The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-04-03 00:00:00

.-...,.,CONTR4Iiii3ORARY PRESS.

. THE Witlt-AN.SPAIN.
(Front ale Morality Herald.)
.013:411 the enterprises that have.been 'ever undertaker.
by men professing to 'hold.the rank of British statesmen,
that of aiding the liberalism of Spain by an underhand
Ante; yeation was, perhaps, the most unworthy and inex
..„.Cusable. There was every reason which a well inforined
prudence could dictate, oe a just appreciation of British
•:•glory inspire, for not doing any such thing. There 'was
no reason beyond an intolerable itching for a petty
cease at a small expense to justify so mean an underiak-
ing. lt was begun. in ignorance, in gross ignorance., of
the difficulties to be encountered' at first, and the ele-
ments of resistance' likely to he matured by the progress
of, time. It has been persevered in (rom a kind of fret-
ful positiveness—a paltry irritation of wounded vanity,
which would not submit to theconfession of having made
a great mistake. It is still 'continued in theory when
•' the utter failure of the whole business is manifest to al)
the World. The conduct of the British government has
, • •
mantfestly been ignorant in its commencement, feeble in
its continuance, unsuccessful, and even ridiculous, in its
conclusion; but still the vain and petulant Minister is
i•:not satisfied 'Without persisting, 'in the face of common
sense, that he liar not been in the wrong.
Supposing it were an, advantage to the British govern-
: ment that liberalism should obtain an actual and univer-
sal supremacy in Spain, (but that advantage we certainly
cannot pereeive,) a moderately just understanding of the
actual condition of that kingdom won't! . have satisfied
that this could only.he accomplished by the
most powerful aid which Great. Britain and France in
unison could supply. If the minister believed' that' from-
• the state of Spain tt required no more than a slight phy-
sical alit, combined with the moral force of British
,Operatinn, to establish liberalism generally in that king-
_dont, such a belief could only have arisen from the most
-lamentable ignorance of the real state of the Peninsula.
--his' true that this principlethis root -of political un-
easiness—had struck deep in some parts of the kingdom,.
and-the agitation which it so surely produces was visible
over.a large portion of the territories of Spain'and
But the agitation was only on the surface. Li
,:bcralism had no more sunk into the heart of the na-
=—tiOn at large than radicalism had into the heart of the
.-British nation. The same minister who accounted that
,the representation of Hants was for ever his,. because' he
?possessed n un,the. fever of the reform hill excite-
.imagined also that, because there was much noise
of liberalism all over Spain, he had but to declare in fa-
vour of it to cause it to he permanently triumphant. 'ln
both cases his ianorance and his vanity betrayed him.
The same reflux of the wave of national sentiment,
which cast him out of the representation of Hants, bat*,
,fled-his paltry policy for annihilating the old tunnarehi-
:. cal principle in Spain. Incapable of profound or ex-
-" ten-sire views, and vet more incapable of great anti ener-
. getie action, a were manoeuvre for official eclat and per.'
,isor.al- advantage, Lord Viscount Palmerston has minced
Along in his disreputable course, and the event has been
.the loss of everything for his country, and, fur
everything but the emolUments of office. more de-
spised minister or state than Lord Palmerston does not
exist in
_Europe. His friend Mendizabal and himself
are about upon a level.
It behoves the representatives of the people of'-Eng-
land to interfere and put an end to policy which, if not
absolutely unprincipled, is bey'ond 'all question wretch-
,edly foolish. Experience has proved that. The blaster
of General Evans, or the foppish pedantry of his backer,
Lord Palmerston, cannot change the fact. The British,
-..tender the -leadership of Evans, have inglOriously re-
- ttirOed from Sp;in. They .went to overthrow Don Car-
'os. Don Carlos is not overthrown; and they are prowl-
, ing in ragged regimentals about our streets: ' They and
their objects have been defeated ;—it is time that Lord
Palmersion;and the bad policy which led to this die
trace, should be defeated too.

-LIVERPOOL MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.

LECTURES ON GEOLOGY..
On Wedneiday evening Dr. Scouter continued.
The unstratified or igneous'rocks are those which hive been
erupted from the lower recesses of the earth in a state of fusion,
andeaused the disiurbances- in the stratified rocks. They are
• of a chemical nature, and•consist of variously formed crystals.
' The greater portion of the surface of the' globe is covered with
stratified rocks,' and aCeording, to a calculation they do not oc-
• •scupy fit housandth part•of the British Isles.. There is a,very
important circumstance to he remembered in ascertaining the
• ' sietativ:e antiquity" of the fire produced rocks. Our mode of pro-
,•ceeding is different to that which we adopt with respect to the
ligneous rocks. • -For instance, the lowest of the igneous rocks
may'be The newest; and the uppermost the oldest in point of
-formation, which is entirely different to the case of the aqueous
rocks.' The question is, therefore. how can we ascertain the re-
lative age of the igneous rocks. ft is quite certaM that we can-
not determine it by this order of superposition, but there are
other means by!which we can do it. Being all rui ks of volcanic
trrigin, the originally existed in a perfectly liquid state, and
raised up through the stratified rocks, as well as into their tis-
'sures. In this Manner We • Can determine their page since no-
thiug can be more clear than the rocks in which the fissures are
op.' Every subsequent disturbance is sheens by which the
• • later rocks cut those jirevionsi+ formed, fur the vein cut thtough
:must he older than that which cuts it. There is another Mode
s of ascertaining the age of igneous reeks. 'For insta nee, suppr,se
a portion' of lava to be poured out fi-om Vesuvius and teach the
sea, it would lid immediately cooed and would form a stratum.
,SuPposie this stratum to be cut through by a vein, and this vein
''to be filled with lava,"we have thus undoubted evidenced two
• eruptions of the volcano. Near Obah, the coast of Scotland,'
• :we-have what is called the old red sandstone which Is met with,
every where under the coal forthation. This stone consists of,
rolled fragments of, old rocks. 'Near Ohara the fragments of this old led sand stone consists are TragMents of basalt.
In this case the'lfasaltie Matter is cult through by fire-produced
veins. Here we have evidence of two productions of rock. lii
Italy. there are, many beautiful instances of thesame kind,
•Mr.
• I.*ell-trtention4 iiista.n.ces of many -shells.having.been embedded
in lava: '-'l'he ihteriectingreck must always be newer than the
vein it cuts through. The chalk of Irelaud is every. where in-
• terseeted' by trap veins. There is a third characteristic by
•41lich' 'we' can. determine the age of the tire produced rocks.
Aliblit'3ot6 41) years ago the igneous origin of basalt and granite'
• win a•rtnatter of dispute until the discovery of rocks in Seotliend
• "101 Dr. 'Hutton, in which fragments of the strata intersected,by
• ' the granite were' femur imbedded in it, furnishing abundant
''''koofs that they had been fire produced. In the county. of An-
trim; in Ireland, the white chalk is intersected with basalt, in
'which very large fragments of the chalk occur.
"'That these igneous rocks have been produced by violence 'we
" lieVe abundant proofs in the faults which they have produced in
(Re iitratified riiCkir. They have originally been in a high state
: 'of heat, and when they have come into contact with the strati-
'fied nicks they have melted them and totally changed their
Otemical nature. . Ceinmon clay slate has been changed into a
chrystalized hornblende schist by this means. Every one is
aware
of the eiceedihe,ly friable nature of the English Chalk.
Whet the chalk of Ireland is touch harder, in consequence of its
coritikt;ily to the ipeous reeks; and the lecturer showed some
' • retnarkablespecimens of the same chalk rock, in which that
' Was. dear the basalt- had been changed into marble,
whilst that more distant still existed as chalk. We ha.Ve,a very
remarkable instance of this in the north of England, known
under the name of the Cleveland dyke, which is a hinge veto of
igneous matter running.through the rocks for many miles. No-
' thing can. be muse clear than tbat this rock was produced in a
'state of heat, In running through the mountain lime stone it
" hae'changed it info marble. The clay slate it has changed into
flinty slate, and jasper and coal iuto coke, which nothing but
betit'would'produCe. The same occurs in the instance of the
, columnar ataltu'acite in 'the neighbourhood of Glasgow, which
baibeentheresult of the-heat of the trap.
.The reason why an-
' thraCite' 14 so hard cOMpared with coke ,is, because it was
formed under much greater pressure than that of the.almes-
' pheriti air. • Tliei;e changes are nut confined to any one rock,
f. o• they occur wherever. the igneous rocks cut
,through any
• strAtih6rl roeks.' The 'old •red seta] stone: basin this manner
'been coaVertedinto quartz rock.
The igneoui rocks present a number of points of difference.
• Poi instance, we hod cases which at first appear a little per-
plexing, and at one time gave rise to an almost interminable
discussion, natnely : horizontal strata, which appeared to be
•• striatified• taers. It is obvious, however, that molten matter
may cut the superincumbent strata in any given direction; also
• 'this was ascertained to lie the case with respect to these hurl-
' --inntal veins. 'Another fact to be attended to is, that these up-
itea4ingi of ignemis rock are now taking place. Graham's
• Island Inuit have been occasioned by molten matter flowing,
through fissures or rents to. the surface of the sea: It is.
not long since an eruption of Mount Hecla covered a sur-
face of five 'hundred miles with the lava which it vomited
forth: Granite is often the newest rock we meet with, Lias is
'a very new rock, yet the granite has overflown the lies, there-
fore there is no doubt that it is a newer lock. , In the Isle of
it Skye there is a rock called' the lias, of precisely the stune age
as the • liaS" of' England. -It contains a great number of fossil
shells. • But'the lias•shell is so soft near the shore that it cruet=
-" 'bles to piecess-whed touched ; in consequence of which, the shells
' if contains cannot be preserved. A quarter of a mile inland
the li'as becomes a little herder and the shells, more indistinct.
A further Miami we find the lies in another fortn, and all trace
of the shells it coptained disappears., Proceeding a little fur-
' 'tier still, the Very same lias rock assumes the form of a white
' ntarble-; What is the reason of these numerous changes? In
immediate crintaCt with this rock, there is syenite ot granite
which has' been in a molten or liqeiri state, and has overflowed
the 'strata, and thus produced all these effects. It will be said,
how can heat change limestone into marble—the mere applica-
-' thin of heat would, by releasing the carbonic acid, convert it
into lilt-et' This argument was formerly thought irresistible.
- But Hutton said, " True, when you 'appli heat to limestime in
the' open air, you liberate the carbOnic acid and.produce lithe;
" butt we, on the other hand maintain, that the 'effect of heat is
• ant to discharge the Carbonic acid, but to Convert' tn. e limestone
into marble. --The ordinary atmospheric pressure is certainly
not sufficient to retain the 'carbonic acid; but it' we epply an
• enormous pressure, the carbonic acid will remain without hying
' driven off, and the whele will be melted and converted into
marble." Now, the pressure is the Presstfre or the ocean; Sup-
o pose the limestone to be subje'tned lii the action of heat under
5,000 feet of water, the carhonic scud insurli a case would re-
attain fixed. Sir .1 Hall put some pieces of liarestoue into a gun
• barrel. He found that he entail convert these limestones into
marble in the same way in which it is done in nature. This
shows how much geology gains by the application of chemical
analysis. Dr. Fararliy proved many years agh that carbonic
acid can be reduced to a liquid state like water under a very:
moderate pressure; add be kept in that State in' glass vessels uti-
- der a pressure equal to six times that dthe atmosphere., Now.
••aupposing the depth of the sea to be hal4 mile, we have ,here
..
sr ofwer enough to weren't the carbonic actd from escaping. Si
true is this, that subsequently Dr. Faraday,discOvered that we,
'can convert carbonic acid not only ititoa liquid like water, but
also into a solid like ice: The igneous rocks, as we:have pre-
viously stated, ate nit stratified. It follows, that if gianite can
elevate Stratified narks, when it is in a state of fusion, that other
.Melted katter may- likewise elevate it. This has very often
ba'ppened, and is very iinportaiit to be remembered in all our
theories respecting the elevation of mountains. The)owerrockl
ar.i. never stratified. but always igneous; forming bases on which
tii`sf other rocks repose.
;'',`W'e'sball
neetpreceed to another part ofour subject. Having
110,W):(1#0uViAte* the igneous rucks have been produced
•-; ,T o, 4111 i.. 49p 1,4e their mineral characters. Now
♦ • 2 :•::