'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, espérer_) 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 différé, 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 (Molière's "Femmes Savantes," acte iv. scène 3), 'Nous l'avons en dormant, madame, échappé belle; Un monde près de nous a passé tout du long, Est chu tout au travers de notre tourbillon; Et, s'il eût en chemin rencontré notre terre, Elle eût été brisée 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 Opéra Comique.'