The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1846-04-16
J.F. MCCLELLAN, Printer.

IL was lu6 OHUUdlu- Out lCW WCiC tbC
worshippers in houses made with mems
hands. God was too manifest in his great
temple 10 Withdraw 10 the inner sanctua-
ries. His power and %glory-his terrific
wonders awed men 10 silence his awful
tokens more visibly than the shekinah of
temples oIden, told Of a present God. la
the words of anolher-words most appro-
pirate 10 the OCCASION God had turned
his ministers out oftheir puIpils, and with
drawn their congregations 10 listen TO
Himself
At 4, p. NJ. the ice below the bridge
moved a few rods-at which time, as we
afterwards learned, the ice left Hampden,
having broken below the Narrows. Just
before 7, the whole mass suddenly started
and swept all before it. The toll bridge
went over with a tremendous crash, and
the accumulated mass Of mills, bridges,
houses, shops, lumber, and ice rushed
through the harbor, and after depositing
its surplus on the shore and wharves on
The western bank, turned down the west
ern channel and forced a passage TO the
ocean.
The water fell so suddenly as to leave
nearly all the lumber or The banks and
about the wharves imbedded in the ice
which remains walled up from twenty 10
thirty feet high on the shores. Such per-
feet walls of ice never before lined this
river; and some paris OF the masses bid
fair to remain till midsummer. The Ken.
duskeag Market house slid from its foun-
dalton, aud passing gracefully over the
bridge launched into the harbor below,
followed by the wrecks of the two bridges,
a number of shops aud smaller buildings
from above, among which was Glover's
bowling ailey-the greatest nuisance of
our city,
The property lost in the city, includ;
ing the Mills, will not probably exceed
$500 900. The loss 10 business will be
considerable, but no just estimate can yet
be made of it.
What seemed to enhance our danger
proved our safeguard. The tremendous
mass of ice above the city kept the water
in check, grounded as it was on the bot
tom ;and The very solidity Of the icebelow,
by keeping ii under the control of the tide,
and preventing its grounding, fastened its
departure. Nothing could be more IA
vorable than the stating of the ice below
on Sunday afternoon. And the thousands
who waited so anxlously for the ice to go
out by daylight, that they might witness
the sublime spectacle, may comfort them>
selves that their desire was not granted,
since if it had been. hundreds OF lives
would have been perilled, and many lost.
of those who were constantly crossing aud
recrossing the broken ice.
We have dwelt upon this scene more
largely than we anticipated, and have ma
ny particulars yet to give. 1t is too i'm
portant an event to be passed over lightly.
Calmly its history should be written, and
every heart should learn lis great lesson.
We are in the hands Of God. Our sue
cess is not our own. Whatever our pos
sessions, we are but tenants at will. We
should forget Him utterly, but for these
manifestations of his power. We had too
far forgotten him. Our mountain stood
strong. Gently he has laid his hand upon
us-not in wrath, but in mercy, May
this vista ion be sancliied TO US as a peo-
pie; and may it not be with us as with his
ancient heritage, who soon forgot bis
works