Page images
PDF
EPUB

Her hair flowed down her neck in artless ringlets. A sprig of laurel was wreathed round her temples. She wore a robe of the purest purple, which was girt with a zone about her waist, from which it fell in ample and easy folds, alike graceful and unencumbered. She held in her hand an imperial sword, the emblem of power and authority. Before the throne, which was of alabaster, were placed various ensigns of dominion, a globe, crowns, sceptres, tables of laws, suits of armour; instruments of war, trophies, and the several symbols of the finer arts.

The sight of the goddess, so divinely great, overwhelmed me with veneration and rapture. I stood for some time immoveable, as if lost in admiration. When I was a little recovered from my extacy, my guide, pointing to the throne, said, "There sits the Divinity of the place, and daughter of those immortal powers, Wisdom and Love. She was brought forth at a birth with Happiness, her sister, and undivided companion; and sent down from above, as the best friend of man, and the surest directress of life, the guardian of youth, the glory of manhood, and the comforter of old age. By her instructions and laws, human society is formed and maintained; and human nature, by converse with her, grows truly godlike."

My guide then acquainted me with the name, and symbols of the numerous attendants of the goddess. Ón either side of the throne, as its supporters, stood two illustrious personages, called Prudence and Justice. Prudence held a rule in one hand, and in the other a serpent, which twined its inoffensive spires round her arm. Justice held in her hand a pair of scales. The votaries, as they approached, were introduced to the presence by a young virgin of the most lovely appearance, who could not perform her ask without blushing. Her name was Modesty. On the right hand of the goddess, stood Domestic Tenderness, Chastity with a veil, meek-eyed Chariy, sacred Friendship, and heroic Indignation, of a

stern aspect and awful mein, grasping the imperial sword which Virtue reached out to him, and leading up Public Zeal, Magnanimity, and Honour, persons of fearless countenance and noble deportment, with several more whose names I have forgot.

On her left hand were placed,, amongst others, Honesty, in her transparent vest; Sincerity, of an ingenious face; Resignation, leaning on a column, and looking up to heaven; Clemency, holding an olive branch; and Hospitality, of a liberal and open manner, joining hands with Politeness. Behind the throne, stood ranged, unruffled Serenity; smiling Cheerfulness; everblooming Joy, with a garland of flowers in her hand; and the Graces, encircled in each other's arms. There too appeared Industry, of a hale and active look, and Peace crowned with laurel; supporting a Cornucopia between them; Credit linked hand in hand with Commerce; and both introduced by Civil Liberty, holding her wand and сар. In Virtue's train, I likewise saw Rhetoric, of a bold and enthusiastic air: Poetry, with her lyre; Philosophy, with her speculum; History, with her pen; Sculpture, Painting, and the rest of the Arts and Sciences, each adorned with their respective symbols. The presence of the goddess seemed to inspire the whole generous and amiable band, and gave a fresh lustre to their beauty.

Section IX.

DESCENT INTO THE DOLGOATH MINE, IN 1806.

I was introduced yesterday to Mr. M, a manager of the mines, who called upon me this morning, and conducted me to the Dolgoath mine, situated three miles west from Redruth. It is the greatest mine in Cornwall, and is wrought principally for

copper, although it affords tio and several other metals. My companion was a man of information and intelligence, and I received from him uncommon civilities.

Our ride led us through a mining region; every thing here points toward this object; it is the great concern of the country, and in some department or other of this business, almost every man, woman, and child is employed. For it, agriculture, commerce, and manufactures are neglected, and that industry which, in more fortunate countries, is employed to fertilize and adorn the surface of the ground, is here directed to those treasures which are concealed beneath incumbent hills and mountains.

You would be astonished to see what quantities of rubbish, the industry of the Cornish miners has collected on the surface: it gives the country an appearance of sterility and rudeness almost inconceivable.

Redruth is in the centre of a circle of about twenty miles in diameter, within which are contained almost all the important mines. I came into the country with the impression that tin is its principal production, but I find that copper is by far the greatest concern, and that tin is only a secondary object. The tin is less abundant than formerly, but the copper much more so, and the latter article now commands. so high a price that the working of the copper mines is a very profitable business.

The expence of the Dolgoath mines are about seven or eight thousand pounds sterling a month, and the clear profits for the last five months have been eighteen thousand pounds, that is, at the rate of forty three thousand two hundred pounds, or one hundred ninety-two thousand dollars a year. These facts make it very evident that the mining business in Cornwall is a great and profitable concern.

The miners are under the immediate control of a chief who is called the captain of the mine. Mr. M-introduced me to one of those captains, who obligingly undertook to conduct me through the subterranean regions of Dolgoath.

First of all, we repaired to the miner's ward-robe, where, having taken leave of Mr. M, I prepar ed for my descent, by throwing off my own dress and putting on that of the miners. It consisted of a very large shirt, of very coarse materials, and made like the frocks of the Connecticut farmers; then of a pair of large sailor trowsers, striped across with white and black, of the coarsest stuff which is ever employed for horse blankets, and, over all was a loose coat, which, like the rest of my apparel, exhibited the strongest evidence that it had often been below the surface. I wore a pair of cow-skin shoes, without stockings, made fast by tow strings, passing under the sole and over the instep. Over my head they drew a white cap, which they crowned with an old hat without a brim.

Besides the captain I had another guide, an experienced miner who went before, while the captain followed me each of them carried a supply of candles tied to a button-hole, and, like them, I bore a lighted candle in my left hand, stuck into a mass of wet clay. Although I was preparing, like Æneas, to descend to the shades below, I could not boast of his epic dignity, for he bore a golden branch while I, carried only a tallow candle.

The mines of Cornwall are of much more difficult access than those of Derbyshire, for instead of going horizontally, or with only a gentle descent, into the side of a mountain, we are obliged to go perpendicularly down the shaft, which is a pit formed by digging and blasting, and exactly resembles a well, except in its greater depth and varying size, which is sometimes greater and sometimes smaller, according to circumstances. The descent is by means of ladders; at the termination of each ladder there is commonly a resting place, formed by a piece of timber or a plank fixed across, in the stones or earth, which forms the walls of the pit; this supports the ladder above, and from it the adventurer steps on the ladder next below.

With each a lighted candle, so held by the thumb and fore-finger of the left hand, as to leave the other three fingers at liberty to grasp the rounds of the ladder, and with the right hand devoted wholly to the same service, we commenced our descent.

It was laborious and hazardous, but we did not stop till we had descended four hundred feet. The rounds of the ladders are constantly wet and muddy, and therefore very slippery; many of them, through length of time, are decayed and worn so very small, that they seem on the point of giving way; in descending perpendicularly with these disadvantages, the utmost caution is therefore requisite, on the part of a novice, lest he should quit his foothold before he has a firm grasp with his fingers, or lest, in the dim twilight shed by his candle, he should make a false aim with his foot or hand, or, take an imperfect and untenable hold with either; not to mention the danger of the giving way of the rounds of the ladder, any of which accidents would send him to a place whence he would not return; for, the resting places at the feet of the ladders, as they fill only a small part of the shaft, would diminish very little, the chance of going quite to the bottom.

Having arrived at the depth of four hundred feet, we came to what the miners call, an adit, or level, that is, a passage running horizontally, or, at right angles with the shaft. This passage had been made through the solid rock, and it was high enough to allow us to pass along stooping, which we did for a considerable distance, when the sound of human voices from below, indicated our approach to the populous regions of midnight; while the rattling of mechanical instruments, employed in breaking off the ore, and the report from the explosion of gun-powder, echoed and reverberated along these narrow caverns with the sulphureous and suffocating smoke, presented a combination of circumstances which might well have give one the impression that he had arrived in a worse place than the mine of Dolgoath.

« PreviousContinue »