geography have made; to which invention, and to that of the telescope, the theory and practice of which Huygens considerably improved, they owe the rapidity of their progress. He showed, that the very singular appearances of Saturn were produced by a thin ring with which the planet is surrounded; and he discovered one of the satellites of Saturn.

About the same time, Hevelius rendered himself useful to astonomy, by his great labours. At this epoch, astronomy received a new impulse from the establishment of learned societies. Nature is so various in her productions and phenomena, of which it is so difficult to ascertain the causes, that it is requisite for a great number of men to unite their intellect and exertions to comprehend and develope her laws. This union is particularly requisite when the sciences, in their extension, require mutual support from each other. It is then that the natural philosopher has recourse to geometry, to arrive at the general causes of the phenomena which he observes; and the geometrician, in his turn, calls for the aid of the philosopher, in order to render his own investigations useful, by applying them to experience. But the principal advantage of learned societies is the particular feeling on every subject which is introduced into them, and, from thence, diffuses itself over the whole nation.

The insulated philosopher may resign himself, without fear, to the spirit of system; but, in a learned society, the shock of systematic opinions at length destroys them, and the desire of mutually convincing each other, establishes, between the members, an agreement only to admit the results of observation and calculation. Experience, also, has shown, that, since the origin of these establishments, true philosophy has been generally advancing. By submitting every opinion to the test of severe scrutiny, they destroyed prejudices which had so long reigned in the sciences, and in which the highest in

tellects of the preceding ages had participated. Finally, it is by the encouragement which they offer, that those grand theories have been formed which are placed above the reach of the vulgar by their comprehensiveness, and which extending themselves, by their numerous occasions in which they are applicable, to nature and to the arts, are inexhaustible sources of delight and intelligence.

[To be continued.]

Astronomical Occurrences.

THE Sun enters the sign Gemini on the 21st day of May, at 8 m. past 6 in the morning. On the 27th day he will be eclipsed, but not visible in these parts. He will appear in conjunction at 6 m. past 3 in the morning in longitude 2° 5° 38', the Moon's latitude being 53′ 41′′ south. The Sun will be centrally eclipsed on the meridian at 46 m. past 2, in longitude 138° 26' east, and latitude 58° 52′ south.

TABLE

Of the Sun's Rising and Setting every fifth Day of the Month.

Equation of Time. [See p. 19, 20.]

TABLE.

May 1, from the time on the dial subtract 3

6,

11,

16,

21,

26,

31,

m. S.

7

7

-788

To obtain true time by the clock.

The Moon enters her first quarter at 8 m. after midnight on the 4th of May: she is full on the 11th, at 40 m. past 3 in the afternoon: she enters her last quarter on the 19th, at 35 m. past 2 in the morning; and she is at change or New Moon on the 27th, at 7 m. past 3 in the morning.

Mercury will be in his superior conjunction on the 5th, at 8 in the morning. Saturn will be in his quadrature on the 14th, at 45 m. past 6 in the afternoon, and the Herschel will be in opposition at I in the morning on the 31st.

TABLE

Of the Eclipses of Jupiter's first Satellite which are visible here.

May 7, the emersion will be at 18 m.

past 10 at night.

12

2 at morning.

10 at night.

There will be two visible of the second satellite, viz. one at 5 m. past 10 in the evening on the 10th day; and the other on the 18th, at 20 m. before 1 in the morning.

The Naturalist's Diary.

-The winter's gone, the earth hath lost
Her snow-white robes, and now no more the frost
Candies the grass, or casts an icy cream
Upon the silver lake or crystal stream:
But the warm sun thaws the benumbed earth,
And makes it tender, gives a sacred birth
To the dead swallow, wakes in hollow tree
The drowsy cuckoo, and the humble bee
Now do a quire of chirping minstrels bring
In triumph to the world the youthful spring;
The valleys, bills, and woods, in rich array,
Welcome the coming of the longed-for May.

CAREW.

MAY is usually considered as the most delightful month in the whole year, and has long been the Muse's favourite theme; although much that is said of its

beauties applies better to more southern climates, or,
indeed, to our month of JUNE, which is, commonly,
entitled to all the praises that the poets have lavished
upon MAY.
This common error has given birth to
some pleasing lines by Cowper, called the Judg-
ment of the Poets,' republished in the third volume
of his Poems. May, says Cowper,

They gentle called, and kind, and soft,
The flippant, and the scold;

And though she changed her mood so oft,
That failing left untold.

No judges, sure, were e'er so mad,
Or so resolved to err;

In short, the charms her sister bad
They lavished all on her.

Then thus the God, whom fondly they
Their great inspirer call,

Was heard, one genial summer's day,
To reprimand them all :-
'Since thus ye have combined,' he said,
My fav'rite nymph to slight,
Adorning MAY, that peevish maid,
With JUNE's undoubted right;

The minx shall, for your folly's sake,
Still prove herself a shrew;

Shall make your scribbling fingers ache,
And pinch your noses blue.'

Although May sometimes will raise her voice,'

And shake with fury to the ground
The garlaud that she wears,

yet, the morning scenery of this month is not unfrequently as beautiful as can possibly be conceived. This is the season, when

Love no more is made

By the fire-side;

and the young and the old are all roused from their winter sleep, to press the verdant velvet carpet of nature; and to enjoy the serene sky, the pure air, and the refreshing fragance, which arise from the face of the earth; to listen to the melody of the feathered

tribes; these, and a thousand other inexpressible delights, which this season never fails to present, all combine to exhilarate the spirits, and call forth a song of grateful adoration. In every flower, leaf, or blade of grass, a series of fables may be read, whose moral is in the heart. To those who have known the pure and tranquil enjoyment of a mind at leisure, to repose and dream amid the green earth's woods and vales, and find that there is in the material world around us more than will fill the gaze of the artist, or inspire the reverie of the enthusiastthat there is, in all that the divine intelligence has moulded, a principle of moral meaning and an inherence of moral life;-to such, the following lines from Mr. Wilson's Hymn to Spring will recal many feelings of luxury. Speaking of the flowers, buds, lambs, &c. that come with Spring, he says,

O blessed things!

At sight of this your perfect innocence,
The sterner thoughts of manhood melt away
Into a mood as mild as woman's dreams.
The strife of working intellect, the stir
Of hopes ambitious, the disturbing sound
Of fame, and all that worshipped pageantry
That ardent spirits burn for in their pride,
Fly like disparting clouds, and leave the soul
Pure and serene as the blue depths of heaven.

The poet thus continues his pleasing theme:

Now is the time in some meek solitude

To hold communion with those innocent thoughts
That blessed our earlier days ;-to list the voice
Of Conscience murmuring from her inmost shrine,
And learn if still she sing the quiet tune
That filled the ear of youth. If then we feel
That mid the powers, the passions, and desires,
Of riper age, we have still kept our hearts
Free from pollution, and, mid tempting scenes,
Walked on with pure and unreproved steps,
Fearless of guilt as if we knew it not;
Ah, me! with what a new sublimity

N