THE TELEGRAPH.

On the second day of April, 1872, in the city of New York, the life of a benefactor of his race, an aged man who had seen more than fourscore years of mingled trial and triumph, was ended. That man was Prof. Samuel Finley Breese Morse, the inventor of the electric telegraph. His name is as widely known the world over as that of Washington, or CÆsar, or Aristotle. His long life had been extremely checkered. He had passed through troubles, trials, anxieties, disappointments, bereavements; he had been subject to persecutions, losses, poverty, toil, discouragements; he had met with successes, gains, wealth, luxury, honors, fame; and finally the homage of republics, kingdoms, empires had been laid at his feet. He was never cast down, never unduly elated. He bore all his poverty and disappointments and wore all his honors and wealth with the "grace of a Christian and the calmness of a philosopher."

Professor Morse was born at the foot of Breed's Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, April 27th, 1791. He was the oldest of three brothers. His father was a very distinguished man in his day; for more than thirty years the pastor of a church in Charlestown, a noted preacher, a good historian, the author of many books, and, particularly, the father of the science of geography in the United States. Professor Morse inherited from both his father and his mother those traits of character which enabled him to succeed in his great life work, in spite of discouragements, obstacles, and opposition. His ancestors were all noted for their "intelligence, energy, original thinking, perseverance, and integrity."

How we would like to step into the little schoolroom and see Samuel at his first school. He was four years of age. His teacher was known as "Old Ma'am Rand," an invalid who could not leave her chair. She governed the uneasy little urchins with a long rattan that would reach across the small room where she kept her school. At seven years of age Samuel was sent to Andover to a preparatory school, kept by Mr. Foster; here he fitted for Phillips Academy and, in that famous institution, under the direction of Mark Newman, he prepared for Yale College, where he was graduated in 1810.

While in college he was under the instruction of Jeremiah Day in natural philosophy and paid great attention to the subject of electricity, getting everything that was known about it at that time. Professor Day said: "Morse was often present in my laboratory during my preparatory arrangements and experiments, and thus was made acquainted with them." On leaving college Morse had a burning ambition to be a portrait painter. He put himself under the instruction of Washington Allston, and went with him to England to pursue his favorite study. Is it not a little singular that Morse, who invented the telegraph, was a student under Allston, and that Robert Fulton, who invented the American steamboat, was a student under West, another famous American painter?

One day Mr. Allston introduced young Morse to Benjamin West, whose fame at that time was as wide as the world of art. West was in his studio painting his "Christ Rejected." After a time he began a critical examination of Mr. Morse's hands and at length said: "Let me tie you with this cord, and take that place while I paint the hands of our Saviour." Morse of course complied; West finished his work and, releasing him, said, "You may say now, if you please, you had a hand in this picture."

Morse had many interesting experiences in England during his four years' study under Allston. He returned to America in 1815, and from that time for about fifteen years devoted himself to painting and inventing. He was for some time professor of the fine arts in the University of the City of New York, and during all these years he paid much attention to the study of electricity.

After three years spent in Europe, he returned in 1832 on the packet ship Sully. In the early part of the voyage, one day at the dinner table, the conversation turned to the subject of electro-magnetism. Professor Morse remarked: "If the presence of electricity can be made visible in any part of the circuit, I see no reason why intelligence may not be transmitted by electricity."

His mind could think of nothing else; this one idea had taken complete possession of his soul; all that he had learned in former years, his experiments with Professor Day at Yale College, and his later studies, were all revived and drawn upon for ways and means to accomplish the thing he had in mind. He withdrew from the table and went upon deck. He was in mid-ocean, the sky everywhere above him, the sea everywhere below him. As the lightning comes out of the east and shines unto the west, so swift and so far was that instrument to work which was taking shape in his mind.

He could not fail, for patience, perseverance, and hope were hereditary traits in his character. He was just at the maturity of manhood, forty-one years of age; from that time this one idea absorbed his mind. All his powers were concentrated upon this one subject, the electric telegraph.

Now began a series of experiences such as probably no other man ever passed through. Scarcely did any one ever suffer so much, endure so much, fail so many times to accomplish his darling object, as did Morse. He completed his invention; he perfected it. He devised his alphabet consisting of long and short marks and dots; he obtained a patent for it; but he had not the money to put the invention in operation. Years of trouble and even abject poverty followed. He was so reduced at one time that he was without food for twenty-four hours. He applied to Congress again and again for a grant to enable him to build and put in operation a trial line between Baltimore and Washington.

On the morning of the 4th of March, 1843, as Professor Morse came down to breakfast, at his hotel in Washington, a young lady met him and said:

"I have come to congratulate you, sir."

"For what, my dear friend?" asked the professor.

"On the passage of your bill."

That bill was for the appropriation by Congress of $30,000 for the purpose of "constructing a line of electric-magnetic telegraph" under the direction of Professor Morse. The bill had passed the House some days before. It had been favorably reported to the Senate, but there were a hundred and forty bills before it upon the calendar which were to be taken up in their regular order. Professor Morse had remained in the Senate chamber till late in the evening. His friends informed him that it was impossible for the bill to be reached, as the Senate was to adjourn at midnight. He had, therefore, retired to his hotel thoroughly discouraged. Imagine then, if you can, his surprise and his joy when Miss Ellsworth the daughter of his friend, Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, of Connecticut, the commissioner of patents, told him that in the closing moments of the session the bill had passed without a division.

He had invented the recording electric telegraph eleven years before on board the packet ship Sully, upon his return voyage from Europe. He had spent eleven years in perfecting his plans, and in striving to secure the means for placing this great invention before the American people. During this time he had converted all his property into money and used all that money in pushing the enterprise. His only hope now was the bill before Congress. That bill had passed! With streaming eyes Professor Morse thanked Miss Ellsworth for her joyous announcement, and promised her that she should dictate the first message which should be sent over the wires.

And so it came to pass that on the 24th of May, 1844, these words furnished by Miss Ellsworth were telegraphed by Professor Morse from the Capitol at Washington, to his friend and assistant, Mr. Alfred Vail, at Baltimore, and immediately repeated back again:

"What hath God wrought!"

Well may we believe that the inventor spoke from the heart when he said years later: "No words could have been selected more expressive of the disposition of my own mind at that time, to ascribe all the honor to Him to whom it truly belongs."

A singular circumstance brought this invention to the attention of the people of the whole country as hardly anything else could have done. The National Democratic convention was in session at Baltimore. They had unanimously nominated James K. Polk for the Presidency. They then nominated Silas Wright as their candidate for Vice-President. This information was immediately telegraphed by Mr. Vail to Professor Morse and at once communicated by him to Mr. Wright, then in the Senate chamber. A few minutes later the convention was astonished by receiving a telegram from Mr. Wright, declining the nomination. The members were incredulous and declared that it was a trick of Mr. Wright's enemies. They voted to send a committee to Washington to interview Mr. Wright, and adjourned until the next morning.

On the return of this committee the truth of the message was corroborated, and thus this new telegraph, just completed, with a line just open for public patronage, was advertised through the delegates of this national convention to the people of every State in the Union. Astonishment was the sensation of the hour. The work bordered upon the miraculous. Ordinarily the motto is true that "To see is to believe," but this result staggered everybody.

Although the invention was complete and now in practical operation, yet Professor Morse's trials were not over. He received the congratulations of his friends, but he was also brought to the notice of his enemies. Let us pass over these trials and give attention to the more pleasant duty of considering his triumphs. The telegraph rapidly came into general use between the great cities of the country. Nor was its use confined to America; almost immediately it was successfully introduced into the various countries of Europe.

In 1854, the Supreme Court of the United States decided unanimously in favor of Professor Morse on all points involving his right to the claim of having been the original inventor of the electro-magnetic telegraph. In 1846, Yale College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). He was made a member of various learned societies in France, Belgium, and the United States. He received a diamond decoration from the Sultan of Turkey, a gold snuff box containing the Prussian gold medal for scientific merit, the great gold medal of Arts and Science from WÜrtemberg, and the great gold medal of Science and Art from the Emperor of Austria. Other honors were conferred upon him by Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Great Britain. At the instance of Napoleon III., Emperor of the French, representatives from various countries met in Paris in 1858 and decided upon a collective testimonial to Professor Morse, and the result of their deliberations was a vote of 400,000 francs.

No invention in ancient or modern times has wrought such a revolution—a revolution in all business, in commerce, trade, manufacturing and the mechanic arts, in politics, government, and in religious affairs. It is not given to mortal man to comprehend the greatness, to duly appreciate the grandeur, or to measure the utility of this remarkable invention. Over the mountains, through the valleys, under the seas flies the electric current, conveying all-important items of news from place to place, from country to country, from continent to continent.