My telegraphic enterprise was one of those means.

Induced to prosecute it by the Secretary of the Treasury, and encouraged by success in every part of its progress, urged forward to complete it by the advice of the most judicious friends, I have carried the invention on my part to perfection.

That is to say, so far as the invention itself is concerned.

I _have done my part_.

It is approved in the highest quarters--in England, France, and at home--by scientific societies and by governments, and waits only the action of the latter, or of capitalists, to carry it into operation.
"Thus after several years' expenditure of time and money in the expectation (of my friends, _never of my own_ except as I yielded my own judgment to theirs) of so much at least as to leave me free to pursue my art again, I am left, humanly speaking, farther from my object than ever.
I am reminded, too, that my prime is past; the snows are on my temples, the half-century of years will this year be marked against me; my eyes begin to fail, and what can I now expect to do with declining powers and habits in my art broken up by repeated disappointments?
"That prize which, through the best part of my life, animated me to sacrifice all that most men consider precious--prospects of wealth, domestic enjoyments, and, not least, the enjoyment of country--was snatched from me at the moment when it appeared to be mine beyond a doubt.
"I do not state these things to you, my dear cousin, in the spirit of complaint of the dealings of God's Providence, for I am perfectly satisfied that, mysterious as it may seem to me, it has all been ordered in its minutest particulars in infinite wisdom, so satisfied that I can truly say I rejoice in the midst of all these trials, and in view of my Heavenly Father's hand guiding all, I have a joy of spirit which I can only express by the word 'singing.' It is not in man to direct his steps.
I know I am so short-sighted that I dare not trust myself in the very next step; how then could I presume to plan for my whole life, and expect that my own wisdom had guided me into that way best for me and the universe of God's creatures?
"I have not painted a picture since that decision in Congress, and I presume that the mechanical skill I once possessed in the art has suffered by the unavoidable neglect.