As in our system, so it is in these ;

The smaller worlds are nearer to the sun,
So small, they intercept in few the rays
From the great radiant orb-an atmosphere
More rare-may it not be-than on our earth,
Thence, cooler-as upon our mountain heights.
Their vallies, temperate as our high lands
Of Ind' or Afric's equatorial climes;

Their mountain crests, capp'd with eternal snow,
Thus may a rarer atmosphere conduce
To temper worlds in close proximity
With the invigorating, pow'rful rays

Of solar orbs. Let proud philosophy consult.

CIV.

Then, that majestic globe, great Jupiter!
Though far away his path from the bright sun,
Yet may he not-like those we now flit by-
Have ample light and heat? An atmosphere
Proportion'd to his bulk, more dense and deep,-
In fact, a mighty lens, to magnify

In size, the distant day-star, and collect
The scatter'd rays that evermore impinge
On his broad surface-

CV.

-For a Titan race

He seems the dwelling! Ninety thousand miles
His wide diameter, an ample shield

T'arrest the flying rays and send them back

To us, reflected, a right brilliant pledge

1 Jupiter's diameter has been variously stated, from 89,000 miles to 92,164 miles. The latter is from "Proctor's Table vi." The oblique rays of the sun near setting, and soon after rising, have less power to produce heat. Even the direct rays do not produce heat when passing through space, until meeting some medium possessing a degree of density sufficient for its development.

Of his great power. Compensation thus
For distance is produc'd. Have we not proof?
Whence his great brightness, if diminish'd light
Reveals to us his form? He looks not dim,
But, with unbated splendour, joyously
Rivals fair Venus, in her brightest dress.

CVI.

Nor is the force of gravity too great
For the free motion of his many tribes,
Both animal and sentient, on land,

In water, or the air. Though great his bulk,
His weight and density are greatly less
Than the proportion of our smaller world.
Not only that-more swiftly does he roll
On his great axle, making day and night
Complete in less than half the length of ours.
How greatly, then, the force centrifugal
Must tend to lessen the great weight of all
That live and move, on that majestic ball.

CVII.

In all the multitude of worlds that here
Perform their fitting rounds, we find not one
Lacking Divine resource appropriate

To its condition, and its habitants.
Even the Asteroid, diminutive,

And far revolving from the solar beam,
Behold! her ample atmosphere protects

The tiny wanderer from extreme cold.
The solar light, in passing from its source,
Loses no atom of its latent power,1

But piercing through the planet's ambient air,

1 For the wonderful properties of light, see Brewster's "Optics," Somerville's "Physical Sciences," Humboldt's "Cosmos," Mitchel's "Popular Astronomy," works of easy access to the million.

Deflect, and nearer to a focus brought
Upon the planet-surface, gives due warmth.

CVIII.

The surface of the atmospheric sea,

Round as the planet that it doth embrace,
Forms, at the bottom of that sea of air,
In ev'ry part, a plano-convex lens,
Whose depth and density, in ev'ry world,
Duly proportion'd to its distance, gives
To each fair world its proper light and heat
For vital being—animal, and plant.1
Oh, who shall limit the Creator's pow'r

To do all this, and more that we know not?

CIX.

Thy spirit, Byron, could resolve us all

That we would ask. But see, we now arrive
In our own neighbourhood—the Pleiades—
Orion, Arcturus-the Ursa-Major,

And, in "the chambers of the south," the Cross,
From hence shines gloriously bright!

Familiar constellations to our earth.

And yonder, see, our planet Saturn rolls

His wond'rous rings, in swift rotation whirl'd.

CX.

May we not visit the stupendous orb

More closely, Byron! Is it not a world

Whose nature must, in many ways, admit

The same great laws, by nature never chang'd,

1 A simple experiment in optics will illustrate the Author's idea. Take any plano-convex lens every microscope has one, called the condenser. When the sun shines brightly, place the plane side of the lens upon the palm of the hand, facing the sun. Move the lens gradually from the hand towards the sun. As the lens is removed further from the hand, the disc of light on the palm becomes smaller and brighter, with warmth, and if brought to the focus, the heat becomes intense. The power of a lens increases in proportion to its greater diameter. 2 Job, chap. ix. ver. 9, 10.

Though modified ad infinitum. Here

Behold, the planet's swift revolving pow'r,
Giving so great a force, centrifugal,

That he throws off his substance-light as cork,
'Tis estimated-thus the rings are form'd:
The lighter, and more weighty particles,
When liberated from the parent orb,
Fly off, each to their destin'd points,
Where the two forces become equaliz'd.
Attraction and recession, there shake hands
To form the lighter, and more weighty rings.

CXI.

By mutual attraction, kindred particles
Consolidate, and time, that never stops,
Calls in attraction's aid: that power brings
The atmosphere, with moisture duly charg'd,
To make all firm. Oh, aged time alone
Can tell, how many ages back all this
Was done. How many long Saturnian years
Those rings have alternated their long day
With dreary length of night! Obliquely plac'd
To the wide orbit's plane, their half-year's sun
Ne'er sets, but at his rising moves around
The horizon spirally, with slow increase
Of altitude, as at our earthly pole.

CXII.

But with each axal revolution, comes
The darkness of eclipse-a sudden night-
The planet's shadow, falling on the rings,
Gives to their people a siesta's time

For rest, while, on the planet, days and nights
Of varied length, like ours, although more brief—
Obtain throughout their long protracted year.

CXIII.

The axle more inclining to the plane
Of his orbitual path,1 the summer suns
Have greater altitude at either pole,
Than ours at the polar summer's height;
And in duration nearly fifteen years

Of our terrestrial time the bright sun shines
On the wide surface of his ample rings

And polar regions; while, in the tropic climes,
The great ring-shadow is a long eclipse
Passing from north to south-from south to north,
Unceasingly, though various the breadth,
Least at the equinox-in summer, broad.

CXIV.

Of this great world, the strange phenomena
Require a keen adept to understand,
And a Saturnian half-year's residence,
To witness all the beautiful effects
Of its fine architecture, nicely pois'd:
The separate rings for ever keep their place,
With swift diurnal motion spinning round.

CXV.

And what but that swift motion could maintain
Those wond'rous rings in situ, may we ask?
Solid, or fluid, ev'ry particle

Of their material substance balanc'd well,

1 Scientific terms are, as much as possible avoided here. Mathematical demonstrations, in a work like this, would be entirely misplaced, and although the pride of learning is apt to despise and reject any hypothesis given without x y z formulæ, the Author has endeavoured to express his ideas in language that may be generally understood. As philosophers are not yet quite agreed among themselves as to the constitution of this extraordinary planet, his conceptions are, possibly, not more wild, or farther from the truth, than some which have been broached and argued upon by them. Readers who may wish for more scientific particulars and illustrations of this curious subject, are referred to a very clever work recently published, entitled "Saturn and its System." By Richard A. Proctor, B.A. (Longman and Co.)