Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1844-07-18
MISCELLANEOUS.
WONDERFUL CLOCK.

ne Rev. Mr. Iurnbull, pastor OF the
Harvard street Church, Boston, wrote
a letter during his recent tour in Europe
to the members Of the Sabbath school,
connected with his congregation, in
which he gave the an interesting &C
count Of a wonderful! work Of art. At
ter Introducing the letter, he proceeds
as follows:
There is no subject that I think of
which will be SO likely TO interest you
as the great astronomical clock, which
! saw, the other day in the Cathedral at
Strasburg. This Cathedral, by the
way, is one of the finest and oldest in
Europe. 1t is very large, and its tow
er or steeple is the highest in the
world, It's twenty four feet higher
than the great pyramid in Egypt, one
hundred and forty feet higher than St.
Paul's in London, and three OF four
times higher than the old South
Church in Boston. The astronomical
clock stands in the inside, in. one cor
ner Of it, and is a most. imposing and
F.! beautiful edihce. Five or six hundred
! people visit it every day at u O'Clock,
when it performs some extraordinary
feats, which | shall mention presently.
and several millions in the course Of
the year. There have been two OF
three clocks in the same place, upon
the model Of which the present one is
formed; but it is almost new one, and
was constructed by a mechanic whose
name was Schwilgue, in 1888, to
whom a nocturnal fete or festival was
given by his fellow citizens on the oc-
casion of its completion.
To give you some idea of the size
of this clock, | will compare it with
some other things with which you are
familiar, instead Of saying that it is
50 many feet high, and so many feet
wide, &c. Well, then, you remember
the size Of the post office in Washing
ton street. 1t is as high asthat, and
about as wide, Or at least nearly So
Its top would reach to the very sum-
nit CT our meeting house, and its front
would 60 about half across the meet
ing house. On the top Of it IS the fig
ure Of the prophet Isaiah; about as
large as life, on its two sides are a
couple Of stairs to so UP into it. Its
front is beautifully painted, and has
places upon which the hours of the
day, the days of the week, the revolu'
tons Of the stars, the motions Of the
sun in the elliptic, the phases of the
sun and the moon and a great many
other things are indicated. Here, also
in inches prepared for them, are move
able manages Of the Savior and his
twelve apostles. Death, and Time with
his scythe; the four ages of human life,
and several other forms which cannot
mention.
To give you little further idea Of
it's magnitude, let me say that there are
means of going inside Of it, and that
some ten or fifteen people, perhaps
more, might stand together IN its very
heart and examine the machinery
Mr.. Neale, two other gentlemen and
myself, with the conductor, went into
it and spent about an hour there. We
went first into a lower, then into a
higher, and then still higher apartment
of it and saw the various parts Of the
machinery, consisting should think,
Of more than thousand pieces splen-
didly polished and all dependent
for the harmonious action upon
I the short, thick brass pendulum which
swings in the centre.
But must tell you what this clock
does. It not only points out the hours
and the days, the times and seasons,
but the revolution of the stars, the So
lar and lunar equations, the conjunc-
ton and the eclpses of the heavenly
bodies, their positions at any given
time, and various changes through
which they pass for thousands Of years;
1t points out apparent time, or real
time, and ecclesiastical time. On It's
face you see the motion ofthe stars, OF
the sun and planets, Of the moon and
her satellites. Two little cherubs,
who sit, one on one side, the other on
the other, strike the quarters OF the
hour-Death strikes the hour with
mace, while four figures pass and re-
pass before him, representing the van-
Gus stages of human life.
At IL O'Clock every day, when
Death strikes y, the apostles, who
are represented each with the badge OF
his maItyTIoln come out from the clock