HiSTOiiY OF EUROPE. 



49 



conducted according to the will of 

 the aeronaut. It is true, that in 

 trade and cominerce, it does not 

 yet appear that it can be turned to 

 any Useful purpose : but stillj 

 among an ingenious people, and in 

 a great nation, this was no reason 

 for neglecting the study and inn- 

 provement of balloons. Tiiere is 

 not a doubt, but various purposes 

 to which balloons may be applied^ 

 will be found out in the progress of 

 timCi Things are discovered first ; 

 their uses aftervvards. The proper- 

 ties of the pendulunt were disco- 

 vered long before it entered into 

 the minds of those who knew them^ 

 to concei%'e that they viould be- 

 come the means of measuring time 

 with so much accuracy. The art 

 of ship-buiiding was brought to its 

 present state by very slow degrees. 

 The properties of the magnet were 

 long known before they were ap- 

 plied to navigation; Many of the 

 purposes to wiiich gun-powder 

 has been applied, were long un- 

 known. Nor is there almost any 

 discovery of which the same thing 

 may not be said. The French, 

 who are the original inventors of 

 the ballcou, have all along treated 

 it with more liberality than we 

 have done. Here it wa« aban- 

 doned to shew-men. In France, 

 its principles were investigated by 

 men of science ; who, instead of 

 collecting shillings, collected im- 

 provement, — and declared that it 

 Vould one day be of utility. It 

 was not on tne single occasion 

 above-mentioned that the French 

 armies made use of the bvilloon, 

 .but on several occasions before, 

 and on more since ; at the b ittle of 

 FleUrus, during the siege of Mentz ; 

 and more recently during tli-t of 

 the fortrt-.s of Erenhrtii.t.-iB, on 

 Vol. XXXVI. 



the right bank of the Rhine, op- 

 posite to Coblent/; In all these 

 cases it was found of utility ; but 

 particularly in this last, where the 

 Sreat heigrht of the fortress and its 



• • Til 



inaccessible position, not unuke that 

 of Gibraltarj rendered it impossible 

 by any other means to reconnoitre 

 the internal partai 



The French armies are attended 

 with a new species of reconnoi- 

 trinn-eno-ineerG; whose business it is 

 to do every thmg relative to tne 

 preparation and use of balloons. 

 The person who mounts in the bal- 

 loon, is furnished with paper and 

 pencils of different colours. Tlie 

 marks to be made, are agreed on 

 beforehand ; and the paper, after 

 being marked, is attached to a small 

 rod, like an arrow, one end of which 

 is loaded and pointed, so thut it 

 strikes in the ground, and stands 

 upright. A small piece of coloured 

 silk is attached to the other end, 

 like a flag, to render it more visible. 

 This is dropped from the balloon, 

 on ground that is in possession ot 

 the army to which the balloon be- 

 loup-s ; and thus the informa- 

 tion obtained, is fully communi- 

 cated. 



But a contrivance 101' communi- 

 crting intelhgence of still.greater 

 importance, and which was also 

 first made use of by the French, 

 as we have above observed, was th« 

 Telegraph ; of which it would be 

 alto<retiier inexcusable in this place 

 not to give some account ; lor next 

 to the power of prophecy is that 

 of knowing what passes at a great 

 distance in a short space of time. 



Whether the language of sound 

 or of signs existed first, it is certain 

 thu they are both of them natural 

 ''R\wua'^i s. Tlie human voice can- 

 no , evm With the aid of a speak- 



