Iron King

“ Now iron is king and holds dominion over the world, transmuted into steel through the offices of its ally, coal. Bronze is rejected, shattered, dethroned, but some of the great bells yet remain, hanging silent and patient while hell rages around them and iron asserts its universal dominion. ”

“ My Yron works and inventions thus demolished, to the joy of many Iron masters, whose works scaped the Flood and who had often disparaged the Authours Inventions, because the Authour sold good Iron cheaper then they could afford it; and which induced many of the Iron masters to complain unto King Iames, averring that the iron was not Merchantable ”

“ Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.’ ‘Good!’ said the Baron, sitting in his hall, ‘But Iron—Cold Iron—is master of them all!’ So he made rebellion ‘gainst the King his liege, Camped before his citadel and summoned it to siege— ‘Nay!’ said the cannoneer on the castle wall, ‘But Iron—Cold Iron—shall be master of you all!’ Woe for the Baron and his knights so strong, When the cruel cannon-balls laid ‘em all along! ”

“ The Tory League was composed of Tories and Indians, whom King George, foreseeing at the beginning of the war would be valuable allies to him if but secured, sent over agents to enlist in his cause. Among these agents came the man who had made himself so notorious throughout the country under the title of Iron Hand, which name the Indians gave him. The villainous deeds of this band and their white chief were countless, and they had become a terror to all stanch Whigs.
A large reward had been offered for the capture of Iron Hand, dead or alive, but to no profit; he was too artful for his enemy. ”

“ Then the youth galloped thither with his iron soldiers, broke like a hurricane over the enemy, and beat down all who opposed him. They began to flee, but the youth pursued, and never stopped, until there was not a single man left. Instead of returning to the king, however, he conducted his troop by byways back to the forest, and called forth Iron Hans. ”

“ The whole transaction was hitherto unknown in Denmark, where the young King Eric was the first sovereign who endeavoured to introduce all the usages of chivalry, and the novelty and mystery of the proceeding, tended still more to heighten curiosity. Ulrica beheld the priests on the high scaffold, and a knight in full armour led upon it: his back was turned to the window, and she did not recognise him. A rough sour-visaged man in a red cloak, with an iron club in hand, now stepped forward, he looked like an executioner, but however carried neither sword nor axe. ”

“ Thus Arthur achieved the adventure of the sword that day and entered into his birthright of royalty. Wherefore, may God grant His Grace unto you all that ye too may likewise succeed in your undertakings. For any man may be a king in that life in which he is placed if so be he may draw forth the sword of success from out of the iron of circumstance. Wherefore when your time of assay cometh, I do hope it may be with you as it was with Arthur that day, and that ye too may achieve success with entire satisfaction unto yourself and to your great glory and perfect happiness. ”

“ It is in this manner that two-and-twenty so-styled solutions have been put forward. I have discussed those which concern the brothers of Louis XIV. (son of Buckingham and Anne of Austria, son of Anne of Austria and an unknown person, son of Anne of Austria and Louis XIII., born some hours after Louis XIV.) I have subsequently refuted the Vermandois solution, and the Monmouth, Beaufort, and Avedick. I shall content myself with simply mentioning the opinions which make the Man with the Iron Mask a natural and adulterine son of Marie-Louise d’Orléans, wife of Charles II., King of Spain ”

“ You see that a man who works in iron must be both an artist and a smith—he must blow the forge and use the hammer. That gate in cast iron would be almost ugly. In the Swedish wrought iron, it is truly beautiful.
“The old fellows knew much more about the artistic side of iron than we do. Look at the old French locks—even a French king prided himself on his ability to make locks.
“There was a time when an apprentice to a locksmith had to make a masterpiece lock before he could become a master. It usually took him two years to do it, for he had to chase and chisel it from the solid. ”

“ I warn you that any attempt to start another post up there will bring Red Cloud and all his people to the spot. Their scouts are watching like hawks even now. Iron Spear came to me at my son's ranch last night and told me not ten warriors were left at the reservation. They are all gone, and the war dances are on in every valley from the Black Hills to the Powder. For heaven's sake send half your garrison up to Reno after Brooks. You are safe here. They won't molest you south of the Platte, at least not now. All they ask is that you build no more forts in the Big Horn. ”

“ An improperly fitted cap iron is one of the principal causes of trouble; the cutter may be ground so thin that when it is forced against a knot or hard place, the iron chatters, which allows the shavings an entrance under the cap iron. In this lies the only real advantage of a wooden plane over the modern iron plane, as in the former the iron is much thicker and stiffer. The cap iron may be so thick that it causes the shavings to curl too much, or the frog may be set too far to the front, which will make the mouth too small. ”

“ Though the bevel may be maintained better by imparting a short circular motion to the plane iron, or to any edge tool which is being sharpened, it seems an awkward and fussy method of work, and rarely is used by an expert workman. By long practice the mechanic finds that a stroke made nearly the entire length of the stone will impart an edge quicker, and after the knack has been acquired, the bevel will be preserved just as well. ”

“ The plane should be held firmly, not rigidly; do not allow it to jump; this is caused generally by an attempt to take a shaving heavier than the plane should cut, or, if the cap iron is fitted and adjusted properly, by a dull iron. A cutter will jump or chatter if it does not fit solidly against the frog. In drawing the plane back after making a stroke, carry it upon the toe, or upon one corner; do not drag it flat upon its face, as the iron is thereby dulled as much as when it is cutting, or possibly more. ”

“ If, in the Eichstedt specimen, the effects of fire appear tolerably evident; they are, in this, not to be mistaken.—Its surface is full of spherical impressions, like the mass of iron, which the celebrated Pallas found on the Jenisei river; except that here the impressions are larger, and less deep; and it [24] wants both the yellow glass, which fills up the hollows of the Siberian iron; and the sand stone, which is found in the Eichstedt specimen; the whole mass being solid, compact, and black, like hammered iron. ”

“ A paring chisel may be ground as thin as 20°, as it does not have to stand heavy blows, and a better edge for the purpose may thus be obtained. In whetting a chisel, the bevel must be carefully maintained, and the back kept perfectly straight, like the face of a plane iron, or it will be impossible to work to a line. ”

“ The well known, and celebrated Cardan, in his book, De Varietate Rerum, lib. 14. cap. 72. tells us, that he himself, in the year 1510, had seen one hundred and twenty stones fall [28] from heaven; among which one weighed one hundred and twenty; and another sixty pounds. That they were mostly of an iron colour, and very hard, and smelt of brimstone. He remarks, moreover, that about three o'clock, a great fire was to be seen in the heavens; and that about five o'clock the stones fell down with a rushing noise. ”

“ They gave up their lives for humanity, no sacrifice was too great for them to accomplish, while inexorable necessity compelled them to bloody expression in an age of blood. The Fighting Groups constituted the one thorn in the side of the Iron Heel that the Iron Heel could never remove. ”

“ There is nothing in it of the dull "tunk" of stone, or the blither "clink" of copper. Instead it seems to call to mind the clang of hammers on helmet or anvil, or shield or tool, according to whether it is a time of war or peace—and in the Iron Age there was indeed very little of peace that did not look a great deal more like war.
In the Forest, many times as far from the land where Umpl lived as one could see from the tallest tree top, there lived a boy—a chief's son. His name was Ulf, the son of Urgan, who was the son of Umpleton, who, as you will remember, was the grandson of Umpl. ”

“ He knew he could make a better one himself. He did not know that that arrow-head was made in a faraway island, called Britain, where traders went to buy tin. British arrow-heads have been great travellers.
The sight of the weapon, however, and the hole it had made gave Ulf just the tail-end of an idea! He began to think, oh, so hard!—to think and to plan.
Up in a sheltered corner lay the Iron Star, just where it first had been flung down by its weary-armed bearers on the day when it reached the vik. Ulf's first free act had been to arrange a few bits of bark over it to keep it from the weather ”

“ All was unseen, much was unguessed; the blind fought the blind; and yet through it all was order, purpose, control. We permeated the entire organization of the Iron Heel with our agents, while our own organization was permeated with the agents of the Iron Heel. It was warfare dark and devious, replete with intrigue and conspiracy, plot and counterplot. And behind all, ever menacing, was death, violent and terrible. Men and women disappeared, our nearest and dearest comrades. ”

“ Iron Duke, Duke of Wellington, from his iron will, it is surmised.
Iron Gate, the name given to dangerous rapids in the Danube at Orsova, as it issues out of Hungary.
Iron Hand, Goetz von Berlichingen (q. v.) .
Iron Mask, Man with the, a prisoner who in the reign of Louis XIV. wore, when he was transferred from prison to prison, what seemed an iron mask to prevent any one discovering and revealing his identity, over which to this day there hangs an impenetrable veil; he is reported to have been young and of noble form, and the conclusion is that he was a man of distinction. ”

“ In the eleventh the ardent desires of Tündér Ilona have prevailed over all the enchantments of the Winter-Witch, and at her prayer there rises up from the innermost region of the earth the fairy Iron-Queen, who brings the Tátos, the winged magic horse who is to bear the Prince through all dangers to certain victory. ”

“ The prince then struck his shield three times with the sword which he had brought from the palace of the little white cat.
When the giant heard the sound he cried out: “Who comes to challenge me on my wedding-day?”
The dwarfs went out to see, and, returning, told him it was a prince who challenged him to battle.
The giant, foaming with rage, seized his heaviest iron club, and rushed out to the fight. The fight lasted the whole day, and when the sun went down the giant said:
“We have had enough of fighting for the day. We can begin at sunrise to-morrow.” ”

“ For the iron I wrought has helped build up a civilization, while the German's 'Blood and Iron' has sought to destroy it.
“France stands knee-deep in her own blood while the iron of Germany is being hurled into her breast. Iron Workers of America, to you has God given the answer to the German thunderbolt. The iron of the republic shall beat down the iron of the kings. ”

“ The young King, who was in the rear, galloped up to find his force retreating before a deadly flight of arrows.
"Stand!" he shouted. "Stand!" But the men would not be rallied. "Fools!" he cried, rising in his stirrups, a fine young figure, unarmoured, without sword or lance, without helmet or aught but his bow and quiver--for the attack was entirely unforeseen and he had been, for the time, off-duty--"Call ye yourselves servants to stand still while the master works? Lo! He who hires a servant hires him for his need; not to stand still like a slipped camel!" ”

“ Nay, my brave Skirmen. You have never seen your master yield at tourney, nor yet at sharper fighting; much less shall you see him now give way. Here, indeed, I cannot defend my life and honour with this sword; but, if God wills, I will try another, that, without being a traitor to my country, I can use against my lord and king himself. My tongue must now be my sword, and righteousness my shield; now, it concerns not me alone, but the crown and kingdom. The revolt, it seems, is to be aided by Sweden and Norway. Now, then, I must to the king, even should the way to him lie amid serpents. ”

“ Spears and helmets were sparkling and gleaming, banners were flying, horses prancing, and again came the bugle-blast which was to her like the voice of her father calling across the distance: 'Irene, I'm coming.'
On and on they came until she could clearly distinguish the king. He rode a white horse and was taller than any of the men with him. He wore a narrow circle of gold set with jewels around his helmet, and as he came still nearer Irene could discern the flashing of the stones in the sun. ”

“ To this his kinsmen helped him, and later of his worth were all men hearing.
[19]
He, with knights five hundred, then was dubbed with the sword;
Whatever they could wish for was given them at his word,—
Both shields, and, for their wearing, every kind of clothing.
The youthful king so dauntless, thro’ life, of fame and honor wanted nothing.
[20]
For many a day thereafter his sway did Ireland bless,
And never did his greatness at any time grow less.
To all he freely listened; the poor man’s wrongs he righted;
Widely known was his goodness; no truer knight than he his word e’er plighted. ”

“ To storm the place without an army would never have occurred to me; but there must be amongst us a spirit more inventive and daring than we were aware of. An hour since a stranger invited me to be the second knight in the row of dancers, when the Danish maidens should begin the song;--'For Erik the king so young.' But what avails it without a storm?"
"I understand," exclaimed the count rubbing his hands with delight: "for the young king, then. True, I would rather sing, 'For Queen Agnes the fair;' but it is the same. Dance only, in God's name, across the castle-bridge. ”