The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-02 00:00:00

to many qualities of mind and heart. His very ap-
pearance and manner must have conduced
greatly to the impression which he produced.
No one can look upon the soft, bright face
which is preserved in his portrait without feel-
ing that it is animated and irradiated by a soul
which must fled its way to the hearts of others.
The clear bright eye, the fine features, the intelli-
gence which reigns over the whole, above all, the 1
sweetness of expression, present altogether an in-
flaence which is well-nigh irresistible. If we add
to this a mellifluous flaw of language, it Rill be
apparent that he possessed all the physical qualities
which go to make a first-rate orator. But it was
not entirely, or perhaps chiefly, from these that he
derived his influence. The foundation of his power
must be sought in the reality and depth of his
religious convictions, in the affection which he
cherished for his fellow-men, in his earnest love of
souls, which appears perhaps more strikingly in
his letters than in his Conferences, which were
mainly of a controversial character, in his tender
love for Jesus Christ, a love which amounted to a
passion. His Conference on Jesus Christ, delivered
in 1846, are considered by many the most marvel-
lous fruits of his eloquence. ( (Euvres, tom. 3.)
" Faith and love," he once said, " have no need of
genius : they speak and all the world recognises
them." That he possessed faith and love those
who knew him never doubted: that he added to
these the natural gift of genius, his works still
testify. Without doubt also his custom of impro-
visation, extempore preaching in the strict sense of
the word, had much to do with his successes.
He prepared his discourses rapidly, but with in-
tense application at the time; but he did not write
them. M. Montalembert, who gives us this infor-
malion, states that the conferences, which were
taken down in shorthand and published the same
week in the form in which we now possess them,
received very few corrections from his hand.
The faults of his oratory were such as resulted
from his literary tastes and his historical informa-
tion. His historical illustrations are mostly drawn
from Cornelius Nepos and the De Viris," and from
the classical authors that he committed to memory
in his youth. INledieeval history he had not suffi-
ciently studied. Brutus and Socrates, Epaminondas
and Scipio seem to have done the same duty in his
sermons as Hannibal in the essays of our own
public school-boys. Montalembert further re-
marks that he was given to common-places. In his
striking sermon on " Humility," he makes use of
the expression so often quoted: " Par la grace de
Dien j'al honneur du lieu commun," and his friend
says that he never more deceived himself than in
thinking so. But his faults were few compared
with his excellencies, and it is impossible to study
his published discourses without feeling that we
are in contact wiih a master. Above all, the felt
power of his preaching and the influence which it
actually produced on his audience, were great and
lasting beyond those of any living preacher. Those
whose knowledge of Lacordaire is gained frombooks
are every day receiving fresh accessions to their storea
and his life as a priest and a mink is promised by
a brother Dominican, Father Chocame. All such
contributions to the religious history of the times
will be most valueable. " Two generations of this
century," says the Abbe Perreyve, " have known
him, and have listened to the incomparable majesty
of his word. Many men have approached him as
priest ; several have received from his lips the name
of friend; some have been to him what a son is to
a father, and will long feel in their hearts the shock
of his premature death. Such and many besides
who have received a healthful impulse from his
writings will welcome all trustworthy additions to I
the history of his life, works, and character. In
the meantime, de Montalembert deserves the
thanks of every studentof contemporaneous Church
history, not to say every Christian, for a memoir
not only remarkable for its literary excellence,
but equally so as the offering of pious affection and
eratitude.

THE SCREW STEAMER REGINA,

OFFICIAL REPORT.

The Regina is a schoonerrigged screw steamer,
of 497-49 tons register, and 90 combined (estimated)
horse power. She is employed chiefly in trade to
the Mediterranean, from whence she was on her
return voyage to London, with a cargo of fruit,
when she met with the damage which was the sub-
ject of this inquiry. She arrived off Guerriaey on
the morning of the 15th of last D.eember, and
running up Channel, with a westerly wind and
moderate weather, about 10 p.m. made the light on
Dungeness, bearing E.N.E. Her proceedings after
this till she got ashore about 2 15 a.m. of the 16th
to the westward Cf Dungeness Light, are detailed
in logbook, of which til9 following is an extract,
namely :—" Midnight, arriced off Dungeness,
distant two miles. Put a light over the bows
for a pilot, and fired six blue lights at inter.
vals, Hauled in towards the East Ray,
seeing no pilot cutter. At 1 a,m., Dungeness Light
bearing W.N.W., ported helm and put ship's head
to the W.S.W., ship going quarter speed. At 120
Dungeness Light bore NAV., sky overcast and
night extremely dark. At 1 35, abreast of Dunge-
ness Light, dropped the lead in eight fathoms
water, and starboarded the helm to veer the ship
round to the eastward, intending again to seek for
a pilot, when in the act of doing so saw two ves-
sels running up close aboard of us, showing red
lights. Ported our helm to clear them, and, when
sufficiently clear, hard a starboard, and in the act
of coming round felt our vessel:touch the ground,
but saw no land, when suddenly a man on the
beach appeared close to the ship, with a light,
who told us it was about high water. The light
of Dungeness then bore E. by N. I- N., but so
intensely bright was the light that nothing could
be seen around the ship, and we appeared full
' two miles off it. At daylight our estimated dis-
tance from the lighthouse was about three.
quarters of a mile." The ship remained on the beach
till the 9th of January, when, her cargo being
unshipped, she was brought to London; and put into
dock, where she was found to have sustained material
damage. The above entry in the log-book is stated
by the master and chief officer to be correct, with
the exception (as the master states) of the sounding,
which, he says, ought to have been 17 and not 8
fathoms. The latter sounding of a fathoms is, no
doubt, correct, if we may judge from the short time
that elapsed before the ship took the ground, as de-
scribed in the log, three-quarters of a mile from the
lighthouse. To account for the stranding of the ship
under these circumstances the most probable
supposition is, that, intending to run back
abreast of the light, and then come about and
make for Dover, the master was not sufficiently
particular in watching the exact bearing, so as
to know precisely his offing, meaning only to use
the light as a point of departure. Instead of being, as
he believed, two or three miles off, when abreast of
the light, he must then have been dangerously near
the shore, and being obliged to port his helm to keep
clear of the two ships coming up Channel, and hay•
ing his attention entirely occupied with that object,
he did not observe how far aft he had brought the
light. The prudent course, therefore, would have
been either to have come about before he got
abreast of the light, or to have allowed more
searoom to meet the contingency which occurred,
viz., having to port his helm when abreast of
the light. Giving duo weight to this explanation
of the error, and taking into consideration the
master's high character for general carefulness
and ability, it was not deemed necessary to visit
the case with- severity, and, under the advice of
the Nautical Assessors, Captain Bowen was strictly
admonished of his error, and his certificate was
returned to him.

Greenwich Polics Court, Jan. 2G, 1864.
We concur. JAMES TRAILL.
H. HARRIS.
JOHN .UOMEIT.