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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’s Note</h3> + +<p>Minor punctuation and hyphenation inconsistencies have been corrected.</p> + +<p>The following minor typographical errors have been corrected:<br /> +p75: “establish” changed to “established”<br /> +p99: “Firmanent” changed to “Firmament”<br /> +p111: “they thoughts” changed to “thy thoughts”<br /> +p120: “suen” changed to “seuen”<br /> +p134: “consequenc” changed to “consequence”<br /> +p146: “geographieal” changed to “geographical”<br /> +p167: “Lyrae” changed to “Lyræ” for consistency<br /> +p286: Removed redundant word “degrees” following the degree symbol</p> + +<p>The spelling “Bernices” for “Berenices” 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’S ‘PARADISE LOST’ +</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’S ‘PARADISE LOST’</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"> </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’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 ‘Paradise Lost’</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’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’s Disc</span></a></td> +<td class="rb"><i>To face page</i> <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">”</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">”</span><a href="#PLATE230">230</a></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="lt"><a href="#PLATE268"><span class="smcap">A Portion of the Moon’s Surface</span></a></td> +<td class="rb"><span class="rightgap">”</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"> </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’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—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;">γ</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’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.</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 & 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’S ‘PARADISE LOST’ +</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—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.</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—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—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.</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 365¼ 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 ‘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.</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 ‘<i>evection</i>.’ 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.</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—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’s +‘Almagest’ 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 ‘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.</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 ‘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<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’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—for Tycho studied alchemy as well as astronomy—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’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 ‘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,<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—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’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’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.</p> + +<p>Tycho resolved to accept the Emperor’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’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—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’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’s +<i>annual equation</i>, 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 +<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 ‘Rudolphine +Tables,’ 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 ‘Tychonic.’ 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 ‘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.</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—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<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 ‘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.</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’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—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’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<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 ‘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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> 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.’</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’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.</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 +‘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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> 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.’</p> + +<p>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.</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’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’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: ‘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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> 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.’</p> + +<p>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.’</p> + +<p>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.</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: ‘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’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.” +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> “Yes,” +says my wife, “but not so nice and well dressed as this of mine is.”‘</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’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’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 ‘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.</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 +‘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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +These discoveries are known as Kepler’s Laws, and are usually classified +as follows:—</p> + +<p>1. ‘The orbit described by every planet is an ellipse, of which the +centre of the Sun occupies one of the foci.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>3. ‘The squares of the periodic times of any two planets are +proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun.’<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 ‘Legislator of the Heavens;’ 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 ‘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.</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. ‘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.’</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 ‘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.</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’s ‘Epitome of the Copernican System,’ and +Copernicus’s own work, ‘De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium.’</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—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 ‘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.</p> + +<p>‘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.’<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>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<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’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’ 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’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 +‘another gem to the diadem of Jupiter.’</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’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:—</p> + +<p>‘Annulo cingitur, tenui plano, nusquam cohaerente, ad eclipticam +inclinatio.’</p> + +<p>‘The planet is surrounded by a slender flat ring everywhere distinct +from its surface, and inclined to the ecliptic.’</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’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’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.’</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’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’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<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’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 +‘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<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’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—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.</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—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<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—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: ‘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—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Totidem nobis animaeque manusque.’<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’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’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.</p> + +<p>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.</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’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, ‘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.</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’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—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: ‘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>‘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.’</p> + +<p>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,<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—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.</p> + +<p>‘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<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—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.</p> + +<p>‘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;<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>‘In the second place, the distance between the centres of Venus and the +Sun I found by three observations to be as follows:—</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' 24''</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="lt">At 3·35 by the clock</td> +<td class="cb pad">13' 30''</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="lt">At 3·35 by the clock</td> +<td class="cb pad">13' 30''</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="lt">At 3·45 by the clock</td> +<td class="cb pad">13' 0''</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="lt">At 3·50 the apparent sunset.</td> +<td class="cb pad"> </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>‘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.</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’S DISC." title="VENUS ON THE SUN’S DISC." /></a> +<span class="caption">VENUS ON THE SUN’S DISC.</span> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +‘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>‘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.’</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’s +semi-diameter.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>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<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 ‘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.</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 ‘an irreparable loss:’ 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’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 ‘the pride and the boast of British Astronomy.’</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: ‘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.’</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: ‘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’s rays.’</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’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—the first Astronomer +Royal—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, ‘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.</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—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.</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—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—thirteen years +after the death of Milton—when, in the ‘Principia,’ 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 ‘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.</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’S ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE</h4> + +<p>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<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 ‘L’Allegro’ there are the following lines:—</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 ‘Il Penseroso’—</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’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 ‘Paradise Lost’ 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:—</p> + +<p>1. To ascertain the extent of Milton’s astronomical knowledge.</p> + +<p>2. To describe the starry heavens and the celestial objects mentioned in +‘Paradise Lost.’</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—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<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’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—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.</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 ‘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.</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’s scheme, the eighth sphere formed the outermost +boundary of the universe; but later astronomers added to this system two +other spheres—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 ‘the +music of the spheres.’</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—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’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, ‘Arcades’ and ‘Comus.’ His ‘Ode on the Nativity’ 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’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,<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 ‘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.</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’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 +‘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.</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’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.</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 ‘Paradise +Lost.’ These, when arranged alphabetically, read as follows:—</p> + +<p>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 <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.—iv. 996-1004.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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<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’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:—</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’erthrew<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Busiris and his Memphian chivalry.—i. 305-7.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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.</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—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<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—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’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>—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—a wild abyss—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The womb of Nature and perhaps her grave.—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>—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.—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 ‘Paradise Lost,’ 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.—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 ‘first moved’ 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’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.</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:—</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—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—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.—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 ‘a +spot, a grain, an atom,’ 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 ‘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.</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’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’er<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cycle and Epicycle, Orb in Orb.—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 ‘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.</p> + +<p>Continuing his reply, the Angel says:—</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’s habitant.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, for the Heaven’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’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—<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’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—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.—viii. 85-122.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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.<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, ‘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.’</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:—</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’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—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—<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.—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:—</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.—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: ‘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.’</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’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—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now high, now low, then hid;<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and their motions—</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 ‘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.</p> + +<p>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.</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 365¼ 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +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.</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.—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:—</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—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid.—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’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.—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’ 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’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<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.’ 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.</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:—</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.—iii. 21-26.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> 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.</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 ‘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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +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 +<i>rightly</i> 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.</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’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.</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—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<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’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: ‘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<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.’ 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 <i>inverted</i> 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,<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’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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +The instrument was at first called Galileo’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. ‘And at length,’ he writes, +‘sparing neither labour nor expense, he completed an instrument that was +capable of magnifying more than <i>thirty</i> times.’</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—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.</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’ 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.</p> + +<p>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<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: ‘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<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, +‘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 <i>protégé</i> 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<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’s “thirst of gold,” and to afford himself a +subject of discussion.’<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: ‘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, <i>and he +is to see them</i>, and own that they are there.’</p> + +<p>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<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:—</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:—</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: ‘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<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.’ 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.</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’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:—</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:—</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’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—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:—</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.—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 +‘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<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 ‘incredible delight.’</p> + +<p>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.</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 +‘found and visited’ Galileo, whom he describes as ‘grown old,’ and +cynically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</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:—</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.—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 ‘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.</p> + +<p>In his next allusion to the telescope Milton associates Galileo’s name +with the instrument:—</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.—v. 261-63.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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<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—senseless, lifeless, soulless, and +stripped of all those ornaments which now render it so variable and so +beautiful:’—</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’s lucent orb<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through his glazed optic tube yet never saw.—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 ‘Paradise Lost.’</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:—</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.—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:—</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’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 23½° +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 23½° north and 23½° 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 23½° 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’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:—</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—Hesperian fables true,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If true here only—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’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.—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:—</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’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—<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.—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’s axis; +(2) an alteration of the Sun’s path from the equinoctial road:—</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’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—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.—x. 668-79.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The change of position of the Earth’s axis, ‘twice ten degrees and more +from the Sun’s axle,’<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 ‘with labour pushed oblique the +centric globe.’</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’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:—</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’erspread<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Heaven’s cheerful face, the louring element<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Scowls o’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.—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—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:—</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.—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’s sleep.</p> + +<p>In his description of the repast partaken by the Angel Raphael with Adam +and Eve in Paradise, Milton writes:—</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.—v. 391-95.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In describing Beelzebub when about to address the Stygian Council, he +says:—</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’s noontide air, while thus he spake.—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:—</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’s rose.—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’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, ‘that while the Earth remaineth seed-time and harvest, and cold +and heat, and summer and winter shall not cease.’</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 ‘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<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:—</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—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.—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’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.</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 ‘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 5½-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’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’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 ‘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,<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—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’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—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<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’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’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’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 ‘Parallax,’ 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’s orbit.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>‘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.</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’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’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 γ 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—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 α 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.</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 ‘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 γ 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—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.</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’s +observations of the celebrated comet of 1607—known as Halley’s +comet—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’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—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 α +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 α Centauri to be 1''·16, but later astronomers +have reduced it to 0''·75.</p> + +<p>Professor Henderson’s detection of the parallax of α 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 α +Centauri—regarded as the nearest star to our system—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 α 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:—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, ‘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<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—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—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<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 ‘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.</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 2½ 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 ‘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.</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>—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 ‘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.</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: ‘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.</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—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—a rare<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> 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.</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.—A Binary Star System—70 Ophiuchi." +title="FIG. 3.—A Binary Star System—70 Ophiuchi." /></a> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 3.—A Binary Star System—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>α 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.<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—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.<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’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 γ 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’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.—The Orbits of the Components of γ Virginis." +title="FIG. 4.—The Orbits of the Components of γ Virginis." /></a> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 4.—The Orbits of the Components of γ 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.—Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius." +title="FIG. 5.—Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius." /></a> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 5.—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">‘whose burning breath<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Taints the red air with fevers, plagues and death.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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.</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 δ 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 ζ +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 (ε +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>ε Boötis, known also as Mirac, and called by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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<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. “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.”’</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—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>—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 +α 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, &c., &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>—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 γ +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<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 ζ 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<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—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 ‘one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens.’ The +stars ξ and β Scorpii form triple systems in which the +components are differently arranged. In ξ the primary and +secondary consist of two revolving stars which control the movements of +a distant attendant; in β 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. ε Lyræ, which has been +described as a double double, is an example of a quadruple system, and +ν 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 θ 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<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—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—</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’s own ear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Listens delighted.—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—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 ‘<i>no night there</i>,’ 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>—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—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.</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 ‘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 β 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 +‘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.</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 ‘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<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 η 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 α +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—as a modern writer amusingly remarks—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>—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>—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, ‘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.</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—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’s southern claw, there is another rich cluster, which consists +of 200 stars of the ninth and tenth magnitudes.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Globular Clusters.</span>—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<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 ‘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.’<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 +ω 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<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 η and +ζ 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.</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: ‘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.’</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>—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.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Nebulæ.</span>—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<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—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 ‘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.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Annular Nebulæ.</span>—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 +β and γ 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>—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<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 2½° 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>—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>—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 ‘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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> 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.’<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>—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 +‘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.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Large Irregular Nebulæ.</span>—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 η 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:—‘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.’ +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 ‘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.</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 θ 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<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 5½°. 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.</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 ‘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.’ 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 ‘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.</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’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 ‘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.</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—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<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:—</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’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, ‘<i>felix qui potuit cognoscere causas omnium rerum</i>.’</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—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,</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.—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’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.—iii. 60-61.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And sowed with stars the Heavens thick as a field.—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.—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.—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.—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.—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’ 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</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.—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—</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.—iii. 558-60.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This is α 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:—</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 ‘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.</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’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’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 ‘PARADISE LOST’</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—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.</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’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.</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 ‘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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <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 ‘bridges’ 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.—A Sun-spot magnified." +title="FIG. 6.—A Sun-spot magnified." /></a> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 6.—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 ‘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<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—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.</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’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<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—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. ‘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.’<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’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 +<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: ‘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 “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.</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.—The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883." +title="FIG. 7.—The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883." /></a> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 7.—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.—iv. 29-30.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He then addresses him thus:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O thou that with surpassing glory crowned,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Look’st from thy sole dominion like the god<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of this new World—at whose sight all the stars<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hide their diminished heads—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.—iv. 32-39.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>On another occasion:—</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.—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:—</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.—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—who, scarce up-risen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With wheels yet hovering o’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’s happy plains.—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.—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’s inmost womb.—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.—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.—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.—vii. 98-103.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The declining day and approach of evening are described as follows:—</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.—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.—iv. 591-97.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i24">the parting Sun<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beyond the Earth’s green Cape and verdant Isles<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hesperian sets, my signal to depart.—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.—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.—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:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i14">two broad suns their shields<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Blazed opposite.—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:—</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.—i. 594-99.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<h3>THE MOON</h3> + +<p>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<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’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—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 <span class="smcap lowercase">PERTURBATIONS</span>. The +most important of these is the <i>annual equation</i>, 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 <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’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.</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—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.<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>—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.</p> + +<p>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<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’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.</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—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<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’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<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’S SURFACE" +title="A PORTION OF THE MOON’S SURFACE" /></a> +<span class="caption">A PORTION OF THE MOON’S SURFACE</span> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p>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:—</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’er the dark her silver mantle threw.—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.—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:—</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.—i. 781-86.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In contrast with this, we have Milton’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 ‘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:—</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.—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:—</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.—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:—</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.—iii. 726-32.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is interesting to observe how aptly Milton describes the subdued +illumination of the Moon’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’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’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<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—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 5½ 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’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<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’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’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—</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.—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—</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’s whole wealth; yea, more!—<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—<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.—iv. 205-46.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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<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 ‘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.</p> + +<p>In Book IX. Satan expresses himself in an eloquent apostrophe to the +primitive Earth, over which he previously wandered for seven days—</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’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—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.—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 ‘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.</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 23¼ 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.</p> + +<p>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<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.’ 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’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<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 ‘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</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’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.—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—</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.—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.—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.—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.—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.—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 ‘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—</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: ‘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 “the chambers of the south;” 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.’ 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’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—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. ‘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<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 ‘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—</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’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.—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, ‘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.</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—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—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 +‘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<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.—A Portion of the Milky Way." +title="FIG. 8.—A Portion of the Milky Way." /></a> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 8.—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. ‘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<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.’ 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 ‘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;<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. +‘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.’</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—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.</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 ‘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<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!’ 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’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—</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’s eternal house direct the way—<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.—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 κομη, signifying +‘hair,’ 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:—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.</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’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<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—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.</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’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’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.—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’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 ‘Ophiuchus huge,’ 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—</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.—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’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.</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’s orbit, and the most +distant part extends beyond the orbit of Uranus. These bodies accomplish +a circuit of their orbit in 33¼ 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:—</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’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.—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:—</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.—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—</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—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind.—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’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—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.</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—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.</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 ‘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.</p> + +<p>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<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—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—</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.—i. 44-48.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Having been precipitated over the crystal wall of Heaven into the deep +abyss, Milton says:—</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.—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 ‘Heavens and the Earth.’<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—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">His dark materials to create new worlds.—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—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<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—a work of omnipotence described by Milton in a manner +worthy of so magnificent a display of almighty power—</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’s highth, and with the centre mix the pole.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">‘Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou Deep, peace!’<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Said then the omnific Word: ‘your discord end!’<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’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, ‘Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This be thy just circumference, O World!’<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.—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’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<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">‘Let there be Light!’ 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.—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—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, ‘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!’ 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—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.—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—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Again the Almighty spake: ‘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!’ 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’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’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’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.—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. ‘God said, +Let there be light; and there was light!’ 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—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—</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—dwelt then in thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bright effluence of bright essence increate!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or hear’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.—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:—</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’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.—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—the Heaven of Heavens—</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’st, for thou heard’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">‘Open ye everlasting gates!’ they sung;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">‘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’ 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.’ 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’s eternal house direct the way—<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.—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—a sight rendered more glorious by his long sojourn in darkness. He +sees:—</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.—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—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—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—</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, ‘<i>This is the gate of Heaven.</i>’—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—</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’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’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.—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—</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.—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’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.</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—</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’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’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.—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—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—</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.—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’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’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’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.—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—</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’er the dark her silver mantle threw.—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?—iv. 641-58.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> conspicuous in Adam’s reply to the +inquiry addressed to him by Eve—</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’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’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.—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, +‘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—</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’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’st,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fall’st.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Moon, that now meet’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.—v. 166-79.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Milton’s conception of celestial distances, and of the vast regions of +interstellar space, is finely described in the following lines:—</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.—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—</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’s resplendent globe,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And starry pole.—iv. 720-24.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>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,<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—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<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—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.</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’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—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’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<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 ‘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.</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:—</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?—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 ‘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.</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’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’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 ‘business of the +highest importance’ 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’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’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’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">‘and other suns perhaps<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry,’<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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTRONOMY *** + +***** This file should be named 28434-h.htm or 28434-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/4/3/28434/ + +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.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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