Worcester daily spy., 1860-07-23

and were again shot out in a brilliant train of
fiery particles" In New Haven, says the
Journal and Courier, ''there appeared to be
three heads or balls of fire of intense bril-
liancy and beauty connected in a straight line
by slender thread of fire. We never before
saw meteor passing so near the surface of
the earth" In New York and Brooklyn, and
to passengers on the Sound, the spectacle ex-
cited great interest In Utica, says the Utica
Herald, "The meteor was exceedingly bril-
liant, its blaze lighting up the whole heavens,
scintlations of bright sparks being scattered
in its train.'
The occurrence of this phenomenon brings
to mind the grand meteoric display OF Novem'
Der, 1888, very much surprising this one IN
duration and extent, though probably not in
intensity. The Massachusetts Spy of the
Goth of November, 1888, says ''it commenced
soon after midnight and continued till the su-
perior splendor of the suns light rendered it
no longer visible. Some of the meteors were
very large, one of which was affirmed to be
nearly of the apparent magnitude OF the
moon, rendering it almost as light as mid
day" The Boston Centinel says that ''gen-
orally the meteors appeared to be very low
in the atmosphere, coming down almost
to the house tops" The New York Com
mercial Advertiser of that date says -
Compared with the spendors of this celestial
exhibition the most brilliant fireworks OF art
bore less relation, than the tWinklings OF
the tinniest star to the broad gaze of the
sun. The whole heavens seemed in mo-
ton, and little need have been borrowed
from morbid sensbility to imagine that
the opening of the sixth seal was indeed
at hand, when, the stars of heaven fell
unto the earth, even as fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when She is shaken by mighty
wind" Various hypothesis have been pro-
posed to account for this wonderful phenome-
non Prof. Olmsteads theory was that they
emenated from a nebuous body, which was
then pursuing its way with the earth around
the sun that they were composed of light,
thin, and combustibie substance, and that the
height of the meteoric cloud above the earth's
surface was scarcely less than twenty hun
dred miles. There are no theories yet estab-
lished to give satisfactory explanation o.
these mysteries, but they have ceased to en-
superstition or to excite fear. They
belong to the system of the universe, no part
OF which is left to chance, no part of which is
a mistake.
Foolish ASSAULT ON MIR. LINCoLN.-There
are several reasons why democrats of the
Douglas persuasion should not underrate the
intellectual clearness and power of Hon. Abra.
ham Lincoln. One of these reasons is that he
was certainly more than match for Mr. Doug
las, in the discussions that took place between
them when they were stumping the state of
Illinois, in 1858 He appears in that discus.
sion with a most undeniable superiority, not
only in the matters of temper, courtesy, can
dor, and frankness of expression but also in
the commanding force with which his positions
were stated, in the power of reasoning by |
wl.ich he sustained them, and in the almost |
nimitabe combination of logic and wit with
which he so often nonplussed and took down"
his opponent. tits not becoming in the politi-
cal friends of Mr.. Douglas TO speak sighting |
of Mr.. Lincoln's ability. And yet, some of
them go on about him in the style of the fol-
lowing paragraphs, which are quoted from one
of our contemporaries =
"Mr Abe Lincoln is a very honest, respecta-
BILE gentleman, who has never shown any ad
ability, and the idea of his being
president of the United States is ridiculed by
those who know him." And again 1.-The
fact is, the day for taking up inferior men for
so responsible a position as that of president
has gone by in this country"
The only thing our Douglas friends accom-"
plish by this kind of talk about Hon. Abraham
Lincoln is that they make themselves ridicul-
Gus in the most discreditable way.
Hon. JOHN HICKMAN, of Pennsylvania, now
acts fully with the republicans, and is very
earnest supporter of Lincoln and Hamlin. He
will be an efficient worker throughout the