"I need not here stop even for a moment on the ground of controversy. We all vie with one another in fervently desiring that the Almighty may so direct the issue of the present crisis as to make it effective for the mitigation and even for the removal of a system which ever tends to depress the blacks into the condition of the mere animal, and which among the whites at once gives fearful scope to the passions of bad men and checks and mars the development of character in good ones. "I remain, dear sir, "Most faithfully yours, "W. E. GLADSTONE. "CYRUS W. FIELD, Esq." A very decided trait of Mr. Field was that when any business enterprise was proposed he planned every detail, drew up statements, and asked for statistics, and tried to determine the amount of work that it would be possible to accomplish, and for that reason it does not surprise us that before the money for the new cable was subscribed or the contracts signed he wrote to Mr. Reuter, and received this reply: "REUTER'S TELEGRAPH OFFICE, "LONDON, _November 19, 1862_. "_Dear Sir_,--I have received your letter of the 18th inst., wherein you ask whether I consider that a single wire from Ireland to Newfoundland would be sufficient, and what amount of business I think I should send through an Atlantic cable the first year. "In reply to the first inquiry I should say from my own experience that a single telegraph wire between Ireland and Newfoundland would by no means be sufficient to meet the requirements of the public. "With respect to the amount of business I might send through the new line I cannot, of course, speak positively, but believe I can say that for the first year it would certainly not be less than £5000. "I remain, dear sir, "Faithfully yours, "JULIUS REUTER. "CYRUS W. FIELD, Esq." At this time no one at all realized the amount of work that the small wire would be called upon to do. Sixteen months after it was laid, on the 2d of December, 1867, Mr. Field telegraphed to London that Mr. Bennett was willing to sign a contract with the cable company for one year, and that he would pay for political and general news $3750 a month--that is, £9000 a year--and the agreement was to begin at once or on the 1st of January, 1868. The invitation to Cliveden to which Mr. Gladstone referred was given by the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, and this visit, early in December, was followed by many others, and the friendship then formed lasted as long as she lived. He sailed for home on December 20th, and before he left England he sent this letter: "PALACE HOTEL, "LONDON, _November 22, 1862_. "_My dear Daughters_,--Many, many thanks to you for all the letters that you have written to me since we parted at our happy home.