120 



THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER. 



more than six thousand miles, in passing from 

 London to Bombay in the East Indies ; and 

 t ew places on the earth would be farther distant 

 from each other by water than 15,000 miles ; 

 which space might be traversed, at the rate 

 mentioned above, in a period of from sixty-two 

 to si-venty-seven days.* 



But we have reason to believe, that when this 

 invention, combined with other mechanical as 

 sistances, shall approximate nearer to perfection, 

 a much more rapid rate of motion will be ef- 

 r ected ; and the advantages of this, in a religious 

 as well as in a commercial point of view, may 

 be easily appreciated, especially at the present 

 period, when the Christian world, now aroused 

 from their slumbers, have formed the grand de 

 sign of sending a bible to every inhabitant of 

 the globe. When the empire of the prince of 

 darkness shall be shaken throughout all its de 

 pendencies, and the nations aroused to inquire 

 after light, and liberty, and divine knowledge 

 intelligence would thus be rapidly communicated 

 over every region, and between the most distant 

 tribes. &quot;Many would run to and fro, and 

 knowledge would be increased.&quot; The ambassa 

 dors of the Redeemer, with the oracles of heaven 

 in their hands, and the words of salvation in their 

 mouths, would quickly be transported to every 

 clime, &quot; having the everlasting gospel to preach 

 to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and 

 people. 



Air Balloons. Similar remarks may be ap 

 plied to the invention of Air Balloons. We 

 have heard of some pious people who have 

 mourned over such inventions, and lamented the 

 folly of mankind in studying their construction, 

 and witnessing their exhibition. S\ich disposi 

 tions generally proceed from a narrow range of 

 thought, and a contracted view of the divine eco 

 nomy and arrangements in the work of redemp 

 tion. Though the perversity of mankind has 

 often applied useful inventions to foolish, and 

 even to vicious purposes, yet this forms no rea 

 son why such inventions should be decried; 

 otherwise the art of printing, and many other 

 useful arts, might be regarded as inimical to the 

 human race. We have reason to believe that 

 air balloons may yet be brought to such perfec 

 tion, as to be applied to purposes highly benefi 

 cial to the progress of the human mind, and sub 

 servient, in some degree, for effecting the pur 

 poses of providence in the enlightening and 

 renovation of mankind. For this purpose, it is 

 only requisite that some contrivance, on chymi- 

 caf or mechanical principles, be suggested, ana 

 logous to the sails or rudder of a ship, by which 

 they may be moved in any direction, without 

 being directed solely bv the course of the wind ; 

 and, there can be little doubt that such a contriv 

 ance is possible to be effected. It requires only 

 tuitable encouragement to be given to ingenious 

 See Appendix, No IX. 



experimental philosophers, and a sufficient sun 

 of money to enable them to prosecute their ex 

 periments on an extensive scale. To the want 

 of such prerequisites, it is chiefly owing, that 

 the hints on this subject, hitherto suggested, have 

 either failed of success or have never been car 

 ried into execution. A more simple and expe 

 ditious process for filling balloons has lately been 

 effected the use of the parachute, by which a 

 person may detach himself from the balloon, and 

 descend to the earth, has been successfully tried, 

 the lightning of heaven has been drawn from 

 the clouds, and forced to act as a mechanical 

 power in splitting immense stones to pieces, 

 the atmosphere has been analyzed into its 

 component parts, and the wonderful properties of 

 the ingredients of which it is composed exhibited 

 in their separate state : and why, then, should 

 we consider it as at all improbable that the means 

 of producing a horizontal direction in aerial na 

 vigation may soon be discovered? Were this 

 object once effected, balloons might be applied 

 to the purpose of surveying and exploring coun 

 tries hitherto inaccessible, and of conveying the 

 messengers of divine mercy to tribes of our fel 

 low men, whose existence is as yet unknown. 



We are certain that every portion of the in 

 habited world must be thoroughly explored, and 

 its inhabitants visited, before the salvation of 

 God can be carried fully into effect ; and, for 

 the purpose of such explorations, we must, of 

 course, resort to the inventions of human genius 

 in art and science. Numerous tribes of the 

 sons of Adam are, doubtless, residing in regions 

 of the earth with which we have no acquaintance, 

 and to which we have no access by any of the 

 modes of conveyance presently in use. More 

 than one-half of the interior parts of Africa ana 

 Asia, and even of America, are wholly unknown 

 to the inhabitants of the civilized world. The 

 vast regions of Chinese Tartary, Thibet, Siberia, 

 and the adjacent districts ; almost the whole 

 interior of Africa, and the continent of New 

 Holland the extensive isles of Borneo, Suma 

 tra, New Guinea, and Japan, the territory ci 

 the Amazons, and the internal parts of North 

 America, remain, for the most part, unknown and 

 unexplored. The lofty and impassable ranges 

 of mountains, and the deep and rapid rivers, 

 which intervene between us and many of those 

 regions, together with the savage and plundering 

 hordes of men, and the tribes of ravenous beasts, 

 through which the traveller must push his way, 

 present to European adventurers barriers which 

 they cannot expect to surmount by the ordinary 

 modes of conveyance, for a lapse of ages. But 

 by balloons constructed with an apparatus for 

 directing their motions, all such obstructions 

 would at once be surmounted. The most im 

 penetrable regions, now hemmed in by streams 

 and marshes, and lofty mountains, and a barba 

 rous population, would be quickly laid open 



