The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-19 00:00:00

FATHER MATTHEW.

The apostle of temperance last Saturday preached in
Dublin, a sermon in aid of the funds for the completion
of the Metropolitan Catholic Church. The Pilot has
a report of the Reverend Gentleman's discourse, pre-
ceded by a long account of the occurrence :
The almost unaccountable influence which belongs
to that reverend man was never more apparent than on
his visit to the metropolis of Ireland on yesterday.
Tens of thousands of the people pressed eagerly around
the temple of the Deity, which was about to resound
with his voice—to re-echo to the doctrines of charity,
from lips whose prayers have, we hope, the merits of
the just—not to listen, for that were impossible, even
if any temple built with hands could contain the
myriads, but to catch a glimpse of their benefactor, and
to bless him as he passed, for home, for comforts, nay,
for life !

But the people were not there alone ; the higher
classes lent their aid to the cause of charity, and evinced
at tho same time their homage for the preacher.
Among the nobles and gentry who were present, or
who contributed upon this occasion, were the following :
—His Grace the Archbishop, Lord and Lady Teyn-
bans, Lady Hon th, Lady Dungarvan, Mrs. Putland,
and Sir Philip Crampton.

The following expressed their regret that they could
not attend, but forwarded, most kindly, their donations :
—Right Hon. Viscount Morpeth, Right Hon. the
Marquis of Headfort, G. Evans, Esq., M.P. ; Major
Browne, the Right Hon. the Solicitor-General, Mr.
Commissioner Curran, T. M. Gresham, Mr. Commis-
sioner O'Ferrall.

The following Noblemen and Gentlemen acted as
collectors :—Lord Talbot de Malahide, Lord Vaux, of
Harrowden, Lord Southwell, the Hon. Captain and the
Hon. Major Southwell, Sir Rickard Keane, Bart. ; Sir
Thomas Ermonde, Bart. ; Sir Thomas M'Kenney,
Bart. ; the Right Hon. A. R. Blake, the Right Hon.
the Attorney-General, Henry Grattan, Esq., M.P. ;
Dr. Stock, M.P. ; Counsellor Finlay, LL.D. ; Surgeon
Carmichael, Mr. Commissioner Corballis, Mr. James
Corballis, Lieut.-Colonel Morris, Mr. Secretary Dow-
dell, Mr. Gould, Matthew Barrington, George Grehan,
Esq., Sir James Murray, W. P. Mathews, Esq.
We are gratified to be enabled to state that their la-
bours have not been unsuccessful, nor unworthy of the
purpose to which the money is to be applied—the com-
pletion of the beautiful Metropolitan Catholic Church
of this archdiocese—for the collection amounted to 2301."

The Earl and Countess of Kenmare were to leave
Rosso Castle, Killarney, for this country to-day.
GALLANT CONDUCT AT SEA.—On Monday
night the General Steam Navigation Company's steam-
packet London Merchant, Captain Laker, arrived at her
moorings, off Downe's-wharf, Lower East Smithfield, from
Newcastle, with passengers and a valuable cargo. In con-
sequence of her non-arrival on Sunday, as was usual, some
apprehensions were entertained for her safety, it being
known that she had to encounter the dreadful gale on Sa-
turday night, which has proved so destructive to life and
property at sea. The procrastination of her arrival at
Downe's-wharf, was speedily ascertained to have been oc-
casioned not by the hurricane, but by the gallant conduct
and disinterestedness of Captain Laker, in his rendering
assistance to the brig Alexander Brandt, Captain Kobnkie,
bound from Archangel to London, with a general
cargo, which vessel had been driven on the Gunfleet
Sand during the late tremendous gales, when, besides
having her rudder carried away, she had sustained
other serious damage, and was making a great deal of
water. Captain Laker having on Sunday morning, about
half-past ten o'clock, descried the brig at a considerable
distance in this helpless and distressing condition, near the
buoy of the West Rock, he instantly bore the London
Merchant, under his command, down upon her, and found
the brig to be the Alexander Brandt, in a sinking state,
she having five feet water in the hold, and the crew almost,
if not quite, exhausted. He immediately took her in tow,
affording, at the same time the kindest treatment to the
ill-fated seamen, and brought her as far as the Lower
Hope, when the wind, that had previously moderated, re-
commenced to blow strong, with heavy squalls, thereby
placing himself, the steamer, and her crevs, in some dan-
ger. But he was, nevertheless, determined not to aban-
don the brig. Fortunately, about this time the steam-
packet Soho, Captain Whitcombe, another vessel belong-
ing to the General Steam Navigation Cempany, bound
from Antwerp to London, came in sight, and bore down in
their direction. Both steamers then having the Alexander
Brandt in tow, they brought her in safety to Deptford on
Monday evening., about eight o'clock.
" THE STANDARD NOVELS AND ROMANCES"
published by Mr. Bentley, which have obtained such a
deserved celebrity, are indeed formed of the combined
works of the greatest modern writers of romance. At the
head of the splendid array of novelists, whose productions
are here collected, we may class the national tales of
Cooper, the great novelist of America. The fame of this
master of fiction is undisputed and universal. His stories
arc contained in the present body of fiction, carefully revised
and elucidated by himself. This unrivalled collection also in-
eludes the three most popular novels of Sir E Lytton Bul wer,
" Eugene Aram," " Paul Clifford," and " The Last Days
of Pompeii ;" Godwin's " Caleb Williams," " St. Leon,"
and " Fleetwood ;" the grand oriental tale of " Vathek,"
by Beckford ; the collected works of Miss Austen, em-
phatically styled the Novelist of Home ; Galt's " Lawrie
Todd ;" Mrs. Shelley's " Frankenstein ;" Maxwell's
famous " Stories of Waterloo," " The Bivouac," and
" Captain Blake ;" Theodore Hook's " Maxwell,"
" Parson's Daughter," and " Jack Brag;" Grattan's
" Heiress of Bruges ;" the romances of Miss Porter,
and her sisters ; M. G. Lewis's " Bravo of Venice ;'
Mrs. Gore's " Mothers and Daughters ;" the novels
of Mrs. Brunton; the Misses Lee's " Canterbury Tales ;"
Captain Marryat's naval stories, " Peter Simple,"
" Jacob Faithful," " Japhet in search of a Father," " King's
Own," ~ Mr. Midshipman Easy," " Newton Forster," and
" The Paella of Many Tales ;" Rattlin the Reefer;"
Moricr's " Hajji Baba," " Hajji Baba in England," and
" Zohrab ;" Hope's " Anastasius ;" James's " Darnley,'
" De L'Orme," " Philip Augustus," and " Henry Mac-
tenon ;" Peacock's " Headlong Hall," " Nightmare
Abbey," " Maid Marian," and " Crotchet Castle ;" Ains-
worth's " Rook wood ;" Miss Edgeworth's " Helen ;"
Lover's " Rory O'Nfore ;" Captain Chamier's " Ben
Brace ;" Mr. Hood's " Tylney Hall ;" Mrs. Trollope's
" Vicar of Wrexhill," and " Widow Barnaby," and
others of deservedly high reputation. When the
merits of such a collection as this, so varied as to suit
every taste, are considered, it will not be a matter of sur-
prise that the undertaking should have met with unquali-
fied success. A more entertaining library than " The
Standard Novels" it would be impossible to find. As each
volume may be obtained separately, and as almost all the
works are comprised in one volume, readers may suit their
own taste, and if not disposed to purchase the Series
complete, can take the stories of Cooper and Marryat, the
Oriental stories of Hope, Morier, and Beckford, the beau
ti'ul domestic stories of Miss Austen and Mrs. Brunton.
&c. For Christmas and New Year's presents we know
no works more suitable than are to be met with in " The
Standard Novels."

LUXURIOUS TRAVELLING.—Nothing can ex-
ceed comfort of travelling in a palankeen,
particularly
to an invalid, and by easy stages, as I went to Madras on
this occasion. You recline luxuriously on soft cushions,
with your books, writing apparatus, and every requisite at
band, and even my trusty old double-barrel was still here
my constant companion, extended at length by my side.
The palankeen is at once house, bed, and carriagc,il_s
you are borne rapidly over the
ground with so impercep-
tible slum-
a motion as not to interrupt even thelightest
bers.—Napier's Scenes and Sports.

With respect to the decline that has taken plao%
comparing 1840 with 1821, the following statewea(
will show the particulars :

1821.

]B4O.

Ships. Men. Ships. Mes.
Northern Fishery l5B 7,900 31 1,550

Spermaceti

Common Oil
Seal-skin

322 12,758

3.,9011

According to this statement the shOps have fallen off
217, and nearly 9,000 men have been thrown out of
employ. In this account the southern fishery is divided
into the three heads of spermaceti, common oil, mad
seal-skin. The spermaceti whale fishery is carried on
in ships of from 300 to 500 tons, with crews of 3,2
men ; and for the common oil fishery the ships are
nearly the same size, and the crews nearly the same in
number. As for the seal-skin fishery, it is considered as
extinct, since it is admitted that the seals have been
nearly all destroyed.
Among the opinions advanced to explain the decline
has been one, that the whales have been destroyed ; bat
statistical information has been procured which shows
that this opinion is untenable. Comparing recent with
early dates, the following results arc obtained :
In the year 1680 148 whale ships obtained 1,373
whales, or 9 whales per ship.
IN the year 1688 214 whale ships obtained 345 whales,
or 1i per ship.
In the year 1696 100 whale ships obtained 380 whales,
or 3i per ship.
In the year 1701 207 whale ships obtained 2,071
whales, or 10 per ship.
In the year 1705 157 whale ships obtained 1,664
whales, or 10i per ship.
In the year 1710 137 whale ships obtained 62 whales,
or k per ship.

RECENT DATES.
In the year 1822 121 whale ships obtained 8,663
tuns of oil, or 71 tuns per ship.
In the year 1823 117 whale ships obtained 17,074
tuns of oil, or 146 tuna per ship.
In the year 1828 93 whale ships obtained 13,966
tuns of oil, or 150 tuns per ship.
In the year 1830 91 ships obtained 2,199 tuns of oit,
or 24 tuns per ship.
In the year 1832 81 ships obtained 12,610 tuns of oil,
or 155 tuns per ship.
In the year 1836 .59 ships obtained 750 tuns of oil
or 13 tuna per ship.
In the year 1838 39 ships obtained 4,013 tuna of oil,
or 103 tuns per ship.
The opinion that the whales have been destroyed in
the southern- fisheries is answered by the fact, that while
British ships have been diminished, those of France
and America have been increased at a greater rate.

There is another opinion advanced to explain the
decline, which is, that the use of gas has lessened the
demand for oil, but an answer is given to this by a
statement of the importation of vegetable ails and tab.
low for the years 1821 and 1839, which shows a great
increase, attributed to the abatement of duties :-
1821. 1839.
1,900 tuns Olive Oil. Duty £4 4s per tun. 7,134 tuns.
None Cocoa-nut. 1 5 1,500

3,200 Palma.
800 Rapeseed.
10,500 Linseed.

1 5
o 12 -
0 17 -

17,200 -
8,700 -
28,859 -

16,400
32,158 Tallow.

3 0

03,393 -
57,615 -

to the encouragement of oi's of colonial fishery
many attribute the decline. TM 1821 the British
fisheries were protected by limiting the importation of
colonial oils to a few places. An Act passed at this
period allowed the admission of all colonial oils on psi,-
ment of a duty of is. per tun ; and a subsequent. Act.
allows materials fitted for the British fisheries in Ame-
rica to be imported into the place whence they are
carried on duty free. Those who advance this reason
for the decline support their opinion by statements of
the importations of British and colonial oils for the years
1821 and 1839, exhibiting an increase of the latter ac-
companying a decrease of the former :