The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-29 00:00:00

CHRISTMAS DAY.

(EY LEIGH HUNT.)
Of the three holidays, Christmas Day is, for many
reasons, the greatest ; and one reason among others is,
that it stands out of the winter time, the first and
warmest of them. It is the cyo and fire of the season,
as the fire is of Christmas and of one's room. We have
always loved it, and ever shall ; first (to give a child's
reason, and a very good- one, too, in this instance?, be-
cause Christmas Day is Christmas Day ; second (which is
included in that reason, or rather includes it, for it is
the greatest), because of a high argument, which will,
more properly, stand by itself at the close of this article;
third, because of the bellies and other evergreens which
people conspire to bring into cities and houses on this
day, making a kind of summer in winter, and remind-
ing us that " The poetry of earth is never dead ;"
fourth, because we were brought up in a cloistered
school, where carols bad not gone out of fashion, and
used to sit in circles round huge fires, fit to roast an
ox, making inconceivable bliss out of cakes and sour
oranges ; fifth, because, of the fine things which the
poets and others have said of it ; sixth, because there is
no business going on,—" Mammon" is suspended ; and,
seventh, because New Year's Day and Twelfth Day
come after it ; that is to say, because it is the leader of
a set of holidays, and the spirit is not beaten down into
common-place the moment it is over. It closes and
begins the year with cheerfulness.

; ,

The application of the
engine to maritime purposes, aniits
in naval warfare, must naturally leadall thinking men
.
who are at all conversant '
in the adaptation of ships for
warlike principles
consequent o C.
thesatgeeann;
purposes, to anticipate an improved construction
in our ships of war, that does not impair their efficiency,
and can tend to make the battery they carry, under all
circumstances, more effective than it has hitherto been ;
those who during the last war were in ships attacked by
gun-boats during calms, will readily admit the advantage
gained in the stern of our ships of war by the introduction o f
the stern of Sir Robert Seppings, known under the designa-
tion of the " round stern," which enables a ship to point a
considerable number more guns in a line with the keel (aft)
er nearly so, than could have been done under the old
construction. This principle was about seven or eight
years since extended to the bow, by that talented man
Mr. Richard Blake, builder, of Portsmouth Dock-yard,
to whom the naval service is much indebted for numerous
inventions appertaining to the building of ships of war.
The Vindictive, a 50-gun frigate (now in Dock at Ports.
mouth, preparatory to commissioning), is the only ship
that has been built with a baw of Mr. Blake • but not
having ever been commissioned, we shall be dad to find
this ship tested by fair experiments with any ship of k,e
class; the increased number of guns she will be abler 0
get to bear forward, is a great desideratum attained, with-
out producing any deformity in appearance,which.unfortu-
nately characterized the original " round stern."...,flainp-
shire Telegraph.
Upper Canada has fallen into a torpid and bank-
rapt state by its extravagant enterprises in magnificent
projects beyond its moans, till it has been compelled to sue
1 for relief to the mother country to complete its works.— '
Globe. ..
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