Not all his depth of knowledge will suffice, Or weather to forecast at any date, Here or elsewhere. Some four years in advance, Yes; ask him of the weather of to-morrow, Weather philosophers, there no doubt are, A master of Israel, who came alone To Him by night, and to the Jews unknown, Know this plain truth, who would be weatherwise, He who the weather would prognosticate Then, since we know the weather that we get All his wisdom its limits well define. Of this his "forecast" name its bound'ry line; Dost think thou'lt manage all these things to know? Go, my young tyro, teach the wind to blow, Lend wings unto the wayward wind,-then try To be continued. THE LIVERPOOL MERCANTILE MARINE ASSOCIATION. It is about eight years since a few of the leading shipmasters of Liverpool founded the above association, which has been constantly improving and increasing, until its members now enrol the number of fourteen hundred. More satisfactory still is the state of its finances, which now reckon a surplus amounting to £747 16s. 1d. Many of the great merchant princes of the port are its associates, aiding with purse and countenance the objects of the institution. It is surprising that a club, which should hold a similar position in the merchant navy to that of the army and navy, in reference to these services, should meet with so much opposition and criticism from men who ought to be its chief supporters,-viz. officers of the mercantile marine. But so it is. They find various excuses to offer. "Oh yes," says one; "I will join when I see the thing better managed !" Another cannot see the good of a place where a luncheon even is not to be had; and another wants to know the reason why the benevolent branch has been abandoned. Each of these opinions represents a goodly number; but the gentlemen who hold them would act more wisely by becoming members, and giving the committee the benefit of their own experience and advice; for the infancy of an institution requires all the support which men of experience, cognizant of its wants, can give. At first sight, it may seem bad policy to come out extensively in presentations of plate or portraits to individuals who have been of service to the association. I am not of that opinion. In our day a certain amount of éclat is absolutely necessary at the launching of an undertaking, if it is to attract general attention. Few men are so wholly indifferent to fame, that a testimonial does not become gratifying to their feelings, as a mark of their approval by fellow-labourers and a small return for the zeal with which they have served a good cause through a long series of years without fee or reward. Thus stands Mr. Brocklebank. The benevolent branch of this institution was, in my opinion, wisely nipped in the bud. At present the association cannot afford to devote any portion of their small ordinary funds to that purpose. Such a course of proceeding could only be practically beneficial by creating a separate insurance fund; but no economy would enable the managers to ensure the same advantages to subscribers as may be had from any of our great insurance companies. The speech of Mr. Graves, M.P., strongly depicted the unsatisfactory nature of the inquiries of the Board of Trade into the losses of merchant ships. It is not probable that the shipowners, who are the greatest sufferers from this cause, would raise their voices to condemn these proceedings so strongly, did they not deem that the rights of Englishmen were unjustly infringed. Doubtless, cases of drunkenness and gross neglect should be severely dealt with; but to suspend a man's certificate for an error in judgment, thus depriving him of the means of earning his livelihood, is a piece of tyrannical legislation, for which in these days it is difficult to find a parallel. Do Messrs. Harris and Baker imagine that the victim, while brooding over his disgrace and misfortune in his ruined home, is likely to add to his nautical skill, so as to avoid accidents in future? Such is the only charitable interpretation which can be assigned to their acts. Members connected with the profession on shore suffer no such penalty for their misfortunes, or even crimes. The provision merchant ships his adulterated articles unchecked; the disgracefully bankrupt builder is allowed to commence again, after paying his creditors but a fraction of their claims, often buying in as old iron the new plates, which probably had only been a few days in his yard. There is no penalty of punishment whatever in all these cases. Rather, it may be said, there is a solicitude, a pity, where the evil has been the result of an error in judgment. Mr. Graves's proposition for an official corrector of charts to be appointed at each of our great maritime ports, has already been suggested in these pages. Such a proceeding would give universal satisfaction, would add greatly to the security of life and property, and would prove a wholesome warning to the vendors of blue-backed charts, His remarks on the deterioration of the seaman are the echo of those which were published in one of your recent numbers. Not only are our seamen falling off in quantity, but in quality; and the character of the marine stoker, who now forms an integral portion of the so-called British seamen, is probably lower in the social scale than that of any corresponding class whatever, on shore or afloat. I recently witnessed at a great maritime port the sailing of one of our ocean steamships. When she commenced, by the aid of riggers, to haul towards the dock gates, in order to proceed to sea, only four of the crew (all petty officers) were on board. The remainder were not visible; but the presence of a few wretched porters, with a scanty clothes-bag or straw bed on their heads, showed that several were in the neighbourhood. Being anxious to see the finale, I went to the dock entrance, where the ship was now held between the piers by ropes. The scene was a perfect Babel of noises, in which oaths and blasphemy rose above the ordinary leave-taking. The officers, with the aid of a few sober men, were endeavouring by persuasion and force to induce the drunken sailors to come on board, who of course resisted, and showed fight as they were thrust or dragged up the side by main force. The dockmaster was anxious to get the ship through, as others were waiting their turn; but his orders passed unheeded till the last of these ruffians was on board. A few drunken good-byes were then shouted from ship and pier, and the noble fabric, doubtless well insured, dashed into the river and to sea. It is not difficult to imagine the situation of the captain and officers of that vessel for the first few hours, should the weather have proved unfavourable. While such scenes are allowed to pass unheeded, can we feel surprise that respectable people dread to send their sons to sea? knowing what they must endure before promotion as an officer will remove them from such society. In palliation of the bad conduct of the merchant seamen, both at home and abroad, I must add that they are often badly fed, badly lodged, and worse treated. A dirty closely-confined lower forecastle, swarming with vermin, or a wet exposed top-gallant forecastle, is generally their habitation. As long as the ship is near the land, the hawse-pipes cannot be properly closed, and therefore every plunge of the bows sends volumes of water through them, wetting the whole of the lower tier of bunks, as their dens are called, and spoiling their scanty store of clothing. So that, when the wearying watch is over, they have neither dry clothes to put on, nor a bed to lie on to rest their worn out frames. To think that men can preserve any self-respect when treated like the beasts of the field that perish is unreasonable. The consequence is, that their habits become like unto theirs,—so filthy, that many totally neglect their persons,—and on arriving in port, when the day's work is over, they either throw themselves down to rest on the deck, or, if they have money, fly to the grog-shop! Often at the launching of a new ship have I seen visitors admiring, and reporters of the press praising, the passenger-accommodation. But who thinks of the sailors? Nobody! With such accommodation for the seamen of our merchant navy, how can we feel surprised at the great mortality among them in the East or West Indian and African trades?-a mortality (which is known only to the registrar-general) so great in number as to be downright appalling! The Royal West India Mail Company have never been accused of neglecting their seamen; and yet it is a singular fact, that the Atrato, which only arrived at Southampton a few days since, and has had to do quarantine at the Mother Bank, should have had thirty-five cases of fever among her crew, fourteen of which were fatal, while not an officer nor one of her numerous passengers should have been attacked. Every one thinks it a duty to legislate for proper sanitary arrangements of dwellings on shore;-when will that legislation include those of our sailors on board their ships? In years gone by, our soldiers in hired merchant transports were not better treated than the seaman. But now they have the best part of the ship to live in, fresh and soft bread, beer, and preserved pro visions, on the voyage; while the latter probably never taste one or the other! No one is more averse to unnecessary and vexatious legislation in mercantile affairs than I am. But the seamen's food, his proper accommodation on board, and consequently his moral position, will never be improved, unless the State interferes to render these considerations inoperative. Many shipowners would rejoice over an improvement, which they cannot now adopt without giving their grasping competitors a ruinous advantage. In alluding to the proposition of the Royal Society to the Board of Trade, for the purpose of placing the compasses of merchant ships under official supervision, Mr. Klint remarked that they had had "too much legislation lately" on that subjeet. As the law at present stands, he is unquestionably correct in his statement; nothing can be more absurd than the compulsory swinging of an iron ship whenever the chief officer is superseded, although the captain may have been in her for years, and can produce the most accurate history of his compasses. I would ask any really scientific man, who is acquainted with the difficulties which always attend the hurried swinging of a long ship in a rapid tidal river, if such observations are to be relied on in preference to those which have been carefully registered through a succession of voyages. We all know they are not. Then, why should the shipowner be put to an unnecessary expense and serious loss of time, in complying with a law which is of no use either practically or theoretically. A certain supervision of compasses would be as beneficial as a supervision of charts, probably more so; for the coast lines and soundings, with a few rare exceptions, never change with dangerous rapidity. The Board of Trade could not keep up, neither is it desirable, a sufficient staff to swing every ship; but they might have an officer whose particular duty should be to inspect and report, for the benefit of all concerned, on the make, condition, and position of the standard compass in all ships. Such a one would stand between the unprincipled maker and the shipowner; and, by judicious advice and unimpeachable accuracy of proceeding, would effect a most important change in this much neglected instrument. To show the loose system which prevails at present in the trade of compasses for ships, a single example will suffice. A. sells a compass to a shipowner, with his name on the centre of the card, purporting that he is the maker. After having been one or more voyages, it is sent to B. to examine, who erases A.'s name and substitutes his own. On returning from another voyage, it may be sent to C., who serves B. as he had previously served A. Thus rendering it impossible to ascertain who really made the compass. We compel the manufacturer of every iron beam and plate to stamp his name legibly thereon;-why is the compass to be thus exempted from a similar law? Nothing shows clearer the degraded, debased state of the mercantile marine of this country than the speech of Mr. Brocklebank. He, |