ores, and mineralized substances, as coal, first discovered near Newcastle, in 1500; all the marble and stone quarries and other materials used in architecture; and lastly, the hard flint from whence was first struck out, in collision with iron or steel, the scintillation of that wonderful element fire, so useful to man when kindled up to intense heat, fusing both one and the other, converting the hard flint into fine glass, and the iron to every useful purpose to which we see it applied; figuratively presenting to our view a kind of material triad-the flint, the iron, and the fire, pervading both, and in operation furnishing the two chief materials of the one whole unique Crystal Palace, of iron and glass, both moulded by the same igneous element into shape, by the art and skill of industrious man.

SECTION I.-FIRE.

The knowledge of this fearful, but to man most useful element, all-devouring fire, was for wise reasons withheld by an all-wise

Creator from the irrational portion of creation, and accorded solely to mankind. No other creature in the world, seeming to have any, the slightest knowledge of it. A knowledge doubtless accorded to favoured man in consequence, and on account of his previous possession of those exalting and ennobling gifts of God conferred upon him, of reason and understanding, above all other creatures in the world.

The knowledge of this dangerous element has not only been hidden from the irrational creation, but it has been virtually and in reality, imprisoned and bound fast, like the arch fiend, in adamantine chains, in the body of the flint, and other hard substances. That this fierce, raging, and devouring element cannot break prison without leave, and then only by being forced out, or elicited to show itself by means of hard chafing, or friction, and then only in sparks, which, if kindled up, and meeting with fuel, would soon sweep the works of man before it, in its ungovernable raging and fury, having respect for nought but its great enemy, the aqueous

fluid, which it will be able to conquer and dissipate in vapour or steam, by its boiling heat, so long as an effectual barrier of metal is interposed between them. And hence has arisen the discovery of steam power, from the bickerings of these two implacably hostile elements.

Had man been as devoid of the knowledge of this incendiarious element, and the application of the same, as the beasts, all the mineral stores contained in the bowels of the earth, where the Creator bad laid them up, would have been of no more use to mankind, than they are to the irrational part of creation.

Had the present highly civilized portion of the nations of the earth neglected to improve those divine gifts, of understanding and knowledge, especially the knowledge and application of this extraordinary element, given as the latter was to them, in consequence of, and in addition to, the former, they might have remained to this day in that ignorant, barbarous, and uncivilized state, in which tribes of savages have re

mained; who, neglectful of all their gifts, have advanced little above the brutes; without arts or literature, making little further use of their knowledge of fire, than that of lighting a few sticks, for the purpose of warming themselves, and frizzling a bit of fish, or the flesh of some animal taken in the chase; a state to which even civilized man goes back, when placed beyond the reach of trades, arts, and sciences. Devoid of those rational powers of understanding, and the due improvement and application of the same, man's hands and fingers would have proved of as little use to him, as hands and fingers of a similar construction are to monkeys. Monkeys have hands in some respects equal to, if not superior to those of man, for delicacy of touch, strength, and formation, in the use of which they display great dexterity, for their purposes, and in mimickry of the actions of mankind. They have also eyes, resembling those of men, but there is a void of intelligence in the cranium behind. So that man, having hands and eyes, would not alone give him superiority over the

brutes, without the aid of the informing and directing mind, which in proportion as the same has been informed, cultivated, and improved, by every species of knowledge, both human and divine, constitutes the difference between man in a highly civilized and enlightened state, and savages in an unenlightened and barbarous one.

Half-brutalized savages, having grown up in ignorance, and being above instruction, (like too many of their supposed betters,) no doubt are not lacking in self-conceit, and look upon themselves as fine fellows, who think it beneath their dignity to stoop to labour of any kind, whether bodily or mentally, having a supreme contempt for, and as great a disinclination to anything of the kind, from habitual aversion; like too many, who having spent their youthful days, as all children naturally would, if permitted by their too indulgent and thoughtless parents, entirely in idle sport and pastime; never having had their youthful minds bent upon aught else, the foundation becomes laid, for a similar course of inapplication in after