e United States, on all the lines of the
Eastern continent, and exclusively on all the continental lines of
Europe, "from the extreme Russian north to the Italian and Spanish
south, eastward through the Turkish empire, south into Egypt and
northern Africa, and through India, Australia, and parts of China."

The rapid growth of the telegraph interest of the United States placed
Professor Morse in the possession of a large fortune, which was greatly
increased by the adoption of his invention in Europe. The countries
which had refused him patents at first now did honor to his genius. Nor
was he the only gainer by this. In France, especially, the benefits of
his invention were great. The old system of semaphore telegraphs had
been an annual expense to the government of that country of 1,100,000
francs, but Morse's telegraph yielded to the French Government, in the
first three years after its introduction, a total revenue of 6,000,000
francs.

Fortune was not Morse's only reward. Honors were showered upon him from
all parts of the world. In 1848, his _alma mater_, Yale College,
conferred on him the complimentary degree of LL.D., and since then he
has been made a member of nearly all the American scientific and art
academies. From European Governments and scientific and art associations
he has received more honors than have ever fallen to the share of any
other American. In 1848, he received from the Sultan of Turkey the
decoration of the _Nishaun Iftiohar_ in diamonds, and subsequently gold
medals of scientific merit were awarded him by the King of Prussia, the
King of Wuertemburg, and the Emperor of Austria. The gift of the King of
Prussia was set in a massive gold snuff-box. In 1856, the Emperor
Napoleon III gave him the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor; in
1857, he received from the King of Denmark the Cross of Knight of the
Danebrog; and in 1858, the Queen of Spain sent him the Cross of Knight
Commander of the order of Isabella the Catholic. In 1859, a convention
of the representatives of the various European powers met in Paris, at
the instance of the Emperor Napoleon III, for the purpose of
determining upon the best means of giving Professor Morse a collective
testimonial. France, Russia, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Austria,
Sardinia, Tuscany, Turkey, and the Holy See were represented, and their
deliberations resulted in the presentation to Professor Morse, in the
name of their united governments, of the sum of