last there rolled
two thousand miles of tempestuous ocean, with a bottom that was a
mystery, between the verge of the American soil and the Irish coast.

Mr. Cyrus W. Field visited England as an Atlantic cable missionary,
and addressed the Chambers of Commerce in the principal cities, and
the members of the Government. His intense convictions and incessant
enthusiasm made way. The scientific men of England were cautious but
hopeful. There had been, as it happened, the year before a survey of
the North Atlantic, disclosing conditions of the bottom of the sea,
and they were reassuring. The Government was so far interested as to
engage to furnish ships to lay the cable, and to guarantee L14,000 a
year for messages sent if it proved a success--four per cent. of the
expected cost; but the capital had to be raised by private
enterprise, and Mr. Field visited Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester,
and Liverpool, and subscribed one-fourth of the whole sum. His
persistence was continued until the money was raised; but his
friends in America were not eager for the stock, and he had to pay
into the treasury of the company L88,000 in gold. The complete
responsibility of Mr. Field appears at every point. He was the
inspiration and the moving force from first to last. The work was
strange, and there were delays and details of difficulty arising at
every step, that a thousand times would have been insurmountable, if
it had not been for the indomitable Field, whose tenacity even
exceeded his impetuosity. There were two governments to be
negotiated with to furnish ships. The cable was at last ready and on
board--and three hundred and sixty-five years after Columbus sailed
from the shores of Spain, Field sailed from Ireland, the
Lord-Lieutenant, the Earl of Carlisle, making the speech of the
occasion. The first effort was to lay the cable straight from
Ireland to Newfoundland, and the start was made Wednesday, August 5,
1857. Three hundred and fifty miles out the cable broke. That was
failure; and Field's private fortune had suffered severely from his
absence. But the next year he was again in England and another start
was made--the ships going half-way and joining the cable and running
both ways. The cable parted again and again, and the ships returned
to England. All were in despair but Field, and he rallied once more,
and another trial was made--and succeeded. The cable lasted for a
few weeks and gave out. The people were wild with delight