by whom the official survey was made, were fully sensible of the superiority of such a plan, but as the cost would probably have doubled the expense of the present work, the government did not hold itself justified in drawing so largely upon the public purse, when drained by the enormous expenses of our warlike operations. The present limits of the harbour will accommodate not more than 25 ships of the line, and safe anchorage is not found even for all these, and owing to the unavoidable position of the Breakwater, considerable difficulties are experienced in working in and out of the harbour.

The most painful reflection is that it is now irremediable. No labour nor expense can be incurred by which a barrier erected with so much skill and difficulty could be removed, and should the security of our Channel fleet require a port of more ample space to the westward, it must hereafter be sought in some other situation.

Notwithstanding this most important defect, the port of Plymouth has been eminently benefited by the undertaking, and we must ever regard it as a work highly honourable to the talents of the engineers, as well as to that judicious arrangement and integrity with which the operations have been effected. It is now ascertained that the whole plan will be completed within the original estimate.

Probably owing to a defect in these essential qualifications, a work far more stupendous, which was undertaken in 1781 by order of the French King, failed of success, although directed by the ablest engineers of that enterprising nation. Our readers who are familiar with the chart of the British Channel, have not failed to remark, that while the rocky barrier which forms our coast is broken by frequent intervals, which present a secure retreat for our shipping, the whole line of the opposite coast of France consists for the most part of a low sandy shore, which offers scarce an opening deserving the name of a harbour. The best among these is Cherburg, which was greatly exposed to the same

ex

inconvenience which Plymouth heretofore perienced. To remedy this defect, M. de Cessart, Inspector General of Public Works, offered to erect a Breakwater nearly four times the length of Mr. Rennie's, and thus to convert the roadstead of Cherburg into a safe anchorage for the French fleet. For this purpose he proposed to form the intended bulwark, by sinking ninety huge cones, constructed of great beams of timber, strongly bolted together, which being placed in a line, should be filled with immense stones, and form a barrier capable of resisting the force of the waves. Each cone was to be 150 feet in diameter at the base, 60 at the top, and 70 in height, but these proportions were afterwards somewhat diminished. In June 1784 the first cone was deposited in its place, and in the five following years seventeen more were sunk in like manner, but so great was the destruction produced by the violence of the winter's storms, that by the year 1790, the patience of the government was exhausted, and the work abandoned, after expending upwards of five millions of tons of stone, and incurring a fruitless expense of £1,300,000 sterling. One of the cones held together fourteen years, another five years, six stood for about four years, and all the rest went to pieces within one year after they were sunk. The stones within were gradually washed away, and scattered at the bottom of the harbour.

The object of rendering Cherburg a secure port was nevertheless of so great political importance, that after an interval of several years the French government made another effort to accomplish it, by casing the irregular line of stones yet remaining with a coating of heavy stones, weighing from one to two tons each. By the year 1809, they had succeeded in raising part of this defence above high water mark, and erected a small battery on it, which received a garrison of troops. But in a violent storm which ensued, this ill-compacted fabric gave way to the fury of the waves, and the whole, with the unfortunate soldiers and their families, were swept into the

sea.

This disaster might have been foreseen. By sinking heavy masses upon the smaller stones, whose edges were already worn away by the long-continued action of the waves, they served as rollers when set in motion, and carried the superincumbent weight along with them. Notwithstanding these failures, we understand the undertaking has since been resumed; works of great importance to improve Cherburg as a Naval Arsenal were commenced by order of Buonaparte, and were considerably advanced before his dethronement. These have been prosecuted with activity since the restoration of Louis XVIII.; and, encouraged by the success of our great work at Plymouth, the French government will probably persevere, and ultimately complete their Breakwater, which will then render Cherburg one of the noblest harbours in France.

Before we dismiss the subject, we should mention another Breakwater of very ancient date, which was a truly astonishing performance, compared with those we have just described. Josephus, the celebrated historian of the Jews, who lived soon after the Christian æra, is justly considered by learned men as an author of high authority. He relates that "when Herod founded the city of Cæsarea, he determined to give the inhabitants a secure haven as a shelter for their vessels, against the impetuous winds which beat upon the shores of Palestine. This he effected by letting down, twenty fathoms deep into the sea, vast stones of fifty feet in length, eighteen in breadth, and nine in height." The weight of each stone therefore must have been at least six hundred tons. It is remarkable that the mole which he thus constructed was called Procymatia, or "the first breaker of the waves.'

If any of our readers, who have not travelled into foreign countries, should be disposed to question the veracity of Josephus, it may be mentioned, that in many ancient buildings erected by the Greeks and Romans, which we have had opportunities to visit, stones are employed greatly exceeding any in Eng

land, excepting, perhaps, those of the very curious Druidical temple of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, several of which are upwards of 20 feet in length:we may mention the ruined temples of Agrigentum in Sicily, the amphitheatre at Nismes in the south of France, and the aqueduct at Segovia in Spain, as within our own observation.

In the accounts which have been published by modern English travellers of undoubted authority, we have the exact dimensions of several of the ancient buildings still existing in Egypt. The Great Pyramid, which has been repeatedly measured, consists of 207 layers of stones, each of which is of immense length, and not less than from two to five feet in thickness, making the whole height of this wonder of the world no less than 600 feet. Stones infinitely larger than those spoken of by Josephus, still form the sub-basement of the great temples of ancient Balbec in Syria. These were seen in 1751 by Mr. Wood, an English gentleman, who measured one still remaining in the adjacent quarry. This stone was 70 feet long, 14 broad, and 14 thick, and must weigh at least 1100 tons. He saw several of these enormous slabs among the ruins of the Temple of the Sun, and speaks of three together, which covered a space of 175 feet. The gigantic temples at Thebes, seen by later travellers, afford similar examples, and leave us at a loss to conjecture by what mechanical contrivances (now lost) the nations of antiquity wielded those huge masses, which they employed in erecting their mighty edifices.

L.

ON THE PATRIOTIC SONGS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

ONE of our greatest statesmen is reported to have exclaimed, “Give me the making of a nation's ballads, and I care not who makes its laws." He be

lieved that the influence of music upon the public sentiment was so great, that the people might bə swayed to any opinions by songs adapted to their habits and tastes, and whose excellence should secure them a permanent popularity. Though this sentiment was somewhat exaggerated, there can be no doubt of the power of those impressions which are communicated to a people by the aid of music; and history furnishes us some remarkable instances of the effect of popular songs in stimulating a multitude. The expulsion of a band of tyrants from Athens has been ascribed to the influence of an ode which was an universal favourite of the people; violent and sanguinary sentiments, engrafted upon well-known airs, incited the populace to many of the atrocities of the French Revolution; while at the same period, in England, the bold and loyal spirit of our navy was kept alive by a series of songs, wonderfully adapted to the modes of thinking and customs of a seafaring life. It is perhaps not too much to say that the character of a people is in some degree formed by its stores of national ballads.

The English possess four or five patriotic airs, which are often heard on public occasions;-which the people themselves sing with an honest enthusiasm;-which are re-echoed through the land in times of danger;-and which therefore form part of that invincible armoury of defence which is found in national character. We appear to have a greater stock of such songs than any other nation;-not light and ephemeral productions, but airs which have an abiding-place in the heart of the whole population. These songs are of the very genius of our constitution; and it is only in a country of freedom that they would possess an interest so warm and so universal.

The most popular song in the world is our " God save the King." The history of its composition is very uncertain. It is supposed to have been originally written in the reign of James II.; to have been for some time forgotten; and to have attained its present