50 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
ever appeared upon this lovely strand. . . . Whatever dis- 
appointments may possibly be in store, it would be criminal 
to feel discouragement. . . . However, upon this rocky front- 
let of Ireland, at all events, today we will presume upon suc- 
cess. We are about to establish a new material link between 
the Old World and the New. . . . Ido not compliment them 
with the idea that they are to efface or dim the glory of that 
Columbus, who, when the large vessels in the harbor of Cork 
yesterday weighed their anchors, did so on that very day three 
hundred and sixty-five years ago—it would have been called 
in Hebrew writ a year of years—and set sail upon this glo- 
rious enterprise of discovery. . . . Let us pledge ourselves to 
eternal peace between the Old World and the New.” 
The reference to possible disappointment and difficulties in 
the Lord Lieutenant’s speech indicates that a large measure 
of skepticism about the project still remained in the con- 
sciousness of thoughtful men, despite the festivities and the 
cheers. ‘The Lord Lieutenant spoke again and referred to the 
Irish in America in the following words: “Many of your 
dear friends and near relatives have left their native land to 
receive hospitable shelter in America. . . . If you wished to 
communicate some piece of intelligence straightway to your 
relatives across the wide world of waters—if you wished to tell 
those whom you know it would interest in their hearts of 
hearts, of a birth, or a marriage, or, alas, a death, among you, 
the little cord, which we have now hauled up to the shore, 
will impart that tidings quicker than the flash of lightning.” 
In accordance with the custom of the times, the vicar of the 
parish offered a prayer, in which he said: “Control the winds 
and the sea by thy Almighty power and grant us such favor- 
able weather that we may be enabled to lay the cable safely 
and effectually.” This had a faint resemblance to ancient 
invocations to the Greek gods, as recorded, for example, in 
the Odyssey. In fact, the gathering of the ships on the shore 
of this green island was not unlike such events as Homer had 
