A Noble Mechanic

The Earl of Rosse ra thé Tubal Cain of the Irish peerage - a noble Vulean, a smith and an awtronomer - equally at ïomé in the forge or nmong Ure Mars. - Most of pcople have beard of his lordhip, they have heard of his great teles opej fif'ty-three feet long and six feet in iafrtieter, tlirough which the celebrated ebulas of Sir John Herschei was first een iu its most distinct aspeêt nf myridd lustering sturs; aird last it was sertained tliat his lordship had au early rivate view, through tui same monster, f the approach of bot weather, and was beroby enabled lo ereet his sheds for lis cattle. The great felescope stands n the demesne, and is slung between two massive stono walls, sotueihing like a )ier of the suspensión bridge, without he arch coiinecting the tide tnasonry. The first thing that strikes ycu is, that it is like a gigantic piece of waoden ordnancf, being put tajetber ffitb treinendous staves 1 ke a cask. The instrument is pointed it a given angle toward tha heavens ar;d down in lbo bottom of tha hnge cylinder, or cisk, if you clsoose to cali it such, is the spuculuin of reflector, the Iarwest that has ever been made, and tho manufacture of rhich. under his own superintendeucf , was the triuinph of Lord Rosse's mechanieal powers. In this metallic mirror is reflected the heaveuly body under observation, and on a staga ncar the opening at the top stands the observer examinii.g at leisure planet, fixed star, meteor, or nebuloe, just as the case raay ba. Here pigmy man reviews h. beavenly host; but Lord Kosse is no igmy. lf his father bad worn a blacksmitü's apron instcad of erinine or pables, the son would have risen from the einders of tjie forge to be a Stephenson or a Herschel. The Enrl's residenco, Rosse Castle, is a most amusing mixture of the forge and the feudal fortress. The greater part of the structuro is ooraparaüvely new, but portions of the old castle, which, in the Jacobite wars, stood a brief siege, still remain and bear upoo them the tracos of camión b;IJs. The present nobleiDau bas surïounded the building wilh a rampart and fo9se, so that in a sudden emergency it migbt beturned to strategioal account. Fortiflcation is one of the many branches of knowledge to which he has turnod his thoughts; but whon you get within the line of deffinces, what a ooutmst to baronial or military force the objects that meet your oye afford ? The genius of Watt triumphs over the inoitations of Vauban. Where cannon might have bristled s tidy steam engino wurked; great latlies turned under the iowers tbat frowned defiancs at James' forcea; in the atables, where raoing atud or war steed inight have bceti eheltured, a most ingenious and powerful apparatus for polishing the great specuium was üsed ; in tbo corner of ilie castle yard was a furnace. and close by Btood the moulds W which the monster reflectors were cast by lr's lordghip, with face and hands begrimmed w.th sweat and coal dust - an event more important, but not as woriliily record ed, as the casting of Sohiller's bell. Scraps of iron aüd Buiith'a ooal strewed tho ground ; and, instead of the baying of huund or the horn of huuter, you hear the sustaiued deep breathing of a pair of forge bellows, above which ring the measured clang of slede aud anvil for his lurdship is never idle.