To collect and publish a detailed account of the numerous and awful accidents which have occurred within the last few years, from the explosion of inflammable air, or _fire-damp_, in the coal mines of the North of England, would present a picture of the most appalling nature. It appears from a statement by Dr. Clanny, in the year 1813,[22] that, in the space of seven years, upwards of three hundred pitmen had been suddenly deprived of their lives, besides a considerable number who had been severely wounded; and that more than three hundred women and children had been left in a state of the greatest distress and poverty; since which period the mines have increased in depth, and until the happy discovery of Davy, the accidents continued to increase in number. [22] Phil. Transact. 1813. It may well be asked how it can possibly have happened that, in a country so enlightened by science and so distinguished for humanity, an evil of such fearful magnitude, and of such frequent recurrence, should for so long a period have excited but little sympathy, beyond the immediate scene of the catastrophe. It would seem that a certain degree of doubt and mystery, or novelty, is essentially necessary to create that species of dramatic interest by which the passions are excited through the medium of the imagination: it is thus that the philanthropist penetrates unknown regions, in search of objects for his compassion, while he passes unheeded the miserable groups who crowd his threshold; it is thus that the statesman pleads the injuries of the Negro with an eloquence that shakes the thrones of kings, while he bestows not a thought upon the intrepid labourers in his own country, who for a miserable pittance pass their days in the caverns of the earth, to procure for him the means of defying the severity of winter, and of chasing away the gloom of his climate by an artificial sunshine. That the benefits conferred upon mankind by the labours of Sir H. Davy may be properly appreciated, it is necessary to describe the magnitude of the evil which his genius has removed, as well as the numerous difficulties which opposed his efforts and counteracted his designs. The great coal field,[23] the scene of those awful accidents which will be hereafter described, extends over a considerable part of the counties of Northumberland and Durham. The whole surface has been calculated at a hundred and eighty square miles, and the number of different beds of coal has been stated to exceed forty; many of which, however, are insignificant in point of dimensions. The two most important are about six feet in thickness, and are distinguished by the names of _High main_, and _Low main_, the former being about sixty fathoms above the latter.