Southern miscellany. (Madison, Ga.) 1842-1849, May 27, 1843, Image 1

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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.