Semler，professoratHalle，triedtosatisfybothsides。Heinsistedthat，whilefromascientificpointofviewcometscouldnotexerciseanyphysicalinfluenceupontheworld，yetfromareligiouspointofviewtheycouldexerciseamoralinfluenceasremindersoftheJustJudgeoftheUniverse。
Sohardwasitforgoodmentogiveupthedoctrineof“signsintheheavens。”seeminglybaseduponScriptureandexercisingsuchahealthfulmoraltendency！Asisalwaysthecaseaftersuchadefeat，thesevotariesof“sacredscience“exertedthegreatestingenuityindevisingstatementsandargumentstoavertthenewdoctrine。WithinourowncenturythegreatCatholicchampion，JosephdeMaistre，echoedtheseindeclaringhisbeliefthatcometsarespecialwarningsofevil。So，too，inProtestantEngland，in1818，theGentleman’sMagazinestatedthatunderthemaligninfluenceofarecentcomet“fliesbecameblindanddiedearlyintheseason。”and“thewifeofaLondonshoemakerhadfourchildrenatabirth。”Andevenaslateas1829Mr。Forster，anEnglishphysician，publishedaworktoprovethatcometsproducehotsummers，coldwinters，epidemics，earthquakes，cloudsofmidgesandlocusts，andnearlyeverycalamityconceivable。Heboreespeciallyuponthefactthatthecometof1665wascoincidentwiththeplagueinLondon，apparentlyforgettingthattheothergreatcitiesofEnglandandtheContinentwerenotthusvisited；and，inaclimax，announcesthefactthatthecometof1663“madeallthecatsinWestphaliasick。”
Therestilllingeredonelittlecloud-patchofsuperstition，arisingmainlyfromthesupposedfactthatcometshadreallybeenfollowedbyamarkedriseintemperature。Eventhispoorbasisforthebeliefthattheymight，afterall，affectearthlyaffairswassweptaway，andsciencewonhereanothervictory；forArago，bythermometricrecordscarefullykeptatParisfrom1735to1781，provedthatcometshadproducednoeffectupontemperature。
Amongmultitudesofsimilarexamplesheshowedthat，insomeyearswhenseveralcometsappeared，thetemperaturewaslowerthaninotheryearswhenfewornoneappeared。In1737thereweretwocomets，andtheweatherwascool；in1785therewasnocomet，andtheweatherwashot；throughthewholefiftyyearsitwasshownthatcometsweresometimesfollowedbyhotweather，sometimesbycool，andthatnorulewasdeducible。Thevictoryofsciencewascompleteateverypoint。[123]
[123]ForForster，seehisIllustrationsoftheAtmosphericalOriginofEpidemicDiseases，Chelmsford，1829，citedbyArago；