The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-29 00:00:00

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teb:PUilla
LONDON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1850.

Towards the development of commerce there is ab-
solutely nothing of course more rt quidte than the
opening up of new lines of communication. To this
end, therefore, the efforts of persons interested in the
advancement of mercantile enterprise are, as a mat-
ter of course, perpetually directed. Formerly this
was the case among all intelligent:communities. Now-
a-days, it is still more generally the custom, in con-
sequence of those marvellous facilities to locomotion
which have• been afkrded by the invention of the
steam-engine, Aided by railroads and by vessels fitted
out on the new principle, the traders of the world
have found themselves enabled to accomplish more
in the way of exportation and importation than could
ever have been dreamed of even by an imagination
such as that of Sir Epicure 'Mammon, when the Do-

an galleys were yet glidiig over the gulf of Genoa,
when the Doges yet pasted in procession through
the streets of Venice to celebrate their nuptials with
the Adriatic, while enthusiasts yet cherished a beliefin
the ruby pebbled rivulets of Cathay, and in ehe golden
palaces of El Doradc. Still, notwithstanding all that
has been accomplished in the way of developmentsince
the practical genius of WATT first opened those gi-
gantic paths of intercourse, infinitely greater benefits
in the way of promoting that intercourse remain yet
to-be secured, and still more wonderful achieved:lents
are capable of being compassed and brought to a
state of rnaturitty. With the intention of seizing
those advantages as speedily as possible, engineering
skill has now fur some tieno been directed from the
interior of our own country to adjacent territories,
and through those territories to the most dis-
tant qnerters of the habitable globe. Esti-
mates have been made of the cost likely to be
incurred in the prosecution of great public works at
the other extremity of Africa and on the opposite
shores of the Atlantic. Scientific men have examined
into the practicability of opening ship canals between
the two great oceans in the one direction, and in the
other between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
According to a beautiful analogy in geographical con-
formation, which has been recently pointed out by an
iregenieus writer,* as being observable in the general
aspect of our planet, it is found that " the southern
continents are chiefly peninsular, being joined at one
of their northern angles to an adjacent continent."
An instant's thought.wi I remind the reader that such
is proved to be the case by the neck of land con-
nectiog Africa with Asia, and by the similar bond of-
union joinirke with each other the northern and
soutie.rn continents of America. Until such times as
these barriers between the seas and oceans shall be so
far cut th.rough as to present navigable channels of
icte rcommunicatien, two enormous of tacles
will continue to imps de the cemme! ce of the eastern
and western hemispheres. Such being tndiaputably
the case, nothing should, of course, be disregarded by
the enterprising, R hich cAI in any manner tend to the
realization of the des:red improvement.
Already we have repeatedly directed the attention
of the public to the project of constructing a ship
canal across ' the Isthmus of Panama. Less
frequently, but also at intervals, we have,