Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals: In Two Volumes, Volume IIMorse, Samuel Finley Breese
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Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals: In Two Volumes, Volume II
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872; Telegraph
"I was immediately surrounded by my friends in the House, congratulating
me and telling me that the crisis is passed, and that the bill will pass
the House by a large majority. Mr. Kennedy, chairman of the Committee on
Commerce, has put the bill on the Speaker's calendar for Thursday
morning, when the final vote in the House will be taken. It then has to
go to the Senate, where I have reason to believe it will meet with a
favorable reception. Then to the President, and, if signed by him, I
shall return with renovated spirits, for I assure you I have for some
time been at the lowest ebb, and can now scarcely realize that a turn has
occurred in my favor. I don't know when I have been so much tried as in
the tedious delays of the last two months, but I see a reason for it in
the Providence of God. He has been pleased to try my patience, and not
until my impatience had yielded unreservedly to submission has He
relieved me by granting light upon my path. Praised be His name, for to
Him alone belongs all the glory.
"I write with a dreadful headache caused by over excitement in the House,
but hope to be better after a night's rest, I have written in haste just
to inform you of the first symptoms of success."
On the same date as that of the preceding letter, February 21, the
following appeared in the "Congressional Globe," and its very curtness
and flippancy is indicative of the indifference of the public in general
to this great invention, and the proceedings which are summarized cast
discredit on the intelligence of our national lawmakers:--
ELECTRO AND ANIMAL MAGNETISM
On motion of Mr. Kennedy of Maryland, the committee took up the bill to
authorize a series of experiments to be made in order to test the merits
of Morse's electro-magnetic telegraph. The bill appropriates $30,000, to
be expended under the direction of the Postmaster-General.
On motion of Mr. Kennedy, the words "Postmaster-General" were stricken
out and "Secretary of the Treasury" inserted.
Mr. Cave Johnson wished to have a word to say upon the bill. As the
present Congress had done much to encourage science, he did not wish to
see the science of mesmerism neglected and overlooked. He therefore
proposed that one half of the appropriation be given to Mr. Fisk, to
enable him to carry on experiments, as well as Professor Morse.
Mr. Houston thought that Millerism should also be included in the
benefits of the appropriation.
Mr. Stanly said he should have no objection to the appropriation for
mesmeric experiments, provided the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Cave
Johnson] was the subject. [A laugh.]
Mr. Cave Johnson said he should have no objection provided the gentleman
from North Carolina [Mr. Stanly] was the operator. [Great laughter.]
Several gentlemen called for the reading of the amendment, and it was
read by the Clerk, as follows:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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