The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-11 00:00:00

LIEUT. GALE'S PLAN FOR. THE

DISCOVERY OF THE MISSING EXPEDI-

TION OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.

Lieutenant Gale, R.N., the celebrated mronaut,
delivered, yesterday evening, the last of two very ex•
cellent and interesting lectures oil the art and science
'of mrostatioze at the Literary Institution, Leicester-
square. To hear an elaborate description, and a cor-
rect and able account of the _history and progress of
this, the most interesting of all sciences, from a prac-
tical man like Mr. Gale, was a treat of no ordinary
character; for though he deals somewhat in theory,
and speculates much on the probabilities of
the art, he must have the credit of having con-
siderable experience in aerial navigation, and
of hesitating to advance what does not seem
to him capable of accomplishment. He rays that
nearly all the serious or fatal accidents in ballooning
have happened with inexperienced and incompetent
mrodauts, who were unacquainted with the principles
and details of the science, and makes the rather bold
assertion that there is as much safety in the car of a
well-managed balloon as in a railway carriage, the
cabin of a steamer, or the inside of a stage-coach.
As to the practicability of aerial locomotion, he seems
to have no doubt, for he expresses his confident belief
that a motive power, sufficient to propel a machine
Jong. the air at the rate of thirty miles an hour, might
be. discovered, if the ingenuity and knowledge
of scientific men were directed to the subject.
To show that his ideas were not altogether visionary,
a small model balloon was floated in the air, and pro-
pelled backwards and forwards across the room by
means of revolving sails, bearing some resemblance
to the Archimedean screw, and worked by clockwork
placed in the cer. On the subject of the missing ex-
pedition of Sir John Franklin, he complained severely
of the Admiralty having taken advantage of his sug-
gestions for its discovery without making any
acknowledgment. Experiments had been made at
Woolwich to try the efficacy of his plan, but they
had been carried out, he said, very clumsily, owing
to the parties being almost altogether ignorant of the
principles of aeronautics. It had always struck him
that balloon ascents for the purpose of reconnoitring
would be of incalculable service in exploring ex-
peditions, but it was not until the public mind was
excited to the highest pitch as to the fate of Franklin
and his men, that he developed his plans for the dis-
cevery of their whereabouts in the Artic regions. If
he got there in the summer season, he would be
favoured with continuous daylight, the peculiarity of
the sun's rays would affect the buoyancy c f the bal-
loon, and as he would be able to signalize both by
fog and smoke signals, and see by means of telescopes
fur an immense distance, he was confident that his
exertions would be attended with speedy and benefi-
cial results. He would make partial as well as
independent ascents; the control of the balloon, in the
farmer case, being obtained by one thousand
fathoms of line or rope. He also proposed to have
supplementary paper balloons of small size, which
he would commit to the elements at intervals of an
hour, and to each of which he would attach 100
letters, impervious to moisture, addressed to those
whom he was in search of. By the aid of matches, to
be lighted at the ascent, the letters would be spon-
taneously detached iu instalments, and be distributed
in all directions as they landed on terra firma. After
allusion to the abuse, ridicule, and calumny, with
which his propositions had been received, he said he
did not make them without an acquaintance with the
region intended to be explored, for he had been as far
north as Amethyst, North Cape, that was 72 degrees
north latitude, and he therefore knew what difficulties
actuated by no
shoerdhidadmtootivceso,ntaenndd
into undue notoriety,
haagvainingstno (Bleesiinreg to f zee himself
be would rest content with the
confident assurance that the feasibility of the plan
would be ultimately recognized, though others might
reap the credit which he hoped to win.

THERE'S A SILVER LINING TO
EVERY CLOUD."
(From Eliza Cook's Journal )
The poet or priest who told us this
Served mankind in the holiest way •
For it lit up the earth with the star of? bliss
That beacons the soul with cheerful ray.
Too often we wander despairing and blind,
Breathing our useless murmurs aloud ;
But 'tie kinder to bid us seek and find
"A silver lining to every cloud."
May we not walk in the dingle ground
When nothing but Autumn's dead leaves are seen;
But search beneath them, and peeping around
Are the young spring tufts of blue and green.
'Tis a beautiful eye that ever perceives
The presence of God in Mortality's crowd,
'Tis a saving creed that thinks and believes
" There's a silver lining to every cloud."
Let us look closely before we condemn
Bushes that bear nor bloom nor fruit,
There may not be beauty in leaves or stem,
But virtue may dwell far down at the root;
And let us beware how we utterly spurn
Brothers that seem all cold and proud,
If their bosoms were opened, perchance we might learn
"There's a silver lining to every cloud."
Let us not cast out Mercy and Truth,
When Guilt is before us in shaius and shame,
When Passion and Vice have cankered youth,
And Ago lives on with a branded name.
Something of good may still be there,
Though its voice may never be heard aloud,
For, while black with the vapours of pestilent air,
"There's a silver lining to every cloud."
Sad are the sorrows that oftentimes come,
Heavy and dull and blighting and chill,
Shutting the light from our heart and our home,
Marring our hopes and defying our will;
But let us not sink beneath the woe,
'Tit; well perchance we are teed and bowed,
For be sure, though we may not oft see it below,
" There's a silver lining to every cloud."
And when stern Death, with skeleton hand,
Has snatched the flower that grew in our breast,
Do we not think of a fairer land,
Where the lost are found, and the weary at rest?
Ohl the-hope of the unknown Future springs,
In its purest strength o'er the coffin and shroud,
The shadow is dense, but Faith's spirit-voice sings
" There's a silver lining to every cloud."
Euz A. COOK.