106 THE SEA. 



the enterprise was shown on the return of the expedition to England. Nearly a quarter 

 of a million pounds sterling- was subscribed privately towards the next attempt, and when the 

 subscription books were thrown open to the public, the whole capital required was furnished 

 in a fortnight. Some minor improvements were introduced in the successful 1866 cable; 

 among other points, it was galvanised. 



When the day arrived for the final great effort, the undertaking was inaugurated 

 solemnly by special prayer and supplication. Dr. Field says of that moment : 



" Was there ever a fitter place or a fitter hour for prayer than here, in the presence of the 

 great sea to which they were about to commit their lives and their precious trust ? The first 

 expedition ever sent forth had been consecrated by prayer. On that very spot, nine years 

 before, all heads were uncovered and all forms bent low at the solemn words of 

 supplication; and there had the Earl of Carlisle since gone to his honoured grave 

 cheered them on with high religious hopes, describing the ships which were sent forth 

 on such a mission as ' beautiful upon the waters as were the feet upon the mountains 

 of them that publish the gospel of peace/ 



" Full of such a spirit, officers and directors assembled at Valentia on the day before 

 the expedition sailed, and held a religious service. It was a scene long to be remem- 

 bered. There were men of the closet and men of the field, men of science and men 

 of action, men pale with study and men bronzed by sun and storm. All was hushe.l 

 and still. Not a single gun broke the deep silence of the hour, as, with humble hearts, 

 they bowed together before the God and Father of all. They were about to 'go down 

 to the sea in ships/ and they felt their dependence on a higher Power. Their prepara- 

 tions were complete. All that man could do was done. They had exhausted every 

 resource of science and skill. The issue now remained with Him who controls the winds 

 and waves. Therefore was it most fit that before embarking they should thus commit 

 themselves to Him who alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging sea. 



" In all this there is something of antique stamp, something which makes us think 

 of the sublime men of an earlier and better time : of the Pilgrim Fathers kneeling on 

 the deck of their little ship at Leyden, as they were about to seek a refuge and a 

 home in the forests of the New World, and of Columbus and his companions 

 celebrating a solemn service before their departure from Spain. And so with labour 

 and with prayer was this great expedition prepared to sail once more from the shores 

 of Ireland, bearing the hopes of science and of civilisation, with courage and skill 

 looking out from the bows of the ship across the stormy waters, and a religious faith, 

 like that of Columbus, standing at the helm. 



"On Friday the 13th of July, 1866, the fleet finally bade adieu to the 

 land. Was Friday an unlucky day? Some of the sailors thought so, and would have 

 been glad to leave a day before or after. But Columbus sailed on Friday, and 

 discovered the New World on Friday; and so this expedition put to sea on Friday, 

 and, as a good Providence would have it, reached land on the other side of the Atlantic 

 on the same day of the week ! As the ships disappeared below the horizon, Mr. Glass and 

 Mr. Varley went up on their watch-tower, not to look, but to listen for the nrst 

 voice from the sea. The ships bore away for the buoy where lay the end of the shore 



