Litchfield enquirer., 1858-08-26

A plisled, and the relish of the surprise is only ssAttas greater from previous disappointment and uncertainty Although the weather was un- favorable, the cable seems to have ben paid out with the greatest regularity, the quantity of cable discharged from the two ships being the same every day within ten miles. ca the first two days the amount paid ont by each ship was about 130 nautical miles, or at the rate of between five aud six miles Hn hour. On the lst of August each ship paid out TO nautical miles, or at the rate of seven naut;- Cal miles all hour On the second this rate was increased to seven nautical miles and five eighths, so that the result seems to show that a greater speed can be attained with safety \ than had been calculated on. We are told \that there are gool signals between the ships. 'but of course we wait with much anxiety more precise information as to the rapidity of col,- munication that has been maintained.
 We sincerely congratulate the promoters of this great enterprise upon the triumphant sue cess by which, after so many delays and dis appointments they have been rewarded. It is difficult so suddenly to realize the magnitude of the event which has inst taken place tue accomplishment of this mighty feat comes up- . on us not in the gradual and tentative manner asewhieh most scientific exploits have been per forincd, but with rapidity worthy of the agent which it employs. The steam engine, the other great discovery of our time, has been perfected little by little, and no one can exactly say when it was that each O. the tri- umphs which it has successively achieved be- came possible. Practice was so far ahead of theory that high scientific authorities argued strongly against the possibility of results, and were not refuted by counter arguments but by the accomplishment of those very results the possibility of which they had denied. With the Atlantic Telegraph it has been just the contrary. Theory had shown the practi cablty of the line, but practice lag ged infinitely behind it. Instead of proceed ing by slow degrees, the projectors have leap ed at once to . gigantic success. We believe We are correct in stating that 300 miles of telegraph have never befare been successfully laid under water, and yesterday we received intelligence that communication is fully cs- tablshcd beneath 1000 miles of stormy ocean, under q superincumbent mass of water, the depth of which may be calculated in miles, Only now, when it has succeeded, are We able fully to realize the magnitude and the 'hardi- hood of the enterprise. Over what jagged uiOuutdiu IutSCo to tHt1t olCiiStCI LulCiu tOutu iu what deep oceanic yalIics docs it rest, when the flash that carries the thought of man from one continent to another darts along the wire l! through what strange and unknown regious among things how uncouth and wld must it thread it's way It brings us up tidings from tho vast abyss but not of theSbyss itself but of men like ourselves who dwell beyond.
 Since the discovery of Columbus nothing has been done ill any degree comparable to the vast enlargement which has thus been given to the sphere of human activity. We may, now that this the most difficult problem of all has been solved, be justified in anticipating that there is no portion of the earth's surface which may not be placed in immediate communca- tion with us. We know that we have in our hands the means of a practical ubiquity Dis tauce as ground of uncertainty will be elia- mated from the calculation of the statesman and the merchant. It is DO violent prcsump- tion to suppose that within a very short period we shall be able to present to cur readers eve ry morning intelligence of what happened the day before in every quarter of the globe. The Admiralty will know to within few miles the position of every ship in her Majesty's service The intelligence of Caffrc war or an Indian mutily will reach us before the first blood that has been shed is cold, and we shall be able to economize the whole time consumed by the or dinary vehicles of intelligence. We see with not unnatural satisfaction that the advantage of the discovery will be the greatest to those countries the possessions of which are the most remote, ana, therefore, that England has more to gain than any of her rivals. More was done yesterday for the consolidation of our Empire than the wisdom of our statesmen, the liberality of our Legislature, or the loyalty of our colonists could ever have effected Dis tauce between Canada and England is annihi- lated For the purposes of mutual communi- cation and of good understanding the Atlantic. is dried up. and we become in reality as well as in wish one country. Nor can a,Iy one re- gard with indifference the position in which the Atlantic Telegraph has placed us in re- gard to the great American Republic. It has half undone the Declaration of l776, and gone far to make us once again, in spite of ourselves, one people. To the ties of common blood, language and religion, to the legitimate association in business aud com- pete sympathy on so many subjects, is now ad- dsd the faculty of instantaneous ccmmunca- tion, which must give to all these tendencies to unity an intensity which they never before could possess.
 We are most happy that it has fallen to the lot of the people of this country to carry out an enterprise in which human nature is so deeply interested in concert with the only oth- er nation on the globe in which the flame of Science is famed and kept alive by the breath of Freedom Let those who are assembled at Cherbonrg to celebrate another development in the art of destruction, and to fe!e the inau- guration of a fortress avowedly designed to threaten the independence and prosperity of these Islands reflect on the true nature of the enterprise which has thus been executed, and turn from the contemplation of Science degra- deGl into the handmaid of slaughter and dc ynstation, to Science applied to her legitimate