St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-04-15
Something About the Planets.


1t is said that about the middle oft
Fifteenth century a certain "MOther
ShiptOn' wrote certain dOggerel lines
replete with predictions of balloons,
tunnels, the discovery of gold in strange
lands, railroads, telegraphs, and divers
other wonders, flushing with the some
what interesting intelligence that:
The world unto end shall come
In eighteen hundred-eighty- one"
| 1t is also said that certain eminent
Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe by
name, who flourished some one hundred
or more years later, predicted that in
1881 the planets Venus, Jupiter, Sa
turn aud Neptune would be in conjunc-
| tion, and the result would be the grand
fms of all things terrestrial. 1t is fur
ther said that an "illustrious astrono-
mer" last year, or in the beginning of
| this, discovered comet of immense
proportions in the heavens, having no
apparent motion, thence arguing, no
doubt correctly, that it was coming di-
]
rectly towards the earth, and the cOnse-
queuces to follow must be collision and
certain destruction, pulverizatiOn,
crushing and smashing of our devoted
| sphere and it is furthermore said that
| investigators have established the fact,
| beyond controversy, that the above
/ n-sll q
take place on, aud Immediately follow
ing, April 9th inst. These predictions
and facts, cOnjOined with the well es-
| tablished end of the world ipating
propensity of average mankind-that
dreaded waiting for the Judgment"
which has enabled Milerism and Sec
ond Adventism to flourish, has rendered
The subject one of startling interest to
| all, whether wise or ignorant, and must
be accepted as my excuse for writing
this article.
Regarding Mother Shipton and her
poeticul prophecy, il is now pretty gen.
orally conceded that the aforesaid dog
gerel was indted at period nearer the
middle of the nineteenth than of the
! fifteenth century, or in other words,
roads and telegraphs, the discovery of
gold in California and Australia, and
the building of tunnels and submarine
ships, leaving only the grand finale, the
magnificent climax, as Il matter of pre-
dictiOn, with the remarkable cOinci-
dence that eighty-one is the only word,
as the name of a numeral in this de
cade, that rhymes with "cOme."
In regard to the pretended predic
ton, or rather statement of TychO
Brahe, of the coni4Ictlon of Neptune
with the other planets, it is well
known fact that the planet Neptune
was only discovered and named within
the present century, and, of course, he
with the knowledge he then had, could
not have made the alleged statement ;
and as regards the comet of immense
proportions, no other of the hundreds
of astronomers whose glasses are con-
tinually sweeping "the vast dome OF
immensity," has made any such discOv-
cry, save "EIis Illustlious," himself, and
the collision and resultant destruction
pulvelization, etc, is postponed indeti-
nitely.
But the matter of the conjunction OF
the planets to take place April 27tl
inst, and following, is not so easily
swept away bv wave of the hand, Ol
a dash of the pen, for it is a fact, be
yCnd all question, that on that occasion
occurs il state of atfais among the
but once since the Creation fact o
which the records are eXtant in Chimes,
history, as occurring in the year 246l
Before Christ, or about one hundred
wears plior to the flood, and will no
7 again until A. d. 6223, which probably
will not affect us individually, when al
five of the then known planets, (1eI
schel. Neptune and the Asteroids, hav
ing been discovered subsequent t.
; A. ID. 17S), were at once in strict con
4 junction. Mathematical calculation
I have verified these records and proven
l. their correctness. Saturn and Jupiter
+ however, come in conjunction once il
!, 800 years, or eight times since Creation
e this being the ninth since that time.
/ Without Instruments to aid, or Obser
2 vations to confirm the accuracy of III,
work, | have constructed the accOmpa
!, myipg diagram of the positions of tn
5. heavenly bodies, which to say the least
r if correct or nearly so, carries with
!. something startling when we conside
; how delicately and nicely poised (accOrd
:, ing to the Newtoniau theory are the dif
a ferent members of our Solar System, 5
A nicely poised that ArchimedeS, the ceI
i ebrated Syracusan philosopher was con
II strained to say "Give me where | ma
stand, aud | will move the earth; - 3
"a well as the fact that the planet Hersche
. or Uranus was discovered from the ell
&c cumstance that certain of the planet
were perceived to be moved Irregular
:, in their orbits by some unknown extri
rs neous gravitating force, showing that TIL
k. irregularity of motion is so great tha
Is
Is even the immense distance of hundred
,s of millions ofmiIes, it is plainly perceI
r. tible to US. In my diagram l have mac
: no account of Mercury OF the Asteroid