ving been so long connected with
the electric telegraph, to be invited to preside at this interesting
meeting, and I have travelled upward of one hundred miles in order to be
present to-day, having, when asked to preside, replied by electric
telegraph 'I will.' [Cheers.] But I may lower your idea of the sacrifice
I made in so doing when I tell you that I knew the talents of Professor
Morse, and was only too glad to accept an invitation to do honor to a man
I really honored in my heart. [Cheers.]

"I have been thinking during the last few days on what Professor Morse
has done. He stands alone in America as the originator and carrier out of
a grand conception. We know that America is an enormous country, and we
know the value of the telegraph, but I think we have a right to quarrel
with Professor Morse for not being content with giving the benefit of it
to his own country, but that he extended it to Canada and Newfoundland,
and, even beyond that, his system has been adopted all over Europe
[cheers]--and the nuisance is that we in England are obliged to
communicate by means of his system. [Cheers and laughter.]

"I as a director of an electric telegraph company, however, should be
ashamed of myself if I did not acknowledge what we owe him. But he
threatens to go further still, and promises that, if we do not, he will
carry out a communication between England and Newfoundland across the
Atlantic. I am nearly pledged to pay him a visit on the other side of the
Atlantic to see what he is about, and, if he perseveres in his obstinate
attempt to reach England, I believe I must join him in his endeavors.
[Cheers.]

"To think that he has united all the stripes and stars of America, which
are increasing day by day--and I hope they will increase until they are
too numerous to mention--that he has extended his system to Canada and is
about to unite those portions of the world to Europe, is a glorious thing
for any man; and, although I have done something in the same cause
myself, I confess I almost envy Professor Morse for having forced from an
unwilling rival a willing acknowledgment of his services. [Cheers.]

"I am proud to see Professor Morse this side of the water. I beg to give
you 'The health of Professor Morse,' and may he long live to enjoy the
high reputation he has attained throughout the world!"

Soon after this, with these flattering words still ringing in his ears,
he and his party sailed for New York and, once arr