CYRUS FIELD CARRIES ON 95 
of an Atlantic cable. Like many other thoughtful men, he 
believed that most of the controversies and bitternesses of 
life arise through lack of understanding of the views of others. 
At that time, the transmission of accurate and complete 
news between America and Europe was so faulty or neglected 
that the British were not properly informed of the policy of 
the Northern States or of the favorable operations of their 
armies in the field. From the beginning of the war, Field 
urged the need for accurate dispatches being sent to Europe 
by each steamer. His daughter Isabella recalled that one sul- 
try summer day of 1862 he made a trip to New York from the 
pleasant resort of Long Branch on the New Jersey coast in 
order to make sure that a steamer sailing for Europe next 
morning carried favorable news of the movements of the 
Northern armies. 
From his knowledge of the powerful resources of the Brit- 
ish at that time, he realized what a calamity it would be if 
they should align themselves with the Confederacy, as their 
upper classes were inclined to do. Since England did not 
officially espouse the cause of the South, thanks are certainly 
due to men like Field who used their special knowledge to 
explain conditions, and their influence to dissuade the Brit- 
ish leaders from rash action. The course of American history 
might have been decisively changed had England been swayed 
by her dominant statesmen to render official aid to the South- 
ern States. It should be recalled that England at that period 
was the strongest nation in the world, whereas the Northern 
States were relatively weak. 
In the autumn of 1862, Field was again in London. Re- 
luctantly he had made up his mind that neither the American 
or British Government was disposed to do much more for the 
Atlantic Telegraph Company. He had written hopefully to 
one of the directors: “We can succeed without further assist- 
ance from either government, as I believe that an appeal to 
the public will now get us all the money that we can want, 
