142 BOARD OF REGENTS. 



to the subject, and especially the article to which the communica- 

 tion of Professor Henry refers. This article occupies over ninety 

 pages, filling an entire number of Shaffner's journal, and purports- 

 to be "a defense against the injurious deductions drawn from the 

 deposition of Professor Joseph Henry, (in the several telegraph 

 suits,) with a critical review of said deposition, and an examination 

 of Professor Henry's alleged discoveries bearing upon the electro- 

 magnetic telegraph." 



The first thing which strikes the reader of this article is, that its 

 title is a misnomer. It is simply an assault upon Professor Henry ; 

 an attempt to disparage his character ; to deprive him of his honors 

 as a scientific discoverer ; to impeach his credibility as a witness 

 and his integrity as a man. It is a disengenuous piece of sophistical 

 argument, such as an unscrupulous advocate might employ to per- 

 vert the truth, misrepresent the facts, and misinterpret the language 

 in which the facts belonging to the other side of the case are stated. 



Mr. Morse charges that the deposition of Professor Henry " con- 

 tains imputations against his (Morse's) personal character," which 

 it does not, and assumes it as a duty " to expose the utter non-reli- 

 ability of Professor Henry's testimony ;" that testimony being sup- 

 ported by the most competent authorities, and by the history of 

 scientific discovery. He asserts that he " is not indebted to him 

 (Professor Henry) for any discovery in science bearing on the tele- 

 graph," he having himself acknowledged such indebtednesss in the 

 most unequivocal manner, and the fact being independently sub- 

 stantiated by the testimony of Sears C. Walker, and the statement 

 of Mr. Morse's own associate, Dr. Gale. Mr. Morse further main- 

 tains, that all discoveries bearing upon the telegraph were made, 

 not by Professor Henry, but by others, and prior to any experi- 

 ments of Professor Henry, in the science of electro-magnetism ; 

 contradicting in this proposition the facts in the history of scientific 

 discovery perfectly established and recognized throughout the sci- 

 entific world. 



The essence of the charges against Professor Henry is that he 

 gave false testimony in his deposition in the telegraph cases, and 

 that he has claimed the credit of discoveries in the sciences bearing 

 upon the electro-magnetic telegraph which were made by previous 

 investigators ; in other words, that he has falsely claimed what does 

 not belong to him, but does belong to others. 



Professor Henry, as a private man, might safely have allowed 

 such charges to pass in silence. But standing in the important po- 

 sition which he occupies, as the chief executive officer of the Smith- 



