ties which he suffered may be seen in T. T. for 1815, P. 12. 25.-CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL. Saint Paul suffered martyrdom under the general persecution of Nero. Being a Roman citizen, he could not be crucified by the Roman laws, as his colleague St. Peter was; he was, therefore, beheaded : -hence the usual representation of him with a sword in his hand. St. Chrysostom tells us that his picture was preserved by some of the christians in his time, and that he was but of a low stature (three cubits), that is, four feet six inches high. Nicephorus describes him as a small man, somewhat crooked, of a pale complexion, and appearing older than he really was. Lord Lyttleton's Observations on the Conversion of St. Paul' deserve the most careful perusal of every scholar and every christian. 25.-SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.-See SEPTUAGESIMA, p.6. *27. 1816.-LORD HOOD DIED, ÆT. 92. His lordship was bred in the old school, like the Blakes, the Ansons, and the Hawkes of former times. To great bravery, he united great seamanship; he possessed, at the same time, a certain promptitude of decision, coupled with extraordinary coolness, skill, and judgment. These qualities justly entitled him to the confidence of the public, which he uniformly possessed; while all under his authority yielded a ready obedience to a commander who, when necessary, always appeared foremost in danger; but never risked either ships or men, except for the attainment of some great object, obviously calculated to redound to the advantage or to the glory of his country.-(Annual Biography, p. 379.) *28. 1796.-First telegraph in enGLAND. 30.-KING CHARLES I, MARTYR. King Charles I was beheaded on this day. He was, says Clarendon, the worthiest gentleman, the best master, the best friend, the best husband, the best father, and the best christian, that the age in which he lived produced. One of the most elegant and candid tributes paid to the memory of King Charles is the sermon of Bishop Horne, entitled The Christian King. The character of the king is too long to give entire, and it will not admit of an extract, but it is well worthy the reader's perusal on this day, or any day. The martyrdom of this king is thus simply recorded in a newspaper of the day, called the Moderate Intelligencer. It is here adduced as an instance of the shocking insensibility of the public inind to scenes of blood, when previously hardened by seditious writings and inflammatory speeches. On the 30th of January, was CHARLES, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, put to death, by beheading, over against the Banquetting House at Whitehall.' This is printed with the same type as the common news of the day, and without any comment. For a further account of the character and manners of King Charles, we refer to T. T. for 1815, p. 16; some particulars of his trial will be found in p. 18 of the same volume, and in T. T. for 1816, p. 6. See also T. T. for 1814, p. 8, for a description of the finding of his body in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. *30. 1790.-THE LIFE-BOAT INVENTED. Astronomical Occurrences In JANUARY 1818. Obliquity of the Ecliptic. FROM the explanations we have already given, in the volumes of Time's Telescope for 1816 and 1817, relative to the obliquity of the ecliptic and its variations, the astronomical student will be prepared to understand the following table. It is therefore only necessary that we should, in this place, present the princi pal results for the present year, which are contained in the following The results in this table have been obtained by comparing the mean obliquity for 1813, as determined at the Royal Observatory, with the new mural circle, with those found by Dr. Bradley in 1756. The mean obliquity for 1813 was 23° 27′ 50′′; and the mean diminution appears to be 0"4. The Sun enters the sign Aquarius at 42 m. past 1 in the afternoon of the 20th of this month; and the following table shows the time of his rising and setting on every fifth day. The time for any intermediate day must be found by proportion, according to the method we have already explained in our former volumes. TABLE Of the Rising and Setting of the Sun for every fifth Day. January 1, Sun rises 5 m. after 8. Sets 55 m. after 3 The following table shows what must be added to apparent time to obtain mean time on every fifth day of the present month, viz. Thursday, TABLE. m. s. 1st, to the time on the dial add 3 49 Tuesday, - Sunday, Friday, 16th, Wednesday, 21st, Phases of the Moon. New Moon, 6th, at 36 m. First Quarter, 14th, 44 10 morning 4 afternoon. Moon's Passage over the first Meridian. The Moon will pass the first meridian, or that which passes through the Royal Observatory, on the following days during this month, at convenient times for observation. The time of her passage over any other meridian must be found from this by means of her horary motion. January 1st, at 42 m. after 6 in the morning. Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites. There will be only two eclipses of Jupiter's first satellite visible at the Royal Observatory this month, and one of his second satellite, viz. IMMERSIONS. 1st Satellite, 17th day, at 47 m. after 6 in the morning. Other Phenomena. Mercury will attain his greatest elongation on the 7th of January; and be in his inferior conjunction at a quarter before 11 on the night of the 23d. On the 3d, Jupiter and Venus will be in contact. On the 14th, both Mercury and Mars will be stationary; and at 1 m. after 5 in the afternoon of the 2d, and 15 m. past 11 at night on the 29th, the Moon will be in conjunction with the star a in Libra. α On the TRANSITS of VENUS. We have already treated of this queen of the planets, and given her general elements in the first and second volumes of Time's Telescope, in the latter of which we stated what was to be understood by her transits, and promised an explanation of the subject in a subsequent volume of our labours. The subjects of which we have since treated, and especially those discussed in the volume for last year, have now prepared our readers for more easily comprehending this; and we shall therefore avail ourselves of this facility to redeem our pledge with effect. These Transits are not merely objects of curiosity, but of great utility. Their rare occurrence, indeed, renders them extremely interesting to the astronomer; but this interest is greatly increased when he reflects that it is by this means alone that the important problem relative to the real distance of the Sun from the Earth can be ascertained with any degree of certainty; that they can be applied with great effect in ascertaining the longitude of places; and that they are of great use in correcting the elements of the planets, especially the places of the aphelia, the situations of the nodes, and the inclinations of the orbits. The transits of Venus, in 1761 and 1769, contributed much to the correctness of our knowledge of her movements; and the transits of Mercury are also capable of being applied to the same purpose. Relative to that of 1799, Lalande,in his History of Astronomy for 1800,observes, B |