صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

As I walked up the garden a handsome lady appeared at the window of a room upstairs; evidently she had heard the wheels of my carriage, and had looked out eagerly, probably expecting her husband with news of the child.

As I knocked at the door I remembered that I did not know the name of the lady whom I wanted to see.

[graphic]
[merged small][ocr errors]

Is your mistress at home? I asked, earnestly hoping that there might not be two mistresses in the house.

"Yes, sir, but she is not well. Miss Livingstone is at home, sir."

1

[ocr errors]

So that was not a married woman after all, and somehow I felt rather glad of it. She entered the drawing-room a few minutes after, and I explained my mission to her.

"Mrs. Kimberley has only a bad cold, and I am sure she will return to town with you at once," she said, and her voice was low and her eyes full of tears. "Excuse me for a moment while I go and tell my sister; I daresay she will like to see you."

On my being introduced to the poor anxious mother my professional reputation would not suffer me to allow her to travel that evening. It was foggy and chilly, and she was evidently suffering from a feverish cold, so promising to visit both patients and send her tidings of them on my arrival in London, I left her to come up the next morning.

As I shook hands with Miss Livingstone the thought crossed my mind that Mr. Marmion could not be a man of good taste, for most certainly he had not chosen. the nicer of the two sisters. Such was my judgment at least, and as I leant back in the railway carriage I congratulated myself on my success throughout the day.

If I had only known what was going on just then in Causland-street!

(To be continued).

TASY CHAPTERS ON ASTRONOMY.

By F. M. HOLMES,

Author of "Faith's Father," &c. &c.

V.-" Fiery Rain; or, Comets and Meteors.

"A pathless comet and a curse,
The menace of the universe;
Still rolling on with innate force,
Without a sphere, without a course.'

O sang the poets of other days, embodying in verse the popular beliefs of their time, and, as usual, those popular beliefs were wrong. Astronomy reveals, that so far from comets having no path, no sphere, and no course, they all appear to have a well-defined orbit, and, in fact, revolve around the sun even as do the planets.

A Meteoric Shower at Sea.

The shape of these orbits is, however, very different from the oval path of the planets; it is generally described as a parabola, which may, perhaps, be best described by saying that it is a circle crushed almost flat, thus:

The paths, therefore, of comets are so extended that it is by no means improbable that many of them at least include other systems in their immense journey.

Astronomers say that there are great numbers of comets passing between this and other systems, and it is calculated that so long are the orbits around which many of them have to travel, that it takes them thousands of years to complete their journeys. One -the comet of 1844-takes 100,000 years to complete its revolution!

What wonders they see, what glorious splendours they pass on their mighty journeys, what tales they could tell of those other mysterious orbs which stud the sky! But they have no speech nor language; silent, voiceless, and alone, they hurry through the depths of space, marvellous monuments to the stupendous power of their Great Creator!

Before Sir Isaac Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation it was simply impossible to account for the apparently erratic movements of these singular bodies, and even now but very little is known about them. It is not surprising, therefore, that in former days they should have been the objects of terror and amazement. They were represented as

"Threat'ning the world with famine, plague, and war;
To princes, death; to kingdoms, many crosses;
To all estates, inevitable losses;

To herdsmen, rot; to ploughmen, hapless seasons;
To sailors, storms; to cities, civil treasons.'

[ocr errors]

Certain of the Popes, also, used gravely to excommunicate these "flaming horrors," and decrees were issued that all the faithful should add to Ave Marias and Paternosters a petition to be saved from the comet. Wars, plagues, and the deaths of great persons were all attributed to their evil influence!

It is probable, however, that even if the earth were to pass through the tail of a comet, or if this planet were to be "struck" by one, no harm would ensue, for, writes Mr. Lockyer, "the mass of the comet is so small that one need not be alarmed;" the effect would therefore be, I suppose, simply like striking a man with a feather.

It is said by astronomers (I again quote Mr. Lockyer), that on the 30th June, 1861, we did actually pass through the tail of the glorious comet which then became so suddenly visible to us, but no damage was done.

Again in 1776 a comet passed so near to Jupiter that it got entangled among the satellites of that planet, but those bodies pursued the even tenour of their way as if the comet never existed. This, however, was by no means the case with the poor comet; it was thrown entirely out of its course, and its orbit has become changed from a long to a short one. It now seems to revisit the earth every twenty years. It would seem, therefore, that comets appear far more terrible than they are in reality.

Let us, however, examine the matter a little more closely to see if this view is confirmed.

from him heat 27,500 times greater than that which we receive, and its "tail," or the train of light it left behind it, was calculated to be not less than a hundred million of miles in length. Now the centrifugal force which was necessary to counteract, and which alone could have counteracted, the immense gravita. ting influence which the sun would exert upon the comet when so near, must have been enormous, and sufficient to send it round an orbit of very great length. This is actually the case, and the calculations made with reference to this comet give a period of six hundred years before it could again be seen from our earth. Some comets that have appeared to have been attracted to the sun, have passed round it, and have rushed off into space, and never been seen again.

To the great astronomer Halley is due the knowledge that many of the comets are but the same as those which have been previously observed; thus the comet which was seen in 1682, and which is now known by his name-Halley's Comet-is the same as that which appeared in 1607, 1581, and 1456, and is calculated to reappear in about every 75 years. Before he died he predicted it would appear again in 1759 (which it did); it was also observed in 1885, and will again be visible in 1910. Halley fixed the identity of several comets, and predicted their return. With unwearied labour he collected all the information of the observations upon previous comets which were procurable, and out of 415 mentioned by ancient writers, was able to trace the orbits of 24. There was not sufficient accuracy in the observations concerning the others for him to form a sufficiently strong opinion about them. These twenty-four comets were arranged into a table, to which additions have since been made. The labours of Halley, therefore, still further strengthened Newton's views.

The length of the orbits of comets varies very considerably, and thus they are divided into two classes: Short Period and Long Period Comets. The first of the former class revolves round the sun in five years; it is known as Encke's Comet, because he was the first to compute the elliptic force of its orbit. The times of the revolutions of the various comets continue to increase in length, until we get one (Halley's comet) which is computed to take seventyfive years to complete its orbit!

The first scientific knowledge concerning comets appears to have been obtained by Sir Isaac Newton. He believed them to be subject to the law of gravitation like the other heavenly bodies; and that when they approached the sun, the centre of our system, Now, what do we know of the physical constitution they would become visible; whilst when they jour-of these strange bodies? Astronomers seem to agree neyed to the remoter parts of their orbits they would, of course, become invisible-to us, at least. In due time his theory was firmly established.

Certain facts, gleaned from watching the splendid comet of 1680, tended materially to strengthen his view. When first observed, it was sweeping with inconceivable rapidity towards the sun. Astronomers were anxiously on the watch, eager to discover new facts, or verify old theories. Would this flaming star come into collision with the sun, and, if so, with what result? Would it be proved that comets were but emanations from the sun, and that this one was but returning to its mighty source?

These questions were duly answered in the negative. With increasing, and still more increasing speed, it rushed onward round the sun at the fearful rate of a million miles an hour! It approached so near to our great luminary that it must have received

in stating that they are probably white-hot masses of matter, which, as they get nearer the sun, gradually increase in speed and in heat; as, indeed, do all bodies the more they come under the influence of that great luminary. When they are far away from the sun they can only be seen as a faint mist through the most powerful telescope, but as they get nearer, and become more and more intensely hot, a greater light is thrown out; gas, gleaming with heat, is driven off and left behind it, constituting its "tail."

The brighter part, or top of the comet, is known as its head, or the coma. Within the coma, again, is often seen a still brighter portion, which is called the nucleus. The tail is the train of luminous vapours, or vapours rendered luminous by reflecting the light of the sun, which is expelled from the head by extreme heat, and left behind by the comet in its hurried flight.

This tail may be long or short, straight or bent, single, double, or even multiple-thus the comet of 1744 had six tails-and may also differ very materially in length, Thus the train of Donati's Comet so called from having first been seen by Dr. Donati, of Florence, in 1858-was computed to be 40,000,000 miles long, whilst that which appeared in 1811, and which was so remarkably conspicuous, was computed by Herschel to be upwards of 100,000,000 miles in length, and its breadth 15,000,000 miles. The heated gas, however, forming these tails is very, very thin; and Sir Isaac Newton said that the whole tail could be condensed into one or two cubic inches!

A most brilliant comet appeared in 1769. It came within two millions of miles of our globe, and was seen stretched across the sky like an immense arch of splendid light. Its tail was calculated to be 36,000,000 miles in length.

The number of comets reported to have been seen from the earliest times, including those mentioned in Chinese records, is nearly 800, but many more are now noticed, as the telescope reveals numbers, the existence of which no one had previously any idea. Moreover, the old chronicles only took notice of those which were brilliant enough to attract universal attention, and give rise to general apprehension.

There are said to be no less than 17,500,000 comets in the solar system, but we see but few of them, because those only are visible to us which pass the earth when they come nearest the sun; there are thousands which come no nearer the sun than the orbit of Neptune.

Moreover, there are many comets which very frequently offer no appearance of tail, and appear only as round or somewhat oval vaporous masses, more dense towards the centre. These at times, however, shoot out tails, whilst two comets as they approached the sun, contrary to the general rule, decreased in size, until they appeared only like a star. Still for all that, says Mr. Lockyer, in the great majority of instances comets increase in brilliancy, and their tails lengthen as they near the sun-so much so, that in some instances they have been visible in broad daylight. The enormous effect of a near approach to the sun may be gathered from the fact that the comet of 1680, at its perihelion passage, while it was travelling at the rate of 1,200,000 miles an hour, in two days shot out a tail 20,000,000 leagues long!

Consider them, however, as we will, comets seem to be the most eccentric and least known members of the solar system, although we need not now view them with alarm, because we find that they are as subject to immovable laws as are the other heavenly bodies.

So far from being troubled at their appearance, we might say with the Ettrick Shepherd, who wrote when he gazed on the comet of 1811

"Stranger of heaven, I bid thee hail!
Shred from the pall of glory riven,
That flashest in celestial gale
Broad pennon of the King of Heaven.
Whate'er portends thy front of fire,
And streaming locks so lovely pale;
Or peace to man, or judgment dire,

Stranger of Heaven, I bid thee hail!"

There is also another class of bodies which, like the comets, have parabolic orbits, viz., meteors. It is

now almost universally believed that these bodies are collected into groups which travel round the sun, and therefore, what is usually called a shower of meteors is due to the earth sailing through one of these groups. This fact also gives the reason for not seeing a splendid star-shower every year, because it is only when we pass through the mass of meteors that such a scene is possible, and this mass takes about thirty-three years to revolve round the sun.

The generic term meteors includes shooting-stars, bolides, fireballs, and aerolites; all these bodies are, in fact, the same, but differ in size and brilliancy; for this reason their various names have been given.

The periodicity of the star showers about August 10 was observed in the middle ages, and appears to be the only one noticed; they were then known as "St. Lawrence's Tears," but as science made greater advances it has been found that there are fifty-six similar groups moving round the sun in parabolic, elliptical, or circular orbits. The meteors belonging to these different groups vary very much in their appearance, some being large and bright, some red, and some white; some also are much more swift than others. Let us now endeavour to explain the origin and physical constitution of these curious bodies. Astronomers have good reasons for believing that the immense spaces between the planets are not simple voids, as they were once supposed to be. There appear to be rings and masses of planetary "dust" circulating at different distances around the sun, and occupying a portion of the spaces; some of these particles of dust weigh only a few grains, some a few pounds, while there are some weighing hundredweights, and tons. Now these bodies are rushing through space at the rate of forty or fifty miles per second, and if they should meet the earth's atmosphere the heat evolved by the friction of the collision would be intense; in fact, no known material (says Mr. Pritchard) could escape first melting and then being vapourised into ignited gas under such circumstances. Do not think that this is improbable or incredible, or even uncommon. It is an illustration of a simple scientific fact. Immense velocity whenever meeting with any opposing force always generates heat; for instance, when a cannon-ball strikes the target, shooting against it with a rapidity of only some 400 yards per second, great heat is evolved, and as great heat is always accompanied by light, so this impact of the ball against the target is accompanied by a flash of light. But consider what tremendous heat would be evolved if the cannon-ball struck the target at, say, 1,500 times greater speed. The ball, and target also, would be vapourised into gas with the intense heat. And this is just what occurs when the meteors rushing along at the enormous speed of 50 miles per second strike our atmosphere-they are vapourised into gas.

or

Consequently, if the collision between the "dust" "ball" and the earth's atmosphere occur on a clear night, we shall have the appearance of a shooting star with a bright tail, the whole of the dust having been vapourised by the heat into a flash of intensely hot gas; if it be a large piece of matter we may have the spectacle of a fiery mass splitting into fragments with a loud report, and then scattered over the earth below, in the form of aerolites.

G G

The smaller meteors are entirely evolved into gaseous products, and are finally deposited in the form of unseen fine dust..

Now what is the material of which these particles are composed? On submitting aerolites to chemical analysis they are found to consist of iron, nickel, and various compounds of magnesia and silica, but principally iron in a metallic state. We find, therefore, absolute proof that there are worlds revolving around us, composed in great part at least of the same matter as that which constitutes our globe. These silent messengers from the far-off realms of

space, these strange wanderers from their distant homes, these mysterious half-melted masses of metal, these links between the known and the unknown, that so suddenly and so mysteriously burst in upon us, prove unmistakably that many at least of the theories of astronomers are correct, and that we are surrounded by worlds upon worlds, as solid and real as our own. They are, one might say, sudden, palpable evidences of the smallness of our own world and the magnificent greatness of God's wide universe.

MISSIONARY ADVENTURES, PERILS AND ESCAPES.

BY MRS. E. R. PITMAN,

Author of "Mission Life in Greece and Palestine,"
""Heroines of the Mission Field," "Vestina's Martyrdom," &c.

AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

ANY romantic
stories of es-

capes and suf
ferings have
to us

come
from

among the North American In

that he has caught the departed spirit. He then places the box under the head of the corpse, takes his presents, and departs, laying the blame of his non-success upon some fault in those who employed him.

The Red Indians have been pictured by the pens of practised writers so fully and frequently, that many readers of YOUNG ENGLAND must possess a certain acquaintance with the peculiar habits and customs, traits of character, and mode of life adopted by this peculiar people. They are brave, dians. Not cruel, mighty hunters, faithful to friends, yet only travellers revengeful to foes, capable of enduring great fatigue and prisoners and hardship, known as merciless enemies and of war, but untiring haters. A feud between two tribes would missionaries be perpetuated from generation to generation, until also have had bloody frays would succeed in extirpating the weaker these escapes, of the two tribes. They lived afar in the forests, while the records of the lives and amid the hunting grounds of their fathers, and labours of such heroes as until white men dispossessed them and drove them Elliot, Zeisberger, and Brainerd testify to the real self-denial and frequent suffering which missionary service entailed.

North American Indians seem bound fast in the chains of superstition and witchcraft. They talk of the "Great Spirit," and they seem to have some dim notion of a powerful deity who presides over "the happy hunting grounds," to which all Red Indians desire to go after death; but still they have no idea how to secure the "Great Spirit's" favour. Should one of them fall sick, they send for the "medicine man," or conjuror, to heal the patient. A bear, or some other animal, is ordered to be slaughtered and roasted. The sick person is then placed in the middle of a number of Indians, who beat drums, sing, scream, dance, whoop, and howl, until the patient either declares himself well, or loses his senses. In the latter case the conjuror demands increased payment, to bring back the lost reason.

Supposing the patient dies, the conjuror goes into a small house and screams to the beasts and birds to bring back the soul which has flown away. He rattles a few stones about in a box, until he declares

[graphic]

away.

Many terrible tales of reprisals could be recounted by the early settlers of North America, wherein sometimes the whites and sometimes the Indians gained the advantage, but all full of sudden surprises, hideous slaughter, tortures, scalpings, burnings, and deaths. Woe to the captives who were caught on either side! Reserved for torture or for slavery, their lot was infinitely worse than that of those who were killed in cold blood.

About the time that the colonisation of the United States took place, before Washington's presidency, it became a favourite torture with the Red Indians, after killing the women and children of the early settlers, to bind the husbands and fathers flat on their backs on the ground, and to kindle a fire on the breast of each prostrate man. Then they would dance around their victims, and gloat over their sufferings, until death ended the terrible scene. Others were enclosed within a circle of fire and slowly broiled to death. One historian of that time speaks of the Red Indians as "incarnate devils." Certain it is that blackened and burnt homesteads and mangled bodies testified in all directions to their fiendish cruelties.

The cruelty of heathenism is yet to be found in their habitations. Women and girls are treated as beasts of burden, and sometimes sold to the highest bidder. All the work of the tribe, save hunting and fighting, falls upon the shoulders of the squaws during the years in which they are able to drudge, and when old age comes to them, sapping their strength, and unfitting them for work, they are either stoned, choked, or speared and left to be eaten by the dogs. Sometimes an old squaw will ask to die. She is then stupefied with drugs and bled to death, amid incantations of medicine men.

Missionaries have gone among this singular people, from time to time, in order to teach them something of religion. Sometimes they have succeeded in a small measure, at other times they have fallen victims to the lust for blood which seems to characterise the Indian nature. Among some of the hair-breadth escapes and perils consequent upon intercourse with these warlike people, we give the following:

Towards the end of the seventeenth century, a French priest, named Sebastian Rasles, went across the Atlantic, and took up his abode among a tribe of North American Indians. He resigned all the comforts and dignities of sunny France, in order to instruct these children of the forest in the truths of Christianity. He built his own house, cultivated his own little plot of land, lived chiefly on Indian corn, and mixed daily with the savages in their wigwams. He became servant of all, becoming all things to all men "if so be that he might gain some.' He built and consecrated a little chapel in the wilderness, conducted religious services, and gained such a power over the affections of the Red men by whom he was surrounded, that they I would have died for him.

For forty years he thus laboured, when war broke out between the French and English, and Rasles was slain in the conflict. He was scalped and mutilated by the Indian allies of the English, and burned within sight of the little chapel, on which stood the cross-the sign of his faith.

Missionaries have done much good work among the North American Indians, and gone through long, patient sowing times, before any fruit of their labours have appeared. The first missionary of whom we have authentic record was John Elliot, who devoted his life, some two hundred and forty years since, to the evangelisation of the children of the forest. He resigned a good position in the ministry, among a loving people, in order to devote his life to the Indians. He had to make a language, and reduce it to writing, before he could convey much instruction to their benighted minds. It is said that some Indian words contained thirty or forty letters. Here is a specimen: Nummatchakodtantamoonganunnonash. But John Elliot brought a brave heart to a steep hill, and conquered the difficulty. He engaged a young Indian to teach him the language, constructed a grammar, wrote a spelling-book, and actually translated some portions of the Bible into the Indian tongue. At the end of the grammar, John Elliot wrote: "Prayer and pains, through faith in Christ Jesus, will do anything."

The "Indian Evangelist" did not labour in vain. In course of time his converts located themselves in

fourteen towns, with rows of houses and streets, like English towns, while the chiefs and warriors united in worshipping God in the neat little sanctuaries which might have been seen on every hand. But war came, and ten of the towns were burnt, or destroyed, while the people were scattered hither and thither. Still he clung to his work, and laboured on amid discouragement and loss. So the evening of his life drew on, and when he could do nothing but lie in bed, he taught a young Indian boy to read At last, at the age of ninety, this honoured servant of God passed away to his reward.

Another self-denying missionary was Zeisberger. He was too poor to travel otherwise than by foot to the Indian tribe whom he desired to teach, and even on this preliminary journey he endured much hardship. He was driven to sleep at night on the ground, among serpents, bears, and wolves, and even if he had no attack from savage beasts, his clothes were generally soaked with rain or dew before morning. However, he survived the dangers of the journey, and met the tribe. This first meeting was at night; the Indians sat round the large fires which had been prepared, and, by their light, the white visitor told the news which was his errand there. The Indians looked frightfully ugly in white and red paint, feathers, and foxes' tails, but they listened with attention. This first sermon made an impression on them, and they consented to let Zeisberger dwell among them, in order to preach the Gospel.

At first he made friends, but soon the old women of the tribe and the medicine men made plots against him, alleging that all the scarcity and misfortunes of the tribe were the result of his coming among them. Plots were laid against his life, and several times he narrowly escaped assassination. Nevertheless, he laboured on, regardless of all obstacles, and formed several Churches among the denizens of those savage wilds. His life was given to them, and when at last he was "gathered to his fathers," old and full of days, the Indians stood weeping and sobbing around his bedside.

As the consequence of these and other efforts some of the Red men have sought Christian instruction, Not long since, a missionary who had gone from Minnesota to preach to an Indian tribe was sitting in his house when a knock came to the door. On opening it he found an Indian who had come 600 miles to learn something about the Gospel. As he entered the house, he knelt down at the missionary's feet, saying, "I kneel, to tell you of my gratitude that you pitied the Red man. I am a wild man living in the depths of the woods. I knew that my people were perishing. I never looked in the face of my child that I was not sick. My fathers told me that there was a Great Spirit, and I have often gone to the woods and asked him for help, but I only got the sound of my voice. You don't know what I mean! One day, an Indian came to my wigwam, and said that he had heard you tell a wonderful story at Red Lake; that you said the Great Spirit's Son had come down to earth to save all the people that needed help; that the reason why the white man was so much more blessed than the Red man, was because he had the true religion, because he knew about the Son of the Great Spirit. I felt I must see you, and have travelled all these miles to do so."

« السابقةمتابعة »