252 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
off” for his world cruise. The notice of the event that he re- 
ceived was a sincere example of the fondness for him felt by 
many associates and admirers. It was worded as follows: 
Cyrus W. Field, Esq., New York: 
Dear Sir,—A few of your neighbors and personal friends are 
desirous of meeting you in a social and informal way before you 
start upon your tour round the world. They will be glad if you 
will give them the pleasure of your company at a dinner on some 
evening in the latter part of October. ‘Tuesday, the 26th, is sug- 
gested as a suitable time; but if any other day will better comport 
with your convenience, you have only to name it. They are not 
willing you should go away without their greeting and God- 
speed. ' 
This banquet was more than a perfunctory ceremony for 
a multi-millionaire; it was a real tribute, and Field enjoyed it 
thoroughly. One of the speakers, General Horace Porter, de- 
clared enthusiastically: “Beyond the sentiment of friendship 
we all have a profound admiration for one who, at a period 
of life when most men, having surrounded themselves with 
the rich things of earth, in personal comfort, art, and litera- 
ture, would be content to retire to some shady Arcadia and 
enjoy the rest to which they were so fully entitled, is bristling 
with all the activity of youth, seeking new worlds to conquer 
and projecting new enterprises.” 
Before he left the country, he had an opportunity to do a 
service for the New York Historical Society, which neverthe- 
less declined cooperation with his efforts to maintain a monu- 
ment to Major André. He wrote them in support of their 
proposal to erect a monument to Nathan Hale, who, as a 
captain in the Revolutionary army, had been executed by the 
British as a spy. The André and Hale cases were similar, but 
André had been a British rather than an American spy. 
Field wrote the Society as follows: “I am glad to hear that 
it is proposed to erect a monument to Nathan Hale. Many 
years ago I joined with others in such a memorial at Coventry, 
