“Medford, August 7, 1858.
“My dear Mrs. Field,—What shall I say to you? Words can give no idea of my enthusiasm. As your pastor I have known somewhat of your own private griefs and trials, and the sacrifices which you have made for the success of your noble husband. Now the hour of reward and coronation has come for him and for you. I wrote to him yesterday, directing to New York, to be ready for him when he came. I was at Andover when the news came, in company with several hundred clergymen. We cheered, and we sang praises to God. I was so glad that your husband inserted in his first despatch a recognition of Divine Providence in his success.
“I sprang to my feet; I told the company that I was the pastor of Mr. Field, and that the last thing which he had said to me before starting was in request that we should pray for him; and then I had an opportunity to pay a tribute to his perseverance, his energy, and his genius, which I did, you may be sure, in no measured terms.
“Many doubted the truth of the news. I hastened to Boston, and saw the superintendent of the telegraph wire, who told me the despatches had passed from Mr. Field to you and to your father. This satisfied me that all was right....
“We think of nothing else and speak of nothing else. While the public are rejoicing over the national aspects of this great success, our joyful thoughts are most of all with those private delights which are playing through the heart of your husband, his wife, and her children.
“Tell Grace that I wish I had been with the boys when they ran to ring the bell. I would have swung it lustily, and thrown up my hat with them, as happy a boy as the best of them.
“Please tell your good father and mother that they are not forgotten by me in this general rejoicing. Your husband’s name will live in universal honor and gratitude. God bless you and yours in all times and in all ways; so prays
“Your affectionate friend and pastor,
“W. Adams.
“A letter I have just received from Professor Smith, in New York, says: ‘Genius has again triumphed over Science in the success of the Telegraph.’ ”
These extracts are made from a speech delivered at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, New York, on the evening of August 9th, by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. This meeting was said to have been the first public celebration of the laying of the cable across the Atlantic: