276 ISLES OF SUMMEK., 
itself impotent to conceive the extent of the dissipation, the prof= 
ligate waste, the mad revel and riot, and the wild frenzy and 
delirium which everywhere prevailed. What a contrast they 
afforded to the mild, soft and lambent air,—the clear, placid and 
beautiful waters,—the calm and quiet majesty of heaven’s blue 
dome,—and the fairy bowers with their flowers and unfading 
verdure, which characterize this favored part of the New World ! 
But like the occasional great tidal waves of the ocean, which after 
they subside leave little but wreck and ruin upon the shores which 
they visit—when, soon after, the Confederacy collapsed, and only 
the Stars and Stripes fluttered in a free air over all the recently 
dissevered States, silence resumed its reign in the streets of Nas- 
sau, and much that existed, in the shape of fixed capital, was 
turned into a ruin by the great hurricanc of 1866. A lasting 
monument was erected to commemorate and keep alive the mem- 
ory of those days, which every inhabitant of these islands sees and 
feels, in the form of a colonial debt of over a quarter of a million 
of dollars. 7 
Ifthe American eagle and the British lion hereafter quarrel, 
we recommend the former, (in settlement of accounts), to make 
a breakfast of the Bahamas some pleasant morning,—saving their 
insignia of royalty for our Peabody Museums. 
. Two rules were adopted by the English government during 
the war, which operated (as it was well known at the time that 
they would, and as it was designed that they should,) very much 
to the benefit of the Confederates, and to the prejudice of the 
United States government. One provided that if there was a 
Confederate vessel and also a Union vessel in a British port, and 
one sailed out first, the other should not leave until twenty-four 
hours had elapsed. Now, as our vessels of war were always the 
pursuing party, the rule greatly and exclusively aided the South. 
To put it mildly, this was unfriendly conduct, and had for its 
object the permanent dissolution of the American Union, 
