This letter of Mr. Bright’s was written a week later:
“London, February 27, 1863.
“My dear Sir,—I have to thank you for forwarding to me Mr. Putnam’s four handsome volumes of the Record of the Rebellion. I value the work highly, and have wished to have it. I shall write to Mr. Putnam to thank him for his most friendly and acceptable present.
“We are impatient for news from your country. There is great effort without great result, and we fear the divisions in the North will weaken the government and stimulate the South. Sometimes of late I have seemed to fear anarchy in the North as much as rebellion in the South.
“I hope my fears arise more from my deep interest in your conflict than from any real danger from the discordant elements among you. If there is not virtue enough among you to save the State, then has the slavery poison done its fearful work. But I will not despair. Opinion here has changed greatly. In almost every town great meetings are being held to pass resolutions in favor of the North, and the advocates of the South are pretty much put down.
“This is a short and hasty note....
“Believe me always
“Very truly yours,
“John Bright.”
On Wednesday, March 4th, he addressed the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. A. A. Low offered a resolution expressing the confidence of the Chamber that a cable could be laid across the Atlantic, and ended his speech in support of it with these words:
“Any one listening to Mr. Field as frequently and as attentively as I have with regard to this subject could not long entertain a doubt as to the success of the effort. He has studied it in all its bearings, and with the aid of the science and intelligence so readily at command on the other side of the ocean, where he has had the benefit of an experience far exceeding that of this country with regard to ocean telegraphs. I am confident that whatever hesitation may for a time retard the work, it will not be of that kind to defeat the enterprise. With regard to the argument that this telegraph is in the power of the English government, and that we would be debarred from its use in time of war, let it be borne in mind that it may be built by Great Britain without our co-operation. The English government is alive to all the great necessities of the day. I wish, indeed, our own were equally alive to the urgencies of the age.
“The English government, as I said, is alive to all the great necessities of the times, and it will assuredly lay the telegraph, whether we work with it or not. If this government and people participate with the government and people of Great Britain in the work, it will be done under treaty stipulations which will secure to our country effectually great advantages and facilities. I have faith in Great Britain, and I believe if Great Britain enters into any compact with this country she will be true to her plighted faith. I have little fear on that score.... Our people ought not to be deterred by unworthy considerations from taking part in an enterprise called for by all the intelligence and wisdom of our times—such an enterprise as that now suggested. There is a risk which may well be incurred, in view of all the advantages the work presents. I, therefore, move the adoption of the resolution which I have had the honor to present.”