He writes to Captain Sherard Osborn in August, 1870:
“In your letter of 10th June you state the total length required for the Pacific cable as 7842 nautical miles, and give the price for the whole, complete, as £2,900,000 sterling. This is at the rate of over £382 9s. per nautical mile.”
From a letter written on January 21, 1871:
“It is uncertain what Congress will do with regard to the Pacific telegraph.”
On the 13th of June, 1871, he sailed from New York as one of the deputation from the American branch of the Evangelical Alliance, commissioned to wait on His Majesty the Emperor of Russia in behalf of religious liberty for all his subjects.
It was upon his return to England that he wrote the following letter to the Grand Duke Constantine, and the one of September 19th on his return to New York:
“London, 11th August, 1871.
“To His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constantine:
“Sir,—With this I have the honor to enclose a memorial addressed to His Majesty the Emperor of Russia respecting the establishment of a submarine telegraph communication between the west coast of America and the eastern shores of Russia, China, etc.
“I shall esteem it a great favor if your Imperial Highness will be so good as to forward the memorial to His Majesty, with any observations on the subject which may be thought desirable.