LONGOMONTANUS, or Longberg, Christian (1562-1647), a Danish astronomer, was born at Longberg, a village of Jutland, in Denmark, on the 4th of October 1562. Having, when only eight years old, the misfortune to lose his father, who was only a poor labourer, he was taken charge of by a maternal uncle, through whose influence he received lessons from the clergyman of the place. Although, owing to the poverty of his parents, the instruction which he had received up to this time had been of the most elementary kind, his aptitude for learning was so great that, under the tuition which he now received, he made rapid progress in his studies, especially in the mathematical sciences, for which he acquired an intense liking. His mother, however, was unable to pay any longer for his education, and he was reluctantly compelled to return home to work in the fields. By improving every opportunity which his laborious life now permitted, he was still enabled to pursue, to some extent, his favourite studies. This state of matters continued for some time; but his intense thirst for knowledge, and the uncalled-for jealousy of his friends, led him in 1577 to steal away from home, to try his fortune in the world. Accordingly, at the age of fifteen, he went to Wiborg, a town about 12 miles distant from his native village. There he spent eleven years, dividing his time between attending the lectures of the professors in the college of that town, and working in the fields. By this means he was able not only to earn a sufficient livelihood, but also to defray the expenses of his education; and his close application to study soon enabled him to acquire considerable knowledge of literature and of the sciences. In 1588, at the age of twenty-six, he removed to Copenhagen, where his great abilities ...