the illumined hemisphere of the planet
+with regard to the Earth. At superior conjunction the whole enlightened
+disc of the planet is turned towards the Earth, but is invisible by
+being lost in the Sun&#8217;s rays. Shortly before or after it arrives at this
+point, its form is gibbous, the illumined portion being less than a
+circle but greater than a semi-circle. At its greatest elongation west
+or east of the Sun the planet resembles the Moon in quadrature&mdash;a half
+moon&mdash;and between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> those points and inferior conjunction it is visible
+as a beautiful crescent. It becomes narrower and sharper as it
+approaches inferior conjunction, until it resembles a curved luminous
+thread prior to its disappearance at the conjunction. After having
+passed this point it reappears on the other side of the Sun as the
+morning star.</p>
+
+<p>It would be only natural to imagine that this peerless orb, the most
+beautiful and lustrous of the planets, upon which men have gazed with
+longing admiration, and designated the emblem of &lsquo;all beauty and all
+love,&rsquo; should have impressed Milton&#8217;s poetical imagination with its
+charming appearance, and stimulated the flow of his captivating muse. He
+addresses the orb as</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Fairest of Stars, last in the train of night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If better thou belong not to the dawn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sure pledge of day, that crown&#8217;st the smiling morn<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With thy bright circlet, praise Him in thy sphere<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.&mdash;v. 166-70.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In these lines the poet alludes to Venus as the morning star.</p>
+
+<p>In the other passages in his poem Milton associates the planet sometimes
+with the morning and at other times with the evening&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">His countenance, as the Morning Star that guides<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The starry flock.&mdash;v. 708-709.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Or if the Star of Evening and the Moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Haste to thy audience, Night with her will bring<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Silence, and Sleep listening to thee will watch.&mdash;vii. 104-106.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">And hence the morning planet gilds her horns.&mdash;vii. 366.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Sun was sunk and after him the Star<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Hesperus, whose office is to bring<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Twilight upon the Earth, short arbiter<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Twixt day and night.&mdash;ix. 47-50.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i14">and bid haste the Evening Star<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On his hill top to light the bridal lamp.&mdash;viii. 519-20.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Milton knew of the phases of Venus and was aware that at certain times
+the planet was visible in the telescope as a beautiful crescent. The
+line in which he mentions her as gilding her horns is an allusion to
+this appearance of Venus.</p>
+
+<h3>THE PLEIADES</h3>
+
+<p>The beautiful cluster of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters has been regarded
+with hallowed veneration from time immemorial. The happy influences
+believed to be shed down upon the Earth by those stars and their close
+association with human destinies have rendered them objects of almost
+sacred interest among the different races of mankind. In every region of
+the globe and in every clime, among civilised nations and savage
+fetish-worshipping tribes, the same benign influences were ascribed to
+the stars which form this interesting group.</p>
+
+<p>In Greek mythology they were known as the seven daughters of Atlas and
+Pleione. Different versions are given of their fate. By some writers it
+is said they died from grief in consequence of the death of their
+sisters, the Hyades, or on account of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> the fate of their father, who,
+for treason, was condemned by Zeus to bear on his head and hands the
+vault of heaven, on the mountains of north-west Africa which bear his
+name. According to others they were the companions of Diana, and, in
+order to escape from Orion, by whom they were pursued, the gods
+translated them to the sky.</p>
+
+<p>All writers agree in saying that after their death or translation they
+were transformed into stars. Their names are Alcyone, Electra, Maia,
+Merope, Sterope, Taygeta, and Celaeno. The seventh Atlantid is said to
+be the &lsquo;lost Pleiad,&rsquo; but it can be perceived without difficulty by a
+person possessing good eyesight. In the book of Job there is a beautiful
+allusion to the Pleiades (chap. xxxviii.) when God speaks out of the
+whirlwind and asks the patriarch to answer Him&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Admiral Smyth says that this noble passage is more correctly rendered as
+follows:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Canst thou bind the delightful teemings of Cheemah?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or the contractions of Chesil canst thou open?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Canst thou draw forth Mazzaroth in his season<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or Ayeesh and his sons canst thou guide?<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He writes: &lsquo;In this very early description of the cardinal
+constellations, <i>Cheemah</i> denotes Taurus with the Pleiades; <i>Chesil</i> is
+Scorpio; Mazzaroth is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> Sirius in &ldquo;the chambers of the south;&rdquo; and Ayeesh
+the Greater Bear, the Hebrew word signifying a <i>bier</i>, which was shaped
+by the four well-known bright stars, while the three forming the tail
+were considered as children attending a funeral.&rsquo; The Greeks at an early
+period were attracted by this cluster of stars, and Hesiod alludes to
+them in his writings. One passage converted into rhyme reads as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There is a time when forty days they lie,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And forty nights, conceal&#8217;d from human eye;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But in the course of the revolving year,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the swain sharps the scythe, again appear.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Their heliacal rising was considered a favourable time for setting out
+on a voyage, and their midnight culmination, which occurred shortly
+after the middle of November, was celebrated by some nations with
+festivals and public ceremonies. Considerable diversity of opinion
+existed among the ancients with regard to the number of stars which
+constitute this group. It was affirmed by some that only six were
+visible, whilst others maintained that seven could be seen. Ovid writes:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Quae septem dici, sex tamen esse solent.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Homer and Attalus mention six; Hipparchus and Aratus seven. The legend
+with regard to the lost Pleiad would seem to indicate that, during a
+period in the past, the star possessed a superior brilliancy and was
+more distinctly visible than it is at the present time. This may have
+been so, for, should it belong to the class of variable stars, there
+would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> be a periodic ebb and flow of its light, by which its fluctuating
+brilliance could be explained. When looked at directly only six stars
+can be seen in the group, but should the eye be turned sideways more
+than this number become visible. Several observers have counted as many
+as ten or twelve, and it is stated by Kepler that his tutor, Maestlin,
+was able to enumerate fourteen stars and mapped eleven in their relative
+positions. With telescopic aid the number is largely increased&mdash;Galileo
+observed thirty-six with his instrument and Hooke, in 1664, counted
+seventy-eight. Large modern telescopes bring into view several thousand
+stars in this region.</p>
+
+<p>The Pleiades are situated at a profound distance in space. Their light
+period is estimated at 250 years, indicating a distance of 1,500
+billions of miles. Our Sun if thus far removed would be reduced to a
+tenth-magnitude star. &lsquo;There can be little doubt,&rsquo; says Miss Agnes
+Clerke, &lsquo;that the solar brilliancy is surpassed by sixty to seventy of
+the Pleiades. And it must be in some cases enormously surpassed; by
+Alcyone 1,000, by Electra 480, by Maia nearly 400 times. Sirius itself
+takes a subordinate rank when compared with the five most brilliant
+members of a group, the real magnificence of which we can thus in some
+degree apprehend.&rsquo; This is the only star cluster which can be perceived
+to be moving in space, or which has an ascertained common proper motion.
+Its constituents form a magnificent system in which the stars bear a
+mutual relationship to each other, and perform<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> intricate internal
+revolutions, whilst they in systemic union drift along through the
+depths of space. There are two allusions to the Pleiades in &lsquo;Paradise
+Lost.&rsquo; In describing the path of the newly created Sun, Milton
+introduces them as indicative of the joyfulness associated with the
+birth of the Universe&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">First in his east the glorious lamp was seen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Regent of day, and all the horizon round<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Invested with bright rays, jocund to run<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His longitude through heaven&#8217;s high road; the grey<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danced,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shedding sweet influence.&mdash;vii. 370-75.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It was believed that the Earth was created in the spring; and towards
+the end of April this group rises a little before the Sun and precedes
+him in his course, &lsquo;shedding sweet influences.&rsquo; The ancients believed
+that the good or evil influences of the stars were exercised not in the
+night but during the day, when their rays mingled with those of the Sun.
+The pernicious influence of the Dog-star is mentioned by Latin writers
+as being most pronounced during the dog-days, at the end of summer and
+commencement of autumn, the time of the heliacal rising of this star.</p>
+
+<p>The other allusion to the Pleiades is in Book X., line 673, where
+Milton, in describing the altered path of the Sun consequent upon the
+Fall, mentions how the orb travels through Taurus with the Seven
+Atlantic Sisters&mdash;the seven daughters of Atlas, the Pleiades, which are
+situated on the shoulder of the animal representing this zodiacal
+constellation.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>THE GALAXY</h3>
+
+<p>The Galaxy or Milky Way is the great luminous zone encircling the
+heavens, which can be seen extending across the sky from horizon to
+horizon. Its diffused nebulous appearance caused the ancients much
+perplexity, and many quaint opinions were hazarded as to the nature of
+this celestial highway; but the mystery associated with it was not
+solved until Galileo directed his newly invented telescope to this
+lucent object, when, to his intense delight, he discovered that it
+consists of myriads of stars&mdash;millions upon millions of suns so distant
+as to be individually indistinguishable to ordinary vision, and so
+closely aggregated, that their blended light gives rise to the milky
+luminosity signified by its name. This stelliferous zone almost
+completely encircles the sphere, which it divides into two nearly equal
+parts, and is inclined at an angle of 63° to the celestial equator. In
+Centaurus it divides into two portions, one indistinct and of
+interrupted continuity, the other bright and well defined; these, after
+remaining apart for 120°, reunite in Cygnus. The Milky Way is of
+irregular outline and varies in breadth from 5° to 16°; it intersects
+the equinoctial in the constellations Monoceros and Aquila, and
+approaches in Cassiopeia to within 27° of the north pole of the heavens;
+an equal distance intervenes between it and the south pole. Its poles
+are in Coma Bernices and Cetus. The stars in the galactic tract are very
+unevenly distributed;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> in some of its richest regions as many stars as
+are visible to the naked eye on a clear night have been counted within
+the space of a square degree. In other parts they are much less
+numerous, and there have been observed besides, adjacent to the most
+luminous portions of the zone, dark intervals and winding channels
+almost entirely devoid of stars. An instance of this kind occurs in the
+constellation of the Southern Cross, where there exists in a rich
+stellar region a large oval-shaped dark vacuity, 8° by 5° in extent,
+that appears to be almost entirely denuded of stars. In looking at it,
+an impression is created that one is gazing into an empty void of space
+far beyond the Milky Way. This gulf of Cimmerian darkness was called by
+early navigators the Coal Sack. Similar dark spaces, though not of such
+magnitude, are seen in Ophiuchus, Scorpio, and Cygnus.</p>
+
+<p>The Galaxy, when viewed with a powerful telescope, is found to consist
+of congeries of stars, vast stellar aggregations, great luminous tracts
+resolvable into clouds of stars of overpowering magnificence, superb
+clusters of various orders, and convoluted nebulous streams wandering
+&lsquo;with mazy error&rsquo; among &lsquo;islands of light and lakes of darkness,&rsquo;
+resolved by the telescope into banks of shining worlds. The concourses
+of stars which enter into the formation of this wonderful zone exhibit
+in a marvellous degree the amazing profusion in which these orbs exist
+in certain regions of space; yet those multitudes of stars perform their
+motions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> in harmonious unison and in orderly array, and by their mutual
+attraction sustain the dynamical equilibrium of this stupendous galactic
+ring, the diameter of which, according to one authority, is not
+traversed by light in less than 13,000 years.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;">
+<a name="FIG8" id="FIG8"></a>
+<a href="images/fig8.jpg">
+<img src="images/fig8.jpg" width="400"
+alt="FIG. 8.&mdash;A Portion of the Milky Way."
+title="FIG. 8.&mdash;A Portion of the Milky Way." /></a>
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 8.&mdash;A Portion of the Milky Way.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sir William Herschel, to whom we are indebted for most of what we know
+of the Milky Way, commenced a series of observations in 1785 with the
+object of acquiring a knowledge of the structure of the sidereal
+heavens. In the accomplishment of this object, to which he devoted a
+considerable part of his life, he undertook a systematic survey of that
+portion of the Galaxy which is visible in the Northern Hemisphere. By a
+method called star-gauging, which consisted in the enumeration of the
+stars in each successive telescopic field as the instrument moved slowly
+over the region under observation, he found that the depth of the star
+strata could be approximately ascertained by counting the stars along
+the line of vision; those were most numerous where the visual line
+appeared of the greatest length and fewest in number where it was
+shortest. Herschel perceived the internal structure of the Galaxy to be
+exceedingly intricate and complex, and that it embraced within its
+confines an endless variety of systems, clusters, and groups, branches,
+sprays, arches, loops, and streaming filaments of stars, all of which
+combined to form this luminous zone. &lsquo;It is indeed,&rsquo; says a well-known
+astronomer, &lsquo;only to the most careless glance, or when viewed through an
+atmosphere of imperfect transparency, that the Milky<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> Way seems a
+continuous zone. Let the naked eye rest thoughtfully on any part of it,
+and, if circumstances be favourable, it will stand out rather as an
+accumulation of patches and streams of light of every conceivable
+variety of form and brightness, now side by side, now heaped on each
+other; again spanning across dark spaces, intertwining and forming a
+most curious and complex network; and at other times darting off into
+the neighbouring skies in branches of capricious length and shape which
+gradually thin away and disappear.&rsquo; Sir John Herschel, who was occupied
+for four years at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> Cape of Good Hope in exploring the celestial
+regions of the Southern Hemisphere, describes the coming on of the Milky
+Way as seen in his 20-foot reflector. He first remarks &lsquo;that all the
+stars visible to us, whether by unassisted vision or through the best
+telescopes, belong to and form part of a vast stratum or considerably
+flattened and unsymmetrical congeries of stars in which our system is
+deeply and eccentrically plunged; and, moreover, situated near a point
+where the stratum bifurcates or spreads itself out into two sheets.&rsquo; &lsquo;As
+the main body of the Milky Way comes on the frequency and variety of
+those masses (nebulous) increases; here the Milky Way is composed of
+separate or slight or strongly connected clouds of semi-nebulous light,
+and, as the telescope moves, the appearance is that of clouds passing in
+a scud, as sailors call it.&rsquo; The Milky Way is like sand, not strewed
+evenly as with a sieve, but as if flung down by handfuls (and both hands
+at once), leaving dark intervals, and all consisting of stars of the
+fourteenth, sixteenth, twentieth magnitudes down to nebulosity, in a
+most astonishing manner. After an interval of comparative poverty, the
+same phenomenon, and even more remarkable, I cannot say it is nebulous,
+it is all resolved, but the stars are inconceivably numerous and minute;
+there must be millions and all almost equally massed together. Yet they
+nowhere run to nuclei or clusters much brighter in the middle. Towards
+the end of the seventeenth hour (Right Ascension) the globular clusters
+begin to come in;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> they consist of stars of excessive minuteness, but
+yet not more so than the ground of the Milky Way, on which not only they
+appear projected, but of which it is very probable they form a part.
+&lsquo;From the foregoing analysis of the telescopic aspect of the Milky Way
+in this interesting region, I think it can hardly be doubted that it
+consists of portions differing exceedingly in distance, but brought by
+the effect of projection into the same, or nearly the same, visual line;
+in particular, that at the anterior edge of what we have called the main
+stream, we see foreshortened a vast and illimitable area scattered over
+with discontinuous masses and aggregates of stars in the manner of the
+cumuli of a mackerel sky, rather than of a stratum of regular thickness
+and homogeneous formation.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>The profound distance at which the stars of the Galaxy are situated in
+space precludes the possibility of our obtaining any definite knowledge
+of their magnitude and of the extent of the intervals by which they are
+separated from each other, nor can we learn anything of the details
+associated with the systems and combinations into which they enter. It
+is believed that the majority of the stars in the Milky Way equal or
+surpass the Sun in brilliancy and splendour. They are tenth to fifteenth
+magnitude stars; now, the Sun at the distance indicated by these
+magnitudes would in the telescope appear a much fainter object; he would
+not reach the fifteenth magnitude. Consequently, the galactic stars are
+regarded as his peers or superiors in magnitude and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> brilliancy. Those
+myriads of suns are all in motion&mdash;in nature a stationary body is
+unknown&mdash;and they are sufficiently far apart so as not to be unduly
+influenced by their mutual gravitational attraction; a distance perhaps
+equal to that which separates our Sun from the nearest fixed star may
+intervene between each of those orbs. In the deepest recesses of the
+Milky Way, Sir William Herschel was able to count 500 stars receding in
+regular order behind each other; between each there existed an interval
+of space, probably not less extensive than the interstellar spaces among
+the stars by which we are surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>The richest galactic regions in the Northern Hemisphere are found in
+Perseus, Cygnus, and Aquila. Night after night could be spent in
+sweeping the telescope over fields where the stars can be seen in
+amazing profusion. In the interval of a quarter of an hour, Sir William
+Herschel observed 116,000 stars pass before him in the telescope, and on
+another occasion he perceived 258,000 stars in the space of forty-one
+minutes. In the constellation of the Swan there is a region about 5° in
+breadth which contains 331,000 stars. Photography reveals in a
+remarkable manner the amazing richness of this stelliferous zone; the
+impress of the stars on the sensitive plate of the camera, in some
+instances, resembles a shower of descending snowflakes.</p>
+
+<p>Though Sir William Herschel was able to fathom the Galaxy in most of its
+tracts, yet there were regions which his great telescopes were unable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>
+to penetrate entirely through. In Cepheus there is a spot where he
+observed the stars become &lsquo;gradually less till they escape the eye so
+that appearances here favour the idea of a succeeding more distant
+clustering part.&rsquo; He perceived another in Scorpio &lsquo;where, through the
+hollows and deep recesses of its complicated structure, we behold what
+has all the appearance of a wide and indefinitely prolonged area strewed
+over with discontinuous masses and clouds of stars which the telescope
+at length refuses to analyse.&rsquo; The Great Cluster in Perseus, which lies
+in the Milky Way, also baffled the penetrative capacity of Herschel&#8217;s
+instruments. We cannot help quoting Professor Nichol&#8217;s description of
+Herschel&#8217;s observation of this remarkable object. He says: &lsquo;In the Milky
+Way, thronged all over with splendours, there is one portion not
+unnoticed by the general observer, the spot in the sword-hand of
+Perseus. That spot shows no stars to the naked eye; the milky light
+which glorifies it comes from regions to which unaided we cannot pierce.
+But to a telescope of considerable power the space appears lighted up
+with unnumbered orbs; and these pass on through the depths of the
+infinite, until, even to that penetrating glass, they escape all
+scrutiny, withdrawing into regions unvisited by its power. Shall we
+adventure into these deeper retirements? Then, assume an instrument of
+higher efficacy, and lo! the change is only repeated; those scarce
+observed before appear as large orbs, and, behind, a new<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> series begins,
+shading gradually away, leading towards farther mysteries! The
+illustrious Herschel penetrated on one occasion into this spot, until he
+found himself among depths whose light could not have reached him in
+much less than 4,000 years; no marvel that he withdrew from the pursuit,
+conceiving that such abysses must be endless!&rsquo; The Milky Way may be
+regarded as a universe by itself, and our Sun as one of its myriad
+stars.</p>
+
+<p>Milton was aware of the stellar constitution of the Milky Way, which was
+one of Galileo&#8217;s discoveries. The poet gives a singularly accurate
+description of this luminous path, which he glorifies as the way by
+which the Deity returned up to the Heaven of Heavens after He finished
+His great work of creation&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i30">So sung<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The glorious train ascending: He through Heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That opened wide her blazing portals, led<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To God&#8217;s eternal house direct the way&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Powdered with stars.&mdash;vii. 573-81.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>COMETS</h3>
+
+<p>Records of the appearance of these remarkable objects have been handed
+down from earliest times; and when one of those mysterious visitors,
+travelling from out the depths of space, became visible in our skies, it
+was regarded with apprehension and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> dread as betokening the occurrence
+of calamities and direful events among the nations of the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>The word comet is derived from the Greek &kappa;&omicron;&mu;&eta;, signifying
+&lsquo;hair,&rsquo; to which the hazy, luminous appearance of those objects bears
+some resemblance. A comet consists of a bright central part called the
+<i>nucleus</i>; this is surrounded by layers of nebulous matter called the
+<i>coma</i>, and both combined form the <i>head</i>, from which a long appendage
+extends called the <i>tail</i>. The nucleus and tail are not essential parts
+of a comet, for many have been observed in which both have been wanting.
+The tail is frequently very conspicuous, and presents considerable
+diversity both as regards its appearance and length. In some comets it
+is entirely absent, and in others it has been observed to stretch over
+an arc of sixty or seventy degrees, indicating a length of 100 to 150
+million miles. Sometimes it is straight, and at other times it is curved
+at the extremity; it has been observed bifurcated into two branches;
+and, on rare occasions, comets have been seen with two or more tails.
+The tail of a comet is always directed away from the Sun; it increases
+in size as the comet approaches the orb, and diminishes as it recedes
+from him. This depends upon the degree of heat to which the comet is
+exposed, which has the effect of driving off or evaporating some of the
+matter composing the head. During the time the comet is travelling round
+the Sun there is a continuous emission of this highly attenuated matter,
+which is visible as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> the tail, but when the comet begins to recede from
+the orb and reaches cooler regions of space the tail diminishes in size
+as the temperature becomes reduced, and ultimately it disappears.</p>
+
+<p>The appearance of a comet in the sky is often sudden and unexpected, and
+one of those erratic wanderers may become visible at any time and in any
+part of the heavens. It was remarked by Kepler that there are as many
+comets in the sky as there are fishes in the ocean. This may or may not
+be true, for they only become visible when they approach the Sun, and
+the time during which they remain so does not usually exceed a few weeks
+or months. Ancient astronomers were much perplexed with the motions of
+comets, which appeared to be much more irregular than those of other
+celestial bodies and unconformed to any known laws. Tycho Brahé believed
+that comets moved in circular orbits, and Kepler imagined that they
+travelled in straight lines outwards from the Sun. Newton, however, was
+able to demonstrate that any conic section can be described about the
+Sun consistent with the law of gravitation, and that the orbits of
+comets correspond with three of the four sections into which a cone can
+be divided. Consequently, they obey the laws of planetary motion. Comets
+which move in ellipses of known eccentricity and return with periodical
+regularity may be regarded as belonging to the solar system. Twenty of
+these are known, and eleven of them have more than once passed their
+perihelion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> Those most familiarly known complete their periods in years
+as follows:&mdash;Encke&#8217;s 3·3; Swift&#8217;s, 5·5; Winnecke&#8217;s, 5·6; Tempel&#8217;s, 6;
+Brorsen&#8217;s, 5·5; Faye&#8217;s, 7·4; Tuttle&#8217;s, 13·8, and Halley&#8217;s, 76. Comets
+with parabolic and hyperbolic orbits may be regarded as stray objects
+which visit our system once, and depart never to return again. Besides
+those already mentioned there are many comets with orbits of such marked
+eccentricity that their ellipses when near perihelion cannot be
+distinguished from parabolæ. The great comets of 1780, 1811, 1843, 1858,
+1861, and 1882 traverse orbits approaching this form, and some of them
+require hundreds and thousands of years to accomplish a circuit of their
+paths.</p>
+
+<p>Numerous instances of the appearance of remarkable comets have been
+recorded in the annals of ancient nations. The earliest records of
+comets are by the Chinese, who were careful observers of celestial
+phenomena. A comet is said to have appeared at the time of the birth of
+Mithridates (134 <span class="smcap lowercase">B.C.</span>), which had a disc as large as that of the Sun; a
+great comet also became visible in the heavens about the time of the
+death of Julius Cæsar (44 <span class="smcap lowercase">B.C.</span>), and another was seen in the reign of
+Justinian (531 <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span>). A remarkable comet was observed in 1106, and in
+1456, the year in which the Turks obtained possession of Constantinople
+and threatened to overrun Europe, a great comet appeared, which was
+regarded by Christendom with ominous forebodings. The celebrated
+astronomer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> Halley was the first to predict the return of a comet.
+Having become acquainted with Newton&#8217;s investigations, which showed that
+the forms of the orbits of comets were either parabolæ or extremely
+elongated ellipses, he subjected the next great comet, which appeared in
+1682, to a series of observations, calculated its orbit, and predicted
+that it would return to perihelion in seventy-five or seventy-six years.
+On referring to past records he discovered that a great comet appeared
+in 1607, which pursued a path similar to the one traced out for his
+comet, another was seen in 1531, and one in 1456. Halley perceived that
+the intervals between those dates corresponded to a period of about
+seventy-six years, the time which he calculated would be required for
+his comet to complete a revolution of its orbit. He therefore had no
+hesitation in predicting that the comet would appear again in 1758.
+Halley knew that he would not be alive to witness the event, and alludes
+to it in the following sentence: &lsquo;Wherefore if it should return
+according to our prediction about the year 1758, impartial posterity
+will not refuse to acknowledge that this was first discovered by an
+Englishman.&rsquo; As the time approached when the comet should be drawing
+near to our system, much interest was excited among astronomers, who
+would have an opportunity afforded them of testing the accuracy of
+Halley&#8217;s prediction. An eminent French mathematician named Clairaut
+computed anew, by a method rather different to that adopted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> by Halley,
+the retarding effect of the attraction of the planets upon the speed of
+the comet, and arrived at the conclusion that it would reach perihelion
+about the middle of April 1759; but, owing to unknown influences&mdash;Uranus
+and Neptune not having been discovered&mdash;it might be a month before or
+behind the calculated time. Clairaut made this announcement on November
+14, 1758. Astronomers were now intently on the look-out for the comet,
+and night after night the sky was swept by telescopes in search of the
+expected visitor, which for upwards of seventy years had been pursuing
+its solitary path invisible to mortal eyes. But the mental vision of the
+mathematician did not fail to follow this celestial object, which was
+now announced as being on the confines of our system. The comet was
+first observed on December 25, 1758, it soon became conspicuous in the
+heavens, and reached perihelion on March 12, 1759, a month before the
+time assigned to it by Clairaut but within the limit of error allowed
+for unknown influences. Halley&#8217;s comet returned again in 1835, and may
+be expected about the year 1911. The periodic appearance of this comet
+has been traced back to the year 1305.</p>
+
+<p>The celebrated comet of 1680 was noted as having been the one which
+afforded Newton an opportunity of making observations which led to his
+discovery that comets describe orbits round the Sun in conformity with
+the different sections of a cone. The comet of 1811 was observed for
+many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> weeks in the northern heavens as a brilliant object with a
+beautiful fan-shaped tail; it completes a revolution of its orbit in
+about 3,000 years. The comet of 1843 was also a splendid object. It
+possessed a tail 200 million miles in length, and approached within
+32,000 miles of the Sun. The heat to which it was exposed was sufficient
+to volatilize the most infusible substances known to exist. Donati&#8217;s
+comet of 1858 will be long remembered as one of the most impressive of
+celestial spectacles: its tail extended over an area of forty degrees,
+and enveloped the star Arcturus, which could be seen shining through it
+with undiminished brilliancy. Its period is estimated to be 2,100 years.
+A great comet appeared in 1861, through the tail of which the Earth
+passed without any perceptible effect having resulted. No remarkable
+comets have appeared during recent years. In 1880, 1881, and 1882,
+several were observed, and that of 1881 was the first successfully
+photographed.</p>
+
+<p>Comets consist of cosmical matter which exists in a condition of extreme
+tenuity, and especially so in the coma and tail. Sir John Herschel
+described them as almost spiritual in texture, and small stars have been
+seen shining through their densest parts without any perceptible
+diminution of their light. The nucleus is believed to be composed of a
+congeries of meteoric fragments, and these, when exposed to the Sun&#8217;s
+heat, throw off luminous nebulous particles that are swept by some
+repulsive force into space and form the appendage known as the tail.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>
+Comets may be regarded as celestial objects that are perfectly
+innocuous. Neither fear nor dread need be apprehended from their visits;
+they come to please and instruct, not to injure or destroy.</p>
+
+<p>Milton does not fail to introduce into his poem several allusions to
+comets, and in doing so expresses the ideas and sentiments which in his
+time were associated with those objects.</p>
+
+<p>In describing the hostile meeting between Satan and Death before the
+Gates of Hell, he writes:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i20">On the other side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Incensed with indignation, Satan stood<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unterrified, and like a comet burned,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In the arctic sky, and from his horrid hair<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shakes pestilence and war.&mdash;ii. 706-11.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This passage is eminently descriptive of the appearance of a great
+comet, and the occasion on which it is introduced adds to the intensity
+of the lurid imaginings and feelings of terror and dismay with which
+these objects have always been regarded. The comparison of the enraged
+Prince of Hell with one of those mysterious and fiery looking visitors
+to our skies was a grand conception of the poet&#8217;s, and one worthy of the
+mighty combatant. Ophiuchus (the Serpent-bearer) is a large
+constellation which occupies a rather barren region of the heavens to
+the south of Hercules. It has a length of about forty degrees, and is
+represented by the figure of a man bearing a serpent in both hands. It
+is not easy to imagine why Milton should have assigned the comet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> to
+this uninteresting constellation; he may possibly have seen one in this
+part of the sky, or his poetical ear may have perceived that the
+expression &lsquo;Ophiuchus huge,&rsquo; which has about it a ponderous rhythm, was
+well adapted for the poetic description of a comet.</p>
+
+<p>The only other allusion in the poem to a comet is near its conclusion,
+when the Cherubim descend to take possession of the Garden, prior to the
+removal of Adam and Eve&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i22">High in front advanced,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The brandished sword of God before them blazed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And vapour as the Lybian air adust<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Began to parch that temperate clime.&mdash;xii. 632-36.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>FALLING STARS</h3>
+
+<p>On any clear night an observer can, by attentively watching the heavens,
+perceive a few of those objects which become visible for a moment as a
+streak of light and then vanish. They are the result of the combustion
+of small meteoric masses having a celestial origin, and travelling with
+cosmical velocity, and which, in their headlong flight, become so heated
+by contact with the Earth&#8217;s atmosphere that they are converted into
+glowing vapour. This vapour when it cools condenses into fine powder or
+dust, and gradually descends upon the Earth&#8217;s surface, where it can be
+detected.</p>
+
+<p>Shooting stars become visible at a height varying between twenty and one
+hundred and thirty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> miles, and their average velocity has been estimated
+at about thirty miles a second. Though casual falling stars can be seen
+at all times in every part of the heavens, yet there are certain periods
+at which they appear in large numbers, and have been observed to radiate
+from certain well-defined parts of the sky. When the radiant point is
+overhead, the falling stars spread out and resemble a parachute of fire;
+but when it is below the horizon, the stars ascend upwards like rockets
+into the sky. The radiant point is fixed among the stars, so that at the
+commencement of a shower it may be overhead, and before the termination
+of the display it may have travelled below the horizon. The radiant is
+usually named after the constellation in which it is observed.</p>
+
+<p>The November meteors are called Leonids, because they radiate from a
+point in the constellation Leo; those in Taurus are called Taurids; in
+Perseus, Perseids; in Lyra, Lyraïds; and in Andromeda, Andromedes,
+because their radiant points are situated in those constellations.</p>
+
+<p>The falling stars that have attracted most attention are those which
+appear on or about November 13. Every year at this period they can be
+seen in greater or less numbers, and on referring to numerous past
+records it has been ascertained that a magnificent display of those
+objects occurs every thirty-three years. The earliest historical
+allusion to this meteoric shower is by Theophanes, who wrote that in the
+year 472 <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> the sky at Constantinople appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> to be on fire with
+falling stars. In the year 902 <span class="smcap lowercase">A.D.</span> another remarkable display took
+place, and from that time until 1833 twelve conspicuous displays are
+recorded as having occurred at recurring intervals of thirty-three
+years. The grandest display of this kind that was ever witnessed
+occurred in 1833. It was visible over nearly the whole of the American
+continent, and, having commenced at midnight, lasted for four or five
+hours. The falling stars were so numerous that they appeared to rain
+upon the Earth, and caused the utmost consternation and terror among
+those who witnessed the phenomenon, many persons having imagined that
+the end of the world was at hand. The regular recurrence of these
+meteoric displays has been satisfactorily explained by the assumption
+that round the Sun there travels in an elliptical orbit with planetary
+velocity a vast shoal of meteoric bodies some millions of miles in
+length and several hundred thousand miles in breadth. The nearest point
+of their orbit to the Sun coincides with the Earth&#8217;s orbit, and the most
+distant part extends beyond the orbit of Uranus. These bodies accomplish
+a circuit of their orbit in 33&frac14; years. The Earth in her annual
+revolution intersects the path of the meteors, and when this occurs some
+falling stars can always be seen; but when the intersection happens at
+the time the shoal is passing, then there results a grand meteoric
+display. Numerous other meteoric swarms travel in orbital paths round
+the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>Milton, in his poem, alludes to falling stars upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> two occasions. In
+describing the fall of Mulciber from Heaven he says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i28">from morn<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A summer&#8217;s day; and with the setting sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dropt from the zenith like a falling star,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On Lemnos the Ægaean isle.&mdash;i. 742-46.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The rapid flight of the archangel Uriel from the Sun to the Earth is
+described in the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Thither came Uriel, gliding through the even<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On a sunbeam, swift as a shooting star<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In autumn thwarts the night, when vapours fired<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Impress the air, and shows the mariner<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From what point of his compass to beware<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Impetuous winds.&mdash;iv. 555-60.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Milton mentions the season of the year in which those stars are most
+frequently seen, and refers to an ancient belief by which they were
+regarded as the precursors of stormy weather. A translation from Virgil
+contains a similar allusion to them&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oft shalt thou see ere brooding storms arise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Star after star glide headlong down the skies.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The standard borne by the Cherub Azazel is described as having&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind.&mdash;i. 537.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h4>MILTON&#8217;S IMAGINATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY</h4>
+
+<p>The theme chosen by Milton for his great epic, viz. the Fall of Man and
+his expulsion from Paradise&mdash;perhaps the most momentous incident in the
+history of the human race&mdash;was one worthy of the genius of a great poet
+and in the treatment of which Milton has been sublimely successful. The
+newly created Earth; the untainted loveliness of the Paradise in which
+our first parents dwelt during their innocence; their temptation; their
+fall and removal from the happy garden, furnished a theme which afforded
+him an opportunity for the display of his unrivalled poetic genius.</p>
+
+<p>Though the chief interest in the poem is centred in the Garden of Eden
+and its occupants, yet Milton was enabled, by the comprehensive manner
+in which he treated his subject, to introduce into his work a cosmology
+which embraced not only the system to which our globe belongs, but the
+entire starry heavens by which we are surrounded. But the universality
+of his genius did not rest here. In the utterance of his sacred song he
+soared beyond the starry sphere, describing himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> as wrapt above the
+pole&mdash;the starry pole&mdash;up to the Empyrean, or Heaven of Heavens, the
+ineffable abode of the Deity and the blissful habitation of angelic
+beings who, in adoration and worship, surround the throne of the Most
+High.</p>
+
+<p>Descending to that nether world at the opposite pole of the universe, in
+the lowest depth of Chaos, the place prepared by Eternal Justice for the
+rebellious, he unfolds to our horror-stricken gaze the terrors of this
+infernal region; its fiery deluge of ever-burning sulphur; its &lsquo;regions
+of sorrow;&rsquo; its &lsquo;doleful shades&rsquo;&mdash;the unhappy abode of fallen angels who
+&lsquo;in floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,&rsquo; alternated by exposure
+to unendurable cold and icy torment, experience the direful consequences
+of their apostacy.</p>
+
+<p>Milton&#8217;s &lsquo;Paradise Lost&rsquo; may be regarded as the loftiest intellectual
+effort in the whole range of literature. In it we find all that was
+known of science, philosophy, and theology. The theme, founded upon a
+Bible narrative, itself written under divine inspiration, embraces the
+entire system of Christian doctrine as revealed in the Scriptures, and
+many of the noblest passages in the sacred volume are introduced into
+the poem expressed in the lofty utterance of flowing and harmonious
+verse. The choicest classical writings of Greek and Latin authors; the
+mythological and traditional beliefs of ancient nations; historical
+incidents of valour and renown and all that was great and good in the
+annals of mankind were laid under contribution by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> Milton in the
+illustration and embellishment of his poem.</p>
+
+<p>In order to obtain a basis or foundation upon which to construct his
+great epic, Milton found it necessary to localise the regions of space
+in which the principal events mentioned in his poem are described as
+having occurred. The unfathomable abyss of space may be regarded as an
+uncircumscribed sphere boundless on all sides round, and so far as we
+can comprehend of infinite extent. This sphere Milton divided into two
+hemispheres&mdash;an upper and a lower. The upper was called Heaven, or the
+Empyrean&mdash;a glorified region of boundless dimensions; the lower
+hemisphere embraced Chaos&mdash;a dark, fathomless abyss in which the
+elements of matter existed in a state of perpetual tumult and wild
+uproar. The occurrence of a rebellion in Heaven necessitated a further
+division of the sphere. The revolt, headed by Lucifer, one of the
+highest archangels, afterwards known as Satan, who drew after him a
+third of the angelic host, contested the supremacy of Heaven with
+Michael and the angels which kept their loyalty. After two days&#8217;
+battle&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i16">Him the Almighty Power<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With hideous ruin and combustion, down<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To bottomless perdition; there to dwell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In adamantine chains and penal fire.&mdash;i. 44-48.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Having been precipitated over the crystal wall of Heaven into the deep
+abyss, Milton says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Nine days they fell; confounded Chaos roared,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And felt tenfold confusion in their fall<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through his wild Anarchy; so huge a rout<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Encumbered him with ruin. Hell at last,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yawning, received them whole, and on them closed.&mdash;vi. 871-75.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Hell, Milton locates in the lowest depth of Chaos, a region cut off from
+the body of Chaos, through which the expelled angels fell for nine days
+before reaching their destined habitation. There are now three divisions
+of space: <span class="smcap">Heaven</span>, <span class="smcap">Chaos</span>, and <span class="smcap">Hell</span>. But a fourth is required to enable
+Milton to complete his scheme for the delineation of his poem. The Earth
+and starry universe were not as yet called into existence, but after the
+overthrow of the rebellious angels, God, by circumscribing a portion of
+Chaos situated immediately underneath the Empyrean, created the Mundane
+Universe, or the &lsquo;Heavens and the Earth.&rsquo;<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> This new universe He
+reclaimed from Chaos, and with the embryo elements of matter&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">His dark materials to create new worlds.&mdash;ii. 916.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He formed the Earth and all the countless shining orbs visible overhead,
+and the myriads more which the telescope reveals, scattered in
+apparently endless profusion over the circular immensity of space. It is
+this new universe&mdash;the Earth and Starry Heavens&mdash;that claims our chief
+attention, and in the delineation of Milton&#8217;s imaginative and
+descriptive powers it is to this latest manifestation of Divine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> wisdom
+and might that our remarks shall principally apply. After the expulsion
+of the rebel angels from Heaven, God sent His Son, the Messiah to create
+the new universe&mdash;a work of omnipotence described by Milton in a manner
+worthy of so magnificent a display of almighty power&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i22">Meanwhile the Son<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On his great expedition now appeared,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crowned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of majesty divine: sapience and love<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Immense; and all his Father in Him shone.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">About his chariot numberless were poured<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Virtues, winged Spirits, and chariots winged<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the armoury of God, where stand of old<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Myriads, between two brazen mountains lodged<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Against a solemn day, harnessed at hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Celestial equipage; and now came forth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Spontaneous, for within them Spirit lived,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Attendant on their Lord. Heaven opened wide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On golden hinges moving, to let forth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The King of Glory, in his powerful Word<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Spirit, coming to create new worlds.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On Heavenly ground they stood, and from the shore<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They viewed the vast immeasurable abyss<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Up from the bottom turned by furious winds<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And surging waves, as mountains to assault<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Heaven&#8217;s highth, and with the centre mix the pole.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&lsquo;Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou Deep, peace!&rsquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Said then the omnific Word: &lsquo;your discord end!&rsquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor stayed; but on the wings of Cherubim<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Uplifted, in paternal glory rode<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Far into Chaos, and the World unborn;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For Chaos heard his voice. Him all his train<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Followed in bright procession, to behold<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Creation, and the wonders of his might.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Then stayed the fervid wheels, and in his hand<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He took the golden compasses, prepared<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In God&#8217;s eternal store, to circumscribe<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This Universe, and all created things.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One foot he centred, and the other turned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Round through the vast profundity obscure;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And said, &lsquo;Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This be thy just circumference, O World!&rsquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thus God the Heaven created, thus the Earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Matter unformed and void. Darkness profound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Covered the abyss; but on the watery calm<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Throughout the fluid mass; but downward purged<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The black, tartareous, cold, infernal dregs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Adverse to life; then founded, then conglobed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like things to like; the rest to several place<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Disparted, and between spun out the Air;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Earth self balanced on her centre hung.&mdash;vii. 192-242.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Milton begins his narrative of the Creation by describing the progress
+of the Deity on His great expedition, accompanied by hosts of angels and
+surrounded with all the solemn pomp and splendour of Heaven. The
+brilliant throng having passed through Heaven&#8217;s gates, which opened wide
+their portals, they beheld in front of them the dark abyss of Chaos&mdash;a
+tempest-tossed sea of warring elements upturned in wild confusion. At
+God&#8217;s instant command silence and peace reigned over the deep, and
+tranquil calm succeeded noisy discord. Then on the wings of Cherubim He
+rode far into Chaos, and with His golden compasses decreed the
+dimensions of the universe by circumscribing the vast vacuity of space.
+Into the elements which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> hasted to their several places, His Spirit
+infused vital warmth and caused the formless mass of matter to assume
+the figure of a sphere, and thus the Earth poised on her axis
+unsupported, and in darkness shrouded hung suspended in space. The
+placing of the golden compasses in the hands of the Creator, with which
+He measured out the heavens, is a noble conception on the part of
+Milton, and one most appropriate, since the construction of the universe
+is based upon the principles of geometrical science.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&lsquo;Let there be Light!&rsquo; said God; and forthwith Light<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sprung from the Deep; and from her native east<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To journey through the aëry gloom began,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sphered in a radiant cloud; for yet the Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was not; she in a cloudy tabernacle<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sojourned the while. God saw the light was good;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And light from darkness by the hemisphere<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Divided; light the day, and darkness night<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He named. Thus was the first day even and morn:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor passed uncelebrated, nor unsung<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By the celestial quires, when orient light<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Exhaling first from darkness they beheld;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Birthday of Heaven and Earth; with joy and shout<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The hollow universal orb they filled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And touched their golden harps, and hymning praised<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">God and his works: Creator Him they sung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both when first evening was, and when first morn.&mdash;vii. 243-60.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The appearance of Light, which sprung into existence at the fiat of the
+Creator, was the next great event witnessed by beholding
+angels&mdash;birthday of Heaven and Earth, first morning and first evening,
+which the celestial choirs celebrated with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> praise and shouts of joy.
+The creation of the firmament was the great work of the second day.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Again God said, &lsquo;Let there be firmament<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Amid the waters, and let it divide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The waters from the waters!&rsquo; And God made<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Transparent, elemental air, diffused<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In circuit to the uttermost convex<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of this great round&mdash;partition firm and sure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The waters underneath from those above<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dividing; for as the Earth, so He the World<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Crystalline ocean, and the loud misrule<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Chaos far removed, lest fierce extremes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Contiguous might distemper the whole frame:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Heaven he named the Firmament. So even<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And morning chorus sung the second day.&mdash;vii. 261-275.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>After describing the gathering of the waters off the face of the globe
+into seas, causing the dry land to appear, which at the word of God
+became clothed with vegetation, rendering the Earth a habitable abode,
+Milton proceeds to describe the creation of the heavenly bodies&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Again the Almighty spake: &lsquo;Let there be Lights<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">High in the expanse of Heaven, to divide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The day from night; and let them be for signs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For seasons, and for days, and circling years;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And let them be for lights, as I ordain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their office in the firmament of Heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To give light on the Earth!&rsquo; and it was so.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And God made two great Lights, great for their use<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To Man, the greater to have rule by day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The less by night, altern; and made the Stars,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And set them in the firmament of Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To illuminate the Earth, and rule the day<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In their vicissitude, and rule the night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And light from darkness to divide. God saw,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Surveying his great work, that it was good:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For, of celestial bodies, first, the Sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A mighty sphere He framed, unlightsome first,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though of ethereal mould; then formed the Moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Globose, and every magnitude of Stars,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And sowed with stars the Heaven thick as a field.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of light by far the greater part he took,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Transplanted from her cloudy shrine, and placed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In the Sun&#8217;s orb, made porous to receive<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And drink the liquid light; firm to retain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her gathered beams, great palace now of Light.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hither, as to their fountain, other stars<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Repairing, in their golden urns draw light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hence the morning planet gilds her horns;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By tincture or reflection they augment<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their small peculiar, though, from human sight<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So far remote, with diminution seen.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">First in his east the glorious lamp was seen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Regent of day, and all the horizon round<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Invested with bright rays, jocund to run<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His longitude through Heaven&#8217;s high road; the grey<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danced,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shedding sweet influence. Less bright the Moon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But opposite in levelled west was set<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His mirror, with full face borrowing her light<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From him; for other light she needed none<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In that aspect, and still that distance keeps<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till night; then in the east her turn she shines,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Revolved on Heaven&#8217;s great axle, and her reign<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With thousand lesser lights dividual holds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With thousand thousand stars that then appeared<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Spangling the hemisphere. Then first adorned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With their bright luminaries, that set and rose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Glad evening and glad morn crowned the fourth day.&mdash;vii. 339-86.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The first creation was Light, and Milton, according to Scriptural
+testimony, ascribes its origin to the bidding of the Creator. &lsquo;God said,
+Let there be light; and there was light!&rsquo; The Sun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> he describes as a
+mighty sphere, but at first non-luminous. There was light, but no sun.
+The reason usually given in explanation of this phenomenon is, that the
+heavenly bodies were created at the same time as the Earth, but were
+rendered invisible by a canopy of vapour and cloud which enveloped the
+newly-formed globe; and that afterwards, when it dispersed, they
+appeared in the firmament, shining in all their pristine splendour.
+Milton does not, however, adhere to this view of things, but says that
+light for the first three days sojourned in a cloudy shrine or
+tabernacle, and was afterwards transplanted in the Sun, which became a
+great palace of light.</p>
+
+<p>He expresses himself in a somewhat similar manner in Book III., which
+opens with an address to Light&mdash;one of the most beautiful passages in
+the poem, in which he alludes to his blindness when expressing his
+thoughts and sentiments with regard to this ethereal medium, which
+conveys to us the pleasurable sensation of vision&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hail, holy Light! offspring of Heaven first-born!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or of the Eternal co-eternal beam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">May I express thee unblamed? since God is light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And never but in unapproached light<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dwelt from eternity&mdash;dwelt then in thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bright effluence of bright essence increate!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or hear&#8217;st thou rather, pure Ethereal stream,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whose fountain who shall tell? Before the Sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The rising world of waters dark and deep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Won from the void and formless Infinite.&mdash;iii. 1-12.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>
+The Sun having become a lucent orb, Milton poetically describes how the
+planets repair to him as to a fountain, and in their golden urns draw
+light; and how the morning planet Venus gilds her horns illumined by his
+rays. The poet associates joyous ideas with the new-born universe. The
+Sun, now the glorious regent of day, begins his journey in the east,
+lighting up the horizon with his beams; whilst before him danced the
+grey dawn, and the Pleiades shedding sweet influences. There existed an
+ancient belief that the Earth was created in the spring, and in April
+the Sun is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, in which are also
+situated the Pleiades; they rise a little before the orb, and precede
+him in his path through the heavens. The stars of this group have always
+been regarded with a peculiar sacredness, and their rays, mingling with
+those of the Sun, were believed to shed sweet influences upon the Earth.
+The Moon, less bright, with borrowed light, in her turn shines in the
+east, and, with the thousand thousand luminaries that spangle the
+firmament, reigns over the night.</p>
+
+<p>We learn in Book III. that the archangel Uriel, who was beguiled by
+Satan, witnessed the Creation, and described how the heavenly bodies
+were brought into existence, he having perceived what we should call the
+gaseous elements of matter rolled into whorls and vortices which became
+condensed into suns and systems of worlds. This mighty angel says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">I saw when, at his word the formless mass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This World&#8217;s material mould, came to a heap:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Confusion heard his voice, and wild Uproar<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stood ruled, stood vast Infinitude confined;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till at his second bidding darkness fled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Light shone, and order from disorder sprung.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Swift to their several quarters hasted then<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The cumbrous elements, Earth, Flood, Air, Fire;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And this ethereal quintessence of Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Flew upward, spirited with various forms,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That rolled orbicular, and turned to stars<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Numberless, as thou seest, and how they move;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each had his place appointed, each his course;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The rest in circuit walls this Universe.&mdash;iii. 708-21.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In his sublime description of the Creation Milton has adhered with
+marked fidelity to the Mosaic version, as narrated in the first two
+chapters of Genesis, when God, by specific acts in certain stated
+periods of time, created the visible universe and all that it contains.</p>
+
+<p>The successive acts of creation are described in words almost identical
+with those of Scripture, embellished and adorned with all the wealth of
+expression which our language is capable of affording. The several
+scenes presented to the imagination, and witnessed by hosts of admiring
+angels as each portion of the magnificent work was accomplished, are
+full of a grandeur and majesty worthy of the loftiest conceivable effort
+of Divine power and might.</p>
+
+<p>The return of the Creator after the completion of His great work is
+described by Milton in a manner worthy of the progress of Deity through
+the celestial regions. The whole creation rang<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> with jubilant delight,
+and the bright throng which witnessed the wonders of His might followed
+Him with acclamation, ascending by the glorified path of the Milky Way
+up to His high abode&mdash;the Heaven of Heavens&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Here finished He, and all that He had made<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Viewed, and behold! all was entirely good.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So even and morn accomplished the sixth day:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet not till the Creator from his work<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Desisting, though unwearied, up returned,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Up to the Heaven of Heavens, His high abode,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thence to behold this new created World,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The addition of his empire, how it showed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In prospect from His throne, how good, how fair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Answering his great idea. Up He rode,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Followed with acclamation, and the sound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Symphonious of ten thousand harps, that tuned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Angelic harmonies: The Earth, the Air<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Resounded (thou remember&#8217;st, for thou heard&#8217;st)<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Heavens and all the constellations rung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The planets in their stations listening stood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While the bright pomp ascended jubilant.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&lsquo;Open ye everlasting gates!&rsquo; they sung;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&lsquo;Open ye Heavens! your living doors; let in<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The great Creator, from his work returned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Magnificent, his six days&#8217; work, a World;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Open, and henceforth oft; for God will deign<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To visit oft the dwellings of just men,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Delighted; and with frequent intercourse<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thither will send his winged messengers<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On errands of supernal grace.&rsquo; So sung<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The glorious train ascending: He through Heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That opened wide her blazing portals, led<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To God&#8217;s eternal house direct the way&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Powdered with stars.&mdash;vii. 548-81.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>
+Milton, throughout his description of the Creation, sustains with lofty
+eloquence his sublime conception of this latest display of almighty
+power; and invests with becoming majesty all the acts of the Creator,
+who, when He finished His great work, saw that all was entirely good.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the creation of the new universe, Satan, having escaped
+from Hell, plunged into the abyss of Chaos, and, after a long and
+arduous journey upwards, in which he had to fight his way through the
+surging elements that raged around him like a tempestuous sea, he
+reached the upper confines of this region where less confusion
+prevailed, and where a glimmering dawn of light penetrated its darkness
+and gloom, indicating that the limit of the empire of Chaos and ancient
+Night had been reached by the adventurous fiend. Pursuing his way with
+greater ease, he leisurely beholds the sight which is opening to his
+eyes&mdash;a sight rendered more glorious by his long sojourn in darkness. He
+sees:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Far off the empyreal Heaven, extended wide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In circuit, undetermined square or round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With opal towers and battlements adorned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of living sapphire, once his native seat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, fast by, hanging in a golden chain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This pendent World, in bigness as a star<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of smallest magnitude close by the Moon.&mdash;ii. 1047-53.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He gazes upon his native Heaven where once he dwelt, and observes the
+pendent world in quest of which he journeyed hither&mdash;hung by a golden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>
+chain from the Empyrean and no larger than a star of the smallest
+magnitude when close by the Moon. In this passage Milton does not allude
+to the Earth, which was invisible, but to the entire starry heavens&mdash;the
+newly created universe reclaimed from Chaos, which, when contrasted with
+the Empyrean, appeared in size no larger than the minutest star when
+compared with the full moon. Pursuing his journey, the new universe as
+it is approached expands into a globe of vast dimensions; its convex
+surface&mdash;round which the chaotic elements in stormy aspect
+lowered&mdash;seemed a boundless continent, dark, desolate, and starless,
+except on the side next to the wall of Heaven, which though far-distant
+afforded it some illumination by its reflected light. Satan, having
+alighted on this convex shell which enclosed the universe, wandered long
+over its bleak and dismal surface, until his attention was attracted by
+a gleam of light which appeared through an opening at its zenith right
+underneath the Empyrean. Thither he directed his steps, and perceived a
+structure resembling a staircase, or ladder, which formed the only means
+of communication between Heaven and the new creation, and upon which
+angels descended and ascended&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i16">Far distant he descries,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ascending by degrees magnificent<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Up to the wall of Heaven, a structure high;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At top whereof, but far more rich, appeared<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The work as of a kingly palace gate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With frontispiece of diamond and gold<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Embellished; thick with sparkling orient gems<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">The portal shone, inimitable on Earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By model, or by shading pencil drawn.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Angels ascending and descending, bands<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Guardians bright, when he from Esau fled<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To Padan Aram, in the field of Luz<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dreaming by night under the open sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And waking cried, &lsquo;<i>This is the gate of Heaven.</i>&rsquo;&mdash;iii. 501-15.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Sometimes this mysterious structure was drawn up to Heaven and
+invisible. At the time that Satan reached the opening, the stairs were
+lowered, and standing at their base he looked down with wonder upon the
+entire starry universe&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Such wonder seized, though after Heaven seen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Spirit malign, but much more envy seized,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At sight of all this World beheld so fair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Round he surveys (and well might, where he stood<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So high above the circling canopy<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of night&#8217;s extended shade) from eastern point<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Libra to the fleecy star that bears<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Andromeda far off Atlantic seas<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beyond the horizon; then from pole to pole<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He views in breadth, and without longer pause,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Down right into the World&#8217;s first region throws<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His flight precipitant, and winds with ease<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through the pure marble air his oblique way<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Amongst innumerable stars, that shone<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stars distant, but nigh hand seemed other worlds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or other worlds they seemed, or happy isles,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like those Hesperian Gardens famed of old,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fortunate fields, and groves, and flowery vales;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thrice happy isles! But who dwelt happy there<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He staid not to inquire: above them all<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The golden Sun, in splendour likest Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Allured his eye: thither his course he bends<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through the calm firmament, (but up or down<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">By centre or eccentric hard to tell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or longitude) where the great luminary,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Aloof the vulgar constellations thick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That from his lordly eye keep distance due,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dispenses light from far. They, as they move<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their starry dance in numbers that compute<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Days, months, and years, towards his all-cheering lamp<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Turn swift their various motions, or are turned<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By his magnetic beam, that gently warms<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Universe, and to each inward part<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With gentle penetration, though unseen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shoots invisible virtue even to the Deep;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So wondrously was set his station bright.&mdash;iii. 552-87.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The Ptolemaic cosmology having been adopted by Milton in the elaboration
+of his poem, he describes the universe in conformity with the doctrines
+associated with this form of astronomical belief. To each of the first
+seven spheres which revolved round the steadfast Earth there was
+attached a heavenly body; the eighth sphere embraced all the fixed
+stars, a countless multitude; the ninth the crystalline; and enclosing
+all the other spheres as if in a shell was the tenth sphere, or Primum
+Mobile, which in its diurnal revolution carried round with it all the
+other spheres. The nine inner spheres were transparent, but the tenth
+was an opaque solid shell-like structure, which enclosed the new
+universe and constituted the boundary between it and Chaos underneath
+and the Empyrean above. It was on the surface of this sphere that Satan
+wandered until he discovered the opening at its zenith, where, by means<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
+of a staircase or ladder, communication was maintained with the
+Empyrean. Standing on the lower steps of this structure he paused for a
+moment to look down into the glorious universe which lay beneath him&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i24">another Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From Heaven-gate not far, founded in view<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On the clear hyaline the glassy sea.&mdash;vii. 617-19.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He beholds it in all its dimensions, from pole to pole, and
+longitudinally from Libra to Aries, then without hesitation precipitates
+himself down into the world&#8217;s first region, and winds his way with ease
+among the fixed stars. Around him he sees innumerable shining worlds,
+sparkling and glittering in endless profusion over the circumscribed
+immensity of space&mdash;mighty constellations that shone from afar;
+clustering aggregations of stars; floating islands of light; twinkling
+systems rising out of depths still more profound, and a zone luminous
+with the light of myriads of lucid orbs verging on the confines of the
+universe. All these worlds the fiend passed unheeded, nor stayed he to
+inquire who dwelt happy there. In splendour above them all the Sun
+attracted his attention and, directing his course towards the great
+luminary of our system, he alights on the surface of the orb.</p>
+
+<p>Milton now makes a digression in order to describe what Satan observed
+in the Sun after having landed there. The poet embraces an opportunity
+for exercising his imaginative and descriptive powers by giving an ideal
+description of what,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> judging from the appearance of the orb, might be
+the natural condition of things existing on his surface&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There lands the Fiend, a spot like which perhaps<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Astronomer in the Sun&#8217;s lucent orb<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through his glazed optic tube, yet never saw.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The place he found beyond expression bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Compared with aught on Earth, metal or stone;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not all parts like, but all alike informed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With radiant light, as glowing iron with fire;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If metal, part seemed gold, part silver clear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If stone, carbuncle most or chrysolite,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ruby or topaz, to the twelve that shone<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In Aaron&#8217;s breastplate, and a stone besides,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Imagined rather oft than elsewhere seen;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That stone, or like to that, which here below<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Philosophers in vain so long have sought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In vain, though by their powerful art they bind<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Volatile Hermes, and call up unbound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In various shapes old Proteus from the sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Drained through a limbec to his native form.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What wonder then if fields and regions here<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Breathe forth elixir pure, and rivers run<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Potable gold, when, with one virtuous touch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The arch-chemic Sun, so far from us remote,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Produces, with terrestrial humour mixed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Here in the dark so many precious things<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of colour glorious, and effect so rare?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Here matter new to gaze the Devil met<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Undazzled; far and wide his eye commands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For sight no obstacle found here, nor shade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But all sunshine, as when his beams at noon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Culminate from the equator, as they now<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shot upward still direct, whence no way round<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shadow from body opaque can fall; and the air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nowhere so clear sharpened his visual ray<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To objects distant far, whereby he soon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Saw within here a glorious Angel stand.&mdash;iii. 588-622.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The physical structure of the interior of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> Sun is unknown; all that
+we see of the orb is the photosphere&mdash;the dazzling luminous envelope
+which indicates to the eye the boundary of the solar disc, and which is
+the source of light and heat. Milton, in his imaginative and beautifully
+poetical description of the Sun, is not more fanciful in his conception
+of the nature of the refulgent orb than a renowned astronomer (Sir
+William Herschel) who writes in the following strain: &lsquo;A cool, dark,
+solid globe, its surface diversified with mountains and valleys, clothed
+in luxuriant vegetation and richly stored with inhabitants, protected by
+a heavy cloud-canopy from the intolerable glare of the upper luminous
+region, where the dazzling coruscations of a solar aurora some thousands
+of miles in depth evolved the stores of light and heat which vivify our
+world.&rsquo; Satan, disguised as a cherub, makes himself known to Uriel,
+Regent of the Sun. The upright Seraph in response to his request directs
+him to the Earth, the abode of Man&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Look downward on that Globe, whose hither side<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With light from hence, though but reflected, shines,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That place is Earth, the seat of Man; that light<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His day, which else, as the other hemisphere,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Night would invade; but there neighbouring Moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(So call that opposite fair star) her aid<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Timely interposes, and her monthly round<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Still ending, still renewing, through mid-Heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With borrowed light her countenance triform<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hence fills and empties, to enlighten the Earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And in her pale dominion checks the night.&mdash;iii. 722-32.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It would be impossible not to feel impressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> with the accuracy and
+comprehensiveness of Milton&#8217;s astronomical knowledge; and how he has
+united in charming poetic expression the dry details of science with the
+divine inspiration of the heavenly muse. The distinctive appearances of
+the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars; their functional importance as
+regards this terrestrial sphere; the splendour and lustre peculiar to
+each; and the glory displayed in the entire created heavens, are
+portrayed with a skill indicative of a masterly knowledge of the science
+of astronomy.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Descend</span> from Heaven, Urania, by that name<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If rightly thou art called, whose voice divine<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Following, above the Olympian hill I soar,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Above the flight of Pegasean wing!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The meaning, not the name, I call; for thou<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor of the Muses nine, nor on the top<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of old Olympus dwell&#8217;st; but heavenly-born,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Before the hills appeared or fountain flowed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou with Eternal Wisdom didst converse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In presence of the Almighty Father, pleased<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With thy celestial song. Up led by thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy tempering. With like safety guided down,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Return me to my native element;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lest, from this flying steed unreined, (as once<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Belerophon, though from a lower clime)<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dismounted, on the Aleian field I fall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Erroneous there to wander, and forlorn.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Half yet remains unsung, but narrower bound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Within the visible diurnal sphere.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Standing on Earth, not rapt above the pole,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchanged<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To hoarse or mute, though fallen on evil days,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">On evil days though fallen, and evil tongues,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In darkness, and with dangers compassed round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And solitude; yet not alone, while thou<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Visit&#8217;st my slumbers nightly, or when morn<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Purples the east. Still govern thou my song,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Urania, and fit audience find though few.&mdash;vii. 1-32.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The Muses were Greek mythological divinities who possessed the power of
+inspiring song, and were the patrons of poets and musicians. According
+to Hesiod they were nine in number and presided over the arts. Urania
+was the Goddess of Astronomy, and Calliope the Goddess of Epic Poetry.
+They are described as the daughters of Zeus, and Homer alludes to them
+as the goddesses of song who dwelt on the summit of Mount Olympus. They
+were the companions of Apollo, and accompanied with song his playing on
+the lyre at the banquets of the Immortals. Milton does not invoke the
+mythological goddess, but Urania the Heavenly Muse, whose aid he also
+implores at the commencement of his poem prior to his flight above the
+Aonian Mount. Under her divine guidance he ascended to the Heaven of
+Heavens and breathed empyreal air, her tempering; in like manner he
+requests her to lead him down to his native element lest he should meet
+with a fate similar to what befell Bellerophon. Half his task he has
+completed, the other half, confined to narrower bounds within the
+visible diurnal sphere, remains unsung, and in its fulfilment he still
+implores his celestial patroness to govern his song.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>
+The natural phenomena which occur as a consequence of the motions of the
+heavenly bodies and the diurnal rotation of the Earth on her axis, are
+accompanied by agreeable alternations in the aspect of nature with which
+every one is familiar. The rosy footsteps of morn; the solar splendour
+of noonday; the fading hues of even; and night with her jewelled courts
+and streams of molten stars, have been sung with rapturous admiration by
+poets of every nation and in every age. They, as ardent lovers of
+nature, have described in choicest language the pleasing vicissitudes
+brought about by the real and apparent motions of the celestial orbs.</p>
+
+<p>In this respect Milton is unsurpassed by any poet in ancient or in
+modern times. The occasions on which he describes the heavenly bodies,
+or alludes to them in association with other phenomena, testify to the
+felicity of his thoughts and to the greatness of his poetic genius.
+Surely no poet has ever given us a lovelier description of evening, or
+has added more to its exquisite beauty by his allusion to the celestial
+orbs, than Milton when he describes the first evening in Paradise&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Now came still Evening on, and Twilight gray<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Had in her sober livery all things clad;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Silence accompanied; for beast and bird,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They to their grassy couch, these to their nests<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She all night long her amorous descant sung;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Silence was pleased. Now glowed the firmament<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With living sapphires: Hesperus that led<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">The starry host, rode brightest, till the Moon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rising in clouded majesty, at length<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And o&#8217;er the dark her silver mantle threw.&mdash;iv. 598-609.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In the avowal of her conjugal love, Eve, with charming expression,
+associates the orbs of the firmament with the delightful appearances of
+nature which presented themselves to her observation after she awoke to
+the consciousness of intelligent existence.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sweet is the breath of Morn, her rising sweet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With charm of earliest birds: pleasant the Sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When first on this delightful land he spreads<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile Earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">After soft showers; and sweet the coming on<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of grateful Evening mild; then silent Night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With this her solemn bird, and this fair Moon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And these the gems of Heaven, her starry train:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But neither breath of Morn, when she ascends<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With charm of earliest birds; nor rising Sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On this delightful land; nor herb, fruit, flower,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Glistering with dew; nor fragrance after showers;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor grateful Evening mild; nor silent Night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With this her solemn bird; nor walk by Moon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or glittering star-light, without thee is sweet.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But wherefore all night long shine these? for whom<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes?&mdash;iv. 641-58.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>One of the charms of Milton&#8217;s verse is the devoutly poetical sentiment
+which pervades it. His thoughts, though serious, are not austere or
+gloomy, and it is in his loftiest musings that his reverence becomes
+most apparent. This feeling is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> conspicuous in Adam&#8217;s reply to the
+inquiry addressed to him by Eve&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Daughter of God and Man, accomplished Eve,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">These have their course to finish round the Earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By morrow evening, and from land to land<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In order, though to nations yet unborn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ministering light prepared, they set and rise;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lest total Darkness should by night regain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her old possession, and extinguish life<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In Nature and all things; which these soft fires<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not only enlighten, but with kindly heat<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of various influence foment and warm,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Temper or nourish, or in part shed down<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their stellar virtue on all kinds that grow<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On Earth, made hereby apter to receive<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Perfection from the Sun&#8217;s more potent ray.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">These, then, though unbeheld in deep of night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shine not in vain; nor think, though men were none,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That Heaven would want spectators, God want praise:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Millions of spiritual creatures walk the Earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All these with ceaseless praise his works behold<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both day and night. How often from the steep<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of echoing hill or thicket, have we heard<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Celestial voices to the midnight air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sole, or responsive each to other&#8217;s note<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Singing their Great Creator! Oft in bands<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With heavenly touch of instrumental sounds<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In full harmonic number joined, their songs<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to Heaven.&mdash;iv. 660-88.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The Morning Hymn of Praise which Adam and Eve offer up in concert to
+their Maker contains their loftiest thoughts and most reverent
+sentiments, expressed in melodiously flowing verse. In their solemn
+invocations they call upon the orbs of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> firmament to join in
+praising and extolling the Creator, and in their devout enthusiasm and
+adoration address by name those that are most conspicuous. Hesperus,
+&lsquo;fairest of stars,&rsquo; is asked to praise Him in her sphere. The Sun, great
+image of his Maker, is told to acknowledge Him his greater, and to sound
+His praise in his eternal course. The Moon, the fixed stars, and the
+planets are called upon to resound the praise of the Creator, whose
+glory is declared in the Heavens&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Fairest of Stars, last in the train of night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If better thou belong not to the dawn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sure pledge of day, that crown&#8217;st the smiling morn<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With thy bright circlet, praise Him in thy sphere<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou Sun, of this great world both eye and soul,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Acknowledge Him thy greater; sound his praise<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In thy eternal course, both when thou climb&#8217;st,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fall&#8217;st.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Moon, that now meet&#8217;st the orient Sun, now fliest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With the fixed stars, fixed in their orb that flies;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And ye five other wandering Fires, that move<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In mystic dance, not without song, resound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His praise, who out of darkness called up Light.&mdash;v. 166-79.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Milton&#8217;s conception of celestial distances, and of the vast regions of
+interstellar space, is finely described in the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i16">Down thither prone in flight<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now on the polar winds; then with quick fan<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Winnows the buxom air, till, within soar<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of towering eagles.&mdash;v. 266-71.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>
+As in their morning, so in their evening devotions, our first parents
+never fail to introduce a reference to the celestial orbs as indicating
+the power and goodness of the Creator, made manifest in the beauty and
+greatness of His works&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Thus, at their shady lodge arrived, both stood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both turned, and under open sky adored<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The God that made both Sky, Air, Earth and Heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which they beheld; the Moon&#8217;s resplendent globe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And starry pole.&mdash;iv. 720-24.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The numerous extracts contained in this volume impress upon one&#8217;s mind
+how largely astronomy enters into the composition of &lsquo;Paradise Lost,&rsquo;
+and of how much assistance the knowledge of this science was to Milton
+in the elaboration of his poem. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine how
+such a work could have been written except by a poet who possessed a
+proficient and comprehensive knowledge of astronomy. The chief
+characteristic of Milton&#8217;s poetry is its sublimity, which is the natural
+outcome of the magnificence of his conceptions and of his own pure
+imaginative genius. Among all the fields of literature, science, and
+philosophy explored by him, he found none more congenial to his tastes,
+or that afforded his imagination more freedom for its loftiest flights,
+than the sublimest of sciences&mdash;astronomy. Whether we admire most the
+accuracy of his astronomical knowledge, or the wonderful creations of
+his poetic fancy, or his beautiful descriptions of the celestial orbs,
+it is apparent that in this domain of science,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> as a poet, he stands
+alone and without a rival. In his choice of the Ptolemaic cosmology
+Milton adopted a system with which he had been familiar from his
+youth&mdash;the same which his favourite poet Dante introduced into his poem,
+&lsquo;The Divina Commedia,&rsquo; and which was well adapted for poetic
+description. The picturesque conception of ten revolving spheres,
+carrying along with them the orbs assigned to each, which, by their
+revolution round the steadfast Earth, brought about with unfailing
+regularity the successive alternation of day and night, and in every
+twenty-four hours exhibited the pleasing vicissitudes of dawn, of
+sunshine, of twilight, and of darkness, relieved by the soft effulgence
+of the nocturnal sky, afforded Milton a favourable basis upon which to
+construct a cosmical epic. The Copernican theory&mdash;with which he was
+equally conversant, and in the accuracy and truthfulness of which he
+believed&mdash;though less complicated than the Ptolemaic in its details, did
+not possess the same attractiveness for poetic description that belonged
+to the older system. According to this theory there is, surrounding us
+on all sides, a boundless uncircumscribed ocean of space, to which it is
+impossible to assign any conceivable limit; in every effort to
+comprehend its dimensions or fathom its depths, the mind recoils upon
+itself, baffled and discomfited, with a conscious feeling that there can
+be no nearer approach to the end when end there is none that can be
+conceived of. Interspersed throughout the regions of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> this azure vast of
+space is the stellar universe, which to our comprehension is as infinite
+as the abyss in which it exists. The solar system, though of magnificent
+dimensions, is but a unit in the astronomical whole, in which are
+embraced millions of other similar units&mdash;other solar systems, perhaps
+differing in construction from that of ours, with billions of miles of
+interstellar space intervening between each; yet so vast are the
+dimensions of the celestial sphere that those distances when measured
+upon it sink into utter insignificance. As the receding depths of space
+are penetrated by powerful telescopes, they are found to be pervaded
+with stars and starry archipelagoes, distributed in profusion over the
+circular immensity and extending away into abysmal depths, beyond the
+reach of visibility by any optical means which we possess. To the
+universe there is no known end&mdash;nowhere in imagination can its boundary
+be reached! This bewildering conception of the cosmos did not trouble
+the minds of pre-Copernican thinkers. They regarded the steadfast Earth
+as the most important body in the universe; nor were the celestial orbs
+which circled round it believed to be very far distant. Tycho Brahé
+imagined that the stars were not much more remote than the planets.
+Epicurus thought the stars were small crystal mirrors in the sky which
+reflected the solar rays, and the Venerable Bede remarked that they
+needed assistance from the Sun&#8217;s light in order to render them more
+luminous.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>
+The adoption of the Ptolemaic system by Milton afforded greater scope
+for the exercise of his imaginative powers, and enabled him to bring
+within the mental grasp of his readers a conception of the universe
+which was not lost in the immensity associated with the Copernican view
+of things. Besides, it also furnished him with a distinctly defined
+basis upon which to erect the superstructure of his poem. Above the
+circumscribed universe was Heaven or the Empyrean; underneath it was
+Chaos, from which it had been reclaimed, and in the lowest depth of
+which Milton located the infernal world called Hell. These four regions
+embraced universal space; and in the elaboration of his great epic
+Milton relied upon his imaginative genius, his brilliant scholarship,
+his vast erudition, and the divine inspiration of the heavenly muse.
+With these, aided by the power and vigour of his intellect, he was
+enabled to produce a cosmical epic that surpassed all previous efforts
+of a similar kind, and which still remains without a parallel.</p>
+
+<p>One of the distinguishing features of Milton&#8217;s mind was his wonderful
+imagination, and in its exercise he beheld those sublime celestial and
+terrestrial visions on which he reared fabrics of splendour and beauty,
+described in harmonious numbers with the fervid eloquence and charm of a
+true poet. An example of the loftiness and originality of his
+imagination is afforded us in his description of the Creation, the main
+facts of which he derived from the first two chapters of Genesis, and
+upon these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> he elaborated in full and striking detail his magnificent
+conception of the efforts of Divine Might, which in six successive
+creative acts called into existence the universe and all that it
+contains. The rising of the Earth out of Chaos; the creation of light
+and of the orbs of the firmament; the joyfulness associated with the
+onward career of the new-born Sun; the subdued illumination of the
+full-orbed Moon, and the thousand thousand stars that spangle the
+nocturnal sky&mdash;all these afforded Milton a rich field in which his
+imagination luxuriated, and in the description of which he found
+subject-matter worthy of his gifted intellect.</p>
+
+<p>Milton gives an ampler and more detailed description of the new universe
+in his narration of Satan&#8217;s journey through space in search of this
+world, and brings more vividly before the imagination of his readers the
+glories of the celestial regions. The fiend, having emerged from the
+dark abyss of Chaos into a region of light, first beheld the new
+creation from such a distance that to his view it appeared as a star
+suspended by a golden chain from the Empyrean. This stellar conception
+of the poet&#8217;s harmonised with the views of the Ptolemaists, who believed
+that the universe was of limited extent, and though its dimensions were
+vast beyond comprehension, it was, nevertheless, enclosed by the tenth
+sphere or Primum Mobile. It was on the surface of this sphere that Satan
+alighted, and over which he wandered, until attracted by a beam of light
+that appeared through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> an opening at its zenith, where, by means of a
+stair or ladder, communication was maintained between the new universe
+and Heaven above. Hither the undaunted fiend hied, and, standing on the
+lower steps of this structure, momentarily paused to gaze upon the
+glorious sight which burst upon his view before directing his flight
+down into the newly created universe. Milton then describes his progress
+through the stellar regions, his landing in the Sun and what he saw
+there, and the termination of his journey when he descends from the
+ecliptic down to the Earth. In doing so the poet gives a wonderfully
+beautiful description of the starry universe, of the Sun, Moon, and
+Earth (Book III. 540-742), enhanced and adorned with his own poetic
+imaginings derived from fable, philosophy, and science.</p>
+
+<p>Milton makes more frequent allusion to the Sun than to any of the other
+orbs of the firmament. This we should expect: the poet always gives the
+orb the precedence which is his due, and never fails, when the occasion
+requires it, to surround him with the &lsquo;surpassing glory&rsquo; which marks his
+pre-eminence above all other occupants of the sky. The Moon, his
+consort&mdash;peerless in the subdued effulgence of her borrowed light; the
+beautiful star of evening, Hesperus; the sidereal heavens with their
+untold glories; the Galaxy, overpowering in the magnificence of its
+clouds and streams of stars&mdash;all these have their beauties and charms
+mirrored in the pages of this remarkable poem.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>
+That the observation of the celestial orbs, their phases, and the varied
+phenomena which occur as a consequence of their motions, were to Milton
+an unfailing source of enjoyment and of meditative delight, is evident
+from the frequency with which he alludes to them. The following lines
+also testify to this:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">For wonderful indeed are all his works,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Had in remembrance always with delight!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But what created mind can comprehend<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their number, or the wisdom infinite<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That brought them forth, but hid their causes deep?&mdash;iii. 703-708.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It is very pleasant, as Milton says, to</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i16">sit and rightly spell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of every star that heaven doth show.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It is also pleasant to know the astronomy of his &lsquo;Paradise Lost,&rsquo; and to
+linger over the delightful and harmonious utterances associated with the
+sublimest of sciences, expressed in the melodious language of England&#8217;s
+greatest epic poet.</p>
+
+<h6 style="margin-top:3em;">PRINTED BY<br />
+SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE<br />
+LONDON
+</h6>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Chambers&#8217;s <i>Handbook of Astronomy</i>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Brewster&#8217;s <i>Martyrs of Science</i>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The transit occurred on a Sunday, and the &lsquo;business of the
+highest importance&rsquo; to which Horrox alludes was his clerical duties.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> A fresco by the late Mr. Ford Maddox-Brown, depicting
+Crabtree observing the transit of Venus, adorns the interior of the
+Manchester Town Hall.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> William Crabtree died on August 1, 1644, aged 34 years.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The constellation Virgo.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Life of Galileo</i> (Library of Useful Knowledge).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Miss Clerke&#8217;s <i>System of the Stars</i>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Miss Clerke&#8217;s <i>System of the Stars</i>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Miss Clerke&#8217;s <i>System of the Stars</i>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> An expression in Book VIII. 148-49 would seem to indicate
+that this was inaccurate, but the lines
+</p>
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i22">&lsquo;and other suns perhaps<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry,&rsquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<p>
+are an allusion to the planets Jupiter and Saturn, whose satellites had
+been recently discovered.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Mr. E. W. Maunder, in <i>Knowledge</i>, March 1894.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Though not a celestial body, it is considered desirable to
+describe the Earth as a member of the solar system.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> See <a href="#FIG2">diagram</a>, chap. iii. p. 96.</p></div>
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise
+Lost', by Thomas Orchard
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost', by
+Thomas Orchard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'
+
+Author: Thomas Orchard
+
+Release Date: March 29, 2009 [EBook #28434]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTRONOMY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Nigel Blower and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
+
+
+Greek letters used to identify stars (Bayer designation), are replaced
+with the full name of the Greek letter, e.g. Alpha Centauri.
+
+The single Greek word in the text is transliterated within braces, {kome}.
+
+Minor punctuation and hyphenation inconsistencies have been corrected.
+
+The spelling "Bernices" for "Berenices" has been retained throughout.
+
+The following minor typographical errors have been corrected:
+p75:  "establish" changed to "established"
+p99:  "Firmanent" changed to "Firmament"
+p111: "they thoughts" changed to "thy thoughts"
+p120: "suen" changed to "seuen"
+p134: "consequenc" changed to "consequence"
+p146: "geographieal" changed to "geographical"
+p167: "Lyrae" changed to "Lyrae" for consistency
+p286: Removed redundant word "degrees" following the degree symbol
+
+
+
+
+                THE ASTRONOMY
+                     OF
+           MILTON'S 'PARADISE LOST'
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A TYPICAL SUN-SPOT]
+
+
+
+
+                THE ASTRONOMY
+                     OF
+           MILTON'S 'PARADISE LOST'
+
+                     BY
+
+           THOMAS N. ORCHARD, M.D.
+
+MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION
+
+
+_These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
+Almighty! thine this universal frame,
+Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then!
+Unspeakable._
+
+
+           LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
+         LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY
+                     1896
+
+             All rights reserved
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                                             PAGE
+   I. A Short Historical Sketch of Astronomy                           1
+  II. Astronomy in the Seventeenth Century                            45
+ III. Milton's Astronomical Knowledge                                 81
+  IV. Milton and Galileo                                             113
+   V. The Seasons                                                    140
+  VI. The Starry Heavens                                             152
+ VII. The Starry Heavens                                             200
+VIII. Description of Celestial Objects Mentioned in 'Paradise Lost'  244
+  IX. Milton's Imaginative and Descriptive Astronomy                 306
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+_PLATES_
+
+A Typical Sun-spot                                        _Frontispiece_
+Venus on the Sun's Disc                               _To face page_  66
+Cluster in Hercules                                          "       218
+Great Nebula in Orion                                        "       230
+A Portion of the Moon's Surface                              "       268
+
+
+_IN TEXT_
+
+FIG.                                                                PAGE
+1.  The Ptolemaic System of the Universe                              86
+2.  Milton's Division of Universal Space                              96
+3.  A Binary Star System--70 Ophiuchi                                184
+4.  The Orbits of the Components of Gamma Virginis                   189
+5.  Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius                        190
+6.  A Sun-spot Magnified                                             247
+7.  The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883                        254
+8.  A Portion of the Milky Way                                       289
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Many able and cultured writers have delighted to expatiate on the
+beauties of Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' and to linger with admiration over
+the lofty utterances expressed in his poem. Though conscious of his
+inability to do justice to the sublimest of poets and the noblest of
+sciences, the author has ventured to contribute to Miltonic literature a
+work which he hopes will prove to be of an interesting and instructive
+character. Perhaps the choicest passages in the poem are associated with
+astronomical allusion, and it is chiefly to the exposition and
+illustration of these that this volume is devoted.
+
+The writer is indebted to many authors for information and reference,
+and especially to Miss Agnes M. Clerke, Professors Masson and Young, Mr.
+James Nasmyth, Mr. G. F. Chambers, and Sir Robert Ball. Also to the
+works of the late Mr. R. A. Proctor, Sirs W. and J. Herschel, Admiral
+Smyth, Professor Grant, Mr. J. R. Hind, Sir David Brewster, Rev. A. B.
+Whatton, and Prebendary Webb.
+
+Most of the illustrations have been supplied by the Publishers: Messrs.
+Macmillan and W. Hunt & Co. have kindly permitted the reproduction of
+some of their drawings.
+
+MANCHESTER, _March 1896_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ASTRONOMY
+
+
+Astronomy is the oldest and most sublime of all the sciences. To a
+contemplative observer of the heavens, the number and brilliancy of the
+stars, the lustre of the planets, the silvery aspect of the Moon, with
+her ever-changing phases, together with the order, the harmony, and
+unison pervading them all, create in his mind thoughts of wonder and
+admiration. Occupying the abyss of space indistinguishable from
+infinity, the starry heavens in grandeur and magnificence surpass the
+loftiest conceptions of the human mind; for, at a distance beyond the
+range of ordinary vision, the telescope reveals clusters, systems,
+galaxies, universes of stars--suns--the innumerable host of heaven, each
+shining with a splendour comparable with that of our Sun, and, in all
+likelihood, fulfilling in a similar manner the same beneficent purposes.
+
+The time when man began to study the stars is lost in the antiquity of
+prehistoric ages. The ancient inhabitants of the Earth regarded the
+heavenly bodies with veneration and awe, erected temples in their
+honour, and worshipped them as deities. Historical records of astronomy
+carry us back several thousand years. During the greater part of this
+time, and until a comparatively recent period, astronomy was associated
+with astrology--a science which originated from a desire on the part of
+mankind to penetrate the future, and which was based upon the supposed
+influence of the heavenly bodies upon human and terrestrial affairs. It
+was natural to imagine that the overruling power which governed and
+directed the course of sublunary events resided in the heavens, and that
+its decrees might be understood by watching the movements of the
+heavenly bodies under its control. It was, therefore, believed that by
+observing the configuration of the planets and the positions of the
+constellations at the instant of the birth of an individual, his
+horoscope, or destiny, could be foretold; and that by making
+observations of a somewhat similar nature the occurrence of events of
+public importance could be predicted. When, however, the laws which
+govern the motions of the heavenly bodies became better known, and
+especially after the discovery of the great law of gravitation,
+astrology ceased to be a belief, though for long after it retained its
+power over the imagination, and was often alluded to in the writings of
+poets and other authors.
+
+In the early dawn of astronomical science, the theories upheld with
+regard to the structure of the heavens were of a simple and primitive
+nature, and might even be described as grotesque. This need occasion no
+surprise when we consider the difficulties with which ancient
+astronomers had to contend in their endeavours to reduce to order and
+harmony the complicated motions of the orbs which they beheld circling
+around them.
+
+The grouping of the stars into constellations having fanciful names,
+derived from fable or ancient mythology, occurred at a very early
+period, and though devoid of any methodical arrangement, is yet
+sufficiently well-defined to serve the purposes of modern astronomers.
+Several of the ancient nations of the earth, including the Chaldeans,
+Egyptians, Hindus, and Chinese, claim to have been the earliest
+astronomers. Chinese records of astronomy reveal an antiquity of near
+3,000 years B.C., but they contain no evidence that their authors
+possessed any scientific knowledge, and they merely record the
+occurrence of solar eclipses and the appearances of comets.
+
+It is not known when astronomy was first studied by the Egyptians; but
+what astronomical information they have handed down is not of a very
+intelligible kind, nor have they left behind any data that can be relied
+upon. The Great Pyramid, judging from the exactness with which it faces
+the cardinal points, must have been designed by persons who possessed a
+good knowledge of astronomy, and it was probably made use of for
+observational purposes.
+
+It is now generally admitted that correct astronomical observations were
+first made on the plains of Chaldea, records of eclipses having been
+discovered in Chaldean cities which date back 2,234 years B.C. The
+Chaldeans were true astronomers: they made correct observations of the
+risings and settings of the heavenly bodies; and the exact orientation
+of their temples and public buildings indicates the precision with which
+they observed the positions of celestial objects. They invented the
+zodiac and gnomon, made use of several kinds of dials, notified
+eclipses, and divided the day into twenty-four hours.
+
+To the Greeks belongs the credit of having first studied astronomy in a
+regular and systematic manner. THALES (640 B.C.) was one of the earliest
+of Greek astronomers, and may be regarded as the founder of the science
+among that people. He was born at Miletus, and afterwards repaired to
+Egypt for the purpose of study. On his return to Greece he founded the
+Ionian school, and taught the sphericity of the Earth, the obliquity of
+the ecliptic, and the true causes of eclipses of the Sun and Moon. He
+also directed the attention of mariners to the superiority of the Lesser
+Bear, as a guide for the navigation of vessels, as compared with the
+Great Bear, by which constellation they usually steered. Thales believed
+the Earth to be the centre of the universe, and that the stars were
+composed of fire; he also predicted the occurrence of a great solar
+eclipse.
+
+Thales had for his successors Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Anaxagoras,
+who taught the doctrines of the Ionian school.
+
+The next great astronomer that we read of is PYTHAGORAS, who was born at
+Samos 590 B.C. He studied under Thales, and afterwards visited Egypt and
+India, in order that he might make himself familiar with the scientific
+theories adopted by those nations. On his return to Europe he founded
+his school in Italy, and taught in a more extended form the doctrines of
+the Ionian school. In his speculations with regard to the structure of
+the universe he propounded the theory (though the reasons by which he
+sustained it were fanciful) that the Sun is the centre of the planetary
+system, and that the Earth revolves round him. This theory--the accuracy
+of which has since been confirmed--received but little attention from
+his successors, and it sank into oblivion until the time of Copernicus,
+by whom it was revived. Pythagoras discovered that the Morning and
+Evening Stars are one and the same planet.
+
+Among the famous astronomers who lived about this period we find
+recorded the names of Meton, who introduced the Metonic cycle into
+Greece and erected the first sundial at Athens; Eudoxus, who persuaded
+the Greeks to adopt the year of 365-1/4 days; and Nicetas, who taught
+that the Earth completed a daily revolution on her axis.
+
+The Alexandrian school, which flourished for three centuries prior to
+the Christian era, produced men of eminence whose discoveries and
+investigations, when arranged and classified, enabled astronomy to be
+regarded as a true theoretical science. The positions of the fixed stars
+and the paths of the planets were determined with greater accuracy, and
+irregularities of the motions of the Sun and Moon were investigated with
+greater precision. Attempts were made to ascertain the distance of the
+Sun from the Earth, and also the dimensions of the terrestrial sphere.
+The obliquity of the ecliptic was accurately determined, and an arc of
+the meridian was measured between Syene and Alexandria. The names of
+Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Aristyllus, Timocharis, and Autolycus, are
+familiarly known in association with the advancement of the astronomy of
+this period.
+
+We now reach the name of HIPPARCHUS of Bithynia (140 B.C.), the most
+illustrious astronomer of antiquity, who did much to raise astronomy to
+the position of a true science, and who has also left behind him ample
+evidence of his genius 'as a mathematician, an observer, and a
+theorist.' We are indebted to him for the earliest star catalogue, in
+which he included 1,081 stars. He discovered the Precession of the
+Equinoxes, and determined the motions of the Sun and Moon, and also the
+length of the year, with greater precision than any of his predecessors.
+He invented the sciences of plane and spherical trigonometry, and was
+the first to use right ascensions and declinations.
+
+The next astronomer of eminence after Hipparchus was PTOLEMY (130 A.D.),
+who resided at Alexandria. He was skilled as a mathematician and
+geographer, and also excelled as a musician. His chief discovery was an
+irregularity of the lunar motion, called the '_evection_.' He was also
+the first to observe the effect of the refraction of light in causing
+the apparent displacement of a heavenly body from its true position.
+Ptolemy devoted much of his time to extending and improving the theories
+of Hipparchus, and compiled a great treatise, called the 'Almagest,'
+which contains nearly all the knowledge we possess of ancient astronomy.
+Ptolemy's name is, however, most widely known in association with what
+is called the Ptolemaic theory. This system, which originated long
+before his time, but of which he was one of the ablest expounders, was
+an attempt to establish on a scientific basis the conclusions and
+results arrived at by early astronomers who studied and observed the
+motions of the heavenly bodies. Ptolemy regarded the Earth as the
+immovable centre of the universe, round which the Sun, Moon, planets,
+and the entire heavens completed a daily revolution in twenty-four
+hours. After the death of Ptolemy no worthy successor was found to
+occupy his place, the study of astronomy began to decline among the
+Greeks, and after a time it ceased to be cultivated by that people.
+
+The Arabs next took up the study of astronomy, which they prosecuted
+most assiduously for a period of four centuries. Their labours were,
+however, confined chiefly to observational work, in which they
+excelled; unlike their predecessors, they paid but little attention to
+speculative theories--indeed, they regarded with such veneration the
+opinions held by the Greeks, that they did not feel disposed to question
+the accuracy of their doctrines. The most eminent astronomer among the
+Arabs was ALBATEGNIUS (680 A.D.). He corrected the Greek observations,
+and made several discoveries which testified to his abilities as an
+observer. IBN YUNIS and ABUL WEFU were Arab astronomers who earned a
+high reputation on account of the number and accuracy of their
+observations. In Persia, a descendant of the famous Genghis Khan erected
+an observatory, where astronomical observations were systematically
+made. Omar, a Persian astronomer, suggested a reformation of the
+calendar which, if it had been adopted, would have insured greater
+accuracy than can be attained by the Gregorian style now in use. In
+1433, Ulugh Beg, who resided at Samarcand, made many observations, and
+constructed a star catalogue of greater exactness than was known to
+exist prior to his time. The Arabs may be regarded as having been the
+custodians of astronomy until the time of its revival in another quarter
+of the Globe.
+
+After the lapse of many centuries, astronomy was introduced into Western
+Europe in 1220, and from that date to the present time its career has
+been one of triumphant progress. In 1230, a translation of Ptolemy's
+'Almagest' from Arabic into Latin was accomplished by order of the
+German Emperor, Frederick II.; and in 1252 Alphonso X., King of Castile,
+himself a zealous patron of astronomy, caused a new set of astronomical
+tables to be constructed at his own expense, which, in honour of his
+Majesty, were called the 'Alphonsine Tables.' Purbach and Regiomontanus,
+two German astronomers of distinguished reputation, and Waltherus, a man
+of considerable renown, made many important observations in the
+fifteenth century.
+
+The most eminent astronomer who lived during the latter part of this
+century was Copernicus. NICOLAS COPERNICUS was born February 19, 1473,
+at Thorn, a small town situated on the Vistula, which formed the
+boundary between the kingdoms of Prussia and Poland. His father was a
+Polish subject, and his mother of German extraction. Having lost his
+parents early in life, he was educated under the supervision of his
+uncle Lucas, Bishop of Ermland. Copernicus attended a school at Thorn,
+and afterwards entered the University of Cracow, in 1491, where he
+devoted four years to the study of mathematics and science. On leaving
+Cracow he attached himself to the University of Bologna as a student of
+canon law, and attended a course of lectures on astronomy given by
+Novarra. In the ensuing year he was appointed canon of Frauenburg, the
+cathedral city of the Diocese of Ermland, situated on the shores of the
+Frisches Haff. In the year 1500 he was at Rome, where he lectured on
+mathematics and astronomy. He next spent a few years at the University
+of Padua, where, besides applying himself to mathematics and astronomy,
+he studied medicine and obtained a degree. In 1505 Copernicus returned
+to his native country, and was appointed medical attendant to his uncle,
+the Bishop of Ermland, with whom he resided in the stately castle of
+Heilsberg, situated at a distance of forty-six miles from Frauenburg.
+Copernicus lived with his uncle from 1507 till 1512, and during that
+time prosecuted his astronomical studies, and undertook, besides, many
+arduous duties associated with the administration of the diocese; these
+he faithfully discharged until the death of the Bishop, which occurred
+in 1512. After the death of his uncle he took up his residence at
+Frauenburg, where he occupied his time in meditating on his new
+astronomy and undertaking various duties of a public character, which he
+fulfilled with credit and distinction. In 1523 he was appointed
+Administrator-General of the diocese. Though a canon of Frauenburg,
+Copernicus never became a priest.
+
+After many years of profound meditation and thought, Copernicus, in a
+treatise entitled 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium,' propounded a new
+theory, or, more correctly speaking, revived the ancient Pythagorean
+system of the universe. This great work, which he dedicated to Pope Paul
+III., was completed in 1530; but he could not be prevailed upon to have
+it published until 1543, the year in which he died. In 1542 Copernicus
+had an apoplectic seizure, followed by paralysis and a gradual decay of
+his mental and vital powers. His book was printed at Nuremberg, and the
+first copy arrived at Frauenburg on May 24, 1543, in time to be touched
+by the hands of the dying man, who in a few hours after expired. The
+house in which Copernicus lived at Allenstein is still in existence, and
+in the walls of his chamber are visible the perforations which he made
+for the purpose of observing the stars cross the meridian.
+
+Copernicus was the means of creating an entire revolution in the science
+of astronomy, by transferring the centre of our system from the Earth to
+the Sun. He accounted for the alternation of day and night by the
+rotation of the Earth on her axis, and for the vicissitudes of the
+seasons by her revolution round the Sun. He devoted the greater part of
+his life to meditating on this theory, and adduced several weighty
+reasons in its support. Copernicus could not help perceiving the
+complications and entanglements by which the Ptolemaic system of the
+universe was surrounded, and which compared unfavourably with the simple
+and orderly manner in which other natural phenomena presented themselves
+to his observation. By perceiving that Mars when in opposition was not
+much inferior in lustre to Jupiter, and when in conjunction resembled a
+star of the second magnitude, he arrived at the conclusion that the
+Earth could not be the centre of the planet's motion. Having discovered
+in some ancient manuscripts a theory, ascribed to the Egyptians, that
+Mercury and Venus revolved round the Sun, whilst they accompanied the
+orb in his revolution round the Earth, Copernicus was able to perceive
+that this afforded him a means of explaining the alternate appearance of
+those planets on each side of the Sun. The varied aspects of the
+superior planets, when observed in different parts of their orbits, also
+led him to conclude that the Earth was not the central body round which
+they accomplished their revolutions. As a combined result of his
+observation and reasoning Copernicus propounded the theory that the Sun
+is the centre of our system, and that all the planets, including the
+Earth, revolve in orbits around him. This, which is called the
+Copernican system, is now regarded as, and has been proved to be, the
+true theory of the solar system.
+
+TYCHO BRAHE was a celebrated Danish astronomer, who earned a deservedly
+high reputation on account of the number and accuracy of his
+astronomical observations and calculations. The various astronomical
+tables that were in use in his time contained many inaccuracies, and it
+became necessary that they should be reconstructed upon a more correct
+basis. Tycho possessed the practical skill required for this kind of
+work.
+
+He was born December 14, 1546, at Knudstorp, near Helsingborg. His
+father, Otto Brahe, traced his descent from a Swedish family of noble
+birth. At the age of thirteen Tycho was sent to the University of
+Copenhagen, where it was intended he should prepare himself for the
+study of the law.
+
+The prediction of a great solar eclipse, which was to happen on August
+21, 1560, caused much public excitement in Denmark, for in those days
+such phenomena were regarded as portending the occurrence of events of
+national importance. Tycho looked forward with great eagerness to the
+time of the eclipse. He watched its progress with intense interest, and
+when he perceived all the details of the phenomenon occur exactly as
+they were predicted, he resolved to pursue the study of a science by
+which, as was then believed, the occurrence of future events could be
+foretold. From Copenhagen Tycho Brahe was sent to Leipsic to study
+jurisprudence, but astronomy absorbed all his thoughts. He spent his
+pocket-money in purchasing astronomical books, and, when his tutor had
+retired to sleep, he occupied his time night after night in watching the
+stars and making himself familiar with their courses. He followed the
+planets in their direct and retrograde movements, and with the aid of a
+small globe and pair of compasses was able by means of his own
+calculations to detect serious discrepancies in the Alphonsine and
+Prutenic tables. In order to make himself more proficient in calculating
+astronomical tables he studied arithmetic and geometry, and learned
+mathematics without the aid of a master. Having remained at Leipsic for
+three years, during which time he paid far more attention to the study
+of astronomy than to that of law, he returned to his native country in
+consequence of the death of an uncle, who bequeathed him a considerable
+estate. In Denmark he continued to prosecute his astronomical studies,
+and incurred the displeasure of his friends, who blamed him for
+neglecting his intended profession and wasting his time on astronomy,
+which they regarded as useless and unprofitable.
+
+Not caring to remain among his relatives, Tycho Brahe returned to
+Germany, and arrived at Wittenberg in 1566. Whilst residing here he had
+an altercation with a Danish gentleman over some question in
+mathematics. The quarrel led to a duel with swords, which terminated
+rather unfortunately for Tycho, who had a portion of his nose cut off.
+This loss he repaired by ingeniously contriving one of gold, silver, and
+wax, which was said to bear a good resemblance to the original. From
+Wittenberg Tycho proceeded to Augsburg, where he resided for two years.
+Here he made the acquaintance of several men distinguished for their
+learning and their love of astronomy. During his stay at Augsburg he
+constructed a quadrant of fourteen cubits radius, on which were
+indicated the single minutes of a degree; he made many valuable
+observations with this instrument, which he used in combination with a
+large sextant.
+
+In 1571 Tycho returned to Denmark, where his fame as an astronomer had
+preceded him, and was the means of procuring for him a hearty welcome
+from his relatives and friends. In 1572, when returning one night from
+his laboratory--for Tycho studied alchemy as well as astronomy--he
+beheld what appeared to be a new and brilliant star in the
+constellation Cassiopeia, which was situated overhead. He directed the
+attention of his companions to this wonderful object, and all declared
+that they had never observed such a star before. On the following night
+he measured its distance from the nearest stars in the constellation,
+and arrived at the conclusion that it was a fixed star, and beyond our
+system.
+
+This remarkable object remained visible for sixteen months, and when at
+its brightest rivalled Sirius. At first it was of a brilliant white
+colour, but as it diminished in size it became yellow; it next changed
+to a red colour, resembling Aldebaran; afterwards it appeared like
+Saturn, and as it grew smaller it decreased in brightness, until it
+finally became invisible. In 1573 Tycho Brahe married a peasant-girl
+from the village of Knudstorp. This imprudent act roused the resentment
+of his relatives, who, being of noble birth, were indignant that he
+should have contracted such an alliance. The bitterness and mutual
+ill-feeling created by this affair became so intense that the King of
+Denmark deemed it advisable to endeavour to bring about a
+reconciliation.
+
+After this Tycho returned to Germany, and visited several cities before
+deciding where he should take up his permanent residence.
+
+His fame as an astronomer was now so great that he was received with
+distinction wherever he went, and on the occasion of a visit to
+Hesse-Cassel he spent a few pleasant days with William, Landgrave of
+Hesse, who was himself skilled in astronomy.
+
+Frederick II., King of Denmark, having recognised Tycho Brahe's great
+merits as an astronomer, and not wishing that his fame should add lustre
+to a foreign Court, expressed a desire that he should return to his
+native country, and as an inducement offered him a life interest in the
+island of Huen, in the Sound, where he undertook to erect and equip an
+observatory at his own expense; the King also promised to bestow upon
+him a pension, and grant him other emoluments besides.
+
+Tycho gladly accepted this generous offer, and during the construction
+of the observatory occupied his time in making a magnificent collection
+of instruments and appliances adapted for observational purposes. This
+handsome edifice, upon which the King of Denmark expended a sum of
+20,000_l._, was called 'Uranienburg' ('The Citadel of the Heavens').
+Here Tycho resided for a period of twenty years, during which time he
+pursued his astronomical labours with untiring energy and zeal, and made
+a large number of observations and calculations of much superior
+accuracy to any that existed previously, which were afterwards of great
+service to his successors. During his long residence at Huen, Tycho was
+visited by many distinguished persons, who were attracted to his island
+home by his fame and the magnificence of his observatory. Among them was
+James VI. of Scotland, who, whilst journeying to the Court of Denmark
+on the occasion of his marriage to a Danish princess, paid Tycho a
+visit, and enjoyed his hospitality for a week. The King was delighted
+with all that he saw, and on his departure presented Tycho with a
+handsome donation, and at his request composed some Latin verses, in
+which he eulogised his host and praised his observatory.
+
+The island of Huen is situated about six miles from the coast of
+Zealand, and fourteen from Copenhagen. It has a circumference of six
+miles, and consists chiefly of an elevated plateau, in the centre of
+which Tycho erected his observatory, the site of which is now marked by
+two pits and a few mounds of earth--all that remains of Uranienburg. All
+went well with Tycho Brahe during the lifetime of his noble patron; but
+in 1588 Frederick II. died, and was succeeded by his son, a youth eleven
+years of age.
+
+The Danish nobles had long been jealous of Tycho's fame and reputation,
+and on the death of the King an opportunity was afforded them of
+intriguing with the object of accomplishing his downfall. Several false
+accusations were brought against him, and the Court party made the
+impoverished state of the Treasury an excuse for depriving him of his
+pension and emoluments granted by the late King.
+
+Tycho was no longer able to bear the expense of maintaining his
+establishment at Huen, and fearing that he might be deprived of the
+island itself, he took a house in Copenhagen, to which he removed all
+his smaller instruments.
+
+During his residence in the capital he was subjected to annoyance and
+persecution. An order was issued in the King's name preventing him from
+carrying on his chemical experiments, and he besides suffered the
+indignity of a personal assault. Tycho Brahe resolved to quit his
+ungrateful country and seek a home in some foreign land, where he should
+be permitted to pursue his studies unmolested and live in quietness and
+peace. He accordingly removed from the island of Huen all his
+instruments and appliances that were of a portable nature, and packed
+them on board a vessel which he hired for the purpose of transport, and,
+having embarked with his family, his servants, and some of his pupils
+and assistants, 'this interesting barque, freighted with the glory of
+Denmark,' set sail from Copenhagen about the end of 1597, and having
+crossed the Baltic in safety, arrived at Rostock, where Tycho found some
+old friends waiting to receive him. He was now in doubt as to where he
+should find a home, when the Austrian Emperor Rudolph, himself a liberal
+patron of science and the fine arts, having heard of Tycho Brahe's
+misfortunes, sent him an invitation to take up his abode in his
+dominions, and promised that he should be treated in a manner worthy of
+his reputation and fame.
+
+Tycho resolved to accept the Emperor's kind invitation, and in the
+spring of 1599 arrived at Prague, where he found a handsome residence
+prepared for his reception.
+
+He was received by the Emperor in a most cordial manner and treated with
+the greatest kindness. An annual pension of three thousand crowns was
+settled upon him for life, and he was to have his choice of several
+residences belonging to his Majesty, where he might reside and erect a
+new observatory. From among these he selected the Castle of Benach, in
+Bohemia, which was situated on an elevated plateau and commanded a wide
+view of the horizon.
+
+During his residence at Benach Tycho received a visit from Kepler, who
+stayed with him for several months in order that he might carry out some
+astronomical observations. In the following year Kepler returned, and
+took up his permanent residence with Tycho, having been appointed
+assistant in his observatory, a post which, at Tycho's request, was
+conferred upon him by the Emperor.
+
+Tycho Brahe soon discovered that his ignorance of the language and
+unfamiliarity with the customs of the people caused him much
+inconvenience. He therefore asked permission from the Emperor to be
+allowed to remove to Prague. This request was readily granted, and a
+suitable residence was provided for him in the city.
+
+In the meantime his family, his large instruments, and other property,
+having arrived at Prague, Tycho was soon comfortably settled in his new
+home.
+
+Though Tycho Brahe continued his astronomical observations, yet he could
+not help feeling that he lived among a strange people; nor did the
+remembrance of his sufferings and the cruel treatment he received at the
+hands of his fellow-countrymen subdue the affection which he cherished
+towards his native land. Pondering over the past, he became despondent
+and low-spirited; a morbid imagination caused him to brood over small
+troubles, and gloomy, melancholy thoughts possessed his mind--symptoms
+which seemed to presage the approach of some serious malady. One
+evening, when visiting at the house of a friend, he was seized with a
+painful illness, to which he succumbed in less than a fortnight. He died
+at Prague on October 24, 1601, when in his fifty-fifth year.
+
+The Emperor Rudolph, when informed of Tycho Brahe's death, expressed his
+deep regret, and commanded that he should be interred in the principal
+church in the city, and that his obsequies should be celebrated with
+every mark of honour and respect.
+
+Tycho Brahe stands out as the most romantic and prominent figure in the
+history of astronomy. His independence of character, his ardent
+attachments, his strong hatreds, and his love of splendour, are
+characteristics which distinguish him from all other men of his age.
+This remarkable man was an astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist; but in
+his latter years he renounced astrology, and believed that the stars
+exercised no influence over the destinies of mankind.
+
+As a practical astronomer, Tycho Brahe has not been excelled by any
+other observer of the heavens. The magnificence of his observatory at
+Huen, upon the equipment and embellishment of which it is stated he
+expended a ton of gold; the splendour and variety of his instruments,
+and his ingenuity in inventing new ones, would alone have made him
+famous. But it was by the skill and assiduity with which he carried out
+his numerous and important observations that he has earned for himself a
+position of the most honourable distinction among astronomers. In his
+investigation of the Lunar theory Tycho Brahe discovered the Moon's
+_annual equation_, a yearly effect produced by the Sun's disturbing
+force as the Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit. He also
+discovered another inequality in the Moon's motion, called the
+_variation_. He determined with greater exactness astronomical
+refractions from an altitude of 45 deg. downwards to the horizon, and
+constructed a catalogue of 777 stars. He also made a vast number of
+observations on planets, which formed the basis of the 'Rudolphine
+Tables,' and were of invaluable assistance to Kepler in his
+investigation of the laws relating to planetary motion.
+
+Tycho Brahe declined to accept the Copernican theory, and devised a
+system of his own, which he called the 'Tychonic.' By this arrangement
+the Earth remained stationary, whilst all the planets revolved round
+the Sun, who in his turn completed a daily revolution round the Earth.
+All the phenomena associated with the motions of those bodies could be
+explained by means of this system; but it did not receive much support,
+and after the Copernican theory became better understood it was given
+up, and heard of no more.
+
+We now arrive at the name of KEPLER, one of the very greatest of
+astronomers, and a man of remarkable genius, who was the first to
+discover the real nature of the paths pursued by the Earth and planets
+in their revolution round the Sun. After seventeen years of close
+observation, he announced that those bodies travelled round the Sun in
+elliptical or oval orbits, and not in circular paths, as was believed by
+Copernicus. In his investigation of the laws which govern the motions of
+the planets he formulated those famous theorems known as 'Kepler's
+Laws,' which will endure for all time as a proof of his sagacity and
+surpassing genius. Prior to the discovery of those laws the Sun, though
+acknowledged to be the centre of the system, did not appear to occupy a
+central position as regards the motions of the planets; but Kepler, by
+demonstrating that the planes of the orbits of all the planets, and the
+lines connecting their apsides, passed through the Sun, was enabled to
+assign the orb his true position with regard to those bodies.
+
+JOHN KEPLER was born at Weil, in the Duchy of Wurtemberg, December 21,
+1571. His parents, though of noble family, lived in reduced
+circumstances, owing to causes for which they were themselves chiefly
+responsible. In his youth Kepler suffered so much from ill-health that
+his education had to be neglected. In 1586 he was sent to a monastic
+school at Maulbronn, which had been established at the Reformation, and
+was under the patronage of the Duke of Wurtemberg. Afterwards he studied
+at the University of Tubingen, where he distinguished himself and took a
+degree. Kepler devoted his attention chiefly to science and mathematics,
+but paid no particular attention to the study of astronomy. Maestlin,
+the professor of mathematics, whose lectures he attended, upheld the
+Copernican theory, and Kepler, who adopted the views of his teacher,
+wrote an essay in favour of the diurnal rotation of the Earth, in which
+he supported the more recent astronomical doctrines. In 1594, a vacancy
+having occurred in the professorship of astronomy at Gratz consequent
+upon the death of George Stadt, Kepler was appointed his successor. He
+did not seek this office, as he felt no particular desire to take up the
+study of astronomy, but was recommended by his tutors as a man well
+fitted for the post. He was thus in a manner compelled to devote his
+time and talents to the science of astronomy. Kepler directed his
+attention to three subjects--viz. 'the number, the size, and the motion
+of the orbits of the planets.' He endeavoured to ascertain if any
+regular proportion existed between the sizes of the planetary orbits, or
+in the difference of their sizes, but in this he was unsuccessful. He
+then thought that, by imagining the existence of a planet between Mars
+and Jupiter, and another between Venus and Mercury, he might be able to
+attain his object; but he found that this assumption afforded him no
+assistance. Kepler then imagined that as there were five regular
+geometrical solids, and five planets, the distances of the latter were
+regulated by the size of the solids described round one another. The
+discovery afterwards of two additional planets testified to the
+absurdity of this speculation. A description of these extraordinary
+researches was published, in 1596, in a work entitled 'Prodromus of
+Cosmographical Dissertations; containing the cosmographical mystery
+respecting the admirable proportion of the celestial orbits, and the
+genuine and real causes of the number, magnitude, and periods of the
+planets, demonstrated by the five regular geometrical solids.' This
+volume, notwithstanding the fanciful speculations which it contained,
+was received with much favour by astronomers, and both Tycho Brahe and
+Galileo encouraged Kepler to continue his researches. Galileo admired
+his ingenuity, and Tycho advised him 'to lay a solid foundation for his
+views by actual observation, and then, by ascending from these, to
+strive to reach the causes of things.' Kepler spent many years in these
+fruitless endeavours before he made those grand discoveries in search of
+which he laboured so long.
+
+The religious dissensions which at this time agitated Germany were
+accompanied in many places by much tumult and excitement. At Gratz the
+Catholics threatened to expel the Protestants from the city. Kepler, who
+was of the Reformed faith, having recognised the danger with which he
+was threatened, retired to Hungary with his wife, whom he had recently
+married, and remained there for near twelve months, during which time he
+occupied himself with writing several short treatises on subjects
+connected with astronomy. In 1599 he returned to Gratz and resumed his
+professorship.
+
+In the year 1600 Kepler set out to pay Tycho Brahe a visit at Prague, in
+order that he might be able to avail himself of information contained in
+observations made by Tycho with regard to the eccentricities of the
+orbits of the planets. He was received by Tycho with much cordiality,
+and stayed with him for four months at his residence at Benach, Tycho in
+the meantime having promised that he would use his influence with the
+Emperor Rudolph to have him appointed as assistant in his observatory.
+On the termination of his visit Kepler returned to Gratz, and as there
+was a renewal of the religious trouble in the city, he resigned his
+professorship, from which he only derived a small income, and, relying
+on Tycho's promise, he again journeyed to Prague, and arrived there in
+1601. Kepler was presented to the Emperor by Tycho, and the post of
+Imperial Mathematician was conferred upon him, with a salary of 100
+florins a year, upon condition that he should assist Tycho in his
+observatory. This appointment was of much value to Kepler, because it
+afforded him an opportunity of obtaining access to the numerous
+astronomical observations made by Tycho, which were of great assistance
+to him in the investigation of the subject which he had chosen--viz. the
+laws which govern the motions of the planets, and the form and size of
+the planetary orbits.
+
+As an acknowledgment of the Emperor's great kindness, the two
+astronomers resolved to compute a new set of astronomical tables, and in
+honour of his Majesty they were to be called the 'Rudolphine Tables.'
+This project pleased the Emperor, who promised to defray the expense of
+their publication. Logomontanus, Tycho's chief assistant, had entrusted
+to him that portion of the work relating to observations on the stars,
+and Kepler had charge of the part which embraced the calculations
+belonging to the planets and their orbits. This important work had
+scarcely been begun when the departure of Logomontanus, who obtained an
+appointment in Denmark, and the death of Tycho Brahe in October 1601,
+necessitated its suspension for a time. Kepler was appointed Chief
+Mathematician to the Emperor in succession to Tycho--a position of
+honour and distinction, and to which was attached a handsome salary,
+that was paid out of the Imperial treasury. But owing to the continuance
+of expensive wars, which entailed a severe drain upon the resources of
+the country, the public funds became very low, and Kepler's salary was
+always in arrear. This condition of things involved him in serious
+pecuniary difficulties, and the responsibility of having to maintain an
+increasing family added to his anxieties. It was with the greatest
+difficulty that he succeeded in obtaining payment of even a portion of
+his salary, and he was reduced to such straits as to be under the
+necessity of casting nativities in order to obtain money to meet his
+most pressing requirements.
+
+In 1609 Kepler published his great work, entitled 'The New Astronomy;
+or, Commentaries on the Motions of Mars.' It was by his observation of
+Mars, which has an orbit of greater eccentricity than that of any of the
+other planets, with the exception of Mercury, that he was enabled, after
+years of patient study, to announce in this volume the discovery of two
+of the three famous theorems known as Kepler's Laws. The first is, that
+all the planets move round the Sun in elliptic orbits, and that the orb
+occupies one of the foci. The second is, that the radius-vector, or
+imaginary line joining the centre of the planet and the centre of the
+Sun, describes equal areas in equal times. The third law, which relates
+to the connection between the periodic times and the distances of the
+planets, was not discovered until ten years later, when Kepler, in 1619,
+issued another work, called the 'Harmonies of the World,' dedicated to
+James I. of England, in which was contained this remarkable law. These
+laws have elevated astronomy to the position of a true physical science,
+and also formed the starting-point of Newton's investigations which led
+to the discovery of the law of gravitation. Kepler's delight on the
+discovery of his third law was unbounded. He writes: 'Nothing holds me.
+I will indulge in my sacred fury. I will triumph over mankind by the
+honest confession that I have stolen the golden vases of the Egyptians
+to build up a tabernacle for my God far away from the confines of Egypt.
+If you forgive me, I rejoice; if you are angry, I can bear it. The die
+is cast; the book is written, to be read either now or by posterity I
+care not which. It may well wait a century for a reader, as God has
+waited six thousand years for an observer.'
+
+When Kepler presented his celebrated book to the Emperor, he remarked
+that it was his intention to make a similar attack upon the other
+planets, and promised that he would be successful if his Majesty would
+undertake to find the means necessary for carrying on operations. But
+the Emperor had more formidable enemies to contend with nearer home than
+Jupiter and Saturn, and no funds were forthcoming to assist Kepler in
+his undertaking.
+
+The chair of mathematics in the University of Linz having become vacant,
+Kepler offered himself as a candidate for the appointment, which he was
+anxious to obtain; but the Emperor Rudolph was averse to his leaving
+Prague, and encouraged him to hope that the arrears of his salary would
+be paid. But past experience led Kepler to have no very sanguine
+expectations on this point; nor was it until after the death of Rudolph,
+in 1612, that he was relieved from his pecuniary embarrassments.
+
+On the accession of Rudolph's brother, Matthias, to the Austrian throne,
+Kepler was reappointed Imperial Mathematician; he was also permitted to
+hold the professorship at Linz, to which he had been elected. Kepler was
+not loth to remove from Prague, where he had spent eleven years harassed
+by poverty and other domestic afflictions. Having settled with his
+family at Linz, Kepler issued another work, in 1618, entitled 'Epitome
+of the Copernican Astronomy,' in which he gave a general account of his
+astronomical observations and discoveries, and a summary of his opinions
+with regard to the theories which in those days were the subject of
+controversial discussion. Almost immediately after its publication it
+was included by the Congregation of the Index, at Rome, in the list of
+prohibited books. This occasioned Kepler considerable alarm, as he
+imagined it might interfere with the sale of his works, or give rise to
+difficulties in the issue of others. He, however, was assured by his
+friend Remus that the action of the Papal authorities need cause him no
+anxiety.
+
+The Emperor Matthias died in 1619, and was succeeded by Ferdinand III.,
+who not only retained Kepler in his office, but gave orders that all the
+arrears of his salary should be paid, including those which accumulated
+during the reign of Rudolph; he also expressed a desire that the
+'Rudolphine Tables' should be published without delay and at his cost.
+But other obstacles intervened, for at this time Germany was involved in
+a civil and religious war, which interfered with all peaceful
+vocations. Kepler's library at Linz was sealed up by order of the
+Jesuits, and the city was for a time besieged by troops. This state of
+public affairs necessitated a considerable delay in the publication of
+the 'Tables.'
+
+The 'Rudolphine Tables' were published at Ulm in 1627. They were
+commenced by Tycho Brahe, and completed by Kepler, who made his
+calculations from Tycho's observations, and based them upon his own
+great discovery of the ellipticity of the orbits of the planets. They
+are divided into four parts. The first and third parts contain
+logarithmic and other tables for the purpose of facilitating
+astronomical calculations; in the second are tables of the Sun, Moon,
+and planets; and in the fourth are indicated the positions of one
+thousand stars as determined by Tycho. Kepler made a special journey to
+Prague in order to present the 'Tables' to the Emperor, and afterwards
+the Grand Duke of Tuscany sent him a gold chain as an acknowledgment of
+his appreciation of the completion of this great work.
+
+Albert Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, an accomplished scholar and a man
+fond of scientific pursuits, made Kepler a most liberal offer if he
+would take up his residence in his dominions. After duly considering
+this proposal, Kepler decided to accept the Duke's offer, provided it
+received the sanction of the Emperor. This was readily given, and
+Kepler, in 1629, removed with his family from Linz to Sagan, in Silesia.
+The Duke of Friedland treated him with great kindness and liberality,
+and through his influence he was appointed to a professorship in the
+University of Rostock. Though Kepler was permitted to retain the pension
+bestowed upon him by the late Emperor Rudolph, he was unable after his
+removal to Silesia to obtain payment of it, and there was a large
+accumulation of arrears. In a final endeavour to recover the amount
+owing to him he travelled to Ratisbon, and appealed to the Imperial
+Assembly, but without success. The fatigue which Kepler endured on his
+journey, combined with vexation and disappointment, brought on a fever,
+which terminated fatally. He died on November 15, 1630, when in the
+sixtieth year of his age, and was interred in St. Peter's churchyard,
+Ratisbon.
+
+Kepler was a man of indomitable energy and perseverance, and spared
+neither time nor trouble in the accomplishment of any object which he
+took in hand. In thinking over the form of the orbits of the planets, he
+writes: 'I brooded with the whole energy of my mind on this
+subject--asking why they are not other than they are--the number, the
+size, and the motions of the orbits.' But many fanciful ideas passed
+through Kepler's imaginative brain before he hit upon the true form of
+the planetary orbits. In his 'Mysterium Cosmographicum' he asserts that
+the five kinds of regular polyhedral solids, when described round one
+another, regulated the distances of the planets and size of the
+planetary orbits. In support of this theory he writes as follows: 'The
+orbit of the Earth is the measure of the rest. About it circumscribe a
+dodecahedron. The sphere including this will be that of Mars. About
+Mars' orbit describe a tetrahedron; the sphere containing this will be
+Jupiter's orbit. Round Jupiter's describe a cube; the sphere including
+this will be Saturn's. Within the Earth's orbit inscribe an icosahedron;
+the sphere inscribed in it will be Venus's orbit. In Venus inscribe an
+octahedron; the sphere inscribed in it will be Mercury's.'
+
+The above quotation is an instance of Kepler's wild and imaginative
+genius, which ultimately led him to make those sublime discoveries
+associated with planetary motion which are known as 'Kepler's Laws.'
+
+He describes himself as 'troublesome and choleric in politics and
+domestic matters;' but in his relations with scientific men he was
+affable and pleasant. He showed no jealousy of a rival, and was always
+ready to recognise merit in others; nor did he hesitate to acknowledge
+any error of his own when more recent discoveries proved that he was
+wrong.
+
+Some of his works contain passages, written in a jocular strain,
+indicative of a bright and cheerful temperament. The following
+characteristic paragraph refers to the opinions of the Epicureans with
+regard to the appearance of a new star, which they ascribed to a
+fortuitous concourse of atoms: 'When I was a youth, with plenty of idle
+time on my hands, I was much taken with the vanity, of which some grown
+men are not ashamed, of making anagrams by transposing the letters of my
+name written in Latin so as to make another sentence. Out of Ioannes
+Keplerus came _Serpens in akuleo_ (a serpent in his sting); but not
+being satisfied with the meaning of these words, and being unable to
+make another, I trusted the thing to chance, and, taking out of a pack
+of playing-cards as many as there were letters in the name, I wrote one
+upon each, and then began to shuffle them, and at each shuffle to read
+them in the order they came, to see if any meaning came of it. Now, may
+all the Epicurean gods and goddesses confound this same chance, which,
+although I have spent a good deal of time over it, never showed me
+anything like sense, even from a distance. So I gave up my cards to the
+Epicurean eternity, to be carried away into infinity; and it is said
+they are still flying about there, in the utmost confusion, among the
+atoms, and have never yet come to any meaning. I will tell those
+disputants, my opponents, not my own opinion, but my wife's. Yesterday,
+when weary with writing, and my mind quite dusty with considering these
+atoms, I was called to supper, and a salad I had asked for was set
+before me. "It seems, then," said I aloud, "that if pewter dishes,
+leaves of lettuce, grains of salt, drops of water, vinegar and oil, and
+slices of egg, had been flying about in the air from all eternity, it
+might at last happen by chance that there would come a salad." "Yes,"
+says my wife, "but not so nice and well dressed as this of mine is."'
+
+Notwithstanding the frequent interruptions which, owing to various
+reasons, retarded his labours, Kepler was able to bring to a successful
+completion the numerous and important works upon which he was engaged
+during his lifetime, the voluminous nature of which may be imagined when
+it is stated that he published thirty-three separate works, besides
+leaving behind twenty-two volumes of manuscript.
+
+During his researches on the motions of Mars, Kepler discovered that the
+planet sometimes travelled at an accelerated rate of speed, and at
+another time its pace was diminished. At one time he observed it to be
+in advance of the place where he calculated it should be found, and at
+another time it was behind it. This caused him considerable perplexity,
+and, feeling convinced in his mind that the form of the planet's orbit
+could not be circular, he was compelled to turn his attention to some
+other closed curve, by which those inequalities of motion could be
+explained.
+
+After years of careful observation and study, Kepler arrived at the
+conclusion that the form of the planet's orbit is an ellipse, and that
+the Sun occupies one of the foci. He afterwards determined that the
+orbits of all the planets are of an elliptical form.
+
+Having discovered the true form of the planetary orbits, Kepler next
+endeavoured to ascertain the cause which regulates the unequal motion
+that a planet pursues in its path. He observed that when a planet
+approached the Sun its motion was accelerated, and as it receded from
+him its pace became slower.
+
+This he explained in his next great discovery by proving that an
+imaginary line, or radius-vector, extending from the centre of the Sun
+to the centre of the planet 'describes equal areas in equal times.' When
+near the Sun, or at perihelion, a planet traverses a larger portion of
+its arc in the same period of time than it does when at the opposite
+part of its orbit, or when at aphelion; but, as the areas of both are
+equal, it follows that the planet does not always maintain the same rate
+of speed, and that its velocity is greatest when nearest the Sun, and
+least when most distant from him.
+
+By the application of his first and second laws Kepler was able to
+formulate a third law. He found that there existed a remarkable
+relationship between the mean distances of the planets and the times in
+which they complete their revolutions round the Sun, and discovered
+'that the squares of the periodic times are to each in the same
+proportion as the cubes of the mean distances.' The periodic time of a
+planet having been ascertained, the square of the mean distance and the
+mean distance itself can be obtained. It is by the application of this
+law that the distances of the planets are usually calculated.
+
+These discoveries are known as Kepler's Laws, and are usually classified
+as follows:--
+
+1. 'The orbit described by every planet is an ellipse, of which the
+centre of the Sun occupies one of the foci.
+
+2. 'Every planet moves round the Sun in a plane orbit, and the
+radius-vector, or imaginary line joining the centre of the planet and
+the centre of the Sun, describes equal areas in equal times.
+
+3. 'The squares of the periodic times of any two planets are
+proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun.'[1]
+
+These remarkable discoveries do not embrace all the achievements by
+which Kepler has immortalised his name, and earned for himself the proud
+title of 'Legislator of the Heavens;' he predicted transits of Mercury
+and Venus, made important discoveries in optics, and was the inventor of
+the astronomical telescope.
+
+GALILEO GALILEI, the famous Italian astronomer and philosopher, and the
+contemporary of Kepler and of Milton, was born at Pisa on February 15,
+1564.
+
+His father, who traced his descent from an ancient Florentine family,
+was desirous that his son should adopt the profession of medicine, and
+with this intention he entered him as a student at the University of
+Pisa. Galileo, however, soon discovered that the study of mathematics
+and mechanical science possessed a greater attraction for his mind,
+and, following his inclinations, he resolved to devote his energies to
+acquiring proficiency in those subjects.
+
+In 1583 his attention was attracted by the oscillation of a brass lamp
+suspended from the ceiling of the cathedral at Pisa. Galileo was
+impressed with the regularity of its motion as it swung backwards and
+forwards, and was led to imagine that the pendulum movement might prove
+a valuable method for the correct measurement of time. The practical
+application of this idea he afterwards adopted in the construction of an
+astronomical clock.
+
+Having become proficient in mathematics, Galileo, whilst engaged in
+studying the writings of Archimedes, wrote an essay on 'The Hydrostatic
+Balance,' and composed a treatise on 'The Centre of Gravity in Solid
+Bodies.' The reputation which he earned by these contributions to
+science procured for him the appointment of Lecturer on Mathematics at
+the University of Pisa. Galileo next directed his attention to the works
+of Aristotle, and made no attempt to conceal the disfavour with which he
+regarded many of the doctrines taught by the Greek philosopher; nor had
+he any difficulty in exposing their inaccuracies. One of these, which
+maintained that the heavier of two bodies descended to the earth with
+the greater rapidity, he proved to be incorrect, and demonstrated by
+experiment from the top of the tower at Pisa that, except for the
+unequal resistance of the air, all bodies fell to the ground with the
+same velocity.
+
+As the chief expounder of the new philosophy, Galileo had to encounter
+the prejudices of the followers of Aristotle, and of all those who
+disliked any innovation or change in the established order of things.
+The antagonism which existed between Galileo and his opponents, who were
+both numerous and influential, was intensified by the bitterness and
+sarcasm which he imparted into his controversies, and the attitude
+assumed by his enemies at last became so threatening that he deemed it
+prudent to resign the Chair of Mathematics in the University of Pisa.
+
+In the following year he was appointed to a similar post at Padua, where
+his fame attracted crowds of pupils from all parts of Europe.
+
+In 1611 Galileo visited Rome. He was received with much distinction by
+the different learned societies, and was enrolled a member of the
+Lyncaean Academy. In two years after his visit to the capital he
+published a work in which he declared his adhesion to the Copernican
+theory, and openly avowed his disbelief in the astronomical facts
+recorded in the Scriptures. Galileo maintained that the sacred writings
+were not intended for the purpose of imparting scientific information,
+and that it was impossible for men to ignore phenomena witnessed with
+their eyes, or disregard conclusions arrived at by the exercise of their
+reasoning powers.
+
+The champions of orthodoxy having become alarmed, an appeal was made to
+the ecclesiastical authorities to assist in suppressing this recent
+astronomical heresy, and other obnoxious doctrines, the authorship of
+which was ascribed to Galileo.
+
+In 1615, Galileo was summoned before the Inquisition to reply to the
+accusation of heresy. 'He was charged with maintaining the motion of the
+Earth and the stability of the Sun; with teaching this doctrine to his
+pupils; with corresponding on the subject with several German
+mathematicians; and with having published it, and attempted to reconcile
+it to Scripture in his letters to Mark Velser in 1612.'
+
+These charges having been formally investigated by the Inquisition,
+Cardinal Bellarmine was authorised to communicate with Galileo, and
+inform him that unless he renounced the obnoxious doctrines, and
+promised 'neither to teach, defend, or publish them in future,' it was
+decreed that he should be committed to prison. Galileo appeared next day
+before the Cardinal, and, without any hesitation, pledged himself that
+for the future he would adhere to the pronouncement of the Inquisition.
+
+Having, as they imagined, silenced Galileo, the Inquisition resolved to
+condemn the entire Copernican system as heretical; and in order to
+effectually accomplish this, besides condemning the writings of Galileo,
+they inhibited Kepler's 'Epitome of the Copernican System,' and
+Copernicus's own work, 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium.'
+
+Whether it was that Galileo regarded the Inquisition as a body whose
+decrees were too absurd and unreasonable to be heeded, or that he
+dreaded the consequences which might have followed had he remained
+obstinate, we know that, notwithstanding the pledges which he gave, he
+was soon afterwards engaged in controversial discussion on those
+subjects which he promised not to mention again.
+
+On the accession of his friend Cardinal Barberini to the pontifical
+throne in 1623, under the title of Urban VIII., Galileo undertook a
+journey to Rome to offer him his congratulations upon his elevation to
+the papal chair. He was received by his Holiness with marked attention
+and kindness, was granted several prolonged audiences, and had conferred
+upon him several valuable gifts.
+
+Notwithstanding the kindness of Pope Urban and the leniency with which
+he was treated by the Inquisition, Galileo, having ignored his pledge,
+published in 1632 a book, in dialogue form, in which three persons were
+supposed to express their scientific opinions. The first upheld the
+Copernican theory and the more recent philosophical views; the second
+person adopted a neutral position, suggested doubts, and made remarks of
+an amusing nature; the third individual, called Simplicio, was a
+believer in Ptolemy and Aristotle, and based his arguments upon the
+philosophy of the ancients.
+
+As soon as this work became publicly known, the enemies of Galileo
+persuaded the Pope that the third person held up to ridicule was
+intended as a representation of himself--an individual regardless of
+scientific truth, and firmly attached to the ideas and opinions
+associated with the writings of antiquity.
+
+Almost immediately after the publication of the 'Dialogues' Galileo was
+summoned before the Inquisition, and, notwithstanding his feeble health
+and the infirmities of advanced age, he was, after a long and tedious
+trial, condemned to abjure by oath on his knees his scientific beliefs.
+
+'The ceremony of Galileo's abjuration was one of exciting interest and
+of awful formality. Clothed in the sackcloth of a repentant criminal,
+the venerable sage fell upon his knees before the assembled cardinals,
+and, laying his hand upon the Holy Evangelists, he invoked the Divine
+aid in abjuring, and detesting, and vowing never again to teach the
+doctrines of the Earth's motion and of the Sun's stability. He pledged
+himself that he would nevermore, either in words or in writing,
+propagate such heresies; and he swore that he would fulfil and observe
+the penances which had been inflicted upon him.' 'At the conclusion of
+this ceremony, in which he recited his abjuration word for word and then
+signed it, he was conveyed, in conformity with his sentence, to the
+prison of the Inquisition.'[2]
+
+Galileo's sarcasm, and the bitterness which he imparted into his
+controversies, were more the cause of his misfortunes than his
+scientific beliefs. When he became involved in difficulties he did not
+possess the moral courage to enable him to abide by the consequences of
+his acts; nor did he care to become a martyr for the sake of science,
+his submission to the Inquisition having probably saved him from a fate
+similar to what befell Bruno. Though it would be impossible to justify
+Galileo's want of faith in his dealings with the Inquisition, yet one
+cannot help sympathising deeply with the aged philosopher, who, in this
+painful episode of his life, was compelled to go through the form of
+making a retractation of his beliefs under circumstances of a most
+humiliating nature.
+
+But the persecution of Galileo did not delay the progress of scientific
+inquiry nor retard the advancement of the Copernican theory, which,
+after the discovery by Newton of the law of gravitation, was universally
+adopted as the true theory of the solar system.
+
+Ferdinand, Duke of Tuscany, having exerted his influence with Pope Urban
+on behalf of Galileo, he was, after a few days' incarceration, released
+from prison, and permission was given him to reside at Siena, where he
+remained for six months. He was afterwards allowed to return to his
+villa at Arcetri, and, though regarded as a prisoner of the Inquisition,
+was permitted to pursue his studies unmolested for the remainder of his
+days.
+
+Galileo died at Arcetri on January 8, 1642, when in the seventy-eighth
+year of his age.
+
+Though not the inventor, he was the first to construct a refracting
+telescope and apply it to astronomical research. With this instrument
+he made a number of important discoveries which tended to confirm his
+belief in the truthfulness of the Copernican theory.
+
+On directing his telescope to the Sun, he discovered movable spots on
+his disc, and concluded from his observation of them that the orb
+rotated on his axis in about twenty-eight days. He also ascertained that
+the Moon's illumination is due to reflected sunlight, and that her
+surface is diversified by mountains, valleys, and plains.
+
+On the night of January 7, 1610, Galileo discovered the four moons of
+Jupiter. This discovery may be regarded as one of his most brilliant
+achievements with the telescope; and, notwithstanding the improvement in
+construction and size of modern instruments, no other satellite was
+discovered until near midnight on September 9, 1892, when Mr. E. E.
+Barnard, with the splendid telescope of the Lick Observatory, added
+'another gem to the diadem of Jupiter.'
+
+The phases of Venus and Mars, the triple form of Saturn, and the
+constitution of the Milky Way, which he found to consist of a countless
+multitude of stars, were additional discoveries for our knowledge of
+which we are indebted to Galileo and his telescope. Galileo made many
+other important discoveries in mechanical and physical science. He
+detected the law of falling bodies in their accelerated motion towards
+the Earth, determined the parabolic law of projectiles, and
+demonstrated that matter, even if invisible, possessed the property of
+weight.
+
+In these pages a short historical description is given of the progress
+made in astronomical science from an early period to the time in which
+Milton lived. The discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo had
+raised it to a position of lofty eminence, though the law of
+gravitation, which accounts for the form and permanency of the planetary
+orbits, still remained undiscovered. Theories formerly obscure or
+conjectural were either rejected or elucidated with accuracy and
+precision, and the solar system, having the Sun as its centre, with his
+attendant family of planets and their satellites revolving in majestic
+orbits around him, presented an impressive spectacle of order, harmony,
+and design.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ASTRONOMY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
+
+
+The seventeenth century embraces the most remarkable epoch in the whole
+history of astronomy. It was during this period that those wonderful
+discoveries were made which have been the means of raising astronomy to
+the lofty position which it now occupies among the sciences. The
+unrivalled genius and patient labours of the illustrious men whose names
+stand out in such prominence on the written pages of the history of this
+era have rendered it one of the most interesting and elevating of
+studies. Though Copernicus lived in the preceding century, yet the names
+of Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, testify to the greatness of
+the discoveries that were made during this period, which have surrounded
+the memories of those men with a lustre of undying fame.
+
+Foremost among astronomers of less conspicuous eminence who made
+important discoveries in this century we find the name of Huygens.
+
+CHRISTIAN HUYGENS was born at The Hague in 1629. He was the second son
+of Constantine Huygens, an eminent diplomatist, and secretary to the
+Prince of Orange. Huygens studied at Leyden and Breda, and became
+highly distinguished as a geometrician and scientist. He made important
+investigations relative to the figure of the Earth, and wrote a learned
+treatise on the cause of gravity; he also determined with greater
+accuracy investigations made by Galileo regarding the accelerated motion
+of bodies when subjected to the influence of that force.
+
+Huygens admitted that the planets and their satellites attracted each
+other with a force varying according to the inverse ratio of the squares
+of their distances, but rejected the mutual attraction of the molecules
+of matter, believing that they possessed gravity towards a central point
+only, to which they were attracted. This supposition was at variance
+with the Newtonian theory, which, however, was universally regarded as
+the correct one.
+
+Huygens originated the theory by which it is believed that light is
+produced by the undulatory vibration of the ether; he also discovered
+polarization.
+
+Up to this time the method adopted in the construction of clocks was not
+capable of producing a mechanism which measured time with sufficient
+accuracy to satisfy the requirements of astronomers. Huygens endeavoured
+to supply this want, and applied his mechanical ingenuity in
+constructing a clock that could be relied upon to keep accurate time.
+Though the pendulum motion was first adopted by Galileo, he was unable
+to arrange its mechanism so that it should keep up a continuous
+movement. The oscillation of the pendulum ceased after a time, and a
+fresh impulse had to be applied to set it in motion. Consequently,
+Galileo's clock was of no service as a timekeeper.
+
+Huygens overcame this difficulty by so arranging the mechanism of his
+clock that the balance, instead of being horizontal, was directed
+perpendicularly, and prolonged downwards to form a pendulum, the
+oscillations of which regulated the downward motion of the weight. This
+invention, which was highly applauded, proved to be of great service
+everywhere, and was especially valuable for astronomical purposes.
+
+Huygens next directed his attention to the construction of telescopes,
+and displayed much skill in the grinding and polishing of lenses. He
+made several instruments superior in power and accuracy to any that
+existed previously, and with one of these made some remarkable
+discoveries when observing the planet Saturn.
+
+The telescopic appearance of Saturn is one of the most beautiful in the
+heavens. The planet, surrounded by two brilliant rings, and accompanied
+by eight attendant moons, surpasses all the other orbs of the firmament
+as an object of interest and admiration. To the naked eye, Saturn is
+visible as a star of the first magnitude, and was known to the ancients
+as the most remote of the planets. Travelling in space at a distance of
+nearly one thousand millions of miles from the Sun, the planet
+accomplishes a revolution of its mighty orbit in twenty-nine and a half
+years.
+
+Galileo was the first astronomer who directed a telescope to Saturn. He
+observed that the planet presented a triform appearance, and that on
+each side of the central globe there were two objects, in close contact
+with it, which caused it to assume an ovoid shape. After further
+observation, Galileo perceived that the lateral bodies gradually
+decreased in size, until they became invisible. At the expiration of a
+certain period of time they reappeared, and were observed to go through
+a certain cycle of changes. By the application of increased telescopic
+power it was discovered that the appendages were not of a rounded form,
+but appeared as two small crescents, having their concave surfaces
+directed towards the planet and their extremities in contact with it,
+resembling the manner in which the handles are attached to a cup.
+
+These objects were observed to go through a series of periodic changes.
+After having become invisible, they reappeared as two luminous straight
+bands, projecting from each side of the planet; during the next seven or
+eight years they gradually opened out, and assumed a crescentic form;
+they afterwards began to contract, and on the expiration of a similar
+period, during which time they gradually decreased in size, they again
+became invisible. It was perceived that the appendages completed a cycle
+of their changes in about fifteen years.
+
+In 1656, Huygens, with a telescope constructed by himself, was enabled
+to solve the enigma which for so many years baffled the efforts of the
+ablest astronomers. He announced his discovery in the form of a Latin
+cryptograph which, when deciphered, read as follows:--
+
+'Annulo cingitur, tenui plano, nusquam cohaerente, ad eclipticam
+inclinatio.'
+
+'The planet is surrounded by a slender flat ring everywhere distinct
+from its surface, and inclined to the ecliptic.'
+
+Huygens perceived the shadow of the ring thrown on the planet, and was
+able to account in a satisfactory manner for all the phenomena observed
+in connection with its variable appearance.
+
+The true form of the ring is circular, but by us it is seen
+foreshortened; consequently, when the Earth is above or below its plane,
+it appears of an elliptical shape. When the position of the planet is
+such that the plane of the ring passes through the Sun, the edge of the
+ring only is illumined, and then it becomes invisible for a short
+period. In the same manner, when the plane of the ring passes through
+the Earth, the illumined edge of the ring is not of sufficient magnitude
+to appear visible, but as the enlightened side of the plane becomes more
+inclined towards the Earth, the ring comes again into view. When the
+plane of the ring passes between the Earth and the Sun, the unillumined
+side of the ring is turned towards the Earth, and during the time it
+remains in this position it is invisible.
+
+Huygens discovered the sixth satellite of Saturn (Titan), and also the
+Great Nebula in Orion.
+
+JOHANN HEVELIUS, a celebrated Prussian astronomer, was born at Dantzig
+in 1611, and died in that city in 1687. He was a man of wealth, and
+erected an observatory at his residence, where, for a period of forty
+years, he carried out a series of astronomical observations.
+
+He constructed a chart of the stars, and in order to complete his work,
+formed nine new constellations in those spaces in the celestial vault
+which were previously un-named. They are known by the names
+Camelopardus, Canes Venatici, Coma Bernices, Lacerta, Leo Minor, Lynx,
+Monoceros, Sextans, and Vulpecula. He also executed a chart of the
+Moon's surface, wrote a description of the lunar spots, and discovered
+the Libration of the Moon in Longitude.
+
+On May 30, 1661, Hevelius observed a transit of Mercury, a description
+of which he published, and included with it Horrox's treatise on the
+first-recorded transit of Venus. This work, after having passed through
+several hands, became the property of Hevelius, who was capable of
+appreciating its merits. The manuscript was sent to him by Huygens, and
+in acknowledging it he writes: 'How greatly does my Mercury exult in the
+joyous prospect that he may shortly fold within his arms Horrox's long
+looked-for and beloved Venus! He renders you unfeigned thanks that by
+your permission this much-desired union is about to be celebrated, and
+that the writer is able, with your concurrence, to introduce them both
+together to the public.'
+
+Hevelius made numerous researches on comets, and suggested that the
+form of their paths might be a parabola.
+
+GIOVANNI DOMENICO CASSINI was born at Perinaldo, near Nice, in 1625. He
+studied at Genoa and Bologna, and was afterwards appointed to the Chair
+of Astronomy at the latter University. He was a man of high scientific
+attainments, and made many important astronomical discoveries.
+
+In 1671 he became Director of the Royal Observatory at Paris, and
+devoted a long life to trying and difficult observations, which in his
+later years deprived him of his eyesight.
+
+In 1644 Cassini proved beyond doubt that Jupiter rotated on his axis,
+and also assigned his period of rotation with considerable accuracy. He
+published tables of the planet's satellites, and determined their
+motions from observations of their eclipses. He ascertained the periods
+of rotation of Venus and Mars; executed a chart of the lunar surface,
+and observed an occultation of Jupiter by the Moon.
+
+Cassini discovered the dual nature of Saturn's ring, having perceived
+that instead of one there are two concentric rings separated by a dark
+space. He also discovered four of the planet's satellites--viz. Japetus,
+Rhea, Dione, and Tethys. He made a near approximation to the solar
+parallax by means of researches on the parallax of Mars, and
+investigated some irregularities of the Moon's motion. Cassini
+discovered the belts of Jupiter, and also the Zodiacal Light, and
+established the coincidence of the nodes of the lunar equator and orbit.
+
+JAQUES CASSINI, son of Giovanni, was born at Paris in 1677. He followed
+in his father's footsteps, and wrote several treatises on astronomical
+subjects. He investigated the period of the rotation of Venus on her
+axis, and upheld the results arrived at by his father, which were
+afterwards confirmed by observations made by Schroeter. Cassini made
+some valuable researches with regard to the proper motion of the stars,
+and demonstrated that their change of position on the celestial vault
+was real, and not caused by a displacement of the ecliptic. He attempted
+to ascertain the apparent diameter of Sirius, and made observations with
+regard to the visibility of the stars. The Cassini family produced
+several generations of eminent astronomers, whose discoveries and
+investigations were of much value in advancing the science of astronomy.
+
+OLAUS ROEMER, an eminent Danish astronomer, was born at Copenhagen
+September 25, 1644. When Picard, a French astronomer, visited Denmark in
+1671, for the purpose of ascertaining the exact position of
+'Uranienburg,' the site of Tycho Brahe's observatory, he made the
+acquaintance of Roemer, who was engaged in studying mathematics and
+astronomy under Erasmus Bartolinus. Having perceived that the young man
+was gifted with no ordinary degree of talent, he secured his services to
+assist him in his observations, and, on the conclusion of his labours,
+Picard was so much impressed with the ability displayed by Roemer, that
+he invited him to accompany him to France. This invitation he accepted,
+and took up his residence in the French capital, where he continued to
+prosecute his astronomical studies.
+
+In 1675 Roemer communicated to the Academy of Sciences a paper, in which
+he announced his discovery of the progressive transmission of light. It
+was believed that light travelled instantaneously, but Roemer was able
+to demonstrate the inaccuracy of this conclusion, and determined that
+light travels through space with a measurable velocity.
+
+By diligently observing the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, Roemer
+perceived that sometimes they occurred before, and sometimes after their
+predicted times. This irregularity, he discovered, depended upon the
+position of the Earth with regard to Jupiter. When the Earth, in
+traversing her orbit, moved round to the opposite side of the Sun,
+thereby bringing Jupiter into conjunction, an eclipse occurred sixteen
+minutes twenty-six seconds later than it did when Jupiter was in
+opposition or nearest to the Earth. As there existed an impression that
+light travelled instantaneously, it was believed that an eclipse
+occurred at the moment it was perceived in the telescope. This, however,
+was not so. Roemer, after a long series of observations, concluded that
+the discrepancies were due to the fact that light travels with a
+measurable velocity, and that it requires a greater length of time,
+upwards of sixteen minutes, to traverse the additional distance--the
+diameter of the Earth's orbit--which intervenes between the Earth and
+Jupiter, when the planet is in conjunction, as compared with the
+distance between the Earth and Jupiter, when the latter is in
+opposition. This discovery of Roemer's was the means of enabling the
+velocity of light to be ascertained, which, according to recent
+calculations, is about 187,000 miles a second. As an acknowledgment of
+the importance of his communication, Roemer was awarded a seat in the
+Academy, and apartments were assigned to him at the Royal Observatory,
+where he carried on his astronomical studies.
+
+In 1681 Roemer returned to Denmark, and was appointed Professor of
+Mathematics in the University of Copenhagen; he was also entrusted with
+the care of the city observatory--a duty which his reputation as an
+astronomer eminently qualified him to undertake. The transit
+instrument--a mechanism of much importance to astronomers--was invented
+by Roemer in 1690; it consists of a telescope fixed to a horizontal
+axis, and adjusted so as to revolve in the plane of the meridian. It is
+employed in observing the passage of the heavenly bodies across the
+observer's meridian. To note accurately by means of the astronomical
+clock the exact instant of time at which a celestial body crosses the
+centre of the field of view is the essential part of a transit
+observation. Small transit instruments are employed for taking the time
+and for regulating the observatory clock, but large instruments are
+used for delicate and exact observations of Right Ascensions and
+Declinations of stars of different magnitudes. Meridian, and altitude
+and azimuth circles, are important astronomical appliances, which owe
+their existence to the inventive skill of this distinguished astronomer.
+
+Roemer resided for many years at the observatory in the city of
+Copenhagen, where he pursued his astronomical studies until the time of
+his death, which occurred in 1710. He meritoriously attempted to
+determine the parallax of the fixed stars; and it is said that the
+astronomical calculations and observations which he left behind him were
+so voluminous as to equal in number those made by Tycho Brahe, nearly
+all of which perished in a great conflagration that destroyed the
+observatory and a large portion of the city of Copenhagen in 1728.
+
+Among other astronomers of this century whose names deserve recording
+were Descartes and Gassendi, whose mathematical researches in their
+application to astronomy were of much value; Fabricius, Torricelli, and
+Maraldi, who by their observations and investigations added many facts
+to the general knowledge of the science; and Bayer, to whom belongs the
+distinction of having constructed the first star-atlas.
+
+In our own country during this period astronomy was cultivated by a few
+enthusiastic men, who devoted their time and talents to promoting the
+advancement of the science. It, however, received no recognition as a
+subject of study at any of the Universities, and no public observatory
+existed in Great Britain.
+
+Though it was not until towards the close of the century that the
+attention of all Europe was directed to England in admiration of the
+discoveries of the illustrious Newton, yet astronomy had its humble
+votaries, and chief among those was a young clergyman of the name of
+Horrox.
+
+JEREMIAH HORROX was born at Toxteth, near Liverpool, in 1619--close on
+three centuries ago. Little is known of his family. His parents have
+been described as persons who occupied a humble position in life, but,
+as they were able to give their son a classical education which fitted
+him for one of the learned professions, it is probable they were not so
+obscure as they have been represented to be.
+
+Having received his early education at Toxteth, Horrox afterwards
+proceeded to Cambridge, and was entered as a student at Emmanuel College
+on May 18, 1632, when in his fourteenth year.
+
+At the University he devoted himself to the study of classics,
+especially Latin, which in those days was the language adopted by men of
+learning, when engaged in writing works of a philosophical and
+scientific character.
+
+After having remained at Cambridge for three years, Horrox returned to
+his native county, and was appointed curate of Hoole, a place about
+eight miles distant from Preston. Hoole is described as a narrow
+low-lying strip of land consisting largely of moss, and almost converted
+into an island by the waters of Martin Mere on the south, and the Ribble
+on the north; and, though doubtless an open and favourable situation for
+astronomical observation, it could not have been attractive as a place
+of residence. Yet it was here on November 24, 1639, that Horrox made his
+famous observation of the first recorded transit of Venus, an occurrence
+with which his name will be for ever associated.
+
+It was while at Cambridge that Horrox first turned his attention to the
+study of astronomy. His love of the sublime, and the captivating
+influence exerted on his mind by the contemplation of the heavenly
+bodies, induced him to adopt astronomy as a pursuit congenial to his
+tastes, and capable of exercising his highest mental powers. Having this
+object in view, he applied himself with much earnestness to the study of
+mathematics; he had, however, to rely mainly upon his own exertions, for
+at that time no branch of physical or mathematical science was taught at
+Cambridge, and consequently he obtained no professional instruction.
+
+It was so also with astronomy, which, as a science, was scarcely known
+in this country; no regular record of astronomical observations was kept
+by any individual observer, and no public observatory existed in England
+or in France.
+
+The disadvantages and obstacles which Horrox had to encounter may be
+best described by quoting his own words. He writes: 'There were many
+hindrances. The abstruse nature of the study, my inexperience and want
+of means dispirited me. I was much pained not to have any one to whom I
+could look for guidance, or indeed for the sympathy of companionship in
+my endeavours, and I was assailed by the languor and weariness which are
+inseparable from every great undertaking. What then was to be done? I
+could not make the pursuit an easy one, much less increase my fortune,
+and least of all imbue others with a love for astronomy; and yet to
+complain of philosophy on account of its difficulties would be foolish
+and unworthy. I determined, therefore, that the tediousness of study
+should be overcome by industry; my poverty--failing a better method--by
+patience; and that instead of a master I would use astronomical books.
+Armed with these weapons I would contend successfully; and, having heard
+of others acquiring knowledge without greater help, I would blush that
+any one should be able to do more than I, always remembering that word
+of Virgil's--
+
+    Totidem nobis animaeque manusque.
+
+Having heard much praise bestowed upon the works of Lansberg, a Flemish
+astronomer, Horrox thought it would be to his advantage to procure a
+copy of his writings. This he succeeded in obtaining after some
+difficulty, and devoted a considerable time to calculating Ephemerides,
+based upon the Lansberg Tables, but after making a number of
+computations he discovered that they were unreliable and inaccurate.
+
+In the year 1636 Horrox made the acquaintance of William Crabtree, a
+devoted astronomer, who lived at Broughton, a suburb of Manchester. A
+close friendship soon existed between the two men, and they carried on
+an active correspondence about matters relating to the science which
+they both loved so well.
+
+Crabtree, who was an unbeliever in Lansberg, urged Horrox to discard the
+Flemish astronomer's works, and devote his talents to the study of Tycho
+Brahe and Kepler. This advice led Horrox to make a more rigorous
+examination of the Lansberg Tables, and after comparing them with the
+observations made by Crabtree, which coincided with his own, he resolved
+to renounce them. Acting on the advice of his friend, Horrox directed
+his attention to the writings of Kepler. The youthful astronomer soon
+realised their value, and was charmed with the accuracy of observation
+and inductive reasoning displayed in the elucidation of those general
+laws which constituted a new era in the history of astronomy.
+
+The Rudolphine Tables, which were the astronomical calculations
+commenced by Tycho Brahe, and completed by Kepler, were regarded by
+Horrox as much superior to those of Lansberg; but it occurred to him
+that they might be improved by changing some of the numbers, and yet
+retaining the hypotheses. To this task he applied himself with much
+earnestness and assiduity, and after close application and laborious
+study he accomplished the arduous undertaking of bringing those tables
+to a high state of perfection.
+
+In his investigation of the Lunar theory, Horrox outstripped all his
+predecessors, and Sir Isaac Newton distinctly affirms he was the first
+to discover that the Moon's motion round the Earth is in the form of an
+ellipse with the centre in the lower focus. Besides having made this
+discovery, Horrox was able to explain the causes of the inequalities of
+the Moon's motion, which render the exact computation of her elements so
+difficult.
+
+The Annual Equation, an irregularity discovered by Tycho Brahe, which is
+produced by the increase and decrease of the Sun's disturbing force as
+the Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit, had its value
+first assigned by Horrox. This he calculated to be eleven minutes
+sixteen seconds, which is within four seconds of what it has since been
+proved to be by the most recent observations.
+
+The Evection, an irregular motion of the Moon discovered by Ptolemy,
+whereby her mean longitude is increased or diminished, was explained by
+Horrox as depending upon the libratory motion of the apsides, and the
+change which takes place in the eccentricity of the lunar orbit.
+
+These discoveries were made by Horrox before he attained the age of
+twenty years, and if his reputation had alone rested upon them his name
+would have been honourably associated with those who have attained to
+the highest eminence in astronomy.
+
+Another achievement which adds lustre to Horrox's name consists in his
+detection of the inequality in the mean motions of Jupiter and Saturn.
+
+He also directed his attention to the study of cometary bodies, and
+arrived at certain conclusions with regard to the nature of their
+movements. At first, he believed like Kepler that comets were projected
+in straight lines from the Sun; this supposition having been upheld on
+account of the great elongation of their orbits. He next perceived that
+their velocity increased as they approached the Sun, and decreased as
+they receded from him. Afterwards he says, 'They move in an elliptic
+figure or near it,' and finally he arrived at the conclusion that
+'comets move in elliptical orbits, being carried round the Sun with a
+velocity which is probably variable.' This theory has been verified by
+numerous observations, and is now generally accepted by astronomers.
+
+Horrox also made a series of observations on the tides. He notified the
+extent of their rise and fall at different periods, and investigated
+other phenomena associated with their ebb and flow. After having
+continued his observations for some time, he wrote to his friend
+Crabtree, and informed him that he had perceived many interesting
+details which had not been previously described, and he hoped to be
+able to arrive at some important conclusions with regard to their nature
+and cause. Unfortunately, Horrox's writings on this subject, along with
+many other important papers, have been lost or destroyed. We are
+therefore ignorant of the result of his researches, which were the first
+undertaken by any person for the purpose of scientific inquiry.
+
+From his study of the Lansberg and Rudolphine Tables, Horrox arrived at
+the conclusion that a transit of Venus would occur on November 24, 1639.
+This transit was for some unaccountable reason overlooked by Kepler, who
+predicted one in 1631, and the next not until 1761. The transit of 1631
+was not visible in Europe.
+
+We are indebted to Horrox for a description of the transit of 1639--the
+first that was ever observed of which there is any record; and were it
+not for the accuracy of his calculations, the occurrence of the
+phenomenon would have been unperceived, and no history of the
+conjunction would have been handed down to posterity. As soon as Horrox
+had assured himself of the time when the transit would take place, he
+wrote to Crabtree to inform him of the date, and asked him to make
+observations with his telescope, and especially to examine the diameter
+of the planet, which he thought had been over-estimated. He also
+requested him to write to Dr. Foster of Cambridge, and inform him of the
+expected event, as it was desirable that the transit should be observed
+from several places in consequence of the possibility of failure, owing
+to an overcast sky. His letter is dated October 26, 1639. He says: 'My
+reason for now writing is to advise you of a remarkable conjunction of
+the Sun and Venus on the 24th of November, when there will be a transit.
+As such a thing has not happened for many years past, and will not occur
+again in this century, I earnestly entreat you to watch attentively with
+your telescope in order to observe it as well as you can.
+
+'Notice particularly the diameter of Venus, which is stated by Kepler to
+be seven minutes, and by Lansberg to be eleven, but which I believe to
+be scarcely greater than one minute.'
+
+In describing the method which he adopted for observing the transit,
+Horrox writes as follows: 'Having attentively examined Venus with my
+instrument, I described on a sheet of paper a circle, whose diameter was
+nearly equal to six inches--the narrowness of the apartment not
+permitting me conveniently to use a larger size. I divided the
+circumference of this circle into 360 degrees in the usual manner, and
+its diameter into thirty equal parts, which gives about as many minutes
+as are equivalent to the Sun's apparent diameter. Each of these thirty
+parts was again divided into four equal portions, making in all one
+hundred and twenty; and these, if necessary, may be more minutely
+subdivided. The rest I left to ocular computation, which, in such small
+sections, is quite as certain as any mechanical division. Suppose,
+then, each of these thirty parts to be divided into sixty seconds,
+according to the practice of astronomers. When the time of the
+observation approached, I retired to my apartment, and, having closed
+the windows against the light, I directed my telescope--previously
+adjusted to a focus--through the aperture towards the Sun, and received
+his rays at right angles upon the paper already mentioned. The Sun's
+image exactly filled the circle, and I watched carefully and unceasingly
+for any dark body that might enter upon the disc of light.
+
+'Although the corrected computation of Venus' motions which I had before
+prepared, and on the accuracy of which I implicitly relied, forbade me
+to expect anything before three o'clock in the afternoon of the 24th,
+yet since, according to the calculations of most astronomers, the
+conjunction should take place sooner--by some even on the 23rd--I was
+unwilling to depend entirely on my own opinion, which was not
+sufficiently confirmed, lest by too much self-confidence I might
+endanger the observation. Anxiously intent, therefore, on the
+undertaking through the greater part of the 23rd, and on the whole of
+the 24th, I omitted no available opportunity of observing her ingress. I
+watched carefully on the 24th from sunrise to nine o'clock, and from a
+little before ten until noon, and at one in the afternoon, being called
+away in the intervals by business of the highest importance, which for
+these ornamental pursuits I could not with propriety neglect.[3] But
+during all this time I saw nothing in the Sun except a small and common
+spot, consisting as it were of three points at a distance from the
+centre towards the left, which I noticed on the preceding and following
+days. This evidently had nothing to do with Venus. About fifteen minutes
+past three in the afternoon, when I was again at liberty to continue my
+labours, the clouds, as if by divine interposition, were entirely
+dispersed, and I was once more invited to the grateful task of repeating
+my observations. I then beheld a most agreeable spectacle--the object of
+my sanguine wishes; a spot of unusual magnitude and of a perfectly
+circular shape, which had already fully entered upon the Sun's disc on
+the left, so that the limbs of the Sun and Venus precisely coincided,
+forming an angle of contact. Not doubting that this was really the
+shadow of the planet, I immediately applied myself sedulously to observe
+it.
+
+'In the first place, with respect to the inclination, the line of the
+diameter of the circle being perpendicular to the horizon, although its
+plane was somewhat inclined on account of the Sun's altitude, I found
+that the shadow of Venus at the aforesaid hour--namely, fifteen minutes
+past three--had entered the Sun's disc about 62 deg. 30', certainly between
+60 deg. and 65 deg., from the top towards the right. This was the appearance in
+the dark apartment; therefore, out of doors, beneath the open sky,
+according to the laws of optics, the contrary would be the case, and
+Venus would be below the centre of the Sun, distant 62 deg. 30' from the
+lower limbs or the nadir, as the Arabians term it. The inclination
+remained to all appearances the same until sunset, when the observation
+was concluded.
+
+'In the second place, the distance between the centres of Venus and the
+Sun I found by three observations to be as follows:--
+
+          The Hour.          | Distance of the Centres.
+                             |
+At 3.15 by the clock         |        14' 24''
+ " 3.35      "               |        13' 30''
+ " 3.45      "               |        13'  0''
+ " 3.50 the apparent sunset. |
+
+The true setting being 3.45, and the apparent about 5 minutes later, the
+difference being caused by refraction. The clock therefore was
+sufficiently correct.
+
+'In the third place I found after careful and repeated observation that
+the diameter of Venus, as her shadow was depicted on the paper, was
+larger indeed than the thirtieth part of the solar diameter, though not
+more so than the sixth, or at the utmost the fifth of such a part.
+Therefore let the diameter of the Sun be to the diameter of Venus as 30'
+to 1' 12''. Certainly her diameter never equalled 1' 30'', scarcely
+perhaps 1' 20'', and this was evident as well when the planet was near
+the Sun's limb as when far distant from it.
+
+[Illustration: VENUS ON THE SUN'S DISC.]
+
+'This observation was made in an obscure village where I have long been
+in the habit of observing, about fifteen miles to the north of
+Liverpool, the latitude of which I believe to be 53 deg. 20', although by
+common maps it is stated at 54 deg. 12', therefore the latitude of the
+village will be 53 deg. 35', and longitude of both 22 deg. 30' from the
+Fortunate Islands, now called the Canaries. This is 14 deg. 15' to the west
+of Uraniburg in Denmark, the longitude of which is stated by Brahe, a
+native of the place, to be 36 deg. 45' from these islands.
+
+'This is all I could observe respecting this celebrated conjunction
+during the short time the Sun remained in the horizon: for although
+Venus continued on his disc for several hours, she was not visible to me
+longer than half an hour on account of his so quickly setting.
+Nevertheless, all the observations which could possibly be made in so
+short a time I was enabled by Divine Providence to complete so
+effectually that I could scarcely have wished for a more extended
+period. The inclination was the only point upon which I failed to attain
+the utmost precision; for, owing to the rapid motion of the Sun it was
+difficult to observe with certainty to a single degree, and I frankly
+confess that I neither did nor could ascertain it. But all the rest is
+sufficiently accurate, and as exact as I could desire.'
+
+Besides having ascertained that the diameter of Venus subtends an angle
+not much greater than one minute of arc, Horrox reduced the horizontal
+solar parallax from fifty-seven seconds as stated by Kepler to fourteen
+seconds, a calculation within one and a half second of the value
+assigned to it by Halley sixty years after. He also reduced the Sun's
+semi-diameter.
+
+Crabtree, to whom Horrox refers as 'his most esteemed friend and a
+person who has few superiors in mathematical learning,' made
+preparations to observe the transit similar to those already described.
+But the day was unfavourable, dark clouds obscured the sky and rendered
+the Sun invisible. Crabtree was in despair, and relinquished all hope of
+being able to witness the conjunction. However, just before sunset there
+was a break in the clouds, and the Sun shone brilliantly for a short
+interval. Crabtree at once seized his opportunity, and to his intense
+delight observed the planet fully entered upon the Sun's disc. Instead
+of proceeding to take observations, he was so overcome with emotion at
+the sight of the phenomenon, that he continued to gaze upon it with rapt
+attention, nor did he recover his self-possession until the clouds again
+hid from his view the setting Sun.[4]
+
+Crabtree's observation of the transit was, however, not a fruitless one.
+He drew from memory a diagram showing the exact position of Venus on the
+Sun's disc, which corresponded in every respect with Horrox's
+observation; he also estimated the diameter of the planet to be 7/200
+that of the Sun, which when calculated gives one minute three seconds;
+Horrox having found it to be one minute twelve seconds. This transit of
+Venus is remarkable as having been the first ever observed of which
+there is any record, and for this we are indebted to the genius of
+Horrox, who by a series of calculations, displaying a wonderfully
+accurate knowledge of mathematics, was enabled to predict the occurrence
+of the phenomenon on the very day, and almost at the hour it appeared,
+and of which he and his friend Crabtree were the only observers.
+
+Having thought it desirable to write an account of the transit, Horrox
+prepared an elegant Latin treatise, entitled 'Venus in Sole
+Visa'--'Venus seen in the Sun;' but not knowing what steps to take with
+regard to its publication, he requested Crabtree to communicate with his
+bookseller and obtain his advice on the matter.
+
+In the meantime Horrox returned to Toxteth, and arranged to fulfil a
+long-promised visit to Crabtree, which he looked forward to with much
+pleasure, as it would afford him an opportunity of discussing with his
+friend many matters of interest to both. This visit was frustrated in a
+manner altogether unexpected. For we read that Horrox was seized with a
+sudden and severe illness, the nature of which is not known, and that
+his death occurred on the day previous to that of his intended visit to
+his friend at Broughton. He expired on January 3, 1641, when in the 23rd
+year of his age.
+
+His death was a great grief to Crabtree, who, in one of his letters,
+describes it as 'an irreparable loss:' and it is believed that he only
+survived him a few years.[5] Of the papers left by Horrox, only a few
+have been preserved, and these were discovered in Crabtree's house after
+his death. Among them was his treatise on the transit of Venus which,
+with other papers, was purchased by Dr. Worthington, Fellow of Emmanuel
+College, Cambridge, a man of learning, who was capable of appreciating
+their value. Ultimately, the treatise fell into the possession of
+Hevelius, a celebrated German astronomer, who published it along with a
+dissertation of his own, describing a transit of Mercury.
+
+Horrox did not live to see any of his writings published, nor was any
+monument erected to his memory until nearly two hundred years after his
+death. But his name, though long forgotten except by astronomers, is now
+engraved on marble in Westminster Abbey. Had his life been spared, it
+would have been difficult to foretell to what eminence and fame he might
+have risen, or what further discoveries his genius might have enabled
+him to make. Few among English astronomers will hesitate to rank him
+next with the illustrious Newton, and all will agree with Herschel, who
+called him 'the pride and the boast of British Astronomy.'
+
+WILLIAM GASCOIGNE was born in 1612, in the parish of Rothwell, in the
+county of York, and afterwards resided at Middleton, near Leeds.
+
+He was a man of an inventive turn of mind, and possessed good abilities,
+which he devoted to improving the methods of telescopic observation.
+
+At an early age he was occupied in observing celestial objects, making
+researches in optics, and acquiring a proficient knowledge of astronomy.
+
+Among his acquaintances were Crabtree and Horrox, with whom he carried
+on a correspondence on matters appertaining to their favourite study.
+
+The measurement of small angles was found at all times to be one of the
+greatest difficulties which astronomers had to contend with. Tycho Brahe
+was so misled by his measurements of the apparent diameters of the Sun
+and Moon, that he concluded a total eclipse of the Sun was impossible.
+
+Gascoigne overcame this difficulty by his invention of the micrometer.
+This instrument, when applied to a telescope, was found to be of great
+service in the correct measurement of minute angles and distances, and
+was the means of greatly advancing the progress of practical astronomy
+in the seventeenth century. A micrometer consists of a short tube,
+across the opening of which are stretched two parallel wires; these
+being intersected at right angles by a third. The wires are moved to or
+from each other by delicately constructed screws, to which they are
+attached. Each revolution, or part of a revolution, of a screw indicates
+the distance by which the wires are moved.
+
+This apparatus, when placed in the focus of a lens, gives very accurate
+measurements of the diameters of celestial objects. It was successfully
+used by Gascoigne in determining the apparent diameters of the Sun,
+Moon, and several of the planets, and the mutual distances of the stars
+which form the Pleiades.
+
+Crabtree, after having paid Gascoigne a visit in 1639, describes in a
+letter to Horrox the impression created on his mind by the micrometer.
+He writes: 'The first thing Mr. Gascoigne showed me was a large
+telescope, amplified and adorned with new inventions of his own, whereby
+he can take the diameters of the Sun or Moon, or any small angle in the
+heavens or upon the earth, most exactly through the glass to a second.'
+
+The micrometer is now regarded as an indispensable appliance in the
+observatory; the use of a spider web reticule instead of wire having
+improved its efficiency. Gascoigne was one of the earliest astronomers
+who recognised the value of the Keplerian telescope for observational
+purposes, and Sherburn affirms that he was the first to construct an
+instrument of this description having two convex lenses. Whether this be
+true or not, it is certain that he applied the micrometer to the
+telescope, and was the first to use telescopic sights, by means of which
+he was able to fix the optical axis of his telescope, and ascertain by
+observation the apparent positions of the heavenly bodies.
+
+Crabtree, in a letter to Gascoigne, says: 'Could I purchase it with
+travel, or procure it with gold, I would not be without a telescope for
+observing small angles in the heavens; or want the use of your device of
+a glass in a cane upon the movable ruler of your sextant, as I remember
+for helping to the exact point of the Sun's rays.'
+
+It was not known until the beginning of the eighteenth century that
+Gascoigne had invented and used telescopic sights for the purpose of
+making accurate astronomical observations. The accidental discovery of
+some documents which contained a description of his appliances was the
+means by which this became known.
+
+Townley states that Gascoigne had completed a treatise on optics, which
+was ready for publication, but that no trace of the manuscript could be
+discovered after his death. Having embraced the Royalist cause, William
+Gascoigne joined the forces of Charles I., and fell in the battle of
+Marston Moor on July 2, 1644.
+
+The early death of this young and remarkably clever man was a severe
+blow to the science of astronomy in England.
+
+The invention of logarithms, by Baron Napier, of Merchistoun, was found
+to be of inestimable value to astronomers in facilitating and
+abbreviating the methods of astronomical calculation.
+
+By the use of logarithms, arithmetical computations which necessitated
+laborious application for several months could with ease be completed in
+as many days. It was remarked by Laplace that this invention was the
+means of doubling the life of an astronomer, besides enabling him to
+avoid errors and the tediousness associated with long and abstruse
+calculations.
+
+THOMAS HARRIOT, an eminent mathematician, and an assiduous astronomer,
+made some valuable observations of the comet of 1607. He was one of the
+earliest observers who made use of the telescope, and it was claimed on
+his behalf that he discovered Jupiter's satellites, and the spots on the
+Sun, independently of Galileo. Other astronomers have been desirous of
+sharing this honour, but it has been conclusively proved that Galileo
+was the first who made those discoveries.
+
+The investigations of Norwood and Gilbert, the mechanical genius of
+Hooke, and the patient researches of Flamsteed--the first Astronomer
+Royal--were of much value in perfecting many details associated with the
+study of astronomy.
+
+The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was founded in 1675. The building was
+erected under a warrant from Charles II. It announces the desire of the
+Sovereign to build a small observatory in the park at Greenwich, 'in
+order to the finding out of the longitude for perfecting the art of
+navigation and astronomy.' This action on the part of the King may be
+regarded as the first public acknowledgment of the usefulness of
+astronomy for national purposes.
+
+Since its erection, the observatory has been presided over by a
+succession of talented men, who have raised it to a position of eminence
+and usefulness unsurpassed by any similar institution in this or any
+other country. The well-known names of Flamsteed, Halley, Bradley, and
+Airy, testify to the valuable services rendered by those past directors
+of the Greenwich Observatory in the cause of astronomical science.
+
+If we take a general survey of the science of astronomy as it existed
+from 1608 to 1674--a period that embraced the time in which Milton
+lived--we shall find that it was still compassed by ignorance,
+superstition, and mystery. Astrology was zealously cultivated; most
+persons of rank and position had their nativity or horoscope cast, and
+the belief in the ruling of the planets, and their influence on human
+and terrestrial affairs, was through long usage firmly established in
+the public mind. Indeed, at this time, astronomy was regarded as a
+handmaid to astrology; for, with the aid of astronomical calculation,
+the professors of this occult science were enabled to predict the
+positions of the planets, and by this means practised their art with an
+apparent degree of truthfulness.
+
+Although over one hundred years had elapsed since the death of
+Copernicus, his theory of the solar system did not find many supporters,
+and the old forms of astronomical belief still retained their hold on
+the minds of the majority of philosophic thinkers. This can be partly
+accounted for, as many of the Ptolemaic doctrines were at first
+associated with the Copernican theory, nor was it until a later period
+that they were eliminated from the system.
+
+Though Copernicus deserved the credit of having transferred the centre
+of our system from the Earth to the Sun, yet his theory was imperfect in
+its details, and contained many inaccuracies. He believed that the
+planets could only move round the Sun in circular paths, nor was he
+capable of conceiving of any other form of orbit in which they could
+perform their revolutions. He was therefore compelled to retain the use
+of cycles and epicycles, in order to account for irregularities in the
+uniformly circular motions of those bodies.
+
+We are indebted to the genius of Kepler for having placed the Copernican
+system upon a sure and irremovable basis, and for having raised
+astronomy to the position of a true physical science. By his discovery
+that the planets travel round the Sun in elliptical orbits, he was
+enabled to abolish cycles and epicycles, which created such confusion
+and entanglement in the system, and to explain many apparent
+irregularities of motion by ascribing to the Sun his true position with
+regard to the motions of the planets.
+
+After the death of Kepler, which occurred in 1630, the most eminent
+supporter of the Copernican theory was the illustrious Galileo, whose
+belief in its accuracy and truthfulness was confirmed by his own
+discoveries.
+
+Five of the planets were known at this time--viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars,
+Jupiter, and Saturn; the latter, which revolves in its orbit at a
+profound distance from the Sun, formed what at that time was believed to
+be the boundary of the planetary system. The distance of the Earth from
+the Sun was approximately known, and the orb was observed to rotate on
+his axis.
+
+It was also ascertained that the Moon shone by reflected light, and that
+her surface was varied by inequalities resembling those of our Earth.
+The elliptical form of her orbit had been discovered by Horrox, and her
+elements were computed with a certain degree of accuracy.
+
+The cloudy luminosity of the Milky Way had been resolved into a
+multitude of separate stars, disclosing the immensity of the stellar
+universe.
+
+The crescent form of the planet Venus, the satellites of Jupiter and of
+Saturn, and the progressive motion and measurement of light, had also
+been discovered. Observations were made of transits of Mercury and
+Venus, and refracting and reflecting telescopes were invented.
+
+The law of universal gravitation, a power which retains the Earth and
+planets in their orbits, causing them year after year to describe with
+unerring regularity their oval paths round the Sun, was not known at
+this time. Though Newton was born in 1642, he did not disclose the
+results of his philosophic investigations until 1687--thirteen years
+after the death of Milton--when, in the 'Principia,' he announced his
+discovery of the great law of universal gravitation.
+
+Kepler, though he discovered the laws of planetary motion, was unable to
+determine the motive force which guided and retained those bodies in
+their orbits. It was reserved for the genius of Newton to solve this
+wonderful problem. This great philosopher was able to prove 'that every
+particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a
+force proportioned to the mass of the attracting body, and inversely as
+the square of the distance between them.' Newton was capable of
+demonstrating that the force which guides and retains the Earth and
+planets in their orbits resides in the Sun, and by the application of
+this law of gravitation he was able to explain the motions of all
+celestial bodies entering into the structure of the solar system.
+
+This discovery may be regarded as the crowning point of the science of
+astronomy, for, upon the unfailing energy of this mysterious power
+depend the order and stability of the universe, extending as it does to
+all material bodies existing in space, guiding, controlling, and
+retaining them in their several paths and orbits, whether it be a tiny
+meteor, a circling planet, or a mighty sun.
+
+The nature of cometary bodies and the laws which govern their motions
+were at this time still enshrouded in mystery, and when one of those
+erratic wanderers made its appearance in the sky it was beheld by the
+majority of mankind with feelings of awe and superstitious dread, and
+regarded as a harbinger of evil and disaster, the precursor of war, of
+famine, or the overthrow of an empire.
+
+Newton, however, was able to divest those bodies of the mystery with
+which they were surrounded by proving that any conic section may be
+described about the Sun, consistent with the law of gravitation, and
+that comets, notwithstanding the eccentricity of their orbits, obey the
+laws of planetary motion.
+
+Beyond the confines of our solar system, little was known of the
+magnitude and extent of the sidereal universe which occupies the
+infinitude of space by which we are surrounded. The stars were
+recognised as self-luminous bodies, inconceivably remote, and although
+they excited the curiosity of observers, and conjectures were made as to
+their origin, yet no conclusive opinions were arrived at with regard to
+their nature and constitution, and except that they were regarded as
+glittering points of light which illumine the firmament, all else
+appertaining to them remained an unravelled mystery. Even Copernicus had
+no notion of a universe of stars.
+
+Galileo, by his discovery that the galaxy consists of a multitude of
+separate stars too remote to be defined by ordinary vision, demonstrated
+how vast are the dimensions of the starry heavens, and on what a
+stupendous scale the universe is constructed. But at this time it had
+not occurred to astronomers, nor was it known until many years after,
+that the stars are suns which shine with a splendour resembling that of
+our Sun, and in many instances surpassing it. It was not until this
+truth became known that the glories of the sidereal heavens were fully
+comprehended, and their magnificence revealed. It was then ascertained
+that the minute points of light which crowd the fields of our largest
+telescopes, in their aggregations forming systems, clusters, galaxies,
+and universes of stars, are shining orbs of light, among the countless
+multitudes of which our Sun may be numbered as one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MILTON'S ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE
+
+
+It would be reasonable to imagine that Milton's knowledge of astronomy
+was comprehensive and accurate, and superior to that possessed by most
+scientific men of his age. His scholarly attainments, his familiarity
+with ancient history and philosophy, his profound learning, and the
+universality of his general knowledge, would lead one to conclude that
+the science which treats of the mechanism of the heavens, and especially
+the observational part of it--which at all times has been a source of
+inspiration to poets of every degree of excellence--was to him a study
+of absorbing interest, and one calculated to make a deep impression upon
+his devoutly poetical mind. The serious character of Milton's verse, and
+the reverent manner in which celestial incidents and objects are
+described in it, impress one with the belief that his contemplation of
+the heavens, and of the orbs that roll and shine in the firmament
+overhead, afforded him much enjoyment and meditative delight. For no
+poet, in ancient or in modern times, has introduced into his writings
+with such frequency, or with such pleasing effect, so many passages
+descriptive of the beauty and grandeur of the heavens. No other poet,
+by the creative effort of his imagination, has soared to such a height;
+nor has he ever been excelled in his descriptions of the celestial orbs,
+and of the beautiful phenomena associated with their different motions.
+
+In his minor poems, which were composed during his residence at Horton,
+a charming rural retreat in Buckinghamshire, where the freshness and
+varied beauty of the landscape and the attractive aspects of the
+midnight sky were ever before him, we find enchanting descriptions of
+celestial objects, and especially of those orbs which, by their
+brilliancy and lustre, have always commanded the admiration of mankind.
+
+For example, in 'L'Allegro' there are the following lines:--
+
+    Right against the eastern gate
+    Where the great Sun begins his state,
+    Robed in flames and amber light,
+    The clouds in thousand liveries dight;
+
+and in 'Il Penseroso'--
+
+    To behold the wandering Moon,
+    Riding near her highest noon,
+    Like one that had been led astray
+    Through the heaven's wide pathless way,
+    And oft as if her head she bowed,
+    Stooping through a fleecy cloud.
+
+In the happy choice of his theme, and by the comprehensive manner in
+which he has treated it, Milton has been enabled by his poetic genius to
+give to the world in his 'Paradise Lost' a poem which, for sublimity of
+thought, loftiness of imagination, and beauty of expression in metrical
+verse, is unsurpassed in any language.
+
+It is, however, our intention to deal only with those passages in the
+poem in which allusion is made to the heavenly bodies, and to incidents
+and occurrences associated with astronomical phenomena. In the
+exposition and illustration of these it has been considered desirable to
+adopt the following general classification:--
+
+1. To ascertain the extent of Milton's astronomical knowledge.
+
+2. To describe the starry heavens and the celestial objects mentioned in
+'Paradise Lost.'
+
+3. To exemplify the use which Milton has made of astronomy in the
+exercise of his imaginative and descriptive powers.
+
+In the earlier half of the seventeenth century the Ptolemaic theory--by
+which it was believed that the Earth was the immovable centre of the
+universe, and that round it all the heavenly bodies completed a diurnal
+revolution--still retained its ascendency over the minds of men of
+learning and science, and all the doctrines associated with this ancient
+astronomical creed were still religiously upheld by the educated classes
+among the peoples inhabiting the different civilised regions of the
+globe. The Copernican theory--by which the Sun is assigned the central
+position in our system, with the Earth and planets revolving in orbits
+round him--obtained the support of a few persons of advanced views and
+high scientific attainments, but its doctrines had not yet seriously
+threatened the supremacy of the older system. Though upwards of one
+hundred years had elapsed since the death of Copernicus, yet the
+doctrines associated with the system of which he was the founder were
+but very tardily adopted up to this time. There were several reasons
+which accounted for this. The Copernican system was at first imperfect
+in its details, and included several of the Ptolemaic, doctrines which
+rendered it less intelligible, and retarded its acceptance by persons
+who would otherwise have been inclined to adopt it. Copernicus believed
+that the planets travelled round the Sun in circular paths. This
+necessitated the retention of cycles and epicycles, which gave rise to
+much confusion; nor was it until Kepler made his great discovery of the
+ellipticity of the planetary orbits that they were eliminated from the
+system.
+
+As the Ptolemaic system of the universe held complete sway over the
+minds of men for upwards of twenty centuries, it was difficult to
+persuade many persons to renounce the astronomical beliefs to which they
+were so firmly attached, in favour of those of any other system; so that
+the overthrow of this venerable theory required a lengthened period of
+time for its accomplishment.
+
+It was thus in his earlier years, when Milton devoted his time to the
+study of literature and philosophy, which he read extensively when
+pursuing his academic career at Christ's College, Cambridge, and
+afterwards at Horton, where he spent several years in acquiring a more
+proficient knowledge of the literary, scientific, and philosophical
+writings of the age, that he found the beliefs associated with the
+Ptolemaic theory adopted without doubt or hesitation by the numerous
+authors whose works he perused. His knowledge of Italian enabled him to
+become familiar with Dante--one of his favourite authors, whose poetical
+writings were deeply read by him, and who, in the elaboration of his
+poem, the 'Divina Commedia,' included the entire Ptolemaic cosmology.
+
+In England the Copernican theory had few supporters, and the majority of
+those who represented the intellect and learning of the country still
+retained their adherence to the old form of astronomical belief. We
+therefore find that Milton followed the traditional way of thinking by
+adopting the views associated with the Ptolemaic theory.
+
+According to the Ptolemaic system, the Earth was regarded as the
+immovable centre of the universe, and surrounding it were ten
+crystalline spheres, or heavens, arranged in concentric circles, the
+larger spheres enclosing the smaller ones; and within those was situated
+the cosmos, or mundane universe, usually described as 'the Heavens and
+the Earth.' To each of the first seven spheres there was attached a
+heavenly body, which was carried round the Earth by the revolution of
+the crystalline.
+
+1st sphere: that of the Moon.
+
+2nd sphere: that of the planet Mercury.
+
+3rd sphere: that of the planet Venus.
+
+4th sphere: that of the Sun; regarded as a planet.
+
+5th sphere: that of the planet Mars.
+
+6th sphere: that of the planet Jupiter.
+
+7th sphere: that of the planet Saturn.
+
+8th sphere: that of the fixed stars.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1]
+
+The eighth sphere included all the fixed stars, and was called the
+firmament, because it was believed to impart steadiness to the inner
+spheres, and, by its diurnal revolution, to carry them round the Earth,
+causing the change of day and night.
+
+The separate motions of the spheres, revolving with different
+velocities, and at different angles to each other, accounted for the
+astronomical phenomena associated with the orbs attached to each.
+According to Ptolemy's scheme, the eighth sphere formed the outermost
+boundary of the universe; but later astronomers added to this system two
+other spheres--a _ninth_, called the _Crystalline_, which caused
+Precession of the Equinoxes; and a _tenth_, called the _Primum Mobile_,
+or First Moved, which brought about the alternation of day and night, by
+carrying all the other spheres round the Earth once in every twenty-four
+hours. The Primum Mobile enclosed, as if in a shell, all the other
+spheres, in which was included the created universe, and, although of
+vast dimensions, its conception did not overwhelm the mind in the same
+manner that the effort to comprehend infinitude does.
+
+Beyond this last sphere there was believed to exist a boundless,
+uncircumscribed region, of immeasurable extent, called the Empyrean, or
+Heaven of Heavens, the incorruptible abode of the Deity, the place of
+eternal mysteries, which the comprehension of man was unable to fathom,
+and of which it was impossible for his mind to form any conception. Such
+were the imaginative beliefs upon which this ancient astronomical theory
+was founded, that for a period of upwards of two thousand years held
+undisputed sway over the minds of men, and exercised during that time a
+predominating influence upon the imagination, thoughts, and conceptions
+of all those who devoted themselves to literature, science, and art. Of
+the truthfulness of this assertion there is ample evidence in the
+poetical, philosophical, and historical writings of ancient authors,
+whose ideas and conceptions regarding the created universe were limited
+and circumscribed by this form of astronomical belief. In the works of
+more recent writers we find that it continued to assert its influence;
+and among our English poets, from Chaucer down to Shakespeare, there are
+numerous references to the natural phenomena associated with this
+system, and most frequently expressed by poetical allusions to 'the
+music of the spheres.'
+
+The ideas associated with the Ptolemaic theory were gratifying to the
+pride and vanity of man, who could regard with complacency the paramount
+importance of the globe which he inhabited, and of which he was the
+absolute ruler, fixed in the centre of the universe, and surrounded by
+ten revolving spheres, that carried along with them in their circuit all
+other celestial bodies--Sun, Moon, and stars, which would appear to have
+been created for his delectation, and for the purpose of ministering to
+his requirements. But when the Copernican theory became better
+understood, and especially after the discovery of the law of universal
+gravitation, this venerable system of the universe, based upon a pile of
+unreasonable and false hypotheses, after an existence of over twenty
+centuries, sank into oblivion, and was no more heard of.
+
+Milton's Ptolemaism is apparent in some of his shorter pieces, and also
+in his minor poems, 'Arcades' and 'Comus.' His 'Ode on the Nativity' is
+written in conformity with this belief, and the expression,
+
+    Ring out ye crystal spheres,
+
+indicates a poetical allusion to this theory. But as Milton grew older
+his Ptolemaism became greatly modified, and there are good reasons for
+believing that in his latter years he renounced it entirely in favour of
+Copernicanism. When on his continental tour in 1638, he made the
+acquaintance of eminent men who held views different from those with
+which he was familiar; and in his interview with Galileo at Arcetri, the
+aged astronomer may have impressed upon his mind the superiority of the
+Copernican theory, in accounting for the occurrence of celestial
+phenomena, as compared with the Ptolemaic.
+
+On his return to England from the Continent, Milton took up his
+residence in London, and lived in apartments in a house in St. Bride's
+Churchyard. Having no regular vocation, and not wishing to be dependent
+upon his father, he undertook the education of his two nephews, John and
+Edward Phillips, aged nine and ten years respectively. From St. Bride's
+Churchyard he removed to a larger house in Aldersgate, where he received
+as pupils the sons of some of his most intimate acquaintances. In the
+list of subjects which Milton selected for the purpose of imparting
+instruction to those youths he included astronomy and mathematics,
+which formed part of the curriculum of this educational establishment.
+The text-book from which he taught his nephews and other pupils
+astronomy was called 'De Sphaera Mundi,' a work written by Joannes
+Sacrobasco (John Holywood) in the thirteenth century. This book was an
+epitome of Ptolemy's 'Almagest,' and therefore entirely Ptolemaic in its
+teaching. It enjoyed great popularity during the Middle Ages, and is
+reported to have gone through as many as forty editions.
+
+The selection of astronomy as one of the subjects in which Milton
+instructed his pupils affords us evidence that he must have devoted
+considerable time and attention to acquiring a knowledge of the facts
+and details associated with the study of the science. In the attainment
+of this he had to depend upon his own exertions and the assistance
+derived from astronomical books; for at this time astronomy received no
+recognition as a branch of study at any of the universities; and in
+Britain the science attracted less attention than on the Continent,
+where the genius of Kepler and Galileo elevated it to a position of
+national importance.
+
+We shall find as we proceed that Milton's knowledge of astronomy was
+comprehensive and accurate; that he was familiar with the astronomical
+reasons by which many natural phenomena which occur around us can be
+explained; and that he understood many of the details of the science
+which are unknown to ordinary observers of the heavens.
+
+It is remarkable how largely astronomy enters into the composition of
+'Paradise Lost,' and we doubt if any author could have written such a
+poem without possessing a knowledge of the heavens and of the celestial
+orbs such as can only be attained by a proficient and intimate
+acquaintance with this science.
+
+The arguments in favour of or against the Ptolemaic and Copernican
+theories were well known to Milton, even as regards their minute
+details; and in Book viii. he introduces a scientific discussion based
+upon the respective merits of those theories. The configuration of the
+celestial and terrestrial spheres, and the great circles by which they
+are circumscribed, he also knew. The causes which bring about the change
+of the seasons; the obliquity of the ecliptic; the zodiacal
+constellations through which the Sun travels, and the periods of the
+year in which he occupies them, are embraced in Milton's knowledge of
+the science of astronomy. The motions of the Earth, including the
+Precession of the Equinoxes; the number and distinctive appearances of
+the planets, their direct and retrograde courses, and their satellites,
+are also described by him. The constellations, and their relative
+positions on the celestial sphere; the principal stars, star-groups, and
+clusters, and the Galaxy, testify to Milton's knowledge of astronomy,
+and to the use which he has made of the science in the elaboration of
+his poem.
+
+The names of fourteen of the constellations are mentioned in 'Paradise
+Lost.' These, when arranged alphabetically, read as follows:--
+
+Andromeda, Aries, Astrea, Centaurus, Cancer, Capricornus, Gemini, Leo,
+Libra, Ophiuchus, Orion, Scorpio, Taurus, and Virgo. Milton's allusions
+to the zodiacal constellations are chiefly associated with his
+description of the Sun's path in the heavens; but with the celestial
+sign Libra (the _Scales_) he has introduced a lofty and poetical
+conception of the means by which the Creator made known His will when
+there arose a contention between Gabriel and Satan on his discovery in
+Paradise.
+
+    The Eternal, to prevent such horrid fray,
+    Hung forth in Heaven his golden scales, yet seen
+    Betwixt Astrea[6] and the Scorpion sign,
+    Wherein all things created first he weighed,
+    The pendulous round Earth with balanced air
+    In counterpoise, now ponders all events,
+    Battles and realms. In these he put two weights,
+    The sequel each of parting and of fight:
+    The latter quick up flew, and kicked the beam.--iv. 996-1004.
+
+Orion, the finest constellation in the heavens, did not escape Milton's
+observation, and there is one allusion to it in his poem. It arrives on
+the meridian in winter, where it is conspicuous as a brilliant
+assemblage of stars, and represents an armed giant, or hunter, holding a
+massive club in his right hand, and having a shield of lion's hide on
+his left arm. A triple-gemmed belt encircles his waist, from which is
+suspended a glittering sword, tipped with a bright star. The two
+brilliants Betelgeux and Bellatrix form the giant's shoulders, and the
+bright star Rigel marks the position of his advanced foot. The rising of
+Orion was believed to be accompanied by stormy and tempestuous weather.
+Milton alludes to this in the following lines:--
+
+          When with fierce winds Orion armed
+    Hath vexed the Red Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew
+    Busiris and his Memphian chivalry.--i. 305-7.
+
+Andromeda is described as being borne by Aries, and in 'Ophiuchus huge'
+Milton locates a comet which extends the whole length of the
+constellation. It is evident that Milton possessed a precise knowledge
+of the configuration and size of the constellations, and of the
+positions which they occupy relatively to each other on the celestial
+sphere.
+
+Though Milton was conversant with the Copernican theory, and entertained
+a conviction of its accuracy and truthfulness, and doubtless recognised
+the superiority of this system, which, besides conveying to the mind a
+nobler conception of the universe and of the solar system--though it
+diminished the importance of the Earth as a member of it--was capable of
+explaining the occurrence of celestial phenomena in a manner more
+satisfactory than could be arrived at by the Ptolemaic theory.
+Notwithstanding this, he selected the Ptolemaic cosmology as the
+scientific basis upon which he constructed his 'Paradise Lost,' and in
+its elaboration adhered with marked fidelity to this system. There were
+many reasons why Milton, in the composition of an imaginative poem,
+should have chosen the Ptolemaic system of the universe rather than the
+Copernican. This form of astronomical belief was adopted by all the
+authors whose works he perused and studied in his younger days,
+including his favourite poet, Dante; and his own poetic imaginings, as
+indicated by his early poems, were in harmony with the doctrines of this
+astronomical creed, a long acquaintance with which had, without doubt,
+influenced his mind in its favour. This system of revolving spheres,
+with the steadfast Earth at its centre, and the whole enclosed by the
+Primum Mobile, constituted a more attractive and picturesque object for
+poetic description than the simple and uncircumscribed arrangement of
+the universe expressed by the Copernican theory. It also afforded him an
+opportunity of localising those regions of space in which the chief
+incidents in his poem are described--viz. HEAVEN, or THE EMPYREAN,
+CHAOS, HELL, and the MUNDANE UNIVERSE. Milton's Ptolemaism, with its
+adjuncts, may be understood by the following:
+
+All that portion of space above the newly created universe, and beyond
+the Primum Mobile, was known as HEAVEN, or THE EMPYREAN--a region of
+light, of glory, and of happiness; the dwelling-place of the Deity, Who,
+though omnipresent, here visibly revealed Himself to all the multitude
+of angels whom He created, and who surrounded his throne in adoration
+and worship.
+
+Underneath the universe there existed a vast region of similar
+dimensions to the Empyrean, called CHAOS, which was occupied by the
+embryo elements of matter, that with incessant turmoil and confusion
+warred with each other for supremacy--a wild abyss--
+
+    The womb of Nature and perhaps her grave.--ii. 911.
+
+The lower portion of this region was divided off from the remainder, and
+embraced the locality known as HELL--the place of torment, where the
+rebellious angels were driven and shut in after their expulsion from
+Heaven.
+
+    As far removed from God and light of Heaven
+    As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole.--i. 73-74.
+
+The NEW UNIVERSE, which included the Earth and all the orbs of the
+firmament known as the Starry Heavens, was created out of Chaos, and
+hung, as if suspended by a golden chain, from the Empyrean above; and
+although its magnitude and dimensions were inconceivable, yet, according
+to the Ptolemaic theory, it was enclosed by the tenth sphere or Primum
+Mobile.
+
+By this partitioning of space Milton was able to contrive a system which
+fulfilled the requirements of his great poem.
+
+The annexed diagram explains the relative positions of the different
+regions into which space was divided.
+
+Though there are traces of Copernicanism found in 'Paradise Lost,' yet
+Milton has very faithfully adhered to the Ptolemaic mechanism and
+nomenclature throughout his poem.
+
+In his description of the Creation, the Earth is formed first, then the
+Sun, followed by the Moon, and afterwards the stars, all of which are
+described as being in motion round the Earth. Allusion is also made to
+this ancient system in several prominent passages, and in the following
+lines there is a distinct reference to the various revolving spheres.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2]
+
+    They pass the planets seven, and pass the fixed,
+    And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs
+    The trepidation talked, and that first moved.--iii. 481-83.
+
+The seven planetary spheres are first mentioned; then the eighth sphere,
+or that of the fixed stars; then the ninth, or crystalline, which was
+believed to cause a shaking, or trepidation, to account for certain
+irregularities in the motions of the stars; and, lastly, the tenth
+sphere, or Primum Mobile, called the 'first moved' because it set the
+other spheres in motion.
+
+To an uninstructed observer, the apparent motion of the heavenly bodies
+round the Earth would naturally lead him to conclude that, of the two
+theories, the Ptolemaic was the correct one. We therefore find that
+Milton adopted the system most in accord with the knowledge and
+intelligence possessed by the persons portrayed by him in his poem; and
+in describing the natural phenomena witnessed in the heavens by our
+first parents, he adheres to the doctrines of the Ptolemaic system, as
+being most in harmony with the simple and primitive conceptions of those
+created beings.
+
+To their upward gaze, the orbs of heaven appeared to be in ceaseless
+motion; the solid Earth, upon which they stood, was alone immovable and
+at rest. Day after day they observed the Sun pursue his steadfast course
+with unerring regularity: his rising in the east, accompanied by the
+rosy hues of morn; his meridian splendour, and his sinking in the west,
+tinting in colours of purple and gold inimitable the fleecy clouds
+floating in the azure sky, as he bids farewell for a time to scenes of
+life and happiness, rejoicing in the light and warmth of his
+all-cheering beams. With the advent of night they beheld the Moon, now
+increasing, now waning, pursue her irregular path, also to disappear in
+the west; whilst, like the bands of an army marshalled in loose array,
+the constellations of glittering stars, with stately motion, traversed
+their nocturnal arcs, circling the pole of the heavens.
+
+By referring to Book viii., 15-175, we find an account of an interesting
+scientific discussion, or conversation, between Adam and Raphael
+regarding the merits of the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems, and of the
+relative importance and size of the heavenly bodies. By it we are
+afforded an opportunity of learning how accurate and precise a knowledge
+Milton possessed of both theories, and in what clear and perspicuous
+language he expresses his arguments in favour of or against the
+doctrines associated with each.
+
+We may, with good reason, regard the views expressed by Adam as
+representing Milton's own opinions, which were in conformity with the
+Copernican theory; and in the Angel's reply, though of an undecided
+character, we are able to perceive how aptly Milton describes the
+erroneous conclusions upon which the Ptolemaic theory was based.
+
+In this scientific discussion, it would seem rather strange that Adam,
+the first of men, should have been capable of such philosophic
+reasoning, propounding, as if by intuition, a theory upon which was
+founded a system that had not been discovered until many centuries after
+the time that astronomy became a science. By attributing to Adam such a
+degree of intelligence and wisdom, the poet has taken a liberty which
+enabled him to carry on this discussion in a manner befitting the
+importance of the subject.
+
+In the following lines Adam expresses to his Angel-guest, in forcible
+and convincing language, his reasons in support of the Copernican
+theory:--
+
+    When I behold this goodly frame, this World,
+    Of Heaven and Earth consisting, and compute
+    Their magnitudes--this Earth, a spot, a grain,
+    An atom, with the Firmament compared
+    And all her numbered stars, that seem to roll
+    Spaces incomprehensible (for such
+    Their distance argues, and their swift return
+    Diurnal) merely to officiate light
+    Round this opacous Earth, this punctual spot,
+    One day and night, in all her vast survey
+    Useless besides--reasoning, I oft admire,
+    How Nature, wise and frugal could commit
+    Such disproportions, with superfluous hand
+    So many nobler bodies to create,
+    Greater so manifold, to this one use,
+    For aught appears, and on their Orbs impose
+    Such restless revolution day by day
+    Repeated, while the sedentary Earth,
+    That better might with far less compass move,
+    Served by more noble than herself, attains
+    Her end without least motion, and receives,
+    As tribute, such a sumless journey brought
+    Of incorporeal speed, her warmth and light;
+    Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails.--viii. 15-38.
+
+We are enabled to perceive that Milton had formed a correct conception
+of the magnitude and proportions of the universe, and also of the
+relative size and importance of the Earth, which he describes as 'a
+spot, a grain, an atom,' when compared with the surrounding heavens. He
+expresses his surprise that all the stars of the firmament, whose
+distances are so remote, and whose dimensions so greatly exceed those of
+this globe, should in their diurnal revolution have 'such a sumless
+journey of incorporeal speed imposed upon them' merely to officiate
+light to the Earth, 'this punctual spot;' and reasoning, wonders how
+Nature, wise and frugal in her ways, should commit such disproportions,
+by adopting means so great to accomplish a result so small, when motion
+imparted to the sedentary Earth would with greater ease produce the same
+effect.
+
+The inconceivable velocity with which it would be necessary for those
+orbs to travel in order to accomplish a daily revolution round the Earth
+might be described as almost spiritual, and beyond the power of
+calculation by numbers.
+
+The Angel, after listening to Adam's argument, expresses approval of his
+desire to obtain knowledge, but answers him dubiously, and at the same
+time criticises in a severe and adverse manner the Ptolemaic theory.
+
+    To ask or search I blame thee not; for Heaven
+    Is as the Book of God before thee set,
+    Wherein to read his wondrous works, and learn
+    His seasons, hours, or days, or months, or years.
+    This to attain, whether Heaven move or Earth,
+    Imports not, if thou reckon right; the rest
+    From Man or Angel the Great Architect
+    Did wisely to conceal, and not divulge
+    His secrets, to be scanned by them who ought
+    Rather admire. Or, if they list to try
+    Conjecture, he his fabric of the Heavens
+    Hath left to their disputes, perhaps to move
+    His laughter at their quaint opinions wide
+    Hereafter, when they come to model Heaven,
+    And calculate the stars; how they will wield
+    The mighty frame; how build, unbuild, contrive
+    To save appearances; how gird the Sphere
+    With Centric and Eccentric scribbled o'er
+    Cycle and Epicycle, Orb in Orb.--viii. 66-84.
+
+When, with the advancement of science, astronomical observations were
+made with greater accuracy, it was discovered that uniformity of motion
+was not always maintained by those bodies which were believed to move in
+circles round the Earth. It was observed that the Sun, when on one side
+of his orbit, had an accelerated motion, as compared with the speed at
+which he travelled when on the other side. The planets, also, appeared
+to move with irregularity: sometimes a planet was observed to advance,
+then become stationary, and afterwards affect a retrograde movement.
+Those inequalities of motion could not be explained by means of the
+revolution of crystalline spheres alone, but were accounted for by
+imagining the existence of a small circle, or epicycle, whose centre
+corresponded with a fixed point in the larger circle, or eccentric, as
+it was called. This small circle revolved on its axis when carried round
+with the larger one, and round it the planet also revolved, which when
+situated in its outer portion would have a forward, and when in its
+inner portion a retrograde, motion.
+
+The theory of eccentrics and epicycles was sufficient for a time to
+account for the inequalities of motion already described, and by this
+means the Ptolemaic system was enabled to retain its ascendency for a
+longer period than it otherwise would have done. But more recent
+discoveries brought to light discrepancies and difficulties which were
+explained away by adding epicycle to epicycle. This created a most
+complicated entanglement, and hastened the downfall of a system which,
+after an existence of many centuries, sank into oblivion, and is now
+remembered as a belief of bygone ages.
+
+The devices which the upholders of this system were compelled to adopt,
+in order 'to save appearances,' with 'centric and eccentric,' cycle and
+epicycle, 'orb in orb,' are in this manner appropriately described by
+Milton, as indicating the confusion arising from a theory based upon
+false hypotheses.
+
+Continuing his reply, the Angel says:--
+
+    Already by thy reasoning this I guess,
+    Who art to lead thy offspring, and supposest
+    That bodies bright and greater should not serve
+    The less not bright, nor Heaven such journies run,
+    Earth sitting still, when she alone receives
+    The benefit. Consider, first, that great
+    Or bright infers not excellence. The Earth,
+    Though, in comparison of Heaven, so small,
+    Nor glistering, may of solid good contain
+    More plenty than the Sun that barren shines,
+    Whose virtue on itself works no effect,
+    But in the fruitful Earth; there first received,
+    His beams, inactive else, their vigour find,
+    Yet not to Earth are those bright luminaries
+    Officious, but to thee, Earth's habitant.
+    And, for the Heaven's wide circuit, let it speak
+    The Maker's high magnificence, who built
+    So spacious, and his line stretched out so far,
+    That Man may know he dwells not in his own--
+    An edifice too large for him to fill,
+    Lodged in a small partition; and the rest
+    Ordained for uses to his Lord best known,
+    The swiftness of those Circles attribute,
+    Though numberless, to his Omnipotence,
+    That to corporeal substances could add
+    Speed almost spiritual. Me thou think'st not slow,
+    Who since the morning-hour set out from Heaven
+    Where God resides, and ere midday arrived
+    In Eden--distance inexpressible
+    By numbers that have name. But this I urge,
+    Admitting motion in the Heavens, to show
+    Invalid that which thee to doubt it moved;
+    Not that I so affirm, though so it seem
+    To thee who hast thy dwelling here on Earth.
+    God, to remove his ways from human sense,
+    Placed Heaven from Earth so far, that earthly sight,
+    If it presume, might err in things too high,
+    And no advantage gain.--viii. 85-122.
+
+Notwithstanding the Angel's severe criticism of the Ptolemaic system, he
+does not unreservedly support the conclusions arrived at by Adam, but
+endeavours to show that his reasoning may not be altogether correct. He
+questions the validity of his argument that bodies of greater size and
+brightness should not serve the smaller, though not bright, and that
+heaven should move, while the Earth remained at rest. He argues that
+great or bright infers not excellence, and that the Earth, though small,
+may contain more virtue than the Sun, that 'barren shines,' whose beams
+create no beneficial effect, except when directed on the fruitful
+Earth. He reminds Adam that those bright luminaries minister not to the
+Earth, but to himself, 'Earth's habitant,' and directs his attention to
+the magnificence and extent of the surrounding universe, of which he
+occupies but a small portion. The diurnal swiftness of the orbs that
+move round the Earth he attributes to God's omnipotence, that to
+material bodies 'could add speed almost spiritual.'
+
+The Angel, after alluding to his rapid flight through space, suggests
+that God placed heaven so far from Earth that man might not presume to
+inquire into things which it would be of no advantage for him to know.
+He then suddenly changes to the Copernican system, which he lucidly
+describes in the following lines:--
+
+                              What if the Sun
+    Be centre to the World, and other stars
+    By his attractive virtue and their own
+    Incited, dance about him various rounds?
+    Their wandering course, now high, now low, then hid,
+    Progressive, retrograde, or standing still,
+    In six thou seest; and what if, seventh to these
+    The planet Earth, so steadfast though she seem,
+    Insensibly three different motions move?
+    Which else to several spheres thou must ascribe,
+    Moved contrary with thwart obliquities,
+    Or save the Sun his labour, and that swift
+    Nocturnal and diurnal rhomb supposed
+    Invisible else above all stars, the wheel
+    Of day and night; which needs not thy belief,
+    If Earth, industrious of herself, fetch day
+    Travelling east, and with her part averse
+    From the Sun's beam meet night, her other part
+    Still luminous by his ray. What if that light,
+    Sent from her through the wide transpicuous air,
+    To the terrestrial Moon be as a star,
+    Enlightening her by day, as she by night
+    This Earth--reciprocal, if land be there,
+    Fields and inhabitants? Her spots thou seest
+    As clouds, and clouds may rain, and rain produce
+    Fruits in her softened soil, for some to eat
+    Allotted there; and other Suns, perhaps,
+    With their attendant Moons, thou wilt descry,
+    Communicating male and female light--
+    Which two great sexes animate the World,
+    Stored in each orb perhaps with some that live.
+    For such vast room in Nature unpossessed
+    By living soul, desert and desolate,
+    Only to shine, yet scarce to contribute
+    Each orb a glimpse of light, conveyed so far
+    Down to this habitable, which returns
+    Light back to them, is obvious to dispute.--viii. 122-58.
+
+The Copernican theory, which is less complicated and more easily
+understood than the Ptolemaic, is described by Milton with accuracy and
+methodical skill.
+
+The Sun having been assigned that central position in the system which
+his magnitude and importance claim as his due, the planets circling in
+orbits around him have their motions described in a manner indicative of
+the precise knowledge which Milton acquired of this theory. At this time
+the law of gravitation was unknown, and, although the ellipticity of the
+orbits of the planets had been discovered by Kepler, the nature of the
+motive force which guided and retained them in their paths still
+remained a mystery. It was believed that the planets were whirled round
+the Sun, as if by the action of magnetic fibres; a mutual attractive
+influence having been supposed to exist between them and the orb,
+similar to that of the opposite poles of magnets.
+
+Milton alludes to this theory in the following lines:--
+
+                            They, as they move
+    Their starry dance in numbers that compute
+    Days, months, and years, towards his all-cheering lamp
+    Turn swift their various motions, or are turned
+    By his magnetic beam.--iii. 579-83.
+
+An important advance upon this theory was made by Horrox, who, in his
+study of celestial dynamics, attributed the curvilineal motion of the
+planets to the influence of two forces, one projective, the other
+attractive. He illustrated this by observing the path described by a
+stone when thrown obliquely into the air. He perceived that its motion
+was governed by the impulse imparted to it by the hand, and also by the
+attractive force of the Earth. Under these two influences, the stone
+describes a graceful curve, and in its descent falls at the same angle
+at which it rose. Hence arises the general law: 'When two spheres are
+mutually attracted, and if not prevented by foreign influences, their
+straight paths are deflected into curves concave to each other, and
+corresponding with one of the sections of a cone, according to the
+velocity of the revolving body. If the velocity with which the revolving
+body is impelled be equal to what it would acquire by falling through
+half the radius of a circle described from the centre of deflection, its
+orbit will be circular; but if it be less than that quantity, its path
+becomes elliptical.'
+
+Newton afterwards embraced this law in his great principle of
+gravitation, and demonstrated that the force which guides and retains
+the Earth and planets in their orbits resides in the Sun. By the orb's
+attractive influence a planet, after having received its first impulse,
+is deflected from its original straight path, and bent towards that
+luminary, and by the combined action of the projective and attractive
+forces is made to describe an orbit which, if elliptical, has one of its
+foci occupied by the Sun. So evenly balanced are those two forces, that
+one is unable to gain any permanent ascendency over the other, and
+consequently the planet traverses its orbit with unerring regularity,
+and, if undisturbed by external influences, will continue in its path
+for all time.
+
+Milton describes the position of the planets in the sky as--
+
+    Now high, now low, then hid;
+
+and their motions--
+
+    Progressive, retrograde, or standing still.
+
+It is evident that Milton was familiar with the apparently irregular
+paths pursued by the planets when observed from the Earth. He knew of
+their stationary points, and also the backward loopings traced out by
+them on the surface of the sphere.
+
+If observed from the Sun, all the planets would be seen to follow their
+true paths round that body; their motion would invariably lie in the
+same direction, and any variation in their speed as they approached
+perihelion or aphelion would be real. But the planets, when observed
+from the Earth, which is itself in motion, appear to move irregularly.
+Sometimes they remain stationary for a brief period, and, instead of
+progressing onward, affect a retrograde movement. This irregularity of
+motion is only apparent, and can be explained as a result of the
+combined motions of the Earth and planets, which are travelling together
+round the Sun with different velocities, and in orbits of unequal
+magnitude.
+
+In his allusion to the Copernican system the 'planet' 'Earth' is
+described by Milton as seventh. This is not strictly accurate, as only
+five planets were known--viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn;
+but to make up the number Milton has included the Moon, which may be
+regarded as the Earth's planet.
+
+The three motions ascribed to the Earth are--(1) The diurnal rotation on
+her axis; (2) her annual revolution round the Sun; (3) Precession of the
+Equinoxes.
+
+The rotation of the Earth on her axis may be likened to the spinning
+motion of a top, and is the cause of the alternation of day and night.
+This rotatory motion is sustained with such exact precision that, during
+the past 2,000 years, it has been impossible to detect the minutest
+difference in the time in which the Earth accomplishes a revolution on
+her axis, and therefore the length of the sidereal day, which is 3
+minutes 56 seconds shorter than the mean solar day, is invariable. In
+this motion of the Earth we have a time-measuring unit which may be
+regarded as absolutely correct.
+
+The Earth completes a revolution of her orbit in 365-1/4 days. In this
+period of time she accomplishes a journey of 580 millions of miles,
+travelling at the average rate of 66,000 miles an hour. The change of
+the seasons, and the lengthening and shortening of the day, are natural
+phenomena, which occur as a consequence of the Earth's annual revolution
+round the Sun. Precession is a retrograde or westerly motion of the
+equinoctial points, caused by the attraction of the Sun, Moon, and
+planets on the spheroidal figure of the Earth. By this movement the
+poles of the Earth are made to describe a circular path in that part of
+the heavens to which they point; so that, after the lapse of many years,
+the star which is known as the Pole Star will not occupy the position
+indicated by its name, but will be situated at a considerable distance
+from the pole. These motions, Milton says, unless attributed to the
+Earth, must be ascribed to several spheres crossing and thwarting each
+other obliquely; but the Earth, by rotating from west to east, will of
+herself fetch day, her other half, averted from the Sun's rays, being
+enveloped in night. Thus saving the Sun his labour, and the 'primum
+mobile,' 'that swift nocturnal and diurnal rhomb,' which carried all the
+lower spheres along with it, and brought about the change of day and
+night.
+
+Milton's allusion to the occurrence of natural phenomena in the Moon
+similar to those which happen on the Earth is in keeping with the
+opinions entertained regarding our satellite, Galileo having imagined
+that he discovered with his telescope continents and seas on the lunar
+surface, which led to the belief that the Moon was the abode of
+intelligent life.
+
+    ... and other suns, perhaps,
+    With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry
+    Communicating male and female light.--viii. 148-50.
+
+Milton in these lines refers to Jupiter and Saturn, and their
+satellites, which had been recently discovered; those of the former by
+Galileo, and four of those of the latter by Cassini. The existence of
+male and female light was an idea entertained by the ancients, and which
+is mentioned by Pliny. The Sun was regarded as a masculine star, and the
+Moon as feminine; the light emanating from each being similarly
+distinguished, and possessing different properties.
+
+Milton supposes that, as the Earth receives light from the stars, she
+returns light back to them. But in his time little was known about the
+stars, nor was it ascertained how distant they are.
+
+The Angel, in bringing to a conclusion his conversation with Adam, deems
+it unadvisable to vouchsafe him a decisive reply to his inquiry
+regarding the motions of celestial bodies, and in the following lines
+gives a beautifully poetical summary of this elevated and philosophic
+discussion:--
+
+    But whether thus these things, or whether not,
+    Whether the Sun, predominant in Heaven,
+    Rise on the Earth, or Earth rise on the Sun;
+    He from the east his flaming round begin,
+    Or she from west her silent course advance
+    With inoffensive pace that spinning sleeps
+    On her soft axle, whilst she paces even,
+    And bears thee soft with the smooth air along--
+    Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid.--viii. 159-67.
+
+In this scientific discourse between Adam and Raphael, in which they
+discuss the structural arrangement of the heavens and the motions of
+celestial bodies, we are afforded an opportunity of learning what exact
+and comprehensive knowledge Milton possessed of both the Ptolemaic and
+Copernican theories. The concise and accurate manner in which he
+describes the doctrines belonging to each system indicates that he must
+have devoted considerable time and attention to making himself master of
+the details associated with both theories, which in his time were the
+cause of much controversy and discussion among philosophers and men of
+science.
+
+The Ptolemaic system, with its crystalline spheres revolving round the
+Earth, the addition to those of cycles and epicycles, and the heaping of
+them upon each other, in order to account for phenomena associated with
+the motions of celestial bodies, are concisely and accurately described.
+
+The unreasonableness of this theory, when compared with the Copernican,
+is clearly delineated by Milton where Adam is made to express his views
+with regard to motion in the heavens. His argument, declared in logical
+and persuasive language, demonstrates how contrary to reason it would be
+to imagine that the entire heavens should revolve round the Earth to
+bring about a result which could be more easily attained by imparting
+motion to the Earth herself. The inconceivable velocity with which it
+would be necessary for the celestial orbs to travel in order to
+accomplish their daily revolution is described by him as opposed to all
+reason, and entailing upon them a journey which it would be impossible
+for material bodies to perform. None the less accurate is Milton's
+description of the Copernican system. He describes the Sun as occupying
+that position in the system which his magnitude and supreme importance
+claim as his sole right, having the planets with their satellites,
+
+    That from his lordly eye keep distance due.--iii. 578,
+
+circling in majestic orbits around him, acknowledging his controlling
+power, and bending to his firm but gentle sway. Their positions, their
+paths, and their motions, real and apparent, are described in flowing
+and harmonious verse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+MILTON AND GALILEO
+
+
+After the death of his mother, which occurred in 1637, Milton expressed
+a desire to visit the Continent, where there were many places of
+interest which he often longed to see. Having obtained the consent of
+his kind and indulgent father, he set out on his travels in April 1638,
+accompanied by a single man-servant, and arrived in Paris, where he only
+stayed a few days. During his residence in the French capital he was
+introduced by Lord Scudamore, the English Ambassador at the Court of
+Versailles, to Hugo Grotius, one of the most distinguished scholars and
+philosophic thinkers of his age. From Paris Milton journeyed to Nice,
+where he first beheld the beauty of Italian scenery and the classic
+shores of the Mediterranean Sea. From Nice he sailed to Genoa and
+Leghorn, and after a short stay at those places continued his journey to
+Florence, one of the most interesting and picturesque of Italian cities.
+Situated in the Valley of the Arno, and encircled by sloping hills
+covered with luxuriant vegetation, the sides of which were studded with
+residences half-hidden among the foliage of gardens and vineyards,
+Florence, besides being famed for its natural beauty, was at that time
+the centre of Italian culture and learning, and the abode of men eminent
+in literature and science. Here Milton remained for a period of two
+months, and enjoyed the friendship and hospitality of its most noted
+citizens, many of whom delighted to honour their English visitor. He was
+warmly welcomed by the members of the various literary academies, who
+admired his compositions and conversation; the flattering encomiums
+bestowed upon him by those learned societies having been amply repaid by
+Milton in choice and elegant Latin verse.
+
+Among those who resided in the vicinity of Florence was the illustrious
+Galileo, who in his sorrow-stricken old age was held a prisoner of the
+Inquisition for having upheld and taught scientific doctrines which were
+declared to be heretical. After his abjuration he was committed to
+prison, but on the intervention of influential friends was released
+after a few days' incarceration, and permitted to return to his home at
+Arcetri. He was, however, kept under strict surveillance, and forbidden
+to leave his house or receive any of his intimate friends without having
+first obtained the sanction of the ecclesiastical authorities. After
+several years of close confinement at Arcetri, during which time he
+suffered much from rheumatism and continued ill-health, aggravated by
+grief and mental depression consequent upon the death of his favourite
+daughter, Galileo applied for permission to go to Florence in order to
+place himself under medical treatment. This request was granted by the
+Pope subject to certain conditions, which would be communicated to him
+when he presented himself at the office of the Inquisition at Florence.
+These were more severe than he anticipated. He was forbidden to leave
+his house or receive any of his friends there, and those injunctions
+were so strictly adhered to that during Passion Week he had to obtain a
+special order so that he might be able to attend mass. At the expiration
+of a few months Galileo was ordered to return to Arcetri, which he never
+left again.
+
+An affliction, perhaps the most deplorable that can happen to any human
+being, was added to the burden of Galileo's misfortunes and woes. A
+disorder which had some years previously injured the sight of his right
+eye returned in 1636. In the following year the left eye became
+similarly affected, with the result that in a few months Galileo became
+totally blind. His friends at first hoped that the disease was cataract,
+and that some relief might be afforded by means of an operation; but it
+was discovered to be an opacity of the cornea, which at his age was
+considered unamenable to treatment. This sudden and unexpected calamity
+was to Galileo a most deplorable occurrence, for it necessitated the
+relinquishment of his favourite pursuit, which he followed with such
+intense interest and delight. His friend Castelli writes: 'The noblest
+eye is darkened which Nature ever made; an eye so privileged, and gifted
+with such rare qualities that it may with truth be said to have seen
+more than all of those eyes who are gone, and to have opened the eyes of
+all who are to come.' Galileo endured his affliction with patient
+resignation and fortitude, and in the following extract from a letter by
+him he acknowledges the chastening hand of a Divine Providence: 'Alas!
+your dear friend and servant Galileo has become totally blind, so that
+this heaven, this earth, this universe, which with wonderful
+observations I had enlarged a hundred and a thousand times beyond the
+belief of bygone ages, henceforward for me is shrunk into the narrow
+space which I myself fill in it. So it pleases God; it shall then please
+me also.' The rigorous curtailment of his liberty which prompted Galileo
+to head his letters, 'From my prison at Arcetri,' was relaxed when total
+blindness had supervened upon the infirmities of age. Permission was
+given him to receive his friends, and he was allowed to have free
+intercourse with his neighbours.
+
+Milton, during his stay at Florence, visited Galileo at Arcetri. We are
+ignorant of the details of this eventful and interesting interview
+between the aged and blind astronomer and the young English poet, who
+afterwards immortalised his name in heroic verse, and who in his
+declining years suffered from an affliction similar to that which befel
+Galileo, and to which he alludes so pathetically in the following
+lines:--
+
+                          Thee I revisit safe,
+    And feel thy sovran vital lamp; but thou
+    Revisitest not these eyes, that roll in vain
+    To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
+    So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs,
+    Or dim suffusion veiled.--iii. 21-26.
+
+We can imagine that Galileo's astronomical views, which at that time
+were the subject of much discussion among scientific men and professors
+of religion, and on account of which he suffered persecution, were
+eagerly discussed. It is also probable that the information communicated
+by Galileo, or by some of his followers, may have persuaded Milton to
+entertain a more favourable opinion of the Copernican theory. The
+interesting discoveries made by Galileo with his telescope without doubt
+formed a pleasant subject of conversation, and Milton enjoyed the
+privilege of listening to a detailed description of these from the lips
+of the aged astronomer. The telescope, its principle, its mechanism, and
+the method of observing, were most probably explained to him; and we can
+believe that an opportunity was afforded him of examining those in
+Galileo's observatory, and of perhaps testing their magnifying power
+upon some celestial object favourably situated for observation. Though
+Milton has not favoured us with any details of his visit to Galileo, yet
+it was one which made a lasting impression upon his mind, and was never
+afterwards forgotten by him. 'There it was,' he writes, 'I found and
+visited the famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner of the Inquisition for
+thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican
+licensers thought.' In years long after, when Milton, himself feeble
+and blind, sat down to compose his 'Paradise Lost,' the remembrance of
+the Tuscan artist and his telescope was still fresh in his memory.
+
+By the invention of the telescope and its application to astronomical
+research, a vast amount of information and additional detail have been
+learned regarding the bodies which enter into the formation of the solar
+system; and by its aid many new ones were also discovered. On sweeping
+the heavens with the instrument, the illimitable extent of the sidereal
+universe became apparent, and numberless objects of interest were
+brought within the range of vision the existence of which had not been
+previously imagined.
+
+The Galilean telescope was invented in 1609. But the magnifying power of
+certain lenses, and their combination in producing singular visual
+effects, are alluded to in the writings of several early authors. The
+value of single lenses as an aid to sight had been long known, and
+spectacles were in common use in the fourteenth century. Several
+mathematicians have described the wonderful optical results obtained
+from glasses concave and convex, of parabolic and circular forms, and
+from 'perspective glasses,' in which were embodied the principle of the
+telescope. It is asserted that our countryman, Roger Bacon (1214), had
+some notion of the properties of the telescope; but among those familiar
+with the combination of lenses the two men who made the nearest approach
+to the invention of the instrument were Baptista Porta and Gerolamo
+Fracastro. The latter, who died in 1553, writes as follows: 'For which
+reason those things which are seen at the bottom of water appear greater
+than those which are at the top; and if anyone look through two
+eye-glasses, one placed upon the other, he will see everything much
+larger and nearer.' It is doubtful if Fracastro had any notion of
+constructing a mechanism which might answer the purpose of a telescopic
+tube. Baptista Porta (1611) is more explicit in what he describes. He
+writes: 'Concave lenses show distant objects most clearly, convex those
+which are nearer; whence they may be used to assist the sight. With a
+concave glass distant objects will be seen, small, but distinct; with a
+convex one, those near at hand, larger, but confused; if you know
+_rightly_ how to combine one of each sort, you will see both far and
+near objects larger and clearer.' He then goes on to say: 'I shall now
+endeavour to show in what manner we may continue to recognise our
+friends at the distance of several miles, and how those of weak sight
+may read the most minute letters from a distance. It is an invention of
+great utility, and grounded on optical principles; nor is at all
+difficult of execution; but it must be so divulged as not to be
+understood by the vulgar, and yet be clear to the sharp-sighted.' After
+this, he proceeds to describe a mechanism the details of which are
+confusing and unintelligible, nor did it appear to bear any resemblance
+to a telescopic tube.
+
+In a work published by Thomas Digges in 1591, he makes the following
+allusion to his father's experiments with the lenses: 'My father, by his
+continuall painfull practices, assisted with demonstrations
+mathematicall, was able, and sundry times hath by proportionall glasses,
+duely situate in convenient angles, not only discouered things farre
+off, read letters, numbered peeces of money with the verye coyne and
+superscription thereof cast by some of his freends of purpose, upon
+downes in open fields; but also seuen miles off, declared what hath beene
+doone at that instant in priuate places.' It must be admitted that if
+Leonard Digges had not constructed a telescope, he knew how to combine
+lenses by the aid of which a visual effect was created similar to that
+produced by the use of the instrument.
+
+The inventor of the telescope was a Dutchman named Hans Lippershey, who
+carried on the business of a spectacle-maker in the town of Middelburg.
+His discovery was purely accidental. It is said that the
+instrument--which was directed towards a weather-cock on a church spire,
+of which it gave a large and inverted image--was for some time exhibited
+in his shop as a curiosity before its importance was recognised. The
+Marquis Spinola, happening to see this philosophical toy, purchased it,
+and presented it to Prince Maurice of Nassau, who imagined it might be
+of service for the purpose of military reconnoitring. The value of the
+invention was, however, soon realised, and in the following year
+telescopes were sold in Paris. In 1609, Galileo, when on a visit to a
+friend at Venice, received intelligence of the invention of an
+instrument by a Dutch optician which possessed the power of causing
+distant objects to appear much nearer than when observed by ordinary
+vision. The accuracy of this information was confirmed by letters which
+he received from Paris; and this general report, Galileo asserted, was
+all he knew of the subject. Fuccarius, in a disparaging letter, says
+that one of the Dutch telescopes had been brought to Venice, and that he
+himself had seen it. This statement is not incompatible with Galileo's
+affirmation that he had not seen the original instrument, and knew no
+more about it than what had been communicated to him in the letters from
+the French capital. It was insinuated by Fuccarius that Galileo had seen
+the telescope at Venice, but, as he denied this, we should not hesitate
+to believe in his veracity.
+
+Immediately after his return to Padua, Galileo began to think how he
+might be able to contrive an instrument with properties similar to the
+one of which he had been informed; and in the following words describes
+the process of reasoning by which he arrived at a successful result: 'I
+argued in the following manner. The contrivance consists either of one
+glass or of more--one is not sufficient, since it must be either convex,
+concave, or plane. The last does not produce any sensible alteration in
+objects; the concave diminishes them. It is true that the convex
+magnifies, but it renders them confused and indistinct; consequently,
+one glass is insufficient to produce the desired effect. Proceeding to
+consider two glasses, and bearing in mind that the plane causes no
+change, I determined that the instrument could not consist of the
+combination of a plane glass with either of the other two. I therefore
+applied myself to make experiments on combinations of the two other
+kinds, and thus obtained that of which I was in search.' Galileo's
+telescope consisted of two lenses--one plano-convex, the other
+plano-concave, the latter being held next the eye. These he fixed in a
+piece of organ pipe, which served the purpose of a tube, the glasses
+being distant from each other by the difference of their focal lengths.
+An exactly similar principle is adopted in the construction of an
+opera-glass, which can be accurately described as a double Galilean
+telescope. Galileo must be regarded as the inventor of this kind of
+telescope, which in one respect differed very materially from the one
+constructed by the Dutch optician. If what has been said with regard to
+the _inverted_ weather-cock be true, then Lippershey's telescope was
+made with two convex lenses, distant from each other by the sum of their
+focal lengths, and all objects observed with it were seen inverted.
+Refracting astronomical telescopes are now constructed on this
+principle, it having been discovered that for observational purposes
+they possess several advantages over the Galilean instrument. When
+Galileo had completed his first telescope he returned with it to
+Venice, where he exhibited it to his friends. The sensation created by
+this small instrument, which magnified only three times, was most
+extraordinary, and almost amounted to a frenzy. Crowds of the principal
+citizens of Venice flocked to Galileo's house in order that they might
+see the magical tube about which such wonderful reports were circulated;
+and for upwards of a month he was daily occupied in describing his
+invention to attentive audiences. At the expiration of this time the
+Doge of Venice, Leonardo Deodati, hinted that the Senate would not be
+averse to receive the telescope as a gift. Galileo readily acquiesced
+with this desire, and, as an acknowledgment of his merits, a decree was
+issued confirming his appointment as professor at Padua for life, and
+increasing his salary from 500 to 1,000 florins. The public excitement
+created by the telescope showed no signs of abatement. Sirturi mentions
+that, having succeeded in constructing an instrument, he ascended the
+tower of St. Mark's at Venice, hoping to be able to use it there without
+interruption. He was, however, detected by a few individuals, and soon
+surrounded by a crowd, which took possession of his telescope, and
+detained him for several hours until their curiosity was satisfied.
+Eager inquiries having been made as to where he lodged, Sirturi, fearing
+a repetition of his experience in the church tower, decided to quit
+Venice early next morning, and betake himself to a quieter and less
+frequented neighbourhood.
+
+The instrument was at first called Galileo's tube; the double eye-glass;
+the perspective; the trunk; the cylinder. The appellation _telescope_
+was given it by Demisiano.
+
+Galileo next directed his attention to the construction of telescopes,
+and applied his mechanical skill in making instruments of a larger size,
+one of which magnified _eight_ times. 'And at length,' he writes,
+'sparing neither labour nor expense, he completed an instrument that was
+capable of magnifying more than _thirty_ times.'
+
+Galileo now commenced an exploration of the celestial regions with his
+telescope, and on carefully examining some of the heavenly bodies, made
+many wonderful discoveries which added greatly to the fame and lustre of
+his name.
+
+The first celestial object to which Galileo directed his telescope was
+the Moon. He was deeply interested to find how much her surface
+resembled that of the Earth, and was able to perceive lofty mountain
+ranges, the illumined peaks of which reflected the sunlight, whilst
+their bases and sides were still enveloped in dark shadow; great plains
+which he imagined were seas, valleys, elevated ridges, depressions, and
+inequalities similar to what are found on our globe. Galileo believed
+the Moon to be a habitable world, and concluded that the dark and
+luminous portions of her surface were land and water, which reflected
+with unequal intensity the light of the Sun. The followers of Aristotle
+received the announcement of these discoveries with much displeasure.
+They maintained that the Moon was perfectly spherical and smooth--a vast
+mirror, the dark portions of which were the reflection of our
+terrestrial mountains and forests--and accused Galileo 'of taking a
+delight in distorting and ruining the fairest works of Nature.' He
+appealed to the unequal condition of the surface of our globe, but this
+was of no avail in altering their preconceived notions of the lunar
+surface.
+
+Perhaps the most important discovery made by Galileo with the telescope
+was that of the four moons of Jupiter. On the night of January 7, 1610,
+when engaged in observing the planet, his attention was attracted by
+three small stars which appeared brighter than those in their immediate
+neighbourhood. They were all in a straight line and parallel with the
+ecliptic; two of them were situated to the east, and one to the west of
+Jupiter. On the following night he was surprised to find all three to
+the west of the planet, and nearer to each other. This caused him
+considerable perplexity, and he was at a loss to understand how Jupiter
+could be east of the three stars, when on the preceding night he was
+observed to the west of two of them. Galileo was unable to reconcile the
+altered positions of those bodies with the apparent motion of Jupiter
+among the fixed stars as indicated by the astronomical tables. The next
+opportunity he had of observing them was on the 10th, when two stars
+only were visible, and they were to the east of the planet. As it was
+impossible for Jupiter to move from west to east on January 8 and from
+east to west on the 10th, he concluded that it was the motion of the
+stars and not that of Jupiter which accounted for the observed
+phenomena. Galileo watched the stars attentively on successive evenings
+and discovered a fourth, and on observing how they changed their
+positions relatively to each other he soon arrived at the conclusion
+that the stars were four moons which revolved round Jupiter after the
+manner in which the Moon revolves round the Earth. Having assured
+himself that the four new stars were four moons that with periodical
+regularity circled round the great planet, Galileo named them the
+Medicean Stars in honour of his patron, Cosmo de' Medici, Grand Duke of
+Tuscany. He also published an essay entitled 'Nuncius Sidereus,' or the
+'Sidereal Messenger,' which contained an account of this important
+discovery.
+
+The announcement of Galileo's discovery of the four satellites of
+Jupiter created a profound sensation, and its significance became at
+once apparent. Aristotelians and Ptolemaists received the information
+with much disfavour and incredulity, and many persons positively refused
+to believe Galileo, whom they accused of inventing fables. On the other
+hand, the upholders of the Copernican theory hailed it with
+satisfaction, as it declared that Jupiter with his four moons
+constituted a system of greater magnitude and importance than that of
+our globe with her single satellite, and that consequently the Earth
+could not be regarded as the centre of the universe.
+
+When Kepler heard of this remarkable discovery, he wrote to Galileo and
+expressed himself in the following characteristic manner: 'I was sitting
+idle at home thinking of you, most excellent Galileo, and your letters,
+when the news was brought me of the discovery of four planets by the
+help of the double eye-glass. Wachenfels stopped his carriage at my door
+to tell me, when such a fit of wonder seized me at a report which seemed
+so very absurd, and I was thrown into such agitation at seeing an old
+dispute between us decided in this way, that between his joy, my
+colouring, and the laughter of both, confounded as we were by such a
+novelty, we were hardly capable, he of speaking, or I of listening.... I
+am so far from disbelieving in the existence of the four circumjovial
+planets, that I long for a telescope to anticipate you, if possible, in
+discovering two round Mars (as the proportion seems to me to require),
+six or eight round Saturn, and perhaps one each round Mercury and
+Venus.' The intelligence of Galileo's discoveries was received by his
+opponents in a spirit entirely different from that manifested by Kepler.
+The principal professor of philosophy at Padua, when requested to look
+at the Moon and planets through Galileo's glass, persistently declined,
+and did his utmost to persuade the Grand Duke that the four satellites
+of Jupiter could not possibly exist. Francesco Sizzi, a Florentine
+astronomer, argued that, as there are seven apertures in the head,
+seven known metals, and seven days in the week, so there could only be
+seven planets. To these absurd remarks Galileo replied by saying that,
+'whatever their force might be as a reason for believing beforehand that
+no more than seven planets would be discovered, they hardly seemed of
+sufficient weight to destroy the new ones when actually seen.' Another
+individual, named Christmann, writes: 'We are not to think that Jupiter
+has four satellites given him by Nature in order, by revolving round
+him, to immortalize the name of the Medici, who first had notice of the
+observation. These are the dreams of idle men, who love ludicrous ideas
+better than our laborious and industrious correction of the heavens.
+Nature abhors so horrible a chaos, and to the truly wise such vanity is
+detestable.' Martin Horky, a _protege_ of Kepler's, issued a pamphlet in
+which he made a violent attack on Galileo. He says: 'I will never
+concede his four new planets to that Italian from Padua though I die for
+it.' He then asks the following questions, and replies to them himself:
+(1) Whether they exist? (2) What they are? (3) What they are like? (4)
+Why they are? 'The first question is soon disposed of by Horky's
+declaring positively that he has examined the heavens with Galileo's own
+glass, and that no such thing as a satellite about Jupiter exists. To
+the second, he declared solemnly that he does not more surely know that
+he has a soul in his body than that reflected rays are the sole cause of
+Galileo's erroneous observations. In regard to the third question, he
+says that these planets are like the smallest fly compared to an
+elephant; and, finally, concludes on the fourth, that the only use of
+them is to gratify Galileo's "thirst of gold," and to afford himself a
+subject of discussion.'[7] Galileo did not condescend to take any notice
+of this scurrilous production; but Horky, who imagined that he had done
+something clever, sent a copy of his pamphlet to Kepler. In a few days
+after he called to see him, and was received with such a storm of
+indignation that he begged for mercy and implored his forgiveness.
+Kepler forgave him, but insisted on his making amends. He writes: 'I
+have taken him again into favour upon this preliminary condition, to
+which he has agreed--that I am to show him Jupiter's satellites, _and he
+is to see them_, and own that they are there.'
+
+The evidence in support of the existence of Jupiter's satellites became
+so conclusive that the opponents of Galileo were compelled to renounce
+their disbelief in those bodies, whether real or pretended. The Grand
+Duke, preferring to trust to his eyes rather than believe in the
+arguments of the professor at Padua, observed the satellites on several
+occasions, along with Galileo, at Pisa, and on his departure bestowed
+upon him a gift of one thousand florins. Several of Galileo's enemies,
+as a result of their observations, now arrived at the conclusion that
+his discovery was incomplete, and that Jupiter had more than four
+satellites in attendance upon him. Scheiner counted five, Rheita nine,
+and other observers increased the number to twelve. But it was found to
+be quite as hazardous to exceed the number stated by Galileo as it was
+to deny the existence of any; for, when Jupiter had traversed a short
+distance of his path among the fixed stars, the only bodies that
+accompanied him were his four original attendants, which continued to
+revolve round him with unerring regularity in every part of his orbit.
+
+Galileo did not afford his opponents much time to oppose or controvert
+with argument the discoveries made by him with the telescope before his
+announcement of a new one attracted public attention from those already
+known. He, however, exercised greater caution in disclosing the results
+of his observations, as other persons laid claim to having made similar
+discoveries prior to the time at which his were announced. He therefore
+adopted a method in common use among astronomers in those days, by which
+the letters in a sentence announcing a discovery were transposed so as
+to form an anagram.
+
+Galileo announced his next discovery in this manner, and which read as
+follows:--
+
+    Smaismrmilme poeta leumi bvne nugttaviras.
+
+This, when deciphered, formed the sentence:--
+
+    Altissimum planetam tergeminum observavi.
+
+    I have observed that the remotest planet is triple.
+
+Galileo perceived that Saturn presented a triform appearance, and that,
+instead of one body, there were three, all in a straight line, and
+apparently in contact with each other, the middle one being larger than
+the two lateral ones. In a letter to Kepler he remarked: 'Now I have
+discovered a Court for Jupiter, and two servants for this old man, who
+aid his steps and never quit his side.' Kepler, who excelled as an
+imaginative writer, replied: 'I will not make an old man of Saturn, nor
+slaves of his attendant globes; but rather let this tricorporate form be
+Geryon--so shall Galileo be Hercules, and the telescope his club, armed
+with which he has conquered that distant planet, and dragged him from
+the remotest depths of Nature, and exposed him to the view of all.'
+Continuing his observations, Galileo perceived that the two lateral
+objects gradually decreased in size, and at the expiration of two years
+entirely disappeared, leaving the central globe visible only. He was
+unable to assign any reason for this peculiar occurrence, which caused
+him much perplexity, and he expresses himself thus: 'What is to be said
+concerning so strange a metamorphosis? Are the two lesser stars consumed
+after the manner of the solar spots? Have they vanished and suddenly
+fled? Has Saturn, perhaps, devoured his own children? Or were the
+appearances, indeed, illusion or fraud, with which the glasses have so
+long deceived me, as well as many others to whom I have shown them? Now,
+perhaps, is the time to revive the well-nigh withered hopes of those
+who, guided by more profound contemplations, have discovered the fallacy
+of the new observations, and demonstrated the utter impossibility of
+their existence. I do not know what to say in a case so surprising, so
+unlooked-for, and so novel. The shortness of the time, the unexpected
+nature of the event, the weakness of my understanding, and the fear of
+being mistaken, have greatly confounded me.' After a certain interval
+those bodies reappeared; but Galileo's glass was not sufficiently
+powerful to enable him to ascertain their nature nor solve the mystery,
+which for upwards of half a century perplexed the ablest astronomers.
+
+The elucidation of this inexplicable phenomenon was reserved for
+Christian Huygens, who, with an improved telescope of his own
+construction, was able to declare that Saturn's appendages were portions
+of a ring which surrounds the planet, and is everywhere distinct from
+its surface.
+
+Galileo next directed his attention to the planet Venus, and as a result
+of his observations was led to communicate to the public another
+anagram:--
+
+    Haec immatura a me jam frustra leguntur oy.
+
+This, when rendered correctly, reads:--
+
+    Cynthiae figuras aemulatur mater amorum.
+
+    Venus rivals the appearances of the Moon.
+
+The phases of Venus were one of the most interesting of Galileo's
+discoveries with the telescope. When observed near inferior conjunction
+the planet presents the appearance of a slender crescent, resembling
+the Moon when a few days old. Travelling from this point to superior
+conjunction, the illumined portion of her disc gradually increases,
+until it becomes circular, like the full Moon. This changing appearance
+of Venus afforded Galileo irresistible proof that the planet is an
+opaque body, which derives its light from the Sun, and that it circles
+round the orb--convincing evidence of the accuracy and truthfulness of
+the Copernican theory.
+
+It was in this manner that Galileo announced his discovery of the phases
+of Venus, the peerless planet of our morning and evening skies, whose
+slender crescent forms such a beautiful object in the telescope, and
+who, as she traverses her orbit, exhibits all the varied changes of form
+presented by the Moon in her monthly journey round the Earth. These
+varying aspects of Venus were not unknown to Milton; and, indeed, he may
+have been informed of them by Galileo in his conversation with him at
+Arcetri; nor has he failed to introduce an allusion to this beautiful
+phenomenon in his poem. In his description of the Creation, after the
+Sun was formed, he adds:--
+
+    Hither, as to their fountain, other stars
+    Repairing, in their golden urns draw light,
+    And hence the morning planet gilds her horns.--vii. 364-66.
+
+Galileo also discovered that the planet Mars does not always present the
+appearance of a circular disc. When near opposition the full disc of the
+planet is visible, but at all other times it is gibbous, and approaches
+nearest to that of a half-moon when at the quadratures.
+
+In the year 1610, on directing his telescope to the Sun, Galileo
+detected dark spots on the solar disc. Similar spots, sufficiently large
+to be distinguished by the naked eye, had been observed from time to
+time for centuries prior to the invention of the telescope, but nothing
+was known of their nature. In 1609 Kepler observed a spot on the Sun,
+which he thought was the planet Mercury in conjunction with the orb; the
+short time during which it was visible, in consequence of clouds having
+obscured the face of the luminary, prevented him from being able to
+determine the accuracy of his surmise, but since then it has been
+ascertained that no transit of Mercury took place at that time, and
+Kepler afterwards acknowledged that he had arrived at an erroneous
+conclusion. Galileo was much puzzled in trying to find out the true
+nature of the spots. At first he was led to imagine that planets like
+Mercury and Venus revolved round the Sun at a short distance from the
+orb, and that their dark bodies, travelling across the solar disc, gave
+rise to the phenomenon of the spots. After further observation, he
+ascertained that the spots were in actual contact with the Sun; that
+they were irregular in shape and size, and continued to appear and
+disappear. Sometimes a large spot would break up into several smaller
+ones, and at other times three or four small spots would unite to form a
+large one. They all had a common motion, and appeared to rotate with
+the Sun, from which Galileo concluded that the orb rotated on his axis
+in about twenty-eight days. Galileo believed that the spots were clouds
+floating in the solar atmosphere, and that they intercepted a portion of
+the light of the Sun.
+
+The Milky Way, that wondrous zone of light which encircles the heavens,
+remained for many ages a source of perplexity to ancient astronomers and
+philosophers, who, in their endeavours to ascertain its nature, had
+arrived at various absurd and erroneous conclusions. On directing his
+telescope to this luminous tract, Galileo discovered, to his
+inexpressible admiration, that it consists of a vast multitude of stars,
+too minute to be visible to the naked eye. He also discerned that its
+milky luminosity is created by the blended light of myriads of stars, so
+remote as to be incapable of definition by his telescope. In his
+'Nuncius Sidereus' he gives an account of his observations of the Galaxy
+and expresses his satisfaction that he has been enabled to terminate an
+ancient controversy by demonstrating to the senses the stellar structure
+of the Milky Way. When engaged in exploring the celestial regions with
+his telescope, Galileo observed a marked difference in the appearance of
+the fixed stars, as compared with that of the planets. Each of the
+latter showed a rounded disc resembling that of a small moon, but the
+stars exhibited no disc, and shone as vivid sparkling points of light;
+all of them, whether of large or small magnitude, presenting the same
+appearance in the telescope. This led him to conclude that the fixed
+stars were not illumined by the Sun, because their brilliancy in all
+their changes of position remained unaltered. But, in the case of the
+planets, he found that their lustre varied according to their distance
+from the Sun; consequently, he believed they were opaque bodies which
+reflected the solar rays. On directing his telescope to the Pleiades,
+which, to the naked eye, appear as a group of seven stars, he succeeded
+in counting forty lucid points. The nebula Praesepe in Cancer, he was
+also able to resolve into a cluster of stars. Galileo made many other
+observations of the heavenly bodies with his telescope, all of which he
+describes as having afforded him 'incredible delight.'
+
+Shortly before the failure of his eyesight, Galileo discovered the
+Moon's diurnal libration, a variation in the visible edges of the Moon
+caused by its oscillatory motion, and the diurnal rotation of the Earth
+on her axis.
+
+Though Milton has not favoured us with any interesting details of his
+interview with Galileo, nor expressed his opinions with regard to the
+controversies which at that time agitated both the religious and
+scientific worlds of thought, and which eventually culminated in a storm
+of rancour and hatred that burst over the devoted head of the aged
+astronomer, and brought him to his knees, yet he informs us that he
+'found and visited' Galileo, whom he describes as 'grown old,' and
+cynically remarks that he 'was held a prisoner of the Inquisition for
+thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican
+licensers thought.' Milton does not allude to his blindness, and yet it
+would be natural to imagine that, had his host suffered from this
+affliction at the time of his visit, he would have referred to it. We
+learn that Milton arrived in Italy in the spring of 1638. In 1637, the
+affection which, in the preceding year, deprived Galileo of the use of
+his right eye, attacked the left also, which began to grow dim, and in
+the course of a few months became sightless; so that, although Milton
+has not alluded to this calamity, Galileo had become totally blind at
+the time of his visit.
+
+How much Milton was impressed with the fame of Galileo and his telescope
+becomes apparent on referring to his 'Paradise Lost.' In it he alludes
+to the instrument upon three different occasions, twice when in the
+hands of Galileo; and the remembrance of the same artist was doubtless
+in his mind when he mentions the 'glazed optic tube' in another part of
+his poem. The interval that elapsed from the date of Milton's visit to
+Galileo in 1638, to the publication of 'Paradise Lost' in 1667, included
+a period of about thirty years, yet this length of time did not erase
+from Milton's memory his recollection of Galileo and of his pleasant
+sojourn at Florence.
+
+The first allusion in the poem to the Italian astronomer is in the lines
+in which Milton describes the shield carried by Satan:--
+
+                      The broad circumference
+    Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whose orb
+    Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
+    At evening, from the top of Fesole,
+    Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands,
+    Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe.--i. 286-91.
+
+Galileo is described as having observed the Moon from the heights of
+Fesole, which formed part of the suburbs of Florence, or from Valdarno,
+the valley of the Arno, in which the city is situated. The belief that
+Galileo had discovered continents and seas on the Moon justified Milton
+in imagining the existence of rivers and mountains on the lunar surface.
+The expression 'spotty globe' is more descriptive of the appearance of
+our satellite when observed with the telescope, than when seen with the
+naked eye. Galileo's attention was attracted by the freckled aspect of
+the Moon--a visual effect created by the number of extinct volcanoes
+scattered over the surface of the orb.
+
+In his next allusion to the telescope Milton associates Galileo's name
+with the instrument:--
+
+                      As when by night the glass
+    Of Galileo, less assured, observes
+    Imagined lands and regions in the Moon.--v. 261-63.
+
+In these lines Milton describes with accuracy the extent of Galileo's
+knowledge of our satellite. The conclusions which the Italian astronomer
+arrived at with regard to its habitability were not supported by
+telescopic evidence sufficient to justify such a belief. Galileo writes:
+'Had its surface been absolutely smooth it would have been but a vast,
+unblessed desert, void of animals, of plants, of cities and men; the
+abode of silence and inaction--senseless, lifeless, soulless, and
+stripped of all those ornaments which now render it so variable and so
+beautiful:'--
+
+    There lands the Fiend, a spot like which perhaps
+    Astronomer in the Sun's lucent orb
+    Through his glazed optic tube yet never saw.--iii. 588-90.
+
+Milton may have remembered that Galileo was the first astronomer who
+directed a telescope to the Sun; and that he discovered the dark spots
+frequently seen on the solar disc.
+
+Anyone who has read a history of the life of Galileo, and contemplated
+the career of this remarkable man, his ardent struggles in the cause of
+freedom and philosophic truth, his victories and reverses, his brilliant
+astronomical discoveries, and his investigation of the laws of motion,
+and other natural phenomena, will arrive at the conclusion that he
+merited the distinction conferred upon him by our great English poet,
+when he included him among the renowned few whose names are found in the
+pages of 'Paradise Lost.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE SEASONS
+
+
+The great path of the Sun among the constellations as seen from the
+Earth is called the Ecliptic. It is divided into 360 deg., and again into
+twelve equal parts of 30 deg., called Signs. As one half of the ecliptic is
+north, and the other half south, of the equator, the line of
+intersection of their planes is at two points which are known as the
+equinoctial points, because, when the Sun on his upward and downward
+journey arrives at either of them the days and nights are of equal
+length all over the world. The equinoctial points are not stationary,
+but have a westerly motion of 50'' annually along the ecliptic; at this
+rate they will require a period of 25,868 years to complete an entire
+circuit of the heavens.
+
+Milton alludes to the ecliptic when he mentions the arrival of Satan
+upon the Earth:--
+
+    Down from the ecliptic, sped with hoped success,
+    Throws his steep flight in many an airy wheel,
+    Nor staid till on Niphates top he lights.--iii. 740-42.
+
+Extending for 9 deg. on each side of the ecliptic is a zone or belt called
+the Zodiac, the mesial line of which is occupied by the Sun, and within
+this space the principal planets perform their annual revolutions. It
+was for long believed that the paths of all the planets lay within the
+zodiac, but on the discovery of the minor planets, Ceres, Pallas, and
+Juno, it was ascertained that they travelled beyond this zone. The stars
+situated within the zodiac are divided into twelve groups or
+constellations, which correspond with the twelve signs, and each is
+named after an animal or some figure which it is supposed to resemble.
+The zodiac is of great antiquity; the ancient Egyptians and Hindoos made
+use of it, and there are allusions to it in the earliest astronomical
+records. The twelve constellations of the zodiac bear the following
+names:--
+
+Aries the Ram
+Taurus the Bull
+Gemini the Twins
+Cancer the Crab
+Leo the Lion
+Virgo the Virgin
+Libra the Balance
+Scorpio the Scorpion
+Sagittarius the Archer
+Capricornus the Goat
+Aquarius the Water-bearer
+Pisces the Fishes
+
+In close association with the Sun's annual journey are the seasons, upon
+the regular sequence of which mankind depend for the various products of
+the soil essential for the maintenance and enjoyment of life. The
+revolution of the Earth in her orbit, and the inclination of her axis to
+her annual path, causing the plane of the equator to be inclined 23-1/2 deg.
+to that of the ecliptic, are the reasons which account for the
+succession of the seasons--Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Owing to
+the position of the Earth's axis with regard to her orbit, the Sun
+appears to travel 23-1/2 deg. north and 23-1/2 deg. south of the equator. When,
+on June 21, the orb attains his highest northern altitude, we have the
+summer solstice and the longest days; when, by retracing his steps, he
+declines 23-1/2 deg. below the equator, at which point he arrives on
+December 21, we have the winter solstice and the shortest days.
+Intermediate between those two seasons are spring and autumn. When the
+Sun, on his journey northward, reaches the equator, we have the vernal
+equinox, and at this period of the year the days and nights are of equal
+length all over the globe. In a similar manner, when, on his return
+journey, the Sun is again on the equator, the autumnal equinox occurs.
+In summer the North Pole is inclined towards the Sun, consequently his
+rays fall more direct and impart much more heat to the northern
+hemisphere than in winter, when the Pole is turned away from the Sun.
+This difference in the incidence of the solar rays upon the surface of
+the globe, along with the increased length of the day, mainly accounts
+for the high temperature of summer as compared with that of winter.
+
+Astronomically, the seasons commence at the periods of the equinoxes and
+solstices. Spring begins on March 21, the time of the vernal equinox;
+summer on June 21, at the summer solstice; autumn on September 22, at
+the autumnal equinox; and winter on December 21, at the winter solstice.
+This conventional division of the year is not equally applicable to all
+parts of the globe. In the arctic and antarctic regions spring and
+autumn are very brief, the summer is short and the winter of long
+duration. In the tropics, owing to the comparatively slight difference
+in the obliquity of the Sun's rays, one season is, as regards
+temperature, not much different from the other; but in the temperate
+regions of the Earth the vicissitudes of the seasons are more
+perceptible and can be best distinguished by the growth of vegetation,
+and the changes observable in the foliage of shrubs and trees. In spring
+there is the budding, in summer the blossom, in autumn the
+fruit-bearing, and in winter the leafless condition of deciduous trees,
+and the repose of vegetable life.
+
+The legendary belief that before the Fall there reigned on the Earth a
+perpetual spring, is introduced by Milton in his poem when he describes
+the pleasant surroundings associated with the happy conditions of life
+that existed in Paradise:--
+
+                                Thus was this place,
+    A happy rural seat of various view:
+    Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm;
+    Others whose fruit, burnished with golden rind,
+    Hung amiable--Hesperian fables true,
+    If true here only--and of delicious taste.
+    Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks
+    Grazing the tender herb, were interposed,
+    Or palmy hillock; or the flowery lap
+    Of some irriguous valley spread her store,
+    Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose.
+    Another side, umbrageous grots and caves
+    Of cool recess, o'er which the mantling vine
+    Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps
+    Luxuriant; meanwhile murmuring waters fall
+    Down the slope hill dispersed, or in a lake
+    That to the fringed bank with myrtle crowned
+    Her crystal mirror holds, unite their streams.
+    The birds their quire apply; airs, vernal airs,
+    Breathing the smell of field and grove, attune
+    The trembling leaves, while universal Pan,
+    Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
+    Led on the eternal Spring.--iv. 246-68.
+
+In sad contrast with this charming sylvan scene, we turn to the unhappy
+consequences which ensued as a result of the first act of transgression.
+Milton describes a change of climate characterised by extremes of heat
+and cold which succeeded the perpetual spring. The Sun was made to shine
+so that the Earth should be exposed to torrid heat and icy cold
+unpleasant to endure. The pale Moon and the planets were given power to
+combine with noxious effect, and the fixed stars to shed their malignant
+influences:--
+
+                                            The Sun
+    Had first his precept so to move, so shine,
+    As might affect the Earth with cold and heat
+    Scarce tolerable, and from the north to call
+    Decrepit winter, from the south to bring
+    Solstitial summer's heat. To the blanc Moon
+    Her office they prescribed; to the other five
+    Their planetary motions and aspects,
+    In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite,
+    Of noxious efficacy, and when to join
+    In synod unbenign; and taught the fixed
+    Their influence malignant when to shower--
+    Which of them rising with the Sun or falling,
+    Should prove tempestuous. To the winds they set
+    Their corners, when with bluster to confound
+    Sea, air, and shore; the thunder when to roll
+    With terror through the dark aerial hall.--x. 651-67.
+
+We are here afforded an opportunity of learning that Milton possessed
+some knowledge of astrology, to which he makes allusion in other parts
+of his poem besides. In his time, astrology was believed in by many
+persons, and there were few learned men but who knew something of that
+occult science. Milton may be included among those who devoted some
+attention to astrology. Of this there is ample evidence, by the manner
+in which he expresses himself in words and phrases in common use among
+astrologers.
+
+The professors of this art recognised five planetary aspects, viz.,
+opposition, conjunction, sextile, square, and trine, each possessing its
+peculiar kind of influence on events. The Moon, the planets, and the
+constellations in their conjunctions and configurations, were believed
+to reveal to those who could understand the significance of their
+aspects, the destiny of individuals and the occurrence of future events.
+The inauspicious influences of the heavenly bodies are described by
+Milton as contributing to the general disarrangement of the happy
+condition of things that existed before the Fall.
+
+After having described the adverse physical changes which occurred in
+Nature as a consequence of the Fall, Milton makes use of his
+astronomical knowledge in explaining how they were brought about, and
+suggests two hypotheses: (1) a change of position of the Earth's axis;
+(2) an alteration of the Sun's path from the equinoctial road:--
+
+    Some say he bid his Angels turn askance
+    The poles of Earth twice ten degrees and more
+    From the Sun's axle; they with labour pushed
+    Oblique the centric globe: some say the Sun
+    Was bid turn reins from the equinoctial road
+    Like distant breadth--to Taurus with the seven
+    Atlantic Sisters, and the Spartan Twins,
+    Up to the Tropic Crab; thence down amain
+    By Leo, and the Virgin, and the Scales,
+    As deep as Capricorn; to bring in change
+    Of seasons to each clime. Else had the spring
+    Perpetual smiled on Earth with vernant flowers.--x. 668-79.
+
+In support of the theory of a perpetual spring, Milton assumes that the
+Earth's axis was directed at right angles to her orbit, and that the
+plane of the equator coincided with that of the ecliptic. Consequently,
+the Sun's path remained always on the equator, where his rays were
+vertical, and north and south of this line each locality on the Earth
+enjoyed one constant season, the character of which depended upon its
+geographical position. In what are now the temperate regions of the
+globe there was one continuous season, similar in climate and length of
+day to what is experienced at the vernal equinox, when the Sun is for a
+few days on the equator. There was then no winter, no summer, nor
+autumn; and, consequently, the growth of vegetation must have taken
+place under conditions of climate entirely different to what exist on
+the Earth at the present time.
+
+The change of position of the Earth's axis, 'twice ten degrees and more
+from the Sun's axle,' is described by Milton as having been
+accomplished by the might of angels, who 'with labour pushed oblique the
+centric globe.'
+
+(2) According to the Ptolemaic belief, the Sun revolved round the Earth,
+but his course was altered from the equinoctial road to the path that he
+now pursues, which is the ecliptic. Instead of remaining on the equator,
+he travels an equal distance from this line upwards and downwards in
+each hemisphere.
+
+The path of the Sun in the heavens is described by Milton with marked
+precision, and he mentions in regular order the names of the zodiacal
+constellations through which the orb travels. Passing through Taurus
+with the seven Atlantic Sisters (the Pleiades) and the Spartan Twins
+(Gemini), he enters the Tropic Crab (Cancer), in which constellation he
+attains his highest northern altitude; thence downwards he travels
+through Leo, Virgo, and the Scales (Libra), as deep as Capricornus,
+reaching his lowest point of declination at the winter solstice; and
+were it not for this alteration of the Sun's path, the poet informs us
+that perpetual spring would have reigned upon the Earth.
+
+Milton was evidently well acquainted with the astronomical reasons (the
+revolution of the Earth in her orbit and the obliquity of the ecliptic)
+by which the occurrence and regular sequence of the seasons can be
+explained.
+
+The path of the Sun in the heavens; his upward and downward course from
+the equator; the names of the constellations through which the orb
+travels, and the periods of the year at which he enters them, were also
+familiar to him.
+
+The grateful change of the seasons, and the varied aspects of nature
+peculiar to each, which give a charm and freshness to the rolling year,
+must have been to Milton a source of pleasure and delight, and have
+stimulated his poetic fancy.
+
+His observation of natural phenomena, and his keen perception of the
+pleasing changes which accompany them, are described in the following
+lines:--
+
+    As, when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds
+    Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread
+    Heaven's cheerful face, the louring element
+    Scowls o'er the darkened landskip snow or shower,
+    If chance the radiant Sun, with farewell sweet,
+    Extend his evening beam, the fields revive,
+    The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds
+    Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings.--ii. 488-95.
+
+The ancient poets Virgil and Ovid describe the Earth as having been
+created in the spring; and associated with this season, which
+
+                    to the heart inspires
+    Vernal delight and joy--iv. 154-55,
+
+were the Graces and the Hours, which danced hand in hand as they led on
+the eternal Spring.
+
+Milton alludes to the seasons on several occasions throughout his poem,
+and to the natural phenomena associated with them:--
+
+                                        As bees
+    In springtime when the Sun with Taurus rides,
+    Pour forth their populous youth about the hive
+    In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
+    Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank
+    The suburb of their straw-built citadel
+    New rubbed with balm, expatiate and confer
+    Their state affairs.--i. 768-75.
+
+The Sun is in the constellation Taurus in April, when the warmth of his
+rays begins to impart new life and activity to the insect world after
+their long winter's sleep.
+
+In his description of the repast partaken by the Angel Raphael with Adam
+and Eve in Paradise, Milton writes:--
+
+                              Raised of grassy turf
+    Their table was, and mossy seats had round,
+    And on her ample square, from side to side,
+    All Autumn piled, though Spring and Autumn here
+    Danced hand in hand.--v. 391-95.
+
+In describing Beelzebub when about to address the Stygian Council, he
+says:--
+
+                                          His look
+    Drew audience and attention still as night
+    Or summer's noontide air, while thus he spake.--ii. 307-309.
+
+The failing vision from which Milton suffered in his declining years was
+succeeded by total blindness. This sad affliction he alludes to in the
+following lines:--
+
+                              Thus with the year
+    Seasons return; but not to me returns
+    Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
+    Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose.--iii. 40-43.
+
+We are able to perceive how much Milton was impressed with the beautiful
+seasons, and the varying aspects of the year which accompany them, and
+how his poetic imagination luxuriated in the changing variety of nature
+observable in earth and sky that from day to day afforded him exquisite
+delight; and, although his poem was written when blindness had overtaken
+him, yet those glad remembrances remained as fresh in his memory as when
+in his youth he roamed among the flowery meadows, the vocal woodlands,
+and the winding lanes of Buckinghamshire.
+
+The idea expressed by Milton that the primitive earth enjoyed a
+perpetual spring, though pleasing to the imagination, and well adapted
+for poetic description, is not sustained by any astronomical testimony.
+Indeed, the position of the Earth, with her axis at right angles to her
+orbit, is one which may be regarded as being ill adapted for the support
+and maintenance of life on her surface, just as her present position is
+the best that can be imagined for fulfilling this purpose.
+
+Astronomy teaches us to rely with certainty upon the permanence and
+regular sequence of the seasons. The position of the Earth's axis as she
+speeds along in her orbit through the unresisting ether remains
+unchanged, and her rapid rotation has the effect of increasing its
+stability. Yet, the Earth performs none of her motions with rigid
+precision, and there is a very slow alteration of the position of her
+axis occurring, which, if unchecked, would eventually produce a
+coincidence of the equator and the ecliptic. Instead of a succession of
+the seasons, there would then be perpetual spring upon the Earth, and,
+although it would require a great epoch of time to bring about such a
+change, there would result a condition of things entirely different to
+what now exists on the globe. But, before the ecliptic can have
+approached sufficiently near the equator to produce any appreciable
+effect upon the climate of the Earth, its motion must cease, and after
+remaining stationary for a time, it will begin to recede to its former
+position. The seasons must therefore follow each other in regular
+sequence, and throughout all time, reminding us of the promise of the
+Creator, 'that while the Earth remaineth seed-time and harvest, and cold
+and heat, and summer and winter shall not cease.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE STARRY HEAVENS
+
+
+The celestial vault, that, like a circling canopy of sapphire hue,
+stretches overhead from horizon to horizon, resplendent by night with
+myriad stars of different magnitudes and varied brilliancy, forming
+clusterings and configurations of fantastic shape and beauty, arrests
+the attention of the most casual observer. But to one who has studied
+the heavens, and followed the efforts of human genius in unravelling the
+mysteries associated with those bright orbs, the impression created on
+his mind as he gazes upon them in the still hours of the night, when the
+turmoil of life is hushed in repose, is one of wonder and longing to
+know more of their being and the hidden causes which brought them forth.
+Here, we have poetry written in letters of gold on the sable vestment of
+night; music in the gliding motion of the spheres; and harmony in the
+orbital sweep of sun, planet, and satellite.
+
+Milton was not only familiar with 'the face of the sky,' as it is
+popularly called, but also knew the structure of the celestial sphere,
+and the great circles by which it is circumscribed. Two of those--the
+colures--he alludes to in the following lines, when he describes the
+manner in which Satan, to avoid detection, compassed the Earth, after
+his discovery by Gabriel in Paradise, and his flight thence:--
+
+    The space of seven continued nights he rode
+    With darkness--thrice the equinoctial line
+    He circled, four times crossed the car of night
+    From pole to pole, traversing each colure.--ix. 63-66.
+
+Aristarchus of Samos believed the stars were golden studs, that
+illumined the crystal dome of heaven; but modern research has
+transformed this conception of the ancient astronomer's into a universe
+of blazing suns rushing through regions of illimitable space. In
+Milton's time astronomers had arrived at no definite conclusion with
+regard to the nature of the stars. They were known to be self-luminous
+bodies, situated at a remote distance in space, but it had not been
+ascertained with any degree of certainty that they were suns, resembling
+in magnitude and brilliancy our Sun. Indeed, little was known of those
+orbs until within the past hundred years, when the exploration of the
+heavens by the aid of greatly increased telescopic power, was the means
+of creating a new branch of astronomical science, called sidereal
+astronomy.
+
+We are indebted to Sir William Herschel, more than to any other
+astronomer, for our knowledge of the stellar universe. It was he who
+ascertained the vastness of its dimensions, and attempted to delineate
+its structural configuration. He also explored the star depths, which
+occupy the infinitude of space by which we are surrounded, and made
+many wonderful discoveries, which testify to his ability as an observer,
+and to his greatness as an astronomer.
+
+William Herschel was born at Hanover, November 15, 1738. His father was
+a musician in the band of the Hanoverian Guard, and trained his son in
+his own profession. After four years of military service, young Herschel
+arrived in England when nineteen years of age, and maintained himself by
+giving lessons in music. We hear of him first at Leeds, where he
+followed his profession, and instructed the band of the Durham Militia.
+From Leeds he went to Halifax, and was appointed organist there; on the
+expiration of twelve months he removed to Bath, and was elected to a
+similar post at the Octagon Chapel in that city. Here, fortune smiled
+upon him, and he became a busy and prosperous man. Besides attending to
+his numerous private engagements, he organised concerts, oratorios, and
+other public musical entertainments, which gained him much popularity
+among the cultivated classes which frequented this fashionable resort.
+Notwithstanding his numerous professional engagements, Herschel was able
+to devote a portion of his time to acquiring knowledge on other
+subjects. He became proficient in Italian and Greek, studied
+mathematics, and read books on astronomy. In 1773 he borrowed a small
+telescope, which he used for observational purposes, and was so
+captivated with the appearances presented by the celestial bodies, that
+he resolved to dedicate his life to acquiring 'a knowledge of the
+construction of the heavens.' This resolution he nobly adhered to, and
+became one of the most distinguished of astronomers. Like many other
+astronomers, Herschel possessed the requisite skill which enabled him to
+construct his own telescopes. Being desirous of possessing a more
+powerful instrument, and not having the means to purchase one, he
+commenced the manufacture of specula, the grinding and polishing of
+which had to be done by hand, entailing the necessity of tedious labour
+and the exercise of much patience. After repeated failures he at length
+completed a 5-1/2-foot Gregorian reflector, and with this instrument
+made his first survey of the heavens. Having perceived the desirability
+of possessing a more powerful telescope, he equipped himself with a
+reflector of twenty feet focal length, and it was with this instrument
+that he made those wonderful discoveries which established his
+reputation as a great astronomer.
+
+On March 31, 1781, when examining the stars in the constellation Gemini,
+Herschel observed a star which presented an appearance slightly
+different to that of the other stars by which it was surrounded; it
+looked larger, had a perceptible disc, and its light became fainter when
+viewed with a higher magnifying power. After having carefully examined
+this object, Herschel arrived at the conclusion that he had discovered a
+comet. He communicated intelligence of his discovery to the Royal
+Society, and, a notification of it having been sent to the Continental
+observatories, this celestial visitor was subjected to a close scrutiny;
+its progressive motion among the stars was carefully observed, and an
+orbit was assigned to it. After it had been under observation for some
+time, doubts were expressed as to its being a comet, these were
+increased on further examination, and eventually it was discovered that
+this interesting object was a new planet. This important discovery at
+once raised Herschel to a position of eminence and distinction, and from
+a star-gazing musician he became a famous astronomer. A new planet named
+Uranus was added to our system, which completes a revolution round the
+Sun in a little over eighty-four years, and at a distance of near 1,000
+millions of miles beyond the orbit of Saturn. Herschel's name became a
+household word. George III. invited him to Court in order that he might
+obtain from his own lips an account of his discovery of the new planet;
+and so favourable was the impression made by Herschel upon the King,
+that he proposed to create him Royal Astronomer at Windsor, and bestow
+upon him a salary of 200_l._ a year. Herschel decided to accept the
+proffered appointment, and, with his sister Caroline, removed from Bath
+to Datchet, near Windsor, in 1782, and from there to Slough in 1786. In
+1788 he married the wealthy widow of a London merchant, by whom he had
+one son, who worthily sustained his father's high reputation as an
+astronomer. Herschel was created a Knight in 1816, and in 1821 was
+elected first President of the Royal Astronomical Society. He died at
+Slough on August 25, 1822, when in the eighty-fourth year of his age,
+and was buried in Upton Churchyard.
+
+It is inscribed on his tomb, that 'he burst the barriers of heaven;' the
+lofty praise conveyed by this expression is not greater than what
+Herschel merited when we consider with what unwearied assiduity and
+patience he laboured to accomplish the results described in the words
+which have been quoted. By a method called 'star-gauging' he
+accomplished an entire survey of the heavens and examined minutely all
+the stars in their groups and aggregations as they passed before his eye
+in the field of the telescope. He sounded the depths of the Milky Way,
+and explored the wondrous regions of that shining zone, peopled with
+myriads of suns so closely aggregated in some of its tracts as to
+suggest the appearance of a mosaic of stars. He resolved numerous nebulae
+into clusters of stars, and penetrated with his great telescope depth
+after depth of space crowded with 'island universes of stars,' beyond
+which he was able to discern luminous haze and filmy streaks of light,
+the evidence of the existence of other universes plunged in depths still
+more profound, where space verges on infinity. In his exploration of the
+starry heavens Herschel's labours were truly amazing. On four different
+occasions he completed a survey of the firmament, and counted the stars
+in several thousand gauge-fields; he discovered 2,400 nebulae, 800
+double stars, and attempted to ascertain the approximate distances of
+the stars by a comparison of their relative brightness.
+
+It had long been surmised, though no actual proof was forthcoming, that
+the law of gravitation by which the order and stability of our system
+are maintained exercises its potent influence over other material bodies
+existing in space, and that other systems, though differing in many
+respects from that of ours, and presenting a more complex arrangement in
+their structure, perform their motions subject to the guidance of this
+universal law. The uncertainty with regard to the controlling influence
+of gravity was removed by Herschel when he made his important discovery
+of binary star systems. The components of a binary star are usually in
+such close proximity that, to the naked eye, they appear as one star,
+and sometimes, even with telescopic aid, it is impossible to distinguish
+them individually; but when observed with sufficient magnifying power
+they can be easily perceived as two lucid points. Double stars were for
+a long time believed to be a purely optical phenomenon--an effect
+created by two stars projected on the sphere so as to appear nearly in
+the same line of vision, and, although apparently almost in contact,
+situated at great distances apart. At one time Herschel entertained a
+similar opinion with regard to those stars. In 1779 he undertook an
+extensive exploration of the heavens with the object of discovering
+double stars. As a result of his labours he presented to the Royal
+Society in 1782 a list of 269 newly discovered double stars, and in
+three years after he supplemented this list with another which contained
+434 more new stars. He carefully measured the distances by which the
+component stars were separated, and determined their position angles, in
+order that he might be able to detect the existence of any sensible
+parallax. On repeating his observations twenty years after, he
+discovered that the relative positions of many of the stars had changed,
+and in 1802 he made the important announcement of his discovery that the
+components of many double stars form independent systems, held together
+in a mutual bond of union and revolving round one common centre of
+gravity.
+
+The importance of this discovery, which we owe to Herschel's sagacity
+and accuracy of observation, cannot be over-estimated; what was
+previously conjecture and surmise, now became precise knowledge
+established upon a sure and accurate basis. It was ascertained that the
+law of gravity exerts its power in regulating and controlling the
+motions of all celestial bodies within the range of telescopic vision,
+and that the order and harmony which pervade our system are equally
+present among other systems of suns and worlds distributed throughout
+the regions of space. The spectacle of two or more suns revolving round
+each other, forming systems of greater magnitude and importance than
+that of ours, conveyed to the minds of astronomers a knowledge of the
+mechanism of the heavens which had hitherto been unknown to them.
+
+During the many years which Herschel devoted to the exploration of the
+starry heavens, and when engaged night after night in examining and
+enumerating the various groups and clusters of stars which passed before
+his eye in the field of his powerful telescope, he did not fail to
+remember the sublime object of his life, and to which he made all his
+other investigations subordinate, viz., the delineation of the
+structural configuration of the heavens, and the inclusion of all
+aggregations, groups, clusters, and galaxies of stars which are
+apparently scattered promiscuously throughout the regions of space into
+one grand harmonious design of celestial architecture.
+
+Having this object in view, he explored the wondrous zone of the Milky
+Way, gauged its depths, measured its dimensions, and, in attempting to
+unravel the intricacies of its structure, penetrated its recesses far
+beyond the limit attained by any other observer. Acting on the
+assumption that the stars are uniformly distributed throughout space,
+Herschel, by his method of star-gauging, concluded that the sidereal
+system consists of an irregular stratum of evenly distributed suns,
+resembling in form a cloven flat disc, and that the apparent richness of
+some regions as compared with that of others could be accounted for by
+the position from which it was viewed by an observer. The stars would
+appear least numerous where the visual line was shortest, and, as it
+became lengthened, they would increase in number until, by crowding
+behind each other as a greater depth of stratum was penetrated, they
+would, when very remote, present the appearance of a luminous cloud or
+zone of light. After further observation Herschel was compelled to
+relinquish his theory of equal star distribution, and found, as he
+approached the Galaxy, that the stars became much more numerous, and
+that in the Milky Way itself there was evidence of the gravitation of
+stars towards certain regions forming aggregations and clusters which
+would ultimately lead to its breaking up into numerous separate sidereal
+systems. As he extended his survey of the heavens and examined with
+greater minuteness the stellar regions in the Galactic tract, he
+discovered that by his method of star-gauging he was unable to define
+the complexity of structure and variety of arrangement which came under
+his observation; he also perceived that the star-depths are
+unfathomable, and discerned that beyond the reach of his telescope there
+existed systems and galaxies of stars situated at an appalling distance
+in the abysmal depths of space. Though the magnitude of that portion of
+the sidereal heavens which came under his observation was inconceivable
+as regards its dimensions, Herschel was able to perceive that it formed
+but a part--and most probably a small part--of the stellar universe, and
+that without a more extended knowledge of this universe, which at
+present is unattainable, it would be impossible to determine its
+structural configuration or discover the relationships that exist among
+the sidereal systems and Galactic concourses of stars distributed
+throughout space. Herschel ultimately abandoned his star-gauging method
+of observation and confined his attention to exploring the star depths
+and investigating the laws and theories associated with the bodies
+occupying those distant regions.
+
+Since all the planets if viewed from the Sun would be seen to move
+harmoniously and in regular order round that body, so there may be
+somewhere in the universe a central point, or, as some persons imagine,
+a great central sun, round which all the systems of stars perform their
+majestic revolutions with the same beautiful regularity; having their
+motions controlled by the same law of gravitation, and possessing the
+same dynamical stability which characterises the mechanism of the solar
+system.
+
+The extent of the distance which intervenes between our system and the
+fixed stars constituted a problem which exercised the minds of
+astronomers from an early period until the middle of the present
+century.
+
+Tycho Brahe, who repudiated the Copernican theory, asserted as one of
+his reasons against it that the distances by which the heavenly bodies
+are separated from each other were greater than even the upholders of
+this theory believed them to be. Although the distance of the Sun from
+the Earth was unknown, Tycho was aware that the diameter of the Earth's
+orbit must be measured by millions of miles, and yet there was no
+perceptible motion or change of position of the stars when viewed from
+any point of the vast circumference which she traverses. Consequently,
+the Earth, if viewed from the neighbourhood of a star, would also appear
+motionless, and the dimensions of her orbit would be reduced to that of
+a point. This seemed incredible to Tycho, and he therefore concluded
+that the Copernican theory was incorrect.
+
+The conclusion that the stars are orbs resembling our Sun in magnitude
+and brilliancy was one which, Tycho urged, should not be hastily
+adopted; and yet, if it were conceded that the Earth is a body which
+revolves round the Sun, it would be necessary to admit that the stars
+are suns also. If the Earth's orbit, as seen from a star, were reduced
+to a point, then the Sun, which occupies its centre, would be reduced to
+a point of light also, and, when observed from a star of equal
+brilliancy and magnitude, would have the same resemblance that the star
+has when viewed from the Earth, which may be regarded as being in
+proximity to the Sun. Tycho Brahe would not admit the accuracy of these
+conclusions, which were too bewildering and overwhelming for his mental
+conception.
+
+But the investigations of later astronomers disclosed the fact that the
+heavenly bodies are situated at distances more remote from each other
+than had been previously imagined, and that the reasons which led Tycho
+to reject the Copernican theory were based upon erroneous conclusions,
+and could, with greater aptitude, be employed in its support. It was
+ascertained that the distance of the Sun from the Earth, which at
+different periods was surmised to be ten, twenty, and forty millions of
+miles, was much greater than had been previously estimated. Later
+calculations determined it to be not less than eighty millions of miles,
+and, according to the most recent observations, the distance of the Sun
+from the Earth is believed to be about ninety-three millions of miles.
+
+Having once ascertained the distance between the Earth and the Sun,
+astronomers were enabled to determine with greater facility the
+distances of other heavenly bodies.
+
+It was now known that the diameter of the Earth's orbit exceeded 183
+millions of miles, and yet, with a base line of such enormous length,
+and with instruments of the most perfect construction, astronomers were
+only able to perceive the minutest appreciable alteration in the
+positions of a few stars when observed from opposite points of the
+terrestrial orbit.
+
+It had long been the ambitious desire of astronomers to accomplish, if
+possible, a measurement of the abyss which separates our system from the
+nearest of the fixed stars. No imaginary measuring line had ever been
+stretched across this region of space, nor had its unfathomed depths
+ever been sounded by any effort of the human mind. The stars were known
+to be inconceivably remote, but how far away no person could tell, nor
+did there exist any guide by which an approximation of their distances
+could be arrived at.
+
+In attempting to calculate the distances of the stars, astronomers have
+had recourse to a method called 'Parallax,' by which is meant the
+apparent change of position of a heavenly body when viewed from two
+different points of observation.
+
+The annual parallax of a heavenly body is the angle subtended at that
+body by the radius of the Earth's orbit.
+
+The stars have no diurnal parallax, because, owing to their great
+distance, the Earth's radius does not subtend any measurable angle, but
+the radius of the Earth's orbit, which is immensely larger, does, in the
+case of a few stars, subtend a very minute angle.
+
+'This enormous base line of 183 millions of miles is barely sufficient,
+in conjunction with the use of the most delicate and powerful
+astronomical instruments, to exhibit the minutest measureable
+displacement of two or three of the nearest stars.'--Proctor.
+
+The efforts of early astronomers to detect any perceptible alteration in
+the positions of the stars when observed from any point of the
+circumference of the Earth's orbit were unsuccessful. Copernicus
+ascribed the absence of any parallax to the immense distances of the
+stars as compared with the dimensions of the terrestrial orbit. Tycho
+Brahe, though possessing better appliances, and instruments of more
+perfect construction, was unable to perceive any annual displacement of
+the stars, and brought this forward as evidence against the Copernican
+theory.
+
+Galileo suggested a method of obtaining the parallax of the fixed stars,
+by observing two stars of unequal magnitude apparently near to each
+other, though really far apart. Those, when observed from different
+points of the Earth's orbit, would appear to change their positions
+relatively to each other. The smaller and more distant star would remain
+unaltered, whilst the larger and nearer star would have changed its
+position with respect to the other. By continuing to observe the larger
+star during the time that the Earth accomplished a revolution of her
+orbit, Galileo believed that its parallax might be successfully
+determined. Though he did not himself put this method into practice, it
+has been tried by others with successful results.
+
+In 1669, Hooke made the first attempt to ascertain the parallax of a
+fixed star, and selected for this purpose Gamma Draconis, a bright star
+in the Head of the Dragon. This constellation passed near the zenith of
+London at the time that he made his observations, and was favourably
+situated, so as to avoid the effects of refraction. Hooke made four
+observations in the months of July, August, and October, and believed
+that he determined the parallax of the star; but it was afterwards
+discovered that he was in error, and that the apparent displacement of
+the star was mainly due to the aberration of light--a phenomenon which
+was not discovered at that time.
+
+A few years later, Picard, a French astronomer, attempted to find the
+parallax of Alpha Lyrae, but was unsuccessful. In 1692-93, Roemer, a
+Danish astronomer, observed irregularities in the declinations of the
+stars which could neither be ascribed to parallax or refraction, and
+which he imagined resulted from a changing position of the Earth's axis.
+
+One of the principal causes which baffled astronomers in their
+endeavours to determine the parallax of the fixed stars was a phenomenon
+called the 'Aberration of Light,' which was discovered and explained by
+Bradley in 1727. The peculiar effect of aberration was perceived by him
+when endeavouring to obtain the parallax of Gamma Draconis.
+
+Owing to the progressive transmission of light, conjointly with the
+motion of the Earth in her orbit, there results an apparent slight
+displacement of a star from its true position. The extent of the
+displacement depends upon the ratio of the velocity of light as compared
+with the speed of the Earth in her orbit, which is as 10,000 to 1. As a
+consequence of this, each star describes a small ellipse in the course
+of a year, the central point of which would indicate the place occupied
+by the star if the Earth were at rest. The shifting position of the star
+is very slight, and at the end of a year it returns to its former place.
+
+Prior to the discovery of aberration, astronomers ascribed the apparent
+displacement of the stars arising from this cause as being due to
+parallax--a conclusion which led to erroneous results; but after
+Bradley's discovery this source of error was avoided, and it was found
+that the parallax of the stars had to be considerably reduced.
+
+Bessel was the first astronomer who merited the high distinction of
+having determined the first reliable stellar parallax, and by this
+achievement he was enabled to fathom the profound abyss which separates
+our solar system from the stars.
+
+Frederick William Bessel was born in 1764 at Minden, in Westphalia. It
+was his intention to pursue a mercantile career, and he commenced life
+by becoming apprenticed to a firm of merchants at Bremen. Soon
+afterwards he accompanied a trading expedition to China and the East
+Indies, and while on this voyage picked up a good deal of information
+with regard to many matters which came under his observation. He
+acquired a knowledge of Spanish and English, and made himself acquainted
+with the art of navigation. On his return home, Bessel endeavoured to
+determine the longitude of Bremen. The only appliances which he made use
+of were a sextant constructed by himself, and a common clock; and yet,
+with those rude instruments, he successfully accomplished his object.
+During the next two years he devoted all his spare time to the study of
+mathematics and astronomy, and, having obtained possession of Harriot's
+observations of the celebrated comet of 1607--known as Halley's
+comet--Bessel, after much diligent application and careful calculation,
+was enabled to deduce from them an orbit, which he assigned to that
+remarkable body. This meritorious achievement was the means of procuring
+for him a widely known reputation.
+
+A vacancy for an assistant having occurred at Schroeter's Observatory at
+Lilienthal, the post was offered to Bessel and accepted by him. Here he
+remained for four years, and was afterwards appointed Director of the
+new Prussian Observatory at Koenigsberg, where he pursued his
+astronomical labours for a period of upwards of thirty years. Bessel
+directed his energies chiefly to the study of stellar astronomy, and
+made many observations in determining the number, the exact positions,
+and proper motions of the stars. He was remarkable for the precision
+with which he carried out his observations, and for the accuracy which
+characterised all his calculations.
+
+In 1837 Bessel, by the exercise of his consummate skill, endeavoured to
+solve a problem which for many years baffled the efforts of the ablest
+astronomers, viz., the determination of the parallax of the fixed stars.
+This had been so frequently attempted, and without success, that the
+results of any new observations were received with incredulity before
+their value could be ascertained.
+
+Bessel was ably assisted by Joseph Frauenhofer, an eminent optician of
+Munich, who constructed a magnificent heliometer for the Observatory at
+Koenigsberg, and in its design introduced a principle which admirably
+adapted it for micrometrical measurement.
+
+The star selected by Bessel is a binary known as 61 Cygni, the
+components being of magnitudes 5.5 and 6 respectively. It has a large
+proper motion, which led him to conclude that its parallax must be
+considerable.
+
+This star will always be an object of interest to astronomers, as it was
+the first of the stellar multitude that revealed to Bessel the secret of
+its distance.
+
+Bessel commenced his observations in October 1837, and continued them
+until March 1840. During this time he made 402 measurements, and, before
+arriving at a conclusive result, carefully considered every imaginable
+cause of error, and rigorously calculated any inaccuracies that might
+arise therefrom. Finally, he determined the parallax of the star to be
+0''.3483--a result equivalent to a distance about 600,000 times that of
+the Earth from the Sun. In 1842-43 M. Peters, of the Pulkova
+Observatory, arrived at an almost similar result, having obtained a
+parallax of 0''.349; but by more recent observations the parallax of the
+star has been increased to about half a second.
+
+About the same time that Bessel was occupied with his observation of 61
+Cygni, Professor Henderson, of Edinburgh, when in charge of the
+Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, directed his attention to Alpha
+Centauri, one of the brightest stars in the Southern Hemisphere. During
+1832-33 he made a series of observations of the star, with the object
+of ascertaining its mean declination; and, having been informed
+afterwards of its large proper motion, he resolved to make an endeavour
+to determine its parallax. This he accomplished after his return to
+Scotland, having been appointed Astronomer Royal in that country. By an
+examination of the observations made by him at the Cape, he determined
+the parallax of Alpha Centauri to be 1''.16, but later astronomers have
+reduced it to 0''.75.
+
+Professor Henderson's detection of the parallax of Alpha Centauri was
+communicated to the Astronomical Society two months after Bessel
+announced his determination of the parallax of 61 Cygni.
+
+The parallax of 61 Cygni assigns to the star a distance of forty
+billions of miles from the Earth, and that of Alpha Centauri--regarded
+as the nearest star to our system--a distance of twenty-five billions of
+miles.
+
+It is utterly beyond the capacity of the human mind to form any adequate
+conception of those vast distances, even when measured by the velocity
+with which the ether of space is thrilled into light. Light, which
+travels twelve millions of miles in a minute, requires 4-1/3 years to
+cross the abyss which intervenes between Alpha Centauri and the Earth,
+and from 61 Cygni the period required for light to reach our globe is
+rather less than double that time.
+
+The parallax of more than a dozen other stars has been determined, and
+the light passage of a few of the best known is estimated as
+follows:--Sirius, eight years; Procyon, twelve; Altair, sixteen;
+Aldebaran, twenty-eight; Capella, thirty; Regulus, thirty-five; Polaris,
+sixty-three; and Vega, ninety-six years.
+
+It does not always follow that the brightest stars are those situated
+nearest to our system, though in a general way this may be regarded as
+correct. The diminishing magnitudes of the stars can be accounted for
+mainly by their increased distances, rather than by any difference in
+their intrinsic brilliancy. We should not err by inferring that the most
+minute stars are also the most remote; the telescope revealing thousands
+that are invisible to the naked eye. There are, however, exceptions to
+this general rule, and there are many stars of small magnitude less
+remote than those whose names have been enumerated, and whose light
+passage testifies to their profound distances and surpassing magnitude
+when compared with that of our Sun.
+
+Sirius, 'the leader of the heavenly host,' is distant fifty billions of
+miles. The orb shines with a brilliancy far surpassing that of the Sun,
+and greatly exceeds him in mass and dimensions. Arcturus, the bright
+star in Booetes, whose golden yellow light renders it such a conspicuous
+object, is so far distant that its measurement gives no reliable
+parallax; and if we may infer from what little we know of the stars,
+Arcturus is believed to be the most magnificent and massive orb entering
+into the structure of that portion of the sidereal system which comes
+within our cognisance. Judging by its relative size and brightness,
+this star is ten thousand times more luminous, and may exceed the Sun
+one million times in volume.
+
+Deneb, in the constellation of the Swan, though a first-magnitude star,
+possesses no perceptible proper motion or parallax--a circumstance
+indicative of amazing distance, and magnitude equalling, or surpassing,
+Arcturus and Sirius.
+
+Canopus, in the constellation Argo, in the Southern Hemisphere, the
+brightest star in the heavens with the exception of Sirius, possesses no
+sensible parallax; consequently, its distance is unknown, though it has
+been estimated that its light passage cannot be less than sixty-five
+years.
+
+By establishing a mean value for the parallax of stars of different
+magnitudes, it was believed that an approximation of their distances
+could be obtained by calculating the time occupied in their light
+passage. The light period for stars of the first magnitude has been
+estimated at thirty-six and a half years; this applies to the brightest
+stars, which are also regarded as the nearest. At the distance indicated
+by this period, the Sun would shrink to the dimensions of a
+seventh-magnitude star and become invisible to the naked eye; this of
+itself affords sufficient proof that the great luminary of our system
+cannot be regarded as one of the leading orbs of the firmament. Stars of
+the second magnitude have a mean distance of fifty-eight light years,
+those of the third magnitude ninety-two years, and so on. M. Peters
+estimated that light from stars of the sixth magnitude, which are just
+visible to the naked eye, requires a period of 138 years to accomplish
+its journey hither; whilst light emitted from the smallest stars visible
+in large telescopes does not reach the Earth until after the lapse of
+thousands of years from the time of leaving its source.
+
+The profound distances of the nearest stars by which we are surrounded
+lead us to consider the isolated position of the solar system in space.
+A pinnacle of rock, or forsaken raft floating in mid-ocean, is not more
+distant from the shore than is the Sun from his nearest neighbours. The
+inconceivable dimensions of the abyss by which the orb and his
+attendants are surrounded in utter loneliness may be partially
+comprehended when it is known that light, which travels from the Sun to
+the Earth--a distance of ninety-three millions of miles--in eight
+minutes, requires a period of four and a third years to reach us from
+the nearest fixed star. A sphere having the Sun at its centre and this
+nearest star at its circumference would have a diameter of upwards of
+fifty billions of miles; the volume of the orb when compared with the
+dimensions of this circular vacuity of space is as a small shot to a
+globe 900 miles in diameter. It has been estimated by Father Secchi
+that, if a comet when at aphelion were to arrive at a point midway
+between the Sun and the nearest fixed star, it would require one hundred
+million years in the accomplishment of its journey thither. And yet the
+Sun is one of a group of stars which occupy a region of the heavens
+adjacent to the Milky Way and surrounded by that zone; nor is his
+isolation greater than that of those stars which are his companions, and
+who, notwithstanding their profound distance, influence his movements by
+their gravitational attraction, and in combination with the other stars
+of the firmament control his destiny.
+
+Ancient astronomers, for the purpose of description, have mapped out the
+heavens into numerous irregular divisions called 'constellations.' They
+are of various forms and sizes, according to the configuration of the
+stars which occupy them, and have been named after different animals,
+mythological heroes, and other objects which they appear to resemble. In
+a few instances there does exist a similitude to the object after which
+a constellation is called; this is evident in the case of Corona
+Borealis (the Northern Crown), in which there can be seen a conspicuous
+arrangement of stars resembling a coronet, and in the constellations of
+the Dolphin and Scorpion, where the stars are so distributed that the
+forms of those creatures can be readily recognised. There is some slight
+resemblance to a bear in Ursa Major, and to a lion in Leo, and no great
+effort of the mind is required to imagine a chair in Cassiopeia, and a
+giant in Orion; but in the majority of instances it is difficult to
+perceive any likeness of the object after which a constellation is
+named, and in many cases there is no resemblance whatever.
+
+The constellations are sixty-seven in number: excluding those of the
+Zodiac, which have been already mentioned, the constellations of the
+Northern Hemisphere number twenty-nine. The most important of these are
+Ursa Major and Minor, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Lyra,
+Aquila, Auriga, Draco, Booetes, Hercules, Pegasus, and Corona Borealis.
+
+To an observer of the nocturnal sky the stars appear to be very
+unequally distributed over the celestial sphere. In some regions they
+are few in number and of small magnitude, whilst in other parts of the
+heavens, and especially in the vicinity of the Milky Way, they are
+present in great numbers and form groups and aggregations of striking
+appearance and conspicuous brilliancy. On taking a casual glance at the
+midnight sky on a clear moonless night, one is struck with the apparent
+countless multitude of the stars; yet this impression of their vast
+number is deceptive, for not more than two thousand stars are usually
+visible at one time.
+
+Much, however, depends upon the keenness of vision of the observer, and
+the transparency of the atmosphere. Argelander counted at Bonn more than
+3,000 stars, and Hozeau, near the equator, where all the stars of the
+sphere successively appear in view, enumerated 6,000 stars. This number
+may be regarded as including all the stars in the heavens that are
+visible to the naked eye. With the aid of an opera glass thousands of
+stars can be seen that are imperceptible to ordinary vision.
+Argelander, with a small telescope of 2-1/2 inches aperture, was able to
+count 234,000 stars in the Northern Hemisphere. Large telescopes reveal
+multitudes of stars utterly beyond the power of enumeration, nor do they
+appear to diminish in number as depth after depth of space is penetrated
+by powerful instruments. The star-population of the heavens has been
+reckoned at 100,000,000, but this estimate is merely an assumption;
+recent discoveries made by means of stellar photography indicate that
+the stars exist in myriads. It is reasonable to believe that there is a
+limit to the sidereal universe, but it is impossible to assign its
+bounds or comprehend the apparently infinite extent of its dimensions.
+
+Scintillation or twinkling of the stars is a property which
+distinguishes them from the planets. It is due to a disturbed condition
+of the atmosphere and is most apparent when a star is near the horizon;
+at the zenith it almost entirely vanishes. Humboldt states that in the
+clear air of Cumana, in South America, the stars do not twinkle after
+they reach an elevation of 15 deg. above the horizon. The presence of
+moisture in the atmosphere intensifies scintillation, and this is
+usually regarded as a prognostication of rain. White stars twinkle more
+than red ones. The occurrence of scintillation can be accounted for by
+the fact that the stars are visible as single points of light which
+twinkle as a whole, but in the case of the Sun, Moon, and planets, they
+form discs from which many points of light are emitted; they,
+therefore, do not scintillate as a whole, for the absence of rays of
+light from one portion of their surface is compensated by those from
+other parts of their discs, giving a mean average which creates a
+steadiness of vision.
+
+The stars are divided into separate classes called 'magnitudes,' by
+which their relative apparent size and degree of brightness are
+distinguished. The magnitude of a star does not indicate its mass or
+dimensions, but its light-giving power, which depends partly upon its
+size and distance, though mainly upon the intensity of its luminosity.
+The most conspicuous are termed stars of the first magnitude; there are
+ten of those in the Northern Hemisphere, and an equal number south of
+the equator, but they are not all of the same brilliancy. Sirius
+outshines every other star of the firmament, and Arcturus has no rival
+in the northern heavens. The names of the first-magnitude stars north of
+the equator are: Arcturus, Capella, Vega, Betelgeux, Procyon, Aldebaran,
+Altair, Pollux, Regulus, and Deneb. The next class in order of
+brightness are called second-magnitude stars; they are fifty or sixty in
+number, the most important of which is the Pole Star. The stars diminish
+in luminosity by successive gradations, and when they sink to the sixth
+magnitude reach the utmost limit at which they appear visible to the
+naked eye. In great telescopes this classification is carried so low as
+to include stars of the eighteenth and twentieth magnitudes.
+
+Entering into the structure of the stellar universe we have Single
+Stars, Double Stars, Triple, Quadruple, and Multiple Stars, Temporary,
+Periodical, and Variable Stars, Star-groups, Star-clusters, Galaxies,
+and Nebulae.
+
+SINGLE OR INSULATED STARS include all those orbs sufficiently isolated
+in space so as not to be perceptibly influenced by the attraction of
+other similar bodies. They are believed to constitute the centres of
+planetary systems, and fulfil the purpose for which they were created by
+dispensing light and heat to the worlds which circle around them.
+
+The Sun is an example of this class of star, and constitutes the centre
+of the system to which the Earth belongs. Reasoning from analogy, it
+would be natural to conclude that there are other suns, numberless
+beyond conception, the centres of systems of revolving worlds, and
+although we are utterly unable to catch a glimpse of their planetary
+attendants, even with the aid of the most powerful telescopes, yet they
+have in a few instances been _felt_, and have afforded unmistakable
+indications of their existence.
+
+Since the Sun must be regarded as one of the stellar multitude that
+people the regions of space, and whose surpassing splendour when
+contrasted with that of other luminaries can be accounted for by his
+proximity to us, it would be of interest to ascertain his relative
+importance when compared with other celestial orbs which may be his
+peers or his superiors in magnitude and brilliancy.
+
+The Sun is one of a widely scattered group of stars situated in the
+plane of the Milky Way and surrounded by that zone, and, as a star among
+the stars, would be included in the constellation of the Centaur.
+
+Although regarded as one of the leading orbs of the firmament, and of
+supreme importance to us, astronomers are undecided whether to classify
+the Sun with stars of greater magnitude and brightness, or assign him a
+position among minor orbs of smaller size. Much uncertainty exists with
+regard to star magnitudes. This arises from inability on the part of
+astronomers to ascertain the distances of the vast majority of stars
+visible to the naked eye, and also on account of inequality in their
+intrinsic brilliancy. Among the stars there exists an indefinite range
+of stellar magnitudes. There are many stars known whose dimensions have
+been ascertained to greatly exceed those of the Sun, and there are
+others of much smaller size. No approximation of the magnitude of
+telescopic stars can be arrived at; many of them may rival Sirius,
+Canopus, and Arcturus, in size and splendour, their apparent minuteness
+being a consequence of their extreme remoteness. If the Sun were removed
+a distance in space equal to that of many of the brightest stars, he
+would in appearance be reduced to a minute point of light or become
+altogether invisible; and there are other stars, situated at distances
+still more remote, of which sufficient is known to justify us in
+arriving at the conclusion that the Sun must be ranked among the minor
+orbs of the firmament, and that many of the stars surpass him in
+brilliancy and magnitude.
+
+DOUBLE STARS.--To the unaided eye, these appear as single points of
+light; but, when observed with a telescope of sufficient magnifying
+power, their dual nature can be detected.
+
+The first double star discovered was Mizar, the middle star of the three
+in Ursa Major which form the tail of the bear. The components are of the
+fourth and fifth magnitudes, of a brilliant white colour, and distant
+fourteen seconds of arc.
+
+In 1678, Cassini perceived stars which appeared as single points of
+light when viewed with the naked eye, but when observed with the
+telescope presented the appearance of being double.
+
+The astronomer Bode, in 1781, published a list of eighty double stars,
+and, in a few years after, Sir William Herschel discovered several
+hundreds more of those objects. They are now known to exist in
+thousands, Mr. Burnham, of the Lick Observatory, having, by his keen
+perception of vision, contributed more than any other observer to swell
+their number.
+
+All double stars are not binaries; many of them are known as 'optical
+doubles'--an impression created by two stars when almost in the same
+line of vision, and, though apparently near, are situated at a great
+distance apart and devoid of any physical relationship.
+
+Binary stars consist of two suns which revolve round their common
+centre of gravity, and form real dual systems.
+
+The close proximity of the components of double stars impressed the
+minds of some astronomers with the belief that a physical bond of union
+existed between them. In the interval between 1718 and 1759, Bradley
+detected a change of 30 deg. in the position angle of the two stars forming
+Castor, and was very nearly discovering their physical connection.
+
+In 1767, the Rev. John Michell wrote: 'It is highly probable in
+particular, and next to a certainty in general, that such double stars
+as appear to consist of two or more stars placed very near together do
+really consist of stars placed near together and under the influence of
+some general law.' Afterwards he says: 'It is not improbable that a few
+years may inform us that some of the great number of double and triple
+stars which have been observed by Mr. Herschel are systems of bodies
+revolving about each other.' Christian Mayer, a German astronomer,
+formed a list of stellar pairs, and announced, in 1776, the supposed
+discovery of 'satellites' to many of the principal stars. His
+observations were, however, not exact enough to lead to any useful
+results, and the existence of his 'planet stars' was at that time
+derided, and believed to find a place only in his imagination.
+
+The conclusions arrived at by some astronomers with regard to double
+stars were afterwards confirmed by Herschel, when, by his observation of
+a change in the relative positions of many of their components, he was
+able to announce that they form independent systems in mutual
+revolution, and are controlled by the law of gravitation.
+
+The number of binary stars in active revolution is known to exceed 500;
+but, besides these, there are doubtless numerous other compound stars
+which, on account of their extreme remoteness and the close proximity of
+their components, are irresolvable into pairs by any optical appliances
+which we possess.
+
+The revolution of two suns in one sphere presents to our observation a
+scheme of creative design entirely different to the single-star system
+with which we are familiar--one of a higher and more complex order in
+the ascending scale of celestial architecture. For, if we assume that
+around each revolving sun there circles a retinue of planetary worlds,
+it is obvious that a much more complicated arrangement must exist among
+the orbs which enter into the formation of such a system than is found
+among those which gravitate round our Sun.
+
+The common centre of gravity of a binary system is situated on a line
+between both stars, and distant from each in inverse proportion to their
+respective masses. When the stars are of equal mass their orbits are of
+equal dimensions, but when the mass of one star exceeds that of the
+other, the orbit of the larger star is proportionately diminished as
+compared with the circumference traversed by the smaller star. When
+their orbits are circular--a rare occurrence--both stars pursue each
+other in the same path, and invariably occupy it at diametrically
+opposite points; nor is it possible for one star to approach the other
+by the minutest interval of space in any duration of time, so long as
+the synchronous harmony of their revolution remains undisturbed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3.--A Binary Star System--70 Ophiuchi
+
+(_Drawn by Mr. J. E. Gore._)]
+
+When a pair of suns move in an ellipse, their orbits intersect and are
+of equal dimensions when the stars are of equal mass, their common
+centre of gravity being then at a point equidistant from each.
+Consequently, neither star can approach or recede from this point
+without the other affecting a similar motion, they must be at periastron
+and apastron together, and any acceleration or retardation of speed must
+occur simultaneously with each. Stars of unequal magnitude always
+maintain a proportionate distance from their common focus, and both
+simultaneously occupy corresponding parts of their orbits.
+
+The nature of the motions of those distant suns, and the form of the
+orbits which they traverse, have been investigated by several eminent
+astronomers, and although the subject is one of much difficulty, on
+account of their extreme remoteness and the minute angles which have to
+be dealt with, necessitating the carrying out of very refined
+observations, yet a considerable amount of information has been obtained
+with regard to the paths which they pursue in the accomplishment of
+their revolutions round each other.
+
+The orbits of about sixty stellar pairs have been computed, but only
+with partial success. Some stars have shown themselves to be totally
+regardless of theory and computation, and have shot ahead far beyond the
+limits ascribed to them, whilst others, by the slowness of their
+motions, have upset the calculations of astronomers as much in the
+opposite direction. So that out of this number the orbits of not more
+than half a dozen are satisfactorily known.
+
+The dimensions of stellar orbits are of very varied extent. Some pairs
+are apparently so close that the best optical means which we possess are
+incapable of dividing them, whilst others revolve in wide and spacious
+orbits.
+
+The most marked peculiarity of the orbits of binary stars is their high
+eccentricity; they are usually much more eccentric than are those of
+the planets, and in some instances approach in form that of a comet.
+
+The finest binary star in the northern heavens is Castor, the brighter
+of the two leading stars in the constellation Gemini. The components are
+of the second and third magnitudes, and over five seconds apart. They
+are of a brilliant white colour, and form a beautiful object in the
+telescope.
+
+In 1719 Bradley determined the relative positions of those stars, and on
+comparing the results obtained by him with recent measurements it was
+found that they had altered to the extent of 125 deg.. Travelling at the
+same rate of speed, they will require a period of about 420 years to
+complete an entire circuit of their orbits. This pace, however, has not
+been maintained, for, their periastron having occurred in 1750, they
+travelled more rapidly in the last century than they are doing at
+present, and, as their orbits are so eccentric that when at apastron the
+stars are twice as remote from each other as at periastron, they will
+for the next three and a half centuries continue to slacken their pace,
+until they shall have reached the most remote points of their orbits,
+when they will again begin to approach with an increasing velocity; so
+that the time in which an entire revolution can be accomplished will not
+be much less than 1,000 years.[8]
+
+As the distance of Castor is unknown, it is impossible to compute the
+combined mass of its components. They are very remote, their light
+period being estimated at forty-four years. Castor is doubtless a more
+massive orb than our Sun, and possesses a higher degree of luminosity.
+
+Alpha Centauri, in the Southern Hemisphere, is the brightest binary, and
+also the nearest known star in the heavens; its estimated distance being
+twenty-five billions of miles. Both components equal stars of the first
+magnitude, and are of a brilliant white colour. Since they were first
+observed, in 1709, they have completed two revolutions, and are now
+accomplishing a third. The eccentricity of their orbit approaches in
+form that of Faye's comet, which travels round the Sun; consequently the
+stars, when at apastron, are twice their periastron distance. Their
+period of revolution is about eighty-eight years. The mean radius of
+their orbit corresponds to a span of 1,000 millions of miles, so that
+those orbs are sometimes as close to each other as Jupiter is to the
+Sun, and never so far distant as Uranus.[9] Their combined mass is twice
+that of the Sun, and the luminosity of each star is slightly greater.
+
+The double star 61 Cygni--one of the nearest to our system--is believed
+to be a binary the components of which move in an orbit of more spacious
+dimensions than that of any other known revolving pair. Though they have
+been under continuous observation since 1753, it is only within the last
+few years that any orbital motion has been perceived. Some observers
+are disinclined to admit the accuracy of this statement; whilst others
+believe that the stars have executed a hyperbolic sweep round their
+common centre of gravity and are now separating.
+
+The radius of the orbit in which those bodies travel is sixty-five times
+the distance of the Earth from the Sun; which means that they travel in
+an orbit twice the width of that of the planet Neptune. It has been
+estimated that they complete a revolution in about eight centuries. The
+united mass of the system is about one-half that of the Sun, and in
+point of luminosity they are much inferior to that orb.
+
+The star 70 Ophiuchi (fig. 3) may be regarded as typical of a binary
+system. The components are five seconds apart, and of the fourth and
+sixth magnitudes. Their light period is stated to be twenty years, and
+the combined mass of the system is nearly three times that of the Sun.
+The pair travel in an orbit from fourteen to forty-two times the radius
+of the Earth's orbit; so that when at apastron they are three times as
+distant from each other as when at periastron. They complete a
+revolution in eighty-eight years.
+
+The accompanying diagram (fig. 4) is a delineation of the beautiful
+orbits of the components of Gamma Virginis. These may be described as
+elongated ellipses. Both stars being of equal mass, their orbits are of
+equal dimensions, and their common centre of gravity at a point
+equidistant from each. Any approach to, or recession from this point,
+must occur simultaneously with each; they must always occupy
+corresponding parts of their orbits, and be in apastron and at
+periastron in the same period of time. The ellipse described by this
+pair is the most eccentric of known binary orbits, and approaches in
+form the path pursued by Encke's comet round the Sun. These orbs
+complete a revolution in 180 years, and when in apastron are seventeen
+times more remote from each other than when at periastron.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.--The Orbits of the Components of Gamma Virginis.]
+
+From his observation of the motion of Sirius in 1844, Bessel was led to
+believe that the brilliant orb was accompanied by another body, whose
+gravitational attraction was responsible for the irregularities observed
+in the path of the great dog-star when pursuing his journey through
+space. The elements of this hypothetical body were afterwards computed
+by Peters and Auwers, and its exact position assigned by Safford in
+1861.
+
+On January 31, 1862, Mr. Alvan Clarke, of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts,
+when engaged in testing a recently constructed telescope of great power,
+directed it on Sirius, and was enabled by good fortune to discover the
+companion star at a distance of ten seconds from its primary. Since its
+discovery, the star has pursued with such precision the theoretical path
+previously assigned to it that astronomers have had no hesitation in
+identifying it as the hypothetical body whose existence Bessel had
+correctly surmised.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius.
+
+(_Drawn by Mr. Burnham._)]
+
+The Sirian satellite is a yellow star of the eighth magnitude, and
+shines with a feeble light when contrasted with the surpassing
+brilliancy of its neighbour.
+
+Astronomers were for some time in doubt as to whether the uneven motion
+which characterised the path of Sirius could be ascribed to the
+attraction of its obscure attendant, which presented such a marked
+contrast to its primary, and several observers were inclined to believe
+that the disturbing body still remained undiscovered. When, however, the
+density of the lesser star became known, it was discovered that, weight
+for weight, that of Sirius exceeded it only in the proportion of two to
+one, though as a light-giver the great orb is believed to be 5,000 times
+more luminous. The Sirian satellite revolves round its primary in about
+fifty years, and at a distance twenty-eight times that of the Earth from
+the Sun.
+
+The surpassing brilliancy of Sirius as compared with that of the other
+stars of the firmament has rendered it at all times an object of
+interest to observers. The Egyptians worshipped the star as Sothis, and
+it was believed to be the abode of the soul of Isis. The nations
+inhabiting the region of the Nile commenced their year with the heliacal
+rising of Sirius, and its appearance was regarded as a sure forerunner
+of the rising of the great river, the fertilising flood of which was
+attributed to the influence of this beautiful star. It is believed that
+the Mazzaroth in Job is an allusion to this brilliant orb. Among the
+Romans Sirius was regarded as a star of evil omen; its appearance above
+the horizon after the summer solstice was believed to be associated with
+pestilence and fevers, consequent upon the oppressive heat of the
+season of the year. The _dies caniculares_, or dog-days, were reckoned
+to begin twenty days before, and to continue for twenty days after, the
+heliacal rising of Sirius, the dog-star. During those days a peculiar
+influence was believed to exist which created diseases in men and
+madness among dogs. Homer alludes to the star
+
+                                'whose burning breath
+    Taints the red air with fevers, plagues and death.'
+
+Sirius, which is in Canis Major (one of Orion's hunting dogs), is a far
+more glorious orb than our Sun. According to recent photometric
+measurements it emits seventy times the quantity of light, and is three
+times more massive than the great luminary of our system. At the
+distance of Sirius (fifty billions of miles) the Sun would shrink to the
+dimensions of a third-magnitude star, and the light of seventy such
+stars would be required to equal in appearance the brilliant radiance of
+the great dog-star. The orb, with his retinue of attendant worlds--some
+of which are reported as having been seen--is travelling through space
+with a velocity of not less than 1,000 miles a minute.
+
+An irregularity of motion resembling that of Sirius has been detected
+with regard to Procyon, the lesser dog-star. But in this case the
+companion star has not as yet been seen, though a careful search has
+been made for it with the most powerful of telescopes. Should it be a
+planetary body, illumined by its primary, its reflected light would not
+appear visible to us, even if it were much less remote than it is.
+
+We are able only to perceive the effulgence of brilliant suns scattered
+throughout the regions of space; but besides those, there are doubtless
+many faintly luminous orbs and opaque bodies of vast dimensions
+occupying regions unknown to us, but by a knowledge of the existence of
+which an enlarged conception is conveyed to our minds of the greatness
+of the universe.
+
+The most rapid of known revolving pairs is Delta Equulei. The components
+are so close that only the finest instruments can separate them, and
+this they cannot do at all times. They accomplish a revolution in eleven
+and a half years. The slowest revolving pair is Zeta Aquarii. The motion
+of the components is so tardy that to complete a circuit of their orbits
+they require a period of about sixteen centuries. Other binary stars
+have had different periods assigned to them; eleven pairs have been
+computed to revolve round each other in less than fifty years, and
+fifteen in less than 100 but more than fifty. There are other compound
+stars whose motions appear to be much more leisurely than those just
+mentioned, and although no orbital movement has, so far, been detected
+among them, yet, so vast is the scale upon which the sidereal system is
+constructed, that thousands of years must elapse before they can have
+accomplished a revolution of their orbits.
+
+The Pole Star is an optical double, but the components are of very
+unequal magnitude. The Pole Star itself is of the second magnitude, but
+its companion is only of the ninth, and on account of its minuteness is
+regarded as a good test for telescopes of small aperture. Mizar, in the
+constellation Ursa Major, is a beautiful double star. The components are
+wide apart, and can be easily observed with a small instrument.
+
+There is a remarkable star in the constellation of the Lyre (Epsilon
+Lyrae), described as a double double. This object can just be
+distinguished by a person with keen eyesight as consisting of two stars;
+when observed with a telescope they appear widely separated, and each
+star is seen to have a companion, the entire system forming two binary
+pairs in active revolution. The pair which first cross the meridian
+complete a revolution in about 2,000 years; the second pair have a more
+rapid motion, and accomplish it in half that time. The two pairs are
+believed to be physically connected, and revolve round their common
+centre of gravity in a period of time not much under one million years.
+
+Cor Caroli, in Canes Venatici, is a pleasing double star, the components
+being of a pale white and lilac colour.
+
+Albireo, in the constellation of the Swan, is one of the loveliest of
+double stars. The larger component is of the third magnitude, and of a
+golden yellow colour; the smaller of the sixth magnitude, and of a
+sapphire blue.
+
+Epsilon Booetis, known also as Mirac, and called by Admiral Smyth
+'Pulcherrima,' on account of its surpassing beauty, is a delicate object
+of charming appearance. The components of this lovely star are of the
+third and seventh magnitudes: the primary orange, the secondary
+sea-green.
+
+The late Mr. R. A. Proctor, in describing a binary star system, writes
+as follows: 'If we regard a pair of stars as forming a double sun, round
+which--or, rather, round the common centre of which--other orbs revolve
+as planets, we are struck by the difference between such a scheme and
+our own solar system; but we find the difference yet more surprising
+when we consider the possibility that in some such schemes each
+component sun may have its own distinct system of dependent worlds. In
+the former case the ordinary state of things would probably be such that
+both suns would be above the horizon at the same time, and then,
+probably, their distinctive peculiarities would only be recognisable
+when one chanced to pass over the disc of the other, as our Moon passes
+over the Sun's disc in eclipses. For short intervals of time, however,
+at rising or setting, one or other would be visible alone; and the
+phenomena of sunset and sunrise must therefore be very varied, and also
+exquisitely beautiful, in worlds circling round such double suns. But
+when each sun has a separate system, even more remarkable relations must
+be presented. For each system of dependent worlds, besides its own
+proper sun, must have another sun--less splendid, perhaps (because
+farther off), but still brighter beyond comparison than our moon at the
+full. And, according to the position of any planet of either system,
+there will result for the time being either an interchange of suns,
+instead of the change from night to day, or else double sunlight during
+the day, and a corresponding intensified contrast between night and day.
+Where the two suns are very unequal or very differently coloured, or
+where the orbital path of each is very eccentric, so that they are
+sometimes close together and at others far apart, the varieties in the
+worlds circling round either, or around the common centre of both, must
+be yet more remarkable. "It must be confessed," we may well say with Sir
+John Herschel, "that we have here a strangely wide and novel field for
+speculative excursions, and one which it is not easy to avoid
+luxuriating in."'
+
+Anyone who takes a cursory glance at the heavens on a clear night can
+readily perceive that there exists considerable diversity of colour
+among the stars. The contrast between some is pronounced and well
+marked, whilst others exhibit refined gradations of hue.
+
+The most numerous class of stars are those which are described as white
+or colourless. They comprise about one-half of the stars visible to the
+naked eye. Among the most conspicuous examples of this type are
+Sirius--whose diamond blaze is sometimes mingled with an occasional
+flash of blue and red--Altair, Spica, Castor, Regulus, Rigel, all the
+stars of Ursa Major with the exception of one, and Vega--a glittering
+gem of pale sapphire, almost colourless. The light emitted by stars of
+this class gives a continuous spectrum, the predominating element being
+hydrogen, having a very elevated temperature and under relatively high
+pressure. The vapours of iron, sodium, magnesium, and other metals, are
+indicated as existing in small quantities.
+
+The second class of stars is that to which our Sun belongs. They are of
+a yellow colour, and embrace two-thirds of the remaining stars. The most
+prominent examples of this type are Arcturus, Capella, Aldebaran,
+Procyon, and Pollux. Hydrogen does not predominate so much in these as
+in the Sirian stars, and their spectra resemble closely the solar
+spectrum, indicating that they are composed of elements similar to those
+which exist in the Sun.
+
+The star which bears the nearest resemblance to our Sun, both as regards
+the colour of its light and physical structure, is Capella, the most
+conspicuous star in the constellation Auriga, and one of the leading
+brilliants in the Northern Hemisphere. Its spectrum presents all the
+characteristics observed in the solar spectrum, and there exists an
+almost identical similarity in their physical constitution, though
+Capella is a much more magnificent orb than the Sun.
+
+The third class of stars includes those which are of a ruddy hue, such
+as Betelgeux in the right shoulder of Orion, Antares in Scorpio, and
+Alpha Herculis. Their spectra present a banded or columnar appearance,
+and there is greater absorption, especially of the blue rays of light.
+It is believed that the temperature of stars of this colour is not so
+elevated as that of those belonging to the other two orders, and that
+this is a sufficient reason to account for the different appearance of
+their spectra.
+
+The aid of a good telescope is, however, necessary to enable us to
+perceive the varied colours and tints of the sparkling gems with which
+Nature has adorned her star-built edifice of the universe. Most of the
+precious stones on Earth have their counterparts in the heavens,
+presenting in a jewelled form contrasts of colour, pleasing harmonies,
+and endless variety of shade. The diamond, sapphire, emerald, amethyst,
+topaz, and ruby sparkle among crowds of stars of more sombre hue. Agate,
+chalcedony, onyx, opal, beryl, lapis-lazuli, and aquamarine are
+represented by the radiant sheen emanating from distant suns, displaying
+an inexhaustible variety of colour, blended in tints of untold harmony.
+
+It is among double stars that the richest and most varied colours
+predominate. There are pairs of white, yellow, orange, and red stars;
+yellow and blue, yellow and pale emerald, yellow and rose red, yellow
+and fawn, green and gold, azure and crimson, golden and azure, orange
+and emerald, orange and lilac, orange and purple, orange and green,
+white and blue, white and lilac, lilac and dark purple, &c., &c. There
+are companion stars revolving round their primaries, coloured olive,
+lilac, russet, fawn, dun, buff, grey, and other shades indistinguishable
+by any name.
+
+Our knowledge of binary star systems brings us to what may be regarded
+as the threshold of the fabric of the heavens. For it is known that
+other systems exist into the construction of which numerous stars enter.
+These form intricate and complex stellar arrangements, in which the
+component stars are physically united and retained in their orbits by
+their mutual attraction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE STARRY HEAVENS
+
+
+TRIPLE, QUADRUPLE, AND MULTIPLE STARS.--These, when observed with the
+naked eye, appear as single stars, but, when examined with a high
+magnifying power, each lucid point can be resolved into several
+component stars. They vary in number from three to half a dozen or more,
+and form systems of a more complex character than what are observed in
+the case of binary stars. In the usual construction of a triple system,
+the secondary star of a binary is resolvable into two, each star being
+in mutual revolution, whilst they both gravitate round their primary. By
+another arrangement, a close pair control the movements of a distant
+attendant.
+
+One of the most interesting of triple stars is the tricoloured Gamma
+Andromedae. The brilliant components of this system have their
+counterparts in the topaz, the emerald, and the sapphire--the larger
+star is of the third magnitude and of a golden yellow colour; the
+secondary of the fifth magnitude and of an emerald green. These stars
+are ten seconds apart, and, though they have been under observation
+since 1777, no orbital movement has as yet been detected, but their
+common proper motion indicates their close relationship and physical
+connection. In 1842, Otto Struve discovered that the companion star is
+itself double, and round it there gravitates a sapphire sun, which is
+believed to accomplish a revolution of its orbit in about 500 years. If
+round those suns there should be circling planetary systems of worlds
+inhabited by intelligent beings, the varied effects produced by the
+light emanating from those different coloured orbs would be of a very
+beautiful and pleasing nature.
+
+A system suggestive of the endless variety of stellar arrangement that
+exists throughout the sidereal regions is apparent in the case of the
+triple star Zeta Cancri. Two of the stars, of magnitudes six and seven,
+form a binary in rapid revolution, the components of which complete a
+circuit of their orbits in fifty-eight years, whilst the more distant
+third star, of almost similar magnitude, accomplishes a wide orbital
+ellipse round the other two in 500 or 600 years. These stars have been
+closely observed by astronomers during the past forty years, with the
+result that their motions have appeared most perplexing, and complicated
+beyond precedent. 'If this be really a ternary system,' wrote Sir John
+Herschel, 'connected by the mutual attraction of its parts, its
+perturbations will present one of the most intricate problems in
+physical astronomy.' The second star revolves round its primary, whilst
+the third pursues a retrograde course, but its path, instead of being
+even, presents the appearance of a series of circular loopings, in
+traversing which the star alternately quickens and slackens its pace,
+or at times appears to be stationary.
+
+Astronomers have arrived at the conclusion that these perturbations are
+produced by the presence of a fourth member, which, though invisible, is
+probably the most massive of the system--perhaps a magnificent world
+teeming with animated beings, and attended by three suns which gravitate
+round it, dispensing light and heat to meet the requirements of the
+various forms of life which exist on its surface. In this system we have
+an arrangement the reverse of what exists in the solar system, where all
+the planets revolve round a predominant sun; but here there is a strange
+verification of the old Ptolemaic belief with regard to the path of a
+sun, though in this instance there are three suns circling round a dark
+globe which they illumine and vivify.
+
+Triple stars occur with comparative frequency throughout the heavens. In
+Monoceros there is a fine triple star, discovered by Herschel, which he
+describes as 'one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens.' The
+stars Xi and Beta Scorpii form triple systems in which the components
+are differently arranged. In Xi the primary and secondary consist of two
+revolving stars which control the movements of a distant attendant; in
+Beta the primary and secondary stars are in mutual revolution, whilst
+round the former there circles a very close minute companion. There are
+doubtless many binary stars which, if examined with adequate telescopic
+power, would resolve themselves into triple and multiple systems, but
+the profound distances of those objects render the detection of their
+components a most difficult task.
+
+Quadruple stars are usually arranged in pairs, _i.e._ the primary and
+secondary of a binary system are each resolvable into two, forming two
+pairs, each pair being in mutual revolution, while they both gravitate
+round their common centre of gravity. Epsilon Lyrae, which has been
+described as a double double, is an example of a quadruple system, and
+Nu Scorpii is of a similar construction, but more beautiful because its
+components are in closer proximity to each other. Close upon twenty of
+those double double systems have been discovered in different parts of
+the heavens.
+
+One of the most interesting of quadruple systems is Theta Orionis, which
+is situated in the Great Nebula, by which it is surrounded. This star,
+when observed with a telescope of low power, can be at once resolved
+into four separate lucent points, so arranged as to form a quadrilateral
+figure or trapezium. They are of the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
+magnitudes, and described as pale white, garnet, faint lilac, and red.
+Though they have been under careful observation for upwards of two
+centuries, no perceptible motion has been perceived as occurring among
+them, nor has there been any change in their relative positions--they
+appear to be perfectly motionless; but we must not infer from this that
+no physical bond of union exists between them, for they are situated at
+an amazing distance from the Earth. Ascending higher in the scale of
+celestial architecture, we have multiple stars forming systems still
+more elaborate and complex, into the structure of which numerous stars
+enter, and they, as they increase in number, gradually merge into
+star-clusters.
+
+If we assume that around each of the components of a multiple star there
+circles a retinue of planetary worlds, we are confronted with a most
+perplexing problem as to how the dynamical stability of a system so
+different from, and so vastly more complicated than, that of our solar
+system is maintained--where, as it were, suns and planets
+intermingle--how numerous circling orbs can accomplish their revolutions
+without being swayed and deflected from their paths by the gravitational
+attraction of adjacent members of the same system. Perplexing though the
+arrangement of such a scheme may be to our conception, yet, each orb has
+been weighed, poised, and adjusted by Infinite Wisdom, to perform its
+intricate motions in synchronous harmony with other members of the
+system--all moving in unison like the parts of a complicated piece of
+mechanism, and maintained in stable equilibrium by their mutual
+attraction--
+
+    Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere
+    Of planets and of fixed in all her wheels
+    Resembles nearest; mazes intricate,
+    Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
+    Then most, when most irregular they seem;
+    And in their motions harmony divine
+    So smooths her charming tones that God's own ear
+    Listens delighted.--v. 620-27.
+
+All the natural phenomena with which we are familiar would, in the case
+of planets revolving round the component suns of a multiple system, be
+of a different kind or altogether absent. Instead of being illumined by
+one sun, those worlds would, at certain times, have several suns--some
+more distant than others--above their horizons, and upon very rare
+occasions, if ever, would there be an entire absence of all of those
+orbs from their skies. Consequently there would be no year such as we
+are familiar with; no regular sequence of seasons similar to what is
+experienced on Earth; no alternation of day and night, for there would
+be '_no night there_,' though, in the absence of the primary orb, the
+light emitted by distant suns, whilst sufficient to banish night, and
+beyond comparison brighter than the Moon when at full, would, in the
+diminution of its intensity from that of noonday, be as grateful a
+change as that of from day to night which occurs on our globe.
+
+Should those suns be differently coloured, each emitting its own
+peculiar shade of light as it appears above the horizon, the varied
+aspects of the perpetual day enjoyed by the inhabitants of those
+circling worlds present to the imagination harmonies of light and shade
+over which it is pleasant to linger.
+
+TEMPORARY, PERIODICAL, AND VARIABLE STARS.--It may seem remarkable that
+among so many thousands of stars which spangle the firmament, there
+should occur no very perceptible change or variation in their aspect
+and brilliancy. From age to age they present the same appearance, shine
+with the same undiminished splendour, and rise and set with the same
+regularity. So that from time immemorial the stars have been regarded by
+mankind as the embodiment of all that is eternal and unchangeable. Yet,
+the serenity of the celestial regions does not always remain
+undisturbed--at occasional times a 'Nova,' or new star, blazes forth
+unexpectedly in the heavens, and perplexes astronomers; and, after
+shining with a varying degree of brilliancy for a few weeks or months,
+gradually diminishes in size and brightness and eventually becomes lost
+to sight.
+
+A record has been kept of about twenty temporary stars that have been
+observed at various periods since the time that reliable data of those
+objects have been published. Pliny mentions the appearance of a new star
+in the time of Hipparchus (134 B.C.); it was seen in the constellation
+of the Scorpion, and it is said that it was the apparition of this star
+which induced the celebrated astronomer to construct what is known as
+the earliest star catalogue. A new star is said to have become visible
+when the Emperor Honorius ruled, and another during the reign of the
+Emperor Otho, about 945 A.D. In May 1012 a new star appeared in Aries,
+and in July 1203 another was observed in Scorpio, which resembled
+Saturn. The most remarkable star of this kind was one observed by Tycho
+Brahe, which appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia. He first
+perceived it on November 11, 1572. In lustre it equalled Jupiter, and
+when at its brightest rivalled Venus; it was visible at noonday, and at
+night its light could be perceived through strata of cloud which
+rendered all other stars invisible. The star maintained its brilliancy
+for three weeks, when it became of a yellowish colour and perceptibly
+decreased in size; it afterwards assumed a ruddy hue resembling
+Aldebaran, and, diminishing gradually in magnitude and brightness,
+ceased to be visible in March 1574. It twinkled more than the other
+stars, and during the time it could be perceived its position remained
+unchanged. In 1604 a conspicuous new star burst forth in Ophiuchus. It
+surpassed in brilliancy stars of the first magnitude, and outshone the
+planet Jupiter, which was in its proximity. Kepler observed this star,
+and described it as 'sparkling like a diamond with prismatic tints.' It
+soon began to decline after its appearance; in March 1605 it had shrunk
+to the dimensions of a third-magnitude star, and in a year later it
+became entirely lost to view. Other stars of the same class, though of a
+less conspicuous character, have been observed at occasional times.
+Anthelme, a Carthusian monk, discovered one near Beta Cygni in 1670;
+another appeared in Ophiuchus in 1848; one in Scorpio in 1860; one in
+Corona Borealis in 1866; in Cygnus in 1876; in Andromeda in 1885; and in
+Auriga in 1892.
+
+Various theories have been advanced in order to account for the sudden
+outbursts of those stars, the light from which has probably occupied
+not much less than one hundred years in its passage hither. It has been
+suggested that the collision of two suns, or of two great masses of
+matter, would create such phenomena; but, apart from the improbability
+of such a catastrophe occurring among the celestial orbs, the rapid
+subsidence in the luminosity of the observed objects would indicate that
+the outburst was produced by causes of a more rapidly transitory nature
+than what would result from the collision of two condensed masses of
+matter. A collision occurring between two swarms of meteors has been
+suggested as one way of accounting for the sudden appearance of those
+stars; but another, and more plausible, explanation is that they are
+produced by a great eruption of glowing gas from the interior of a sun,
+causing an enormous increase in its luminosity, which subsides after a
+time, and is succeeded by a normal condition of things. It has been
+observed that all those temporary stars, with the exception of two, have
+appeared in the region of the Milky Way. In this luminous zone the
+condensation of small gaseous stars and nebulae is more pronounced than
+in any other part of the heavens, and this would seem to indicate that
+there may be cosmical changes taking place among them which need not be
+associated with the occurrence of catastrophes resulting in the
+conflagration of worlds, and that Nature, in accomplishing her purposes,
+does not overstep the uniform working of her laws, upon which depend the
+stability and existence of the universe.
+
+PERIODICAL AND VARIABLE STARS are distinguished from other similar
+objects by the fluctuations which occur in the quantity of light emitted
+by them. The difference in the luminosity of some stars is at times so
+marked that, in a few weeks or months, they decline from the first or
+second magnitudes to invisibility, and, after the expiration of a
+certain period, they again gradually regain their pristine condition.
+When these changes take place with regular recurrence, they are called
+'periodical;' when they occur in a variable and uncertain manner, they
+are called 'irregular.' About 300 stars are known as variable, but the
+majority of them are telescopic objects. Their periodical changes of
+brilliancy present every degree of variety; in some stars they are
+scarcely perceptible and occur at long intervals; in others, changes of
+brightness occur in a few hours or days, by which the light emitted is
+intensified many hundreds of times.
+
+Some stars accomplish their cycle of change in a few days, many in a few
+weeks or months, and there are others which do not complete their
+periods until the expiration of a number of years.
+
+One of the most remarkable of variable stars is called Mira 'the
+wonderful,' in the constellation Cetus. When at its maximum brilliancy
+it shines for two or three weeks as a star of the second magnitude. It
+then begins to gradually decline, and at the end of three months becomes
+invisible. It remains invisible for five months, and then reappears, and
+during the ensuing three months it regains by degrees its former
+brilliancy. Mira completes a cycle of its changes in 334 days, and,
+during that time, oscillates between a star of the second and tenth
+magnitude. The variability of Mira Ceti was first observed by David
+Fabricius in the sixteenth century.
+
+Another remarkable star is Eta Argus, which is surrounded by the great
+nebula in the constellation Argo Navis. It is invisible to the naked
+eye, but in the telescope it has a reddish appearance, and is slightly
+brighter than the stars in its vicinity. It was first observed by Halley
+in 1677, and it was then of the fourth magnitude. In 1751 it had risen
+to the second magnitude, and maintained its position as a star of this
+class until 1837, when, on December 16 of that year, its brilliancy
+suddenly increased, and it equalled in a short time Alpha Centauri. It
+reached its maximum in 1843, and then it was surpassed only by Sirius.
+It maintained its brilliancy for about ten years. In 1858, it declined
+to the second magnitude, in 1859 to the third, and, gradually
+diminishing, it became invisible to the naked eye in 1868. It is now of
+the seventh magnitude, and is again increasing, and may soon resume its
+position among the other stars. It is believed to have a period of
+seventy years, and in that time its light ebbs and flows between the
+seventh and first magnitudes.
+
+The most interesting variable star in the heavens is Algol (the demon),
+in the constellation Perseus. Its light fluctuations can be observed
+without the aid of a telescope, and it completes a cycle of its changes
+in two or three days. For about two days and thirteen hours it is
+conspicuously visible as a star of the second magnitude; it then begins
+to decline, and in about four hours sinks to the dimensions of a
+fourth-magnitude star; it remains in this condition for twenty minutes,
+and then increases gradually until, at the expiration of four hours, it
+regains its former brilliancy, which it sustains for two days and
+thirteen hours, when it again goes through the same cycle of changes in
+a precisely similar manner to what has been described. Astrologers have
+ascribed many evil influences to the demon star, which adorned the head
+of Medusa; nor did it escape the observation of ancient astronomers that
+this malevolent orb is--as a modern writer amusingly remarks--slowly
+winking at us from out the depths of space.
+
+Variable stars are found in greater numbers in some parts of the heavens
+than in others. Those of a white colour, and with shorter and more
+regular periods, are most numerous in the region of the Milky Way; those
+that are small, with long periods and of a reddish hue, are more widely
+removed from that zone. Stars of this class are all very remote, and no
+attempt has as yet been made to ascertain the parallax of Algol.
+
+Several theories have been suggested in order to account for the
+periodical brilliancy of those stars. It has been suggested that the
+stars have opaque non-luminous patches on their surfaces, and that
+during axial rotation their light ebbs and flows according as the dark
+or bright portions are turned towards us. This theory is highly
+improbable. Another and more plausible reason, especially with regard to
+short period variables, is, that around those stars there revolve opaque
+bodies or satellites which at times intercept a portion of their light
+by producing a partial eclipse of their discs, similar to that caused by
+the dark body of the Moon when passing between the Sun and the Earth.
+
+It is now known that in the case of variables of the Algol type, the
+periodical fluctuations of their light arises from this cause, and that
+round Algol there is a dark world or satellite travelling, which
+completes a revolution of its orbit in about sixty-nine hours, and that,
+during each circuit, it intercepts one half of the light of its primary
+by partially eclipsing the orb, and thereby creating a diminution in its
+apparent magnitude which becomes perceptible at recurring intervals.
+
+STAR GROUPS.--These are plentifully scattered over the heavens and, by
+their conspicuous brilliancy, add to the grandeur and magnificence of
+the midnight sky. The Hyades in Taurus, of which Aldebaran is the chief,
+forming the eye of the Bull, attract attention.
+
+The stars in Coma Bernices form a rich group; the sickle in Leo, the
+seven stars in Ursa Major, and those in Cassiopeia and Aquila are
+familiarly known to all observers. Besides these, there are many other
+groups and aggregations of stars which adorn the celestial vault and
+enhance the beauty of the heavens.
+
+STAR CLUSTERS.--On observing the heavens on a clear, dark night, there
+can be seen in different parts of the sky closely aggregated groups of
+stars called clusters. In some instances the component stars are so near
+together that the naked eye is unable to discern the individual members
+of the cluster. They then assume an indistinct, hazy, cloudlike
+appearance. Upwards of 500 clusters are known to astronomers, the
+majority of which are very remote. Many of them contain thousands of
+stars compressed into a very small space, and others are so distant that
+the largest telescopes are incapable of resolving their nebulous
+appearance into separate stars.
+
+Star clusters have been arranged into two classes, 'irregular' and
+'globular;' but no sharp line of demarcation exists between them, though
+each have their distinctive peculiarities. Irregular clusters consist of
+aggregations of stars brought promiscuously together, and presenting an
+appearance devoid of any structural arrangement. They are of different
+shapes and sizes, possess no distinct outline, and are not condensed
+towards their centre, like those that are globular. On examination, they
+present an intricate reticulated appearance; streams and branches of
+stars extend outwards from the parent cluster, sometimes in rows and
+sinuous lines, and, in other instances, diverging from a common centre,
+forming sprays. Sometimes the stars are seen to follow each other on the
+same curve which terminates in loops and arches of symmetrical
+proportions.
+
+There are three conspicuous clusters in the northern sky that are
+visible to the naked eye--viz. the Pleiades in Taurus, the Great Cluster
+in the sword-handle of Perseus, and Praesepe in Cancer, commonly called
+the Beehive.
+
+The cluster which from time immemorial has had bestowed upon it the
+chief attention of mankind are the beautiful Pleiades or Seven Sisters,
+and intertwined among its stars are the legendary and mythological
+beliefs of ancient nations and untutored tribes inhabiting the different
+regions of the globe. When viewed with a telescope of moderate size the
+cluster appears as a scattered group, and numerous stars become visible
+that are imperceptible to ordinary vision.
+
+In the sword-handle of Perseus there is a cluster which, to the naked
+eye, appears as a small patch of luminous cloud. This inconspicuous
+object when observed with an instrument of moderate power is resolved
+into a magnificent assemblage of stars, and presents a spectacle which
+creates in the mind of the beholder mingled feelings of admiration and
+amazement. No telescope has yet penetrated its utmost depths, or
+revealed all the glories of this shining region, crowded with glittering
+points of light comparable in number to the pebbles strewn on the shore
+of a troubled sea.
+
+The cluster Praesepe in Cancer is visible on a clear night to the
+unaided eye as a small nebula. This object attracted the attention of
+Galileo, to which he applied his newly invented telescope, and was
+delighted to find that his glass was capable of resolving it into a
+group of stars thirty-six in number, and all of comparatively large
+magnitude. The disappearance of Praesepe in consequence of the
+condensation of vapour in the atmosphere was regarded by the ancients as
+a sure indication of approaching rain. In the same constellation, near
+the Crab's southern claw, there is another rich cluster, which consists
+of 200 stars of the ninth and tenth magnitudes.
+
+In Sobieski's Shield there is a magnificent fan-shaped cluster of minute
+stars with a prominent one in its centre; and in the constellation of
+the Southern Cross there is a cluster which, on account of the varied
+colours of its component stars, has been compared by Sir John Herschel
+to 'a piece of rich fancy jewellery;' eight of the principal stars being
+coloured red, green, and blue.
+
+GLOBULAR CLUSTERS.--These have been described by Herschel as 'the most
+magnificent objects that can be seen in the heavens.' They are all very
+remote, of a rounded form, and when viewed with a telescope present the
+appearance of 'a ball of stars.' In some clusters the constituent stars
+are distinguishable as minute points of light; in others, more remote,
+they are of a coarse granular texture, and in those still more distant
+they resemble a 'heap of golden sand.' Some clusters are situated at
+such a profound distance in space that it is impossible with the most
+powerful of telescopes to define their stellar structure; all that can
+be distinguished of these is a cloudy luminosity resembling in
+appearance an irresolvable nebula. Globular clusters usually present a
+radiated appearance. Rays, branches, and spiral-shaped streams of stars
+appear to flow from the circumference of some; and, in other instances,
+fantastic appendages of stars project outwards from the parent cluster.
+There doubtless exists much variety in the structural arrangement of
+these clusters, and an equal diversity in the magnitude and number of
+the stars which enter into their formation. The stars in some clusters
+may equal those of the first magnitude, and in others they may not
+exceed in dimensions the minor planets. In the telescope they vary in
+size from the eleventh to the fifteenth magnitude; the smaller stars
+occupy the centre of a cluster, whilst the larger ones are found near
+its circumference. Globular clusters are more condensed towards their
+centre than those of irregular shape, and some have a nucleated
+appearance. This apparent condensation is not altogether owing to the
+depth of star strata as viewed from the circumference of the cluster,
+but there appears to exist an attractive force (probably gravitational)
+which draws the stars towards its centre, and if this 'clustering power'
+were not opposed by some other counteracting force, those bodies would
+coalesce into one mass. It may be 'that a centrifugal impulse
+predominates by which full-grown orbs are driven from the nursery of
+suns in which they were reared to seek their separate fortunes and enter
+on an independent career elsewhere.'
+
+It is not known how the dynamical equilibrium of a star cluster is
+maintained; and on account of its extreme distance no motion is
+perceptible among its component stars. The laws by which those stellar
+aggregations are produced and governed are wrapped in obscurity, and the
+nature of the motions of their stars, whether towards concentration or
+diffusion, cannot at present be ascertained. If those globular clusters
+could be observed sufficiently near, they would most probably expand
+into vast systems of suns occupying immense regions of space.
+
+The largest and most magnificent globular cluster in the heavens is
+Omega Centauri, in the Southern Hemisphere. To the naked eye it
+resembles a round, indistinct, cometary object, about equal to a star of
+the fourth magnitude; but when observed with a powerful telescope it
+appears as a globe of considerable dimensions composed of innumerable
+stars of the thirteenth and fifteenth magnitudes, all exceedingly minute
+and gathered into small knots and groups. A remarkable cluster in
+Toucani is described by Sir John Herschel as 'most magnificent; very
+large; very bright, and very much compressed in the middle.' The
+interior mass consists of closely aggregated pale rose-coloured stars,
+surrounded by others of a pure white which embrace the remainder of the
+cluster. There is a fine globular cluster in Sagittarius between the
+Archer's head and the bow. It was observed by Hevelius in 1665. The
+central portion is very much compressed, and consists of excessively
+minute stars enclosed by others of larger size. In Aquarius there is a
+magnificent ball of stars of a beautiful spherical form, which Sir J.
+Herschel compared to a heap of fine sand. Numerous other clusters are
+profusely distributed over the heavens, occupying regions in the
+profound depths of space which can only be reached by the aid of most
+powerful instruments.
+
+The finest and most remarkable object of this class visible in the
+northern heavens is the Great Cluster which lies between Eta and Zeta
+Herculis. It was discovered by Halley in 1714, who writes: 'This is but
+a little patch, but it shows itself to the naked eye when the sky is
+serene and the moon absent.' When observed with a powerful telescope its
+magnificence at once becomes apparent to the beholder. 'Perhaps,' says
+Dr. Nichol, 'no one ever saw it for the first time through a telescope
+without uttering a shout of wonder.' At its circumference the stars are
+rather scattered, but towards the centre they appear so closely
+aggregated that their combined effulgence forms a perfect blaze of
+light. Sir William Herschel estimated that there are 14,000 stars in the
+cluster, each a magnificent world but unaccompanied by any planetary
+attendants.
+
+[Illustration: CLUSTER IN HERCULES]
+
+As a result of more recent investigations this number has been
+considerably reduced, and it is now generally believed that about 4,000
+stars enter into the formation of the cluster. As its distance from the
+Earth is unknown, it follows that there must be some uncertainty
+attached to any conclusions that may be arrived at with regard to this
+superb object. Miss Agnes Clerke estimates the number of the constituent
+stars at 4,000, and in support of her conclusion this talented lady
+writes as follows: 'The apparent diameter of this object, including most
+of the "scattered stars in streaky masses and lines" which form a sort
+of "glory" round it, is 8'; that of its truly spherical portion may be
+put at 5'. Now, a globe subtending an angle of 5' must have (because the
+sine of that angle is to radius nearly as to 1 : 687) a real diameter
+1/687 of its distance from the eye, which, if we assume to be such as
+would correspond to a parallax of 1/20 of a second, we find that the
+cluster, outliers apart, measures 558,000 millions of miles across.
+Light, in other words, occupies thirty-six days in traversing it, but
+sixty-five years in journeying thence hither. Its components may be
+regarded, on an average, as of the twelfth magnitude; for, although the
+divergent stars rank much higher in the scale of brightness, the central
+ones, there is reason to believe, are notably fainter. The sum total of
+their light, if concentrated into one stellar point, would at any rate
+very little (if at all) exceed that of a third-magnitude star. And one
+star of the third is equivalent to just four thousand stars of the
+twelfth magnitude. Hence we arrive at the conclusion that the stars in
+the Hercules Cluster number much more nearly four than fourteen
+thousand.'
+
+For what purpose do those thousands of clustering orbs shine? Who can
+tell? Night is unknown in the regions illumined by their brilliant
+radiance. This stupendous aggregation of suns testifies to the
+magnificence of the starry heavens, and to the omnipotence of the
+Creator.
+
+GALAXIES.--These consist of vast aggregations of stars which form
+separate 'island universes' floating in the depths of space; they are
+believed to equal in magnitude and magnificence the Milky Way--the
+galaxy to which our system belongs.
+
+NEBULAE.--We now reach the last, and what are believed to be the most
+distant of the known contents of the heavens. They are all exceedingly
+remote, devoid of any perceptible motion, faintly luminous, and, with
+the exception of two of their number, invisible to the naked eye. Halley
+was the first astronomer who paid any attention to those objects. In
+1716 he enumerated six of them, but of this number only two can, in a
+strict sense, be regarded as nebulae, the others since then have been
+resolved into magnificent star clusters. In 1784, Messier catalogued 103
+nebulae, and the Herschels--father and son--in their survey of the
+stellar regions, discovered 4,000 of those objects. There are now 8,000
+known nebulae in the heavens, but the majority of them are not of much
+interest to astronomers. Prior to the invention of the spectroscope it
+was believed that all nebulae were irresolvable star clusters, but the
+analysis of their light by this instrument indicated that their
+composition was not stellar but gaseous. Their spectra consist of a few
+bright lines revealing the presence of hydrogen, nitrogen, and other
+gaseous elements.
+
+Much that is mysterious and uncertain is associated with those objects
+which appear to lie far beyond the limits of our sidereal system. It is
+now generally believed that they exhibit the earliest stage in the
+formation of stars and planets--inchoate worlds in process of slow
+evolution, which will eventually condense into systems of suns, and
+planetary worlds.
+
+Nebulae present every variety of form. Some are annular, elliptic,
+circular, and spiral; others are fan-shaped, cylindrical, and irregular,
+with tufted appendages, rays, and filaments. A fancied resemblance to
+different animated creatures has been observed in some. In Taurus there
+is a nebula called the 'Crab' on account of its likeness to the
+crustacean; another is called the 'Owl Nebula' from its resemblance to
+the face of that bird. The Orion Nebula suggests the opened jaws of a
+fish or sea monster, hence called the Fish-Mouth Nebula. There is a
+Horse-Shoe Nebula, a Dumb-Bell Nebula, and many others of various shapes
+and forms. They are classified as follows: (1) Annular Nebulae, (2)
+Elliptic Nebulae, (3) Spiral Nebulae, (4) Planetary Nebulae, (5) Nebulous
+Stars, (6) Large Irregular Nebulae.
+
+ANNULAR NEBULAE.--These resemble in appearance an oval-shaped luminous
+ring; they are comparatively few in number, and not more than a dozen
+have been discovered in the whole heavens. The most remarkable object of
+this class is the Ring Nebula, which is situated between the stars Beta
+and Gamma Lyrae. It is visible in a moderate-sized telescope as a
+well-defined, flat, oval ring; its central part is not quite dark but is
+occupied by a filmy haze of luminous matter which is prolonged inwards
+from the margin of the ring. When examined with a high power the edges
+of the ring have a fringed appearance, and numerous glittering stellar
+points become visible both within and without its circumference. This
+nebulous ring, though a small object in the telescope, is of enormous
+magnitude, and if it were not more distant than 61 Cygni, one of the
+nearest of the fixed stars, its diameter would not be less than 20,000
+millions of miles, but it has been estimated by Herschel that it is 900
+times more remote than Sirius. How stupendous, then, must be its
+dimensions, and how bewildering to our conception is the profound
+immensity of space in which it is located! An annular nebula similar to
+that of Lyra, but on a smaller scale, is found in Cygnus, and within it
+there can be seen a conspicuous star. Another exists in Scorpio which
+contains two stars situated within the ring at diametrically opposite
+points to each other.
+
+ELLIPTICAL NEBULAE.--The most interesting object of this class is the
+Great Nebula in Andromeda, called 'the transcendentally beautiful queen
+of the nebulae'--an appellation which it scarcely merits. This object,
+which is plainly visible to the naked eye, is of an oval shape, of a
+milky white colour, and is situated near the most northern star of the
+three which form the girdle of Andromeda. It was known to the ancients,
+and Ali Sufi, a Persian astronomer who flourished in the tenth century,
+alludes to it; but it did not attract much attention until the
+seventeenth century. Simon Marius was the first to observe this object
+with a telescope. This he did on December 15, 1612; he describes it as
+shining with a pale white light resembling in appearance the flame of a
+candle when seen through a semi-transparent piece of horn. When examined
+with a high magnifying power it is seen to occupy a largely extended
+area measuring 4 deg. in length and 2-1/2 deg. in breadth. Its luminosity
+increases from the circumference to the centre, where there can be seen
+a small nucleus with an ill-defined boundary, which has the appearance
+of being granular, but its composition is not stellar. Two dark channels
+running almost parallel to each other and to the axis of the nebula have
+been observed by Bond; these, when prolonged, form into curves which
+terminate in two great rings. They are wide rifts which separate streams
+of nebulous matter, and are indicative that some formative processes may
+be going on within the nebula.
+
+Astronomers have been baffled in their attempts to discover the nature
+of the Andromeda Nebula. Though great telescopes have been able to
+render visible thousands of stars over and around it, yet the nebula
+itself is irresolvable and bears no trace of stellar formation;
+neither, according to Dr. Huggins, is its spectrum gaseous, a
+circumstance which deepens the mystery associated with this object. Its
+distance is unknown, and its dimensions cannot be ascertained.
+
+Other elliptical nebulae are found in different regions of the heavens.
+In Ursa Major there is an oval nebula resembling that of Andromeda, but
+on a much smaller scale. It possesses a nucleus, and on the photographic
+plate there can be detected the presence of spiral structure, indicating
+the existence of streams of nebulous matter. Adjacent to this nebula is
+another of the same class with a double nucleus, and associated with it
+is a nebulous star.
+
+SPIRAL NEBULAE.--The great reflector of Earl Rosse at Parsonstown was the
+successful means by which nebulae of this form were discovered. This
+powerful telescope was capable of defining with greater accuracy the
+structural formation of those objects than any other instrument in use.
+It was ascertained that spiral coils and convoluted whorls enter into
+the structure of most nebulae, indicating a similarity in the process of
+change which may be going on in these vast accumulations of cosmical
+matter. The most interesting specimen of a spiral nebula is situated in
+Canes Venatici. It consists of spiral coils emanating from a centre with
+a nucleus and surrounded by a narrow luminous ring. In appearance it
+resembles the coiled mainspring of a watch.
+
+PLANETARY NEBULAE.--These have been so named on account of the
+resemblance which they bear to the discs of planets. They are of uniform
+brightness, circular in shape, with sharply-defined edges, and are
+frequently of a bluish colour. They are more numerous than annular
+nebulae; three-fourths of their number are in the Southern Hemisphere,
+and they are situated in or very near the Milky Way. Those objects were
+first described by Sir William Herschel, who was rather perplexed as to
+what was their real nature and how he should classify them. He remarked
+that they could not be planets belonging to far-off suns, nor distant
+comets, nor distended stars. Consequently, he concluded rightly that
+they were nebulae. When observed with large telescopes, they lose their
+planetary aspect, and their sharpness of outline is less apparent; their
+discs become broken up into bright and dark portions, and in some,
+numerous minute stars have been observed, whilst others have
+well-defined nuclei.
+
+The most prominent nebula of this class is situated in the constellation
+Ursa Major, and is called the Owl Nebula, from its fancied resemblance
+to the face of that bird. Sir John Herschel describes it as 'a most
+extraordinary object, a large, uniform nebulous disc, quite round, very
+bright, not sharply defined, but yet very suddenly fading away to
+darkness.' When examined in 1848 with Earl Rosse's reflector, two bright
+stars were discovered in its interior; each was in the centre of a
+circular dark space surrounded by whorls of nebulous matter--hence the
+origin of its name. This nebula gives a bright line spectrum indicative
+of gaseous composition. It is believed to consist chiefly of hydrogen
+and other gases which form a globe of such stupendous magnitude that, if
+we surmise its distance from the earth to be sixty-five light years--an
+estimate much too low--'its diameter would exceed that of the orbit of
+Neptune upwards of 100 times.'[10] Within its compass the orbs of
+hundreds of solar systems as large as that of ours would be able to
+perform their revolutions, having spacious intervals existing between
+each system. Another interesting planetary nebula is in the
+constellation of the Dragon, near to the pole of the ecliptic; it is
+slightly oval, of a pale blue colour, and contains a star of the
+eleventh magnitude in its centre. It gives a gaseous spectrum. Attempts
+have been made to determine its parallax, but without success, and
+during the eighty years it has been under observation it has remained
+apparently motionless. Its light period, if estimated at 140 years,
+would indicate the existence of a globe with a diameter equal to
+forty-four diameters of the orbit of the planet Neptune.[11] A nebula of
+this class was discovered by Sir John Herschel in the Centaur. He
+described it as resembling Uranus, but larger; its colour was of a
+beautiful rich blue, and its light equalled that of a star of the
+seventh magnitude.
+
+NEBULOUS STARS.--These stars are each surrounded by a luminous haze
+several minutes of arc in diameter and of a circular form. Sir William
+Herschel, by his observation of those objects, arrived at the conclusion
+'that there exists in space a shining fluid of a nature totally unknown
+to us, and that the nebulosity about those stars was not of a starry
+nature.' Thirteen stars of this type have been enumerated by him and
+many others have since been discovered. The 'glow' which surrounds them
+has been observed in a few instances to have vanished without leaving
+any trace of nebulosity behind, but the causes which have brought about
+such a result are entirely unknown. The nature of those stars is
+involved in considerable obscurity, and one class of nebula would seem
+to merge into the other; nebulous stars with faint aureolae do not differ
+much from small nebulae interspersed with stellar points.
+
+LARGE IRREGULAR NEBULAE.--These are found in both hemispheres, and are
+remarkable on account of the varied appearances which they present, and
+the large extent of space which many of them occupy. In some, the
+nebulous matter of which they are composed can be seen like masses of
+tufted flocculi, sometimes piled up, and at other times promiscuously
+scattered, resembling in appearance the foam on the crested billows of a
+surging ocean rendered suddenly motionless, or cirro-cumuli floating in
+a tranquil sky. Islands of light with intervening dark channels,
+promontories projecting into gulfs of deep shade, sprays of luminous
+matter, convoluted filaments, whorls, wreaths, and spiral streams all
+enter into the structural formation of a great nebula.
+
+The Great Nebula in Argo, in the Southern Hemisphere, is one of the most
+remarkable objects of this class. It consists of bright irregular masses
+of luminous matter, streaks and branches, and occupies an area about
+equal to one square degree. At its eastern border is situated the
+variable star Eta Argus, which fluctuates between the first and seventh
+magnitudes in a period of about seventy years.
+
+A rich portion of the Galaxy lies in front of the nebula, which creates
+an effect as if it were studded over with stars. Sir John Herschel, in
+describing this nebula, writes as follows:--'The whole is situated in a
+very rich and brilliant part of the Milky Way, so thickly strewed with
+stars that, in the area occupied by the nebula, not less than 1,200 have
+been actually counted. Yet it is obvious that these have no connection
+whatever with the nebula, being, in fact, only a simple continuation
+over it of the general ground of the Galaxy. The conclusion can hardly
+be avoided that, in looking at it, we see through and beyond the Milky
+Way, far out into space, through a starless region, disconnecting it
+altogether from our system. It is not easy for language to convey a full
+impression of the beauty and sublimity of the spectacle which this
+nebula offers as it enters the field of view of a telescope, fixed in
+right ascension, by the diurnal motion, ushered in as it is by so
+glorious and innumerable a procession of stars, to which it forms a sort
+of climax, and in a part of the heavens otherwise full of interest.'
+Another large bright nebula (called 30 Doradus), also in the Southern
+Hemisphere, is composed of a series of loops with intricate windings
+forming a kind of open network against the background of the sky which
+it adorns. Sir John Herschel describes it as one of the most
+extraordinary objects in the heavens.
+
+The 'Crab' Nebula in Taurus, the 'Horse-Shoe' Nebula in Sobieski's
+Shield, and the 'Dumb-Bell' Nebula in Vulpecula are remarkable objects,
+but the assistance of a powerful telescope is required to bring out
+their distinctive features. The 'Crab' Nebula is partially resolvable
+into stars; the other two are believed to be gaseous.
+
+The largest and most remarkable of all the nebulae is that known as the
+Great Nebula in Orion, which was discovered and delineated by Huygens in
+the middle of the seventeenth century. It is perceptible to the naked
+eye, and when viewed with a glass of low power can be seen as a circular
+luminous haze surrounding the multiple star Theta Orionis--one of the
+stars in the Giant's Sword, and which is of itself a remarkable object.
+The most conspicuous part of the nebula bears a slight resemblance to
+the wing of a bird; it consists of flocculent masses of nebulous matter
+possessing a faint greenish tinge. Sir John Herschel compared it to a
+surface studded over with flocks of wool, or to the breaking up of a
+mackerel sky when the clouds of which it consists begin to assume a
+cirrous appearance. Its brightest portion is occupied by four
+conspicuous stars, which form a trapezium; around each there is a dark
+space free from nebulosity, a circumstance which would seem to indicate
+that the stars possess the power either of absorbing or of repelling the
+nebulous matter in their immediate vicinity. When observed with a
+powerful telescope, this nebula appears to be of vast dimensions, and,
+with its effluents, occupies an area of 4 deg. by 5-1/2 deg.. Irregular
+branching masses, streams, sprays, filaments, and curved spiral wreaths
+project outward from the parent mass, and become gradually lost in the
+surrounding space. This object remained for long a profound mystery; no
+telescope was capable of resolving it, nor was it known what this
+'unformed fiery mist, the chaotic material of future suns,' was, until
+the spectroscope revealed that it consists of a stupendous mass of
+incandescent gases--nitrogen, hydrogen, and other elementary substances,
+occupying a region of space believed by some to equal in extent the
+whole stellar system to which our Sun belongs.
+
+In the Southern Hemisphere, near to the pole of the equator, are two
+nebulous clouds of unequal size; the larger having an area about four
+times that of the smaller. They are known as the Magellanic Clouds,
+having been called after the navigator Magellan. Both are visible on a
+moonless night, but in bright moonlight the smaller disappears. Sir John
+Herschel, when at the Cape of Good Hope, examined those objects with his
+powerful telescope. He described them 'as consisting of swarms of stars,
+globular clusters, and nebulae of various kinds, some portions of them
+being quite irresolvable, and presenting the same milky appearance in
+the telescope that the nebulae themselves do to the naked eye.' These are
+believed to be other universes of stars sunk in the profound depths of
+space, our knowledge of their existence being dependent upon the faint
+nebulous light which left them, perhaps, several thousand years ago.
+
+[Illustration: GREAT NEBULA IN ORION]
+
+The description of the various kinds of nebulae leads us to consider what
+is called the Nebular Hypothesis. That the stars and solar system had at
+some time in the past a beginning, is as much a matter of certainty as
+that they will at some future time cease to be. Stars, like organic
+beings, have their birth, grow and arrive at maturity, then decline into
+a state of decrepitude, and finally die out. The duration of the life of
+a star, which may be reckoned by millions of years, depends upon the
+length of time during which it can maintain a temperature that renders
+it capable of emitting light. By the constant radiation of its heat into
+space, a condition of its constituent particles consequent upon the
+gradual contraction of its mass will ultimately occur, which will result
+in the exhaustion of its stores of thermal energy, the extinction of its
+light, and the reduction of what was once a brilliant orb to the
+condition of a mass of cold, opaque, inert matter. Inquiries as to the
+origin of the stars have led scientific men to conclude that they have
+been evolved from gaseous nebulae, and these have therefore been regarded
+as indicating the earliest stage in the formation of suns and planets.
+It is believed that the condensation of those attenuated masses of
+luminous matter into stars is capable of accounting for the generation
+and formation of all the shining orbs which enter into the structure of
+the starry heavens. In the evolution of a 'cosmos out of a chaos' we
+should expect to find stars presenting every stage of development--some
+in an embryo state and others more advanced; stars in full vigour and
+activity, stars that have passed the meridian of life, and stars in a
+condition of decay and on the verge of extinction. The observations of
+astronomers have led them to conclude that this condition of 'youth and
+age' exists among the stellar multitude; but the characteristics by
+which it is distinguished are neither very obvious nor reliable.
+
+The nebular theory is incapable of proof or demonstration; but modern
+discoveries tend to support the accuracy of its conclusions, and its
+principles have now been adopted by the majority of philosophic
+thinkers. The physical changes which are going on in the nebulae towards
+stellar evolution, or in fully formed stars towards dissolution, are so
+slow that the life of an individual, or even the historical records of
+the past, are incapable of furnishing any evidence of alteration in
+their condition. A period of time infinitely greater than what has
+elapsed since the birth of science must pass before anything can be
+known of the life history of the stars; indeed, the allotted span of
+man's existence on this planet may have terminated ere the evolution of
+a large nebula into a star cluster can have taken place.
+
+The nebular hypothesis was first propounded by Kant, who suggested that
+the sun and planets originated from a vast and diffused mass of cosmical
+matter. This theory was afterwards supported by Herschel and by the
+great French astronomer Laplace. As a result of close and continued
+observation of the different classes of nebulae, Herschel arrived at the
+conclusion that there exists in space a widely diffused 'shining fluid,'
+of a nature totally unknown to us, and that the nebulosity which he
+perceived to surround some stars was not of a starry nature. He further
+adds that this self-luminous matter 'seemed more fit to produce a star
+by its condensation than to depend on the star for its existence.' His
+sagacious conclusion with regard to the non-stellar nature of this
+nebulous matter was afterwards confirmed by the spectroscope; for at
+that time it was believed that even the faintest nebulae were
+irresolvable star clusters.
+
+In 1811 Herschel read a paper before the Royal Society in which he
+propounded his famous nebular hypothesis, and stated his reasons for
+believing that nebulae, by their gradual condensation, were transformed
+into stars. Having assumed that there exists a highly attenuated
+self-luminous substance diffused over vast regions of space, he
+endeavoured to show that by the law of attraction its particles would
+have a tendency to coalesce and form aggregations of nebulous matter,
+and that each of these, by the continued action of the same force, would
+gradually condense and ultimately acquire the consistence of a star. In
+the case of large irregular nebulae, numerous centres of attraction would
+originate in the mass, round which the nebulous particles of matter
+would arrange themselves; each nucleus, when condensation had been
+completed, would become a star, and the entire nebula would in this
+manner be transformed into a cluster of stars. Herschel believed that he
+could trace the different stages of nebular condensation which result in
+the evolution of a star. In large, faintly luminous nebulae the process
+of condensation had only commenced; in others that were smaller and
+brighter it was in a more advanced stage; in those that contained nuclei
+there was evidence of nascent stars; and, finally, there could be seen
+in some nebulae minute stellar points--new-born suns--interspersed among
+the haze of the transforming mass. By this theory Herschel was able to
+account for the phenomena associated with nebulous stars and the
+supposed changes which were observed in some nebulae. The nebular
+hypothesis as described by Herschel was not received with much favour,
+nor did it unsettle much the belief that all nebulae were vast stellar
+aggregations, and that their cloudy luminosity was a consequence of the
+inadequacy of telescopic power to resolve them into their component
+stars. Laplace, who was highly gifted as a geometrician, demonstrated
+how the solar system could have been evolved in accordance with
+dynamical principles from a slowly rotating and slowly contracting
+spheroidal nebula. The rotatory motion of a nebula, in obedience to a
+well-known mechanical law, increases as its density becomes greater, and
+this goes on until the tangential force at the equator overcomes the
+gravitational attraction at its centre. When this occurs, a revolving
+ring of nebulous matter is thrown off from the parent mass, and by this
+means equilibrium is restored between the two forces. As the rotatory
+velocity of the nebula continues to increase with its contraction,
+another ring is cast off, and in this manner a succession of revolving
+rings may be detached from the condensing spheroid; each newly-formed
+ring being nearer to the centre of the contracting mass and revolving in
+a shorter period than its predecessor. In the evolution of our system,
+the central mass of the nebula became the Sun and each of the revolving
+rings, by their condensation into one mass, formed a planet. In a
+similar manner, though on a diminished scale, the elementary planets,
+whilst in a nebulous state, parted with annular portions of their
+substance, out of which were evolved their systems of satellites. This
+theory furnished a plausible reason, which was capable of explaining how
+the orbs which constitute the solar system came into existence, and,
+though hypothetical, yet the manner in which it accounted for the
+orderly and symmetrical genesis of the system rendered it attractive and
+fascinating to scientific minds.
+
+The evidence in support of the nebulous origin of the solar system, if
+not conclusive, is of much weight and importance. The remarkable harmony
+with which the orbs of the system perform their motions is strongly
+indicative of their common origin and that their evolution occurred in
+subordination to the law of universal gravitation. The following are the
+characteristic points in favour of this theory:--
+
+1. All the planets revolve round the Sun in the same direction, and they
+all occupy nearly the same plane.
+
+2. Their satellites, with the exception of those of Uranus and Neptune,
+perform their revolutions in obedience to the same law.
+
+3. The rotation on their axes of the Sun, planets, and satellites is in
+the same direction as their orbital motion.
+
+Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter there revolves a remarkable group
+of small planets or planetoids. On account of the absence of a planet in
+this region, where, according to the laws of planetary distances, one
+ought to be found, the existence of those small bodies was suspected for
+some years prior to their discovery. The first was detected by Piazzi at
+Palermo in 1801; two others were discovered by Olbers in 1802 and 1807,
+and one by Harding in 1804. For some time it was believed that no more
+planetoids existed, but in 1845 a fifth was detected by Hencke, and from
+that year until now upwards of 300 of those small bodies have been
+discovered. Their magnitudes are of varied extent; the diameter of the
+largest is believed not to exceed 450 miles, and that of the smaller
+ones from twenty to thirty miles. It was surmised at one time, when only
+a few of those bodies were known, that they were the fragments of a
+planet which met with some terrible catastrophe; but since the discovery
+of so many other planetoids this theory cannot be maintained. According
+to the nebular hypothesis, these bodies are the consolidated portions of
+a nebulous ring which remained separate instead of having coalesced into
+one mass so as to form a planet. The uniform condensation of the ring
+would result in the formation of a multitude of small planets similar to
+what are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. In Saturn's ring
+we have a remarkable instance of annular consolidation in which the form
+of the ring has been preserved. The ring is believed to consist of
+myriads of minute bodies, each of which travels in an orbit of its own
+as it pursues its path round the planet; the close approximation and
+exceeding minuteness of those moving objects create the appearance of a
+solid continuous ring.
+
+Though, by means of the nebular hypothesis, it is impossible to explain
+all the phenomena associated with the motions of the orbs which enter
+into the structure of the solar system, yet this does not detract much
+from the merits of the theory, the fundamental principles of which are
+based upon the evolution of the solar system from a rotating nebula.
+The retrograde motions of the satellites of Uranus and Neptune, the
+velocity of the inner Martian moon, and other abnormalities in the
+system, have not as yet been explained, but doubtless there are reasons
+by which those peculiarities can be accounted for if they were only
+known, '_felix qui potuit cognoscere causas omnium rerum_.'
+
+No attempt has been made to supplant the nebular hypothesis by any other
+theory of cosmical evolution. Modern investigations and discoveries have
+strengthened its position, and at present it is the only means by which
+we can account for the existence of the visible material universe by
+which we are surrounded.
+
+In the days when Milton lived--three hundred years ago--the nocturnal
+heavens presented the same appearance to an observer as they do at the
+present time. The stars pursued their identical paths, and looked down
+upon the Earth with the same aspect of serene tranquillity, regardless
+of the vicissitudes which affect the inhabitants of this terrestrial
+sphere. The constellations that adorn the celestial vault duly appeared
+in their seasons,
+
+                    and in the ascending scale
+    Of Heaven the stars that usher evening rose.--iv. 354-55.
+
+The winter glories of Orion, the scintillating brilliancy of Sirius, and
+the spangled firmament, bearing no impress of change or variation which
+would lead one to conclude that the heavens were other than eternal,
+attracted then, as now, the admiration of beholders.
+
+Apart from the orbs which constitute the solar system, little was known
+of the sidereal heavens beyond the visual effect created by the
+nocturnal aspect of the star-lit sky. Though ancient philosophers
+hazarded an opinion that the stars were suns, they received but scant
+attention from early astronomers, by whom they were merely regarded as
+convenient fixed points which enabled them to determine with greater
+accuracy the positions of the planets and the paths traced out by them
+in the heavens. The Ptolemaists, who believed in the diurnal revolution
+of the spheres, assigned to the stars a very subordinate place in their
+cosmology, which was the one adopted by Milton; and although Copernicus
+relegated them to their proper location in space, yet he had no clear
+conception of a universe of stars. Tycho Brahe, who declined to accept
+the Copernican theory, disbelieved that the stars were suns, and
+Galileo, who discovered the stellar nature of the Milky Way, remarked
+that the stars were not illumined by the Sun's rays in the same manner
+that the planets are, but expressed no opinion with regard to their
+physical constitution. It is only within the past fifty years that proof
+has been obtained of the real nature of the stars. By the spectroscopic
+analysis of their light it has been ascertained that the elements of
+matter which enter into their composition exist in a condition similar
+to what is found in the Sun. The stars are therefore suns, many of them
+surpassing in magnitude and brilliancy the great luminary of our
+system.
+
+Though Milton makes frequent allusion to the magnificence of the starry
+heavens, we have no evidence that he regarded the stars as suns, nor
+does he refer to them as such in any part of his poem.[12] What
+impressed him most was their number and brilliancy, to which reference
+is made in the following passages:
+
+    About him all the Sanctities of Heaven
+    Stood thick as stars.--iii. 60-61.
+
+    And sowed with stars the Heavens thick as a field.--vii. 358.
+
+    Amongst innumerable stars, that shone
+    Stars distant, but nigh hand seemed other worlds.--iii. 564-65.
+
+                                            her reign
+    With thousand lesser lights dividual holds,
+    With thousand thousand stars, that then appeared
+    Spangling the hemisphere.--vii. 381-84.
+
+Milton describes the number of the fallen angels as
+
+                              an host
+    Innumerable as the stars of night.--v. 744-45,
+
+and the attention of Satan is directed by the archangel Uriel to the
+multitude of stars formed from the chaotic elements of matter:
+
+    Numberless as thou seest, and how they move;
+    Each had his place appointed, each his course;
+    The rest in circuit walls this universe.--iii. 719-21.
+
+
+
+Though Milton was doubtless familiar with the leading orbs of the
+firmament and knew their names, and the constellations in which they are
+situated, yet he makes no direct allusion to any of them in his poem.
+Neither Arcturus, which is mentioned in the Book of Job, nor Sirius,
+which attracted the attention of Homer, who compared the brightness of
+Achilles' armour to the dazzling brilliancy of the dog-star, finds a
+place in 'Paradise Lost.' And yet the superior magnitude and brilliancy
+of some stars when compared with those of others did not escape Milton's
+observation when, in describing the lofty eminence of Satan in heaven,
+prior to his fall, he represents him as
+
+                      brighter once amidst the host
+    Of angels than that star the stars among.--vii. 132-33.
+
+There is but one star to which Milton makes individual allusion, and,
+though not of any conspicuous brilliancy, yet it is one of much
+importance to astronomers--
+
+            the fleecy star that bears
+    Andromeda far off Atlantic seas
+    Beyond the horizon.--iii. 558-60.
+
+This is Alpha Arietis, the first point in the constellation of that
+name, which signifies the Ram, and from which the right ascensions of
+the stars are measured on the celestial sphere. In the time of
+Hipparchus the ecliptic intersected the celestial equator in Aries,
+which indicated the commencement of the astronomical year and the
+occurrence of the vernal equinox; but, owing to precession, this point
+is now 30 deg. westward of Aries and in the constellation Pisces. The star
+was called Hamal by the Arabs, signifying a sheep, and the animal is
+represented as looking backwards. Manilius writes:--
+
+    First Aries, glorious in his golden wool,
+    Looks back and wonders at the mighty Bull.
+
+Aries is associated with the legend of the Golden Fleece, in quest of
+which Jason and his valiant crew sailed in the ship 'Argo.' In the
+autumn, Andromeda is situated above Aries, and would seem to be borne by
+the latter, which accounts for Milton's description of the relative
+positions of those two constellations.
+
+Milton alludes to the starry sphere in several passages in his poem, and
+also mentions the starry pole above which he soared in imagination up to
+the Empyrean or Heaven of Heavens. His contemplation of the Galaxy must
+have impressed his mind with the magnitude and extent of the sidereal
+universe, for he was aware that this luminous zone which encircles the
+heavens consists of myriads of stars, so remote as to be incapable of
+definition by unaided vision. Milton's description of this vast
+assemblage of stars is worthy of its magnificence, and the purpose with
+which he poetically associates this glorified highway testifies to the
+sublimity of his thoughts and to the originality of his genius. In those
+parts of his poem in which he describes the glories of the celestial
+regions, and instances the beautiful phenomena associated with the
+individual orbs of the firmament, we are able to perceive with what
+exquisite delight he beheld them all.
+
+The invention of the telescope, and the important discoveries made by
+Kepler, Galileo, and Newton in the seventeenth century, were the means
+of effecting a rapid advance in the science of astronomy; but that
+branch of it known as sidereal astronomy was not then in existence. The
+star depths, owing to inadequate telescopic power, remained unexplored,
+and the secrets associated with those distant regions were inviolable,
+and lay beyond the reach of human knowledge. The physical constitution
+of the stars was unknown, nor was it ascertained with any degree of
+certainty that they were suns. The knowledge possessed by astronomers in
+those days was but meagre compared with what is now known of the
+sidereal heavens. Milton's astronomical knowledge, we find, was
+commensurate with what was known of the stellar universe, and this he
+has conspicuously displayed in his poem.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+DESCRIPTION OF CELESTIAL OBJECTS MENTIONED IN 'PARADISE LOST'
+
+
+THE SUN
+
+The surpassing splendour of the Sun, as compared with that of any of the
+other orbs of the firmament, is not more impressive than his stupendous
+magnitude, and the important functions which it is his prerogative to
+fulfil. Situated at the centre of our system--of which he may be
+regarded as 'both eye and soul'--the orb has a diameter approaching
+1,000,000 miles, and a mass 750 times greater than that of all the
+planets combined. These, by his attractive power, he retains in their
+several paths and orbits, and even far distant Neptune acknowledges his
+potent sway. With prodigal liberality he dispenses his vast stores of
+light and heat, which illumine and vivify the worlds circling around
+him, and upon the constant supply of which all animated beings depend
+for their existence. Deprived of the light of the Sun, this world would
+be enveloped in perpetual darkness, and we should all miserably perish.
+
+The Sun is distant from the Earth about 93,000,000 miles. His diameter
+is 867,000 miles, or nearly four times the extent of the radius of the
+Moon's orbit. The mass of the orb exceeds that of the Earth 330,000
+times, and in volume 1,305,000 times. The Sun is a sphere, and rotates
+on his axis from west to east in 25 days 8 hours. The velocity of a
+point at the solar equator is 4,407 miles an hour. The density of the
+Sun is only one-fourth that of the Earth, or, in other words, bulk for
+bulk, the Earth is four times heavier than the Sun. The force of gravity
+at the Sun's surface is twenty-seven times greater than it is on the
+Earth; it would therefore be impossible for beings constituted as we are
+to exist on the solar surface.
+
+The dazzling luminous envelope which indicates to the naked eye the
+boundary of the solar disc is called the PHOTOSPHERE. It is most
+brilliant at the centre of the Sun, and diminishes in brightness towards
+the circumference, where its luminosity is but one-fourth that of the
+central portion of the disc. The photosphere consists of gaseous vapours
+or clouds, of irregular form and size, separated by less brilliant
+interstices, and glowing white with the heat derived from the interior
+of the Sun. In the telescope the photosphere is not of uniform
+brilliancy, but presents a mottled or granular appearance, an effect
+created by the intermixture of spaces of unequal brightness. Small
+nodules of intense brilliance, resembling 'rice-grains,' but which,
+according to Nasmyth, are of a willow-leaf shape with pointed
+extremities, which form a network over portions of the photosphere, are
+sprinkled profusely over a more faintly luminous background. These
+'grains' consist of irregular rounded masses, having an area of several
+hundred miles. By the application of a high magnifying power they can be
+resolved into 'granules'--minute luminous dots which constitute
+one-fifth of the Sun's surface and emit three-fourths of the light. This
+granulation is not uniform over the surface of the photosphere; in some
+parts it is indistinct, and appears to be replaced by interlacing
+filamentous bands, which are most apparent in the penumbrae of the spots
+and around the spots themselves. The 'granules' are the tops of
+ascending masses of intensely luminous vapour; the comparatively dark
+'pores' consist of similar descending masses, which, having radiated
+their energy, are returning to be again heated underneath the surface of
+the photosphere.
+
+In certain regions of the photosphere several dark patches are usually
+visible, which are called 'sun-spots.' At occasional times they are
+almost entirely absent from the solar disc. It has been observed that
+they occupy a zone extending from 10 deg. to 35 deg. north and south of the
+solar equator, but are not found in the equatorial and polar regions of
+the Sun. A sun-spot is usually described as consisting of an irregular
+dark central portion, called the _umbra_; surrounding it is an edging or
+fringe less dark, consisting of filaments radiating inwards called the
+_penumbra_. Within the umbra there is sometimes seen a still darker
+spot, called the _nucleus_. The umbra is generally uniformly dark, but
+at times filmy luminous clouds have been observed floating over it. The
+nucleus is believed to be the orifice of a tubular depression in the
+floor of the umbra, prolonged downwards to an unknown depth. The
+penumbra is brightest at its inner edge, where the filaments present a
+marked contrast when compared with the dark cavity of the umbra which
+they surround and overhang. Sometimes lengthened processes unite with
+those of the opposite side and form bands and 'bridges' across the
+umbra. The darkest portion of the penumbra is its external edge, which
+stands out conspicuously against the adjoining bright surface of the
+Sun. One penumbra will sometimes enclose several umbrae whilst the nuclei
+may be entirely wanting.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.--A Sun-spot magnified.
+
+(_Janssen._)]
+
+Sun-spots usually appear in groups; large isolated spots are of rare
+occurrence, and are generally accompanied by several smaller ones of
+less perfect formation. The exact moment of the origin of a sun-spot
+cannot be ascertained, because it arises from an imperceptible point; it
+grows very rapidly, and often attains its full size in a day.
+
+Prior to its appearance there is an unusual disturbance of the solar
+surface over the site of the spot: luminous ridges, called _faculae_, and
+dark 'pores' become conspicuous, between which greyish patches appear,
+that seem to lie underneath a thin layer of the photosphere; this is
+rapidly dispelled and a fully formed spot comes into view. When a
+sun-spot has completed its period of existence, the photospheric matter
+overwhelms the penumbra, and rushes into the umbra, which it
+obliterates, causing the spot to disappear. The duration of sun-spots is
+subject to considerable variation; some last for weeks or months, and
+others for a few days or hours. A spot when once fully formed maintains
+its shape, which is usually rounded, until the period of its breaking
+up. Spots of long duration rotate with the Sun. Those which become
+visible at the edge of the Sun's limb have been observed to travel
+across his disc in less than a fortnight, disappearing at the margin of
+the opposite limb; afterwards, if sufficiently long-lived, they have
+reappeared in twelve or thirteen days on the surface of the orb where
+first observed. It was by observation of the spots that the period of
+the axial rotation of the Sun became known.
+
+Sun-spots vary very much in size--some are only a few hundred miles in
+width, whilst others have a diameter of 40,000 or 50,000 miles or
+upwards. In some instances the umbra alone has a breadth of 20,000 or
+30,000 miles--three times the extent of the diameter of the Earth. Spots
+of this size are visible to the naked eye when the Sun is partially
+obscured by fog, or when his brilliancy is diminished by vapours near
+the horizon. A year seldom passes without the occurrence of several of
+such spots being recorded. The largest sun-spot ever observed had a
+diameter of about 150,000 miles. A group of spots, including their
+penumbrae, will occupy an area of many millions of square miles.
+
+By long observation it has been ascertained that sun-spots increase and
+diminish in number with periodical regularity, and that a maximum
+sun-spot period occurs at the end of each eleven years. When spots are
+numerous on the Sun's disc there is great disturbance of the solar
+surface, accompanied by fierce rushes of intensely heated gases. This
+solar activity is known to influence terrestrial magnetism by causing a
+marked oscillation of the magnetic needle, and giving rise to so-called
+'magnetic storms,' accompanied by magnificent displays of aurorae, with
+variations in electrical earth-currents. It would therefore appear that
+sun-spots have a pronounced effect upon magnetic terrestrial phenomena,
+but how this is produced remains unknown.
+
+Besides sun-spots, there are seen on the solar disc bright flocculent
+streaks or ridges of luminous matter called _faculae_; they are found
+over the whole surface of the Sun, but are most numerous near the limb
+and in the immediate vicinity of the spots. They have been compared to
+immense waves--vast upheavals of photospheric matter, indicative of
+enormous pressure, and often extending in length for many thousands of
+miles.
+
+Nearly all observers have arrived at the conclusion that sun-spots are
+depressions or cavities in the photosphere, but considerable difference
+of opinion exists as to how they are formed. The most commonly accepted
+theory is that they are caused by the pressure of descending masses of
+vapour having a reduced temperature, which absorb the light and prevent
+it reaching us. Our knowledge of the Sun is insufficient to admit of any
+accurate conclusion on this point; though we are able to perceive that
+the surface of the orb is in a state of violent agitation and perpetual
+change, yet his great distance and intense luminosity prevent our
+capability of perceiving the ultimate minuter details which go to form
+the _texture_ of the solar surface. 'Bearing in mind that a second of
+arc on the Sun represents 455 miles, it follows that an object 150 miles
+in diameter is about the _minimum visible_ even as a mere mathematical
+point, and that anything that is sufficiently large to give the
+slightest impression of shape and extension of surface must have an
+area of at least a quarter of a million square miles; ordinarily
+speaking, we shall not gather much information about any object that
+covers less than a million.'[13] Since the British Islands have only an
+area of 120,700 square miles, it is evident that on the surface of the
+Sun there are many phenomena and physical changes occurring which escape
+our observation. Though the changes which occur in the spots and faculae
+appear to be slow when observed through the telescope, yet in reality
+they are not so. Tremendous storms and cyclones of intensely heated
+gases, which may be compared to the flames arising from a great furnace,
+sweep over different areas of the Sun with a velocity of hundreds of
+miles an hour. Vast ridges and crests of incandescent vapour are
+upheaved by the action of internal heat, which exceeds in intensity the
+temperature at which the most refractory of terrestrial substances can
+be volatilised; and downrushes of the same photospheric matter take
+place after it has parted with some of its stores of thermal energy.
+Sun-spots of considerable magnitude have been observed to grow rapidly
+and then disappear in a very short period of time; occasionally a spot
+is seen to divide into two or more portions, the fragments flying
+asunder with a velocity of not less than 1,000 miles an hour. It is by
+these upheavals and convulsions of the solar atmosphere that the light
+and heat are maintained which illumine and vivify the worlds that
+gravitate round the Sun.
+
+During total eclipses of the Sun, several phenomena become visible which
+have enabled astronomers to gain some further knowledge of the nature of
+the solar appendages. The most important of these is the CHROMOSPHERE,
+which consists of layers of incandescent gases that envelop the
+photosphere and completely surround the Sun. Its average depth is from
+5,000 to 6,000 miles, and when seen during an eclipse is of a beautiful
+rose colour, resembling a sheet of flame. As seen in profile at the edge
+of the Sun's disc, it presents an irregular serrated appearance, an
+effect created by the protuberance of luminous ridges and
+processes--masses of flame which arise from over its entire surface. The
+chromosphere consists chiefly of glowing hydrogen, and an element called
+_helium_, which has been recently discovered in a terrestrial substance
+called cleveite; there are also present the vapours of iron, calcium,
+cerium, titanium, barium, and magnesium. From the surface of this ocean
+of fire, jets and pointed spires of flaming hydrogen shoot up with
+amazing velocity, and attain an altitude of ten, twenty, fifty, and even
+one hundred thousand miles in a very short period of time. They are,
+however, of an evanescent nature, change rapidly in form and appearance,
+and often in the course of an hour or two die down so as not to be
+recognisable. These _prominences_, as they are called, have been divided
+into two classes. Some are in masses that float like clouds in the
+atmosphere, which they resemble in form and appearance; they are
+usually attached to the chromosphere by a single stem, or by slender
+columns; occasionally they are entirely free. These are called
+_quiescent_ prominences; they consist of clouds of hydrogen, and are of
+more lasting duration than the other variety, called _eruptive_ or
+metallic prominences. The latter are usually found in the vicinity of
+sun-spots, and, besides hydrogen, contain the vapours of various metals.
+They are of different forms, and present the appearance of filaments,
+spikes, and jets of liquid fire; others are pyramidal, convoluted, and
+parabolic.
+
+These outbursts, bending over like the jets from a fountain, and
+descending in graceful curves of flame, ascend from the surface of the
+chromosphere with a velocity often exceeding 100 miles in a second, and
+frequently reach an enormous height, but are of transient duration. They
+are closely connected with sun-spots, and are evidence of the tremendous
+forces that are in action on the surface of the Sun.
+
+The CORONA is an aureole of light which is seen to surround the Sun
+during a total eclipse. It is an impressive and beautiful phenomenon,
+and is only visible when the Sun is concealed behind the dark body of
+the Moon. Professor Young gives the following graphic description of the
+corona: 'From behind it [the Moon] stream out on all sides radiant
+filaments, beams, and sheets of pearly light, which reach to a distance
+sometimes of several degrees from the solar surface, forming an
+irregular stellate halo, with the black globe of the Moon in its
+apparent centre. The portion nearest the Sun is of dazzling brightness,
+but still less brilliant than the prominences, which blaze through it
+like carbuncles. Generally this inner corona has a pretty uniform
+height, forming a ring three or four minutes of arc in width, separated
+by a somewhat definite outline from the outer corona, which reaches to a
+much greater distance and is far more irregular in form. Usually there
+are several "rifts," as they have been called, like narrow beams of
+darkness, extending from the very edge of the Sun to the outer night,
+and much resembling the cloud shadows which radiate from the Sun before
+a thundershower. But the edges of these rifts are frequently curved,
+showing them to be something else than real shadows. Sometimes there are
+narrow bright streamers as long as the rifts, or longer. These are often
+inclined, or occasionally even nearly tangential to the solar surface,
+and frequently are curved. On the whole, the corona is usually less
+extensive and brilliant over the solar poles, and there is a
+recognisable tendency to accumulation above the middle latitudes, or
+spot zones; so that, speaking roughly, the corona shows a disposition to
+assume the form of a quadrilateral or four-rayed star, though in almost
+every individual case this form is greatly modified by abnormal
+streamers at some point or other.' The corona surrounds the Sun and its
+other envelopes to a depth of many thousands of miles. It consists of
+various elements which exist in a condition of extreme tenuity;
+hydrogen, helium, and a substance called coronium appear to predominate,
+whilst finely divided shining particles of matter and electrical
+discharges resembling those of an aurora assist in its illumination.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.--The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883.]
+
+We possess no knowledge of the physical structure of the interior of the
+Sun, nor have we any terrestrial analogy to guide us as to how matter
+would behave when subjected to such conditions of extreme temperature
+and pressure as exist in the interior of the orb. Yet we are justified
+in concluding that the Sun is mainly a gaseous sphere which is slowly
+contracting, and that the energy expended in this process is being
+transformed into heat so extreme as to render the orb a great fountain
+of light.
+
+Milton in his poem makes more frequent allusion to the Sun than to any
+of the other orbs of the firmament, and, in all his references to the
+great luminary, describes him in a manner worthy of his unrivalled
+splendour, and of his supreme importance in the system which he upholds
+and governs. After having alighted on Mount Niphates, Satan is described
+as looking
+
+    Sometimes towards Heaven and the full-blazing Sun,
+    Which now sat high in his meridian tower.--iv. 29-30.
+
+He then addresses him thus:--
+
+    O thou that with surpassing glory crowned,
+    Look'st from thy sole dominion like the god
+    Of this new World--at whose sight all the stars
+    Hide their diminished heads--to thee I call,
+    But with no friendly voice, and add thy name,
+    O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams,
+    That bring to my remembrance from what state
+    I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere.--iv. 32-39.
+
+On another occasion:--
+
+    The golden Sun in splendour likest Heaven
+    Allured his eye.--iii. 572-73.
+
+In describing the different periods of the day, Milton seldom fails to
+associate the Sun with these times, and rightly so, since they are
+brought about by the apparent diurnal journey of the orb across the
+heavens. Commencing with morning, he says:--
+
+                                    Meanwhile,
+    To re-salute the world with sacred light,
+    Leucothea waked, and with fresh dews embalmed
+    The Earth.--xi. 133-36.
+
+    Soon as they forth were come to open sight
+    Of day-spring, and the Sun--who, scarce up-risen,
+    With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean-brim,
+    Shot parallel to the Earth his dewy ray,
+    Discovering in wide landskip all the east
+    Of Paradise and Eden's happy plains.--v. 138-43
+
+                          or some renowned metropolis
+    With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned,
+    Which now the rising Sun gilds with his beams.--iii. 549-51.
+
+                      while now the mounted Sun
+    Shot down direct his fervid rays, to warm
+    Earth's inmost womb.--v. 300-302.
+
+                                  for scarce the Sun
+    Hath finished half his journey, and scarce begins
+    His other half in the great zone of Heaven.--v. 558-60.
+
+    To sit and taste, till this meridian heat
+    Be over, and the Sun more cool decline.--v. 369-70.
+
+    And the great Light of Day yet wants to run
+    Much of his race, though steep. Suspense in Heaven,
+    Held by thy voice, thy potent voice he hears,
+    And longer will delay, to hear thee tell
+    His generation, and the rising birth
+    Of Nature from the unapparent deep.--vii. 98-103.
+
+The declining day and approach of evening are described as follows:--
+
+    Meanwhile in utmost longitude, where Heaven
+    With Earth and Ocean meets, the setting Sun
+    Slowly descended, and with right aspect
+    Against the eastern gate of Paradise
+    Levelled his evening rays.--iv. 539-43.
+
+                            the Sun now fallen
+    Beneath the Azores; whether the Prime Orb,
+    Incredible how swift, had thither rolled
+    Diurnal, or this less volubil Earth,
+    By shorter flight to the east, had left him there
+    Arraying with reflected purple and gold
+    The clouds that on his western throne attend.--iv. 591-97.
+
+                                  the parting Sun
+    Beyond the Earth's green Cape and verdant Isles
+    Hesperian sets, my signal to depart.--viii. 630-32.
+
+    Now was the Sun in western cadence low
+    From noon, and gentle airs due at their hour
+    To fan the Earth now waked, and usher in
+    The evening cool.--x. 92-95.
+
+                                      for the Sun,
+    Declined, was hasting now with prone career
+    To the Ocean Isles, and in the ascending scale
+    Of Heaven the stars that usher evening rose.--iv. 352-55.
+
+In the combat between Michael and Satan, which ended in the overthrow of
+the rebel angels, Milton, in his description of their armour, says:--
+
+                  two broad suns their shields
+    Blazed opposite.--vi. 305-306,
+
+and in describing the faded splendour of the ruined Archangel, the poet
+compares him to the Sun when seen under conditions which temporarily
+deprive him of his dazzling brilliancy and glory:--
+
+                        as when the Sun new-risen
+    Looks through the horizontal misty air
+    Shorn of his beams, or, from behind the Moon
+    In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds
+    On half the nations, and with fear of change
+    Perplexes monarchs.--i. 594-99.
+
+This passage affords us an example of the sublimity of Milton's
+imagination and of his skill in adapting the grandest phenomena in
+Nature to the illustration of his subject.
+
+
+THE MOON
+
+The Moon is the Earth's satellite, and next to the Sun is the most
+important of the celestial orbs so far as its relations with our globe
+are concerned. Besides affording us light by night, the Moon is the
+principal cause of the ebb and flow of the tide--a phenomenon of much
+importance to navigators. The Moon is almost a perfect sphere, and is
+2,160 miles in diameter. The form of its orbit is that of an ellipse
+with the Earth in the lower focus. It revolves round its primary in 27
+days 7 hours, at a mean distance of 237,000 miles, and with a velocity
+of 2,273 miles an hour. Its equatorial velocity of rotation is 10 miles
+an hour. The density of the Moon is 3.57 that of water, or 0.63 that of
+the Earth; eighty globes, each of the weight of the Moon, would be
+required to counterbalance the weight of the Earth, and fifty globes of
+a similar size to equal it in dimensions. The orb rotates on its axis in
+the same period of time in which it accomplishes a revolution of its
+orbit; consequently the same illumined surface of the Moon is always
+directed towards the Earth. To the naked eye the Moon appears as large
+as the Sun, and it very rapidly changes its form and position in the
+sky. Its motions, which are of a very complex character, have been for
+many ages the subject of investigation by mathematicians and
+astronomers, but their difficulties may now be regarded as having been
+finally overcome.
+
+The phases of the Moon are always interesting and very beautiful. The
+orb is first seen in the west, after sunset, as a delicate slender
+crescent of pale light; each night it increases in size, whilst it
+travels eastward, until it attains the figure of a half moon; still
+growing larger as it pursues its course, it finally becomes a full
+resplendent globe, rising about the time that the Sun sets and situated
+directly opposite to him. Then, in a reverse manner, after full moon, it
+goes through the same phases, until, as a slender crescent, it becomes
+invisible in the solar rays; afterwards to re-appear in a few days, and,
+in its monthly round, to undergo the same cycle of changes. The phases
+of the Moon depend upon the changing position of the orb with regard to
+the Sun. The Moon shines by reflected light derived from the Sun, and as
+one half of its surface is always illumined and the other half totally
+dark, the crescent increases or diminishes when, by the Moon's change of
+position, we see more or less of the bright side. Visible at first as a
+slender crescent near the setting Sun, the angular distance from the orb
+and the width of the crescent increase daily, until, at the expiration
+of seven days, the Moon is distant one quarter of the circumference of
+the heavens from the Sun. The Moon is then a semi-circle, or in
+quadrature. At the end of other seven days, the distance of the Moon
+from the Sun is at its greatest--half the circumference of its orbit. It
+is then visible as a circular disc and we behold the orb as full moon.
+The waning Moon, as it gradually decreases, presents the same aspects
+reversed, and, finally, its slender crescent disappears in the Sun's
+rays. The convex edge of the crescent is always turned towards the Sun.
+The rising of the Moon in the east and its setting in the west is an
+effect due to the diurnal rotation of the Earth on her axis, but the orb
+can be perceived to have two motions besides: one from west to east,
+which carries it round the heavens in 29.53 days, and another from north
+to south. The west to east motion is steady and continuous, but, owing
+to the Sun's attractive force, the Moon is made to swerve from its path,
+giving rise to irregularities of its motion called PERTURBATIONS. The
+most important of these is the _annual equation_, discovered by Tycho
+Brahe--a yearly effect produced by the Sun's disturbing influence as the
+Earth approaches or recedes from him in her orbit; another irregularity,
+called the _evection_, is a change in the eccentricity of the lunar
+orbit, by which the mean longitude of the Moon is increased or
+diminished. _Elliptic inequality_, _parallactic inequality_, the
+_variation_, and _secular acceleration_, are other perturbations of the
+lunar motion, which depend directly or indirectly on the attractive
+influence of the Sun and the motion of the Earth in her orbit.
+
+As the plane of the Moon's orbit is inclined at an angle of rather more
+than 5 deg. to the ecliptic, it follows that the orb, in its journey round
+the Earth, intersects this great circle at two points called the
+'Nodes.' When crossing the ecliptic from south to north the Moon is in
+its ascending node, and when crossing from north to south in its
+descending node. In December the Moon reaches the most northern point of
+its course, and in June the southernmost. Consequently we have during
+the winter nights the greatest amount of moonlight, and in summer the
+least. In the evenings the moonlight is least in March and greatest in
+September, when we have what is called the Harvest Moon.
+
+The telescopic appearance of the Moon is very interesting and beautiful,
+especially if the orb is observed when waxing and waning. As no aqueous
+vapour or cloud obscures the lunar surface, all its details can be
+perceived with great clearness and distinctness. Indeed, the topography
+of the Moon is better known than that of the Earth, for the whole of its
+surface has been mapped and delineated with great accuracy and
+precision. The Moon is in no sense a duplicate of its primary, and no
+analogy exists between the Earth and her satellite. Evidence is wanting
+of the existence of an atmosphere surrounding the Moon; no clouds or
+exhalations can be perceived, and no water is believed to exist on the
+lunar surface. Consequently there are no oceans, seas, rivers, or lakes;
+no fertile plains or forest-clad mountains, such as are found upon the
+Earth. Indeed, all the conditions essential for the support and
+maintenance of organic life by which we are surrounded appear to be
+nonexistent on the Moon. Our satellite has no seasons; its axial
+rotation is so slow that one lunar day is equal in length to fourteen of
+our days; this period of sunshine is succeeded by a night of similar
+duration. The alternation of such lengthened days and nights subjects
+the lunar surface to great extremes of heat and cold.
+
+When viewed with a telescope, the surface of the Moon is perceived to
+consist of lofty mountain chains with rugged peaks, numerous extinct
+volcanoes called crater mountains, hills, clefts, chasms, valleys, and
+level plains--a region of desolation, presenting to our gaze the
+shattered and upturned fragments of the Moon's crust, convulsed by
+forces of a volcanic nature which have long since expended their
+energies and died out. The mountain ranges on the Moon resemble those of
+the Earth, but they have a more rugged outline, and their peaks are more
+precipitous, some of them rising to a height of 20,000 feet. They are
+called the Lunar Alps, Apennines, and Cordilleras, and embrace every
+variety of hill, cliff, mound, and ridge of comparatively low
+elevation. The plains are large level areas, which are situated on
+various parts of the lunar surface; they are of a darker hue than the
+mountainous regions by which they are surrounded, and were at one time
+believed to be seas. They are analogous to the prairies, steppes, and
+deserts of the Earth.
+
+_Valleys._--Some of these are of spacious dimensions; others are narrow,
+and contract into gorges and chasms. Clefts or rills are long cracks or
+fissures of considerable depth, which extend sometimes for hundreds of
+miles across the various strata of which the Moon's crust is composed.
+
+The characteristic features of the Moon's surface are the crater
+mountains: they are very numerous on certain portions of the lunar disc,
+and give the Moon the freckled appearance which it presents in the
+telescope, and which Galileo likened to the eyes in the feathers of a
+peacock's tail. They are believed to be of volcanic origin, and have
+been classified as follows: 'Walled plains, mountain rings, ring plains,
+crater plains, craters, craterlets, and crater cones.' Upwards of 13,000
+of these mountains have been enumerated, and 1,000 are known to have a
+diameter exceeding nine miles. Walled plains consist of circular areas
+which have a width varying from 150 miles to a few hundred yards. They
+are enclosed by rocky ramparts, whilst the centre is occupied by an
+elevated peak. The depth of these formations, which are often far below
+the level of the Moon's surface, ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 feet.
+Mountain rings, ring plains, and crater plains resemble those already
+described, but are on a smaller scale; the floors of the larger ones are
+frequently occupied by craters and craterlets. The latter exist in large
+numbers, and some portions of the Moon's surface appear honeycombed with
+them, the smaller craters resting on the sides of larger ones and
+occupying the bottoms of the more extensive areas. There is no kind of
+formation on the Earth's surface that can be compared with these crater
+mountains, which indicate that the Moon was at one time a fiery globe
+convulsed by internal forces which found an outlet in the numerous
+volcanoes scattered over her surface.
+
+The most remarkable of these volcanic mountains have been named after
+distinguished men. (1) Copernicus is one of the most imposing; its
+crater is 56 miles in diameter, and situated at its centre is a mountain
+with six peaks 2,400 feet in height. The ring by which it is surrounded
+rises 11,000 feet above the floor of the crater, and consists of
+terraces believed to have been created by the partial congelation and
+periodic subsidence of a lake of molten lava which occupied the enclosed
+area.
+
+(2) Tycho is one of the most magnificent and perfect of lunar volcanoes,
+and is also remarkable as being a centre from which, when the Moon is
+full, there radiates a number of bright streaks which extend across the
+lunar surface, over mountain and valley, through ring and crater, for
+many hundreds of miles. Their nature is unknown, and nothing resembling
+them is found on the Earth. Tycho has a diameter of 50 miles and a
+depth of 17,000 feet. The peak which rises from the floor of the crater
+attains a height of 6,000 feet, and the rampart consists of a series of
+terraces which give variety to the appearance of the inner wall. The
+surface of the Moon round Tycho is honeycombed with small volcanoes.
+
+(3) Clavius is one of the most extensive of the walled plains; it has a
+diameter of 142 miles and an area of 16,500 square miles. The rocky
+annulus which surrounds it is very lofty and precipitous, and at one
+point reaches a height of 17,300 feet. Upwards of 90 craters have been
+counted within this space, one of the peaks attaining to an elevation of
+24,000 feet above the level floor of the plain. It is believed that the
+lowest depths of this wild and precipitous region are never penetrated
+by sunlight, they are so overshadowed by towering crag and fell which
+intercept the solar rays; and, as there is no atmosphere to cause
+reflection, they are consequently enveloped in perpetual darkness.
+
+(4) Plato has a diameter of about 60 miles and an area of 2,700 square
+miles; its central peak rises to a height of 7,300 feet. It has an
+irregular rampart which is broken up into terraces averaging about 4,000
+feet high; three cones, each with an elevation of from 7,000 to 9,000
+feet, rest on its western border.
+
+(5) Theophilus is the deepest of the visible craters on the Moon. It has
+a diameter of 64 miles, and the inner edge of the ring rises from the
+level floor to a height ranging from 14,000 to 18,000 feet. A group of
+mountains occupies the centre of the area, the highest peak of which
+reaches an elevation of 5,200 feet. Cyrillus and Catharina, two adjacent
+craters, are each about 16,000 feet deep and connected by a wide valley.
+
+(6) Aristarchus is the brightest spot on the Moon, and appears almost
+dazzling in the telescope. The crater has a diameter of 42 miles, the
+centre of which is occupied by a steep mountain. The rampart on the
+western side rises to a height of 7,500 feet, on the east it becomes a
+plateau which connects it with a smaller crater called Herodotus. Bright
+streaks radiate from Aristarchus when there is full moon, and extend for
+a considerable distance over the surface of the orb.
+
+Though the face of the Moon has been carefully scanned for two centuries
+and a half, and selenographers have mapped and delineated her features
+with the utmost accuracy and precision, yet no perceptible change of a
+reliable character has been perceived to occur on any part of the orb.
+The surface of the hemisphere directed towards the Earth appears to be
+an alternation of desert plains, craggy wildernesses, and extinct
+volcanoes--a region of desolation unoccupied by any living thing, and
+'upon which the light of life has never dawned.' Owing to the absence of
+an atmosphere, there is neither diffuse daylight nor twilight on the
+Moon. Every portion of the lunar surface not exposed to the Sun's rays
+is shrouded in darkness, and black shadows can be observed fringing
+prominences of silvery whiteness. If the Moon were enveloped in an
+atmosphere similar to that which surrounds the Earth, the reflection and
+diffusion of light among the minute particles of watery vapour which
+permeate it would give rise to a gradual transition from light to
+darkness; the lunar surface would be visible when not illumined by the
+direct rays of the Sun, and before sunrise and after sunset, dawn and
+twilight would occur as upon the Earth. But upon the Moon there is no
+dawn, and the darkness of night envelops the orb until the appearance of
+the edge of the Sun's disc above the horizon, then his dazzling rays
+illumine the summits and loftiest peaks of the lunar mountains whilst
+yet their sides and bases are wrapped in deep gloom. Since the pace of
+the Sun across the lunar heavens is 28 times slower than it is with us,
+there is continuous sunshine on the Moon for 304 hours, and this long
+day--equal to about a fortnight of our time--is succeeded by a night of
+similar duration. As there is no atmosphere overhead to diffuse or
+reflect the light, the Sun shines in a pitch-black sky, and at lunar
+noonday the planets and constellations can be seen displaying a
+brilliancy of greater intensity than can be perceived on Earth during
+the darkest night. Every portion of the Moon's surface is bleak, bare,
+and untouched by any softening influences. No gentle gale ever sweeps
+down her valleys or disturbs the dead calm that hangs over this world;
+no cloud ever tempers the fierce glare of the Sun that pours down his
+unmitigated rays from a sky of inky blackness; no refreshing shower ever
+falls upon her arid mountains and plains; no sound ever breaks the
+profound stillness that reigns over this realm of solitude and
+desolation.
+
+[Illustration: A PORTION OF THE MOON'S SURFACE]
+
+As might be expected, Milton makes frequent allusion to the Moon in
+'Paradise Lost,' and does not fail to set forth the distinctive charms
+associated with the unrivalled queen of the firmament. The majority of
+poets would most likely regard a description of evening as incomplete
+without an allusion to the Moon. Milton has adhered to this sentiment,
+as may be perceived in the following lines:--
+
+                                    till the Moon,
+    Rising in clouded majesty, at length
+    Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light,
+    And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.--iv. 606-609.
+
+                                        now reigns
+    Full-orbed the Moon, and with more pleasing light,
+    Shadowy sets off the face of things.--v. 41-43.
+
+The association of the Moon with the nocturnal revels and dances of
+elves and fairies is felicitously expressed in the following passage:--
+
+                                or faery elves,
+    Whose midnight revels, by a forest side
+    Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
+    Or dreams he sees, while overhead the Moon
+    Sits arbitress, and nearer to the Earth
+    Wheels her pale course.--i. 781-86.
+
+In contrast with this, we have Milton's description of the Moon when
+affected by the demoniacal practices of the 'night-hag' who was believed
+to destroy infants for the sake of drinking their blood, and applying
+their mangled limbs to the purposes of incantation. The legend is of
+Scandinavian origin and the locality Lapland:--
+
+    Nor uglier follow the night-hag, when called
+    In secret, riding through the air she comes,
+    Lured with the smell of infant blood, to dance
+    With Lapland witches, while the labouring Moon
+    Eclipses at their charms.--ii. 662-66.
+
+In his description of the massive shield carried by Satan, the poet
+compares it with the full moon:--
+
+                                his ponderous shield
+    Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round,
+    Behind him cast. The broad circumference
+    Hung on his shoulders like the Moon.--i. 284-87.
+
+The phases displayed by the Moon in her monthly journey round the Earth,
+and which lend a variety of charm to the appearances presented by the
+orb, are poetically described by Milton in the following lines:--
+
+                      but there the neighbouring Moon
+    (So call that opposite fair star) her aid
+    Timely interposes, and her monthly round
+    Still ending, still renewing, through mid-Heaven
+    With borrowed light her countenance triform
+    Hence fills and empties, to enlighten the Earth,
+    And in her pale dominion checks the night.--iii. 726-32.
+
+It is interesting to observe how aptly Milton describes the subdued
+illumination of the Moon's reflected light, as compared with the
+brilliant radiance of the blazing Sun, and how the distinguishing glory
+peculiar to each orb is appropriately set forth in the various passages
+in which they are described; their contrasted splendour enhancing rather
+than detracting from the grandeur and beauty belonging to each.
+
+
+THE PLANET EARTH[14]
+
+No lovelier planet circles round the Sun than the planet Earth, with her
+oceans and continents, her mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, and
+plains; surrounded by heaven's azure, radiant with the sunlight of her
+day and adorned by night with countless sparkling points of gold. This
+beautiful world, the abode of MAN, is of paramount importance to us, and
+is the only part of the universe of which we have any direct knowledge.
+
+The Earth may be regarded as one of the Sun's numerous family, and is
+situated third in order from the refulgent orb, round which it revolves
+in an elliptical orbit at a mean distance of 92,800,000 miles. The Earth
+is nearest to the Sun at the end of December, and furthest away at the
+beginning of July; the difference between those distances is 3,250,000
+miles--the extent of the eccentricity of the planet's orbit. The figure
+of the Earth is that of an oblate spheroid; it is slightly flattened at
+the poles and bulges at the equator. Its polar or shortest diameter is
+7,899 miles, its equatorial diameter is 7,926 miles--greater than the
+other by 27 miles. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is
+24,899 miles, and the total area of its surface is 197,000,000 square
+miles. Its mean density is 5-1/2 times greater than that of water.
+
+The two principal motions performed by the Earth are: (1) Rotation on
+its axis; (2) its annual revolution round the Sun. The Earth always
+rotates in the same manner, and in the same direction, from west to
+east. As the axis of rotation corresponds with the shortest diameter of
+the planet, it affords strong evidence that the Earth assumed its
+present shape whilst rapidly rotating round its axis when in a fluid or
+plastic condition. This would accord with the nebular hypothesis. The
+ends of the Earth's axis are called the poles of the Earth; one is the
+north, the other the south pole. The north pole is directed towards a
+star in the Lesser Bear called the Pole Star. The south pole is directed
+to a corresponding opposite part of the heavens. The Earth's axis is
+inclined 63 deg. 33' to the plane of the ecliptic, and is always directed to
+the same point in the heavens. The Earth accomplishes a revolution on
+its axis in 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds mean solar time, which is the
+length of the sidereal day. This rate of rotation is invariable. At the
+equator, where the circumference of the globe exceeds 24,000 miles, the
+velocity of a point on its surface is upwards of 1,000 miles an hour,
+but, as the poles are approached, the tangential velocity diminishes,
+and at those points it is entirely absent. The Earth accomplishes a
+revolution of her orbit in 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes; in her journey
+round the Sun she travels a circuit of 580,000,000 miles at an average
+pace of 66,000 miles an hour. The Earth has other slight motions called
+_perturbations_, which are produced by the gravitational attraction of
+other members of the solar system. The most important of these is
+Precession of the Equinoxes, which is caused by the attraction of the
+Sun, Moon, and planets, on the protuberant equatorial region of the
+globe. This attraction has a tendency to turn the Earth's axis at right
+angles to her orbit, but it only results in the slow rotation of the
+pole of the equator round that of the ecliptic, which is occurring at
+the rate of 1 deg. in 70 years, and will require a period of 25,868 years to
+complete an entire revolution of the heavens.
+
+The spot on Earth round which is centred the chief interest in Milton's
+poem is Paradise, which was situated in the east of Eden, a district of
+Central Asia. It was here where God ordained that man should first
+dwell--a place created for his enjoyment and delight. Satan, after his
+soliloquy on Mount Niphates, directs his way to Paradise, and arrives
+first in Eden, where he beholds from a distance the Happy Garden--
+
+    So on he fares, and to the border comes
+    Of Eden, where delicious Paradise,
+    Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green,
+    As with a rural mound, the champain head
+    Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides
+    With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
+    Access denied; and overhead upgrew
+    Insuperable highth of loftiest shade,
+    Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm,
+    A sylvan scene, and, as the ranks ascend,
+    Shade above shade, a woody theatre
+    Of stateliest view. Yet higher than their tops
+    The verdurous wall of Paradise up-sprung;
+    Which to our general sire gave prospect large
+    Into his nether empire neighbouring round.
+    And higher than that wall, a circling row
+    Of goodliest trees, loaden with fairest fruit,
+    Blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue,
+    Appeared, with gay enamelled colours mixed;
+    On which the Sun more glad impressed his beams
+    Than in fair evening cloud, or humid bow,
+    When God hath showered the Earth: so lovely seemed
+    That landskip. And of pure now purer air
+    Meets his approach, and to the heart inspires
+    Vernal delight and joy, able to drive
+    All sadness but despair. Now gentle gales,
+    Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense
+    Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole
+    Those balmy spoils.--iv. 131-59.
+
+Satan, having gained admission to the Garden by overleaping the tangled
+thicket of shrubs and bushes which formed an impenetrable barrier and
+prevented any access to the enclosure within, he flew up on to the Tree
+of Life--
+
+    Beneath him, with new wonder, now he views,
+    To all delight of human sense exposed,
+    In narrow room Nature's whole wealth; yea, more!--
+    A Heaven on Earth: for blissful Paradise
+    Of God the garden was, by Him in the east
+    Of Eden planted, Eden stretched her line
+    From Auran eastward to the royal towers
+    Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings,
+    Or where the sons of Eden long before
+    Dwelt in Telassar. In this pleasant soil
+    His far more pleasant garden God ordained.
+    Out of the fertile ground he caused to grow
+    All trees of noblest kind for sight, smell, taste;
+    And all amid them stood the Tree of Life,
+    High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit
+    Of vegetable gold; and next to life,
+    Our death, the Tree of Knowledge, grew fast by--
+    Knowledge of good, bought dear by knowing ill.
+    Southward through Eden went a river large,
+    Nor changed his course, but through the shaggy hill
+    Passed underneath ingulfed; for God had thrown
+    That mountain, as his garden mould, high raised
+    Upon the rapid current, which, through veins
+    Of porous earth with kindly thirst up-drawn,
+    Rose a fresh fountain, and with many a rill
+    Watered the garden; thence united fell
+    Down the steep glade, and met the nether flood,
+    Which from his darksome passage now appears,
+    And now, divided into four main streams,
+    Runs diverse, wandering many a famous realm
+    And country whereof here needs no account;
+    But rather to tell how, if Art could tell
+    How, from that sapphire fount the crisped brooks,
+    Boiling on orient-pearl and sands of gold,
+    With mazy error under pendent shades
+    Ran nectar, visiting each plant, and fed
+    Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice Art
+    In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon
+    Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain,
+    Both where the morning Sun first warmly smote
+    The open field, and where the unpierced shade
+    Imbrowned the noontide bowers.--iv. 205-46.
+
+Milton's description of Paradise is not less remarkable in its way than
+the lurid scenes depicted by him in Pandemonium. The versatility of his
+poetic genius is nowhere more apparent than in the charming pastoral
+verse contained in this part of his poem. The poet has lavished the
+whole wealth of his luxuriant imagination in his description of Eden and
+blissful Paradise with its 'vernal airs' and 'gentle gales,' its verdant
+meads, and murmuring streams, 'rolling on orient-pearl and sands of
+gold;' its stately trees laden with blossom and fruit; its spicy groves
+and shady bowers, over which there breathed the eternal Spring.
+
+In Book IX. Satan expresses himself in an eloquent apostrophe to the
+primitive Earth, over which he previously wandered for seven days--
+
+    O Earth, how like to Heaven, if not preferred
+    More justly, seat worthier of gods, as built
+    With second thoughts, reforming what was old!
+    For what God, after better, worse would build?
+    Terrestrial Heaven, danced round by other Heavens,
+    That shine, yet bear their bright officious lamps,
+    Light above light, for thee alone, as seems,
+    In thee concentring all their precious beams
+    Of sacred influence! As God in Heaven
+    Is centre, yet extends to all, so thou
+    Centring receiv'st from all those orbs; in thee,
+    Not in themselves, all their known virtue appears,
+    Productive in herb, plant, and nobler birth
+    Of creatures animate with gradual life
+    Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in Man,
+    With what delight I could have walked thee round,
+    If I could joy in aught--sweet interchange
+    Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains,
+    Now land, now sea, and shores with forest crowned,
+    Rocks, dens, and caves.--ix. 99-118.
+
+Though it is impossible to regard the Earth as possessing the importance
+ascribed to it by the ancient Ptolemaists; nevertheless, our globe is a
+great and mighty world, and appears to be one of the most favourably
+situated of all the planets, being neither near the Sun nor yet very far
+distant from the orb; and although, when compared with the universe, it
+is no more than a leaf on a tree in the midst of a vast forest; still,
+it is not the least important among other circling worlds, and
+unfailingly fulfils the part allotted to it in the great scheme of
+creation.
+
+
+THE PLANET HESPERUS
+
+This is the beautiful morning and evening star, the peerless planet that
+ushers in the twilight and the dawn, the harbinger of day and unrivalled
+queen of the evening. Venus, called after the Roman goddess of Love, and
+also identified with the Greek Aphrodite of ideal beauty, is the name by
+which the planet is popularly known; but Milton does not so designate
+it, and the name 'Venus' is not found in 'Paradise Lost.' The ancients
+called it Lucifer and Phosphor when it shone as a morning star before
+sunrise, and Hesperus and Vesper when it became visible after sunset. It
+is the most lustrous of all the planets, and at times its brilliancy is
+so marked as to throw a distinct shadow at night.
+
+Venus is the second planet in order from the Sun. Its orbit lies between
+that of Mercury and the Earth, and in form approaches nearer to a circle
+than that of any of the other planets. It travels round the Sun in
+224.7 days, at a mean distance of 67,000,000 miles, and with an average
+velocity of 80,000 miles an hour. Its period of rotation is unknown. By
+the observation of dusky spots on its surface, it has been surmised that
+the planet completes a revolution on its axis in 23-1/4 hours; but other
+observers doubt this and are inclined to believe that it always presents
+the same face to the Sun. When at inferior conjunction Venus approaches
+nearer to the Earth than any other planet, its distance then being
+27,000,000 miles. Its greatest elongation varies from 45 deg. to 47 deg. 12'; it
+therefore can never be much more than three hours above the horizon
+before sunrise, or after sunset. Venus is a morning star when passing
+from inferior to superior conjunction, and during the other half of its
+synodical period it is an evening star. The planet attains its greatest
+brilliancy at an elongation 40 deg. west or east of the Sun--five weeks
+before and after inferior conjunction. It is at these periods, when at
+its greatest brilliancy, that it casts a shadow at night.
+
+Though so pleasing an object to the unaided eye, Venus, when observed
+with the telescope, is often a source of disappointment--this is on
+account of its dazzling brilliancy, which renders any accurate
+definition of its surface impossible. Sir John Herschel writes: 'The
+intense lustre of its illuminated part dazzles the sight, and
+exaggerates every imperfection of the telescope; yet we see clearly that
+its surface is not mottled over with permanent spots like the Moon; we
+notice in it neither mountains nor shadows, but a uniform brightness, in
+which sometimes we may indeed fancy, or perhaps more than fancy,
+brighter or obscurer portions, but can seldom or never rest fully
+satisfied of the fact.' It is believed that the surface of the planet is
+invisible on account of the existence of a cloud-laden atmosphere by
+which it is enveloped, and which may serve as a protection against the
+intense glare of the sunshine and heat poured down by the not
+far-distant Sun. Schroeter, a German astronomer, believed that he saw
+lofty mountains on the surface of the planet, but their existence has
+not been confirmed by any other observer. The Sun if viewed from Venus
+would have a diameter nearly half as large again as when seen from the
+Earth; it is therefore probable that the planet is subjected to a much
+higher temperature than what is experienced on our globe.
+
+The phases of Venus are similar to those exhibited by the Moon, and are
+caused by a change in position of the illumined hemisphere of the planet
+with regard to the Earth. At superior conjunction the whole enlightened
+disc of the planet is turned towards the Earth, but is invisible by
+being lost in the Sun's rays. Shortly before or after it arrives at this
+point, its form is gibbous, the illumined portion being less than a
+circle but greater than a semi-circle. At its greatest elongation west
+or east of the Sun the planet resembles the Moon in quadrature--a half
+moon--and between those points and inferior conjunction it is visible
+as a beautiful crescent. It becomes narrower and sharper as it
+approaches inferior conjunction, until it resembles a curved luminous
+thread prior to its disappearance at the conjunction. After having
+passed this point it reappears on the other side of the Sun as the
+morning star.
+
+It would be only natural to imagine that this peerless orb, the most
+beautiful and lustrous of the planets, upon which men have gazed with
+longing admiration, and designated the emblem of 'all beauty and all
+love,' should have impressed Milton's poetical imagination with its
+charming appearance, and stimulated the flow of his captivating muse. He
+addresses the orb as
+
+    Fairest of Stars, last in the train of night,
+    If better thou belong not to the dawn,
+    Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn
+    With thy bright circlet, praise Him in thy sphere
+    While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.--v. 166-70.
+
+In these lines the poet alludes to Venus as the morning star.
+
+In the other passages in his poem Milton associates the planet sometimes
+with the morning and at other times with the evening--
+
+    His countenance, as the Morning Star that guides
+    The starry flock.--v. 708-709.
+
+    Or if the Star of Evening and the Moon
+    Haste to thy audience, Night with her will bring
+    Silence, and Sleep listening to thee will watch.--vii. 104-106.
+
+    And hence the morning planet gilds her horns.--vii. 366.
+
+    The Sun was sunk and after him the Star
+    Of Hesperus, whose office is to bring
+    Twilight upon the Earth, short arbiter
+    Twixt day and night.--ix. 47-50.
+
+                      and bid haste the Evening Star
+    On his hill top to light the bridal lamp.--viii. 519-20.
+
+Milton knew of the phases of Venus and was aware that at certain times
+the planet was visible in the telescope as a beautiful crescent. The
+line in which he mentions her as gilding her horns is an allusion to
+this appearance of Venus.
+
+
+THE PLEIADES
+
+The beautiful cluster of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters has been regarded
+with hallowed veneration from time immemorial. The happy influences
+believed to be shed down upon the Earth by those stars and their close
+association with human destinies have rendered them objects of almost
+sacred interest among the different races of mankind. In every region of
+the globe and in every clime, among civilised nations and savage
+fetish-worshipping tribes, the same benign influences were ascribed to
+the stars which form this interesting group.
+
+In Greek mythology they were known as the seven daughters of Atlas and
+Pleione. Different versions are given of their fate. By some writers it
+is said they died from grief in consequence of the death of their
+sisters, the Hyades, or on account of the fate of their father, who,
+for treason, was condemned by Zeus to bear on his head and hands the
+vault of heaven, on the mountains of north-west Africa which bear his
+name. According to others they were the companions of Diana, and, in
+order to escape from Orion, by whom they were pursued, the gods
+translated them to the sky.
+
+All writers agree in saying that after their death or translation they
+were transformed into stars. Their names are Alcyone, Electra, Maia,
+Merope, Sterope, Taygeta, and Celaeno. The seventh Atlantid is said to
+be the 'lost Pleiad,' but it can be perceived without difficulty by a
+person possessing good eyesight. In the book of Job there is a beautiful
+allusion to the Pleiades (chap. xxxviii.) when God speaks out of the
+whirlwind and asks the patriarch to answer Him--
+
+    Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the
+        bands of Orion?
+    Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide
+        Arcturus with his sons?
+    Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion
+        thereof in the earth?
+
+Admiral Smyth says that this noble passage is more correctly rendered as
+follows:
+
+    Canst thou bind the delightful teemings of Cheemah?
+    Or the contractions of Chesil canst thou open?
+    Canst thou draw forth Mazzaroth in his season
+    Or Ayeesh and his sons canst thou guide?
+
+He writes: 'In this very early description of the cardinal
+constellations, _Cheemah_ denotes Taurus with the Pleiades; _Chesil_ is
+Scorpio; Mazzaroth is Sirius in "the chambers of the south;" and Ayeesh
+the Greater Bear, the Hebrew word signifying a _bier_, which was shaped
+by the four well-known bright stars, while the three forming the tail
+were considered as children attending a funeral.' The Greeks at an early
+period were attracted by this cluster of stars, and Hesiod alludes to
+them in his writings. One passage converted into rhyme reads as follows:
+
+    There is a time when forty days they lie,
+    And forty nights, conceal'd from human eye;
+    But in the course of the revolving year,
+    When the swain sharps the scythe, again appear.
+
+Their heliacal rising was considered a favourable time for setting out
+on a voyage, and their midnight culmination, which occurred shortly
+after the middle of November, was celebrated by some nations with
+festivals and public ceremonies. Considerable diversity of opinion
+existed among the ancients with regard to the number of stars which
+constitute this group. It was affirmed by some that only six were
+visible, whilst others maintained that seven could be seen. Ovid writes:
+
+    Quae septem dici, sex tamen esse solent.
+
+Homer and Attalus mention six; Hipparchus and Aratus seven. The legend
+with regard to the lost Pleiad would seem to indicate that, during a
+period in the past, the star possessed a superior brilliancy and was
+more distinctly visible than it is at the present time. This may have
+been so, for, should it belong to the class of variable stars, there
+would be a periodic ebb and flow of its light, by which its fluctuating
+brilliance could be explained. When looked at directly only six stars
+can be seen in the group, but should the eye be turned sideways more
+than this number become visible. Several observers have counted as many
+as ten or twelve, and it is stated by Kepler that his tutor, Maestlin,
+was able to enumerate fourteen stars and mapped eleven in their relative
+positions. With telescopic aid the number is largely increased--Galileo
+observed thirty-six with his instrument and Hooke, in 1664, counted
+seventy-eight. Large modern telescopes bring into view several thousand
+stars in this region.
+
+The Pleiades are situated at a profound distance in space. Their light
+period is estimated at 250 years, indicating a distance of 1,500
+billions of miles. Our Sun if thus far removed would be reduced to a
+tenth-magnitude star. 'There can be little doubt,' says Miss Agnes
+Clerke, 'that the solar brilliancy is surpassed by sixty to seventy of
+the Pleiades. And it must be in some cases enormously surpassed; by
+Alcyone 1,000, by Electra 480, by Maia nearly 400 times. Sirius itself
+takes a subordinate rank when compared with the five most brilliant
+members of a group, the real magnificence of which we can thus in some
+degree apprehend.' This is the only star cluster which can be perceived
+to be moving in space, or which has an ascertained common proper motion.
+Its constituents form a magnificent system in which the stars bear a
+mutual relationship to each other, and perform intricate internal
+revolutions, whilst they in systemic union drift along through the
+depths of space. There are two allusions to the Pleiades in 'Paradise
+Lost.' In describing the path of the newly created Sun, Milton
+introduces them as indicative of the joyfulness associated with the
+birth of the Universe--
+
+    First in his east the glorious lamp was seen,
+    Regent of day, and all the horizon round
+    Invested with bright rays, jocund to run
+    His longitude through heaven's high road; the grey
+    Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danced,
+    Shedding sweet influence.--vii. 370-75.
+
+It was believed that the Earth was created in the spring; and towards
+the end of April this group rises a little before the Sun and precedes
+him in his course, 'shedding sweet influences.' The ancients believed
+that the good or evil influences of the stars were exercised not in the
+night but during the day, when their rays mingled with those of the Sun.
+The pernicious influence of the Dog-star is mentioned by Latin writers
+as being most pronounced during the dog-days, at the end of summer and
+commencement of autumn, the time of the heliacal rising of this star.
+
+The other allusion to the Pleiades is in Book X., line 673, where
+Milton, in describing the altered path of the Sun consequent upon the
+Fall, mentions how the orb travels through Taurus with the Seven
+Atlantic Sisters--the seven daughters of Atlas, the Pleiades, which are
+situated on the shoulder of the animal representing this zodiacal
+constellation.
+
+
+THE GALAXY
+
+The Galaxy or Milky Way is the great luminous zone encircling the
+heavens, which can be seen extending across the sky from horizon to
+horizon. Its diffused nebulous appearance caused the ancients much
+perplexity, and many quaint opinions were hazarded as to the nature of
+this celestial highway; but the mystery associated with it was not
+solved until Galileo directed his newly invented telescope to this
+lucent object, when, to his intense delight, he discovered that it
+consists of myriads of stars--millions upon millions of suns so distant
+as to be individually indistinguishable to ordinary vision, and so
+closely aggregated, that their blended light gives rise to the milky
+luminosity signified by its name. This stelliferous zone almost
+completely encircles the sphere, which it divides into two nearly equal
+parts, and is inclined at an angle of 63 deg. to the celestial equator. In
+Centaurus it divides into two portions, one indistinct and of
+interrupted continuity, the other bright and well defined; these, after
+remaining apart for 120 deg., reunite in Cygnus. The Milky Way is of
+irregular outline and varies in breadth from 5 deg. to 16 deg.; it intersects
+the equinoctial in the constellations Monoceros and Aquila, and
+approaches in Cassiopeia to within 27 deg. of the north pole of the heavens;
+an equal distance intervenes between it and the south pole. Its poles
+are in Coma Bernices and Cetus. The stars in the galactic tract are very
+unevenly distributed; in some of its richest regions as many stars as
+are visible to the naked eye on a clear night have been counted within
+the space of a square degree. In other parts they are much less
+numerous, and there have been observed besides, adjacent to the most
+luminous portions of the zone, dark intervals and winding channels
+almost entirely devoid of stars. An instance of this kind occurs in the
+constellation of the Southern Cross, where there exists in a rich
+stellar region a large oval-shaped dark vacuity, 8 deg. by 5 deg. in extent,
+that appears to be almost entirely denuded of stars. In looking at it,
+an impression is created that one is gazing into an empty void of space
+far beyond the Milky Way. This gulf of Cimmerian darkness was called by
+early navigators the Coal Sack. Similar dark spaces, though not of such
+magnitude, are seen in Ophiuchus, Scorpio, and Cygnus.
+
+The Galaxy, when viewed with a powerful telescope, is found to consist
+of congeries of stars, vast stellar aggregations, great luminous tracts
+resolvable into clouds of stars of overpowering magnificence, superb
+clusters of various orders, and convoluted nebulous streams wandering
+'with mazy error' among 'islands of light and lakes of darkness,'
+resolved by the telescope into banks of shining worlds. The concourses
+of stars which enter into the formation of this wonderful zone exhibit
+in a marvellous degree the amazing profusion in which these orbs exist
+in certain regions of space; yet those multitudes of stars perform their
+motions in harmonious unison and in orderly array, and by their mutual
+attraction sustain the dynamical equilibrium of this stupendous galactic
+ring, the diameter of which, according to one authority, is not
+traversed by light in less than 13,000 years.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.--A Portion of the Milky Way.]
+
+Sir William Herschel, to whom we are indebted for most of what we know
+of the Milky Way, commenced a series of observations in 1785 with the
+object of acquiring a knowledge of the structure of the sidereal
+heavens. In the accomplishment of this object, to which he devoted a
+considerable part of his life, he undertook a systematic survey of that
+portion of the Galaxy which is visible in the Northern Hemisphere. By a
+method called star-gauging, which consisted in the enumeration of the
+stars in each successive telescopic field as the instrument moved slowly
+over the region under observation, he found that the depth of the star
+strata could be approximately ascertained by counting the stars along
+the line of vision; those were most numerous where the visual line
+appeared of the greatest length and fewest in number where it was
+shortest. Herschel perceived the internal structure of the Galaxy to be
+exceedingly intricate and complex, and that it embraced within its
+confines an endless variety of systems, clusters, and groups, branches,
+sprays, arches, loops, and streaming filaments of stars, all of which
+combined to form this luminous zone. 'It is indeed,' says a well-known
+astronomer, 'only to the most careless glance, or when viewed through an
+atmosphere of imperfect transparency, that the Milky Way seems a
+continuous zone. Let the naked eye rest thoughtfully on any part of it,
+and, if circumstances be favourable, it will stand out rather as an
+accumulation of patches and streams of light of every conceivable
+variety of form and brightness, now side by side, now heaped on each
+other; again spanning across dark spaces, intertwining and forming a
+most curious and complex network; and at other times darting off into
+the neighbouring skies in branches of capricious length and shape which
+gradually thin away and disappear.' Sir John Herschel, who was occupied
+for four years at the Cape of Good Hope in exploring the celestial
+regions of the Southern Hemisphere, describes the coming on of the Milky
+Way as seen in his 20-foot reflector. He first remarks 'that all the
+stars visible to us, whether by unassisted vision or through the best
+telescopes, belong to and form part of a vast stratum or considerably
+flattened and unsymmetrical congeries of stars in which our system is
+deeply and eccentrically plunged; and, moreover, situated near a point
+where the stratum bifurcates or spreads itself out into two sheets.' 'As
+the main body of the Milky Way comes on the frequency and variety of
+those masses (nebulous) increases; here the Milky Way is composed of
+separate or slight or strongly connected clouds of semi-nebulous light,
+and, as the telescope moves, the appearance is that of clouds passing in
+a scud, as sailors call it.' The Milky Way is like sand, not strewed
+evenly as with a sieve, but as if flung down by handfuls (and both hands
+at once), leaving dark intervals, and all consisting of stars of the
+fourteenth, sixteenth, twentieth magnitudes down to nebulosity, in a
+most astonishing manner. After an interval of comparative poverty, the
+same phenomenon, and even more remarkable, I cannot say it is nebulous,
+it is all resolved, but the stars are inconceivably numerous and minute;
+there must be millions and all almost equally massed together. Yet they
+nowhere run to nuclei or clusters much brighter in the middle. Towards
+the end of the seventeenth hour (Right Ascension) the globular clusters
+begin to come in; they consist of stars of excessive minuteness, but
+yet not more so than the ground of the Milky Way, on which not only they
+appear projected, but of which it is very probable they form a part.
+'From the foregoing analysis of the telescopic aspect of the Milky Way
+in this interesting region, I think it can hardly be doubted that it
+consists of portions differing exceedingly in distance, but brought by
+the effect of projection into the same, or nearly the same, visual line;
+in particular, that at the anterior edge of what we have called the main
+stream, we see foreshortened a vast and illimitable area scattered over
+with discontinuous masses and aggregates of stars in the manner of the
+cumuli of a mackerel sky, rather than of a stratum of regular thickness
+and homogeneous formation.'
+
+The profound distance at which the stars of the Galaxy are situated in
+space precludes the possibility of our obtaining any definite knowledge
+of their magnitude and of the extent of the intervals by which they are
+separated from each other, nor can we learn anything of the details
+associated with the systems and combinations into which they enter. It
+is believed that the majority of the stars in the Milky Way equal or
+surpass the Sun in brilliancy and splendour. They are tenth to fifteenth
+magnitude stars; now, the Sun at the distance indicated by these
+magnitudes would in the telescope appear a much fainter object; he would
+not reach the fifteenth magnitude. Consequently, the galactic stars are
+regarded as his peers or superiors in magnitude and brilliancy. Those
+myriads of suns are all in motion--in nature a stationary body is
+unknown--and they are sufficiently far apart so as not to be unduly
+influenced by their mutual gravitational attraction; a distance perhaps
+equal to that which separates our Sun from the nearest fixed star may
+intervene between each of those orbs. In the deepest recesses of the
+Milky Way, Sir William Herschel was able to count 500 stars receding in
+regular order behind each other; between each there existed an interval
+of space, probably not less extensive than the interstellar spaces among
+the stars by which we are surrounded.
+
+The richest galactic regions in the Northern Hemisphere are found in
+Perseus, Cygnus, and Aquila. Night after night could be spent in
+sweeping the telescope over fields where the stars can be seen in
+amazing profusion. In the interval of a quarter of an hour, Sir William
+Herschel observed 116,000 stars pass before him in the telescope, and on
+another occasion he perceived 258,000 stars in the space of forty-one
+minutes. In the constellation of the Swan there is a region about 5 deg. in
+breadth which contains 331,000 stars. Photography reveals in a
+remarkable manner the amazing richness of this stelliferous zone; the
+impress of the stars on the sensitive plate of the camera, in some
+instances, resembles a shower of descending snowflakes.
+
+Though Sir William Herschel was able to fathom the Galaxy in most of its
+tracts, yet there were regions which his great telescopes were unable
+to penetrate entirely through. In Cepheus there is a spot where he
+observed the stars become 'gradually less till they escape the eye so
+that appearances here favour the idea of a succeeding more distant
+clustering part.' He perceived another in Scorpio 'where, through the
+hollows and deep recesses of its complicated structure, we behold what
+has all the appearance of a wide and indefinitely prolonged area strewed
+over with discontinuous masses and clouds of stars which the telescope
+at length refuses to analyse.' The Great Cluster in Perseus, which lies
+in the Milky Way, also baffled the penetrative capacity of Herschel's
+instruments. We cannot help quoting Professor Nichol's description of
+Herschel's observation of this remarkable object. He says: 'In the Milky
+Way, thronged all over with splendours, there is one portion not
+unnoticed by the general observer, the spot in the sword-hand of
+Perseus. That spot shows no stars to the naked eye; the milky light
+which glorifies it comes from regions to which unaided we cannot pierce.
+But to a telescope of considerable power the space appears lighted up
+with unnumbered orbs; and these pass on through the depths of the
+infinite, until, even to that penetrating glass, they escape all
+scrutiny, withdrawing into regions unvisited by its power. Shall we
+adventure into these deeper retirements? Then, assume an instrument of
+higher efficacy, and lo! the change is only repeated; those scarce
+observed before appear as large orbs, and, behind, a new series begins,
+shading gradually away, leading towards farther mysteries! The
+illustrious Herschel penetrated on one occasion into this spot, until he
+found himself among depths whose light could not have reached him in
+much less than 4,000 years; no marvel that he withdrew from the pursuit,
+conceiving that such abysses must be endless!' The Milky Way may be
+regarded as a universe by itself, and our Sun as one of its myriad
+stars.
+
+Milton was aware of the stellar constitution of the Milky Way, which was
+one of Galileo's discoveries. The poet gives a singularly accurate
+description of this luminous path, which he glorifies as the way by
+which the Deity returned up to the Heaven of Heavens after He finished
+His great work of creation--
+
+                                          So sung
+    The glorious train ascending: He through Heaven,
+    That opened wide her blazing portals, led
+    To God's eternal house direct the way--
+    A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,
+    And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear
+    Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way
+    Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest
+    Powdered with stars.--vii. 573-81.
+
+
+COMETS
+
+Records of the appearance of these remarkable objects have been handed
+down from earliest times; and when one of those mysterious visitors,
+travelling from out the depths of space, became visible in our skies, it
+was regarded with apprehension and dread as betokening the occurrence
+of calamities and direful events among the nations of the Earth.
+
+The word comet is derived from the Greek {kome}, signifying
+'hair,' to which the hazy, luminous appearance of those objects bears
+some resemblance. A comet consists of a bright central part called the
+_nucleus_; this is surrounded by layers of nebulous matter called the
+_coma_, and both combined form the _head_, from which a long appendage
+extends called the _tail_. The nucleus and tail are not essential parts
+of a comet, for many have been observed in which both have been wanting.
+The tail is frequently very conspicuous, and presents considerable
+diversity both as regards its appearance and length. In some comets it
+is entirely absent, and in others it has been observed to stretch over
+an arc of sixty or seventy degrees, indicating a length of 100 to 150
+million miles. Sometimes it is straight, and at other times it is curved
+at the extremity; it has been observed bifurcated into two branches;
+and, on rare occasions, comets have been seen with two or more tails.
+The tail of a comet is always directed away from the Sun; it increases
+in size as the comet approaches the orb, and diminishes as it recedes
+from him. This depends upon the degree of heat to which the comet is
+exposed, which has the effect of driving off or evaporating some of the
+matter composing the head. During the time the comet is travelling round
+the Sun there is a continuous emission of this highly attenuated matter,
+which is visible as the tail, but when the comet begins to recede from
+the orb and reaches cooler regions of space the tail diminishes in size
+as the temperature becomes reduced, and ultimately it disappears.
+
+The appearance of a comet in the sky is often sudden and unexpected, and
+one of those erratic wanderers may become visible at any time and in any
+part of the heavens. It was remarked by Kepler that there are as many
+comets in the sky as there are fishes in the ocean. This may or may not
+be true, for they only become visible when they approach the Sun, and
+the time during which they remain so does not usually exceed a few weeks
+or months. Ancient astronomers were much perplexed with the motions of
+comets, which appeared to be much more irregular than those of other
+celestial bodies and unconformed to any known laws. Tycho Brahe believed
+that comets moved in circular orbits, and Kepler imagined that they
+travelled in straight lines outwards from the Sun. Newton, however, was
+able to demonstrate that any conic section can be described about the
+Sun consistent with the law of gravitation, and that the orbits of
+comets correspond with three of the four sections into which a cone can
+be divided. Consequently, they obey the laws of planetary motion. Comets
+which move in ellipses of known eccentricity and return with periodical
+regularity may be regarded as belonging to the solar system. Twenty of
+these are known, and eleven of them have more than once passed their
+perihelion. Those most familiarly known complete their periods in years
+as follows:--Encke's 3.3; Swift's, 5.5; Winnecke's, 5.6; Tempel's, 6;
+Brorsen's, 5.5; Faye's, 7.4; Tuttle's, 13.8, and Halley's, 76. Comets
+with parabolic and hyperbolic orbits may be regarded as stray objects
+which visit our system once, and depart never to return again. Besides
+those already mentioned there are many comets with orbits of such marked
+eccentricity that their ellipses when near perihelion cannot be
+distinguished from parabolae. The great comets of 1780, 1811, 1843, 1858,
+1861, and 1882 traverse orbits approaching this form, and some of them
+require hundreds and thousands of years to accomplish a circuit of their
+paths.
+
+Numerous instances of the appearance of remarkable comets have been
+recorded in the annals of ancient nations. The earliest records of
+comets are by the Chinese, who were careful observers of celestial
+phenomena. A comet is said to have appeared at the time of the birth of
+Mithridates (134 B.C.), which had a disc as large as that of the Sun; a
+great comet also became visible in the heavens about the time of the
+death of Julius Caesar (44 B.C.), and another was seen in the reign of
+Justinian (531 A.D.). A remarkable comet was observed in 1106, and in
+1456, the year in which the Turks obtained possession of Constantinople
+and threatened to overrun Europe, a great comet appeared, which was
+regarded by Christendom with ominous forebodings. The celebrated
+astronomer Halley was the first to predict the return of a comet.
+Having become acquainted with Newton's investigations, which showed that
+the forms of the orbits of comets were either parabolae or extremely
+elongated ellipses, he subjected the next great comet, which appeared in
+1682, to a series of observations, calculated its orbit, and predicted
+that it would return to perihelion in seventy-five or seventy-six years.
+On referring to past records he discovered that a great comet appeared
+in 1607, which pursued a path similar to the one traced out for his
+comet, another was seen in 1531, and one in 1456. Halley perceived that
+the intervals between those dates corresponded to a period of about
+seventy-six years, the time which he calculated would be required for
+his comet to complete a revolution of its orbit. He therefore had no
+hesitation in predicting that the comet would appear again in 1758.
+Halley knew that he would not be alive to witness the event, and alludes
+to it in the following sentence: 'Wherefore if it should return
+according to our prediction about the year 1758, impartial posterity
+will not refuse to acknowledge that this was first discovered by an
+Englishman.' As the time approached when the comet should be drawing
+near to our system, much interest was excited among astronomers, who
+would have an opportunity afforded them of testing the accuracy of
+Halley's prediction. An eminent French mathematician named Clairaut
+computed anew, by a method rather different to that adopted by Halley,
+the retarding effect of the attraction of the planets upon the speed of
+the comet, and arrived at the conclusion that it would reach perihelion
+about the middle of April 1759; but, owing to unknown influences--Uranus
+and Neptune not having been discovered--it might be a month before or
+behind the calculated time. Clairaut made this announcement on November
+14, 1758. Astronomers were now intently on the look-out for the comet,
+and night after night the sky was swept by telescopes in search of the
+expected visitor, which for upwards of seventy years had been pursuing
+its solitary path invisible to mortal eyes. But the mental vision of the
+mathematician did not fail to follow this celestial object, which was
+now announced as being on the confines of our system. The comet was
+first observed on December 25, 1758, it soon became conspicuous in the
+heavens, and reached perihelion on March 12, 1759, a month before the
+time assigned to it by Clairaut but within the limit of error allowed
+for unknown influences. Halley's comet returned again in 1835, and may
+be expected about the year 1911. The periodic appearance of this comet
+has been traced back to the year 1305.
+
+The celebrated comet of 1680 was noted as having been the one which
+afforded Newton an opportunity of making observations which led to his
+discovery that comets describe orbits round the Sun in conformity with
+the different sections of a cone. The comet of 1811 was observed for
+many weeks in the northern heavens as a brilliant object with a
+beautiful fan-shaped tail; it completes a revolution of its orbit in
+about 3,000 years. The comet of 1843 was also a splendid object. It
+possessed a tail 200 million miles in length, and approached within
+32,000 miles of the Sun. The heat to which it was exposed was sufficient
+to volatilize the most infusible substances known to exist. Donati's
+comet of 1858 will be long remembered as one of the most impressive of
+celestial spectacles: its tail extended over an area of forty degrees,
+and enveloped the star Arcturus, which could be seen shining through it
+with undiminished brilliancy. Its period is estimated to be 2,100 years.
+A great comet appeared in 1861, through the tail of which the Earth
+passed without any perceptible effect having resulted. No remarkable
+comets have appeared during recent years. In 1880, 1881, and 1882,
+several were observed, and that of 1881 was the first successfully
+photographed.
+
+Comets consist of cosmical matter which exists in a condition of extreme
+tenuity, and especially so in the coma and tail. Sir John Herschel
+described them as almost spiritual in texture, and small stars have been
+seen shining through their densest parts without any perceptible
+diminution of their light. The nucleus is believed to be composed of a
+congeries of meteoric fragments, and these, when exposed to the Sun's
+heat, throw off luminous nebulous particles that are swept by some
+repulsive force into space and form the appendage known as the tail.
+Comets may be regarded as celestial objects that are perfectly
+innocuous. Neither fear nor dread need be apprehended from their visits;
+they come to please and instruct, not to injure or destroy.
+
+Milton does not fail to introduce into his poem several allusions to
+comets, and in doing so expresses the ideas and sentiments which in his
+time were associated with those objects.
+
+In describing the hostile meeting between Satan and Death before the
+Gates of Hell, he writes:
+
+                            On the other side,
+    Incensed with indignation, Satan stood
+    Unterrified, and like a comet burned,
+    That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge
+    In the arctic sky, and from his horrid hair
+    Shakes pestilence and war.--ii. 706-11.
+
+This passage is eminently descriptive of the appearance of a great
+comet, and the occasion on which it is introduced adds to the intensity
+of the lurid imaginings and feelings of terror and dismay with which
+these objects have always been regarded. The comparison of the enraged
+Prince of Hell with one of those mysterious and fiery looking visitors
+to our skies was a grand conception of the poet's, and one worthy of the
+mighty combatant. Ophiuchus (the Serpent-bearer) is a large
+constellation which occupies a rather barren region of the heavens to
+the south of Hercules. It has a length of about forty degrees, and is
+represented by the figure of a man bearing a serpent in both hands. It
+is not easy to imagine why Milton should have assigned the comet to
+this uninteresting constellation; he may possibly have seen one in this
+part of the sky, or his poetical ear may have perceived that the
+expression 'Ophiuchus huge,' which has about it a ponderous rhythm, was
+well adapted for the poetic description of a comet.
+
+The only other allusion in the poem to a comet is near its conclusion,
+when the Cherubim descend to take possession of the Garden, prior to the
+removal of Adam and Eve--
+
+                              High in front advanced,
+    The brandished sword of God before them blazed,
+    Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,
+    And vapour as the Lybian air adust
+    Began to parch that temperate clime.--xii. 632-36.
+
+
+FALLING STARS
+
+On any clear night an observer can, by attentively watching the heavens,
+perceive a few of those objects which become visible for a moment as a
+streak of light and then vanish. They are the result of the combustion
+of small meteoric masses having a celestial origin, and travelling with
+cosmical velocity, and which, in their headlong flight, become so heated
+by contact with the Earth's atmosphere that they are converted into
+glowing vapour. This vapour when it cools condenses into fine powder or
+dust, and gradually descends upon the Earth's surface, where it can be
+detected.
+
+Shooting stars become visible at a height varying between twenty and one
+hundred and thirty miles, and their average velocity has been estimated
+at about thirty miles a second. Though casual falling stars can be seen
+at all times in every part of the heavens, yet there are certain periods
+at which they appear in large numbers, and have been observed to radiate
+from certain well-defined parts of the sky. When the radiant point is
+overhead, the falling stars spread out and resemble a parachute of fire;
+but when it is below the horizon, the stars ascend upwards like rockets
+into the sky. The radiant point is fixed among the stars, so that at the
+commencement of a shower it may be overhead, and before the termination
+of the display it may have travelled below the horizon. The radiant is
+usually named after the constellation in which it is observed.
+
+The November meteors are called Leonids, because they radiate from a
+point in the constellation Leo; those in Taurus are called Taurids; in
+Perseus, Perseids; in Lyra, Lyraids; and in Andromeda, Andromedes,
+because their radiant points are situated in those constellations.
+
+The falling stars that have attracted most attention are those which
+appear on or about November 13. Every year at this period they can be
+seen in greater or less numbers, and on referring to numerous past
+records it has been ascertained that a magnificent display of those
+objects occurs every thirty-three years. The earliest historical
+allusion to this meteoric shower is by Theophanes, who wrote that in the
+year 472 A.D. the sky at Constantinople appeared to be on fire with
+falling stars. In the year 902 A.D. another remarkable display took
+place, and from that time until 1833 twelve conspicuous displays are
+recorded as having occurred at recurring intervals of thirty-three
+years. The grandest display of this kind that was ever witnessed
+occurred in 1833. It was visible over nearly the whole of the American
+continent, and, having commenced at midnight, lasted for four or five
+hours. The falling stars were so numerous that they appeared to rain
+upon the Earth, and caused the utmost consternation and terror among
+those who witnessed the phenomenon, many persons having imagined that
+the end of the world was at hand. The regular recurrence of these
+meteoric displays has been satisfactorily explained by the assumption
+that round the Sun there travels in an elliptical orbit with planetary
+velocity a vast shoal of meteoric bodies some millions of miles in
+length and several hundred thousand miles in breadth. The nearest point
+of their orbit to the Sun coincides with the Earth's orbit, and the most
+distant part extends beyond the orbit of Uranus. These bodies accomplish
+a circuit of their orbit in 33-1/4 years. The Earth in her annual
+revolution intersects the path of the meteors, and when this occurs some
+falling stars can always be seen; but when the intersection happens at
+the time the shoal is passing, then there results a grand meteoric
+display. Numerous other meteoric swarms travel in orbital paths round
+the Sun.
+
+Milton, in his poem, alludes to falling stars upon two occasions. In
+describing the fall of Mulciber from Heaven he says:--
+
+                                      from morn
+    To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
+    A summer's day; and with the setting sun
+    Dropt from the zenith like a falling star,
+    On Lemnos the AEgaean isle.--i. 742-46.
+
+The rapid flight of the archangel Uriel from the Sun to the Earth is
+described in the following lines:--
+
+    Thither came Uriel, gliding through the even
+    On a sunbeam, swift as a shooting star
+    In autumn thwarts the night, when vapours fired
+    Impress the air, and shows the mariner
+    From what point of his compass to beware
+    Impetuous winds.--iv. 555-60.
+
+Milton mentions the season of the year in which those stars are most
+frequently seen, and refers to an ancient belief by which they were
+regarded as the precursors of stormy weather. A translation from Virgil
+contains a similar allusion to them--
+
+    Oft shalt thou see ere brooding storms arise,
+    Star after star glide headlong down the skies.
+
+The standard borne by the Cherub Azazel is described as having--
+
+    Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind.--i. 537.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+MILTON'S IMAGINATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY
+
+
+The theme chosen by Milton for his great epic, viz. the Fall of Man and
+his expulsion from Paradise--perhaps the most momentous incident in the
+history of the human race--was one worthy of the genius of a great poet
+and in the treatment of which Milton has been sublimely successful. The
+newly created Earth; the untainted loveliness of the Paradise in which
+our first parents dwelt during their innocence; their temptation; their
+fall and removal from the happy garden, furnished a theme which afforded
+him an opportunity for the display of his unrivalled poetic genius.
+
+Though the chief interest in the poem is centred in the Garden of Eden
+and its occupants, yet Milton was enabled, by the comprehensive manner
+in which he treated his subject, to introduce into his work a cosmology
+which embraced not only the system to which our globe belongs, but the
+entire starry heavens by which we are surrounded. But the universality
+of his genius did not rest here. In the utterance of his sacred song he
+soared beyond the starry sphere, describing himself as wrapt above the
+pole--the starry pole--up to the Empyrean, or Heaven of Heavens, the
+ineffable abode of the Deity and the blissful habitation of angelic
+beings who, in adoration and worship, surround the throne of the Most
+High.
+
+Descending to that nether world at the opposite pole of the universe, in
+the lowest depth of Chaos, the place prepared by Eternal Justice for the
+rebellious, he unfolds to our horror-stricken gaze the terrors of this
+infernal region; its fiery deluge of ever-burning sulphur; its 'regions
+of sorrow;' its 'doleful shades'--the unhappy abode of fallen angels who
+'in floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,' alternated by exposure
+to unendurable cold and icy torment, experience the direful consequences
+of their apostacy.
+
+Milton's 'Paradise Lost' may be regarded as the loftiest intellectual
+effort in the whole range of literature. In it we find all that was
+known of science, philosophy, and theology. The theme, founded upon a
+Bible narrative, itself written under divine inspiration, embraces the
+entire system of Christian doctrine as revealed in the Scriptures, and
+many of the noblest passages in the sacred volume are introduced into
+the poem expressed in the lofty utterance of flowing and harmonious
+verse. The choicest classical writings of Greek and Latin authors; the
+mythological and traditional beliefs of ancient nations; historical
+incidents of valour and renown and all that was great and good in the
+annals of mankind were laid under contribution by Milton in the
+illustration and embellishment of his poem.
+
+In order to obtain a basis or foundation upon which to construct his
+great epic, Milton found it necessary to localise the regions of space
+in which the principal events mentioned in his poem are described as
+having occurred. The unfathomable abyss of space may be regarded as an
+uncircumscribed sphere boundless on all sides round, and so far as we
+can comprehend of infinite extent. This sphere Milton divided into two
+hemispheres--an upper and a lower. The upper was called Heaven, or the
+Empyrean--a glorified region of boundless dimensions; the lower
+hemisphere embraced Chaos--a dark, fathomless abyss in which the
+elements of matter existed in a state of perpetual tumult and wild
+uproar. The occurrence of a rebellion in Heaven necessitated a further
+division of the sphere. The revolt, headed by Lucifer, one of the
+highest archangels, afterwards known as Satan, who drew after him a
+third of the angelic host, contested the supremacy of Heaven with
+Michael and the angels which kept their loyalty. After two days'
+battle--
+
+                        Him the Almighty Power
+    Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky,
+    With hideous ruin and combustion, down
+    To bottomless perdition; there to dwell
+    In adamantine chains and penal fire.--i. 44-48.
+
+Having been precipitated over the crystal wall of Heaven into the deep
+abyss, Milton says:--
+
+    Nine days they fell; confounded Chaos roared,
+    And felt tenfold confusion in their fall
+    Through his wild Anarchy; so huge a rout
+    Encumbered him with ruin. Hell at last,
+    Yawning, received them whole, and on them closed.--vi. 871-75.
+
+Hell, Milton locates in the lowest depth of Chaos, a region cut off from
+the body of Chaos, through which the expelled angels fell for nine days
+before reaching their destined habitation. There are now three divisions
+of space: HEAVEN, CHAOS, and HELL. But a fourth is required to enable
+Milton to complete his scheme for the delineation of his poem. The Earth
+and starry universe were not as yet called into existence, but after the
+overthrow of the rebellious angels, God, by circumscribing a portion of
+Chaos situated immediately underneath the Empyrean, created the Mundane
+Universe, or the 'Heavens and the Earth.'[15] This new universe He
+reclaimed from Chaos, and with the embryo elements of matter--
+
+    His dark materials to create new worlds.--ii. 916.
+
+He formed the Earth and all the countless shining orbs visible overhead,
+and the myriads more which the telescope reveals, scattered in
+apparently endless profusion over the circular immensity of space. It is
+this new universe--the Earth and Starry Heavens--that claims our chief
+attention, and in the delineation of Milton's imaginative and
+descriptive powers it is to this latest manifestation of Divine wisdom
+and might that our remarks shall principally apply. After the expulsion
+of the rebel angels from Heaven, God sent His Son, the Messiah to create
+the new universe--a work of omnipotence described by Milton in a manner
+worthy of so magnificent a display of almighty power--
+
+                                Meanwhile the Son
+    On his great expedition now appeared,
+    Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crowned
+    Of majesty divine: sapience and love
+    Immense; and all his Father in Him shone.
+    About his chariot numberless were poured
+    Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones,
+    And Virtues, winged Spirits, and chariots winged
+    From the armoury of God, where stand of old
+    Myriads, between two brazen mountains lodged
+    Against a solemn day, harnessed at hand,
+    Celestial equipage; and now came forth
+    Spontaneous, for within them Spirit lived,
+    Attendant on their Lord. Heaven opened wide
+    Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound!
+    On golden hinges moving, to let forth
+    The King of Glory, in his powerful Word
+    And Spirit, coming to create new worlds.
+    On Heavenly ground they stood, and from the shore
+    They viewed the vast immeasurable abyss
+    Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild,
+    Up from the bottom turned by furious winds
+    And surging waves, as mountains to assault
+    Heaven's highth, and with the centre mix the pole.
+    'Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou Deep, peace!'
+    Said then the omnific Word: 'your discord end!'
+    Nor stayed; but on the wings of Cherubim
+    Uplifted, in paternal glory rode
+    Far into Chaos, and the World unborn;
+    For Chaos heard his voice. Him all his train
+    Followed in bright procession, to behold
+    Creation, and the wonders of his might.
+    Then stayed the fervid wheels, and in his hand
+    He took the golden compasses, prepared
+    In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
+    This Universe, and all created things.
+    One foot he centred, and the other turned
+    Round through the vast profundity obscure;
+    And said, 'Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds;
+    This be thy just circumference, O World!'
+    Thus God the Heaven created, thus the Earth,
+    Matter unformed and void. Darkness profound
+    Covered the abyss; but on the watery calm
+    His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread,
+    And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth,
+    Throughout the fluid mass; but downward purged
+    The black, tartareous, cold, infernal dregs,
+    Adverse to life; then founded, then conglobed
+    Like things to like; the rest to several place
+    Disparted, and between spun out the Air;
+    And Earth self balanced on her centre hung.--vii. 192-242.
+
+Milton begins his narrative of the Creation by describing the progress
+of the Deity on His great expedition, accompanied by hosts of angels and
+surrounded with all the solemn pomp and splendour of Heaven. The
+brilliant throng having passed through Heaven's gates, which opened wide
+their portals, they beheld in front of them the dark abyss of Chaos--a
+tempest-tossed sea of warring elements upturned in wild confusion. At
+God's instant command silence and peace reigned over the deep, and
+tranquil calm succeeded noisy discord. Then on the wings of Cherubim He
+rode far into Chaos, and with His golden compasses decreed the
+dimensions of the universe by circumscribing the vast vacuity of space.
+Into the elements which hasted to their several places, His Spirit
+infused vital warmth and caused the formless mass of matter to assume
+the figure of a sphere, and thus the Earth poised on her axis
+unsupported, and in darkness shrouded hung suspended in space. The
+placing of the golden compasses in the hands of the Creator, with which
+He measured out the heavens, is a noble conception on the part of
+Milton, and one most appropriate, since the construction of the universe
+is based upon the principles of geometrical science.
+
+    'Let there be Light!' said God; and forthwith Light
+    Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure,
+    Sprung from the Deep; and from her native east
+    To journey through the aery gloom began,
+    Sphered in a radiant cloud; for yet the Sun
+    Was not; she in a cloudy tabernacle
+    Sojourned the while. God saw the light was good;
+    And light from darkness by the hemisphere
+    Divided; light the day, and darkness night
+    He named. Thus was the first day even and morn:
+    Nor passed uncelebrated, nor unsung
+    By the celestial quires, when orient light
+    Exhaling first from darkness they beheld;
+    Birthday of Heaven and Earth; with joy and shout
+    The hollow universal orb they filled,
+    And touched their golden harps, and hymning praised
+    God and his works: Creator Him they sung,
+    Both when first evening was, and when first morn.--vii. 243-60.
+
+The appearance of Light, which sprung into existence at the fiat of the
+Creator, was the next great event witnessed by beholding
+angels--birthday of Heaven and Earth, first morning and first evening,
+which the celestial choirs celebrated with praise and shouts of joy.
+The creation of the firmament was the great work of the second day.
+
+    Again God said, 'Let there be firmament
+    Amid the waters, and let it divide
+    The waters from the waters!' And God made
+    The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure,
+    Transparent, elemental air, diffused
+    In circuit to the uttermost convex
+    Of this great round--partition firm and sure,
+    The waters underneath from those above
+    Dividing; for as the Earth, so He the World
+    Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide
+    Crystalline ocean, and the loud misrule
+    Of Chaos far removed, lest fierce extremes
+    Contiguous might distemper the whole frame:
+    And Heaven he named the Firmament. So even
+    And morning chorus sung the second day.--vii. 261-275.
+
+After describing the gathering of the waters off the face of the globe
+into seas, causing the dry land to appear, which at the word of God
+became clothed with vegetation, rendering the Earth a habitable abode,
+Milton proceeds to describe the creation of the heavenly bodies--
+
+    Again the Almighty spake: 'Let there be Lights
+    High in the expanse of Heaven, to divide
+    The day from night; and let them be for signs,
+    For seasons, and for days, and circling years;
+    And let them be for lights, as I ordain
+    Their office in the firmament of Heaven,
+    To give light on the Earth!' and it was so.
+    And God made two great Lights, great for their use
+    To Man, the greater to have rule by day,
+    The less by night, altern; and made the Stars,
+    And set them in the firmament of Heaven
+    To illuminate the Earth, and rule the day
+    In their vicissitude, and rule the night,
+    And light from darkness to divide. God saw,
+    Surveying his great work, that it was good:
+    For, of celestial bodies, first, the Sun,
+    A mighty sphere He framed, unlightsome first,
+    Though of ethereal mould; then formed the Moon
+    Globose, and every magnitude of Stars,
+    And sowed with stars the Heaven thick as a field.
+    Of light by far the greater part he took,
+    Transplanted from her cloudy shrine, and placed
+    In the Sun's orb, made porous to receive
+    And drink the liquid light; firm to retain
+    Her gathered beams, great palace now of Light.
+    Hither, as to their fountain, other stars
+    Repairing, in their golden urns draw light,
+    And hence the morning planet gilds her horns;
+    By tincture or reflection they augment
+    Their small peculiar, though, from human sight
+    So far remote, with diminution seen.
+    First in his east the glorious lamp was seen,
+    Regent of day, and all the horizon round
+    Invested with bright rays, jocund to run
+    His longitude through Heaven's high road; the grey
+    Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danced,
+    Shedding sweet influence. Less bright the Moon,
+    But opposite in levelled west was set
+    His mirror, with full face borrowing her light
+    From him; for other light she needed none
+    In that aspect, and still that distance keeps
+    Till night; then in the east her turn she shines,
+    Revolved on Heaven's great axle, and her reign
+    With thousand lesser lights dividual holds,
+    With thousand thousand stars that then appeared
+    Spangling the hemisphere. Then first adorned
+    With their bright luminaries, that set and rose,
+    Glad evening and glad morn crowned the fourth day.--vii. 339-86.
+
+The first creation was Light, and Milton, according to Scriptural
+testimony, ascribes its origin to the bidding of the Creator. 'God said,
+Let there be light; and there was light!' The Sun he describes as a
+mighty sphere, but at first non-luminous. There was light, but no sun.
+The reason usually given in explanation of this phenomenon is, that the
+heavenly bodies were created at the same time as the Earth, but were
+rendered invisible by a canopy of vapour and cloud which enveloped the
+newly-formed globe; and that afterwards, when it dispersed, they
+appeared in the firmament, shining in all their pristine splendour.
+Milton does not, however, adhere to this view of things, but says that
+light for the first three days sojourned in a cloudy shrine or
+tabernacle, and was afterwards transplanted in the Sun, which became a
+great palace of light.
+
+He expresses himself in a somewhat similar manner in Book III., which
+opens with an address to Light--one of the most beautiful passages in
+the poem, in which he alludes to his blindness when expressing his
+thoughts and sentiments with regard to this ethereal medium, which
+conveys to us the pleasurable sensation of vision--
+
+    Hail, holy Light! offspring of Heaven first-born!
+    Or of the Eternal co-eternal beam,
+    May I express thee unblamed? since God is light,
+    And never but in unapproached light
+    Dwelt from eternity--dwelt then in thee,
+    Bright effluence of bright essence increate!
+    Or hear'st thou rather, pure Ethereal stream,
+    Whose fountain who shall tell? Before the Sun,
+    Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice
+    Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest
+    The rising world of waters dark and deep,
+    Won from the void and formless Infinite.--iii. 1-12.
+
+The Sun having become a lucent orb, Milton poetically describes how the
+planets repair to him as to a fountain, and in their golden urns draw
+light; and how the morning planet Venus gilds her horns illumined by his
+rays. The poet associates joyous ideas with the new-born universe. The
+Sun, now the glorious regent of day, begins his journey in the east,
+lighting up the horizon with his beams; whilst before him danced the
+grey dawn, and the Pleiades shedding sweet influences. There existed an
+ancient belief that the Earth was created in the spring, and in April
+the Sun is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, in which are also
+situated the Pleiades; they rise a little before the orb, and precede
+him in his path through the heavens. The stars of this group have always
+been regarded with a peculiar sacredness, and their rays, mingling with
+those of the Sun, were believed to shed sweet influences upon the Earth.
+The Moon, less bright, with borrowed light, in her turn shines in the
+east, and, with the thousand thousand luminaries that spangle the
+firmament, reigns over the night.
+
+We learn in Book III. that the archangel Uriel, who was beguiled by
+Satan, witnessed the Creation, and described how the heavenly bodies
+were brought into existence, he having perceived what we should call the
+gaseous elements of matter rolled into whorls and vortices which became
+condensed into suns and systems of worlds. This mighty angel says:--
+
+    I saw when, at his word the formless mass,
+    This World's material mould, came to a heap:
+    Confusion heard his voice, and wild Uproar
+    Stood ruled, stood vast Infinitude confined;
+    Till at his second bidding darkness fled,
+    Light shone, and order from disorder sprung.
+    Swift to their several quarters hasted then
+    The cumbrous elements, Earth, Flood, Air, Fire;
+    And this ethereal quintessence of Heaven
+    Flew upward, spirited with various forms,
+    That rolled orbicular, and turned to stars
+    Numberless, as thou seest, and how they move;
+    Each had his place appointed, each his course;
+    The rest in circuit walls this Universe.--iii. 708-21.
+
+In his sublime description of the Creation Milton has adhered with
+marked fidelity to the Mosaic version, as narrated in the first two
+chapters of Genesis, when God, by specific acts in certain stated
+periods of time, created the visible universe and all that it contains.
+
+The successive acts of creation are described in words almost identical
+with those of Scripture, embellished and adorned with all the wealth of
+expression which our language is capable of affording. The several
+scenes presented to the imagination, and witnessed by hosts of admiring
+angels as each portion of the magnificent work was accomplished, are
+full of a grandeur and majesty worthy of the loftiest conceivable effort
+of Divine power and might.
+
+The return of the Creator after the completion of His great work is
+described by Milton in a manner worthy of the progress of Deity through
+the celestial regions. The whole creation rang with jubilant delight,
+and the bright throng which witnessed the wonders of His might followed
+Him with acclamation, ascending by the glorified path of the Milky Way
+up to His high abode--the Heaven of Heavens--
+
+    Here finished He, and all that He had made
+    Viewed, and behold! all was entirely good.
+    So even and morn accomplished the sixth day:
+    Yet not till the Creator from his work
+    Desisting, though unwearied, up returned,
+    Up to the Heaven of Heavens, His high abode,
+    Thence to behold this new created World,
+    The addition of his empire, how it showed
+    In prospect from His throne, how good, how fair,
+    Answering his great idea. Up He rode,
+    Followed with acclamation, and the sound
+    Symphonious of ten thousand harps, that tuned
+    Angelic harmonies: The Earth, the Air
+    Resounded (thou remember'st, for thou heard'st)
+    The Heavens and all the constellations rung,
+    The planets in their stations listening stood,
+    While the bright pomp ascended jubilant.
+    'Open ye everlasting gates!' they sung;
+    'Open ye Heavens! your living doors; let in
+    The great Creator, from his work returned
+    Magnificent, his six days' work, a World;
+    Open, and henceforth oft; for God will deign
+    To visit oft the dwellings of just men,
+    Delighted; and with frequent intercourse
+    Thither will send his winged messengers
+    On errands of supernal grace.' So sung
+    The glorious train ascending: He through Heaven,
+    That opened wide her blazing portals, led
+    To God's eternal house direct the way--
+    A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,
+    And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear
+    Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way
+    Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest
+    Powdered with stars.--vii. 548-81.
+
+Milton, throughout his description of the Creation, sustains with lofty
+eloquence his sublime conception of this latest display of almighty
+power; and invests with becoming majesty all the acts of the Creator,
+who, when He finished His great work, saw that all was entirely good.
+
+Shortly after the creation of the new universe, Satan, having escaped
+from Hell, plunged into the abyss of Chaos, and, after a long and
+arduous journey upwards, in which he had to fight his way through the
+surging elements that raged around him like a tempestuous sea, he
+reached the upper confines of this region where less confusion
+prevailed, and where a glimmering dawn of light penetrated its darkness
+and gloom, indicating that the limit of the empire of Chaos and ancient
+Night had been reached by the adventurous fiend. Pursuing his way with
+greater ease, he leisurely beholds the sight which is opening to his
+eyes--a sight rendered more glorious by his long sojourn in darkness. He
+sees:--
+
+    Far off the empyreal Heaven, extended wide
+    In circuit, undetermined square or round,
+    With opal towers and battlements adorned
+    Of living sapphire, once his native seat,
+    And, fast by, hanging in a golden chain,
+    This pendent World, in bigness as a star
+    Of smallest magnitude close by the Moon.--ii. 1047-53.
+
+He gazes upon his native Heaven where once he dwelt, and observes the
+pendent world in quest of which he journeyed hither--hung by a golden
+chain from the Empyrean and no larger than a star of the smallest
+magnitude when close by the Moon. In this passage Milton does not allude
+to the Earth, which was invisible, but to the entire starry heavens--the
+newly created universe reclaimed from Chaos, which, when contrasted with
+the Empyrean, appeared in size no larger than the minutest star when
+compared with the full moon. Pursuing his journey, the new universe as
+it is approached expands into a globe of vast dimensions; its convex
+surface--round which the chaotic elements in stormy aspect
+lowered--seemed a boundless continent, dark, desolate, and starless,
+except on the side next to the wall of Heaven, which though far-distant
+afforded it some illumination by its reflected light. Satan, having
+alighted on this convex shell which enclosed the universe, wandered long
+over its bleak and dismal surface, until his attention was attracted by
+a gleam of light which appeared through an opening at its zenith right
+underneath the Empyrean. Thither he directed his steps, and perceived a
+structure resembling a staircase, or ladder, which formed the only means
+of communication between Heaven and the new creation, and upon which
+angels descended and ascended--
+
+                        Far distant he descries,
+    Ascending by degrees magnificent
+    Up to the wall of Heaven, a structure high;
+    At top whereof, but far more rich, appeared
+    The work as of a kingly palace gate,
+    With frontispiece of diamond and gold
+    Embellished; thick with sparkling orient gems
+    The portal shone, inimitable on Earth
+    By model, or by shading pencil drawn.
+    The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw
+    Angels ascending and descending, bands
+    Of Guardians bright, when he from Esau fled
+    To Padan Aram, in the field of Luz
+    Dreaming by night under the open sky,
+    And waking cried, '_This is the gate of Heaven._'--iii. 501-15.
+
+Sometimes this mysterious structure was drawn up to Heaven and
+invisible. At the time that Satan reached the opening, the stairs were
+lowered, and standing at their base he looked down with wonder upon the
+entire starry universe--
+
+    Such wonder seized, though after Heaven seen,
+    The Spirit malign, but much more envy seized,
+    At sight of all this World beheld so fair,
+    Round he surveys (and well might, where he stood
+    So high above the circling canopy
+    Of night's extended shade) from eastern point
+    Of Libra to the fleecy star that bears
+    Andromeda far off Atlantic seas
+    Beyond the horizon; then from pole to pole
+    He views in breadth, and without longer pause,
+    Down right into the World's first region throws
+    His flight precipitant, and winds with ease
+    Through the pure marble air his oblique way
+    Amongst innumerable stars, that shone
+    Stars distant, but nigh hand seemed other worlds,
+    Or other worlds they seemed, or happy isles,
+    Like those Hesperian Gardens famed of old,
+    Fortunate fields, and groves, and flowery vales;
+    Thrice happy isles! But who dwelt happy there
+    He staid not to inquire: above them all
+    The golden Sun, in splendour likest Heaven
+    Allured his eye: thither his course he bends
+    Through the calm firmament, (but up or down
+    By centre or eccentric hard to tell
+    Or longitude) where the great luminary,
+    Aloof the vulgar constellations thick,
+    That from his lordly eye keep distance due,
+    Dispenses light from far. They, as they move
+    Their starry dance in numbers that compute
+    Days, months, and years, towards his all-cheering lamp
+    Turn swift their various motions, or are turned
+    By his magnetic beam, that gently warms
+    The Universe, and to each inward part
+    With gentle penetration, though unseen,
+    Shoots invisible virtue even to the Deep;
+    So wondrously was set his station bright.--iii. 552-87.
+
+The Ptolemaic cosmology having been adopted by Milton in the elaboration
+of his poem, he describes the universe in conformity with the doctrines
+associated with this form of astronomical belief. To each of the first
+seven spheres which revolved round the steadfast Earth there was
+attached a heavenly body; the eighth sphere embraced all the fixed
+stars, a countless multitude; the ninth the crystalline; and enclosing
+all the other spheres as if in a shell was the tenth sphere, or Primum
+Mobile, which in its diurnal revolution carried round with it all the
+other spheres. The nine inner spheres were transparent, but the tenth
+was an opaque solid shell-like structure, which enclosed the new
+universe and constituted the boundary between it and Chaos underneath
+and the Empyrean above. It was on the surface of this sphere that Satan
+wandered until he discovered the opening at its zenith, where, by means
+of a staircase or ladder, communication was maintained with the
+Empyrean. Standing on the lower steps of this structure he paused for a
+moment to look down into the glorious universe which lay beneath him--
+
+                                  another Heaven
+    From Heaven-gate not far, founded in view
+    On the clear hyaline the glassy sea.--vii. 617-19.
+
+He beholds it in all its dimensions, from pole to pole, and
+longitudinally from Libra to Aries, then without hesitation precipitates
+himself down into the world's first region, and winds his way with ease
+among the fixed stars. Around him he sees innumerable shining worlds,
+sparkling and glittering in endless profusion over the circumscribed
+immensity of space--mighty constellations that shone from afar;
+clustering aggregations of stars; floating islands of light; twinkling
+systems rising out of depths still more profound, and a zone luminous
+with the light of myriads of lucid orbs verging on the confines of the
+universe. All these worlds the fiend passed unheeded, nor stayed he to
+inquire who dwelt happy there. In splendour above them all the Sun
+attracted his attention and, directing his course towards the great
+luminary of our system, he alights on the surface of the orb.
+
+Milton now makes a digression in order to describe what Satan observed
+in the Sun after having landed there. The poet embraces an opportunity
+for exercising his imaginative and descriptive powers by giving an ideal
+description of what, judging from the appearance of the orb, might be
+the natural condition of things existing on his surface--
+
+    There lands the Fiend, a spot like which perhaps
+    Astronomer in the Sun's lucent orb
+    Through his glazed optic tube, yet never saw.
+    The place he found beyond expression bright,
+    Compared with aught on Earth, metal or stone;
+    Not all parts like, but all alike informed
+    With radiant light, as glowing iron with fire;
+    If metal, part seemed gold, part silver clear;
+    If stone, carbuncle most or chrysolite,
+    Ruby or topaz, to the twelve that shone
+    In Aaron's breastplate, and a stone besides,
+    Imagined rather oft than elsewhere seen;
+    That stone, or like to that, which here below
+    Philosophers in vain so long have sought,
+    In vain, though by their powerful art they bind
+    Volatile Hermes, and call up unbound
+    In various shapes old Proteus from the sea,
+    Drained through a limbec to his native form.
+    What wonder then if fields and regions here
+    Breathe forth elixir pure, and rivers run
+    Potable gold, when, with one virtuous touch,
+    The arch-chemic Sun, so far from us remote,
+    Produces, with terrestrial humour mixed,
+    Here in the dark so many precious things
+    Of colour glorious, and effect so rare?
+    Here matter new to gaze the Devil met
+    Undazzled; far and wide his eye commands;
+    For sight no obstacle found here, nor shade,
+    But all sunshine, as when his beams at noon
+    Culminate from the equator, as they now
+    Shot upward still direct, whence no way round
+    Shadow from body opaque can fall; and the air,
+    Nowhere so clear sharpened his visual ray
+    To objects distant far, whereby he soon
+    Saw within here a glorious Angel stand.--iii. 588-622.
+
+The physical structure of the interior of the Sun is unknown; all that
+we see of the orb is the photosphere--the dazzling luminous envelope
+which indicates to the eye the boundary of the solar disc, and which is
+the source of light and heat. Milton, in his imaginative and beautifully
+poetical description of the Sun, is not more fanciful in his conception
+of the nature of the refulgent orb than a renowned astronomer (Sir
+William Herschel) who writes in the following strain: 'A cool, dark,
+solid globe, its surface diversified with mountains and valleys, clothed
+in luxuriant vegetation and richly stored with inhabitants, protected by
+a heavy cloud-canopy from the intolerable glare of the upper luminous
+region, where the dazzling coruscations of a solar aurora some thousands
+of miles in depth evolved the stores of light and heat which vivify our
+world.' Satan, disguised as a cherub, makes himself known to Uriel,
+Regent of the Sun. The upright Seraph in response to his request directs
+him to the Earth, the abode of Man--
+
+    Look downward on that Globe, whose hither side
+    With light from hence, though but reflected, shines,
+    That place is Earth, the seat of Man; that light
+    His day, which else, as the other hemisphere,
+    Night would invade; but there neighbouring Moon
+    (So call that opposite fair star) her aid
+    Timely interposes, and her monthly round
+    Still ending, still renewing, through mid-Heaven,
+    With borrowed light her countenance triform
+    Hence fills and empties, to enlighten the Earth,
+    And in her pale dominion checks the night.--iii. 722-32.
+
+It would be impossible not to feel impressed with the accuracy and
+comprehensiveness of Milton's astronomical knowledge; and how he has
+united in charming poetic expression the dry details of science with the
+divine inspiration of the heavenly muse. The distinctive appearances of
+the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars; their functional importance as
+regards this terrestrial sphere; the splendour and lustre peculiar to
+each; and the glory displayed in the entire created heavens, are
+portrayed with a skill indicative of a masterly knowledge of the science
+of astronomy.
+
+    Descend from Heaven, Urania, by that name
+    If rightly thou art called, whose voice divine
+    Following, above the Olympian hill I soar,
+    Above the flight of Pegasean wing!
+    The meaning, not the name, I call; for thou
+    Nor of the Muses nine, nor on the top
+    Of old Olympus dwell'st; but heavenly-born,
+    Before the hills appeared or fountain flowed,
+    Thou with Eternal Wisdom didst converse,
+    Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play
+    In presence of the Almighty Father, pleased
+    With thy celestial song. Up led by thee,
+    Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,
+    An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air,
+    Thy tempering. With like safety guided down,
+    Return me to my native element;
+    Lest, from this flying steed unreined, (as once
+    Belerophon, though from a lower clime)
+    Dismounted, on the Aleian field I fall,
+    Erroneous there to wander, and forlorn.
+    Half yet remains unsung, but narrower bound
+    Within the visible diurnal sphere.
+    Standing on Earth, not rapt above the pole,
+    More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchanged
+    To hoarse or mute, though fallen on evil days,
+    On evil days though fallen, and evil tongues,
+    In darkness, and with dangers compassed round,
+    And solitude; yet not alone, while thou
+    Visit'st my slumbers nightly, or when morn
+    Purples the east. Still govern thou my song,
+    Urania, and fit audience find though few.--vii. 1-32.
+
+The Muses were Greek mythological divinities who possessed the power of
+inspiring song, and were the patrons of poets and musicians. According
+to Hesiod they were nine in number and presided over the arts. Urania
+was the Goddess of Astronomy, and Calliope the Goddess of Epic Poetry.
+They are described as the daughters of Zeus, and Homer alludes to them
+as the goddesses of song who dwelt on the summit of Mount Olympus. They
+were the companions of Apollo, and accompanied with song his playing on
+the lyre at the banquets of the Immortals. Milton does not invoke the
+mythological goddess, but Urania the Heavenly Muse, whose aid he also
+implores at the commencement of his poem prior to his flight above the
+Aonian Mount. Under her divine guidance he ascended to the Heaven of
+Heavens and breathed empyreal air, her tempering; in like manner he
+requests her to lead him down to his native element lest he should meet
+with a fate similar to what befell Bellerophon. Half his task he has
+completed, the other half, confined to narrower bounds within the
+visible diurnal sphere, remains unsung, and in its fulfilment he still
+implores his celestial patroness to govern his song.
+
+The natural phenomena which occur as a consequence of the motions of the
+heavenly bodies and the diurnal rotation of the Earth on her axis, are
+accompanied by agreeable alternations in the aspect of nature with which
+every one is familiar. The rosy footsteps of morn; the solar splendour
+of noonday; the fading hues of even; and night with her jewelled courts
+and streams of molten stars, have been sung with rapturous admiration by
+poets of every nation and in every age. They, as ardent lovers of
+nature, have described in choicest language the pleasing vicissitudes
+brought about by the real and apparent motions of the celestial orbs.
+
+In this respect Milton is unsurpassed by any poet in ancient or in
+modern times. The occasions on which he describes the heavenly bodies,
+or alludes to them in association with other phenomena, testify to the
+felicity of his thoughts and to the greatness of his poetic genius.
+Surely no poet has ever given us a lovelier description of evening, or
+has added more to its exquisite beauty by his allusion to the celestial
+orbs, than Milton when he describes the first evening in Paradise--
+
+    Now came still Evening on, and Twilight gray
+    Had in her sober livery all things clad;
+    Silence accompanied; for beast and bird,
+    They to their grassy couch, these to their nests
+    Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale.
+    She all night long her amorous descant sung;
+    Silence was pleased. Now glowed the firmament
+    With living sapphires: Hesperus that led
+    The starry host, rode brightest, till the Moon,
+    Rising in clouded majesty, at length
+    Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light,
+    And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.--iv. 598-609.
+
+In the avowal of her conjugal love, Eve, with charming expression,
+associates the orbs of the firmament with the delightful appearances of
+nature which presented themselves to her observation after she awoke to
+the consciousness of intelligent existence.
+
+    Sweet is the breath of Morn, her rising sweet,
+    With charm of earliest birds: pleasant the Sun,
+    When first on this delightful land he spreads
+    His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
+    Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile Earth
+    After soft showers; and sweet the coming on
+    Of grateful Evening mild; then silent Night,
+    With this her solemn bird, and this fair Moon,
+    And these the gems of Heaven, her starry train:
+    But neither breath of Morn, when she ascends
+    With charm of earliest birds; nor rising Sun
+    On this delightful land; nor herb, fruit, flower,
+    Glistering with dew; nor fragrance after showers;
+    Nor grateful Evening mild; nor silent Night,
+    With this her solemn bird; nor walk by Moon,
+    Or glittering star-light, without thee is sweet.
+    But wherefore all night long shine these? for whom
+    This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes?--iv. 641-58.
+
+One of the charms of Milton's verse is the devoutly poetical sentiment
+which pervades it. His thoughts, though serious, are not austere or
+gloomy, and it is in his loftiest musings that his reverence becomes
+most apparent. This feeling is conspicuous in Adam's reply to the
+inquiry addressed to him by Eve--
+
+    Daughter of God and Man, accomplished Eve,
+    These have their course to finish round the Earth
+    By morrow evening, and from land to land
+    In order, though to nations yet unborn,
+    Ministering light prepared, they set and rise;
+    Lest total Darkness should by night regain
+    Her old possession, and extinguish life
+    In Nature and all things; which these soft fires
+    Not only enlighten, but with kindly heat
+    Of various influence foment and warm,
+    Temper or nourish, or in part shed down
+    Their stellar virtue on all kinds that grow
+    On Earth, made hereby apter to receive
+    Perfection from the Sun's more potent ray.
+    These, then, though unbeheld in deep of night,
+    Shine not in vain; nor think, though men were none,
+    That Heaven would want spectators, God want praise:
+    Millions of spiritual creatures walk the Earth
+    Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep:
+    All these with ceaseless praise his works behold
+    Both day and night. How often from the steep
+    Of echoing hill or thicket, have we heard
+    Celestial voices to the midnight air,
+    Sole, or responsive each to other's note
+    Singing their Great Creator! Oft in bands
+    While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk,
+    With heavenly touch of instrumental sounds
+    In full harmonic number joined, their songs
+    Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to Heaven.--iv. 660-88.
+
+The Morning Hymn of Praise which Adam and Eve offer up in concert to
+their Maker contains their loftiest thoughts and most reverent
+sentiments, expressed in melodiously flowing verse. In their solemn
+invocations they call upon the orbs of the firmament to join in
+praising and extolling the Creator, and in their devout enthusiasm and
+adoration address by name those that are most conspicuous. Hesperus,
+'fairest of stars,' is asked to praise Him in her sphere. The Sun, great
+image of his Maker, is told to acknowledge Him his greater, and to sound
+His praise in his eternal course. The Moon, the fixed stars, and the
+planets are called upon to resound the praise of the Creator, whose
+glory is declared in the Heavens--
+
+    Fairest of Stars, last in the train of night,
+    If better thou belong not to the dawn,
+    Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn
+    With thy bright circlet, praise Him in thy sphere
+    While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.
+    Thou Sun, of this great world both eye and soul,
+    Acknowledge Him thy greater; sound his praise
+    In thy eternal course, both when thou climb'st,
+    And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fall'st.
+    Moon, that now meet'st the orient Sun, now fliest
+    With the fixed stars, fixed in their orb that flies;
+    And ye five other wandering Fires, that move
+    In mystic dance, not without song, resound
+    His praise, who out of darkness called up Light.--v. 166-79.
+
+Milton's conception of celestial distances, and of the vast regions of
+interstellar space, is finely described in the following lines:--
+
+                        Down thither prone in flight
+    He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky
+    Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing
+    Now on the polar winds; then with quick fan
+    Winnows the buxom air, till, within soar
+    Of towering eagles.--v. 266-71.
+
+As in their morning, so in their evening devotions, our first parents
+never fail to introduce a reference to the celestial orbs as indicating
+the power and goodness of the Creator, made manifest in the beauty and
+greatness of His works--
+
+    Thus, at their shady lodge arrived, both stood,
+    Both turned, and under open sky adored
+    The God that made both Sky, Air, Earth and Heaven
+    Which they beheld; the Moon's resplendent globe,
+    And starry pole.--iv. 720-24.
+
+The numerous extracts contained in this volume impress upon one's mind
+how largely astronomy enters into the composition of 'Paradise Lost,'
+and of how much assistance the knowledge of this science was to Milton
+in the elaboration of his poem. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine how
+such a work could have been written except by a poet who possessed a
+proficient and comprehensive knowledge of astronomy. The chief
+characteristic of Milton's poetry is its sublimity, which is the natural
+outcome of the magnificence of his conceptions and of his own pure
+imaginative genius. Among all the fields of literature, science, and
+philosophy explored by him, he found none more congenial to his tastes,
+or that afforded his imagination more freedom for its loftiest flights,
+than the sublimest of sciences--astronomy. Whether we admire most the
+accuracy of his astronomical knowledge, or the wonderful creations of
+his poetic fancy, or his beautiful descriptions of the celestial orbs,
+it is apparent that in this domain of science, as a poet, he stands
+alone and without a rival. In his choice of the Ptolemaic cosmology
+Milton adopted a system with which he had been familiar from his
+youth--the same which his favourite poet Dante introduced into his poem,
+'The Divina Commedia,' and which was well adapted for poetic
+description. The picturesque conception of ten revolving spheres,
+carrying along with them the orbs assigned to each, which, by their
+revolution round the steadfast Earth, brought about with unfailing
+regularity the successive alternation of day and night, and in every
+twenty-four hours exhibited the pleasing vicissitudes of dawn, of
+sunshine, of twilight, and of darkness, relieved by the soft effulgence
+of the nocturnal sky, afforded Milton a favourable basis upon which to
+construct a cosmical epic. The Copernican theory--with which he was
+equally conversant, and in the accuracy and truthfulness of which he
+believed--though less complicated than the Ptolemaic in its details, did
+not possess the same attractiveness for poetic description that belonged
+to the older system. According to this theory there is, surrounding us
+on all sides, a boundless uncircumscribed ocean of space, to which it is
+impossible to assign any conceivable limit; in every effort to
+comprehend its dimensions or fathom its depths, the mind recoils upon
+itself, baffled and discomfited, with a conscious feeling that there can
+be no nearer approach to the end when end there is none that can be
+conceived of. Interspersed throughout the regions of this azure vast of
+space is the stellar universe, which to our comprehension is as infinite
+as the abyss in which it exists. The solar system, though of magnificent
+dimensions, is but a unit in the astronomical whole, in which are
+embraced millions of other similar units--other solar systems, perhaps
+differing in construction from that of ours, with billions of miles of
+interstellar space intervening between each; yet so vast are the
+dimensions of the celestial sphere that those distances when measured
+upon it sink into utter insignificance. As the receding depths of space
+are penetrated by powerful telescopes, they are found to be pervaded
+with stars and starry archipelagoes, distributed in profusion over the
+circular immensity and extending away into abysmal depths, beyond the
+reach of visibility by any optical means which we possess. To the
+universe there is no known end--nowhere in imagination can its boundary
+be reached! This bewildering conception of the cosmos did not trouble
+the minds of pre-Copernican thinkers. They regarded the steadfast Earth
+as the most important body in the universe; nor were the celestial orbs
+which circled round it believed to be very far distant. Tycho Brahe
+imagined that the stars were not much more remote than the planets.
+Epicurus thought the stars were small crystal mirrors in the sky which
+reflected the solar rays, and the Venerable Bede remarked that they
+needed assistance from the Sun's light in order to render them more
+luminous.
+
+The adoption of the Ptolemaic system by Milton afforded greater scope
+for the exercise of his imaginative powers, and enabled him to bring
+within the mental grasp of his readers a conception of the universe
+which was not lost in the immensity associated with the Copernican view
+of things. Besides, it also furnished him with a distinctly defined
+basis upon which to erect the superstructure of his poem. Above the
+circumscribed universe was Heaven or the Empyrean; underneath it was
+Chaos, from which it had been reclaimed, and in the lowest depth of
+which Milton located the infernal world called Hell. These four regions
+embraced universal space; and in the elaboration of his great epic
+Milton relied upon his imaginative genius, his brilliant scholarship,
+his vast erudition, and the divine inspiration of the heavenly muse.
+With these, aided by the power and vigour of his intellect, he was
+enabled to produce a cosmical epic that surpassed all previous efforts
+of a similar kind, and which still remains without a parallel.
+
+One of the distinguishing features of Milton's mind was his wonderful
+imagination, and in its exercise he beheld those sublime celestial and
+terrestrial visions on which he reared fabrics of splendour and beauty,
+described in harmonious numbers with the fervid eloquence and charm of a
+true poet. An example of the loftiness and originality of his
+imagination is afforded us in his description of the Creation, the main
+facts of which he derived from the first two chapters of Genesis, and
+upon these he elaborated in full and striking detail his magnificent
+conception of the efforts of Divine Might, which in six successive
+creative acts called into existence the universe and all that it
+contains. The rising of the Earth out of Chaos; the creation of light
+and of the orbs of the firmament; the joyfulness associated with the
+onward career of the new-born Sun; the subdued illumination of the
+full-orbed Moon, and the thousand thousand stars that spangle the
+nocturnal sky--all these afforded Milton a rich field in which his
+imagination luxuriated, and in the description of which he found
+subject-matter worthy of his gifted intellect.
+
+Milton gives an ampler and more detailed description of the new universe
+in his narration of Satan's journey through space in search of this
+world, and brings more vividly before the imagination of his readers the
+glories of the celestial regions. The fiend, having emerged from the
+dark abyss of Chaos into a region of light, first beheld the new
+creation from such a distance that to his view it appeared as a star
+suspended by a golden chain from the Empyrean. This stellar conception
+of the poet's harmonised with the views of the Ptolemaists, who believed
+that the universe was of limited extent, and though its dimensions were
+vast beyond comprehension, it was, nevertheless, enclosed by the tenth
+sphere or Primum Mobile. It was on the surface of this sphere that Satan
+alighted, and over which he wandered, until attracted by a beam of light
+that appeared through an opening at its zenith, where, by means of a
+stair or ladder, communication was maintained between the new universe
+and Heaven above. Hither the undaunted fiend hied, and, standing on the
+lower steps of this structure, momentarily paused to gaze upon the
+glorious sight which burst upon his view before directing his flight
+down into the newly created universe. Milton then describes his progress
+through the stellar regions, his landing in the Sun and what he saw
+there, and the termination of his journey when he descends from the
+ecliptic down to the Earth. In doing so the poet gives a wonderfully
+beautiful description of the starry universe, of the Sun, Moon, and
+Earth (Book III. 540-742), enhanced and adorned with his own poetic
+imaginings derived from fable, philosophy, and science.
+
+Milton makes more frequent allusion to the Sun than to any of the other
+orbs of the firmament. This we should expect: the poet always gives the
+orb the precedence which is his due, and never fails, when the occasion
+requires it, to surround him with the 'surpassing glory' which marks his
+pre-eminence above all other occupants of the sky. The Moon, his
+consort--peerless in the subdued effulgence of her borrowed light; the
+beautiful star of evening, Hesperus; the sidereal heavens with their
+untold glories; the Galaxy, overpowering in the magnificence of its
+clouds and streams of stars--all these have their beauties and charms
+mirrored in the pages of this remarkable poem.
+
+That the observation of the celestial orbs, their phases, and the varied
+phenomena which occur as a consequence of their motions, were to Milton
+an unfailing source of enjoyment and of meditative delight, is evident
+from the frequency with which he alludes to them. The following lines
+also testify to this:--
+
+    For wonderful indeed are all his works,
+    Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all
+    Had in remembrance always with delight!
+    But what created mind can comprehend
+    Their number, or the wisdom infinite
+    That brought them forth, but hid their causes deep?--iii. 703-708.
+
+It is very pleasant, as Milton says, to
+
+                        sit and rightly spell
+    Of every star that heaven doth show.
+
+It is also pleasant to know the astronomy of his 'Paradise Lost,' and to
+linger over the delightful and harmonious utterances associated with the
+sublimest of sciences, expressed in the melodious language of England's
+greatest epic poet.
+
+
+              PRINTED BY
+SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
+                LONDON
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[1] Chambers's _Handbook of Astronomy_.
+
+[2] Brewster's _Martyrs of Science_.
+
+[3] The transit occurred on a Sunday, and the 'business of the highest
+importance' to which Horrox alludes was his clerical duties.
+
+[4] A fresco by the late Mr. Ford Maddox-Brown, depicting Crabtree
+observing the transit of Venus, adorns the interior of the Manchester
+Town Hall.
+
+[5] William Crabtree died on August 1, 1644, aged 34 years.
+
+[6] The constellation Virgo.
+
+[7] _Life of Galileo_ (Library of Useful Knowledge).
+
+[8] Miss Clerke's _System of the Stars_.
+
+[9] Miss Clerke's _System of the Stars_.
+
+[10] Miss Clerke's _System of the Stars_.
+
+[11] _Ibid._
+
+[12] An expression in Book VIII. 148-49 would seem to indicate that this
+was inaccurate, but the lines
+
+                          'and other suns perhaps
+    With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry,'
+
+are an allusion to the planets Jupiter and Saturn, whose satellites had
+been recently discovered.
+
+[13] Mr. E. W. Maunder, in _Knowledge_, March 1894.
+
+[14] Though not a celestial body, it is considered desirable to describe
+the Earth as a member of the solar system.
+
+[15] See diagram, chap. iii. p. 96.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise
+Lost', by Thomas Orchard
+
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