frequent appeals; no book of human composition which I more strenuously recommend that his Treatise on the Will, and which has helped me more than any other uninspired book to find my way through all that might have otherwise proved battling and transcendental and mysterious in the peculiarities of Calvinism." Sir James Mackintosh said: "Edwards' power of subtle argument is, perhaps, unmatched, certainly unsurpassed, among men." Dugald Stewart said that Edwards was not inferior to disputants reared in the best universities of Europe, and that his arguments could not be answered. Over Jonathan Edwards' grave at Princeton, where he lies by the side of his wife and his daughter, Esther, the mother of Aaron Burr, is an inscription in Latin, which, translated, means: "He was second to no mortal man, and as a theologian has scarce had his equal." SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. CHAPTER XXXI. THE INVENTOR OF THE TELEGRAPH-BEGAN LIFE AS A "W HAT God hath wrought" was the sentence that came in mystic signs over the telegraph wires between Washington and Baltimore on the 27th day of May, 1844. Such was the first message sent at the first practical test of Professor S. F. B. Morse's wonderful invention of the telegraph. It is not too much to say that this invention more than any other has helped to change the face of the world, and has been a greater aid in stimulating all the activities of mankind than any other single invention the world has known. In a greater degree than the steamboat and the steam engine it has annihilated space, and by bringing the uttermost ends of the earth into immediate communication it has been the means of organizing the people of the civilized world into one great family. The inventor of the telegraph, like the inventor of the steamboat, began life with the great ambition to be an artist. In this profession Professor Morse accomplished a great deal more than Robert Fulton, for he succeeded in painting many pictures that have intrinsic merit as works of art. Like Fulton, too, Professor Morse early in life displayed a great interest in all matters of a scientific character, and while a student at Yale College made great progress in chemistry and natural philosophy. Upon leaving college, however, he did not follow any of the pursuits into which these studies would naturally lead him. The spirit of the artist was strong within him, and, in obedience to it, he decided to go abroad and study under the great American painter, Benjamin West, and under Copley and Allston as well. Like the majority of all of America's great men, Professor Morse, in his youth, was poor, and after four years spent in the studio of artists abroad he was obliged to return to his native land on account of a lack of funds. With the first sufficient sum of money he earned at home he again went abroad to complete his studies in art. His paintings had created such a favorable impression at home that while he was abroad this second time he was elected Professor of the Literature of Fine Arts in the University of the City of New York. In 1832 he sailed from Havre on board the packet Sully to accept the position. FIRST IDEA OF THE TELEGRAPH. Most fortunately for himself and for electrical science, a number of the passengers on the Sully were men of unusual intelligence and attainments, men who, like himself, had been giving serious thought and attention to the scientific experiments of the time. One of these passengers had recently witnessed an interesting experiment in Paris with an electro-magnet, by which it was shown that an electric spark could easily be obtained from the magnet and could be rapidly disseminated. The account of this experiment had a wonderful effect upon Professor Morse. Among his day dreams in the art studio had been one of a time when the people of the world could communicate with each other by means of electricity. The story of the experiment with the electro-magnet supplied the missing link in his chain of thought. For the rest of the voyage he kept much to himself, and his mind dwelt constantly upon this one subject. While his fellow passengers were asleep in their berths at night he paced the silent decks with only the stars and the waves for company, and thought out the problem of electrical communication. Before the ship reached New York he believed that he had solved the problem, and this belief rapidly turned out to be a fact. Not only had he conceived the idea of an electro-magnetic telegraph, but also one that should record by signs the letters of the alphabet. The signs by which a message could be recorded he also invented before the ship reached her destination, and this alphabet of signs, or "Morse Code," as it is called, has undergone no change from that day to this, and is in use in every telegraph office in the world to-day. MAKING THE FIRST INSTRUMENT. Upon his return to his native land Professor Morse set to work to put his invention into practical shape. It was first necessary to generate the electricity by means of batteries and convey it to the magnet by wires. There had to be some means of regulating the spark after it was drawn from the inagnet, and the professor set to work to construct an instrument that would serve this purpose. At the end of three years he succeeded in making what was a very crude sort of an affair compared with the telegraph instrument of to-day, but his instrument had the one essential merit-it worked. By means of it he found he could send signals over a wire half a mile in length. Then he met with another obstacle-having sent his signals he had no means of receiving them back again. This resulted in a number of experiments which brought about many improvements in his first instrument and finally to the placing of a duplicate instrument at the other end of the wire. Two years more elapsed before he brought his invention to this degree. of utility, or, in all, five years from the time when he had first conceived the idea of the telegraph. At this time Professor Morse was exceedingly poor, and, in the language of one of his friends, was obliged, literally, to coin his mind for bread. The telegraph worked satisfactorily; he found that he could send and receive signals at either end of his wire, and he decided to make his invention public. He began by exhibiting it at the University of New York, and many people came to see the new wonder. While the new invention attracted the attention of scientific men, most of the people who came to see it were incredulous of any practical result, and were prompted largely by curiosity. CONGRESS RIDICULED HIM, BUT HELPED HIM. Out of the depths of his poverty Professor Morse applied to Congress for aid in constructing a telegraph line of sufficient length to prove the practical utility of his invention. One would imagine that Congress would have jumped at the chance to bring about such cheap and quick communication between remote sections of the country, but such was not the case. Many congressmen ridiculed the idea of electrical communication, and the session adjourned without any favorable action on Professor Morse's petition. Three years later the government issued him a patent which he had applied for a long time before, and this led him to make a second petition to Congress to aid him in the construction of a line between Baltimore and Washington. Again he had to encounter great opposition and much ridicule. It looked as if he would not meet with any more favor in this Congress than he had in the preceding one, and he abandoned all hope of receiving any aid from the general government. On the very last day of the session, much to his amazement and joy, a bill was passed appropriating $30,000 to build the experimental line. He began work at once. The first line was an insulated wire laid underground in a lead pipe, which, when completed, was found not to work. This failure brought down upon the head of the struggling inventor more ridicule, and many of those who had voted for the appropriation began to be skeptical that anything practical would result. Professor Morse then conceived the idea of stringing the wire upon elevated poles, and in the latter part of May, 1844, this work was completed. The 27th day of that month was selected for the first trial over the experiinental wire, and it was made in the presence of many government officials and other distinguished men. It was a day of great anxiety, not only to Professor Morse, but to a number of scientific men who had become interested in the success of his invention. WANTED TO SEND U. S. MAIL BY TELEGRAPH. One very humorous incident attended this first test of the new invention. Among those present to witness the experiment was John C. Spencer, then Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Spencer probably was not more ignorant of the principles involved in Professor Morse's invention than the great majority of people, yet he asked one of the professor's assistants how large a bundle could be sent over the wire, and wanted to know whether or not the United States mail could not also be dispatched in this way. The first message over the experimental line was sent by Professor Morse to his assistant at Baltimore, and consisted of the words already quoted, "What God hath wrought." The message was repeated, and then followed numerous questions, to which prompt answers were returned. In order to demonstrate to the spectators that there was no collusion between himself and his assistant at Baltimore numerous messages were sent, which would not admit of any previous arrangement, such as the state of the weather and the current news happening of that particular day. Messages were |