Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-07-14

nize in all these things part of our own
spirit Who does not feel that they are
flesh of our flesh, and bone of our BONE
We are of one origin-speak the same Ian
guage-hold to the same religious faith,
and claim common property in the glo-
lies of Aeincourt and the Immortality Of
Shakespeare.
1t is with feelings of this character, that
we have read with pleasure the following
description of England, as she is, in the
Journal referred to above, and we transfer
it to our columns, because we think it sort
Of general portraiture of the times, in which
we see as many Of the features Of Jonathan
as Of John Bull.
The Civil Engineer, Ensland's
Masfcr-Spirit.
"Lut us commence at home, and see what
appearance this island of ours puts on at
the peaceful reunion of nations. Isit Bri-
tannia, with her trident and plumcd helmet,
and the lion recumbent at her feet, or John
Bulls portly form, carrying weight in eve
nv limb, and determination, not unmingled
with prejudice, from the crown of his broad
brimmed hat to the soles of his top-bootsl
Far otherwise. Some traces of those pop
ular types Of our nationality may indeed
be traced, but England has greatly chang
ed. Her genius is mechanism, her master
spirit the civil engineer, her tendencies
10 relieve labor from its drudgcry, and de-
legate to iron, TO steam, and to the other
powers of the inanimatc world, as much as
possible of the burden of toll If you
doubt this, go and look at the great depart
ment of machinery in the crystal palace;
watch that vast collection of interesting OBJ
jects, every portion of WI ich lightens i'm
measurably the burden of life, and releases
hundreds of hands from the most irksome
forms of industry. You willthere sec how
mechanism is extending her dominion over
the whole empire of labor; how she rises
in textile fabrics to the manufacture of the
most delicate and intricate lace; how from
wood she aspircs to fashion iron into the
most exact proportions; how, with steam
as her handmaiJ, she works the printing
press and navigatcs the ocean, and outruns
the swiftest animal in her course. Turn
into the agricultural implement depart
ment; and you will find everything now
done by manchinery, By it the farmer
not only sows and reaps, but he manures
and hoes. BY 1.-THE thrashes out and grinds
his corn, and prepares the food for his cat
tie. He can even drain by machinery,
and it is difficult now to find a branch Of
his business into which it does not largely
enter. In our manufactures, the mechani-
cal genius ofthc country rcigns SUPP emc
Those beautiful fabrics are nearly all the
evidences of its power. Soft goods and
hardware are equally indebted to it, and
III It's presence the unaidcd efforts Of handi-
craftsmen appear small and insignificant
indeed. 1t travels everywhere, and in
vades every compartment, even that of the
fine arts, in the court dedicated to which
some OF the most conspicuous contribu-
tons as specimens of printing in oil, and
attempts to reproduce, by mechanical
means, the sentiment and inspiration of the
painter"
In 1855, the population Of England, Ire
land and Scotland was asserted by a wri-
ter and statistician of some cminence, to be
no greater than two millions of souls In
March last there were 20,9l9,53l in
England and Scotland alone. The tin,
which two thousand years before had
been an article of Tyrian commerce, Il en-,
annually produced, amounted to about six
teen thousand tons-now, it is more than
three times as much. The salt, then used
by the upper classes, was mainly imported
from France, the product of the island be-
ing insufficient, and as was thought, ofin-
terlor quality; now, sevenhundred millions
of pounds are annually exported, in addi-
ton to supplying the immense demand at
home. Much Of the iron used was imported.
and Tot more than ten thousand tons were
obtained from native ore-now, the
annual production is rarely less than
eight hundred thousand tons. Coal was
then very little used at this time, it is be-
hevcd that twenty millions of tons are
yearly raised, from the mines The facili-
ties for travel and transportation were at
a still greater dispropor;ion as compared
with the present times. the great route
through Wales, to Holyhcad, says mod
ern Historian, was in such state that
Viceroy, on his road to Ireland, was five
hours in travelling fourteen miles. In gen.
eral, carriages were taken to pieces at
Conway, and borne on the shoulders of
stout Welsh peasants, to the Mcnai Straits.
1t is said that the fruits of the earth were
sometimes suffered to rot in one place,
while in another, distant only few miles,
the supply fell far short of the demand"
In our day, the traveller wheels along over
the same route at the rate of forty miles an
hour. This is indeed progress-,his is a
grand forward movement ia the great con-
Germs oftime and earth.
We might well pause here to consider,
to what mighty and mysterious influences
these great results are to be traced. Eng
land has been renowned in the field. Her
nag has braved the battle and the breeze
Tor thousand years. Victory after VIC
tory has crowned her arms-tbe soil ofl
nearly every land has trembled beneath
the tread of her warriors, the seas of every
zone have shaken with the recoil of her
cannon. Have these made her what she |
is Have these impelled her onward so
rapidly and so grandly in the march ofi,n-
provement Nol No, 1t has been the !