The date affixed to the bill is the 3d of March, but it was not until the morning of the 4th at ten o’clock that the President put his name to it as Mr. Field stood by his side. This was, therefore, one of the last official acts of President Pierce.
The government at Washington had now united with that of Great Britain in agreeing to give all that was asked. The frigate Niagara, the largest and finest ship of our navy, was ordered to England. The New York Herald of Saturday, April 25th, says:
“The performance of the vessel and of her machinery has fully come up to the most sanguine expectations. She is now on her way to London. By the recent news from England we learn that the British authorities have detailed three steamers to assist in laying the submarine cable and make soundings along the route. The Agamemnon, a ninety-gun ship, in connection with the Niagara will take the cable on board.”
Very little rest was allowed him on his return from Washington—but two weeks at his home. He sailed for Liverpool on the 18th of March, leaving his wife with a baby four days old. He remained in England barely a fortnight; he was at home on the 22d of April, and on the 8th of July he was a passenger on the steamship Persia, once more bound for England.
Early in July the Niagara had received her share of the cable from the manufactory of Messrs. Newall & Co., and the Agamemnon hers from the works of Messrs. Glass, Elliott & Co.
Almost immediately on his arrival he was a guest at a fête champêtre given by Sir Culling Eardley, at Belvidere, near Erith. Following is the card of invitation:
Sir Culling Eardley requests the Company of
Cyrus W. Field, Esq.,
at Belvidere, on Thursday, July the 23d, on the occasion of the departure of The Electrical Telegraph Cable for the Atlantic Ocean.
Messrs. Glass, Elliott & Co., the Contractors for the Cable, also request the honor of Cyrus W. Field, Esq.’s Company at Dinner with the Directors and Friends of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, the Officers and Crew of H.M.S. Agamemnon, and the Artisans of the Cable.
An early answer is requested to Sir Culling Eardley, Belvidere, Erith.