560 COSMOS. 



we read, " Non enim existimo Cometem subitaneum ignem sed 

 inter seterna opera naturae. Quid enim miramur, cometas, 

 tarn rarum mundi spectaculum, nondum teneri legibus certis ? 

 nee initia illorum finesque patescere, quorum ex ingentibus 

 intervallis recur sus est? Nondum sunt anni quingenti, ex 

 quo Grcecia .... stellis numeros et nomina fecit. Mul- 

 taeque hodie sunt gentes, quae tantum facie noverit ccelum ; 

 quse nondum sciant, cur Luna deficiat, quare obumbretur. 

 Hoc apud nos quoque nuper ratio ad certum perduxit. Veniet 

 tempus, quo ista, quse nunc latent, in lucem dies extrahat 

 et longioris sevi diligentia. Veniet tempus, quo posteri nostri 

 tarn aperta nos nescisse mirentur. Eleusis servat, quod osten- 

 dat revisentibus. Rerum natura sacra sua non simul tradit. 

 Initiates nos credimus; in vestibulo ejus hseremus. Ilia arcana 

 non promiscue nee omnibus patent, reducta et in interiore 

 sacrario clausa sunt. Ex quibus aliud ha9C setas, aliud quae 

 post nos subibit, dispiciet. Tarde magna proveniunt." " For 

 I do not think that comets are a casual outburst of fire, but 

 belong to the eternal works of nature. For why should it 

 surprise us that comets, so rare a phenomenon, should not yet 

 be subject to the regulation of any known laws ? and that 

 their origin and ends should be hid from us, who see them 

 only at immense intervals ? It is not yet five hundred years 

 since Greece gave names and number to the stars. And to 

 this day there are many nations who know nothing of the 

 heavenly bodies but as they appear to the eye, who are still 

 ignorant of the causes of the waves and eclipses of the moon; 

 even we ourselves have only lately attained an accurate know- 

 ledge of these phenomena. The time will arrive when the 

 diligence of a remoter age shall throw light on subjects which 

 are now involved in obscurity. The time will arrive when 

 our posterity will wonder at our ignorance of things so plain 

 to them. Eleusis reserves her favours for those who repeat 

 their visits. Nature does not permit us to explore her sanc- 

 tuary all at once. We believe we are initiated; whereas we 

 halt at the very threshold. Those mysteries are not revealed 

 indiscriminately to all; they are laid up and enshrined within 

 the penetralia. Some are revealed to the men of our age; 

 some to those who shall come after us. Great results proceed 

 slowly." 



