The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-08-27

ghng with ny black hair--foating against nv
bronzed cheek, which has not yet forget to thrill
10 tneir gentle touch. Gradually, the fingers
relax their hold of the offending ear, and creep
s1eaitmly IN among the tangles of my shaggy
oearo. Very, very near to mine, are the lips
that murmur, % you scoundrell"
An Merle, there are lips on which the soft.
est words make but Indifferent music. I have
seen many such.
AND there are lips from which the bitterest
epiInets gather nectsred sweetness
They are yours, Merle, my darling.
FIRST AERIAL VOYAGE IN ENGLAND.
DuiiUg the whole of the year 1884, the good
people OF London were greatly agitsted upon
the novel subject of balloons. Reports of Mont
golher's doings across the channel had raised
the curiosity of our wondsr-loving erandfathers
to the highest pitch and amid all the din of
the great Westminster election, and the rest of
the political turmoil of that eventful year, we
Ind the popular mind constantly recurring to
the topic with an excitement which ia scarcely
lnte.lglbie to generation familiar with the
mlghtier glories of steam and the telegraph
The newborn science of aerostation had not
then achieved its barren henors, and become
the costly pastime of our day. No invention,
perhaps, in the history of man, had opened to
the imagination so many brilliant promises
The papers were filled with curious specula
tons upon the uses to which the newly.applied
principle might be put. Bishop Wikins's
favorlte theory of voyage to the moon was
seriously revived by more than one enthusiast
Others, less saDguine, we're content to con-
graduate themselves upon the great discoveries
IN astronomy which must necessarily result
from a u;a ,ofX l.. Il
more practical anticipated time when aerial
navigation would supersede the commerce of
the seas, and drive the flying wagons from the
Great North road. Ballooning became quite
a fashionable mania. Little balloons of painted
silk, In all kinds of gay and quaint devices,
toated about In boudoirs ; and questions con-
corning the varieties of "inhammable airs -
and the " elasticity of vapors formed subjects
OF drawlng-room discussion. Experiments
with fire-balloons upon Montgolfer's principle
were 80 common, and caused so MANY fires.
that the city authorities were compelled to pro,
hibit the practice. Rumors of approaching
ascents were always in circulation. Intrepid
"alr-voysgers were constantly about to as.
cend, trst at kensington, then at Greenwich,
and afterwards from Whitehall Gardens; but.
somehow or other, either the gas or the courage
OF the artist was sure to ooze out at the last
nAohAOne1 ouo tEo cNcub never came OH,
Among those who were greatly interested in
the experiments at Paris was Vincent Lunardi.
young Italian attached to the Neapolitsn
embassy. He had dabbled little in serostatics
with Zambeccari, and had conceived an ardent
ambition to be the first navigator of the Eng
lish atmosphere" His scientific requirements
do not appear to have been very extensive, and
his variations from the track of the French dis.
coverers were few aud questionable. 1t was
SAID by his enemies that he was "more Of the
that notoriety rather than science was the OBJ
ject of his courtshp; but, at any rate, we can
not refuse him the credit of being the pioneer
in an enterprise requiring skill and courage in
no small degree. Sir Joseph Banks, the Pres.
ident of the Royal Society, and DR.. Fordyce,
the eminent chemist, were among those who
interested themselves in his work, and to them
he was indebted in great measure for its sue
cessful issue. Early in July, Lunsrdi informed
the public that he was constructing a balloon
in which he intended to ascend from the gar
dens of Chelsea Hospital. "The gallery, oars,
and WINGS" said the advertisement, "are al
ready made, and to be seen at the Lyceum in
Exeter Change. Strand, where the balloon is
now making, and will be finished in about
fortnight" At the same time, in order to de-
fray his expenses, which had been heavy, he
issued tickets of admission to the ascent, at a
guinea and halfa-guinea each. Before the end
of the month, however, he had the mortifcs
ton of seeing rival candidate enter the field
A Frenchman, named Moret, had also COM
pleted balloon, and fixed the trial for the
18th Of August, the day before Lunardi's.
His announcements drew together a vast con.
course of people, who patiently watched the
preparations from one till four o'clock and
when every effort was seen to fail, and the
balloon at last sunk into the fire which ought
to have expanded it, the mob, conceiving the
whole affair an imposture, broke into the en-
closure, tore up the apparatus, and destroyed
great amount of property in the neighbor.
hood Lunsrdi chuckled finely over this catas-
trophe but his triumph was short, for the
Governor of the Chelsea Hospital, fearing q
repetition of the riot on the morrow, immediate
ly wrote to countermand his permission for the
use of the gardens and so his ascent had to
be indefinitely postponed. 1t was in vain that
he solicited private proprietors; the risk of q
failure-and, in that case, the certainty of a
mob-prevented all negotiation. At length,
after many wearisome delays, he obtained leave
from the Artillery Company to ascend from
their ground in Moorfelds; but he was COM
PEELED to find sureties for any damage that
might happen to the property and even with
tuCoO pkCSoueioho3 OF StCot was Juc prcluuEC6
against him, that permission was only carried
in the council by the casting vote of Sir Wat
kin Lewis, the colonel. The day was fixed for
the 18th of September; but at the last moment
another difficulty arose. The unprincipled
proprietor of the Lyceum, who had made q
good thing of the exhibition, was unwilling to
lose his chief attraction; and taking advantage
of Lunardi's ignorance of English law, posi-
lively refused to allow the balloon to be remov.
ed till he was secured share In the present
and all future advantages to be derived from
it. Such monstrous extortion was of course
resisted. Sir Sampson Wright, the presiding
magistrate at Bow Street, ordered it to be
forcibly wrested from his possession; and, after
desperate struggle between the police and
the employees of the Lyceum, it was safely
lodged in the artillery-ground the day before
the ascent.
Next morning, all London was on the move
towards Moorfelds. By twelve o'clock, the
formed the fashionable promenade of old Lon
don, and is now occupid by Finsbury Circus
and the adjacent streets, was one mass of
human beings. Every roof and window from
which view could be obtained was thronged
with eager gazers. Along the front, and tower.
ing high above the whole scene, we're the gloomy
buildings of the old Bedlam, the wretched in.
mates of which we're allowed to be spectators,
and exchange coarse ribaldry with the mob
beneath. The fact of this vicinage, and the
resemblance between Lunardi and lunatic, had
been the themes of innumerable puns and wit
ticisms for days past and the populsce, ap-
preciating the joke, with rough humor, were
continually roaring ont to him to "go inside"
The enclosure is occupied by the Artillery
Company, under arms, and the subscribers
who have paid for admission but the prevail
ing fears have prevented many from attending.
In the centre of the ground, warded on every