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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
104
It
was
fit
that
Mr.
Seward,
who
introduced
the
bill,
and
opened
the
debate,
should
close
in
words
that
now
seem
prophetic,
and
show
the
large
wisdom,
looking
before
and
after,
of
this
eminent
statesman:
"There
was
an
American
citizen
who,
in
the
year
1770,
or
thereabout,
indicated
to
this
country,
to
Great
Britain,
and
to
the
world,
the
use
of
the
lightning
for
the
purposes
of
communication
of
intelligence,
and
that
was
Dr.
Franklin.
I
am
sure
that
there
is
not
only
no
member
of
the
Senate,
but
no
American
citizen,
however
humble,
who
would
be
willing
to
have
struck
out
from
the
achievements
of
American
invention
this
great
discovery
of
the
lightning
as
an
agent
for
the
uses
of
human
society.
"The
suggestion
made
by
that
distinguished
and
illustrious
American
was
followed
up
some
fifty
years
afterward
by
another
suggestion
and
another
indication
from
another
American,
and
that
was
Mr.
Samuel
F.
B.
Morse,
who
indicated
to
the
American
Government
the
means
by
which
the
lightning
could
be
made
to
write,
and
by
which
the
telegraphic
wires
could
be
made
to
supply
the
place
of
wind
and
steam
for
carrying
intelligence.
"We
have
followed
out
the
suggestions
of
these
eminent
Americans
hitherto,
and
I
am
sure
at
a
very
small
cost.
The
Government
of
the
United
States
appropriated
$40,000
to
test
the
practicability
of
Morse's
suggestion;
the
$40,000
thus
expended
established
its
practicability
and
its
use.
Now,
there
is
no
person
on
the
face
of
the
globe
who
can
measure
the
price
at
which,
if
a
reasonable
man,
he
would
be
willing
to
strike
from
the
world
the
use
of
the
magnetic
telegraph
as
a
means
of
communication
between
different
portions
of
the
same
country.
This
great
invention
is
now
to
be
brought
into
its
further,
wider,
and
broader
use--the
use
by
the
general
society
of
nations,
international
use,
the
use
of
the
society
of
mankind.
Its
benefits
are
large--just
in
proportion
to
the
extent
and
scope
of
its
operation.
They
are
not
merely
benefits
to
the
Government,
but
they
are
benefits
to
the
citizens
and
subjects
of
all
nations
and
of
all
States.
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