have his legal rights in full, however unjustly awarded to him. I must
suffer for my ignorance of legal technicalities. Mortifying as this is it
is better, perhaps, to suffer it with a good grace and even with
cheerfulness, if possible, rather than endure the wear and tear of the
spirits which a brooding over the gross fraud occasions. An opportunity
of setting ourselves right in regard to him may be not far off in the
future. Till then let us stifle at least all outward expressions of
disgust or indignation at the legal swindle."

And, with the keen sense of justice which always actuated him, he adds in
a postscript: "By the by, if Judge Curtis's decision holds good in regard
to Smith's _inchoate_ right, does it not equally hold good in regard to
Vail, and is he not entitled to a proportionate right in the extension?"

During the early months of 1856 the financial affairs of the inventor had
so far been straightened out that he felt at liberty to leave the country
for a few months' visit to Europe. The objects of this trip were
threefold. He wished, as electrician of the Cable Company, to try some
experiments over long lines with certain English scientists, with a view
to determining beyond peradventure the practicability of an ocean
telegraph. He also wished to visit the different countries on the
continent where his telegraph was being used, to see whether their
governments could not be induced to make him some pecuniary return for
the use of his invention. Last, but not least, he felt that he had earned
a short vacation from the hard work and the many trials to which he had
been subjected for so many years, and a trip abroad with his wife, who
had never been out of her own country, offered the best means of
relaxation and enjoyment. On the 7th of June, 1856, he sailed from New
York on the Baltic, accompanied by his wife and his niece Louisa,
daughter of his brother Richard.