Dickens was to reiterate his warning about the treatment of the poor in a speech he delivered at the Polytechnic Institute in Birmingham on 28 February 1844, shortly after the publication of "A Christmas Carol". In a metaphor taken from 'The Genii in the Bottle' from "The Arabian Nights" he said, "Now, there is a spirit of great power, the Spirit of Ignorance, long shut up in a vessel of Obstinate Neglect, with a great deal of lead in its composition, and sealed with the seal of many, many Solomons, and which is exactly in the same position. Release it in time, and it will bless, restore, and reanimate society; but let it lie under the rolling waves of years, and its blind revenge at last will be destruction."