278 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
in the public memory, and much sincere sympathy was felt 
for him. Previous to those misfortunes, the public had thought 
of him as a wealthy and socially-prominent New Yorker who 
had achieved an enviable fame. Only the older generation 
really remembered his cable triumph, although the younger 
elements had read articles and poems about it. 
His special appeal to the public imagination lay in his ex- 
emplification of typical American characteristics of energy, 
initiative, hard work, and perseverance. A large circle of as- 
sociates, both in business and private life, recalled his liberal- 
ity and charity; these memories, which were not published, 
illustrated a very real aspect of his character. Field had been 
a generous and frank personality. He had taken dangerous 
chances and had attained a brilliant success, although bad 
luck overtook him at the end. 
Some persons who disliked him and had been jealous of 
his victories were pleased at his failures. The usual crowd of 
wiseacres, who habitually oppose exceptional individuals and 
trim their sails to mediocrity, shook their heads sagely at 
“what they had always expected.” They were a similar crowd 
to the ones who had laughed in the eighteen-fifties at the idea 
of sending electrical impulses under the ocean, and who had 
“foreseen” the early failures in cables. 
At various times, Field had been criticized for appearing 
brusque in business deals and dictatorial in his methods. Such 
characteristics were probably the consequence of his impatient 
desire to get things done and his remembrance of occasions 
when the business world had treated him harshly and brutally. 
The actual records show deeds that prove an honest nature 
and a kind heart. 
If courage and generosity are the two greatest traits that a 
man can possess, Field ranked high as a personality, regardless 
of his successes and failures. His success in laying cables was 
partly the consequence of favorable factors of nature, such as 
