THE ASTRONOMER. Reg-u-lat-ed, kept in good order. Re-flect'-ed thrown back. Tube, a hollow cylinder; a pipe. STRONOMY is a word derived from the Greek astron, a star, and nomos, a law or rule. An astronomer, therefore, is one who studies the laws of the heavenly orbs, their distances and the motions by which they are regulated. It is man, it is mind, that gives to this great spectacle of the starry heavens all its true worth. 2. While the sun is shining brightly in at my window, I take seven little brass balls and lay them down on the part of the table where the sunshine falls. What do they look like? They are all very bright, and if you look for a moment, you will see a little image of the sun in each of them, just as you see the image of your own face in a looking-glass. But pull down the blind, and what do we see? The balls are not bright now and the little suns have all disappeared, but the sun itself is shining just the same as ever. 3. Well, then, I want you to understand that the sun shines by its own light, but the balls, having no light in themselves, could only shine by giving back the light of the sun. In the same way a blazing fire or a lighted candle shines with its own light, and you may have perhaps observed that the candlestick seemed to shine very brightly too, just as these little balls did. But put out the candle, and you will see that the candlestick will shine no longer, because it has no light in itself, and could only borrow and reflect, or give back, the light thrown upon it by the candle while burning. 4. Now, I wish you to understand the difference between an object shining with its own and with the light of any other bright object shining upon it, which is called reflected light. The sun shines with its own light. The fixed stars shine with their own light. They are too far from the sun to get much of its light. If I put one of these brass balls down close beside a lighted candle, it may shine brightly enough, but if I put it far away into a dark corner of the room, it will perhaps not shine at all, or at most very dimly. 5. But the fixed stars do not need the sun's light, for they are all suns and have light of their own, though they look smaller than the sun, being so much farther away. The planets, however, do not shine with their own light, but reflect the light of the sun in the same way as the little brass balls did; and the planets keep moving round about the sun, receiving from it both light and heat. 6. Here, then, is another lesson for you to keep in mind: that the principal difference between the fixed stars and the planets is that the former shine with their own light and the latter with light borrowed from the sun. But there is still another difference: the fixed stars, which are very nearly all you can see in the sky on a clear night, are stars that twinkle, but the stars we call planets shine with a steady light, and do not twinkle or flicker like the others. 7. The planets are much nearer to us than the twinkling stars. These last are called fixed stars, because they are always seen in nearly the same places, while the planets are constantly changing their places in the sky. There are eleven of these planets; but four of them are smaller than the rest, and two are nearer to the sun than our earth. N a remote field, in a distant country, stood a large tulip tree, apparently of a century's growth, and one of the most gigantic of that splendid species. It looked like the father of the surrounding forest. A single tree of huge dimensions standing all alone is a sublime object. On the top of this tree an old eagle, commonly called the "Fishing Eagle," had built her nest for many years, and unmolested raised her young. This was remarkable, as she procured her food from the and the tree stood full ten miles from the seashore. It had long been known as the "Old Eagle Tree." ocean, 2. On a warm, sunny day, some labourers were sowing corn in an adjoining field. At a certain hour of the day the old eagle was known to set off for the sea-side, to gather food for her young. As she this day returned with a large fish in her claws, the men surrounded the tree, and by yelling, and hooting, and throwing stones, so scared the poor bird, that she dropped her fish, and they carried it off in triumph. 3. The men soon dispersed; but a boy, who was with them, sat down under a bush near by to watch, and to bestow unavailing pity. The bird soon returned to her nest without food. The eaglets at once set up a cry for food so shrill, so clear, so clamorous that the boy was greatly moved. The parent-bird seemed to try to soothe them; but their appetites were too keen, and it was all in vain. She then perched herself on a limb of the tree near them, and looked down into the nest as if to say, "I know not what to do next." 4. Her indecision was but momentary; again she poised herself, uttered one or two sharp notes, as if telling them to lie still, balanced her body, spread her wings, and was away again for the sea! The boy was determined to see the result. His eye followed her till she grew small-smaller-a mere speck in the sky-and then disappeared. 5. She was gone nearly two hours, about double her usual time for a voyage, when she again returned on a slow, weary wing, flying uncommonly low, in order to have a heavier atmosphere to sustain her, and having another fish in her talons. 6. On nearing the field, she made a circuit round it, to see if her enemies were again there. Finding the coast clear, she once more reached the tree, drooping, faint, and weary, and evidently nearly exhausted. Again the eaglets set up their cry, which was soon hushed by the distribution of a dinner such as-save the cooking-a king might admire. 7 "Glorious bird!" cried the boy in ecstasy. "What a spirit! Other birds can fly swifter; others can sing more sweetly; others scream more loudly; but what other bird, when persecuted and robbed-when weary-when discouraged-when so far from the sea-would do this!" 8. "Glorious bird! I will learn a lesson from thee to-day. I will never forget, hereafter, that when the spirit is determined, it can do almost anything. Others would have drooped, and hung the head, and mourned over the cruelty of man, and sighed over the wants of the nestlings; but thou, by at once recovering the loss, hast forgotten all. 9. "I will learn of thee, noble bird! I will remember this. I will set my mark high. I will |