"Such, certainly, were among the valuable results of the system; but these were not the only considerations that led to its adoption. The English Government, with the forecast for which that far-reaching power is distinguished, saw the advantages which an extended steam marine would give to its commerce over that of every other nation in the world. It saw also the value of connecting this great branch of the national service with the commercial and practical skill of the country. It soon formed and matured its plan, embracing within its scope nearly the entire commercial world. Steam lines, as stated in the preceding extract from the Admiralty Report, were established, radiating from England to all the prominent European ports, to the Mediterranean, to Egypt, the East-Indies and China, the West-India Islands, South-America and Mexico, the ports in the Gulf of Mexico and Havana, the United States and the English colonial possessions in North-America, and to the islands and ports in the Pacific ocean. This vast chain of intercourse was not only completely established, but it became a matter of national policy to enlarge, strengthen, and maintain it. By it much of the commerce of the world by steam, and nearly all the letter-carrying by steam between this continent and the European ports, and even the distant parts of our own territory, were engrossed by British ships." "Important national considerations, aside from the design to engross for British bottoms and British capital the trade and intercourse of the commercial world, and especially with the American continent and islands, entered into the Government plan. It was ascertained to be a far less expensive mode of maintaining a naval steam force adapted to the purposes of Government, and to any emergency that might require these ships for other than mail purposes, than to build, equip, and keep in service national steamships of war. The experiment has proved its adequacy to the intended object; and it continues not only to receive the approval of the Admiralty and Government of England, but to be continually undergoing enlargement and expansion." "The West-India mail steam line was proposed to the British Government in April, 1839, by sundry merchants of London. A charter was granted to the contractors in that year, under the title of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. It embraced the following routes: "1. _Outward Atlantic Route._--From Southampton to Madeira, Barbados and Grenada--steamer, every 15 days. "2. _Trinidad Route._--From Grenada to Trinidad and Barbados--steamer, every 15 days. "3. _Demarara Route._--From Grenada to Courland Bay, (Tobago)--steamer, every 15 days.