mentioned by Josephus. He preached the Gospel in Armenia, converted the Lycaonians, and afterwards visited India. Some authors assert, that he was crucified, like St. Peter, with his head downwards; others, however, with more probability, say, that he was flayed alive, by order of Astyages, King of Armenia.

*24. 1572.-MASSACRE OF FRENCH PROTESTANTS. This horrid massacre of 70,000 Protestants, or Huguenots, began at Paris on the night of St. Bartholomew, by the secret orders of Charles IX, King of France, at the instigation of the Queen Dowager of Medici; and, in the month of August, 1815, (shame to the age in which we live!) several hundreds, other accounts say, thousands, of PROTESTANTS have been massacred at Nismes and Avignon, in the South of France, and at the instigation, it is said, of men wearing the white cockade, and pretending to espouse the cause of the BOURBONS; and this almost within hearing of a million of allied troops. A brochure has lately been published at Paris, under the authority of the French Government, which ascribes this dreadful massacre to some serious quarrels between the Bonapartists and the Royalists, and treats the whole with indifference.

*26. 1346-BATTLE OF CRESSY.

This celebrated battle was fought on some plains near Abbeville (in the route from Calais to Paris), when more than 100,000 French were defeated, chiefly by the valour of the Prince of Wales, who was but sixteen years of age (his father being no more than thirty-four), though the English did not exceed 30,000. The loss of the French far exceeded that of the English army.

28. SAINT AUGUSTINE.

Augustine was born at Thagaste, a town in Numidia, in the year 354. He early applied himself to the study of polite literature, and became a professor of philosophy and rhetoric, first at

Rome, and afterwards at Milan. He next diligently studied theology, in which he was instructed by St. Ambrose, with whom he contracted an intimate acquaintance. In the year 388, he returned to his native country, and, three years afterwards, was chosen Bishop of Hippo. Augustine was a judicious divine, and the most voluminous writer of all the Fathers. He died in 430, at the age of 77.

29.-JOHN BAPTIST BEHEADED.

This day was formerly denominated Festum Collectionis Sancti Johannis Baptista; or the feast of gathering up St. John the Baptist's relics; but afterwards, by corruption, Festum Decollationis, the festival in remembrance of his being beheaded. His nativity is celebrated on the 24th of June, which see.

History of Astronomy.

[Continued from p. 197.]

Astronomy of Modern Europe.

THE discoveries of Herschel, Piazzi, Harding, and Olbers, form a new era in astronomy. The former of these gentlemen, by his great skill in the construction of large specula, made Telescopes so superior to any thing that ever had been done in that way before, that they opened to him new views of the heavens, and unfolded scenes which excite no less our wonder than admiration. On the 13th of March, 1781, he discovered a new primary planet, of which he gave the following account. Between 10 and 11 in the evening, while examining the stars in the neighbourhood of H. Geminorum, he perceived one that appeared visibly larger than the rest being struck with its uncommon magnitude, he compared it to H. Geminorum, and the small star in the quarule, between Auriga and Gemini, and, finding it so much larger than either of them, he suspected it to be a comet. He was then engaged in a series of

observations on the parallax of the fixed stars; and, as he well knew from experience that the diameters of the fixed stars are not proportionally magnified with higher powers as the planets are, he put on the powers of 460 and 932, and found the diameter of the supposed comet increased in proportion to the power, as it ought to be, on the supposition of its not being a fixed star, while the diameters of the stars with which he compared it were not increased. Also, the supposed comet being magnified much beyond what its light would admit of, appeared hazy and ill-defined with these great powers, while the stars preserved that lustre and distinctness which they always retain.

It was not till the year 1783 that we had a distinct account that this supposed comet was in truth a primary planet of our solar system. A body so nearly related to us by its similar condition and situation,' says Dr. Herschel, in the unbounded expanse of the starry heavens, must often be the subject of conversation, not only of astronomers, but of every lover of science in general. This consideration, then, makes it necessary to give it a name, by which it may be distinguished from the rest of the planets, and also from the fixed stars. In the fabulous ages of antient times, the appellations of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, were given to the planets, as being the names of their principal heroes and divinities. In the present more philosophical era, it would hardly be allowable to have recourse to the same method, and call on Juno, Apollo, Pallas, or Minerva, for a name to our new heavenly body. The first consideration in any particular event seems to be its chronology: if in any future age it should be asked when this last found planet was discovered, it would be a very satisfactory answer to say, in the reign of King George the Third.' As a philosopher, then, the name Georgium Sidus presents itself to me, as an appellation which will conveniently convey the

information of the time and country where and when it was first viewed.' By later observations and calculations it was determined that the diameter of this planet was 35,109 miles, or near 44 times larger than that of the Earth: its distance from the Sun about 1800 millions of miles, or 19 times the Earth's distance; and that the period of its revolution in its orbit round the Sun is 83 years 140 days and 17 hours. Dr. Herschel also discovered 6 satellites belonging to this planet, whose periodical revolutions are as follow :

d. h. m.

Period of the 1st satellite equal to 5 21 25

The orbits of these satellites are nearly perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, and they all perform their revolutions in their orbits contrary to the order of the signs; that is, their real motion is retrograde.

One of the next papers of Dr. Herschel was 'On the proper Motion of the Sun and Solar System, with an account of the several changes that have happened among the fixed stars since the time of Mr. Flamstead. Of this paper we shall endeavour to give a brief account.

It is ascertained, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that the fixed stars have a proper motion. From the time that this was first suspected by Dr. Halley, there have been continued observations that prove Arcturus, Sirius, Aldebaran, Procyon, Castor, Rigel, and many others, to be actually in motion; so that, in strictness of speech, there is probably not a single fixed star in the heavens. The whole of the starry heavens is in motion, and the solar system among the rest. This has been attempted to be demonstrated by theory, from the nature of the principle of

attraction, which has been explained in the former part of this and in divers parts of the preceding volumes, and which evidently oppose every idea of absolute rest in any one of the stars, when once it is known that some of them are in motion; for the change that must arise by such motion, depending upon a power that acts inversely as the squares of the distances, must be felt in all the neighbouring stars; and if these be influenced by the motion of the former, they will again affect those that are next to them, and so on till all are in motion. Now, as we are certain, from indisputable observation, that several stars, in divers parts of the heavens, do actually change their places, it will follow that the motion of the solar system, as a system, is not a mere hypothesis; and what will give additional weight to this consideration is, that we have reason to believe most of those stars which have been observed to move, are such as are nearest to us, and therefore that their influence on our situation would alone prove a powerful argument in favour of the proper motion of the Sun, had it actually been originally at rest.

Dr. Herschel gives a short account of the most striking changes he had found to have happened in the heavens since Flamstead's time. He made three reviews of the heavens with telescopes of different powers, all of which are described in the Philosophical Transactions; but the objects which he chiefly attended to in the last review, were, 1. The existence of the particular stars for which he was looking, and which had been noticed by former astronomers, and arranged in former catalogues; 2. To observe whether they were single or double, well defined, or hazy; 3. To view and mark down the particular colour, whenever the altitude and situation of the star would permit it to be done with certainty; 4. To examine all the small stars in the neighbourhood, as far, at least, as the twelfth magnitude, and note the particu