Hence in 1866 they were
watching for a repetition of the 1833 display.
That there was a measure of truth in the deduction was made evident by
an unusual fall of meteorites Nov. 14, 1866. This time Europe was the
scene of the display. But the event was not to be compared with that of
1833. This appears plain from the account of observations made by Sir
Robert Ball and Lord Rosse, the British astronomers.
Sir Robert Ball says that when the meteorites began to fall, he and Lord
Rosse went out upon the wall of the observatory housing Lord Rosse's
great reflecting telescope:
"There, for the next two or three hours, we witnessed a
spectacle which can never fade from my memory. The shooting
stars gradually increased in number until sometimes several
were seen at once."--_"Story of the Heavens," p. 380._
Grand as the spectacle was, it was but a reminder, apparently, of the
star shower of 1833, when not "several" meteorites fell at a time, nor
many, merely, but, as it appeared, "the stars of heaven fell unto the
earth."
However, the spectacle of 1866, which was observed over a great part of
the Old World,[D] served to direct renewed attention to the incomparable
event of 1833, as well as to the prophetic descriptions of the "wonders
in the heavens" (Joel 2:30) which were to appear as the end drew near.
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