Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1874-07-07
THE COMET.

ular interest Is daily deepening, appears te nave
de6ed astropomlc computation I'LL very recentiy'
For some weeks 10 June it was approaching
the earth in so direct a line that the calcula-
inns were very difficult. The Berlin ephemeris
nf ;ts position briancy aud future pathway,
:, freely published last mjnth, because 50 con-
6dcprly trusted 10 this country, proved to 0e
I,.,i.dly tallacious 10 some points. ln the last
,;w days the meteor has altered its course and
is now more easily studied; but very precise pre-
.lctious are as yet premature. 1t now appears
thar its greatest brilllancy will occur from July
81 to Sd Of August, and the degree OF lumlnus
tr will be between that of Jupiter and that OF
Venus. The nucleus will be then seen to the
hest advantage about twilight, the comet being
so near the sun that it will not be so we'll OBJ
served two or three hours after the latter sinks
behind the western horizon. The brightness OF
the meator stream will then be three times as
great as it is now.
On Tuesday, the Oh of Juue, from micro
me,rical companions with star in the Bonn
catalogue, the distinguished astronomer, y. Il.
Hind of Mr. Bishops observatory, I"lcken-
ham, England found that Coggias comet was
then rather brighter than Argelanders stars
If the sixth magnitude, and the tail was trace
able about two degrees from the nucleus, which
sill presented very stellar appearance. Mr..
Hind also determined that its perheon pas
sage would take place on the Sth OF july when
its distance from the sun would be slxty-seVen
,uinutes of the earth'S mean distance-l. e.,
about sixty one million miles. This seems to be
very near the central orb of fire; but there are
instances of much nearer approach as 10 the
comet of 1850, which swept Wlthln SIX hundred
Thousand miles of the sun. 1t did not, however,
merge into the suu, as comets have never been
known to do, contrary to vague theory that
has been largely entertained, as If the nebu
ious matter was fuel for its mighty furnaces
So far from this rash venturer upon the suns
domains efecting Judgement on his lncandes'
cent aud tumultous surface, It was sut]ecteo 10
an enormous reruslon, and from the point OF
periheion was shot out Into space win an in-
conceivable force, far greater than that with
which the solar heat acted upon aud controlled
the head Of the comet itself. The amount OF
this force may be family indicated when we re-
Acct that the cometary matter was then glow
ing with heat twenty FIVE thousand SIX hun-
dred 3inles as Intense as that which RACES at
MONDAY on our Equator---a heat 10 which any
terrestrial substance known to US would instant
~ be converted into vapor.
The coudilicn of comet, after 1t has pass
ed the perhclon, must be very different from
what it was before; but that difference is yet
to be ascertalned, except in the mere fact that
from disunion by acton of heat the meteor has
undergone great attenuation and ana! SIS The
comet Of 1850. to which We have alluded, and
tha. of lS43, after their immersion iD the suns
rays emerged from them in augmented splen
dor and with vastly enlarged tails, as II they
had caught up new supplies OF light and hre
from the great lumnary- 1t would not be,
therefore, great surprise II C0ggias comet
should do the same, though instances are record
4 E,ob,r in no
ped the flying meteor of much ofits glory. The
idea has been expressed that the present comet
willintersect the earth's orbit and come 10 col
lisioo with u.s. The opinion prevailed with
Sir John Herschel aud others that if ever the
earth swallowed up a comet 1t would be on the
3Uth of November, when Biela's comet ap-
preached very near. But there is great doubt
whether, 10 the event OF actual collision, any
harm would cnsue or even any one be cognl-
zant of it. The comet is material substance,
siuce it has been proved that it shines by re-
Hected light; but its nervousness is almost ln-
conceivable. The cometio particles form
cosn,ical fog or vapor SO light that, through
Uouati's comet, where the tail was ninety
thousand miles thick, the stars clearly shonc.
Arcturus was in DO degree echpsed, as !.
beamed directly through this enormous ;. band
of mist. We may, therefore, safely dismiss
lHe lOuR Supciottiou Va
A painless comet aud curse
The menace Of the universe.
Aswe have already intimated, the orbit OF
Cogyia' ) comet has not been precisely deter
mined. few days may suffice to reveal Its
exact pathway as it nears the earth.-Nelc IorH
Herald.
THE BEECHER- Triton AFFAIR.-The n. I.
Golden Age of this week contains the valedlc-
tory of Mr.. Theodore Tilton, its former editor.
The same paper contains an article 10 relation
to the grca scandal in which Mr.. Tilton and
Rev. H. W. Beecher are the principals. The
articles referred to may be viewed as an othclal
explanation from Mr.. Tllton. Of the great
scandal it says: ''He (Titon) has been assall-
ed directly and in the most explicit terms oy
DR.. Bacou-a kind man and just one too
who undoubtedly supposed from what ne had
learned through Mr.. Bcccher and bis TRENDS
that Mr. Tilton was knave and dog, the
creature of a too-torbearlng pastors magnan-
imity, scandal monger and falSlher, who
had tried 10 ruin the most beloved of ministers.
Such aspersions from pen of one OF the lead
;ng and most eminent diynes in America, pub
Ished in religious paper Of large circulation
and commented on by the press OF the whole
country. we're of too serious character to be
borne 10 silence or passed by. Mr.. Hilton
character and standiug as man among men
were involved. and silence oD his part was
tacit acknowledgment OF the justice Of Dr.
Bacon $ aspersions and the correctness OF tue
erroneous statements by which they we're sup
ported. One sentence from MIR. Beecheer's lips
or pen would have drawn the poisoned arrow
and healed the smart. MIR. Tilton called Mr..
Beechers attention to the offensive statements
and in the presence of two witnesses told him
that unless he corrected the mlsrepresentatlons
In his way it would be necessary for himself to
correct them in his own way, which would be
severe. Weeks passed aud 40 corr ection was
made Longer silence on his part was impos-
sible Iu replying to DR.. Bacon, he did what
any other innocent and honorable man who
cared for his reputation aud had the courage
to defend it would have done under the cir
cumstauces. And the reply was not printed
until it had beer submitted to DR.. Bacon; VINO
failed to suggest any other method for r!ghtng