Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/122

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LIFE OF MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY.

scale of existence, since he thus becomes mentally ubiquitous,—holding converse of thought with the people of every part of the globe.

"The accomplishment of the enterprise has been brought about by a variety of inventions and discoveries at different times, without regard to each other; and yet all were necessary to the successful laying and working of a submarine telegraphic communication. Without the knowledge of the Atlantic plateau, it would not have been deemed practicable to lay the cable; without the discovery of the uses of gutta-percha about this time, the wire could not have been rendered suitable; and without steamships, it could not have been laid." In this lecture Maury also paid just tributes to Mr. Morse, as the first inventor of the electric magnetic telegraph; and to the Messrs. Field as the projectors of the submarine telegraphic enterprise.