The Chickasaw messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1880-1900, 1881-01-13

hnlhtf oulf poo FfonltcF.
Il would be difficult to describe
an the sinister predictions that have,
as Dy common consent, been corcen
traied upon the coming year. The
soUlhsaycrs, diviners, oracle makcrs,
astrologers and wizards seem 10 have
combined 10 cast their spell upon il
Superstiiious people Of every sort,
aud some Who are not willing To al
NIT that they are superstitious, re-
gard the year 1881 with more or less
anxious expectation aud dread As
the earth on New Years day swings
out into another round about the sun,
1t will 90 20 meet a host Of evil
omens II will 90 cured by theoman
cy and bibliomaney Acromancy and
meteorancy win glare at him from
comets and shooting stars. Onetro
nancy will intercept lis path with
visions Of evils, aud nomaDcy will
shake the ominous. backward read
ling numerals 1881" before il. II
will be beset with scareerow figures
/ b arithmancy, and with mcnacing
phases by stichomancy. Yet there
i, no reason why persons of diges-
ton should not 60 to sleep on New
Years night confident that, after
having encountered the average
quantity OF storm and sunshine, the
one horse ball that we call The world
will bring them safe through its
perils OF its 500,00O,00 miles night
round to the stirling point again
Timid persons first began to look
forward with some alarm to the year
that is about to open, when, several
years ago, the key to the so called
prophetic syboism of the Great
Pyramid OF Egypt was made public,
backed by the name and reputation
Of the British astronomer, Pazzi
>mylh Others, using Mr. Smyth's
observations and measurements,
have gone much farther than be did
in drawing startling inferences: but
no one can read his book without
per,eiving how powerfully it must
Jet those who have the slightest
leaning toward superstition or ere
iulity Besides, tllis record ofexplo
rations aud experiences ~ the heart
.ol Egypts greatest marvel has all the
harm and interest OF Dr. S.lhe
mann's descriptions OF his discoveries
IN Homer's Troy Such hook could
not well be neglected by tie world
Of readers and by the nature Of the
human mind many OF its readers were
sure TO be imbued with its ominous
dogmss. SO the belief, as least the
suspieion, spread that the secret
chambers OF the Great Pyramid,
under Divine guidance by the most
mystical character in all history,
Melchisedek, King Of Salem, foreteil,
among other things, that the Chris
tian era viii end in 1881.
Mother Shipton's so called prophe
cy fixes upou the same date for the
end ofthe world. The OMNIBUS linqle
Of her rhymes has probably done at
least as much to disturb the equanim
ity Of eredulous persons as the more
elaborate vaticinations OF the pvra-
mid Interpreters Moreover, Mother
Shipton is represented as foreielling
that in the latter days England will
accept a jew" As England has,
with considerable emphasis, and
more than once, accepted the remark
able son Of old IsaacDisraeli for her
Prime Minister, this has been taken
as the fufllment OF the prophecy
So Lord Beaconsdelds dramatic per
sonality is made principal figure in
the murky cloud of evil prophecy
that hangs over 1881
As IL the evil eye Of Mother Ship
ton and the mystical menace OF the
Great Pyramid we're not enough for
one poor twelYemonth TO bear, the
horrors Of the perihelia" have been
denounced upon the coming year
About two years ago certain pam
phlets were circulated about the coun
try, purporting to be written by men
Of science, and predicting that awful |
consequences to mankind would re-
suit from oil the great planets reach
ing their perihelia, or nearest points !
to the sun, together. According to !
these prophecies the sinister effects |
Of the perihelia were to begin making /
their appearance this fall, when Jupi |
ter passed his perihelion, and next |
year the scythe Of death was to be |
put to the harvest in the far East, and /
to sweep Westward, with a swathe as |
broad as the continents, until it |
reached the Pacific ocean The mar |
row Atlantic was to be no more THAI 1
a brooklet in the patti Of this terrible |
harvester. Plaques, Gamines, pesti-
lence, 6res, earthquakes, floods and |
tornadoes were to scourge the humsB |
race until only a few remained, like |
Noah and bis family, to people the |
earth With q sturdier and more /
God fearing race
80 much alarm was caused by tins /
hoc0s pocus Of pretended science anl |
that some real men Of i
scienee-Mr Proctor among others
were at The Pains to show that, so far
as these predictions proicssei TO rest /
upon scientific facts, they we're base /
less The great planets will not be |
in pefihelon in 1881, and they will I
not all be in perihelion together at
any time. It's true that several OF
the chief planets will reach their /
perihelia within a few years, and that |
Il is rare for them to be grouped SO
close together as they will be at one !
time next year. It is also true that /
remarkable Condolences have been /
observed between the existence Of
great storms on the sun, tLat produce
electrical disturbances and possibly |
meteorological changes upon the
earth, and the presence Of Jupiter
near bis perihelion. Astronomers
bave also suspected that the influence
Of some OF the other great planets
upon the earth can be perceived, bat
thnv have never 1iarnunrad ans,