d inferior physical energy, was unable to
command the like advantages. Much, nevertheless, he did; more one cannot
but feel he might have done had he been properly helped. Besides, the
world would have been free from the reproach of accepting the fruits of
his bright genius while condemning the worker to a life of misery,
relieved only by the beauty of his own thoughts and the ecstasy awakened
in him by the harmony and precision of Nature.

Concerning the method of Kepler, the mode by which he made his
discoveries, we must remember that he gives us an account of all the
steps, unsuccessful as well as successful, by which he travelled. He
maps out his route like a traveller. In fact he compares himself to
Columbus or Magellan, voyaging into unknown lands, and recording his
wandering route. This being remembered, it will be found that his
methods do not differ so utterly from those used by other philosophers
in like case. His imagination was perhaps more luxuriant and was allowed
freer play than most men's, but it was nevertheless always controlled by
rigid examination and comparison of hypotheses with fact.

Brewster says of him:--"Ardent, restless, burning to distinguish
himself by discovery, he attempted everything; and once having obtained
a glimpse of a clue, no labour was too hard in following or verifying
it. A few of his attempts succeeded--a multitude failed. Those which
failed seem to us now fanciful, those which succeeded appear to us
sublime. But his methods were the same. When in search of what really
existed he sometimes found it; when in pursuit of a chimaera he could not
but fail; but in either case he displayed the same great qualities, and
that obstinate perseverance which must conquer all difficulties except
those really insurmountable."

To realize what he did for astronomy, it is necessary for us now to
consider some science still in its infancy. Astronomy is so clear and so
thoroughly explored now, that it is difficult to put oneself into a
contemporary attitude. But take some other science still barely
developed: meteorology, for instance. The science of the weather, the
succession of winds and rain, sunshine and frost, clouds and fog, is now
very much in the condition of astronomy before Kepler.

We have passed through the stage of ascribing atmospheric
disturbances--thunderstorms, cyclones, earthquakes, and the like--to
supernatural agency; we have had our Copernican era: not perhaps brought
a