Frend, Evening Amusements Astronomy)

<
THE CUSTODY Or THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY.
SHELR N
EVENING AMUSEMENTS;
oil,
THE
BEAUTY OF THE HEAVENS

-
DISPLAYED,
IN
WHICH
SEVERAL STRIKING APPEARANCES,

TO BE OBSEUVED ON VARIOUS EVENINGS IN THE
HEAVENS,
DURING THE YEAR
1817,
ARE DESCRIBED.
TO BE CONTINUED ANNUALLY.
By WILLIAM FREND, ESQ. M.A.

ACTUARY TO THE ROCK LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY, AND LATE FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; AUTFIOR OF PRINCIPLES OF ALGEBRA, TANGIBLE ARITHMETIC, ESSAY ON PATRIOTISM, ETC.
JDOCENDO DISCO.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR
J.
MAWxMAN, N 39, LUDGATE biREET.
1817.
[Price 3s. boards.]
ADAMS
Printed by C.
WOOD,
Foppin's Court, Pieet Street.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The
of tins
kind solicitude for the success
Work^
expressed by several
correspondents, some anonymous, de-
mands
author.
this return
of thanks from the

it
In this volume,
will be
seen, that he has not been inattentive
to their remarks
and,
if his
opinions
should
differ
be found in some
theirs,
points to
from
to
they will be kind

that,
if
enough
consider,
every
writer was bound servilely to follow
the traces of his predecessers, and to

consult popular
opinions
only,
the
progress of
human knowledge would
be greatly retarded.
timents from a
To
differ in sen-
Newton
does not im-
ply a want of deference to superior

talents, but the author will not give his
assistance to any delusion,

riads should
though my-
deem him
perverse.
Digitized by the Internet Archive

in
2011
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EVENING AMUSEMENTS;
OH,
THE
BEAUTY OF THE HEAVENS
DISPLAYED.
TO THE READER,
The
not, as
intention of
I
my
little
annual volumes
to
is
have frequently mentioned,
make
my readers
in
perfect astronomers, but to introduce,
a familiar manner, those,

this
who
to
are entirely
unacquainted with
branch of science, to the

point out to
knowledge of the heavens, and

those, a very
it
numerous body, who have studied

what are the chief points
in their constant recollec-
only
in
books,
worthy of being kept

tion.
This
is
done by giving them the paths of
the
Moon
and planets in the heavens, with the

motions,
points,
peculiarities of their respective
their
thei
retrogra dations,
their
stationary
Kodes, and the increase and

latitudes.
decrease of
in
their,
These things are taught
books;
but the learner,
when he
at
is
placed
in
is
an opert
not un-
space, with clear heavens above him,
frequently as
much
a loss
as one,
never read a syllable upon the subject.

real path of a planet in
who had The

is
the
it is
heavens
to
him
perfectly
unknown; and
sometimes amusing
a planet
is
to see hira^
when he
is
told
in
certain sign then visible,
loolc to
the opposite
quarter of the heavens to discover
it.
Now, by
a very small degree of attention,
by
fa-
following the course of the

for one year only, all
Moon,
for
example,
these things
become
miliar to
will
an observer.
in
is
He
sees at once,
and
keep
remembrance,
why
one season of
to the
the year
elevation
more favourable than another
of the
Moon and
;
planets above the
horizon
if I
at
Sun-rise or Sun-set
it,
why
a lunar day,
may
so express
is
so
much
longer at one
time than another; and

so
why
a planet emerges
much
it
sooner from the solar rays at one time

does at
another,
than
though the distance
from the Sun
in both cases is the same.
As
the
instructers
in
astronomy have now
3
pretty generally
adopted these books, I have

as circumstances occur,
taken care, that,

should
they
skill
it
is
have an opportunity of trying the
of their learners.
said, that
As
for
example, when
in
the passage through the nodes

is
by
the
Moon
there
not an eclipse for obvious rea;
sons, those reasons will be asked

is
or
when
there
not
an eclipse owing to the latitude,
then
the learner the Sun and
may shew the Moon to each
relative
situations of
other,
which render
In the
an eclipse in that situation impossible.
same manner, when an

ecliptick or
is
is
inferior planet passes the
in
its
node, the reason
why
there
not a transit will be obvious.
The
positions of
Venus and Mars
afford
in-
structive questions on the degree of brightness of
those planets;
at certain
why
the former should be visible
times the greater part of the day, or
should have a very inferior degree of brightness

at the
times,
to
when
it
is
declared in books ac-
cording
theory
to
be the greatest.
The
is
variety in the appearances of Mars,

so
who
is
for
less
much
a longer time visible to us,
no
applicable to these questions.

questions of this kind, the
In fact,
is
by leading
iai-
mind
gradually
B2'
4
proved,
and accustomed
all
to
take into
its
con-
sideration
the circumstances, in which they
are involved.
For
as,
according to the
maxims
of B great nation unacquainted with the writings
Greece and Rome, one of the three bases of
good government
so
it is
is
attention to circumstances,
in science.
person,
who
is
accustomed
danger
to reason from his books alone, will be in
perpetual
errour,
called forth into
when his knowledge is practice. The want of attention

his
to
minute circumstance renders
answer
futile; and thus the
man
of the world laughs
frequently, and with

clusions of the
great reason, at the con-
man
of the closet.
As
globes are
now very much
used, and
by
occasional
amusement with them the chief points,
to which I call
my
reader's attention, are easily
explained,
could wish that teachers would not

I
disregard the hints, that
have throwrn out
and
at least, at the beginning of every month,

rectify, as 1
would
would
call
it,
the celestial globe for
the appearances of that day, and thence to the
course of the moving objects for the whole of the
month.
mean, that on the
1st
of the
month
ihe places of the
Moon
and planets on that day
should be marked by the
little
pieces of cards, of
If
various colours, to represent these objects.

the globe
is
large enough, the
Moon
in
should be
represented by a small piece of card, as near as
can be to
to the
its
apparent magnitude,
proportion
degree on the globe.
The
smallness of the
apparent diameters of the planets does not admit

of the
same thing with respect
to
them.
course of each object should then be marked,
The by
and
noticing
its
greatest latitude in
the month,
its first
carrying a thread from thence to
place.
The
the
learner should be accustomed, from taking
number of days between
its
place on the
1st of the
month and
be
that of the greatest latitude,
to calculate the
diurnal motion
far
of the object,
which
will not
from the
truth.
Thus, on
every day,
the positions of the cards for the
Moon
and planets
may be changed,
and the
length of their stay
above the horizon made

iii
known, together with the time when each
upon the meridian.

have given,
in
this
volume, the time that

This
the
Sun enters
into
any sign.
may
be
compared with the time given on the wooden

horizon of the globe; and thus the learner, if
his globe
is
of some age^ will

the
be led
to
the
question
of
precession
of the
equinoxes.
of the
But we
will
now
go to the consideration
appearances in the heavens
m the month of
JANUARY,
THE
Moon
1817.
latitude
of the
is,
on the 1st at
in
noon, fiftyseven minutes north,

teenth degree of the third sign
to the 7th,
;
the sevenit
and
increases
when
it
it
is
at
noon
five
degrees
nine minutes in the eighth degree of the sixth

sign.
Thence
and
decreases to the 13th, passing

its
the ecliptick in
five
descending node, between

afternoon, in the fifth de-
six in the
gree of the ninth sign.
Her southern
latitude
at
now
increases to the 20th,
when
it
is
noon
five i3egrees five
minutes, in the sixU) degree of
the twelfth sign;

the 27th,
and
it
it
decreases afterwards to
its
when
passes the ecliptick in
as-
cending node, between nine and ten

the
fifth
at night,
degree of the third sign.
Her northern
midnight at the
latitude
now
increases,
and
is
at
end of the
month four degrees four minutes, in

.
the twenty eighth degree of the fourth sign.
The Moon
on the
1st
is
seen in the eastern hemisphere
before Sun-set, as
she passes the
me-
S
ridian
JANUARY,
at thirty-six minutes
1817.
past ten at night,
being then under the second of the Bull, and having the fine constellation of Orion directly
under her, and being herself between the second

and sixth of the Bull, the former
star to the west,
little
the latter to the east of the meridian, a

fore midnight.
be-
On
the 2d, she
is
on the me-
ridian at thirty-one minutes past eleven, having
near
to
her on the east the
fifth
of the Twins,
and below her on the west the seventh and

twelfth of this constellation.
At her
first
ap-
pearance she
is
seen above but near to these
latter stars, her retreat
from them and passage
by
the
fifth is
the chief feature of her progress
during
this night.
On
],>'ast
the 3d
;
is full
Moon,
eclipse.
at forty-four
minutes
noon
but
I'roai
her too great northern la-
titude ^vithout
an
Her passage under

course,
the two
first stars
is
of the
Twins marks her
and she
directly under them about midnight.

;
On
the 4th she travels through the Crab

tiie
and, on
the 5th, rises under the Lion,
small stars in the head of

first till
but does not reach the
her
next appearance.
the sevenih and
On
the 6th, she rises between
first
of the Lion, but near to the

to
former
star,
directing her course
the small
JANUARY,
stars
1817.
Virgin,
9
passing
in
the
head
of
the
through the body of the Lion on the 7th.
On
the 8th, she rises in the head of the Virgin, di-
recting her course through the third and fourth

of this constellation.
On
the 9th, she rises un-
der the five stars in triangle of the Virgin, nearest to the third;
and during the morning of the

first
10th
is
seen to direct her course above the
to the tenth
and eleventh.
On
at
the 11th, the
Moon
and
is
rises
first
in the
morning
some distance from the
of the Virgin
now
the
to the west of her,
soon followed by the
tenth and eleventh of this constellation12th, she rises nearly with the
first
On
of the Balance,
passing
it
about three.
On the
13th, she rises un-
der the two
first stats of the
Balance, directing
her course
Jupiter.
to
the second
of the Scorpion and
On
the 14th, she rises under the second
of the Scorpion and Jupiter, being followed
by
Mars,
ance.
whom she passes before her next appearOn the 17th is new Moon, at thirty-eight
after
minutes
noon, but for obvious reasons with-
out an eclipse.
On the 1 9tb,
the crescent of the
Moon
is
seen
in,
south-west-by-soutb, below but to the east of Sa-
B5
10
turn,
JANUARY,
who
is
1817.
stars
is
between her and the four small
in the tail of the Goat.
On
the 20Lh, she
in
;
the barren region under the four stars in square
and on the 23d

minutes past four
is
on the meridian
at thirty-five
in the afternoon,
having above
her
to the
west the four

first
stars in square,
and
at
to the
east the three
stars
of the
Ram,
con-
siderable distances, Saturn being near the horizon
in the south-west.
On the
24th, the
Moon
first
is
on the meridian
at
fourteen minutes
past five after noon,

stars of the
having
the
above her the three

smallest
Ram,
being also on the meridian,
and the
small stars in the head of the

to the east.
at fifty five
Whale
is
near to her
On
the 25th, she

five,
on the meridian
minutes past
having above her

to the west,
the three
first
stars in the
Ram
and
the small stars in the head of the
Whale with
Menkar below
she
is
her to the east of
it.
On
the 26th,
on the meridian
at thirty eight
minutes
past six, beins;in a line almost with the Pleiades
and Menkar, the former above her

the latter
to the east,
it.
below her
to the
west of
On
the
27th, she passes the ecliptick in her ascending

liode,
but for evident reasons without an eclipse,

tn
^he
is
the meridian at
twenty-five minutes
JANUARY,
past seven, having
to the west,
1817.
It
now
the Pleiades above her
and Aldebaran with the Hyades

it.
below her
to the east of
On
the 28th, she
is
on the meridian
at a quarter past eight,
being in
line nearly with

;
the second of the Bull and
Aldebaran
to the
it.
the former above and nearest to her
east, the latter
below her
to the
west of
at eight
On
the 29th, she
is
on the meridian
minutes past nine, having to the west of her the
two
stars in the tips of the Bull's horns,
and
and
below and near

meridian
the
to her to the east the seventh
twelfth of the Twins.

at five
On the
30th, she
is
on the
first
minutes past ten, the two

to the east,
it.
of
Twins being above her

below her
and the
fifth
third
to the west of
The
and
the fourth are near to her, the former to the west,
the latter to the east.
On
the 31st, she
is
on the
meridian at three minutes past eleven, having
now above
stars
her to the west the two
first
stars of
the Twins, and to the east of her the two small
with the nebula of the Crab
which
latter
stars she will
have passed before her next ap-
.pearance.
Mercury
the 1st
is
is
an evening
star.
His latitude on
two degrees
six minutes south,
m
it
the
de-
eighteenth degree of the tenth signj and
12
JANUARY,
when he
1817.
passes the ecliptick
creases to the 24th,
in his ascending node, in the twenty-third
degree
of the eleventh sign.

increases,
His northern latitude then
and
at the
end of the month
is
one
degree
fifty-six
minutes north, in the twenty-
seventh degree of the eleventh sign.

est elongation
is
His great-
on the 24th, when he presents
himself favourably to those,
who have
a clear
horizon in the south-west, as he will at an hour

after Sun-set
be ten degrees above the horizon.
Saturn
is
our guide to him, as they are within a
degree and a half of each other.
few
da3's
before and after his elongation he will be viewed,

if
the weather
is
fine,
by many astronomers.
19th.
The Moon
Venus
1st is
is
passes
him on the
an evening
star.
Her latitude on
the
one degree forty-nine minutes south, in

;
the nineteenth degree of the eleventh sign

it
and
the
decreases during the whole
month,
ending
in
with a latitude of twenty-three minutes,

twenty-fourth degree of the twelfth sign.
Hev
motion
grees.
to the
is
direct through about thirty-seven deis first ser:n
She
under Saturn, and near

tail
small stars in the
of the Goat, and
her progress
by
this planet will
amuse the spec-
tator for several evenings.
Being south of the
JANUARY,
ecHptick, her course
is
1817.
13
through the barren space
under the four
stars
in triangle of the
Water-
bearer, passing the eleventh of this constellation
on the 18th, and the twenty-first on the 23d.
The Moon
Mars
is
passes her on the 21st.
a morning star.
His latitude on the

degree
1st is ten
minutes south,
;
in the fourteenth
it
of the ninth sign
and
increases to the end of
the month, ending at nearly thirty-two minutes,

in the sixth degree of the tenth sign.
His pio-
tion
is
direct through nearly

1st
twenty-two degrees
is
and a half; and on the

Herschel, from
be
is
;
a good guide to
little
whom
he
distant
more
than a quarter of a degree
but at Sun-rise they
are only about eleven degrees above the horizon,
so that an observer must have a good view of
it
near south-east-by-south to take advantage of

this proximity.
His progress
is
from the western

to
edge of the western branch of the Milky-way

the
eastern
extremity of the eastern branch,
passing between the eleventh and twelfth of the Archer> but under the
latter star
on the 25tb, and
above the former star

passes
on the 28th.
The Moon
him on the
14th.
Jupiter
is
a morning star.
His latitude on the
U
1st
is
JANUARY,
;
1817.
forty-eight minutes north, in the second
degree of the ninth sign

not
quite two minutesfive
and
it is
increased
is
by
His motion
direct
through
degrees and a quarter, from a point
near to the second of the Scorpion.
He
passes
under the twenty-third of

ends
his
this constellation,
and
course a
little
above the twenty-fourth,

enliven the lower
Jupiter, Antares, and Mars,
region before Sun-rise to the south of south-east-*
The Moon
Saturn
1st is
is
passes Jupiter
on
the 13th.
an evening
star.
His latitude on th$

in the
;
one degree sixteen minutes south,
twenty-second degree of the eleventh sign

it
and
remains nearly the same during the month.

is
His motion
direct through a
little
more than
below him
the
three degrees and a half.

at
first
Near
to but
are the four small stars in the tail of
Goat, the nearest being the fourth of this constellation

;
and from them he slowly recedes

east.
towards
the
The passage
the
first
of Venus
by
first
him and these
stars in
part of the
week
will
be a pleasing feature of the lower

after
regions in the south-west
Sun-set.
The
Moon
passes Saturn on the 19th.
Herschel
is
morning
star.
His latitude on the
3.ANUARY, 1817.
1st is
15
degree
one minute north,
in the fourteenth
of the ninth sign, and continues
the same with

is
scarcely any variation.
His motion
half,
direct
through one degree and a
within the western
branch of the Milky-way, near the western edge.

His place being best discovered by Mars on the
1st.
The Moon
passes
him on
the 14th.
The
Sun's apparent diameter on the 4th
is
thirty-two minutes thirty-five seconds, and on

the 18th thirty-two minutes thirty-four seconds.
The Moon's apparent diameter on

noon
is
the 1st at
thirty minutes
thirty-six seconds,
and
then
to
increases to the
9th,
being
then
at
midnight
It
thirty-two minutes eighteen seconds.

decreases,
but scarcely perceptibly at

at midnight, when
it
is
first,
the
23d
twenty-nine
minutes thirty-six seconds, increasing afterwards

to the
at
end of the month, closing

minutes
fifty
it
at
midnight
thirt3''-one
seconds.
The Sun
enters the eleventh sign at fifty-six minutes past
seven
in the
morning of the 20th,
The
for
places of the fixed stars will be
known
any hour of the night by consulting the volume for 1806, according to the following table -
;
10
JANUARY,
1817.
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
<
Pos.
h.
h.
16
24
h.
m.
12
13 19 9
h.
m.
38 39 45 35
38
m.
X.
XI. XII.
I.
4
6
8
43
4
6
8
10
44 50 40
43
5 7
9 11
1
5 7
9
11
5
11
I
10
II.
12
4
53 14
5
1
III.
IV.
4
6
32 53
4
6
8
22
13
9
V. VI.
44
5
7
27 48 39 35
3 5 7
17
FEBRUARY,
ONE of the
1817.
three bases of good government

;
is
attention to circumstances
and
if this,
with the
other two were written in gold
letters,
on the
thrones of kings, they might at least keep in

the view of
all parties
certain paints of practical
importance, of far greater value than the great

farrago of political disquisitions, with which the
world
is
overwhelmed.
to
But Greece might have

if
been led
one truth with great advantage,
she had properly contemplated a

of
maxim
of one
her
greatest
first
men.
This was
Hippocrates,
whose
the
aphorism points out the inefticacy of

physician,
if
most
skilful
minor circum-
stances are disregarded.
His aphorism
;
may
be
applied to
all
sciences and arts
the politician,
the philosopher, the divine, the mechanist, the
merchant, and the manufacturer
men
in public
and
in
in private
it.
life
continually require to be put

fail,
mind of
Their schemes
thought
it;
and they say,
who would have
but nine times out

not haye
of ten they should have said,
who would
18
FEBRUARY,
1817.
foreseen this result, if he had duly considered

the matter before he engaoêd in
it.
We
have a
fine
example of inattention
to cir-
cumstances in the knowledge handed
dovv'n to us
from the Greeks, and which

our places of education.
is
pretty current in
The Greeks* were
very much
like the
modern French, excessively
self conceited,
and persuaded that they had made
some
great discoveries,
when
in
fact they
were
only marring what they had received from better

hands.
The
Earth, according to
the
Grecian
system, was divided into five zones; the middle

loo het, the
istence.
two exterior too cold
for
human ex-
Their theory was plausible enough;
in the frigid zones,
man cannot
is
exist in darkness
and cold without vegetation, nor

zone, where
all
in the torrid
vegetation
burnt up.
Now,
zone,
it
if
any person had
told
any of these wise
philosophers, that, in several places of the torrid
was cooler
in the
in
middle of summer than

the frigid
zone, there
to
in Greece,
and
that,
were days of
heat,
which would appear
Grecian intolerable, they would have laughed at
FEBRUARY,
181?.
and
19
if their in-
the information as a chimaera;
former had been a barbarian,

served for
their
he would have
contempt.
ridicule
and
The
to the
philosophers would have reasoned as some persons
do
at the present
day
the heat
its
is
owing
Sun, and consequently, by
shining on a globe
at different places,
with differently inclining rays
the degree of heat will depend on the place's

shortest distance
from the equator.
But
in
our days
men have ascended
in balloons,
and travellers have frequented parts of the world

of which the ancients had no conception.
it
Heat,
is
now
clearly
known, does not depend en;
tirely on the solar ray
for
at the
extremity of
sea,
Europe, on the borders of the frozen

veller
cessive
sit
a tra-
may be tormented
viîth
musquitos and ex-
heat; and under the torrid zone he
may
to
at his ease
under the shade of a tree familiar

fruits
Europe, plucking the
of our country, and
seeing around him fields of corn.

that in general the
The
fact
is,
mean
heat of the
year
is
greatest on or near to the equator, provided
the
place
is
but
little
above the level of the sea; but
the climate varies, not according to the imaginary

distinction of climates in the glohe, but accord-
ing to the height of the place above the level of
20
the sea.
FEBRUARY,
181?.
two thousand
in the
Ceteris paribus, a place at
feet elevation
torrid
above the level of the sea
zone will be warmer than a place
of
similar elevation in the temperate, and the
mean
temperature of the
air will
be warmer
in the latter
place than at a similar elevation in the frigid
sone.
But
a city, elevated at the height of six
thousand
feet
above the level of the sea
in
the
torrid zone, will enjoy a cooler
temperature than
many
The
to
towns
in the south of
Europe.
account of Mexico, which
is
now
familiar
every English reader,

in
would have excited

philosopher,
astonishment
Grecian
and
It
changed completely
his ideas of our Earth.

to
might have
led
him
contemplate nature
;
in a
very different point of view
and, in fact, the

if
philosophers of the present day,

sidered a
little
they had con-
more attentively the phcenomena
of that city, would have been
more
careful than
they have been in protruding their crude ideas on

the extraordinary weather, which prevails at the
time
am
writing,
and which has astonished
the inhabitants of this island for

varieties in the state of an
some
time.
Tfie
atmosphere over any
place have not as yet been brought to any rule,
and perhaps
it
may
be
many
years before the
FEBRUARY,
subject will be understood.
181?.
21
Facts are however
accumulating, which are increasing our knowledge upon this head, and in the
serve to put us
mean time they

prejudices.
facts grais
upon our guard against

:
Prejudice
is
the bane of knowledge

it.
dually undermine
blessing,
But freedom of mind
which cannot be appreciated by those

it
who who
it
have
not, nor too highly valued

it.
by those
time,
are in possession of
At the same
for
I
cannot be denied, that the temper of some

is
persons
to
such,
that
it
may be happy
all
them
write
go
in
leading strings
their
lives.
not for such persons, but for those,
who will allow

;
me
the same
will
fi
eedom
as I
wish them to enjoy
and we
now go
together to
observe the ap-
pearances in the month of February.
The
is
latitude of the
Moon on
sign
is
;
the 1st at noon
four degrees twent3'^-four minutes north, in the
fifth
degree of the
fifth
and
it
increases to
the 3d at noon,
when
it
five
degrees one misign.
nute in
It
the
fourth
degree
of the sixth
then decreases to the 9th,
when
she passes the
eclipfick in
her descending node, between six
and sven
ninth sign.
a.îer
noon, in the third degree of the

latitude increases
Her southern
now
fifty-
to the 16th;
when
it is
at
noon four degrees
S3
FEBRUARY,
half,
it
:
1817.
second degree of
nine minutes and a

the twelfth si^n
in the
and
then decreases to the
23d,
when
she passes the ecliptickin her ascendlittle
ing node a
before midnight, in the second

lati-
degree of the third sign; and her northern
tude increases to the end of the month, being at
midnight of the
last
day four degrees

in
thirty
two
minutes and a half,

fifth
the sixth degree of the
sign.
It is full
Moon
on the 2d,
at a
quarter past
a latitude
two
in the
morning, but with too great
to permit of an eclipse.
She
rises in the
evening
under the small
stars
in
the head of the Lion,
passing the seventh of this constellation at two
minutes past eleven, between

first.
this
star
and the
We
shall see her the
foiiownng night di-
recting her course to the small stars in the head
of the Virgin; and, as she moves
now
with a
very rapid motion, we
shall
see her rising with
them on th^
4th,
and nearly between the third

five
and fourth of the

Virgin on the 5th.
siars
is
in
triangle of the
She
to the tenth of this constellation,

rises
and on the 6th
nearly with the

it ;
first,
but at some distance

rises
from
and on the 7th she
under the tenth
and eleventh,
directing her course during th^
FEBRUARY,
inorning of the 8th to the
1817.
QS
first'
of the Balance^,
which star she passes soon after Sun-rise.
On
the 9th, the
Moon
rises in the
first
morning
stars
at
some distance under the two
of the
Balance, and will be seen to direct her course to

the second of the Scorpion, which star she passes
in the afternoon,
and
to Jupiter
beyond
it.
On
the 10th, she rises nearly with Jupiter, and her
progress from this planet

the
is.
the chief feature of
morning.
On
the
llth,
she
rises
under
is
Jupiter, at
some distance now from him, and

Mars.
seen to direct her coure to
On
the 12th,
she rises near the eleventh of the Archer, as she

.passed this star at a quarter past one, and
is
soon
followed by Mars,
whom
she will have
passed
before her next appearance; and on the 13th

she rises under him and the small stars in the
head of the Archer.
On
the 16th
is
new Moon,
at nineteen minutes past four in the morning,
but with too great a southern latitude to admit of
an eclipse.
The
crescent of the
Moon
;
is
seen in the even-
ing of the 17th about Sun-sefc near the horizon

in south-west-by-west
and on the 18th we per-
ceive that she
is
directing her course to the south
|4
of Venus,
FEBRUARY,
at
1817.
her.
some distance above

the 19th, she
She
is
traversing the region

square.
under the four

is
stars ia
On
perceived to have
will
approached so near to Venus, that she
have
passed the planet before her next appearance.
On
the
20
h, she
is
seen to have passed Venus,

this planet
being now between

in the head
and the small
stars
is
of the Whale.
first stars
On
the 21st, she
between the three
of the
Ram
and the
small stars in the he'ad of the Whale, but near to

the latter
stars.
Venus
is
now
at
some distance
below
her.
On
the 22d, the
Moon
is
on the meridian, at
in the afternoon,
thirty-two
minutes past four
being almost directly above Menkar, and having above her to the west the three stars of the
ilam, and the Pleiades to the east.
This groupe
to the
with Venus will easily be pointed out

instructed.
ua-
On
the 23d, she
is
on the meridian
almost diher course
to
at sixteen minutes past five,
being
rectly under the
Pleiades, directing
between the Bull's horns, but nearest

northern
tip.
the
Aldebaran and the Hyades are

the east, and she passes them at
a
below her
to
some distance;
dicate to
circumstance which will inin her
you the change
course since
FEBRUARY,
this
1817.
25
the 24tb,
six,
work was
is
first
undertaken.
at four
On
she
on the meridian
minutes past
having now below her Aldebaran near to but to

the west of
is
it
;
the tip of the Bull's northern horn
above her
to the east.
On
the 25 th, she
is
on the meridian
at fifty-five
tip
minutes past
six,
having below her the
of the BulTs southern
horn, and above her to the west the tip of the
northern horn.
splendour.
Below her
also
is
is
Orion
in great
On
the 26th, she
on the meridian
at fifty minutes past seven, having near to her

to the east the fifth of the
Twins, and below her

this
at
some distance the third of
constellation.
to,
The
she
seventh and twelfth are near
but below
the 27tb,
her to the west of the meridian.

is
On
on the meridian
at forty-seven
minutes past
first
eight,
having above her the two

first to
of the
Twins, the
the west the second to the east

at a considerable distance is
of
the
it.
Below her
first
it
of the Lesser Dog, having above and

the second of this constellation to the
near to
west of the meridian.
On
the 28th, she
is
oft
the meridian at three quarters past nine, having
near to her to the east the two small
stars
of th^
Crab, with the nebula between them.
Mercury
is
in his inferior conjunction
on the
26
9th,
FEBRUARY,
1817.
and consequently afterwards a morning star;

is
but, from the unfavourableness of his path, he
too near the horizon to be detected

observers.
by many
from the
At
his greatest distance
Sun he
is
only about seven degrees above the
horizon at Sun-rise.
On
the
1st,
his
latitude
is
two degrees twelve minutes north,

creases to
in the
;
twentyit
seventh degree of the eleventh sign

the
11th,
and
in-
when
in the
it
is
three degrees
and three quarters,

of the
the 21st,
eighteenth degree
is
eleventh
sign.
He
stationary
on
in
when
it is
two degrees and a quarter
the twelfth degree of the eleventh signj and, at
the end of the month,

in
it
is
thirty-nine minutef
the fourteenth degree of the eleventh sign.

passes
The Moon
Venus
is
him on the
star,
15th.
an evening
being on the meridian

in the afternoon the
about three quarters past two
whole month.
Her motion is direct through about thirty-one degrees. Her latitude, on the
1st, is
twenty-nine minutes south, in the twenty;
sixth degree of the twelfth sign

to the 8th,
and
it
decrease*
when
she passes the ecliptick in her

in the fourth
ascending node,
sign,
degree of the
first
but for evident reasons without a transit.

latitude then
Her northern
increases, being at
; ;
FEBRUARY,
1817.
27
the cnJ of the months at noon, one degree forty-
minutes, in the twenty-sixth degree of the

sign.
first
first
Her favourable
at this
position places her at
near the borders of the middle region
at Sun-set,
and her height
time
is
daily increasing,
and consequently she

the
in a barren region, at
will attract the attention of
commonest observer.
firet
Her path
is
however
stars ia
under the four
square
but her progress between the
fifth
and
sixth of the Fishes will point out these small

stars
on the ISth and 20th, and she finishes her

first
course under the three
stars
fifth
of the
Ram
on the 18th ghe passes the

being to the north of her.
of the Fishes
at the distance of only nineteen minutes, the star
The Moon
passes her
on the 20th.
Mars
is
a morning
star.
His motloB
is
direct
through about twenty degrees nd three quarters.
His latitude on
the
1st
is
thirty-two
minutes
south, in the seventh degree of the tenth sign
and
it
increases to the end of the month, being

last
on the
day one degree forty-three minutes,
in the twenty-seventh degree of the tenth sign.
He
this
is
only about ten degrees above the horizon
at Sun-rise on the 1st, near south-south-east,
and
hetght increases very slowly.
He is
*eeR at
C2
28
first
FEBRUARt,
1817.
to the west of the small stars in the head of
the Archer, and he passes under the thirteenth
of this constellation on the 7th, and he directs

his course through the barren space between the
Archer and the Goat, finishing

tance from the two
stellation,
first stars
it
at
some
dis-
of the latter conto the east,
which are above him
Th
Moon
passes
him on
the 12th.
Jupiter
is
a morning
star,
being on the me-
ridian at twenty minutes past seven in the morn-
ing of the
1st,
is
and every future morning

direct
earlier.
His motion
through somewhat more
than three degrees.
His latitude on the
1st is
fifty minutes north, in the seventh degree of the
ninth sign, and

nutes.
it is
increased
by nearly two minear to the
He
is
first
seen above and
twenty-fourth of the Scorpion, forming with the
second and
that will
first
of this constellation a groupe,
be noticed.
The
superiority
of his
splendour over that of Antares will be remarked.
The Moon
Saturn
passes
him on
the lOth.
is
in
conjunction with the Sun on the

itt is
15th, and will be hid in the splendour of
beams during the whole month.

on the
1st
His latitude
one degree sixteen minutes south, in
FEBRUARY,
it is
1817.
29
the twenty-fifth degree of the eleventh sign, and
increased
is
by nearly two
minutes.
His mo-
tion
direct through
degrees and a half.

the 10th.
somewhat more than three The Moon passes him on
Herschel
the
is
a morning star,
moving nearly
in
plane of the ecliptick, during the whole
month, with a direct motion through about three

quarters of a degree
;
his first place
being
in the
forty-eighth minute of the fifteenth degree of the
ninth sign.
He
is
on the meridian at fifty-two

1st,
minutes past seven in the morning of the
and
ad-
every future morning
earlier.
He
is
now
vanced into the western branch of the Milky-
way, but does not
arrive to the middle of
it.
A line drawn
The Moon
from the second of the Scorpion,
through Jupiter, will pass near to but above him.

passes
him on the
10th.
The apparent diameter of

thiriy-two minutes
the
Sun on the 3d
is
thirty-two minutes and a half, and on the 14th
twenty-six seconds, and on
the 25th thirty-two minutes twenty-one seconds.
The apparent
of the
1
diameter of the
Moon
it
on the noon
increases to
st is
thirty-two minutes, and

it
is
the 5th,
when
thirty-two minutes forty-tw
30
seconds.
is
FEBRUARY,
It
1817.
when
it
decreases then to the 21st,
twenty -nine minutes thirty-two seconds, and
thence increases, ending with a magnitude of

thirty-two minutes two seconds.
The Sun
enters
the twelfth sign on the 18th at thirty-eight ml*
nutes past ten at night.
The
places of the fixed stars will be
known by
referring to the descriptions of their positions in
the volume for 1806, according to the following

table
:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
1
1
Pos.
h.
22
h.
ra.
m. 32 38 28
31
h.
ra.
h.
m.
XI.
Xil.
I.
4 6
8
4
6
8
4
10
3
II.
10
10
11
5 7 9
11
42 32
35
5 7 9
15 5 8
III.
20
2 4
6
41
52
13
24
45 36 32
10
I
57
18
IV.
V. VI.
32 28
4
6
3 5
9
5
SI
MARCH,
TWO
what
fore
;
1817.
modes of instruction are practised in
the world.
is
The one has

is
in view to teach only
known, or
duly
supposed to be known, be-
the other to teach a person

his
preciate
how to apown knowledge. The on
teaches persons what to think, the other teachei

thern
how
to think.
;
By
by
the former a generation

the latter knowledge
ip
remains stationary
gradually improved.
In Spain the former me:
thod
is
cultivated with great success
in
England
latter
and the United Statesof North America the

has numerous advocates.
We
have a striking
instance of the former method even in our
own
country.
In an illustrious seminary, the pupil,

is
on
his admission,
obliged to subscribe his be
lief
of some hundred propositions, on the mean;
ing of which his teachers are not agreed

the fact
is,
and
that if
any two of the most learned

to write
men
in
England were
down
apart their
xplanatioH of these propositions, the disagree-
St
nient between
MARCH,
1817.
them would be manifest ; and no

to the
is
other two could be found to maintain, that the
opinions of either were strictly conformable

original
:
and the probability
is,
that
there
not a single
these
man
in the
kingdom, who believes

in
famous propositions
the sense of the
persons
who made them.

is
This
land
:
the case with oae of the eyes of

its
Eng-
the other permits

for a certain
pupils to use their

;
own eyes
time
but,
after
an in-
terval of about seven years to gome,
nd tea
years to others^ the
same subscription
required.
to the fa-
mous
is,
propositions
is
The consequence
is
that access to these places
debarred to
fo-
reigners in general, and to about
somewhat more
than half of the population of our

for,
own country:
in
the interval that has elapsed since the
establishment of these propositions, the minds of
men have
in
very
very
little
much changed. They are held ^repute by the majority of those,

;
wtio are supposed to believe in them

the others,
absurd, and
and,
by
many
it is
of them are considered to be
thought disgraceful to set their

believe.
names
to
what they do not
The
heir to the throne of Holland
is
supposed
MARCH,
by many
to
1817.
^^
at
kave been educated
at the university
of Oxford.
The
fact
is,
that
he was educated
Oxford, in the town of Oxford, but he could not
be matriculated
there.
He
could not undergo
the ceremony required of every
young Englishit,
man
for
he must,
if
he had submitted to
his
have incurred the contempt of
own countryin these
men, who happen not

numerous propositions.
at
to
be believers
similar thing occurred
Cambridge.
bj;-
foreigner,
one of those sent
out for study
the illustrious empress of Russia,
received the benefit of a university education at
Cambridge, and was naturally desirous of taking

a degree.
To
his surprise
however he was de-
sired previously to sign his
name
in a book,
by
which he would have declared himself a member of the church of England.

subscribe
this,''
"
How
a
can I
said he,
**
since I
am
member
of the Greek church, and what will be thought
of
me
in
Russia
if I
do?"
The reply was. No
subscription no degree: and the Russian quitted
our country without a degree, astonished at a

practice so
much
at variance with the general
tenour of our institutions.
It is
amusing to hear the conduct of our unireprobated by some persons,
versities
who have
34
MARCH,
is
1817.
which a
been educated
similar practice
diiferent,
in petty seminaries, in
adopted.
The
is
propositions are
assent
to
the
ground for requiring
them
is
the same.
The whole
founded on the
fear lest
men
should think for themselves, and a
degree of
infallibility is attributed to a
preceding
that ge-
generation.
The opinions however of

wear out
:
jieration gradually
but the practice of
subscribing to them remains from the fear of innovation.
Happily
for
England
it
contains nuexists:
merous seminaries, where no such practice

and from Englishmen thinking so
selves the country
is
much
its
for
them-
indebted for
prosperity.
My
great object
is
to lead
my
reader to think
for himself, to place
for himself,
him in the and the more he
situation to judge
exercises his
own
judgment, whether he embraces or

opinions, the better
rejects
my
am
pleased.
But there
are some to
whom
them
this liberty is not pleasing.
I pity their tastes, but I will not write

positions for
to subscribe
if
;
down
pro-
and
for this
plain reason, that, ductions of
these propositions are deor of
my own mind,
is
any other per-
son's mind, there
a probability, that they will
not bear the scrutiny of future generations.

this
On
v^^ry
subject let
me recommend
to
you a
MARCH,
valuable
titled
little
1817.
35
work, written by Locke, and en-
The Conduct of the Understanding. It for, whether you cannot be too much studied
;
tigree
with the author in every point or not, you

perceive
that
his only
will
wish
is,
that
you
facts,
should arrive at truth.
We will now go to
for the
and contemplate the heavens
month
of
March.
The
Very
latitude of the
Moon on
five
the 2d at noon
is
little
more than
degrees north, in the

fifth
twenty-seventh degree of the

decreases to the 8th,
tick in her descending
sign
and
it
when
she passes the eclip-
node between seven and
eight in the evening, in the thirtieth degree of

the eighth sign, and for obvious reasons without
an
eclipse.
Her southern
it
latitude
increases to
the 15th,
when
is
at
noon
five degrees
two
minutes and a half, in the twenty-eighth degree

of the eleventh sign; and
it
23d,
when
she passes the ecliptick in her ascend-
ing node on that day about four in the morning,

in the twenty-sixth degree of the second sign.
Her southern
latitude increases to the

last
end of the
month, being on the
day
at
noon four degrees
forty-six minutes, in the nineteenth degree of th
S6
sixth sign.
MARCH,
The Sun enters
1817.
the
first
sign at fifty-
four minutes past ten at night on the 20th.
The Moon
is
on the meridian, on the

at night,
1st, at
forty-
two minutes past ten

under the small
being then directly
stars in the
head of the Lion^
and bending her course

constellation,
to
will
the seventh of this
which she
have passed before

of the Lion will
her next appearance.
The
first
be noticed under her

is
to the east.
On
the 2d, she
on the meridian
at thirty-seven
minutes past
first
eleven, being in a line nearly with the
and
second of the Lion, the former star below her to

the west, the latter above her and at a considerable distance to the east.
at thirty-five
On
the 3d
is full
Moon,
minutes past one after noon, but from
her
g<êat
northern latitude without an eclipse.
She* rises in the evening nearly with the second

of the Lion, and
is
directing her course to the
small stars in ihe head of the Virgin,
On
the
4th she
risfts
under the small

is
stars in the
head of
the Virgin, and
soon followed by the seventh
of thi^ constellation,
above which sh passes

it
to
the third, reaching
about Sun-rise.
On
the
5th, she rises uiider the five stars in
triangle of
the Virgin, and will pass the ^rst of this con-
MARCH,
stellation
rises
1817.
37
the Ctb, she
at
some
distance.
On
nearly with the tenth and eleventh of the
Virgin, passing between these two stars in her
progress this night.

the two
the
will at
first;
first
On
the 7 th, she rises under
stars
of the Balance, but near to
and, during the morning of the 8th,

to
be seen
be directing her course to Jupiter,

to the east of her.
some distance
On
the 9th the
Moon
rises
in the
morning
is
under the second of the Scorpion, and

followed
soon
by
Jupiter,
whom
she will evidently
pass before her next appearance.
On
the 10th,
she rises under and soon after Jupiter.
On
the
11th, she rises under the twelfth of the Archer,
passing between this star and the eleventh about

Sun-rise.
On
the
12th,
she
rises
under the
is
small stars in the head of the Archer, and
soon followed
by Mars,
at
some distance from

to the east of her,
her to the
the two
east.
On
the 13th, she rises under
first stars of the
Goat
and
will
evidently pass
Mars before her next
appearance.
On
the 14th, she rises under Mars,

is
now
to the west
at eleven
of her; and on the 17th

minutes past nine
in the
new
Moon,
morn-
ing, but from her great southern latitude without

sin eclipse.
38
On
MARCH,
1817.
the 19th, the crescent of the
Moon
is
seen
in the evening in the west,
under and
stars of the
at
some
and
distance from the three
first
Ram
Venus, directing her course under the planet.
On
the 20th, she
is
seen to have approached nearer
to these objects, and vvll
have passed between the
three
first stars
of the
Ram
is
and the small
stars in
the head of the

ance.
Whale
before her next appear-
On
the 21st, she
near to but
still
under
Venus, forming with the planet a beautifni object

till
Moon-set.
On
the 22d, she has
Venus
the
under her and the Pleiades above her.

23:1,
On
she
is
at a considerable distance
from Ve-
nus, having
now
botli the
Pleiades and Aldebais
ran under her.
On
the 24th, she
between the
horns of the Bull, passing the line between the
two
tips
about midnight.
On
the 25tb,
we
see
her passing above the seventh and twelfth of the
Twins.
On
the 26th, the
Moon
is
on the meridian at
forty-one minutes past six in the evening, having
under her the sixth of the Twins, and above her

to the west the fifth,
and below her
to the east
first
the fourth of this constellation; the two

at a greater distance
are
above her
to the east.
On
the 27th, she
is
on the meridian
at thirty-sevea
MARCH,
minutes past seven, having
virest
1817.
39
her to the
now above
stars
the two
first stars
of the Twins, and below
her to the east the
two small
with the inthe 28th, she
teresting nebula of the Crab.

is
On
on the meridian
at thirty-three
minutes past
eight, having
above her
to the east the small stars
in the head of the Lion,

stars
and below her the small
with the nebula of the Crab to the west.

is
On
the 29th, she
on the meridian
at
twenty-
eight minutes past nine, being
now
an^l
near to but
the
first is
under the seventh of the Lion,

almost directly under her
:
the third
is
above her
is
to the east of the meridian.
On
the 30th, she
on the meridian
Lion near
at tviênty-two
minutes past ten,
having above her the eighth and fourth of the

to the meridian,
and the second

it
at a
to the
much
greater distance from
to the east
west of her are the thiid, seventh, and

this constellation
is
;
first
of
and,
if
the night
is
fine, there
a good opportunity for pointing out the prinin this

constellation.
cipal stars
On
the 31st,
she
is
on the meridian
at a quarter past eleven,
having above and near
to
her the small
stars
in
the head of the Virgin, and below her the second.
She
is
traversing the space between the five stars
in triangle
of this constellation, direeting her
40
MARCH,
star.
1817.
course between the third and fourth, but near t
the former
Mercury
is
is
morning
star,
at
his
greatest
1st
elongation on the 7th
His latitude on the
twenty-eight minutes north, in the fifteenth
degree of the eleventh sign; and he passes the

ecliptick in his descending
node on the 3d,
in the
sixteenth degree of thisîsjn, but for evident rea-
sons without a transit.
His southern latitude in-
creases to the end of the month, being then
two
degrees twenty-one minutes,
in the
twenty-third
in
degree of the twelfth sign.
He
is
an un-
favourable position for observation,
his height
above the
greatest
horizon at
Sun-rise on
the
day of
six
elon station
being only about

passes
de-
grees.
The Moon
is
him on the
15ch.
Venus
an
evening
star,
at
her greatest
elongation on the 13th.

is
Her
latitude
on the
1st
one degree forty-four minutes north, in the

first
twenty-seventh degree of the

increases greatly, being
sign; and
it
more than four degrees

day, in the twenty-fifth
and a quarter, on the
last
degree of the second sign.
Her motion
is
direct
through nearly thirty degrees.
From
her great
MARCH,
1817.
41
-ilevation at Sun-set, during the
whole month, she
beautifully enlivens the evening walk.

first
She
is
seen under the three

first
first
stars of the Kara,
taking the
fortnight to pass
them; and she

passei
then directs her course to the Pleiades, but does

not arrive to
them this month. The Moon
her on the 22d.
Mars
1st
is
is
a morning
star.
His latitude on the
fifty-two
minutes south, in the twentyit
seventh degree of the tenth sign; and

to nearly a degree
increases
and a quarter,
in the twentieth
is
degree of the eleventh sign.
His motion
direct
is first
through about twenty-three degrees.

seen under and to the west of the two
He
first stars
of
the Goat, which he passes on the 7 th; and tra-
versing the barren space in this constellation directs his course to Saturn, passing near to
and
above the small
stars in the tail of the
Goat at
the end of the month. the ISth.
The Moon
passes
him on
Jupiter
is
a morning
star.
His latitude on the

in
1st is fifty-one
miiwtes north,
it
the tenth de-
gree of the ninth sign, and

nutes.
gree.
increases two mi-
His motion
is
direct through about a de-
He is thus
the
companion of Antares, mov-
42
xMARCH, 1817.
The Moon
is
ing very slowly from him, being stationary on

the 28th.
passes
him on the
9th.
Saturn
1st
is
a morning
star.
His latitude on the

in the
it
one degree eighteen minutes south,
twenty-ninth degree of the eleventh sign, and

increases nearly four minutes.
rect
His motion
is
di-
through nearly three degrees and a
half,
but
from the unfavourableness of his position and

southern latitude he will scarcely be visible
the latter end of the month, and on the last
his altitude
till
day
only
above the horizon
at
Sun-set
is
about eight degrees.
He
is
then directly under
the eighth and geventeenth of the Water-biarer,
The Moon
Herschel
passes
him on the
5th.
is
on the meridian
at
at six in the
tlie
morn-
ing on the 3d, and

alter
four on
21st, rising
is.
midnight the whole month.
His motion
direct to the 21st,
when he
is
stationary, in the
sixteenth degree of the ninth sign, being then in
the plane of the ecliptick.

ridian he
is
When
on the me-
directly under the seventh of the
Serpent-beaier,
having the seventeenth above,

to the east of,
and the eighth below him, both

and near
to the meridian.
The Moon
passe*
him on the 9th before midnight.
MARCH,
is
1817.
the
43
1st

thirty-two
Sun on the
seconds,
minutes
nineteen
and
thirty-two
minutes six seconds on the 24th.

of the
The apparent diameter

at
it
Moon on
the 1st
is
noon thirty-two minutes sixteen seconds, and

increases to the 5th, being then at noon thirty:
three minutes ten seconds

20th,
it
decreases to the
being at midnight
;
twenty-nine minutes
it
twenty-eight seconds
to the end of the
and
increases afterwards
month,
ending at midnight
with a magnitude of thirty-three minutes sixteen

seconds.
For the places of the fixed
etars at
any hour of
1806, where
the night consult the volume for

their
positions
;
are
-<
described
according to the
following table
44
MARCH,
1817.
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
'
1
Pos.
h.
1
16
h.
24.
m.
38
41
h.
m. 43 46 35
h.
m.
I.
6
8
6
8
II.
12 15
III.
10
30
51
10
4
25
5 7 Q
11
1
7 9
11
17 6
IV.
56
47 43 43
27
18 14 14
V.
VI. VII.
2
4.
42
38 38
2 4
6
16 12 12
3
5
45
APRIL,
1817.
THE
last
year was remarkable for the extra-
ordinary degree of wet weather, which prevailed
during the whole of the
summer.
circum-
stance of this kind naturally set curiosity afloat

to discover the causes of this
phcenomenon, and
to
numerous explanations were given, according

the situations of
life
of those,
who
philosophised
upon
this occasion.
general opinion prevailed,
that the
astronomers were more capable than

it
:
other persons to account for
and the name of

from the
an
illustrious
observer of the heavens was fre-
quently brought forward, as having
depth of
actually
his science discovered
the cause, and

It
prognosticated
the
event.
could
this
fa-
hardly be considered as a compliment by
gentleman
to
be put thus on a level with the
bricator of that composition, which goes under

the
so
name of Moore's Almanack, and which is much in the hands of the great and little
This strange publication, which
is
vulgar.
the
46
APRIL, 1S17.
we
live, prftteiids t#
<H5grace of the age in which

foretel events
by
certain configurations of th
heavens, and keeps up a delusion in the minds of
many
otherwise respectable persons,
by whose
countenance of so ridiculous a work the lower

classes of society are errour.
I
k^pt in a very pernicious

least
have not the
knowledge, nor do
I desire to
sit
have
it,
of the person,
who can
coolly
down
to write this farrago of nonsense:

is
but
hope that he
not a mathematician of emi-
nence, as 1 would willingly persuade myself, that
no one of that description would

talents in such a
prostitute his
manner.
Are you
startled at the indignation vrith
which
it
I have expressed myself?
Perhaps you take

to
as you will say innocently
amuse yourself
it,
with the fantastical ideas, that occur in

to laugh at the coincidences
and
your
between the progi3ut others of
nostications and the events.

fellow
countrymen are not
so
good judges, and

its
conceiving from the greatness of

that
it is
circulation
held in high repute, they will naturally
be led
to conclude, that there is

its
some
truth in
the science from which

rive his knowledge.
It
author pretends to deboast indeed of very
may
high antiquity, and there are cabinets of sove-
A?RIL, 1817.
feigns,
4t
which, at the present day, do not en-
gage
in
an Hndertaking without consulting one
of these conjurers,
whom
they believe, or pre*
tend to believe, able to determine on the result
ef their undertakings.
Thus,
former times, the entrails of animals

flight
were consulted, and the
of birds was con-
sidered as a good or a bad omen.
The mind of
:
man
is
prone
to
this
kind of superstition
but,
with the Bible in our hands, and the knowledge

possessed
now
of natural causes and
effects,
it
is
astonishing that any one should be found capable
of entertaining,
errours.
much
less
of patronising, such
To
left
look at the feeding of chickens, or

flies to
to observe
whether a bird
the right hand
or the
would be a bad indication of the
talents of an admiral or general in the present
days
yet this
is
not less absurd than to pretend
by
the positions of the heavenly bodies to deterfate of
mine the
an individual, born at the moor
ment they were observed,

positions to settle
by means of
to
future
what
is
to
be the
fate of nations,
or the
month
in
which they are
take place.
It
would seem to be an
idle
waste of time to
48
APRIL, 1817.
when
number of our
enter into a serious argument upon this subjeet
yet
it is
right,
fellow crea-
tures are exposed to dangerous delusions, to put
them
to
at least
upon
their guard,
and to point out

to the reli-
them how contradictory they are
gion we profess, as well as to the deductions of

unsophisticated
common
arts
sense.
Severe are th
denunciations of Scripture against those,

profess hidden
who
The
is
of diving into futurity, as
well as those
who
consult such deluders.
glorious objects in the heavens are displayed to
us for a very different purpose, and our time
innocently employed in contemplaing their

tions,
moto
and usefully when these motions are made
subservient to the uses of
common
is
life.
But
occupy
ourselves in propagating a
it
known
errour,
or to give
our countenance,
highly unworthy
of the Christian or the philosopher.

that
ful
:
The
is
gain,
may be
it is
derived
by a
delusion,
disgrace-
like the accursed
gold and the
Baby^
lonish garments,
which brought dismay
into the
armies
of Israel.
Far from the honest mind b$

;
such a species of covetousness

courages,
lusion.
is
and he, who en-
next to him
who
introduces the de-
Upon
this point I leave
you now
to
your
own
reflections,
proceeding to point out to you
APRIL, 1817.
certain positions and
control
49
motions,
which have no
in
whatsoever on the events

life,
public
or
private
that will take place in this month.
The
latitude of the
Moon
it
is
on the
1st at
fifth
noon
four degrees six minutes north, in the
degree
of the seventh sign, and
when
she passes the ecliptick in her descending
node, very soon after midnight of the preceding

day, in the twenty-eighth degree of the eighth
sign.
Her southern
it is
latitude increases to the 11th,
when
it
at noon five degrees
ten minutes, in
;
the twenty-fifth degree of the eleventh sign
and
decreases
to
the
]9th,
when she
passes the
ecliptick in her ascending node, in
the twentyfive in
eighth degree of the

the morning.
to the 26th,
second sign, about

latitude
five
Her northern
it is
increases
when
at
noon
degrees and
a quarter, in the thirtieth degree of the fifth .îgn;
and
at
it
decreases to the end of the month, being

the last
neon of
day one degree fourteen miof the eighth
nute?, in the fourteenth degree

sign.
The Moon
past eleven
is full
on the
1st,
at nine minuteis
at
night,
but from her too great
northern latitude without an eclipse.
She
rises
50
APRIL,
1817.
and
fourth of
;
in'the evening between the third
the Virgin, but nearest to the former star
and
she recedes considerably during the night from

the five stars in triangle
She
first,
directs her course, at
through the space between the tenth and

first
eleventh, to the
of the Balance, which star
she reaches on the 3d,

tion.
when
at
it
suffers
an occulta-
This takes place
twenty-seven minutes
little
past eleven at night, the star being
more
it
than sixteen minutes south of the center; and
emerges
the star
at fifty-three
is
minutes past eleven, when
thirteen minutes south of the center.
The
shortness of the time elapsing between the

will render
this
immersion and emersion

teresting sight.
an in-
On
the 4th, she rises under the

is
two
first stars
of the Balance, and
perceived to
be directing her course under the second of the

Scorpion to Jupiter, at some distance of her.
to the east
On
the 5th, she rises under the second
of the Scorpion, preceded by Jupiter,
whom
she
passed under about nine at night, and her progress from
him
is
very rapid, as will be apparent
during the morning of the 6th.
On
the 7th, the the
Moon
rises
in the
morning
of the
nearly with
twelfth and
eleventh
APRIL, 1817.
Archer
to the east of her,
51
but she does not pass

them
till
after noon.
On
these stars,
now
to the
west of her, and soon after
them, being herself directly under the small stars

in the
head of
this constellation
and she directs

it
her course through the barren space between
and the Goat, rising under

the 10th,
is
its
two
first stars
on
when they are soon followed by Mars
to the
west of her, and
considerably to the east
of her.
On
the 11th, she rises with the small
stars in the tail
of the Goat near to her to the

arisen,
west.
Mars being
and
to
the east of her,
evidently to be passed before her next appear-
ance; and she
is
directing her course, from her
great southern latitude, at sonie distance under
Saturn.
On
Saturn,
and her unfavourable situation and great southern

latitude render her little visible
on the following
the loth,
at
mornings.
It
is
new Moon on
twenty-eight minutes past two in the afternoon,
but with too great a latitude to admit of an eclipse*
On
Moon
is
seefi
soon after Sun-set in the west, under the Pleiades^

directing her course between
des,
them and the Hyastars.
and Venus, but nearer to the former

is
On
the IQth, she
seen above them and between Ve-
D2
52!
APRIL, 1817.
On
the seen under the second of the Bull, or
nus and Aldebaran with the Hyades.

20th, she
tip of the
is
northern horn, to pass between the two
tips at nearly equal distances

is
from them
Venus
now between
is
her and the Hyades.
On
the 21st,
she
seen near to the seventh and twelfth of the

till
Twins, but she does not pass them

set.
after
Moonof the
is
On
the 22d, she
is
seen above the
fifth
Twins, near
to her to the west.

first stars
On
the 23d, she
seen under the two

the line
of the Twins, to pass
drawn through them and produced about
midnight.
On
stars
the 24th, she
is
seen near to the
two small
and nebula of the Crab, being
near to and above the third of this constellation.
On
the 25th, the
Moon
is
on the meridian at
twenty-four minutes past seven in the evening,
being uwder the small

the
fifth
stars in the
head of the Lion,

first
being directly above her, and the

to the east.
be-
low her
She
is
directing her course to
the seventh to the east of her, but does not reach

this star
till
after
Moon-set.
at sixteen
On
the 26th, she
is
on tne meridian
having
minutes past eight,
now
is
to
the west of her the seventh of the

first
Lion, and below her the
on the same
side.
The
third
above her nearer to the meridian on

fourth,
the west;
the
eighth,
and second,
at
APRIL, 1817.
some distance
he
is
S3
On
the 27th,
to the east of her.

at
on the meridian
seven minutes past nine,
having the second of the Lion above her, and

near to her on the
east,
and the eighth and fourth
above her and at about double the distance from

it
to the west.
The
small stars in the head of the

east.
Virgin are near to her to the

she
is
On
the 28th,
on the meridian
at fifty-nine
minutes past
nine, having the
seventh of the Virgin almost
directly under her, the third to the east of her,
and the second below her
to the
west
she
is
directing her course between the third and fourth,
but nearest to the former

is
star.
On
the 29th, she
on the meridian at fifty-one minutes past ten,

first
having now the
of the Virgin below her,
and near
to the meridian to the east,
and the
five
stars in triangle
of the Virgin at iorae distance
from her to the west.

ilieridian
On
the 30th, she
is
on the
at three
quarters past eleven, having
the tenth and eleventh of the Virgin near to her

to the west, and the
first
and second of the Ba-
lance to the east of her.

course to the former
star.
She
is
directing her
Mercury
is
in his superior conjunction
on the
19th, but with too great a latitude for a transit.
His latitude on the
1st is
two degrees twenty mi
,.
APRIL, 1817.
on the 19lh
nutes south, in the twenty-fifth degree of the

twelfth sign; and decreasing
is
thirty-
one minutes south,

the
first
in the
twenty-ninth degree of
sign.
He
passes the ecliptick on the 22d,
in the sixth
degree of the second sign; and his

till it
northern latitude increases
-becomes, at the
end of the month, one degree twenty-three minutes, in the twenty. third degree of the
sign.
second
His unfavourable situation, and southern
latitude, preclude general observations
on him in end of the

his situa-
the
first
part of the
is
month; and
at the
month, when he
tion
is
an evening star and
favourable, he will be lost in the splendour
f the setting Sun.

the 16th.
The Moon
passes
him on
Venus
the 1st
is
is
an evening
star.
Her
latitude
oa
four degrees twenty-five minutes north,

;
in the twenty-sixth degree of the second sign
and
is
it
increases to the end of the month,
when
it
nearly five degrees and a quarter, in the nintli
degree of the third sign.

horizon at Sun-set
is
Her height above
the
daily decreasing, but she
will be a beautiful object in our
evening walks.
At first she is under the Pleiades, and her passage by them will engage attention. Her motion is di-.
reft to the 28th, through about seventeen degrees
APRIL, 1817.
when
passes
53
the
she
is
stationary.
On
17 th,
she
between
the
twenty-first
and twentyher
second
of the Bull, having under
Alde-
baran and the Hyades.
The Moon
passes her
on the 20th.
Mars
1st
is
is
morning
star.
His latitude on the
one degree and a quarter south, in the

it
twenty-first degree of the eleventh sign; and
increases to about a degree
and a
half,
in the
thirteenth degree of the twelfth sign.
His height
1st
is
above the horizon
at Sun-rise
;
on the
only
about eleven degrees
but
it is
increasing, so that
many
18th,
will observe his passage
by Saturn on the
be near to each
is
for the
two planets
will
other on that morning.

to
Mars
first
seen near
and above the four small
Goat, whence
he- directs his
course to Saturn;
finishes
it
and,
having
passed
him,
in
the
middle of the
stream
from
the
urn
of the
Water-bearer, passing the eleventh of this constellation
on the 26th.
The Moon
passes
him
on the lllh.
Jupiter
is
on the meridian
1st,
at nearly four in the
morning of the
and three quarters past two

1st
is
the 20th.
His latitude on the
fifty-
56
APRIL, 1817.
and
His
increased
is
three minutes norths in the eleventh degree of the
ninth sign
rainute.
it is
by only about one

through
motion
retrograde
about a degree
the meridian
to
it
and three quarters.

is
When
on
Antares
below him, and near

passes
on the west.
-
The Moon
-
him on
the 5th.
Saturn
is
morning
star,
about seven degrees

Sun-rise;
n!y above the

height
1st is
is
horizon
at
but this
daily increasing.
His latitude on the

in
is
one degree twenty-two minutes south,

;
the second degree of the twelfth sign

increased
cl'rert
and
it
by about four minutes.
His.
motion
is
tb.roup-h
half.
somewhat mere than two

is
desjrees
and a
He
at first almost directly
under
the eighth of the Water-bearer, tvyd he passes
near the eighteenth, a small

utellatioo,
star
in
this
con-
on the 15th.
the
The
chief feature in his

Tlie
course
is
progress of
Mars by him.
Moon
passes
him on the
12th.
Herschel
four in the
is
on the meridian
1st,
at a
quarter past
at
morning of the
His place on the
and
three on
the '22d.
1st is in
the sixteenth
in the
degree of the ninth sign, and he moves
plane of the ecliptick, with a retrograde motion.
APRIL,
through
nearly
forty
1817.
57"
minutes.
He
has
thus
above him, as
in the last
month, the seventh of

and below
the Serpent-bearer almost directly,
him
to the east the
eighth of this constellation.

6th.
The Moon
passes
him on the

is
of the Sun on the 7th

seconds,
thirty-one
1st
minutes
fifty-nine
fifty
and
on the 2
thirty-one minutes
-three seconds.
The apparent diameter of the

noon
and
is
it
Moon
when
on the 2d
at
thirty-three minutes twenty-eight seconds;

it is
twentythen in-
nine minutes twenty-six seconds;
it
creases to the end of the month, being on the

last
day
at
midnight thirty-three minutes and a
half.
For the
situation
of
any
fixed
star, at
any
hou): of the night, consult the
volume
:
according to the following table
for 1806,
BS
APRIL, 1817.
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
1
Pos.
h.
16
24
h.
m.
h.
m.
h.
m.
53
m.
IL
IIL IV.
6 8
48
37 58
6
8
22
11
5 7
42
3
7
9
11
13
10
10
32
23
10
11
34
25
21
V.
49
2
54 50
50 55
VL
VIL
VIII.
45 45
2 4
6
19 19
24
3 5
21
26
S9
MAY,
WHEN a
gipsey
1817.
woman examines
the hands
of some young lady of fashion, and holds out to
her imagination various delightful prospects of

futurity, the latier, receives
them with a mixture
of faith and incredulity.
She has not firmness
of mind to contemplate the whole as a cheat, and

at the
same time
it
is
seldom that she

to
is
so
com-
pletely deficient in
education, as
place im-
plicit confidence in these pretended
prophecies.
She has heard of
instances, in
which the events

to
have actually taken place according
the re-
presentation of the miserable vagrant, and
why
may
it
not happen to herself?

life
Thus
are wretch-
ed people in high
deluded by the most mithe lowest
serable of their fellow creatures in

class
:
for
they have not the sense to understand,
that, if a poor
it,
wretch should dole
out, as she calls
fortunes to a
number
is
of enquirers, the general
course of events
such, that in
some one or
tvsô
jnstaHces they will correspond with her predic-
60
tions.
MAY,
The
1817.
fails^
times, in which the fortuneteller
are
not taken into the account; the successful
stor}' is
dwelt upon;'
;
it
is
repeated from
mouth
to
mo>Uh
and each ouivying the other in her

sui prise cries out,
gapin^s of
How
wonderful
Thus
nack.
it is
with the readers of Moore's Almasee a diagram,
They
marked out by
them
va-
rious curious characters, to
unintelligible,
though they are merely abbreviations used by

astronomers.
To
these
is
affixed a degree of im-
portance, and in proportion to the impudence of

the drawer of the figure increases the credulity of
the reader.
all
The
latter
does not consider, thaf

is
this aflectation
of science
nothing more
than the hard words of the gipsey, and the

poring over of the lines io the palm of a hand
This species of delusion

is
is
more extensive than

dare say, that
for
I shall
generally imagined, and
be esteemed extremely presumptuaus

to
daring
impute
it
to
some of the admirers of one of the

of importance, that
greatest philosophers; that this nation ever pro-
duced.
But
it is
we should
and the
be
upon
our
guard against errour,

it
higher the quarter whence

should
proceeds, the more
we
take care to
call to
our aid that c^m-^
MAY,
mon
sense,
lis.
1817.
to,
61
will not
which/
'
if
duly attended
mislead
In the amusing romance, which goes under

the
name of the
sir
Principles of Natural Philosophy,

there
are
*by
Isaac Newton,
two
sections,
studied
by very few persons; but

in
the supposed
grand truths contained

rally
them
in
are very gene-
circulated,
and he'd
high estimation.
Newlon supposes
a particle to be placed at a dis-
tance from a globe, composed
of particles, and
the particle without as well as each particle within
the globe
is
supposed to be endued with a
power of
itself.
attraction, or
drawing every particle
to
figure
is
drawn, with a variety of lines

reader as unintelligible as
in
it,
to the
common
the diagram in
Moore's Almanack,
By meani
it
of these
is
lines,
and the reasoning upon them,
discovered, and very philosophically laid down^
in
what manner and proportion the outer particle
will be attracted or
drawn
to the globe.
if
And
in
the same
manner
it is
shewn,
we
place a globe
in the situation
of the outer particle, in what

this
manner and proportion

tracted,
globe will
be
at-
or drawn
to the other globe.
Now
all this is
very well, and the problem
is
6%
MAY,
Are we
1817.
it
amusing to a mathematician: but what does

tend to?
to believe,
that there
is
any
upon
be
thing in nature to which
these truths
may be
applied
the
If the globes in the heaven act

vice versa,
in
Earth, snd
then they must
made up of
scribed
:
particles
is,
the
manner above dein
that
each particle
our Earth must

re^
have a power, which extends

motest heavens
the
:
itself to the
and, as matter, according to

is
Newtonian opinion,
is
infinitely
divisible,
the smallest insect, that

est object perceptible to
cret^ping on the small-
our senses, has a power,

its
independent of those necessary to
existence,
which
is
exerted on objects
Herschel.
as small as itself in
the planet
Such a monstrous idea

it
strikes every one,
when
rate, this
is
fairiy
proposed to
it
him
and, at
any
he says, that
is
past
his conception.
Yet
must be believed by
every one, who embraces the generally received

doctrine of attraction, for without
to the ground.
it
the whole-falls
that
The Newtonian system requires^ every particle, in every globe moving in

is
the heavens, mu'^t be endued with what
called
to-
an attractive powder, or the pov/er of drawing
wards
itself particles
at
any distance; and the
minds of many, not considering the monstrosity

of the proposition, acquiesce in
it
from the repu-
MAY,
tation of the proposer,
scientific
1817.
63
and the number of the

h.
that
embrace
The moment, howand bringing the
ever, a
man
thinks for himself,

light
proposition to the
enquires,
what
is
the are
meaning of
particles to
as
particle and attraction, and
how
draw each
other, the
whole appears
nothing more nor
less
than dust thrown in our

as the con-
eyes, and just as
worthy of belief
Almanack.
jurations in Moore's
Beware then
to
how ye
prostrate
your understandings
any
and
man's authority.
Examine
for
yourselves,
be not induced to acquiesce in an opinion on the

authority of a name, for errours of
all
kinds have
will
powerful names in their support.
We
noW
proceed to notice the appearances in the heavens

in this
monih.
The Moon
in the
passes the ecliptick in her descend-
ing node on the 2d, about s^ven in the morning,

twenty-sixth degree of the eighth sign. Her
latitu'le
southern
at
when
it is
midnight
îve
degrees seventeen minutes, in the
twenty- eighth degree of the eleventh sign; and

it
then
decreases to the
l(jth,
when
she passes
ten
the ecliptick in her descending node, about

in the
morning,
in the
twenty-seventh degree of
latitude increases
the second sign.
Her northern
64
to the 23d,
MAY,
when
it is,
J817.
noon, five degrees seof
at
venteen miHUtes,
the
fifth
in the
it
twenty-sixth degree
sign
when
node,
she passes the ecliptick in her descending
about
half past eight after
noon, in the
sign.
at
twenty-eighth degree cf the
eigh'-h
The
sevea
Sun enters the third sign on the

minutes before noon.
21st,
Full
Moon
takes place on the
Ist,
at thirty-
three minutes past seven in the morning, but from
her too great latitude without an eclipse.

rises in the
She
evening under the two
first
stars of
the Balance, directing her course under the se-
cond of the Scorpion and Jupiter.

Scorpion, and
On
the 2d,
she rises near to but under the second of th

is
soon followed by Jupiter,
whom
she passes about Sun-rise; and her approach to

the planet with Antares under her will
afford a
Her monow rapid. On the 3d, she rises under tion On the 4th, Jupiter, now to the west of her.
pleasing prospect during the night.
is
she rises under the twelfth and eleventh of the
Archer
and during the morning of the 5th
is
seen to direct her course under the small stars

in the
head of
this constellation.
MAY,
On
.to
1817.
rises
in
65
the morning
the 6thj the
Moon
under the small
stars in the
head of the Archer

of the
the west, and the two
first stars
Goat
to
the east of her.

rectly under the
On
two
the 7th, she rises nearly difirst stars
of the Goat.
On
the 8th, she rises with the small stars in the tail
of the Goat, and directs her course under Saturn
and Mars,
at
some distance
to the east of her,
but from her great southern latitude they appear
with her
at
her rising near to the horizon.
On
the 9th, she rises under Saturn,,

east of her.
who
is still
to the
On
the 10th, she rises under Saturn

to the west, the latter to
and Mars, the former

the east of her.
On
the lith, she rises under
Mars, now
rises
to the
west of her.
On
the 12th, shQ
under the four
stars in square, at a consider-
able distance above her.

also
Mars and Saturn being

removed
from
her
to
now
considerably
the west.
On
the 16th, she passes the Sun, and

it is
an eclipse takes place, but

country.
not visible in this
The Sun
in
will be centrally eclipsed
on
the meridian, at fifty-three minutes past six in the morning,

thirty-one
longitude seventy-six degrees

east,
minutes
and
in
latitude six de-
grees thirty-six minutes north.
On
Moon
is
seen
66
MAY,
1817.
in the evening in the west-north-west, above the

sixth of the Bull, directing her course
above the
the 19th,
seventh and twelfth of the Twins.

she
is
On
seen above and near to the fifth of the
Twins.
On
the 20th, she
is
under the two
first
of the Twins, and
near to the second of them.

seen near to the two small
On
stars
the 21st, she
is
and nebula of the Crab, passing above them

before Moon-set.
little
On
the
22cl,
she
is
under and near

the Lion.
to the small stars in the
head of
On
the 23d, she forms nearly a pafirst,
rallelogram with the
seventh, and third of
the Lion, these stars being to the vrest of her
and on the
24'th she
is
under the eighth,
third,
and second of
this constellation,
stars.
nearly in a line
with the two former
On
the 25th, the
Moon
is
on the meridian at
the evening,
forty-nine minutes past seven in
having the small

near
to her to tbe
stars in the
we>it.
head of the Virgin

the 20th, she
is
On
on
the meridian at thirty-nine minutes past eight,
having the
five sfars in triangle

first
of the Virgin to
the west of her, and the
of the Virgin below
her
first
to the east; she
is
directing her course to the
of the Balance.
On
the 27th, she
is
on the
meridian at half past nine, having the tenth and
MAY,
and the
she
is
1817.
67
On
cievenlh of the Virgin near to her to the eastj

first
below her
to the west. at
the 28th,
on the meridian
first
twenty- four minutes
past ten, having the
of the Balance near to
her to the west, as this star has suffered very

lately an occultation.
This began at two mi-
nutes and a quarter past nine, the star being ten
minutes south of the center; and
it
ended
at four
minutes past ten, the star being three minutes
and a quarter south of
it.
She
is
directing her
course under Jupiter, considerably to the east of

her.
Ou
the 29lh, she
is
on the meridian
at
twenty-one minutes past eleven, the second of

the Scorpion being above and near to her to the
east of
it,
and Antares below her
also to the east;
Jupiter
is
nearer to her than the latter star, but
she does not pass hira before Moon-aet,
On
a
the 30th
is
full
Moon,^t twenty-one minutea

is
past three in the afternoon, but, as she
above
an
degree
south
of
the ecliptick,
in
v\ithout
eclipse.
She
rises
the
evening nearly with
Antares to the west of her, and under Juuiter.
On
by
the 31st, she
is
soon after her rising followed
the eleventh and twelfth of the Archer, under

stars she is directing her course.
which
Jupiter
68
MAY,
at
1817.
some distance from her
and Antares are now

to the west.
Mercury
set
is
an evening
star,
at
his
greatest
elongation on the 19th, on which day he does not

till
an hour and
tl)ree
quarters after the Sun.

after this
For several days before and

him.
day
will
be many favourable opportunities of observing

His latitude on the
1st is
one degree thirty-
two minutes north,
in the twenty-fifih degree of
the second sign; and on
the last daj" ten mi-
nutes south, in the tvventy-si^th degree of the

third sign, in
which he passes the

two
ecliptick in his
descending node on the 30th.

is
On
tips
the 19th, he
tlie
nearly between
the
to
of
Bull's
;
horns, but nearest
the
is
second of the Bull
and on the 20Lh he
directly
between them.
at five
The Moon
passes near to
him on the ISth
iTiinutes past
seven in the morning.
Venus
sition
is
in
her inferior
conjunction on the
21st at midnight, but from her favourable po-
and northern latitude will be seen

first
in the
west for the
week
is
as
an evening
star.
Her
latitude on the 1st
five
degrees twelve minutes
north, in the ninth degree of the third sign; and
MAY,
ber motion
degrees.
is
1817.
69
retrograde through about fourteen

in
She passes the ecliptick
her de-
scending node on the 29th, in the twenty-fourth
The Moon
passes her
on the 17 th.
Mars
height
1st is
is
morning
star,
about thirteen degrees

on the
Ist,
above the horizon

is
at Sun-rise
but
this
daily increasing.
His latitude on the
one degree thirty-two minutes south, in the
thirteenth degree of the twelfth sign;
and
it
in-
creases to one degree forty-three minutes south.
His motion
degrees.
is
direct through nearly twenty-three

first
At
he
is
to the east of the
twenty-
second of the Water-bearer, which he passes on

the 3d, and directs his motion through the barren
space under the four stars in square.

passes
The Moon
him on the
10th.
Jupiter
is
on the meridian about 4wo

1st,
in
tht
morning of the
about one on the 13th, and His latitude on the

in the
1st is
midnight on the 27th.

fifty-tuur
minutes north,
;
tenth degree of
the ninth sign
and
it
diminishes nearly two
minutes,
his
motion being retrograde thr.mgh not
quite three degrees and three quarters.
At
first,
when. on the meridian, Antares
is
below him
to
76
the west of
24th.
it,
MAY,
but
it is
1817.
him on
the
directly under
The Moon
is
passes
him on the
3d.
Saturn
1st
is
a morning
star.
His latitude on the
one degree twenty-seven minutes south, in

degree of the twelfth sign; and
his
it
the
fifth
indi-
creases about six minutes,
motion being
rect through about a degree and a half.

sition
is
His po-
therefore nearly the

at
same during the

the Water-urn.
whole month, under and

the
four
stars
some distance from

of
9th.
in
triangle
The Moon
Herschel
passes
him on the
is
on the meridian at a quarter past
two
in the
morninoj of the 3d, and at one on th*

is
20th.
His place
in the sixteenth
degree of the
nin'h sign on the
1st,
and his southern latitude
becomes
motion
degree.
is
at the
end of the month a minute.

little
His
retrograde through
more than a
1st
When
on the meridian on the
he
is
nearly directly under the seventh of the Serpentbearer, but gradually that star at that time be-
comes
the 3d.
east of
it.
The Moon
passes
him on
The Sun*s apparent diameter on
the 7th
is
thirty-one minutes forty-four seconds, and on the
MAY,
24th thirty-one
1817.
thirty-seven
is
'71
minutes
seconds.
1st
The Moon's apparent diameter

and
it
on the
at
noon thirty-three minutes twenty-eight seconds;

when
it is
it
is
twentyit
nine minutes and twenty eight seconds;

increases to the 29th, w^hen
then
thirty-three mi-
nutes eighteen seconds at noon
and
it
then deenters
creases to the end of the month.
The Sun
the third sign at fifty-three minutes past eleven

in the
morning of the
21st.
For the appearances of the fixed
stars consult
the volume tor 1806, according to the following

table:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
"'
Pos.
h.
16
24
h.
m.
7
h.
m.
h.
m.
m.
IV.
40
31
V.
VI.
10
58
10
10
11
28
54
2
27
2 4
56
56
1
11
24
24
29
VII.
VIII.
54
59
27 32
4
6
3
5
IX.
32
JUNE,
1817.
A greater
calamity cannot befal a
human being
In
all
than to be deprived of his reason.
ages
some of our fellow creatures have been subjected

to a disease,
by which they
are said to have lost
their senses; and, from

it
an ignorance of the cause,
has been imputed to some influence or another,
too frequently engendered
by vain
superstition.
Thu,
at
one time daemons, at another the Moon,

the furies, are supposed
to
at another
exert a
power on an unhapp}'^ being; and the terms daemoniack and lunatick become familiar*.
idea, that
daemons exercised such
power,
is
The now
pretty generallj'^ exploded; and the furies exist
only
in
books of poetry; but the

its
Moon
retains
it
is
the original prepossession in
favour, and
gravely asserted, that at

clearly indicated.
its
full this
influence
is
*
Orestes.
AuijULO'jiô/itiKH
cgX>)yiaôyixfvo<
Furiis
agitatvis
JUNE,
.
1817.
73
Moon,
Now we
maj^ grant, that insane persons maythe. full of the
be peculiarly affected about
without acceding to the vulgar notion of an influence in the
Moon
itself:
and the circumstance
may
came
be accounted for in a very easy manner.
This also explains to us how^ the term lunatick

first
into use
and the planet, composed of

Indeed, that a body two
off should turn
inert matter, will
be released from the stigma,

it.
which
is
cast
upon
hundred and forty thousand miles

men's brains
is
such a strange conception, that,
ifith^d not been so generally entertained,

should have supposed the bra'ns of the
we
men turnedj who first propagated the opinion.' Where tha affection of the mind prevails, which we call madness, it may be increased or diminished by
various causes.
ticular person,
Heat or cold, the sight of a parand various circumstances
may
produce an
effect ;-but
is
the diseased state of the

to its original source,
poor sufferer
to
be traced
and
for this
we
are not to go to the
the actionof causes within our
Moon, but to own atmosphere.
In the early stages of society individuals, la-
bouring under
to themselves.
this calamity,
were
left
very much
They were
not confined in asy-
lums, in wihch they are treated in general, though
74
this
is
JUNE,
their
1817.
not always the case, with the attention,
which
unhappy condition
in
requires.
They
their
Tândered
about
desolate
places,
and
howlings were heard to the astonishment of the

distant neighbourhood. It might have been remarked, that these bowlings were more frequent
in the nights enlightened
by the Moon than

Moon.
at
other times, and hence the idea arose, that they
were
to
be ascribed
to the
But does not

is
my
reader perceive, that the reason

their
evident
why
howlings should be more noticed at

at
these than
other limes; and

effect
it
was not the

dis-
Moon, which produced an

tempered brain, though
it
upon the
gave an opportunity
fits
to the disordered person to display the
of his
extravagance.
This will teach you how easy

errours to propagate
started,
it is
for
vulgar
is
it
themselves.
notion
which seizes the imagination, and

till,
it
passes current from one to another
by
a
dint
of time and numbers,

of authority.
it
carries with
degree
The
poets then
come
in,
and far-
ther propagate the delusion.
Moon-struck mad;
ness becomes a favourite topick

their business to
and, as
it
is
not
rectify popular opinions,

little
they
give themselves
trouble to enquire whether
JUNE,
they are true or false
to
:
1817.
is
15
them
its
it
sufficient for
produce an
effect
and the imagination, being
thus poisoned,
remains for a long time in
diseased state, incapable of attending to the dictates
of sober
reason.
Moon-struck madness
?
How
that
does the
the
Moon
strike a person
its
We
know,
Sun can by
rays
produce this
effect;
for
many
instances unhappily occur of
persons in the hot countries being affected

a vertical Sun, and suffering
by
what
is
called the
stroke of the Sun, or coup de
soleil.
Here we
can
easil}^
conceive, that the heat struck into the

disorder the faculties of the brain;
is
head
may
and
the same effect
said to be
produced by that exin
traordinary
life
instance of cruelty,
destroying
to
by exposing a
man bareheaded
a
drops of
water falling upon him from

height.
considerable
But the rays of the Moon can have no
such
light.
effect.
They
are
potent only in
giving
This light enables the lunatick to wander

to place,
from place
which on dark nights he

with madness
cannot do; and thus the whole mystery of the

connection of the
explained.
Moon
is
easily
Many
rected
persons will not, I dare say, be cor-
of their vague surmises, respecting the
76
Moon, from
expect
lous
it,
JUNE,
the
1
1817.
:
above explanation
nor can
when
consider what equally ridicuto
powers are attributed
the
Moon by
might
at
our
gravest philosophers.
But a
little
attention to
the diurnal course of the
Moon
once
is
have
rectified the
popular notion.
The Moon
supposed to
about the
affect the brain,
and this particularly
full,
because at that time the
Moon
is
longer above the horizon, and has therefore a

greater
action on
for this
man than
it
at
other times.
Unhappily
argument,
will not, as they

is
say, hold water; for the

a
new Moon
fre(juently
full
much longer time above the horizon than Moon. Consequently, if madness were fected by the Moon, we should perceive its
sometimes
at at the
the
afef-
fects
new,
at others
at
the full
Moon:
one time the disorder would be de-
creasing, as the
stead of being, as
that time.
V. ill
Moon
it is
approached
its
full,
in-
vulgarly said, increased at
1 he times in the year, in which this
take place, you can easily discover by your

;
globe
and trusting that your
faith,
if
you had
any, in
lunar influences, whether sanctioned by
the philosopher or engendered by superstition,

is
pretty well shaken,
proceed
to
note the
thi3
harmless
progress
of
the
Moon
during
month.
JUNE,
The
is
1817.
on the
1st at
77
noon
latitude of the
Moon
three degrees nineteen minutes south, in the

it
seventh degree of the tenth sign; and

to the 4fh,
increases
when
it
is at
midnight
five
degrees
and a quarter,
in the
it
twenty-fourth degree of the

decreases to
in
eleventh sign:
then
the 12th,
when
the
she passes the ecliptick
her ascending
node, between five and six in the evening, in
twenty-eighth degree of the second sign.

latitude increases to the 19th,
Her northern
it is
when
;
five degrees
twelve minutes, in the twentyfifth sign,

till
ninth degree of the

it
at
midnight
and
decreases thence
she passes the ecliptick

in the
in her
descending node, on the 26ih
morn-
ing, about five o'clock, in the twenty-sixth de-
gree of the eighth sign.

increases
Her southern
latitude
now
day
in
to the at
end of the month, being on

thirtj^-three
the
last
noon four degrees

twenty-ninth
minutes,
the
degree
of
the
tenth sign.
On
the 1st, the
Moon
rises at
night under the

;
small stars in the head of the Archer
and, on
the 2d, has above her at her rising these stars at
some
first
distance from her to the west, and the two

stars
of the Goat near to

tiie
her to the east;

3d, to be
and
is
seen, during
morning of the
78
JUNE,
1817.
moving under
pass
till
these stars, which she does not
after Sun-rise.
On
the
^th,,
the
Moon
rises
in
the
morning
r.early at the
same time wish Saturn, considerais
bly to the east of her, under which planet she

directing her course, and in the
way
to
him
will
be noticed the small
stars in the tail of the Goat.
On
the 5th, she has at her rising above her the

tail
small stars in the
of the Goat to the west,
and Saturn to ihe east of her.
On
the Gth, she
is
seen to have passed Saturn, as she rises under
and near
to this planet
is
now
to the
west of her.
On
the 7th, she
traversing the barren space

square, Saturn being at
under the four
stars in
some
distance to the west, and
Mars
to the east
of her.
On
the 8th, she rises below
Mars
to the
east
of her,
whom
she will have passed before her
next appearance.
On
the 9th, she rises undei
Mars now
been and
she is
still
to the west of her, but her

is
motion has
the 10th,
very slow
at this time.
On
seen at no great distance from

is
Mars;
and on the 14th
new Moon
at three quarters
past nine in the evening,
but from her too great
latitude without an eclipse.
JUNE,
On
in
181?.
70
Moon
is

in
seen
the evening
the west under th two first-
stars
of the Twins, which she wili have passed
before her next appearance.

is
On
the 17 ih, she of the Twins,
seen between the two

stars
first stars
and the two small
and nebula of the Crab,

stars.
but nearest to the latter

is
On
the 18th, she
seen under and near to the small stars in the
head of the Lion.

the Lion
is
On
the 19th, the seventh of
near to her to the west,

third
and she
before
passes between the
and the
first
Moon-set.
On
the 20th, the fourth, third, and
second of the Lion are conspicuous objects above

her,
and her great northern
latitude brings her
within five degrees of the eighth before

set.
Moon-
On
the 21st, she
is
seen between the se-
cond of the Lion and the second of the Virgin,

the former above, the latter below her: she has
thus passed the smaller stars at the extremity of
the head of the Virgin.
On
the 22d, she
is
seen above and near to the third of the Virgin,
having
juirt
past betv.een the third
and fourth,
the eastern limits of the five stars in triangle of

the Virgin.
at
On
the 23d, she
is
seen above and

of the Virgin,
first
evidently directing her course to the tenth and
eleventh of this constellation to the east of her.
,80
JUNE,
the S'lth, the rsloon
1817.
is
On
on the meridian at
eight minutes past eight in the evening, being
between the tenth and eleventh of the Virgin
and the
to her to
first
of the Balance,
the
former near
the west the latter to the east of her.

is
On
the 25th, she
on the meridian
it
at
nine,
having above her, but near to

second of the Balance, the
first
to the
\ve;t,
the
being to the west

at a
of her, and the second of the Scorpion

distance to the east of her,
will attract our
greaier
beyond which Jupiter
attention.
at
On
the 26th, she
is
on the meridian
fifty-nine minutes past nine,

to
having now Jupiter above her

Antares below her to the
east,
the west, and

to it;
both near
and the planet, the Moon, and

magnitude, in
this
a star of the first
position, will
form an
is
in-
teresting appearance.
On
the
27th, she
on
the
meridian
at
eleven,
Jupiter
and Antares
being now, from the rapidity of her motion since

her
last
appearance,
to the west.
at
a considerable distance
from her
On
the 28th
is full
Moon,
at
eighteen minutes
past eleven at night, but from her too great latitude without an eclipse.
rises
In
the evening she
under
the twelfth
and eleventh
of
the
Archer, and the small stars in the hea.d of this
JUNE,
the east of her.
1817.
81
constellation, the former to the west, the latter to
On
small stars in the head of the Archer, and the two

first stars in
the head of the Goat, the former to
the west, the latter to the east of her.

30ih,
On
the
she rises almost directly under the
two
first stars
of the Goat, and
is,
in the course
of the
night, seen to be directing her course under Saturn, at a considerable
distance to the east of
her.
Mercury
12th,
is
in his inferior conjunction

will be
on the
lost, in
and during the whole month

His latitude on the
in the
it
the superior splendour of the Sun, to the
com-
mon
six
observer.
1st is
twenty-
minutes south,
;
twenty-sixth degree of
the third sign
and
increases to three degrees
fifty-three minutes, in
this sign.
the nineteenth degree of

is
His motion
is
retrograde to the 23d,
when he
the 14th.
stationary, in the seventeenth degree

sign.
of the third
The Moon
passes
him on
Venus
the
first
is
a morning star, too near the Suri in
part of the
month
its
to
be visible; but
is
it
rapidly emerges from
beams, and
before the
end of the month
at a considerable height
abov
E5
821
JUNE,
1817.
Her
latitude
the horizon at Sun-rise.

is
on the
1st
eighteen minutes south,
in the twenty-fifth
degree of the second sign,
and
it
increases to
nearly four degrees, in the twenty-eighth degree
of the same sign, her motion being retrograde

till
the 12lb, in the twenty-third degree of this
sign.
She
will therefore,
when
visible,
be seen
Tender the Pleiades, directing her course above
Aldebaran.
The Moon
a morning
passes
heron the 12th.
Mars
ist is
is
star.
His latitude on the
one degree forty-three minutes south, in

first
the seventh degree of the
sign
and
it is
in-
creased
by only two
minutes, his motion being dihalf.
rect through about twenty-one degrees and a
He is seen
at first near the line
drawn through the
two eastern of ihe four stars in square,and produced,

being to the east of
it,
and he traverses the bar-
ren space in the constellation of the Fishes, near

the ecliptick, passing under the sixth on the 17th,
and under the fifteenth on the 27th.

passes
The Moon
him on
the 8lh.
Jupiter
is
on the meridian
at thirty-six
miat
nutes past eleven at night on
the
1st,
and
three quarters past nine on the 25th.
His
1st,
lati-
tude
is
fifty-two minutes north
on the
in the
JUNE,
about
five minutes,
1817.
it
S3
decreases
sixth degree of the ninth sign, and

his
motion being refrograde
through about three degrees and a quarter.

thus travels slowly towards
the
this
He
second of the
star
Scorpion, and
his access to
is
and recess
from Antares
gress.
the principal feature of his pro-
The
small star seen
above and near to

of the Scorpion,
him
at first
is
the twenty-tiilrd
s
the twenty-fourth being
>!iiewhat farther
from
him
to the east.
The Moon
passes
him on the
2Gth.
Saturn
is
a morning star, being on the meri1st,
dian about six in the morning of the a quarter past four on the 26th,
and at
about
1st
He
rises
midnight on the 12th,

is
His latitude on the
one degree thirty-three minutes south, in the

;
sixth degree of the twelfth sign
and
it
is
in-
creased
about seven minutes, his motion being
direct to the 16th,
when he
is
stationary, in the
seventh degree of the twelfth sign, and he retrogrades afterwards into the sixth degree of this
sign.
His place therefore, under and at some
distance from the four stars in triangle of the
Water-urn,
month.
is
little
changed during the whole

passes
The Moon
him on
the 5th.
84
Herschel
is
JUNE,
1817.
at
on the meridian
at three quarters
midnight on
the
the 5th, and
past ten on
22d.
His latitude on the
1st is
one minute south,
in the fourteenth
degree of the ninth sign, re;
maining the same the whole month
his
motion
being retrograde through nearly a degree and a

quarter.
He
its
is
travelling therefore out of the
western branch of the
Milky-way, but
will not
reach
to
western border this month.
When
him
on the meridian the seventh of the Water-bearer

is
above him to the
east.
The Moon
passes
on the 27th.

thirty-one minutes
of the Sun on the 2d
is
thirty-five seconds,
and on
the 26th thirty-one minutes thirty-one seconds.

noon
is
of the
Moon on
is
the 1st at
it
thirty-two minutes and a half; and

to the 10th,
it
de-
creases
when
it
twenty -nine mi-
nutes and a half:
then increases to the 25th,

fifty se-
being
conds
;
at
midnight thirty-two minutes

and
it
then decreases to the end of the
month, finishing with a magnitude of thirty-one

minutes forty seconds.
The Sun
enters
the
fourth sign at half past eight in the evening of
the 21st.
JUNE,
1817.
stars at
85
any hour
For the positions of the fixed
of the night consult the volume for 1806, accord"

ing to the following table
:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
\
Pos.
h.
15
rn.
m.
55
51
51
h.
h.
m.
57 53
23 h. m.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
26
7 9
11
10
10
22
22
9
11
20 20
25 28 23
53
2
4-
IX.
56 59
2 4
6
27
58
I
X.
30 25
4.
56
86
JULY,
1817.
A
ago,
small
party of soldiers was,
some years
they were
passing
along a road, when
suddenly struck wnth the agitation and exclamations of one of their comrades.
It
was
a fine
still
evening, the
the heavens
;
Moon
shining bright and high in
but the thick foliage of the trees,
not yet stripped off by the autumn, cast a gloom
on the place in which they were.

one of the party fixed
his
On
a sudden
haggard eyes on a par''
ticular spot, and exclaimed,
Do you
'*
!
not see
him
He
is
there
He
is
there
But being
pushed on by
his serjeant,
he recovered himself,
to
fits,
and attributed what had happened
to
which he had been subjected, and which were

always worse
as the
Moon was
nearer the
full.
With
this
explanation the party went on to their
quarters for the night, seemingly well satisfied,
and the man did not betray symptoms of any

thing more than might be expected from the
JULY, 1817.
cause, to
87
which
his
preceding agitation had been
attributed.
The
Serjeant
was however a shrewd

all in
fellow,
who
did not believe at
lunar influences, and
thought there might be something at the bottom

of this matter,
which might be discovered with-
out being a conjurer, or consulting the
Moon.
his sus-
He gave
to
a charge therefore to two of his party
keep a close eye upon the object of
picion, and
went himself
into the village,

its
where
he soon gotacquainted with
oldest inhabitants.
From them
back
a
he learned, that a great
many
years
murder had been committed on that very

to the perpetraters of the crime.
spot, but not a single trace couid be discovered

to lead
The
which
Serjeant collected all the facts he could respect-
ing the deceased person, and the

his
mode
in
body was discovered

his
and the next morning,
marching
were
party back to the spot where the
murder bad been committed, on the instant they

at
it,
proclaimed the names of the murdered
and the murderer.

left
little
The
agitation of the
guilt.
latter
room
to
doubt of his
He was
it
seized, confessed his crime, and expiated

bis death.
by
8S
The
exist,
JULY,
is
1817.
discovery of this horrid crime was natural

it
and happy
for
mankind, that such causes

attributes to
which superstition frequently

beings,
invisible
but which
really
are
to
be
traced to the formation of the

atrocious deed
is
mind
itself
An
scarcely ever perpetrated with-
out affecting the imagination in a very powerful
manner.
However a man may
disguise his feel-
ings from his fellow creatures, yet his thoughts

will frequently recur to the events
life.
of his past
Images
v/ill
arise
in his
mind, which are
almost as strong as the

place
:
realities, that
once took
and they are excited either by the inward
thoughts of the heart, or by some circumstance,
which unexpectedly connects the present mo-
ment with
that, in
which a guilty person had
committed the horrid deed.

is
At
that
no longer master of himself

his actions,
moment he The guard,

is
which he had placed on
removed.
He
feels
himself as
it
were a spectator of the

all
its
crime committed, acted over again in
glaring colours; and the secrets of his heart are
made
manifest.
Thus
it
was with the wretched man
in the case
above mentioned.
He was
not perhaps thinking
JULY,
of bis
crime,
till
1817.
when
89
the
the very instant,

trees
gloom of the road and the

brought
before
so
his
around him
in
mind the horrid scene,
which he had
many
years before been engaged.
Then the figurewith the wounds of the deceased presented itself as

it
were before
his eyes.
He
could
not contain himself. His exclamations arose naturally from the scene before him.
On
this
formation
of our minds of our poet,
is
grounded the
finely painted scene
when Richard
his
the Third seems to
have present before

of his cruelty
:
eyes the unhappy victims

bt d
and the
of Louis the Fourless disturbed,
teenth, of France,
was probably no
when
jects
the cries of his tortured protestant sub-
resounded
in
his ears,
and their mangled
limbs were present before his eyes.

bed,
the the
The downy
in
nectar
draft,
the
physician's balm,
confesser's
pliant
soothings,
vain
ad-
minister relief to the
mind
;
diseased.
Guilt will
not thus be expelled
and when the wretched

of the courtier
monarch wakes,
the knee
may
salute majesty, but the
homage of mortals can-
not compensate for the stings of a wounded conscience.
This subject would lead us forward to several

important remarks, and
many prejudices might be

tales of
removed, which
arise
from the
pretended
90
JULY,
in the
1817.
The
or
ghosts and apparitions.
influence of matter^
whether
Heavens
on the Earth, upon
the mind, will not

direct impulse
it
be allowed, farther than by
may
produce an
effect.
A
;
stroke
of the Sun, or a blow of a cudgel,

deprive a
may
indeed
man
of the use of his intellect
and an
evident reason can be given for this effect: but

the influence of the heavenly bodies, whether
upon
like,
ourselves or on each other,
by
certain oc-
cult causes, such as gravity, attraction,
or the
must be placed amongst the dreams of the
imagination.
To
us
it
is
given to wander
by
;
means of thought, over a widely extended

but that mere matter, at the distance of
field
many
is
millions of miles from us, should be endued with
the extraordinary powers, with which

vested
it
in-
by modern
philosophers,
is
not to
be
allowed to their affirmations.
We
:
may
not be
able to comprehend the whole of the wonderful
system, in which
we
are placed
yet confession
of ignorance
is
better than
the introduction of
in nature.
causes, which have not a foundation
The Sun
by
either of
affords us light
is
by day and
the
Moon
:
night, and this
a substantial benefit
that
them should
is
pull our globe to itself
by
invisible chords
about as wise as to imagine,
that Jupiter, Mars,

position,
and Saturn, by
a particular
produce the course of
life,
which a
JULY,
through.
1817.
91
child, born at the time of this position, is to pass
We
will
leave
now
these speculations,
and proceed
this
to the
appearances of the heavens in
month.
on the 2d at noon
in the
The Moon's
latitude
is
five
degrees nine minutes south,
twenty-sixth dedecreases to the
gree of the eleventh sign

9th,
and
it
when
she crosses the ecliptick in her ascending
node, about eleven at night, in the twenty-seventh
Hernorthern
it is
latitude
now increases to the

of the 23d,
fifth
6th, when
at
midnight five
degrees four minutes, in the twenty-sixth degree

sign
;
and
it
when
she crosses the ecliptick in her dein the
scending node, about nine in the morning,

twenty-sixth degree of the eighth sign.
southern latitude
it is
now
Her when
at
midnight
five degrees
one minute, in the
twenty-seventh degree of the eleventh sign; and
on the
last
day
at
midnight
it
has decreased to
four degrees twenty-five minutes, in the twentythird degree of the twelfth sign.
The Moon
rises
on the
1st,
between ten and
eleven at night, near to but under the small stars in

the Goat, Saturn being at some distance from her
^2
to the east. to the east
JULY, 1817.
On the 2d, she rises under Saturn, still of her. On the 3d, he is to the west of
;
her.
On
the 4th, she rises under the four stars in
square, nearest to the two eastern of them
and on
the 6th, near midnight, in the barren space above
the fifteenth of the Fishes

the 7 th, she
is
and, on the morning of
seen to direct her course under Mars.
On
On
the
8th, the
first
Moon
rises
in
the
morning
tinder the three
stars of the
Ram
and Mars.
the 9th, she rises nearly with the Pleiades,

first
the three
stars of the
above her now

rises
to
the
Ram and Mars being On the 10th, she west.
under the Pleiades; and, on the 11th, has

at her rising to
them
the west of her, but from
the slowness of her motion at no great distance.
On
the 12th, she rises
under and near to the

;
second of the Bull, or tip of the northern horn
and on the 14th

nutes past ten
is
new Moon,
at
seventeen mibut from her
in
the morning,
great latitude without an eclipse.
On
in the
Moon
the
is
seen
evening soon
to
after
Sun-set in the west,
under but near
the
seventh of
Lion,
which she passes about Moon-set.

she
is
On
the 17th,
seen under the eighth, fourth, and second
JULY,
1817.
93
of this conslellation, directing her course to the

small stars in the head of the Virgin.
18th, she
is
On
in
the
seen
near to the small stars

to
the
head of the Virgin, being nearest

teenth.
the thir-
Above her
is
the second of the Lion,
and
below her the second of the Virgin,
between
which
stars she passes

is
about Moon-set.
On
the
19th, she
seen
in
the space included by the
five stars in triangle of the Virgin,
being
at first
nearly between
the
seventh
and fourth,
;
the
is
former below, the
latter
above her
but she
nearest to the former star, and directs her course
between the fourth and

is
third.
On
the 20th, she
considerably to the east of the five stars in
triangle of the Virgin, having below her to the

east the first of this constellation.
On
the 21st,
she
is
under the tenth and eleventh of the Virgin,

stars
between which
she
is
she passes before Moon-set:
directing her course to Jupiter, at a con-
siderable distance from her to the east.
On
the
22d, she
Jupiter,
is
between the
first
of the Balance and
but much
the nearest to the star.
On
the 23d, the
Moon
is
on the meridian at
forty-six minutes past seven in the evening, be-
ing then under Jupiter and the second of the

Scorpion, and her recess from them will form an
94
amusing object
24th, she
is
JULY, 1817.
in
our evening walks.

at
On
the
on the meridian
three quarters
past eight, being directly under the seventh of
the Serpent-bearer
Jupiter, the second of the
Scorpion, and Antares forming a pleasing groupe

to the
west of her.
at three
On
the 25tb, she
is
on the
meridian
quarters past nine, being al-
most directly under the twelfth of the Archer,

but she does not reach the eleventh
till
after
Moon-set.
at forty-six
On
the 26th, she
is
on the meridian
minutes past ten, having the small
stars in the
head of the Archer above her

first stars
to the
west, and the two
of the Goat at some
distance above her to the east.

is
On
the 27 th, she
on the meridian
at three quarters past eleven,

first
being now almost directly under the two

stars
of the Goat: she

at
is
under Saturn,
her to the ea?t.
a considerable distance from
On tiie 28th is full Moon, at twenty-two minutes

past eight in
the morning, but from her great
latitude without
an
at
eclipse.
She
rises
in
the
evening under and

first stars in
some distance from the two

is
the Goat to the west of her, and

still
soon followed by Saturn at
a considerable
the 29th, she
distance from her to the east.
On
JXJLY, 1817.
rises
95
Goat
under the small
to the west,
and Saturn
to the east of her, but
she will evidently have passed the planet before
On
the SOth, she rises
under Saturn now

31st,
to the
west of her; and, on the
she rises under the four stars in square,
nearest to the two western, Saturn being at
some
distance to the west of her.
Mercury
is
a morning
star,
at
his
greatest
elongation on the 6th, being then about nine degrees above the horizon at Sun-rise, in east-northeast.
His latitude on the
1st
is
three degrees
forty-three minutes south, in the nineteenth de-
gree of the third sign; and

19th,
it
decreases to the
when he
passes the ecliptick in his as-
cending node, in the twelfth degree of the fourth

sign, but for obvious reasons without a transit.
His northern latitude now increases, and be-
comes on the
last
day one degree thirty-eight
minutes, in the seventh degree of the fifth sign.
The Moon
Venus
is
passes
him on the
star.
2th.
a morning
Her
latitude on the
1st is three
degrees
fif
y-seven minutes south, in

;
the twenty-ninth degree of the second sign

and
it
when
it is
four degrees five
96
JULY,
1817.
ilie
minutes, in the second degree of

it
third sign
then decreases to three degrees twentv minutes
south, in the
sign.
twenty-third degree of the third

seen under the Pleiades, di-
She
is first
recting her course above Aldebaran, below the

sixth of the Bui], and she passes this star at the
end of the month.

about twenty-five
Her motion is direct through degrees. The Moon passes her
on the 10th.
Mars
1st is
is
morning
star.
His latitude on the

in the
it
one degree and three quarters south,

first
twenty-eighth degree of the

creases about ten minutes.
sign
and
is
de-
His motion
direct
is
through nearly twenty-one degrees.

at first to
He
seen
the west of the three

stars
in
first
stars of the
liam, and the small
the
head of the
to the
Whale, and he passes between them, near

latter stars,
being directly between the
first
of
the
Ram
and Menkar on the 16th, but he does
not reach the line
between the Pleiades and

passes
Menkar.
Jupiter
The Moon
is
him on the
7th.
on the meridian
at
nineteen minutes
1st,
past nine in the evening on the
and at eight
1st
is
on
the 19th.
His latitude on the
forty-
seven minutes north, in the third degree of the
JULY,
ninth sign; and
his
it
1817.
97
decreases about seven minutes,
motion being retrograde through about a de-
gree to the 28th,

first
when
he
is
stationary, in the
degree of the ninth sign.
He
is
thus slowly
directing his course to the second of the Scorpion, which star he passes on the 14th,
is
when
it
seventeen minutes and three quarters north of
him.
Thus
this star will
be fixed in the
memory
hereafter
of the commonest observer,

forget
it,
who cannot
him.
and Antares
belovi^
The Mooil
passes the planet on the 23d.
Saturn
is
on the meridian
at
three quarters
past three on the 3d in the morniagj and at three
on the 14th, rising about eleven

1st,
at
night on the
and every night

is
earlier.
His latitude on the

in the sixth
Ist
one degree forty minutes south,

;
degree of the twelfth sign
and
it
increases
nearly six minutes, his motion being retrograde
through somewhat more than a degree and a

quarter.
He
thus keeps nearly the same position
during the whole month, being, when on the meridian,-
under and
at
some distance from the four
stars in triangle
of the Water-urn.
The Moon
passes
him on
the 3d, after Sun-rise, and again
on the 30th.
98
Herschel
is
JULY, 1817.
on the meridian
1st,
at three
at
minute*
past ten at night on the

ters past eight
1st
is
and
three quar-
on the 20th.
His latitude on the
one minute south, in the thirteenth degree

it
of the ninth sign, and

his
continues nearly the same,

fifty
motion being retrograde through nearly
minutes.
He
will
thus be seen,
when on
the
meridian, having the seventh of the Serpent-
bearer above him to the east, and Antares below
him
to the west, the planet
being near the edge
of the western border of the western branch of

the Milky-way.
24.th.
The Moon
passes
him on the
The
22d noon
and
Sun's apparent diameter
on the
1st is
thirty-one minutes thirty-one seconds, and on the

thirty-one
minutes
thirty-three
seconds.
at

is
it
the 1st
thirty-one minutes twenty-eight seconds;
when
it
is
:
at
it
noon
then
twenty-nine minutes thirty-four seconds
increases to the 23d, being at noon thirty-two
minutes twenty-six seconds, decreasing afterwards

to
the end of the month, being on the 29th at
midnight thirty-one minutes, and on the 31st at

the same time thirty minutes eighteen seconds.
JULY,
The Sun
1817.
99
on the 23d, at
enters the fifth sign
twenty-two minutes past seven
in the
morning.
For the positions of the fixed

stars, at
any
hour of the night, consult the volume for 1806>

:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
1
Pos.
h.
16
m.
47 47
h.
m.
18 18
h.
ra.
h.
25 m.
10 10
15 18 13
VI.
VIL
VIII.
10
10
7 9
11
46 46
51
7 9
11
52
2 4
23
2 4
6
IX.
55
26
21
54
49 50
X.
50
'S
XL
22
14
V s
100
AUGUST,
1817.
AMONG
that,
the vulgar errours, which have been

effect
to
propagated with a very pernicious

morals and happiness of mankind,
on the
is
be placed
which
is
dignified
by
the professers of the

:
art
with the name of science
and astrology
is
fre-
quently confounded with astronomy.
presumes
to discover
The former mighty secrets, by means

the latter has no such
of an acquaintance with the motions and positions of the heavenly bodies

;
pretensions, but, simply attending to the nature
cf
thosiê
motions, delineates their path and future
positions.
When
it
enters into the investigation
of the causes of those motions, farther than as
they arise from particular positions of the spectater,

it
goes beyond
its
true limits,
and hitherto
all its
speculations on this subject appear to have

fallacious.
been
Our
this
finite
capacities are pro-
bably not adequate

laws,
to ihe
comprehension of those
is
by which
wondrous frame
preserved.
AUGUST,
^nd what
"
is
1817.
by
101
so finely said
the holy writer,
Who
by searching can
find out
God/^ thcauworks
thor of nature,
may
also be applied to the
of his almighty power.
The
to be
astrologer and the astronomer then are not
confounded together.
it
The former narrows

by vain conceits: the
the mind, and enfeebles

latter
expands the mind, and by the contemplaits
tion of nature in
grandest features leads to the
awful veneration
seen or can see.
is
of
him,
whom
is
no eye hath
If the first fruit of our science
the fear of that God,
who
it,
so
mighty
in his
operations,
we might
naturally conclude, that no
one could be divested of

such a study.
said,
is
who
applied himself to
An
un.levout
folly
astronomer,
it
is
mad, and greater
cannot be than to
is
entertain the wicked conception, that there
no
God.
curred
Yet
in
this
madness,
and
this
folly, cot -
one of the greatest astronomers of

ttiey
whom
Europe can boast; and
prove to
us,
that the
modern system of the world may be'
contemplated as a piece of slender mechanism,

without impressing on the mind one single idea,
which such a work
is
calculated to produce.
is
world, according to these people,
easily
formed
by
certain attractive powers, attributed to par-
im
as easily, as
AUGUST,
if
1817.
tides of matter, and the machine goes on just

the world were formed, according
to the notion of ancient philosophers,
by
the for-
tuitous concourse of atoms.
The
extraordinary wet season of last

to
summer
was supposed
have been foreseen by the astroall
nomers, but they disdain
such
is
knowledge.
An
observer of the heavens
naturally led to
;
attend to the state of the atmosphere

the shepherd,
plain
;
and so
is
who guards
his flock
on Salisbury
but neither the one
nor the other can
determine any thing on the weather beyond

its
probable continuance for a short time, or

:
its
speedy change
two,
I
as
to
the predictions
of the
should place
much
greater confidence in
those of the shepherd than in those of the astro-
nomer.
Whence
knowledge
?
indeed
Is
is
the astronomer to gain his

it
he to look for
in the spots
:
of
the Sun, or the changes of the
Moon
one body
upwards of ninety
Earth
millions, the other
upwards of
two hundred and forty thousand miles from our

?
Yet both these bodies have been apit
pealed to; and
was
coi.fidentiy asserted, that
the extraordinary weather was
owing
to the spots
AUGUST,
of the Sun, and
at
1817.
S105
many
persons were looking out
every change of the
Moon
for
a change in the
weather.
should scarcely have

if
it
thought the subject

its
worthy of notice,
I
it
had not found
way
int6
believe every newspaper of Europe, in which
was
stated, that
an eminent astronomer of this
or that place had noticed a remarkable accumulation of spots in the
Sun
and
have been
v/hether
frethis
quently questioned by
persons,
was
really
the
cause of
the wetness
of the
season.
Not many indeed gave themselves the
trouble of considering the nature of the assumed
cause, and
much
less to
look at the Sun on the

us,
few days, that he shone on

there
to see
whether
was any difference
in his splendour at that
and former times.
The
idea of the spots of the Sun producing

is
wet weather
not however quite so absurd, as
that of supposing the
Sun
to pull the
Earth
to-
wards
it,
by a
certain
occult power called grait
vity, or attraction, because
is
possible,
though
we have
lieve
it
not the least reason in the world to be-
probable,
that the
surface of the
Sun
might be entirely obscured.
The consequence
104
AUGUST,
atiirnal
1817.
of such an accumulation would be total darkness,
and the dtstiuction of
and vegetable
life.
If then,
it
may be
said,
the covering of the
Sun entirely by opake matter may produce such

an
effect,
why may
Earth
?
not a partial
is
obscuration
affect our
This
a fair question, but
then the enquirer wiil

the Sun
is
reflect,
that at
all
times
partially covered
by
spots.
These
were
and
first
made known
last
to us
by
the teLescope,
the
summer had
not a greater accu-
mulation of them than has frequejitiy occurred
without the least surmise of the season's being

affected
by
it.
Besides, the greatest accumula-
tion of these
spots
ever
known
Sui-s's
covers but a
in propordif-
very small part of the

tion to the
disc,
whole of
its
surface;
and the
ference between the heat from the Sun,

the
that
when
and
to
is
accuniulation in spots
is
the greatest,
when
it
is
the
least,
its
is
not
equal
It
thousandth part of
average heat.
ab-
surd therefore to look to the spots of

as
the
Sun
the
cause
of any variation in our seasons
from the ordinary course.

did not
Besides,
'
it
strike
the
persons,
vi
ho
carried us to the
Sun
for the cause of
our ex-
AUGUST,
traordinary summer, that,
the true
reason,
1817.
if
10 e:
they had assigned
not
oniy our island and Eu-
rope,
but the whole Earth must have suffered
from the same cau>e.

globe
From every
But
a
part of the
we
should hear, a^ vessels arrived at our
ports, the
same complaints.
even
in
this
was not
of the
the case
so
for,
small
portion
Earth as Europe;
with
us,
whilst the rain prevailed
many
parts
of the
Russian
empire
err
were
.suffering
with drought.
Thus men
a
if
by
makioi^ general conclusions from

case,
particular
and by not considering,

for an
that,
the cause
its
they assign
"Will
effect is general,
effects
be generally discovered.
Away
then with,
af-
the idle notion,

fect us.
tion, or
lêt
it
that spots in the
Sun can
sleep with the gravity, or attrac-
puilmg,
of
sir
Isaac Newton,
and the
adherents to
a similar phantom.
are to
Within our
own atmosphere we
which operate
look for the causes,
any remarkable variation
from
f
the ordinary course of the seasons.
walk o
a coopie of hours, in certain situations, exposes
us to a change from heat to cold far greater than

if ui
the same time and in the

'.he
same place nine-
tenihs of
disc of the
Sun had been covered

have a good opporthis disc,
by
spots.
hope you
will
tunity this
month of examining
whence
106
you
will
AUGUST,
judge
of
for
its
181?. how
if
little
it
yourselves,
spots
is
:
must
be the effect
and,
should
happen, that there

tion of
very great accumuladay,
spots
and a very hot

a
my
argu-
ment
will
produce
greater impression.
We
will proceed to the appearances in the heavens

for this
month,
without
pretending to predict
in the
what
spots there
may
be
Sun, for here
our science cannot
assist us.
The Moon's
latitude
on
the 1st at noon
is
four degrees seven minutes, in the twenty-ninth
degree of the twelfth sign; and

the 5 lb,
it
decreases to
when
she
passes the ecliptick in her
j^seending node, about three in the
morning
in
the twenty-fourth
degree
of
the
second sign,
and
ben
htr-r
northern latitude increases to the

is
12th,
when
it
at
midnight
five
degrees,
:
in
it
the twenty-second degree of the fifth sign
then decreases
to the 19th,
when
she passes the
ecliptick in her descending node, about ten in
the morning, in the twenty-second degree of the
eighth
sign.
Her southern
latitude
at
now
infive
creases to the 25th,
when
it
is
midnight
degrees, in the twenty-third degree of the ele-
venth sign;
and
it
then decreases to the end

last
of the month,
being on the
midnight one
AUGUST,
degree twelve minutes,
of the second sign.
in
1817.
107
the seventh degree
The Moon
line
rises
on the
1st
about ten
at night,
under the four
stars in
square; having passed the

twô eastern of these stars
drawn through the
and produced, she will be seen to be directing

her course to Mars at a considerable distance to
the east of her.
She moves now
so slowly,
first
that
she rises on the 3d under the three

the
stars
of
Ram
still
to the east
of her.
On
risen,
the 4th,
she rises
under them,
these stars being just to

is
the west of her.

access to
Mars
just
and her
him
will be observed during the night.
On
the 5th, she rises with Mars, having passed
the planet at fifty-eight minutes past nine this
evening.
des and
On
Mars
the 6th, she rises under the Pleiato
the west of her,
being soon
followed
by Aldebaran and
the Hyades.
On
the 7th, she rises nearly with Aldebaran to the
west of her; and during the morning of the 8th

is
observed to be directing her course between
the tips of the Builds horns, but nearest to the
second of
this constellation, or tip
of the northern
horn, and above Venus^.
On
the 9th, the
Moon
rises in
the morning.
108
and
is
AUGUST,
soon followed
1817.
the seventh
is
by Venus and
aiid tvveSfih
of the Twins, above which she
ditill
recting ber course, not passing them however

after
Sun- rise.
On
the 10th, she rises
nearly
with the
tvt'o first
stars of the
fifth
Twins, being be-
tween them and the
of this constellation,
Venus being now

line with the
to
the west
of her.
On
the
in
11th, she rises almost directly under and
two
first
stars
of the Twins.
On
the 12thj she rises under the two small stars and
nebula of the Crab,

the 13th
is
to the
at
wesr of her; and on

in
new Moon
seven o'clock
the
morning, but from her great northern latitude

without an eclipse.
On
the 15ih, the crescent of the
Moon
;
is
seen
at San-set in the west- by-south, near to but to
the west of the seventh of the Virgin
and on
the 16th between the five stars in triangle of the
Virgin, and the

the 17th, she
is
first
On
seen near to the tenth and ele-
Tenth of the Virgin, but does not pass between
them
is sf=en
till
after
Moon-set.
On
the ISth, she

first
near to but to the east of the
of the
Balance, as she passed this star between

six this afternoon
;
five
and
she
is
directing
her course
under J
t.piter, at
some distance
to the ea<>t of her.
AUGUST,
1817.
109
On the 19tli, she is near to but under Jupiter, whom she does not pass till after IMoon-set On
the 20lh, she
is
seen above Anrares, Jupiter and
the second of the Scorpion being to the west of

her.
On
forty
the 21st, the
Moon
is
on the meridian
at
di-
minutes past seven

her
in the evening,
recu'ng
course
under
the
eleventh
and
the
twelfth of the Archer to the east of her.
On
22d, she
is
on the meridian
at forty
minutes past
eight, having almost directl}'^

Stars in the
is
above her the small
head of the Archer.

at
On
the 23d, she

past
on the meridian
thirty-nine minutes
nine, having above her at

east the
some distance
to the
two
first
stars of the Goat,
and she di-
rects her course
under Saturn,
at
a considerable
is
distance from her.
On
tail
the 24lh, she
on the
meridian
at thirly-six
minutes past ten, having

of the Goat above her
the small stars in the

to the
east,
which she
will
have passed before

the 25th, she
is
On
on
the meridian at twenty-eight minutes past ele-
ven, the small stars in the
tail
of the Goat being

at
near to her to the west, and Saturn

tance above her to the
east.
some
dis-
110
On
AUGUST,
the 26th
is
1817.
at thirty-six
full
Moon,
mi-
nutes past seven in the evening;, but from her

great souihern latitude without an eclipse;
rises
She
in
the evening' under Saturn, passing

;
him
soon after their appearance
and she
is
seen on
the following nights to be slowly receding from
him, her brightness eclipsing the few
stars
in
the barren space under the four stars in square,
through which she

three
first
is
passing,
not reaching the

till
stars of the
Ram
the 31st, and

line
then she
rises
under them, passing the

of this constellation and
be-
tween the
first
Menkar
about Sun-rise.
Mercury
is
in his superior
conjunction on the
2d, and consequently, for the remainder of the
month, an evening
is
star.
His latitude on the
1st
one degree forty-two minutes north,

fifth
in the
ninth degree of the

to the 27th,
sign
and
it
decreases
when
he passes the ecliptick in his

in
descending node,
the sixth sign.
the twenty-fifth degree
of
His southern latitude increases

first
to thirty-eight minutes, in the
degree of the
seventh sign.
will prevent
His very unfavourable position

failing
him from
under the observa-
tion of
any but those astronomers, who are said
AUGUST,
to
sitions.
1817.
hinii in
Ill
these po13th.
have the power of detecting
The Moon
is
passes
him on the
Venus
'
morning
star.
Her
latitude on the
1st
is
three degrees twenty-four minutes south,
in the twenty-fourth
degree of the third sign
and
it is
it
decreases to the end of the months

half, in the
when
is
about one minute and a
twenty-
/ifth degree of the fourth sign.
Her motion
She
direct through about thirty-two degrees.

first
is
seen near to the sixth of the Buii^ or tip of
the
southern horn, to the west of her, and she
directs her course under the seventh
and twelfth
of the Twins, passing
them
in the
second week,
near to the thirteenth, having then the third below

her,
which she
will soon
vi'hich
after
pass in her
way
to the sixth,
under
she passes on the 20th,
finishing her course before she arrives at the line
passing through the two
first
of
this constellation
and produced.
The Moon
passes her on the 9th.
Mars
1st
rises
between ten and eleven
at
night
during the whole month.

is
His latitude on the

in the
it
one degree thirty-five minutes south,
nineteenth degree of the second sign; and

creases to
de-
about a degree and
a quarter, in the
seventh degree of the third sign, his motion be-
112
AUGUST,
he
is
1817.
ing thus direct through abovit eighteen decrees.
At
tail
first
seevi
under the small
sârs in the
of the Ra.n, being about three degrees from

;
the fourih of this consttliation
he passes the
the 18th,
Pleiades atsome distance uuder
them on
and
in the last
week
his
passage above the
Hya-
des and Aldebaran will

his course
:
be the chief feature in

splendour of
the
superioritv in the
Mars,
though
is
much
diminished, above that of
Aldebaran
wortiiy of notice.
The Moon
at night.
passes
near to him on the 5th near ten
Jupiter
ridian
ever}^
is
an evening
1st at ten
earlier.
star,
being on the me-
on the
minutes past seven, and
evening
His latitude on the

the
first
Ist is
forty minutes north, in
degree of the
ninth sign, deci easing about seven minutes.
His
motion
is
direct through about one degree forty
minutes
The
chief ft;ature of
his^
course
is
his
passage under the second of the Scorpion, which
he passes on the tenth, the star being twentythree minute and a half north of him.
evenina:
In our
waiks we
shall
compare
his
solendour
with that of Antares.

the 20lh.
The Moon
passes
him on
Saturn
rises at
Sun-set about the end of the
AUGUST,
month, and
the 26th.
is
1817.
at
113
midnight on
on the meridian
His latitude on the
1st is
one degree
forty-six minutes south, in the fifth degree of the
twelfth sign
and
it
increases about three
mi-
nutes, his motion being retrograde through about
two degrees and
a quarter,
under the eighth of

passes
the Water-bearer.
the 26ih.
The Moon
him on
Herschel
is
on the meridian
ttie
at fifty-six
1st,
mi-
nutes past seven in
evening on the
earlier.
and
every succeeding evening
His latitude
on the
1st
is
one minute south,
in the twelfth de-
gree of the ninth sign, increasing to nearly two

minutes.
His motion
is
retrograde through about

stationary.
lines
ten minutes to the 26th,

place will
when he is be found by drawing
His
from An-
tares to the
eighth and seventeenth of the Seris
pent-bearer, as he
between them, near the

branch of the
western border of the western
Miiky-way, and near
to
the
latter line.
The
Moon
passes him
on the 20th.
of the Sun on the 1st

is
tbirty-one minutes thirty-five secojids, and on
the IQth thjrty-f^ne
minutes forty one

at
><tcotids.
The Moon's apparent diameter
midnight on
114
the 1st
4th,
is
AUGUST,
when
it is
1817.
it
half a degree, and

in
decreases to the
the afternoan twenty-nine miIt
nutes thirty-six seconds.

gree at midnight on the 7
crease
till
becomes half a deand continues

to in-
th,
the 17th,
when
It
it is
thirty-two minutes
to
twenty-six seconds.
then decreases
it is
the
end of the month, when
at
midnight twenty-
nine minutes thirty-six seconds.
The Sun
enters
after-
the sixth sign at fifty minutes past one
noon on the 23d.

For the
positions of the fixed stars at
any hour
of the night consult the volume for 1806, by the

following table
:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
]I
Pos.
h.
16
m.
h.
m.
15
h.
m. 45
h.
25 m.
12 17
VIL
VIII.
42
47
7 9
11
10
10
20
23
50
53
7 9
11
IX.
50
2 45 46 2 4
20
15 16
X.
XL
XII.
18 19
48 49 55
22
11.5
SEPTEMBER,
1817.
WE have examined
Moon
spots in the
the strange notions, that
have been conceived, of the influence of the

on the brains of the insane, and of the
Sun on the
vvC^ther.
To
is
attribute
these effects to such distant bodies
a proof of
the
little
attention, that'is paid to the nature of
matter
in general,
and the mode of
its
operations.
in
We
have a striking instance of
this
another
very prevalent errour, and one which

difficult to root out.
it is
very
Whenever
time,
there has been
bad weather
for a little
numbers of per-
sons look to the xllmanack for the change of the
Moon, when they expect an

place: and,
if their
alteration to take
hopes are then baflled, they

it
look forward to another change, and should
happen
that
that the weather takes a favourable turn
at the time they expected,

it
they conclude at once

or other, for which they
must
in
some way
do not pretend
to account,
be attributed to the
116
SEPTEMBER,
Moon.
and the
repeatedly looked
1817.
last
influence of the
Thus,
to,
year, the
Moon was
spite
but change suc-
ceeded change,
rain
poured down in
of repeated
prognostications to the con-
trary.
What
ther
?
effect
it
then has the

it
Moon
Moon
on the wea-
If
has any,
must be by some means,

;
which may be traced

rate
to the
or at
any
some plausible reason should be given

to
to in-
duce us
this
suppose that the
Moon
Moon
can produce
our senses
is
effect.
What
is
evident to
the
is
merely
this, that
when
Sun
is
above our
horizon, and the
absent, the rays of the
Sun, reflected by the

us light.
It is
Moon
on our Earth, give
not supposed, that the lunar ray
produces any other effect; but as a power of drawing to it-elf any objf^ct, affirmed to be manifest in
the tides,
that
is
altrihued to the Moon,

will
it
may
our
be,
at-
some changes
in
be produced
of
this
in
mosphere
power.
consequence
attractive
Now,
if
tins
argument were
true,
we might
would
expect, that the~e variations in the weaHier
be subjrctto some uniform law; and they might

be piognosiicated with the same
facility as takes
SEPTEMBER,
place with
181?.
117
respect to the tides.
But no such
thing hitherto has been attempted, nor do

find that an astronomer
is
we
a jot wiser upon this
subject than
any of
his neijghbours.
Another circumstance
in the
to
be noticed
is,
that
same parallel of
it is,
latitude the effect of the
Moon, whatever
would be the same.

it
Con-
sequently, since in some places
is
a dry sea-
son and at others a wet season at the time of the
change of the Moon,
if in
one
situation a
change
took place from dry to wet, in the other would
be a change of wet
to
dry.
This would b
so manifest a thing from the circumstance continually occurring, that

it
could not
fail to
have
struck the observers of the weather

parts of the
in
different
same
parallel.
Now
:
such changes
have never been observed, nor can they ever be

observed, and for this plain reason
If there
was any truth

the diaries,
in
the weather being

this
affected
by the changes of the Moon,

in
would
it.
be seen
which are kept of

in
These are numerous, not only

but upon the continent.
I
our
own
island,
it
have not thoupht

I
worth while
to
examine any of them, but
knew
a veiy respectable clergyman,
who kept
a diary
118
SEPTEMBER,
1817.
of this kind for thirty-five years, and he upon
examination could not find the
least
connection
whatever between the
Moon and
the weather.
Indeed how could there be any, or how can any

one continue
to affirm decisively
upon
is
this point,
when
all
are so ignorant of
what
much more
important, namely the continued circulation of

the air round the globe, and
the ever varying
air-
changes produced by layers of hot

over those of cold
air,
passing
and vice versa
It is difficult
however
to beat a prejudice out
of some persons' minds.

said,
They have heard
it
that
the
weather takes a turn with the
change of the Moon.

have noticed
themselves..
this
They may
accidentally
circumstance once or twice

are thus confirmed in the vul-
They
gar errour, not considering the number of times

in
which
into
their
supposed rule
fails.
It
never en-
ters
the
mind of
these
persons, that the
change
in the
Moon
takes place at a precise

if
hour and minute; and sometimes,
they allow
the change of weather to be influenced
by the
Moon
in the
about the change, they
may
allow nearly
three days for the operation of this cause.
Now
changes of weather, that naturally take
place,
some must
fall
within these three days,
SEPTEMBER,
and the
1817.
119
Moon may
is
be freed from praise or blame
whatever
the result.
As
the diaries convince us, that all these sur-
mises, respecting the
Moon's influence on the

I
weather, are fallacious, so

lieve the
am
inclined to beto
same
will
be discovered
be the case
tides.
on
its
pretended influence on the
Tide
tables
side
:
may be made
but
let
for every place
on the sea
the height of the tides only be takea

in
fifty
for
one year,
different
places,
which
could easily point out, and the

incidences with the height
number of
table
co-
by
and the
height by experience be compared with the
num-
ber of
failures,
and then
apprehend, that the
whole doctrine of the influence of the Moon, on

the tides will share the same fate with that of
its
pretended influence on the weather.
This work
may
fall
into
the hands of
some persons, who

trial
:
have the opportunitj^ of making the

one year's observation only,
at the
and
Cape of Good
set-
Hope,
St.
Helena, Sierra Leone, Madeira, and
Bermuda, would go a great way towards the

tling of this question.
We
the
will
now
attend to
is
the Moon's progress in
heavens, which
brought to a better calculation.
120
SEPTEMBER^
in
1817.
in
The Moon
passes the ecliptick
her ascend-
Rode on the 2d, about four
ihe morning, in
the fifteenth degree of the second sign, and her
northern latitude increases to the 9sh,

at noon
five
when
It
it is
degrees three minutes and a half, in

fifth sign.
the twenty-third degree of the

then
when
tick in her descending node, about half an hour
before
noon,
in
the twentieth degree of

latitude
the
eighth sign.
to the 21st,
Her southern
now
increases
when
it is
at tnidnight
nearly five de-
grees seven minutes, in the nineteenth degree of

the eleventh sign
;
and
it
when
she passes tke ecliptick in her ascending

little
node a
before half past seven in the morn-
ing, in the twenty-fourth degree of the second

sign,
and her
latitude at
midnight on the 30th
is
nearly one degree forty-seven minutes,

ninth degree of the third sign.
in the
On
the
1st,
the
Moon
rises
in the
evening
about nine, nearly with the Pleiades, the three

first stars
of the
Ram
being above her, at some
distance to the west.

shall perceive, that she
About an hour
is
after
we
directing her course to
Mars.
On
the 2d, she rises almost directly un-
SEPTEMBER,
der the Pleiades, and
to the east of her,
is
1817.
12!l
soon followed by Mars
who
with Aldebaran and the
Hyades
will
be her companion for the night.

is
is
On
her
the 3d, she

risinof,
followed
by Mars soon
after
who
now
near to her but to the
west.
On
is
the 4th, she rises under the second of
the Bull, or tip of his northern horn5th, she

fifth
On
the
followed soon after her rising by the
of the Twins, above which star she will be
seen to pass on the morning of the 6th, directing
her course between Venus and the two
first
stars
On
cond,
the 7th, she rises in the

first
morning under
and
will
is
the two
of the Twins, and near to the seSun-rise,
which she passes before
these two stars above and
Venus below her
form
pleasing
sight.
On
the
8th,
she
the
followed at her rising
by Venus and
two
small stars and nebula of the Crab, and above
which
11th
is
slie
passes before Sun-rise;

at
and on the
minutes past
new Moon
forty-three
six in the
morning, but from her great latitude
without an eclipse.
On
Moon
is
no-
ticed at Sun-set to the west of south-west, being
122
SEPTEMBER,
1817.
between the tenth and eleventh of the Virgin

and
star,
first
of the Balance, but near to the

it
latter
as she passes
soon after midnight.
She
is
directing her course under Jupiter, at some dis-
tance to the east of her.
On
the 15th, she
is
per-
ceived to have travelled rapidly from the

the Balance, being
this star
first
of
now about
midvt'ay
between
and the second of the Scorpion and Julatter
piter,
evidently to pass the
before her
is
next appearance.
On
the
16th, she
seen at
some distance
to the east
of the second of the
Scorpion and Jupiter, and below her will be noticed Antares.
On
the 17th, the
Moon
is
on the meridian at
noon,
forty-three
minutes past
five afier
being
near to the eighth of the Serpent-bearer, having

Jupiter and Antares at some distance to the west
of her.
On
the 18ih,
she
is
on the meridian at
forty-three minutes past six, being near to
and
almost dirc( tly under the eleventh of the Archer,

the small stars in his head being to the east of
her.
On
the 19th,
she
is
on the meridian at
forty-three minutes past <even, having above her

to the east the two
hrst stars of the Goat,
and
nearer to her to the west the small stars in the
head of the Archer.
On
the 20th, she
is
on the
SEPTEMBER,
two
first stars in
1817.
125
meridian at thirty-nine minutes past eight, the

the head of the Goat being above
at a
her to the west, and Saturn

tance from
her to the east.
considerable disis
She
directing her
1st,
course under this planet.
On
the 2
she
is
on
the meridian at thirty-two minutes past nine, the small stars in the
tail
of the Goat being above

the
east,
and near
to
her
to
Saturn
above
her also to the east at some distance.
On
the
^2d, she
is
on the meridian
at
twenty-one midirectly
nutes past ten, Saturn beingj
now almost
it,
above her, but rather to the west of
and contri-
siderably above her are the four small stars in
angle in the urn of the Water-bearer.

she
is
On
the 23d,
on the meridian at six minutes past eleven,
Saturn being
now
at
to
the west, and the four stars in square above her

at a considerable distance, the
two western being
near to the meridian on the west.

she
is
On
the 24th,
on the meridian
at forty-nine
minutes past
eleven, the four stars in square being above her,
the two eastern near to the meridian on the east.
On
the 25th
is
full
Moon
is
at
forty-seven mi-
nutes past nine in the morning, but without an

eclipse, as her latitude
nearly three degrees.

east,
She
rises in the
evening
in the
under the
G2
124
SEPTEMBER,
On
181?.
four stars in square, and pursues her course slowly

in a barren region.
the 27th, she rises un-
der the three
first
stars
of the
Ram, and
is
seen
to direct her course to
Mars
at a
considerable dis-
tance from her.
On
the 28th, she rises
under
them now
to the
west of her, and nearly at the
same time with the Pleiades.

rises
On
the 29lh, she

;
under and near

is
to the Pleiades
and on the
30th she
seen to the east of the line between
these stars and
Aldebaran, her access to Mars
in this line being very slow.

last
Her motion
for the
its
six
days has been considerably below
average, which,
combining with her
position,,
renders the interval betviêen her risings

shorter than at other seasons of the year.
much
Mercury
27th.
is
an evening
star,
at his greatest
elongation on the 14th,
and stationary on the

1st
is
His latitude en the

in
it
forty-seven
minutes, south,
the third degree of the seincreases to the 28th,
venth sign; and

it is
when
in the
three degrees
forty-two
minutes,
twenty-sixth degree of the seventh sign.
His
unfavourable position and southern latitude pre-
vent him from being discovered by

servers, as he
is
many
ob-
not five degrees above the ho-
rizon at Sun-set on the day of greatest elongation.
SEPTEMBER,
He
star
ISl?.
125
tl
passes the
first
of the Virgjin on the 18th,
being sixty-one minutes north of him.

passes
The
Moon
him on
the 13th.
Venus
ist
is
is
morning
star.
Her
latitude on the
in
it
one degree twenty -one minutes south,
the twenty-sixth degree of the fourth sign; and
decreases to the 21st,
when
tick in her ascending node, in the nineteenth de-
gree of the
fifth
sign; and her northern latitude
now
of
increases to half a degree, in the last degree

sign
:
this
thus her motion
is
direct
through
about
about thirty- four degrees. She
rises at first
half past one in the morning, ar.d every <v.orning

later,
being
first
seen under the two
first stars
of
the Twins, soon to pass the line drawn throMgh
them and produced.
She then travels
a bar-
ren space, passing under the two small stars and
nebula of the Crab on the 9th, directing her

course to the
first
of the Lion, above and near to
which she passes on the 29th.

her on the 7 th.
The Moon
passes
Mars
26th.
is
on the meridian at three quarters past
five in the
morning of the
is
1st,
and at
five
on the
His latitude
the
one degree eleven minutes
sou'h, in
eighth degree of the third sign;
and
it
decreases to nearly half a degree, in the
126
SEPTEMBER,
being
direct
181?.
his
twenty-first degree of
tion
the third sigo,
mo-
throiph
about thirteen deseen above and
grees and a quairer.
He
is first
near to Aldebaran, directing his course between

the
horns of the Eull^ and finishing
it
between
ihe two stars at their tips, but not arriving at

the line between them, the second
of the Bull
tip
being above
hin),
and the sixth or

to
of
the
southern horn
below and nearer

3d.
him.
The
Moon
passes
him on the
Jupiter
the
1st
is
an evening
star,
on the meridian
on.
attvvenly-one minutes past five after noon,

earlier.
and every succeeding evening

titude
His la-
on the
1st
is
thirty- three
minutes north,
;
in the third
degree of the
Jiinth sign
and
it
de-
creases to nearly twenty-eight minutes, in the
seventh degree of
this sign,
his
motion being di-
rect through nearly four degrees.

first
He
is
seen at
near the second of the Scorpion, from which

to
he slowly recedes
the twenty-fourth of this
constellation, very near to which, but to the west
of
it,
he finishes his course. This |)lanet with An-
tares
under him
will
form a pleasing sight

passes
in
our
evening walks.
16th.
The Moon
him on the
Saturn
is
on the meridian
at
thirty-seven mi-
SEPTEMBER,
on the 26th.
1817.
1st,
12?
and
at ten
nutes past eleven at night on the
His latitude on the
1st is
one dedegree
gree forty-nine minutes south,
in the third
of the twelfth sign
and
it
remains nearly the
same the whole month,
his
motion being
retrofirst
grade through nearly two degrees.
When
on the meridian, the four
stars in triangle
of the
urn of the Water-bearer are directly above him,
and
at the last the
eisfhth
of this constellation
nearly.
The Moon
is
passes
him on the 22d.
Herschel
on the meridian at fifty-nine mi1st,
nutes past five in the afternoon of the

three quarters past four on
titude at
first is
and His
at
la-
the 22d.
two minutes south,

it
in the twelfth
degree of the ninth sign, and

the
remains nearly
di-
same the whole month,
his
motion being
rect through nearly forty minutes.
The twenty-
fourth of the Scorpion
is
nearly midwaj' between
him and
the second,
and a line drawn through

to
this latter star
and Jupiter passes near
him
at
the end of the month. the 17 th.
The Moon
passes
him on
The
Sun's apparent diameter on the
4th
is
thirty-one minutes forty-seven seconds, and on

the 25th thirty-one minutes fifty-nine seconds.
128
SEPTEMBER,
1817.
the 1st
is it

increases to
tlie
twenty-nine minutes thirty-four seconds, and

13th,
',
when
and
it is
it
thirty-two mi-
nutes fifiy-two seconds

29th,
decreases to the
half.
when
it
is
twenty-nine minutes and a
The Sun
enters the seventh sign at twenty-eight

in the
minutes past ten
morning of the 23d.
For the appearances of the
fixed stars, at
any
hour of the night, consult the volume for 1806,

:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
Pos.
h.
1
16
m. 46
51
h.
m.
21
h.
m.
h.
24 m.
VII. VIII.
6
8
6
8
5
7
52
57
7
9
IX.
10
54
49
10
26 29
23
31
10
11
X.
XT.
XII.
I.
24
2 4
6
55
11
26
27 33 23
4
6
50 50 46
25
31 21
56
2
4
5
52
3 5
ri9
OCTOBER,
1817.
THE Moon
with
it
is
the nearest to us of the hea-
venly bodies, and from our slight acquaintance
we may judge
of the difficulty of forming
an accurate idea of those that are more remote.
Attempts have been made

equalities
to
delineate the
in-
on
its
surface, and
names have been
given to places, which struck the eye of the observer
by some remarkable appearances.
To
it
reason from analogy

is
we should suppose,
that there
that
diversified
by
hills
and dales, and plains;
-and
some have thought,

with
us.
may be
seas,
as
But
it
does not follow, that because
we have water
same kind on
matter are
there should be a substance of he
the
Moon.
all
It is evident, that
it
is
an opaque body, but
the various forms of
unknown to us. Future experience may delect new substances within cur globe,
and yet
in
the
Moon
every thiug
oilier
may wear
different appearance,
and the
heavenly boIt is
dies
may
equally differ
from each other.
130
ocTor3E0, 1817.
may
in
not granted to us, and probably never
our present state of existence, to be acquainted
with the structure of either our
own
or the other
globes, that revolve around the Sun.
Enough
is
manifest to us to give us the persuasion, that
wherever creative power has beeu exerted every

thing
is
to be found suitable to the wise and be-
nevolent purposes of the Greater.
have given,
at the
end of each month, the
apparent diameter of the
Moon
for certain days,
from which
vening days
its
apparent diameter on the interpretty nearly ascertained.
may be
This cannot be done accurately, as the apparent"

diameter does not increase or decrease uniformly
:
but
it
increases
with an
increasing
till it is
increment
from
its
lowest magnitude
its
about a mean
between
then
it
it
greatest and least
magnitude, and
till
increases with a decreasing increment

to
its
comes
greatest magnitude.
It
till
then deit
creases with an increasing decrement
comes
to about a
mean between the

comes
to
greatest and least
magnitude, and then decreases with a decreasing
decrement
till
it
its
least
magnitude,
and so on continually.
The
nature of these increments and decrement*
OCTOBER,
will
I8I7.
what iiappens
in
131
in the
be seen by attending
to
course of this year.
Thus,
January,
its
ap-
parent magnitude was greatest near midnight on

the 9lh, but
it
did not vary a second from the

to the
midnight of the 8th

Its
midnight of the 10th.

after
least
magnitude was
it
midnight of the
23d, but
did not vary a second

till
from midday
In Febru5th, but
it
of the 23d
midnight of the 24th.
ary
its
gieatest magnitude
was on the
did not vary a second from midnight of the 4lh

to
midday of the
3th.
Its least
magnitude was
it
about, midnight of the 20th, but
did not vary
a second from midday of the 20th to midnight of

the 21st.
In
March
its
greatest magnitude did

till
not vary a second from midnight of the 4th
midday of the
5th, and
its
least
magnitude did
magnitude was
but
it
not vary a second from midnight of the 19th to
midday of
greatest
the 21st.
In April
its
about
noon of the 2d,
varied
nearly a second in the twelve hours precedinaj
and following that time.
Its
least
magnitude
was on the
In June
16th, but
it
did not vary a second

to
from midnight of the 15th

its
midday of the
17th.
magnitude did not vary a second during the whole of the 10th, and it was nearly
the same at midnight of the 25th and midday of the 26th.
132
This
which;,
is
OCTOBER,
the case with
all
1817.
varvincf magnitudes,
when they
or
arrive at that
what
is
is
called their
maximum
least
minimum,
vary
their greatest
little
and
magnitudes,
but
about
these
points.
In arriving at either of them they pass
through certain magnitudes, and having arrived

at the point of
maximum
or
minimum they
must,
on decreasmg from the one or increasing from

the other, have exactly the
same magnitudes
as
they had previously to their arriving at these

points.
This
may
be made familiar
to
any one, wdio
has a celestial globe; and he will see thence the
meaning of the term solstices. winter the Sun arrives at two
In
summer and
for
points called the
summer and winter

the height of the
solstices,
at
and
is
some days
Sun
noon
nearly the same.

this
Indeed,
it
does not vary a minute
year,
during the 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d of June, nor
on the 20th,
21st, 22d, and
23d of December.
You may
try this
by taking the declination of the
Sun on these days from the wooden horizon of

the globe, and then finding
in
its
altitude at noon,
which you
will not
be able probably to detect
a sensible
greatest
variation.
The Sun
arrives
at
his
declinaiion
on the 21st of June, and
OCTOBER,
22d of December
these days will for
;
1817.
133
side of
its
variation on eaeh
some time be small.
have suggested the propriety of attending
to
this circumstance in varying magnitudes, in
my
life.
Principles of Taxation, where
it is
shew^n to be
of consequence
in
the
common
concerns of
A government
lays on a tax
upon certain
for
articles,
which produces a certain sum
some years.
the tax,
Encouraged by
and
finds, as
it
this gain
it
increases
supposes, a corresponding increase

It
in its
receipts.
goes on increasing the tax,

its
without attending to the nature of
increments,
but
for
it
if,
may
be
to
the decrease of
tax,
it
its
revenue
in increasing the
it
has passed the
maximum, which
consequence
I believe
is
is
can produce, the necessary

its
a diminution in
receipts.
This
no
uncommon
case,
is
though to the
held out
intelligent a sufficient
warning
by the
nature of the increment of revenue, on each in-
crement of taxation
but
this
is
not to be ex-
pected, unless the finances are kept in a

better
much
In
use
so
is
manner than they are

and
in
most nations.
despotical countries the rulers seldom
make
is
of iheir reason
in
many
It
others,
what
important
least of all
part of the business of the nation
attended
to.
is
not considered.
134
OCTOBER,
to
1817.
however, that to burden the subject without a

corresponding benefit
the
government
is
one
of the greatest absurdities: but how few are the
governments that
this kind,
will
listen
to
a suggestion of
to in-
and diminish the taxes in order
crease the revenue.
But we
v^rill
leave the affairs
of this Earth, and attend to the motions of the
heavenly bodies during
this
month.
The Moon's
is
latitude north
on the
1st at
noon
two degrees sixteen minutes and a

degree of the third sign; being at noon
half,
in the
it
fifteenth
and
five
in-
creases to the 6th,
degrees
twelve minutes, in the eighteenth degree of the

fifth sign.
It
now
decreases to
the 12th,
when
she passes the ecli4)tick in her descending node,

a
little
past six in the evening-, rn the nineteenth

sign.
degree of the eighth

then increases
Her southern
latitude
to ihe 18th,
being at midnight five
degrees fourteen minutes and three quarters, in

the sixteenth degree of the eleventh sign
it
;
and
thence decreases to the 26ih, when she passes
the ecliplick in her ascending node, about forty
minutes after noon, in the eighteenth degree of

the second sign.
Her southern
of the
latitude increases
afterwards to the end
month,
closing
with a magnitude of four degrees forty-nine mi-
OCTOBER,
sign.
1817.
135
fourth
mites, in the twenty-fourth degree of the
The Moon
rises in
the
evening of the
1st
about half past eight, under the second of the

Bull, or tip of the northern horn,
and
is
soon
followed
planet
passes
is
by Mars, and
her passage above the

:
the chief feature of her course

after
she
the
him very soon
midnight.
to the
On
2d, she rises under
Mars now
west of her,
and
is
soon followed by the seventh and twelfth
of the Twins,
above which she passes before

fifth
midnight, directing her course above the

the Twins.
fifth
of
On
the 3d, she rises between the

first
of the
Twins and the two

under the two
of this con-
stellation,

first
star.
On
the
4th, she rises
stars of the
Twins
now
to the
is
west of her, and during the morning of
the 5th
seen to be directing her course above th

stars
two small
and included nebula of the Crab,
On
with
the 6th, the
Moon
rises
in the
morning
the small stars in the
head of the Lion, but
does not reach them before Sun-rise.

7th, she rises near to the
On
the
seventh of the Lion,
and passes between the

stellation
first
and
third of this conat
about Sun-rise; Tenus
farther dig-
136
OCTOBER,
J817.
tance under her will be noticed.

she rises nearly with
her.
On
to
the 8tb,
Venus now
the west of
stars
On
the 9Lh, she rises with the small

of the Virgin,
in
line
the head
having passed the

se-
between the second of the Lion and the
cond of the Virgin, Venus being now above her

at
some distance
to the
west; and on the 10th

past four
in
is
new Moon,
at a quarter
the after-
noon, but from her latitude without an eclipse.
On
in the
Moon
is
seen
evening near the horizon, in south-westat
by-west, at Sun-set, and

the
first
some distance from

it
of the Balance
she passed
only about
ten this morning, but her motion
is
now very
rapid
she
is
directing her course under Jupiter.

is
On
the 13th, she
seen between the second of
the Scorpion and
Antares, Jupiter being above

till
her, but she does not pass the planet
after
Moon-set.
On
the 14th,
Jupiter and Antares
are seen to the w-est of her.

is
On
the 15th, she
under and near
to the twelfth
and eleventh of
the Archer, but she does not pass under the latter star
till
after Moon-set.
On
three
the 16th, the
Moon
is
on the meridian
at
quarters past five after
noon, below the
OCTOBER,
small stars in the
1817.
137
head of the Archer to the

the 17th, she
is
west of
it.
On
on the me-
ridian at forty-three minutes past six, being di-
rectly under the two

is
first stars
of the Goat.
She
directing her course under Saturn, at a consi-
derable distance from her.
On
the 18th, she
is
on the meridian
at thirty-seven
minutes
tail
past* se-
ven, having the small stars in the

alcove her to
of the Goat
vvill
the east, and
it is
evident she
not have passed Saturn before her next appearance.
On
the 19th, she
is
on the meridian
Saturn
at
twenty-six
minutes past eight,

to the
being
east,
above her and near
meridian to the
till
but she does not pass him
after
Moon-set.
at
On
the 20th, she
is
on the meridian
twelve
minutes past nine, being almost directly under

the two western of the four stars in square
turn
is
;
Sa-
now
at

is
to the west.
at fifiy-five
On
the 21st, she
on the meridian
being
minutes past nine,
now
in
in
the
barren
space under the four stars
square, the two
eastern being the nearest to the meridian to the

east.
On
the 22d, she
is
on the meridian
the
four
stars
at in
thirty. six
minutes
past
ten,
square being above

to
it
her, tlie
two eastern near

is
to the west.
On
the 23d, she
on the me-
ridian at
seventeen minutes past eleven, being
138
OCTOBER,
is
1817.
Fishes,
almost directly under the sixth of the
On
the 24th, she
on the meridian
at fifty^seven
minutes past eleven,

three
first
being directly under the
stars of the
Ram.
Moon,
at fifty-five
On
the 25th
is full
minutes
past two in the morning, but without an eclipse,

as her latitude
is
then about a degree and a half.

rises
In the eveninir, she

stars of the
under the three

;
first
Ram
to the
west of her
and on the
26th she
rises
nearly
with the Pleiades, and

is
under them on the 27th, but she

passed
seen
her
to
have
them,
at
and
to
be directing
course
above Mars and
some distance from
her.
On
the
28ih, she rises nearly with the second of the Bull,

is
seen afterwards to be directing her course

that star and Mars.
between
is
On
the
29th, she
followed soon after her rising by Mars,

is
whom
she
observed to have passed, and during the
night her recess ftQai him and passage by the
seventh and
chief feature
rises
twelf;h
of* the Tv\ins will
be the
of her course
fifth
On
the 30th, she
with and between the

first
of the Twins and
the two
of this constel!a!ion, but near to the

rises
former star; and on the 31st she
under the
two
first
of the Twins, and near to the second of
them.
OCTOBER,
Mercury
elonfjjation
is
1817.
159
in his inferior
conjunction on the
10th, stationary on the ISth,
and
at his greatest
on the 25th, consequently for the
greater pait of the
month he
1st
is
is
morning
star.
His latitude en the
three degrees
thirty-
four minutes south, in the twenty-fifth degree of
the seventh sign
and
it
decreases to the lOth,
when he
passes the eciiptick in his
ascending
node, in the eleventh degree of the seventh sign.
His northern
the
latitude
now
increases to the end of

last
month, being on the
day two degrees
seven minuies, in the twenty-first degree of the
seventh sign.
He
is
in
a very favourable posi-
tion at the time of greatest ek)ngation,
and
in-
deed for a week before
it
many
will detect him.

is
On
rise,
the
day of greatest elongation, he
very
nearl}^
two hours above the horizon before Sunis
and an hour before Sun-rise he
above six
deorees above the horizon.
We
shall then find
him under the

and nearest
five stars in triangle of the Virgin,
to the third.
From
this star
he was
about three degrees distant on the 18rh, and

has slowly recede! from
the
first
it,
he
but he has not passed
of the Virgin at the end of the month,
when
he will be above an hour and a half above
the horizon before Sun-rise.
The Moon
passes
him on the
10th.
140
Venus
is
OCTOBER,
a
1817.
Her
latitude on the
first
morning
star.
1st is thirty-six
minutes north, in the
degree
of the sixth sign;
and
it
increases to
somewhat
more than a degree and
a half, in the seventh
degree of the seventh sign, her motion being direct through nearly thirty-six degrees
and
a half.
She
is
seen at
first
first
under and a!;out three degrees
from the
of the Lion, and she directs her
course to the seventh of the Virgin, passing un-
der the twenty-second of the Lion on the
llh,
above the second of the Virgin on the 22d, and
above the seventh of
this
constellation
on the
28th, finishing her course within about a degree
of the third to the east of her.
The Moon
passes
her on the 7th.
Mars
is
on the meridian
at three quarters past

at
four in the
the IQih.
south,
in
morning on the 3d, and

His latitude on the
four
on
1st is half a
degree
the twenty-first degree of the third

it
sign;
and
when he
His
passes the ecliptick in his ascending node, in the
twenty-fifih
degree
of
the
third
sign.
northern latitude then increases to
the end of the

in
month
he
to
nearly
forty
minutes north,
the
first
twenty-sixth degree of the third sign.

is
At
seen between the two stars the second and
OCTOBER,
1817.
141
the sixth of the Bull, or the tips or his horns,
being nearest to the sixth, or tip of his southern

horn, which he passes on the 4th, directing his
course with a slow motion towards the seventh
and twelfth of the Twins, but he stops about

half
his
way between them and
the sixth of the Bul!

five
motion being direct through about
de-
grees and a quarter.

the 2d.
The Moon
passes
him on
Jupiter
the 1st
is
is
an evening
star.
His latitude on
twenty-eight minutes north, in the se;
venth degree of the ninth sign

to nearly twenty-four minutes,
and
in
it
decreases
the thirteenth
degree of the ninth sign,

through about
five
his
motion being direct
degrees and three quarters.

is
When
first
seen Ar.tares
his
almost directly unis
der him,
and
course
stopt just at
the
western border of the western branch
of the
Milky-way,
at the
distance of about a degree
and a half from Herschel.
The
?'Ioon
passes
him on
the 14th.
Saturn
is
on the
oieridianîit forty1st,'
one minutes
eight on the
past nine at night on the
and
a?
27 ih. Hiy latitude on' the

nine minutes south,
1st is
one degree fortydegree of the
in the
first
142
twelfth sign
;
OCTOBER,
and
it is
1817.
decreased to about one dethirtieth
gree
and three quarters, in the
degree
of the eleventh sign, his motion being retrograde
through about
fifty
minutes.
He
is
thus seen,
when on
the meridian,
ahnost directly under the
eighth and seventeenth of the Water-bearer, the

eighteenth being below and near to him to the
east.
The Moon
is
passes
him on the 20th.

place on the
Herschel
1st
an evening
star,
his
benig
in the thirteenth
degree of the ninth

south,
sign, with a latitude of
two minutes
which
remains apparently the same the whole month,

his
motion being direct through about a degree
and a quarter.
He
is
thus
advancing in the
western branch of the Milky-way, and the observer,
that notes Jupiter's

it,
path
by drawing
passes
a line through
schel in the
cannot
fail
of discovering Her-
Milky-way.
The Moon
him
on the 14th.
The Sun's apparent diameter on

thirty-two minutes twelve seconds.
the 4th
is
thirty-two minutes three seconds, and on the 18th
The Moon's
is
apparent diameter on the 2d at midnight

a degree
is
;
half
it
and
it
increases to the
1th,
when
thirty-three minutes
eighteen
seconds.
It
OCTOBER,
nine minutes
afterwards
till
1817.
when
at
it
143
is
twenty-
twenty-eight seconds, increasing

it
becomes,
the end
of the
month
conds.
at
midnight, thirty minutes sixteen seenters the
The Sun
eighth sign on the
23d, at thirty-four minutes past six in the after-
noon.
stars consult

table
:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
Fos.
h.
1
Id
25
h.
m.
3
h.
m.
38 41 36
37
h.
m.
8 11
m. 34
37
VilL
JX.
7
9
11
6
8
6
8
6
1
7
9
X.
10
10
6
7
32
33 39 29 32
i
XL
XII.
I.
2
8
n
1
58
2 4
4'i
13
3
33
4
6
3
5
'
II.
144
NOVEMBER,
THERE
in
1817.
is
an
appearance
in
the
Moon,
which vulgarly goes under the name of the

the
Man
Moon, from
It is difficult
a fancied
resemblance of
something
face.
in its surface to the
form of a
human
any
at-
however
;
to trace cut at
time this resemblance
and they,
who have
tended to the circumstance, will have observed,

that th
Moon's surface presents
to us a continu-
ally varying form.

to those,
This will not be surprising

considered what has been ad-
who have
in
for the
vanced
the observalions
on the preceding
successive nights,
men h;
is
Moon, on two
generally seen un.ier different circumstances,

to delineate its
difficul-
and they, who have attempted
surface, find thence very considerable

ties.
It
has been noticed, that the apparent diameof the
ter
Moon
is
continually varying, but at
NOVEMBER,
certain times this variation
for the space
tible
is
1817.
145
very small, being
of a w^hole night scarcely percep-
by
it
the nicest instruments.
time
should happen to
Now, if at this be full Moon, the de-
lineater will
have a good opportunity, supposing
the night to be clear, to take the figure of the
Moon
leaves
under that apparent diameter
but, if
he
any thing undone, and wishes
to correct
or improve his plan
by
a subsequent observation,
the opportunity
time.
may
not occur for a considerable
It
would naturally be the wish of the
artist to
take his object at the greatest advantage, namely
when
the full
Moon
has the greatest diameter;

full
its
but during
this
whole year the
Moon
does
not take place any night
when
apparent dithere
If,
ameter
will
is
maximum, and consequently

to the first full
be a variation during the operation.
for
example, we look
Moon, which
about noon
is
:
takes place on the 3d of January

at that
UmQ
its
apparent diameter
at
thirty-one
it is
minutes sixteen seconds,
midnight
thirty-
one minutes twenty-eight seconds, and

the next
at noon of day thirty-one minutes thirty-four se-
conds:
is
consequently,
its
during the night, there
a variation in
diameter of about twelve mi-
145
nutes.
NOVEMBER,
;
181?.
This might be thought of no great conbut,

if
sequence
any thing
is left
undone, as
it
probably would, and the next night was em-
ployed
to the
same purpose, there would be a

in its ap-
difFerence of
upwards of half a minute
pearance on the two nights, and the whole year
would not
afford another opportunity of
making
a plate of the
Moon
under similar circumstances.
In
this case, the

to its
Moon's^ apparent diameter was
approaching
that a
maximum, and we may

first full
expect,
person designing to delineate the
Moon
would not take the
Moon, but
for
consider
what be the most advantageous

the year.
him during
In this year the months of April and
May
full
are best suited to his purpose, for at the

in
Moon
April the apparent diameter

its
is
apis
proaching
to
maximum,
first
so
that
there
scarcely a variation of more than two seconds in

its
appearance on the
at
and second nights,

is
and
each midnight the apparent diameter
so
nearly the same, that a difFerence cannot be detected
by
in
the finest instrument
At
the
first full
Moon
its
May
the apparent diameter has passed

at
maximum, but
night she will appear under

at niid-
very nearly the same diameter as she did

yight on the 1st and 2d of April; that
is
thirty-
NOVEMBER,
lineation
it
is
1817.
14?
If the de-
three minutes twenty-eight seconds.
made under
be easy
for,
if
this
apparent magnitude,
it
will not
to correct
by subsequent
at the
obserrations;
the
full
Moon
end of
May might
Moon
be thought suited to the purpose, cernot be the case

it.
tainly that would
by any
full
that followed
Hence,
it is
in all
globes and
it
maps of
necessary, that
should be
the
to
the Moon, known under
what apparent diameter
delineation
was
made
ance
and he,
the
who expects
at
see an appear-
in
Moon
similar to that in his plate,

his disappointment, if
must not be surprised

he views the
different
Moon
for
under circumstances very
from those under which the delineation

If,
was made.
example, the plate was taken
when
the apparent diameter of the

thirty-three minutes,
Moon was
it
upward of
how can
be
expected to be an exact representation of the
Moon when
the
at
her diameter
is
under thirty minutes?

in the surface of
W hatever are the inequalities

Moon, which give
it
a peculiar appearance
its
one time, these, when
orb
is
considerably
varied,
must from the nature of projection and
the reflection of the rays of the

alteration in
its
Sun produce an
appearance.
148
NOVEMBER,
1817.
The apparent
surface of the
Moon
would,
if
we were
acquainted with the real nature of the

it,
dark and light spots upon

idea of the
give us the same
Moon^s
real surface, as a
map
of one
hemisphere of the Earth does of the
real situation
in the
on the Earth of the places marked

In the
so
it is
map.
and
map every
thing almost
is
distorted,
in the apparent surface of the
Moon.
To
on
have an idea of the

the
real figure of a black spot
Moon, we must
which we may
take
its
outline correctly,
in
it
and the distances of several points

line,
from a
call
the Moon's equator.

called the
it
Thus we may obtain what may be

please.
longitude and latitude of every point in
Having done
flat surface to
all this
by
observation,
we we
can tranr/er our longitudes and latitudes of points
on the
corresponding longitudes
and
latitudes on a globe of
any dimensions we
the
please, and thus
we have a globe of
Moon.
But there is one tiff^r^nce between the globe thus made to represent the lunar surface and those
common use to represent the Earth. We know by our globe, what parts are earth, what
in
parts sea,
what are mountainous, and what are

all
plane
to us
but
that the lunar globe can represent
is
merely, that in such a longitude and

is
latitude the spot
dark, or in another
it is
light;
NOVEMBER,
whether
it is
1817.
149
we know
land or sea, high or low,
nothing, and the globe can be of use only to
give imperfect delineations of the dark and lu-
minous surfaces
in the orb of the
Moon.
But the observers of the

great advantages
present day have
over
the famed
philosopher
Endymion, who passed his cheerless nights on the summit of some lofty mountain to gain a
fancied advantage in a nearer approach to the
object
of his curiosity and
admiration.
With
dis-
what delight would he have anticipated the

coveries of our telescope,
which however,
in
bringing us so much nearer to the glorious orb of

night, has hitherto only tantalized
us with reexcits
spect to the grand points,
which most
human
tained
curiosity.
What may
be hereafter
at-
by
the noble aims of lord Stanhope to ex-
tend the power of the telescope time will discover
but
hope that
it
will
be
in
my
of
power
to con-
gratulate additions
my
to
readers next year on

the
some useful
heavens,
knowledge
the
through the labours of an English nobleman to
whom
tions!
science
is
already under so
many
obliga-
We
will
now examine
the appearance?
of the heavens in this month.
The Moon's
latitude north at
midnight on the
150
NOVEMBER,
five
fifth
1817.
^d
is
degrees seventeen minutCvS, in the ninesign

;
teenth degree of the

to the 9th,
and
it
decreases
when
she passes the ecliptick in her

five in
descending node, between four and
the
morning, in the seventeenth degree of the eighth

sign.
Her southern
latitude
now
increases to the
15th,
when it
is
at
noon
five degrees seventeen
mi-
nutes, in the nineteenth degree of the eleventh sign
thence decreasing to the 22d,
when
she passes
the ecliptick in her ascending node, about seven

at night, in the
eighieenth degree of the second

latitude
sign.
Her northern
now
increases to
the 29th, being at midnight five degrees fifteen
minutes,
sign.
in
the
sixteenth
degree of the
fifth
The Moon
a
rises at
night on the
1st
about
quarter
the
past
ten,
and
is
soon
followed
in
by
two
above
small
stars
and
nebula
the
Crab,
night.
which
she
passes
about
mid-
On
the 2d, she rises under and near to

;
the small stars in the head of the Lion
and
during the^morning of the 3d
is
seen to direct
her course to the seventh of this constellation,
which she does not reach

Sun-rise.
till
some time
after
On
the 4th, the
Moon
rises
in
the morning
NOVEMBER,
under the
first
1817.
and
is
151
seen
and
third of the Lion^
afterwards to direct her course to the saiall stars

in the
head of the Virgin, beyond which Venus
will be noticed.
On
the 5ih, she
rises
nearly
with the second of the Lion, but does not reach

the small stars in the head of the Virgin
Sun-rise.
stars in the
til!
after
On
the 6th, she rises under the small

is
head of the Virgin, and

:
soon
fol-
lowed by the seventh
she will be seen to direct
her course between the third and loarth, and

nearest to
the former
star,
to pass
Venus about
the time of her next appearance.

she rises under the five stars
in
On
the 7th,
triangle of the
Virgin and soon
after
is
Venus,
and
her
recess
from the planet

gress.
the chief feature of her prois
On
the 9th
past two
in the n)orning,
new Moon, when
at eight
minutes
there will be an
j
eclipse of the Sun, of course to us invisible

will take place
but
it
centrally on the
meridian,
at
four
minutes
past
two, in longitude one hun-
dred and forty-eight degrees forty-nine minutes

east,
and latitude eight degrees eight minutes
south.
On

a short
Moon
will
be seen for
time after Sun-set near the

in
horizon and under Jupiter,
the south-west.
152
NOVEMBER,
is
1817.
On
the nth, she
seen under the twelfth and

directing
eleventh of the Archer,
her
course
is
under the
latter star.
On
the 12th, she
seen
under the small
stars in the
head of the Archer,
being near
to
hut under the eighteenth, the star
in his shoulder.
On
at
the
3th,
the
Moon
past
is
on the meridial^
four in the afterfirst
thirty. four
minutes
noon, and will be soon seen under the two

stars of the
Goat
to the east of
her,
directing
her coarse under Saturn at a considerable distance to the east of her.
On
the 14th, she
is
on the meridian
the two
at thirty-one
minutes past
five,
first stars
of the Goat being
now above
its
her to the west, and the small stars in

to the east.
tail
On
the 15th,
she
is
on the mesix,
ridian
at
twenty-three
tail
minutes
past
the
small stars in the
of the Goat being near
to her to the west, and Saturn,
whom
is
she will
have passed before her next appearance, above

her to the
east.
On
the 16th, she
on the me-
ridian at ten minutes past seven, having belovr
and near
to her to the east the fourth of the
ter-bearer,
and above her

she
is
to the west Saturn.
WaOn
the 17
ih,
on
the meridian at fifty- four
minutes past seven, being directly under the four
NOVEMBER,
stars in square, the
181?.
153
two western
to the west the

:
two eastern
is
to the east of the
meridian
Saturn
now
at

is
to the west. at thirty-
On
five
the 18th, she
on the meridian
minutes past eight, being almost directly

stars in square,
under the two eastern of the four

having below and near
to her the tenth of the
Whale, the
is
star in
its tail.
On
the 19th, she
on the meridian at a quarter past nine, being

the barren
in
space
under that part of the

fifth
band of the Fishes occupied by the

sixth of this constellation.
and
is
On
the 20th, she
on the meridian at fifty-five minutes past nine,

having above
her the
it
three
east,
is
first
stars of the
Earn near
to
to
the
and
below and
near to her to the west

Fishes.
the fifteenth of the

is
On
the
21st,
she
on the meriten,
dian
at
thirty-five
minutes past
stars
having
below her the small
in
the
three
head of the
first
Whale, and above her the

the
is
stars
of
Ram
to the
west of
at
it.
On
the 22d,
she
past
on the meridian
eighteen
minutes
eleven^
east,
having above her the Pleiades to the

to
it
and below her Menkar nearer
to the
west.
Mars
is
at
a considerable distance from

is
her to the
east,
and she
above him
H5
154
NOVEMBER,
the
1817.
at
On
23d
is
full
Moon,
fifty-six
mi-
nutes past nine at night, but from her too great

latitude
without an eclipse.
the
Pleiades,
In
the
evening
the
she rises under
and
passes
line between them and Aldebaran before mid-
night,
gress
making
a considerable tliough slow pro-
towards Mars before Sun-rise.
On
whom
the
24th, she rises nearly with the second

Bull, and
is
of the
she
ôon followed by Mars,
will about reach
by her next appearance.
On
the 25th, she rises under the second of the Bull,
or tip of the northern horn, with Mars,
whom
she has very lately passed, and her recess from
him
is
the chief feature in her course this night.

is
On
by
the 26th, she

the
fifth
followed soon after her rising
of the Twins, above which star she
passes before midnight.
On
the 27th, she rises
with the two

near
to the
first
stars
of the Twins,
passing
second about midnight, and the line

before Sunfirst
drawn through them and produced

rise.
On
the 28th, she rises under the two

is
of the Twins, and

small stars
soon followed
by
the two
and nebula of the Crab, above which
she passes before Sun-rise.

rises with the small
stars
in
On
the
the 29ih, she
head
of th^
Lion, passing the eleventh of this constellation,
the star in
its
mouth,
at
midnight.
On
th
NOVEMBER,
SOth,
1817.
i55
she
rises
under and near to the seventh

soon
of the Lion, 'passing
between ihe third

star.
and the
first,
Mercury
is
morning
is
star
till
the last
day of
the month, when he

tion.
in his superior conjunc1st is
His latitude on the
two degrees
five
minutes north, in the twenty-third degree of the

seventh sign
;
and
it
decreases
to
the 22d, on
which day he passes the ecliptick
in his
descending
node, in the twenty-sixth degree of the eighth

sign.
His southern latitude increases to
fifty
minutes, in the eighth degree of the ninth sign,

his motion being direct
through about forty-six
degrees.
He
is
in
a very favourable position for

first
observation during the
week, as on the 7th
he
is
an hour and a quarter above the horizon be-
fore Sun- rise.
He
is
on the
1st
seen about three
quarters of an hour before Sun-rise in east-southeast, the first of the
Virgin being below him to
the south and near the horizon.
He
is
directing
his course to the ttnth and eleventh of this constellation,
being under the tenth, and nearly at

the tenth and eievenih, on
passes
equal distances from

the 7th.
The Moon
a
him on the
8th.
Venus
is
morning
star.
Her
latitude on the
156
1st
is
NOVEMBER,
ISly.
in
it
one degree forty minutes north,
the
in-
eighth degree of the seventh sign; and

creases to the 10th;
when
it is
one degree forty-
three minutes, in the nineteenth degree of this

jBign.
It
then decreases
till it
becomes, at the end

half,
of the month, nearly a degree and a
in the
fourteenth degree of the eighth sign, her motion
being direct through about thirty-seven degrees.
She
is first
seen near to but to the east of the
Ihird of the Virgin,

lier course
from which
star she directs
between the tenth and eleventh of this
constellation, passing the first
on the
12th,
and
being under the tenth on the 21st, and passing
above and near to the eleventh on the 23d

she passes near to the
first
and
of the Balance at the

to
end of the month, finishing her course near

it
to the east.
The Moon
about seven
passes her on the 7 th,
Mars
1st,
is
rises
in the
evening on the
earlier.
and every succeeding evening
He
on the meridian
at a quarter past three in the
morning of the 2d, and

morning of the 26th.
gree of the third sign
a quarter past one on the
His latitude on the
1st is
forty minutes north, in the twenty-seventh de;
and
it
increases to somein
what more than two degrees,
the nineteenth
degree of the third sign, his motion being re-
NOVEMBER,
trograde through
first
1817.
157
He
is
about seven degrees.
seen between the seventh and twelfth of the

the Bull, about
Twins and the horns of

above the
midway,
on
and he slowly moves towards the horns, passing

sixth, or tip of the southern horn,
the 24th, and finishing his course under the se-
cond of the Bull, or
tip
of the northern horn.
The Moon
Jupiter
passes
him on the 25 th.

star, setting
is
an evening
1st,
about half
earlier.
past six on the
and every evening

clear horizon
They, who have a
towards the
it
fiouth-west, will find the
advantage of
on the
9th, as he passes Herschel on that day, the latter
planet being somewhat more than twenty-four
minutes
to the south of
him.
For the
first
ten or
twelve days, he will therefore be a good guide

to Herschel, as far as the other circumstances
permit.
His latitude on the
1st
is
twenty-four
minutes north, in the thirteenth degree of the

ninth sign; and
it
decreases to nearly twenty
minutes north,
sign, his
in the
nineteenth degree of this
motion being direct through about six
degrees.
Thus he
traverses nearly the whole
breadth of the western branch of the Milky-
way, passing under the seventeenth of the Water-
158
NOVEMBER,
1817.
passes
bearer on the 25th.

the 10th.
The Moon
him on
Saturn
is
on the meridian
at forty-two
1st,
minutes
at half
1st is
past seven in the evening of the

past six on the 19th.
and
His latitude on the

in the
one degree forty-six minutes south,

tieth
thirit
degree of the eleventh sign;
and
didi-
minishes about six minutes, his motion being

rect through about forty minutes.
He will
there-
fore
be seen when on the meridian near the same

under the
eighth
of
the
spot
Water-bearer.
The Moon
Herschel
the 1st
is
passes him on the 16th.
is
an evening
star.
His latitude on
in
it
two minutes
south,
the
fourteenth
degree of the ninth sign, and
remains nearly
the same the whole month, his motion being direct through nearly a degree and three quarters,
Jupiter
is
our guide to him.
The Moon
passe*
him on the 10th.

is
the Sun on the 1st
thirty-three minutes nineteen seconds, and
on
the 19th thirty-three minutes twenty-seven seconds.
of the
Moon on
NOVEMBER,
the 1st
it is
1817.
159
and
thirty minutes twenty-six seconds,

at
It
increases to the 8ih, being then

a
half.
midnight
decreases
thirty-three minutes and
then
to the
22d, being
at
midnight twenty-nine
it
minutes twenty-six seconds; and

increases to the
last
afterwards
end of the month, being on the

^
midnight thirty-one minutes.
The Sun en-
ters the ninth sign at fifty- four
minutes past two
in the afternoon
on the 22d.
For the appearances of the
fixed stars, at
any
hour of the night, consult the volume for 1806,

:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
][
Pos.
h.
16
24
h.
ra.
m.
6
9
h.
m. 39 42
37
h.
m.
7
VIII.
IX.
X. XI.
XII.
I.
5 7 9
11
4
6
8
4
6
8
10
5
3d
31
4
5
11
7
9
11
10
38
10
32
38
44
2 4
6
12
3 5
34
37
2(5
2
5
28
31
II.
III.
4 53
4
5
54
3 5
20
60
DECEMBER,
irHSvi
1817.
IN
when
and
the
at
delineation
full,
it
of
the
Moon's
surface
that
its
has been observed,

at that
is
it
apparent diameter
this caution
time should be noted;

requisite
much more
are taken.
when
only segments of
of the
The
crescent
Moon
about two days old appears,
when
magnified only a few times, very
much
the
jagged,
and the shape of
its
inner line depends very

of
materially on the magnitude
apparent
diameter, and of the angle of elongation of the
Moon
from the Sun.
Suppose
it
this to
be ac-
curately drawn on one night,
will be a
very
For
considerable
length of time
before
an equal
crescent
in
every respect will be seen.

:
two things must concur
first,
the equality of
apparent diameters; and secondly, an equality in
As to the second circumstance, the phase of the Moon, though it might appear to
the phases.
the naked
eye
to
be the same,
yet the line
DECEMBER,
will
1817.
1^1
bounding the crescents, being accurately drawn,

vary very considerably
if
there
is
only a
few hours' difference in the age of the Moons,
This ought not to discourage

taking accurate delineations of the
its
persons
from
Moon, under
different phases, but
on the contrary should
excite
for,
them
to
continued attention to this object;

figures
by the comparison of the
drawn
at
various times, they

is
may
at last discover,
what
the
shape of those
objects,
;
which appear
after a
at las^
under such different forms

great
and thus,
number of
observations, they
at,
may
arrive at
what they aim
the giving of a good
representation of the
Moon on
The
in
a globe of
any
diameter they please.

art
perfection of their
would then be seen,
drawing from the
globe thus made a representation of the
Moon
under any of
its
phases.
There
is,
however, in
the execution of this plan,
much
the
care required,
owing
to
is
!
the
librations
of
Moon.
But
what
not
man
capable of doing by perse-
verance
I hinted, in
the observations on the last month,
at the fable of the antients respecting
Endymion,
from
which
am
inclined to believe took
its rise
162
DECEMBER,
on our Earth.
181?.
a circumstance familiar to the most antient nation
This nation was well ac-
quainted with the motions of the Sun and
Moon
it
long before the Greeks had emerged from their

barbarous
stale,
and
it
was customary with
to
to
have men stationed on the tops of mountains

give notice of the
first
appearance of the nevr
Moon.
This was proclaimed by sound of trum-
pets through the land,
and certain solemnities
were used on the occasion.
An
incident
is
upon record respecting these
appearances, which
may
serve to the
amuse and
at
the same time exercise

readers.
judgement of
my
serve the
One day the persons appointed to obnew Moon, brought word to an eminent
rabbi, that they had noticed a very extraordinary
appearance, namely, that of the waning crescent in

the morning before Sun-rise, and in the evening
of the same day they saw the crescent of the new
Moon
after Sun-set.
positions, and
the
The rabbi took their denew Moon was announced;

it
but a question arose, whether

as
it
was legally done,

the ob-
was
asserted, that the testimony of

false, for
it
servers
was evidently
was impossible,
in the
that the
two crescents could be seen
same
day.
DECEMBER,
The
ground
rabbi justified
;
181?.
this
163
proper
himself on
namely, that from his knowledge of the

the
situation of
Moon
he could answer for
its
having been seen
in the
evening, but with releft
spect to the appearance in the morning, he

that undecided, as
it
might be owing
to
some
appearance
in
the heavens
by which the ob-
servers had been deceived.
From
possible,
this arises
a question, whether
it
was
the
the
under
any circumstances,
that
waning crescent could have been seen by

tion, that the observers are
observers; and here you will take into considera-
supposed
to
be on
the top of a mountain in Palestine, and conse-
quently the
Moon
it
might be upon the horizon

to
to
them when
was under the horizon
the in-
habitants at the bottom.
Also, from the nature
of refraction, the
its
Moon would
be raised above
real place, so that, to give the observers the
greatest advantage,
this wêre
we may suppose them,

have seen the
if
possible, to
Moon
just
on the borders of their horizon, the

depressed
Sun being
below her a certain number of deis.
grees; and the question
What
is
iii
the greatest
number
of degrees to be allowed
the
morning
for this distance, so that at the
evening the
Moon
164
shall
DECEMBER,
will
181?.
late
be visible near the horizon as
as
cir-
cumstances
admit after Sun-set?
We
are at liberty to suppose, that, on the day

the
it
of observation,
Moon's
latitude
;
is
at
its
maximum, and
it
must be north
and
if
we
take
about five degrees ten minutes,

it
pose, that
rise to
will continue the
we may supsame from Moonits

it
Moon-set.
Also, the motion in
orbit
will
may
of
its
be the greatest, and consequently
have moved about eight degrees between the times

rising
and
setting.
We
have therefore to
to
find
the
place of the
Moon,
at
give
it
the
greatest possible advantage in rising and setting,
and then enquire, whether,

from the Sun,
should be seen.
it
these distances
was possible that the
Moon
There
is
one thing to be observed,

is
that, if the
splendour ofthe Sun's rays

great at the
supposed to be too
Moon's
rising to permit in general

this
such an appearance, yet
splendour
much
diminished
by
circumstances.
may be There may

heavens
be a mass of clouds
vvhere the
in the quarter of the
Sun
is,
and uuder the horizon, which

its
may
take off in a very great degree
rays from
the point of the horizon where the
Moon
is.
DECEMBER,
1817.
165
to
and the reflected rays of the Sun
may come
But
the eyes of the observers, without being at all
impaired by the supposed vapours.
this I
leave to your consideration, wishing you only to
take your globe,
and examine for yourselves,
what must have been the season of the year, in
which the phoenomenon,

faithful,
if
the observers
were
them,
really took place.

see so
For
my own
part, I
think
much ground
for believing
that I should not deny the possibility of their

story
:
at the
same time, that
it
must be consi-
dered as a very extraordinary appearance.

will connect this with
last
You
what was observed on the
month of
last year, at
which time
was not
aware, or had forgotten the occurrence, that was

said to
have taken place near two thousand years
ago
in Palestine.
But
we
will
now
attend to the
appearances of the Moon, on which there can
be no contradiction.
The Moon's
latitude
on the
in
1st at
noon
is
five
degrees two minutes north,

the sixth sign, and
it
the
fifth
degree of
decreases to the 6tb, on
which day
ing node,
it
passes the ecliptick in her descend-
about four in the afternoon, in the
seventeenth degree of the eighth sign.

southern latitude then increases to the 12th,
Her
when
166
it
is
DECEMBER,
at
181?.
noon
five
degrees twelve minutes, in the

;
fifteenth degree of the eleventh sign
and
it
then
decreases to the 20th, passing the ecliptick in
her ascending node very soon after midnight of

the 19th, in the eighteenth degree of the second
sign.
Her northern
latitude
at
now
increases,
and
becomes on the 27th

and
noon
five degrees
seven
fifth
minutes, in the nineteenth degree of the

sign
;
it
then decreases to the end of the

last
month, being, on the
midnight, two degrees
twenty-three minutes, in the nineteenth degree

of the seventh sign.
The Moon
rises
on the
1st
under and near to

is
the eighth of the Lion, and
seen, during the

its
morning of the 2d,
to
direct
course to the
small stars in the head of the Virgin.
On
the 3d, the
Moon
rises
in the
morning
head of
under and near

the Virgin, and
to the small stars in the

is
seen afterward to direct her
course above the third of this constellation.

the
4-1
On
h,
she rises under and near to the third of
the Virgin, and directs her course at some dis-
tance above the
first
to the tenth
and eleventh,
under which she

followed by the
rises
on the 6th, being soon
first
of the Balance;
and on the
DECEMBER,
8th
is
1817.
16?
new Moon,
at thirty -three
minutes after
noon, but from her too great latitude without an

eclipse.
On
Moon
is
seen
soon after Sun-set in the south-south-west, near

the horizon, the two
at
is
first stars
of the Goat being
some distance above

seen under the two
her.
first
On
stars
the 11th, she
of the Goat,
having passed the Hue drawn through them and

produced.
Her great southern
latitude
places
her in the lower part of the lower region.

the 12th, she
is
On
is
on the meridian at four minutes

as
:
past four in the afternoon, and

setting will
the
Sun
be seen
at that
time
above and
near to her will soon be seen the small stars in

the
tail
of
the Goat to the east of her,

her..
and
the
Saturn at some distance also above

13th, she
is
On
On
on the meridian on the meridian
at fifty-five
minutes
the
past four, almost directly under Saturn.

14th, she
five,
is
at forty tninutes past
being
I
under the
four stars in square,

to the
he two western being near

it;
meridian, but to the west of

at
Saturn
being now below
some distance
to the west.
On
the 15th, the
Moon
is
on the meridian
at
DECEMBER,
twenty-three minutes past
six,
1817.
being
still
under
the four stars in square, the two eastern being
near to
it
to the east.
On
the 16th, she
is
on
the meridian at three minutes past seven, the

four stars in square being
to the west.
now removed from

is
it
On
the 17th, she
on the meri-
dian at forty-three minutes past seven, having

the three
east.
first stars
of the
Ram
is
above her to the
On
the 18th, she
on the meridian at
twenty-three minutes past eight, being under the

three
first stars
of the
Ram,
the
first
being almost
is
directly above her, and below her to the east
Menkar, with the small

Whale.
five
stars in the
is
head of the
On
the 19th, she
on the meridian at
directly
minutes past nine,
Menkar being
under her, and above her the Pleiades
to the east,
and the three
first stars
of the
Ram
to the
west
Mars
is
from her to
the east.
On
the 20th, she
is
on the meridian
at forty-eight minutes past nine, being between
the Pleiades and Hyades, the former above her

to the west, the latter
below her to the east of
it
she
is
directing her course to Mars.

is
On
the
21st, she
on the meridian
at thirty-five
minutes
past ten.
Mars being abovo and near
to her to
it
the east, and Aldebaran below and near to
to
the west.
Her progress by Mars, whom she
DECEMBER,
passes in about three hours,
in her course.
181?.
is
l69
the chief feature

is
On
the 22d, she
on the meri-
dian at twenty-four minutes past eleven, being
without the horns of the Bull, the sixth or tip

of the southern horn being directly below her,
and the second or

her to the west of
tip of the northern

it.
horn above
On
past
the 23d
four
in
is full
Moon,
at fifty-nine
minutes
the afternoon, but
from her too
great latitude without an eclipse.

at Sun-set
is
She
is
seen
near the horizon in the north-east, and
followed by the seversth and twelfth of the

Ions: nigrht
is
Twins, and during the

her course above the
seen to direct
fifth,
which she passes about
four hours after midnight.

rises
On
the 24th, she
with the two

first
first
of the Twins, passing un-
der the
about midnight, and the second be-
fore Sun-rise.
On
two
first
of the Twins, having passed the line
drawn through them and produced.

26th, she
is
On
it
the
seen traversing the barren space be-
tween the Crab and the Lion, ending

the eleventh of the latter constellation.
near to
On
the
27th, she rises under the small stars in the head

of the Lion, passing the sevenih at midnight,
and
is
seen on the next night traversing the body

I
170
DECEMBER,
On
1817.
of the Lion towards the small stars in the head of

the Virgin.
the 29th, she rises nearly with
the small stars in the head of the Virgin, as she

passes the thirteenth soon after midnight.
On
is
the SOth,
she
rises
under the seventh, and
soon followed by the third of the Virgin, which
she will be seen to pass during the morning of

the 31st.
Mercury
the 1st
is
is
an evening
star.
His latitude on
in the tenth
fifty-six
minutes south,
it
de-
gree of the ninth sign; and
increases to the
22d,
ter,
when
in the
it is
nearly two degrees and a qoar-
thirteenth degree of the tenth sign.
It
then decreases to the- end of the month, being

last
on the
day one degree fifty-one minutes, in

of the tenth
sign.
lost
the twenty-seventh degree
For the greater part of the month he will be

in the splendour of the Sun's rays,
last
and on the
day he
is
only between eight and nine de-
grees above the horizon, in scuth-west-by-south,

at Sun- set.
The Moon
a
passes
him on
the 8th.
Venus
1st is
is
morning
star.
Her
latitude on the
in
it
one degree twenty- nine minutes north,

;
the fifteenth degree of the eighth sign
and
decreases to the end of the month, being about
DECEMBER,
181?.
171
half a degree, on the last day, in the twentythird degree of the ninth sign, her motion being
direct through about thirty-eight degrees.

is first
She
first
seen near to but to the east of the
of
the Balance, passing under the small stars, the

sixth of this constellation on the 7th, above the
eleventh on the 10th,
near the second of the
Scorpion on the 20ih, and Herschel on the 27th.
The Moon
passes her
on the
7th.
Mars is on the meridian at midnight on the 8th. He is seen rising in the evening to the east
of the north-east on the
light,
1st,
at the
wane of twi-
and soon
after a: Sun-set.
His stay above

to
the horizon being for

Sun-rise.
some time from Sun-set

this
is
Consequently
a very favoura-
ble month for observation on this orb, and particularly so as he

is
in his opposition.
This takes
in
place on the 8th, at a quarter past nine

evening, and as on that day
will
is
the
new Moon
there
be nothing during the night from that quardiminish his splendour, and we shall there-
ter to
fore see
him
for
all
the greater part of the

his
lustre.
month
the
in-
shining with
1st
is
His latitude on the

in
it
two degrees seven minutes north,

;
twentieth degree of the third sign
and
12
172
DECEMBER,
his
1817.
creases to nearly three degrees, in the tenth de-
gree of the third sign,
motion being
retro-
grade through about ten degrees.
He
rises first
Bnder and near
to the
second of the Bull, or tip

it
of his northern horn, slowly receding from
to
the eighteenth, and the superiority of his splen-
dour over that of Aldebaran will

ticularly remarked.
now be
passes
par-
The Moon
him on
the 22d.
Jupiter
14th.
is
in
his
inferior conjunction
1st is
on the
His latitude on the

t.he
twenty minutes
north, in
entrance of the twentieth degree of

it
the ninth
sign; and
is
decreased about two
minutes, his motion being direct through nearly
seven degrees.
He
will
be
lost
during this month

passes
in the rays of the Sun.
The Moon
him
on the
8th.
Saturn
is
on the meridian
at forty-one
1st,
minutes
past five in the evening of the
and
at four in
the afternoon of the 25th.

1st
is
His latitude on the

in
one degree forty-two minutes south,

;
the
first
degree of the twelfth sign

his
and
it
diminishes
about two minutes,
motion
being direct
is
through about two degrees.
He
seen there-
DECEMBER,
fore
1817.
173
under the eighth of the Water-bearer, slowly
approaching to the eighteenth. The
Moon
passes
him on the
Herschel
13th.
is
in
conjunction on the 8th, Merat the distance of
cury passing him on the 5th^
seventy-six minutes to the south of him; but

this passage will,
from their nearness
to the Sun,
be
lost
to
us,
and when Herschel becomes a he

will be too
morning
star,
near the horizon at

to
Sun-rise at the end of the
month
be detected
but by very keen observers.

1st is
His latitude on the

degree
two minutes south,

;
in the sixteenth
it
of the ninth sign
and
continues nearly the
same the whole monih,
his
motion being direct
through about a degree and three quarters.
The
Moon
passes
him on the
Sih.
of the Sun on the 1st
is
thirty-two minutes thirty-one secondtJ,
and on
the 21st thirty-two minutes thirty-five seconds.

thirty-one minutes fourteen seconds,
creases to the Ytb,
the
1st
it
is
and
in-
when
it
is
thirty-three
mi-
nutes twenty-six seconds.
It
then decreases to
the -20th, not varying a miiiure durms; this and

the preceding day, being, during the whole of
I 3
174
DECEMBER,
which
it
1817.
that time, twenty-nine minutes and a half nearly;

after
increases to the end of the month,

last
being on the
eight seconds.
midnight thirty-two minutes

enters the tenth sign
in the
The Sun
on the 22d,
at nineteen
minutes past three
morning.

hour of the night during
this
stars,
at
any
month, consult

table
:
TABLE OF POSITIONS.
I
<
Pos.
h.
o5
h.^ m.
3
m.
6
1
h.
m.
36
31
h.
m.
IX. X.
4
6
8
3 5 7 9
11
56
51
20
15
7
9
11
XL
XIL
I.
2
8
10
32 38
28
52 58
48
51
7 9
11
16
22
12
15
58
3
1
11.
IIL IV. V.
4
7
50
11
-
2 4
6
8
31
20
41
40
1
32
6 7
5 7
4 25
16
52
175
THUS
we
have
brought
our observations
in
clown to the
end of another year, and
the
course of them the events of the past have given

rise
to
some animadversions, which

little volume. The summer and autumn, added
may be
extra-
frequently brought to our minds during the perusal
of this
late
ordinary
to political
occurrences,
have
given
rise
to
meetings of
our countrymen, in which one pleasing feature
may have been
observed, namely, the solicitude

classes for the relief of
on the part of the higher
the distresses of the lower.
This
is
as
it
should
be
for,
if
Providence has allotted to some

it
greater wealth than to others,
is
evident that,
greater be-
when
call is
made upon them
for
nevolence, they should not be wanting in that,
which
is
a duty incumbent on us
ail as
men, and
particularly so as Christians.
But
am
not inclined to retract an opinion,
which
I took the libertj'^ of
advancing
in a
public
meeting, consisting of some of the most distinguished characters in the upper and middle
ranks of society.
still
think, that the
gloom
far
and despondency spread over the nation was

greater than circumstances required.
The
ap-
176
peal was properly
made
to
our feelings,
that
every benevolent exertion

alleviate distress;
might
be
used to
bit the resources af the coun-
try and the energies of the people ought to have
had a greater share

state
in the deliberations
on the
of our country.
Perhaps
enjoy
at
no period of the world did a nation

great
such
advantages:
possessions
in
three zones call

yet,
aloud for our fostering care,
though we have seen millions upon millions
raised for the destruction of our fellow creatures,
such are the mistaken notions of man, that I

should be laughed at for proposing a loan, which
bad
in
view
to enable us to raise
y)opulous cities
at the
Cape of Good Hope, Trinidad, and Newcharter
foundland, and thus to act the better part under

the
great
given
by God
to
mankind.
These would be trophies worthy of the English name,

in
comparison of which
all
the pretended
honours of war deserve not a moraent^s consideration.
Should our country however be insensible

this
to
advantage,
let us not
permit ourselves to be
;
carried
away by
to
false terrors
and, if
it
please
Providence
chasten us,
still
we
will
use the
177
language with the feelings of the inspired prophet:
Should the fig-trees not blossom.
Nor
vines give produce;

to
Should the olive-press cease
work.
And
the fields to yield food
Should sheep no more be folded.
Nor ox be found in stalls; Yet in the Lord wiil I exult,

I wi!! rejoice in
God my
saviour.
THE END.
VvOOl), Phnlerj
Poppin's Court, Fleet Street.
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THE CUSTODY Or THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY.

BEAUTY OF THE HEAVENS

SEVERAL STRIKING APPEARANCES,

By WILLIAM FREND, ESQ. M.A.

MAWxMAN, N 39, LUDGATE biREET.

Foppin's Court, Pieet Street.

kind solicitude for the success

correspondents, some anonymous, de-

of thanks from the

seen, that he has not been inattentive

they will be kind

writer was bound servilely to follow

the traces of his predecessers, and to

human knowledge would

does not im-

ply a want of deference to superior

assistance to any delusion,

Digitized by the Internet Archive

BEAUTY OF THE HEAVENS

have frequently mentioned,

perfect astronomers, but to introduce,

a familiar manner, those,

branch of science, to the

knowledge of the heavens, and

numerous body, who have studied

worthy of being kept

done by giving them the paths of

and planets in the heavens, with the

peculiarities of their respective

Kodes, and the increase and

These things are taught

but the learner,

space, with clear heavens above him,

never read a syllable upon the subject.

who had The

certain sign then visible,

quarter of the heavens to discover

a very small degree of attention,

following the course of the

more favourable than another

planets above the

time than another; and

sooner from the solar rays at one time

though the distance

from the Sun

in both cases is the same.

astronomy have now

adopted these books, I have

taken care, that,

have an opportunity of trying the

the passage through the nodes

not an eclipse for obvious rea;

sons, those reasons will be asked

an eclipse owing to the latitude,

the learner the Sun and

may shew the Moon to each

an eclipse in that situation impossible.

same manner, when an

inferior planet passes the

node, the reason

not a transit will be obvious.

Venus and Mars