The New York Herald Newspaper, March 18, 1851, Page 2

ATLANTIC STEAM NAVIGATION. ———r ‘Whe Ocean Route frem England to the United States—The Piloneersof the Business =—The Cunard and Collins Steamers. (From Chambers’ Papers for the People.) When it was first proposed, about 1336, to cross the Auaatic by steam power alone, the idea was deemed illusive. Some of ihe most distinguished scientific men in the country, gave a verdict against it, and prophesied its failure in no uaequivocal lan- . At the command of these philosophers, all finds of spectres rose up from the Atlantic ocean, to terrify the daring men who had determined to make the etiempt. The action of the paddle wheels on the water—the waves, and storms, and currents of the Atlantic—and the quantity of coal meceseary to be used, were all made the subjects of mice calculations, such as no person could dispute ; and the theorem they all teaded to prove was, that the project was utterly impracticable. To men who made no pretence to be philosoplers, the difficulties in the way were self obvious. ‘The dis- tance to be traversed was at least three thousand miles of clear ocean, with no intervening laad where a vessel might run for shelter or suppties. Mariners know weil that the Atlantic is not only frequently agitated by terrific storms, but that its currents run across the track of any vessel sailin betweea England and America. Tze etlect o' thege currents is such, that while the tiae packet ships called “liners,” by which communication was chiefly maintained with America, could sail from New York to England in about twenty days, the time occupied b same vessels on the voyage out to New York was usually thirty-six ~ days. The ectimated quantity of coal necessary to propel a steamboat across the Atlantic, seemed to stamp the project at once as impracticable. It was Ro doubt true, that, in 1819, a steamer called the Savannah, of 350 tons, had performed the voyage between New York and Liverpool in twenty-six 8; but this vessel used sails as well as steam, she was a week longer on the voyage than the time usually occupied by the “liners,” so that her riormance was neither aprecedent nor a guide. jut there were steamships employed on goverumeant gervics in the Mediterranean, and on other coast stations, from which data were obtained serviag to show tha, to accomplish a voyage of the same length as thet across the Adiantic, two tons of coal would be used for each horse power of the engines —that is to say, if the engines are of 300 horse power, they would consume 600 tons of fuel before they reached the terminus of 4 %,000 mile voyage. But a spare supply must always ve carried, to pro- vide against aceident or delay; so that the quan- tity in the supposed case must be raised to about 700 tons. Ou the other hand, it was said that if the tonnage of the vessel were made more than four times its horse-power, the latter would be ia- adequate io a at the ordinary rate of steam-ships. The tonnage, therefore, of the sup- posed vessel could not exceed 1,200; and after meking allowances for cabins, ship’s stores, ma- ehinery, boilers, &c., the space left for fuel would not contein more than 500 tons, which would all be consumed before the vessel arrived within 500 mules of the American coast. What could be iner than this reasoning’ There were the ree, vouched and veritied by government offi- eere—to have questioned their accuracy would Ahave raised doubts as to the sanity of the ques- tioaer—and so the conclusions went forth uachal- lenged, calling up vivid pictures of a magnificeat steamboat sucdenly stopped in its career for want of fue!, and rolling like a helpless log om the un- genile bosom cf the great Atlantic! To prevent fuch & consummation, it was proposed to reduce the sea voyage to its least length, by taking the most westerly part of Ireiand end the mosteasterly ef America as the termimi, and constructing a railway across Ireland to communicate with the | steamer. 8 But among mercantile men another great ques- tion arose—would the speculation pay! [tis well known that a steamboat costs much more than a sailing vesse), both in construction and working: the sails of the latter are filled by wind, for wnich nothing whatever is paid; but not an arm of the machinery of the former will move uatil the tar- | pace has been fed with coal, never to be had, even | at the cheapest porte, wi-hout a considerable out- Jay of money. The officers and men, too, must be | more numerous, and the machinery, boilers, and fuel occupy a very large space that in sailing ves- ele is filled with goods. [he number of pascen- gers who crossed the Atlantic every year Was cer- tainly very great: in 1836 (the time at which the project wes discussed) the number might be easti- mated at about 60,000; but all, or nearly all, of these were emigrants, utterly unable to pay such charges ae the owners of steam-vessels woula be obliged to make. The trade between this country and America was certainly most extensive; but in earrying the goods bought and sold no steamer could compete successfully with sailing vessels. ‘Unless, therefore, a remunerative passenger tratlic could be created by the certainty and speed of the comaunieaion, and a favorable contract obtained for carrying the mails, it was quite evident that the | Speculation would not psy. There were, however, other mercantile consid- erations aflecting the entre commerce of the coun- ‘try, which rendered it c’ear that if the regular na- Vigat.on of the Auantic by steem were practicable, it was eseensial to British Commerce. Nothing is 20 important in extensive commercial transacuons as early end regular itelligence, and a quick and speedy tavemission of ordersand goods. Judgwg trom what steamers had already done, it was Teavtnable to expect that they would cross the Atlantic in half the time occupied by the old liners; that New York would be brought within a ten or fourteen days voyage from Loudon, Bris. tol or Live, pool; and that the arrival of advices might be calculated with certainty toa day, if not toan hour. The efiects of this, not only on come merce, but on every department of trade and maoufactures—not oaly on the merchant and broker, but on the meoufacturer and artizan—it was difficult (o over-estimate. A glance at the extent of our commercial relations with America, | the will preeentthis in aclearer light. In 136, vaiue of the exports from this country was 388,572, or a little more than a million of poun sterlmg every week; of which, while about third was tent to Eorops, and a seventh to Asiaand | Afnmea, nearly a fourth was sent to the United States, and another fourth to other parts of Again our imports from America con- Met of articles that have become easential both to the indusiry and subsistence of the people. The | Bigentic cotton manufacrure is an example. The | aumber of cotton factories in Eagland is 1753, ia which 292 #62 ;ersons are employed. If to this number we add that large class engaged in dealing in the ra materia); that other large class employ- ed in making the machinery; others in bleachiog, dyeing, aud printing; and the host of tradesmen and shopkeepers engaged in supplying their waute, we shall find that (Including their families) about an eighth of the population are directly or indi- | reetly dependent for support and subsistence on ie great breech of industry. In 1536, the quan- tity of raw cotton imported to eupply the factories with material, and the factory workers with em- ploy ment, was in weight about four hundred mil- lions ot pounds; end of thet quantity more than four fifths came from the United States of America | alooe; while the vaive of the cotton manufactures experied from the United Kingdom during the same year, was about £20,000 000 sterling. Bat further, @ very large proportion of the dyes used in calico- printing, such as cochines!, Ingwood, “ec, are brought from America; end from the same conti- ment are procured the greater par: of the supplies of those articles now become necessaries of life— sugar and coflee, which are, perhaps, coasumed to @ greater extent among the factory workers than among any other part of the population. It ie ob vious that whatever tends to give regularity and speed to the in urse by means of which this | muanense (rade is carried on, must at the same tine imtreduce greater certainty and steadiness into all ite departments, ard prevent many of those fluctua. | tions and changes 0 detrimental to the interests of | all concerned, but especially of these whose labor 8 their only capital However, amid all this thinking and prophesy- ing, amid the calculations of philosophers and the sp culations of merchants, hundreds of working mem were engaged at Hristo! in constructing a wes ea to be called the Great Western, el once and forever set the question at rest. The men of practice did not share the doubts of the men of theory; capital was supplied sufficient extent, and the public looked on in | anxious expectation of the result. The Great West- em was finished in 1838, and aanounced to sail on her first voyage on the Sth Aoril. The appearance of this magnificent steamer inspired ail spectators with contidence in her fitness for the work Seen from a distance, she had an appearance of strength rather than of beauty; above the long black hull roee a short thick fannel and four masts; the deck, 236 feet long, was not curved like those of many other veseeis, but almost straight from stem to stern; her hage paddie boxes, distant from each other nearly sixty feet, covered wheels twenty-eight feet diameter, to which were attached paddles ten feet long. The horse power of the en- @ines wee 45; the weight of the boil- ere and machinery 300 tons, and the burthen 1,340, or less than three tons for each horse power, and thus considerably within the limit pre- scribed by OT phere. She seemed a astro: and compact ship, and not likely to be easily turne aside from her course by either the winds or the The exact figures were as follows — waves of the A*lantic ocean. went on board, he was ae tte =a stele other beauty ascf Strength; the cabia » — . ofthe most spleadid kiad, not | Great Britain, on her last outward voyage, intend- Sofas, couches, | ed togo round passa: me mahogany tables, and other elegaut fur- | he must pass the Isle of Maa ; but through some saloons; the decoratioas were | blundering it was passed without being perceived ; commoedation was excelled by any hotel on shore But whea the visiter handeor niture, edorned E 4 most profuse and elaborate; while large mirrors muluplied ali this splendor. Tne sleepr ments were so neat, so clean, and 80 comfortable that their improvement seemed to be almost impos sible. imagine himself in a fairy palace described some The visiter, indeed, was more likely to | steamers to tell the sad tale. meaner. Every one knows that if you sai! from Liverpool to America, you must go round either the south or north of Ireland. Tne captain of the by the north ge. Oa his way the Lrish coast mistaken for it; aad the poor Great apart- | Britain consequently went ashore. The reports of thie disaster were scarcely believed in Liverpool until the passengers came back ia the coasting The proprietors were, of course, much disheartened, bu: their old tale, than on board a steamship abou‘ to proceed | consolation was that their noble ship was quite on a long and dangerous voyage; but wheatne ele- ant and luxurious cabins were left, and he stood fore the colossal machinery, w: be exhausted, and ali doubisof the success of the enterprise fled away. ader seemed to | hud been steered im the same direction. innocent of the accident, and that the same thing would have happpened to any veseel Cr e Great Britain lay for a whole wiater in Daa- drum Bay; the finely furnished ** ladies’ bou- The Great Western sailed from Bristol on the S:h | doir” was completely dismantied, and converted April, 1838, having on board 660 tons of c»l and | into a snug apartment for sailors aad mechanics, seven adventurous re. Three days previ- ously the Sirius, a emailer vessel than tae former, built to ply between London aud Cork, had steam- ed from the latter port right in the teeth of a stroag westerly wind. and with New York also for her destination. Never was there such a race as this struggle of two steamers, which should first tra- verse the entire breadth of the wild Atlantic. The very wind seemed to be angry with the s! . First it blew a strong gale from the west, that raised a heavy sea; but this, that would have retarded sail- ing vessels, never caused the two brave steam pioneers to alter their course. This point of the compass would not answer; so the wind “chopped round” until it had completely box- ed the compass, and tried all its powers in strong breezes, fresh gales, and the like, but with no other effect than is indicated in the brief record— *yessel lurching deeply, but easy.” The wiad then for some days kept veering rouad the west, as if to make a last eilort to impede what it could not stop; but it was of no avail; the steamers went steadily on. The Sirius, that had the start by three | annum if daye, made little way comparatively during the first wees. than the Great Western; but as her coals were consumed, she became more lively, aod, in sporte | powereach, for £45,000 ing phrase, made ** more running” Taus, during the first week she was out, her daily run was ne- ver more than 136 miles ; on the second day it was only 89. The Grea: Western, oa the contrary pe ten miles an hour during the second day, and her everage daily speed during the entire voyage was2il miles Atsucha speed she would soon overtake the Sirius, that had the start by 400 miles only. Butas the little vessel get lighter she weat ahead; onthe I4thshe ran 215 mites, as much as the Great Western on tye same day ; on the 22d she ran only thiee miles less than the large ship ; but the latter was then in the same parellel of la- tude, and only about three degress of longitude behind. Still 1t was a close chase ; but at last the Sirius, by re: of her long start, was the wia- ner. She reached New York on the morning of the 23rd, und the Great Western came ia th same afternoon. . The excitement which prevailed in New York re- specting these voyages was intense. Previous to the arrival of the steamers, crowds had daily col- lected on the quay, gazing wistfully eastward over the wide Adantic. ‘any of the watchers were old enough to remember the tirst voyage of ‘* Ful- ton’s Foliy,” little dreaming then what the future of that ‘ Folly” was to be; and as they now de- scribed that memorable voyage to their younger brethren, they remembered how the predictions of | the wise had been falsitied, and spoke in hope rather than in doubt of the success of the steamers from the Old World. And never were hopes so well realieed as when on the morning of the 23d April, a streak of smoke, dim and undefined, was deseried in the horizon by the watchers on the quay. ‘Could it be a steamer?” ‘* Was it the steamer 7” passed from mouth to mouth. The came nearer; the huil hove up, as it were, outof the ocean, and a steamer was clearly de- fined edvancing repidly. The intelligence spread ; the city poured out its crowds; and cheer upon cheer arose as the Sirius steamed into the harbor, and cest in the Hudson that anchor which, only eighteen days before, had been weighed at Cork. Scarcely had the good citizens time to recover from their first surprise, when the Great Western ap- peared. Streaming with fi and crowded with people, the Sirius lay waiting the arrival of her competitor; and as the Great Western sailed rouad her, three hearty cheers were given and responded to. The battery tired a salute of twenty-six guns; and down came the flag of the Great Western, while the passengers, amid the most enthusiastic cheering, drenk the health of the President of the great republic. As the vessel proceeded to the quay, * Boats crowded around us,” says the jour- nal of one of the passengery, “in countless con- fusion; were flying, guns firing, and belis tingieg. | enthu: ie cheer—echoed from point to point, from boat to boat, till it seemed as though they never would have done.” Bewween these paseeges and the first known voy- fees made across the Atlantic, tcere are some points of cempetison which are worthy of note. he praject of Columbas and the project of the Great Wesiern Steamship Company were discussed bo aseemblies of the most learned men ¢f the day. he divinee and philosophers who met in St Sie- re Convent, at Salamenea, daring the year 487, were perhaps as capable representatives of the learning of Spein at the time, as the ** British Aseociation,”’ at Bristol, was of the learning of Bri- tem in 1836. The objections urged in each case were cheracteristic of the umes and the countries: Sa! inca, those which were not founded oa citations from the Bible and the Fathers, were sim- ply abeurd—such as, if the surface of the globe be round, a vessel might sail to India easily enough; but could not return, as even the stroagest wind could not force it up the mountain of wacer dowa | which it had previously sailed; but at Bristol, the objections were both reasonable and scientitic. Co- lumbus wes overruled ty authority; the promoters She carried more weight 1a proportion | Company proposed to he Vaet multitude set up a shout—a —~ | cooking and drinking their coffee; berths were broken up; the water came and went with the tide through the lower saloon; but man did not ‘yield these things to decay,” After much labor she was towed across the Irish sea; and though she now lies in one of the Liverpool docks, a sad and mel- ancholy sight, yet there is every reason to hope that she will soon again ‘ walix the waters like a thing of life,” and retrieve her tarnished fame. She was sold in the latter part of 1850, for £18,000, and, in all probability, ere 1851 his been orought to a close, the Great Britain will agaia be “raliag the waves” of the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. But we uow turn to a@ brighter page in the his- tory of the bold adventurers on this Aciantic route In Nov., 1838, shortly after the successful voyages of the Sirius and Great Western, the goverament advertised for tenders for Cady the mails ia steamers between this ¢ountry and America. Both the companies to which these two vessels belonged made offers; the former to go once a month from Cork to Halifax for £45,000, and for £65,000 per New York were included—the vessela to be of 240 horse-power. The Great Westera perform the service to Hali- fax once a month, with tbree vessels of 350 horse- rannum. Neither ot theee tenders was mecosads but shortly afterwards a proposal was made to the government by Mr. Samuel Cunard, of Halifax, in Nova Scoua. This gentleman had had, for fifteea or twenty years previously, a contract for carrying the mails between Hatif:x and Bermuda, for which he re- ceived £4,460 per annum, his vessels ruaning twice eech month ;* and he now propused to take the Al- Janue contract, and carry the miilsoace a week. This proposition was not acceded to at the time; but ultimately it was arranged that he was to re- ceive £65,000 per annum for sevea years, for con- veying the mails twice each month between Liver- pool, Halifax, Quebec, and Boston. This was the commencement of what is now well known as Cu- nerd’s line. In the summer of 1840 a steamer nemed the Britannia, ef 1,200 tons burthen, 440 horse power, and 230 feet in length (the same ai- mensions nearly as the Great Western), arrived in the Mersey to commence the fultilmeat of Mr. Cunard’s ‘contract. She left Liverpool on the 4th of July, arriving at Halifax in twelve days ten hours, and performing the voyage home- wards from Halifax in ten days. The other vessels on this line, at the outset, were the Acadia, Co- lumbia, and Caledonia. They were all built in the Clyde, and their dimensions were nearly the same as the Britannia. More powerful vessels were terwarde constructed, and, in consideration, the payment was raised to £90,000 per annum, subse- ently reduced to £35,000, when the service to ase bee was t-ken off. ce the accident to the Great Britain, up to the spring of 1850, no other steamers than Cunard’s were found on this route, and the regularity with which the mails were car- ried was a theme of general admiration. The ves- sels were locked for, and usually arrived on the appointed day; and passengers went 0a board to cross the Atlantic with as little apprehension as is felt in stepping into a railway carri 5 Delays, indeed, did sometimes occur, the winds often succeeding ia retarding the pro- grees of the ships; the fogs off the coast of New- foundland sometimes perplexed the captains, and caused them to reduce the speed of the en- gives; at certain seasons of the year large masses of-ice fieated down from the arctic regions over the steemers’ homeward treck, renderiog the navi- ation some what dangerou: during the long period of ten years, i ident oc curred by the Columbi1’s striking oa a rock, called the “ Devil's Limb,” about 130 miles from Halifax; but no lives were lost, and indeed everything, ma- chinery included, was saved, except the hull of the vessel—the mails and passeagers being sent home werd by the Margaret, a spare steamer of 600 toas, kept at the Halifax station. But, generally speak- ing, the voyages were made with such regularity hat it was no uncommon thing for the captains to tell, on the eve of sailing, when they would be back to dinner, and they usually kept their time. Let the reader imagine @ maa about to perform a voyage over 6,000 miles of ocean, and, instead of thinking about meking his wili, or arranging his efivire, coolly specitying the time when, efier having croseed to America, he will come back to dive in Europe! Where, even in the * Arabian Nights,” can a paratiel to this be found? We have already seen that the first steamboats ever need for conveying goods and passengers, were built at New York, aad plied oa the Hudson, in 1807. Since that time, the progress of steam navigation on the rivers and lakes, and along the coasts of America, has been both rajid aad won- derful. in the five years ending 31st Lecember, 1838, the steamers departing trom New York alone sailed in the aggregate 9,653,650 miles, and con- veyed 25,366,000 passengers, of whom 70 lost their lives by seven accidents. But with the exception ot the voyage of the Savannah, in 1819, the citi- zeneof the United States had not hitherto taken any part ia conducting the eteam navigation of the Auientic; end it was not until afier all but Cu- nard’s ships had been withdrawn, that American of ocean steam navigation by good logic, based oa | built steamers began to ply between England and imperfect scientific data; but the assumption ef New York. The formation of several companies, infallible knowledge appeared both at Salamanca | for this purpose, made Mr. Cunard anxious to ex- and et Bristol. diet prove t the men of the nineteenth eentury did itia two.— The two vessels Columbus took with him were It took Columbus five years to wrong. mere undecked boats, scarcely seaworthy; the | amers that first reached New York were the jargeet and best ever launched. Both enterprises were accomplished succesfully under fem le se ve- reign Brita’ 3 but the glory of the one shed a lustre over the cechning years of Isabella, while the other wae the triumph of the first year of \ 1e.orta’s reign. Accordirg to Capt. Claxton, managing director of the Western Steamship Company, * n0 the Great Western per he great than the dire st eaee, to New York and back, tors found that steamships of larger dime: ‘ould ofler better chances of remunera- tion.” They now determined that their second ship should be built of iron instead of wood, and propelled b screw instead of ‘he paddle. wh Accordirg'y, the keel of the Great Britain was laid at Bristol in 1839, and the vessel was launched in 1843, Prinee Albert acting as spo sor on the oc- casion. The misfortanes of this ill-fated ship be- gan at the cradle Perhaps some reader may have heard of the keeper of the lighthouse, whose better half throve eo weil in that useful building, that for years all exit through the narrow door was is ® for bevier, for worse, The Gr Was some wha cessor wes obliged to take the stout widow as on the out t Britain lady in the lighthouse: the chinery brovubt her lines of addition of her ma- greatest breadth so This veserl was in every sense of the word mag- nificent. Her total length was 322 feet, breadth $1, and depth 22 She conic stow away 1,200tone of coal; the weight of the engines was 31), and of the boilers 200 tone. The engines were of 1,000 horse power; they gave motion to a drum IS feet in diameter, which communicated by means of che ns, weighing 7 tons, with another drum one- third of the diameter of the first drove a sheft 130 feet Jong, parsing imm above the keel to the screw, which had six placed in a circle—each arm about 7 feet long, shaped somewhat like the bent tail of a salmon ‘The screw weighed 4 tone, and wrought ina epace left immediately in front of the helm. The want of paddle-boxes, and the consequently clear run of the ship, gave her a very handsome appearance ; and when seen in the graving dock at Liverpool from keleon to topmast, the admiration of her beautiful proportions increased aa inspection be- came closer. The anloons and berths were ele gaatly fitted up, but not so expensively as those of Great Western. Her six masts (afterwards reduced to five) could eptead as much canvas (5,000 yards) as a fifty-two gun frigate; but as the masts were all low, instead of re juiring a frigate’s ec lement of seamen. the comparatively small number of thirty was sufficient to manage the sail of the Great ‘Bri ing veewel, it tain. Even asa sailing vessel, it was expected that she would go through th: te de feet bea frigate, and certais!y Ay m4 much faster than Burope. Coseree £ any paddie steamer under aai! only, as the screw African... ... * pH #8 weela not impede the of the ship to any- i. 8 5.016.905 | thing hke the extent of ‘boxes and wheels 535,007 | Her entire cost was about £100,000. om All England was ng : 36.453 | and steaming qui —_— ihaeee tera she 646.59 | Would for many years be the swiftest ant vio ‘318,609 | Atlantic steamer. A few voy' in 1345-46 see: <0 | €4 to confirm thia idea; bat suceeaef hy) vareee was suddenly stopped ig @ most unac¢suaadic he verdict in both cases was | against the projectors, and in both cases the ver- | at divines and philosophers were in error; | —lvabella, of Castile, and Victoria, of Great | med her voy- | ke the heavy | bard Were now supereeded by othera, of | sion of the contract) done, tend his contract, 80 as to carry the mails once a week, and thus render him more able to meet the expected competition. Mr. Cunard said, before a committee of the House of Commoas, ia July, 1849, “Il was most anxious to have it (the exten- because | knew the coneequences of having these rival lines of packets running ageiast us, and that it would affect the government more than it would aflect us. 1 could not increase the number of pas sengere; but the number of lettera would be con- siderably increased, or doubled, because if one per- son writes, the whole must write.” The pri Was egreed to: the mails were to be carried from Liverpool ore Saturday, and from Boston or New York every Wednesday (except during four winter n.onths, When it waa to be fortnightly), arrange- ments being made by which the détowr to Halitax was to be abandoned. To effect this service the veseels must steam alingether 272,8)0 miles every year, for it Mr. Cunard was to receive £115,- 600 perannum. This iv the contract now in torce. Mr Cunard considered it not as a new arrange- ment, but as am extension of the old; and asthe service woe Coubled, and as the postage revenue of the steamers had hitherto beenequal to the coa- tract money, he naturally supposed that the pay- meat would now be doubied. But Mr. Goulbura, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, would not give more than £145,000, which Mr Cuaard said was ly added, * I beg pect to Mr. Gaul- to say this not with d to her; aod, after her worthy husband died, | Durn: he did it'to eave the money to the country; but he took £25,000 a year from me for the good of of the fixtures of | the country.” ‘The eteemships originally poesessed by Mr. Ca- eater size end power, the tonnage being increased from 1,200 to more than 2.000, and the horse-power of low, that the entrence of the docx or basin ia | the engines from 440 to 500 ~The Columbia, as we | which che lay would not permit her exit, and the | have seen, wae lost; the Britannia, Acadia, Cale- greatest ingenuity of the greatest eovineers was | domia, and Hibernia were sold (the two last \o exerted for her release. She was freed at last, | the Spanish government, shortly after the atcempt and proceeded to Londen, Dublin, and Liverpool, | mede on Cuba in 1850); and Cunard’s fleet now to be inspected by the public previous to consis(s of the following magnificent vessels: — for America Length. Horse power. Tonnage. Afnea 250feet = S00 206 249 650 1,832 Pai £00 2,266 207 HO 1,423 Canade.... 249 6) 1,882 Europa. 29 650) 1,532 Niagara... 29 50) 15832 All these vessels have been built in the Clyde, and on the banks of the same river two of greater dimensions are now nearly completed, to be called the Persia and the Arabia. Besides these, there are two tenders. One of these, beari name of the Satel- lite, about 150 tons burthen, is kept in the Mersey to * fetch and carry” for the larger veseels, round whieh it may be said to revolve space permit- ted, we could give a detailed description of the admirable and luxurious eccommodation for pas- sengers on board these ships; but it 19 sufficient here to eay thatin them, ae well as in all others that fall within the scope of the present paper, the greatest ekall, Tk experience, taste have been exerted with marked success in rendering a long sea voya, as agreeable and leaeant as it is possible for long sea voyages to be. Each of the veesels of this line consumes abeut 700 tona of coal between Liverpool and New Yors; at the former port the expense of the coal and put- ting it on board is about a guinea, and at the latter about £17¢. perton. If coals were as cheap as wind, Mr. Cunerd and hie partners would save more than £70,000 per annum. — The American steamers that first plied regularly on the Atlantic route, were the Washington aad Herrmann, of about 2,000 tone burthen. They, however, did not depend entirely on the British traffic, but made the port of Dremen, at the mouth the bene, and about 99. of the river Weeer, in Germany, their terminus in Europe, calling at Southamptoa oa their passage The line of up end down the British Channel. vessels that entered into direct competition with Cupard’s, was projected by ) [i of New York, end consisted of five steamers, of 3,000 toas burthen, 300 feet long, and propelled by engines of 1,000 horse power. They are named after the various oceans of the world—th» Atlantic, Pacitic, Arctic, Baltic, and Adriatic. They are longer and more powerful than any steamer yet built, except the Great Britain, and their competition is not to be treated lightly. The merits of the rival lines soon became a national ques ion. The citizens of the great republic spoke confidently of the superior speed their veesels would attain; the best builders of ships and makers of marine engines were, they said, to be found in New York, and they were de- termined that the Hudson river should always be head of the rest of the world in the power aad speed of its steam navy. A statement of the re- sources of New York gave good reason for this con- fident boasting. In that city the principal foundries, eight in number, where marine engines are con- structed, employ about 3,675 men ; atone, and that not the largest, 100 tons of iron are melted every month; atanother the value of the work sent out in 1849 wasabove a million of dollars (£200,000); while in one month of the pst year, there were in progress at the same establishment marine en- ines for eight vessels, whose agg te tonnage 14,100.” The performances of Washing- ton and Hermann were highly creditable to the ekill of American engineers, and there seemed great probability that Britannia would not much Jonger rule the waves. But, on the other hand, the feat which these American enips were expect- ed to perform was of no ordinary SGeuky. For ten years Cunard’s line had navigated the Atlantic with a regularity and speed which it would be ex- ceedingly difficult even to equal; and though the more powerful American ships might sail faster, was it to be expected that the builders and ea- gineers of the Clyde, with Mr. Caird and Mr. Na- pier at their head, would be unable to maintain the superiority they had already acquired? The town where James Watt wus born, and the river that received the first British steamboat, were not hkely to resign without a struggle a pre-eminence acquired by eo much labor and ingenuity. While people were discussing the subject, and laying wagers on the voyages, the firs: of Collins’ line, the Ailavtic, sailed from New York on the 27th April. As the time of her arrival at Liver- pool drew near, the interest felt by the people of that town in the voyage became intense. After the time occupied on the shortest run of any of the old veseels hid expired, aud no Atlantic had come up the Mersey, the partisans of the Clyde steam- ers took heart, and began io think that the compe- tition was Bot to be so formidable, after all. They were further confirmed in this idea, when, om the thirteenth day after she had left New York, the Atlantic was telegraphed off Holyhead. For some time before her ar: J, a small tu; amer, with a@ number of commercial men and pewapaper re- porters on board, had been waiting in the Mersey, ready to steam out to meet the Atlantic. The sun was setting as this little steamer sailed, and night had come on beiore the Atlantic appeared in the river. As she came up, her great black hull look- ing blacker and larger in the darkness, she seemed less like a steamer made by human hands, and more like an island drifting in from the ocean. No entrance to the Liverpool docks was suffi- ciently wide to admit the Atlantic, and she and her consorts had to lie inthe river uatil a new dock that had been preparing for them, with entrance gates eighty feet wide, was finished. The length of the voyage of the Atlantic was accounted for by a detention of nearly two days, caused by accidents to the machinery. The fic, Arctic, and Baltic, have already crossed the ‘big ferry,” and the Adn- atic is expected to be ready for sea early in 1851. Thus was commenced that rivalry which has made a gigan:ic race course of the Atlantic ocean —a race couree so long, that the difference ia the longitude of its termini makes a difference of near- ly five hours in the time of day; and thus, while people at the Americanend are rising from their beds, those at the European have got through much of their day’s work. and other notables of the turf, have done great deeds in their way, but they shri into utter in- significance co) red with the performances of a steamer propelled by a power equal to that of a thousand horses, sailing three hundred miles each day over angry restless waves, twenty-four, and someiimes forty-three feet high, chasing each other at a dis:ance of about five hundred feet, aad ata speed of more than thirty milesan hour. All the prizes of the turf are paltry compared with that | for which these steamers are contending—the proud distinction of establishing the moat epeedy and safe communication betweea two great conti- renis end two mighty nations. — tau The vessels of the Collins’ line have met with me accidents during the winter that tell much ainet them when the year’s work ie eummed up. the Baltic, in one of Ler outward voyages, ran short of reaching New York to obtam a fresh supply, by which a detention of some days was caused, and the Atlantic, on her outward voyage, while in lati- tude 46 deg 12 min. north, and longitude 41 deg 30 min. west, or much more than half-way across the Ailanue, broke, on the morning of 6th January, the centre beam or shatt of the engineg, which con- | sequently became useless. Tae veasel proceeded under canvass for five days, against heavy wester- ly galery, but finding that she made littie way, the ceptiin put the ship about, and ran for Cork, which wes reacheo on the 224 January. The Cambria, belonging to the Cuvard line, the only available steamer then in the Mereey, or perhaps ia Eagland, for Atlantic winter navigation, was immediately chartered to proceed to Cagk, aud carry the carg &e., of the Atlantic to America. We aliude to t dises‘er simply as a t-ct; we would racher sympa- thise with the citizens of the United States, to whom it will doubtless caute much chagrin, than exult over it as @ proof cf the inferior skill ef our transatlantic brethren. The accident proves very linle ; but it will douptless be extensively used, or rather abused, by the partizans of the conteading lines Many people in New York seem to think that there isa feeling of hostility in the o!d coua- try against these steemers, and complaints have al- ready been made that justice has not been done to them by the British preas. ever had complaints less foundation. As Bri citizens, We cannot ing that in this great 5 but we are contident national feeling has been less obtruded, and there hee been lees boasting about the merits of the ships on this cide of the Atlantic than on the other. We trust that the arrival of the Camopria at New York with the mails and cargo of the Atlaatie will not only relieve the minds of many who mast be faring that the later has met the same (ate as the President, bot will also convince them that the tivelry is prosecuted on our part in a generous aad manly rpirit. The Preienders to the Crown of Franee. it Would appear that the f long contemplated between the cider and younger brenches of the House of Bourbon has lenge been accomplished, and that Legitimists and Oc leanists are henceforth to labor in un for the The Princes of the jon of Henry V. House of Orleans have at leagth withdrawn any | poten pe md might hope to found on the revo- | n of 1530 and the succession of Louis Philippe, have intimated their readiness to joia heart and haod in the re-establishment of the throne ia the person of the representative of the elder branch. The ex-Queen Marie Amelie has joined in the movement, and the only one who still holds out is the Duchess of (/rleans, who cannot be ia duced to think that the claims of the Comte te Paris should be jpoued for even one generation, and who still labore uader the delusion thy very short time, he will be recalled by ¢ of the French nation. Letters annowa important e is have been received in Pa communicated to the leaders of the two sections of the monarchical parties at a meeting held a short time agoat the house of the Marjuis de Pas- toret. The reconciliation (atleast as regards the leaders) is complete, and henceforth the dietinc- tion betwe: ee me and Orleanist has ceased to exist. ¢ policy of both parties, in as far asthe headsare concerned, will be todo all ia their pow- erto bring about the speedy restoration of Henry V. ‘The first fruit of this fusion is the publication of the Count de Chambord’s letter to M. Berryer. That letter, though appearing under the modest form of a private and laudatory communication to M. Berryer, is nothing more nor less than a mani- fesio from the Count de Ohambord to the united famous manifesto issued from Wiesbaden last year, under the name of M. Barthelemy. The docu- ment, though apparently an impromptw production from the Prince, and a token of his admiration of M. Berryer’s eloquent speech in support of M. de Remusat’s motion, was in reality written in Paris, and ie said to be the joi: nection of three great TsOn8| nemely, MM. Berryer, Guizot chitel. At all events, the letter is conside asa manifesto addressed to the m: sha opinion in France; an is evidently drawn vp with the object of conciliating all par- ties. It no longer speaks of the right euperseding all others. It even spe: policy of conciliation, of union, and as having been always that hints at fusion,” of the Prince, and it fusioa which has been accomplished between the two branches, where it says, “| ven- ture to hope that, with the aid of all good citize of all the members of my family, | shail neither be wanting in the courage nor the perseverance to ac- compiah this work of national restoration.” Important as this document may be considered, and it as were the effects expected from it, it has hitherto made very little impression on the The public do not seem aware of the of which has taken place. The in the secret of the affair have taken such in letting in , that time in he “flying horse Childers,” | #, and bad to put into a port before | mm Of interests so | monarchical parties, and a retractation of the too | letter to M. Berryer; instead of amnouncing the fact of the fusion between the two branches of the house ef Bourbon, allow that fact to be in- ferred from the fact, that the document was first published in the Momiteur du Soir, and not in the Gazette de France, The newspapers are equally reserved. Hitherto they have, in genera|, pub- lished the document without comment, and the remarks made are of little importance. The Ordre of to-day is an exception. [t publishes a long arte cle, in which it compliments the Count de Cham- bord. ‘This article isthe more important, as the Ordre is the organ of M. Thiers, and has hitherto been particularly severe on the Legitimists. Internal Agitation in the French Republic— Remoddeiitug the Comm {From the London Chronicle, Feb. 24.) The great scheme devised “A the Council of Stats, for re arranging the administrative mechan- ism of France—er rather for moulding the simple organization inherited from the first revolution into something like congruity with the complex institu- tions which have, from time to time, been thrust at hap hazard into its interatices—has rather unex- pecs lly proved the occasion of a fresh contention tween the coalesced parties and the conserva- tives who adhere to the President. Partaking, as this project does, rather of the nature of a codifica- tion, then of original Jaw, and deiling much more with detail than with principles, we should not, perhaps, have thought proper to introduce it formally to the notice of our readers, but for the heats which it seems destined to revive. Yet we are not sorry for an opportunity of alluding to the aspects of a controversy with which the immense question of decentralization is intimately wrapped up. Whetever may be the real motives of that portion of the assembly which has arrayed itself in pronounced opposition to some pri cipal provisions of the new measure, and which, in the committee appointed to report on it, has already secured seventeen voices against thirteen, the os- tensible ground of its disapprobation is the avowed purpose of the bill to multiply and systematize the interferences of the central government with local privileges, at a moment when the independence of the provinces is more imperatively demanded than ever. The legitimists are more fortunate than usui being able to reconcile their antagonism with appearances, for it is unquestionable that to the cause of decentralization they have repeatedly given pledges, though they have repeatedly be- trayed them. The republican opposition attacks the eame heads of the project which are repudiated by the extreme right, on principles which we shall presently explain. Onthe other side, the young statesmen who have ranged themselves with the President are, most unhappily, bigoted to the sys- tem under which they have been reared—while the rank aad file of the conservative minority either offer their support as part of their general adhesion tothe ministry, or, as dynastic Bonapartist tiful admirers of the fabric which the gr pO" leon riveted firmly to the body politic of France. A new succeesion of ministerial defeats is, on & mal- titude of grounds, to be lamented; but the loss in- volved in an increased estrangement between the estates of the commonwealth will, this time, be compensated by tenfold gain in the movement which will be effected on the only path that con- ducts to peace and safety. A decentralizing vote will be worth much more risk than, under present circumstances, it 1s likely to entail; and we can only rejoice that so precious a jewel should be lucked from the head of obscene and venomous faction. Tt is well known that, in the ultimate result of its ephemeral constitutions, the first revolution left France divided superficially into deparments, each department being subdivided into arronatssements, the arrondissements into cantons, and the cantons into commumes.. The unit of the system was the commune, which was made to coincide almost ex- actly with the ecclesiastical parovsse of feudal and monarchical France. The Emperor—for though the pattern was not his, it was his strong haud which knotted together this network—certainly in- tended these demarcations to serve exclusively the purpuses of civil administration. He did not love Tepresentative assemblies, whether provincial or metropoliten; and he extii the former wherever he found them existing. But the govera- ments which followed the empire hgve successively professed, with more or less of insincerity, their apxiety to arrest the catalepsy which has been creeping on the provinces ever since 1739. Hence almost every one of the territorial divisions before menuoned has, at one time or other, had conferred on it the honor of a special deliberative assembly, which, however, was intended by its founders to be a nullity from the paucity and insignificance of its attributes From a comparatively early perioi | the communes have had their Leet 0 jo councils, elected by the inhabivants and presided over by the Mave. ¢ arrondissement has also enjoyed its particular council, and the department has been re- presented by the more importent assembly known as the Conseil-General. Ic cannot be said that all these local deliberative bodies have existed merely on paper, or that they have exerted an inappreciable influence. Here and there they have developed a tolerably energetic vitality, though generaily in consequence of their having extended their pes aed beyond the design and the expectation of the origi- nator. The Municipal Council of the Commune, although occasionally converted into an instrument of priva'e oppression, has, on the whole, satisfac- torily diecharged the only serious functions assign- ed to it—those of maneging the corporate proper- ty, and directing some petty matters of police. The councils-general of the departments have provea an even more sucessful instuution ; but their grow- ing consideration has flowed not so much from their statutable duties of superinteading the high- ways and levying some smail jocal taxes, as from their successfully usurping the privilege of a horta- tory voice in the general politics of France, an ea- croachment in which they were aided by the policy of Louis Philippe’s ministers, who made them the theatre of their electoral intrigues. As for tne comseils d’ arrondissement, they were still-bora. The authors of the new project ascribe their com~ plete failure to the exorbitant extent of the distric’s which they represented, and following up this idea, they propose to transter the right of repre- a to the smaller circumpection, the Canton. fact, the conseils d'arrondissement were ia- ive because their functions were not active, but merely consultative, and therefore nominal The new cantonal eounctls wil! assuredly share | the like fate, for the like reason. Tho pies which comes from the Council of State | je chiefly directed to the adjustment of the muss of | incongroous laws which | rembiies and regulated their functions ave legalived these ay The no- Velties which it introduces are confined to the for- mation of the Cantonal Counciiman experment which al! parties seem contented to try—to the election of all the councils by universal suffrage, which is made necessary by the present cousti‘u- thon, and to the nomiuation of the communal y the central executive. Oa the last two h d the controversy in the bureaux. rage may imply either the franchise eatwet €atension, or the tight of voting as by the enseunent of last May. it was only to be expected that the repnblicans should contena | vehemently for the first mterpretatioa, and the con- | servatives for the Inst Again, ever since the events of February, 1848, the Muerc has been elected by the municipal council of the commune. The new project of law, on the other hand, gives the nomination of this official to the President of |‘ the republic, on coodition that his nominee be already & member of the municipality. What- ever be the policy on this head (> which the republicans would naturally incline, they are not at all disposed, under present circums| Sy to place an unmense field of patronage a: the dieporal of an executive which is likely long to remain in the hands of their enemies. hey are therefore for maintaining the arrangement of 1543 The views of the left on both these questions have been espoused by the legitimists. he right ex- cures its advocacy of unrestricted suffrage on the ground that, under the monarchy, there were two distinet quali ications for the municipal and tne Parliamentary franchise. More honestly and more logically it declares that the pledges it has publicly given oblige it to preserve, at all riske, the inde- ' nce of the communes, which would be in- fringed by withdrawing from them the privile; electmg their Mayor. It is clear, however, the hostility of the legitimists to the provisions of the bill is part of a bargain. The right agrees to ebrogate the new electoral law as respects munici- | pul es. flrege, and to emancipate the communes rom the executive, en condition that the left sup- port a series of propositions which M. Raudot | offers to the Asrembly. Of these amendments it | is at present suflicient to remark, that they seem to us to embody the true idea of decentralization ; and they attempt to realize this, not by empirice dabbling with the form and outline of nominal le, but by assigning substantial power and ty of independence to the assemblies which they profess to create. In our j sdgmeat, their adoption will be cheaply purchased, though three parts of the municipal councils in France should turn socialist, and elect a red republican for their Mayor. The subject isso vast that we must rely on the coming debate to indicate that particular branch of it on which it may be most useful for us to dwell. All that passed in the bureaux defies ue and desultory character. iesion of the legitimists in the As- sembly consists in the promotion of those a 8 towards which M. Raudot is leading them. Other ends, more exciting to their sensibilities or more flattering to their vanity, can only be pursued at present through a slough of disreputable intrigues, end with imminent danger to the country’s pass, iw We sincerely trust that they will steadily the course from which their interest, no less than their honor, forbids them to dive But we confers we have our fears, and y are in no small degree based upon the epistle of M. de Chambord 4M Berryer, which has just been published. e document is and moder. but it is vitiated on "Waseca jictated ite . What are we & party whieh encourages 4 pro- bid openly for seribed and exiled Pretender to chief of the come poonlesity against the de facto atia, The Ollireetwre Ree has accounts frou Herzgovine upto the Lith. Almost all the Turk- ish population of that province have de the insurgents ; their chief, Kavas Pa a, 4000 men under his orders near Han Borke. & Six emissaries from Herzgoviae had gone to Kraina to come to an understanding with the rebels of that province, in order to attack Omer Pagha si- multanéously on several points ; but they were arrested by the population of Daice. and sent to the seraskier. The Christians of Herzgovine all side with the Sultan. The viadika, Greek bishop. of Mostar, has taken refuge with the seraskier, topecbe' with twenty of the J pace Greeks. All is quiet along the frontier of Dalmatia. The inbabitants of Durno and Gliubuski have sent fif- teen of their chief citizens to the seraskier, in or— der to declare to him their submission to the Porte. The chiefs arrested hitherto by Omer Pasha have been sent under @ strong escort to Belgrade. Denmark. £ A letter from Kiel, of the 13th ult, gives the following os the principal points of the bul about to be communicated by the King of Denmark to Ce SRP of notables which he is going to con- voke: 1, The Monarchy of Denmark is composed of Den- mark, Schleswig and Holstein, and Leuenburg. 2, Lauenburg is to be united to Holstein. The politi- cal position of Holstein-Lauenburg with respect to Germany shall be fixed ia the same manner as the de- finite relations of Austria with the Germanic Cenfede- ration. For the three o fea, the order of succes- sion is to be invariably the sai 3, The whole kingdom of Di tk forms & consti- the sceptre of the tutional monarchical unity, un King of Denmark, rivate affairs special of its own, m re- 4. Each eountry has for its Copenhagen, Flonsba: Kiel. Bach Ministers, and an ansemb!; spective 7 re as its own particular constitution Saiore-. country at It ted on with the King. The kingdom of Denmar! to havea common assembly, holding its sittings bs eye ee voting the financial laws and taxes. will be composed of deputies chosen in the propor- tion of the population of each country, viz, 59 per cent, for Denmark, 17 per cent, for Schleswig, and 24 per cent. for Holstein: Lauenburg. 6. Th img convokes. nrosagees. and dissolves the arsemb! of the kingdom and of the provinces. He hasan absolute right of veto in all the assemblies. The Right of Asylum in Switzerland. {From the London Leader, March 1.) Reaction is making the tour of Europe. All bends or breaks before it. It has now M the last bul- pit he by storm. The tarn has come for Switzer- Little or nothing is known of the designs of the- German powers, great or small, againet the Swise confederacy. There were hundreds of thousands pester on the frontiers of Baden and Bavaria. ‘he bullying, at any rate, has been ‘ Switzerland, we grieve to say, knows neither how to resist with spirit, nor how to yield with dignity. With the internal affairs of the country, with the various experiments that are being applied, both to the central government and to the constitutions of the several cantons, Nicholas of Russia himself would not venture to interfere. y is even aoe venerable bj then peonet auto- cracy. It is woven into the great web of European poly. It lives by sheer force of conservatism. Nor is the question of Neufchatel of greater ment. Prussia has enough to do to breath in her own body. She has gambled away her great destiny—mede her own name and that of Germany a by-word among nations. Were she ever 20 strongly backed by insidious Austria—were she ever eo tempted by the faction of purse-proud watch and trinket makers in the old itself, she could not seriously dream of a revindi- cation of her unmeaning titles over that petty terri- tory. It would be here the case to repeat the words of Louis XIV., when the Genoese came to negotiate for the cession of their country to the French crown, ‘ Vows vous donne & moi, et mor Je vous donne au diable.” No, no; the real point at issue is simply this: Is Switzerland to continue in the enjoyment of unli- mited right of asylum? Are the *‘* mischief- makers” of all nations to e ish their J- qu ares yPhonatan g me ig fastaesses ““d central European chain, hence to organize expedi- tions end perpetuate civil wars? Austria and Ger- mo- the many, Occasionally aleo France and Sardinia, con- tend that hould not be suffered. The Swiss Diet itself shifts and shuffles, stands up for her rights to-day, and givee in on the morrow. The question, be it observed, ia neither new nor accidental. Remonsirances, threats, actual vio- lence, have equally been reeorted to against Swit- zerland in the paimy days of Guizot and Metter- nich. The Diet had to parry the thrusts of conser- vative diplomacy as it best could, by shifte and dodges, by anything but a manly and ‘idea: waa course. The refugee that was 1 ally b ugano, came out activity at Capolago. Between the canner § Diet and its blustering neighbors, there was a kin of drawn game, certainly neither fair nor dignified. Nor is Switzerland, icemingly. now in a condi- tion te look her difficulties full in the face. She seeke to evade, not to define and determine, the law of nations She knows not how to choose be- tween her interest and her honor. She forgets that refugees are her guests, not her prisoners ; thet she has no right to confine them to a peculiar dis! ,» to prevent them from choosing their own residence, pursuing their own course, forwarding their own objects, subject to no restraiat, save only the laws of the country. Switzerland should not legislate for the benefit of Bavaria or Austna. So far as individual liberty and freedom of the prese are concerned, the stranger within her doors mast be put on @ par with her own citizens. Itis not just that it should be otherwise—it is Hot expedient—it is not practicable. Does it not exceed all limits of absurdity to hear France, Austria, and all Europe dunning the Swiss Diet about the sefe refuge Mezziniis allowed to find at Geneva, when the seme agitator had it in his power to travel unmolested from Rome to Geneva, and hence again to London. again and again, we say, cluding ell pureuits, batlling the thousand tam- mele of passport and police regulations? There wasa hunt atter hun in 1838, which lasted more hen three years. Proseribed from canton to can- ure of the hospitality of all honest men, he ried in the country so long as it answered hie purpore; quitied it; returned to it whenever his bueiness required. He has lately been subjected fo the same sensel-ss persecution; he has baflled it,given in to it, with his wonted dexterity. He is in Lendon atthe present day, or rather, we should say, he was,for ere the ink on this paper be dry he may. for aught we know to the coutrary, be peacefully sailing on the placid waters of the Le- men agaia But, supposing even Switzerland to have it in her power to exerciee over the ref ontrol which France and Germany evidently have aot, we ask, is it fair to demand ot her this hatefal surveil- lance over the unfortunate which the great wreck of decrepit statee daily throws on her hospitality * Ate the neighboring governments, are the com- plainants themselves, Austria and Germany espe- cially, at all seropulous in the fulfilment of their own part of this interpational compact! Are royal retugees and plottin abonds turned out of Vienna or ice; or are y even ° vented from holding levees at Wiesbaden? The law of nations, strictly interpreted, binds Switzer- land 10 oppose ai armament ag tinetinendly powers Even this is not found practicable at all imes, as the Suasburgh and Bologne hero, sow so sqneam- ish on such matters, sho best know. For one harumscarum ¢xp¢ dition that ever set out from Ge neva in 1834, how many adventurous madcaps have given the hundred-eyed coalition of the great des- potic powers the ely! We understand such matters clearly enough here in England; and with the exception of the very shabby trek once played at the General Post Office, there is no instance of our government go- ing ont of its way to interfere with politicat exiles of any country or party. Even the unpopu+ lar atien bill is seldom resorted to, exeept in self defence. As for fore gu ers dealing with vur print~ ing offices, our steam navigation com anie*, or our gon manufactories, what is that to us! The shope are open for all customers. We are bound to dis countenance armaments; but as to arms, why we are only thenkfal to any enterprising gentleman likely to increase the demand. There is no reason in the world why this should not equally be the case with Switzerland. Her neighbors put forth demands for which they offer no reciprocity. Nay, the base intrivues and downright treachery b h Catholic Europe con~ epired eyainet the peace of that couatry daring the disgraceful affairs of the San gean wellequal the insolence with which Switzerland is expected to perform the duties of the lower police, to secure sound slumbere to the very eraments who never serupled, never would scruple, to invade, lay waste, dismember, and parcel the confederacy —if they only dared. a Yet, Switzerland, we are grieved to see, bows down &nd complies. Nay, she meets despotic ar- rogarce with duplicity and evasion She daresnot hold up right against might. She screens her exile guests by ecay az their existence ; by marching them up and down the country, hushing them up,. like an old ben hiding her chickens when the hawk. hoyers about in the air The spirit of old Switzerland is broken. Her rich possessions on the plains, her flourishing ma- nufactories, her princely caravansaries make her slso a wilitarian, She would show plack enough, if hard driven on some matter of local interest; but as toa proud vindication of inalienable but unpro- fitable rights—as toa chivalrous protection of the weak egainet the oppressor—beh! ‘The winter ie soon over. The flock of Eaglish wild geese is about to wing its fliaht towards ite favorite haunts at Vevey or foteriakea. The most not be scared away by the dan of agitation,