Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1858-10-29
THE FIRST DIS SCOVERIEs OF
STEAM POWER.

STEAM POWER.
Hon. Edward Everett, ON Thursday
week. delivered an Grafton at an Agricui
tural Fair at Danvers. Mass. in which
occurs che following remarkable passage:
Al never contemplate the history ol
navigation Of the ocean by steam. but il
seems to illustrate to me in the most
striking manner the slow steps by which
q great movement moves for ard tor gen
erStions, for ages, from the first germ
then, when the hour is come. the rapidity
with which it rushes to final cousumma>
ton. Applause. Sir. Providence Of
tered this great problem Of navig eating the
ocean by steam to every civilized nation
almost on the globe. AS long ago as the
year l543 there was a captain in Spain
who constructed a vessel iu the presence
OF the Emperor Charles ". l state facts,
sir, OF but limited notoriety, aud in the
presence OF Charles V aud the court at
Barcelona he exhibited q vessel of 200
tons propelled by an engine whose con-
strucIion he kept a secret. But ancient doc
umenLs tell US il was a monster cauldron
boiler Of water. and that there we're two
movable on the outside Of the vesseI.-
The Emperor was satisfied with the oper,
alton. but the treasurer of the kingdom
made great objection to its introduction
The engine itself seemed to have sprung
to a point Of perfection hardly surpassed
at the present day; for we are told that it
was very expensive. and that the boiler
was apt to explode. Laughter No
encouragement was given 10 the enter
prise. Spain was not ripe for 1.-THE age
WAS not ripe for it-and poor contriver, a
certain BlascO de Gurere, Wearied and
disgusted at tue want Of patronage took
the eng ine out OF the vessel, and allowed
the ship to rot in the arsenal. and the Sc
cret of bis machine was buried in his
grave. This WAS in 1913; a centIry pae
sed away, and Providence offers the same
problem TO be solved in France. In ref
srenee TO this we have an extraordinary
account. and from a source equally extra
ordinary-from the writings vi a celebra-
ted female. sir, in the middle Of that cen
tury, equally renowned for her beauty.
for her immoralilies. and for her mislor-
tune in longevisy-for she lived to be 1874
years of age-(Iaughter)-Ehe famou.
Marion de rOrms There is a letter
from this lady. written TO her admiral ia
lofl1 buOSo dShOulSuIue
details. 1t is an account of a visit she
made With the Marquis of Worcester
where do you suppose Mr.. PTesident?-
ian account Of some invention in steam
navigation made in a mad house" Ma
rion de HOrme says in this interesting
letter that. in company with the Mar
quis. she was crossing the courtyard o
that dismal establishment. almost petri
fed with terror, and clinging TO her com
panion. when she saw a frightful fact
through the bars of the building and
heard this voice, IL am not mad; an
not mad: have mace discovery whict
will enrich the kingdom which shall
adopt it. Well. she asked the guild,
what it meant; he shrugged his shoulders
and said laughipgly. mot much: some
thing about the powers Of steam" Up
on this, the lady laughed also, to thinl
that q man should GO mad on such friv
olous subject. The guide went on to say
that the mans name was Solomon d,
Coste; that he came from Normandy fou
years before, aud exhibited to the KinI
an invention he had discovered. by which
by the power Of steam. you could move
carriage, navigate the ocean-in short i
Was nothing you could not do by the DO "
er of steam. Cardinal Richelieu. who a
that time was France itself, and who
welded the whole power of goverumen
aud. in truth, an enlightened man. a.
worldly wisdom goes-was appealed tC
by Solomon de COST. De COST was
presevering man. and he followed Cardi
nRl Riehelieu from place to place exhib.
iIing his invention. until the cardinal
getting tired of his imporEunities. sen,
him to the mad house. There he was
sir. and there, the guide went on to say
che has written a book. and here is 6
copy. called M otive Power" Well
air. the marquis of Worcester, who was
an inventor, was much interested in the
book and incorporated a considerable
portion in his we'll known work called
1.-The Century of Invention" But you
see, sir. from this anecdote. how France
proved in l64l. as Spain proved in 1853
that she was unable to take up and WELD
this mortal thunderbolt. TApplause -
And so' sir the problem of navigating
the ocean by steam was reserved for the
Anglo-Saxon race. Soon after the time
Of which we now speak the best mechan.
ical skill of Eng was turned toward:
the invention. Experiments were otter
made with no success. and sometimes will
only with a partial success. till sometim,
after the middle of last century, SO lat
as that. sir. shoss germs Of invention
which had been floating about in tn,
mids Of ingenious men for nearly tw,
hundred years, until the middle Of las