"Confusion has seized us, and all things go wrong, The women have leaped from their spheres, And, instead of fixed stars, shoot as comets along, And are setting the world by the ears!"

Previous Quote

Bayle, when writing on "Comets," discovered this; for having collected many things applicable to his work, as they stood quoted in some modern writers, when he came to compare them with their originals, he was surprised to find that they were nothing for his purpose! the originals conveyed a quite contrary sense to that of the pretended quoters, who often, from innocent blundering, and sometimes from purposed deception, had falsified their quotations. This is an useful story for second-hand authorities!

— Isaac D'Israeli