Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-07-23

to- 90 before the wise men when (dl-
rected by Herod, be it noticed) they,
went to Bethlehem, almost due south OF
Jerusalem, would correspond to me-
ridian elimination low down-for the
star had manifestly not been visible in
the earlier evening, since we are told
that they rejoiced when they saw the
star again. 1t was probably q comet
travelling southwark, and as the
wise men had travelled from the
east, it had very likely first been
seen in the west as an evening star,
wherefore its course was retrograde.
1t may possibly have been an APP
partition of 0IIalley's comet" A view
similar to this has before now been held
by biblical commentators inclined to
rationalism, but to perceive it requires
so strong q belief in the pre-established
harmony of celestial bodies and earthly
affairs as might well have appalled,
Leibnitz himself, and moreoverthis opin-
iorAioes not explain the stopping Of the
comet over NE "place where the young
child lay" since a comet could hardly
stop immediatly oyeRa little village un-
less the laws of parallaX had been great
ly intertered wrh. If Professor Prog
tors 9ThQioa onsthi s subject is valuable
at'all it is so onlyo because itshows how,
easily leaued professors may fall into
error when they you'd account for mir
aSles on natural gfounds. If similar
way both Pingre and, Lafanae gu9 ssed
st syas the comet now known rs that Of
1880, which is mentiosed BFhe prayer
of QAnckises in tkG Eneid as having APP
Ppeaped befoEe the fall of Troy, but the
whole description givenof this appear
d anee by Virgil is Tether that Of peteor
orr globular lightning than of comet,
whose advent, nowadays at leas, is not
.copmonly ushered ip by a clap of thun'
der. Moreover, when dGncke went over
the calculation of Labande relatiYe e
pthis9 mattero he foundathen to be wrong
by fhe ttifls of $3.50 years. DIR. SchHe
rnann's excavations at Troy have aon(
moeG to establish the existence snd fsl
of such city than has ever beer
!, ! achieved by men Of SCIENCE VIII
mke their cue from poets. The come
OF 43 u. C. ives thought by mos
!, Romsns to be the soul of the mightic
: Julius ascending from the earth tfs,
regions of the noblest, and Bshat.
> ! from whom Burton, author of tbid OF
my Of Melancholy" was sat nosT
. : quoting, was of the opiHiPe great In
u comets were the souls cand 1t was
!, Blight through the cerul That ne held
= On account of this Drtend calamhfY,
o that comets generp1ts OF great men
;. since they are tphed over the inter-
u who have long nd when they depart, !
y. ests Of mauka without guidance, so
N leave theov begins TO 90 to the, bad.
'e that &C o.ion OF the nature ofcomets,
u With trOest spectroscopY will never
~ ,UhickmaY be compared the happYl
+ ems OF Philo Jud9us and other Ne0-
is .sniSss, that the stars and planets are
o. mails. Pliny regards planets as har-
ir hgers of evil; they were (" inappeasN-
'oie stars, one of which appeared in the
late civil war when Octavius was Consul;
another duringthe intestine war between .
Pompey and Cesar, and another in our
own time when Claudius Cesar having
been poisoned. the empirs was left to I
Domitian, in whose reign there appeared |
a blazing comet" Seneca also thought |
that comets were cruel and portended the |
worst ,misfortuHes. "They bring with |.
them and leave behind them the seeds OF
blood and slaughter" OF course in |
times of superstition, when wars hap
nened to come about while the heavens
were appanentlE 10 a rage, tho s.4.-s..s "a !
calamities would be attributed to the
heavens alone as their source.
But it is, after all, not impossible that
famine aud wars might follow on the
track of large comet approaching the F.!
sun closely, 1t is now believed by many
astronomers that solar storm. strongly !
affect the meteorological condition of
the earth; if the influence happens TO
be, bad uponothe weather, the weather Of
course influences the growth OF cr6ps,
extensive failure of crops might being
abouto famine, famine pestilence, AND
the general calamity might in turn give
rise to Industrial troubles and to wars,
But after ale is said this IS but Gonietcs
ture, not being known ito have a solid
laolRdoof sact % rest dpop Phere is
more practical POLITICAL wisdom in the ]
old rhyme go @ 90
War bringspoverty, poverty peace,
Peace makes riches flow; osoc things fever
Riches bring pride, ang pride is wsr's ground,
Avid was Brings poverty; so the wheel comes
round.
The cool opinion Of the Emperor YES
pasian in regard to theocopet which APP
peared during his reign may here be,of
value "That hairy STAR" said be,
{. does not pOrlend evil to nfe. 1t menv
aces rather Che King of the Parthians.'
He is hairy man, but l am bald"
1t would. .be0tedious to RECOUNT the
history efthe comets WHICH have been
looked upon as prQphets of ill to men
and nations, 'but'a ndte SHOULD be made
of one particular time when all things
seemed to combine to show that tie end
of the world was at hand. This was
tleyear 1,00o after Christ, the time of
the millennium, when the Devil, having
been chfined up for thousand years,
was to'break from his prfSon-hotfse and
roam through the Y0rn seeking whom
he might aeraur. Poets in tAeocloisterS
were writing Of the Day ofWrath, and
monks and Tiars were preaching to the
of the dreadful hour when
the earth was to rass away lin smoke
and flame. Then appeared a comet
which glitteredsaud grew ir the skies f2s
nine days. and, as Professor Proctor
quotes from an old ckronider: "The
heavens opened and a kind Obtaining
torch fell upon the earthS having behind
along track of light like the psth of
lash of lightning. lbs brightness was
r-n crront tknt Il anrhtnnnd NOT nlllu lhnsn