Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1811-09-19


emits proislOns tume o. vapou-, cailei Is tall
These tails LARGEST ard most s?insld ifnmeii-
ately after they retu nom the sun, because, hcine
hottest, they emit the greatest ossafsv Gf yspogrs,
and are always oppus,se Ii,lss parts Stitch he body |
OF the Comet leaves IN its Gescent, vi si . rcca-
bic to tle nnturc &c SMOKE aad vapoar They also
appear broader ~ their 1r?er part ;haa nor the
head ol the Comet Ike all sanonrs te hieherthev
rise the more they dilste themselves. The tails of
Come,s are extremely long, some of them having
been computed TO be not less than eighty mdlions of
miles ialength, and the tail OF the Comet, hcli is
nov visible, Nov. 1907 is cos,ntcd TO be 5 nun
drei Thousand miles long. The celebrated Gomez Of
lOso tame so near the stu, that IL WIS not sSt,
pert OF the sns diameter distant from its surface
ana therefore its heat must then Ec two thousand
tunes hotter than red hot iron Anal from theacr Il
took ITS course from the TO the distance of eie
ven thousand millions ct miles which is at eas, Ii
tunes further than the orbit Of Saturn.
AT their first appearance, Comets nre computed to
DC as near TO US Jupiter aud therefore consider
ed TO he less than that plauet: the present one Tof
Nov 1907 (whri, ies passelts pcrihclium) IS sup
posed 10 be eight times larger than our globe and 10
move with the amazing velocity OF sixteen thousand
miles minute. The conjecture respecting Comets
are 'ai1ous The anc.clts believed they we're har-
Burgers OF divine vengeance thus Homer
GA fatal sign TO drBi;cs on The Rain, N-
Sc On trembling sailors on He .vdPiy n.aiu.'
Some of the modcrns, particularly Sir Isaac New
ton, are of opinion, that they are ordained by Pro-
violence to supply the sun Mt stated por;ods Will
L
deficiency which must arise from the continual ennis
sion OF the particles of light. These however are
mere b'poihethcs. The same also may lie said OF
every thing that be advanced conecrninr, tl,c;r
being iahabtcd worlds for it animals can exist there
they mast be creatures very Ear different from any
OF which VIC have the least conception. Some who
have indnls themselves in visionary ideas think they
are appointed as the place OF torment for the ,lann-
eds that each Comet is, properly and literally s,,c,-
King, hell, from the iutnlerabe and inconceivabe
heat aud cold which alternately takes place in these
bodies.
IL is supposed by somc that Comets are the means
| appointed by the Almighty for the destruction of
ths world, and all the planetary system, by nyov-
ing the globe of the planets in their atmosphere of
water IN their return from the cold regions. A.
nongst those who have written upon the subject are
Mr. hston, and the learned Doct HALEY The
former IS OF opinions that this world will be destroy
edb general eonfasration, occasioned by our globe
beng involved in the tail of comet; after It has
been prodgiousy heated in It's passage from the sun
The latter declares, that it is possible for comet
to produce some change in the situation and speces
OF the earths orbit and in the length OF the year and
says, " But may not the great God avert shock or
contact ofsueh great bodies, moving with such force
| (which however rs manifestly By no means irnpossi-
be lest TINS most beautiful order of things be entire
~ destroyed, and reduced into its ancicnt chaos'-
indeed IL has been shewn that the Comet OF $780,
Nov. nth, at one O'Clock ia the a ternoop was so
ANAL distance from the eartl's orbit that had the.
| earth been near that part it's orbit, God only
Kno"s what the consequence might have been -
II Then a Comet should encounter the earth at its
return from the sun, it would undoubtedly consume
the earth and all its inhabitants as so MANY moths.
1t might convert the matter of the present earth into
different kind of substance and render il an hab-
taon fit for beings of quite different nature from
/ ours.
Yet some circumstances render it very improbable.
that such an event should happen Mt all with regard
to the definite time, though il is possible in nature
Tor the planes OF all the Comets orbits are raised a.
bovc those OF the planets, that there is but one
particular place in the orbit of Comet where its tail
can pass over the orbits of the planets aud il is so
many chances TO one, that planet happen to be in
tliat part OF its orbit at that particular dime But
should any OF the comets approach so near us as to
| be more attracted by the earth than the SUM- we
might Indeed, by that means acquire another moon
which wonld be change to our advantage, rather
| than subject of terror and dsmay.
Dr. HALEY is OF opinion, that the great
| Comet of 1850, appeared near the time of
the general deluge, and that it probably was
the occasion of that catastrophe, which he
therefore believes the Almighty caused To
happen by natural cause. fla Comet pas
sed near the earth it might undoubtedly raise
very strong tide, the effects of which would
be, thatit would lay all places under water;
| and drown the inhabitants so far as it reach
ed. For if so small body as the moon, at
the distance of sixty ofthe earth's semi-diam-
eters, be able to raise a strong tide oftwelve
| or ttteen feet in height; Comet as big as
| the earth, and coming very near it, would
raise prodigious tide, capable Of overflow
ing all that part of the earth which wasnear
est to the Comet.
But it may be said, this could not drown
all places at once, fer at the aradratures
would be as great an ebb ? But it may be
answered, that by the eartb's rotation, it
would pass over all the countries of the world
successfully, and therefore in the space of
twenty four hours, the whole earth would be
involved IN water, and all animals as eaec-
tually destroyed as if the water had staid one
hundred and fifty days upon the earth, which
is the time mentioned by scripture the nat
ural effect of this would be, that by such
prodigious and rapid motion of this vast body
of water round the earth in % hours all
trees must be torn up by the roots, and car
ried along with the current all buildings
demolished, the rocks, hills, and mountains
dashcdin pieces and torn away; all the pro-
duct of the sea, fishes, shells, teeth, bones, &c
carried along with the food, thrown upon the
earth, or even the tops of mountains, promis-
cuously with other bodies ; hardly any thing
could be found strong enough to withstand
its force.-Ihe like vast tide would alsobe
raised IN the atmosphere. attended with the
most violent commotion Of the whole body of
air, the consequence whereof would be con-
tinual rain. In such case as this il would
be impossible for any ark to live at sea. or
the strongest man of war that ever was builh