The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-03 00:00:00

frem oar) t.) another. In his panting impatience
to communicate with his fellow-man wherever he might
be found, or in obedience to that supreme • law which
commands him to go forth and people the earth, he has
endeavoured to track his way to its remotest regions ; he
has dived into the darkest of its valleys, and there groped
his way amid the stones of the torrent to create a path be-
yond the chains of mountains that seemed to shut him in.
He has climbed as high as it was possible for all his breath-
less vigour to bear him, until atlength he came to the snow-
built pyramids on the summit of the mountain or the im-
passable glacier, and then he turned his flank, and with
wonderful perseverance he made his way into the opposite
region ; but who ever thought till now of at once plunging
into the very depths of the ocean, without the power of
seeing a single step beyond him, almost beyond the power
of the fathoming line to reach, to a depth, as we have been
told, as great as the height of the highest mountains ex-
plored by a few above the earth ? And then he had ven-
tured to trace his path, and had stretched it, without de-
viation, and without yielding, to the most formidable
obstacles. He has made that path to bury itself deep into
the very undermost of the valleys of that unseen region ;
he has made it to ascend its steepest paths—to cross its
highest mountains—to pass- down again, and then, by an
effort of perseverance, the like of which the world has never
witnessed, the two continents have been moored safe to one
another—mooked so safe by this little metallic hawser as no
other power—no amount of inky blots and rotten parchment
bonds, or protocols or treaties could ever have done. (Loud
cheers.) And what is the result of this ? Why, the Greek
used to boast of his fire, which would burn under the sea,
and which, attached to the keel of a ship, would destroy
it in the midst of the ocean ; and we know how the power
of electricity has been similarly employed to explode mines
high into the air and cause the sacrifice of hundreds of
human lives. But this little spark which we are now sendz
isitt*er24,Hke oceaa—this flash of lightning which passes
from shore to shore—this fire which burns there inextin-
guishably, may be truly considered, if it were not too sacred
an-e:pression to use—to be the bond of that love and that
charity between the two nations of which the sacred text
says, that ' Many waters shall not extinguish it, and many
floods shall not overwhelm it.' (Cheers.) Yes ; I have
no hesitation in saying that it is time now for the Ameri-
can eagle to let go those lightnings which it is repre-
sented as grasping in its talons, and let them drop into
the ocean, and they will cross it safely and come to us,
not accompanied with any manner of thunder, but speak-
ing the words of softness and of peace. (Hear, hear.)
While this graver aspect of things comes naturally to the
mind, there is one which presents itself to me that I cannot
forbear to linger on with more of tenderness and love. I
can imagine a poor mother in the west of Ireland—a poor
Galway or Mayo peasant, who had sent her stalwart sons,
the promise of her old age, far away as emigrants to those
distant regions to gather the gold, not what nature has cast
broadcast onihe land, but that which honest industry reaps
from it ; and I can imagine her, when perhaps the day of
her widowhood has come, sitting .on the farthest crag that
juts into the Atlantic, no longer contemplating that waste
of waters as a desolate wilderness which separates her from
those she loves, but as a means of instant communication
with them, as a way of making known to them her joys and
distresses, and of receiving back in a few hours words of
consolation and of promise. It will unite the hearts of
many now estranged, and, .though it may look rather
chimerical to consider instances of this individual reciprocal
communication as of frequent or of common every-day oc-
currence, yet it will sweeten the bitterness of separation,
and make emigration no longer exile. (Applause.) It will
prevent the severing of one from the other resulting in a
loss of kindred feeling, and it will renew the affections of
life. (Applause.) When those who are in Canada, in the
wastes of the north, or buried in the forests of the west,
know day by day how the sun is shining or the earth is look-
ing in their own native land—when they know, as if they
were on the spot, what measures of improvement are before
the Legislature and before the people ; when they know, on
the other hand, that at home all the prospects of their
adopted country are known—the promises of the harvest, the
state of commerce, and the improvements of society, and
that, in fact, the communication between the two countries
is no longer a matter of weeks, or of months, as formerly,
but of days and hours—a much closer bond of union will be
formed than was imagined by thoSe persons who believed
that, by looking at the same sun, or moon, or star at the
same hour, they were brought into communicationwith one
another. It is therefore a matter of great pride that this
island has been chosen by Divine Providence as the means
of this most happy communication—of this binding of na-
tions and worlds in bonds which we may ;trust will be of
irrevocable and indissoluble peace. It is no small pride for
it to have seen the most splendidly successful application of
the most magnificent of those gifts of science and genius
which God has given for a blessing and an honour to this
age ;that after so many yeak of sorrow and • suffering, of
calamities of every sort, of famine and disease, • this glory
should ImveLheen givenas a rec to this nobleland.
(Cheers.) I congratulate you t epee:ou have this evening
united and associated with the noble engineer who has per-
formed an act so truly honourable to the whole nation ; and
that this has been done under the auspices of your Lord
Mayor, to whom has been appropriately reserved the honour
of celebrating in a public manner this great achievement.
(Loud applause.) If this great and wonderful occurrence,
which has taken place under his civic magistracy, may ha
considered accidental, the having united us here—the noble
and elevated thought of bringing so many gentlemen of
name, family, and high character to do homage to the
genius that has wrought this great work—is his own idea,
for which he is justly entitled to credit. (Hear.) I there-
fore propose his health, and, though I suppose one cannot
wish him a longer duration of his present honours—(a
laugh)—at least let us hope that he may have many years
to enjoy to look back upon the present time. (Loud and
protracted cheering.)
" The health of the Lord Mayor was drunk most cordially.
" The LORD MAYOR returned thanks.
"After a short pause,
" The Lonn MAYOR again rose, and in proposing the next
toast said,—I have the honour to propose the health of a
distinguished guest whose name is inscribed upon the roll of
the illustrious celebrities of this age, and \whose exertions
in the cause of science and progress have met with a
grateful recognition from men of all creeds in the country
of his adoption. (Cries of Hear, hear.') I consider
myself fortunate in having the honour of his presence on
an occasion like the present, which owes its origin to a
wonderful scientific triumph, which must materially assist
in advancing still more the great cause of civilisation, and
in promoting peace and goodwill among Men, to the ad-
vancement of which so many years of his life have been
energetically devoted. (Applause.) I should be doing great
injustice, both to myself and the eminent Cardinal to whom
I refer, if I did not convey my sincere conviction that his
philanthropy embraces all mankind, and his great and suc-
cessful exertions in the cause of social improvement have
ever been directed toward the general public good. (Loud
applause.) Nearly a quarter of a century since he accorded
to me,
in a foreign land, the rites of hospitality. I feel hon-
oured at seeing him here to-night, and of having this op-
portunity of paying my respect to the great talent which
produced that remarkable work, 4 The Connexion between
Science and Revealed Religion.' I have the honour to
propose The Health of his Eminence, Cardinal Wisenian.'
(Loud applause.) 7
- " The toast was received with cordial and prolonged
applause.
"His Eminence, the Cardinal, rose amid loud applause,
and said, My Lord Mayor and Gentlemen, my first duty
is very simple, for I do not see that I can do more than
thank you with all my heart for your kindness in drinking
my health. Your Lord Mayor was kind enough to invite
me before I came to Ireland, understanding that I was
about to make a tour here, to partake of his hospitality to-
day, and I accepted the invitation with pleasure, because I
thought it was due to an invitation from one who repre-
sented so worthily a noble city, towards which I could not
but feel the greatest respect, and for the charities of which
it would be my anxious desire to labour. • (Hear, hear.) I
accepted it, also, because my knowledge of him personally
showed he was deserving of any mark of regard it was
in my power to pay him. (Applause.) I have no rea-
son to regret that on receiving it lat once cheerfully ac-
ceded to his invitation, and I can answer for myself that
it has procured for me an exceedingly interesting, and,
hope, a profitable evening. (Hear, hear.) I have heard
with the greatest pleasure what has been said, and I shall
return, I am sure, leeply impressed with the noble manner
in which the duties of the Mansion-house are discharged in
this metropolis. (Applause.) I have, of course, no preten-
sion to dive deeper into its mysteries than those which have
been unveiled to us--(cries of Hem,' and laughter)—but
I can truly say, and you will join me in the statement, that
if all the performances expected from the Lord Mayor are
conducted in the same agreeable and substantial manner as
those of this evening, I am sure he will be a most transcen-
dentally good chief magistrate. (Laughter and applause.) I
have nothing more to say than what the Lord Mayor has
been !good enough to say of roc is true, as to the exist-
ence of my earnest wishes fur the welfare of this country.
(Hear.) I have never had anything more at heart than to
exert whatever slender abilities or means of improvement
Providence has been pleased to bestow upon me for the pur-
pose of vindicating the truth of His revelation, and of ap-
plying so much of science as came within my limited range
towards the defence of His most exalted truths. (Applause.)
If I have at all succeeded in this—if, through divine Provi-
dence, I can pretend to the accomplishment of good, how-
ever small, by means of my poor attaintments and limited
powers, as well as by the unmerited position I fill, I feel it
my duty to say that, whatsoever the advantages may be, I
lay them, after offering my tribute of them to the Almighty
Giver, at the feet of Ireland." (Loud and prolonged ap-
plause.)
A number of other toutfr—including the Trans-

atlantic Packet-statiorr,in connection with the name
of Mr. Lever-.---were gt yen and replied to. After
which the Lord Mayor,-the Cardinal, and. company
generally, left the ba millet chamber and pro-
ceeded to the drawing-room, where several intro-
ductions to his Eminence took place. He was soon
after conducted by the lord Mayor, Lord Bellew,
Siv James Power, several members of the corpora-
tion, &c., to his carriage. His Eminence was
loudly cheered by a b trge crowd of persons who had
remained outside the. Mansion-house till that time
(near midnight.) in file hope of catching a glance of
him. A piece of the Atlantic cable, neatly bound
up with brass ferules, was laid on the tables beside
the plate of each guest, to whom it was presented
as an- appropriate souvenir of this interesting fes-
tivity. On a small brass label fastened round the
cable were inscribed these words :—" Part of the
Atlantic Submarine Telegraph Cable, manufactured
by Messrs. Glass, and. Co."