But for you, my little friends, who are better instructed, there is no occasion to think you can see or hear spirits with your bodily ears and eyes; but I trust you will always _feel_ inwardly that there are spirits within you and around you, and one Great Spirit above you. The most beautiful form of the Aurora, is called the Corona. It is a luminous ring generally just overhead, with long distinct rays very slender, but extremely bright, diverging from it all round. It only lasts a few seconds, and then seems to burst like a firework, scattering sparks in all directions. The stars mostly shine through the Aurora, as through a veil of thin gauze. The darkness of the sky, with the stars shining in it above and below, produces a most astonishing effect, which you may see very well represented in the frontispiece, where there is depicted a small portion of the middle of a luminous arch, very clearly defined. It was considered, till quite lately, that the Aurora in the Northern regions, made a sort of rushing and rattling noise. This, however, seems to be false, for Captain Lyons used to stand on the ice with his ears uncovered till they were nearly frost-bitten, listening with the utmost attention, but he could never hear the slightest sound. A very intelligent Danish traveller says, that he has often heard the sound, but that he is convinced of its being produced by the wind blowing upon the ice. The reason of its being heard while the Aurora is shining, seems to be that the Aurora often appears when it is windy, or has something to do with a change of weather, which also occasions the noise. The Aurora often appears in this country, but not with nearly so much brilliancy or frequency, as in more northern countries. I have, however, seen it very beautifully developed in light tints of red, yellow, and green, but very seldom with a clear outline and determinate form. It appears that it has been observed here much oftener than formerly, within the last hundred years, and this applies to nearly the whole of Europe, where it occurs. In Sweden, before the year 1716, it was a great rarity, and about the same time the inhabitants of Iceland were alarmed at its becoming so much more frequent than it had previously been, supposing that it portended some great misfortunes to be coming upon them. A similar fancy prevailed amongst ignorant persons in this country, and I have heard that people used to imagine that the appearance was a sign of an approaching war.