Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1858-09-17

who chooses may look upon it as acci-
dental and unmeaning, but let me be-
lieve that it was the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God which pro-
duced the two events at the same time,
and that when those servants of the Most
High offered prayer 10 Him in acknowl-
edgement of His agency in the result,
and with united voices sang -
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below,
Praise Him above We heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
it was because He designed to have that
work dedicated to His service by such
an assemblage Of clergymen as had never
before met on this continent, nor Joined
in the dedication of any other work of
mems hands.
These abundant recognitions of Divine
Providence have not been occasioned by
mere ebullitions of religious emotion, nor
by a general belief in Gods general su-
perintendence of earthly affairs. There
was solid foundation for them in the pc
culiar circumstances by which He sur
rounded the enterprise, and through
which He brought it to a prosperous end.
Man never entered upon an undertaking
| the very first elements of whose success
/ depended so entirely upon conditions
which were beyond his torethought and
his control. A thousand contingencies
Of wind and wave lay in ambush beside
the path of that magnetic wire; and might
have assailed it, with fatal effect, at any
point in its progress. God held the
winds in His fist and the waters in the
hollow of His hand. The tempests which
had bafled and defeated previous attempts
were hushed into repose by the same AL
mighty power that rebuked the winds
when they lashed the sea Of Galilee into
fury, /" and the wind ceased, and there
was u great calm" The unbeliever may
see in this great calm q chance condition
of the sea and sky, very fortunate state
of the proverbially uncertain weather
but the Christian viii see in it an exhi-
bition of Divine will and power. With
God there is no uncertainty as to the
weather. Every change of it takes place
in accordance with purposes which He
has had from all eternity, and to bring
out results that He had in view before
there were winds to blow OF waves tc
roll. This repose of the elements, sc
necessary, so absolutely indispensable tl
the success Of the endeavor, took place
because He had determined its occur
renee at that very time for the sake o
that very result.
= The hand of God is seen not more con
spicuously in carrying forward the en-
terprise than in making preparation fo
it. He began to prepare for it when h
laid the foundations of the earth. Lool
on the map Of the world and see how tn
2 Atlantic coast of North America, as it ex
: tends Southwark, withdraws itself farthe
and farther from the European shores, a
= if repelIed from them by some unseen bu
; powerful antagonism like that which ex
t lists between similar poles of the magnet
= Mark then how in the Northern temper
d ate zone, the region ofintelligence and en-
q terprise, the continent bends over tOwar
= the opposite hemisphere and throws ou
< islands into the ocean to shorten the dis
= tance that was to be overcome, and {
! correspond with the islands which Europ
5 also throws out for the same purpose. ]
e was not without good reason, reason nov
e apparent to US, and apparent to Hir
d from the beginning, that God formed tn
h two continents to approach each othe
II most nearly at the points where the
t were to be occupied by nations of th
t. same origin and language, kindred in er
e terprise as well as in blood, and wit
1t more motives and necessities for unio
? than any other two nations on the fac
s of the earth. Nor was it without equa
e ly good reason, that He made the ocea
n, between these two points more shallO
at and more uniform in depth than an
OF where else, and comparatively exempte
at it from the action of those mighty Gu
e, rents which in lower latitudes keep it
at perpetual turmoil. Having begun the pr
In paration when He begun the world, &c
c. has been carrying it on till the preseI
IN time. Year after year, for centuries al
tn thousands Of years. countless myriads
al minute shellfsh have dwelt in that regit
I'd Of the sea, and dying, have deposit,
rk their remains at the bottom, reducing Il
he inequalities, and covering that vast plate;
he wiiha deep, soft, impalpable powder, in
is which the cable should sink by its o7
is weight, and here remain forever buri
mt beyond the reach Of monsters of the de
g, or other disturbing force from aboy
n "Who seeth not in all these that f
an hand of the Lord hath wrought this 2"
dd In finally crowning this attempt wi
Vi signal victory, God has taken occasion
S. exhibit conspicuously principle Of fl
ra, quent application in His dealings wi
ell man, the principle embodied in our fam
ly, lar proverb, "AIan's extremity is Co
nd opportunity" Not one man in ten the
lty sand had the faintest belief that the e
= terprise was to be accomplished at Il
ph time. The disastrous failure last "
to weakened the faith of many, and I
* equally decisive failure of the first
me tempt this year took away almost all {
Vi pectation Of present success. The
-ed Of so many miles Of the line by breaki
lgs and the waste Of so much more in %:
zen ing GU" occasioned serious fears d
TO even if other contingencies proved fav
nt- able the whole cable might be commit
81 Il. 80, tE,