§ 7. The Planets, Moons and Comets, together with the Sun around which they move, form what is called our _Solar System_. But what will you say, if you are told that each fixed Star in the firmament is a Sun which, like our’s, has its Planets and satellites and Comets; in short, that each fixed Star is the centre of a solar system, a thousand and more times larger than our own!! But how infinitely great must God’s Creation appear to us, when we reflect that all these globes, as well as our own, may be inhabited by reasonable beings!!! [Illustration: _N^o. I._] RECAPITULATION OF LESSON I. [If the pupil has learned and understood this lesson, it may perhaps be not unreasonable to suppose he will like to know something more about the Planets and the Moons in our system. But the teacher ought not to allow him to enter upon the second lesson, before he has recapitulated the first.] QUESTIONS. [§ 1.] Does the Earth, or the globe on which we live, comprise the whole world which God has created? Is our Earth any considerable portion of the Universe? What other bodies belong to it? Why do the Stars appear to us so small? [§ 2.] Do all the Stars which we see remain in the same position? What are those called which remain _fixed_? What, those, which are moving regularly round the Sun? What are the fixed Stars supposed to be? Have the Planets any light of their own? From what body do the Planets receive their light? [§ 3.] What important discoveries have Philosophers made respecting the nature of our Earth? What is the line in which our Earth moves round the Sun, called? [§ 4.] Why do the orbits of the different Planets not disturb each other? Are all Planets of the same magnitude? What is their shape? What is the shape of our Earth? What reason have you to believe, that the Earth is round? Explain Plate I? [§ 5.] By what are some Planets in their motion round the Sun accompanied? What are the bodies which accompany them called? What body accompanies our Earth in its motion round the Sun? Are there Planets which have more than One Moon? [§ 6.] What other class of bodies is there, besides the Planets and the Moons? Are these bodies always visible? By what are these bodies distinguished? What are they called? [§ 7.] What do the Planets, Moons and Comets, together with the Sun, round which they move, form? What is each fixed Star supposed to be? LESSON II. OF THE PLANETS AND THEIR RELATIVE POSITION WITH REGARD TO THE SUN AND EACH OTHER. § 8. The Planets of which we have spoken in the First Lesson are Eleven in number, of which each has received a proper name. They are in the order in which they are placed from the Sun, the following: Mercury. Venus. The Earth. Mars. Vesta. Juno. Ceres. Pallas. Jupiter. Saturn. Herschel.