* * * Before it had been going on quite seven minutes, it had reached nearly the third degree towards the west, whereas it _ought_ to have occupied a quarter of an hour in getting thus far from its starting line, even making no allowance for the resistance of the atmosphere.”[39] [39] “Manchester Examiner” (Supplement), May 24, 1851. Besides the irregularities so often observed in the time and direction of the pendulum vibrations, and which are quite sufficient to render them worthless as evidence of the Earth’s motion, the use which the Newtonian astronomers made of the general fact that the plane of oscillation is variable, was most unfair and illogical. It was proclaimed to the world as a visible proof of the Earth’s diurnal motion; but the motion was _assumed to exist_, and then employed to explain the cause of the fact which was first called a proof of the thing assumed! A greater violation of the laws of investigation was never perpetrated! The whole subject as developed and applied by the theoretical philosophers is to the fullest degree unreasonable and absurd--not a “jot or tittle” better than the reasoning contained in the following letter:--“Sir,--Allow me to call your serious and polite attention to the extraordinary phenomenon, demonstrating the rotation of the Earth, which I at this present moment experience, and you yourself or anybody else, I have not the slightest doubt, would be satisfied of, under similar circumstances. Some sceptical and obstinate individuals may doubt that the Earth’s motion is visible, but I say from personal observation its a positive fact. I don’t care about latitude or longitude, or a vibratory pendulum revolving round the sine of a tangent on a spherical surface, nor axes, nor apsides, nor anything of the sort. That is all rubbish. All I know is, I see the ceiling of this coffee-room going round. I perceive this distinctly with the naked eye--only my sight has been sharpened by a slight stimulant. I write after my sixth go of brandy-and-water, whereof witness my hand,”--“Swiggins”--_Goose and Gridiron, May 5, 1851._--“P.S. Why do two waiters come when I only call one?”[40] [40] “Punch,” May 10, 1851. The whole matter as handled by the astronomical theorists is fully deserving of the ridicule implied in the above quotation from _Punch_; but because great ingenuity has been shewn, and much thought and devotion manifested in connection with it, and the general public thereby greatly deceived, it is necessary that the subject should be fairly and seriously examined. What are the facts?