The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-19 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The White Rouse by the Sea. By M. 13etbara
Edwards. 2 vois. Smith and Eider.
This is entitled a "Love Story," and it is one
of a superior sort, nothing affected or sentimental
pervades its pages, but, on the contrary, a genuine
tone is manifest throughout. The story is told by
a young girl who led a singularly lonely life at a
villtge by the sea shore. It was to be questioned,
however, if her early years of unfulfilled desires
and unattanable yearnings after the grand and.
heroic were not preferable to her after-life. When
she entered that world for which she had pined,
she found there nothing salisfying. Some of the
individuals are exceedingly wed described to
us, and in particular Angelica and Lindsey
Jocelyn. One so resolute, the other so wavering,
but both wrong ; for Angelica cared only for her-
self, and sought only to carry out her own peculiar
Purposes, While Lindsey knew Vie right thing, but
was too weak to do it. It is a plea-ing task to tura
from them to Jeannie in her sweet simplicity and
gentle loveliness, at first crushed by the cruel blow
of being betrayed, but at last 'becoming brave
enough to begin life afresh • and especially does
the reader delight to dwell on Charlton Warne, the
maiden who, in silence turd solitude, in the Whit•
House by the Sea, had trained and fitted herself to
endure the storms of life and the buffet] of a cruel
and envious world. Not all the philosophy of the
worldly-wise, not all the sharp and cunning
effrontery of the witty and unfeeling, could over-
match the child of nature's sublimest scenes. In
her youth, which she had supposed wasted, she had.
educated herself ; while she had deemed she was
ignorant of so many things, she had principle and
feeling which commanded respect and attracted
sympathy, besides a depth and earnestness in her
character the result of thought and reflection.
There are some exciting passages in the course of
the narrative, and the style is a very graceful one
altogether. "The Whit-,. House by the Sea" is a
pleasing novel to peruse, and may serve to amuse
a leisure hour undoubtedly.

THE LAUNCH OF THE LEVIATHAN.

(From. the Mechanics' Magazine.)

Mr. Brunel has not been altogether unfamiliar with
failures ; but no failure of his did ever so much to lower
the reputation of English engineers as the launch of the
Leviathan. Having first, by the con4ruction of that
enormous vessel, concentrated the at,ention of the world
upon him, he has now presented to it the most costly
example of folly that was ever seen. Was ever such a
spectacle witnessed as thousands upon ►housands have
for weeks past beheld on the Thames —an English
engineer, at the head of multitudes of mechanics and
labourers, breaking ponderous engines, rending enor-
mous cables, crushing solid masses of timber, bursting
strong iron vessels forcing up the soil, tearing
up the very bed of the river, • xpending ♦ast
sums of money, impoverishing shareholders,
ruining the vessel herself, spreading terror
around, imperilling life—keeping this up day after day,
week after week, and even mouth after month, and all
in order merely t lower a ship from the shore to the
river ! It is our imperative duty to endeavour to trans-
fer the disgrace of suea a scene from English engineering
science to the individual engineer who is alone respon-
sible for it. If the scene had been cenneced with an
undertaking of the Government, a thousand joureal■
would have teemed with reproach and invective. If the
Adin;.ralty happen even to purcha-e a ship which, after
a time, turns out bad, men cannot refrain from seeking
to trace the fault to some unhappy public servant, and
to visit him with becoming retribution. Why, then,
should the press pass unnoticed the blunders of a private
individual who has far out-stripped the mismanagement
with which any Government ever executed a work of
plain, practical engineering?
The first question to be a3'.ed is, why was the Levies
than built where she is ? (for we cannot h, re discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of such a ve-eel in the
abstract). Recent experience, both in our own dock-
yards and in America, has shown that the launching of
ships much less in weight than the Leviathan is some.
times attended with difficulties which are not easily
overcome ; such, for example, as the s'oppage of the
ship upan the ways, as iu the cases of the Cellar ab
Pembroke Dock, the Marlborough at Portsmouth, and
the Queen of the Pacific at New York.
In all these eases, moreover, the ship was launched
lengthwise, in the usual manner, so that the weight
was more easily distributed over a large enema
than when side-launching has to be resorted
to. With these facts before him, it we', in
our judgment, an altogether unnecessary display
of self-confidence in Mr. Brunel to build the
ship where she is, particularly as the narrowness of the
river and the populousness of its banks rendered a rapid
launch extremely dangerous. Beside the influence which
the inherent difficulties of the case must have exerted

upon Mr. Brunel the further influence of professional
dissuasion was, we are informed, brought to bear upon
his jud;zment. At the Institution of Civil Engineers,
before the ship was commenced, strong adverse opinions
were, we are told, expressed to him by several
tial members of that cultivated and experienced body,
but without effect ; and it is even rumoured that a
chalk-pit near the Thames was offered the company as a
dock to build the ship in, for a total rental of
10,0001., the owner undertaking to fit it with suitable
gates, &c., for the purpose. But whether tbis be true or
cot, Mr. Brunel's best friend (if he have friends, of
which our intercourse with engineers renders us doubtful)
cannot question that the construction of such a ship
upon such a spot as that selected was most rash aid
improvident. A suitable dock would have cost far
less than the launch has cost. The, exhibition of him-
self, mounted upon a rostrum, with signal flags in his
hands, amid thousands of spectators at a grand launch,
eta hardly be considered to have weighed greatly with
Mr. Brunel in selecting the site, even were he sup.
posed capable of having foreseen the august presence
of the Siamese Ambassadors.

Some persons will probably think these statements of
oars might have been made earlier with advantage.
This we do not believe. We certainly should have
made them when the first failure occurred with the
Launch, but we thought it would be more graceful to
defer them until the vessel waq afloat. That event has,
however, been so long postponed that it seems imprudent
to wait longer for it. lied we roads such statements at
the outset of the vessel's construction, they would not
have turned Mr. Brunel from his purpose, and could
have had no other effect than that of flinging the heavy
pecuniary burlen which has now to be borne upon the
shoulders of fewer shareholders.

Tue next question fur consideration is, why has Mr.
Brunel, having built his ship where she is, had been so
utterly unsuccessful in the launching of her 1 In the first
place he ha., in our opinion, made a fatal innovation by
introducing iron rails on h►s slideway-,and iron plates on
his bilgeways. What earthly advantage over a large
surface of s►n .oth greased wood did he expect to get out
of a small surface of rough rusty iron ? This question
Mr. Brunel will not, in all probability, answer. It is
his part, and, according to the Builder of Saturday last,
it is the part of Mr. Yates, the Company's Secretary
also, to treat the press with contempt, and to cast the
cash of the company into the river Thames with the
utmost liberality. But until Mr. Brunel or some one
else does answer the question, there is no more to be
said upon the choice of the iron rails. Mr. Brunel
preferred them, you may depend on't ; Mr. Brunel
preferred them, and there's an end on'r. Even the
shareholders will not, we fear, get beyond this point.
Iron surfaces having been chosen, the proper incline.
tien to be given to the slide-ways was the next point to
ha considered ; and here there was an opportunity for
a little judicious assumption and calculation. Because
although the iron on iron would produce an immense
amount of friction,*this might be provided for by giving
a suitable inclination to the slide-ways. Here, how-
ever, nothing has been done with any tolerable approsi•
ration to the truth. So small is the inclination, as
compared with the inclination required, that all the
combined powers yet brought to bear upon the ship
have failed to get her to the water ; and it seems as if
all the King's horses and all the King's men will be re.
quircd before -the taz=k is accomplished. Where
then is Mr. Brunel's engineering ability, if he fail thus
utterly upon such a point 1 But he has not mistakes
the inclination only. He is equally at fault in his dis-
tribution of the weight upon the two cradles. The after
cradle has to sustain much more than one-half the weight
of the ship. The consequence is, as we said in a former
article, the friction upon the slide-ways is most un.
equal, and the ship twists upon the ways, and thee adds
still more to the difficulty of moving her. It will,
perhap,s, be scarcely believed, although it is perfectly
true, that some days since Mr. Brunel actually had two
or three hundred tons of water placed in the fore part
of the ship in order to get rid of this evil ; and this ie
the case where the weight is the one great thing to be
dealt with !
We do not feel disposed to criticise the measuret
taken since the commencement of November last to push
the ship off ; because they have consisted simply in the
continual addition of the most obvious appliances avail.
able for the purpose.

From all there things our readers !lust draw their
own conclusions. We desire only that they shall not
consider the launch of the Leviathan a task beyond the
powers of English engineers. It is the name and re-
pute of Mr. Brunel only which are staked upon the
undertaking ; and we ate perfectly confident that there
are man men among us who would have launched h
ship with ease, success, and security.