Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-12-11
THE TRIUMPH OF SCIENCE AND ART.

Liverpool Times oil 2o'h. Oc'o"e''
Whether the earica,ure which represents
q steam engine as flying like balloon oosn
the air. shall ever become any thing more ."s"
earics,ure may be doubted but such nave
been The achievem mems 81 science and arr WIN
in the las, three quarters OF century, ina. IL Is
really difficult 10 FIX any limits TO their iu'sre
conquest. To Justify Us IN prononnc'ng any
thing impossible in machines II ought 10 oe
in opo.ition 10 some law Of nature, and no'
merely requiring an immense extent or dim'
cult application Of power. And so mar'e.
lous has been the inventions ana discoveries I"
every branch OF science, and In all the a,'s'
,icce the beginning Of the last re,gniha, II lhey
could have been predicted IN ne yea, ''oo'
most men would have thought taat he oro>
rh.cy d. served 10 rark with h Arabian 'icIy
of hr erection Of Aladdin's palace in single
nigh,
When tie pack horse with his bell was the
only mans II COVE wing mel chandise through
The land, and when the carrier conducted MS
string of horses along tracts always made 10
mss over the summit Of the very hIghes
hills. the vision Of m ,dern mail coach CLAN
cling through our valleys, on roads nearly as
.m"o,h and ieve! as q bowling green, and con.
yeyiuy goods and passengers at the rate OF
eleven or Twelve miles an hour, would have
been regarded as the work Of some supe rna'-
ursl brings, no, oloegrd wrh 'he eneumhrance
of mortal MAJ, a man who should then rave
imagined taat a dis; auce OF fosr hundred miles
could have been performed ny carriage ~
for,y hours, wi huu, difficulty or danger, would
have been though worthy Of place amongst
the philosopher, OF Laputa.
A spinner a. his wheel, twisting and twir'
lug the livrlong day to make some pai'ry hanks
of VAN, wonid nave < ,Zed al the interior al a
modern spinning miil--w here tbnusancs oil
,piud.es are whirling with incredible velocity.
moved by no power visible to the spectstor--
with a su d. rs,i,ious con, lotion tina, the whole
was the work Of unblessrd powers. To tell
him that The force which moved the mighty
apparatus Of The factory was earthly, We that
il was neither the force Of men nor horses. mel
I'll. the strength of torien' NOR ,he- piping
winds of heaven, but nothing more or less 'han
the steam Of Hing water, would only have
exri,, his indignation at the boldness OF the
imposiure which i, was attempted TO palm up
pom him.
10 show 10 one OF those disorJerly persons
Who return from ,averns after he hour OF cur
lev and Who of old we're wont 70 srope through
the Egyptian darkness, ut our STREET" 10 their
own homes, he splendidly illuminated streets
OF London or Liverpool he would BIT blinded
WI h excess Of light, aud fancy himself in the
hail OF papdomonium; Int up "by subtle magic I"
with 81 ,zing cressets Of naptha md asphaiios.
II he could understood tia, thrse brilian'
s,ars Of light proc eedet. from an invisible va
pour which circulated for mites under tie
slree,s, he would be only the more perfectly
conyinc ed tina, he had gone pre- maturity into
the lower world.
SIN e the Invention Of rrin' ing, the power of
man TO disseminate knowledge his bren in Ieas-
I'd almost beyond caicnls'ion Even wi uin
the last thir y years prodigious dcsmenta,i"n
rs taken place in this power: before the i'm
proyemeni OF Earl S,anhope from tnre. 10 four
numbered sheets NIGH, be printed per hou' d,
the press; hu' the siea'n press "hch now works
the Times newspaper prints tour thousand ,heels
pei hour, or more than \ aheet pr second! l.
NAV be easily proved, hat to write by hand the
number of newspapers circulated by he Times
daily would require a mil ion and halt ct
sc,i5e,; vet they are p.iU'ed with cas-" by a
bout two dozen men. Such is the effect Of d
skilful division Of labor, mat a dehae If r,ght
or ten hours dur a,iou in thu House OF Com.
mans may be fully and ably reported, printed
and published so as 90 br read L. London with
in three or four hours after us ,srnina' ion and
a, six y miles distance from he mr. tropoiis be-
fore the speak oftae previous nigh, have
risen from ;htir beds.
In naviga ion, as in printing, invention Stun
bered Tor cen uries, ard then suddenly awokr
IN he wondrous vessel. Seam pa,iga-
ton is probabi, YET in us infancy, y., it has
already .f'cred an astonishing extension Of in
tercourse, brtweeu all paris OF the British Isles.
the widely separated towns and territories Of
The Uni ed Sla'rs, and several Of the coun
tries Of Europe. II was not uncommon d"
zen yeats ago, TO waii in this port for days aud
even We. ks before W ssel could sail to IRE land
and ofen have vessels been detained in the
channel DAYS and even weeks by calm or ad.
verse winds. By the steam-packets we pass
easily and with certainly in single night fsom
Liverpool 10 Dublin; and they operate ss br'dg
es connecting 'be sister island with England
Gains do no, retard their flight over the waves;
adverse tides and winds though they some
what impede. canno, arres, their progress. In
sunc' with power, they walk The water. like
a thing OF life" By their aid, the voyage to
India will pr,hablv bp made ore o,apv more