UC-NRLF 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Class 
 

of 
 
CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 PRINTED BY W. MBTCALFE AND SONS, GREEN STREET. 
 
THE 
 
 ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 BY 
 
 R. KALLEY MILLER, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW AND 'ASSISTANT-TUTOR OF ST. PETER'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 MACMILLAN AND -CO. 
 
 1873. 
 
: 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE greater part of the following papers 
 was originally written for delivery in the form 
 of popular lectures. They were then published 
 in a University Magazine, the Light Blue ; and 
 having met with considerable success in both 
 these ways, they have now, at the suggestion 
 of several friends, scientific and non-scientific, 
 been partially re-written and enlarged into their 
 present form. 
 
 I have "endeavoured, however, to keep their 
 original object unaltered, and to write nothing 
 which would not be at once interesting and 
 intelligible to non-scientific readers. There is 
 no lack of systematic, and yet easy, works 
 on Astronomy, such as those of Sir John 
 Herschel, M. Arago, and Mr. Norman Lockyer ; 
 and I have, therefore, made it my object not 
 so much to instruct as to entertain, and possibly 
 in some cases to inspire a taste which might 
 lead to the further prosecution of a most 
 fascinating study. This must be my apology 
 for passing over entirely many important parts, 
 
 189260 
 
vi ^ PREFACE. 
 
 of the subject, and simply selecting a few 
 points here and there which seem to afford 
 scope for striking or amusing amplification. 
 
 Since the following sheets have passed 
 through the press, I have learnt that Professor 
 Adams and others have thrown grave doubts 
 upon the accuracy of the calculations upon 
 which Professor Hansen's theory of eccentric 
 gravitation at the moon was founded. Should 
 this theory fall to the ground, the argument 
 for the habitability of our satellite which was 
 founded upon it, and which I have explained 
 at page 65, must go with it. But it will 
 remain as a striking and interesting episode 
 in the history of scientific speculation. 
 
 In the note to page 53 the fact of the 
 moon's always turning the same face towards 
 us is spoken of as a question of Rigid Dy- 
 namics. But it is possible that it may rather 
 depend upon the earth's action on the moon 
 while in a viscous state. 
 
 I have to thank two very distinguished 
 Members of my own College, Sir William 
 Thomson and Professor Tait, for kind sug- 
 gestions and advice. 
 
 PETERHOUSE, 
 
 December, i872. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 INTRODUCTION r 
 
 THE PLANETS .... 5 
 
 ASTROLOGY . . .40 
 
 THE MOON . 5 
 
 THE SUN 7 1 
 
 THE COMETS 8 5 
 
 LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS . 9 6 
 THE STARS . 
 
 THE NEBULA . . T 35 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 7, line 20, for heavy, read massive. 
 Page 90, line 21, after them, insert nearly. 
 Page 130, line n, for million, read thousand. 
 

 0f 
 
 THE Romance of Astronomy strikes one at first 
 as sounding something very like a contradiction in 
 terms. We might naturally be inclined to think that 
 there is about as much of romance in astronomy as 
 there is of poetic fire in Martin Tupper, or of 
 charity in a Saturday Reviewer. Any one listening 
 to the conversation of two astronomers, and hear- 
 ing them descanting enthusiastically about perigees, 
 apogees, and syzygies, right ascensions and declina- 
 tions, precession of the equinoxes, and the longitude 
 of the moon's ascending node ; or any one opening 
 at random the pages of a work on the science, 
 and finding an incomprehensible mass of calcula- 
 tions, formulae extending over twenty lines and 
 using up all the letters of two or three alphabets, 
 
2 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 and diagrams like nothing in the earth beneath, 
 or in the waters under the earth, and only bearing 
 a very faint resemblance to things in heaven above ; 
 any one we repeat, on getting such an introduction 
 to the subject, would be very much tempted to 
 think that romance and astronomy were altogether 
 incompatible. Science is said by rhetoricians to be 
 the logical opposite of poetry, and whence then 
 can come any element of romance into the sternest 
 and loftiest of the sciences ? 
 
 But if we consider not so much the study of 
 the science itself, in its profound and recondite 
 details, as the results to which it attains, the magni- 
 tude and importance of the subjects it treats of, 
 and the beauty and grandeur of the phenomena it 
 investigates, we shall have to acknowledge that some- 
 where or other in the ponderous tomes of astro- 
 nomical science there must lie entombed rich stores 
 of novel and unwonted interest. The science which 
 fathoms the infinite and reckons up the eternal, 
 which pierces the abysses of space, grasps the orb 
 which we see now by the light that left it eighty 
 thousand years ago, measures its distance, and 
 traces its movements the science which accom- 
 plishes such marvels as these, and the history of 
 the great men who achieved these noblest triumphs 
 
THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 3 
 
 of human intellect must surely furnish many themes 
 and contain many episodes of a character as wonder- 
 ful and as truly romantic as we can find within the 
 airy realms of fiction or of poetry. And besides 
 the grandeur of the phenomena of astronomy and 
 the romance which gathers round its history in all 
 ages and casts a brilliant gleam here and there 
 upon its sober annals, there often flashes even 
 across the pages of the driest and most mathe- 
 matical parts of the subject a glimpse of strange 
 and unexpected interest ; and a fact here and a 
 figure there will start the mind in a train of fresh 
 and novel speculation, and set the fancy to luxuriate 
 in new and untrodden realms. Many of these points 
 moreover to which we allude, though very interest- 
 ing and wonderful in themselves, are yet of com- 
 paratively little importance from an astronomical 
 point of view; their interest centres in themselves, 
 and the results to which they lead must be regarded 
 as rather curious than valuable ; and hence they 
 are but little to be met with in books, or if 
 touched upon at all, are soon abandoned with the 
 remark that it is time to quit such regions of endless 
 and unavailing speculation. Now some of these 
 speculations we purpose following out a little to 
 their legitimate conclusions, trusting that from the 
 
 B2 
 
4 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 above reason they may prove new to many of our 
 readers. And in the other points which we take 
 up for we must not confine ourselves to so limited 
 a portion of the romance of astronomy as this 
 alone we shall seek to select those which are 
 likely to prove at once the most striking and the 
 least familiar to non-scientific readers. 
 
THE PLANETS. 
 
 WE turn naturally first to our sister planets. 
 They are in all respects analogous to our own 
 globe ; they hold the same position in the great 
 system of the universe that we do, and in them 
 if in any of the orbs of heaven at all we might 
 expect to find the face of nature presenting the 
 same appearance, and the course of nature the same 
 phenomena, that they do to us. But not such do 
 we find to be the case. Some of them indeed will 
 resemble us pretty closely in one thing and some 
 in another, but in every one the points of contrast 
 will be much more numerous and striking than those 
 of similarity. 
 
 In looking over a table of the elements of the 
 planets, one of the points which most attract our 
 attention is the very great differences in size which 
 they present ; and as this circumstance is the cause 
 of some of their most striking physical pecularities, 
 we may commence with it our examination of them. 
 
6 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 It affords, too, a remarkable illustration of the state- 
 ment we have made, that a fact of apparently little 
 importance in itself, often leads indirectly to very 
 unexpected and startling consequences. The magni- 
 tude of a planet is a point we should never expect 
 to find in any way necessarily connected with the 
 nature of the beings who inhabit it and the general 
 character of life at its surface, and yet we shall 
 find it intimately related to these matters, and that 
 to the production of very singular consequences 
 indeed. Take for instance the case of one of the 
 minor planets Ceres, or Pallas, or Vesta. Astro- 
 nomers tell us that the diameter of the earth is 
 7912 miles, and that of Ceres 160 miles; and the 
 words may very easily pass in at the one ear and 
 out at the other, without leaving any impression 
 behind ; or if we pause for a moment to think over 
 them, it will likely only occur to us what a compact 
 little world Ceres must be, how easy it must be 
 to get from one place to another in it, and how 
 delightful to be able to sail round the world, pay 
 a visit to one's friends at the Antipodes, and get 
 settled at home again, -all within the short space 
 of a week. But if we look at the subject a little 
 more closely, we shall find that it involves far more 
 extraordinary consequences than these. We know 
 
THE PLANETS. 7 
 
 that by the law of gravitation, the force with which 
 one body attracts another varies directly as its 
 mass, and inversely as the square of its distance ; 
 and also that a sphere attracts any external object 
 as if its own mass were all collected at its centre. 
 Now the diameter of the earth being fifty times as 
 great as that of Ceres, it is altogether 125,000 
 times as large ; but this disproportion being partially 
 counteracted by the greater distance of its surface 
 from the centre, it follows that on the whole the 
 force of gravity here is fifty times greater than at 
 Ceres or, in other words, any object here is fifty 
 times as heavy as it would be there. Now let us 
 look for a moment at what is implied in this. The 
 first and most obvious consequence is, that a man 
 will be able to lift fifty times as great a weight 
 there as here. A ton would be an easy load, boys 
 would play at ring-taw with huge round boulders 
 instead of marbles, and a rattle intended for a stout 
 baby might be made as heavy as a moderate sized 
 cannon-ball. If the tower of Siloam had fallen 
 there instead of here, the men, instead of being 
 crushed by its weight, would have lifted themselves 
 and it up with the greatest ease, and felt nothing 
 the worse for the accident. But there are more 
 singular consequences yet. We know that if a body 
 
8 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 be once set in motion, it would continue moving 
 to all eternity, if not brought to rest by some 
 external force. Thus when a man leaps up into 
 the air, he would continue ascending for ever, were 
 it not for the attraction of the earth, which very 
 speedily brings him down again. But at Ceres, 
 this force is so small that it will be much longer 
 before it takes effect, and a man might consequently 
 leap to an enormous height before the attraction 
 would check his ascent. Jumping over a house-top 
 would be a very trifling exploit, while a good leaper 
 would think nothing of clearing, with a short run, 
 the new tower of St. John's Chapel, or the Great 
 Pyramid itself. Staircases might be abolished, for 
 even a stout old lady could easily jump in at a 
 three-story window. The range of projectiles would 
 be increased in proportion. Ensign Humphry, with 
 a good telescope, would put a ball into the bull's- 
 eye from a distance of twenty miles. An economical 
 war-minister could no longer build on the security 
 afforded by "the streak of silver sea," for Great 
 Britain might be swept with artillery from the 
 Land's End to John O'Groat's House, by batteries 
 erected far inland on the continent. 
 
 Nor have we exhausted the wonders of Ceres yet. 
 When Swift made Gulliver describe his adventures 
 
THE PLANETS. 9 
 
 among the Brobdingnagians, he probably had no 
 idea that they were even farther removed from reality 
 than the other creations of his fancy that they were 
 not only myths, but absolute impossibilities. A giant 
 here would be crushed by his " own weight. A 
 very easy calculation will show this. Suppose a 
 man twelve feet high, and stout in proportion. He 
 will be twice as long, twice as broad, and twice 
 as thick as an ordinary mortal, and thus eight times 
 as heavy. Now if we take a cross section of his 
 leg, the cut surface will be twice as broad and 
 twice as wide as usual, and thus four times as large 
 altogether. We shall thus have eight times the ordi- 
 nary weight to be supported by only four times the 
 ordinary surface ; and hence the stress on the bone 
 will be twice as intense as usual. In the same way, 
 in a man three times the ordinary height, the stress 
 would be three times as great, and so on. Such 
 a stress might perhaps be borne, but when we got 
 the length of a giant sixty feet high, the stress 
 would be ten times as great, and that the bone 
 certainly could not bear. It would either be crushed 
 outright if the giant attempted to stand erect, or 
 else his legs would totter, his knees would bend, 
 and his mighty body come thundering down to the 
 ground. Once down, it would be utterly impossible 
 
io THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 for him to get up. A sitting posture he might 
 perhaps compass ; but if he were a very big giant 
 indeed, that too would be out of the question and 
 he could do nothing but lie along on the ground. 
 But transport him to our queer little friend Ceres, 
 and he is all right at once. In a moment he be- 
 comes fifty times lighter than he was, he leaps to 
 his feet with ease and rears his huge head sixty feet 
 into the air, his legs recover their strength, his 
 aching bones grow well, and he may proceed, 
 if he please, to astonish the acrobatic natives of 
 the planet by gymnastic exploits far surpassing even 
 their own. 
 
 Indeed, all the wonderful feats we have seen 
 that an ordinary man would be capable of at the 
 surface of Ceres, must be multiplied fifty-fold when 
 we take into account the superior possible size of 
 the inhabitants of that planet. Muscular exertion 
 there goes fifty times as far as it does here; and 
 as these gigantic beings will be able to put forth 
 at least fifty times as much of it, the exploits they 
 will be capable of achieving must be no less than 
 2500 times as great as anything that could be done 
 here. Upon this enlarged field of speculation we 
 can scarcely venture to enter. The wildest flights 
 of fancy, and the most exaggerated visions of fairy- 
 
THE PLANETS. II 
 
 land, will be more than realized. Like Milton's 
 angels, they could tear up the hills by their 
 bases, and hurl them at their foes. Stronger than 
 the vanquished Titans of old, fetters of iron would 
 be to them as threads of gossamer ; and mountains 
 piled on the top of mountains would not suffice to 
 crush or imprison them with their load. Like the 
 genii of the Arabian Nights, they could spring at 
 a bound from the earth to the clouds, or clear half- 
 a-dozen miles at a single leap. The seven-league 
 boots would be no longer a fable. Puck said he 
 would put a girdle round the earth in forty minutes ; 
 but one of these giants of Ceres would stride round 
 his planet in less than half the time. 
 
 Of course all the other denizens of the asteroid 
 will have their size and strength increased in the 
 same proportion. The racehorse will rear his crest 
 two hundred feet into the air, and gallop five 
 thousand miles an hour. The giraffe on the plain 
 will lift his stately head, and browse on the trees 
 that crown the mountain-top. The ponderous ele- 
 phant will cover three acres of ground, and surpass 
 in strength the most powerful steam-engine. The 
 lion's roar will be more dreadful than the thunder- 
 peal, and his resistless spring more terrible than 
 the lightning's flash. Snakes two hundred feet in 
 
12 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 circumference and a thousand in length, will roll 
 their huge coils through the forests ; while the sea 
 will boil and foam with the gambols of its mighty 
 inmates, and the gigantic carcase of Leviathan extend 
 for a mile along the deep. 
 
 If we reverse the circumstances and go to a 
 world larger than our own instead of smaller, the 
 case will of course be exactly the opposite. If we 
 ourselves were transported to the sun, we should 
 feel as much like fish out of water as the colossal 
 inhabitants of Ceres would do here ; and in fact 
 it will be readily seen that if the sun were in- 
 habited by beings constituted like ourselves, its 
 population could consist only of dwarfs two or three 
 inches in height. Very singular it surely is that 
 the larger the world, the smaller its denizens must 
 be, that the inhabitants of the earth should be men, 
 those of the sun dwarfs, and those of the tiny 
 asteroid giants. 
 
 We must remind our readers what they might 
 well be excused for forgetting that we are , not 
 romancing about what might be the case in some 
 absurd and impossible circumstances, and if the 
 laws of nature were to undergo some extraordinary 
 and unheard of change, but that we are speaking 
 in all truth and soberness, and that what we have 
 
THE PLANETS. 13 
 
 stated is absolute and demonstrable fact.* If any 
 man were transported at this moment to the planet 
 Ceres, he would be able to do everything we have 
 mentioned ; and the actual inhabitants of that planet, 
 if constituted like ourselves, must be able to do the 
 same. Whether, if tliey exist at all, they are beings 
 like ourselves or not, of course we cannot tell ; 
 their frames may be feebler and their powers more 
 limited than our own, and life at the Asteroids 
 may be after all not so very different from life on 
 the earth itself. 
 
 And now to consider a few other points con- 
 nected with the planets those namely which arise 
 from their various positions relatively to the sun, 
 and from the character and velocity of their move- 
 ments. The general celestial phenomena, and the 
 periodical changes connected with them, must of 
 course be the same at all the planets. They have 
 the same alternation of day and night, of summer 
 and winter, that we have. For them, as for us, 
 the sun has been set to rule the day, and moons 
 and stars to rule the night. But though their times 
 
 * See Herschel's Astronomy, end of Chap, vin, where some 
 of the above ideas are hinted at. Our mathematical readers will 
 see that there is not the slightest exaggeration in the extent to 
 which we have carried them. 
 
14 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 and seasons, their days and years, are exactly ana- 
 logous to our own, yet the differences in their 
 positions and movements will produce corresponding 
 differences of a very marked kind in the lengths 
 of those periods and in the vicissitudes of climate 
 occasioned by them. The most important of these 
 differences are caused of course by the very various 
 distances from the sun at which the planets are 
 situated. Mercury is three times nearer it than we 
 are, and Neptune thirty times farther away. It 
 follows from this that at Mercury the sun will 
 appear nine times as large as it does to us the 
 intensity of its light and heat being of course in- 
 creased in the same proportion ; while at Neptune 
 all its influences will be nine hundred times feebler 
 than they are here. Hence at the former planet 
 the average heat must be greater than that of 
 boiling water; and if at its creation it contained 
 any seas or rivers like our own, they must have 
 been long ago dissipated in vapour by the sun's 
 overpowering beams. At Neptune, on the other 
 hand, that luminary will appear no larger than one 
 of the planets does to us. How cold and drear 
 an abode it must therefore be ! its brightest noon- 
 day more dusky than our winter twilight, and its 
 hottest midsummer far colder than our frozen poles. 
 
THE PLANETS. 15 
 
 Another consequence of the varying distances of 
 the planets is a great diversity in the length of 
 their years, some of them being as short as three 
 of our months, while one extends over no less than 
 a hundred and sixty years. How long and dreary 
 the circle of the seasons must be there ! forty years 
 of spring, forty of summer, forty of autumn, and 
 forty of winter. The contrast between the seasons 
 will be in some of the planets greater, and in some 
 much less than our own ; at Jupiter especially there 
 will be no perceptible change of seasons at all, and 
 day and night will everywhere last for twelve hours 
 each, just as at our equator. The orbit of Mercury 
 presents a very marked eccentricity; in other words 
 the planet is much nearer the sun at one period 
 of its revolution than at another ; so much so that 
 that luminary will appear twice as large, twice as 
 bright, and twice as hot, when Mercury is in 
 perihelion as when in aphelion ; a circumstance 
 which cannot fail to be productive of very serious 
 eifects to its inhabitants. Even at our own earth, 
 whose orbit is so much more nearly circular, the 
 same cause produces a quite perceptible effect. The 
 earth is nearest the sun in December, and the 
 consequence of this is that in our northern hemi- 
 sphere the winter is rendered milder than it would 
 
1 6 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 otherwise be, while south of the equator the heat 
 is considerably aggravated. In June the opposite 
 will be the case, and the whole result is evidently 
 to make the northern hemisphere more temperate 
 than the southern. Accordingly we find that the 
 intense heat of the sun is much more complained 
 of in the Australian and South African deserts than 
 in those to the north of the equator. The eccen- 
 tricity of the earth's orbit is at present diminishing 
 at a small uniform rate,* and the effect of this, in 
 a sufficiently long course of time, would be to 
 decrease these annual variations of temperature. In 
 some of the other planets, however, it is on the 
 increase, and v when this fact was first discovered, 
 it excited great interest among astronomers. The 
 increment, though extremely small, appeared to be 
 perfectly regular, and if continued long enough it 
 must infallibly cause such frightful vicissitudes of cold 
 and heat as to destroy any life which might exist 
 at their surfaces. Lagrange, however, succeeded in 
 establishing a beautiful and simple relation between 
 the eccentricities of the planetary orbits, which 
 showed that none of them could ever exceed certain 
 definite limits, and that although they might increase 
 
 * Due to the perturbing influence of the other planets. 
 
THE PLANETS. 17 
 
 for almost countless ages, a maximum would in time 
 be reached, and a compensating period of diminution 
 would ensue. 
 
 Lastly, the rotations of some of the planets on 
 their own axes are performed in much shorter 
 periods than that of the earth. The effect will be 
 to shorten the length of the day, to make the planet 
 bulge out at the equator, and to diminish gravity 
 by reason of centrifugal force. We all know that 
 if a stone be tied to a string and whirled round, it 
 will acquirer tendency to fly off, which will be greater 
 the faster it is whirled. In the same way some of 
 the planets spin round so rapidly as to communicate 
 to any body on their surfaces a very powerful tendency 
 to fly off, which is however counterbalanced by the 
 effect of gravity. But if Jupiter's rotation were only 
 four times faster than it is, the centrifugal force 
 would be so great that all the inhabitants would be 
 sent flying off through the air or rather along with 
 it, for it would go too. When the impulse with which 
 they started was lost, they would of course fall back 
 to the ground, but only to be shot off again at once ; 
 and in this state of perpetual oscillation, bouncing 
 up and down like an india-rubber ball, they would 
 spend all their lives, unless they took some means of 
 anchoring themselves to the surface of their planet. 
 
1 8 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 The class of phenomena which we have been last 
 considering depend all of them upon the positions 
 and movements of the planets, and are hence common, 
 with various modifications, to the whole of them. 
 But besides these there are connected with all of 
 them special points of individual interest, arising 
 from circumstances peculiar to themselves alone, and 
 over these we must cast a rapid glance before we 
 proceed in our excursion to visit a new set of worlds. 
 
 Of the first of the planets, Mercury, we know 
 but little. From the closeness of his proximity to 
 the sun he can never be seen with the naked eye, 
 except occasionally for a few moments close to the 
 horizon, immediately after sunset or before sunrise ; 
 and even these hurried glimpses cannot be got except 
 at considerable intervals and under very favourable 
 circumstances.* Hence, though his existence seems 
 to have been known from a very early period, he was 
 comparatively seldom seen before the invention of 
 the telescope. Copernicus lamented upon his death- 
 bed that he had never been able to catch a glimpse of 
 Mercury at all ; the mists from the marshes of the Vis- 
 tula too obstinately fringed the morning and evening 
 
 * It is calculated that Mercury, Venus, and the Earth will, 
 from a similar reason, never be visible at all from the surface 
 of Uranus. 
 
THE PLANETS, 19 
 
 horizon round the Observatory of Thorn. A dis- 
 tinguished French astronomer of the same period 
 only saw him twice. The telescope when turned upon 
 him shows us little but a small round disc, which 
 exhibits phases, like the moon, according to its 
 relative positions with regard to the sun and to the 
 earth. Recent observations have revealed enormously 
 lofty mountains upon his surface, eight times as high 
 in proportion to their planet as the Himalayas are 
 to our own globe. The proximity of Mercury to the 
 sun, the eccentricity of his orbit, and the fact that 
 he is unattended by any satellites, rendered the deter- 
 mination of his mass and other elements a matter 
 of much difficulty, and great discrepancies exist 
 between the earlier estimates of them. Fortunately 
 his small size, and the consequent insignificance of 
 the perturbations he produces in the other planets, 
 diminished the importance of having an accurate 
 knowledge of him. Any similar uncertainty about 
 one of the larger .planets would have interposed most 
 serious obstacles to the progress of science, and 
 would, for example, have rendered the discovery of 
 Neptune impossible. 
 
 It is at present uncertain whether there are any 
 planets within the orbit of Mercury. If there are, their 
 light must be so overpowered by that of the sun, as to 
 
 c 2 
 
20 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 render them visible only when he is under eclipse, 
 or when they are passing across his disc, in which 
 case they would appear as small black spots. Astrono- 
 mers have occasionally fancied that they detected 
 planets under the latter circumstances, but they have 
 never felt certain that what they saw were not merely 
 some of the ordinary spots on the sun. A French 
 astronomer, M. Lescarbault, felt pretty confident on 
 one occasion that he had found a real planet, to 
 which he gave the name of Vulcan ; but twenty 
 years have passed away, and the discovery has never 
 been confirmed. It was hoped that at the recent total 
 eclipse Vulcan might have been seen near the edge 
 of the moon's disc when the sun's light was cut off; 
 but if he really exists, he lost the glorious chance then 
 offered him of proving the fact, by perversely hiding 
 behind the sun, or between it and the moon. 
 
 With Venus we are all familiar. It is the most 
 brilliant of all the planetary or stellar orbs ; and the 
 " Star of the Evening, Beautiful Star," has been sung 
 by poets of every age and clime, from Homer to 
 the Christy Minstrels. Like Mercury, and for the 
 same reason, Venus is seldom seen except about 
 sunrise or sunset; but as her elongation from the 
 sun, though limited, is much greater than that of 
 Mercury, she is very frequently visible. Sometimes 
 
THE PLANETS. 21 
 
 even, though at rare intervals, she is sufficiently near 
 us to be seen when the sun is above the horizon ; 
 and the sight of the little planet, shining softly out 
 in fearless companionship with the dazzling orb of 
 day, is described as singularly striking and beautiful. 
 Varro relates a tradition that Venus shone thus at 
 noon'day, a most auspicious portent, upon ^Eneas' 
 voyage from Troy to Italy. And on the occasion 
 of one of the first Napoleon's triumphal entries into 
 Paris after a successful campaign, Venus joined in 
 the pageant of the procession ; exciting the intensest 
 enthusiasm among the populace, who regarded her 
 daylight appearance as a miracle ; and flattering even 
 the stern heart of the conqueror with the thought 
 that Heaven itself had sent its fairest orb to grace 
 the brilliance of his triumph. It was long before it 
 was discovered that the morning and the evening 
 star were one and the same planet, and hence we 
 meet with it in the classics under a double name, 
 Lucifer, Son of the Morning, and Hesperus, Star 
 of the Eve.* A similar confusion prevailed with 
 
 * 'H/xos 6' Eoxrc^djOos alo-i, (oo>s ipitav ITTI yaiav, 
 'Of -re. piTa K/ooKOTreTrXos vTrtlp dXa Kidvarai HOJS. 
 
 Homer II. 23. 226. 
 
 'Ea"7T/00 OS Ka'XXlffTOV tV OVpUVUJ UTTCCTat dffTifp, 
 
 Homer II. 22. 318. 
 
22 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 regard to Mercury, which as a morning star was 
 styled Apollo, the Lord of Day, and as an evening 
 star Mercury, the Patron of Robbers. 
 
 The phases of Venus are readily shown by the 
 telescope, and were detected by Galileo soon after 
 the invention of that instrument. Delighted at his 
 discovery, but unwilling to publish it until verified 
 by fuller observations, he shrouded it in the following 
 line: 
 
 Haec immatura a me jam frustra leguntur,* 
 which, anagrammatically transposed with a little 
 license, gives 
 
 Cynthiae figuras emulatur mater amorum.f 
 This ingenious way of embalming a discovery until 
 ripe for publication was a favourite one with the 
 mediaeval astronomers, as it enabled them to claim 
 priority, if anyone else, by making the same discovery, 
 should take the wind out of their sails. J The result 
 of Galileo's first observation upon Saturn was com- 
 municated to the scientific world in the form 
 aaaaabeeegiiiillmmmmmnnoprrstttuvv, 
 
 * These things, yet unripe and not understood, are read by me. 
 
 f The mother of loves emulates the phases of the moon. 
 
 J Simon Mayer, a Bavarian astronomer, contested with Galileo 
 the priority of discovery of Jupiter's satellites, but his claim 
 appears to have been not only unfounded but absolutely dishonest. 
 
THE PLANETS. 23 
 
 letters .which he afterwards arranged thus : 
 
 Ultimam planetam trigeminam observavi.* 
 Huyghens' discovery of the real nature of the ring 
 was first made known thus : 
 aaaaaaa ccccc d eeeee g h iiiiiii 1111 mm nnnnnnnnn 
 
 oooo pp q rr s ttttt uuuuu, 
 
 which, when he had fully satisfied himself of its 
 truth, he interpreted into 
 Annulo cingitur tenut piano nusquam cohoerente ad 
 
 eclipticam inclinato.f 
 
 The dazzling and uniform brilliancy of the disc of 
 Venus, which renders it very difficult to get a good 
 telescopic view of it, is supposed to be caused by 
 the reflection of the sun's rays off a dense cloudy 
 stratum; and in fact it seems probable that we 
 never see its surface at all, but only its illuminated 
 atmosphere. In Mars, on the other hand, which is 
 the next planet, we can trace with perfect distinctness 
 the outlines of continents and seas. The bright ruddy 
 light which distinguishes this planet from all the 
 others proceeds from its solid parts, and is caused 
 doubtless by a prevailing reddish tinge in the soil, 
 something the colour of our red sandstone, only much 
 
 * I have perceived the most distant planet to be threefold, 
 t It is surrounded with a thin plane ring, nowhere adhering 
 to it, and inclined to the ecliptic. 
 
24 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 brighter. The seas are distinguished by their blueish 
 tinge, Vhile at the north and south poles are large 
 and irregular patches of a brilliant white. These 
 have been conjectured with great probability to be 
 vast tracts of ice and snow ; and this idea is confirmed 
 by the fact that they are of variable size, being largest 
 during their winter, and diminishing very perceptibly 
 on the approach of summer. 
 
 Leaving this planet of the "Red, White, and Blue," 
 and passing over the asteroids, to which we shall 
 return presently, we come to Jupiter, the largest and 
 most important of all the planets. This great orb 
 is no less than thirteen hundred times as large as 
 our earth, and everything connected with him is on 
 the grandest scale. Hi& years last for ten thousand 
 days, his motion on his axis is so rapid that the 
 heavenly bodies must be seen changing their places 
 every minute, and his nocturnal sky is illuminated 
 by a band of four large and beautiful satellites.* 
 His surface is divided into bright and dark belts 
 
 * These satellites have played a very important part in the 
 history of science. Their discovery was hailed as a valuable 
 confirmation of the Coperm'can theory of the solar system, of 
 which they present a miniature picture. They Have proved of 
 great service to the navigator; the time of their eclipses can 
 be calculated with great accuracy, and, when compared with 
 local time, gives a simple method of determining that important 
 
THE PLANETS. 25 
 
 parallel to the equator. The former are supposed 
 to represent dense masses of clouds, reflecting the 
 sin's rays more perfectly than the solid body of the 
 planet. Their parallelism to the equator, and their 
 comparatively uniform breadths, are probably to be 
 accounted for by steady atmospheric currents, of a 
 character similar to our trade and return trade winds, 
 but much more violent, in consequence of Jupiter's 
 more rapid rotation on his axis. In fact all the 
 observations upon his atmosphere tend to show that 
 the wind blows at his surface with overwhelming fury, 
 sometimes surpassing a thousand-fold our most terrific 
 hurricanes. 
 
 The moons of Jupiter were among the earliest 
 revelations of the telescope. They were discovered 
 by Galileo, who at first supposed them to be 
 stars, and was much puzzled for a few nights 
 by the irregular manner in which Jupiter appeared 
 to move about among them. He had great difficulty 
 in getting th-e scientific world to acknowledge their 
 existence. Some of the contemporary philosophers 
 thought that they were optical illusions due to an 
 imperfection of the instrument. Many absolutely 
 
 and difficult geographical element, the longitude. And some 
 discrepancies between their calculated and observed positions 
 first suggested the great discovery of the finite velocity of light. 
 
26 THE ROMANCE OF ASTROXOUY. 
 
 refused to look through such an unnatural and 
 diabolical engine as the telescope, and of course 
 there was no other way of proving to them that 
 the moons were really there.* One of these sceptics, 
 Libri of Pisa, died during the heat of the controversy ; 
 and we find Galileo, in a letter to a friend, charitably 
 hoping that the way to heaven lay past the planet 
 Jupiter, and that Libri might be convinced at last. 
 Another unbeliever, a rather eminent astronomer of 
 the name of Sizzi, delivered an elaborate harangue 
 against Galileo, which is still extant, and in which 
 he argues as follows: "There are seven windows 
 given to animals in the domicile of the head, through 
 w r hich the air is admitted to the tabernacle of the 
 body, to enlighten, to warm, and to nourish it ; 
 
 * It is not quite certain that Jupiter's satellites have not 
 occasionally been seen with the naked eye by persons of very 
 powerful sight. In an early Japanese plate Jupiter is represented 
 with two small stars beside him, which very possibly are meant 
 for two of his moons. At a time when this subject happened 
 to be exciting a little discussion in the scientific world, a German 
 lady declared that she could see one of the satellites. Unfortunately 
 for her probity, it was soon found that she always saw it on 
 the wrong side of the planet to the right when it should have 
 been to the left, and -vice versd. The explanation was easy. 
 She had got hold of some diagrams representing the apparent 
 relative positions of Jupiter and his satellites from day to day, 
 but they were constructed for using with the common astronomical 
 telescope, which is an inverting one. 
 
THE PLANETS. 27 
 
 which windows are the principal parts of the micro- 
 cosm, or little world two nostrils, two eyes, two ears, 
 and one mouth. So in the heavens, as in a macrocosm, 
 or great world, there are two favourable stars, Jupiter 
 and Venus ; two unpropitious, Mars and Saturn ; two 
 luminaries, the Sun and Moon ; and Mercury alone, 
 undecided and indifferent. From these, and from 
 many other phenomena of nature, which it were 
 tedious to enumerate, we gather that the number of 
 planets is necessarily seven. Moreover, the satellites 
 are invisible to the naked eye ; and therefore can 
 exercise no influence over the earth ; and therefore 
 would be useless ; and therefore do not exist. Besides, 
 as well the ancient Jews and other nations as modern 
 Europeans, have adopted the division of the week 
 into seven days, and have named them from the 
 seven planets. Now if we increase the number of 
 planets, this whole system falls to the ground." 
 
 Absurd as this tirade is, we wonder at it the less 
 w r hen we find the illustrious Huyghens talking in 
 a similar strain after his discovery of the first satellite 
 of Saturn. He says: "The solar system is now 
 complete. It consists of six planets and six moons, 
 and from this equality, and from the fact that they 
 together constitute the perfect number twelve, we 
 infer that no more satellites will be discovered." 
 
2 8 THE R OMANCE OF ASTR ONOMY. 
 
 The philosophers both of the ancient and middle 
 ages had great belief in perfect numbers, but their 
 superstitions have, in the nineteenth century, been 
 thrown completely into the shade by the wild ravings 
 of Comte, the high priest of Positivism, about primes. 
 Like Sizzi, he had a great partiality to the number 
 seven, because it was a prime, and because it was 
 "composed of two progressions followed by a synthesis, 
 or of one progression between two couples." For 
 these reasons he wished it to be made the basis of 
 our scale of notation. The latter reason we frankly 
 confess our inability to comprehend ; the former is 
 intelligible, but singularly inconsequential. Most 
 people would think a prime the worst number possible 
 to found a scale on. His favourite number of all, how- 
 ever, is thirteen, and that for the following reasons : It 
 is a prime ; it is the seventh prime ; seven is a prime ; 
 it is the fifth prime ; and five is a prime. Here 
 unfortunately he has to stop ; five is the fourth 
 prime, and four, on Comte's principles, is a very 
 poor number indeed. It is a perfect square, and 
 nothing on earth can twist that into a prime. Comte 
 sincerely regrets this little flaw ; if only twice two 
 did not make four, thirteen would be an absolutely 
 perfect number. Still it is so near it that it cannot be 
 so very unlucky as it is popularly considered ; and we 
 
THE PLANETS. 29 
 
 trust none of our readers will ever again think it neces- 
 sary to count the number of guests at a dinner-table. 
 
 Undeterred by the cogent arguments of Sizzi, 
 Galileo, so far from giving up his moons or aban- 
 doning his infernal machine, turned his telescope, 
 after investigating the orbits of Jupiter's satellites, 
 to other bodies of the system, and soon detected 
 those most extraordinary appendages of the next 
 planet, the rings of Saturn. The highest magnifying 
 powers show these rings merely as thin luminous 
 threads crossing the disc of the planet and pro- 
 jecting slightly beyond it at either side, but to the 
 inhabitants of Saturn itself their appearance must 
 be inconceiveably grand. To the dwellers on one 
 side of the planet the rings must present the mag- 
 nificent spectacle of two vast luminous arches spanning 
 the sky from horizon to horizon and rotating with 
 enormous velocity ;* and to the people on the other 
 side the appearance will be the same, only that the 
 arches will be dark instead of bright ; while the 
 regions which lie beneath their shadow will be 
 plunged for fifteen years at a time in perpetual night. 
 The feeble telescope with which Galileo discovered 
 
 * If it were not for this rotation they could not remain in 
 equilibrium, but would be precipitated upon the surface of the 
 planet. 
 
30 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 the rings only revealed to him two protuberances 
 beyond the disc of the planet at the opposite ends 
 of a diameter. They appeared to him to be detached 
 bodies, and he was much surprised to find that they 
 did not change their positions relatively to the planet, 
 and therefore neither revolved round it nor rotated 
 with it in its daily course. But extraordinary as this 
 phenomenon appeared, it became still more so when 
 these two objects gradually diminished in size, and 
 finally disappeared altogether. Galileo was utterly 
 baffled. "Is the legend of mythology," he asked 
 in amazement, " no longer a fable, and has Saturn 
 really devoured his children ?" The explanation of 
 .course was that the planet, advancing in its course, 
 -and changing its position relatively to the earth, had 
 brought its equator into the same plane with us, so 
 that the rings only presented their narrow rim to us, 
 instead of their broad flat surface. But it was not 
 till long afterwards that Huyghens, with improved 
 telescopes, detected their real nature. Maupertius 
 started a quaint theory for their origin. He supposed 
 that they might be the mangled remains of an 
 unfortunate comet, which had incautiously come too 
 near Saturn, and got his tail wound round the planet 
 and twisted off. A more probable theory we shall 
 meet with further on. 
 
THE PLANETS. 31 
 
 Till within a comparatively recent period these 
 five planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and 
 Saturn, were believed to be the only ones besides 
 our own earth in the system, but in the year 1781 
 Uranus was added to the number by Sir William 
 Herschel. He did not suspect at first that it was 
 anything but a comet, but as every observatory in 
 Europe immediately set to work to calculate its orbit, 
 it was soon recognised as a planet. Herschel wished 
 to call it Georgium Sidus, after his kindly and 
 munificent patron, George the Third. Several of 
 his brother astronomers urged that it should be 
 named after the illustrious discoverer himself, but the 
 advocates of uniformity insisted upon the classical 
 nomenclature being adhered to. The rival claims of 
 all the old gods and goddesses were discussed. The 
 name of Neptune found considerable favour in this 
 country, Englishmen being then justly proud of the 
 exploits of their fleet,* but the foreign astronomers 
 would not agree to this. Many other names were 
 suggested, and backed up by fanciful and epigram- 
 matical reasons. Uranus was finally adopted, on the 
 suggestion of Bode that the most distant of the 
 
 * Would the present Admiralty like to have a newly-discovered 
 planet christened Megaera ? 
 
32 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 planets might appropriately be called after the most 
 ancient of the gods. 
 
 It was soon found that the planet had been 
 observed no less than nineteen times before in 
 different parts of the heavens, Jout from its great 
 distance, and consequently insignificant apparent mag- 
 nitude, it had always been mistaken for a star.* This 
 remarkable discovery excited the greatest interest 
 among astronomers, and the hope began to be 
 entertained that other distant planets also might 
 have been mistaken for stars, and that the number 
 of the planets might be thus still further added to. 
 The only other discovery however which has yet been 
 made of the character anticipated is that of Neptune, 
 whose existence was first suspected by Bouvard in 
 1821, from the perturbations in the motions of Uranus 
 caused by his disturbing influence. The problem of 
 determining from these scanty data the distance, the 
 orbit, and the mass of the disturbing planet, was 
 evidently a possible one ; but the analytical difficulties 
 which it presented to the mathematician were so 
 
 * Lemonnier, in especial, seems to have narrowly escaped detect- 
 ing its real nature, as he had observed it several times. But his 
 observations were not registered and compared with sufficient care 
 to lead to any results ; indeed one of the most important of them 
 was afterwards found by Bouvard scribbled upon a confectioner's 
 paper bag. 
 
THE PLANETS. 33 
 
 enormous, that for more than twenty years no one 
 attempted to grapple with them. Our own University 
 had the great honour of first undertaking the task, 
 and of prosecuting it to a successful conclusion. 
 Mr. Adams commenced his ever-memorable re- 
 searches immediately after taking his degree in 1843, 
 and on the last of September, 1845, his calculations 
 of the place in which the supposed planet should 
 be sought for were tendered at Greenwich Obser- 
 vatory. Before commencing the search, which was 
 likely to prove a laborious one, the Astronomer 
 Royal requested Mr. Adams to make some further 
 calculations, with a view of confirming his results ;* 
 but while he was engaged on these, M. Le Verrier 
 (who had been, unknown to 'both of them, employed 
 in similar researches) published the results -of his cal- 
 culations on the first of June, 1846. As they agreed 
 exactly with Mr. Adams', Professor Airy's hesita- 
 tions were removed, and he wrote to Mr. Challis, 
 recommending a careful search with the great North- 
 umberland refractor in the Cambridge Observatory. 
 
 * Mr. Adams had based his calculations on the perturbations 
 of Uranus in longitude, and Professor Airy suggested that he 
 should examine whether those in radius vector would lead to the 
 same results. 
 
 D 
 
34 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 This advice was immediately followed, and an 
 accurate map of the part of the heavens in question 
 was commenced, with the hope that on a second 
 survey, some star in it would be found to have 
 changed its place, and thereby shown itself to be 
 the planet sought for. But before this labour was 
 completed, Dr. Galle, a Prussian astronomer, who 
 had the advantage of having a good map already 
 in his possession, found a .new star not laid down 
 in his chart ; and a little investigation established 
 this at once as the long sought for orb. Professor 
 Challis found that it was one of the bodies he had 
 already mapped down, and that a few nights more 
 must have infallibly led to its discovery by him also. 
 Considerable jealousy was felt at the time between 
 England and France with regard to the priority of 
 claim between Adams and Le Verrier, the French 
 astronomer being much disappointed to find that 
 our countryman had vanquished the difficulty first, 
 although his discovery was not made public at 
 the time. But after all, the question of priority 
 is a small one ; each of the astronomers com- 
 pleted the task by his own unaided genius, and 
 the names of Adams and Le Verrier will be 
 handed down to posterity with equal honour, as 
 the solvers of the hardest mathematical problem 
 
THE PLANETS. 35 
 
 which has yet engaged the attention of scientific 
 men.* 
 
 No planet more distant than Neptune has yet 
 been discovered ; but about sixty tiny orbs have been 
 added to the system, whose existence had been 
 previously unsuspected not from their distance, but 
 from their minuteness. We allude of course to the 
 asteroids. The history of their 'discovery is very 
 interesting, and affords a remarkable contrast to that 
 of Neptune ; being the result of a bold and fortunate 
 guess, while the other was the fruit of years of 
 
 * The problem was the solution of a series of simultaneous 
 partial differential equations with nine unknown quantities, 
 namely the mass, mean distance, eccentricity, epoch, and peri- 
 helion longitude of the unknown planet, and the corrections 
 to the latter four elements of Uranus. The smallness of the 
 perturbations in latitude showed that the inclinations and nodes 
 might be neglected, or, otherwise, the number of unknown 
 quantities would have been thirteen. Many of our readers 
 will understand the impossibility of solving such a problem 
 by any ordinary mathematical methods, and even the usual 
 devices of the Planetary Theory, evolved by the genius of 
 Laplace and Lagrange, failed in application in consequence of 
 the inverse character of the problem. In fact, the old armoury 
 of Science was unavailable, and Adams and Le Verrier, in 
 fighting their great battle with Nature, had to invent a fresh 
 weapon for every stage of the conflict. For an interesting 
 sketch of their labours we may refer our mathematical readers 
 to Grant's "History of Astronomy," while the question of priority 
 will be found discussed in Airy's "Historical statement of 
 circumstances connected with the discovery of the planet beyond 
 Uranus." 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 patient toil. Soon after the elements of the planets 
 came to be accurately known, a remarkable empirical 
 law was observed to connect their several distances 
 from the sun. These were found to form a series, 
 the difference between each of whose terms was twice 
 as great as the preceding difference ; in other words, 
 the distance of any planet from the next without 
 it was twice as great as its distance from the next 
 within it. The only exception to this rule was in 
 the case of Mars and Jupiter, whose distance from 
 each other was much too great ; in fact, it seemed 
 as if there was a planet wanting between them to 
 complete the perfect series. This fact, which was 
 first noticed by the Baron -de Zach, was considered 
 so remarkable, that a company of astronomers banded 
 themselves together to institute a search for the 
 missing orb, and shared out among themselves the 
 part of the heavens in which it was expected to be 
 found. The leading men of the day considered the 
 idea as altogether chimerical, arguing with perfect 
 truth that there was no reason to believe that the 
 law in question was anything more than an accidental 
 coincidence,* and that it was thus utter madness to 
 
 * It has since been found to be broken in the case of the 
 planet Neptune. 
 
THE PLANETS. 37 
 
 attempt reasoning upon it at all. The madmen, 
 however, pursued their quest ; and, after a long and 
 interesting search, the first of the asteroids was 
 discovered ; and shortly afterwards, to the astonish- 
 ment of everybody, a second, revolving in an orbit 
 nearly coincident with that of the first. This re- 
 markable departure from the established analogy of 
 the whole solar system attracted universal attention ; 
 and when a third and a fourth asteroid had been 
 discovered about the same place, Dr. Olbertz pro- 
 pounded the idea that the large planet which ought 
 to have been found in this position had been, by 
 some internal convulsion or by the shock of a comet, 
 split into fragments each of which was now pursuing 
 its separate course as an independent orb about the 
 great common centre of the system. This theory 
 was at first almost universally received, being strik- 
 ingly borne out by a remarkable fact with regard 
 to the orbits of the then-discovered asteroids. If 
 such a catastrophe occurred, the fragments would 
 be hurled off in different directions and with different 
 velocities, and would thus take up different orbits ; 
 but as the orbit of each would be ever the same, 
 it follows that they would all at some period 
 of their course pass again through the position 
 from which they originally diverged. And this 
 
38 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 was found to be the case. There was a parti- 
 cular part of the heavens through which the four 
 asteroids at one time or another passed, and which 
 was therefore set down as having been the scene of 
 the great original disruption. It was conjectured by 
 some that the aerolites, or shooting stars, were small 
 fragments from the same mass, which had been 
 projected so far inwards towards the sun as to come 
 within the range of the earth's attraction, and be 
 deflected down to its surface. This latter hypothesis 
 received a good deal of support* being at least as 
 probable as that of Laplace, which refers the origin 
 of these meteors to volcanoes in the moon, and holds 
 that they are hurled forth from those lunar craters 
 with force sufficient to reach the earth. But the 
 explosion, theory is now itself exploded. Many of 
 the more recently discovered asteroids do not pass 
 near the place of the supposed disruption ; and there- 
 fore, as we have seen, can never have been at that 
 spot at all. It is true that the perturbations caused 
 by the other planets would by this time have partially 
 affected their orbits; but the discrepancy seems 
 too. great to be accounted for in this way,, and the 
 theory has now been generally abandoned. The 
 only other attempt to account for the phenomenon 
 of the asteroids is based upon the great Nebular 
 
THE PLANETS. 39 
 
 Hypothesis of Laplace, which we shall explain 
 hereafter. 
 
 These minor planets being all included within a 
 belt of very moderate extent, it follows that large 
 numbers of them will often be comparatively near 
 together, and the appearance of the heavens at one 
 of these will be peculiarly striking. Many bright 
 planets will be scattered over every part of the 
 firmament some appearing as thin silver crescents 
 like the new moon, some as half-moons, and others 
 with fully illuminated discs ; some so distant as to 
 be indistinguishable from stars, and others surpassing 
 the moon itself in magnitude and splendour ; their 
 orbits crossing and overlapping in every direction, 
 and the planets thus circling in and out among each 
 other as if in the mazes of some majestic dance, 
 some winging their flight far away to the most 
 distant parts of their orbits beyond the sun, and 
 others perhaps approaching so near as to fill half 
 the firmament with their glorious blaze, and travelling 
 along for days and weeks together, so near that 
 their gigantic inhabitants might almost clear at a 
 bold leap the airy gulf that separates their worlds 
 from each other. 
 
ASTROLOGY. 
 
 WE can scarcely turn away from the subject of 
 the romance of planetary astronomy without alluding 
 to the mysterious influence which those bodies of 
 our system were for many ages supposed to exert 
 on the affairs of men. The science of astrology 
 for a science, and a most elaborate science it was 
 comprehended, of course, the other heavenly bodies 
 as well as the planets. But although the sun and 
 moon are far more important luminaries than the 
 planets, and although the stars incomparably exceed 
 them in number, yet the simple regularity of their 
 movements rendered them far less interesting to the 
 astrologer than the "wanderers" of the nightly sky. 
 To the ancients, unfurnished with the master-key 
 of Copernicus, the motions of the planets, with their 
 fitful loops and backward sweeps, appeared altogether 
 arbitrary and irregular, and these orbs were therefore 
 naturally selected as those most fitted to represent 
 the varying turns of Fortune's wheel, and to preside 
 
ASTROLOGY. 41 
 
 over the changing lots of men, of nations, and of 
 the human race. 
 
 The origin of astrology, or the fortelling of events 
 from the configuration of the heavenly bodies, is 
 lost in the mists of a remote antiquity, but it was. 
 undoubtedly practised by the old Egyptian magi, 
 before the time of Moses. The father of the 
 written science was the illustrious Ptolemy, whose 
 astronomical researches seem, to have been prosecuted 
 mainly for astrological purposes, and whose elaborate 
 work, the Tetrabiblos-, is- the text-book of all suc- 
 ceeding votaries of the science. According to him, 
 the planet in the ascendant at the time of birth 
 was the chief ruler of the character and fortunes of 
 the "native," as the entrant on this world's stage 
 was technically called. Mercury presided over the 
 mental faculties, and literary and scientific occupa- 
 tions. He caused a desire of change though in 
 this respect his influence was less than that of 
 the moon and a love of travelling. Venus was 
 a benefic planet, styled the Lesser Fortune. She 
 tended to produce a mild and benevolent disposition, 
 with an inclination to pleasure and amusement ; 
 and her favouring influence brought good fortune to 
 the native in his or her relations with the other 
 sex. Mars, on the other hand, was the Lesser 
 
4 2 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 Infortune. His influence was not altogether evil, 
 but he was decidedly risky, and needed to be well 
 aspected by other planets to lead to any good. The 
 man born under him was high-spirited, quarrelsome, 
 and defiant of danger. The woman was probably a 
 virago, or at the least what Ptolemy, if he had lived 
 in a less favoured age, would have been familiar 
 with as "strong-minded." Mars, of course, ruled 
 over warlike pursuits, and also over such, trades as 
 were concerned with iron and steel. 
 
 Jupiter was regarded as far the most propitious 
 of all the heavenly orbs, and styled the Greater 
 Fortune. He ruled all high and dignified offices, 
 especially the Church. The favoured mortal born 
 under him might be expected to prove high-minded 
 and honourable ; charitable and devout ; liberal, wise, 
 just, and virtuous. Happy the kingdom ruled by 
 a sovereign on whose birth he shone ! English 
 astrologers of the present day tell with pride that 
 our gracious Queen was born when Jupiter rode 
 high in the heavens, right upon, the meridian. So, 
 they say, was the Duke of Wellington ; but as both 
 the date and the place of his birth were uncertain, 
 the astrologers must be as clever as Daniel they 
 can not only interpret the dream, but supply it 
 when forgotten. The Greater Fortune smiled also, 
 
ASTROLOGY. 43 
 
 though less brightly, on the birth of the Prince of 
 Wales. 
 
 Next him we have the grim and ill-omened 
 Saturn, the Greater Infortune ; "and justly," says 
 Lilly, "does he merit the title, being the cause, 
 under Providence, of much misery." Those born 
 under him are gloomy and reserved in character; 
 faithful, indeed, in friendships, but bitter and unfor- 
 giving towards an enemy. Failure, disease, disgrace, 
 and danger beset the steps of the child of Saturn 
 with frequent and terrible pit-falls. The only pieces 
 of good luck that appear to be attributable to him 
 are the gloomy ones of legacies ; while his special 
 favourites are sextons, undertakers, and mutes. Of 
 Uranus, of course, Ptolemy tells us nothing, but 
 modern astrologers think him on the whole malefic. 
 He causes eccentricity and abruptness of manners ; 
 and whether he brings good or evil, it is always 
 of some peculiar and unexpected kind. We cannot 
 find how Neptune is regarded by the astrologers: 
 probably they have not yet made up their minds 
 about him. But we may hope for his credit that 
 Adams and Le Verrier, to whom he owes so much, 
 are watched over by him with special favour. 
 
 Although the ascendant planet is the chief element 
 to be considered in Genethlialogy, as Ptolemy styles 
 
44 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 the science of nativities, its influence may be modified 
 by its combination with other planets, or its position 
 in the zodiac. Thus, while Mars in general begets 
 military men, they must, if he be in the watery sign of 
 Cancer or of Pisces, find vent for their fighting tastes 
 in the navy. And so on, from the soldier and sailor, 
 through the " tinker, tailor, ploughboy, and apothe- 
 cary," down to the " thief," who is born under the 
 moon, "afflicted by Mars." The tailor is the only 
 one of the list we cannot trace. Probably,, from his 
 fractional character, he belongs to one of the 
 asteroids. 
 
 The signs of the zodiac were supposed to have 
 a good deal to do with personal appearance. Thus 
 Pisces produced a short figure, pale and fleshy face, 
 round shoulders, and a heavy gait ; Taurus a well- 
 set person, with broad face and thick neck ; and 
 so on. If parts of two signs occupied the ascendant 
 together, a portion of the body would belong to one 
 sign and the rest to another. Wild as the whole 
 system of astrology is, it seems especially strange 
 that the great philosophers of antiquity should have 
 thought that human fortunes could be swayed, not 
 merely by the constellations themselves, 'but by the 
 arbitrary and fanciful names which men chose to 
 assign to them. 
 
ASTROLOGY. 45 
 
 Definite portions of human life were allotted to 
 the different luminaries : infancy to the Moon ; 
 childhood to Mercury ; youth to Venus ; the vigour 
 of manhood to Mars ; maturer age to Jupiter ; and 
 second childhood to the ominous Saturn. And lastly, 
 the visible firmament was divided into twelve equal 
 portions, meeting in the zenith. The first was the 
 house of health ; the second that of wealth ; the 
 third that of brothers and sisters, and also of short 
 journies, the latter being probably put in to fill up 
 the space if the former should be wanting ; the 
 fourth that of parents ; the fifth that of children 
 and of amusements ; the sixth that of sickness ; 
 the seventh that of love and marriage ; the eighth 
 that of death ; the ninth that of scientific pursuits 
 and distant journies ; the tenth that of trade or calling ; 
 the eleventh that of friends ; the twelfth that of 
 enemies. The connection of these houses with the 
 rest of the system is, of course, obvious. Thus Saturn 
 in the fifth house foretells misfortune with one's 
 children ; Mercury in the sixth house, mental disease ; 
 and Mars in the eighth house, a violent death. 
 
 Probably few persons have their horoscopes erected 
 now-a-days, but we have before us that of the Prince 
 of Wales, calculated at the time of his birth by 
 Zadkiel, according to Ptolemy's rules. The Prince 
 
46 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 was born at forty-eight minutes past ten, on the 
 morning of the Qth of November, 1841, at Bucking- 
 ham Palace, lat. 5i 32'N., long. 6' W. The sign 
 in the ascendant was Sagittarius, which, in Ptolemy's 
 words, produces " a tall upright body, oval face, ruddy 
 complexion (with a tendency to duskiness), chestnut 
 hair, much beard, good eye, courteous, fair-con- 
 ditioned, noble deportment, just, a lover of horses, 
 accomplished, and deserving of respect." The Sun, 
 being well aspected, prognosticated honours ; and as 
 he was in Cancer, in sextile with Mars, the Prince 
 was to be partial to maritime affairs, and win naval 
 glory. The house of wealth was occupied by Jupiter, 
 aspected by Saturn ; and this, as we have already 
 seen, betokened "great wealth through inheritance" 
 a prognostication which, in spite of republican shoe- 
 makers and baronets, is not unlikely to come true. 
 The house of marriage was unsettled by the con- 
 flicting influences of Venus, Mars, and Saturn, but 
 fortunately the latter was to predominate, and the 
 Prince, "after some trouble in his matrimonial 
 speculations," was to marry a princess of high birth, 
 and one not undeserving of his kindest and most 
 affectionate attention. His marriage was , to be ex- 
 pected in 1862. There are few other predictions 
 of particular events ; the one put forth with most 
 
ASTROLOGY. 47 
 
 confidence is that of an injury from a horse in 
 May, 1870, when Saturn is exactly stationary in the 
 ascending degree. Zadkiel says, however, that this 
 evil might be guarded against by prudence, which 
 we presume was done, as the accident did not come 
 off. There was also danger of a blow on the left 
 side of the head, near the ear; but it does not 
 appear whether this was to be administered by the 
 horse, or to be a separate accident. The house of 
 sickness showed a predisposition to fever and to 
 epileptic attacks. The position of Saturn in Capri- 
 corn betokened some loss or disaster to the native 
 in one or other of the places specially ruled over 
 by Capricorn ; which we find from a table to be 
 Brussels, India, Greece, Mexico, part of Persia, the 
 Orkney Islands, and Oxford. We hope that the 
 place indicated was the last of these, as if so 
 the disaster is probably well over by this time, and 
 was nothing more serious than some slight scrape 
 with the authorities of Christ Church. 
 
 But while we have few particulars about the 
 Prince's history, we are overwhelmed with infor- 
 mation about his character. Each planet contributes 
 an enormous list of characteristics, depending on 
 its position and aspects at. the moment of birth. 
 When put together, they give the somewhat complex 
 
48 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 character which we subjoin. The infant Prince was 
 to turn out "acute, affectionate, amiable, amorous, 
 austere, avaricious, beneficent, benevolent, brave, 
 brilliant, calculated for government, candid, careful 
 of his person, careless, compassionate, courteous 
 (twice over), 'delighting in eloquence, discreet, en- 
 vious, fond of glory, fond of learning, fond of music, 
 fond of poetry, fond of sport, fond of the arts and 
 sciences, frank, full of expedients, generous (three 
 times), gracious, honourable, hostile to crime, im- 
 perious, ingenious, inoffensive, joyous, just (twice), 
 laborious, liberal, lofty, 'magnanimous, modest, noble, 
 not easy to be understood, parsimonious, pious 
 (twice), profound in opinion, prone to regret his acts, 
 prudent, rash, religious, reverent, self-confident, sin- 
 cere, singular in mode of thinking, strong, temperate, 
 unreserved, unsteady, valuable in friendship, variable, 
 versatile, violent, volatile, wily, and worthy." It will 
 be seen that the good qualities largely predominate; 
 the bad ones are due to Saturn, who of course 
 must have his envious cut, but who is happily pretty 
 well kept down by the cumulative influence of the 
 propitious planets. 
 
 Zadkiel finishes thus : " The square . of Saturn 
 to the Moon will add to the gloomy side of the 
 picture, and give a tinge of melancholy at times 
 
ASTROLOGY. 49 
 
 to the native's character, and also a disposition to 
 look at the dark side of things and lead him to 
 despondency ; nor will he be at all of a sanguine 
 character, but cool and calculating, though occasionally 
 rash. Yet, all things considered, though firm, and 
 sometimes positive in opinion, this royal native, if 
 he live to mount the throne, will sway the sceptre 
 of these realms in moderation and justice, and be a 
 pious and benevolent man, and a merciful sovereign." 
 
 God grant that it may be so, and that the life, 
 so recently spared in answer to a nation's prayers, 
 may, while crowned with every good and perfect 
 gift itself, be blessed to the promotion of that 
 nation's truest welfare-! 
 
THE MOON. 
 
 PASSING now from the planets to the other bodies 
 of the solar system, we turn in the first place to 
 our next door neighbour, the moon. While the 
 interest with which we view the planets arises from 
 their close analogy and consequently great probable 
 similarity to ourselves, that attaching to the moon 
 is caused mainly by its remarkable proximity to us, 
 and the clear view which we accordingly have of 
 its surface and configuration. It is, in fact, the only 
 one among all the heavenly bodies of whose state 
 and constitution we can ever hope to learn much 
 by actual observation. With regard to the rest, we 
 must for the most part reason from analogy alone, 
 and hence we can seldom arrive at any results of 
 which absolute certainty can be predicated. With 
 the moon on the other hand, we have ocular demon- 
 stration ; and though we do not know very much 
 about it not half so much as we should like still 
 what we do know we can be perfectly certain of, 
 and that is a very great matter indeed/ 
 
THE MOON. 5 1 
 
 Before we touch at all upon the vexed and difficult 
 questions of the existence or non-existence of a lunar 
 atmosphere, lunar seas, and lunar inhabitants, we may 
 glance in the first place over those points of interest 
 which depend simply upon the position and move- 
 ments of the moon points therefore in the deter- 
 mining of which there can be no difficulty, and 
 about the results of which there can be no difference 
 of opinion. The first ideas which the ancients 
 conceived of the nature and constitution of the 
 moon were very wide indeed of the truth. The old 
 Chaldean astronomers supposed that it was a globe, 
 one half of which was made of fire, and which, 
 by revolving upon its axis, presented its different 
 sides to us in succession. This idea accounted 
 sufficiently well for the phases exhibited by it; it 
 was, however, anything but a probable one in itself; 
 and when Thales observed the fact that the bright 
 portion of the moon is always that which is turned 
 at once to the sun and to ourselves, the old hypothesis 
 was at once exploded, and the true explanation 
 that our satellite shines with reflected solar light 
 came to be universally received. Next to the phases 
 of the moon, the most noticeable point about the 
 appearance which it presents to us, is the fact that 
 the configuration of its surface is always the same. 
 
 E2 
 
52 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 From our earliest childhood that configuration, with 
 its quaint resemblance to a human face, has been 
 familiar to all of us ; the large eyes and arched 
 eyebrows of the "man in the moon," his irregular 
 nose, and his long melancholy mouth are among our 
 first recollections of the nightly sky. Nor is the 
 idea only a tradition of the nursery. It is of the 
 most venerable antiquity (though the ancients assigned 
 to the moon's face a softer sex than we do) ; for^we 
 find in Plutarch the following quotation from a very 
 early Greek poet, Agesianax, whose works are lost : 
 
 iracra fitv fi&i. irtpifc irvpl Xa'/uTTSTai, iv (5* up a. juicrcrt; 
 
 yX.au/cd-TE/oov Kvdvoio (f>asivTai JJUTE KOU/OOS 
 
 0/JLfj.a. Kal v'Ypd fjLtTiuTra TO d' tpvQpov airra toiKtv, 
 
 lines which Amyot translates thus : 
 
 De feu luisant elle est environne'e, 
 
 Tout a 1'entour; la face enlumine'fe 
 D'une pucelle apparoit au milieu, 
 
 De qui 1'ceil semble etre plus vert que bleu, 
 La joue un peu de rouge coloree.* 
 
 The earliest attempt at explaining the fact that 
 the moon's surface presents a constant appearance 
 to us, notwithstanding its revolution round us, is 
 
 * Over the orb shines a resplendent light, 
 
 In midst of which a damsel's face is seen ; 
 Whose cheeks suffused display her blushes bright 
 Her eye cerulean, or a pale sea-green. 
 
THE MOON. 53 
 
 found in Clearchus, a follower of Aristotle, who says : 
 that "the moon must be the most beautiful and 
 perfect mirror, in regard to smooth polish and lustre, 
 in the world ; for that in it we see to appear 
 reflected the images and figures of our great con- 
 tinents and oceans." A little consideration, sufficed 
 to show that this hypothesis, besides its inherent 
 improbability, was insufficient to account for the 
 phenomenon in question ; and astronomers were shut 
 up to the conclusion that the moon rotates on its 
 own axis in a period exactly equal to that of its 
 revolution about the earth. This perfect agreement 
 of two periods so independent of each other (in 
 the case of the earth, for example, the angular motion 
 about the axis is 365 times as rapid as that in, the 
 orbit.) was long regarded as the most marvellous 
 coincidence in the economy of nature ; but a recent 
 ingenious mechanical explanation, too, difficult to 
 be given here, has cleared away a. good, deal of its 
 d priori improbability.* 
 
 * It has been shewn that if the two periods were originally 
 at all nearly equal, the attraction of the earth on the protuberant 
 parts of the moon would tend to bring them in time to exact 
 equality. See Arago's Astronomy, vol. II. p. 283. Routh's 
 Ri$id Dynamics, p. 449. The same peculiarity has since been 
 found to hold in the case of the satellites of Jupiter and one 
 of those of Saturn. 
 
54 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 The idea of Clearchus about the moon being 
 a mirror was revived in a singular manner in the 
 middle ages. Some pseudo-philosophers maintained 
 the possibility of communicating between distant parts 
 of the earth by reflection at the surface of its satellite. 
 "Do we not/' they said, "see objects sometimes 
 reflected by mirrors, even in positions in which, by 
 reason of the interposition of screens, we cannot 
 see them direct ? Accordingly, writing on paper, 
 either in characters of the ordinary size, or magnified 
 by optical arrangements, might be reflected up to 
 the moon, and from thence be transmitted to some 
 point of the earth. They might then be magnified 
 by some means so as tp become visible." 
 
 The necromancer Agrippa had the effrontery to 
 maintain that he had actually communicated in this 
 manner with the distant east. Nothing goes down 
 so readily with the ignorant as a good round lie, 
 coated with a flimsy varnish of science ; and, accord- 
 ingly, these marvellous asseverations were received 
 with very general credence, and the scientific men 
 of the day found considerable difficulty in combating 
 them. The energy with which they controverted these 
 fabrications made them perhaps the less ready to 
 detect the grain of truth which lay concealed under 
 the mass of fiction. The faint ashy light which 
 
THE MOON. 55 
 
 irradiates the dark part of the lunar disc, and which 
 produces the appearance familiarly kjxown as " the 
 old moon in the young moon's arms," was long a 
 matter of discussion- and debate among astronomers. 
 Some supposed that the moon's surface was slightly 
 self-luminous, others that its mass was partially trans- 
 parent, and that the sun's rays penetrated to a 
 small extent through it. But both these theories were 
 disproved by the fact that in a total eclipse the ashy 
 light was altogether wanting. It was reserved for an 
 amateur the painter Leonardo da Vinci to suggest 
 the real explanation.; namely,, that the illumination 
 was produced by the sun's rays being reflected from 
 the earth's surface to the moon's and back again to 
 the earth. The astronomers gladly availed themselves 
 of the suggestion, and being once put upon the 
 right track, they had little difficulty in shewing that 
 it presented, a most perfect accordance with facts, 
 ft need, not surprise us that the sun's light, even after 
 two reflections, should remain bright enough to be 
 discerned, by the eye. When we consider the brilliant 
 illumination which our own surface receives on a 
 c lear night from the full moon, it is evident that 
 it must be quite possible for the lunar inhabitants 
 to see their own light reflected back to them from us. 
 And as the earth is so much larger than the moon, 
 
56 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 the effect, will clearly be increased in proportion 
 when we take the case of our, light returned to us 
 from them. 
 
 The general aspect of the heavens from the surface 
 of the moon will not be very different from what 
 it appears to us. The sun will be, of course, the 
 great luminary in their firmament as it is in ours ; 
 and the great source of lunar as of terrestrial light 
 and. heat. The nightly revolutions of the stars also 
 will be the same, and the place the moon itself 
 occupies in our nocturnal firmament will be supplied 
 t,o it by the earth, which will present the appearance 
 of a splendid moon, thirteen times larger than the 
 sun. Its revolution on its axis will present its 
 different faces to the moon in rapid succession, 
 and when our sky is free from clouds, the con- 
 figuration of land and water on our surface will 
 probably be clearly visible to the lunar inhabitants. 
 They must know more of our circumpolar regions 
 than we do, and could doubtless tell us whether 
 there is open sea around the north, pole ; though, 
 unless their telescopes are much more powerful 
 than ours, they could not settle the question of 
 the legendary Scotchman. 
 
 This great orb will appear immovably fixed in 
 one particular part of the heavens, while the stars 
 
THE MOON. 57 
 
 pass slowly beside and behind it. It will display 
 the same phases, and cause and suffer the same 
 eclipses, that our moon does. It is scarcely proper 
 perhaps to speak of our suffering any eclipse from 
 the moon at all ; for the shadow of that body is 
 so small, that it will never cover any large part of 
 pur surface, and will in fact appear only as a small 
 black circle passing slowly across our disc. But 
 solar eclipses on the other hand- will be at the 
 moon far more frequent and striking phenomena 
 than they are here. From the large size of the 
 body behind which % the sun appears to. pass, a total 
 eclipse will sometimes last as long as four or five 
 hours, during which time the whole surface of the 
 moon, will be plunged in midnight darkness. 
 
 In consequence of the slow rotation of the moon 
 upon its axis, its day and night must each be a 
 fortnight long ; and as its. year is just the same 
 length, as ours, each of its seasons must consist of 
 only three days- and three nights. But the- distinction 
 of the seasons will be much less there than on the 
 earth, and will besides be almost entirely lost in 
 the far greater difference between night and day, 
 If the atmosphere at the other side of the moon 
 be as attenuated as it is at that which is turned 
 towards us, this, fact, combined with the great length 
 
58 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 of time for which the sun continues above or below 
 the horizon, will render the lunar days more scorching 
 than the sirocco, and its nights colder than the 
 frigid zone ; and thus each of its long days will be 
 in reality a summer, and every night a winter the 
 morning twilight spring, and the evening twilight 
 autumn. The hemisphere turned towards the sun, 
 or the part of the moon which appears bright to 
 us, must have any moisture which it may contain 
 dried up by his vertical beams ; while on the other, 
 or dark side, the ground must be frozen hard to 
 the depth of several feet, the mountains covered 
 with glaciers, and the seas blocked up with icebergs. 
 At the very margin between the two hemispheres 
 there will be a narrow temperate zone, which will 
 of course move round the moon, as the latter turns 
 round its axis and presents its different faces suc- 
 cessively to, the sun,;, and the only way in which 
 we can see that life, could be supported with 
 comfort at the moon (supposing the atmospherical 
 difficulty surmounted) would be by moving constantly 
 round it, so as to keep always in this temperate 
 zone. A queer Noah's Ark-like sight it would be 
 to see the whole inhabitants of the moon, side by 
 side, in a huge procession extending from pole to 
 pole, and hurrying quickly round it at the rate of 
 
THE MOON. 59 
 
 ten miles an hour some riding, some driving, and 
 some travelling in slow railway trains ; beasts, wild 
 and tame, galloping by their side, and all the birds 
 of heaven flying along over their heads ! 
 
 But this brings us to the great question whether 
 the moon can really have any inhabitants or not. 
 Of all the problems which the science of astronomy 
 is. called upon to answer, none perhaps is possessed 
 of deeper or more general interest than that of 
 the plurality or non-plurality of worlds. We have 
 all often wondered, as we have gazed on the star- 
 spangled sky, whether those distant orbs are teeming 
 hives of busy life like our own, or whether all the 
 inhabitants of the universe have been indeed collected 
 upon this one tiny and insignificant ball. And as 
 the moon is the only one of the heavenly bodies 
 with regard to which there has ever been a chance 
 of arriving at any positive and definite evidence 
 upon this subject, it follows that upon it have been 
 concentrated almost all the researches and arguments 
 of astronomers on the point. We can fancy the 
 eagerness with which Galileo first turned his tiny 
 telescope to its mottled face, and his disappoint- 
 ment when he found himself unrewarded by any 
 revelations of life at its surface. And as the 
 instrument has received each fresh accession of 
 
60 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 magnifying power from his day to our own, every 
 succeeding observer has felt the same anxiety 
 and experienced the same disappointment. Kepler 
 thought that he saw, in the regular circular valleys 
 with which the moon's surface is so closely dotted, 
 artificial excavations, under the sides of which the 
 inhabitants sheltered themselves during their long 
 and scorching days ; but when he found on measure- 
 ment how large the dimensions of some of these 
 craters were, he was compelled to abandon the idea. 
 Even within the last half-century, an eminent German 
 observer, in using a new and powerful telescope, 
 fancied that he had discovered a series of colossal 
 fortifications in one part of the moon's surface, closely 
 resembling the gigantic wall which the Chinese 
 have erected against the outside barbarians. But 
 these lunar ramparts could not stand against the 
 tide of optical improvements, and the next big 
 telescope showed them to be only basaltic formations, 
 though of such singular regularity that their first 
 observer might well be excused for attributing to 
 them an artificial origin. 
 
 The fact is, that no satisfactory traces of in- 
 habitants or of their works have ever been detected 
 upon our satellite. The smallest space that can be 
 distinctly seen with the best telescope at the surface 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 THE MOON. 6 1 
 
 of the moon is a circle of about a mile in diameter, 
 and therefore no ordinary creation of human hands 
 could be seen with sufficient clearness to place its 
 character beyond doubt. 
 
 An old philosopher suggested, half in earnest and 
 half in jest, a method of settling the point, which 
 certainly possessed at least the merit of ingenuity. 
 He argued that any race of rational beings must 
 have discovered the leading principles of geometry, 
 and would doubtless be aware that the square on the 
 hypothentise of a right-angled 'triangle is equal to the 
 sum of the squares on its sides. He therefore suggested 
 that a huge figure of the forty-seventh proposition 
 'of Euclid should be built on some great plain on 
 the earth's surface. If the moon were inhabited 
 by rational beings, they would be sure to recognize 
 it as an old friend, and would doubtless divine that 
 their terrestrial brethren were wishing to open com- 
 munication with them. They would accordingly 
 reply by the construction of some other important 
 mathematical diagram possibly, if their geometry 
 is in advance of ours, they might send us down a 
 method of squaring the circle. Thus we should at 
 once have settled the existence of lunar inhabitants, 
 and started a* method of communicating with them. 
 Probably our next move would have been to construct 
 
62 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 the figure of a man, to shew our new friends what 
 we were like, and to hint that we should be glad 
 to know something of them. 
 
 An improvement upon this suggestion was that 
 enormous bonfires should be simultaneously kindled 
 at points on the earth's surface forming the angles 
 .of a regular polygon. The symmetry of this phe- 
 nomenon would strike the people in the moon 
 with the idea of design, and suggest to them the 
 existence of terrestrial inhabitants ; and they would 
 doubtless make known to us in return their own 
 existence by some similar device. But neither of 
 these experiments was tried, and neither of them 
 is likely to be tried now ; for in more recent periods 
 some delicate investigations have thrown serious 
 objections in the way of the inhabitant theory, by 
 proving almost beyond a doubt the lack of water, 
 and 'of all but an extremely attenuated atmosphere, 
 r <Sn, at any rate, that side of the moon which is 
 turned towards us. These conclusions were resisted 
 &s long as possible by Sir David Brewster, and 
 -other enthusiastic patrons of the " Selenites," or 
 "men in the moon ;" but latterly the weight of 
 proof was becoming fairly too strong for them, and 
 they were being obliged to take refuge in the 
 somewhat unsatisfactory argument that after all the 
 
THE MOON. 63 
 
 Selenites might be so constituted that they could 
 get on without either water or air. 
 
 But about fifteen years ago a great deal of light 
 was thrown upon the subject from a new and 
 most unexpected quarter light that filled Sir David 
 Brewster and his friends with extreme exultation, 
 and carried confusion into the ranks of those who 
 had too hastily triumphed over them. It was dis- 
 covered, on the occasion of a certain eclipse, that 
 the moon was no less than three seconds behind 
 its time in touching the sun's disc ! 
 
 What connection a fact like this has with the 
 question of the moon's being inhabited or not it 
 is not at first easy 'to see, but we shall find that 
 it is really connected with it in the closest manner, 
 and that in fact it cl-ears out of the way all the 
 objections which have ever been started against 
 the moon's capability -of supporting animal life at 
 its surface. Of course it was not to be thought of 
 for a moment that so great a discrepancy between 
 fact and theory as that mentioned above should be 
 allowed to remain unexplained. An express train 
 on a journey of an hour's length would be granted 
 at least a couple of minutes' grace, but not even 
 three seconds could be allowed the moon after its 
 long circuit of nearly a million miles. All the 
 
64 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 astronomers, both of this country and of the con- 
 tinent, were soon engaged on the question ; and 
 as it was proved that the observed irregularity was 
 not due to the disturbing influence of any other 
 body, they concluded ere long that it must arise 
 from something anomalous in the figure or consti- 
 tution of the moon itself. After an elaborate analysis, 
 Professor Hansen, of Gotha, found that it could be 
 accounted for only by supposing that the side of 
 the moon nearest us was lighter than the other, 
 and hence that its centre of gravity or the point 
 to which any object on its surface would be attracted 
 was not at its centre of figure, but considerably 
 nearer the side of it which is always turned away 
 from us. He calculates the distance between these 
 centres to be nearly thirty-five miles, evidently a 
 most important eccentricity, when we remember that 
 the radius of the moon is little over a thousand 
 miles. It must have been produced by some great 
 internal convulsion after the moon assumed its solid 
 state ; but the forces required to produce this dis- 
 ruption are less than might at first sight appear 
 necessary, owing to the fact that the force of gravita- 
 tion, and the weight of matter, are six. times less 
 at the moon than with us. 
 
 From this peculiarity of the moon it follows that 
 
THE MOON. "6"5 
 
 any fluid substance at its surface, in its attempt to 
 get as near as possible to the centre of gravity, 
 must have flowed round to the other side, and taken 
 up a position of equilibrium there just as a drop 
 of water let fall upon a smooth globe of any kind 
 would trickle round it and hang suspended from 
 the lowest point. In fact, we can readily see that 
 the circumstances at the part of the moon nearest 
 to the earth must be the same as at the summit 
 of a mountain on our own globe more than two 
 hundred miles high ; and we know that at such 
 an elevation as that, the atmosphere would be so 
 rare as to be utterly indistinguishable. At the edges 
 of the moon's visible disc, the conditions would be 
 the same as at a considerable altitude on the sides 
 of such a mountain. And as we find from actual 
 observation that there really is a certain attenuated 
 atmosphere at those parts of the moon's surface, 
 we are led to the unquestionable conclusion that 
 on its other side, which would correspond to the 
 level surface of the earth, the atmosphere must- 
 attain a very considerable density, such as we have 
 every reason to suppose would render it perfectly 
 well fitted for the support of animal life. 
 
 The water difficulty is got over in a similar manner. 
 It is true that when the seas flowed away from the 
 
6 6 THE R OMANCE . OF A STR ONOMY. 
 
 side of the moon next us, large bodies of water 
 would be left 'behind in lakes and in the depths 
 of the ocean. But the withdrawal of the atmosphere 
 would lead to their immediate evaporation, and as 
 soon as they were converted into vapour, they too 
 would be free to gravitate round to the other side. 
 Indeed the visible disc of the moon presents every 
 appearance of having been, in former ages, to a 
 great extent under water. Its enormous level plains 
 surrounded by lofty mountains, its huge basins or 
 craters opening everywhere among the rocks, and 
 the vast ravines dividing its mountain-chains, are 
 altogether unlike our terrestrial scenery; but they 
 are exactly similar to what we should see if all our 
 oceans, lakes, and rivers were dried up, and their 
 beds laid bare. In fact, we can scarcely doubt that 
 there were formerly great bodies of water on this 
 side of the moon ; and if there were, it is equally 
 certain that they must now be upon the other side. 
 
 We see, then, that we might have predicted a priori 
 the absence of air and water from this side of the 
 moon : we see also that there must be air, that 
 there probably is water, and that there is no reason 
 why there should not be inhabitants upon the other 
 side. Astronomy thus clears away the difficulties 
 it had itself raised in the way of the habitability 
 
THE MOON. 67 
 
 of the moon ; further than this it cannot go ; no 
 telescopes can ever pierce through the solid body 
 of the moon and reveal the secrets of its further 
 surface. Science has done all that can be expected 
 at its hands when it has proved the complete pos- 
 sibility of a plurality of worlds, and the remainder 
 of the question :must be handed over to the inductive 
 philosopher and to the natural theologian, to be 
 judged of, as we have already said, by analogy, and 
 by a consideration of what we otherwise know of 
 the general economy of Providence. This part of the 
 argument falls without our sphere it belongs to the 
 Religion of astronomy, and not to its Romance. 
 The arguments, however, in favour of the plurality 
 of worlds are patent to everyone, and each of us 
 may arrive for himself at what conclusion he pleases 
 upon it. For our part, we cannot bring ourselves 
 to think that ^our own globe js the only inhabited 
 one in the universe. Besides the primd facie im- 
 probability that a small and insignificant planet should 
 be in reality the .most important body in creation,, 
 we think it is utterly impossible, on any common-sense 
 grounds whatever, to believe that the larger and more 
 distant orbs that spangle our firmament should :have 
 been created for our sakes at all. If their object were 
 to afford us light, this purpose might have been 
 
 F2 
 
68 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 far more effectually served by giving us another moon 
 not a thousandth part as large as any of them ; if 
 it were to beautify our celestial scenery, this end, 
 too, would have been equally attained by fixing some 
 small luminous bodies within the limits even of our 
 own atmosphere, instead of by placing these gigantic 
 spheres at such incalculable distances from us. Nor 
 is it probable that the Divine Architect should have 
 created them for his own contemplation and that 
 of the angelic hosts alone. It is contrary to the whole 
 analogy of nature, and repugnant to all the ideas 
 of the Divine wisdom and goodness which we have 
 been accustomed to entertain, to think that these 
 mighty orbs should have been framed for no other end 
 than this. In all the economy of Nature we find nothing 
 like waste of material or aimless expenditure of creative 
 power; and while we see every blade of grass around 
 us furnished with inhabitants and every drop of water 
 teeming with a world of its own, it seems impossible 
 to believe that those glorious stars should be in 
 reality nothing more than so many waste and gloomy 
 deserts. 
 
 Before we pass on to the next part of our 
 subject, let us glance for a moment at -a singular 
 train of speculation suggested by a fact mentioned 
 above that, namely, of the eccentric gravitation at 
 
THE MOON. 69 
 
 the moon. We have seen that any object at the 
 surface of that body will be attracted not towards 
 the centre, but to a point at a considerable distance 
 from it. This eccentricity, though enough to bring 
 all the lunar atmosphere and water round to the 
 heavier side, will yet probably be insufficient to cause 
 any serious practical inconvenience to the dwellers 
 upon its surface ; but if it were carried to a somewhat 
 greater extent, the results would be very singular. 
 The reason why the natural position of any object 
 at the surface of the earth is an upright and not 
 a slanting one, is that the centre of gravity being 
 exactly beneath our feet, the direction of its attracting 
 influence is of course perpendicular to the surface. 
 But if the centre of gravity were removed somewhat 
 to one side, its attraction would now be oblique, and 
 all formerly upright objects, such as men, buildings, 
 and trees, would be compelled to take up a slanting 
 position in order to the preservation of their equi- 
 librium, while any round and easily moveable body 
 would immediately bound off in the direction of the 
 new centre. Practically speaking, this state of affairs 
 would be much the same as if the level surface 
 were suddenly, and without any change on itself, 
 transformed into a steep hill-side ; for on such a 
 surface, though at right-angles to the sea-level, we 
 
70 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 yet occupy a sloping position relatively to the face 
 of the hill. But the eye would doubtless inform us 
 that we were upon a level surface ; and, in fact, 
 in order to arrive at an idea of the matter, we must 
 combine the appearance of a level plain with all the 
 properties of a steep incline. At the part of the 
 surface nearest the centre of gravity, this " slantin- 
 dicular" state of things, as the Yankees would call 
 it, would- be especially singular. Though the surface 
 all round would be evidently level, yet to whatever 
 side we started off the feeling would be the same 
 as if w-e began^ to ascend a steep hill ; and while at 
 the central spot a man would stand upright, when 
 he walked away in any direction his head would 
 seem* to go faster than his feet, till he took up his 
 natural inclined position. In fact, to use a slang 
 expression in a strictly literal sense, it would be a 
 regular case of "sloping off." 
 
THE SUN. 
 
 THE next of the heavenly bodies which claims 
 our attention is the great centre of the system itself. 
 When seen with the naked eye, the uniform and 
 dazzling brilliancy of the sun's disc prevents us from 
 getting any idea of the configuration of his surface, 
 as we can do in the case of the moon; and even 
 when viewed through a telescope, the overpowering 
 brightness of the greater part of it renders it im- 
 possible to distinguish anything of the surface from 
 which that intense illumination proceeds: just as 
 when the eye catches the glare from a fragment 
 of glass lying in the sunshine, it sees only the 
 light proceeding from it, while of the object itself 
 it sees nothing. But fortunately for astronomers, 
 the brightness of the sun's disc is not altogether 
 uniform, and by a contemplation of those remarkable 
 phenomena known as the solar spots, they have 
 been able to arrive at an idea, and no doubt an 
 approximately correct one, of the nature and con- 
 
72 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 stitution of this extraordinary luminary. The spots 
 on the sun, though varying much in size and shape, 
 yet in their general appearance partake very much 
 of the same character. They consist of a black 
 central spot or nucleus, surrounded by a well-defined 
 fringe less dark in colour, which is known as the 
 penumbra. Sometimes the nucleus is absent, more 
 rarely the penumbra; but the great majority of 
 solar spots show both. Round their edges there 
 are generally seen small patches of light of intense 
 brilliancy, surpassing even the ordinary radiance of 
 the sun's disc : these are called faculae. The spots 
 are by no means permanent, but undergo changes, 
 and often very rapid ones, in magnitude and position ; 
 while after a comparatively limited period they close 
 up and disappear altogether, to be succeeded by 
 new ones, and those again by others, in varying 
 and never-ending succession. 
 
 The discovery of the spots on the sun was as 
 stoutly resisted by the metaphysicians as those of 
 Jupiter's satellites and the earth's orbitual revolution. 
 They could not in this case, like the superiors of 
 the Inquisition, twist Scripture into contradiction 
 with facts ; but they took their ground on' what with 
 them was a still higher authority, the dictum of 
 Aristotle. The illustrious Stagyrite had proclaimed 
 
THE SUN. 73 
 
 the heavens incorruptible and immutable ; it was 
 beneath the dignity of the great orb of day to be 
 affected by any physical changes such as our paltry 
 planet is subject to. The Jesuit Scheiner, one of 
 the earliest observers of the solar spots, was prevented 
 by his provincial superior from publishing his results. 
 *'I have," says he, "read Aristotle's writings from 
 end to end many times, and I can assure you that 
 I have nowhere found in them anything similar to 
 what you mention. Go, my son, and tranquillize 
 yourself; be assured that what you take for spots 
 in the sun are the faults of your glasses or your 
 eyes." But other glasses and other eyes gave the 
 same results, and only the most bigoted of Peri- 
 paticians could deny that their master's infallibility 
 had received its death-blow. 
 
 The next discovery was a most important one. 
 It was found that any individual spot, if it did not 
 break up, moved across the sun's disc in a period 
 of about fifteen days ; that it then disappeared, and 
 after an equal interval presented itself again on the 
 opposite edge. This evidently pointed to one of 
 two conclusions. Either the spots were solid bodies 
 revolving round the sun, or else that luminary had 
 himself a motion about an axis and carried his spots 
 round with him. Scheiner and some other astronomers 
 
74 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 leant to the former hypothesis, but the latter was 
 soon received as the correct one, and numerous 
 theories were started as to what the nature of the 
 spots<really was. Galileo supposed them to be clouds. 
 La Hire imagined that they were huge cinders from 
 the burning body of the sun, rising to the surface 
 of the fiery ocean which surrounded it, floating for 
 a time upon it, and then being again engulfed 
 within it, to rise a second time in another place. 
 Derham and Wollaston referred them to volcanic 
 agency, supposing that they were great clouds of 
 smoke and scoriae ejected from craters in a state 
 of eruption, and that the faculae consisted of flames 
 and streams of molten lava. The least improbable 
 Hypothesis was that of Lalande, who believed them 
 to be high mountains rising above the general solid 
 surface of the sun, and sometimes covered, sometimes 
 laid bare, as the tides and waves of the solar sea 
 surged backwards and forwards around them. 
 
 But about a hundred years ago Dr. Wilson, of 
 Glasgow, established, from simple optical considera- 
 tions, the fact that the spots are depressions below 
 the general luminous surface, and not eminences 
 above it. It also came to be recognized that the 
 rapidity of their fluctuations, and the gigantic scale 
 on which they take place, are incompatible with 
 
THE SUN. 75 
 
 anything but a gaseous state of existence. Ac- 
 cordingly the old idea of a luminous liquid ocean 
 was discarded ; and the following theory, propounded 
 by Sir William Herschel, is now, in its main points, 
 almost universally received. He supposes that the 
 sun has two separate atmospherical strata, or rather 1 
 gaseous envelopes of cloud-like consistency, both 
 several thousand miles in thickness ; the outer one 
 the photosphere, or source of the solar light and. 
 heat being of some extraordinarily phosphorescent 
 character, while the inner one is non-luminous 
 in itself, but possessed of a highly reflective surface. 
 Upon this theory the spots are caused by atmo- 
 spherical agitations on a most enormous scale. A 
 huge chasm, sometimes not less than; fifty thousand 
 miles in diameter, opens in the outer stratum, while 
 a corresponding rift of lesser size in the inner ose 
 reveals the dark body of the sun itself behind. This 
 accordingly constitutes the black nucleus of the spot, 
 while the penumbra is caused by the light from the^ 
 luminous atmosphere being reflected back to the: 
 eye from the surface of the inner one. If, as not 
 infrequently happens, the rift in the photosphere 
 does not extend through the inner envelope, the 
 spot will be all penumbra without a nucleus. And 
 when we have the rarer occurrence of the inner 
 
7 6 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 opening exceeding the outer in size, the whole spot 
 will be uniformly black. The phenomenon of the 
 faculae, which Dr. Wilson showed to be great 
 prominences or waves on the photosphere, is due 
 to the piling up of the luminous matter thrown out 
 from these gigantic chasms. 
 
 Not to enter further into details, which would be 
 familiar to scientific readers and irksome to others, 
 we may just say that this theory accounts in the 
 most satisfactory manner not only for all the changing 
 phenomena of the spots, but for other remarkable 
 peculiarities which have been detected upon the sun's 
 disc. Sir John Herschel has completed his illustrious 
 father's theory by suggesting the probable physical 
 cause of these convulsions in the solar atmosphere. 
 He supposes them to be analogous to those terrible 
 whirlwinds or rotatory storms which form so appalling 
 a feature in the meteorology of our own tropical 
 regions. Into this theory also it is impossible to 
 enter in detail ; but the whirlpool-like appearance 
 of the spots, the situation of them all within a small 
 distance from the sun's equator, their apparent rota- 
 tion about an axis of their own, and the direction 
 in which they move along the solar disc, all bear 
 out Sir John Herschel's explanation in the fullest 
 and most satisfactory manner. A primd facie objection 
 
THE SUN. 77 
 
 to his theory is that the terrestrial whirlwinds are 
 caused by the great differences of temperature between 
 the equatorial and other regions of the earth's 
 surface, and that as the sun is the source of his 
 own heat, there is no reason why such differences 
 should exist in his case. But Herschel meets this 
 objection by an ingenious answer. The sun has an 
 ordinary non-luminous atmosphere of great extent, 
 exterior to the photosphere ; and his rotation on his 
 axis will cause this atmosphere to bulge out con- 
 siderably round the equator. And this greater depth 
 of atmosphere, by retarding radiation from the equa- 
 torial regions, will give rise to the differences of 
 temperature which the theory assumes. 
 
 Our knowledge of the physical constitution of the 
 sun has been greatly increased within the last few 
 years by the wonderful revelations of that most 
 powerful engine of physical research, the spectro- 
 scope. A careful analysis of the solar spectrum 
 formed by a prism, and a comparison of it with 
 the spectra of terrestrial elements in a state of 
 incandescence, reveal to us the presence in the solar 
 atmosphere of many familiar substances, such as 
 hydrogen, and the vapours of iron, sodium, and 
 other metals. Line for line the solar spectrum 
 agrees with the known peculiarities of elements which 
 
78 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 form constituents of our own globe, and we have 
 the interesting fact established that the gorgeous 
 parent of our system is, so to speak, bone of our 
 bone and flesh of our flesh. The same powerful 
 analysis, when extended to the stars, discloses similar 
 results; and we are led to the inference that our 
 own tiny globe, though such an insignificant fraction 
 of the universe, contains, represented within its narrow 
 bounds, all the materials of which that gorgeous 
 system is built up. Unfortunately the spectroscope 
 can tell us nothing of our own satellite, though it is 
 so much the nearest and most distinctly visible of 
 all the orbs of heaven. Moon-light is simply re- 
 flected sun-light ; and hence its spectrum is, as we 
 should expect, but a faint reproduction of the more 
 brilliant solar one. 
 
 The spectroscope has lately been applied success- 
 fully to those singularly beautiful phenomena which 
 accompany a total solar eclipse, and .which are 
 generally known as the rose-coloured protuberances. 
 As soon as the sun's light is wholly cut off by the 
 moon, cloud-like prominences, of a bright roseate 
 hue, are seen projecting from its surface beyond 
 the moon's edge ; and occasionally traces of a layer 
 of the same material are seen at their bases, which 
 lead us to suppose that the whole sun is encompassed 
 
THE SUN. 79 
 
 by a ring of this matter. Whether it is a distinct 
 solar envelope, or only a part of the photosphere, 
 is at present uncertain ; but pending the settling of 
 the doubt, it has received the specific name of the 
 chromosphere. The spectroscope shows it to consist 
 of incandescent gas, of which hydrogen is the chief 
 constituent ; and the rose-coloured protuberances are 
 huge masses of this flaming substance, which have 
 been hurled up into the solar atmosphere to a height, 
 sometimes, of fifty or a hundred thousand miles above 
 their ordinary bed. 
 
 Another interesting phenomenon which appears 
 at the time of a total eclipse is the solar corona, 
 a great halo of light surrounding the darkened sun 
 and stretching far out into space. This halo was 
 ^at first supposed, naturally enough, to be the solar 
 atmosphere, lighted up by the sun's rays streaming 
 through it and imparting to it a portion of his own 
 effulgence. But here again the spectroscope comes 
 to our aid. It tells us the degree of pressure to 
 which the incandescent hydrogen composing the rose- 
 coloured protuberances is subjected, and shows the 
 impossibility of their being burdened by such an 
 enormous atmosphere as the whole corona would 
 represent. The progress of modern science has left 
 little doubt as to its real nature. We have learnt 
 
8o THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 that the whole solar system is traversed by numberless 
 tiny planetoids, some moving singly, others in small 
 clusters, and others in enormous groups, containing 
 countless myriads of these little units. These aerolites 
 pursue their proper paths about the sun as truly as 
 the largest bodies of the system, save when they get 
 entangled in the atmosphere of our own or any of 
 the other planets. When this is the case, the sudden 
 checking of their enormous velocities by the resistance 
 of the air reduces them instantly to a state of 
 incandescence, and we see them flashing across 
 our firmament as shooting stars, the next moment 
 to be dissipated into vapour. The periodical meteoric 
 showers of August and November are caused by our 
 orbit carrying us, at those periods of the year, right 
 through great clusters of these aerolites. It has been 
 estimated that not less than a hundred thousand 
 million of them are annually caught by our atmosphere ; 
 and when we consider the comparative smallness of 
 the ring which we traverse, we can see that the 
 absolute number of the meteorolites belonging to our 
 system must be something incomparably exceeding 
 the highest flights of human calculation. In the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the sun, where his 
 attraction exercises the most direct and potent in- 
 fluence, they will be found in special abundance ; 
 
THE SUN. 8 1 
 
 and it is to the fact of their existence that we must 
 look for an explanation of the corona, and perhaps 
 of yet greater and more interesting mysteries of our 
 system. The corona is simply the sun-light reflected 
 from their surfaces, as it is from the discs of the 
 moon and planets. For a vast distance round the 
 sun the whole firmament is powdered with them as 
 thick as hailstones, and the reflection from them 
 produces a continuous luminous glow, lost indeed 
 in the overpowering brightness of ordinary sun-light, 
 but shining out with exquisite lustre when his direct 
 beams are cut off from us.* 
 
 These meteorolites have played a most prominent 
 part in the scientific speculations of the last twenty 
 or thirty years. The meteoric theory of the sun's 
 heat was first propounded by Dr. Mayer, a German 
 physician of great scientific attainments, and was 
 warmly espoused and worked out by Sir William 
 Thomson. There can be no doubt that the sun is 
 constantly receiving great accessions of heat from the 
 meteoric fragments which compose his corona. Count- 
 less myriads of them rain into his atmosphere every 
 instant, with a force sufficient to convert their solid 
 
 * It appears probable that it is also, under favourable circum- 
 stances, seen after sunset in the form of the zodiacal light. 
 
 G 
 
82 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 mass into a puff of vapour ; and it was for some time 
 thought that the heat derived from these terrific 
 impacts might keep the solar envelope ever ablaze 
 with undiminished intensity. No grander or more 
 striking theory has ever been propounded in the 
 history of astronomy. That the mighty centre of our 
 system should recruit his marvellous expenditure of 
 energy from the tiniest of his satellites ; that these 
 fragments, each so insignificant in itself, should col- 
 lectively supply light and heat and life to the great 
 Sun himself, and through him to all his attendant 
 orbs ; that it should be through their agency that 
 the Creator of the universe has ordained that all His 
 creatures should live and move and have their being, 
 is one of the most striking conceptions that can 
 possibly be imagined. But more recent observations 
 have led Sir William Thomson to a modification of 
 his theory. He has calculated that if the meteoric 
 shower were sufficiently heavy to make up for the 
 sun's whole expenditure of heat, the matter of the 
 corona must be so dense as seriously to perturb the 
 orbits of certain comets which pass very close to his 
 surface, a result which is found not to be the case. 
 But the meteoric theory is only thrown' back a step. 
 If the sun's mass were originally formed, as is not 
 at all improbable, by the agglomeration of these 
 
THE SUN. 83 
 
 particles, Sir William Thomson has calculated that 
 the heat generated by their thus falling together 
 would be sufficient to account for a supply of 
 twenty million years of solar heat at the present 
 rate of emission. And thus though the meteors 
 are not sufficient to maintain the energy of our 
 system unimpaired, they may yet have been the 
 original store-house from which all that energy was 
 derived. 
 
 The fact, now placed beyond doubt, that the sun's 
 heat is gradually wasting away, naturally leads us 
 to cast a glance into the future. Far, very far, 
 distant the time must be ;. long before it comes, in 
 all probability, the firmament will have been rolled 
 together as a scroll, and the old heavens and the 
 old earth will have passed away. But if the economy 
 of our system be spared long enough, the day must 
 come when the sun with age has become wan ; when 
 the matter of the corona has been all drawn in and 
 used up without avail ; when the lavish luxuriance 
 with which he has showered abroad his light and 
 heat has finally exhausted all his stores. He has 
 still power, aided by the resisting medium,* to drag 
 his satellites one by one down upon his surface \ 
 
 * See the Chapter on Laplace's Nebular Hypothesis. 
 
 G 2. 
 
84 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 and the shock of each successive impact will, for a 
 brief period, give him a fresh tenure of life. When 
 the earth crashes into the sun,* it will supply him 
 with a store of heat for nearly a century, while 
 Jupiter's larger mass will extend the period by thirty 
 thousand years. But when the last of the planets is 
 swallowed up, the sun's energies will rapidly die out, 
 and a deep and deathly gloom gather around nature's 
 grave. Looking into the ages of a future eternity, 
 we can see nothing but a cold and burnt-out mass 
 remaining of that glorious orb, which went forth in 
 the morning of time, joyful as a bridegroom from 
 his chamber, and rejoicing as a strong man to run 
 a race.f 
 
 * In the chapter above referred to we have depicted the earth 
 as falling into the sun, still an intensely heated body. But it is 
 scarcely possible to say whether such a catastrophe, should it ever 
 occur, would not find the sun already a comparatively cold mass. 
 
 f The scope of these pages does not admit of our entering 
 at greater length into the interesting and important subject of 
 recent solar research. Upon this point our readers must of course 
 refer to larger and more systematic works, or to the original papers 
 scattered over various scientific periodicals. A clear and interesting 
 discussion of solar heat will be found at the close of Professor 
 Tyndall's work on Heat ; while the invaluable spectroscopic reve- 
 lations of Kirchoff, Lockyer, Huggins, and others, which have 
 added so vastly to our knowledge, not only of the sun but of other 
 astronomical bodies, will be found well described in Roscoe's 
 Spectrum Analysis and Proctor's work on the Sun. 
 
THE COMETS. 
 
 IN a sort of " debateable territory " between our 
 own solar system and the infinite stellar universe 
 around, we come upon those erratic and anomalous 
 bodies the comets ; some of which have accidentally 
 become permanent attendants upon our sun ; others 
 have only paid it a single casual visit in the course 
 of their wanderings through space, and are not likely 
 again to come within the range of its attracting 
 influence ; while countless millions are doubtless scat- 
 tered throughout the realms of the infinite, whose 
 existence will never be revealed to human ken at 
 all. The extraordinary appearance and anomalous 
 character of these meteors, the apparent irregularity 
 of their movements, the suddenness with which they 
 blaze into the firmament, the gigantic trains of light 
 which they throw out as they near the sun, the 
 frightful velocity with which they whirl round that 
 body, and the sudden diminution of their glory as 
 they recede from it, till they seem to be extinguished 
 
8 6 THE R OMANCE OF ASTR ONOMY. 
 
 in the primaeval darkness from which they emerged, 
 all these circumstances, combined with the mystery 
 in which their real nature is shrouded, have caused 
 these knights-errant of astronomy to be regarded at 
 all times with the deepest interest, generally not 
 unmixed with superstitious dread. In fact, for ages 
 they were hailed by the universal consent of all 
 classes of the community in the light of portents. 
 One was believed to have portended the birth 
 of Mithridates, another the assassination of Julius 
 Caesar, a third the great plague of 1310. One of 
 the most remarkable on record made its appearance 
 at the time of the Saracenic invasion of Christendom. 
 As the hosts of the Crescent swept on in their irre- 
 sistible course, the comet waxed brighter and brighter, 
 till at last, as the Caliph Mahmoud laid siege to 
 Constantinople, it filled half the sky with its splen- 
 dour, and hung night after night over the doomed 
 city in the guise of a blazing scimetar. The Pope 
 scarcely knew at first whether to pray to, or to 
 curse it, but adopting the latter course as more 
 congenial to a true Catholic spirit, he fulminated 
 the thunders of the church against it, and in the 
 same bull excommunicated both Moslems and comet. 
 Though the superstitious terrors which used to 
 greet the appearance of a comet have now for the 
 
THE COMETS. 87 
 
 most part passed away, yet the mystery which in- 
 volved them, and which in a great measure gave 
 rise to those terrors, has by no means been altogether 
 dispelled ; for our ideas of the constituent matter 
 of their several parts can scarcely be regarded as 
 more than conjectural. Most of the comets which 
 are visible to the naked eye consist of two separate 
 and well-defined parts a round nucleus or head, 
 and a long filmy train of light, the 'coma' or 'hair,' 
 from which comets take their name, and which is 
 known in popular parlance as the tail, though this 
 appellation is not altogether a correct one, for, unlike 
 the sheep in the nursery rhyme, comets do not always 
 " carry their tails behind them," but quite as often 
 in front of them. In former times, indeed, the hairy 
 appendage, when worn in front, was called a beard ; 
 but the distinction has now ceased to be drawn, 
 and front-hair and back-hair alike go by the name 
 of tail. The nucleus, or apparently denser portion 
 of the comet, diminishes considerably in size when 
 near the sun ; while the tail, on the other hand, 
 undergoes a most remarkable augmentation, its length 
 sometimes increasing no less than a million of miles 
 in a single hour. 
 
 If, as was universally assumed until within the 
 last few years, the tail of a comet be composed of 
 
88 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 continuous matter, it must unquestionably consist of 
 some extremely rare gaseous substance, incalculably 
 lighter than our own atmosphere. This is inferred 
 from their inappreciably small weight. Though a 
 comet is often many million times larger than the 
 sun, its mass is yet so insignificant that the most 
 delicate tests fail to detect it at all. Many of us 
 must remember also how in the last great comet, 
 that of 1858, the star Arcturus shone with un- 
 diminished brilliancy through the thickest part of 
 the tail. The lightest cloud wreath would have con- 
 cealed it altogether, and yet the filmy texture of 
 the comet, though millions of miles in depth, could 
 hardly dim its lustre. The enormous increase in 
 the size of a comet's tail when near the sun is 
 simply explained, on the gaseous hypothesis, by 
 attributing it to expansion by heat. The great 
 rarity of its mass would render it extremely sensi- 
 tive to variations of temperature, and account readily 
 enough for its. rapid expansion when near the sun, 
 and contraction when receding from it. The nucleus 
 would consist of a material similar to, though some- 
 what denser than, the tail ; and its shrinking at 
 perihelion would probably be due to the conversion 
 of its outer parts into invisible vapour by the action 
 of the solar rays. 
 
THE COMETS. 89 
 
 But a novel and most ingenious theory, entirely 
 revolutionizing all our former ideas about comets, 
 has been very recently started, and has met with 
 much acceptance among astronomers. When the 
 showers of falling stars in August and November 
 had been discovered to be caused by the passage 
 of the earth through great clusters of meteoric 
 stones, the paths of those clusters about the sun 
 were investigated, and were discovered to be the 
 same as the orbits of two known periodic comets. 
 This extraordinary coincidence appeared too remark- 
 able to be the work of chance, and the bold idea 
 was conceived that these phenomena, apparently 
 so different, might in reality be identical. And 
 on examination, the great d priori improbabilities 
 of the hypothesis are seen to disappear in the 
 most wonderful manner, and it is found to afford 
 not only a possible, but a highly probable, theory 
 of the nature and constitution of the cometary 
 bodies. Every comet is supposed to consist of a 
 vast assemblage of distinct solid masses stones, 
 rocks, and lumps of metal flying together through 
 space, and rendered visible, in favourable positions, 
 by the sunlight reflected from them. The smallness 
 of their aggregate mass, and the fact of their not 
 eclipsing any heavenly bodies which pass behind 
 
90 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 them, are as well accounted for by this supposed 
 discontinuity of their material as by assuming them 
 to be gaseous. So are the sudden changes in shape 
 and size of the tail. It will not be visible except 
 when the comet is in such a position as to turn 
 a sort of flat edge towards us, so that we can look 
 at once through a great depth of its mass. For 
 the reflection from each elementary fragment will be 
 so slight, that it will be only when an enormous 
 number are ranged along the same line of vision 
 that their aggregate light will be sufficient to affect the 
 eye. To borrow a felicitous illustration from Professor 
 Tait, we may see the same thing represented in 
 miniature by the flight of a flock of sea-birds. Great 
 numbers of them often fly about, approximately in 
 one plane ; and if they are at such a distance as 
 not to be discernible singly, they will be equally 
 invisible when their plane has its face turned towards 
 us. But when a sudden sweep brings them into the 
 plane of our vision, so that we get a number of 
 them in one line, they start into sight at once, as 
 a black streak against the face of the sky. 
 
 The nucleus is believed, from recent spectroscopic 
 observations, to consist wholly or mainly of incan- 
 descent gas. But the explanation of this necessitates 
 no addition to the meteorolite theory. In the head 
 
THE COMETS. 9 1 
 
 of a comet, where its component fragments are 
 crowded most closely together, there must be very 
 frequent and violent collisions between them ; and 
 the heat generated by these impacts will convert 
 them into vapour, just as we know to be the case 
 when they strike our own atmosphere. Unfortunately 
 no large and bright comet, which could be observed 
 in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, has appeared 
 since the invention of the spectroscope. We may 
 hope that the next one which visits our skies will 
 settle the vexed question of the constitution of the 
 tail. The polariscope tells us that it shines by re- 
 flected sunlight, but whether partially or wholly it 
 is unable to decide. If there be any self-luminosity, 
 the spectroscope will reveal it at once, and will show 
 also whether it emanates from solid or gaseous matter. 
 And even if the light is found to be all sunlight, 
 there is reason to hope that if the cometary matter 
 be gaseous it will modify the spectrum sufficiently 
 to make us aware of that fact. On the other hand, if 
 the tail consist only of solid particles, the spectrum will 
 be purely and simply an enfeebled solar one, with all 
 its lines absolutely unmodified. Meanwhile the scale 
 of evidence seems to incline in favour of the newer 
 theory. Professor Tait maintains that certain facts 
 which have never been satisfactorily explained on 
 
92 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 the old hypothesis can be successfully grappled with 
 by the new one. 
 
 The paths pursued by the comets are very various 
 indeed. Many of them, like the planets, move in 
 ellipses round the sun, some traversing their orbits 
 in three or four years, while others roam so far 
 away that many centuries elapse before they again re- 
 visit our neighbourhood. A great number, however, 
 only circle once round the sun, and never return to 
 it again. The orbits into which, in accordance with 
 the law of gravitation, they are bent, are so incon- 
 ceivably long, that before they can reach the farther 
 parts of them they come within the attracting influence 
 of other stars, and are drawn off to pursue new 
 orbits around new centres ; and in this way a comet 
 may wander through the universe for countless ages, 
 seeking rest and finding none, till at last some star 
 seizes it with a firmer grasp than the rest, compels 
 it into a smaller orbit, and thus secures it as a 
 perpetual attendant upon itself. 
 
 The question has often been asked, whether there 
 is any likelihood of one of these nomadic bodies 
 coming into collision with our own earth, and if this 
 event did take place, what its effect would be upon 
 us. On the meteoric theory the answer to this 
 question is a startling one. The earth does come 
 
THE COMETS. 93 
 
 into collision with a comet regularly twice every 
 year, and the result is simply a shower of shooting 
 stars, more or less numerous and brilliant, according 
 to the density of the portion of the tail which we 
 encounter. But we must by no means conclude that 
 every such collision would be attended by equally 
 harmless consequences. Fortunately the comets which 
 we encounter are composed of small and widely- 
 scattered fragments, but many will probably consist 
 of far larger masses more densely crowded together. 
 Numbers of meteoric stones are too large to be 
 converted into vapour during their passage through 
 our atmosphere, and reach the ground in a solid, 
 but red-hot, state. Several of these are on record 
 which weighed more than a hundred pounds, and 
 one, which fell in Spain in 1810, measured thirty 
 inches in length and weighed three-quarters of a ton. 
 An encounter with a comet composed of such masses 
 as this would be a frightful ordeal for the earth to 
 pass through. Its whole surface would be bom- 
 barded for some minutes or hours with great lumps 
 of red-hot rock, which would burn and destroy 
 everything upon which they fell. The only chance 
 of the human race surviving such a catastrophe 
 would lie in the fact that astronomers would pro- 
 bably foresee its advent, and warn everyone to take 
 
94 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 refuge in cellars or under bomb-proof casements, 
 from which they would emerge, after the storm was 
 over, to find all around them a mass of blazing ruins. 
 
 Nor is even this the worst form which a collision 
 with one of these dangerous bodies might take. An 
 encounter with the head of a comet would be a 
 far more destructive event than a passage through 
 its tail. And such an event, though extremely 
 improbable, is yet a perfectly possible occurrence. 
 Arago estimated the chances against any particular 
 cometary nucleus striking the earth to be about 
 three hundred millions to one ; but still these chances, 
 great as they are, must be by no means confounded 
 with certainty ; and indeed we find that on more 
 than one occasion such a collision has very nearly 
 happened. The nucleus of the comet of 1832, for 
 instance, would have struck the earth if it had only 
 been a month sooner. The consequences of such 
 a catastrophe are almost too horrible to be contem- 
 plated. If, as is now generally believed, the nucleus 
 consists of incandescent gas, we should find ourselves 
 plunged in an instant into a mass of blazing vapour, 
 which would scorch every trace of life off the earth's 
 surface, and, not impossibly, dissipate its solid mass 
 in smoke. If, on the other hand, as several astrono- 
 mers of note have believed, certain cometary nuclei 
 
THE COMETS. 95 
 
 are composed of one solid mass, the results of a 
 collision would be little less disastrous. Laplace 
 describes them thus : " It is easy to represent the 
 effects of the shock produced by the earth's en- 
 countering a comet. The axis and the motion of 
 rotation changed ; the waters abandoning their former 
 position to precipitate themselves towards the new 
 equator ; a great part of men and animals whelmed 
 in a universal deluge, or destroyed by the violent 
 shock imparted to the terrestrial globe ; entire species 
 annihilated ; all the monuments of human industry 
 overthrown such are the disasters which a shock 
 of a comet would necessarily produce." And even if, 
 returning to the old hypothesis, we suppose ourselves 
 coming into contact with a purely gaseous comet, 
 though no mechanical shock of the above nature 
 would be experienced, the chemical consequences 
 might yet be equally fatal. Whatever the cometary 
 material may be, it is not likely that it will be the 
 same as that which composes our own atmospheric 
 air ; and, as our lungs are not adapted for the inhala- 
 tion of any other kind of gas, the probable effect 
 of the intermingling of our atmosphere with the sub- 
 stance of a comet would be at once to render the 
 former utterly unfitted for the support of animal life. 
 
LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 
 
 WE have now completed our survey of the great 
 system of which we ourselves form a part. Sun, 
 planets, satellites, and comets all the elements of 
 the solar system have successively passed before us ; 
 and the only heavenly orbs we have left to consider 
 are the more distant stellar ones, which are so far 
 removed from our own immediate ken. But before 
 we proceed to visit those distant realms, we must 
 glance for a moment at Laplace's great theory of 
 the origin of our system, one of the grandest and 
 most magnificent speculations which it has ever 
 entered into the heart of man to conceive. It is true 
 that Newton's discovery of the law of gravitation 
 furnished us with a key to much that was dark and 
 inexplicable before ; it reduced the motions of the 
 planets to harmonious symmetry, and replaced the 
 elaborate eccentrics, cycles, and epicycles of the 
 ancients by simpler and more familiar curves. That 
 law, as all our readers are aware, explains why the 
 
LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 97 
 
 planets move in ellipses, and accounts for their dif- 
 ferent periods and ever-varying velocities ; but there 
 are questions which it does not answer such as 
 why all those elliptical orbits are so nearly circular, 
 and why the planets and satellites all revolve round 
 their primaries and rotate on their axes in the same 
 direction, namely, from west to east. On these 
 points Newton's law throws no light; the solar 
 system would be equally possible, and, w r ith certain 
 limitations, equally stable, and equally fitted for the 
 support of life if this remarkable uniformity did 
 not exist. To what then are we to attribute it ? 
 Is it likely to have been a direct and arbitrary 
 exercise of the Creative will, or a less direct result 
 of that power, working by riatufal means from some 
 prior form of existence ? Were the sun and planets 
 called suddenly into being in their present forms 
 and with their present motions, or were they de- 
 veloped by slow and gradual steps from some simpler 
 original creation ? Science tells us that both hypo- 
 theses would accord sufficiently well with known 
 present facts ; reverential thought pronounces neither 
 of them inconsistent with the loftiest views of the 
 Divine power and wisdom. But the latter is certainly 
 the more interesting and attractive to us, and, we 
 may perhaps add, apparently the more consonant 
 
98 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 with what we see of the Almighty's working in the 
 lesser world around us. We see the perfect man 
 developed from a helpless babe ; we see the loftiest 
 tree developed from a tiny bud ; and there is nothing 
 incongruous in supposing that our glorious system 
 itself may have sprung from some vast but equally 
 simple germ. This is a subject which must be 
 handled with humility and diffidence ; for we are 
 leaving the regions of mathematics and entering 
 upon those of uncertain speculation; we are treading 
 on sacred ground in seeking to enter into the counsels 
 of the Great Architect of the Universe. We are 
 endeavouring to go deeper than the laws of nature 
 will take us ; we are seeking for a key to the mysteries 
 of our system in the probable circumstances of its 
 creation. For this it is that the bold and lofty 
 speculation of Laplace seeks to do ; it reaches back 
 into the unfathomable ages of a past eternity, and 
 takes its stand beside the Almighty Author of all 
 things at the first exercise of his creative fiat, when 
 the foundations of the earth and the heavens were 
 laid, when the morning-stars sang together, and all 
 the sons of God shouted for joy. 
 
 The Nebular Hypothesis is briefly and poetically 
 summed up as follows by the Poet Laureate in " The 
 Princess :" 
 
LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 99 
 
 " This world was once a fluid haze of light, 
 Till toward the centre set the starry tides, 
 And eddied into suns, that wheeling cast 
 The planets." 
 
 Laplace supposes --that the first great act of creation 
 possibly the only one which strictly merits the name, 
 the only one in which things that are seen were 
 made not of things that do appear was the calling 
 into existence everywhere throughout the infinite 
 regions of space a huge, chaotic, and nebulous mass 
 of matter, such as was supposed to form the substance 
 of the cometary bodies.* This is the only hypo- 
 thetical step in the whole argument, all the rest 
 following from it, as we shall see, by a course of 
 the most rigid deduction. And against this hypo- 
 thesis we think no reasonable objection can be 
 urged. It accords with the language of Scripture 
 "the earth was without form and void, and darkness 
 was upon the face of the deep." It harmonizes 
 with the other sciences ; the geologist, in particular, 
 
 * We give in the text Laplace's own theory unaltered. Those 
 who accept the modern hypothesis of the nature of comets would 
 have to replace his " fluid haze of light" by a vast cloud of meteoric 
 stones. But this supposition would not invalidate the theory ; it 
 would accord equally well with the rest of Laplace's speculation ; 
 and every step in the after development would be the same in 
 either case. 
 
 H 2 
 
1 00 THE R OMANCE OF ASTR ONOMY. 
 
 having often to suppose the existence at a former 
 period of a state of things springing from some 
 such origin as this. Nor is it only to the man of 
 science that the idea commends itself; it is a 
 favourite theme with the poets. We find it in the 
 pages of Hesiod, of Ovid, and of Dante. Milton 
 gives it expression thus : 
 
 " A hoary deep, a dark 
 Illimitable ocean, without bound, 
 
 Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, 
 And time, and place, are lost; where eldest Night 
 And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold 
 ^Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise 
 Of endless wars, and by confusion stand. 
 
 A wild abyss, 
 
 The -womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave, 
 Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire. 
 But all these in their pregnant causes mixed 
 
 Confusedly Chaos umpire sits, 
 
 And by decision more embroils the fray 
 
 By which he reigns : next him, high arbiter, 
 
 Chance governs all." 
 
 But the Spirit of God moves upon the face of 
 the waters, and the first elements of order begin to 
 emerge from primeval chaos. 
 
 As all the particles of this nebulous mass would 
 exert a mutual attracting influence upon each other, 
 it follows, in accordance with the law of- gravitation, 
 that they would begin to settle down and condense 
 gradually around certain centres, the matter at which, 
 
LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 101 
 
 from the intestinal working's of the whole, had become 
 denser than the general mass around. And each 
 of the nuclei thus formed contains the embryo of 
 a separate sun ; in each void chaotic mass the eye 
 of the philosopher can already detect the germ not 
 only of the great central orb, but of all its gorgeous 
 band of attendants planets and asteroids, satellites 
 and rings. Let us follow the history of one of 
 these nebulae say the parent of our own system 
 and trace the steps of its gradual elimination from 
 chaos and conversion into the glorious cosmos which 
 we now behold it. 
 
 The particles of this mass will all, of course, 
 gravitate towards the centre, and a spherical form 
 will thus be assumed by the whole body ; but as the 
 particles will approach the centre from opposite sides 
 and with different velocities, a motion of rotation 
 round an axis will necessarily be generated slow at 
 first, but rapidly increasing in velocity. As the ball 
 condenses more and more, and shrinks into smaller 
 bulk, it will, by a familiar mechanical law, spin round 
 faster and faster ; till at length the centrifugal force 
 at the equatorial parts will overbalance the attraction 
 of gravity, and a ring of surface-matter will dstach 
 itself from the general mass, and remain poised in 
 mid-air behind as the ball within shrinks further and 
 
I o 2 THE R OMANCE OF A STR ONOMY. 
 
 further away from it. The same process will be 
 repeated over and over again, until at last the central 
 mass becomes sufficiently solidified to resist any further 
 separation of its parts. Now if we look at the case 
 of any of these rings, we shall find that the form 
 it eventually assumes will be different in different cases. 
 If its material, as it is detached from the central mass, 
 should happen to be of extremely uniform consistency 
 throughout, and to be poised with extreme accuracy 
 about its centre, it might possibly cool down and 
 solidify in the ring-shape ;* but the chances against 
 this are so great that we should expect it to be a 
 very rare phenomenon indeed. If the density of the 
 ring were at all irregular, it would inevitably split 
 up into fragments, as the cohesion of its parts 
 would be very slight. The largest of these fragments 
 would, by its superior attraction, assume tl^e others 
 
 * This part of I;aplace's theory must be somewhat modified 
 to render it consonant, with the discoveries of modern science. 
 It has been shown that a ring, such as Saturn's, could not possibly 
 exist in a solid state, b.nt that, it must be composed of separate 
 fragments, or meteorolites, such, as constitute the matter of the 
 solar corona, and probably of the cojaaets. But the theory readily 
 adapts itself to the explanation of such a phenomenon. The ring 
 would be detached from its primary in a viscous state; and as it 
 would be impossible for it to solidify as a whole, it would break 
 up into small fragments which would solidify separately and move 
 in nearly coincident orbits, thus preserving the general form of 
 a ring, although not one composed of continuous matter. 
 
LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 103 
 
 into its mass, and the whole would solidify into one 
 globe of considerable size, except in the rare case 
 of all the fragments happening to be about the 
 same magnitude, when they would continue separate, 
 and revolving round their primary in very nearly 
 coincident orbits. Of course the planets, as they 
 were thrown off from the sun, would proceed, in 
 turn, to develope satellites of their own in the same 
 manner and with the same possible varieties. 
 
 Now all of these results we find actually occurring 
 in nature. The perfect rings we have in the case 
 of Saturn ; the groups of small planets near together 
 are represented by the asteroids ; while in every other 
 case we meet with the arrangement which we have 
 seen would be the most likely to occur a large 
 satellite revolving round its primary, and situated 
 at a considerable distance from any of the others. 
 All the peculiarities of planetary motion, too, are 
 accounted for by this theory. The planes in which 
 the planets move are nearly coincident with the plane 
 of the sun's equator, because the matter of which 
 they are composed is thrown off from the tropical 
 parts of that body. Their orbits are nearly circular, 
 because such would be the motion of their particles 
 while yet in the ring condition. And the direction 
 in which they revolve is the same as that in which 
 
1.0,4- THE ROMANCE OF ASTROXOMY. 
 
 the sun. turns on its axis, because they would acquire 
 an impulse in that direction before they parted 
 company with it,* 
 
 The nature and origin of the comets are also easily 
 explained on this hypothesis. When the original 
 nebulous material of the universe began to gravitate 
 towards its several centres, large masses of it seem 
 to have been in many cases left behind, too evenly 
 balanced between the different attracting influences 
 to yield to any one of them. But as their position 
 would be one of unstable equilibrium, in the course 
 of time the attraction of some one or other of the 
 centres would come to predominate, and the filmy 
 and uncondensed mass would gradually yield to its 
 sway, and descend towards the controlling orb. 
 Another very mysterious point which the nebular 
 hypothesis accounts for, is the existence of a resisting 
 medium around the sun, anji extending to a con- 
 siderable distance from it. The existence of such 
 a medium is now undoubted. Encke's comet, which 
 
 * The theory also accounts for the fact of the planets rotating 
 about their axes in the same direction as that of their orbitual 
 revolution. When a fragment was detached from the ring, its 
 outer particles would have a greater velocity in the general 
 direction of motion than its inner ones, and there would be on 
 the whole a moment of momentum in that direction about the 
 centre of gravity. 
 
LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 105 
 
 possesses the smallest orbit of any connected with 
 our system, is sensibly drawing nearer and nearer to 
 the sun at every revolution ; and this fact cannot be 
 accounted for in any other way than by supposing this 
 medium to exist. On Laplace's hypothesis its origin 
 is readily explained ; it must evidently be part of the 
 original solar nebula, which, from its extreme rarity, 
 has never undergone condensation at all.* The ter- 
 rible part which this resisting medium may be 
 destined to play in the great drama of the universe is 
 indicated but too plainly by the effect it has already 
 begun to produce on the comet which comes most 
 immediately under its influence. Slackening by sure 
 though imperceptible degrees the speed of every 
 planet and comet in the system, and thus stealing 
 away their power to resist the sun's attracting force, 
 it will, by its insensible influence, bring them all in 
 time within that orb's resistless grasp, till one by 
 one they drop through his fiery atmosphere and sink 
 to rest upon his surface. Thus, to quote the words 
 of Professor Nichol, one of the warmest advocates 
 of the nebular hypothesis " The first indefinite germs 
 of the great organization of the universe, provision 
 
 * On the more recent theory, it will probably be simply 
 the matter composing the solar corona. 
 
io6 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 for its long existence, and finally its shroud, are all 
 involved in that master conception from which Laplace 
 endeavours to survey the mechanisms amid which 
 we are. Not in confusion, however, shall this majestic 
 system finally pass away not with the jar and con- 
 fused voice of ruin, but even in its own quiet and 
 majestical order, like the flower which, having adorned 
 a speck of earth, lets drop its leaves when its work 
 is done and falls back obediently on its mother's 
 bosom.'* 
 
 The terms in which the final destruction of our 
 earth is spoken of in Scripture, and the comparatively 
 short existence which seems to be in Providence 
 destined for it, render it pretty certain that this globe 
 at least will not meet with its doom in the above- 
 mentioned manner. But as such an event is not 
 only a perfectly possible one in the economy of 
 nature, but an absolute certainty supposing that 
 the resisting medium were allowed time enough to 
 do its work,* it may not be out of place to pause 
 for a moment and consider what is involved in such 
 a catastrophe. Let us think, for example, what the 
 
 * The fact of the gradual dissipation of the energy of our 
 system, established by Sir William Thomson, points also to the 
 final destruction of the earth, and would tend to hasten the catas- 
 trophe we describe. 
 
LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 107 
 
 case would be with our own earth, if no speedier 
 destruction were to come upon it from some yet 
 unanticipated and possibly miraculous cause. Many 
 centuries no doubt it may be many milleniums 
 would elapse before the most delicate observations 
 could reveal the working of the mysterious agent. 
 But at length some astronomer detects a minute 
 change in the elements of the earth's orbit which 
 cannot be accounted for by any of the ordinary per- 
 turbations, and he is compelled to the belief that 
 the resisting medium is beginning perceptibly to 
 influence the planet. This discovery, when publicly 
 announced, could not fail seriously to impress the 
 most thoughtless of hearers. The first step has been 
 taken by the earth on its way to a doom as fearful 
 as the imagination can paint and as inevitable as 
 the unchanging laws of nature can make it. Still 
 generation after generation passes away ; the end 
 is visibly no nearer, and but for the figures of 
 the astronomers the whole thing might be denounced 
 as an idle fable. But not the less surely does the 
 unseen destroyer fulfil his mission ; and in time the 
 effects of his work become palpable to every eye. 
 The sun's disc is perceptibly enlarged, the intensity 
 of his light and heat are increased, the length of 
 the year is diminished. At first the change of climate 
 
io8 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 is a pleasant and grateful one, except between the 
 tropics, and even there it is not so marked as to be 
 very severely felt. But slowly and surely the in- 
 fluence becomes more potent, and when we look 
 again some ages later, the face of the intertropical 
 regions is scarcely recognizable. The rich vale of 
 the Nile, the fertile plains of the Ganges, the cotton 
 plantations of the south, have disappeared ; the sandy 
 deserts of Africa and Asia have extended their bounds 
 and stretch without an oasis far on either side of 
 the equator. The inhabitants retreat, some to the 
 north and some to the south, but the fiery belt 
 between steadily pursues them^ and mile after mile, 
 league after league, falls under its devastating sway. 
 Some ages more pass away, and when we look again 
 the vineyards of Spain, the olive-groves of Italy, 
 the fig-gardens of Turkey, are gone ; their cities yet 
 stand with all their splendid palaces, their gorgeous 
 temples, but they are like Tadmor in the wilderness 
 cities without inhabitants. Look again, and Mont 
 Blanc has lost his diadem of snow and rears his 
 head, a bare cone of granite, above the dry and 
 rocky table-land which was once the Mer de Glace. 
 Look again, and our own land has, in its turn, become 
 a burning desert. And now the whole inhabitants 
 of the globe are collected in two narrow circles 
 
LAPLACKS NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 109 
 
 around either pole. The ice and the snow have dis- 
 appeared, and the frozen plains of Greenland and 
 Labrador teem with tropical vegetation. But the 
 narrowed limits of the habitable earth can no longer 
 support this vast increase of population, and famine 
 begins to mow down its victims by millions. Now, 
 indeed, the end of all life on the earth draws on 
 apace. The resisting medium, from the increased 
 proximity to the sun, grows rapidly much denser, 
 and its effect is proportionately increased. The heat 
 and drought become more and more insupportable. 
 Rain and dew fall no longer. All springs of water 
 fail, and the rivers dwindle down to streamlets, and 
 trickle slowly over their stony beds. And now scarcity 
 of water is added to scarcity of food. Those who 
 escape from the famine perish by the drought, and 
 those who escape from the drought are reserved for 
 a fate more awful yet. For a time, indeed, the few 
 remaining inhabitants of the earth are partially 
 screened from the overwhelming power of the sun 
 by a dense canopy of clouds. From the excessive 
 evaporation, thick columns of mist are constantly 
 rising from the surface of every lake and every sea, 
 and forming into dense banks of cloud, which hang 
 like a funeral pall over the dying earth. But soon 
 the sun scorches up these vapour-banks and dissipates 
 
no THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 them into space as fast as they can be formed by 
 evaporation. Then the fiery orb shines out in un- 
 utterable splendour without the lightest cloud-wreath 
 to interpose between himself and his victims. Then, 
 truly, the heavens become as iron and the earth as 
 brass. Then the last denizens of the world are 
 stricken down and consumed, the last traces of 
 organic life are blotted from its surface. How 
 different the " last man " here from Campbell's 
 picture of 
 
 "The last of human race, 
 Who shall creation's death behold 
 As Adam saw its prime!" 
 
 Then the last drops of ocean are dried up, and 
 nothing but a bare and blighted mass of rock is 
 left of that earth which once, even in its Maker's 
 eyes, was altogether good. Still the doomed planet 
 rushes on to its awful fate. Swiftly and more swiftly 
 it circles round the sun, like the bark which once 
 drawn within the influence of the whirlpool is sucked 
 irresistibly into its fearful vortex. At last it seems 
 to get paralyzed by the iron grasp that is tightening 
 upon it it staggers, pauses for a moment in its 
 headlong career, and thus checked in \ its onward 
 progress the sun draws it straight down to itself. 
 A hurried rush through the tossing sea of fire, a 
 
LAPLACE'S NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. n, 
 
 swift plunge through the cloudy stratum behind, and 
 the earth sinks to its eternal resting-place on the 
 face of its parent globe. 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
THE STARS. 
 
 WE must turn now to realms lying beyond our 
 own solar system. Beginning with ourselves and our 
 sister planets, we have considered in succession the 
 lesser light which rules the night, the greater light 
 which rules the day, the comets which wing their 
 wild flights around it, and the mysterious ether which 
 encompasses it, and which in time will bring all the 
 rest planets, satellites, and comets, within its re- 
 morseless grasp. And now it remains to wind up 
 by taking a glance at the great stellar universe around 
 us, compared with which our own system, mighty 
 as it is, counts but as a drop in the ocean. And 
 here, as formerly, our subject naturally divides itself 
 into two parts. We have to consider first, those 
 facts relating to the stars which depend upon their 
 general physical character and their individual pecu- 
 liarities ; and secondly, those which depend on their 
 collocation in space and their movements through 
 the realms of the infinite. As for the first, the 
 
THE STARS. 113 
 
 great distance at which the stars are from us pre- 
 vents us from knowing almost anything whatever 
 about their condition, except what we can infer from 
 analogy. They hold the same place in creation that 
 our own sun does. They are not satellites 'of any 
 other body, but primary orbs, independent sources 
 of light and heat, and probably the centres of systems 
 not less varied and gorgeous than our own. Hence 
 we may argue with a high degree of probability 
 that those facts which have been ascertained concerning 
 the general nature of the sun, hold equally true of 
 the stars. And as for their individual peculiarities, 
 we are for the most part equally in the dark about 
 them also, and that for the same reason. All the 
 stars appear to us as mere luminous specks without 
 any perceptible magnitude. And although " one star 
 differeth from another star in glory," though even the 
 naked eye can detect many degrees of brilliancy among 
 them, yet all we can infer from this is that the more 
 brilliant ones are probably much nearer to us than 
 the others. But there are two classes of stars which 
 form marked exceptions to the general rule, and stand 
 out prominently from the rest. These are binary stars, 
 and periodical or temporary stars. 
 
 The existence of the binary stars was discovered 
 by Sir William Herschel towards the close of last 
 
H4 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 century. It had long been noticed by astronomers 
 as a remarkable coincidence that in several instances 
 a pair of bright stars were found in very close 
 proximity to each other, much closer than we should 
 -have expected supposing the stars to have been 
 scattered up and down at random over the whole 
 face of the heavens. Still it was never thought that 
 this was anything more than a coincidence ; it was 
 supposed that the stars had no connection with each 
 other, but were altogether separate bodies, which 
 merely happened to be situated in one straight line 
 with ourselves. But Herschel having, for some 
 scientific purposes which it would take too long to 
 explain, determined to make a series of minute and 
 careful observations upon these double stars, soon 
 found to his surprise that they were rapidly shifting 
 their positions relatively to each other; and, in 
 short, he was ere long led to the conclusion that 
 the two stars were in reality situated close together, 
 and revolving in orbits round one another. Many 
 pairs of stars of this kind were observed and re- 
 gistered, while in some cases the combinations were 
 found to consist of three stars, and even four, instead 
 of two. 
 
 But one of the most remarkable features about 
 these multiple stars is that they are very frequently 
 
THE STARS. 115 
 
 of different colours. In the case of the double stars 
 the two colours are usually complementary; colours, 
 that is, which when mixed together, in proper pro- 
 portions, produce white. Thus one will be green 
 and the other red, or one orange and the other blue, 
 or one violet and the other yellow. Similarly in the 
 triple stars we may have a blue, a red, and a yellow, 
 or a green, an orange, and a violet. In a quadruple 
 star we may have blue, green, orange, and red ; and 
 so on, in endless combinations. If there be any 
 planets in attendance upon these multiple suns, as in 
 all probability there will be, the celestial phenomena 
 at those planets will be of the most extraordinary 
 character indeed, and everything that depends on 
 these phenomena their times and their seasons, 
 their days and their years will be involved in the 
 most intricate complications. If indeed any of them 
 happened to be situated in very close proximity to 
 one of the primaries, things with it would not be 
 so confused. It would always revolve round the 
 same sun, though in a very irregular and perturbed 
 orbit ; and hence its days and its years would follow 
 each other pretty much in the natural and regular 
 order. But its seasons will vary much both in length 
 and temperature, and its nights, though much darker 
 than its days, will yet differ from them far less than 
 
 I 2 
 
if6 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 is the case with us. For when the primary orb sinks 
 beneath the horizon, the secondary ones will shine 
 out in full splendour, much smaller and more distant 
 than the primary, but yet far exceeding in brilliancy 
 the borrowed light of the brightest of full moons. 
 But most of the planets, not nestled close enough 
 beside any one of their suns, will come pretty equally 
 under the influence of all. Take for instance the case 
 of a planet in a quadruple system at a time when 
 it happens to -be about equally distant from all its 
 four suns. A green and a red sun are above the 
 horizon, and when we look directly at either, its 
 colour is clear, brilliant, and well-defined. But their 
 rays meet and mingle and unite into a dazzling 
 snowy white, which imparts to the whole landscape 
 the pure radiant look which seems to fill the firma- 
 ment on a sunny day when the ground is covered 
 with snow. A light cloud-wreath steals over the 
 green sun, and a faint rosy blush overspreads the 
 face of the sky. The cloud thickens and the rosy 
 hue deepens into a mellow crimson. Then the green 
 sun sets and a blue one rises, changing the red light 
 of the sky into a rich purple, veined here and there 
 with pale amethyst, as a few rays from the green 
 sun struggle through the clouds just as it sinks 
 beneath the horizon. The .purple changes into a 
 
THE STARS. 1 17 
 
 deep gold as the blue sun is succeeded by an orange 
 one, and the gold pales down as the red sun sinks 
 to his rest in turn. The orange is left alone, and 
 when it, too, sets, night comes on apace. And now 
 the moons rise and shed their radiance on the scene. 
 But how differently do they show from the pale 
 uniform light that beams from our own plain satel- 
 lite ! Every colour of the rainbow glows from their 
 faces ; in belts, in spots, in lunes, their chequered 
 discs reflect every shade of hue that the artist's 
 palette can produce. The parts illumined by one 
 sun alone reflect, more faintly than the rest, the 
 colours of their respective orbs ; those which come 
 within the light of two or three of them will shine 
 more brightly and with gayer combinations of colours ; 
 while in the parts on which all the four suns shine 
 at once we find again the snowy white, so bright 
 as to sparkle almost with the light of day. But 
 where there are four great lights to rule the day, 
 night will be of unfrequent occurrence and of short 
 duration ; and soon the four suns, their nocturnal 
 course ended, begin at once to draw nigh to their 
 rising. Pale,, slender threads of red, green, blue, 
 and orange- steal out from the darkness in four 
 quarters of the horizon ; and these widen and 
 lengthen till they mingle together at their ex- 
 
1 1 8 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 tremities in softly shading hues of white, indigo, 
 and gold. Brighter and broader they grow, and 
 the gorgeous variegated belt spreads rapidly from 
 horizon to zenith, till at last the suns have fairly 
 risen, and their many-coloured rays combine again 
 into the dazzling white of the perfect day. 
 
 Nor are the annual phenomena of these planets 
 those, namely, which are connected with their seasons 
 and their years less extraordinary than their diurnal 
 phenomena, which relate to their days and nights. 
 Take the case of a planet in circumstances such as 
 we have supposed above, situated at about equal 
 distances from its several suns. It has just returned 
 from performing a revolution about one of them, 
 and while away on the farther side of that body 
 it was pretty far removed from the influence of the 
 others; and hence it has enjoyed a tolerably quiet, 
 and orderly year. Its days and its seasons have 
 followed each other in due succession, though in, 
 their length and their temperature there were many 
 and varied irregularities. But now, completing its 
 circuit, it comes again into the region of confusion^ 
 and anarchy. New suns wax and brighten till they 
 rival the old one in splendour. Distinction of day. 
 and night there is none. Universal summer prevails 
 over the planet in some places mild, in others 
 
THE STARS. 119 
 
 extreme these patches of different climates being 
 seemingly scattered up and down arbitrarily over 
 the face of the globe. But gradually one of the 
 suns not the same one as before begins to exer- 
 cise a markedly more potent influence than the 
 rest ; and they slowly dwindle in the distance, while 
 the victorious orb. grows larger and brighter as it 
 draws its captive down : towards it. And now the 
 planet starts to perform again a new revolution in 
 a comparatively undisturbed orbit. Day and night, 
 summer and winter, seed-time and harvest resume 
 their wonted sway. But how altered are they all ! 
 The sun and the moon have changed, their size, 
 their brilliancy, and their colour ; new planets stud 
 the sky ; new comets wheel around the sun ; and 
 only the more distant stars retain their positions 
 unaltered. The year has changed its length ; seasons 
 and climate are revolutionized ; . zones formerly frigid 
 or tropical have become temperate ; or those tem- 
 perate, torrid. The old vegetation, blighted by 
 drought or nipped by unwonted frost, withers away, 
 and new trees and plants take its place. The fauna 
 change with the flora ; birds and animals migrate ; 
 while whole races of men follow their example, or 
 adapt themselves with difficulty to their altered 
 climates. But scarcely are they settled down to 
 
I.2Q THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 their new circumstances ere a similar change again 
 takes place, and they, are whirled off to perform an 
 equally brief circuit around yet another sun. And 
 so on they go in their restless career 
 
 "It may be for years, and it may be for ever," 
 unless a favouring chance carries their, planet very 
 near to. one of its suns, and thus enables that orb 
 to establish an indisputable sway over it, and secure 
 it as a permanent satellite. 
 
 The second class of stars to which we alluded- 
 the periodical and temporary stars are much rarer 
 phenomena, th^n those which we have just been 
 considering, while their actual nature is altogether 
 unknown to us,, There are on record about six or 
 eight instances in which bright stars have suddenly 
 appeared in parts of the heaven where previously 
 there was none, and after continuing to shine with 
 varying brilliancy for a few months or years, have 
 been again utterly extinguished. In one case, at 
 least, it is believed that a star of this kind has re- 
 appeared several times at intervals of about one 
 hundred and fifty years a fact which, if. true, would 
 seem to indicate some periodicity in the causes of 
 its appearances and disappearances. In several cases 
 of a somewhat similar kind this periodicity is un- 
 questionably to be found. A good many stars undergo 
 
THE STARS. 121 
 
 regular increases and diminutions of brilliancy, the 
 period of some being two or three days, of others 
 as many months, and of others several years. Some 
 of them, at stated intervals, disappear for a short 
 time altogether. Various theories have been sug- 
 gested to account for these phenomena. Some 
 astronomers suppose that the stars in question have 
 large dark planets or companion suns revolving round 
 them, which at intervals interpose between them and 
 us, and cut off the whole or a part of their light. 
 Others attribute their varying brilliancy to dark 
 spots and patches upon their surfaces. The tem- 
 porary stars, some suppose to have been altogether 
 annihilated, or to. have had their sources of light 
 and heat, exhausted. Others suppose them to revolve 
 in very long orbits like the comets, and only to 
 become visible when at the parts of their course 
 nearest to the earth. All these hypotheses are pos- 
 sible, but hypotheses it is to be feared they will ever 
 remain. Nothing but actual observation could tell 
 us which is the correct one, and the bodies in 
 question are so distant that evidence of this kind 
 w.e can never hope to obtain. 
 
 Of the physical constitution of the stars we know 
 but little. Analogy tells us that they are bodies of 
 the same character, and probably of much the same 
 
1 2 2 THE R OMANCE OF ASTR ONOMY. 
 
 magnitude, as our own sun. Recent spectrum analysis 
 goes further, and shows us from an examination 
 of their light that the substances which exist most 
 plentifully in the sun's atmosphere, such as sodium, 
 are also to be met with largely among the stars. More 
 information about them than this we have not much 
 hope of attaining to. There is no reasonable pro- 
 bability of our ever having telescopes powerful enough 
 to give us further revelations of the nature of the 
 stars. To our present instruments they appear simply 
 as specks of light of no visible dimensions, and 
 differing only in brightness. According to these 
 varying degrees of brilliancy the stars are classed 
 the brightest being styled of the first magnitude, 
 the next of the second magnitude, and so on through 
 the telescopic stars down to the fifteenth. But this 
 term must not be misunderstood. None of them 
 have any perceptible magnitude whatever ; even Sirius, 
 the brightest, presents no marked disc like the 
 planets ; he is strictly a mathematical point of light 
 position without magnitude. It is probable that the 
 stars do not differ very much in actual size and 
 inherent brilliancy, and that their gradations of 
 apparent brightness are due almost entirely to the 
 different distances at which they are situated from 
 US. The tiny orb, which is only revealed to us by 
 
THE STARS. 123 
 
 the most powerful telescopes, is probably a not less 
 glorious sun than Sirius or Procyon, but it is buried 
 at such a depth in the abysses of space as to be 
 altogether invisible to the unaided eye. 
 
 Sir William Herschel was the first astronomer 
 who compared actually the light emanating from the 
 different stars, and calculated from this their probable 
 relative distances. This was done without much 
 difficulty, and he next set himself the great task of 
 discovering from these data the way in which the stars 
 are distributed through space, the configuration of the 
 great stellar universe, and the position which our sun 
 occupies in it. The labour required for this was 
 immense. It involved a careful examination of every 
 part of the sky, both in the northern and southern 
 hemispheres, and a tabling of the number of stars 
 in them arranged in order of magnitude. He patiently 
 directed his telescope by turns to the different quarters 
 of the heavens, and calculated first the number of 
 the larger stars which were to be found in them. 
 The result of this showed that the first three or four 
 magnitudes were distributed about equally over the 
 whole sky ; and he accordingly inferred that to a 
 certain distance at least, the stars were grouped 
 uniformly all round us. But then came a sudden 
 break. When he counted those next in order, he ; 
 
124 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 found that except in one portion of the sky there 
 were scarcely any ; and when he arrived at the 
 telescopic stars those namely which are invisible td 
 the naked eye there were none at all, except in that 
 great luminous belt which spans the whole firmament, 
 and which is known by the name of the Milky Way. 
 The inference from these facts was obvious. In most 
 directions the stars came very speedily to an end, 
 but in one circle all round us they seem to extend 
 almost to infinity. We all know the appearance 
 presented to the naked eye by the Milky Way a white 
 fleecy background, dotted all over with bright and 
 distinct stars. When the telescope is turned upon it, 
 we get a step further ; some of the white background 
 is in its turn resolved into separate stars, but another 
 indistinct layer rises up behind them in turn. Higher 
 and higher telescopic powers were attained, but still 
 with the same result ; the astronomer's eye penetrated 
 further and further into the depths of space, but 
 still the dim white background of star-dust filled the 
 field of the glass. At length, however, by some optical 
 improvements of Herschel's own devising, he suc- 
 ceeded in considerably increasing the efficiency of his 
 telescopes, and was rewarded by finding the last 
 layer of star-dust completely resolved into distinct 
 and separate orbs. Background there was now none ; 
 
THE STARS. 
 
 125 
 
 clear and bright the last stars shone out from the 
 deep black void of the midnight sky. The astronomer 
 laid down his glass ; the furthest limits of our universe 
 had been sounded, and its bounds assigned it in 
 every direction. Laying down the telescope, Herschel 
 took up the compasses, and proceeded to map "on 
 paper the results of his long and patient search. 
 The conclusion he arrived at was, that the starry 
 universe formed a roundish but irregular disc, with 
 a deep cleft at one side extending nearly down to 
 the sun, which -occupies pretty much the centre of 
 the disc. Thus viewed from above or below, the 
 appearance presented would be circular, while laterally 
 it would be that figured in the diagram. S is the 
 
 sun, and if we look in any of the directions SA, 
 SB, SC, the range of stars which we see is a 
 very brief one ; but looking along SD, or any other 
 direction in a .plane through it perpendicular to that 
 of the paper, we have a much farther vista. These 
 directions accordingly correspond to the Milky Way 
 in the heavens. In one ,part the Milky Way splits 
 
126 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 up into two branches, separated by a short interval 
 from each other. These two branches are marked 
 in the figure by the lines SE, SF. The constellations 
 are wedges cut out of this great star-disc. Thus 
 the Great Bear, for example, lies between the lines 
 SG, SH, and therefore contains no very small stars. 
 The Swan, on the other hand, lies along SD, and 
 is hence enriched by a brilliant back-ground of star- 
 dust. Herschel calculated that the number of stars 
 in this enormous cluster is certainly not less than 
 five-and-a-half millions, and is probably one or two 
 millions more. 
 
 But a harder problem still remained behind. The 
 relative distances of the stars had been computed, 
 the farthest bounds of the known universe had been 
 pierced, its figure determined, and its limits assigned 
 it in every direction. But of the absolute dimensions 
 of this great system, astronomers in Herschel's time 
 knew nothing. They had learnt that the farthest 
 stars were about five hundred times more distant from 
 us than the nearest ones. But the distance of even 
 the nearest was a sealed mystery. It was known that 
 it could be measured only by millions of millions of 
 miles ; but how many of these great units it contained 
 they could not tell. The way in which the distance 
 of the nearer heavenly bodies is found is very simple. 
 
THE'STAkS. 127 
 
 When a land surveyor wishes to ascertain the distance 
 of an inaccessible object, he measures what is called 
 a base-line ; and making an observation first from 
 one end of this and then from the other, the dis- 
 placement in the apparent position of the object 
 gives him its distance from either station. And this 
 is the method pursued with the sun and moon. They 
 are observed simultaneously from two distant points 
 of the earth's surface, and from their consequent 
 displacement or parallax, as it is called in scientific 
 parlance their distance is readily found. But no 
 such plan avails us with the fixed stars. The dis- 
 tance of any two stations on the surface of our 
 globe is as nothing' compared with the enormous 
 space which separates us from them. But the earth's 
 motion in its orbit comes to our aid, and gives us 
 two stand-points immeasurably farther apart from each 
 other than its own two poles. Let us carefully observe 
 one of the stars now, and then wait till six months 
 have elapsed. The earth's revolution about the sun has 
 brought us to a station two hundred million miles 
 away from that of our first observation. And here 
 surely with such an enormous base-line for our 
 observations the difficulty will be easily solved the 
 star will appear to have shifted to quite a new part 
 of the heavens. But no to an ordinary telescope 
 
1 2 8 THE R OMANCE OF ASTR ONOMY. 
 
 no change whatever is visible. One of the chief 
 arguments of the old astronomers against the Co- 
 pernican system was founded upon this ; if the earth 
 revolved in an orbit of such magnitude, the stars 
 should appear in altogether different positions at 
 different seasons of the year. Copernicus, with a 
 little hesitation, gave the true reply the stars must 
 be at such a distance from us that our orbit is but 
 as a speck in comparison with it. The astronomers 
 laughed this to scorn ; it was impossible to believe 
 that the works of creation should have such vast 
 extent as this explanation would involve. But they 
 were attempting to limit the power of the Almighty. 
 In the eternity of God a thousand years appear as 
 one day ; to His infinitude a million million miles are 
 but a single span. Even the distance they thought 
 so impossibly great, we, with the new light of science, 
 know to be but an infinitesimal fraction of the whole 
 dimensions of the universe. 
 
 From the days of Copernicus down to the present 
 time, telescopes have steadily been increasing in 
 power and efficiency. Astronomers were well aware 
 that the problem of finding the stellar parallax was 
 only an instrumental difficulty ; the stars must suffer 
 some displacement according to the season of the 
 .year, and only a sufficiently good telescope in the 
 
THE STARS. 129 
 
 hands of a sufficiently skilful and accurate observer 
 was required to determine it. By comparing the 
 stellar light with the solar, they had arrived at a 
 rough idea of the probable distance and parallax of 
 some of the stars, and had found reason to think 
 that the parallactic angle was not so small as to 
 make its detection a hopeless task. Several gene- 
 rations of astronomers, however, passed away, and 
 left this, one of the great objects of their life, un- 
 fulfilled. The great glory of discovering stellar 
 parallax is shared equally by a Scotch and a Prussian 
 astronomer, Henderson of Edinburgh and Bessel of 
 Koningsberg, who made at the same time, about 
 thirty years ago, independent observations of two 
 different stars. The extreme difficulty of the problem 
 will be seen when we state that the displacement 
 found by Bessel, that of a star in the neck of the 
 Swan, is only an angle of a third of a second, or less 
 than a five-thousandth part of .the apparent diameter 
 of the sun. We must remember that every astro- 
 nomical observation is subject to a host of errors. 
 The most perfect telescope ever set up has a score 
 of imperfections in construction and adjustment, and 
 these have to be carefully calculated from repeated 
 observations, and allowed for by difficult mathematical 
 processes. There are also many astronomical sources 
 
130 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 of error, such as the finite velocity with which light 
 is propagated, and the refraction of its rays by the 
 earth's atmosphere. All these causes produce a far 
 greater displacement in the star than its actual 
 parallax, and the successful elimination of them all, 
 and determination of the small residual angle, is justly 
 regarded as one of the greatest triumphs of human 
 skill and ingenuity. The parallax of these stars 
 having been found, their distances were given at 
 once by a simple trigonometrical formula. The result 
 is that the nearest star is two hundred million times 
 farther from the sun than the earth is, in other 
 words, the distance of the sun from its nearest 
 neighbour in the great stellar cluster is twenty 
 millions of millions of miles. It follows that the 
 full dimensions of that great cluster from end to end 
 must be at least twenty thousand billion miles. 
 
 One problem more, the last and the loftiest, yet 
 remains to be solved, before we can say that we 
 have completely mastered the system of the universe. 
 We have calculated the dimensions of the great stellar 
 cluster, we have determined its configuration, we have 
 estimated the number of orbs which it contains. 
 The question yet remains whether the stars are really 
 fixed, as their popular name supposes, or whether 
 they, like all the minor bodies we have considered, 
 
THE STARS. 131 
 
 have their own special orbits and revolutions. Sa- 
 tellites circle round their primaries, planets wheel 
 in obedience to the behest of their parent suns, 
 comets under the same potent spell wing their fiery 
 flight through space. And are there no fixed centres 
 amid all this ceaseless motion, no spots on which 
 the wearied imagination may settle, and contemplate 
 from a solid and stable standpoint the workings of 
 the great mechanism around ? Science answers, there 
 is none. Wherever there is matter there must be 
 gravitation. The greatest and most glorious orbs of 
 heaven are not less fully bound by that all-pervading 
 law than the lightest speck of sea-foam or the filmy 
 texture of the comets. The sun himself, upon whose 
 majestic court hundreds of bright attendants wait, is 
 subjected in turn to the influence of his mighty 
 brethren, and rolls at their bidding along his ap- 
 pointed course. 
 
 We have seen that the motion of the earth in 
 its orbit causes a displacement in the apparent 
 positions of the stars. This displacement however is 
 only a periodical and temporary one ; as the seasons 
 circle round, the earth returns to the spot from whence 
 he set out, and the stars resume their old positions. 
 The fact that some of them had a distinct and 
 
 separate motion, indicating a permanent change of 
 
 K 2 
 
I3 2 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 their position relatively to the sun, was first discovered 
 by Edmund Halley. Some observations of the three 
 brilliant stars, Sirius, Arcturus, and Aldebaran, made 
 by the old Egyptian astronomers, had fortunately been 
 handed down to his time, and on looking over them, 
 he perceived that these stars must have shifted their 
 positions since that early time, by a small but well- 
 marked amount. This indicated that either these 
 stars, or the sun, or probably both, must have changed 
 their places by many million miles since those old 
 records were penned by the philosophers of Alexandria. 
 Other astronomers followed in Halley's track, and 
 by the beginning of this century the proper motions 
 of more than a hundred stars had been determined, 
 chiefly by comparing them with Tycho Brahe's cata- 
 logue, made out two hundred years before. These 
 proper motions showed great differences in amount 
 and in direction, and no attempt was made to reconcile 
 and systematize them until the subject was taken up 
 by the bold and speculative genius of Sir William 
 Herschel, who revelled in difficulties, and whose 
 daring and ambitious spirit always selected the loftiest 
 and apparently most hopeless themes. He succeeded 
 in evoking order out of apparent confusion and 
 chaos, and announced his discovery of the fact, that 
 the sun, with all his gorgeous following, is sweeping 
 
THE STARS. 133 
 
 majestically through space in the direction of the 
 constellation Hercules. It was not till fifty years 
 afterwards that another astronomer was found bold 
 enough to grapple with this mighty theme. It was 
 then taken up by some of the leading astronomers 
 of Russia, with, the advantage of half a century's 
 additional observations, and Herschel's results were 
 confirmed in the, fullest manner possible. The direc- 
 tion in which, the earth is moving is now known 
 beyond the possibility of a doubt. His velocity, 
 however, has been variously estimated at from thirty 
 million to a hundred million miles per annum. 
 
 Of course the other suns of our great cluster have 
 their own motions also ; their varying position re- 
 latively to ourselves depending partly upon our motion 
 and partly on their own. Mathematical theory, pro- 
 ceeding upon Newton's great law, tells us that the 
 centre of this universal motion must be the centre 
 of gravity of the whole stellar cluster; that any star 
 situated there must be at rest, while all the others 
 are circling in ceaseless revolution around it. Madler, 
 of Dorpat, is the only astronomer who has ventured 
 to seek for this central sun. By studying Herschel's 
 diagram of the stellar system, and combining it with 
 the known direction of our sun's motion, he was led 
 to believe that the centre of gravity of that system 
 
134 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 must be situated in or near the constellation Taurus. 
 A careful examination of all the stars in that quarter 
 of the heavens made him finally fix upon Alcyone, 
 the central orb of the Pleiades, as being the object 
 of his search. It is probable that his speculations 
 are somewhat premature ; trie data upon which they 
 are founded are slight and partially uncertain, on 
 account of the extreme slowness of the motions from 
 which they are deduced. In fact it is' probable that 
 many generations must pass away before a sufficiently 
 long course of observation can either fully confirm 
 or disprove the conclusions at which he arrived. If 
 his theory be correct, the sweet influences of the 
 Pleiades must be potent influences indeed. Holding 
 their eternal court unmoved in the centre of the 
 heavens, they send out their resistless influence to 
 the farthest confines of space, and bend into stately 
 curves around them the most distant bodies of the 
 universe, some of whose grand orbits cannot be 
 traversed in less than five hundred million years. 
 
THE NEBULA. 
 
 THE astronomer has now completed his in- 
 vestigation of the great stellar system of which our 
 sun forms a member. The figure of that system 
 has been defined, its dimensions calculated, and its 
 motions traced out and analyzed. This was the 
 consummation to which, until very recent periods, 
 astronomers of all ages had been accustomed to 
 look as the great goal to which their science tended, 
 though a goal which even the most sanguine of 
 them scarcely hoped that it would ever actually 
 reach. And now that it has been so fully attained, 
 can the astronomer sit down and rest on his laurels 
 and boast that he has fathomed the remotest depths 
 of the universe of God ? Not so. While with slow 
 and toilsome steps he has been creeping up to his 
 first goal, he has at the same time been seeing 
 another gradually emerging from the obscurity in 
 front of him, and now that the former is reached, 
 it is but to see the latter standing clearly out in the 
 
1 3 6 THE R OMANCE OF ASTR ONOMY, 
 
 distance, more hopelessly inaccessible than the other 
 had ever seemed to be. For when we stand on the 
 remotest orb of the Milky Way the telescope reveals 
 new marvels to our gaze, and opens up fresh and 
 undreamt of regions for scientific research. Not yet 
 are the wonders of creation exhausted. Had it been 
 so, had these really been the uttermost bounds of 
 God's created works, we should still have pronounced 
 them well worthy in magnificence and grandeur of 
 the Omnipotence which called them into being. Let 
 us think for a moment on what a scale of incon- 
 ceivable magnitude the universe thus far is- built. 
 The orbit of our earth is two hundred million miles 
 in diameter, but so insignificant is, this, vast distance 
 compared with the great gulf which separates, us 
 from the ..fixed stars, that to all except: the very most 
 powerful telescopes those stars seem to occupy exactly 
 the same positions in the sky when- viewed- from two 
 opposite points of our course. 
 
 Try a still farther flight, pass over twenty millions 
 of millions of miles. We have reached the nearest 
 of the stars,, and taking our- stand on one of its 
 planets, ad waiting till evening falls, we look eagerly 
 abroad to mark the altered aspect of the heavens. 
 Here surely,. where we have put such an overwhelming 
 distance between us and our former position, the 
 
THE NEBULAE. 137 
 
 face of the sky will be no longer recognizable the 
 old heavens will have passed away from, over our 
 head, as well as the old earth from beneath our 
 feet. But no, as the stars one by one steal out 
 from the darkness, they group themselves into their 
 old well-known configurations. There is the Little 
 Bear with its pole-star, and the Great Bear with its 
 pointers, there are the bands of Orion and the sweet 
 influences of the Pleiades, there are Mazzaroth and 
 Arcturus, just as they appeared to Job five thousand 
 years ago, and sixty billion miles away. Vast as. is 
 the space we have traversed, it is not a thousandth 
 part of that which separates the two most distaat 
 stars of the system, and hence we need not wonder 
 that the change we have found is no greater than 
 that which comes over the distant landscape as the 
 traveller advances a score or two of yards along his 
 way. Let us then pursue our journey still further. 
 Sun after sun beams upon us with its brilliant band 
 of planets and comets, sun after sun pales and 
 lessens in the distance as we leave it behind in our 
 flight. And gradually a change creeps over the face 
 of the heavens. The general figures of the con- 
 stellations remain .the same, but those behind contract 
 their dimensions and shrink more closely together, 
 while those in front are opening out and growing 
 
138 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 larger and brighter. At length we near the farthest 
 confines of the Milky Way. Very few and very 
 scattered are the stars which still remain in front 
 of us. We can number them all with ease. And 
 now but three are left before us, but two, but 
 one. That one is reached in turn. We pass to 
 the further side and look forth into the mysterious 
 abyss which lies beyond. Before, behind, to the 
 right, to the left, whichever way we turn our gaze, 
 it meets with nought but the blackness of darkness, 
 the deep gloom of the midnight sky is unbroken 
 by the gleam of a single star. Onward still we wing 
 our daring flight ; the last resting-place is abandoned, 
 the last oasis left behind, and we adventure forth 
 into the trackless wastes of space. One by one the 
 planets of this last sun are passed in our course ; 
 -now and then a comet overtakes us, and blazes 
 swiftly past into the depths beyond ; but if we look 
 onwards, we see that even it soon pauses in its 
 reckless flight, and wheels back on rapid wing to 
 less solitary and untrodden regions. The sun itself 
 dwindles down to a star, and takes its place among 
 a cluster of others which come forth from behind 
 and around it as its paling light permits them to 
 become visible. And soon this cluster too fades, 
 till all distinction of stars in it is lost, and nothing 
 
THE NEBULAE. 139 
 
 is left but a dim white patch of light, ere long to 
 be blotted out in turn, as it seems to be swallowed 
 up by the surrounding darkness. All created works 
 are left behind, and we stand alone face to face 
 with the infinitude of God, alone where mortal 
 footstep has never trod, where presence there has 
 never been, save that of the ever omnipresent Creator 
 and the spirits which pass and repass, ascending 
 and descending the ladder of vision which bridges 
 the chasm between heaven and earth, as they go and 
 come, ministering to the heirs of salvation. 
 
 But suppose that our vision is now quickened by 
 telescopic aid. We turn the glass in the direction 
 from which we have just come to get a last look, 
 of the universe we are leaving behind us. And : 
 surely enough the little white patch steals out again, 
 from the darkness in the centre of the field of view.. 
 But what is that faint film of light that clouds the 
 outer edge of the circle ? Turn the full power of 
 the instrument upon it, and it brightens into a white 
 patch exactly similar to the former. Move the 
 telescope round, and another, and another, meets the 
 eye. Direct it to any new quarter of the heavens, 
 and the sight presented is the same. The whole 
 sky is mottled with these flecks of white. Thick 
 they are as the motes that dance in the sunbeam, 
 
U THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 close as the stars that stud the firmament, innumerable 
 as the grains of sand upon the shore. In aspect 
 they exactly resemble the dim and distant appearance 
 presented to view by the system which we have 
 just left, so exactly, that when once the glass has 
 been turned away from it, we find it impossible, on 
 turning back, to pick it out from the multitudes that 
 surround it. Let us choose out one of the nearest 
 and brightest of these, and wing our flight towards 
 it. As we approach it, we might think that we 
 were but returning to the system we had left. The 
 white patch widens and brightens, stars emerge from 
 it by thousands and tens of thousands, till it fills 
 the whole firmament with a blaze of splendour, 
 surpassing by many fold the brilliancy of our own 
 nocturnal sky. For the telescope teaches us that while 
 each of these objects is a system of stars probably 
 not inferior in glory to that of which, we form a 
 part, many of them must surpass it in magnificence 
 at least a thousand-fold. 
 
 It would be hopeless to attempt expressing in 
 ordinary language the vast distance at which these 
 clusters of stars are situated from us. If we were to 
 reckon it in miles, or even in millions of miles, figures 
 would pile upon figures, till in their number all 
 definite idea of their value was lost. We must choose 
 
THE NEBULAE. 141 
 
 another unit to measure these infinitudes of space 
 a unit compared with which the dimensions of our 
 own solar system shrink into absolute nothingness. 
 The velocity of light is such that it would flash fifteen 
 times from pole to pole of our earth between two beats 
 of the pendulum. It bridges the huge chasm that 
 separates us from the sun in little more than eight 
 minutes. But the light that shows us these faint 
 star-clusters has been travelling with this frightful 
 velocity for more than two million years since it left 
 its distant source. We see them to-day in the fields 
 of our telescopes, not as they are now, but as they 
 were countless ages before the creation of man upon 
 the earth. What they are now, who can tell ? Recent 
 spectrum analysis reveals many of them to us as 
 consisting not of separate stars, like their companion 
 nebulae, but of purely gaseous matter. They appear 
 as vast oceans of flaming gas, doubtless much re- 
 sembling what we have described as the condition 
 of the solar envelope, but hanging altogether isolated 
 in space, while they spread their huge billows over 
 countless millions of miles. In others we see the 
 work of condensation already begun, as their central 
 parts show traces of solid, or at least of liquid, 
 matter. In fact they realize Laplace's magnificent 
 conception of the original state of our own system, 
 
1 42 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 a void chaotic mass, containing in it the germs of 
 all the stars that lighten our midnight sky. But from 
 all this we can argue nothing of their present state. 
 It may well be that their transformation has been 
 effected ages since, and that they too have long ago 
 split up into countless myriads of suns. 
 
 And what we were when their light started on 
 its mission towards us, God alone knows. A fiery 
 globe of molten rock a thin cloud of vapour without 
 form and void or, it may be, not yet in existence 
 at all, unseen and undreamt of save in the eternal 
 counsels of the Creator. Not till the rays had well- 
 nigh completed their flight were the progenitors of 
 those for whose eyes they were destined first formed 
 upon the earth. The six thousand years of man are 
 as nothing compared with their long journey. Two 
 hundred generations have come and gone since Adam 
 walked in Paradise, but if each of these generations 
 had been told over two hundred fold, the antiquity 
 of man would not have rivalled the hoary age of 
 these tiny waves of light. So small are the undulations 
 of ether, that forty thousand of them follow each 
 other within the space of a single inch, so impalpable 
 that they beat upon our eyeballs in countless millions 
 and with incalculable velocity without injuring their 
 delicate surface; and yet so infinitely strong, when 
 
THE NEBULAE. 143 
 
 guided by their Maker's hand, that they have steered 
 their unerring course for millions of billions of 
 miles, and reached their destination unaltered and 
 unenfeebled. 
 
 Of a truth '"things small and great," the infini- 
 tesimal and the infinite,-" bless the Lord ; they praise 
 Him and magnify Him for ever." What overwhelming 
 force in these words of God when read by the light 
 of His works: "When I consider Thy heavens, the 
 work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which 
 Thou hast ordained ; what is man that Thou art 
 mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest 
 him ?" And what unspeakable preciousness in these: 
 " Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and 
 the earth is my footstool; but to this man will I 
 look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite 
 spirit and that trembleth at my word." 
 
 And now let us go one step further, and ask 
 ourselves where these magnificent creations, rising 
 above each other in the scale of magnitude and 
 grandeur, are to have an end. First we had planets 
 with their attendant satellites, then suns with their 
 accompanying planets, then a great cluster consisting 
 of many million suns, and now this vast system 
 composed of thousands of similar clusters. How 
 many steps more we might go in this ascending scale 
 
144 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 before we reached the climax, it is impossible to say. 
 The system of clusters which we have above described 
 may be itself but a unit in a yet greater and more 
 gorgeous whole, and that whole in turn an insignifi- 
 cant fraction of a creation grander yet. But wherever 
 the end may be, to us in our present state it has 
 already come. Further than we have now reached, 
 our finite powers of observation can never hope 
 to attain. A veil of impenetrable obscurity is drawn 
 over all that lies beyond. The Almighty has inter- 
 posed His stern fiat before the advancing flood of 
 human science, which would fain overspread all 
 creation with its triumphant billows. " Hitherto 
 shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy 
 proud waves be stayed." The glories that lie beyond 
 are among those things which eye hath not seen, 
 which ear hath not heard, and which it hath not 
 entered into the heart of man to conceive. But though 
 we cannot trace the steps in the ascending scale 
 of creation, we may soar past them in imagination, 
 and ask what the great climax will be. God himself 
 is infinite, but His works must be finite. Suns, 
 clusters, and systems may rise above each other in 
 almost endless succession, but at length some one 
 great system must be reached, whose members, circling 
 round and round in harmony among themselves, must 
 
THE NEBULAE. 145 
 
 include within their vast limits all the works of the 
 Creator. And what is the mighty centre around which 
 all these motions take place, the one fixed spot in 
 the universe about which all else is in rapid and 
 ceaseless revolution ? What can be the worthy centre 
 of this magnificence, the glory compared with which 
 all others sink into the shade ? There is indeed 
 a glory that excelleth, a glory such that in the apostle's 
 words even " that which was made glorious hath no 
 glory by reason of the glory that excelleth." But this 
 is a glory uncreate, a glory that shines with no 
 borrowed splendour ; it is the glory of the Godhead. 
 Men speak much of heaven as consisting in the 
 felt nearness and presence of God, and hence of its 
 being a state rather than a place. But they forget 
 that while God himself is infinite, the human nature 
 of our Lord and Saviour cannot be so, and hence 
 that there must be some one spot dignified above 
 all others by a special Shechinah a special mani- 
 festation of the glory of the Godhead that spot where 
 the seer of Patmos beheld a throne set in heaven, 
 and One that sat upon the throne, and in the midst 
 of it a Lamb as it had been slain. And if we ask 
 again what can be the fitting centre of all the gorgeous 
 systems which the science of astronomy reveals to 
 our astonished gaze, what answer shall we, what 
 
146 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 answer can we, give but one ? Surely we must say 
 with the patriarch, " THIS is NONE OTHER THAN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF GOD, THIS IS THE GATE OF HEAVEN." % 
 
 THE END. 
 
 W. METCALFE AND SONS, PRINTERS, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
Neut) Edition, i8mo., Price 4/6. 
 
 POPULAR ASTRONOMY. 
 
 Lectures by 
 
 X* 
 
 SIR G. B. AIRY, K.C.B., 
 
 ASTRONOMER ROYAL. 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The speciality of this volume is the direct reference of every 
 step to the Observatory, and the full description of the methods 
 and instruments of observation. The Guardian says " Popular 
 Astronomy in general has many manuals, but none of them 
 supersede these lectures." 
 
 New Edition, iSmo., Price 5/6. 
 
 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN 
 ASTRONOMY. 
 
 BY J. NORMAN LOCKYER, F.R.S. 
 
 With Coloured Diagram of the Spectre of the Sun, Stars, and 
 Nebulae, and numerous Illustrations. 
 
 "The book is full, clear, sound, and worthy of attention, not only as a 
 popular exposition, but as a scientific index." Athenceum. 
 
 "The most fascinating of elementary books on the sciences." Non- 
 conformist, 
 
 MACMILLAN .AND Co., LONDON. 
 
Second Edition, in Imperial 8vo. cloth, extra gilt, Price 31/6. 
 Illustrated by Eleven Coloured Plates and 455 Woodcuts. 
 
 THE FORCES OF NATURE. 
 
 A Popular Introduction to the Study of Physical Phenomena. 
 
 BY AMEDEE GUILLEMIN. 
 
 Translated from the French by Mrs. NORMAN LOCKYER, 
 
 and Edited, with Additions and Notes, by 
 
 J. NORMAN LOCKYER, F.R.S. 
 
 Contents : 
 
 Book I. Gravity. Book II. Sound. Book III. Light. Book IV. 
 Heat. Book V. Magnetism. -Book VI. The Electric Light. 
 Book VII. Atmospheric Meteors. 
 
 "This book is a luxurious introduction to the study of the physical 
 sciences. M. Amfedee Guillemin, in his splendid work on 'The Heavens,' 
 has popularized some of the greatest discoveries of astronomy, and the 
 present work will do the same for physics. The method of pictorial illustra- 
 tion, accompanied as it is by descriptions of singular clearness, makes the 
 experiments as easy to understand as though they were actually performed 
 before the reader. There are 455 of these woodcut illustrations, all well 
 executed, and so admirably fitted to the text as to make the book interesting 
 to young people, while it is at the same time worthy of the notice of the 
 student. M. Guillemin has found an excellent translator in Mrs. Norman 
 Lockyer, while the editorship of Mr. Norman Lockyer, with his notes and 
 additions, are guarantees, not only of scientific accuracy, but of the com- 
 pleteness and lateness of information." Daily Nevis. 
 
 "Altogether the work may be said to have no parallel, either in point 
 of fulness or attraction, as a popular manual of physical science." Saturday 
 Review. 
 
 Third Edition, revised throughout, with all the most recent 
 Discoveries. Royal 8vo., cloth extra. Price, 2i/- 
 
 S P E C T R-U M ANALYSIS. 
 
 BY H. E. ROSCOE, F.R.S., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN OWENS' COLLEGE, MANCHESTER. 
 
 Six Lectures with Appendices, Engravings, Maps, and 
 Chromolithographs. 
 
 The Westminster Review says, "The Lectures themselves furnish a most 
 admirable elementary treatise on the subject, which, by the insertion in 
 appendices to each lecture of extracts from the most important published 
 memoirs, the author has rendered it equally valuable as a text book for 
 .advanced students." 
 
 MACMILLAN A^JD Co., LONDON. 
 
BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, 
 November, 1872. 
 
 MAC MILL AN & Co:s CATALOGUE of Works 
 in the Departments of History, Biography, 
 and Travels ; Politics, Political and Social 
 Economy, Law, etc.; and Works connected 
 with Language. With some short Account 
 or Critical Notice concerning each Book. 
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, and TRAVELS. 
 
 Baker (Sir Samuel W.) Works by Sir SAMUEL BAKER, 
 M.A., F.R.G.S.: 
 
 THE ALBERT N'YANZA Great Basin of the Nile, and Explora- 
 tion of the Nile Sources. New and Cheaper Edition. Maps and 
 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " Bruce won the source of the Blue Nile ; Speke and Grant won the 
 Victoria source of the great White Nile ; and I have been permitted to 
 succeed in completing the Nile Sources by the discovery of the great 
 reservoir of the equatorial waters, the Albert N'yanza, from which the 
 river issues as the entire White Nile" PREFACE. "As a Macaulay 
 arose among the historians" says the READER, "so a Baker has arisen 
 among the explorers.' 1 ' 1 " Charmingly written;" says the SPECTATOR, 
 " 'full, as might be expected, of incident, and free from that wearisome 
 reiteration of useless facts which is the drawback to almost all books of 
 African travel" 
 
 THE NILE TRIBUTARIES OF ABYSSINIA, and the Sword 
 Hunters of the Hamran Arabs. With Maps and Illustrations. 
 Fourth and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
2 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Sir Samuel Baker here describes hvelve months' exploration, during 
 which he examined the rivers that are tributary to the Nile from Abyssinia, 
 including the Atbara, Scttite, Royan, Salaam, Angrab, Rahad, Dinder, 
 and the Blue Nile. The interest attached to these portions of Africa differs 
 entirely from that of the White Nile regions, as the whole of Upper Egypt 
 and Abyssinia is capable of development, and is inhabited by races having 
 some degree of civilization; while Central Africa is peopled by a race of 
 savages, who r ,e future is more problematical. The TIMES says : "It solves 
 finally a geographical riddle which hitherto had been extremely perplexing, 
 and it adds much to our information respecting Egyptian Abyssinia and 
 the different races that spread over it. It contains, moreover, some notable 
 instances of English daring and enterprising skill ; it abounds in ani- 
 mated tales of exploits dear to the heart of the British sportsman ; and it 
 will attract even the least studious reader, as the author tells a story well, 
 a,nd can describe nature with uncommon power. " 
 
 Barante (M. De). See GUIZOT. 
 
 Baring-Gould (Rev. S., M.A.) LEGENDS OF OLD 
 
 TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, from the Talmud and other 
 sources. By the Rev. S. BARING-GOULD, M.A. Author of 
 *' Curious Myths of the Middle Ages," " The Origin and Develop- 
 ment of Religious Belief," " In Exitu Israel," &c. In Two Vols. 
 Crown 8vo. \6s. Vol. I. Adam to Abraham. Vol. II. Mel- 
 chizedek to Zechariah. 
 
 Mr. Bar ing- Gould's previous contributions to the History of Mythology 
 and the formation of a science of comparative religion are admitted to be 
 .of high importance; the present work, it is believed, will be found to 
 be of equal value. He has collected from the Talmud and other sources, 
 Jewish and Mohammedan, a large number of curious and interesting 
 legends concerning the principal characters of the Old Testament, com- 
 paring these frequently with similar legends current among many of the 
 peoples, savage and civilized, all over the world. ' ' These volumes contain 
 much that is very strange, and, to the ordinary English reader, very 
 novel.'" DAILY NE\VS. 
 
 Barker (Lady). See also BELLES LETTRES CATALOGUE. 
 
 STATION LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND. By LADY BARKER. 
 Second and Cheaper Edition. Globe 8vo. 3-r. 6d. 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. ^ 
 
 These letters are the exact account of a lady's experience of the brighter 
 and. less practical side of colonization. They record the expeditions, ad- 
 ventures, and emergencies diversifying the daily life of the ivife of a New 
 Zealand sheep-farmer ; and, as each was written while the novelty and 
 excitement oj the scenes it describes were fresh upon her, they may succeed 
 in giving here in England an adequate impression of the delight and free- 
 dom of an existence so far removed from our own highly -wrought civiliza- 
 tion. ' ' We have Jiever read a more truthful or a pleasanter little book. " 
 ATHENAEUM. 
 
 Bernard, St. See MORISON. 
 
 Blanford (W. T.) GEOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY OF 
 ABYSSINIA. By W. T. BLANFORD. 8vo. 21 j. 
 
 This work contains an account of the Geological and Zoological 
 Observations made by the author in Abyssinia, when accompanying the 
 British Army on its march to Magdala and back in 1868, and during a 
 short journey in Northern Abyssinia, after the departure of the troops, 
 Parti. Personal Narrative; Part II. Geology; Part III. Zoology. 
 With Coloured Illustrations and Geological Map. "The result of his 
 labours," the ACADEMY says, "is an important contribution to the 
 natural history of the country." 
 
 Bryce. THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. By JAMES BRYCE, 
 D.C.L., Regius Professor of Civil Law, Oxford. New and Re- 
 vised Edition. Crown 8vo. *]s. 6d. 
 
 The object of this treatise is not so much to give a narrative history of 
 the countries included in the Romano- Germanic Empire Italy during the 
 Middle Ages, Germany from the ninth century to thenineteenth as to describe 
 the Holy Empire itself as an institution or system, the wonderful offspring 
 of a body oj beliefs and traditions which have almost wholly passed away 
 from the world. To make such a description intelligible it has appeared 
 best to give the book the form rather of a narrative than of a dissertation ; 
 and to combine with an exposition of what may be called the theory of the 
 Empire an outline of the political history of Germany, as well as some 
 notice of the affairs of mediaeval Italy. Nothing else so directly linked the 
 old world to the new as the Roman Empire, which exercised over the minds of 
 men an influence such as its material strength could never have commanded. 
 It is of this influence, and the causes that gave it porver, that the present 
 work is designed to treat. "It exactly supplies a want : it affords a key 
 
 A 2 
 
4 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 to mttch which men read of in their books as isolated facts, but of which they 
 have hitherto had no connected exposition set before them. We know of no- 
 writer who has so thoroiighly grasped the real natiire of the medieval 
 Empire, and its relations alike to earlier and to later times" SATURDAY 
 "REVIEW. 
 
 Burke (Edmund).^ MORLEY (JOHN). 
 
 Cameos from English History See YONGE (Miss), 
 
 Chatterton. see WILSON (DANIEL). 
 
 Cooper. ATHENE CANTABRIGIENSES. By CHARLES 
 HENRY COOPER, F.S.A., and THOMPSON COOPER, F.S.A. 
 Vol. I. 8vo., 150085, iSs. ; Vol. II., 15861609, iBs. 
 
 This elaborate work, which is dedicated by pel-mission to Lord Macaulay, 
 contains lives of the eminent men sent Jorth by Cambridge* after the 
 fashion of Anthony a Wood, in his famous "Athena Oxonienses" 
 
 COX (G. V., M.A.) RECOLLECTIONS OF OXFORD. 
 By G. V. Cox, M.A., New College, late Esquire Bedel and 
 Coroner in the University of Oxford. Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 
 
 6S. 
 
 "An amusing farrago of anecdote, and will pleasantly recall injnany 
 a country parsonage the memory of youthful days." TIMES. " Those 
 who wish t& make acquaintance with the Oxjord of their grandfathers, 
 and to keep iip the intercourse with Alma Mater during their father 1 s time, 
 tven to the latest novelties in fashion or learning of the present day, will do 
 well to procure this pleasant, unpretending litlle volume." ATLAS. 
 
 J Daily News." THE DAILY NEWS CORRESPOND- 
 
 ENCE of the War between Germany and France, 1870 I. Edited 
 with Notes and Comments. New Edition. Complete in One 
 Volume. With Maps and Plans. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 This Correspondence has been translated into German. In a Preface 
 the Editor says: 
 
 " Among the various pictures, recitals, and descriptions which have 
 appeared, both of our gloriously ended national war as a whole, and of its 
 several episodes, we think that in laying before the German pziblic, through 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. 
 
 a translation, the following War Letters which, appeared first in the DAILY 
 NEWS, and were afterwards published collectivelv, we are offering them a 
 picture of the events of the war of a qiiite peculiar character. Their com - 
 munications have the advantage of being at once entertaining and instruc- 
 tive, free from every romantic embellishment, and nevertheless written 
 in a vein intelligible and not fatiguing to the general reader. The writers 
 linger over events, and do not disdain to surround the great and heroic 
 war-pictures with arabesques, gay and grave, taken from camp-life and 
 the life of the inhabitants of the occupied territory. A feature which 
 distinguishes tJuse Letters from all other delineations of the ^varis that they 
 do not proceed from a single pen, btit were written from the camps of both 
 belligerents." " These notes and comments" according to the SATURDAY 
 REVIEW, " are in reality a very well executed and continuous history." 
 
 Dilke. GREATER BRITAIN. A Record of Travel in English- 
 speaking Countries during 1866-7. (America, Australia, India.) 
 By Sir CHARLES WENTWORTH DILKE, M.P. Fifth Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " Mr. Dilke," says the SATURDAY REVIEW, " has written a book which 
 is probably as well worth reading as any book of the same aims and 
 character that ever was written. Its merits are that it is written in a 
 iively and agreeable style, that it implies a great deal oj physical pluck, 
 that no page of it fails to show an acute and highly intelligent observer, 
 that it stimulates the imagination as well as the judgment of the reader, 
 And thatjt is on perhaps the most interesting subject that can attract an 
 Englishman who cares about his country" " Many of tlie subjects dis- 
 cussed in these pages" says the DAILY NEWS, "are of the widest interest, 
 and such as no man who cares for the future of his race a/id of the world 
 can afford to treat with indifference." 
 
 Diirer (Albrecht). HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF AL- 
 
 BRECHT DURER, of Niirnberg. With a Translation of his 
 Letters and Journal, and some account of his Works. By Mrs. 
 CHARLES HEATON. Royal 8vo. bevelled boards, extra gilt. 31-5-. 6d. 
 
 This work contains about Thirty Illustrations, ten of which art produc- 
 tions by the Autotype (carbon} process, and are printed in permanent tints 
 >by Messrs. Cundall and Fleming, under licence from the Autotype Com- 
 pany, Limited ; the rest are Photographs and Woodcuts. 
 
6 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Elliott. LIFE OF HENRY VENN ELLIOTT, of Brighton. 
 By JOSIAH BATEMAN, M.A., Author of "Life of Daniel Wilson, 
 Bishop of Calcutta," &c. With Portrait, engraved by JEENS ; 
 and an Appendix containing a short sketch of the life of the Rev. 
 Julius Elliott (who met with accidental death while ascending the 
 Schreckhom in July 1869.) Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. Third and 
 Cheaper Edition, with Appendix. 
 
 " A very charming piece of religions biography ; no one can read it 
 without both pleasure and profit." BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 European History, Narrated in a Series of Historical 
 Selections from the best Authorities. Edited and arranged by 
 E. M. SEWELL and C. M. YONGE. First Series, crown 8vo. 6s. ; 
 Second Series, 1088-1228, crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 When young children have acquired the outlines of history from abridg- 
 ments and catechisms, and it becomes desirable to give a more enlarged 
 view of the subject, in order to render it really useful and interesting* a 
 difficulty often arises as to the choice of books. Two courses are open, either 
 to take a general and consequently dry history oj facts, such as RusselVs 
 Modern Europe, or to choose some work treating of a particular period or 
 subject, such as the works of Macaulay and Froude. The former course 
 usually renders history uninteresting ; the latter is unsatisfactory, because 
 it is not sufficiently comprehensive. To remedy this difficulty, selections, 
 continuous and chronological, have in the present vohime been taken frtm 
 the larger works oj Freeman, Milman, Palgrave, Lingard, Hume, and 
 others, which may serve as distinct landmarks of historical reading. 
 " We knoiv of scarcely anything," says the GUARDIAN, of this volume, 
 "which is so likely to raise to a higher level the. average standard of English 
 education." 
 
 Fairfax (Lord). A LIFE OF THE GREAT LORD FAIR- 
 FAX, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Parliament of 
 England. By CLEMENTS ,R. MARKHAM, F.S.A. With Portraits, 
 Maps, Plans, and Illustrations. Demy 8vo. i6.r. 
 
 No full Life of the great Parliamentary Commander has appeared ; 
 and it is here sought to produce one based upon careful research in con- 
 temporary records and upon family and other documents. " Highly 
 useful to the careful student of the History of the Civil War. . . . Pro- 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, S- TRAVELS, 7 
 
 bably as a military chronicle Mr. Markham's book is one of the most full 
 and accurate that we possess about the Civil War." FORTNIGHTLY 
 REVIEW. 
 
 Faraday. MICHAEL FARADAY. By j. n. GLADSTONE, 
 
 Ph. D. , F. R. S. Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. Second Edition, with Portrait. 
 
 This Sketch of the Life, many-sided Character, and Work of Farada^ 
 is founded mainly upon the Author's own reminiscences' of his friend, 
 upon documents hitherto unpublished, and sketches of the philosopher which 
 are less generally known, so that it may be regarded as almost entirely an 
 addition to what has already been published on the same subject. The 
 Sections are : /. The Story of his Life. II. Study of his Character- 
 Ill. Fruits of his Experience. IV. His Method of Writing. V. The 
 Value of his Discoveries. Supplementary Portraits. Appendices : List 
 of Honorary Fellowships, etc. 
 
 Field (E. W.) EDWIN WILKINS FIELD. A Memorial 
 Sketch. By THOMAS SADLER, Ph. D. With a Portrait. Crown 
 8vo. 4.9. 6d. 
 
 Mr. Field was well known during his life-time not only as an eminent 
 lawyer and a strenuous and successful advocate of law reform, but, both 
 in England and America, as a man of wide and thorough culture, varied 
 tastes, large-heartedness, and lofty aims. His sudden death was looked 
 upon as a public loss, and' it is expected that this brief Memoir will be 
 acceptable to a large number besides the many friends at whose request 
 it has been written. 
 
 Freeman. Works by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, M.A., D.C.L. 
 
 "That special power over a subject which conscientious and patient 
 research can only achieve, a strong grasp of facts, a true mastery over 
 detail, with a clear and manly style all these qualities join to make 
 the Historian of the Conquest conspicuous in the intellectual arena." 
 ACADEMY. 
 
 HISTORY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, from the Foun- 
 dation of the Achaian League to the Disruption of the United 
 States. Vol. I. General Introduction. History of the Greek 
 Federations. 8vo. 2is. 
 
8 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 Freeman (E. A.) continued. 
 
 Mr. Freemarfs aim, in this elaborate and valuable work, is not so 
 much to discuss the abstract nature of Federal Government, as to exhibit 
 its actual working in ages and countries widely removed from one another. 
 Four Federal Commonwealths stand out, in four different ages of the world, 
 as commanding above all others the attention of students of political history, 
 viz. the Achaian League, the Swiss Cantons, the United Provinces, the 
 United States. The first volume, besides containing a General Introduc- 
 tion, treats of the first of these. In writing this volume the author has 
 endeavoured to combine a text which may be instructive and interesting to 
 any thoughtful reader, whether specially learned or not, with notes which 
 may satisfy the requirements of the most exacting scholar. " The task 
 Mr. Freeman has -undertaken" the SATURDAY REVIEW says, "is one 
 of great magnitude and importance. It is also a task of an almost 
 entirely novel character. No other work professing to give the history of 
 a political principle occurs to us, except the slight contributions to the 
 history of representative government that is contained in a course of 
 M. Guizofs lectures .... The history of the development of a principle 
 is at least as important as the history of a dynasty, or of a race" 
 
 OLD ENGLISH HISTORY. With Five Coloured Maps. Second 
 
 Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo., half-bound. 6s. 
 
 " Its object," the Preface says, "is to show that clear, accurate, and 
 scientific views of history, or indeed of any subject, may be easily given to 
 children from the very first. . . . / have throughout striven to connect the 
 history of England with the general history of civilized Europe, and I have 
 especially tried to make the book serve as an incentive to a more accurate 
 study of historic geography. " The rapid sale of the first edition and the 
 universal approval with which the work has been received prove the correct- 
 ness of the author's notions, and show that for such a book there was ample 
 room. The work is suited not only for children, but will sei-ve as an ex- 
 cellent text-book for older students, a clear and faithjul summary of the 
 history of the period for those who wish to revive their historical know- 
 ledge, and a book full of charms for the general reader. The work is 
 preceded by a complete chronological Table, and appended is an exhaustive 
 and useful Index. In the present edition the whole has been carefully revised, 
 and such improvements as suggested themselves have been introduced. 
 " The book indeed is full of instruction and interest to students of all 
 ages, and he must be a well-informed man indeed who will not rise from 
 its perusal with clearer and more accurate ideas of a too much neglected 
 portion of English history" SPECTATOR. 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. 9 
 
 Freeman (E. A.) continued. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF WELLS, 
 
 as illustrating the History of the Cathedral Churches of the Old 
 Foundation. Crown 8vo. 2 s - &/. 
 
 ' / have here" the author says, "tried to treat the history of the 
 Chiirch of Wells as a contribution to the general history of the Church 
 and Kingdom of England, and specially to the history of Cathedral 
 Churches of the Old Foundation. . . . / wish to point out the general 
 principles of the original founders as the model to which the Old Foun- 
 dations should be brought back, and the New Foundations reformed aftei' 
 their pattern.' 1 '' " The history assumes in Mr. Freeman's hands a signi- 
 ficance, and, we may add, a practical value as suggestive of what a cathe- 
 dral ought to be, which make it well worthy of 'mention, ," SPECTATOR. 
 
 HISTORICAL ESSAYS. Second Edition. 8vo. los. 6d. 
 
 The principle on which these Essays have been chosen is that 
 of selecting papers which refer to comparatively modem times, or, at 
 least, to the existing states and nations of Ettrope. By a sort of accident 
 a number of the pieces chosen have thrown themselves into something like 
 a continuous series bearing on the historical causes of the great events of 
 1870 71. Notes have been added whenever they seemed to be called for ; 
 andivhenever he could gain in accuracy of statement or in force or clear- 
 ness of expression, the author has freely changed, added to, or left out, 
 what he originally wrote. To many of the Essays has been added a short 
 note of the circumstances tinder which they wei'e written. It is needless to 
 say that any product of Mr. Freeman 's pen is worthy of attentive perusal ; 
 and it is believed that the contents of this volume will throw light on 
 smeral subjects of great historical importance and the widest interest. 
 The following is a list of the subjects : I. The Mythical and Romantic 
 Elements in Early English History; 2. The Continuity of English 
 History ; 3 . The Relations between the Crowns of England and Scotland ; 
 4. Saint Thomas of Canterbury and his Biographers ; 5- The Reign of 
 Edward the Third; 6. The Holy Roman Empire ; 7. The Franks and 
 the Gauls ; 8. The Early Sieges of Paris ; 9. Frederick the First, King 
 of Italy ; 10. The Emperor Frederick the Second ; II. Charles the Bold ; 
 12. Presidential Government. " He never touches a question without 
 adding to ottr comprehension of it, without leaving the impression of an 
 ample knowledge, a righteous ptirpose, a clear and powerful under- 
 standing.'" -SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 A Second Series of HISTORICAL ESSAYS in the Press. 
 
io MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Freeman (E. A.) continued. 
 
 GENERAL SKETCH OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. Being 
 Vol. I. of an Historical Course for Schools. Edited by E. A. 
 FREEMAN, D.C.L. i8mo. cloth. %s. 6d. 
 
 The present volume is meant to be introductory to the Historical Course 
 for Schools. It is intended to give, as its name implies, a general sketch of 
 the history of the civilized world, that is, of Europe, and of the lands which 
 have drawn their civilization from Europe. Its object is to trace out the 
 general relations of different periods and different countries to one another, 
 'without going minutely into the affairs of any particular country. This is 
 an object of the first importance, for, without clear notions of general history, 
 the history of particular countries can never be rightly understood. The 
 narrative extends from the earliest movements of the Aryan peoples, dorvn 
 to the latest events both on the Eastern and Western Continents. The 
 book consists oj seventeen moderately sized chapters, each chapter being 
 divided into a number of short numbered paragraphs, each with a title 
 prefixed clearly indicative of the subject of the paragraph. 
 
 THE UNITY OF HISTORY. The "REDE" LECTURE delivered 
 in the Senate House, before the University of Cambridge, on 
 Friday, May 24th, 1872. Crown 8vo. 2s. 
 
 THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION FROM 
 THE EARLIEST TIMES. Crown 8vo. 5-y. 
 
 TTie three Chapters of which this work consists are an expansion of two 
 Lectures delivered by Mr. Freeman ; appended are copious notes, the whole 
 book forming a graphic and interesting sketch of the history of the British 
 Constitution, from an original point of view. The Author shows that the 
 characteristic elements of the British Constitution are common to the whole 
 of the Aryan nations. His "object has been to show that the earliest 
 institutions , of England and of other Teutonic lands are not mere matters 
 of curious speculation, but matters closely connected with our present politi- 
 cal being. I wish to show" he says, "that, in many things, our earliest 
 institutions come more nearly home to us, and that they have more in common 
 with our present political state, than the institutions of intermediate ages 
 which at first sight seem to have much more in common with our own.'' 
 He attempts to shew that "freedom is everywhere older than bondage," 
 " toleration than intolerance.' 1 ' 1 "No book could possibly be more useful 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. n 
 
 to students of our Constitutional history, or a more pleasant means of 
 conveying information about it to the public at large." SATURDAY 
 REVIEW. 
 
 Galileo. THE PRIVATE LIFE OF GALILEO. Compiled 
 
 principally from his Correspondence and that of his eldest 
 daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, Nun in the Franciscan Convent of 
 S. Matthew in Arcetri. With Portrait. Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. 
 
 It has been the endeavour of the compiler to place before the reader a 
 plain, ungarbkd statement of facts ; and, as a means to this end, to allow 
 Galileo, his friends, and his judges to speak for themselves as far as possible. 
 All the best authorities have been made use of, and all the materials which 
 exist for a biography have been in this vohime put into a symmetrical form. 
 The result is a most touching picture skilfully arranged of the great heroic 
 man of science and his devoted daughter, whose letters are full of the deepest 
 reverential love and trust, amply repaid by the noble soul. The SATUR- 
 DAY REVIEW says of the book, "It is not so much the philosopher as the 
 man who is seen in this simple and life-like sketch, and the hand which 
 portrays the features and actions is mainly that of one who had studied the 
 subject the closest and the most intimately. This little volume has done 
 much within its slender compass to prove the depth and tenderness of 
 Galileo's heart.'''' 
 
 Gladstone (Right Hon. W. E., M.P.) JUVENTUS 
 MUNDI. The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age. Crown 8vo. 
 cloth. With Map. los. 6d. Second Edition. 
 
 This work of Mr. Gladstone deals especially with the historic element 
 in Homer, expounding that element and furnishing by its aid a full 
 account of the Homeric men and the Homeric religion. It starts, after 
 the introductory chapter, with a discussion of the several races then existing 
 in Hellas, including the influence of the Phoenicians and Egyptians. It 
 contains chapters on the Olympian system, with its several deities / on the 
 Ethics and the Polity of the Heroic age ; on the Geography of Homer ; on 
 the characters of the Poems ; presenting, in fine, a view of primitive life 
 and primitive society as found in the poems of Homer. To this New 
 Edition various additions have been made. " Seldom, " says the ATHE- 
 ULEUM, tl out of the great poems themselves, have these Divinities looked 
 so majestic and respectable. To read these brilliant details is like standing 
 on the Olympian threshold and gazing at the inejfable brightness within. " 
 
12 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 tl There is," according to /^WESTMINSTER REVIEW, "probably no other 
 writer now living who could have done the work of this book. . . It would 
 be difficult to point out a book that contains so much fulness of knowledge 
 along with so much freshness of perception and clearness of presentation." 
 
 GOETHE AND MENDELSSOHN (18211831). From the 
 German of Dr. KARL MENDELSSOHN, Son of the Composer, by 
 M. E. VON GLEHN. From the Private Diaries and Home- 
 Letters of Mendelssohn, with Poems and Letters of Goethe never 
 before printed. Also with two New and Original Portraits, Fac- 
 similes, and Appendix of Twenty Letters hitherto unpublished. 
 Crown 8vo. 5-r. 
 
 This little volume is full of interesting details about Mendelssohn from 
 his twelfth year onwards, and especially of his intimate and frequent in- 
 tercourse with Goethe. It is an episode of Wiemar's golden days which we 
 see before us old age and fame hand in hand with youth in its aspiring 
 efforts ; the aged poet fondling the curls of the little musician and calling 
 to him in playful and endearing accents "to make a little noise for him, 
 and awaken the winged spirits that have so long lain slumbering." Here 
 wttl be found letters and reports of conversations between the two, touching 
 on all subjects, human and divine Music, Esthetics, Art, Poetry, Science, 
 Morals, and " the profound and ancient problem of human life," 11 as well 
 as reminiscences of celebrated men with whom the great composer came in 
 contact. The letters appended give, among other matters, some interesting 
 glimpses into the private life of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the late 
 Prince Albert. The two well-executed engravings shcnv Mendelssohn as a 
 beautiful boy of twelve years. 
 
 GuizOt. M. DE BAR ANTE, a Memoir, Biographical and Auto- 
 biographical. By M. GUIZOT. Translated by the Author of 
 "JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN." Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 
 "It is scarcely necessary to. write a preface to this book. Its lifelike, 
 portrait of a true and great man, painted unconsciously by himself in his 
 letters and autobiography, and retouched and completed by the tender hand 
 of his surviving friend the friend of a lifetime is sure, I think, to be 
 appreciated in England as it was in France, where it appeared in the 
 Revue de Deux Mondes. Also, I believe every thoughtful mind will 
 enjoy its clear reflections of French and European politics and history for 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, &* TRAVELS. 13 
 
 the last seventy years, and the curious light thus thrown upon many present 
 events and combinations of circumstances." PREFACE. " The highest 
 purposes of both history and biography are answered by a memoir so life- 
 like, so faithful, and so philosophical"'' BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 " This eloquent memoir, which for tenderness, gracefulness, and vigour, 
 might be placed on the same shelf with Tacitus' Life of Agricola. . . . Mrs. 
 Craik has rendered the language of Guizot in her own sweet translucent 
 English.'" DAILY NEWS. 
 
 Hole. A GENEALOGICAL STEMMA OF THE KINGS 
 OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE. By the Rev. C. HOLE 
 M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge. On Sheet, is. 
 
 The different families are printed in distinguishing colours, thus facili- 
 tating reference. 
 
 Hozier (H. M.) Works by CAPTAIN HENRY M. HOZIER, 
 late Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Napier of Magdala. 
 
 THE SEVEN WEEKS' WAR; Its Antecedents and Incidents. 
 New and Cheaper Edition. With New Preface, Maps, and Plans. 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 This account of the brief but momentous Austro- Prussian War of 1866 
 claims consideration as being the product of an eye-witness of some of its 
 most interesting incidents. The author has attempted to ascertain and 
 to advance facts. Two maps are given, one illustrating the opera- 
 tions of the Army of the Maine, and the other the operations from 
 Kb'niggrdtz. In the Prejatory Chapter to this edition, events resulting 
 from the war of 1866 are set forth, and the current of European history 
 traced down to the recent Franco-Prtissian war, a natural consequence 
 of the war whose history is narrated in this vohime. ''''Mr. Hozier 
 added to the knowledge of military operations and of languages, which 
 he had proved himself to possess, a ready and skilful pen, and ex- 
 cellent faculties of observation and description. . . . All that Mr. 
 Hozier saw of the great events of the war and he saw a large share 
 of them he describes in clear and vivid language" SATURDAY 
 REVIEW. " Mr. Hozier 's volumes deserve to take a permanent place 
 in the literature of the Seven Weeks' War." PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Hozier (H. M.) continued. 
 
 THE BRITISH EXPEDITION TO ABYSSINIA. Compiled from 
 Authentic Documents. 8vo. gs. 
 
 Several accounts of the British Expedition have been published. 
 They have, however, been written by those who have not had access to those 
 authentic documents, which cannot be collected directly after the termination 
 of a campaign. The endeavour of the author of this sketch has been to 
 present to readers a succinct and impartial account of an enterprise which 
 has rarelv been equalled in the annals of war. " This" says the 
 SPECTATOR, "will be the. account of the Abyssinian Expedition for 
 professional reference^ if not for professional reading. Its literary 
 merits are really very great." 
 
 THE INVASIONS OF ENGLAND. A History of the Past, with 
 Lessons for the Future. [In the press. 
 
 Huyshe (Captain G. L.) THE RED RIVER EXPE- 
 DITION. By Captain G. L. HUYSHE, Rifle Brigade, late on 
 the Staff of Colonel Sir GARNET WOLSELEY. With Maps. 8vo. 
 ioj. 6d. 
 
 TJiis account has been -written in the hope of directing attention 
 to the successful accomplishment of an expedition which was attended with 
 more than ordinary difficulties. The author has had access to the official 
 documents of the Expedition, and has also availed himself of the reports on 
 the line of route published by Mr. Dawson, C.E., and by the Typogra- 
 phical Department of the War Office. The statements made may therefore 
 be relied on as accurate and impartial. The endeavour has been made to 
 avoid tiring the general reader with dry details of military movements, and 
 yet not to sacrifice the character of the work as an account of a military 
 expedition. The volume contains a portrait of President Louis Riel, and 
 Maps of the route. The ATHENAEUM calls it " an enduring authentic 
 record of one of the most creditable achievements ever accomplished by the 
 British Army." 
 
 INSIDE PARIS DURING THE SIEGE. By an OXFORD 
 GRADUATE. Crown 8vo. 7-r. 6d. 
 
 This volume consists of the diary kept by a gentleman who lived in Paris 
 during the whole of its siege by the Prussians. He had many facilities for 
 coming in contact with men of all parties and of all classes, and ascertain- 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. 15 
 
 ing the actual motives ^uhich animated them, and their real ultimate aims. 
 These facilities he took advantage of, and in his diary, day by day, care- 
 fully recorded the resiilts of his observations, as "well as faithfully but 
 graphically photographed the various incidents of the siege which came 
 under his own notice, the actual condition of the besieged, the sayings and 
 doings, the hopes and fears of the people among whom he freely moved. 
 In the Appendix is an exhaustive and elaborate account of the Organization 
 of the Republican party, sent to the author by M. Jules Andrieu ; and a 
 translation of the Manifesto of the Commune to the People of England, 
 dated April 19, 1871. " The author tells his story admirably. The 
 Oxford Graduate seems to have gone everywhere, heard what everyone had 
 to say, and so been able to give us photographs of Paris life during the 
 siege which, we have not had from any other source." SPECTATOR. 
 " He has written brightly, lightly, and pleasantly, yet in perfect good 
 taste." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Irving. THE ANNALS OF OUR TIME. A Diurnal of Events, 
 Social and Political, Home and Foreign, from the Accession of 
 Queen Victoria to the Peace of Versailles. By JOSEPH IRVING. 
 Third Edition. 8vo. half-bound. i6s. 
 
 Every occurrence, metropolitan or provincial, home or foreign, which 
 gave rise to public excitement or discussion, or became the starting point for 
 new trains of thought affecting our social life, has been judged proper matter 
 for this volume. In the proceedings of Parliament, an endeavour has 
 been made to notice all those Debates %vhich were either remarkable as 
 affecting the fate of parties , or led to important changes in our relations 
 with Foreign Poivers. Brief notices have been given of the death of all 
 noteworthy persons. Though the events are set down day by day in their 
 order of occurrence, the book is, in its way, the history of an important 
 and well-defined historic cycle. In these ' Annals," 1 the ordinary reader 
 may make himself acquainted with the history of his own time in a way 
 that has at least the merit of simplicity and readiness ; the more cultivated 
 student will doubtless be thankful for the opportunity given him of passing 
 down the historic stream undisturbed by any other theoretical or party 
 feeling than what he himself has at hand to explain the philosophy of our 
 national story. A complete and useful Index is appended. The Table 
 of Administrations is designed to assist the reader in following the various 
 political changes noticed in. their chronological order in the 'Annals? 
 In the new edition all errors and omissions have been rectified, 300 pages 
 been added, and as many as 46 occupied by an impartial exhibition of the 
 
1 6 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 wonderful series of ments marking the latter half 0/~ 1870. " We 
 have before us a trusty and ready guide to the events of the past thirty 
 years, available equally for the statesman, the politician, the public 
 "writer, and the general reader. If Mr. Irving 's object has been to bring 
 before the reader all the most noteworthy occurrences which have happened 
 since the beginning of her Majesty's reign, he may justly claim the credit 
 of having done so most briefly, sticcinctly, and simply, and in such a 
 manner, too, as to furnish him with the details necessary in each case to 
 comprehend the event of which he is in search in an intelligent manner" 
 TIMES. 
 
 Kingsiey (Canon). Works by the Rev. CHARLES KINGSLEY, 
 M.A., Rector of Eversley and Canon of Chester. (For other 
 Works by the same Author, see THEOLOGICAL and BELLES 
 LETTRES Catalogues.) 
 
 ON THE ANCIEN REGIME as it existed on the Continent before 
 the FRENCH REVOLUTION. Three Lectures delivered at the 
 Royal Institution. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 These three lectures discuss severally (i) Caste, (2) Centralization, (3) 
 The Explosive Forces by which the Revolution was superinduced. The 
 Preface deals at some length with certain political questions of the present 
 Jay. 
 
 AT LAST : A CHRISTMAS in the WEST INDIES. With nearly 
 Fifty Illustrations. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 
 
 Mr. Kingsiey' s dream of forty years was at last fulfilled, when he 
 started on a Christmas expedition to the West Indies, for the purpose of 
 becoming personally acquainted with the scenes which he has so vividly 
 described in " Westward Ho !" These two volumes are the journal of his 
 voyage. Records of natural history, sketches of tropical landscape, chapters 
 on education, views of society, all find their place in a work written, so to 
 say, under the inspiration of Sir Walter Raleigh and the other adventurous 
 men who three hundred years ago disputed against Philip II. the possession 
 of the Spanish Main. " We can only say that Mr. Kingsley's account of 
 a ' Christmas in the West Indies ' is in every way worthy to be classed 
 among his happiest productions" STANDARD. 
 
 THE ROMAN AND THE TEUTONi A Series of Lectures 
 delivered before the University of Cambridge. 8vo. 12s. 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. 17 
 
 CONTENTS -.Inaugural Lecture; The Forest Children; The Dyiaig 
 Empire; The Human Deluge ; The Gothic Civilizer ; Dietrich's End; The 
 Nemesis of the Goths ; Paulus Diaconus ; The Clergy and the Heathen ; 
 The Monk a Civilizer ; The Lombard Laws ; The Popes and the Lombards ; 
 The Strategy of Providence. "He has rendered" says the NONCON- 
 FORMIST, "good service and shed a new lustre on the chair of Modern 
 History at Cambridge .... He has thrown a charm around the work 
 by the marvellous fascinations of his own genius, brought out in strong 
 relief those great principles of which all history is a revelation, lighted 
 up many dark and almost unknown spots, and stirmilated the desire to 
 understand more thoroughly one of the greatest movements in the story of 
 humanity." 
 
 Kingsley (Henry, F.R.G.S.) For other Works by same 
 Author, see BELLES LETTRES CATALOGUE. 
 
 TALES OF OLD TRAVEL. Re-narrated by HENRY KINGSLEY, 
 F.R.G.S. With Eight Illustrations by HUARD. Third Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 In this volume Mr. Henry Kingsley re-narrates, at the same time 
 preserving much of the quaintness of the original, some of the most fasci- 
 nating tales of travel contained in the collections of Hakluyt and others. The 
 CONTENTS are Marco Polo ; The Shipwreck of Pelsart; The Wonderful 
 Adventures of Andrew Battel; The Wanderings of a Capuchin; Peter 
 Carder; The Preservation of the "Terra Nova;" Spitzbergen; D'Erme- 
 nonvilti s Acclimatization Adventure ; The Old Slave Trade ; Miles Philips ; 
 The Sufferings of Robert Everard ; John Fox ; Alvaro Nunez ; The Foun- 
 dation of an Empire. " We know no better book for those who want 
 kncnuledge or seek to refresh it. As for the * sensational,' most novels are 
 tame compared with these narratives" ATHENAEUM. "Exactly the 
 book to interest and to do good to intelligent and high-spirited boys." 
 LITERARY CHURCHMAN. 
 
 Labouchere. DIARY OF THE BESIEGED RESIDENT 
 
 IN PARIS. Reprinted from the Daily Ne^us, with several New 
 Letters and Preface. By HENRY LABOUCHERE. Third Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' ' The * Diary of a Besieged Resident in Paris ' will certainly form one 
 of the most remarkable records of a momentous episode in history." SPEC- 
 TATOR. " There is an entire absence of affectation in this writer which 
 
 B 
 
iS MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 vastly commends him to us." PALL MALL GAZETTE. ", On the whole, 
 it does not seem likely that the ' besieged ' will be superseded in his self- 
 assumed function by any subsequent chronicler." BRITISH QUARTERLY 
 REVIEW. ' ' Very smartly written. " VANITY FAI R. 
 
 Macmillan (Rev. Hugh). For other Works by same Author, 
 see THEOLOGICAL and SCIENTIFIC CATALOGUES. 
 
 HOLIDAYS ON HIGH LANDS ; or, Rambles and Incidents in 
 search of Alpine Plants. Crown 8vo. cloth. 6s. 
 
 The aim of this book is to impart a general idea of the origin, character, 
 and distribution of those rare and beautiful Alpine plants which occur on 
 the British hills, and -which are found almost everywhere on the lofty 
 mountain chains of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The informa- 
 tion the author has to give is conveyed in untechnical language, in a 
 setting oj personal adventure, and associated with descriptions of the 
 natural scenery and the peculiarities of the human life in the midst of which 
 the plants were found. By this method the subject is made interesting to 
 a very large class of readers. ' ' Botanical knowledge is blended with a 
 love of nattire, a pious enthusiasm, and a rich felicity of diction not to be 
 met with in any works of kindred character, if we except those of Hugh 
 Miller." TELEGRAPH. "Mr. M.'s glowing pictures of Scandinavian 
 scenery. " SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Martin (Frederick) THE STATESMAN'S YEAR-BOOK : 
 
 See p. 41 of this Catalogue. 
 
 Martineau. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 18521868. 
 By HARRIET MARTINEAU. Third and Cheaper Edition, with 
 New Preface. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 A Collection of Memoirs under these several sections: (i) Royal, (2) 
 Politicians, (3) Professional, (4) Scientific, (5) Social, (6) Literary. These 
 Memoirs appeared originally in the columns of the DAILY NEWS. " Miss 
 Martineads large literary powers and her fine intellectual training make 
 these little sketches more instructive, and constitute tfiem more genuinely 
 works of art, than many more ambitious and diffuse biographies. ,"- 
 FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. "Each memoir is a complete digest of a 
 celebrated life, illuminated by the flood of searching light which streams 
 from the gaze of an acute but liberal mind" MORNING STAR. 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, '& TRAVELS. 19 
 
 Masson (David). For other Works by same Author, see PHILO- 
 SOPHICAL and BELLES LETTRES CATALOGUES. 
 
 LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. Narrated in connection with the 
 Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of his Time. By 
 DAVID MASSON, M. A., LL.D., Professor of Rhetoric and English 
 Literature in the University of Edinburgh. Vol. I. with Portraits. 
 8vo. iSs. Vol. II. , 16381643. 8vo. 16^, VoJ. III. in the 
 press. 
 
 This work is not only a Biography, but also a continuous Political, 
 Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of England through Milton's whole 
 time. In order to understand Milton, his position, his motives, his 
 thoughts by himself, his public words to his countrymen, and the probable 
 effect of those words, it was necessary to refer largely to the History of his- 
 Time, not only as it is presented in well-known books, but as it had to be 
 rediscovered by express and laborious investigation in original and forgotten 
 records : thus of the Biography, a History grew : not a mere popular 
 compilation, but a work of independent search and method from first to 
 last, which has cost more labour by far than the Biography. The second 
 volume is so arranged that the reader may select or omit either the History 
 or Biography. The NORTH BRITISH REVIEW, speaking of the first 
 volume of this work said, ' ' The Life of Milton is here written once for 
 //." The NONCONFORMIST, in noticing the second volume, says, "Its 
 literary excellence entitles it to take its place in the first ranks 0f eur 
 literature, while the whole style of its execution marks it as the only btok 
 that has done anything like adequate justice to one of the great masters of our 
 language, and one of our truest patriots, as well as our greatest epic poet S* 
 
 Mayor (J. E. B.) WORKS Edited By JOHN E. B. MAYOR, 
 M.A., Kennedy Professor of Latin at Cambridge. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Part II. 
 Autobiography of Matthew Robinson. Fcap. 8vo. $s. 6d. 
 
 This is the second of the Memoirs illustrative of " Cambridge in the 
 Seventeenth Century" that of Nicholas Farrar having preceded it. It gives 
 a lively picture of England during the Civil Wars, the most important 
 crisis of our national life; it supplies materials for the history ef the 
 University and our Endowed Schools, and gives us a view of country 
 clergy at a time when they are supposed to have been, with scarce an ex- 
 
 B 2 
 
20 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 ception, scurrilous sots. Mr. Mayor has added a collection of extracts and 
 documents relating to the history of several other Cambridge men of note 
 belonging to the same period, all, like Robinson, of Nonconformist leanings. 
 
 LIFE OF BISHOP BEDELL. By his Sox. Fcap. 8vo. 3*. 6d. 
 
 This is the third of the Memoirs illustrative of' 1 Cambridge in the I*]th 
 Century. " The life of the Bishop of Kilmore here printed for the first time 
 is preserved in the Tanner MSS., and is preliminary to a larger one to be 
 issued shortly. 
 
 Mitford (A. B.) TALES OF OLD JAPAN. By A. B. 
 MITFORD, Second Secretary to the British Legation in Japan. 
 With upwards of 30 Illustrations, drawn and cut on Wood by 
 Japanese Artists. Two Vols. crown 8vo. 2 is. 
 
 Under the influence of more enlightened ideas and of a liberal system of 
 policy, the old Japanese civilization is fast disappearing, and will, in a 
 few years, be completely extinct. It was important, therefore, to preserve 
 as far as possible trustworthy records of a state of society which, although 
 venerable from its antiquity, has for Europeans the dawn of novelty ; 
 hence the series oj narratives and legends translated by Mr. Mitford, 
 and in which the Japanese are very judiciously left to tell their own tale. 
 The two vohimes comprise not only stories and episodes illustrative of 
 Asiatic superstitions, but also three sermons. The preface, appendices, 
 and notes explain a number of local peculiarities ; the thirty -one woodcuts 
 are the genuine work of a native artist, who, unconsciously of course, has 
 adopted the process first introduced by the early German masters. " These 
 very original volumes will always be interesting as memorials of a most 
 exceptional society, while regarded simply as tales, they are sparkling, sensa- 
 tional, and dramatic, and the originality of their ideas and the qtiainlness 
 of their language give them a most captivating piquancy. The illustra- 
 tiens are extremely interesting, and for the curious in such matters have 
 a special and particular value." PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Morley (John). EDMUND BURKE, a Historical Study. By 
 JOHN MORLEY, B.A. Oxon. Crown 8vo. 'js. 6</. 
 
 " The style is terse and incisive, and brilliant with epigram and point. 
 It contains pithy aphoristic sentences which Burke himself would not have 
 discnvned. Its sustained power of reasoning, its wide sweep of observation 
 and reflection, its elevated ethical and social tone, stamp it as a work of 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. 21 
 
 high excellence" SATURDAY REVIEW. "A model of compact conden 
 sation. We have seldom met with a book in "which so much matter was 
 compressed into so limited a space." PALL MALL GAZETTE. " An essay 
 of unusual effort." WESTMINSTER REVIEW. 
 
 Morison. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAINT BERNARD, 
 
 Abbot of Clairvaux. By JAMES COTTER MORISON, M.A. Cheaper 
 Edition. Crown 8vo. 4^. 6d. 
 
 The PALL MALL GAZETTE calls this " one of the best contributions in 
 our literature towards a vivid, intelligent, and worthy knowledge of 
 European interests and thoughts and feelings during the twelfth century. 
 A delightful and instructive volume, and one oj the best products of the 
 modern historic spirit" "A work" says the NONCONFORMIST, "of 
 great merit and value, dealing most thoroughly with one of the most in- 
 teresting characters, and one of the most interesting periods, in the Church 
 history of the Middle Ages. Mr. Morison is thoroughly master of his subject, 
 and writes with great discrimination and fairness, and in a chaste and 
 elegant style" The SPECTATOR says it is "not only distinguished by 
 research and candour, it has also the great merit of never being dull." 
 
 Napoleon I. THE HISTORY OF NAPOLEON THE 
 
 FIRST. By P. LANFREY. Translated with the sanction of the 
 Author. Vols. I. and II. 8vo. 12s. each. 
 
 M. Lanfrey 1 s History of Napoleon has taken its place in French litera- 
 ture as the standard history of the period with which it is concerned, 
 occupying a place similar to that occiipied by such histories as those of Pal- 
 grave and Froude in England. The author has written his history 
 tinder the belief that the time has come to form a clear-sighted estimate of 
 Napoleon 's Life and Character, uninfluenced either by that profound 
 hatred or profound attachment by which previous historians have allowed 
 their judgment to be biased. The QUARTERLY REVIEW, speaking of 
 the French edition, says that its scope and tendency throughout are to 
 disabuse the public mind of a cherished error, and at least compel a dis- 
 criminating judgment from posterity. . .... A startling amount of 
 
 new material for Napoleonic history has been brought to light within a few 
 years in the shape of Memoirs, Letters, and Despatches, and the whole 
 of these have been subjected to the minutest investigation by M. Lanfrey, 
 who has thereby been enabled to light up his narrative with numerous 
 traits and touches that give it an air of novelty, even when the scene is 
 
22 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 crowded with familiar faces aud the main action is well known. 1 " No one ' 
 who wishes to understand clearly and thoroughly the History of Napoleon 
 and his time can afford to omit reading the History of M. Lanfrey. 
 "An excellent translation of a work on every ground deserving to be trans- 
 lated. It is unquestionably and immeasurably the best that has been pro- 
 duced. It is in fact the only work to which we can turn for an accurate 
 and trustworthy narrative of that extraordinary career" SATURDAY 
 REVIEW. 
 
 Palgrave (Sir F.) HISTORY OF NORMANDY AND 
 OF ENGLAND. By Sir FRANCIS PALGRAVE, Deputy Keeper 
 of Her Majesty's Public Records. Completing the History to the 
 3G>eath of William Rufus. Four Vols. 8vo. ^4 ^s. 
 
 'Volume I. General Relations of Mediceval Europe The Carlovingian 
 Empire The Danish Expeditions in the Gauls And the Establishment 
 of Rollo. Volume //. The Three First Dukes oj Normandy ; Rollo, 
 Guillaume Longue-Epee, and Richard Sans-Peur The Carlovingian 
 tine supplanted by the Capets. Volume III. Richard Sans-Peur 
 Richard Le-Bon Richard III. Robert Le Diable William the Con- 
 queror. Volume IV. William Rufus Accession of Henry Beauclerc. 
 It is needless to say anything to recommend this work of a lifetime to all 
 students of history ; it is, as the SPECTATOR says, "perhaps the greatest 
 single contribution yet made to the authentic annals of this country" and 
 *' must," says the NONCONFORMIST, " alwavs rank among our standard 
 authorities. " 
 
 Palgrave (W. G.) A NARRATIVE OF A YEAR'S 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH CENTRAL AND EASTERN 
 ARABIA, 1862-3. By WILLIAM GIFFORD PALGRAVE, late of 
 tfhe Eighth Regiment Bombay N. I. Sixth Edition. With Maps, 
 Plans, and Portrait of Author, engraved on steel by Jeens. Crown 
 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " The work is a model of what its class should be ; the style restrained, 
 the narrative clear, telling us all we wish to know of the country and 
 people visited, and enough of the author and his feelings to enable us to 
 trust ourselves to his guidance in a tract hitherto untrodden, and dangerous 
 in more senses than one. . . He has not only written one of the best books 
 on the Arabs and one of the best books on Arabia, but he has done so in a 
 manner that must command the respect no less than the admiration of his 
 fdlow-ountrymen." FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. " Considering the extent 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, fr TRAVELS. 23 
 
 of our previous ignorance, the amount of his achievements, and tne im- 
 portance of his contributions to our knowledge, we cannot say less of him 
 than was once said of a far greater discoverer Mr. Palgrave has indeed 
 given a new world to Eiirope." PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Prichard. THE ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. From 
 1859 to 1868. The First Ten Years of Administration under the 
 Crown. By ILTUDUS THOMAS PRICHARD, Barrister-at-Law. 
 Two Vols. Demy 8vo. With Map. 2is. 
 
 In these volumes the author has aimed to supply a full, impartial, and 
 independent account of British India between 1859 and 1868 which is 
 in many respects the most important epoch in the history of that country 
 that the present century has seen. " It has the great merit that it is not 
 exclusively devoted, as are too many histories, to military and political 
 details, but enters thoroughly into the more important questions of social 
 history. We find in these volumes a well-arranged and compendious 
 reference to almost all that has been done in India during the last ten 
 years ; and the most important official documents and historical pieces are 
 well selected and duly set forth." SCOTSMAN. "It is a work which 
 every Englishman in India ought to add to his library." STAR OF INDIA. 
 
 Robinson (H. Crabb) THE DIARY, REMINISCENCES, 
 
 AND CORRESPONDENCE, OF HENRY CRABB ROBIN- 
 SON, Barrister-at-Law. Selected and Edited by THOMAS 
 SADLER, Ph.D. With Portrait. Third 'and Cheaper Edition. 
 Two Vols. Crown Svo. i6s. 
 
 The DAILY NEWS says : " The tzvo books which are most likely to 
 survive change of literary taste, and to charm while instructing generation 
 after generation, are the 'Diary' of Pepys and BoswelPs 'Life of 
 Johnson. ' The day will come when to these many will add the ' Diary of 
 Henry Crabb Robinson.' Excellences like those which render the personal 
 revelations of Pepys and the observations of Boswell such pleasant reading 
 abound in this work . ... In it is to be found something to suit every taste 
 and inform every mind. For the general reader it contains much light and 
 amusing matter. T* the lover of literature it conveys information which 
 he will prize highly on account of its accuracy and rarity. The student of 
 social life will gather from it many valuable hints whereon to base 
 theories as to the effects on English society of the progress of civilization. 
 For these and other reasons this ' Diary ' is a work to which a hearty 
 welcome should be accorded. " 
 
24 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Rogers (James E. Thorold). HISTORICAL GLEAN- 
 INGS : A Series of Sketches. Montague, Walpole, Adam Smith, 
 Cobbett. By Prof. ROGERS. Crown 8vo. 4*. 6d. Second Series, 
 Wiklif, Laud, Wilkes, and Home Tooke. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 Professor Rogers' s object in these sketches, ivhich are in the form of 
 Lectures, is to present a set of historical facts, grouped round a principal 
 figure. The author has aimed to state the social facts of the time in 
 which the individual whose history i; handled took part in public business. 
 It is from sketches like these of the great men who took a prominent 
 and influential part in the affairs of their time that a clear conception of 
 the social and economical condition of our ancestors can be obtained. 
 History learned in this ivayis both instructive and agreeable. "His Essays,'' 
 the PALL MALL GAZETTE says, " are full of interest, pregnant, thoughtful, 
 and readable" " They rank far above the average of similar perfor- 
 mances,'" says the WESTMINSTER REVIEW. 
 
 Raphael. RAPHAEL OF URBINO AND HIS FATHER 
 GIOVANNI SANTI. By J. D. PASSAVANT, formerly Director 
 of the Museum at Frankfort. With Twenty Permanent Photo- 
 graphs. Royal Svo. Handsomely bound. $ls. 6d. 
 
 To the enlarged French edition of Passavanfs Life of Raphael, that 
 painter's admirers have turned whenever they have sought information, 
 and it will doubtless remain for many years the best book of reference on 
 all questions pertaining to the great painter. The present work consists 
 of a translation of those parts of Passavanfs volumes which are most 
 likely to interest the general reader. Besides a complete life of Raphael, it 
 contains the valuable descriptions of all his known paintings, and the 
 Chronological Index, which is of so much service to amateurs who wish to 
 study the progressive character of his works. The Illustrations by 
 Woodbury's new permanent process of photography, are taken from the 
 finest engravings that could be procured, and have been chosen with the 
 intention of giving examples of Raphael's -various styles of painting. The 
 SATURDAY REVIEW says of them, " We have seen not afeiv elegant speci- 
 mens of Mr. Woodbury's new process, but we have seen none that equal these. ' r 
 
 Somers (Robert). THE SOUTHERN STATES SINCE. 
 THE WAR. By ROBERT SOMERS. With Map. Svo. 9^. 
 
 This work is the resitlt of inqiiiries made by theatithor oj all authorities 
 competent to afford him information, and of his own observation during a- 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. 25 
 
 lengthened sojourn in the Southern States, to which writers on America so 
 seldom direct their steps. The atithor's object is to give some account of the 
 condition of the Sotithern States under the new social and political system 
 introduced by the civil war. He has here collected such notes of the progress 
 of their cotton plantations, of the state of their labouring population and of 
 their industrial enterprises, as may help the reader to a safe opinion of 
 their means and prospects of development. He also gives such information 
 of their natural resources, raihvays, and other public works, as may 
 tend to show to what extent they are fitted to become a profitable field oj 
 enlarged immigration, settlement, and foreign trade. The volume contains 
 many valuable and reliable details as to the condition of the Negro popula- 
 tion, the state of Education and Religion, of Cotton, Sugar, and Tobacco 
 Cultivation, of Agriculture generally, of Coal and Iron Mining, Manu- 
 factures, Trade, Means of Locomotion, and the condition of Towns and of 
 Society. A large map of the Southern States by Messrs. W. and A. K. 
 Johnston is appended, which shows with great clearness the Cotton, Coal, 
 and Iron districts, the railways completed and 'projected, the State boundaries, 
 and other important details. ( ' Full of interesting and valuable informa- 
 tion.'" SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Smith (Professor Goldwin). THREE ENGLISH 
 
 STATESMEN. See p. 41 of this Catalogue. 
 
 Tacitus. THE HISTORY OF TACITUS, translated into 
 English. By A. J. CHURCH, M.A. and W. J. BRODRIBB, M.A. 
 With a Map and Notes. New Edition in the press. 
 
 The translators have endeavoured to adhere as closely to the original as 
 was thought consistent with a proper observance of English idiom. At 
 the same time it has been their aim to reproduce the precise expressions of 
 the author. This work is characterised by the SPECTATOR as"a scholarly 
 and faithful translation. " 
 
 THE AGRICOLA AND GERMANIA. Translated into English by 
 A. J. CHURCH, M.A. and W. J. BRODRIBB, M.A. With Maps 
 and Notes. Extra fcap. Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 The translators have sought to produce such a version as may satisfy 
 scholars who demand a faithful rendering of the original, and English 
 readers who are offended by the baldness and frigidity which commonly 
 disfigure translations. The treatises are accompanied by Introductions, 
 Notes, Maps, and a chronological Summary. The ATHEN/EUM says of 
 
26 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 this work that it is " a version at once readable and exact, which may be 
 perused with pleasure by all, and consulted with advantage by the classical 
 student;" and the PALL MALL GAZETTE says," What the editors have 
 attempted to do, it is not, we think prtbaklc, that any living scholars could 
 have dine tetter" 
 
 Taylor (Rev. Isaac). WORDS AND PLACES. See 
 
 p. 49 of this Catalogue. 
 
 Trench (Archbishop). For other Works by the same Author, 
 see THEOLOGICAL and BELLES LETTRES CATALOGUES, and p. 50 
 of this Catalogue. 
 
 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS IN GERMANY, and other Lectures 
 on the Thirty Years' War. By R. CHENEVIX TRENCH, D.D., 
 Archbishop of Dublin. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 
 Fcap. 8vo. 4-r. 
 
 The lectures contained in this volume form rather a new book than a 
 neiv edition, for on the two lectures published by the Author several years 
 ago, so many changes and additions have been made, as to make the work 
 virtually a new one. Besides three lectures of the career of Gustavus in 
 Germany and during the Thirty Years' War, there are other two, one 
 on " Germany during the Thirty Years' War," and another on Germany 
 after that War. The work will be found not only interesting and in- 
 structive in itself, but will be found to have some bearing on events con- 
 nected with the recent European War. 
 
 Trench (Mrs. R.) Remains of the late MRS. RICHARD 
 TRENCH. Being Selections from her Journals, Letters, and 
 other Papers. Edited by ARCHBISHOP TRENCH. New and 
 Cheaper Issue, with Portrait. 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Contains Notices and Anecdotes illustrating the social life of the period 
 extending over a quarter of a century (1799 1827). It includes also 
 Poems and other miscellaneous pieces by Mrs. Trench. 
 
 Wallace. Works by ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE. For other 
 Works by same Author, see SCIENTIFIC CATALOGUE. 
 
 Dr. Hotker, in his address to the British Association, spoke thus of the 
 author : " Of Mr. Wallace and his many contributions to philosophical 
 biology it is not easy to speak without enthusiasm ; for, putting aside their 
 great merits, he, throughout his writings, with a modesty as rare as I 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS. 27 
 
 Wallace (A. R.)- continued. 
 
 believe it to be unconscious, forgets his own unquestioned claim to the honour 
 of having originated, independently of Mr. Darwin, the theories which 
 he so ably defends." 
 
 A NARRATIVE OF TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON AND 
 RIO NEGRO, with an Account of the Native Tribes, and Obser- 
 vations on the Climate, Geology, and Natural History of the 
 Amazon Valley. With a Map and Illustrations. 8vo. I2s. 
 
 Mr. Wallace is acknowledged as one of the first of modern travellers 
 and naturalists. This, his earliest work, will be found to possess many 
 charms for the general reader, and to be full of interest to the student of 
 natural history. 
 
 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO : the Land of the Orang Utan 
 and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel with Studies 
 of Man and Nature. With Maps and Illustrations. Third and 
 Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. JS. 6d. 
 
 ' ' The result is a vivid picture of tropical life, which may be read with 
 unflagging interest, and a sufficient account of his scientific conclusions to 
 stimulate our appetite without wearying us by detail. In short, we may 
 safely say that we have never read a more agreeable book of its kind." 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. "His descriptions of scenery, of the people and 
 their manners and customs, enlivened by occasional amusing anecdotes, 
 constitiite the most interesting reading we have taken up for some time." 
 STANDARD. 
 
 Ward (Professor). THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA IN THE 
 THIRTY YEARS' WAR. Two Lectures, with Notes and Illus- 
 trations. By ADOLPHUS W. WARD, M.A., Professor of History 
 in Owens College, Manchester. Extra fcap. 8vo. zs. 6d. 
 
 These t^uo Lectures were delivered in February, 1869, at the Philosophical 
 Institution, Edinburgh, and are now published with Notes and Illustrations . 
 ' ' We have never read, " says the SATURDAY REVIEW, ' ' any lectures which 
 bear more thoroughly the impress of one who has a true and vigorous grasp 
 of the subject in hand" " They are," the SCOTSMAN says, "the fruit of 
 much labour and learning, and it ^vould be difficult to compress into a 
 hundred pages more information" 
 
28 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Ward (J.). EXPERIENCES OF A DIPLOMATIST. Being 
 recollections of Germany founded on Diaries kept during the years 
 !84o 1870. By JOHN WARD, C.B., late H.M. Minister- 
 Resident to the Hanse Towns. 8vo. los. bd. 
 
 Mr. Ward's recollections extend back even to 1830. From his official 
 position as well as from other circumstances he had many opportunities of 
 coming in contact with eminent men of all ranks and all professions on the 
 Continent. His book, while it contains muck that tkrcnvs light on the 
 history of the long and important period with which it is concerned, is full 
 of reminiscences of such men as Arrivabene, King Leopold, Frederick 
 William IV., his Court and Ministers, Humboldt, Biinsen, Raumer, 
 Ranks, Grimm, Palmerston, Sir de Lacy Evans, Cobden, Mendelssohn. 
 Cardinal Wiseman, Prince Albert, the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
 Lord Ritssell, Bismarck, Mdlle. Tietjens, and many other eminent English- 
 men and foreigners. 
 
 Warren. AN ESSAY ON GREEK FEDERAL COINAGE. 
 
 By the Hon. J. LEICESTER WARREN, M.A. 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 The present essay is an attempt to illustrate Mr. Freeman's Federal 
 Government by evidence deduced from the coinage of the times and countries 
 therein treated of. 
 
 Wedgwood. JOHN WESLEY AND THE EVANGELICAL 
 
 REACTION of the Eighteenth Century. By JULIA WEDGWOOD. 
 Crown 8vo. Ss. 6d. 
 
 This book is an attempt to delineate the influence of a particular man 
 upon his age. The background to the central figure is treated with 
 considerable minuteness, the object of representation being not the vicissitude 
 of a particular life, but that element in the life which impressed itself on 
 the life of a nation, an element which cannot be understood without a 
 study of aspects of national thought which on a superficial vino might 
 appear wholly unconnected with it. "In style and intellectual power, in 
 breadth of view and clearness of insight, Miss Wedgwood's book far 
 surpasses all rivals" ATHEN^UM. "As a short account of the most 
 remarkable movement in the eighteenth century, it must fairly be described 
 as excellent?'' PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Wilson. A MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON, M. D., 
 F.R.S.E., Regius Professor of Technology in the University of 
 Edinburgh. By his SISTER. New Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, & TRAVELS, 29 
 
 " An exqtiisite and touching portrait of a rare and beautiful spirit" 
 GUARDIAN. '''He more than most men of whom we have lately read 
 deserved a minute and careful biography, and by such alone could he be 
 understood, and become loveable and influential to his fellow-men. Such 
 a biography his sister has written, in which letters reach almost to the 
 extent of a complete autobiography, with all the additional charm of being 
 unconsciously such. We revere and admire the heart, and earnestly praise 
 the patient tender hand, by which such a worthy record of the earth-story 
 of one of God's true angel-men has been constructed for our delight and 
 profit ':" NONCONFORMIST. 
 
 Wilson (Daniel, LL.D.) Works by DANIEL WILSON, 
 LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature in University 
 College, Toronto : 
 
 PREHISTORIC ANNALS OF SCOTLAND. New Edition, 
 with numerous Illustrations. Two Vols. demy 8vo. $6s. 
 
 One object aimed at when the book fir si appeared was to rescue archceological 
 research from that limited range to which a too exclusive devotion to classical 
 studies had given rise, and, especially in relation to Scotland, to prove how 
 greatly mere comprehensive and important are its native antiquities than all 
 the traces of intruded art. The aim has been to a large extent effectually 
 accomplished, and such an impulse given to archaological research, that in 
 this new edition the whole of the work has had to be remodelled. Fully a 
 .third of it has been entirely re-written ; and the remaining portions have 
 undergone so minute a revision as to render it in many respects a new 
 ~vork. The number of pictorial illustrations has been greatly increased, 
 and several of the former plates and woodcuts have been re-engraved 
 from new drawings. This is divided into four Parts. Part I. deals 
 with The Primeval or Stone Period : Aboriginal Traces, Sepulchral 
 Memorials, Dwellings, and Catacombs, Temples, Weapons, etc. etc. ; 
 Part II. The Bronze Period : The Metallurgic Transition, Primitive 
 Bronze, Personal Ornaments, Religion, Arts, and Domestic Habits, %vith 
 other topics ; Part III. The Iron Period : The Introduction of Iron, The 
 Roman Invasion, Strongholds, etc. etc.; Part IV. The Christian Period : 
 Historical Data, the Norrie 's Law Relics, Primitive and Medi<zval 
 Ecclesiology, Ecclesiastical and Miscellaneous Antiquities. The work is 
 furnished with an elaborate Index. " One of the most interesting, learned, 
 and elegant works we have seen for a long time." WESTMINSTER 
 REVIEW. " The interest connected with this beautiful volume is not 
 
30 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Wilson (Daniel, LL.D.) continued. 
 
 limited to that part of the kingdom to which it is chiefly devoted it will be 
 consulted with advantage and gratification by all who have a regard for 
 National Antiquities and for the advancement of scientific Archaology" 
 ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL. 
 
 PREHISTORIC MAN. New Edition, revised and partly re- written, 
 with numerous Illustrations. One vol. 8vo. 2is. 
 
 This work, which carries out the principle of the preceding one, but with 
 a wider scope, aims to " view Man, as far as possible, unaffected by those 
 modifying influences which accompany the development of nations and the 
 maturity of a true historic period, in order thereby to ascertain the sources 
 from whence such development and maturity proceed. These researches 
 into the origin of civilization have accordingly been pursued under the belief 
 which influenced the author in previous inquiries that the investigations 
 of the archczologist, when carried on in an enlightened spirit, are replete 
 with interest in relation to some of the most important problems of modern 
 science. To reject the aid of archaology in the progress of science, and 
 especially of ethnological science, is to extinguish the lamp of the student 
 when most dependent on its borrowed rays." A prolonged residence on 
 some of the newest sites of the New World has afforded the author many 
 opportunities of investigating the antiquities of the American Aborigines, 
 and of bringing to light many facts of high importance in reference to 
 primeval man. The changes in the new edition, necessitated by the great 
 advance in Archaeology since the first, include both reconstruction ana 
 condensation, along with considerable additions alike in illustration ana 
 in argument. " We find," says the ATHENAEUM, " the main idea of his 
 treatise to be a pre-eminently scientific one, namely, by archccological 
 records to obtain a definite conception of the origin and nature of man's 
 earliest efforts at civilization in the New World, and te endeavour to dis- 
 cover, as if by analogy, the necessary conditions, phases, and epochs through 
 which man in the prehistoric stage in the Old World also must necessarily 
 hive passed.'" 1 The NORTH BRITISH REVIEW calls it "a mature and 
 mellow work of an able man ; free alike from crotchets and from dog- 
 matism, and exhibiting on every page the caution and moderation of a 
 well- Balanced judgment. ' ' 
 
 CHATTERTON : A Biographical Study. By DANIEL WILSON, 
 LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature in University 
 College, Toronto. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, 6- TRAVELS. 31 
 
 The author here regards Chatterton as a poet, not as a "mere resetler 
 and defacer of stolen literary treasiires. " Reviewed in this light, he has 
 found much in the old materials capable of being turned to nei.v account : 
 and to these materials research in various directions has enabled him to 
 make some additions. He believes that the boy-poet has been misjudged, and 
 that the biographies hitherto written of him are not only imperfect but 
 imtrue. While dealing tenderly, the author has sought to deal truthfully 
 with the failings as well as the virtues of the boy : bearing always in 
 remembrance, what has been too frequently lost sight of, that he was but a 
 boy ; a boy, and yet a poet of rare power. The EXAMINER thinks this 
 ' ' the most complete and the purest biography ff the poet which has yet 
 appeared." The LITERARY CHURCHMAN calls it " a most charming 
 literary biography. " 
 
 Yonge (Charlotte M.) Works by CHARLOTTE M. YONGE, 
 Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe," &c. &c. : 
 
 A PARALLEL HISTORY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND : 
 
 consisting of Outlines and Dates. Oblong 4t. 3.5-. 6d. 
 
 This tabular history has been drawn up to supply a want felt by many 
 teachers of some means of making their pzipils realize what events in the 
 tivo countries were contemporary. A skeleton narrative has been constructed 
 of the chief transactions in either coitntry, placing a column between for 
 what affected both alike, by which means it is hoped that young people may 
 be assisted in grasping the mtitual relation of events. 
 
 CAMEOS FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. From Rollo to Edward 
 II. Extra fcap. 8vo. Second Edition, enlarged. $s. 
 A SECOND SERIES, THE WARS IN FRANCE. Extra fcap. 
 8vo. 5-r. 
 
 The endeavour has not been to chronicle facts, but to put together a series 
 of pictures of persons and events, so as to arrest the attention, and give 
 some individuality and distinctness to the recollection, by gathering together 
 details of the most memorable moments. The ' ' Cameos " are intended as 
 a book for young people just beyond the elementary histories of England, 
 and able to enter in some degree into the real spirit of events, and to be 
 struck with characters and scenes presented in some relief. " Instead of 
 dry details," says the NONCONFORMIST, " we have living pictures, faithful, 
 vivid, and striking. " 
 
MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE. 
 
 Young (Julian Charles, M.A.) A MEMOIR OF 
 
 CHARLES MAYNE YOUNG, Tragedian, with Extracts 
 from his Son's Journal. By JULIAN CHARLES YOUNG, M.A. 
 Rector of Ilmington. With Portraits and Sketches. New and 
 Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. TS. 6d. 
 
 Round this memoir of one who held no mean place in public estimation 
 as a tragedian, and who, as a man, by the unobtrusive simplicity and 
 moral purity of his private life, won golden opinions from all sorts of men, 
 are clustered extracts from the author's Journals, containing many 
 curious and interesting reminiscences of his father's and his own eminent 
 and famous contemporaries and acquaintances, somewhat after the mannei' 
 of H. Crabb Robinsoris Diary. Every page will be found full both oj 
 entertainment and instruction. It contains four portraits of the tragedian, 
 and a few other curious sketches. " In this budget of anecdotes, fables, and 
 gossip, old and new, relative to Scott, Moore, Chalmers, Coleridge, Words- 
 worth, Croker, Mathews, the third and fourth Georges, Bowles, Beckford, 
 Lockhart, Wellington, Peel, Louis Napoleon, D'Orsay, Dickens, 
 Thackeray, Louis Blanc, Gibson, Constable, and Stanfield, etc. etc. the 
 reader must be hard indeed to please who cannot find entertainment. " 
 PALL MALL. GAZETTE. 
 
POLITICS, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL 
 ECONOMY, LAW, AND KINDRED 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 Baxter. NATIONAL INCOME : The United Kingdom. By 
 R. DUDLEY BAXTER, M.A. 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 The present work endeavours to answer systematically suck questions 
 as the following : What are the means and aggregate wages of our 
 labotiring population ; what are the numbers and aggregate profits 
 of the middle classes ; what the revenues of our great proprietors 
 and capitalists ; and what the pecuniary strength of the nation to 
 bear the burdens annually falling ttpon tis ? What capital in 
 land and goods and money is stored ^^p for our subsistence, and for 
 carrying out our enterprises ? The author has collected his facts 
 from every quarter and tested them in various ways, in order to 
 make his statements and deductions vahiable and trustworthy. 
 Part I. of the work deals with the Classification of the Population 
 into Chap. I. The Income Classes ; Chap. II. The Upper and 
 Middle and Manual Labour Classes. Part II. treats of the In- 
 come of the United Kingdom, divided into Chap. III. Upper 
 and Middle Incomes ; Chap. IV. Wages of the Manual Labour 
 Classes England and Wales ; Chap. V. Income of Scotland ; 
 Chap. VI. Income of Ireland ; Chap. VII. Income of the 
 United Kingdom. In the Appendix will be found many valuable 
 and carefully compiled tables, illustrating in detail the subjects 
 discussed in the text. 
 
 Bernard. FOUR LECTURES ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED 
 WITH DIPLOMACY. BY MONTAGUE BERNARD, M.A., 
 Chichele Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Oxford. 
 8vo. gs. 
 
 C 
 
34 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 These four Lectures deal with /. " The Congress of Westphalia : " 
 77 "Systems of Policy ; " 777. ' ' Diplomacy, Past and Present;" 
 IV. "The Obligations of Treaties.'" "Singularly interesting 
 lectures, so able, clear, and attractive." SPECTATOR. " The 
 author of these lectures is full of the knowledge which belongs to 
 his subject, and has that power of clear and vigorous expression 
 which results from clear and vigorous thought.'''' SCOTSMAN. 
 
 Bright (John, M. P.) SPEECHES ON QUESTIONS OF 
 PUBLIC POLICY. By the Right Hon. JOHN BRIGHT, M.P, 
 Edited by Professor THOROLD ROGERS. Author's Popular Edition. 
 Globe 8vo. $s. 6d. 
 
 The speeches which have been selected for publication in these volumes 
 possess a value, as examples of the art of public speaking, which no 
 person will be likely to underrate. The speeches have been selected 
 with a view of supplying the public with the evidence on which Mr. 
 Bright" 1 s friends assert his right to a place in the front rank of 
 English statesmen. They are divided into groups, according 
 to their subjects. The editor has naturally given prominence to 
 those subjects with which Mr. Bright has been specially identified, 
 as, for example, India, America, Ireland, and Parliamentary 
 Reform. But nearly every topic of great public interest on which 
 Mr. Bright has spoken is represented in these volumes. "Mr. 
 Brighfs speeches %vill always deserve to be studied, as an apprentice- 
 ship to popular and parliamentary oratory they will form 
 materials for the history of our time, and many brilliant passages, 
 perhaps some entire speeches, will really become a part of the living 
 literature of England." DAILY NEWS. 
 
 LIBRARY EDITION. Two Vols. Svo. With Portrait. 25*. 
 
 Christie. THE .BALLOT AND CORRUPTION AND 
 
 EXPENDITURE AT ELECTIONS, a Collection of Essays and 
 Addresses of different dates. By W. D. CHRISTIE, C.B.. formerly 
 Her Majesty's Minister to the Argentine Confederation and to 
 Brazil ; Author of " Life of the First Earl of Shaftesbury. " Crown 
 Svo. 4-r. 6d. 
 
 Mr. Christie has been well known for upwards of thirty years as a 
 strenuous and able advocate for the Ballot, both in his place in 
 Parliament and else^vhere. The papers and speeches here collected 
 
WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 35 
 
 are six in number, exclusive of the Preface and Dedication to Pro- 
 fessor Maurice, which contains many interesting historical details 
 concerning the Ballot. " You have thought to greater purpose on 
 the means of preventing electoral corruption, and arc likely to be of 
 more service in passing measures for that highly important end, 
 than any other person that I could name." J. S. Mill, in a 
 published letter to the Author, May 1868. 
 
 Clarke. EARLY ROMAN LAW. THE REGAL PERIOD. 
 
 By E. C. CLARKE, M.A., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Lnw, 
 Lecturer in Law and late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 
 Crown 8vo. $s. 
 
 The beginnings of Roman Law are only noticed incidentally by Gaius 
 or his paraphrasers under Justinian. They are, however, so im- 
 portant, that this attempt to set forth what is known or may be 
 inferred about them, it is expected, will be found -of much value. 
 The method adopted by the author has been to furnish in the texf 
 of each section a contimious account of the subject in hand, ample 
 quotations and references being appended in the form of notes .. 
 Most of the passages cited have been arrived at by independent read- 
 ing of the original authority, the few others having been carefully 
 verified. " Mr. Clark has brought together a great mass of valu- 
 able matter in an accessible form.'' 1 SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Corfield (Professor W. H.) A DIGEST OF FACTS 
 
 RELATING TO THE TREATMENT AND UTILIZATION 
 OF SEWAGE. By W. H. CORFIELD, M.A., B.A., Professor of 
 Hygiene and Public Health at University College, London. 8vo. 
 los. 6d. Second Edition, corrected and enlarged. 
 
 In this edition the author has revised and corrected the entire iuor r 
 and made many important additions. The headings of the eleven 
 chapters areas follow: I. "Early Systems: Midden- Heaps and' 
 Cesspools." I I. "Filth and Disease Cause and Effect." III. "Im- 
 proved Midden- Pits and Cesspools; Midden- Closets, Pail- Closets + 
 etc." IV. "The Dry- Closet Systems." V. " Water- Closets." VL 
 "Sewerage." VII. "Sanitary Aspects of the Water- Carrying 
 System." VIII. "Value of Sewage ; Injury to Rivers." IX. 
 Town Sewage ; Attempts at Utilization." X. ii Filtration and 
 Irrigation." XL "Influence of Sezvage Farming on the Public 
 
 C 2 
 
36 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 HealtJi." An abridged account of the more recently published 
 researches on the subject will be found in the Appendices, while the 
 Summary contains a concise statement of the views which the author 
 himself has been led to adopt; references have been inserted throiigh- 
 out to show from what sources the numerous quotations have been 
 derived, and an Index has been added. " Air. Corfield's work is 
 entitled to rank as a standard authority, no less than a convenient 
 handbook, in all matters relating to sewage" ATHEN/EUM. 
 
 Fawcett. Works by HENRY FAW'CETT, M.A., M.P., Fellow of 
 Trinity Hall, and Professor of Political Economy in the University 
 of Cambridge : 
 
 THE ECONOMIC POSITION OF THE BRITISH 
 LABOURER. Extra fcp. 8vo. 5*. 
 
 This work formed a portion of a course of Lectures delivered by the 
 author in the University of Cambridge, and he has deemed it 
 advisable to retain many of the expositions of the elementary prin- 
 ciples of Economic Science. In the Introductory Chapter the 
 author points out the scope of the work and shows the vast import- 
 ance of the subject in relation to the commercial prosperity and even 
 the national existence of Britain. Then follcnv five chapters on 
 "The Land Tenure of England," "Co-operation," " The Causes 
 which regulate Wages," " Trade Unions and Strikes" and 
 1 'Emigration. " The EXAMINER calls the work ' ' a very scholarly 
 exposition on some of the most essential questions of Political 
 Economy ;" and the NONCONFORMIST says "it is written with 
 charming freshness, ease, and lucidity." 
 
 MANUAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. Third and Cheaper 
 Edition, with Two New Chapters. Crown 8vo. IDS. 6d. 
 
 In this treatise no important branch of the subject has been omitted, 
 and the author believes that the principles which are therein ex- 
 plained will enable the reader to obtain a tolerably complete view of 
 the whole science. Mr. Fawcett has endeavoured to show how 
 intimately Political Economy is connected with the practical ques- 
 tions of life. For the convenience of the ordinary reader, and 
 especially for those who may use the book to prepare themselves for 
 examinations, he has prefixed a very detailed summary of Contents, 
 
WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 37 
 
 Fa WCett ( H . ) continued, 
 
 "which may be regarded as an analysis of the work. The nezv 
 edition has been so carefully revised that there is scarcely a 
 
 page in which some improvement has not been introduced. The 
 DAILY NEWS says: " It forms one of the best introductions to the 
 
 principles of the science, and to its practical applications in the 
 
 problems of modern, and especially of English, government and 
 society." " The book is written throughout" says the EXAMINER, 
 "with admirable force, clearness, and brevity, every important 
 
 part of the subject being duly considered." 
 
 PAUPERISM : ITS CAUSES AND REMEDIES. Crown 8vo. 
 
 $s. 6d. 
 
 In its number for March nth, 1871, the SPECTATOR said: "Weiwsh 
 Professor Fawcett would devote a little more of his time and energy 
 to the practical consideration of that monster problem of Pauperism, 
 for the treatment of which his economic kno%vled%e and popular 
 sympathies so eminently jit him." The volume noT.v published may 
 be regarded as an answer to the above challenge. The seven 
 chapters it comprises discuss the following subjects: /. "Pauperism 
 and the old Poor Law." II. " The present Poor Law System." 
 III. ' ' The Increase of Population. " IV. " National Education; 
 its Economic and Social Effects." V. "Co-partnership and Co- 
 operation." VI. "The English System of Land Tenure" VII. 
 "The Inclosure of Commons." The ATHENAEUM calls the work 
 "a repertory of interesting and well-digested information" 
 
 ESSAYS ON POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SUBJECTS. By PRO. 
 FESSOR FAWCETT, M.P., and MILLICENT GARRETT FAWCETT. 
 8vo. icw. 6d. 
 
 This volume contains fourteen papers, some of which have appeared 
 in various journals and periodicals ; others have not be/ore been 
 published. They are all on subjects of great importance and uni- 
 versal interest, and the names of the t^uo authors are a. sufficient 
 guarantee that each topic is discussed with full knowledge, great 
 ability, clearness, and earnestness. 77ie following are some of the 
 titles: "Modern Socialism;" " Free Ediication in its Economic 
 Aspects ;" " Pauperism, Charity, and the Poor Law ;" " National 
 Debt and National Prosperity ;" il What can be done for the 
 
MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Agricultural Labourers ;" " The Education of Women ;" " The 
 Electoral Disabilities of Women ;" " The House of Lords." Each 
 article is signed with the initials of its author. ' ' In every 
 respect a work of note end value. . . 7*hey will all repay the 
 perusal of the thinking reader" DAILY NEWS. 
 
 Fawcett (Mrs.) POLITICAL ECONOMY FOR BEGIN- 
 NERS. WITH QUESTIONS. By MILLICENT GARRETT 
 FAWCETT. New Edition. i8mo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 In this little work are explained as briefly as possible the most im- 
 portant principles of Political Economy, in the hope that it will be 
 useful to beginners, and perhaps be an assistance to those who are 
 desirous of introducing the study of Political Economy to schools. 
 In order to adapt the book especially for school use, questions have 
 been added at the end of each chapter. In the new edition each 
 page has been carefully revised, and at the end of each chapter, 
 aftei' the questions, a feiv little puzzles have been added, which will 
 give interest to the book, and teach the learner to think for himself. 
 The DAILY NEWS calls it "clear, compact, and comprehensive;" 
 and the SPECTATOR says, "Mrs. Pawed? s treatise is perfectly 
 suited to its purpose." 
 
 Freeman (E. A., M.A., D.C.L.) HISTORY OF 
 
 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. See p. 7 of preceding HIS- 
 TORICAL CATALOGUE. 
 
 Godkin (James). THE LAND WAR IN IRELAND. A 
 
 History for the Times. By JAMES GODKIN, Author of "Ireland 
 and her Churches," late Irish Correspondent of the Times. 8vo. 
 
 I2S. 
 
 A History of the Irish Land Question. ' ' There is probably no other 
 account so compendious and so complete. " FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. 
 
 Guide to the Unprotected, in Ever/ Day Matters Re- 
 lating to Property and Income. By a BANKER'S DAUGHTER. 
 Third Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 Many widows and single ladies, and all young people, on first 
 possessing money of their (nvti, are in want of advice when they 
 
WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 39 
 
 have commonplace business matters to transact. The author of 
 this work writes for those who know nothing. Her aim throughout 
 is to avoid all technicalities ; to give plain and practical directions, 
 not only as to what ought to be done, but how to do it. "Many an 
 unprotected female will bless the head which planned and the hand 
 which compiled this admirable little manual. . . . This book was 
 very much wanted, and it could not have been better done" 
 MORNING STAR. 
 
 
 Hill. CHILDREN OF THE STATE. THE TRAINING OF 
 JUVENILE PAUPERS. By FLORENCE HILL. Extra fcap. 
 8vo. cloth. 5.5-. 
 
 In this work the author discusses the various systems adopted in this 
 and other countries in the treatment of pauper children. The 
 BIRMINGHAM DAILY GAZETTE calls it "a valuable contribution 
 to the great and important social question which it so ably and 
 thoroughly discusses ; and it must materially aid in producing a 
 wise method of dealing with the Children of the State." 
 
 Historicus. LETTERS ON SOME QUESTIONS OF 
 INTERNATIONAL LAW. Reprinted from the Times, with 
 considerable Additions. 8vo. 7-f. 6d. Also, ADDITIONAL 
 LETTERS. 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 The author's intention in these Letters was to illustrate in a popular 
 form clearly -established principles of law, or to refute, as occasion 
 required, errors which had obtained a mischievous currency. He 
 has endeavoured to establish, by sufficient authority, propositions 
 which have been inconsiderately impugned, and to point out the 
 various methods of reasoning which have led some modern writers 
 to erroneous conclusions. The volume contains: Letters on " Recog- 
 nition;" "On the Perils of Intervention;" "The Rights and 
 Duties of Neutral Nations ;" "On the Law of Blockade;" "On 
 Neutral Trade in Contraband of War;" " On Belligerent Viola- 
 tion of Neutral Rights ;" ''''The Foreign Enlistment Act ;" " The 
 Right of Search;" extracts from letters on the Ajfair of the 
 Trent; and a paper on the " Territorially of the Merchant 
 Vessel." "It is seldom that the doctrines of International Law on 
 debateable points have been stated with more vigour, precision, and 
 certainty" SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
40 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Jevons. Works by W. STANLEY JEVONS, M.A., Professor ot 
 Logic and Political Economy in Owens College, Manchester. (For 
 other Works by the same Author, see EDUCATIONAL and PHILO- 
 SOPHICAL CATALOGUES.) 
 
 THE COAL QUESTION : An Inquiry Concerning the Progress 
 of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of our Coal Mines. 
 Second Edition, revised. 8vo. los. 6d. 
 
 
 
 lt Day by day," the author says, "it becomes more evident that the 
 coal we happily possess in excellent quality and abundance is the 
 mainspring of modern material civilization." Geologists and 
 other competent authorities have of late been hinting that th< 
 supply of coal is by no means inexhaustible, and as it is of vast 
 importance to the country and the world generally to know the real 
 state of the case, Professor Jevons in this work has endeavoured to 
 solve the qtiestion as far as the data at command admit. He 
 believes that should the consumption multiply for rather more than 
 a century at its present rate, the average depth of our coal mines 
 would be so reduced that we could not long continue our present rate 
 of progress. "We have to make the mo7?ientous choice," he believes, 
 "between brief greatness and long-continued prosperity." "TJh 
 question of our supply of coal" says the PALL MALL GAZETTE, " be- 
 comes a question obviously of life or death. . . . The whole case is 
 stated with admirable clearness and cogency. . . . We may rc^ara 
 his statements as unanswered and practically established. " 
 
 THE THEORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 8vo. 9.5-. 
 
 In this work Professor Jevons endeavours to construct a theory of 
 Political Economy on a mathematical or quantitative basis, believing 
 that many of the commonly received theories in this science are per- 
 niciously erroneous. The author here attempts to treat Economv 
 as the Calculus of Pleasure and Pain, and has sketched out, almost 
 irrespective of previous opinions, the form which the science, as it 
 seems to him, mtist ultimately take. The theory consists in apply- 
 
 ' ing the differential calculus to the familiar notions of Wealth, 
 Utility, Value, Demand, Supply, Capital, Interest, Labour, and 
 
 , all the other notions belonging to tJie daily operations of industry. 
 As the complete theory of almost every other science involves the use 
 of that calculus, so, the author thinks, we cannot have a true theory 
 of Political Economy without its aid. ' 'Professor Jevons has done 
 
WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 41 
 
 invaluable service by courageously claiming political economy to be 
 strictly a branch of Applied Mathematics'' 1 WESTMINSTER 
 REVIEW. 
 
 Martin. THE STATESMAN'S YEAR-BOOK: A statistical 
 
 and Historical Annual of the States of the Civilized World. 
 
 Handbook for Politicians and Merchants for the year 1873. By 
 
 FREDERICK MARTIN. Tenth Annual Publication. Revised after 
 
 Official Returns. Crown 8vo. icw. 6d. 
 
 The Statesman's Year-Book is the only work in the English language 
 which furnishes a clear and concise account of the actual condition 
 of all the States of Europe, the civilized countries of America, 
 Asia, and Africa, and the British Colonies and Dependencies in 
 all parts of the world. The new issue of the work has been revised 
 and corrected, on the basis of official reports received direct from the 
 heads of the leading Governments of the world, in reply to letters sent 
 to them by the Editor. Through the vahiable assistance thus given, 
 it has been possible to collect an amount of information, political, 
 statistical, and commercial, of the latest date, and of ttnimpeachable 
 trustworthiness, such as no publication of the same kind has ever 
 been able to furnish. " As indispensable as Bradshaiu.'" TIMES. 
 
 Phillimore. PRIVATE LAW AMONG THE ROMANS, 
 from the Pandects. By JOHN GEORGE PHILLIMORE, Q.C. 8vo. 
 i6s. 
 
 The author's belief that some knoivledge of the Roman System of 
 Municipal Law will contribute to improve our own, has induced 
 him to prepare the present work. His endeavour has been to select 
 those parts of the Digest which would best shcnv the grand manner 
 in which the Roman jurist dealt with his subject, as well as those 
 which most illustrate the principles by which he was gtiided in 
 establishing the great lines and propositions of jurisprudence, which 
 every lawyer must have frequent occasion to employ. "Mr. Philli- 
 more has done good service towards the study of jurisprudence in 
 this country by the production of this volume. The work is one 
 which should be in the hands of every student." ATHEN/EUM. 
 
 Smith. Works by Professor GOLDWIN SMITH : 
 
 A LETTER TO A WHIG MEMBER OF THE SOUTHERN 
 INDEPENDENCE ASSOCIATION. Extra fcap. Svo. 2s. 
 
42 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Smith (Prof. G.). continued. 
 
 This is a Letter, written in 1864, to a member of an Association 
 formed in this country, the purpose of which was " to lend assistance 
 to the Slave-owners of the Southern States in their attempt to effect a 
 disruption of the American Commonwealth, and to establish an 
 independent Power, having, as they declare, Slavery for its corner- 
 stone." Mr. Smith endeavours to show that in doing so they 
 would have committed a great folly and a still greater crime. 
 Throughout the Letter many points of general and permanent 
 importance are discussed. 
 
 THREE ENGLISH STATESMEN: PYM, CROMWELL, 
 PITT. A Course of Lectures on the Political History of England. 
 Extra fcap. 8vo. New and Cheaper Edition. 5.5-. 
 
 "A work which neither historian nor politician can safely afford to 
 neglect. " SATURDAY REVIEW. " ' ' There are outlines, clearly and 
 boldly sketched, if mere outlines, of the three Statesmen who give the 
 titles to his lectures, which are well deserving of sttidy" SPECTATOR. 
 
 Social Duties Considered with Reference to the 
 ORGANIZATION OF EFFORT IN WORKS OF BE- 
 NEVOLENCE AND PUBLIC UTILITY. By a MAN OF 
 BUSINESS. (WILLIAM RATHBONE.) Fcap. 8vo. 4?. 6d. 
 The contents of this valuable little book are /. "Social Disintegra- 
 tion." II. "Our Charities Done and Undone." III. "Organiza- 
 tion and Individual Benevolence their Achievements and Short- 
 comings." IV. " Organization and Individualism their Co- 
 operation Indispensable." V. "Instances and Experiments." VI. 
 " The Sphere of Government." " Conclusion" The vieivs urged 
 are no sentimental theories, but have grown out of the practical ex- 
 perience acquired in actua,, work. "Mr. Ratkbone's earnest and 
 large-hearted little book will help to generate both a larger and wiser 
 charity. " BRITISH QUARTERLY. 
 
 Stephen (C. E.) THE SERVICE OF THE POOR; 
 
 Being an Inquiry into the Reasons for and against the Establish- 
 ment of Religious Sisterhoods for Charitable Purposes. By 
 CAROLINE EMILIA STEPHEN. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 Miss Stephen defines Religious Sisterhoods as "associations, the 
 arganization of which is based upon the assumption that works of 
 
WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 43 
 
 charity are either acts of worship in themselves, or means to an end, 
 that end being the spiritual welfare of the objects or the performers 
 of those works" Arguing from that point of view, she devotes the 
 first part of her volume to a brief history of religious associations, 
 taking as specimens /. The Deaconesses of the Primitive Church. 
 II. TheBeguines. III. The Third Order of S. Francis. IV. The 
 Sisters of Charity of S. Vincent de Paul. V. The Deaconesses of 
 Modern Germany. In the second part, Miss Stephen attempts to 
 show what are the real wants met by Sisterhoods, to what extent the 
 same ivants may be effectually met by the organization of corre- 
 sponding institutions on a secular basis, and what are the reasons 
 for endeavouring to do so. ' ' The ablest advocate of a better line of 
 ivork in this direction than we have ever seen." EXAMINER. 
 
 Stephen (J. F.) A GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 CRIMINAL LAW OF ENGLAND. By JAMES FITZJAMES 
 
 STEPHEN, M.A., Barrister-at-Law, Member of the Legislative 
 
 Council of India. 8vo. i8.y. 
 
 The object of this work is to give an account of the general scope, 
 tendency, and design of an important part of our institutions, 
 of which surely none can have a greater moral significance, or be 
 more closely connected with broad principles of morality and 
 politics, than those by which men rightfully, deliberately, and in 
 cold blood, kill, enslave, and otherwise torment their fellow- 
 creatures. The author believes it possible to explain the principles 
 of such a system in a manner both intelligible and interesting. 
 The Contents are I. ''''The Province of the Criminal Law.'" 1 
 II. "Historical Sketch of English Criminal Law." III. " Defi- 
 nition of Crime in General." IV. " Classification and Definition 
 of Particular Crimes" V. " Criminal Procedure in General." 
 VI. " English Criminal Procedure." VII. " The Principles of 
 Evidence in Relation to the Criminal Law." VIII. " English 
 Rules of Evidence." IX. "English Criminal Legislation." 
 The last 1 50 pages are occttpied with the discussion of a number 
 of important cases. "Readers feel in his book the confidence which 
 attaches to the writings of a man who has a great practical 
 acquaintance with the matter of which he writes, and lawyers will 
 agree that it fully satisfies the standard of professional acciiracy" 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. ' ' His style is forcible and perspicuous, and 
 singularly free from the unnecessary use of professional terms." 
 SPECTATOR. 
 
44 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE. 
 
 STREETS AND LANES OF A CITY : being the Reminiscences 
 of AMY BUTTON. With a Preface by the BISHOP OF SALISBURY. 
 New and Cheaper Edition. Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 This little volume records " a portion of the experience, selected out of 
 overflowing materials, of two ladies t during several years of devoted 
 work as district parochial visitors in a large population in the 
 North of England" The "Reminiscences of Amy Button" serve 
 to illustrate the line of argument adopted by Miss Stephen in her 
 work on the ' 'Service of the Poor" because they show that as in one 
 aspect the lady visitor may be said to be a link between rich and 
 poor, in another she helps to blend the lt religious" life with the 
 "secular" and in both does service of extreme value to the Chiirch 
 and Nation. "A record only too brief of some of the real por- 
 traits of humanity, painted by a pencil, tender indeed and sympa- 
 thetic, but with too clear a sight, too ready a sense of humour^ and 
 too conscientious a spirit e^<er to exaggerate, extenuate, or aught set 
 d(nvn in malice" GUARDIAN. 
 
 Thornton. ON LABOUR : Its Wrongful Claims and Rightful 
 Dues ; Its Actual Present State and Possible Future. By WILLIAM 
 THOMAS THORNTON, Author of" A Plea for Peasant Proprietors," 
 etc. Second Edition, revised. 8vo. 14^. 
 
 The object of this volume is to endeavour to find "a cure for human 
 destitution" the search after which has been the passion and the 
 work of the author's life. The %vork is divided into four books, 
 and each book into a number of chapters. Book I. " Labour's 
 Causes of Discontent" II. " Labour and Capital in Debate." 
 III. "Labour and Capital in Antagonism." IV. " Labour and 
 Capital in Alliance." All the highly important problems in Social 
 and Political Economy connected with Labour and Capital are 
 here discussed with knowledge, vigour, and originality, and for a 
 noble purpose. The new edition has been thoroughly revised and 
 considerably enlarged. " We cannot fail to recognize in his work 
 the result of independent thought, high moral aim, and generous 
 
 intrepidity in a noble cause A really valuable contribution. 
 
 The number of facts accumulated, both historical and statistical, 
 make an especially valuable portion of the work." WESTMINSTER 
 REVIEW. 
 
WORKS CONNECTED WITH THE SCIENCE 
 OR THE HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 (For Editions of Greek and Latin Classical Authors, Gram- 
 mars, and other School works, see EDUCATIONAL CATALOGUE.) 
 
 Abbott. A SHAKESPERIAN GRAMMAR : An Attempt to 
 illustrate some of the Differences between Elizabethan and Modern 
 English. By the Rev. E. A. ABBOTT, M.A., Head Master of the 
 City of London School. For the Use of Schools. New and 
 Enlarged Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 
 The object of this work is to furnish students of Shakespeare and 
 Bacon with a short systematic account of some points of difference 
 between Elizabethan Syntax and our own. The demand for a third 
 edition within a year of the publication of the first, has encouraged 
 the author to endeavour to make the work somewhat more iiseful, 
 and to render it, as far as possible, a complete book of reference for 
 all difficulties of Shakesperian Syntax or Prosody. For this purpose 
 the whole of Shakespeare has been re-read, and an attempt has been 
 made to include within this edition the explanation of every 
 idiomatic difficulty (where the text is not confessedly corrupt) that 
 comes within the province of a grammar as distinct from a glossary. 
 The 1 great object being to make a useful book of reference for students 
 and for classes in schools, several Plays have been indexed so fully , 
 Jhat with the aid of a glossary and historical notes the references 
 will serve for a complete commentary. "A critical inquiry, con- 
 ducted with great skill and knoiuledge, and with all the appliances 
 of 'modern philology '." PALL MALL GAZETTE. ''Valuable not 
 only as an aid to the critical study of Shakespeare, but as tending to 
 familiarize the reader with Elizabethan English in general." - 
 ATHEN.EUM. 
 
46 JtfACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Besant. STUDIES IN EARLY FRENCH POETRY. By 
 WALTER BESANT, M.A. Crown 8vo. Ss. 6d. 
 
 A sort of impression rests on most minds that French literature begins 
 with the "siecle de Louis Quatorze;" any previous literature being 
 for the most part unknown or ignored. Few know anything of the 
 enormous literary activity that began in the thirteenth century, was 
 carried on by Rulebeuf, Marie de France, Gaston de Foix, Thibault 
 de Champagne, and Lorris ; was fostered by Charles of Orleans, 
 by Margaret of Valois, by Francis the First; that gave a crcnvd o/ 
 versifiers to France, enriched, strengthened, developed, and fixed the 
 French language, and prepared the way for Corneille and for 
 Racii2e. The present work aims to afford information and direction 
 touching these early efforts of France in poetical literature. "In one 
 moderately sized volume he has contrived to introduce us to the very 
 best, if not to all of the early French poets." ATHENAEUM. 
 ' 'Industry, the insight of a scholar, and a genuine enthusiasm for 
 his subject, combine to make it of very considerable value" 
 SPECTATOR. 
 
 Hales. LONGER ENGLISH POEMS. With Notes, Philo- 
 logical and Explanatory, and an Introduction on the Teaching of 
 English. Chiefly for use in Schools. Edited by J W. HALES, 
 M.A., late Fellow and Assistant Tutor of Christ's College, Cam- 
 bridge ; Lecturer in English Literature and Classical Composition 
 at King's College School, London ; &c. &c. Extra fcap. 8vo. 
 4J-. 6d. 
 
 This work has been in preparation for some years, and part of it 
 has been ttsed as a class-book by the Editor for the last two years. 
 It is intended as an aid to the Critical study of English Literatttre, 
 and contains one or more of the larger poems, each complete, of 
 prominent English Authors from Spenser to Shelley, including 
 Burns' Saturday Night and Twa Dogs. In all cases the ori- 
 ginal spelling and the text of the best editions have been given ; only 
 in one or two poems has it been deemed necessary to make slight 
 omissions and changes, that the ''reverence d^le to boys might br 
 well observed." 7 he latter half of the volume is occupied with 
 copious notes, critical, etymological, and explanatory, calculated to 
 give the learner much insight in the structure and connection of the 
 English tongue. An Index to the notes is appended. 
 
WORKS ON LANGUAGE. 47 
 
 Helfenstein (James). A COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR 
 
 OF THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES : Being at the same 
 time a Historical Grammar of the English Language, and com- 
 prising Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, Early English, Modern English, 
 Icelandic (Old Norse), Danish, Swedish, Old High German, 
 Middle High German, Modern German, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, 
 and Dutch. By JAMES HELFENSTEIN, Ph.D. 8vo. iSs. 
 
 This work traces the different stages of development through iv/iic/t the 
 various Teutonic languages have passed, and the laws which have 
 regulated their growth. The reader is thus enabled to study the 
 relation which these languages bear to one another, and to the Eng- 
 lish language in particular, to which special attention is devoted 
 throughout. In the chapters on Ancient and Middle Teutonic 
 languages no grammatical form is omitted the knowledge of which 
 is required for the study of ancient literature, whether Gothic or 
 Anglo-Saxon or Early English. To each chapter is prefixed a 
 sketch showing the relation of the Teutonic to the cognate langiiages, 
 Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit. Those who have mastered the book 
 will be in a position to proceed with intelligence to the more elaborate 
 works of Grimm, Bopp, Pott, Schleicher, and others. 
 
 Morris. HISTORICAL OUTLINES OF ENGLISH ACCI- 
 DENCE, comprising Chapters on the History and Development 
 of the Language, and on Word-formation. By the Rev. RICHARD 
 MORRIS, LL.D., Member of the Council of the Philol. Soc.. 
 Lecturer on English Language and Literature in King's College 
 School, Editor of "Specimens of Early English," etc., etc. 
 Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 65-. 
 
 Dr. Morris has endeavoured to write a work which can be profitably 
 used by students and by the upper forms in our public schools. His 
 almost unequalled knowledge of early English Literature renders 
 him peculiarly qualified to write a work of this kind ; and English 
 Grammar, he believes, without a reference io\the older forms, must 
 appear altogether anomalous, inconsistent, and tmintelligible. In 
 the writing of this volume, moreover, he has taken advantage of the 
 researches into our language made by all the most eminent scholars 
 in England, America, and on the Continent. The author shows 
 the place of English among the languages of the world, expounds 
 dearly and with great minuteness " Grimm's Law" gives a brief 
 
48 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 history of the English language and an account of the various 
 dialects, investigates the history and principles of Phonology, 
 Orthography, Accent, and Etymology, and devotes several chapters 
 to the consideration of the various Parts of Speech, and the final 
 one to Derivation and Word-formation. 
 
 Peile (John, M.A.) AN INTRODUCTION TO GREEK 
 
 AND LATIN ETYMOLOGY. By JOHN PEILE, M.A., 
 Fellow and Assistant Tutor of Christ's College, Cambridge, 
 formerly Teacher of Sanskrit in the University of Cambridge. 
 New and revised Edition. Crown 8vo. IQJ. 6d. 
 
 These Philological Lectures are the result of Notes made dtiring the 
 author's reading for some years previous to their publication. These 
 Notes were put into the shape of lectures, delivered at Christ's 
 College, as one set in the "Intercollegiate" list. They have been 
 printed with some additions and modifications, but substantially 
 as they were delivered. "The book may be accepted as a very 
 valuable contribution to the science of language." SATURDAY 
 REVIEW. 
 
 Philology. THE JOURNAL OF SACRED AND CLAS- 
 SICAL PHILOLOGY. Four Vols. 8vo. 12s. 6<t. 
 
 THE JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY. New Series. Edited by W. 
 G. CLARK, M.A., JOHN E. B. MAYOR, M.A., and W. ALDIS 
 WRIGHT, M.A. Nos. I., II., III., and IV. 8vo. 4*. 6d. each. 
 (Half-yearly.) 
 
 Roby (H. J.) A GRAMMAR OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE, 
 FROM PLAUTUS TO SUETONIUS. By HENRY JOHN 
 
 j ROBY, M.A., late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. 
 Part I. containing : Book I. Sounds. Book II. Inflexions. 
 Book III. Word Formation. Appendices. Crown Svo. 8s. 6d. 
 
 This work is the result of an independent and careful study of the 
 writers of the strictly Classical period, the period, embraced between 
 the time of Plautus and that of Suetonius. The author's aim has 
 been to give the facts of the language in as few words as possible. It 
 will be found that the arrangement of the book and the treatment of 
 the various divisions differ in many respects from those of previous 
 
WORKS ON LANGUAGE. 49 
 
 grammars. Mr. Roby has given special prominence to the treat- 
 ment of Sounds and Word-formation; and in the First Book he has 
 done much towards settling a discussion which is at present largely 
 engaging the attention of scholars, viz., the Pronunciation of the 
 Classical languages. In the full Appendices will be found various 
 valuable details still further illustrating the subjects discussed in the 
 text. 77ie author's reputation as a scholar and critic is already 
 well known, and the publishers are encouraged to believe that his 
 present work will take its place as perhaps the most original, exhaus- 
 tive, and scientific gramniar of the Latin language that has eveJ' 
 issued from the British -Press. " 'The book is marked by the clear 
 and practical insight of a master in his art. It is a book whicJi 
 would do honour to any country." ATHEN/EUM. "Brings before 
 the student in a metJwdical form the best results of modern philology 
 bearing on the Latin language." SCOTSMAN. 
 
 Taylor (Rev. Isaac). WORDS AND PLACES ; or, 
 
 Etymological Illustrations of* History, Ethnology, and Geography. 
 
 By the Rev. ISAAC TAYLOR. New Edition, thoroughly revised 
 
 and condensed for School use. [In the press. 
 
 This work, as the SATURDAY REVIEW acknowledges, "is one which 
 stands alone in our language.' 1 '' The subject is one acknowledged to 
 be of the highest importance as a handmaid to PRstory, Ethnology, 
 Geography, and even to Geology ; and Mr. Taylors work has 
 taken its place as the only English aiithority ofvahie on the subject. 
 Not only is the work of the highest value to the student, but will be 
 found full of interest to the general reader, affording him wonderful 
 peeps into the past life and wanderings of the restless race to ta/tic/z 
 lie belongs. Every assistance is given iu the way of specially pre- 
 pared Maps, Indexes, and Appendices ; and to anyone who wishes 
 to pursue the study of the subject further, the Bibliographical List of 
 Books will be found invaluable. The NONCONFORMIST says, "The 
 historical importance of ehe subject can scarcely be exaggerated.'" 
 ''''His book,"" the READER says, "w?7t be invaluable to the student of 
 English history." 1 ' "As all cultivated minds feel ctiriosity abotit 
 local names, it may be expected that this will become a household 
 book," says the GUARDIAN. 
 
 Trench. Works by R. CHENEVIX TRENCH, D.D., Archbishop of 
 Dublin. (For other Works by the same Author, see THEOLOGICAL 
 CATALOGUE.) 
 
 D 
 
50 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Trench (R. C.) -continued. 
 
 Archbishop Trench has done much to spread an interest in the history 
 of our English tongue. He is acknowledged to possess an un- 
 common power of presenting, in a clear, instructive, and interesting 
 manner, the fruit of his own extensive research, as well as t/u 
 results of the labours of other scientific and historical students 
 of language ; while, as the ATHENAEUM says, " his sober judgment 
 and sound sense are barriers against the misleading influence oj 
 arbitrary hypotheses" 
 
 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. New Edition, 
 enlarged. 8vo. cloth. 12s 
 
 The study of synonyms in any language is valuable as a discipline for 
 training the mind to close and accurate habits of thought ; more 
 especially is this the case in Greek - <l a language spoken by a people oj 
 the finest and subtlest intellect; who saw distinctions where others saw 
 none; who divided out to different -words what others often were 
 content to huddle confusedly under a common term." This work is 
 recognized as a valuable companion to every student of the New 
 Testament in the original. This, the Seventh Edition, has been 
 carefully revised, and a considerable number ofneiv synonyms added. 
 Appended is an Index to the synonyms, and an Index to many other 
 Tjords alluded to or explained throughout the work. "lie is," the 
 ATHEN^UM says, "a guide in this department of knowledge t 
 whom his readers may entrust themselves 2oith confidence." 
 
 ON THE STUDY OF WORDS Lectures Addressed (originally) 
 to the Pupils at the Diocesan Training School, Winchester, 
 fourteenth Edition, revised and enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. 4^. 6d. 
 
 This, it is believed, was probably the first work which drezv general 
 attention in this country to the importance and interest of the 
 critical and historical study of English. It still retains its place as 
 one of the most successful if not the only exponent of those aspects 
 of Words of which it treats. The subjects of the several Lectures 
 are I. "Introductory" II. "On the Foe'ry of Words." III. 
 "On the Morality of Words." IV. "On the History of Words." 
 V. "On the Rise of Nav Words." VI. "On the Distinction of 
 Words. " VII. ( ' The Schoolmaster's Use of Words. " 
 
WORKS ON LANGUAGE. 
 
 Trench (R. ,.} continued. 
 
 ENGLISH PAST AND PRESENT. Seventh Edition, revised 
 and improved. Fcap. 8vo. 4^. 6d. 
 
 This is a series of eight Lectures, in the first of which Archbishop 
 "French considers t/ie English language as it now is, decomposes some 
 specimens of it, and thus discovers of -what elements it is compact. In 
 the second Lectiwe he considers ivhat the language might have been 
 if the Norman Conquest had never taken place. In the following 
 six Lectures he institutes from various points of vieiv a comparison 
 between the present language and the past, points out gains which it 
 has made, losses which it has endured, and generally calls attention 
 to some of the more important changes through which it has passed, 
 <jr is at present passing. 
 
 A SELECT GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH WORDS USED 
 FORMERLY IN SENSES DIFFERENT FROM THEIR 
 PRESENT. Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 4*. 
 
 This alphabetically arranged Glossary contains many of the most 
 important of those English words which in the course of time havt 
 gradually changed their meanings, 7Jie author 1 s object is to point 
 O2tt some of these changes, to suggest how many more there may le, 
 to sho^v how slight and subtle, while, yet most real, these changes 
 have often been, to trace here and there the progressive steps by 
 which the old meaning has been pttt off and the. new put on the 
 exact road which a word has travelled. The author thus hopes t 
 render some assistance to those who regard this as a serviceable dis- 
 cipline in the training of their own minds or the minds of others. 
 Although the book is in the form of a Glossary, it will be found as 
 interesting as a series of brief wdl-told biographies. 
 
 ON SOME DEFICIENCIES IN OUR ENGLISH DICTION- 
 ARIES : Being the substance of Two Papers read before the 
 Philological Society. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 
 8vo. 3-r. 
 
 Wood Works by H. T. W. WOOD, B.A., Clare College, 
 Cambridge : 
 
 THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH AND 
 FRENCH LITERATURE IN THE EIGHTEENTH 
 CENTURY. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
52 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE. 
 
 CHANGES IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BETWEEN 
 THE PUBLICATION OF WICLIF'S BIBLE AND THAT 
 OF THE AUTHORIZED VERSION ; A.D. 1400 to AD. 1600. 
 Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 lliis Essay gained the Le Bas Prize for the year 1870. Besides the 
 Introductory Section explaning the aim and scope of the Essav, 
 there are otJicr three Sections and three Appendices. Section II. 
 treats of" English before Chaucer." III. " Chaitcer to Caxton." 
 IV. "From Caxton to the Authorized Version." Appendix: I. 
 "Table of English Literature" A.D. 1300 A.D. 1611. //. 
 " Early English Bible." III. "Inflectional Changes of the Vern" 
 This will be found a most valuable help in the study of our language 
 during the period embraced in the Essay. "As we go with /ii?;i," 
 the ATHEISL-EUM says, "we harn something new at every step. " 
 
 Yonge HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN NAMES. By CHAR- 
 LOTTE M. YONGE, Author of "The Heir of RedclyfFe." Two 
 Vols. Crown 8vo. \l. is. 
 
 Miss YongJs work is acknowledged to be the authority on tJi>* interest- 
 ing subject of which it treats. Until she wrote on the subject, the 
 history of names especially Christian Names as distinguished from 
 Surnames had been but little examined; nor why one should be 
 popular and another forgotten why one should flourish through- 
 out Europe, another in one country alone, another around some 
 petty district. In each case she has tried to find ottt whence the 
 name came, whether it had a patron, and whether the patron took 
 it from the mytJis or heroes of his own country, or from the mean- 
 ing of the words. She has then tried to classify the names, as to 
 treat them merely alphabetically would destroy all their interest and 
 connection. They are classified first by language, beginning with 
 Hebrew and coming down tJirough Greek and Latin to Celtic, 
 Teutonic, Slavonic, and other sources, ancient and modern ; then 
 by meaning or spirit. "An almost exhaustive treatment of the 
 subject . . . The painstaking toil of a thoughtful and cultured mind 
 on a most interesting theme." LONDON QUARTERLY. 
 
 R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, LONDON. 
 

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