Yankee and English Shine.
The
Yankees have managed to impress the world with an idea that they are the most enterprising and powerful of all maritime people.
We have no disposition to underrate an enemy in any real element of power.
Unquestionably, in the whale fisheries carried on by the
New England Colonies, (and which were first suggested and recommended by
Capt. John Smith, of
Virginia, to whom
New England is indebted for its very name,) there was manifested great maritime vigor and courage.
In the war of the Revolution, and in the late war, the same qualities were conspicuously displayed by men of all sections, whilst, in common, the
Yankees for a time took the lead of the world.
Up to the time of the introduction of steam, the best vessels afloat on the ocean, and the best sailors, were those of the
United States.
Every one remembers that, up to the comparatively recent period of the remarkable victory of the yacht
America, British vessels could not compare with American in speed or beauty.
But it is one of the most admirable trait of the
English character, that it never permits itself to be disheartened by reverses, but, on the contrary, derives fresh energy and determination from defeat.
The defeat of the British yacht by the
America inaugurated a new are in British ship-building.
The marine architects and the maritime community of
England were not too proud to learn from a rival, and they commenced at once to build both their sailing and steam vessels upon the model of the
America.
It was not long before they had clipper ships that competed in speed with these of the
United States, and steam vessels that were not only stronger and safer then those of the
North, but as fast.
Gradually, as steam became more general, and Iron vessels, especially propellers, were introduced, Jonathan began to fall farther and farther behind
John Bull in the great race for ocean supremacy, until at last, every single steam vessel that New York had to
England was driven from the ocean.--English ocean steamer lines traversed the whole globe and made every section of the earth tributary to English commerce.
Not satisfied with all this, English architects built the ‘"Great Eastern,"’ which was the last and greatest of all her ship-building victories, and completed the mortification of Jonathan.--Alas What had become of the ocean that he had claimed as his peculiar domain?
It was in vain that he flattered himself that the colossal structure would prove unmanageable at sea. It was handled as easily as a pilot boat, and it sped over the ocean as gracefully and buoyantly as a bird through the air. The
Great Eastern is a standing banter to Jonathan, and, moreover, it can carry ten thousand troops in one voyage !
We sometimes think that introduction of steam has produced degeneracy in the naval and commercial marine.
Steam does not require the Seamanship that is essential in calling vessels.
One does not see on board
United States vessels at this day such noble specimens of physical strong, such genuine sense of Nettune, as thirty years ago abounded on every man-of-war.
At that time, the Navy was made up of men who had been oradied and reared on the ocean, and who like Long Tom
Coffin, saw no use in land anyhow, except here and there a place to drop an anchor in. They were representatives of the seamen who bore aloft the
American flag in universal triumph and glory in the war of 1812.
But they have all passed away.
The vessels of the
United States appear to be manned now by dock loafers and chicken thieves, whose highest ambition is to burn down a few houses or rob a hen-roost.
As to the naval officers, the flower of them are found in the
Confederate service, which, we hope, in time, will be able to build up a Navy that will be worthy of the best days of
Decatur and
Perry.
