oved system of things--the bringing in of what Ben Jonson calls
'an age of better metal.'

In the frame of mind which these speculations induce--not very greatly
alarmed about such extraordinary contingencies, yet not insensible to
the solemnity of the thought of what may come to pass even before our
living eyes--it is curious, and not necessarily unpleasant, to
consider what might be the actual phenomena attending a cometary
collision. We know not what comets are composed of, but are certain
that they consist of some palpable matter, however diffused, for they
observe the rules of motion in their revolutions round the sun. On the
whole, the most plausible supposition as to their composition, is that
which regards them as watery vapour or cloud, of great tenuity. How
like, for example, to the doings of a cloud, is the splitting into
two, which has been occasionally observed in them! Well, if they be
clouds, the coming of one into contact with our earth would most
likely deposit with us an immense addition to our stock of water. It
would be instantaneous, or nearly so. Only think of a sudden fall of
water sufficient to raise the ocean a hundred feet, and submerge all
parts of the land which were less than that height above the present
level of the sea! There would, of course, be a fearful abridgment of
our continents; all big islands would be made little; and many littler
ones would cease to be. The surviving lands would be so swept by the
flood, that scarcely any of the present features would remain
unchanged. All animals and movable things would be engulfed. In a few
minutes, this brawling, chattering, bustling world would be stilled in
universal death. What a settlement of 'questions' there! What a strike
of work! What a command of Silence!

A board of bank directors was hesitating about a bill for L.100, some
thinking it rather indifferent paper, others viewing it more
favourably; when down comes the cometic flood, and while the manager
rings his bell to see what is the matter, it enters by doors and
windows, and in an instant closes the whole concern. A criminal court
was sitting in expectation of the return of the jury with their
verdict. There was one thinking that death may not be far from his
door, and a hundred pitying him in the contrast of their own assurance
from the imminent foe, when lo! the flood, and judges, jury, criminal,
and sympathising audience, are all instantly on a level. A sanitary
commission