I consider this one of the most important bits of contemporary evidence that has come down to us.  Professor Henry, perfectly conversant with, all the minutiae of science and invention, practically gives to Morse all the credit which the inventor himself at any time claimed.  He dismisses the claims of those who merely suggested a telegraph, or even made unsuccessful attempts to reduce one to practice, unsuccessful because the time was not yet ripe; and he awards Morse scientific as well as popular reputation.  Furthermore Professor Henry, with the clear vision of a trained mind, points out that advances in discovery and invention are necessarily slow and dependent upon the labors of many in the same field.  His cordial endorsement of the invention, in this letter and later, so pleased and encouraged Morse that he refers to it several times in his correspondence.  To Mr. Smith, on July 16, 1842, he writes:—­

“Professor Henry visited me a day or two ago; he knew the principles of the Telegraph, but had never before seen it.  He told a gentleman, who mentioned it again to me, that without exception it was the most beautiful and ingenious instrument he had ever seen.  He says mine is the only truly practicable plan.  He has been experimenting and making discoveries on celestial electricity, and he says that Wheatstone’s and Steinheil’s telegraphs must be so influenced in a highly electrical state of the atmosphere as at times to be useless, they using the deflection of the needle, while mine, from the use of the magnet, is not subject to this disturbing influence.  I believe, if the truth were known, some such cause is operating to prevent our hearing more of these telegraphs.”

In this same letter he tells of the application of a certain Mr. John P. Manrow for permission to form a company, but, as nothing came of it, it will not be necessary to particularize.  Mr. Manrow, however, was a successful contractor on the New York and Erie Railroad, and it was a most encouraging sign to have practical business men begin to take notice of the invention.

So cheered was the ever-hopeful inventor by the praise of Professor Henry, that he redoubled his efforts to get the matter properly before Congress; and in this he worked alone, for, in the letter to Smith just quoted from, he says:  “I have not heard a word from Mr. Coffin at Washington since I saw you.  I presume he has abandoned the idea of doing anything on the terms we proposed, and so has given it up.  Well, so be it; I am content.”

Taking advantage of the fact that he was personally acquainted with many members of Congress, he wrote to several of them on the subject.  In some of the letters he treats exhaustively of the history and scientific principles of his telegraph, but I have selected the following, addressed to the Honorable W.W.  Boardman, as containing the most essential facts in the most concise form:—­

August 10, 1842.