“Three cheers were given with a will; but it was not enough, and they cheered and cheered until they were obliged to give up from exhaustion. ‘Three cheers,’ said Lord Carlisle, ‘are not enough—they are what they give on common occasions. Now, for the success of the Atlantic cable, I must have at least one dozen.’ The crowd responded with the full number, and cheered the following: ‘The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland’; ‘The United States of America’; ‘Mr. Cyrus W. Field.’ Mr. Field spoke as follows: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Words cannot express to you the feelings within this heart. It beats with affection towards every man, woman, and child that hears me; and if ever, on the other side of the water, one of you present yourself at my door and say you had a hand in this, I promise you an American welcome. What God hath joined together let no man put asunder.’
“And more cheers were given for the following: For ‘the sailor’; for ‘Yankee Doodle’; for ‘the officers and sailors on board the ships that are intended to lay the cable’; ‘the Queen’; ‘the President of the United States’; ‘the American Navy.’ ”
The sun set on the evening of August 5th with the shore end of the cable safely landed, but the ships’ anchors were not weighed until early the next morning.
Five miles from shore a slight fault occurred, which was soon remedied.
The Knight of Kerry sent this note to Mr. Field.
“Valentia, 6th August, 1857.
“My dear Sir,—Fearing I may not be able to get on board the Niagara, I write a line to thank you for the most valuable gift you made me of the piece of cable, as I have just learned from my friend Crosby.
“Yet I must say you owed me some compensation for having stolen the hearts of my wife and children and of every friend whom I was guilty of bringing into contact with you. I believe if you were obliged to make similar compensation for all the delinquencies you have been guilty of in this way, your whole cable, great as it is, would scarcely suffice. I know the inroad you have made into the Lord Lieutenant’s affections would require a long bit of it. I was sincerely sorry to hear from Crosby that you were again suffering, but I reflect with satisfaction that probably the voyage, even with its accompanying excitement, is the best remedy within your reach.
“Yours most sincerely,
“Fitzgerald, Knight of Kerry.”
All went most successfully, and although the excitement was still at fever heat on board the Niagara, the probability of soon meeting the Agamemnon in mid-ocean and following her to the shores of Newfoundland was most hopefully discussed, and this message was given to the press: