53 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



what the subject of the chapter will be, or rather is, for it 

 has passed the press, " On the disappearance of the Coal 

 Strata, raised above the surface by faults." It is a universal 

 fact in all the English coal-fields, that whatever disturbance 

 of the strata there may be under the surface, whether a 

 series of strata be thrown down or raised up one hundred 

 or a thousand feet on one side of a fault, the surface on each 

 side will be on the same level ; the upreared mountain has 

 by some unknown cause been carried away, and has not 

 left, as Shakspeare says, a reck behind (or more correctly, 

 what Shakspeare certainly wrote, a " reek " or vapor, this 

 being still the North Country name for smoke). Where is 

 the mountain gone to ? or what monster has devoured it ? 

 The universality of the fact seems to have prevented further 



inquiry I am afraid our friend Mantell is in a 



world of perplexity, both respecting his removal from 

 Brighton, and the deposit of his museum. The leading mem 

 bers of the Brighton Institution now decline having any 

 thing to do with it. I always told Mr. M. that if he could 

 get 2000 clear of all further trouble, he should take it ; he 

 has before received 1000, or a gratuity from the late Lord 

 Egremont, which would make 3000. I have seen some 

 thing of the fate of museums ; after the first year or two 

 of their popularity they become flat and stale to the public, 

 and unprofitable to the proprietors. I hope the affair of 

 Canada will not lead to a breach of friendship between 

 England and the United States. But I fear the whole of 

 the civilized world is upon the eve of some great commotion. 

 There is something wrong in the state of society, and the 

 extreme inequality of the rich and the laborers, in almost 

 every part of Europe. But my paper tells me to conclude. 

 Believe me with great esteem, 

 .'.*, Yours, very sincerely, 



E. BAKEWELL. 



