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It is obvious therefore, that the splendour of her light, and her apparent size must suffer considerable modifications, as well from her varying distance, as from the phases which she exhibits. This is well illustrated in the different figures or phases of this planet, as given above. The first phase, which is the gibbous, shows Venus, just after having passed from superior conjunction, and when at almost its greatest distance from the earth; it not being seen when in a line with, or too close to, the sun. The second phase corresponds to our half-moon, and is the aspect of Venus when forming a right angle with the sun and the earth; it is then at its greatest elongation. The third phase, or crescent, is observed just before and after the planet's inferior conjunction, and when at about its nearest distance to the earth. Hence it has been noticed, as shown in the figure above, that the apparent size of Venus is indicated as greatest by the crescent form, and that her light is then most brilliant and abundant; and that her apparent size is least, when in the gibbous state, and her light proportionably diminished:all depending upon her distance from the earth. When Venus gets near to the earth she appears upwards of thirty times larger than when farthest off; and her light about this time is so intense as to project a real shadow upon a white ground, such as clean writing-paper. She may even be seen in the day-time, near, and soon after her greatest elongation. The phases of Venus were first pointed out by Galileo; this being one of his earliest discoveries with the telescope.

Fig. 11.

on her axis has been determined, but the inclination of that axis to the plane of her orbit has been found to be as much as 75° The inclination of the earth's axis to the ecliptic, or path of the earth round the sun, is about 23°; and this inclination causes the diversity of seasons. How much greater then must be the diversity of seasons on the face of the planet Venus, than on the Earth! Some parts of her surface may enjoy the four seasons twice in the year. The light and heat which she receives from the Sun, is probably about twice as great as that received by the Earth.

We have now to speak of a train of observations, which were productive of important consequences, and in which the planet Venus rendered great service, we mean the correct calculation of the Sun's parallax; and from that, his distance from the Earth, by means of a transit of Venus across his disc. We have stated that Mercury occasionally crosses the Sun's disc, as viewed from the Earth; and it may reasonably be expected that Venus, being, like Mercury, an inferior planet, would likewise cross the Sun's disc at certain times. Such is the case, as was first observed by Horrox, a student of Cambridge, in the year 1639; but the transits of Venus occur with much less frequency than those of Mercury. The former happening alternately at intervals of eight and a hundred and thirteen years, nearly. The most celebrated of these transits occurred respectively in the years 1761 and 1769;-celebrated, because many of the European governments sent out scientific expeditions, in order that this phenomenon might be observed at different parts of the Earth, with the greatest accuracy, and under the most favourable circumstances. At the time of the transit, Venus must, of course, be at its nearest position in respect of the Earth, and its apparent diameter will be of the largest extent, which is 61", or five times that of Mercury. The mean apparent diameter of Venus is about 17".

Venus, like Mercury, being an inferior planet, cannot, of course, be at any time in opposition to the Sun: indeed, she never recedes farther from him than 47°, which is her greatest elongation, or the angle, which would be formed by two lines drawn to the Earth, one from the Sun and the other from the planet. The orbit of Venus being exterior to that of Mercury, the greatest elongation of Venus, specified by the The final object, which was more particularly held in angle mentioned above, is necessarily greater than that of view in making these observations was, to determine with Mercury; to which circumstance it is owing that Venus is greater precision than had been previously done, the distance sometimes visible above the horizon for more than three of the Earth from the Sun; in order that the true magnitude hours before the Sun rises, and upon other occasions for as and extent of the whole solar system might be from thence long a time after the Sun has set:-in the former case she determined. The manner in which this was accomplished is to the west of the Sun, and is called a morning star, and does not admit of a full explanation, without entering into in the latter she is to the east and is designated an evening more intricate details than are suitable to these papers. star. The elongation of a planet refers, then, to that posi- We must, however, briefly explain the nature of parallax; tion in which the planet is seen at its greatest distance -as it was through the medium of this phenomenon that from the Sun; at which time the planet appears, as we just the transit of Venus was rendered available for the object in said, in the shape of a half-moon :-these phases, however, view; and as the question of parallax is one of the fundacannot be perceived without the aid of a telescope. mental principles, called into use, in our endeavours to apThe surface of this planet is found to exhibit spots, simi-preciate the distances of the heavenly bodies. lar to those of which we shall hereafter have to speak in the Moon's. By these spots not only the rotation of the planet This is the planet which, rising before the sun, the old poets termed Phosphorus and Lucifer; both words meaning light-bearer. When setting after the Sun, in the evening, they termed it Hesperus or Vesper; which terms have relation to the evening.

The first step to the accomplishment of the main purpose was to ascertain the parallax of Venus; as a medium point, whereby the solar parallax might be more precisely

obtained.

The term parallax signifies a change produced by passing by. Familiarly speaking, we have parallax constantly

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were transparent, a spectator, placed at its centre, would see the four heavenly bodies abcd at efg h, respectively; which would be the true places. Hence the true place of a heavenly body is somewhat higher than its apparent place, excepting as was said before, at the zenith; where the true, and apparent places of objects coincide. The angle formed by the two lines at b, c, or d, is the parallactic angle.

Such then is the nature of parallax: and it will be seen that the horizontal parallax is nothing more than the angular dimensions of half the Earth's diameter, as seen from the planet. With such a planet as Venus, which approaches comparatively near to the Earth, the effect of parallax is considerable; but with respect to the Sun itself, such is not the case; for the Sun, being at the average distance of ninety-five millions of miles from the Earth, the semi-diameter of the Earth must appear exceedingly small, when viewed from such a distance. This small quantity is, however, made more sensible by the transit of Venus over the face of the Sun; for an observer, situated eastward on the Earth's surface, sees Venus begin to pass over the disc of the Sun somewhat earlier than another observer, situated more to the west; and the chord described by the planet upon the solar disc will appear somewhat greater or smaller, according to the situation of the observers upon the Earth's surface. Hence the difference in the position of view gives a difference of time, taken up by Venus in her passage over the sun, which furnishes, by a process which we cannot detail here, an angular quantity, which, after the necessary corrections for the Earth's rotation, and the station of the observers, leads to the horizontal parallax of the Sun; and this is about 8.6 seconds.

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allowance, as seen from the centre of the earth, which process is termed the reduction for the centre.

In what way this parallax enables the astronomer to determine the distance of a planet, we may briefly explain by referring to one of the properties of the triangle. In the

In the foregoing diagram this principle is illustrated; as also the following results: that a heavenly body, seen in the zenith, or point in the heavens just over our heads, can have no parallax, because it is seen in a straight line with the centre of the earth; that the horizontal parallax is greatest of all; and that the parallactic angle diminishes in proportion as the celestial body reaches the zenith.

annexed figure, the angle at d represents the horizontal parallax of the celestial body d. This angle is a known quantity, and so is likewise the line from c to the centre of the Earth, which is half the Earth's diameter, and is about three thousand nine hundred and sixty miles. Now if in any right-angled triangle, such as this is, we know the length of the base, and also the value of the angle opposite to it, we can deduce the length of the sides; by which means we obtain the distance of the planet d from the centre of the Earth.

Some years ago M. Schröeter, an eminent astronomer of Lelienthal, made a continued series of observations on the planet Venus, for a period of ten years; and his labours led to many remarkable discoveries. He found himself able to determine that there were mountains on the surface of that planet, analogous to those on the surface of the Earth; and that the actual height of some of them amounted to 22.05 miles. Three of them he found to be of the respective heights of 18.97, 11.44, and 10.84 miles. He also perceived evident indications that Venus was surrounded by an atmosphere, which is said to be fifty miles in height. This planet seems to be composed of matter, which is somewhat denser than the matter of the Earth.

Let A B be the Earth, and c a part of the earth's surface, from whence the heavenly bodies a b c d are viewed in the direction of the dotted lines; by which means a b c d appear on the heavens at eikl, respectively. Now if the Earth

We propose to consider, in our next paper, the subject of the Earth and Moon, with the various circumstances belonging thereto, which are of an astronomical character.

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VOL. XIII.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BIBLE FROM THE | tribe of Levi inherited no portion of Canaan, and MONUMENTS OF ANTIQUITY.

No. XVI.

AARON AND THE PRIESTHOOD. ALTHOUGH Jehovah had declared, that if the children of Israel " obeyed his voice and kept his covenant, they should become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," (Exod. xix. 6,) yet He also consecrated Aaron and his descendants as a sacerdotal caste, to preside over all the ceremonials of public worship. There was nothing in this institution of which the congregation or its princes could reasonably complain. The priesthood formed a hereditary rank, or order, in the land from which they had just departed, as, indeed, it did in most ancient nations; it conferred no political power on the tribe of Levi, on the contrary, it removed them from nearly all interference with civil affairs, because that tribe

received no territorial inheritance in the land of

Canaan; it did not even give them any peculiar preeminence in the eyes of God, for very few of the prophets who spoke by inspiration belonged to the tribe of Levi. It was the purpose of divine wisdom to render the Jews a peculiar people, and this was effected by a rigid and minute prescription of forms; and the maintenance of these forms was entrusted

with the exception of Eli and Samuel, we find none of them exercising any control over the public administration in the age of the Judges. This sufficiently refutes the infidel assertion, that Moses borrowed his institution of the Jewish priesthood from the Egyptians, for we find that they were radically different in their essence, and we shall soon see that they were equally dissimilar in their outward forms. The official dress of the Egyptian priests when offering incense or a solemn sacrifice, was a leopardskin thrown loosely over the ordinary garments. But the robes worn by Aaron were remarkable for their richness and splendour; the directions given to Moses, (Exod. xxviii.) were,—

Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

frequently used to signify regal splendour, and it is The word "glory," among the Hebrews, is very therefore likely that the vestments of the Hebrew high priests were imitated from the royal, and not the sacerdotal robes of Egypt, and that they were in some degree intended to intimate that Jehovah himself was the king of his chosen people Israel.

to a hereditary caste, because, humanly speaking, stood by a reference to the accompanying repreThe priestly vestments of Aaron may be best underthey could only be preserved in their purity by per-sentation of the Pharaoh Rameses the Sixth, as he is sons accustomed and trained to all their observances

good reason to believe that the date of his reign was not long posterior to that of the Exodus. Let us now turn to the vestments directed to be prepared for Aaron:

These are the garments which they shall make; a breastmitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for plate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. (Ex.xxviii.)

from childhood. It was well observed by an ancient depicted offering incense and libations in his tomb, philosopher, that "forms are important things, for among the royal sepulchres at Thebes. He was not, though they may sometimes exist without the sub-indeed, exactly a cotemporary of Moses, but there is stance, yet the substance can never exist without them;" and the truth of this aphorism is sufficiently shown in the Sacred History; for though the Jews frequently lapsed into idolatry, and thus abandoned the worship of their national God, they did not abandon their national forms, and consequently, when they repented and turned from their dead idols to serve the living God, there was little to change in the outward forms of devotion, and no difficulties arising from novelty to check the process of amendment. On the other hand, the ten tribes after their separation from the kingdom of Judah under Jeroboam, seem to have sunk almost incurably into idolatry, and this lamentable depravity was оссаsioned not so much from the erection of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, as from another, and perhaps, in a political view, more important, change, effected by Jeroboam. "He made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi." (1 Kings xii. 31.) The abolition of the hereditary priesthood rendered the idolatry of the kingdom of Israel incurable, for there was no longer a constituted body which could keep together those who refused "to bow the knee to Baal," or restore the ancient national worship when the Israelites repented of their folly.

The Egyptian priesthood formed an important part of the state; the sacerdotal order was the most influential portion of the political body, and the priestly corporations possessed large estates in land. Even during the seven years of famine, when the regal power was consolidated in Egypt by the prudent policy of Joseph, who rendered the king lord of the soil, we find that the priests were permitted to retain the absolute property of their estates. "Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands." (Gen. xlvii. 22.) Now, the contrary rule prevailed among the Hebrews, the

The word translated coat, is in the original Khetoneth, which signifies a tunic of fine cotton, similar to the royal vestment called the Calobium Sindonis*, which is put on English sovereigns during the ceremonial of the coronation, immediately after the anointing; it derives its name from the material of which it was composed, for as we have already shown, the use of cotton or fine muslin dresses in Egypt ascends to the most remote antiquity. Underneath the tunic a pair of loose muslin trousers was worn, and this form of dress is still used by most of the nations of western Asia and northern Africa.

The tunic was frequently adorned with stripes of various colours, and in the royal dresses of the Egyptians, we find the very shades which were ordained to be used in the vestments of Aaron.

The robe (in Hebrew Meil) was worn over the tunic, like the supertunica or surcoat used at the coronation of English sovereigns. In later times it was furnished with sleeves; but it always hung loose, and it reached from the shoulders to the ancles.

Over the tunic and robe, the high priest wore a vestment which was considered peculiar to the sacer dotal order. It was called, in Hebrew, the ephod, and the Greek translators call it the epomis, of shoulder-covering. The directions given for its preparation are more minute than those for any other portion of the priestly dress.

And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning

* See Saturday Magazine, Vol. XIII., p. 21.

work. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined | at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work therof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. (Exod. xxviii. 6—8.)

From this portion of the high priest's dress the use of the armil, or stole, in the coronation of English Sovereigns. The robe and the ephod were usually adorned with superb fringes, and particular directions are given respecting the ornaments of those which were to be worn by Aaron.

Thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue. And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent. And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not. (Exod. xxviii. 31-35.)

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Two remarkable portions of Aaron's dress remain to be mentioned, which are not represented in the figure. The first of these is the breast-plate, respecting which the following directions were given :Thou shalt make the breast-plate of judgment with cunning work after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it: of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. Four square it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes. (Exod. xxviii.)

There is no doubt that a richly-ornamented breastplate or stomacher was among the chief decorations of an Egyptian king, and it deserves to be remarked that they were generally covered with hieroglyphics, emblematic of the virtues that confer most lustre on a sovereign, such as wisdom, justice, and truth. We have already, (vol. xii., page 60,) shown that the art of engraving on precious stones was well known to the ancient Egyptians, and that some of their engraved signets are among the valuable collection of Egyptian antiquities preserved in the British Museum. The Jews have a tradition to which many allusions are made in the Talmud, that it was not the written names, but the crests or cognizances of the twelve tribes which were engraved on these precious stones, a lion for the tribe of Judah, a hind for the tribe of Naphthali, &c., and they believe that these cognizances were hereditary in the tribes from the time of Jacob's remarkable prophecy on his death-bed. This conjecture is certainly very plausible, for among the ancient Egyptians, the forms of animals were adopted as cognizances by the different nomes or provinces; and it is to this very circumstance that the ancient historian, Diodoras Siculus, attributes, if not the origin, at least the prevalence of animal worship in Egypt. Indeed, the phrase "like the engravings of a signet," is much more applicable to symbols than to written names, nor were the Egyptians at this period acquainted with the use of alphabetic writing.

Two extraordinary ornaments of the breast-plate still remain to be noticed. The Lord said to Moses,

Thou shalt put in the breast-plate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the Lord. (Exod. xxviii. 29.)

The word Urím signifies lights, and the word Thummim means perfections, or truths. Now from the monuments we know that the symbol of the sun was frequently used by the Egyptians to imply the manifestation of celestial light in the material world, and we know that the image of the sun is frequently used in the same sense by the Hebrew prophets; for instance, the Messiah is called THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, that is, "the manifestation of righteousness," and hence it seems very probable that by Urím we are to understand some image or symbol of the sun fixed upon the breast-plate of the high priests, just as we find a similar symbol adorning the breast-plate of the kings of Egypt. The will of the Almighty was frequently revealed in some mysterious way by the Urím, for when Joshua was ap pointed successor to Moses, it enjoined, that He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. (Lev. xxvii. 21.)

The withdrawing of these responses is also mentioned among the punishments inflicted on Saul, when he had neglected to execute the commands given him by God; "when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urím, nor by prophets. (1 Sam. xxviii. 6.)

The Thummím were symbolic representations of truth; their symbols among the Egyptians were female figures with the eyes closed, holding in their hands the sacred Tau, or cross, a religious emblem highly reverenced in Egypt, from the remotest ages.

The mitre of Aaron appears to have been a roll of fine cotton somewhat like a turban, its ornament was very remarkable; "thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD." (Exod. xxviii. 36.) According to the Jewish traditions this inscription was engraved in symbolic, not alphabetic, characters, and could be read only by the high priest. They attributed wonderful powers to a knowledge of the Shem Hamphorash, or incommunicable name of God, believing that whoever was acquainted with the true pronunciation of it could work miracles.

Among the Egyptians, as we see from the engraving, which illustrates this chapter, it was lawful for kings to offer incense, but in the Jewish economy this function was strictly confined to the priesthood, and the crime of Korah and his company was their presumption in taking upon themselves to perform so high an office." They took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron." (Num. xvi. 18.) We find also that the censers were regarded with great reverence, for even those of Korah's company were not allowed to be put to unholy uses.

As the other kings of the East shared the privilege of offering incense with the priests, we find that Uzziah, king of Judah, attempted to intrude himself into the holy office, and was signally punished. (2 Chron. xxvi.)

We have dwelt particularly on these peculiarities of the Jewish priesthood, because it is of importance to show that while the Egyptian monuments confirm the accuracy of the historical records in the Holy Scriptures, they also refute the infidel cavil that Moses derived his institutions from the Egyptian ritual, and not from divine inspiration.

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