however kind might be their intentions, could never look into the spirit of her little boy, and mark its delicate workings, or comprehend, in the slightest degree, the feeling agitating her own bosom. Yet they promised and spoke kindly, and feelingly; and the decisive argument was, this was her only opportunity.'

And so she says, "After deliberation, accompanied with tears, and agony, and prayers, I came to the conviction that it was my duty to send away my only child, my darling George, and yesterday he bade me a long farewell. Oh, my dear sister, my heart is full, and I long to disburden it by writing whole pages-but my eyes are rolling down with tears, and I can scarcely hold my pen.' "Oh, I shall never forget his looks as he stood by the door, and gazed at me for the last time. His eyes were filling with tears, and his little face was red with suppressed emotion. But he subdued his feelings, and it was not till he had turned away, and was going down the steps, that he burst into a flood of tears. I hurried to my room; and on my knees, with my whole heart, gave him up to God; and my bursting heart was comforted from above. I felt such a love to poor perishing souls, as made me willing to give up all, that I might aid in bringing these wretched heathen to Christ. The love of God, manifested in sending his only-begotten and well-beloved Son into this world, to die for our sins, touched my heart, and I felt satisfaction in laying upon the altar my only son! My reason and judgment tell me, that the good of my child requires that he should be sent to America; and this, of itself, would support me in some little degree; but when I view it as a sacrifice made for the sake of Jesus, it becomes a delightful privilege."

How the loving, tender mother beams out in the foregoing lines, but yet it "became a privilege for Jesus' sake! "Oh, that there were more of such a consecration to God of our all! Should we not see our children more useful in the world; oftener meet with an answer to our prayers, in their early conversion? And, as we gather, in our maternal meetings, to pray for our own dear children, and to ask Divine Wisdom in training them for heaven, shall we not remember the missionary mother in her trials, together with her children?

Original.

EVENING CONVERSATIONS.-No. VII.

BY REV. ROBERT SEWELL.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

Mamma. As the sky is beautifully clear, and your papa is at leisure, we will devote this evening to the subject of the stars, which, after our last two conversations upon flowers, we shall find much of interest. The latter shows us the wisdom and skill of the Creator in some of the most minute operations of his hand, while the former manifests his grandeur and power in the unlimited regions of space.

Papa. In entering upon this subject, we shall commence with the solar system, that being the family of the heavenly bodies of which the planet we inhabit is a member.

John. I suppose the beautiful evening star, which now gilds the western hemisphere after the sun has withdrawn, is also a branch of the solar system?

Mamma. In this, my dear, you are correct. It is the second planet in point of distance from the sun, and by reason of its nearness to us, is the most brilliant. It is also the morning star during a portion of the year. Poets of all ages have eulogized it, and we find the Great Head of the Church thinks it not derogatory to his glorious character to style himself "the bright and morning Star."

Helen. If the sun is styled the centre of the solar system, are we to conclude that it is altogether stationary?

Papa. The whole system, viz., all the planets, with the sun itself, is by no means stationary, but is moving at a rapid rate in the regions of space; and, indeed, the whole firmament appears to be revolving round some central point, known, perhaps, only to Him who has put the whole fabric into motion.

Sarah. I suppose we have reason to think there may yet be other planets belonging to the solar system, besides those which have already been discovered?

Mamma. Doubtless this is the fact. It is but three or four years since Neptune was recognized as a planet, and not seventy years ago Uranus, with his six moons, was numbered in the family of the solar system; besides seven or eight smaller spheres between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, which are supposed to be fragments of a large sphere that once occupied their position. Helen. What is the number of planets already discovered which derive their light and heat from the sun?

Papa. Leaving out the small ones above mentioned, their number is twenty-six. The largest of these is Jupiter, whose bulk is thirteen hundred times the size of the earth. His day and night contain nine hours, and his year is about the length of twelve of ours. His belts and four moons present a beautiful appearance through the telescope; the former some think to be clouds, or strata of vapor that float in his atmosphere.

Sarah. Is not Saturn the next planet in size that belongs to the solar system?

Mamma. It is, and here we behold proofs of the wisdom and goodness of the Creator; for while this orb is placed further from the sun, there are a greater number of moons, namely, seven, to enlighten its regions. But the most astonishing appendages to Saturn are his two immense luminous rings, both of which encircle the planet, and add greatly to its light, by reflecting the rays of the sun; while the motions of these rings, and the frequent eclipses of the seven moons, must render the nocturnal scenery grand and exciting.

John. I suppose the size of the sun is much greater than any of the planets.

Papa. This luminary has a bulk, it is said, not less than five hundred times greater than that of all the planets united. Its diameter is not much short of a million of miles, and its distance from us nearly one hundred millions, and it would contain within it more than thirteen hundred thousand globes as large as the earth. Were a person to travel along its surface so as to pass along every square mile, at the rate of thirty miles a day, it would require more than two hundred and twenty millions of years before the whole journey would be completed.

Helen. Will you tell us something of the spots upon the sun, about which we often hear?.

Mamma. These are openings in the luminous matter with which the body of that globe appears to be surrounded. Some of them are immensely large, and by strict observations upon these phenomena, the motion of the sun upon its axis has been proved, and the time of its rotation pretty correctly ascertained to be twenty-five days, nine hours and a half.

Besides, nearness to

Sarah. Supposing the planets to be inhabited, can this idea, as it regards the sun, be admitted, as that body is the great reservoir from which the whole system is supplied with light and heat? Papa. Although we derive heat from the sun, it by no means follows that that body is a burning mass. Heat is generated by collision, as by a piece of flint and steel. the sun does not produce an increase of warmth—which is proved by men who have ascended in balloons—and although the earth is nearer the sun at the equinoxes than at the summer solstice, yet the heat is less, by reason of the rays falling upon us in a horizontal direction. Some have supposed that beneath its luminous atmosphere, its surface may be well adapted to the existence of intelligent beings, and its celestial scenery to exceed that of any of the planets in grandeur and beauty.

John. You have mentioned some small bodies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, as being perhaps the wrecks of a former planet. Can there be any good grounds for this idea ?

Mamma. The space between the orbits of these two planets is so much larger than that between the Earth and Mars, that many supposed a planet to exist there; but instead of one corresponding in size to the others, several have been discovered, some of them not larger than the moon, with orbits which frequently interseet each other; and, by reason of their proximity, diminutiveness, and the eccentricities of their orbits, it has been conjectured they were formerly but one globe.

Helen. Is Mercury ever visible without the aid of a telescope, papa?

Papa. This being the nearest to the sun, it can seldom be seen except when at its greatest elongation. The degree of Eight in

this planet is seven times greater than what the earth receives ; its motion round the sun is more rapid than any other of the heavenly bodies belonging to the solar system. Spots like those upon the sun have been observed upon it; and mountains, from one to ten miles in height, rear their tops in its hemispheres.

Sarah. What are the peculiarities that have been noticed in Venus and Mars?

Mamma. Both Venus and Mercury appear horned, like the new moon, at particular parts of their orbits; which fact decidedly proves two things, viz., that they receive their light from, and revolve round the sun, within the orbit of the earth. At some seasons of the year the light of Venus has been perceived to be more of a greenish hue than at others, which is supposed to be owing to the return of summer on this planet, in those regions opposite to us. The polar regions of Mars have a white luminous appearance, thought to be caused by vast masses of snow not yet dissolved.

John. You have mentioned a number of planets as having moons; but Mars, although farther from the sun than we are, has none; and Neptune, the most distant planet, is not, it appears, supplied with any of these great aids of light.

Papa. We are by no means to conclude that this is really the case. Although no satellites have as yet been discovered about those more distant planets, we cannot say certainly that there are none; for, as the science of astronomy advances, and our instruments become more perfect, many heavenly bodies which at present elude our observation, will be brought to light.

Helen. Are comets considered as parts of the solar system? Mamma. These wandering bodies, some have supposed to belong to several systems, as their long and winding revolutions appear almost to defy calculation. Yet upward of five hundred of them have been noticed as belonging to our system, and the periods of their return to our view have, with some of them, been marked with singular precision.

Sarah. Was it not a long time before the true theory of the motions of the planets was generally received by mankind?

Papa. The present system was first taught by Pythagoras five