Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-10-29
LIEUTENANT MAUaY AND THE sHIPOWNERS
ASSOCIATION

| sa.e peen directed by the Committee OF sfae
nepoo empowers Association, at a special mee,ns
called for this object to express 10 Won tber hab -
cuon OF your talents and the ndefaeable labors ca
80 remarkably evinced in the splendid eharfz
- tue "hus ana currents The publication Of these ,
traed charts is great boon conferred ON the nrc.,s
gator ana enutes you to the gratitude and respect
o. ho1 o every maritime nation but of all nterested i'm
the aeVeiopment OF science, closely allied to e>
MERGE The committee also desire to express their - a.
ude to the Government Of the United States for the ~
raty with which these charts are distributed ratuousy
to the commanders of ships of all nations In the nn,a
OF the committee beg to wish you health and long s
to pursue your useful scientific abors peasan. ana
prosperous passage across the Atlantic
have the honor to be- sir your most obedient SERVANT
To Lieut.. MAuRr, U. S. Navy &C.
\ LIVERPOOL, ocroBra A. 1883
SIR: have had the honor to receive the coumpui,s
ton of October 1853, which you have been SO kind AZ
to address to me, in behalf of The Committee Of ihe
Liverpool Shipowners Association making known IN
highly fatering terms the appreciation which the cum
mittee are pleased to set upon my humble labors.
/ The well done of the Shipowners Association uy
Liverpool affords me peculiar qualification, becanss
my poor abors are entitled to the praise which the asso-
citation has been pleased to bestow upon them but be-
cause spmasters Of all other classes perhaps have the
deepest interest in the result of those abor and because
the shpowners of this renowned place Of trade have
Judged them to be worthy of commentator
Is true that have had II much heart lessen a
Of the sea- and to facilitate the mariner his
way 10 ana ITO across it, and If degree of
have followed the undertaking accomplish so much,
cannot forget to what that is mainly
rbutable 1t is not sir, attributable to the work Of my
hands but to the hearty good WILL to the ready the w
ling cooperation which have always found at the hands
of shpmasters and owners whatever be their flag or
whatever their country, to whose attention the subject
has been brought.
For the last fifty years. many the members Of thu
association can no doubt recoec there has been
slant and steady improvement navigation tending AL
the while to lessen the dangers of the sea- and to quickr
the speed of the ship to and fro across it. Yon VIE
therefore, perhaps pardon me-, and go along with ZOE
also, while pass hastily in review some of the most
striking of those improvements and the most obvious az
| the agencies which have brought them about
think that men are yet in their prime Of life vho
win recoect the time when monster ship las she wns
then thought to be of between 500 and GOO tons ws
built here in Liverpool, and had lie in the docks
months If not years serving playyard for boys be-
cause she too big to be furnished with cargo Com
trast II you please the size of that ship with the sire pf
some that are now sailing out of Liverpool and though
you will find them three four times large yet tl
demand is for larger ones still.
When Warren Hastings went to India he had passage
of ten months, and it considered that he for1
nate in not having longer time Under canvass tina
passage has in times been accomplished in 90 I9
days. and that ship and master who should now have .
passage Of ten months to India would both lose
Therefore in contrasting ships and the naygs
ton with ships and the of navigation then VIZ
should not though We find much to attribute to the
genuity, skill and enterprise of man. forget that muck
also due to the inesmable blessings Of peace; WHICH,
almost unperceived like the dews of heaven have berr
falling upon during the while.
Il The time is not beyond the memory Of living men
when end the condition of the world sr
that ships required to sail in convoy under the WING
Of armed cruisers And in that day the best merchant
ships were only company-keepers." Then neither
builder owner had any motive to expend in the
strucon OF ship one dollar for the sake Of speed In
the fleet the speed of the sowes regulated the speed d
all and therefore the dollar expended for capacity
for cargo rather than for speed.
We see in the models of those days. and in their clumsy
proportions the most eloquent expression of this farE
Then peace with its benign inygorating nfl-
ences other occupations found for aud
the merchantman left free pursue his voyage iu
his way, at his time, and according to his
convenience and abilities. Then a demand for
speed in the merchant vessels the ingenuity Of bne
was taxed, and the strong arm of the mechanic wan
brought into requson 70 execute the behests Of seenr
! 10 satisfy this new demand Of commerce.
Here permit to pay tribute to the mechanic f0r
1 without him science, with oil its lights, prag;ssl
thing would be nulity science wills, the mechnnss
executes.
Astronomy the highest and most perfect department.
Of science If you please is dependant upon the mec
mic for her achievements the shpowner bis vss
for reighs Without instruments astronomy would be
commerce without vessels. So the mechanic with his
sturdy arm, heard the call upon him. and hasterca
with his usual alacrity TO satisfy it, Better ships
launched, quicker voyages made thus the rernor
corners of the earth lifted up brought closer to
ther and set down nearer each other for the business
man those places brought together when thr
time it occupies to pass between them is shortened
In the mean time improvement in the instruments
and implements of navigation took place, and the navE
tor was furnished BY that combination Of seieor
ingenuity, Skill and continuance which had supplied him
with better ships with better instruments for navigating
those good ships, that the dangers Of the sen
lessened the rates of insurance down. and cons
merce with freer sweep Of wing sped her way
the
And thus, if time permitted, for / am making ready
TO embark for my home in the morning might point
agency after agency, and after cause which, me-
this shacke that fetter hns been stricken from
wings Of commerce. has caused increase aaa
multiply, presenting in her proportions grandeur ana
perfection precisely she has made advances towards
perfect freedom Of trade for certainly those influences
the agents OF free trade which brought down the
passage to India from three hundred hundred On Va
which lessened the rates of insurance and which have
enabled one ship to do much in n year as aArxx
ships could do then is the making grow three blades
| OF grass on the ocean where but grew before.
4 better knowledge OF the laws of dynamics and r
resistance to solid bodies moving through water Gales
also for better knowledge of the winds and the
by which the passage Of those bodies their ports x
destination TO he controlled and hence arose tss
system Of research which has given the scharp
the winds and which you pleased to regard
as great boon conferred on the practical navigator
Ii thus appears that science has kept and is keeping
watchful eye upon the affairs Of men that she comes
with her lights to his relief the right time and in ikr
right way and we are admonished by this h2s
review that science is apt his relief IN
times of peace | know of class Of men upon whom
the calamtes Of maritime would fall more heavily
or more suddenly than upon the shpowner. Hoping
therefore, that you and your associates may be blessed
with the continuance Of peace within your borders throu
many long years. and thanking you heartily for your
good wishes and expressions Of kindness permit me, IN
the homely but sincere language Of the sailor express
the hope that that little cherub which sits ao
will long continue to watch over you and yours haxs
the honor to be, yours truly,