“Was there ever a fitter place or a fitter hour for prayer than here, in the presence of the great sea to which they were about to commit their lives and their precious trust? The first expedition ever sent forth had been consecrated by prayer. On that very spot, nine years before, all heads were uncovered and all forms bent low at the solemn words of supplication; and there had the Earl of Carlisle—since gone to his honoured grave—cheered them on with high religious hopes, describing the ships which were sent forth on such a mission as ‘beautiful upon the waters as were the feet upon the mountains of them that publish the gospel of peace.’ “Full of such a spirit, officers and directors assembled at Valentia on the day before the expedition sailed, and held a religious service. It was a scene long to be remembered. There were men of the closet and men of the field, men of science and men of action, men pale with study and men bronzed by sun and storm. All was hushed and still. Not a single gun broke the deep silence of the hour, as, with humble hearts, they bowed together before the God and Father of all. They were about to ‘go down to the sea in ships,’ and they felt their dependence on a higher Power. Their preparations were complete. All that man could do was done. They had exhausted every resource of science and skill. The issue now remained with Him who controls the winds and waves. Therefore was it most fit that before embarking they should thus commit themselves to Him who alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging sea. “In all this there is something of antique stamp, something which makes us think of the sublime men of an earlier and better time: of the Pilgrim Fathers kneeling on the deck of their little ship at Leyden, as they were about to seek a refuge and a home in the forests of the New World, and of Columbus and his companions celebrating a solemn service before their departure from Spain. And so with labour and with prayer was this great expedition prepared to sail once more from the shores of Ireland, bearing the hopes of science and of civilisation, with courage and skill looking out from the bows of the ship across the stormy waters, and a religious faith, like that of Columbus, standing at the helm.