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298 
ments of scientific investigation. We of this day 
scarcely realize that many things which are now 
.considered necessaries of life were absolutely un- 
known a hundred years ago. These changes have 
been wrought by the action of cause and effect. 
How interesting was the inquiry into the causes of 
this peaceful revolution that had been and still was 
going on! Some historians had ascribed the changes 
to certain inherent qualities in man, which must 
develop as time rolls along. Others referred this 
progressive state to the continued effects of the 
Reformation, and considered it as the fruit of a purer 
and broader religious faith. The lecturer admitted 
that the emancipation of the mind from narrow 
dogmas had had its elevating influence, but denied 
that this would entirely account for the present con- 
dition of civilization. Since this age of freedom is 
also an age of scepticism, he contended that the most 
potent cause of the eminence of England, and of the 
spread of democracy, was the production of wealth 
through the industrial arts, — wealth created and con- 
trolled by the untitled classes, who thereby acquire 
self-respect, self-assertion, and political power. All 
historians had recognized this truth in part, but had 
stopped short of the conclusions, which, to the speak- 
er’s mind, every unprejudiced man mustreach. The 
development of machinery and the useful arts con- 
stituted the most distinctive feature in the aspect of 
our modern life. This had created cities, provided 
occupation for the people, and was the means which 
had supplied the majority of our material wants. 
And the agent of this development was coal. 
This conclusion might, perhaps, appear to be a 
reductio ad absurdum, but he thought that the truth 
of the assertion could be demonstrated. Coal sup- 
plied us with light, heat, and motive power, without 
which our condition would be one of darkness and 
inactivity. The wheels of industry would be stopped, 
and the characteristic activities of modern life would 
be arrested. In a pound of coal was stored sufficient 
force to raise 11,580,000 pounds one foot; and it had 
been estimated, that, on an average, 1,500,000 foot- 
pounds were utilized in the combustion of a pound of 
coal. Supposing this amount to be equal to the 
force exerted by one man in a day’s labor, then three 
hundred pounds of coal were equal to the force 
exerted by one man in a whole year: in other words, 
a ton of coal yielded a force equal to the labor of six 
men and a boy for a year; and the force exerted by 
the average amount of coal produced in England in 
a year would be equivalent to the labor of two hun- 
dred millions of men for the same period. A mo- 
ment’s reflection would convince us of the immense 
effect produced by this force upon our modern civil- 
ization. If, out of the amount of coal annually 
raised from the English mines, 20,000,000 tons repre- 
sented the net profit, it would be seen that this profit 
was equivalent to the labor of 133,000,000 people, 
working ten hours a day for a year. 
surprising, that, with such a revenue, England should 
be the richest nation on the globe, or the most pro- 
lific? She had planted colonies in those parts of the 
earth which were richest in agricultural and mineral 
SCIENCE. 
Was it, then, 
[Vou. IIL., | No. 6° 
resources; to wit, the United States, Canada, Aus- 
tralia, New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope, India, — 
Jamaica, etc.: and these are fast becoming great 
nationalities. This marvellous success had by some 
been attributed to psychological rather than material 
causes; but the true cause, the speaker thought, was 
the development of machinery and the industrial arts 
consequent upon her abundant supply of coal. In 
the thirteenth century, when coal was first substi- 
tuted for wood, and even a century later, its use was 
regarded as a nuisance, and actually forbidden by 
royal enactment, on account of the smoke which it 
evolved. Indeed, history told us that in 1257 Queen 
Anne, wife of Henry III., left Nottingham on account 
of the smoke caused by thé burning of coal. By the 
middle of the sixteenth century, however, coal was in 
general use, and a considerable quantity was exported 
to France. In 1621 Dudley had devised a method 
whereby stone coal could be substituted for charcoal © 
in the manufacture of iron. Then came gradually 
the introduction of steam-engines in place of horse- 
power, and iron rails instead of wooden ones, for the 
transportation of coal from the mines. ‘The years 
1702, 1776, 1815, and 1820 were conspicuous for im- 
proved changes in connection with steam-locomotion ; 
and in the last-named year wrought-iron was sub- 
stituted for cast-iron in the manufacture of rails. 
Fifty years ago Robert Stevenson perfected the loco- 
motive, thus making the railroad the great pathway 
of traffic and travel. The lecturer then cited statis- 
tics which showed that the increase in the produce 
of iron and steel was proportional to the amount of 
coal produced. These were, he said, not only factors 
in the progress already noted, but were its proximate 
causes. It was worthy of note, that in those great 
English towns, such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, 
and Newcastle, where coal was most largely used, the 
voice of the people was most powerful. 
The lecturer then reviewed the possibilities for 
advancement in the United States, with its coal area 
of two hundred and fifty thousand square miles. He 
referred to the almost unlimited deposits of iron, 
copper, lead, and the precious metals, and to the 
vast wealth to be drawn from the soil by a thorough 
system of agriculture. Thus he argued that the 
United States possessed all the qualifications neces- 
sary to make it a greater and happier country than 
the world had ever seen. The great danger arising 
from these vast resources was the worship of the 
wealth they were destined to produce. 
accumulation of wealth by a nation was undoubtedly 
a blessing; but when held by the few, causing the 
impoverishment of the many, it could only be re- 
garded as a curse. We might, however, hope, that 
when the evils of wealth-worship exceeded a certain 
limit, the people would again rise and correct them, 
as history teaches us they have done in the past. 
Among the influences which tended to restrict the © 
effect of wealth on legislation, was the introduction 
of civil-service reform. 
and capital was far from adjustment; but the problem 
was under careful consideration, and in some in= — 
stances had been practically wrought out to the satis- 
The general. 
The contest between labor — 
= 
