68,000 miles an hour in
its orbit, and rolling around at the tolerably rapid rate of 1,040
miles per hour. As our readers may have seen that when a man is
galloping a horse violently over a smooth road, if the horse from
viciousness or other cause suddenly stops, the man keeps on at the same
rate over the animal's head; so we, supposing the Earth to be suddenly
arrested on its axis, men, women, children, horses, cattle and sheep,
donkeys, editors and members of Congress, with all our goods and
chattels, would be thrown off into the air at a speed of 173 miles a
minute, every mother's son of us describing the arc of a parabola, which
is probably the only description we should ever be able to give of the
affair.

This catastrophe, to one sufficiently collected to enjoy it, would,
doubtless, be exceedingly amusing; but as there would probably be no
time for laughing, we pray that it may not occur until after our demise;
when, should it take place, our monument will probably accompany the
movement. It is a singular fact that if a man travel round the Earth in
an eastwardly direction he will find, on returning to the place of
departure, he has gained one whole day; the reverse of this proposition
being true also, it follows that the Yankees who are constantly
traveling to the West do not live as long by a day or two as they would
if they had stayed at home; and supposing each Yankee's time to be worth
$1.50 per day, it may be easily shown that a considerable amount of
money is annually lost by their roving dispositions.

Science is yet but in its infancy; with its growth, new discoveries of
an astounding nature will doubtless be made, among which, probably, will
be some method by which the course of the Earth may be altered and it
be steered with the same ease and regularity through space and among the
stars as a steamboat is now directed through the water. It will be a
very interesting spectacle to see the Earth "rounding to," with her head
to the air, off Jupiter, while the Moon is sent off laden with mails and
passengers for that planet, to bring back the return mails and a large
party of rowdy Jupiterians going to attend a grand prize fight in the
ring of Saturn.

Well, Christopher Columbus would have been just as much astonished at a
revelation of the steamboat and the locomotive engine as we should be to
witness the above performance, which our intelligent posterity during
the ensuing year A.D. 2000 will possibly lo