“See Winter comes to rule the varied year,
Sullen and sad, with all his rising train,
Vapors, and clouds, and storms.”
NOVEMBER, dark, dreary, and cold has overtaken us once more. The year, now grown old, is waning fast, and but a few more weeks and we shall have to say a long farewell. Though winter scarcely commences this month, still there is every sign that it is near at hand. If December comes with its hard, biting frosts, freezing up our lakes and rivers; and brings, too, its heavy falls of snow, covering all nature with a soft winter mantle white, November is not far behind. Cold and keen, as well as wild and stormy winds, are now abroad; causing on sea horror and shipwreck, and weary, watching aching hearts ashore; across the wild open wastes on land it sweeps madly and irresistibly along and brave and hardy he who dares meet its awful rage; mournfully it moans through the forest trees; and in the towns, howling down chimneys, shrieking along corridors, whistling through the keyholes-all these have a voice which tells us plainly "Winter is at hand." The sun has little power now, and soon is gone, and long dark nights succeed. Gladly we gather round the fire, and enjoy its cheerful warmth.
We have watched with ever-deepening interest the beautiful and varied changes of the seasons. First, young and vigorous spring, with its rich profusion of bud and bloom; then summer gaily decking nature in her lovliest robe; and lastly, autumn, the rich, full perfection of the year. Thomson, overcome at such a prospect in his "Season's," rapturously bursts forth:
"Oh speak the joy! Ye, whom the sudden tear,
Surprises often while you look around,
And nothing strikes the eye, but sights of bliss,
All various Nature pressing on the heart.
But now we are in the last dark season of the year, when Nature sinks to rest. Gone is the bright verdure from the fields; the richly-foliaged trees are leafless now, and shivering in the wind; and o'er that scene anon so beautiful and gay, dreary desolation reigns supreme. No cheerful note of bird delights our ear; all have flown to sunnier climes. Only poor robin-redbreast, and his poorer neighbor the sparrow remain to remind us of our loss. Be kind and generous to these! Scatter unsparingly the crumbs upon the lawn and window-sill; perhaps by this small act of kindness you are doing the will of your Father which is in Heaven, for He tells us that not a sparrow falleth to the ground unknown to Him.
Month after month as the year has rolled away, we have sought to show you something of the marvelous skill, the wisdom, and the goodness of God, as seen, more particularly in the animal creation all around. The welcome home-returning swallow-the sure harbinger of spring, the variegated moth, sporting from flower to flower in the golden summer sun, the busy beaver, and the still more busy bee and ant; and lastly the wonders of the insect world. The marvelous instincts all these possess, as well as the remarkable activity they display, plainly tell us what a wonderful Creator is our God. But more than this, many a useful lesson may be learned from them. How patient, persevering, and prudent, too, in all their little ways.
But now the birds have flown, the animals are in their holes; nature is at rest, and there is little to interest us around. Where then shall we look this month for that which may please as well as profit us?
At this seas on of the year the nights are often very bright and clear, and the vast firmament above with its twinkling starry host, may be observed with beautiful distinctness. As they shine down upon us they would seem to invite our observation.
You may say it is a long, long way to look; and you are right, much farther indeed than you or I can possibly conceive. Yet we may learn something about the stars. Do you know that every one of those little twinkling points of light are great blazing suns as large as ours, and some indeed hundreds of times larger? But let us see how this can be. It is calculated that the distance of the nearest fixed star from the earth is twenty billions of miles, a distance as impossible for us to understand as the duration of eternity. Yet, spite of this vast intervening space, their glimmering light is visible to us, which compels us to believe them suns, for no light less powerful and bright could ever penetrate so far.
But suns as they likely are to other systems, to our vision they are but stars, and it is only as such we can know and speak about them.
As far as history takes us back, even to the remotest periods, the stars, their positions and movements in the heavens, seem to have been observed and studied, no less for useful and important objects than from mere interest or admiration.
The occupation of the ancients, for a great part, was that of husbandmen and shepherds, which mode of life we know is carried on under the open canopy of heaven, and where the stars, and indeed all the heavenly bodies would naturally invite attention. Perhaps to this, then, in a great measure, we may attribute the very considerable knowledge of the stars that the ancients possessed.
It was in these remote times the stars were first grouped into constellations. Each one received some fanciful name, according to the being or object the stars composing it were supposed to represent. That no real resemblance exists, however, should be clearly understood.
If my reader should think to find by looking up at Ursa Major the outline of a bear, or at Leo Major, the outline of a lion, or at Cassiopeia a "lady sitting in a chair," he will look in vain. No such resemblance is there. It was a mere fancy of the ancients, but a useful one, to simplify to them the positions of the stars.
There are between eighty and ninety of these constellations, each bearing a distinct name; but they are too many to mention here. Beside these numerous smaller constellations, the stars are grouped into twelve large divisions, called zodiacal constellations, or the Signs of the Zodiac. The sun in making his apparent journey right round the heavens, enters and passes through all these signs, one every month, and so through all in the year. The constellations and the stars that compose them, are thus useful as determining the exact position of the sun at any time, as he travels round the heavens. The names of these twelve signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces, These are the Latin names, but their names and order in English you may easily remember in this simple rhyme:
“The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,
And next the Crab, the Lion shines,
The Virgin, and the Scales,
The Scorpion, Archer, and He Goat,
The Man that holds the Watering-pot,
The Fish with glittering Scales.”
In order to learn the positions of the various constellations, and the names of the stars which compose them, you will want a star-map or a celestial globe. But you should also get some friend to point out some of the principal ones to begin with. Though, perhaps a little difficult at the beginning, you will yet find it very interesting, and for this reason. After making some progress, you will not as before gaze up with indifference at an indistinguishable multitude of stars, perhaps only attracted by their brightness and their beauty, but now they take a form or shape as it were, you are struck with the marked distinctness of each constellation; and like a picture-puzzle which when once found out nothing else is noticed but the subject, so is it with the constellations. They will soon too become like old friends. Rising gradually in the east you will observe them travel over slowly but surely towards the west, where they finally sink down and disappear.
But now let us take a glance at some of those which this month are shining out with beautiful distinctness. And first, let us look at the Great Bear, one of the northern constellations, which is seen by us the year round. There must be few indeed who do not know the Great Bear with his seven straggling stars, two of which, called the Pointers, are ever turned towards the North Pole Star, and from which appearance they received their name. The Pole Star is easily discovered if you follow the direction indicated by the Pointers. It is due north: and the constellation of the Great Bear ever as it were swinging round it, with the aid of the Pointers, was a sure sign to the mariner on the watery wastes, or the bewildered traveler on land, before the introduction of the useful compass. Another, and a brilliantly beautiful constellation, is Orion. In a sloping direction you may now see it gradually climbing the eastern sky, forming with its surroundings quite a picture. Its shape is a sort of parallelogram or long square; there are four stars to represent the corners, and in the center three stars across, and three above, not so distinct, pointing downwards which are called Orion's Belt and Sword. Two brilliant stars to the left, at a great stretch, seem to guard his side, and these are called his Dogs. Sirius is the largest and the brightest in the heavens.
Now may also be seen plainly the Pleiades and the Hyades, both in Taurus the Bull. The Pleiades consist of a group of very small stars, and the Hyades form a triangle, supposed to represent the bull's face, two stars branching off above are taken for his horns. These constellations are mentioned in the Book of Job called by these names, some four thousand years ago they still retain them to the present day Many more beautiful constellations, as Gemini, the Twins, so called from the two bright stars Castor and Pollux, situated therein; Cassiopeia, Triangulum, and Draco are easily enough discovered when the nights are bright and clear.
So far we have spoken only of the Fixed Stars, those whose positions in the heavens never alter with respect to each other. But there are a few others, which on the contrary are always moving, and for that reason are called Planets or "wanderers," as the word implies. These stars or planets though immensely far away, are but next door to us compared with the infinite distance of the fixed stars.
Since the invention of the huge telescopes with their wonderful magnifying power, now set lap in various parts of the world, many interesting facts about the planets have come to light. What they are, their size and weight, the velocity with which they travel,-all these facts are now perfectly well known. So far as yet discovered there are twelve planets, of which one is our earth. What a thought!
This big round world is but a star in the vast universe of God! Unlike the fixed stars which shine by their own light, the planets are entirely dark bodies receiving all their luminous appearance from the sun, around which they ceaselessly revolve. Were his pleasant, cheering beams withdrawn, our earth and all the planets would be instantly involved in impenetrable gloom.
MERCURY is the first and the nearest planet to the sun. He is hardly visible to us, being lost in the superior blaze of the sun's light; he may, however, sometimes be seen just before the rising and a little after the setting of the sun.
VENUS, the next and the most brilliant star in the heavens, our beautiful evening and morning star alternately, is perhaps best known of all the planets.
The EARTH is the third planet with which I should hope you are familiar enough!
MARS, the fourth planet from the sun, is known by the dull red light which he reflects, and so called after the god of war. To the inhabitants of Mars, if any, our planet appears alternately as the morning and evening star, as Venus does to us.
The ASTEROIDS, Vesta, Juno, Pallas, and Ceres are beyond Mars. These are very small planets, only discovered this century.
JUPITER, the largest, and after Venus the brightest star, is distinguished by numerous marks like bands or belts across his disc, though only seen of course through a powerful telescope.
SATURN is as remarkable for his “ring," as Jupiter for his "belts." This ring is a vast solid mass completely surrounding him, and is thought by some astronomers to reflect the light and heat of the sun on the body of the planet.
URANUS and NEPTUNE, the last and the most remote in the planetary system, are at too great distance to be particularly observed; hence very, little is known about them. All these revolve round the sun at various distances and in unequal periods of time. Mercury, the nearest, 37 millions of miles, in 87 days, to Neptune the farthest planet, 2746 millions of miles in 164 of our years. Several of the planets have moons revolving round them; but I have not space to tell you of them.
And now in conclusion, let us turn our thoughts to Him, of whom, the Psalmist says “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork." As we contemplate all these rolling worlds of light, our thoughts must rise in wondering adoration the Omnipotent God!
These are His stupendous works! Created at His word; cast forth into infinite space by His Almighty hand: there they are set, and there they will remain till He that bade them be, shall bid them be no more! How impressively one of our poets says:-
“When the Lord created the earth and sea,
The stars and the glorious sun;
The Godhead spoke-and the universe woke,
And the mighty work was done.”
But God has not revealed Himself only in His works. Miracle of grace He Himself has visited this earth, in the person of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In pity to a lost and ruined world He condescended to be made a man, and walk with men; God with man, wondrous fact! For three-and-thirty years He was the Light of this dark world, "giving light to them that sat in darkness;" then He wrought that wondrous work, which, trusted and believed, yields peace and rest unto the soul. He has gone away, but He will come again, and very soon; and through the deepening midnight gloom we hear His loving voice to all who wait for Him. “Behold I come quickly."“I am the bright and morning star.”