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contempt of expense, even if it affected nothing beyond national pride; but it affects other matters, on the importance of which we need not dilate. Things will, indeed, be most criminally managed by government, if, in our next war with America, British ships be not at the least fully equal to American ones in every thing.

While the merchant navy of America is gaining so rapidly upon, and is making so near an approach to our own, it is attempted in various quarters to allay our apprehensions by the assurance, that the Americans will never be able to procure seamen to man a powerful navy. We fear this assurance is entitled to but little attention. Granting that they have not impressment to resort to, they could enact laws which would be equally efficacious. A country anxious for naval glory, thirsting for aggrandizement, and to which in time of war powerful fleets are essential for preserving its commerce and protecting its shores from invasion, would readily submit to such laws, should they be found necessary. Whenever America shall possess as many merchant seamen as this country, it will be a practicable matter for her to man as many ships of war as this country. She will possess the means, and the fair probability is, that she will employ them.

The 74 will be of 2700 tons, and will carry 110 guns. This is a wonderful ship; she has 52 feet beam, and her deck is enormous, not being drawn in as usual. These vessels are all built of live oak; the timbers are so close, that they would be perfectly water-tight without planking; they, however, have planking 7 inches in thickness. Two other seventy-fours, the Franklin and Washington, are here a good deal out of repair. Here is also the Hudson, a frigate built for the Greeks, but which has been purchased by the government; she is ready for sea, to convey an envoy to England, and then to take a cruise. We then went over the Fulton steam-battery, formed for firing red-hot shot and throwing boiling-water. It is bombproof. It was not finished until after the war, and it is now used as a receiving ship. We saw in it 766 men receiving their grog; part of them were for the Hudson frigate. The Americans will not find the difficulty in obtaining men for their navy which De Roos supposes, because a naval war would render much of their mercantile shipping idle. They are recruiting for their navy far inland, where the smart straw hats, blue bosomed shirts and white trowsers, seem to have charms. Salt is used to a very great extent in ship-building; and it is even in contemplation to have saltwater pits, in which the timber may be kept in pickle till wanted. They say, that beef barrel staves never rot. Twelve of the large vessels, one of which is to carry from 140 to 150 guns, and twelve sloops, besides frigates, are building in their different yards. I shall endeavour to see the great ship. The timber, build, finish, and weight of metal of their ships are astonish-history of our own naval greatness how much ing, and well does it behove the British government to consider, whether it has vessels able to cope with them. In the retrenchment plans of the United States, their navy and its pay were included, but this has been abandoned; both have been raised, and their officers are much better off than ours. We saw the naval chapel; the service is Episcopalian."

We will now give our traveller's account of what he saw in the navy yard at Philadelphia. "I now went to the navy yard, and here, my astonishment was complete. I went over, and through, and measured the 74 gun-ship, the Pennsylvania, intended to carry 144 guns, most of which, 42 pounders, are in the yard. I made her deck 225 feet long, her beam 54 feet, and her depth 80 feet. I was told she would be of 3100 tons burden, and would have 1200 men. She is in a state to be quickly finished, if wanted. Her work is finished like cabinet-work, and she is closely timbered like the Ohio. De Roos has shown a levity in his descriptions, which the sight of such ships ought to have prevented. He has hurt his character much in this country by his flippancy and ignorance, and the Americans express much surprise at his promotion. The hull of another frigate, alias 74, is finished; and a 24 gun sloop is ready for launching."

It is prodigiously galling to an Englishman, that the boasts of naval architecture are to be

But she would be a very dangerous enemy on the ocean if she possessed only half as many ships of war as this country. This would make her practically almost our equal, because our strength would of necessity be so much divided. We ought to know from the

depends on the first two or three great naval battles. Suppose she should in the aggregate have half as many ships of war as ourselves, and that in the first battle she should capture and destroy fourteen or twenty sail of the line, what would be the consequence? Naval power differs widely from military power: it is a thing of the most frail and delicate existence; and they who possess it, and to whom the possession is of the first moment, should nurture it with the care required by the tender exotie. The loss of a single battle may destroy it, not only for the moment, but for ever. We took from France her navy; and her colonies-her means of creating another navy-followed. Let America wrest from us for a moment our naval supremacy in any point she may assail, and some of the most valuable of our colonies must become her easy prey: let her obtain these colonies, and not only must we lose a large part of our merchant navy, but she must practically gain it. As it happened heretofore to France, Holland, &c., so it must happen to us if we be beaten on the ocean. The loss of the first flcet will go far towards insuring the loss of the second: with fleets-colonies, merchant ships, and the means of forming fleets, must be lost; and what we lose must be gained by the enemy.

Thero is in this the most powerful argument which could be adduced to prove, that if, found in England no longer-that ships can be in case of a war, America could send a fleet of found in another country, to which equals can- fifteen or twenty sail of the line to sea, it must not be furnished by the British navy. This be of the very highest importance that the humiliation ought to be shook from us in utter British ships destined to meet them should be

If the Turkish authorities do not act with incredible dexterity, we imagine we shall soon hear of a French army being sent to Egypt, or some other part, to avenge insults, and of course demand indemnities. If they are not sincere, they have had vantage ground given them by this country, from which they may do her incalculable injury. The spirit and principles of the Greek treaty gave England a clear right to insist that Russia should not commence war, and that France should not send a soldier to Greece; and this right she ought to have sternly exercised without any regard to profes

at the least fully equal to them in size, build, | herself in hostilities with the Pacha of Egypt. weight of metal, complement-every thing. And it shows that we ought not to neglect precaution, in our reliance on our aggregate numerical superiority. Whatever difficulty America might encounter in procuring seamen, it is matter of certainty, that she possesses all the essentials for sending to sea a powerful naval force. It is matter of certainty that she is at this moment in essentials a formidable naval power, looked at without reference to any alliances she might enter into. When we glance at her population and merchant navy, we cannot give implicit credit to those who aver that it is impossible for her to procure 50,000 or 100,000 men for her ships of war. But it is pretty clear that in hostilities with us, she would have allies. Of France, we need not speak; but what is passing in the Mediterranean makes it necessary for us to say, that Russia and America have for some time obviously made it a point of policy to cultivate each other's friendship, and lean to each other against this country. Make Russia a strong naval power by suffering her to appropriate European Turkey, and she will be the naval ally of America against us. We need not point out what Russian and American interests this alliance would serve.

The triumph which Russian diplomacy has lately achieved is amazing, unparalleled, and even miraculous. The execrable Greek treaty was entered into by this country confessedly to prevent her from making war on Turkey, and yet it left her at full liberty to make such war! On its being signed, she attacked Turkey, and used it as the means for making allies of England and France in the attack. That Turkish fleet which she could not have destroyed alone, she destroyed through the assistance of the English and French fleets, which this treaty gave her. She would not exercise her rights as a belligerent in the Mediterranean, until a French army was landed in the Morea-that is, she would remain a neutral, because by doing so, she could war much more effectually against Turkey through the aid of England and France, than she could do as a belligerent. As soon as neutrality became less effective than open war, she resorted to the latter through the most shameful breach of faith. The Greek treaty was to bind the contracting parties from employing arms, and yet France has sent an army to Greece to en. force it. Through this detestable treaty Russia gained the courage and pretexts for making war on Turkey, she made England and France her powerful allies in the war, and she restrained other powers from interfering against her. Why Ministers have adhered to it so tenaciously, when they might so long since have honourably abandoned it, is a matter not to be explained by ourselves. We do not say all we think, when we say that they have followed a most hazardous line of policy. Russia and France may be sincere in their professions, but at any rate it is very clear that not the least reliance can be placed on those of the former. Our belief is, that they are not sincere-that they are actuated by motives of vicious aggrandizement-and that France will be mightily disappointed if she cannot contrive to involve

sions.

When the proceedings of these powers may easily do great injury to our relative naval strength in regard to America, it behoves us to keep a jealous eye on the naval strength of the latter. Ministers deserve the highest praise for the fortifications they are raising in our American possessions, and we earnestly trust that the miserable cant of "economy" will only make them on this point more lavish in expenditure. These fortifications will practically rank amidst the leading bulwarks of our maritime supremacy. Valuable as the Canadas are in a commercial point of view, they are still more valuable on other considerations. If America gain them, she must take from us that large portion of naval power which we draw from them. This will make ber merchant navy about equal to our own, and render our retention of the West Indies a doubtful matter. The question-shall the Canadas belong to England, or America? is to a very great extent this question-Shall maritime supremacy be possessed by England, or America?

We heartily wish that we could praise Ministers as warmly for protecting our merchant navy. This has long been, and still is, distressed and declining; and the American one has long gained rapidly upon it. If American ships multiply as they have done, they will in a few years be-putting the loss of colonics out of the question-more numerous than our own. While such is the case, a reciprocity treaty is in existence between this country and America, which gives to the latter nearly the whole carrying trade. Instead of having a full and regular share of this trade, British ships are in a great measure driven out of it, except in times of loss and suffering. Here is a treaty which gives to the ships of America most unjust advantages, to the great benefit of her naval power, and the great injury of our own. From this fact, what is the irresistible inference? The treaty should be abandoned, and our own ships should be, at the very least, placed on an equality with the American ones. What is there to prevent this from being done? Nothing. This country can annul the treaty at any time by giving six months' notice. The plea that it might injure our manufactures, has no longer any weight; the tariff has destroyed it.

To a discriminating duty on their ships and their cargoes, America could oppose nothing of much moment in the way of retaliation. A retaliatory duty on ours would be of comparatively no use to her. Her ships already carry almost every thing that we export to her, therefore it could do but small injury to

the British ones in the outward voyage. Speak-
ing with reference to maritime power alone, it
is imperiously necessary for this treaty to be
annulled, and for the carrying trade between
this country and America to be so regulated
that British ships may have at all times their
full share of it.

We must proceed to other matters. It would
be unpardonable in us to omit the following no-
tice of the American ladies.

66

The American women are certainly very lady-like, pretty, good walkers and good dress

ers.

We can easily believe this when we remember from whom they sprung.

"Quakers are not so numerous here as I expected; they dress in all ways, from the original broad brim to the gayest fashion. A great schism has lately taken place among them. An English female preacher accused them of Unitarian principles; they denied the truth of the accusation, but it has thrown among them the apple of discord."

Notwithstanding the different accounts which have been published of the Shakers, the following will be read with much interest:

When we reached the Shakers' village, we were surprised by the number of carriages, gigs, carts, and horses, which were waiting un. der the trees. On entering the chapel, we found the brothers and sisters in silent meeting, which is usually the commencement of their devotions. There were about seventy of each sitting on stools facing each other, as still and motionless as statues. The men had no coats, but were dressed in old-fashioned jackets without collars, having flap pockets, and three plaits behind, trowsers, worsted stockings, and good shoes. Their linen was beautifully white; and their faces were a wholesome healthy brown. The women wore very fine, plain, bordered, pretty caps, and long white dresses from the throat to the wrists and ankles, as white and pure as we were told their minds were within. The old women were plump and good-looking; the young ones were almost as white in their faces as in their garments. Their eyes were all soul, and their eyebrows and lashes seemed as if pencilled. The men had, many of them, ribbons round their arms, as if marks of office. There were nearly double the number of visiters on benches along the walls, &c. After so sitting for some time, a leader thanked God for all the blessings they enjoyed, but in an especial manner for having had their souls opened to the knowledge of the last revelation, and to an understanding thereof, leading them to salvation, into which happy state they had now entered, having a fulness of joy. They all rose, removed their scats, and then stood like ballet-dancers. A man now commenced a psalm or spiritual song, in which all joined, marking the time with their bodies in a short shake, the men with their feet also. style of singing resembled that of a London street-ballad-singing sailor: their tunes were

of the

The

same style; in one of their dances the chorus was 'Toora, loora, loo.' When the psalm was finished, a nice old gentleman came forward and addressed the visiters. He welcomed us to see their simplicity of worship; and requested those, who came from curiosity

to see something new, to look and observe, as
they might carry away something to think
upon which might do them good. He observ-
ed, they did not set their light under a bushel,
but they let all the world see it; and hoped
none came to interrupt them, or amuse them-
selves improperly.

"Another psalm was now sung, and another
short address to God followed, in which refe-
rence was made to the old custom of praising
God by dancing. After a pause the dance be-
gan, the whole singing at the same time as
loudly as possible. In dancing they held up
their hands as dancing dogs hold up their paws,
waving them up and down to the time. The
dance required but little space; it cannot be
so easily described as imitated; sometimes
they clapped their hands violently. This was
repeated several times; the perspiration ran
down their faces, and the place smelled much.

"A preacher now came forward and preached to the visiters (not to his own people). He gave us his reasons for the hope that is in them, by giving a short, and in general, a clever and fair history of revelation, divided into three heads. His text was,- Old things have passed away, behold all things are become new.' This exposition, in all, save the peculiar tenets, was very sensible, and was given much after the manner of our Wesleyan Methodists. However, of Wesley, he said, that he had not knowledge without measure, as he had missed a knowledge of the last revelation. He made a curious allusion to circumcision, and gave a strange exposition of being neither married nor given in marriage, which he maintained had reference to this life. He asserted that they should abstain, &c. and that it was priestcraft of the most abominable kind to pretend for a dollar to give people the right of living in ungodly and destructive lusts. He said, that in them, the new Jerusalem was present upon earth; and that it was necessary to live here now as we would live in heaven hereafter, seeing how we prayed for that heaven. He exhorted us to observe how happy they werethat they were all as angels purged and puri'Have you,' said he, fied from sin, &c. &c. any cheaper way of salvation than ours? Have you any other way? No! without bodily purity, there is no mental holiness; and without holiness no man shall see God.' New singing and dancing followed: in the last psalm all fell on their knees exerting their voices to the utmost. After another short exhortation to us, the leader said, the meeting is finished.' Original sin was throughout strongly and convincingly argued.

"There are some curious anomalies among these singular people; while they prohibit matrimony and sexual acquaintance, they will hold their goods in common; any one on jointake charge of and educate children. They ing them gives up all his property to the common stock, and if he even leave them he takes nothing away. There are several establishments; the largest is at Lebanon, and is said to be very rich. This society is one of the smallest, and may consist of from 400 to 500 members. It has been in existence about forty years. It is clear that knaves, fools, and enthusiasts, make up the majority of its members.