become such, have informed me that
the end of the world approaches, and will occur without fail on the 20th
of this present month of May. They expect, that day, a comet, which is
to take our little globe from behind and reduce it to impalpable powder,
according to a certain prediction of the Academy of Sciences which has
not yet been made.

'Nothing is more likely than this event; for James Bernouilli, in his
"Treatise upon the Comet" of 1680, predicted expressly that the famous
comet of 1680 would return with terrible uproar (_fracas_) on May 19,
1719; he assured us that in truth its perruque would signify nothing
mischievous, but that its tail would be an infallible sign of the wrath
of heaven. If James Bernouilli mistook, it is, after all, but a matter
of fifty-four years and three days.

'Now, so small an error as this being regarded by all geometricians as
of little moment in the immensity of ages, it is manifest that nothing
can be more reasonable than to hope (_sic, esperer_) for the end of the
world on the 20th of this present month of May 1773, or in some other
year. If the thing should not come to pass, "omittance is no quittance"
(_ce qui est differe, n'est pas perdu_).

'There is certainly no reason for laughing at M. Trissotin, triple
idiot though he is (_tout Trissotin qu'il est_), when he says to Madame
Philaminte (Moliere's "Femmes Savantes," acte iv. scene 3),

'Nous l'avons en dormant, madame, echappe belle;
Un monde pres de nous a passe tout du long,
Est chu tout au travers de notre tourbillon;
Et, s'il eut en chemin rencontre notre terre,
Elle eut ete brisee en morceaux comme verre.

'A comet coursing along its parabolic orbit may come full tilt against
our earth. But then, what will happen? Either that comet will have a
force equal to that of our earth, or greater, or less. If equal, we
shall do the comet as much harm as it will do us, action and reaction
being equal; if greater, the comet will bear us away with it; if less,
we shall bear away the comet.

'This great event may occur in a thousand ways, and no one can affirm
that our earth and the other planets have not experienced more than one
revolution, through the mischance of encountering a comet on their path.

'The Parisians will not desert their city on the 20th inst.; they will
sing songs, and the play of "The Comet and the World's End" will be
performed at the Opera Comique.'

The last touch is as fine in its way as Sydney Smith