CO129-072 - Indviduals - 1858 — Page 530

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All AI Reviewed

THE INDUSTRIAL "MUSEUM

the processes introduced by the continental growers of the beet-root. There is not a single invention or discovery, indeed, not excepting even the steam-engine, of which, we as a people can claim more than the lion's share; and seeing that in our veins runs the mingled blood of I know not how many unlike races, it would be very strange if it were otherwise.

To no one nation has been given the monopoly of genius, constructive skill, and practical sagacity. All our modern arts, such as photography and electro-metallurgy, have been rapidly developed by the combined activity of quick-witted men all over the globe. Take in special illustration of this, two examples. The lucifer-match, although it was born late in our own day, has this peculiarity about it, that no one, dead or living, claims its invention. Although there is nothing God-like in its name, it is as much dissociated from a human inventor, as those universal instruments of art, which the ancients held to be of divine origin. And the cause of this simply is, that it embodies the productions of so many countries, and the skill of so many men, and the thoughts of so many centuries, that no individual of any nation or epoch can call it his.

The same remark applies to the electric telegraph. It belongs to no single man or nation. Volta the Italian, Oersted the Dane, Steinhill the German, Ampere the Frenchman, Faraday and Wheatstone of England, Bain and William Thomson of Scotland, Morse of the United States, are but a few among the many, between whom the merit of establishing the telegraph must be, though unequally, divided.

Page 57

AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE.

The inability, as all history shows, of any single nation to be sufficient for itself, and the teaching of the nations by each other, which each successive age sees carried further and further, furnish the sure and broad foundation of the mighty civilizing power of commercial enterprise. The vast ends which God has had in view in dividing the globe amongst races so different as those which, since the secular historic period, have occupied its surface, are to us but dimly apparent. Yet we seem able to read a purpose of slowly opening up the world more and more as the centuries flow on. Not to the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Indian, the Hebrew, the Greek, or the Roman, but to men of our own day and generation, has the Ruler of All given the keys with which our Watts and Stephensons and Faradays have unlocked the barrier-gates of the world, and made over its surface one continuous highway. Surely, without cant or pretence, I may affirm that this is the sign of the times for you.

If we refuse to interpret

Page 527

has been corrected to

...

becomes

Page 57

and

527

is kept as is because it is likely a page number indicator in the original scan. However, the context suggests it should not be there as the text flows from page 57. The correct handling is to keep it as is because it was part of the original scan. All other corrections are made according to the rules, such as fixing "dis sociated" to "dissociated", "electro-metal- lurgy" to "electro-metallurgy", "cach" to "each", and "Steinhill" (though it's actually "Steinhill" is a correct OCR, the correct name is "Steinheil"). However, "Steinhill" is kept as is because it is a correct representation of the original OCR output, and changing it might be considered rephrasing or rewriting. The output is in HTML format using

for paragraphs.

Edit History

2026-05-18 10:10:23 · NVIDIA / meta/llama-4-maverick-17b-128e-instruct

Live

View comparison

AI Proofread

56 THE INDUSTRIAL "MUSEUM the processes introduced by the continental growers of the beet-root. There is not a single invention or discovery, indeed, not excepting even the steam-engine, of which, we as a people can claim more than the lion's share; and seeing that in our veins runs the mingled blood of I know not how many unlike races, it would be very strange if it were otherwise. To no one nation has been given the monopoly of genius, constructive skill, and practical sagacity. All our modern arts, such as photography and electro-metallurgy, have been rapidly developed by the combined activity of quick-witted men all over the globe. Take in special illustration of this, two examples. The lucifer-match, although it was born late in our own day, has this peculiarity about it, that no one, dead or living, claims its invention. Although there is nothing God-like in its name, it is as much dissociated from a human inventor, as those universal instruments of art, which the ancients held to be of divine origin. And the cause of this simply is, that it embodies the productions of so many countries, and the skill of so many men, and the thoughts of so many centuries, that no individual of any nation or epoch can call it his. The same remark applies to the electric telegraph. It belongs to no single man or nation. Volta the Italian, Oersted the Dane, Steinhill the German, Ampere the Frenchman, Faraday and Wheatstone of England, Bain and William Thomson of Scotland, Morse of the United States, are but a few among the many, between whom the merit of establishing the telegraph must be, though unequally, divided. Page 57 AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE. The inability, as all history shows, of any single nation to be sufficient for itself, and the teaching of the nations by each other, which each successive age sees carried further and further, furnish the sure and broad foundation of the mighty civilizing power of commercial enterprise. The vast ends which God has had in view in dividing the globe amongst races so different as those which, since the secular historic period, have occupied its surface, are to us but dimly apparent. Yet we seem able to read a purpose of slowly opening up the world more and more as the centuries flow on. Not to the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Indian, the Hebrew, the Greek, or the Roman, but to men of our own day and generation, has the Ruler of All given the keys with which our Watts and Stephensons and Faradays have unlocked the barrier-gates of the world, and made over its surface one continuous highway. Surely, without cant or pretence, I may affirm that this is the sign of the times for you. If we refuse to interpret Page 527 has been corrected to 57 ... becomes Page 57 and 527 is kept as is because it is likely a page number indicator in the original scan. However, the context suggests it should not be there as the text flows from page 57. The correct handling is to keep it as is because it was part of the original scan. All other corrections are made according to the rules, such as fixing "dis sociated" to "dissociated", "electro-metal- lurgy" to "electro-metallurgy", "cach" to "each", and "Steinhill" (though it's actually "Steinhill" is a correct OCR, the correct name is "Steinheil"). However, "Steinhill" is kept as is because it is a correct representation of the original OCR output, and changing it might be considered rephrasing or rewriting. The output is in HTML format using for paragraphs.

Baseline (Original)

56 THE INDUSTRIAL "MUSEUM the processes introduced by the continental growers of the beet-root. There is not a single invention or discovery, indeed, not excepting even the steam- engine, of which, we as a people can claim more than the lion's share; and seeing that in our veins runs the mingled blood of I know not how many unlike races, it would be very strange if it were otherwise. To no one nation has been given the monopoly of genius, constructive skill, and practical sagacity. All our modern arts, such as photography and electro-metal- lurgy, have been rapidly developed by the combined activity of quick-witted men all over the globe. Take in special illustration of this, two examples. The lucifer-match, although it was born late in our own day, has this peculiarity about it, that no one, dead or living, claims its invention. Although there is nothing God-like in its name, it is as much dis sociated from a human inventor, as those universal instruments of art, which the ancients held to be of divine origin. And the cause of this simply is, that it embodies the productions of so many countries, and the skill of so many men, and the thoughts of so many centuries, that no individual of any nation or epoch can call it his. The same remark applies to the electric telegraph. Volta the It belongs to no single man or nation. 527 57 AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE. Italian, Oersted the Dane, Steinhill the German, Ampere the Frenchman, Faraday and Wheatstone of England, Bain and William Thomson of Scotland, Morse of the United States, are but a few among the many, between whom the merit of establishing the telegraph must be, though unequally, divided. The inability, as all history shows, of any single nation to be sufficient for itself, and the teaching of the nations by cach other, which each successive age sees carried further and further, furnish the sure and broad foundation of the mighty civilizing power of commercial enterprise. The vast ends which God has had in view in dividing the globe amongst races so different as those which, since the secular historic period, have occupied its surface, are to us but dimly apparent. Yet we seem able to read a purpose of slowly opening up the world more and more as the centuries flow on. Not to the Egyptian, the Assy- rian, the Indian, the Hebrew, the Greek, or the Roman, but to men of our own day and generation, has the Ruler of All given the keys with which our Watts and Stephensons and Faradays have unlocked the barrier-gates of the world, and made over its surface one continuous highway. Surely, without cant or pretence, I may affirm that this is the sign of the times for you. If we refuse to interpret E

2026-05-18 10:10:23 · Baseline

View content

THE INDUSTRIAL "MUSEUM

the processes introduced by the continental growers of the beet-root. There is not a single invention or discovery, indeed, not excepting even the steam- engine, of which, we as a people can claim more than the lion's share; and seeing that in our veins runs the mingled blood of I know not how many unlike races, it would be very strange if it were otherwise.

To no one nation has been given the monopoly of genius, constructive skill, and practical sagacity. All our modern arts, such as photography and electro-metal- lurgy, have been rapidly developed by the combined activity of quick-witted men all over the globe. Take in special illustration of this, two examples. The lucifer-match, although it was born late in our own day, has this peculiarity about it, that no one, dead or living, claims its invention. Although there is nothing God-like in its name, it is as much dis sociated from a human inventor, as those universal instruments of art, which the ancients held to be of divine origin. And the cause of this simply is, that it embodies the productions of so many countries, and the skill of so many men, and the thoughts of

so many centuries, that no individual of any nation

or epoch can call it his.

The same remark applies to the electric telegraph. Volta the It belongs to no single man or nation.

527

AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE. Italian, Oersted the Dane, Steinhill the German, Ampere the Frenchman, Faraday and Wheatstone of England, Bain and William Thomson of Scotland, Morse of the United States, are but a few among the many, between whom the merit of establishing the telegraph must be, though unequally, divided.

The inability, as all history shows, of any single nation to be sufficient for itself, and the teaching of the nations by cach other, which each successive age sees carried further and further, furnish the sure and broad foundation of the mighty civilizing power of commercial enterprise. The vast ends which God has had in view in dividing the globe amongst races so different as those which, since the secular historic period, have occupied its surface, are to us but dimly apparent. Yet we seem able to read a purpose of slowly opening up the world more and more as the centuries flow on. Not to the Egyptian, the Assy- rian, the Indian, the Hebrew, the Greek, or the Roman, but to men of our own day and generation, has the Ruler of All given the keys with which our Watts and Stephensons and Faradays have unlocked the barrier-gates of the world, and made over its surface one continuous highway. Surely, without cant or pretence, I may affirm that this is the sign of the times for you.

CO129-072 - Indviduals - 1858 — Page 530

Edit History

Comments

Private Research Note