Star.
London, England, 1823-09-03 00:00:00

BI SIRS. IiCkIANS.

THE MOORISH BRIDAL SONG.*

SITILACTED ram THE SW NMSZR INS NSW SIONTULS

MAGAZINE
The citron graves their fruit and flowers were strewing
Around a Moorish palace, and the sigh
Of Summer's gentlest wind, the branches wooing
♦filth music through their twiligtit-liowers went by;
Tlnsic and voices from the marble
Through the leaves gleaming, 'midst the fountain-falls!
A song of joy, a bridal song came swelling
To blend with fragrance in those southern shades,
And told of feasts within the stately dwelling,
And lights, and dancing steps, and gem-crown'd maids;
And thus it flow'd; yet something in the lay
Belong'd to sadness, as it died away !
4' The bride comes forth ! her tears no more are falling
To leave the chamber of her infant years,
Kind tikes ftom another home are calling,
She comes like day-spring—she bath done with tears!
Now rust her dark eye shine on other flowirt,
!ler bright ssnilc gladden other hearts than ours !
—Pour the rich odours round !
" We hone! the &seen and the lovely bringing,
Love still goes with her from her place of birth,
Deep silent joy within her heart is springing,
For this alone her glance bath less of mirth !
Her beauty leaves us in its rosy years,
Her sisters weep—bnt she bath done with tears!
Now may the timbrel sound !"

Know'st thou for whom they sang the bridal numbers?
—One, whose rich tresses were to wave no more !
One why pale cheek soft winds, nor gentle slumbers,
Nor. Love's own sigh to rose-tints might restore!
Her graceful ringlets o'er a bier were spread—
Weep for the yourg, the beautiful, the dead!
• It is a custom among the Moors to sing the bridal song when
the funeral of an umnactied woman is borne from her home.

711 E BRITISH NAVAL SUPREMACY.
BY TUE ABBE DE PRADT.

An Orientalist would say, that one could sooner
count the sand upon the sea-shore or the stars of the
firmament, than the Navy of England. All this crea-
tion of the imagination can, however, be reduced to
the assertion of one great truth, and that is, that no•
thing ever existed like the Navy of England: never,
has the ocean seen raised upon its vast plains a power
so extensive, that it even seems to possess something
of the immensity of the mighty theatre upon which
it exercises its empire.
England kept up during the war a fleet which, in-
cluding vessels of every size, amounted to more than
a thousand ships, which were manned by 130,000
tailors or marines. Such is the material ofthe Eng-
lish Navy, the developement of whose power is fa-
voured by the most fortunate combination of circum-
stances. Its ports are the centre of its union, because
it is impossible to intercept the communication be-
tween them; so that the Navy of England may be
said to be always assembled together, a circumstance
most essential to the power of a navy, and the ab-
sence of which is so much felt in France, one-half of
whose fleet must be in the ocean, while the other is in
the Mediterranean; as well as in Spain, whose fleet
is divided into three departments, Ferrol, Cadiz, and
Carthagena, not one A which can lend any assistance
to the rest. The English Navy can never be attacked
but by a coalition ; a single assailant would be crushed
by it in a day, as happened to the Spanish fleet pent
by Cardinal Alberon to invade Sicily. It would be
an act of downright insanity on the part of a single
Power to engage au English fleet. A war, therefore,
can never by carried on against her except by a coa-
lition; but how great are not the disadvantages of a
coalition which must be formed of men of different
interests, with different languages, who, before they
come to a poiat of union, must march from places
remote from each other; and whether they are going
from the north to the south, or from the south to the
north, must pass under the cannon of England, and con-
scquentlfexpose themselves to being destroyed inde-
This favourable position between the twomaritime
extremities of Europe, the unity of men, of design,
of interests, of language, and of naval and military
tactics, add greatly to the material force of the Eng-
lish Navy. the skill of her sailors, formed by the
constant exercise of a navigation which embraces the
world; the art of her ship-builders, rendered perfect
by a daily practice; the facility of obtaining provi-
sions, which they can draw from her possessions, and
from all quarters of the globe ender the protection of
her Navy, all contribute to give to the English Navy
over that of all Europe, whether united or separated,
a superiority which none can snatch from or contest
with her. Henceforward, those who would combat

her will experience only the e battles of La Hogue and
Trafalgar. Henceforward every vessel built against
her will end in having been built for her, and will set
sail from the Texel, from Brest, or from Cadiz, to
t. 'To and take her place at Portsmouth, alongside ves-
sels built by English hands. This truth, however dis-
tressing, should not be overlooked, for its adoption'
may prevent disasters inevitably attached to its ne-
gleit. The grief of wounded. pride, or the bursts of
temerity, ought never enter into the direction of
human affairs.

The extent of the Navy in England is so great, that
losses which would be deeply felt by other naval
powers, are scarcely perceptible to that of England,
thought it lost a few vessels more or lass; in what
way could its power be affected wish the immense
means which it possesses? It is more alive to the
honour of its flag, than to the loss of a few ships,
which can always be immediately supplied from its
ports. When thing! have reached a certain point,
one ceases to count, and thus is England with respect
*. to its Navy. I repeat it, a few vessels more or less,
are not the slightest consequence so her ; her treasure
and her timber yards are always at hand, to repair
the losses it may experience, and it is very probable
that it is at the expense of her 'enemies she would
repair them.
'An idea presents itself to-my mind, and fills it with
astonishment and anxiety ; such is the mighty future
which it *peas to its view. Let us endeavour to
resolve it.

We see but one England, but there 'really. exist
six, five of which have infinitelfthe Superiority over
the mother country, in extent, in fertility of 'soil, and
to climate• I do not here speak of Csioxial Easiand
only, -Subjected to the European:Eget!" Ispitak
also of the serial England, which is no longer the at.

•
tribute of knglish powec but 4riiiat pervades the
whole range of her civilization, is..cliffused tbrogigh
her laws, her manners, her taste,--bit. biotic', eater
language. Such is the United Stall. isti4y kill no
longer English subjects, but they ire Entli;h in
origin, in laws, language, and manners • thei form
the second England: Canada, and all the North of
America, form the third. The fourthraciond in the
extensive colony of the Cape' of Good Hope; The
fifth is in India; and the sixth-in New Holland. One
might also add the English possessiong in the AMeri-
can Archipelago. It is not with regiard to power or
wealth that we are to consider this multiplicity of
Englands ; one cannot limit a subject ib4ast, by con•
fining it within the range 'of. sdch interests. The
effect which. it will have upon the civilization. of the
world must also be appreciated. .