BRIEF ASTRONOMICAL NOTICES. 321 earth. About this period, heavy storms of wind and rain are experienced, as well as at the vernal equinox. "In this month, Nature continues to pour out all her autumnal fruitery,' and to present us with a store of the most delicious fruit; plums, round, and of blooming hue'-' golden apples' glossy nuts.' The vine her curling tendrils shoots, Hangs out her clusters, glowing to the south, "The Persian vine-dressers do all in their power to make the vine run up the wall, and curl over on the other side, which they do by tying stones to the extremity of the tendril. May not this illustrate that beautiful passage used in Genesis xlix. 22? 'Joseph is a fruitful bough; even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall.' The vine, particularly in Turkey and Greece, is frequently made to entwine on trellises, around a well, where in the heat of the day whole families collect themselves, and sit under the shade." BRIEF ASTRONOMICAL NOTICES, FOR SEPTEMBER, 1822. "THE MOON is full, on the 1st, at twenty-six minutes after noon. On the 5th, she rises in the evening about eight o'clock, and is followed by SATURN, whom she will soon pass, but at some distance, as she is to the north, and he is to the south, of the ecliptic; she is directing her course above JUPITER. On the 6th, she rises with the Pleiades to the east of her, which she will have passed before sun-rise; and she forms with them, Jupiter, and Aldebaran to the east of and below her, a conspicuous groupe: the planet she will evidently have passed before her next appearance. On the 8th, Jupiter is seen near to the horizon to the west of her. On the 12th, she is seen to be directing her course under VENUS. On the 14th, she rises with Venus to the west of her; and on the 15th is New Moon at two minutes past eleven in the morning. On the 18th, the crescent of the MoON is seen at sun-set near the horizon. Above her is seen MARS, under whom, at some distance, she is directing her course. "MERCURY is an evening star. His nearness to the Sun at first renders him invisible; and the unfavourableness of his position afterwards, and southern latitude, make him inaccessible to most observers. At the end of the month he is little more than half an hour above the horizon after sun-set. "VENUS is a morning star. "MARS is an evening star. "JUPITER rises at half past nine at night on the 7th, and at half past eight on the 24tl. "SATURN rises about three quarters past eight at night on the 1st, and at seven on the 20th. "HERSCHEL is on the meridian at half past seven in the evening on the 2d, and about a quarter past six on the 23d." (Evening Amusements.) · POETRY. LINES Written whilst thinking on the 34th Verse of the 104th Psalm. And sweet the music of thy Name!- For when affliction bathes the soul Say, is it not the thought of Him, By all my trembling heart holds dear; To Him my heart shall sacred be, To Him my every thought shall flow, No more disturb'd by life's vain dream.— LINES ON THE BIBLE SOCIETY. O Tnou Inspirer of the Shepherd King, P.M. Who taught'st the Hebrew bard thy praise to sing, Grant me a portion of thy holy fire, And give me power to sweep the sacred lyre. : POETRY. For greater themes than HoмER ever sung, Or 'neath the wheels of Juggernaut shall die, 323 No more on her departed husband's tomb, The LORD shall break the' oppressor's iron rod, And Ethiop's sons * shall stretch their hands to God. Siberia's deserts, and the torrid zone, Shall then unite and mingle into one. Kings from afar shall bless the great design, Peace, undisturb'd, shall o'er the earth be spread, * Psalm lxviii. 31. A SICK MAN'S ADDRESS TO HIS CANDLE. Tay size, bright taper, doth so quickly waste, The difference (thanks be to Him who by the Gospel brings life and immortality to light) is infinitely important. The extinction of the burnt candle, and that of the earthly existence of a being made for eternity, whatever analogy there may be be tween them in some points, are, in other respects, and those the most interesting, by no means parallel cases. The deathless spirit is never extinct; and even the flesh of a good man rests in sure and certain hope, that though he die he shall live again. EDITOR. AGAINST CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. A MAN of kindness to his beast is kind, Remember, He who made Thee made the brute; Hinted by T.Cordeux, 14, City-Road, Lundum. SUFFERINGS OF LIEUT. GEORGE SPEARING, IN A COAL-PIT. "Greenwich-Hospital, Aug. 1, 1793. "On Wednesday, September 13, 1769, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, I went into a little wood called Northwoodside, (situated between two and three miles to the N.W. of Glasgow,) with a design to gather a few hazel-nuts. I think that I could not have been in the wood more than a quarter of an hour, nor have gathered more than ten nuts, before I unfortunately fell into an old csal-pit, ex-. actly seventeen yards deep, which had been made through a solid rock. I was some little time insensible. Upon recovering my recollection, I found myself sitting, (nearly as a tailor does at his work,) the blood flowing pretty fast from my mouth; and I thought that I had broken a blood-vessel, and consequently had not long to live; but, to my great comfort, I soon discovered that the blood proceeded VOL. VI. 2 F |