Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 14, No. 182.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 08:24:57 +0100
From: Mel Wiebe <wiebem@qsilver.queensu.ca>
Subject: 1857 comet, reactions to
Editing the letters of Benjamin Disraeli, I am stumped by an identification
that looks like it should be an easy one; perhaps HUMANIST can help. Here's
the problem:
In early 1857 a prediction was made that a comet would strike the earth on
13 June 1857, causing great alarm in some quarters because of several
end-of-the-world prophecies. Others, however, were more amused than
frightened. Disraeli on 7 June 1857 wrote to his friend Sarah Brydges
Willyams in Torquay about a planned visit, and remarked:
"The world is very much frightened about the Comet .... A philosopher, who
laughs at the theological view of the question, & therefore shocks the
ladies, has however frightened them equally by his scientific announcement
that the world has already been destroyed 27 times, that, reasoning by
analogy, it must be destroyed again & probably often; that he rather
imagines it will not be destroyed on the 13th. Inst, but there is no reason
why it shd. not be destroyed before that, as the destructive agencies are
all rife -- in the centre of the earth a raging fire, while the misty tail
of the comet wd, if it touched us, pour forth an overwhelming deluge -- so
in 4 & 20 hours we may be shrivelled or drowned. In the meantime, if the
catastrophe do not occur, we hope to be at Torquay by the end of next month."
Who is this "philosopher"?
Mel Wiebe, General Editor of _Benjamin Disraeli Letters_, Queen's
University, Kingston, Canada
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