“Charged by the House of Representatives with the agreeable and honorable duty of presiding here, and of announcing the various participants in the exercises of the evening, I welcome to this hall those who join with us in this expressive tribute to the memory and to the merit of a great man.”

After Mr. Blaine had concluded his remarks the exercises were conducted as follows:—­

Resolutions by the Honorable C.C.  Cox, M.D., of Washington, D.C.

Address by the Honorable J.W.  Patterson, of New Hampshire.

Address by the Honorable Fernando Wood, of New York.

Vocal music by the Choral Society of Washington.

Address by the Honorable J.A.  Garfield, of Ohio.

Address by the Honorable S.S.  Cox, of New York.

Address by the Honorable N.P.  Banks, of Massachusetts.

Vocal music by the Choral Society of Washington.

Benediction by the Reverend Dr. Wheeler of Poughkeepsie.

Once again the invention which made him famous paid marvellous tribute to the man of science.  While less than a year before, joyous messages of congratulation had flashed over the wires from the four quarters of the globe, to greet the living inventor, now came words of sorrow and condolence from Europe, Asia, Africa, and America mourning that inventor dead, and again were they read to a wondering audience by that other man of indomitable perseverance, Cyrus W. Field.

On the same evening memorial services were held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, at which the mayor of the city presided, and addresses were made by Josiah Quincy, Professor E.N.  Horsford, the Honorable Richard H. Dana, and others.

Other cities all over the country, and in foreign lands, held commemorative services, and every telegraph office in the country was draped in mourning, in sad remembrance of him whom all delighted to call “Father.”

Mr. Prime, in his closing review of Morse’s character, uses the following words:—­

“It is not given to mortals to leave a perfect example for the admiration and imitation of posterity, but it is safe to say that the life and character of few men, whose history is left on record, afford less opportunity for criticism than is found in the conspicuous career of the Inventor of the Telegraph.

“Having followed him step by step from the birth to the grave, in public, social and private relations; in struggles with poverty, enemies and wrongs; in courts of law, the press and halls of science; having seen him tempted, assailed, defeated, and again in victory, honor and renown; having read thousands of his private letters, his essays and pamphlets, and volumes in which his claims are canvassed, his merits discussed and his character reviewed; having had access to his most private papers and confidential correspondence, in which all that is most secret and sacred in the life of man is hid—­it is right to say that, in this mass of testimony by friends and foes, there is not a line that requires to be erased or changed to preserve the lustre of his name....