382 TRIUMPH OF THE GEORGIA. 



up rather took him by surprise, but as I begged him to 

 proceed, he dilated on the rights of labour, on the bene 

 ficent changes that would follow when true democratic 

 principles were more widely diffused in the States, arid 

 wound up by maintaining, in its broadest sense, that the 

 rights of property should not be allowed to stand in the 

 way of what the majority of the people thought was for 

 their good. &quot; In my country,&quot; I said, &quot; we consider it 

 rather conceited in a man to be so very positive as to 

 matters on which so many wise men hold, and have held, 

 a different opinion. We think a man ought to hesitate 

 and consider before he expresses himself so very decid 

 edly on difficult subjects, as comparatively young men 

 are in the habit of doing in this country.&quot; &quot; On the 

 contrary,&quot; he replied, &quot; the conceit is all the other way, 

 in fancying that these men of yours in Europe have 

 settled everything, and that nobody is to be as wise as 

 themselves.&quot; As we parted company, I thought he 

 looked very like a gentleman, but spoke very like a 

 Chartist. 



As the Canada mail-steamer was going out to sea, 

 towards the end of January, (1850,) at her usual speed 

 when leaving harbour heavy-laden, a new American 

 steamer called the Georgia, intended for the California 

 trade, started along with and went ahead of the English 

 boat. This they called beating the Canada in a race, 

 and on the 26th, the following exquisite morsel appeared 

 in the New York Sun : 



&quot; The triumph of the Georgia in her little race with 

 the British steamer Canada down our bay was nothing 

 more than we have anticipated, from the moment the 

 first American ocean-steamer was launched. The early 

 failures of the Washington and Hermann were the 

 imperfections of machinery incident to experiment, also 

 to the greed for dollars which would almost sink them 

 with freight. It only required half the time the Britishers 



