£02 
life-boat, and getting her off in safety, 
deserves no less praise than the inventor 
of the ljfe-boat, bimself. 
This has been done by Captain Man- 
by, by laying out two anchors, with a 
stout rope between them, at a distance 
from the shore beyond the surf; when, 
by a barbed shot, (as before deseribed,) 
being projected over the stout rope, a 
power is acquired to haul the boat over 
the shallows, with the head to the wind 
and waves; and the danger of upsetting, 
by turning its side to them, entirely 
guarded against till it reaches water deep 
enough to admit the action of the ears 5 
and then, and not till then, the life-boat 
begins to act witli effect. I remember, 
that when Mr. Greathead’s invention 
of the life-boet was given to the public, 
and a motion made in the House of Com- 
mons, that a sum should be granted him 
in remuneration, it was opposed by some 
‘of the house, on the ground that there 
had yet been no aetual rescue of the 
crew of a ship by it, which could not 
have been saved but by such a means. 
Bat the motion was carried against this 
objection; indeed there was no occasion 
for any such proof. Its use in event of 
- the accident was as plainly to be appre- 
hended, as we know that the most fa- 
iniliar effect must succeed the cause: 
but, even if this opinion had been al- 
lowed to stand good in Mr, Greathead’s 
ease, it is obviated in the instance of 
Captain Manhy’s invention; he having 
already, with bis apparatus, effected: com~ 
munications with vessels, when it could 
not be gained by any other means, and 
hadi actually caved by it ninety of his 
fellow-creatures. 
The simplicity of the invention, (what- 
ever may be the light in which it may 
éause it to be regarded by seme,) is in- 
deed its highest merit, and: greatest re« 
commendation. Those inventions in 
mechanics, which have been of greatest 
service to mankind, have been, like most 
important moral traths, simple and de- 
monstrable to the plainest understanding. 
It is the distinguishing feature of such 
things, 
Th’ invention all admir’d, and each, how he 
‘To be the inventor miss’d ; so easy it seem’d, 
Once found, which yet unfound, most would 
have thought impossible. 
Milton’s Paradise Lost. 
Tnventions, for the most part, have 
been the effect of chance, rather than of 
depth of research; the result of a happy 
impulse, or met with in the pursait of 
some other object. Many of the most 
: 1 
Captain Manby’s Invention 
: 
[Apritt, 
wee! Oe 
important discoveries in chemistry were 
made in the vain attempt to gain the 
secret of transmutation of metals; and 
yet society has, by almost universal cons 
sent, honoured and recompensed the 
authors, as if the inventions had been 
effected through a catenation of circum- 
stances, regularly following deep and de- 
liberate research, It is perhaps a secret 
motive of piety that induces us to caress 
the chosen and favoured instrument. of 
so much benefit to mankind. But the 
rewards and honours, which are the in= 
ventor’s*due, are often intercepted by 
envy, always eager to depreciate the 
usefuluess, or deny the merit of Orin 
ginality, to his production; or his claim 
is not allowed by the majority of the 
judges, in these eases, whose percep- 
tions, for want of the medium of a pure 
taste, find usefulness and elegance in no- 
thing bat what is complicated or gaudy ; 
and despise those qualities which are in 
reality the essence-of things. All these 
remarks either are immediately illus= 
trated or connected by the following anece 
dote: Columbus, after his discovery 
of America, was persecuted by the envy 
of the Spanish courtiers, for the honours 
which were heaped on him by the sove- 
reign: and. once, at table, when all 
decorum was banished in the heat and 
ingenuousness of wine, they murmured 
loudly at the caresses he received, for 
having, (as they said) with mere animat 
resolution, pushed his voyage a few 
leagues beyond what any one had yeo 
chanced to have done. Columbus heard: 
them with great patience; and, taking’ 
an egg from the dish, proposed that, 
they should exercise their ingenuity 
by makirg it stand on end. It 
went all round, but no one succeeded, 
Give it me, gentlemen (said Columbus) 
who then took it, and breaking it in at 
one of the ends, it stood at once. They. 
all cried out involuntarily, Why. I could 
have done that! Yes, if the thought had: 
struck you, (replied Columbus); and ifthe 
thought had struck you, you might have 
discovered America.* - Superior qualifi- 
cations and desert in society, have always 
been attended by envy and malignity; 
and they have been often compared to 
the sun, that, by its attractive quality, 
draws. Up vapours, which, though they 
* I am aware that this story is told-of an- 
Italian architect, as well as of Columbus 
but this difference docs. not at all affect the 
application, 
obscure 
t . >» 
