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capable of reflecting the solar rays from their internal as well as external parts—an inference which is rendered necessary , in order to account for all the phenomena revealed by telescopes . It is certain that stars of a very faint class have been repeatedly seen through comets of from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand miles in diameter , and , in the majority of cases , not the least perceptible diminution of the star ' s brightness took place . There are one or two instances on record , where astronomers have been convinced of a sensible increase of brilliancy when a star has been viewed through the cometic vapour . In addition to a remarkable observation of this kind by Piazzi , at Palermo , during the appearance of the grand comet of 1811 , we may mention a more recent one by Professor Reslhuber of
Kremsmiinster , in reference to a star seen through the denser part of a comet discovered by M . Brorsen in March 1846 , and which , tinder ordinary circumstances , belonged to the eighth class , or was just beyond unassisted vision . When the star was centrally covered by the comet , it became very considerably brighter , and was judged to be equivalent to a star of the sixth magnitude , in which case it would have been distinctly visible without a telescope . Professor Struve made some interesting observations during the transit of the comet of Biela over a small star , on November 6 th , 1832 . The brightness of the star was not in the least diminished by the intervention of the comet , and its light suffered no perceptible refraction , a point established by a continuous series of measures with the micrometer .
" That comets shine by a reflected light is a conclusion which few astronomers will dispute . It is evident from telescopic observation of the degree of brilliancy at different distances , and in various positions of a comet , with respect to the sun and earth , and M . Arago has established the fact from experiments with a polariscope , during the visibility of the famous comet of Halley in the autumn of 1835 . Still the variation in the intensity of light is not universally such , as should follow if the comet merely reflected the sun ' s rays , under certain permanent conditions , and we are under the necessity of looking to physical causes inherent in the body itself for an explanation of some few observations which app ear irreconcilable with the theory of reflected solar light . The first comet of 1780 was closely examined by Dr . Olbers , the erninenti astronomer of Bremen . He found it attained its to its dis
greatest brightness on . the 8 th of November , thirteen days subsequent - covery , whereas , according to the law of reflected light , it should have become gradually fainter since the first observation ; and , supposing the comet self-luminous , the intensity of light should have increased each day until November 26 , when the maximum would take place : yet , in the interval between the 8 th and 26 th of that month , it grew rapidly less . The comet discovered by Dr . Galle , of Berlin , on the 25 th of January , 1840 , presented similar anomalies . Assuming that it had no light of its own , it should have appeared twice as bright on the 23 rd of February as on the 21 st of March , yet at the latter date Professor Plantamour found the intensity of light had increased in the proportion of more than two to one . Such variations are probably to be attributed to changes in the physical constitution of the comet , due to the action of the sun .
" With our present imperfect knowledge of the nature of the matter of which these bodies are composed , it is not to be expected that we can gain a clear insight into the laws of t he forces exercised upon it , through which the envelope and tail are formed . The nucleus , or more condensed part of the head , appears to possess the power of throwing off towards the sun a portion of the cometic atmosphere , which , before it can attain any great distance from the nucleus , is driven backward i _ ! . „' . ^ , . >» . -p ««~ i ~ itrbcr oiae orciiB-neaa , and uHimntcij mending into one to form the tail . This repulsive energy must very far exceed the force of gravitation . Generally speaking , the axis of the tail preserves a rectilinear form throughout the greater part of its length , a curvature of the extremity being only occasionally -seen , and probably attributable to the failure of the repulsive force , and the gradual effect of a resisting medium upon these distant and extremely rare-portions of the train . The disappearance of the tail as the comet recedes from the sun , may be . owing either to its being attracted into the nucleus as that luminary loses its power aipon it , or it may be partly dispersed in the surrounding space .
10 In the case of bodies like comets , moving through the planetary spaces in « very direction , it cannot be denied that there is a possibility of the Earth ' s coming in collision with one of them in the lapse of time ; but we are able to show from legitimate reasoning that the chance of such a catastropho is very small indeed . M . Arngo hits calculated that the probability against it is greater than 250 , 000 , 000 to one . We know that the earth has had one or two narrow escapes within the last two centuries , as in 1080 and 1882 , when comets crossed the plane of the ecliptic almost on the path of our globe , though at these times wo were , perhaps fortunately , removed many millions of miles from the dangerous part of the orbit . The comet of 1770 has approached nearer to us than uny other of these bodies whoso element have- been sufficiently well determined . On the 1 st of July it was distant from the Karth only 5563 terrestrial semidiametorn or 1 , 438 , 000 miles . The groat comets of 837 , 1402 , and 1472 , must have como within ii very short distance from our globe , and nuothur small one , which was observed by Fluugergues in 182 ( 5 , seems to have made a close appulse . Olbers mentions several which have crossed the ecliptic at points not fur removed from the annual track of the earth . "
The history { riven in these pages of Halley s comet is us exciting as a novel . Wit ] i a feeling of awe and curiosity not easily defined , we follow tho extraordinary calculations of men predict hi < j from a few data when the comet will make its appearance , and their success fills the mind with a strange inward glow . We commend thin book to tho render \ s serious attention .
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TRACTS AGAINST SUNDAY JtKL'OllM . ( llATCir Till' ] 1 MKHT . ) "Wjikn we are onco fairly committed to flic encounter of a determined ¦ nnd active adversary , it becomes a matter of vital importance to ascertain jis exactly as we can what weapons he has got to use against us , and what amount of skill he possesses in employing them , whether for hostile or for defensive purposes . JMovv , towards persons of our way f thinking on tho subject of Sunday Reform , those who advocate Ihe « trict continuance of present Sabbath Observances , stand in tho position of adversaries iu many instances , of bitter , uncompromising , violent adversaries . We who desire to hco the IWow Palace at Sydonliain opened on Sundays , and they who desire to keep it shut , can como to no terinw , can agree to no truce , until the question be legislatively and definitely settled , one way or the other . Under Uioho circumstances , we must keep a sharp look-out on tho weapons employed against us by our opponents , and tent ,, as truly as
may be , their real force and means of doing mischief . What engines of annihilation are our adversaries now bringing to bear on usP They are pointing on our position the heavy artillery of the pulpit ; they are scattering over our heads the small grape-shot of platform speeches ; they are springing mines under our feet , as hostile shareholders in the New Crystal Palace Company ; and they are incessantly keeping up a harassing fire of small-arms ( generally at the expense of a penny a shot ) , in the shap . e of printed pamphlets , tracts , and addresses to the working man . Leaving unnoticed the heavier weapons of attack , which have been already tested at their true worth in this journal and in other places , we now propose to ascertain , as exactly as we can , what amount of mischief the fire of small-arms is really capable of perpetrating — or , in other words , and to drop metaphor , we want to see what the Sabbatarians have got to say for themselves in their pamphlets and their tracts .
Such of these small publications as have reached us at the present time of writing , number about thirty , are charged for by the hundred , and are said to ' be circulated by the thousand . The first thing that strikes us in looking them over , is the astonishing fertility of resource exhibited by the writers in the choice of titles . We have titles of every kind and in every known variety . For instance , we have the obscurely imperative order of title in Malce the most of it , by an anonymous author ; we have the diffusely poetical title in Heaven ' s Rest for the Sons of Toil , by " One of the Million ; " we have the surlily proverbial title in No New Lamps for Old , by the author of Your Place in Church is empty ( eviinterest and
dently a gentleman connected with the pew-letting ) ; we have the abruptly-inquisitive title , Is it Expedient ? by tho Rev . Capel Molyneux . Then , again , there is the Eeverend Mr . Champneys , who doubtless thinks brevity the soul of controversy , as well as of wit , and accordingly exhausts the whole subject in four words on his title-page . — God's Sabbaths , England ' s Safety . There is an anonymous , but patriotic , theologian , who imitates the clap-trap example of the puffing advertisers , and metaphorically christens his tract Our National Defences , by way of catching all eyes ( Militiamen's especially ) with a popular cry of the day . And lastly ( for we must stop somewhere ) , there is the Eeverend Mr . Moore , who on his title-page rings the Sabbatarian alarm-bell , and shouts aloud a sort of Church Militant " War-Whoop , in these tremendous
words : —Our Sabbaths in Danger . ' Out of this mass of tracts , and out of the much larger collection not hitherto noticed , which are we to select first for examination ? Must we decide the question in despair by the laws of chance , shaking up all the pamphlets together in any receptacle large enough to hold them ( say an empty pail ) , and reviewing them one by one exactly in the order in which we happen to pull them out ? No ! we are not quite reduced to that last dire necessity yet . By great good fortune there happens to be one lady among the avowed authors of tlie Tracts—our gallantry instantly extricates us from all difficulties ; here , as elsewhere , let us give precedence to the fair sex , and begin our critical duties at once with Mrs . liobert Hanbury ' s pamphlet , called God Is Love . . .
We beg seriously to take exception , at the outset , to this title , as profane . To associate the name of the Deity with the buying arid selling operations incident to the publication of a controversial penny Tractnecessarily asked for and produced across a shop counter by its name , and necessarily criticised and argued about in ordinary conversation by its name also—is , in our opinion , little better than treating the most tremendous of all subjects with the most blasphemous familiarity . As to the pamphlet itself , it contains a great deal in the way of vague exhortation to piety , mixed with a very little in the way of opposition to the project of Sunday Iieform , against which it purports to be written . It is not until we a ; et to page seven that we fairly arrive at
MRS . KOBERT HANBUEY S SOLUTION OF THE SUNDAY PROBLEM . " Now , there are some people ( sho writes ) who think that they love you bettei than God loves you . They say you have so much hard work , so little fresh air , that you need some amusement , some change , some relaxation , and they desire to open a Crystal Palace , and a garden , where you may go on the seventh day , to find pleasure and entertainment for your minds , and refreshment and strength for your bodies , by the change of scene and fresh air . My friend , do you believe that ; those who wish you to go to the Crystal Palace on Sunday love yon better than ( Joel loves yon ? Will you not trust God more than you trust them ? Will you not have the rest that ( Jod has ordered for you instead of tho rest tlmfc they are arranging for you ? " &c . &c . Are .
Wo bog to inform Mrs . Ilanbury , as being fellow-labourers with the " people" alluded to at the beginning of the above extract , that no such profane idea ever entered our . heads as that of setting our love for the poor man in antagonism to ( iod ' H love for the poor man . The idea we had was , and is , simply tho idea of loving our neighbour as ourselves . But it is quite as useless to argue with MrB . jr » nbiiry as it would be to argue with " Mr . ( Jhadband" —their stylo of religious discussion being indeed almost precisely the same . It is due to the authoress of the Tract , however , to inform our readers , that the particular species of heavenly repose- to which she alludes above , is rather obscurely defined by her ( at page ten ) ns " rest for the soul , rest for worldly cares , and rest from earth . " Apparently feeling that this sort of " rest" is rather easier of attainment , on the rich man's drawing-room sofa , than on the poor man ' s ricketty chair with half the bottom knocked out of it , the lady suggests , in
a note to her pamphlet , the erection of Sunday public-houses of call for the pious poor , the walls to be adorned with "jp ictures and texts , " and the temperature to be carefully attended to in winter and summer . As this project , if carried out , would actually realize , in point of principle and of / act , nothing but an extremely squalid , and utterly miserable imitation of that very Cryslal Palace , for " the Sunday opening of which wo ourselves are pleading , we think we may be now justified in taking farewell of Mrs . ' Robert Ilanbury , with the comfortable conviction that if there bo any such thing as argument at all in her production , it is most assuredly argument on our own wide of the question . Who , of all the male authors now on our list , is most worthy to come after the lady who has just occupied our attention P Surely a dignitary
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April 2 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 331
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 2, 1853, page 331, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1980/page/19/
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