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.