and then a low whisper, and by and by a buzz--and then an open proposal
for a sociable game at CARDS. Presently, presently, good friends, we
will have our tea and biscuit, and then for loo or whist!
Let not starched propriety look prim, nor prudery shake her head, nor
jealous caution hold up her finger. Our fathers did the same before us,
and "be we wiser or better than they?" Call in the "womankind," as
Oldbuck of Monkbarns ungallantly styled the better part of creation,
and let us have fair friends and foes to join us round the table. Trim
the lights, roll from your purses just enough of silver to give an
interest to our play. Avaunt! spirits of gaming and avarice from this
circle--and here's at you till weariness or inclination calls us to
seek
"Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep."
And thus ends a day in Chotank: A day!--yes many, many days. In these
"our latter times," and this "our age of improvement," all this may be
thought wrong! Perhaps it is so. I will not dispute with stern morality
and strict philosophy. Their counsels are doubtless more worthy to be
followed than the maxim which
"Holds it one of the wisest things
To drive dull care away."
But for "my single self" I can say that after a day spent in Chotank I
never had reason to exclaim, following the fashion of the Roman
Emperor, "_Diem Perdidi!_"
But Chotank, like many other parts of the Old Dominion, is not now in
its "high and palmy state." Some fifteen or twenty years ago it
obtained that celebrity which makes it famous now. The ancient seats of
generous hospitality are still there, but their _former_ possessors, so
free of heart, so liberal, and blessed withal with the means of being
free and liberal, where are _they_? "And echo alone answers, where are
they." Their sons can only hope to keep alive the old spirit by the
exercise of more prudence and economy than their fathers possessed.
Otherwise here too, as alas! in some cases is too true, the families
that once and now own the soil, are destined to be rudely pushed from
their places by grasping money lenders! Altered as the times are
however, and changed as is the condition of many of the inhabitants,
the life that I have attempted faintly to sketch, is the life yet led
by the merry Chotankers. With the remembrance of the "olden time"
strongly impressed on their minds, and tradition to strengthen the
ideas formed by their own recollections, they _will_ have their fun and
their frolics--their barbecues and their fish frys. There are fewer
"roystering blades" than there used to be, and much less drinking than
formerly--but the court house now and then brings up a round dozen of
"good men and true," who will not disgrace their ancestors: men who
will make the "welkin ring" again with uprorarious mirth, and part as
they met in all that high flow of spirits which results from good
eating and drinking, and freedom, at least for the present, from care.
Let us, however, close. There is that in the place and the people of
whom I am writing to induce me to continue: but enough for this
"Recollection." If the eye of a Chotanker should meet this page and
read what is written, he will know without looking at the signature
that he has met with a FRIEND to him and 'all his neighborhood.'
_Alexandria, D. C., Sept. 13, 1834._ E. S.
For the Southern Literary Messenger.
IMPORTANT LAW CASE IN A SISTER STATE, INVOLVING QUESTIONS OF SCIENCE.
[Communicated by P. A. Browne, Esq. of Philadelphia.]
On the Easterly side of the beautiful river Schuylkill, about seven
miles north of the city of Philadelphia, stands the flourishing town of
MANYUNK. Only a few years ago there was not a house to be seen there,
and nothing disturbed the stillness of nature but the singing of the
birds, the lowing of the herds, and the gentle ripling of the river as
its waters glided towards the ocean; but now it has become the
habitation of thousands of human beings, the seat of numerous
manufactories, and a striking example of the rapid improvements in
American industry and the arts. The whole of this change has been
wrought by improving the navigation of the Schuylkill: by raising the
Fairmount and other dams, sufficient water has been provided, not only
for all the purposes of canaling and watering the city of Philadelphia,
but the company, incorporated by law for that purpose, have found at
their disposal an immense water power, which they sell and rent to the
best advantage.
Among the number of enterprising citizens who availed themselves of
these advantages was Mr. Mark Richards, a gentleman advantageously
known and esteemed in the mercantile as well as the manufacturing
world.
On the 1st of February, 1830, the Schuylkill navigation company made a
deed to John Moore, in which it was recited that on the 3d day of
November, 1827, Mark Richards had agreed with the company for the
purchase of a lot of ground at Manyunk therein described; that on the
25th of January, 1828, he, the said Mark, had agreed to purchase of the
company 100 _inches of water power_ at flat-rock canal, at the annual
rent of $6 per inch; and on the 13th of March, 1828, 200 inches of
water power at the same rate, which water power was to be granted on
the _usual conditions_, and subject to the former grants by the company
of water power. That on the 4th of June, 1830, Richards and wife had
granted the said lot and "_the aforesaid water power of 300 inches of
water_" to Moore. It further recited that Richards had requested the
grant of the company to be made to Moore, he Richards having paid the
whole rent, amounting to $1840 per annum up to that time. Then follows
the grant of the lot, together with the privilege of drawing from the
canal through the forebay, at all times thereafter forever, "SO MUCH
WATER AS CAN PASS through two metalic apertures, one of 50, and the
other of 250 square inches, under a head of three feet." To have and to
hold "the quantity of 300 SQUARE INCHES OF WATER," in manner aforesaid.
Moore covenanted at his expense to erect and support the two metalic
apertures, one of 50, and the other of 250 _square inches_, through
which the said 300 _inches_ of _water_, under a three feet head, "_is
to pass_." The company reserving to themselves the right to enter upon
the premises for the purpose of examining "the _size_ of the
apertures."
Mr. Moore having ascertained that by applying two plain simple metalic
apertures of the given sizes, he was not able to draw the same quantity
in square inches of water, but only 65 and 2/3d per cent. of the
amount, he therefore applied the adjutages described by Professor
Venturi; and for these applications, which were alleged to be a breach
of the contract, an action was instituted in the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania.
It will be perceived that this case involved not only important
principles of law, but interesting inquiries in hydrodynamics, to aid
in the discussion of which, large draughts were made upon the
scientific attainments of the accomplished bar of Philadelphia. For the
plaintiff were engaged John Sergeant and Horace Binney, Esquires; but
the absence of the latter gentleman at Congress, occasioned the
retaining of C. Chauncey, Esquire; for the defendants were Joseph R.
Ingersol and Peter A. Browne, Esquires.
The cause occupied several days, during which time the court house was
continually crowded with an intelligent audience.
The questions were, first, whether the granter was confined to the use
of _simple_ apertures of the dimensions mentioned in the deed, when it
was apparent from the opinions of men of science, and from the
experiments made before the jury, that through such openings it was not
possible for him to draw more than 65 and 2/3d per cent. of the water
contracted for, (it being a law of nature that when a fluid is drawn
from a simple aperture or opening, the stream or vein is contracted so
as to form the figure of a cone;) or whether the grantee was entitled,
at all events, to his 300 inches of water, and had a right to affix
adjutages to overcome this law of nature, and restore things to the
state they were supposed to be in by the parties, if, when they
contracted, they were ignorant of this principle. Second. The defendant
having contracted for as much water as "_can pass_" through metalic
apertures of given sizes, whether he was entitled, provided he did not
increase the size of the openings, nor increase the head, so to adjust
the adjutages as to draw _more_ water than 300 square inches; for it
was proved by another set of experiments that, by reason of the
adjutages at the defendant's mill, he had contrived, not only to
overcome the _vena contracta_ or contracted vein, but to draw off more
water than would have passed through a plain opening if the vena
contracta did not exist.
When a vessel is filled with a homogeneous fluid, and it is in
equilibrium, all the particles of the fluid are pressed equally in all
directions. This law was known to Archimedes, and its knowledge enabled
him to detect the fraud committed by the gold smith upon Hiero, King of
Syracuse. The first regular work upon Hisdrodynamics was written by
Sextus Julius Frentinus, inspector of the public fountains at Rome
under the Emperors Nerva and Trajan. He laid down the law, that water
which flows in a given time, from a given orifice, does not depend
_merely_ upon the magnitude of the orifice, but upon the _head_ or
height of the fluid in the vessel. From that period until the 17th
century none of the principles upon which this cause depends, were much
studied, nor the doctrine of fluids much known. At length Gallileo the
astronomer, by his discovery of the uniform acceleration of gravity,
paved the way for a rapid improvement in hydrodynamics. Gallileo was
acquainted with the fact that water could not be made to rise more than
a certain height in a common pump; but he was entirely unacquainted
with the reason. His pupil, Torricelli, and his friend, Viviani,
discovered that it was owing to the pressure of the external air, and
thus the problem was solved. Mariotte, who introduced experimental
philosophy into France, was the first who announced that fluids suffer
a retardation from the friction of their particles against the sides of
tubes; and he shewed that this was the case even though the tubes were
made of the _smoothest glass_. From his works, which were published
after his death, in 1684, it appears that though he was thus acquainted
with the principle upon which it is explained, he was unacquainted with
the _vena contracta_. About that time this subject began to be much
more studied in Italy. Dominic Guglielmini, a celebrated engineer, in
1697, published a very learned work upon the friction and resistance of
fluids; and from that period to this the learned of all nations have
admitted, that this resistance and retardation of fluids, owing to
their friction, did take place in a moving fluid. This work, as
connected with the motion of rivers and water in open canals, is one of
deep interest in natural philosophy; and it is one, which in this age
of improvements, should not be neglected in this country. Sir Isaac
Newton, whose capacious mind grasped at every kind of knowledge,
struggled hard to detect the reason of this resistance. In his 2nd book
of his "Principia," propositions 51, 52 and 53, he lays down certain
hypotheses, from which it results, that the filaments (as he calls
them,) of a fluid, in a pipe, will be kept back by their adhesion to
the sides of the tube, and that the next filaments will be kept back,
though in a less degree, by their adhesion to the first filaments, and
so on, until the velocity of the fluid will be greatest at the centre.
Now if we apply this principle to the discharge of a fluid through a
plain aperture, we will perceive that the parts of the water next to
the sides of the opening, being liable to the greatest friction, will
be the most retarded; and that those in the centre, being liable to the
least friction, will be most in advance; and that the friction
decreasing gradually from the extremities to the centre, the water will
be always flowing in the form of a cone, with the smallest end in
advance. This is the exact form of the vena contracta or contracted
vein!
When the pipes are very small, this attraction of the sides of the
pipes to the fluid operates so as to suspend the whole mass, when it is
called capillary attraction. This appears to be the extent to which
Newton was acquainted with the laws that govern the vena contracta, at
the time he published the first edition of his Principia; but in his
second edition, published in 1714, he discloses the doctrine of the
contracted vein with his usual intelligence.
Every body is acquainted with the splendid experiments of the Abbe
Bossut, which were published successively in 1771, 1786 and 1796, and
any one desirous of examining this interesting subject will consult
them at large.
Poleni first discovered, that by applying an additional cylindrical
pipe to the orifice, of the same diameter, the _expenditure_ of the
fluid was increased. This discovery was followed up, first, by Mr.
Vince; secondly, by Doctor Matthew Young; and lastly, by Venturi. This
last named gentleman published his work on hydraulics in 1798; it was
immediately translated and published in Nicholson's Journal of Natural
Philosophy, where all the different adjutages, including the one used
by the defendant in this action, are accurately drawn and described.
They are also noticed, though not in as ample a manner, in Gregory's
Mechanics, pages 438, 445 and 447.
From all which it was contended, that every one making a contract, must
be _presumed_ to be acquainted with the principles of the vena
contracta, and of the methods used to overcome it, and that this party
had a right to use these adjutages without incurring the risk of a
suit.
[We understand that the suit, the foregoing interesting sketch of which
has been obligingly furnished by one of the counsel, is still, in the
language of the lawyers, _sub judice_; the jury having found a verdict
subject to the opinion of the court. We are promised a full report of
the trial and decision, for a subsequent number.]--ED.
For the Southern Literary Messenger.
MR. WHITE,--The following sketch was given me by one of those mail
stage story-tellers, who abound on our roads, and enliven the drowsy
passengers by their narratives. It is founded on fact, and may not be
unacceptable to such of your readers as are fond of the delineation of
human character in all its variety of phases.
NUGATOR.
SALLY SINGLETON.
Who thundering comes on blackest steed,
With slacken'd bit and hoof of speed?--_Byron_.
A horseman passed us at full speed, whose wild and haggard look
arrested the attention of my friend. In the name of all that is
singular, said he, who can that be, and whither is he posting with such
rapidity? His garb seems of the last century, and his grizzled locks
stream on the wind like those of some ancient bard.
That man, replied I, is a lover, and is hurrying away to pay his
devoirs to his mistress, who married another, and has been dead for
many years.
Indeed! you surprize me, he rejoined. He has, it is true, the "_lean
look_" of Shakspeare's lover; the "_blue eye and sunken_;" the
"_unquestionable spirit_," and "every thing about him demonstrates a
careless desolation"--yet I should have imagined, that the snows of so
many winters had extinguished all the fires of that frosty carcase; but
tell me who he is, and what is his story.
His name is Wilson; and that of the lady whom he loved, was Sally
Singleton. I would that I had the graphic power of Scott to sketch a
tale of so much interest. If Sir Walter has immortalized an old man,
mounted on his white pony, and going in quest of the tombstomes, how
much is it to be regretted that the same master hand cannot be employed
to perpetuate the memory of yonder eccentric being, whose love lives
on, after the lapse of twenty years, in spite of the marriage and death
of his mistress--in spite of the evidence of his own senses, and
notwithstanding every human effort to dispel his delusion. Regularly
every morning, for the last twenty years, no matter what the state of
the weather, (alike to him the hail, the rain, and the sunshine,) has
he mounted his horse, and travelled a distance of ten miles, to see his
beloved Sally Singleton. His custom is, to ride directly up to the
window of her former apartment, and in a courteous manner, to bow to
his mistress in token of his continued attachment. Having performed
this act of gallantry, he waves with his hand a fond adieu, and
immediately gallops back with a triumphant air, as if perfectly
satisfied with having set his enemies at defiance. "The course of true
love never did run smooth," and in this case, whether "_misgrafted in
respect of years_," or "_different in blood_," or "_standing on the
choice of friends_," is not exactly known; but the lady was wedded to
another, and died soon after. Her lover would never believe in her
marriage or her death. His mind unhinged by the severity of his
disappointment, seems to have retained nothing but the single image of
her he loved, shut up in that apartment; and he resolved to brave every
difficulty, to testify his unchanging devotion. Obstacles were
purposely built across his path--the bridges were broken down--the idle
boys would gather around him, and assail him in their cruel folly--guns
even, were fired at him,--all in vain! The elements could not quench
the fervor of his love--obstacles were overleaped--he swam the
rivers--the boys were disregarded--balls could not harm him. He held a
charmed life; like young Lochinvar,
"He staid not for brake,
And he stop'd not for stone;"
but dashed onward to his beloved window, and then, contented with this
public attestation of his unalterable love, returned with a look of
triumphant satisfaction, to his joyless home. As a last effort to
remove the veil from his eyes, a suit was instituted, in which he was
made a party, and proof of the lady's marriage and death was purposely
introduced to undeceive him. He listened with cold incredulity to the
witnesses; smiled derisively at that part of their testimony which
regarded her marriage and death; and the next morning was seen mounted
as usual, and bowing beneath the window of his adored Sally Singleton.
From the Petersburg Intelligencer.
EXTRACT FROM A NOVEL
THAT NEVER WILL BE PUBLISHED.
We had all assembled round the cheerful fire, that cracked and blazed
in the wide old-fashioned hearth. The labor of the day was over. My
father, snugly placed in his great easy chair, with his spectacles on
his nose, had been for some time studying the last long winded and very
patriotic speech of our representative in Congress, until his senses,
gradually yielding to its soothing eloquence, had sunk into a calm
slumber.--My mother sat in the corner knitting with all her might, and
every now and then expressing her wonder (for she always wondered) how
Patsy Woods could marry such a lazy, poor, good-for-nothing fellow as
Henry Pate. Sister was leaning with both elbows on the table,
devouring, as she termed it, the last most exquisite romance. Puss was
squatted on Mother's cricket, licking her paws with indefatigable
industry; and old Carlo, the pointer, lay grunting on the hearth rug,
sadly incommoded by the heat of the fire, but much too lazy to remove
from before it. And where was I? Oh! there was another corner to the
fire place. In its extremest nook sat cousin Caroline, and next to
her,--always next to her when I could get there, was I. Now this was
what I call a right comfortable family party; and not the least
comfortable of that party was myself. Cousin Caroline; dear, dear
cousin! Many a year has rolled over me since the scene I describe; many
a cold blast of the world's breath has blown on my heart and chilled,
one by one, the spring flowers of hope that grew there; but the
blossoms of love thy image nurtured, were gathered into a garland to
hang on thy tomb, and the tears of memory have preserved its freshness.
Cousin Caroline!--she was the loveliest creature on whom beauty ever
set its seal. Reader, my feeling towards her was not what is called
love; at least, not what I have since felt for another. My judgment of
her excellence was not biassed by passion. She was most beautiful. I
cannot describe her.
"Who has not proved how feebly words essay,
To fix one spark of beauty's heavenly ray."
It were vain to talk of her "hyacinthine curls," her "ruby lips," her
"pearly teeth," her "gazelle eye." These, and all the etceteras of
description, define not beauty. It belongs to the pencil and not to the
pen, to give us a faint idea of its living richness. But had your eyes
glanced round a crowded room, crowded with beauty too, they would have
rested in amazement there; amazement, that one so lovely should be on
earth, and breathe among the creatures of common clay. Alas! it could
not be so long. No, I did not love her in manhood's sense of love; for,
at the time I speak of, I was but fourteen, and Caroline was in her
eighteenth year; but I loved her as all created things that could love,
loved her; from the highest to the lowest, she was the darling of the
household. The servants, indoor and outdoor, young and old, and the
crossest of the old, loved her. None so crabbed her smile would not
soften; none so stern her mildness would not subdue. Oh, what a
creature she was. I never saw Caroline angry, though I have seen her
repel, with dignity, intrusion or impertinence. I never saw her cross.
But this theme will lead me too far; and, perhaps the reader thinks I
might sum up my estimate of her qualities in one word--perfection. Not
so; but as near to it as the Creator ever suffered his creature to
attain. Well, we were sitting round the fire in the manner I have
described. Caroline was amusing me with a description of the pleasures
of the town, for she had just returned from a visit to a relation
residing in the city of ----, when the sound was heard of a carriage
coming up the avenue. What a bustle! Father bounced up, dropping the
paper and his spectacles; Mother stopped wondering about Patsy Woods,
to wonder still more who this could be. Pussy remained quiet, but Carlo
prevailed upon himself to stretch and yawn, and totter to the door, to
satisfy his curiosity. Sister looked up. Caroline looked down; and then
sister looked at her very archly, though I could not tell why, and
said, "go brother Harry, ask the gentleman in."