New-York daily tribune., 1858-11-19
British .zmy, and few militia officers Of ,la; retired

pmi ssious. Perhaps the mos. gigantic and most
costly scientific oversight mistake ever made, or
percbance that ever viii be made, was the choice OF
The spo: and the construction OF the ARTIFICIAL for'ined
hsrbor Of Cherbourg. II is not httetsurprsng, as
veil as most remarkable, ths. the orthcaons OF such
gigantic dime ons ard intentions. commenced IN tae
lime Of Louis NV. aud handed down for over
Period OF hundred years 10 each succeeding t'oS-
aument of France who were nearly all the time 81
war with England, g. the priaaM rso'ne, as II
w-c, 10 obtain supremacy on the seas as well ss II
the British waters" l repeat that Il Is most re-
mark able that Napoleon le Grand should nave eA-
t-rded co much diplomacy. many millions ~ money,
aud 80 many tens thousands Of the lives Of his best
soldiers and material OF bis armies in campaigns a.r
campaigns 70 obtain and 10 retain possession o' ANT
werp and the River Sshelit a, a grand naval depot
and arsenal for refuge defence and aggresson when
half the mc.ey, without the wars ami their attendant
Losses and consumption of men and msteria, wouiu
have Completed the harbor OF Cherhcurg IN all ITS
mag gnifcsui details, and poaS triumphanty inaugu-
rated by his nephew, Louis Napoleon. why, tneh,
il nnt compI-.ei in the stirring times long since
passed away Napoleon the Great who possessed !
Vast military Knowledge, wonderful and compreneh- /
sve ia the arr of rerecting geographical fortunes
ors perfectss artilerst- aud great as Strata
g..cal genu, hating England i.tensely As being the
only obstacle 20 his comprehensive aggressive in'rn
lrs Of conc iests aud aunexaions II is most rense
abe that he should rot have urged with all ms
energies and all his the complexion OF TINS
place, that would, a. Is supposed, prove s@h q
menace syainst the trident, if not against the ande
vas al-ha. that Napoleon required TO rsake rn the
master Of the Eastern hemisphere was always
Napoleon pride and boast that the roads III France
which he had constructed surpassed ,sose %
improvements introdsced and perfected ender nis
regime, has made iI.a Belle Frame what she Is.
Eapoleons whole soul and mJrd were hxed on
Antwerp and sot on Cherbourg. The works hi'b-
'>rrto erected" said Napoleon a; ST. Helena, were
''rothiny te 1ha. l had intended at Antwerp. Inc
whole sspSy pein which nov stretches for miles
behind the Taede Flcndrc, on the et bank Oh mo
% river, was 10 hy.e been inceed Icy iorthcauons
" and for,,.d into vast city. The Imperial dock
yards anu basins TO haveoeen constructed there
49, Antwerp to me vac C. province IN itseli. II
" is u the great causes OF my exile To ST. he"as,
" for the required cessor oi that 'crtress was isy
" princi,a reason for refesns peace ct ChantiIoo'
Alison says:
"Arswerp q the poiu. sirom which, in every age,
The independence of these Kingdoms lGreat bri'A n
and Ireland has been pssaced. When the Duke of
Parnn prepared land force, i'll the time Of Queen
Elizabeth tooverthrow che liberties OF England and
the Protestant faith, it was in the Schelds ant at
Ostend tina: all his preparations were made Vt was
neither from BJulognc 'Cherbelry, from Dreet nor
Toulon that Napoleon after his profound naval COM
biucton of 1905 bad been deate1 intended to irvaie
the British Isles. The Scheid, and Antwerp and
Flushing we're the stronghods in which sixty ~all of
the line were to be prepared fa- the center o. that
mighty feet which, by secoud battle of Actium,
was to strike down the mistress Of the seas
Ii was for this that William fought and that &srlbor-
ough conquered; that Nelson died and Wellington
tpumphed; that Chatham lighted a coniagration in
every quarter Of the globe, asd Pitt brayee oil the
dangers of the Revolutionary War;
Why Napoleon, then should pass by the com oletion
ofCherbourg and apply all his energies ard Mentons
upon Antwerp cannot be a mystihcaton or problem
to sove; because Napoleon, above all others, knew
best what would annoy, and tenify the British
Government and the British people. Napoleon, in
his conversations at ST. Helena although
he spoke OF every thing that concerned himself and
FraLce-hardly, If he ever he did, ever mentioned
Eherbo0sg or ts importance. May not this fact be
accounted for from the power OF Napoleons great
percep,ive facues-from his superior knowledge OF
the Typographical position OF Cherbourg, that tho
operations of NatMe worked against deep harbors on
the western coast of France, ard hence his reason
that he rather chose Natures formation the
Schellt than the artificial fortified harbor of Cher.
bonrg, although vauban was its ideal inception,
than hand his name down To posterty by aiing and
abettiDg completing and inaugurating scientific
gigantic failure
last has a long, wel-written but labored article,
showing how the French Sevastopol could be easily
battered to pieces in detail, by the long range guns
of British gunboats &c. With ali due respect 10 that
opinion am free to say such wish could not be-
accomplished and what is better for MIR. John Bull he
will be called upon To hazard the attempt OF the
nderakir g uDless he voluntarily choose TO batter out
his own brains against the stone walls. lie could not
batter the bottom boats in the mud puddle harbor
Of Bouogne although he held supremacy Of the seas
lie effected nothing in attempting to take Antwerp,
&C.. but taking the Wslcheeren lever, by which hes
lost seven thousand men, than half OF his army,
his best and picked soldiers and rendered hors du
combat the remainder. For The London fHa"Fded
Ners 20 speak il does saTors of the Chlaese plan
of taking the British fleet, to wit; by the braves
swimming alongside, climbing the sides and boarding
the ships, spear and lantern IN hand, &c.
Mr.. John Bull cannot rest his gouty leg 70 comfort
on his easy couch, while he may continue 10 absorb
his old port" al i,6stam be can take his siese 10
auiet--ths new D0rt will never trouble hiin hall 40
much a. his old port has; his friend Nep,nne silently
unostenta.ously and continuously will do all that Johh
30 urgently rsqures-not by battering down Nature
solid granite aud III tee thousand easemnted ntea
guns-Nep,une will btter up the harbor of Cherbomg
with mud, marine shaia ana shlngle,A
Cherbourg fortified harborl is stnatet on an
open bay, behind promOntOry on the western coast
of France, jutuDg into the Eaghsh Channel, almost
equdistas between the opposite great naval nails
of EuglaDd-PortsDDuth and Plymouth. TIE bay u
,CherbUurg il shallow, little over three miles wlde
Snd deep. This 10 it, Datural physical aspect It's ar
.iicial inosmbraDce " mole, or " breakwater OF
stone with four strong forts occupying two miles and
a half long across the entrance To the bay, Leaving
quarter mile eutrgnce TO the harbor at either END
VI the mole little wider than our pass at the Mar
rows the 10 inner harbor. The land pro-
lection or psomontory covering the bay on the 'oath-
vest forms a-nsssive tTeab water anh trOfclO1 IrOW
the swell Of the Atlantic Ocean, and the southwest
gaes sweepiag up the British Channel, similarly as
oar own SaBCky Hook forms natural brenkwater and
protection against the yeep Of the eastern Atlantic
Ocean and eaaf :rly gales BY peculiar hydronamic
force Of the winters o thaernsn Ocean, oftne British
Charnel ami the Atantie current or force sweeping
round the Brtsh Isands and the eastern cnast Of
Scotk nd and Eagland the most drstul well as won
derll physical changes within the last six hundred
yearshave been produced on the Northwestern shoes
q Europe, Scotlsnd and England: continents sePa-
rated Islands divided rely swept away, hsrb0s
closed up and new hsrboss and seas form d, among
which the Zuyd<r Zee-tke port Of Ansterdam-was
formed by the rupture Of the isthmus uniting North
Holland end Fries.and at the same time Many towns
and a large area OF land were swept away. To this
day the eastern coss, of Scotland and Englaod, and
portions of the northwestern coast VI Europe, are
constantly being denuded or worn away and myd and
eand banks are formed, shifted or enlarged mid
channel or Il mud lnerins shsle shngle- sand &C..