ABSTRACT
The marine of Great Britain is not a thing of yesterday. Britain had not a rival on the seas, with the exception of Holland, when the first Navigation Act was framed by the Commonwealth, and when she had few means of competing with a nation of merchants and mariners, who conducted the whole carrying trade of the world. Russia is at present open to British vessels, while Russians are entirely excluded from our ports, except in their own trade; and we can scarcely expect a renewal of the existing treaty which is on the eve of expiring, without corresponding concessions on our part. The difference between the expense of shipbuilding in this country and in American or the North European ports, arises chiefly from the difference in the prices paid for timber.
