Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-05-18
The Comet of 1856.

comet which is expected lo ihaho iS appear an'o :"
bout the year 1856 are given by M. Rablnet, an
eminent French astronomer, and member OF tne
Academy of Sciences, in an article recently pub
llished. The Boston Traveller translates from the
Courier des Etats UniS:
This Comet is one OF the grandest OF whlch
historians make mention. Its period of revolution
is about three hundred years 1t was seen IN the
years l04, 392, 6S3, 975, l264, and the last time
| in 1856. Astronomers agreed IN predlctlhg lis
return in l64S, but it failed to appear-maa9Wae W
al rendezvous, according 10 Inc expression Oh NJ
Rabnet-and continues TO SHINE sun, unseen Dy
us. Already the obseryatorIes begin 10 be alarm
ed for the fate of their beautiful wandering star
Sir John Herschel himself had put Grape upon
his telescope, when learned calculator OF MID
dleborough, M. BONNIE. re assured the aslronon-
ical world Of the continued existence OF the Vene-
rable and magnificent comet.
"Disquieted. as all other astronomers were, by
the non arrival of the comet at the expected time,
M Bonnie, aided by the preparatory labors OF
Mr.. Hind. with patience truly Dutch has revls-
ed all the calculations and estimated all the ac-
tions of all the planets upon the comet for three
hundred wears of revolution. The result of this
patient labor gves.the arrival of the comet In Au-
gust, 1858 with an uncertainty of two years,mo
or less, SO that from 1856 to lo6O,we may expect
the great comet which was the cause OF the aDdl-
cation of the Emperor Charles V, in 1856.
cit is known that, partakng of the general su-
perstition, which interpreted the appearance OF
comet as the forerunner ofsome fatal event. Charles
| v believed that this comet addressed It's nenaces
particularly to him as holding the first rank among
soveregns. The great and once wise but now
weared and shattered monarch had been tor some
time the victim of cruel reverSes. There were
threatening indications in the political if not In the
physical horizon of still greater tempest to come
He was left to cry ip despair, 'Fortu ne abandons
old men, The appearance Of the blazing star
seemed to him an admonition from heaven that he
must cease to be sovereign if he would avoid
fatality. from which one without authority might
be spared 1t is known that the Emperor survlv-'
ed his abdiration but little more than two
years. 900.
"Another comet, which passed near us in 1885,
and which has appeared twenty-five times since
the year before the christian era has been assoca-
ted by the superstitious with many important E.
vents which have occurred near the periods OF Its
visitation.
.'In 1866 William the Conqueror landed in Eng
land at the head of a numerous army about the
time that the comet appeared which now bears
the name of Haley's comet. The circumstance
was regarded by the English as a prognostc OF
the victory of the Normans 1t infused universal
terror into the minds of the people, and contrlbu-
ted not little towards the submission 1.-THE coun-
try after the battle of Hastings, as it had served
to discourage the soldiers of Harold before the
combat The comet is represented upon the ia
nous tapestry of Bayeux, executed by Queen Ma
,ilda the wife of the Conqueror The same COM
et. in l456. threw terror among the Turks under
the command of Mahomet II, and into the ranks
of the Christians during the terrible battle of Bel
Grade. in which forty thousand Mussulmans pc
Tshed The comet is described by historians Of
the time as immense, terrible of enormous length,
carving in its train tail which covered two ce
lestial signs, (6O degrees, and producing univer
sal terror Judging from this portrait, comets
have singulary degenerated in our day. 1t will
h. 70, remembered, however, that in 1911 there ap
no,roG comet of great brilliancy, which inspired
Some snneTsti.'iou fears Since that epoch science
has noted nearly eiohty comets, which, with few
o axcent;ons We're yisiihe only by the aid of the
teIesrone Kepler. when ;.sked how many COM
ets he thouuht there were in the heavens, an
swered eos mapy as there are fish in the sea-
"Thanks to the progress of astronomical science,
these singularstars are nolonger objects of terror
'The theories of Newton, HALEY, and their sue
cessors have completely destroyed the imaginary
empire of comets. AS respects their physical ma
ture. it was for long time believed that they
were composed of compact centre, surrounded
nv luminous atmosphere. On this subject the
opinion of Nj. Rabnet, who must be regarded as
rood authority on such questions, is as follows:
Comets cannot exercise any material influence
unon our globe; and the earth, should it traverse
comet in its entire bredth, would perceive II no
more than if it should cross cloud hundred
thousand millions of times lighter than our atmos
phere. and which could no more make its way
through our air than the slightest puff of an ordi-
nary bellows could make its way through an an
lvil' 1t would be difficult to find comparison
more re-assuring."
The SABDArH.-Captain Stansbury, the lead
or of the United States surveying expedition to the
rerion of the Salt Lake, in his official Report TO
the Government, bears this testimony to the tenn
1 poral value of the Sabbath -
"l;here ber to record, as the result Of my expe-
rence, derived rot only from my present journey,
but from the observation Of many years spent III
the performance of similar duties, that as 4 mere
matter of pecunary consideration, apart from al
higher obligations, it is wise 10 keep the Sabbath
| More work car be obtained from both men and
animals by its observance, than where the whole
seven days are uninterrupledly devoted 10 labor" "
|
| SHAvING.--A correspondent of the Boston Post,
who has travelled extensively in varlons pa9ts oi
the world, says, that after he had Jet his oc@Fd
GROW for six weeks, it was next 10 impossible Tor
him 10 catch cold. ''And this" remarks the wrl-
ter, ..with the damp fogs of England, steamboat
Iinr in the Baltic. coastng by Norway, .'schoon-
ering" in the Arctic Sea, camping out in Iceland,
swimming the cold rivers, sleeping on the ground,
climbing snow mountains. and various moving
accidents by flood and field this is saying some
thing for nearly three years experience oi lhfo"
inc away the razor"
N5+ It appears by a statistical statement, pub
jlished in the Friend Of China, in December last
that during three months Of last year, four hun
Idfed and one celestials were pat to death IN Gan
on The beheading is performed with the sword
in very dextrous manner. The eXecutloneI Tor
ces the head of the culprit backward by tugglng
at his long tail, and when the neck is thus expos
cd, the heavy sharp blade whistles through the al
and the head is severed from the body at single
blow Sometimes as many as sixty or seventy tel
ons are arranged in row, and the exccutene
masses along the line, looping off head after heae
as if they were as many cabOages.
Sr,r,sr,rs OF DANcING.-An Ingenious Frencl
ar;tbmetcian has calculated that the space wficl
young Partisan belle, who isfond of the saiutar.
exercise of dancing, travefses in the gay saloons
paris amounts. in the course of one dancing sea
, son TO four hundred and thirty -four miles and
ball lie has also estimated that French lad
Fond of performing the functions ofa -toum vii
spin round in ,ualtz in one night as many time
ne the wheels of q steamboat revolve while runnln
Tho distance between Dover and Calais
SPIRIT RAppINes AND NEcRoMANcY.-One
; the churches in the Presbytery of Chicoth