ctical nature. At the
same time Morse freely acknowledges that the conversation between them on
the ship suggested to him the train of thought which culminated in the
invention, for he adds:--

"You say, 'I trust you will take care that the proper share of credit
shall be given to me when you make public your doings.' This I always
have done and with pleasure. I have always given you credit for great
genius and acquirements, and have always said, in giving any account of
my Telegraph, that it was during a scientific conversation with you on
board the ship that I first conceived the thought of an electric
Telegraph. Is there really any more that you will claim or that I could
in truth and justice give?

"I have acknowledgments of a similar kind to make to Professor Silliman
and to Professor Gale; to the former of whom I am under precisely similar
obligations with yourself for several useful hints; and to the latter I
am most of all indebted for substantial and effective aid in many of my
experiments. If any one has a claim to be considered as a mutual inventor
on the score of aid by hints, it is Professor Gale, but he prefers no
claim of the kind."

And he never did prefer such a claim (although it was made for him by
others), but remained always loyal to Morse. Jackson, on the other hand,
insisted on pressing his demand, although it was an absurd one, and he
was a thorn in the flesh to Morse for many years. It will not be
necessary to go into the matter in detail, as Jackson was, through his
wild claims to other inventions and discoveries, thoroughly discredited,
and his views have now no weight in the scientific world.

The third person who came to the assistance of Morse at this critical
period was Alfred Vail, son of Judge Stephen Vail, of Morristown, New
Jersey. In 1837 he was a young man of thirty and had graduated from the
University of the City of New York in 1836. He was present at the
exhibition of Morse's invention on the 2d of September, 1837, and he at
once grasped its great possibilities. After becoming satisfied that
Morse's device of the relay would permit of operation over great
distances, he expressed a desire to become associated with the inventor
in the perfecting and exploitation of the invention. His father was the
proprietor of the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, and young Vail had
had some experience in the manufacture of mechanical appliances in the
factory, although he had taken the theo