The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-21 00:00:00

THE PRESS, AUGUST 21,

10 believe in him to walk in. Thus, then,
l°
ranee comes to be a blessing and irrespon-
virtue. Intellectual progress like
mor
ability a
al independence, in the subjects of the
rapacy, in th,e lay portion of communities, must
he purchased by a species of rerebellion.lt is not easy for the imagination even to take
in all at once the vast operation of such a polity
once successfully established in the world. To
bring the moral sense of mankind to compound
,for real vices in their greater horror and hatred
of constructive sins—to tuna separate virtues
into main sources of degradation for the body
politic—to bring the whole influence of religion
and all the authority of conscience to do the
work of subjugating kingdoms and peoples to the
dominion of a segregated, distinct caste—is surely
one of the grandest, if it be the most malignant,
of conceptions possible. To win the poor, the
iid and the sorrowing by sympathy, and the
rich and the prosperous by indulgence—to make
subjects contented in their disfranchisement and
oppression, and sovereigns responsible only to
the priest—to share the counsels of princes, to be
the depository of the secrets of the fireside and
the bedchamber—to mould minds from the cradle
and dictate their last wills to the aged and in-
firm—all this was little less than for the clergy
to have men for their flocks and herds, and the
fairest portions of every land for their inheri-
tance. In a barbarous or semi-barbarous age of
faith (perhaps, indeed, in any age of faith, ac-
cording to what ROME calls faith), there was no
help for independent civil government, but it
must needs enter into some sort of alliance with
a Supreme Pontiff. Despots might be dealt
with by him as high traitors, and poison or the
dagger be held a sentence as righteous as the axe ;
democracy might be made to do the work of de-
spotism, and be called the ordinance of GOD ; or
a race of monarchs might be invested with a
portion of priestly sacredness.
The enormity of the alliance between the
Emperors and the Pontificate soon showed itself.
MAximus developed jus divinum as logically as
Aor.tvivA or URQUEMADA could have done.
lie was probably the first who let no consequences
lag behind his premises, and bravely gave the
example of that new virtue which, some eight
hundred years later, raised FERDINAND of CAS-
TILE to the honours of the altar, and makes him
to this day worshipped as a saint. He was pro-
bably the first who did that act which the Spanish
Jesuits have taught us to call emphatically the
art of faith : he burnt heretics alive for heresy.
Such tyrants as THEODOSIUS and himself asked
only for impunity : for the sake of that they
thought no price too high to pay, and they gained
it at the price of their own independence and all
the great interests of their people. But they
gained it only for a time, even in those base days.
The pretended Government of Cron on earth
wanted experience of rule. The wars of ambi-
tious sects within the I'opcdom, and the strife
of contending claimants of the Holy Seat, far
more than the luxury, and profligacy, and pride
of prelates, undermined the influence of the
priesthood, as the priesthood had disorganzied
and destroyed the Empire; and ALAnic and his
Goths, GENSERIC and his Vandals, came and
drove out both Emperor and Pope. There is no
need to tell the tale of those vile times, or of a
Christianity which was just the reverse of Chris-
tian, and seemed only to add intolerance and
bloodthirstiness to other ordinary vices. But
adversity had better uses than prosperity, and
Rome, sacked and resacked, abandoned, impover-
ished, dependent, turned once more to her true
arts of government, and grew in time to more
than all her former power. In the eighth century
We shall see her fairly start again upon the career
which she began with CONSTANTINE.

WEIN TELEGRAPH COMMUNICATION.
'Writ has been said on the subject of electric
communication with America and India; the
advantages derivable therefrom have been mag-
nified to considerable proportions; and it may be
admitted that in whatever relation of life we look
at it there is no limit to the benefits that may be
realized by the great human family by the means
of such instant intercourse. All writers and
speakers on the subject admit so much, and to
dwell on them or paint them in new and different

colours would be a mere waste of time and in-
genuity.
But the question that arises out of these im-
portant facts is simply, How shall this instanta-
neous intercourse be accomplished and continued ?
and may be considered advantageously under
three different heads. 1. As to whether the
depth of water and length of cable across oceans,
which count by thousands of miles, arc bars to
the transmission of messages. This is answered
by the successful laying down of the present
cable from Valentia to Newfoundland, and though
the communication is slow, and, probably, im-
perfect, there is no reason why such imperfection
should be attributed either to the depth of water
or extreme length of the cable ; the wonder is,
rather, that the cable, running out at the pace
and with the tension it did, should be as perfect
as it is. The electric wire in this cable is com-
posed of several minute wires twisted together,
which here and there may be broken, but as all
of them are not likely to break off at one and
the same place, the continuity is still maintained ;
but such breakages may account for the weakness
of the electric communication.
The second head of the question is with refe-
rence to the description of cable. The Atlantic
Company may now fairly admit that their cable
has not completely realized the anticipations
founded on former trials. It is therefore of the
greatest importance that the cable which is best
calculated to overcome the difficulties experienced
in submerging the present one should be carefully
selected for the next essay. Whilst the
complaints against the Atlantic cable have been
loud and numerous, there are only two gentle-
men who have come forward to enlighten the
public on this all-important subject. Mr. ALLEN
has, with much ability, laid his cable before the
Society of Civil Engineers in an elaborate
form, and from the discussion induced on the
occasion, it is plain that his plan is a step
in the right direction. The other is Mr.
W. Row Err, who has with great confidence
challenged discussion by publishing a pam-
phlet* onithe subject, which not only suggests
the kind of cable which he maintains is the only
one suitable for the work, but with great clearness
points out the most conclusive reasons for
adopting such. This pamphlet has not been
contradicted, which is a tacit acknowledgment
on the part of the engineers of the correctness of
the views he has so well laid before the
public, evidently combining as they do con-
siderable experience in nautical matters
as well as engineering. No doubt the subject
may be looked at front various points of view, but
it is remarkable that these are the only two
who have fully brought forward the public dis-
cussion. All parties are agreed that many wires
must be laid to America, and others to Spain,
Portugal, Gibraltar, Malta, and Alexandria ;
others to the Cape of Good Hope, taking the Cape
de nerd Islands, Sierra Leone, Cape Coast
Castle, and various commercial ports along the
coast of Africa in its way. These, and many
other demands for electric communication, will
as a matter of course arise. This leads to the
consideration of the third head we proposed—
viz., the cost of so many cables, and their advan-
tages, not only in a commercial point of view,
vast in importance as this object alone must be,
nor with reference to matters of imperial govern-
ment, which is probably still more important,
but in the still broader and more comprehensive
sense which embraces the advantages which will
be gained by the merchant and diplomatist. If
to these interests so much importance is to be
attached to the ocean telegraph wire, how much
more important must it be to have the complete
control of an engine the dimensions of which
cannot even now be estimated, but which will
grow in importance with every step that is taken
in the general civilization of the world ! Having
taken the lead in the enterprize, our duty as a
nation seems imperative to secure by the appli-
cation of capital—whatever amount may be re-
quired —the immediate establishment of lines
over every ocean as soon as they can be made;
and in three years it is possible every ocean may
be covered by the wire, when, supposing it would
occupy a capital of ten millions sterling, the pro-
fits to be derived by such investment would be
secured to the country,--not drawn from our own
people alone, nor from Europe and America, but

* Ott ille lleß liabularine Telegraph Cable. London: C.
WiISCID.