were it
even so good.

And before proceeding, let me say this also--that though our subject be so
great, and our intention that of treating it honestly, seriously, and
philosophically, yet I mean to pass away from all those who are seniors
amongst us. I claim the privilege of speaking to juveniles as a juvenile
myself. I have done so on former occasions--and, if you please, I shall do
so again. And though I stand here with the knowledge of having the words I
utter given to the world, yet that shall not deter me from speaking in the
same familiar way to those whom I esteem nearest to me on this occasion.

And now, my boys and girls, I must first tell you of what candles are
made. Some are great curiosities. I have here some bits of timber,
branches of trees particularly famous for their burning. And here you see
a piece of that very curious substance taken out of some of the bogs in
Ireland, called _candle-wood_,--a hard, strong, excellent wood, evidently
fitted for good work as a resister of force, and yet withal burning so
well that where it is found they make splinters of it, and torches, since
it burns like a candle, and gives a very good light indeed. And in this
wood we have one of the most beautiful illustrations of the general nature
of a candle that I can possibly give. The fuel provided, the means of
bringing that fuel to the place of chemical action, the regular and
gradual supply of air to that place of action--heat and light--all
produced by a little piece of wood of this kind, forming, in fact, a
natural candle.

But we must speak of candles as they are in commerce. Here are a couple of
candles commonly called dips. They are made of lengths of cotton cut off,
hung up by a loop, dipped into melted tallow, taken out again and cooled,
then re-dipped until there is an accumulation of tallow round the cotton.
In order that you may have an idea of the various characters of these
candles, you see these which I hold in my hand--they are very small, and
very curious. They are, or were, the candles used by the miners in coal
mines. In olden times the miner had to find his own candles; and it was
supposed that a small candle would not so soon set fire to the fire-damp
in the coal mines as a large one; and for that reason, as well as for
economy's sake, he had candles made of this sort--20, 30, 40, or 60 to the
pound. They have been replaced since then by the steel-mill, and then by
the Davy-lamp, and other safety-la