The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-01-06
THE END or THE V-ORLD.
Mother shiptons Prophecy to bo Fulfilled
This Year,

;'o si"is'ci PIedlctlOnS that have, as
by common consent, been concon-
trated upon the present year. The
sootll-sayers, divincrs, oracle-makc. $,
astfologers and wizards, seemed to
nave combined to cast their spell upon
1t. Superstitious people of every sort,
ana some who are not willing to admit
that thcy are supcrstitious, regard the
year 1881 with more or less anxious
expectation and dread. AS the earth,
on New Year, 5 day, swings out into
ahother round about the sun. it will
go TO meet host OF evil omens. 1t
VIII 60 cursed by thcomaucv and bib
! Ilomancy. Acromancv and meteoro.
uancy Will glare at it from comets and
shooting stars. Onciromancy will in
| terccpt It's path with visions of evil,
and nomancy will shake the ominous.
DacKwaru-rcading numeral "lSSl" be-
fore it.. 1t will be besct with scare
crow figures by arithuancv, with
mchaclnS phrases by stichomancy.
1ct there is no reason why persons of
good digestion should not 60 sleep on
New Years night confident that after
having encountered the average GUAM
tlty of storm and sunshine, the one
horse bail that we call the world will
bring them safe through the pcrils of
It's Observation-Disclosures flight
round to the starting point.
1lmid persons first began to look
forward with some alarm to the year
ltlat is ABOUT to open, when. several
Years ago. the key to the so-calleu
prophctlc symbolism Of the great pvra-
mld OF Egypt was made public. backed
nN the name and reputation OF the
Brltl>h astronomer, Piazzi Smvth.
OthcrS, using Mr.. Smyth'S obscrva-
u"hS and measurements, have gone
much farther than he did in drawing
>tarIIing lntcrcnces; but no one can
read his book without rcrceiving how
powerfully II must aztec, those who
have the slightest leaning toward
superstition or crcdulitv. Besides.
tins record of explorations and eNpe-
rlences in the heart of Egypt's greatest
marvel has all the charm and interest
of DIR. Schiicmann's descrip,ions of
his discoveries in Homer's Troy. Such
book could not we'll he neglected bv
the world Of readers: and 6r the na-
ture Of the human mind many of its
readers were sure to he imbued with
its ominouS dogmas. So the belief. or
at least the suspicion, spread that the
secret chambers of the great pyramid.
under divine guidance bv tile most
mystical character in all history
MelchiScdek. King Of Salem. 1oreteil.
among other things, that the Christian
era will end in 1891.
Mother Shipton's so-called nronhccv
fixes upon the same date for the end Of
the world. The ominous Jingle OF her
rhymes has probably done at least as
much to disturb the eauanimitv Of
credulous persons rs the more elaborate
Eaticlnatlons OF the pyramid intcrpre-
tiers. Moreover Mother Shipton j.
represented rs foretelinr that in the
latter days England will "accep, ,
Jew AS England has. with conSid-
cradle emphasis, and more than once
accepted the remarkable son Of old
Isaac DiSraeli for her Prime Minister.
this has been taken as a fultillmcnr Of
the prophecy. So Lord Beaconricld'
dramatic personality is made princi-
pal hgure in the murkv cloud of evil
prophecy that hangs over 1881. As i,
the evil eye Of Mother Shipton and the
/ mystical menace of the Great PYRAMID
! were not enough for one poor twelve
month to bear. the "horrors of the
perihelia' have been denounced upor
the coming year. About t.,o wears
ago certain pamphlets were circulated
ABOUT the country purporting to be
! written by men Of science, and pre.
dieting that awful consequences tc
mankind would result from all IN,
great planets reaching their pcrihclia
or nearest points 10 the sun, torcther
According TO these prophets the SIMS.
ter effects OF the perihelia were TO be.
GIN making their appearance this fall
"hen Jupiter passed his pcrihelion
ana next the scythc of death was to bt
put to the harvest in the far east. anG
10 sweep westward, with swathc a:
broad as the continents, until !;
reached the Pacific Ocean. The mar
row Atlantic was to be no more lha,
!" oEo"klet i'll the path of this tcrribl,
harvester. Plaques. famines. pc>ti
lehces, fire, earthquakes. floods an,
tornadocS were to ScourYe the human
race untli oniy few remained. lik,
Noah and his family, to repcople IN,
earth with n sturder and more God
:. fearing race.
SO much alarm WAS caused bv thi
hocus-pocus OF pretended science ant
prophcc! that some real men Of scicnc,
-Mr. Proctor among othcrS-wcrc a
''> E"'.'9 W Siio" lliHt 50 lut rs these
predictions protcsscd to rest upo,
scientific facts they were baselcss. Tn,
great planets will not all be in peri
hclion III 1891, and ,hny will not al
be in pcrihelion together at any time
1t is true tiay several of the chic
planets will reach their pcrihelia with
III Il few years, and that it is rare fo,
them to be grouped So close together
as they will b" at one time next year
Ii is also true that remarkable in
stances lave been observed bctwee,
the existence OF great storms on tn,
sun, that produce electrical disturb
anceS and possibly meteorological
changes upon the earth, and the pres
encc Of Japilcr near his perihelion
Astronomers have also suspected tina
the influence OF some Of the othe,
great planets upon the earth can b,
perceived, but they have never dis
covered any reason to believe thatth,
combined forces Of all the planet,
could, under any circumstances, pro
ducc upon the earth a thousandth bar
| OF the evil effect ascribcd TO them b,