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Account of the late AEronautical Expedition from London to Weilburg, accomplished by Robert Holland, Esq., Monck Mason, Esq., and Charles Green, AEronaut.  London, 1836.

WE wish the distinction of rank - which, to refer to the strict letter of the legal table of precedence, is now-a-days treated very loosely - had been omitted from the title-page of this publication. It is absurd in the exposition of a matter so purely scientific, and can have no other effect than that of ministering to individual vanity, and offending the good sense of the reader.
   Mr. MASON's main object in this narrative is to show that Mr. GREEN has completely succeeded in overcoming the difficulties that have hitherto impeded the progress of ærostation, and after submitting the facts to the public, he saves them the trouble of coming to a conclusion, by deciding the question himself. "This success," he observes in the last page, after describing the voyage, "I feel no hesitation in now declaring to be complete. " Mr. MONCK MASON's declaration, however, is not sufficient to satisfy people who require specific proof and complete authority; and it would have been more discreet to have left his narrative to answer for itself.
   The obstacles that have lain in the way of previous æronauts were - 1, the uncertainty and expense of inflation with hydrogen gas; 2, the impossibility of remaining in the air a sufficient time to accomplish any considerable distance; 3, the dangers attendant upon ærostation; and 4, the want of power to give at will a direction to the course of the balloon. These obstacles, or a part of them, are stated, not very clearly, to have been overcome by Mr. GREEN, after a series of experiments. 1. By the substitution of coal gas for hydrogen gas, which not only includes a diminution of expense and risk, but the further advantage of being capable of longer retention in the balloon, on account of not bearing an equal affinity to the surrounding atmosphere, and being consequently less liable to escape. There are other advantages of equal importance, observes Mr. MASON, but he does not state what they are. 2. By an ingenious contrivance for sustaining the level of the balloon, without throwing out the ballast to stay her descent, or discharging gas to control its ascent, processes which, it is evident, must exhaust the power of the machine. The contrivance consists of a rope, of proper magnitude and extent, which trails upon the earth beneath, or, if over the sea, a quantity of liquid ballast in floating vessels, which equally resist the tendency to ascend, and which, by being drawn up as occasion requires, have, of course, an opposite effect. This process has been tested, and, therefore, we have no right to question the validity of the assertion that it is final and complete; but suppose it were desirable that the balloon should be suffered to ride at a greater height, for scientific purposes, than Mr. GREEN has yet attempted, is it likely that the expedient would answer with equal certainty? 3. Upon this obstacle Mr. MASON says very little, and proves nothing. He cites the fact that Mr. GREEN has made two hundred and twenty-six ascents without incurring a single accident, and concludes, therefore, that under skilful management, there is really no peculiar risk connected with ærostation. "I do not hesitate to say," observes Mr. MASON, "that the practice of ærostation is as devoid of extraordinary danger as that of any other mode of conveyance hitherto adopted." Mr. MASON, it appears, seldom hesitates, but nevertheless he will find some difficulty in persuading other people that a balloon is "as devoid of extraordinary danger" as a post-chaise, which is another "mode of conveyance." This is the species of argument which the logicians designate as the argument that proves too much. 4. Upon this obstacle, the most important of all, since it involves the great point which stands in the way of rendering ærostation useful to mankind, Mr. MASON says nothing. It is the only part of the subject about which he hesitates. He considers that the discussion of the question "would tend to a considerable digression," and he accordingly reserves it for a future opportunity.
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   These are the only practical points in the brochure. The remainder is occupied with Mr. MASON's account of the incidents of the voyage, which, considering the interest and novelty of the subject, has on the whole disappointed us. The narrative is not well written : it is full of misconstructions in the mechanism of the composition, and the style throughout exhibits a perpetual compromise between grandiloquence and poverty of expression. There was abundant scope for good writing, for picturesque descriptions, and a striking statement of individual impressions. But we miss these features, for which we looked with some curiosity. Setting aside the defects, however, there are a few pages not destitute of intrinsic interest.
   After the balloon had crossed the Straits of Dover, night had completely set in, and as the moon was not visible, the æronauts had no other clue to the course they were traversing than the lights that were spreading in every direction on the earth beneath them. This is one of the best pictures in the whole.

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   The scene itself was one which exceeds description. The whole plane of the earth's surface, for many and many a league around, as far and farther than the eye distinctly could embrace, seemed absolutely teeming with the scattered fires of a watchful population, and exhibited a starry spectacle below that almost rivalled in brilliancy the remoter lustre of the concave firmament above. Incessantly during the earlier portion of the night, ere the vigilant inhabitants had finally retired to rest, large sources of light, betokening the presence of some more extensive community, would appear just looming above the distant horizon in the direction in which we were advancing, bearing at first no faint resemblance to the effect produced by some vast conflagration, when seen from such a distance as to preclude the minute investigation of its details. By degrees, as we drew nigh, this confused mass of illumination would appear to increase in intensity, extending itself over a larger portion of the earth, and assuming a distincter form, and a more imposing appearance, until at length, having attained a position from whence we could more immediately direct our view, it would gradually resolve itself into its parts, and shooting out into streets, or spreading into squares, present us with the most perfect model of a town, diminished only in size, according to the elevation from which we happened at the time to observe it. 
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Our author justly observes that it would be impossible to convey any adequate idea of the effect which this extraordinary scene was calculated to create.

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   That we were, by such a mode of conveyance, amid the vast solitude of the skies, in the dead of night, unknown and unnoticed, secretly and silently reviewing kingdoms, exploring territories, and surveying cities, in such rapid succession as scarcely to afford time for criticism or conjecture, was in itself a consideration sufficient to give sublimity to far less interesting scenes than those which formed the subject of our present contemplations. [[end quoted material]] 

Thus they traversed a part of the continent of Europe, passing over cities and villages which they distinguished only by their artificial illuminations.

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   Among these latter, one in particular, both from its own superior attractions, the length of time it continued within our view, and the uninterrupted prospect which our position directly above it, enabled us to command, captivated our attention and elicited constant expressions of mingled admiration and surprise. Situated in the centre of a district which actually appeared to blaze with the innumerable fires wherewith it was studded in every direction to the full extent of all our visible horizon, it seemed to offer in itself, and at one glance, an epitome of all those charms which we had been previously observing in detail. The perfect correctness with which every line of street was marked out by its particular line of fires; the forms and positions of the more important features of the city, the theatres and squares, the markets and public buildings, indicated by the presence of the larger and more irregular accumulation of lights, added to the faint murmur of a busy population still actively engaged in the pursuits of pleasure or the avocations of gain, all together combined to form a picture which for singularity and effect certainly could never have been before conceived. This was the city of Liege, remarkable from the extensive iron-works which, abounding in its neighbourhood, occasioned the peculiar appearance already described, and at the time led to that conjecture, concerning its identity, the truth of which a subsequent enquiry enabled us to confirm. 
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This description of Liege - the correctness of which we do not call into question - appears to us rather strange. Mr. COTTERELL's iron-works, lying in the valley of the junction of the Meuse and the Ourt, in which, indeed, the whole town may be said to be built, sufficiently account for the blaze of innumerable lights, but the lines of fires marking the streets, and the forms and positions of markets, squares, &c., are not very clear to us. Liege is now lighted better than it used to be, but to the earth passenger it still presents a series of dark, dingy passages, which it is difficult to reconcile to the distinct representation of its anatomy by the means of its lamps to the eyes of the æronauts. But it is probable that such an effect would be produced at their elevation by a collection of lights that would appear very scanty to an individual passing through the streets.
   With one extract more we conclude. It is a description of a startling incident which occurred during the voyage, and which, to the inexperienced in these matters, will appear very terrifying.

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   It was about half-past three in the morning, when the balloon, having gained a sudden accession of power, owing to a discharge of ballast, which had taken place a few minutes before, while navigating too near the earth to be considered perfectly safe in a country, with the main features of which we were totally unacquainted, began to rise with considerable rapidity, and ere we had taken the customary means to check her ascent, had already attained an elevation of upwards of twelve thousand feet. At this moment, while all around is impenetrable darkness and stillness, and darkness most profound, an unusual explosion issues from the machine above, followed instantaneously by a violent rustling of the silk, and all the signs which may be supposed to accompany the bursting of the balloon, in a region where nothing but itself exists to give occasion to such awful and unnatural disturbance. In the same instant, the car, as if suddenly detached from its hold, becomes subjected to a violent concussion, and appears at once to be in the act of sinking with all its contents, into the dark abyss below. A second and a third explosion follow in quick succession, accompanied by a recurrence of the same astounding effects; leaving not a doubt upon the mind of the unconscious voyager of the fate which nothing now appears capable of averting. In a moment after all is tranquil and secure; the balloon has recovered her usual form and stillness, and nothing appears to designate the unnatural agitation to which she has been so lately and unaccountably subjected. 
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The cause of this phenomenon (we take Mr. MASON's word) is simple enough. The excessive cold of the night had congealed the net-work of the balloon, previously saturated with moisture, and its enlargement in rising from a lower to a higher position in the atmosphere, occasioned the shock in the sudden pressure by which the meshes of the net-work were liberated from their frozen state. The feeling of the descent of the car was evidently erroneous, for in fact it actually sprang up ; but the unexpectedness of the motion easily produced a false impression.
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DESCENT
OF Mr. GREEN's BALLOON
IN HOLLAND. ^[[Grub Street!  - handwritten in ink]]

   On Monday last, ^[[November 7th 1836. - handwritten in ink]] at half-past one, Mr. Green, accompanied by Mr. Monck Mason, and Mr. Holland, made his long-projected ascent in his Balloon, from Vauxhall Gardens, with the view of crossing the Channel. The Balloon went off in a south-easterly direction, and was visible for a length of time. There was upwards of a ton weight of ballast (water) in the car, besides some brandy and wine, a supply of coffee, meat and other stores of that description. They had furnished themselves with blue lights, stars, &c. in order, if they should not come to the end of their journey before dark, they might be enabled to choose a proper spot for their descent. - At half-past four the Balloon reached Canterbury, & which was plainly seen floating in the air towards the Continent. The voyagers descended so close to the earth at Blue Bell Hill, between Canterbury and Dover, as to be able to inform the passengers of the Chatham coach, that they were bound for France. A letter from Paris, dated Monday night, nine o'clock, states that the balloon was seen suspended over that city, with a blue light attached to it, and that it was proceeding in the direction of Holland.

 The following Letter is from the Herald of this Day; - 
   SIR--Supposing you will feel interested in the fate of our intrepid countrymen, I hasten immediately on my arrival to inform you that an hour previous to our departure, yesterday (Saturday) morning, Mr. Green's Balloon descended in perfect safety on the estate of an English resident, James Davis, Esq., formerly chief Bailiff of Birmingham, which is situated about two miles from Rotterdam. I am unable to give further particulars, which no doubt you will receive by to-morrow's packet. - I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
E. BRIDGEMAN, Captain.
Ramona Packet, off Custom House Stairs, Sunday Night.
[The Dutch Papers had not arrived at the time of our going to Press]

BIRT, Printer, 39, Great St. Andrew Street, Seven Dials.
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^[[291 - handwritten in pencil in bottom of page]]