ページの画像
PDF
ePub

merly the deepest coal mines that had been wrought: as miners had not elsewhere penetrated to so great a depth below the surface of the sea; for the very deep mines in Hungary, Peru, &c., are situated in mountainous districts where the surface of the earth is elevated to a great height above the level of the ocean: but I have lately ascertained that the depth does not equal that of a more recent coal mine in Lady Londonderry's colliery at New Seaham, in the county of Durham, the depth of which is almost 300 fathoms (1800 feet); this mine however, though reaching several miles underground, does not yet extend its operations under the sea, like those at Whitehaven; but it is measured from the surface of the elevated upland about a mile from the sea where the colliery stands, almost close to the pretty church (with its adjacent new parsonage) erected by Lady Londonderry for the benefit of the colliery population; thus (as the Bishop of Durham once appropriately remarked) "bringing the Church to the pit's mouth." I could say a great deal more on this remarkable subject and the interesting pastoral work going on at New Seabut as I am not now describing Seaham but Whitehaven, I must restrain my eager pen. haps in some future volume of wanderings I may enter into fuller details, both of the doings aboveground, and the scenes underneath the earth, at New Seaham colliery.

ham;

Per

The subterranean passages by which men and horses descend through intersecting galleries to the coal-works at Whitehaven, are locally termed Bearmouths; where these have not been made, no horses can be employed underground, and the workmen are let down the shaft by the windlass. The veins of coal usually lie in strata lying at intervals one above another, and are frequently interrupted by breaks of hard rock, which the miners call dykes.

Those works which are at the greatest depth below the level of the sea, produce the largest quantity of fire-damp; and the utmost care is requisite to keep the mines ventilated with perpetual currents of fresh air to expel these noxious exhalations: for if ever, by any accident, these poisonous gases are set on fire, they produce dreadful explosions, bursting out of the pits like eruptions from fiery mountains and in this way, the coal in many collieries has several times been set on fire, continuing to burn for many months, and even years, until extinguished by large streams of water conducted into the mines in sufficient quantity to fill those parts where the coal was burning.1

How wonderful,-how past finding out,―are the ways of the Creator! How great is His goodness! How unsearchable the depths of His wisdom!

"If an intelligent being from some other sphere had alighted on this globe during that remote period when the vegetation now dug out of the coal formation covered the surface with its gigantic growth, might he not have marvelled why there should be such a profusion of vegetable forms, and such a colossal development of vast forests of tree ferns and other huge primeval plants of sombre foliage, when no vertebral animal was there to enjoy and enliven the almost universal solitude ? But let ages roll by, and let that same being revisit our world at the present time. Let him traverse the little island of Britain, and see there 15,000 steam engines moved by coal dug out of the earth, and produced by these same ancient forests. Let him see these engines performing the work of 2,000,000 of men, and moving machinery which accomplishes what would require the unaided labours of

1 For the source whence is gleaned this description of Whitehaven and its coal-mines, vide Beauties of England and Wales, Burn's History of Cumberland, &c.

400,000,000 of men, and he could not doubt but such a result was one of the objects of that rank vegetation which covered the earth ere it was fit for the residence of such natures as now dwell upon it. Let him go to the coal-fields of other countries, and especially those of the United States, stretching over 150,000 square miles, containing a quantity absolutely inexhaustible, imparting comfort to millions of inhabitants, and giving life and energy to every variety of manufacture; and irresistible must be the conviction, that such coal-fields—destined to pour out their wealth through all coming time, long after the present forests shall have been levelled-do indeed offer a beautiful example of prospective benevolence on the part of the Deity! In those remote ages, while yet the earth was unfitted for the higher races of animals that now dwell upon it, it was eminently adapted to nourish that gigantic flora which would produce the future fuel of the human race, when that crown of all God's works should be placed upon the earth. Ere that time should arrive, those primeval forests must sink beneath the ocean, and be buried beneath deposits of rock, thousands of feet thick. But during that measureless period, all those chemical changes essential to convert them into coal would be accomplished; and, at last, man would find access, by his ingenuity and industry, to the deep-seated beds whence his fuel might be drawn. Nor would these vast repositories fail, until the consummation of all things. Surely, there was no waste of creative power, but a far-reaching plan of benevolence, in the profusion of vegetable life in the earlier periods of our planet!"'1

How little do we think of these things, when we pile the lumps of coal upon our blazing fire! It

1 Dr. Hitchcock's Religion of Geology.

comes to us as a matter of course; and we remember not-perhaps we have never heard-how the creative agency of ages was requisite to form the every-day fuel which we consume.

There is something inexpressibly solemn in the thought that our Heavenly FATHER was thus planning for the supply of our wants, through so many vast periods, before even our nature had sprung into being; and that the little particles of daily comfort which we need, were, from unfathomable eternity, gradually preparing for our use beneath 'His most loving care. May not this help us to conceive, how this same kind FATHER doth now -in the embryo-state of our new creation in His dear SON-daily so mould the life of each of us, as to cause it to work out the "far more exceeding weight of glory," even the "things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard," in the never-ending kingdom of the future. It may be that many of the apparently small things of frequent occurrence in which our finite mind can see no object, will be, like the forests of the Pre-Adamite world, actually the progenitors of the phases of our everlasting destiny; and that the character of our usefulness in eternity, will (so to speak) date its birth from the fashion of our pursuits now. And sometimes, when by the breath of the "wind which bloweth where it listeth," we are brought into mysterious .spirit-contact with other souls, what if this too should be the prelude to close consanguinity of saintly communion in the world to come, even the preparing of the stones which shall lie side by side in the heavenly temple, smoothing the roughnesses that soul may fit into soul as angle into crevice, and blending into exquisite harmony the diversities of natural character which possibly must evermore survive even amongst the children of grace.

336

CHAPTER XX.

ENNERDALE is situated amongst the mountains nearest to Whitehaven; and on every side, except the west, is guarded by craggy heights that are almost impassable. The length of the lake, Ennerdale-water, is about two and a half miles, and its broadest width about three quarters of a mile: its eastern shore is spangled with small farms, and the view of the lake from the boat-house is very beautiful. Across the lake on the right, is Cragfell, Reevelin, and the bold rocky Angling Stone; in front is Side-Iron Crag: whilst nearly closing the head of the dale, stands the imposing Pillan, with the primeval pillar-stone on one side, and the water-shed of Windyett on the other. On the left, from the boat-house, is Herdhouse; below it is Bowness-Knot, a fine craggy knoll; and still lower, the wooded promontory of Whinsey Crag; beyond, in the same range with Herdhouse, is the Cop, Red Pike, Highstile, and High Crag. Near the head of the lake is Smithy-Beck: there, and on the opposite shore, are iron-clay heaps, testifying that the adventurous Romans had penetrated even into this lonely region, to forge fetters for the native Britons from the ore of their mother land. Melancholy and solemnity are the most prevalent characteristics of the scenery of Ennerdale.

A footway between Bannifell and Herdhouse,

« 前へ次へ »