Caxton's Book: A Collection of Essays, Poems, Tales, and Sketches Part 20

It would afford me a pleasure to inform the department that the unforeseen evils of our scientific convention terminated here.

But I regret to add that such is very far from being the case.

Indeed, from the appearance of affairs this morning at the volcanic crater--for such it has now become--the possible evils are almost incalculable. The Belgian Government was duly notified by telegraph of the death of the Superintendent and the mutinous disposition of the common people about Bruges, and early on the morning of the 6th of November a squad of flying horse was dispatched to the spot to maintain order. But this interference only made matters worse. The discontent, augmented by the wildest panic, became universal, and the mob reigned supreme. Nor could the poor wretches be greatly condemned; for toward evening the lava current reached the confines of the old village of Dudzeele, and about midnight set the town on fire. The lurid glare of the conflagration awakened the old burghers of Bruges from their slumbers and spread consternation in the city, though distant several miles from the spot. A meeting was called at the Guildhall at dawn, and the wildest excitement prevailed. But after hearing explanations from the members of the commission, the populace quietly but doggedly dispersed. The government from this time forward did all that power and prudence combined could effect to quell the reign of terror around Bruges. In this country the telegraph, being a government monopoly, has been rigorously watched and a cordon of military posts established around the threatened district, so that it has been almost impossible to convey intelligence of this disaster beyond the limits of the danger. In the mean time, a congress of the most experienced scientists was invited to the scene for the purpose of suggesting some remedy against the prospective spread of the devastation. The first meeting took place at the old Guildhall in Bruges and was strictly private, none being admitted except the diplomatic representatives of foreign governments, and the members elect of the college. As in duty bound, I felt called on to attend, and shall in this place attempt a short synopsis of the proceedings.

Professor Palmieri, of Naples, presided, and Dr. Kirchoff officiated as secretary.

Ga.s.siot, of Paris, was the first speaker, and contended that the theory of nucleatic fusion, now being fully established it only remained to prescribe the laws governing its superficial action.

"There is but one law applicable, that I am aware of," said he, "and that is the law which drives from the center of a revolving body all fluid matter toward the circ.u.mference, and forcibly ejects it into s.p.a.ce, if possible, in the same manner that a common grindstone in rapid motion will drive off from its rim drops of water or other foreign unattached matter. Thus, whenever we find a vent or open orifice, as in the craters of active volcanoes, the incandescent lava boils up and frequently overflows the top of the highest peak of the Andes."

Palmieri then asked the speaker "if he wished to be understood as expressing the unqualified opinion that an orifice once being opened would continue to flow forever, and that there was no law governing the quant.i.ty or regulating the level to which it could rise?"

Ga.s.siot replied in the affirmative.

The Neapolitan philosopher then added: "I dissent _in toto_ from the opinion of M. Ga.s.siot. For more than a quarter of a century I have studied the lava-flows of Vesuvius, aetna and Stromboli, and I can a.s.sure the Congress that the Creator has left no such flaw in His mechanism of the globe. The truth is, that molten lava can only rise about 21,000 feet above the level of the sea, owing to the balance-wheel of terrestrial gravitation, which counteracts at that height all centrifugal energy. Were this not so, the entire contents of the globe would gush from the incandescent center and fly off into surrounding s.p.a.ce."

M. Ga.s.siot replied, "that true volcanoes were supplied by nature with _circ.u.mvalvular lips_, and hence, after filling their craters, they ceased to flow. But in the instance before us no such provision existed, and the only protection which he could conceive of consisted in the smallness of the orifice; and he would therefore recommend his Majesty King Leopold to direct all his efforts to confine the aperture to its present size."

Palmieri again responded, "that he had no doubt but that the crater at Dudzeele would continue to flow until it had built up around itself basaltic walls to the height of many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of feet, and that the idea of setting bounds to the size of the mouth of the excavation was simply ridiculous."

Ga.s.siot interrupted, and was about to answer in a very excited tone, when Prof. Palmieri "disclaimed any intention of personal insult, but spoke from a scientific standpoint." He then proceeded: "The lava bed of Mount aetna maintains a normal level of 7000 feet, while Vesuvius calmly reposes at a little more than one half that alt.i.tude. On the other hand, according to Prof.

Whitney, of the Pacific Survey, Mount Kilauea, in the Sandwich Islands, bubbles up to the enormous height of 17,000 feet. It cannot be contended that the crater of Vesuvius is not a true nucleatic orifice, because I have demonstrated that the molten bed regularly rises and falls like the tides of the ocean when controlled by the moon." It was seen at once that the scientists present were totally unprepared to discuss the question in its novel and most important aspects; and on taking a vote, at the close of the session, the members were equally divided between the opinions of Ga.s.siot and Palmieri. A further session will take place on the arrival of Prof. Tyndall, who has been telegraphed for from New York, and of the great Russian geologist and astronomer, Tugenieff.

In conclusion, the damage already done may be summed up as follows: The destruction of the Bruges and Hond Ca.n.a.l by the formation of a basaltic d.y.k.e across it more than two hundred feet wide, the burning of Dudzeele, and the devastation of about thirty thousand acres of valuable land. At the same time it is utterly impossible to predict where the damage may stop, inasmuch as early this morning the mouth of the crater had fallen in, and the flowing stream had more than doubled in size.

In consideration of the part hitherto taken by the Government of the United States in originating the work that led to the catastrophe, and by request of M. Musenheim, the Belgian Foreign Secretary, I have taken the liberty of drawing upon the State Department for eighty-seven thousand dollars, being the sum agreed to be paid for the cost of emigration to the United States of two hundred families (our own pro rata) rendered homeless by the conflagration of Dudzeele.

I am this moment in receipt of your telegram dated yesterday, and rejoice to learn that Prof. Aga.s.siz has returned from the South Seas, and will be sent forward without delay.

With great respect, I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

JOHN FLANNAGAN, United States Consul at Bruges.

P.S.--Since concluding the above dispatch, Professor Palmieri did me the honor of a special call, and, after some desultory conversation, approached the all-absorbing topic of the day, and cautiously expressed his opinion as follows: Explaining his theory, as announced at the Congress, he said that "Holland, Belgium, and Denmark, being all low countries, some portions of each lying below the sea-level, he would not be surprised if the present outflow of lava devastated them all, and covered the bottom of the North Sea for many square leagues with a bed of basalt." The reason given was this: "That lava must continue to flow until, by its own action, it builds up around the volcanic crater a rim or cone high enough to afford a counterpoise to the centrifugal tendency of axial energy; and that, as the earth's crust was demonstrated to be exceptionally thin in the north of Europe, the height required in this instance would be so great that an enormous lapse of time must ensue before the self-created cone could obtain the necessary alt.i.tude. Before _aetna_ attained its present secure height, it devastated an area as large as France; and Prof. Whitney has demonstrated that some center of volcanic action, now extinct, in the State of California, threw out a stream that covered a much greater surface, as the basaltic table mountains, vulgarly so called, extend north and south for a distance as great as from Moscow to Rome." In concluding his remarks, he ventured the prediction that "the North Sea would be completely filled up, and the British Islands again connected with the Continent."

J. F., U.S.C.

[Decoration]

XIV.

_WILDEY'S DREAM._

A blacksmith stood, at his anvil good, Just fifty years ago, And struck in his might, to the left and right, The iron all aglow.

And fast and far, as each miniature star Illumined the dusky air, The sparks of his mind left a halo behind, Like the aureola of prayer.

And the blacksmith thought, as he hammered and wrought, Just fifty years ago, Of the sins that start in the human heart When _its_ metal is all aglow; And he breathed a prayer, on the evening air, As he watched the fire-sparks roll, That with hammer and tongs, _he_ might right the wrongs That environ the human soul!

When he leaned on his sledge, not like minion or drudge, With center in self alone, But with vision so grand, it embraced every land, In the sweep of its mighty zone; O'er mountain and main, o'er forest and plain, He gazed from his swarthy home, Till rafter and wall, grew up in a hall, That covered the world with its dome!

'Neath that bending arch, with a tottering march All peoples went wailing by, To the music of groan, of sob, and of moan, To the grave that was yawning nigh, When the blacksmith rose and redoubled his blows On the iron that was aglow, Till his senses did seem to dissolve in a dream, Just fifty years ago.

He thought that he stood upon a mountain chain, And gazed across an almost boundless plain; Men of all nations, and of every clime, Of ancient epochs, and of modern time, Rose in thick ranks before his wandering eye, And pa.s.sed, like waves, in quick succession by.

First came Osiris, with his Memphian band Of swarth Egyptians, darkening all the land; With heads downcast they dragged their limbs along, Laden with chains, and torn by lash and thong.

From morn till eve they toiled and bled and died, And stained with blood the Nile's encroaching tide.

Slowly upon the Theban plain there rose Old Cheop's pride, a pyramid of woes; And millions sank unpitied in their graves, With tombs inscribed--"Here lies a realm of slaves."

Next came great Nimrod prancing on his steed, His serried ranks, a.s.syrian and Mede, By bold Sennacherib moulded into one, By b.e.s.t.i.a.l Sardanapalus undone.

He saw the walls of Babylon arise, Spring from the earth, invade the azure skies, And bear upon their airy ramparts old Gardens and vines, and fruit, and flowers of gold.

Beneath their cold and insalubrious shade All woes and vices had their coverts made; Lascivious incest o'er the land was sown, From peasant cabin to imperial throne, And that proud realm, so full of might and fame, Went down at last in blood, and sin, and shame.

Then came the Persian, with his vast array Of armed millions, fretting for the fray, Led on by Xerxes and his harlot horde, Where billows swallowed, and where battle roared.

On every side there rose a b.l.o.o.d.y screen, Till mighty Alexander closed the scene.

Behold that warrior! in his pomp and pride, Dash through the world, and over myriads ride; Plant his proud pennon on the Gangean stream, Pierce where the tigers hide, mount where the eagles scream, And happy only amid war's alarms, The clank of fetters, and the clash of arms; And moulding man by battle-fields and blows, To one foul ma.s.s of furies, fiends and foes.

Such, too, the Roman, vanquis.h.i.+ng mankind, Their fields to ravage, and their limbs to bind; Whose proudest trophy, and whose highest good, To write his fame with pencil dipped in blood; To stride the world, like Ocean's turbid waves, And sink all nations into servient slaves.

As pa.s.sed the old, so modern realms swept by, Woe in all hearts, and tears in every eye; Crimes stained the n.o.ble, famine crushed the poor; Poison for kings, oppression for the boor; Force by the mighty, fraud by the feebler shown; Mercy a myth, and charity unknown.

The Dreamer sighed, for sorrow filled his breast; Turned from the scene and sank to deeper rest.

"Come!" cried a low voice full of music sweet, "Come!" and an angel touched his trembling feet.

Down the steep hills they wend their toilsome way, Cross the vast plain that on their journey lay; Gain the dark city, through its suburbs roam, And pause at length within the dreamer's home.

Again he stood at his anvil good With an angel by his side, And rested his sledge on its iron edge And blew up his bellows wide; He kindled the flame till the white heat came, Then murmured in accent low: "All ready am I your bidding to try So far as a mortal may go."

'Midst the heat and the smoke the angel spoke, And breathed in his softest tone, "Heaven caught up your prayer on the evening air As it mounted toward the throne.

G.o.d weaveth no task for mortals to ask Beyond a mortal's control, And with hammer and tongs you shall right the wrongs That encompa.s.s the human soul.

"But go you first forth 'mong the sons of the earth, And bring me a human heart That throbs for its kind, spite of weather and wind, And acts still a brother's part.

The night groweth late, but here will I wait Till dawn streak the eastern skies; And lest you should fail, spread _my_ wings on the gale, And search with _my_ angel eyes."

The dreamer once more pa.s.sed the open door, But plumed for an angel's flight; He sped through the world like a thunderbolt hurled When the clouds are alive with light; He followed the sun till his race was won, And probed every heart and mind; But in every zone man labored alone For himself and not for his kind.

All mournful and flushed, his dearest hopes crushed, The dreamer returned to his home, And stood in the flare of the forge's red glare, Besprinkled with dew and foam.

"The heart you have sought must be tempered and taught In the flame that is all aglow."

"No heart could I find that was true to its kind, So I left all the world in its woe."

Then the stern angel cried: "In your own throbbing side Beats a heart that is sound to the core; Will you give your own life to the edge of the knife For the widowed, the orphaned, and poor?"

"Most unworthy am I for my brothers to die, And sinful my sorrowing heart; But strike, if you will, to redeem or to kill, With life I am willing to part."

Then he threw ope his vest and bared his broad breast To the angel's glittering blade; Soon the swift purple tide gushed a stream red and wide From the wound that the weapon had made.

With a jerk and a start he then plucked out his heart, And buried it deep in the flame That flickered and fell like the flashes of h.e.l.l O'er the dreamer's quivering frame.

"Now with hammer and tongs you may right all the wrongs That environ the human soul; But first, you must smite with a Vulcan's might The heart in yon blistering bowl."

Quick the blacksmith arose, and redoubling his blows, Beat the heart that was all aglow, Till its fiery scars like a shower of stars Illumined the night with their flow.