TRIUMPHS OF
INVENTION AND DISCOVERY
IN ART AND SCIENCE.
GEORGE STEPHENSON'S HOME.Page 120
TRIUMPHS OF
INVENTION AND DISCOVERY
IN ART AND SCIENCE.
BY
J. HAMILTON FYFE.
"PEACE HATH HER VICTORIES NO LESS THAN WAR."
LONDON:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW;
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.
1871.
It is not difficult to account for the pre-eminence,generally assigned to the victories of war over thevictories of peace in popular history. The noise andostentation which attend the former, the air ofromance which surrounds them,—lay firm hold ofthe imagination, while the directness and rapiditywith which, in such transactions, the effect followsthe cause, invest them with a peculiar charm forsimple and superficial observers. As Schiller says,—
The lightning's path, and straight the fearful path
Of the cannon ball. Direct it flies, and rapid,
Shattering that it may reach, and shattering what it reaches.
My son! the road the human being travels,
That on which blessing comes and goes, doth follow
The river's course, the valley's playful windings:
Curves round the corn-field and the hill of vines,
Honouring the holy bounds of property!
And thus secure, though late, leads to its end."
[Pg vi]The path of peace is long and devious, now dwindlinginto a mere foot-track, now lost to sight in somedense thicket; and the heroes who pursue it are oftenmocked at by the crowd as poor, half-witted souls,wandering either aimlessly or in foolish chase ofsome Jack o' lantern that ever recedes before them.The goal they aim at seems to the common eye sovisionary, and their progress towards it so imperceptible,—andeven when reached, it takes so longbefore the benefits of their