rse handed him the
duplicate of his message, his enthusiasm knew no bounds, and he proposed
to go at once to Washington and urge upon Congress the establishment of a
government line. But the instrument was not yet in a shape to be seen of
all men, and many years were yet to elapse before the legislators of the
country awoke to their opportunity.

Morse and Vail were, of course, greatly encouraged by this first triumph,
and worked on with increased enthusiasm.

Many years after their early struggles, when the telegraph was an
established success and Morse had been honored both at home and abroad,
he thus spoke of his friend:--

"Alfred Vail, then a student in the university, and a young man of great
ingenuity, having heard of my invention, came to my rooms and I explained
it to him, and from that moment he has taken the deepest interest in the
Telegraph. Finding that I was unable to command the means to bring my
invention properly before the public, and believing that he could command
those means through his father and brother, he expressed the belief to
me, and I at once made such an arrangement with him as to procure the
pecuniary means and the skill of these gentlemen. It is to their joint
liberality, but especially to the attention, and skill, and faith in the
final success of the enterprise maintained by Alfred Vail, that is due
the success of my endeavors to bring the Telegraph at that time
creditably before the public."

The idea of telegraphs seems to have been in the air in the year 1837,
for the House of Representatives had passed a resolution on the 3d of
February, 1887, requesting the Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Levi
Woodbury, to report to the House upon the propriety of establishing a
system of telegraphs for the United States. The term "telegraph" in those
days included semaphores and other visual appliances, and, in fact,
anything by which intelligence could be transmitted to a distance.

The Secretary issued a circular to "Collectors of Customs, Commanders of
Revenue Cutters, and other Persons," requesting information. Morse
received one of these circulars, and in reply sent a long account of his
invention. But so hard to convince were the good people of that day, and
so skeptical and even flippant were most of the members of Congress that
six long years were to elapse, years filled with struggles,
discouragements, and heart-breaking disappointments, before the victory
was won.

Morse had still