The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 124: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

OE LS tng ss Ss 118 Zz moneyed men who graspat every scheme as it appears, and hesitate not to invest a moiety of their capital in whatever seems likely to return a reasonable per- centage, in the chair was Mr. Fitzroy Greene, the self-appointed chairman pro. tem. of the board of directors; and at his side was Mr. Kimmerer, their future engineer, and who had been the first, indeed, to give the hint of the scheme to the persevering Parkins, Having expended the best part of a life in the invention of wonderful contrivances, and trying to obtain capitalists to patent them, he had easily and unsuspiciously fallen a victim to the designs of the man of law, and, with the promise of an excellent lucrative appointment on the establishment of the company, he had readily consented to bring forward his plan, and leave the management of it to the crafty brain of Mr, Parkins. As this was only a preliminary meeting, previous to the adoption and issue of the prospectus, the reporters were rigidly excluded, and therefore no reference to the papers of the period will be found to repay the researches of the inquisitive. The sole report of the proceedings is that which now for the first time is given to the world. On the table was exhibited the working-model that was to be the great “‘ draw” to the shareholders; and as soon as the hour had struck, the doors were closed, and the chairman proceeded to deliver his inangura- tive address, “Gentlemen,” began Mr. Fitzroy Greene, “ you have here before you the perfected mode! of an iaven- tion which I have no hesitation in declaring to you is one of the greatest triumphs of which the science and ingenuity of the nineteenth century will have to boast. All the tributes I could pay to the inventive powers and vast mechanical skill of the gentleman who has bestowed the labours of a lifetime in bringing it to the present advanced stage of completion, would, I am sure, be as unsatisfactory to me as it would be unnecessary to you. We have the gratification of knowing that those eminent and practical men to whom it has been privately submitted have unani- mously accerded to it their unqualified opinion of its surprising merits and capabilities. These letters will be placed before you. You will there see the estima- tion in which it has been held by those who even, from motives of professional jealousy, might have thought it their interest to deny its merits or doubt its practicability. It has extorted the unbought encomiums of these gentlemen ; it has already obtained the patronage of the most wealthy and influential members of the peerage; it has already secured the approbation of the press—that great organ of public opinion; and now it has been resolved upon, for the more effectual, as well as more extensive dissemina- tion of its advantages, to entrust the further develop- ment of this startling novelty in the world of art to an association whose united wealth and wisdom may co-operate to the full development of its power, and the distribution of that power through the most favourable and remunerative channels, The formation of this company, I have every reason to believe, will be not only most productive, in a pecuniary point of view, to the interests of every shareholder, but the means also of subverting the old-established, and soon, I hope, to-be-altogether-exploded notions of travelling from place to place, and substitute instead a realisation of those magnificent dreams which have hitherto been falsely limited to the province of the poet, and presumed incapable of being subjugated beneath the dominion of the man of practical science.” ee ee -—_-—-—_-_o, er oo THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON, ——— Having thus spoken, Mr, Greene sat down amidst - considerable applause, and @ momentary pause of ex- | pectation succeeded. A mingled feeling of curiosity aud wonderment pervaded the assembly at the sight of the inexplicable.model that was paraded before them for their inspection, and this was considerably increased by the preparations that were now made to show it in operation. The machine was composed of metal, wood, and framed canvass, and stood about three feet higher than the table on which it was placed. It exhibited that oddity of construction which so successfully invites curiosity without gratifying it. There was an oblong case below, that contained the propelling power, and was presumed to support the weight that the real machine would have to carry. Small canvass frames were attached on each side, and seemed to govern the movements of the entire fabric, as wings assist the Hight of birds; and around, about it, and beneath, were numbers of small wheels, connected by com- plicated lices and wires with each other, and giving to the whole structure the appearance of a model coal-scuttle, ornamented with diverging sails, and ventilated with a series of those twirling tin whirligigs that people place over door-ways, and feel fidgetty about ever afterwards as they contemplate their ceaseless clattering revolutions. As soon a3 a few preliminary matters connected with this complex machinery had been satisfactorily ad- justed, it was lifted up and conveyed to the upper part of the room, thence to be dispatched on its aerial journey from the hands of the inventor. At this period the chairman begged to solicit the attention of the meeting to a few words from a friend of his on the right, who had made himself acquainted with the merits of the machine, and who would now address to them a few words on the subject. Accordingly a tall, dashingly-dressed man, who had been enlisted by Mr. Parkins as an auxiliary to the cause, here made him- self conspicuous, and dangling his bunch of seals with an ostentatious show of respectability, he turned over a few papers he held in his hand for reference, and fix- ing an eye-glass cleverly under his left eyebrow, took a preparatory survey of the audience that he was going to enlighten, Before we chronicle the speech, it will be as well to first describe the appearance of the speaker. Mr. Luke Sharp was a man above the middle height, with a keen, knowing visage, the prominent expres- sion of which was of worldly shrewdness and indomit- able assurance combined. His eyes were like hawk’s —clear, strong, and piercing; and his under lip was habitually curled with an indication of confident self- reliance on his capabilities, Parkins had for sotiie years known him as a man about town, well versed in all the chicanery of speculation; and having met him a few weeks previously, and acquainted him in confi- dence with the proposed scheme, the other entered into the project so warmly, that Parkins, well know- ing the substantial services he could render. at once ayreed to make him one of the directors, and admit him into a participation of the profits. The value of his aid had been already proved in the influence he had exerted, and most of the names which had been paraded as favourable to the company were those of persons who had been talked into acyuiescence with its object by the irresiatible persuasiveness of Mr, Sharp's tongue. Indeed, it was in this department that he was always found so indispensably useful; and so graphic were his depictions of ulterior profits, and so forcible his arguments of the little risk that would © —- — eee MmIGDOOKS.Gom (SO)