“In England the progress of the expedition was known from day to day, but on this side of the ocean all was uncertainty.  Some had gone to Heart’s Content, hoping to witness the arrival of the fleet, but not so many as the last year, for the memory of their disappointment was too fresh, and they feared the same result again.  But still a faithful few were there, who kept their daily watch.  Two weeks have passed.  It is Friday morning, the 27th of July.  They are up early, and looking eastward to see the day break, when a ship is seen in the offing.  She is far down on the horizon.  Spy-glasses are turned toward her.  She comes nearer; and look, there is another, and another!  And now the hull of the ‘Great Eastern’ looms up all glorious in that morning sky.  They are coming!  Instantly all is wild excitement on shore.  Boats put off to row toward the fleet.  The ‘Albany’ is the first to round the point and enter the bay.  The ‘Terrible’ is close behind; the ‘Medway’ stops an hour or two to join on the heavy shore end, while the ‘Great Eastern,’ gliding calmly in as if she had done nothing remarkable, drops her anchor in front of the telegraph house, having trailed behind her a chain of two thousand miles, to bind the old world to the new.

“Although the expedition reached Newfoundland on Friday, the 27th, yet, as the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was broken, the news was not received in New York till the 29th.  It was early Sunday morning, before the Sabbath bells had rung their call to prayer, that the tidings came.  The first announcement was brief:  ’Heart’s Content, July 27th.  We arrived here at nine o’clock this morning.  All well.  Thank God, the cable is laid, and is in perfect working order.  Cyrus W. Field.’”

There was no failure in the communication this time.  The electric current has continued to flow strongly and uninterruptedly from that day until the present, and experience has demonstrated for the wonderful wire a capacity far beyond the hopes of its projectors.

Having laid the cable, the “Great Eastern” proceeded with surprising accuracy to where the line had been lost the year before, and succeeded in grappling and raising it to the surface.  It was tested, and found to be in perfect order, messages being sent with ease from the ship to Valentia, and from that point back again.  A splice was then made, and the line was continued to Newfoundland.  Both cables are still working, and bid fair to be serviceable for many years to come.

Many persons had contributed to this great success, but to Cyrus W. Field must be assigned the chief praise.  His energy and perseverance kept the subject constantly before the public.  His courage inspired others, and his faith in its ultimate success alone kept its best friends from abandoning it in its darkest hours.  In its behalf he spent twelve years of constant toil, and made over fifty voyages, more than thirty of which were across the Atlantic.  He devoted his entire fortune to the undertaking, of which he was the projector and cheerfully incurred the risk of poverty rather than abandon it.  Therefore, it is but just that he, who was the chief instrument in obtaining for the world this great benefit, should receive the chief measure of the praise which it has brought to all connected with it.