When the excitement caused by the landing of the Cable was abated, the Knight of Kerry was called on to speak to the people assembled outside the Instrument Room, and said:—“I feel that in the presence of so many who have taken an active and a useful part in this undertaking, it may seem almost presumptuous in me to open my mouth on this occasion; but from the very beginning I have felt an interest which I am sure the humblest person here has also felt in the success of this the greatest undertaking of modern times. I believe there never has been an undertaking in which, not to speak disparagingly of the commercial spirit and the great resources and strength of the land, that valuable spirit has been mixed up with so much that is of a higher nature, combining all the most noble sentiments of our minds, and the feelings intended for the most beneficial purpose, which are calculated to cement one great universe, I may say, with another. I do not think we should be quite silent when such an undertaking has been inaugurated. It has been discussed whether this ceremony should be opened with a prayer or not. Whether that shall be done or not, I am sure there is not a person present who does not feel the utmost thankfulness to the Giver of all Good for having enabled those who have taken an active part in it to bring this great undertaking to what I am sure will have a happy issue. I do not think anything could be fitly added to the sentiment of the first message which was conveyed, namely—‘Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.’ I shall not detain you with another word, but will only ask you all to give the heartiest cheers for the success of the undertaking. I will also take the liberty of asking you, when you have done that, to give three cheers for a gentleman who has come here at great inconvenience, and has done us very great honour in doing so, and who deserves them, not only from his position and character, but also from the interest which he has always shown in this undertaking. I call upon you to give three hearty cheers for Sir Robert Peel.”
The meeting responded very heartily to the call, and when silence was restored, Sir Robert Peel said: “Gentlemen, as the Knight of Kerry has well observed, this is one of the most important works that this country could have been engaged in, inasmuch as it tends to draw us together in a link of amity and friendship with a mighty continent on the other side of the Atlantic. I trust, as the Knight of Kerry has so justly observed, that it may tend not only to promote the peace and commerce of the world, but that it may also lead to a union of feeling and to good fellowship between those two great countries; and I trust that as it has been so happily inaugurated to-day, so it may be successful under the exertions of those who have taken part in it to-day and for some time past. Gentlemen, I think the progress of this undertaking deserves that we should pay the highest compliment to those who have been actively engaged in carrying it out to the stage at which it has arrived. We are about to lay down, at the very bottom of the mighty Atlantic, which beats against your shores with everlasting pulsations, this silver-toned zone, to join the United Kingdom and America. Along that silver-toned zone, I trust, may pass words which will tend to promote the commerce and the interest of the two countries; and I am sure we will offer up prayers for the success of an undertaking, to the accomplishment of which persevering industry and all the mechanical skill of the age have been brought to bear. Nothing has been wanting in human skill, and therefore for the future, as now, let us trust the hand of Divine Providence will be upon it; and that as the great vessel is about to steam across the Atlantic no mishaps or misfortune may occur to imperil or obstruct the success of the work which has now been so happily commenced. I ask you all to give a cheer in honour of my noble friend here, the Knight of Kerry, who has just begun the work.”
The demand was enthusiastically complied with, for the Knight is an immense favourite with all the dwellers in his little dominion.
Sir Robert Peel then said: “Now, gentlemen, probably one of the first messages that will be sent by this Cable will be a communication from the Sovereign of this great country to the great ruler of the mighty continent at the other side of the Atlantic. I will ask you to give three cheers for her Majesty the Queen.” (Cheers.) Sir Robert Peel in conclusion, said: “I give you, with hearty good will, health and happiness to the ruler of the United States, President Johnson.” (The toast was received with loud cheers.)
Mr. Glass, who was called on to acknowledge the hearty reception given to his name and the Company’s, said: “On behalf of myself and those connected with me in this undertaking, I beg to return you thanks. I am glad that our labours have been appreciated by those around us. I assure you that the work that has been so far completed has been a source of great anxiety to us all; but that anxiety has been relieved very much by the fact that we have now landed a Cable which we one and all believe to be perfect. I believe that nothing can interfere with the successful laying of the Cable but the hand of the Almighty, who rules the winds and waves. So far as human skill has gone, I believe we have produced all that can be desired. We now offer up our prayers to the Almighty that He will grant success to our undertaking.”
The Doxology was then sung, with which this part of the proceedings closed, and the electricians busied themselves with securing the shore end confided to their charge in its new home.
At 2 o’clock in the afternoon the Caroline, towed by the Hawk, and attended by the Princess Alexandra and Advice, proceeded to sea, veering out the shore end of the Cable in the channel marked by Lieutenant White, and at 10·30 p.m. buoyed the end 26 miles W.N.W. of Valentia, in 75 fathoms of water. A message was sent through the Cable to Foilhummerum, and a dispatch was forwarded to the Great Eastern, in Bantry Bay, to come round with all speed. This order was obeyed with such diligence that her appearance off the harbour of Valentia was reported in Knightstown soon after 7 o’clock next morning, July 23. H.M.S. Terrible and H.M.S. Sphinx were in company. The Hawk, which returned from the Caroline in the course of the night, got up steam and left Valentia Harbour about 10 o’clock a.m., July 23, with a party of visitors and passengers for the Great Eastern, among the former being Sir R. Peel, the Knight of Kerry, and Captain Lord John Hay. By 3 p.m. the Hawk had reached the flotilla, which lay around the buoy, preparing for the great enterprise. She was just in time; the end of the shore Cable was about to be spliced and joined with the landward end of the main Cable from the after tank of the Great Eastern, and the boats of the Great Ship and of the two men-of-war, were engaged in carrying the end of the main Cable to the Caroline. Sir R. Peel, the Knight of Kerry, Lord John Hay, Mr. Canning, and others, got on board the Great Eastern in successive trips of the Hawk’s boats; but the ladies, who had come so far and had suffered too in order to see the famous vessel, could not venture, as there was a swell on which made it difficult to embark or approach the gangway ladders. After an hour’s enjoyment of the almost terrestrial steadiness of the Great Eastern, the visitors departed, amid loud cheers, to the Hawk, and at 5·10 p.m. it was reported by the electricians that the tests of the splice between the main Cable and the shore end were complete, and that the shore end was much improved in its electrical condition by its immersion in the water. The boats were hoisted in by the men-of-war and by the Great Eastern, adieux and good wishes were exchanged, and, with hearts full of confidence, all on board set about the work before them.
The bight of the Cable was slipped from the Caroline, at 7·15 p.m., and the Great Eastern stood slowly on her course N.W.¼W. Then the Terrible and Sphinx, which had ranged up alongside, and sent their crews into the shrouds and up to the tops to give her a parting cheer, delivered their friendly broadsides with vigour, and received a similar greeting. Their colours were hauled down, and as the sun set a broad stream of golden light was thrown across the smooth billows towards their bows as if to indicate and illumine the path marked out by the hand of Heaven. The brake was eased, and as the Great Eastern moved ahead the machinery of the paying-out apparatus began to work, drums rolled, wheels whirled, and out spun the black line of the Cable, and dropped in a graceful curve into the sea over the stern wheel. The Cable came up with ease from the after tank, and was payed-out with the utmost regularity from the apparatus. The system of signals to and from the ship was at once in play between the electricians on board and those at Foilhummerum. On board there were two representative bodies—the electricians of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, under M. de Sauty, and the electricians of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, Mr. Varley, Professor Thomson, and assistants. The former were to test the electrical state of the Cable as it was being payed-out, and to keep up signals between the ship and the shore. The latter, who had no power of interference or control, were simply to report on the testing, and to certify, on their arrival in Newfoundland, whether the Cable fulfilled the conditions specified in the contract. The mechanical arrangements for paying-out the cable were in charge of Mr. Canning, engineer-in-chief to the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, who might be considered as having supreme control over the ship ad hoc. In the space on deck between the captain’s state-room and the entrance to the grand saloon, was the Testing-Room—a darkened chamber, into which were led conducting wires from the ends of the Cable, for the ordeal to which they were subjected by the electricians, at a table whereon were placed galvanometers and insulation and resistance-testing machines.