The electrical kite--Candles magically lighted--St. Elmo’s fire--The chronoscope--The electric clock--The electric telegraph--Sub-marine telegraphs--The overruling providence of God. In the auto-biographical memoirs of sir John Barrow, lately published, he says, when describing some of the employments of his youth: “I had fallen in with an account of Benjamin Franklin’s electrical kite, and a kite being a very common object with school-boys, and a string steeped in salt-water with a glass-handle to it not difficult to be had, I speedily flew my kite, and obtained abundance of sparks (like those obtained from an electrical machine). An old woman, curious to see what I was about, was too tempting an opportunity to not to give her a shock, which so frightened her, that she spread abroad in the village that I was no better than I should be, for that I was drawing down fire from heaven. The alarm ran through the village, and my poor mother entreated me to lay aside my kite.” It was recently announced by a professor of magic, that several hundred candles would be lighted by one pistol shot. Accordingly, the stage appeared in partial darkness, but, through the gloom, ranges of candles might be indistinctly perceived at different heights from the floor; and, in a minute or two, the performer was seen to enter and discharge a pistol, when all the candles were instantly ignited, and the array of magical instruments appeared strongly illuminated, ready to be employed in the subsequent exploits--an effect always followed by enthusiastic acclamations. And yet there is no difficulty in explaining this prodigy. Candles, carefully prepared to ignite readily, might have above them an arrangement of wires, with the point of a wire just over each wick, and the whole being connected with an electrical battery, they could be ignited instantly, at a moment’s notice. The instant of the performer’s entering, might be the signal for the discharge of the battery by others, and the report of the pistol would prevent any sound being heard on the removal of the wires, which the previous darkness had effectually concealed.