The Story of the Atlantic TelegraphField, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
History
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
Field, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
Transatlantic cables
success is reflected back upon them, are proud that your lot
has been cast among them. They have already testified their
appreciation of your great services and heroic perseverance by
illuminations, processions, serenades, and addresses. And now,
sir, the municipal government of this, the first city on the
Western continent, instruct me, who have never felt the honor
of being its chief magistrate so sensibly as in the presence of
this vast assemblage of its fair women and substantial
citizens, to present to you a gold box, with the arms of the
city engraved thereon, in testimony of the fact that to you
mainly, under Divine Providence, the world is indebted for the
successful execution of the grandest enterprise of our day and
generation; and in behalf of the Mayor, Aldermen, and
Commonalty of the City of New York, I now request your
acceptance of this token of their approbation. In conclusion,
sir, of this, the most agreeable duty of my public life, I
sincerely trust that your days may be long in the land, and as
prosperous and honorable as your achievement in uniting the two
hemispheres by a cord of electric communication has been
successful and glorious."
To this flattering address, Mr. Field replied:
"Sir: This will be a memorable day in my life; not only because
it celebrates the success of an achievement with which my name
is connected, but because the honor comes from the city of my
home--the metropolitan city of the new world. I see here not
only the civic authorities and citizens at large, but my own
personal friends--men with whom I have been connected in
business and friendly intercourse for the greater part of my
life. Five weeks ago, this day and hour, I was standing on the
deck of the Niagara in mid-ocean, with the Gorgon and Valorous
in sight, waiting for the Agamemnon. 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. How different is the scene
now before me--this vast crowd testifying their sympathy and
approval, praises without stint, and friends without number!
This occasion, sir, gives me the opportunity to express my
thanks for the enthusiastic reception which I have received,
and I here make my acknowledgments before this vast concourse
of my fellow-citizens. To the ladies I may, perhaps, add, that
they have had their appropriate place, for when the cable was
laid, the first public message that passed over it came from
one of their own sex. This box, sir, which I have the honor to
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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