HENRY AND THE TELEGRAPH. 307 



circular] whicli regulates the movement of the type." " Fifth, a signal- 

 lever which breaks and connects the circuit of conductors."* " Sixth, a 

 register which records permanently the signs communicated." " Sev- 

 enth, a dictionary, or vocabulary of words, to which are prefixed nu- 

 merals." " Eighth, modes of laying the circuit of conductors." 



After filing his application in the Patent Office, in order not to be 

 forestalled in his intended efforts to obtain patents in Europe, by his 

 own patent being sent and publislied abroad. Professor Morse filed a 

 request that its issue might be suspended till his return. 



Although the favorable report on the Morse memorial to Congress, 

 made to the House of Representatives by its committee, failed to secure 

 the appropriation recommended, Mr. Francis O. J. Smith, the chairman, 

 was so well satisfied of the merits of the new telegra])h, that on leaving 

 Congress he at once became a partner in the enterprise, and accompanied 

 Professor Morse in his departure for London, May 16, 1838. t 



In consequence of the opposition of Wheatstoue and Cooke, who had 

 obtained an English i^atent June 12, 1837, Professor Morse's application 

 for a patent in Great Britain was refused by the attorney-general. Sir 

 John Campbell, July 12, 1838, (after the exaction of heavy fees,) on an 

 unquestionable judicial quibble. The ostensible ground of rejection was 

 clearly not warranted by the spirit or intent of the Engli.sh patent law, 

 as the details of the patent sought, had never been published either in 

 this country or abroad. | 



The success of the American inventor in France was practically no 

 greater ; for although a nominal patent for that country was obtained 

 on August 18, 1538, it was rendered nugatory by the ingenious legal 



*Altliongli the "signal-lever" is liere specially indicated, it dillers widely in con- 

 struction, arrangement, and oiieratiou, from the modern signal-lever or transmitting 

 key ; having only the function in common with it of a circuit-breaker. In his pam- 

 phlet, published at Paris in 18o7, giving an account of his invention. Professor Morse 

 says: ''At the time of the construction of this iirst telegraphic instrument, I had not 

 conceived the idea of the present key manipulator dependent ou the skill of the opera- 

 tor, but I presumed that the accuracy of the imprinting of .signs could only be secured 

 hy mechanical mathematical arrangements and by automatic process." {Modern Tele- 

 grapluj, etc. p. 25.) In his argument presented to Sir John Campbell, the attorney- 

 general of England, July 12, 1838, he urges as an evidence of characteristic novelty, 

 "These types form such an essential part of my invention, that without them the prac- 

 tical utility and value of my invention is for the most part destroyed, and full one- 

 half of the mechanism is disconnected from it, and is of no use in it." The Morse lever 

 must not therefore be confounded with the existing finger-key. "The spring-lever 

 key, as at present nsed in the Morse office, was suggested by Mr. Thomas C. Avery, of 

 New York, but has received various modifications." (TurubuU's Electro- Magnetic 

 Telegraph, 1852, pp. 49, 50.) 



t"\Vith this understanding a partnership was formed between Professor Morse, 

 Professor Gale, Mr. Alfred Vail, and Hon. F. O. J. Smith, by the terms of which it was 

 stipulated that Mr. Smith should go to Europe with Professor Morse, and secure 

 patents for the telegraph in such countries as it should be practicable for him to do 

 BO." (Prime's Life of Alorse, chap, viii, p. 344.) 



t Notwithstanding their illiberal interference with Morse's application in 1838, 

 Messrs. William F. Cooke and Charles Wheatstone had the "self-possession" eighteen 

 months later each to write a letter to Professor Morse, (dated January 17, 1840,) beg- 

 ging him to join them in their efforts to obtain an American patent! As a character- 

 istic illustration of official contrast, Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone (contrary to their 

 expectations), ou their own application, secured an American patent without opposi- 

 tion or obstruction June 10, 1840, ten days before the issue of Morse's patent, ai>iilied 

 for more than two years earlier. 



