tivators of the different districts should assemble, should be to give common facilities, and to enrich themselves and each other by the exchange of their separate commodities.

The publication of Dr Bigelow's book will contribute to the diffusion of a better taste, by making known the essential principles of the arts, and thus preparing for the circulation of larger and more particular treatises. It will do it no less by laying before the young inquirers something like a map of the various regions of pleasant knowledge, at a time when the affections are unoccupied, and

'The world is all before them where to choose.'

G. B. Smesson A.S. Mackenzie,

ART. V. Report of the Secretary of the Navy to the President of the United States, December 1, 1829.

We know of no work of art, no production of human genius and human power, that in any manner rivals, or may even be named in comparison with, the sailing ship. Nor can we, in all the various modes of existence resulting from modern civilization, find any social position so strange, so unnatural, and yet so full of interest, as that which is offered by a ship of war. How singular the sensations of him who gazes for the first time upon this artificial wonder! His awe at the immense proportions of the huge machine mingle with astonishment at the celerity with which it traverses the water by the aid of its wide-spread and snowy wings, at the ready obedience with which, at the will of a pigmy, like himself, it changes its course, advances towards the wind, retreats before it, or, entering the port, suddenly becomes still and stationary as the surrounding hills, while the clouds of canvass, which, an instant before, whitened the heavens, disappear, as if by magic, from his view. As he approaches, the awe excited by its growing size and formidable defences, keeps pace with the pleasure which he feels in finding these qualities blended with so much of symmetry and beauty. The smooth side broken only at regular intervals by the protruding cannon, the graceful curves of bow and stern, and the nice proportions of the tapering spars, as they rise in exact and Corinthian harmony, each sustained by its system of stays and rigging, in turn attract and gratify his eye.

And when at length he stands upon the deck, perplexed and amazed at the strange sights and sounds that surround him, his ears pierced by the shrill whistle of the boatswains, or grated by their rough bellow, rising above the din of the multitude, in voices which he can scarce recognise for those of his fellow men; when suddenly he beholds this scene of more than Babel confusion pass at the command of an individual, first into a death-like silence, and then into a movement as concerted as of a single body yielding to its inward will; and finally turns to survey and scrutinize the various arrangements for the comfortable accommodation of so many inhabitants, for destruction, and for defence,-no spectacle can have equal power to overwhelm him with wonder and admiration.

There is, indeed, much that is curious in a man-of-war. Each ship offers in itself a perfect community, self-existent and self-dependent; entirely unlike anything to be met with on shore. In fact, the land does not more differ from the water, than life ashore does from life afloat. One of the very first things which strike landsmen when they enter a man-ofwar, is the entire restraint, nay, absolute surrender of volition in all except one of those embarked; the stern superiority of him who orders, and the mechanical and unqualified submission of those who obey. A ship, indeed, with its captain, officers, and seamen, forms no imperfect miniature of a monarchy, with its king, nobles, and third estate. If there be any difference, it is that the gradations are more decided, the despotism more complete. This state of things results less from the subordination necessary and common to all military establishments, than from the peculiar difficulties and dangers attending naval life, which do not allow each man to remain, even in immaterial things, master of his actions, but, inasmuch as the fate of all depends upon the conduct of each, requires a harmony of action only to be obtained by the most complete subordination to a single will.

These peculiarities render the economy of a man-of-war very interesting to landsmen, and the subject, well treated, is susceptible of much attraction. In Roderick Random' we have a good and true description of naval life. The 'Pilot' and 'Red Rover' of our countryman give us a more general, and at the same time more graphic picture of sea affairs; no author has more completely mastered the mysterious sources of interest that hover over the wanderers of the deep. With

out abandoning the fireside, we are yet led forth in fancy to roam the trackless waste of waters, become participants in the elastic feelings of his heroes, as they dash onward, triumphing over space and the elements. He teaches us to prepare for battle, and nerves our arms to meet and grapple with the foe; to read the prognostic of the coming storm, to share the mariner's anxiety, to aid him in arresting its fury, and fairly carries us rolling forward, until the head swims and the eye grows dizzy. Nowhere, however, have we seen, in so few words, so spirited and moving a picture of the warrior-ship, as in those noble lines of Childe Harold.' They bring all our quarterdeck recollections thronging so palpably around us, that we cannot forego the pleasure of copying them.

'He that has sailed upon the dark blue sea,
Has viewed at times, I ween, a full fair sight;
When the fresh breeze is fair as breeze may be,
The white sail set, the gallant frigate tight;
Masts, spires, and strand retiring to the right,
The glorious main expanding o'er the bow,
The convoy spread like wild swans in their flight,
The dullest sailer wearing bravely now,

So gaily curl the waves before each dashing prow.

And oh, the little warlike world within!
The well-reeved guns, the netted canopy,
The hoarse command, the busy humming din,
Where, at a word, the tops are manned on high;
Hark to the boatswain's call, the cheering cry!
While through the seaman's hand the tackle glides;
Or school-boy midshipman, that, standing by,
Strains his shrill pipe as good or ill betides,
And well the docile crew that skilful urchin guides.

'White is the glassy deck, without a stain,
Where on the watch the staid lieutenant walks;
Look on that part which sacred doth remain
For the lone chieftain, who majestic stalks,
Silent and feared by all-not oft he talks
With aught beneath him, if he would preserve
That strict restraint, which broken, ever balks
Conquest and fame.'

The Report of the Secretary of the Navy we have placed at the head of this article rather as affording us an opportunity to express some of our opinions on the subject, than with a view to criticism or elaborate discussion. We have only to remark in passing, that the Report contains some suggestions which seem to us important, and we are particularly glad to find in it

a renewed recommendation of the establishment of naval schools. But on this topic we shall touch hereafter.*

Without further preliminaries, we shall avail ourselves of the present occasion to institute a brief inquiry into the origin and progressive improvement of navies in general, and into the condition and prospects of our own in particular. And if it be remembered that, independently of the protection of our commerce, a navy is our natural means of defence; that all the nat ons from which we have anything to fear are separated from us by intervening oceans (we consider the present proximity of British territory as but accidental and temporary), and that they can only reach us by a display of naval power; that, in fact, of the foreign wars we have already waged, a majority have been exclusively of this character; that, whilst this mode of warfare demands infinitely less sacrifice of life and money,

*In reverting to naval concerns, we are forcibly reminded of a work of much merit, which perhaps we ought sooner and in a more formal manner to have introduced to the notice of our readers. We allude to the Sketches of Naval Life, in a Series of Letters from on board the Brandywine and Constitution Frigates.' The title of the book itself promises much entertainment, and the author has well redeemed this promise. Descriptive scenes of a well-ordered ship of war, adorned in the first place by the presence of the most interesting and most enviable individual now living, the warrior, the patriot, the philanthropist, Lafayette-him whose generous sympathies were too expansive for a single hemisphere,-and afterwards relieved by visits to the fairest portions of the old continent, accidentally rendered more deeply interesting by the passing events of a revolution, then fixing the attention of the world, furnish no unworthy or ungrateful theme. Perhaps full justice has not been done to it, for this would be no easy achievement ; yet we should neither deal fairly by the author, nor by our own feelings, did we not commend his total freedom from pretension and quackery, and the patriotic and liberal spirit in which his work is written. We would especially bear testimony to the good sense of that part in which he speaks of the improvements necessary to the perfection of our naval system. His concluding letters constitute the most valuable portion of the work, and may be read with equal advantage by naval men and by legislators. The advice to a young midshipman about to enter upon the duties of his profession, is equally creditable to the sound sense and good feelings of its writer; and we think that every young man, thus situated, might derive great advantage from its attentive perusal. Such a one is apt, when commencing his career, and looking with an eager eye to the attainment of honor and excellence, to form vague determinations as to the course of conduct which is to lead him to success. A system of action thus methodized and written down, might tend in no trifling degree to keep alive these generous aspirations.

the force by which it is maintained is without danger to our national liberties; finally, that a navy goes forth to meet the danger at a distance from our shores, leaving the cultivator to reap in peace the fruits of his labor, unalarmed by the turmoil of approaching war, and spared the slaughter and destruction that mark the track of armies;—if we keep in mind these facts, the subject may well command our attention.

Naval war exists in the earliest stages of society; it has its origin in the very passions and constitution of our nature. The savage has scarce learned to venture forth upon the water in the canoe which he has rudely hollowed from a tree of the forest, ere, embarking with his bow and arrow, his hardened war-club, his javelin, or his lance, he transports himself to the spot whither he is attracted by revenge for some real or supposed injury, by avaricious longing for some contemptible booty, the desire of making prisoners, of adding to the number of his wives, of providing victims for the altar of idolatry, or of furnishing a horrible banquet. He succeeds in his enterprise; or, met by a wary adversary, with equal weapons, and with everything to defend, they join battle; instead of trumpets, the wild whoop and war-conchs sound the onset; arrows and javelins are hurled, clubs are brandished; the frail barks of the combatants are overturned beneath them; and with the sea for an arena, and fury to make up for the imperfection of their weapons, they are enabled to strew it with victims. And thus we find the Caribs, not only destructively encountering each other, but disputing the victory with the steel-clad Spaniards, who first intruded upon the scenes of their triumphs; and with no better weapons than bows and arrows, even these wielded by the hand of woman, offering fatal resistance to the ferocity of the civilized.

Not very different from these Carib battles was naval war in the earliest ages reached by history or tradition. The heroes of Homer went forth in slight barks that were stranded and launched at pleasure, and the same individuals rowed and fought alternately. Among them, as among the Caribs, superior strength and valor decided the victory. In process of time, however, naval war began to assume a peculiar system; the ordinary vessels built for commerce were no longer used for warlike purposes, but as transports; and the galley, in whose construction and exercise the Athenians especially excelled, already acted an important part at the battle of Salamis.