Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-10-15
The First Di.coverIe. ofsteam Power

Hon. Edward Everett, delivered an ora
ton at an Agricultural Fair at Danvers,
Massachusetts. in which occurs the following
remarkable passage:
Il never contemplate the history of navi-
cation of the ocean by steam. but it seems to
illustrate to me in the most striking manner
the slow steps by which a great movement
moves forward for generations for ages. from
the first germ--then, when the hour is come
the rapidity with which it rushes to a final
consummatiOn. lApplausc.1 Sir. Providence
offered this great problem of navigating the
ocean by steam to every civilised nation al
most on the globe. As long ago as the year 1913
there was Captain in Spain who constructed
vessel in the presence of the Emperor
Charles V, Il state facts. sir, of brut limited
notoriety,) and in the presence of Charles ",
and the court at Barcelona he exhibited
vessel OF two hundred tons propelled by an
engine the construction of which he kept a
secret. But ancient documents tell US it was
monster cauldron boiler of water, and that
there were two movable wheels on the out
side of the vessel. The Emperor was satisfied
with the operation. but the treasurer of the
kingdom made great objection to the intro
ductiOn. The engine itself seems to have
sprung to a point of perfection hardly sur
passed al the present day; for we are told
that it was very expensive, and that the boil
er was apt to explode. Laughter
No encouragement was given to the en-
terprise. Spain was not ripe for it; the age
was not ripe for it; and the poor cOntriver.
certain BlascO de Guerre. wearied and dis
gusted at the want of patronage, took the
engine out of the vessel and allowed the ship
to rot in the arsenal, and the secret Of his
machine was buried in his grave. This was
in 1913; century passed away and Provi-
dence offers the same problem to be solved in
France. In reference TO this we have an eX-
traOrdinary accounts, and from source
equally eXtraordinary-fro the writings OF
Il celebrated female, sir, IN the middle of that
century, equally renowned for her beauty,
for her immoralities, and for her misfortune
in lOnGevity-fOr she lived 10 be 1874 years Of
age laughter famous Marion de L'Or-
me. There is a letter from this lady. written
to her admiral in lG4l, which contains these
astonishing details. 1t is an account of
visit she made with the Marquis of WOrcrs-
tcr-where do you suppose, Mr.. President ?
IAN account of some invention in steam ma
vigation made in madhOuse."
Marion de fOrme saws in this interesting
letter that, in company with the Marquis, she
was crossing the courtyard of that dismal es-
Enlistment, almost petrifed with terror, aud
cilnging 10 her companion, when she saw
trightiul face through the bars OF the building
and heard this voice: Il am not mad am
not mad; | have made a discovery that will
enrich the kingdom which shall adopt it,
Well, she asked the guide what it meant; he
shrugged his shoulders and said, laughingly,
Not much; something about the powers of
steam" Upon this the lady laughed also, to
think that a man should go mad on such a
frivolous subject. The guide went on to say
that the mans name was Solomon de COste;
that he came from Normandy four years be-
fore, and exhibited to the King an invention
he had discovered. by which by the power of
steam, you could move carriage, navigate
the ocean-in short if you believed him, said
the guide, there was nothing you could not
do by the power of steam. Cardinal Richie
lieu, who. at that time, was France itself, and
who welded the whole power of government
and, in truth, an enlightened man,
worldly wisdom gOes-was appealed to 10y
Solomon de COste. De Coste was persevrr-
ing man. and he followed Cardinal Richeleu
from place to place. exhibiting his invention,
until the Cardinal, getting tired of his impOr-
tunities, sent him to the mad house. There
he was, sir, and there. the guide went on to
say, she has written book and here is copy,
called "Motive Powers"
''Well, sir, the Marquis of Worcester, who
was an inventor, was much interested in the
book and incorporated a considerable portion
in his well known work called The Century
of Invention But you see, sir, from tins an
ecdote. how France proved l64l, as Spain
proved in 1913. that she was unable TO take
up and WELD this mortal thunderbolt. APP
plausel And so, sir, the problem of navi-
eating the ocean by steam was reserved for
the Anglo-Saxon race. Soon after the time
of which we now speak, the best mechanical
skill of England was turned towards this in
vention. Experiments were often made with
no success, and sometimes with only par
tial success, till sometime after the middle of
last century, so late as that, sir. those germs
of invention which had been floating about in
the minds of ingenious men for nearly two
hundred years, until the middle of the last
century, when the steam engine-and mark
you. sir, do not now speak of the navigation
of the ocean by steam, bat of the engine il
self, that scarcely inanimate Titan. that liv-
ing, burning mechansm-was brought nearly
To state of perfection by James Watts, who
took out a patent in 1863. the great year in
which Wellington aud Napoleon We're born
and ages after the names of Austerlitz and
Waterloo shall perish from the memory Of
man the myriad hosts OF intelligent labor,
marshalled by the fiery champions that James
Watt had placed in the 6eld. shall gain their
bloodless triumphs not for the destruction but
Tor the service of mankind. Tremendous
applause.l
MARRIED.
Last night. by Josiah Mr. So