The Woodville Republican., 1852-12-21
Danger from Comets.

Comets, in the cool eye of modern
science, are not without their terrors.
Crossing MS they often do. the paths OF
the planets IN their progress to and fro
their perihelia. it cannot but be that
they should now and then come in con-
tact with one of these spheres. One
called Lexelps did come athwart the
satellites of Jupiter. in 1859, end once
again in l779. so as to be deranged in
its own course. 1t made indeed no OBJ
servable change in the movements of
the Jovian train, being of too light a
consisience for that; but we can doubt
that il might nevertheless seriously at
feet the condition Of their surfaces, and
especially any animal life which may
exist thereon. This very comet on the
2slh June, ITO, passed the earth at a
"A distance only six times that Of the
moon There is another called Biela,
which revisits the sun every six years.
or little more; and this busy traveller
actually crossed our orbit in 1882, only
month before we passed through the
same point in space! Another, which
made grand appearance in the west
ern sky in March ls43. would have in.
VOWED US in its tail. il we had only
been fortnight earlier in a particular
place! Ra her fine shaving, that. In
the celestial economies.
Now il we consider that as many ns
eight comets have been observed tele
scopically in single year, (ls46,) we
must see that the chance oc collision
of this kind is not so small as to be un>
worthy Of regard If it be true that
there are thousands of comets, all OF
which make, periodically, visits to the
near neighborhood of the sun, il must
be evident that the earth being itself
not so far, comparatively, from that lu-
mnary, must he rather liable than oth>
crwise to "A brush from one of these
wanderers; and indeed the wonder is,
that several thousands Of years should
have passed without, so far as we can
tell, any one such collision having la
ken place.
Seeing what highly organized sys
tern is formed by the physical and or>
ganic arrangements upon our planet,
one is apt to think that the scheme of
Providence was framed with provi,
sion for tho exclusion of such accidents.
To allow of the sudden undoing of all
this fair scene, which has taken thou :.
sands of years to bring out in its full
proportions, seems like wanton des>
truction of valuable property, and we
are not disposed to believe that such n
thing could be permitted. But, at the
same time we must remember that our
cause Of what is important and conse>
quential, has a regard to earth alone,
which is but a trifiing atom in the uni
verse.
Who can tell what are the limits
which the Master of worlds has set to
mundane calamity And assuIedly.
even though whole solar system were
here and there, now and then. to be re-
modelled in respect of all such arrange
mcnts as have been spoken Of, it could
not be supposed to be a very great
event in the progress of the entire plan,
seeing that astronomy has taught us
to regard such systems as no more than
particles in the dust-cloud or grains of
sand on the sea shore. IL must. then,
in sober reasoning, be admitted that
our mere adherence of SO much des-
truction, is no guidance 10 our Judg.
ment on this point: and that for any>
thing we can see of the plans OF Prov-
idsnce, an entanglement Of our globe
with comet may take place any day,
with consequences intellectually dam
aging, for the meantime, though not
conclusiveIy destructive. and perhaps
necessary as a step towards an improv>
ed system of things--the bringing in
OF what Ben Johnson calls "an age oil
better metal''
In the frame Of mind whish these
cancellations induce not very greatly
| alarmed about such extraordinary con
| tineencics, yet net insensible TO the so
lemnity Of The thought of whst may