The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1857-05-20
COMETS

the direfula expectations were abundaEtiyd
however, that those calami7
ties, which desolated large portions, of the
Eastern Roman Empire, had any conncc~l T
tion with the comets The first alarmed p
mankind in the month of September,nA,
D. 531, and was seen for twenty days In /
the western quarter of the heavens, shoot /
ing its rays into the north The second {
appeared, A. ID 539, and increased to so /
large size, that the head was in the east
aud the tail reached the west. # vas 3
visible for forty days, the sun at the time i,
exhibiting unusual paleness. Farro. re-
cords a. tradition, that in the times OF .
Oxyges, the father of Greciar antiquity
the planet Venus changed her color, size; I
figure, and course; prodigy without ex-,
ample, either in past or succeeding ages. !
This refers to lI67 years before Christ. !
Tremendous comets appeared IN the west,
two generations prior TO the reign OF Cy-
rus; but one of the most splendid comets4
was seen forty -four years before the birth
,of Christ After the death of Julius
Cesar, a 'long- haired star was coaspie-
Euous to Rome and to the, nations during
the games that were exhibited by young
Octavian, in honor of Venus and OF his
uncle Julius Ca sar; and the vulgar be-
lieved that it conveyed the divine; soul OF
the latter to -heayens The. superstition
was universally current among the anclents,
that comet, "from its horrid hair shakes
pestilence and war;" But modern phi-i
Ilosophy and research have successfully
/ Idispelled such vain and idle apprehensions,
| in all civilized nations. & At the birthaof
the sgreat Mithridates, King of Pohtus,
twoslarge comets appeared, whose spienrI-i
dor is fabulously said to have equalied that.
Of the sun. They were seen for twenty
two days together, and occupied forty
five degrees, or the fourth part of the visi-
BILE heavens. Seneca, theRoman philoso-
pher, who lived in the first century OF The
/ Christian, era, wrote :---a The time will
come, when the nature of comets and
their magnitude, will be demonstrated, and
+ the courses they take, so different from
those of the planets; and rposterity will
wonder that the preceding ages should be
! Ignorant in matterss SO plain and -eaSyt 2
) be known. - Arago thought that not less
, than seven thousand comets revolved in
2 our SYSTEM Comets sometimes pass sun.
: observed by the Inhabitants of the earth
2 in consequence of the part of the heavens
in which. they move, being then. under
During a total eclipse Of ht
y sun, sixty-years before Christ, a large
e comet, not previously seen, became visible
|. near the body of the obscurcd luminary
!, Halley's comet, A. D. 1856, covered !
J: sixth part of the visible heavens, and, s,wa
d likeued to Turkish scymitar That oh
> served by Newton, A. D. 1850, had
N tail l23,0oo.eO0 of miles in'length,.,
is comet A. D 1T44E had six tails; sprea
out IKE d fan, across large space Of th
se sky. Es'h -
- HEN PERsuADEKs Spring6el
If If Republicans, in speaking of anew iusei
!; ton for hens nests, whereby the egg
IN drop. through trap-door, and sodeceiv'
,b the llen that she keeps Oh laying, is, r
Is sponsible for the following: sssia:s "a
80 30 "Blobbs met with a loss, however, vii
? one of the persuaders.-4 Blobbs7 had
I'd lovely young Shanghai pulet, of boundle
- ambition. Blobbs bought persuade
"a and his Shanghai used it. r4She-went upt
- the nest in the morning. Blobhs sawlh
- go, and his heart bounded within hIr
Alas he never saw her come off agai
:. At night he visited the persuader.
. the upper compartment were. q handful
~ feathers, few toe-nails and o billssaa
- the lower compartment were three tdoz
~ !, - and eleven eggs! Blobbs saw it all! II
"a delicate constitution had been unequal
,as the. effort. and, fired by young ambitie
- - she had laid herself all away" .,
A SELL.-A New, York corresponds
It's of the Boston Journal sent to that naI
US statement that large party; of Ir
on Catholics had attacked and demolish
ing the walls of Presbyterian chureh'in n
oe York, in the presence aofa AN 1ammeI
ori- crowd attracted to the spot by the de-
les, and that no arrests were made, &c.
on. clergyman of Lawrence, Mass. one of
! OF shrieking, hating, prescribing, can't
oi set, who wanted a text for his next po
and l ical sermon, TO show why black men sho
ON oom be citizens, and whites excluded from
the franchises, wrote to Mayor Wood, inql
the tne ing into the matter, and received OF cou
re- a denial. The church referred toA
I'M I'M the "Old Brick Church" which had b
torn down, l(chiefylby Irish Catholics, le
pa presume, J to be rendered 9iwto stores
entsi - - !. = = :. = :. -,
his The philosophy of Travellers h
{ IS been putto the sescsest test by detentf
tseifi One of the most decided eases OF d'esie
vital ton is reported on.a strain of-ears
IN Boston, as follows: You don't seem
the mind hthis detention eand 'dannoyanc
% Speaking to me- sir?a saidlthe pc
addressed, hooking up from his pa
pug eyes sir,H was the reply. :HWhat Is
,rtal, use of minding it; can't s'bea helped
ought to have been at hotnclast Satur
. and should have beegt butd stoppe