nied with property, it is not only well, I knew a professor, some time ago, but very desirable,-but when a man holding an office of some importance is united to an opulent woman, who is in the church, who declared to me, destitute of the three former requisites, when speaking about his getting a wife, to "get her possessions" he does not that he would not have the best woman marry the woman, but the money! It living, however pious or amiable she is much to be regretted that fortune- might be, unless she had money. What marriages are so prevalent,-it has would become of pious industrious been, and is still, a growing evil; and females, who have no property, were shall I commit a breach of charity in this principle generally indulged?adding-very much so among religious Well, agreeably to this good brother's people? That persons, professing to resolution, he was shortly after wedded be the disciples of the blessed Jesus, to an ancient dame of handsome proshould thus be influenced, is extraor-perty-not belonging to any religious dinary! Such a line of conduct can- body, and who did not pretend to exnot be reconciled with the word of perience in divine things. The old truth. How many are there, in almost lady and he could not, however, live every denomination of Christians, who long together without litigation, for have, in this instance, disobeyed the she soon found out the state of her husvoice of God and nature! I allude band's pulse,-so that, as the latter not to any particular sect-that would termed it, there was always “a jarring be invidious. Allow me to ask, Can a string" between them. After some member of any religious body, whether time spent in looking after each other, in the venerable establishment, or and being at continual war about temamong the Dissenters or Methodists, poral matters, they parted. Thus endbe ignorant of the sinfulness of mar-ed this unfortunate connexion, without rying for money, and of the dangerous the husband being able to convert the consequences that are attendant there- wife, which he had frequently talked on? To say nothing of the plain decla- of doing before he had her, or even rations of scripture, (but which God converting the property to his own use, forbid should ever be put in the shade) as, in this instance, the lady proved the doctrines, rules, and discipline too deep for him, and had taken unof every church or society of Chris- usual care in securing herself. tians, must go directly to disallow or forbid the practice. And whenever any individual breaks these sacred boundaries, should he not immediately be treated as a transgressor? Who can tell the disastrous influence such a bad step may create? But the fact is, the persons who generally violate the laws of God and of the church in this way, are those in authority, or in respectable circumstances, and hence, the matter is too often either overlooked or but very slightly noticedthe effect of having "respect of persons." I have painfully witnessed several instances of this among different classes of professors, who having pretended to justify their conduct, fur-way,--but by letting his light so shine ther investigation has been suspended. When we see a Churchman, a Baptist, a Methodist, or an Independent, mar- A sense of the importance of this rying a rich individual, who is a mem- subject, and that it might be once ber of no religious society, or a person more brought into view before those making no profession of Christianity," who name the name of Christ," and what can be said, but that the property of the woman was his sole object. Does not this prove a hunting after pelf, and can such expect any other than disappointment and misery?

Such an example as this is exceedingly injurious, and the more conspicuous the character stands in the church, the more is such an inroad on Christian duties to be deprecated. Is it to be wondered at, if those persons who look up to such men as patrons and instructors, are staggered, or turned out of the way, or, if unmarried, fall into a similar error as it | respects this important step, and thereby render their future lives ancomfortable? It is absolutely necessary that circumspection should mark every part of the Christian's walk in life. He should carefully avoid putting a stumbling-block in his brother's

before men, they may rather be led to glorify his Father who is in heaven.

be instrumental in preventing, however partially, the evil on which I have freely animadverted, have produced the preceding observations. J. S. BROAD. Bristol, Dec. 10th, 1825.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMET OF 1825. | from the northern to the southern side

MR. EDITOR.

SIR.-The following remarks relative to the late comet, with the annexed diagrams, may prove interesting to some classes of your readers. I have been led to this communication, from observing that nothing of consequence has yet transpired concerning it; a circumstance not a little remarkable, when it is known that it was the largest comet that has appeared since the memorable one of 1811.

I first observed it on the morning of Sunday, September 18th, at 2 A. M. in the direction E. by S. at an altitude of about 22°. Its light was at that time somewhat intense, but the nucleus was not well defined, and the train extended over not more than 3° of the heavens. The nucleus became afterwards more distinct, and had the appearance of a star of the third magnitude. And on the 8th October, at 12, midnight, which was the last opportunity I had of observing it, the train appeared like a white flame, 10° in extent, shining brightly at intervals.

Figure 1, shews the direction which the comet took in its passage amongst the stars, and it exhibits seven positions accurately noted, to which are annexed the corresponding times :

6,

7,

Time.

September 18, 2. A. M.
20, 1. A. M.
Do. 22, 11. P. M.

Do.

October 2, 11. P. M.

Do. 3, 11. P. M.

Do. 4, 11. P. M.
Do. 8, 11. P. M.

Figure 2.-The positions in figure 1, are here transferred to a portion of the terrestrial sphere, and they will shew, with the assistance of the globe, all the places over which the comet passed vertically on those days. It may not be impertinent to state the method by which this may be seen. Mark the position on the globe, and observe its latitude; over every place in the same parallel, the comet passed vertically on the day answering to the position.

Figure 3, is intended to convey a tolerably accurate idea of the comet's appearance on the 8th October. I am, Sir, Yours, &c.

Jan. 13, 1826.

ZELIM. Additional Observations, from the Philosophical Magazine. "On the supposition of a parabolic orbit, this comet must have passed

of the ecliptic about the 22d of August;
but it was not visible to the naked eye
until the 7th of September, when it
was seen in the constellation Taurus,
near Aldebaran and the Hyades; at
which time its distance from the sun
was 1.871, and from the earth 1.407.
On the 12th of the same month, at
I A. M. its anomaly was 69° 34′ 38′′, its
distance from the sun 1.8229, and from
the earth 1.2391, having also a geo-
centric longitude of 60° 40′ 19′′, and a
southern latitude of 6° 34′ 29′′. Again,
on the 17th, the comet's distance from
the sun was 1.767, and from the earth
1.105. It continued thus to approach
the earth in a lateral direction till the
12th of October; when, by computa-
tion, it appears to have come nearest
to the earth, at which time it was a
very conspicuous object in the hea-
vens; when, at midnight, its distance
from the sun was 1.525756, and from
the earth only .61471: its geocentric
longitude was 35° 8' 11", and latitude
35° 51′ 35′′ south. Hence, it was then
in the southern part of the constella-
tion Cetus. Therefore, at this time it
must have been vertical between the
parallels of 20 and 21 degrees south,
a little before two o'clock that morn-
ing, according to the respective meri-
dians. From this it is clear that the
comet must have been a very striking
object to all the known parts of the
southern hemisphere, and the low
northern latitudes. After the 12th of
October, the earth and comet gradu-
ally receded from each other, so that
on or about the 17th of November, the
comet must have been too far from
the earth to be visible, even under
the most favourable circumstances of
southern latitude. Although the rela-
tive motions of the earth and comet
were now such as rapidly to increase
their lineal distance, yet the comet
continued to approach the sun till the
11th of December, when it passed its
perihelion point at a distance of 1.2295
from that body.

"The earth and comet will continue to recede from each other, till about the 20th of January; and as the heliocentric motion of the latter body is retrograde, and being at the same time in an opposite part of the heavens in respect to the earth, the two bodies will for some time move nearly parallel to each other, and towards the same infinite distant point in space,