to excite your curiosity and admiration. Not that I would wish to engage you in long calculations and laborious enquiries, which are of use chiefly to the practical proficient, who makes this the principal object of his pursuit; but there is a general knowledge of the most interesting particulars, which is so easily obtained, that it is inexcusable for a person of a liberal education to be totally destitute of it.

It is this pleasing part of the science that I would at present recommend to your attention : and as you are but little acquainted with mathematical principles, I shall endeavour to treat of it in as easy and independent a manner as the nature of the subject will admit. To divest it entirely of its usual terms would be a vain and ridi culous attempt; but, if I do not deceive myself, I shall be able to remove every obstacle of this kind which is likely to impede your progress, or prevent your improvement.

Not to detain you, therefore, by entering into a long dissertation on its origin and progress, which, at present, would be foreign to our purpose, I shall proceed immediately to the subject itself, and leave those particulars to be mentioned in their proper places. It will be sufficient to observe, that Astronomy is a science of the earliest antiquity, and has challenged the admiration of all ages. Poets, philosophers, and historians, have all given it their highest encomiums, and both kings and princes have enriched it with their labours.

The poets, in particular, have been lavish in their praises upon this subject, and are indebted to it for some of their boldest images, and most exalted descriptions. Virgil, Virgil, the greatest master of verse after Homer, speaks of it with enthusiasm; and, in the second book of his Georgics, breaks out into this animated apostrophe:

"Ye sacred muses, with whose beauty fired,
My soul is ravish'd, and my brain inspired:
Whose priest I am, whose holy fillets wear;
Would you your poet's first petition hear;
Give me the ways of wand'ring stars to know;
The depths of heaven above, and earth below.
Teach me the various labours of the moon,
And whence proceed th' eclipses of the sun.
Why flowing tides prevail upon the main,
And in what dark recess they shrink again.
What shakes the solid earth, what cause delays
The summer nights, and shortens winter days."
DRYDEN'S VIRG.

In like manner, also, the wisest and greatest of men, both amongst the ancients and moderns, have confessed themselves charmed with the beauties of this science. To contemplate the grand spectacle of the heavens, has ever been considered as the noblest privilege of our nature. For it is here that we discover the wonders of the Almighty, and see the wisdom of God in the works of the creation. Nor is there any knowledge, attained by the light of nature, that gives us juster ideas of this great Being, or furnishes us with stronger arguments by which to demonstrate his existence and attributes. "The heavens," says the Psalmist, “declare

the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handywork; day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge; and there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard."

Thus astronomy is not only valuable, as it affords us such exalted ideas of the Deity and his works; but it also improves the mind, and increases the force and penetration of the human understanding. For, by means of this science, we are taught to discover the spring and fountain of all the celestial motions; to follow the footsteps of the Creator through the immense regions of his empire; and to trace the secret causes by which he regulates the great machine of the uni

verse.

Were a knowledge of this kind attended with no other advantage, it has rendered essential service to humanity, by dissipating our vain fears and superstitious opinions. Man is naturally timid, and terrified at dangers which he cannot foresee. Before he is familiarized with nature he suspects her constancy, and regards all her operations with dread and apprehension. The regular and invariable order of things will, at length, inspire him with confidence; but still there are some singular phanomena, which appear as alarming exceptions to the general rule.

Thus, in the early ages of the world, ere men had learnt to judge of effects by their causes, a total eclipse of the sun or moon, was regarded with the utmost consternation, as seeming to por

tend the annihilation of the universe; and the comet, with his fiery tail and blazing hair, was considered as the harbinger of divine vengeance; whose appearance denounced the death of princes, the destruction of empires, famine and pestilence. But these opinions, as distressing as they were erroneous, are, at length, entirely exploded; and we are now taught, by Astronomers, to look upon comets and eclipses with tranquillity and compo

sure.

Astrology is another malady of weak minds, which is effectually eradicated by the principles of this science. We now explore the heavens for the purpose of administering to our wants and necessities by useful discoveries, and not under the vain pretence of searching into the secret designs of fate, and the hidden events of futurity. This fallacious art, which appears so captivating to the vulgar, would have been as fatal to our peace, as it is contrary to the nature of things. Unhappy in the past, and dissatisfied with the present, we live only by the hope of what is to come. A knowledge of our future destiny, would serve only to increase the weight of our present afflictions; and by destroying every motive for exertion and activity, would render existence a misery, and the creation a desert.

But, notwithstanding the absurdity of its doctrines, this art is still practised in almost every country of the world: and it is not long since, that, even in Europe itself, the people had their cunning men, and the princes their astrologers, by whose

predictions they regulated their most important concerns. It is the light of science only that can free us from the gross impositions of these wretched empirics. The immense distance of the stars is a convincing proof that they are too remote from us, for their influence to have any effect upon our globe. And as their aspects and conjunctions have been subject, from all eternity, to invariable laws, they must be totally insufficient to account for that infinite diversity of characters and passions which we observe among men. To make every event depend upon the twinkling of a star, is an absurdity equal to that of the Lapland witches, who pretend to regulate the course of the winds by tying knots in a string.

Another singular service which astronomy has rendered to society, is the assistance it affords to the husbandman and labourer, in the cultivation of the earth. The principal business of agriculture depends upon a knowledge of the seasons, and the course of the sun. In every climate there are certain necessary intervals between the various operations of tillage and culture; and these intervals, being once known by experience, point out the proper time when every operation is to be performed. But how are we to know exactly, and before-hand, as is often required, the commencement of every season, and its stated continuance? This can only be done by searching in the heavens for some invariable signs, which are always connected with them, and announce their return.

These signs are indicated by the sun, or some