In 1825, there was opened in Cochin-China a canal, 23 miles long, 80 feet wide, and 12 feet deep. It was begun and finished in six weeks, although carried through large forests and over extensive marshes. Twenty thousand men worked upon it day and night; and it is stated that 7,000 died of fatigue.
LIFTING HEAVY PERSONS.
One of the most extraordinary pages in Sir David Brewster's Letters on Natural Magic, is the experiment in which a heavy man is raised with the greatest facility, when he is lifted up the instant that his own lungs, and those of the persons who raise him, are inflated with air. Thus, the heaviest person in the party lies down upon two chairs, his legs being supported by the one, and his back by the other. Four persons, one at each leg, and one at each shoulder, then try to raise him—the person to be raised giving two signals, by clapping his hands. At the first signal, he himself and the four lifters begin to draw a long and full breath, and when the inhalation is completed, or the lungs filled, the second signal is given for raising the person from the chair. To his own surprise, and that of his bearers, he rises with the greatest facility, as if he were no heavier than a feather! Sir David Brewster states that he has seen this inexplicable experiment performed more than once; and he appeals for testimony to Sir Walter Scott, who had repeatedly seen the experiment, and performed the part, both of the load and of the bearer. It was first shown in England by a gentleman who saw it performed in a large party at Venice, under the direction of an officer of the American navy.
ORIGIN OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.
"To this Society," a well-informed writer has said, "some of our best artists have owed the most priceless of all services that can be rendered to men of genius at the outset of their career—appreciation on the part of an enlightened few—introduction under favourable auspices to the many."
The Society of Arts was established in 1754, chiefly by Mr. William Shipley, a drawing-master; but it was not until 1774 that the institution was fairly located in its own premises, built in handsome style by the Adams', in John Street, Adelphi; the object being denoted by the inscription upon the entablature of the pediment in the front of the mansion, in these words: "Arts and Commerce promoted."
There are many interesting anecdotes of the early awards of this Society. Thus, in 1758, Bacon, the sculptor, received for a small figure of Peace a reward of ten guineas; and the same artist gained the highest premium upon nine different occasions. In 1761, Nollekens received ten guineas for an alto-relievo of Jephtha's Vow; and two years later, fifty guineas for a more important piece of sculpture. Flaxman, in 1768, gained for one of his earliest attempts a grant of ten guineas; and for another work, in 1771, he obtained the Society's gold medal. Lawrence, at the early age of thirteen, received the reward of a silver-gilt palette, with five guineas, for his drawing in crayons of the Transfiguration; and the painter in the height of his subsequent prosperity, was accustomed to speak of the impulse thus given to his love of art. In 1807, Sir William Ross, at the age of twelve, received the Society's silver palette for a drawing of the death of Wat Tyler; Mr. Edwin Landseer gained a similar mark of approbation in 1810, for an etching; and to Mr. Wyon was adjudged the gold medal, in 1818, for a medal die. But to artists there is a feature of still greater interest in the Society's history: it was in its rooms that the first exhibition of paintings in England took place in 1760, which was continued with great success for some years.