or the prosecution of our object. He says: "Tell Mr. Morse that there is
no one I would sooner assist than him if I could, but, in the present
posture of my affairs, I am not warranted in undertaking anything more
than to make my payments as they become due, of which there are not a
few."

He thinks that Mr. S---- might soon learn how to manage it, and, as he is
there, it would save a great expense. I do not myself know that he could
learn; but, as my means are nothing at the present time, I can only wish
you success, if you go on.

Of course Mr. Vail meant "if you go on to Washington," but to the
sensitive mind of the inventor the words must have seemed to imply a
doubt of the advisability of going on with the enterprise. However, he
was not daunted, but in some way he procured the means to defray his
expenses, perhaps from his good brother Sidney, for the next letter to
Mr. Vail is from Washington, on December 18, 1842:--

"I have not written you since my arrival as I had nothing special to say,
nor have I now anything very decided to communicate in relation to my
enterprise, except that it is in a very favorable train. The Telegraph,
as you will see by Thursday or Friday's 'Intelligencer,' is established
between two of the committee rooms in the Capitol, and excites universal
admiration. I am told from all quarters that there is but one sentiment
in Congress respecting it, and that the appropriation will unquestionably
pass.

"The discovery I made with Dr. Fisher, just before leaving New York, of
the fact that two or more currents will pass, without interference, at
the same time, on the same wire, excites the wonder of all the scientific
in and out of Congress here, and when I show them the certainty of it, in
the practical application of it to simplify my Telegraph, their
admiration is loudly expressed, and it has created a feeling highly
advantageous to me.

"I believe I drew for you a method by which I thought I could pass
rivers, _without any wires_, through the water. I tried the experiment
across the canal here on Friday afternoon _with perfect success_. This
also has added a fresh interest in my favor, and I begin to hope that I
am on the eve of realizing something in the shape of compensation for my
time and means expended in bringing my invention to its present state. I
dare not be sanguine, however, for I have had too much experience of
delusive hopes to indulge in any premature exultation. Now there