fourth or fifth magnitude, which is not recorded by Flamstead, although he notices one in that constellation less conspicuous. 2. A star near the head of Cepheus. 3. A considerable star in a direction from the 68th to the 61st of Gemini. 4. A star of considerable brightness preceding the first of the Little Horse. 5. A remarkable star between 8 and 8 Hydræ. 6. A star near Hercules, of the fourth or fifth magnitude, with several others. Similar observations appear to have been made about the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, by Cassini and others. Cassini discovered a new star of the fourth, and two of the fifth magnitude in Cassiopeia; two in the constellation Eridanus, one of the fourth, the other of the fifth magnitude; and four of the fifth and sixth magnitudes near the north pole, which had not been perceived at a former period.

Such changes in bodies so far removed from our system, and of magnitudes so enormous as the least of them must be, naturally lead to the conclusion that revolutions of vast extent, and operations conducted on a most magnificent scale, are incessantly going forward in those remote and unexplorable regions. In the case of stars which have totally disappeared, we are led to conclude, either that some vast and important change has taken place in the constitution of certain worlds or systems, or that the central luminaries of such systems, with all their surrounding planets, have been transported by some unknown and almighty agency into more distant regions of space, where they may remain for ever hidden from our view. As to those stars which have changed their magnitudes within the last century, they may either be approaching to or receding from the system to which we belong, or their native brightness may be either increasing or diminishing from causes with which we are unacquainted; or some ethereal mediums of a peculiar nature may be interposed between our sight and those distant orbs. With respect to stars unknown to former observers which have recently become visible, it is not unreasonable to suppose that these are new systems recently launched from the creating hand of the Omnipotent, to diversify his creation and augment the glories of his empire, as well as to distribute happiness among new orders of sensitive and intelligent existence. We ought not to imagine that the work of creation, considered as a whole, is yet finished, or ever will be finished during an indefinite lapse of ages.

When it is stated by the inspired writer of the book of Genesis that "God rested from all his work," we are to understand the expression only in reference to the formation or arrangement of the world in which we reside into the form and order in which we now behold it; for to this arrangement chiefly, if not solely, the descriptions of the sacred historian in the first chapter of Genesis refer. It is in perfect accordance with the idea of a Being possessed of omnipotent power, boundless goodness, and endless duration, that his creating energies should never cease in their operation throughout all the periods of an interminable existence; and the phenomena to which we refer are a strong presumption, if not a demonstrable evidence, of a continued series of creations. These new creations may be bursting forth in the remote spaces of the universe, in various degrees of splendour and magnificence, to an extent of which we have no conception; and from the character and perfections of the Divinity, we have reason to believe that such processes will be incessantly going forward throughout all the ages of eternity.

Whatever opinions we may be disposed to form as to the phenomena to which we have adverted, they tend to convey to the reflecting mind magnificent views of the physical energies of the Almighty, in arranging the different departments of his boundless dominions, and accomplishing the purposes and plans of his moral government; and they naturally excite in the mind a desire of future existence, and an ardent wish to behold the veil which now intercepts our views of these glorious orbs withdrawn, and to contemplate the scene of divine operation in all its splendour and magnificence.

At first view, it may appear a circumstance of comparative insignificance to behold a small star, scarcely distinguishable to the eye, waxing brighter, or growing dimmer, or vanishing altogether from the view; or a star appearing in a point of the heavens which was unoccupied before. The distant blaze of a field of furze, the falling of a tower, or the conflagration of a cottage, may to some appear events of far greater interest and importance; but such events in the heavens as those to which we refer may be connected with scenes as astonishing, though perhaps not so tremendous, as if the sun were shorn of his rays and turned into darkness, and this earth and all the planetary globes shattered to their centres and wrapped in flames; or, as if a new sun of superior magnitude were to

appear in our system, and to illuminate our globe with a new species of light and colours. Objects at a great distance from the observer make little impression on the organs of vision, and seldom affect the mind. A fleet of the largest ships of war, viewed from the top of a tower at fifty miles' distance, appears only like a few almost undistinguishable specks on the verge of the horizon, while the fate of individuals, families, communities, and even empires, may depend upon the encounter in which they may be engaged. The conflagration of a city of ten hundred thousands of inhabitants may appear at a distance as only a faint glimpse of light in one point of the horizon, while palaces, and temples, and thousands of splendid fabrics are turned into smoking ruins, and multitudes are thrown into the utmost consternation, and perishing in the flames. The burning of the city of Moscow, as beheld from the moon when the dark side of the earth was presented to that orb, would appear only like a dim lucid speck, scarcely distinguishable from the other parts of the earth's surface. And if this be the case in respect to objects within such limited distances, what astonishing scenes may be the result of what we perceive in bodies many thousands of millions of miles distant, when we behold them disappearing to our view, or even when we perceive their light only increasing or diminishing? Here imagination is left to fill up the picture which the organs of vision so dimly perceive. We are to consider that the orbs to which we allude are luminous globes of immense size; that they are doubtless encircled with a retinue of worlds replenished with inhabitants; that what to us appears a slight change of aspect may to them be the commencement of an era of new glory and splendour; that the Almighty rules over those distant regions as well as 66 among the inhabitants of the earth;" and that all the changes which happen among them are in unison with his eternal designs, and subserve the ends of his universal government.

CHAPTER VIII.

ON DOUBLE STARS AND BINARY SYSTEMS.

In whatever part of creation we survey the operations of the Almighty, we uniformly find the characteristic of variety impressed upon all his works. This is evident in all the kingdoms of nature connected with our globe, where the multitude and diversity of animals, vegetables, and minerals cannot but strike the eye even of the most superficial observer. Though the same general laws appear to pervade the material universe, so far as our observation extends, yet these laws are so comprehensive and so endlessly modified as to produce an immense variety of minute and wonderful effects. It is more difficult to trace the operation of these laws in the remote spaces of the universe than in our terrestrial sphere. But even in regions of creation immeasurably distant we can perceive the agency of the same powers which are at work in conducting the movements of our planetary system; and not only so, but we can trace these powers, while operating with their native energy, wonderfully modified, and producing effects altogether different from those which we experience in the system of which we form a part, evidently indicating that a variety, analogous to that which we behold in the scene around us, marks the operations of the Creator throughout the immensity of his works. This will more clearly appear in the descriptions we shall now give of the phenomena of double and multiple stars.

The phenomena of double stars do not seem to have been much attended to till Sir W. Herschel commenced his extensive observations on the sidereal heavens. About a century ago, the astronomers of that period seem to have been aware that "several stars which appear single to the bare eye are by the telescope discovered to be double." The principal stars of this description which they mention are, the head of Castor, the first in the head of the Ram, the star Gamma in the breast of Virgo, and the middle one in the sword of Orion. Conceiving the fixed stars as bodies precisely of the same na

ture, and that no specific or diversified arrangements prevailed among them, they do not appear to have entered upon any minute surveys, by the telescope, of particular stars; and their idea respecting the double stars they had detected was merely this, that a small star, at a very remote distance from another, might happen accidentally to lie nearly in the same line of vision as the larger one; and, on this ground, Dr. Long, in his " Astronomy," shows how the annual parallax would be discovered by a star appearing single at one time of the year, and double at another. It appears to have been chiefly with an object of this kind in view that Sir William Herschel commenced his namerous observations in this department of sidereal investigation. But, as we are informed by his son, who has distinguished himself in an eminent manner by similar observations, he had hardly entered on the measurement of the angles of position and the distances of double stars, before he was diverted from the original object of his inquiry by phenomena of a very unexpected character, which at once engrossed his whole attention. The circum stances alluded to shall be particularly described in the sequel, after I have given a brief sketch of the phenomena of double stars.

When a telescope of considerable power is directed to certain stars which appear single to the naked eye, another star, generally much smaller than that which appears to the unassisted eye, is seen quite adjacent to it, and in some cases the interval between the two stars is so small that it requires a very high degree of light and magnifying power to be able to perceive that they are two distinct bodies. Only a few, perhaps not exceeding six or eight, of these stars were known to the astronomers of the age preceding that of Herschel; but this illustrious astronomer, with unwearied perseverance, detected no less than 500 double stars, and presented to the Royal Society a list in which their situation and relative positions are distinctly marked. These observations of the elder Herschel were followed up by other observers, particularly by Sir J. Herschel and Sir James South, who, in the year 1824, soon after Sir W. Herschel had ceased from his labours, produced a catalogue of 380 double stars, whose distances and angles of position they had determined with the utmost accuracy and precision. Sir J. South afterward produced a distinct catalogue of 480, and Sir J. Herschel a list of upward

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