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DEAR NAPOLEON,

COPY OF LETTER II.

Thermadore

Thank you for this means of address, my husband! I am wretched at our separation. What can I urge that has not already become tiresome by repetition? Does any thing depend on me? Why not put it in my power; and convey intelligence -? I tax not my husband with want of gallantry-but myself with impropriety or indelicacy.Oh! no are you not my husband? Does not that title convey to you indescribable sensations, immense prospects, endearing, mutual obligations? Does my Napoleon realize the character he has thus assumed; and can he hold at a distance; try with relentless severity and perseverance, all the soul of his afflicted Margaret? Does not my dear husband see that the severity and durance of these trials have really an unfriendly effect on his own heart? I will not again ask, 'Have you a heart? Is it callous? Yes, you have one, and it is in your Margaret's possession. With all your sang froid, and smiling indifference, it has a language better understood,—perhaps under a well acted part,--by some small tokens, that the manner and language were not real, were only the expression of the 'sovereign austere, not of the tender, sympathizing friend! Again, let me ask-does any thing depend on me?

Nearly six months since we met in the German Chapel!!! Oh! my dear husband, I entreat you to exert yourself-leave nothing to mebut fetch me home. Bid me come to you-come without disguise to me: come now! come on receipt of this order. The bar of communication removed from between us, need I appoint the manner or means that would be acceptable? Oh! spare your Margaret; at least spare me-What is the obstacle? There was none to our marriage-it was publicly performed. Was it then my local situation? I came here in entire obedience, implicit obedience to your commands; and can be detained here by no other authority. Has any person dared to make use of your name, unauthorized-he is amenable to you: still am I solely subject to the mandate in your name that conveyed me here.

I care not for the carriage, horses, or driver: if yours, they are at your command, or any other, set me down again, if you do not chuse to come for me yourself. To the slightest communication of your will I have endeavoured to conform, so far as known:-but enough of this repetition. Why is my Napoleon separated from his

MARGARET BONAPARTE.

N. B. will hand you this. I beg you will commission him with a message in return, for which he is requested to wait. Adieu, for a very little time, when I hope we shall meet without restraint, to the relief and happiness of your affectionate

JOSEPHINE.

Margaret is her own Christian name; and Josephine, I presume, must be her name of empire. A little inconsistency must be expected in a crazy person: but may I not be permitted to say, that very few ladies, were they really in the situation in which she imagined herself to be, would have written with more ingenuity, persuasion, art, and tenderness? She blames Napoleon,

while she apparently intends to accuse only herself; and she entreats him with genuine eloquence.

In the foregoing lines I have stated facts; and the letters are copies of genuine epistles which are still in my possession. Had Mrs. contemplated the greatest monarch of the world, driven away like an eagle to the top of a sea beaten rock, as forsaken, forlorn, and unable to flutter out of his nest, she would not probably, in her ambition, have imagined him to be her husband, nor would she have thought that she saw her Dear Napoleon' in the writer.

Philadelphia, June 12, 1817.

ART. VI.-Notoria; or Miscellaneous Articles of Philosophy, Literature, and Politics.

UNDER

【NDER this head, we propose, in future, to insert a collection of various matter in every department of knowledge. There are many articles in foreign Magazines, which would both edify and amuse our readers;-but which are, in general, too short to deserve a distinct and separate place in our pages. Many pieces of intelligence respecting our own country, also, seem to deserve a more permanent repository than our ephemeral newspapers. And we design, in short, to present our readers, every month, with a compendious view of the most interesting philosophical, literary, and political news, from both sides of the Atlantic. For this purpose we have chosen the title Notoria-which, as our readers know, was the name given to the periodical dispatches received at Rome from the various quarters of her Empire. Such dispatches we should be grateful to receive from our own countrymen, in the various parts of the United States.

Steam-Engines and Steam-Boats. THE frequent accidents of a very alarming and fatal nature that have occurred, within these two years, from the bursting of steam-engine boilers, threaten to bring into discredit, one of the most useful inventions of modern science; inventions, too, in which this country claims no small share of honour. But if passengers cannot set their foot into a steam-boat, without apprehension, (and reasonable apprehension too) of being blown overboard, or scalded to death, we do not see but that these useful inventions must be given up; for no prudent person will expose himself

VOL. X.

to the danger that attends them. Three or four days ago, the passengers in a steam-boat-line from Baltimore, were left at Wilmington to shift for themselves; owing to some accident or too much wear and tear of the boiler. The passengers, who performed their part of the contract at Baltimore, by paying the fare demanded, were thus compelled to undergo the trouble and expense of travelling by land instead of water, from the sheer ignorance, the carelessness, or something worse, of the managers of that concern, who ought to have been aware of the accident, and apprised the pas sengers of it at Baltimore. It is not worth the while of an individual pas senger to seek redress by law;-and hence the persons who undertake to convey passengers may practise almost any imposition with impunity; but the bursting of steam-engine-boilers, by which the lives of our citizens are destroyed, their limbs mutilated, or even their persons put in jeopardy, ought to be made a criminal offence, and punished by heavy fine and imprisonment, as well as by liability to civil action; for such an accident never does occur, but through culpable carelessness.

Dangerous accidents happen, or may happen, from steam-engine-boilers, owing to one or other of the following

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causes:

1st. From the too frequent use of highpressure engines. 2dly. From loading the steam valve too high. 3dly. From cast-iron boilers in whole or in part. 4thly. From permitting the boilers to be too long in use without renewing.

First-In Boulton and Watt's specification, as early as 1764, or 1769, I forget which, provision was made for the use of high-pressure engines, by which the heated steam might be let off into the atmosphere, without condensation, if this method should be thought best; but Boulton and Watt have constantly rejected this plan of a steam-engine, as not being calculated ultimately to save expense, and as being unsafe, especially in the hands to which the management of boilers and fires are usually entrusted. I believe it has never been known, that any boiler has burst, or any person been injured, by an engine on their construction, worked in the usual manner. They have certainly enjoyed more experience on the subject, than any men in Europe; and they still make their engines on the original construction, so far as the temperature of the steam is concerned; seldom working, I believe, with more than from two to five pounds upon the square inch.

Mr. Fulton, who had an opportunity of seeing engines of all descriptions, never used a high-pressure engine: and not very long before his death had promised to give orders for a small engine, constructed expressly to show that the high-pressure engines were not preferable in point of economy. He worked on the principle of Boulton and Watt, by using light pressure on the safety valve. No accident has ever happened, or any injury been done to a passenger, by means of his engines, or on board any of the boats built under his direction, so far as I know. No doubt, an ignorant, or a careless, or a mischievous engineer may occasion danger, by overloading the safety valve of any engine; but he must act contrary to his instructions, if he does so. We have a right to consider Fulton as high authority.

In London, a Mr. Trevethick first used the high-pressure engines; in which, the steam being heated much higher than in Boulton and Watt's engines, the safety valve was much more loaded. Two dreadful explosions brought these engines into disuse. A late patent for some improvements has been taken out by Mr. Trevethick; but the majority of engines now erected in Great Britain are on the construction of Boulton and Watt, with the improve

ments either of Mr. Woolfe, or those of Mr. Clegg. Mr. Woolfe's method of working the waste steam under another piston is certainly a great and real advantage; though not well calculated for the small space allowed in a steam-boat. The calculations, as to the power gained by heating steam to various degrees of the thermometer, we owe to Mr. Dalton, M. Betancour, Professor Robinson, and Mr. Woolfe. No experiments, on this subject, have been made, or at least published, by any person whatever in this country.

Mr. Oliver Evans, of this city, whose patent is subsequent to Trevethick's, has adopted the plan of high-pressure engines; by which means steam is heated so as to work with a hundred and fifty pounds or more on the square inch: a rate at which I have been told his engine at the Schuylkill Bridge, frequently, if not generally, works. It is certain, that expense is saved in the first cost of the machinery on this plan;room is saved; and, where water is scarce, less of it is required than on the plan of Boulton and Watt; but then danger is increased; the strain on the works is augmented; the wear and tear is far greater; the packing is often burnt; and the ultimate expense of fuel is as much-while that of machinery is probably far more. I do not apprehend that fuel is saved; for the expense of fuel employed to produce the same power is not more in a well constructed engine of Boulton and Watt's than in Trevethick's. The engine on Boulton and Watts's plan, erected under the same roof with Mr. Oliver Evans' at Schuylkill, may well be found fault with in point of construction; so that it is impossible to make a fair experiment with it. The plan and size of the boiler and the fire-place of that engine are liable to great objections; at least I have heard good judges make these remarks. Mr. Evans' cylindrical boilers are certainly well calculated to bear great pressure; and he has shown much judgment in the form he has adopted. But, suppose a careless manager attending a high-pressure engine, to feed the fire, and to work the engine itself:Does such a case never happen? Suppose bad sheet-iron, or bad workmanship in the boiler:-does such a case never happen? Is not all American

sheet-iron, as yet, very inferior? Suppose an accumulation of sediment adhering to the bottom of the boiler:-Is the case uncommon? Suppose an engine a long time worked, and the materials worn, and thin: will not this happen of course, if not frequently renewed? Suppose the packing burnt away by the violent heat of the steam, and no leisure to renew it? Suppose, I say, any, or all of these not very improbable cases, would my reader, under these circumstances, prefer being in a boat, worked by an engine where the sides of the boiler are pressed on by a force of five pounds to the inch, or in one of a hundred and fifty or two hundred pounds? Let it be remembered, that whatever the pressure is on the safety valve, the same is the pressure on every part of the inside of the boiler. A man may stand against a stroke inflicted with the force of three or four pounds only, but would be killed outright by one of two hundred. Hence I conclude, that, although high-pressure engines may be rendered capable of working safely and uniformly, they are not, upon the whole, so safe on board a steam-boat, as those used by Fulton; and that theory and experiment both speak the same language in this respect. The writer of this article is neither directly nor indirectly concerned in any steam-boat or steam-engine, of this, or of that, or of any construction.

He. is induced to offer these remarks solely with a view of having the subject considered; in order that the lives of the good citizens of the United States may not be put in jeopardy by any kind of ignorance, carelessness, or parsimony; and that an useful invention may not fall into disrepute, from the fault of those who use it.

I repeat it, we want a law to make every accident of the kind referred to criminal; for it is really so. No accident need happen, unless, as the lawyers say, through the act of God or the king's enemies. If an engineer, wanting to run a race, overloads his steam valve, and knows that by so doing he puts to hazard the lives of the passengers, if death ensues, I aver that this is murder, in the eye of the law.

Secondly-Accidents happen from loading the safety valve too high. It is said (I do not know the fact) that the

late dreadful accident on the Mississippi, was owing to loading the valve beyond reasonable bounds, in order to overtake another boat. A manager of a steam engine, who thus wantonly sports with the lives of the passengers, and a stage-coachman, who overturns a carriage by running a race, ought to be punished to the extent of the law: and I hope the time will soon come when the law will know no distinction between stabbing a man with a poignard, and breaking his neck in a stage, or blowing him up with a steam engine. In England, there is hardly an assize without heavy damages given against stage coach proprietors, for injuries to passengers.

Thirdly-Accidents cannot fail to happen in high-pressure engines, when the valve is too much loaded; and economy, as is the case sometimes in England at least, and probably in our country, induces the owners to use cast iron for the boiler, or a cast-iron top. Such a material, if the boiler bursts, acts like the splinters on board a vessel of war; it is burst into small pieces, each of which acts like a cannon-shot, to the great danger of those exposed to the explosion.

Fourthly-Accidents in high-pressure engines are sure to happen, if the boilers are not frequently examined and renewed. As I have already remarked, the sides of a worn-out boiler may bear a pressure of two pounds, when they will burst with two hundred. But even if a worn boiler should burst with steam, loaded only with the common pressure of Boulton and Watt's engines, little harm can be done. What happens in the other case we know too well.

Sir, I hope these remarks will excite some reflexion, on a subject of much importance, and at present of great alarm. A. B.

Philad. June 5, 1817.

To the Editor of the European Magazine.

SIR-Having recently visited the Island of Elba, I had the curiosity to go to the country house of the ci-devant Emperor Napoleon; I found he had chosen a very pretty spot, situated in a valley about two miles to the westward of Porto Ferrajo; from the house was

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a beautiful prospect, commanding at once a view of Porto Ferrajo, the Works, and the Bay. The ground floor consisted of a suit of four rooms, very small, but neat, in the upper story (it consisted only of two) were seven rooms, the largest of which appeared to be the saloon; the walls were richly ornamented with Egyptian figures, the floor was of marble, and over the mantle piece was a painting representing a Cossack and a Turk in single combat; the whole of the apartments must have appeared elegant when furnished completely; in one of the rooms on the ground floor was a bath, immediately over which, was a painting representing a female figure, in a reclining posture, loosely arrayed, with a mirror in the left hand; and underneath the figure was the following motto, QVI. ODIT. VERITATEM. ODIT. LVCEM. SALOM. LIBII. SAP. By giving the above insertion in your most valuable Miscellany, I hope to induce some of your learned Correspondents to give a definition of the emblematical affinity between Napoleon, the bath, female figure, and motto; which will greatly oblige

Your obedient servant,
CURIOSO.

Jan. 21st, 1817.

PARISIAN ANECDOTES.

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Madame de Stael and Mr. Canning. MR. CANNING, a few days ago, at the house of M. Goltz, met Madame de Stael. The impertinent manner of the ambassador to Portugal is well knownhe took the liberty to censure the Emperor Alexander; Madame de Stael defended him. Madam you do not like the English? Yes, sir, in their own country. Tell me now, madam,you wish you were rid of us all?' Not exactly so; but I think it would be well if you were to stay at Paris, and send your troops home.'-'Why so?' 'Because they may be wanted, and perhaps Mr. Canning may not.'-Madam, you are angry because we possess your fortified places?' 'I am.'- Madam, after such a revolution, it was necessary to punish the nation.' 'Punish a nation, sir! it is to punish a mighty river, which will sweep the impotent insulter with it in its course to the ocean.'

French Curiosity.

The Badauds of Paris yield not to the cockneys of London in staring, and making a sight' of every thing. A few days ago the footman of Lady P***, who is in deep mourning, made his appearance in the Palais Royal, little supposing that he himself should be, for the moment, the greatest curiosity of the place, the great vulgar and the small flocked round him, watched every motion, and wondered who he could be: at least he was a colonel-this was evident by his two epaulettes' (shoulder knots;) but of what nation? his hat and his walk were English; but the French had never seen an English regiment dressed in black: in fact, John was a rara avis in Terris-no one could guess to what army he belonged, and none dared put the question to him, for such impertinence might be deemed a gross insult to—perhaps a prince! As great curiosity was excited, and ungratified, the appearance of the illustrious stranger was thus announced in the journals of the next day- A young man, whom, from his face and his walk, we took for an Englishman, attracted, the day before yesterday, at the Palais Royal, the attention of the multitude by the regularity (singularity) of his costume-dressed in mourning, from head to foot; he wore two large epaulettes, of black worsted, which, with the round shape of his hat, formed a burlesque contrast. Otherwise, far from having an air of embarrassment, the young man appeared proud of the curiosity of our idlers, and showed himself to them very complaisantly.'

[Journal de Paris, Sept. 15, 1816.]

Striking Contrasts.

The French display, on numerous occasions, the most striking contrasts of splendour and wretchedness, of pride and meanness. In London, the opening of a shop will ruin the character of a whole street in the eye of fashion; in Paris it is different, the most splendid palaces are found in narrow, dark, and dirty streets, filled with shops of the lowest order; even in the good street of the Faubourg St. Honore it is the. same: for example, the address of the British ambassador is- His excellency the English ambassador, next door

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