Scenes And Incidents From The Life Of A Practical Miner
With A Treatise On The Ventilation Of Coal Mines

50 the same or similar characters still exist as busy as evei*. There are two constantly hovering1 about in the village where the man of genius and perseverance' dwells. The one is a tall, thin, lanky-looking fellow, his name is Jealousy, he appears to be ever watchful, ready to propagate evil reports, and confirm them as truth; “a man of such frightful mien, that to be hated, need only to be seen.” The othei' is a diminutive, infirm, ugly-]ooking creature, going about grinning and squinting, as if mocking every one he saw, and ready to pull them down if he thinks they have a better stand than himself, his name is Envy. These are two hateful beings they delight in doing ill and injuring a fellow man, although they reap no benefit by the injury inflicted. And are you aware, my lord, that there is a number of men in this world of ours, going about, and covered with a respectable garb too, that partake to a very high degree of the principles and dispositions of these two men, indeed, their evil dispositions sometimes appear to have even reached the upper dass of society; and so industrious is the immortal imp, though lurking unseen, that he will circumvent the man of genius and worth, and Ichneiomon-like, prey upon his position, until the vital principle of preferment is destroyed. This he effects through a system of false repre- sentation, knowing that his striving cannot ascend the steep hill of eminence step by step without the aid and assistance, the approbation and approval of the chief agent, &c., who I am sorry to say, does not seem to be actuated by the pure essence of generosity at all times. To this rule also, however, there are exceptions, and I firmly believe that the majority of viewers, and chief agents of collieries in the counties of Northumberland and Durham, are some of the best and bravest of men our country can boast of—men whose energy cannot be thwarted nor their courage intimidated by danger. But these are not the men’that will be seen arm in arm with the little imp. No, on the contrary they have chosen for themselves men from the ranks of labour, and reared them up under their own tuition, until they have become ornaments to their patrons, and safe-guards in the trade. Again, there is a class of men in or out of the trade, who (as far as time is concei-ned) have served tiieir lime to be viewers, but for the mediocrity of their intellectual qualifications, their masters could not conscientiously recommend them to the country as fit and proper persons for the responsible position of chief agents of collieries ■ still they must be somewhere, as lookers on, or hangers on, no matter what or where. These are the men seen at the street cor- ner ot circumstances, m company with that vile squinting imp, ready to d-nounce even his master as he passes by And I am afraid that the vil < monster might prompt these men to attempt an imposition on the government and country, by inducing them to apply for and accept situa- tions as inspectors of coal mines. Nothing could be more absurd, nor more cruel m its effects towards the miners. I consider them guilty of fo-gery*, perjury and misanthropy; they are culprits in the eye of reason, and morality. T cannot induce myself to believe there are such men as would forge a tale of pretensions, and profess themselves conversant with the science and system of mining, while they never had the opportunity to know it, who would perjure their conscience for the sake of a sinecure.