The Worlc of the Year. 9 



shall be again conveyed from these islands to the remoter shores 

 of the Atlantic, bnt it will be done, and we have but to wait. 

 Ocean telegraphy is in its infancy, and has been fruitful in 

 infant follies of waste, and error, and perversion ; but the sa- 

 crifice has not all been in vain, and the promoters of such enter- 

 prises are brought back to the old vantage ground of fact, for 

 the necessary basis of their theories. That in other departments 

 science assiduously seconds individual energy, we had a grand 

 example in the transmission of the intelligence from America, 

 of the concession to the demands of Britain in the matter of 

 the l ' Trent " and " San Jacinto." To such agencies com- 

 merce adds her numerous means of help. The closing of the 

 ports of the Southern States of North America has recalled 

 attention to the capabilities of soils and climates where the abuse 

 of slavery is unknown. Now to bridge torrents, establish iron 

 roads through ghauts and marshes, there is opportunity for the 

 engineer to aid, at last, in doing justice to India ; and Britain 

 may discover the value of the Oriental gem which has hitherto 

 but faintly sparkled in her diadem of empire. We are promised 

 ships that cannot sink; boats are made in a few hours by 

 machinery ; rifled ordnance and plated frigates promise to give 

 the command of the seas to the masters of the forge ; and the 

 blasting system of Bessemer is overpassed by the discovery of 

 the part which nitrogen plays in the composition of steel. To 

 bring up the rear in this system of engineering applications, 

 Bonellr's telegraph writes down with equal rapidity the messages 

 that by older systems were only spelt out in arbitrary signs, 

 liable to error and occasional delay. Looking to the gleam of 

 the morning for the promise of the coming day, the prospect 

 brightens and fills us with heart and hope. The learned 

 societies are generally in a prosperous condition. The arts 

 flourish. The means of life abound. Naturalists' clubs and 

 scientific books are on the increase ; a higher standard of men- 

 tal and moral culture is the desire of the English people, and the 

 progress of education among the masses tends to refine popu- 

 lar intelligence, and encourage prudence and thrift, and inculcate 

 that wholesome doctrine that God helps those who help them- 

 selves. The statistics of health and mortality increase the force 

 of the conclusions drawn from the last census, that human life 

 has a higher average duration, and is less embittered by avoid- 

 able ills ; while the resources of Britain expand, and peace is 

 crowned with prosperity. In the forward glance rises, to the 

 broadening sunlight, the grotesque yet dignified facade of the 

 new International Exhibition, where, during 1862, science, and 

 art, and plodding industry will hold peaceful conference on 

 their several abilities to bless the world. While other plans are 



