The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY -EVENINd-, SEPTEMBER 7, 1859.

STEAM v. SAILING SHIPS.

There i 5, probably, no
_subject at this moment
which excites •so lively an interest in commercial

circles as the wonderful growth of the mercantile
steam marine, both here andin Europe, and the pos-
Bible" effects which that increase is destined to have
upon the traffic hitherto prosecuted by means of
sailing ships. The first steamship from England
arrived at this port on the 23d of April, 1835.
Since that period the trade has been gradually in-
creasing, and we find to-day, after a lapse of 20
years only, no fewer than 14 lines of steamers
ploughing the waters of the Atlantic, numbering
some 45 ships, of which 35 run out of the port of
New York. We think it is safe to say that most of
these vessels have been, and are now run, at a po-
sitive profit, and that liberal as has been the patron-
age they have enjoyed, there never has been, until
quite recently, any real apprehension that the
prospeaity of these steam lines was eventually to
damage the shipping interest, which still depended
upon wind, weather, and canvas. In these latter
days, however, the present depression in freights
is referred to by a certain class of theorists, as evi-
dence of the approaching subiersion of sails to
steam. This is rather an extravagant philosophy,
the conclusions of which are hardly warranted by
the facts. The steamers plying between the United
States and the ports on the German Ocean have ex-
tended our commerce in that direction in a ratio
considerably in excess of the capacity of those
steamers to accommodate, andan increased number
of sailing ships have, consequently, been called to
relieve the surplus. There are scores of ships
from Bremen and Antwerp, and Hamburg, Am-
sterdam, and Rotterdam, lying at the docks
of New York to-day, where dozens would
not have been discovered about eight or
ten years since. The steamers unquestionably have
deprived the London and Liverpool packets of much
of their former trade, but what is lost in this way,
it will be found has been more than made up in the
material increase of international commerce result-
ing from the speedier and more certain communi-
cations which those steamships have conferred
upon.us. The causes of the present depression, in
our humble judgment, are traceable, in a great de-
gree, to the condition of things at the close of the
late war with Russia. The necessity of rapid com-
munication between British and French ports and
the Black Sea, for the transportation of troops and
provisions for an army engaged in a contest which
it was believed would last for years, occasioned the
construction of an immense fleet of screw steamers
—a class of vessels which are run at a comparatively
reduced expense. An immense number of these
vessels were pressed into the service. The French
and British Governments chartered them at a hand-
some advance, in some cases, even upon the origi-
nal cost. The shipyards of England, for a period
of nine months, had as much as they could do to
supply the demand for this description of vessels.
The result is known ; the war came to an end with
the fall of Sebastopol, quite unexpectedly. The
charters of the vessels in question, for the most
part, expired with the war, and the consequence
was, on their simultaneous return home, the Bri-
tish ports were supplied with a superabundance of
tonnage. The superior advantages which the pro-
peller had to offer to the merchant, in the shape of
quick voyages and a rate of freight quite as low as
the packets, at once gave steam the preference, and
that preference steamers have had ever since. In
mercantile operations, as in most other branches of
business, time is money, and time gained by the
screw over sails is the real key to the great de-
pression which hns, by these processes, overtaken
the sailing vessels. It does not follow, however,
that this depression is to be everlasting, but it does
follow that, if those whose interests are mostly
bound up in the sailing vessels would but adapt
themselves to the novel circumstances which sur-
round them, a great step will have been taken to
overtake the profits of which the steam engine bids
fair to deprive them. If the propellers can afford
to carry passengers and freight from Europe to the
United States as cheaply as the sailing vessels, it is
preposterous to maintain a competition with them.
Steam is sure to beat. Even the poor emigrant will
prefer a vessel that will convey him to America in
fifteen or eighteen days, to one which may be a
month or more on the passage. Exporters and im-
porters will consult their interest in the same way.
If, then, we had a proprietary interest in the
packet service seeing that these' propellers are a
fixed fact, and cannot be reasoned or argued off
the high seas, we should at once consider why our
true policy did not consist in hauling our most ex-
pensive vessels off the old beaten tracks Row mono-
polised, or likely to be monopolised, by the fleeter
and cheaper propellers, and seniling them off one
longer voyages, where there is no competition as
yet. What should we lose in surrendering the
carrying trade with Great Britain, if we should
open up a new trade with the remoter ports of the
Mediterranean, the East Indies, and South Ame-
rica ? On long voyages our new enemy, the pro-
peller, can hardly compete with us. His voracious
appetite for coal alone would eat up his profits, and
until some new discovery is made to enable him to
perform a voyage of more than 3,000 miles in ex-
tent, without deranging his complicated machinery,
ship will continue to have the field,
degree, to itself.—New York ,Shipping
itahe a sailinggood
List.

IREL _ilsTD.

DUBLIN, TUESDAY.
THE EPISCOPAL CRUSADE.

The Northern ►Whig, in the course of a vigorous
defence of the National system of education from
the attack of the prelates, finds one excuse for their
conduct in " the long course of persecution endured
by the Irish Romanists," the remnants of which
" still darken the minds of the priesthood." The
Whig says:—
" In this enlightened town of Belfast we have
incumbents of the Establishment delivering what
they are pleased to call Lenten lectures at certain
seasons of the year, these compositions being,
generally, the bitterest possible tirades against
the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church. Then,
again, we frequently see placarded on the wall
the announcements of ' sermons to be preached and
collections made on behalf of missions to the
Romish population of the west of Ireland.' This
is not only very insulting towards the members of
the Church of Rome but it positively savours of
something approaching to impertinence on the part
of those over-zealous philanthropists who engage in
such pious absurdities When Protestant Ministers
of those sects most addicted to hunting down prose-
lytes find not a single member of their own Church
out of the fold, when their houses of worship are
full to the last available sitting, and, when their
people are so fa_• converted as to equal the heathen
in outward morality during the six working days
of the week, then, but not till then, would they be
justified in riding about, lasso in hand, for the pur-
pose of carrying off from the faith of their fathers
the worshippers connected with the Church of the
city on the Seven Hill'."
THE REVIVALS.

FRANCE.

The Belfast .Newsletter, an authority- upon
Northern revivalisms, states that, the movement is
only now commencing in right earnest in the capi-
tal of Ulster. By way of illustrating its progress
the Newsletter narrates the particulars of a decided
" case"—viz.—

"On Saturday evening last a young woman
named Ann Devlin, residing in Hunter's.row, off
Pinkerton's-row, fell off in this state at 11 o'clock,
as she had previously stated she would do. There
was no clock or other timepiece in the house in
which she could be in anywise guided, and yet at
the hour which she had named she fell over into a
state of unconsciousness to all around, although not
of inertion. She was to all appearance quite deaf
and speechless, while her countenance was lighted
up with a glow of joy and radiant smiles which
baffle description. Her Bible and hymn-book lay
on- her bed, and with her eyes perfectly closed she
turned over the leaves of these books with a rapidity
which could not be approached by any one in a con-
scious state, and in them pointed out the most ap-
propriate passages and hymns. As for instance she
signed with her hand the crowning of the Saviour
with a crown of thorns, and quick as thought she
`turned over the leaves of the Bible, and marked
with her finger thepassage—"Phey platted a crown
of thorns, and put it about his head,' &c. This, and
many other portions of Scripture she turned to just
as she required to refer them, although she could see
nothing. She also invariably selected a hymn to
suit the portion of Scripture. Before falling into
this state she would recover at 11 o'clock on Sunday
night. At that hour last night her poor, miserable
residence was filled with all classes. At that hour
she began to give signs of returning to her usual
state, and at about half-past 11 she was quite re-
stored to consciousness and the use of her speech.
Before recovering she pointed out Zechariah vi.,
2 S inelusim The reader will readily see the ap-
propriateness of the passage by referring to the
Book.' She also pointed out the hymn by Charles
Wesley, beginning :
" Glory to God, whose sovereign grace
Has animated senseless stones.'. .
The forge of these verses and their applicability to
the present revival will at once be seen by any will
refer to the hymn. These portion's of the Word of
God and of the hymn book the turned to while
wholly destitute of the power or use of sight. On
recovering her first act was to pray that God might
make her useful in bringing others to the Saviour,
and might preserve herself from ever becoming a
castaway.' rhis girl is in great poverty, and is
an object of Christian charity.'

ELECTRIC CABLE FROM ALGIERS TO

A letter from Toulon, of the 2d inst., informs us '
that M. Plaix, the hydrographical engineer, had
arrived there with all the instruments required for
taking deep soundings in the Mediterranean. His
mission is connected with the plan V laying down
an electric cable from Algiers to France direct. He
is to embark in the steam corvette Colbert, which
has been placed at his disposal by the Minister of
Marine. The only telegraphic communication at
present existing between Algeria and France is by
the cable from Bona to Cagliari. The French Go-
vernment has for many years been occupied with
the establishment of a second line, and arrangements
have been concluded, so that, unless some unex-
pected accident occur, the plan will be Ahortly car-
ried into execution. The laying of the cable has
been granted to a company, the engineer of which
is at present in England superintending the manu-
facture of the cable, which will be soon finished. It
is expected that the operation of laying the cable
will be completed previous to the setting in of the
equinoctial gales. Everybody in Toulon is inquir-
ing the destination of the numerous fleet of war
steamers and steam transports which are waiting in
the roads for orders either to be laid up in ordinary
or to proceed to the Frencn ports on the Atlantic.
It is expected that the steam frigates Descartes,
Albatross, Caffarelli, Orenoque, Magellan, Panama,
Sane, and Darien, together with the transports
Nievre and the Seine, will shortly sail from Toulon.
The Meuse had sailed fbr Marseilles to receive the
machinery for the frigate Astree, which is about
to be launched at Lorient. The screw transport
Yonne is about to sail from Toulon with horses and
mules for the French possessions in the Atlantic
Ocean. The English steamer Banshee had sailed
from Marseilles for Malta. The Coquette was wait-
ing the arrival of Price Alfred, to convey him to
his frigate, the Euryalus, at Malta. The steam
frigate-Audacieuse anchored in the roads off Brest
on the 28th of August, coming from China, having
I
touched at Cadiz on the 22d. This frigate brought
a great number of passengers, together with a
quantity of cannon captured. at Canton, and a valu-
able collection of coins, intended for the Royal
Library in Paris. The screw transport Ceres sailed
from Lorient on the 31st ult. foreToulon, where she
• will receive a number of convicts, and convey them
to Cayenne.