The Express.
London, England, 1865-07-27 00:00:00

BRITANNIA.

THIS Eeminto, THIRD CLASS WI) FIRST CLAES. Mews.
Cranford, Drummond.frond, and Parry : Mesdames Yarnold,
Morton, and Scold,—T voLuNTima&—And THE HEBILEW
DIAMOND OR, THE EYE OF LIGHT Was ft. Came.

HIGH WATILL AT LONDON-BIRIDGIL
To-moazow Moeda& 4A. 465.....After0000. 511. Ys.
Ism DAT Mamba. /4.19m.....Aftern000. 611. 3tio.

LONDON. THURSDAY. JULY 27.

THE gigantic vessel, herself still one of the
wonders of the world, which is bearing across the
Atlantic the cord which is to make thought simul-
taneous in the two hemispheres, has now so far
advanced on her voyage that we may indulge in
not unreasonable hopes of its successful issue.
The adventure is indeed so hazardous that not till

absolute certainty has been attained can we dismiss
the fear of a total failure. There is no middle
course in Atlantic telegraphy between triumph and
defeat. In almost all other works of human skill

there are degrees and shades of success or of mis-
fortune possible. A railway bridge may be swept
away, while the rest of the line is intact ; a vessel
may be wrecked, and yet not wholly lost ; a build-
ing may be burned, and yet not utterly destroyed.
But if the Atlantic Telegraph fails in any one part,
it is absolutely and irremediably ruined, and all
the patience, and science, and labour which have
been spent over its construction sink with the
shareholders' money into the caverns of the
unfathomable ocean. Forthe next few days, indeed,
while soma of the cable is not payed out, the dis-
covery of • flaw would allow the remaining portion
to be saved. But this day of grace will quickly
pass, and then we shall either have unalloyed con-
gratulation or unmixed condolence. Meantime we
can only prognosticate from data which any moment
may falsify, and hope, with the knowledge that at
any moment our hopes may be blighted by causes
equally beyond prevision or control.
There certainly never was enterprise more
carefully prepared. The loss of • former cable
pointed out the dangers to be feared, while it
indicated the possibility of triumphing over them.
In the six years which have since passed scientific
and practical men have combined their incessant
labours to increase the facility of transmission of
signals, and to diminish the dangers of rupture in-
herent in so long and comparatively so delicate •
medium. New methods and preparations have
been devised for increasing the insulation of the
copper wires, which are the real conductors.
Greater strength has been given to the iron
wires which encase and support them. Pre-
caution has been taken alike against the
abrasion of the cord upon the sharp
edge of submarine precipices, and against the at-
tacks of the tiny insects which we now know
inhabit even the greatest depths which ever plum-
met sounded. These improvements have been
made possible by that which is, perhaps, the
greatest advantage of all enjoyed by this cable over
its predecessors. The Great Eastern has been made
available for the service of containing and laying
it down. Thus a far heavier rope than could
before be employed has been made practicable, and,
what is equally important, it is now all stowed in
one veasel, instead of being coiled in two, to be
joined in mid-ocean. Lastly, thelhuge bulk of
the vessel and her steadiness of motion greatly
diminish the risks of straining from any sudden
jerk, while they have allowed every mechanical
contrivance to be employed to make the subsidence
of the cable regular and even. These are enor-
mous advantages over the circumstances in which
our then knowledge and means compelled us to
work on the last occasion. They may not give us
even yet success, but at least the careful and
anxious desire to press all known methods and
facilities into our service will prove that the men
of science who are the advisers in this great work
have done what is possibleto deserve it,
It is almost premature, while from hour to hour
we may receive a message from the sea that
will again make our hope deferred, to speculate
upon what the effects and results of success in this
wonderful enterprise will be. Yet, standing as
we do on the brink of assurance, it is impossible
to prevent the mind from, in some degree, antici-
pating consequences which we all feel certain must
some time or other come to pass. How will it
be with us, with our governments, and with
our peoples, when the two worlds] are linked
by • cord that makes every event
known at once in both ? No doubt it is safe
to answer th►t there will be some benefits and
some inconveniences, for such is the sequence of
all human works. But at least we may dismiss
easily from our minds, aided by the teaching of
experience, some of the gravest apprehensions that
have been suggested. The telegraph between
France and England, between Britain and Prussia
or Russia, has in no degree embittered diplomacy,
and there is, therefore, no reason to expect that it
should have such an effect when established be-
tween Washington and St. James's. Those who
argue that it will encourage hasty and wrathful
complaints and answers forget that such thoughts
arise as certainly when news of an offence COMM
by letter as by telegram, and that • hasty answer
may be penned on the instant as readily as it may
be committed to the wire. Nay, we may profit-
ably remember that • letter is at present irrevo-
cable, but that the telegraph will admit its being
recalled on second thoughts, and that such, in fact,
was the operation of correspondence in • not very
remote series of communications which passed
between our Foreign-office and the CZAR. But in
truth, assuming that there is ordinary fairness of
thought and wish to avoid offence, there is ground
to hope that a form of correspondence which brings
the two nations face to face, which removes a mis-
understanding ere it has time to rankle, which
gives an explanation the moment it is asked, must
be more favourable to friendly feeling than •
system which makes • month to pass between the
giving of an unintended cause of offence and the
discovery on the one side that offence has been
taken, and on the other that it was not designed.
Leas certain, perhaps, is the beneficial effect of this