
Io 
e: the general affembly of the Church of 
Scotland, for the year 1797, 4 fele&t com- 
pany of clergymen, men of letters, and 
ather gentlemen, met at {upper in Hun- 
ter’s Lavern, in the Royal Exchange, 
Edinburgh, on purpofe to commemorate 
the literary merits, and the morai excel- 
jence..of the Jate Dr. Witiiam 
RoBERTSON, the hiftorian. The views 
of this ‘meeting were unpolluted by any 
party purpofes of fate, or church pol:- 
tics. “The Rev. Dr. SoMERVILLE, 
who prefided mm the chair, addreffed the 
company in a fhort fpeech, with which 
the feelings of all prefemt were m per- 
feG: unifon. The Kev. Samurn Mar- 
TIN, minitter of Monimail, read a copy 
of veries, almoft extemporarily compofed 
on the occafion, which were admired, not 
niore for their poetical merit, than for . 
the very happy and pointed manner in 
_ which they expreffed the peculiar pur- 
-pofes of ‘tlre meeting, and fketched the 
charaGter of the very~ excellent man 
whofe memory It was meant to honour. 
he converfation, during the evening, 
turned chiefly upon the various merits of 
the great departed hiitorian, as a man, 
and asa/writer 5 upon the promife of the 
rifing generation ; 2nd upon feveral other 
kindred fubjeéts. The company fepa- 
rated with a refolation to renew thefe 
Meetings of commemoration annually. — 

THE COMET. 
[ The temporary nature of the following com- 
munication induces us to imfert it in tois 
place, rather iban defer tt til another 
month: the preceding foeets were worked 
off before it came to hand. \- 
Fo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SER, 
FEAR the come?, inftead of paling 
toward its perihelion, had probably pait 
it before it became vifible to us. If it 
fhould hereafter appear that it came to 
its peribelion about the zoth of June, and 
has been feen in the fouthern hemifphere, 
pifing from Argo through Orion up 
toward Auriga (near the head of which 
it was firft feen by Mifs CaroLine 
HERSCHEL, at Slough, at half pafi nine, 
Monday, Augufi 14; and Mr. Leg, at 
Hackney, and BouBARD, aftronomer of 
the obfervatory at Paris, atten of the fame 
night) will there not be reafon, I fubmit 
to the mveftigation of aftronomers, to 
believe this is HEVELIUS’s comet of 
December, 1652? At that part of the 
year, he faw a part ef its apparent path 
jn the heavens (fuppofing it the fame) 
which now does not come within our 
horizon in the night. 
Farther Particulars re[peéting the Comets 
f Aug: 
I fubmit this with great difidence and 
doubt, but think it agrees with preient 
appearances. 
The comci was barely difcernible, with 
a very good achromatic, -from a quarter 
,wefore nine on Friday, the 2§ths above. 
the flar « Op/ivc", whicn had then, at 
Sh 534, 46% oc! alt. comet 50° 5’3 it 
Was in conjunction with an unnamed ftar, 
which, about an hour after; it appeared 
to be pafling to the SE. It had.73% 
polar diitance, and had advanced from 
the Monday night about 16°; it: mean 
rate about 2° 30/5 its apparent motion, 
on the 15th, had been above 19°. 
This comet is an infance of the ad- 
vantage there would have been of the 
earlie{t’ communication of - aftroncmical 
intelligence relative to this, very inte= + 
refting branch of the great fyfem. 
Mr.-W. WaLkKeErR. {aw it, with the 
greateft difficulty, at twelve on the Friday. . 
night. J doubt much that if any, inha- 
bitant of this planet be to fee 1: again, it 
mutt be ag the remote period to which 
my prefent conjeétutes lead.” dts R.A. 
when lat obferved, was 260, with about 
39° diftance from the ecliptic, 
T would fubmit another query—Is it 
not. probable, from an inveltigation of 
their path and appearance, that the comet 
of Dec. and Jan. 1472; Maro1566; Jane 
1717 and Jan. 1793, are one and the 
{ame ? if they are, the nodes are variable 
retrogreflively, or, the obfervation of the-* 
nodes perhaps not’ exa@.. ‘There as a 
difference too to be accounted for in one 
of the periods; which, perhaps, would 
be diminifhed, if the preceding period 
were traceable, or might be owing to 
difturbances from fome of the planets. 
If they are not the fame, the fimilar- 
phe 
ta 
‘ity of appearance, and'of path, defcribed 
through the fame parts of the fame con- 
ftellations to a great extent, in our hea- 
vens, is a coincidence very truly curious. 
I remain, with great efteem, 
Your obliged correfpondent, 
Auguft 27, 1797: Carre Lort. 
Whatever elle may. be thought, do not 
all the obferved circumftances concur in 
indicating that this comet paffed confi- 
derably near to the earth’s place, in her 
orbit, at the time of it firft appearance ? 
Perhaps I ought to notice, that, by the 
laft obfervation of its R.A. it appeared 
either ftationary, or, perhaps, retrograde, 
as is obferved of comets going to their 
_apbelion, when theearth lies between them 
and the fun: this too agrees with its 
{mail difference lately of polar diftance.. 
AN 
