The Sign of 1833 Emphasized by Other Displays
We have mentioned the fact that Humboldt had observed an extraordinary fall of meteorites in South America, thirty-three years, before, in 1799. And he reported at the time that the oldest inhabitants there had a recollection of a similar display in 1766.
From these reports, scientists deduced the theory that these showers were to be expected every thirty-three years. 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.
CHRIST'S PROMISE TO RETURN
"I will come again, and receive you unto Myself." John 14:3.
Textbooks and astronomical works thereupon began to count it as fully established that every thirty-three years the displays would be repeated. It was confidently predicted that 1899 would witness a repetition, possibly on the scale of 1833.
Professor Langley's "New Astronomy" (published in 1888) said:
"The great November shower, which is coming once more in this century, and which every reader may hope to see toward 1899, is of particular interest to us as the first whose movements were subject to analysis."
Chambers's Astronomy, published in 1889, said:
"The meteors of November 13 may be expected to reappear with great brilliancy in 1899."—-Volume I, p. 635.
But the November date passed in 1899, and the years have passed; and the wondrous scene of 1833 has not been repeated. Clerke's "History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century" says:
"We can no longer count upon the Leonids [as the meteorites of 1833 were called, because they seemed to fall from a point in the constellation of Leo]. Their glory, for scenic purposes, is departed."—Page 338.