are placed one on each side of this first deck, a draught of air is almost always desirable, and accordingly these doors are usually kept wide open. Towards the stern is the ladies' cabin, into which no gentleman can enter unless he has a lady in charge. Cabin and steerage distinctions are unknown in America, and hence such an arrangement in behalf of ladies seems almost indispensable. Their cabin leads out at the stern into a space open to the air all round, but sheltered over head by the second deck. This (the second deck) is reached by steps inside and outside the vessel. It is shorter than the first deck, by the space allotted to the forecastle. Here is the main saloon, running down the centre, with dormitories ranged along the sides, entering from the saloon, and having windows to the water. Sometimes they have also doors, which open out on a gallery or balcony carried all round. The saloons and berths are often splendidly fitted up fine carpets, rich hangings, and paint and gilding without end. In the "Empire" every door was ornamented with a different view of some fine object on the Hudson river. The saloon opens out to the air by glass doors at either end, the space at the stern being covered with an awning. This deck is the common all property of the passengers, "niggers" alone excepted, who, though in the New York States, as in New England, free, are yet generally | treated as the offscouring of all things. It pained me to the heart to see these unfortunates, shrinking into bye places and skulking about in dark corners, just as if they were dogs, familiar with kicks and cuffs from cruel masters, instead of being "native Americans," entitled to be treated as men and brethren. The third deck is immediately over the saloon, principally resorted to by strangers who wish to see all around, and by gentlemen who, when they smoke, are unwilling to annoy those to whom it is disagreeable. On this deck, as near as possible to the bow, is the steersman's site. It would be impossible to steer so long a vessel from the stern; and so the pilot is placed forward, to have a clear view of all before him. He stands in a little sort of house, with large windows in front and on either side. His wheel acts on the helm by means of rods and chains running along the vessel; and he communicates with the engineer by ringing different bells, according as he wishes the vessel to be slowed, or stopped, or to go a-head. On this deck, too, are

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the tops of the paddle-boxes; and as the wheels, though narrow, are generally of great diameter, they sometimes rise considerably above this highest deck, looking, in the distance, like the wings of some huge strange bird, which she dips in the water merely to cool them, as she skims along the stream. Here, also, are the funnels, two in number, one on each side, as if an adjunct, or aid-de-camp to the paddle-wheel. The engines on the rivers in the Atlantic slope are, for the most part, "low-pressure "engines; but, instead of being, as with us, placed below, and out of sight, they are usually, with all their gear, planted on the main deck, and make no secret of their operations. In the "Knickerbocker," they were on the uppermost deck of all; and there was something novel in the sight of the beam, overtopping everything but the chimneys, rolling incessantly from side to side, and that with a peculiarly constrained and awkward air. Indeed, it was hardly a single beam; for it was rather an iron framework in the shape of an elongated diamond,—a construction adopted, I should imagine, to lightness without sacrifice of strength. The length of this beam, however, seemed, perhaps from its increased breadth, to be greatly disproportioned to the length of the stroke; and hence, every time that one end of this elongated diamond descended, it seemed as if the whole affair would topple over, and come down along with it. Such a vessel as I have now described, one would imagine, could not fail, from its enormous length, and flimsy structure, to be very weak. One would expect that its back would speedily be broken; and I have often been asked, how it is possible that such a thing can hold together for any length of time, carry such loads of passengers, and be propelled through the water at such a high rate of speed. Now these vessels, doubtless, are weak as compared with ours; but I observed that they are built on the principle of the arch. They are bound together, from end to end, by iron rods and chains, carried from stem to stern over a great number of short masts, planted here and there, and these chains support the vessel from above, as the water does below, adding greatly to its strength. When these boats take the ground, they are, of course, exposed to greater strain and injury than vessels which are shorter, and more substantially put together. But even this evil, so incident to river navi

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gation, is greatly diminished by the flatness of their bottoms, distributing, as it does, the strain more equally. Should they, however, happen to strike sunken rock, they almost immediately go to pieces. An accident of this kind happened, a year or two ago, to a boat called the "Swallow; " and great loss of life ensued. The speed of these boats is unrivalled. They can go at the rate of from fifteen to twenty miles hour, according as the tide, which runs between three and four, may serve them. The statements on this head are, indeed, often discredited in this country; nevertheless they are substantially true, and no one who has seen the peculiar structure of these vessels will wonder at their swiftness. It is not, however, because the Americans are more skilled in naval architecture than we, that their river steamers surpass ours in speed. For our steamers, running on the St. Lawrence between Montreal and Quebec, are quite as swift; and so far as the "ocean steamers are concerned, we have beat the Americans hollow. The superiority is owing to the nature of their rivers, which admit of their building steamers of such a size and form as would be useless in ours. The Thames is by far our largest and most important stream. But what would a steamer 320 feet long and 60 feet broad do in the "Pool?" Add to this that from the shortness of our rivers, every steamer of any size must be strong enough, at some portion of her voyage, to encounter the sea. In America, there are land-locked bays, where a steamer may spend her life and never meet the shock of angry billows. America there are rivers, along which steamers may skim for 1,500 miles, without tasting a drop of brine. And the Hudson is one of these splendid streams. Albany, at the point beyond which the tide does not flow, is 150 miles above New York, and that city, at the mouth of the Hudson, is closed in by a magnificent bay, so that steamers of the slightest construction may be employed with perfect safety, and they are suited to the character of the navigation, as our wherries are to the river on which they ply. The Americans, with their Saxon ingenuity, have turned their advantages to the best account; but we should be no gainers, by starting boats like theirs on our tiny streams, while the sea, which

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they have to encounter at some part or other of their voyage, would speedily knock them to pieces by its heavy blows. I understand that the steamers on the Ganges and the Indus are similar to those which I have described; so that it is the character of the stream, and not the superior skill of the artist which accounts for the rapid speed of the Hudson river steamers.

We started from Albany about 7 p.m., and from the great number of passengers, and the confusion of tongues, the "Knickerbocker" seemed, at first, a very Babel. It was not long, however, before order and silence reigned, as my fellowtravellers went early to bed. For my own part, I paced the decks till after midnight, watching the twinkle of the lights ashore, and listening to the ripple of the water, as we swept along at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. Notwithstanding the great speed of our vessel, so light was her draught, and so excessively sharp her bow, that she carried no wave before her, but glided onwards almost without noise, seeming rather to skim over, than to divide the stream. From either funnel there rushed a continuous shower of sparks, and now and then there shot forth tongues of flame, which cast a lurid gleam over the dark water, and enabled the eye to pierce far into the surrounding gloom. As the night advanced, the stars shone out, and, from the extraordinary clearness of the atmosphere, their brilliancy was dazzling; each star of considerable magnitude throwing its light upon the smooth, unruffled stream, and having its image distinctly mirrored back again to the eye. When, at last, I turned in, the sight as I entered the main deck was strange enough. Scores of common people, chiefly blacks, too poor to pay for berths, were lying about, like logs, on the floor, and on boxes, tables, coils of rope, &c., breathing hard, snoring loud, and giving a grunt of dissatisfaction, as one and another stumbled over them in the dim light, or disturbed them as he groped his way along. By five in the morning, we were at New York. I turned out of my berth in the hope of seeing the sun rise, but I was too late. I was just in time to see the vessel moored at the wharf.

New York has been so often described that I shall not attempt to do so. It is the commercial capital of America, and its principal maritime city. No site

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could be more advantageous for such a purpose than the one it occupies. It is built on a long and narrow slip of land, projected like a tongue into a magnificent bay. On one side-the western-is the Hudson river; on the other, the East river, as it is called. In reality, however, it is but a narrow strait or arm of the sea, formed by Long Island, which lying between New York and the Atlantic, extends its length in a north-east direction, for, I should imagine, nearly a hundred miles, and closes with a long reach of smooth water. It is thus a city with two lines of river frontage, one on the east, and the other on the west, and as the slip of land on which it is built is about fourteen miles in length, with an average breadth of about a mile, there is nothing to prevent New York from covering, in course of time, the whole of that surface, and having fourteen miles of wharves and shipping on either side. The present extent is about four or five miles. The streets, in general, run across from river to river, and are numbered from One to Twenty-five-street, to which last I had to find my way in quest of a friend. Probably there is now a Thirty-five. The main artery is Broadway. Commencing at the Battery, which lies at the southern extremity of New York, it runs northward, lengthwise of the city, till it looses itself in the country. Of course, however, there are several great avenues which run nearly parallel to it, on either side, all crossing the shorter streets at right angles. Like every other large and flourishing city, it has abundance of hurry and bustle. Containing half a million of inhabitants, drawn from all parts of Europe and America, its population is heterogeneous enough; and as foreigners bear a much larger proportion to the natives than perhaps in any other capital, New York is peculiarly cosmopolitan in its character. It has many splendid buildings; the City Hall, and the Custom House, of white marble; the Merchants' Exchange, several of the hotels, and some of the churches, of massive granite. The shops are very much like our own, and many of them, in extent and splendour, unsurpassed. The streets are thronged with all sorts of loungers (loafers, as the Americans call them) and busy men. The ladies are the gayest of the gay, arrayed in the most costly style, and in every colour of the rainbow. Private equipages are comparatively few, but omnibuses and hackneys as numerous as in London.

My stay in New York at this time was very brief, as left it in the evening of the day on which I arrived, but I afterwards saw more of it. It is a busy, but by no means an interesting capital. The weather, too, was very hot, the thermometer standing at 85 degrees in the shade, and to move about on foot (the only way of becoming acquainted with a town) was more than I could long endure. No dust, however, annoyed one in the streets. Such is the abundance of water that they are kept constantly wet and cool in the driest and hottest weather. It was not always so in New York. Before the destructive fire of 1835, which consumed property to the value of four millions sterling, there was a great lack of water. But the dear-bought experience of that event led to extraordinary efforts to supply the want. Croton river, a considerable stream, was diverted from its course, some thirty miles above New York, and brought by a canal into the city reservoirs. And now, from the great elevation of its source, water can be distributed in large quantities, and sent, in a jet, to the tops of the highest houses, by simply attaching a hose to one of the openings in the pipes which line the streets, and then turning a cock. The bringing of this river bodily into New York, a distance of between thirty and forty miles, is one of the greatest achievements of its kind, and a monument of American energy and enterprise.

MERCIES, LITTLE AND GREAT.Some Indians from distant tribes, drawn by curiosity, came to visit Mr. Eliot at Nonuneturn, and said to him, "What get you by praying to God and believing on him? You are as poor as we, our corn is as good as yours, and we take more pleasure than you; we hunt, we roam amidst our boundless forests and lakes, while you dwell in these walls; we have many wives! Did we see that you got anything by it we would pray to God and serve him also." Eliot replied, "God gives us two sorts of good things, one sort are little things, the other sort are great things; the little mercies riches, as clothes, food, pleasures, with plenty of beasts of chase-these are things, which serve but for our bodies, a little while in this life. The great mercies, are wisdom, the knowledge of God, eternal life, repentance, faith, these are mercies for the soul and for its everlasting life.-Carne's Lives of Missionaries.

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A GOOD PRACTICAL HINT.

To the Editor of the English Presbyterian Messenger. SIR, It is well known and lamented by all thoughtful people in the congregations of Dissenters that the incomes of their ministers are generally very limited. In no respect is this poverty of means more felt by ministers themselves than in their inability to add a few volumes to their library from time to time, as their reading on various departments of Theology may require. The difficulty presses all the more heavily on the diligent, intellectual, and reading minister, who desires to keep pace with the literature of the age. The readers of the " Messenger will see, by referring to the admirable introductory lecture of Professor Campbell in the last number, how extensive is the field over which students of Theology have to travel. If a minister on leaving college and settling in a congregation do not keep up his habits of reading and study, he will soon become dull and tame; like a vessel exhausted of its contents, he will become dry. The people may feel this, but they perhaps never think of the reason. As an eight day clock requires winding up; so does the minister. If he be always giving out and not always taking in-the result is obvious. To keep up the supply, he must have works of value for study and reference. Alas! how many of our ministers know and feel this to be true, and yet the stern reality, want of means, forms an insurmountable barrier. Now, Sir, I rejoice in being able to testify of the liberality and thoughtful kindness of many among our churches. They seek opportunities of usefulness, and are gratified at finding how they may do good. Allow me, then, to suggest to the richer brethren among the laity that I know no way whereby they may be more effectually useful than by making judicious presents of books to many of our ministers. I have been several times during the summer and autumn in the library of a brother minister, and I have been highly gratified at finding large numbers of valuable works-some of them expensive and all of them judiciously selected-lying about on his tables, marked as presents from friends, and generally from members of his congregation. This manifests great wisdom and true affection on the part of the donors. The money expended on these volumes returns in showers of

blessings, not only on the givers, but on the whole congregation. How often has the writer paused at a bookseller's window to look at and yearn over a copy of "Owen on the Hebrews," marked at an exceedingly low price, and yet he dared not enter the shop, he had not the money. How often during the last month has he thought of a copy of "Kitto's Biblical Cyclopædia" offered nearly at half price, and yet he cannot buy it. The writer is not singular in these longings, which are, perhaps, never to be gratified. May I entreat you to direct the richer ones among our flocks to this obvious mode of doing essential good to our ministers. Perhaps some on reading these lines may say, "What book should I buy-I don't know what my minister wants?" We reply, in all sincerity, ask him he knows his own wants and his line of study best. Ask him, or your purchase, however well meant, may be useless.

I am Sir, &c.,

A COUNTRY MINISTER. [We hope that the suggestion of this very sensible letter will be acted upon, and a better beginning could not be made than by some kind friend presenting "Owen on the Hebrews," or "Kitto's Cyclopædia," to the writer, who is a minister in one of our northern presbyteries. A cup of cold water given to a disciple shall not lose its reward. A cup of cold water gives only personal refreshment, whereas, a book not only will refresh the soul of a minister, but may, through him, spread refreshment to many. We quite agree with our correspondent as to the necessity of mental supply. As the soul, spiritually, soon would get dry if always giving out, and not receiving supplies through communion with God, so the mind, intellectually, will soon get dry if deprived of intercourse with other minds. In places where fellowship with living minds of high order cannot be had, it is in books that this intercourse must be sought. We have been visiting some of our northern districts lately, and have been grieved to hear of the privations, mental as well as bodily, to which some of our ministers are forced to submit, sometimes from want of a little thought and kind consideration on the part of their people.—ED.]

THERE is no one more unhappy than he who never felt adversity.

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JAMES NISBet,
HUGH M. MATHESON,

21, Berners-street, Nov. 20, 1848.

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EXTRACT LETTER FROM REV. W.

CHARTERIS.

Corfu, October 9, 1848. DEAR MR. HAMILTON,-I gave you in my last a short statement of occurrences at Zante, since which date the infant cause of truth has been assailed with the usual Herodian fury. A Mr. Koenigós, a seminarist, that is, one educated in the seminary here, and a candidate for 1 160 priest's orders, who was at Corfu for a few Oweeks, and had many personal interviews with myself and Mr. Arnold, the Baptist missionary, with whom he had also cor11 13 9 responded previously, has returned to Zante to prosecute his duties as a schoolmaster. He has, however been for some time obnoxious to the Bishop, who, on his arrival in Zante, had him summoned before a conclave of six priests, to answer for the misdemeanour of holding prayermeetings, and to give an account of his opinions, which were with justice beginning to be spoken of as contrary to the traditions of the Greek Church. Koenigós was taken from his own house by the

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