30.-KING CHARLES I, MARTYR.

The following anecdote is related on the authority of POPE:-The night after King Charles the First was beheaded, Lord Southampton and a friend of his got leave to sit up by the body, in the Banquetting-house at Whitehall. As they were sitting very melancholy there, about two o'clock in the morning, they heard the tread of somebody coming very slowly up stairs. By and by the door opened, and a man entered, very much muffled up in his cloak, and his face quite hid in it. He approached the body, considered it very attentively for some time; and then shook his head, and sighed out the words 'cruel necessity! He then departed in the same slow and concealed manner as he had come in. Lord Southampton used to say that he could not distinguish any thing of his face; but that, by his voice and gait, he took him to be OLIVER CROMWELL'.

It is said that, when King Charles was upon the scaffold, he recommended to his son to read one of Bishop Andrews's Sermons every day of his life, advice which it had probably been better both for himself and the nation, had he followed it.

In the mourning ring, which King Charles II wore in memory of his father, was his portrait in enamel, and some of the monarch's hair under it. Withinside was engraved in gold as under:

Chr. rex Remem-Obiit-ber 30 Jan. 1648.

'Remember' being the last word that King Charles spoke to Bishop Juxon before his martyrdom. It is, we believe, now in the University Library, at Cambridge.

For numerous other interesting particulars respecting King Charles I, see our former seven volumes.

Spence's Anecdotes (Singer's edition), p. 286.

31.1820.-PROCLAMATION OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. His Majesty George III departed this life on the 29th Jan. 1820; and the Proclamation of his present Majesty took place on this day, with the usual ceremonies attendant upon those occasions.

Astronomical Occurrences

In JANUARY 1821.

Obliquity of the Ecliptic.

THE nature and variation of this obliquity have already been explained in former volumes of Time's Telescope. To our usual readers these are familiar; but such as have lately honoured us with their patronage we refer to vol. iii, page 16, and vol. iv, page 49, where they will find suitable information on the subject. The magnitudes of this angle at several epochs during the present year are exhibited in the following

The equations of the equinoctial points at the same times are as follow; viz.

The Sun enters Aquarius at 15 m. after 7 in the morning of the 20th of this month. He also rises. and sets at the following times, which are calculated for the Royal Observatory, but may easily be reduced to any other longitude, or any intermediate periods, by the methods already explained.

TABLE

Of the Sun's Rising and Setting for every fifth Day. January 1st, Sun rises 5 m. after 8. Sets 55 m. after 3

Equation of Time.

As the earth's motion in its orbit, and consequently the Sun's apparent progress in the ecliptic, is not regular, a difference arises between the time as indicated by a good sun-dial and a well-regulated clock. The former is called apparent or solar, the latter mean time. This difference is the equation of time. Sometimes the Sun and sometimes the clock indicates the hour first, and hence it is that the equation is sometimes plus, and at others minus. The quantity also varies at different times, from more than a quarter of an hour to nothing. The following Table shows the quantity that must be added to the solar time, to obtain that which the clock ought to show at the same moment. The correction for any intermediate time may be found by proportion, and applied in the same manner.

Monday Jan. 1st, to the time by the dial add $ 56

LUNAR PHENOMENA.
Phases of the Moon.

New Moon' 4th day, at 12 m. after 6 morning

First Quarter 11th

· 2
7
·

Moon's Passage over the Meridian.

The numbers in the following Table indicate the times at which the Moon's centre will pass the meridian of the Royal Observatory. This meridian is taken as being the First Meridian of British astronomers and geographers; and the times are selected as those which will afford the most favourable opportunities of observing her in that position.

TABLE

Of the Moon's Passage over the First Meridian. January 8th, at 50 m. after 3 in the afternoon

The phases of this beautiful planet are subject to variation, like those of the Moon; her visible brightness therefore undergoes a similar change. We have already given a simple method of calculating the breadth of the enlightened part of the disk, and illustrated the problem for finding the time of her greatest brilliancy for these we refer the reader to the volume of Time's Telescope for 1819. The result for each month we shall insert in the OCCURRENCES.

Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites.

The following are the only eclipses of Jupiter's first and second satellites that will be visible at the Royal Observatory this month. The other satellites are less suited to observation, and therefore are omitted in the selection.

Emersions.

1st Satellite, 2d day, at 37 m. after 6 in the evening.

In the volume of T. T. for 1819, we have explained the variations to which this curious ring is subject, as well as the method of computing them; we shall therefore only insert the results in this year's Occurrences for every third month, leaving the calculations to be repeated by our readers at their leisure.

Mercury will be in conjunction with Georgium Sidus on the 8th of this month; at which time the former planet will be 13' north of the latter. At 54 m. after 8 in the evening of the same day, the Moon will also be in conjunction with Jupiter. Mars will be in conjunction at midnight of the 11th day. The Moon will likewise be in conjunction with 8 in Taurus, at 48 m. after 9 in the morning of the 15th; with a in Leo, at 49 m. past 3 in the afternoon of the 20th; with a in Virgo at 42 m. after 4 in the morning of the 25th; and with a in Scorpio, at 49 m. after 10 in the evening of the 28th.

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