They supposed the
case of the engine being upset when going at nine miles an hour,
and asked what, in such a case, would become of the cargo astern.
To which the witness replied that it would not be upset. One of
the members of the committee pressed the witness a little
farther. He put the following case: "Suppose, now, one of these
engines to be going along a railroad at the rate of nine or ten
miles an hour, and that a cow were to stray upon the line and get
in the way of the engine; would not that, think you, be a very
awkward circumstance?" "Yes," replied the witness, with a twinkle
in his eye, "very awkward-for the cow!" The honorable member did
not proceed farther with his cross-examination; to use a railway
phrase, he was "shunted." Another asked if animals would not be
very much frightened by the engine passing at night, especially
by the glare of the red-hot chimney? "But how would they know
that it wasn't painted?" said the witness.
IV
LORD JOHN RUSSELL
THOMAS MOORE TO LORD RUSSELL
[About the year 1816 Lord Russell's health being delicate he was
rarely in his seat in the House of Commons, and even expressed
his determination to withdraw from public life altogether. This
"Remonstrance" from the poet Thomas Moore is valuable at least
for the view which it gives of the considerations which impelled
the scion of the great Whig house to serve his country.
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