Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-02-12
From an English paper
SERIOUS THOUGHTS On THE AP-
pROACHING COMET.

/ am bv no means easy IN my nina on 'ne
subject of the Apr oachiug comet. Stars and
plane.s, and suns and moons, are all very lnno-
cent and well disposed animals; but those i'm
mense monsters Of comets, with ais eight hun
dred thousand miles in length, l have most
esp. cial di sIike to. We all know very well what
the whole Of the ninety one consultations are
about northern, southern, and zodiacai-for,
like Mr.. Owens communities, they are pea
ceably occupied with their own affairs, anVe.
vince no intention whatever TO interfere with
those Of others; but those great numbering LEVI
athaas of space, who hold in such consumma,e
contrmpt the three uni,es of time, place, and
action, are much more disagreeable Sci oil per-
sons 10 Geal with, and seem 10 possess sort Ut
blind lower, like the large piston OF steam
engine ("msgna componere' pasris, which
moves up and down with force II would br
madness TO try 10 check. II IS all nonsense 10
tell US that the old supersiitious notions about
comets are now deserv. dy exploded. Ration
al fear has nothing to do with superstition. l.
is true a conside able number Of hose remen'
dous birds Of passage have now been seen, and
as we have brcome more fsmilliar with then,
we have ceased to believe that each travels on
ward Though space, bearing mandate To- our
destruction. But though the Indian may live
in the woods for years without being de'oured
y, "
tha, he will MOI fall prey TO one OF them at
last A thousand shot are fired OF the day oil
battle byf ball reaches the heart Of that
much.respectsG ofi:sr-- Major Bombproot;
but the Major is not invulneraDl., for rascally
curras,ier gives him al leugth a slash with his
broa,ls word, that throws him of The rerpendi-
cular for ever Now, though several score OF
comets may have dashed through that part o!
space i'm which we happen 10 be, without either
running us down as seventv,four in full sail
might run down Newcastle collier, and hold
on irs way, rejoicing, not knowing that 1t had
done any misc hief, or evea observing any add.
,ional 5ubbling on the water, or without giving
us sIieh, switch with its TAIL and blo,ing us
out of existence, like an active housewife. who
with one of the corners Of towel, brushes from
an obscure corner an hereditary cobweb, and IN
one instant hurries into eternity the decent and
experienced spider, who Sd, dosing IN quiet Sc
curity,-though none OF these communications
have as yet happened, l should like 10 know
what certainty there is that,hey will not hap
pen SOON. II is all very hne talking 10 tell US 81
The eccentric elipses of those comets, and OF
the a,cer,ained periods in which they accom-
,lisb their revolutions, and at which their re
,urn is to be expected. In the FIRST place, we
can never be sure Cor single month, that a
new come, will no, suddenly make its appear
ancr. which was never seen OF b, ard OF before,
rushing through space at rate which makes
all other motion Joke, and continually incieas
ipp in size, as it sweeps by with iensef thou-
sands of crumbled planes whirled into It's 'or
tex. And, in the mex, place, II is mere piece
&C hu mbug in astronomers IN pretend ina t'ey
can calculate the subsequent apprara"cr 81
comets that have been observed before, aud ne
perfrc,ly sure that they will keep IN the sam
orbits, as il lhey were so m my STEAMBOAT ply
ipr between Edinburgh and Aherdern, and ne
ver between Edinburgh and London. There
is ore come. which appeared in i75S, WHOSE
neriod, we are told, has been asceriained tn OF
seventy five years, and mic will consequ. nti}
be seen again in lss3. (sbout the time that I'D
ward Irving predicts the Millenium;) but 1t i
keeps in its Ole tract, it will be harmless com
Of. and can have nothing to 90 with new or
der ofIhings.
There is another comet that appeared In 1911
whose period is said TO be twenty -ninr years
and a third was sren in 1880, which Sir Isaac
Newton SIMULATED would not return Tor 81:
ve,rs-,h., is till the year 225s, il the world
IA, so long. Blu, ths sc are only three comets
and there ale thousands about which no calcu
l,,ions have hern ever attempted And If, not
withs,apdpg the amazing velocity with whle!
nlete their revolutions, what must not the dis
lance be which they traveR and how is IL posi-
bic to suppose tina, they can always keep at
sufficient length not only from one another, ou
from all the stars among which they move, IN
Vulnerable Is those stars are, whether they d
classed in system, or denominaied neoula
clus,ers, white spois, or miky-ways! Is 1t no
fact that many stars which were known u
the ancients are now seer no longer! and how
are we to account for their being lost! know
very veil that an ingenious theory has beer
started, which would rndea'or to convince Vi
that the solar system his been making pro
sr..s;,e advancement in space, or, perhaps
more nbilosophically, ,ha, 1t is performing I
,,.,;od;eaI revolu lion abnut the common centr'
Of etavi,y Of the universe, and is eona' quen.il
continually changing its relative post'on. ba
II ,hi. were the case. all the stars, or nfarfy so
efPythssoras and Plolemy, should now be ms