POETIC PROPHECIES.
Reading edition
In Dr. Darwin's Botanic Garden, first published in 1789, but written, it is well known, at least twenty years before the date of its publication, occurs the following prediction respecting Steam:—
"Soon shall thy arm, unconquer'd Steam, afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or, on wide-waving wings expanded bear The flying chariot through the fields of air,[1] Fair crews triumphant leaning from above, Shall wave their fluttering 'kerchiefs as they move; Or warrior bands alarm the gaping crowd, And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud: So mighty Hercules o'er many a clime Waved his huge mace in virtue's cause sublime; Unmeasured strength with early art combined, Awed, served, protected, and amazed mankind."
A distinguished photographer imagines that he has traced the foreshadowing of his delightful science in the following passage from our great epic poet:
"With one touch virtuous Th' arch-chemic sun, so far from us remote, Produces." Paradise Lost, b. iii. v. 608.
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