was the heat of the furnaces, which is so insupportable, that the engine-men cannot remain beside them for more than a minute or two at a time. In the confusion and bustle of an action it would probably be found extremely difficult, if not impossible, to regulate, with deliberation and coolness, the many complicated operations which would be necessary in such a machine; and where so much internal combustion is going forward, the slightest inattention or accident in managing the powder, might be instantaneously fatal to all on board. Should they succeed in overcoming these difficulties, and acquire that expertness in her management which practice alone can be expected to produce, we can scarcely imagine for a bay or harbour, a more powerful instrument of attack or defence. Independent of wind or tide, she could plough her way under an enemy's stern, or across his bows, and vomit forth her flaming balls, wherever the foe was most vulnerable; while the reverting of the paddle wheel would instantly relieve her from a wrong position, without the delay of working round, and the enormous thickness of her sides would render any but the largest guns inefficient upon her timbers. The commissioners in their last report recommended, that, notwithstanding the peace, she should be commissioned and sent to sea, that officers and men might be trained to her management, and that defects in her construction, might be discov STEAM FRIGATE. 41 ered and obviated; but this recommendation could only have been complied with at an expense which would ill agree with American ideas of economy, and here she lies, slumbering in ignoble indolence and security. I would add with all my heart, Requiescat in pace! |