Cyrus W. Field, His Life and Work [1819-1892]

CHAPTER VII

Chapter 99,831 wordsPublic domain

A FLEETING TRIUMPH

(1858)

In the fall of 1857 the directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, realizing that it would be to their advantage to have Mr. Field take general charge and supervision of all the arrangements and preparations for the next laying of the cable, sent him an earnest request to come to England. It was in response to this that he sailed on the 6th of January, 1858, in the steamship _Persia_, arriving in England on the 16th. On the 27th the company passed resolutions offering him one thousand pounds besides his travelling expenses. This he declined, accepting only his expenses.

At a meeting of the board on the 18th of February the following resolution was passed; it was offered by Mr. Samuel Gurney:

"That the warm and hearty thanks of this company be tendered to Mr. Cyrus W. Field, of New York, for the great services he has rendered to the Atlantic Telegraph Company, his untiring zeal, energy, and devotion from its first formation, and for the great personal talent which he has ever displayed and exerted to the utmost in the advancement of its interests."

In seconding this resolution, which was unanimously passed, Mr. Brooking told from his own knowledge of what "Mr. Field's most determined perseverance, coupled with an amount of fortitude that has seldom been equalled," had done for the company in Newfoundland in securing to it the exclusive right to land on the shores of that island.

The report ends with these words:

"The directors cannot close their observations to the shareholders without bearing their warm and cordial testimony to the untiring zeal, talent, and energy that have been displayed on behalf of this enterprise by Mr. Cyrus W. Field, of New York, to whom mainly belongs the honor of having practically developed the possibility and of having brought together the material means for carrying out the great idea of connecting Europe and America by a submarine telegraph.

"He has crossed the Atlantic Ocean no less than six times since December, 1856, for the sole purpose of rendering most valuable aid to this undertaking. He has also visited the British North American colonies on several occasions, and obtained concessions and advantages that are highly appreciated by the directors, and he has successfully supported the efforts of the directors in obtaining an annual subsidy for twenty-five years from the government of the United States of America, the grant of the use of their national ships in assisting to lay the cable in 1857, and also to assist in the same service this year, and his constant and assiduous attention to everything that could contribute to the welfare of the company from its first formation has materially contributed to promote many of its most necessary and important arrangements. He is now again in England, his energy and confidence in the undertaking entirely unabated; and, at the earnest request of the board, he has consented to remain in this country for the purpose of affording to the directors the benefit of his great experience and judgment as general manager of the business of the company connected with the next expedition.

"This arrangement will doubtless prove as pleasing to the shareholders as it is agreeable and satisfactory to the directors.

"By order of the directors. "GEORGE SAWARD, Secretary."

His friend and pastor, the Rev. William Adams, D.D., wrote to him on the 10th of March:

"_My dear Friend_,--I do not know whether your homeward thoughts ever include your minister, but mine very frequently traverse the sea towards you and your noble enterprise.... We have all watched with great interest the noble bearing of your good wife in all the sacrifices which she makes for you and the cause you so gallantly represent. These are things not so much thought of by the great world; but after all they are the chief elements in that great price which we are compelled to pay for everything good and great....

"The _Niagara_ has sailed, and now all eyes are on you and on her. By-the-way, we all made a visit to the noble ship a week ago, and filled her full with a cargo of blessings and good wishes....

"We watch the papers with great interest to find anything which bears on the success of your undertaking; and feel a personal and national pride at every mention which reflects honor on you and your laudable exertions....

"With every good wish for you personally and for your great undertaking, I am,

"Yours very sincerely, "W. ADAMS."

The difficulties encountered by the Newfoundland and the Atlantic Cable Companies will be best understood by giving part of a letter from Mr. (later known as Sir) Edward Archibald:

"NEW YORK, _March 30, 1858_.

"_My dear Mr. Field_,--I am in receipt of yours of the 11th. I did not write you by last mail, as I had no further intelligence to communicate.

"Since I last wrote Hyde has been here and returned again to Nova Scotia. I conferred with him, and have been in correspondence with our friends at Halifax as to what was best to be done to avert the threatened loss of our exclusive privileges; for the bill is not _finally_ disallowed, and I do think that if a deputation of your directors waited on Lord Stanley and brought the matter under the reconsideration of Her Majesty's government we might yet succeed in inducing them to confirm the act. The ground on which I based our claim to the exclusive right in Nova Scotia was that our project, being in the nature of an _invention_ (for its practicability is not yet fully tested), an invention of a most costly nature, in perfecting which an expenditure exceeding perhaps twice or thrice the _estimated_ cost might have to be incurred, we were justly entitled to such protection in the nature of a patent right, for a limited period, as would secure to us the reimbursement of the outlay and a fair remuneration for risk incurred, and that others who might lie by until we had, after repeated failures, achieved success, ought not (availing themselves of all our experience and expenditure) to be allowed _for a certain period_ to come into competition with us. Such a privilege as this, moreover, could not be abused, inasmuch as the public who are to use the telegraph (represented by the governments of Great Britain and the United States) reserve to themselves the right to regulate the tolls.

"A telegraph under the Atlantic Ocean is vastly different from a submarine telegraph between England and the Continent. It is _in effect_ an invention (if it succeeds) and entitled to the same protection, at least, as would be granted to the invention of a new mode of propelling ships, or as is granted every day to the fabrication of such trifles as patent boot-jacks or corkscrews.

"I really think that, as there is a _locus penitentiæ_ and a new administration, it may be well to have an interview with the colonial secretary on the subject....

"My wife and family are fairly well. They unite in kind regards to you and ardent wishes for your success.

"Most truly yours, "E. M. ARCHIBALD."

This subject seems to have been often agitated during the years that follow. On April 25th, 1862, Mr. Field writes to Mr. Saward:

"Allow me to introduce to you my esteemed friend, E. M. Archibald, Esq., H.M. consul for New York. Mr. Archibald was one of the earliest, and has proved himself one of the best friends of the Atlantic telegraph.... Mr. Archibald can give you much valuable information in regard to Newfoundland and all the British North American provinces, and be of great service to you in your negotiations with the English government.

"Mr. Jesse Hoyt telegraphs me from Halifax that fifty memorials to Lord Palmerston in favor of government giving aid to the Atlantic Telegraph Company have already been forwarded from Nova Scotia, and that more will go. I have been writing yesterday and to-day to my friends in Canada, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, urging them to get up and send petitions to the English government in our favor.... We can and we will succeed in connecting Ireland and Newfoundland by means of a good submarine telegraph cable."

Shortly after the United States frigate _Niagara_ sailed for England a New York paper published this short notice:

"She goes not to assist in the assertion of resisted claims, in the vindication of outraged rights. Her task is a more peaceful and a more glorious one. She leaves our shores on a mission of fraternity and good-will--the harbinger of union and brotherhood amongst nations, and one of the chief agents in an enterprise which is destined to do more towards the realization of a millennium of love amongst men than the efforts of all the diplomatists and missionaries are ever likely to accomplish."

April and part of May were spent in preparation and putting the cable on board the two ships. On May 29th the fleet left for a trial trip in the Bay of Biscay, and on the 10th of June set sail from Plymouth to meet again in mid-ocean.

On November 1, 1856, Mr. Field had suggested:

"The two ends of the cable having been carefully joined together, the vessels will start in opposite directions, one towards Ireland and the other towards Newfoundland, uncoiling the cable and exchanging signals through it from ship to ship as they proceed. By this means the period ordinarily required for traversing the distance between the two coasts will be lessened by one-half, each vessel having only to cover eight hundred and twenty nautical miles in order to finish the task assigned to it. It is expected that the operation of laying the cable will be completed in about eight days from the time of its commencement."

On Friday the 25th of June, after encountering gales that at one time amounted almost to a cyclone, the two ships came together at their strange trysting place; but the splice was not made nor the parting said until the afternoon of Saturday, July 26th. In making a splice the ships were connected by a hawser and lay one hundred fathoms apart; the time required for the work was usually two hours.

Three miles only were laid when the cable caught in the machinery of the _Niagara_ and broke; a new splice was made, and again the ships parted. Then forty miles were laid and the cable became suddenly lifeless and was reported broken. On Monday, June 28th, the ships met for the third time in mid-ocean, and without waiting for any useless discussion they spliced the cable and once more set sail.

One hundred, two hundred miles of cable went safely down into the sea, when again came a break, this time twenty feet from the stern of the _Agamemnon_. It had been agreed that if after a hundred miles had been paid out a new mishap should occur, no further splice should be made, but that both ships should go back to Ireland; and without loss of time the _Niagara_ turned her head to the east and arrived at Valentia on July 5th. This agreement had been made on June 28th, and it was a formal one, and was on account of the small amount of coal carried by the _Agamemnon_.

The Board of Directors met in London, and word was sent to Ireland that it was proposed to "abandon the enterprise." A meeting was called for July 12th; Mr. Brown (afterwards Sir William), of Liverpool, would not attend, and sent this note:

"TRENTON'S HOTEL, _July 12, 1858_.

"_Dear Sir_,--We must all deeply regret our misfortune in not being able to lay the cable. I think there is nothing to be done but to dispose of what is left on the best terms we can.

"Yours very truly, "WM. BROWN.

"The Committee of the Atlantic Telegraph, Broad Street."

Mr. Brooking, who had so warmly upheld Mr. Field at the meeting in February, resigned his office as vice-chairman, and left the room rather than listen to the request that another attempt be made. But the counsel of the majority prevailed, and on the 17th of July, without a parting cheer or a word of encouragement from those on shore, the expedition left Ireland.

On Thursday, July 29th, in latitude 52°9' north, longitude 32°27' west, with a cloudy sky and a southeast wind, the splice was made at one P.M., and perfect signals passed through the whole length of the cable.

Five weeks later Mr. Field described this scene just before the splice was made:

"I was standing on the deck of the _Niagara_ in mid-ocean. The day was cold and cheerless, the air was misty, and the wind roughened the sea; and when I thought of all that we had passed through, of the hopes thus far disappointed, of the friends saddened by our reverses, of the few that remained to sustain us, I felt a load at my heart almost too heavy to bear, though my confidence was firm and my determination fixed."

On the evening of the 29th the _Niagara_ was fairly under way, and already the 5th of August was the day determined upon for her arrival at Trinity Bay. Signals alone were used; they were constantly passed from ship to ship, and were understood by the electricians on board. The expression "the continuity is perfect" relieved the minds of the officers and those interested in the enterprise, but not the sailors. The _Herald's_ special correspondent tells of this conversation:

"'Darn the continuity,' said an old sailor at the end of a scientific but rather foggy discussion which a number of his messmates had on the subject--'darn the continuity; I wish they would get rid of it altogether. It has caused a darned sight more trouble than the hull thing is worth. I say they ought to do without it and let it go. I believe they'd get the cable down if they didn't pay any attention to it. You see,' he went on, 'I was on the last exhibition' (expedition, he meant, but it was all the same, his messmates did not misapprehend his meaning), 'and I thought I'd never hear the end of it. They were always talking about it, and one night when we were out last year it was gone for two hours, and we thought that was the end of the affair and we would never hear of it again. But it came back, and soon after the cable busted. Now, I tell you what, men, I'll never forget the night, I tell ye! We all felt we had lost our best friend, and I never heard the word continuity or contiguity mentioned but I was always afraid something was going to happen. And that's a fact.'"

At twenty-one minutes past two on the afternoon of July 30th the _Agamemnon_ signalled that she had passed her one-hundred-and-fifty-mile limit, and at twenty-four minutes of three the same was reported on the _Niagara_. After this there could be no return for another splice; it must be either Trinity Bay or Valentia for the _Niagara_. A new complication was reported. The compasses were playing false. So soon as the _Gorgon_ was told of this she offered to pilot the _Niagara_, and she did so unfalteringly to the end, Captain Dayman remaining day and night on deck.

At half-past five o'clock on the afternoon of July 31st the forward coil of cables on the main deck was exhausted and the coil below was attached. The quiet was intense while this change was made. Only Mr. Everett, the chief engineer, was heard to speak.

At other times it was not so: games were played, sales of stocks were made, and the telegraph stock rose and fell, varying with the reports received from the electrician's room. At seven A.M. on the morning of Wednesday, August 4th, came the glad cry, "Land ho!" and at half-past two in the afternoon the ships entered the "haven where they would be."

That evening at eight Mr. Field left the _Niagara_ to make arrangements for the landing that was to take place the next day. At half-past two on the morning of August 5th he waked the sleeping operators waiting in the telegraph-house, Bay of Bull's Arms, with the words, "The cable is laid." This at first the men were unwilling to believe, but when they saw the lights on the vessels in the distance they dressed and came back with him to the shore, and two walked fifteen miles with the messages that were to be telegraphed to the unbelieving world.

The paying out of the cable from the two ships had been carried on with such regularity that the one arrived at Valentia and the other at Trinity Bay on the same day; by noon on the 5th of August this country was plunged into the wildest excitement.

These messages were sent to his wife and to his father:

"TRINITY BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND, _August 5, 1858_.

"Mrs. CYRUS W. FIELD, 84 East Twenty-first Street, New York:

"Arrived here yesterday. All well. The Atlantic telegraph cable successfully laid. Please telegraph me here immediately.

CYRUS W. FIELD."

"Rev. Dr. FIELD, Stockbridge, Mass., _via_ Pittsfield:

"Cable successfully laid. All well.

"CYRUS W. FIELD."

It may interest some readers to follow this message to Stockbridge and see his family at the time of its delivery. His wife and children were passing the afternoon quietly, when all were startled by the appearance of his mother. Almost breathless with excitement she exclaimed,

"Mary, the cable is laid. Thomas, believest thou this?"

Not a word was spoken, but a silent prayer was the response.

"To CYRUS W. FIELD:

"Your family is all at Stockbridge and well. The joyful news arrived there Thursday, and almost overwhelmed your wife. Father rejoiced like a boy. Mother was wild with delight. Brothers, sisters, all were overjoyed. Bells were rung, guns fired; children, let out of school, shouted, 'The cable is laid! the cable is laid!' The village was in a tumult of joy. My dear brother, I congratulate you. God bless you.

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD."

The _Evening Post_ announced:

SUCCESS OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE.

ARRIVAL OF THE _NIAGARA_ AND _GORGON_ AT TRINITY BAY.

1950 STATUTE MILES LONG.

NOT A SINGLE BREAK!

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE IS LANDING.

And its leading editorial of the same day said:

"Such is the startling intelligence which reaches us just as we are going to press. We find it difficult to believe the report, for recent events have prepared us for a very different result, and yet the despatch comes to us through our regular agent, who would not deceive us. He may have been imposed upon, but that is quite unlikely. If the few coming hours shall confirm the inspiring tidings and the cable is landed and in working condition, all other events that may happen through the world on this day will be trifles.

"To-morrow the hearts of the civilized world will beat to a single pulse, and from that time forth forevermore the continental divisions of the earth will in a measure lose those conditions of time and distance which now mark their relations one to the other. But such an event, like a dispensation of Providence, should be first contemplated in silence."

The message for the Associated Press was:

"TRINITY BAY, _August 5, 1858_.

"The Atlantic telegraph fleet sailed from Queenstown on Saturday, July 17th.

"They met in mid-ocean on Wednesday, the 28th, and made the splice at 1 P.M. on Thursday, the 29th. They then separated, the _Agamemnon_ and _Valorous_ bound to Valentia, Ireland, and the _Niagara_ and _Gorgon_ for this place, where they arrived yesterday.

"This morning the end of the cable will be landed.

"It is sixteen hundred and ninety-eight nautical or nineteen hundred and fifty statute miles from the telegraph-house at the head of Valentia Harbor to the telegraph-house, Bay of Bull's Arms, Trinity Bay.

"For more than two-thirds of the distance the water is over two miles in depth.

"The cable has been paid out from the _Agamemnon_ at about the same speed as from the _Niagara_. The electrical signals sent and received through the whole cable are perfect. The machinery for paying out the cable worked in the most satisfactory manner, and was not stopped for a single moment from the time the splice was made until we arrived here.

"Captain Hudson, Messrs. Everett and Woodhouse, the engineers, the electricians and officers of the ships, and in fact every man on board the telegraph fleet has exerted himself to the utmost to make the expedition successful. By the blessing of Divine Providence it has succeeded.

"After the end of the cable is landed and connected with the land line of telegraph, and the _Niagara_ has discharged some cargo belonging to the telegraph company, she will go to St. John's for coals, and then proceed at once to New York.

CYRUS W. FIELD."

Next in order were the message to President Buchanan and his reply:

"U.S.S.F. 'NIAGARA,' "TRINITY BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND, _August 5, 1858_.

"To the President of the United States, Washington, D.C.:

"_Dear Sir_,--The Atlantic telegraph cable on board the U.S.S.F. _Niagara_ and H.M. steamer _Agamemnon_ was joined in mid-ocean, Thursday, July 29th, and has been successfully laid.

"As soon as the two ends are connected with the land lines Queen Victoria will send a message to you, and the cable will be kept free until after your reply has been transmitted.

"With great respect, I remain, "Your obedient servant, "CYRUS W. FIELD."

"BEDFORD SPRINGS, PA., _August 6, 1858_.

"To CYRUS W. FIELD, Esq., Trinity Bay:

"_My dear Sir_,--I congratulate you with all my heart upon the success of the great enterprise with which your name is so honorably connected.

"Under the blessing of Divine Providence I trust it may prove instrumental in promoting perpetual peace and friendship between kings and nations. I have not yet received the Queen's despatch.

"Yours very respectfully, "JAMES BUCHANAN."

Captain Hudson's telegram is given as it was written; it shows his simplicity of character and warm heart:

"U. S. STEAM FRIGATE 'NIAGARA,' "BAY OF BULL'S ARMS, "TRINITY BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND, _August 5, 1858_.

"_My dear Eliza_,--God has been with us. The telegraphic cable is laid without accident, and to Him be all the glory.

"We are all well.

"Your ever-affectionate husband, "WM. L. HUDSON.

"Mrs. Captain WM. L. HUDSON, Mansion House, Brooklyn, New York."

Mr. Saward wrote from England immediately on the receipt of the news:

"ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY, "22 OLD BROAD STREET, LONDON, _August 6, 1858_.

"_My dear Sir_,--At last the great work is done. I rejoice at it for the sake of humanity at large. I rejoice at it for the sake of our common nationalities, and last, but not least, for your personal sake I most heartily and sincerely rejoice with you, and congratulate you upon this happy termination to the fearful anxiety, the continuous and oppressive labor, and the never-ceasing, sleepless energy which the successful accomplishment of this vast and noble enterprise has entailed on you. Never was man more devoted, never did man's energies better deserve success than yours have done. May you in the bosom of your family reap those rewards of repose and affection which will be doubly sweet from the reflection that you return to them after having been (under Providence) the main and leading principle in conferring a vast and enduring benefit on mankind.

"If the contemplation of future fame has a charm for you, you may well indulge in the reflection, for the name of Cyrus Field will now go onward to immortality as long as that of the Atlantic telegraph shall be known to mankind.

"It has been such a shock to us here that we have hardly realized it at present.

"I really think some of the people who come here don't believe it yet....

"In haste, yours truly, "GEORGE SAWARD.

"CYRUS W. FIELD, Esq., Gramercy Park, New York."

Dr. Adams wrote:

"MEDFORD, _August 7, 1858_.

"_My dear Mrs. Field_,--What shall I say to you? Words can give no idea of my enthusiasm. As your pastor I have known somewhat of your own private griefs and trials, and the sacrifices which you have made for the success of your noble husband. Now the hour of reward and coronation has come for him and for you. I wrote to him yesterday, directing to New York, to be ready for him when he came. I was at Andover when the news came, in company with several hundred clergymen. We cheered, and we sang praises to God. I was so glad that your husband inserted in his first despatch a recognition of Divine Providence in his success.

"I sprang to my feet; I told the company that I was the pastor of Mr. Field, and that the last thing which he had said to me before starting was in request that we should _pray for him_; and then I had an opportunity to pay a tribute to his perseverance, his energy, and his genius, which I did, you may be sure, in no measured terms.

"Many doubted the truth of the news. I hastened to Boston, and saw the superintendent of the telegraph wire, who told me the despatches had passed from Mr. Field to you and to your father. This satisfied me that all was right....

"We think of nothing else and speak of nothing else. While the _public_ are rejoicing over the national aspects of this great success, our joyful thoughts are most of all with those private delights which are playing through the heart of your husband, his wife, and her children.

"Tell Grace that I wish I had been with the boys when they ran to ring the bell. I would have swung it lustily, and thrown up my hat with them, as happy a boy as the best of them.

"Please tell your good father and mother that they are not forgotten by me in this general rejoicing. Your husband's name will live in universal honor and gratitude. God bless you and yours in all times and in all ways; so prays

"Your affectionate friend and pastor, "W. ADAMS.

"A letter I have just received from Professor Smith, in New York, says: 'Genius has again triumphed over Science in the success of the Telegraph.'"

These extracts are made from a speech delivered at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, New York, on the evening of August 9th, by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. This meeting was said to have been the first public celebration of the laying of the cable across the Atlantic:

" ...We are gathered to express our joy at the apparent consummation of one of those enterprises which are peculiar, I had almost said to our generation--certainly to the century in which we live. Do you reflect that there are men among you to-night, men here, who lived and were not very young before there was a steamboat on our waters? Ever since I can remember steamboats have always been at hand. There are men here who lived before they beat the waters with their wheels. And since my day railroads have been invented. I remember the first one on this land very distinctly. It was after I had graduated from college, and I am not a patriarch yet. It is within our remembrance that the telegraph itself was invented, and by a mere citizen of ours in this vicinity. All these pre-eminent methods of civilization and commerce and economy have been within the remembrance of young men--all but one within the remembrance of quite young men. Now this is not so much an invention as an enlarged application....

"I thought all the way in riding down here to-night how strange it will seem to have that silent cord lying in the sea, perfectly noiseless, perfectly undisturbed by war or by storm, by the paddles of steamers, by the thunders of navies above it, far down beyond all anchors' reach, beyond all plumbing interference. There will be earthquakes that will shake the other world, and the tidings of them will come under the silent sea, and we shall know them upon the hither side, but the cord will be undisturbed, though it bears earthquakes to us. Markets will go up and fortunes will be made down in the depths of the sea. The silent highway will carry it without noise to us. Fortunes will go down and bankruptcies spread dismay, and the silent road will bear this message without a jar and without disturbance. Without voice or speech it will communicate thunders and earthquakes and tidings of war and revolutions, and all those things that fill the air with clamor. They will come quick as thought from the scene of their first fever and excitement, flash quick as thought and silent on their passage, and then break out on this side with fresh tremor and anxiety. To me the functions of that wire seem, in some sense, sublime. Itself impassive, quiet, still, moving either hemisphere at its extremities by the tidings that are to issue out from it....

"We are called, and shall be increasingly so, to mark the advantages which are to be derived from the connection of these continents by this telegraphic wire. To my mind the prominent advantage is this: it is bringing mankind close together, it is bringing nations nearer together. And I augur the best results to humanity from this. The more intercourse nations have with each other, other things being equal, the greater the tendency to establish between them peace and good-will, and just as they are brought together will they contribute to advance the day of universal brotherhood.

" ...That which is spoken at 12 o'clock in London will be known by us at 8 o'clock in the morning here, according to our time.... It is no longer in her own bosom that France can keep her secrets. It is no longer in her own race that Russia can keep her thoughts and her plans. It is no longer in the glorious old British Islands that their commercial intelligence can be confined. It is wafted round and round the globe. In less than an hour, whenever this system shall be completed, the world will be enlightened quicker than by the sun; quicker than by the meteor's flash. What is known in one place will be known in all places; the globe will have but one ear, and that ear will be everywhere....

"I scarcely dare any longer think what shall be. I remember the derision with which Whitney's plan for a railroad to the Mississippi was hailed. I remember there was scarce a paper in the country that did not feel called upon to talk of the advisability of sending him to the lunatic asylum. I remember the time when the project of a steamer crossing the Atlantic was scientifically declared to be impracticable.... I remember when the first steamer crossed the Atlantic, and I have been told, though the story may be too good to be true, that the first steamer that made the passage to New York carried with her the newspaper containing the news of the impossibility of making the voyage, by Dr. Lardner....

"While thus we are enlarging the facilities of action, let us see to it that we maintain, at home, domestic virtue, individual intelligence--that we spread our common schools, that we multiply our newspapers throughout the land, that we make books more plenty than the leaves of the forest trees. Let every man among us be a reader and thinker and owner, and so he will be an actor. And when all men through the globe are readers, when all men through the globe are thinkers, when all men through the globe are actors--are actors because they think right--when they speak nation to nation, when from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same there is not alone a free intercourse of thought but one current of heart, virtue, religion, love--then the earth will have blossomed and consummated its history."

Archbishop Hughes sent this note:

"LONG BRANCH, _August 26, 1858_.

"_My dear Mr. Field_,--Under the blessing of Almighty God you have accomplished the work. But your merit, if not your human glory, would have been the same in my estimation if you had returned to us what they would call a disappointed man in whose scales of judgment enthusiasm had preponderated over 'common-sense.'

"Yours faithfully, "JOHN, Archbishop of New York."

The letters which follow do not require explanation; the one from George Peabody & Co. shows that Mr. Field did not profit largely by the success of the cable:

"ST. JOHN'S, _August 9, 1858_.

"_My dear Sir,_--Allow me, among many more worthy, to offer you my very sincere congratulations on the successful completion of the great enterprise which you have labored with so much and such admirable perseverance to carry through, in the midst of so many hinderances and discouragements.

"It would give me very great pleasure if you would, during your stay in St. John's, make my house your home or place of abode. I am aware that you have many friends and engagements, but as I have no family you could have two rooms entirely at your disposal, and I would make my hours suit your convenience....

"I am, my dear sir, "Very truly yours, "EDWARD FIELD, "Bishop of Newfoundland."

"ST. JOHN'S, _August 18, 1858_.

"_My dear Mr. Field,_--Allow me to congratulate you most sincerely on the accomplishment of the wonderful work you so nobly carried out in the midst of almost insurmountable difficulties.

"God from time to time sends men like you and Columbus for the good of humanity, men with the head to conceive and the heart to execute the grand ideas with which He inspires them. Human energies alone never could surmount the difficulties and disappointments you encountered in the projection and execution of this gigantic enterprise. God destined you for the work and made you the instrument. You have now completed what Columbus commenced, and posterity will link your names together. That God may grant you many happy years to witness the benefits you have conferred on the great human family is the sincere prayer of your humble servant and friend,

"+JOHN I. MULLOCK."

"LONDON, _10th August, 1858_.

"_My dear Sir,_--I wrote you by last mail, since when all continues favorable, and I expect, long ere you receive this, messages will be regularly sent through the cable. Many things remain to be done, and there is a great want of efficient, practical workingmen, as you know, in the board, but Lampson still keeps at it, and all will, I hope, come right in the end.

"I have a letter from Mr. Peabody, who says: 'I sincerely congratulate all parties interested in the great project, and very particularly our friends Lampson and Field. In the accomplishment of his grand object I can only compare the feelings of the latter to Columbus in the discovery of the new world.'

"I hope the reaction from the desponding state in which we parted will not be too great for your health, and now I beg of you not to forget our conversation when last here.

"The market for shares is weaker; several have been on the market. I sold one for you at £900, but could not go on. To-day they have sold at £840 to £850, and later they were firmer at £875; but seeing how the market was I withdrew and would not offer at any price. If I am able to go on at £900 or more I shall feel it for your interest to do so to a moderate extent, for I feel that you should embrace the opportunity to reduce your interest, which is too large. I still hope to sail on the 21st, but it must depend upon Mr. Peabody's health.

"Most truly, "J. S. MORGAN."

_Ariel._

"LONDON, _10th August, 1858_.

"CYRUS W. FIELD, Esq., New York,

"_Dear Sir,_--We beg to advise by the present the sale of three of your Atlantic Telegraph Company shares, _viz._, two at £350 each prior to the successful laying of the cable, and one subsequent thereto at £900, less brokerage. The first cash 3d August, and the remaining two cash 13th inst., which please note.

"Yours truly, "GEO. PEABODY & CO."

In the life of Longfellow, at page 323, is given this entry from his diary:

"August 6th. Go to town with the boys. Flags flying and bells ringing to celebrate the laying of the telegraph."

And on the 12th, in writing to Mr. Sumner, he says:

"You have already rejoiced at the success of the Atlantic telegraph--the great news of the hour, the year, the century. The papers call Field 'Cyrus the Great.'"

These words express the feeling that pervaded the whole country: and in order to contrast it with the days and months that had just passed, this article, published in the New York _Herald_ of August 9th, is given:

"SUCCESS OR FAILURE--A CONTRAST

"Many terse and witty things have been said and written in all ages to show the difference with which the same enterprise is viewed when it results in success and when it results in failure. We have never had any better illustration of this than we now have in connection with the great enterprise of the age. After the first and second attempts to lay the Atlantic cable had failed, wiseacres shook their heads in sympathetic disapprobation of Mr. Field, and said, 'What a fool he was!' It was evident to them all along that the thing could never succeed, and they could not understand why a sensible, clear-headed man like Field would risk his whole fortune in such a railroad-to-the-moon undertaking. If he had ventured a third of it or a half, there might be some excuse for him, but to have placed it all on the hazard of a die where the chances were a hundred to one against him--worse even than the Wall Street lottery conducted under the name of the Stock Exchange--was an evidence of folly and absurdity which they could not overlook and for which he deserved to suffer.

"Now all that is changed. Midnight has given place to noon. The sun shines brightly in the heavens and the shadows of the night have passed away and are forgotten. Failures have been only the stepping-stones to success the most brilliant. The cable is laid; and now the most honored name in the world is that of Cyrus W. Field, although but yesterday there were

"'None so poor to do him reverence.'

"The wiseacres who shook their heads the other day and pitied while they condemned him are now among the foremost in his praise, and help to make his name a household word. Bells are rung and guns are fired and buildings are illuminated in his honor throughout the length and breadth of his land; and prominent among all devices and first on every tongue and uppermost in every heart is his name. Had he not, like the great Bruce, persevered in the face of repeated failures until his efforts were at length crowned with success, he would have been held up to the growing generation as an illustration of the danger of allowing our minds to be absorbed by an impracticable idea, and his history would have been served up in play and romance, and used

"'To point a moral or adorn a tale.'

"As it is, the nation is proud of him, the world knows him, and all mankind is his debtor."

The ship _Niagara_ left Trinity Bay for St. John's, where she was obliged to stop for coal, on August 8th. Immediately upon her arrival the Executive Council of Newfoundland and the Chamber of Commerce of St. John's presented congratulatory addresses to Mr. Field, and the governor entertained him, together with his friends, at dinner, and a ball was given at the Colonial Building. On the 11th of August the _Niagara_ sailed for New York.

The country was impatient; twelve days had passed and not a message had been received. No one seemed to understand that a wilderness had to be opened and instruments adjusted before it was possible to use the cable as a means of communication between the two continents.

It had been decided to have a great celebration on the receipt of the Queen's message; on the 16th that was reported as coming over the submarine wire, and early on the 17th the firing commenced and the excitement continued until the 18th, when the City Hall caught fire.

Churches rang their bells, factories blew their whistles, and in the evening the river front blazed with bonfires and fireworks flashed across the sky; the buildings were illuminated; one thousand lights were said to have shone from the windows of the Everett House, and the transparencies were striking. That on the front of the International Hotel, on the corner of Broadway and Franklin Street, was eighteen feet by thirty-one; the centre was white, with fancy letters, and the border blue, with white letters, and the words were:

These placards were in the windows of Bowen & McNamee's, corner of Broadway and Pearl Street:

In the window of Anson Randolph, corner of Amity Street, was displayed the following:

+-------------------------------------+ | | | The Old CYRUS and the New. | | One | | Conquered the World for Himself, | | The Other | | The Ocean for the World. | +-------------------------------------+

The Manhattan Hotel was splendidly decorated with colored lights and flags of all nations. On a transparency was the following inscription:

+--------------------------------------+ | Married, August, 1858, | | by | | CYRUS W. FIELD, | | OLD IRELAND AND MISS YOUNG AMERICA. | | "May their honeymoon last forever." | +--------------------------------------+

The _Tribune_ describes this procession:

"The workmen upon the Central Park and the workmen on the new Croton reservoir made a novel parade, and after marching through the principal streets were reviewed by Mayor Tiemann in front of the City Hall.

"The procession was headed by a squad of the Central Park police in full uniform; then came a full brass band and a standard-bearer with a white muslin banner on which was inscribed:

+--------------------------+ | | | The Central Park People. | | | +--------------------------+

"The workmen, attired in their every-day clothes, with evergreens in their hats, next marched in squads of four, each gang carrying a banner with the name of their boss-workmen inscribed thereon. In the line of the procession were several four-horse teams drawing wagons in which were the workmen in the engineer's department. On the sides of the vehicles were muslin banners with the words:

+-------------------+ | | | Engineer Corps. | | | +-------------------+

"The reservoir workmen were a hardy-looking set of men, and were fair specimens of the laborers of New York.

"The procession filled Broadway from Union Square to the Park, and, as it was altogether unexpected, it created no little excitement and inquiry. If all the men and teams in this turnout are kept at the city's work we shall soon see great improvement in the new park....

"The procession was composed of eleven hundred laborers and eight hundred carts from the Central Park, under the marshalship of Messrs. Olmsted, Miller, Waring, and Grant, and seven hundred laborers and carts from the new reservoir under the marshalship of Mr. Walker, forming a procession over three miles in length."

These same workmen presented to Mr. Field, the December following, a pitcher made from wood of the Charter Oak.

Before the _Niagara_ arrived at New York on the morning of August 18th Mr. Field prepared his report for the Atlantic Telegraph Company, and he had it at once posted, and with it his resignation as general manager of the company.

"How Cyrus Laid the Cable" was written by John G. Saxe for _Harper's Weekly_, and was published on September 11th:

"Come listen all unto my song, It is no silly fable; 'Tis all about the mighty cord They call the Atlantic cable.

"Bold Cyrus Field he said, says he, 'I have a pretty notion That I can run a telegraph Across the Atlantic Ocean.'

"Then all the people laughed, and said They'd like to see him do it; He might get half-seas-over, but He never could go through it;

"To carry out his foolish plan He never would be able; He might as well go hang himself With his Atlantic cable.

"But Cyrus was a valiant man, A fellow of decision; And heeded not their mocking words, Their laughter and derision.

"Twice did his bravest efforts fail, And yet his mind was stable; He wa'n't the man to break his heart Because he broke his cable.

"'Once more, my gallant boys!' he cried; 'Three times!--you know the fable--' ('I'll make it thirty,' muttered he, 'But I will lay the cable!')

"Once more they tried--hurrah! hurrah! What means this great commotion? The Lord be praised! the cable's laid Across the Atlantic Ocean!

"Loud ring the bells--for, flashing through Six hundred leagues of water, Old Mother England's benison Salutes her eldest daughter.

"O'er all the land the tidings speed, And soon in every nation They'll hear about the cable with Profoundest admiration!

"Now long live James, and long live Vic, And long live gallant Cyrus; And may his courage, faith, and zeal With emulation fire us;

"And may we honor evermore The manly, bold, and stable, And tell our sons, to make them brave, How Cyrus laid the cable."

On the 20th of August Captain Hudson, Mr. Everett, and the officers of the _Niagara_, were entertained by Mr. Field, and from the balcony of his house he read this message to the crowd assembled in the street:

"VALENTIA BAY, _August 19, 1858_.

"To CYRUS W. FIELD, N. Y.:

"The directors have just met. They heartily congratulate you on your success.

"The _Agamemnon_ arrived at Valentia Bay on Thursday, August 5, at 6 A.M.

"We are just on the point of chartering a ship to lay the shore end. No time will be lost in sending them out. Please write me more fully about tariff and other working arrangements.

SAWARD."

He did not forget the sailors, as the following invitation shows:

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | COMPLIMENTARY RECEPTION | | | | OF THE | | | | CREW OF THE U.S. SHIP "NIAGARA." | | | |_Mr. Cyrus W. Field requests the pleasure of your Company | | at his Entertainment of the Crew of the_ Niagara, _to | |be given at the Palace Gardens, at 10 o'clock, this Evening._ | | | | W. A. BARTLETT, _for C. W. F._ | | | | NEW YORK, August 25, 1858. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

From one of the newspapers this account is taken of the meeting held before the reception:

"Upwards of two hundred of the sailors and marines of the frigate _Niagara_ assembled last evening in Franklin Square, formed in procession, and, preceded by the band of the _North Carolina_, marched to Cooper Institute. They carried with them an accurate model of the _Niagara_, made by one of her crew, which was gayly decked with flags, exactly as was the noble ship it represents when she last entered our harbor. On arriving at the Cooper Institute the tars were saluted with a discharge of fireworks and the hearty cheers of the multitude....

"Cyrus W. Field was the next speaker. He was evidently a great favorite of the sailors, who, it is said, used to call him on board ship 'the Sister of Charity.' They cheered him extravagantly when he rose. He made only a short speech, consisting of reminiscences of the laying and landing of the cable, and the gallantry and faithfulness of the crew on these occasions. More singing and more cheers were followed by the entrance of Captain Hudson, who was greeted with the warmest enthusiasm, and made some appropriate remarks."

On the 26th Mr. Field, with a party, left for Great Barrington, and the next day they were welcomed at Stockbridge by Mr. Field's old friends.

Between the 10th of August and the 1st of September ninety-seven messages were sent from Valentia to Newfoundland, and two hundred and sixty-nine messages from Newfoundland to Valentia.

The English government had, by cable, countermanded the return to England of the Sixty-second and the Thirty-ninth regiments. The news of the peace with China had also been sent to this country, and the English papers of August 18th reported the collision between the Cunard steamers _Arabia_ and _Europa_. This statement is taken from a letter written in July, 1862, by order of the Atlantic Telegraph Company and signed by the secretary of the company, Mr. George Saward.

The 1st and 2d of September were chosen as the days for a "General Celebration of the Laying of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable."

In deference to the wish expressed by the rector and vestry of Trinity Church, it was arranged that the first day should begin with a service and Te Deum at ten o'clock. In the absence of Bishop Horatio Potter, Bishop George Washington Doane, of New Jersey, took charge of this service.

Trinity Church had never been so gayly dressed. "The edifice was decorated from the steeple to the top of the spire with the flags of all nations. Around the steeple were hung the flags of France, Spain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Portugal, and other nations, while the spire about three-quarters of the way to the cross was decorated with the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack." It was this incident that called forth these verses, written by Bishop Doane:

"Hang out that glorious old Red Cross; Hang out the Stripes and Stars; They faced each other fearlessly In two historic wars: But now the ocean-circlet binds The Bridegroom and the Bride; Old England, young America, Display them side by side.

"High up, from Trinity's tall spire, We'll fling the banners out; Hear how the world-wide welkin rings, With that exulting shout! Forever wave those wedded flags, As proudly now they wave, God for the lands His love has blessed; The beauteous and the brave.

"But see, the dallying wind the Stars About the Cross has blown; And see, again, the Cross around The Stars its folds has thrown: Was ever sign so beautiful Flung from the heavens abroad? Old England, young America, For Freedom and for God."

At one o'clock the procession formed at the Battery and marched from there to the Crystal Palace, then standing at Forty-second Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

The account which follows is from the New York _Herald_ of September 2d:

THE CABLE CARNIVAL.

"Achieved is the Glorious Work."

THE METROPOLIS OVERWHELMED WITH VISITORS.

Over Half a Million of Jubilant People.

Broadway a Garden of Female Beauty.

A BOUQUET IN EVERY WINDOW.

Glorious Recognition of the Most Glorious Work of the Age.

REUNION OF ALL THE NATIONALITIES.

* * * * *

THE CABLE LAYERS.

THE BRITISH NAVAL OFFICERS IN TOWN.

The Jack Tars of the _Niagara_ on Hand.

THE BIG COIL OF CABLE.

* * * * *

SCENES AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

THE CITY AT NIGHT.

THE FIREWORKS IN THE PARK.

THE CITY HALL SAFE.

Torch-light Procession of the Firemen.

ILLUMINATIONS.

The Colored Lanterns _a la Chinois_, etc., etc., etc.

"The scene presented along Broadway altogether transcends description. Every available and even unavailable place was secured long beforehand, and from the Battery to Union Place one was obliged to run a gantlet of eyes more effective and more dangerous than any artillery battery. This display of female beauty, conjoined to the great array of flags, banners, and mottoes, made us think of a Roman carnival. To the pet military regiments, the Montreal artillery, and the officers and crews of the _Niagara_ and _Gorgon_ there was given a most splendid greeting all along the line. Everywhere we heard cheers for Field, Hudson, Everett, and their British coadjutors. We have never heard a more cheerful, hearty, and cordial shout than that which welcomed the gallant tars of the _Niagara_ as they moved up Broadway....

"The crowd upon Broadway was so great that the military had much difficulty in getting through it, and so the procession was somewhat retarded....

"The hour appointed for the interesting ceremonies inside the Palace to commence was half-past four o'clock, but the procession did not arrive there till within a few minutes of six. By that time there were about ten thousand persons in the building anxiously awaiting the arrival of the celebrities, whom all were desirous to see and hear....

"The crew of the _Niagara_, with a model of that ship, entered by the front door, and, marching up the centre aisle, took their place in front of the platform. They were loudly cheered, and they responded in true sailor fashion by cheering lustily for Captain Hudson, Mr. Field, the mayor, and almost every one they recognized on the platform....

"At night one would suppose the crowd would lessen. Not so. The illuminations, the fireworks, the many-colored lanterns, and the general gas and spermaceti demonstrations gave to Broadway a carnavalesque appearance which it is almost impossible to describe. Beginning with the clever design of the New York Club down to the Park there was a succession of illuminations and transparencies of every possible sort. The great bazaars vied with each other in the number and variety of their mottoes and designs, both for day and night; but, passing by all of them, we were especially struck with the following distich on the side of a car:

"'With wild huzzas now let the welkin ring, Columbia's got Britannia on a string.'

" ...The firemen's torch-light parade concluded the day's festivities. It was exceedingly beautiful, and as the long line moved through Broadway surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd on every side, and lighted by thousands of torches, candles, and colored lanterns, one might easily have imagined himself in a fairy-land. It was long after midnight before the great assemblage dispersed, and even then the streets did not resume their wonted aspect.... The fact is, that an avalanche of people descended upon us, and New York was crushed for once; but we do not lay Atlantic cables every day."

On the 2d of September, at seven o'clock, a dinner ended the celebration.

"There were six hundred guests who sat down to as sumptuous a dinner as ever was laid on any great occasion in this city. The bill of fare was laid beside each plate:

=MUNICIPAL DINNER=

BY THE

COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

CYRUS W. FIELD,

AND OFFICERS OF

H. B. M. Steamship _Gorgon_ and U. S. Steam Frigate _Niagara_,

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE

=LAYING OF THE ATLANTIC CABLE.=

METROPOLITAN HOTEL, SEPTEMBER 2D, 1858.

OYSTERS ON THE HALF-SHELL.

SOUPS.

Green Turtle. Gumbo, with rice.

FISH.

Boiled Fresh Salmon, lobster sauce. Broiled Spanish Mackerel, steward's sauce.

BOILED.

Turkey, oyster sauce. Leg of Mutton, caper sauce.

ROAST.

Young Turkey. Ribs of Beef. Ham, champagne sauce. Lamb, mint sauce. Chickens, English sauce.

COLD DISHES.

Boned Turkey, with jelly. Chicken Salad, lobster sauce. Patties of Game, with truffles. Ham, sur socle, with jelly.

ENTRÉES.

Tenderloin of Beef, larded, with mushroom sauce. Lamb Chops, with green peas. Chartreuse of Partridges, Madeira sauce. Forms of Rice, with small vegetables. Timbale of Macaroni, Milanaise style. Wild Ducks, with olives. Breast of Chickens, truffle sauce. Soft-shell Crabs, fried plain. Stewed Terrapin, American style. Squabs, braisées, gardener's sauce. Sweetbreads, larded, with string-beans. Fricandeau of Veal, larded, with small carrots. Flounders, stuffed, with fine herbs. Reed Birds, steward's sauce. Broiled Turtle Steaks, tomato sauce. Croquettes of Chickens, with fried parsley. Tenderloin of Lamb, larded, poivrade sauce. Pluvier, on toast, Italian sauce.

RELISHES.

Raw Tomatoes. Spanish Olives. Pickled Oysters. Currant Jelly. Celery.

GAME.

Partridges, bread sauce. Broiled English Snipe.

VEGETABLES.

Boiled and Mashed Potatoes. Stewed Tomatoes. Sweet Potatoes. Lima Beans.

PASTRY.

Apple Pies. Plum Pies. Peach Pies. Plum Pudding. Fancy Ornamented Charlotte Russe. Maraschino Jelly. Fancy Fruit Jelly. Pineapple Salad. Gateaux, Neapolitan style. Champagne Jelly. Pineapple Pies. Custard Pies. Pumpkin Pies. Cabinet Pudding. Peach Méringues. Madeira Jelly. Punch Jelly. Fancy Blanc Mange. Spanish Cream. Swiss Méringues.

CONFECTIONERY.

Méringues, à la crême, vanilla flavor Rose Almonds. Fancy Lady's Cake. Quince Soufflée. Vanilla Sugar Almonds. Ornamented Macaroons. Mint Cream Candy. Butterflies of Vienna Cake. Vanilla Ice Cream. Savoy Biscuit. Variety Glacé Fruit. Dominos of Biscuit. Fancy Variety Candy. Roast Almonds. Conserve Kisses. Chocolate Biscuit. Fancy Diamond Kisses. Preserved Almond Kisses.

ORNAMENTS.

QUEEN VICTORIA, of Great Britain. JAMES BUCHANAN, President of the United States. CYRUS W. FIELD, with his Cable. Professor MORSE, as Inventor of the Telegraph. Dr. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. The operative Telegraph of the METROPOLITAN HOTEL. The NIAGARA, Man-of-War of the United States. The AGAMEMNON and NIAGARA paying out the Cable. CYRUS W. FIELD, surrounded by the flags of all nations. The Coats of Arms of all nations, on a pyramid. POCAHONTAS, with real American design.

Temple of Liberty. Grand Ornamented Fruit Vase. Temple of Music. Frosting Tower. Sugar Tower, with variety decorations. Flower Pyramid. White Sugar Ornament. Fruit Basket, supported by Dolphins. Fancy Decorated Flower Vase. Tribute Temple. Pagodi Pyramid. Scotch Warrior, mounted. Ethiopian Tower. Floral Vase, decorated. Frosting Pyramid. Mounted Church. Pyramid of Cracking Bonbons. Chinese Pavilion. Triumphant Temple. Sugar Harp, with floral decorations. Variety Pyramid. Fancy Sugar Temple. Ornamented Sugar Tower. Temple of Art. Lyre, surmounted with Cornucopia of Flowers.

DESSERT.

Almonds. Peaches. Pecan Nuts. Grenoble Nuts. Hot-house Grapes. Coffee. Citron Melons. Bartlett Pears. Raisins. Filberts. Coffee.

This was one of the toasts:

"Cyrus W. Field: To his exertions, energy, courage, and perseverance are we indebted for the Ocean Telegraph; we claim, but Immortality owns him."

In his reply he said:

"To no one man is the world indebted for this achievement; one may have done more than another, this person may have had a prominent and that a secondary part, but there is a host of us who have been engaged in the work the completion of which you celebrate to-day."

Mr. George Peabody wrote to him:

"I read the accounts in the New York papers in celebration of the great event of the year and age with great interest, and although I think in some respects that they are a little too enthusiastic, yet so far as it regards yourself they cannot be so, for if the cable should be lost to-morrow you would be fully entitled to the high honor you are daily receiving."

As he left the Battery on September 1st a cable message was handed to him dated that morning:

"CYRUS W. FIELD, New York:

"The directors are on their way to Valentia to make arrangements for opening the wire to the public. They convey through the cable to you and your fellow-citizens their hearty congratulations in your joyous celebration of the great international work."

It was the last message that passed over the cable of 1858.