COMETS. 



globe, (a thing he conceived by no means im- 

 possible,) the shock would have been so great, 

 as to have reduced this beautiful frame to its- 

 original state of chaos ! M* 



The Comet which was observed by APIAN, 

 In 1531, which KEPLER described, in 1607, 

 and which Dr. HALLEY supposes he observed 

 in 1682, and predicted would return about the 

 5th of April, 1758-9, is the only instance on 

 which the expected returns of Comets can be 

 justified. It is very true, that Dec. 14, 1758, a 

 Comet did actually appear. When we reflect, 

 however, on the multitude of those erratic bo- 

 dies which have been since discovered, it is no 

 wonder, that in the anxious expectation of the 

 fulfilment of the prediction ; when all the as- 

 tronomers were exploring every point in the 

 heavens, another Comet should have been 

 discovered ; and that this new Comet should 

 be supposed to be the same identical one that 

 had appeared 150 years before. The Comet, 

 however, of 1 770, whose period was supposed 

 to be five years seven months, has never since 

 appeared. 



* How vain are those, fears, how fanciful those conjec- 

 tures 1 From the history of Comets which we possess, it 

 appears decidedly to be proved, that instead of describing 

 complete revolutions, they are consumed and dissipated, long 

 before any one revolution is completed ; and, consequently, 

 that their return can neither be anticipated, or ascertained. 



