appeared not only that the surface of the Dead Sea was 219 toises, or about 1,314 English feet, lower than that of the Mediterranean, but also, from the geological phenomena observed on its shores, that the formation of the basin in which it lies was antecedent to all historic epochs. Hence the supposition that the sea was formed by the sinking of the plain on which the cities of the Pentapolis, (Sodom, Gomorrah, &c.) were situated, is incorrect. M. Arago added, that the observations of M. Berto, a French engineer, made the depression of the Dead Sea below the Mediterranean 419 metres, or 1,374 English feet. IMPROVEMENT IN THE ARMAMENT OF SHIPS. A CORRESPONDENT of a London journal describes, and recommends for adoption, the following improvement in the armament of American ships: A few months ago, being in the United States, through the kindness of an officer of the American navy, I had an opportunity of going on board the line-of-battle ship, Delaware. She certainly is a noble ship; but our Rodney, London, and Nile, are quite equal to her, and I think, in some respects, superior. The medium guns on their quarter decks would be much more effective than her carronades. But I was much struck with the manner of placing their shell-guns, which are 10-inch; instead of being in the mid-ships, as in our vessels, they are fore and aft, four in the bow and four in the stern, on the gun and main decks, and by means of railways may be transferred from the broadside to the bow or stern, and back again immediately. The great advantage of this plan over ours must be obvious at first sight. In a general action, how often have ships been exposed to a severe raking fire, without being able to return it effectually! But by the American plan they would be able to bring their formidable Paixhans to bear on an enemy in a few minutes, which would settle the matter much sooner than a few 32-pounders. As steamers will play an important part in all future naval warfare, the necessity of a ship being able to bring her Paixhan guns to bear at any point is obvious. Suppose one of our frigates chased by several steamers, and exposed to a continual fire of shells, without being able to return any, her speedy capture or destruction is inevitable; for it is well known that a solid shot does little harm compared with shells. We have borrowed the principle of shell-guns from the French, and I hope we are not too proud to learn a better method of using them from the Yankees. United Service Magazine.. CHRONOLOGY. LONDON, Feb. 19. The ratifications of each case from the estimated aggregate of the different Powers which accede to the income, one-fourth for incomes less than quintuple treaty, [see p. 180.] were ex- £15). He proposed also some increase changed. The French Government, on two or three other taxes, estimated to however, had declined to ratify the treaty. in consequence of objections to it which had been raised in the Chamber of Depu ties. produce in all the additional sum of £610,000. Among these new taxes is an increased duty on spirits and stamps in Ireland, and an export duty of 4s. per ton LONDON, March 11. Sir Robert Peel on coal exported in national, as well as introduced his new revenue plan, which foreign ships. This last-named duty havfrom its extent and boldness excited the ing been before limited only to exports in greatest attention and interest. He began foreign ships, and removed also froin those his speech by a statement of the existing in all cases where treaties existed, adoptrevenue compared with the expenditures. ing the principle of reciprocity, had beHe assumed the estimate of revenue for come almost unproductive. With these the year ending April 1843, at £48,359,- accessions, the whole increase of income 000, and of expenditure at £50,819,000, is estimated at £4,310,000, making a conleaving a deficiency of £2,469,000, beside a siderable surplus over the estimated exfarther outlay demanded for the increased penditure. Sir Robert proceeded next to expenses of the war in China, which he consider what disposition should be made estimated at not less than £500,000. The deficiency of the last five years, together with that of the current year to April, 1843, he estimated at £10,072.000. He proceeded next to consider the mode in which this deficiency should be supplied. He rejected the idea of supplying it by contracting fresh debts, and also of laying farther taxes on articles of consumption, and came to the conclusion of relying chiefly on a direct tax on all in comes from land or any other source, where the amount of income accruing to each proprietor amounts to £150 a year or over. All incomes of less than that amount are to be exempt from the tax. The proposed rate of tax is 7d. on a pound, or nearly 3 per cent., and it is to be continued for three years, after which period it is hoped that the other revenues will be so far recruited by the ameliorations introduced, as to render the farther continuance of the direct tax unnecessary. This tax is computed to produce £3.771,000 per annum, of which it is estimated £1,600,000 will be derived from rents, £150,000 from the profits by tenants of lands occupied, £646,000 on capital in the public funds, £1,220,000 on profits of trades and professions, and £155,000 on the incomes of all public officers, estimated at £700,000 annually, deducting in of this surplus, in a manner most condacive to the public interests, and most consonant with public feeling and opinion. The mode in which he proposed to do this was, "by making great improvements in the cominercial tariff of England," and abating the duties on some great articles of consumption. He said that in looking at the tariff he found it embraced not less than 1,200 articles, subject to various rates of duty Each article had bee subject to the most careful consideration of himself and his colleagues, and they proposed to make a complete review, and a great alteration of the tariff on general principles. He proposed first, to remove all prohibition. Next, to reduce the duty on raw materials to a great extent, leaving it in some cases merely nominal, for the purpose of statistical more than revenue objects, and in no case, or scarcely any, exceeding 5 per cent. on raw materials. Then on articles partly manufactured, to reduce the duty so that it shall not exceed 12 per cent; and articles wholly manufactured, not to exceed 20er cent.; specific exceptions being made to these general principles. He said they had arranged the whole tariff under twenty heads, the first embracing living animals, and articles of food; the second spices; the third seeds; The proposed duty on beef and pork, fresh or salted, from foreign countries, is Es. per cwt.; on butter, 20s.; cheese, 10s.; lard, 2s; bacon and hams of all kinds, 14s; rice, 5s.; rough do., 8s. per quarter; fish, cured, 2s.; horses and oxen, 20s each; cows, 15s; calves, 10s. ; sheep, 3s; swine, 5s.; hides, dry, 2s.; wet, Is. per cwt.; tar, 6s. per last of 12 barrels; turpentine, cwt. 1s.; hemp, dressed, cwt. 4s.; tobacco, unmanufactured, lb. 3s. the fourth, wood for furniture; the fifth, will occasion a loss to the revenue of ores and other materials, for manufac. £170,000 per annum, and that on timber tures, etc. etc. This was the schedule a loss of £600,000. These and other reabove referred to. He said, that of 1,200 ductions, it is computed, will reduce the articles, they proposed to reduce the duty income in all £1,210,000. Many articles on 750, including all those which enter heretofore prohibited will now be admit into manufactures as chief constituent ted at rates of duty which will encourage materials. There remained about 450 ar- their import. Among these are cattle, ticles, on which it did not appear necessa- sheep, swine, fish, fresh beef, and pork. ry for the interests of commerce, or of On a long list of articles the duty is reconsumers, to make any reduction of duty. duced from rates which amounted to a There were other important articles, on prohibition, to such rates as will admit of which no reduction had been proposed, a profitable trade. These will, of course, partly from considerations affecting the become a source of income to the trearevenue exclusively, and partly on ac-sury. count of negotiations pending with many States in reference to commercial treaties, in which modifications of the tariff night be made for the reciprocal benefit of the negotiating parties. He alluded to the negotiations with several countries, and particularly to that with France, which had been nearly completed by his predecessor, and which he wished had been carried into effect, firmly believing that France and England would morally as well as physically have derived the greatest benefit from it. He was of opinion that there was an opportunity of materially benefitting the trade and industry of both countries by a relaxation of the duties, would the prejudices of the French people admit of it. While those treaties were pending, he would not recommend any material reduction in the duties on a number of articles, but reserv ed them to form the bases of negotiation, and as the means of obtaining corresponding relaxations in the tariffs of other countries. On this footing he considered the duty on French brandy and wines, and on varions fruits. It was proposed that the change should take effect from the 5th of the present month of April. The articles on which the greatest reductions of duty are proposed, are coffee and timber. The duty on coffee from foreign countries is proposed to be reduced from 1s. 3d. per lb. to 8d, and on that produced in British colonies, from 9d. to 4d; and on timber, the very material reduction is made to £1 15s. for the first year, and £1 10s. subsequently, per load of 50 cubic feet, on deals, boards, staves, and other timber, sawed or split, when imported from foreign countries, and 2s. when from British possessions; and on other timber, £1 10s. the first year, and £1 5s. subsequently from foreign countries, and Is. from British possessions. The reduction on coffee, it is computed, March 18. The electrical eel at the Royal Adelaide Gallery died on Monday morning. It was well known to all the visitors. It had been ill for a week, but it was not until Thursday last, that there was any striking difference observable. It became very inactive, and this inactivity increased to torpor. The cause of its death was mortification. It was brought to this country from one of the many tributary streams of the river Amazon, about four years ago, and was the only one of its kind in Europe. LONDON, March 30. NOTE OF LORD ABERDEEN to Mr. Everett, Minister Plenipotentiary of the U. States, in reply to the letter of Mr. Stevenson, on the subject of the search of vessels under the American flag, suspected of participation in the slave trade. The undersigned, &c. has the honor of addressing Mr. Everett, &c., the observations which he feels called upon to make in answer to the note of Mr Stevenson. dated on the 21st of October. "As that communication only reached the hands of the undersigned on the day after the departure of Mr. Stevenson from London, on his return to America, and as there has since been no Minister or Chargé d'Affairs from the United States resident in this country, the undersigned has looked with some anxiety for the arrival of Mr. Everett, in order that he might be enabled to renew his diplomatic intercourse with an accredited representative of the Republic. Had the undersigned entertained no other purpose than to controvert the arguments of Mr. Stevenson, or to fortify his own, in treating of the matter which has formed the subject of their correspondence, he would have experienced little impatience; but as it is his desire to clear up doubt and to remove misapprehension, he feels that he cannot too early avail himself of the presence of Mr. Everett at his post, to bring to his knowledge the true state of the question at issue. "The undersigned agrees with Mr. Stevenson in the importance of arriving at a clear understanding of the matter really in dispute. This ought to be the first object in the differences of states, as well as of individuals; and, happily, it is often the first step to the reconciliation of the parties. In the present case, this under standing is doubly essential, because a continuance of mistake and error may be productive of the most serious conse quences. the cargo. The sole purpose of the British cruisers is to ascertain whether the vessels they meet with are really American or not. The right asserted has, in truth, no resemblance to the right of search, either in principle or practice. It is simply a right to satisfy the party who has a legitimate interest in knowing the truth that the vessel is what her colors announce. This right we concede as freely as we exercise. The British cruisers are not instructed to detain American vessels under any circumstances whatever; on the contrary, they are ordered to abstain from all interference with them, be they slavers or otherwise. But, where reasonable suspicion exists that the American flag has been abused for the purpose of covering the vessel of another nation, it would appear scarcely credible, had it not been made manifest by the repeated protestations of their representative, that the Government of the United States, which has stigmatized and abolished the trade itself, should object to the adoption of such means as are indispensably necessary for ascertaining the truth. "The undersigned had contended, in his former note, that the legitimate inference from the arguments of Mr. Stevenson would practically extend even to the sanction of piracy, when the persons engaged in it should think fit to shelter themselves under the flag of the United States Mr Stevenson observes that this "Mr. Stevenson persists in contending, that the British Governinent assert a right which is equivalent to the claim of search ing American vessels in time of peace. In proof of this, Mr. Stevenson refers to a passage in a former note of Viscount Palmerston, addressed to himself, against which he strongly protests, and the doctrine contained in which he says the un-is a misapprehension on the part of the dersigned is understood to affirin. "Now, it is not the intention of the undersigned to inquire into the precise import and force of the expressions of Viscount Palmerston. These might have been easily explained to Mr. Stevenson, by their author, at the time they were written; but the undersigned must request that his doctrines upon this subject, and those of the Government of which he is the organ, may be judged of exclusively from his own declarations. "The undersigned again renounces, as he has already done, in the most explicit terms, any right on the part of the British Government, to search American vessels in time of peace. The right of search, except when specially conceded by treaty, is a purely belligerent right, and can have no existence on the high seas during резсе. The undersigned apprehends, however, that the right of search is not confined to the verification of the nationality of the vessel, but also extends to the object of the voyage and the nature of undersigned; and he declares, that in denying the right of interfering with vessels under the American flag, he intended to limit his objection to vessels bona fide American, and not to those belonging to nations who might fraudulently have assumed the flag of the United States But it appears to the undersigned, that his former statement is by no means satisfactorily controverted by the declaration of Mr. Stevenson. How is this bona fide to be proved? Must not Mr. Stevenson either be prepared to maintain that the flag alone is sufficient evidence of the nationality of the vessel, which, in the face of his own repeated admissions, he cannot do, or must he not confess that the application of his arguments would really afford protection to every lawless and piratical enterprise? Austria, Russia, and Prussia, by which the mutual right of search, within certain latitude, is fully and effectually established for ever. This is, in truth, a holy alliance, in which the undersigned would have rejoiced to see the United States assume their proper place among the great powers of Christendom, foremost i. pow ground of suspicion. Mr. Stevenson de- treaty; or to weigh the reasons on account nies this, and he asks what other nation of which this proposal has been rejected than Great Britain has ever asserted or by the Government of the United States. attempted to exercise such a right. In He took occasion in a former letter to ob answer to the question, the undersigned serve, that concessions, sanctioned by can at once refer to the avowed and con- Great Britain and France, were not likely stant practice of the United States, whose to be incompatible with the dignity and cruisers, especially in the Gulf of Mexi- independence of any other state which co, by the admission of their public jour- should be disposed to follow their examnals, are notoriously in the habit of example. But the undersigned begs now to ining all suspicious vessels, whether sail-inform Mr. Everett, that he has this day ing under the English flag or any other. concluded a joint treaty with France, In whose eyes are these vessels suspicious? Doubtless in those of the commanders of the American cruisers. But, in truth, this right is quite as important to the United States as to Great Britain; nor is it easy to conceive how the mari time intercourse of mankind ouuld be safely carried on without such a check. "It can scarcely be necessary to reminder, wealth, and civilization, and connectMr. Everett, that the right thus claimed ed together in the cause of mercy and by Great Britain is not exercised for any justice. selfish purpose. It is asserted in the in- "It is undoubtedly true, that this right terest of humanity, and in mitigation of may be abused, like any other which is the sufferings of our fellow men. The delegated to many and different hands. It object has met with the concurrence of is possible that it may be exercised wanthe whole civilized world, including the tonly and vexatiously; and should this be United States of America, and it ought to the case, it would not only call for reinonreceive universal assistance and support. strance, but would justify resentment. "The undersigned cannot abstain here This, however, is in the highest degree from referring to the conduct of an honor-improbable; and if, in spite of the utmost able and zealous officer, commanding the caution, an error should be committed, naval force of the United States on the and any American vessel should suffer coast of Africa, who, relying on the sin-loss or injury, it would be followed by cere desire of his government for the suppression of the slave trade, and sensible of the abuse of the American flg, entered into an engagement on the 11th of March, 1840, with the officers in command of her Majesty's cruisers on the same station, by which they mutually requested each other, and agreed to detain all vessels under American colors employed in the traffic If found to be American property, such vessels were to be delivered over to the commander of an American cruiser on the station; or, if belonging to other nations, they were to be dealt with according to the treaties contracted by her Majesty with the respective states. The under signed believes, and, indeed, after the statements of Mr Stevenson, he regrets to be unable to doubt, that the conduct of this gallant officer, however natural and laudable in its object, has been disavowed by his government. prompt and ample reparation. The undersigned begs to repeat that, with Amer. ican vessels, whatever be their destination, British cruisers have no pretension in any manner to interfere. Such vessels must be permitted, if engaged in it, to enjoy a monopoly of this unhallowed trade; but the British Government will never endure that the fraudulent use of the American flag shall extend the iniquity to other nations, by whom it is abhorred, and who have entered into solemn treaties with this country for its entire suppression. In order to prove to Mr. Everett the anxiety of her Majesty's government to prevent all reasonable ground of complaint, the undersigned believes that he cannot do better than to communicate to him the substance of those instructions, under which the British cruisers act, in relation to American vessels, when em 66 "It is not the intention of the under-ployed on this service. signed, at present, to advocate the justice i If, from the intelligence which the and propriety of the mutual right of officer commanding her Majesty's cruiser search, as conceded and regulated by may have received, or from the manœu |