The Democratic Whig. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-03-30

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in 1Ge0 md IN ISL, af the Opposite
extremity Ur hsF track round tie Eun.s
Slill4lGsynre e1lEenely Impressive
and no. don6s were attended 10 be so
--alnqng innnmerable other reasons.
% consince man Of his dependant and
helpless state and TO satisfy him Of
the existence Of some snpernal power
whicha in tho unimaginable depths OF
uncEeated existence, ruled creation.
Thng4ar they fall in with the scheme
of Providence, and are salutary, as
one ofhis appointed means 10 make
man wonder, acknowledge and adore,
But fear or awe beyond this, = su-
pers1lious, unintellectual. brutal and
base. = We are called upon to see and
admire, that we may render TO Supreme
Power its just tribute ofadoring praise
but we are called upon to be afraid.
20 tremble, to be in bodily fear, any
more than we are every day, at seeilIg
she sun rise in his accustomed place.
and all natnre tuning herself 70 the
ardels and implicitly obeying il, which
God, the Creator, prescribed at first.
Strange as it will sound, there are
very many whom the fool Miller has
infected with his superstition--Chris-
tians, too! Alas! what Christians. Even
poor sinners like us have more faith
than TO believe that has been revealed
to Miller, which ''not the Angels, nor
the Son. but the Father only knew"
il is a disgrace to the intellectual and
christian Improvement of the Ameti-
can People, that so absurd piece Of
folly and so impious, should have taken
such hold of the public mind.
We remember well, the Comet OF
1911 mot the Bachelor, but The IRE
cruit." Il was the most magnificent In
the length offs train and the diameter
Of Its nucleus, which had appeared
certainly since 1850 in the time of Sir
Isaac Newton. Its tail, or train. was
computed by Philosophers to stream
through distance in space of $50 mil
lions of miles! Yet judging of the dia-
meter Of that Comet as compared with
this, and its proximity to our earth or
20 the sun, by the length ofits train, it
was scarcely comparable to that which
has recently amazed ourquarrer of the
world.
There are more than 900 Comets
known TO belong to our Solar System.
or .hese, the periods of four or FIVE
have been calculated. This, ifit be
Comet, is none OF them. 1t can be
neither Halley's, nor Encke's, nor
Gambart's. Its train exceeds any thing
described in History any Comet.
1t is therefore, y a Comet, more
probably one that has not visited our
part Of the system before since the ear
liest records of History-possibly one
= that has been ploughing space at the
Iatz vf a u..:lliss. of r1.i1Ss day, ard hao
just reached Us after the passage Of
1000 years from the Creation.
We find the following collectanea
in the Norfolk Herald:
COMETS.
OPINIONS OF THE ASTRONOMERS.
From the Philadelphia enquirer.
The Comet, as seen by thousands
Of our citizens for night or Two past
is subject Of inquiry and converse
ton in many circles. 1t is TO be hoped
that some of our Professors of the
High School, who have had opportu-
mites of viewing this wonderful visitant
from the observatory, will furnish par
ticnlar account. As this comet came &c
US unheralded, doubts are expressed
as to its indemnity with any Of the comets
which have heretofore been seen in the
day time; but we presume that those
who have studied the subject thorough
ly, and who have compared observa-
tions with the statements of authenti-
Gated works upon the subject, will be
able 10 arrive at definite conclusion.
Among the most extraordinary cOnl'
cts which have appeared. the following
may be noticed;
The Comet Of 1880, whicIagas seen
by most Of the astronomers OF Europe.
This was remarkable for as very near
approach 10 the sun. Acaarding to
Sir Isaac Newton. the velocity ofthis
comet, when nearest the sun, was $50,
900 miles an hour. Mr.. HALEY states
that in passing throgh IFS Southern
node, this comet came within 44O, 200
miles Of the orbit OF the earth; and he
remarks-had the earth been in thai
part Of its orbit nearest The node Of the
comet their mutual gravitation must
have caused change in the plane Of
the earth's orbit, and in the length o
our year; and il SO large a body, with
so rapid motion, were TO strike the
sorth, the shock might reduce this
beautiful frame to its Original chaos.
Modern observation, however, rende,
these Conclusions doubtful. Theun.
cleus of this comet was computed ia
be about ten times as large as the moon
and its tail extended over a space oI
% da0 -ihsewfenf To fha Mas an