Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Force, Energy, Machinery, Politics, Government, Crime, Amusement

    Begins by arguing that even Liberal statesmen would 'vote for the Conservation of Force', if not the conservation of the British constitution, and that members of both Conservative and Liberal parties will praise John Ericsson for 'collecting and applying' the force that 'radiates from the sun'. Suggests that there are a 'few ladies who do not know that the sun is the one sole origin of all force' and that although some girls have laughed at Jonathan Swift's notion of extracting 'sunbeams from cucumbers' (in Swift 1726), they should know that they gain energy from digesting cucumbers. Mr Punch had already suggested the idea of storing the energy (for steam engines) from the sun (see , PU1/46/15/1), although he envisaged that the energy could be stored by convicts, and a 'strong rogue' could store his energy by 'condensation of air confined in iron cylinders'. Concedes, however, that Ericsson's method of storing energy is preferable, but warns against the wastage of force by convicts, urging that just as the 'sun must needs shine both upon the just and the unjust', so the latter should likewise put its force to good use. Proceeds to consider the possibility of exploiting the otherwise unproductive force of dancing and rowing, both of which could be of wider social benefit.