his head buried in his hands,
striving to regain his self-control.

When the excitement had somewhat subsided, Mr. Orton said: "Thus the
Father of the Telegraph bids farewell to his children."

The current was then switched to an instrument behind the scenes, and
answers came pouring in, first from near-by towns and cities, and then
from New Orleans, Quebec, San Francisco, Halifax, Havana, and finally
from Hongkong, Bombay, and Singapore.

Mr. Reid has given a detailed account of these messages in his "Telegraph
in America," but I shall not pause to reproduce them here; neither shall
I quote from the eloquent speeches which followed, delivered by General
N.P. Banks, the Reverend H.M. Gallagher, G.K. Walcott, and James D. Reid.
After Miss Antoinette Sterling had sung "Auld Lang Syne," to the great
delight of the audience, who recalled her several times, Chief Justice
Charles P. Daly introduced Professor Morse in an appropriate address.

As the white-haired inventor, in whose honor this great demonstration had
been organized, stepped forward to deliver his, valedictory, he was
greeted with another round of cheering and applause. At first almost
overcome by emotion, he soon recovered his self-control, and he read his
address in a clear, resonant voice which carried to every part of the
house. The address was a long one, and as most of it is but a
recapitulation of what has been already given, I shall only quote from it
in part:--

"Friends and children of the telegraph,--When I was solicited to be
present this evening, in compliance with the wishes of those who, with
such zeal and success, responded to the suggestion of one of your number
that a commemorative statue should be erected in our unrivaled Park, and
which has this day been placed in position and unveiled, I hesitated to
comply. Not that I did not feel a wish in person to return to you my
heartfelt thanks for this unique proof of your personal regard, but truly
from a fear that I could use no terms which would adequately express my
appreciation of your kindness. Whatever I say must fall short of
expressing the grateful feelings or conflicting emotions which agitate me
on an occasion so unexampled in the history of invention. Gladly would I
have shrunk from this public demonstration were it not that my absence
to-night, under the circumstances, might be construed into an apathy
which I do not feel, and which your overpowering kindness would justly
rebuke....