Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-07-21
MITES nF TILE WEEK.


To-day 10 tas seventh Sunday after Trinity;
the morhing lessons are the l4yh cbap'er OF
Exodus, and the path chapter Of Acts.
There is often a coincidence ia the lessons
which TIE pious Of past ages selected for The
daily reading Of tie church. that ls not always
noticed Datll pointed out. Ia the frst Of the
shove lessons it is stated that the same cloud
which gave light to the IsFselites by night, was
darkness to the Egyptians. In the second
lesson the truth Of a coming ~iudsment, which
filed Paul with Joy, made Felix trsmble.
The deveut among cur readers will find sub
jeet for useful reflection In the two facts thus
brought together.
The astronomical phenomena visible to the
naked eye at the present time are lees inter-
esting than at any time during the whole
previous part Of the year. At early evening,
however, The western sky was never more
attractive. Soon after sunset the beautiful
disc Of Venue g~listens pale in the lingering
twilight. As the shade dsePeBs, Jupiter
CLOVIS with regal spIendcr higher above the
fading light Of the horizon. Then the intense
FIRE Of distant Neptuns comes into view, and
last Mars shows bis rudy light in close Prox-
unity to the kingly Jupiter. Before ten o'clock
the whole gorgeous train have followed the
sun and sunk beneath the western plains. In
the absence of the gorgeous Taurus, and the
burning belt Of proud Orion, with majestic Leo
bid from view, the Fixed stars offer compare
lively little 70 the observing eye, but that little
is full Of beau Y. In the south, fierce Antares
burns and Scorpio spreads bis wreath Of glow
ing orbs to view. Overhead sweet Vega, bold
A]rcturus, and glitsring Affair catch the ad-
miring gaze. The tiara in the northern crown,
the ever present Ursa Major, and other
groups, offer their familiar forms IN the
circumpolar bounds. The milky way is now
an attractive objsct-its liquid light spans the
entire sky. Not Far from the first star OF the
"~dipper' may be seen the comet, which has Of
late attracted so much attention. HIS lOrdly
train is gone; like a retreating army, shorn of
it's banner and dispossessed Of its glittering
! arm, the comet w~snders, with a greatly de-
creased motion, toward that far distant aphe
lion, where no eve OF glass can follow bis cir
cling course. It is stated by the astronomers Of
Cambridge university, that on the 2SJh Of June
the earth was twenty-four hours i staRt
from the comet-that is, that it the earth
had been on that day at a point in is orbit
which a. it reached the next day, the earth and
comet would have come together. Such a
"colisiono has been looked upon In years past
with awe. The philosopher o. to-day smiles
At the idea Of any serious result. There
might be q "crush Of matter'' like that which
snsues when a balloon charges into a cloud,
bat there would be no "wreek OF worlds"
The comet is a mere collection Of unsubstsn-
tial vapor; the light he shows is simply a re-
fsction Of the SUMS light, just such as clouds
send back to earth at evening. Imagine a
bank Of fog, such as often lies on the ground
in the early morning, to be spread out before
an approaching train; fearless the engineer
darts bis locomotive into the haze, and
unterrl6ed the traveller follows IN the
train. The fog is cut into, but the train
is unchanged by the "collision, " So
would the earth pass through the misty
matter OF a comet; the comet would be drilled
through, but the earth would pursue her ever.
lasting rosnd, unseathed, SO far as the effects Of
! the "collisionv extended. Whether, however,
any peculiar results, injurious or otherwise,
would follow from the chemical m~ingling Of
the matter Of the comet with the gases Of the
earth's atmosphere, is not 80 certain. We be-
iieve there is not mush ground for fear on that
score. When the famous November meteors
of some years age filled the world with won
der, the earth was very probably passing
through the tail OF a comet so some philoso-
piers tell Us. There was a grand show Of
harmless pyrotschnlcs, but "%nObOdy was
hurt.''
Sundsy-Anniversary of Robert Burns
death, in 1876. Monday-MercHry in inferior
conjunction with the sun. The first English
newspaper was printed on this day in 1888.
Thursday-BattIs of Lundy's Lane, in 1914.
Virginia charter suppressed in 1924.