began to cheer so wildly, that it seemed to be frightened, and suddenly broke away, and went down into the sea. This accident kept us at work two weeks longer; but finally, on the last night of August, we caught it. We had cast the grapnel thirty times. 6. It was a little before midnight on Friday, that we hooked the cable; and it was a little after midnight, Sunday morning, when we got it on board. What was the anxiety of those twenty-six hours! The strain on every man's life was like the strain on the cable itself. When, finally, it appeared, it was midnight; the lights of the ship, and in the boats around our bows, as they flashed in the faces of the men, showed them eagerly watching for the cable to appear on the water. 7. At length, it was brought to the surface. All who were allowed to approach, crowded forward to see it. Yet not a word was spoken: only the voices of the officers in command were heard giving orders. All felt as if life and death hung on the issue. It was only when it was brought over the bow, and on to the deck, that men dared to breathe. Even then they hardly believed their eyes. Some crept toward it to feel of it, to be sure it was there. 8. Then we carried it along to the electricians' room, to see if our long-sought treasure was alive or dead. A few minutes of suspense, and a flash told of the lightning current again set free. Then did the feeling long pent up burst forth. Some turned away their heads and wept; others broke into cheers; and the cry ran from man to man, and was heard down in the engine-rooms, deck below deck, and from the boats on the water, and the other ships, while rockets lighted up the darkness of the sea. 9. Then, with thankful hearts, we turned our faces again to the west. But soon the wind arose, and, for thir ty-six hours, we were exposed to all the dangers of a storm on the Atlantic. Yet, in the very hight and fury of the gale, as I sat in the electricians' room, a flash of light came up from the deep, which, having crossed to Ireland, came back to me in mid-ocean, telling that those so dear to me, whom I had left on the banks of the Hudson, were well, and following us with their wishes and their prayers. This was like a whisper of God from the sea, bidding me keep heart and hope. 10. "The Great Eastern" bore herself proudly through the storm, as if she knew that the vital chord, which was to join two hemispheres, hung at her stern; and so, on Saturday, the 7th of September, we brought our second cable safely to the shore. Even the sailors caught the enthusiasm of the enterprise, and were eager to share in the honor of the achievement. Brave, stalwart men they - at home on the ocean and in the storm, - of that sort that have carried the flag of England around the globe. I see them now as they dragged the shore-end up the beach at Heart's Content, hugging it in their brawny arms as if it were a shipwrecked child, whom they had rescued from the dangers of the sea. God bless them all! were, 11. Such, in brief, is the story of the Telegraph. It has been a long, hard struggle, nearly thirteen years of anxious watching and ceaseless toil. Often my heart has been ready to sink. Many times, when wandering in the forests of Newfoundland, in the pelting rain, or on the deck of ships, on dark, stormy nights, -alone, far from home, — I have almost accused myself of madness and folly to sacrifice the peace of my family, and all the hopes of life, for what might prove, after all, but a dream. I have seen my companions one and another falling by my side, and feared that I, too, might not live to see the end. And yet one hope has led me on, and I have prayed that I might not taste of death till this work was accomplished. That prayer is answered; and now, beyond all acknowledgments to men, is the feeling of GRATITUDE TO ALMIGHTY GOD. 1. LESSON LXXXVIII. HOW CYRUS LAID THE CABLE. COMB J. G. SAXE. YOME, listen all unto my song; 'Tis all about the mighty cord They call the Atlantic Cable. 2. Bold CYRUS FIELD, he said, says he, 3. Then all the people laughed, and said He might get half-seas-over, but 4. To carry out his foolish plan 5. But Cyrus was a valiant man, And heeded not their mocking words, 6. Twice did his bravest efforts fail, He wa'n't the man to break his heart 7. "Once more, my gallant boys!" he cried; "Three times!-you know the fable,— (I'll make it thirty," muttered he, "But I will lay this cable!") 8. Once more they tried,-hurrah! HURRAH! 9. Loud ring the bells! — for, flashing through Six hundred leagues of water, Old Mother England's benison 10. O'er all the land the tidings sped; 11. Now long live all the noble souls And may their courage, faith, and zeal, The manly, bold, and stable; And tell our sons, to make them brave, How CYRUS laid the cable! LESSON LXXXIX. I TROY'S EXILED BANDS, Æneas and his followers, who, after the destruction of Troy by the Greeks, built ships, and in search of Italy, their destined land, were tossed and harassed by unpropitious winds, caused by the wrath of Juno. The wanderings and trials of Æneas constitute the theme of Virgil's Æneid. 2 GEN' O A'S GOD-LIKE CHILD, Columbus, a native of Genoa. See note, page 161. MAY' FLOW ER, the name of the vessel in which the Pilgrims sailed to America. They landed on Plymouth Rock, Dec. 11, 1620. 4 FRANKLIN. See note, page 145. 'MORSE, the inventor of the Telegraph, as used in the United States. 1. THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. (Successfully laid between Europe and America July 27, 1866.) REV. GEORGE LANSING TAYLOR, GLORY to God above! The Lord of Life and love! Who makes His curtains clouds and waters dark; Whose hand of old, world-rescuing, steered the ark; And Genoa's god-like child,2 And Mayflower,3 grandly wild, And now has guided safe a grander Bark; Who, from her iron loins, Has spun the thread that joins Two yearning worlds made one with lightning spark. 2. Praise God! praise God! praise God! The sea obeyed His rod, What time His saints marched down its deeps of yore; |