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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
68
This
friendship
of
Mr.
Brett--both
to
the
enterprise
and
to
Mr.
Field
personally--remained
to
the
last.
In
every
voyage
to
England
the
latter
found--however
others
doubted
or
despaired--that
Mr.
Brett
was
always
the
same--full
of
hope
and
confidence.
In
1864,
when
they
met
in
London,
he
was
unshaken
in
faith,
and
urgent
to
have
the
great
enterprise
renewed.
The
triumph
was
not
far
off,
but
he
was
not
to
live
to
see
it.
But,
though
he
passed
away
before
the
final
victory,
he
did
his
part
toward
bringing
it
on,
and
no
history
of
this
great
enterprise
can
overlook
his
eminent
services.
To
Mr.
Brett,
therefore,
Mr.
Field
went
first
to
consult
in
regard
to
his
project
of
a
telegraph
across
the
ocean.
This
was
a
part
of
the
design
embraced
in
the
original
organization
of
the
New
York,
Newfoundland,
and
London
Telegraph
Company;
and
when
Mr.
Field
went
to
England,
he
was
empowered
to
receive
subscriptions
to
that
Company,
so
as
to
enlarge
its
capital,
and
thus
include
in
one
corporation
the
whole
line
from
New
York
to
London;
or
to
organize
a
new
company,
which
should
lay
a
cable
across
the
Atlantic,
and
there
join
the
Newfoundland
line.
But
before
an
enterprise
so
vast
and
so
new
could
be
commended
to
the
commercial
public
of
Great
Britain,
there
were
many
details
to
be
settled.
The
mechanical
and
scientific
problems
already
referred
to,
whether
a
cable
could
be
laid
across
the
ocean;
and
if
so,
whether
it
could
be
worked,
were
to
be
considered
anew.
The
opinions
of
Lieutenant
Maury
and
of
Professor
Morse
were
published
in
England,
and
arrested
the
attention
of
scientific
men.
But
John
Bull
is
slow
of
belief,
and
asked
for
more
evidence.
The
thing
was
too
vast
to
be
undertaken
rashly.
As
yet
there
was
no
experience
to
decide
the
possibility
of
a
telegraph
across
the
ocean.
The
longest
line
which
had
been
laid
was
three
hundred
miles.
This
caution,
which
is
a
national
trait
of
Englishmen,
will
not
be
regarded
as
a
fault
by
those
who
consider
that
in
proportion
as
they
are
slow
to
embark
in
any
new
enterprise,
are
they
resolute
and
determined
in
carrying
it
out.
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