And looked upon the night,
And saw the westward-going stars
Pass slowly out of sight.

"Slowly the bright procession
Went down the gleaming arch,
And my soul discerned the music
Of the long triumphal march;

"Till the great celestial army,
Stretching far beyond the poles,
Became the eternal symbol
Of the mighty march of souls.

[Page 116]
"Onward, forever onward,
Red Mars led on his clan;
And the moon, like a mailed maiden,
Was riding in the van.

"And some were bright in beauty,
And some were faint and small,
But these might be, in their great heights,
The noblest of them all.

"Downward, forever downward,
Behind earth's dusky shore,
They passed into the unknown night--
They passed, and were no more.

"No more! Oh, say not so!
And downward is not just;
For the sight is weak and the sense is dim
That looks through heated dust.

"The stars and the mailed moon,
Though they seem to fall and die,
Still sweep in their embattled lines
An endless reach of sky.

"And though the hills of Death
May hide the bright array,
The marshalled brotherhood of souls
Still keeps its onward way.

"Upward, forever upward,
I see their march sublime,
And hear the glorious music
Of the conquerors of Time.

"And long let me remember
That the palest fainting one
May to diviner vision be
A bright and blazing sun."

THOMAS BUCHANAN READ.

[Page 117]
VII.

SHOOTING-STARS, METEORS, AND COMETS.

"The Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah,
and they died."--_Joshua_ x. II.

[Page 118]
[Illustration: A SWARM OF METEORS MEETING THE EARTH.

Their orbits are all parallel. Those coming in direct line to the
eye appear as stars, having no motion. Those on one side of this
line are seen in foreshortened perspective. Those furthest from
the centre, other things being equal, appear longest. The centre,
called the radiant point, of these November meteors is situated
in Leo; that of the August meteors in Perseus. Over fifty such
radiant points have been discovered. Over 30,000 meteors have been
visible in an hour.]

[Page 119]
VII.

_SHOOTING-STARS, METEORS, AND COMETS._

Before particularly considering the larger aggregations of matter
called planets or worlds as individuals, it is best to inves