e assistant whose mechanical skill
is able to shape and put it in practice; while, on the other hand, the
assistant is sometimes inclined to attach more importance to the working
out than it deserves. Alfred Vail cannot be charged with that, however,
and it would have been the more graceful on the part of Morse had he
avowed his indebtedness to Vail with a greater liberality. Nor would
this have detracted from his own merit as the originator and preserver
of the idea, without which the improvements of Vail would have had no
existence. In the words of the Hon. Amos Kendall, a friend of both: 'If
justice be done, the name of Alfred Vail will for ever stand associated
with that of Samuel F. B. Morse in the history and introduction into
public use of the electro-magnetic telegraph.'

Professor Morse spent his declining years at Locust Grove, a charming
retreat on the banks of the River Hudson. In private life he was a fine
example of the Christian gentleman.

In the summer of 1871, the Telegraphic Brotherhood of the World erected
a statue to his honour in the Central Park, New York. Delegates from
different parts of America were present at the unveiling; and in the
evening there was a reception at the Academy of Music, where the
first recording telegraph used on the Washington to Baltimore line was
exhibited. The inventor himself appeared, and sent a message at a small
table, which was flashed by the connected wires to the remotest parts
of the Union, It ran: 'Greeting and thanks to the telegraph fraternity
throughout the world. Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace,
goodwill towards men.'

It was deemed fitting that Morse should unveil the statue of Benjamin
Franklin, which had been erected in Printing House Square, New York.
When his venerable figure appeared on the platform, and the long white
hair was blown about his handsome face by the winter wind, a great cheer
went up from the assembled multitude. But the day was bitterly cold, and
the exposure cost him his life. Some months later, as he lay on his sick
bed, he observed to the doctor, 'The best is yet to come.' In tapping
his chest one day, the physician said,' This is the way we doctors
telegraph, professor,' and Morse replied with a smile, 'Very good--very
good.' These were his last words. He died at New York on April 2,
1872, at the age of eighty-one years, and was buried in the Greenwood
Cemetery.

CHAPTER IV. SIR WILLIAM THOMSON.

Sir William Th