PERSEVERANCE, PERSEVERANCE 127 
clergyman’s interest in such matters, says in his Story of the 
Atlantic Telegraph: ‘They like, when a ship is moving out 
of sight of land, that the last sound from the shore should be 
the blessed Sabbath bells. If that sacred chime were not heard 
today, at least a Sabbath peace rested on sea and sky. It was 
a calm summer’s evening. The sun was just sinking in the 
waves, as the Great Eastern, with the two ships of war which 
waited on either hand, to attend her royal progress, turned 
their faces to the west, and caught the sudden glory.” 
Even the experienced reporter of the Times was moved by 
this picturesque scene: “As the sun set, a broad stream of 
light was thrown across the smooth billows toward their bows, 
as if to indicate and illumine the path marked out by the 
hand of Heaven.” Henry Field’s comment on this impressive 
effect was: ‘‘What a sacred omen! Had it been the fleet of 
Columbus sailing westward, every ship’s company would have 
fallen upon their knees on those decks, and burst forth in an 
Ave Maria to the gentle Mistress of the Seas. But in that 
manly crew there was many an eye that took in the full beauty 
of the scene, and many a reverent heart that invoked a bene- 
diction.” 
The American sponsors of the cable had wished to have a 
United States warship accompany the British ships on this 
expedition and on March 1, 1865, had addressed such a re- 
quest to President Lincoln and the Secretary of the Navy. 
The request was signed by Peter Cooper, Cyrus W. Field, 
E. M. Archibald, and three others. But there was still an 
antagonistic feeling toward England at Washington, and the 
officials were absorbed in the overwhelming events that 
marked the end of the War, so that no action was taken. The 
cable squadron was thus entirely British, with one lone Amer- 
ican citizen aboard. Nevertheless, he was an important factor 
in the work. 
To accompany the Great Eastern, the British Government 
had sent two warships, the Sphinx and the Terrible, which 
