of other metals, that it becomes diffi- of carbon with the iron in the way of cult, in some cases, to ascertain to cementation. Bars of iron are imwhat class the ore belongs. The ores bedded in pounded charcoal, and this of iron are generally rich, and in the mass is heated up by ignited pit-coal, immediate vicinity of their native seat to a strong red heat; which heat is lie strata of coal and limestone; the continued a number of hours, proporcoal ready to smelt, and the limestone tionate to the thickness of the bars. to flux these rich ores; in the large By this operation a chemical union way, they are, therefore, smelted into takes place between the carbon coniron with a facility which is astonish- tained in the charcoal and the iron, ing, considering the hardness of this blisters arise upon the surfaces of the metal, and the excessive heat neces- | bars, an increase of weight takes place sary to fuse it at all. of somewhat less than a hundredth part, and the iron is converted into what is denominated Blister-steel. This process in the large way, where steel furnaces are in use for the supply of the manufactories, is effected with all the ease and precision of the commonest operations. Previous to this cementation, bar iron is extremely difficult of fusion; but no sooner is it converted into steel, than it becomes easy of fusion; and after fusion it is denominated Cast-steel. This metal possesses in perfection a property which belongs to no other metal except Platina, viz. that of union in a lower temperature than the point of fusion: this is technically called welding. By this process, at a white heat, while the surfaces of the pieces appear to be covered with a varnish, if they are brought into immediate contact, which is generally effected by blows with a hammer above the parts intended to be joined, two or more pieces of iron become a perfect mass. Thus has the Creator provided an intermediate mode, between fusion and the heat of the atmosphere, whereby man can mould this refractory yet useful metal, at will, into whatever shape he pleases. Were it not for this peculiar property, considering the great heat necessary in order to fuse pure iron, numerous facilities in the manufacture of this superlatively useful material in the arts, would be perfect nonentities; but with this property, in addition to its great malleability under the smith's hammer upon the anvil, after being heated in his forge, iron seems with the ease of clay between the finger and thumb to take whatever form his dexterity directs; and acquiring solidity from his strokes, instead of receiving injury, it comes from beneath the workman's hammer improved in quality. In a crude state, soft or gray pigiron is in union with carbon; if certain portions of this carbon are dissipated, this crude iron possesses many of the properties of steel; and, like steel, may be hardened and tempered at will. When the whole of the carbon and other foreign matter is extracted, the mass becomes pure iron. Pure iron possesses another peculiar property, viz. the capability of being converted into steel. This is effected by an artificial incorporation Iron, especially in the state of steel, and the magnetic fluid have an undeviating affinity, and the magnet or loadstone is an ore of iron. Since the invention of the mariner's compass, the far-famed pole-star of the ancients has lost its celebrity, as his guide through the trackless deep. The Infinite could with the greatest ease have opened the whole arcana of creation to man, and placed him in possession of every useful secret therein at once; but man is as he ought to be, in this his first stage of existence; a scholar, and not a master, in order that pride may be hidden from him: this life ought, therefore, to be spent in exercises of mind, as a preparative for a state of pure spiritual existence; to which end, a succession of lessons on the being and attributes of his Creator (that being who is to reward or punish him eternally for his conduct in this state of probation) lies before him: and these lessons are in the language of, and to be exercised upon, visible things; because man possesses corporeal senses alone, and it is through the medium of these he learns the invisible things of God. Every discovery made by man in the works of God, is a discovery of the wisdom and power of God in his works; and perhaps no discovery more eminently displays the wisdom and power of the Creator, than the affinity which He has created between seeing we behold, not only that one piece of iron might become magnetic, and, properly poised and touched with the loadstone, might point to the poles of the earth; but that any and every piece of iron, properly treated, may become a needle, pointing to the poles in every age of the world. Iron is so generally diffused throughout our sphere, that few compound substances are entirely free from it; and it is disencumbered of foreign matter with such facility, that it is the cheapest metal in existence. Beneficence in the Creator caused this most useful metal to be the most abundant, and placed it immediately within the reach of man: for the greater part of the strata or ores of iron lie immediately beneath the surface of the earth; and these strata are immense; even entire mountains are composed of iron ore: while it abounds in rocks, clays, sands, and strata of various kinds, and in almost all minerals; even the waters of rivers and springs, and several parts of animals, as well as vegetables, contain iron. Such is the importance of iron, that in proportion as a nation abounds therewith in its universal uses, so in proportion is it stronger than a nation wherein iron is unknown or only in a piece of solid metal, palpable to all the senses of man, and an invisible fluid which determines the extremities of this solid metal into polar directions. "How is this?" we ask: our only answer, however, is, "So it is." We behold the effect; but the cause is hidden from us; for notwithstanding we see in the mariner's compass the needle invariable tending to the north and south at its extremities, in whatever directlon we turn the box which contains it, no fluid current in any such direction presents itself to the wondering eye: mind alone, which ever and anon must be brought into exercise in order to connect cause and effect in the contemplation of creation, discovers this fluid; and the experiments made in order to this discovery connects it with electricity. Had the discovery of the mariner's compass been made at an earlier period of the world, it would have been of little use, comparatively; because the population of the continents immediately connected with the plain of Shinar, from whence the dispersion of man originated, was not then so overflowing as pressingly to need room for its extension over the distant islands and lands of the great Atlantic and Pacific oceans; and the Zidonians, Tyrians, Egyptians, Per-partial use. In the potence of war, of sians, Grecians, Carthaginians, and Romans, the great maritime powers of the early ages, principally navigated the Mediterranean, Euxine, and Red seas, where they never could be far from land; and on their occasional visits to the main ocean, they confined themselves to coasting close in with the continents, or launched out only to islands, such as Britain and the Azores, near to the main land. At the period in which we live, when the navies of the nations cover every ocean, aud voyage from land to land throughout our sphere incessantly, and millions of our fellow men live upon the mighty waters, to annihilate the mariner's compass would leave a blank which would be felt like the darkness in Egypt, while it would derange the polity of the whole civilized world; a blank which the ingenuity of man, even in this enlightened age, could not fill up. Not less, therefore, are the wisdom and power of GOD manifested in the creation, than in the perpetuation of this grand cause from age to age; agriculture, of the arts, of marine superiority, of commerce, and in every department of a great civilized nation, iron occupies the front rank; and no great nation exists wherein iron is not in universal use. Zinc is found combined with oxygen, carbon, sulphur, silica, mangarese, iron, water, lead, alumine, arsenic, &c., never having yet occurred native or pure. In the immediate vicinity of lead mines, the ores of this metal frequently occur; and the ores of lead and zinc sometimes alternate in the same vein; hence the miners say they eat each other out. From the earliest antiquity this metal appears to have been known by the effects of its ore called calamine upon copper; for the brass of the ancients evidently contains zinc. Zinc is of considerable use in the arts, both alone and incorporated with other metals. It is drawn into wire and rolled into plates in a pure state, as well as in combination with copper; and mixed with other metals, it is consumed in large quantities; but, compared with copper, lead, and iron, it sinks in the scale of usefulness to a low ratio. (To be continued.) POETRY. THE PHILOSOPHY OF MAN. (Written for the Imperial Magazine.) THE Poets, they say, (and deny it who can,) That once on a time, in the sacred divan, Minerva the Arts with the Sciences join'd, And ask'd them to tell her how Man is defin'd? First Grammar, believ'd him a noun undeclin'd, So curious his body, so searchless his mind; Or a short interjection of weeping and wo, His birth is an ab! and his death is an oh! Next Logic, defin'd him an enthymeme brief, Where one thing is wanting, that sometimes the chief; His birth antecedent, begins life's short tale, And gave her opinion, he was an oration; From the ocean that flows on for ever and ever. Geometry, deem'd him a spherical figure, Poor men are small circles, and rich ones the bigger; But still her opinion decidedly ran, That he ends in the point where at first he began. Astronomy, said he resembled a moon, A brightness all spotted and changing so soon; Cold, fickle, unequal, now cloudy, then bright, An emblem of man, in her waning and light, Geography, view'd him as misery's map, Whether hoary with age, or a babe on the lap; Full of desarts, volcanoes, rocks, whirlpools, and bogs; His centre all fire, and his surface all fogs. Music, thought him a drum, because hollow 'ith middle, If noisy a trumpet, when foppish a fiddle; grass. The shade of a shadow, that passeth away, And said his contents were by many mistook; Morality, deem'd him an ocean of evil, Religion spoke last, and all sweet was her sentence; She thought him balf angel, when brought to JOSHUA MARsden. THE STORM. OCCASIONED BY THE FOLLOWING MELANCHOLY CIRCUMSTANCE: On the 20th of Dec. 1820, the Custom-House Boat of the port of Grimsby, sailed from Kingston-uponHull, about Eight o'clock P. M. The weather was very squally, and the boat was supposed to have been upset, in the river Humber. by a sudden hurricane, which arose about Eleven o'clock, and lasted about forty minutes. The whole crew, six in number, found a watery grave-neither was the boat nor any of the men ever found!-Thus in the space of a few hours, six "new-made widows," and several helpless children, were cast upon the wide world, deprived of their chief succour, comfort, and support. But it is worthy to be recorded, that several Gentlemen interested themselves in behalf of the widows and orphans, among whom, W. Marshall, Esq. collector of customs of the port of Grimsby, distinguished himself by his zeal and benevolence; and by his exertions, a considerable sum was collected, for the support of the disconsolate families, during the winter. The Rev. G. Oliver, vicar of Clee, preached a sermon for their benefit, when a liberal collection was made.-Such was the public sympathy, excited by this melancholy occurrence, and such were the exertions in behalf of the sufferers, that, with some propriety it may be said, in this case, we see the fulfilment of that consol ing and divine engagement, recorded in the volume of truth, where the Almighty hath declared, in reference to these peculiar sufferings of the human family, "I will be a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow." BLEAK blow the wintry winds a boisterous storm, And waves beat high against the cliff's rude form; The rolling surge and liquid mountains rise, In awful contest with the low'ring skies : Confusive bursts of elemental jar, car; And scowling tempests hail proud Neptune's steed Impatient of the rein, while through the flood, Bright fulgurations glare in zigzag course, While the hoarse thunder rolls his chariot wheels Thro' heaven's arch'd vault-and death, close at his heels, Calls to the yawning gulf, asserts his claim, And hurls the fatal dart, nor misses once his aim. Toss'd on the raging main, in fury driven, And blame their rashness when it is too late ; The tongueless anguish, and the secret plaint, MELPOMENE, I ask a moment's pause, Of Him, who holds impetuous winds in store, Who calms the storms, or bids bis oceans As morning dawns, the matrons seek the strand, To meet the spouse, and grasp the welcome hand; Even children run to meet a smiling sire, In vain the officious care, no spouse appears, Yield now to sullen grief, and heave the labouring sigh! The orphans too, unconscious of their loss, Mix'd in the group, look wishfully across 91.-VOL. VIII. | The rolling flood, and in a pensive strain Lisp "When will father come to us again?" Alas, no more! in everlasting sleep His eyes are clos'd, and you are left to weep Your loss unknown-your sire no more to view, Till He who rules the storm shall make creation new. Sad tale of wo!-Humanity shall hear, Compassion's hand shall wipe the falling tear; Compassion is no stranger to our isle, It blooms luxuriantly on British soil. The tongue of Oliver shall plead your cause, And generous hearts relieve the orphans' woes: Yes, Oliver! the noble task be thine, To plead the widows' cause a work divine, Recorded high on truth's eternal page, Taught to mankind in every clime and age, And shall be taught till mountains melt away, And night be swallow'd up in realms of endless day. Great Grimsby. GEO. HERRING. The Rev. G. Oliver. (For the Imperial Magazine.) ODE TO THE SUN. O THOU refulgent lamp of heaven, At rising morn creation sings, Thy orient beams our islands cheer; Light from thy golden tresses springs, And clouds of darkness disappear. From thee all nature life receives, And colour owes to thee its birth: Thy undivided ray deceives, As unreflected from the earth. Prismatic powers alone can shew, Confound our thought, our sight amaze. Long hast thou roll'd the seasons round, Since man from Paradise was driven; Beheld the sins of men abound, Mark'd by the searching eye of heaven. But time will come when thou shalt stand, (For suns and stars shall cease to move,) And turn to darkness, by command Of Him who rules the hosts above. But great is the ETERNAL SUN, His beams to darkness cannot change: Supremely great, the First and Last,- Though scoffing infidels may rage, And thus blaspheme th' immortal King: Oh! were I forced from England's land, My every hank'ring there would be, For on thy shores Religion sweet And though thou hast thy faults as well, Fair Science learns thy sons to scan And liberty, serenely bright, May the prospects before thee, kind heaven's designing, To bless with prosperity, honour, and wealth; Thy toils and thy fears and thy murmurs resigning, Be crown'd with delight and with permanent health. May peace, love, and friendship, for ever residing, With virtue, and truth, grace thy happy abode; And concord and bliss with contentment abiding, Be thy constant companions on life's chequer'd road. May friends never wound thee by guile or deception, Nor cause thee a moment of sadness or pain; May truth in thy heart find a welcome reception, Ambitious the praise of the worthy to gain. May thy days glide away in enjoyment of plea sure, No grief to disturb the calm joy of thy heart; And may'st thou possess in thy bosom a trea sure, A confident hope that will never depart. A hope firm and lasting through every mutation, Though friends should desert-and thy foes should increase; Thy spirit's firm anchor in storms of temptation, SPRING. WHEN gay spring with cheerful feet, Hastens on the vernal hours, Deck'd in wreaths of blooming flow'rs ; When the landscape's bright and fair, When no clouds deform the air, When the bright refulgent sun, While the lark, with quiv'ring wing, Or, if airy fancy lead, I will trace the verdant mead; Thou! whose all-creative pow'r T. JARVIS. |