Litchfield enquirer., 1869-08-26

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 led round the edge of the moon it's molten glory, hung the gloom and dafknessEof the IecIpse: The rim of light below the shad- ow, down in the far southeast, went out, The next Instant, away in the northwest, the shadow, moving up toward the Zenith,
 disclosed a hue of light which broadened and marched upward, until, in almost a twlnkhng, it swept over and by us, as the culminating point was reached and the moon with it's trail of darkness passed by and let gush of sunlight in upon us. It was quick work to see the whole of it and takein all it's glory and magnifcence,. for the totality co2tinued only 8 fraction over two minutes. Of course there was shout ing all round, Hook quick There's Mercury" See Venus up there to the left;"9 There's the Corona" as' See the protuberances." < There comes the shad- low. Look over in the Northwest" and There it comes out again "-and opera glasses were passed quickly from hand to hand, ,aso that all could see, and no one should miss anything. When the totaIity had passed, there was general hand -sha- king all round, with congratulations upon having witnessed under such favorable con ditions so magnificent display. None of the party on the prairie had ever before seen 6 total Eeclipse, and not one of them had any conception of what it was like. It surpassed the expectations, of all, and all were enthusiastic in expressions of delight. The state pride of the Iowans did not fail of expression upon the occasion, for heard Q dozen times the remark, C'sWell, Iowa can beat the world on eclipses' I e1da The astronomers and scientific people carried out all their plans, I believe, and have made, several new and very important discoveries regarding the solar constitution and other astronomical problems; one hun dred and twenty-three different photo graphic views of the eclipse in it's several stages were taken during the two hours of the moons crossing. Great resalts are an- ticipated from the spectral analysis of these views. The astronomers are some- what reticent at present as to what they, have accomplished, and probably will not give much to the public until they have had ample time for comparison of all the calculations and observations made at diff! fereat points, as well as for the necessary examinations and analysis. 5ao !" ;1:1a4 .h I have not given you any idea of the eclipse, I know. I cannot. It is far be- yond any description of mine, and per haps ought not to have attempted it. My first thought as we stood there on the prai- rie and saw, at the precise moment set down by the, astronomers, the rim of the moon reaching over the sum disc was one of wonder and admiration at the exactitude of science and the greatness of the achieve ments of the human intellect. Here were the courses of the planets and all the mo- tions of the heavenly bodies calculated and set down with such unerring precision, that years before the event the obscuration of the sun by the passage of the moon be- tween it and the earth, was predicted with minute. and all the, arrangements made to take such advan tage of it as would still farther enrich science and add vastly to the sum of human knowledge. And we. were witnessing the fulfilment of the prophecy. But at the moment of totality, when the darkness gathered in the north west and came down upon us, and when the passage of the moon became instead of a mere obscuration of the sun, distinct and tangible circumstance of itself, with the rounded outline of the planet full in view-when a conception of the grand event that was transpiring began to thrill me and I looked with moist eyes upon the glory of it ail-I ceased to think of man achievements. At that moment my thought went out towards the Infinite and wonder deepened into awe. There in, the dimness was the hand of Him who leads the planets in their courses--who doth ''bind the sweet influences of Plsiades or loose the bonds of Orion" who ,s'.bringeth forth Mazzaroth in his season and gaideth Arcturus with his ss-showing forth His glory and His majesty in His wonder full works. Then the littleness of man showed itself to me in the awful shadow of the Creator, and for an: instant the cur rents of my blood stood still. The shadow passed and with it passed the thought of the awfulness of His. majesty melting away under the radiance of His love. I hope was made better for the experience. I ought to be most certainly: "zne sI
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