Autobiography And Halieutics. -I.

ports . Curiously , AA-hilst Ave Avere dealing for the trunk that I bought , Ave Avere shown one in Avhich some person , for Avhose capture a great price had been offered , escaped from England . In about a week or ten days , the Danish brig the St . Anna , Hans Husscn , master , arrived , in ballast , and Avas to sail for Dover on the 10 th of July , 1803 . I therefore threw a few things into the trunk , together Avith a largo bag , passed the trunk at the

Custom-house , and , dressed as a sailor , I placed it very carefully , along Avith other luggage , in the cabin . My friend Avcnt on board , and just before the mustering of the CI-CAV by the deputy commissary of police , attended by a guard and the town sergeants , the minute examination by the customhouse officers having taken place , my friend , after I had tumbled everything into the bag , and stripped off my jacketlocked nie up in the trunk . I had not

, calculated the expansion of the human body by heat , ancl he Avas obliged to place his Avhole Aveight on the lid to force it down ; he gave the key to an Englishman Avho had a neutral passport , another brother Mason . There being but very little Avintl , ancl the tide running to the eastAvard , three hours after high water the skipper cast anchor in Calais roads . I had been three hours and a half thus compressed , I suffered dreadfully from cramp ,

but dared not breathe too hard . My friend on board , AVIIO had the key , fearing I should be suffocated , let me out ; I Avashed , dressed myself , and came upon deck . 'There Avas another Englishman , AVIIO had been brought off lry a Frenchman in a sailing boat ,

Avhich proved the total ruin of the latter , and he Avas obliged to fly over to England . Thankful to the great Supreme Being AVIIO had listened to my supplications , and assisted mc so far , and entertaining the opinion that Avere I taken , my life Avould not be very safe if I Avere in the power of the commandant , I induced the passengers to believe that the vessel Avould speedily , by the efflux of the tide , be aground ; and as several on board kneAV I Avas

Avell acquainted Avith that part of the coast , and all Avere most anxious to get under A \ -ei g h for their native land , Ave made a determined attack on the skipper by gesticulations , for AVC did not know Danish , or he English , and A'ery little French ; I seized an axe , and made signs I AVOUM cut away the cable , Avhen he . allowed his men to Avei gh anchor , ancl trim the sails , and to our great joy got under Aveigh for Dover , Avhere Ave safely arrived . As AVC

departed from the French coast , Ave saw an English man of Availing attacking three or four gunboats Avhich had crept out of Boulogne and endeavoured to get into Calais , and another of our cruisers , of the same class , spreading every stitch of canvas , bearing CIOAVII to assist in the destruction of these craft . I made our skipper hoist Danish colours , as I Avas fearful the man of Avar brig as she neareel us mi ght cause some delay by OA-erhauling us .

We had to land at DoA-er in boats , ancl the boatmen , many of whom knew me , expressed so much pleasure , not for me personall y , but tis a principle , that one had escaped from the unjust imprisonment , more particularly in such an extraordinary manner , that they almost disputed wlto should carry me ashore . "

On his arrival in London our hero became somewhat of a celebrity , as he deserved to be ; his escape Avas chronicled in all the newspapers , and he appeared in print as the author of a pamphlet on the condition of the detenus , which was , soon in everybody ' s hands . The short confinement in the trunk , hoAvever , Avhich procured him his liberty , appears to have

permanentl y injured his constitution , and he describes himself as suffering from its results for twenty-five years in the form of cramps recurring in a most painful manner , and very frequently ; eventually these disappeared , or Ave doubt if the diary of angling adventures would have been so copious . Another result of Bro . Wri g ht ' s continental adventures

Avas a very decided and property patriotic hatred of the French , which developed itself in an offer to do the state some service . Ever on the outlook for information , Wright Avhile at Calais , had carefull y inspected Fort Rouge , at the entrance of the harbour , Avhile ostensibly engaged in Avilcl duck shooting . On his arrival in London , lie AY as sent for to the

Admiralt y , and gave information to SIIOAV IIOAV the fort mi ght be destroyed . More than this , he offered , if the means were supplied , to undertake the business personally . Quoth he , " I kneAV the risk , but woud have been glad to undertake the hazard . " His offer AVUS declined , and Admiral Sir Home Popham afterwards attempted to destroy the fort , but for want of sufficient local knowledge did not succeed in doing aiiA'thins ; effectual ,

Autobiography And Halieutics. -I.

Here our friend's perils by land and by sea appear to have ended ; ancl Ave are informed that his time was pretty fully occupied thenceforth Avith tho labours of his profession , that of aural surgery . He tells us of his removing his family to Haiuault Forest in 1813 , ancl from that time his loA'e of angling and researches into natural history appear to have been fully developed . D .

Thoughts Upon Iron Plates.

THOUGHTS UPON IRON PLATES .

WE propose in the series of papers of which this is the first to reA'ieAv the rise and progress of mechanical invention in this country , and the general principles Avhich regulate the application of machinery to the purposes of dail y life . There is perhaps no single circumstance whioh so distinguishes England , as the pre-eminence she has attained in successful

appliances , derived after many failures , for man ' s convenience or enjoyment . If Ave look round the rooms Ave occupy , or the neighbourhood in Avhich we live , Ave see the results of an amount of patient but unconquerable thought of genius , unfortunate in its day , although immortal by the inheritance for which it suffered . Nor is it only upon this country of ours that the vast accumulation of skill and science has conferred benefit . It has revolutionized the Avhole world .

Bandana handkerchiefs have long been exported from GlasgoAV for the use of the Chinese and the natives of India . The blade polished by the Sheffield Avorkman is more excellent in its temper aud finish than the famous scimitars of Damascus , or ' those manufactured in the Italian republics . It must therefore have some interest for us to trace the sources and ends of modern inventions—their influence upon ,

social life and manners—their results as developed in reli gion and p hilosophy—their aids as civilizing agents , ancl their effects upon international polic }' . The invention which has produced the greatest results during the last half century is undoubtedly the steam engine . It has been applied to almost every practical purpose

in life . Thus , AVC travel by steam , we sow and reap by steam , Ave read by steam ; steam g rinds the wheat of which our bread is made , steam AA'eaves our garments , steam saAvs and shapes the beams of which our houses are built , steam prints our books and newspapers , as has already been , indicated—so that we may be said almost to live , think , and

have our being by virtue of steam . - It may not , therefore , be inappropriate , in order to keep ourselves within reasonable limits , to begin Avith the introduction of the steam locomotive .

Necessit y is the mother of discovery and invention . The apothegm is old , but its truth has been accepted in eA'ery age and everywhere . NCAV discoveries beget neAV Avants ; neAV enjoyments folloAV neAV Avants , and these diversify and multip ly themselves Avith such marA'ellous rapidit y ancl accumulative poAver , that human ingenuity must either keep

pace Avith , or be ovenvhelmed by them . Indeed it may be said that Avhere ingenuity fails to keep pace with the demands which civilization makes upon it , decay of the intellectual powers and degradation of social institutions set in . To illustrate our meaning more clearly , may relate an anecdote which , though by no means new , is yet most apposite to our

present purpose . Tho story is told of the Marquis of Worcester , a man who affected a love of science in his day , but Avho would appear to have little pretension to excellence beyond that which personal vanity , hi g h social rank , great Avealth , and an understanding inclined to mysticism invariably supply . Desirous

of seeing the Bicetre upon an occasion , he put himself in communication Avith the governor . That official was not SIOAV to make acquaintance Avith a marquis ; a day Avas appointed for the visit of the eccentric and scientific nobleman .

Punctual to da } r ancl hour , the great man s carriage dreAv up before tbe portico of the then madhouse ; he Avas received with gracious courtesy and conducted from cell to ceil where