The idea once conceived, he lost no time in putting it into execution, and the next morning’s mail took letters to Professor Maury at Washington and Professor Morse at Poughkeepsie. He also consulted his brother, Mr. David Dudley Field, and his neighbor, Mr. Peter Cooper.
More than twenty-five years after Mr. Cooper told of the meeting:
“It fell to my lot to be one of the first, if not the first, to whom Mr. Field applied to join him in the enterprise which has so much interested us this evening. It was an enterprise which struck me very forcibly the moment he mentioned it. I thought I saw in it, if it was possible, a means by which we could communicate between the two continents, and send knowledge broadcast over all parts of the world. It seemed to strike me as though it were the consummation of that great prophecy, that “knowledge shall cover the earth, as waters cover the deep,” and with that feeling I joined him and my esteemed friends, Wilson G. Hunt, Moses Taylor, and Marshall O. Roberts, in what then appeared to most men a wild and visionary scheme; a scheme that many people thought fitted those who engaged in it for an asylum where they might be taken care of as little short of lunatics. But believing, as I did, that it offered the possibility of a mighty power for the good of the world, I embarked in it.”
As soon as he obtained the co-operation of the men mentioned by Mr. Cooper, Mr. Field asked them to meet in the dining-room of his house, and for four nights they sat around the table examining the records of the old company, studying maps, and making estimates. On the 10th of March, 1854, the Electric Telegraph Company formally surrendered its charter, and it was decided that if the government of Newfoundland would give the new company a liberal charter they would carry forward the work, and, if possible, extend it. On the 14th of March Mr. Cyrus Field and Mr. Chandler White, and Mr. David Dudley Field as legal adviser, left for Newfoundland; they took the steamer at Boston for Halifax, and on the 18th left Halifax in the steamer Merlin for St. John’s. In his speech at the Cable Celebration in the Crystal Palace on September 1, 1858, Mr. David Dudley Field said:
“Three more disagreeable days voyagers scarcely ever passed than we spent in that smallest of steamers. It seemed as if all the storms of winter had been reserved for the first month of spring. A frost-bound coast, an icy sea, rain, hail, snow, and tempest were the greetings of the telegraph adventurers in their first movement towards Europe. In the darkest night, through which no man could see the ship’s length, with snow filling the air and flying into the eyes of the sailors, with ice in the water, and a heavy sea rolling and moaning about us, the captain felt his way around Cape Race with his lead, as a blind man feels his way with his staff, but as confidently and safely as if the sky had been clear and the sea calm. And the light of the morning dawned upon deck and mast and spar coated with glittering ice, but floating securely between the mountains which formed the gates of the harbor of St. John’s.”
The little party was welcomed warmly by Mr. Edward M. Archibald, then attorney-general of the colony, and for many years afterwards British consul-general in New York, and by the governor, Ker Barley Hamilton; Bishop Field, of Newfoundland, and the Roman Catholic bishop, John Mullock, were among their entertainers, and became their warm friends.
On November 8, 1850, Bishop Mullock had written to the editor of the St. John’s Courier:
“Sir,—I regret to find that in every plan for transatlantic communication Halifax is always mentioned and the natural capabilities of Newfoundland entirely overlooked.
“This has been deeply impressed on my mind by the communication I read in your paper of Saturday last, regarding telegraphic communication between England and America, in which it is said that the nearest telegraphic station on the American side is Halifax, 2155 miles from the coast of Ireland. Now, would it not be well to call the attention of Europe and America to St. John’s as the nearest telegraphic point?
“It is an Atlantic port, lying, I may say, in the track of the ocean steamers, and by establishing it as the American telegraph station, news could be communicated to the whole American continent forty-eight hours sooner than by any other route. But how will this be accomplished? Just look at the map of Newfoundland and Cape Breton. From St. John’s to Cape Ray there is no difficulty in establishing a line, passing near Holy Rood, along the neck of land connecting Trinity and Placentia bays, and thence in a direction due west to the cape. You have then about 41 to 45 miles of sea to St. Paul’s Island, with deep soundings of 100 fathoms, so that the electric cable will be perfectly secure from icebergs; thence to Cape North in Cape Breton is little more than 12 miles. Thus it is not only practicable to bring America two days nearer to Europe by this route, but should the telegraphic communication between England and Ireland, 62 miles, be realized, it presents not the slightest difficulty. Of course we in Newfoundland will have nothing to do with the erection, working, and maintenance of the telegraph, but I suppose our government will give every facility to the company, either English or American, who will undertake it, as it will be of incalculable advantage to this country. I hope the day is not far distant when St. John’s will be the first link in the electric chain which will unite the Old World to the New.