The New Packet Ship Star of Empire.

This ship is 208 feet long on the keel, and 220 on deck, between perpendiculars; has 48 feet breadth of beam, and 27½ feet depth, with three decks, having 7½ feet height between them, and she will register about 2000 tons. She has concave lines below, and convex above, with an angular bow to the rail, a narrow waist, defined between the mouldings of the upper wale and the planksheer, a single moulded streak above the latter, and another under the rail, and the usual main rail and monkey rail mouldings above, which beaded bulwarks between them. Her stern is nearly semi-circular in outline, and corresponds in its divisions with the sides. She has about 4 feet sheer, 12 inches curvature of sides, and 18 inches dead rise at half floor. Her bow rises grandly, but not in the slightest degree at variance with the natural sheer of her outline along the sides. Every moulding, yes, every plank that meets the eye, is carried fore and aft in regular proportions. For a head she has a full figure of the Goddess of Fame, with the addition of outspread wings; a trumpet is raised in the right hand, and in the left hand, which is also raised, is a garland, and her girdle is emblazoned with miniatures of our distinguished statesmen. The figure is robed in vestments of white, fringed with gold, and its pedestal is ornamented with flowered carved work.

The ship's bow is very long and sharp, so sharp that it requires neither head nor trail boards to taper off its outline; it is therefore clipperly in design, most beautifully carried out, and gives promise of the highest speed. The stem and cutwater have about 12 feet rake on the line of the upper deck from a perpendicular, and are so fashioned that they form the vertix of an angle, of which the bow is the lines. Her stern is psanned by an arch of gilded carved work, in which the following line is interwoven:

"Westward the Star of Empire takes its way."

She has a copper colored bottom, and is painted black above, and inside she is pearl color relieved with white. Her bulwarks are 4½ feet high, surmounted with a monkey rail of 20 inches, and below the main rail, the bulwarks are build solid, like those of a ship of war. The monkey-bulwarks are stanchioned and panelled.

She has a full topgallant forecastle, fitted for the accommodation of the crew, and under its after part, amidships, is a sheltered staircase, which leads to the deck below. It has also wing closets for the use of steerage passengers, clear of the sailors' quarters. Amidships, abaft the foremast, is a house 34½ feet long, 16½ wide, and 6½ high, which contains staterooms for the forward officers, a sick bay, two galleys, an ice room, and protects a staircase which leads to the deck below. She has two cabins built into a half poop deck. The after one has a staircase which leads to the poop, is 19 feet long, and contains 6 state-rooms, 2 sofa recesses, and other apartments, and is beautifully wainscotted with mahongany, rose and satin wood, set off with papier maché cornices and flowered gilding, and is splendidly furnished. It is also ornamented with plate-glass mirrors, which give reflected views of it on every side. The forward cabin is 22 feet long, set off with githic arched panels, edged with gold, and is painted Florence white, almost equal in smoothness to enamel. It contains 5 state-rooms and the pantry, and has an ante-room, which contains a cabin for the officers on the starboard side, and their mess room opposite, both opening on the quarter deck, clear of the cabin; and amidships is another protected staircase, which leads to the deck below, where she will have her second cabin, or quarters for first class steerage passengers. Her cabins and state-rooms are well lighted and ventilated, and are most admirably designed for the comfort of passengers. Messers. Manson, Peterson & Co., who have done the joiner work upon all Mr. M'Kay's ships, have also finished her cabins, &c. Messrs. Jones, Ball & Co. furnished the plate and other valuable wares.

She has spacious deck room for working ship, and the top of her cabin forms a promenade deck, protected by a rail, supported on turned mahogany stanchions. The outline of the poop is also protected by a railing. Her skylight combings and frames, and gangway boards are all of polished mahogany. She has two capstans on the topgallant forecaste, on on each side, and another on the quarter deck, and plenty of heavy fast bitts fore and aft.

She is very strongly built. Her keel is in two depths, sided 16 inches and moulded 32, the floor timbers are 12 by 18 inches, and she has four depths of midship keelsons, each 16 inches square, and two depths of sister keelsons of the same size. Including the moulding of her floor timbers, the whole depth, from the top of her midship keelson to the base of her keel, is 9½ feet, the spread of her keelsons on the inside is 4 feet, and the whole scarphed, keyed, and bolted in the most substantial style, with copper and iron. The floor ceiling is 5 inches thick, and over the first futtocks are two bilge keelsons, each 16 inches square, scarphed and square fastened. She is not only square bolted throughout, but all the ceiling is also bolted edgeways, together at every 4 feet. Above the bilge keelsons there are 6 strakes if 12 by 14 inches, which are graduated to 9 inches thickness, and the ceiling is continued that substance up to the deck. The waterways of both the lower and main decks are 16 inches square, with a strake of 10 by 15 over them, and one of 8 by 13 inside of them, and 7 inches thickness of ceiling above them. The upper deck waterways are 11 by 12 inches, with two 5 inch strakes inside of them, and the bulwarks above, as before stated, are build solid. The beams under the lower and main decks are 15 inches square, amidships, and those under the upper deck are 10 by 15 inches, the last strongly secured with hacmatack hanging and lodging knees; and all the other knees, hooks, and pointers are of white oak. Her stanchions in the hold are strongly kneed, and clasped with iron, and the others are secured in the ususal style, with iron rods through their centres. Her ends are almost filled with massive hooks and pointers, which bind them together in the strongest style.

Her garboards are 8 inches thick, the next strake 7, and so on to 5 inches flushed out, and her wales are 5½ by 7, and the waist 4 inches thick, all square fastened with treenails, and butt and bilge bolted with copper. Her frame is entirely of seasoned white oak, her deck frames and scantling of hard pine, her decks 3½ inches thick -- the upper one of white pine, the others hard pine -- and she is seasoned with salt, and has Emerson's patent ventilators. She has also cargo prts, and patent circular air ports in her between-decks, two iron tanks, each pf about 5000 gallons capacity, and all the other outfits of a perfect ship.

She is a full-rigged ship -- has built fore and main masts, a single spar for a mizzen mast, and hard pine topmasts and jib-booms; the yards upon the fore and main masts are alike, and her rigging is as good as money could procure. The following are dimensions of her masts and yards:

The bowsprit is 34 inches in diameter, and 28 feet outboard; jibboom divided at 18 and 14 feet for the two jibs, with 6 feet end; spanker boom 56 feet long, gaff 40 feet, and the other spars in proportion. Her fore and main rigging and topmast backstays are of 11½ inch, and she has all the improvements of the day, in the style of her rig. Her spars were made i Mr. McKay's yard, agreeably to his own directions, by Mr. Young, of Newburyport. Francis Low & Co. rigged her, T.J. Shelton made her blocks and pumps, Mr. Mendum was her blacksmith, and Messrs. E. & F. Porter & Co. made her sails. Her head and other ornamental work were made by Messrs. Gleason & Co.

She was built at East Boston, by Mr. Donald McKay, who has built for Messrs. Train & Co. the following ships: The Joshua Bates, Washington Irving, Anglo Saxon, Ocean Monarch, Anglo American, Parliament, Daniel Webster, and Staffordshire; all of which have been employed as Liverpool packets, and all have been famous for their speed and beauty.

Although this splendid ship, in the outline of her model, ahs the appearance of a first-class clipper, yet, competent judges say that she will carry more dead weight, or stow more cotton, in proportion to her register, than the fullest ship ever built in this vicinity. The standing apology, therefore, that a full modelled ship must necessarily be clumsy looking, is not admissible. In the design and building of this noble ship, Mr. McKay has clearly demonstrated that beauty of the highest order can be imparted to great stowage capacity. But Mr. McKay is a man of rare mechanical genius; all the ships which he has built bear the impress of a superior mind, and thus far, in point of speed, they have been unrivalled, Mr. McKay has now on the stocks, nearly ready for launching, another ship of the same size and model as the Star of Empire, and both are designed for Train & Co's. line of Boston and Liverpool packets.

Capt. Albert H. Brown, the Commodore of the line, superintended the building and equipment of the Star of Empire, and will command her. He is will known as one of the most experienced and successful captains belonging to this port, every inch a sailor and a gentleman, and pre-eminently qualified to command yhe nesy and most beautiful packet ship in the world. Such is the Star of Empire.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius.

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