The republic., 1851-09-05

peace ofthe country requires this; the security OF
the Constitution requires this; and everyconsde-
ration of the public good demands this. If the
Administration cannot stand upon the principles
ofthe message, it does not expec to stand at all !"
IDANIEL WEBsTER's Letter TO the Union Meeting
at U'estchester.
6 Lord save us from selfglorihcation, is
one of the prayers in the litany of the Moravian
Church. which might prudently be adopted by
all our churches just now, for we are IN danger
of exulung too much in our national achieve
ments. We do not exactly agree with those
pious Legislators in Massachusetts, who resolved,
during our last war with Great Britain, that it
is unbecoming in a christian people to rejoice
in the downfall of an enemy; but people who
are conscious of their strength may well afford
TO be satisfied with demonstrating their powers
without boasting of it. Giants are proverbial-
" good natured as well as generous.
Since the opening of the Great Exhibition In
London, our countrymen, both at home and
abroad, have been frequently moved to laugh
ter or Indignation by the remarks made In
English and French journals on the meagreness
and inferiority of our contributions to the Glass
Palace. But, for our own part, we have never
INDUCED in any fears that, wnen the time
should come for the awarding of premiums
and medals, we should be compelled to return
home from the great Fair Of Nations with fewer
honors than our neighbors. As we INDUCED in
no misgivings at first, we are not disposed to
exult inordinately now, when our anticlpations
are so sure of being realized.
BY piece of poetical justice, which seems
more like the work of imagination than an ac-
tual occurrence, one of the articles in the Anne
rican department of the Glass Palace. which
was made the especial butt for the ridicule of
the London press, was one Of the first that
received first-class medal. Mr.. McCoR
MIcK's reaping machine was fippantly as
sailed for its uncouth appearance by the wits of
the London press and the correspondents of the
Paris journals with all sorts of contemptuous
epithets, while the splendid upholstery from
Vienna was as lavishly applauded. But now
the tables are turned; the uncouth reaplng ma
chine mas been tested by actual operation, and
is found to possess an important element of ma
tional wealth; it not only saves labor, but it
saves the grain, and lessons the liability, in the
variable climate of England, of short crop.
We imagine there will be no more jeers in the
Times about that uncouth machine; but, on the
contrary, that farmers and landlords will take
off their hats to it, and that gentlemen of the
press will regard 1t with more respect than
they have heretofore bestowed upon the splen-
did upholstery of Vienna.
The year 1851 is not likely to be disastrous
one to our national reputation. Since the Time,
declared we were ten years behind England in
our steam machinery, two of our steamships,
which were afloat when the declaration was
made, have incontestibly proved their superior
ity to any English steamship that has ever
crossed the Atlantic. The superiority of our
sailing ships had already been conceded, and
the Times, the acknowledged mouth piece of
the British people, had magnanimously ad
mitted that we were ten years in advance of
England in the art of naval architecture.
There was one point upon which Englishmen
deemed themselves invincible and threw down
the gauge TO all the world in defiance. Yacht
ing had long been the pet amusement Of the
nation, and the vessels belonging to the Royal
Yacht Squadron were looked upon as combining
the highest possible excelencies in the noble
science of ship building But little attention
has ever been given by our countrymen to
yacht building; it is an expensive amusement
that none but the very rich can indulge in; and
the idea of keeping large and costly vessel
for pleasure only or at best for the purpose of
proving the merits Of novel model, is rather
repugnant to the American mind, which is apt
TO think, with LOCKE, that labor for labor's
sake is against nature. However, there is
Yacht Club in New York, which can boast of
some remarkably fine vessels, with a commo
do1e, who, fortunately for the national reputa-
tien, is a gentleman of fortune, Of liberal feel
ings, and scientific attainments. This gentle
man is Mr.. JOHN G. STEVENS, of New York,
who has gone over to England with his yacht
.9merica, and quietly challenged all England
TO a race for ten thousand guineas. The APP
pearance of this stranger in the English
waters has caused a tremendous sensation
among the members of the Royal Yacht
Squadron; and, Judging from the many
amusing accounts of her which we have read
in the English papers, she seems to divide
public attention with the Glass Palace itself.
Commodore STEVENS has suddenly found him
self almost as famous a man as Mr.. PAXTON.
He has been treated with marked consdeTa-
tion, but as yet, his challenge remains unac-
cepted Some of the members of the Royal
Yacht Club, unluckily, had seen the .americG
under canvas, and had conceived too great re-
spect for her sailing qualities to think of enter
ing into competition with such water-witch.
There was no lack Of. crack yachts on the stas