Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1845-05-28
THE STEAM ENGINE.

| Years have rolled away, and the vision
| Of the tea kettle is realised.
Talk Of political revolutions; they are
nothing to the revolution of science. Amid
the roar Of conflict which shook Europe,
the ancient dynasty of France fell pros.
trate, crumbled with the ruins of its own
Bastile. And now are new bastiles being
created--new forts erected--the tools with
which tyranny played its game Of yore;
the chains are again clanking on the peo-
pie who once SO nobly burst them. But
there is no such reaction in the revolutions
Of science. The echo of the CHEEKY hiss
Of the old tea kettle, when the boy, Watt,
sat dreamingly listening to it, is to be
heard in the loud roar of the steampipe,
rising often above the din Of wind and
waters, and proclaiming to both that a
mighty power is battling with their fierce.
ness.
Steam has made this old world Of ours
a new one. 1t makes ocean voyages
pleasure trips, it binds cities together, lit
orally with iron bands; il brings Kingdoms
into as close contigulty as parishes
What does il not DO for man Services
the most mighty and the most trivial. 1t
hurries him across the Atlantic in ten days,
and grinds coffee in grocers' shopsS il has
power enough to pump up volumes of wa
ter from the bowels Of the earth, and deli
cacy enough to drive a shuttle and weave
the linen. Mighty as is its strength, the
childhood of intellect can guide it. Up
and down fly the huge beams and cylin-
ders, with force that hundreds Of horses
would in vain crack sinew and muscle to
control; and yet, let there be but the touch
Of guiding lever--the stopping ola valve,
demandingno more than child's strength,
and the vast moving fabric at once becomes
moionless and passive~ SO many
tons Of wrought and hammered metal.
There is TO our thinking, something
awfully grand in the contemplation Of a
vast steam-cngine. Stand amidst lis pom.
derous beams and bars, wheels and cyiin.
ders, and watch their unceasing play how
regular aud how powerful!--the machine
ry Of lady's Geneva watch is not more
nicely adjusted-the rush Of The avalanche
is not more uwfdl in its strength. Old Co
THO caihedraIs are solemn places, preach.
ing solemn lessons, touching solemn things;
but 10 him who thinks, an engine room
may preach more solemn lesson still. II
will tell him Of mind --mind welding mat
ter at IFS will--mnd triumphng over
physical difliculties--man asserting his
great supremacy" intellect battling with
the elements" And how exquisitely com.
plete is every tail!--how subordinate
every part towards the one great end! how
every little bar and screw fit and work to-
gether! Vast as is the machine, let a
bolt be but the tenth part Of an inch too
long or too short, and the whole fabric is
disorganized. II is one complete piece Of
harmony--an iron essay upon unity Of
design and execution. There is deep po-
etry in the steam engine-more Of the POI
etry Of power than in the dash Of cata-
ract. And ought it not 10 be lesson to
those who laugh at novelties, and put no
faith in inventions, to consider that this
complex fabric---this triumph Of art and
scicnce--was once the laughing-stock Of
jeering thousands, and once only the wax
ing phantasy Of boys mind as he sat
in seeming idleness watching a little co.
lumn Of vapor rise from the spout Of a
tea-kettle2