The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-12-15

takes the SeTimes" or the ePost,n because his ia
Their took it before him, and he sticks to it at f
ty, because he read it at thirty. That Particu-
lar paper is as much habit as his hour of din
ing, and he would as soon think of changing one
as the other. News would not look so authentic
to him in another type, on paper of another
shape and texture, and the arrangement of the
contents, the politics of the Editor, the tone on
religion, morals, and scandal are all subjects of
confirmed habit and little liable to change his
taste for beef and ale. This being the character
Of great majority of the readers of London
paper, the propretors interested, of course, in
preserving its peculiar stamp-poltical, literary,
moral, and typographical, and the Post, Chroni-
Gle, and Times, are essentially the same to-day,
that they were at the close of the last century,
and will be at the close of the present This
conservative tenacity Of patronage, renders it as
difficult to establish newspaper, as it is easy to
sustain it when successful, and as great capital is
required for the enterprise, it is not undertaken
except by very responsible men, who continue
to invest in it the capital with which they began
and consequently have very heavy stake in its
COED management and character. ''The Times"
for example, is worth half dozen large fortunes,
and its revenue would pay the whole American
cabinet 1t has an Editor in each department,
who holds his place at the control of the stock
holders, and, besides correspondent in every
quarter of the GLOBE it employs hundreds OF pur-
veyors of news, contributors and reporters-an
nameless, and, of course, all valued solely BY the
quality OF their contributions. To procure an
interview with ssthe Editor is matter of as
much difficulty and delay, as to speak to Her Ma
iesty, or Lord Melbourne. Indeed, the Editor is
a much more powerful person than ether Victoria
or the Premier.
Jonathan's pot on the contrary, is forever boil
ing, and every bubble breaks as it rises. He
buys in the newest shop, he runs after the new
est parson, he crowds the new hotel and the new
steamer, swallows the new fashion without smell
ling or tasting, makes money if his shop burns
down, and esweetens his treaclen by demanding
yearly nsU newspaper. His daughters have
relays of courtship, his sons have an ever-renew
ing variety of drinks, his servants change their
places every moon, and he himself changes his
home and his visiting circle regularly with the
birds in May-all in direct opposition to cores
pondinE habits in England. If chance makes
Jonathan idle and rich, he travels for change; if
chance makes him idle and fixture he frequents
hotels and taverns. Change and experiment
form, with nationality and love of money-the
four cardinal points in Jonathans horizon. And
in this passion for change and experiment, it must
be confessed, lies the great principle Of the
toms growth and prosPerity,-as much as in the
fire under the pot, and the rising and breaking of
the bubbles, lies the purifcation from crudities
and the final wholsomeness of meats and vege-
tables. The character of a new country, Ito
illustrate what | mean by tigure,) lies in
stagnant pools, which, in process of time
to be led into regular courses, and maintain
healthy and regular flow. The superabun-
dance of water, and the indistinctness of the
new channels, at first create an irregular and uA-
certain food, shifting with the violent action of
an element not easily controlled, and forming,
in great measure, its banks and boundaries for
itself. Every new direction given to the mass,
must bs done with a freShet, which, though it
seem an ungovernable and wild connection, works
by an iniallible law of nature, and ploughs deep
through the unwholesome abysses of stagnation.
The channel once swept deep and clear, the wa
tiers subside, and flow calmly, and without OBJ
struction or change of course; and, gradually,
verdure covers the unsightly borders, and the
currents can be calculated on in their depth, We
locity and direction.
In the dark search after prosperity during this
wild commotion, you will see at once that the
English golden rule of cSnstancy TO one current
perseverance in the footprints of the fortunate,
is one less to go By, than to make others go by
you. Perseverance, tenacity, conservatism
qualities which enrich in Englaud-oiten impov-
rish American. Versatility is the money-na-
ker here. To be ready to abandon project
tn time, is the first wisdom. To throw your
compass overheard and swim with the stream is
oftenest the way not to be wrecked. You pay
in England, for example, a large sum fer the
'good will" of shop-meaning the certain ad-
vantage to be derived from the neighbors' habit
of frequenting 1t. In America, for "good whip
we read ''novclty," and pay twice as much for
new shop at the opposite sorner.
This peculiarity has much to- do, and other things
perhaps more, with the condition of American
newspapers. We have, properly, no newspaper
genius Of our 055n. England stands to us some
thing in the relation OF the elder sen whose
clothes regularly inherited by his younger
brother. We have no chance to suit ourselves.
Our literary wardrobe, though cut out for big
ger boy, comes in too handily to be wasted
The tailor Editor for us, overwhelmed with ma
terials, only alter," and if he venture to add
a flourish to suit fancy, it is like all new
patches on old garments-fresher stuff, but Aut
of place and keeping. We never shall have
"ht" periodical literature of our own till the CO.
pyright law declares us of age, and dePrives US
of this second-hand-clothes-pr When that
day of "freedom" shall arrive, the world, to say
the least, will the difference between thread
bare and "bran new."-BrotheT Jonathan
The USES OF SLATE.-Since the repeal Of the
duty on slate, it has been applied to a variety of
valuable purposes. 1t may be sawn into slabs of
almost any dimensions, and is used in the ware
houses of the London Dock Company as a sub
stitute for other kinds of flooring. 1t is capable
vi Suntiihih5 any WSiAiI3 IL ldlu oii All ADEQUATE
foundation; and is SO easily cleaned, that goods
of the most opposite ption-fruis and hides,
spices and old rags, sugar and pcpper-succeed
each other rapidly on the same Aoor, without the
slightest damage. A floor Of slate, one or two
inches thick, may be laid down within one-tuen-
tcth Of the time required for other materials; it
is much cheaper than wood or granite, and may
be laid in warehouses over decayed wooden floors
with great advantage. In sugar manufactures,
Greenhouses, granaries, coach manufactures, and
other similar buildings, this material serves to
combine cleanliness with economy. 1t is applied
to the fronting of houses, instead of cement, and
looks almost as well as Portland stone. The
slabs are neatly attached to the wall: they are
then painted; and while the paint is fresh, it is
sprinlled with sand Laid down iii the front of
wharves, it prevents the accumulation of mud,
the removal of which is attended with inconve-
nience and expense Strong and excellent tanks
are now made of slate; and in consequence Of
L. 1T. Al.