酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

Men of Invention and Industry-Part1_Samuel Smiles(1812-1904)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
ascertained. When it was first proposed, Sir Joseph Banks,

President of the Royal Society, said: "It is a pretty plan, but



there is just one point overlooked: that the steam-engine

requires a firm basis on which to work." Symington, the



practical mechanic, put this theory to the test by his successful

experiments, first on Dalswinton Lake, and then on the Forth and



Clyde Canal. Fulton and Bell afterwards showed the power of

steamboats in navigating the rivers of America and Britain.



After various experiments, it was proposed to unite England and

America by steam. Dr. Lardner, however, delivered a lecture



before the Royal Institution in 1838, "proving" that steamers

could never cross the Atlantic, because they could not carry



sufficient coal to raise steam enough during the voyage. But

this theory was also tested by experience in the same year, when



the Sirius, of London, left Cork for New York, and made the

passage in nineteen days. Four days after the departure of the



Sirius, the Great Western left Bristol for New York, and made the

passage in thirteen days five hours.[1] The problem was solved;



and great ocean steamers have ever since passed in continuous

streams between the shores of England and America.



In an age of progress, one invention merely paves the way for

another. The first steamers were impelled by means of paddle



wheels; but these are now almost entirely superseded by the

screw. And this, too, is an invention almost of yesterday. It



was only in 1840 that the Archimedes was fitted as a screw yacht.

A few years later, in 1845, the Great Britain, propelled by the



screw, left Liverpool for New York, and made the voyage in

fourteen days. The screw is now invariably adopted in all long



ocean voyages.

It is curious to look back, and observe the small beginnings of



maritime navigation. As regards this country, though its

institutions are old, modern England is still young. As respects



its mechanical and scientific achievements, it is the youngest of

all countries. Watt's steam engine was the beginning of our



manufacturing supremacy; and since its adoption, inventions and

discoveries in Art and Science, within the last hundred years,



have succeeded each other with extraordinaryrapidity. In 1814

there was only one steam vessel in Scotland; while England



possessed none at all. Now, the British mercantile steam-ships

number about 5000, with about 4 millions of aggregate tonnage.[2]



In olden times this country possessed the materials for great

things, as well as the men fitted to develope them into great



results. But the nation was slow to awake and take advantage of

its opportunities. There was no enterprise, no commerce--no "go"



in the people. The roads were frightfully bad; and there was

little communication between one part of the country and another.



If anything important had to be done, we used to send for

foreigners to come and teach us how to do it. We sent for them



to drain our fens, to build our piers and harbours, and even to

pump our water at London Bridge. Though a seafaring population



lived round our coasts, we did not fish our own seas, but left it

to the industrious Dutchmen to catch the fish, and supply our



markets. It was not until the year 1787 that the Yarmouth people

began the deep-sea herringfishery; and yet these were the most



enterprising amongst the English fishermen.

English commerce also had very slenderbeginnings. At the



commencement of the fifteenth century, England was of very little

account in the affairs of Europe. Indeed, the history of modern



England is nearly coincident with the accession of the Tudors to

the throne. With the exception of Calais and Dunkirk, her



dominions on the Continent had been wrested from her by the

French. The country at home had been made desolate by the Wars



of the Roses. The population was very small, and had been kept

down by war, pestilence, and famine.[3] The chief staple was



wool, which was exported to Flanders in foreign ships, there to

be manufactured into cloth. Nearly every article of importance



was brought from abroad; and the little commerce which existed

was in the hands of foreigners. The seas were swept by



privateers, little better than pirates, who plundered without

scruple every vessel, whether friend or foe, which fell in their



way.

The British navy has risen from very low beginnings. The English






文章总共2页
文章标签:名著  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号