too problematical, to justify a departure from the established mode of constructing steam-ships of war in the United States.

Since the foregoing remarks were written, the steamer Britannia has brought to our aid, and in confirmation of the conclusion to which we had come, most important information, under the head of Portsmouth, August 14th.

"Some remarkable results have been produced by the experimental shot practice from the Excellent on the iron steam

er Ruby, and it is expected the Admiralty will in consequence stop the building of iron and other vessels for the present. The shots which hit the Ruby, not only penetrated the side first struck, but in some

instances passed through the other side, carrying with it whole plates of iron. In action, this would risk the total loss of the vessel, for on heeling over to leeward, such a body of water must rush in, that nothing

would prevent her sinking with all on board.

"A representation of this important circumstance, arising from the recent trials, further experimental firing prove that has been made to the Admiralty; and should serious risk will be occasioned to iron vessels of war when exposed to the chance of being struck by heavy shot, it is doubtful if the Board will not abolish them as men of war."

From the fact that the result of these experiments were reported to the Admiralty, we may infer that they were made by its orders; and from the plain, straight-forward details presented to the public, there does not appear any ground to doubt their correctness. If they do not go far enough entirely to settle the question, they do go far enough to settle the impolicy of building iron steain-ships of war, with a weight of evidence so preponderating against their utility.

Ir might naturally be supposed, on first glancing at this subject, that in a new country like ours, the attempt to move the sympathies of the people to a very warm appreciation of the rude beauties of ancient song, couched as they are in language nearly obsolete, must be attended with failure; but when it is recollected that we are mostly of Saxon origin, and have amongst us a large proportion of foreigners, who are more or less under the influence of traditional poetry, we must feel assured that the work of which we are about to give a short, and in some respects, hasty review, is one that is well adapted not only to excite the curiosity, but to awaken the deep interest of every intelligent reader. We all owe something to tradition; the very proverbs which afford such useful hints for the guidance of life, are often the burthen

of some old ditty remembered long after the song has passed away.

Shakspeare, and other writers of his epoch, did not disdain the aid of ancient song, as may be seen from the frequent allusions to it in their works. But there are many other points of view which must lead us to regard most favorably the preservation of these old ballads. They are a strong bond of union amongst a people. Long before the sword of the warrior had been thrown aside for the pen, the minstrels flourished, and their poetry, relating the heroic deeds of some celebrated chieftain, or those dreadful domestic calamities in which the dark ages were so prolific, has been orally transmitted to the present day. These traditional poems exercise an important influence. They serve to recall a nation's past glory; its struggles, its predilections,

sion, is to be found on all occasions where the same events are to be described; and this is not only the case with regard to English and Scotch minstrelsy, but, as Mr. Motherwell remarks, with respect to that of many of the northern nations of Europe. It has been justly stated, that these points of resemblance served as so many "landmarks" by which oral poetry has been the more easily committed to memory, and certainly they account, in some measure, for the extraordinary accuracy with which the most ancient songs have been preserved.

We might produce quotations, ad infinitum, for the purpose of demonstrating various surprising identities of style and circumstance; but it would lead us far beyond the limits of this article. In the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and James VI., oral poetry began to yield to that afterwards composed for the press; and the former became almost the exclusive property of the lower classes. In Scotland, however, feudality was longer in existence, and the great nobles there still retained their minstrels. The written compositions are, as may naturally be supposed, far more elegant, though often greatly inferior to the traditional, as regards force and simplicity. The bright days of chivalry gave a great impulse to the creation of the more refined of these ballads, and the crusade furnished incidents which have not been surpassed in dramatic effect by the most heroic or daring achievements of any previous period. Mr. Motherwell is of opinion that the romantic ballad was legitimately descended from the heroic, as it broke forth with splendor when any country arrived at a certain stage of refinement. Upon this point there is a great difference of opinion, one writer ascribing it a Scandinavian, another an Arabian, and another an Armorican origin; whilst others have claimed this distinction for Normandy and Pro

vence.

An able writer in the "Foreign Quarterly," thoroughly familiar with the subject, whilst reviewing Mr. Paris's compilation of the Romans de Garins le Loherain," says, that "many wild theories have been started by those who have sought the origin of romance, and who would fain discover among one particular people only, that which must

have been common to all." The French writers on this subject have generally commenced with a previously imbibed prejudice, that their own country alone must have the glory of the invention, and that unless they establish this position they will have labored in vain. He enters into a close examination of their pretensions in this respect, which he completely upsets, by showing that so far were they from supplying England with romances, that country furnished them with several, at an early period, which were translated into French, and are now extant. He denies that the Normans possessed any predominant taste for these chansons de geste," and sustains most satisfactorily the views entertained by Mr. Motherwell. We cannot refrain from giving an extract from The Weary Coble o' Cargill," a ballad never before published. The last few verses are so remarkable for their powerful and simple expression of remorse, and at the same time so characteristic of the poetry of which we have been treating, that we may well stand excused for introducing another mere fragment.The story is, that a butler, living at a place called Stobhall, (Scotland.) crossed the river Tay one night, to see his Indie love, who resided at Kercock.Whilst there, another fair dame, in a fit of jealousy, scuttled his "coble," or boat, and he was consequently drowned in returning. The infatuated girl exclaims, in the depth of her agony and despair

"There's ne'er a clean sark gae on my back,
Nor yet a kame gae in my hair;
There's neither coal nor candle licht
Shall shine in my bower for ever mair.
At kirk nor market I'se ne'er be at,
There's ne'er a ane shall say to anither
Nor yet a blithe blink in my e'e;
That's the lassie gar'd the young man die."

With this we shall take leave for the present of these older songs of the minstrels, and proceed to a consideration of the body of romances which, it has been shown, are their legitimate offspring. These are pervaded by a new and more delicate vein of sentiment-partly owing to the progress of refinement, and partly to political causes, which have had an undeniable influence upon the lyric poetry of the whole world. It would be interesting

to trace the gradual transition of minstrelsy into that state in which it has been more recently found. But let us be satisfied, here, with one of those modern songs composed in the true spirit of the days of chivalry:

THE CRUSADER'S FAREWELL.

The banners rustle in the wind, The angry trumpets swell; They call me, lady, from thy arms, They bid me sigh farewell.

They call me to a distant land,

To quell a Paynim foe;

To leave the blandishments of love, For danger, strife, and woe.

Yet deem not, lady, though afar
It be my hap to roam ;

That e'er my constant heart shall stray
From love, from thee, from home.

There are many very beautiful ancient and modern ballads and romances throughout this work, but their extreme length precludes our making any further extracts. We have rapidly presented some of the most striking features, both of oral and written song; and we can only express our regret that we have neither time nor space to illustrate all their peculiar phases by the quotations this interesting and valuable work so abundantly supplies. We refer the reader to the volumes before us, in the full confidence that they will amply repay the most diligent perusal.

Tuis interrogatory, applied to our political controversy, must, to a great portion of the people, who, for obvious reasons, are little accustomed or inclined to analytical investigations, prove to be, we think, almost as difficult of solution as it was to the ancients, considered with reference to their various and conflicting systems of philosophy. The difficulty in the latter case, however, was attributable in a great measure to the abstract nature of the subject itself; with us it arises from other causes, and is not so much owing to the obscurity of the questions discussed, as to the manner in which they are generally treated.

When it is recollected how necessary, and yet how rare, is the exercise of a close discrimination to distinguish the true from the false, in heated party disputations; to what a lamentable extent it has become the custom among politicians to suffer themselves to be influenced rather by men than measures, rather by partyism than patriotism;

that their private interests are often too much involved in the fate of the object of their praise or censure to admit of disinterested action; and moreover, how prevalent and effective demagogueism, in all its varieties, has become, it need excite little surprise that the number of those is comparatively limited, whose habits of reasoning and means of information, relative to such subjects, will enable them to arrive at conclusions in any degree intelligible or satisfactory.

The consequence is, the positions of parties are undergoing changes as constant, if not as regular, as those of the seasons; and the policy of government it subjected to fluctuations as disastrous as they are sudden and violent.

The single fact, that, within the space of five years, an overwhelming majority of the people announced by their votes the adoption of the doctrines of one great party, and that in two short years subsequently, with a still more dedecided unanimity, they arrayed them

selves under the banner of another, proclaiming diametrically opposite principles, will ever stand as a striking, if we may not add, disgraceful proof. Indeed, a stranger in our country, one unacquainted with the peculiarities of our government, and judging from appearances only, could hardly be charged with committing a very heinous oversight in embracing the opinion, that the people, on some occasions, were making a mocking of their institutions, and, in mere wantoness of freedom, were 66 playing such fantastic tricks," in imitation, on a higher scale, of village militia, who, to bring their systems of organization into ridicule and contempt, or from a spirit of sheer foolishness, sometimes convert their elections into the broadest burlesque, by selecting their officers from among the least considerable persons in the community. And it must be confessed that the election of certain individuals to high places, during some of our memorable campaigns, would go very far to favor such a supposition.

This condition of things, which has existed from the earliest days of our republic, shows how totally unfounded and unsettled is the public mind on fundamental principles of government, and is strongly indicative also of the vast importance to the people of something like a radical change in the character of their political teachings.

In many matters pertaining to civil government, we afford signal examples of the force of habit and the slavery of the human mind to long established customs. We are still prejudiced in favor of theories, which, hereafter, wi.l be pronounced a disgrace to any other era than the gloomiest of those barbarous times in which they had their origin. We have proved unfaithful stewards. The glorious principles which our Declaration of Independence proclaimed and our arms established, we have hitherto failed to turn to the most profitable account-we have been unjust to ourselves-we have placed our attention too much upon what is and has been, and neglected to consider sufficiently what ought to be and may be. To speak plainly, the people of this country are most deplorably and scandalously remiss in applying their strong practical sense to two great subjects, which of all others it behooves

them to regard with unremitting vigilance-we mean the sciences of municipal government and political economy. The extent of this apathy we confess surprises us. If it were confined to the nooks and corners of the back-woods, and to the more unpretending classes in point of education. its existence could be as readily explained as palliated. But when we see men, and unfortunately, they are numbered neither by units, tens, nor hundreds, in high and responsible public stations, continually betraying so plentiful a lack' of information, as would often uppear in the highest degree ludicrous, were it not utterly disgraceful, concerning the very first rudiments of these important subjects, we turn instinctively to watch, with increased anxiety, the efforts and progress of "the Societies for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," aud are constrained to believe that their labors are yet far from becoming supererogatory, and that the lower orders" by no means afford the only prolific field for the exercise of their very commendable zeal and beneficence.

แ

Knowledge before oratory," is a precept that appears to find but little favor with too many of our political aspirants.

To the intelligent Democrat, who is accustomed to read the Congressional debates, or who possesses the fortitude to undergo—as a sheer matter of duty

the self-infliction of perusing Whig newspapers, it would be needless labor to point out examples as proof of this.

But the Whigs are not alone guilty of these political solecisms. The Democrats have sins to answer for, neither small nor few. Their "mission" is a most glorious one; and they are chargeable with the unpardonable vandalism of not knowing it;-at least, they seem to be so, or how happens it that at this late day, after a lapse of three-score and ten years of our national existence, that party-the great American party-the party of enlightened freedom-the party that was, and is, to establish the true principles of civil government and political economy