Thus was the idea born. Of course the telegraph was still far from an
accomplished fact. Without the improved electro-magnets and the relay
of Professor Henry, Morse had not yet even the basic ideas upon
which a telegraph to operate over considerable distances could
be constructed. But Morse was possessed of Yankee imagination and
practical ability. He was possessed of a fair technical education
for that day, and he eagerly set himself to attaining the means to
accomplish his end. That he realized just what he sought is shown by
his remark to the captain of the _Sully_ when he landed at New York.
"Well, Captain," he remarked, "should you hear of the telegraph one of
these days as the wonder of the world, remember that the discovery was
made on board the good ship _Sully_."

With the notion of using an electro-magnet as a receiver, an alphabet
consisting of dots and dashes, and a complete faith in the practical
possibilities of the whole, Morse went to work in deadly earnest. But
poverty still beset him and it was necessary for him to devote most of
his time to his paintings, that he might have food, shelter, and the
means to buy materials with which to experiment. From 1832 to 1835 he
was able to make but small progress. In the latter year he secured an
appointment as professor of the literature of the arts of design in
the newly established University of the City of New York. He soon had
his crude apparatus set up in a room at the college and in 1835 was
able to transmit messages. He now had a little more leisure and a
little more money, but his opportunities were still far from what
he would have desired. The principal aid which came to him at the
university was from Professor Gale, a teacher of chemistry. Gale
became greatly interested in Morse's apparatus, and was able to give
him much practical assistance, becoming a partner in the enterprise.