eave the country
for a few months' visit to Europe. The objects of this trip were
threefold. He wished, as electrician of the Cable Company, to try some
experiments over long lines with certain English scientists, with a view
to determining beyond peradventure the practicability of an ocean
telegraph. He also wished to visit the different countries on the
continent where his telegraph was being used, to see whether their
governments could not be induced to make him some pecuniary return for
the use of his invention. Last, but not least, he felt that he had earned
a short vacation from the hard work and the many trials to which he had
been subjected for so many years, and a trip abroad with his wife, who
had never been out of her own country, offered the best means of
relaxation and enjoyment. On the 7th of June, 1856, he sailed from New
York on the Baltic, accompanied by his wife and his niece Louisa,
daughter of his brother Richard.

The trip proved a delightful one in every way; he was acclaimed as one of
the most noted men of his day wherever he went, and emperors, kings, and
scientists vied with each other in showering attentions upon him. His
letters contain minute descriptions of many of his experiences and I
shall quote liberally from them.

To Cyrus Field he writes, on July 6, of the results of some of his
experiments with Dr. Whitehouse:--

"I intended to have written you long before this and have you receive my
letter previous to your departure from home, but every moment of my time
has been occupied, as you can well conceive, since my arrival. I have
especially been occupied in experiments with Dr. Whitehouse of the utmost
importance. Their results, except in a general way, I am not at present
at liberty to divulge; besides they are not, as yet, by any means
completed so as to assure commercial men that they may enter upon the
great project of uniting Europe to America with a certainty of success."

And then, after dwelling upon the importance of Dr. Whitehouse's
services, and expressing the wish that he should be liberally rewarded
for his labors, he continues:--

"I can say on this subject generally that the experiments Dr. Whitehouse
has made favorably affect the project so far as its _practicability_ is
concerned, but to certainly assure its _practicality_ further experiments
are essential. To enable Dr. Whitehouse to make these, and that he may
derive the benefit of them, I conceive it to be a wise