Her Majesty were advised to offer a citizen of the United States, for a service rendered alike to both countries, British marks of honor, which, following the example of another highly distinguished citizen, he might feel himself unable to accept." The reason assigned by Lord Derby for the omission of Mr. Field's name in the distribution of honors, was perfectly understood and entirely satisfactory. The British Government had once before offered a baronetcy to Mr. George Peabody in recognition of his princely benefactions to the poor of London, but while he appreciated the honor, he felt that as a citizen of the United States, he could not accept it, and the same reason would apply in the present case. But while this alone prevented official recognition, it could not prevent the hearty expression of Englishmen who knew the history of the great enterprise from the beginning. At this very dinner, the Chairman gave, as the first toast, "The Original Projectors of the Atlantic Cable," which he proposed early in order to give Mr. Cyrus Field (who was very near to them, although he happened to be in America!) a chance of responding! The allusion is explained by the remark of one present who had said:-- "You will be pleased to hear that Mr. Bright has kindly brought the telegraph wire into the room in which we are sitting, and no sooner will the toast involving the mention of Mr. Field's name be given from the chair, than it will be flashed with lightning speed to Valentia, thence to Newfoundland, and if Mr. Field is at home, it is quite possible that he himself will receive it, ere the echo of your ringing cheers has died away in Liverpool." A message was at once sent from the room to Newfoundland, and a reply received back that Mr. Field had left for New York. In continuing his speech, Sir Stafford Northcote said: "I think there can be no doubt in the minds of those who have carefully examined the history of these transactions, that it is to Mr. Cyrus Field that we owe the practical carrying out of the idea which has borne such glorious fruit. I am sure there is none to whom we owe more, or whose name stands in prouder connection with this great undertaking, than the name of Mr. Cyrus Field." He called upon Sir Charles Bright to reply, who detailed somewhat the history of the enterprise from the very beginning in 1856, when "Mr. Cyrus Field, to whom the world was more indebted than to any other person for the establishment of the line, came to England upon the completion of the telegraph between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland." To the same effect is the testimony of a distinguished writer, W. H. Russell, LL.D., who was on board of the Great Eastern in 1865, as the correspondent of The Times, and wrote a very graphic History of the Expedition (p. 10):