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 PAINTING BY DANIEL HUNTINGTON, 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE 
 
 cum or coun or THE STATE OF mnoai 
 
 NIAY 23d, 1895, 
 
 By MORRIS K. JESUP, Chairman of the Committee, 
 
 AND RECEIVED BY 
 
 ALEXANDER E. ORR, President of the Chamber. 
 
 ADDRESS BY THE HON. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. 
 
 NEW- YORK: 
 PRESS OP THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 
 
 1895.
 
 SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 MORRIS K. JESUP, 
 ABRAM S. HEWITT, WILLIAM E. DODGE.
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 IT is a matter of pride for America that the pro- 
 ject of an Atlantic Telegraph originated on this side 
 of the ocean. No doubt the possibility of it had 
 occurred to many minds, but it was all a dream, 
 until an American had the courage to strike out 
 into the deep, with the determination to make it a 
 reality. So fully was this recognized abroad that 
 JOHN BKIGHT was accustomed to speak with enthu- 
 siasm of "his friend, CYRUS FIELD," as "the COLUM- 
 BUS of modern times, who had moored the New 
 World close alongside the Old." But proud as any 
 man must be of such praise from the Great Com- 
 moner of England to an American, no recognition 
 could be quite so dear as that of his own country- 
 men. When the first cable was laid in 1858, the 
 Chamber of Commerce elected Mr. FIELD an hono- 
 rary member, and gave him a gold medal. And 
 again, in 1866, when the final success was assured, 
 it was celebrated by a banquet, at which the late
 
 6 
 
 Mr. A. A. Low presided, and at which were present 
 not only the merchants and bankers who compose 
 this great commercial body, but men of distinction 
 from different parts of the country, the Army and 
 Navy being represented by their highest officers, 
 General MEADE and Admiral FAERAGUT. Now the 
 Chamber of Commerce as the proper guardian of 
 the name and fame of its own members completes 
 its gracious office of commemoration by a more per- 
 manent memorial of the Atlantic Telegraph in a 
 historical painting of Mr. FIELD and his honored 
 associates, that, as it hangs upon the walls of the 
 Chamber, will remind those who come after us 
 what manner of men they were who achieved so 
 great a work for their country and for the world. 
 
 NEW- YOKE, May 30, 1895.
 
 REMARKS OF MORRIS K. JESUP, CHAIRMAN OF THE 
 COMMITTEE. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE 
 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE : 
 
 In October, 1892, the Chamber requested its 
 Executive Committee to suggest some plan by which 
 an appropriate and lasting memorial of the great 
 work of Mr. CYRUS W. FIELD in the establishment 
 of the Atlantic Cable might be preserved. 
 
 On the 6th of April following, the Executive Com- 
 mittee reported that after consideration of the 
 matter, and in view of their knowledge of the long 
 cherished desire of Mr. FIELD that the memory of 
 the achievement should be perpetuated in the form 
 of a great historical painting, in which the linea- 
 ments and figures of the projectors should appear, 
 they recommend that arrangements be made with 
 Mr. DANIEL HUNTINGTON, the distinguished artist, 
 .to execute a work of this character, to be displayed 
 upon the walls of the Chamber. 
 
 This recommendation was unanimously adopted 
 and a Special Committee appointed to carry it out. 
 
 Of this Committee, I had the honor of being made
 
 8 
 
 Chairman, with Messrs. ABRAM S. HEWITT and 
 WILLIAM E. DODGE, as associates. 
 
 Shortly after, a conference was had with the 
 artist, and after hearing from him a description of 
 the proposed work, an order was given for its 
 execution. 
 
 Mr. HUNTINGTON at once entered upon the diffi- 
 cult and laborious task, and for more than a year 
 has given it the closest attention and applied to it 
 his best skill ; the result you now have before you. 
 
 In this connection, I beg to read a letter received 
 from the artist a few days ago, in which he gives a 
 brief statement of the origin of the painting. 
 
 49 EAST 20TH STREET, 
 
 May 20, 1895. 
 MY DEAR MR. JESUP : 
 
 The first thought of a picture representing the 
 Projectors of the Atlantic Telegraph came from Mr. 
 CYRUS W. FIELD. He called at my studio soon 
 after the final and complete success of the cable of 
 1866, and consulted me about painting such a group. 
 I went with him to his house on Gramercy Park, 
 and he sent a message to Mr. PETER COOPER, who 
 came and took the chair, as he was accustomed to 
 preside. Mr. FIELD stood by the table, with charts 
 and globe at hand, as he usually stood when ex-
 
 9 
 
 plaining his plans. I then made sketches for the 
 proposed picture. Mr. ROBERTS was consulted, and 
 approved of the idea. Other members of the Board 
 differed in opinion, and there was some opposition ; 
 the purpose was, therefore, postponed indefinitely, 
 Mr. FIELD expressing great disappointment. For 
 many years nothing more was thought of it. In the 
 spring of 1892 he suffered from a severe illness, and 
 on one of the days of a partial rally, though so 
 feeble that he could scarcely walk, he called on me 
 and on Mr. AVERT to ask our approval, as a Com- 
 mittee of the Museum of Art, of his desire to pre- 
 sent to that institution all the memorials of the 
 Atlantic Cable, the pictured incidents and scenes. 
 On that day I said to him, "It was a misfortune 
 that the picture he had proposed of the Cable Pro- 
 jectors had not been executed," to which he replied, 
 " Yes, it was a sad mistake, and I fear it is too late 
 and will never be done." I mentioned this conver- 
 sation to Mr. WILSON, soon after Mr. FIELD'S 
 death, and he said at once, " I do not think it is too 
 late, and I hope it may yet be done." The next 
 thing I heard was that Mr. JESUP had brought the 
 subject up before the Chamber of Commerce, and 
 that a Committee, composed of Messrs. JESUP, DODGE 
 and HEWITT, had been named, under whose counsel,
 
 10 
 
 authority and encouragement, I began the picture 
 early in the year 1894, and the result you have now 
 seen. I may add that I have had the advantage of 
 a personal acquaintance with all the persons intro- 
 duced, (and have painted portraits of them all,} 
 except Mr. CHANDLEE WHITE, who died in 1856, 
 Mr. WILSON Gr. HCJNT becoming a Director in his 
 place. 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 D. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 MORKIS K. JESUP, Esq. 
 
 And now, Mr. President, it is my pleasing duty as 
 Chairman of the Committee to present to the Cham- 
 ber through you this beautiful and artistic painting, 
 designed to commemorate a great scientific achieve 
 ment, the value of which we all recognize, and 
 which will be better appreciated by future genera- 
 tions. Several of the individuals whose faces are 
 set forth in the painting have been members of the 
 Chamber and familiar to us, especially Mr. FIELD, 
 the man who, by his courage and indomitable 
 energy, gave to the world that voice that now 
 speaks to us in silent tones, bringing together in 
 closer relations all the nations of the earth. 
 
 In conclusion, I beg to acknowledge the liberality 
 of those who enabled the Chamber to become the
 
 11 
 
 possessor of this great work of art, and to express 
 to them its appreciation and thanks. 
 
 Mr. JESUP read the following letter from Mr. 
 Justice FIELD, of the United States Supreme Court : 
 
 SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., 
 
 May 20ta, 1895. 
 
 To the Chamber of Commerce of New- York : 
 
 GENTLEMEN: I have to acknowledge your kind 
 invitation to be present at the unveiling of the 
 painting of the Projectors of the Atlantic Cable. 
 Pew subjects are more worthy of the genius of 
 the artist or the historian. When COLUMBUS dis- 
 covered the New World, it was almost as far 
 away from the Old World as if it had been in 
 another planet. Improvements in the art of naviga- 
 tion brought the continents nearer to each other; 
 but it was reserved to modern science to make it 
 possible to have instantaneous communication. 
 The mere conception was almost a Divine inspira- 
 tion, but to carry it into execution was the work of 
 twelve laborious years years interrupted by defeats 
 and disappointments, that would have broken down 
 the courage of most men. All this I had reason to
 
 12 
 
 know from my relation to one who took such a 
 part in the enterprise, and hence, I should be with 
 you on an occasion of so much interest, but that it 
 comes in the very last week of the Court. You 
 need, however, no individual presence. The great 
 painting before you speaks for itself. The faces 
 there portrayed are familiar to the people of New- 
 York as among those of their most honored citizens. 
 All of them are now gone from the world, but the 
 remembrance of what they did may well be a matter 
 of pride to their children, and it is fitting that 
 this historic scene should be put on canvas by your 
 distinguished artist, and placed in the great hall of 
 your Chamber of Commerce, to preserve the memory 
 of it to future generations. 
 
 I am, with great respect, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 STEPHEN J. FIELD.
 
 13 
 
 ADDRESS BY THE HON. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN: The picture 
 which is hung to-day upon the walls of the Cham- 
 ber of Commerce illustrates one of the great events 
 of history. The men who are portrayed in it are 
 representative of American pluck and opportunity. 
 Each of them, in his own way, did much for the 
 commercial greatness of the metropolis and the 
 grandeur of the commerce of our country. They 
 were, in the broadest and best sense, self-made men. 
 They were not accidents, but architects. They com- 
 menced life without fortune or influence, with no 
 other capital than character and brains, and won 
 power, fame and fortune. 
 
 The conditions attendant upon the acquisition of 
 wealth dry up generous impulses and make the pos- 
 sessors hard, cold and unsympathetic. The notable 
 exceptions to the rule are the more deserving of 
 admiration and praise. These six New-Yorkers 
 and Americans had never permitted their failures or 
 their successes to dim their enthusiasm or dull their 
 imagination. Though the most practical of business 
 men, yet they could risk their money and their
 
 14 
 
 reputations upon a scheme which, in its beginnings, 
 had little else to recommend it but patriotism and 
 humanity. 
 
 Those who win great wealth suddenly or fortu- 
 itously, risk it with a recklessness born of the ease 
 with which it came. But they who have slowly and 
 laboriously climbed the ladder of fortune, look with 
 suspicion upon enterprises, the opportunities of 
 which have not been thoroughly tested and tried. 
 They know that, with their experience and demon- 
 strated ability, they can outstrip their fellows and 
 secure success where less able but more adventurous 
 travelers have beaten the path and shown the way. 
 
 The six gentlemen who gathered in CYRUS W. 
 FIELD'S parlor on March 10th, 1854, were splendid 
 examples of American success. CYRUS FIELD, the 
 son of a Connecticut clergyman who had naught to 
 give his family but an education and an example, 
 had retired from business with a fortune at thirty-five. 
 His brother, DAVID DUDLEY, stood in the front rank 
 of American lawyers, his codifications of law having 
 secured national and international recognition. 
 MARSHALL O. ROBERTS had ventured with equal 
 success upon the ocean and upon the land. WILSON 
 G. HUNT was a conservative, broad-minded and 
 eminently successful New- York merchant. MOSES
 
 15 
 
 TAYLOE was one of the most far-sighted and eminent 
 bankers and projectors of America. PETEE COOPER 
 had overcome almost insurmountable obstacles in 
 his career, and at ninety years of age was still quick 
 in his sympathy with the growth of the City, the 
 development of his country, with the needs of man- 
 kind and with every effort for the education and as- 
 sistance of youth. 
 
 Before this assemblage Mr. FIELD placed the pro- 
 ject of an Atlantic cable. The wire which could be 
 successfully laid under the ocean had not yet been 
 invented or manufactured. The possibilities of the 
 construction of such a line had not been tested. The 
 perils and obstacles between Europe and America 
 and in the depths of ocean were unknown. The 
 factors presented to these men of caution and of 
 sense were, a letter from Lieut. MAUEY, of the 
 United States Navy, expressing a belief in a level 
 plateau under the ocean between Newfoundland and 
 Ireland ; a letter from Prof. MOESE, then radiant 
 with the young fame of his successful telegraph, 
 saying that though it never had been tried, he yet 
 believed a message could be transmitted through 
 three thousand miles of wire ; and the enthusiasm 
 and confidence of CYEUS W. FIELD. "It will unite 
 the Old World and the New, it will promote peace
 
 16 
 
 and civilization, it will help commerce, it will bring 
 our country in contact with the world, and upon that 
 I will stake my reputation, my undivided time and 
 energies and my fortune," said Mr. FIELD. "This is 
 more patriotism than business," was the answer of 
 his guests, "but we will furnish the money re- 
 quired." 
 
 Before the laying of the cable could be commenced 
 the wires must be put under the Gulf of St. 
 Lawrence and stretched through four hundred miles 
 of unbroken wilderness which had never been 
 traversed by man, across Newfoundland to St. Johns. 
 As if upon a holiday excursion, the party sailed 
 from New- York, to lose their line in the Gulf 
 of St. Lawrence, and returned chastened and 
 dispirited. Again Mr. FIELD set forth, this time to 
 complete his enterprise to the point where the con- 
 nection could be made with the expected cable from 
 Europe. He went abroad as a missionary in 1856, 
 preaching the cable and its opportunities to English 
 statesmen and bankers. There was no need of his 
 arguing its value ; that was thoroughly understood 
 on both sides of the Atlantic. The fleet was 
 gathered. It left the coast of Ireland with its 
 precious burden, speeded by cheers and salutes and 
 guns, to have the line break when three hundred
 
 17 
 
 miles from the shore. Undaunted, undismayed, 
 nerved with new energy by defeat, made of the stuff 
 with which the world's conquerors have been en- 
 dowed, CYRUS FIELD appealed once more to falter- 
 ing friends on both sides of the water. Once more 
 they responded. The United States and Great 
 Britain contributed the best frigates of their navies, 
 which sailed in company to mid-ocean, where, as a 
 sign of the amity and concord which was to follow 
 success, the American man of war steamed with her 
 freight of coil toward the Emerald Isle, and the 
 British man of war, with her half of it, toward 
 America. Hundreds of miles of wire had found a 
 bed at the bottom of the ocean and been success- 
 fully tested, when the storms of the sea broke the 
 cable, and the expedition returned to England. 
 
 The indomitable pluck found in the Puritan strain 
 spurred dying hope to one last effort, and the 
 cable was laid. President BUCHANAN sent his mes- 
 sage to Queen VICTORIA, and the Queen responded 
 with equal cordiality and gratitude. The world was 
 aflame with eager expectation and joy. The builder 
 came to our City a conqueror, to be welcomed with 
 ovations and a triumph as significant, as grand and 
 as national, as any which ever hailed a CAESAR, with 
 the world at his chariot wheels, entering imperial
 
 18 
 
 Rome. The messages continued to fly back and 
 forth. Then came the dramatic and tragic end. 
 There were no hecatombs of dead, no wailing of 
 wounded, no bereaved homes, but there was a 
 wreck and destruction of hope involving more 
 people and more countries than resulted from any 
 other disaster of the ages. While the guns were 
 booming, the torchlights flashing, and the rockets 
 bursting in air, on that very night the cable of 1858 
 ceased to work. The first shock over, the mad- 
 dened populace, looking as ever for a victim, pur- 
 sued the victor of yesterday as the fraud of the 
 morrow. Torrents of invective and of epithet from 
 the press, the exchanges and the public were 
 poured upon the scheme and its author. " The 
 cable had never worked ; the messages were all 
 false ; we have been tricked and deceived for stock- 
 jobbing purposes," was the popular cry. To add to 
 the troubles of the City's defeated and discredited 
 guest, the financial cyclone which was then sweep- 
 ing the country scattered his fortune. 
 
 Few strains in the blood of the human race, except 
 that of CROMWELL and his IRONSIDES, of BREWSTER 
 and CARVER, and their companions, who had framed 
 the great charter of liberty in the cabin of the May- 
 flower, could have survived this trial, humiliation
 
 19 
 
 and disaster. But CYRUS FIELD arose from the 
 wreck of his fortune, his hopes and his reputation, 
 with sturdier faith and sterner purpose. Forty 
 times he crossed the seas. Congresses and Parlia- 
 ments, the Cabinets of Presidents and the Ministers 
 of the Queen, boards of trade and chambers of com- 
 merce, the parlors of bankers and the directors' 
 rooms of banks, the libraries of scientists and the 
 moss-grown halls of ancient universities, became 
 familiar with this intrepid and irrepressible enthu- 
 siast. For eight long years he pursued his quest, 
 exhibited his maps, submitted his tests, formulated 
 his calculations and addressed his appeals. There 
 is no human power which can resist the assaults of a 
 man of genius, energy and irrevocable purpose, who 
 believes that he is right and is battling for a great 
 cause. The great powers of the world, government 
 and finance, surrendered to CYRUS FIELD in 1866. 
 
 The adventures and alarms, the machinery broken 
 and repaired, the alternate hopes and despair, the 
 forces of nature in the Atlantic working their 
 mightiest against the domination of the skill, the 
 invention, the will and the genius of man on the 
 Great Eastern during the three weeks while the 
 cable was paying out from her stern, and on either 
 side of the ocean nations awaiting the result, pre-
 
 20 
 
 sented a picture unequalled in all the marvellous 
 stories which have aroused the eloquence, the poetry 
 and the painting of the centuries in the marches aiid 
 battles of history. 
 
 When I was in Genoa, a year ago, looking upon 
 that splendid statue of COLUMBUS, which is its chief 
 monument, I noticed upon the base this inscription : 
 "There was one world. He said, 'let there be two,' 
 and there were two." After four centuries Mr. 
 FIELD, with his cable, had reunited the two worlds, 
 and in gladness and peace the earth was one. 
 
 The first message on MORSE'S telegraph was the 
 exclamation of wonder and thanksgiving: "What 
 hath God wrought." The aspiration of the nations, 
 breathed simultaneously at the eastern and the 
 western ends of the Atlantic cable, was " Glory to 
 God on high, and on earth peace and good will 
 among men." 
 
 A happy commentary upon the far reaching influ- 
 ence and ultimate results of this quick communica- 
 tion between America and Europe was found among 
 the first of the messages which flashed across the wire. 
 This was the announcement of the agreement to 
 submit the Alabama claims to arbitration. It was 
 the beginning of that movement for the peace of the 
 world by which the disputes of nations shall be
 
 21 
 
 settled, not by the arbitrament of arms, but by the 
 calm procedure of judicial tribunals. No power can 
 estimate and no language adequately state the 
 benefits derived from the Atlantic Cable, and the 
 others which have been subsequently laid, by the 
 United States and by the Old World. Commerce 
 has been revolutionized, inter-communication be- 
 tween the different parts of the earth quickened, and 
 universal intelligence disseminated. The people 
 have been benefited in cheaper living, better homes, 
 higher thinking and broader education ; peace has 
 been promoted among nations, and the American 
 Republic has taken its place among the governments 
 of the world, to both maintain the position in which 
 WASHINGTON placed it of non interference in the 
 politics of other continents, and to enforce by the 
 stern application of the MONKOE doctrine, non-inter- 
 ference by the governments of other continents in the 
 politics or the governments of the Americas. Upon 
 Great Britain and the United States, the mother 
 country and the great Republic, the result has been 
 such constant and instantaneous communication, 
 such close and intimate relations, such a volume of 
 commercial exchanges, such an interchange of 
 peoples and of ideas, that while disputes will be im- 
 possible to avoid and differences must continually
 
 arise, they will always be settled with peace and 
 honor. 
 
 The story of nations is contained in multitudes of 
 volumes and fills libraries, but a few providential 
 and marvellous events have sown the seeds of 
 history. In a lifetime of earnest study one could 
 hardly grasp the details of the rise and fall of 
 dynasties and kingdoms, of races and peoples, of 
 politics and parties, of invention and discovery, and 
 of philosophies and religions. In a broad generaliza- 
 tion the wonderful development of modern times can 
 be traced to three eras the Crusades, the discovery 
 of America and the laying of the Atlantic Cable. 
 
 Last Sunday was celebrated at Clermont, in 
 France, the eight hundredth anniversary of the 
 preaching of the sermon by PETER the Hermit, 
 which led to the first Crusade. Europe was then 
 groaning under the iron heel of the feudal system. 
 There was no law but the despotic will of the petty 
 baron, and no protection against his exactions and 
 the outrages of his army of retainers. The Church 
 offered refuge, but it was not strong enough to pro- 
 tect the weak and the many against the armed might 
 of the few. A pall of ignorance and of superstition 
 rested upon the western world. This inspired priest 
 moved alike princes and people to a supreme effort
 
 for the rescue of the holy sepulchre from the grasp of 
 the infidel. The Crusades broke the strength of the 
 barons, increased the authority of both the Church 
 and the State, and brought about that concentration 
 of power which made possible constitutional govern- 
 ment and parliamentary liberty. They opened the 
 way for Runnymede, for Magna Charta, for the 
 Bill of Rights and for the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence. The East had all the culture of the world. It 
 had all the literature, the arts and the sciences, which 
 existed in that age. It possessed organized com- 
 merce and enlightened merchants. The contact of 
 brute force from Europe with this higher civilization 
 cultivated the paladin and the palmer, and brought 
 back to Europe a revival of literature, an impulse 
 for trade, and an ambition for invention and dis- 
 covery. The Crusades founded the universities 
 which gave to the middle age its scholars and phi- 
 losophers. They brought out from the libraries the 
 hidden treasures of the ancient world, and through 
 the Greek and Latin authors made possible the 
 names whose works are part of the treasures of 
 mankind. To them and their results can be traced 
 the telescope, the microscope, the compass, and 
 crowning them all in its beneficent influences, the 
 printing press. It required four hundred years to
 
 24 
 
 accomplish these results and bring Europe up to 
 this standard. 
 
 Then COLUMBUS wandered from court to court, 
 pressing upon royal and unwilling ears his belief in 
 a Western hemisphere. Others had discovered this 
 continent, but the times were not ripe for the an- 
 nouncement or the appreciation of the fact. In the 
 fullness of preparation the imperious and resistless 
 COLUMBUS compelled audience for his scheme and 
 fleets for his adventure. The discovery of the New 
 World became the most important chapter in the 
 history of the human race. Far beyond its material 
 advantages in affording homes for the crowded pop- 
 ulations of the Old World, were the opportunities 
 which it gave for the development and practice of 
 civil and religious liberty. Under the benign and 
 wonder working influences of these principles, this 
 Republic has flowered and flourished as the home of 
 the oppressed, as the land of the free, as the exem- 
 plar of man's opportunities for governing himself, 
 and as a disseminator of the value and possibility of 
 liberty around the globe. 
 
 The United States of 1854, when these gentlemen 
 met, were as distinct from the United States of 
 to-day as 1854 was distant from the time of the 
 Revolutionary War. They were isolated from
 
 25 
 
 Europe by the trackless ocean, and separated by an 
 eight days' journey from its shores. This infrequent 
 and difficult contact with the world promoted pro- 
 vincialism and protected slavery in our Republic. 
 We were not ready for instantaneous communication 
 with the Old World to preach by lightning from 
 day to day the lessons of our liberty so long as 
 under our Constitution and laws four millions of 
 human beings were held in bondage. When the 
 cable was projected all parties in the United States 
 were discussing, not whether slavery should be 
 abolished, not whether the stigma should be re- 
 moved, not whether the curse should be obliterated, 
 but whether it should be extended over virgin terri- 
 tories. All parties were agreed that it should be 
 protected by the power of the Government where it 
 already existed. In the eight years following the 
 failure of the cable of 1858 the civil war had both 
 devastated and purified the land. Slavery was gone, 
 the Republic was free, and the principles of the 
 Declaration of Independence were the fundamental 
 law of the country. The regenerated and disen- 
 thralled Republic, with the stars of its flag un- 
 dimmed, was prepared by example and theory to 
 give to people suffering under oppression every- 
 where, sympathy, encouragement and moral help. 
 Thus while four hundred years after the Crusades
 
 26 
 
 had enlightened Europe, COLUMBUS discovered 
 America, so four hundred years after COLUMBUS set 
 up his banner on San Salvador the Atlantic cable 
 united our country in instantaneous communication 
 with every part of the earth. For the gratification 
 of our national pride, and for the recognition of our 
 prestige and power, we were happily prepared for 
 this daily review of our development and progress. 
 
 The six gentlemen who met in the little library in 
 Gramercy Park forty years ago have all joined the 
 majority beyond the grave. There was no publicity 
 given to their gathering, and the results of their 
 evening conference failed to attract the attention of 
 the Argus-eyed press. But the States General of 
 Holland, staking the resources of their country upon 
 the issue of religious liberty ; the barons at Runny- 
 mede, forcing from the throne, with their swords, 
 the principles of civil liberty ; the Continental Con- 
 gress, formulating the measures which should dedi- 
 cate a continent ' to the equality of all men before 
 the law ; neither, nor all of them, accomplished any 
 greater results for mankind than those which will 
 flow in future ages from the success of the enter- 
 prise started so courageously by the gentlemen 
 whose portraits will henceforth, upon yonder his- 
 torical canvas, adorn the walls of this venerable 
 Chamber.
 
 27 
 
 REPLY OF ALEXANDER E. ORR, PRESIDENT OF THE 
 CHAMBER. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : I think we are all of 
 one mind that the Chamber of Commerce is unusu- 
 ally favored this afternoon, not only as the recipient 
 of a superb historic painting, commemorative of a 
 great scientific and commercial achievement, but 
 also in having it presented in language that is akin 
 to a beautifully conceived epic poem. I am sure 
 that the words which Mr. JESUP and Doctor 
 DEPEW have so charmingly spoken to us have 
 found a permanent abiding place in all our hearts. 
 
 You may remember, perhaps, the story that has 
 been told of a compositor who, when setting the 
 type of SHAKESPEARE'S play of HAMLET, came to 
 that place in the manuscript where the hero is made 
 to moralize after this fashion : 
 
 " There are books in the running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 
 
 The compositor paused, and critically glanced a 
 second time at tke text. " Why, no," he said, 
 " there is surely something wrong here. Whoever
 
 28 
 
 heard of ' sermons in stones ' and ' books in brooks ;' 
 the author must have been sadly mixed when he 
 wrote these lines, but I shall set him right ; I will 
 put the sermons back into the books and the stones 
 into the brooks, where they properly belong, and 
 then all will be well," and so he set the type to 
 read : 
 
 " There are stones in the running brooks, 
 
 " Sermons in books, and good in every thing." 
 
 The compositor was altogether too practical, and 
 lacked imagination. He had yet to learn that the 
 great book of nature is the immediate handiwork of 
 the Almighty, and that to the thoughtful, the con- 
 templative and the Christian man, the rocks and 
 mountains, the hills and valleys, the rivers and 
 streamlets, the trees and flowers, speak with an 
 eloquence superior to that of sermons that may be 
 found in books or preached from the most intellec- 
 tual pulpits. 
 
 And so this picture will be a continuous inspira- 
 tion of encouragement for all time to come to those 
 who look upon it and study its story of faith, and 
 hope, and perseverance, and patience, and courage, 
 and philanthropic purpose, and genuine and loyal 
 friendships in the crucial time of need, and of
 
 abiding confidence in scientific research and com- 
 mercial enterprise, as a means of overcoming what 
 may appear at first sight to be insuperable obstacles 
 in the pathway of the world's advancement. 
 
 Many thoughts have been suggested by the 
 eloquent words of Mr. JESUP and Doctor DEPEW 
 that deserve our serious consideration, but it seems 
 to me the one that is now most prominent to the 
 commercial mind, is the intimate relationship that 
 exists between science and commerce, and the 
 mutual benefits that each enjoys as a result of this 
 close compact. Science is encouraged and stimu- 
 lated to further and more comprehensive research, 
 because commerce promptly adapts to her own uses 
 those wonderful discoveries that overcome the draw- 
 backs of time and space and the many other hinder- 
 ances that have heretofore stood in the way of her 
 more rapid and successful development. Commerce 
 is exceedingly appreciative and generous, and in 
 these times of intense commercial activity, science 
 is made to understand that for all her discoveries 
 that can be commercially utilized, there awaits a 
 liberal commercial value, and hence the present age 
 is one of remarkable energy in the line of scientific 
 invention. 
 
 What new fields the scientist of the coming
 
 30 
 
 generation will open up, and what new appliances 
 will be offered to the commerce of the future it is 
 absolutely impossible for us to determine, but this 
 we do know, however, that the college student 
 (indeed, I might almost say, the school boy) of to- 
 day, holds as household words the scientific mys- 
 teries of yesterday, and so it will ever be, till know- 
 ledge culminates, and "we shall know even as we 
 are known ;" and when that time comes, science, 
 which is now sometimes prone to stray from " the 
 straight and narrow path" into the realms of scepti- 
 cism, will be found to be in line with the gospel of 
 the great and glorified Redeemer of Calvary, because 
 "the earth shall (then) be full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 
 
 Mr. JESUP and Doctor DEPEW, in the name of 
 and on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce of the 
 State of New- York, I accept, with pleasure and 
 pride, and thankfulness this magnificent historic 
 picture. We shall esteem it the masterpiece of our 
 art collection, and when we come to possess our own 
 building, which I trust we shall, at no very distant 
 period, we will honor it, and we shall honor our- 
 selves by giving to it the place of honor on our 
 walls. 
 
 Mr. JESUP, as Chairman of the Committee, which
 
 31 
 
 lias so admirably fulfilled its mission, will you 
 kindly grant us the further favor of conveying to the 
 donors of this most beautiful gift, assurances of the 
 fullness of our appreciation, our gratitude, ]and our 
 thanks.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PAINTING. 
 
 The painting represents a meeting of the Atlantic 
 Cable Projectors at the residence of Mr. CYEUS W. 
 FIELD on Gramercy Park. Mr. PETER COOPER is 
 presiding. Mr. FIELD is calling attention to a chart 
 of Trinity Bay, pointing to Heart's Content as a 
 safe harbor for landing the cable. Mr. DAVID 
 DUDLEY FIELD stands by the President with a law 
 book. Mr. CHANDLER WHITE is handing estimates 
 of expense to Mr. MARSHALL 0. ROBERTS ; next 
 to whom, at the table, is Mr. MOSES TAYLOR, listen- 
 ing to Mr. FIELD' s argument ; near whom, at the 
 end of the table, stands Mr. WILSON G. HUNT, 
 who, though he joined them some time after their 
 first organization, remained a staunch supporter of 
 the project to the end. Prof. SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, 
 the Electrician of the Company, is standing behind 
 Mr. ROBERTS, and by his side Mr. DANIEL HUN- 
 TINGTON, the artist, sketching. 
 
 The size of the canvas is seven feet three inches 
 by nine feet.
 
 DONORS OF THE PAINTING. 
 
 The ESTATE OF PETER COOPEE, by ABEAM S. 
 HEWITT, Executor. 
 
 The ESTATE OF WILSON G. HUNT, by EDWAED 
 T. HUNT and ELLEN D. HUNT. 
 
 MORRIS K. JESUP. 
 
 Miss MARY M. ROBERTS. 
 
 GEORGE J. GOULD. 
 
 THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY, by 
 THOMAS T. EOKEET, President. 
 
 J. PIEEPONT MORGAN. 
 
 JOHN T. TERRY. 
 
 EDWIN GOULD. 
 
 Mrs. MELISSA P. DODGE. 
 
 WILLIAM E. DODGE. 
 
 D. WILLIS JAMES. 
 
 SAMUEL D. BABCOCK. 
 
 JAMES M. CONSTABLE. 
 
 CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. 
 
 Mrs. PERCY R. PFNE. 
 
 GEORGE C. TAYLOR.
 
 34 
 
 Mrs. ROBERT WINTHROP. 
 Mrs. GEORGE LEWIS, Jr. 
 HENRY A. C. TAYLOR. 
 F. FREDERIC GUNTHER. 
 KUHN, LOEB & Co. 
 CORNELIUS N. BLISS. 
 CHARLES A. HOYT. 
 HUGH N. CAMP. 
 WILLIAM H. WEBB. 
 HENRY HENTZ. 
 ALEXANDER E. ORR. 
 GEORGE BLISS. 
 JOHN CROSBY BROWN. 
 JAMES MCCREERY. 
 JOHN CLAFLIN. 
 CHARLES LANIER. 
 JAMES SPEYER. 
 JOHN SLOANE. 
 JAMES A. HEARN & SON. 
 JAMES W. PINCHOT. 
 R. H. MACY & Co. 
 CHARLES L. TIFFANY. 
 H. C. FAHNESTOCK. 
 JOHN L. RIKER. 
 MALCOLM GRAHAM. 
 D. O. MILLS.
 
 36 
 
 A. A. Low. 
 
 W. BAYARD CUTTING. 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON. 
 
 JOHN D. CRIMMINS. 
 JOHN 1). JONES. 
 ISAAC STERN. 
 RICHARD T. WILSON. 
 CHARLES BUTLER. 
 JOHN S. KENNEDY.
 
 
 
 ry*-/wr." 
 
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 Ci&y^cw^ ^ ~, 
 
 University of California 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 
 Return this material to the library 
 from which it was borrowed. 
 
 fll JAN 13 1997 
 
 
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