The Story 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."