Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME 11. j
BY C, R. HANLEITER.
IP® 1 T K Y a
“ Much yet remains unsung
WOMAN'S CONSTANCY.
BV M ISS SHELTON.
Ask me noth*** 1 love tliee. Feel this heart
Heat to thine own with pulses wild and hit'll;
I.et its inute throbbings tell how dear thou art —
Take from these ga2ing eyes a passionate reply.
1 cannot speak my love. But lean be
Thine own through life and death--and only thine,
Thy love may fail or cool, but mine for thee
Is life-long worship at a changeless shrine.
That raven hair may blanch—that lofty brow
],osc its calm beauty—that pure heart its truth;
But mine shall keep these perfect —mine shall throw
Round thy sad fulling age the hope and power of youth.
Thy path is now amid the bright and gaj\
Thyself so gay and bright; but change must come :
j\ml those who share thy noon-tide’s sunny way
Will enter not with dice tliyquiet evening home.
Then shall thou know how deeply I have loved —
Then wilt thou turn to me; and, heart to heart,
We, from our calm retreat, will watch, unmoved,
The tickle summer friends ol thy proud life depart!
gH:[L[E®T[£[D) TA-LUSo
THE LAIRD'S LEAP;
A Legend of the Scottish Persecutions.
liV THE AUTHOR OF “THE BROTHERS,” &C.
For three or four miles to the westward
<>f the little chapel, which I have before
rie.toribed, the country rose in a long regu-
Onr slope of moorland pastures, here and
there fenced by dry stone walls, hut for the
most part open and devoid of any sign of
human cultivation, unless it were the scat
tered herds of small black cattle, and flocks
<>f tagged-looking,long-horned sheep, which
cropped their stinted heritage. Beyond this
••bleak and barren range there rose a wilder,
grander hill, still sloping gently upward in
the same direction, hut covered not with
grass, lint with deep pucple heather, and in
terspersed with tall crags of grey, sifteu
sandstone, and here and there a deep mot- ’
ass, as might he cleatly recognized by the
rank verdure of its surface, and, at rare in
tervals asleep, precipitous and rough ravine,
through which some noisy streamlet found
its way to the broader stt ath, and mightier
river. It was inti* litis desolate and gloomy
tract that the young Laird of Livingstone
had dashed, when the last of this soldier’s
hand fell in the short fatal conflict ovet the
grave of his murdered victim. As his strong,
high-blooded charger swept over the moun
tain brook which separated the lone church
yard from the broad pastures, with scarce
an effort, and stretched gallantly away over
the gentle slope, confident in the speed and
vigor of the fine animal that bore him, mad
dened by rage ar.d indignation at the idea
that his stout troopers, picked veterans of
tlie Scottish life-guard, should have met an
end so inglorious, he turned his body half
round in his saddle, and shaking his hand
with a swearing and angry gesture against
the six or eight men who had started to pur
sue him, he gave vent to his excited feel
ings in a loud shout of scorn and stern, con
temptuous defiance. It was well for him
then, that not a musket remained loaded in
the hands of those who followed him, for
there were two or three among them, keen
and unerring marksmen, and he was still
■within fair carbine distance, and there was
not on a man of’ that fierce, persecuted par
ty, who would not have esteemed it a good
deed, and acceptable unto the Lord of Hosts,
to shoot him like a dog, whose hands, as
.they said, were purpled with the blood of
the saints, and his raiment red with the same.
He droye the spurs into the flanks of the
charger, who answered with a snort
jtnd gleam of his vicious eye, that told of
j(he untamed and gallant spirit, he had de
rived from a long train of desert sit es. On,
he swept —on ! unchecked, and free, and
fearless, skimming the long ascent with all
the ease, and almost all the fleetness of the
swallow chasing its insect prey, sweeping
across the brooks and water-courses that
crossed his course at intervals, as if they
were mere furrows in the soil, and charg
ing the rough, free-stone walls with vigorous
andexulting joy. The rider turned whet) tie
had won the first mile of the hill, and as he
looked back on the men who followed him,
scattered, and foiled, and breathless, yet
breasting still the slope with stubborn reso
lution, and giving vent to their thirst of ven
geance in a deep solemn shout, a curl of
scorn diew up his chiselled lip, as he mut
tered to himself—“ Fools —blind, presump
tuous fools! as if their clumsy feet made
hut to trample their deep, clayey furrows,
could vie with thy fleet hoofs—my match
less Barbary ; for not a pant is in thy clear,
slow breathing, not a foam-spot upon thy
curb, not even a shade of moisture, on thy
sleek, velvet coat,” He paused, however,
for a moment as he spoke, and gazed half
wistfully around him. Before him lay the
steep and purple moors, and to his right the
t'idges, steep and precipitous, and pathless,
of the wild Rutland*—he drew his rein up
shortly, and wheeling to his left hand, struck
into a gallop, once again crossing the hill
obliquely toward the lower country, and
the road by which he had marched upward,
but after riding some ten minutes, he crossed
tne top of a small hillock, and gaining a full
view of the open country, saw what he had
a jFamUg JUtosirauer: ©cfeotetr to mterature, Startcultuve, fHecftantes, iSTmcatCow, iForrtsu mn ©omesttc SutelUacuce,
“The Flying Machine,” as it is called, is
at present attracting much attention in this
country and Europe, and fora month past
tne papers of the North have teemed with
descriptions of Mr. Henson’s new and
wonderful invention. Aerial locoirimotion
is no new idea, hut since the luckless exper
ment of that “ peevish fool of Crete,” whom
Shakespeare informs us,
“ tauglit his son the office of a fowl—
And yet, for all his wings, the fool was drown'd”—
little or nothing has been achieved towards
the accomplishment of so desirable an ob
ject. Aeronauts, in their balloons, have as
cended into the clouds, and some have de
scended from great elevations, by means of
paiacliutes, hut we have read of but one
serious effort to soar with the birds of heav
en, the humiliating result of which seems to
have checked such lofty aspirations in man
from that time up to the present day. Early
in the lfith century an Italian adventurer vis
ited England and proposed to fly through
the air in any direction, by means of an ap
paratus which he had invented. He was fa
vorably received by James the IVth, of Scot
land, who presented him with the abbacy of
£unglnud. It was understood that ly his
plan a person would he able to visit the re
motest paits of the earth in a few hours, and
the nobility and Court were eager to witness
the first test of his machine. Accordingly, a
day was set apart for the exhibition, and the
itventor, with his apparatus —which consist
ed of huge wings, to be propelled by cords
—in the presence of congregated thousands,
leaped off from the battlements of Sterling
Castle, when lo ! instead of mounting into
the heavens, he came lumbering to the
ground, covered with the useless apetidage
of his unwieldy wings. This inauspicious
result of his first experiment, was satisfacto
ry explained at the time—“ My wings,”
said he, “ were composed of various fea
thers ; among them were the feathers of a
dung-hill fowl, and they, by a certain sympa
thy, were attracted to the dunghill on which
I fell; had they been composed of the feath
ers of eagles alone, as 1 proposed, the same
sympathy would have attracted my machine
to the higher regions of air.” History does
not record whether he ever tested the sym
pathy of eagle's feathers.
Dr. Darwin, of England, had some ori
ginal ideas on this subject. He looked for
ward to the day when the air would be
navigated by steam. He says—
“ Soon shall thine nrm, unconquered steam, afar
Draw the alow wagon, or intpell the rapid car;
Or on wide waving wings expanded bear
The flying chariot through the fields of air.”
He proposed to use moveable wings, like
[hose of a bird, to be propelled by high-
quite forgotten, a broad, fierce, brawling
river in the valley, at two or three miles
distance. “Ha!” he said, striking his hand
passionately on his thigh, “ ha ! curses on it!
it had escaped my notice, and long ere this,
be sure of it, the only bridge is guarded by
a mob of these dog puritans! why, the
whole nest of them will be astir when the
news goes abroad, that they have slain eight
troopers of Graham’s Guard! and not a
ford in that infernal stream, ’till I can reach
the Preakin hollow. Well! here goes, for
the mountain—thank Heaven, no foot of
man can gain upon black Barbary, over
these open fields, and ere I reach the hea
ther, will be miles behind me !” And, with
the word, he wheeled his horse again, and
rode back up the hill in the direction which
he had first taken. In doing this, the line
of his course was turned back somewhat,
not actually toward the furious foes who
were pursuing, hut in a direction traverse
to that which they had taken, ao that he saw
them clearly, so dearly that he could mark
the sullen, dogged air of each grim visage,
and note the hitter rage which paled their
embrowned countenances. But it was not
MADISON, MORGAN COUNTY, GEORGIA, SATURDAY MORNING, MAY 27, 1843.
M[EN§®M P ® MIW AIE&OAL STEAM ® A R'RO A©IE a
pressure steam power. He, however, made
no experiments. Sir George Cayley ex
pended much money in unsuccessful attempts
to construct a steam carriage to navigate the
air, and more recently the suhjbct has exci
ted the attention of some of our own ingen
ious mechanics. We believe an individual
is now engaged in constructing a “ Flying
Machine” in New Orleans, in the ultimate
success of which he is very sanguine.
For our own part, we have our doubts of
thepraclicabilityofconstructingan apparatus
that will propel itself through the regions of
air, or that could contend successfully—un
stayed by any other element—with tbe hur
ricanes and storms of the upper regions.—
However, such a proposition at this day, is
not more absurd than it would have been to
have talked of driving trains of heavy laden
ed cars over the Allegheny Mountains, or
great floating castles up the Mississippi, by
meansof the little powerthatmade our great
grandmothers’teapots sing as they hung sus
pended over the kitchen fire.
Judging that our readers would feel an
interest in a subject that has recently be
come the great topic of excitement among
the scientific men of the old world, we have
been to some expense to procure an engia
ving of this novel machine, which we give
above, accompanied by the most familiar
and understandable description of the in
vention, which we have been able to pro
cure. We copy it from the “ London At
las,” for which we are indebted to a friend
in New York.
Let our readers, first imagine a floor, or
platform, 150 feet long by 30 feet wide.—
We are somewhat puzzled for a word which
will accurately designate this main pait of
the machine. We have called it a floor or
platform, merely because of its large area ;
and yet those terms are improper, except
we divest them of all peculiar meaning of
weight or stability, for this expanded sur
face floating through the air really performs
the officeof wings, though itlias none of their
vibratory motion-it lias no joint; it isremai k
ably strong and stiff'from end to end, yet of
extraordinary lightness. It advaticestbrough
and upon the air with one of its long sides
foremost, that side being also a little raised.
A tail of 50 feet long, and of similar con
struction, is jointed to the middle of its hin
der edge; and under the tail is a rudder.—
Across its middle is a vertical web which
answers the same purpose as the keel of a
vessel, or more nearly of the fin on the back
of some fishes-viz., it checks oscillation. All
these different parts of the machine are con
structed with an especial view to the com
bination of strength with lightness, and are
covered with silk or linen.
To the main expanse or wings which we
have described, and immediately beneath it,
are suspended the car and a small, light, and
very ingenious and powerful steam-engine;
only that he noted, for, half way now be
tween the chase and the footmen, who wete
still in resolute chase, he might perceive
four peasants mounted uponlhe horses which
theyliad caught after the fall of his dragoons,
spurring them fiercely up the hill, and shout
ing in anticipated triumph. The sight awoke
him instantly to a more fit appreciation of
his danger, and wasting no more time, he
set his horse’s head straight for the moors,
and without looking hack at all, rode as di
rectly as the crow flies over all obstacles
that came in his way, with the calm neive
and splendid horsemanship that marked the
perfect cavalier. A nearer, wilder yell,
than any that had yet fallen on his ear, peal
ed wildly down the void; he momentarily
turned his head, and saw that the two par
ties had united, and that, whereas the men
who had first taken the chargers of the slain
roldiers, were mere clanish rustics, Hack
stoun, of Rathillet, and three of his com
panions, all, evidently from their bearing in
the saddle, old troopers and experienced
horsemen, had mounted in their place, and
had already fearfully diminished the space
that intervened between them and himself,
the latter actuates two sets of vanes or pro
pellers, like windmill sails, and of 20 feet
diameter, situated at the hack edge of the
wings.
The principle feature of the invention, as
far as the description has yet proceeded, is
the very great expanse of its sustaining
planes, which are larger in proportion to the
weight to be carried than those of many
birds ; hut if they had been still greater,
they would not have sufficed of themselves
to sustain their own weight, to say nothing
of their machinery and cargo—surely, though
slowly, they would have come to the ground.
We have remarked, however, that the ma
chine advances with its front edge a little
taised; the effect of which is to prevent its
under surface to thp air over which it is pass
ing, the resistance of which, acting on it like
a strong wind on the sails of a windmill,
prevents the descent of the machine and its
htiiden. The sustaining of the whole, there
fore, depends on the speed at which it is
traveling through the air, and the angle at
which its under surface impinges on the air
in its front; and this is exactly the principle
by which bilds are upheld iti their flight
with but slight motion of their wings, and
often with none.
But, then, this result, after the start, de
pends entirely on keeping up the speed, and
there temains beyond that the still more for
midable difficulty of first obtaining that
speed. All fotmer attempts of this kind
have failed because no engine existed which
was at once light enough and poweiful
enough to lift even its own weight through
the air with the necessary rapidity. Mr.
Henson lias removed this difficulty, partly
by inventing a steam-engine of ext!erne
lightness anil efficiency, and partly by an
other very singular device which tequires
particular notice. It is perhaps necessary
to add, that atiy decree by which the requi
site velocity can be obtained may be used
insteadof the inclined plaue, as,for instance,
a stationary steam-engine with a level road.
All former inventois had supposed it ne
cessary to carry in the machine itself all the
power necessary to commence and sustain
its flight. Hence some failed in their at
tempts, and others were deterred from ma
king any attempt at all. Nor does mechan
ical ait, even in its present advanced state,
afford the means of overcoming the difficul
ty, so long as this view of the subject is ad
hered to. Nature and art, however, com
bine to show us that this difficulty may he
surmounted: Mr. Henson, following their
indications, employs this expedient. His
machine, fully prepared for flight, is started
from the top of an inclined plane, in des
cending which it attains the velocity neces
sary to sustain it in its further progress.—
Tliat'velocily would he gradually destroyed
by the resistance of the air to the forward
flight; it is, therefore, the office of the steam
engine and the vanes it actuates simply to
repaii the loss of velocity ; it is made, there
fore. only of the power and weight neces
sary for that small effect. Here, we appre
hend, is the chief, but not the only merit of
Mr. Henson’s invention ; and to this happy
thought weshall brobably beindebted fortho
first successful attempt to traverse at will
their destined victim. Another mile had
been already traversed, and only one re
mained ere he should reach the rough and
broken heather—on he spurred—on ! and
with redoubled speed, and the black charg
er gloriously repaid his master’s confidence,
by its redoubled speisl. On !he went; on!
and now he reached the wall, the last that
intervened between the pasture and the
moors. It was a strong, tall barrier, of sharp,
dry lime-stone, at least six feet in height,
with a broad, rugged ditch, on the near side.
“ Ha!” he exclaimed, with a gay smile,
“ha ! I am safe, then—not a horse, save
mine, can clear it!” and, as he spoke, lie
pulled his horse deliberately up, that he
might catch his wind before attempting the
great leap, and looked quite coolly down
the hill toward the men who followed, now,
having hist a little ground in the last gallop,
about half a mile behind him. They saw him
pull up suddenly, and knowing the ground
themselves accurately, and the formida
ble height of the boundary wall, perceived
at once that he declined the leap—again, a
w'ild, triumphant yell pealed from their lips,
and again he shook his gaunt letted hand
another domain of nature.
It would be easy to show that this princi
ple, though disguised in appearance, really
obtains in all mechanical action, and that the
power which puts a machine in mot'nn must
be considered distinct from that which keeps
up that motion. We shall, however, only
.refer to the familiar instance of the clock,
which is set going by drawing its pendulum
to one side; it is lejtt going by the weight
or spring preventing the decay of its mo
tion. So Mr. Henson sets his machine in
motion by its descent down the inclined
plane, and keeps it so by his Rteam-engine.
Just so does a large bird often start frogi
a high tree or rock. First, lie makes a swoop
downwards to acquire velocity; that gain
ed, it requires little effort to raise again and
increase his speed. The violent efforts made
by slow and heavy birds when tising from
the ground, and the easy flight of the same
biids after they have attained sufficient ve
locity, show the operation and importance of
the same principle. Indeed, the whole is
but a necessary consequence of the estab
lished mechanical axiom, that a body once
in motion will ever continue to move if hin
dering forces be taken out of the way or
balanced. Mr. Henson having staited his
machine, balances the hindering forces by
the act,on of his steam-engine.
Eventually, then, we come to the ques
tion, Is bis steam-engine sufficient ? And
this question resolves itself into two others
—viz., what is the power of his engine?
and how much has it to do ? The first is
the easier to answer. Its power depends
chiefly on the quantity of steam its boiler
will produce; judging of it by comparison
with the boilers of locomotive engines, it is
estimated at about twenty-horse power.—
Both the bnilet and condenser ate of very
novel and ingenious construction. The for
mer is composed of fifty inverted truncated
cones of copper, which are arranged over
and around the fire : they are large enough
to contain about 100 square feet of evapo
rating surface, of which half is exposed to
radiating heat. The condenser consists of
a number of small pipes presented to the
stream of air produced by the flight, and is
found to answer completely. The steam
is worked in two cylinders, and is cut off at
one-fourtli of the stroke. The weight of
the engine, with the 20 gallons of water re
quired to work it, is about 600 lbs.
The resistance which is to be encounter
ed, and which, consequently, the steam-en
gine must overcome, is not so readily estim
ated. Mechanical science is here singular
ly defective. Collecting, however, the prob
abilities which nature furnishes, it seems, on
the whole, likely that the power provided
will be enough for the purpose. The clear
ing up of this only remaining doubt will lie
one of the most impoitant events which has
everoecutred intheannalsof applied science.
Whatever may be the first result of this par
ticular part of the enterprise, we deem the
chief difficulties so far removed as to war
rant a confident belief that cavly and com
plete success awaits jhe talented inventor,
especially as inventions of recent origin ate
yet in reserve which will, Ht least, double
the power of the steam-engine.
at their threatenings, and answered with n
shout clearer, higher, and more triumphant,
than their own. Then, setting himself firm
ly in the saddle, he gathered his reins up
lightly, pricked the good warhorse with the
spur, and charged the wall with cool deter
mination. With flashing and distorted nos
tril, the good horse charged it—with along,
easy stroke he rose into theuir, swung over
it, and was lost in a moment to the sight of
the pursuers. But not ten bounds hud the
horse made beyond it, before the Laird per
ceived that to gallop in that rough and bro
ken soil, was useless. Nay, more, was im
possible. His was a mind prompt in ex
pedient, feat less, and daring in a degree no
less insolent, and cruel, and oppressive. “I
will turn back,” he said, “ and from behind
the wall will shoot the two first with my
pistols, and then the devil’s in it if I cannot
cut down the others, if they dare cross on
foot!’’ Another moment, and he had taken
post under tbe shelter of the wall—had
drawn both pistols from his holsters, and
was examining their priming, when the near
tramp of the horses apprired him that tbe
time was come. Doffing his hst, he raised
| NUMBER 9.
WM. T. THOMPSON, EDITOR.
his eyes above the level of the crossing stom,
so carefully that no one of the pursuers wit
nessed it. He saw Hackstoun within ten
paces, and in the very act of putting his
horse at the leap, and behind him, at per
haps ten paces further, a second trooper,
heavily* spurring a cunrbrouaome bay stal
lion. In times of peril, thought* flash, ea it
were, like lightning on the mind ; he knew
that Hackatoun’s horse, how boldly be might
ride soever, could not by any possibility car
ry him over that huge fence, and calculating
on his certain fall, resolved that him he could
slay with the sword merely. So, raising
himself in his stirrups, he showed himself
above the wall, and stretching forth his hand,
took a quick aim, and fired. Through the
dense smoke he saw the second trooper roll
—man and horse—upon the ground ; but
the next instant, the man leaped to his feet
with a loud cry, apparently unhurt, and in
s'antly began to load hia long barrelled fov 1-
ing piece. Meantime, Hackstoun had dash
ed his heavy charger at the wall, with agood
will to clear it, it is true, and a revengeful
heart that would have braved ten times the
danger, had lie been sure of making good
his purpose. But, well although he rode,
and daringly, the animal he 1 acked could
not accomplish it, but forced unwillingly,
by the resolution of his rider, drove at if,
cleared the ditch, but striking the top of the
wall with its chest, was hurried backward
into the chasm by the shock, while Hack
stoun thrown completely over, as if he had
been launched from some gigantic engine,
and pitching on his head among the heather,
lay for the moment stunned and senseless,
“ I thought so!” shouted Livingstone, “hell
to your souls ! Base dogs, how dare you
thus pursue a gentleman and soldier ?” and,
with these words, levelling the second of hia
pistols at the head of the third horseman,
he pulled the trigger with an aim so steady,
that the bullet took effect full in the middle
of his forehead, and hurled him from th*
saddle, a dead man, ere he touched the
green sward. The fourth man pulled his
horse up instantly, and leaped to the ground,
began, like his companion, to make leadr
his long musket. W ith a contemptuous
laugh, thinking himself now quite safe, Liv
ingstone rode away, picking his way at a
brisk trot among the tangled heather, and
now and then, where the ground was hard
er and the heath lower than usual, breaking
into a gentle gallop, that speedily set a large
space between the fugitive and his pursuers.
It was, perhaps, a quarter of an hour be
fore the men who had paused to aid their
companion, were enabled to continue their
pursuit. Hackstoun, who had recovered al
together from his temporary hurt, leading
the way, and cheering his men onward; but
in that space, the pursued had gained a mi’e
of advantage, and though the nature of the
ground favored the footmen, three miles
were traversed and the night was fast gath
ering around before they had got ao near to
him as to try the effect of their fire-arma.
Ihe first report fell on his ears starttogly,
but the shrill whistle of the bullet, not fol
lowing it, he judged, and rightjy, that they
were yet too distant to suffer them to aim
correctly. Another quarter of an hour
elapsed, and a ball whistled by his <fcr, and
was succeeded instantly by the full round
report of a nearer gun-shot. Just as thia
happened, lie cleared the heather, end gain
ed what seemed a rich, flat table rock of ala
ry limestone. Taking advantage of the firm
er ground, lie dashed his horse into a gallop,
hut scarcely had he made llnee bounds, be
fore n shout of warning, as it seemed, so
wild and piercing that it made even Living
stone’s high blood recoil and curdle, rang
from the lips of Hackstoun. At the same
moment a fierce gust of wind sut,t over
the bare summit, driving before it*a thick
mass of driving rnist, so dense as to be al
most palpable—an atmospheric change, by
no means extraordinary on the bleak moors
of Scotland?* Again and again the clang of
the steed’s hoofs on the solid rock was borne
to the ears of Hackstoun. Again and again
the fierce Puritan shouted his note of warn
ing. But it was all in vain—once more tbe
heavy horse-tramp sounded-—and then, one
long appalling shriek, and all was silent. —
The breeze came up again and whistled
away the mist-wreath, and the last gleam of
the setting sun broke out of the dim storm
clouds. The Covenanters who had halted
at the piercing notes of that long shriek, ad
vanced ns the fog melted—advanced two
paces only—for tight beneath their feet the
rock broke off’ a sheer and perpendicular
wall, six hundred feet in depth, of sifted
limestone, with a wild torrent at its base ;
and in the torrent, crushed, maimed, and
motionless as the black rocks around them,
lay Livingstone and his bold Barbary. That
pjec’pice is called to this day, “ The Laird’s
Leap,” where the Lord took into his own
right hand the vcngeunce of his persecuted
people.— Ladies Companion.
Crime. —The records of crime committed
throughout this country fill the daily papeis.
and the enormity of each successive crime
appears more dreadful than the last. It is
the duty of parents not to allow their chil
dren to peruse these frightful details, and it
is the duty of the press, of rhristians and
ministers, to keep constantly in view of
those around them, only the true, the beau
tiful, and the pure things of earth, that tbe
mind may be turned to worship them, and
not the hideous records that now
lv corrupt the ntora’s of the peopJe.