It is the clear shining after rain. The storms that swept the sea, have blown themselves out, and all is tranquil on the face of the deep. The cable is lying in its ocean bed uniting the two hemispheres, nevermore to be separated. And now comes the public recognition on both sides the Atlantic, though in different form. The event had produced a profound impression throughout the civilized world. Yet it was a singular illustration of the changes in public interest, that, whereas in 1858 a temporary success had kindled the wildest enthusiasm in the United States, while in England it was regarded almost with indifference, now the state of feeling in the two countries was completely reversed. In Great Britain it was the theme of boundless congratulation, while in America the public mind—dulled perhaps by the excitements of four years of war—received the news with composure. The reason was, in part, that England had had a larger share in the later than in the earlier expeditions. Certainly none could deny the inestimable services rendered by her men of science, her seamen, her engineers, and her great capitalists; and it was most fit that the country which they had honored should do them honor in its turn. Scarcely had the Great Eastern recrossed the sea before those to whom the empire owed so much, were duly recognized in the following letter from the Earl of Derby, then Prime Minister, addressed to Sir Stafford Northcote, who was to preside at a dinner given in Liverpool, to celebrate the great achievement:

"Balmoral,
Saturday, Sept. 29, 1866.

"Dear Sir Stafford: As I understand you are to have the honor of taking the chair at the entertainment which is to be given on Monday next, in Liverpool, to celebrate the double success which has attended the great undertaking of laying the cable of 1866, and recovering that of 1865, by which the two continents of Europe and America are happily connected, I am commanded by the Queen to make known to you, and through you to those over whom you are to preside, the deep interest with which Her Majesty has regarded the progress of this noble work; and to tender Her Majesty's cordial congratulations to all of those whose energy and perseverance, whose skill and science have triumphed over all difficulties, and accomplished a success alike honorable to themselves and to their country, and beneficial to the world at large. Her Majesty, desirous of testifying her sense of the various merits which have been displayed in this great enterprise, has commanded me to submit to her, for special marks of her royal favor, the names of those who, having had assigned to them prominent positions, may be considered as representing the different departments, whose united labors have contributed to the final result; and Her Majesty has accordingly been pleased to direct that the honor of knighthood should be conferred upon Captain Anderson, the able and zealous commander of the Great Eastern; Professor Thomson, whose distinguished science has been brought to bear with eminent success upon the improvement of submarine telegraphy; and on Messrs. Glass and Canning, the manager and engineer respectively of the Telegraph Maintenance Company, whose skill and experience have mainly contributed to the admirable construction and successful laying of the cable. Her Majesty is further pleased to mark her approval of the public spirit and energy of the two companies who have had successively the conduct of the undertaking, by offering the dignity of a baronetcy of the United Kingdom to Mr. Lampson, the Deputy Chairman of the original company, to whose resolute support of the project in spite of all discouragements it was in a great measure owing that it was not at one time abandoned in despair; and to Mr. Gooch, M.P., the Chairman of the company which has finally completed the design. If among the names thus submitted to and approved by Her Majesty, that of Mr. Cyrus Field does not appear, the omission must not be attributed to any disregard of the eminent services which, from the first, he has rendered to the cause of transatlantic telegraphy, and the zeal and resolution with which he has adhered to the prosecution of his object, but to an apprehension lest it might appear to encroach on the province of his own Government, if 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):

"It has been said that the greatest boons conferred on mankind, have been due to men of one idea. If the laying of the Atlantic cable be among those benefits, its consummation may certainly be attributed to the man who, having many ideas, devoted himself to work out one idea, with a gentle force and patient vigor which converted opposition and overcame indifference. Mr. Field may be likened either to the core, or the external protection, of the cable itself. At times he has been its active life; again he has been its iron-bound guardian. Let who will claim the merit of having first said the Atlantic cable was possible; to Mr. Field is due the inalienable merit of having made it possible, and of giving to an abortive conception all the attributes of healthy existence."

Sir William Thomson, on the final triumph, wrote:

"My dear Field, I cannot refrain from putting down in black and white my hearty congratulations on your great success. Few know better than I do how well you deserve it."

Eight months after he wrote from Scotland:

"I am sorry I had not an opportunity of saying in public how much I value your energy and perseverance in carrying through the great enterprise, and how clearly you stand out in its history as its originator and its mainspring from beginning to end."

Next to Sir William Thomson was Mr. C. F. Varley, who was associated in the work from an early day, and did much to solve the difficult problems of ocean telegraphy, and who wrote to Mr. Field, speaking from his personal knowledge: "You did more than any other to float the concern, and single-handed saved the whole scheme from collapse more than once."

Captain Sir James Anderson repeated the same conviction in numberless forms. He had seen how the presence of Mr. Field in London instantly revived the languid enthusiasm of others, and infused his own energy into the enterprise, and declared again and again that but for these heroic and incessant efforts the whole scheme would have broken down, and been delayed for many years.

Such expressions from English associates in the great work might be multiplied to any extent. They are much stronger than any language used by the author of this volume, who has purposely kept back such testimonies, lest it should seem that he wished to exalt an individual, when he sought to do justice to all, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Nor was such recognition confined to England. The King of Italy conferred on Mr. Field the cross of the order of St. Mauritius, as an acknowledgment from the country of Columbus to one who had done so much to unite to the Old World that New World which Columbus discovered.

A still higher honor was paid by the Great Exposition in Paris, in 1867, which, gathering the products of the genius and skill and industry of all nations, recognized the labors of men of all countries, who, by their discoveries or great enterprises, had rendered eminent services to the cause of civilization. It awarded the Grand Prize, the highest distinction it had to bestow, to Mr. Field by name, jointly with the Anglo-American and Atlantic Telegraph Companies, thus recognizing, as was most due, the splendid exhibition of the science and the capital of England, which were never more directly employed for the benefit of the human race, than in the uniting of the two Hemispheres, while it gave the first place in the grand design to its American leader.

But to an American no praise is so dear as that which comes from his own countrymen. First of all to Mr. Field, was that which came from the faithful few who had stood by him and witnessed his exertions for twelve long years. At the first annual meeting of the stockholders of the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, the following resolution was, on motion of Mr. Moses Taylor, seconded by Mr. Wilson G. Hunt, unanimously adopted:

Whereas, This Company was the first ever formed for the establishment of an Atlantic Telegraph; an enterprise upon which it started in the beginning of 1854, at the instance of Mr. Cyrus W. Field, and which, through his wise and unwearied energy, acting upon this Company, and others afterwards formed in connection with it, has been successfully accomplished: Therefore the stockholders of this Company, at this their first meeting since the completion of the enterprise, desiring to testify their sense of Mr. Field's services:

Resolve: First—That to him more than any other man, the world is indebted for this magnificent instrument of good; and but for him it would not, in all probability, be now in existence;

Second—That the thanks of the stockholders of this Company are hereby given to Mr. Field for these services, which, though so great in themselves, and so valuable to this Company, were rendered without any remuneration; and

Third—That a copy of this resolution, certified by the Chairman and Secretary of this meeting, be delivered to Mr. Field as a recognition, by those who best know, of his just right to be always regarded as the first projector, and most persistent and efficient promoter, of the Atlantic Telegraph.

Peter Cooper, Chairman.
Wilson G. Hunt, Secretary.

To testify the public appreciation of this great achievement, and of his part in it, the Chamber of Commerce of New York invited Mr. Field to a public banquet, which was given on the fifteenth of November. It was attended by about three hundred gentlemen—not only merchants and bankers, but men of all professions—lawyers and judges, clergymen and presidents of colleges, members of the Government and foreign ministers, and officers of the army and navy. The President of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. A. A. Low, presided, and, at the close of his opening speech, said:

"We may fairly claim that, from first to last, Cyrus W. Field has been more closely identified with the Atlantic Telegraph than any other living man; and his name and his fame, which the Queen of Great Britain has justly left to the care of the American government and people, will be proudly cherished and gratefully honored. We are in daily use of the fruits of his labors; and it is meet that the men of commerce, of literature and of law, of science and art—of all the professions that impart dignity and worth to our nature—should come together and give a hearty, joyous, and generous welcome to this truly chivalrous son of America."

He proposed the health of their guest:

"Cyrus W. Field, the projector and mainspring of the Atlantic Telegraph: while the British government justly honors those who have taken part with him in this great work of the age, his fame belongs to us, and will be cherished and guarded by his countrymen."

In his reply, Mr. Field told the story with the utmost simplicity, passing rapidly over the nearly thirteen years, through which the enterprise had struggled with such doubtful fortunes, and taking pains to do full justice to all who shared in its labors, its disappointments and its triumphs. Especially did he award the highest praise to the government of England for its liberal and constant support; to her men of science and her great capitalists, and to the officers of ships, electricians and engineers, who had taken part in this undertaking. In closing, he said:

"Of the results of this enterprise—commercially and politically—it is for others to speak. To one effect only do I refer as the wish of my heart—that, as it brings us into closer relations with England, it may produce a better understanding between the two countries. Let who will speak against England—words of censure must come from other lips than mine. I have received too much kindness from Englishmen to join in this language. I have eaten of their bread and drunk of their cup, and I have received from them, in the darkest hours of this enterprise, words of cheer which I shall never forget; and if any words of mine can tend to peace and good will, they shall not be wanting. I beg my countrymen to remember the ties of kindred. Blood is thicker than water. America with all her greatness has come out of the loins of England; and though there have been sometimes family quarrels—bitter as family quarrels are apt to be—still in our hearts there is a yearning for the old home, the land of our fathers; and he is an enemy of his country and of the human race, who would stir up strife between two nations that are one in race, in language and in religion. I close with this sentiment: England and America—clasping hands across the sea, may this firm grasp be a pledge of friendship to all generations!" (To which the whole assembly responded by rising, and by prolonged and tumultuous cheers.)

In the brilliant array of guests was recognized the tall form of General Meade, who was loudly called for as "the hero of Gettysburg," to which he replied that there was but one hero on this occasion, and he had travelled a hundred miles to be there that night to do him honor. He said: "I have watched with eagerness the struggle through which he has passed and the disasters which attended his early efforts; and I have admired and applauded, from the bottom of my heart, the tenacity of purpose with which that man has continued to hold on to his original idea, with a firm faith to carry to completion one of the greatest works the world has ever seen."

The heartiness of this soldierly reply was echoed by the bluff old warrior, Admiral Farragut, who had been so often through the smoke and flame of battle, that he knew how to appreciate not only common courage, but the desperate tenacity which holds on in spite of disaster, that has gained many a victory.

Letters were read from the President of the United States, from Chief Justice Chase, from General Grant, from Sir Frederick Bruce, the British Minister, from Senators Morgan and Sumner, from General Dix, Minister to France, and others. The Chief Justice of the United States wrote:

"I am very sorry that I cannot leave Washington this week, and so cannot avail myself of your kind invitation to join you in congratulations to Mr. Field upon the success of his grand undertaking. It is the most wonderful achievement of civilization; and to his sagacity, patience, perseverance, courage, and faith, is civilization indebted for it.

"Such works entitle their authors to distinguished rank among public benefactors. You will write the name of your honored guest high upon that illustrious roll, and there it will remain in honor, while oceans divide and telegraphs unite mankind."

There was a telegraph instrument in the room, and despatches were received during the evening from Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, and other members of the Cabinet at Washington, from Lord Monck, Governor-General of Canada, from the Governor of Newfoundland, and others. One, from Captain Sir James Anderson, was dated at London the same day. John Bright also wrote a despatch and sent it to London, but by an oversight it was not forwarded. He afterward wrote a letter, giving the message. It was as follows:

"It is fitting you should honor the man to whom the whole world is debtor. He brought capital and science together to do his bidding, and Europe and America are forever united. I cannot sit at your table, but I can join in doing honor to Cyrus W. Field. My hearty thanks to him may mingle with yours."

He adds that he regarded what had been done as the most marvellous thing in human history; as more marvellous than the invention of the art of printing, or, he was almost ready to say, than the voyages of the Genoese; and of Mr. Field, he says, "The world does not yet know what it owes to him, and this generation will never know it."

About the same time, in a speech at a great Reform Meeting in Leeds, he bore this proud testimony:

"A friend of mine, Cyrus Field, of New York, is the Columbus of our time, for after no less than forty voyages across the Atlantic, in pursuit of the great aim of his life, he has at length, by his cable, moored the New World close alongside the Old."

Nor was this mere rhetoric, a burst of extravagance, to which an orator might give way in the excitement of a public occasion; it was a comparison which he repeated on many occasions, though slightly varied in expression. Mr. G. W. Smalley, the well-known correspondent of the New York Tribune, in writing from London, on the very day that Mr. Field was carried to his grave, recalls how he heard it from Mr. Bright's own lips. He says:

"The great orator spoke of the great American in terms which he did not bestow lavishly, and never bestowed carelessly. His respect for Mr. Field's public work was sufficiently shown in the splendid eulogy which he passed upon him. To be called by such a man as Mr. Bright the Columbus of the Nineteenth Century is renown enough for any man. The epithet is imperishable. It is, as Thackeray said of a similar tribute to Fielding in Gibbon, like having your name written on the dome of St. Peter's. The world knows it and the world remembers. I heard Mr. Bright use the phrase, and he adorned and emphasized it in his noblest tones."

America has no official honors to bestow, no knighthoods or baronetcies to confer. But one honor it has, the thanks of Congress, which, like the thanks of Parliament, is the more highly prized in that it is so rarely bestowed, being reserved generally for distinguished officers in the army or navy, like Generals Grant, Sherman or Sheridan, or Admiral Farragut, who have won great victories. Yet such was the feeling on this occasion, that when Senator Morgan, of New York, moved a vote of thanks in the name of the country, it met with an immediate response. It was at once referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, which reported unanimously in its favor; and when, some weeks after, giving time for due deliberation, it was brought up for action, it passed with entire unanimity. In the House of Representatives it was preceded by many bills, so that there was danger that it might not be reached before the end of the session, yet on the very last day Speaker Colfax requested unanimous consent of the House to take it up out of its order, which was granted, and the resolution was then read three times, and passed unanimously. It is as follows:

"Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they hereby are, presented to Cyrus W. Field of New York, for his foresight, courage, and determination in establishing telegraphic communication by means of the Atlantic cable, traversing mid-ocean and connecting the Old World with the New; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be presented to Mr. Field.

"And be it further resolved, That when the medal shall have been struck, the President shall cause a copy of this joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and shall transmit the same, together with the medal, to Mr. Field, to be presented to him in the name of the people of the United States of America.

"Approved March 2, 1867.

"Andrew Johnson."

This action of Congress reached Mr. Field in England. As he was about returning to America, Lord Derby, still at the head of the government, addressed to him a letter in which he repeated what he had said before "in the Queen's name," "how much of the success of the great undertaking of laying the Atlantic Cable was due to the energy and perseverance with which, from the very first, in spite of all discouragements, you adhered to and supported the project;" and adding, "Your signal services in carrying out this great undertaking have been already fully recognized by Congress; and it would have been very satisfactory to the Queen to have included your name among those on whom, in commemoration of this great event, her Majesty was pleased to bestow British honors, if it had not been felt that, as a citizen of the United States, it would hardly have been competent to you to accept them. As long, however, as the telegraphic communication between the two Continents lasts, your name cannot fail to be honorably associated with it."

This surely was all that could be expected from the government, but some there were in England who felt that there was still a debt of honor to be paid, which required some public testimonial. Accordingly, on Mr. Field's return to London, in 1868, they prepared for him an imposing demonstration in the form of a banquet, given at Willis's Rooms, on the first of July, at which was assembled one of the most distinguished companies that ever met to do honor to a private citizen of any country. It embraced over four hundred gentlemen of all ranks: ministers of state, members of parliament, both Lords and Commons; officers of the army and navy; great capitalists—merchants and bankers; men of science and of letters; inventors, electricians, and engineers—men eminent in every walk of life. The Duke of Argyll presided, and speeches were made by three members of the government—Sir John Pakington, Secretary of State for War; Sir Stafford Northcote, Secretary of State for India; and Sir Alexander Milne, First Sea Lord of the Admiralty; by John Bright; by the venerable Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, so long the British Minister at Constantinople; and by M. de Lesseps, the projector of the Suez Canal, who had come from Egypt expressly to be present. It was a tribute such as is rarely paid to any man while living—such tributes being reserved for the dead—and is still more honorable in this case, alike to the givers and the receiver, in that it was paid by the people of one country to a citizen of another, who was regarded in both as their common benefactor.

But enough of praise that can fall only on the dull, cold ear of death. A few words on the after years of this busy life, and I have done. These years brought a rich reward for all the sacrifices of the past. The first feeling was one of infinite relief that at last the victory was won. The terrible strain was taken off, and to him who had borne it so long, the change to the quiet of his own happy home was inexpressibly grateful after his many and long separations. He was now in his own country and under his own roof, but with a name that was known on both sides of the sea. The complete success of the Atlantic Telegraph had given him an immense reputation at home and abroad. It seemed as if the struggles of life were all over, leaving only its honors to be enjoyed. What more could he ask to make life worth living than the respect of his countrymen for his courage, energy and perseverance, and a name honored all over the civilized world as one of the world's benefactors?

The practical results of the cable were even greater than he had dared to anticipate. In the space of a few months it wrought a commercial revolution in America. It was a new sensation to have the Old World brought so near, that it entered into one's daily life. Every morning, as Mr. Field went to his office, he found laid on his desk at nine o'clock the quotations on the Royal Exchange at twelve! Lombard Street and Wall Street talked with each other as two neighbors across the way. This soon made an end of the tribe of speculators who calculated on the fact that nobody knew at a particular moment the state of the market on the other side of the sea, an universal ignorance by which they profited by getting the earliest advices. But now everybody got them as soon as they, for the news came with the rising of each day's sun, and the occupation of a class that did much to demoralize trade on both sides of the ocean was gone.

The same restoration of order was seen in the business of importations, which had been hitherto almost a matter of guess-work. A merchant who wished to buy silks in Lyons, sent out his orders months in advance, and of course somewhat at random, not knowing how the market might turn, so that when the costly fabrics arrived, he might find that he had ordered too many or too few. A China merchant sent his ship round the world for a cargo of tea, which returned after a year's absence, bringing not enough to supply the public demand, leaving him in vexation at the thought of what he might have made, "if he had known," or, what was still worse, bringing twice too much, in which case the unsold half remained on his hands. This was a risk against which he had to be insured, as much as against fire or shipwreck. And the only insurance he could have was to take reprisals by an increased charge on his unfortunate customers.

This double risk was now greatly reduced, if not entirely removed. The merchant need no longer send out orders a year beforehand, nor order a whole ship-load of tea when he needed only a hundred chests, since he could telegraph to his agent for what he wanted and no more. With this opportunity for getting the latest intelligence, the element of uncertainty was eliminated, and the importer no longer did business at a venture. Buying from time to time, so as to take advantage of low markets, he was able to buy cheaper, and of course to sell cheaper. It would be a curious study to trace the effect of the cable upon the prices of all foreign goods. A New York merchant, who has been himself an importer for forty years, tells me that the saving to the American people cannot be less than many millions every year.

But the slender cord beneath the sea had finer uses than to be a reporter of markets, giving quotations of prices to counting rooms and banking houses; it was a link between hearts and homes on opposite sides of the ocean, bearing messages of life and death, of joy and sorrow, of hopes and fears. One of its happiest uses was the relief of anxiety. A ship sailed for England with hundreds of passengers, but did not arrive at her destination on the appointed day. Instantly a thousand hearts were tortured with fear, lest their loved ones had gone to the bottom of the sea, when the cable reported that the delay was due simply to an accident to her machinery, that would keep her back for a day or two, but that the good ship was safe with all on board. What arithmetic can compute the value of a single message that relieves so much anguish? Thus the submarine telegraph stretched out its long arms under the sea, to lay a friendly hand on two peoples, and give assurance to both.

Such a triumph of commercial enterprise was enough to satisfy the pride and ambition of any man; but it was not in Mr. Field's nature to rest content with any success, however great, and he was always reaching out for some new undertaking to give scope to his restless activity. Such an opportunity he found in giving rapid transit to New York, a city which, though it has one of the finest harbors in the world, with approaches from the sea that afford every possible advantage for commerce, is not so favorably situated landward, as it is built on a long and narrow island, between two broad rivers, which confine it on either side, so that it is stretched out to such distances that it is no easy matter to pass from one end to the other. From the Battery to the Harlem river is ten miles, so that working men, who lived so far away, were an hour or more in getting from their homes to their place of work, and as long in getting back again, a large inroad upon their hours of rest or domestic comfort. The only means of transportation was by street cars, which moved slowly, and in winter, whenever the streets were blocked with snow, were crowded to suffocation, and dragged at a snail's pace to the upper end of the island.

This was the great barrier to the city's growth, and must be removed if it was not to be stunted and dwarfed by these limitations. To furnish some relief, an elevated railroad, built on stilts, had been attempted on a small scale, but soon broke down, when Mr. Field bought the control of the whole concern, and took it in his own strong arms. It was no easy matter to galvanize it into life, for though it had a charter, it was still obstructed in the legislature, and in the courts, so that it was a long time before he could get full possession. But once master of the situation, he undertook the work on a grand scale, and pushed it with such vigor that in less than two years the road was in operation. It has since been extended with the public demand, until now (in 1892) there are thirty-six miles of road, over which the trains sweep incessantly from the bay to the river, and from the river to the bay.

The structures are not indeed the most graceful in the world, as they bestride the long avenues of the city. But these tall iron pillars, that line our streets for miles, are the long legs of civilization, and have a somewhat imposing effect as they stretch away into the distance, with the fire-drawn cars flying swiftly over them. Dean Stanley glorified them by a historical parallel which could occur only to one full of the wonders of ancient times, that started into life under the touch of his imagination. Going with him one day on an excursion, he stepped briskly (for his frame was so light as to offer little impediment to motion), and as he mounted the long stairway, and stood on the platform above the crowded street below, he exclaimed, "This is Babylonian! Four chariots driving abreast on the walls of the city!"

But Babylonian or American, the success was enormous. As soon as the public became familiar with these elevated roads, and felt that they were safe as well as swift, the people swarmed upon them, in numbers constantly increasing, till now they carry over seven hundred thousand passengers a day! On the day of the Columbus celebration (October 12th) it was a million and seventy-five thousand! Indeed, if we are not staggered by numbers, we may sum up the whole in the amazing statement demonstrated by figures, that since these roads were opened, they have carried over eighteen hundred millions of passengers, more than the whole population of the globe!

Nor should it be forgotten that, not only is the facility they afford the greatest, but the fares the lowest, for, thanks to Mr. Field, they were reduced years ago to five cents at all hours and for the longest distance, the ten miles from the Battery to the Harlem river.

The effect was immediate in the appreciation of real estate in the city, the assessed value of which has already advanced by the sum of five hundred millions of dollars! The increased taxation is enough to pay for all the cost, while as a relief to the congested parts of the city, and as furnishing a means for that easy circulation, which is as necessary to a great city as a free circulation of the blood is to the human body, it is not too much to say that the construction of the elevated railroads is the greatest material benefit that has ever been conferred on the city of New York.

But busy as Mr. Field was through all these years, much of his life was spent abroad. He had interests on both sides of the Atlantic, but stronger than his interests were his friendships to attract him across the sea. He had come to feel as much at home in England as in his own country: and his visits were so frequent that his sudden appearances and disappearances were a subject of amused comment to his English friends. When Dean Stanley was in America, a reception was given to him at the Century Club, where in a very happy address, he referred to the ties between the two countries, among which was "the wonderful cable, on which it is popularly believed in England, that my friend and host, Mr. Cyrus Field, passes his mysterious existence, appearing and reappearing at one and the same moment in London and in New York!"

As Mr. Field was thus brought near to his English friends, they in turn were brought near to him, for as no man in America was better known abroad, no house received more foreign guests, many of whom he had not met before, but who brought letters to him, and there was no end to his hospitality. John Bright he could not persuade to cross the sea; but he had the pleasure to welcome his co-laborer in the repeal of the Corn-laws, Richard Cobden. The house in Gramercy Park became famous for its receptions. Many will recall that given to the Marquis of Ripon and the other High Commissioners, who came a year or two after the war, as representatives of the British government, and negotiated at Washington the treaty which settled the Alabama claims; and those to Dean Stanley and Archdeacon Farrar; and to many others. If the strangers happened to arrive in the summer time, they were entertained at his beautiful country seat on the Hudson, to which he had given the name of "Ardsley," from the seat of John Field the astronomer, who lived in the West Riding of Yorkshire more than three centuries ago, and introduced the Copernican astronomy into England, and from whom the family are descended.

In some cases when he went abroad, England was but the starting point for excursions on the Continent, in which he visited almost every European country. In 1874, in company with two well-known Americans, Bayard Taylor and Murat Halstead, he made a voyage to Iceland, as ten years before he had been to Egypt, as a delegate from the New York Chamber of Commerce, to witness the opening of the Suez Canal.

In 1880-81 he took a still longer flight around the world. Waiting till after the Presidential election, that he might cast his vote for his friend General Garfield, the very next day he left with his wife in a special car for San Francisco, where after a few days, they took ship for Japan, from which they passed through the Inland Sea to Shanghai, and from China to Singapore, and up the Bay of Bengal to Calcutta, where he found the same English nobleman whom he had entertained in New York, the Marquis of Ripon, Governor-General of India. Going up the country, the travellers visited Agra and Delhi, where the wonders of architecture showed the magnificence of the old Mogul Empire. The whole journey was one of infinite pleasure and instruction, and they were never weary of talking of the strange manners and customs of the people of Asia.

When they returned to America, General Garfield was President of the United States, who, though a Western man by birth, had been educated in New England, at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he had been graduated twenty-five years before, and which he had a desire to revisit; and it was arranged that he should leave Washington in the morning of July 2d, with as many of his cabinet as could be spared from the seat of government, and come on to New York and all be entertained at "Ardsley," and the next day proceed up the Hudson and across the country to Williamstown; a programme which was interrupted by the terrible news that on arriving at the station in Washington he had been shot, an event that instantly recalled the assassination of Lincoln. At once there rose a cry of horror from one end of the land to the other, and for weeks the whole country was watching by the bedside of the illustrious sufferer.

Of course, the sympathy for the wife and children was universal, but Mr. Field was the first to give this sympathy a practical direction. With his quick eye he saw the condition in which they would be left by the death of the President, as for them the law makes no provision. His salary stops at the very day and hour that he ceases to live, nor is there a pension settled upon his family, nor can anything be paid from the national treasury except by special act of Congress. In this extremity it occurred to Mr. Field that what the Government failed to do should be made up by private generosity; and even before General Garfield's death he started a subscription, heading it with five thousand dollars, and taking it in person to his rich friends. The self imposed task occupied him several months, in which he raised a fund of over three hundred and sixty thousand dollars, which was put into United States four per cent. bonds, yielding an interest of over twelve thousand dollars a year, to be paid quarterly during the life of Mrs. Garfield, and then to go to her children. It was a great satisfaction to have thus provided for those who bore the name of a President of the United States, so that they should be able to live in the comfort and dignity that befitted the family of one who had occupied the most exalted station in the government.

Not content with this, Mr. Field went to Washington, and urged upon his friends in Congress, and finally succeeded in getting passed, a bill giving to the widows of all Presidents a pension of $5,000, which, it added to his gratification to know, would apply to the venerable Mrs. Polk: and that still goes, and will go during her lifetime, to the wife of General Grant, as the slight expression of a nation's gratitude.

Next to the interest he felt in his own country, his heart was in England. While he was an intense American, and perhaps, for that very reason, because he was an American, he claimed kindred with the people from whom we are not only descended, but have received such an inheritance of glory. In his own words: "America, with all her greatness, has come out of the loins of England." When he was in India he was proud of the mighty English race that from its little island governed an empire of two hundred and fifty millions on the other side of the globe. Some might have said that he inherited no small portion of its unconquerable spirit.

And not only did he admire Old England, but he loved Englishmen. He knew all that was said of English reserve and English pride, but long familiarity had taught him that underneath this cold exterior were many of the noblest qualities—courage, heroism and fidelity—so that it had become a part of his creed that an Englishman, when once you have won his confidence, will go farther and fight harder for a friend or for a cause than any other man on the face of the earth. Among such a people Mr. Field was proud to number many of his dearest friends.

A touching proof of their regard for him was given but a few months before his death. On the 2d of December, 1890, he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding. For fifty years they had travelled on the course of life together. Children and grandchildren had been born to them, so that at the close of half a century a large and happy family was gathered round those to whom they looked up with the tenderest affection.

Among the congratulations of that day was a large scroll, signed by Mr. Gladstone, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Monck, and some eighty others whose names are widely known. It was a graceful tribute from England to a son of America, who had done perhaps more than any other living man to bring the two countries and the two peoples together.

That golden wedding was the fit coronation of a life of wonderful activity, and all the kindred who met under that roof were grateful for the past, and full of hopes for the future.

But God's ways are not as our ways. Before many months the clouds began to gather. The next summer, when the family were all at their country home, sickness cast its shadow over their dwelling, which grew more grave till November 23d, when the leaves were falling from the trees before their door, the mother of this large household breathed her last. Two months later the eldest daughter, who was also the eldest child of the family, followed. These repeated blows fell heavy on the affectionate heart of the bereaved husband and father, and when to these were added other sorrows still, it seemed as if the clouds were piled one upon another till they darkened all the horizon. The winter was a gloomy one, from its loneliness and its many causes of sadness. But with the returning spring the grass grew green again, and the trees put forth their leaves, and it seemed as if the new life of nature must put life into the heart of man: and when he removed to the country, and began to drive about as of old among the familiar haunts, the beautiful scenery for a time delighted his eye, and the change of air brought a touch of the old spirit, as if perchance his strength were about to return. But it was only a momentary flush, and he soon took to his room, where, as he looked from his windows, and saw the sun going down over the hills beyond the Hudson, it could only remind him that for him the sun of life was about to set forever. Fair was the world without but desolate was the home within, since she who had made its brightness was gone; and here on the 12th of July 1892, the end came.

It was a beautiful morning, and the windows were open, through which the soft summer air floated into the chamber of death, where his three brothers, all that were left of his father's family, with those of his own household, were round his bed, watching the dear pale face. Thus surrounded and beloved to the last, he ceased to breathe.

Two days later a large company from the country round and from the city gathered at Ardsley, and stood on the lawn and the slopes that lead up to the noble trees that shade the dwelling, as Bishop Potter read the blessed words, "I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

The next day we bore him away from his home, and from the great city where he had passed his busy life, back to the quiet valley where he was born, and laid him down in the shadow of the encircling hills.[A] "Bury me there," he had said, "by the side of my beloved wife and by my father and mother." The earth closed over him, and all his struggles and his sorrows were buried in the grave.

The man is gone, but the work remains, a work that multiplies itself, for when once a leader and explorer had opened the way, others were swift to follow, so that now there are no less than ten cables stretched across the Atlantic, and every hour of day or night, "when men wake and when they sleep" (for even in the hours of silence the heart is still beating, only a little more slowly), the pulse of life is kept moving to and fro. The morning news comes after a night's repose, and we are wakened gently to the new day that has dawned upon the world. That which serves to such an end; which is a connecting link between countries and races of men; is not a mere material thing, an iron chain, lying cold and dead in the icy depths of the Atlantic. It is a living, fleshly bond between severed portions of the human family, thrilling with life, along which every human impulse runs swift as the current in human veins, and will run for ever. Free intercourse between nations, as between individuals, leads to mutual kindly offices, that make those who at once give and receive, feel that they are not only neighbors but friends. Hence the "mission" of submarine telegraphy is to be the minister of peace. The first message across the deep was "Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth, good will to men," and the first news it brought was that of peace in China. And when again the sea had found a tongue, its first glad intelligence was that the great war between Austria and Prussia was ended. Thus at its very birth was this new messenger baptized in the name of Peace, and consecrated to a service worthy of its name.

"Man marks the earth with ruin: his control
Stops with the shore: upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deed."

Not all! The wrath of man adds to the fury of the elements. To strew the sea with wrecks is the work of lightning and tempest: man's nobler office is to restore what nature may destroy.

It was the chief desire of him who has gone to the grave, that the link which unites England and America might bind the countries that he loved the most in indissoluble union. Though the two nations dwell apart, on opposite shores of the same great and wide sea, they are now brought almost within the sound of each other's voice and the touch of each other's hand: they can look into each other's eyes, and exchange their morning and evening congratulations with the rising and setting of each day's sun. May the instrument through which they look and speak never startle them with rude alarms, but continue to whisper peace in tones as gentle as the murmur of the sea, as long as the winds blow and the waters roll.

[A] The Berkshire Hills, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.