to this and every other species of delusion in regard to spectral appearances. *26. 1726.-JEREMY COLLIER DIED, The bold champion of piety and morality against the profligate wits of the day, Dryden, Vanbrugh, Congreve, and Wycherley. His View of the Profaneness and Immorality of the Stage,' as it aimed at the purification and not the total extinction of dramatic entertainments, had the desired effect; and, as the Rev. William Jones (of Nayland), in his 'Letters from a Tutor to his Pupils,' says, brought Dryden himself to repentance, and does indeed beggar every work upon the same argument: it is the triumph of wit over scurrility, of piety over profaneness, of learning over ignorance, and of christianity over atheism.' *APRIL, 1818.-GENERAL PLATOff died, The gallant Hetman of the Cossacks, who, when Bonaparte was ravaging his country, proved his honest detestation of the invader, by the promise of his daughter in marriage to the man who should bring Napoleon a prisoner to his camp! He died at a very advanced age, at Novotscherkask. Astronomical Occurrences In APRIL 1819. THE Sun enters Taurus at 3 m. after 11 at night on the 20th of this month, and he will be eclipsed on the 23d; but the eclipse will not be visible in this country. This luminary will also rise and set as specified in the following TABLE Of the Sun's Rising and Setting for every fifth Day. April 1, Sun rises 35 m. after 5. Sets 25 m. after 6 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, 25 5 35 45 55 13 Equation of Time. The following quantities must be added to or subtracted from the time as shown by a good sun-dial, in order to obtain the time that should be shown at the same instant by a well regulated clock. Thursday - April 1st, to the time by the dial add 4 10 Tuesday 6th, Sunday 11th, Friday 16th, Wednesday 21st, Monday 26th, Phases of the Moon. 2.40 1 14 subtract 0 4 1 14 2 12 First Quarter 2d day, at 19 m. after 4 afternoon. Full Moon The Moon will also be eclipsed on the 10th of this month; but as the beginning of the eclipse is about a quarter past 11 in the morning, and the end at 574 m. past 2 in the afternoon, it will be altogether invisible in this country. Moon's Passage over the first Meridian. The Moon will pass the meridian of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich at the following convenient times for observation, provided there be a clear atmosphere, viz. Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites. There are nearly as many eclipses of Jupiter's first and second satellites this month, as there was last, but none of them are visible at the Royal Observatory. Form of Saturn's Ring. April 1st {Transverse diameter 1.000 -0.035 By comparing this result with that for January, it will be perceived that the plane of the ring has passed through the Earth between these two epochs, as there is a change of sign from plus to minus; and consequently that ring was wholly invisible during a part of this interval. This happened at the end of February and the beginning of March, as may readily be verified by performing the calculation for that time, when it will be found that the conjugate diameter for the 1st of March was only-0.001; and therefore much too small to be perceived, even by the best telescopes. Other Phenomena. Mercury will attain his greatest elongation on the 13th of this month, and he will be stationary on the 22d. Mars and Saturn will be in conjunction at 20 m. past 2 in the morning of the 26th, at which time Mars will be 45' north of Saturn. The Moon will be in conjunction with the star Pollux at 44 m. past 9 in the morning of the 3d; with Spica, in Virgo, at 46 m. after 3 in the afternoon of the 10th; with Antares at 17 m. after midnight of the 13th; with Mercury at 3 m. past 11 in the morning of the 24th; with ẞ in Taurus, at 41 m. after 5 in the morning of the 28th; and with y in Gemini, at 33 m. past 2 in the afternoon of the 29th. On TIME and its APPLICATION. [Continued from p. 77.] In addition to the divisions of time stated in the preceding part of this article, astronomers frequent ly refer to two others, respecting which, a brief explanation appears to be necessary. The two opposite points which constitute the intersections of the equator and ecliptic, are called the equinoctial points; and the two, where the ecliptic touches the tropics, the solstitial points: the time elapsed between two consecutive passages of the Sun through the same equinoctial or solstitial points, is called a tropical year, which the observations of astronomers have found to contain 365 d. 5 h. 48 m., and 45 s. In a similar manner, the sidereal year is determined by the returning of the Sun to the same fixed star. If, for example, the Sun be observed to coincide with any star at a given time, the interval of duration which elapses before he returns again to the same star, constitutes the sidereal year; the length of which is 365 d. 6h. 9 m., and 14 s. The sidereal year is therefore 20 m. 294s. longer than the solar or tropical year, and 9 m. 144 s. longer than the civil year, which is 365 d. 6h. Hence the civil year is nearly a mean between the sidereal and tropical years. But for astronomers, to whom uniformity of motion is indispensable to the simplicity and facility of their calculations, the use of apparent solar time, which answers all the purposes of civil life, is not practicable. They consequently make use of a third species of time, which is altogether of an artificial nature. For this purpose they suppose the Sun to move along the equator with a uniform motion, by which means he would describe equal arcs of that circle in equal times. This is the time that is shown by well regulated clocks and watches; and as they suppose the mean motion of the Sun to be adopted as the measure of this species of duration, it is denominated mean time. The origin of this species of time, as well as that of apparent solar time, is placed at the vernal equinox, so that, as they both commence at the same point, the variation between mean time, and that actually shown by the real motion of the Earth on its axis and in its orbit, and which is indicated by a good sun-dial, is never very great; the latter oscillating about the former without ever departing much from it. The difference between solar and mean time arises from several causes, but especially from two, which we hope the following explanation will render familiar to our youthful readers. These causes are the unequal motion of the Earth in its orbit, or, according to appearances, of the Sun in the ecliptic; and the inclination of the ecliptic to the equator. As the Earth's axis is perpendicular to the plane of the equator, and the motion of the Earth on its axis uniform, equal portions of this circle would pass over the meridian in equal times. But as the ecliptic is inclined to the equator, this cannot be the case with respect to it. The daily motion of the Earth therefore carries unequal portions of the ecliptic over the same meridian in equal times, the difference being always proportional to the obliquity, which varies from 0 to nearly 23° 28', and hence these differences are unequal to each other. This may be familiarly illustrated in the following manner. 'Suppose, for example, that the Sun and a star were to set out together from one of the equinoctial points, and to move continually through equal arcs in equal times, the star in the equator, and the Sun in the ecliptic; then it is evident that the star, moving in the equator, would always return to the meridian exactly at the end of every 24 hours, as measured by a well regulated clock, that keeps equal time; but the Sun, moving in the ecliptic, would come to the meridian sometimes sooner than the star, and sometimes later, according to their relative situations; and they would never be found upon that circle exactly together but on four days of the year; namely, on the 20th of March, when the Sun enters Aries; on the 21st of June, when he enters Cancer; on the |