Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1841-02-11
From tke Boston Courier.

HI WHICH they nOuflSn. we must acknOWl-
edge, however, that the light shed by some
Of them, is not always that of pure science.
The following story Of "large confagra-
ton" has been "going the rounds of the
newspapers" as the phrase is. We take it
from an evening journal Of this city. n
may serve to show how easily the most alb
Surd nonsense may run through half the pa
pers of this scientific and enlfghted connrnlt-
nifty, without finding man of common
sense to contradict or question it. Fu:
Confederation of the StGrs.-During the
last three or four years, upwards of thirteen
fixed stars have disappeared One of them,
situated in the northern hemisphere, pre-
scented peculiar brilliancy, and was so
bright as ro>be seen BY the naked eye at
midday. It seemed to be on fire, appear
ing at the first dazzling white, then Of red
dish yellow, and lastly Of an ashy pale Co
heY: la Place supposes it was burned Ups
as it has never been seen since The con-
flagration was visible sixteen months. How
dreadful! A whole system on fire g.; the
great central'luminary and,its planets, with
their plains, mountains, forests, cities, viii
lagos, and inhabitants, all in flames, con-
stunned and gone forever"
A French poet in the time of Louis XIV.
showed to Boileau am ode he had written,
in which France was described as starting
the satirist coolly remarked, "Though TINS
happened in INV day, do not remember it."
The same thought occurred to us. This plaz
zing star which was visible to the naked
eye at noon day, and burnt fer sixteen
months, must Of course have lnade, q prodi-,
gious fire at night and being in t tee' norttis'
cfn hemisphere, could not have escaped the
notice of some millions of people in the Uni
ted States. We believe we have been pref
ty wide awake for IT,; last three or four
years, yet we have certainly seen no such
blazing phenomenon "firing the length Of
Ophiuchns large" either by night or by
day; nor have we heard Of any star gazer,
almanac-Haakcr or conjurer; who has had
the luck, by tho help OF spectacles, telc-
scope or second-sight to catch glimpse Of
any thing of the kind. Ella Place supposes
it was burned up" La Places opinion re-
specting it would be worth knowing, for az
he left this lower world some fourteen years
ago-having, as we say, died, deceased, and
departed tins life, ia, the month of March,
1877, he had of course been an inhabitant
of the celestial rogions ut least ten years
before the event above described. If he
has really returned to'this planet to tell any
body that the fixed stars are burning up,
! we should like to hear more of the story.
Until we know good deal more about
such matters than any living mortal knows
at present, we beg leave to assure such rea-
ders as have been amused, instructed and
mortified by the above scrap of astronomy,
that fixed star can no more burn up, in
the sense here implied, than horse can
cat his own head'oR, or a man jump down
his own threat. A faxed star is a sun, the
centre of n sy stem. Our own sun has been
ON firc great many years, and there it is
stlil--burning, burning. Yet so far from
consuming "the planets, with their plains,
mountains, forests, cities, villages and in.
habitants," it has net sehorched a whisker
OF the tallest fellow that ever stood upon
long legs. 5 1-g.T "a t~'-ai
A more rational explanation of the pho.
nomenon Of the disappearance of the change
OF the lustre Of the fixed stars, is this The
| sun, we know, has large spots, which APP
pea: periodically as that luminary turns ON
its axis. If we suppose other suns to be OBJ.
secured with spots still larger, it is easy to
understand why they should at times grow
dim and disappear, as their dark sides are
turned towards us. True philosophy in
structs us to indulge inany reasonable sup
position, rather than cali in question the
conservative laws Of nature. --,ga
EDscts Of IntemperGnce in Ireland--In Mrs.
Halls book on 1Feiand occurs the following
beautiful passage, which person will hard
ly he able TO read without emotion:
1--WE entered ono day cottage in SUI
burb Of Cork; a woman was knitting stock
ings ut the door. 1t was as neat and COM
Portable as any in the most prosperous dis
trict Of England. We tell her brief story in
her own words. as nearly as we can recall
| thcm.. .. .5,s..t ~ si =
My husband is q wheelwriekf, and oil.
ways earned his guinea O week he was u
COOK workman. and neither a bad man nor
bad husband, but the love for the drink was
| strong in him, and IL wasn't often he brought
nae homo more than Ave shiliiDgs out Of his
one pound one on o Saturday night; and il
broke my heart 10 see the poor children TOO
ragged 10 send TO school, TO say nothing Of
the starved look they had out Of the ltgae ]
could give them. Well Cop be praised he
took tho pledge; and the next Saturday be
laid twenty ono upon the chair you sit upon.
Oh didn't / give thanks on my bepdec;
knees that night! Still, was fearful 10
would not last, aaa spent no more ofthe five
shillings than was used 10, saying to INV.
self, may DO the money will be more wanted
than il IL now. Well, the next week he
brought lDc the same, and the next, and the
next, until eight weeks passed and, glory
le TO Con! there was no change for the bad
IN my husband; and all the while he mover
asked me why there iwas nothing better for
him out Of his hard earnings; 50 i felt there
was no fear for him; aud the ninth week,
when he came home TO lRe, bad this table
bought, and these six chairs, one for inyseyE,
four for the children and ono for himself
And was dressed in q new gown, and the
children all had new clothes, and shoes and
stockings, and upon his own chair put y