The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-12-04 00:00:00

r thine unconscious brain,

now what -splendour

of the Main

unny oceans;
Indus old ;

rod by footstep Christian,

Asia's central fold;

Where, through Canadian forests frozen,
St. Lawrence rolls his mighty tide;

Where, in tl
The Cape

if burnir

iant loves to ride

Where'er the blast sweeps o'er the billow

I'd flag of red

eath the Wain ascendant,
To where the southern Cross is spread;

There, lady,

:hy sole dominion,

tribes of men await

Listress of their fat,

Lstant course revolving,

1 the wide domain

y loved, and lovely mother,

sceptre of her reign

song, though small its moment,

by gipsy crone

hill, and valley,

ors were all his own

To thee imperial rule is destined—
And thine shall be baronial sway
May they who hold thee in their guidance,
Endow thee for another day !

When eart

p has pass'd and vanish'c

to tremble

:tern al throne

Bright be tby path in peace and glory
Worthy of her who rules the free,
And St to crave from Him a blessing,
" "

Who die

s well for us as th,

Rough is our lay, though true and faithful
He who should hail thee with his song
his much-loved mountains :
s tuneful tongue !

Laureal

The Persian prayer be thine, dear baby—
As thou, a naked, new-born child,
Wailed at the moment of thy birth-hour,

Dund thee smiled.

se of life's long current
y way to keep,
ment of thy death-houi
st thou smile, while all around thee weep

CONTEMPORARY .PRESS

ADVANTAGES OF STEAM IN
WARFARE.

NAVAL'

(From the Standard.)

We have thought that it might be acceptable to
some of our readers to have an opportunity of corn-
iring Napoleon's unsuccessful enterprise against St.
the late brilliant exploit of Admiral
have therefore elsewhere copied the
ge in 1799, from Sir Walter Scott's
eror. It will be seen that the great-
age and country besiged the fortress
fty-two days, with an army of 10,000 of the best
and failed ; while an English fleet,
g anything like the same number
place after a cannonade of a few

Me of tt

troops of Frat

of men, carried tt
hours. C'

iming all the superiority for Englishmen
that the most inveterate patriot can demand, still this
st is too violent to be accounted for by any diffe-

ietween the military qualities of Europeans. We
must look for an explariation to the mode and means of
not look long. The naval attack

►rought to bear a broadside, or a number of broad-
ides, amounting to between 400 and 500 guns, whereas
ng train of Napoleon did not exceed 30 ;
ifferent are the circumstances under which
brings her broadside to bear, from the cir-
sof land batteries. The ship may continue
nue the fight at pleasure, and may in a mo-
ge her position to evade any interposed ob-
)r to take advantage of any favourable contin-
land battery is a fixture, the permanent
Nearly 200 years ago
discovered, and (at Tunis) proved
advantage in_ this, respect of naval warfare even

ment chan
st

retaliatory attack

the illustrious Blab

but it was left to the use of steam
navigation to render the necessary success of naval
warfare complete. The only serious danger that ever
presented itself in the case of an attack upon a mari-
time fortress by an adequate naval force, namely, the
danger of being unable to withdraw from the land, is
now at an end ; and as the easy reduction of all the

71 sailing v

Syrian fortresses in succession demonstrates, no city or
fort on the sea, how strongly however it may be forti-
fied, can count upon resisting a British fleet for 24
hours; consequently no coast is any longer inaccessi-
ble to a Bri

fish military descent ; we may be said to be
on the confines of every maritime nation for all pur-
poses of attack, though happily ourselves unassailable ;
and therefore, whatever nation having a sea coast shall
make war upon us must line that coast from end to
end with troops, or cal:ulate upon having the war upon
and in a spot chosen at our own discre-
mmense advantages which the
iew arm in war—steam navigation—has conferred
upon us, to keep them as long as we shall be able to
maintain our naval. ascendancy.

its own s
tion

Such are the

THE TAKING OF ST. JEAN D'ACRE.
(From the Morning Herald.)
ie fall of St. Jean d'Acre is an event of no ordi-

nary mo

In the first place, the feelings which that brilliant
achievement is fitted to call forth, differ from the mere
effervescence of national vanity. The military renown
of a great nation is a portion—and no inconsiderable
portion—of its wealth and power. The fame of our
Nelsons and Wellingtons is, in itself, equivalent to the
possession of fleets and armies. In this sense, Eng-
land has gained much by the capture of St. Jean
d'Acre. England has proved to the world that the
breed of her heroic seamen is not worn out—that she
yet possesses naval commanders, who are no unworthy
successors to him who conquered at the Nile and at
Trafalgar—and that while the spirit of her navy haS
not degenerated, the proficiency of her seamen in the
arts of offensive warfare have wonderfully increased.
The efficiency with which our, guns were " served," at
St. Jean d'Acre, has, perhaps, no parallel in the history
of
.naval warfare.

'Hie recent exhibition of England's prowess has
been made at no unseasonable time. We, amongst
others, have long marked with grief and dismay, the
neglect, with which our navy has, for many years, been
treated. While France and Russia have been silently
calling formidable fleets into existence, the navy of
England has been sustained, less by the care of go-
vernment, than by the historical recollections with
which the English navy is identified. We make this
statement in no spirit of party ; and our statement is
proved to be correct, by the fact, that thirty thousand
ie very best of our seamen have been for many
in the ships of foreign powers. They
ingland, because England has
r services at so high a rate as
ve been willing to do. The
of such a course on the part of the English
t is obvious enough—its injustice is equally
s the policy of England to engage in her
seamen whom the world can supply :
)licy not to permit such sea-

used tc

111 Y, her

ffspring of the soil of England, to transfer

their s
for Er

rvices to rival powers. It is unjust, moreover,
gland to refuse such seamen higher wages than
any other country can afford to pay—unjust, because
England is the richest country in the world, and can,
better than any other country, pay a high price for
seamea of the first class.

That the navy has been, for many years past, ne-
-•?d, is proved, moreover, by the circumstance, that
; present moment, the government is making
and praiseworthy efforts to impart increased effi-
yto our fleet. If, however, there had been no
His neglect of the true sources of England's
curity, the bustle that is now apparent
;ty's dockyards would have been unne-

h ands,
er Male

The decay, ( the imputed decay—in the naval
ength of Eng nd was gradually generating in this
intry a sense v. The sense of insecurity
our part was ...ed by the exhibition-, on the
.t of foreign( _, or a spirit disposed to be aggres-
e. The facilities that would attend an invasion of
gland were familiarly discussed in Paris. 'They
'e no less frequently, it may be presumed, canvassed
Petersburg. Our coasts were unguarded. Our
)rds were exposed to attack.

of insecurity

Our ships were
rotting in ordinary: or were employed on service of
doubtful policy in remote quarters of the globe. Eng-
nd, in short, seemed weak ; and to seem weak is too
in sucl,i, cases, to prove weak.
ibition of weakness was dangerous to
..,t1 the recent demonstration that the navy of
~and is still the same navy with which Nelson
Achieved his deathless triumphs, is calculated to add to
the solid power of this country. As the insults offered
to the British flag—offered and tamely submitted to
—in the Black Sea, and on the coast of Mexico, tended
to bring us into collision with our most formidable op-
ponents, so the storming of St. Jean d'Acre must tend
to inspire our enemies with a stronger desire than some
of them have recently manifested, to cultivate the re-
lations of peace with this country.
So far, we think it impossible to regard the recent
achievements of our navy with other than feelings of
unmixed satisfaction. Whatever may be thought of
the eastern policy of Lord Palmerston, his lordship is
entitled, at all events, to the praise that may never be
withheld from immediate success. Bad the English

often,

&s the ex

fleet been repulsed or destroyed, at St. Jean d'Acre,
the Secretary for Foreign Affairs would have been held
responsible for that disastrous result. The English
fleet having " covered itself with glory," it were un-
just to deny to his lordship some portion of the reflected
lustre of the great exploit.

Still, Sir Robert SCopford and his brave companions
in arms may assuredly prove themselves entitled to the
gratitude of their country, without Lord Palmerston
being able to find, in the heroism of the English navy,
a justification of his eastern policy. Lord Keane
stormed Ghuznee; but the prudence of Lord Auck-
land in projecting the expedition to Cahoot admits of
the gravest possible doubt. So, Lord Palmerston has
effected the capture of St. Jean d'Acre; yet is it quite
certain that he has not been, all the while, merely ad-
vancing the permanent interests of Russia? The
English fleet destroyed the fleet opposed to it at Nava-
rino ; hut to the destruction of the Turkish fleet on
that occasion no small portion of the perplexities that
beset the eastern question at the present day may be
traced.

We are willing, in short, that "success" should be
estimated at its full value, in deciding on the merits
of any general course of policy; but let us guard
against the tendency to regard " success" as everything.
The God " Eventus" was not, in ancient times, denied
Divine honours ;—yet the justice of quarrels was, even
during the prevalence of paganism, referred to the de-
cision of deities of a higher order.
We have captured St. Jean d'Acre. We have dis•
sipated into thin air, the prestige that till lately invested
as with a halo the name of Mehemet Ali. We have,
in all probability, destroyed for ever the power of that
hitherto successful ruler; but have we done aught to
restore strength to the Ottoman empire? We fear not.
We fear that the Sultan has been reduced to the rank
of a puppet; and that the sources of the Turkish em-
pire's strength are irretrievably destroyed. " Reform-
ing" Sultans (of whom the present is the second) can
never, we fear, exercise the influence that once be-
longed to the veritable " fathers of the faithful." The
policy of these turbaned " reformers" is a series of out-
rages on those feelings, which, in their operation, im-
parted, in other days, their formidable power to the
successors of the Caliphs. If the supremacy of the
Sultan in Egypt is to be hereafter maintained, it must
be maintained, we fear, by the unceasing intervention
of England, or of Russia.

ACCIDENTS TO STEAM VESSELS

A French writer has recently compiled an interesring
summary of accidents to and by British steam-vessels
for a series of years, from which also may be gathered
the number of steam-vessels possessed by this country
at different periods. The materials of this summary
are supposed to be derived from reports prepared some
time since by the Admiralty here. The small compass
in which the results are here compressed renders them
worthy of extract, as comprising all the principal facts
of_a long document :

In 1817 there were 14 steam-vessels running; one took
fire and was burnt; the boilers of another exploded; nine
persons perished in this year.
1818-19 steamers ; no accident.
1819-24 steamers ; no accident.
1820-34 steamers; one burnt; nobody suffered.
1821-59 steamers ; no accident.
1822-85 steamers ; no accident.
• 1823-101 steamers ; no accident.

1824-116 steamers ; the boilers of two exploded ; deaths
three.

1825-153 steamers ; one wrecked ; two, the Comet and
the Ayr, came in collision ; and 62 persons lost their lives ;
the boilers of another exploded.
1826-230 steamers ; one burnt ; explosion on another ;
six sufferers this year.

1827-255 steamers; one wrecked; explosion on another;
two lives lost.

1828-274 steamers ; two wrecked; one burnt ; explosion
on two ; one life lost.

1829-289 steamers : three wrecked ; explosion on one;
six lives lost.

1830-298 steamers ; three wrecked ; explosion of one.
The Forly totally lost, but the number of persons on board
not precisely known. The other accidents did not occasion
a death.

1831-324 steamers ; 2 wrecked ; 2 collisions ; 1 burnt ;
119 persons perished on the Rothsay Castle, near Beaumaris.
1832-352 steamers ; no accidents.

1833-387 steamers ; 6 wrecked ; 1 burnt, and 73 deaths,
without including the Erin, which was lost, vessel, and all on
board.

1834-430 steamers ; 2 wrecked; 1 burnt ; and 1 explosion.
The Superb lost with all on board in the North Sea, number
of sufferers unknown. The other casualities caused no loss
of life.

1835-503 steamers ; 3 wrecked ; 2 came into collision ; 1
explosion of boilers ; 13 lives lost.
1836-561 steamers ; 2 wrecked ; 4 collisions ; 2 burnt ;
1 explosion ; no life lost.
1837-707 steamers ; 2 wrecked ; 4 run against each other ;
3 took fire and burnt; 1 explosion ; total victims 29.

1838-766 steamers ; 5 wrecked ; 2 collisions ; 6 explo-
sions ; 132 lives lost. _

The total number of lives lost therefore is 456, not
including those on board the Erin, Forly and Superb,
which may be estimated at 120 more. It will be re-
marked that, notwithstanding 20 years experience, the
year 1838 was the most disastrous. The Killarney,
Northern Jack and Forfarshire were lost, and the
famous Victoria employed in transatlantic navigation,
had two explosions of her boilers.