The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

"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 receive from your hand, shall testify to me and to my children what my own city thinks of my acts. For your kindness, sir, expressed in such flattering, too flattering terms, and for the kindness of my fellow-citizens, I repeat my most heartfelt thanks."