p. 147 | The Perihelion Theory by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 6, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 10.

The Perihelion Theory.

By Editor

THIS theory has been talked of so much for a few years past, and is still believed in by some, it may be of interest to our readers to learn that this is not the first nor the greatest “scare” that has taken place over this subject. We find the following in an exchange under the head of “An Ancient Old Probability.”—

Magister Stafler, an eminent German astrologer and prognosticator, in a prediction addressed to the king of Spain in 1518, and afterward to Emperor Charles V., announced the certainty of a general deluge, which was to commence in the month of February, 1524, and was to desolate the entire earth, because at that time there would be a conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, which could not fail to prove calamitous to the earth; and as it would happen in the sign of Pisces, or the fish, nothing was more clear than that a general deluge would be the result. Stafler was celebrated, on account of his almanac, as a man of learning and acute observation. His prediction, therefore, created a profound sensation throughout Europe. The Emperor and his Court were filled with alarm; and the consternation became universal when several other eminent astronomers supported his prediction on similar astrological grounds.

The terror and anxiety of the courtiers induced Niphus, a learned Augustin monk whom the emperor highly esteemed for his erudition, to write a refutation of Stafler’s prophecy. His arguments tranquilized the emperor and those about him; but his Majesty’s General, Count Veit Range, who was a firm believer in astrology, was apprehensive lest the emperor should be lulled into too great security by the work of Niphus, and should neglect to provide for the safety of the army. He therefore instigated the learned Thomas Philologus, a celebrated astronomical teacher at Padue, to attack the performance of the Augustin friar; and Michael de Petra Sancta, professor of metaphysics at Rome, also added proofs that the conjunction of the planets in Pisces could not be productive of anything short of a general deluge.

In all the countries of Europe the consternation was equally great, especially in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. In France it deranged the intellects of many who resided on the sea-coast or near the banks of rivers. They sold their lands, houses, and effects, and they repaired to the tops of the highest mountains, intending there to await the flood; while others bought ships or built arks for their preservation. Anvial, president of the Parliament of Toulouse, caused a vast ark to be constructed, and provided with all kinds of necessaries, to which he and his family might have recourse. This was built upon four piers of masonry, that it might float at the first impulse of the rising waters. Hundreds throughout Europe imitated his precaution. Gendorf, burgomaster of Wittenburg, made his preparations in the topmost apartments of his mansion, and, to provide against a too dry time, he had hogsheads of beer elevated to the refuge—for the ancient German, like his modern relative, had a dislike for plain water.

At length February came upon millions of people in fear and trembling. Its days of suspense can barely be imagined. The entire month was blest with unusually fair, serene weather, without a single rain-fall; and the deluge-prognoser, like Venner, the American weather-maker of three and a half centuries later, saw his immense specialty indefinitely postponed “on account of the weather!”