CHAPTER X

CAPITAL RAISED FOR THE MAKING OF A NEW CABLE--STEAMSHIP "GREAT EASTERN" SECURED

(1863-1864)

On Sunday, January 4th, 1863, the steamer _Asia_ arrived in New York, and Mr. Field writes that he had had a rough passage of fifteen days. On January 27th, in a letter to Mr. Saward, he says: "The whole country is in such a state of excitement in regard to the war that it is almost impossible to get any one to talk for a single moment about telegraph matters, but you may be sure that I shall do all that I can to obtain subscriptions here." And in another letter: "Some days I have worked from before eight in the morning until after ten at night to obtain subscriptions to the Atlantic Telegraph Company."

Long afterwards he told how, during these years, he has often seen his friends cross the street rather than have him stop them and talk on what engrossed so much of his thoughts as were not given to his country. But his love for his country was his master-passion, and only five days after his arrival in New York he went to Washington to deliver a letter that he had brought with him from Glass, Elliott & Co., in which they repeat their offer to lay submarine cables connecting certain military posts or points of strategic importance. He writes to this firm on January 17th:

"I went to Washington on January 9th, and the next day delivered your letter of December 19th to our government, and urged upon them the acceptance of your offer. I returned home on Sunday, and on Monday morning I received a telegram from the Navy Department requesting me to return immediately to Washington, which I did the next day."

The journey to Washington at this time was long and trying, and in winter a very cold one, for it involved a ride of an hour across Philadelphia in the street cars.

Mr. Gladstone, in writing from London on February 20th, again thanks Mr. Field for books sent to him relating to the American war, and adds:

"I hope I do not offend in expressing the humble desire that it may please the Almighty soon to bring your terrific struggle to an end, for all who know me know that if I entertain such a wish it is with a view to the welfare of all persons of the United States, in which I have ever taken the most cordial interest."

This letter of Mr. Bright's was written a week later:

"LONDON, _February 27, 1863_.

"_My dear Sir_,--I have to thank you for forwarding to me Mr. Putnam's four handsome volumes of the _Record of the Rebellion_. I value the work highly, and have wished to have it. I shall write to Mr. Putnam to thank him for his most friendly and acceptable present.

"We are impatient for news from your country. There is great effort without great result, and we fear the divisions in the North will weaken the government and stimulate the South. Sometimes of late I have seemed to fear anarchy in the North as much as rebellion in the South.

"I hope my fears arise more from my deep interest in your conflict than from any real danger from the discordant elements among you. If there is not virtue enough among you to save the State, then has the slavery poison done its fearful work. But I will not despair. Opinion here has changed greatly. In almost every town great meetings are being held to pass resolutions in favor of the North, and the advocates of the South are pretty much put down.

"This is a short and hasty note....

"Believe me always "Very truly yours, "JOHN BRIGHT."

On Wednesday, March 4th, he addressed the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. A. A. Low offered a resolution expressing the confidence of the Chamber that a cable could be laid across the Atlantic, and ended his speech in support of it with these words:

"Any one listening to Mr. Field as frequently and as attentively as I have with regard to this subject could not long entertain a doubt as to the success of the effort. He has studied it in all its bearings, and with the aid of the science and intelligence so readily at command on the other side of the ocean, where he has had the benefit of an experience far exceeding that of this country with regard to ocean telegraphs. I am confident that whatever hesitation may for a time retard the work, it will not be of that kind to defeat the enterprise. With regard to the argument that this telegraph is in the power of the English government, and that we would be debarred from its use in time of war, let it be borne in mind that it may be built by Great Britain without our co-operation. The English government is alive to all the great necessities of the day. I wish, indeed, our own were equally alive to the urgencies of the age.

"The English government, as I said, is alive to all the great necessities of the times, and it will assuredly lay the telegraph, whether we work with it or not. If this government and people participate with the government and people of Great Britain in the work, it will be done under treaty stipulations which will secure to our country effectually great advantages and facilities. I have faith in Great Britain, and I believe if Great Britain enters into any compact with this country she will be true to her plighted faith. I have little fear on that score.... Our people ought not to be deterred by unworthy considerations from taking part in an enterprise called for by all the intelligence and wisdom of our times--such an enterprise as that now suggested. There is a risk which may well be incurred, in view of all the advantages the work presents. I, therefore, move the adoption of the resolution which I have had the honor to present."

The resolution was seconded by Mr. Cooper, and unanimously adopted.

On March 17th he addressed the produce merchants of New York, and on the 18th the Board of Brokers. It is quite impossible to give the names of the persons, companies, or corporations to whom he wrote, or from whom he solicited assistance, or the cities to which he went, making speeches, and urging every one he saw to subscribe to the stock of the new Atlantic cable, and early in June he was able to say: "The total subscriptions in America to the Atlantic telegraph stock to date are £66,615 sterling. Every single person in the United States and British North American provinces that owns any of the old stock of the Atlantic telegraph has shown his confidence in the enterprise by subscribing to the stock."

These extracts are made from three letters written on March 24th, March 27th, and May 8th:

"For the last three weeks I have devoted nearly my whole time to obtaining subscriptions to the Atlantic telegraph stock, and, when you consider the rate of exchange on England, I think you will say that we have done well. At all events, I have worked very hard, going from door to door."

"I never worked so hard in all my life."

"We must all work until the necessary capital is subscribed. Within the last two weeks I have travelled over fifteen hundred miles, visiting Albany, Buffalo, Boston, and Providence on business of the Atlantic telegraph, and I have promises of subscriptions from all these places."

The remarkable statement that follows is copied from a letter to Mr. C. F. Varley, dated March 31, 1863:

"There is a carriage-road all the way to California, and the mail is carried daily in wagons, and emigrants are constantly passing over the road alongside of which the telegraph line is built. The Indians are friendly and do not to injure the line."

The week before he sailed for England, on the 27th of May, he wrote a letter to his firm and gave these directions:

"During my absence in Europe you will please not sell any rags or paper manufacturers' stock except for cash, as in these times we had much better keep our goods than to sell them even on a few days' credit. Any manufacturer that is A No. 1 can get all the money he wants at interest, and will prefer to buy cheap for cash.... I would only purchase such papers as I wanted for immediate sales and could sell at a good profit."

Cyrus W. Field & Co. wrote on July 18th and gave their weekly statement, and from the end of their letter this is copied:

"Our books have been balanced for the six months by the following entries:

PROFIT AND LOSS--CR. Merchandise $3,293 67 58 Cliff Street 18,820 83 Commission 628 75 --------- $22,743 25

PROFIT AND LOSS--DR. Store expenses $4,580 70 Insurance 123 99 Interest 964 86 Advertising 35 45 --------- 5,705 00 ---------- Net profits for six months $17,088 25

On the 1st of the month they had written:

"Business has been almost entirely suspended for the last week on account of the great excitement arising from the rebel invasion of Pennsylvania.... Harrisburg, Baltimore, and Philadelphia are threatened by Lee."

And on the 15th:

"Since our last letter a most fearful riot has broken out here in the city; it still continues, and business is almost entirely suspended."

This was the famous "draft riot" of New York, and it was brought near to him; his house adjoined that of his brother David Dudley Field, whose wife wrote:

"My husband just got back in time to save, by prompt and vigorous action, our property. Our poor servants were terribly alarmed; they were threatened by incendiaries who warned them to leave the premises.... Think of one hundred and eighty soldiers sleeping in our stable, the officers being fed in the basement.... As the rioters approached our house they were met by a company of soldiers that Dudley had just sent for; their glittering bayonets and steady march soon sent them back before they had time to effect their demoniacal purpose."

In _Abraham Lincoln: a History_ we read that "The riots came to a bloody close on the night of Thursday, the fourth day. A small detachment of soldiers met the principal body of rioters at Third Avenue and Twenty-first Street, killed thirteen, wounding eighteen more, and taking some prisoners." This occurred within a square of Mr. Field's house, and those who had been left in charge had not proved themselves very brave; they fled from the house, leaving pictures, silver, and all valuables, and took with them only a box of tea and a cat. The tea they thought they would enjoy, and feared the cat might be lonely. The depression felt in New York on July 1st, and mentioned in the letter written on that day, was reported in England on the 16th, on which day the news brought by the steamer _Bohemian_, was published, and those who sympathized with the South were exultant, and were quite sure that the steamer _Canada_, due on the 18th, would bring news of the utter defeat of the Northern army under General Meade. The steamer did not arrive on the day she was expected, and on the intervening Sunday he has said that he was far too excited to think of going to church. Instead he hailed a cab and drove to the house of Mr. Adams (then American minister in London). Mr. Adams was at church. Next he stopped at the rooms of a friend, and persuaded him, although he was in the midst of shaving, to go with him to the city. They drove to Reuter's; the man in charge of that office refused to answer any questions, saying that if he were to do so he would lose his place; he was assured that if that proved to be so he should immediately be given another place, and with an increase of pay. These questions were then asked: "Is the steamer in from America?" and "What is the price of gold in New York?" At last the wearied clerk opened the door wide enough to say that "the steamer is in and gold is 131." This gave assurance of a victory for the North; and putting his foot between the door and the jamb, Mr. Field refused to move it until he was given every particular. "There has been a three days' fight at Gettysburg; Lee has retreated into Virginia; Vicksburg has fallen." Three cheers were given, and then three times three; they were hearty and loud, and after that the one thought was to spread the good news as rapidly as possible. First he made his way to Upper Portland Place, where a message was left for Mr. Adams. Then he drove out of London, and passed the afternoon in going to see his friends. He enjoyed very much telling of the victory to those who rejoiced with him, but perhaps more to those who, though Northerners by birth, were Southerners at heart, and had not failed in the dark days just past to let him know that they wished for a divided country. At one house in particular he entered looking very depressed, and with a low voice asked if they had had the news from Queenstown, and when the answer was "no" he read to them the paper he carried in his hand. His appearance had deceived them, and they had answered him smilingly, but their faces fell when they heard the news, and as he drove from the house he waved the message at them and called back, "Oh, you rebels! Oh, you rebels!"

Mr. Bright wrote on August 7th:

"From the tone of the Southern papers and the spasms of the New York _Herald_ I gather that the struggle is approaching an end, and the conspirators are anxious to save slavery in the arrangements that may be made. On this point the great contest will now turn, and the statesmanship of your statesmen will be tried. I still have faith in the cause of freedom."

It is more probable that Mr. Chase refers in the following letter to Mr. Bright's letter of February 27th than to the one just given:

"WASHINGTON, _August 21, 1863_.

"_My dear Sir_,--I thank you for sending me a copy of Mr. Bright's letter. It is marked by the comprehensive sagacity which distinguishes his statesmanship.

"Have you read "Callirrhoe," a fanciful story of George Sand's, which has appeared in the late numbers of _Revue des Deux Mondes_? It is founded upon the idea of transmigration, and especially upon the notion that the souls of those who have lived in former times reappear with their characteristic traits in the persons of new generations. If I adopted this notion I might believe that Hampden and Sidney live again in Bright and Cobden.

"A letter expressing the same general ideas as are contained in that addressed to you was lately sent by Mr. Bright to Mr. Aspinwall. This letter Mr. Aspinwall kindly enclosed to me, and I read it to the President. I had repeatedly said the same things to him, and was not sorry to have my representations unconsciously echoed by a liberal English statesman. The President said nothing, but I am sure he is more and more confirmed in the resolution to make the proclamation efficient as well after peace as during rebellion.

"My own efforts are constantly directed to this result. Almost daily I confer more or less fully with loyalists of the insurrectionary States, who almost unanimously concur in judgment with me that the only safe basis of permanent peace is reconstitution by recognition in the fundamental law of each State, through a convention of its loyal people, of the condition of universal freedom established by the proclamation. It was only yesterday that I had a full conversation with Governor Pierpont, of Virginia, and Judge Bowden, one of the United States Senators from that State, on this subject. Both these gentlemen agree in thinking that the President should revoke the exception of certain counties in southeastern Virginia from the operation of the proclamation, and that the Governor should call the Legislature together and recommend the assembling of a convention for the amendment of the existing constitution, and in expecting that the convention will propose an amendment prohibiting slavery. I think there is some reason to hope that the President may determine to revoke the exception, and more reason to hope that the convention will be failed and freedom established in Virginia through its agency.

"I do not know that you are perfectly familiar with the present condition of things in Virginia. Soon after the outbreak of the rebellion the loyal people of Virginia organized under the old constitution, through a Legislature at Wheeling, and subsequently, through a convention, consented to a division of the State by organizing the northwest portion as the State of West Virginia. If you look at the map you will see that the line forming the southern and eastern boundaries of this new State commences on the big fork of the Big Sandy, in the west line of McDowell County, and thence proceeds irregularly so as to include McDowell and Mercer counties, along the crest of the Alleghanies to Pendleton County, where it diverges to the Shenandoah Mountains and proceeds northeast to the Potomac River, at the northeast corner of Berkeley, including Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, and Berkeley counties. Congress consented to the admission of this State, and it is now in the Union, fully organized under a free-labor constitution. Its organization, of course, left the government of old Virginia in the hands of Governor Pierpont and his associates, by whom the seat of government has been established at Alexandria. At present only a comparatively narrow belt of counties from the Atlantic to the east line of Berkeley is practically controlled by the loyal State government, but the loyal men of these counties are recognized by the national government as the State, and as county after county is rescued from rebel control it will come naturally under this organization, until probably at no distant day Governor Pierpont will be acknowledged as the Governor of Virginia at Richmond. When this takes place, the State will be necessarily a free State, under a constitution prohibiting slavery. The loyal people of Florida are ready to take the same course which Governor Pierpont proposes to take in Virginia; and the same is true of the loyal people of Louisiana to a great extent. It will be found, doubtless, as the authority of the Union is re-established in other States included by the proclamation, that the same sentiments will prevail; so that it will be quite easy for the national government, if the President feels so disposed, to secure the recognition of the proclamation, and the permanent establishment of its policy, through the action of the people of the several States affected by it.

"In this way the great ends to be accomplished can be most certainly reached. My own efforts are constantly directed to their attainment, and I never admit in conversation or otherwise the possibility that the rebel States can _cease_ to be _rebel States_ and _become loyal_ members of the Union except through the recognition of the condition created by the proclamation, by the establishment of free institutions under slavery-prohibiting constitutions. I not only labor for these ends, but hope quite sanguinely that they will be secured.

"The public sentiment of the country has undergone a great change in reference to slavery. Strong emancipation parties exist in every slave State not affected by the proclamation, and a general conviction prevails that slavery cannot long survive the restoration of the republic. The proclamation, and such recognition of it as I have mentioned, will have finished it in the proclamation States. In the other States the people will finish it by their own action. I do not care to sketch the picture of the great and powerful nation which will then exhibit its strength in America. Your own foresight must have anticipated all I could say.

"The war moves too slow and costs too much; but it moves steadily, and rebellion falls before it. Our financial condition remains entirely sound. The new national banks are being organized as rapidly as prudence allows, and no doubt can, I think, be longer entertained that, whatever else may happen, we shall have gained, through the rebellion, an opportunity, not unimproved, of establishing a safe and uniform currency for the whole nation--a benefit in itself compensating in some degree, and in no small degree, for the evils we have endured. I trust you are succeeding well in your great scheme of the inter-continental telegraph. It is an enterprise worthy of this day of great things. If I had the wealth of an Astor you should not lack the means of construction.

Yours very truly, "S. P. CHASE. "CYRUS W. FIELD, Esq."

Mr. Chase's letter was shown to Mr. Gladstone eight months later, and he returned this reply:

"11 CARLTON HOUSE TERRACE, S. W., "_April 26, 1864_.

"_My dear Mr. Field_,--I return, with many thanks, these interesting letters: the one full of feeling, the other of important political anticipations.

"It is very good of you to send a letter of Mr. Chase's to me, who, I apprehend, must pass in the United States for no better than a confirmed heretic, though I have never opened my mouth in public about America except for the purposes of sympathy and what I thought friendship.

"I admit I cannot ask or expect you to take the same view on the other side of the water. Engaged in a desperate struggle, you may fairly regard as adverse all those who have anticipated an unfavorable issue, even although, like myself, they have ceased to indulge gratuitously in such predictions, when they have become aware that you resent, as you are entitled to judge the matter for yourselves. I cannot hope to stand well with Americans, much as I value their good opinions, unless and until the time shall come when they shall take the opposite view, retrospectively, of this war from that which they now hold. If that time ever comes, I shall then desire their favorable verdict, just as I now respectfully submit to their condemnation.

"What I know is this, that the enemies of America rejoice to see the two combatants exhaust themselves and one another in their gigantic and sanguinary strife.

"As respects Mr. Chase, he is, if I may say so, a brother in this craft; and I have often sympathized with his difficulties, and admired the great ability and ingenuity with which he appears to have steered his course.

"I remain, my dear sir, "Faithfully yours, "W. E. GLADSTONE."

The "letter full of feeling" to which Mr. Gladstone refers was an account sent to Mr. Field by his daughter Alice of a visit to the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac. On account of this reference, and also for its interest as a contemporaneous sketch of the war time by a non-combatant, it is here inserted:

"WASHINGTON, D. C., _February 25, 1864_.

"_My dear Mother_,--Since I last wrote I have been to the army front, passing on the way many of the battle-fields whose names bring up sad memories, and finally living for two nights and much of three days within view of the enemy's signals, and in the midst of our own encampments.... Early on Monday morning we found ourselves in the government train on the way to Brandeth Station. This is a five hours' journey from Washington, but the time could not have dragged with any one interested in the history of our country. We saw the battle-ground of Manasses; we crossed the Bull Run stream and the fields made memorable by Pope's disastrous campaign. Indeed, along the long line of the railway runs a battle-field--the "race-course," as an officer told me it was called, so often have our troops and the enemy's pursued each other there. Everywhere one sees the evidences of war; the whole country is desolated, and the earth ploughed by the tread of armies; broken earthworks border the brows of the hills, and wherever a camp is seen around it is a stockade or abatis to protect it from Mosby's guerillas, who infest this region.

"As we were whirled past these scenes, I listened to the talk of the officers about me, and expressions such as these made the story doubly real: "It was there the cavalry was attacked"; "The bridge we are now crossing was contested all day in the action of the other day"; "We held those hills where that body of artillery is now moving." So those five hours hurried away, and we did not wake up to the present until we reached Brandeth Station. Here stood lines of ambulances to receive the army's guests, and soon we were placed in an ambulance and jolted over corduroy roads to General ---- 's tent. After an hour's jolting we reached our first destination. The general's tent was one of a large encampment on a hill which commands a view of our fortifications all about the country and those of the rebels across the river, only four or five miles away.

"General ----, commander of the Third Brigade, Third Division, Second Corps, received us very courteously, and with him and three of the officers of his staff we lunched in the tent. This tent is charming. At one end blazes in a huge fireplace--open, of course--a bright wood fire: in the centre stands a table, over which hangs a chandelier holding three candles; on one side is the bed; and all about are army chairs.

"Our lunch, where the officers presided as hosts and waiters, consisted of ham sandwiches, pickles, jelly, ale, and tea. The three officers were our escorts to our quarters, which we found to be in the old Virginia manor Milton, owned and still inhabited by the well-known family of ----.

"They did not smile upon us at first, but we made a great effort to propitiate the two sad-looking Virginia ladies who received us. They both were in mourning for the son of one of them, who was killed during the Peninsula campaign--a rebel. Poor, poor fellow! We felt so much for these proud women, obliged to receive Northern strangers, and unable to conceal their fallen fortunes, that we did our best to heal their wounded self-love. After tea we dressed for the ball. I wore the blue tissue, the white lace waist, and a blue ribbon only in my hair.... Our three escorts arrived long before we were ready, but at last we were put again into our ambulance. Just fancy the strangeness of going to a ball in an ambulance, and the ball-room itself, indeed, was as odd a mingling of contrasts. It was an immense boarded room, with a pointed roof from which hung many flags and banners, most ragged and full of bullet-holes, some in ribbons; guns were stacked against the building, and these were draped with evergreens; on either side of the platform used by the band rested cannons pointed towards us; these were almost concealed by banners again. From this end of the room came excellent music all the evening.

"I was made quite happy by General Meade's condescension in speaking to me twice. We had four hours' sleep that night, or rather the next morning. The whole of Tuesday was given to a great review--that of the Second Corps. General Meade reviewed the troops. There were 7000 infantry and 3000 cavalry; these last were Kilpatrick's, and they showed us a cavalry charge; this was very exciting, and their shrieks in rushing upon the supposed enemy so overcame us that we clung to each other in terror. The day was more than May, it was June. Far away rose the Blue Ridge (well named, we thought), while all over the country in every direction were marching the infantry, or the artillery was rumbling, or the cavalry dashing about in the soft Virginia breezes. When General Meade reviewed the army, as he rode with his staff past each brigade the general and officers joined the cavalcade of the commander-in-chief, the band playing and colors flying and bayonets glistening, all in the bright sunlight of that perfect day. I cannot tell you how touching was the sight of those regiments that have been long in the service, and have but two or three hundred left. They march so firmly, carrying their torn banners, with the names of the battles in which they have fought written upon them.

"During the review we received an invitation from the general to dine with him, which we accepted. I must reserve a detailed account of this dinner for another letter.

"The next morning we bade good-bye to our friends, and returned to the restraints of city life."

It was during this year that Mr. Varley made the statement that when the cable was laid it would be possible to send through it eight words a minute, and possibly thirteen and a half words. This assertion called down upon him some criticism. On July 6, 1885, Mr. Field sent ninety-five words from London to the President of the United States at Washington in eighteen minutes. Ten minutes were required to send the message from Buckingham Palace Hotel to Throgmorton Street, and eight minutes from there to Washington.

When in London he was up by five o'clock, though out at dinner every night, and the servants at his hotel were known to say, "Mr. Field never goes to sleep." His work while on either side of the Atlantic was constant, and for that reason the long sea voyages proved a blessing. The first days after sailing he would sleep continuously, only getting up for his meals, and by so doing was rested and ready for any emergency or pleasure on landing.

Immediately upon his arrival in New York on September 23, 1863, he prepared to welcome Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne. A reception was given to Sir Alexander and Lady Milne by Mr. and Mrs. Field early in October, and the letter from Washington refers to that entertainment:

"TREASURY DEPARTMENT, _October 7, 1863_.

"_My dear Mr. Field_,--I am glad that you are doing your part towards making the stay of the naval officers of the _Good Queen_ in our metropolitan harbor agreeable to them. My faith is strong that the English government will yet see that the interests of mankind demand that there should be no alienation of the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon family from each other, and will do its part towards removing all causes of alienation by full reparation for the injuries inflicted on American commerce by unneutral acts of British subjects, known to and not prevented by the responsible authorities.

"That's a long sentence, but I believe it conveys my meaning. I am sorry I cannot accept the kind invitation of yourself and Mrs. Field (to whom please make my best regards acceptable) to meet these gallant officers.

"Yours, very truly, "S. P. CHASE."

The answer to this letter was written on October the 9th:

"I fully concur in every word you say in regard to the conduct of the British government towards us: and hope, with you, that they will see it is for our mutual interest, as well as for that of all mankind, that friendly feelings should always exist between 'the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon family.' Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne left for Washington this morning....

"I have been very glad to do everything in my power to make his visit to this city agreeable as possible, and I hope he will take away with him from our shores very pleasing impressions of them, and of the country and people."

The coming of the English fleet to New York had been the subject of discussion both in England and America; this command had been given to the admiral:

"The naval commander-in-chief on the North American and West India Station is especially directed by the eighth article of his instructions as follows:

"You are strictly to abstain from entering any port of the United States unless absolutely compelled to do so by the necessities of the service."

The order was not modified until the fall of 1863, when Admiral Milne sailed from Halifax in H.M.S. _Nile_, with the _Immortalité_, _Medea_, and _Nimble_ in company, and arrived off Sandy Hook early in October. To use his own words:

"On being visited by Mr. Archibald, Her Majesty's counsel, he informed me of the strong and unfriendly feeling which then existed against England in consequence of the building of the two ships of war in Liverpool for the Southern States, and from various other matters connected with the existing civil war, and that my reception would probably be unsatisfactory. This, however, was not the case; my visit was evidently acceptable, and proved most satisfactory, and I received every attention from the authorities, as well as private individuals, not only at New York, but also at Washington, as will be seen by the following correspondence:

"'WASHINGTON, _November 30, 1863_.

"'_Sir_,--Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne having reported to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty the great kindness and courtesy with which he was received at Washington by the President of the United States and the members of the Cabinet, I have been instructed to convey to the government of the United States the expression of the gratification which their lordships have felt at the courtesy and attention so handsomely shown to the vice-admiral.

"'I have, etc., "'LYONS.

"'The Hon. W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington.'

"'DEPARTMENT OF STATE, "'WASHINGTON, _December 3, 1863_.

"_'My dear Lord Lyons_,--I have made known to the President and to the heads of departments the agreeable communication you have made to me in regard to the reception of Vice-Admiral Milne on the occasion of his visit at this capital.

"'The just, liberal, and courteous conduct of the admiral in the performance of his duties while commanding H. M.'s naval forces in the vicinity of the United States was known to this government before his arrival, and it therefore afforded the President a special satisfaction to have an opportunity to extend to him an hospitable welcome.

"'I am, etc., "'W. H. SEWARD.

"'The LORD LYONS.'"

About this time there came unfavorable reports from England of the affairs of the telegraph company. The work then was at a standstill, and on November 20th Mr. Field wrote to Mr. Saward: "If you have new and formidable difficulties you must make the greater exertions." And on December 16th Mr. Saward wrote, urging him to come immediately to England.

On December 1, 1863, accordingly, he retired from business in New York, in order to devote his whole time to further the efforts then being made to lay a cable across the Atlantic, and on the 17th he gave up the building No. 57 Beekman Street, where his office had been for some years. His arrival in England early in January was reported in the London _Telegraphic Journal_ of February 6th in these words:

"The Atlantic telegraph project is again attracting public attention. Mr. Cyrus W. Field, one of the leading spirits of the undertaking, is again amongst us, full of hope and ready to embark once more in the gigantic enterprise."

Mr. John Bright said, in a speech made at a dinner given on the evening of April 15, 1864:

"Just before I came here I was speaking to a gentleman, a member of Her Majesty's government--one of the present Cabinet--and I told him, as I was coming out of the House, that I was going to dine with some friends of the Atlantic telegraph. His countenance at once brightened up, and he said to me: 'I look upon that as the most glorious thing that man ever attempted; there is nothing else which so excites my sympathies.' When he said that he spoke only the feelings of every intelligent and moral man in the whole world."

But to carry out "the most glorious thing that man ever attempted" there was endless work awaiting him, and what he accomplished in three months is best told by himself, and is made to read continuously, although, in fact, the words were spoken at different times on the evening just referred to; he failed to say that he was one of the ten men who each subscribed £10,000:

"When I arrived in this country in January last the Atlantic Telegraph Company trembled in the balance. We were in want of funds and were in negotiations with the government and making great exertions to raise the money. At this juncture I was introduced to a gentleman of great integrity and enterprise, who is well known, not only for his wealth, but for his foresight, and in attempting to enlist him in our cause he put me through such a cross-examination as I had never before experienced. I thought I was in the witness-box. He inquired of me the practicability of the scheme, what it would pay, and everything else connected with it, but before I left him I had the pleasure of hearing him say that it was a great national enterprise that ought to be carried out, and he added, 'I will be one of ten to find the money required for it.' From that day to this he has never hesitated about it, and when I mention his name you will know him as a man whose word is as good as his bond, and as for his bond there is no better in England. I give you 'The health of Thomas Brassey.' The words spoken by Mr. Brassey ... encouraged us all, and made us believe we should succeed in raising the necessary capital, and I then went to work to find nine other Thomas Brasseys (I did not know whether he was an Englishman, a Scotchman, or an Irishman, but I made up my mind that he combines all the good qualities of every one of them), and after considerable search I met with a rich friend from Manchester, and I asked him if he would second Mr. Brassey, and walked with him from 28 Pall Mall to the House of Commons, of which he is a member. Before we reached the House he expressed his willingness to do so to an equal amount. A few days after that it was thought there would be a great advantage arising out of the fusion of the Gutta-percha Company and Messrs. Glass, Elliott & Co. into a public telegraph construction and maintenance company, who would in that form be able, with advantages to themselves, to help forward the Atlantic telegraph. Mr. Pender then entered into it heart and soul, and we have now a list of eminent capitalists in the United Kingdom pledged to carry out that enterprise in the very best manner. I therefore feel we are deeply indebted to Mr. Brassey and Mr. Pender for the energetic way in which this matter has been taken up by them, and I am truly glad to see the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company established with the object and power of carrying forward the extension of telegraphic communication in all parts of the world.

"The _Great Eastern_ Ship Company have acted in the most liberal manner towards us, inasmuch as at present they are truly engaged in a labor of love. From this day to the 31st of December, 1865, we are to have the use of that magnificent vessel; and, if the cable be not successfully laid, we shall not have to pay a single shilling for the use of her. Should it be successful, we are then to hand to the directors of the _Great Eastern_ Ship Company £50,000 in shares. In all my business experience I have never known any offer more honorable. I wish to say that those of you who last honored me with your company at dinner in this house will recollect that on that occasion I proposed the health of Mr. George Peabody and his worthy partner, Mr. Morgan, and the latter replied to the sentiment. I had stated in the course of my remarks preliminary to the toast that when I called upon him in 1856 he gave the name of his house as subscribers for £10,000 of the company's stock. In reply to the toast, Mr. Morgan spoke of that £10,000 as lost money, but promised a further subscription, nevertheless, towards carrying out a new cable, and I am happy to say that yesterday he redeemed his promise. That statement that he lost his money is not strictly accurate. It is not lost. He knows where the cable is and can go and get it. The money has been sown, and the plant is already out of the ground, and is now growing up splendidly. It will soon be in flower--I mean at a premium--and then there will be in the office of Messrs. George Peabody & Co. more rejoicing over that £10,000 which was lost and is found than over any £99,000 of their profits that were never in danger. When I invited Mr. Morgan here this evening, he consented to come upon the express condition that he should not have to reply to any toast or make a speech. I will therefore give you a sentiment, which, remember, he is on no account to reply to; but I hope you have all, by this time, drunk enough wine to enable you to imagine what he would say in reply to it if he were under any obligation to respond. I ask you, then, to drink success to the house of Messrs. George Peabody & Co."

Before his friends left him, he said:

"My stay in England is now drawing to a close, and never before when about to embark for America did I feel more satisfied and rejoiced at the position of our great undertaking; but with all this a feeling of sadness at times steals over me. It seems to me in those moments very doubtful whether many of us will ever meet again. What little I could do has been done, and the enterprise is now in the hands of the contractors, who, I am sure, will carry it out to a triumphant success. It will do much to bind together England and America, and base, indeed, will be the man, to whatever country he may belong, that may dare, with an unhallowed tongue or venomous pen, to sow discord among those who speak the same language and profess the same religion, and who ought to be on terms of the completest friendship. I shall leave in a few days for my native land, for I think it wrong on the part of any American to be away in the hour of peril to his country, unless it be on a mission of peace; his place is otherwise at home at such a moment. I will say, however, that if anyone here present should come to see us in America, he will receive a hearty welcome from me, at all events."

The importance attached by his colleagues in the great enterprise to Mr. Field's presence and personal participation in the task has often been made evident in these pages, and it is explicitly set forth in the following letter received by Mr. Field at a time when he considered that his duty to his family might require his immediate return to America:

"78, THE GROVE, CAMBERWELL, S., "_23d February, 1864._

"_My dear Sir_,--Before you finally decide on leaving England let me beg of you, in behalf of the great work for which you have already made so many sacrifices, and also in regard to your large pecuniary interest therein, to carefully consider the consequence of prematurely going away. You will recollect that on both of the two last occasions when you were good enough to cross the Atlantic on this business, I strongly urged you to remain until all the various matters preliminary to a fair start with the manufacture of the cable were concluded and the necessary arrangements finally settled; and had not your most natural anxiety to be again among your family prevailed, I do think you might have been spared at least your last voyage.

"On the present occasion the undertaking has been benefited very greatly by your presence, and the contracts now about to be entered into are in their present position mainly on account of your exertions. But they are not _completed_. Even if accepted to-day there will be a great many points, when they come to be arranged in a legal form, which I shall have to battle with the contractors and others, and in doing which your aid will be most invaluable to me. There are also arrangements to be made for securing the regular and proper progress of the work, so as to give security that nothing is neglected that will secure the success of the cable in 1865, and I feel that if you remain I shall have security for getting them into proper position. I therefore on every ground ask you not to leave us until you have seen with your own eyes the cable actually commenced and everything organized for its due continuance. You can then leave with a comfortable assurance that all will go well.

"I know how hard all this is for Mrs. Field, and you, who know how much I love my own home, will, I am sure, believe me when I say how much I sympathize with you and her in the sacrifices involved in these continual separations; but it must be borne in mind that you have been marked out by the Ruler of all things as the apostle of this great movement, and this is a high mission and a noble distinction, in which I am sure Mrs. Field herself would deeply regret that you should come short of success, independently altogether of the very large results to herself and family from the pecuniary success or failure of the undertaking, all concerned in which have hitherto been compelled to make greater or smaller sacrifices in its behalf.

"I leave this for your consideration, having felt it a duty to say thus much to you in my private capacity upon what I consider a most important subject.

"I am, very dear sir, "Very truly yours, "GEORGE SAWARD].

"CYRUS W. FIELD, Esquire, Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate."

At the end of the report made to the shareholders of the Atlantic Telegraph Company on March 16th, the Right Hon. James Stuart Wortley said:

"Without saying anything to detract from my deep source of gratitude to the other directors, I cannot help especially alluding to Mr. Cyrus Field, who is present to-day, and who has crossed the Atlantic thirty-one times in the service of this company, having celebrated at his table yesterday the anniversary of the tenth year of the day when he first left Boston in the service of the company. Collected round his table last night was a company of distinguished men--members of Parliament, great capitalists, distinguished merchants and manufacturers, engineers, and men of science--such as is rarely found together, even in the highest home in this great metropolis. It was very agreeable to see an American citizen so surrounded. To me it was so personally, as it would have been to you, and it was still more gratifying inasmuch as we were there to celebrate the approaching accomplishment of the Atlantic telegraph."

And at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company on May 4th, it was unanimously resolved, on the motion of Mr. Lampson:

"That the sincere thanks of this board be given to Mr. Cyrus W. Field for his untiring energy in promoting the general interests of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, and especially for his valuable and successful exertions during his present visit to Great Britain in reference to the restoration of its financial position and prospects of complete success."

His friend of many years wrote:

"HOUSE OF COMMONS, _27th April, 1864_.

"_My dear Mr. Field,_--I am obliged, I am sorry to say, by the state of my health to deny myself the pleasure of accompanying you to-morrow to witness the process in connection with the great project for bringing the two worlds into instantaneous communication--a project with which your name will be always associated. I hope to have the pleasure of again shaking hands with you before you leave us. If not, I shall look forward to the gratification of welcoming you on the triumph of the Atlantic telegraph.

"With my best wishes for your welfare,

"I remain "Sincerely yours, "RICHARD COBDEN."

March 3d his name appears on the list of those who attended the meeting at the London Tavern, when an "organization was formed of Americans in the United Kingdom as an auxiliary to the United States Sanitary Commission. One of the contributions that he received was one thousand tons of coal from Mr. (now Sir George) Elliot. He sailed for home on May 7th, and on the 26th of the same month the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company passed this resolution:

"That this company tender to Mr. Cyrus W. Field their sincere thanks for the untiring perseverance, industry, and skill with which he has labored gratuitously for over ten years to promote the interests of this company, and to secure the successful laying of a submarine cable from Newfoundland to Ireland. And we hereby express our conviction that to him is due the credit, and to him this company and the world will be indebted, for the successful laying of the same."

August, 1864, was passed in Newfoundland, and it was at this time that he chose the landing-place for the new cable. "The little harbor in Newfoundland that bears the gentle name of Heart's Content is a sheltered nook where ships may ride at anchor, safe from the storms of the ocean. It is but an inlet from that great arm of the sea known as Trinity Bay, which is sixty or seventy miles long and twenty miles broad. On the beach is a small village of some sixty houses, most of which are the humble dwellings of those hardy men who vex the northern seas with their fisheries. The place was never heard of outside of Newfoundland till 1864, when Mr. Field, sailing up Trinity Bay in the surveyors steamer _Margaretta Stevenson_, Captain Orlebar, R.N., in search of a place for the landing of the ocean cable, fixed upon this secluded spot. The old landing of 1858 was at the Bay of Bull's Arm, at the head of Trinity Bay, twenty miles above. Heart's Content was chosen now because its waters are still and deep, so that a cable skirting the north side of the banks of Newfoundland can be brought in deep water almost till it touches the shore. All around the land rises to pine-crested heights."

This is from a letter written to Mr. Saward on October the 10th:

"Since my return home in May last I have been doing my utmost to carry out the wishes of the directors and yourself in regard to the control of the lines between Port Hood, New York, and Montreal, with separate offices at Port Hood, Halifax, St. John's, N. B., Boston, Quebec, Montreal, and New York, for the Atlantic telegraph, and the best place for landing the cable in Newfoundland. To accomplish these two objects I have seen almost all of the persons who control the principal telegraph lines in America, and have visited Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Poughkeepsie, Boston, and Portland in the United States; St. John's and Fredericton in New Brunswick; Charlottetown in Prince Edward's Island; Truro and Halifax in Nova Scotia; Port Hood and Sydney in Cape Breton; St. John's and Trinity and Placentia bays in Newfoundland; Quebec and Montreal in Canada, and have travelled over sixty-three hundred miles, viz.:

"By railway, over 3280 miles. "By steamers, over 2400 miles. "By open wagon, over 500 miles. "By stage-coach, over 150 miles. "By fishing-boats, about 100 miles."

And on October 24th:

"I can hardly keep the business of the Atlantic Telegraph Company out of my mind for a single moment."

The future captain of the _Great Eastern_ wrote:

"R.M.S.S. 'EUROPA,' _October 25, 1864_.

"CYRUS W. FIELD, Esq.:

"_My dear Sir_,--I am in receipt of your favor of the 24th inst., for which I thank you. So far as it has gone you have paid me a very high compliment. I have been afraid at times that you may have thought me lukewarm upon the subject of commanding the _Great Eastern_, and am desirous you should understand that I have restrained my enthusiasm because I have not thought it likely I should be chosen, and that, after all, it might be only your partiality for me.

"I would not have been surprised if, after consulting with Mr. Cunard, your letter to me had alluded to the propriety of my giving it no more heed. It is so difficult to know what estimate other people may have formed of one's capacity for any considerable effort--small things often give a strong bias--and he might have suggested some other man to you as more likely than I.

"I am, besides, still of opinion that the applicants for the honor will be so numerous, and apparently so eligible, that the majority of the directors will prefer a man over whom they will like to feel that they have the greatest possible control. It will probably appear objectionable to employ a man who felt himself the servant of another company, and who, for anything they could tell, might become ridiculously elated with the preference shown to him.

"I feel these are objections that will be advanced, because were I director I should urge them myself until well assured of fair reasons for abandoning them.

"You do, however, want a man who is familiar with the Atlantic--its fogs, ice and method of its gales--and, above all, one who will devote himself to working with the engineers of the cable, who, after all, _must be_ obeyed. Any fellow who shows signs of advancing his own whims in opposition to theirs must be thrown overboard. No want of harmony should interfere with so great a scheme.

"I would recommend that whoever you may put in command should be sent to have a look at the locality and neighboring coast where the cable is to be landed. This may prove of vital importance should the coast be approached in the summer fogs or haze.

"I hope you will understand from this that I fairly covet the distinction, yet could not wisely leave so fine a service for anything so indefinite as the command of the _Great Eastern_ may prove to be. Should I be chosen for the temporary command, I would, for my own reputation, and in my friendship for you, bend all my energies to insure success to so grand an international scheme.

"I know Professor Bache very well. Admiral Dupont, General Doyle, Agassiz, Pierce, and others dine with me to-day. I know Bache so much that I think nothing too good for him. The United States coast survey is a monument to his fame that can never die or become useless, and I think its accuracy is unquestionable.

"With renewed thanks for your interest in me, and every kind wish to you and yours,

"I remain "Yours very truly, "JAMES ANDERSON.

"P. S.--I think I resume command of the _China_ again on my return, but do not yet know."

For the account of a dinner given by Mr. Field on the evening of December 12th in this year we are indebted to the _Life of General John A. Dix_:

"On the ---- of December, 1864, while in command of the Department of the East, I was dining at the house of Mr. Cyrus W. Field with a party of ladies and gentlemen. Lord Lyons, the British Minister, sat on Mrs. Field's right hand, and my seat was next to his. When the dinner had been a short time in progress a telegraphic despatch was brought to me at the table informing me that a party of secessionists from Canada had taken possession of the village of St. Albans, in Vermont, and were plundering it. Informing Mr. and Mrs. Field that I had received a communication which demanded my personal attention, I left the table, promising to return as soon as possible. I immediately went to my headquarters, and telegraphed to the commanding officer at Burlington--the nearest military station--ordering him to send the forces at his disposal to St. Albans with the utmost despatch, and, if the marauders were still there, to capture them if possible. I instructed him also that if he came in sight of them and they crossed the Canada line while he was in pursuit, to follow them.

"After giving these orders I returned to the dinner-table, and, having resumed my seat, told Lord Lyons that I had been called away by a very unpleasant summons, and informed him what I had heard from St. Albans and what order I had given."

This dinner was referred to by Mr. Field, and he has said that when General Dix told him of his order he exclaimed, "That means war." He was persuaded that had it not been that Lord Lyons and General Dix were together this evening when the news of the invasion was received serious trouble might have arisen between the two countries. Before the evening was over the general and the minister had had a long talk, and later General Dix modified his order, so far as it related to the pursuit of the invaders into Canadian territory.