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LL. 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 SAMUEL P. B. MORSE, LL. D., 
 
 INYENTOR OF THE 
 
 ELECTRO-MAGNETIC RECORDING TELEGRAPH. 
 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL IREN^US^PRIME,. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK ASSOCIATION FOK THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND AET J 
 
 CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY ; 
 
 AUTHOR OF "TRAVELS IN EUROPE AND THE EAST," 
 
 "THE ALHAMBEA AND THE KREMLIN," ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 549 AND 551 BROADWAY. 
 
 1875. 
 
m7 
 
 p 
 
 Enteked, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, 
 
 By D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of CongTess, at "Washington. 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRARY MAY 2 9 199 ° 
 
 CHESTNUT HILL AHA 071A7 
 
PEE FAO E. 
 
 In Ms last will and testament Professor Moese gave to his 
 executors authority " to place his manuscripts in the hands of 
 some suitable person for the purpose of examining and using 
 the same in preparing a biographical or historical note," relating 
 to himself. The family of the great inventor and the executors 
 of his estate united in an urgent request that the author of this 
 volume would take charge of the papers and "prepare and 
 present to the public a biography of Professor Morse in such a 
 style that it would be generally read." 
 
 With great reluctance, and after repeated solicitations, I 
 consented to attempt the service. My studies and pursuits had 
 not qualified me for the task, and it would have been far more 
 in harmony with my wishes and judgment, had the work been 
 confided to other hands. But, having been associated with the 
 brothers of the Professor more than thirty years, and during 
 that time on terms of friendly and pleasing intercourse with 
 him, having heard from his own lips again and again the story 
 of his struggles and triumphs, I had some peculiar facilities to 
 understand and interpret the man. But I would have decisively 
 declined the honorable service assigned me, had I anticipated 
 the difficulties and labors it involved. During his lifetime 
 Professor Morse was often applied to for materials out of which 
 his biography might be prepared. To one of the applications 
 he replied by letter, " My time is so much absorbed in making 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 my life, I have none to spare for writing it." And so literally 
 true is this remark, that, in the huge mass of manuscripts left by 
 him, there is not a page that appears to have been written with 
 the expectation that it would be employed in his biography. 
 
 If it were possible to compensate my lack of preparation, it 
 would be supplied by the remarkable ability, extent, and value 
 of the assistance which has been generously, and I may add 
 nobly, rendered by others. Professor E. !N". Horsford, at my 
 request, cheerfully prepared the admirably lucid and condensed 
 history of "Electro-Magnetic Science," and the measure of 
 Morse's indebtedness to his predecessors. The Hon. E. O. J. 
 Smith furnished the most important letters and memoranda of 
 the early years of the Telegraph. Colonel T. P. Shaffner put 
 at my service his vast telegraphic collections and illustrations. 
 Hon. Ezra Cornell, with his own hand, wrote for me his recol- 
 lections of the construction of the experimental line froni 
 Washington to Baltimore. To the Hon. William Orton and to 
 George B. Prescott, Esq., I am indebted for those important 
 facts which bring the history of telegraphy down to the present 
 time. Robert G-. Rankin, Esq., Benson J. Lossing, Esq., Gen- 
 eral T. S. Cummings, Daniel Huntington, Esq., General James 
 Grant Wilson, Rev. Dr. Wheeler, and others, have contributed 
 sketches with incidents and observations that enliven and enrich 
 the volume. 
 
 The life of Professor Morse is very naturally divided into 
 three parts, to each of which has been assigned about one-third 
 of the volume. The first includes his career as an artist, which 
 was precisely one-half of his life. The second was employed 
 in the construction and establishment of the Telegraph, a period 
 of twelve years. The third and last presents the rewards 
 that he received, and the benefits he conferred upon mankind. 
 These portions of time have distinctive values and interest ; 
 combined, they form au epoch in the history of the human race. 
 Freely and thoroughly as the history of Morse and his work 
 
PREFACE. v 
 
 has been sifted and searched by critics and courts, by friends 
 and foes, it was left for his biographer to discover and present 
 facts which explain with simplicity and ease the phenomenon 
 that an artist suddenly grasped the profoundest secrets of sci- 
 ence, and welded them into an invention to revolutionize the in- 
 tercourse of the civilized world. We have learned that Samuel 
 F. B. Morse was a born inventor, with a genius for mechanism ; 
 that he invented machinery and secured patents long before he 
 made the Telegraph ; that his education and habits of thought, 
 his antecedents and associations, fitted him for the task ; and, 
 when the hour arrived, the instrument was ready and the work 
 was done ! This was at least the third of his mechanical and 
 scientific contributions. Electrical science was his favorite study 
 in college and afterward ;• evidence of this is here given unknown 
 to himself as in existence. He propounded the idea of the 
 Electric Telegraph to familiar friends before he seriously under- 
 took to make it practical. He wrought out his invention and 
 made it a mechanical, working instrument, doing all that it now 
 does, before any man, scientist or artisan, gave him a particle of 
 assistance. As the recording Telegraph is the sublimest of all 
 human agencies, so the conception and construction of the in- 
 strument by a solitary, unaided man, mark it as one of the most 
 extraordinary facts in human progress. 
 
 Embarrassed by the wealth of material that would easily 
 have filled many volumes as large as this, and being compelled 
 by want of space to suppress hundreds of letters and documents 
 that would honor the memory of Professor Morse, I have con- 
 scientiously executed a trust most reluctantly accepted. With 
 all its imperfections, with which no one can be made better ac- 
 quainted than the author is already, the volume, with unfeigned 
 diffidence, but with confidence in its justice and truth, is com- 
 mitted to the public. 
 
 S. I. P. 
 
 New York, July 8, 1874. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MORSE. 
 
 Genealogy — Characteristics of Ancestors — His Grandfather Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley — 
 His Father Rev. Dr. Jedediah Morse — His Brothers Sidney Edwards and Richard 
 Cary Morse — Birth of Samuel F. B. Morse — Predictions . . . Pp. 1-12 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 1791-1811. 
 Early Education — His School-mistress — Drawing with a Pin — At Grammar-school — 
 Yale College — President Dwight — Professors Day and Silliman — Studies in 
 Electricity — Germs of the Telegraph — Portrait-painting — Recollections by Fel- 
 low-students 13-2*7 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1811-1815. 
 Washington Allston — Morse goes to London under his Tuition — The Voyage — Long- 
 ings for a Telegraph — Benjamin West — Morse's Letters to his Parents — To a 
 Friend at Home — Impressions of West — Leslie the Painter — He and Morse be- 
 come Room-mates — Samuel Taylor Coleridge — Triumphs of the Young Artist — 
 Meets with William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton, Zachary Macaulay, Lord 
 Glenelg, and Others — Visit at Mr. Thornton's — Intercourse with Coleridge — 
 Travels to Oxford, and Incidents — First Portrait abroad — Leslie and Morse — 
 Letters to his Parents — Zerah Colburn — Dartmoor Prisoners — Attempts to 
 serve them — Dunlap's Account of Morse — Dying Hercules — Judgment of Jupi- 
 ter — Gold Medal — Mrs. Allston's Death — Scene at Mr. Wilberforce's — Return 
 Home 28-88 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1815-1823. 
 
 Return to America — Opens a Studio in Boston — No Success — Invents Improvement 
 
 in Pump — Travels in Vermont and New Hampshire as Portrait-painter — Meets 
 
 his Future Bride — Pursues his Invention — Goes to Charleston, South Carolina — 
 
 Dr. Finley — Success — Allston's Encouragement — Returns North — Marriage — 
 
v iii CONTENTS. 
 
 Charleston again — The Pump — W. Allston — Morse paints the Portrait of Pres- 
 ident Monroe — Third Winter in Charleston — New Haven — Painting " House of 
 Representatives " — History of the Picture Pp. 89-126 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1823-1828. 
 Invents a Machine for cutting Marble — Goes to Albany — Little Success — Returns to 
 New York — Portrait of Chancellor Kent — Ichabod Crane — Arrangements to go 
 to Mexico as Attache to the Legation — Letter from Hon. Robert Y. Hayne — 
 The Scheme abandoned — In New Haven — Travels in New England — Settles in 
 New York — Commissioned to paint Portrait of General Lafayette — Goes to 
 Washington — Sudden Death of his Wife — Death of his Father — Founds the 
 National Academy of Design — Sketch-Club — Letter from General T. S. Cum- 
 mings — Lord Lyndhurst's Letter — Studies in Electro-magnetism — Professor 
 Dana's Lectures — His Own Lectures — Escape from Death . . 127-171 
 
 • 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1829-1832. 
 Commissions to paint in Italy — Journey to Rome — Letter to his Cousin — England — 
 Paris — Avignon — Marseilles — Nice — The Cornice Road — Geneva — Pisa — Rome 
 — The Vatican — Galleries of Art — Notes — Thorwaldsen — Portrait — James Fen- 
 imore Cooper — H. Greenough — Letters — Return to Paris — Friendship with La- 
 fayette — Sympathy with Poland — Imprisonment of Dr. Howe — Fall of Warsaw 
 — Letters to his Brother — Suggests Lightning-Telegraph — Humboldt — Presides 
 at Fourth-of-July Dinner — Letters of Lafayette — Interior of the Louvre — Hum- 
 boldt and Morse — Dunlap's Notices of Morse in Paris and London . 172-250 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1832. 
 Packet-ship Sully — Electro-magnetism — Dinner-table Conversation — Idea of the Tel- 
 egraph — First Marks made — The Invention announced to Passengers — Draw- 
 ings exhibited — Prediction to Captain Pell — Prof. E. N. Horsford's History of the 
 Science — Stephen Grey — Leyden Jar — Franklin's Experiments — Charles Mar- 
 shall — Le Sage — Lomond — Reusser — Cavallo — Wedgewood — Ronalds — Dyar — 
 Galvanism, or Voltaism — Volta — Schweigger — Coxe — Magnetism — Electro- 
 magnetism — Ampere — Schilling — Cooke and Wheatstone — Oersted — Spiral 
 Coil, 1821 — Arago — Sturgeon — James Freeman Dana — Joseph Henry — Fech- 
 iner — Ohm's Law — Steinheil — Daniel — Soemmering — Samuel Finley Breese 
 Morse — Invention and Discovery — Claims of Discoverers and Inventors — Suc- 
 cessive Steps in Telegraphic Invention 251-284 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1832-1838. 
 Arrival in New York — The Brothers' Testimony — Mould and Type the First Things 
 made for the Telegraph — Castings preserved — Struggles of the Inventor — Pov- 
 erty and Distress — His Brothers' Sympathy and Aid — Making the Telegraphic 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 IX 
 
 Instrument — At the Lathe — Faith in God and Himself — Rejected as One of the 
 Painters of a Picture for the Capitol — Artists' Sympathy — Elected Professor in 
 University of New York — Rooms in Building — Apparatus — Cooks his Own Food 
 in his Room — Announcement of his Invention — French Idea of Telegraph — 
 Professor Gale's Statement — Daniel Huntington — Hamilton Fish — Rev. Mr. 
 Seelye — Commodore Starbuck — Robert G. Rankin — Rev. Dr. H. B. Tappan — 
 Alfred Vail becomes a Partner — Letter to Secretary of Treasury — Secretary's 
 Report to Congress — Professor Gale a Partner — The Instrument at Speedwell — 
 Three Miles of Wire — Experiments — Exhibition in New York — Ten Miles of 
 Wire — First Dispatch preserved — Exhibited to the Franklin Institute — Report 
 — The Instrument in Washington — Exhibited to the President and Cabinet — 
 Hon. F. 0. J. Smith — Professor Morse's Letters to Mr. Smith — Report of Com 
 mittee of Commerce — Partnership with Mr. Smith — Letters to Vail — Prepara- 
 tions for a Journey to Europe ....... Pp. 285-346 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1838-1839. 
 Professor Morse goes to England — Application for Patent — Refusal — Reasons — 
 False Statement of an Official — Goes to Paris — Letters to his Daughter — Dr. 
 Kirk's Recollections — Arago — His Great Kindness — Exhibition before Academy 
 of Sciences — Baron Humboldt's Congratulations — Report upon it — Letters to 
 Friends — Hon. H. L. Ellsworth's Letters — Patent in France — Count Montalivet 
 — Professor Morse's Letters to Mr. Smith — Lord Lincoln's and Lord Elgin's 
 Interest in the Telegraph — Professor Morse goes to London — Exhibits the Tel- 
 egraph at the House of Lord Lincoln 347-393 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1839-1843. 
 Return to New York — Russian Contract — Disappointment at Inaction of Congress — 
 Mr. Smith's Views of the State of Things — The Daguerreotype introduced — 
 Experiments — Success — Teaches Others — Sully and Allston — Russia fails — 
 Deep Depression — Letter to his Partners Mr. A. Vail and Hon. F. 0. J. Smith- 
 Consultation with Professor Henry — Letters of Professor Henry — Struggles of 
 Morse under Poverty — Letters to Mr. Vail — An Agent employed at Washing- 
 ton — Failure — An Old Sorrow — Hon. W. W. Boardman, M. C. — Letter to Hon. 
 F. 0. J. Smith on Professor Henry's Encouragement — First Submarine Cable 
 laid by Professor Morse — Report of American Institute — Hon. C. G. Ferris — 
 Letter to him — Professor Morse in Washington — Favorable Report in Con- 
 gress — Debate — Passage of Bill in the House and the Senate appropriating 
 Thirty Thousand Dollars for an Experimental Line of Telegraph — Death of 
 Allston . .. .. .. .. .. ... ... . 394-472 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 1843-1844. 
 Preparations to lay the First Line — Use of Tubes underground — Ezra Cornell — 
 Tubes abandoned — Wires put upon Poles — Experiments with 160 Miles of 
 Wire — Professor Henry's Letter — Progress of the Work — National Whig Con- 
 
x CONTENTS. 
 
 vention — Nomination of Henry Clay announced at Washington by Telegraph — 
 The Line complete — The First Message — Triumph of the Inventor — His Letter 
 to Bishop Stevens — National Democratic Convention — James K. Polk nom- 
 inated — Conference with Silas Wright — Working of the Telegraph — Pro- 
 fessor Morse's Report of the Completion of the Line — Enthusiasm of the 
 Press and the Public — Telegraph offered to the Government — Determining the 
 Longitude . . . Pp. 473-509 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 1845. 
 Congress refuses Further Appropriations — Letter of Professor Morse to his Daughter 
 — Hon. Amos Kendall engaged as Agent — Formation of the Magnetic Telegraph 
 Company — Letters to Mr. Vail — Mr. Vail's Replies — Professor Morse goes 
 abroad — In London — General Commercial Telegraph Company — Hon. Louis 
 McLane — Professor Morse in Hamburg — Returns to London — Exhibitions of 
 the Telegraph in Hamburg, St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Vienna — Mr. Fleisch- 
 mann's Account of its Reception — Professor Morse in Paris — Arago — Exhibition 
 before Chamber of Deputies — Return to America .... 510-538 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1846-1847. 
 Extension of Patent — The Inventor's Claim — New Lines established — Sidney E. 
 Morse's Predictions — Report to the Postmaster-General — Artists' Petition — 
 Line between Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York — French Chambers 
 Debate — Letter to Arago — First Fruits — Smithsonian Institution — Professor 
 Henry appointed Secretary — Printing-Telegraph — Letter to Daniel Lord — Pi- 
 ratical Invasions — Ocean-Telegraph 539-556 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 RIVAL CLAIMS AND LAWSUITS. 
 
 Invasion of Patent-right — O^Rielly Contract — Injunction — Lawsuit in District Court 
 of Kentucky — Decision — Morse Patent sustained — Incidents of the Trial — Dis- 
 tinguished Men engaged — Judge Pirtle's Epigram — The Case appealed — Su- 
 preme Court of the United States sustains the Morse Patent — Opinion — French 
 and Rogers Case — Judge Kane's Opinion — Sustains Morse's Patent — House's 
 and Bain's Instruments — Dr. Jackson's Pretensions — Improvements in the Tel- 
 egraphic Instrument — Extent and Value of the Telegraph Business — Morse 
 Instruments compared with Others — Western Union Telegraph Company — 
 William Orton — George B. Prescott — The World's Verdict — Only One System, 
 that of Morse. ... . .■ . . 557-588 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1847-1854. REST AND REWARDS. 
 
 A Home at last — Purchase of a Country-seat and Farm at Poughkeepsie — Mar- 
 riage — Social and Domestic Life — Love of Nature — Birds — His Neighbors' Es- 
 teem — Letter to his Daughter — Rembrandt Peale visits Morse — Letter of Benson 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XI 
 
 J. Lossing — House in the City of New York — Letter to Arago — Adoption of the 
 Morse System by the German Convention — Extension into Denmark, Sweden, 
 Kussia, and Australia — Honorary Distinctions and Testimonials — Scientific 
 Bodies — Tale College — Foreign Governments . . . Pp. 589-613 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1854-1855. 
 Submarine Telegraph — The First Experiment — Newfoundland Electric Telegraph — 
 Cyrus W. Field — Lieutenant Maury's Opinion — Formation of a New Company 
 — Morse to Faraday — Extension of Patent — Letters to Mr. Field and Mr. White 
 — Dr. Steinheil's Letter — Hon. D. D. Barnard — Professor Morse's Predictions — 
 Expedition to Newfoundland — Attempt to lay the Cable — Failure — Renewed 
 Attempt, and Success . 614-625 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1856. 
 Professor Morse visits his Native Place — Goes to Europe — Consultations in London 
 on the Atlantic Telegraph — Mr. Peabody's Dinner — Landseer and Leslie — 
 Whitebait Dinner — Letter to the Children — Goes to Paris and Hamburg — At- 
 tentions shown to him there — Copenhagen — Visit to the King of Denmark — 
 Goes to Russia — Reception — Presentation to the Emperor — Visit to Berlin — 
 Reception by Humboldt — Return to London — Scientific Experiments — Letters 
 to Mr. Field — Banquet to Morse — Legion of Honor — Tupper's Sonnet — London 
 Times — Robert Owen . . . 626-648 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 185V. 
 Submarine Cables — Early Attempts — Construction of the Cables — Congressional 
 Action — Professor Morse, the Electrician — Embarks on the Niagara — Letters 
 to Mrs. Morse — Experiments with Dr. Whitehouse in London — Lord Mayor's 
 Banquet — In Paris — Mr. Mason — Professor Morse's Claim — Return to London 
 — Embarking — Narrow Escapes — Cable Festival — Cove of Cork — An Accident 
 — Valentia — Sailing of the Expedition — Parting of the Cable — Attempt aban- 
 doned for the Season — Return to New York — Mr. Field's Efforts — The Second 
 Expedition — Failure — Third Expedition — The Cable laid — The Continents con- 
 nected — First Message — Great Rejoicing — Celebration — TJie Cable silent Eight 
 Years — Fourth Expedition — Great Eastern — Failure — Return — Fifth Expedi- 
 tion — Success at last 649-666 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1858-1859. 
 Return to America — Winter in New York — Bridal Party and Festivities — Invited to 
 Paris — Preparations for the Journey — Instruction to Farmer and Coachman — 
 Voyage — Remarkable Prediction and Fulfillment — Paris — Banquet — Memorial 
 to Foreign Powers — Hon. Lewis Cass — Hon. John Y. Mason — The French Gov- 
 ernment — Convention called — Governments represented — Count Walewski's 
 
xii CONTENTS. 
 
 Letter to Professor Morse — Proceedings of the Convention — Amount of Award 
 — Proportion of the Several Governments — Summary of Foreign Distinctions — 
 Visit to the West Indies — Erection of a Telegraph — Southern Atlantic Tele- 
 graph — Correspondence — Letter from Professor Steinheil — Morse's Reply — Pro- 
 posal to raise a Testimonial to Steinheil — Professor Morse's Return — Reception 
 at Poughkeepsie Pp. 667-694 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1860-1870. 
 At Home — Views on Secession and the War — Education of his Children — Letters to 
 them — Applications for Aid — Last Visit to Europe — Diisseldorf and Artists — 
 Paris — Attentions paid him — Reception at Court — The Great Exhibition — Habit 
 of Life in Paris — Labors in the Committee on Telegraphs — Isle of Wight — 
 Dresden — Presentation at Court — Berlin and the Telegraph Corps — Return to 
 America — Purchase of Allston's " Jeremiah " and Present to Yale College — 
 Allston's Portrait by Leslie he presents to Academy of Design — Donation to 
 Theological Department of Yale College — To New York Union Theological 
 Seminary — Banquet in New York — Chief-Justice Chase's Remarks — Professor 
 Morse's — Mr. Huntington's — Summer at Poughkeepsie — His Leg is broken — 
 Prostrate for Three Months — Statue of Humboldt — Statue of Morse — Erected 
 by Telegraph-operators — Ceremonies in the Central Park — Academy of Music — 
 Address by Professor Morse 695-724 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 LITERARY AND RELIGIOUS LIFE. 
 
 A Ready Writer — Studies in his Department — Authorship — Lucretia Maria David- 
 son — The Serenade — Roman Catholic Controversy — Foreign Conspiracy — Con- 
 fessions of a Priest — General Lafayette's Remark — Our Liberties defended — 
 Imminent Dangers — Defense of his Invention — Religious Life — Analysis of his 
 Christian Character — Sketch by Rev. Dr. Wheeler — Anticipations of Death — 
 Death of his Brother Richard — The Three Brothers — The Tortoise and Hare — 
 In his Library — Asiatic Society — Evangelical Alliance — Literary and Benevolent 
 Labors — Domestic Peace — The Evening of Life .... 725-737 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1870-1872. 
 An Old Painting — Letter to the Convention in Rome — Death of Sidney E. Morse — 
 Last Public Service — Unveiling the Statue of Franklin— Sickness — Death — 
 Funeral — Memorial Services in Washington — Boston — Action of Congress — 
 Legislature of Massachusetts— Telegraphic Sympathy — Tributes of Respect — 
 Sketch of Character 738-753 
 
 Appendix ' 754-776 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 MORSE, MT. 75 Frontispiece 
 
 REV. DR. MORSE AND FAMILY To face page 26 
 
 THORWALDSEN. . .................. 
 
 MORSE, MT. 45........... ........ 
 
 MORSE'S WORKSHOP 
 
 ARAGO, HUMBOLDT, AND MORSE. 
 MORSE, PEALE, AND LOSSING.... 
 
 TURKISH DIPLOMA 
 
 HUMBOLDT......................... 
 
 MORSE IN HIS STUDY. ............ 
 
 205 
 251 
 289 
 365 
 596 
 608 
 641 
 726 
 
 Drawings illustrative of the invention will be found in their appro- 
 priate places in the text and the appendix. 
 
LIFE OP SAMUEL E. B. MOESE. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 MORSE. 
 
 GENEALOGY — OHABACTEEISTIOS OP ANOESTOES HIS GEANDFATHEE EEV. DE. 
 
 SAMUEL FINLEY — HIS FATHEE BEY. DE. JEDEDIAH MOESE — HIS BEOTHEE8 
 SIDNEY EDWAEDS AND EIOHAED OAEY MOESE — BIETH OF SAMUEL F. B. 
 MOESE PEEDIOTIONS. 
 
 THE name of Morse is readily traced to the time of Edward 
 III. of England. It is variously written Mors, Moss, Morss, 
 and Morse. During the last five hundred years the family coat- 
 of-arms has borne the motto, " In Deo, non armis, fido : " In 
 God, not akms, I trust. 
 
 Anthony Morse, who was born at Marlborough, in Wilt- 
 shire, England, May 9, 1606, came to New England in 1635. 
 
 He settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, about half a mile 
 south of the most ancient cemetery in the old town. The house 
 in which he dwelt was on a slight eminence in a field that is 
 known as the Morse field to this day. He was a man of cour- 
 age, energy, enterprise, and great integrity of character, traits 
 which have been transmitted through the successive generations 
 of his family. His son Anthony succeeded to the paternal acres, 
 lived upon them, and died February 25, 1677-78. 
 
 Peter Morse, grandson of the first Anthony, and son of the 
 second, removed about the year 1698 to New Roxbury, Massa- 
 chusetts, and died there November 2, 1721. 
 
 John, the oldest son of Peter, resided in the same place, and 
 
2 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 was married to Sarah Peak, who lived within a month of a hun- 
 dred years. She died March 15, 1801, having had ten children, 
 seventy-two grandchildren, two hundred and nineteen great- 
 grandchildren, and fourteen great-great-grandchildren. Their 
 tenth and last child was Jonathan, who (it is not strange to say) 
 died at the age of three years and four months, having read the 
 Bible through twice, committed many passages to memory, and 
 conducted family worship, for which he must have been emi- 
 nently qualified ! 
 
 Dolly Morse died in "West Woodstock, Connecticut, on the 
 29th of November, 1870, in the eighty-seventh year of her age, 
 leaving one sister, in her eighty-fifth, and two brothers, one in 
 his eighty-first and the other in his ninetieth year — all cousins 
 of Professor Morse. The grandfather of these seven cousins 
 died in the ninety-fourth, their grandfather's brother in the 
 ninety-third, one of his sisters in the eighty-eighth, another in 
 her seventy-eighth, his oldest son in the eighty-fifth, and his 
 mother in the ninety-ninth year of their respective ages. The 
 descendants of the great-grandmother, at the time of her death, 
 numbered three hundred and nineteen, of whom thirty-one were 
 of the fifth generation ; and one or more of each of the last four 
 generations resided under the same roof with the old lady when 
 she died. If the great-grandmother, who was born in 1701, had 
 at the time of her birth any living ancestor over eighty-one 
 years old, three lives, viz., the lives of this ancestor, of the great- 
 grandmother, and one of her surviving great - grandchildren, 
 would cover the whole period of American history from the 
 landing on Plymouth Pock to the death of Professor Morse in 
 1872. Professor Morse compiled a table of longevity in his 
 family, leaving a blank in it for his own age at the time of his 
 death, which was eighty-one. In this table he records the age 
 of his great-great-grandmother seventy-nine, great-great-grand- 
 father eighty-one, great-great-grandmother ninety, great-grand- 
 mother ninety-nine years and eleven months, grandfather nine- 
 ty-four, grandmother eighty-one, great uncle ninety-three, great 
 aunt eighty-eight, cousins ninety-one, eighty-seven, eighty-seven, 
 eighty-two. 
 
 Jedediah was the oldest son of John and Sarah Morse. He 
 was born July 8, 1726, in New Koxbury. In the year 1719 the 
 
JEDEDIAH MORSE. 3 
 
 town passed from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts to that of 
 Connecticut, and was called Woodstock. Here Jedediah Morse, 
 with seventy-three others, took the oath of allegiance to Connect- 
 icut at the first freemen's meeting. He was a strong man, in 
 body and mind, an upright and able magistrate, for eighteen 
 years one of the selectmen of the town, twenty-seven years town 
 clerk and treasurer, fifteen years a member of the Colonial and 
 State Legislature, and a prominent, honored, and useful member 
 and officer of the Church. He died December 29, 1819, at the 
 age of ninety-four. 
 
 Jedediah Morse, D. D., father of Samuel Finley Breese 
 Morse, was the eighth child of Jedediah Morse, and was born in 
 Woodstock, August 23, 1761. Dr. John Todd said of him, " Dr. 
 Morse lived before his time, and was in advance of his genera- 
 tion." He was a projector, author, founder, inventor. His 
 works were in the line of intellectual and moral progress, but to 
 him the world owes large and lasting gratitude, as well as to his 
 illustrious son. In early years he exhibited a fondness for books ; 
 and a delicacy of constitution unfitting him for the severe labors 
 of the farm, his ardent desire for education was gratified by his 
 judicious and intelligent father. In the spring of 1779, in the 
 midst of the War of American Independence, he was admitted 
 into Yale College. Before the term began he was drafted as a 
 soldier in the Connecticut Line of the army. His health was so 
 frail, there was no probability of his being able to endure the 
 hardships of the camp and field, and at the request of his fa- 
 ther, the Governor of the State, Jonathan Trumbull, issued an 
 order, as captain-general, to Colonel Samuel McClellan (grand- 
 father of Major-General George B. McClellan), directing his 
 discharge, if in the judgment of the colonel it was proper. He 
 was accordingly excused from the service, prosecuted his studies, 
 and graduated in the class of 1783. He studied theology under 
 Rev. Dr. Jonathan Edwards, son of President Edwards, and 
 Professor Samuel Wales. Before he was licensed to preach, and 
 while teaching school in New Haven, he projected and began 
 his " American Geography," which afterward was inseparably 
 identified with his name. He was licensed to preach and began 
 his ministry at Norwich, whence he was called back to be tutor 
 in Yale. His health was inadequate to the work, and he went to 
 
4 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Georgia, and spent the winter preaching at Medway. On his 
 journey he became acquainted with Benjamin Franklin in Phila- 
 delphia, George Washington at Mount Vernon, and Dr. Ram- 
 say, the historian, in Charleston, South Carolina, all of whom, 
 and many others, including Drs. Eodgers, Green, Witherspoon, 
 and Keith, made valuable contributions to the material with 
 which he enriched his geography, and afterward his " Gazetteer 
 of the United States." 
 
 After returning from the South with improved health he 
 spent a few months in the city of New York, and then was set- 
 tled as pastor of the First Congregational Church in Charlestown, 
 Massachusetts, April 30, 1789, the same day and hour when 
 Washington was inaugurated, in New York, President of the 
 United States. Here he became the champion of that system 
 of religious doctrine which he professed, preaching with bold- 
 ness and power, publishing pamphlets and essays, establishing 
 a religious magazine, the JPanoplist, and subsequently a reli- 
 gious newspaper, the Boston Recorder ; with others laying the 
 foundations of the Theological Seminary at Andover, the Ameri- 
 can Board of Foreign Missions, the American Bible Society, the 
 American Tract Society, and other benevolent institutions which 
 have marked the first half of the nineteenth century with moral 
 grandeur unequaled since the morning of the Christian era. Dr. 
 Eliot, speaking of Dr. Morse, said, " What an astonishing impetus 
 that man has ! " Judge Jonas Piatt pronounced him " one of 
 the most industrious men our country has produced." Presi- 
 dent Dwight said, " He is as full of resources as an egg is of 
 meat." Daniel Webster spoke of him as " always thinking, al- 
 ways writing, always talking, always acting." 
 
 Having preached a sermon in 1799 on the " Duties of Citi- 
 zens," he sent a copy of it when published to General Washing- 
 ton, which was acknowledged in the following letter, the origi- 
 nal of which is preserved. 
 
 " Mount Vernon, May 26, 1T99. 
 " Rev. Sir : I thank you for your sermon ' exhibiting the pres- 
 ent dangers and consequent duties of the citizens of the United 
 States of "America,' which came to hand by the last post, and 
 which I am persuaded I shall read with approbating pleasure, as 
 
DR. MORSE'S PREDICTIONS. 5 
 
 soon as some matters in which I am engaged at present, are dis- 
 patched. 
 
 " With esteem and regard, 
 " I am, Rev. sir, 
 
 " Your obedient and obliged 
 
 " Humble servant, 
 " The Rev. Mr. Morse. G. WASHINGTON"." 
 
 He was a man of genius : not content with what had been 
 and was ; but originating,, and with vast executive ability com- 
 bining, the elements to produce great results. To him more 
 than to any other one man may be attributed the impulses given 
 in his day to religion and learning in the United States. A pol- 
 ished gentleman in his manners ; the companion, correspondent, 
 and friend of the most eminent men in Church and State ; hon- 
 ored at the early age of thirty-four with the degree of Doctor 
 of Divinity by the University of Edinburgh, Scotland ; sought 
 by scholars and statesmen from abroad as one of the foremost 
 men of his country and time, such a man was the father of the 
 inventor of the Telegraph. 
 
 On the 10th of May, 1821, in the City Hotel of New York, 
 at the anniversary of the American Bible Society, Dr. Morse 
 delivered an address, in which he said, in substance : 
 
 " This is one of the signs of the times ; one of the grand 
 prodigies of external Providence. But all we now see is less the 
 end than the beginning. It will be prodigy on prodigy, wonder 
 following wonder, greater as they go, till wonders become the 
 order of the day ; wonders on wonders, the steady and estab- 
 lished method of Providence. Besides, they will anticipate us, 
 not we them. New resources will be opened. New truth will 
 be learned — new only to us, though old itself as its Eternal Au- 
 thor ! For God is our ' king of old, working salvation in the 
 midst of the earth.' Like himself always, ever original, as well 
 ( as supreme, He will do his own pleasure, and illustrate his own 
 word, as equally ' wonderful in counsel, and excellent in work- 
 ing.'" 
 
 Such were the visions of future progress before the mind of 
 Dr. Morse, and which he was wont to impress upon the minds 
 of his children. 
 
 The mothers of great men are deservedly held in honor. 
 
6 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 On the corner of "Wall and Hanover Streets, in the city of New 
 York, where is now standing the banking-house of Brown, 
 Brothers & Co., the mother of Morse was born, September 29, 
 1766. Elizabeth Ann Breese was her maiden name. She was 
 the daughter of Samuel Breese, Esq., of Shrewsbury, New Jer- 
 sey, and his wife Rebecca, daughter of Samuel Finley, D. D., 
 President of Princeton College. Dr. Einley was of Scotch par- 
 entage. He was born in Ireland, came to America when he 
 was nineteen years old, became a distinguished preacher and 
 divine, and, before he was called to the presidency of Nassau 
 Hall, he had been the teacher of pupils whose names are familiar 
 in American history. Among them were Benjamin Rush, Eb- 
 enezer Hazard, James Waddell, D. D., John Bayard, and many 
 others. In 1743 he was invited to preach to the Second Society 
 in New Haven, Connecticut, but, as that society was not recog- 
 nized by the civil authority or the New Haven Association, it 
 was an indictable offence to preach to it ! As he was on his 
 way to church, he was seized by a constable and imprisoned. A 
 few days afterward he was indicted by the grand - jury, and 
 judgment was given that he should be carried out of the colony 
 as a vagrant. The sentence was executed. He petitioned the 
 Colonial Assembly in the following month to review the case, 
 but his prayer was denied ! Twenty years from the time he 
 was carried out of New Haven as a vagrant he was President 
 of Nassau Hall, and the University of Glasgow conferred upon 
 him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, being, it is believed, the 
 first time the degree was conferred by a foreign university. upon 
 any Presbyterian clergyman in America. 
 
 Dr. Einley was a man of great ability and extensive learn- 
 ing, every branch of study that was taught in the college being 
 familiar to him. He died in Philadelphia, and the trustees of 
 the college caused a cenotaph to be placed to his memory, 
 among the monuments of the illustrious presidents whose dust 
 is in the Princeton graveyard. 
 
 The wife of Dr. Einley was Sarah Hall, a lady of rare ex- 
 cellence ; and their daughter, Rebecca Einley, became the wife 
 of Samuel Breese, whose daughter Elizabeth Ann Breese was 
 married, May 14, 1789, to the Rev. Jedediah Morse, of Charles- 
 town, Massachusetts. 
 
WEDMNG-PKESENTS. 7 
 
 They began house-keeping shortly afterward in a hired house 
 .on Main Street, just at the foot of Breed's Hill. Of the sim- 
 plicity of the times and the circumstances that surrounded the 
 childhood of our subject, something may be inferred from the 
 gifts which the newly-married couple received from their ad- 
 miring people. Mr. Morse writes to his father : 
 
 " The people have been very kind in assisting us to furnish the 
 house. We have had the following presents, viz. : 
 
 " An iron bake-pan and tea-kettle ; a japanned box for sugar ; 
 three iron pots, two iron skillets, a spider, loaf of sugar, mahogany 
 tea-table, price nine dollars ; five handsome glass decanters, twelve 
 wine-glasses, two pint-tumblers, a soup-tureen, an elegant tea-set 
 of china, price about ten dollars ; two coffee-pots, four bowls, a 
 beautiful lantern, japanned waiter, price five dollars. 
 
 " These are quite a help to us at this time, and are manifesta- 
 tions of the affection of the people." 
 
 Two persons more unlike in temperament, it is said, could 
 not have been united in love and marriage than the parents of 
 Morse. The husband was sanguine, impulsive, resolute, regard- 
 less of difficulties and danger. She was calm, judicious, cau- 
 tious, and reflecting. And she, too, had a will of her own. One 
 day she was expressing to one of the parish her intense displeas- 
 ure with the treatment her husband had received, when Dr. 
 Morse gently laid his hand upon her shoulder and said, " My 
 dear, you know we must throw the mantle of charity over the 
 imperfections of others." And she replied, with becoming spirit, 
 " Mr. Morse, charity is not a fool." 
 
 Miss Lucy Osgood, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Osgood, of 
 Medford, Massachusetts, knew them well, and in one of her let- 
 ters gives us this life-like portrait of both : 
 
 " His tall, slender form, the head always slightly inclining for- 
 ward, his extremely neat dress, mild manners, and persuasive tones, 
 aided by the charm of that perfect good-breeding which inspires 
 even the rudest with a sense of respect for the true gentleman, 
 made him in all places a most acceptable guest ; while his own 
 house was always celebrated as the very home of hospitality. 
 
 " Foreigners very extensively brought letters of introduction to 
 Dr. Morse ; and, though his kindness of heart sometimes exposed 
 
8 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 him to imposition, he often had the opportunity of yielding efficient 
 service to estimable and meritorious characters. In his duties as a 
 host, his admirable wife zealously coSperated, making her home 
 attractive to visitors of every description by her cordial, dignified, 
 and graceful manners, and her animated conversation. She was, 
 indeed, distinguished for possessing, in an eminent degree, both 
 the fascination and the virtues which most adorn a woman." 
 
 One of her sons wrote of her : 
 
 " Her pleasing manners and remarkable social powers amused 
 and enlivened her husband's guests, while engaged in grave debate. 
 When the Middlesex Canal, the earliest enterprise of the kind in 
 our country, and projected by the Hon. James (afterward Governor) 
 Sullivan, was in process of construction, it met with strong opposi- 
 tion. Dr. Morse, who believed it of great public utility, espoused 
 the enterprise with his accustomed ardor, and at his house the able 
 engineer, Colonel Loammi Baldwin, under whose superintendence 
 the canal was built, repeatedly met the other directors sociably to 
 talk over their difficulties. 
 
 " Mrs. Morse was present, not merely as a listener, but occa- 
 sionally spoke, and her words elicited from Baldwin, that ' madam's 
 conversation and cup of tea removed mountains in the way of 
 making the canal.' She was a good reader, and delighted to gather 
 around her listeners, to whom she would read aloud from Leighton 
 or other favorite authors. The best portrait of her is an oil paint- 
 ing by her son, in my possession, which represents her reading by 
 candle-light. She was unassuming in her manners, and her remark 
 that she liked the Charlestown people, because ladies could wear 
 calico dresses when making visits, increased her popularity among 
 the good people of the parish. Of her influence in making her 
 home happy, Dr. Todd says : ' An orphan myself, and never hav- 
 ing a home, I have gone away from Dr. Morse's house in tears, feel- 
 ing that such a home must be more like heaven than any thing of 
 which I could conceive.' " 
 
 To these parents eleven children were born, of whom only 
 three survived their infancy. These three were sons, who at- 
 tained old age, and were distinguished for purity, integrity, and 
 great usefulness. The youngest of these brothers died first, then 
 the second, and finally the oldest. 
 
RICHARD C. MORSE. 9 
 
 Richard Cary Morse was born on the 18th of June, 1795. 
 He entered Yale College in 1808, when he was in his four- 
 teenth year, and graduated in 1812, the youngest member of his 
 class. The year immediately following his graduation he spent 
 in New Haven, being employed as the amanuensis of President 
 Dwight, and living in his family. In 1814 he entered the 
 Theological Seminary at Andover, and, having passed through 
 the regular three years' course, was licensed to preach in 1817. 
 The winter immediately succeeding his licensure he spent in 
 South Carolina as supply of the Presbyterian Church on John's 
 Island. 
 
 On his return to New England, he was associated with his 
 father for some time in a very successful geographical enter- 
 prise ; and, in the spring of 1823, enlisted with his brother in 
 another enterprise still more important — establishing the New 
 York Observer, of which he was associate editor and proprietor 
 for thirty-five years ; and during this long period he contributed 
 largely to its columns, especially by translations from the French 
 and German. He became early impressed with the idea that 
 he had not the requisite natural qualifications for the ministry, 
 and therefore silently retired from it — though his whole life 
 was a continued act of devotion to the objects which the min- 
 istry contemplates. 
 
 He had great aptness for acquiring languages. Not only 
 was he familiar with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, but was 
 also well versed in the French and German, and had become, in 
 some degree, a proficient in several other modern languages. 
 His mind was of a highly-inquisitive cast ; and, though he moved 
 about so quietly and noiselessly, he was always adding to the 
 stores of his information. Rev. Dr. Sprague said of him : " If 
 I were to designate any particular feature of his mind as more 
 prominent than another, perhaps it would be his literary taste. 
 The productions of his pen, though I believe they rarely if 
 ever appeared before the world in connection with his name, 
 were singularly faultless, and might well challenge the closest 
 criticism." He died in Kissingen, Bavaria, September 23, 
 1868. His remains were brought home, and buried in Green- 
 wood. 
 
 Sidney E. Morse was born February 7, 1791 ; entered the 
 
10 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Freshman class at Yale in 1805, when but eleven years old, and 
 was graduated in 1811. 
 
 When Mr. Morse was only seventeen years old, he wrote a 
 series of articles in the Boston Centinel, on the dangers from 
 the undue multiplication of new States, thus early in life con- 
 necting himself with the newspaper press. He then studied 
 theology at Andover, and law at Litchfield, Connecticut, in the 
 famous law-school there- His father and Mr. Evarts (father of 
 Hon. William M. Evarts, of this city), and other clergymen and 
 laymen in and near Boston, wishing to establish a religious 
 newspaper, Mr. Sidney E. Morse, at their invitation, undertook 
 it, wrote the prospectus, employed a printer, and, as sole editor 
 and proprietor, issued the Boston Recorder, the prototype of 
 that numerous class of journals now known as " religious news- 
 papers." In 1823, in connection with his younger brother, 
 Richard C. Morse, he established the New York Observer. 
 
 Mr. Morse was the author of a school geography which has 
 had a vast circulation, and his father before him was the pioneer 
 in the same field. 
 
 His genius was inventive. In 1817 he and his elder brother 
 patented the flexible piston-pump. In 1839 he produced the 
 new art of cerography, for printing maps on the common print- 
 ing-press, illustrating his new geography with it, one hundred 
 thousand copies being sold the first year. This art has not been 
 patented, and the process has never been made public. In his 
 later years he engaged with his son, Mr. Gr. Livingston Morse, 
 in the invention of the bathometer, for rapid explorations of the 
 depths of the sea. 
 
 With a thorough theological and legal education, his mind 
 trained to patient thought and cautious investigation, slow in his 
 intellectual operations, and accurate in his statements, he had 
 the highest possible qualifications for the great work of his life. 
 When his mind was " made up," and his position taken, it was 
 next to impossible to dislodge him. The tenacity with which 
 he held his ground was justified by the caution with which it 
 had been chosen ; and it was held with conscientious sincerity 
 and herculean ability. 
 
 His cast of mind was eminently mathematical and statistical, 
 finding for itself enjoyment in the most abstruse, perplexing, 
 
SIDNEY E. MORSE. H 
 
 and extended calculations and computations, tracing the peculi- 
 arities of numbers and the results of combinations. His memory 
 of figures was extraordinary, and for hours he would descant in 
 general converse upon the results obtained, with the same accu- 
 racy as if the figures were before him. To discourse upon the 
 discoveries in art and science, and still more upon the moral 
 progress of the age, and the great agencies in the past that had 
 brought on the present, was the recreation and enjoyment of his 
 life. His physical health was remarkable, as he never was laid 
 aside a day in his life by illness, until the final blow fell on him. 
 Of large frame and of very sedentary habits, he yet retained so 
 great muscular power that he could, and sometimes did perform, 
 from choice, the severest manual labor for an entire day, with- 
 out exhaustion. No one ever saw him unduly excited, or heard 
 from his lips a severe and unkind expression ; while kindness, 
 gentleness, and grace, pervaded his spirit and life. With great 
 intellectual force, and energy that suffered no weariness or re- 
 laxation, there was also this evenness of temperament and perfect 
 self-control, that never suffered him to be betrayed into a rash, 
 hasty, or ill-advised word or deed. He died in the city of New 
 York, December 23, 1871, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, 
 and was buried in Greenwood. 
 
 Samuel Finley Bkeese Mokse, the oldest of these brothers, 
 and the inventor of the Telegraph, was born at the foot of Breed's 
 Hill, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, April 27, 1791. 
 
 Dr. Belknap, of Boston, writing to Postmaster-General Haz- 
 ard, in New York, says : " Congratulate the Monmouth Judge " 
 (Mr. Breese, the grandfather) " on the birth of a grandson. 
 Next Sunday he is to be loaded with names, not quite so many 
 as the Spanish ambassador who signed the treaty of peace of 
 1783, but only four! As to the child,I saw him asleep, so 
 can say nothing of his eye, or his genius peeping through it. 
 He may have the sagacity of a Jewish rabbi, or the profundity 
 of a Calvin, or the sublimity of a Homer, for aught I know. 
 But time will bring forth all things." 
 
 This was a very curious prognostication on the birth of a 
 child who became as widely known to the world as Calvin or 
 Homer. 
 
 Dr. "Witherspoon, the successor of Dr. Finley in the presi- 
 
12 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 dency of Princeton College, visited Mr. Morse a few days after 
 the birth of his son, and, many years afterward, the father, writ- 
 ing of Dr. Witherspoon, said : " With that great and good man 
 I was well acquainted. When my eldest son was an infant of a 
 few days old, the doctor paid us his last visit. It will never be 
 forgotten; for, deeply affected with this interview with the 
 granddaughter of his revered predecessor in office, he took her 
 infant son into his arms, and, after the manner of the ancient 
 patriarchs, with great solemnity gave him his blessing." 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 1791-1811. 
 
 EARLT EDUCATION — HIS SOHOOL-MISTEESS — DRAWETG WITH A PIN — AT GRAM- 
 MAE-SCHOOL — TALE COLLEGE — PRESIDENT DWIGHT — PROFESSORS DAT AND 
 SILLEMAN — STUDIES IN ELEOTEIOITT — GERMS OF THE TELEGRAPH — POR- 
 TRAIT-PAINTING RECOLLECTIONS BT FELLOW-STUDENTS. 
 
 ON tlie father's and the mother's side, from an early period 
 in the history of the Morse family, we have discovered 
 traits of character which were developed in a remarkable man- 
 ner in the inventor of the Telegraph. His brothers and his an- 
 cestors were distinguished for intelligence, energy, original 
 thinking, perseverance, and unbending integrity. 
 
 The boy was trained in the school of the Puritans, by a 
 father who was in advance of the age in which he lived. Pa- 
 rental discipline was not severe, but religious principles were 
 inculcated as the source of the highest enjoyment, as well as the 
 basis of right action. Although the son never broke away from 
 the restraints of early instruction, he manifested in early child- 
 hood and in youth a beautiful playfulness, and fondness for 
 amusements, that were never checked by his parents, however 
 unlike the school in which he was trained they may now appear. 
 
 The boy was sent, when he was four years of age, to an old 
 lady's school within a few hundred yards of the parsonage. She 
 was an invalid, and unable to leave her chair. She was known 
 as " Old Ma'am Rand." Her school was in a small building 
 opposite the public-school house. She governed her unruly little 
 flock with a long rattan, which reached across the small room in 
 which they were gathered. One of her punishments was pin- 
 
14 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ning the young culprit to her own dress. The first essays at 
 painting or rather drawing of the young artist were quite dis- 
 couraging; for he, unfortunately, had selected the old lady's 
 face as his model, a chest of drawers for his canvas, and a pin for 
 his pencil. "We do not know now successful he was in this his 
 first attempt, but his reward was an attachment by a large pin 
 to the old lady's dress. In his struggles to get free the dress 
 parted, and was dragged to a distant part of the room, but not 
 out of reach of the terrible rattan, which descended vigorously 
 on his devoted head. 
 
 At seven years of age he was sent to the preparatory school 
 of Mr. Foster, at Andover, where he was fitted for entering 
 Phillips Academy, in the same place, then under the direction 
 of Mark Newman, the predecessor of John Adams. Here for 
 several years he pursued the studies preparatory to entering 
 Yale College. 
 
 Among the letters addressed to him at this early period in 
 his life by his father, is one that incidentally shows the style of 
 boy, who was capable of appreciating such instructions before 
 he was ten years old. 
 
 From Rev. Dr. Morse to his Son Finley. 
 
 " Charlestown, February 21, 1801. 
 
 " My dear Son : You do not write me as often as you ought. 
 In your next, you must assign some reason for this neglect. Pos- 
 sibly I have not received all your letters. Nothing will improve 
 you so much in epistolary writing as practice. Take great pains 
 with your letters. Avoid vulgar phrases. Study to have your 
 ideas pertinent and correct, and clothe them in an easy and gram- 
 matical dress. Pay attention to your spelling, pointing, the use of 
 capitals, to your handwriting. After a little practice, these things 
 will become natural, and you will thus acquire a habit of writing 
 correctly and well. General Washington was a remarkable in- 
 stance of what I have now recommended to you. His letters are a 
 perfect model for epistolary writers. They are written with great 
 uniformity in respect to the handwriting and disposition of the 
 several parts of the letter. I will show you some of his letters 
 when I have the pleasure of seeing you next vacation, and when I 
 shall expect to find you much improved. 
 
 " Your natural disposition, my dear son, renders it proper for me 
 
DR. MORSE'S LETTER. 15 
 
 earnestly to recommend to you to attend to one thing at a time / it 
 is impossible that you can do two things well at the same time, 
 and I would therefore never have you attempt it. Never undertake 
 to do what ought not to be done, and then, whatever you undertake, 
 endeavor to do it in the best manner. It is said of De Witt, a cel- 
 ebrated statesman in Holland, who was torn to pieces, in the year 
 1672, that he did the whole business of the republic, and yet had 
 time left to go to assemblies in the evening, and sup in company. 
 Being asked how he could possibly find time to go through so 
 much business, and yet amuse himself in the evenings as he did, 
 he answered : ' There was nothing so easy, for that it was only doing 
 one thing at a time, and never putting off any thing till to-morrow, 
 that could be done to-day.' This steady and undissipated attention 
 to one object, is a sure mark of a superior genius ; as hurry, bustle, 
 and agitation, are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivo- 
 lous mind. I expect you will read this letter over several times, 
 that you may retain its contents in your memory. Give me your 
 opinion on the advice I have given you. If you improve this well, 
 I shall be encouraged to give you more, as you may need it. Your 
 mamma is very well, as are your brothers Edward, Richard Cary, and 
 James Russell ; the last named you have never seen ; your brothers 
 are very fond of him, as we all are, for he is a fine little boy. 
 
 " We all unite in love to you and Mr. Brown. Tell Mr. Brown 
 that I have a little pain in my breast, which renders writing hurt- 
 ful to me, else I would write to him. 
 
 " Your affectionate parent, 
 
 "J. Morse." 
 
 The reply to this letter has not been preserved, but the 
 judicious counsel of the father, repeated often, was not lost on 
 his son. He studied, read, and wrote, at this early age, as if he 
 were conscious that man's work was expected of him. Even at 
 this period of life, before habits could have been formed, or 
 character developed, he showed a tendency to turn away from 
 the routine studies of the school, to think and act for himself. 
 
 He roved among books, but books that were not in the 
 course. He pored over Plutarch's " Lives of Illustrious Men," 
 and his ambition was fired by the records of their deeds and 
 fame. When he was only thirteen years of age, and at this 
 preparatory school in Andover, he wrote a sketch of the " Life 
 of Demosthenes," and sent it to his father, among whose papers 
 
16 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 it is preserved, as a mark of the genius, learning, and taste of 
 the child ! 
 
 He dreamed while he was awake. He grew rapidly in stat- 
 ure. His attainments in general scholarship were remarkable, 
 and in the regular studies of the school his proficiency was such 
 that, at the age of fourteen, he was thoroughly qualified to enter 
 college, and was admitted to the Freshman class in Tale. 
 
 Domestic reasons induced his father to detain him from col- 
 lege another year, and he joined the class in 1807. 
 
 Timothy Dwight, D. D., was then the President of Yale Col- 
 lege, and at his feet, and under the forming power of this great 
 man, Finley Morse sat four years. Dr. Dwight was the warm 
 personal friend, correspondent, and counselor of Dr. Morse, 
 Finley's father, and at his expressed desire, as well as from the 
 promptings of his own feelings of friendship, Dr. Dwight took 
 the deepest personal interest in the young student confided to 
 his special care. The president was a man of vast and varied 
 learning, and of strong original powers of mind. He was a 
 master of inductive philosophy. Few men have ever lived pos- 
 sessing such command of facts, having them arranged in such 
 order, in his wonderful memory, as to he able to bring them 
 always and instantly to his use. Professor Olmstead says : 
 
 " He combined, in a remarkable 'degree, the dignity that com- 
 mands respect, the accuracy that inspires confidence, the ardor 
 that kindles animation, and the kindness that wins affection. He 
 urged upon his students the importance of observing and retain- 
 ing facts ; he explained the principles of association, and the vari- 
 ous acts which would contribute to fix them in the mind, and also 
 displayed, in the reasonings and illustrations, both the efficacy of 
 his rules and the utility of the practice which he earnestly recom- 
 mended. 
 
 "In theology and ethics, in natural philosophy and geogra- 
 phy, in history and statistics, in poetry and philosophy, in hus- 
 bandry and domestic economy, his treasures seemed alike inex- 
 haustible. Interesting narration, vivid description, and sallies of 
 humor; anecdotes of the just, the good, the generous, the brave, 
 the eccentric — these all were blended in fine proportions to form 
 the bright and varied tissues of his discourse. Alive to all the 
 sympathies of friendship, faithful to its claims, and sedulous in per- 
 
A METEORIC STONE. 17 
 
 forming its duties, he was beloved by many from early life with 
 whom he entered on the stage, and whom, as Shakespeare says, he 
 ' grappled to his soul with hooks of steel.' 
 
 " I think it may safely be said that those who gained the most 
 intimate access to him, whether associates, or pupils, or amanuenses, 
 admired, revered, and loved him most." 
 
 Before Finley Morse finished his collegiate course his two 
 brothers entered Yale, and, Dr. D wight's eyesight having been 
 impaired, these young men became his amanuenses. Thus, their 
 relations to the president being intimate and confidential, they 
 were in a situation to feel the full influence of his almost magi- 
 cal power. "When Finley Morse was a sophomore in college he 
 wrote in one of his letters to his parents, dated December 23, 
 1807: 
 
 " A remarkable phenomenon appeared here a few days ago. A 
 meteor passed some distance from the town and burst in Fairfield 
 County ; large pieces of stone were contained in it, and lay scat- 
 tered round a number of miles. Mr. Silliman went with Mr. Kings- 
 ley to see a piece of this stone ; he applied a magnet to it, and by 
 its attraction found it to contain iron. The explosion was very loud ; 
 it was heard here in New Haven while the students were in at 
 prayers ; I heard it at the same time. I will try and obtain a piece 
 of the stone of Mr. Silliman, and keep it to bring home for a curi- 
 osity." 
 
 And in his next he gives a report of a scene which shows 
 that boys in college were, two generations ago, about the same 
 as now. He was boarding in commons, and thus he writes : 
 
 " December 28, 1807. 
 " "We had a new affair here a few days ago. The college cooks 
 were arraigned before the tribunal of the students, consisting of a 
 committee of four from each class in college ; I was chosen as one 
 of the committee from the Sophomore class. "We sent for two of the 
 worst cooks, and were all Saturday afternoon in trying them ; found 
 them guilty of several charges, such as being insolent to the stu- 
 dents, not exerting themselves to cook clean for us, in concealing 
 pies which belonged to the students, having suppers at midnight, 
 and inviting all their neighbors and friends to sup with them at the 
 expense of the students* and this not once in a while, but almost 
 2 
 
18 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 every night. We extorted this from one of them, that the reason 
 they were so neglectful toward us was, because there had been no 
 disturbance in college for seven years ; that the students, and the 
 authority, not taking much notice of their conduct, they meant to 
 do as they please. The committee, after arranging the charges in 
 their proper order, presented them to the president; he has had 
 the authorities together, and they are now considering the subject. 
 This afternoon, Tuesday, December 29th, they have been together, 
 and I, with many others, have been with them all the afternoon ; 
 there was no recitation at four o'clock, they were so busily engaged. 
 I know not how this affair will end, but I expect in the expulsion of 
 some, if not all, of the cooks. It is now three weeks since the stu- 
 dents convened to appoint their committee, and since that we have 
 lived extremely well ; indeed, for my part, I think we have lived 
 very well this term. The fault is not so much in the food as in the 
 cooking, for our bill of fare has generally been in the following 
 way : Chocolate, coffee, and hashed meat, every morning ; at noon, 
 various ; roast-beef twice a week, pudding three times, and turkeys 
 and geese upon an average once a fortnight ; baked beans occasion- 
 ally ; Christmas, and other merry days, turkeys, pies, and puddings, 
 many as we wish for ; at night for supper we have, chocolate and 
 tea in general, pies once a week ; I ought to have added that in fu- 
 ture we are to have beefsteaks and toast twice a week ; before this 
 the cooks were too lazy to cook them. I will inform you of the 
 result of this affair as soon as it is completed. 
 
 " I have just now as much as I can do ; my leisure moments are 
 employed in composing, reviewing geometry, and reading history ; 
 I am now reading Winterbottom's " China." I have read Cave's 
 " Stranger in Ireland," and intend soon to read his " Northern Sum- 
 mer," I am very much pleased with him as an author. I began to 
 read Robertson's " Charles V.," but, finding several leaves in the 
 book missing, I have deferred it till another time." 
 
 " January 25, 1808. 
 " The result of the cooks' trial is : one has been dismissed, two 
 remain on trial for good behavior, the rest are in their former 
 standing." 
 
 Jeremiah Day was at this time the Professor of Natural 
 Philosophy in Yale College. Under his instructions Mr. Morse 
 began the study of electricity, and received those impressions 
 which were destined to produce so great an influence upon him 
 
PROFESSOR DAY'S EXPERIMENTS. 19 
 
 personally, and upon the business, the intercourse, and the 
 happiness of the human race. Dr. Dwight was the man who 
 prepared his naturally susceptible mind to receive, retain, and 
 utilize those impressions. Professor Day was then young and 
 ardent in his pursuit of science, kindling readily the enthusiasm 
 of his students by the fire of his own. Afterward he became 
 the president of the college, and his name is identified with its 
 subsequent renown. Forty years after Morse had left the insti- 
 tution, Dr. Day, ex-president of the college, bore this testi- 
 mony : , 
 
 "In' my lectures on Natural Philosophy, the subject of elec- 
 tricity was specially illustrated and experimented upon. Enfield's 
 work was the text-book. 
 
 " The terms of the 21st Proposition of Book V. of ' Enfield's 
 Philosophy,' are these : ' If the circuit be interrupted, the fluid will 
 become visible, and when it passes it will leave an impression upon 
 any intermediate body.' 
 
 " I lectured upon and illustrated the first two experiments pro- 
 pounded by the 21st Proposition, and I recollect the fact with 
 certainty, by memoranda now in my possession. The experiments 
 referred to are in terms as follows : 
 
 " Experiment 1st. Let the fluid pass through a chain, or through 
 any metallic bodies, placed at small distances from each other, the 
 fluid in a dark room will be visible between the links of the chain, 
 or between the metallic bodies. 
 
 " Experiment 2d. If the circuit be interrupted by several folds 
 of paper, a perforation will be made through it, and each of the 
 leaves will be protruded by the stroke from the middle to the out- 
 ward leaves." 
 
 This was the germ of the great invention that now daily 
 and hourly astonishes the world, and has given immortality of 
 fame to the student who, twenty-two years afterward, conceived 
 the idea of making this experiment of practical value to mankind. 
 Writing on the subject in 1867, Mr. Morse said : " The fact 
 that the presence of electricity can be made visible in any de- 
 sired part of the circuit was the crude seed which took root in 
 my mind, and grew up into form, and ripened into the invention 
 of the Telegraph." 
 
 But there was at the same time, in the faculty of Yale Col- 
 
20 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 lege, another illustrious man, to whom, more than to Dr. Dwight 
 or Dr. Day, Mr. Morse was indebted for those impressions 
 which resulted finally in his great invention. Benjamin Silli- 
 man long held front rank among men of science. His contribu- 
 tions made rich the journal that was known by his name, and 
 his lectures, letters, and travels, rendered his name familiar 
 throughout the bounds of civilization and learning. Silliman 
 was Professor of Chemistry while Morse was a student in Tale, 
 and was at once his teacher and friend. When his testimony 
 was required, to show when and how the mind of Morse was 
 first turned to the study of electricity, and in what stage of 
 advancement the science was at the time of Morse's attention to 
 it in college, Professor Silliman said : " S. F. B. Morse was an 
 attendant on my lectures in the years 1808, 1809, and 1810. 
 I delivered lectures on chemistry and galvanic electricity. The 
 batteries then in use were the pile of Volta, the battery of 
 Cruikshanks, and the Couronne des tasses, well known to the 
 cultivators of that branch of science. I always exhibited these 
 batteries to my classes / they were dissected before them, and 
 their members and the arrangement of the parts, and the mode 
 of exciting them, were always shown." 
 
 And the professor went on to show that, when Mr. Morse 
 came to reside in New Haven, ten years after his graduation, 
 he resumed his inquiries in the same direction, with lively in- 
 terest in the pursuit of electrical science. He says : "Mr. 
 Morse resided near me for several years, from 1821-22 onward. 
 The families were on terms of intimacy, and Mr. Morse was in 
 the habit of frequent communication with me. About this time 
 Dr. Hare's splendid galvanic calorimoter, and his galvanic defla- 
 grator, were invented, and were in my possession, and many 
 interesting and beautiful results were exhibited by them, as, for 
 example, the fusion of charcoal, and the combustion of metals. 
 Mr. Morse, vjas often present in my laboratory during my pre- 
 paratory arrangements and experiments, and was thus made 
 acquainted with them." 
 
 In the year 1809, while Mr. Morse was yet a student in 
 Yale, a work was published, entitled an "Epitome of Electricity 
 and Galvanism," by two gentlemen of Philadelphia. The work 
 excited interest beyond the city where it was published, and 
 
STUDIES IN ELECTRICITY. 21 
 
 arrested the attention of the Rev. Dr. Morse, the father of Finley 
 Morse, still residing in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Dr. Morse 
 wrote to Dr. John McLean, Professor of Natural Philosophy 
 in Princeton College, asking him to write a review of the work 
 for the Panojrtist, a magazine then published in Boston. The 
 subject was at that time commanding marked attention, and the 
 Morses, father and sons, were the men to be intelligently inter- 
 ested in the developments of the science. We shall find the son, 
 Finley Morse, renewing his studies in the same direction with 
 Professor Dana, of the University of New York, five years be- 
 fore the invention, and, at a still later date, with Professor Ren- 
 wick, of Columbia College, becoming charged with all the 
 principles and phenomena of the science, as if, even then, in his 
 own mind, as in the recesses of providential design, the grand 
 result was. maturing. 
 
 The testimony of Professors Day and Silliman was given in 
 court, when it was important, in the defence of his claim to pri- 
 ority in the invention of the Telegraph, for Mr. Morse to be 
 able to show that his mind was early interested in the study of 
 chemistry and electricity. While he was collecting testimony 
 from his instructors, at whose feet he sat while a boy in college, 
 he was not aware that, among the letters and papers of his 
 venerable father, long since deceased, there were quietly repos- 
 ing some of the letters that the young student wrote to his 
 parents while he was in college, and in which he refers to the 
 studies that specially interested him, and made a lasting impres- 
 sion upon his mind. These letters were found among the old 
 papers of his father, Dr. Morse, after the death of the son, and 
 it is quite probable they have never been read from the year 
 of their date to the present time, a term of sixty-five years. Cer- 
 tainly if Mr. Morse had known of their existence, he would 
 have brought them from their hiding-place, and by their evi- 
 dence proved what he was in the habit of asserting, that while 
 in college these subjects engaged his special attention. Writing 
 to his parents, and dating, Yale College, New Haven, January 1, 
 1809, he says : 
 
 "I am very much pleased with chemistry. It is very amusing, 
 as well as instructive. There are many very beautiful and surpris- 
 ing experiments performed, which are likewise very useful. I in- 
 
22 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tend, with your leave, getting me ' a chemical trough ' and small 
 apparatus when I come home, Ward " (a classmate) " and I to bear 
 the expense together. You will find our experiments very* entertain- 
 ing. There will be a number of articles which we shall want, which 
 we shall be obliged to get here, on account of their being obtained 
 here cheaper, such as gun-barrels, retorts, etc., the use of which I 
 will explain to you hereafter." 
 
 January 9, 1809, be writes again as to the manner in which 
 he would pass an approaching vacation, when he was not going 
 home on account of the expense of travel ; he says : " Please to 
 write often, as it will serve to heighten our spirits ; they are a 
 little depressed at the approach of a vacation, which we are not 
 destined to enjoy. I find it a difficult task to do nothing. I 
 shall be employed in the vacation in the ' Philosophical Cham- 
 ber ' with Mr. Dwight, who is going to prepare a number of ex- 
 periments in electricity." 
 
 February 27, 1809, he writes.: "My studies are, at present, 
 optics in philosophy, dialing, Homer, besides attending lect- 
 ures, etc., all of which I find very interesting, and especially 
 Mr. Day's lectures, who is now lecturing on electricity." Still 
 more explicit and emphatic are his words, in a letter of March 
 8, 1809 : 
 
 " My studies are quite easy to what they were last term. 
 Homer is quite easy ; optics in philosophy are in some degree 
 hard, but interesting ; and spherics, in the second volume of Web- 
 ber, is very hard. Our disputes and compositions require a great 
 deal of hard thinking and close application, which I hope they do 
 not want from me. Our chemical lectures at present are not very 
 interesting. Mr. Silliman is now lecturing on the earths, and this 
 part has always been considered very dry. Mr. Day's lectures are 
 very interesting, they are upon electricity ; he has given us some very 
 fine experiments, the whole class taking hold of hands, form the 
 circuit of communication, and we all received the shock apparently at 
 the same moment. I never took an electric shock before ; it felt as 
 if some person had struck me a slight blow across the arms. Mr. 
 Day has given us two lectures on this subject, and I believe there 
 are two more remaining ; I will give you some account of them as 
 soon as they are delivered, which will probably be in the course of 
 this week." 
 
ENTHUSIASM IN CHEMISTRY. 23 
 
 These passages are taken from the very few of his college 
 letters which have been found. Scores have been lost, and it is 
 extraordinary that so many have survived the half of a century. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Barstow, of Keene, N. H., a great student 
 and a distinguished divine, was in college with Finley Morse, 
 and his two brothers, who entered before Finley completed his 
 course. Dr. Barstow writes of the three brothers : 
 
 " All three were exceedingly reputable, studious, and conformed 
 to the laws of the college, holding an honorable rank in the curric- 
 ulum of branches pursued in their several classes. But, beyond all 
 this, they accomplished much in pursuit of branches agreeable to 
 their respective tastes, talents, and inclinations ; exhibiting as 
 wonderful a variety as we ever see in the members of the same 
 household. Richard, with all the sedateness and gravity of a young 
 theologue, studied and pondered the deep mysteries of theology, 
 and the deeds and doctrines of the Reformers. Sidney E. pursued 
 with avidity those branches of learning that prepared him so ad- 
 mirably to perform the important duties of a religious journalist, to 
 the great satisfaction and benefit of the Christian public ; and the 
 Professor, Samuel Finley Breese, inquired with enthusiasm into 
 those physical sciences that prepared him for his distinguished 
 career as an electrician, together with the aesthetics of a self-taught 
 artist and painter. 
 
 " The lectures of Professor Silliman, upon chemistry and miner- 
 alogy, were then exciting great interest upon those subjects among 
 the students ; and in them Finley Morse exhibited especial enthusi- 
 asm. Finley was the most companionable and genial of the three ; 
 he was ever ready to welcome to his rooms those college friends that 
 loved to associate with him; always gentlemanly; always having a 
 kind word for others, and alwaj'S ready to do kind offices to all. 
 
 " On a certain occasion, the writer of this note was admiring his 
 pictures, and the inquiry was made, ' Why can you not paint my 
 likeness ? ' The answer immediately was, ' I will do it ; ' and the 
 result was a most perfect likeness, though the coloring was not so 
 perfect as Mr. Morse accomplished after attending upon the instruc- 
 tion of others. But he would receive no compensation for the 
 portrait, delighting to do a favor to those he esteemed." 
 
 Dr. John "W. Sterling, of Port Richmond, Staten Island, in 
 a letter dated January 10, 1872, about three months before the 
 
24 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 death of Professor Morse, incidentally gives some pleasant recol- 
 lections of the college-life of the young Morses : 
 
 " It so happened that, in the year 1809, when I was of the Fresh- 
 man class of Yale College, Mr. S. F. B. Morse was a member of 
 the Senior, Sidney E. Morse of the Junior, and Richard Morse of 
 the Sophomore classes. Among the reminiscences of those early 
 days, I recall to mind the portraits painted on the walls of his room 
 by the celebrated S. F. B. Morse, and also an amusing sketch, by 
 this gentleman, of ' Freshmen climbing the Hill of Science,' repre- 
 senting these poor fellows scrambling upon their hands and knees 
 in order to reach the pinnacle of eminence. But what remains most 
 vividly in my memory is, the balloon which they constructed of 
 letter-paper, purchased, I think, at the paper-mill at Humphreysville, 
 styled Rock of Rimmon by its poetic proprietor, Colonel Hum- 
 phreys. 
 
 " This balloon was eighteen feet in length, was suspended from 
 the tower of the Lyceum of Yale College, inflated with rarefied air, 
 and sent aloft with its blazing tail, rising most gloriously until it 
 vanished in the distance. This balloon was recovered, and another 
 effort was made to raise it. In rising, however, it lurched, driven 
 by the wind against the middle college-building, took fire, ascended 
 in a blaze, but was soon reduced to black ashes." 
 
 When four years old, the boy began to scratch the portrait 
 of his teacher with a pin upon a chest of drawers, and this early 
 tendency manifested itself as he grew. In college it contributed 
 to his support. Dr. Barstow recollects that he would not take 
 pay for the picture made of him, but Morse was glad to get 
 what he could in this way, to aid him in the payment of ex- 
 penses, which were exceedingly heavy upon a clergyman having 
 three sons in college at the same time. 
 
 He tried his hand upon some of his classmates. The im- 
 perfect likenesses, and worse paintings, appeared marvelous, 
 when produced by an untaught boy. The young men were 
 willing to pay moderate prices for rude pictures of themselves, 
 which were a surprise and delight to their friends at home. 
 But he made no great attainments in the art while in college. 
 As yet no master had given him a lesson. He was feeling his 
 own way along, with dreams of future distinction, even at this 
 early period. 
 
CHOICE OF A PROFESSION. 25 
 
 August 9, 1809, he writes to his parents : 
 
 " I employ my leisure time in painting. I have a large number 
 of persons engaged already to be drawn on ivory, no less than 
 seven. They obtain the ivories for themselves. I have taken Pro- 
 fessor Kingsley's profile for him. It is a good likeness, and he is 
 pleased with it. I think I shall take his likeness on ivory, and pre- 
 sent it to him at the end of the term." 
 
 "June 25, 1810. 
 
 " Mr. Nettleton is better, and is willing I shall take his likeness 
 as part pay (for board). I shall take it on ivory. My price is five 
 dollars for a miniature on ivory, and I have engaged three or four at 
 that price. My price for profiles is one dollar, and everybody is 
 ready to engage me at that price." 
 
 His college course was drawing near its close. He had no 
 profession in view, but to be an artist, a painter, was his ambi- 
 tion. Had not his father been a man of large views and 
 generous feelings, he could not have yielded to his son's desires 
 to turn away from the learned professions, for which he had 
 given him a liberal education. But the bent of his genius was 
 already clearly indicated. July 22, 1810, he writes to his par 
 ents as to his future : 
 
 " I am now released from college, and am attending to painting-. 
 As to my choice of a profession, I still think that I was made for a 
 painter, and I would be obliged to you to make such arrangements 
 with Mr. Allston, for my studying with him, as you shall think ex- 
 pedient. I should desire to study with him during the winter, and, 
 as he expects to return to England in the spring, I should admire 
 to be able to go with him, but of this we will talk when we 
 meet at home." 
 
 This was Avritten in the Senior recess, before commencement, 
 when he was to be graduated. 
 
 His mother writes to him and gives directions as to the 
 making of his coat in which to appear at commencement when 
 he graduates, and his father gives his consent that he should be 
 one of the managers of the commencement ball. 
 
 The first group-that he ever painted was executed while he was 
 a student in college. It is a family scene, and is still preserved, 
 having an interest far beyond that which attaches to the first 
 
26 ' LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 effort of one who afterward reached the heights of fame. The 
 painting represents Rev. Dr. Morse, the father, standing by the 
 side of a globe, on which he is discoursing to his three sons, 
 while the mother sits by. A copy of this picture is here given. 
 When Dr. Morse was in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1810, 
 he was intrusted with the care of the son of a friend, and brought 
 him to the North to enter Yale College. Having been admitted, 
 he was confided to the special attention of Finley Morse, then in 
 his senior year. The recollections of this Southern student, now 
 the venerable Joseph M. Dulles, Esq., of Philadelphia, are fresh 
 and vivid, and are given in his own words, from a letter written 
 October 16, 1872 : 
 
 " I first became acquainted with him at New Haven, when about 
 to graduate with the class of 1810, and had such association as a 
 boy preparing for college might have with a senior who was just 
 finishing his course. Having come to New Haven under the care 
 of Rev. Jedediah Morse, the venerable father of the three Morses, 
 all distinguished men, I was commended to the protection of Fin- 
 ley, as he was then commonly designated, and therefore saw him 
 frequently during the brief period we were together. The father 
 I regarded as the gravest man 1 ever knew. He was a fine exem- 
 plar of the gentler type of the Puritan, courteous in manner, but 
 stern in conduct and in aspect. He was a man of conflict, and a 
 leader in the theological contests in New England in the early part 
 of this century. Finley, on the contrary, bore the expression of 
 gentleness entirely. In person rather above the ordinary height, 
 well formed, graceful in demeanor, with a complexion, if I remem- 
 ber right, slightly ruddy, features duly proportioned, and often 
 lightened with a genial and expressive smile. He was, altogether, 
 a handsome young man, with manners unusually bland. It is need- 
 less to add that with intelligence, high culture, and general infor- 
 mation, and with a strong bent to the fine arts, Mr. Morse was in 
 1810 an attractive young man. During the last year of his college- 
 life he occupied his leisure hours, with a view also to his self-sup- 
 port, in taking the likenesses of his fellow-students on ivory, and no 
 doubt with success, as he obtained afterward a very respectable rank 
 as a portrait-painter. Many pieces of his skill were afterward exe- 
 cuted in Charleston, South Carolina. I met him there, and in his 
 genial manner he said to me : ' I am so glad to see you. You re- 
 member that miniature ; it was unfinished when I left New Haven. 
 
SYMPATHETIC INK. 27 
 
 I have carried it with me ever since, and over Europe, and thought 
 a hundred times that I would wash it out and put the ivory to some 
 other use. Come to my studio and I will be glad to give it to you.' 
 This memorial of our former intimacy is still in my possession." 
 
 His college course being terminated at commencement in the 
 year 1810, he returned to his father's bouse in Cbarlestown, 
 Massachusetts, with a settled purpose to pursue the art of paint- 
 ing. His mind was busy with something besides books. "Writ- 
 ing to his brothers who were still in college, be uses " sympa- 
 thetic " ink, invisible until exposed to beat, and in their reply 
 they tell him they cannot read it ; he answers, and announces 
 his devotion to his chosen art : 
 
 "Boston, December 8, 1810. 
 
 " My dear Brothers : You wanted to know how you should 
 read what I had written with the sympathetic ink. It was written 
 on the paper which covered the newspaper. It appears to me, if 
 you hold it to the fire so as to warm it till it is quite hot, the writ- 
 ing will appear. I can hardly believe that it should lose its effect 
 in going between this and New Haven ; what was written was not 
 of much consequence, and now can be but entirely useless as it was 
 new then, but now must be quite stale. There is nothing new here 
 now ; I have almost completed my landscape ; it is ' proper hand- 
 some ' so they say, and they want to make me believe it is so, too, 
 but I sha'n't yet a while. 
 
 " I am going to begin, as soon as I have finished this, a piece, 
 the subject of which will be ' Marius on the Ruins of Carthage.' 
 Mr. Allston is very kind and attentive to me, and tries every way 
 to be serviceable to me. 
 
 " I am attending a course of anatomical and surgical lectures 
 in Boston, under Dr. Warren. He is an excellent lecturer, and 
 knows anatomy as well as any man, if not better, in the United 
 States. The lectures, contrary to my expectations, are extremely 
 interesting. One would suppose at first they would be rather dis- 
 agreeable and disgusting on account of the dissections, but it is not 
 at all so. They have just begun. They are delivered every day at 
 one o'clock, and are in length about an hour." 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 1811-1815. 
 
 WASHINGTON ALLSTON — MORSE GOES TO LONDON UNDER HIS TUITION — THE 
 VOYAGE — LONGINGS FOE A TELEGEAPH — BENJAMIN WEST — MOESE's LET- 
 TEES TO HIS PARENTS — TO A FRIEND AT HOME — IMPRESSIONS OF WEST — 
 LESLIE THE PAINTER — HE AND MORSE BECOME ROOM-MATES — SAMUEL 
 TAYLOR COLERIDGE — TRIUMPHS OF THE YOUNG ARTIST — MEETS WITH 
 WILLIAM WILBEEFOROE, HENRY THORNTON, ZAOHARY MACAULAY, LORD 
 GLENELG, AND OTHERS — VISIT AT MR. THORNTON'S — INTERCOURSE WITH 
 COLERIDGE — TRAVELS TO OXFORD, AND LNCIDENTS — FLRST PORTRAIT 
 ABROAD — LESLIE AND MORSE — LETTERS TO HIS PARENTS — ZERAH COL- 
 BURN — DARTMOOR PRISONERS — ATTEMPTS TO SERVE THEM— DUNLAP's 
 ACCOUNT OF MORSE — DYING HERCULES — JUDGMENT OF JUPITER — GOLD 
 MEDAL — MRS. ALLSTON's DEATH — SCENE AT MR. WILBERFORCE's — RETURN 
 HOME. 
 
 -YTTASHINGTON ALLSTON returned from Europe in 
 VV 1809, and spent two years in Boston, where he was 
 married to the sister of the Rev. Dr. Channing. Just from col- 
 lege, and burning with ambition to be a painter, young Morse 
 sought the acquaintance of Allston, who was then the greatest 
 artist in this country. Morse saw him and loved him. The 
 affection grew into reverence, continued through life, and when 
 the great master, Allston, died, more than thirty years after this 
 first meeting, his favorite pupil, Morse, begged the brush, still 
 fresh with paint, as it dropped from the dying artist's hand, and 
 kept it as a sacred memorial of his teacher and friend. He de- 
 posited it in the New York Academy of Design, which he 
 founded, and it is there preserved as a sacred memorial of All- 
 ston, and of the veneration of Morse for his first master in art. 
 
WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 29 
 
 If tlie youth would be a painter, his father was disposed to 
 give him such advantages as were necessary to his success. 
 Allston was about returning to Europe, and to his care Mr. 
 Morse was committed. More than to any, or all other teachers, 
 Morse was indebted to Allston for his rapid triumphs in art. 
 
 Washington Allston was born in Charleston, South Carolina, 
 November 5, 1779, and was graduated at Harvard College in the 
 year 1800, having already developed a love for music, poetry, 
 and painting. With tastes the most delicate and pure, ardent 
 in his feelings, delighting in the heroic, romantic, and ideal, 
 he was one of the most noble and beautiful characters of the 
 age which he adorned. He went to London in 1801, and studied 
 under Benjamin West, with whom he formed an intimate 
 friendship. Then he studied in Paris. In Italy he spent four 
 years. Here he found Samuel Taylor Coleridge, of whom he 
 said, in one of his letters, " To no other man do I owe so much 
 intellectually as to Mr. Coleridge, who has honored me with his 
 friendship for more than five-and-twenty years." In England 
 Mr. Allston was also the friend of Wordsworth, Southey, Lamb, 
 Reynolds, and other brilliant and distinguished men. After a 
 brief visit of two years in his own country, he returned to Lon- 
 don, and divided his time between poetry and painting. He was 
 a deeply religious man. A Christian by conviction, his whole 
 nature was, filled with adoration of Him whom not having seen 
 he loved, an ever-present Being in whom he lived and moved. 
 Having passed, seven years abroad in this second visit, he came 
 home to America, where his name was already illustrious as the 
 greatest artist the country had produced. His works commanded 
 the highest prices that had ever been paid in America for paint- 
 ings. A rare impersonation of the virtues that adorn human- 
 ity, with fine intellectual powers, and a spirit attuned to the 
 love of his fellow-men, such was the man to whom Finley 
 Morse was confided at the outset of his career in the art of 
 painting. 
 
 Mr. Morse began to write a journal on the voyage from 
 New York to Liverpool. He wrote daily till the voyage was 
 ended, then ceased ; resumed it again on the return-voyage, 
 four years afterward ; and, with the exception of a few notes 
 during one of his journeys in Europe, no diary remains. We 
 
30 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 are therefore left to recollections of others, letters to and from 
 him, and records of the public press, for the material of his 
 biography. Happily these materials are so abundant as to en- 
 able us to follow him through every step of his life. 
 
 Extracts from his Journal. 
 
 " After being wind-bound in New York harbor for several days, 
 I embarked on board the ship Lydia, Captain Waite, for Liverpool, 
 on Saturday, July 13, 1811 ; went only as far as the quarantine 
 ground on Staten Island, where we lay over Sunday. We have 
 fourteen very agreeable passengers, collected from all quarters of 
 the globe : Mr. Amberger, a Russian ; Mr. Neupaner, a Prussian ; 
 Mr. Minshall, the famous dramatist, an Englishman; Mr. Gray and 
 Mr. Parmer, Scotchmen ; Captain Visscher and lady, Mr. Allston 
 and lady, Mrs. Waite, the wife of the captain, and a woman-servant 
 of Captain and Mrs. Visscher, Mr. Searl, and Mr. Lord, Americans." 
 
 He beguiled the hours of the voyage by making notes upon 
 the passengers, the crew, the ship, and the sea, with pencil- 
 sketches, for he was young and buoyant, and every thing was 
 fresh and new. The famous dramatist was the occasion of 
 infinite amusement, for everybody laughed at him, while he im- 
 agined that his wit and humor were entertaining others. The 
 journal says : 
 
 " Mr. Minshall is the author of several plays, as he "calls them, 
 though no one can make head or tail of them ; he will receive 
 flattery of the grossest kind, and is so puffed up by it as to make 
 himself a laughing-stock to the whole ship's company. He has 
 been repeating to us this evening an epilogue to one of his plays, 
 with such out-of-the-way gestures as to make us almost burst our 
 sides with laughing, he supposing all this time that we were laugh- 
 ing at the wit of the composition, and joining with us in our mirth 
 with his whole soul." 
 
 Nothing unusual occurred to make the passage memorable, 
 and in twenty days from port the land beyond was in sight. In 
 six days more they made the harbor of Liverpool, where, says 
 the journal : 
 
 " We prepared to go ashore among hundreds of people who had 
 assembled on the wharf. Some had come to hear the news ; some 
 
THREAT OF PRISON. 31 
 
 to receive letters from friends in America ; some from mere curi- 
 osity. But by far the greater part of the crowd had hastened to 
 see us dashed against the head of the wharf by the fury of the 
 tide. About a quarter-past eleven o'clock I placed my foot upon 
 terra firma, not a little rejoiced on the occasion, although in a land 
 of strangers. My fellow-passengers with me walked up into town 
 to find lodgings. We established ourselves at the Liverpool Arms 
 Hotel, the same at which Professor Silliman staid when in this 
 place a number of years since. 
 
 " Friday, August 9th. I went to the mayor to get leave to go 
 to London. He gave me ten days to get there, and told me if he 
 found me in Liverpool after that time he should put me in prison, 
 at which I could not help smiling. His name is Drinkwater, but, 
 from the appearance of his face, I should judge it might be Drink- 
 brandy." 
 
 Thus hurried out of town by the mayor, with a degree of 
 severity only to be accounted for by the excitements of the day, 
 which then indicated hostilities between the United States and 
 England, Mr. Morse set off in a post-chaise for London with Mr. 
 and Mrs. Allston. The journey of two hundred miles was ex- 
 tended through a week, as the health of Mrs. Allston required 
 slow stages and frequent rest. 
 
 He found lodgings in London at No. 67 Great Titchfield 
 Street, and immediately wrote to his parents announcing his ar- 
 rival. In this first letter he expresses a longing that seems 
 prophetic of his great invention. He says, after mentioning his 
 safety : 
 
 " I only wish you had this letter now to relieve your minds from 
 anxiety, for while I am writing I can imagine mother wishing that 
 she could hear of my arrival, and thinking of thousands of acci- 
 dents which may have befallen me. I wish that in an instant 1 
 could communicate the information : but three thousand miles are 
 not passed over in an instant, and we must wait four long weeks 
 before we can hear from each other." 
 
 On the outside of this letter, yellow with age, is written in 
 his own hand with pencil, but at what date is not known, prob- 
 ably toward the end of his life, these words : " Longing foe a 
 Telegraph even in this letter." 
 
32 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 The letter continues : 
 
 " I long to begin to paint. Mr. Allston has just returned from 
 Mr. West, who will be very glad to see me to-morrow. His great 
 picture " (Christ Healing the Sick) " is much talked of, and is pro- 
 nounced by connoisseurs the best ever painted in England. Mr. 
 West told Mr. Allston that its exhibition had produced to the Brit- 
 ish Institution, for whose benefit it was exhibited, upward of nine 
 thousand pounds, although it was open only a few weeks. 
 
 " Not being well to-day, I sent my letter of introduction to Dr. 
 Lettsom, with a request that he would call on me, which he did, 
 and prescribed a medicine which cured me in an hour or two. Dr. 
 Lettsom is a very singular man. He looks considerably like the 
 print you have of him : he is a moderate Quaker, but not precise 
 and stiff like the Quakers of Philadelphia. He is very pleasant 
 and sociable, and withal very blunt in his address ; he is a man of 
 excellent information, and is considered among the greatest literary 
 characters here. There is one peculiarity, however, which he has 
 in conversation, that of using the verb in the third person singular 
 with the pronoun in the first person, as, instead of I show, he says 
 I shows, etc., upon which peculiarity the famous Mr. Sheridan made 
 the following lines in ridicule of him : 
 
 ' If patients call, both one and all, 
 I bleeds 'em, and I sweats 'em ; 
 And if they die, why, what cares I ? 
 I Letts'om.' " 
 
 On the following day Mr. Allston introduced the young 
 student to the great master Mr. West. 
 
 That was a memorable moment in the history of Einley 
 Morse. The fame of Benjamin West was at that time as wide 
 as the world of art; and his history was familiar to every 
 American who aspired to eminence in that world. Mr. West 
 was an American, and now at the head of the Royal Academy 
 of England — his time and genius in the employ of the king. 
 Morse, a young pilgrim from the United States, slender, fair- 
 haired, modest, and gentle, with his foot not yet on the first 
 round of the ladder of fame, stood before his illustrious country- 
 man, and the distance between them appeared all but infinite. 
 Yet the career of West was the guide and stimulus to the youth- 
 ful student. 
 
 Benjamin West was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, 
 
BENJAMIN WEST. 33 
 
 where his father kept a country store. The boy was only seven 
 years old when he made with a pen and ink the likeness of his 
 little sister in a cradle, and so life-like that the mother, who 
 caught him at it, exclaimed, " I declare, he has made a likeness 
 of our Sally ! " A party of wild Indians taught him the use of 
 their colors, and he made hair-brushes from the back and tail of 
 a cat. A friend sent him a box of paints and brushes when he 
 was eight years old. The reputation of the artist-boy reached 
 Philadelphia. He was encouraged to study. His portrait of a 
 beautiful woman in Lancaster made him famous in that region, 
 and sitters thronged him. The provost of the University of 
 the State invited him to Philadelphia, with a promise of patron- 
 age. The family were Quakers, and to the Society of Friends 
 the question of the boy's future was referred. They very wisely 
 decided that " a man-child has been born, to whom God has 
 given some remarkable gifts, and we shall do God's will by 
 giving him our sanction to use them." Yery wise these good 
 Quakers were in their decision. They said: "Genius is given 
 of God for some high purpose. What that purpose is, let us 
 not inquire ; it will be manifested in his own good time and 
 way. He hath in this remote wilderness endowed with rich 
 gifts this youth, who has now our consent to cultivate his talents 
 for art." Then all the women came forward and kissed the 
 handsome young artist, and the men laid their hands upon his 
 head. Thus, with the kisses of women and the benedictions of 
 men, the young Benjamin was consecrated to the work of his 
 life. He painted in Philadelphia and then in New York, and, 
 when his portraits and other pictures had brought him money 
 enough to warrant the expense, he went to Italy in 1760. He 
 was then only twenty-two years old. His career was upward, 
 steadily and rapidly. He visited all the chief cities of Italy, 
 copied the greatest works of the old masters, then went to Paris, 
 and, arriving in London in 1763, was welcomed by Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds, who encouraged him to exhibit his pictures there. 
 They commanded recognition, and established his reputation at 
 once. He determined to remain in London. Two years after 
 his arrival the king sent for him, and gave him a commission, 
 took him into his favor, afterward gave him a salary, and re- 
 quired his whole time to be devoted to his service. During the 
 3 
 
34 LfFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOUSE. 
 
 War of American Independence, West remaining true to his 
 native country, enjoyed the continued confidence of the king, 
 and was actually engaged upon his portrait when the Declara- 
 tion of Independence was handed to him. Mr. Morse received 
 the facts from the lips of Mr. West himself, and communicated 
 them to me in these words : 
 
 " I called upon Mr. West, at his house in Newman Street, one 
 morning, and in conformity with the order given to his servant 
 Robert, always to admit Mr. Leslie and myself, even if he was 
 engaged in his private studies, I was shown into his studio. As I 
 entered, a half-length portrait of George III. stood before me upon 
 an easel, and Mr. West was sitting with his back toward me, copy- 
 ing from it upon canvas. My name having been mentioned to him, 
 he did not turn, but, pointing with the pencil he had in his hand to 
 the portrait from which he was copying, he said : 
 
 " ' Do you see that picture, Mr. Morse ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes, sir,' I said ; ' I perceive it is the portrait of the king.' 
 
 " ' Well,' said Mr. West, ' the king was sitting to me for that 
 portrait when the box containing the American Declaration of 
 Independence was handed to him.' 
 
 " ' Indeed,' I answered ; ' and what appeared to be the emotions 
 of the king ? what did he say ? ' 
 
 " ' Well, sir,' said Mr. West, ' he made a reply characteristic 
 of the goodness of his heart,' or words to that effect. ' Well, if 
 they can be happier under the government they have chosen, than 
 under mine, I shall be happy.' " 
 
 As the king became superannuated, the work on which West 
 was engaged for the royal chapel was suspended, and his salary 
 discontinued. But his position as the great master of the age 
 was secure. And as President of the Royal Academy, the 
 painter of " Christ Healing the Sick," and of " Christ Rejected 
 by the Jews," the presence of the venerable man, now seventy- 
 three years old, excited, in the mind of the student standing be- 
 fore him, emotions of admiration rising into reverential awe. 
 
 West received young Morse as a father and a friend. The 
 introduction by Allston would have been sufficient, and he had 
 letters to Mr. West, which secured his attention and awakened 
 his interest at once. 
 
 In a very few days Mr. Morse was hard at work, and the 
 
INTKODUCTION TO WEST. 35 
 
 impressions made upon him by the great master, at whose feet 
 he had come to sit, and the inspiration which had already taken 
 possession of his soul, will appear in a letter written within a 
 fortnight : 
 
 To his Parents. 
 
 "London, August 24, 1811. 
 
 " I have begun my studies, the first part of which is drawing ; 
 I am drawing from the head of Demosthenes at present, to get ac- 
 customed to handling black and white chalk ; I shall then commence 
 a drawing, for the purpose of trying to enter the Royal Academy. 
 It is a much harder task to enter now than when Mr. Allston was 
 here before, as they now require a pretty accurate knowledge of 
 anatomy before they suffer one to enter, and I shall find the advan- 
 tage of my anatomical lectures. I feel rather encouraged from this 
 circumstance, since the harder it is to gain admittance the greater 
 the honor it will be should I enter. I have likewise begun a large 
 landscape, which at a bold push I intend for the exhibition, though 
 I run the risk of being refused. I am admitted a student in the 
 British Institution, an establishment having the same views with 
 the Royal Academy, the improvement of artists ; but it only requir- 
 ing the introduction of some one of the directors, Mr. "West was 
 so good as to introduce me there. 
 
 " I was introduced to Mr. West by Mr. Allston, and likewise 
 gave him your letter. He was very glad to see me, and said he 
 would render me every assistance in his power. At the British 
 Institution I saw his famous piece of ' Christ Healing the Sick.' He 
 said to me, ' This is the piece I intended for America, but the British 
 would have it themselves ; but I shall give America the better one.' 
 He has begun a copy, which I likewise saw ; and there are several 
 alterations for the better, if it is possible to be better. A sight of 
 that piece is worth a voyage to England of itself. The encomiums 
 which Mr. "West has received on account of that piece has given 
 him new life, and some say he is at least ten years younger. He 
 is now likewise about another piece, which will probably be superior 
 to the other ; he favored me with a sight of the sketch, which he 
 said he granted to me because I was an American. He had not 
 shown it to anybody else. Mr. Allston was with me, and told me 
 afterward that, however superior his last piece was, this would far 
 exceed it. The subject is, ' Christ before Pilate.' It will contain 
 about fifty or sixty figures the size of life. 
 
36 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 "Mr. West is in his seventy-fourth year (I think), but to see 
 him you would suppose him only about five-and-forty. He is very 
 active ; a flight of steps at the British Gallery he ran up as nimbly 
 as I could. He was particular in his inquiry respecting the arts in 
 the United States, and appeared very zealous that they should ■ 
 flourish there. He expressed great attachment to his native coun- 
 try, and he told me, as a proof of it, he presented them with this 
 large picture. I walked through his gallery of paintings of his own 
 productions. There were upward of two hundred, consisting princi- 
 pally of the original sketches of his large pieces. He has painted 
 in all upward of six hundred pictures, which is more than any artist 
 ever did, with the exception of Rubens. Mr. West is so industrious 
 now that it is hard to get access to him, and then only between the 
 hours of nine and ten in the morning. He is working on eight or 
 nine different pieces at present, and seems to be more enthusiastic 
 than he ever was before. 
 
 " I was surprised, on entering the Gallery of Paintings in the" 1 
 British Institution, at seeing eight or ten ladies, as well as gentle- 
 men, with their easels and pallets, and oil-colors, employed in co^j- 
 ing some of the pictures. You can see, from this circumstance, in 
 what estimation the art is held here, since ladies of distinction, 
 without hesitation or reserve, are willing to draw in public. 
 
 " I have seen but little of London as yet, being more desirous 
 of commencing my studies at present, than to gratify my curiosity. 
 I, however, in going to and from dinner, generally make a little 
 circuit to see what is to be seen. If you have a plan of London I 
 will direct you where to find me. I am on the west side of Great 
 or Upper Titchfield Street, near the corner of that street and Mary- 
 le-bone Street. The place where I dine is in Wardour Street, at 
 the corner of that street and Knaves Acre. I pass down Titchfield 
 Street, by Oxford Market into Oxford Street, and go a short dis- 
 tance eastward, and Wardour Street is on the south side. I have 
 not felt any of those disagreeable feelings which I expected to ex- 
 perience on my first arrival here ; on the contrary, I have been in 
 very good spirits, and felt more enthusiastic and determined than 
 ever in the pursuit of my profession. I rise at seven, and breakfast, 
 and by half-past seven get to work ; these two or three days past 
 I have sat over my drawing from half-past seven until five o'clock 
 in the afternoon, which is my dining-hour. After dinner I generally 
 walk a little, and visit Mr. and Mrs. Allston, who live but about 
 three minutes' walk from me, at 49 London Street. He is very 
 
ESTIMATE OF WEST. 37 
 
 sociable and pleasant with me, and visits me every day to talk and 
 smoke his cigar with me. ... I am very anxious at present to 
 get into the Royal Academy ; I have begun a drawing for the pur- 
 pose from the Gladiator statue, and will tell you the issue in my 
 next." 
 
 After lie had studied a year with Mr. "West, and was better 
 able to judge of the man and the artist, Mr. Morse writes to an 
 intimate personal friend in bis own country : 
 
 " Mr. West has been so long at the head of his profession, and 
 is so well known to the world, that I could relate little of his history 
 that would be new to you. As a painter he has as few faults as any 
 artist of ancient or modern times. In his studies he has been in- 
 defatigable, and the result is a perfect knowledge of the philosophy 
 of his art. There is not a line or a touch in his pictures which he 
 cannot account for on philosophical principles ; they are not the 
 productions of accident, but of study. His forte is in composition, 
 design, and elegant grouping ; his faults are said to be a harsh and 
 hard outline, and bad coloring. These faults he has in a great 
 degree amended ; his outline is softer, and his coloring, in some pict- 
 ures in which he has attempted truth of color, is not surpassed by 
 any artist now living, and some have even said that Titian himself 
 did not surpass it. He has just completed an historical landscape 
 which, for clearness of coloring, combined with grandeur of com- 
 position, has never been excelled. In his private character he is 
 unimpeachable ; a man of tender feelings ; with a mind so noble 
 that it soars above the slanders of his enemies, and he expresses 
 pity rather than revenge toward those who through wantonness or 
 malice plan to undermine him. No man, perhaps, ever passed 
 through so much abuse, and I am confident no one ever bore up 
 against its insolence with more nobleness of spirit. With a steady 
 perseverance in the pursuit of ■ the sublimest profession, he has 
 traveled on, heedless of his enemies, till he is sure of immortality. 
 
 " Excuse my fervor in the praise of this extraordinary man. He 
 is not such a one as can be met with in every age. And I think 
 there can be no stronger proof that human nature is the same 
 always, than that men of genius in all ages have been compelled 
 to undergo the same disappointments, and to pass through the 
 same storms of calumny and abuse, doomed in their lifetime to 
 endure the ridicule or neglect of the world, and to wait for justice 
 till they were dead." 
 
38 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 The artist-life of Mr. Morse in London was brightened by 
 the companionship of one who rose to great eminence in his 
 profession, and whose memory is cherished with pride in onr 
 country as well as in England. 
 
 Charles R. Leslie was born in London, in 1794, three years 
 after the birth of his friend, room-mate, and fellow-student, 
 Morse. His parents were Americans, residing temporarily in 
 London at the time of his birth. When the boy was six years 
 old his parents returned to the United States with him, and, 
 giving him an ordinary school education, apprenticed him to a 
 bookseller in Philadelphia. But the genius of painting was in 
 him, and asserted itself early. He was sent to London to be a 
 pupil of Benjamin West, and, thus being brought into imme- 
 diate acquaintance with Mr. Morse, the two young men became 
 warm personal friends, had their studios together, and were soon 
 bound by an affection that continued unabated till they were 
 separated by death. Leslie was the soul of humor. It brims 
 over in his letters, and pictures, and conversation. He selected 
 subjects for its display in the pages of Shakespeare, Cervantes, 
 Moliere, and others. His success was great, and he was soon 
 elected an associate and member of the Royal Academy. In 
 the year 1833 he came to the United States to enter upon 
 the professorship of Drawing in the United States Military 
 Academy at West Point. He was not contented there, and in 
 the course of a few months returned to England. In 1847 he 
 became Professor of Painting in the Royal Academy, and his 
 lectures in that chair have been published as a hand-book for 
 young painters. 
 
 His associations with men of genius were intimate and 
 beautiful, making his Autobiography one of the most delight- 
 ful volumes, bringing us into living converse with Coleridge 
 and Charles Lamb, Rogers, Washington Irving, and scores of 
 men whose names are part of the ideal life of every lover of 
 art and letters. He speaks of his introduction to London and 
 Morse : 
 
 " For a few days I was at the London Coffee-House, on Ludgate 
 Hill, with Mr. Inskip and other Americans. I delivered my letters 
 to Mr. West, and was kindly received by him. I visited the gal- 
 
LESLIE AND MORSE. 39 
 
 leries of artists, the theatres, and the other principal objects of 
 attraction to strangers, and 
 
 ' Such sober certainty of waking bliss 
 I never knew till now.' 
 
 But these enjoyments were soon interrupted by a severe illness, 
 which confined me to my room in the hotel. I was solitary, and 
 began to find that even in London it was possible to be unhappy. 
 I did not, however, feel this in its full force until I was settled in 
 lodgings, consisting of two desolate-looking rooms up two pair of 
 stairs in Warren Street, Fitzroy Square. My new acquaintances, 
 Allston, King, and Morse, were very kind, but still they were new 
 acquaintances. I thought of the happy circle round my mother's 
 fireside, and there were moments in which, but for my obligations 
 to Mr. Bradford and my other kind patrons, I could have been con- 
 tent to forfeit all the advantages I expected from my visit to Eng- 
 land, and return immediately to America. The two years I was to 
 remain in London seemed, in prospect, an age. 
 
 " Mr. Morse, who was but a year or two older than myself, and 
 who had been in London but six months when I arrived, felt very 
 much as I did, and we agreed to take apartments together. For some 
 time we painted in the same room, he at one window and I at the 
 other. We drew at the Royal Academy in the evening*, and worked 
 at home in the day. Our mentors were Allston and King ; nor 
 could we have been better provided : Allston, a most amiable and 
 polished gentleman, and a painter of the purest taste ; and King, 
 warm-hearted, sincere, sensible, prudent, and the strictest of econo- 
 mists. 
 
 " When Allston was suffering extreme depression of spirits, im- 
 mediately after the loss of his wife, he was haunted during sleep- 
 less nights by horrid thoughts ; and he told me that diabolical im- 
 precations forced themselves into his mind. The distress of this to 
 a man so sincerely religious as Allston, may be imagined. He 
 wished to consult Coleridge, but could not summon resolution. He 
 desired, therefore, that I should do it ; and I went to Highgate, 
 where Coleridge was at that time living with Mr. Gillman. I found 
 him walking in the garden, his hat in his hand (as it generally was 
 in the open air), for he told me that, having been one of the Blue- 
 coat Boys, among whom it is the fashion to go bareheaded, he had 
 acquired a dislike to any covering of the head. I explained the 
 cause of my visit, and he said : ' Allston should say to himself, 
 " Nothing is me but my will. These thoughts, therefore, that force 
 
40 LITE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 themselves on my mind are no part of me, and there can be no 
 guilt in them." If he will make a strong effort to become indiffer- 
 ent to their recurrence, they will either cease, or cease to trouble 
 him.' He said much more, but this was the substance, and after it 
 was repeated to Allston I did not hear him again complain of the 
 same kind of disturbance." 
 
 Morse bad made decided progress in bis studies before Les- 
 lie joined him, but the companionship of such a man was a con- 
 stant refreshment and stimulus. Before the first month of his 
 residence in London was spent, be writes to bis parents : 
 
 "London, September 3, 1811. 
 "I have finished a drawing which I intended to offer at the 
 Academy for admission. Mr. Allston told me it would undoubtedly 
 admit me, as it was better than two-thirds of those generally of- 
 fered, but advised me to draw another, and remedy some defects in 
 handling the chalks (to which I am not at all accustomed), and he 
 says I shall enter with some 'eclat. I showed it to Mr. West ; he 
 told me it was an extraordinary production, that I had talents, and 
 only wanted knowledge of the art to make a great painter. Since 
 giving him your last letter and Dr. Waterhouse's, he has been very 
 friendly and liberal to' me, and says, if in any way he can benefit 
 me, he will do it with pleasure. For the first, to economize, he told 
 me a way of preparing common paper to paint on, instead of can- 
 vas, which will be a great saving of expense to me." 
 
 The scene that occurred on the presentation of this drawing 
 Mr. Morse was fond of describing in after-years, and it furnishes 
 an invaluable lesson. 
 
 Anxious to appear in the most favorable light before West, 
 be bad occupied himself for two weeks in making a finished 
 drawing from a small cast of the Farnese Hercules. Mr. West, 
 after strict scrutiny for some minutes, and giving the young ar- 
 tist many commendations, banded it again to him, saying, " "Very 
 well, sir, very well ; go on and finish it." 
 
 " It is finished," replied Morse. 
 
 " Ob, no," said Mr. West ; " look here, and here, and here," 
 pointing to many unfinished places which had escaped the un- 
 tutored eye of the young student. No sooner were they pointed 
 out, however, than they were felt, and a week longer was de- 
 voted to a more careful finishing of the drawing, until, full of 
 
WEST'S GREAT LESSON. 41 
 
 confidence, he again presented it to the critical eyes of West. 
 Still more encouraging and flattering expressions were lavished 
 upon the drawing, but on returning it the advice was again 
 given, " Yeiy well, indeed, sir ; go on and finish it." 
 
 " Is it not finished % " asked Morse, almost discouraged. 
 
 " Not yet," replied "West ; " see, you have not marked that 
 muscle, nor the articulations of the finger-joints." 
 
 Determined not to be answered by the constant " Go and fin- 
 ish it " of Mr. "West, Morse again diligently spent three or four 
 days retouching and renewing his drawing, resolved, if possible, 
 to elicit from his severe critic an acknowledgment that it was at 
 length finished. He was not, however, more successful than be- 
 fore ; the drawing was acknowledged to be exceedingly good, 
 " very clever, indeed ; " but all its praises were closed by the 
 repetition of the advice — 
 
 " "Well, sir, go and finish it." 
 
 " I cannot finish it," said Morse, almost in despair. 
 
 " "Well," answered "West, " I have tried you long enough. 
 Now, sir, you have learned more by this drawing than you 
 would have accomplished in double the time by a dozen half- 
 finished beginnings. It is not numerous drawings, but the char- 
 acter of one, which makes a thorough draughtsman. Finish one 
 picture, sir, and you are a painter." 
 
 "When Mr. "West was painting his " Christ Rejected," Morse 
 calling on him, the old gentleman began a critical examination 
 of his hands, and at length said, " Let me tie you with this cord, 
 and take that place while I paint in the hands of our Saviour." 
 Morse of course complied ; West finished his work, and releas- 
 ing him said, " You may say now, if you please, you had a hand 
 in this picture." 
 
 Allston was as severe a teacher and critic as West. In one 
 of his early letters to his parents, Morse writes : 
 
 " My room-mate is Leslie, the young man who is so much talked 
 of in Philadelphia; we have lived together since December, and 
 have not as yet had a falling out. I find his thoughts of the art agree 
 perfectly with my own ; he is enthusiastic, and so am I, and we have 
 not time to think scarcely of any thing else. Every thing we do 
 has a reference to the art, and all our plans are for our mutual ad- 
 vancement in it. We enjoy much of the company of Mr. Allston, 
 
42 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and a few other gentlemen, consisting of three or four painters and 
 poets. We meet by turns at each other's rooms. Mr. Allston is 
 our most intimate friend and companion. I can't feel too grateful 
 to him for his attentions to me ; he calls every day, and superintends 
 all we are doing. When I am at a stand and perplexed in some 
 parts of the picture, he puts me right, and encourages me to pro- 
 ceed, by praising those parts which he thinks good ; but he is 
 faithful, and always tells me when any thing is bad. It is mortify- 
 ing, sometimes, when I have been painting all day very hard, and 
 begin to be pleased with what I have done, on showing it to Mr. 
 Allston, with the expectation of praise, and not only of praise, but 
 a score of ' excellents, well-dones, and admirables '— 7I say, it is morti- 
 fying to hear him after a long silence say : ' Very bad, sir y that is 
 not flesh, it is mud, sir y it is painted with brick-dust and clay? I 
 have felt, sometimes, ready to dash my palette-knife through it, and 
 to feel at the moment quite angry with him ; but a little reflection 
 restores me. I see that Mr. Allston is not a flatterer, but a friend, 
 and that, really to improve, I must see my faults. What he says 
 after this always puts me in good-humor again. He tells me to 
 put a few flesh-tints here, a few gray ones there, and to clear up 
 such and such a part, by such and such colors y and not only that, 
 but takes the palette and brushes, and shows me how. In this 
 wa} r he assists me ; I think it one of the greatest blessings that I 
 am under his eyes. I don't know how many errors I might have 
 fallen into if it had not been for his attentions." 
 
 Speedily admitted to the Royal Academy, and pursuing his 
 art with enthusiasm, Morse begins to be a critic in the first years 
 of his pupilage. He writes to his parents : 
 
 " London, January 30, 1812. 
 " I called, a day or two since, on Sir William Beechy, an artist 
 of great eminence, to see his paintings. They are beautiful beyond 
 any thing I ever imagined ; his principal excellence is in coloring, 
 which to the many is the most attractive part of the art. Sir Wil- 
 liam is considered the best colorist now living. You may be apt to 
 ask ' If Sir William is so great, and even the best, what is Mr. West's 
 great excellence ? ' Mr. West is a bad colorist in general, but he ex- 
 cels in the grandeur of his thought ; Mr. West is to painting 
 what Milton is to poetry, and Sir William Beechy to Mr. West, as 
 Pope to Milton ; so that by comparing with, or rather illustrating, 
 the one art by the other, I can give you a better idea of the art of 
 
PERCEVAL'S ASSASSINATION. 43 
 
 painting, than in any other way ; for, as some poets excel in the 
 different species of poetry, and stand at the head of their different 
 kinds, in the same manner do painters have their particular branch 
 of their art : and as epic poetry excels all other kind of poetry, 
 because it addresses itself to the sublimer feelings of our nature^ so 
 does historical painting stand preeminent in our art, because it 
 calls forth the same feelings. For poets' and painters' minds are 
 the same, and I infer that painting is superior to poetry, from 
 this : that the painter possesses, with the poet, a vigorous imagi- 
 nation, where the poet stops ; while the painter exceeds him in the 
 mechanical and very difficult part of the art, that of handling the 
 pencil." 
 
 The years 1811-1815, which were passed by Mr. Morse in 
 London, were eventful in the political world, including, as 
 they did, the period of the war between Great Britain and the 
 United States (1812-1814), and the war between France and 
 the allied European powers, terminating in the battle of Water- 
 loo and the Treaty of Paris in 1815. Mr. Morse was in constant 
 correspondence with his friends at home, and intensely interested 
 in the great events of the age. In the spring of 1812, within 
 the first year of his life in London, he writes to his parents of — 
 
 The Assassination of the JPrime- Minister. 
 
 " London, May 17, 1812. 
 " I write in great haste, just to inform you of a dreadful event 
 which happened here last evening, and rumors of which will prob- 
 ably reach you before this ; it is no less than the assassination of 
 Mr. Perceval, the Prime-Minister of Great Britain. As he was en- 
 tering the Souse of Commons last evening, a little past five o'clock, 
 he was shot directly through the heart, by a man from behind the 
 door ; he staggered forward and fell, and expired in about ten min- 
 utes. The mention of this shocking affair is but to remove any 
 doubts you might have of the fact ; I heard of it last evening, about 
 three hours after it was perpetrated, but could not believe it, until 
 the particulars related in the morning papers and my own eyes con- 
 firmed it. I have just returned from the House of Commons; there 
 was an immense crowd assembled, and very riotous : in the hall was 
 written in large letters, ''Peace, or the Head of the Regent ! ' This 
 country is in a very alarming state, and there is no doubt but great 
 quantities of blood will be spilled before it is restored to order ; even 
 
44 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 while I am writing, a party of Life Guards are patrolling the streets. 
 London must soon be the scene of dreadful events. Last night I had 
 an opportunity of studying the public mind ; it was at the theatre; the 
 play was ' Venice preserved, or the Plot discovered? If you will take 
 the trouble just to read the first act, you will see what relation it 
 has to the present state of affairs. When Pierre says to Jaffier, 
 ' Canst thou kill a senator ? ' there were three cheers, and so through 
 the whole ; whenever anything was said concerning conspiracy, and 
 in favor of it, the audience applauded ; and when any thing was said 
 against it they hissed. "When Pierre asked the conspirators if Bru- 
 tus teas not a good man, the audience were in a great uproar, ap- 
 plauding so as to prevent for some minutes the progress of the per- 
 formance. This, I think, shows the public mind to be in great agita- 
 tion. You must not feel anxious respecting me ; I can take care of 
 myself, for, although London will probably be the scene of much 
 bloodshed, I hope I shall have prudence enough to keep clear from 
 danger. If I follow my pursuits without meddling with the aifairs 
 of others, I shall remain unmolested ; so don't feel anxious. This is 
 written in haste. The papers will give you more particulars. . . . 
 
 " May 111th. — The assassin, Bellingham, was immediately taken 
 into custody. He was tried on Friday, and condemned to be execut- 
 ed to-morrow morning (Monday, 18th). I shall go to the place to 
 see the concourse of people. I should not be surprised if an attempt 
 were made to rescue him. 
 
 " Monday Morning, Y&th. — I went this morning to the execu- 
 tion ; a very violent rain prevented so great a crowd as was expect- 
 ed. A few minutes before eight o'clock Bellingham ascended the 
 scaffold. He was very genteelly dressed. He bowed to the crowd, 
 who cried out, ' God bless you ! ' repeatedly. I saw him draw the cap 
 over his face and shake hands with the clergyman. I staid no lon- 
 ger ; but immediately turned my back and was returning home. I 
 had taken but a few steps before the clock struck eight, and on 
 turning back I saw the crowd beginning to disperse. I have felt 
 the effects of this sight all day, and shall probably not get over it 
 for weeks. There were no accidents." 
 
 In a postscript to one of his letters of the same date, lie says : 
 
 " Mr. West is very kind to me ; I visit him occasionally of a 
 morning to hear him converse on the art. He appears quite at- 
 tached to me, as he is, indeed, to all young American artists ; it 
 seems to give him the greatest pleasure to think that one day the 
 
AMUSEMENTS IN LONDON. 45 
 
 arts will flourish in America. He sajs that Philadelphia will be 
 the Athens of the world." 
 
 Iii a playful letter to one of his brothers, Morse describes — 
 as he perhaps would not to his parents — 
 
 Sis Amusements. 
 
 "London, June 15, 1812. 
 
 " I have only a few moments to write you, as to-day the gal- 
 lery of the Marquis of Stafford is open to artists ; and, as it is 
 but one day in the week for two months in the year, I cannot well 
 miss it. 
 
 " The queen held a drawing-room a short time since, and I went 
 to St. James's Palace to see those who attended. It was a singular 
 sight to see the ladies and gentlemen in their court dresses ; the 
 gentlemen were dressed in buckram-skirted coats without capes, 
 long waistcoats, cocked-hats, bag-wigs, swords, and large buckles in 
 their shoes ; the ladies in monstrous hoops, so that in getting into 
 their carriages they were obliged to go edgewise. Their dresses 
 were very rich. Some ladies, I suppose, had about them, to adorn 
 them, twenty or thirty thousand pounds' worth of diamonds. I had 
 a sight of the prince regent as he passed in his splendid state car- 
 riage, drawn by six horses ; he is very corpulent ; his pictures are 
 good, but he is very red and considerably bloated. I likewise saw 
 the Princess Charlotte of Wales — she is handsome — the Dukes of 
 Kent, Cambridge, Clarence, and Cumberland, Admiral Duckworth, 
 and many others. The prince held a levee a few days since, at 
 which Mr. Van Rensselaer was presented. 
 
 " I went out to Epsom races with Mr. Van Rensselaer in his 
 carriage a short time ago, rather for the ride than to see the run- 
 ning. Epsom is about nine or ten miles from London. I saw a 
 great many splendid equipages and a great deal of company ; most 
 of the neighboring nobility were there ; there was very good rac- 
 ing. I was on a hill in the centre of the course, so that I could see 
 nearly the whole course, which was a mile and a half in length. • 
 
 " I occasionally attend the theatres. At Covent Garden there is 
 the best acting in the world. Mr. Kemble is the first tragic actor 
 now in England ; Cook was a rival, and excelled him in some char- 
 acters. Mrs. Siddons is the best tragic actress perhaps that ever 
 lived. She is now advanced in life, and is about to retire from the 
 stage. On the 29th of this month she makes her last appear- 
 ance. I must say T admire her acting very much. She is rather 
 
46 LI FE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 corpulent, but has a remarkably fine face ; the Grecian character is 
 portrayed in it. She excels in deep tragedy. In Mrs. Beverly, in 
 the play of ' The Gamesters,' a few nights ago, she so arrested the 
 attention of the house, that you might hear your watch tick in your 
 fob, and at the close of the play, when she utters an hysteric laugh 
 for joy that her husband was not a murderer, there were three dif- 
 ferent ladies in the boxes who actually went into hysterics, and were 
 obliged to be carried out of the theatre. Mrs. Siddons is a woman 
 of irreproachable character, and moves in the first circles. The 
 stage will never again see her equal. You mustn't think, because I 
 praise the acting, that I am partial to theatres ; I think in a certain 
 degree they are harmless, but too much attended they dissipate the 
 mind. There is no danger of my loving them too much. 
 
 " Last night, as I was passing through Tottenham Court Road, I 
 saw a large collection of people of the lower class making a most ter- 
 rible noise by beating on something of the sounding genus. Upon 
 going nearer and inquiring the cause, I found that a butcher had just 
 been married, and that it is always the custom on such occasions for 
 his brethren by trade to serenade the couple with ' marrow-bones and 
 cleavers.' Perhaps you have heard of the phrase ' musical as mar- 
 row-bones and cleavers.' This is the origin of it. If you wish to 
 experience the sound, let each one in the family take a pair of 
 tongs and a shovel, and then standing all together let each one try 
 to outdo the other in noise, and this will give you some idea of it. 
 How this custom originated I don't know ; I hope it is not symboli- 
 cal of the harmony which is to exist between the parties married." 
 
 In another letter to bis parents, in the beginning of his sec- 
 ond year, he 
 
 Dreams of Greatness. 
 
 "London, September 20, 1812. 
 
 " I have removed from 82 Titchfield Street to No. 8 Bucking- 
 ham Place, Fitzroy Square. . . . 
 
 " I have just finished a model in clay of a figure (' The Dying 
 Hercules'), my first attempt at sculpture. Mr. Allston is extreme- 
 ly pleased with it ; he says it is better than all the things I have 
 done since I have been in England, put together, and says I must 
 send a cast of it home to you, and that it will convince you that I 
 shall make a painter. He says also he shall write to his friends in 
 Boston, to call on you and see it when I send it. 
 
 " Mr. West, also, was extremely delighted with it. He said it 
 
LOVE OF ART 47 
 
 was not merely an academical figure, but displayed thought. He 
 could not have paid me a higher compliment. Mr. West would write 
 you, but he has been disabled from painting or writing, for a long 
 time, with the gout in his right hand. This is a great trial to him. 
 I am anxious to send you something to show you that I have not 
 been idle since I have been here. My passion for my art is so 
 firmly rooted that I am confident no human power could destroy it. 
 The more I study, the greater I think is its claim to the appellation 
 of divine / and I never shall be able sufficiently to show my grati- 
 tude to my parents for enabling me to pursue that profession, with- 
 out which I am sure I should be miserable. And if it is my destiny 
 to become great, and worthy of a biographical memoir^ my biog- 
 rapher will never be able to charge upon my parents that bigoted 
 attachment to any individual profession the exercise of which 
 spirit by parents toward their children has been the ruin of some 
 of the greatest geniuses ; and the biography of men of genius has 
 too often contained that reflection on their parents. If ever the 
 contrary spirit was evident, it has certainly been shown by my par- 
 ents toward me. Indeed, they have been almost too indulgent. 
 They have watched every change of my capricious inclinations, and 
 seem to have made it an object to study them with the greatest 
 fondness ; but I think they will say that, when my desire for change 
 did cease, it always settled on painting. I hope that one day my 
 success in my profession will reward you in some measure for the 
 trouble and inconvenience I have so long put you to. 
 
 " I am now going to begin a picture of the death of Hercules, 
 this figure to be as large as life. I shall send it to } r ou as soon as 
 practicable, and also one of the same to the Philadelphia Exhibi- 
 tion, if possible, in season for the next in May." 
 
 Mr. Morse bad brought with him from bis distinguished 
 father and his father's eminent friends, letters of introduction 
 to some of the best men in England. Among them were Wil- 
 liam Wilberf orce and Henry Thornton, both of them illustrious 
 philanthropists, and at that time members of Parliament ; Zach- 
 ary Macaulay, editor of the Christian Observer^ and father of 
 the historian ; the two Grants, one of whom was afterward Lord 
 Glenelg ; and many others. The young artist was warmly re- 
 ceived by these distinguished and excellent men. He was, how- 
 ever, so absorbed in his studies, and so firmly resolved to permit 
 nothing to interfere with his progress, that he declined to de- 
 
48 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 liver these letters for several months. His father reproves him 
 for his neglect, and he justifies himself by showing that social 
 duties would occupy more time than he could spare from his 
 work, and that mingling in society was inconsistent with devo- 
 tion to study. But in the course of the year he ventured upon 
 making himself known ; and his letters frequently mention the 
 delightful intercourse with public men which these letters se- 
 cured. 
 
 To his Barents. 
 
 "London, December 22, 1812. 
 " Last Thursday week I received a very polite invitation from 
 Henry Thornton, Esq, to dine with him, which I accepted. Hear- 
 ing that your son was in the country, he found me out, and has 
 shown me every attention ; he is a very pleasant, sensible man ; but 
 his character is too well known to you to need any eulogium from 
 me. At his table was a son of Mr. Stephen, who was the author of 
 the odious Orders in Council. Mr. Thornton asked me at table, if I 
 thought that ' if the Orders in Council had been repealed a month 
 or two sooner, it would have prevented the war.' I told him I 
 thought it would, at which he was much pleased, and, turning to 
 Mr. Stephen, he said : ' Do you hear that, Mr. Stephen ? I always 
 told you so.' Last Wednesday I dined at Mr. Wilberforce's ; I was 
 extremely pleased with him ; at his house I met Mr. Thornton and 
 Mr. Grant, members of Parliament. In the course of conversation, 
 they introduced America. Mr. Wilberforce regretted the war ex- 
 tremely ; he said it was like two of the same family quarreling ; 
 that he thought it a judgment on this country for their wickedness, 
 and that they had been justly punished for their arrogance and inso- 
 lence at sea, as well as the Americans for their vaunting on land. 
 As Mr. Thornton was going, he invited me to spend a day or two 
 at his seat at Clapham, a few miles out of town. I accordingly 
 went, and was very civilly treated ; the reserve which I mentioned 
 in a former letter was evident, however, here, and I felt a degree of 
 embarrassment arising from it which I never felt in America. 
 The second day I was a little more at my ease. At dinner were 
 two sons of the Mr. Grant I mentioned above; they are, perhaps, the 
 most promising young men in the country, and you may possibly 
 one day hear of them as at the head of this nation. After dinner I 
 got into conversation with them and Mr. Thornton. When Amer- 
 ica again became the topic of conversation, they asked me a great 
 
ORDERS IN COUNCIL. 49 
 
 many questions, which I answered to the best of my ability. They 
 at length asked me if I did not think that the ruling party in 
 America were very much under French influence. I replied no ; that 
 I believed, on the contrary, that nine-tenths of the American people 
 were prepossessed strongly in favor of this country ; as a proof, I 
 urged the universal prevalence of English fashions in preference to 
 French ; English manners and customs ; the universal rejoicings on 
 the success of the English over the French ; the marked attention 
 shown to English travelers and visitors ; the neglect with which they 
 treated their own literary productions, on account of the strong pre- 
 judice in favor of English works ; that every thing, in short, was en- 
 hanced in its value by having attached to it the name English. 
 They were very much pleased with what I told them, and acknowl- 
 edged that America, and American visitors generally, had been treat- 
 ed with too much contempt and neglect. In the course of the day 
 I asked Mr. Thornton what were the objects that the English Gov- 
 ernment had in view when they laid the Orders in Council. He 
 told me, in direct terms ' The universal monopoly of commerce ; ' that 
 they had long desired an excuse for such measures as the Orders in 
 Council, and that the French decrees were exactly what they wished, 
 and the opportunity was seized with avidity the moment it was 
 offered ; they knew that the Orders in Council bore hard upon the 
 Americans, but they considered that as merely incidental. To this 
 I replied, if such was the case as he represented it, what blame could 
 be attached to the American Government for declaring war? He 
 said that it was urged that America ought to have considered the 
 circumstances of the case, and that Great Britain was fighting for 
 the liberties of the world ; that America was in a great degree inter- 
 ested in the decision of the contest, and that she ought to be con- 
 tent to suffer a little. I told him that England had no right what- 
 soever to infringe on the neutrality of America, or to expect, because 
 she (England) supposed herself to have justice on her side in the 
 contest with France, that of course the Americans should think the 
 same. The moment America declared this opinion, her neutrality 
 ceased. 'Besides,' said I, ' how can they have the face to make such 
 a declaration, when you just now said that their object was uni- 
 versal monopoly, and they longed for an excuse to adopt measures 
 for that end ? ' I told him that ' it showed that all the noise about 
 England's fighting for the liberties of mankind proved to be but a 
 thirst, a selfish desire for universal monopoly.'' This, he said, 
 seemed to be the case ; he could not deny it. He was going on to 
 
 4 
 
50 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 observe something respecting the French decrees, when we were 
 interrupted, and I have not been able again to resume the conver- 
 sation, as I returned to town with him shortly after in his carriage, 
 where, as there were strangers, I could not introduce it again. I 
 shall take the opportunity some time to pursue the subject with 
 him. The prince's declaration, vindicating the English Govern- 
 ment from blame in the war with America, has been published 
 some time. It is a flimsy thing, and by the friends of the adminis- 
 tration thought to be but a weak defence." 
 
 Among the autographs which Mr. Morse preserved to the 
 end of his life is the following note from Mr. Wilberforce, to 
 whom he had neglected to deliver his letters of introduction, 
 notwithstanding his father's urgency that he should make the 
 acquaintance of that remarkable man : 
 
 "Kensington Gore, January 4, 1813. 
 
 " Sir : I cannot help entertaining some apprehension of my not 
 having received some letter or some card, which you may have done 
 me the favor of leaving at my house. Be this, however, as it may, 
 I gladly avail myself of the sanction of a letter from your father, 
 for introducing myself to you ; and as many calls are mere matters 
 of form, instead of knocking at your door, I take the liberty of beg- 
 ging the favor of your company at dinner on Wednesday next, at a 
 quarter before five o'clock, at Kensington Gore (one mile from 
 Hyde Park corner), and of thereby securing the pleasure of an ac- 
 quaintance with you. The high respect which I have long enter- 
 tained for your father, in addition to the many obliging marks of 
 attention which I have received from him, render me desirous of 
 becoming personally known to you, and enable me with truth to 
 assure you I am, with good-will, sir, 
 
 " Your faithful servant, 
 
 "W. Wilberforce. 
 
 " Morse, Esq." 
 
 This was the beginning of an acquaintance which proved to 
 be of great value to the young artist ; the recollections of it and 
 of the men with whom it brought him into contact being among 
 the pleasantest of his life. 
 
 Professor Morse was very fond of repeating to his friends 
 his pleasant recollections of intercourse with Benjamin West, 
 Allston, Coleridge, Rogers, and other celebrated men of the 
 
WEST'S PATRIOTISM. 51 
 
 day. Some of these reminiscences were preserved by Mr. James 
 Wynne: 
 
 West averred that the Revolutionary war was carried on and 
 troops sent in direct opposition to the judgment and wishes of the 
 king, who only yielded to the strong representations of his minis- 
 try, that he had no right to dismember so large and important a 
 part of the British Empire. As an evidence of this, he cited the 
 case of Lord Mansfield, who, on the occasion of a question as to the 
 propriety of sending more troops to America, in the House of 
 Peers, remarked that " it was now time for the government to throw 
 oif the mask." The king, who could be aroused on certain occa- 
 sions, became exceedingly angry with Lord Mansfield for the man- 
 ner in which he had procured his sanction to send troops, and di- 
 rected him never to see his face again — an order which was never 
 relaxed. 
 
 It may be that West's partiality for the king induced him to 
 overlook his own part in the American war, and disposed him to 
 place on the shoulders of others the blame which should in part, at 
 least, have been borne by him. Be this as it may, the friendship 
 subsisting between them continued unabated, although occasions 
 were not wanting in which those who were jealous of the influence 
 of an American over the mind of their king strove to alienate their 
 friendship. West was fully aware of this, and, while he seldom paid 
 attention to these attempts, could not fail occasionally to be annoy- 
 ed at them. As an illustration of this feeling he narrated to Morse 
 the following: 
 
 " ' While,' remarked West, ' the king was on a visit to me, news 
 was brought of an important victory of his troops over the rebels. 
 Not finding him at the palace, the messenger immediately traced 
 him to my studio, and communicated the intelligence. After this 
 was accomplished, turning to me, the messenger said : 
 
 " ' And are you not gratified at the success of his majesty's 
 troops ? ' 
 
 " ' No,' I replied ; ' I can never rejoice in the misfortunes of my 
 countrymen.' 
 
 " ' Right,' replied the king, rising and placing his hand approv- 
 ingly on my shoulder. ' If you did, you would not long be a fit sub- 
 ject for any government.' " 
 
 Among the members of the Royal Academy with whom Morse 
 was in the habit of frequent association, was Fuseli, whose erratic 
 
52 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 genius is perpetuated in the remarkable productions of his pencil, 
 which at that time had great currency. Fuseli, who was a pro- 
 found thinker and an agreeable companion, was on one occasion de- 
 bating the question of the immortality of the soul with a disbe- 
 liever. 
 
 " I do not know that your soul is immortal," said Fuseli to his 
 companion — " perhaps it is not ; but I know that mine is." 
 
 " Why so ? " demanded his companion, greatly astonished at 
 the comparison. 
 
 " Because," said Fuseli, " I can conceive more in one, minute 
 than I can execute in a lifetime." 
 
 No stronger illustration than this can be given of the soul's im- 
 mortality. 
 
 Another of these was Northcote, who did not affect to conceal 
 his jealousy of other artists. On one occasion Coleridge attempted 
 to take him to task for this unfortunate trait in his character. 
 " Nonsense ! " replied Northcote. " You possess, all men of genius 
 possess, the same quality. As a test, are you willing to admit that 
 South ey is as great a poet as yourself?" 
 
 " To be sure I am," replied Coleridge. 
 
 " Will you confess," continued Northcote, " that if you saw 
 Southey standing under that beam " — pointing to the one above his 
 head — " you would not secretly wish it to fall on and crush him ? " 
 
 It must be admitted that Northcote's envy was inveterate and 
 incurable. 
 
 Coleridge, who was a visitor at the rooms of Leslie and Morse, 
 frequently made his appearance under the influence of those fits of 
 despondency to which he was subject. On these occasions, by a 
 preconcerted plan, they often drew him from this state of despon- 
 dency to one of brilliant imagination. " I was just wishing to see 
 you," said Morse, on one of these occasions, when he entered with 
 a hesitating step, and replied to their frank salutations with a 
 gloomy aspect and deep-drawn sighs. " Leslie and myself have 
 had a dispute about certain lines of beauty ; which is right ? " 
 And then each argued with the other for a few moments, until Cole- 
 ridge became interested, and, rousing from his fit of despondency, 
 spoke with an eloquence and depth of metaphysical reasoning on 
 the subject far beyond the comprehension of his auditors. Their 
 point, however, was gained, and Coleridge was again the eloquent, 
 the profound, the gifted being which his remarkable productions 
 show him to be. 
 
COLERIDGE AND ALLSTON. . 53 
 
 " On one occasion," says Morse, " I heard him improvise, for 
 half an hour, in blank verse, what he stated to be a strange dream, 
 which was full of those wonderful creations that glitter like dia- 
 monds in his poetical productions." 
 
 " All of which," remarked I, " is undoubtedly lost to the world." 
 " Not all," replied Mr. Morse, " for I recognize in the ' Ancient 
 Mariner ' some of the thoughts of that evening ; but doubtless the 
 greater part, which would have made the reputation of any other 
 man, perished with the moment of inspiration, never again to be 
 recalled." 
 
 When his tragedy of " Remorse," which had a run of twenty-one 
 nights, was first brought out, Washington Allston, Charles King, 
 Leslie, Lamb, Morse, and Coleridge, went together to witness its 
 performance. They occupied a box near the stage, and each of the 
 party was as much interested in its success as Coleridge himself. 
 
 The effect of the frequent applauses upon Coleridge was very 
 manifest; but when, at the end of the piece, he was called for by 
 the audience, the intensity of his emotions was such as none but 
 one gifted with the fine sensibilities of a poet could experience. 
 Fortunately, the audience was satisfied with a mere presentation of 
 himself. His emotions would have precluded the idea of his speak- 
 ing on such an occasion. 
 
 Allston, soon after this, became so much out of health that he 
 thought a change of air, and a short residence in the country, 
 might relieve him. He accordingly set out on this journey, accom- 
 panied by Leslie and Morse. When he reached Salt Hill, near Ox- 
 ford, he became so ill as to be unable to proceed, and requested 
 Morse to return to town for his medical attendant, Dr. Tuthill, and 
 Coleridge, to whom he was ardently attached. Morse accordingly 
 returned, and, procuring a post-chaise, immediately set out for Salt 
 Hill, a distance of twenty-two miles, accompanied by Coleridge and 
 Dr. Tuthill. They arrived late in the evening, and were busied 
 with Allston until midnight, when he became easier, and Morse and 
 Coleridge left him for the night. Upon repairing to the sitting- 
 room of the hotel, Morse opened Knickerbocker's " History of New 
 York," which he had thrown into the carriage before leaving town. 
 Coleridge asked him what work he had. 
 
 " Oh," replied he, " it is only an American book ! " 
 
 " Let me see it," said Coleridge. He accordingly handed it to 
 him, and he was soon buried in its pages. Mr. Morse, overcome by 
 the fatigues of the day, soon after retired to his chamber and fell 
 
54 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 asleep. On awakening the next morning, he repaired to the sit- 
 ting-room, when what his astonishment to find it still closed, with 
 the lights burning, and Coleridge busy with the book he had lent 
 him the previous night ! 
 
 " Why, Coleridge," said he, approaching him, " have you been 
 reading the whole night ? " 
 
 " Why," remarked Coleridge, abstractedly, " it is not late." 
 
 He replied by throwing open the blinds and permitting the 
 broad daylight, for it was now ten o'clock, to stream in upon them. 
 
 " Indeed," said Coleridge, " I had no conception of this ; but 
 the work has pleased me exceedingly. It is admirably written ; 
 pray, who is its author ? " 
 
 He was informed that it was the production of Washington Ir- 
 ving. It is needless to say that, during the long residence of 
 Irving in London, they became warm friends. 
 
 Among the literary acquaintances formed by Morse in London 
 at this period was Rogers, the poet, whose breakfasts attained 
 so wide a celebrity. At one of these, at which Leslie and Morse 
 were the only guests, Rogers waggishly remarked to Morse that 
 his friend Leslie was a very clever artist, but that it was a great 
 pity that he did not throw more grace and beauty into his female 
 figures. 
 
 Now, if Leslie prided himself upon any thing, it was precisely 
 upon the grace and symmetry of his female figures, in which he 
 particularly excelled, and so Morse informed him. 
 
 "You think so," said Rogers, quietly indulging in a pleasant 
 laugh at his own waggery, and changed the conversation, without 
 explanation, to another subject. 
 
 It is well known that Rogers's house was literally made up of 
 choice gems, and among these was a sketch of the "Miracle of the 
 Slain " by Tintoretto, which Rogers informed Morse was executed 
 by that great artist preparatory to the execution of the painting it- 
 self. 
 
 Morse asked Rogers where the original now was, as he had an 
 order to paint a copy of it, and supposed, as it had been captured 
 by Napoleon I., it was in Paris. Rogers informed him that it had 
 been returned to Venice, where Morse afterward found it in the 
 Academy of Fine Arts, immediately opposite Titian's "Assump- 
 tion of the Virgin." The copy he then made, and which upon the 
 death of its owner fell again into his hands, was among his own 
 pictures as long as he lived. Fuseli, who at the time of Mr. 
 
DR. ABERNETHT. 55 
 
 Morse's residence in London was at the zenith of his fame, consid- 
 ered the original the finest picture in the world. 
 
 At this period Abernethy was in the full tide of his popularity 
 as a surgeon, and Allston, who had for some little time had a grum- 
 bling pain in his thigh, proposed to Morse to accompany him to the 
 house of the distinguished surgeon to consult him on the cause of 
 the ailment. As Allston had his hand on the bell-pull, the door was 
 opened and a visitor passed out, immediately followed by a coarse- 
 looking person with a large, shaggy head of hair, whom Allston at 
 once took for a domestic. He accordingly inquired if Mr. Aber- 
 nethy was in. 
 
 " What do you want of Mr. Abernethy ? " demanded this un- 
 couth-looking person, with the harshest possible Scotch accent. 
 
 "I wished to see him," gently replied Allston, somewhat 
 shocked by the coarseness of his reception ; " Is he at home ? " 
 
 " Come in, come in, mon," said the same uncouth personage. 
 
 " But he may be engaged," responded Allston ; " perhaps I had 
 better call another time." 
 
 " Come in, mon, I say," replied the person addressed, and partly 
 by persuasion and partly by force, Allston, followed by Morse, was 
 induced to enter the hall, which they had no sooner done than the 
 person who admitted them closed the street-door, and, placing his 
 back against it, said, " Now tell me what is your business with Mr. 
 Abernethy. I am Mr. Abernethy." 
 
 " I have come to consult you," replied Allston, " about an affec- 
 tion—" 
 
 " What the de'il hae I to do with your affections ? " bluntly in- 
 terposed Abernethy. 
 
 " Perhaps, Mr. Abernethy," said Allston, by this time so com- 
 pletely overcome by the apparent rudeness of the eminent surgeon 
 as to regret calling on him at all, " you are engaged at present, and 
 I had better call again." 
 
 " De'il the bit, de'il the bit, mon," said Abernethy. " Come in, 
 come in," and he preceded them to his office, and examined his 
 case, which proved to be a slight one, with such gentleness as al- 
 most to lead them to doubt whether Abernethy within his consult- 
 ing-room, and Abernethy whom they had encountered in the pas- 
 sage, was really the same personage. 
 
 The first portrait Mr. Morse painted in London was that of 
 his friend Leslie, and Leslie at the same time made a portrait of 
 
56 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Morse. His mother received a letter in the spring of 1812, 
 from a lady in Philadelphia, in which these portraits are alluded 
 to: 
 
 " I have this moment received a letter from Miss Vaughan in 
 London, dated February 20th, and knowing the passage below would 
 be interesting to you, I transcribe it with pleasure, and add my 
 very sincere wish that all your hopes may be realized : 
 
 " ' Dr. Morse's son is considered a young man of very promising 
 talents by Mr. Allston and Mr. West, and by those who have seen 
 his paintings. We have seen him, and think his modesty and ap- 
 parent amiableness promise as much happiness to his friends as his 
 talents may procure distinction for himself. He is peculiarly fortu- 
 nate, not only in having Mr. Allston for his adviser and friend, but 
 in his companion in painting, Mr. Leslie, a young man from Phila- 
 delphia, highly recommended, and whose extreme diffidence adds 
 to the most promising talents, the patient industry, and desire of 
 improvement, which are necessary to bring them to perfection. 
 They have been drawing each other's pictures. Mr. Leslie is in the 
 Spanish costume, and Mr. Morse in a Highland dress. They are in 
 a very unfinished state, but striking likenesses.' This Highland 
 lad, I hope, my dear friend, you will see, and in due time be again 
 blessed with the original." 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse to his Parents. 
 
 " London, March 24, 1813. 
 " With regard to my expenses, I got through the first year with 
 two hundred pounds, and hope the same sum will carry me through 
 the second. If you knew the manner in which we live, you would 
 wonder how it was possible I could have made so great a change 
 in my habits. I am obliged to screw and pinch myself in a thousand 
 things in which I used to indulge myself at home. I am treated 
 with no dainties, no fruit, no nice dinners (except once in an age, 
 when invited to a party at an American table), no fine tea-parties, 
 as at home. All is changed ; I breakfast on simple bread-and-butter 
 and two cups of coffee ; I dine on either beef, mutton, or pork (veal 
 being out of the question, as it is one shilling and sixpence per 
 pound), baked with potatoes, warm perhaps twice a week, all the 
 rest of the week cold. My drink is water, porter being too expen- 
 sive. At tea, bread-and-butter, with two cups of tea. This is my 
 daily round. I have had no new clothes for nearly a year ; my best 
 are threadbare, and my shoes out at the toes, my stockings all 
 
THE USE OF MONEY. 
 
 57 
 
 want to see my mother, and my hat is growing hoary with age. 
 This is my picture in London, do you think you would know it ? 
 ' But,' you will say, ' what do you do with the money if you live thus 
 sparingly ? ' Why, I will tell you the whole. When I first came to 
 London, I was told, if I meant to support the character of a gentle- 
 man, I must take especial care of my personal appearance ; so I 
 thought it a matter of course that I must spare no expense in order 
 to appear well. So, this being first in my mind, I (supposing 
 very wisely that London folks had nothing else to do but to see 
 how I was dressed) laid out a considerable part of my money on 
 myself; meanwhile, picture-galleries and collections, with many 
 other places which I ought constantly to have visited, and which 
 cost some money, were neglected ; and why ? because I could not 
 afford it ! Well, in process of time, I found no very particular 
 advantage to be gained by supporting the character of a gentleman, 
 for these reasons : in the first place, nobody saw me y in the second 
 place, if they had seen me, they would not have hnown me/ and, 
 thirdly, if they had known me, they would not have cared a farthing 
 about me. So I thought within myself what I came to England for, 
 and I found that it was not to please English folks, but to study 
 painting ; and, as I found I must sacrifice painting to dress and 
 visiting, or dress and visiting to painting, I determined on the latter, 
 and ever since have lived accordingly, and now the tables are turned : 
 I visit galleries and collections, purchase prints, etc., and, when I 
 am asked why I don't pay more attention to my dress, I reply that 
 I cannot afford it. Provision of every kind is excessively high here, 
 and is increasingly so. A pair of fowls, such as we could get in 
 America for about three shillings per pair, are eighteen shillings 
 sterling ; a turkey, from ten shillings sixpence to a guinea ; beef 
 is thirteen pence per pound ; pork, fourteen pence ; mutton, one shil- 
 ling ; and veal, as I said before, one shilling and sixpence ; bread is 
 one shilling and eightpence the quartern loaf, half of one of which 
 we eat in a day. Every thing seems to be in proportion : shoes are 
 from fifteen shillings to a guinea per pair, boots three pounds, and 
 so on. By this you can form a slight estimate how much it costs to 
 live in this country. It is known by the experience of two or three 
 Americans, whom I know, that a pound goes no farther in England 
 than a dollar in America. My greatest expense, next to living, is 
 for canvas, frames, colors, etc., and visiting galleries. The frame 
 of my large picture which I have just finished cost nearly twenty 
 pounds, besides the canvas and colors, which cost nearly eight 
 
58 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 pounds more, and the frame was the cheapest I could possibly get. 
 Mr. Allston's frame cost him sixty guineas. Frames are very expen- 
 sive things, and on that account I shall not attempt another large 
 picture foV some time, although Mr. West advises me to paint large 
 as much as possible. The picture which I have finished is ' The 
 Death of Hercules ; ' the size is eight feet by six feet and six inches. 
 This picture I showed to Mr. West a few weeks ago, and he was 
 extremely pleased with it, and paid me many very high compliments ; 
 but, as praise comes better from another than from one's self, I shall 
 send you a complimentary note which Mr. West has promised to 
 send me on the occasion. I sent the picture to the Exhibition at , 
 Somerset Souse, which opens on the 3d of May, and have the sat- 
 isfaction, not only of having it received, but of having the praises 
 of the council who decide on the admission of pictures. Six hun- 
 dred pictures were refused admission this year, so you may suppose 
 that a picture (of the size, too, of which mine was) must possess 
 some merit to be received in preference to six hundred ! A small 
 picture may be received, even if it is not very good, because it will 
 serve to fill up some little space which would otherwise be empty, 
 but a large picture, from its excluding many small ones, must pos- 
 sess a great deal in its favor in order to be received. 
 
 " If you recollect, I told you I had completed a model of a single 
 figure of the same subject ; this I sent to the Society of Arts at the 
 Adelphi, to stand for the prize (which is offered every year for the 
 best performance in painting, sculpture, and architecture), and is 
 a gold medal ; yesterday I received the note accompanying this, 
 by which you will see that it is adjudged to me in sculpture this 
 year ; it will be delivered to me in public on the 13th of May or 
 June, I don't know which, but I shall give you a particular account 
 of the whole process as soon as I have received it. By knowing 
 these facts, you will perceive that I have not been idle since my 
 residence here. I wish I could send you some specimen of my 
 painting, but captains and passengers absolutely refuse carrying 
 any thing larger than a small package of letters ; and indeed, if 
 there were opportunities, I could at present send nothing very in- 
 teresting to you, my works consisting merely of drawings of 
 heads, hands, and feet, and now and then a portrait for improve- 
 ment. I shall soon commence some of papa's friends ; Dr. Lettsom 
 I shall ask first, Mr. Wilberforce I shall also ask, but do not know 
 whether he will have time to sit to me. Sir Joshua Banks is now 
 very ill indeed, and I doubt whether he will recover, and, even if he 
 
EULOGY OF ALLSTON. 59 
 
 does, there is so much ceremony necessary, and it is considered so 
 great a favor for a man of his rank to sit to an obscure artist, that I 
 doubt very much whether I should be able to obtain his consent ; 
 he might consent, however, if I mentioned that it was my father's 
 request ; and, if he recovers, I shall at least ask him. 
 
 " I cannot close this letter without telling you how much I am 
 indebted to that excellent man Mr. Allston ; he is extremely partial 
 to me, and has often told me that he is proud of calling me his 
 pupil ; he visits me every evening, and our conversation is gener- 
 ally upon the inexhaustible topic of our divine art, and upon home, 
 which is next in our thoughts. I know not in what terms to speak 
 of Mr Allston. I can truly say I do not know the slightest imper- 
 fection in him ; he is amiable, affectionate, learned, possessed of the 
 greatest powers of mind and genius, modest, unassuming, and, 
 above all, a religious man. You may perhaps suppose that my par- 
 tiality for him blinds me to his faults, but no man could conceal, 
 on so long an acquaintance, every little foible from one constantly 
 in his company ; and, during the whole of my acquaintance with 
 Mr. Allston, I never heard him speak a peevish word, or utter a 
 single inconsiderate sentence ; he is a man in praise of whom I can- 
 not speak sufficiently, and my love for him I can only compare to 
 that love which ought to subsist between brothers. He is a man 
 for whose genius I have the highest veneration, for whose princi- 
 ples I have the greatest respect, and for whose amiable qualities I 
 have an increasing love. I could write a quire of paper in his 
 praise, but all I could say of him would give you but a very imper- 
 fect- idea of him. To learn all his excellences, you must be ac- 
 quainted with him. Do not think this mere fulsome compliment ; 
 what I write I write sincerely ; you know I am not in the habit of 
 writing what I don't think. You must recollect, when you tell 
 friends that I am studying in England, that I am a pupil of Mr. 
 Allston, and not Mr. West ; they will not long ask who Mr. All- 
 ston is ; he will very soon astonish the world. He claims me as his 
 pupil, and told me a day or two since, in a jocose manner, that he 
 should have a battle with Mr. West unless he gave up all preten- 
 sion to me. It is said, by the greatest connoisseurs in England, 
 who have seen some of Mr. Allston's works, that he is destined to 
 revive the art of painting in all its splendor, and that no age ever 
 boasted of so great a genius. It might be deemed invidious (and 
 therefore I should not wish it mentioned as coming -from me), were 
 I to make public another opinion of the first men in this country : 
 
60 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 it is, that Mr. Allston will almost as far surpass Mr. West as Mr. 
 West has other artists, and this is saying a great deal, considering 
 the very high standing which Mr. West holds at present." 
 
 Samuel F. JB. Morse to his Parents. 
 
 "Londox, May 2, 1814. 
 " You will probably, before this reaches you, hear of the splen- 
 did entree of Louis XVIII. into London. I was a spectator of this 
 scene. On the morning of the day, about ten o'clock, I went into 
 Piccadilly, through which the procession was to pass ; I did not find 
 any great concourse of people at that hour, except before the Poult- 
 ney Hotel, where the sister of the Emperor Alexander resides, on a 
 visit to this country, the Grand-duchess of Oldenburg. I thought 
 it probable that, as the procession would pass this place, there 
 would be some uncommon occurrence taking place before it, so 
 I took my situation directly opposite, determined at any rate to se- 
 cure a good view of what happened. I waited four or five hours, 
 during which time the people began to collect from all quarters ; 
 the carriages began to thicken, the windows and fronts of the 
 houses began to be decorated with the white flag, white ribbons, and 
 laurel. Temporary seats were fitted up on all sides, which began to 
 be filled, and all seemed to be in preparation. About this time the 
 king's splendid band of music made its appearance, consisting, I 
 suppose, of more than fifty musicians, and to my great gratification 
 placed themselves directly before the hotel ; they began to play, and 
 soon after the grand-duchess, attended by several Russian noble- 
 men, made her appearance on the balcony, followed by the Queen 
 of England, the Princess Charlotte of Wales, the Princess Mary, 
 Princess Elizabeth, and all the female part of the royal family. 
 From this fortunate circumstance, you will see that I had an excel- 
 lent opportunity of observing their persons and countenances. The 
 Duchess of Oldenburg is a common-sized woman, of about four or 
 five-and-twenty ; she has rather a pleasant countenance, blue eyes, 
 pale complexion, regular features, her cheek-bones high but not dis- 
 agreeably so. She resembles very much her brother the emperor, 
 judging from his portrait. She has with her her little nephew, Prince 
 Alexander, a boy of about three or four years old. He was a lively 
 little fellow, playing about, and was the principal object of the at- 
 tention of the royal family. The queen, if I was truly directed 
 to her, is an old woman of very sallow complexion, and nothing 
 agreeable either in her countenance or deportment ; and, if she was 
 
THE KING OF FRANCE. 61 
 
 not called a queen, she might as well be any ugly old woman. The 
 Princess Charlotte of Wales I thought pretty ; she has small features, 
 regular, pale complexion, great amiability of expression, and con- 
 descension of manners ; the Princess Elizabeth is extremely corpulent, 
 and from what I could see of her face was agreeable, though nothing 
 remarkable. One of the others, I think it was the Princess Mary, 
 appeared to have considerable vivacity in her manners ; she was 
 without any covering to her head ; her hair was sandy, which she 
 wore cropped ; her complexion was probably fair originally, but was 
 rather red now ; her features were agreeable. 
 
 " It now began to grow late, the people were beginning to be 
 tired, wanting their dinners, and the crowd to thicken, when a uni- 
 versal commotion, and murmur through the crowd and from the 
 house-tops, indicated that the procession was at hand. This was fol- 
 lowed by the thunder of artillery, and the huzzas of the people tow- 
 ard the head of the street, where the houses seemed to be alive with 
 the twirling of hats and shaking of handkerchiefs. This seemed to 
 mark the progress of the king ; for, as he came opposite each house, 
 these actions became most violent, with cries of ' Vivent les Bour- 
 bons ! ' ' Vive le roi ! ' * Vive Louis ! ' etc. I now grew several 
 inches taller ; I stretched my neck, and opened my eyes. One car- 
 riage appeared, drawn by six horses, decorated with ribbons, and 
 containing some of the French noblesse ; another, of the same de- 
 scription, with some of the French royal family. At length came a 
 carriage drawn by eight beautiful Arabian cream-colored horses; 
 in this were seated Louis XVIII., King of France, the Prince Regent 
 of England, the Duchess d'Angouleme, daughter of Louis XVI., 
 and the Prince of Conde. They passed rather quickly, so that I had 
 but a glance at them, though a distinct one. The prince regent 
 I had often seen before ; the King of France I had a better sight of 
 afterward, as I will presently relate. The Duchess d'Angouleme 
 had a fine expression of countenance, owing probably to the occa- 
 sion, but a melancholy cast was also visible through it ; she was 
 pale. The Prince of Conde I have no recollection of. After this 
 part of the procession had passed, the crowd became exceedingly 
 oppressive, rushing down the street to keep pace with the king's 
 carriage. As the king passed the royal family, he bowed, which 
 they returned by kissing their hands to him and shaking their 
 handkerchiefs with great enthusiasm. After they had gone by, 
 the royal family left the balcony, where they had been between 
 two and three hours. My only object now was to get clear of the 
 
63 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 crowd. I waited nearly three-quarters of an hour, and at length, 
 by main strength, worked myself edgewise across the street, where 
 I pushed down through stables and houses, and by-lanes, to get 
 thoroughly clear, not caring where I went, as I knew I could easily 
 find my way when I got into a street. This I at last gained, and, 
 to my no small astonishment, found myself by mere chance directly 
 opposite the hotel where Louis and his suite were. The prince 
 regent had just left the place ; and with his carriage went a great 
 part of the mob, which left the space before the house comparatively 
 clear. It soon filled again. I took advantage, however, and 
 got directly before the windows of the hotel, as I expected the 
 king would show himself, for the people were calling for him very 
 clamorously. I was not disappointed ; for, in less than half a min- 
 ute, he came to the window, which was open, before which I was. 
 I was so near him I could have touched him ; he staid nearly ten 
 minutes, during which time I observed him carefully. He is very 
 corpulent — a round face, dark eyes, prominent features ; the char- 
 acter of countenance much like portraits of the other Louises ; 
 a pleasant face, but, above all, such an expression of the moment 
 as I shall never forget, and in vain attempt to describe. His eyes 
 were suffused with tears, his mouth slightly open, with an unaffected 
 smile full of gratitude, and seemed to say to every one, ' Bless you ! ' 
 His hands were a little extended sometimes, as if in adoration to 
 heaven, at others as if blessing the people. I entered into his 
 feelings. I saw a monarch, who for five-and-twenty years had been 
 an exile from his country, deprived of his throne ; and, until within 
 a few months, not the shadow of a hope remaining of ever returning 
 to it again. I saw him raised as if by magic from a private station 
 in an instant to his throne, to reign over a nation which has made 
 itself the most conspicuous of any nation on the globe. I tried 
 to think as he did, and, in the heat of my enthusiasm, I joined with 
 heart and soul in the cries of ' Vive le roi ! ' ' Vive Louis ! ' which 
 rent the air from the mouths of thousands. As soon as he left 
 the window, I returned home much fatigued, but well satisfied 
 that my labor had not been for naught. 
 
 " Mr. Wilberforce is an excellent man ; his whole soul is bent 
 on doino- good to his fellow-men. Not a moment of his time is lost. 
 He is always planning some benevolent scheme or other ; and not 
 only planning but executing. He is made up altogether of affection- 
 ate feeling. What I saw of him in private gave me the most ex- 
 alted opinion of him as a Christian. Oh, that such men as Mr. Wil- 
 
THE WAR SPIRIT. 63 
 
 berforce were more common in this world. So much human blood 
 would not then be shed to gratify the malice and revenge of a few 
 wicked, interested men. 
 
 " I hope Cousin Samuel Breese will distinguish himself under so 
 gallant a commander as Captain Perry. I shall look with anxiety 
 for the sailing of the Guerriere ; there will be plenty of opportu- 
 nities for him, for peace with us is deprecated by the people here, 
 and it only remains for us to fight it out gallantly, as we are able to 
 do, or submit slavishly to any terms which they please to offer us ; 
 a number of humane schemes are under contemplation, such as burn- 
 ing New London, for the sake of the frigates there, arming the 
 blacks in the Southern States, burning all of our principal cities, 
 and such like plans ; which, from the supineness of the New-Eng- 
 land people, may be easily carried into effect. But no, the humane, 
 generous English cannot do such base things — I hope not ; let the 
 event show it. It is, perhaps, well I am here, for, with my present 
 opinions, if I were at home, I should most certainly be in the army 
 or navy : my mite is small, but when my country's honor demands 
 it, it might help to sustain it. There can now be no French party. 
 I wish to know very much what effect this series of good news 
 will have at home. I congratulate you as well as all other good 
 people on the providential events which have lately happened ; they 
 must produce great changes with us ; I hope it will be for the best. 
 
 " I am in excellent health, and am painting away ; I am making 
 studies for the large picture I contemplate for next year. It will 
 be as large, I think, as Mr. Allston's famous one, which was ten feet 
 by fourteen." 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse to a Friend. 
 
 "London, May 30, 1813. 
 " You ask in your letter what books I read, and what I am 
 painting. The little time that I can spare from painting, I employ 
 in reading and studying the old poets — Spenser, Chaucer, Dante, 
 Tasso, etc., etc. ; these are necessary to a painter. As to painting, I 
 have just finished a large picture, eight feet by six and a half, the 
 ' Death of Hercules,' which is now in the Royal Academy exhibi- 
 tion at Somerset House. I have been flattered by the newspapers, 
 which seldom praise young artists, and they do me the honor to 
 say that my picture, with the pictures of another young man by the 
 name of Monroe, form a distinguished trait in this year's exhibition ; 
 and, in enumerating about fifty of the preeminent works of the ex- 
 
64 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 hibition, they have placed mine in the list. There were exhibited 
 this year nearly one thousand pictures ; and about two thousand 
 were offered, but the rest were rejected. This praise I consider 
 much exaggerated. Mr. West, however, who saw it as soon as I 
 had finished it, paid me many compliments, and told me that, were 
 I to live to his age, I should never make a better composition — this 
 I consider but a compliment, and as meant only to encourage me ; 
 as such I receive it. A few days since I had the honor of receiving 
 the prize gold medal offered for the best piece of sculpture at the 
 Adelphi Society of Arts this year, which was presented me by the 
 Duke of Norfolk. I mention these circumstances merely to show 
 that I am getting along as well as can be expected, and, if any 
 credit attaches to me, I willingly resign it to my country, and feel 
 happy that I can contribute a mite to her honor." 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse to Ms Parents. 
 
 "London, June 13, 1813. 
 " I send by this opportunity (Mr. Elisha Goddard) the little 
 cast of the ' Hercules ' which obtained the prize this year at the Adel- 
 phi, and also the gold medal which was the premium presented to 
 me before a large assembly of the nobility and gentry of the coun- 
 try, by the Duke of Norfolk, who also paid me a handsome compli- 
 ment at the same time. There were present Lord Percy, the Mar- 
 gravine of Anspach, the Turkish, Sardinian, and Russian ambassa- 
 dors, who were pointed out to me, and many noblemen whom I do 
 not now recollect. My large picture also has not only been received 
 at the Royal Academy, but has one of the finest places in the 
 rooms. It has been spoken of in the papers." They not only praise 
 me, but place my picture among the most attractive in the exhi- 
 bition. This I know will give you pleasure, and I write it with 
 great pleasure. I also send a catalogue of "the exhibition, with one 
 of the papers which criticises my picture, that you may see for your- 
 selves." 
 
 The early triumphs of men are more highly valued than suc- 
 cesses in after-life. Among the papers that Mr. Morse preserved 
 to the day of his death is a copy of the British Press, May 4, 
 1813, in which his picture " The Dying Hercules " is placed 
 among the nine best paintings in a gallery of nearly one thou- 
 sand, and among them the works of Turner, Northcote, Law- 
 rence, and Wilkie. 
 
TWENTY PRINCES IN LONDON. 65 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse to his Parents. 
 
 " London, June 15, 1814. 
 " I expected at this time to have been in Bristol, with Mr. and 
 Mrs. Allston, who are now there, but the great fetes in honor of the 
 peace, and the visit of the allied sovereigns, have kept me in Lon- 
 don till all is over. There are now in London upward of twenty- 
 foreign princes, also the great Emperor Alexander, and the King of 
 Prussia. A week ago yesterday they arrived in town, and, contrary 
 to expectation, came in a very private manner. I went to see their 
 entree, but was disappointed, with the rest of the people, for the Em- 
 peror Alexander, disliking all show and parade, came ■ in a private 
 carriage, and took an indirect route here. The next and following 
 day I spent in endeavoring to get a sight of them. I have been 
 very fortunate, having seen the Emperor Alexander no less than 
 fourteen times, so that I am quite familiar with his face ; the King 
 of Prussia I have seen once ; Marshal Blucher five or six times ; 
 Count Platoff three or four times ; besides Generals de Yorck, 
 Bulow, etc. — all whose names must be perfectly familiar to you, 
 and the distinguished parts they have all acted in the great scenes 
 just past. The Emperor Alexander I am quite in love with ; he has 
 every mark of a great mind. His countenance is an uncommonly 
 fine one ; he has a fair complexion, hair rather light, and a stout, 
 well-made figure ; he has a very cheerful, benevolent expression, 
 and his conduct has everywhere evinced that his face is the index 
 of his mind. When I first saw him he was dressed in a green uni- 
 form, with two epaulets and stars of different orders ; he was con- 
 versing at the window of his hotel with his sister, the Duchess of 
 Oldenburg ; I saw him again soon after, in the superb coach of the 
 prince regent, with the duchess his sister, going to the court of 
 the queen. In a few hours after I saw him again, on the balcony of 
 the Poultney Hotel ; he came forward and bowed to the people. He 
 was then dressed in a red uniform, with a broad blue sash over the 
 right shoulder ; he appeared to great advantage. He staid about 
 five minutes. I saw him again five or six times through the day, 
 but got only indifferent views of him. The following day, however, 
 I was determined to get a better and nearer view of him than be- 
 fore. I went down to his hotel about ten o'clock, the time when I 
 supposed he would leave it ; I saw one of the prince's carriages 
 drawn up, which opened at the top, and was thrown back before 
 and behind. In a few minutes the emperor with his sister made 
 their appearance and got into it. As the carriage started, I pressed 
 5 
 
66 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 forward and got hold of the ring of the coach-door and kept pace 
 with it for about a quarter of a mile. I was so near that I could 
 have touched him ; he was in a plain dress, a brown coat, and alto- 
 gether like any other gentleman. His sister, the duchess, also was 
 dressed in a very plain, unattractive manner, and, if it had not been 
 for the crowd which followed, they would have been taken for any 
 lady and gentleman taking an airing. In this unostentatious man- 
 ner does he conduct himself, despising all pomp, and seems rather 
 more intent upon inspecting the charitable, useful, and ornamental 
 establishments of the country, with a view, probably, of benefiting 
 his own dominions by his observations, than of displaying his rank 
 by the splendor of dress and equipage. His condescension also is 
 no less remarkable ; an instance or two will exemplify it : On the 
 morning after his arrival, he was up at six o'clock, and while the 
 lazy inhabitants of this great city were fast asleep in their beds, he 
 was walking with his sister the duchess in Kensington Gardens ; 
 as he came across Hyde Park, he observed a corporal drilling some 
 recruits, upon which he went tip to him and entered into familiar 
 conversation with him, asking him a variety of questions, and, when 
 he had seen the end of the exercise, shook him heartily by the hand 
 and left him. As he was riding on horseback, he shook hands with 
 all who came round him. 
 
 " A few days ago, as he was coming out of the gate of the London 
 Docks, on foot, after having inspected them, a great crowd was 
 waiting to see him, among whom was an old woman of about 
 seventy years of age, who seemed very anxious to get near him, 
 but, the crowd pressing very much, she exclaimed ' Oh, if I could 
 but touch his clothes ! ' The emperor overheard her, and, turn- 
 ing round, advanced to her, and, pulling off his glove, gave her his 
 hand, and, at the same time dropping a guinea into it, said to 
 her, ' Perhaps this will do as well.' The old woman was quite 
 ' overcome, and cried ' God bless your majesty ! ' till he was out of 
 sight. 
 
 " An old woman in her ninetieth year sent a couple of pair of 
 warm woolen stockings to the emperor, and with them a letter stat- 
 ing that she had knit them with her own hands expressly for him, 
 and, as she could not afford to send him silk, she thought that wool- 
 en would be much more acceptable, and would also be more useful 
 in his climate. The emperor was very much pleased, and determined 
 on giving her his miniature set in gold and diamonds, but, upon 
 learning that her situation in life was such that money would be 
 
THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER. 67 
 
 more acceptable, lie wrote her an answer, and, thanking her heartily 
 for her present, inclosed her one hundred pounds. 
 
 " These anecdotes speak more than volumes in praise of the 
 Emperor Alexander. He is truly a great man. He is a great con- 
 queror, for he has subdued the greatest country in the world, and 
 overthrown the most alarming despotism that ever threatened man- 
 kind. He is great also because he is good ; his whole time seems 
 spent in distributing good to all around him; and wherever he 
 goes he makes every heart rejoice. He is very active, and is all his 
 time on the alert in viewing every thing that is worth seeing. The 
 emperor is also extremely partial to the United States ; every thing 
 American pleases him, and he seems uncommonly interested in the 
 welfare of our country. I was introduced to-day to Mr. Harris, our 
 chargk d'affaires to the court of Russia. He is a very intelligent, 
 fine man, and is a great favorite with Alexander. From a conver- 
 sation with him, I have a scheme in view which, when I have ma- 
 tured, I will submit to you for your approbation. 
 
 " The King of Prussia I have seen but once, and then had but 
 an imperfect view of him. He came to the window with the prince 
 regent, and bowed to the people (at St. James's Palace). He is 
 tall and thin, has an agreeable countenance, but rather dejected in 
 consequence of the late loss of his queen, to whom he was very 
 much attached. 
 
 " General Blucher, now Prince Blucher, I have seen five or six 
 times. I saw him on his entrance into London, all covered with 
 dust, and in a very ordinary kind of vehicle. On the day after, I 
 saw him several times in his carriage, drawn about wherever he 
 wished by the mob. He is John's greatest favorite, and they 
 have almost pulled the brave general and his companion, Count 
 Platoff, to pieces, out of pure affection. Platoff had his coat act- 
 ually torn off him, and divided into a thousand pieces as relics, by 
 the goad people — their kindness knows no bounds ; and I think, in 
 all the battles which they have fought, they never have run so 
 much risk of losing their limbs as in encountering their friends in 
 England. Blucher is a veteran-looking soldier ; a very fine head, 
 monstrous mustaches. His head is bald, like papa's ; his hair gray, 
 and he wears powder. Understanding that he was to be at Covent 
 Garden Theatre, I went, as the best place to see him ; and I was 
 not disappointed. He was in the prince's box, and I had a good 
 view of him during the whole entertainment, being directly before 
 him for .three or four hours. A few nights since I also went to the 
 
68 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 theatre to see JPlatoff, the hetman {chief) , of the Cossacks. He 
 has also a very fine countenance, a high and broad forehead, dark 
 complexion, and dark hair. He is tall and well made, as I think 
 the Cossacks are generally ; he was very much applauded by a 
 very crowded house, the most part collected to see him." 
 
 A very noted youth fell into the hands of Morse while in 
 London, and is thus mentioned in a letter from a friend of his : 
 
 " Morse and I intend going to Hampton Court as soon as we 
 have sent our pictures to the exhibition, and, Allston having prom- 
 ised to accompany us, we shall have a very pleasant little jaunt. 
 
 " Zerah Colburn, the little calculator, has called on us two or 
 three times, as Morse is painting his portrait. He is a fine, lively 
 little fellow, and the most inquisitive child I ever saw. He has ex- 
 cited much astonishment here, and, as they are very unwilling just 
 at this time to allow any cleverness to the Americans, it was said in 
 some of the papers that he was a Russian. There was some great 
 arithmetical question, I do not exactly know what, which he solved 
 almost as soon as it was put to him, though it for several years 
 baffled the skill of some of the first professors. His father expects 
 soon to return to America, and says he has collected money suffi- 
 cient to educate his son there, and that he now has power to prove 
 to the world how much he has been injured by the accusations of 
 avarice and selfishness that have appeared against him in the pub- 
 lic prints." 
 
 The war between England and the United States (1S12-'14) 
 naturally imposed delicate and oftentimes responsible duties up- 
 on American residents in London. Their kind offices were con- 
 stantly sought by parties whose misfortunes had brought them 
 into trouble, or by those who did not wish to run the risk of 
 being detained in a hostile country. Of such applications as are 
 answered in this letter, Mr. Morse had many : 
 
 "London, March 15, 1814. 
 " My dear Friend : Your letter with Dr. Hayward's came to 
 hand, some time ago, at Bristol. The moment I came to London I 
 presented your letter to Mr. Cooper, and he very politely gave me 
 a note to the Alien Office, which I presented. I have called since 
 about a dozen times to inquire the result of Mr. Cooper's applica- 
 tion, and to-day received for answer that ' England would not he- 
 come the medium, of communication between France and the 
 
APPEAL TO MR. THORNTON. 69 ' 
 
 United States.'' Please inform Dr. pushing that, by the request of 
 Mr. Thornton, I made application to Mr. Cooper for him at the same 
 time, and Mr. Cooper's application was for both of you." 
 " Believe me sincerely yours, 
 
 "S. F. B. Morse." 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse to Henry Thornton. 
 
 "Bristol, December 30, 1813. 
 
 " Respected Sie : I take the liberty of addressing you in 
 behalf of an American prisoner of war now in the Stapleton 
 depot, and I address you, sir, under the conviction that a petition 
 in the cause of humanity will not be considered by you as obtrusive. 
 The prisoner I allude to is a gentleman of the name of Burritt, 
 a native of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut ; his connec- 
 tions are of the highest respectability in that city, which is noto- 
 rious for its adherence to Federal principles. His friends and rela- 
 tions are among my father's friends, and although I was not, until 
 now, personally acquainted with him, yet his face is familiar to me, 
 and many of his relatives were my particular friends while I was 
 receiving my education at Yale College, in New Haven. From 
 
 that college he graduated in the year . A classmate of his was 
 
 the Rev. Mr. Stuart, who is one of the professors of the Andover 
 Theological Institution, and of whom I think my father has spoken 
 in some of his letters to Mr. Wilberforce. Mr. Burritt, after he left 
 college, applied himself to study, so much so as to injure his health, 
 and, by the advice of his physicians, he took to the sea as the only 
 remedy left for him. This had the desired effect, and he was re- 
 stored to health in a considerable degree. Upon the breaking out 
 of the war with this country, all the American coasting-trade being 
 destroyed, he took a situation as second-mate in the schooner Re- 
 venge, bound to France, and was captured on the 10th of May, 
 1813. Since that time he has been a prisoner, and from the in- 
 closed certificates you will ascertain what has been his conduct 
 since. He is a man of excellent religious principles, and (I firmly be- 
 lieve) of the strictest integrity. So well assured am I of this, that, 
 in case it should be required, I will hold myself bound to answer for 
 him in my own person. His health is suffering by his confinement, 
 and the unprincipled society which he is obliged to endure is pecul- 
 iarly disagreeable to a man of his education. My object in stating 
 these particulars to you, sir, is (if possible and consistent with the 
 laws of the country), to obtain for him, through your influence, his 
 
70 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 liberty on his parole of honor. -. By so doing you will probably be 
 the means of preserving the life of a good man, and will lay his 
 friends, my father and myself, under the greatest obligations. 
 
 " Trusting to your goodness to pardon this intrusion upon your 
 time, I am, sir, with the highest consideration, your most obedient, 
 humble servant, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 Henry Thornton, Esq., to Samuel F. JB. Horse. 
 
 " Dear Sir : You will perceive by the inclosed that there is, 
 unhappily, no prospect of our effecting our wishes in respect to 
 your poor friend at Bristol. I shall be glad to know whether you 
 have had any success in obtaining a passport for Dr. Cushing. 
 
 " I am, dear sir, yours, etc., 
 
 " H. Thoriston. 
 
 "Batakin, February 11, 1814." 
 
 Lord Melville to Mr. Thornton. 
 
 "Admiralty, February 1, 1814. 
 
 " Sir : Mr. Hay having communicated to me a letter which he 
 received from you on the subject of Benjamin Burritt, an American 
 prisoner of war in. the depot at Stapleton, I regret much that, after 
 consulting on this case with Sir Rupert George, and ascertaining 
 the usual course of proceeding in similar instances, I cannot dis- 
 cover any circumstances that would justify a departure from the 
 rules observed toward other prisoners of the same description. 
 There can be no question that his case is a hard one ; but I am 
 afraid that it is inseparable from a state of war. It is not only not 
 a solitary instance among the French and American prisoners, but, 
 unless we were prepared to adopt the system of releasing all others 
 of the same description, we should find that the number who might 
 justly complain of undue partiality to this man would be very con- 
 siderable. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient and very hum- 
 ble servant, 
 
 "Melville." 
 
 8. E Tyler to Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 
 " Stapleton Depot, February 24, 1814. 
 " Mr. Samuel F. B. Morse— 
 
 " Dear Sir : Having some knowledge of your family and 
 friends in Boston and Charlestown, I have taken the liberty to 
 
DARTMOOR PRISON. yj 
 
 address this communication to you, hoping that my unhappy 
 situation will be a sufficient apology for the liberty I have taken. 
 I was captured in April, 1813, bound from Charleston, South 
 Carolina, to Bordeaux, and have been confined as a prisoner of 
 war ever since. During my confinement I have written several 
 times to my friends in Boston (of which place I am a native), but 
 as yet have been without advices from them, which I can attribute 
 to nothing but the obstacles in the communication between the 
 two nations. I was entirely ignorant of your having been at the 
 prison until to-day, when I received the information from Mr. 
 Burritt, and I regret exceedingly that it was not in my power to 
 have had an interview with you. I am a son of Mr. William Tyler, 
 who, before his decease, carried on the rope-making business in 
 West Boston, near the almshouse. I also have a brother-in-law, 
 Mr. John Andrews, who carries on the sail-making business at the 
 head of India Wharf, who is my guardian, and agent for me, as it 
 respects my father's estate. 
 
 " For reasons above stated I have been induced to make an ap- 
 plication to you for pecuniary assistance, which, if you should be 
 disposed to grant, I will give you an order on my brother for the 
 amount, or will request him to repay it immediately to your corre- 
 spondent either in Boston or Charlestown. LefVne assure you, sir, 
 that I would not make this application to you unless strongly 
 prompted by most poignant suffering. Should you comply with 
 my request, you will have the satisfaction of relieving an unfortu- 
 nate fellow-creature, and you will confer lasting obligations on me. 
 
 " If you would be good enough to inform me if there is any 
 prospect of peace, or the probability of the exchange of prisoners 
 being resumed, you will greatly oblige me. In the hope of shortly 
 hearing from you, 
 
 " I remain respectfully your obedient servant, 
 
 "Samuel E. Tyler." 
 
 Mr. Morse bad some warm friends and fellow-countrymen 
 residing at Bristol, and they encouraged him to believe that he 
 would find several willing to sit to him for their portraits if he 
 would visit that city. He did so, and found friends with whom 
 his time was pleasantly spent, but very little in the line of his 
 profession to reward him for leaving his studies and seeking 
 employment. A letter from Washington Allston, in London, 
 gives us insight into the life of artists : 
 
72 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Allston to Morse. 
 
 " London, January 2, 1814. 
 
 " My dear Sir : In the first place, I wish you and all of Mr. 
 Visscher's family a happy New- Year. Last week I wrote you a let- 
 ter that must have been vastly entertaining — as how f because it 
 was altogether about my own affairs. Now, for the sake of sym- 
 metry, I send you another of the same kind. 
 
 " Since my return I have had the courage to examine the state 
 of my finances at my banker's, and found the balance in my favor 
 to have been reduced to so small a sum as makes me think 'tis 
 time to look about me ; and to endeavor, as soon as possible, after 
 the proper ways and means for increasing it. On considering the 
 subject, I was naturally led to the landscape in Bristol, when it 
 occurred to me that perhaps the price I had fixed for it (viz., six 
 hundred guineas) might be too high for that market ; and that I 
 should stand a better chance of selling it by reducing it to five 
 hundred. I would thank you to consult with Mr. Visscher on this 
 point ; for I depend so much on his judgment, that I should not 
 hesitate a moment to put it at five hundred guineas, provided he 
 should think that a more salable price. Will you write me im- 
 mediately and let me know his opinion ? 
 
 " I gave the finishing touch to my picture yesterday, and shall 
 send it to the gallery to-morrow. Leslie's picture will do him great 
 honor ; he has improved it very much since his return. As to my 
 ' own beautiful self Mrs. A. says I am a picture of health. At 
 any rate I find my health every day improving, and promise myself 
 the pleasure of sending Mr. King a very favorable bulletin. Pray 
 be particular in letting us know how his two patients in Mr. Vis- 
 scher's family bear this cold fog. We have had it so thick and brown 
 here, that it might well have passed for Shakespeare's i blanket of 
 the dark ' that Macbeth speaks of. Mrs. A. unites with me in best 
 regards to our friends in Portland Square, and yourself. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 "W. Allston." 
 
 In the autumn of the same year, while Allston was at Bris- 
 tol with Morse, Leslie wrote : 
 
 Leslie to Morse. 
 
 " London, November 29, 1814. 
 
 " Most Potent, Grave, and Reverend Doctor : I take up 
 my pencil to make ten thousand apologies to you for addressing 
 
LETTER FROM LESLIE. 73 
 
 you in humble black-lead. Deeply impressed as I am with the full 
 conviction that you deserve the very best Japan ink, the only ex- 
 cuse I can make to you is the following : it is perhaps needless to 
 remind you that the tools to which ink is applied to paper, in order 
 to produce writing, are made from goose-quills, which quills I am 
 goose enough not to keep a supply of; and, not having so much 
 money at present in my breeches-pocket as will purchase one, I am 
 forced to betake to my pencil, an instrument which, without paying 
 myself any compliment, I am sure I can wield better than a pen. 
 I am glad to hear that you are so industrious, and that Mr. A. is 
 succeeding so well with portraits. I hope he will bring all he has 
 painted to London. I am looking out for you every day. I think 
 we form a kind of family here, and I feel, in an absence from Mr. 
 and Mrs. A. and yourself, as I used to do when away from my 
 mother and sisters. By-the-by, I have not had any letters from 
 home for more than a month. It seems the Americans are all 
 united, and we shall now have war in earnest. I am glad of it 
 for many reasons. I think it will not only get us a more speedy 
 and permanent peace, but may tend to crush the demon of party- 
 spirit and strengthen our government. 
 
 " I am done painting the gallery, and have finished my drawings 
 for the prize : thank you for your good wishes. 
 
 "I thought Mr. Allston knew how proud I am of being consid- 
 ered his student. Tell him, if he thinks it worth while to mention 
 me at all in his letter to Delaplaine, I shall consider it a great honor 
 to be called so. 
 
 " Yours most truly, 
 
 "C. B. L." 
 
 Leslie to Morse. 
 
 " Mr. Allston and I have sent our pictures to the gallery. He 
 has made good interest to get his large one placed at the end of 
 one of the rooms. As to mine, it is of small consequence where 
 they put it. Mr. Allston, after finishing his ' Diana,' showed it to 
 Mr. West, who was (to speak even moderately) in raptures with it. 
 He immediately called his son Raphael, ' There,' says the old gen- 
 tleman, ' there, why there is nobody who does any thing like this.* 
 Raphael exclaimed, ' It looks like a bit of Titian.' ' Oh yes,' an- 
 swered his father, ' that's Titian's flesh, that's Titian's flesh.' After 
 this shower of compliments, Mr. Allston said, ' I am very highly 
 gratified, sir, to find it meets your approbation." ' Sir,' said Mr. 
 
74 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 West, ' I cannot find words to express what I think of it.' He then 
 proceeded to point out the beauties of the parts, and praised the 
 composition, drawing, etc., as he had done the color. He seemed 
 particularly pleased with the landscape. He told Mr. Allston to 
 follow this up, adding, ' Sir, you will find thousands of people who 
 will give you two hundred guineas for a picture of this size, who 
 have not room in their houses for larger ones.' He said he could 
 have sold all the small sketches in his gallery many times over, but 
 he chose to keep them himself. Several he has sold, and painted 
 duplicates of them. Mr. Allston mentioned his subject of ' Venus 
 and Adonis,' and Mr. West advised him by all means to paint it, 
 but not to have the figures the size of life. Mr. Allston is going to 
 begin the old gentleman's portrait very soon. He promises himself 
 much pleasure in the execution of it." 
 
 " Mr. Morse has related to me," says Dunlap, " some particulars 
 of a ramble he took in company with Earle, when they both were 
 students of the Royal Academy in 1813. With their sketch-books 
 and drawing apparatus, they visited the sea-shore and the towns 
 adjacent, making pedestrian excursions into the country in search 
 of scenery, and sometimes meeting an adventure. On one occasion, 
 their aim after a day's ramble was to reach Deal, and there put up 
 for the night ; but they found, when about five miles from the town, 
 that they had to cross a dreary moor, and the sun was about to 
 withdraw his light from them. As they mounted a stile they were 
 met by a farmer, who accosted them with : 
 
 " ' Gentlemen, are you going to cross the moor so late ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes* We can't lose our way, can we ? ' 
 
 " ' No ; but you may lose your lives.' 
 
 " < How so ? ' 
 
 " ' Why there be always a power of shipping at Deal, and the 
 sailors be sad chaps ; they come ashore and rob and murder on the 
 moor, without your leave or by your leave.' 
 
 " ' Has any thing of the kind taken place lately ? ' 
 
 " ' Why, yes, a young woman was murdered not long ago by two 
 sailors. You will see the spot on your way, if you will go : there 
 is a pile of stones where she was killed. The fellows were taken, 
 and I saw them hanged.' 
 
 " ' So there is no danger from them, then.' 
 
 " ' About a mile farther on you will see bushes on your left 
 hand — there a man was murdered not long ago; but the worst 
 
MEETING A GHOST. 75 
 
 place is farther on. You will come to a narrow lane with a hedge on 
 each side ; it will be dark before you get there, and in that lane 
 you will come to a stile, and just beyond you will see a white stone 
 set up, and on it is written all the circumstances of the murder of 
 a young woman, a neighbor of mine, who was coming home from 
 town all dressed in white, with a bundle in her hand, tied in a 
 dark-red handkerchief. But, gentlemen, you had better turn back 
 and stop the night at my house, and you shall be heartily wel- 
 come.' 
 
 " They thanked him, but saying they were two, and a match for 
 two, they full of confidence pursued their route. It soon became 
 twilight. They found the heap of stones, and a slight shudder oc- 
 curred when looking on the dreary scene, and the mark by which 
 murder was designated. They passed on rather tired, and striving 
 to keep up each other's courage until they came to the bushes. 
 Here was another spot where foul murder had been committed. 
 They quickened their pace as they found darkness increase ; and 
 now they came to the lane with the high hedge-row on each side, 
 which rendered their way almost a path of utter darkness. They 
 became silent, and with no pleasant feelings expected to see the 
 stile, and, if not too dark, the stone erected to commemorate the 
 murder of the young girl in white with the dark-red handkerchief. 
 
 " ' What's that ? ' said Earle, stopping. 
 
 " ' I see nothing,' said Morse — ' yes — now, that I stoop down, I 
 see the stile.' 
 
 " ' Don't you see something white beyond the stile ? ' 
 
 " ' That, I suppose, is the white stone.' 
 
 " ' Stones do not move,' said Earle. 
 
 " Morse stooped again, so as to bring the stile against the sky 
 as a background, and whispered : ' I see some one on the stile — 
 hush ! ' 
 
 " A figure now approached, and, as they stood aside to give- am- 
 ple room for it to pass, they perceived a tall female dressed in white, 
 with a dark-red bundle in her hand. On came the figure, and the 
 lads gazed with a full recollection of the farmer's story of murder, 
 and some feelings allied to awe. On she came, and without no- 
 ticing them passed to go over the moor. 
 
 " ' It will not do to let it go without speaking to it,' thought 
 Morse, and he called out, ' Young woman ! are you not afraid to 
 pass over the moor so late ? ' 
 
 Oh no, sir,' said the ghost, ' I live hard by, and when I've 
 
 a i 
 
76 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 done work I am used to crossing the moor in the eve — good-night,' 
 and on she tripped. 
 
 " The young painters laughed at each other, and pursued their 
 way without further thought of ghosts or murderers. They saw, 
 indeed, the murder-marking monument, but it was too dark to read 
 the tale, and they soon found themselves in comfortable quarters, 
 after their long day's ramble, and forgot their fears and their 
 fatigues together. 
 
 " Eighteen years or more after, Mr. Morse inquired of Leslie for 
 their old companion, Earle, and learned that he had been rambling 
 far beyond Deal. ' He had visited every part of the Mediterranean,' 
 said Leslie, 'roamed in Africa, rambled in the United States, 
 sketched in South America, attempted to go to the Cape of Good 
 Hope in a worn-out Margate hoy, and was shipwrecked on Tristan 
 d'Acunha, where he passed six months with some old tars, who 
 hutted there. At length a vessel touched the desolate place and 
 released him. He then visited Van Diemen's Land, New South 
 Wales, and New Zealand, where he drew from the naked figure, 
 and saw the finest forms in the world addicted to cannibalism. 
 
 " Returning to Sydney, he, by way of variety, proceeded to the 
 Caroline Islands, stopped at the Ladrones, looked in upon Manila, 
 and finally settled himself at Madras, and made money as a portrait- 
 painter. Not content, he went to Pondicherry, and there embarked 
 for France, but stopped at the Mauritius, and, after some few more 
 calls at various places, found his way home. Here his sister had 
 married a Mr. Murray, a relative of the Duke of Athol, and, being left 
 a widow, he found a home as charge d'affaires for his grace, who, 
 you know, is a harmless madman, thinks himself overwhelmed with 
 business, and shuts himself up with books and papers, which he 
 cannot understand, and then calls for his coach, and, riding out on 
 some important errand, which forgotten, he returns again. 
 
 " Earle wrote and published his travels, and attracted some at- 
 tention. One day he came to me with delight painted on his face. 
 
 " ' I am anchored for life ; I have an offer of two hundred pounds 
 a year, and every thing found me, only to reside under the roof of 
 the Duke of Athol, and ride out with him when he takes it in his 
 head to call his coach. I am settled at last ! ' 
 
 "I congratulated him. 
 
 " ' You can write and draw at your leisure, and give us all your 
 adventures ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes, nothing could be happier.' 
 
ALLSTON'S "DEAD MAN." 77 
 
 *» 
 
 " A few weeks after Earle came again. 
 
 " ' Congratulate me, Leslie ! ' 
 
 " ' What has happened ? ' 
 
 " ' I have been offered a berth on a ship bound to the south 
 pole ! I have accepted it ; it is just what I wish.' 
 
 " And he is now in his element again ; for rove he must as long 
 as he lives." 
 
 Mr. Dunlap gives other incidents in the life of Morse, while 
 in London : 
 
 " The first portraits painted in London both by Morse and Les- 
 lie were portraits of each other, in fancy costume. Morse was 
 painted by Leslie in a Scotch costume, with black-plumed bonnet, 
 and tartan plaid ; and Leslie by Morse in a Spanish cavalier's dress, 
 a Vandyck-ruff, black cloak, and slashed sleeves. Both these por- 
 traits are at the house of their ancient hostess, who retains memen- 
 tos of the like character — some product of the pencil of each of 
 her American inmates. 
 
 " It was about the year 1812 that Allston commenced his cele- 
 brated picture of the ' Dead Man restored to Life by touching the 
 Bones of Elisha] which is now in the Pennsylvania Academy of 
 Arts. In the study of this picture he made a model in clay of the 
 head of the dead man, to assist him in painting the expression. 
 This was the practice of the most eminent old masters. Morse had 
 begun a large picture to come out before the British public at the 
 Royal Academy exhibition. The subject was the ' Dying Hercules,' 
 and, in order to paint it with the more effect, he followed the example 
 of Allston, and determined to model the figure in clay. It was his 
 first attempt at modeling. His original intention was simply to 
 complete such parts of the figure as were useful in the single view 
 necessary for the purpose of painting ; but, having done this, he 
 was encouraged, by the approbation of Allston and other artists, to 
 finish the entire figure. 
 
 " After completing it, he had it cast in plaster of Paris, and 
 carried it to show to West. West seemed more than pleased with 
 it. After surveying it all round critically, with many exclamations 
 of surprise, he sent his servant to call his son Raphael. As soon 
 as Raphael made his appearance, he pointed to the figure, and 
 said: 
 
 " ' Look there, sir ; I have always told you any painter can 
 make a sculptor.' 
 
78 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 " From this model, Morse painted his picture of the ' Dying Her- 
 cules,' of colossal size, and sent it, in May, 1813, to the Royal 
 Academy exhibition at Somerset House. 
 
 " The picture was well received. A critic of one of the jour- 
 nals of that day, in speaking of the Royal Academy, thus notices 
 Morse : ' Of the academicians, two or three have distinguished 
 themselves in a preeminent degree; besides, few have added much 
 to their fame, perhaps they have hardly sustained it. But the 
 great feature in this exhibition is, that it presents several works of 
 very high merit by artists with whose performances, and even with 
 whose names, we were hitherto unacquainted. At the head of this 
 class are Messrs. Monro and Morse. The prize of History may be 
 contended for by Mr. Northcote and Mr. Stothard. We should award 
 it to the former. After these gentlemen, Messrs. Milton, Turner, 
 Lane, Monro, and Morse, follow in the same class.' — {London 
 Globe, May 14, 1813.) 
 
 " In commemorating the ' preeminent works of this exhibition,' 
 out of nearly tw6 thousand pictures, this critic places the ' Dying 
 Hercules ' among the first twelve. This success of his first picture 
 was highly encouraging to Morse, but it was not confined to the 
 picture. Upon showing the plaster model to an artist of eminence, 
 he was advised by him to send it to the Society of Arts to take its 
 chance for the prize in sculpture, offered by that society, for an 
 original cast of a single figure. Finding that the figure he had 
 modeled came within the rules of the society, he sent it to their 
 rooms, and was not a little astonished a few days after at receiving 
 a notice to appear on the 13th of May, in the great room of the 
 Adelphi, to receive in public the gold medal, which had been 
 adjudged to his model of the c Hercules.' On that day there were 
 assembled the principal nobility of Britain, the foreign ambassa- 
 dors, and distinguished strangers ; among them but two Americans. 
 The Duke of Norfolk presided, and from his hands Morse received 
 the gold medal, with many complimentary remarks. It is worthy 
 of notice that at this period Great Britain and the United States 
 were at war. We see in this another instance of the impartiality 
 with which the English treated our artists. Allston and Leslie 
 were treated in the same manner during this period of national hos- 
 tility. Allston says England made no distinction between Ameri- 
 cans and her own artists ; yet Trumbull attributed his failure, at 
 this time, to the enmity of the English. We are glad to bear tes- 
 timony to the good feeling of the enlightened public of Great 
 
"THE JUDGMENT OF JUPITER." 79 
 
 Britain, which placed them above a mean jealousy or a barbaric 
 warfare upon the arts. 
 
 " Encouraged by this flattering reception of his first works in 
 painting and in sculpture, the young artist redoubled his energies 
 in his studies, and determined to contend for the highest premium 
 in historical composition, offered by the Royal Academy at the be- 
 ginning of the year 1814. The subject was ' The Judgment of 
 Jupiter in the Case of Apollo, Marpessa, and Idas.' The premium 
 offered was a gold medal and fifty guineas. The decision was 
 to take place in December of 1815. The composition, containing 
 four figures, required much study; but by the exercise of great 
 diligence the picture was completed by the middle of July. Our 
 young painter had now been in England four years, one year longer 
 than the time allowed him by his parents, and he had to return 
 immediately home ; but he had finished his picture under the con- 
 viction, strengthened by the opinion of West, that it would be 
 allowed to remain and compete with those of the other candidates. 
 To his regret, the petition to the council of the Royal Academy for 
 this favor, handed in to them by West, and advocated strongly by 
 him and Fuseli, was not granted. He was told that it was neces- 
 sary, according to the rules of the Academy, that the artist should 
 be present to receive the premium ; it could not be received by 
 proxy. Fuseli expressed himself in very indignant terms at the 
 narrowness of this decision. 
 
 " Thus disappointed, the artist had but one mode of consolation. 
 He invited West to see his picture before he packed it up, at the 
 same time requesting Mr. West to inform him, through Mr. Leslie, 
 after the premiums should be adjudged in December, what chance 
 he would have had if he had remained. Mr. West, after sitting 
 before the picture for a long time, promised to comply with the re- 
 quest; but added, 'You had better remain, sir.'" 
 
 The subsequent history of the plaster easts that were made 
 of the "Dying Hercules " is interesting. One of them found its 
 way into the basement of the Capitol of the United States, and 
 was there discovered by Mr. Morse under very extraordinary cir- 
 cumstances, which will be stated hereafter. This cast he gave to 
 a friend, Rev. E. G. Smith, who wrote to Mr. Morse in 1860, 
 asking a brief statement of the circumstances of its execution 
 and its successful competition for the gold medal. 
 
 To this note Mr. Morse replied : 
 
80 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " You ask if the cast of the ' Hercules ' is the original cast or a 
 copy. A mould was made from the original clay model, from 
 which were cast some , five or six. I brought the mould with me 
 from England, but, through ignorance of its character, a man, in 
 cleaning house, supposed the parts to be broken plaster, and threw 
 them into the street during my absence at the South, so that the 
 original mould is destroyed. A copy, or rather one of the casts 
 from the original mould, was in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine 
 Arts, but was destroyed in the fire which consumed the Academy 
 building. A mutilated fragment of another is, or was, in the Na- 
 tional Academy collection in New York. Yours is the only perfect 
 (so far as it is perfect) cast I know, the others having passed out 
 of my knowledge. A fresh mould was made from the cast in Phila- 
 delphia many years ago by some moulders there, from which some 
 casts (how many I don't know) were made, and sold by them as 
 antique! So old Paff, an eccentric picture-dealer of olden time 
 once told me. But you want to know something of its early his- 
 tory ; this I give you in brief : 
 
 "In the year 1812 I had so far advanced in my studies as to 
 attempt a large picture of a single figure. The subject I chose was 
 'The Death of Hercules.' My friend and master at this time was 
 "Washington Allston, who was then painting his picture of the 
 ' Dead Man restored to Life by touching the Bones of Elisha.' He 
 had modeled in clay the head of the ' dead man,' for the purpose of 
 aiding him in the painting, explaining to me that this was often the 
 practice of the most celebrated old masters. From this example I 
 determined to model the figure of the ' Hercules ' to aid me in my 
 painting of the ' Dying Hercules.' It was my first attempt at mod- 
 eling, and as the model, so far as it was to be of use in my picture, 
 required only correctness and finish in one view of it, to wit, the 
 view chosen for the painting, I at first only completed it in that 
 view. At this point Mr. Allston expressed himself so pleased with 
 it, that he advised me to finish it in every view y in other words, to 
 make a complete statue, alleging, among other reasons, that I should 
 thus become familiar with the human figure more readily than in 
 any other way. Hence, I completed the whole figure, and, on show- 
 ing it to Mr. West, was much flattered by his praise of it. ' I was 
 advised by friends that a premium of a gold medal was offered for 
 just such an original model, and was recommended to send it to 
 the Adelphi Society of Arts to compete for this prize. I accord- 
 ingly sent it to the rooms of the society, and, to my surprise, a 
 
DEATH OF MRS. ALLSTON. 81 
 
 few days after, received the summons to appear on ' a certain day 
 at the rooms of the society in full meeting, to receive the gold 
 medal from the president, the Duke of Norfolk. This was during 
 the war of 1812 ; and I have often spoken of it as a pleasing inci- 
 cident, that, while a fierce strife was going on without between the 
 two nations as nations, yet, in the Department of Fine Arts at 
 least, there was a neutral peaceful ground on which artists and their 
 encouragers could stand and be in perfect harmony with each other." 
 
 Death of Mrs. Allston. 
 
 On the 2d day of February, 1815, Mrs. Allston died sud- 
 denly in London. The blow was so fearful and unexpected, 
 that for a time it threatened to be fatal to the reason, if not to 
 the life, of the surviving husband. The next morning Mr. 
 Morse writes to bis father : 
 
 " I write in great haste and much agitation. Mrs. Allston, the 
 Wife of our beloved friend, died last evening, and the event over- 
 whelmed us all in the utmost sorrow. As for Mr. Allston, for sev- 
 eral hours after the death of his wife he was almost bereft of his 
 reason. Mr. Leslie and I are applying our whole attention to him, 
 and we have so far succeeded as to see him more composed." 
 
 Mr. Morse wrote also to Mr. Channing, and, sending the 
 letter to Dr. Morse, requested him to communicate the distress- 
 ing intelligence to Mr. Allston's friends. Mr. Leslie, in his au- 
 tobiography, describes the scene of Mrs. Allston's death, and its 
 terrible effect upon the mind of the sensitive and devoted artist 
 and poet. 
 
 The sympathy of Mr. Allston's friends, and their great grief 
 with him in his sorrow, may be learned from this letter to Mr. 
 Morse from a gentleman in England to whom the intelligence 
 was sent : 
 
 Mr. J. J. Morgan to Mr. Morse. 
 
 "Calne, Wiltshire, February, 1815. 
 "My dear Sir: I received your letter only yesterday; the 
 news it conveyed has literally stupefied us with affliction. It was 
 not possible for me to write yesterday, so completely was I terror- 
 stricken. It is with difficulty, and doubtless with incoherence, that I 
 now write. Mrs. Morgan and Miss Brent most bitterly lament that 
 you did not send for one or both of them. To have seen their 
 6 
 
82 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 friend, their more than sister, though but for her last departing 
 hour, would have been some consolation. Their distress is very- 
 great. The only thought which now promises the least comfort is, 
 that so innocent, so excellent a woman is removed from this world 
 of trial and trouble to that of perfect happiness, and to a union 
 with her Creator. 
 
 " But what is now to be done with Allston ? Comfort it were 
 a mockery to attempt offering. Religion, and the impression of 
 time, are his only hope. But, pray, write to us, and say whether 
 we (any of us) can now be of any service. Mrs. M., or Charlotte, 
 or I, will come to town instantly, to be of the slightest service. 
 For Heaven's sake, write us! Tell us every thing concerning 
 Allston; tell us every thing concerning our excellent friend de- 
 parted — the pain, during her illness ; the burial, where ; what com- 
 fort, what female friend or companion, had she ? I fear and tremble 
 while anticipating the particulars ; yet we must know them. 
 
 " Gracious God ! unsearchable indeed are Thy ways ! The insen- 
 sible, the brutish, the wicked, are powerful; and everywhere, in 
 every thing, successful — while Allston, who is every thing that is 
 amiable, kind, and good, has been bruised, blow after blow ; and 
 now, indeed, his cup is full ! 
 
 " I am too unwell, too little recovered from the effect of your 
 letter to write much. Coleridge intends writing to-day. I hope he 
 will. Allston may derive some little relief from knowing how 
 much his friends partake of his grief. 
 
 " Once more I entreat you to let us know if any of us can be 
 of the slightest service. Perhaps our excellent Allston would be 
 somewhat relieved by an excursion down here. With us he shall 
 meet with every attention possible. I will come up and fetch him, 
 upon your slightest hint of its usefulness. At any rate, I beg you 
 to write soon, and say every thing for us all to Allston, every 
 thing kind you can think of. You cannot say more than we feel." 
 
 In the month following, Mr. Morse wrote to his parents a 
 very full account of his temporary residence at Bristol, his 
 struggles to support himself, and the disappointments to which 
 he was subjected. In his letter dated March 10, 1815, he says : 
 
 "My jaunt to Bristol, in quest of money, completely failed. 
 When I was first there I expected, from the little connection I got 
 into, I should be able to support myself. I was obliged to come to 
 town on account of the exhibitions, and staid longer than I ex- 
 
FAILURE IN BRISTOL. 83 
 
 pected, intending to return to Bristol. During this time I received 
 two pressing letters from Mr. Visscher (which I will show you), 
 inviting me to come down, saying that I should have plenty of 
 business. I accordingly hurried off. A gentleman, for whom I 
 had before painted two portraits, had promised, if I would let him 
 have them for ten guineas apiece, twelve being my price, he would 
 procure me five sitters. This I acceded to. I received twenty 
 guineas, and have heard nothing from the man since, though I par- 
 ticularly requested Mr. Visscher to inquire, and remind him of his 
 promise. Yet he never did any thing more on the subject. I was 
 there three months, gaining nothing in my art, and without a 
 single commission. Mr. Breed, of Liverpool, then came to Bristol. 
 He took two landscapes, which I had heen. amusing myself with 
 (for I can say nothing more of them), at ten guineas each. I 
 painted two more landscapes, which are unsold. Mr. Visscher, a 
 man worth about a hundred thousand pounds, and whose annual 
 expenses, with a large family of seven children, are not one thou- 
 sand, had a little frame, for which he repeatedly desired me to 
 paint a picture. I told him I would, as soon as I bad finished one 
 of my landscapes. I began it immediately, without his knowing it, 
 and determined to surprise him with it. I also had two frames 
 which fitted Mr. Breed's pictures, and which I was going to give to 
 Mr. Breed, with his pictures. But Mr. Visscher was particularly 
 pleased with the frames, as they were a pair, and told me not to 
 send them to Mr. Breed, as he should like to have them himself, 
 and wished I would paint him pictures to fit them (the two 
 other landscapes before mentioned). I accordingly was employed 
 three months longer in painting these three pictures. I finished 
 them ; he was very much pleased with them ; all his family were 
 very much pleased with them ; all who saw them were pleased 
 with them. But he declined taking them, without even asking my 
 price, and said that he had more pictures than he knew what to do 
 with. Mr. and Mrs. Allston heard him say twenty times he wished 
 
 I would paint him a picture for the frame. Mr. A n, who knew 
 
 what I was about, told him, no doubt, I would do it for him, and, in 
 a week after, I had completed it. I had told Mr. Visscher, also, that 
 I was considerably in debt, and that, when he had paid me for these 
 pictures, I should be something in pocket, and, by his not objecting 
 to what I said, I took it for granted (and from his requesting me to 
 paint the pictures) that the thing was certain. But thus it was, 
 without giving any reason in the world, except that he had pictures 
 
84 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 enough, he declined taking them, making me spend three months 
 longer in Bristol than I otherwise should have done, standing still 
 in my art, if not actually going back, and run in debt for some 
 necessary expenses of clothing in Bristol, and my passage from and 
 back to London. During all this time not a single commission for 
 a portrait, many of which were promised me, nor a single call from 
 any one to look at my pictures. Thus ended my jaunt in quest of 
 money. Do not think that this disappointment is in consequence 
 of any misconduct of mine. Mr. Allston, who was with me, expe- 
 rienced the same treatment, and had it not been for his uncle, the 
 American consul, he might have starved, for the Bristol people ; 
 his uncle, was the only one who purchased any of his pictures. 
 Since I have been in London, I have been endeavoring to regain 
 what I lost in Bristol, and I hope I have so far succeeded as to say, 
 I have not gone back in my art. In order to retrench my expenses, 
 I have taken a painting-room out of the house, at about half of the 
 expense of my former room; though inconvenient in many respects, 
 yet my circumstances require it, and I willingly put up with it. As 
 for economy ', do not be at any more pains in introducing that per- 
 sonage to me. We have long been friends and necessary compan- 
 ions. If you could look in on me and see me through a day, I 
 think you would not tell me in every letter to economize more. It 
 is impossible ; I cannot economize more. I live on as plain food, 
 and as little, as is for my health ; less and plainer would make me 
 ill, for I have given it a fair experiment. As for clothes, I have 
 been decent, and that is all. If I visited a great deal, this would 
 be a heavy expense ; but, the less I go out, the less need I care for 
 clothes, except for cleanliness. My only heavy expenses are colors, 
 canvas, frames, etc., and these are heavy." 
 
 On the back of the last page of the letter be adds, as a 
 postscript : " The seal of my letter is worth, noticing. It is a 
 celebrated antique gem, set in Michael Angelo's ring, which he 
 always used as a seal. I have the seal — an impression from the 
 original." 
 
 In a note to Mrs. Morse, his friend Leslie says : " I am very 
 glad to see that Mr. Coleridge is writing again, and, of course, 
 talking also. I hope he is near Mr. Allston." 
 
 Mr. Morse speaks of Mr. Allston in one of his letters, after 
 mentioning an attack of illness : " I never felt so low-spirited as 
 when he was ill. I often thought, if he should be taken away at 
 
MR. ALLSTON'S ADVICE. 85 
 
 tliis time, what an irreparable loss it would be, not only to me, 
 but to America, and to the world. Ob ! he is an angel on earth. 
 I cannot love him too much. Excuse my warmth ; I never can 
 speak of Mr. Allston but in raptures." 
 
 And Mr. Allston, writing to Mr. Morse, at Bristol, makes 
 the following suggestions : 
 
 " I write to thank you for the very agreeable intelligence con- 
 tained in your letter to Leslie [the expected sale of one of Mr. A.'s 
 paintings] ; but, in a particular manner to request, or rather to 
 advise, you not to take a share in the intended raffle. For this I 
 can offer two reasons : 1. That the price of a share is too much for 
 you to risk upon an uncertainty ; 2. That I much fear, should you 
 win, the world may suspect, on account of our connection, that I 
 was in some way interested in it. I think, upon the whole, you 
 had better not take one, but wait until you can paint a landscape 
 equal to it yourself; which I make no doubt you will ere long be 
 able to do, if you are industrious. I shall follow your advice in 
 not being too sanguine respecting its success. But hope is pleas- 
 ant, and I shall therefore indulge it until I hear from you again. I 
 am quite satisfied that it should go at five hundred guineas, and, as 
 soon as it is sold, I shall, according to my promise, bespeak an ele- 
 gant frame for it. I have at last the satisfaction to inform you that 
 my large picture is in the British Gallery, and, moreover, hung in 
 the place where Mr. West's was." 
 
 Mr. Morse, during the latter part of his residence in Lon- 
 don, denied himself in great measure the pleasures of society, 
 which were pressed upon him. In the second year of his life 
 there, he had received the following note from Zachary Macau- 
 lay, which is copied here as an illustration of the mode of get- 
 ting about in London sixty years ago : 
 
 "Mr. Macaulay presents his compliments to Mr. Morse, and 
 begs to express his regret at not having yet been so fortunate as to 
 meet him. Mr. Macaulay will be particularly happy, if it should 
 suit Mr. Morse to dine with him at his house at Clapham, on Sat- 
 urday next at five o'clock. Mr. M.'s house is five doors beyond the 
 Plough, at the entrance of Clapham Common. A coach goes daily 
 to Clapham from the Ship at Charing Cross, at a quarter-past three, 
 and several leave Grace-Church Street, in the City, every day at 
 
86 LIFE OP SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 four. The distance from London Bridge to Mr. Macaulay' s house 
 is about four miles." 
 
 "26 Birchir Lane, June 23, 1812." 
 
 But Mr? Morse assures his parents that visiting costs too 
 much time. He writes to them : 
 
 " James Russell, Esq., has been extremely attentive to me. He 
 has a very fine family, consisting of four daughters, and, I think, 
 a son, who is absent in the East Indies. The daughters are very 
 beautiful, accomplished, and amiable, especially the youngest, 
 Lucy. I came very near being at my old game of falling in love ; 
 but I find that love and painting are quarrelsome companions, and 
 that the house of my heart was too small for both of them ; so I 
 have turned Mrs. Love out-of-doors. 'Time enough,' thought I 
 (with true old-bachelor complacency), 'time enough for you these 
 ten years to come.' Mr. Russell's portrait I have painted as a pres- 
 ent to Miss Russell, and will send it to her as soon as I can get an 
 opportunity. It is an excellent likeness of him. I should be very 
 happy to send also the portraits of the rest of the family to her, 
 but, as I am obliged to support myself now, every thing must be 
 turned to account. 
 
 " You wish me to keep up my acquaintance with Mr. Burder, 
 Messrs. Macaulay, Taylor, and others. Mr. Burder has never shown 
 me the slightest attention. I never have seen him, to speak to him, 
 but once ; and then, when I delivered my letter of introduction to 
 him, he said he hoped he should have the pleasure of my com- 
 pany to dine soon, and he would let me know when it would be 
 convenient. I 'have not heard from him from that time to this. 
 There is no blame attached to him. He is a man full of business, 
 like papa, and I suppose it has slipped his memory, and it is perhaps 
 better for both of us, for I should only hinder him, and he me. It 
 is utterly impossible for me to keep up an acquaintance in England, 
 and. I therefore do not attempt it. My studies absorb all my time, 
 and I wish no other employment ox pastime. 'Tis not in London, 
 as in Boston, or one of our cities, where you have your friends in a 
 little circle round you. But a visit in London is a serious under- 
 taking, probably a walk of two or three miles, if not five or six. 
 Mr. Taylor lives two miles from me, Mr. Burder six, Mr. Macaulay 
 seven, Mr. Thornton seven, Mr. Wilberforce five, Dr. Lettsom three ; 
 Mr. Allston two streets, Mr. West two streets. So you see by this 
 who are most likely to be my intimates, and what time I must 
 
INVITATION FROM MR. WTLBERFORCE. 87 
 
 spend just to step in and make a call ; and, what makes the matter 
 worse, I seem to live in the centre of a great circle, as it respects 
 them." 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce speaks, in one of his letters to Dr. Morse, of 
 his deep interest in his son, and his desire that he would be 
 more at home in his house. And, among the autographs which 
 the son preserved to the end of his life, was a pleasant note from 
 Mr. "Wilberforce, dated 
 
 " Kensington Gkote, June 1, 1815. 
 " My dear Sir : Till I heard, three or four days ago, from Mr. 
 Sanders the Black School-master, that you were in London, I had 
 conceived, from the contents of a letter I received some little time 
 ago from your father, that you were on the Continent, and not like- 
 ly to be in England again till the middle or end of July. It is long 
 since I had the pleasure of seeing you, and I need not assure you 
 that you are always an acceptable visitor ; but I did not return to 
 the neighborhood of London till Parliament reassembled, and dur- 
 ing its sittings I am always so much occupied and engaged that I 
 am forced to give up almost all social intercourse. The consequence 
 is, that toward the end of the session, as just now, I have a large 
 arrear of social debts to pay to my friends, and the few days I 
 have at command are preengaged. But at breakfast, at about ten 
 or half-past ten, I should be happy to see you any day, and let me 
 beg you to come some fine morning, and say you are come to 
 breakfast. I have a parcel of newspapers and pamphlets to send 
 you. In haste, but with real regard, and taking, for your good 
 father's sake, a real interest in your welfare, I remain* my dear sir, 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " W. Wilberforce. 
 "S. F. B. Morse, Mq." 
 
 This friendly note is dated June 1, 1815. On the 18th day 
 of the same month the battle of Waterloo was fought, and on 
 the 6th day of the month following the allied armies entered 
 Paris. There was no electric Telegraph at that time to carry 
 news across channels, continents, and oceans ; but the future in- 
 ventor of such an agent relates an interesting incident of the re- 
 ception of these tidings in London. Mr. Morse says : 
 
 " It was at one of my visits, in the year 1815, that an incident 
 occurred which well illustrates the character of the great philan- 
 
88 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 thropist. As I passed through Hyde Park on my way to Kensing- 
 ton Grove, I observed that great crowds had gathered, and rumors 
 were rife that the allied armies had entered Paris, that Napoleon 
 was a prisoner, and that the war was virtually at an end ; and it 
 was momentarily expected that the park guns would announce the 
 good news to the people. On entering the drawing-room at Mr. 
 Wilberforce's, I found the company, consisting of Mr. Thornton, 
 Mr. Macaulay, Mr. Grant the father, and his two sons Robert and 
 Charles, and Robert Owen, of Lanark, in quite excited conversation 
 respecting the rumors that prevailed. Mr. Wilberforce expatiated 
 largely on the prospects of a universal peace in consequence of the 
 probable overthrow of Napoleon, whom naturally he considered the 
 great disturber of the nations. At every period, however, he ex- 
 claimed, ' It is too good to be true, it cannot be true.' He was al- 
 together skeptical in regard to the rumors. The general subject, 
 however, was the absorbing topic at the dinner-table ; after dinner 
 the company joined the ladies in the drawing-room. I sat near a 
 window which looked out in the direction of the distant park. 
 Presently a flash and a distant dull report of a gun attracted my 
 attention, but was unnoticed by the rest of the company. Pres- 
 ently another flash and report assured me that the park guns were 
 firing, and at once I called Mr. Wilberforce's attention to the fact. 
 Running to the window, he threw it up in time to see the next flash 
 and hear the next report. Clasping his hands in silence, with the 
 tears rolling down his cheeks, he stood for a few moments perfectly 
 absorbed in thought, and, before uttering a word, embraced his wife 
 and daughter, and shook hands with every one in the room. The 
 scene was one not to be forgotten." 
 
 A few days after this scene Mr. Morse left England for his 
 native land. 
 
CHAPTEE IY. 
 
 1815-1823. 
 
 BETUEN TO AMEEIOA — OPENS A STUDIO IN BOSTON — NO SUCCESS — INVENTS 
 IMPROVEMENT IN PUMP — TRAVELS IN VEEMONT AND NEW HAMPSHIRE 
 AS POETEAIT-PAINTEE — MEETS HIS FUTUEE BEIDE — PUESUES HIS IN- 
 VENTION — GOES TO CHAELESTON, SOUTH OAEOLINA — DE. FINLEY — SUC- 
 CESS — ALLSTON'S ENCOUBAGEMENT — EETUENS NOETH — MABEIAGE — 
 CHAELESTON AGAIN — THE PUMP — W. ALLSTON — MOESE PAINTS THE POE- 
 TEAIT OP PEESIDENT MONROE — THIED WINTEB IN CHAELESTON — NEW 
 HAVEN — PAINTING "HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVES " — HISTOEY OF THE 
 PIOTUEE. 
 
 AFTER waiting fourteen days in Liverpool for a fair wind, 
 Mr. Morse set sail Angnst 21, 1815, in the ship Ceres, Cap- 
 tain Webber, for Boston. Two hundred vessels sailed in company. 
 « w e gradually lost sight of our companions," he writes, " as 
 night approached, and at sunset they were dispersed all over the 
 horizon.". The passage was long and boisterous. His sea-diary 
 is but a record of head-winds, rain, gales, tempests, sea-sickness, 
 and every thing disagreeable. They sighted the signal of a ship 
 in distress. The captain refused to go to the rescue, on the 
 ground that he had enough to do to look out for his own. The 
 passengers entreated him to have mercy, but he was obstinate. 
 Mr. Morse then assured him that, as soon as they landed in Bos- 
 ton, he would expose his inhumanity by stating the facts in the 
 public journals. This brought him to, and he bore down for 
 the dismasted ship whose signal-guns and signs of distress called 
 two other ships to its aid. 
 
90 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 One gale followed another. " Obliged," he says, " to keep 
 our berths, cabin dark, dead lights on. Oh, who would go to 
 sea who can stay at home." A few days after this despairing 
 groan, the sea is calm : " A serene and delightful night ; the full 
 moon rose in a cloudless sky. The sea is like a mirror, with not 
 a ripple on its surface, and the ship is as still as if we were at 
 anchor in the harbor : nothing is in sight but sky and water, 
 and the color of the water is so like the sky that we seem to be 
 suspended in the midst of space." 
 
 He arrived in Boston on the 18th day of October, after a 
 passage of fifty-eight days, and an absence from his country of 
 more than four years. His profession he had pursued with ar- 
 dor and great success ; his ambition was stimulated, and he was 
 buoyant with hope ; and the impelling power of necessity was 
 upon him, for his profession was to be his only source of sup- 
 port. 
 
 The year 1816 was spent in Boston and in Charlestown, 
 where he lodged at his father's house. His father had engaged 
 a studio for him in the city. His great picture was opened for 
 exhibition. The fame of the young artist had preceded him, 
 and hundreds of people went to see a picture by the favorite 
 pupil of Allston and "West. He was constantly invited to the 
 entertainments of the cultivated and wealthy families of the city 
 of Boston. The " Judgment of Jupiter " was admired by the 
 critics and the multitude. He set up his easel with the confi- 
 dent expectation that his fame and his work would bring him 
 orders and money. But an entire year dragged itself along, 
 without an offer for his picture, or an order for an historical 
 work. His mind was too active and earnest for such a life as 
 this. In the evenings at home he meditated an invention by 
 which a great improvement would be made in the common 
 pump and, one that could be adapted to the forcing-pump in the 
 fire-engine. His brother, Sidney E. Morse, two years younger 
 than he, entered into the project with him, and they completed 
 the invention and secured a patent. In the autumn the follow- 
 ing notice was published : 
 
 " New Lsventio^s. — A new-constructed patent pump is in op- 
 eration on Gray's Wharf, in Charlestown, where any who feel de- 
 
LETTER FROM LESLIE. 91 
 
 sirous of seeing it may see it on any day during one week from this 
 date, from half ebb to half flood-tide. Four men can work it with 
 ease and deliver three hundred and sixty gallons in one minute. 
 The pump-bore is five inches in diameter ; a wooden ball four and 
 three-fourth inches, entered at the bottom of the log, will pass freely 
 through and be delivered at the nose." 
 
 His friends in London did not forget hirn. Leslie writes : 
 
 "London, November 17, 1815. 
 
 " Mv dear Morse : I have just received your very welcome 
 letter announcing your arrival. Our sorrow for the length and un- 
 pleasantness of your voyage is entirely swallowed up in joy for 
 your safety, about which we were extremely anxious, from accounts 
 we have had of the hurricanes off Boston. 
 
 " "We continue pretty much as when you left us, excepting that 
 our good old landlady, Mrs. Bridgen, has been very dangerously ill 
 with a violent attack of the rheumatic gout. She is now, thank 
 Heaven, nearly recovered, and I am sure your letter did her more 
 good than any thing the doctor has given her for some time. 
 When she was first taken ill, she refused to have a physician. I 
 used every argument in my power to persuade her to it, but she 
 would not consent, saying it would go off of itself. Knowing too 
 well the fatal effects of this dread of the doctor, I went without 
 her knowledge to an eminent one (Dr. Blackburn), and sent him to 
 her, and I am by no means sure that he did not save her life. 
 During her illness I had opportunities of discovering more of the 
 real character of Mr. Bridgen than I had ever known before. He 
 showed a most affectionate disposition, and I am sure it was merely 
 his testy manner that had before obscured it. He was unceasingly 
 assiduous in his attentions to her, and, though in bad health himself, 
 sat up with her, and did every thing in his power to alleviate her 
 sufferings in the kindest manner possible. He was describing to 
 me one night how indefatigable he had formerly been in his occu- 
 pation: 'For' (said he with tears in his eyes), 'I loved my missus, 
 sir, and thought I could never do enough for her.' He spoke in 
 the highest terms of her excellent temper, at the same time re- 
 proaching himself for having tormented her so much by his bad 
 one, of which he seemed perfectly sensible. 
 
 " Soon after you left London, Mr. McMurtrie arrived from Phila- 
 delphia. He is one of our few men of taste. He was highly de- 
 lighted with Allston's pictures, and persuaded him to send out his 
 
92 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 * Dead Man ' to Philadelphia for exhibition, which I suppose is there 
 by this time. McMurtrie introduced us to the great General Scott, 
 and his aide-de-camp Major Mercer, who were fellow-passengers 
 with him. They are both most gentlemanly men. Scott is six feet 
 four inches high, well made, and has a fine face. His eyes are re- 
 markably expressive. I regretted exceedingly you were not here ; 
 you would have been so delighted with them. I painted a portrait 
 of Mercer, and am making a copy of Mr. West's pictures (the Cupid 
 with a lion, sea-horse, etc.) for the general, for which I am to have 
 sixty guineas. They are now in France, and when they return I 
 am to have the honor of painting a portrait of the general. Mr. 
 Ogden, who commanded a regiment of volunteers in the battle of 
 New Orleans, has lately been here. He brought a letter of intro- 
 duction to me from Jarvis, the painter, and a portrait of Jackson, 
 painted in the true Italian touch, bj the immortal Wheeler, which 
 he is having engraved here. General Jackson is by no means hand- 
 some, having very much the physiognomy of a dried shad, with 
 the complexion of a pair of leather breeches ; nevertheless, he was 
 the man that did John's business for him. Ogden told me that the 
 battle was gained principally by the volunteers, who were com- 
 posed of the wealthiest citizens of New Orleans. 
 
 " I have very little information to give you in the arts, except- 
 ing that Holland was not elected an associate, and that Jackson 
 and Mulready were. Haydon gets on slowly with his picture. 
 Collins has improved wonderfully, and made some of the most ex- 
 quisite sketches from Nature I have ever seen. Kukup is likely to 
 get the prize, I believe; he has but one antagonist (Williehass). 
 Allston is more than half through his 'Peter,' and a glorious pict- 
 ure it will be. I am painting a half-length of a beautiful actress 
 (Mrs. Mardyn) for exhibition. She has just appeared at Drury 
 Lane in Mrs. Jordan's characters. Her beauty, however, is her 
 greatest attraction. Collard, Lonsdale, Haydon, Hewling, desire 
 their regards to you. 
 
 " Your sincere friend, 
 
 " Leslie." 
 
 The state of the arts in America at this juncture is shown in 
 a letter from the Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis to S. F. B. Morse : 
 
 "New Yoke, January 29, 1816. 
 " You are now, I suppose, unremittingly engaged in the pursuits 
 of your profession. It will gratify me much to hear what you are 
 
LETTER BY REV. S. J. JARVIS. 93 
 
 doing. Portrait-painting alone is profitable in this country — our 
 rich men not having yet obtained that relish for the fine arts which 
 would lead them to admire a painting for its own sake, or to pa- 
 tronize genius from the noble principles of love for excellence, and 
 love for country. The Bostonians probably will patronize you, 
 however, because you are their fellow - citizen, and, though the 
 thought of being indebted to that motive cannot be a very pleasing 
 one to you, yet it may in time lead to juster views. You know, I 
 presume, that Colonel Trumbull has seated himself down in this 
 city, and his collection you are probably well acquainted with. Our 
 Academy of Arts is at present in rather a languishing state ; but I 
 trust we shall soon be able to make it worth attention. The cor- 
 poration of this city have given, or are about giving, a large lot 
 near the new City Hall in Broadway, where it is proposed to erect 
 a building to correspond with that noble edifice (not to vie with it, 
 of course, but as a sort of appendage), which is to be devoted to 
 our literary, scientific, and elegant institutions. "We are to have in 
 it the City Library, Scudder's Museum, the Academy of Fine Arts, 
 a chemical laboratory, and apartments for the several learned soci- 
 eties — the New York Historical Society, the New York Literary 
 and Philosophical Society, etc. I hope that we shall institute an 
 Academy of Painting ; and it would give me great pleasure to see 
 you one of the professors of it. Why will you not let us have the 
 pleasure of seeing you, when we can talk over these matters at our 
 leisure ? I am reserving the painting of my phiz for your pencil ; 
 and as they tell me I look best in the winter, because fattest, you 
 see it is of great importance that I see you at this season. Have 
 3^ou attended at all to architecture ? That is with me a favorite 
 science, though I know but little about it. I hope some time or 
 other to see a Gothic church erected here, and I must consult your 
 taste concerning the plans. There has been a Gothic church erect- 
 ed at New Haven since you were there, and it is my intention to 
 put up a monument in it to the memory of my father, the decora- 
 tions of which I wish to have correspondent with the style of the 
 building. As you have probably noticed the principal monuments 
 in England, it may be in your power to furnish me with a design." 
 
 His thoughts were much with those friends he had left. 
 Allston he loved and revered. He pours out his heart to him 
 in letters, some of which have been found among Mr. Allston's 
 papers. The passage in the following letter, where the pupil 
 
94 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 implores his master's forgiveness for possible errors, beautifully 
 illustrates the feeling that subsisted between them. 
 
 "Boston, April 10, 1816. 
 
 " My dear Sir : I have but one moment to write you by a ves- 
 sel which sails to-morrow morning : I wrote Leslie by New Packet 
 some months since, and am hourly expecting an answer. I congratu- 
 late you, my dear sir, on the sale of your picture of the ' Dead 
 Man.'' I suppose you will have received notice before this reaches 
 you, that the Philadelphia Academy of Arts have purchased it for 
 the sum of thirty-five hundred dollars. Bravo for our country ! I 
 am sincerely rejoiced for you, and for the disposition which it shows 
 of future encouragement. I really think the time is not far distant 
 when we shall all be able to settle in our native land with profit as 
 well as pleasure. ... I long to spend my evenings again with you 
 and Leslie ; I shall certainly visit Italy (should I live and no unfore- 
 seen event take place) in the course of a year or eighteen months. 
 Could there not be some arrangement made to meet you and Leslie 
 there ? You will now be in funds, and perhaps would not dislike to 
 visit again the scenes of your early studies. Do write me, if it is 
 but a line, and say if it cannot be so arranged. . . . My conscience 
 accuses me, and hardly too, of many instances of pettishness and ill- 
 humor toward you, which make me almost hate myself, that I could 
 offend a temper like } T ours ; I need not ask you to forgive it, I 
 know you cannot harbor anger a minute, and perhaps have forgot- 
 ten the instances ; but I cannot forget them. If you had failings 
 of the same kind, and I could recollect any instances where you had 
 spoken pettishly or ill-natured to me, our accounts would then have 
 been balanced, they would have called for mutual forgetfulness and 
 forgiveness ; but when on reflection I find nothing of the kind to 
 charge you with, my conscience severely upbraids me with ingrati- 
 tude to you, to whom (under Heaven) I owe all the little knowl- 
 edge of my art which I possess ; but I hope still I shall prove 
 grateful to you ; at any rate, I feel my errors and must mend 
 them. 
 
 " I was at a large party at William Walter Channing's a few 
 evenings since ; I there saw your ' Katherine and Petruchio.'' It 
 reminded me of old times. 
 
 " I have just completed a Kitcat landscape, a sea-piece on a 
 common half-length upright, a ship in distress on the top of a small 
 piece of a single wave which occupies the whole foreground ; she 
 
MR. ALLSTON'S "DEAD MAN." 95 
 
 comes out against a bright bank of clouds, such as you like, is scud- 
 ding directly toward you under a close-reefed foresail. I bought a 
 fantous model of a seventy-four a week or two since, seven feet long 
 and five feet high, completely rigged and perfect in every part ; all 
 the blocks traverse, so that I can brace or square the yards at 
 pleasure, or place that in what state of dishabille I please. I gave 
 twenty dollars for it, and it was sold a few weeks before for one 
 hundred. I shall keep it to paint from always. Please write me 
 soon and tell me all about yourself and Leslie. Remember me most 
 particularly to Leslie, Collard, Lonsdale, Collins, Haydon, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hewlings, Cregan, Martin, Lane (if in London), and the 
 Bridges. 
 
 " Yours most sincerely, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 To this letter Mr. Allston replied in these words : 
 
 " My dear Sir : I will not apologize for having so long delayed 
 answering your kind letter, being, as you well know, privileged 
 by my friends to be a lazy correspondent. I was sorry to find 
 that you should have suffered the recollection of any hasty expres- 
 sions you might have uttered to give you uneasiness. Be assured 
 that they never were remembered by me a moment after ; nor did 
 they ever in the slightest degree diminish my regard or weaken my 
 confidence in the sincerity of your friendship or the goodness of 
 your heart. Besides, the consciousness of warmth in my own tem- 
 per would have made me inexcusable had I suffered myself to dwell 
 on an inadvertent word from another. I therefore beg you will no 
 longer suffer any such unpleasant reflections to disturb your mind ; 
 but that you will rest assured of my unaltered and sincere esteem. 
 
 " Your letter, and one I had about the same time from my sis- 
 ter Mary, brought the first intelligence of the sale of my picture, 
 it being near three weeks later when I received the account from 
 Philadelphia. When you recollect that I considered the 'Dead 
 Man ' (from the untoward fate he had hitherto experienced) almost 
 literally as a caput mortuum, you may easily believe that I was most 
 agreeably surprised to hear of the sale. But, pleased as I was, on 
 account of the very seasonable pecuniary supply it would soon 
 afford me, I must say that I was still more gratified at the encour- 
 agement it seemed to hold out for my return to America — not 
 that I expect as ready a sale for every large picture I might paint ; 
 but from the growing interest in the arts, which the present pur- 
 
96 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 chase appears to indicate among our countrymen, I think I may 
 reasonably reckon on a quantum, sufficit of taste in them to calcu- 
 late on at least a decent support from future exhibitions. The ' St. 
 Peter' has been long since finished, exhibited, and sent home to Sir 
 G. I worked on it for three weeks after it came out of the Gallery ; 
 repainted the angel's head, and made other alterations. Sir G. and 
 Lady Beaumont expressed themselves highly pleased with it. The 
 Gil Bias was bought by Lieutenant Drayton, of South Carolina. 
 'Tis now, I believe, at Philadelphia. In Somerset House I exhib- 
 ited a landscape. You saw the dead color of it last summer. I 
 inclose a short notice of it from the Examiner. I don't remember 
 whether Leslie had begun his ' Death of Rutland ' before you left 
 London. He has made a fine picture of it. The head of Rutland is 
 very beautiful, and yet full of expression. Indeed, Lhe whole pict- 
 ure is firmly and well painted. By-the-by, I have given up the 
 subject of ' Christ Sealing the Sick,'' and have made a sketch of an- 
 other much finer, which I think by all odds my best composition ; 
 it is both picturesque and highly impassioned. When I have begun 
 it in large (which will be as soon as I shall have found a good paint- 
 ing-room) I will tell you what it is, and more about it. You find I 
 have not been sparing about my own concerns ; so, if you don't tell 
 me more about yourself and your pursuits in your next, than you 
 have done in your first letter, I shall become modest, and write 
 more in future about matters a?id things in general. . . . 
 
 " Very truly yours, 
 
 "W. Allston." 
 
 Two lively letters from Leslie, in London, cheered him dur- 
 ing this year of discouragement and fear : 
 
 "London, January 30, 1816. 
 " Dear Morse : I have as yet received but one letter from you, 
 which was written the day after your arrival. . I suppose by this time 
 you have been duly and truly welcomed by all your friends ; have had 
 each of your arms shaken into a sort of demi-dislocation, and have had 
 your health drunk till you are an insured man, wind and limb, these 
 thousand years at least, to say nothing of the turkeys, geese, and 
 all other good things, that have been eaten in honor of your arrival. 
 I say, now that all these ceremonies are settled and passed, I hope 
 and expect that you will allow the recollection of your friends on 
 this side of the water to occupy some of your thoughts. Be 
 assured that those friends think of you very often, and that your 
 
LESLIE'S LETTER 97 
 
 image is deeply engraven on their hearts, associated with many 
 past scenes of enjoyment. Since you left us we have been going 
 on much in the old way, ' living from hand to mouth ' (as it is vul- 
 garly expressed). Mr. Allston has finished his ' Peter,' of which he 
 has made a glorious picture, and which will be seen by the public 
 at the British Gallery in a few days. There is but one opinion of 
 it among his friends. But what seems to please him most is the 
 very high opinion Hay don has of it. Punishment seems at last 
 likely to overtake the members of the British Institution for their 
 various misdemeanors. They narrowly escaped this year having no 
 exhibition at all, by reason of no pictures being sent. Allston in- 
 tended his for Spring Gardens ; but a very tempting offer being 
 made to him by Young, that of allowing him to work on it for 
 three weeks at the Gallery, induced him to send it there. Notwith- 
 standing, however, that they had succeeded in getting his great pict- 
 ure, which fills the end of one of their great rooms, their ranks were 
 so scanty that they were obliged to apply to Mr. West for assist- 
 ance, who undertook to fill a whole side of a room with old works 
 of his own. I understood they also applied to Hayter, who was 
 finishing a large picture of three children (portraits), and have 
 taken that in under the appellation of ' The Garland.' The rest of 
 the collection consists principally of the paltry sketches for which 
 they were to give premiums, and the fragments and refuse of Som- 
 erset House. It is generally anticipated that this same British In- 
 stitution will die a natural death one of these days. 
 
 " I am going on with my ' Clifford and Rutta,' and a copy from 
 Mrs. West's picture of ' Cupid commanding the Elements,' for Gen- 
 eral Scott, and now and then making the pot boil with a portrait 
 or so. I am admitted to the life at the Academy, where I draw 
 very regularly. They have instituted a painting school at the 
 Academy, which they have begun to supply with pictures from the 
 Dulwich collection, which formerly belonged to Sir Francis Bour- 
 geois. The academicians are visitors by turns the same as in the 
 life, and the school is in the inner room. I made a few sketches 
 this year at the Gallery, and I shall attend the school at the Acad- 
 emy when Turner is visitor, as I am persuaded I can learn more 
 from him than any one of the R. A.'s. I believe there is no doubt 
 but that government will buy the Elgin Marbles, and it is said they 
 will be removed to the British Museum next summer. The Acad- 
 emy are going to have a new set "of casts in the spring, and Eng- 
 land will present far more advantages to the students in arts, as 
 
 7 
 
'98 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 indeed it does already, than any other part of the world. I hope 
 you will be able to realize your plan of returning in a year. 
 
 " There was no gold medal given the last year at Somerset 
 House : Kukup and Williehass were the only candidates. Mr. 
 West told me that he thought, had you been allowed to try, your 
 picture would have stood a better chance than either of them. Mr. 
 Allston has sold his ' Gil Bias ' (which is at the Gallery) to Colonel 
 Drayton of the U. S. Army. I am very glad to see our heroes take 
 an interest in the arts." 
 
 "London, September 6, 1816. 
 
 " Dear Morse : I have just received your letter by Mr. Pey- 
 son. I am sorry to hear that the arts are advancing so slowly in 
 America ; but as to encouragment there is very little anywhere, I ap- 
 prehend, just at present. There is a general stagnation of business 
 in England, and the artists are as much affected by it as any other 
 class of men. I hope, however, your prospects may not be really so 
 dull in America as you imagine. As you were before a little too 
 sanguine of success, it is possible you may now be more depressed 
 than there is really cause to be. I am glad to hear that you are 
 going on a tour into Vermont and New Hampshire ; it will be a 
 pleasant relaxation to you, and I hope you will return well loaded 
 with sketches. I sincerely hope that you will be able to revisit 
 Europe ; but, by all means, come to London, instead of Rome. I 
 am convinced there are greater advantages here than anywhere. 
 You will find a great deal that will be new to you, and the Elgin 
 Marbles will be placed in a building erected for them at the Muse- 
 um, where it is to be hoped we shall be able to study them in good 
 lights. I never thought of preserving catalogues of the exhibition 
 to send you, as I did not suppose the mere names of pictures 
 would give you any pleasure. And as to critiques, they (you 
 know) are so bad that it is impossible to form any idea of the pict- 
 ures they describe. The Somerset House show was not so good 
 as usual. Turner has two small pictures, by no means his best. 
 Hilton's great picture of the ' Raising of Lazarus ' disappointed 
 every one. Lawrence had some fine portraits, among which was 
 one of Canova, the Italian sculptor, a very intelligent and agree- 
 able head. 
 
 " Your humble servant exhibited a beautiful landscape of a sun- 
 rise, which, I believe, he had outlined before you went away. Mr. 
 A. is at present painting a picture of ' Rebecca at the Well,' for 
 
MODEL DIRECTOKS. 99 
 
 Mr. Van Schaick. He has lately painted a head of Dante's Beatrice, 
 which is extremely beautiful, and has a chastity and refinement of 
 expression equal to Raphael. I am at present painting portraits 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Adams, and studying at the Gallery. The exhi- 
 bition of old masters was the finest I have seen by far. They had 
 two of the cartoons, the ' Miraculous Draught of Fishes,' and the 
 ' Paul preaching at Athens.' The ' Bacchus and Ariadne,' by Ti- 
 tian, and the most beautiful little Paul Veronese (of the ' Adoration 
 of the Shepherds ') I ever saw, which I am now making a finished 
 copy of. There were two large Paulos, ' Wisdom and Strength,' 
 and ' The Painter between Virtue and Vice,' of which you may 
 have seen prints. There was also a glorious portrait of Lorenzo de 
 Medicis, by Sab. del Piombo, the most intellectual and grand head 
 I ever saw for a portrait ; and there was a beautiful little picture, 
 by Raphael, of St. Catherine. The Catalogue Maisonne appeared 
 according to promise, but is not near so good as the one last year. 
 At the conclusion the author says that Mr. PayDe Knight told the 
 directors it was the custom of the Greek nobility to strip and ex- 
 hibit themselves naked to the artists in various attitudes, that they 
 might have an opportunity of studying fine form. Accordingly, 
 those public-spirited men, the directors, have determined to adopt 
 the plan, and are all practising like mad to prepare themselves for 
 the ensuing exhibition, when they are to be placed on pedestals. 
 It is supposed that Sir G. Beaumont, Mr. Long, Mr. Knight, etc., 
 will occupy the principal lights. The Marquis of Stafford, unfor- 
 tunately, could not recollect the attitude of any one antique figure, 
 but was found practising, having the head of the dying gladiator, 
 the body of the Hercules, one leg of the Apollo, and the other of 
 the dancing Faun, turned the wrong way. Lord Mulgrave, having 
 a small head, thought of representing the Torso, but he did not 
 know what to do with his legs, and was afraid that as Master of 
 the Ordnance he could not dispense with his arms. In another 
 part of the catalogue there is a quotation from one of Leigh Hunt's 
 poems, where one angel says to another — 
 
 ' If your cloud holds two, 
 I'll get up and ride with you.' " 
 
 Disappointed in bis expectations of encouragement in his- 
 torical painting, Mr. Morse resolved to go into the country, and 
 earn his bread by painting the portraits of the people. In the 
 rural districts of New England he would find ready introduc- 
 
100 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tion to the most respectable families, as his father's name was a 
 household word in every town. "With letters to the pastors and 
 others, he took his way into the world to seek his fortune ; fame 
 did not tempt him now. During the autumn of 1816, and the 
 winter of 1816-17, he visited several towns in New Hampshire 
 and Yermont. He painted portraits in Walpole, Hanover, 
 Windsor, Portsmouth, and Concord, meeting with moderate 
 success, and receiving the modest sum of fifteen dollars for each 
 portrait. At Concord, ISTew Hampshire, the sun shone brightly 
 upon him. He writes from this place to his parents : " I am 
 still here (August 16th), and am passing my time very agreea- 
 bly. I have painted five portraits at fifteen dollars each, and 
 have two more engaged, and many more talked of. I think I 
 shall get along well. I believe I could make an independent 
 fortune in a few years if I devoted myself exclusively to por- 
 traits, so great is the desire for good portraits in the different 
 country towns." 
 
 He doubtless was candid when he wrote that he was " passing 
 his time in Concord very agreeably." In his history of Concord, 
 Dr. Bouton says : " At a party given by Mr. Sparhawk, in ISIS, 
 among the invited guests was Samuel F. B. Morse, now distin- 
 guished as the inventor of the electric Telegraph, who was that 
 evening introduced to Miss Lucretia P. Walker, daughter of 
 Charles Walker, who was accounted the most beautiful and ac- 
 complished young lady of the town, whom Mr. Morse subse- 
 quently married." 
 
 She was a young lady of great personal loveliness and rare 
 good sense. The eye of the artist was attracted by her beauty, 
 her sweetness of temper, and high intellectual culture, which 
 fitted her to be his companion. Her sound judgment and pru- 
 dence made her a counselor and friend. All the letters that 
 she wrote to him, before and after their marriage, he carefully 
 preserved, and they are witnesses to her intelligence, education, 
 tenderness of feeling, and admirable fitness to be the wife of 
 such a man as Mr. Morse. 
 
 Before an engagement of marriage was made, their corre- 
 spondence was so frequent and voluminous that the artist must 
 have been rapid with pen and brush to have been able to satisfy 
 the demands of his patrons and his love. Early in the year 
 
DR. MORSE'S INVITATION. 101 
 
 1817 the engagement was concluded. He imparted a knowledge 
 of the fact at once to his parents, having received the cordial 
 approbation of the parents of Miss "Walker. To them Rev. Dr. 
 Morse addressed a letter inviting their daughter to visit Charles- 
 town, that he and Mrs. Morse might form the acquaintance of 
 one who was to stand to them in this new and near relation. 
 The letter was in these stately but affectionate terms : 
 
 Rev. Dr. Morse to Mr. and Mrs. Walker. 
 
 " Charlestown, January 13, 1S1Y. 
 
 " Dear Sir and Madam : The mutual attachment subsisting be- 
 tween our eldest son and your daughter, and the matrimonial en- 
 gagement which in consequence has been entered into by them, 
 with the consent of their parents, respectively, render it proper and 
 desirable, in prospect of such a connection in our families, that an 
 acquaintance should be formed between us. As this cannot now 
 be done personally, with convenience, I take the liberty to com- 
 mence it by letter. From this acquaintance, and future intercourse, 
 Mrs. Morse and myself anticipate much pleasure and satisfaction. 
 We are very anxious to become personally acquainted with your 
 daughter, who is much endeared to us by the amiable dispositions 
 and virtues which she is reported to possess, as well as from the 
 consideration that she shares so largely in the affections of a be- 
 loved son. And I accordingly .write this for the purpose of re- 
 questing your permission that your daughter should make us a visit 
 with our son, of such length as may suit her convenience. 
 
 " We hope you will not deny us this request, a compliance with 
 which will afford us much gratification. If it can be made con- 
 venient, we should be obliged particularly* if they could be here in 
 the course of the next week. It will, be assured, give us much 
 pleasure to see you, or any of your family, at our house, whenever 
 it may be convenient to you, or to them. 
 
 " Mrs. Morse unites in kind regards to you both, with, dear sir, 
 and madam, your affectionate and obedient servant, 
 
 "Jed. Morse." 
 
 The visit was made, to the delight of all parties. The young 
 lady returned to her parents in Concord, and the artist contin- 
 ued his travels and painting. The congratulations of friends 
 poured in upon him when his engagement became known. 
 Leslie, the friend of his youth, in London ; his companion in 
 
102 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 study and in many a gay and festive hour — the humorist alike 
 with pen and pencil, and in conversation more than with either 
 — wrote to him when he heard of it : 
 
 " So, you are over head and ears in love ? Happy fellow ! You 
 have described her in such delicious terms that your pen should 
 have flowed with honey instead of ink. Excuse my saying one 
 serious word to you, my dear Morse, on this serious subject, though 
 I have little doubt your own excellent judgment has already dic- 
 tated it to you. Take care to ascertain, before the knot is tied, 
 whether she has a deep sense of true religion. Do not, on any 
 account, marry unless you are satisfied that she has, and be not 
 contented with a mere outward profession ; she must delight in it. 
 Her religion must be practical, or she will not make the kind of 
 wife I should wish a friend to have. You and I have seen how very 
 greatly true Christianity conduces to domestic comfort in the in- 
 stance of Mr. and Mrs. Allston." 
 
 Such counsel from such a rare genius as Leslie reveals the 
 inner life in a light at once unexpected and beautiful. Leslie 
 proceeds in the next paragraph to describe the paintings in the 
 annual exhibition then open in the British Gallery, among them 
 some just finished, which are now famous, Wilkie's " Sheep- 
 shearing" and others; and, after cheering his friend with words 
 of hope, he adds : " Believe that you are destined to do some- 
 thing great, and you will do it. I write this with the hope of 
 rousing your spirits. You will be pleased to hear that Collins, 
 who was a Deist, has become a sincere Christian. I find there 
 are more artists religious than I was aware of; Wilkie and 
 Haydon are, and so are Ward, and Jackson, and Linnell. 
 Willes you knew was a Christian, and Starke and Severn are 
 both Christians, and very amiable young men." 
 
 As Morse pursued his wandering life among the cities 
 and rural towns of Yermont and Kew Hampshire, the letters 
 to and from him keep us acquainted with his progress, and 
 with the peculiar bent of his mind, even in the midst of his 
 labors, as a painter of portraits. We would not look among 
 letters of love to find notices of useful inventions in the arts ; 
 yet, in the midst of these effusions of the heart, put away 
 more than half a century ago, we discover the young lover, 
 while making declarations of his affection, mingling his hopes 
 
THE PATENT PUMP. 103 
 
 and fears with calculations about the prospective profits of his 
 " flexible piston-pump." He writes to Miss Walker, in June, 
 1817 : " I am preparing for a journey to Washington, to take 
 out our patents foe theee machines, which, in the opinion of 
 judicious,- philosophical, and practical men, will be of great value. 
 I would not be too sanguine. It is best to be always prepared 
 for disappointment." Finding that the business at Washington 
 could be attended to by an agent, he did not go, and in the 
 month of July writes to Miss Walker : 
 
 "We are in daily expectation of hearing of the arrival of our 
 models of machinery at Washington, and of receiving our letters- 
 patent. We have just tried our fire-engine on a large scale, and it 
 succeeds to our utmost expectation. We have shown it in opera- 
 tion to several friends, who have given it their entire approbation, 
 and think that it will not only be profitable to us, but beneficial to 
 the community. From its cheapness, it will be within the reach of 
 every village. But good-by, dearest ; I hope to talk over all these 
 things shortly with you." 
 
 His brother, Sidney E., was at work diligently upon improve- 
 ments in the new engine, their joint production, and, in a letter 
 to Finley, the brother writes, closing with a mock-heroic name 
 which he had invented : 
 
 " Since you left us I have been employed in newly modifying and 
 improving the pump-machine. I have got it now exactly to my 
 mind. The valves will be on a new plan, far superior to any thing 
 ever before thought of. The bag-piston, I find, is no new thing. 
 The ' Cyclopaedia ' states that one Benjamin Martin, an English- 
 man, invented the same thing more than fifty years ago. His 
 pump, they say, worked admirably, but was never introduced into 
 common use, because the leathers, when dry, were continually 
 cracking. I have invented a remedy for all difficulties, and have 
 got a pump in every respect to my liking. Particulars when you 
 return. I think of calling it 'Morse's Patent Metallic Double- 
 Headed Ocean - Drinker and Deluge - Spouter Valve Pump- 
 Boxes.'' " 
 
 And Finley himself writes to his father, from Concord, in 
 August, 1817 : 
 
 " When in Andover, I conversed with Mr. Farrar and others on 
 
104 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the subject of our engines. Mr. F. was highly delighted, and said 
 he should certainly wait to know the result of our experiment, and 
 would take ours, in preference to any others, for their college en- 
 gine, and, instead of one, would probably want two. He said that 
 the town, also, had long had an idea of procuring an engine ; but, 
 on account of the expense, had not yet obtained one. He said he 
 believed they had subscribed about three hundred dollars, but it 
 was not sufficient, and they had given up the idea at present ; but 
 he thought they would have one of ours, without doubt. 
 
 " In Concord, also, all that I have conversed with seem highly 
 pleased. Mr. Sparhawk, the Secretary of State (who is very much 
 my friend), carried me to see the Concord engine, which is a mis- 
 erable affair, and which cost four hundred and fifty dollars. He 
 said it was always out of order, and they did not like it. He also 
 said if ours succeeded, and cost only half or even two-thirds of the 
 price, they would have two or three in Concord. 
 
 " I wish much to know how Dearborn proceeds with the engine 
 and bellows. I think the prospect brightens with respect to our 
 inventions, if our smallest can be made so as to be afforded at one 
 hundred and fifty dollars, and so that our patent-fee should be on it 
 fifty dollars. I think we should make something handsome." 
 
 The New Hampshire Patriot, of April 14, 1818, has this 
 notice : 
 
 " An additional fire-engine has been purchased by the inhab- 
 itants of this town. It is a new invention of Mr. Morse, the cele- 
 brated paiuter, and is procured for about half the usual expense — 
 say one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars. It requires 
 much less manual labor, and throws the water to as great a distance 
 and in as large quantities. As yet we have seen only the opera- 
 tion of Mr. Morse's miniature model. Should his invention succeed 
 equal to expectation and appearance, every village of any consid- 
 erable extent will be a gainer to purchase one or more of these 
 engines." 
 
 To Miss "Walker lie writes from his father's house in Charles- 
 town : 
 
 "November 20, 1817. 
 
 " Our inventions are in a prosperous way ; it takes a deal of 
 time and patience to attend to them, but I hope they will be a 
 handsome property to us ere long. All is in God's hands ; in his 
 
A MYSTERIOUS LOCK. 105 
 
 own time and his own way, all things shall work for good to us if 
 we love Him." 
 
 And in the same letter he mentions sending a curious gift to 
 a young lady, and such a present as could have come only from 
 a young man of an ingenious turn of mind. It illustrates the 
 mechanical tendencies of his intellect at this period of his life. 
 He writes : 
 
 " I send by Mr. Ambrose with the book the lock which I once 
 mentioned to you ; it may amuse you. I think it will puzzle the 
 ingenuity of Mr. J. to find it out. I will tell you how it opens by 
 the annexed figure : the word that opens it must be spelt in a line 
 between the two marks on the end-pieces, and when spelt the right- 
 hand end pulls out about a quarter of an inch, and the ketch can be 
 lifted up. You must not tell Mr. J. the key-word ; it is the name 
 of some one you know. I must leave it for your ingenuity to find 
 out whose it is." 
 
 And, again, a week later : 
 
 " Our inventions are slowly progressing. Surely an inventor 
 earns his money hard. It appears to me I would not go through 
 the vexations, and delays, and disappointments, I have gone through, 
 for double what I expect to obtain from them. They, however, 
 promise very well, and I hope to realize something handsome from 
 them. Our engine has been proved. Tell Mr. Sparhawk (with my 
 best respects to him and Mrs. Sparhawk) that we can order one 
 made for Concord, if they please, for one hundred and fifty dollars, 
 which shall throw three barrels eighty feet in five seconds, by 
 the power of eight men. I wish the Concord people would give us 
 an order for such a one, which shall be warranted, and thus en- 
 courage the new invention. An advertisement is preparing for 
 the papers, which will be ready in a day or two." 
 
 Little did the perplexed and anxious artist, then bewailing 
 the vexatious delays and disappointments of the inventor, im- 
 agine that, within twenty short years from that time, his bride 
 to whom he was then writing would be in her grave, their chil- 
 dren homeless, he living in a solitary garret, carrying in the dark- 
 ness to his comfortless chamber the simple food which he pre- 
 pared with his own hands, while toiling to produce an invention 
 that was to electrify the world ! And in another letter, after 
 
106 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 filling three pages with details of his inventions, he says : " But 
 good-by, Lucrece ; I am bothering you with engines and machi- 
 nations, and I am sure they can't be pleasant to you ; so I will 
 stop." 
 
 The Allstons, of South Carolina, were frequently at the 
 North, and among the friends of their relative, Washington 
 Allston, Mr. Morse became acquainted with Hon. John A. All- 
 ston of Charleston, who assured him that a far more hopeful 
 field for his professional labors would be found in the South 
 than in the rural towns of New England. Rev. Dr. Morse 
 had written to his son, while in Walpole, New Hampshire, 
 saying : 
 
 " Mr. Legare, cousin to the Legares you know, a young man of 
 genius and taste, says he prefers your prize picture to Mr. Allston's 
 great picture. He returns to Carolina next month, and speaks fa- 
 vorably of your spending the winter there, and will do what he can 
 to prepare the way for you, should you go. Mr. Gallaudet was 
 here yesterday with a young Frenchman [Le Clerc] deaf and dumb, 
 a most interesting character. I showed him, and Dr. Coggswell, 
 of Hartford, with Mr. G., your paintings. They were highly grati- 
 fied. The remarks of the Frenchman were very sensible and 
 shrewd. He understood the subjects perfectly, and appeared to 
 have fine taste." 
 
 Dr. Morse's large acquaintance in the South, where he had 
 spent several months at different times, and where relatives 
 of his were residing, encouraged his son Finley to contemplate 
 with favor the suggestions of Mr. Allston and Mr. Legare. Dr. 
 Finley, his uncle, was at this time a resident of Charleston, and 
 to him he wrote on the subject. The answer to his inquiries 
 was a cordial invitation to come on and find a home in his 
 uncle's house. While making preparations to go to the South, 
 he writes to his Lucretia : " I am over head and ears in business, 
 so much so that I am at a loss which thing to commence first. 
 Portraits and engines, and pumps and bellows, and various 
 models of various things, letters to write, and visits to pay, and 
 preparations for voyages by sea and land, all crowd upon me. 
 Tell Mr. Sparhawk that the engine is commenced, and will be 
 finished with all expedition. I hope the Pembroke people will 
 wait until they see ours before they order their engine." 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PUMP. 107 
 
 His arrangements being completed, he went to New Haven, 
 and there laid before the professors of the college, and others, 
 the inventions which he and his brother had patented. From 
 New York he writes to his parents : 
 
 "City Hotel, New York, January 10, 1818. 
 
 " My dear Parents : I arrived here safely last evening, from 
 New Haven. Commodore Perry was a fellow-passenger. I was 
 much pleased with him. I left the machine business in a prosper- 
 ous way in New Haven. I showed the models to President Day, 
 Professor Silliman, Mr. Whitney, Mr. Porter, and others ; from Mr. 
 Day and Mr. Whitney I obtained recommendations which I will 
 transcribe. Mr. Silliman was so much pleased that he requested 
 me to let him take the model of the engine to show it to the class, 
 and wishes me to make a set of drawings, with an abstract of the 
 specifications, for the first number of a periodical publication, de- 
 voted to the arts and sciences, he is about to commence, to be out 
 in May next; he to be at the expense of engravings. The models 
 I left with Mr. Porter, who is our agent at New Haven ; with him 
 I made the following agreement, viz. : 
 
 " ' I authorize John E. Porter, Esq., of New Haven, to contract with 
 any mechanic that he may think proper, to construct and sell at his own 
 expense any number of Morse's patent fire-engines, he paying or securing 
 to be paid, to the satisfaction of said Porter the sum of thirty dollars 
 for each one he shall so construct and sell, which sum said Porter is au- 
 thorized to receive and hold for our benefit, and for his compensation we 
 will allow him twelve and a half per cent, on the sum so secured and paid 
 to us. " ' Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 
 u t -p, j Sidney E. Morse, and 
 * or \ Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 
 "'New Ha yen, January 8, 1818.' 
 
 " B} r this contract we make it for the interest of Mr. Porter to 
 exert himself in behalf of the machines, and we are secured twenty- 
 five dollars on each one. Mr. Day's recommendations run thus : 
 
 " ' Having seen an improved pump-piston, contrived by Mr. Morse for 
 the purpose of playing without friction, and an application of it to the 
 fire-engine and other instruments, I take the liberty of stating that it 
 appears to me to be calculated to answer a useful purpose ; as it unites 
 simplicity in the construction, with effectual security against friction. 
 
 "'Jeremiah Day. 
 "'Yale College, January 8, 1818.' 
 
108 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " Mr. Whitney's runs thus : 
 
 " ' Having examined the model of a fire-engine, invented by Mr. Morse, 
 with pistons of a new construction, I am of opinion that an engine may 
 be made on that principle (being more simple and much less expensive), 
 which would have a preference to those in common use. 
 
 "'Eli Whitney. 
 " 'New Haven, January 8, 1818.' 
 
 " I am unfortunate in not finding, in New York, either George 
 Clinton or Mr. Moses Rogers. The former resides in Albany, the 
 latter is in England. I called on Mr. Van Schaick, and on Monday 
 we shall endeavor to find some one to arrange the business of the 
 inventions with." 
 
 "With his mind quite as full of the pump as of painting, Mr. 
 Morse sailed from New York in a packet, and arrived in 
 Charleston, January 27, 1818. A cordial welcome greeted him 
 at Dr. Einley's. He wrote to his parents the next day, express- 
 ing his resolution to put the pump aside, and devote himself 
 wholly to his chosen art. He says : 
 
 " I find myself in a new climate, the weather warm as our May. 
 I have been introduced to a number of friends. I think my pros- 
 pects are favorable. I did nothing about the machine in New 
 York. The absence of Governor Clinton entirely deranged my 
 plans. Rev. Dr. Spring advised me to leave it until my return to 
 New York, after the subject had been noticed in Silliman's Jour- 
 nal. He thought it would then be revived with better effect. The 
 street commissioner, Mr. Macomb, was very much pleased with 
 the model, and said it promised to be extensively useful. The 
 machine business (between ourselves) I am heartily sick of. It 
 yields much vexation, labor, and expense, and no profit. Yet I 
 will not abandon it. I will do as well as I can with it, but I will 
 make it subservient to my painting, as I am sure of a support, and 
 even independence, if I pursue it diligently, and I am sure I am 
 disposed to do it." 
 
 Bright as his prospects appeared when he entered under the 
 most favorable auspices the charmed circles of society in the 
 hospitable city of Charleston, the weeks wore slowly away, and 
 no sitters presented themselves at the door of his solitary studio. 
 "Weary with waiting, and drawn northward by a magnet more 
 powerful than that which he afterward employed, he resolved to 
 
SUCCESS IN CHARLESTON. 109 
 
 return to his Lucretia, and portraits at fifteen dollars. These, 
 and a pump that would throw three barrels of water in a minute, 
 began to appear more likely to yield to the young people the 
 income needed to render it prudent to marry, than the generous 
 hospitalities of Charleston, with no orders for the artist's pencil. 
 He implored his uncle, Dr. Finley, to sit to him for his por- 
 trait, that he might leave a memorial of his visit, and make 
 some return for the kindness he had received. Then he would 
 turn his back upon Charleston, and seek his native New Eng- 
 land. This decision was evidently prompted by feeling rather 
 than judgment, though it must be admitted there was nothing 
 else for him to do. Dr. Finley consented to sit. The artist 
 summoned to the work before him all the energies and resources 
 of his youth and manhood. Never, in his anxious contests for 
 prizes in the Royal Academy, had he made a more heroic effort 
 than in this attempt to produce a perfect picture of his relative 
 and friend. The studies of the past were invoked to aid him, 
 and hopes of the future nerved him. If it were the last, as it 
 was the first, work in the South, and far from the home of his 
 childhood, it should be a memento of what the neglected and 
 despairing artist could do. It was done, and to this day it is 
 valued as one of the best productions of his master-hand. As 
 he advanced in its execution, and intelligent critics were in- 
 vited by Dr. Finley to see the coining portrait, three applica- 
 tions were filed by persons who now desired to be portrayed on 
 canvas. The clouds began to break away. The wonderful skill 
 of the artist became the talk of the town. In a few weeks his 
 list of patrons to be painted amounted to one hundred and 
 fifty. His price was sixty dollars a portrait ! His success was 
 assured. He toiled unceasingly, literally day and night, and 
 even then he could not meet the demand for his work. Draw- 
 ings were made of many who would permit him to finish the 
 painting at greater leisure in the ensuing summer. 
 
 In the distance he saw, and not very far off, the vision of 
 wife and home. He would go North in the early summer, and 
 return in the autumn with his bride, and make a home in that 
 genial clime, among friends to whom he had become strongly 
 attached. Mr. John A. Allston, who had advised Mr. Morse to 
 come to Charleston, continued to give him encouragement and 
 
110 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 material aid. "Writing to him, on learning that Mr. Morse 
 wished to paint a portrait of his daughter, Mr. Allston says : 
 
 "Georgetown, March 29, 1818. 
 
 " Sir : I have lately received a letter from my brother Motte, in 
 which he tells me you have authorized him to communicate your 
 intention of shortly commencing the full-sized, Aa^-portrait of my 
 daughter. Upon your application to my brother, and to Mrs. Col- 
 cock, at whose boarding-school my daughter is, she will attend to 
 you for that purpose. 
 
 " I am unwilling that a painter of your reputation should pass 
 me without gratifying myself completely, and therefore beg the 
 favor of you to answer the following question, with the least pos- 
 sible delay: What is your price for a full-length portrait of my 
 daughter executed nearly in miniature, say from twelve to twenty- 
 four inches in length, with as superb a landscape as you are capa- 
 ble of designing and painting ? It would be a convenient opportu- 
 nity to make out this painting, while my daughter is attending you 
 for her full-sized, Aa?/-portrait. I would be very glad to have a 
 painting of her in the way described. You need not take any 
 steps toward it until you write and receive my answer. I am, sir, 
 most respectfully, your obedient and humble servant, 
 
 "John A. Allston. 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse, Esq." 
 
 And the patron's idea of the art will be gathered from a 
 subsequent letter written by Mr. Allston, on receiving Mr. 
 Morse's reply to his inquiries. 
 
 " Georgetown, April 1, 1818. 
 
 " Sir : I have just received your favor, of the 30th ultimo, and 
 thank you very cordially for your goodness in consenting to take 
 my daughter's full-length likeness in the manner I described, say, 
 twenty-four inches in length. I will pay you most willingly the 
 two hundred dollars you require for it, and will consider myself a 
 gainer by the bargain. I shall expect you to decorate this picture 
 with the most superb landscape you are capable of designing, and 
 that you will produce a masterpiece of painting. I agree to your 
 taking it with you to the northward to finish it. Be pleased to 
 represent my daughter in the finest attitude you can conceive. I 
 wish the drapery to be white, but if you think some light color 
 would be handsomer, you can adopt it. I cannot refrain from as- 
 
THE DAUGHTER'S PORTRAIT. HI 
 
 suring you that your letter has delighted me beyond measure, 
 particularly that part of it which proposes your taking this picture 
 with you to the North to finish, as I know from sad experience 
 the difference between pictures executed at leisure and those done 
 under a pressure of business. In the short space of twelve months 
 I have paid much more than two thousand dollars for pictures of 
 my family, not one of which can be said to be even a tolerable 
 likeness, though two of them are certainly beautifully painted. 
 As the season has far advanced, and my brother Motte writes me 
 that you have already seventy portraits on your list to be finished 
 in rotation, I must relinquish for the present my application to 
 you for the several portraits I had intended, until your return to 
 Charleston in November next. 
 
 " The full-sized half-length portrait of my daughter I hope you 
 will have time to do justice to, and to finish before you leave 
 Charleston, as my brother informs me it is now at the head of your 
 list. If, however, you would prefer to take this picture also with you 
 to the northward to finish, I would have no objection, but I could 
 never consent to it unless you will agree to receive payment for it 
 immediately. If you think your time will permit you to finish this 
 picture in your best style before your departure from Charleston, I 
 would of course greatly prefer it, and only make use of the above 
 observation in case you might prefer taking it with you. 
 " I am, sir, with great respect, 
 
 " Your most obedient and humble servant, 
 
 " John A. Allston. 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse, Esq.' 1 '' 
 
 Mr. Allston paid the artist handsomely for these pictures of 
 his children, and Mr. Morse begged him afterward to accept as 
 a present his great picture, " The Judgment of Jupiter." It 
 was accepted in terms as honorable to the writer as to the artist 
 who so handsomely had expressed his sense of obligation. Mr. 
 Allston writes to Mr. Morse : 
 
 "Georgetown, April 18, 1820. 
 " My dear Sir : I thank you very sincerely for your kind letter 
 of the 14th inst., which has just reached me. I am unable to express 
 to you sufficiently the sense of the obligation I entertain, for the 
 very splendid present you have been pleased to make me. Much 
 less am I able to convey to you the value I set upon the friendly 
 sentiments you must have experienced and which have induced you 
 
112 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 to make me a present so highly flattering to me. The painting is 
 of inestimable value, and, though I am delighted in being the 
 owner of it, yet I cannot refrain from saying (however undeserv- 
 ing I am of it) that I value your regard even more than the picture. 
 This present is an exhibition of exalted sentiments. It may be my 
 lot to view it for a number of years. I shall never pass it but with 
 mingled emotions of admiration for your talents, and of unfeigned 
 homage to your superior feelings. I will direct Messrs. Kershaw 
 and Lewis to forward it to me. 
 
 "I wish you, my dear sir, a safe voyage to the North, and that 
 we may live to meet again — and to accept the unfeigned assurance 
 of the regard of your much obliged and most obedient servant, 
 
 " John A. Allston. 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse, Esq." 
 
 The subsequent history of this picture is remarkable. While 
 Mr. Allston lived, it was the most attractive picture in his gal- 
 lery. At his death, his paintings were sold and scattered, and 
 this one was lost to the knowledge of the artist and his friends. 
 Many years after, an American collector of pictures bought it in 
 England, ■ and presented it to Mrs. Parmalee, a niece of Prof. 
 Morse, without the slightest suspicion of his being the author. 
 He recognized it instantly on seeing it, and it is now in the pos- 
 session of the family. 
 
 In May of 1818, having spent less than five months in 
 Charleston, and having painted fifty-three portraits, and com- 
 menced nine, to be finished in the summer, Mr. Morse returned 
 to Boston. Not many days after his arrival he received a letter 
 from Dr. Finley, in Charleston, rallying him playfully on his 
 having met his Lucretia ; and then the uncle says : 
 
 " Finley, I am afraid you will be too happy ; you ought to meet 
 a little rub or two, or you will be too much in the clouds, and forget 
 that you are among mortals. Let us see if I cannot give you a 
 friendly hoist downward. Your pictures; ay, suppose I should 
 speak of them, and what is said of them during your absence. I 
 will perform the office of him who was placed on the triumphal 
 car of the conqueror to abuse him lest he should be elated. "Well, 
 * His pictures,' say people, ' are undoubtedly good likenesses, but 
 he paints carelessly, and in too much haste, and his draperies are 
 not well done ; he must be more attentive, or he will lose his repu- 
 
MARRIAGE. 113 
 
 tation.' ' See,' say others, 'how he flatters ! ' ' Oh,' says another, 
 ' he has not flattered me,' etc., etc. By-the-by, I saw old General 
 C. C. Pinckney yesterday, and he told me in his laughing, humorous 
 way, that he had requested you to draw his brother Thomas twenty 
 years younger than he really was, so as to be a companion to his 
 own when he was twenty years older than at this time, and to flat- 
 ter him, as he had directed Stuart to do so to him. Here you have 
 a nice little anecdote to amuse yourself and friends with." 
 
 Resuming bis labors at home, Mr. Morse spent the summer 
 in completing the portraits be had brought with bim in an un- 
 finished state, and executing such orders as now came to bis hand. 
 On the 6th of October, 1818, the New Hampshire Patriot had 
 the following notice : 
 
 "Married in this town, October 1st, by Rev. Dr. McFarland, 
 Mr. Samuel F. B. Morse (the celebrated painter) to Miss Lucretia 
 Walker, daughter of Charles "Walker, Esq." 
 
 His bridal tour, with horse and gig, after the fashion of the 
 day, is portrayed in a letter to bis parents : 
 
 " Concord, N. H., October 5, 1818. 
 " My dear Parents : I was married, as I wrote you I should be, 
 on Tuesday morning last. We set out at nine o'clock, and reached 
 Amherst, over bad roads, at night. The next day we continued our 
 journey through Wilton to New Ipswich, eighteen miles, over one 
 of the worst roads I ever traveled; all up hill and down, and very 
 rocky, and no tavern on the road. We inquired at New Ipswich 
 our best route to Northampton, where we intended to go to meet 
 Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius ; but we found, on inquiry, that there were 
 nothing but cross-roads, and these very bad, and no tavern where 
 we could be comfortably accommodated. Our horse was also tired ; 
 so we thought our best way would be to return. Accordingly, the 
 next day we started for Concord, and arrived on Friday evening 
 safe home again. Lucretia wishes to. spend this week with her 
 friends, so that I shall return (Providence permitting) on this day 
 week, and reach home by Tuesday noon ; probably to dinner. We 
 are both well, and send a great deal of love to you all. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Walker wish me to present their best respects to you. 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 8 
 
114 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 On the 12th of the next month, Mr. Morse, with his young 
 wife, sailed in the schooner Tontine, Captain Fanning, from 
 New York, for Charleston, S. C. They were welcomed with 
 great hospitality by the many friends that Mr. Morse had made 
 the previous winter, and their residence was rendered peculiarly 
 pleasant by the many attentions they received. Mrs. Morse won 
 general admiration and love. Several other artists had estab- 
 lished themselves at Charleston, attracted, doubtless, by the 
 fame of his great success, and with them he had to divide the 
 business. One man, whom he had employed as a waiter in his 
 studio, suddenly assumed the proportions of a painter of por- 
 traits, and announced himself in the papers as an artist. He 
 did not fail altogether in finding patrons, who discovered rare 
 merit in the painter. But Mr. Morse's old patrons returned 
 with new friends, and he soon had as much work upon his hands 
 as he could possibly accomplish. Yet he could not dismiss the 
 inventions from his thoughts. He was experimenting upon 
 improvements in the engine. His letters to his brother are not 
 preserved, but one, in reply to his suggestions, shows how perti- 
 naciously his mind was at work : 
 
 From Sidney F. Morse. 
 
 "Andoter, January 17, 1819. 
 
 " Dear Brother : For various reasons, which it is not neces- 
 sary to mention, I do not think your experiment a fair test of the 
 principle. The friction of the potato plug against the sides of 
 the tube might have been sufficient to destroy the whole force. 
 In experiments on so small a scale, the friction is very great com- 
 pared with the force exerted. I would not advise you to try the 
 full experiment, as you propose, with oil and valves, etc., because 
 there will be a great deal of perplexity and expense which you do 
 not anticipate; and, in trying the experiment on so small a scale, 
 there will be a great many little causes of failure not affecting 
 the truth of the principle. Besides, the principle can be much 
 more satisfactorily tested by a simple experiment than by a com- 
 plicated one. I have thought of the following method : 
 
 " Procure a cylindrical vessel of tin, of any dimensions, according 
 to the size of the boat you employ (the larger the better, if it is not 
 inconveniently large). Let it be divided into two apartments by a 
 perpendicular partition, as in the following diagram : 
 
AN IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTED. 115 
 
 " A B represents the cylinder, c d the partition running from 
 the top nearly to the bottom ; e is a little tube \ of an inch in diam- 
 eter or less, capable of being stopped per- 
 fectl} 7 tight with a plug (and therefore I 
 think should not be of tin), f is a tube 
 \ an inch in diameter, and capable also 
 of being completely closed with a plug, 
 or with the hand. Take care that there 
 is no leakage, especially in the parti- 
 tion between the two apartments. To 
 prepare for the experiment: First, let the tube e be carefully 
 stopped. Then turn the cylinder over so that the line c d shall 
 be parallel with the horizon, and then pour in water at the ori- 
 fice f, till you have filled the apartment h. Then let the cylinder 
 assume its original position, and if every thing is tight the water 
 will remain in the apartment A, while the apartment g is empty. 
 The next step is to close the orifice f, either with your hand or 
 a plug — while some one unstops the tube e, and pours in a dozen 
 or twenty drops of ether, which will float on the top of the water 
 in the apartment h. Then let the tube e be closed again. Let 
 the c}dinder now be placed in the boat with the orifice f tow- 
 ard the stern, and apply heat to the water in the apartment h 
 in any convenient way. When the water becomes blood-warm 
 the ether will be converted into vapor, and force the water from 
 the apartment h into the apartment g, and, if my theory is cor- 
 rect, will propel the boat forward. If you can conveniently apply 
 heat enough to make the water boil, you may simplify the ap- 
 paratus still further, for then you might use the steam of the 
 water, instead of the steam of ether, to force the water out of the 
 apartment A, and so dispense with the tube e. Two or three days 
 since, I saw the National Intelligencer, for Wednesday and Thurs- 
 day, January 27th and 28th, and noticed an article headed ' An- 
 tiquity of Steamboats.' I want you to get the paper, and read 
 that article. You will find that they are now actually building a 
 steamboat on the very principle of the experiment which we tried 
 in the navy-yard. 
 
 " I am much rejoiced to hear that you are going on so pros- 
 perously in your business. Don't let the experiment take up your 
 time or your thoughts, so as to interfere with your business. 
 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 " Sidney E. Mokse." 
 
116 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 To Mr. Washington Allston, having now returned from 
 London, and established himself in Boston, Mr. Morse wrote, 
 proposing to exhibit and sell some of the pictures, in Charles- 
 ton, of his distinguished friend. Mr. Allston's mother was 
 living at that time in Charleston. To the letter of Morse, Mr. 
 Allston replied as follows : 
 
 From, Washington Allston. 
 
 "Boston, January 27, 1819, 
 
 " My dear Sir : Before this reaches you, you will probably re- 
 ceive the landscape, which you were so good as to undertake the 
 disposal of in Charleston, or at least to give house-room to there ; 
 I mean the landscape I painted in Italy, and which has been for a 
 year or two past in Mr. Sully's room, in Philadelphia. The price 
 I have set on it is two hundred and fifty guineas ; not a farthing less. 
 If it is worth any thing, I think it worth three hundred ; but I am 
 content to get two hundred and fifty. At any rate, however, I beg 
 you to observe that I would on no account sell it for more than 
 three hundred, even if it should be offered. The price is two hun- 
 dred and fifty ; ask that, and with that I shall be content. I have 
 directed the case containing the picture to be addressed to you, to 
 the care of Mr. Hugh Paterson, who was formerly my agent ; and 
 I must beg the favor of you to pay the freight and other charges 
 that may be incident to the landing of it, as I have no longer any ac- 
 count standing with Mr. Paterson, which I will repay you when 
 we meet ; or you may deduct the sum from the sale, if it should be 
 so fortunate as to meet with a purchaser. I will make no apology 
 for giving this trouble, since I know you would not consider it 
 other than a pleasure to render me a service. 
 
 " Now the business part of my letter is over, I suppose you 
 will expect something like news concerning the art. Sargent is 
 going on with his second picture of the ' Landing of our Fore- 
 fathers,' and I think will make it better than that of the ' Entrance 
 into Jerusalem.' He is a worthy and liberal man, and I hope he 
 may meet with that praise for it which his love of the art, under so 
 many unexciting, not to say discouraging circumstances, may fairly 
 entitle him to ; and under which his perseverance is no small proof 
 that he cultivates it solely for itself. Mr. Stuart has lately painted 
 a fine head of Commodore Peny. Fisher left this for Charleston 
 some time since, and I suppose is now there. Leslie, from whom I 
 lately had a letter, does not contemplate returning to America be- 
 
LETTER FROM ALLSTOK H7 
 
 fore the next autumn. John Payne has written a tragedy on the 
 subject of 'Junius Brutus,' which is now acting with great applause 
 at the Drury Lane. Kean plays the principal part in it. This is 
 all the news I have to tell about others. Now concerning myself: 
 I yesterday received an official communication from Mr. Howard, 
 the - secretary of the Royal Academy, informing me that on the 2d 
 of November last I was elected an associate of that body. I had 
 received intelligence of it about three weeks ago, both from Leslie 
 and Collins. I must own this is very pleasing to me, and I am 
 sure it will be very gratifying to you ; I am the more pleased too 
 with the distinction, inasmuch as I never would nor did solicit a 
 vote from any academician. And this is a proof that the report 
 of candidates being expected to canvass, or in other words to beg 
 votes, is without foundation. I wish you could see Collins's letter. 
 I suppose you know he was made an associate before you left Eng- 
 land. He says I must come back. But that I have no thoughts of 
 — at least for many good years, if it should please God to grant 
 me them. 
 
 " Something like encouragement seems to appear in our hori- 
 zon ; and if we have any talents we owe something to our country 
 when she is disposed to foster them. One of the gentlemen con- 
 cerned told me two days ago that he was appointed one of a 
 committee for engaging me to paint a picture for the hospital here. 
 As yet I have had no formal notice of it ; but do not doubt that 
 the communication will soon be made. This, however, is between 
 ourselves. I expect, in your answer to this, a full and particular 
 account of all that you are doing. You cannot be too minute. Re- 
 member me most cordially to your wife. And pray present my re- 
 spects to Mrs. Heyward, Mrs. and Miss Rutledge, and Colonel 
 Drayton and his lady. Remember me also to White, Racot, Frazer, 
 and Cogdell. Believe me sincerely your friend, 
 
 " Washington Allston." 
 
 This letter was post-marked January 29th, and, before it could 
 have been received in Charleston, Mr. Morse writes to his friend 
 and teacher : 
 
 "Charleston, S. C, February 4, 1819. 
 " Washington Axlston, Esq. 
 
 " My dear Sir : Excuse my neglect in not having written you 
 before this, according to my promise before I left Boston. I can 
 only plead an apology (what I know will gratify you), a multiplicity 
 
118 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 of business. I am painting from morning till night, and have con- 
 tinual applications ; I have added to my list, this season only, to the 
 amount of three thousand dollars ; that is, since I left you. Among 
 them are three full-lengths to be finished at the North, I hope in 
 Boston, where I shall once more enjoy the advantages of your criti- 
 cisms. I am exerting my utmost to improve ; every picture I try to 
 make my best ; and in the evening I draw two hours from the an- 
 tique, as I did in London, for I ought to inform you that I fortu- 
 nately found a fine Venus de Medicis without a blemish, imported 
 from Paris some time since by a gentleman of this city, who wished 
 to dispose of it ; also a young Apollo, which was so broken that 
 he gave it to me, saying that it was useless. I have, however, after 
 a great deal of trouble, put it together entirely, and these two fig- 
 ures, with some fragments, hands, feet, etc., make a very good 
 academy. Mr. Fraser, Mr. Cogdell, Mr. Fisher, of Boston, and my- 
 self, meet here of an evening to improve ourselves. I feel as much 
 enthusiasm as ever in my art, and love it more than ever. A few 
 years, at the rate I am now going on, will place me independent 
 of public patronage ; thus much for myself, for you told me in one 
 of your letters from London that I must be more of an egotist, or 
 you should be less of one in your letters to me, which I should 
 greatly regret. And now permit me, my dear sir, to congratulate 
 you on your election to the Royal Academy. I know you will be- 
 lieve me when I say I jumped for joy when I heard it : though it 
 cannot add to your merit, yet it will extend the knowledge of it, 
 especially in our own country, where we are still influenced by for- 
 eign opinion, and more justly perhaps in regard to taste in the fine 
 arts than in any other thing. 
 
 "I have been using a compound, or rather mixture, in flesh, on 
 which I wish your opinion. Yellow-ochre has heretofore been the 
 best yellow that I could use, but it always appeared to me to want 
 brilliancy y c/irome-yellow, on the contrary, is too bright, or eggy / 
 but these two I have mixed half-and-half, and find it excellent 
 flesh-yellow. I find this mixture also excellent in the shadows of 
 white drapery, and in reflected lights, when properly tempered with 
 blue and red. A very strong tint of this yellow, laid on boldly in 
 a shadow, gives a clearness and liquidness to it which no other yel- 
 low that I have used can give ; and gives a warmth and gloAV to 
 the picture, without being hot. I should like to know the result of 
 your experiment with it. 
 
 " How does your great picture progress ? I hope to see it, when 
 
PORTRAIT OF MONROE. 119 
 
 I return, entirely finished. Have you got a good room ? How are 
 your Boston friends disposed toward you now ? Are they still de- 
 sirous of keeping you with them, and of giving you something to 
 paint for them ? Do write me, dear sir, all about yourself, as you 
 used to wish me to do of myself. I long to see you, and talk over 
 every thing. Do write me, dear sir, soon. You know what a 
 gratification it will be to one who is proud in calling himself your 
 pupil. May God bless you, dear sir, and believe me your affection- 
 ate pupil, 
 
 "S. F. B. Morse." 
 
 The Common Council of Charleston paid Mr. Morse the 
 compliment of requesting him to paint the portrait of James 
 Monroe, then the President of the United States. And after 
 spending the summer at the North, and leaving his wife and 
 their infant daughter in Concord, with Mrs. Morse's parents for 
 the winter, he returned South, taking Washington in his way, 
 that he might execute the commission for the city. He was 
 alarmed at the price of board, as he writes to his wife, finding 
 it to be two dollars a day in New York City, and equally high in 
 Washington. I began," he says, in a letter, " on Monday to paint 
 the President, and have almost completed the head " — this was 
 on Thursday — " I airi thus far pleased with it, but I find it very 
 perplexing, for he cannot sit more than ten or twenty minutes 
 at a time ; so that, the moment I feel engaged, he is called 
 away again. I set my palette to-day at ten o'clock, and waited 
 until four o'clock this afternoon before he came in. He then 
 sat ten minutes, and we were called to dinner. Is not this try- 
 ing to one's patience ? My room is at his house, next to his 
 cabinet-room, for his convenience. When he has a moment's 
 leisure he comes in to sit to me. He is very agreeable and affa- 
 ble, as are also his family. I drank tea with them on Saturday, 
 and dined with them on Monday and to-day." When his work 
 was completed, the family were so delighted with it that he was 
 obliged to remain and make a copy for them. The portrait was 
 considered, by all who saw it at the time, a great triumph of 
 art. It remains in the City Hall of Charleston. 
 
 Another winter was spent in Charleston, South Carolina. 
 His brother Richard having become a preacher, came down, and 
 was employed on John's Island, where the artist frequently vis- 
 
120 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ited him. Speaking of one of these visits in a letter to his wife, 
 April 8, 1820, he says : 
 
 " My visit to John's Island was a very agreeable one. I staid 
 at Mr. James Legare's, and painted Mrs. Legare, at my leisure. In 
 the intermediate time we went — I say we — there was Prof. Porter, 
 of Andover, and brother Richard, and Mr. Wilson, and Thos. Le- 
 gare, and his sons, and the sons of Mr. James Legare, and two or 
 three others — we spent a week upon the island. On Monday, we 
 all dined with Mr. Wilson, and in the afternoon I mounted a horse 
 (the first time for ten years), and with a Mr. Hart, and Richard, and 
 Mr. John Legare, set out with six hounds in search of a fox. We 
 had not proceeded half a mile when the dogs opened their cry, and 
 the chase commenced. Owing to my want of skill in riding, I was 
 unable to keep up with the rest of the compam', over ditches, and 
 fences, and cotton-fields, and old logs, so that I did not enjoy the 
 sport so much as the rest ; but I was, fortunately, in at the death, 
 as the huntsmen say ; for, after a chase of about half an hour, the 
 fox took to a cotton-field, and after doubling two or three times 
 was caught by the dogs. As this field was near where I was left 
 by the rest, I rode in, in time to see him caught. 
 
 " On Tuesday was our great hunting-day. The Legares, Wil- 
 sons, Prof. Porter, Richard, and myself, with two or three others, 
 set out at nine o'clock in the morning, on a deer-hunt, with eleven 
 hounds, and a negro, to drive the woods. We were all well mounted 
 and with guns. I have drawn a little figure below, to explain our 
 proceedings. The triangular piece is a piece of woods ; the negro, 
 
 with the dogs, was put into the 
 woods at A, while we galloped brisk- 
 ly along the road, and took our dif- 
 ferent stands at B, B, etc. The dogs 
 soon opened, but, to our mortification, 
 the deer took the course C, and 
 avoided us. When we found the 
 dogs had passed the road, we all gal- 
 loped off again, and took stands at 
 I), in hopes of heading the deer, but 
 he again avoided us in the same way ; 
 so we lost the deer. The dogs soon, 
 however, opened again, and we found they had scented a fox. We 
 had a fine chase of an hour after him, in which time we saw him 
 
PORTRAITS IN CHARLESTON. 121 
 
 often, and I was enabled to keep up with the rest of the company 
 all the time. We lost him, however, in the end ; but I was very 
 much amused at the sagacity of the fox and the hounds. I ar- 
 rived at Mr. Legare's in the evening at eight o'clock, having been 
 on horseback eleven hours, much fatigued, but very much benefited 
 in my health by this fine exercise." 
 
 A list of the names of all the persons whose portraits lie 
 painted in Charleston during the successive winters of his resi- 
 dence in that city he preserved with care to the end of his life. 
 It includes Dr. Finley, the Allstons, Mrs. Porter, Dr. Mitch- 
 ill, Mrs. Hitchborn, Dr. Baron, Mr. Perroneau, Judge Desau- 
 sure, Mr. Simmons, Mrs. Stiles, Mrs. Heyward, Mrs. Bentham, 
 Bishop Smith, Major Theus, Major-General Pinckney, Mrs. Smi- 
 lie, Mr. John Axson, Dr. Poyas, Colonel Drayton, Judge and 
 Mrs. Cheves, Mr. Legare, Mrs. Dr. Grimkie, Mrs. Colcock, 
 Lady Nesbit, Mr. and Mrs. Huger, and scores of others. Mr. 
 Cogdell furnishes Mr. Dunlap with this record of one of Mr. 
 Morse's last works in Charleston : 
 
 " Tn January, 1821, my friend Morse had several conversations 
 with me about the practicability of establishing an academy. We 
 agreed to have a meeting ; we solicited the main hall of the city. 
 Mr. Morse moved that the Hon. Joel R. Poinsett take the chair ; 
 Mr. Jay that Mr. Cogdell act as secretary. Mr. Morse then sub- 
 mitted a resolution asking of the council a site in the public square 
 for the building, and we adjourned. A number of artists and ama- 
 teurs were requested to meet at my office, where the first organiza- 
 tion was made of the Academy of Fine Arts. Gentlemen were 
 named officers and directors ; on my writing to them, they accepted. 
 Thus was brought into existence the South Carolina Academy of 
 Fine Arts. 
 
 "Joel R. Poinsett, President. 
 Directors : 
 Samuel F. B. Morse, Charles Frazer, 
 
 Joshua Cantir, John S. Cogdell, 
 
 John B. White, Wm. Jay, architect, 
 
 ■ Charles C. Wright, die-sinker, Wm. Shields, 
 James Wood, engraver, Chs. Simmons, engraver. 
 
 " The Legislature granted a charter, but, my good sir, as they 
 possessed no powers under the constitution to confer taste or talent, 
 
122 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and possessed none of those feelings which prompt to patronage, 
 they gave none to the infant academy. We have had as splendid 
 exhibitions as I have ever seen in any other city. On the presen- 
 tation of my bust of Dr. J. E. Holbrook, I received from the 
 directors, under the eleventh rule, the title of academician ; but, 
 cui bono f The institution was allowed, from apathy and opposi- 
 tion, to die, and the property has been sold recently to pay its 
 debts ; but Mr. Poinsett and myself, with a few others, have pur- 
 chased, with a hope of reviving, the establishment." 
 
 In. the month of February, 1820, the Rev. Dr. Morse re- 
 signed his charge as pastor in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and 
 removed to New Haven, Connecticut, with the family of his son. 
 Mr. Morse joined his family there in the spring, when he came 
 from South Carolina, and passed the summer in that city. He 
 had constant employment for, his pencil in completing the 
 paintings he had commenced in Charleston, and he found great 
 delight in renewing his studies of electricity and galvanism in 
 the laboratory of Yale College. To this spot he resorted while 
 Prof. Silliman was preparing his experiments, and gratified his 
 tastes for philosophical and chemical studies, in the midst of his 
 profession as an artist. The painting of portraits was to him, as 
 to all painters of original power, a weariness, and Mr. Morse re- 
 solved to attempt something in which it might be raised to the 
 dignity of history. He conceived the idea of making a large pict- 
 ure of the "House of Representatives" at Washington, pre- 
 senting a view of the chamber, and portraits of individual mem- 
 bers. For this purpose he went to Washington in November, 
 1821, and was kindly received by the President of the United 
 States, who encouraged his grand undertaking, and gave him 
 every facility for its execution. The architect of the House, 
 Mr. Bullfinch, and all the officers of the House, entered cor- 
 dially into the work, and encouraged him with their efficient 
 aid. 
 
 " The President," Mr. Morse writes to his wife, " asked me, 
 in the course of conversation, whether he could obtain from 
 New Haven some small elms for his estate in Virginia. He 
 seemed desirous of having some. Now, I should like very 
 much if father could procure a dozen at my expense (they will 
 be but a trifle) and bring them on with him when he comes to 
 
AT THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 123 
 
 "Washington. They will not take up any room if the roots are 
 wound round with mats, and the whole done up as apple or 
 other trees are transplanted. I should like very much to make 
 this little acknowledgment to the President for his civilities, and 
 I think he would be pleased with the attention." 
 
 Mr. Morse obtained the use of one of the lower rooms of the 
 Capitol, and there established his studio, to make it convenient 
 for the members to sit to him for their portraits ; and while 
 they were not with him he could work upon the interior of the 
 chamber. He writes to Mrs. Morse : 
 
 " I am up at daylight, have my breakfast and prayers over, and 
 commence the labors of the day long before the workmen are called 
 to work on the Capitol by the bell. This I continue unremittingly 
 till one o'clock, when I dine in about fifteen minutes, and then pur- 
 sue my labors until tea, which scarcely interrupts me, as I often 
 have my cup of tea in one hand and pencil in the other. Between 
 ten and eleven o'clock I retire to rest. This has been my course 
 every day (Sundays, of course, excepted) since I have been here, 
 making about fourteen hours' study out of the twenty-four. This, 
 you will say, is too hard, and that I shall injure my health. I can 
 say that I never enjoyed better health, and my body, by the sim- 
 ple fare I live on, is disciplined to this course. As it will not be 
 necessary to continue long so assiduously, I shall not fear to pursue 
 it till this work is done. 
 
 " I receive every possible facility from all about the Capitol. 
 The door-keeper, a venerable man, has offered to light the great 
 chandelier expressly for me to take my sketches in the evening, for 
 two hours together, for I shall have it a candle-light effect, when 
 the room, already very splendid, will appear ten times more so." 
 
 His absorption in the picture was so great that once he arose 
 in the night mistaking the light of the moon for day, and went 
 to his task, and at another time lost the reckoning of the days 
 of the week, and attempted to enter the Hall on Sunday to pur- 
 sue his work, and could hardly be persuaded to admit that he 
 had lost a day. By the middle of December he was working 
 sixteen hours a day. " I never enjoyed better health ; the mo- 
 ment I feel unwell I shall desist, but I am in the vein now, and 
 must have my way. I have had a great deal of difficulty with 
 the perspective of my picture. But I have conquered, and have 
 
124 ,. LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 accomplished my purpose. After having drawn in the greater 
 part three times, I have as many times rubbed it all out again. 
 I have been, several times, from daylight until eleven o'clock at 
 night, solving a single problem." And then he turns away from 
 his " vexations " and " disappointments " to his anxieties for his 
 little family in New Haven, and says : " How I do long to see 
 that dear little girl of mine, and to hear her sweet prattle ! In- 
 struct her early, my dear wife, in the most important of all con- 
 cerns ; teach her that there is a great Father above, her obliga- 
 tions to Him and to her Saviour. Kiss her often for papa, and 
 tell her he will come back one of these days." 
 
 The work required far more time than he anticipated. De- 
 cember was gone before the portraits of the members were be- 
 gun. On the 2d of January, 1822, he writes : 
 
 " I have commenced to-day taking the likenesses of the mem- 
 bers. I find them not on]y willing to sit, but apparently esteeming 
 it an honor. I shall take seventy of them, and perhaps more ; all, 
 if possible. I find the picture is becoming the subject of conversa- 
 tion, and every day gives me greater encouragement. I shall paint 
 it on part of the great canvas when I return home. It will be 
 eleven feet by seven and a half feet ; that will divide the great can- 
 vas exactly into two equal parts, on one of which I paint the 
 House of Representatives, and the other the Senate. It will take 
 me until October next to complete it." 
 
 He painted eighty portraits on the great picture, and on the 
 10th of February left "Washington. By steady travel in the 
 stage he performed the journey from Washington to New 
 Haven in six days, reaching his home and family on Saturday 
 the 16th of the month. 
 
 As a work of art this picture was admirable, but it failed 
 to attract the attention of the public. The artist's expectations 
 of deriving profit from its exhibition were disappointed. It 
 proved a loss to him pecuniarily, and was at length sold to an 
 English gentleman, who took it to his own country, where it re- 
 mained for several years. The artist lost trace and knowledge 
 of it. While abroad in after-years he made inquiries for it in 
 vain. After the lapse of a. quarter of a century he received the 
 following letter from an artist friend : 
 
THE LOST PICTURE FOUND. 125 
 
 F. W. Edmonds, Esq., to Prof. Morse. 
 
 " New York, December Y, 184*7. 
 "My dear Sib: I was applied to by a gentleman a few days 
 since to call and see your picture of the 'House of Representa- 
 tives ' which has been sent to this city from London by a house 
 who had advanced a sum of money upon it while in England. I 
 called upon Mr. Durand, and he accompanied me on visiting it. 
 We found it at the store of Coates & Co., No. 54 Exchange Place, 
 nailed against a board partition in the third story, almost invisible 
 from the dirt and dust upon it. It has evidently been rolled up, 
 and, having no strainer, its surface is as uneven as the waves of the 
 sea. In one place where it has been rolled the paint has pealed 
 off in a narrow but long seam, but this is above the heads of 
 the figures, and I think can be easily repaired. Otherwise the pict- 
 ure seems in a good condition if washed, stretched, and varnished. 
 They (Coates & Co.) hold it for sale, but in its present condition 
 few, except those very familiar with pictures, would look at with a 
 view of purchasing it. I suggested to them to wait till I could 
 write to you before they showed it, as you would probably de- 
 sire that it should be cleaned and varnished, and, if you were 
 likely soon to be in the city, would perhaps prefer doing it yourself. 
 I think it would not cost over ten dollars to put it in good order. 
 Excuse me for troubling you in this matter, but, believing it to be 
 one of the best works ever painted by you, and knowing it to be in- 
 valuable as containing portraits of many eminent statesmen of this 
 country, I could not patiently be silent while in its present con- 
 dition. 
 
 " Respectfully and truly yours, 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse, Esq." " F. W. Edmonds. 
 
 The picture was rescued from its confinement, and became 
 the property of the distinguished artist Daniel Huntington, 
 Esq., in whose private gallery it is preserved. 
 
 In the winter of 1822, notwithstanding the great expenses 
 to which Mr. Morse had been subjected in producing this pict- 
 ure, and before he had realized any thing from its exhibition, 
 he made a donation of five hundred dollars to the library fund 
 of Yale College, probably the largest donation, in proportion to 
 the means of the giver, which that institution ever received. 
 The corporation, by vote, presented the thanks of the board in 
 the following letter : 
 
126 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 "Yale College, December 4, 1822. 
 " Dear Sir : I am directed, by the corporation of this college, 
 to present to you the thanks of the board for your subscription of 
 five hundred dollars for the enlargement of the library. Should this 
 example of liberality be generally imitated by the friends of the in- 
 stitution, we should soon have a library creditable to the college, 
 and invaluable to men of literary and philosophic research. 
 " With respectful and grateful acknowledgments, 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 "Jeremiah Day. 
 " Mr. Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
CHAPTEK Y. 
 
 1823-1828. 
 
 INVENTS A MAOHrNE FOE GUTTING MAEBLE — GOES TO ALBANY — LITTLE SUC- 
 CESS — EETUENS TO NEW YOEK — POETEAIT OF CHANCELLOE KENT — 
 IOHABOD CEANE — AEEANGEMENTS TO GO TO MEXICO AS ATTACHE TO 
 THE LEGATION — LETTEE FEOM HON. EOBEET T. HATNE — THE SCHEME 
 
 ABANDONED — IN NEW HAVEN — TEAVELS IN NEW ENGLAND SETTLES IN 
 
 NEW TOEK COMMISSIONED TO PAINT POETEAIT OF GENEEAL LAFAYETTE 
 
 — GOES TO WASHINGTON — SUDDEN DEATH OF HIS WIFE — DEATH OF HIS 
 
 FATHEE — FOUNDS THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN SKETOH-CLUB 
 
 LETTEE FEOM GENEEAL T. S. OUMMINGS LOED LYNDHUEST'S LETTEE 
 
 STUDIES IN ELEOTEO- MAGNETISM — PEOFESSOE DANA'S LEOTUEES — HIS 
 OWN LECTUEES — ESCAPE FEOM DEATH. 
 
 THE inventive faculty, so characteristic of the family to 
 which Mr. Morse belonged, we have already seen developed 
 in him. While struggling in his profession, and having far less 
 to do than he desired, he turned his attention to the invention 
 of a machine for carving marble, and by which he hoped to be 
 able to produce statues — perfect copies of any model. Others 
 have attempted machines for similar purposes, and perhaps with 
 no better success than crowned his efforts. 
 
 On the 6th of August, 1823, while in New Haven, he sent 
 to the Secretary of State at Washington a letter in the form of a 
 caveat, in which he describes the machine he had invented, and 
 his intention to secure a patent for the same. Mr. Augur, an 
 ingenious mechanic of New Haven, was employed to construct 
 a working machine. After ward, he used it successfully in cut- 
 ting statues from the solid marble. This machine is frequently 
 alluded to in his correspondence, and he looked to it as a source 
 of great pecuniary profit. Early in February of this same year 
 
128 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Mr. Morse went to Boston with his picture of the House of 
 Representatives, and placed it there upon exhibition. 
 
 On the first day the receipts were forty dollars and fifty-five 
 cents, which sum was sufficient to encourage him that it would 
 be successful. Mr. Allston called to see it, and Mr. Morse, in a 
 letter to his wife, remarks that " Mr. Allston says it is a mag- 
 nificent picture. He has suggested some small improvements, 
 which I can make in two days." But it failed to excite public 
 attention ; and, leaving it there on exhibition, he went, in the 
 month of August, to the city of Albany, N. T., where he had 
 been encouraged to hope for patronage from the public men. 
 He had formed a pleasant acquaintance with the Patroon, the 
 Hon. Stephen Tan Rensselaer, of Albany, who was a member 
 of Congress while Mr. Morse was engaged in painting his pict- 
 ure of the House of Representatives. He immediately com- 
 menced the portrait of the Patroon, which he designed to 
 exhibit in Albany as a specimen of his art. Day after day he 
 waited patiently in hopes of winning, by the exhibition of the 
 portrait, a few at least who might be tempted to employ him. 
 He writes to his wife : 
 
 "I have found lodgings — a large front room on the second 
 story, twenty-five by eighteen feet, and twelve feet high — a fine 
 room for painting, with a neat little bedroom, and every conven- 
 ience, and board, all for six dollars a week, which I think is very 
 reasonable. My landlord is an elderly Irish gentleman, with three 
 daughters, once in independent circumstances, but now reduced. 
 Every thing bears the appearance of old-fashioned gentility, which 
 you know I always liked. Every thing is neat and clean and gen- 
 teel. The family reside at No. 94 North Pearl Street. They are 
 well acquainted with Bishop Brownell and his lady, and say that 
 they always call when they come to Albany. Colonel Baldwin has 
 been very kind and obliging to me. He is in high estimation in 
 this city, and deservedly so. Elkanah Watson is .not in town. I 
 called on Rev. Dr. Chester, and heard him preach to-day. Bishop 
 Hobart and a great many acquaintances were on board of the boat 
 upon which I came up to this city. I can form no idea as yet of 
 the prospect of success in my profession here. If I get enough to 
 employ me, I shall go no farther ; if not, I may visit some of the 
 smaller towns in the interior of the State. I await with some anx- 
 
PORTRAIT OF SENT. 129 
 
 iety the result of experiments with my machine. I hope the inven- 
 tion may enable me to remain at home." 
 
 On the 16th of August he writes : 
 
 " I have not as yet received any application for a portrait. 
 Many tell me I have come at the wrong time — the same tune that 
 has been rung in my ears so long ! I hope the right time will come 
 by-and-by. The winter, it is said, is the proper season ; but, as it 
 is better in the South in that season, and it will be more profitable 
 to be there, I shall give Albany a thorough trial and do my best. 
 If I should not find enough to employ me here, I think I shall re- 
 turn to New York and settle there. This I had rather not do at 
 present, but it may be the best that I can do. Roaming becomes 
 more and more irksome. Imperious necessity alone drives me to 
 this course. Don't think by this I am faint-hearted. I shall per- 
 severe in this course, painful as is the separation from my family, 
 until Providence clearly points out my duty to return." 
 
 August 2%d. — " I have something to do. I have one portrait 
 in progress, and the promise of more. One hundred dollars will pay 
 all my expenses here for three months, so that the two I am now 
 painting will clear me in that respect, and all that comes after will 
 be clear gain. I am, therefore, easier in my mind as to this. The 
 portrait now painting is Judge Moss Kent, brother of the Chancel- 
 lor. He says that I shall paint the Chancellor when he returns to 
 Albany, and his niece also; and, from these particulars, you may 
 infer that I shall be here for some little time longer, just so long as 
 my good prospects continue ; but, should they fail, I am determined 
 to try New York City, and sit down there in my profession perma- 
 nently. I believe I have now attained sufficient proficiency- to 
 venture there. My progress may be slow at first, but I believe it 
 will be sure. I do not like going South, and I have given up the 
 idea of New Orleans or any Southei'n city, at least for the present. 
 Circumstances may vary this determination, but I think a settle- 
 ment in New York is more feasible now than ever before. I shall 
 be near you and home in cases of emergency, and in the summer 
 and sickly season can visit you at New Haven, while you can do 
 the same to me in New York, until we live again at New Haven 
 altogether. I leave out of this calculation the machine for sculpt- 
 ure. If that should entirely succeed, my plans would be materially 
 varied ; but I speak of my present plan as if that had failed. I 
 hope Mr. Augur will not be discouraged by the little minutiae of 
 9 
 
130 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the machine, but carry it through. I should like to have a letter 
 from him on the subject, putting down a list of questions respecting 
 marble and marble-cutting which he wishes me to ask of stone-cut- 
 ters, as there are some here, and I can gain much from them. 
 
 " With respect to young Longworth, I should have no objection 
 to take him as a pupil, if I go to New York, on what terms I am 
 hardly prepared now to say. I may find it to be an advantage to 
 take a number of pupils." 
 
 August 24:th. — " I finished Mr. Kent's picture yesterday, and 
 received the money for it. Mr. Kent is very polite to me, and has 
 introduced me to a number of persons and families ; among others 
 to the Kanes — very wealthy people — to Governor Yates, etc. Mr. 
 Clinton's son called on me and invited me to their house. I have 
 been introduced to Senior Rocafuerto, the Spaniard, who made so 
 excellent a speech before the Bible Society last May. He is a very 
 handsome man, very intelligent, full of wit and vivacity. He is a 
 great favorite with the ladies, and is a man of wealth and a zealous 
 patriot, studying our manners, customs, and improvements, with a 
 view of benefiting his own countrymen in Peru." 
 
 August 27th, he writes again to his wife : 
 
 " My last two letters have held out to you some encouraging 
 prospects of success here, but now they seem darkened again. I 
 have had nothing to do this week thus far but to wait patiently. I 
 have advertised in both of the city papers that I should remain one 
 week to receive applications, but as yet it has produced no effect. 
 Mr. Kent's niece has not arrived as expected, so that it is 
 doubtful whether I shall paint her ; but, as she lives in New York, 
 and as it is to be for Mr. Kent, I can make arrangements to paint it 
 for him there. Chancellor Kent is out of town, and will not be in 
 until the end of next month. It is hardly worth while to stay solely 
 for that ; many have been talking of having their portraits painted, 
 but there it has" thus far ended. I find nothing in Albany which 
 Can profitably employ my leisure hours. If there were any pictures 
 or statuary where I could sketch and draw, it would be different. 
 I have visited several families who have been very kind to me, 
 for which I am thankful. I shall leave Albany and return to New 
 York a week from to-day, if there is no change in my prospects. 
 The more I think of making a push at New York as a permanent 
 place of residence in my profession, the more proper it seems that it 
 should be at once. New York does not yet feel the influx of wealth 
 
HIS EASEL IN NEW YORK. 131 
 
 from the Western canals, but in a year or two she will feel it, and it 
 will be advantageous to me to be previously identified among her 
 citizens as a painter. It requires some little time to become re- 
 nowned in such a city." 
 
 All his hopes of patronage in Albany were dissipated ; and 
 on the 3d of September he writes to his wife : 
 
 " I have nothing to do, and shall pack up on the morrow for 
 New York, unless appearances change again. I have not had full 
 employment since I have been in Albany, and I feel miserable in 
 doing nothing." 
 
 After a brief visit with his family at New Haven, he went 
 to New York, to carry out his purpose of making a permanent 
 settlement in that city in the pursuit of his profession as an 
 artist. He made the passage from New Haven to New York 
 by water ; was driven in by a gale into Black Rock Harbor, and 
 there detained, and the next day completed the journey to New 
 York by land. Writing home the next day, he says : 
 
 " I have obtained a place to board at friend Coolidge's, at two 
 dollars and twenty-five cents a week, and have taken for my studio 
 a fine room in Broadway, opposite Trinity Churchyard, for which I 
 am to pay six dollars and fifty cents a week, being fifty cents less 
 than I expected to pay. I shall go to work in a few days vigor- 
 ously. It is a half-mile from my room to the place where I board, 
 so that I am obliged to walk more, than three miles every day. It 
 is good exercise for me, and I feel better for it. I sleep in my 
 room on the floor, and put my bed out of sight during the day, as 
 at Washington. I feel in the spirit of ' buckling down to it,' and 
 am determined to paint and study with all my might this winter." 
 
 The first portrait which he painted, after his coming to New 
 York, was that of the distinguished Chancellor Kent. He says 
 of the Chancellor : 
 
 " He is not a good sitter ; he scarcely presents the same view 
 twice ; he is very impatient, and you well know that I cannot paint 
 an impatient person ; I must have my mind at ease or I cannot 
 paint. I have no more applications as yet, but it is not time to 
 expect them. All the artists are complaining, and there are many 
 of them, and they are all poor. The arts are as low as they can be* 
 
132 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 It is no better at the South, and all the accounts of the arts or 
 artists are of the most discouraging nature." 
 
 And in successive letters to his wife he says : 
 
 " I waited many days in the hope of some application in my 
 profession, but have been disappointed, until last evening I called 
 and spent the evening with my friend Mr. Van Schaick, and told 
 him I had thought of painting some little design from the ' Sketch- 
 Book,' so as not to be idle, and mentioned the subject of ' Ichabod 
 Crane discovering the headless horseman.' He said : ' Paint it for 
 me, and another picture of the same size, and I will take them of 
 you.' So I am now employed. I shall want immediately the little 
 plaster cast of the horse, which is at my painting-room. I have re- 
 ceived Mr. Augur's letter. It is a very encouraging one. All the 
 difficulties that he complains of are unconnected with the invention, • 
 and those which we apprehended have not been realized, so that 
 here is fresh cause for gratitude. My secret scheme is not yet dis- 
 closable, but I shall let you know as soon as I hear any thing 
 definite." 
 
 " You will be anxious to know what I am doing. The answer 
 is very simple — ' Nothing? I am waiting for applications, but none 
 offer. The chancellor's picture and Mr. Dewey's have been finished 
 about a week ; and, as far as painting is concerned, I am completely 
 idle, and of course a little low-spirited. I have been active in call- 
 ing on my friends and inviting them to my room ; they have prom- 
 ised to come, but as yet few have called. As far as human fore- 
 sight can perceive, my prospects" seem gloomy indeed. The only 
 gleam of hope — and I cannot underrate it — is from confidence in 
 God. When I look upward, it calms my apprehensions for the 
 future, and I seem to hear a voice saying : ' If I clothe the lilies of 
 the field, shall I not also clothe you ? ' Here is my strong confidence, 
 and I will wait patiently for the direction of Providence. I have 
 seen many of the artists ; they all agree that little is doing in the 
 city of New York. It seems wholly given to commerce. Every 
 man is driving at one object — the making of money — not the 
 spending of it. - 
 
 "What is Mr. Augur doing with the machine? Is he still san- 
 guine.-? I should be glad to hear from him." 
 
 " My secret scheme looks promising, but I am still in suspense ; 
 you shall know the moment it is decided one way or the other. I 
 met with a singular accident to-day. You recollect I complained 
 
OUT OF FUNDS. 133 
 
 of a little bone being out of place in my left hand, which pained me 
 when I touched it. To-day in coming out of the house I slipped 
 down, and came with my whole weight upon my left hand. I felt 
 something snap, and experienced a good deal of pain in it for a few 
 moments ; upon examining my hand, I found, to my surprise, that 
 this bone had snapped into its place, and in about half an hour the 
 pain left me, and my hand is as well as it ever was." 
 
 The straits to which he was reduced, and his plans for the 
 future, are developed in the following letter : 
 
 " New York, December 21, 1823. 
 
 " My dear Wife : . . . Last Saturday we had a meeting at a 
 private house. Dr. Milnor was present, and made an address. While 
 engaged there, a thief slipped into the entry where were our hats 
 and coats, but, being discovered, he made a precipitate retreat, and 
 carried with him my hat. The circumstance was not known to us till 
 we were ready to go ; no other gentleman lost any thing. Had 
 they taken Edward's surtoUt, they would have deranged his whole 
 business, as all his memoranda and accounts were in the pocket of 
 it. The act was a very audacious one, and to me a serious loss, as I 
 had to purchase immediately another hat, which cost four dol- 
 lars, and obliged me to break the last five-dollar bill I have. 
 
 " My cash is almost gone, and I begin to feel some anxietjr and 
 perplexity to know what to do. I have advertised, and visited, and 
 hinted, and pleaded, and even asked one man to sit, but all to no 
 purpose. I have been stopped, too, in the pictures for Mr. Van S., 
 by the delay of the packet having the little horse on board ; the 
 Paragon has not yet arrived. My expenses, with the most rigid 
 economy too, are necessarily great ; my rent to-morrow will amount 
 to thirty-three dollars, and I have nothing to pay it with. What can 
 I do ? I have been here five weeks, and there is not the smallest 
 prospect now of any difference as to business. I am willing to stay, 
 and wish to stay, if there is any thing to do. The pictures that I 
 am painting for Mr. V. S. will not pay my expenses if painted here ; 
 my rent and board would eat it all up. I have thought of various 
 plans, but what to decide upon I am completely at a loss, nor can I 
 decide, until I hear definitely from Washington in regard to my 
 Mexico expedition. Since brother Sidney has hinted it to you, I 
 will tell you the state of it. I wrote to General Van Rensselaer, Mr. 
 Poinsett, and Colonel Hayne of the Senate, applying for some situ- 
 ation in the legation to Mexico soon to be sent thither. I stated my 
 
134 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 object in going, and my wish to go free of expense, and under gov- 
 ernment protection. I received a letter a few days ago from Gen- 
 eral Van Rensselaer, in which he says : ' I immediately laid your re- 
 quest before the President, and seconded it with my warmest rec- 
 ommendations. It is impossible to predict the result at present. 
 If our friend Mr. Poinsett is appointed minister, which his friends 
 are pressing, he will no doubt be happy to have you in his suite.' 
 
 " Thus the case rests at present : if Mr. Poinsett is appointed, I 
 shall probably go to Mexico ; if not, it will be more doubtful. I 
 have placed it on this ground, that I am to be at no expense in 
 getting there, and back again ; so that, if I fail in the objects of my 
 visit there, I am at no expense, and I am also under government 
 protection, should the country be in a revolutionary state and un- 
 safe for other strangers. If I go, I should take my picture of the 
 House of Representatives, which, in the present state of favorable 
 feeling toward our country, I should probably dispose of to advan- 
 tage. All accounts that I hear from Mexico are in the highest de- 
 gree favorable to my enterprise, and I hear much from various 
 quarters." 
 
 December 29th. — " I am waiting with some anxiety for news 
 from Washington. There is no guessing when the President will 
 make his appointment. It rests with him. My way, however, is 
 plain : I see present duty, and that is as much as I ought to desire." 
 
 In the midst of his discouragements lie had determined to 
 go if possible, to Mexico, and establish himself in his profession 
 in the capital. Having met Mr. Poinsett, the former American 
 minister to that country, and formed with him a pleasant ac- 
 quaintance, he had learned much from him in relation to Mex- 
 ico, and had been encouraged to believe that he might succeed 
 in that comparatively untried field of professional labor. 
 
 He submitted to Mr. Poinsett a series of written questions, 
 and had received from him written answers, giving the most 
 minute information in relation to the prospects of success in 
 that country, and the preparation which it would be necessary 
 for him to make for the journey. Through his friend General 
 Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany, and others, he hoped, and 
 with good reason, to be able to procure an appointment to Mex- 
 ico on the legation about to be sent to that country. Strong 
 hopes were entertained that Mr. Poinsett himself would be ap- 
 
KOBERT Y. HAYNE. 135 
 
 pointed minister ; but, after great delay, the mission was given 
 to the Hon. Ninian Edwards, of Illinois. 
 
 These negotiations in relation to the appointment occupied 
 several months, during which time Mr. Morse was kept in a 
 state of the greatest anxiety; and, not until the middle of 
 March, was it finally settled that he should be attached to the 
 legation. A note from the Hon. Robert Y. Hayne, the dis- 
 tinguished Senator from South Carolina, whose name is asso- 
 ciated in history with that of Webster and the great debate on 
 State rights in the Senate, informed Mr. Morse of his appoint- 
 ment. He says : " Governor Edwards's suite consists of Mr. 
 Mason, of Georgetown, District of Columbia, secretary of the 
 legation ; Mr. Hodgson, of Virginia, private secretary, and 
 yourself attache" Mr. Hayne addressed to Mr. Morse the 
 following letter, which contains material of interest in connec- 
 tion with the politics of that day : 
 
 Hon. B. Y. Hayne to 8. F. B. Morse. 
 
 ' "Washington, March 15, 1824. 
 " Dear Sib : Having a few moments at command, I hasten to 
 answer yours of the 9th inst. The movement in Pennsylvania took 
 place without the knowledge or concurrence of Mr. Calhoun or of 
 his friends here. The first step was as unexpected to us as it 
 could have been to you. It was . a spontaneous movement of Mr. 
 Calhoun's friends in Pennsylvania, founded on a conviction that they 
 could not successfully oppose General Jackson, and believing that 
 it was necessary to concentrate on him, in order to defeat Craw- 
 ford. Pennsylvania was the foundation of Mr. Calhoun's hopes — 
 and, that being taken away, it is the duty of Mr. Calhoun's friends 
 to admit that his prospects of the presidency are destroyed ; those 
 who supported him, therefore, will have to decide for themselves 
 what is next to be done. In South Carolina, Jackson is by far the 
 most popular man, and will doubtless be supported. I think the 
 great object ought to be to defeat Crawford. If Adams be the 
 only man who can accomplish that in New England, he ought, I 
 think, to be supported there. A friendly feeling should be cherished 
 by the friends of all the anti-caucus candidates ; the common cause 
 must not be jeopardized by disputes among them. I will confess 
 that I prefer Jackson to any candidate except Calhoun. I think 
 you have a very mistaken impression of him in New England. 
 
136 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 I am satisfied that, in good sense, practical knowledge, and even 
 in temper, he is decidedly superior to Adams or Crawford. The 
 general's conduct and deportment here have secured him many- 
 friends, and when his conduct is examined in those respects in which 
 it has been censured, I feel assured that it will be found that in 
 many instances facts have been mistaken, and in others that he 
 can be fully justified. I think he will be a safe President, sur- 
 rounded by an able cabinet. I think his prospect for the presi- 
 dency is at present decidedly the best. 
 
 "I will with great pleasure see Mr. Edwards on the subject of 
 your application, and will exert any influence I may possess in your 
 behalf. Remember me to your venerable father and Mrs. Morse, and 
 for yourself receive the assurance of the great respect and esteem 
 of yours, 
 
 " ROBERT Y. HaYNE." 
 
 General Tan Rensselaer, in "Washington, wrote to him : 
 
 " I congratulate you on your prospect of visiting Mexico, and I 
 hope you will meet with success in your enterprise. The minister 
 is absent on a visit to Philadelphia. I will endeavor to procure a 
 letter from Colonel Gometz or Colonel Polilatie ; Mr. Poinsett thinks 
 it, however, unnecessary. If you could send me, without much 
 trouble, a seed of the arbor de las manitas, or ' hand-tree,' you 
 would oblige me.* I wish you a pleasant voyage and journey, and 
 safe return." 
 
 One of his relatives writes to him, in reference to his pro- 
 posed expedition to Mexico : " I think the experiment worth 
 making ; there is every thing to gain and nothing to lose," which 
 happily presents the desperate condition of his affairs. 
 
 He continnes the story : 
 
 "I left home on the 5th of April, 1824, for "Washington and 
 Mexico, accompanied by my father, wife, and sister, as far as New 
 York. On the 7th they returned to New Haven, and I proceeded 
 on my way to Philadelphia, with my heart too full of the various 
 saddening emotions which naturally occur to one who has parted 
 with his dearest friends for a long and uncertain period, to enjoy 
 either the country through which I passed or the society of my 
 fellow-passengers. A thousand affecting incidents of separation 
 from my beloved family crowded upon my recollection. The un- 
 
EXPEDITION ABANDONED. 137 
 
 conscious gayety of my dear children as they frolicked in all their 
 wonted playfulness, too young- to sympathize in the pangs that 
 agitated their distressed parents; their artless request to bring 
 home some trifling toy, the parting kiss, not understood as meaning 
 more than usual ; the tears and sad farewells of father, mother, 
 wife, sister, family, friends ; the desolateness of every room, as the 
 parting glance is thrown on each familiar object, and farewell, fare- 
 well, seemed written on the very walls— all these things bear upon 
 my memory ; and I realize the declaration that c the places which 
 now know us shall know us no more.' " 
 
 With, these sorrowful reflections, Mr. Morse pursued, his 
 journey, only to find in Washington that political reasons, long 
 since forgotten, prevented Mr. Edwards from going to Mexico, 
 and the expedition was abandoned. Disappointment was thus 
 far the rule rather than the exception of his life. He writes to 
 his wife from Washington, April 22, 1824 : 
 
 " I hardly know what to say, or think, or do. I went to the 
 House of Representatives this morning, to hear the report of the 
 committee in the case of Mr. Edwards. They stated it was neces- 
 sary to a full investigation, to have Mr, Edwards present, who is 
 now absent in Illinois. Mr. Randolph, one of the committee, in- 
 formed the House that a warrant was already issued to detain him, 
 and that a messenger was on the way to serve it. Thus am I 
 placed in a most unpleasant state ; one which no human foresight 
 could predict or provide against. Some say that I shall be detained 
 for more than a month, and advise me to go home and wait ; others 
 advise me to give up going ; and others to go on without the lega- 
 tion. Among the latter is Mr. Poinsett." The next day he writes : 
 " I have seen the President and the Secretary of State, and had a 
 conversation with them- on the subject of the detention of the lega- 
 tion. The President told me explicitly that there would be a delay 
 of five or six weeks at least, and perhaps of some months. It was 
 intimated that it might be necessary to send the secretary of the 
 legation without the minister for the present. In that case we 
 should sail from New York." 
 
 But it was finally determined that the legation should not 
 be sent, and Mr. Morse returned to his family in New Haven. 
 The summer was spent there, and in Concord, Portsmouth, and 
 Portland, whither he went for the purpose of painting portraits 
 
138 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 of particular individuals, who applied to him to come for that 
 purpose. In the autumn of that year he resumed his professional 
 labors in the city of Isew York, and for a time had his family 
 with him there. His studio, was at number 96 Broadway. He 
 lodged in his studio, and boarded at Mrs. Thompson's. He re- 
 ceived as his pupils some young men, who afterward attained 
 distinction in their professions, among them were Field and 
 Agate. In December, he writes : 
 
 " I am going on prosperously, through the kindness of Provi- 
 dence in raising up many friends, who are exerting themselves in 
 my favor. My storms are partly over, and a clear and pleasant day 
 is dawning upon me. 
 
 "Mr. Auger's bust of the 'Apollo,' made with my machine, is 
 very much admired; and, in the Statesman of this evening, there 
 is a handsome notice of it by Mr. Carter, who called to see it. I 
 hope I may be able to sell it for Mr. Auger. I have put the price 
 at three hundred dollars ; but I think, although it is worth that 
 and more, that, in consequence of the defects in the marble, it can- 
 not be sold for so much. This work does him the greatest credit." 
 
 These expectations, so cheerfully expressed in this letter to 
 his wife, were still further heightened by his receiving a com- 
 mission from the corporation of the city of New York to paint 
 a portrait of General Lafayette, who was at this time on a visit 
 to the United States. Lafayette was in Washington, and thither 
 Mr. Morse resorted, after having, by correspondence, arrangeu 
 for the time which could be given to him by the General for 
 the purpose of taking his portrait. Mr. Morse was received by 
 him with great kindness, and the acquaintance then commenced 
 was continued until the death of Lafayette. 
 
 Mr. Morse's letters to Mrs. Morse furnish the best account 
 of his struggles and success at this critical period in his his- 
 tory: 
 
 "New York, January 4, 1825. 
 " You will rejoice with me, I know, in my continued and in- 
 creasing success. I have just learned in confidence from one of the 
 members of the committee of the corporation appointed to procure 
 a full-length portrait of Lafayette, that they have designated me 
 as the painter of it, and that a sub-committee was appointed to 
 wait on me with the information. They will probably call to-mor- 
 
PORTRAIT OF LAFAYETTE. 139 
 
 row ; but, until it is thus officially announced to me, I wish the 
 thing kept secret, except to the family, until I write you more 
 definitely on the subject, which I will do the moment the terms, 
 etc., are settled with the committee. I shall probably be under the 
 necessity of going to Washington to take it immediately (the 
 corporation, of course, paying my expenses), but of this in my next. 
 If I go on to Washington, I shall not probably be in New Haven 
 till the 1st of February, but shall make a great effort to be there 
 before. I shall write you fully of my determination and plans the 
 moment they are formed. 
 
 "New York, January 6, 1825. 
 
 " I have been officially notified of my appointment to paint the 
 full-length portrait of Lafayette, for the city of New York, so 
 that you may make it as public as you please. The terms are not 
 definitely settled ; the committee are disposed to be very liberal. I 
 shall have at least seven hundred dollars — probably one thousand. 
 I have to wait until an answer can be received from Washington 
 from Lafayette to know when he can see me ; the answer will 
 arrive, probably, on Wednesday morning; after that I can deter- 
 mine what to do about going on ; the only thing I fear is, that it is 
 going to deprive me of my dear Lucretia. Recollect the old lady's 
 saying, often quoted by mother, ' There is never a convenience but 
 there ain't one.' I long to see you. 
 
 " Mr. Auger's bust is exciting great attention and admiration, 
 as will be seen by the New York papers. I cannot but hope I shall 
 be able to dispose of it for him. Tell him I shall hold it at three 
 hundred dollars, and he ought not to let it go for one cent less. 
 
 " I have made an arrangement with Mr. Durand to have an 
 engraving of Lafayette's portrait ; I receive half the profits. Van- 
 derlyn, Sully, Peale, Jarvis, Waldo, Inman, Ingham, and some 
 others, were my competitors in the application for this picture." 
 
 "New York, January 8, 1825. 
 "Your letter of the 5th I have just received, and one from the 
 committee of medical students, engaging me to paint Dr. Smith's 
 portrait for them when I come to New Haven. They are to give 
 me one hundred dollars. I have written them that I should be in 
 New Haven by the 1st of February, or, at farthest, by the 6th. 
 So that it is only prolonging for a little longer, my dear wife, the 
 happy meeting which I anticipated by the 25th of this month. 
 Events are not under our own control. When I consider how 
 
140 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 wonderfully things are working for the promotion of the great and 
 long-desired event — that of being constantly with my dear family — 
 all unpleasant feelings are absorbed in this joyful anticipation, and 
 I look forward to the spring of the year with delightful prospects 
 of seeing my dear family permanently settled with me in our own 
 hired house here. There are more encouraging prospects than I 
 can trust to paper at present, which must be left for your private 
 ear, and which in magnitude are far more valuable than any en- 
 couragement yet made known to you. Let us look with thankful 
 hearts to the Giver of all these blessings." 
 
 "Washington, February 8, 1825. 
 
 " I arrived safely in this city last evening. I find I have no time 
 to lose, as the marquis will leave here the 23d. I have seen him, 
 and am to breakfast with him to-morrow, and to commence his por- 
 trait. If he allows me time sufficient, I have no fear as to the re- 
 sult. He has a noble face. In this I am disappointed, for I had 
 heard that his features were not good. On the contrary if there is 
 any truth in expression or character, there never was a more perfect 
 example of accordance between the face and the character. He 
 has all that noble firmness and consistency, for which he has been 
 so distinguished strongly indicated in his whole face. While he 
 was reading my letters I could not but call to mind the leading 
 events of his truly eventful life. 'This is the man now before me, 
 the very man,' thought I, ' who suffered in the dungeon of Olmutz ; 
 the very man who took the oaths of the new constitution for so 
 many millions, while the eyes of thousands were fixed upon him 
 (and which is so admirably described in the life which I read to 
 you just before I left home) ; the very man who spent his youth, 
 his fortune, and his time, to bring about (under Providence) our 
 happy Revolution ; the friend and companion of Washington, the 
 terror of tyrants, the firm • and consistent supporter of liberty ; the 
 man whose beloved name has rung from one end of this continent 
 to the other, whom all flock to see, whom all delight to honor ; this 
 is the man, the very identical man ! ' My feelings were almost too 
 powerful for me, as I shook him by the hand, and received the 
 greeting of, ' Sir, I am exceedingly happy in your acquaintance, and 
 especially on such an occasion.' 
 
 " I attended the debates to-da}-. The House was principally, if 
 not wholly, occupied in discussing the measures for balloting for 
 President. The next day after to-morrow will be the great day. 
 
PRESIDENTS LEVEE. 141 
 
 From all I can learn there is scarcely a doubt but the choice will 
 fall on Mr. Adams." 
 
 [!No choice having been made by the people, the election 
 went to the House of Bepresentatives, and John Quincy Adams 
 was elected.] 
 
 " Washington, February 10, 1825. 
 
 " I went last evening to the President's levee, the last which Mr. 
 Monroe will hold as President of the United States. There was a 
 great crowd, and a great number of distinguished characters, among 
 whom were General Lafayette, the President-elect, J. Q. Adams, 
 Mr. Calhoun, the Vice-President-elect, General Jackson, etc. I paid 
 my respects to Mr. Adams, and congratulated him on his election. 
 He seemed, in some degree, to shake off his habitual reserve, and, 
 although he endeavored to suppress his feelings of gratification at his 
 success, it was not difficult to perceive that he felt in high spirits 
 on the occasion. General Jackson went up to him, and, shaking 
 him by the hand, congratulated him cordially on his election. The 
 general bears his defeat like a man, and has shown, I think, by this 
 act, a nobleness of mind which will command the respect of those 
 who have been most opposed to him. The excitement (if it may be 
 called such) on this great question, in Washington, is over, and 
 every thing is moving on in its accustomed channel again. All 
 seem to speak in the highest terms of the order and decorum pre- 
 served through the whole of this imposing ceremony, and the good 
 feeling which seems to prevail, with but trivial exceptions, is 
 thought to augur well in behalf of the new administration. 
 
 " I went, last night, in a carriage with four others — Captain 
 Chauncey, of the Navy ; Mr. Cooper, the celebrated author of the 
 popular American novels; Mr. Causici (pronounced Cau-see-chee), 
 the sculptor; and Mr. Owen, of Lanark, the celebrated philanthro- 
 pist. Mr. Cooper remarked that we had on board a more singularly- 
 selected company, he believed, than any carriage at the door of the 
 President's, viz. : a misanthropist (such he called Captain Chauncey, 
 brother of the commodore), a philanthropist (Mr. Owen), & painter 
 (myself), a sculptor (Mr. Causici), and an author (himself). 
 
 " The Mr. Owen mentioned above is the very man I sometimes 
 met at Mr. Wilberforce's in London, and who was present at the 
 interesting scene I have often related that occurred at Mr. Wilber- 
 force's. He recollected the circumstance, and recognized me, as I 
 did him, instantly, although it is twelve years ago. 
 
142 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " I am making progress with the general, but am much per- 
 plexed for want of time ; I mean his time. He is so harassed by 
 visitors, and has so many letters to write, that I find it exceedingly 
 difficult to do the subject justice. I give him, the last sitting in 
 'Washington to-morrow, reserving another sitting or two when he 
 visits New York in July next. I have gone on thus far to my satis- 
 faction, and do not doubt but I shall succeed entirely, if I am 
 allowed the requisite number of sittings. The general is very 
 agreeable. He introduced me to his son, by saying : ' This is Mr. 
 Morse, the painter; the son of the geographer; he has come to 
 Washington to take the topography of my face.' He thinks of 
 visiting New Haven again, when he returns from Boston. He re- 
 gretted not having seen more of it when he was there, as he was 
 much pleased with the place. He remembers Prof. Silliman and 
 others, with great affection. I have left but little room in this let- 
 ter to express my affection for my dearly-loved wife and children ; 
 but, of that, I need not assure them. I long to hear from you ; 
 but direct your letters next to New York, as I shall probably be 
 there by the end of next week, or the beginning of the succeeding 
 one. Love to all the family, and friends and neighbors. Your 
 affectionate husband, as ever." 
 
 Alas, for all human hopes ! One more sitting, and the 
 proud artist was to return to Ms beloved wife. A letter from 
 his father brings to him the overwhelming intelligence of her 
 sudden death ! 
 
 Hev. Dr. Morse to his Son. 
 
 "New Haven, February 8, 1825. 
 
 " My affectionately-beloved Son : Mysterious are the ways 
 of Providence. My heart is in pain and deeply sorrowful, while 1 
 announce to you the sudden and unexpected death of your dear 
 and deservedly-loved wife. Her disease proved to be an affection* 
 of the heart — incurable, had it been known. Dr. Smith's letter, 
 accompanying this, will explain all you will desire to know on this 
 subject. I wrote you yesterday that she was convalescent. So 
 she then appeared, and so the doctor pronounced. She was up 
 about five o'clock yesterday afternoon, to have her bed made, as 
 visual ; was unusually cheerful and social ; spoke of the pleasure of 
 being with her dear husband in New York, ere long ; stepped into 
 bed herself; fell back, with a momentary struggle, on her pillow; 
 her eyes were immediately fixed, the paleness of death over- 
 
A FATHER'S LETTER. 143 
 
 spread her countenance, and in five minutes more, without the 
 slightest motion, her mortal life terminated. It happened that, 
 just at this moment I was entering her chamber-door with Charles 
 in my arms, to pay her my usual visit, and to pray with her. The 
 nurse met me affrighted, calling for help. Your mother, the family, 
 and neighbors, full of the tenderest sympathy and kindness, and the 
 doctors, thronged the house in a few minutes ; every thing was done 
 that could be done, to save her life. But her ' appointed time ' had 
 come, and no earthly skill or power could stay the hand of death. 
 It was the Lord who gave her to you, the chiefest of all your 
 earthly blessings, and it is He that has taken her away ; and may 
 you be enabled, my son, from the heart to say, ' Blessed be the 
 name of the Lord ! ' Go directly to Him who alone can give you 
 effectual help in time of need. Think of Jesus at the house of 
 Martha and Mary, on the death of their brother — whom Jesus 
 loved — how he pitied them, wept with them, and comforted them. 
 This same Jesus, with the like feelings which he manifested on 
 this occasion, still lives at the right hand of his Father, is touched 
 with the feelings of his afflicted children, and pleads effectually 
 with his Father in their behalf. When the disciples had buried 
 John the Baptist, ' they went and told Jesus.' Go, my afflicted 
 son, and tell him your sorrow, of the loss you have sustained. He 
 loves to have his disciples manifest this affectionate confidence in 
 him, and to come and tell him all their troubles. He will direct 
 and comfort you. Pursuing this course, you will surely find the 
 most solid support, and in no other is it to be found. Our neighbors 
 are full of sympathy for us, and manifest it in' all ways best adapted 
 to comfort us. For you the} 7 express the tenderest feelings, with 
 many tears, and they cheerfully promise to remember you in their 
 prayers. I have no doubt these prayers will be heard, and that 
 you will have the comfort of them. The shock to the whole fam- 
 ily is far beyond, in point of severity, that of any we have ever be- 
 fore felt ; but we are becoming composed, we hope, on grounds which 
 will prove solid arid lasting. 
 
 " I expect this will reach you on Saturday, the day after the one 
 we have appointed for the funeral, when you will have been in 
 "Washington a week, and I hope will have made so much progress 
 in your business as that you will soon be able to return. 
 
 " All join in tenderest sympathy and love for you, with yom 
 afflicted and affectionate father, 
 
 "Jed. Morse." 
 
144 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 His brother Sidney also wrote to him : 
 
 " New York, February 9, 1825. 
 
 " My dear Brother : Father has doubtless informed you of the 
 melancholy event which has filled all our hearts with unspeakable 
 sorrow. May God support you under this most afflicting stroke of 
 his providence ! He has seen fit to deprive us of her, who was so 
 eminently lovely, at a moment when our earthly prospects had put 
 on their most smiling aspect, and when we were fondly looking 
 forward to long years of enjoyment ; and she was to have been a 
 partaker in every pleasure ; but God has taken her to himself, to 
 that world where we must all soon follow, and where separation 
 and sorrow are unknown. Let us bow before the will of him who 
 does all things right." 
 
 He was at Gadsby's Hotel, when this blow fell upon him. 
 Unable to keep his appointment to proceed that day with his 
 painting, and having sent a message to General Lafayette, ex- 
 plaining his absence, he received immediately from the General 
 a few lines of generous sympathy : 
 
 " I have feared to intrude upon you, my dear sir, but want to tell 
 you how deeply I sympathize in your grief — a grief of which nobody 
 can better than me appreciate the cruel feelings. You will hear 
 from me, as soon as I find myself again near you, to finish the work 
 you have so well begun. Accept my affectionate and mournful 
 sentiment. " Lafayette. 
 
 "February 11, 1825." 
 
 He left Washington the day after the news reached him, and- 
 stopped in Baltimore over Sunday, with a friend, from whose 
 house he writes to his parents : 
 
 "Baltimore, Sunday, February 13, 1825. 
 
 " My dear Father : The heart-rending tidings which you com- 
 municated reached me, in Washington, on Friday evening. I left 
 yesterday morning, spend this day here at Mr. Cushing's, and set 
 out on my return home, to-morrow. I shall reach Philadelphia on 
 Monday night, New York on Tuesday night, and New Haven on 
 Wednesday night. Oh, is it possible — is it possible ? shall I never 
 see my dear wife again ? But, I cannot trust myself to write on 
 the subject. I need your prayers, and those of Christian friends, 
 to God for support. I fear I shall sink under it. 
 
 " Oh, take good care of her dear children ! 
 
 " Your agonized son, " Finxey." 
 
LETTER TO A FRIEND. 145 
 
 He did not reach New Haven, traveling by stage, until nearly 
 a week after his wife had been consigned to the grave. A month 
 after the death of his wife he writes to a friend : 
 
 "New York, March 20, 1825. 
 
 " My dear Madam : Though late in performing the promise I 
 made you, of writing you when I arrived home, I hope you will 
 attribute it to any thing but forgetfulness of that promise. The 
 confusion and derangement consequent on such an afflicting be- 
 reavement as I have suffered, have rendered it necessary for me to 
 devote the first moments of composure to looking about me, and to 
 collecting and arranging the fragments of the ruin which has 
 spread such desolation over all my earthly prospects. Oh, what a 
 blow ! I dare not yet give myself up to the full survey of its 
 desolating effects ; every day brings to my mind a thousand new 
 and fond connections with dear Lucretia, all now ruptured. I feel 
 a dreadful void, a heart-sickness, which time does not seem to heal, 
 but rather to aggravate. You know the intensity of the attach- 
 ment which existed between dear L. and me, never for a moment 
 interrupted by the smallest cloud ; an attachment founded, I trust, 
 in the purest love, and daily strengthening by all the motives 
 which the ties of nature, and more especially of religion, furnish. 
 
 " I found in dear L. every thing I could wish. Such ardor of 
 affection, so uniform, so unaffected, I never saw nor read of, but in 
 her. My fear with regard to the measure of my affection toward 
 her, was not that I might fail of ' loving her as my own flesh,' but 
 that I should put her in the place of him who has said, ' Thou 
 shalt have no other gods but me.' I felt this to be my greatest 
 danger, and to be saved from this idolatry was often the subject of 
 my earnest prayers. If I had desired any thing in my dear L. dif- 
 ferent from what she was, it would have been that she had been 
 less lovely. My whole soul seemed wrapped up in her ; with her was 
 connected all that I expected of happiness on earth. Is,, it strange, 
 then, that I now feel this void, this desolateness, this loneliness, 
 this heart-sickness ; that I should feel as if my very heart itself had 
 been torn from me ? To any one but those who knew dear L., 
 what I have said might seem to be but the extravagance of an ex- 
 cited imagination ; but to you, who knew the dear object I lament, 
 all that I have said must but feebly shadow her to your memory." 
 
 The death of his Lucretia was the great calamity of Mr. 
 Morse's early life. Her virtues, her charms of mind and of per- 
 10 
 
146 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 son are celebrated by ihose who knew her ; so that we have no 
 reason to donbt that she was one of the most lovely of women. 
 The late Prof. Benjamin Silliman, Sr., who knew her well, com- 
 posed the following epitaph, which is now upon her tombstone 
 in the beautiful cemetery in New Haven : 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 LUCKETIA PICKERING, 
 
 WIFE OP 
 
 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, 
 
 WHO DIED 7th OF FEBRUARY, A. D. 1825, 
 AGED 25 TEARS. 
 
 SHE COMBINED, IN HER CHARACTER AND PERSON, 
 
 A RARE ASSEMBLAGE OF EXCELLENCES : 
 
 BEAUTIFUL IN FORM, FEATURES, AND EXPRESSION, 
 
 PECULIARLY BLAND IN HER MANNERS, 
 
 HIGHLY CULTIVATED IN MIND, 
 
 SHE IRRESISTIBLY DREW ATTENTION, LOVE, 
 
 AND RESPECT ; . 
 
 DIGNIFIED WITHOUT HAUGHTINESS, 
 
 AMIABLE WITHOUT TAMENESS, 
 
 FIRM WITHOUT SEVERITY, AND 
 
 CHEERFUL WITHOUT LEVITY, 
 
 HER UNIFORM SWEETNESS OF TEMPER 
 
 SPREAD PERPETUAL SUNSHINE AROUND 
 
 EVERY CIRCLE IN WHICH 
 
 SHE MOVED. 
 
 " WHEN THE EAR HEARD HER IT BLESSED HER, 
 
 WHEN THE EYE SAW HER IT GAVE 
 
 WITNESS TO HER." 
 
 IN SUFFERINGS THE MOST KEEN, 
 
 HER SERENITY OF MIND NEVER FAILED HER ; 
 
 DEATH TO HER HAD NO TERRORS, 
 
 THE GRAVE NO GLOOM. 
 
 THOUGH SUDDENLY CALLED FROM EARTH, 
 
 ETERNITY WAS NO STRANGER TO HER THOUGHTS, 
 
 BUT A WELCOME THEME OF 
 
 CONTEMPLATION. 
 
 RELIGION WAS THE SUN 
 
 THAT ILLUMINED EVERY VIRTUE, 
 
 AND UNITED ALL IN ONE 
 
 BOW OF BEAUTY. 
 
 HERS WAS THE RELIGION OF THE GOSPEL ; 
 
 JESUS CHRIST HER FOUNDATION, 
 
 THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF HER FAITH. 
 
 IN HIM SHE RESTS, IN SURE 
 
 EXPECTATION OF A GLORIOUS 
 
 RESURRECTION. 
 
 More than thirty years after the death of Mrs. Morse a gen- 
 tleman in Boston addressed to Mr. Morse a letter of inquiry 
 
LAFAYETTE'S PORTRAIT. 147 
 
 respecting the portrait of General Lafayette, and, in the midst 
 of his telegraphic success and fame, he returned the following 
 reply : 
 
 " Poughkeepsie, June 11, 1858. 
 
 "My dear Sir: In answer to yours of the 8th instant, just re- 
 ceived, I can only say it is so long since I have seen the portrait 
 I painted of General Lafayette for the city of New York, that, 
 strange to say, I find it difficult to recall even its general character- 
 istics. That portrait has a melancholy interest for me, for it was 
 just as I had commenced the second sitting of the General at 
 Washington that I received the stunning intelligence of Mrs. 
 Morse's death, and was compelled abruptly to suspend the work. 
 I preserve, as a gratifying memorial, the letter of condolence and 
 sympathy sent in to me at the moment by the General, and in 
 which he speaks in flattering terms of the promise of the portrait 
 as a likeness. I must be frank, however, in my judgment of my 
 own works of that day. This portrait was begun under the sad 
 auspices to which I have alluded, and, up to the close of the work, 
 I had a series of constant interruptions of the same sad character. 
 A picture painted under such circumstances can scarcely be ex- 
 pected to do the artist justice, and, as a work of art, I cannot praise 
 it. Still, it is a good likeness, was very satisfactory to the General, 
 and he several times alluded to it in my presence in after-years 
 (when I was a frequent visitor to him in Paris) in terms of praise. 
 
 " It is a full-length, standing figure, the size of life. He is repre- 
 sented as standing at the top of a flight of steps, which he has just 
 ascended upon a terrace, the figure coming against a glowing sun- 
 set sky, indicative of the glory of his own evening of life. Upon 
 his right, if I remember, are three pedestals, one of which is vacant, 
 as if waiting for his bust, while the two others are surmounted by 
 the busts of Washington and Franklin — the two associated eminent 
 historical characters of his own time. In a vase, on the other side, 
 is a flower — the heliotrope — with its face toward the sun, in allu- 
 sion to the characteristic, stern, uncompromising consistency of La- 
 fayette — a trait of character which I then considered and still con- 
 sider the great prominent trait of that distinguished man." 
 
 Heart-broken, Mr. Morse went on with his work in the city 
 of New York. His position as an artist was established, and 
 other men would have been content with the bright prospects 
 which his profession opened before him. But he was constantly 
 
148 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 aiming at something higher and better for the advancement of 
 the arts and the honor of his country. April 8, 1825, he writes 
 to his parents from 'New York : 
 
 " I have as much as I can do, but, after being fatigued at night, 
 and having my thoughts turned to my irreparable loss, I am ready 
 almost to give up. The thought of seeing my dear Lucretia, and 
 returning home to her, served always to give me fresh courage and 
 spirits whenever I felt worn down by the labors of the day, and now 
 I hardly know what to substitute in her place. To my friends here 
 I know I seem to be cheerful and happy, but a cheerful countenance 
 with me covers an aching heart, and often have I feigned a more 
 than ordinary cheerfulness to hide a more than ordinary anguish. 
 
 " I am blessed with prosperity in my profession. I have just 
 received another commission, from the corporation of the city, to 
 paint a common-sized portrait of Rev. Mr. Stanford for them, to be 
 placed in the almshouse." 
 
 May 26, 1825. — " I have at length become comfortably settled, 
 and begin to feel at home in my new establishment. All things at 
 present go on smoothly. Brother Charles Walker and Mr. Agate 
 join with me in breakfast and tea, and we find it best for con- 
 venience, economy, and time, to dine from home — it saves the per- 
 plexity of providing marketing and the care of stores, and, besides, 
 we think it will be more economical, and the walk will be bene- 
 ficial." 
 
 The death of his wife was followed, with no great interval, 
 by the death of his venerable father. No man who has attained 
 distinguished position in life has been more indebted for early 
 culture to his parents than Mr. Morse. A clergyman, with no 
 means of support but such as he derived from his people and 
 from his literary labors, Dr. Morse had given to his children the 
 highest advantages of education which the country would afford ; 
 and, when this son had manifested a desire to pursue art as his 
 profession, his father, at a great personal sacrifice, gave him the 
 advantages of education under the best masters in the world in 
 a foreign country, sustaining him there for successive years, 
 when it was necessary for him (the father) to exercise great 
 self-denial in order to command the means to give such advan- 
 tages to his son. These sacrifices were always appreciated and 
 gratefully acknowledged in the letters which he so frequently 
 
ACADEMY OF DESIGN. 149 
 
 wrote to his parents ; and now, when he was continuing his 
 struggles in New York as an artist, his family were still, in a 
 great measure, dependent npon his father for their support. 
 
 His brothers, Sidney and Richard, established themselves in 
 New York, in the year 1823. Having founded the New York 
 Observer, they were now engaged in building it up with great 
 industry, perseverance, and ability, finally crowned with com- 
 plete success. During its earlier years they were unable to do 
 more than to sustain themselves and their paper ; and Finley 
 Morse, the artist, was obliged to look oftentimes to his father 
 for assistance. Dr. Morse died June 9, 1826, in the city of New 
 Haven. 
 
 " There he had resided during the latter part of his life, in the 
 midst of a highly-cultivated and Christian community, the leading 
 members of which, men of world-wide literary and scientific fame, 
 and of religious sentiments in harmony with his own, were his 
 daily companions ; while all, of all classes, loved and honored him 
 for the services he had rendered to his country and to mankind." 
 
 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN. 
 
 Colonel Trumbull, celebrated as one of the earliest and most 
 successful of American painters, and whose works portray some 
 of the most important scenes of the American Revolution, was 
 at this time at the head of the American Academy of Arts, in 
 the city of New York. His administration was not popular 
 with the artists who had occasion to study their profession 
 with the works collected and possessed by the Academy. The 
 artists complained of being denied facilities which they required 
 for the successful prosecution of their studies; and especially 
 that the hours when they could obtain access to the works 
 which they desired to copy were not convenient for them; 
 and that no attention was paid to their remonstrances. 
 
 Mr. Dunlap reports that, on one occasion, Messrs. Cum- 
 mings and Agate (both of whom afterward became distinguished 
 in their profession) came to the door of the Academy, and, find- 
 ing it closed, were turning away, when he, Mr. Dunlap, spoke 
 to them, and advised them to make their complaint to the di- 
 rectors of the Academy. They replied that it would be useless ; 
 and Mr. Dunlap says : " At that moment one of the directors 
 
150 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 appeared, coming from Broadway toward them. I urged the 
 young gentlemen to speak to him, but they declined, saying, 
 'they had so often been disappointed, that they gave it up.' 
 The director came and sat down by the writer, who mentioned 
 the subject of the recent disappointment, pointing to the two 
 young men who were still in sight. The conduct of the per- 
 son whose duty it was to open the doors was promptly con- 
 demned by that gentleman ; and, while speaking, the president 
 appeared, coming to his painting-room, which was one of the 
 apartments of the Academy. It was unusually early for him, 
 although near eight o'clock. Before he reached the door, the 
 curator of the Academy opened it and remained. 
 
 " On Mr. Trumbull's arrival, the director mentioned the dis- 
 appointment of the students. The curator stoutly asserted that 
 ' he would open the doors when it suited him.' The president 
 observed, in reply to the director: 'When I commenced the 
 study of painting, there were no casts in the country. I was 
 obliged to do as well as I could.' These young gentlemen 
 should remember that the gentlemen have gone to a great ex- 
 pense in importing casts, and that they ' (the students) ' have no 
 property in them ; ' concluding with these memorable words, in 
 the, encouragement of the curator's conduct, ' They must re- 
 member that beggars are not to be choosers.' " Dunlap con- 
 tinues, " We may consider this the condemnatory sentence of the 
 American Academy of Fine Arts." It was so, as it afterward 
 appeared. 
 
 When these facts came to be known, the indignation of the 
 artists was general, and a strong desire was expressed that some 
 measures might be taken to secure for the artists the privileges 
 of the Academy ; or, if that were not possible, that some new 
 association should be formed to procure for them the advantages 
 which they felt to be indispensable to their progress. Mr. 
 Morse was called on to concentrate these efforts. He invited a 
 few of the artists to his rooms, and there the propriety of fur- 
 ther endeavors to conciliate the directors by petition was dis- 
 cussed. Mr. Morse suggested that an association might be 
 formed "for the Promotion of the Arts, and the Assistanco 
 of Students " — simply a union for improvement in drawing. 
 
 On the 8th of November, 1825, a meeting of the artists, 
 
DRAWING ASSOCIATION. 151 
 
 probably the first ever held in the city, took place in the rooms 
 of the Historical Society (generously loaned them on that oc- 
 casion), for the purpose of taking into consideration " the for- 
 mation of a Society for Improvement in Drawing." Mr. 
 Durand was called to the chair, and Mr. Morse was appointed 
 secretary. 
 
 The question of organization was put, and carried unani- 
 mously; and the so-associated artists were thenceforth to be 
 known as the " New York Drawing Association." Samuel F. 
 B. Morse was chosen to preside over its meetings. The mem- 
 bers were : 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse, Henry Inman, A. B. Durand, Thomas 
 S. S. Cummings, Ambrose Andrews, Frederick S. Agate, "Wil- 
 liam Gr. "Wall, "William Dunlap, James Coyle, Charles C. Wright, 
 Mosley J. Danforth, Kobert Norris, Edward C. Potter, Albert 
 Durand, John "W. Paradise, Gerlando Marsiglia, Ithiel Town, 
 Thomas Grinnell, George "W. Hatch, John E.. Murray, Jr., 
 John Neilson, John L. Morton, Henry J. Morton, C. C. Ing- 
 ham, Thomas Cole, Hugh Beinagle, Peter Maverick, D. W. 
 "Wilson, Alexander Gr. Davis, John Frazee. 
 
 By its few and simple rules it was provided " that its mem- 
 bers should meet in the evenings, three times a week, for dew- 
 ing ; that each member furnish his own drawing-materials ; that 
 the expense of light, fuel, etc., be paid by equal contributions ; 
 that new members should be admitted on a majority of votes — 
 paying five dollars entrance-fee ; that the lamp should be lighted 
 at six, and extinguished at nine o'clock, p. m." The lamp was a 
 can, containing about half a gallon of oil, into which was in- 
 serted a wick of some four inches in diameter ; it was set upon 
 an upright post, about ten feet high. To give sufficient light, 
 the wick was necessarily considerably out of the oil, and caused 
 smoke. There was no chimney, and lamp-black was abundant ; 
 added to that, some forty draftsmen had an oil-lamp each. The 
 reader may easily imagine the condition of the room ! 
 
 At a meeting of the New York Drawing Association, held 
 on the evening of the 14th of January, 1826, Mr. Morse, the 
 president, stated that he had certain resolutions to offer the 
 Association, which he would preface with the following re- 
 marks : 
 
152 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 " We have this evening assumed a new attitude in the com- 
 munity : our negotiations with the Academy are at an end ; our 
 union with it has been frustrated, after every proper effort on our 
 part to accomplish it. The two who were elected as directors from 
 our ticket have signified their non-acceptance of the office. We 
 are, therefore, left to organize ourselves on a plan that shall meet 
 the wishes of us all. A plan of an institution which shall be truly 
 liberal, which shall be mutually beneficial, which shall really en- 
 courage our respective arts, cannot be devised in a moment ; it 
 ought to be the work of great caution and deliberation, and as 
 simple as possible in its machinery. 
 
 " Time will be required for the purpose. We must hear from 
 distant countries to obtain their experience, and it must necessarily 
 be perhaps many months before it can be matured. In the mean 
 time, however, a preparatory simple organization can be made, and 
 should be made as soon as possible, to prevent dismemberment, 
 which may be attempted by outdoor influence. On this subject 
 let us all be on our guard ; let us point to our public documents to 
 any who ask what we have done, and why we have done it ; while 
 we go forward, minding only our own concerns, leaving the Acad- 
 emy of Fine Arts as much of our thoughts as they will permit us, 
 and, bending our attention to our own affairs, act as if no such insti- 
 tutipn existed. 
 
 " One of our dangers at present is division and anarchy, from a 
 want of organization suited to the present exigency. We are now 
 composed of artists in the four arts of design, viz., painting, sculpt- 
 ure, architecture, and engraving. Some of us are professional 
 artists, others amateurs, others students. To the professed and 
 practical artist belongs the management of all things relating to 
 schools, premiums, and lectures, so that amateur and student may 
 be most profited. The amateurs and students are those alone who 
 can contend for the premiums, while the body of professional artists 
 exclusively judge of their rights to premiums, and award them. How 
 shall we first make the separation has been a question which is a 
 little perplexing. There are none of us who can assume to be the 
 body of artists without giving offense to others ; and still every 
 one must perceive that, to organize an Academy, there must be the 
 distinction between professional artists, amateurs who are students, 
 and professional students. The first great division should be the 
 body of professional artists from the amateurs and students consti- 
 tuting the body, who are to manage the entire concerns of the in- 
 
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY. I53 
 
 stitution, who shall be its officers, etc. There is a method which 
 strikes me as obviating the difficulty : place it on the broad princi- 
 ple of the formation of any society — universal suffrage. We are 
 now a mixed body ; it is necessary for the benefit of all that a 
 separation into classes be made. Who shall make it ? Why, 
 obviously the body itself. Let every member of this association 
 take home with him a list of all the members of it. Let each one 
 select for himself from the whole list fifteen, whom he would call pro- 
 fessional artists, to be the ticket which he will give in at the next 
 meeting. These fifteen thus chosen shall elect not less than ten, 
 nor more than fifteen, professional artists, in or out of the associa- 
 tion, who shall (with the previously- elected fifteen) constitute the 
 body to be called the National Academy of the Arts of Design. 
 To these shall be delegated the power to regulate its entire con- 
 cerns, choose its members, select its students, etc. Thus will the 
 germ be formed to grow up into an institution, which we trust will 
 be put on such principles as to encourage — not to depress — the 
 arts. When this is done, our body will be no longer the Drawing 
 Association, but the National Academy of the Arts of Design, still 
 including all the present association, but in different capacities. 
 
 " One word as to the name ' National Academy of the Arts of 
 Design.' Any less name than National would be taking one below 
 the American Academy, and therefore is not desirable. If ,we 
 were simply the Associated Artists, their name would swallow us 
 up ; therefore, National seems a proper one as to the arts of de- 
 sign : these are painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving, 
 while the fine arts include poetry, music, landscape gardening, and 
 the histrionic arts. Our name, therefore, expresses the entire char- 
 action of our institution, and that only." 
 
 This arrangement was unanimously adopted, and a list of 
 the members of the association was immediately furnished to 
 each member, who, from it, was requested to select, by the next 
 meeting, fifteen professional artists to form his ticket, the fif- 
 teen " having the highest number of votes to constitute a ' Body 
 of Artists,' who shall, before Wednesday evening next, elect 
 not less than ten nor more than fifteen others, from professional 
 artists resident in the city of New York, the whole body thus 
 chosen to be called the ' National Academy of the Arts of De- 
 sign.' ' : And, by resolution, those remaining in the association 
 after such election, and wishing to belong to the new institu- 
 
154 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tion, were to be declared students of the new institution, and a 
 certificate of membership to be given to them. 
 
 On the 15th of January, 1826, in conformity with the resolution, 
 the association proceeded to ballot. Whereupon the following gen- 
 tlemen were chosen : S. F. B. Morse, Henry Inman, A. B. Durand, 
 John Frazee, William Wall, Charles C. Ingham, William Dunlap, 
 Peter Maverick, Ithiel Town, Thomas S. Cummings, Edward Potter, 
 Charles C. Wright, Mosley J. Danforth, Hugh Reinagle, Gerlando 
 Marsiglia. 
 
 And between the 15th and the 18th of the month the above- 
 named artists assembled for the performance of their part of 
 the task ; for, on the 18th of January, 1826, the president stated 
 that "the professional artists chosen at the last meeting of the 
 association had balloted for ten professional artists on one ticket, 
 and five subsequently on separate tickets, and that the following 
 gentlemen were those elected : Samuel Waldo, William Jewett, 
 John W. Paradise, Frederick S. Agate, Rembrandt Peale, James 
 Coyle, Nathaniel Rogers, J. Parisen, William Main, John Evers, 
 Martin E. Thompson, Thomas Cole, John Vanderlyn (who declined), 
 Alexander Anderson, D. W. Wilson. By this method was formed 
 the National Academy of the Arts of Design. Samuel F. B. Morse 
 and John L. Morton were chosen to act as president and secretary 
 until the adoption of a constitution. 
 
 The National Academy of Design, thus ushered into the world, 
 was composed of members and professional artists, and thus divided 
 in the four arts of design : 
 
 In 'painting: Samuel F. B. Morse, Henry Inman, Thomas S. 
 Cummings, William Dunlap, Rembrandt Peale, Charles C. Ingham, 
 Thomas Cole, John Evers, Signor Marsiglia, Frederick S. Agate, 
 Edward C. Potter, Hugh Reinagle, James Coyle, D. W. Wilson, J. 
 Parisen, John W. Paradise, Nathaniel Rogers, William Wall. In 
 sculpture : John Frazee. In architecture : Ithiel Town, Martin E. 
 Thompson. In engraving : A. B. Durand, William Main, Mosley 
 J. Danforth, Peter Maverick, Charles C. Wright. 
 
 The following were students in the Antique School of the first 
 grade : John L. Morton, amateur ; Henry J. Morton, amateur ; John 
 J. Neilson, amateur ; George W. Hatch, Thomas Grinnell, Ambrose 
 Andrews, Robert Norris, Albert Durand, John W. Paradise, Alex- 
 ander G. Davis, John R. Murray, Jr. 
 
 Mr. Morse was requested to prepare a short address to the 
 
THE SKETCH CLUB. I55 
 
 public, setting forth the views and general intentions of the in- 
 stitution, from which the following is an extract : 
 
 " An institution with this name has recently been organized by 
 the artists of this city, founded on principles which, it is believed, 
 will elevate the character and condition of the arts of design in our 
 country. 
 
 " The want of such an institution has long been felt by those 
 interested in the advancement of the liberal arts, especially by 
 artists themselves ; and to its establishment, accordingly, almost 
 the whole body of the profession in this city have concentrated 
 their efforts. 
 
 " The National Academy of the Arts of Design is founded on 
 the common-sense principle that every profession in society knows 
 best what measures are necessary for its own improvement. Its 
 success is no more problematical than the success of many societies 
 that might be named where the members are exclusively of one 
 profession. To others shall be left the discussion of the question 
 whether the common method of raising funds for the support of 
 ifistitutions for the encouragement of literature and the arts, by 
 connecting a large body of stockholders with them, be on the whole 
 advisable or not. 
 
 " It may be observed, however, that the little experience had on 
 this subject does not seem favorable to such a mode of procedure. 
 In the permanent formation of this institution a different course 
 will be pursued — a course sanctioned by the experience of acad- 
 emies of arts in Europe, especially the Royal Academy of London." 
 
 Almost coeval with the National Academy, was founded the 
 " Sketch Club "— " ' The Old' Sketch Club: " 
 
 " The second exhibition of the National Academy was held in 
 the room over Tylee's Baths, in Chambers Street. After the exhi- 
 bition the room was fitted up with plaster casts and drawing-boards, 
 and there the students of the Antique School met to receive instruc- 
 tion from the founders of the Academy. One night the teachers 
 were as usual assembled. Previous to the opening of the school, 
 seated in a corner, were Morse, Durand, Cummings, and Ingham. 
 The subject of conversation was the recent breaking up of that 
 most agreeable club, the ' Lunch.' Mr. Ingham remarked that now 
 there was an opportunity for the artists to establish a club. All 
 agreed that such a thing was feasible. Mr. Ingham proposed that 
 those present should consider themselves the nucleus of one, which, 
 
156 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 when established, should be called the Sketch Club — to consist of 
 artists, authors, men of science, and lovers of art ; and that Morse 
 should be the first president. Mr. Morse highly approved of the 
 idea, but declined being the president, saying that it was enough 
 for him to be president of the Academy ; that the person best enti- 
 tled to the honor of being president of the proposed association 
 was Mr. Ingham, who had originated the scheme. Mr. Cummings 
 coincided, and, after some further conversation on the rules to be 
 adopted, it was agreed to postpone the further consideration of the 
 subject to Wednesday in the following week, and that a meeting 
 should be called at Mr. Ingham's. A meeting of the principal 
 artists was held there, and the rules of the proposed club discussed 
 and adopted. 
 
 " The plan had been for the members to meet at an hotel, to be 
 entertained at thccost of the host of the evening. This arrange- 
 ment was supposed to have caused a rivalry in expense, which led 
 to the breaking up of the club. To avoid a like result, the artists 
 determined to have their club as inexpensive as possible ; and, to 
 attain this end, it was agreed that the ' Sketch Club ' should meet 
 at the houses of the members, in rotation, and that the entertain- 
 ment should be confined to dried fruit, crackers, milk, and honey. 
 Mr. Ingham was elected president, and Mr. John Inman secretary. 
 
 " The first regular meeting took place at the rooms of Thomas 
 Cole. It was a decided success. All the members exerted them- 
 selves to please, and every thing was agreeable — even the figs, 
 milk, and honey. But on the day after the feast, came the pangs 
 of repentance, and many a vow was made that the refreshments of 
 the club should be changed. . . . 
 
 " It may be regretted that its early minutes, witticisms, essays, 
 drawings, verses, papers, etc., have been neglected or destroyed. 
 Not a vestige to be found of that, one of the oldest and most inter- 
 esting of clubs. It was formed for the promotion of mutual inter- 
 course and improvement in impromptu sketching. Drawing for one 
 hour from a subject proposed by the host, whose property the draw- 
 ings remained, was part of the programme positive ; the poets and 
 others frequently amusing themselves during that hour by passing 
 round a subject, on which each, in turn, furnished four lines — no 
 more, no less ; and some truly amusing mongrels were the result. 
 Its members comprised, in a high degree, the talent of the country. 
 In its organization over-great care had been taken to guard against 
 destruction by extravagance in its entertainments in eating, and 
 
BILL OF FARE. I57 
 
 ' milk and honey, raisins, apples, and crackers ' were the limitation, 
 the prescribed bill-of-fare. The medicinal qualities of the one were 
 appreciated on the first dose, and the dryness of the other was not 
 relished. 
 
 " ' The rule ' was more observed in the breach than in the 
 observance. The first great outbreak, however, occurred at Mem- 
 ber J s H 's, at his then up-town residence, viz., east side 
 
 Broadway, between Broome and Spring Streets. On that evening, 
 at the appointed hour for refreshments, the drawing-room doors 
 were thrown open, and an elegant supper appeared before the 
 astonished guests. A general revolt took place. Protests were 
 entered, remonstrances made ; a compromise finally, or, it rather 
 should be said, speedily ensued. It was decided that the supper 
 should be eaten, but that it should be done ' standing? 
 
 " ' Bitting down to supper,' it was said, was prohibited by ' the 
 rules? The distinction was a very nice one ; so was the supper. 
 
 " Members did not long ' stand out / ' chairs were in demand, 
 and in less than fifteen minutes the whole were as comfortably 
 seated as if no such prohibition had ever in the rules existed, and 
 looked as innocently unconscious as if nothing had occurred con- 
 trary thereto. More ample justice could not have been done to a 
 feast. Milk and honey never again appeared at the festive board. 
 Many, very many happy meetings had that club." 
 
 In 1873, almost half a century from this date, a reunion of 
 the old Sketch Club was held at the house of Jonathan Sturgis, 
 Esq., and a splendid entertainment in defiance of all the 
 " rules " was given by the liberal and hospitable host. Only two 
 of the original members were present, Cummings and Durand. 
 Morse, the founder and president, had been laid with the dead 
 but a few months before. 
 
 During the years from 1826 to 1829, Mr. Morse resided in 
 the city of ]STew York, pursuing, with great industry, his pro- 
 fession as a painter; but oftentimes discouraged to the very 
 last degree, by a want of success commensurate with his am- 
 bition. Poverty, so often the lot of men of genius and of 
 the highest desert, pressed him continually ; preparing him, 
 doubtless, for the still greater hardships which he was to pass 
 through. Still struggling to accomplish the great work for 
 which he was trained, he was now both a teacher and a pupil. 
 A large part of his time was necessarily given to the Acad- 
 
158 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 emy of Design, over which, he was called to preside, by reelec- 
 tion, from year to year, from its origin down to the year 1845, 
 and he would have been continued in the presidency during 
 the whole of his protracted life, had he not considered it essen- 
 tial to the interests of the institution that he should retire from 
 it after he became absorbed in the scientific pursuits which his 
 invention of the Telegraph required. The industiy with which 
 he pursued his profession may be inferred from the catalogue of 
 some of the principal paintings which were exhibited in the an- 
 nual expositions of the Academy of Design. But, in addition to 
 these, he painted a great number of portraits and other pictures 
 which were never placed on public exhibition. This catalogue, 
 prepared by General T. S. Cummings (whose history of the ISTa- 
 tional Academy of Design has furnished the facts in regard to 
 Mr. Morse's connection with that institution), is worthy of being 
 preserved. 
 
 Ichabod Crane discovers the Headless Horseman, S. H. 
 
 A family picture ....... 
 
 Portrait of the late Mayor W. Paulding 
 Portrait of Rev. Dr. Stanford. New York Corporation 
 Portrait of De Witt Clinton, Governor State of New York 
 Full-length portrait of General Lafayette. New York Corporation 
 Portrait of Judge Mitchell, Connecticut . . . . 
 
 House of Representatives in the Capitol : 88 portraits . 
 
 Una and the Dwarf. Relating adventure of the Red Cross Knight. 
 
 Portrait of Fitz-Greene Halleck 
 
 Portrait of F. G. King, Professor of Anatomy, N 
 
 academician picture .... 
 View of Cazenovia Lake 
 View of Parapet Falls, at Trenton Falls . 
 Portrait of William Cullen Bryant . 
 Landscape Figures . . . . 
 
 Review Exhibition (Rome) . 
 Portrait of the late Thomas Addis Emmet , 
 
 Portrait of Thorwalsden 
 
 Amalfi, from the Grotto of the Capuchin Convent 
 The Wetterhorn and Falls of the Reichenbach 
 The Brigand alarmed .... 
 Pifferari, or Calabrian Minstrels 
 Full-length portrait of a lady 
 The Gold-Fish, etc. A family group 
 Portrait of Major-General Stark . . . 
 
 Portrait of Rev. Dr. Sprague, of Albany 
 
 A. D., and his 
 
 1826 
 1826 
 1826 
 1826 
 1826 
 1827 
 1827 
 1827 
 1828 
 1828 
 
 1828 
 1828 
 1828 
 1829 
 1830 
 1831 
 1831 
 1832 
 1833 
 1833 
 1833 
 1833 
 1834 
 1835 
 1835 
 1835 
 
GENERAL CUMMINGS'S LETTER. 159 
 
 Portrait of Rev. Dr. Nott, of Connecticut . . . 1835 
 
 Portrait of Euchee Billy. A sketch of an Indian chief taken in 
 
 1820. (New York University) .... 1836 
 
 Portrait of Dr. Augustus Smith . . . . . 1836 
 
 Landscape Composition. Helicon and Aganippe . . 1836 
 
 Sunset View of St. Peter's, Rome ..... 1836 
 
 Full-length portrait of a young lady. (New York University) . 1837 
 
 Nothing exhibited ...... 1838-1863 
 
 In the second winter exhibition was exhibited Mr. Morse's Interior of the House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 General Cummings, who has retired from the city (where 
 he held high rank as an artist and teacher of art) to the repose 
 of rural life, has kindly furnished the following sketch of Mr. 
 Morse's professional life in New York, and an estimate of his 
 ability : 
 
 "Mansfield Centre, Tolland County, Conn., April 21, 1873. 
 
 "My acquaintance with Mr. Morse commenced in the fall of 
 1824 or spring of 1825, and continued until his decease. It opened 
 immediately on the meeting of the artists after the rudeness I had 
 received at the American Academy of Fine Arts, as described by 
 Dunlap and by myself in my 'Records of the National Academy of 
 Design.' In the controversy which followed, Mr. Morse took a very 
 deep and leading interest, the full particulars of which are given in 
 the Annals. Ultimately, and on the formation of the National 
 Academy of Design, he became its president, and so continued for 
 years, namely, from 1827 to 1845, and, at my especial invitation 
 and request, to serve the interests of the institution, from 1861 to 
 1862, and, I may add, was beloved by all. 
 
 " At the time of our first acquaintance Mr. Morse was in the en- 
 joyment of lucrative and prosperous practice, as a portrait-painter, 
 in the city. His studio was crowded with works in progress, and 
 the demands on his pencil unceasing from the talent, wealth, and 
 fashion of the city, daily refusing commissions, and sending the ap- 
 plicants to other artists for execution. As a portrait-painter Mr. 
 Morse was very unequal ; yet many of his works there are which 
 will stand favorable competition with the best produced to the 
 present day, and none more preeminently so that I can at present 
 call to mind than the portrait of the Rev. Dr. Stanford — a half- 
 length, now on the possession of the Commissioners of Charities, 
 in the public building in Third Avenue, in the neighborhood of 
 Twentieth Street. Mr. Morse's connection with the Academy was 
 
160 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 doubtless unfavorable in a pecuniary point of view. His interest 
 in it interfering with professional practice, and the time taken to 
 enable him to prepare his course of lectures, materially contributed 
 to favor a distribution of his labors in art to other hands, and it 
 never fully returned to him. His ' Discourse on Academies of Art,' 
 delivered in the chapel of Columbia College, May, 1827, will long 
 stand as a monument of his ability in the line of art-literature. As 
 an historical painter Mr. Morse, after Allston, was probably the 
 best-prepared and most fully-educated artist of his day, and should 
 have received the attention of the Government, and a share of its 
 distributions in art - commissions. There political influence was 
 brought to bear against him ; and, on the selection of the artists to 
 fill the four panels in the Rotunda in the Capitol, Mr. Morse was 
 found to be not one of the number. That was to him a source of 
 great unhappiness and professional disappointment. The ' Signing 
 of the First Compact by the Pilgrims on board the May Flower ' 
 had always been his favorite subject, and he had spent years of 
 thought on the then leading subject of his heart. Hence the rea- 
 sons especially for the artists coming to his rescue, to employ him 
 to paint an historical picture. That picture, it was hoped, might 
 occupy one of the panels in the Rotunda ; and, had it been painted, 
 it probably would have done so. Certain it is, the artist contribu- 
 tors never intended to take it from Mr. Morse." 
 
 A brilliant assembly was gathered in the chapel of Colum- 
 bia College, May 3, 1827. The college was then in what is now 
 the lower part of the city, in College Place, below the City 
 Hall. The occasion that had called together the most cultivated 
 and refined ladies and gentlemen, was the first anniversary of 
 the National Academy of Design, and the president, Samuel F. 
 B. Morse, delivered an address which was published in pamphlet 
 form, at the request of the Academy, through a committee, con- 
 sisting of Dunlap, Ingham, and Wright. The address is re- 
 markable for the extent of learning it displays, and the ripe 
 thought of the author. 
 
 The Academy being in its infancy, and some eminent artists 
 being hostile to its establishment and its plans, this address of 
 Mr. Morse was honored by a severe review in the North Amer- 
 ican, which had then reached its fifty-eighth number, and had 
 justly acquired a national reputation. It was contended by the 
 
LORD LTNDHURST'S LETTER. 161 
 
 reviewer that the new Academy was presumptuous in assuming 
 the title of " National," as it had no claim to national recogni- 
 tion, or to the countenance of the artists of the whole country. 
 To this attack Mr. Morse replied with great ability in a paper 
 first published in the Journal of Commerce, and afterward in 
 pamphlet form. 
 
 The reply revealed the lofty spirit of independence and the 
 high sense of the dignity of his profession, which then con- 
 trolled the purposes of the president of the Academy. Mr. 
 Morse sent a copy of his address to Lord Lyndhurst, son of the 
 celebrated painter Copley, and to some inquiries in his letter re- 
 ceived the following reply : 
 
 "George Street (London), December 28, 1827. 
 
 " Dear Sir : I beg you will accept my best thanks for your dis- 
 course delivered before the National Academy at New York, which 
 has been handed to me by Mr. "Ward. The tenor of my father's 
 life was so uniform as to afford fine materials for the biographer. 
 He was entirely devoted to his art, which he pursued with unremit- 
 ting assiduity to the last hour of his life. The result is before the 
 public, in his works, which must speak for themselves ; and consider- 
 ing that he was entirely self-taught, and never saw a decent pict- 
 ure, with the exception of his own, until he was nearly thirty years 
 of age, the circumstance is, I think, worthy of admiration, and 
 affords a striking proof of what natural genius, aided by determined 
 perseverance, can under almost any circumstances accomplish. 
 " I remain, dear sir, your faithful servant, 
 
 " Lyndhurst." 
 
 study or electro-magnetism. 
 
 We now leave Mr. Morse's artistic pursuits for the present, 
 and find him once more a student of science, and of that depart- 
 ment which had particularly interested him while in college 
 under Professors Day and Silliman. 
 
 In the year 1827 Mr. Morse became interested in the study 
 of electricity, and particularly in electro-magnetism. At that 
 time he was intimately associated with James Freeman Dana, 
 of Columbia College, who delivered a course of lectures on the 
 subject, before the New York Athenseum. Mr. Morse attended 
 these lectures, and the lecturer was in the habit of frequently 
 visiting him at his studio, where subjects of mutual interest 
 11 
 
162 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 were freely discussed. Professor Dana was an enthusiast in the 
 science of electro-magnetism, and his wife relates that it so pos- 
 sessed his mind that she frequently heard him talk of it in his 
 sleep. Subsequently, when it became important for Mr. Morse to 
 establish by positive evidence the simple fact that he was taught 
 by Professor Dana at this time, that promising scholar was dead. 
 His wife survived him, and, on being applied to for her recol- 
 lections, she testified as follows : 
 
 Deposition of Matilda W. Dana, of Boston, in the State of Mas- 
 sachusetts, taken at the Office of George 8. BZillard. 
 
 " I am the widow of Professor James Freeman Dana; my hus- 
 band and myself resided in the city of New York in the years 1826- 
 1827 ; my husband died on the 15th day of April, 1827, in the city 
 of New York. In the year 1827 he delivered a course of lectures 
 upon the subject of electro-magnetism, and also upon the subject 
 of electricity, before the New York Athenasum, in the chapel of 
 Columbia College. I attended several of these lectures ; his mind 
 was most intensely interested in the subject of electro-magnetism 
 — so much so, indeed, that I frequently heard him talk of it in his 
 sleep. I know that my husband, in the years 1826-1827, and up to 
 the time of his death, was on terms of intimacy with Professor 
 Samuel F. B. Morse, and was in the habit of frequently visiting in 
 Professor Morse's painting-room, which, at that time, was at the 
 corner of Broadway and Pine Street, in the city of New York. I 
 have a distinct recollection of visiting Professor Morse's room in 
 1827, in company with my husband, and of examining some of Pro- 
 fessor Morse's paintings. My husband had a very keen perception 
 of the beautiful, and was a great admirer of the fine arts, and took 
 particular delight and interest in the art in which Professor Morse 
 was at that time engaged. I have no doubt that this circumstance 
 led him to cultivate an intimacy and friendship with Professor 
 Morse, and I know that such intimacy and friendship did exist up 
 to the time of my husband's death. I frequently heard my husband 
 speak of his having been on visits to Professor Morse's rooms, and 
 he frequently told me he had been on such visits. From what he 
 said to me, and from what I saw, I know that he must have spent 
 much time at Professor Morse's rooms. I frequently heard him 
 speak of Professor Morse's pictures ; there was one I know, he 
 much admired, that was the picture entitled ' Una, the Dwarf, and 
 
MRS. DANA'S TESTIMONY. 163 
 
 Arthur,' from Spenser's ' Faerie Queene.' My husband took me with 
 him to Professor Morse's room, to see that picture, and I recollect 
 seeing it at his room, and it was much admired both by me and by 
 my husband ; and my husband was so much interested at that time 
 with electro-magnetism, that it was a favorite theme in his conver- 
 sations with all his associates and friends. He was in the habit 
 of dwelling much upon it, and of explaining to his friends the 
 results of his experiments in that science. From the terms of inti- 
 macy existing between him and Professor Morse, I can scarcely con- 
 ceive it possible that he and Professor Morse should not have had 
 frequent and repeated conversations on the subject of electro-mag- 
 netism. I knew that my husband at that time was in the constant 
 habit of stating to his friends and associates his views of that 
 wonderful science, which then was regarded as, in a great measure, 
 new in this country, and little understood. He was unusually frank 
 and communicative in his social intercourse with his friends ; that 
 was a distinguishing trait in his character. He seemed anxious to 
 induce, in the minds of others, an interest in the science of electro- 
 magnetism, as he entertained the idea that, ultimately, it would be 
 an instrument of wonderful and highly-beneficial results to the 
 world, when it should be more fully understood, its principles devel- 
 oped and applied to practical purposes. On the death of my hus- 
 band I received from Professor Morse a very kind note of condo- 
 lence, to which I have often recurred with grateful remembrance, 
 as a token of kind regard from an intimate friend and associate of 
 my deceased husband. I have often spoken of it, and shown it to 
 my daughter, as coming from an intimate friend of her father. I 
 cannot now state positively that I saw Professor Morse at these 
 lectures before the Athenaeum ; but from the intimacy that existed 
 between them, and the professional relations to each other, I have 
 no doubt that he did attend those lectures. I should have thought 
 it very singular if he had not, and presume that his absence would 
 have been a subject of remark if he were absent. I recollect Pro- 
 fessor Morse at that time delivered lectures before the Athenaeum 
 upon the fine arts, and that my husband and myself attended them. 
 I am very sure that Professor Morse, in his letter of condolence, 
 expressed the pleasure he had had in attending my husband's lect- 
 ures. And I further depose and say that the two papers now pro- 
 duced and made an exhibit in this cause, and upon the first page 
 of which I have written my name, and the date of taking of this 
 deposition — one headed ' 1st, 2d. On Electro-Magnetism before 
 
164: LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the New York Athenaeum ; ' the other headed ' 2d, 3d, 4th. On 
 Electro-Magnetism, before the New York Athenaeum' — are the ori- 
 ginal lectures delivered by my husband James Freeman Dana, be- 
 fore the New York Athenaeum, in the year 1827 ; that said original 
 lectures and the drawings therein, as well as the heading to each, 
 above quoted, are in the handwriting of my said husband, and 
 the same have been in my possession since the death of my said 
 husband ; and that my husband, at the time of the delivery, exhib- 
 ited to his audience various experiments with an electro-magnet, 
 illustrative of the subject-matter of said lectures, and then had and 
 exhibited to his audience an electro-magnet in a horseshoe form. 
 After his death that identical magnet was sold to his successor, 
 Professor John Torrey. Since the funeral of my husband I have 
 not seen Mr. Morse, until the 19 th of September, instant. He 
 then, before seeing said lectures, or before I told him what they 
 contained, stated, to me several of the experiments which were 
 exhibited by my husband at the time he delivered the same before 
 the Athenaeum. 
 
 (Signed) ■ "Matilda W. Dana. 
 
 " Sworn to before me, the 24th day of September, a. d. 1849. 
 
 " Geoege S. Hillaed, 
 " Commissioner, etc., etc., etc." 
 
 The first words that fell from the lips of Professor Dana in 
 his course of lectures, and which reached the ear of Mr. Morse, 
 were these, and the last lines of the first paragraph have wonder- 
 ful significance in connection with the results : 
 
 " The discovery of the voltaic pile by the illustrious philosopher 
 whose name the instrument bears, is emphatically the most impor- 
 tant discovery of the age. It will ever render memorable in the 
 annals of science the first year of the present century. Its influ- 
 ence on the progress of philosophy has been viewed with astonish- 
 ment, even by the most ardent and sanguine imaginations. It has 
 multiplied discoveries with a rapidity and to an extent without par- 
 allel in the history of physics. It has given to us new powers over 
 the material world, and has presented us with new substances pos- 
 sessing almost magical properties. The tide of discovery has rolled 
 over us like a flood, and yet new results are daily offered, and new 
 relations and connections of its influence are hourly developed. 
 
 " The year 1819 witnessed the discovery, by means of the voltaic 
 
PROFESSOR DANA'S LECTURES. 165 
 
 apparatus, of a mysterious connection between the electric power 
 and the magnetic influence, which has afforded phenomena of a most 
 engaging- and unexpected nature ; has presented experiments and 
 results which have been witnessed but with admiration, and laid 
 the foundation upon 'which a new science, electro-magnetism, has 
 been erected. 
 
 " The principles of this new science have been subjected to a 
 rigorous mathematical analysis, which place them on a basis no less 
 firm than that of the theory of gravitation, and gives them a charm 
 which renders the subject highly attractive from the perfect coinci- 
 dence of geometrical deductions with physical facts ; but, divesting 
 them of mathematical considerations, I shall attempt, in a popular 
 manner, to elucidate the laws of electro-magnetism, by experiments, 
 in the lectures which I have the honor this season to offer to the 
 Athenaeum." 
 
 And lie closed the lecture by saying : 
 
 ".Conductors of electricity receive and transmit the electric in- 
 fluence instantly to every part of their substance ; metals, alloys, 
 well-burnt charcoal : non-conductors receive the influence only at 
 the point of contact, but do not transmit it; glass, resin, silk, etc. 
 There are many bodies which hold an intermediate station be- 
 tween conductors and non-conductors; they are called imperfect 
 conductors. 
 
 " When a connection is made between the positive and nega- 
 tive poles of a voltaic apparatus by means of conductors, the bat- 
 tery is discharged ; the electric tension is destroyed; that is, the 
 instruments which indicate the presence of electricity cease to be 
 affected. But the apparatus possesses within itself the power of 
 renewing its first state of electric tension in imperceptible intervals 
 of time, and consequently the connecting substance between the 
 two poles is continually performing the same office during its whole 
 time of contact that it did at the first moment. While the connect- 
 ing wire is performing this function, it is evident that it must be in 
 a state different from that in which it exists when separated from the 
 instrument. Now, since a small wire may be employed to dis- 
 charge a powerful apparatus, it follows that the principle which is 
 active in it is condensed and concentrated into a very small space. 
 A wire, while it is performing this function, we shall call the con- 
 junctive wire. 
 
 " In the hypothetical language of electricians, a current of elec- 
 
166 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 tricity flows through the conjunctive wire, but whether a material 
 substance be conceived to pass through the wire or not, it certainly 
 suffers some peculiar changes, and acquires some peculiar proper- 
 ties which it retains while it is made the medium of communication 
 between the poles of the voltaic instruments in a state of activity. 
 If the wire be small, it is heated, and it produces effects on the 
 magnetic needle which are constant and invariable." 
 
 In bis second lecture Professor Dana said : 
 
 " The effect of the conjunctive wire in impressing the magnetic 
 state is uniform and constant, and we can infer with absolute cer- 
 tainty the kind of magnetism which will be exhibited by either end 
 of a needle, by reference to its position with regard to the wire. 
 We are led to this by our previous knowledge of the positions 
 assumed by a magnetic needle under the influence of the wire. 
 Thus, if the electric current flow from the right hand to the left, 
 and the needle to be magnetized be placed over the wire, the end 
 pointing from us will acquire the austral magnetism, or a north 
 polarity, etc. We have seen that the pole of the magnetic needle, 
 over which the positive electricity enters, turns to the east, but the 
 pole under which it enters, turns to the west. If, therefore, a 
 needle be placed between two conjunctive wires situated in the 
 same vertical plane, and transmitting the electric current in oppo- 
 site directions, it is evident that both will conspire to produce the 
 same effect, which will, consequently, be much more considerable 
 than that produced by either of them alone ; but a wire bent so as 
 to have its ends connected with the opposite poles of the voltaic 
 instrument, will evidently have the electric current, passing in op- 
 posite directions in its upper and lower portions, and consequently 
 it will produce on a needle between them an effect similar to that 
 produced by the two wires. Wires thus situated produce a more 
 prompt development of magnetism in steel than a single wire does, 
 because both tend to turn the same kind of magrtetism in the same 
 direction, and the opposite magnetisms in opposite directions, and 
 hence we have one method of measuring the action of a battery on 
 steel bars. Again, two parallel wires, having the electric current 
 moving through them, in the same direction, will evidently pro- 
 duce a greater effect on a steel bar than either of them alone, for 
 the effect of the whole must be greater than that of a part. 
 
 " Where several conjunctive wires are placed together, side by 
 side, the power is apparently diminished in the central wires, and 
 
THE HORSESHOE MAGNET. 167 
 
 concentrated in the extreme portion ; the magnetic state of the lat- 
 ter seems to be augmented by induction or by position. 
 
 " When such an assemblage of wires acts on the magnetism of 
 a piece of steel, they decompose it, and each individual wire acts 
 with most force on the magnetism nearest to it. Each conspires in 
 its action to produce the same effect as the others ; and hence, in 
 addition, to the effects of currents in opposite directions, we have 
 another method of increasing the power of a battery in magnetizing 
 needles. "We shall probably render steel strongly magnetic, if we 
 combine these two methods of increasing the effect. This is 
 effected by forming the conjunctive wire into a spiral around the 
 steel bar to be magnetized ; for, at the opposite extremities of any 
 diameter of this spiral, it is evident that the electric current moves 
 in opposite directions. Suppose the spiral to be placed horizontally, 
 east and west, the current on its upper part to move from north to 
 south, it will at its lower part move from south to north ; and the 
 spiral thus gives us the combined influence of currents in opposite 
 directions. Moreover, the different coils of the spiral are nearly at 
 right angles with the axis of the included bar y and they are paral- 
 lel to each other. Hence, at any given portion of the bar the effect 
 of many currents passing in the same direction is produced, and 
 the included bar becomes strongly magnetic ; and a spiral placed 
 round a piece of soft iron bent into the form of a horseshoe mag- 
 net, renders it strongly and powerfully magnetic lohen the elec- 
 tric current is passing through it" . . . [And this, be it remem- 
 bered, was said in 1827.] "The opposite sides of a conjunctive 
 wire exhibit the opposite magnetisms ; and we have seen that, bv 
 placing the wires parallel to each other, and connecting them with 
 a battery so that they may transmit the current in the same di- 
 rection, the magnetisms seem to be concentrated in the extreme 
 wires, and that we can thus separate them in a degree from each 
 other. Now, when we consider that the direction of the magnetic 
 power is at right angles to the conjunctive wire it is evident that in 
 a helix this direction must nearly coincide with that of the axis of 
 the helix, and the one kind of magnetism be found concentrated at 
 one extremity, and the other kind at the opposite end. . . . Iron 
 filings adhering to dissimilarly electro-magnetic wires, repel each 
 other ; and to similarly electro-magnetic wires, attract each other. 
 
 " In the course of our reasoning, by which we were led from 
 step to step to the adoption of a spiral or helix in powerfully de- 
 veloping magnetism in bars, Ave inferred that two or more parallel 
 
168 LIFE 0F SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and similarly electro-magnetic wires acted with greater energy than 
 one, and that the magnetisms were accumulated in the extreme 
 wires by a species of induction between them all. A ribbon of 
 metal substituted for these wires exerts a stronger influence on the 
 needle at its edges than at its sides, for a similar reason. So, also, 
 if a series of concentric wires be used, and the electric current 
 sent through them in the same direction, we infer that they will 
 have the power of the corresponding sides of the different rings con- 
 centrated and accumulated in their common centre, and will, on the 
 same side of their centre, act as parallel similarly electro-magnetic 
 wires. A flat spiral or volute, having two ends connected with the 
 opposite poles of a battery, will correctly represent concentric rings 
 under the condition we have proposed ; and the great quantity of 
 iron filings which such a spiral or volute takes up, and the accumu- 
 lation of them in the centre, fully evinces the concentration of 
 power there, aud the correctness of the reasoning by which we 
 have been led to this modification of the conjunctive wire." 
 
 This was the second step which Morse took toward the great 
 invention. The first was in Yale College. The second was 
 under a professor of Columbia College. 
 
 He learned from Professor Dana, in 1827, the elementary 
 facts that lie at the basis of the electro-magnet, to wit : 
 
 The effect of a single straight conjunctive wire in producing 
 magnetism. (Oersted's discovery.) 
 
 The effect of a conjunctive wire, lent into the form of a ring, 
 for the purpose of increasing the magnetism. (Schweigger's ex- 
 periment.) 
 
 The effect of a series of these conjunctive wire rings, forming 
 a spiral, for the purpose of increasing still further the magnet- 
 ism. (Arago's experiment, at the suggestion of Ampere.) 
 
 The effect of a flat spiral or volute, the conjunctive wire 
 superposed upon itself, for still further increasing the magnetism. 
 Schweigger discovered the principle of this modification, and 
 embodied it in his multiplier, while Dana applied it to the mag- 
 netizing of iron filings in demonstrating its magnetic power, and 
 suggested it for the electro-magnet. 
 
 He learned from Professor Dana, in 1827, the rationale of 
 the electro-magnet, which latter was exhibited in action. He 
 witnessed the effects of the conjunctive wire in the different 
 
TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR DANA. 169 
 
 forms described by him in bis lectures, and exhibited to bis audi- 
 ence. Tbe electro-magnet was put in action by an intensity lat- 
 tery • it was made to sustain tbe weigbt of its armature, wben 
 tbe conjunctive wire was connected witb tbe poles of tbe battery 
 or tbe circuit was closed ; and it was made " to drop its load" 
 upon opening tbe circuit. Tbese, witb many other principles of 
 electro-magnetism, were all illustrated, experimentally, to bis 
 audience. Mr. Morse afterward, in writing on tbe subject, pays 
 a noble tribute to his teacher, Professor Dana, of whom he said : 
 
 " The volute modification of the helix, to show the concentration 
 of magnetism at its centre, adapted to the electro-magnet, the modi- 
 fication since universally adopted in the construction of the elec- 
 tro-magnet, is justly due, I think, to the inventive mind of Professor 
 James Freeman Dana. Death, in striking him down at the thresh- 
 old of his fame, not only extinguished a brilliant light in science, 
 one which gave the highest promise of future distinction, but, by 
 the suddenness of the stroke, put to peril the just credit due to him 
 for discoveries he had already made. Dana had not only mastered 
 all of the science of electro-magnetism then given to the world — a 
 science in which he was an enthusiast ; but, standing on the confines 
 that separate the known from the unknown, was, at the time of his 
 decease, preparing for new explorations and new discoveries. I 
 could not mention his name, in this connection, without at least ren- 
 dering this slight but inadequate homage to one of the most liberal 
 of men and amiable of friends, as well as promising philosophers of 
 his age. Dana, in 1827, publicly* exhibited the electro-magnet, with 
 its spiral conjunctive wire. He also exhibited, at the same time, 
 and directly in the same connection with the electro-magnet, the ' flat 
 spiral,' or ' volute modification of the conjunctive wire ; ' showing 
 its increased power over the single spiral, demonstrating this effect 
 with iron filings, and directly suggesting its application to the soft- 
 iron horseshoe bar." 
 
 Tbe year following Mr. Morse devoted to bis profession, in 
 which he was now eminently successful. His sitters were so 
 numerous that he was unable to meet the demands of all who 
 sought him, and his brother artists remember with gratitude his 
 kindness in sending to them many persons whom he could not 
 find time to paint. 
 
 He employed his evenings in preparing a series of lectures 
 
170 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 on " Tlie Fine Arts," which he delivered before the New York 
 Athenaeum. This is said to have been the first series of lectures 
 on the subject ever delivered in the United States. Writing to 
 his mother, March 1st, he says : " My lectures at the Athenaeum 
 closed on Thursday evening to a ' most fashionable and crowded 
 house/ as the phrase is." Yisiting his relatives at Utica, in the 
 summer, he wrote to his brother : 
 
 " In coming from Whitesboro', on Friday, I met with an accident, 
 and a most narrow escape with my life : the horse which had been 
 tackled into the wagon was a vicious horse, and had several times 
 run away, to the danger of Mr. Dexter's life and others of the fam- 
 ily. I was not aware of this, or I should not have consented to go 
 with him, much less to drive him myself. I was alone in the wagon, 
 with my baggage, and the horse went very well for about a mile ; 
 when he gradually quickened his pace, and then set out, in spite of 
 all check, on the full run. I kept him in the road, determined to let 
 him run himself tired, as the only safe alternative ; but, just as I 
 came in sight of a piece of the road which had been concealed by 
 an angle, there was a heavy wagon, which I must meet so soon that, 
 in order to avoid it, I must give it the whole road ; this being very 
 narrow, and the ditches and banks on each side very rough, I in- 
 stantly made up my mind to a serious accident. As well as the 
 velocity of the horse would allow me, however, I kept him on the 
 side, rough as it was, for about a quarter of a mile pretty steadily, 
 expecting, however, to be upset every minute, when all at once I 
 saw before me an abrupt, narrow, deep gully, into which the wheels 
 on one side were just upon the point of going down, when it 
 flashed across me in an instant that if I could throw the horse down 
 into the ditch, the wheels of the wagon might perhaps rest equi- 
 poised on each side, and perhaps break the horse loose from the 
 wagon. I pulled the rein and accomplished the object in part ; the 
 sudden plunge of the horse into the gully broke him loose from 
 the wagon, but it at the same time turned one of the fore-wheels 
 into the gully, which upset the wagon, and threw me forward at the 
 moment when the horse threw up his neck, just taking off my hat, 
 and leaving me in the bottom of the gully. I fell on my left shoul- 
 der, and, although muddied from head to foot, I escaped without 
 any injury whatever ; I was not even jarred painfully. I found my 
 shoulder a little bruised, my wrist very slightly scratched, and yes- 
 terday was a little, and but very little, stiffened in my limbs, and to- 
 
ESCAPE FROM DEATH. 171 
 
 day have not the slightest feeling of bruise about me, but think I 
 feel better than I have for a long time. Indeed, my health is en- 
 tirely restored ; the riding and country air have been the means of 
 restoring me. I have great cause of thankfulness for so much 
 mercy, and for such special preserving care." 
 
 Returning to the city of New York, his children being scat- 
 tered among his relatives in different parts of the country, Mr. 
 Morse resumed his labors. Business increased. The most emi- 
 nent citizens became his personal friends and gave him' commis- 
 sions. Success, however, served only to stimulate him to higher 
 efforts ; and he resolved that he would seek, by study in Italy, 
 to perfect himself in the art to which he had now fully devoted 
 his life. 
 
CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 1829-1832. 
 
 COMMISSIONS TO PAINT IN ITALY — JOUENEY TO EOME — LETTEE TO HIS 
 COUSIN — ENGLAND — PAEIS — A VIGNON — MAESEILLES — NICE — THE COB- 
 
 NIOE EOAD — GENEVA PISA — EOME — THE VATICAN — GALLEEIES OF AET 
 
 NOTES — THOEWALDSEN — POETEAIT — JAMES FENLMOEE COOPEE — H. 
 
 GEEENOUGH— LETTEES — EETTTBN TO PAEIS — FEIENDSHIP WITH LAFAY- 
 ETTE — SYMPATHY WITH POLAND — IMPEISONMENT OF DE. HOWE — FALL 
 
 OF WAESAW LETTEES TO HIS BEOTHEE SUGGESTS LIGHTNLNG-TELE- 
 
 GEAPH — HUMBOLDT — PEESIDES AT FOUETH-OF-JULY DLNNEE — LETTEES 
 OF LAFAYETTE — INTEEIOE OF THE LOUVEE — HUMBOLDT AND MOESE — 
 DUNLAP'S NOTICES OF MOESE LN PAEIS AND LONDON. 
 
 PBESIDEJSTT of the National Academy, and among the first 
 in his profession in the United States, Mr. Morse had never 
 been in Italy. He had a profound consciousness that whatever 
 attainments in art he had already made, or could yet make, until 
 he had studied under the old masters, who being dead yet speak, 
 there was much to be learned, and he must sit as a learner in the 
 presence of their works. Having received the following com- 
 missions for pictures, he resolved to go abroad again : 
 
 " We, the subscribers, having learned that Samuel F. B. Morse 
 is about to embark for Europe, for the purpose of study and prac- 
 tice in his profession, in Borne, Paris, and London, do commission 
 said Morse to execute the orders severally placed against our 
 names, and do agree to advance the money for the same, at such 
 time and in such proportions as shall be specified in a written order 
 from the said Morse, the holder of such order to be considered as 
 duly authorized to receive the same, and the money to be paid to 
 him, and his receipt taken in discharge of said subscription, or the 
 several parts thereof. 
 
 "New York, September 25, 1829. 
 
COMMISSIONS FOR PICTURES. 173 
 
 Philip Hone, $100 — to be disposed of in such way as may be most agreeable to Mr. 
 Morse. A picture not larger than Newton's or Leslie's — say twenty-five by 
 thirty. 
 M. Van Schaick, $200 — paid for two cabinet pictures, copies or originals — twenty. 
 
 four by eighteen. Either landscapes or heads. 
 Chas. Carvill, $100. Like A. P. & Slender, belonging to Haggerty. ' 
 DeWitt Bloodgood, $100 (copy or copies). Some small, high-finished picture ; heads 
 
 from Titian. 
 Dr. David Hosack — two cabinet pictures, not over twenty-five by thirty inches, at 
 
 $150 each— $300. 
 Jona. Goodhue, $100 — to be at the disposal of Mr. Morse. Wishes two pictures at 
 
 $50 each. 
 Benj. L. Swan, $100. To be one picture, as Mr. Morse may select, twenty-five by 
 
 thirty inches, as a companion to one painting in Rome, by Mr. Peale. '' 
 John B. Yan Schaick, $50 — d la discretion. 
 
 R. V. DeWitt, $100. One or two pictures ; if one, a landscape ; if two, one land- 
 scape and one figure. 
 Stephen Van Rensselaer, Albany. Two or more pictures. (See accompanying 
 
 letter.) 
 Robert Donaldson (15 State Street, New York) — school of Athens — $100 ; size, say 
 
 thirty inches by thirty-eight or forty. 
 Frederick Sheldon, $100. To be at the disposal of Mr. Morse ; say a landscape of 
 
 Claude or Poussin, twenty-five by thirty. 
 G. G.'Howland, $150 — two landscapes — Mr. Morse's taste — good size, twenty-five 
 
 by thirty inches, or thereabout, of Poussin or Claude. 
 Moss Kent, $100 — at my discretion. 2 
 Charles Walker, $500 : ' Miracolo del Servo ' of Tintoretto, or some picture of that 
 
 class. ■ 
 Moses H. Grinnell, $100. His brother thinks of the picture by Carlo Dolce in the 
 
 Borghese Palace. 
 P. and C, a picture each, for $60 each. 
 J. L. Morton, $30. 
 Mr. Donaldson's subscription is only in part payment for the copy to be painted for 
 
 him. 
 S. Salisbury, a view of the Fountain of Egeria, with figures antique, for $200, twen- 
 ty-five by thirty inches. 
 Wm. H. Russell, Esq., of New York, copy of ' The Fine Arts,' by Alessandro Turchi, 
 in the Colonna Palace. Fifty-four by thirty-six inches, 
 
 Leaving his children in the care of his relatives, Mr. Morse 
 sailed from New York November 8, 1829, and landed in Liver- 
 pool on the 4th day of December. He was lodged at the Liver- 
 pool Arms Hotel, where he put up eighteen years before, when 
 he arrived as a student in England. He came on the same errand 
 now, though he had long since become a teacher and master. 
 The few days that he passed in England are recalled by a letter 
 he wrote in Dover to a favorite cousin, on Christmas-day, 1829 : 
 
174 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " When I left Liverpool, I took my seat upon the outside of the 
 coach, in order to see as much as possible of the country through 
 which I was to pass. Unfortunately, the fog and smoke were so 
 dense that I could see objects but a few yards from the road. Oc- 
 casionally, indeed, the fog would become less dense, and we could 
 see the fine lawns of the seats of the nobility and gentry which 
 were scattered on our route, and which still retained their verdure. 
 Now and then the spire and towers of some ancient village church 
 rose out of the leafless trees, beautifully simple in their forms, and 
 sometimes clothed to the very tops with the evergreen ivy. It was 
 severely cold ; my eyebrows, hair, cap, and the fur of my cloak, 
 were soon coated with frost, but I determined to keep my seat, 
 though I suffered some from the cold. Their fine natural health, or 
 the frosty weather, gave to the complexions of the peasantry, particu- 
 larly the females and children, a beautiful rosy bloom. Through all 
 the villages there was the appearance of great comfort and neat- 
 ness — a neatness, however, very different from ours. Their nicely- 
 thatched cottages bore all the marks of great antiquity, covered 
 with brilliant green moss like velvet, and round the doors and win- 
 dows were trained some of the many kinds of evergreen, vines 
 which abound here. Most of them, also, had a trim court-yard be- 
 fore their doors, planted with laurel, and holly, and box, and some- 
 times a yew, cut into some fantastic shape. The streets of all the 
 villages were uniformly clean. The whole appearance of the vil- 
 lages was neat and venerable, like some aged matron, who, with all 
 her wrinkles, her stooping form, and gray locks, preserves the dig- 
 nity of cleanliness in her ancient but becoming costume. At 
 Trentham, we passed one of the seats of the Marquis of Stafford, 
 
 * Trentham Sail.'' Here the marquis has a fine gallery of pictures, 
 and among them Allstorts famous picture of ' Uriel in the Sun? I 
 slept the first night in Birmingham, which I had no time to see, on 
 account of darkness, smoke, and fog, three most inveterate enemies 
 to the seekers of the picturesque and of antiquities. In the morn- 
 ing, before daylight, I resumed my journey toward London. At 
 
 * Stratford on Avon,'' I breakfasted, but in such haste, as not to be 
 able to visit again the house of Shakespeare's birth, or his tomb ; 
 this house, however, I visited when in England before. At Oxford, 
 the city of so man}' classical recollections, I stopped but a few mo- 
 ments to dine. I was here, also, when before in England. It is a 
 most splendid city ; its spires, and domes, and towers, and pinna- 
 cles, rising from amid the trees, give it a magnificent appearance as ■ 
 
VISIT WITH LESLIE. 175 
 
 you approach it. Before we reached Oxford, we passed through 
 Woodstock and Blenheim, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, 
 whose splendid estates are at present suffering from the embarrass- 
 ment of the present duke, who has ruined his fortunes by his fond- 
 ness for play. Darkness came on after leaving Oxford. I saw 
 nothing until arriving in the vicinity of the great metropolis, which 
 has, for many miles before you enter it, the appearance of a contin- 
 uous village. We saw the brilliant gas-lights of its streets, and our 
 coach soon joined the throng of vehicles that rattled over its pave- 
 ments. I could scarcely realize that I was once more in London, 
 after fourteen years' absence. 
 
 " My first visit was to my old friend and fellow-pupil Leslie, 
 who seemed overjoyed to see me, and has been unremitting in his 
 attentions during my stay in London. Leslie I found, as I expected, 
 in high favor with the highest classes of England's noblemen and 
 literary characters. His reputation is well deserved, and will not 
 be ephemeral. I received an invitation to breakfast from Samuel 
 Rogers, Esq., the celebrated poet, which I accepted with my friend 
 Leslie. Mr. Rogers is the author of ' Pleasures of Memory,' of 
 'Italy,' and other poems. He has not the proverbial lot of the 
 poet — that of being poor — for he is one of the wealthiest bankers, 
 and lives in splendid style. His collection of pictures is very select, 
 chosen by himself, with great taste. 
 
 " I attended, a few evenings since, the lecture on anatomy at 
 the Royal Academy, where I was introduced to some of the most 
 distinguished artists ; to Mr. Shee, the poet and author as well as 
 painter ; to Mr. Howard, the secretary of the Academy ; to Mr. 
 Hilton, the keeper ; to Mr. Stothard, the librarian, and several 
 others. I expected to have met and been introduced to Sir Thomas 
 Lawrence, the president, but he was absent, and I have not had the 
 pleasure of seeing him. I was invited to a seat with the academi- 
 cians, as was also Mr. Cole, a member of our Academy in New 
 York. I was gratified in seeing America so well represented in the 
 painters Leslie and Newton. The lecturer also paid, in his lecture, 
 a high compliment to Allston, by a deserved panegyric, and by 
 several quotations from his poems, illustrative of principles which 
 he advanced. 
 
 "After the lecture I went home to tea with Newton, accom- 
 panied by Leslie, where I found our distinguished countryman, 
 Washington Irving, our secretary of legation, and W. E. West, 
 another American painter, whose portrait of Lord Byron gave him 
 
176 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 much celebrity. I passed a very pleasant evening, of course. The 
 next day I visited the National Gallery of Pictures, as yet but 
 small, but containing some of the finest paintings in England. 
 Among them is the celebrated ' Raising of Lazarus,' by Sebastian 
 del Piombo, for which a nobleman of this country offered to the 
 late proprietor sixteen thousand pounds sterling, which sum was 
 refused. I visited also Mr. Turner, the best landscape-painter liv- 
 ing, and was introduced to him. I went also, a few days since, to 
 the British Museum, which has undergone many improvements 
 since I was last in England, particularly in the addition of a 
 splendid wing, nearly five hundred feet long, containing a noble 
 addition of books — the late king's library of seventy thousand vol- 
 umes. This museum now contains all the royal libraries, from 
 Henry VIII. down to the present time. The whole number of vol- 
 umes, I was told by the Rev. Mr. Home, the librarian (who politely 
 accompanied me through the rooms), was over three hundred thou- 
 sand. I asked him whether it was accessible to any who wished to 
 consult it, and I learned that the utmost liberality, consistent with 
 the preservation of the books and manuscripts, is observed. He 
 generously offered to procure me admission at all times, when I 
 returned to reside for some time in London. In one part of the 
 museum is the place for consulting books. Here perfect silence is 
 preserved, not a whisper being allowed. If a book is wanted, the 
 name is written on a piece of paper, and handed to one of the libra- 
 rians or his assistants, of which there are a great many in attend- 
 ance, who procures it. There were, perhaps, thirty individuals thus 
 seated in the midst of books piled up around them, and, with their 
 eyebrows knit intently searching for some desired information, they 
 looked like so many school-boys hard at work at their lessons. The 
 room containing the king's library is one of the most splendid I 
 ever saw. The columns are of polished granite and marble, and 
 the floors, inlaid with oak and mahogany, were kept as highly 
 polished with wax and are as carefully rubbed as our mahogany 
 furniture. In the room for antiquities are many brought from Egypt 
 by Belzoni, sphinxes, sarcophagi, portions of obelisks, and many 
 inscribed stones. Here also is the celebrated ' Rosetta stone,' with 
 the triple inscription on it, which was captured in Egypt by the Eng- 
 lish from the French, and is the source of the discovery of a key 
 to the hieroglyphics of Egypt, which is now used to such advantage 
 by Champollion. I did not see so much of London or its curiosities 
 as I should have done at another season of the year. The greater 
 
CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 177 
 
 part of the time was night — literally night; for, besides being the 
 shortest days of the year (it not being light until eight o'clock and 
 dark again at four), the smoke and fog have been most of the time 
 so dense that darkness has for many days occupied the hours of 
 daylight. On one day in particular I was writing at the window at 
 two o'clock in the day, and was obliged to desist, not being able to 
 see, while in houses on the opposite side of the street candles were 
 seen in various rooms. 
 
 " On the 22d inst., Tuesday, I left London, after having obtained 
 in due form my passports for the Continent, in company with J. 
 Town, Esq., and N. Joceryn, Esq. (American friends), intending to 
 pass the night at Canterbury, thirty-six miles from London. The 
 day was very unpleasant, very cold, and snowing most of the time. 
 At Blackheath we saw the palace at which the late unfortunate 
 queen of George IV. resided. On the heath, among the bushes, is a 
 low furze, with which it is in part covered ; there were encamped in 
 their miserable blanket-huts a gang of gypsies ; no wigwams of the 
 Oneidas ever looked so comfortless. On the road we overtook a 
 gypsy girl with a child in her arms, both having the stamp of that 
 singular race strongly marked upon their features : black hair and 
 sparkling black eyes, with a nut-brown complexion, and cheeks of 
 russet red, and not without a shrewd intelligence in their expres- 
 sion. At night about nine o'clock we arrived at the Guildhall Tav- 
 ern in the celebrated and ancient city of Canterbury. Early in the 
 morning, as soon as w r e had breakfasted, we visited the superb ca- 
 thedral. This stupendous pile is one of the most distinguished 
 Gothic structures in the world ; it is not only interesting from its 
 imposing style of architecture, but from its numerous historical 
 associations. The first glimpse we caught of it was through and 
 over a rich decayed gate-way to the inclosure of the cathedral- 
 grounds. After passing the gate, the vast pile — with its three great 
 towers, and innumerable turrets, and pinnacles, and buttresses, and 
 arches, and painted windows — rose in majesty before us ; the grand 
 centre tower, covered with a gray moss, seemed like an immense mass 
 of the Palisades, struck out with all its regular irregularity, and placed 
 above the surrounding masses of the same gray rocks. The bell of the 
 great tower was tolling for morning service, and yet so distant, from 
 its height, that it was scarcely heard upon the pavement below ; we 
 entered the door of one of the towers and came immediately into, 
 the nave of the church. The effect of the long aisles and towering 
 clustered pillars and richly -carved screens of a Gothic church upon 
 12 
 
178 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 the imagination can scarely be described — the emotion is that of 
 awe. A short procession was quickly passing up the steps of the 
 choir, consisting of the beadle, or some such officer, with his wand 
 of office, followed by ten boys in white surplices ; behind these were 
 the prebends and other officers of the church ; the one thin and pale, 
 the other portly and round, with powdered hair, and sleepy, dull, 
 heavy expression of face, much like the face that Hogarth has 
 chosen for the ' Preacher to his Sleepy Congregation.' This per- 
 sonage we afterward heard was Lord Nelson, the brother of the 
 celebrated Nelson, and the heir to his title. The service was read 
 in a hurried and commonplace manner to about thirty individuals, 
 most of whom seemed to be the necessary assistants at the cere- 
 monies. 
 
 " The effect of the voices in the responses, and the chanting of the 
 boys, reverberating through the aisles and arches and recesses of the 
 church, was peculiarly imposing, but, when the great organ struck 
 in, the emotion of grandeur was carried to its height — I say nothing 
 of devotion ; I did not pretend on this occasion to join in it. I own 
 that my thoughts as well as my eyes were roaming to other objects, 
 and gathering ' around me the thousand recollections of scenes of 
 splendor, and of terror, of bigotry and superstition, which were acted 
 in sight of the very walls by which I was surrounded. Here the 
 murder of Thomas a Becket was perpetrated, there was his miracle- 
 working shrine, visited by pilgrims from all parts of Christendom, 
 and enriched with the most costly jewels that the wealth of princes 
 could purchase and lavish upon it ; the very steps worn into deep 
 cavities by the knees of the devotees, as they approached the 
 shrine, were ascended by us. There stood the tomb of Henry IV. 
 and his queen, and here was the tomb of Edward, the Black Prince, 
 with a bronze figure of the prince richly embossed and enameled 
 reclining upon the top, and over the canopy were suspended the 
 surcoat and casque, the gloves of mail and shield with which he 
 was accoutred when he fought the famous battle of Cressy ; there 
 also stood the marble chair in which the Saxon kings were crowned, 
 and in which, with the natural desire that all seemed to have in 
 such^cases, I could not avoid seating myself; from this chair, placed 
 at one end of the nave, is seen to the best advantage the length of 
 the church, five hundred feet in extent. After the service I visit- 
 ed more at leisure the tombs and other curiosities of the church. 
 The precise spot on which Archbishop Becket was murdered is 
 shown, for the spot upon which his head fell on the pavement was 
 
DOVER CASTLE. 179 
 
 cut out as a relic and sent to Rome, and the placed filled in with a 
 fresh piece of stone about four inches square. The cloisters of the 
 church, in ruins, are very splendid in their architecture. The crypt, 
 under the church, is a fine specimen of Saxon architecture, and con- 
 tains the ruins of the Virgin Mary's chapel, which once was enriched 
 with a silver image of the Virgin, constantly lighted with silver 
 lamps suspended from the ceiling, which was profusely studded with 
 jewels and enameled. 
 
 " After leaving the cathedral we visited a part of the ancient 
 walls (Roman remains) of the city ; they are very high, with round 
 and square towers at intervals of perhaps two hundred feet ; they 
 were coated with a cement filled with flints of all sizes, from the 
 smallest to the bigness of a cocoa-nut. We next visited the remains 
 of the monastery of St. Augustin; here stood till within a few 
 years 'Ethelbert's Tower,' a beautiful Saxon ruin, which fell by 
 natural decay, and is entirely gone; the north gate of the monastery 
 is an exquisite piece of Gothic architecture, fast going to decay ; a 
 large and annually widening crack in each of the towers gives omi- 
 nous notice of a fall, and, unless some public spirit is manifested to 
 preserve it, this beautiful gate will speedily share the fate of Ethel-, 
 bert's Tower. But it is idle to talk of public spirit, as you will 
 agree, when I tell you that the gate is now ' Beer's Brewery,' the 
 room over the gate-way a ' cockpit,' over the door leading into the 
 church is seen the sign of ' Fives and Tennis Court ' — the great court- 
 yard is now a ' bowling-green.' 
 
 " In the afternoon we left Canterbury and proceeded to Dover, 
 intending to embark the next morning (Thursday, December 24th) 
 for Calais or Boulogne in the steamer. The weather, however, was 
 very unpromising in the morning, being thick and foggy and ap- 
 parently preparing for a storm ; we therefore made up our minds to 
 stay, hoping the next day would be more favorable — but Friday, 
 Christmas-day came with a most violent northeast gale and snow- 
 storm — Saturday the 26th, Sunday the 27th, and at this moment, 
 Monday 28th, the storm is more violent than ever, the streets are 
 clogged with snow, and we are thus embargoed completely for we 
 know not how long a time to come. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the severity of the weather on Thursday, we 
 all ventured out through the wind and snow to visit Dover Castle, 
 situated upon the bleak cliffs to the north of the town. After as? 
 cending the hill by numerous flights of steps, we crossed the moat 
 which encircles the castle, upon a modern drawbridge. Here, we 
 
180 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOKSE. 
 
 were accosted by the warder of the castle, a veteran soldier, who 
 with great garrulousness offered his services to conduct us through 
 the works, which cover more than thirty acres. We acccepted his 
 offer and commenced the circuit. ' Queen Elizabeth's Pocket-pistol ' 
 was the first object that was showai us — it is a beautiful piece of 
 ordnance of brass, a present to that queen from Holland. It has 
 erroneously been called ' Queen Anne's Pocket-pistol,' and the fol- 
 lowing motto was said to be upon it : 
 
 ' Keep me bright and rub me clean, 
 I'll carry a ball to Calais Green.' 
 
 This is not the motto ; I copied the following true motto from it on 
 the spot, which some of our Dutch friends must translate for you : 
 
 ' Breck scuret al muer ende wal. 
 Bin ic geheten 
 
 Doer berch en dal boert minen bal. 
 Yan mi gesmeten.' 
 
 It is twenty-four feet long, and has date of 1544 upon it ; it has 
 latety been mounted upon a splendid bronze carriage, by the order 
 of the Duke of Wellington. The castle, with its various towers 
 and walls, and outworks, has been the constant care of the govern- 
 ment for ages. Here are the remains of every age, from the time of 
 the Romans to the present. About the centre of the inclosure stand 
 two ancient ruins — the one, a tower built by the Romans, thirty-six 
 years after Christ ; and the other, a rude church built by the Saxons 
 in the sixth century. Other remains of towers and walls indicate 
 the various kinds of defensive and offensive war in different 
 ages, from the time when the round or square tower with its loop- 
 holes for the archers and cross-bowmen, and gates secured by heavy 
 portcullis, were a substantial defense, down to the present time, 
 when the bastion of regular sides advances from the glacis, mounted 
 with modern ordnance, keeping at a greater distance the hostile 
 besiegers. Through the glacis in various parts are sally-ports, from 
 one of which, opening toward the road to Ramsgate, I well remem- 
 ber seeing a corporal's guard issue, about fifteen years ago, to take 
 possession of me and my sketch-book, as I sat under a hedge at 
 some distance to sketch the picturesque towers of this castle. 
 Somewhat suspicious of their intentions, I left my retreat, and, by a 
 circuitous route into the town, made my escape, not, however, with- 
 out ascertaining from behind a distant hedge that I was actually 
 the object of their expedition. They went to the spot w T here I had 
 
A CHANNEL STEAMER. 181 
 
 been sitting-, made a short search, and then returned to the castle 
 through the same sally-port. At that time (a time of war not 
 only with France, but America also), the strictest watch was kept, 
 and to have been caught making the slightest sketch of a fortifica- 
 tion would have subjected me to much trouble. Times are now 
 changed, and, had ' Jack Frost ' (the only commander of rigor now 
 at the castle) permitted, I might have sketched any part of the 
 interior or exterior. In the interior of the inclosure ris-es the 
 donjon-keep, higher than any other part of the buildings or forti- 
 fications. It is now a magazine of powder. We did not go into any 
 of the excavations underneath the castle, which are very extensive ; 
 they are now filled with military stores. After leaving the castle, 
 we visited the shaft which is on the hill back of the tower, and is a 
 passage for facilitating the forming of troops upon the top of the 
 hill ; it is a kind of well sunk upon the top of the heights, and 
 met at the bottom by a horizontal tunnel on a level with the 
 streets of the town. 
 
 " Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, December 29, 1829. 
 " This morning at ten o'clock, after our tedious detention, we 
 embarked from Dover in a steamer for this place, instead of Calais. 
 I mentioned the steamer; but, cousin, if you have formed any idea 
 of elegance, or comfort, or speed, in connection with the name of 
 steamer, from seeing our fine steamboats, and have imagined that 
 English or French boats are superior to ours, you may as well be un- 
 deceived — I know of no description of packet-boats in our waters 
 bad enough to convey the idea. They are small, black, dirty, con- 
 fined things, which would be suffered to rot at the wharves for 
 want of the least custom from the lowest in our country. You may 
 judge of the extent of the accommodations, when I tell you that 
 there is in them but one cabin — six feet six inches high, fourteen 
 feet long, eleven feet wide, containing eight berths. Our passage 
 was fortunately short, and we arrived in the dominions of ' His 
 most Christian Majesty ' Charles X.. at five o'clock. The transi- 
 tion from a country where one's own language is spoken, to one 
 where the accents are strange — from a country where the manners 
 and habits are somewhat allied to our own, to one where every 
 thing is different, even to the most trifling article of dress — is very 
 striking on landing, after so short an interval from England to 
 France. The pier-head at our landing was filled with human beings 
 in strange costume, from the gray surtout and belt of the gen- 
 darmes, to the broad twilled and curiously plaited caps of the mas- 
 
182 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 culine women, which latter beings, by-the-by, are the licensed porters 
 of baggage to the custom-house. 
 
 "Paris, January V, 1830. 
 
 " Here have I been, in this great capital of the Continent, since 
 the first day of the year. I shall remember my first visit to Paris 
 from the circumstance that, at the dawn of day of the new year, we 
 passed the ' Porte St.-Denis ' into the narrow and dirty streets of 
 this great metropolis. 
 
 " The Louvre was the first object we visited. Our passports 
 obtained us ready admittance ; and, although our fingers and feet 
 were almost frozen, we yet lingered three hours in the grand i gal- 
 lery of pictures.' Indeed, it is a long walk simply to pass up and 
 down the long hall, the end of which, from the opposite end, is 
 scarcely visible, but is lost in the mist of distance. On the walls 
 are twelve hundred and fifty of some of the chefs-cVoeuvre of paint- 
 ing. Here I have marked out several which I shall copy on my 
 return from Italy. I have my residence at present at the Hotel de 
 Lille, which is situated very commodiously in the midst of all the 
 most interesting objects of curiosity to a stranger in Paris — the 
 palace of the Tuileries, the Palais Royal, the Bibliotheque Royale, 
 or royal library, and numerous other places, all within a few paces 
 of us. On New- Year's day the equipages of the nobility and for- 
 eign ambassadors, etc., who paid their respects to the king and the 
 Duke of Orleans, made considerable display in the Place du Carrou- 
 sel and in the court of the Tuileries. 
 
 " At an exhibition of manufactures of porcelain, tapestry, etc., in 
 the Louvre, where were some of the most superb specimens of art 
 in the world in these articles, we also saw the Duchesse de Berri. 
 She is the mother of the little Due de Bordeaux, who, you know, is 
 the heir-apparent to the crown of France. She was simply habited 
 in a blue pelisse and blue bonnet, and would not be distinguished 
 in her appearance from the crowd except by her attendants in liv- 
 ery. I cannot close, however, without telling }^ou what a delight- 
 ful evening I passed evening before last at General Lafayette's. He 
 had a soir'ee on that night, at which there were a number of Amer- 
 icans. When I went in, he instantly recognized me, took me by 
 both hands, said he was expecting to see me in France, having 
 read in the American papers that I had embarked. He met me 
 apparently with great cordiality, then introduced me to each of his 
 family, to his daughters, to Madame Lasterie and her two daughters 
 (verj'- pretty girls), and to Madame Ramousal, and two daughters 
 
LYONS AND AVIGNON. 183 
 
 of his son, G. W. Lafayette, also very accomplished and beautiful 
 girls. The General inquired how long I intended to stay in France, 
 and pressed me to come and pass some time at La Grange, when I 
 return from Italy. General Lafayette looks very well, and seems 
 to have the respect of all the best men in France. At his soiree I 
 saw the celebrated Benjamin Constant, one of the most distin- 
 guished of the liberal party in France. He is tall and thin, with a 
 very fair, white complexion, and long white silken hair, moving with 
 all the vigor of a young man." 
 
 The three years that Mr. Morse passed in Europe at this time 
 are reflected in such letters to his friends, and in fragments of 
 diaries kept in tiny " scratch-books." These little books, which 
 he made and could easily carry in his vest pocket, he filled 
 with drawings of objects that met his eye — often pictures of 
 peculiar people, and added brief notes with pencil. Before he 
 left New York, he was offered pecuniary inducements to be- 
 come the foreign correspondent of newspapers, but he made no 
 positive engagements, and he says in an early letter : " I fear it 
 will consume more of my time than the thing is worth ; my 
 time here is worth a guinea a minute in the way of my pro- 
 fession. I find my pen and pencil are enemies to each other. I 
 must write less and paint more." 
 
 Leaving Paris, on his journey to Italy, he rested a few days 
 at Lyons, in the study of the antiquities and architecture of that 
 interesting city. His note-book has a pencil-drawing of a " Sis- 
 ter of Charity " whom he met in a hospital, and whose face 
 suggests to him a picture of Mercy. The gold-works and the 
 silver-factories being explored, he continues his course south- 
 ward, mentioning a " telegraph making signals " on a hill which 
 he passed. The olive and orange trees soon tell him that he is 
 in a warmer clime. He spent Sunday, January 24, 1830, in 
 Avignon, the ancient city of the popes in the time of the exile, 
 and worshiped in the cathedral-church of St.-Agricol, as there 
 was not a Protestant place of worship in the city. Here, for 
 the first time in his life, he saw a military pageant contribute 
 to the effect of divine service. "A superb military band of 
 music, followed by troops, entered the church ; the nave was 
 filled with people, principally women ; drums were beating and 
 fifes playing ; the troops formed two lines from the altar to the 
 
184 ' LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 great door, and their officers marched up through the lines and 
 took seats within the railing of the altar. On each side of the 
 altar fierce-looking soldiers stood, with long beards, and armed 
 with battle-axes, their high, cylindrical, bear-skin caps giving 
 them a height almost gigantic. The church seemed to be a 
 military garrison. At the word of command drums and trum- 
 pets were sounded, and a little bell announced the priest, a 
 venerable man, in a green, embroidered dress, who performed 
 the service. The band of twenty-seven performers in the tran- 
 sept on the left commenced playing, and produced the most 
 thrilling music." He did not enjoy the service, with the ex- 
 ception of the music, of which he heard more in the evening, 
 and expressed himself " enchanted " with it. The beauty of 
 the women draws from him this remark : " We have observed 
 more beautiful faces among the women in a single day at Avi- 
 gnon, than we saw during two weeks at Paris." 
 
 " Monday, January 2oth. — We ascended the hill of the Dons, 
 upon which the palace of the popes is built. The hill is terraced, and 
 is ascended in many places by flights of rude stone steps. The stair- 
 case to the terrace of* the palace is peculiarly grand. The interior 
 of the chapel, which we entered, has been much abused, but had 
 evidently been splendidly decorated. The paintings and statuary 
 are not of a high order. The altars, of variously-colored marbles, 
 are very rich. The votive offerings were amusing — execrable paint- 
 ings, representing scenes of deliverance : a man has a stone falling 
 on his head, another jumping from a tower, waxen legs and arms — 
 a curious assemblage. From the top of the great tower we had a 
 magnificent prospect — the mountains in the far distance, and the 
 Rhone winding through an immense plain studded with hamlets, 
 and dividing into two branches, uniting again. To the west rose 
 the picturesque castle and towers of Villeneuve, having for a back- 
 ground the mountains toward Nismes. To the south a river is 
 seen sparkling through the plain, and rushing to meet the Durance. 
 From the hill I made several sketches. The museum, where are 
 some fine pictures, was, unfortunately, closed. Our landlord told 
 me that Napoleon I. often stopped with him, and his officers said 
 that he was so much pleased with his fare, that he was accustomed 
 to say, when his fare was bad in distant places, ' This is not so 
 comfortable as at Madame Pierrori's, in Avignon.' " 
 
INCIDENT AT TOULON. 185 
 
 " January 26th. — At six o'clock last evening left Avignon on 
 the diligence. At precisely twelve o'clock to-day the Mediterranean 
 opened, with its blue expanse, before us ; the castellated islands in 
 the harbor of Marseilles, and the lug-sailed boats, like birds, rest- 
 ing on the bosom of the waters ; the high, fortified mountain beyond 
 the harbor — made a scene of exceeding beauty as we approached the 
 town. Halting to be searched for wine, we entered and found com- 
 fortable quarters at the Hotel Beauvan. One or two days in the 
 city and he went to Toulon, the gates of which had to be opened 
 before the diligence could enter ; and then we passed through a 
 row of sentinels and over a drawbridge, again through files of sen- 
 tinels, and the arched passages of the walls into the streets of the 
 city." 
 
 Having explored this great naval station, and critically ex- 
 amined the vessels-of-war, and noticed the five hundred galley- 
 slaves, with dresses to mark the degree of crime for which they 
 were condemned to this service, Mr. Morse remarks : 
 
 " The stone-houses for covering the ships while they are build- 
 ing, are substantial, having a Gothic arched roof, supported by 
 stone arches, resting upon eight solid piers of stone, about twenty 
 feet apart, and perhaps fifty feet high. In the model-room are 
 models of vessels of all classes, methods of drawing up ships on 
 railways, plans of dry-docks, and other marine machinery, exceed- 
 ingly beautiful. The city is just now agitated by a most melan- 
 choly incident. A sergeant had formed the intention of killing his 
 captain, in resentment for some supposed injury. The colonel of 
 the regiment, universally popular with his troops and with the in- 
 habitants of the city, ignorant altogether of the feelings of this 
 man toward him, beckoned him to come to him after the parade. 
 The sergeant, supposing that by some means the colonel had ob- 
 tained knowledge of his intentions, leveled his gun and shot him 
 dead upon the spot. The colonel is lying in his house, which I 
 passed, and the wretched culprit I saw under guard marched to 
 prison. He will be shot in a few days." 
 
 Mr. Morse pursued his journey, by private carriage, with a 
 pleasant party of friends, stopping at every place of interest on 
 the road. Nice, at that time, was in the territory of Italy, and 
 the King of Sardinia, Charles Felix, was making a royal visit in 
 the city when Mr. Morse arrived : ' 
 
186 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " Entering the cathedral, we saw the king seated on a throne, 
 under a splendid canopy of crimson and gold, on the right of the 
 altar. Mass was celebrated, and the king then rose, bowed toward 
 the altar, crossed himself, and retired." 
 
 Mr. Morse delayed a day or two in this delightful city, 
 which has become the great winter resort of invalids and pleas- 
 ure-seekers, and then, by the famous Cornice road, went on to 
 Genoa. The railway now carries the traveler through moun- 
 tains that were then slowly traversed by coach and horses ; the 
 romantic passes that were then the marvel and delight of 
 passengers with steady nerves, are only matters of history. He 
 says: 
 
 " At eleven we had attained a height of at least two thousand 
 feet, and the precipices became frightful, sweeping down into long 
 ravines to the very edge of the sea, and then the road would 
 wind at the vety edge of the precipice two or three thousand feet 
 deep. Such scenes pass so rapidly it is impossible to make note of 
 them. From the heights on which La Turbia stands, with its 
 dilapidated walls, we see the beautiful city of Monaco, on a tongue 
 of land extending into the sea." 
 
 ISTow the road began to descend along the most frightful 
 precipices and ravines; the slopes' of the mountains were ter- 
 raced and covered with vines, where it would seem almost impos- 
 sible to climb. Mr. Morse rested at Mentone, " a beautiful place 
 for an artist," and then went to San Remo, where he spent the 
 night. Porto Maurice and Oniglia, familiar names to travelers, 
 he mentions, and he makes a sketch of the cupola of a little 
 church in Oniglia, and of some ruins in the rear of the inn at 
 which he dined. His path lay along rugged precipices, dizzy 
 heights, lofty arches, and dangerous passes ; he lodged at Alben- 
 za, and the next day passed over some of the most stupendous 
 parts of the road, admiring the engineering skill that accom- 
 plished it, and the enterprise that attempted it. Having spent 
 the next night at Savona, he reached Genoa on the 6th of Feb- 
 ruary, and was permitted to enter, after being searched for 
 " powder and tobacco." Its palaces and churches astonished and 
 delighted him, and, after a few days of sight-seeing, he posted 
 
SETTLED IN ROME. 187 
 
 to Pisa, where lie studied and sketched the Duomo, the Bap- 
 tistry, the Leaning Tower, and the Campo Santo. He did not 
 linger in Florence, as he would return to study the treasures of 
 art in that city at his leisure. He arrived in Rome, February 20, 
 1830. Taking lodgings at No. 17 Via de Prefetti, he entered 
 at once upon the work for which he had come. He writes, 
 March 7th : 
 
 " I have begun to copy the ' School of Athens,' from Raffaelle, 
 for Mr. R. Donaldson. The original is on the walls of one of the 
 celebrated Camera of Raffaelle in the Vatican ; it is in fresco, and 
 occupies one entire side of the room. It is a difficult picture to 
 copy, and will occupy five or six weeks, certainly. Every moment 
 of my time, from early in the morning until late at night, when not 
 in the Vatican, is occupied in seeing the exhaustless stores of 
 curiosities in art and antiquities with which this wonderful city 
 abounds. I find I can endure great fatigue, and my spirits are 
 good, and I /eel strong for the pleasant duties of my profession. I 
 feel particularly anxious that every gentleman who has given me a 
 commission shall be more than satisfied that he has received an 
 equivalent for the sum generously advanced to me. But I find that 
 to accomplish this, I shall need all my strength and time for more 
 than a year to come, and that will be little enough to do myself and 
 them justice. I am delighted with my situation, and more than 
 ever convinced of the wisdom of my course in coming to Italy. 
 
 " March Vlth. — Mr. Fenimore Cooper and family are here. I 
 have passed many pleasant hours with them, particularly one 
 beautiful moonlight evening, visiting the Coliseum. After the 
 Holy Week, I shall visit Naples, probably with Mr. Theodore 
 Woolsey, who is now in Rome. 
 
 "March l&th. — Ceremonies at the Consistory; delivery of the 
 cardinals' hats ; at nine o'clock went to the Vatican." (Here is a 
 picture of what he saw.) " Two large fantails, with ostrich- 
 feathers ; ladies penned up ; pope ; cardinals kiss his hand in rota- 
 tion ; address in Latin, tinkling, like water gurgling from a bottle ; 
 the English cardinal first appeared, went up, and was embraced 
 and kissed on each cheek by the pope ; then followed the others in 
 the same manner; then each new cardinal embraced in succession 
 all the other cardinals ; after this, beginning with the English car- 
 dinal, each went to the pope, and he, putting on their heads the 
 cardinal's hat, blessed them in the name of the Trinity. They then 
 
188 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 kissed the ring on his hand, and his toe, and retired from the 
 throne. The pope then rose, blessed the assembly, by making the 
 sign of the cross three times in the air, with his two fingers, and 
 left the room. His dress was a plain mitre of gold tissue, a rich 
 garment of gold and crimson, embroidered, a splendid clasp of gold, 
 about six inches long by four wide, set with precious stones, upon 
 his breast. He is very decrepit, limping or tottering along, has a 
 defect in one eye, and his countenance has an expression of pain, 
 especially as the new cardinals approached his toe. The cardinals 
 followed the pope, two and two, with their train-bearers. After a 
 few minutes the doors opened again, and a procession headed by 
 singers entered, chanting as they went; the cardinals followed 
 them with their train-bearers. They passed through the Consistory, 
 and thus closed the ceremony of presenting the cardinals' hats. A 
 multitude of attendants, in various costumes, surrounded the pon- 
 tiff's throne, during the ceremony, among whom was Bishop Du- 
 bois, of New York." 
 
 Mr. Morse's note-books are filled with mere mention of pict- 
 ures in the several rooms of the various palaces and galleries 
 that he explored, and of incidents that marked his daily life in 
 Rome. A few days — in the abrupt and abbreviated terms of his 
 diary — will show the habit of the man : 
 
 " Thursday, March 18, 1830. — Colonna Palace ; Earl Shrews- 
 bury occupies it. First Room. — ' Death of Cleopatra,' by Mura- 
 tori, pupil of Guido, well composed ; head of Cleopatra, good. ' Re- 
 becca at the Well,' by the same; good parts, but much mannered. 
 Second Room. — ' The Colonna Family rising from the Tomb,' by 
 Pietro da Cortona ; sky, good. A beautiful piece of still-life, by 
 Castigiione; spoils. Third Room. — 'The Audience Chambers,' 
 exceedingly splendid in tapestry, etc. Fourth Room. — ' Calvin 
 and Luther,' by Titian. Portrait of one of the Colonna family, 
 called the ' Green Picture,' by Paul Veronese, proves that harmony 
 may be produced in one color ; curtain in the background, hot green, 
 middle tint; sleeves of the arms, cool / vest, which is in the mass 
 of light, as well as the lights of the curtain, warm ; white collar, 
 which is the highest light, cool ! ! ! ' Holy Family, etc., resting on 
 their Flight to Egypt,' by Bonifacio, fine for color, supports my 
 theory. Fifth Room. — A most splendid hall. ' St. John preach- 
 ing in the Wilderness,' by M. Angelo Battaglia ; splendid for color, 
 and light and shade ; the dove over the head of John is full of light. 
 
PROCESSION OF CARDINALS. 189 
 
 It is a picture that bears examination ; it has a fine depth of chiaro- 
 oscuro. Four pictures by Orizonti, good, but mannered. Several 
 good landscapes, in temper, by Gaspar Poussin. A strange picture 
 by Nicolo Lunno, the master of Pietro Perugino, ' The Devil seizing 
 a Child,' the mother praying to the Madonna, who with a club is 
 beating off the devil. ' St. Sebastian,' by Guido ; fine for chiaro- 
 oscuro. A grand full-length of ' Lucretia Colonna,' by Vandyck ; 
 shining like a diamond. ' Holy Family,' etc., by Titian; splendid 
 for color. 
 
 ACADEMY OF ST. LUKE'S. 
 
 " 'Raphael's Skull ; ' Harlow's picture of the making of a cardinal. 
 Said to have been painted in twelve days. I don't believe it. ' The 
 Angels appearing to the Shepherds,' by Bassan ; good for color — 
 much trash in the way of portraits. Lower rooms contain the pict- 
 ures for the premiums ; some good, all badly colored. Third Room. 
 — Bass-reliefs for the premiums. Fourth Room. — Smaller premium 
 pictures ; bad. Fifth Room. — Drawings ; the oldest best, modern 
 bad. 
 
 " Church of St. Peter, interior of the prison, etc. St. Andrew's 
 Church, too dark when we went in to see the famous frescos of 
 Domenichino. 
 
 " Friday, March 19th. — We went to St. Peter's to see the pro- 
 cession of cardinals ; singing in the capella. Cardinals walked two 
 and two through St. Peter's, knelt on purple-velvet cushions before 
 the capella in prayer, then successively kissed the toe of the bronze 
 image of St. Peter, as they walked past it. This statue of St. Peter 
 as a work of art is as execrable as possible ; part of the toe and foot 
 is worn away and polished, not by the kisses, but by the wiping of 
 the foot after the kisses by the next comer, preparatory to kissing it, 
 sometimes with the coat-sleeve by a beggar, with the corner of the 
 cloak by the gentlemen, the shawl by the females, and with a nice 
 cambric handkerchief by the attendant at the ceremony, who wiped 
 the toe alter each cardinal's performance. This ceremony is vari- 
 ously performed ; some give it a single kiss and go away, others kiss 
 the toe and then touch the forehead to it, others again kiss the toe, 
 touch the forehead to it, and kiss the toe again, repeating the opera- 
 tion sometimes three times. This day is one of the numerous festi- 
 vals of the Church ; it is St. Joseph's day ; the shops are shut, and 
 before many of them, on the side pavement, are tables decorated with 
 evergreens and flowers, on which are large pans of fried cakes, hot 
 
190 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 from the kettle of oil in which they are fried, and which is in the 
 centre of a group of cooks busily engaged in preparing these cakes 
 for their customers, who perform a meritorious act doubtless in eat- 
 ing them this day — St. Joseph being very fond of these doughnuts, 
 as we should call them in New England. Women with enormous 
 buckles. 
 
 " Saturday ', March 20th. — Giustiniani Palazzo. — Bass-reliefs in 
 the yard, stucco ; nothing good. JBraschi Palace. — A most splendid 
 staircase ; the richest in Rome that I have seen in the palaces. An 
 assortment of St. Sebastians by the dozen ; two in the hall, one in 
 the second room. Third Room. — A Titian, ' Woman taken in Adul- 
 tery ; ' fine for arrangement of color. A Murillo, l The Assumption 
 of the Virgin.' ' Angel Boys' Heads ; ' good. ' Marriage of Cana,' 
 by Garofalo ; some of the costumes, fine. In the large hall is a very 
 fine statue of ' Antinous,' colossal in size and of the purest form. 
 A sweet portrait in Lely's style of a female like N. R. 
 
 " Palazzo Massino. — An exquisite statue of a Discobolus, and 
 some good pictures. 
 
 " Palazzo Mattel. — Fine bass-reliefs in the court-yard and exqui- 
 sitely sculptured ornaments exposed to the weather. On the box, 
 * Scritture par la Sacra Pota? Ancient seats in the stairway. 
 View from the top of the Campidoglio : to the east, Albano, Fras- 
 cato, and, more toward the north, Preneste, and in the valley, at a 
 great distance, Cercello ; went to the very top and stood by the 
 statue on the pinnacle. 
 
 " Sunday, March 21st. — Chiesa e?' Orsoline. — Nun taking the 
 veil. Illustrissima Signori Anna Mazzetti, to assume the name of 
 S. Maria Clementina di S. Camillo. Church small, altar rich ; cardi- 
 nal enters ; nun enters splendidly dressed, lace over blue ; kneels 
 before the cardinal ; a companion ; dress of cardinal, a gold-tissue k 
 mitre, robes of white, fringed with gold lace ; two attendants hold 
 up the skirts of his robe while he addresses them ; nun's hair much 
 dressed with curls and silver and diamond ornaments of wheat-ears, 
 necklace, and ear-rings ; attendant of nun in rich blue, silk turban 
 embroidered with gold ; address long ; music ; cardinal puts on a 
 splendid mitre and takes the rood or crozier. First act closes by a 
 procession out of the church, headed by the cardinal and nun. Mu- 
 sic as an interlude. Cardinal enters without nun for a few minutes, 
 during which music plays rapid airs ; nuns' voices in another room ; 
 kissing the other nuns. Could not see for a large pillar and bonnet. 
 
 " Chiesa Nuova, at seven o'clock in the evening ; a sacred opera 
 
IN THE VATICAN. 191 
 
 called ' The Death of Aaron ; ' church dark, women not admitted ; bell 
 rings, and a priest before the altar chants a prayer, after which a 
 boy about twelve years old apparently addresses the assembly from 
 the pulpit ; I know not the drift of his discourse, but his utterance 
 was like the same gurgling process which I noticed in the orator 
 who addressed the pope ; it was precisely like the fitful tone of the 
 Oneida interpreter. 
 
 " Tuesday, March 23<i — At the Vatican all the morning. 
 While preparing my palette, a monk, decently habited for a monk, 
 who seemed to have come to the Vatican for the purpose of view- 
 ing the pictures, after a little time approached me, and, with a very 
 polite bow, offered me a pinch of snuff, which of course I took, 
 bowing in return, when he instantly asked me alms. I gave him a 
 bajocco, for which he seemed very grateful. Truly this is a nation 
 of beggars. 
 
 " Wednesday, March %kth. — Vatican all the morning ; saw in 
 returning a great number of priests, with a white bag over the left 
 shoulder, and begging of the persons they met. This is another in- 
 stance of begging and robbing confined to one class. 
 
 " Thursday, March 25th. — Festa of the Annunciation, Vatican 
 shut. Doors open at eight of the Chiesa di Minerva ; obtained a 
 good place for seeing the ceremony ; at half-past nine the cardinals 
 began to assemble ; Cardinal Barberini officiated in robes, white, 
 embroidered with gold ; singing ; taking off and putting on mitres, 
 etc. ; jumping up and bowing, kissing the ring on the finger of the 
 cardinal ; putting incense into censers ; monotonous reading or 
 rather whining of a few lines of prayer in Latin ; flirting censers at 
 each cardinal in succession ; cardinals bowing to one another ; many 
 attendants at the altar ; cardinals embrace one another. After mass 
 a contribution among the cardinals in rich silver plate. Enter the 
 virgins in white, with crowns, two and two, and candles ; they 
 kiss the hem of the garment of one of the cardinals ; they are ac- 
 companied by three officers, and exit. Cardinals' dresses exquisitely 
 plaited (sixty-two cardinals in attendance). 
 
 " CAMPIDOGLIO EXPOSITION" OF THE WORKS OF THE LIVING ARTISTS 
 
 EST ROME. 
 
 " First Room. — Portrait of female at the toilet, by Geddes, 
 English ; for effect, chiaro-oscuro, and coloring, good. Deluge by 
 Schnelz, French ; faults of the French school. Large picture of a 
 sick child brought to the Virgin by her relative, by the same artist ; 
 
192 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 parts full of feeling, particularly the boy himself, and the sister of 
 the boy ; parts well painted, but bad in general effect, and badly 
 colored. A great picture of the assassination of Vitellius, by 
 Quecy, a Roman artist ; bad throughout. A sweet picture of Italian 
 peasant at a fountain, by Weller of Mannheim ; the 'costumes and 
 indeed all beautifully painted. Two flower-pieces, by Senff, a 
 Prussian ; good. Statuary — a fine bass-relief of Christians about 
 to be torn in pieces by a tiger, by Tenerrani, of Carrara. Statue, 
 female playing on a guitar, by Scolari ; good. 
 
 " Palazzo Sinibaldi. — At half-past eight, the company began 
 to assemble in the splendid saloon of this palace, to which I was 
 invited ; the singers, about forty in number, were upon a stage 
 erected at the end of the room ; white drapery hung behind fes- 
 toons with laurel-wreaths (the walls were painted in fresco) ; four 
 female statues standing on globes upheld seven long wax-lights ; 
 the instrumental musicians, about forty, were arranged at the 
 foot of these statues. Sala was lighted principally by six glass 
 chandeliers. Much female beauty in the room, dresses very va- 
 rious. Signora Luigia Tardi sung with much judgment, and was 
 received with great applause. A little girl, apparently about twelve 
 years old, played upon the harp in a most exquisite manner, and 
 called forth bravas of the Italians, and of the foreigners bountifully. 
 The manners of the audience were the same as those of fashion- 
 able society in our own country, and indeed in any other country. 
 The display in dress, however, less tasteful than I have seen in 
 New York ; but, in truth, I have not seen more beauty and taste in 
 any country, combined with cultivation of mind and delicacy of 
 manner, than in our own. At one o'clock in the morning, or half- 
 past six, Italian time, the concert was over. 
 
 " Friday, March 26th. — I have observed almost every morning 
 at the caffle beggars of some description, and different every morn- 
 ing. This morning, a tall priest with a tin box ; a few mornings ago, 
 friar with white mask, and his hat hung on his back. While wait- 
 ing to enter the Sinibaldi Palace last evening, being too early, I 
 walked with Mr. S. in a direction where we heard some chanting in 
 the street. Proceeding down a back street or two, we came to the 
 portico of a church illuminated by a multitude of wax-candles 
 burning before the Virgin ; a crowd filled the portico, and had as- 
 sembled in great numbers about the railing. We stood at a little 
 distance looking on. The officiating priest in the proper time held 
 up the Host, at which all the people knelt, far and near. 
 
ART CRITICISMS. 193 
 
 " Saturday, March 2*th. — Sciarra Palace, First Room. — 
 Copy ' Transfiguration,' by Carlo Napolitano, not G. Romana, as er- 
 roneously said ; two deep-toned pictures, by Valentin ; an exquisite 
 little picture, ' Mother and Child,' by Titian ; mother's dress, warm 
 crimson, warm flesh, principal light ; deep-blue ultra under the 
 child and back of the mother ; green curtain in background. 
 
 " Second Room. — Two small Claudes — one ' Lake of Bracino,' 
 on silver — the other, ' Flight into Egypt,' on copper ; landscapes by 
 Both, very good ; ' Castle Nuovo,' in Naples, by Canelletti. 
 
 " Third Room. — Voucts's picture of the 'Present, Past, and 
 Future.' 
 
 " Fourth Room. — ' The Minstrels ' of Titian ; Raphael's portrait 
 of himself;- Leonardo da Vinci's 'Modesty and Vanity;' 'The 
 Three Card-Players,' by Caravaggio. 
 
 EXPOSITION AT THE CAMPIDOGLIO (CONTINUED). 
 
 " Second Room. — Wyatt's statue of a female entering the bath, 
 an exquisite work. 
 
 " Third Room. — Gibson's statue of a female untying her sandal; 
 'Judith and Holofernes,' by Cav. Vernet; finely conceived, espe- 
 cially the character and figure of Judith ; the color is generally bad, 
 but the lower part is well painted and well toned ; there is a mas- 
 terly precision throughout, every thing is firmly and correctly ex- 
 pressed ; the head of Holofernes is French, too strongly charged, 
 but well meant. Portrait of the Pope, by Vernet ; very rich, and 
 parts well painted, but is too much cut up. ' Nun taking the Veil,' 
 by Roger, French painter; good in parts, especially the back- 
 ground. ' Greek Girl,' by Adkins, English, and a female portrait 
 by the same artist ; both rich for color. ' Warrior preparing for 
 Battle, taking Leave of his Mistress.' by Levern, English ; sweet, 
 rich-toned little picture 'Albanese Female,' nearly full length, by 
 Vernet; parts well expressed, but chalky in color. 'Friar in the 
 Catacombs, frightened to Death,' a story well told, but too brown, 
 by Diofabi, a Russian. Portraits, full length, in St. Peter's, by 
 Cavalleri, of Turin, well drawn in the architecture. A 'Mountebank 
 Exhibition,' by Weller, of Mannheim, contains great variety of 
 character and costume, and is carefully and beautifully finished; 
 the Amphitheatre Marcellus forms the greater part of the back- 
 ground. A landscape by Kareze wski, a Pole ; parts, good. ' The 
 Vintage,' by Levern, English ; an exquisite picture, golden in tone, 
 13 
 
194 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and well composed. A good landscape, by Desoulavy, English. A 
 fine landscape, well colored, and in fine keeping, by Wilson, a 
 Scotch painter. ' Interior of an Italian Kitchen,' by Bravo, a Dane. 
 
 " Went to the Coliseum. Cross in the centre of the arena has 
 upon it this inscription, on a little white board nailed on it : ' Baci- 
 ando la Santa Croce si acouistono due cente geomo d'indulgenza.' 
 The rooks were chattering about the tops of the ruined arches, and 
 the smaller birds were singing in the bushes that covered the dilap- 
 idated walls. Went to the baths of Titus, which are near the Coli- 
 seum. Here are the fine arabesques, from which it is said Raphael 
 copied his ' Logge.' It is a mistake ; he may have taken some few de- 
 tached parts, but his ' Logge ' are original. He has caught, indeed, 
 the spirit of those arabesques, all which is perfectly fair. They are 
 exquisitely beautiful, but going fast to decay. 
 
 " Monday, March 29th. — Early this morning was introduced to 
 the cavalier Horace Vernet, Principal of the French Academy. Found 
 him in the beautiful gardens of the Academy. He came in a ne- 
 glige dress — a cap, or rather turban, of various colors, a party-colored 
 belt, and a cloak. He received me kindly ; walked through the an- 
 tique gallery of casts, a long room, and a splendid collection, 
 selected with great judgment ; the collection, also, of architectural 
 casts was splendid. 
 
 " Visited Mr. Gibson's studio, and Mr. Wyatt's. Mr. Gibson is 
 a man of real genius. He is not far behind Thorwaldsen. His 
 groups of the ' Seizure of Hylas,' and of ' Psyche borne by Zephyrs,' 
 are quite antique in their character and feeling. Mr. Wyatt's are 
 also excellent. His ' Nymph entering the Bath ' is as chaste in 
 sentiment, and as beautiful for character, as I have ever seen of a 
 nude figure. 
 
 " Tuesday, March 30th. — Went to the Vatican in the morning. 
 While recreating, took a lounge in the upper logge of the Vatican, 
 which contain some curious maps of the world, and its various 
 parts, painted in fresco on the walls. The first map has on it the 
 Island of S. Brandani, mentioned by Irving in his ' Columbus ; ' the 
 second is New Spain, on which North America is represented, the 
 whole northern part, from a parallel about Cape Hatteras, as ' Terra 
 sive Mare Incognitum ; ' the third is Japan ; the fourth, America, 
 or Peru; the fifth, 'Tartarorum regiones;' sixth, India beyond the 
 Ganges, or China; seventh, India this side the Ganges; eighth, 
 Persia; ninth, Turkey beyond Europe; tenth, Africa; eleventh, Af- 
 rica, eastern part ; twelfth and thirteenth, the world, on the first of 
 
CHEVALIER VERNET. 195 
 
 which is America, Terra Labrador, and 0. del Labrado ; and from 
 them to C. della Florida, nearly all the way high ridges of moun- 
 tains are made to extend from the coast far into the interior. A 
 little south of Labrador is ' Terra de Baccalaos ; ' Canada is down, 
 and but one of the lakes, which is not named ; all beyond is ' terra 
 incognita ; ' fourteenth, is Greenland, and congelations, with houses 
 and Indians on the ice, and reindeer ; fifteenth, much injured, ap- 
 pears to be Russia; sixteenth, Moscovia; seventeenth, Finland, 
 Lapland, etc. ; eighteenth, Hungary, and Poland, etc. ; nineteenth, 
 Denmark, Holland, Germany ; twentieth, India, Canaan, and Pales- 
 tine, more beautifully executed than the rest, the Holy Land in 
 gold ; twenty-first, Asia Minor ; twenty-second, Greece ; twenty- 
 third, Italy; twenty-fourth, France; twenty-fifth, Spain; twenty- 
 sixth, Great Britain. 
 
 " Wednesday , March 31st. — Early this morning was waked by 
 the roar of cannon. Learned that it was the anniversary of the 
 present pope's election. Went to the Vatican ; the colonnade was 
 filled with the carriages of the cardinals ; that of the new English 
 cardinal, Weld, was the most showy. 
 
 "There is a corporal's guard of soldiers stationed before the 
 Castle of St. Angelo, and another at the entrance of the colonnade 
 to St. Peter's. Their principal duty seems to be to shoulder arms 
 at a certain signal, and present arms when a cardinaVs carriage 
 passes. 
 
 " Thursday Morning, Aprillst. — At the Vatican all day. Open 
 to the public. Went with Mr. Cooper into the room of the mo- 
 saics, which I had never visited before. There are ten thousand 
 three hundred and sixteen different tints in glass, each in separate 
 boxes, occupying a hall of great length. The street leading to the 
 Vatican is very narrow, and filled with the meanest shops. 
 
 "Went in the evening to the soire'e of the Chevalier Ver net, 
 Director of the French Academy. He is a gentleman of elegant 
 manners, and sees, at his soirees, the first society in Rome. His 
 wife is highly accomplished, and his daughter is a beautiful girl, full 
 of vivacity, and speaks English fluently. Books of plates were on 
 the table, among them an interesting work by Williman, published 
 in Paris, on costume, eta During the evening there was music. 
 His daughter played on the piano, and others sang. There was 
 chess, and, at a sideboard, a few played cards. The style was sim- 
 ple ; every one at ease, like our soirees in America. Several noble- 
 men and dignitaries of the Church were present. 
 
196 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " Friday, April 2d. — Vatican all day. In the evening went to 
 the Church of the Trinita di Monte, and heard the exquisite singing 
 of the nuns. After vespers witnessed a ceremony in which two 
 boys, of eight and ten years of age, were brought to the altar before 
 the officiating cardinal. They knelt before him while he read from 
 a book held by an attendant. Assistants were on either side ; some 
 held lighted wax-candles, others held up the robes of the cardinal, 
 and others prompted the boys in the parts they were to act. During 
 the ceremony a white band was tied round the heads of each of the 
 boys. In conclusion, the cardinal and attendants retired and the 
 boys knelt on each side of a man at the altar, who appeared to be 
 their parent. 
 
 " Sunday, April Mh. — Palm Sunday. Sistine Chapel, half-past 
 nine o'clock. Cardinals ; rich dresses, purple and gold ; Cardinal 
 Weld's the most splendid. Pass through files of guards ; ladies out- 
 side the bar ; ambassadors' boxes ; royal box ; cardinal, attendants 
 in white, gentlemen of the cardinal. Ten o'clock, commence. Car- 
 dinals put on mitre and received palms, which are of straw, with 
 crosses, etc., upon them. They retire to their seats, give palms to 
 attendants, who, at a signal, prostrate them on the floor, like ground 
 arms. (Cardinal Barberini officiated instead of the pope.) In re- 
 ceiving the palm from the cardinal, each recipient kisses the two 
 hands of the cardinal. Procession commences at half-past ten. A 
 cross, with two candles on each side. Cardinals return during 
 chanting from the choir. Cardinals divested of their finery, and ap- 
 pear as ordinary, in purple and ermine. Putting incense into cen- 
 sers. Prayer-book. Many attendants to assist in the ceremony of 
 opening a book. Cardinal says three or four words in a drawling 
 tone. One, in a drawling, school-boy tone, reads from a book in the 
 middle of the room. Great work made in bringing back the book. 
 Chanting; which, for the most part, is a monotonous brawling. 
 Some good singing, and then a long, tedious tone of recitation in 
 Latin. History of the crucifixion from the Testament, of more than 
 three-quarters of an hour. (Attendants of the cardinals have olive- 
 Branches instead of palms.) . A pause, and all the cardinals kneel. 
 One next takes the book, shows it to cardinal, bows, turns round, 
 bows each side, advances one side of the altar, and kneels ; advances 
 to the altar, bows, and kneels again ; lays the book on the altar, 
 bows, and kneels again. It remains a few seconds, and is removed 
 again in the same manner. A few words are again read from it ; 
 the cardinals stand, and all together appear talking in the most rapid 
 
ST. PETER'S. 197 
 
 manner to each other. They all sit, and chanting commences, 
 which lasts a few minutes. Twenty-two cardinals present. Robing 
 and disrobing officiating cardinals. Incense is now puffed four 
 times before, each cardinal ; the attendant bows, puffs four times, 
 and goes to the next, and so on. A little reading by the officiating 
 cardinal at the altar. Count Ferroneye among the spectators, with 
 the three highest orders in Europe on his breast — the Golden Fleece, 
 the Holy Ghost, and the Grand Cross of St.-Louis. Cardinal Giulio 
 Maria della Somaglia in state, on an elevated bed of cloth-of-gold 
 and black, embroidered with gold ; his head on a black-velvet cush- 
 ion, embroided with gold ; dressed in his robes as when alive. He 
 officiated, I was told, on Ash "Wednesday. Four wax-lights, two 
 on each side of the bed ; room, crimson and gold ; three guards at 
 the foot of the bed ; great throng of people of all grades through 
 the suite of apartments — the Cancellerie — in which he lived. They 
 were very splendid, chiefly of crimson velvet, and damask, and 
 gold. The cardinal has died unpopular, for he has left nothing to 
 his servants by his will; he directed, however, that no expense 
 should be spared in his funeral, wishing that it might be splendid ; 
 but, unfortunately for him, he has died precisely at that season of 
 the year (the Holy Week) when alone it is impossible, according to 
 the Church customs, to give him a splendid burial. 
 
 " Monday, April 5th. — Visited the Sapienza ; the museum is very 
 creditable ; the collection of butterflies very complete ; the skele- 
 tons of horse, cow, ram, etc., beautifully prepared ; also the birds ; 
 a lusus naturae, two children preserved in spirits, united somewhat 
 similar to the Siamese boys. 
 
 " Cabinets of mineralogy and chemistry very good ; the pro- 
 fessor exceedingly polite and attentive. Campidoglio ; part of it a 
 prison ; prisoners with little bags on the end of rod, like fishing- 
 lines from the windows. Palatine Hill. Gardens of the Villa Spada, 
 which are built upon the ruins of the palace of the Cassars ; the gar- 
 dens are now neatly laid out in walks, arched over with trees and 
 flowering shrubs. 
 
 " Tuesday, April 6th. — I amused myself before going into the 
 Vatican by a walk in St. Peter's ; the various and strange actions 
 and scenes that are here witnessed strike a stranger with wonder. 
 In one of the chapels there is the monotonous chanting of the 
 priests at their prayers ; all kinds of costumes were seen in various 
 parts of the church, kneeling in acts of devotion, or in conversation 
 in groups ; boys were carrying candlesticks larger than themselves 
 
198 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 to furnish some of the numerous altars ; and at the confessionals 
 were motley groups, some in the act of confession, others waiting 
 their turn ; there were ragged beggars and gentlemen, the simply- 
 dressed nun, with her white-muslin veil, and the gay-colored dames 
 of the villages of the Sabine Hills. 
 
 " Went to the Vatican, and learned that it is shut for ten days. 
 Took my picture to my room. 
 
 " Wednesday, April "7th. — This morning the beggar at the cafe 
 .was an old, gray-bearded man, with a brass box about as large as a 
 pocket-lantern, and which might easily be mistaken for one ; it was 
 battered and bright, with the crucifix embossed in front. The old 
 man sat on one of the seats of the cafe for a moment, opened his 
 box and counted his receipts ; the largest piece was a one-half 
 biocchi, and these were few ; he muttered a prayer over them as he 
 put them back, and tottered out of the house. Went to the Piazza 
 Navone, being market-day, in search of prints ; the scene here is 
 very amusing, from the variety of wares exposed, and the confusion 
 of noises and tongues, and now and then a jackass swelling the 
 chorus with his most exquisite tones. 
 
 " At three o'clock went to St. Peter's to see ceremonies at the 
 Sistine Chapel. Cardinal asleep ; monotonous bawling, long and 
 tedious ; candles put out one by one, fourteen in number ; no cere- 
 monies at the altar ; cardinals present, nineteen ; seven yawns from 
 the cardinals ; tiresome and monotonous beyond description. After 
 three hours of this most tiresome chant, all the candles having been 
 extinguished, the celebrated ' Miserere ' commenced. It is indeed 
 sublime, but I think loses much of its effect from the fatigue of 
 body, and mind, too, in which it is heard by the auditors ; the ' Mi- 
 serere ' is the composition of the celebrated Allegri, and, for giving 
 the effect of wailing and lamentation, without injury to harmony, is 
 one of the most perfect of compositions. The manner of sustaining 
 a strain of concord by new voices, now swelling high, now gradually 
 decaying away, now sliding imperceptibly into discord, and sud- 
 denly breaking into harmony, is admirable ; the imagination is alive, 
 and fancies thousands of people in the deepest contrition ; it closed 
 by the cardinals clapping their hands for the earthquake. 
 
 " Thursday Morning, April 8th. — Holy Thursday; rose early, 
 and at eight o'clock rode to St. Peter's and ascended the long flight 
 of steps to the Vatican ; placed ourselves in the crowd of ladies and 
 gentlemen, ready to rush into the Sistine Chapel the moment it 
 should open. The Swiss Guards were this day dressed in bright hel- 
 
THE SISTINE CHAPEL. 199 
 
 mets of steel, with breastplates of the same material, and some of 
 their officers with the ancient armor upon their shoulders and arms. 
 After waiting some time, the door of the chapel was opened, and, 
 after a few privileged persons were admitted, all were allowed to pass, 
 that is to say, if they had on a black coat and white cravat and 
 black pantaloons ; a brown coat or a frock coat found very little 
 favor ; sometimes they passed, if it was accompanied with a Ger- 
 man voice, that language being the language of the Swiss Guards. 
 A few gentlemen were allowed to go into the strangers' box, within 
 the grating, where, on former occasions, I fortunately got, but to- 
 day was too late. I therefore, with Mr. C , of Alexandria, and 
 
 Mr. Salisbury, took my stand in that part of the chapel which is 
 nearest the door ; here, on the right where you enter, the ladies are 
 permitted to see the ceremonies. We waited long, and at length 
 ascertained there would be a tedious chant, after which there would 
 be a procession of the Host into the Pauline Chapel to be buried. 
 We left the crowded Sistine Chapel and took our places behind the 
 line of guards extending through the hall between two doors — one 
 of the Pauline Chapel, the other leading into apartments along the 
 front of St. Peter's. Here, having waited a long time — it being after 
 eleven o'clock — a bustle was made in the hall, and the head of a pro- 
 cession made its appearance from one of the doors of the great 
 hall; a cross and candles were borne before, and, soon after, a rich 
 crimson-damask sedan-chair, borne by bearers dressed in the same 
 materials and colors, in which his Holiness the Pope was seated ; he 
 passed close to us, and as he passed moved his hand as usual in the 
 act of blessing. Finding some who were near us had got between 
 the guards into the procession of ambassadors, etc., and who were 
 suffering no obstruction, Mr. Cooper and I successfully attempted 
 the same manoeuvre and mounted the staircase directly after the 
 pope, and as far as the crimson-and-velvet and gold-furnished cham 
 ber, temporarily built for the ceremony of the benediction ; here we 
 were stopped by the guards, but were permitted to stand without 
 the line, or be in the balcony with the ambassadors, etc., which was 
 next to and on the left of that at which the pope was to appear. 
 Having examined the splendid chair on which he was to be borne, 
 and while he was robing in another apartment, we found that, al- 
 though we might have a complete view of the pope and the cere- 
 monies before and after the benediction, yet the principal effect 
 was to be seen below ; we therefore left our place at the balcony, 
 where we could see nothing but, the crowd, and hastened below. 
 
200 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 On passing into the hall we were so fortunate as just to be in sea- 
 son for the procession from the Sistine Chapel to the Pauline ; the 
 cardinals walked in procession two and two, and one bore the Host, 
 while eight bearers held over him a rich canopy of silver tissue 
 embroidered with gold. Thence we hastened to the front of St. 
 Peter's, where in the centre, upon the highest step, we had an 
 excellent view of the balcony, and, turning round, could see the im- 
 mense crowd which had assembled in the piazza, and the splendid 
 square of troops which were drawn up before the steps of the church. 
 Here I had scarcely time to make a hasty sketch, in the broiling sun, 
 of the window and its decorations, before the precursors of the pope, 
 the two large feather fans, made their appearance on each side of the 
 balcony, which was decorated with crimson and gold ; and immedi- 
 ately after the Pope, with his mitre of gold tissue and his splendid 
 robes of gold and jewels, was borne forward, relieving finely from 
 the deep crimson darkness behind him. He made the usual sign of 
 blessing with his two fingers raised ; a book was then held before 
 him, in which he read, with much motion of his head, for a minute. 
 He then rose, extending both his arms — this was the benediction — 
 while at the same moment the soldiers and crowd all knelt, the can- 
 non from the Castle of St. Angelo was discharged, and the bells in 
 all the churches rung a simultaneous peal ; the effect was exceed- 
 ingly grand, the most imposing of all the ceremonies I have wit- 
 nessed. The pope was then borne back again. Two papers were 
 thrown from the balcony, for which there was a great scramble 
 among the crowd. 
 
 " From this ceremony we went into the chapel to witness the 
 washing of feet of the pilgrims. Thirteen persons dressed in white, 
 with white caps, some with long beards, were seated upon a high 
 seat on one side of the chapel. After the usual pushing and squeez- 
 ing for places I got near enough to see the ceremony. A chant 
 commenced, during which the pope (or it might have been a cardi- 
 nal, for his face being in profile I could not discern accurately) be- ' 
 gan by washing, or rather touching with water, the foot of the first 
 pilgrim, wiping it with the towel which an attendant bore, and then, 
 kissing the foot, presented a large bouquet of flowers to that pil- ' 
 grim, and so on through the whole ; it lasted but a few minutes. 
 From this place, which was opposite the Sistine Chapel, we went 
 into the Pauline Chapel to see the Holy Sepulchre ; this was splen- 
 didly illuminated with hundreds of wax-candles disposed in a most 
 effective manner. Thence we came down into St. Peter's, and 
 
FEET-WASHING. 201 
 
 upon the steps found a procession of pilgrims, male and female, of 
 all ranks, and kinds, and countries, about to enter the church ; we 
 looked into the church ; the great altar was dismantled, and all the 
 lamps out before it ; most if not all the candles of the other altars, 
 being collected in one of the side chapels, were brilliantly illumi- 
 nating a dark part of the church. 
 
 "From these ceremonies we took some rest by walking through 
 the splendid galleries of the Vatican, which are thrown open to the 
 public throughout, into the garden of the Vatican, rich with flowers 
 and orange-trees, and lemon-trees, and other tropical fruits; a large 
 copper pineapple, upon a pedestal in front of a high, deep niche, 
 makes a distinguished figure, and an ancient ship as a fountain is a 
 large toy on the other side of the Vatican. 
 
 " After dinner went again to St. Peter's to hear the music ; the 
 ' Miserere ' was exquisitely performed in the side-chapel,' quite equal, 
 I thought, to that in the Sistine Chapel the evening before. 
 
 " We next went to the Convent of the Trinita di Pellegrini to 
 see the pilgrims having their feet washed and eating their supper. 
 A long hall, perhaps two hundred feet in length, was set out on 
 each side with a row of tables, which were to be served by cardinals 
 and nobles, who were to wait on the pilgrims. In another apart- 
 ment, into which we were too late to enter, there were about three 
 hundred pilgrims, who had their feet washed and were waiting for 
 their supper. They were soon after ushered into the supper-room ; 
 they were a most strange company, ragged, and dirty, and unshaven ; 
 their food was plentifully and indeed I may say luxuriously pre- 
 pared for them — a thick, apparently nice soup, fish and salad, wine, 
 figs, apples, etc. Before eating they all rose, and a blessing appeared 
 to be asked by some one of the cardinals, and while they .were eat- 
 ing a man from a box at one side of the room, like an orchestra-box, 
 read what seemed to be a sermon. Each end of the table was dec-, 
 orated with flowers. I asked one from one of the princely waiters, 
 and he politely gave me two, which I preserved. 
 
 " We went into the church ; an altar was splendidly illuminated, 
 and at a side-altar the crucifix was laid upon the ground on cushions. 
 Before it hundreds knelt to kiss it, and there was a plate to receive 
 money. In returning home, visited the Pantheon and the Church 
 of St. Andrea de la Valle, where were similar ceremonies. Saw also 
 the shops of the bacon and cheese venders illuminated ; in one was 
 a small fountain playing. The bacon was tastily arranged, the flitdhes 
 looking like large leaves of books and gilt. A recess, with looking- 
 
202 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 glasses at the end, gave the appearance of an almost endless vista 
 of lights. 
 
 " In the Via Portugese is a house which always has at night a 
 lamp in the corner of the eves, from the following occurrence : A 
 gentleman, who lived in the house some years ago, had an orang- 
 outang, which one day got loose, and, finding the child of the gentle- 
 man, seized it and rushed to the top of the house with it before he 
 was discovered ; when first seen he was with the child on the corner 
 of the house, and threatening every moment to throw the child into 
 the street. He was, however, arrested in his intention, and the child 
 was saved. In commemoration of the event he during his life kept 
 a light burning on the corner, and left by his will a sufficient sum to 
 maintain it after his decease. 
 
 " Friday, April 9th. — All the morning was spent in endeavor- 
 ing to find places where we had been informed were the most in- 
 teresting ceremonies of the day, but we were disappointed. At 
 one o'clock we went to the church of St. Sylvestro in Capite, to 
 witness the service of the tre ore of agony. As its name indicates, 
 it was three hours in length ; the church was hung with black. A 
 temporary pulpit was erected at one side, from which a fleshy friar 
 harangued the people with much gesticulation ; opposite him was 
 the orchestra, which at intervals gave good music, but the harangue 
 of the priest in the intermission was so long and monotonous, re- 
 lieved by a priest in another pulpit, who read in a dull, school-boy 
 tone, that I was glad to make my retreat — I had seen enough. The 
 priest's eloquence was of the same kind I had before heard, his 
 words coming forth like water from a narrow-necked flask. We 
 went in search of the Greek church ; finding no service, went to 
 St. Peter's, passing a long procession of monks, in black hoods, with 
 staves surmounted by death's heads, and a girdle of beads and a 
 cross, also surmounted with death's heads ; they had on the hood, 
 or mask, having all the face covered but the eyes ; they sang or 
 rather croaked as they went, ' with solemn step and slow.' When 
 we arrived at St. Peter's, the ceremonies were performing in the 
 choir ; the tiresome chant, which had been in continuation for nearly 
 the three hours, rightly called the three hours of agony, was nearly 
 drawing to a conclusion, three lights, of the fifteen, alone remain- 
 ing unextinguished. These fifteen lights, by-the-by, represent the 
 twelve Apostles and the three Marys (in brown wax-candles, to 
 signify mourning) ; their extinguishment, the desertion of all, one 
 after another, but Mary the Virgin ; this is the centre candle, and, 
 
LYING IN STATE. 203 
 
 when all are extinguished but this, it is removed, still burning, 
 behind the altar ; the 'Miserere ' then commences. We heard the ex- 
 quisite 'Miserere,' and afterward went toward the high altar, with 
 the crowd, to witness the showing of the sacred relics, from a 
 balcony some sixty or seventy feet above the crowd. A priest with 
 two attendants made his appearance ; a row of seven or eight wax- 
 candles was upon the balustrade, and presently he held up a glit- 
 tering mass of something that looked like a jeweled cap or crown. 
 This was the spear, the very spear which pierced the side of our 
 Saviour ; the priest walked backward and forward in the balcony 
 with it, for a moment, and then retired ; he then came forth with a 
 small cross also jeweled, and paced up and down in the same man- 
 ner ; this was a piece of the genuine cross. Next he brought out 
 a splendidly jeweled frame containing the portrait of a head ; this 
 was St. Veronica's handkerchief with which she wiped the Saviour's 
 face in going to the cross, and which received the impression of his 
 features upon it. The distance, from any one in the crowd, of these 
 relics of course prevented any examination or inquiry. This being 
 ended, we returned home, and, after dinner, went again to the Trinita 
 di Pelligrini to see what I omitted seeing last evening — the washing 
 of the pilgrims' feet. This was in a room near the supper-hall. We 
 arrived in season, and found that this was a bona-fide washing of 
 feet, tubs being provided for each pilgrim, and cardinals and others 
 were literally performing the ceremony of washing their feet for 
 them. On our way to St. Peter's I ought to have noticed our visit 
 to a palace in which another cardinal (the third who has died 
 within a few days) was lying in state — Cardinal Bertazzoli. The 
 apartments of this cardinal seemed to be very bare of furniture — 
 whether usually so, or stripped for the occasion, I know not. The 
 room in which he lay was very splendid — of crimson and gold — as 
 were also the other rooms ; he was upon a high bed of cloth-of-gold 
 tissue, under a rich canopy of crimson velvet embroidered with 
 flowers of gold, and with gold lace at the side ; candles of wax were 
 in high candlesticks, at his feet a crucifix, and basin of holy water 
 with a little brush to sprinkle it. Priests were just about to en- 
 gage in chanting a requiem when we left. Ever since the benedic- 
 tion, all the bells in the city have been silent, and all the guards 
 have their muskets reversed. In returning from the Trinita di Pel- 
 legrini, the shops of those that sell bacon, cheese, and lard, struck 
 us with the splendor and ingenuity of their decorations ; besides 
 innumerable lamps, and candles, and tinsel and gilding of the bacon 
 
204 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and hams, there was in the Piazza Pallarola a shop, which had in 
 the window a group of sculpture, made entirely of lard, and of 
 the size of life, representing a child riding upon a goat, while an- 
 other child is pulling back the goat by the tail. The action of the 
 whole was very spirited, and the figures, and animal, and all things 
 considered, exceedingly well done, especially the struggling of the 
 goat to go forward, and the determined effort of the child to pre- 
 vent him. 
 
 " Friday ', April 16th. — At the Vatican all day. I went to the 
 soiree of the sister Persianis in the evening. There I had the pleas- 
 ure of meeting, for the first time, with Thoewaldsen, the great 
 Danish sculptor, the first now living. He is an old man in ap- 
 pearance, having a profusion of gray hair, wildly hanging over his 
 forehead and ears. His face has a strong northern character, his 
 eyes are light gray, and his complexion sandy. He is a large man, 
 of perfectly unassuming manners and of most amiable deportment. 
 Daily receiving homage from all the potentates of Europe, he is 
 still without the least appearance of ostentation. He readily as- 
 sented to a request to sit for his portrait, which I hope soon to take. 
 The soiree this evening had several other distinguished persons 
 from various countries present. From Sweden, from England, from 
 France, from Switzerland, and from America, there were represent- 
 atives. The young ladies sang and played beautifully on the harp 
 and piano ; the older people of the party played cards, as stupidly 
 as card-players in all other countries. 
 
 " Monday, April 19th. — "Went to the Vatican. In passing 
 through the Via del' Orso, near the Ponte St. Angelo, I saw quite a 
 romantic scene, if it had been at a more romantic hour. A young 
 man with his guitar was sitting near a window playing, while a 
 very pretty girl was with the greatest vivacity singing to him. The 
 old people were listening, while they were employed in their do- 
 mestic engagements, spinning and ironing. 
 
 " Visited Thorwaldsen at his house, in the Via Sistina, on the 
 Pincian Hill. He was at home, and showed me his private collec- 
 tion of pictures, some ancient, but mostly modern, and very fine, in 
 landscape particularly, for I was unprepared to find so good land- 
 scape-painters among the moderns in Italy — they were not Italians, 
 however. I was shown three rooms ; the last was the private study 
 of Thorwaldsen, where I found a bass-relief in progress in the clay. 
 
 " Tuesday, April 27th. — My birthday. How time flies, and to 
 how little purpose have I lived ! Engaged at home in painting. 
 
TH1 ©1WAL©§ER! 
 
 New York, D. Applet,: 
 

 i 
 
NewTbvk, D Apple! on &.C0. 
 
PORTRAIT OF THORWALSDEN. 205 
 
 In going to dinner, observed what I have often before seen, a group 
 of men playing at moro, which consists in two persons striking 
 down the hand together, with any number of the fingers extended, 
 and each calling out in the same breath the number they suppose 
 to make the whole number of fingers of both their hands added 
 together; he that guesses right is the winner. 
 
 *' Friday, April 30th. — A funeral procession passed the house 
 tc-day. On the bier, exposed, as is customary here, was a beautiful 
 young girl, apparently of fifteen, dressed in rich laces and satins, 
 embroidered with gold, and silver, and flowers, tastefully arranged, 
 and sprinkled also with real flowers, and at her head was placed a 
 coronet of flowers. She had more the appearance of sleep than of 
 death. No relative appeared near her ; the whole seemed to be 
 conducted by the priests and monks, and those hideous objects in 
 white hoods, with faces covered, except two holes for the eyes. 
 
 "Monday, September 20th. — Began the portrait of the cele- 
 brated sculptor, Thorwaldsen. He is a most amiable man, and is 
 universally respected. He is the greatest sculptor of the age. I 
 have studied his works; they are distinguished for simple dignity, 
 just expression, and truth in character and design ; the composition 
 is also characterized by simplicity. These qualities combined en- 
 dow them with that beauty which we so much admire in the works 
 of Greece, whether in literature or art. Thorwaldsen cannot be 
 said to imitate the antique ; he rather seems to be one born in the 
 best age of Grecian art, imbued with the spirit of that age, and 
 producing from his own resources kindred works. One of his prin- 
 cipal works is a bass-relief of ' The Triumph of Alexander,' executed 
 for a nobleman, who intended it for his splendid mansion on the 
 Lago di Como. Before the work was completed, however, the 
 marquis died, and his son, the present marquis, not inheriting the 
 taste or disposition of his father, has offered it for sale. 
 
 " Thorwaldsen has just completed the monument of Pope Pius 
 VII., which is now erecting in St. Peter's. It consists of a mauso- 
 leum in the Egyptian order, on the top of which is a colossal figure 
 of the pope, seated in the papal chair, and with his right hand 
 raised in the attitude of giving the benediction ; on each side of 
 the great door of the tomb is a colossal female figure, the one For- 
 titude and the other Wisdom. His studios are in the Palazzo Bar- 
 berini ; they are very extensive, and are literally filled with the 
 works of this great man. He has executed many colossal works : 
 a statue of Copernicus, of the Emperor Alexander of Russia, sev- 
 
206 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 eral colossal horses. Next to his ' Triumph of Alexander,' which is, 
 perhaps, his most colossal work, his ' St. John preaching,' which is a 
 series of nine statues and groups, is the most beautiful. The dig- 
 nity and earnest zeal of the preacher, the various listeners, admira- 
 bly selected from nature, the group of children observing a dog, 
 alone inattentive among the audience, are all well conceived, and 
 make the series one of the most interesting pieces of sculpture in 
 the world." 
 
 This portrait of Thorwaldsen was completed by Morse, and 
 sent by the painter to Philip Hone, Esq., of New York, who 
 had commissioned him to paint him a picture for one hundred 
 dollars. It remained in Mr. Hone's gallery until the sale of his 
 pictures, after his death. Mr. Wright then became its owner, 
 and, on the sale of his pictures, in 1868, John Taylor Johnston, 
 Esq., President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, bought it for 
 four hundred dollars. When he learned that Mr. Morse was 
 very desirous of possessing it again, that he might present it to 
 the King of Denmark, Mr. Johnston with great cheerfulness 
 and generosity begged Mr. Morse to accept it. Mr. Morse was 
 exceedingly grateful, and immediately forwarded it to the Dan- 
 ish monarch, in whose gallery it now hangs. To Mr. Johnston, 
 on hearing of his great generosity, Mr. Morse wrote the follow- 
 ing letter : 
 
 "Dresden, Saxony, January 23, 1868. 
 " My dear Sir : Your letter of the 6 th instant is this moment 
 received, in which I have been startled by your most generous 
 offer, presenting me with my portrait of the renowned Thorwald- 
 sen, for which he sat to me in Rome in 1831. I know not in what 
 terms, my dear sir, to express to you my thanks for this most accept- 
 able gift. I made an excursion to Copenhagen in the summer of 
 1856, as a sort of devout pilgrimage to the tombs of two renowned 
 Danes, whose labors in their respective departments — the one, Oer- 
 sted, of Science, the other, Thorwaldsen, of Art — have so greatly 
 enriched the world. The personal kindness of the late King 
 Frederick VII., who courteously received me at his castle of Fred- 
 ericksborg, through the special presentation of Colonel Rastoff, 
 more recently the Danish minister at Washington; the hospitalities 
 of many of the principal citizens of Copenhagen ; the visits to the 
 tomb and museum of the works of Thorwaldsen, and to the room 
 
GIFT TO THE KING. 207 
 
 in which the immortal Oersted made his brilliant electro-magnetic 
 discovery; the casual and accidental introduction and interview 
 with a daughter of Oersted — all created a train of reflections which 
 prompted me to devise some suitable mode of showing to these 
 hospitable people my appreciation of their friendly attentions, and I 
 proposed to myself the presentation to his majesty the King of 
 Denmark of this portrait of Thorwaldsen, for which he sat to me in 
 Rome, and with which I knew he was specially pleased. My desire 
 to accomplish this purpose was further strengthened by the addi- 
 tional attention of the king, at a later period, in sending me the 
 decoration of his order of the Danebrog. From the moment this 
 purpose was formed, twelve years ago, I have been desirous of ob- 
 taining this portrait, and watching for the opportunity of possess- 
 ing it again. 
 
 " Its history, in brief, is this : Among the commissions given me 
 on my professional visit of study to Europe, in 1829, prolonged to 
 the autumn of 1832, was one from the then Mayor of the city of 
 New York, the late liberal-minded Philip Hone. He put into my 
 hands one hundred dollars, with the request to paint him a picture 
 for his gallery, leaving to me the choice of the subject. In Rome, 
 I became personally acquainted with Thorwaldsen, who not merely 
 treated me with his usual kindness, but seemed to take unusual 
 pains to show me little attentions, and specially to seek my com- 
 panionship in his evening walks for recreation on the Pincian Hill. 
 I ventured to ask him to give me sittings for his portrait, a request 
 which he promptly granted. The portrait in question is the result. 
 It was sent to Mr. Hone, and occupied a place in his gallery during 
 his life. When the gallery, in consequence of his decease, was dis- 
 persed, I was absent from the city, and ignorant of the fact, and 
 the time of sale, or I should then have competed for its possession. 
 
 " For some time I was unable even to ascertain its new possessor. 
 But at length, from my worthy friend and pupil, D. Huntington, 
 Esq., I learned that it was in the collection of Mr. Wright, and that 
 he valued it too highly for the indulgence of any hope that he would 
 part with it. When, in March of last year, Mr. Wright's collection 
 was brought to the hammer, I was here in Europe, but was ap- 
 prised by my brother, after the sale, that the portrait of Thorwald- 
 sen was sold for over four hundred dollars, but the name of the 
 purchaser was not mentioned. In my reply to my brother, I find 
 this passage : ' I don't know whether to be glad or sorry that my 
 portrait of Thorwaldsen brought so much, for I was watching an 
 
208 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 opportunity of possessing it for myself, and, although rejoiced to 
 find my picture valued so highly, yet it would seem hard that a 
 picture for which I received but one hundred dollars could not be 
 possessed again by its author without paying more than three times 
 the sum he received for it.' 
 
 " This brief history will show you, my dear sir, what a boon 
 you have conferred upon me. Indeed, it seems like a dream. And 
 if my most cordial thanks, not merely for the gift, but for the 
 graceful and generous manner in which it has been offered, is any 
 compensation, you may be sure they are yours. These are no con- 
 ventional words, but they come from a heart that can gratefully 
 appreciate the noble sentiments which have prompted your gen- 
 erous act. I have written my brother Sidney E. Morse, and re- 
 quested him to receive for me the portrait. Again thanking you, 
 my dear sir, I am with gratitude and esteem your friend and 
 servant, • 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Moese. 
 "To John Taylor Johnston, Esq." 
 
 When Mr. Morse writes to his brothers from Italy, we find 
 him occasionally breaking away from the charmed circle of art : 
 
 "Rome, January 5, 1831. 
 " My dear Beothees : A short time ago, I asked an Italian 
 friend of mine to get for me some cuttings of two kinds of grapes 
 which are celebrated here, that I might send them to the United 
 States. He has been so obliging as to present me with six vines, 
 with their roots carefully packed in their natural earth (which, by- 
 the-by is the Vale of Tempe, Adrian's Villa, Tivoli), and they are 
 in such fine order, and the season so favorable to send them, that I 
 have ventured to incur the expense of transmission as they are, to 
 such of my horticultural friends as I know will take good care of 
 them, and distribute cuttings (if they should be successful in cul- 
 tivating them) to others, so that these two fine varieties of grapes 
 may be introduced into the country. They are packed in one par- 
 cel, all their roots being in a tub with earth, moss, etc. But you 
 will find, after unwinding the cloth which envelops them, the two 
 kinds separated by being tied round, each thi'ee of a kind, with a 
 separate band. One is the Pergolese grape, the other the Pizzu- 
 tello. I know not which of each parcel is the Pergolese, or which 
 is the Pizzutello, but, in separating them, take one from each bunch, 
 making three pairs, and oblige me by delivering to each of the fol- 
 
IN THE COLISEUM. 209 
 
 lowing persons one pair : one to Dr. Ives, of New Haven ; one to 
 Dr. Hosack ; and one to R. V. De Witt, Esq., of Albany." 
 
 "April 15, 1831. 
 
 " We have recently heard of the disasters of the Poles. What 
 noble people ; how deserving of their freedom ! I must tell you 
 of an interesting circumstance that occurred to me in relation 
 to Poland. It was in the latter part of June of last year, just as 
 I was completing my arrangements for my journey to Naples, 
 that I was tempted by one of those splendid moonlight even- 
 ings, so common in Italy, to visit once more the ruins of the Co- 
 liseum. I had frequently been to the Coliseum in company, but 
 now I had the curiosity to go alone — I wished to enjoy, if pos- 
 sible, its solitude, and its solemn grandeur, unannoyed by the pres- 
 ence of any one. It was eleven o'clock when I left my lodgings, 
 and no one was walking at that hour in the solitary streets of 
 Rome. From the Corso to the Forum, all was as still as in a 
 deserted city. The ruins of the Forum, the temples and pillars, 
 the Arch of Titus, and the gigantic arcade of the Temple of Peace, 
 seemed to sleep in the grave-like stillness of the air. The only 
 sound that reached my ears was that of my own footsteps. I 
 slowly proceeded, stopping occasionally and listening, and enjoying 
 the profound repose, and the solemn, pure light, so suited to the 
 ruined magnificence around me. As I approached the Coliseum, 
 the shriek of an owl and the answering echo broke the silence for 
 a moment, and all was still again. I reached the entrance, before 
 which paced a lonely sentinel, his arms flashing in the moonbeams. 
 He abruptly stopped me, and told me I could not enter. I asked 
 him why. He replied that his orders were to let no one pass. I 
 told him I knew better, that he had no such orders, that he was 
 placed there to protect visitors, and not to prevent their entrance, 
 and that I should pass. Finding me resolute (for I knew by ex- 
 perience his motive was merely to extort money), he softened in his 
 tone, and wished me to wait until he could speak to the sergeant of 
 the guard. To this I assented, and, while he was gone, a party of 
 gentlemen approached also to the entrance. One of them, having 
 heard the discourse between the sentinel and myself, addressed me. 
 Perceiving that he was a foreigner, I asked him if he spoke English. 
 He replied, with a slight accent, 'Yes, a little; you are an English- 
 man, sir.' ' No,' I replied, ' I am an American, from the United 
 States.' ' Indeed ! ' said he, ' that is much better,' and, extending 
 14 
 
210 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 his hand, he shook me cordially by the hand, adding, ' I have a 
 great respect for your country, and I know many of your country- 
 men.' He then mentioned Dr. Jarvis, and Mr. Cooper, the novelist, 
 the latter of whom he said was held in the greatest estimation in 
 Europe, and nowhere more so than in his country, Poland, where 
 his works were more sought after than those of Scott, and his mind 
 was esteemed of an equal, if not of a superior cast. This casual 
 introduction of literary topics furnished us with ample matter for 
 conversation while we were not engaged in contemplating the sub- 
 lime ruins over which, when the sentinel returned, we climbed. I 
 asked him respecting the literature of Poland, and particularly if 
 there were now any living poets of eminence. He observed, ' Yes, 
 sir, I am happily traveling in company with the most celebrated 
 of our poets, Meinenvitch ; ' and who as I understood him was one 
 of the party walking in another part of the ruins. Engaged in 
 conversation, we left the Coliseum together, and slowly proceeded 
 into the city. I told him of the deep interest with which Poland 
 was regarded in the United States, and that her heroes were spoken 
 of with the same veneration as our own. As some evidence of this 
 estimation, I informed him of the monuments erected by the cadets 
 of West Point, our Polytechnic School, to the memory of Kos- 
 ciusko. With this intelligence he was evidently much affected ; he 
 took my hand, and exclaimed with great enthusiasm, and emphati- 
 cally, ' We, too, sir, shall be free ; the time is coming ; we too shall 
 be free, my unhappy country will be free.' (This was before the 
 revolution in France.) As I came to the street where we were 
 to part, he took out his note-book, and, going under the lamp of a 
 Madonna, near the Piazza Colonna, he wished me to write my name 
 for him, among the other names of Americans which he had treas- 
 ured in his book. I complied with his request. In bidding me 
 adieu, he said, ' It will be one of my happiest recollections of Rome, 
 that the last night which I passed in this city was passed in the 
 Coliseum, and with an American, a citizen of a free country. If you 
 
 should ever visit Warsaw, pray inquire for Prince ; I shall be 
 
 exceedingly glad to see you ! ' Thus I parted with this interesting 
 Pole. That I should have forgotten a Polish name, pronounced but 
 once, you will not think extraordinary. The sequel remains to be 
 told. When the Polish Revolution broke out, what was my surprise 
 to find the poet Meinenvitch, and a prince whose name seemed like 
 that which he pronounced to me, and to which was added, ' just 
 returned from Italy,' among the first members of the provisional 
 
RETURN TO PARIS. 211 
 
 government ! When the first news of the revolution in Poland 
 reached Rome, it was in the highest degree interesting to witness the 
 strong feeling 1 and enthusiasm which animated the Poles who were 
 on a visit to Italy. When they met each other, they embraced, and 
 the tears would flow down their cheeks, while they vowed to each 
 other to return, home immediately to fight for their country. Some 
 English friends of mine called to see two Polish gentlemen, one an 
 artist, who were both packing up to go home, full of nothing but 
 zeal for the cause of their beloved country. In taking leave, the 
 Englishmen expressed a hope that they should meet again. ' No, 
 no,' said they, ' never on earth, we go to die for our country ; we 
 shall meet in heaven.' " 
 
 The studies of Mr. Morse in public and private galleries, 
 minutely described in his sketch-books, were continned with in- 
 dustry and zeal in several cities of Italy. His letters to Ms 
 brothers, and to other relatives in the United States, contained 
 detailed accounts of his work with the brush, and his studies 
 among the old masters wherever he found them ; denying him- 
 self society in which he would have indulged with the greatest 
 enjoyment, had not time appeared to him too precious to spend 
 on any thing but the acquisition of knowledge that should be 
 useful in his art, he made himself thoroughly acquainted with 
 every department of his profession. 
 
 In the autumn of 1831 he went to Paris, and, having estab- 
 lished himself in very modest quarters, No. 29 Rue de Tu- 
 renne, near the Madeleine, he began to copy in the Louvre. 
 His friends Greenough and Cooper often wrote to him, and 
 their letters give glimpses of life abroad. From Florence, Mr. 
 Greenough writes : 
 
 " As for the commission from Government, I don't speak of it 
 yet. After about a fortnight I shall be calm, I think. Morse, I have 
 made up my mind on one score, viz., that this order shall not be 
 fruitless to the greater men who are in our rear. They are sucking 
 now and rocking in cradles, but I can hear the pung ! pung ! puffetty ! 
 of their hammers, and I am prophetic, too ! We'll see if Yankee- 
 land can't muster some ten or a dozen of them in the course of as 
 many years ! If you go home, you will be married ; if you are mar- 
 ried, you will stay there. Pray, advertise for me when you get 
 there : Wanted. — A young woman of knowledge without being 
 
212 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 aware of it ; very humble at finding herself proud ; a blond, and in- 
 clining to the petite, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serv- 
 ing the Lord. — My love to Mr. Cooper, and my respectful regards 
 to the family. Ever thine, Horatio G ." 
 
 " Accept my warmest thanks for your sympathy — the interest 
 you express in my welfare fills no small portion of the void which 
 my troubles may have made in my heart. As for my kind friends 
 in the Rue St. Dominique, may the Disposer of events send them 
 thousands of such sensations as I experienced when I read what you 
 say of their regret at my difficulties ! But I will hope that by exer- 
 tion I may reach a point where to feel interest in me shall not be 
 to suffer. You mention a certain plan, but you roll it under your 
 tongue again in the most tantalizing way. Why won't you, in your 
 next, sketch with your pen the plan of your picture, for I'm not sure 
 I understand it ; that is, if indeed you meant I should ? I don't wish 
 to beg a secret. 
 
 " You were right, I had heard of the resolution submitted to 
 Congress, etc. ; Mr. Cooper wrote me about it. I have not much 
 faith in Congress, however. I will confess that, when the spectre 
 Debt has leaned over my pillow of late, and, smiling ghastlily, has 
 asked me if she and I were not intended as companions through life, 
 I snap my fingers at her and tell her that Brother Jonathan talks of 
 adopting me, and that he won't have her of his household. ' Go to 
 London, you hag,' says I, ' where they say you're handsome and 
 wholesome ; don't grind your long teeth at me, or I'll read the 
 Declaration of Independence to ye ! ' So you see I make uncertain 
 hopes fight certain fear, and borrow from the generous, good-natured 
 Future the motives for content which are denied me by the stinted 
 Present. I still continue to think that another year will find me 
 somewhere in Germany. I must cut through the snarl into which 
 four years have wound my relations, and come smack on my feet. 
 I'm afraid of a habit, and the habit of being assisted is one of the 
 most ruinous. 
 
 " In the mean while I'm trying to mix a little with the world, and 
 to learn how to behave myself. I have hitherto read my Dante, etc., 
 and when thrown into contact with folk have gotten through as 
 quick as possible, with the idea that every word spared was so much 
 clear gain ; but I now find that a man needs a circle of acquaintance, 
 and have already made several pleasant acquisitions in this way. 
 
 " What shall I say in answer to your remarks on my opinions ? 
 
BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 213 
 
 Shall I go all over the ground again ? It were useless. That my 
 heart is wrong in a thousand ways I daily feel, but 'tis my stubborn 
 head which refuses to comprehend the creation as you comprehend 
 it. That we should be grateful for all we have, I feel — for all we 
 have is given us ; nor do I think we have little ; for my part I would 
 be blessed in mere existence were I not goaded by a wish to make 
 my one talent two ; and we have Scripture for the rectitude of such 
 a wish. I don't think the stubborn resistance of the tide of ill-for- 
 tune can be called rebellion against Providence. ' Help yourself, 
 and Heaven will help you,' says the proverb. When Leonidas stood 
 with his three hundred in the gap against the tide of Persian tyr- 
 anny, was his a rebellion against the decree that doomed his coun- 
 try to defeat ? No, he stood there to see it done, and to decimate 
 his conquerors according to the decree of the Disposer of all. I 
 suppose you have Brisbane with you by this time with several new 
 German syllogisms. If the truth were known, that fellow went to 
 Berlin to refit after the battering his metaphysics had received at 
 your hands. Hateful word that same metaphysics. Let's have 
 reasoning till all's blue, but let's have hold of something. Let's 
 have Poetry, too ; for she raises our motives instead of poisoning 
 them ; she makes another world, instead of topsy-turvying this. 
 
 " There hangs before me a print of the Bunker-Hill Monument. 
 Pray, be judge between me and the building committee of that 
 monument. (See illustration on page 214.) 
 
 " There you observe that my model was founded solidly, and on 
 each of its square plinths were trophies, or groups, or cannon, as 
 might be thought fit. (No. 1.) Well, they have taken away the foun- 
 dation, made the shaft start sheer from the dirt like a spear of as- 
 paragus, and, instead of an acute angle, by which I hoped to show 
 the work was done, and lead off the eye, they have made an obtuse 
 one, producing the broken-chimney-like effects, which your eye will 
 not fail to condemn in No. 2. Then they have inclosed theirs with 
 a light, elegant fence, d la Parigina, as though the austere forms 
 of Egypt were compatible with the decorative flummery of the 
 Boulevards. Let 'em go for dunderheads, as they are ! 
 
 " I'm remodeling Washington ; the old model was made too 
 long since to repeat any more. Harry is painting, and is quite a 
 favorite with his master. The boy grows fast ; I have great hopes 
 of him. Gore is painting his mud portrait very well; he may be 
 found at any time of the day with one of the mud-heavers of the 
 Arno for a model ; a red-headed, long-bearded, fiery-faced, green- 
 
214 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 eyed fellow, that has killed his man and cuts all his bread with a 
 pointed knife two inches longer than the law directs. Gore has 
 imagination; he feels character. I have the promise of certain 
 drawings for the Academy ; your bust and Cole's have both gone, 
 directed to Mr. Morton. Cole is probably in Naples. My ' Lafay- 
 ette ' is boxed without a stain. I congratulate you on your sound 
 
 ^ 
 
 JjlHT ^.:.i : ,1 , ili l |li!lliltl,n^ = 
 
 BUNKER-HILL MONUMENT 
 
 conscience with regard to the affair that you wot of. As for your 
 remaining free, that's all very well to think during the interregnum ; 
 but a man without a true love is a ship without ballast, a one-tined 
 fork, half a pair of scissors, an utter flash in the pan. "Will you give 
 my love to the Coopers, and say to Mr. C. that I have received his 
 note, and am awaiting his letter, of which he speaks ! 
 
 "Horatio Greenottgh." 
 
 "Florence, July 19, 1832. 
 " Yours of the 9th reached me yesterday and stopped my grum- 
 bling. I could find but one excuse for your silence, and that was 
 too painful to be admitted, even as a conjecture, viz., that you had 
 been drawn by the crowd into some tremendous row, and made a 
 
AMERICAN ARTISTS ABROAD. 215 
 
 revolutionary figure at the expense of all your friends. I don't 
 doubt you will profit by your exhibition, and I have every hope of 
 your receiving some handsome commission. I have written to the 
 Government my terms ; if they are accepted I shall have a proposi- 
 tion to make. "We will have a knot of us here, which shall form an 
 epoch, by the beard of Jupiter Flaminius ! I see by the papers that 
 some fellow has attacked me ; says I'm an educated man, allied with 
 literati, and possess every means of doing myself honor; it's a 
 heavy charge, is it not ? I suppose he hints I have not made use 
 of these advantages ; but he's too quick, let him wait a little. All 
 this is as it should be ; let 'em spare my character, and they may call 
 me dunce to doomsday, and I'll be half ready to say, amen ! As to 
 going home in October, I'd give my little finger to do so, but I don't 
 think it possible. 
 
 " If I can muster the cash I'll come to say good-by to ye as far 
 as Paris ; but I'll say beforehand that I shall be a blockhead, for I 
 know I shall come moping back with a face as long as an ox-bow. 
 So Cooper is gone to take another pull at Johannisberg ; much good 
 may it do him ; God bless him ! I begin to doubt if ever I shall leave 
 Italy ; they write me that artists stand as ignorantly with the pub- 
 lic as ever. If I return it will be to marry and become citizen, and 
 I won't do that unless I can stand on fair ground. I've just mod- 
 eled a statue half the size of life. Here he is : ' The Genius of 
 America ' holding out the bud of promise and pointing to posterity. 
 I made such a mess with the head in small that I have done it 
 larger, to give you a little notion of the expression. I must close 
 this. Crank is in Venice, with W. and Alexander ; W. is not a 
 man after my heart; he is corrupt, depend on it; I have been 
 obliged to haul off, for he assumed intimacy of the closest kind. 
 Cole is painting away up-stairs ; Gore is recovered. My love to 
 Cooper, and my respectful salutation to the lilies of his household. 
 Thine till the Dr. has had his wicked will of me. 
 
 "Horatio Greekough." 
 
 "Florence, August 20, 1832. 
 " My eyes have been opened painfully, within a year, to the 
 perception of the light in which artists are held, all the world over. 
 In Italy they deserve it. You can speak of France and England 
 better than myself; but, in America, they do not deserve it. They 
 are quite equal in knowledge, and light, and character, to the mass 
 of the most refined classes, and are totally above the rabble. You 
 
THE GENirS OF AMERICA. 
 
GREENOUGH'S LETTER. 217 
 
 have had a proof, in your own experience, how completely the title 
 of artist throws into the shade the qualities and the virtues which 
 ought to have secured your pride from any wound. Your experi- 
 ence, then, will make you (as you are a man) safe in future. I 
 know Congress too well to think much better of the prospects of art 
 now than I did formerly. 'Tis not the money we want, 'tis the 
 consideration and weight. The money comes then, of course, as it 
 does to men of other respectable callings. Now, I choose to reside 
 in old Europe, and live secluded, and try to respect myself, rather 
 than bejvaiting at the doors of the rich, at home, for the vain, or 
 patronizing, or pitying proofs of their superabundance. If I am 
 disappointed of my statue, off I go to Germany. If I do not get 
 the order, good-by to the drudgery of the trade. I will make one 
 statue, and go about my business, i. e., provided the country re- 
 mains as ignorant on this point as now. Let me beg of you to 
 hang on to the conception of the departure and return of Columbus. 
 You are perfectly qualified to do honor to the country in such works, 
 and should never give up the plan. Hang on like Columbus him- 
 self. You could make the first a grand picture in character and 
 effect of composition ; you would embody in the second all your 
 scheme of color and chiaro-oscuro. These subjects are yours, you 
 are theirs ; have faith, and fear not. Cole is driving through, to get 
 ready to go home, next month, via Leghorn. He intended to have 
 remained here another year, had commissions in abundance, and 
 was under full sail, when he got news of sad domestic affliction, 
 sickness, and (you know the other word), so, like the glorious fellow 
 he is, he sent home his spare cash, and is getting ready to follow it, 
 to struggle with all your difficulties, and mine, with a family on his 
 shoulders. He has painted several things of high merit, and a 
 ' Campagna di HomaJ which is a master-piece in the middle and 
 back grounds. Cole knows as well the value and power of art as 
 any man, and only wants the pou sto to be a great man in art. 
 Will he ever get it ? I hope so ; but, if he does, Fortune will give 
 it him, without raising her bandage from her eyes. 
 
 " So you are going home, my dear Morse, and God knows if 
 ever I shall see you again. Pardon, I pray you, any thing of levity 
 which you may have been offended at in me. Believe me, it arose 
 from my so rarely finding one to whom I could be natural, and give 
 loose, without fear of good faith or good-nature ever failing. 
 Wherever I am, your approbation will be dearer to me than the 
 hurrah of a world. 
 
218 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " I shall write to glorious Fenimore in a few days. My love to 
 Allston and Dana. God bless you ! H. Greenotjgh." 
 
 GREENOITGH 8 WASHINGTON. 
 
 "Florence, November 18, 1832. 
 . ..." I have finished my design for the statue in clay, half size 
 of life, and the drawing will in a few days be ready to send to 
 
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 219 
 
 Washington. I have had the greatest difficulty in finding a place big 
 enough to do the work in. At one time I feared I should be obliged 
 to go to Rome ; however, I am at length suited, and shall have my 
 man-mountain up by the close of February, if not sooner. I will 
 give you a scratch to convey a general notion of the composition. I 
 can't say I have fixed any thing, still it will require strong reasons 
 to change the general action it has seemed to me characteristic of 
 the man. I had and still have the notion of making him hold the 
 sword, as (see p. 218) in the sketch on the other leaf, but I fear it 
 will not be so distinct as I made it in the first sketch ; the arm 
 would almost entirely hide it, you observe, as seen in front. We 
 shall see how it pleases at headquarters. I suppose Mr. Cooper is 
 with you before this : God bless him ! Pray, ask him to write 
 me, if it were only a few words ; I should be so happy to see his 
 hand once more. ... H. G." 
 
 James Fenimore Cooper, the American novelist, was at 
 this time in Europe, with his family ; and, between him and Mr. 
 Morse a friendship was then formed, which was continued, with- 
 out interruption, until the death of Mr. Cooper. We find a large 
 number of letters from the novelist to Mr. Morse, rich in them- 
 selves, and the more interesting and entertaining, as they develop 
 peculiar traits of character in Mr. Cooper, such as would not be 
 inferred from his published works alone. Some of the brief 
 notes, too trivial in themselves to be inserted, have a humor 
 peculiarly beautiful in the intercourse of the men. 
 
 James Fenimore Cooper to Mr. Morse. 
 
 "July 31, 1832. 
 " My dear Moese : Here we are at Spa — the famous hard- 
 drinking, dissipated, gambling, intriguing Spa — where so much 
 folly has been committed, so many fortunes squandered, and so 
 many women ruined ! How are the mighty fallen ! We have just 
 returned from a ramble in the environs, among deserted reception- 
 houses, and along silent roads. The country is not unlike Ballston, 
 though less wooded, more cultivated, and perhaps a little more 
 varied. The town is irregular, small, consisting almost entirely of 
 lodging-houses (I mean for single families), and infinitely clean. The 
 water is a tonic, and the air (we are at an elevation of twelve hun- 
 dred feet) so light and bracing that I have determined to stay a 
 week, on account of my wife — perhaps a fortnight. I have got a 
 
220 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 comfortable house, with every requisite, consisting of nine bed- 
 rooms, four parlors, stable, etc., for fifteen francs a day. The piano 
 is strumming down-stairs, and I am writing up, just as if we were 
 in the Rue St. -Dominique, and we only arrived last night. Our 
 quarantine will be up to-night at twelve, and yet we are in no 
 hurry to improve it. We lost three days at Liege (always in quar- 
 antine) that had much better been passed here. 
 
 "I have had a great compliment paid me, Master Samuel, and, 
 as it is nearly the only compliment I have received in traveling 
 over Europe, I am the more proud of it. Here are the facts : You 
 must know there is a great painter in Bruxelles of the name of Ver- 
 bceck-oven (which, translated into the vernacular, means a bull and 
 a booh baked in an oven!), who is another Paul Potter. He out- 
 does all other men in drawing cattle, etc., with a suitable landscape. 
 In his way, he is truly admirable. Well, sir, this artist did me the 
 favor to call at Bruxelles with the request that I would let him 
 sketch my face. He came after the horses were ordered, and, know- 
 ing the difficulty of the task, I thanked him, but was compelled to 
 refuse. On our arrival at Liege, we were told that a messenger 
 from the governor had been to inquire for us, and I began to 
 bethink me of my sins. There was no great cause for fear, how- 
 ever, for it proved Mr. Bull-and-book-baked had placed himself in 
 the diligence, come down to Liege (sixty-three miles), and got the 
 governor to give him notice, by means of my passport, when we 
 came. Of course I sat. I cannot say the likeness is good, for it 
 has a vastly live-like look, and is like all the other pictures you 
 have seen of my chameleon face. Let that be as it will, the com- 
 pliment is none the less, and, provided the artist does not mean to 
 serve me up as a specimen of American wild beasts, I shall thank 
 him for it. To be followed twelve posts by a first-rate artist, who 
 is in favor with the king, is so unusual, that I was curious to know 
 how far our minds were in unison, and so I probed him a little. I 
 found him well skilled in his art, of course, but ignorant on most 
 subjects. As respects our general views of men and things, there 
 was scarcely a point in common, for he has few salient qualities, 
 though he is liberal ; but his gusto for natural subjects is strong, 
 and his favorite among all my books is ' The Prairie,' which you 
 know is filled with wild beasts. Here the secret was out. That 
 picture of animal nature had so caught his fancy, that he followed 
 me sixty miles to paint a sketch. He sent me a beautiful pencil- 
 sketch of the Belgian hind, as a memorial of our achievement. 
 
MANNEKS OF THE ENGLISH. 221 
 
 which I hope to show you at my return. Wappero is in high re- 
 pute. Mr. Verbceckhoven spoke of him as one would speak of a 
 master, and with sincere respect. Others did the same. 
 
 " King Leopold was at Liege during our stay, as was his brother, 
 the reio-ning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, with his two sons. It is 
 said they all go off together to Campiegne to celebrate the ap- 
 proaching marriage. We had the town illuminated, and a salute 
 that sounded fearfully like minute-guns. 
 
 " August 1st. — We have just made the tour of the springs, for 
 there are four of them, in a circuit of about five miles, each having, 
 it is said, a different property, and all tasting as much alike as if it 
 had been drawn from the two ends of the same barrel. Well, faith 
 is a comfortable ingredient in a traveler's mind. For my part, I 
 believe all I hear, which is much the least troublesome mood. As 
 for the contradictions, I endeavor to forget them. 
 
 " We have a delicious air, and rather pretty environs, but the 
 place is dull as a desert. There are a few English, who pass you 
 as if they were afraid some tailor had broke loose, and always look 
 the other way until you are past, and then they are always staring 
 after you to see if you are somebody. Our indifferent manner never 
 fails to deceive them, for their quality always give a certain amount 
 of trust and assume a certain genteel hauteur/ none escape these 
 two rocks in good-breeding but those who are at the top of the 
 ladder, and these are commonly known by means of fame, which 
 never fails to blow a trumpet beforehand. 'Tis a thousand pities 
 that people who have so many really good points, and so much good 
 sense in general, should be such fools, in these points, as to make 
 themselves uncomfortable, and everybody else who will submit to 
 their dictation. 
 
 " NONNENWERTH, AlCffUSt 15, 1832. 
 
 " Mv dear Morse : Here we are, on an island of the Rhine, 
 about half-way between Cologne and Coblentz, and in a deserted 
 convent of Benedictine nuns. I am writing to you, you rogue, in 
 the ancient refectory, which is now the salle d manger of half a 
 dozen Fenimore Coopers, with the Rhine rippling beneath my win- 
 dows, the Drachenfels in full view, by pale moonlight, a dozen 
 feet sounding distant and hollow in the cloisters, and with a bottle 
 of Liebfrauenmilch at my elbow. The old convent is degraded to 
 the occupation of a tavern. Our island, if not as important and well 
 defended as that of Barataria, has some hundred acres, and is al- 
 together a willowish, serpentine, wildish place. Our candles are 
 
222 L^E OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 farthing rush-lights, and these, in rooms that need fifty bougies, 
 leave a sombre and appropriate gloom, so that, with one exception, 
 I do not remember a more romantic nightfall in all our pilgrimage, 
 than this. Your friends the Hawkers told us of the place, though 
 I believe they had never visited it, and we left the carriage on the 
 main, this afternoon, to come over here for the night. We are quite 
 alone, which adds to the pleasure, unless we could choose our com- 
 panions. Mrs. C, the girls, Master Paul, and myself, each equipped 
 with a candle, have just returned from a pilgrimage to the chapel, 
 where we find most of the necessary ingredients for a funeral or a 
 marriage, even at this hour ; indeed, it is only ten years since the 
 last nuns (eight in number) dispersed, so that every thing is quite 
 fresh and ecclesiastical. To add to the satisfaction, the Benedic- 
 tines were not a rigid order, and all is genteel and nice, as they say 
 in London. I have this moment quitted the window, and there 
 was a footstep beneath it. My sight was a little dimmed by rush- 
 lights, and fancy was left to supply the functions of observation. 
 This might be the soul of the last lady abbess, who no doubt was 
 fat, and had a solid step, or it might have been some truant nun 
 scratching at the convent-walls, in a sort of habitual kicking against 
 the pricks. Alas ! it was only an old horse that appeared to range 
 at free commons over the isle. Well for the horse, he is not more 
 than half flesh at the best. 
 
 " I am summoned to my cell. Mrs. Cooper has sent her maid to 
 say I must quit the refectory, where I have tarried an indecent 
 period already, and I obey. The cloister looks gloomy. A distant 
 door opens, and a man issues into their vaults. It is my Swiss, who 
 looks twice, and takes off his traveling cap with academic air, and 
 the maid skims along with the light. I follow. A door, half open, 
 gives me a glimpse of four men. They may be banditti, though 
 they are in the Prussian uniform. A grinning crone meets us on 
 the flight of heavy steps. And here I am in a cell converted into 
 a parlor, with a round table under my elbows, and a sofa under my 
 seat. The adjoining room was formerly the parlor of the lady 
 abbess, and indeed there is a suite of very respectable apartments, 
 that show the good woman was well lodged. The voice of Master 
 Paul is sounding through them irreverent and gay. The wind begins 
 to murmur, casements to close, and we may have thunder next. 
 This opinion has proved prophetic, there has arisen a sudden gust, 
 with lightning. I take a* candle and go through the corridors in 
 quest of a sensation. A door communicating with the gallery of 
 
MR. COOPER'S LETTERS. 223 
 
 the chapel is open and I enter, shutting myself in. Here was 
 what I wanted — images of saints, crucifixes, a dim light, rattling 
 windows, and solitude. Every thing was so fresh that the stuffed 
 velvet chair of the lady abbess was near the railing and a prie-dieu 
 at its side. I took a seat. In few moments the door slowly opened, 
 and a hag thrust her wrinkled face into the gallery. I groaned, 
 whether it was with fear or fun I leave you to guess, and away the 
 
 old woman went as if the was after her. I withdrew like a 
 
 well-bred ghost that has delivered his message. ' But how came 
 you in the convent ? ' you may be disposed to inquire. 
 
 " We found that the water of Spa did so much good to Mrs. 
 Cooper, that we remained until last Monday; we then came to Aix 
 — next day to Cologne, and to-day here. We are on our way to 
 Switzerland. If you want change of air, jump into the diligence, 
 and come to Berne, where we will give ) r ou rooms for the last of 
 the month. I do not expect to see Paris before this day month. 
 
 " 'Tis near midnight, Mr. Morse, all but Nature is asleep, and I 
 have been walking in the long and empty corridors. Strange 
 thoughts come uppermost in such a place, and at such a time, 
 Master Samuel ; the rustling of the wind seems as the murmuring 
 of uneasy sisters, the pattering of the rain like floods of tears, 
 and the thunder sounds as so many gemissements at the sins of man. 
 I seek my pillow. 
 
 " Thursday Morning. — Laus Deo! a peaceable night, and a 
 refreshing morn, birds singing beneath my window, the Rhine 
 glittering between islands, the arch of Rolandseok tottering on a 
 mountain near, and the tower of the Drachenfels on another. We 
 dress and perambulate. I have been pacing the dimensions of our 
 abode. The abbey pile extends six hundred feet in one direction, 
 and about three hundred in another. The cloisters are about six 
 hundred feet round. There are offices to a goodly extent, and cow- 
 yard and granaries ; on the whole it is a capital thing, for one night, 
 taking Drachenfels and Rhine into the count. The Liebfrauen- 
 milch is but questionable, though the fruits are excellent for the 
 latitude. 
 
 "Rudesheim, in the Duchy or Nassau, Friday, Yith. — 
 Here I am finishing this letter in a tower, actually built by the 
 Goths, at least so says tradition. It is an appendage of the inn, 
 and forms part of our apartment, giving two or three stories of 
 very romantic-looking little round rooms. We left the convent on 
 Thursday and went to Coblentz, and to-day we came to Bingen, and 
 
224 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 crossed the Rhine in boats to this tower. We are in the midst of 
 good wine. Johannisberg is in plain view from my window, Stein- 
 berg a league or two off, Geisenheim and other notabilities, all within 
 call. My landlord has given me a bottle of cordial that he tells me 
 he has from his own vines. In short, this is the country for your 
 lover of the true Rhenish, which you know means me. 
 
 " There is mention made, in the introduction of ' Heidenmauer,' 
 of a castle belonging to a Prince of . Well, we passed it to- 
 day, and ascended the mountain. The prince had just gone to Co- 
 logne, and we had a clear field. Really the spot is bewitching ; he 
 has repaired an old baronial castle, and equipped it completely in 
 baronial style. The buildings are several hundred feet above the 
 river, and as irregular as heart could wish. One high tower has 
 the beacon-light swung off, as in the middle ages, and there are 
 balconies and outside staircases in them to turn the head of even 
 a sailor. The furniture is either many hundred years old, or made 
 to imitate articles of that age — chiefly the former ; plenty of old 
 armor, and the knights' hall is really a curiosity. The fireplace is 
 as big as a Paris bedroom, and in one corner is a very ancient 
 vessel to hold water, with a trough of stone to catch the drippings ; 
 most of the wood is oak. In short, the whole thing is in keep- 
 ing — stained glass, casements, and other niceties — I wish you had 
 been with us. I have never seen any thing in its way to equal it. 
 The prince had been passing several weeks in this aerie. You can 
 look down perpendicularly, from various terraces, balconies, and 
 towers, three or four hundred feet. 
 
 " Yours truly, * 
 
 "J. Fenimore Coopee. 
 
 " Master Morse." 
 
 On the 18th of September, 1831, Mr. Morse wrote to his 
 brothers from Paris : 
 
 "I arrived safely in this city on Monday noon in excellent 
 health and spirits ; my last letter to you was from Venice, just as I 
 was about to leave it, quite debilitated and unwell from application 
 to my painting, but more, I believe, from the climate, from the per- 
 jDetual sirocco which reigned uninterrupted for weeks. I have not 
 time now to give you an account of my most interesting journey 
 through Lombardy, Switzerland, part of Germany, and through the 
 eastern part of France. I found, on my arrival here, my friend Mr. 
 Greenough, the sculptor, who had come from Florence to model the 
 
FALL OF WARSAW. 225 
 
 bust of General Lafayette, and we are in excellent, convenient rooms 
 together, witliin a few doors of the good general. 
 
 " I called yesterday on General Lafayette early in the morning. 
 The servant told me that he was obliged to meet the Polish com- 
 mittee at an early hour, and feared he could not see me. I sent in 
 my card, however, and the servant returned immediately, saying 
 that the General wished to see me in his chamber. I followed him 
 through several rooms and entered the chamber. The General was 
 in dishabille, but, with his characteristic kindness, he ran forward, 
 and, seizing both my hands, expressed with great warmth how glad 
 he was to see me safely returned from Italy, and appearing in such 
 good health. He then told me to be seated, and without any cere- 
 mony began familiarly to question me about my travels, etc. The 
 conversation, however, soon turned upon the absorbing topic of the 
 day, the fate of Poland, the news of the fall of Warsaw having just 
 been received by telegraphic dispatch. I asked him if there was 
 now any hope for Poland. He replied, ' Oh, yes ! their cause is not 
 yet desperate ; their army is safe ; but the conduct of France, and 
 more especially of England, has been most pusillanimous and culpa- 
 ble. Had the English Government shown the least disposition to 
 coalesce in vigorous measures with France for the assistance of the 
 Poles, they would have achieved their independence.' The General 
 looks better and younger than ever. There is a healthy freshness 
 of complexion, like that of a young man in full vigor, and his frame 
 and step (allowing for his lameness) are as firm and strong as when 
 he was our nation's guest. I sat with him ten or fifteen minutes, 
 and then took my leave, for I felt it a sin to consume any more of 
 the time of a man engaged as he is in great plans of benevolence, 
 and whose every moment is therefore invaluable. 
 
 " The news of the fall of Warsaw is now agitating Paris to a de- 
 gree not known since the trial of the ex-ministers. About three 
 o'clock our servant told us that there was fighting at the Palais 
 Royal, and we determined to go as far as we prudently could, to 
 see the tumult , we proceeded down the Rue St.-Honore. There 
 was evident agitation in the multitudes that filled the sidewalks — an 
 apprehension of something to be dreaded. There were groups at 
 the corners ; the windows were filled, persons looking out as if in 
 expectation of a procession or of some fete. The shops began to be* 
 shut, and every now and then the drum was heard beating to arms. 
 The troops were assembling, and bodies of infantry and cavalry 
 were moving through the various streets. During this time no 
 15 
 
225 LIFE Or SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 noise was heard from the people — a mysterious silence was ob- 
 served, but they were moved by the slightest breath. If one walked 
 quicker than the rest, or suddenly stopped, thither the inquiring 
 look and step were directed, and a group instantly assembled. At 
 the Palais Royal a larger crowd had collected, and a greater body 
 of troops were marching and countermarching in the Place du Palais 
 Royal. The Palais Royal itself had the interior cleared and all 
 the courts. Every thing in this place of perpetual gayety was now 
 desolate ; even the fountains had ceased to play, and the seared au- 
 tumnal leaves of the trees, some already fallen, seemed congruous 
 with the sentiment of the hour. Most of the shops were also shut 
 and the stalls deserted. Still there was no outcry, and no disturb- 
 ance. Passing through the Rue Vivienne, the same collections of 
 crowds and of troops were seen ; some were reading a police notice 
 just posted on the walls, designed to prevent the riotous assembling 
 of the people, and advising them to retire when the riot act should 
 be read. The notice was read with murmurs and groans, and I had 
 scarcely ascertained its contents before it was torn from the walls 
 with acclamations. 
 
 " As night approached we struck into the Boulevard de la Made- 
 leine. At the corner of this Boulevard and the Rue des Capucines 
 is the hotel of General Sebastiani. "We found before the gates a 
 great and increasing crowd. We took a position on the opposite 
 corner, in such a place as secured a safe retreat in case of need, but 
 allowed us to observe all that passed. Here there was an evident 
 intention in the crowd of doing some violence; nor was it at all 
 doubtful what would be the object of their attack. They seemed to 
 wait only for the darkness and for a leader. The sight of such a 
 crowd is fearful, and its movements, as it was swayed by' the inci- 
 dents of the moment, were in the highest decree exciting. A body 
 of troops of the line would pass : the crowd would silently open for 
 their passage, and close immediately behind them. A body of the 
 National Guard would succeed, and these would be received with loud 
 cheers and gratulations. A soldier on guard would exercise a little 
 more severity than was perhaps necessary for the occasion ; yells 
 and execrations and hisses would be his reward. Night had now 
 set in. Heavy dark clouds, with a misty rain, had made the heavens 
 above more dark and gloomy. A man rushed forward toward the 
 gate, hurling his hat in the air and followed by the crowd, which 
 suddenly formed into long lines behind him. I now looked for some- 
 thing serious. A body of troops were in line before the gate. At 
 
PICTURE OF THE LOUVRE. 227 
 
 t 
 
 this moment two police-officers, on horseback, in citizen's dress, but 
 with a tricolored belt around their bodies, rode through the crowd 
 and up to the gate, and in a moment after I perceived the multitude 
 from one of the streets rushing in wild confusion into the boulevard, 
 and the current of the people setting bach in all directions. While 
 wondering at the cause of this sudden movement I heard the tramp- 
 ling of horses ; and a large body of carabiniers, with their bright 
 helmets glittering in the light of the lamps, dashed down the street 
 and drew up before the gate. The police-officers put themselves 
 at their head, and harangued the people. The address was received 
 with groans. The carabiniers drew their swords, orders were given 
 for the charge, and in an instant they dashed down the street, the 
 people dispersing like the mist before the wind. The charge was 
 made down the opposite sidewalk from that where we had placed 
 ourselves, so I kept my station, and, when they returned up the mid- 
 dle of the street to charge on the other side, I crossed over behind 
 them and avoided them." 
 
 Mr. Morse soon began a great work which, after consultation 
 with. Mr. Cooper and other friends, he had determined to under- 
 take. This was no less than painting the interior of the Louvre, 
 including copies of the most celebrated pictures in the gallery. 
 To this work he devoted himself with all the ardor of his nature, 
 expending upon it months of labor. "Writing to his brother, 
 May 6, 1832, he says : 
 
 " My anxiety to finish my picture and to return drives me, I fear, 
 to too great application and too little exercise ; and my health has, 
 in consequence, been so deranged that I have been prevented from 
 the speedy completion of my picture. From nine o'clock until four 
 daily I paint uninterruptedly at the Louvre ; and, with the closest 
 application, I shall not be able to finish it before the close of the 
 gallery, on the 10th of August, and the time each morning before 
 going to the gallery is wholly employed in preparation for the day ; 
 and, after the gallery closes at four, dinner and exercise are neces- 
 sary ; so that I have no time for any thing else. The cholera is 
 raging here, and T can compare the state of mind in each man of us 
 only to that of soldiers in the heat of battle : all the usual securities 
 of life seem to be gone. Apprehension and anxiety make the 
 stoutest hearts quail. Any one feels, when he lays himself down 
 at night, that he will, in all probability, be attacked before daybreak, 
 
228 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 for the disease is a pestilence that walketh in darkness, and seizes 
 the greatest number of its victims at the most helpless hour of the 
 night. Fifteen hundred were seized in a day, and fifteen thousand 
 at least have already perished, although the official accounts will 
 not give so great a number. 
 
 " May 14£A. — My picture makes progress, and I am sanguine of 
 success if nothing interferes to prevent its completion I shall take 
 no more commissions here, and shall only complete my large picture 
 and a few unfinished works. 
 
 " General Lafayette told me a few weeks ago, when I was re- 
 turning with him in his carriage, that the financial condition of the 
 United States was a subject of great importance, and he wished that 
 I would write you and others, who were known as statistical men, 
 and get your views on the subject. There never was a better time 
 for demonstrating the principles of our free institutions by showing 
 a result favorable to our country." 
 
 The most of Mr. Morse's evenings were occupied with labor 
 in behalf of the Poles, whose sufferings at that time excited the 
 sympathy of the friends of liberty throughout the world. A 
 committee was organized for the purpose of devising ways and 
 means to alleviate their condition ; General Lafayette was one 
 of the members of this committee, and consequently Mr. Morse, 
 who was also a member, was brought frequently into his society. 
 In the month of March Mr. Morse writes to his brother : 
 
 " Information has been received by Mr. Rives, our minister from 
 Berlin, that Dr. S. G. Howe was seized and thrown into prison in 
 that city by the Prussian Government, charged with a charitable 
 mission from our committee. Dr. Howe had been intrusted with 
 twenty thousand francs for the relief of the distressed Poles ; and 
 his intentions and motives were in no degree political, but in fur- 
 therance of the benevolent designs of the contributors in the United 
 States. A letter from Berlin, written by A. Brisbane, Esq., and 
 which Mr. Rives has just read to me, says that Dr. Howe is in close 
 confinement,. and no one is permitted to have communication with 
 him. Mr. Brisbane waited on the Minister of Justice, and found him 
 uncompromising, and manifesting great irritation on the subject. 
 Mr. Cooper and myself have just been to Mr. Rives, who has 
 promptly put measures in train for causing Dr. Howe to be set at 
 liberty. We have put into the hands of Mr. Rives a record of our 
 
DR. HOWE'S LIBERATION. 229 
 
 proceedings in committee to lay before Baron Werther, the Prus- 
 sian minister here; embracing a copy of Dr. Howe's commission, in 
 order to show him that the doctor's mission was not political, and 
 we are in hopes that such representations will be forwarded to Ber- 
 lin without delay as will cause him to be at once released." 
 
 " March 17th. — Last night we held a special meeting of our 
 committee to consider what could be done to release Dr. Howe. 
 The Prussian authorities here, I am happy to say, have behaved 
 courteously and acted promptly. A courier has been dispatched to 
 Berlin, and from the representations of the mission here we hope for 
 a speedy and happy termination and explanation of the affair." 
 
 "April 6*h. — Dr. Howe, we learn, is liberated at Berlin, but is 
 to be escorted by the police to the frontier of France. The proceed- 
 ings against him have been outrageous, and that Government would 
 not have dared to treat a citizen of any other country in so cavalier 
 a manner." 
 
 SUGGESTIONS OF A TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Among the artist friends of Mr. Morse in Paris, at this time, 
 was R. W. Habersham, of Augusta, Georgia, whose state- 
 ments in relation to Mr. Morse's first suggestion of a Telegraph 
 are confirmed by the recollections of Mr. Cooper. Mr. Morse, 
 however, was never able to call to mind the conversations which 
 are so minutely related in the following statement by Mr. 
 Habersham : 
 
 " In the year 1831 I went to Paris, to study art in the atelier 
 of Baron Gros. In the autumn of that year, I became acquainted 
 with the moralist Jouffroy, who was already famous as a thinker, but 
 who seemed to feel a want that all his brilliant speculations could 
 not supply, and to be in pursuit of something which constantly 
 eluded him. Soon after, I met Professor Morse, who was copying 
 in the Louvre Rembrandt's famous picture of ' Tobit and the Angel,' 
 and soon formed so satisfactory an opinion of him that, in the 
 spring of 1832. when the cholera broke out in Paris, and I found 
 that he had resolved to remain, I determined to remain also. I 
 lived near the Odeon, he near the Madeleine, No. 29 Rue de Surenne ; 
 so, not liking the thought of his being alone, with strangers, unfa- 
 miliar with the language, and liable to be stricken down in a mo- 
 ment, with no friend near, I proposed to find lodgings nearer him. 
 Fortunately, he lived in a private house, in which two rooms could 
 
230 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 be hired. I took them, and, perceiving that his were low and con- 
 fined, while mine were large and airy, I offered to give him my bed- 
 room, and convert my parlor into a dormitory for myself, taking one 
 of his as a sitting-room. He kindly acceded to this, and we soon 
 found it convenient to have one room in common, and to take our 
 meals together. It was then that I gradually brought before him 
 the questions discussed with Jouffroy, without giving his name or 
 authority, and in conversations carried on often through the open 
 door of our sleeping-apartments, after we had retired, got an in- 
 sight into the vast superiority of the Christian's faith, even as a 
 working-power, over the philosophy of such men as Cousin and 
 Jouffroy. 
 
 "In 1832, the longest railroad in the world was between 
 Charleston, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, one hundred 
 and thirty-five miles ; the next, between Liverpool and Manchester, 
 thirty miles ; the third, from the Quincy granite-quarries to Boston, 
 ten miles ; and the mails were carried by coach, overland, in pref- 
 erence to the sailing-vessels, which were then solely used for marine 
 navigation. In consequence of this, letters reached me from Savan- 
 nah a month later than those of the same date from New York. 
 Art students twenty years of age are not apt to be models of pa- 
 tience, and ray forte did not lie in quiet submission to the irreme- 
 diable ; whence from me much discontent, made audible, and con- 
 siderable imprecation on Uncle Sam's mails, smothered from respect 
 to my mentor. But, on one occasion, the attempt at smothering 
 failed, and I consigned the whole post-office department to a place 
 so warm that the letters would have been, in those days of sealing- 
 wax and wafers, soon beyond assorting. This led to a conversation 
 which showed that Morse's mind was already in the matter, and 
 explained certain visits, at which I had not been 'invited to assist.' 
 It came out that he was inquiring into the French Semaphore Tel- 
 egraph system, with a view to its introduction into America, although 
 I believe he dismissed it, as being too slow for us, and inapplicable to 
 our wants, in spite of our very clear atmosphere. It was then that 
 he used this expression : ' The French system would do better in 
 our clear atmosphere than here; but it is too slow; lightning will 
 scarcely be too fast.'' There was, on one occasion, another reference 
 made to the conveyance Of sound under water, and to the length of 
 time taken to communicate the letting in of the water into the Erie 
 Canal, by cannon shots, to New York, and other means, during which 
 the suggestion of using keys and wires, like the piano, was rejected 
 
MR. COOPER'S TESTIMONY 231 
 
 as requiring too many wires, if other things were available. I recol- 
 lect, also, that in our frequent visits to Mr. J. Fenimore Cooper's, in 
 the Rue St.-Dominique, these subjects, so interesting to Americans, 
 were often introduced, and that Morse seemed to harp on them, con- 
 stantly referring to Franklin and Lord Bacon. Now I, while recog- 
 nizing the intellectual grandeur of both these men, had contracted 
 a small opinion of their moral strength ; but Morse would uphold 
 and excuse, or rather deny, the faults attributed; Lord Bacon, 
 especially, he held to have sacrificed himself to serve the queen in 
 her aberrations ; while of Franklin, the ' great American ' recog- 
 nized by the French, he was particularly proud." 
 
 Mr. Cooper, in his novel entitled " The Sea Lions," on page 
 140, says: 
 
 " We pretend to no knowledge on the subject of the dates of 
 discoveries in the arts and sciences, but well do we remember the 
 earnestness, and single-minded devotion to a laudable purpose, 
 with which our worthy friend first communicated to us his ideas on 
 the subject of using the electric spark by way of a telegraph. It 
 was in Paris, and during the winter of 1831-'32, and the succeed- 
 ing spring, a time when we were daily together, and we have a 
 satisfaction in recording this date, that others may prove better 
 claims if they can." 
 
 Mr. Morse's own recollection of the time of the first concep- 
 tion of the Telegraph dates only from October, 1832, on board 
 the ship Sully, and in a letter to Mr. Cooper he suggested that 
 he must be mistaken. In reply, however, under date of " May 
 18, 1849, Hall, Cooperstown," Mr. Cooper said : 
 
 "For the time, I still stick to Paris, so does my wife, so does 
 my eldest daughter: you did no more than to throw out the 
 general idea, but I feel quite confident this occurred in Paris. I 
 confess I thought the notion evidently chimerical, and as such spoke 
 of it in my family. I always set you down as a sober-minded, com- 
 mon-sense sort of a fellow, and thought it a high flight for a painter 
 to make, to go off on the wings of the lightning. We may be mis- 
 taken, but you will remember that the priority of the invention 
 was a question early started, and my impressions were the same, 
 much nearer to the time than it is to-day." 
 
 These conversations, so accurately attested by independent 
 
232 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 witnesses, are of value, inasmuch as they show the familiarity' 
 of Mr. Morse with the powers of electricity, and the tendency 
 of his mind toward original investigation and invention. To 
 him these thoughts were so familiar that he soon forgot he had 
 ever expressed them before others. That he did, we have the 
 best reasons for believing. 
 
 While at work upon his picture in the Louvre the great 
 naturalist, already known throughout the civilized world, Baron 
 Humboldt, became interested in Mr. Morse. They had met at 
 the house of Baron Gerard, who was in the habit of drawing 
 around him the artists and men of science, and whose salon 
 was a favored resort of genius and taste. Humboldt conceived 
 a great fondness for Morse, and, often coming to him in the 
 gallery, would take him away from his immediate work, to stroll 
 among the works of art, and converse upon topics congenial to 
 their inquiring minds. This acquaintance was afterward re- 
 vived in Paris, when Morse returned with his great invention, 
 and again in Potsdam, where the humble artist, crowned with 
 honors, visited his illustrious friend. 
 
 The American residents in Paris celebrated the " Fourth of 
 July," in the year 1832, with a banquet, at which Mr. Morse 
 presided, with Mr. Cooper as vice-president. Among the guests 
 on that occasion were General Lafayette, and Hon. William C. 
 Rives, United States minister. After the blessing had been 
 asked by Professor Hovey, of Amherst College, the president 
 gave the toasts in their order, and, on offering one in honor of 
 Lafayette, Mr. Morse said : 
 
 " I cannot propose the next toast, gentlemen, so intimately con- 
 nected with the last, without adverting to the distinguished honor 
 and pleasure we this day enjoy above the thousands, and I may 
 say hundreds of thousands, of our countrymen who are at this mo- 
 ment celebrating this great national festival — the honor and pleas- 
 ure of having at our board our venerable guest on my right hand, 
 the hero whom two worlds claim as their own. Yes, gentlemen, he 
 belongs to America as well as. to Europe. He is our fellow-citizen, 
 and the universal voice of our country would cry out against us, 
 did we not manifest our nation's interest in his person and his 
 character. With the mazes of European politics we have nothing 
 to do ; to changing schemes, of good or bad government, we cannot 
 
MR. MORSE'S SPEECH. 233 
 
 make ourselves a party ; with the success or defeat of this or that 
 faction we can have no sympathy. But with the great principles 
 of rational liberty, of civil, and religious liberty, those principles 
 for which our guest fought by the side of our fathers, and which he 
 has steadily maintained for a long life ' through good report, and 
 evil report,' we do sympathize ; we should not be Americans if we 
 did not sympathize with them, nor can we compromise one of these 
 principles, and preserve our self-respect as loyal American citizens. 
 They are the principles of order and good government, of obe- 
 dience to law, the principles which under Providence have made our 
 country unparalleled in prosperity, principles which rest not in 
 visionary theory, but are made palpable by the sure test of experi- 
 ment and time. 
 
 " But, gentlemen, we honor our guest as the stanch, undeviating 
 defender of these principles, of our principles, of American princi- 
 ples. Has he ever deserted them ? Has he ever been known to 
 waver? Gentlemen, there are some men, some too who would 
 wish to direct public opinion, who are like the buoys upon tide- 
 water — they float up and down as the current sets this way or that. 
 If you ask at an emergency where they are, we cannpt tell j^ou ; we 
 must first consult the almanac, we must know the quarter of the 
 moon, the way of the wind, the time of the tide, and then we may 
 guess where you will find them. But, gentlemen, our guest is not 
 of this fickle class. He is a tower amid the waters, his founda- 
 tion is upon a rock, he moves not with the ebb and flow of the 
 stream ; the storm may gather, the waters may rise and even dash 
 above his head, or they may subside at his feet, still he stands un- 
 moved. We know his site and his bearings, and with the fullest 
 confidence we point to where he stood six-and-fifty years ago. He 
 stands there now. The winds have swept by him, the waves have 
 dashed around him, the snows of winter have lighted upon him, 
 but still he is there. 
 
 " I ask you therefore, gentlemen, to drink with me in honor of 
 General Lafayette." 
 
 Then followed a large number of volunteer toasts by G. ~W. 
 Haven, of New Hampshire ; John Biddle Chapman, of Pennsyl- 
 vania; Major W. T. Poussin, "W.'P. D wight, Mr. Cooper, Mr. 
 Rives, Mr. ISTiles, and many others. 
 
 From time to time Mr. Morse was in the receipt of friendly 
 notes from General Lafayette ; some of them are found among 
 
234 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 his papers, and many of them were given away, as autographs, 
 to friends. We copy at this point all that are preserved, whether 
 received in Paris or after his return to the United States : 
 
 "Paris, September 11, 1832. 
 " My dear Sir : I have seen the Poles who mean to go to the 
 United States. They are twenty, and hope to find a ship which will 
 carry them for three hundred francs each. They flatter themselves 
 to get that sum, or the greatest part of it, from the French com- 
 mittee ; but, should they go to New York, do you think that they 
 will find means to be supported until they have found a place to 
 form their colony upon ? Do you think, also, that lands in the State 
 of Ohio, or elsewhere, could be granted to them, or that they will 
 find in the sympathy of the United States a little capital to form 
 their settlement ? We must have a strong hope of it before we 
 encourage their emigration, which they have much at heart. 
 " Most truly and affectionately, 
 
 " Your friend, 
 
 " Lafayette." 
 
 " I would be very sorry, my dear friend, to let you depart before 
 you have received my affectionate good wishes. You will find me 
 to-morrow at nine. 
 
 " Most truly, your friend, 
 
 " Monday, September, 1832." . " LAFAYETTE. 
 
 "La Grange, September 27, 1832. 
 " My dear Sir : I am sorry to see you will not take Paris and 
 La Grange in your way to Havre, unless you were to wait for the 
 packet of the 10th, in company with General Cadwalader, Commo- 
 dore Biddle, and those young, amiable Philadelphians who con- 
 template sailing on that day. But, if you persist to go by the next 
 packet, I beg you here to receive my best wishes and those of my 
 family for your happy voyage. Upon you, my dear sir, I much de- 
 pend to give our friends of the United States a proper explanation 
 of the state of things in Europe. You have been very attentive to 
 what has past since the Revolution of 1830. Much has been ob- 
 tained here and other parts of Europe in this whirlwind of a week. 
 Further consequences here and in other countries — Great Britain 
 and Ireland included — will be the certain result, though they have 
 been mauled and betrayed, where they ought to have received en- 
 couragement. But it will not be so short and so cheap as we had 
 a right to anticipate it might be. I think it useful, on both sides 
 
LAFAYETTE'S HOPES. 235 
 
 of the water, to dispel the cloud which ignorance or design may 
 throw over the real state of European and French politics. In the 
 mean while, I believe it to be the duty of every American returned 
 home to let his fellow-citizens know what wretched handle is made 
 of the violent collisions, threats of a separation, and reciprocal 
 abuse, to injure the character and question the stability of republi- 
 can institutions.' I too much depend upon the patriotism and good 
 sense of the several parties in the United States, to be afraid that 
 those dissensions may terminate in a final dissolution of the Union ; 
 and should such an event be destined in future to take place, 
 deprecated as it has been by the best wishes of the departed 
 founders of the Revolution — Washington at their head — it ought 
 at least in charity not to take place before the not remote period 
 when every one of those who have fought and bled in the cause 
 shall have joined their contemporaries. What is to be said of 
 Poland, and the situation of her heroic, unhappy sons, you well 
 know, having been a constant and zealous member of our com- 
 mittee. You know what sort of mental perturbation among the 
 ignorant part of every European nation has accompanied the visit 
 of the cholera in Russia, Germany, Hungary, and several parts of 
 Great Britain and France — suspicions of poison, prejudices against 
 the politicians, and so forth. I would like to know whether the 
 population of the United States has been quite free of those aber- 
 rations, as it would be an additional argument in behalf of republican 
 institutions and superior civilization resulting from them. 
 " Most truly and affectionately, 
 
 " Your friend, 
 
 " Lafayette." 
 
 "I have just now good news from , dated 15th. My 
 
 grandson says that five attacks from the Miguelists have been most 
 gallantly repelled ; it is to be hoped the infamous Miguels will ulti- 
 mately be overthrown. I hope you are arrived in good health, my 
 dear sir, and, referring you to the European papers, inclose two spe- 
 cial little speeches of your friend, . Laeatette. 
 
 "Pakis, December 8, 1832." 
 
 "Pakis, February 28, 1833. 
 
 " My dear Sir : I am highly obliged to you for your kind 
 
 letter, and for your publication of my observations on the present 
 
 melancholy affairs in the United States. I see with pleasure that 
 
 they have been repeated in all the American papers, namely, at 
 
236 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Charleston ; so they have been in the papers of this country. In- 
 closed you will find some late observations of mine in the House ; 
 they will give you an account of political matters on this side of 
 the Atlantic. . 
 
 Most truly and affectionately, 
 
 " Your friend, 
 
 " Lafayette." 
 
 "La Grange, November 5, 1833. 
 
 " My dear Sir : The particular accounts I can give you of the 
 family at La Grange are almost the only addition to be made to your 
 investigation of European papers. You well know the divisions in 
 the public opinion, so that, by comparing together their several ex- 
 pressions, you may form a correct judgment of the actual situation 
 and progress of affairs on this side of the Atlantic. You will not 
 therefore suppose that the constitutionality of the Juste-Milieu and 
 its royal chief is so far, as their followers pretend to be, from the 
 principle and wishes of anti-liberal governments, nor will you think 
 that the patriotism and republicanism of France is all confined within 
 the formula marked out in the name of a society. Under the invo- 
 cation of Robespierre, that society itself, chiefly composed of 
 honest citizens and devoted patriots, has been unfortunately and 
 designedly led into errors, to which the police agents have not been 
 strangers. The best account that has been given of that publi- 
 cation is, agreeably to my opinion, to be found in the Comique Fran- 
 $ais of the 28th of October, and the inclosed. The eyes of Jules 
 Lasteyrie are not yet recovered, and require a long management, 
 but the sight of both of them will be preserved, Oscar Lafayette 
 has been, by the scientific examination jury, admitted to the Poly- 
 technic School. The greater part of the family are at La Grange, 
 and request their best compliments to you. "We shall leave here 
 for the session of the House — that is to be opened for the 23d of 
 December. I don't hear from our excellent friend Mr. Cooper and 
 family. He must be in New York before this letter reaches you. 
 I intend writing to him, namely, on the subject of one of his letters, 
 by the next packet ; in the mean while tell him that Chodiko, having 
 been prevented to leave us and repair to Montauban, has antici- 
 pated his predictions by asking a passport to quit France for Eng- 
 land. I don't know where he. now is. I have several times spoken, 
 and lately written, to Dwernicki. What remains of the French 
 debt to the American committee is not yet settled and paid. 
 
MR. MORSE'S LETTER. 237 
 
 Chodiko must be very forlorn. I shall know more in a few days, 
 on a trip to town. My grandson is arrived from the south. He goes 
 the day after to-morrow to Paris, with Mr. Gallatin's, Mr. Rives's, 
 Mr. Cooper's, and your own long letter, and an introduction to Mr. 
 Livingston, who has notes very similar, I think, to our notions, 
 and will frame an article for the Mevue cles Deux Mondes. I shall 
 send it as soon as it comes out. I will be much obliged to you, my 
 dear sir, if you are pleased to call upon Mr. Prince, Long Island, 
 and request him to send me grafts of the fine North River Spitzen- 
 berg red apple, of the bloody peach, the inside of which is red, and 
 seme mock-orange trees — they are tall, and handsomer than the 
 European varieties ; you would recommend them, with a bill of the 
 costs, to the captain of a packet, so as to have time to place them. 
 Pay my compliments to Mr. Prince, who has been so very kind in 
 his invoices to me. 
 
 " Most truly and affectionately, 
 
 " Your old friend, 
 
 " Lafayette." 
 
 To this letter Mr. Morse replied as follows : 
 
 To General Lafayette. 
 
 " New Yore, January 6, 1834. 
 
 " My dear Geisteral : Your obliging letter of the 5th of Novem- 
 ber, just received, finds me confined to the house by temporary lame- 
 ness. I owe you an apology, my dear General, for I am in your 
 debt since your last interesting letter introducing to me the ami- 
 able, and, I am happy to add, popular Maroncelli. I thank you for 
 making him known to me, although I feel that I am not so situated 
 in my domestic establishment — being alone — as to show him all 
 the attentions I could wish, or he deserves. Yet I have had the 
 pleasure of introducing him to our club, who meet weekly, of which 
 Mr. Gallatin, Mr. Jay, Chancellor Kent, the professors of Columbia 
 College, etc., are members, and we have been highly gratified in 
 his society. The ten years' imprisonment of Silvio Pellico has been 
 published here, and has excited great interest for Mr. Maroncelli, 
 so that I believe he finds himself very agreeably engaged. He is 
 about publishing, he tells me, his own history of that imprisonment. 
 
 " I am rejoiced to know that your grandson, Jules Lasteyrie, 
 will not lose his sight, although I regret to learn that his recovery 
 will be tedious ; what a melancholy event would the loss of his eyes 
 
238 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 have been to him and to all your dear family! I am glad to learn 
 also, that your other grandson, Oscar Lafayette, has entered the 
 Polytechnic School. I incerely pray that France and the world 
 may see in the grandson the same enlarged benevolence, the same 
 love of true liberty, the same persevering consistency, the same self- 
 devotion to the happiness of mankind, as have distinguished and im- 
 mortalized the grandfather. Tell him, my dear General, that the 
 world will have its eye on him ; his name cannot be hid, he must 
 sustain it in all its glory ; and I pray that God's strength may be 
 given him, that he may be able to sustain it unsullied. 
 
 " You will have learned before this of the arrival of our excellent 
 and distinguished friend Cooper and his charming family ; they arrived 
 on the very day of the date of jour letter, the 5th of November, and 
 are now well. I dined with them on New- Year's day. Mr. Cooper 
 is about replying to the attacks made upon him while absent, and in 
 his pamphlet will make an expose of the finance discussion in Paris, 
 which will create a little disturbance probably in the minds of some 
 Americans who were aiding and abetting the attacks on you, my 
 dear General, and on their country's institutions, in that discussion. 
 
 "I have this moment written a line to Mr. Prince, of Long 
 Island, inclosing your request respecting the grafts and trees, and 
 desiring him to have them prepared immediately. I hope you will 
 receive them by the same packet which takes this letter. 
 
 "As to political affairs in this country, my dear General, I am 
 conscious there are others better informed than myself, who will 
 keep you advised of their various changes. I have been too long 
 absent from my country to retain any thing of mere party feeling ; 
 I cannot identify myself with any of the present parties. I read, 
 as far as I have the time, the statements of all, till I have become 
 quite familiar with the general character of party strife. I find the 
 usual quantity of denunciations of the outs against the ins, and of 
 charges of tyranny and usurpation, and the usual forebodings of 
 anarchy and ruin from the measures of the existing Adminis- 
 tration ; and I can trace, or think I can trace, most of the asperity 
 and bitter revilings which disfigure and disgrace our press, to the 
 fears of office-holders, or the disappointments of office-seekers. 
 Some of our orators declaim loudly on the danger to our institu- 
 tions of certain measures, and others threaten a separation of the 
 Union. ; Yet the solid, substantial, enterprising, active majority of 
 the people are not moved by verbiage or rhetorical figures ; they 
 read and calmly digest those dashing arguments pro and con. ; the 
 
LAFAYETTE'S ATTENTIONS. 239 
 
 wordy war rages in the halls of Congress, and the echoes of the 
 strife ring through the land, but it is mere sound, until an evil 
 truly presses upon the people, until they feel their freedom actually 
 invaded, and their interests suffering in earnest from bad legisla- 
 tion, and then the voice of the people is heard in its might, and 
 the strife of party is hushed ; the troubles of the land are put into 
 retirement by our bloodless weapon of revolution, the ballot-box, 
 and the evil is remedied. This seems to be the natural operation, 
 my dear General, of our beautiful institutions, nor can I be excited 
 to alarm for their safety except in the supposable case of a general 
 demoralization comprised in an absence of religious principle, and a 
 prevalence of ignorance ; and of such a state of things there is lit- 
 tle "prospect, while the benevolent are so active in their various 
 societies for the diffusion of religious and scientific knowledge. No, 
 my dear General ; you have lived to see your favorite principles tri- 
 umphant in one country, at least. They have withstood many a 
 storm that has threatened them ; they have been severely tried in 
 the furnace, and are yet to be tried, but like gold they have hith- 
 erto come out, and, I am persuaded, will ever come out, purified ; 
 and you have the glorious anticipation that they must and will 
 eventually triumph throughout the world, though all the tyrants 
 of the earth league together to crush them." 
 
 General Lafayette to Mr. Morse. 
 
 " Pahis, February 27, 1834. 
 " My dear Sir: Permit me to send you a letter for Mr. Maron- 
 celli, relative to a little money transaction, which I much wish to be 
 put into his own hands. You may have heard of an indisposition 
 which still detains me in my room ; and, as reports about it have 
 been aggravated, I have the pleasure to assure you that I am 
 much better, and shall soon have got rid of it. Remember me 
 most affectionately to the Cooper family, and other friends, and 
 believe me, " Your affectionate friend, 
 
 " Lafayette." 
 
 His last year in Paris had been made very pleasant to Mr. 
 Morse by the kind attentions of General Lafayette, at whose 
 house in the city, and at La Grange, the artist was a frequent 
 and welcome guest. When the sad intelligence reached the 
 United States of the death of Lafayette, in 1834, Mr. Morse ad- 
 dressed the following note to the son of his illustrious friend : 
 
240 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 To George Washington Lafayette, Member of Chamber of Depu- 
 ties, etc. 
 
 " I scarcely know in what language to express to you, and 
 to all your family, the feelings of unfeigned sorrow with which the 
 intelligence of the death of your great and good father, the illus- 
 trious General Lafayette, oppressed me. The announcement was 
 the more sudden to me, as I had received a letter from him but a 
 short time before this, in which he expressed a confidence of his 
 speedy recovery. Allow me, my dear sir, to mingle my tears with 
 yours for the irreparable loss you have suffered. In common with this 
 whole country, now clad in mourning, with the lovers of true liberty 
 and of exalted philanthropy throughout the world, I bemoan the 
 departure from earth of your immortal parent ; yet I may be permit- 
 ted to indulge in additional feelings of more private sorrow at the 
 loss of one who honored me with his friendship, and had not ceased, 
 till within a few days of his death, to send to me occasional marks 
 of his affectionate remembrance. Be assured, my dear sir, that the 
 memory of your father will be especially endeared to me and mine. 
 
 " Accept for yourself, my dear sir, and for all the bereaved fam- 
 ily, the assurance of my heart-felt condolence, and believe me, with 
 the sincerest respect and esteem, your obedient servant and friend, 
 
 "S. F. B. Morse." 
 
 Having proceeded so far with bis picture that he was able to 
 finish it at home, Mr. Morse left Paris, and made a visit to Lon- 
 don, for the purpose of renewing the associations of his earlier 
 art-life. 
 
 To his Brothers. 
 
 " London, September 21, 1824. 
 
 " Here I am, once more, in England, and on the wing home. I 
 shall probably sail from Havre in the packet of October 1st (the 
 Sully), and I shall leave London for Southampton and Havre on the 
 26th inst., to be prepared for sailing. 
 
 " I am visiting old friends, and renewing old associations in 
 London. Twenty years make a vast difference, as well in the 
 aspect of this great city as in the faces of old acquaintances. Lon- 
 don may be said literally to have gone into the country. Where I 
 once was accustomed to walk in the fields, so far out of town as 
 even to shoot at a target against the trees with impunity, now 
 there are spacious streets, and splendid houses, and gardens. I 
 
MR. DUNLAP'S RECORDS. 241 
 
 spend a good deal of my spare time with Leslie. He is the same 
 amiable, intelligent, unassuming gentleman that I left in 1815. He 
 is painting a little picture, ' Sterne recovering his Manuscripts from 
 the Curls of his Hostess at Lyons.' I have been sitting to him for 
 the head of Sterne, whom he thinks I resemble very strongly. At 
 any rate, he has made no alteration in the character of the face 
 from the one he had drawn from Sterne's portrait, and has simply 
 attended to the expression. 
 
 " When I left Paris, I was feeble in health, so much so, that I 
 was fearful of the effects of the journey to London, especially as I 
 passed through villages suffering severely from the cholera. But I 
 proceeded moderately, lodged the first night at Boulogne-sur-Mer, 
 crossed to Dover in a severe southwest gale, and passed the next 
 night at Canterbury, and the next day came to London. I think 
 the ride did me good, and I have been exercising a great deal, riding 
 and walking since, and my general health is certainly improving. 
 I am in hopes that the voyage will completely set me up again." 
 
 Mr. Dunlap records some interesting incidents in the visit of 
 Mr. Morse to London and Paris, both on his journey to Italy, 
 and his return : 
 
 " In 1829 Mr. Morse found himself in circumstances to visit, 
 not only England again, but to reside for a sufficient time in Italy 
 to study the works of art, copy many of the best pictures, and to 
 improve in every branch of painting, to a degree which has sur- 
 prised me, as much as it has given me pleasure. On his arrival 
 from America, he found his friends Newton and Leslie in London, 
 and with them attended two lectures at the Royal Academy, both 
 remarkable for circumstances of very different natures. Leslie in- 
 troduced Morse to the academicians, who received the president of 
 the National Academy of Design with peculiar honor. The first 
 of these lectures was remarkable, as being the last time Sir 
 Thomas Lawrence was out of his house; the second, for a com- 
 pliment paid by the lecturer to Washington Allston. 
 
 " Martin Archer Shee, the successor of Lawrence, was, on this 
 occasion, requested to take the presidential chair ; Morse, Leslie, 
 and Newton, sat at his right hand. Mr. Greene, the lecturer, re- 
 marked, that he was glad Mr. Morse was present, as he had had 
 occasion to mention an American gentleman who was an honor to 
 the Royal Academy, Mr. Allston ; and in the course of his lecture 
 he quoted two of Allston's sonnets. 
 16 
 
242 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 "Returning homeward he made a stop in Paris, and pursued his 
 studies in the Louvre. He there made a picture of that celebrated 
 gallery, copying in miniature the most valuable paintings as hang- 
 ing on the walls. Of this splendid work my friend James Fenimore 
 Cooper speaks thus, in a letter to me, dated Paris, March 16, 1832 : 
 * Morse is painting an exhibition picture that I feel certain must 
 take. He copies admirably, and this is a drawing of the Louvre, 
 with copies of some fifty of its best pictures.' The picture of the 
 gallery of the Louvre was not finished until Morse returned to New 
 York ; but, when nearly finished and removed from the gallery, the 
 Chevalier Alexandre Le Noir, conservateur of the Museum of 
 France (a celebrated antiquary, who is now engaged in arranging 
 the papers on the ruins of Palenque in Mexico), wished to see the 
 painting, and made an appointment for the purpose. He sat long 
 before it, and complimented the artist highly, who received the 
 praise as the effusion of politeness ; but the next day he had a proof 
 of the learned critic's good opinion, for he received from him two 
 folios and a quarto, published by him, containing several hundred 
 plates, descriptive of the ancient monuments of France and their 
 history. 
 
 " On leaving Paris," continues Mr. Dunlap, " he returned to 
 London, and had the satisfaction of renewing former recollections 
 and acquaintances, and particularly of enjoying the society of his 
 friend Leslie. His good old friend and master, West, was no more, 
 and his younger friend and instructor, Allston, was in America ; but 
 he had recollections of the latter brought to his mind very un- 
 expectedly. Morse had brought a letter to a gentleman from 
 Italy, whose direction was No. 11 Tinny Street, London. After 
 an absence of sixteen or seventeen years he had no remembrance of 
 the street, or thought that it was connected with any transaction 
 of interest to him. He sought the street, and, on entering it, he 
 saw objects which appeared familiar to him, but which might only 
 have reminded him of those dreamy sensations we experience 
 through life, when, entering a strange place, we feel as if all the 
 scene was merely a renewal of former impressions, made we know 
 not how or when. He inquired for No. 11, of a gentleman pass- 
 ing, who exclaimed, ' Surely I know you, sir.' ' My name is Morse.' 
 ' And have you forgotten that house ? ' pointing to it, ' that is No. 
 11 ; my name is Collard, and there, with you and your friend All- 
 ston, and his friends Coleridge and Lonsdale, I have passed many 
 hours in time past.' The reality now flashed upon Morse ; he en- 
 
THEORY OF COLORS. 243 
 
 tered the house, and found himself in the apartment where he had 
 witnessed such poignant scenes of distress in former days — the 
 chamber in which his dear friend and mentor's wife had expired. 
 
 " Mr. Morse acquired a vast fund of knowledge in his European 
 tour, having familiarized himself with the best models in the world ; 
 and he quitted England, in 1832, with every prospect of winning, 
 in a few years, a splendid fame. 
 
 " Mr. Morse has told me that he formed a theory for the distri- 
 bution of colors in a picture many years since, when standing before 
 a picture of Paul Veronese, which has been confirmed by all his 
 subsequent studies of the works of the great masters. This picture 
 is now in the National Gallery, London. He saw in it that the high- 
 est light was cold ; the mass of light, warm ; the middle tint, cool ; the 
 shadow, negative ; and the reflections, hot. He says he has tried 
 this theory by placing a white ball in a box, lined with white, and 
 convinced himself that the system of Paul Veronese is the order of 
 Nature. Balls of orange or of blue, so placed, give the same rela- 
 tive result. The high light of the ball is uniformly cold, in com- 
 parison with the local color of the ball. ' I have observed in a pict- 
 ure by Rubens that it had a foxy tone, and on examination I found 
 that the shadow (which according to my theory ought to be nega- 
 tive) was hot. Whenever I found this to be the case, I found the 
 picture foxy.' On one occasion his friend Allston said to him, while 
 standing before an unfinished painting, ' I have painted that piece 
 of drapery of every color, and it will not harmonize with the rest 
 of the picture.' Morse found the drapery belonged to the mass of 
 light, and said, ' According to my theory, it must be warm ; paint it 
 flesh-color.' ' What do you mean by your theory ? ' Morse ex- 
 plained as above. Allston immediately said : ' It is so ; it is in 
 nature ; ' and has since said, ' Your theory has saved me many an 
 hour's labor.' " 
 
 General James Grant Wilson, of New York, has kindly 
 furnished pleasant recollections of conversations with Morse 
 and Leslie. 
 
 " Professor Morse, some twenty years ago, as we were riding 
 together in the cars, said to me : ' Shall I tell you about some of 
 the great painters living in London when I was studying and 
 starving with Leslie in a London garret ? ' The answer was, of 
 course, ' Yes ;' and he began a charming monologue concerning 
 West, Allston, Haydon, Fuseli, and other great heirs of fame, 
 
244 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 fragments of which I jotted down the day following. . . . ' Among 
 other artists with whom I was intimate was poor Haydon, who 
 was so vain that he confessed he was uneasy at a funeral unless he 
 was first in the procession. Going in company with a friend, in 
 1842, to call on him, my companion, on our entering the room, 
 said : " Haydon, I have brought an old friend to see you. Do you 
 remember him ? " Looking at me intently for a few seconds he 
 broke forth with, " Why, Morse ; my friend Morse, how are you ? 
 Still painting and starving, eh ? " . . . Tom Thumb killed Haydon ! ' 
 Observing the surprised and inquiring looks of his listener, Morse 
 continued : ' At the time or soon after that Haydon opened an exhi- 
 bition of his greatest works, including " Christ's Entry into Jerusa- 
 lem," Tom Thumb made his appearance in London, when his (Hay- 
 don's) gallery was immediately deserted, while all London flocked 
 to see the diminutive dwarf. 'Twas too much for the poor painter ; 
 he became desperate at the failure of his exhibition, for which he 
 had anticipated such great success, and put an end to his existence.' 
 In answer to the inquiry as to Haydon's character and the causes 
 that led to so distinguished an artist's being constantly in debt and 
 harassed almost to death by creditors, the professor replied : ' Hay- 
 don was a person of inordinate vanity ; he thought the eyes of the 
 whole earth were upon him. He was improvident and reckless in 
 expenditures, incurring the most extravagant expenses for the fur- 
 therance of high art; i. e., any thing to assist him in his painting, 
 such as the purchase of expensive works of art, employing living 
 models, etc' 
 
 "'Another distinguished painter, with whom I was well ac- 
 quainted, was Fuseli, a friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by whose 
 advice he abandoned literature for art. Fuseli could speak with 
 fluency nine languages, and enjoyed annoying certain of his litera^ 
 companions with the display of antique lore. He on one occasion 
 repeated half a dozen sonorous and well-sounding lines to Professor 
 Porson, one of the best Greek scholars of his time, and said, " With 
 all your learning you cannot tell me who wrote them." The Cam- 
 bridge professor was compelled to admit that he did not know the 
 author. " I should think not," chuckled Fuseli ; " I made them this 
 moment ! " He would sometimes, when in a passion, give vent to 
 his fury by swearing in half a dozen languages. I once accompanied 
 the Swiss painter to the house of a wealthy amateur artist, where 
 we were invited to dine. He wished to obtain Fuseli's opinion of 
 a large picture which he had just completed, and accordingly after 
 
FUSELI AND LESLIE. 245 
 
 dinner it was inspected by all the party. " Extraordinary ! ex- 
 traordinary ! extraordinary ! " exclaimed Fuseli. " Do you ad- 
 mire my picture ? " asked the delighted amateur. " Oh, extraor- 
 dinary ! " again exclaimed Fuseli. On our way home, accompanied 
 by another artist named Lamb, he said, " Why, Mr. Fuseli, how 
 could you possibly admire such a paltry picture — so out of drawing, 
 and the coloring so wretched ! " " Oh ! " was the reply, " I said ex- 
 traordinary, but I meant extraordinary bad ! " That word has often 
 since done duty for me under similar circumstances,' added Morse, 
 with a merry laugh. ' On another occasion an American artist, 
 named B , a great quack, who, by advertising, puffery, and toady- 
 ism, managed to obtain considerable business, took a fine residence 
 in a fashionable quarter of London, and invited a large number of 
 
 artists, authors, and fashionable people, to a house-warming. B , 
 
 walking with Fuseli in one of the largest apartments, remarked, " I 
 intend to have the walls whitewashed, and then paint on them a 
 series of magnificent historical pictures. What do you think of it ? " 
 " Setter paint the pictures first, and then vihitewash them ! " was 
 Fuseli's reply.' 
 
 "My conversation with Leslie, which occurred some sixteen 
 months later, was chiefly in regard to his early artist-life in London, 
 when he and Morse shared a room together in Warren Street, and 
 their most familiar friends were Washington Allston and a young 
 American artist named King. ' In those days,' he remarked, ' the 
 Allstons, Morse, and myself, spent our evenings together, and happy 
 evenings they were, I can assure you. Of course, we often went to 
 the theatre, and I remember one famous occasion when we saw Mrs. 
 Siddons and her brothers, John and Charles, in " Henry VIII." The 
 author of " Home, Sweet Home " was with us that night. About 
 that time (1812 or 1813) we all spent a delightful day together 
 at Hampton Court. Allston had a measureless admiration of 
 Turner. He thought him the greatest painter since the days of 
 Claude. It was reported that Turner had declared his intention of 
 being buried in his " Carthage," which you have seen in the National 
 Gallery. I was told that he said to Chantrey : " I have appointed 
 you one of my executors ; will you promise to see me rolled up in 
 it ? " " Yes," said the sculptor, " and I promise you also that as 
 soon as you are buried I will have you taken up and unrolled ! " 
 This story was so generally circulated and credited that, when Dean 
 Milman heard that Turner was to be buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 he said, " I will not read the service over him if he is wrapped up 
 
246 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 in that picture." ' . . . Such was the sparkling commensalia of Leslie 
 that much of its brilliancy and interest is lost in the atlempt to 
 transfer it to paper, and I cannot but regret that I did not at the 
 time jot down more of his conversation concerning his gifted friends, 
 particularly that portion of it referring to Sir "Walter Scott, Irving, 
 and Morse." 
 
 As the career of Mr. Morse as a painter closed here, and the 
 remainder of his life was devoted to the Telegraph, this is the 
 appropriate place in which to present a critical notice prepared 
 for this work by D. Huntington, Esq., the distinguished artist, 
 and President of the National Academy of Design : 
 
 " My acquaintance with Professor Morse began in the spring of 
 1835, when I was placed under his care by my father as a pupil. 
 He then lived in Greenwich Lane (now Greenwich Avenue), and 
 several young men were studying art under his instruction. He 
 was actively engaged in painting, though he devoted a part of his 
 time to experiments connected with his Telegraph. He gave a 
 short time every day to each pupil, carefully pointing out our errors, 
 and explaining the principles of art. After drawing for some time 
 from casts, with the crayon, he allowed us to begin the use of the 
 brush, and we practised painting our studies from the casts, using 
 black, white, and raw umber. I believe this method was of great 
 use in enabling us early to acquire a good habit of painting. I 
 only regret that he did not insist on our sticking to this kind of 
 study a longer time, and drill us more severely in it, but he in- 
 dulged our hankering for color too soon ; and, when once we had 
 tasted the luxury of a full palette of colors, it was a dry business 
 to go back to plain black and white. In the autumn of that year, 
 1835, he removed to spacious rooms in the New- York University, 
 on Washington Square. 
 
 " In the large studio in the north wing, he painted several fine 
 portraits, among them the beautiful full length of his daughter, 
 Mrs. Lind. He also lectured before the students, and a general 
 audience, illustrating his subject by painted diagrams. 
 
 " During this winter he was much occupied with the telegraphic 
 experiments, and exhibited to his pupils one of the earliest, if not 
 the first successful operation of the instrument. Though charmed 
 with the success of the experiment, we had no faith in its practical 
 results, and mourned over this sad infatuation (as we thought it) of 
 our master, which consumed so much of the time which we thought 
 
MR. HUNTINGTON'S NOTICE. 247 
 
 he ought to devote to his art. Over his pupils he exercised a kind, 
 paternal influence, and we held him in esteem and reverence. 
 
 " His friends and brother artists were disappointed that he did not 
 obtain one of the Government orders at that time, given for histori- 
 cal paintings, to fill the vacant panels of the Rotunda. To compen- 
 sate him for this neglect, they made up a purse, and gave him a 
 commission for an historical picture. He chose for his subject ' The 
 Compact of the Pilgrims on board the Mayflower,' which he con- 
 sidered as the germ of our free government. He made many studies 
 for this proposed picture, and drew the outline of the composition 
 on a canvas of a large cabinet size. I remember it as a well-ar- 
 ranged group, simple and dignified in its general lines, and promis- 
 ing to be a successful work. I inquired of him, a few years ago, 
 what had become of this canvas. He told me it had been lost, 
 with many other sketches, during one of his visits to Europe. The 
 money which had been advanced he returned to the subscribers. 
 
 " Professor Morse's love of scientific experiments was shown in 
 his artist-life. He formed theories of color, tried experiments with 
 various vehicles, oils, varnishes, and pigments. His studio was a 
 kind of laboratory. 
 
 " A beautiful picture of his wife and two children was painted, he 
 told me, with colors ground in milk, and the effect was juicy, creamy, 
 and pearly, to a remarkable degree. Another picture was com- 
 menced with colors mixed with beer, afterward solidly impasted and 
 glazed with rich, transparent tints in varnish. His theory of color 
 is fully explained in the account of his life in Dunlap's ' Arts of 
 Design.' He proved its truth by boxes and balls of various colors. 
 He had an honest, solid, vigorous impasto, which he strongly insisted 
 on in his instructions — a method which was like the great masters 
 of the Venetian school. This method was modified in his practice 
 by his studies under Vest, in England, and by his intimacy with 
 Allston, for whose genius he had a great reverence, and by whose 
 way of painting he was strongly influenced. He was a lover of 
 simple, unaffected truth, and this trait is shown in his works as an 
 artist ; he had a passion for color, and rich, harmonious tints run 
 through his pictures, which are glowing and mellow, and yet pearly 
 and delicate. He had a true painter's eye, but he was hindered 
 from reaching the fame his genius promised as a painter by various 
 distractions ; such as the early battles of the Academy of Design in 
 its struggle for life, domestic afflictions, and, more than all, the en- 
 grossing cares of his invention. The 'Hercules,' with its colossal 
 
248 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 proportions and daring attitude is evidence of the zeal and courage 
 of his early studies. An interesting account of this work, and of 
 the model in plaster, which he made for it, is given in ' Dunlap,' vol. 
 ii., p. 311. It is now placed for safe-keeping in the Academy of 
 Design, and is worthy of being carefully preserved in a public gal- 
 lery, not only as an instance of successful study in a young artist 
 (Morse was in his twenty-first year), but as possessing high artistic 
 merit, and a force and richness which plainly show that, if his ener- 
 gies had not been diverted, he might have achieved a name in art 
 equal to the greatest of his contemporaries. 
 
 " His ' Gallery of the Louvre ' I know only from the studies 
 made for it ; but they indicate a great mastery of perspective, of 
 grouping, and coloring. His large picture of ' The House of Rep- 
 resentatives,' for many years owned in England, was brought to 
 this country by an amateur, taken to San Francisco for exhibition, 
 returned to New York, and is now in my studio. It has those 
 traits of truthfulness, simplicity, and a subdued, mellow richness, 
 which characterize many of his works, but which are preeminent in 
 this. The architecture is well drawn, the accessories rendered with 
 accuracy, the flesh-color is deep and luminous, and the general effect 
 harmonious and agreeable. The rich, solid, impasted execution is 
 like some great old Venetian painter, and the hue and texture re- 
 mind one of the works of Tintoretto. 
 
 " The following account of this picture is taken from the Daily 
 Graphic, of May 26, 1873 : • In the studio of D. Huntington is a 
 most interesting historical painting by Professor Morse, which bears 
 the date of 1822. The canvas is eight feet by eleven feet, and rep- 
 resents the old House of Representatives at the hour of lighting. 
 In the centre hangs the great chandelier, and on a high step-ladder 
 a negro is turning up the Argand burners, which are evidently of 
 interest, as the group on the platform, among whom are Story and 
 Marshall, are regarding the operation. Scattered among the seats 
 and around the room, are the members talking together, and one 
 with his back toward the light is endeavoring to read. In the half 
 gloom of the gallery are several persons, one of whom is Morse, the 
 geographer, and father of the professor, also Professor Silliman and 
 an Indian princess. There is the greatest fidelity in the painting of 
 the room, and what renders the picture still more valuable is the 
 fact that the faces are all portraits. The key to the picture cannot 
 be found, but the faces of a number have been recognized by the 
 likenesses as those of Chief-Justices Marshall and Story; Stephen 
 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 249 
 
 Van Rensselaer ; Governor Tomlinson, of Connecticut ; Gales and 
 Seaton, of the National Intelligencer, and several others. The 
 studies for these heads were made by Professor Morse in Washing- 
 ton, and afterward were stolen, some of them finally finding their 
 way into private collections, where they now are. The aim of the 
 artist seems to have been to present a true picture of the House 
 at that time, rather than to attempt any thing picturesque. The 
 whole work has an honest air, which adds to its historical interest. 
 The costumes are those of that time, when gentlemen wore ruffled 
 shirts and white ties. There is but little attempt at composition. 
 The groups are arranged in broken lines, but the effect of the whole 
 is a little stiff. The low rich tones, the crimsons, and warm grays, 
 are* very agreeable. The perspective is good, and the painting, 
 especially of the columns, is very solidly done. For its historical 
 accuracy, its portraits, its representations of the costumes, and the 
 appearance of the old House of Representatives ; for its rendering 
 of a phase of our national life now passed away, as well as from 
 the fact that it is the work of one of the fathers of American art, 
 and one of the most illustrious of Americans, it deserves a place in 
 the national Capitol, and none could be more appropriate than that 
 same room it pictures, which is now fitted for a public gallery.' 
 
 " Professor Morse's world-wide fame rests, of course, on his in- 
 vention of the Electric Telegraph ; but it should be remembered 
 that the qualities of mind which led to it, were developed in the 
 progress of his art-studies, and if his paintings, in the various fields 
 of history, portrait, and landscape, could be brought together, 
 it would be found that he deserved an honored place among the 
 foremost American artists." 
 
 The picture of the Louvre, which Mr. Morse began in Paris, 
 he finished after his return to New York, and it was purchased 
 by George Clark, Esq., of Otsego, and removed to Hyde Hall, 
 on .Otsego Lake. 
 
 We have now followed Mr. Morsfe through what may be 
 called his art-life. After his return to the city of New York, he 
 pursued his profession as a means of support ; but, during the 
 voyage across the ocean in the autumn of 1832, a vision broke 
 upon him, which produced a revolution in his life, and on the 
 commerce and intercourse of mankind. We have seen that 
 his genius was inventive. From early youth he had displayed 
 the inventive faculty — a distinctive feature of the family to 
 
250 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOUSE. 
 
 which he belonged. He was stimulated by an ardent desire 
 for usefulness and fame. The honor of his country was always 
 very near his heart. His desire for distinction as a painter, as 
 we gather from letters to his most intimate associates, had in it 
 more of patriotism than selfishness. He longed to distinguish 
 his country by his own distinction ; and, in the future contro- 
 versies in which his great invention involved him, the honor of 
 America was uppermost in his mind. Encouraged and excited 
 by the associations of the past three years in Europe, laden with 
 the riches which he had amassed in the galleries of Italy, and 
 flushed with the highest hopes of future success, he embarked 
 at Havre on the 1st day of October, 1832, for the city of New 
 York. 
 
Ecji "ty W. 
 
 MWGJEIL Fc LB- Ri 
 
 INVENTOR OF THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH 
 
 hi 1 (vjtpl^i 
 

 I 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1832. 
 
 PACKET-SHIP SULLY — ELEOTEO-MAGNETISM — DINNER-TABLE CONVEESATION— 
 IDEA OF THE TELEGBAPH — FIEST MAEKS MADE — THE INVENTION AN- 
 NOUNCED TO PASSENGEES — DEAWINGS EXHD3ITED — PEEDICTION TO CAP- 
 TAIN PELL — PEOF. E. N. HOESFOED's HISTOEY OF THE SCIENCE — STEPHEN 
 
 GEEY — LEYDEN JAE — FEANKLIn's EXPEELMENTS — OHAELES MAESHALL 
 
 LE SAGE — LOMOND — EEUSSEE — OAVALLO — WEDGEWOOD — EONALDS — DYAE 
 — GALVANISM, OE VOLTAISM — VOLTA — SOHWEIGGEE — OOXE — MAGNETISM — 
 
 ELEOTEO-MAGNETISM — AMPEEE — SCHILLING COOKE AND -WHEATSTONE — 
 
 OEESTED SPIEAL COIL, 1821 AEAGO — STUEGEON — JAMES FEEEMAN 
 
 DANA JOSEPH HENEY — FEOHNEE — OHM'S LAW — STEINHEIL — DANIEL 
 
 SOEMMEE1NG SAMUEL FINLEY BEEESE MOESE — INVENTION AND DISCOV- 
 
 EEY — CLAIMS OF DISOOVEEEES AND INVENTOES — SUCCESSIVE STEPS IN 
 TELEGEAPHIO INVENTION. 
 
 THE packet-ship Sully, Captain Pell, sailed from Havre on 
 the 1st day of October, 1832, for New York. Among the 
 cabin-passengers were the Hon. William C. Rives, of Virginia, 
 returning with his family from Paris, where he had been as 
 Minister of the United States ; Mr. J. F. Fisher, of Philadelphia ; 
 Dr. Charles T. Jackson, of Boston; Mr. S. F. B. Morse, of New 
 York ; Mrs. T. Palmer, Miss E. Palmer, Mr. C. Palmer, Mr. F. 
 Palmer, Mr. W. Palmer, Mr. J. Haslett, Charleston, S C. ; Mr. 
 Lewis Rogers, Virginia ; Mr. "W. Post, New Vork ; Mr. Con- 
 stable, New York ; Mons. de la Cande, Mons. J. P. Chazel, 
 Charleston ; Mr. A. Scheidler, Frankfort, Germany ; Mr. and 
 Mrs. Burgy, and others. 
 
 In the early part of the voyage conversation at the dinner- 
 table turned upon recent discoveries in electro-magnetism, and 
 the experiments of Ampere with the electro-magnet. Dr. Jack- 
 
252 LIFE °F SAMUEL E. B. MORSE. 
 
 son spoke of the length of wire in the coil of a magnet, and the 
 question was asked by some one of the company, " If the velo- 
 city of electricity was retarded by the length of the wire ? " 
 Dr. Jackson replied that electricity passes instantaneously over 
 any known length of wire. He referred to experiments made 
 by Dr. Franklin with several miles of wire in circuit, to ascer- 
 tain the velocity of electricity ; the result being that he could 
 observe no difference of time between the touch at one extrem- 
 ity and the spark at the other. At this point Mr. Morse inter- 
 posed the remark, " If the presence of electricity can be made 
 visible in any part of the circuit, I see no reason why intelli- 
 gence may not be transmitted instantaneously by electricity." 
 The conversation went on. But the one new idea had taken 
 complete possession of the mind of Mr. Morse. It was as sud- 
 den and pervading as if • he had received at that moment an 
 electric shock. All that he had learned in former years, the ex- 
 periments he had seen in his boyhood, his studies with Pro- 
 sessors Day and Silliman, the later and significant discourses 
 of Professor Dana, and conversations with Professor Renwick, 
 were revived, and began to form themselves into means and 
 ways to the accomplishment of a grand result. He withdrew 
 from the table and went upon deck. He was in mid-ocean, un- 
 dique caelum,- undique jpontus. As the lightning cometh out of 
 the east and shineth unto the west, so swift and far was the in- 
 strument to work that was taking shape in his creative mind. 
 
 Lightning and electricity had long been known as one and 
 the same. Signals had been made at a distance by electricity, 
 and intelligence thus transmitted, as beacon-fires on hill-tops had 
 from time immemorial flashed the knowledge of events across 
 continents. But this was not the conception of that moment 
 in the brain of Morse. His was a thought that, so far as 
 he knew, had never entered the mind of man before ! He 
 would transmit intelligence and record it at a distance. That 
 is a telegraph. Nothing else is a telegraph ; an instrument to 
 write at a distance. The purpose instantly formed absorbed 
 his mind, and to its perfection his life from that moment was 
 devoted. He was the man to do the work. His mind was 
 eminently inventive and mechanical. In his early youth and 
 riper manhood he had sought out many inventions. His name 
 
THE PROCESS OF THOUGHT 253 
 
 had long been enrolled among inventors in the Patent-Office of 
 the United States. Patience, perseverance, and faith, were he- 
 reditary traits of his character. He was now forty-one years old. 
 
 The mechanism by which the result wonld be reached was 
 to be wrought out by slow and laborious thought and experi- 
 ment, but the grandeur of that result broke upon him as clearly 
 and fully as if it had been a vision from heaven. Difficulties 
 afterward arose in his path, to be surmounted or removed by 
 toilsome and painful processes ; for it is the order of Nature 
 that birth-throes should bear some proportion to the greatness 
 of the birth. But in that first hour of conception, when his 
 soul was all aglow with the discovery, he saw the end from the 
 beginning. The current of electricity passes instantaneously to 
 any distance along a wire ; the current being interrupted, a 
 spark appears. The spark shall be one sign; its absence an- 
 other ; the time of its absence another. Here are three signs to 
 be combined into the representation of figures or letters. They 
 can be made to form an alphabet. Words may thus be indi- 
 cated. A telegraph, an instrument to record at a distance, will 
 be the result. Continents shall be crossed. This great and 
 wide sea shall be no barrier. " If it will go ten miles without 
 stopping," he said, " I can make it go around the globe." 
 
 Of all the great inventions that have made their authors 
 immortal, and conferred enduring benefit upon mankind, no one 
 was so completely grasped at its inception as this. His little 
 note or scratch book was always at hand, in which he made 
 sketches of objects that met his eye, or of images formed in his 
 mind. Scores of these books are now in existence, in which his 
 early and later pencilings are preserved. As he sat upon the 
 deck after the conversation at dinner, he drew from his pocket 
 one of these books, and began to make marks to -represent let- 
 ters and figures to be produced by the agency of electricity at a 
 distance from the place of action. First, he arranged ten dots 
 and lines so as to represent figures referring to words. Next, 
 he drew the wires in tubes. Then came the magnets, and by- 
 and-by cog-rules, to be used in regulating^ the power. In the 
 course of a few days his book presented several pages, which are 
 here reproduced, showing the first marks ever made in the in- 
 vention of the Telegraph : 
 
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 1234567890 
 
 a 
 
 TD 
 
 Clay (J) 
 
 Tubes. 
 
 
 56 
 
 Holland. 
 
 Close Tubes. 
 
 
 
 
 M ° 
 
 ° " 
 
 
 
 mC^ 
 
 
 
 
 215 
 
 War. 
 
 15 
 
 Belgium. 
 
 5 
 
 Alliance. 
 
 
 161 
 
 France. 
 
 252 
 
 England. 
 
 300 
 
 against 
 
 41 
 
 Russia. 
 
 35 
 
 Prussia. 
 
 25 
 
 Austria. 
 
 4030 
 
 Wednesday. 
 
 141 
 
 6th Aug. 
 
 
 Cuvier. 
 
 222 
 
 Naturalist, 
 
 32 
 
 died. 
 
 
 
 1.6.8.5.4.3 
 
 Magnet lifting sixty pounds. 
 
A single space separates each of the first five figures. 
 Two spaces separate each of the last five. 
 •Three spaces separate each number completed. 
 
 / 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 ■3 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ,7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 ; 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 • 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 . 
 
 • 
 
 . 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 - 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 • 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 / 
 
 1 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 26.203 .456 .1890.11072.2 3605 
 
 "Weak Permanent Magnet. 
 
 Electro-magnet Strong. 
 
256 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 He wrought incessantly that day, and sleep forsook him in 
 his berth that night. His mind was on fire. In a few days he 
 submitted these rough drafts to Mr. Hives, who suggested vari- 
 ous difficulties. But Mr. Morse was ready with a solution. Mr. 
 Fisher states that Mr. Morse illustrated to him his system of 
 signs for letters, to be indicated by a quick succession of strokes 
 or shocks of the galvanic current, to be carried along upon a 
 single wire. After several sleepless nights, while his mind was 
 in labor with the subject, he announced it at the breakfast-table, 
 and explained the process by which he proposed to accomplish it. 
 He then exhibited the drawing of the instrument, by which he 
 would do the work, and so completely had he mastered all the 
 details, that five years afterward, when a model of this instru- 
 ment was constructed, it was instantly recognized as the one he 
 had devised and drawn in his sketch-book, and exhibited to his 
 fellow-passengers on the ship. J. Francis Fisher, Esq., counselor- 
 at-law of Philadelphia, stated, when his testimony was required : 
 
 " In the fall of the year 1832 I returned from Europe as a pas- 
 senger with Mr. Morse, in the ship Sully, Captain Pell, master ; 
 during the voyage the subject of an electric telegraph was one 
 of frequent conversation ; Mr. Morse was most constant in pursuing 
 it, and alone the one who seemed disposed to reduce it to a prac- 
 tical test ; and I recollect that for this purpose he devised a system 
 of signs for letters, to be indicated and marked by a quick succes- 
 sion of strokes, or shocks of the galvanic current ; and I am sure of 
 the fact that it was deemed by Mr. Morse perfectly competent to 
 effect the result stated ; I did not suppose that any other person on 
 board the ship claimed any merit in the invention, or was in fact 
 interested to pursue it to .maturity, as Mr. Morse then seemed to 
 be ; nor have I been able since that time to recall any fact or ch> 
 cumstance to justify the claim of any person other than Mr. Morse 
 to the invention." 
 
 And Captain Pell stated, under oath, that when he saw the 
 instrument, September 27, 1837, he recognized in it the same 
 mechanical principles and arrangements which he had heard Mr. 
 Morse explain on board of the Sully in 1832. Captain Pell 
 
 says: 
 
 "Before the vessel was in port, Mr. Morse addressed me in 
 these words : ' Well, captain, should you hear of the telegraph, one 
 
ELECTRICITY. 257 
 
 of these days, as the wonder of the world, remember the discovery 
 was made on board the good ship Sully.' " 
 
 Thus it appears from his own records, and the recollections 
 of the captain and passengers, gentlemen of the highest respect- 
 ability and intelligence, that on shipboard Mr. Morse had actu- 
 ally drawn out and recorded a system of signs, composed of a 
 combination of dots and spaces, to indicate letters, figures, and 
 words, and a mode of applying the electric or galvanic current 
 so as to make these signs permanent upon paper, to be passed 
 along in the instrument which he had invented. The inven- 
 tion" was accomplished and announced ere the inventor set foot 
 on his native shore. "While the Sully is pursuing her way across 
 the sea, and the inventor is thinking out his great conception, 
 we will review the progress of electrical science, and learn the 
 material he had with which to make his idea real : * 
 
 The knowledge that certain substances, like amber, would, 
 when rubbed with dry silk, or woolen, or fur, attract light bodies, 
 like pith-balls, or feathers, and which is at the foundation of elec- 
 tricity, was known centuries before the Christian era. The knowl- 
 edge that a certain iron-ore was endowed with the property of at- 
 tracting pieces of iron, lay at the foundation of magnetism, and was 
 also of very early origin. Galvanism, at the farthest, scarcely 
 goes back beyond 1790, and, for application to the invention of the 
 recording telegraph, not beyond the beginning of this century. 
 
 Electricity. — The second step in electricity must have been 
 the discovery that, under certain circumstances, instead of attract- 
 ing light bodies, the amber repelled them ; and the third step, that 
 the peculiar quality or force was something that could be transmit- 
 ted along what is called a conductor. 
 
 As early as 1729 Stephen Grey employed as conductor^ pack- 
 thread or twine, six hundred and fifty feet long, suspended by silk 
 threads. 2 He also discovered that electricity could be conducted 
 through metallic wires. 
 
 The Leyden jar dates soon after 1745. This discovery, by 
 which the electric force might be stored up, made it possible to 
 
 1 The history that occupies the remainder of the chapter was prepared expressly 
 for this volume by Professor E. N. Horsford, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 
 2 Lecture by Dr. B. W. Richardson, F. R. S., before the Brethren of the Charter 
 House. — Illustrated London News, February 21, 18*74. 
 
 17 
 
258 EIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 intensify its action. The accumulation of force in the interior, and 
 its corresponding diminution on the outside, was restored by the 
 interposition of a conductor, connecting the outside with the inside. 
 This conductor might be of great length. The velocity of the cur- 
 rent traversing the wire seemed instantaneous, and numerous at- 
 tempts to determine it were made almost immediately after. 
 
 Winkler, 1 of Leipsic, made an experiment July 28, 1746, includ- 
 ing the river Pleisse in his circuit. Experiments were made in Paris, 
 including the water of the basin of the Tuileries in the circuit. 2 
 Le Monnier made an experiment with a wire thirteen hundred and 
 nineteen feet in length, which seemed to show that the velocity was 
 instantaneous. 3 Watson, of England, in 1747, made an experiment, 
 employing two miles of wire in the air and two of earth in its cir- 
 cuit, with a like result. 4 
 
 Dr. Franklin performed a similar experiment in 1748. 5 
 
 Franklin says : " Two iron rods about three feet long were 
 planted just within the margin of the river, on opposite sides. A 
 thick piece of wire with a small round knob at its end was fixed on 
 the top of one of the rods, bending downward so as to deliver com- 
 modiously the spark upon the surface of the spirit. A small wire 
 fastened by one end to a handle of the spoon containing the spirit 
 was carried across the river, and supported in the air by the rope 
 commonly used to hold by in drawing ferry-boats over. The other 
 end of this wire was tied round the coating of the bottle, which 
 being charged, the spark was delivered from the hook to the top of 
 the rod standing in the water on that side. At the same in- 
 stant the rod on the other side delivered a spark into the spoon, 
 and fired the spirit, the electric fire returning to the coating of the 
 bottle, through the handle of the spoon and the supporting wire 
 connected with them." 
 
 Possibility of an Electric Telegraph. — The existence of 
 a force that might be stored up and transmitted through, great 
 lengths of wire, and through circuits of great length, of which 
 the earth formed a part, was demonstrated before the middle of 
 the eighteenth century. As both Watson and Franklin fired 
 gunpowder and spirits with the electric force through great 
 lengths of wire and earth introduced into their circuits, it is 
 interesting to note how long ago electricity was employed, using 
 the earth as a part of the circuit, for the transmission of signals. 
 
 1 Priestley's " History of Electricity," p. 59. 
 
 2 "Encyclopaedia Britannica," edition of 1810, p. 736. 
 
 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Parton's " Life Of Franklin." 
 
FIRST PROPOSED ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 259 
 
 Yet these brilliant results do not seem to have been followed 
 by any immediate effort to produce a practical telegraph for the 
 transmission of intelligence. 
 
 First Proposed Electric Telegraph. — The first person to 
 propose the use of friction electricity as a medium for transmit- 
 ting intelligence was a contributor to the Scots Magazine, in 
 1753. The communication was signed " C. M.," and it is be- 
 lieved to have been written by Charles Marshall, of Paisley, who 
 was at the time sojourning at Renfrew, from which place the 
 letter was written : 1 
 
 " To the HJditor of the Scots Magazine. 
 
 " Renfrew, February 1, 1753. 
 " Sir : It is well known to all who are conversant in electrical 
 experiments, that the electric power may be propagated along a small 
 wire, from one place to another, without being sensibly abated by 
 the length of its progress. Let, then, a set of wires, equal in num- 
 ber to the letters of the alphabet, be extended horizontally between 
 two given places, parallel to one another, and each of them about 
 an inch distant from that next to it. At every twenty yards' end 
 let them be fixed in glass or jewelers' cement to some firm body, 
 both to prevent them from touching the earth or any other non-elec- 
 tric, and from breaking by their own gravity. Let the electric gun- 
 barrel be placed at right angles with the extremities of the wires, 
 and about one inch below them ; also let the wires be fixed in a 
 solid piece of glass at six inches from the end, and let that part of 
 them which reaches from the glass to the machine have sufficient 
 spring and stiffness to recover its situation after having been 
 brought in contact with the barrel. Close by the supporting glass 
 let a ball be suspended from every wire ; and about a sixth or an 
 eighth of an inch* below the balls place the letters of the alphabet, 
 marked on bits of paper, or any other substance that may be light 
 enough to rise to the electrified ball, and at the same time let it 
 be so continued that each of them may reassume its proper place 
 when dropped. All things constructed as above, and the minute pre- 
 viously fixed, I begin the conversation with my distant friend in this 
 manner : Having set the electrical machine agoing, as in ordinary 
 experiments,-*-suppose I am to pronounce the word sir: with a piece 
 of glass, or any other electric per se, I strike the wire s so as to 
 bring it in contact with the barrel, then i, then r ; all in the same 
 way ; and my correspondent, almost in the same instant, observes 
 these several characters rise in order to the electrified balls at his 
 end of the wires. Thus I spell away as long as I think fit ; and my 
 correspondent, for the sake of memory, writes the characters as they 
 
 1 " Angewandten Electrikitats-Lehre." Kuhn, pp. 798, 822. 
 
260 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 rise, and may join and read them as often as he inclines. Upon a 
 signal given, or from choice, I stop the machine, and, taking up the 
 pen in my turn, I write down whatever my friend at the other end 
 strikes out. If anybody should think this way tiresome, let him, 
 instead of the balls, suspend a range of bells from the roof, equal in 
 number to the letters of the alphabet, gradually decreasing in size 
 from the bell A to Z y and from the horizontal wires let there be 
 another set reaching to the several bells ; one, viz., from the hori- 
 zontal wire A to the bell A, another from the horizontal wire _S to 
 the bell -B, etc. Then let him who begins the discourse bring the 
 wires in contact with the barrel as before ; and the electric spark, 
 breaking on bells of different size, will inform his correspondent by 
 the sound what wires have been touched, and thus, by some prac- 
 tice, they may come to understand the language of the chimes in 
 whole words, without being put to the trouble of noting down every 
 letter. The same thing may be otherwise effected : Let the balls 
 be suspended over the characters as before, but, instead of bringing 
 the ends of the horizontal wires in contact with the barrel, let a sec- 
 ond set reach from the electrified . cable, so as to be in contact with 
 the horizontal ones, and let it be so contrived, at the same time, that 
 any of them m-ay be removed from its corresponding horizontal by 
 the slightest touch, and may bring itself again into contact when set 
 at liberty. This may be done by the help of a small spring and 
 slides, or twenty other methods, which the least ingenuity will dis- 
 cover. In this way the characters will always adhere to the balls, 
 excepting when any one of the secondaries is removed from contact 
 with its horizontal; and then the letter at the other end of the 
 horizontal will immediately drop from its ball. But I mention this 
 only by way of variety. Some may, perhaps, think that, although 
 the electric fire has not been observed to diminish sensibly in its 
 progress through any length of wire that has been tried hitherto, 
 yet, as that has never exceeded some thirty or forty yards, it may 
 be reasonably supposed that in a far greater length it would be re- 
 markably diminished, and probably would be entirely drained off in a 
 few miles by the surrounding air. To prevent the objection, and save 
 longer argument, lay over the wires from one end to the other with 
 a thin coat of jeweler's cement. This may be done for a trifle of 
 additional expense ; and, as it is an electric per se, will effectually 
 secure any part of the fire from mixing with the atmosphere. 
 
 " I am, etc., C. M." 
 
 The method proposed by Marshall seems to have contained 
 the essential elements of telegraphy. 
 
 Le Sage, at Geneva, in 1774, devised a plan of electric tele- 
 graphy and put it in operation. It was strikingly like that of Mar- 
 shall, employing a wire for each letter, and producing repulsion 
 between the pith-balls by an electric discharge for each wire. 1 
 
 1 Moigno's " Telegraphie Electrique," p. 59. 
 
SUCCESSIVE PLANS. 261 
 
 Lomond, in 1787, devised an instrument which, operated in 
 one room, gave intelligent signals in an adjoining apartment. 1 
 
 Reusser, of Geneva, in 1794, employed the electric spark to 
 transmit intelligence, using an arrangement of lines and spaces, 
 with stripes of tin-foil so contrived that, when these spaces were 
 illuminated by the sparks, the form of the letter or figure was ex- 
 hibited. The illumination of each letter or figure required a direct 
 and return wire, and, as his plan employed thirty-seven characters, 
 there were required seventy-four wires between each two stations. 
 Similar telegraphs were devised by Salva, and Betancourt, at Madrid, 
 operating many miles in length, in 1797 and 1798 (Humboldt). 
 
 Bockmann, in 1795, proposed the use of sparks, one, two, or more, 
 to indicate the letters of the alphabet; and Cavallo, in 1797, suc- 
 cessfully tested the project through a wire two hundred and fifty 
 feet long. Lullin, about the same time, made a like suggestion. 2 
 
 In " The Wedgwoods, being a Life of Josiah Wedgwood," by 
 Llewellynn Jewett, London, 1865, is the following notice (p. 1-78) 
 of a proposed telegraph : 
 
 " This Thomas Wedgwood was, I believe, cousin to Josiah, 
 being son of Aaron Wedgwood, etc., etc. . . . He was a man of 
 high scientific attainments, and has the reputation of being- the first 
 inventor of the electric telegraph (afterward so ably carried out by 
 his son Ralph), and of many other valuable works." 
 
 Page 180 : " In 1806, Ralph Wedgwood established himself at 
 Charing Cross, and soon afterward his whole attention began to 
 be engrossed with his scheme of the electric telegraph, which in 
 the then unsettled state of the kingdom — in the midst of war, it 
 must be remembered — he considered would be of the utmost impor- 
 tance to the Government. In 1814, having perfected his scheme, 
 he submitted his proposal to Lord Castlereagh, and most anxiously 
 waited the result. His son Ralph, having waited on his worship 
 
 1 It is thus described by Arthur Young, in his " Travels in France," vol. i., p. 
 979, fourth edition, 1787 : " M. Lomond has made a remarkable discovery in elec- 
 tricity. You write two or three words on a paper ; he takes it into a room, and turns 
 a machine inclosed in a cylindrical case, at the top of which is an electrometer, a 
 small pine pith-ball ; a wire connects with a similar cylinder and electrometer in a 
 distant apartment ; and his wife, by remarking the corresponding motions of the 
 ball, writes down the words they indicate, from which it appears that he has formed 
 an alphabet of motion. As the length of the wire makes no difference in the effect, 
 a correspondence might be carried on at any distance, within or without a besieged 
 town, for instance, or for objects much more worthy of attention, and a thousand 
 times more harmless." 
 
 2 " Vollst. Abh. d. theor. und prak. Lehre v. d. Electr.," Leipzig, 1797, Bd. ii., 
 pp. 337-388. 
 
262 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 for a decision, as to whether Government would accept the plan or 
 not, was informed that ' the war being at an end, the old system 
 was sufficient for the country.' The plan therefore fell to the 
 ground, until Professor Wheatstone, in happier and more enlight- 
 ened times, again brought the subject forward with such eminent 
 success. The plan thus brought forward by Ralph Wedgwood, in 
 1814, and of which, as I have stated, he received the first idea from 
 his father, was thus described by him in a pamphlet, entitled, ' An 
 Address to the Public on the Advantages of a Proposed Introduc- 
 tion of the Stylographic Principle of Writing into General Use ; 
 and also of an Improved Species of Telegraphy, calculated for the 
 Use of the Public, as well as for the Government.' " 
 
 The pamphlet is dated, May 29, 1815. 
 
 Extract from the Pamphlet. 
 
 " A modification of the stylographic principle, proposed for the 
 adoption of Parliament, in lieu of telegraphs, viz. : 
 
 " The Fulguric-Polygraph, which admits of writing in several 
 distant places at one and the same time, by the agency of two per- 
 sons only. 
 
 " This invention is founded on the capacity of electricity to pro- 
 duce motion in the act of acquiring an equilibrium : 
 
 " Which motion by the aid of machinery is made to distribute 
 matter at the extremities of any given course. And the matter so 
 distributed being variously modified in correspondence with the 
 letters of the alphabet, and communicable in rapid succession at 
 the will of the operator, it is obvious that writing at immense dis- 
 tances hereby becomes practicable ; and further, as lines of com- 
 munication can be multiplied from any given point, and those lines 
 affected by one and the same application of the electric matter, it 
 is evident from hence, also, that fac-similes of a dispatch, written 
 as for instance in London, may with facility be written also in Plym- 
 outh, Dover, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, and Bristol, or any other place, 
 by the same person, and by one and the same act." 
 
 He goes on to speak of the advantages to the public, and 
 
 says: 
 
 " To the seat of her Government (England), therefore, it »must 
 be highly desirable to effect the most speedy and certain commu- 
 nication from every quarter of the world." 
 
 All these employed friction electricity, as did Ronalds, of Eng- 
 gland, in 1816, on a line eight miles in length, operating with pith- 
 balls on the faces of synchronous clocks, and Harrison Gray Dyar, 
 on the Long-Island race-course, 1 near New York, in .1827, on a line 
 of two miles, using the current to discolor prepared paper. 
 
 1 Dyar's (defendant's) testimony, "Bain's Case," pp. 13, 32*7. 
 
GALVANISM. 263 
 
 Up to this time the elements out of which to produce a success- 
 ful telegraph had not been brought to light. The agent at command 
 — friction electricity — was fitful, influenced by the weather, and, at 
 a distance, liable at times to be feeble. 
 
 Galvanism, ok Voltaism. — The discovery of the voltaic pile, in 
 1800, opened up a new era for invention in telegraphy. It gave the 
 advantage of the constant current of a battery over the intermitted 
 shocks of the electrical apparatus. Sommering, in 1809-'ll, em- 
 ployed the electric current developed by the voltaic pile to produce 
 chemical decompositions with the evolution of visible gas ; he em- 
 ployed thirty-five wires, each wire having the same letter or figure 
 at either end, and an additional wire for producing an alarum, by 
 causing an augmentation of gas in a manner to release a detent and 
 set in motion clock-work to ring a bell. It would of course be pos- 
 sible to transmit words by producing gas-bubbles at the ends of the 
 wires, bearing in their order of succession the letters of which the 
 words were composed. Each of the thirty-five wires had its return- 
 wire, making seventy in all. 
 
 This was not, strictly speaking, a telegraph — a writing at a dis- 
 tance; it was a signal apparatus — a voltaic semaphore. But it 
 was cumbrous, time-consuming, and interesting chiefly as illustrat- 
 ing how early the projectile force of the voltaic battery was ap- 
 plied to the production of visible chemical effects at a distance. 
 
 Schweigger proposed to reduce the great number of wires in 
 Sommering's apparatus to two, and instead of a tube for the evo- 
 lution of gas for each letter, a single tube only, and the letter to be 
 indicated by the number of seconds through which the evolution of 
 hydrogen should continue. This apparatus so simplified was to be 
 used in connection with a signal-book. 
 
 Dr. John Redman Coxe, of Philadelphia, in 1810-11, proposed a 
 plan similar to that of Simmering, which, however, was not carried 
 out to practical testing. 1 He communicated an account of it, which 
 was published in " Thomson's Annals of Philosophy " (February, 
 1816). 
 
 Magnetism. — The date of the discovery of the magnetic needle 
 was in remote antiquity. The Chinese were familiar with its use 
 before its introduction into Europe. This instrument, so indispen- 
 sable to the navigation of the ocean and to numerous uses on land, 
 consists of a slender bar of hardened iron or steel resting at its centre 
 upon a sharply-pointed support. When this piece of iron was 
 
 1 Coxe's deposition, p. 63, defendant's testimony, Morse vs. Bain Telegraph Case. 
 
264 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 rubbed in a certain way with a natural loadstone, or an artificial 
 magnet, it acquired the property when free to move on its support 
 of pointing with one extremity to the north, and the other, of 
 course, to the south. These extremities were respectively called 
 the north and south poles. 
 
 Electro-Magketism. — It was early known that the position of 
 the needle might be changed by electric discharges in its neighbor- 
 hood, but its susceptibility to the influence of the galvanic current 
 was the discovery of Oersted, of Copenhagen, in 1819. He found 
 that when the electric current passes in a direction, north or south, 
 through a wire, it causes a free magnetic needle immediately above 
 or below it to assume or tend to assume a position at right angles 
 to the direction of the current, and that by reversing the direction of 
 the current the movement of the needle may be alike reversed. 
 
 This observation, usually ascribed to Oersted, seems to have 
 been first made by Romagnesi, a physicist of Trent. In a work 
 entitled " Manuel du Galvanisme," par Joseph Lyarn, Paris, 1864, 
 under the heading, " Appareil pour reconnaitre Taction du galva- 
 nisme, sur la polarite d'une aiguille aimantee," after explaining the 
 way to prepare the apparatus, which consists simply in putting a 
 freely suspended magnetic needle parallel and close to a straight 
 metallic conductor, through which a galvanic current is circulating, 
 he described the effects in the following Avords : " D'apres les obser- 
 vations de Romagn6si, physicien de Trente, 1' aiguille deja aimantee, 
 et que 1'on soumet ainsi au courant galvanique, 6prouve une decli- 
 naison ; et d'apres celles de J. Mojon, savant chimiste de Genes, 
 les aiguilles non aimantees acquierent, par ce moyen, une sorte de 
 polarite magnetique." 
 
 In the next year Schweigger, of Halle, 1 discovered that the de- 
 flection of the needle may be increased by coiling an insulated wire 
 in a series of ovals or flat rings, compactly disposed, in a loop, and 
 conducting the current around the needle from end to end ; and 
 produced the " galvanic multiplier," by which the* deflection of the 
 needle was much greater and more prompt. This discovery was 
 the basis of the galvanometer, invented and first used by Professor 
 Joseph Henry, of the United States. 
 
 Ampere, following up the disco very of Schweigger, developed 
 the theory of electro-magnetism, which has since been universally 
 adopted. He proposed to the French Academy at its session, Octo- 
 ber 2, 1820 (" Comptes Rendus "), a plan for a telegraph, iu which 
 
 1 Kuhn, "Ang. Elek.-Lehre," p. 514. 
 
AMPERE'S DISCOVERY. 265 
 
 there was to be a needle for each letter. Ampere ascribes the origi- 
 nal suggestion to Laplace. 
 
 Ritchie, in 1830, carried out this idea to a model by surrounding 
 each needle with a coil of wire, so arranged as to disclose a letter 
 in connection with the deflection of each needle. Mr. Alexander, 
 of Edinburgh, made another modification in 1837. 
 
 The telegraph of Baron Pawel Larrowitsch Schilling, of Cron- 
 stadt, was based on the suggestion of Ampere. He had been asso- 
 ciated with Sommering as early as 1810 (Kuhn, p. 836). His plan 
 seems to have been matured and set in practical operation, accord- 
 ing to Arayot, in 1832-'33, but he was unable to secure such satis- 
 factory demonstrations as would justify the support of the Rus- 
 sian Government until 1836, and in 1837 this persevering philoso- 
 pher and inventor died. His instrument, however, exhibited by 
 Moncke to William Fothergill Cooke in 1836, awoke his inven- 
 tive genius, and he produced in the same year a needle telegraph, 
 and in 1837 Cooke and Wheatstone a still more perfect needle 
 telegraph. 
 
 Before Oersted, and Ampere, and Schweigger, the needle tele- 
 graph was impossible. After their discoveries reciprocal motion, or 
 alternate right-and-left deflection, needed only a constant battery to 
 render signal telegraphy possible. But recording telegraphy re- 
 quired a greater amount of force at the receiving station than was 
 needed to move the needle, and another system of device must be 
 brought into service. 
 
 The unequal action of the battery was a serious obstacle to 
 progress in the direction of needle telegraphy, and, before research 
 had overcome the difficulties ultimately surmounted by Daniel, the 
 science of electro-magnetism had made great strides in a new direc- 
 tion. 
 
 The first step in this direction was taken by Arago immediately 
 after the discovery of Oersted, in the same year with the discovery 
 of the multiplier by Schweigger. He magnetized a straight iron 
 bar or needle by placing it in a long spiral of wire and transmitting 
 the galvanic current through the coil. 
 
 De la Rive sent a current through a close circuit of insulated 
 copper wire, showing that the ring produced by the current ac- 
 quired singular magnetic properties. Barlow, in describing the 
 apparatus, in 1 824, says : " A fine copper wire covered with silk 
 thread is coiled five or six times, and tied together so as to form a 
 ring about an inch in diameter, and the ends of the wire are con- 
 
266 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 nected one with the zinc and the other with the copper slip above 
 the cork. When the apparatus is placed in water, slightly acidu- 
 lated with sulphuric or nitric acid, the ring becomes highly mag- 
 netic," etc. 
 
 In this year Schweigger produced the flat spiral or volute coil. 
 In 1824 Barlow gives a diagram of the volute in one plane, in- 
 vented by Schweigger, and says, page 266 : " The best form for 
 the spiral, however, is that in which the wire lies all in one plane " 
 (as in Fig. 24). (This figure exhibits a coil like the hair-spring of 
 a watch.) "This being connected by its two extremities with the 
 poles of the battery will take up an astonishing quantity of filings, 
 which, by their reciprocal attraction toward each other, exhibit the 
 most pleasing appearance." 
 
 The discovery of the action of the spiral coil upon the magnetic 
 needle seems to have been independently made by Ampere, in 1821 : 
 " I showed," he says " that the current which is in the pile acts on 
 the magnetic needle by the conjunctive wire. I described the in- 
 strument, which I proposed to construct, and, among others, the 
 galvanic spiral. I read a note upon the electro-chemical effects of a 
 spiral of iron wire, subjected to the action of the earth, directing 
 an electric current as well as a magnet. 
 
 " I announced the new fact of the attraction and repulsion of 
 two electric currents, without the intermediation of any magnet, a 
 fact which I had observed in spirals twisted spirallv." 1 
 
 Arago's discovery, that soft iron may be rendered a temporary 
 magnet by placing it within a helix of wire, through which is circu- 
 lating a galvanic current, dates 1821. He says : " A piece of soft 
 iron, when surrounded by a helix of wire and a current of galvanic 
 electricity passed through it, becomes a temporary magnet." 2 
 
 Sir Humphrey Davy arrived at the same discovery of electrical 
 induction in soft iron in 1821. " Simultaneously with Arago's ex- 
 periments, Davy arrived at the same facts." 3 
 
 The Horseshoe Electeo-magket. — The next step was taken 
 by Mr. William Sturgeon, of London, in 1825. He found that by 
 coiling copper wire loosely around a varnished piece of insulated 
 soft iron, bent into the form of a horseshoe, the successive coils out 
 of contact with each other, he could convert the non-magnetic soft 
 
 1 YellocJi's Journal of Science, vol. lvii. p. 47, 1821. 
 
 2 Yelloch's Journal of Science, vol. lvii., p. 42, 1821. Also, "Encyclopaedia Bri- 
 tannica," vol. viii., p. 662. 
 
 s " Encyclopaedia Britannica," vol. viii., p. 662. 
 
HORSESHOE MAGNET. 267 
 
 iron iuto an electro-magnet. When the current was interrupted, 
 the soft iron ceased to be magnetic ; when the current was restored, 
 the iron became again magnetic. This gave the possibility of pro- 
 ducing reciprocal motion. The capacity, thus imparted to the iron 
 to attract other iron, and to release it when the current was in- 
 terrupted, was, in two particulars, not suited to be used in tele- 
 graphy. It employed a quantity battery, consisting of a single 
 pair, and the length of wire connecting the battery with the magnet 
 was inconsiderable. 
 
 The researches of these philosophers reached America in due 
 time. The first to discuss them in public lectures was Professor 
 James Freeman Dana, brother of the late distinguished Dr.- Samuel' 
 L. Dana, of Lowell. In a course of lectures before the New 
 York Athenaeum, in the months of January and February, 1827, 
 Professor Dana exhibited and experimented with Sturgeon's mag- 
 net, and used the following suggestive language, which is to be 
 found in the manuscript copy of his lectures now in the Harvard 
 University Library : 
 
 " The effect of the conjunctive wire in impressing the magnetic 
 state is uniform and constant, and we can infer with absolute cer- 
 tainty the kind of magnetism which will be exhibited by either end 
 of the needle, by reference to its position with regard to the wire. 
 We are led to this by our previous knowledge of the positions 
 assumed by a magnetic needle under the influence of the wire. 
 Thus if the electric current flow from the right hand to the left, 
 and the needle to be magnetized be placed over the wire, the end 
 pointing from us will acquire the austral magnetism, or a north 
 polarity, etc. We have seen that the pole of the magnetic needle, 
 over which the positive electricity enters, turns to the east, but the 
 pole under which it enters turns to the west. If, therefore, a needle 
 be placed between two conjunctive wires situated in the same ver- 
 tical plane, and transmitting the electric current in opposite direc- 
 tions, it is evident that both will conspire to produce the same 
 effect, which will consequently be much more considerable than 
 that produced by either of them alone ; but a wire bent in this 
 
 in- 
 
 form, having its two ends connected with the opposite poles of the 
 voltaic instrument, will evidently have the electric current passing 
 in opposite directions in its upper and lower portions, and conse- 
 quently it will produce on a needle, between them, an effect similar 
 to that produced by the two wires. Wires thus situated produce a 
 more prompt development of magnetism in steel than a single wire 
 
268 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 does, because both tend to turn the same kind of magnetism in the 
 same direction, and the opposite magnetisms in opposite directions, 
 and hence we have one method of measuring the action of a bat- 
 tery on steel bars. Again, two parallel wires, having the electric 
 current moving through them, in the same direction, will evidently 
 produce a greater effect on a steel bar than either of them alone, 
 for the effect of the whole must be greater than that of a part. 
 
 " When several conjunctive wires are placed together, side by 
 side, the force is apparently diminished in the central wires, and 
 concentrated in the extreme portions ; the magnetic state of the 
 latter seems to be augmented by induction or by position. 
 
 " When such an assemblage of wires act on the magnetism of a 
 piece of steel, they decompose it, and each individual wire acts 
 with more force on the magnetism nearest to it. Each conspires, 
 in its action, to produce the same effect as the others ; and hence, in 
 addition to the effects of currents in opposite directions, we have 
 another method of increasing the power of a battery in magnetiz- 
 ing needles. We shall probably render steel strongly magnetic, if 
 we continue these two methods of increasing the effect. This is 
 effected by forming the conjunctive wire into a spiral around the 
 steel bar to be magnetized; for, at the opposite extremities of any 
 diameter of this spiral, it is evident that the electric current moves 
 in opposite directions. Suppose the spiral to be placed horizontalh', 
 east and west, the current in its upper part to move from north to 
 south, it will, at its lower part move from south to north, and the 
 spiral thus gives us the combined influence of currents in opposite 
 directions. Moreover, the different coils of the spiral are nearly at 
 right angles with the axis of the included bar, and thej^ are parallel 
 to each other. Hence, at any given portion of the bar, the effect 
 of many currents passing in the same direction is produced, and the 
 included bar becomes magnetic ; and a spiral placed round a piece 
 of soft iron bent into the form of a horseshoe' magnet, renders it 
 strongly and powerfully magnetic when the electric current is pass- 
 ing through it. . . . 
 
 " The opposite sides of a conjunctive wire exhibit the opposite 
 magnetisms ; and we have seen that, by placing the wires paral- 
 lel to each other and connecting them with a battery so that they 
 may transmit the current in the same direction, the magnetisms 
 seem to be concentrated in the extreme wires, and that we can thus 
 separate them in a degree from each other. Now, when we con- 
 sider that the direction of the magnetic power is at right angles to 
 the conjunctive wire, it is evident that in a helix, this direction 
 must nearly coincide with that of the axis of the helix, and the one 
 kind of magnetism be found concentrated at one extremity, and the 
 other kind at the opposite end. . . . 
 
 " Iron filings adhering to dissimilarly electro-magnetic wires re- 
 pel each other, and to similarly electro-magnetic wires, attract each 
 other. 
 
 " In the course of our reasoning, by which we were led from 
 
PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY. 269 
 
 step to step to the adoption of a spiral or helix in powerfully de- 
 veloping magnetism in bars, we inferred that two or more parallel 
 and similarly electro-magnetic wires acted with greater energy than 
 one, and that the magnetisms were accumulated in the extreme 
 wires by a species of induction between them all. A ribbon of 
 metal substituted for these wires exerts a stronger influence on the 
 needle at its edge than at its sides, for a similar reason. So, also, 
 if a series of concentric wires be used, and the electric current sent 
 through them in the same direction, we infer that they will have 
 the power of the corresponding sides of the different rings concen- 
 trated and accumulated in their common centre, and will on the same 
 side of their centre act as parallel similarly electro-magnetic wires. 
 A flat spiral, or volute, having two ends connected with the oppo- 
 site poles of the battery, will correctly represent concentric, rings 
 under the condition we have proposed ; and the great quantity of 
 iron filings which such a spiral or volute takes up, and the accumu- 
 lation of them in the centre, fully evinces the concentration of 
 power there, and the correctness of the reasoning by which we 
 have been led to the modification of the conjunctive wire." 
 
 The next step was taken by Professor Joseph Henry, Secretary 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, then Professor of Physics in the Al- 
 bany Academy. 1 Reflecting on the increased magnetic effects ob- 
 served in the compact coils of insulated wire of Schweigger, he first 
 employed the insulated wire of many concentric coils to make an 
 electro-magnet. . By a covering of silk or cotton, successive coils of 
 the wire were kept distinct and apart, so that it could be compactly 
 wound in successive layers upon itself, and thus a current could be 
 made to pass an indefinite number of times around an iron bar, and 
 the power of the bar to attract other iron multiplied alike some- 
 what correspondingly, and this with the use of a comparatively 
 small battery. He also, for the first time, in 1829, employed the 
 battery of many pairs, to send from a distance a current through 
 insulated wire, many times wound up on itself, around a horseshce- 
 shaped soft-iron bar, and demonstrated the dependence of the pro- 
 jectile force of the current upon the number, instead of the size, of 
 plates. The discovery ma\ T be thus stated : He found that a bat- 
 tery of a single pair, the zinc plate four by seven inches, at a dis- 
 tance of eight feet, operating through a coil of insulated wire, eight 
 feet long, wound around a small horseshoe magnet, produced mag- 
 netism enough to lift four and one-half pounds. At a distance of 
 one thousand and sixty feet, it lifted but half an ounce, only y^ as 
 much. 
 
 1 " Transactions of the Albany Institute," June, 1828. 
 
270 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 By now substituting a Cruikshank's battery, in which was ex- 
 actly the same amount of zinc surface — but in twenty-five plates 
 instead of one — the magnet, at a distance of one thousand and sixty 
 feet, as before, lifted eight ounces. That is, by dividing the zinc 
 plate into twenty-five plates, and putting each with its fellow of 
 copper into a separate cell, the power to lift at a distance of one 
 thousand and sixty feet was increased sixteen times. 1 
 
 Had this discovery been preceded by the constant battery of 
 Daniel (which was not invented until 1836), practical registering 
 electro-magnetic telegraphy would have been possible in 1828. 
 Barlow, of England, had observed, in 1825, that the power of the 
 galvanic current he employed diminished with the increase of the 
 distance from the battery ; but Henry's researches had shown that 
 by employing a battery of many pairs — which he called an intensity 
 battery — and by causing the wire to pass a great number of times 
 concentrically around a bar of iron, it was possible to produce the 
 physical result of motion, with a feeble current, at relatively great 
 distances from its source. 
 
 Barlow had employed a quantity battery — a battery of a single 
 pair. Henry employed a battery of many pairs — an intensity bat- 
 tery. 
 
 Professor Henr}^, in his paper in Silliman's Journal, January, 
 
 1831, after repeating the results of the paper of 1828, says: "The 
 fact that the magnetic action of a current from a trough is, at least, 
 not sensibly diminished by passing through a long wire, is directly 
 applicable to Mr. Barlow's project of forming an electro-magnetic 
 telegraph, and also of material consequence in the construction of 
 the galvanic coil." 
 
 The first suggestion contemplating a really practical distance 
 came from Fechner, who says, in 1829 (Kuhn, p. 835) : " There is no 
 doubt that if twenty-four different multipliers— the number of the 
 letters — were in Leipsic, for example, and the insulated wire con- 
 ducted under ground to Dresden, we should have a medium, not 
 very costly, perhaps, through which determined characters could be 
 sent instantaneously from one to the other." He says further, in 
 
 1832, that, " by the employment of a very thinly-wound (insulated) 
 copper wire, coated with silver, of which one foot in uncovered 
 condition weighed 1.95 grain, a pile of one hundred and seven 
 small platinum pairs would be adequate for telegraphic communi- 
 cations ten geographical miles. The length of wire for such a dis- 
 
 1 Silliman's Journal, January, 1831. 
 
OHM'S LAW. 271 
 
 tance, both ways, would require for each letter twenty miles of wire, 
 which would involve no small outlay." Fechner also pointed out 
 that the "telegraphic conduction does not depend on the great 
 thickness of the pairs of plates, and the strength of the conducting 
 fluid (quantity of electricity), but, on the contrary, on the number 
 of the pairs of plates in the pile ; and would increase in direct re- 
 lation to the thickness of the wire." ' 
 
 " Ohm's Law," of 1825, and " Schweigger's Multiplier," of 1820, 
 were here first traced out to their practical end, of a galvanic sema- 
 phore. The conditions were expressed on which the success of the 
 needle invention depended — numerous pairs, a large conducting 
 wire, multiplied convolutions of insulated wire. All were wrapped 
 up in these few clear sentences of Fechner, before 1832. 
 
 " Ohm's Formulce. — The amount of electric or chemical power 
 developed in the voltaic circuit, or, in other words, the quantity of 
 electricity which passes through a transverse section of the circuit 
 in a unit of time, evidently depends upon two conditions, viz., the 
 power or electro-motive force of the battery, and the resistance 
 offered to the passage of the current by the conductors, liquid or 
 solid, which it has to traverse. With a given amount of resist- 
 ance, the power of the battery is proportional to the quantity of 
 electricity developed in a given time ; and by a double or treble re- 
 sistance, we mean simply that which, with a given amount of ex- 
 citing power in the battery, reduces the quantity of electricity 
 developed, or work done, to one-half or one-third. If, then, the 
 electro-motive force of the battery be denoted by JS, and the re- 
 sistance by H, we have, for the quantity of electricity passing 
 through the circuit in a unit of time, the expression : 
 
 «=£"•••.■ a). 
 
 This is called Ohm's law, from the name of the distinguised mathe- 
 matician who first announced it. 
 
 "By means of the formula (1), we may estimate the effect pro- 
 duced on the strength of the current by increasing the number and 
 size of the plates of the battery. The resistance li consists of two 
 parts, viz., that which the current experiences in passing through 
 the cells of the battery itself, and that which is offered by the ex- 
 ternal conductor which joins the poles ; this conductor may consist 
 either wholly of metal, or partly of metal and partly of electrolytic 
 liquids. Let the resistance within the battery be r, and the ex- 
 ternal resistance / ; then, in the one-celled battery we have : 
 
 ! = -£-, .... (2). 
 r + r v ' 
 
 1 In this he was anticipated by Professor Henry, as above. 
 
272 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Now, suppose the battery to consist of n cells perfectly similar, 
 then the electro-motive force becomes w_fe, the resistance within the 
 battery nr / if, then, the external resistance remains the same, the 
 strength of the current will be denoted by : 
 
 ^ • • • • (3). 
 
 nr + r 
 
 If r' be small, this expression has nearly the same value as ; ; 
 
 that is to say, if the circuit be closed by a good conductor, such as 
 a short thick wire, the quantity of electricity developed by the com- 
 pound battery of n cells is sensibly the same as that evolved by a 
 single cell of the same dimensions. But if r' is of considerable 
 amount, as when the circuit is closed by a long thin wire, or when 
 an electrolyte is interposed, the strength of the current increases 
 considerably with the number of plates. Tn fact the expression (3) 
 is always greater than (2) ; for — 
 
 nE E (n— 1) Er' 
 
 nr + r' r + r' {nr + r') (r + r') 
 
 a quantity which is necessarily positive when n is greater than 
 unity. 
 
 " Suppose, in the next place, that the size of the plates is in- 
 creased, while their number remains the same, then, according to 
 the chemical theory, an increase in the surface of metal acted upon 
 must produce a proportionate increase in the quantity of electricity 
 developed, provided the conducting power of the circuit is sufficient 
 to give it passage. 
 
 " According to the theory which attributes the development of 
 the electricity to the contact of dissimilar metals, an increase in 
 the size of the plates does not increase the electro-motive force, but 
 it diminishes the resistance within the cells of the battery by offer- 
 ing a wider passage to the electricity. Hence, in the single cell, if 
 the surface of the plates, and therefore the transverse section of the 
 liquid be increased m times, the expression for the strength of the 
 current becomes : 
 
 E _ mE 
 
 r , r. + mr' ' 
 
 — + r' 
 m 
 
 If r' be small, this expression is nearly the same as — , ; that is to 
 say, the quantity of electricity in the current increases very nearly 
 in the same ratio as the size of the plates ; but when the external 
 resistance is considerable, the advantage gained by increasing the 
 size of the plates is much less. 
 
 " We may conclude, then, that when the resistance in the circuit 
 is small, as in electro-magnetic experiments, a small number of 
 large plates is the most advantageous form of battery ; but in over- 
 
MAGNETIC ELECTRICITY. 273 
 
 coming great resistances, power is gained by increasing the number 
 rather than the size of the plates." J 
 
 Magneto-Electricity. — The phenomena of electro-dynamic in- 
 duction, or of magneto-electricity, were first discovered by Faraday 
 in 1831, and published in 1832. 
 
 Professor Henry investigated the laws of these phenomena, and 
 discovered induced currents of a second and third order, and so on 
 through a series of five terms (Kuhn, p. 671). Upon these dis- 
 coveries was based the magneto-electric induction apparatus (as 
 distinguished from hydro-electric induction apparatus) of which 
 Gauss and Weber availed themselves to produce a needle telegraph. 
 "A circuit of wire 7,460 feet long was led across the houses and 
 steeples of Gtfttingen, from the Observatory to the Cabinet of 
 Natural Philosophy, requiring no especial insulation, which was a 
 fact of great importance. The principle was thereby at once es- 
 tablished of bringing the galvanic telegraph to the most convenient 
 form. . . . 
 
 " All that was required in addition to this, was to render the 
 signs audible; a task that apparently presented no very great diffi- 
 culty, inasmuch as in the very scheme itself a mechanical motion, 
 namely, the deflection of a magnetic bar, was given. 
 
 " Should it be desired that the indicator should write, it is 
 merely required to adapt to one end of the magnectic bar a small 
 vessel filled with a black color, and terminating in a capillary tube. 
 This tube, instead of striking a bell, thus makes a black spot upon 
 some flat surface held in front of it. If these spots are to compose 
 writing, the surface upon which they are printed must be kept mov- 
 ing in front of the indicator with a uniform velocity ; and this is 
 easily brought about, by means of an endless strip of paper, which 
 is rolled off one cylinder on to another by clock-work." 2 
 
 It will be seen that the idea of the acoustic as well as the re- 
 cording telegraph, which was subsequently developed at the sug- 
 gestion of Gauss and Weber, by Steinheil, is here foreshadowed. 
 
 Steinheil's invention was produced in 1837, and published in 
 1838. The telegraph was in actual operation through a circuit of 
 six miles — from 1838 to 1844 — when Professor Steinheil became 
 fully acquainted with the recording telegraph of Professor Morse, 
 and recommended its adoption in place of his own and of all others,, 
 
 1 Watt's "Dictionary of Chemistry," vol. ii., p. 459. 
 
 2 "Annals of Electricity," vol. iii., p. 448, No. IT, March, 1839, copied from the 
 " Gottingen Gelehrte Anzeigen," p. 1,2*72, 1834. 
 
 18 
 
274 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 upon the whole system of telegraph-lines of which he was super- 
 intendent. Steinheil's apparatus, which elicited great admiration 
 as a product of inventive genius, produced sounds on bells — an 
 effect achieved ten years before as a result of electro-magnetism, by 
 Professor Henry, at Albany, in 1828, and described in a letter by 
 Professor James Hall ' as having been witnessed by himself in that 
 year. Steinheil's apparatus also recorded messages in alphabetic 
 characters of ink, consisting of combinations of dots and spaces in 
 two rows. 2 
 
 Steinheil discovered what had been remarked in regard to fric- 
 tional electricity nearly a hundred years before, by Winckler, Le 
 Monnier, Watson, and Franklin, that the galvanic current could be 
 transmitted through the earth as a part of the circuit, and thus re- 
 duced the number of wires necessary for the operation of his 
 telegraph to one. 
 
 Wheatstone at a later period enriched this field of invention 
 with his dial magneto-electric telegraph, of such great merit and 
 extensive use. 
 
 With the mention of the constant battery of Daniel, produced 
 in 1836, and perhaps the amalgamation of the zinc plate by Stur- 
 geon, the enumeration of the discoveries entering into the invention 
 of the electric telegraph will be complete. 
 
 We have glanced at the types of telegraphs resting on friction 
 electricity, those resting on the deflection of the magnetic needle, 
 by Schweigger's multiplier, and those resting on magneto-elec- 
 tricity. 
 
 Sommering had produced a galvanic telegraph, producing sig- 
 nals, by the evolution of gas-bottles in a series of tubes, and em- 
 ploying the chemical powers of the battery. Schilling, Ritchie, 
 Alexander, and Cook and Wheatstone, had employed the electro- 
 magnet to produce signals by deflecting needles. Gauss and Weber, 
 and Steinheil, employed magneto-electric apparatus, without a bat- 
 tery, to deflect needles, or large, straight, permanent magnets. The 
 former proposed, and the latteri n vented, a needle device which 
 produced sounds on bells, and recorded messages in an alphabet of 
 dots and spaces. Professor Henry, before 1832, had rung a bell by 
 operating upon one end of a large needle, or a straight magnet, 
 poised between the two poles of an electro-magnet, while the oppo- 
 site end was made by the transmission of the current from a battery 
 
 1 " Smithsonian Report," p. 96, 1857. 
 
 2 H. Schellen, Braunschweig, p. 19, 1864. 
 
DISCOVERY AND INVENTION. 275 
 
 to strike a bell. To neither of these types did the recording elec- 
 tro-magnetic telegraph belong. Professor Morse's invention teas a 
 new departure. 
 
 CLAIMS OF DISCOVERERS AND INVENTORS. 
 
 It is natural and proper, when a great and useful art has been 
 born to civilization, that all persons, and especially the friends of the 
 persons who have had a share in the production and perfection of 
 the art, should feel jealously alive to the just distribution of the 
 honors which follow such an event. 
 
 Such honors are sometimes, not infrequently, indeed, unfairly 
 distributed. Adventitious circumstances may cause mistake. The 
 memory is sometimes at fault. The claims of some may be exag- 
 gerated. The just claims of others may be overlooked. It will 
 serve to open up the subject, if we consider a little carefully the 
 meaning of some of the words we use. 
 
 A tele-graph is, literally, a writing at a distance. Strictly 
 speaking, the earlier forms of signal apparatus were not tele- 
 graphs ; they were semaphores — signal-bearers. 
 
 The signal may be addressed to the eye or to the ear. If to 
 the former, it would be a visual ; to the latter, an acoustic sema- 
 phore. Franklin, Watson, De Luc, Cavallo, and others, employed 
 friction electricity to flash powder and fire alcohol. These experi- 
 ments heralded an electric visual semaphore. They also rang 
 bells by electricity, and in so doing foreshadowed an acoustic 
 semaphore. 
 
 The plans of Le Sage, Lomond, Reusser, Boeckman, Salva, 
 Betancourt, and Ronalds, were of the class of electric semaphores. 
 That of Harrison Gray Dyar approached nearly to that of an electric 
 telegraph. 
 
 Voltaic semaphores belong necessarily to this century. They 
 were only possible after the recognition of the fact that the current 
 might be made effective at a distance by the use of the pile, or bat- 
 tery of many pairs. S5mmering's, in 1809-'ll, was the first of 
 the class, and established the fact that visible effects could be pro- 
 duced at a distance of ten thousand feet. 1 His device was a visual 
 semaphore. Bain's so-called electro-chemical plan, of 1846, was a 
 voltaic telegraph. He employed a battery, but not a magnet, and 
 wrote and printed with Morse's alphabet. 
 
 1 Kuhn, 1866. 
 
276 LIFE OF SAMUEL E. B. MORSE. 
 
 Electro-magnetic semaphores were possible only after the dis- 
 covery of Oersted, in 1819, and the discovery of the multiplier, in 
 1820, by Schweigger. The first of these was projected by Ampere, 
 but never carried out. It was a needle device. Visible signs were 
 to be made by the deflection of a needle, the voltaic current being 
 sent through a multiplier, or long link-shaped coil of insulated wire, 
 within which a needle was freely suspended or supported. The 
 next seems to have been Schilling's, made, some time between 1820 
 and 1832, a rude copy of which, made by Professor Moncke, of 
 Heidelberg, aroused at a later period (1836) the spirit of invention 
 of Cooke. 
 
 The magneto-electric visual semaphore of Gauss and Weber 
 appeared in 1833. The development of this type by Steinheil to 
 an acoustic semaphore and an actual recording telegraph was ac- 
 complished in 1837. 
 
 Cooke's needle semaphore came in 1836, and Cooke and V/heat- 
 stone's in 1837. These were not writing or printing instruments. 
 They made evanescent signs, which could be observed, translated, 
 and recorded. 
 
 Electro-magnetic telegraphs were not practicable before an in- 
 tensity battery had been employed in connection with a distant 
 electro-magnet, surrounded with a multiplied insulated coil. This 
 was first actually done through a distance of 1,060 feet, in 1828-'29, 
 by Professor Henry. This experiment demonstrated that with in- 
 creased power in the battery, with improvements in the magnet, 
 and inventions of special mechanical devices, an electro-magnetic 
 telegraph for registration at distances sufficiently great to meet the 
 wants of the every-day world, might be devised. The invention, 
 however, in its most elementary condition, was not made for four 
 years thereafter, and then without a knowledge of these experi- 
 ments, nor was it brought into working condition for three more, 
 and then at first without employing either of these essential ele- 
 ments, to wit, the magnet of multiplied coils, the battery of multi- 
 plied pairs, and the long conductor ; and more than two years addi- 
 tional passed before a caveat was lodged, and three more before a 
 patent was granted, and still four years elapsed before the invention 
 was in successful public service. 
 
 This delay between the discovery of a scientific truth, and its 
 application to the useful arts, is not unusual. 
 
POSSIBILITY OF THE INVENTION. 277 
 
 INTERVAL AFTER THE POSSIBILITY OP AN" INVENTION BEFORE THE 
 INVENTION WAS MADE. 
 
 After Winkler's experiment with a long conducting wire at 
 Leipsic, in 1744, and Watson's experiment in 1747-'48, with a cir- 
 cuit of two miles of wire and two of earth ; and Franklin's experi- 
 ments, from 1748 to 1754, exhibiting reciprocal motion, rotation of 
 wheels, ringing of bells, firing of combustibles, etc., it was possible 
 to produce electric signals conveying intelligence. 
 
 The first that appeared was that of Le Sage, in 1774, after an 
 interval Of twenty years ; then Lomond's in 1787, after thirty- 
 three years; then Reusser's in 1794, after forty years; then Salva's 
 with a conducting wire of many miles, in 1796, after about forty- 
 two years; then Betancourt's, of twentj^-six miles, in 1797-'98, 
 after forty- three years ; then Ronald's, in 1816, after sixty -two 
 years; and then Harrison G. Dyar's, in 1828, after seventy-four 
 years. 
 
 After the discovery of the pile of Vblta, in 1800, it was possible 
 to invent — 
 
 Sommering's electro-chemical semaphore, which did not appear 
 till 1809-'ll, after eleven years. J. Redman Coxe's (of Philadel- 
 phia) suggestion dates 1816, after sixteen years. Bain's electro- 
 chemical recording telegraph, which did not appear till 1846, after 
 forty-six years. 
 
 After Oersted's discoveries of 1819 and 1820, and especially of 
 Schweigger's multiplier, constructed with insulated wire immedi- 
 ately after it was possible to produce Ampere's suggestion (or 
 invention), which appeared the same year, and of which he re- 
 marks that this result had been suggested by Laplace. 
 
 Schilling's invention was in progress from 1820 to 1832, a period 
 of twelve years. 
 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's invention in 1836-'37, after sixteen 
 years. 
 
 After Sturgeons electro-magnet, in 1826, when an electro-mag- 
 netic recording telegraph was possible for short distances, Morse's 
 conception came in 1832, after six years. 
 
 After Henry's electro-magnet, wound with insulated wire in 
 1828, published in 1831, which made electro-magnetic telegraphy 
 possible for increased distances, came Morse's receiving or relay 
 battery and recording telegraph, invented in 1832, and in working 
 condition in 1836, after an interval of five years. It was publicly 
 
278 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 exhibited in 1837, after six years ; and operated between Baltimore 
 and Washington in 1844, after thirteen years. 
 
 After Faraday 's and Henry's discoveries in magneto-electricity, 
 in 1831, came Gauss and Weber's needle telegraph, in 1833, two 
 years later, and Steinheil's telegraph, in 1837, after six years. 
 Steinheil had demonstrated the practicability of using the earth for 
 a part of the electro-magnetic circuit in 1838. It was not used in 
 this country until 1845. 
 
 After the invention of Daniell's constant battery, in 1835, the 
 successful electro-magnetic telegraph was practicable. 
 
 As we have now fixed some of the more important dates and in- 
 tervals, let us put on record two or three more that we need to 
 bear in mind — recalling that, while Simmering and Bain needed 
 only the voltaic pile or a battery of many pairs, Schilling, Cooke, 
 and Wheatstone needed in addition the galvanic multiplier ; Morse 
 the battery and electro-magnet ; Gauss, Weber, and Steinheil a 
 magneto-electric machine. 
 
 SOmmering's voltaic semaphore preceded Schilling's needle 
 semaphore by a dozen years and more. 
 
 In point of time, Morse's invention on the Sully preceded 
 Cooke's at Heidelberg by four years — 1832-'36. 
 
 In point of construction and actual working, Morse preceded 
 Cooke by a year — 1835-36. 
 
 In point of exhibition to the public, Cooke and Wheatstone were 
 coincident with Morse — 1837. 
 
 In point of actual use by the public, Cooke and Wheatstone 
 preceded Morse by six years — 1838-'44. 
 
 These relations of discovery to invention and practical applica- 
 tion may be illustrated in tabular form : 
 
 Constant bat- 
 tery of Daniell, 
 1835, without 
 which the elec- 
 tro -magnetic 
 telegraph would 
 not have suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 Volta, 1800. 
 
 Oersted, 1819. 
 Schweigger, 1820. 
 
 Arago, in 1820. 
 Sturgeon, in 1825. 
 Henry, in 1829. 
 
 Faraday, in 1S31. 
 
 Electro-chemical semaphores. 
 Soemmering's, in 1809-11. 
 Bain's electro-chemical telegraph, in 1846. 
 
 Needle semaphores. 
 Ampere's, in 1820. 
 Schilling's, 1820-'32. 
 Cooke's, in 1836. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's, in 1837. 
 
 Recording telegraph of Morse, in 1832. 
 
 Magneto-electric telegraphs. 
 Gauss and Weber's, in 1833-'34. 
 Steinheil's, in 1S37. 
 Wheatstone's later business alphabet — semaphore. 
 
 Having thus before us the great facts in the history of the new 
 
CLAIMS TO ORIGINALITY. 279 
 
 art, we are in condition to examine more carefully into the claims 
 to originality and priority of the discoverers and inventors. 
 
 Let us have distinct ideas in our assignment of credit. The dis- 
 covery of a law, or the invention of a device, may be strictly origi- 
 nal to two or more persons. It may be made by one in ignorance 
 that it had been made by another before him, or the two may have 
 been coincident in time as well as result. It may have been made 
 and never published or communicated to others. 
 
 Volta was alone in the invention of the pile. 
 
 Sommering was alone in observing that the current of the vol- 
 taic pile might be projected to great distances with as effective 
 force to produce chemical decompositions as at moderate distances. 
 
 Oersted was alone in originality x and time in observing the de- 
 flection of the needle by the galvanic current. 
 
 Schweigger was alone in originality and time in the multiplier 
 of insulated wire. 
 
 Arago was alone in magnetizing iron in the axis of a long 
 oblique spiral. 
 
 Sturgeon was alone in the electro-magnet with the loose oblique 
 spiral ; and later in amalgamating the zinc element of the battery. 
 
 Moll and Henry were coincident in the quantity magnet with a 
 single pair. 
 
 Henry was alone in the insulated concentric coil and multiplied 
 windings applied to a horseshoe-shaped bar of iron with a single 
 pair and with many pairs. 
 
 Henry was alone in the insulated concentric wire of many wind- 
 ings and battery of many pairs at a distance from the electro- 
 magnet. 
 
 Now, all these discoveries, in so far as the attribute of original- 
 ity is concerned, were in some degree suggested, somewhat in their 
 order of succession, by the publication of the discoveries which pre- 
 ceded them. 
 
 Oersted deflected a needle slowly with a single wire, Schweigger 
 quickly with multiplied coils. 
 
 Arago made straight hard iron (steel) magnetic by a single loose 
 long coil. 
 
 Sturgeon made a horseshoe of soft iron magnetic with a loose 
 long coil of sixteen turns and lifted nine pounds in 1825-'26. 
 Moll made a closer single coil of eighty-three turns and lifted seven- 
 
 1 It seems that, possibly, Oersted was anticipated by Romagnesi. (See p. 264.) 
 
280 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ty-five pounds, and finally one hundred and thirty-five pounds, in 
 1828. 
 
 Henry, with greatly multiplied concentric coils, lifted more than 
 a ton in 1830. All these operated by a battery of a single pair of 
 plates, and little interval between the battery and the magnet. 
 
 Now, Henry started out, before the publication of Moll, with a 
 new combination of many pairs, many concentric coils, and distance 
 between the battery and the magnet, and found, as the experiment 
 seemed to show, that the effect of the current in magnetizing soft 
 iron at this distance was at least not appreciably less at a distance 
 of one thousand and sixty feet than at points near the battery. 
 
 WHAT THE INVENTOR OF THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC RECORDING TELE- 
 GRAPH MUST HAVE KNOWN. 
 
 What was needed to the original conception of the Morse re- 
 cording telegraph ? 
 
 1. A knowledge that soft iron, bent in the form of a horseshoe, 
 could be magnetized by sending a galvanic current through a coil 
 Avound round the iron, and that it would lose its magnetism when 
 the current was suspended. 
 
 2. A knowledge that such a magnet had been made to lift and 
 drop masses of iron of considerable weight. 
 
 3. A knowledge, or a belief, that the galvanic current could be 
 transmitted through wires of great length. 
 
 These were all. Now comes the conception of devices for em- 
 ploying an agent which could prodiice reciprocal motion to effect 
 registration, and the invention of an alphabet. In order to this in- 
 vention, it must be seen how up and down — reciprocal — motion 
 could be produced by the opening and closing of the circuit. Into 
 this simple band of vertical tracery of paths in space must be 
 thrown the shuttle of time and a ribbon of paper. It must be seen 
 how a lever-pen, alternately dropping upon, and rising at defined 
 intervals from, a fillet of paper, moved by independent clock-work, 
 would produce the fabric of the alphabet and writing and printing. 
 
 Was there any thing required to produce these results which 
 was not known to Morse? 
 
 Of the details of scientific research bearing on electro-mag- 
 netism, scattered through journals of various languages, Professor 
 Morse knew comparatively little. He was a liberally educated 
 
WHAT MR. MORSE KNEW. 281 
 
 gentleman, devoted to the art of painting. He had somewhat 
 unusual advantages. He had attended the courses of lectures of 
 Professor Silliman and Professor Day, embracing the sciences of 
 galvanism and electricity, when an under-graduate, in 1808-'10, at 
 Yale College. He had been an assistant to Professor Silliman in 
 his laboratory in 1822 and the years following. He had, at a later 
 period, attended the lectures of Professor James Freeman Dana, 
 before the Athenaeum in New York, and witnessed an original and 
 brilliant course of experimental lectures, embracing all that was 
 known in 1827 on electro-magnetism, with something of prophetic 
 suggestion. 
 
 He knew generally, when he stepped on board the Sully, in 
 1832, that a soft-iron horseshoe-shaped bar of iron could be ren- 
 dered magnetic while a current of galvanic electricity was passing 
 through a wire wound round it ; and he knew that electricity had 
 been transmitted, apparently instantaneously, through wires of 
 great length, by Franklin and others. In the course of conver- 
 sation on board that vessel, the topic of the velocity of the electric 
 current arose. In the leisure of ship-life, the idea of a recording 
 electric telegraph seized Professor Morse's mind, and he gave ex- 
 pression to his conviction that it was possible. As it was possible 
 to dispatch and to arrest the current, he conceived that some de- 
 vice could be found for compelling it to manifest itself by this inter- 
 mittent action, and produce a record. 
 
 He knew, for he had witnessed it years before, that, by means 
 of a batter}'- and an electro-magnet, reciprocal motion could be pro- 
 duced. He knew that the force which produced it could be trans- 
 mitted along a wire. He believed that the battery current could be 
 made, through an electro-magnet, to produce physical effects at a 
 distance. He saw in his mind's eye the existence of an agent and 
 a medium by which reciprocal motion could be not only produced 
 but controlled at a distance. The question that addressed itself to 
 him at the outset was naturally this : " How can I make use of the 
 simple up-and-down motion of opening and closing a circuit to write 
 an intelligible message at one end of a wire and at the same time 
 print it at the other ? " 
 
 If we pause a moment to consider that in our ordinary writing 
 with a pen upon paper we must employ at least a hundred differ- 
 ently shaped and proportioned lines, and produce them by many 
 hundred combinations of nerve and muscular effort, and that in 
 printing we must have not less than about thirty-six letters and 
 
282 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 figures, we shall appreciate the grandeur of Morse's conception, in 
 which any message whatever could be written at one end of the 
 wire and printed with perfect distinctness at the other, for perma- 
 nent preservation, at the rate of twenty-five words a minute. Like 
 manjr a kindred work of genius, it was in nothing more wonderful 
 than in its simplicity. First, he caused a continuous ribbon or 
 strip of paper to move under a pencil by clock-work, that could be 
 w r ound up. The paper moved horizontally. The pencil moved only 
 up and down ; when resting on the paper it made a mark — if for an 
 instant only, a dot ; if for a longer time, a line. When lifted from 
 the paper it left a blank. Here were three elements — dots, lines, 
 and spaces — which, interwoven with intervals of time, could either 
 of them be repeated, or they could be combined variously with each 
 other to produce groups that should stand for letters. 
 
 The grandeur of this wonderful alphabet of dots, lines, and 
 spaces, has not been fully appreciated. It has been translated from 
 one sense to another. In the Morse telegraph it may be used, and 
 is used, by the sight, the touch, the taste, the hearing, and the 
 sense of feeling. 1 
 
 Bain succeeded in using the current of electricity without an 
 electro-magnet, but he had to borrow Morse's alphabet. Thomp- 
 son's reflecting galvanometer, used b} 7 the Atlantic cable, although 
 a visual semaphore, employs the Morse alphabet. 
 
 Sir William Thompson has recently succeeded in converting his 
 wonderfully sensitive apparatus into a recording telegraph, with the 
 Morse alphabet. 
 
 We are no longer surprised when we find that Steinheil, at 
 the head of German telegraphy, advised the abandonment of his 
 own most ingenious and elaborate apparatus, and the adoption of 
 the Morse system and its alphabet. Nor do we wonder at its gen- 
 eral adoption throughout the world. 
 
 All concede the conception of the written and recorded alpha- 
 bet and the mode of printing to Morse on board the Sully. This 
 conception presupposes the use of the electrical current, the employ- 
 
 1 The taste is occasionally taken advantage of where accidents occur on the 
 line of railroads and telegraphs, where a skillful operator happens to be present. 
 He cuts the wire, establishes metallic communication with the earth, and signals by 
 uniting and separating the end of the severed wire near the station, with the metal- 
 lic conductor leading to the earth. He receives the message in answer by placing 
 his tongue between the two metallic points, receiving the shocks and observing the 
 intervals between them, which correspond with those produced by the key at the 
 station. * 
 
INDEBTEDNESS TO OTHERS. 283 
 
 merit of the alternate activity and repose of the current, and an 
 apparatus for breaking and closing the circuit at determined inter- 
 vals. 
 
 THE NEED OF AN INVENTOR. 
 
 The indebtedness of Professor Morse, as an inventor, to others 
 mav be regarded as of two kinds. There were the results of scien- 
 tific research and discovery made by men who had gone before him, 
 and with which he was, in general terms, familiar. Then there was 
 the cooperation of assistants whom he took into his confidence and 
 compensated for their services. 
 
 He completed the plan of his alphabet, his mode of writing 
 and printing, and committed them to paper, on board the Sully, in 
 1832, and exhibited a- working model of his conception in action in 
 1835 ; and a model, but not in action, of the relay to various per- 
 sons in 1835 and 1836. His alphabet, his new mode of writing and 
 printing, were clear-cut, realized conceptions ; but to perfect the 
 apparatus involved resources which he had not. There were no 
 shops at that time to which he might go for the ready purchase of 
 electro-magnets, batteries, insulated wires, etc. A blacksmith must 
 be employed to bend an iron rod to the form of a horseshoe, and 
 the wire must be wound by hand. Nor were there at hand facilities 
 for repairs, or professors accomplished and ready to advise in the 
 science scarcely yet developed enough to meet the wants of the in- 
 ventor. There was not a constant battery. There was, indeed, the 
 battery of many pairs (Cruikshank's), and Sturgeon had produced 
 his electro-magnet in 1825. But the new art required an inventor. 
 
 The substitution by Henry of the concentric multiplier, in 
 place of the loose, oblique coil of Sturgeon, reduced the strength 
 of the battery necessarily required ; and his employment of a bat- 
 tery of many pairs in place of a single pair having the same surface, 
 which projected the current through greater length of wire, and so 
 made possible the magnetizing of iron at a distance, revealed the 
 direction in which development was to tak% place. This disclosed 
 a principle on which the registering apparatus could be worked at 
 a distance. But still there was needed an inventor. 
 
 Not one of all the brilliant scientific men who have attached 
 their names to the history of electro-magnetism had brought the 
 means to produce the practical registering telegraph. Some of 
 them had ascended the tower that looked out on the field of con- 
 quest. Some of them brought keener vision than others. Some of 
 
284 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 them stood higher than others. But the genius of invention had 
 not recognized them. There was needed an inventor. Now, what 
 sort of a want is this ? 
 
 There was required a rare combination of qualities and condi- 
 tions. There must be ingenuity in the adaptation of available 
 means to desired ends ; there must be the genius to see through 
 non-essentials to the fundamental principle on which success de- 
 pends ; there must be a kind of skill in manipulation ; great pa- 
 tience and pertinacity; a certain measure of culture; and the invent- 
 or of a recording telegraph must be capable of being inspired by 
 the grandeur of the thought of writing, figuratively speaking, with 
 a pen a thousand miles long — with the thought of a postal system 
 without the element of time. Moreover, the person who is to be 
 the inventor must be free from the exactions of well-compensated, 
 every-day absorbing duties — perhaps he must have had the final 
 baptism of poverty. 
 
 Now, the inventor of the registering telegraph did not rise 
 from the perusal of any brilliant paper ; he happened to be at 
 leisure on shipboard, ready to contribute and share in the after- 
 dinner conversation of a ship's cabin, when the occasion arose. 
 
 Morse's electro-magnetic telegraph was mainly an invention 
 employing power and agencies, through mechanical devices, to 
 produce a given end. It involved the combination of the results 
 of the labors of others with a succession of special contrivances and 
 some discoveries of the inventor himself. There was an ideal whole 
 almost at the outset, but involving great thought and labor and 
 patience and invention to produce an art harmonious in its organi- 
 zation and action. 
 
CHAPTEE YIJI. 
 
 1832-1838. 
 
 ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK — THE BEOTHEES' TESTIMONY — MOULD AND TYPE 
 THE FIEST THINGS MADE FOE THE TELEGRAPH — CASTINGS PRESEEVED — 
 STRUGGLES OF THE INVENTOE — POYEETY AND DISTRESS— HIS BEOTHEES' 
 SYMPATHY AND AID — MAKING THE TELEGEAPHIO INSTEUMENT — AT THE 
 LATHE — FAITH IN GOD AND HIMSELF — EEJEOTED AS ONE OF THE 
 PAINTEES OF A PIOTUEE FOE THE CAPITOL — AETISTS' SYMPATHY — 
 ELECTED PEOFESSOE IN TJNIVEESITY OF NEW YORK — BOOMS IN BUILDING 
 
 — APPAEATUS — COOKS HIS OWN FOOD IN HIS ROOM ANNOUNCEMENT 
 
 OF HIS INVENTION FRENCH IDEA OF TELEGRAPH PEOFESSOE GALE'S 
 
 STATEMENT — DANIEL HUNTINGTON HAMILTON FISH EEV. MR. SEELYE 
 
 COMMODORE STARBUCK ROBERT G. RANKIN REY. DR. H. B. TAPPAN 
 
 ALFRED YADL BECOMES A PARTNER LETTEE TO SECEETAEY OF TEEAS- 
 
 URY — SECRETARY'S REPORT TO CONGRESS — PROFESSOR GALE A PARTNER 
 — THE INSTRUMENT AT SPEEDWELL — THREE MILES OF WIRE — EXPERI- 
 MENTS — EXHIBITION IN NEW YORK — TEN MILES OF WIRE — FIRST DIS- 
 PATCH PRESERVED EXHIBITED TO THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE — : BEPOET — 
 
 THE INSTEUMENT IN WASHINGTON — EXHIBITED TO THE PRESIDENT AND 
 
 CABINET HON. F. O. J. SMITH PROFESSOR MORSE'S LETTERS TO MR. 
 
 SMITH REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF COMMERCE — PARTNERSHIP WITH MR. 
 
 SMITH — LETTERS TO VAIL — PEEPAEATIONS FOR A JOURNEY TO EUROPE. 
 
 TT^HE Sully reached the wharf at the foot of Rector Street, 
 J- New York, November 15, 1832. The two brothers of 
 Mr. Morse, Sidney E. and Richard C. Morse, were there to meet 
 and welcome him on his arrival. His brother Riehard says : 
 
 " Hardly had the usual greetings passed between us three broth- 
 ers, and while on our way to my house, before he informed us that 
 he had made, during his voyage, an important invention, which 
 had occupied almost all his attention on shipboard — one that 
 would astonish the world, and of the success of which he was per- 
 
286 LIFE 0F SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 fectly sanguine ; that this invention was a means of communicating 
 intelligence by electricity, so that a message could be written down 
 in a permanent manner, by characters, at a distance from the 
 writer. He took from his pocket and showed from his sketch-book, 
 in which he had drawn them, the kind of characters he proposed to 
 use. These characters were dots and spaces, representing the ten 
 digits or numerals ; and in the book were sketched other parts of 
 his electro-magnetic machinery and apparatus, actually drawn out 
 in his sketch-book." 
 
 His brother Sidney says : 
 
 " He was full of the subject of the Telegraph during the walk 
 from the ship, and for some days afterward could scarcely speak 
 about any thing else. He expressed himself anxious to make appa- 
 ratus and try experiments, for which he had had no materials or facili- 
 ties on shipboard. In the course of a few days after his arrival he 
 made a kind of cogged or saw-toothed type, the object of which, I 
 understood, was to regulate the interruptions of the electric current, 
 so as to enable him to make dots, and regulate the length of marks 
 or spaces on the paper upon which the information transmitted by 
 his telegraph was to be recorded. He proposed at that time a 
 single circuit of wire, and only a single circuit, and letters, words, 
 and phrases, were to be indicated by numerals, and these numerals 
 were to be indicated by dots and other marks and spaces on paper. 
 It seemed to me that, as wire was cheap, it would be better to 
 have twenty-four wires, each wire representing a letter of the alpha- 
 bet, but "my brother always insisted upon the superior advantages 
 of his single circuit." 
 
 Without delay Mr. Morse proceeded to construct the instru- 
 ment which was to test the practicability of his invention. He 
 was now an inmate of his brother Richard's house, and there he 
 resided several months. Mrs. Morse states that he was, imme- 
 diately after his arrival, engaged in melting lead and casting it 
 into moulds, making forms which he called type. She says — 
 and her memory was doubtless sharpened by the unlucky acci- 
 dent she mentions — that " he melted the lead, which he used, 
 over the fire in the grate of my front parlor, and, in his oper- 
 ation of casting the type, he spilled some of the heated metal 
 upon the drugget, or loose carpeting before the fireplace, and 
 upon a flag-bottomed chair, upon which his mould was placed." 
 
FORLORN SITUATION. 287 
 
 This was the first step that Mr. Morse took in the actual con- 
 struction of his electro-telegraphic instrument. Some of the 
 first forms or type thus made by casting melted lead into a 
 mould prepared for receiving them, he "presented to the writer 
 of this memoir, who deposited them with the New York His- 
 torical Society, to be preserved in the archives of that insti- 
 tution. 
 
 From this hour began a struggle that lasted twelve years, 
 more severe, heroic, and triumphant, than the annals of any 
 other invention furnish for the warning and encouragement 
 of genius. With his mind absorbed in this one idea of a 
 recording telegraph, and wholly dependent upon his profession 
 as an artist, it was impossible to pursue his art with the 
 enthusiasm and industry essential to success. Nor would his 
 invention have been perfected while he continued his devotion 
 to his profession as an artist. His situation was forlorn in 
 the extreme. The father of three little children, now mother- 
 less, his pecuniary means exhausted by his residence in Europe, 
 unable to pursue his art without sacrificing his invention, 
 he was at his wits' ends. He had visions of usefulness, by the 
 invention of a Telegraph that should bring the ends of the earth 
 into instant intercourse. Thoughts of fame came to him by day 
 and night, and a lawful ambition was kindled. He was poor, 
 and knew that wealth, as well as usefulness and fame, was with- 
 in his reach. He had long received assistance from his father 
 and brothers, when his profession did not supply the needed 
 means of support for himself and family, but it seemed like 
 robbery to take the money of others to expend upon experi- 
 ments, the success of which he could not expect them to believe 
 in until he could give practical evidence that the instrument 
 could do the work proposed. It was the old story repeated, 
 and to be repeated, of genius contending with poverty. He 
 knew what rapid progress was now made in science and art ; 
 the idea which he had started might spread like electricity itself, 
 far and wide; the danger was great that some one else, with 
 more time and means, would seize the thought, reduce it to 
 practice, and present it to the world, while he was brooding 
 over it in melancholy indecision and helplessness. His letters 
 to friends in former years very frequently indicated a tendency 
 
288 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 to despondency. He was now sinking very low. The appre- 
 hension that he might not be able to go on with his work filled 
 him at times with anguish. His brothers comforted, encouraged, 
 and cheered him. In "the house of his brother Richard he 
 found a home, and the tender care that he required. Sidney, 
 the other brother, lent him the resources of a powerful intellect. 
 With them it was his habit to consult with the greatest free- 
 dom, telling them all the difficulties he encountered, and the 
 steps that he must mount to reach the height of his great con- 
 ception. 
 
 Just "before he left Europe to return home, he had written 
 to his brothers, and these were his sad words : " I have fre- 
 quently felt melancholy in thinking of my prospects for en- 
 couragement when I return, and your letter found me in one of 
 those moments. You cannot, therefore, conceive with what 
 feelings I read your offer of a room in your new house. Give me 
 a resting-place, and I will yet move the country in favor of the 
 arts. I return with some hopes, but many fears. Will my 
 country employ me on works which may do it honor ? I want 
 a commission from Government to execute two pictures from 
 the life of Columbus, and I want eight thousand dollars for 
 each, and on these two I will stake my reputation as an artist." 
 
 Two or three years were passed in this melancholy mood, 
 his profession as an artist taking him from place to place, as he 
 had commissions that required him to reside for a time here 
 and there. Small opportunity was allowed him to pursue his 
 vision of the Telegraph. " During this time," he says, " I never 
 lost faith in the practicability of the invention, nor abandoned 
 the intention of testing it as soon as I could command the 
 means." 
 
 On the corner of Nassau and Beekman Streets his brothers 
 afterward erected a building in which were the offices of the 
 newspaper of which they were the editors and proprietors. 
 In the fifth" story of this building a room was assigned to 
 him, which for a long time was his study, studio, bedchamber, 
 parlor, kitchen, drawing-room, and workshop. On one side 
 of the room stood the little cot on which he slept, when sleep 
 was kind enough to visit him, in the brief hours which he 
 allowed himself for repose. On the other side of the room, by 
 
M0E8E MAKING HIS OWN INSTEUMENT. 
 
HIS MANUAL LABOR. 289 
 
 ft 
 
 the window, stood his lathe, with which he, his own mechani- 
 cian and workman, as' well as inventor, turned the brass appa- 
 ratus necessary for him to use in the construction of his instru- 
 ment. He had, with his own hands, first whittled the models ; 
 then with the models he made the moulds and the castings. In 
 the lathe, with the graver's tool, he gave them polish and finish. 
 Into this room were brought to him, from day to day, crackers 
 and the simplest food, which, with tea, prepared by himself, 
 sustained his life, while he toiled incessantly to give form and 
 being to the idea that possessed him. 
 
 To mingle with the world in the pursuit of his favorite art, 
 or to enjoy the pleasures of social life, of which no man was 
 more fond, would divert his mind from the work in which he 
 was absorbed, while patiently and believingly he hoped to reach 
 the grand result. He had faith in God, and strong confidence 
 in his own ability eventually to make the instrument practically 
 successful. He knew what he had done before. Nothing ap- 
 peared to him wanting except the pecuniary means to sustain 
 him to the horn' of accomplishment. If he should die before it 
 was done, his conception would perish with him. . Stimulated 
 by these anticipations and apprehensions, he studied the strictest 
 economy in food and dress, dependent now almost exclusively 
 upon his brothers for the scanty supply which he was willing to 
 receive while engaged in a work which to all others seemed 
 visionary. 
 
 In the midst of this conflict, the Government was offering to 
 American artists, to be selected by a committee of Congress, 
 commissions to paint pictures for the panels in the Rotunda of 
 the Capitol. Morse was anxious, as we have already seen, to be 
 employed upon one or more, of them. The artists of the country 
 urged his selection. He was the President of the' National 
 Academy of Design, and there was an eminent fitness in calling 
 him to this national work. No artist in the United JStates, ex- 
 cept Allston, his teacher and friend, had so high and so wide a 
 reputation as Morse, and Allston urged the appointment of 
 Morse, declining to take one of the commissions that was offered 
 to himself. John Quincy Adams, ex-President of the United 
 States, and now a member of the House of Representatives, 
 and on the committee to whom this subject was referred, submit- 
 19 
 
290 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ted a resolution in the House that foreign artists be allowed to 
 compete for these commissions, and in support of his resolution 
 alleged that there were no American artists competent to exe- 
 cute the paintings. This allegation gave great and just offence 
 to the artists and the public. A severe and masterly reply to 
 the remarks of Mr. Adams appeared in the New York Evening 
 Post. This reply was written by James Fenimore Cooper, but it 
 was attributed to Mr. Morse, whose pen was well known to be as 
 skillful as his pencil. So far from being its author, Mr. Morse 
 did not know that Mr. Adams had made the offensive remarks 
 until Mr. Cooper came and read to him the reply in the Post. 
 But it was generally understood that Mr. Morse was regarded by 
 Mr. Adams as the author, and that in consequence of that belief 
 the name of Mr. Morse was rejected by the committee. He 
 never recovered from the effects of that blow. Forty years af- 
 terward he could not speak of it without emotion. He had 
 consecrated the previous years of his life to preparation for such 
 a work. His brethren of the profession had accorded to him 
 the highest position in their guild. His ambition had fastened 
 upon this as the fitting opportunity to place before his country- 
 men, in the Capitol, the greatest achievement of his genius and 
 skill. His teacher and friend, "Washington Allston, wrote to him 
 these sympathetic lines : 
 
 " I have learned the disposition of the ' pictures.' I had hoped 
 to find your name among the commissioned artists; but I was 
 grieved to find that all my efforts in your behalf have proved fruit- 
 less. I know what your disappointment must have been at this re- 
 sult, and most sincerely do I sympathize with you. That my efforts 
 were both sincere and conscientious I hope will be some consola- 
 tion to you. But let not this disappointment cast you down, my 
 friend. You have it still in your power to let the world know what 
 you can do. Dismiss it, then, from your mind, and determine to 
 paint all the better for it. God bless you ! 
 
 " Your affectionate friend, 
 
 "Washington Aixston." 
 
 But it was well for him, and his country, and the world, that 
 the artist was disappointed : Morse the painter became Morse 
 the inventor. He had indeed been for some years plodding on 
 with his invention, earning his daily bread with his brash, and 
 
SYMPATHY OF ARTISTS. 291 
 
 by giving lessons in art, but never abandoning the idea that the 
 Telegraph was yet to be accomplished. His brother artists were 
 grieved at the rejection of their President by the Government, 
 and they made an expression of their chagrin and sympathy by 
 such a testimonial as is doubtless without a parallel in the history 
 of the arts. General Cummings, in his " Annals of the Acad- 
 emy," gives the facts in these words : 
 
 " The writer called a meeting of artists at his house, March 17th 
 — suggested and arranged an association for the purpose of raising 
 funds, in fifty-dollar shares, for procuring Morse to paint an histori- 
 cal picture — the title, ' A Joint-stock Association of Artists for pro- 
 curing Morse to paint an Historical Picture.' Certificates were im- 
 mediately prepared and subscribers solicited. In a few days the 
 writer had the satisfaction of obtaining such to the amount of five 
 hundred dollars. John L. Morton, by his exertions, added another five 
 hundred. The efforts of others in a short time increased that amount 
 to two thousand dollars. At that point a great addition was at once 
 made to the fund. A gentleman well known, but who declined to 
 have his name made public, subscribed one thousand — thus making 
 a total of three thousand dollars ; and Mr. , of Brooklyn, gen- 
 erously offered to contribute, free of charge, canvas, and all material 
 required in the execution of the work. Thus armed, the writer and 
 John L. Morton waited on Morse, and communicated the result — the 
 first knowledge he had of the undertaking. The effect was electrical 
 — it aroused him from his depression, and he exclaimed, ' that 
 never had he read or known of such an act of professional generos- 
 ity ; ' and that he was fully determined to paint the picture — his 
 favorite subject, 'The Signing of the First Compact on board the 
 Mayflower ' — not of small size, as requested, but of the size of the 
 panels in the Rotunda. That was immediately assented to by the 
 committee, thinking it possible that one or the other of the pic- 
 tures so ordered might fail in execution — in which case it would 
 afford favorable inducements to its substitution, and of course much 
 to Mr. Morse's profit — as the artists from the first never contem- 
 plated taking possession of the picture so executed ; it was to remain 
 with Mr. Morse, and for his use and benefit. Two or three install- 
 ments were collected and paid him, when his departure for Europe, 
 in the furtherance of his Telegraph — the success of which has ' won 
 him world-renowned reputation ' — caused a suspension of the paint- 
 ing, and delay was requested and acceded to by the subscribers." 
 
292 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 "When Mr. Morse determined to go abroad, lie wrote to Mi*. 
 Cummings as follows : 
 
 " Circumstances relating to the Telegraph, invented by me in 
 1832, will require my attention for an indefinite time, and I am 
 about to visit Europe, principally in reference to matters in connec- 
 tion with this invention. At the same time, indeed, I have in view 
 seme studies connected with the picture which the association have 
 commissioned me to paint for them. Yet, I ought not to conceal 
 from the gentlemen who have so generously formed the association, 
 that circumstances may arise, in relation to the Telegraph, which 
 may make it a paramount duty, to myself and my country, to sus- 
 pend for a season the commission with which they have honored 
 me." 
 
 Finding that be could not execute tbe painting, and wishing 
 to relieve himself of the position in which he then stood, Mr. 
 Morse returned to the stockholders the amount in full, with 
 interest, and canceled the obligation. 
 
 In the year 1835 Mr. Morse was appointed Professor of the 
 Literature of the Arts of Design in the New York City Uni- 
 versity. Before the apartments were completly finished he re- 
 moved from Greenwich Lane to the third floor, front rooms, 
 in the north wing of the University building, looking out upon 
 Washington Square. 
 
 " There," he says, " I immediately commenced, with very limited 
 means, to experiment upon my invention. 1 My first instrument was 
 made up of an old picture or canvas frame fastened to a table ; the 
 wheels of an old wooden clock, moved by a weight to carry the 
 paper forward ; three wooden drums, upon one of which the paper 
 was wound and passed over the other two ; a wooden pendulum 
 suspended to the top piece of the picture or stretching frame, and 
 vibrating across the paper as it passes over the centre wooden drum ; 
 a pencil at the lower end of the pendulum, in contact with the paper ; 
 an electro-magnet fastened to a shelf across the picture or stretching- 
 frame, opposite to an armature made fast to the pendulum ; a type 
 rule and type for breaking the circuit, resting on an endless band, 
 composed of carpet-binding, which passed over two wooden rollers, 
 moved by a wooden crank, and carried forward by points projecting 
 
 1 See appendix A for illustrated history of the invention. 
 
HIS FIRST APPARATUS. 293 
 
 from the bottom of the rule downward into the carpet-binding ; a 
 lever, with a small weight on the upper side, and a tooth projecting 
 downward at one end, operated on by the type, and a metallic fork 
 also projecting downward over two mercury-cups, and a short cir- 
 cuit of wire, embracing the helices of the electro-magnet connected 
 with the positive and negative poles of the battery and terminating 
 in the mercury-cups. When the instrument was at rest the circuit 
 was broken at the mercury -cups ; as soon as the first type in the 
 type-rule (put in motion by turning the wooden crank) came in con- 
 tact with the tooth on the lever, it raised that end of the lever and 
 depressed the other, bringing the prongs of the fork down into the 
 mercury, thus closing the circuit ; the current passing through the 
 helices of the electro-magnet caused the pendulum to move and the 
 pencil to make an oblique mark upon the paper, which, in the 
 mean time, had been put in motion over the wooden drum. The 
 tooth in the lever falling into the first two cogs of the types, the cir- 
 cuit was broken when the pendulum returned to its former position, 
 the pencil making another mark as it returned across the paper. 
 Thus, as the lever was alternately raised and depressed by the points 
 of the type, the pencil passed to and fro across the slip of paper 
 passing under it, making a mark resembling a succession of Vs. 
 The spaces between the types caused the pencil to mark horizontal 
 lines, long or short, in proportion to the length of the spaces. 
 With this apparatus, rude as it was, and completed before the first 
 of the year 1836, 1 was enabled to and did mark down telegraphic in- 
 telligible signs, and to make and did make distinguishable sounds for 
 telegraphing; and, having arrived at that point, I exhibited it to 
 some of my friends early in that year, and among others to Professor 
 Leonard D. Gale, who was a college professor in the university. 1 
 I also experimented with the chemical power of the electric current 
 in 1836, and succeeded in marking my telegraphic signs upon paper 
 dipped in turmeric and a solution of the sulphate of soda (as well as 
 other salts), by passing the current through it. I was soon satisfied, 
 however, that the electro-magnetic power was more available for 
 telegraphic purposes and possessed many advantages over any other, 
 and I turned my thoughts in that direction. Early in 1836 I pro- 
 cured forty feet of wire, and putting it in the circuit I found that my 
 battery of one cup was not sufficient to work my instrument. This 
 result suggested to me the probability that the magnetism to be ob- 
 tained from the electric current would diminish in proportion as the 
 
 1 See page 299. 
 
294 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOKSE. 
 
 circuit was lengthened, so as to be insufficient for any practical pur- 
 poses at great distances ; and to remove that probable obstacle to 
 my success I conceived the idea of combining two or more circuits 
 together in the manner described in my first patent, each with an 
 independent battery, making use of the magnetism of the current on 
 the first to close and break the second ; the second, the third, and 
 so on. This contrivance was fully set forth in my patents. My 
 chief concern, therefore, on my subsequent patents was to ascertain 
 to what distance from the battery sufficient magnetism could be ob- 
 tained to vibrate a piece of metal, knowing that, if I could obtain 
 the least motion at the distance of eight or ten miles, the ultimate 
 object was within my grasp. A practical mode of communicating 
 the impulse of one circuit to another, such as that described in my 
 patent of 1840, was matured as early as the spring of 1837, and ex- 
 hibited then to Professor Gale, my confidential friend. 
 
 " Up to the autumn of 1837 my telegraphic apparatus existed in 
 so rude a form that I felt a reluctance to have it seen. My means 
 were very limited — so limited as to preclude the possibility of con- 
 structing an apparatus of such mechanical finish as to warrant my 
 success in venturing upon its public exhibition. I had no wish to 
 expose to ridicule the representative of so many hours of laborious 
 thought. Prior to the summer of 1837, at which time Mr. Alfred 
 Vail's attention became attracted to my Telegraph, I depended upon 
 my pencil for subsistence. Indeed, so straitened were my circum- 
 stances that, in order to save time to carry out my invention and to 
 economize my scanty means, I had for many months lodged and 
 eaten in my studio, procuring my food in small quantities from some 
 grocery, and preparing it myself. To conceal from my friends the 
 stinted manner in which I lived, I was in the habit of bringing my 
 food to my room in the evenings, and this was my mode of life for 
 many years." 
 
 In the year 1853, Professor Morse alluded to these days of 
 trial in some remarks at a meeting of the Association of the 
 Alumni of the University of ]STew York City : 
 
 " Yesternight, on once more entering your chapel, I saw the 
 same marble staircase and marble floors I once so often trod, and so 
 often with a heart and head overburdened with almost crushing- 
 anxieties. Separated from the chapel by but a thin partition was 
 that room I occupied, now your Philomathean Hall, whose walls — 
 had thoughts and mental struggles, with the alternations of joys 
 
INTENTION OF THE RELAY. 295 
 
 and sorrows, the power of being daguerreotyped upon them — 
 would show a thickly-studded gallery of evidence that there the 
 Briarean infant was born who has stretched forth his arms with the 
 intent to encircle the world. Yes, that room of the University was 
 the birthplace of the Recording Telegraph. Attempts, indeed, 
 have been made to assign to it other parentage, and to its birth- 
 place other localities. Personally, I have very little anxiety on this 
 point, except that the truth should not suffer ; for I have a con- 
 sciousness which neither sophistry nor ignorance can shake, that 
 that room is the place of its birth, and a confidence, too, that its 
 cradle is in hands that will sustain its rightful claim." 
 
 " In 1835," says Professor Horsford, " Morse made his discovery 
 of the relay, the most brilliant of all the achievements to which his 
 name must be forever attached. It was the discovery of a means by 
 which the current, which through distance from its source had be- 
 come feeble, could be reenforced or renewed. This discovery, ac- 
 cording to the different objects for which it is employed, is vari- 
 ously known as the registering magnet, the local circuit, the margi- 
 nal circuit, the repeater, etc. It made transmission from one point 
 on a main line through indefinitely great distances, and through an 
 indefinite number of branch lines, and to an indefinite number of 
 way-stations, and registration at all, possible and practicable, from 
 a single act of a single operator." 
 
 Professor Morse also exhibited to Professor Horsford one of 
 the instruments which illustrated his inventive genius. It re- 
 sembled, in external appearance, a small melodeon, having a key- 
 board, on which were the letters, the figures, periods, commas, etc. 
 These keys were levers. The ends of the levers, distant from the 
 seat of the operator, were in connection with brass circular disks, 
 upon the rims of which were prominences and depressions of une- 
 qual length, so arranged that the prominences would close and the 
 depressions open the magnetic circuit, and thus magnetize and de- 
 magnetize a bar of soft iron. When magnetized, the bar of iron 
 drew to itself one end of a lever, having an iron armature, to the 
 other end of which a pencil or pen was attached, the point of which, 
 by this action of the magnet, was pressed against a moving ribbon 
 of paper ; when the bar was demagnetized, the lever was restored 
 to its original position by a spring, and the pencil lifted from the 
 paper. It is easy to see that an arrangement of prominences and 
 depressions, or conductors and non-conductors, on the brass circles 
 might be so contrived that each key should produce its own par tic- 
 
296 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ular set of lines, dots, and spaces. This was the first practical 
 Registering Telegraph. Its invention dates October, 1832, on the 
 Sully. Its first testing was made in 1835. 
 
 The piano key-board of Morse, and its complex devices for in- 
 terrupting and closing the circuit, gave place, as the result of prac- 
 tical experiment, before the issue of the patent, to the very simple 
 device of the single key, with which we are all familiar. The pencil 
 and pen gave place to a stylus — a simple, hard point, resting upon 
 a ribbon of paper, moving at a uniform rate, immediately over a 
 groove. His plan, from the outset, contemplated a single current 
 and circuit. After the discovery of Steinheil, that the earth might 
 be used for a part of the circuit, Morse adopted the arrangement of 
 a single line of wire between the stations. 
 
 "In 1836, and the early part of 1837," Professor Morse says, 
 " I directed my experiments mainly to modifications of the marking 
 apparatus, contrivances for using fountain-pens, marking with a 
 ,hard point through pentagraphic or blackened paper, at one time 
 on a revolving disk, spirally from the centre, at another on a cylin- 
 der, by which means a large, ordinary sheet of paper might be so 
 written upon that it could be read as a commonplace-book, and 
 bound for reference in volumes, and devising modes of marking 
 upon chemically-prepared paper. As my means and the duties of 
 my profession would admit, the spring and autumn of 1837 were 
 employed in improving the instrument, varying the modes of writ- 
 ing, experimenting with plumbago and varkms kinds of ink or col- 
 oring-matter, substituting a pen for a pencil, and devising a mode 
 of writing on a whole sheet of paper instead of on a strip of rib- 
 bon ; and, in the latter part of August or the beginning of Sep- 
 tember of that year, the instrument was shown in the cabinet of 
 the University to numerous visitors, operating through a circuit of 
 seventeen hundred feet of wire running back and forth in that 
 room. 
 
 " At this date (early in 1837) the public attention had been 
 drawn to the subject of telegraphs by rather pompous announce- 
 ments of marvelous improvements by two French gentlemen of the 
 names of Gronon and Servell, improvements so ambiguously de- 
 scribed and mystified, that I was deceived by them into the belief 
 that their invention must be an electric telegraph. 
 
 " Newly-invented Telegraph. — We take the following from 
 a "Washington letter in the JBaltimore Patriot : ' Mr. Gonon and 
 his associate, Mr. Servell, have, after many years' application to the 
 
FIKST PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT. 297 
 
 subject, invented an important S} 7 stem of telegraphs, which casts 
 into the shade every thing of the same kind that has yet been at- 
 tempted. By their admirable plan, they can communicate every 
 kind of information, word by word, and punctuate the same, with- 
 out using more signals than words, and with as much rapidity as a 
 person can write or even speak! They have received the most 
 flattering encouragement from those literary and scientific gentle- 
 men to whom they have explained the system, and not a doubt is 
 entertained that it will accomplish the purposes of the inventors, 
 and realize all that has been anticipated for it. Mr. Gonon assures 
 me that he will be able to communicate a dispatch of one hundred 
 words from New York to New Orleans in half an hour! — and 
 those who are thoroughly acquainted with the system confirm his 
 promises. How elementary does every other system appear, in 
 comparison to that which can accomplish such an object ! The 
 imagination is overpowered in contemplating the consequences of 
 such an achievement of human ingenuity. Distance is annihilated. 
 Thousands of miles no longer divide us. "We know on the instant, 
 as it were, the actions, the wishes, the determinations of our fellow- 
 beings of other States. Fortunate it is that we live in an age for 
 whose intellectual progress nothing is too ripe.' 
 
 "My brother, the editor of the New York Observer, copied the 
 above announcement into his paper, and, in a few words, stated the 
 fact of the existence of my invention, and showed how, in one 
 mode, electricity might be made to answer the purpose of tele- 
 graphic communication — a mode of his own — not attempting to de- 
 scribe mine ; and the following was the first public mention of the 
 Morse Telegraph : 
 
 " ' We know nothing of the telegraph of Messrs. Gonon and 
 Servell, except what is related in the above paragraph ; but we do 
 know that a gentleman of our acquaintance, several years since, 
 suggested that intelligence might be communicated almost in- 
 stantaneously, hundreds if not thousands of miles, by means of 
 very fine wires, properly coated to protect them from moisture, and 
 extending between places thus widely separated. It is well known 
 that the electric fluid occupies no perceptible time in passing many 
 miles on a wire, and, if it is possible by connecting one end of the 
 wire with an electrical or galvanic battery to produce any sensible 
 effect whatever at the other, it is obvious that, if there are 
 twenty-four wires, each representing a letter of the alphabet, 
 they may be connected with the battery successively, in any 
 order, and, if so connected in the order of the letters of any word 
 or sentence, that word or sentence could be read or written by a 
 person standing at the other end of the wires. All the letters 
 of a paragraph in a newspaper could thus be touched successively 
 by a man in Philadelphia, and the contents, verbatim et literatim, 
 be convened to New York as fast as a compositor could set up the 
 
298 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 type ! It is not impossible that the time may be near when speeches 
 in Congress, taken down by reporters, and conveyed by these 
 " electric telegraphs " to New York or New Orleans, may be in type, 
 printed, circulated, and read within a few hours after the voice of 
 the speaker has ceased at Washington. The wires necessary for a 
 distance of a hundred miles need not weigh many pounds, and if in- 
 closed in an India-rubber tube, and supported on high poles erected 
 along the route, at intervals of four or five hundred feet, could be 
 extended through an immense distance at a trifling expense. The 
 feasibility of the project depends entirely upon the practicability 
 of producing any sensible effect at one end of a long wire, by con- 
 necting the other end with an electrical or galvanic battery.' 
 
 " The improvements of the French gentlemen, promising such 
 miraculous results, proved, on inquiry, to be only some modification 
 of the now almost universally-exploded aerial telegraph, improve- 
 ments upon Chappe's semaphore, and having no relation to the 
 Electric Telegraphs of modern days." 
 
 Whatever it was, the plan of the Frenchmen commanded 
 the attention of Congress ; a bill was introduced to refund to its 
 projectors the money they had expended in experiments, but it 
 has passed out of sight, and the " impossible " mode of Professor 
 Morse connects all quarters of the globe. 
 
 The recollections of those who were witnesses of Professor 
 Morse's experiments, or of their results, form the most valuable 
 portion of this history, and, though necessarily repetitious, are 
 here recorded. 
 
 Professor L. D. Gale gives the minutest account of the birth of 
 the invention. He says : " I was a colleague professor in the Uni- 
 versity of the City of New York, in January, 1836, with Professor 
 Morse, who had rooms in the University building. During the 
 month of January he invited me into his private room in the Uni- 
 versity, where I saw for the first time certain apparatus consti- 
 tuting his electro-magnetic telegraph. The invention at that time 
 consisted of the following pieces of apparatus : 
 
 " First. A train of clock- wheels, being part of a common wooden 
 clock, adapted to regulate the motion of a strip of paper, or ribbon 
 formed of strips of paper pasted together, end to end, about one and 
 a half inch wide. 
 
 " Second. Three cylinders or drums of wood, arranged as in the 
 accompanying drawings of the apparatus, which drawings represent 
 the apparatus essentially as then constructed, to wit : A, B, C, are 
 
PROFESSOR GALE'S ACCOUNT. 
 
 299 
 
 the cylinders ; A is the paper cylinder from which the paper is un- 
 rolled, passing over cylinder B to cylinder C, which is connected 
 with and moved by the clock machinery of D, which is the wooden 
 
 clock of which I spoke, and which was moved by the weight E. A 
 wooden pendulum, F, of the shape delineated, was suspended over 
 the centre of cylinder, B having its pivot at/ This pendulum had 
 
300 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 its motion at right angles or across the paper, when the paper was 
 in motion. In the lower part of the pendulum, through two cross- 
 pieces, was fixed a pencil-case, in which a pencil moved easily up 
 and down, and was kept in constant contact with the paper by a 
 light weight, g. At h was a projecting shelf from the frame XX, 
 upon which shelf was an electro-magnet fixed, while the armature to 
 be attracted by the said magnet was fixed upon the pendulum. The 
 wires or conductors from the helices of the magnet passed, one to 
 one pole of a single-pair galvanic battery, I, while the other wire 
 passed to a cup of mercury, k, at the portrule. The other pole of 
 the battery was connected by a wire to the other cup of mercury, I. 
 
 " Third. The portrule, represented below the table. This portrule 
 was a rude frame, containing two cylinders, LL, about two inches 
 diameter and two inches long; one of them was turned by a crank, 
 and they were connected by a band of green-worsted binding about 
 one and a half inch in diameter; M was the rule or composing- 
 stick ; it was made by two small thin rules about two feet long, side 
 by side, but separated about the eighth of an inch from each other, 
 forming a sort of trough in which were set up the type hereafter, to 
 be described, the cogs of which type are seen projecting on the top 
 of the rule, M. At N two standards were raised from the sides of 
 the long frame of the portrule and united at the top, in which stand- 
 ards was suspended a lever, 00. At one end of this lever was a 
 fork of copper wire, to be plunged, when the lever was depressed, 
 into the two cups of mercury, k and I • the other end of the lever 
 bore a weight to keep that end down, and beneath the weight was a 
 tooth like those upon the keys of a hand-organ. 
 
 " Fourth. There was a series of pieces of thin type-metal, which 
 Professor Morse called type, and which he showed me also in draw- 
 ings in a sketch-book, which drawings he informed me he had made 
 on board the ship. These are accurately represented in the sub- 
 joined drawing. They consisted of eleven pieces, having from one 
 (1) to five (5) cogs each, except one, which was used as a space ; the 
 first five numbers consisted of cogs, from one to five respectively, 
 with a short space after ; the second five numbers consisted also of 
 cogs from one to five respectively, with a long space after, a space 
 double the length of the first. 
 
 " The operation of the apparatus when used was this : Suppose 
 that the numbers 456, 320, and 4, were to be the numbers desired to 
 be sent, the type 4, 5, 6, were set up in the rule M ; after which a. 
 space was put to separate the whole number from the next, and so 
 
PROFESSOR GALE'S ACCOUNT. 3Q1 
 
 on. The rule, M, was then placed on the band of the portrule, and 
 by turning the crank the rule was sent gradually forward ; the cogs 
 of the type operating the lever, O O, to break and close the circuit of 
 the battery, J. When the circuit was closed, the magnet, h, attracted 
 the pendulum, F, causing a movement of the pencil, g, of about a 
 fourth of an inch. The pencil being in contact with the paper, if 
 the paper moved in the direction of the arrow, or vice versa, a con- 
 tinuous straight line was marked upon the paper, while the pendulum 
 was stationary either at one end or the other limit of its motion, but 
 when attracted by the magnet from one limit to the other, and sud- 
 denly released by the cessation of the magnetic force, it marked a 
 V-shaped point, as in the ' example of imprinting ' in the drawing, 
 and the successive breakings and closings of the circuit by the cogs 
 of the type caused the points to be impressed or marked upon the 
 moving paper in the manner there shown. By reading the extremi- 
 ties of the V-shaped point or points the figures intended were readily 
 recognized. 
 
 "During the year 1836, and beginning of 1837, the studies of 
 Professor Morse on his telegraph I found much interrupted by 
 his attention to his professional duties. I understood that want 
 of pecuniary means prevented him from procuring to be made 
 such mechanical improvements, and such substantial workmanship, 
 as would make the operation of his invention more exact. In 
 the months of March and April, 1837, the announcement of an 
 extraordinary telegraph on the visual plan (as it afterward proved 
 to be), the invention of two French gentlemen, of the names 
 of Gonon and Servell, was going the rounds of the papers. The 
 thought occurred to me, as well as to Professor Morse and some 
 others of his friends, that the invention of his electro-magnetic tele- 
 graph had somehow become known, and was the origin of the new 
 telegraph thus conspicuously announced. This announcement at 
 once aroused Professor Morse to renewed exertions to bring the 
 new invention creditably before the public, and to consent to a 
 public announcement of the existence of his invention. From April 
 to September, 1837, Professor Morse and myself were engaged to- 
 gether in the work of preparing magnets, winding wire, construct- 
 ing batteries, etc., in the Uuniversity, for an experiment on a larger 
 but still very limited scale, in the little leisure that each had to 
 spare, and being at the same time much cramped for funds. The la- 
 bors of Professor Morse at this period were mostly directed to modi- 
 fications of his instruments for marking, contriving the best modes 
 
302 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 of marking, varying the pencil, the pen, using plumbago, and ink, and 
 varying also the form of the paper, from a slip of paper to a sheet. 
 The latter part of August, 1837, the operation of the instruments 
 was shown to numerous visitors at the University. It was early a 
 question between Professor Morse and myself, where was the limit 
 of the magnetic power to move a lever. I expressed a doubt 
 whether a lever could be moved by this power at a distance of 
 twenty miles, and my settled conviction was that it could not 
 be done with sufficient force to mark characters on paper at one 
 hundred miles' distance. To this Professor Morse was accustomed 
 to reply, ' If I can succeed in working a magnet ten miles, I can 
 go round the globe? The chief anxiety, at this stage of the inven- 
 tion, was to ascertain the utmost limits of distance at which Mr. 
 Morse could work or move a lever by magnetic power. He often 
 said to me, ' It matters not how delicate the movement may be, if 
 I can obtain it at all, it is all I want? Professor Morse often re- 
 ferred to the number of stations which might be required, and which, 
 he observed, would add to the complication and expense. He al- 
 ways expressed his confidence of success in propagating magnetic 
 power through any distance of electric conductors which circum- 
 stances might render desirable. This plan was thus often explained 
 to me : ' Suppose,' said Professor Morse, ' that in experimenting on 
 twenty miles of wire we should find that the power of magnet- 
 ism is so feeble that it will but move a lever with certainty a hair's 
 breadth ; that would be insufficient, it may be, to write or print, yet 
 it would be sufficient to close and break another or a second circuit 
 twenty miles farther, and this second circuit could be made, in the 
 same manner, to break and close a third circuit twenty miles farther ; 
 and so on around the globe.' 
 
 " This general statement of the means to be resorted to, now 
 embraced in what is called the receiving magnet (relays), to render 
 practical writing or printing by telegraph, through long distances, 
 was shown to me more in detail early in the spring of the year 
 1837. 
 
 " The apparatus was arranged on a plan substantially as indi- 
 cated in the drawings. One (1) is a battery at one terminus of a 
 line of conductors representing twenty miles in length, from one pole 
 of which the conductor proceeds to the helix of ah electro-magnet 
 at the other terminus (the helix forming part of the conductor) ; 
 thence it returns to the battery end, terminating in a mercury-cup, o. 
 From the contiguous mercury-cup, p, a wire proceeds to the other 
 
EXHIBITION OF THE TELEGRAPH. 303 
 
 pole of the battery ; when the fork of the lever, c, unites the two 
 cups of mercury the circuit is complete, and the magnet, b, is charged, 
 and attracts the armature of the lever, d, which connects the circuit 
 of battery 2 in the same manner, which again operates in turn the 
 
 lever, e, twenty miles farther, and so on. This was the plan then 
 and there revealed and shown to me by Professor Morse, and which, 
 so far as I know, has constituted an essential part of his electro- 
 magnetic telegraph from that date to the present time. 
 
 "On Saturday, the 2d day of September, 1837, Professor Dau- 
 beny, of the English Oxford University, being on a visit to this 
 countrj'-, was invited with a few friends to see the operation of the 
 telegraph, in its then rude form, in the cabinet of the New York 
 University, where it then had been put up with a circuit of 1,700 
 feet of copper wire, stretched back and forth in that long room. 
 Professor Daubeny, Professor Torrey, and Mr. Alfred Vail, were 
 present, among others. This exhibition of the telegraph, although 
 of very rude and imperfectly-constructed machinery, demonstrated 
 to all present the practicability of the invention, and it resulted in 
 enlisting the means, the skill, and the zeal of Mr. Alfred Vail, who, 
 early the next week, called at the rooms and had a more perfect 
 explanation from Professor Morse of the character of the invention. 
 The doubt to be dispelled in Mr. Vail's mind was whether the 
 power by magnetism could be propelled to such a distance as to be 
 practically effective. This doubt was dissipated in a few moments' 
 conversation with Professor Morse, and I have ever been under the 
 full conviction that it was the means then disclosed by Professor 
 Morse to Mr. Vail, to wit, the plan of repeating the power of 
 magnetism at any distance required, that induced Mr. Alfred Vail, 
 and his brother, Mr. George Vail, at once to interest themselves in 
 the invention, and to furnish Professor Morse with the means, 
 material, and labor, for an experiment on a larger scale." 
 
 The writer of this memoir having had an intimate acquaint- 
 ance of more than thirty years with Robert G. Rankin, Esq., 
 whose residence was formerly on Washington Square, on which 
 
304 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 also stands the University, and knowing his scientific attain- 
 ments and early acquaintance with Professor Morse's experi- 
 ments, addressed to Mr. Kankin a letter of inquiry, to which he 
 sent the following reply : 
 
 "Newburgh, N. Y., April 25, 1873. 
 
 " Professor Morse was one of the purest and noblest men of any 
 age. I believe I was among the earliest outside of his family circle 
 to whom he communicated his design to encircle the globe with 
 wire. I was some years since called upon as a witness in the great 
 Louisville suit, but my testimony on that trial was made before a 
 commission from the court, and was confined to technical answers 
 (in the form of an affidavit) to written interrogations, and of course 
 I was restricted in my testimony from testifying to much I might 
 have said, and would have been pleased to say, and I rejoice in 
 the opportunity of giving my recollections. Some time in the fall 
 of 1835 I was passing along the easterly walk of Washington Pa- 
 rade-ground, leading from Waverly Place to Fourth Street, when I 
 heard my name called. On turning round, I saw, over the picket- 
 fence, an outstretched arm, from a person standing in the middle or 
 main entrance-door of the unfinished University building of New 
 York, and immediately recognized the professor, who beckoned me 
 toward him. On meeting and exchanging salutations — and you 
 know how genial his were — he took me by the arm, and said: 
 
 " ' I wish you to go up into my sanctum and examine a piece of 
 mechanism, which, if you may not believe in, you, at least, will not 
 laugh at, as I fear some others will. I want you to give me your 
 frank opinion, as a friend, for I know your interest in and love of 
 the applied sciences.' 
 
 " On entering the sanctum in the third story of the finished part 
 of the building, the first thing my eye fell upon was an instrument 
 not dissimilar in outward appearances to one of our modern 
 melodeons, with a sort of key-board, like a movable series of 
 wooden strips. Around the room were placed coils of wire, and 
 many tools and articles generally used for mechanical purposes, be- 
 sides jars, apparently of chemicals, and implements usually asso- 
 ciated with galvanic experiments. My first exclamation was : 
 
 " ' Well, professor, what are you at now ? magnetism, electrici- 
 ty, music ' (for I supposed the latter machine was some musical in- 
 strument) ? 
 
 "His reply was — 
 
THE NATURAL AND MORAL. 305 
 
 " ' Well, now, let me do the talking, and you may ask questions 
 after I am through. You see those coils ? well, they contain a 
 continuous uninterrupted line of wire of ' (so many — I forget how 
 many) ' thousands of feet ' (one or more miles in length). ' You see 
 that battery there ? — this the positive pole, that the negative pole, 
 all connected with that key-board, and those keys are to connect 
 and interrupt the circuit, and in so doing produce the symbols of let- 
 ters ; although this instrument must be simplified, and is not yet 
 what I want.' 
 
 " He made many explanations respecting the process of con- 
 ductivity and continuity. A long silence on the part of each en- 
 sued, which was at length broken by my exclamation — 
 
 " ' Well, professor, you have a pretty play ! — theoretically true, 
 but practically useful only as a mantel ornament, or for a mistress 
 in the parlor to direct the maid in the cellar ! But, professor, cui 
 bono ? In imagination one can make a new earth, and improve all 
 the land communications of our old one ; but, my unfortunate prac- 
 ticality stands in the way of my comprehension as yet.' 
 
 " We then had a long conversation on the subject of magnetism 
 and its modifications, and, if I do not recollect the very words which 
 clothed his thoughts, they were substantially as follows : He had 
 been long impressed with the belief that God had created the great 
 forces of Nature not only as manifestations of his own infinite 
 power, but as expressions of good-will to man, to do him good, and 
 that every one of God's great forces could yet be utilized for man's 
 welfare ; that modern science was constantly evolving from the 
 hitherto hidden secrets of Nature some new development promotive 
 of human welfare, and that at no distant day magnetism would do 
 more for the advancement of human sociology than any of the ma- 
 terial forces now known ; that he would scarcely dare to compare 
 spiritual with material forces, yet that analogically magnetism would 
 do in the advancement of human welfare what the Spirit of God 
 would do in the moral renovation of man's nature ; that it would 
 educate and enlarge the forces of the world. He then went on to 
 say that he believed he had discovered a practical way of using 
 magnetism as a line or means of communication, and interchange 
 of thought in written language, upon every and all pursuits and 
 subjects that engage the human mind, irrespective of distance and 
 time save that required for manipulation, and that it would ulti- 
 mately become a daily instrumentality in domestic as well as pub- 
 lic life. He said he had felt as if he was doing a great work for 
 20 
 
306 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 God's glory as well as for man's welfare; that such had been his 
 long-cherished thought. His whole soul and heart appeared filled 
 with a glow of love and good-will, and his sensitive and impas- 
 sioned nature seemed almost to transform him in my eyes into a 
 prophet. 
 
 " We gradually came back to the practicalities of the matter 
 before us, and after a while I exclaimed : 
 
 " ' But now, professor, how about rivers, and oceans, and deserts, 
 and bridges, and unpopulated regions, for you know there are a few 
 of such left on this globe of ours ? ' 
 
 " He replied, substantially, that, if his discovery was founded on 
 truth, that truth would find a means of passing under, over, and 
 through all such obstacles. 
 
 " We had a prolonged discussion, my own skepticism intensified, 
 perhaps, by his earnestness, and then gradually flickering out like a 
 painter's bow, with the receding sun's rays. Theoretically, I ad- 
 mitted his correctness ; but doubts of its practicability had not yet 
 yielded to full belief. Yet there gradually loomed up before my 
 mind a vision, dim, it is true, yet outlined in some great future; 
 a coming magnitude I could not fully comprehend ; a sort of mighty 
 handwriting on the surface - walls of this great globe of ours, 
 prophesying the commingling and unification of nations; of the 
 gospel, on some kind of heaven-spread wings, flitting to and fro 
 over the earth, and ignorant and uncivilized humanity brought into 
 subjection to our heaven-born Christianity. 
 
 " I had frequent and earnest interviews with the professor for 
 years after, and I need not add that I was a believer in ' Morse's 
 Telegraph.' I recollect well the discussions we had in regard to 
 modes of transmission, in carrying the wires under or over the sur- 
 face, crossing draw-bridges, and have vivid recollections of (sug- 
 gested) lofty spars, like ships' masts, and he proposed crossing 
 Hudson River by wires from Storm King to the east shore ; and 
 earnest talk and cipherings on the tensile strength and form of 
 wires, or chains, of sundry self weight-bearing conductors. But 
 the world knows the skepticism that enshrouded even the national 
 wisdom in Congress, continued for years, and the almost heart and 
 soul rending trials the professor passed through, and when he at 
 length showed practically to the world ' what hath God wrought ' 
 through him, and the many that endeavored to detract from his 
 well-earned fame. It will take generations yet to come to commen- 
 surate their conditions with his inventions. 
 
REV. DR. TAPPAN'S TESTIMONY. 307 
 
 " It is among the most delightful of my ' recollections ' of the 
 Professor — and I have very often related them to friends — that I 
 scarce recollect a conversation on the great subject — the last at his 
 own house, not long prior to his death — that he did not in some 
 way suggest the thought of God's wondrous goodness in enduing 
 the insensate matter of earth with such an energizing material force 
 as magnetism, and permitting him to be an instrument of utilizing 
 it for the welfare of man. ' Si Dens nobiscnm, quis contra nos ? ' " 
 
 This conversation with Mr. Rankin occurred before the in- 
 ventor had his instrument in working order. His colleague, 
 Rev. Henry B. Tappan, D. D., LL. D., and subsequently Presi- 
 dent of the University of Michigan, an eminent philosophical 
 Divine, having met Professor Morse in Berlin in the year 1868, 
 referred, in conversation, to the fact that he was one of the 
 early witnesses of the operation of the Telegraph. In reply to 
 a note from Professor Morse, Dr. Tappan wrote : 
 
 " The University was opened in the autumn of 1832. I was one 
 of the first professors elected. In the same year you returned from 
 Europe. Some time after your return, and when you yourself had 
 been elected a Professor, you related to me, in a free, familiar, and 
 extended conversation, how your mind had been occupied during 
 your last voyage with the idea of transmitting and recording words 
 through distance by means of an electro-magnetic arrangement. 
 The idea, you said, had haunted you, whether you lay in your berth 
 or walked the deck, and that you had, at length, arrived at a defi- 
 nite conception of the required arrangement. I cannot recall all 
 the details of this explanation ; I well recollect that it contained 
 the germ of what you afterward so successfully accomplished. 
 
 "In 1835 you had advanced so far that you were prepared to 
 give, on a small scale, a practical demonstration of the possibility 
 of transmitting and recording words through distance, by means of 
 an electro-magnetic arrangement. I was one of the limited circle 
 whom you invited to witness the first experiments. In a long room 
 of the University you had wires extended from end to end where 
 the magnetic apparatus was arranged. It is not necessary for me 
 to describe particulars which have now become so familiar to every 
 one. The fact which I now recall with the liveliest interest, and 
 which I mentioned in conversation at Mr. Bancroft's as one of the 
 choicest recollections of my life, was that of the first transmission 
 and recording of a telegraphic dispatch. I suppose, of course, that 
 
308 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 you had already made these experiments before the company ar- 
 rived whom you had invited. But I may claim to have witnessed 
 the first transmission and 'recording of words by lightning ever 
 made public. All who were present were invited to write and 
 send off dispatches from one end of the room to be recorded at the 
 other. I recollect full well my delight at hearing the words which 
 I silently gave in at one end, accurately read off from the strip of 
 paper at the other. The fact was established that words — that 
 the thoughts, of course, expressed by words, could be communicated 
 and recorded with lightning-speed from one place to another. It 
 was one of those startling facts which -open to us immeasurable 
 consequences ; and justify the imagination in its pictures of the 
 future, and make our dreams but struggles to anticipate surpassing 
 realities. 
 
 " Permit me, also, to say that I most sincerely sympathized in 
 the triumph you had won ; and that to me it was a reflection full 
 of satisfaction that you, a friend of the philosophic dreamer and 
 poet Coleridge, and the early associate of Leslie and Allston, had, 
 while wandering among the forms of ideal beauty, found a most 
 stupendous practical fact ; thus repeating what men are so slow to 
 believe, and yet which so frequently appears, as in Michael Angelo, 
 Milton, and Fulton, that he who pursues the Beautiful may also 
 think the True, and accomplish the Good. The arrangement which 
 you exhibited, on the above-mentioned occasion, as well as the mode 
 of receiving the dispatches, were substantially the same as that 
 which you now employ. I feel certain that you had then already 
 grasped the whole invention, however you may have since perfected 
 the details. I met you, afterward, when you were engaged in mak- 
 ing a larger experiment by laying the wires underground between 
 Washington and Baltimore — an experiment whose failure led to a 
 most important result — that of putting into practice your early 
 mode of the elevation of the wires upon poles in the open air ; thus 
 escaping the disturbing influences of the earth, and achieving the 
 most economic and rapid execution of the work." 
 
 Daniel Huntington, one of the great artists of our country, 
 was at this time a pupil of Mr. Morse, and this is his testimony : 
 
 " I studied my profession with Professor Morse, and was his 
 pupil from the month of May, 1833, to the 1st of May, 1835, occu- 
 pying rooms with him, first in Greenwich Lane, and afterward at 
 the New York City University, where he removed, early in the au- 
 
DANIEL HUNTINGTON. 309 
 
 tunm of 1835, into his newly-prepared rooms in that building, on 
 Washington Square. At the time Professor Morse removed into his 
 new rooms, which were in the third story front, of the north wing, 
 that part of the building was not finished ; the lower rooms particu- 
 larly, and the stairway into the third story, were unfinished. While 
 Professor Morse was in Greenwich Lane he seemed particularly 
 impatient to get into his new rooms, in order to put into operation 
 his plan for an electric telegraph, allusions to which he occasionally 
 made. He had no sooner removed into the rooms in the University 
 than he constructed an instrument which showed how he intended 
 marking characters for letters at a distance ; I distinctly remember 
 the general appearance of the instrument and the kind of characters 
 which it marked. The drawing 1 calls to my mind, as a familiar ac- 
 quaintance, the appearance of the instrument. I am quite sure that 
 I saw the instrument in operation some months previous to the 
 time of my leaving Professor Morse. On the 15th of November, 
 1835, I took a room at the University by myself, which I hired, 
 and my recollection is, that I saw that instrument in operation at or 
 about the time I took that room. I cannot state the precise date." 
 
 This intelligent testimony of Mr. Huntington makes it as 
 certain as human testimony can make any thing, that the instru- 
 ment was in actual operation in the year 1835. 
 
 Hon. Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State, being present at a 
 banquet tendered to Professor Morse, in Paris, in 1858, gave 
 his pleasant recollections : 
 
 " It was in early boyhood, under my father's roof, that I made 
 the acquaintance of our guest, then eminent in his profession as an 
 artist, and at the head of the National Academy ,of Design. I soon 
 learned to appreciate and admire his intelligence, his amiability, 
 and his worth. To a friendly intercourse thus established, and 
 much cherished on my part, I was indebted for an early expla- 
 nation of his discovery, soon after his return from Europe, in 1832. 
 Some time afterward, in the early part of 1836, in a room in the 
 New York University, I witnessed the telegraph in operation, re- 
 cording messages, transmitted through some mile or more of wire, 
 suspended in successive turns around the walls ; there was a small 
 battery in one corner of the room, and a sort of clock-work ma- 
 chinery in another, and the mysterious little click, click, click, of 
 
 1 See the drawing in Dr. Gale's statement. 
 
310 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the former produced a simultaneous record on the other. Theorj' 
 was reduced to practice, and the telegraph demonstrated its effi- 
 ciency. During the winter of 1844-'45, Professor Morse was a 
 frequent (as he was ever a welcome) visitor in my apartment, in 
 Washington. The practicability of transmitting signs by sub- 
 merged wires had been then demonstrated ; but the distance to 
 which they might be transmitted was of course still a problem. 
 Mr. Morse, however, unhesitatingly predicted the direct communi- 
 cation between Europe and America y he told me that I would 
 probably live to witness it." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Seeley, of the American chapel in Paris, said at 
 the same dinner : 
 
 "It seems but yesterday that I was a freshman in the New 
 York City University, and our honored guest Professor of the Fine 
 Arts in the institution, and President of the National Academy of 
 Design in the same city. At that time the Professor was reported 
 to be engaged in labors which pertained to science rather than to 
 art ; and there was many an ominous shake of the head, accompa- 
 nied by expressions of apprehension that one of the best artists of 
 our country was sacrificing his genius to a chimera. He persisted, 
 however, and one afternoon in the spring, or early summer of 
 1836, I had the privilege of witnessing an experiment made by him 
 in a large room of the University building. There was present the 
 Professor, with one or two assistants, and several leading gentle- 
 men of the city. A line of slender wire, one mile in length, was 
 stretched around the room in a remarkable manner. . . . To one end 
 of the wire was attached a pen or pencil, which was held over a 
 strip of white paper. . . . The professor proposed to demonstrate 
 the possibility of transmitting and recording messages, verbatim et 
 literatim, over any length of wire. Some one whispered a sentence 
 in his ear, and in a few seconds the white paper at the opposite 
 end of the line was covered with broken lines. Time passed over, 
 when one day in 1842 I entered one of the upper lofts of the build- 
 ing in which the New York Observer was published, and found our 
 Professor of the Fine Arts superintending experiments in the manu- 
 facture of submarine cables. For he had already projected the ex- 
 tension of telegraphic lines under water" 
 
 Commodore Shubrick, of the United States Navy, in a let- 
 ter dated Washington, D. C, October 5, 1860, writes to Pro- 
 fessor Morse : 
 
THE TELEGRAPH MADE. 311 
 
 "I have a distinct recollection that in the winter of 1835, 
 being in the city of New York, I was walking with our lamented 
 friend, the late Fenimore Cooper, when we met you, and you in- 
 vited us to your room in the University, and that you then and 
 there showed us the operation of your telegraphic instrument. The 
 fact is impressed on my mind by the remarks made by Mr. Cooper 
 on the wonderful effects which would grow out of the discovery, if 
 successful (of which he seemed to have no doubt), on the inter- 
 communication of the world. I have frequently seen Mr. Paul F. 
 Cooper, son of our late friend, w T ho recollects having seen the oper- 
 ation of your instrument during the same winter, though he was 
 then a small boy." 
 
 The Professor took possession of bis rooms in the Uni- 
 versity in the year 1835, where he set up bis rude appa- 
 ratus, and called in bis friends to see its operation. There be 
 wrought through the year 1836, probably the darkest and long- 
 est year of bis life, giving lessons to pupils in the art of paint- 
 ing while bis mind was in the throes of the great invention. He 
 needed only the means to demonstrate, on a scale to command 
 attention, that be had reached a result of incalculable interest 
 and advantage to the human race. Professor Gale has told us 
 of the struggles of Professor Morse during that year ; of the ne- 
 cessary occupation of bis mind with the instruction of students, 
 and his utter inability, from the want of money, to bring bis in- 
 vention before the public. In 1835 Dr. Tappan and others bad 
 seen the apparatus at work and writing substantially in the 
 same manner as it writes now. " The words which I silently 
 gave at one end were accurately read off from the strip of paper 
 at the other," says Dr. Tappan. Up to this hour no human aid 
 had been rendered to the solitary inventor. The instrument 
 was constructed. The alphabet was formed. The writing at a 
 distance was done. The Telegraph was made. It was suscep- 
 tible of vast improvements ; they have been in progress up to 
 this time, and will be continued so long as art and science ad- 
 vance. But as the invention was original with Professor Morse, 
 so the execution was his, and his only. This declaration deserves 
 the more emphasis because every thing essential to the complete- 
 ness of the Telegraph was afterward claimed by or for others ! 
 But we have seen, and proved by the most competent witnesses, 
 
312 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 that when the Telegraph was first exhibited by Professor Morse, 
 and before he had called in the aid of any other hand or 
 mind, it was a complete instrument, with a complete alphabet, 
 doing the same work that is done with the Morse instrument 
 to-day. 
 
 Among the spectators of the successful operation of the in- 
 strument on the 2d day of September, 1837, was Alfred Yail. 
 He was bom in Morris County, New Jersey, in 1807, and was 
 graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1836. 
 When he first saw the experiments of the Telegraph in the rooms 
 of Professor Morse he grasped the idea, and formed an instant 
 resolution to pursue the subject. The only point on which he 
 desired satisfaction, and at the same point all appeared to hesi- 
 tate, was the possibility of no limit to the distance through which 
 the current of electricity would flow. This was the link to con- 
 nect experiment with success. If this link failed, the whole 
 thing was a failure. 
 
 It was plain enough that the Telegraph was a completed 
 fact. Morse had made an instrument by which words were 
 written at a distance, in characters intelligible to himself and- 
 easily learned by others. Such an instrument was now in oper- 
 ation. Men of science and men of business had seen it and 
 wondered. Before their eyes had been stretched a wire 1,700 
 feet in length, and, with the instrument which Morse had con- 
 structed and was now using, words were silently but evidently 
 written down at one extremity of the wire, when communicated 
 at the other. The semaphores or signals of other electricians re- 
 quired watching, and the signals were slowly interpreted. Morse 
 wrote and registered his messages. The work was done and 
 recorded. It was a writing-at-a-distance machine ; a Telegraph ; 
 the only Telegraph ! But the grand question to be decided by 
 experiment, as Morse had already demonstrated to his own 
 satisfaction and that of others, was the possibility of indefinite 
 propagation. Here came in his relay — a conception and pro- 
 duction scarcely less important than the instrument itself. Mr. 
 Yail would have this point clearly illustrated and settled, and 
 he would then cheerfully adopt the professor's favorite remark, 
 that, " if he could succeed in working it ten miles, he could make 
 it go around. the globe." 
 
THE VAILS OF SPEEDWELL. 3 13 
 
 "The relay" says Professor Horsford, "is a discovery as well 
 as a device or a series of devices or inventions. It had its birth in 
 the effort to answer the question, How can the current, which has 
 become feeble through distance from the battery, be reenforcedf 
 There was need of some principle akin to that which supplies a 
 locomotive and train with fuel, water,- and oil, without stopping. 
 The stopping consumes time. To be obliged to repeat the message 
 every few miles would be to abandon it. It would be expensive as 
 well as time-consuming. Now, the reenforcement of the current at 
 a distance from the prime station, through the very instrumentalit} T 
 of the message sent, is an absolute new departure. It is a grand 
 idea primarily, and secondarily it involves inventions of mechanical 
 devices to effect several things. In the first place, there is wanted 
 an electro-magnet at the second station, operated through the bat- 
 tery at the primary station. This magnet must draw its armature 
 not to the face of the magnet, but only very near it, and in so 
 doing close the circuit. This takes place with the closing of the 
 first circuit. In opening the first circuit, the second circuit is 
 opened at the same instant, and the magnet at the second station 
 with the arrest of the current loses its magnetism. Now a self- 
 acting, adjustable spring draws the armature away from the face 
 of the magnet, through a space very narrow, but adequate to break 
 the circuit at the second station. Here are the fewest elements of 
 the relay. It involves the opening and closing of the circuit, by an 
 act going out from the primary station. The relay of Professor 
 Morse opens and closes in connection with a conductor of an inten- 
 sity battery, operating through a long conductor upon a distant 
 magnet." This was the invention of Professor Morse described by 
 Professor Gale in his statement already recited in this chapter. 
 
 Mr. Yail, having become thoroughly satisfied on this point, 
 embarked in the enterprise. His father, Judge Stephen Yail, 
 and bis brother, George Yail, were proprietors of extensive 
 iron and brass works at Speedwell, Morris County, New Jersey. 
 The fact that the family were engaged in such, manufactures, 
 led the young man to entertain the idea of engaging in the con- 
 struction of instruments to be used in the development of the 
 Telegraph. Before going to the University he bad taken deep 
 interest in the business of his father and brother : the making 
 of steam-engines and machinery that required the use of both 
 iron and brass ; he bad been specially engaged in the brass- 
 
314 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 foundery, and had become noted for his skill in working in that 
 metal. With mechanical genius and fondness also for study, 
 with a taste alike for art and science, he was emphatically the 
 man to be associated with the professor, himself an illustrious 
 example of art and science combined. The young man, ardent, 
 hopeful, and sincere, was hot long in bringing both his father 
 and brother to see with him the magnificent possibilities of the 
 electric telegraph for usefulness in the commerce and inter- 
 course of mankind. They not only approved and encouraged 
 the resolution of their son and brother to identify himself with 
 the Telegraph, and to devote his life to its service, but they, 
 with enterprise and faith in its ultimate fruits, promised the 
 necessary funds to make the experiments which were essential 
 to insure confidence in the public mind. Many years afterward 
 Professor Morse, in the height of his success, and crowned with 
 the honors of his country and of distant nations, spoke of this 
 young man in these words : 
 
 " Alfred Yail, then a student in the University, and a young 
 man of great ingenuity, having heard of rny invention, came to 
 my rooms and I explained it to him, and from that moment he 
 has taken the deepest interest in the Telegraph. Finding that 
 I was unable to command the means to bring my invention 
 properly before' the public, and believing that he could com- 
 mand those means through his father and brother, he expressed 
 the belief to me, and I at once made such an arrangement with 
 him as to procure the pecuniary means and the skill of these 
 gentlemen. It is to their joint liberality, but especially to the 
 attention, and skill, and faith in the final success of the enter- 
 prise maintained by Alfred Yail, that is due the success of my 
 endeavors to bring the Telegraph at that time creditably before 
 the public." 
 
 With this young and ingenious student Professor Morse 
 entered into partnership, assigning to him one-fourth interest in 
 the patent-right to be secured for the invention. 
 
 On the 10th of March, 1837, the Honorable Levi Woodbury, 
 Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, in consequence 
 of the reports that had reached the country of various schemes 
 of telegraphing proposed in Europe, had issued the following : 
 
THE SECRETARY'S CIRCULAR. 315 
 
 " Circular to certain Collectors of the Customs, Commanders of 
 Revenue Cutters, and other Persons. 
 
 ■ " Treasury Department, March 10, 183V. 
 
 " With the view of obtaining information in regard ' to the pro- 
 priety of establishing a system of telegraphs for the United States,' 
 in compliance with the request contained in the annexed resolution 
 of the House of Representatives, adopted at its last session, I will 
 thank you to furnish the Department with your opinion upon the 
 subject. If leisure permits, you would oblige me by pointing out 
 the manner, and the various particulars, in which the system may be 
 rendered most useful to the Government of the United States and 
 the public generally. It would be desirable, if in your power, to pre- 
 sent a detailed statement as to the proper points for the location, 
 and distance of the stations from each other, with general rules for 
 the regulation of the system, together with your sentiments as to 
 the propriety of connecting it with any existing department of the 
 Government, and some definite idea of the rapidity with which in- 
 telligence could ordinarily, and also in urgent cases, be communi- 
 cated between distant places. I wish you to estimate the probable 
 expense of establishing and supporting telegraphs, upon the most 
 approved system, for any given distance, during any specified 
 period. 
 
 "It would add to the interest of the subject if you would offer 
 views as to the practicability of uniting, with a system of telegraphs 
 for communication in clear weather and in the daytime, another for 
 communication in fogs, by cannon, or otherwise ; and, in the night, 
 by the same mode, or by rockets, fires, etc. 
 
 " I should be gratified by receiving your reply by the 1st of Oc- 
 tober next. 
 
 "Levi Woodbury, 
 
 " /Secretary of the Treasury." 
 
 To this circular Professor Morse replied four days before his 
 partnership was formed with Mr. Yail : 
 
 S. F. B. Morse to the Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 " New York City University, September 27, 1837. 
 " Dear Sir : In reply to the inquiries which you have done me 
 the honor to make, in asking my opinion ' of the propriety of estab- 
 lishing a system of telegraphs for the United States,' I would say, 
 
316 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 in regard to the general question, that I believe there can scarcely 
 be two opinions, in such a community as ours, in regard to the ad- 
 vantage which would result, both to the Government and the public 
 generally, from the establishment of a system of communication by 
 which the most speedy intercourse may be had between the most 
 distant parts of the country. The mail system, it seems to me, is 
 founded on the universally admitted principle that the greater the 
 speed with which intelligence can be transmitted from point to 
 point, the greater is the benefit derived to the whole community. 
 The only question that remains, therefore, is, what system is best 
 calculated, from its completenesss and cheapness, to effect this de- 
 sirable end ? 
 
 " With regard to telegraphs constructed on the ordinary princi- 
 ples, however perfected within the limits in which they are necessa- 
 rily confined, the most perfect of them are liable to one insurmount- 
 able objection — they are useless the greater part of the time. In 
 foggy weather, and ordinarily during the night, no intelligence can 
 be transmitted. Even when they can transmit, much time is con- 
 sumed in communicating but little, and that little not always precise. 
 
 " Having invented an entirely new mode of telegraphic commu- 
 nication, which, so far as experiments have yet been made with it, 
 promises results of almost marvelous character, I beg leave to pre- 
 sent to the Department a brief account of its chief characteristics. 
 
 " About five years ago, on my voyage from Europe, the electri- 
 cal experiment of Franklin, upon a wire some four miles in length, 
 was casually recalled to my mind in conversation with one of the 
 passengers, in which experiment it was ascertained that the elec- 
 tricity traveled through the whole circuit in a time not appreciable, 
 but apparently instantaneous. It immediately occurred to me that, 
 if the presence of electricity could he made visible in any desired 
 'part of this circuit, it would not be difficidt to construct a system 
 of signs by which intelligence could be instantaneously transmit- 
 ted. The thought, thus conceived, took strong hold of my mind in 
 the leisure which the voyage afforded, and I planned a system of 
 signs, and an apparatus to carry it into effect. I cast a species of 
 type, which I had devised for this purpose, the first week after my 
 arrival home ; and, although the rest of the machinery was planned, 
 yet, from the pressure of unavoidable duties, I was compelled to 
 postpone my experiments, and was not able to test the whole plan 
 until within a few weeks. The result has realized my most sanguine 
 expectations. 
 
PROFESSOR MORSE'S REPLY. 31? 
 
 " As I have contracted with Mr. Alfred Vail to have a complete 
 apparatus made to demonstrate at Washington by the 1st of Janu- 
 ary, 1838, the practicability and superiority of my mode of tele- 
 graphic communication by means of electro-magnetism (an appa- 
 ratus which I hope to have the pleasure of exhibiting to you), I will 
 confine myself in this communication to a statement of its peculiar 
 advantages. 
 
 "First. The fullest and most precise information can be almost 
 instantaneously transmitted between any two or more points be- 
 tween which a wire conductor is laid : that is to say, no other time 
 is consumed than is necessary to write the intelligence to be con- 
 veyed, and to convert the words into the telegraphic numbers. The 
 numbers are then transmitted nearly instantaneously (or, if I have 
 been, rightly informed in regard to some recent experiments in the 
 velocity of electricity, two hundred thousand miles in a second) to 
 any distance, where the numbers are immediately recognized, and 
 reconverted into the words of the intelligence. 
 
 " Second. The same full intelligence can be communicated at 
 any moment, irrespective of the time of day or night, or state of the 
 weather. This single point establishes its superiority to all other 
 modes of telegraphic communication now known. 
 
 " Third. The whole apparatus will occupy but little space 
 (scarcely six cubic feet, probably not more than four) ; ' and it may, 
 therefore, be placed, without inconvenience, in any house. 
 
 "Fourth. The record of intelligence is made in a permanent 
 manner, and in such a form that it can be at once bound up in 
 volumes, convenient for reference, if desired. 
 
 " Fifth. Communications are secret to all but the persons for 
 whom they are intended. 
 
 " These are the chief advantages of the electro-magnetic tele- 
 graph over other kinds of telegraphs, and which must give it the 
 preference, provided the expense and other circumstances are rea- 
 sonably favorable. 
 
 " The newness of the whole plan makes it not so easy to esti- 
 mate the expense, but an approach to a correct estimate can be 
 made. 
 
 " The principal expense will be the first cost of the wire or me- 
 tallic conductors (consisting of four lengths), and the securing them 
 against injury. The cost of a single copper wire one-sixteenth of 
 an inch diameter (and it should not be of less dimensions), for four 
 
 1 It now occupies a space ten inches long, eight inches high, and five wide. 
 
318 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 hundred miles, was recently estimated in Scotland to be about one 
 thousand pounds sterling, including the solderings of the wire to- 
 gether ; that is, about six dollars per mile for one wire, or twenty- 
 four dollars per mile for the four wires. I have recently contracted 
 for twenty miles of copper wire, No. 18, at forty cents per pound. 
 Each pound, it is estimated, contains ninety-three feet, which gives 
 a result coinciding with the Scotch estimate, if one dollar and sixty 
 cents per mile be added for solderings. 
 
 " The preparation of the wire for being laid (if in the ground) 
 comprehends the clothing of the wires with an insulating or non- 
 conducting substance ; the encasing them in wood, clay, stone, iron, 
 or other metal • and the trenching of the earth to receive them. In 
 this part of the business I have no experience to guide me, the 
 whole being altogether new. I can, therefore, only make at present 
 a rough estimate. Iron tubes inclosing the wires, and filled in with 
 pitch and resin, would probably be the most eligible mode of secur- 
 ing the conductors from injury, while, at the same time, it would be 
 the most costly. Iron tubes of one and one-half inch diameter, I 
 learn, can be obtained, at Baltimore, at twenty-eight cents per foot. 
 The trenching will not be more than three cents for two feet, or 
 about seventy-five dollars per mile. This estimate is for a trench 
 three feet deep and one and one-half wide. There is no grading • 
 the trench may follow the track of any road, over the highest hills 
 or lowest valleys. Across rivers, with bridges, the circuit may 
 easily be carried, inclosed beneath the bridge. Where the stream 
 is wide, and no bridge, the circuit, inclosed in lead, may be sunk to 
 the bottom. 
 
 " If the circuit is laid through the air, the first cost would doubt- 
 less be much lessened. This plan of making the circuit has some 
 advantages, but there are also some disadvantages; the chief of 
 which latter is, that, being always in sight, the temptation to injure 
 the circuit to mischievously disposed persons, is greater than if it 
 were buried out of sight beneath their feet. As an oflfset, however, 
 to this, an injury to the circuit is more easily detected. With re- 
 gard to danger from wantonness, it may be sufficient to say that 
 the same objection was originally made in the several cases, succes- 
 sively, of water-pipes, gas-pipes, and railroads ; and yet we do not 
 hear of wantonness injuring any of these. Stout spars of some 
 thirty feet in height, well planted in the ground, and placed about 
 three hundred and fifty feet apart, would, in this case, be required, 
 along the tops of which the circuit might be stretched. Fifteen such 
 
ESTIMATED COST. • 3 19 
 
 spars would be wanted to a mile. This mode would be as cheap, 
 probably, as any other, unless the laying of the circuit in water 
 should be found to be most eligible. A series of experiments to ascer- 
 tain the practicability of this mode, I am about to commence with 
 Professor Gale, of our University, a gentleman of great science, and 
 to whose assistance, in many of my late experiments, I am greatly 
 indebted. We are preparing a circuit of twenty miles. The result 
 of our experiments I will have the honor of reporting to you. 
 
 " The other machinery, consisting of the apparatus for transmit- 
 ting and receiving the intelligence, can be made at a very trifling 
 cost. The only parts of the apparatus that waste or consume mate- 
 rials, are the batteries, which consume acid and zinc, and the regis- 
 ter, which consumes paper for recording, and pencils or ink for 
 marking. 
 
 "The cost oi printing, in the first instance, of a telegraphic dic- 
 tionary, should perhaps also be taken into the account, as each 
 officer of the Government, as well as many others, would require a 
 copy, should this mode of telegraphic communication go into effect. 
 This dictionary would contain a vocabulary of all the words in com- 
 mon use in the English language, with the numbers regularly affixed 
 to each word. 
 
 " The stations in the case of this telegraph may be as numerous 
 as are desired ; the only additional expense for that purpose being the 
 adding of the transmitting and receiving apparatus to each station. 
 
 " The cost of supporting a system of telegraphs on this plan 
 (when a circuit is once established) would, in my opinion, be much 
 less than on the common plans ; yet, for want of experience in this 
 mode, I would not affirm it positively. 
 
 " As to ' the propriety of connecting the system of telegraphs 
 with any existing department of Government,' it would seem most 
 natural to connect a telegraphic system with the Post-Office Depart- 
 ment ; for, although it does not carry a mail, yet it is another mode 
 of accomplishing the principal object for which the mail is estab- 
 lished, to wit : the rapid and regular transmission of intelligence. 
 If my system of telegraphs should be established, it is evident that 
 the telegraph would have but little rest, day or night. The advan- 
 tage of communicating intelligence instantaneously, in hundreds of 
 instances of daily occurrence, would warrant such a rate of postage 
 (if it may be so called) as would amply defray all expenses of the 
 first cost of establishing the system, and of guarding it, and keeping 
 it in repair. 
 
320 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " As every word is numbered, an obvious mode of rating might 
 be, a charge of a certain amount on so many numbers. I presume 
 that five words can certainly be transmitted in a minute ; for, with 
 the imperfect machinery I now use, I have recorded at that rate, 
 at the distance of half a mile. 
 
 " In conclusion, I would say, that if the perfecting of this new 
 system of telegraphs (which may justly be called the American 
 Telegraph, since I can establish my claims to priority in the inven- 
 tion) shall be thought of public utility, and worthy the attention of 
 Government, I shall be ready to make any sacrifice of personal ser- 
 vice and of time to aid in its accomplishment. 
 
 " In the mean time I remain, sir, with sincere respect and high 
 personal esteem, 
 
 " Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 "Sam'l F. B. Morse. 
 "Hon. Levi "Woodbury, 
 
 " Secretary of the Treasury" 
 
 Professor Morse then filed in the Patent-Office at "Washing- 
 ton the following petition : 
 
 That your petitioner has invented a new method of transmitting 
 and recording intelligence by means of electro-magnetism, which 
 he denominates the American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, etc. 
 
 Petition dated September 28, 1837. 
 SPECIFICATION OF THE AMERICAN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 To all whom it may concern : Be it known that I, Samuel F. 
 B. Morse, of the city of New York, in the county and State of New 
 York, have invented a new method of transmitting and recording 
 intelligence by means. of electro-magnetism, which I call the Ameri- 
 can Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, and I do hereby declare that the 
 following is a full and exact description of said telegraph, so far as 
 it is at present completed. The nature of my invention consists in 
 laying an electric or galvanic circuit, or conductors, of any length, 
 to any distance. These conductors may be made of any metal, 
 such as copper or iron wire, or strips of copper or iron, or of cord, 
 or twine, or other substances, gilt, silvered, or covered with any 
 thin metal leaf, properly insulated, in the ground, or through or be- 
 neath the water, or through the air, and by causing the electric or 
 galvanic current to pass through the circuit by means of any gen- 
 erator of electricity, to make use of the visible signs of the presence 
 of electricity in any part of the said circuit to comnnmicate any in- 
 telligence from one place to another. To make the said visible 
 
MORSE'S CAVEAT. 321 
 
 signs of electricity available for the purpose aforesaid, I have 
 invented the following apparatus, namely : 
 
 1. A system of signs, by which numbers, and consequently 
 words and sentences, are signified. 
 
 2. A set of type, adapted to regulate and communicate the 
 signs, with cases, for convenient keeping of the type, and rules, in 
 which to set up the type. 
 
 3. An apparatus called the portrule, for regulating the move- 
 ment of the type-rules, which rules, by means of the type, in their 
 turn regulate the times and intervals of the passage of electricity. 
 
 4. A register which records the signs permanently. 
 
 5. A dictionary or vocabulary of words, numbered and adapted 
 to this system of telegraph. 
 
 6. Modes of laying conductors to preserve them from injury. 
 
 1. The System of Signs. 
 
 The signs are the representatives first of numerals, and are as 
 follows : The single numerals are represented by ten marks, such as 
 dots, lines, or punctures, varied thus : A single mark signifies the 
 numeral one ; two marks, two/ three marks, three/ four marks, 
 four ; five marks, five ; six marks, six ; seven marks, seven ; eight 
 marks, eight; nine marks, nine; and ten marks, ten, or cipher. 
 The cipher is also signified by a single mark differently placed 
 from the rest. The numerals are separated from each other by short 
 intervals, so that they would be represented in the different ways, 
 shown in Example 1, of the annexed drawing. The compound 
 numbers are separated from each other by long intervals ; for exam- 
 ple, the compound number 324, compounded of 3, and 2, and 4, and 
 the compound number 516, compounded of 5, and 1, and 6, would 
 be represented as shown in Fig. 1, Example 2. 
 
 The sign for cipher ( I A /), or ( "hf — ), or ( ), placed 
 
 before a number, signifies that that number is to be read as a num- 
 ber, and not as the representative of a word, thus : " Send 56 
 copies," would be thus represented : Suppose the word. " send " to 
 be represented by the number 21, and the word " copies " by 34, 
 then the sentence would be written as in Fig. 2, Example 2. Thus 
 all numbers, and consequently all words, are easily represented. 
 
 2. The Type. 
 
 A set of type, made of thin metal, such as type-metal, brass, 
 iron, or other material, consists of twelve different pieces, of the 
 figure and dimensions represented in Example 3 of the annexed 
 drawing. 
 
 The rest is for the lever (hereinafter described) to rest upon pre- 
 vious to beginning to communicate. Each type has a notch or in- 
 dentation corresponding to its denomination, and the short space 
 in addition. The number of each type is marked upon that part 
 occupied for the space, or interval ; the cipher is either marked by 
 21 
 
322 MFE OF SAMUEL F. B. HOUSE. 
 
 the type with ten notches, or with the type of a single tooth, be- 
 tween two sunken spaces. Two additional pieces, making fourteen 
 in all, are, first, the space, or long interval, placed between separate 
 and compound numbers; and, second, the stop, or long type, which 
 throws up the lever upon a detent, until wanted again. 
 
 The cases are of wood, or other suitable material, with small com- 
 partments of the exact length of each type, for the greater con- 
 venience in distributing them. 
 
 The rules are of wood, metal, or other suitable material, and are 
 formed about three feet long, and with a groove in which to place 
 the type as represented in Example 4. The rule is furnished with 
 cogs, for the purpose of being moved by a pinion-wheel. 
 
 3. The Portrule. 
 
 The portrule is for the purpose of carrying the rule, when pre- 
 pared with its type. It consists — 1. Of a small lever, somewhat 
 like the levers to the keys of a hand-organ, but with the power be- 
 tween the fulcrum and the weight. The lever is made to rise or 
 fall by passing the rule with its type beneath the projection or 
 single cog in the lever, which cog falls into each notch and rises on 
 each tooth of the type. The lever is made a portion of the circuit 
 by affixing a small portion of the conductor to it, with a joint at 
 the hinge-end of the lever, moving in mercury, or otherwise con- 
 nected, so that the circuit be not interrupted. The other end of 
 the small portion of the circuit is at the end of the lever, which 
 has the most motion, and, by the rise and fall of the lever, is 
 made to break and close the circuit at the desired times. The 
 movable point of the conductor closes the circuit either by a touch, 
 either into mercury, which holds the other extremity of the circuit, 
 or upon a plate of copper, silver, or other metal attached to the said 
 extremity. 
 
 The rule is made to pass with regularity, as to space and time, 
 beneath the lever, by means of a pinion-wheel fitting into the cogs 
 of the rule, which wheel is made to revolve either by a crank moved 
 by the hand, or by other power, in any of the well-known and common 
 mechanical methods. 
 
 The rule is kept in its course by a channel, or ways, made for 
 that purpose. The portrule sends the intelligence. 
 
 4. The Register. 
 
 The register, at any distance from the portrule, receives and re- 
 cords the intelligence, and is thus constructed : 1. An electro-mag- 
 net, made in any of the usual modes of forming it, such as winding 
 insulated copper wire, or strips of copper, or tin-foil, or other metal, 
 around a bar of soft iron, either straight or bent into a circular 
 form, has the two extremities of the coils connected with the cir- 
 cuit or conductors, so that the coils round the magnet make part of 
 the circuit. The power of this magnet is applied — 2. To a lever, or 
 
THE FIRST CAVEAT. 323 
 
 pendulum, by affixing to the said lever, or pendulum, the armature of 
 the magnet, or short bar of iron, at such a distance that the electro- 
 magnet will readily attract it. A small weight, or spring, keeps 
 the lever and armature from the magnet when the magnet is not in 
 action. To the lever, or pendulum, is attached — 3. A pencil, or 
 fountain pen, or a small printing-wheel, or any other marking ma- 
 terial. This pencil, or other marking material, is made to mark 
 upon — 4. A light cylinder of a size to hold a convenient sheet of 
 paper, which is wrapped around it. The cylinder is made to re- 
 volve, as to time and place, slowly and regularly upon its arbor, or 
 shaft, by means of clock-machinery, and to advance a short dis- 
 tance upon the staff every revolution by means of a screw and cog 
 apparatus, so that a line formed by a stationary point above the 
 cylinder describes upon it a spiral or screw line. The point of the 
 pencil, or other marking material, is kept in contact with the sur- 
 face of the paper upon the cylinder either by its own weight or 
 by a small weight attached to it ; or, when the printing-wheel is 
 used, the wheel is brought into contact with the paper by the mag- 
 net, when required to mark. 5. A bascide, or method of changing 
 the poles of the magnet, after every stroke of the lever, is affixed to 
 the magnet, and regulated by the movement of the lever. 6. An 
 alarm apparatus, to give notice that a communication is about to be 
 made, is also affixed, and is made to strike or give notice at the first 
 movement of the lever. To each register are attached duplicate cylin- 
 ders, for the convenience of continued writing, so that when one cylin- 
 der is filled, the other cylinder, by a shifting apparatus, begins to re- 
 ceive the marks. The paper, when ready to be removed from the 
 cylinder, forms a regular page, prepared for binding in a volume. 
 
 5. The Dictionary, or Vocabulary. 
 
 The dictionary is a complete vocabulary of words alphabetically 
 arranged and regularly numbered, beginning with the letters of the 
 alphabet, so that each word in the language has its telegraphic 
 number. The modes which I propose of laying the circuit, and of 
 insulating the wires and conductors, are various. The wires may 
 be insulated by winding each wire with silk, cotton, flax, or hemp, 
 and then dipping them into a solution of caoutchouc, or into a solu- 
 tion of shellac, or into pitch or resin and caoutchouc. They may be 
 laid through the air, inclosed above the ground, in the ground, or in 
 the water. When through the air, they may be. insulated by a cover- 
 ing that shall protect them from the weather,- such as cotton, flax, or 
 hemp, and dipped into any solution which is a non-conductor, and 
 elevated upon pillars. When inclosed above the ground, they may 
 be laid in tubes of iron or lead, and these again may be inclosed 
 in wood, if desirable. When laid in the ground, they may be 
 inclosed in iron, leaden, wooden, or earthen tubes, and buried be- 
 neath the surface. Across rivers the circuit may be carried beneath 
 the bridges, or, where there are no bridges, inclosed in lead or iron 
 
324 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and sunk at the bottom, or stretched across, where the banks are 
 high, upon pillars elevated on each side of the river. 
 
 What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by letters- 
 patent, and to protect for one year, by a caveat, is, a method of re- 
 cording permanently ', by electrical signs, which, by means of metallic 
 wires, or other good conductors of electricity, convey intelligence be- 
 tween two or moreplaces. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I, the said S. F. B. Morse, hereto sub- 
 scribe my name, in the presence of the witnesses whose names are 
 hereunto subscribed, on the 3d day of October, A. d. 1837. 
 
 Saml. F. B. Morse. 
 
 Signed in our presence : 
 
 Alex. J. Davis, ) 
 E. 0. Martin. ) 
 
 Six days after the partnership with Mr. Vail was formed, Mr. 
 Morse wrote to him : " I have only that which is agreeable to tell 
 you. Since you were here, I have had a most satisfactory letter 
 from Hon. W. C. Rives, and also from Captain Pell, who was the 
 commander of the Sully on my passage home. They both have 
 given me most unqualified testimony to the priority of my inven- 
 tion on board the ship. We have also had a visit from Dr. Jones, of 
 the Patent-Office, one of the examiners of patents, for many years, 
 at Washington. 
 
 " He expressed great satisfaction at the Telegraph, and seemed 
 highly gratified that I intended to exhibit it at Washington. 
 
 " I have dispatched my letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 and have the papers and drawings nearly ready for the Patent- 
 Office. They will be on their way, probably, on Monday, or, at 
 farthest, on Tuesday. 
 
 IHP " If you intend to do any thing in England or France, no 
 time is to be lost, ^Jgfl 
 
 " I hold myself in readiness to execute the commission with re- 
 spect to the portraits, any time after next week, and hope to find 
 the machinery in a state of such advancement that we may have 
 time before the winter session to become perfectly familiar with it, 
 so as to strike conviction at once into the minds of the members of 
 Congress, when we exhibit its powers before the powers that be. 
 
 "Professor Gale's services will be invaluable to us, and, I am 
 glad he is disposed to enter into the matter with zeal. The more I 
 think of the whole matter, the more I am convinced that, if it is 
 perseveringly pushed at the moment (so favorable on many ac- 
 counts to its adoption by Government), the result will be all that 
 we ought to wish for. We want the wire. We are ready for some 
 
SPECULATORS AND THE TELEGRAPH. 325 
 
 important experiments necessary to establish with certainty some 
 points not yet established, by experiment. The law of the magnetic 
 influence at a distance is not yet discovered, and your twenty miles 
 of wire may enable us to make this discovery and to keep ahead of 
 our European rivals, as well as to proceed with certainty in 'our 
 other arrangements." 
 
 The preparation of a dictionary of the Telegraph was now a 
 work to which the inventor gave much of his time. This was 
 to contain a list of words to which reference could be made by 
 figures and combinations of figures, so that a message might be 
 transmitted with the least possible labor and in the shortest 
 time, yet perfectly intelligible. 
 
 Instantly upon the new Telegraph's becoming a subject of 
 discussion, its importance in commerce suggested itself to the 
 active mercantile mind. Before a wire had been stretched 
 along a line of travel, and while Professor Morse was impatient 
 with the manufacturers, who could not produce wire as fast as 
 he wished, he was approached by speculative men, who would 
 have a private line, which they could use for their own pur- 
 poses. He alludes to their proposals in the first of the letters 
 to Mr. Yail, which follow : 
 
 " October 11, 1837. — I have been consulted (in confidence), 
 that is {between us all), on the subject of a secret communication of 
 some two hundred miles, the particulars of which I must leave till 
 I see you. If our water experiment succeeds, I think we shall 
 have immediately a commission of the kind in question. But be 
 close on the subject, for it is essential to its success that it be 
 secret. Verbum sat. I am not idle, I assure you. You can have 
 little conception of the labor of the dictionary. I am up early 
 and late, yet its progress is slow ; but I shall not now leave it till 
 it is complete. I have received the notice from the Patent-Office 
 that the caveat is regularly filed, and all is right there. . . ." 
 
 " October 14, 1837. — The dictionary occupies now all my time. 
 It is a most tedious, never-ending work. Yet I find that practice 
 gives me facilities, and I hope soon to complete it. You will be 
 pleased with my plan of the permanent dictionary, which I have 
 drawn out ready to show you when I see you. I bring the whole 
 within the consulting face of twenty-three by twenty-six inches." 
 
 "October 24, 1837. — The reels have arrived safely, and we ad- 
 
326 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 mire the workmanship of them exceedingly ; they are exactly right. 
 We have already wound nearly four miles upon one reel, which will 
 hold five miles. The wire is all wound with cotton, and is all in 
 our room. The wire proves to be not good / it is made of bad 
 copper, and is brittle, and in short lengths ; we have much trouble 
 and consume much time in soldering it, etc. The spark passes 
 freely as yet — three and a half miles — and magnetizes well at that 
 distance, though evidently with diminished strength, which would 
 seem to indicate that there is a limit somewhere. We have just 
 heard that Professor Wheatstone has tried an experiment with his 
 method — twenty miles — with success ; we have therefore nothing 
 to fear. We also learn that he has sent, to take out a patent, to 
 this country. My caveat will be in his way. Professor Locke, of 
 Cincinnati, who has just returned, tells us all this, and he knows 
 Wheatstone and his whole plan, and says there are no less than 
 six disputants for the priority of the invention in England. He 
 also says that no one of the European plans pretends to record 
 permanently ; that mine is decidedly superior iu that respect, and 
 peculiar. ... 
 
 " The dictionary is at last done. You cannot conceive how 
 much labor there has been in it ; but it is accomplished, and we 
 can now talk or write any thing by numbers." 
 
 Professor Morse went over to Morristown, and on bis re- 
 turn wrote to Mr. Yail that Professor Gale was sending the 
 current through ten miles of wire : 
 
 " November 13, 1837. — I arrived just in time to see the experi- 
 ment Professor Gale was making with the entire ten miles, and you 
 will be gratified and agreeably surprised when I inform you that 
 the result now is, that with a little addition of wire to the coils of 
 the small magnet, which I had all along used, the power was as 
 great apparently through ten as through three miles. This result 
 has surprised us all, yet there is no mistake, and I conceive settles 
 the whole matter. The battery of large plates is, however, abso- 
 lutely needed ; for now the small plates burn the mercury, which 
 must be remedied by using larger plates. If we had the remaining 
 ten miles, it would doubtless be much more satisfactory to the com- 
 mittee of Congress. 
 
 " With respect to an experiment at Speedwell, Dr. Gale thinks 
 there will be no difficulty in transporting a couple of miles of wire, 
 wound off on one of the other reels ; with this we could perforin all 
 
LETTER TO THE SECRETARY. 327 
 
 that is necessary to show the efficiency of the Telegraph, and the 
 Doctor is willing to accompany me out, or to come out when all 
 things are ready. So the new room may be prepared if you think 
 best, and we will talk from your father's to your brother's house ; T 
 can bring out the dictionary when I come, or when you come in. 
 
 " The plan of casting the zinc on the copper, the doctor says, is 
 just the thing. The trough I have rudely drawn on the other leaf; 
 its size must be regulated by the size and number of the plates. The 
 troughs (there should be two for fifty plates each) ought to be of 
 mahogany, and you will require some tar and rosin to put the plates 
 and trough in order. The plates may be one-quarter of an inch 
 from each other. I am going down-town to inquire about copper, 
 zinc, etc. The connection at the portrule I shall make with mer- 
 cury. Leave that part till I see you." 
 
 In November Professor Morse wrote again to the Secretary 
 of the Treasury : 
 
 "New Tore, November 28, 1837. 
 
 " Mv dear Sir : In my letter to you in answer to the circular 
 respecting telegraphs, which you did me the honor to send me, I 
 promised to advise you of the result of some experiments about to 
 be tried with my electro-magnetic telegraph. I informed you that I 
 had succeeded in marking permanently and intelligibly at the dis- 
 tance of half a mile. 
 
 " Professor Gale, of our University, and Mr. Alfred Vail, of the 
 Speedwell Iron- Works, near Morristown, New Jersey, are now asso- 
 ciated with me in the scientific and mechanical parts of the inven- 
 tion. We have procured several miles of wire, and I am happy to 
 announce to you that our success has, thus far, been complete. At a 
 distance of five miles, with a common Cruikshank's battery of 
 eighty-seven plates (four by three and a half inches each plate), the 
 marking was as perfect on the register as in the first instance of 
 half a mile. We have recently added five miles more, making in all 
 ten miles, with the same result ■/ and we have now no doubt of its 
 effecting a similar result at any distance. I also stated to you, sir, 
 that machinery was in progress of making, with which, so soon as it 
 should be completed, I intended to proceed to Washington, to ex- 
 hibit the powers of the invention before you and other members of 
 the Government. I had hoped to be in Washington before the ses- 
 sion of Congress, but I find that the execution of new machinery 
 is so uncertain in its time of completion that I shall be delayed, 
 
328 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 probably, until the beginning of the year. What I wish to learn 
 from you, sir, is, How late in the session can I delay my visit, 
 and yet be in season to meet the subject of telegraphs, when it shall 
 be presented by your report to Congress ? I am anxious, of course, 
 to show as perfect an instrument as possible, and would wish as 
 much time for the purpose of perfecting it as can be allowed with- 
 out detriment to my interests as an applicant for the attention of 
 Government to the best plan of a telegraph. I am, my dear sir, 
 with the greatest respect and personal esteem, your most obedient 
 servant, Sam'l F. B. Morse. 
 
 "Hon. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury P 
 
 THE FIRST COMMUNICATION TO CONGRESS. 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury, December 11, 1837, submit- 
 ted the following report to the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives : 
 
 "Treasury Department, December 6, 1837. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to present this report in compliance with 
 the following resolution, which passed the House of Representatives 
 on the 3d of February last, viz. : ' Resolved, That the Secretary of 
 the Treasury be requested to report to the House of Representa- 
 tives, at its next session, upon the propriety of establishing a sys- 
 tem of telegraphs for the United States.' Immediately after its 
 passage I prepared a circular, with the view of procuring, from the 
 most intelligent sources, such information as would enable Congress, 
 as well as the Department, to decide upon the propriety of establish- 
 ing a system of telegraphs. It seemed also important to unite with 
 the inquiry the procurement of such facts as might show the ex- 
 pense attending different systems ; the celerity of communication hy 
 each ; and the useful objects to be accomplished by their adoption. 
 A copy of the circular is annexed (1). 
 
 " The replies have been numerous, and many of them are very 
 full and interesting. Those deemed material are annexed, num- 
 bered two to eighteen, inclusive. From these communications, and 
 such other investigations as the pressure of business has enabled me 
 to make, I am satisfied that the establishment of a system of tele- 
 graphs for the United States would be useful to commerce as well 
 as the Government. It might most properly be made appurtenant 
 to the Post-OflGce Department, and, during war, would prove a most 
 essential aid to the military operations of the country. The ex- 
 
PROFESSOR GALE A PARTNER. 329 
 
 pense attending it is estimated carefully in some of the documents 
 annexed ; but it will depend much upon the kind of system adopted ; 
 upon the extent and location of the lines first established ; and the 
 charges made to individuals for communicating information through 
 it which may not be of a public character. On these points, as the 
 Department has not been requested to make a report, no opinion is 
 expressed ; but information concerning them was deemed useful as a 
 guide in deciding on the propriety of establishing telegraphs, and was, 
 therefore, requested in the circular before mentioned. Many useful 
 suggestions in relation to the subject will be found in the correspond- 
 ence annexed, and in the books there referred to. The Department 
 would take this occasion to express, in respect to the numerous gen- 
 tlemen whose views are now submitted to Congress, its high appre- 
 ciation and sincere acknowledgments for the valuable contributions 
 they have made on a subject of so much interest. I remain, very 
 respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Levi Woodbury, 
 
 " Secretary of the Treasury. 
 "Hon. J. K. Polk, 
 
 " Speaker of the Souse of Representatives" 
 
 Professor L. D. Gale was now made a partner with Profess- 
 or Morse and Mr. Yail, and a series of experiments was entered 
 upon at the Speedwell Iron-Works, for the purpose of still fur- 
 ther improving and testing the system and the machinery essen- 
 tial for success. While here, in the midst of the factories and 
 engaged with Mr. Yail in the perfection of his instruments, the 
 Professor's old love for his pencil is strong upon him, and he 
 is employed in painting the portraits of the family. An exten- 
 sive building, originally designed for a cotton-factory, furnished 
 a convenient place for the extension of the wires. Young Alfred 
 Yail, fired with the same enthusiasm that had sustained the in- 
 ventor through so many years of discouragement and struggle, 
 wrought night and day upon the instrument to bring it as nearly 
 as possible to perfection. The instrument thus produced is still 
 in existence, and was exhibited near the close of the life of Pro- 
 fessor Morse, when, in the presence of applauding thousands, he 
 sat on the platform in the Academy of Music, in the city of 
 New York, on the evening of the day when his statue had been 
 inaugurated in the Central Park, and with his own fingers sent 
 
330 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 telegraphic messages across the continent and the ocean to the 
 ends of the earth. The instrument being completed with the 
 aid of Judge Stephen Yail, Hon. George Yail, M. C, and Mr. 
 Alfred Yail, the first experiment was made with three miles of 
 coated copper wire, stretched around a room of the factory in 
 Speedwell, on the 6th day of January, 1838. 
 
 The Morristown Journal made a report of the experiment 
 in these words : 
 
 " It is with some degree of pride, we confess, that it falls to our 
 lot first to announce the complete success of this wonderful piece of 
 mechanism, and that hundreds of our citizens were the first to wit- 
 ness its surprising results. No place could have been found more 
 suitable to pursue the course of experiments necessary to perfect- 
 ing the detail of machinery than the quiet retirement of the Speed- 
 well works, replete as they are with every kind of convenience 
 which capital and mechanical skill can supply. Professor Morse 
 has quietly pursued the great object which for a considerable time 
 has engaged his attention, and has finally succeeded in carrying 
 it out into sucessful practice, aided by the ingenuity of Mr. Alfred 
 Yail. Others may have suggested the possibility of conveying in- 
 telligence by electricity, but this is the first instance of its actual 
 transmission and permanent record. 
 
 " The Telegraph consists of four parts : 
 
 " 1. The Battery — A Cruikshank's galvanic trough of sixty 
 pair of plates, seven by eight and a half inches each. 
 
 " 2. The Portrule — An instrument which regulates the motion 
 of the rule. The rule answers to the stick of the printers, and in 
 it the type representing the numbers to be transmitted are passed 
 beneath the lever, which closes and breaks the circuit. 
 
 " 3. The Register — An instrument which receives and records 
 the numbers sent by the portrule from any distant station. 
 
 " 4. A Dictionary — Containing a complete vocabulary of all the 
 words in the English language, regularly numbered. 
 
 "The communication which we saw, made through a distance of 
 two miles, was the following sentence: ''Railroad cars just ar 
 rived, 345 passengers.'' 
 
 " These words were put into numbers through the dictionary ; 
 the numbers were set up in the telegraph type in about the same 
 time ordinarily occupied in setting up the same in a printing-office. 
 They were then all passed, complete, by the portrule in about half 
 a minute, each stroke of the lever of the portrule at one extremity 
 marking on the register at the other, a distance of two miles, instan- 
 taneously. We watched the spark at one end, and the mark of the 
 pencil at the other, and they were as simultaneous as if the lever 
 itself had struck the mark. The marks or numbers were easily 
 legible, and by means of the dictionary were resolved again into 
 words." 
 
THE FIRST MESSAGE PRESERVED. 331 
 
 The instrument was now ready to be submitted to the public. 
 Professor Morse would show it first to a few intelligent and ap- 
 preciating friends in New York. With this object in view, he 
 issued invitations, of which the following, to General Cum- 
 mings, is a copy : 
 
 " Professor Morse requests the honor of Thomas S. Cummings, 
 Esq., and family's company in the Geological Cabinet of the Uni- 
 versity, Washington Square, to witness the operation of the elec- 
 tro-magnetic Telegraph, at a private exhibition of it to a few 
 friends, previous to its leaving the city for Washington. 
 
 " The apparatus will be prepared at precisely twelve o'clock, on 
 Wednesday, 24th instant. The time being limited, punctuality is 
 specially requested. 
 
 "New York University, January 22, 1838." 
 
 A large and intelligent company, including many of the 
 most learned and influential citizens attended, in response ' to 
 similar invitations. Some, who were present, have given their 
 recollections of that eventful day ; of the modest, quiet self- 
 possession of the inventor, now submitting to the scrutiny of 
 skeptics and objectors the result of his patient years of toil. 
 Gentlemen were requested to give brief dispatches, which were 
 sent over the coil of wire, and read by one who had no knowl- 
 edge of the words that had been given to the operator. Aston- 
 ishment was the sensation of the hour. The work bordered 
 upon the miraculous. " To see is to believe," but this result 
 staggered the faith of spectators. General Cummings had re- 
 cently been promoted to a military command, and, in allusion 
 perhaps to that fact, one of his friends present wrote, and Pro- 
 fessor Morse manipulated the instrument to transmit, a sentence, 
 which was produced in telegraphic characters, and read : 
 
 " Attention, the Universe ! 
 By Kingdoms, Sight Wheel ! " 
 
 Letter by letter, word by word, the sentence was written with 
 the four fingers of the telegraph, so that it was produced four 
 times, on the strip of paper that was moved by the clock-work 
 to receive the impression. 
 
 As this is the first sentence that was ever recorded by the 
 Telegraph, and preserved, a fac-simile is here given of the 
 
332 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 original, now in the possession of General Cnmmings. 
 upon one strip of paper just thirty-six inches in length. : 
 
 It is 
 
 at t e n t i o n 
 
 the u n i 
 
 The words were chosen, perhaps playfully, with no thought 
 of their significance beyond the momentary impression, but the 
 one who suggested them was undoubtedly under the influence 
 of the feeling then pervading the minds of all present, that 
 they were standing on the threshold of an event that would 
 command the attention of the world. And they were not mis- 
 taken. 
 
 The admiration of the company was unbounded. They 
 cheered the inventor with their warm and loud congratulations. 
 Doubt was dispelled. The triumph was complete. The Jour- 
 nal of Commerce of January 29, 1838, had the following notice 
 of the exhibition : 
 
NOTICE OF THE EXHIBITION.. 333 
 
 " The Telegraph. — We did not witness the operation of Pro- 
 fessor Morse's Electro-Magnetic Telegraph on Wednesday last, but 
 we learn that the numerous company of scientific persons who were 
 present pronounced it entirely successful. Intelligence was in- 
 stantaneously transmitted through a circuit of tek miles, and 
 legibly written on a cylinder at the extremity of the circuit. The 
 great advantages which must result to the public from this inven- 
 tion will warrant an outlay on the part of the Government sufficient 
 to test its practicability, as a general means of transmitting intelli- 
 gence. Professor Morse has recently improved on his mode of 
 marking, by which he can dispense altogether with the telegraphic 
 dictionary, using letters instead of numbers, and he can transmit 
 ten words per minute, which is more than double the number which 
 can be transmitted by means of the dictionary." 
 
 The New York Observer copied the above, and remarked : 
 
 " The primitive Telegraph was doubtless that mentioned by Ho- 
 mer — the lighting of a fire on a hill, to give notice of the arrival of a 
 fleet, or of any other expected event, of which that had been made, 
 by previous agreement, the signal. As an improvement upon this, 
 one of the Greek writers recommends a square vessel, filled in part 
 with water, with a large cork floating upon it. Upon the side of 
 this cork should be written various sentences, conveying expected 
 intelligence. At a given signal the water should be drawn from 
 this vessel, till the sentence to be conveyed should be just visible at 
 the top of the vessel, which should be announced by another signal. 
 An observer on a distant hill, furnished with a similar apparatus, 
 by drawing water from his vessel for the same length of time, 
 would ascertain the sentence intended to be conveyed. This he 
 could in the same manner transmit to another, and so on, as far as 
 the time should extend. The great defect of the method is, that no 
 intelligence could be conveyed by it, except such as is anticipated 
 and provided for. To remedy this defect has been the great object 
 of inventors of Telegraphs to this day. The most perfect system 
 yet in operation consists of signals representing the nine digits 
 with the cipher, by the use of which all numbers can be transmitted ; 
 a numbered dictionary of sentences, conveying all items of infor- 
 mation that can be anticipated ; a numbered dictionary of words ; 
 and finally, we believe, but are not sure, the designation of the 
 letters of the alphabet by numbers. Much study has been expended 
 and great ingenuhy displayed in bringing this system to perfection. 
 
334 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Its great and obvious defect is, that it can be used only in fair 
 weather. 
 
 " Some two or three years since an officer in the British Navy 
 announced the invention of a code of signals which should be in- 
 telligible to all nations. The details of his plan, we think, have 
 never been made public. The object might be accomplished by a 
 telegraphic or numbered dictionary, translated into all languages, 
 so that in all languages the same number should stand against a 
 word or sentence of the same meaning. These numbers would 
 then resemble the Chinese characters, in which persons of different 
 nations may correspond without understanding each other's spoken 
 language. On this plan all idiomatic expressions must be avoided, 
 and the various inflections of words, to express number, case, tense, 
 etc., must be gathered from the connection ; for, if all derived forms 
 of words were inserted in the dictionary, it would make a book of 
 monstrous and unmanageable dimensions. 
 
 " The Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, it will be seen, possesses the 
 following important advantages over any previously in use : 
 
 " 1. It is wholly independent of the weather. Clouds, fogs,, or the 
 darkness of midnight, are no impediment to its operation. It is 
 often most necessary to announce the arrival, situation, and wants 
 of ships, when, from the state of the weather, or the darkness of 
 night, other telegraphs are wholly useless. ' Even in the best 
 weather, by working at night as well as by day, twice as much can 
 be done in the twenty-four hours. 
 
 " 2. It conveys intelligence with greater rapidity. There is no 
 reason to doubt, from any facts or principles yet discovered, that 
 intelligence may be conveyed from New York to Washington, or 
 even to New Orleans, without any appreciable loss of time. It is 
 not necessary to have an observatory every few miles, at which 
 time is lost by observing the signals and repeating them, that they 
 .may be seen at the next observatory. Time is saved, too, by dis- 
 pensing with the dictionary. 
 
 " 3. It conveys intelligence more perfectly. It can spell any 
 word correctly. It can give us number and person, mood and 
 tense. If thought best, it can give us the punctuation, and, in short, 
 furnish the copy, ready for the hands of any printer who under- 
 stands the telegraphic alphabet. 
 
 " 4. It conveys intelligence with greater certainty. It doe£ not, 
 like other telegraphs, mereby hoist up signals, which may be seen, 
 if any one is looking for them ; but it records its message perma- 
 
THE FKANKLIN INSTITUTE. 335 
 
 nently on paper, where it will remain, and may be read at leisure. 
 It will be seen at once that intelligence thus recorded will be much 
 more sure to reach him to whom it is sent, and to be correctly 
 interpreted. 
 
 "Nothing but an actual trial, on an extensive scale, and for 
 several years, can show with certainty the full advantages of this 
 invention. We think it evident, however, from what has already 
 been shown, that its value cannot fail to be great." 
 
 The next step of the inventor was to bring the instrument 
 to the notice of the Government of the United States. With 
 boldness that speaks well for his candor as well as for his confi- 
 dence in his invention, he went to Philadelphia and submitted 
 it to the Franklin Institute of that city. This society was com- 
 posed of men eminent in science, and deeply imbued with the 
 philosophic spirit of inquiry of the illustrious man whose name 
 it bears. There was great fitness in first submitting to a Frank- 
 lin Institute the first invention which proposed to reduce light- 
 ning to the service of man. Robert M. Patterson, Esq., of 
 Philadelphia, an active member of the Franklin Institute, 
 having heard of the wonderful invention, wrote to Professor 
 Morse, January 19, 1838, and said to him : 
 
 " I am pleased to hear that you have brought your scheme for an 
 electro-magnetic telegraph to such a degree of perfection that you 
 are prepared to exhibit its action, and propose to show it at Wash- 
 ington. Will you permit me to ask you whether it would be con- 
 venient to you, and consistent with your views, to stop for a short 
 time at Philadelphia on your way, and let it be seen by the Com- 
 mittee of Science and Arts of the Franklin Institute ? This com- 
 mittee has taken an interest in the subject of telegraphs, and has 
 reported upon it to the Secretary of the Treasury. They would be 
 gratified to examine a scheme so eligible and plausible as that which 
 you propose." 
 
 The invitation was promptly accepted, and the exhibition 
 was made by Professor Morse on the 8th of February, 1838. 
 The committee reported their high gratification with Professor 
 Morse's Telegraph, and their hope that the Government would 
 give him the- means to test it upon an extensive scale. The re- 
 port was signed by gentlemen whose names and position justly 
 
336 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 commanded the respect of the public. The signers were : E. M. 
 Patterson, chairman; Roswell Park, Sears C. Walker, Isaiah 
 Lnkens, Franklin Peale, and Joseph Saxton. 
 
 Robert M. Patterson filled with eminent ability the professor- 
 ships of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and Mathematics in the 
 University of Pennsylvania ; afterward the professorship of Natural 
 Philosophy in the University of Virginia ; and from 1835 to 1851 
 was Director of the Mint at Philadelphia. He was president of the 
 American Philosophical Society, and a leading member and officer 
 of the Franklin Institute. He was a strong believer in the future 
 of science, and ever ready to welcome with enthusiasm the novelties 
 of inventors. 
 
 Mosivett Park was Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania. He was a man of varied information, and 
 wrote a work called " Pantology," a classification of the branches 
 of human knowledge. 
 
 Sears C. Wctlker was Actuary of the Pennsylvania Life Insur- 
 ance Company ; Professor of Mathematics in the Philadelphia High 
 School, and eminent in that branch of science. 
 
 Isaiah LuJcens was a famous clock-maker of Philadelphia, the 
 constructor of the present Independence-Hall (State-House) clock, 
 and an extremely ingenious mechanician. He once, for amusement, 
 constructed a ' perpetual-motion ' machine, the secret motive power 
 of which was a mystery that for a time baffled the wise even. 
 
 FranMin Peale was another master in mechanics. He was for 
 over twenty-one years connected with the Philadelphia Mint, as 
 melter and refiner and chief coiner, and devised and put into opera- 
 tion the greater part of the machinery still in successful use there. 
 
 Joseph Saxton was also eminent as a mechanician. At the 
 time of the Morse experiment he was at the head of the machinists 
 of the mint, but was soon after transferred to Washington, where 
 he was placed at the head of the Department of Weights and 
 Measures, under the Superintendent of the Coast Survey. 
 
 Professor Morse wrote with great enthusiasm to his brothers 
 in New York, announcing his success in Philadelphia, and re- 
 ceived a letter from Sidney, who said : 
 
 " Your invention, measuring it by the power which it will give 
 man to accomplish his plans, is not only the greatest invention of 
 this age, but the greatest invention of any age. I see, as an almost 
 
BEFORE THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET. 337 
 
 immediate effect, that the surface of the earth will be net-worked 
 with wire, and every wire will be a nerve, conveying to every part 
 intelligence of what is doing in every other part. The earth will 
 become a huge animal with ten million hands, and in every hand a 
 pen to record whatever the directing soul may dictate. No limit 
 can be assigned to the value of the invention." 
 
 From Philadelphia Mr. Morse went to Washington, to chal- 
 lenge the attention of the Government. It was late in the' 
 session of Congress, and every day was precious. He obtained 
 the use of the room of the Committee on Commerce, in the 
 Capitol, and into it introduced the apparatus, clumsy and rude 
 indeed, but amply adequate to demonstrate to all comers that it 
 could write at a distance / that is, that he had a real Telegraph. 
 To this room he invited members of Congress, foreign minis- 
 ters, and men of science. They came and saw and wandered, 
 but went away with little faith. Mr. Morse received the 
 following note, on the day of its date, from the Secretary of the 
 Navy : 
 
 " M. Dickerson presents his respects to Dr. Morse, and informs 
 him that the President and heads of department propose to witness 
 the experiments upon the Galvano-Magnetic Telegraph, to-morrow 
 at one o'clock, February 20, 1838." 
 
 It was directed to " Dr. Morse, room of the Committee of 
 Commerce, H. R." The next day, February 21st, Mr. Yan 
 Buren, President of the United States, and the entire Cabinet, 
 including John Forsyth, Secretary of State, Levi Woodbury, 
 Secretary of the Treasury, J. R. Poinsett, Secretary of War, 
 and M. Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy, visited the room, and 
 saw the experiments. The chairman of the Committee on Com- 
 merce, Hon. F. O. J. Smith, had apprehended the greatness of 
 the coming event, and had encouraged Mr. Morse to hope for 
 success. The inventor, nervously excited, as the eyes of the 
 Government and country were now fixed upon him and his in- 
 vention, rose to the grandeur of the occasion, and with steady 
 hand, and modest but intelligent words, demonstrated to the 
 President of the United States and the company, that a Tele- 
 graph was an accomplished fact. The huge coil of wire on the 
 reels contained a circuit of ten miles, and, as sentence after sen- 
 22 
 
338 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tenee was spoken at one extremity and written down at the 
 other, it was plain enough that it would .work just as well on a 
 straight line in the open air. 
 
 Mr. Smith, the chairman of the Committee on Commerce, 
 was in a position to forward the views of the inventor, and, 
 happily for him, appreciated its vast capabilities, and lent his 
 great energies to its advancement. Before the experiments 
 were publicly made in Washington, Mr. Smith had brought 
 Professor Morse before the committee, and inspired him with 
 so much confidence, that he wrote the following letter : 
 
 S. F B. Morse to Hon. F. 0. J. Smith. 
 
 "Washington, February 15, 1838. 
 " Dear Sir : In consequence of the conversation had with the 
 committee on the subject of my Telegraph, I would state that I 
 think it desirable that an experiment, on a somewhat extended scale, 
 should first be made to test both the practicability and the facility 
 of communicating intelligence for at least one hundred miles. The 
 experiment may proceed, as to cost, with perfect safety to the Gov- 
 ernment : 1. The wire for this distance, consisting of four lengths, 
 making a total of four hundred miles of wire, might be obtained, 
 and receive its covering of cotton and other insulation. This length 
 would amply suffice to ascertain the law of the propulsive power of 
 voltaic electricity, and previous to any measures being taken for 
 burying it in the earth. So that, if any unforeseen difficulty should 
 occur fatal to its practicability, the wire is not consumed or lost. 
 If the expected success is realized, then, 2. The preparation of the 
 wire might be commenced for burying in the earth, and being 
 found complete through the whole route, the several portrules, 
 registers, batteries, etc., might be provided to put the Telegraph 
 into complete action. This experiment of one hundred miles would 
 furnish the data from which to make the estimates of a more gen- 
 eral extension of the system. If no insurmountable obstacles pre- 
 sent themselves in a distance of one hundred miles, none may be 
 expected in one thousand or in ten thousand miles ; and then will 
 be presented for the consideration of the Government the propriety 
 of completely organizing this new telegraphic system as a part of 
 the Government, attaching it to some department already existing, 
 or creating a new one, which may be called for by the accumulating 
 duties of the present departments. 
 
IMMENSE POWER OF THE TELEGRAPH. 339 
 
 " It is obvious, at the slightest glance, that this mode of instan- 
 taneous communication must inevitably become an instrument of 
 immense power, to be wielded for good or for evil, as it shall be 
 properly or improperly directed. In the hands of a company of 
 speculators, who should monopolize it for themselves, it might be 
 the means of enriching the corjDoration at the expense of the bank- 
 ruptcy of thousands ; and even in the hands of Government alone, 
 it might become a means of working vast mischief to the republic. 
 In considering these prospective evils, I would respectfully suggest 
 a remedy which offers itself to my mind. Let the sole right of 
 using the Telegraph belong, in the first place, to the Government, 
 who should grant, for a specified sum or bonus, to any individual 
 or company of individuals who may apply for it, and under such 
 restrictions and regulations as the Government may think proper, 
 the right to lay down a communication between any two points, 
 for the purpose of transmitting intelligence ; and thus would 
 be promoted a general competition. The Government would have 
 a Telegraph of its own, and have its modes of communicating with 
 its own officers and agents independent of private permission, or 
 interference with and interruption to the ordinary transmissions on 
 the private telegraphs. Thus there would be a system of checks 
 and preventives of abuse, operating to restrain the action of this 
 otherwise dangerous power, within those bounds which will per- 
 mit only the good and neutralize the evil. Should the Government 
 thus take the Telegraph solely under its own control, the revenue 
 derived from the bonuses alone, it must be plain, will be of vast 
 amount. 
 
 "From the enterprising character of our countrymen, shown 
 in the manner in which they carry forward any new project 
 which promises private or public advantage, it is not visionary to 
 suppose that it would not be long ere the whole surface of this 
 country would be channeled for those nerves which are to diffuse, 
 with the speed of thought, a knowledge of all that is occurring 
 throughout the land ; making, in fact, one neighborhood of the 
 whole country. 
 
 " If the Government is disposed to test this mode of telegraphic 
 communication by enabling me to give it a fair trial for one hundred 
 miles, I will engage to enter into no arrangement to dispose of my 
 rights, as the inventor and patentee for the United States, to any in- 
 dividual or company of individuals, previous to offering it to the 
 Government for such a just and reasonable compensation as shall be 
 
340 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 mutually agreed upon. I remain, sir, respectfully, your most obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 
 " To the Hon. F. 0. J. Smith, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce of the 
 House of Representatives." 
 
 And again lie wrote : 
 
 S. F. B. Morse to Son. F. 0. J. Smith. 
 
 "Washington, February 22, 1838. 
 " Dear Sir : I have endeavored to approach a proper estimate 
 of the expense attendant on preparing a complete telegraphic com- 
 munication for some distance ; and, taking into consideration the 
 possibility that the experiment may be conclusively tried before the 
 close of the present session of Congress, I have thought that an 
 appropriation for fifty miles of distance would test the practicability 
 of the Telegraph quite as satisfactorily as one hundred, because the 
 obstacles necessary to be overcome would not be more proportion- 
 ally in fifty than in one hundred; while at the same time the 
 double circuit necessary in the fifty miles would give a single circuit 
 of one hundred for the purpose of testing the effect of distance upon 
 the passage of electricity. Fifty miles would require a less amount 
 of appropriation, and the experiment could also be sooner brought 
 to a result : 
 
 Two hundred miles of wire, or wire for two circuits for fifty miles of dis- 
 tance, including the covering of the wire with cotton, at $100 per 
 mile $20,000 
 
 Other expenses of preparation of the wire, such as caoutchouc, wax, resin, 
 
 tar, with reels for winding, soldering, etc., say $6 per mile . 1,200 
 
 Batteries and registers, with type, etc., for two stations, and materials 
 
 for experimenting on the best modes of magnets at long distances . i 800 
 
 Services of Professor Gale in the chemical department ; services of Mr. 
 Alfred Vail in the mechanical department ; services of assistants in 
 different departments ; my own services in superintending and di- 
 recting the whole — total 4,000 
 
 Total l $26,000 
 
 " This estimate is exclusive of expense necessary to lay down 
 the wire beneath the ground. This is unnecessary until the pre- 
 vious preparations are found satisfactory. I cannot say what time 
 will be required for the completion of the circuits for fifty miles. 
 
 1 This line could now be constructed for less than half the sum. 
 
FAVORABLE REPORT IN CONGRESS. 341 
 
 If the order could be immediately given for the wire, I think all 
 the other matter connected with it might be completed so that 
 every thing could be in readiness in three months. Much will 
 depend on the punctuality with which contractors fulfill their en- 
 gagements in furnishing the wire and other apparatus. I remain, 
 sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 " To the Hon. F. 0. J. Smith, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce." 
 
 Professor Morse now submitted to Congress a respectful 
 memorial, asking an appropriation to defray the expense of 
 subjecting the Telegraph to actual experiment over a length 
 sufficient to establish its feasibility, and demonstrate its value. 
 This petition, its substance being embraced in the foregoing 
 letters to the Hon F. O. J. Smith, was referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Commerce. On the 6th of April, 1838, Mr. Smith 
 made the following 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 On the 3d of February, 1837, the House of Representatives 
 passed a resolution requesting the Secretary of the Treasury to re- 
 port to the House, at its present session, upon the propriety of 
 establishing a system of telegraphs for the United States. In pur- 
 suance of this request, the Secretary of the Treasury, at an early 
 day after the passage of said resolution, addressed a circular of in- 
 quiry to numerous scientific and practical individuals in different 
 parts of the Union ; and, on the 6th of December last, reported the 
 result of this proceeding to the House. This report of the Secre- 
 tary embodies many useful suggestions on the necessity and practi- 
 cability of a system of telegraphic dispatches, both for public and 
 individual purposes; and the committee cannot doubt that the 
 American public, is fully prepared, and even desirous, that every 
 requisite effort be made on the part of Congress to consummate an 
 object of so deep interest to the purposes of Government in peace 
 and in war, and to the enterprise of the age. Amid the sugges- 
 tions thus elicited from various sources, and embodied in the before- 
 mentioned report of the Secretary of the Treasury, a plan for an 
 electro-magnetic telegraph is communicated by Professor Morse, of 
 the University of the City of New York, preeminently interesting, 
 and even wonderful. 
 
 This invention consists in the application, by mechanism, of 
 
342 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 galvanic electricity to telegraphic purposes, and is claimed by Pro- 
 fessor Morse and his associates as original with them ; and being 
 so, in fact, as the committee believe, letters-patent have been se- 
 cured under the authority of the United States for the invention. 
 It has, moreover, been subjected to the test of experiment, upon a 
 scale of ten miles' distance, by a select committee of the Franklin 
 Institute of the city of Philadelphia, and reported upon by that 
 eminently high tribunal in the most favorable and confident terms. 
 An extract from the report thus made is hereunto annexed. 
 
 In additional confirmation of the merits of his proposed system of 
 telegraphs, Professor Morse has exhibited it in operation (by a coil 
 of metallic wire measuring about ten miles in length, rendering the 
 action equal to a telegraph of half that distance) to the Committee on 
 Commerce of the House of Representatives, to the President of the 
 United States, and the several heads of departments, to members 
 of Congress generally, who have taken interest in the examination, 
 and to a vast number of scientific and practical individuals from 
 various parts of the Union; and all concur, it is believed, and with- 
 out a dissenting doubt, in admiration of the ingenious and scientific 
 character of the invention, and in the opinion that it is successfully 
 adapted to the purposes of telegraphic dispatches, and in a convic- 
 tion of its great and incalculable practical importance and useful- 
 ness to the country, and ultimately to the whole world. But it 
 would be presumptuous in any one (and the inventor himself is 
 most sensible of this) to attempt, at this stage of the invention, to 
 calculate in anticipation, or to hold out promises of what its whole 
 extent of capacity for usefulness may be, in either a political, com- 
 mercial, or social point of view, if the electrical power upon which 
 it depends for successful action shall prove to be efficient, as is now 
 supposed it will, to carry intelligence through any of the distances 
 of fifty, one hundred, five hundred, or more miles, now contemplated. 
 No such attempt, therefore, will be indulged in this report. It is 
 obvious, however, that the influence of this invention over the 
 political, commercial, and social relations of the people of this 
 widely-extended country, looking to nothing beyond, will, in the 
 event of success, of itself amount to a revolution unsurpassed in 
 moral grandeur by any discovery that has been made in the arts 
 and sciences, from the most distant period to which authentic history 
 extends to the present day. "With the means of almost instantane- 
 ous communication of intelligence between the most distant points 
 of the country, and simultaneously between any given number of 
 
GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE THE OWNER. 343 
 
 intermediate points which this invention contemplates, space will 
 be, to all practical purposes of information, completely annihilated 
 between the States of the Union, as also between the individual 
 citizens thereof. The citizen will be. invested with, and reduce to 
 daily and familiar use, an approach to the high attribute of 
 ubiquity, in a degree that the human mind, until recently, has 
 hardly dared to contemplate seriously as belonging to human 
 agency, from an instinctive feeling of religious reverence and re- 
 serve on a power of such awful grandeur. 
 
 Referring to the annexed report of the Franklin Institute, al- 
 ready adverted to, and also to the letters of Professor Morse, 
 marked two, eight, and nine, for other details of the superiority of 
 this system of telegraphs over all other methods heretofore reduced 
 to practice by any individual or government, the committee agree, 
 unanimously, that it is worthy to engross the attention and means 
 of the Federal Government, to the full extent that may be neces- 
 sary to put the invention to the most decisive test that can be de- 
 sirable. The power of the invention, if successful, is so extensive 
 for good and for evil, that the Government alone should possess the 
 right to control and regulate it. The mode of proceeding to test it, 
 as suggested, as also the relations which the inventor and his asso- 
 ciates are willing to recognize with the Government on the subject of 
 the future ownership, use, and control of the invention, are succinctly 
 set forth in the annexed letters of Professor Morse, marked eight and 
 nine. The probable outlay of an experiment upon a scale equal to 
 fifty miles of telegraph, and equal to a circuit of double that distance, 
 is estimated at thirty thousand dollars. Two-thirds of this expendi- 
 ture will be for material which, whether the experiment shall suc- 
 ceed or fail, will remain uninjured, and of very little diminished 
 value below the price that will be paid for it. The estimates of 
 Professor Morse, as will be seen by his letter marked nine, amount 
 to twenty-six thousand dollars ; but, to meet any contingency not 
 anticipated, and to guard against any want of requisite funds in an 
 enterprise of such moment to the Government, to the people, and 
 to the scientific world, the committee recommend an appropriation 
 of thirty thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of 
 the Secretary of the Treasury ; and to this end submit herewith a 
 bill. 
 
 It is believed by the committee that the subject is one of such 
 universal interest and importance, that an early action upon it will 
 be deemed desirable by Congress, to enable the inventor to com- 
 
34:4 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 plete his trial of the invention upon the extended scale contem- 
 plated, in season to furnish Congress with a full report of the result 
 during its present session, if that shall be practicable. 
 All which is respectfully submitted : 
 
 Francis O. J. Smith, Jas. M. Mason, 
 S. C. Phillips, John T. H. Worthington, 
 
 Samuel Cushman, Wm. H. Hunter, 
 
 John I. De Graff, George W. Toland, 
 Edward Curtis, 
 Committee on Commerce, TI. S. H. M. 
 
 At this stage of the work, Mr. Smith intimated to Mr. 
 Morse bis willingness to take a pecuniary interest and responsi- 
 bility in the enterprise. With commendable delicacy, it was 
 made a condition of such an arrangement that Mr. Smith should 
 obtain leave of absence from Congress, for the remainder of his 
 term then closing, and that he should not be a candidate for re- 
 election. With this understanding, a partnership was formed 
 between Professor Morse, Professor Gale, Mr. Alfred Vail, and 
 Hon. P. O. J. Smith, by the terms of which it was stipulated 
 that Mr. Smith should go to Europe with Professor Morse and 
 secure patents for the telegraph in such countries as it should 
 be practicable for him to do so. The property in the invention 
 was divided into sixteen shares, of which Mr. Morse held nine, 
 Mr. Smith four, Mr. Vail two, and Professor Gale one. In the 
 patents to be obtained in foreign countries the proportions were 
 not the same : Professor Morse was to hold eight, Mr. Smith 
 five, Mr. Vail two, and Professor Gale one. 
 
 Professor Morse returned to New York, and made arrange- 
 ments necessary for his journey to Europe. It was important to 
 secure a patent for the great invention in foreign countries, and 
 every day's delay increased the difficulties of success. Mr. Vail 
 went to Speedwell to prepare an instrument which Professor 
 Morse would take with him to Europe. He wrote to Mr. Vail, 
 March 15th: 
 
 " Every thing looks encouraging, but I need not say to you that 
 in this world a continued course of prosperity is not a rational ex- 
 pectation. We shall doubtless find troubles and difficulties in store 
 for us, and it is the part of true wisdom to be prepared for what- 
 ever may await us. If our hearts are right, we shall not be taken 
 
MR. VAIL'S GRATITUDE. 345 
 
 by surprise. I see nothing now but an unclouded prospect, for 
 which let us pay to Him who shows it us the homage of grateful 
 and obedient hearts, with most earnest prayers for grace to use 
 prosperity aright. 
 
 " The wire, and battery, and dictionary, have safely arrived, and 
 are now in the cabinet, where Professor Gale is preparing immedi- 
 ately to institute some experiments important to the invention. As 
 soon as Mr. S. returns from the eastward I shall proceed with him 
 to "Washington, arranging matters there in relation to the patent, 
 and then I am ready for Europe." 
 
 March 19th Mr. Vail replied : " I feel, Professor Morse, that if I 
 am ever worth any thing, it will be wholly attributable to your 
 kindness — I now should have no earthly prospect of happiness and 
 domestic bliss had it not been for what you have done, for which I 
 shall ever remember with the liveliest emotions of gratitude, whether 
 it is eventually successful or not. I can appreciate your reasonable 
 and appropriate remark that there is nothing certain in this life ; 
 that it is a world of care, anxiety, and trouble, and that our depend- 
 ence must be placed upon a higher power than of earth. 1 
 
 " I am, yours truly, Alfred Vail." 
 
 From the city of Washington, March 31st, Professor Morse wrote 
 to Mr. Vail : " I write you a hasty line to say, in the first place, that 
 I have overcome all difficulties in regard to a portrule, and have in- 
 vented one which will be perfect. It is very simple, and will not 
 take much time or expense to make it. Mr. S. has incorporated it 
 into the specification for the patent. Please, therefore, not to pro- 
 
 1 These expressions of gratitude by Mr. Vail to Mr. Morse were honorable to Mr. 
 V., and Mr. Morse cherished to the day of his death a tender regard for his young 
 friend. At a banquet given to Mr. Morse more than thirty years after this letter was 
 written, Mr. Morse, then at the height of human glory, spoke of Mr. Vail in such 
 terms of grateful recognition as to call out the following note from a son of Mr. 
 Vail, who was not born when the letter above was written : 
 
 "New York, June 13,1871. 
 "Respected Sir: Allow me, for myself, to thank you for the kind, generous 
 manner in which you alluded to my father's share in your early labors and struggles, 
 during the babyhood of the now giant Telegraph. I have always felt that you would 
 freely recognize and acknowledge his assistance, and it was therefore exceedingly 
 gratifying to me when, being absent when you spoke them, I read them in the pub- 
 lished account of Saturday's evening meeting in your honor. Accept my many 
 wishes for your continued health and honor, and believe me, 
 
 " Yours, respectfully, J. Cummings Vail." 
 
346 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 ceed with the type or portrule as now constructed. I will see you 
 on my return, and explain it in season for you to get one ready for 
 us. I find it a most arduous and tedious process to adjust the 
 specification ; I have been engaged steadily for three days with Mr. 
 S., and have not yet got half through, but there is one consolation, 
 when done it will be well done. The drawings, I find on inquiry, 
 would cost you from forty to fifty dollars, if procured from the 
 draughtsman about the Patent-Office. I have therefore determined 
 to do them myself, and save you that sum." 
 
 During the few weeks spent in completing the instrument 
 to be taken to Europe, and preparing for an expedition which 
 promised the most important results, the fertile mind of Mr. 
 Morse was constantly devising improvements, removing diffi- 
 culties, and making assurance doubly sure. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1838-1839. 
 
 PEOFESSOE MOESE GOES TO ENGLAND — APPLICATION FOE PATENT — EEFUSAL 
 — EEASONS — FALSE STATEMENT OF AN OFFICIAL — GOES TO PAEIS — LET- 
 TEES TO HIS DAUGHTEE — DR. KIEk's EECOLLEOTIONS — AEAGO — HIS GEEAT 
 KINDNESS — EXHIBITION BEFORE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE — BAEON HUM- 
 BOLDt's CONGEATULATIONS — EEPOET UPON IT — LETTEES TO FEIENDS — 
 
 hon. h. l. ellswoeth's lettee — patent in feanoe — count monta- 
 
 litet peofessoe morse's lettees to me. smith — loed lincoln's and 
 
 loed Elgin's inteeest in the telegeaph — peofessor moese goes to 
 london exhibits the telegeaph at the house of loed lincoln. 
 
 P 
 
 ROFESSOR MOESE left on record a minute account of 
 his attempt and failure to procure a patent in England. 
 
 " On May 16, 1838, I left the United States and arrived in Lon- 
 don in June, for the purpose of obtaining letters-patent for my 
 Electro-Magnetic Telegraph System. I learned before leaving the 
 United States that Professor Wheatstone and Mr. Cooke, of London, 
 had obtained letters-patent in England for a ' Magnetic-Needle 
 Telegraph] based, as the name implies, on the deflection of the 
 magnetic needle. Their telegraph at that time required six con- 
 ductors between the two points of intercommunication for a single 
 instrument at each of the two termini. Their mode of indicating 
 signs for communicating intelligence was by deflecting five magnetic 
 needles in various directions in such a way as to point to the re- 
 quired letter upon a diamond-shaped dial-plate. It was necessary 
 that the signal should be observed at the instant, or it was lost, and 
 vanished forever. 
 
 "I applied for letters-patent for my system of communicating 
 intelligence at a distance by electricity, differing in all respects' from 
 
348 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Messrs. Wheatstone and Cooke's system, invented five years before 
 theirs, and having nothing in common in the whole system but the 
 use of electricity on metallic conductors, for which use no one could 
 obtain an exclusive privilege, since this much had been used for 
 nearly one hundred years. My system is peculiar in the employ- 
 ment of electro-magnetism, or the motive power of electricity, to 
 imprint permanent signs at a distance. I made no use of the deflec- 
 tions of the magnetic needle as signs. I required but one conductor 
 between the two termini, or any number of intermediate points of 
 intercommunication. I used paper moved by clocJc-viork, upon 
 which I caused a lever moved by magnetism to imprint the letters and 
 words of any required dispatch, having also invented and adapted 
 to. telegraph writing a new and peculiar alphabetic character for 
 that purpose ; a conventional alphabet, easily acquired, and easily 
 made, and used by the operator. It is obvious, at once, from a 
 simple statement of these facts, that the system of Messrs. Wheat- 
 stone and Cooke, and my system, were wholly unlike each other. 
 As I have just observed, there was nothing in common in the two 
 systems but the use of electricity upon metallic conductors, for 
 which no one could obtain an exclusive privilege. 
 
 " The various steps required by the English law were taken by 
 me to procure a patent for my mode, and the fees were paid at the 
 Clerk's office, June 22d, and at the Home Department, June 25, 
 1838 ; also June 26th, caveats were entered at the Attorney and 
 Solicitor General's — and I had reached that part of the process 
 which required the sanction of the Attorney-General. At this point 
 I met the opposition of Messrs. Wheatstone and Cooke, and also of 
 Mr. Davy, and a hearing was ordered before the Attorney-General, 
 Sir John Campbell, on July 12, 1838. I attended at the Attorney- 
 General's residence on the morning of that day, carrying with me 
 my telegraphic apparatus, for the purpose of explaining to -him the 
 total dissimilarity between my system and those of my opponents. 
 But, contrary to my expectation, the similarity or dissimilarity of 
 my mode from that of my opponents was not considered by the 
 Attorney-General. He neither examined my instrument, which I 
 had brought for that purpose, nor did he ask any questions bearing 
 upon its resemblance to my opponents' system. I was met by the 
 single declaration that my ' invention had been published] and in 
 proof a copy of the London Mechanics' 1 Magazine, No. 757, for 
 February 10, 1838, was produced, and I was told that 'in conse- 
 quence of said publication I could not proceed.' 
 
UNJUST DECISION. 349 
 
 " At this summary decision I was certainly surprised, being con- 
 scious that there had been no such publication of my method as the 
 law required to invalidate a patent ; and, even if there had been, I 
 ventured to hint to the Attorney-General that, if I was rightly in- 
 formed in regard to the British law, it was the province of a court 
 and jury, and not of the Attorne} T -General, to try and to decide that 
 point. I conceived that if I had merely offered a substantially 
 different mode of doing the same thing, this, according to British 
 law, was sufficient to entitle me to a patent for my mode ; but if, 
 after having obtained a patent, my opponents could prove before a 
 court and jury that my mode had been previously published, then 
 it was for that court and jury to declare my patent void. I there- 
 fore considered myself unjustly dealt with by the Attorney-Gen- 
 eral, who, it appeared to me, had stepped out of the sphere of his 
 proper duties, assuming the power of a court and jury, to forbid me 
 to proceed. 
 
 " Unwilling to yield to such manifest injustice, without attempt- 
 ing to correct what might possibly have arisen from some misap- 
 prehension, I, immediately on my return to my lodgings, with the 
 assistance of a legal friend, F. O. J. Smith, Esq., drew up and sent 
 a letter to the Attorney-General, in which I requested a review of 
 his decision, stating the essential differences between my system 
 and that of my opponents, and concluding in these terms : 
 
 " ' I forbear to advert to other differences, now clear to my own 
 mind, through fear of too far intruding upon your valuable time 
 and patience. I will at once proceed to obviate the grand objection 
 which I understand to have been regarded as in my way, viz. : 
 
 " ' While it is conceded that all my claim rightly attaches to 
 myself by priority of invention, the publicity that has been given 
 it (it is contended) divests me of the legal right to an exclusive 
 property in it. Here, will the Hon. Attorney-General indulge me 
 in the inquir} 7 — 
 
 " ' 1. What is the nature of the publication that can operate 
 thus to deprive an inventor of his right to a patent ? 
 
 " ' 2. What is the nature of the publication in the present case 
 that stands in the way ? 
 
 " ' May I not presume the English law to be what the American 
 law is, and what the French law is, in principle, upon the subject 
 of publication ? A publication of results — even a minute published 
 description of mere results produced by an invention — cannot in- 
 validate a posterior patent in either of those countries, if the means, 
 
350 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the modus operandi producing those results, are not described in 
 the publication to an extent that a clever workman would be en- 
 abled to make the same means and to produce the same results. 
 
 " ' Suppose it were published that I had invented a gun that 
 would shoot accurately at right angles, beyond any given point ; 
 surely, this would not prejudice my claim to a patent subsequently. 
 Suppose I exhibited in the market-place the gun actually made, and 
 yet no one, from such exhibition, could understand its structure, it 
 is respectfully submitted that even such a publication both of means 
 and results could not invalidate my patent subsequently obtained, 
 because the publication did not convey information up to the point 
 that could enable any person to make use of my invention. Such 
 I would with great deference presume to be the rationale of the 
 law of England. And, if in the foregoing construction T am correct, 
 the question recurs, What is the nature of the publication in my 
 case? 
 
 " ' I send you all that has come within my knowledge as published 
 in this country, all that has been presented to the Hon. Attorney- 
 General as published (see Mechanic's Magazine, page 332). Will 
 the Hon. Attorney-General be good enough to analyze this docu- 
 ment with me, and compare it even with all the information the 
 opposing claimants in my case possess relative to my invention up 
 to this date ? 
 
 " ' The magazine article describes : 
 
 " ' 1. The fact that my invention is reduced " to the use of one 
 wire" one circuit only. 
 
 " ' I believe it will not be contended in any quarter that I am not 
 the first inventor of this reduction of an Electric Telegraph to a 
 single circuit. But this is only publishing a result, not the mode in 
 which it is produced. It furnishes no description of the mechanism 
 which I employ, and which enables me successfully to dispense with 
 all wires except one. It would not suggest any mode as my mode 
 of accomplishing this, to any mind. And yet, it might suggest to 
 many minds many modes of doing it, and some one of them might 
 or might not resemble mine ; and the several inventors would each 
 be entitled to a patent for their respective modes. 
 
 " ' 2. The publication discloses the fact that my invention con- 
 tains a register which permanently records, and in characters easily 
 legible, the fullest communication, etc. But this is only a state- 
 ment of a result. It is no description of the means of recording, 
 or the manner in which my means of recording operate in produc- 
 
NO SUFFICIENT PUBLICATION. 351 
 
 ino- the result. It is as indefinite a description of means as it 
 would be to say, " A has invented a gun which will shoot accurate- 
 ly at right angles." 
 
 " ' 3. The publication discloses a specimen of the writing pro- 
 duced by my invention, and an explanation of what the characters 
 thus produced indicate by aid of a dictionary. But the how — by 
 what description of mechanism, or by what sort of type or pen, 
 pencil, or marking instruments, this specimen of characters was pro- 
 duced, is not described, nor published, nor explained. No reader learns 
 this from the publication here exhibited. He learns from it how 
 to read the characters — what they mean — how they connect them- 
 selves with a dictionary — but he is no wiser from it as to the mode 
 producing these characters ; and with this ends all the description 
 of either means or results which the publication contains. 
 
 " ' I respectfully submit to the Attorney-General, whether such 
 a publication of results is to be construed into a description of 
 means, or can bring my invention within the meaning of the principle 
 of law heretofore adverted to, invalidating in the slightest degree 
 my claim to a patent. 
 
 " ' But, further : If it were even admitted that such publicity has 
 been given to portions of my invention as to preclude me from a 
 valid patent for those portions, it will not surely be contended that 
 I am thereby precluded from a patent for the undisclosed and un- 
 published portions, which I take at my risk. For, such portions I 
 desire a patient. 
 
 " ' In conclusion, allow me to remark that I am quite persuaded 
 that no configuration of the type I use, or of the mechanism by 
 which I bring them into use, has ever to this day come to the 
 knowledge of my opposing claimants : and that they cannot de- 
 scribe any of these particulars of my invention to the Hon. At- 
 torney-General, upon his request, nor even inform him whether I do 
 or do not employ the magnetic needle in the invention, nor how the 
 type make their impression on the paper. And if, with all the as- 
 sumed publicity of my invention before them, they cannot do this 
 much with accuracy and promptness, I feel confident the Hon. At- 
 torney-General will dismiss all doubt as to the injustice that would 
 be done to me, and to my representatives and estate, by withhold- 
 ing from me the patent for which I have petitioned. 
 
 " ' I have written at more length than I intended, but I wish 
 my case to be clearly understood, and in a shape not to be misun- 
 derstood. If I have presumed too much in this, I hope to find an 
 
352 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 apology in the importance, to myself and others associated with me, 
 of the result of much anxious labor, and much expense incurred in 
 years of devotedness to this invention. 
 
 " ' With high consideration, I have the honor to be your obe- 
 dient servant, (Signed) 
 
 " ' London, 14 Bedford Place, ) S F B MoESE 
 
 July 12, 1838.' J 
 
 " In consequence of my request in this letter, I was allowed a 
 second hearing. I attended accordingly ; but, to my chagrin, the 
 Attorney-General remarked that he had not had time to examine 
 the letter. He carelessly took it up, and turned over the leaves 
 without reading it, and then asked me if I had not taken measures 
 for a patent in my own country. And, upon my reply in the 
 affirmative, he remarked that ' America was a large country, and I 
 ought to be satisfied with a patent there.' I replied that, with all 
 due deference, I did not consider that as a point submitted for the 
 Attorney-General's decision ; that the question submitted was, 
 whether there was any legal obstacle in the way of my obtaining 
 letters-patent for my Telegraph in England. He observed that 
 he considered my invention as having been published, and that he 
 must therefore forbid me to proceed. 
 
 " Thus forbidden to proceed by an authority from which there 
 was no appeal, as I afterward learned, but to Parliament, and 
 this at great cost of time and money, I immediately left England 
 for France, where I found no difficulty in securing a patent. My 
 invention there not only attracted the regards of the distinguished 
 savants of Paris, but in a marked degree the admiration of many of 
 the English nobility and gentry at that time in the French capital. 
 To several of these, while explaining the operation of my tele- 
 graphic system, I related the history of my treatment by the Eng- 
 lish Attorney-General. The celebrated Earl of Elgin took a deep 
 interest in the matter, and was intent on my obtaining a special act 
 of Parliament to secure to me my just rights as the inventor of the 
 Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. He repeatedly visited me, bringing 
 with him many of his distinguished friends, and among them on 
 one occasion the noble Earl of Lincoln, since one of her Majesty's 
 Privy Council. The Hon. Henry Drummond also interested him- 
 self for me, and, through his kindness and Lord Elgin's, 1 received 
 letters of introduction to Lord Brougham and to the Marquis of 
 Northampton!, the President of the Royal Society, and several 
 
RUSSIAN NEGOTIATIONS. 353 
 
 other distinguished persons in England. The Earl of Lincoln 
 showed me special kindness ; in taking leave of me in Paris, he 
 gave me his card, and, requesting me to bring my telegraphic instru- 
 ments with me to London, pressed me to give him the earliest no- 
 tice of my arrival in London. 
 
 " I must here say that for weeks in Paris I had been engaged in 
 negotiation with the Russian Counselor of State, the Baron Alex- 
 ander de Meyendorff, arranging measures for putting the telegraph 
 in operation in Russia. The terms of a contract had been mutually 
 agreed upon, and all was concluded but the signature of the emper- 
 or to legalize it. In order to take advantage of the ensuing sum- 
 mer season for my operations in Russia, I determined to proceed 
 immediately to the United States to make some necessary prepara- 
 tions for the enterprise, without waiting for the formal completion 
 of the contract papers, being led to believe that the signature of the 
 emperor was sure, a matter of mere form. Under these circum- 
 stances, I left Paris on the 13th of March, 1839, and arrived in Lon- 
 don on the 15th of the same month. The next day, I sent my card 
 to the Earl of Lincoln and my letter and card to the Marquis of 
 Northampton, and in two or three hours received a visit from both. 
 By Earl Lincoln, I was at once invited to send my Telegraph to his 
 house in Park Lane, and on the 19th of March I exhibited its 
 operation to members of both Houses of Parliament, of the Royal 
 Society, and the Lords of the Admiralty, invited to meet me by 
 the Earl of Lincoln. From the circumstances mentioned, my time 
 in London was necessarily short, my passage having been secured. 
 in the Great Western, to sail on the 23d of March. Although so- 
 licited to remain a while in London, both by the Earl of Lincoln 
 and the Hon. Henry Drummond, with a view to obtaining a special 
 act of Parliament for a patent, I was compelled by the circum- 
 stances of the case to defer, till some more favorable opportunity, 
 on my expected return to England, any attempt of the kind. The 
 Emperor of Russia, however, refused to ratify the contract made 
 with me by his Counselor of State, and my design of returning to 
 Europe was frustrated ; and I have not to this hour had the means 
 to prosecute this enterprise to a result in England. All my exer- 
 tions were needed to establish my telegraphic system in my own 
 country. 
 
 " Time has shown conclusively the essential difference of my 
 telegraphic system from those of my opponents ; time has also 
 shown that my system was not published in England, as alleged by 
 23 
 
354 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the Attorney-General ; for, to this day, no work in England has 
 published any thing that does not show that, as yet, it is perfectly 
 misunderstood. Professor Wheatstone has even pronounced lately 
 (within three years), in Paris, my system useless and impeacti- 
 cable, or words to that effect, as I learn from the highest authority. 
 Surely, after the results before the world of the practical operation 
 of my system for so long a time, and over hundreds of miles of 
 country (in 1846), furnishing daily to the press, in cities five or six 
 hundred miles apart, whole columns of news simultaneously, Pro- 
 fessor Wheatstone could not have understood my system, and thus 
 risk his reputation as a man of science by such a hasty opinion. If 
 my system had been published in England, Professor Wheatstone's 
 sagacity would certainly have comprehended its superior simplicity 
 and efficiency, and he never would have hazarded such a remark. 
 I consider this fact conclusive on the point of publication. But, as 
 this was the ground, the sole ground, of not allowing me to proceed 
 in taking out letters patent, I will not leave the settlement of the 
 question to inference ; I will show that there was not even the 
 shadow of a publication, in the legal sense of the term. The sole 
 document upon which my opponents rested to prove a publication, 
 is that referred to in the Mechanic's Magazine, page 332. 1 Let any 
 one read that paper, and see whether my invention is there any- 
 where described. It is there stated that ' five years before ' (in 
 1832), 'I had invented an Electric Telegraph;' that 'the distin- 
 guishing features of my telegraph' are a register which permanent- 
 ly records in characters easily legible the fullest communication, 
 and the use of but one wire as a conductor ; it speaks of ' points or 
 marks ' to be read, and of ' a pencil ' that marks. It will scarceby 
 be believed, and yet it is true, that this is all the description or pub- 
 lication of my invention at that time made in England, or shown 
 by my opponents ; and yet, on such a pretended publication as 
 this, was I forbidden to proceed to obtain letters patent. 
 
 " At that time, I had with me drawings of an instrument called 
 the receiving magnet, constructed and put in operation in the 
 spring of 1837, connected with a relay or local battery, a provision 
 against the reduction of the magnetic power of the main battery as 
 the length of the conductor increased. By means of a local battery 
 and local magnet, any quantity of power could be obtained, accord- 
 ing to the size of said local magnet or local battery. 
 
 1 This article in the Mechanic's Magazine to which I refer, was copied without 
 alteration from Suliman's Journal of Science of October, 1837. 
 
REFUSED A PATENT IN ENGLAND. 355 
 
 " The receiving magnet was a provision devised for an exigen- 
 cy which at that time I conceived only to be possible, but was to 
 be used and would be effective in case the exigency occurred. This 
 instrument was unnecessary in an}'- of the then attempted systems 
 of Electric Telegraphs, nor was it then necessary, nor is it now ne- 
 cessary, in the exhibition of my main instrument called the regis- 
 ter, while confined to a few miles of conductors. But it is essential 
 to the efficiency of my system when a circuit connects two points 
 a great distance from each other. Although devised as long ago 
 as 1836, and constructed in the spring of 1837, while provid- 
 ing against a possible exigency, it was not necessary to bring it 
 into actual practical use till the first line of conductors for my 
 Telegraph was prepared. This exigency occurred in trying the 
 power of the register magnet through a circuit of one hundred and 
 sixty miles of wire. The magnetism even from a powerful battery 
 was found to be too feeble for the purpose of directly marking me- 
 chanically my characters, but the application of the receiving magnet 
 which had been prepared, in reserve, and was at hand, effectually 
 and immediately relieved the difficulty. 
 
 " Now, under what pretence of justice was I denied a patent for 
 this receiving magnet ? It was secured to me in France but a few 
 weeks after the rejection of my application in England. 
 
 " This is the statement of the case. The refusal to grant me a pat- 
 ent was at that period very disastrous. It was especially discourag- 
 ing to have made a long voyage across the Atlantic in vain, incur- 
 ring great expenditure, and loss of time, which in their consequence 
 also produced years of delay in the prosecution of my enterprise in 
 the United States. 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Moese. 
 "New York, April 2, 1847." 
 
 " At the time of preparing this statement, I lacked one item of 
 evidence which it was desirable to have, aside from my own asser- 
 tion, viz., evidence that the refusal of the Attorney-General was on 
 the ground ' that a publication of the invention had been made.'' — 
 I deemed it advisable rather to suffer from the delay, and endure 
 the taunts which my unscrupulous opponents have not been slow to 
 lavish upon me in consequence, if I could but obtain this evidence 
 in proper shape. I accordingly wrote to my brother, then in Lon- 
 don, to procure, if possible, from Lord Campbell or his secretary, an 
 acknowledgment of the ground on which he refused my application 
 for a patent in 1838, since no public report or record in such cases 
 
356 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 is made. My brother, in connection with Mr. Carpmael, one of the 
 most distinguished patent agents in England, addressed a note to 
 Mr. H. Cooper, the Attorney-General's secretary at the time, and 
 the only official person besides Lord Campbell connected with the 
 matter. The following is Mr. Cooper's reply : 
 
 " ' Wilmington Sqttaee, May 23, 1843. 
 '"Gentlemen: In answer to yours of the 20th inst., I beg to 
 state that I have a distinct recollection of Professor Morse's applica- 
 tion for a patent, strengthened by the fact of his not having paid 
 the fees for the hearing r , etc., and their being now owing. I under- 
 stood at the time that the patent was stopped on the ground that 
 a publication of the invention had been made, but I cannot procure 
 Lord Campbell's certificate of that fact. 
 
 " ' I am, gentlemen^ your obedient servant, 
 
 "'H. Coopee.' 
 
 " I thus have obtained the evidence I desired in the most au- 
 thentic form, but accompanied with as gross an insult as could well 
 be conceived. On the receipt of this letter, I immediately wrote 
 to F. O. J. Smith, Esq., at Portland, who accompanied me to Eng- 
 land, and at whose sole expense, according to agreement, all pro- 
 ceedings in taking out patents in Europe were to be borne, to know 
 if this charge of the Attorney-General's secretary could possibly be 
 true, not knowing but, through some inadvertence on his (Mr. 
 Smith's) part, this bill might have been overlooked. Mr. Smith 
 writes me in answer, sending me a copy verbatim of the follow- 
 ing receipt, which he holds and which speaks for itself : 
 
 " ' Mr. Morse to the Attorney-General, Dr. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Hearing on a patent 3 10 
 
 Giving notice on the same. 1 1 
 
 £4 11 
 Settled the 13th of August, 1838. 
 
 (Signed) H. Cooper.' 
 
 i: This receipt is signed, as will be perceived, by the same indi- 
 vidual H. Cooper, who, nearly ten years after his acknowledgment 
 of the money, has the impudence to charge me with leaving my fees 
 unpaid. I now leave the public to make their own comments both 
 on the character of the whole transaction in England, and on the 
 character and motives of those in this country who have espoused 
 
CORONATION OF THE QUEEN. 357 
 
 Lord Campbell's course, making it an occasion to charge me with 
 having ' invented nothing? 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 
 " Poughkeepsie, December 11, 1848." 
 
 This refusal of a patent in England is a fact of such. great 
 importance in the history of Telegraphs, that the letters referred 
 to from Mr. Smith and Mr. Sidney E. Morse, showing clearly 
 the gross wrong that was done, are carefully preserved to sub- 
 stantiate the statements made by Professor Morse. 
 
 June 19, 1838, Professor Morse wrote to his daughter, Mrs. 
 Lind : " London is filling fast with crowds of all characters, from 
 ambassadors and princes to pickpockets and beggars, all brought 
 together by the coronation of the queen, which takes place in a few 
 days (the .28th of June). Every thing in London now is colored by 
 the coming pageant. In the shop-windows are the robes of the 
 nobility, the crimson and ermine, dresses, coronets, etc. Prepara- 
 tions for illuminations are making all over the city. 
 
 " I have scarcely entered upon the business of the Telegraph, 
 but have examined (tell Dr. Gale) the specification of Wheatstone 
 at the Patent-Office, and, except the alarum part, he has nothing 
 which interferes with mine. His invention is ingenious and beauti- 
 ful, but very complicated, and he must use twelve wires where I 
 use but four. I have seen also a Telegraph exhibiting at Exeter 
 Hall, invented by Davy, something like Wheatstone's, but still 
 complicated. I find mine is yet the simplest, -and hope to accom- 
 plish something, but always keep myself prepared for disappoint- 
 ment. Your affectionate father, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 While attending the ceremonies of the coronation, to which 
 Professor Morse was invited by the courtesy of the American 
 Minister, the Hon. Andrew Stevenson, he learned a pleasing in- 
 cident illustrating the beautiful character of the maiden queen. 
 He related it in these words : 
 
 " I was in London in 1838, and was present with my excellent 
 friend the late Charles R. Leslie, R. A., at the imposing ceremonies 
 of the coronation of the queen in Westminster Abbey. He then 
 related to me the following incident, which I think may truly be 
 said to have been the first act of her Majesty's reign : When her 
 predecessor, William IV., died, a messenger was immediately dis- 
 
358 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 patched by his queen (then become by his death queen-dowager) 
 to Victoria, apprising her of the event. She immediately called 
 for paper, and indicted a letter of condolence to the widow. Fold- 
 ing it, she directed it ' To the Queen of England.' Her maid of 
 honor in attendance, noticing the inscription, said, ' Your Majesty, 
 you are Queen of England.' ' Yes,' she replied, ' but the wid- 
 owed queen is not to be reminded of that fact first by me.' " 
 
 Although the exhibition of the Telegraph must have earned 
 conviction to the minds of all who saw its actual operation, the 
 inventor gained nothing by remaining in London. He deter- 
 mined to " seek his fortune " in Paris. Writing to his daugh- 
 ter on his way thither, he says : 
 
 "Havre, in France, July 26, 1838. 
 " After having been delayed seven weeks in England, endeav- 
 oring to obtain a patent, and having had two hearings before the 
 Attorney-General, he decided against us, and (as we can make to 
 appear) most unjustly. The ground of objection was not that my 
 invention was not original, and better than others, but that it had 
 been published in England from the American journals, and there- 
 fore belonged to the public. The whole matter will be laid before 
 the world in due time, and, so far as most gross injustice is charged 
 on his decision, the charge will be made out. We have, however, 
 by this act of the Attorney-General, been shut out from any expecta- 
 tion of pecuniary advantage in Great Britain, and yet the history 
 of the whole transaction clearly proves me the original inventor of 
 the first practicable and the simplest Electric Telegraph, and I am 
 persuaded that eventually the English themselves will do me that 
 justice. Professor Wheatstone and Mr. Davy were my opposers. 
 They have each very ingenious inventions of their own, particu- 
 larly the former, who is a man of genius, and one with whom I was 
 personally mnch pleased ; he has invented his, I believe, without 
 knowing that I was engaged in an invention to produce a similar 
 result, for, although he dates back into 1832, yet, as no publication 
 of our thoughts was made by either, we are evidently independent 
 of each other. My time has not been lost, however, for I have 
 ascertained with certainty that the Telegraph of a single circuit 
 and a recording apparatus is mine, and I learned from the Attorney- 
 General that Professor Steinheil, of Munich, who has invented his, 
 of a single circuit, subsequent to mine, has, as he observed, ' with- 
 out doubt taken it from mine.' I found, also, that both Mr. Wheat- 
 
PATENT IN FRANCE. 359 
 
 stone and Mr. Davy were endeavoring to simplify theirs by adding 
 a recording apparatus and reducing theirs to a single circuit. The 
 latter showed to the Attorney-General a drawing, which I obtained 
 sight of, of a method by which he proposed a bungling imitation 
 of my first characters, those that were printed in our journals, and 
 one, however plausible on paper, and sufficiently so to deceive the 
 Attorney-General, was perfectly impracticable. Partiality, from na- 
 tional or other motives, aside from the justice of the case, I am 
 persuaded, influenced the decision against me. 
 
 " We are now on our way to Paris, to try what we can do with 
 the French Government. I- confess I am not sanguine as to any 
 favorable pecuniary result in Europe, but we shall try ; and at any 
 rate we have seen enough to know that the matter is viewed with 
 great interest here, and the plan of such telegraphs will be adopted, 
 and of course the United States is secured to us, and I do hope 
 something from them. Be economical, my dear child, and keep 
 your wants within bounds, for I am preparing myself for an unsuc- 
 cessful result here, yet every proper effort will be made. I am in 
 excellent health and spirits, and leave to-morrow morning for 
 Paris." 
 
 "Paris, August 29, 1838. 
 
 " I have obtained a patent here, and it is exciting some atten- 
 tion. The prospects of future benefit from the invention are good, 
 but I shall not probabhy realize much or even any thing imme- 
 diately. I saw by the papers, before I got your letter, that Con- 
 gress had not passed the appropriation bill for the Telegraph ; on 
 some accounts I regret it, but it is only delayed, and it will proba- 
 bly be passed early in the winter. You will be glad to learn, my 
 dear daughter, that your father's health was never so good, and, 
 probably before this reaches you, he will be on the ocean on his re- 
 turn. I think of leaving Paris in a very few days. I am only 
 waiting to show the Telegraph to the king, from whom I expect a 
 message hourly. The birth of a prince occupies the whole atten- 
 tion just now of the royal family and the court ; he was born on 
 the 24th inst., the son of the Duke arid Duchess of Orleans. My 
 rooms are as delightfully situated, perhaps, as any in Paris ; they 
 are close to the palace of the Tuileries, and overlook the gardens, 
 and are within half a stone's-throw of the rooms of the Duke and 
 Duchess of Orleans. From my balcony I look directly into their 
 rooms. I saw the company that were there assembled on the birth- 
 day of the little prince, and saw him in his nurse's arms at the win- 
 
360 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 dow the next day after his birth. He looked very much like any 
 other baby, and not half so handsome as little Hugh Peters. I re- 
 ceived from the Minister of War, General Bernard, who has been 
 very polite to me, a ticket to be present at the Te Deum performed 
 yesterday in the great cathedral of Paris, Notre-Dame, on account 
 of the birth of the prince. The king and all the royal family and 
 the court, with all the officers of state, were present. The cathe- 
 dral was crowded with all the fashion of Paris. Along the ways, 
 and around the church, were soldiers without number, almost — a 
 proof that some clanger was apprehended to the king ; and yet he 
 ought to be popular, for he is the best ruler they have had for 
 years. The ceremonies were imposing, appealing to the senses 
 and the imagination, and not at all to the reason or the heart." 
 
 " Pabis, September 29, 1838. 
 " Since my last, matters have assumed a totally different aspect. 
 At the request of Monsieur Arago, the most distinguished astrono- 
 mer of the day, I submitted the Telegraph to the Institute at one 
 of their meetings, at which some of the most celebrated philoso- 
 phers of France and of Germany, and of other countries, were pres- 
 ent. Its reception was in the highest degree flattering, and the 
 interest which they manifested, by the questions they asked, and 
 the exclamations they used, showed to me then that the invention 
 had obtained their favorable regard. The papers of Paris immedi- 
 ately announced the Telegraph in the most favorable terms, and it 
 has literally been the topic of the day ever since. The Baron Hum-. 
 boldt, the celebrated traveler, a member of the Institute, and who 
 saw its operation before that body, told Mr. Wheaton, our Minister 
 to Prussia, that my Telegraph was the best of all the plans that 
 had been devised. I received a call from the administrator-in-chief 
 of all the Telegraphs of France, Monsieur Alphonse Foy; I ex- 
 plained it to him. He was highly delighted with it, and told me 
 that the Government were about to try an experiment with the 
 view of testing the practicability of the Electric Telegraph, and 
 that he had been requested to see mine and to report upon it ; 
 that he should report that ' mine was the best that had been sub- 
 mitted to him? and he added that I had better forthwith get an 
 introduction to the Minister of the Interior, Monsieur the Count 
 Montalivet ; I procured a letter from our Minister, and am now 
 waiting the decision of the Government. Every thing looks prom- 
 ising thus far, as much so as I could expect ; but it involves the 
 possibility not to say the probability of my remaining in Paris 
 
LETTER TO A DAUGHTER. 361 
 
 during the winter. If I should be delayed till December, it would 
 be prudent to remain until April. If it be possible without detri- 
 ment to my affairs to make such arrangements that I may return 
 this autumn, I shall certainly do it ; but, if I should not, you must 
 console yourselves that it is in consequence of meeting with suc- 
 cess that I am detained, and that I shall be more likely to return 
 with advantage to you all, on account of the delay. ' I ought to say 
 that the directors of the St. Germain Railroad have seen my Tele- 
 graph, and that there is some talk (as yet vague) of establishing a 
 line of my Telegraph upon that road. I mention these, my dear 
 child, to show you that I cannot at this moment leave Paris with- 
 out detriment to my principal object." 
 
 " Paris, October 10, 1838. 
 " My dear Daughter : You are at an age when a parent's 
 care, and particularly a mother's care, is most needed. You 
 cannot know the depth of the wound that was inflicted when 
 I was deprived of your dear mother, nor in how many ways that 
 wound has been kept open. Yet I know it is all well ; I look to 
 God to take care of you ; it is his will that you should be almost 
 truly an orphan, for, with all my efforts to have a home for you 
 and to be near you, I have met hitherto only with disappoint- 
 ment. But there are now indications of a change, and, while I pre- 
 pare for disappointment and wish you to prepare for disappoint- 
 ment, we ought to acknowledge the kind hand of our heavenly 
 Father, in so far prospering me as to put me in the honorable light 
 before the world which is now my lot. With this eminence is con- 
 nected the prospect of pecuniary prosperity, yet this is not con- 
 summated, but only in prospect ; it may be a long time before any 
 thing is realized. Study, therefore, prudence and economy in all 
 things ; make your wants as few as possible, for the habit thus ac- 
 quired will be of advantage to you, whether you have much or 
 little." 
 
 The Eev. Dr. Kirk, who died in Boston, March 27, 1874, was 
 residing in Paris at the time of Professor Morse's visit, and the 
 two gentlemen, being old friends, took apartments in common 
 for the sake of economy. Dr. Kirk, in a letter written in 1851, 
 alludes to the Telegraph and its inventor : 
 
 " On my return to Paris, in the autumn of 1838, I met your 
 brother, and we took rooms at the Hotel No. 9 Rue Neuve des 
 
362 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Mathurins. Our apartments consisted of a parlor, a bedchamber, 
 and an intervening passage. He put up a table in the bedroom, 
 and placed his galvanic battery upon it. The wires were extended 
 through the passage into the parlor, where the writing apparatus 
 was set up. I remember rallying my friend frequently about the 
 experience of great inventors, who are generally permitted to starve 
 when living, arid are canonized after death. 
 
 " "When the model telegraph had been set up in our rooms, 
 Mr. Morse desired to exhibit it to the savants of Paris. But, as he 
 had less of the talking propensity than myself, I was made the 
 grand exhibitor. Our levee-day was Tuesday, and for weeks we 
 received the visits of distinguished citizens and strangers, to whom 
 I explained the principles and operation of the Telegraph. The 
 visitors would agree upon a word among themselves, which I was 
 not to hear. Then the Professor would receive it at the writing end 
 of the wires ; while it devolved upon me to interpret the characters 
 which recorded it at the other end. As I explained the hiero- 
 glyphics, the announcement of the word, which they saw could have 
 come to me only through the wire, would often create a deep sen- 
 sation of delighted wonder. And much do I now regret that I did 
 not take notes of those interviews ; for it would be an interesting 
 record of distinguished names, and of valuable remarks. As it is, 
 I must merely speak of what memory retains. And what is of 
 chief importance I do distinctly remember. 
 
 "1. Men distinguished for their science as well as their social 
 position, and eminent literary men and women, were among the 
 interested spectators of the great invention. They were from Eng- 
 land, Spain, Russia, Italy, and America, besides the Parisians and 
 other Frenchmen. I doubt not there were representatives from 
 other nations, because our rooms were full on each exhibition, but I 
 retain no definite recollections beyond what I state. Our own 
 countryman, Robert Walsh, Esq., gave the word 'Immortality,' to 
 be written by the Telegraph. 
 
 " 2. The impression left on my mind is complete, that, while a 
 few chemists or physicists were familiar with the two great laws 
 of the magnetic fluid which the Telegraph employs (I mean the in- 
 stantaneousness, or immeasurable rapidity of the current, when the 
 circuit is complete, and the power of making iron attractive), yet 
 I never heard a remark which indicated that the result obtained by 
 Mr. Morse was not new, wonderful, and promising immense prac- 
 tical results." 
 
ARAGO'S EXAMINATION. 363 
 
 On the 4th day of September, 1838, Professor Morse had the 
 honor and the intense satisfaction of meeting M. Arago, the 
 most eminent scientist in France, and of exhibiting to him in 
 private the operation of his Telegraph. Arago was the man 
 of all men then living to comprehend and appreciate the won- 
 derful invention. He gave it a thorough examination, ques- 
 tioned the inventor with great minuteness, and declared him- 
 self satisfied with the results, and its capacity to do all that was 
 claimed for it. He instantly proposed to introduce it to the 
 Academy of Science, at their very next meeting, which was to 
 be held on the following Monday. The Telegraph had never 
 been subjected to such an inquisition as it would then undergo. 
 The diffident and anxious inventor prepared himself for the 
 trial with the greatest care. In one of his little note-books of 
 that day are written in a few hints which he jotted down to aid 
 him in the presentation of the case : 
 
 " My present instrument is very imperfect in its mechanism, and 
 is only designed to illustrate the principle of my invention. The 
 recording part — all in the box that holds the pen — is made strong 
 and clumsy, for the purpose of safety in traveling. It is all redu- 
 cible to one-third of the compass here exhibited and without at all 
 impairing its efficiency. It may be made into an ornamental piece 
 of furniture, like a time-piece. My invention was matured by me 
 in 1832, though not announced until the spring of 1837. I have 
 indubitable proof from Mr. Rives, late Minister of the United States 
 to the French Government, as also from other persons of the date 
 of my discovery. My invention differs from that of all others of 
 more recent origin — 
 
 " 1. In that it requires but a single circuit of wire by which to 
 communicate all the letters of the alphabet, while the others require 
 several circuits. 
 
 " 2. In that I make no use of magnetic needles in conveying 
 intelligence, while the others rely upon numerous needles for that 
 purpose. 
 
 " 3. In that mine writes one or any desired copies, simultaneous- 
 ly, of all intelligence sent by it, in permanent characters, while all 
 others carry only momentary signs by motion of needle or by sound, 
 and can furnish no duplicates of them. 
 
 " 4. Mine requires no attendance constantly at the place of de- 
 livery of intelligence, to render the communications made available 
 
364 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 — while others can be operated only by having one or more persons 
 ready at all times to take down every sign transmitted at the time 
 and in the order of their transmission. 
 
 " 5. The whole of my invention is worked by mechanism, includ- 
 ing type, thereby insuring regularity and precision ; others are 
 worked only by hand as an organ or piano is played. 
 
 " 6. By my invention I can communicate letters and words in 
 writing more rapidly than any other invention can communicate 
 signs which reach the eye alone. 
 
 " The expense of constructing my method of Telegraph, ready for 
 use, to and fro, over any given distance, will not exceed thirty-five 
 hundred francs per English mile — and the mechanism at each point 
 will not exceed fifteen hundred. The type will not exceed the ex- 
 pense of one franc per pound. To regulate the passage of the type, 
 a small train of wheels, acted upon by a spring or weight, will be 
 used instead of the hand-crank used for convenience of transporta- 
 tion in the model now presented. 
 
 " A small apparatus also belongs to the register, but is not now 
 exhibited, by which the person transmitting intelligence from one 
 point can both set in motion and stop at pleasure the register or 
 recording pen, at any distant point, without the intervention of any 
 person there. This secures to a single individual entire control 
 over the Telegraph at each extremity. To the recording pen now 
 exhibited also belongs a reservoir, sufficiently large to supply the 
 the pen with ink for an indefinite period. My invention, I may add, 
 allows the intelligence sent on any single circuit of wire to be. writ- 
 ten at any number of intermediate places between any two distant 
 points, and simultaneously with its reception at the most distant 
 points. The other inventions require an entire set of wires for 
 every distinct point of communication." 
 
 The anxiously-anticipated day arrived, September 10, 1838. 
 Full of fears of his own ability to do justice to the work, and 
 knowing that he labored under the great disadvantage of speak- 
 ing through an interpreter, his heart was ready to fail hina. 
 He was invited by the secretary to a seat within the pale of the 
 assembled members ; around him were gathered all the chiefs 
 of science in that illustrious body to which kings and emperors 
 have sought admission in vain. But near to the unknown 
 American sat one wdiose fame had already filled the world of 
 science, and at 'this day is more illustrious as a naturalist than 
 
HUMBOLDT, ARAGO, AND MORSE. 
 
BARON HUMBOLDT'S CONGRATULATIONS. 365 
 
 any other of the age. This was Baron Humboldt. The secre- 
 tary, Arago, explained the Telegraph, while Morse stood by to 
 operate upon the instrument, in the presence of this distinguished 
 company. At the conclusion of the explanation by Arago, and in 
 the midst of the plaudits of the Academy, Baron Humboldt 
 arose, and, taking Mr. Morse by the hand, expressed, in strong 
 and hearty terms, his thanks and congratulations. This was 
 the proudest triumph thus far in Morse's life. Still greater 
 triumphs were in store. To his brother Professor Morse 
 wrote : 
 
 " At the request of M. Arago I consented to exhibit it to the In- 
 stitute at one of their sittings. I found myself in the midst of the 
 most celebrated scientific men of the world. M. Arago explained in 
 the most lucid manner the details and actions of the instrument, and 
 I perceived by the expression of face and the exclamations of sur- 
 prise and gratification which were uttered by the members, as they 
 crowded around the table, that the Telegraph had won their 
 regard." 
 
 To Mr. Yail he wrote : 
 
 " I exhibited the Telegraph to the Institute, and the sensation 
 produced was as striking as at Washington. It was evident that 
 hitherto the assembled science of Europe had considered the plan 
 of an electric telegraph as ingenious, but visionary, and, like aero- 
 nautic navigation, practicable in little more than theory, and des- 
 tined to be useless. 
 
 "I cannot describe to you the scene at the Institute when your 
 box with the registering-machine, just as it left Speedwell, was 
 placed upon the table, and surrounded by the most distinguished 
 men of all Europe, celebrated in the various arts and sciences — 
 Arago, Baron Humboldt, Gay-Lussac, and a host of others whose 
 names are stars that shine in both hemispheres. Arago described it 
 to them, and I showed its action. A buzz of adniiration and appro- 
 bation filled the whole hall, and the exclamations, '"Extraordinaire ! ' 
 ' Tres-bien! ' ' Tres admirable! ' I heard on all sides. The sentiment 
 was universal." 
 
 The Comptes Bendiis, the weekly journal of the Academy, 
 gave the following notice : 
 
366 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 "Applied Physics — Electro-Magnetic Telegraph of Mr. Morse, Pro- 
 fessor in the University of New York. 
 
 " The instrument has been put in operation under the eyes of 
 the Academy ; the following is a literal translation of a large por- 
 tion of the notice delivered by Mr. Morse to the perpetual secre- 
 taries : 
 
 " Mr. Morse conceives that his instrument is the first practicable 
 application which has been made of electricity to the construction 
 of a telegraph. 
 
 "This instrument was invented in October, 1832, while the 
 author was on his way from Europe to America, in the packet-ship 
 Sully. The fact is attested by the captain of the ship and several 
 of the passengers. Among the number of the latter was Mr. 
 Rives, the Minister of the United States near the French Govern- 
 ment." 
 
 (Here is given the account of Mr. Rives and Captain Pell, after 
 which the account proceeds :) 
 
 " The idea of applying galvanism to the construction of tele- 
 graphs is not new : Dr. Cone, a distinguished citizen of Philadel- 
 phia, makes mention of it in a note inserted by him in February, 
 1816, in the 'Annals of Dr. Thompson,' page 162, first series; but 
 he did not give any means of effecting it. 
 
 " Since the period to which the invention of Mr. Morse's Tele- 
 graph goes back, other arrangements, founded on the same princi- 
 ples, have been announced, of which the most celebrated are those 
 of Mr. Steinheil, of Munich, and of Mr. Wheatstone, of London. 
 
 " They differ very much in mechanism. The American Tele- 
 graph employs but one circuit ; l the following is an abridged de- 
 scription : 
 
 " At the extremity of the circuit, where the news is to be re- 
 ceived, is an apparatus called the register. It consists of an elec- 
 tro-magnet, the wire covering of which forms the prolongation of 
 the wire of the circuit. The armature of this magnet is attached 
 to the end of a small lever, which at its opposite extremity holds a 
 pen; under this pen is a ribbon of paper, which moves forward, as 
 required, by means of a certain number of wheels. At the other 
 extremity of the circuit, that is to say, at the station from which 
 
 1 " Suppose the places to be put in communication with each other occupy the 
 three angles of a triangle, the four angles of a quadrilateral, or certain points of a 
 line inclosing a space, a single wire passing through all those points would be suffi- 
 cient, at least according to the theory." 
 
THE INSTRUMENT DESCRIBED. 367 
 
 the news is to be sent out, is another apparatus called the portrule ; 
 it consists of a battery, or generator of galvanism, at the two poles 
 of which the circuit ends ; near the battery a portion of this circuit 
 is broken ; the two extremities, disjoined, are plunged into two cups 
 of mercury near each other. By the aid of a bent wire attached to 
 the extremity of a little lever, the two cups may be, at will, placed 
 in connection with each other, or left separated ; thus the circuit is 
 completed and interrupted at pleasure. The movement of the 
 mechanism is as follows : When the circuit is complete, the magnet 
 is charged ; it attracts the armature, the movement of which brings 
 the pen into contact with the paper. When the circuit is inter- 
 rupted, the magnetism of the horseshoe ceases, the armature re- 
 turns to its first position, and the pen is withdrawn from the paper. 
 When the circuit is completed, and broken rapidly in succession, 
 mere dots are produced upon the moving paper ; if, on the contrary, 
 the circuit remain complete for a certain length of time, the pen 
 marks a line, the length of which is in proportion to the time during 
 which the circuit remains complete. This paper presents a long 
 interval of blank if the circuit remain interrupted during some con- 
 siderable time. These points, lines, and blanks, lead to a great 
 variety of combinations. By means of these elements Professor 
 Morse has constructed an alphabet and the signs of the ciphers. 
 The letters may be written with great rapidity by means of certain 
 types, which the machine causes to move with exactness, and 
 which give the proper movements to the lever bearing the pen. 
 Forty-five of these characters may be traced in one minute. 
 
 " The register is under the control of the person who sends the 
 news. In fact, from the extremity called the portrule, the mechan- 
 ism of the register may be set in motion, and stopped, at will. The 
 presence of a person to receive the news is, therefore, not neces- 
 sary, though the sound of a bell, which is rung by the machine, 
 announces that the writing is about to be begun. 
 
 " The distance at which the American telegraph has been tried, 
 is ten miles English, or four post leagues of France. The experi- 
 ments have been witnessed by a committee appointed hy the Con- 
 gress of the United States. The reports of the committee, which 
 we have not copied, are extremely favorable. The committee of 
 Congress recommended the appropriation of thirty thousand dol- 
 lars." 
 
 Two days after the exhibition, the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, 
 one of our most intelligent citizens, being at that time in 
 
368 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 Paris, wrote the following letter to a friend in tlie United 
 States : 
 
 " I am sure you will be glad to learn that our American friend, 
 Professor Morse, is producing a very great sensation among the 
 learned men of this kingdom, by his ingenious and wonderful Mag- 
 netic Telegraph. He submitted it to the examination of the Acad- 
 emy of Sciences of the Royal Institute of France, at their sitting on 
 Monday last, and the deepest interest was excited among the mem- 
 bers of that learned body on the subject. Its novelty, beauty, sim- 
 plicity, and power, were highly commended. 
 
 "M. Arago, the learned and eminent principal in the Astro- 
 nomical Observatory of the French Government, has manifested a 
 very lively interest in relation to it. He addressed the Academy in 
 regard to our countryman's invention in terms that could not but 
 have been most pleasing, as they were certainly most creditable to 
 Mr. Morse. It is understood that a report of the exhibitions will be 
 submitted by M. Arago in the forthcoming number of the published 
 proceedings of the Institute. The favorable consideration and opin- 
 ion of a man and philosopher so eminent in the scientific world as 
 M. Arago, and so intimately associated with the learned institu- 
 tions of the French Government, will be in itself a rich reward for 
 American ingenuity to attain in the field of science. 
 
 " Other projects for the establishment of a magnetic telegraph 
 have been broached here, especially from Professor Wheatstone, of 
 London, and Professor Steinheil, of Munich. It is said, however, to 
 be very manifest that our Yankee Professor is ahead of them all in 
 the essential requisitions of such an invention, and that he is in the 
 way to bear off the palm. In simplicity of design, cheapness of 
 construction, and efficiency, Professor Morse's Telegraph transcends 
 all yet made known. In each of these qualities, it is admitted, by 
 those who have inspected it closely, there seems to be little else to de- 
 sire. It is certain, moreover, that in priority of discovery he ante- 
 dates all others. 
 
 " In being abroad, among strangers and foreigners, one's nation- 
 ality of feeling may be somewhat more excusable than at home. Be 
 this as it may, one cannot but feel gratified, as an American, that 
 our countryman, like Fulton in the practical science of steam, is thus 
 in advance of the learned men of the Old World in this triumphant 
 adaptation to every-day use of the elder sister of Steam-power, Elec- 
 tricity. The result of his ingenuity will in a few years impart to 
 
PREDICTIONS. 369 
 
 the intercourse of man, at points distant from each other, an aspect 
 no less wonderful, free, and influential, than that which the use of 
 steam-power has already imparted to it. In this respect, another' 
 revolution is at hand, even more wonderful than its predecessor. I 
 do not doubt that, within the next ten years, you will see this elec- 
 tric power adopted, between all commercial points of magnitude on 
 both sides of the Atlantic, for purposes of correspondence, and men 
 enabled to send their orders or news of events from one point to an- 
 other with the speed of lightning itself, superseding thereby all the 
 old modes of 'express mails' and of postboy correspondence, in 
 all matters of moment to government and trade. The extremities 
 of nations will be literally wired together, and brought, for all pur- 
 poses of written correspondence, within the compactness of a com- 
 mon centre. In the United States, for instance, you may expecb to 
 find, at no very distant day, the Executive messages, and the daily 
 votes of each House of Congress, made known at Philadelphia, New 
 York, Boston, and Portland — at New Orleans, Cincinnati, etc., as 
 soon as they can be known at Baltimore, or even at the opposite 
 extremity of Pennsylvania Avenue ! The merchant at Boston, or 
 New York, will yet be able to correspond with his ship-master at 
 New Orleans, on the subject of freights, prices of cotton, sugar, 
 etc., in every hour of the day, and give orders and receive return an- 
 swers between the same distant points in one and the same hour, 
 and by night as well as by day, amid storms as readily as amid sun- 
 shine ! To predict this much seems now like a fairy tale ; and it is, 
 indeed, overwhelming to contemplate the realities which science 
 and practical skill are pouring in upon our age. It is no longer a 
 proverb, but the saying has risen to the solemnity of a mathematical 
 truth, that ' truth is stranger than fiction.'' Abstract imagination 
 is no longer a match for reality in the race that science has insti- 
 tuted on both sides of the Atlantic." 
 
 In a letter to one of his brothers, Professor Morse wrote : 
 
 " M. Foy appointed an hour to come and examine my instru- 
 ment. He examined it minutely, asking many questions, and pro- 
 posing many objections ; after he had seen it sufficiently, he said to 
 me : ' I have been requested by the Minister of the Interior to ex- 
 amine your Telegraph among others, and to report to him ; I shall 
 report that it is the best I have seen? He then advised me to obtain 
 a letter of introduction to the Minister of the Interior, the Count 
 Montalivet, for that the Government intended trying an experiment 
 24 
 
370 EIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 with the Electric Telegraph, and I should probably be requested to 
 try mine. Our excellent Minister, General Cass, gave me a most 
 nattering letter to the Count Montalivet, which I have presented, 
 and am now waiting further orders. I have also received a call 
 from the directors of the St, -Germain Railroad, which is a course of 
 about twelve miles out of Paris. They were much pleased, but they 
 did not wish so complete a telegraph ; one circuit and a few signals 
 were all they wished, but were desirous to know if there could be 
 any means devised by which they could know at any time where the 
 cars were on the road." 
 
 The services of the distinguished M. Antoine Perpigna were 
 secured, and under bis direction a brevet d' invention was 
 promptly obtained ; but no sooner bad it been obtained, says 
 Mr. Morse, " than an unforeseen obstacle was interposed which 
 has rendered my patent in France of no avail to me. By the 
 French patent law at the time, one who obtains a patent was 
 obliged to put into operation bis invention within two years 
 from the issue of bis patent, under the penalty of forfeiture if 
 he does not comply with the law. In pursuance of this requi- 
 sition of the law, I negotiated with the president (Turneysen) 
 of the St.-Germain Railroad Company to construct a line of my 
 Telegraph on their road from Paris to St.-Germain, a distance 
 of about seven English miles. The company were favorably 
 disposed toward the project, but upon application (as was neces- 
 sary) to the Government for permission to have the Telegraph 
 on their road, they received for answer that telegraphs were a 
 Government monopoly, and could not therefore be used for 
 private purpose. I thus found myself crushed between the 
 conflicting forces of two opposing laws." 
 
 His partner, Hon. F. O. J. Smith, who came with him to 
 the Continent, to aid in securing patents, having returned 
 to London, on his way to the United States, Mr. Morse wrote 
 to him frequently and with the greatest freedom, detailing the 
 minutest incidents in his negotiations, and describing his own 
 feelings as they were alternately elevated or depressed by the 
 progress he made. Dating at Paris, September 29, 1838, he says : 
 
 " On Monday I received a very flattering letter from our excel- 
 lent Minister, Governor Cass, introducing me to the Count Monta- 
 
TRIALS AT THE CUSTOM-HOUSE. 371 
 
 livet, and I accordingly called the next day. I did not see him, 
 but had an interview with the secretary, who told me that the 
 Administrator of the Telegraphs had not yet reported to the 
 Minister ; but that he would see him the next day, and that, if I 
 would call on Friday, he would inform me of the result. I called 
 on Friday. The secretary informed me that he had seen Monsieur 
 Foy, and that he had more than confirmed the flattering accounts 
 in the American Minister's letter respecting the Telegraph, but was 
 not yet prepared with his report to the Minister — he wished to 
 make a detailed account of the differences in favor of mine over 
 all others that had been presented to him, or words to that effect, 
 and the secretary assured me that the report would be all I could 
 wish. This is certainly flattering, and I am to call on Monday to 
 learn further." 
 
 On the 24th of October, 1838, he again wrote from Paris : 
 
 " I can only add, in a few words, that every thing here is as 
 encouraging as could be expected. The report of the Adminis- 
 trator of Telegraphs has been made to the Minister of the Interior, 
 and I have been told that I should be notified of the intentions of 
 Government in a few days. I have also shown the railroad Tele- 
 graph to the St.-Germain directors, who are delighted with it, and 
 from them I expect a proposition within a few days." 
 
 The following letter illustrates the ludicrous manner in 
 which the Professor's patience and temper were tried by the 
 red-tape formalities of officials with w T hom he was brought into 
 contact in Paris : 
 
 "Paris, November 22, 1838. 
 " Hon. F. O. J. Smith : 
 
 " Mt dear Sir : I intend sending this letter by the packet of 
 the 24th inst., and am in hopes of sending with it some intelligence 
 from those from whom I have been so long expecting something. 
 Every thing moves at a snail's pace here. I find delay in all 
 things ; at least, so it appears to me, who have too strong a de- 
 velopment of the American organ of ' go-a-head-ativeness ' to feel 
 easy under its tantalizing effects. A Frenchman ought to have as 
 many lives as a cat, to bring to pass, on his dilatory plan of pro- 
 cedure, the same results that a Yankee (a gen-oo-wine Yankee) 
 would accomplish in his single life. Below, I must tell you what 
 has occurred under my own eyes, and, although the matter is small. 
 
372 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 yet it is but one of thousands in the experience of others, and well 
 illustrates the system of business here, ex pede Serculem. 
 
 " You will remember that when Mr. Chamberlain went with you 
 to England, he was commissioned by me to obtain some of the 
 clock machinery of the Telegraph, so that by having part executed 
 in England, and part here, the whole machine intended for him to 
 take to the east of Europe, could be completed in less time than if . 
 all were done in one place. The object was simply to avoid delay — 
 to expedite matters. Well, you know Mr. Chamberlain procured a 
 common brass clock-movement in London ; from this he took out 
 all but the wheels of the train, and put in place of them four box- 
 wood rollers, which he got turned for one shilling and sixpence 
 sterling. The instrument thus fitted cost about twelve francs. 
 When Mr. Chamberlain arrived at Boulogne, upon searching his 
 trunk this piece of a clock was discovered, and he was told that it 
 must be sent to the administrator at Paris, by the Douane at Bou- 
 logne, and for the transportation, etc., he was charged and paid at 
 Boulogne eight francs. On his arrival at Paris he called on the 
 administrator, but the little box had not arrived. He called daily 
 for a week, and at length he was told the box had come, but could 
 not be delivered except by order of a certain officer, and some other 
 formalities.. This was well enough, but now came the action of the 
 system. A day was consumed in finding the officer, who referred 
 him to a second officer, in another part of the city, who again re- 
 ferred him to a third, and he again to a fourth. It was then dis- 
 covei'ed that the box was for me. I therefore must make my 
 appearance, to state what the ominous machinery was for. I ac- 
 cordingly, with Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Lovering, spent a whole 
 day in being sent from office to office, waiting in each to have my 
 turn to speak to the official, and all to no purpose. Another day 
 was spent in like manner, and a third produced this result — I was 
 required to furnish an accurate colored drawing of the machinery, 
 and a minute description with reference to the drawing. I ought 
 to say that two or three times we told them to take the box, that 
 the whole object for which we wanted it was defeated by their 
 vexatious delay, and that I wished no further trouble about it, but 
 this was not allowed. I then went home and spent half a day in 
 drawing accurately the rollers of box-wood, coloring the drawing, 
 and giving a description of these rollers. I did not dream that it 
 was necessary to give them a drawing of a common clock-train. I 
 spent another day in waiting at the Administration of Douanes 
 
VEXATIOUS DELAYS. 373 
 
 with the drawing. This at length was compared, with all formality, 
 before four or five officers, with the machinery, and, because the 
 clock-train was not drawn, pronounced incomplete, and the box 
 retained. Again the attempt was made to give them the box, but 
 no, a proper drawing must be made. Mr. Lovering, Mr. Chamber 
 lain, and myself, passed a forenoon in first finding and then explain- 
 ing to the Chef des Douanes the object of the machine, and the 
 nature of the loss I should suffer by the continuance of this ex- 
 traordinary procrastination. The chef then wrote a letter, on my 
 promise to furnish the requisite drawing in a month, ordering the 
 box to be delivered to me. We were then sure we were at the end 
 of the matter. Again we went to the Administrator of Douanes ; 
 there I was kept two or three hours, while the papers necessary 
 were drawn up — obligations, receipts, etc. Not less, in printed and 
 written forms, than a quire of foolscap paper was during this affair 
 consumed ! The security of a resident in Paris was required for the 
 fulfillment of my engagement. Mr. Lovering was my surety. I 
 was then handed over to an officer, who would give me another 
 paper for another officer, upon paying over again the charge of 
 eight francs to the commissionnaire at Boulogne, whose charge 
 came from the Douane at Boulogne in the official paper. It was in 
 vain they were told that the charge had been paid at Boulogne. 
 Mr. Chamberlain had not the receipt, and it was thought best to 
 pay it, to avoid a fortnight's more delay and loss of time to rectify 
 it. So the money was paid, and with a new paper we went to 
 another officer, who told* us there were five francs duties to pay. 
 These were paid, and we then got another paper, which was delivered 
 to another officer, and the box was put into our hands, upon paying 
 a few sous for signing my name to a receipt for the same. I was 
 by no means sure I had got it, until I had put it under my arm, and 
 had run as if I had stolen it, round two or three corners, and even 
 then I fancied that the whole Douane was in commotion to call me 
 back to complete every thing regular. This was all done that 
 every thing should be according to rule. 
 
 " Well, I got the box home, the original cost of which was twelve 
 francs, having paid to the customs here for it no less than twenty- 
 one francs ! But I am by no means sure that the matter is ended 
 yet. I spent a whole day in making the promised new drawing, 
 with all the wheels of the clock-train, and description, and have 
 given it to Mr. Lovering to deposit, to release him from his security. 
 But the object of the drawing is, that it may be presented to the 
 
374 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 investigation of a court, who are to decide whether or not more 
 duty is to be paid, and I am obligated myself to pay any additional 
 duty they may fix. These are the particulars thus far. You will 
 exclaim, ' This must be a solitary case.' By no means. At this mo- 
 ment our secretary of legation is waiting this same dilatory, ' regu- 
 lar manner of doing business.' He is entitled by law, in conse- 
 quence of his official station, to have his parcels from abroad duty 
 free. He has had a trunk of apparel from America two or three 
 weeks at Havre, waiting the regular course of a permit for him to re- 
 ceive it, and after dancing attendance on various officials, and notes 
 and letters passing between the Minister of Finance and the Minis- 
 ter of Marine, the secretary has about made up his mind to send to 
 Havre and pay the regular duties, and have it sent to him. But even 
 this will cost him another fortnight, or it may be a month. This 
 execrable mode of doing things resolves itself into the want of one 
 simple principle : there is no such thing here as conscience. This 
 being the case, no confidence, no discretionary power, can be given 
 to any sub-agent, for he will abuse it ; and consequently the regular 
 military muster-roll mode must supply the place of conscience, and 
 all its circumlocutory, cumbrous powers, etc., etc. But I am not 
 going to moralize, though there is a fine field for it both morally 
 and socially. Happy, thrice happy America ! 
 
 " Afternoon, November 22c?. — Called on the Ministre de l'Int6- 
 rieur, no one at home ; left card, and will call again to-morrow, and 
 hope to be in time yet for the packet. 
 
 " November 23c?. — I have again called, but do not find at home 
 the chief secretary, M. Merlin. I went with Mr. Clark, who gave 
 me a most amusing account of a case of his, with the Douane, quite 
 equal to mine. He says that these delaj^s are proverbial here, 
 every one having to tell of some such case. If regularity is a good, 
 verily one may have too much of a good thing. I shall miss the 
 packet of the 24th, but I am told she is a slow ship, and that I 
 shall probably find the letters reach home quite as soon by the 
 next. I will leave this open to add, if any thing occurs between 
 this and next patent-day. 
 
 " November 30th. — I have been called off from this letter until 
 the last moment by stirring about and endeavoring to expedite 
 matters with the Government. I have been to see General Cass 
 since my last date. I talked over matters with him. He complains 
 much of their dilatoriness, but sees no way of quickening them. I 
 have also seen Mr. Anderson, the secretary, and he called with a 
 
ENTHUSIASTIC ADMIRATION. 375 
 
 M. Ravenant (I think the name is) and another gentleman who had 
 approaches to the Minister of the Interior. They were enthusiastic 
 in their praises of the Telegraph ; it excited their wonder at its sim- 
 plicity and practicability. They will talk about it where it will do 
 service, so I am told. I wait the effects. I called again this morning 
 at the Minister's, and, as usual, the secretary was absent, at the pal- 
 ace, they said. If I could once get them to look at it, I should be 
 sure of them, for I have never shown it to any one who did not seem 
 in raptures. I showed it a few days ago to M. Fremel, the Director 
 of Light-Houses, who came with Mr. Vail and Captain Perry. He 
 was cautious, at first, but afterward became as enthusiastic as any. 
 " The railroad directors are as dilatory as the Government. But 
 I know they are discussing the matter seriously at their meetings, 
 and. I was told that the most influential man among them said they 
 ' must have it.' The railroad directors in England favor the plan 
 of the Telegraph. There is nothing in the least discouraging that has 
 occurred, but, on the contrary, every thing to confirm the practica- 
 bility of the plan, both on the score of science and expense." 
 
 "Pabis, January 21, 1839. 
 
 " I have shown the Telegraph to a great number of savants, and 
 I still find the same effect produced on all — that of enthusiastic ad- 
 miration. An officer in the Telegraph-office, M. Moran, after exam- 
 ining the whole operation for some time with apparent incredulity, 
 broke out with an exclamation of his astonishment, and holding up 
 the little fork, with which I closed and broke the circuit, he ex- 
 claimed to the company : ' Behold the fork more potent than that 
 of Neptune, destined to greater triumph, although it has one tooth 
 less than his ! ' and then, addressing me in broken English — 
 
 " ' Are you not glorious, sair, to be the author of this wonderful 
 discovery ? ' 
 
 " I will give you the names of several who called last week : 
 M. Pazerat, Engineer and Director of Asphalt Operations ; M. Jbr- 
 maid, member of the Institute and Librarian of the King; M. 
 Clement des Ormes, Professor of Chemistry, etc., etc. ; General 
 Charenon, formerly Governor of Poland; Baron de Franc, son of 
 the Prince de Salins. There have been many others of the Insti- 
 tute and Chamber of Deputies, whose names I have not recorded. 
 There is some allowance, perhaps, to be made for French manner; 
 but I think I can discover in the most polished manner when there 
 is real or only pretended feeling, for I have now seen all kinds, and 
 
376 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 found that often in the commencement there were distrust and cau- 
 tion, and guarded expression of satisfaction, until the operation was 
 completed, and then all reserve seemed at once broken down, and 
 the exclamations of ' Mtonnant ! ' ' Tr&s admirable ! ' and similar ex- 
 pressions showed that the feeling was sincere. I send you the 
 Compte Rendu of the Societe Philotechnique^ a committee of which 
 society, with their president, Baron la Doucette, member of the 
 Chamber of Deputies, at their head, came to examine it. You see 
 their report on the tenth and eleventh pages. I learn that the Tele- 
 graph is much talked of in all society, and I learn that the Theatre 
 des Varietes, which is a sort of mirror of the popular topics, has a 
 piece in which persons are made to converse by means of this Tele- 
 graph, some hundreds of miles oft 7 . This is a straw which shows 
 the way of the wind ; and, although matters move too slow for my 
 impatient spirit, yet the Telegraph is evidently gaining on the 
 popular notice, and in time will demand the attention of govern- 
 ments. I have the promise of a visit from the Count Bondy, Chief 
 of the Household of the King, and who, I understand, has great 
 influence with the king, and can induce him to adopt the Telegraph 
 between some of his palaces. Hopes, you perceive, continue 
 bright, but they are somewhat unsubstantial to an empty purse. I 
 look for the first fruits in America. My confidence increases every 
 day in the certainty of the eventual adoption of this means of 
 communication throughout the civilized world. Its practicability, 
 hitherto doubted by savants here, is completely established, and 
 they do not hesitate to give me the credit of having established 
 it. I rejoice quite as much for my country's sake as for my own, 
 that both priority and superiority are awarded to my invention." 
 
 In a letter dated Paris, January 28, 1839, the Professor wrote 
 to Mr. Smith : " I wrote by the Great Western a few days ago. 
 The event then anticipated in regard to the ministry has occurred. 
 The ministers have resigned, and it is expected that the new cabinet 
 will be formed this day, with Marshal Soult at its head. Thus you 
 perceive new causes of delay in obtaining any answer from the 
 Government. As soon as I can learn the name of the new Minister 
 of the Interior, I will address a note to him, or see him, as I may be 
 advised, and see if I can possibly obtain an answer, or at least the 
 report of the administration of the Telegraphs. Nothing has oc- 
 curred in other respects but what is agreeable. Every exhibition 
 of the Telegraph calls forth increased admiration. I have nothing 
 to complain of on the score of approbation ; its simplicity, and su- 
 
THE CORRESPONDENT. 377 
 
 periority to all other proposed telegraphs are constantly adverted 
 to by all the savants. The Count Remberteau, the Prefect of the 
 Seine, whom I mentioned in a former letter as having 1 been to see 
 me, speaks in terms of admiration of the Telegraph on all occasions. 
 He has doubtless spoken of it to the king, as he said he should ; 
 but the king, besides his troubles just now in the formation of a 
 new cabinet, has a domestic affliction which he feels strongly. His 
 daughter, the Duchess of Wurtemberg, whose death has been an- 
 nounced for some time, was buried yesterday, the body having ar- 
 rived from Italy. This has probably caused some delay. I have 
 need of much patience. . . ; I am looking with great interest for 
 intelligence from America, in regard to Telegraph operations there ; 
 for I hope more from my own country than from any other. There 
 is more of the 'go-ahead' character with us, suited to the idea 
 of an electric-magnetic Telegraph. Here there are old systems 
 long established to interfere, and at least to make them cautious be- 
 fore adopting a new project, however promising. Their railroad 
 operations are a proof in point. We, on the contrary, have a clear 
 field, and I cannot but hope something from our Government, or 
 our companies, in a speedy establishment of the system. All my 
 leisure (if that may be called leisure which employs nearly all my 
 time) is devoted to perfecting the whole matter. The invention of 
 the correspondent, I think you will all say, is a more essential im- 
 provement. It has been my winter's labor, and, to avoid expense, 
 I have been compelled to make it entirely with my own hands. I 
 can now give you its exact dimensions — twelve and a half inches 
 long, six and a half wide, and six and a half deep. It dispenses 
 entirely with boxes of type (one set alone being necessary), and 
 dispenses, also, with the rules, and with all machinery for moving 
 the rules. There is no winding up, and it is ready at all times. 
 You touch the letter, and the letter is written immediately at 
 the other extremity. The instrument will be in operation this 
 week. Before closing, I ought to advert to the most singular 
 winter we have thus far had in Paris. It has been, with the ex- 
 ception of a day or two, like spring. I doubt if it has frozen to 
 the depth of two inches, until yesterday, anywhere in Paris. It is 
 now cold but fine. 
 
 " P. S. — I have this moment received official notice from the Aca- 
 demy of Industry, under the presidency of the Duke de Montmorency, 
 that a committee of that society had been appointed to examine my 
 Telegraph ; and that to-morrow at three o'clock they will come to 
 
378 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 see it. Thus progress is slowly made toward the end desired, for 
 the opinion of these societies has great weight with the Government, 
 and the more they can be accumulated the better. I sent you by 
 the last packet the report (favorable) of the committee of the Phi- 
 lotechnique Society. In my next I hope to send you reports of my 
 further progress. One thing seems certain, my Telegraph has 
 driven out of the field all the other plans on the magnetic principle. 
 I hear nothing of them in public or private. No society notices 
 them." 
 
 Under date of February 2d he wrote again : " I can compare 
 the state of things here to an April day, at one moment sunshine, 
 at the next cloudy., The Telegraph is evidently growing in favor; 
 testimonials of approbation and compliments multiply ; and yester- 
 day I was advised by the secretary of the Academie Industrielle to 
 interest moneyed men in the matter, if I intended to profit by it ; and 
 he observed that now was the precise time to do it, in the interval 
 of the Chambers. I am at a loss how to act. I am not a business 
 man, and fear every movement which suggests itself to me. I am 
 thinking of proposing a company on the same plan you last pro- 
 posed in your letter from Liverpool, and which you intend to create 
 in case the Government shall choose to do nothing ; that is to say, a 
 company taking the right' at one thousand francs per mile, paying the 
 proprietors fifty per cent, in stocks, and fifty per cent, in cash, raising 
 about fifty thousand francs for a trial some distance. I shall take ad- 
 vice, and let you know the result. I wish you were here ; I am sure 
 something could be done by an energetic and business man like 
 yourself. As for poor me, I feel that I am a child in business mat- 
 ters. I can invent and perfect the invention, and demonstrate its 
 uses and practicability ; but ' further the deponent saith not.' Per- 
 haps I underrate myself in this case, but that is not a usual fault in 
 human nature. 
 
 "I had the committee of the Academie Industrielle to examine 
 the Telegraph last Wednesday, according to appointment. The 
 same effect was produced upon them as usual — skepticism giving 
 way by degrees, and changing to enthusiastic feeling and ex- 
 pression. The Academy will publish their report soon, a copy of 
 which I will send you. It is one of the most distinguished and 
 numerous bodies of savants in Europe, numbering between three and 
 four thousand members, in various countries, so that whatever they 
 say will be widely diffused, and I think it will be altogether favor- 
 able. I learned, from one of the directors, that my TJelegraph is 
 
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES. 379 
 
 commented on with approbation throughout all Europe, in the 
 scientific and political journals of all the capitals. M. Jobart, the 
 editor of the Courrier Beige, of Brussels, particularly, who some 
 time since asserted the possibility of an electric telegraph, has, I 
 understand, commented with enthusiasm on mine. 
 
 "With the committee of the Academy came several members 
 of the Chamber of Deputies, one of whom observed to me : ' The 
 Government should by all means own this invention ; it is of vastly 
 more importance than the daguerreotype, which is proposed to the 
 Chambers. Why has it not been offered to the Government ? ' I 
 replied that it had been submitted for several months to the Gov- 
 ernment, and that my patience had been severely tried in waiting 
 for an answer from the Minister of the Interior. He observed 
 that, if ministers choose to be so dilatory, the Chambers must take 
 it up ; and, says he, ' I will expedite it. Would you have any ob- 
 jection to show the Telegraph in operation before the Chambers ? ' 
 ' None at all,' I replied ; ' on the contrary, I shall be ready at any 
 moment to wait upon them.' 'I will see the questor,' he said, 
 ' and give you notice. M. Arago spoke in the highest commen- 
 dation of your invention, as being superior to the German inven- 
 tion, but his representations fall short of the reality. I am de- 
 lighted in the highest degree. The value and importance of this 
 Telegraph are incalculable.' 
 
 " This is the substance and nearly the words of the conversation 
 with this member of the Chambers, who spoke English perfectly 
 well. This is the sunshine, but the clouds are obscuring it, for the 
 cabinet this moment is dissolved by the king (a perilous step), and 
 a new election and assembling will consume two months of time. 
 You will perceive that, in all the disappointments and delays to 
 which the enterprise here has been subjected, there is not one that 
 affects the character of the invention. Every repeated examination 
 of it, by savants and committees of scientific societies, only confirms 
 the soundness of its principles and its intrinsic value. 
 
 " The labors on the instruments — the correspondent and regis- 
 ter, bringing them into one box, in a portable form — you will find are 
 to produce a most interesting change in the whole affair — a change 
 which is not perhaps at first obvious. If made portable, as the im- 
 provement I have completed accomplishes, a person traveling, with 
 a box not so large as a writing-desk, can converse on any part of 
 an extended line of thousands of miles with his friends at any other 
 part. 
 
380 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 " But its importance, in a military point of view, is incalculable, 
 a hint of which I gave you in a former letter. I have little time 
 and space to add — I expect much from my own ' go-ahead ' countr}-- 
 men. I have received with your letter Dr. Gale's, and am glad he 
 visits Washington with you. Give my respects to him and your 
 lady, whom congratulate from me on your safe return after so many 
 perils. Next Tuesday I have another exhibition of the Telegraph 
 to a room full of savants and nobles, the Prince of Rouen (not ruin) 
 at their head, with the Duke de Montmorency, etc., and others, 
 ' too numerous to mention.' I have but two or three weeks here, 
 and hope I shall receive such instructions from you that I can leave 
 matters properly. I must return in the Great Western, on the 
 25th of March. My family requires my presence, and I cannot 
 neglect them." 
 
 The Professor experienced the greatest elevation of hope, 
 followed by the deepest depression of disappointment that at 
 any time befell him, in a negotiation for the invention, and for 
 his own services, that was assumed in the name of the Russian 
 Government by the Baron Meyendorf. His letters will give a 
 correct idea of his feelings. He wrote to Mr. Smith, under date 
 of Paris, July 13, 1839 : 
 
 " I have been wholly occupied for the last week in copying out 
 the correspondence and other documents, to defend myself against 
 the infamous attack of Dr. Jackson, notice of which my brother 
 sent me. I have sent it this day by Dr. Mitchell, who sails in the 
 Ville de Lyon, on the 16th — the same packet that takes this. I 
 have sent a letter to Dr. Jackson, calling on him to save 'his char- 
 acter by a total disclaimer of his presumptuous claim, within one 
 week from the receipt of the letter, and giving him the plea of a 
 i mistake ' and ' misconception of my invention,' by which he may 
 retreat. If he fails to do this, I have requested my brother to pub- 
 lish immediately my defense, in w r hich I give a history of the in- 
 vention, the correspondence between Dr. Jackson and myself, and 
 close with the letters of Hon. Mr. Rives, Mr. Fisher, of Phila- 
 delphia, and Captain Pell. I cannot conceive of such infatuation 
 as has possessed this man. He can scarcely be deceived. It must 
 be his consummate self-conceit that deceives him, if he is deceived. 
 But this cannot be ; he knows he has no title whatever to a single 
 hint of any kind in the matter. 
 
 " I received your second letter, authorizing me to draw on you 
 
REV. MR. KIRK'S AID. 381 
 
 for such moneys as I may want ; a closer calculation will oblige 
 me to draw for two hundred pounds, instead of one hundred and 
 fifty, as I told you I should in my last, for it is possible that I 
 shall be compelled to stay a little longer than I anticipated, in 
 consequence of some prospects favorable from Russia. The Baron 
 Meyendorf, the Russian Government agent for reporting to the 
 Emperor all important discoveries, has been to see the Tele- 
 graph. He is very much pleased with it, and says he shall report 
 it to his Government. He introduced to me M. Amyot, who has 
 proposed also an Electric Telegraph, but upon seeing mine he 
 could not restrain his gratification, and with his whole soul he is 
 at work to forward it with all who have influence. He is the 
 right-hand man of the Baron Meyendorf, and he is exerting all 
 his powers to have the Russian Government adopt my Telegraph. 
 To the objections of the various savants who were present yester- 
 day at the experiment, that the great difficulty was with the wires, 
 to prevent their being destroyed by malevolence, he replied that 
 even this, which was the only plausible objection which would be 
 urged, was in reality nothing — that, placed beneath a railroad, 
 they were perfectly secure, for the men that watched the rails 
 would also watch the wires. I go with him to-morrow, to search 
 for the drawings of Sommering's and Steinheil's Telegraph, with 
 a description of them, at the Institute. He is really a noble-minded 
 man. The baron told me he had a large soul, and I find he has. 
 I have no claim on him, and yet he seems to take as much interest 
 in my invention as if it were his own. How different a conduct 
 from Jackson's ! In mentioning obligations, I ought to speak of my 
 room-mate, Rev. M. Kirk ; I am indebted to him mediately for all 
 the success I have had among the savants here. His acquaintance 
 with M. Julien de Paris, and others, has been of great service, 
 and his knowledge of the language, of which I am ignorant, en- 
 abling him to explain the whole process at my various experiments, 
 has made him invaluable to me. Indeed, I don't know what I 
 should have done without him. You will have learned how the 
 dissolution of the Chambers has created further delay in my busi- 
 ness. I was on the very point of having a call to exhibit it to the 
 Chambers at the moment they were dissolved. I learned through 
 M. Amyot, that the Government were seriously thinking of estab- 
 lishing a telegraphic line on the electric principle between Paris 
 and Havre, but that, such was the political state of affairs, noth- 
 ing would certainly be done this year. But he thought it would 
 
382 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 eventually be done, and that mine (if I understood him right) would 
 be the one adopted, or ought to be the one adopted. As to form- 
 ing a company to take it, I find it impracticable, for this reason : 
 ' the Telegraph is a Government monopoly, and therefore I am de- 
 pendent wholly on them. The Government allows no commercial 
 or social use of the Telegraph ; and the reason .why the railroads 
 have not taken hold is, that Government have not decided whether 
 they can allow it. I get no answer yet from the Minister of the 
 Interior. Do you think your patience would hold out as long ? 
 I begin to doubt whether I shall obtain any. Indeed, but for the 
 aspect of things North, the sooner I return home the better. I do 
 not see that I can further benefit the concern at present, here, ex- 
 cept by making it known to the various learned men ; this obtains 
 honor, to be sure, and spreads its merits ; and profit may be a con- 
 sequence at some future time. I shall, if possible, make this sort 
 of arrangement with the baron, if he should propose any thing 
 from Russia, viz., that I should return to America immediately, and 
 visit Russia, or send an agent, in the summer, for I must return 
 and arrange my affairs for the change which this Telegraph has 
 compelled me to make. He may require an answer from St. Peters- 
 burg, and that would delay me ; but I had better return and come 
 out again, if necessary, with a more perfected and compact instru- 
 ment, which I cannot get here, situated as I am. 
 
 " I give you a piece of good news in the following article from 
 the Journal des Debats of Sunday, February 10th : ' They wrote 
 from Munich the 3d of February, that the Bavarian Government has 
 ordered that the Galvanic Telegraph of the invention of M. de Stein- 
 heil, Professor of Chemistry in the University Royal of Munich, will 
 be established, on the railroad from Furth to Wurtemberg, and that 
 direction of these telegraphs will be confided to this learned pro- 
 fessor.' 
 
 "I wish our Government had been the first to adopt the Tele- 
 graph ; but now the Bavarians have the credit of being the first to 
 establish an Electric Telegraph ; but this first adoption gives assur- 
 ance of their final universal adoption, and if mine is best, as all 
 continue to affirm, mine must supplant all, unless a better (Dr. 
 Jackson's, perhaps) should be found. 
 
 " I yesterday paid the balance of patent account, eight hundred 
 and fifty francs, and have the receipt and the patent for the railroad 
 improvement. If I get my correspondence in action satisfactorily, 
 which will no doubt be the case if I can apply myself a few days 
 
BARON MEYENDORF. 383 
 
 longer to its completion (having been interrupted so continually, 
 and never allowing the other business of the Telegraph to suffer 
 from any attention to these mechanical improvements, I have been 
 constantly prevented from giving it the finishing touch), I shall 
 venture to add it to the improvements. This will incur an addi- 
 tional expense to you of one hundred and eighty-seven francs. I 
 have these two days past tried the sustaining power of the little 
 batteries, three in number, on Daniel's principle, and to my gratifi- 
 cation I find that by simply supplying the top that holds the crys- 
 tals with them as fast as they dissolve — and this has been but 
 three times in the last forty-eight hours ! and of the amount alto- 
 gether in size of a couple of eggs — the action has been kept up 
 undiminished the whole time, day and night. I intend letting the 
 batteries act themselves out, and will report to you the result. 1 It 
 is a fact of very important bearing, as you see, on the Telegraph. 
 Every day is clearing away all the difficulties that prevent its adop- 
 tion ; the only difficulty that remains, it is universally said, is the 
 protection of the wires from malevolent attack, and this can be pre- 
 vented by proper police, and secret and deep interment. I have no 
 doubt of its universal adoption ; it may take time, but it is certain. 
 T have not yet received the reports in Congress that you say you 
 have sent, but have heard there are packages for me at Havre. I am 
 anxious to know the progress made at home. When is income to 
 take the place of outgo ? I wish you could see my brother on the 
 subject of Jackson, and arrange with him. Perhaps you could your- 
 self see Jackson, and see what his design is in this infamous attack 
 of his." 
 
 On the 22d of the same month he wrote Mr. Smith from 
 Paris the subjoined exultant letter : 
 
 " I have a moment to write to be in time for the packet of the 
 24th by estafet, and to give you at length a dish of good news re- 
 specting the Telegraph. A few days ago at my usual exhibition 
 of the Telegraph on Tuesdays, which I have had for two months 
 past, Monsieur Julien de Paris brought the Baron Meyendorf, 
 the agent of the Emperor of Russia for reporting useful discov- 
 eries to the Russian Government. The baron was much struck with 
 the Telegraph, and, learning from me that the aclministrator-in-chief 
 of Telegraphs in Paris had reported favorably, he wished to know 
 
 1 I let the batteries remain fifty-four hours, and they were still powerful enough, 
 but a little enfeebled. There is no difficulty on that score. 
 
384 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 if I could procure the report for him, and he would at once trans- 
 mit it to his Government and recommend the adoption of my Tele- 
 graph. I called on the administrator, M. Foy, with your request, 
 as a member of Congress, to have the report. I did not find him 
 in, but I left a note requesting a copy of his report. I have just 
 received an answer from M. Foy, which, although not complying 
 (from very proper reasons which he assigns) with my request for a 
 copy of the report, yet gives me all we could wish ; I give you a 
 translation of the letter entire : 
 
 " ' Pabis, February 20, 1839. 
 
 " ' Cabinet of the Administeatoe-in-Chiep. 
 " My deab Sir : I regret sincerely that I was not at home 
 when you did me the honor to call. I would have fully explained 
 to you the impossibility of communicating to you my observations 
 addressed to the Minister of the Interior upon Electric Telegraphs. 
 These observations make part of my administrative correspondence 
 with the minister, and T cannot detach them from it with propriety. 
 I believe, too, my dear sir, that you exaggerate to yourself the im- 
 portance and extent of it. I had only to submit a summary notice 
 upon many electric and electro-magnetic Telegraphs which had 
 been successively put under the eyes of the minister, and my ob- 
 servations were relative only to the projects announced for M. Mon- 
 talivet to make some essays upon this new kind of telegraphic 
 communication. You will not then find, my dear sir, as you think, 
 a detailed and mature report upon your beautiful invention, and 
 the note that I might address to you would be altogether unwor- 
 thy the attention of Congress. If, however, I do not believe it of 
 use to you, sir, nor possible for me to give you a copy of an ad- 
 ministrative letter which relates to many personal matters, I take a 
 true pleasure in confirming to you in writing that which I have al- 
 ready had the honor to say to you viva voce, that I have signalized 
 to monsieur, the Minister of the Interior, your Electro-magnetic 
 Telegraph, as being the system which presents the best chance of 
 a practical application, and that I had declared that, if some trials 
 are to be made with electric Telegraphs, I hesitate not to propose 
 that they should be made with your apparatus. I thank you, my 
 dear sir, for the kind offer you have had the goodness to make, of 
 permitting me to come and see your admirable experiments, of 
 which I shall avail myself as soon as the recent domestic affliction 
 which now occupies my mind will allow. Accept, my dear sir, 
 
M. AMYOT. 385 
 
 the assurance of the distinguished consideration of your devoted 
 servant, Alphonse Foy.' 
 
 " This, you perceive, is all that is necessary ; it could not be 
 more flattering or more favorable. The deficiencies of detail in a 
 comparison of mine with others will be fully made up in the ' Re- 
 port of the Academie Industrielle,' which I heard read last evening 
 at a grand meeting of the Academy at the Place Venddme ; and in 
 which both the priority of my invention and its superiority to all 
 others are fully declared. It was received with acclamation, and I 
 had the Telegraph there to talk to them. There is truly a liber- 
 ality in the French scientific classes that I think reflects the great- 
 est credit upon the nation. This report will, be published in a few 
 days, and I will bring a copy, or rather many copies, with me. But 
 the tidbit of the dish now comes. The Baron Meyendorf did not 
 write for this note (for I have but this moment received it, and 
 have not yet shown it to him). He intimated to me that he had 
 for a long time been in treaty with M. Amyot, who has for some 
 time been engaged in electric Telegraphs, to establish one in Rus- 
 sia ; that if M. Amyot and I could agree to unite our labors he 
 would immediately put matters in train for the establishment of a 
 line of twenty miles from St. Petersburg, I had an interview 
 with M. Amyot, a noble-hearted, liberal man, and our union was 
 easily formed. He wished much to accompany me — to take, in fact, 
 exactly that part in which I needed most the assistance of an ex- 
 perienced scientific man — to make the experiments on the effects of 
 temperature on the passage of electricity, the size of batteries 
 necessary, etc. He has philological researches in which he feels also 
 a deep interest, and on account of which he desires to go to Rus- 
 sia. He wished me merely, to state to the baron that I should be 
 glad to have him (M. Amyot) accompany me. With this under- 
 standing I yesterday called on the baron, and so far as he (the 
 baron) is concerned the whole matter is nearly arranged. I gave 
 him the estimate of probable expense of establishing a line of 
 twenty miles, exclusive of ditching, asphalt, and some smaller 
 items, putting the whole at seven hundred and ninety-four pounds 
 sterling. He at once said eight hundred pounds, and, add extras, 
 two hundred pounds more, sa} 7 one thousand pounds ; and, says he, 
 • You have omitted the price of your passage from America and back 
 again,' which he calculated and added. 'Now,' says he, 'what will 
 you expect of it if it is successful ? ' I said, whatever the emperor 
 25 
 
386 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 may think just. He answered : ' No, this is not the way we do 
 business ; will you put it on this basis, to receive for five years half 
 the saving to the Government of your plan over that of the old plan?' 
 T said yes, if in calculating this saving these points shall be taken 
 into the account : 
 
 "First, the time in which the two Telegraphs are available. 
 Second, the quantity of information in a given time that each can 
 transmit under the most favorable circumstances. He said : ' Well, 
 this I will immediately submit to my Government. , You wish to 
 return to the United States. Can you return to Paris by the 1st 
 of July, so as to be in St. Petersburg by the 15th of July ? ' I 
 told him I thought I could. ' Well,' said he, ' you will return, then, 
 I suppose, by the Great Western to New York, on the 23d of March ; 
 arrive, say 10th of April. You will receive the answer of the Rus- 
 sian Government through its minister in the United States about 
 the 10th of May. You will embark from New York about 1st of 
 June, be in Paris 1st of July, and St. Petersburg 15th of July. In 
 fifteen days the trench can be dug, for we have eighty thousand 
 men at command ; and these can be sufficient to dig the trench in 
 seven days if you desire it. The emperor will then be in St. Peters- 
 burg, which will be favorable to you.' 
 
 " Other items I must tell you when I see you in America, for I 
 feel now that something is likely to be effected ; but our whole 
 energies must be directed to having this first adoption of our sys- 
 tem a successful one ; all hands must go to work. What I shall 
 wish immediately on my return is a clock mechanician, who can 
 devote himself wholly to making, say six or eight of each of the 
 machines, the correspondent and the register, with the simplifica- 
 tion that a winter's thought and experience have led me to form. 
 The compensation I have proposed to M. Amyot is one-seventh of 
 what is received from the Russian Government when the experi- 
 ment is proved successful. I hope this will be approved by you. 
 He appears satisfied with it, and, taking into the account that he 
 relinquishes his own schemes with the Russian Government, and 
 strongly advocates with the baron the adoption of mine — that, in 
 fact, without this arrangement nothing probably would have been 
 done, for the baron made it conditional ; and, moreover, the respon- 
 sibility he assumes of precisely that part which has not been actu- 
 ally proved by experiment — I think the terms just. We have noth- 
 ing to do with his personal expenses ; the Russian Government 
 pay these as well as mine. I h^ve to close this immediately or I 
 
FAVORABLE PROSPECTS. 387 
 
 shall lose the estafet. I have engaged my passage in the Great 
 Western on the 23d of March, and hope to be in New York before 
 10th of April, perhaps even before this reaches you. I wish I could 
 see you in New York when I arrive. I have just made a proposi- 
 tion to the baron, through M. Amyot, to advance three thousand 
 francs to me in New York so soon as the Government have deter- 
 mined to adopt the system — if it is accepted, well ; if not, it will be 
 worth a little risk to seize the present motive to give impulse to 
 the whole business ; and funds must be advanced by the company. 
 I have written to Mr. Chamberlain to make new terms in considera- 
 tion of the change which matters have assumed, and the necessity 
 I am under of personal superintendence in Russia. I hope you will 
 at home also consider this, and arrange justly my proper compen- 
 sation. On this point I have no fears from those engaged in the 
 enterprise. 
 
 " I will write you again, but think I shall probably see you be- 
 fore another letter can reach you by the packet." 
 
 "Paris, March 2, 1839. 
 
 " By my last letter I informed you of the more favorable pros- 
 pects of the telegraphic enterprise. These prospects still continue, 
 and I shall return with the gratifying reflection that, after all my 
 anxieties and labors and privations, and yours and my other asso- 
 ciates' expenditures and risks, we are all in a fair way of reaping 
 the fruits of our toil. The political troubles of France have been 
 a hinderance hitherto to the attention of the Government to the 
 Telegraph, but in the mean time I have gradually pushed forward 
 the invention into the notice of the most influential individuals of 
 France. I had Colonel Lasalle, aide-de-camp to the king, and his 
 lady, to see the Telegraph a few days ago ; he promised that with- 
 out fail it should be mentioned to the king. You will be surprised 
 to learn, after all the promises hitherto made by the prefect of the 
 Seine, Count Remberteau, and by various other officers of the Gov- 
 ernment, and after General Cass's letter to the aide on service, four 
 or five months since, requesting it might be brought to the notice 
 of the king, that the king has not yet heard of it. But so things 
 go here. Such dereliction would destroy a man with us in a mo- 
 ment, but here there is a different standard (this, of course, entre 
 nous). 
 
 " I have just had a visit from the Count de Noe, a peer of 
 France, who brought with him the Due de Cazes and the Duchess, 
 
388 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and the Baron Pasquier, the chancellor of France, with the baroness, 
 to see the Telegraph. The duke was surprised to learn that the Gov- 
 ernment had had the subject so long under consideration, especially 
 after the administrator of the Telegraphs had reported in its favor, 
 and promised me that he would see immediately the Count de Mon- 
 talivet on the subject. I told him if any thing was to be done, it 
 was necessary to move quick. I had been in attendance on the 
 Government for an answer the whole winter; that I should leave 
 France in a few days ; that Russia had seen the advantage of the 
 invention to her empire, and that I was in treaty to go to St. 
 Petersburg. This seemed to have some effect, and he said there 
 should be no delay. Among the numerous visitors that have 
 thronged to see the Telegraph, there have been a great many of 
 the principal English nobility. Among them, the Lord and Lady 
 Aylmer, formerly Governor of Canada, Lord Elgin and son, the 
 celebrated preserver, not depredator, as he has been most slander- 
 ously called, of the Phidian Marbles. Lord Elgin has been twice, 
 and expressed a great interest in the invention. He brought with 
 him yesterday the Earl of Lincoln, a young man of unassuming 
 manners ; he was delighted, and gave me his card, with a pressing 
 invitation to call on him when I came to London. I have not failed 
 to let the English know how I was treated in- regard to my appli- 
 cation for a patent in England, and contrasted the conduct of the 
 French in this respect with theirs. I believe they felt it, and I 
 think it was Lord Aylmer, but am not quite sure, who advised that 
 the subject be brought up in Parliament by some member and made 
 the object of special legislation, which he said might be done, the 
 attorney-general to the contrary notwithstanding. I really believe, 
 if matters were rightly managed in England, something yet might 
 be done there, if not by patent, yet by a parliamentary grant of a 
 proper compensation. It is remarkable that they have not yet 
 made any thing like mine in England. It is evident that neither 
 Wheatstone nor Davy comprehended my mode, after all their asser- 
 tions that mine was published. If matters move slower here than 
 with us, yet they gain surely. I am told every hour that the two 
 great wonders of Paris just now, about which everybody is convers- 
 ing, are, Daguerre's wonderful results in fixing permanently the 
 image of the camera obscura and Morse's Electro-Magnetic Tele- 
 graph ; and they do not hesitate to add that, beautiful as are the 
 results of Daguei're's experiments, the invention of the Electro- 
 Magnetic Telegraph is that which will surpass, in the greatness of 
 
DR. JACKSON'S PRETENSIONS. 389 
 
 the revolution to be effected, all other inventions. Robert Walsh, 
 Esq., who has just left me, is beyond measure delighted. I was 
 writing a word from one room to another; he came to me and said, 
 ' The next word you may write is, " IMMORTALITY," for the sub- 
 limity of this invention is of surpassing grandeur. I see now that 
 all physical obstacles which may for a tohile hinder, will inevitably 
 be overcome ; the problem is solved / man mat instantly con- 
 verse WITH HIS EELLOW-MAN IN ANT PART OE THE WORLD.' 
 
 " I have sent in to the Baron Meyendorf the details of the engage- 
 ment between the Russian Government and myself, formed on the 
 basis agreed on in conversation with him, and which I mentioned 
 in my last letter to you. I am anxiously waiting his reply and ap- 
 proval, in order to take my departure from Paris. I have taken my 
 passage in the Great "Western, and will give you, when I see you, 
 all the information on this matter which is too long to write. I am 
 glad I had the letters of the captain and passengers of the Sully 
 with me. Jackson's impudent assertion of a claim to my invention 
 was talked about much here, and, although disbelieved by my friends 
 without any evidence, but simply from knowing me, it made for a 
 little time an unpleasant state of things. I read these letters to 
 General Cass, to M. Anderson, and to many others, and the antidote 
 has been effectual, and a pretty strong tide of indignation raised 
 against Jackson. . . . Providentially, I have proof at every point 
 of the futility and baseness of his claim, and, where others could not 
 be witnesses, he is made to witness against himself. I am anxious 
 to see you and concert measures for pushing matters, for the iron is 
 hot all over Europe and we must strike now. A Telegraph Com- 
 pany ought to be formed at once for operations all over the world. 
 Depend upon it, fifty or a hundred fortunes might be made out of it. 
 It wants only a proper management, and a little capital. Hoping 
 soon to see you, I remain, as ever, truly yours, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 MORSE AND DAGUERRE. 
 
 "While in Paris, Professor Morse could not fail to hear of the 
 brilliant and astonishing experiments of M. Daguerre, whose 
 genius and perseverance were then bringing to the birth one of 
 the most beautiful discoveries of this or any age. Professor 
 Morse invited him to examine his Telegraph, and also requested 
 permission to see the results of Daguerre' s experiments in the 
 art of painting with sunbeams. As an artist and painter, Morse 
 
390 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 was naturally anxious to know the meaning of this new art. M. 
 Daguerre promptly acceded to the invitation, and the remarkable 
 results that followed the instructions which Mr. Morse received 
 from the discoverer, the introduction by Mr. Morse of the art 
 into the United States of America, and the identification of his 
 name with Photography as well as with the Telegraph, will be 
 seen in subsequent pages. 
 
 Professor Morse alludes, in his letters from Paris, to the in- 
 terest which some of the British nobility were taking in the 
 Telegraph. Among them were Lord Lincoln (afterward the 
 Duke of Newcastle) and Lord Elgin. Lord Elgin wrote to him : 
 
 '' Paris, March 5, 1839. 
 " You would oblige me greatly if you could allow me to bring 
 my family and some particular friends to have the pleasure of see- 
 ing your admirable discovery of the Electric Telegraph, under the 
 great advantage of your exhibition of it, on Thursday next, the 7th 
 inst., at two o'clock — or any other day and hour that would better 
 suit you. I venture to name a private day, because we shall be 
 numerous enough to fill your apartment. Lord Lincoln was ex- 
 tremely sorry that, the departure being quite necessarily fixed for 
 Saturday, he could not have a second opportunity of admiring the 
 beauty and simplicity of your brilliant discovery. I have the honor 
 to be, dear sir, vour obedient servant, 
 
 " ELom." 
 
 The visit was made, and a few days afterward Lord Elgin 
 wrote to Professor Morse again : 
 
 " I cannot help expressing a very strong desire that, instead of 
 delaying till your return from America your wish to take out a 
 patent in England for your highly scientific and simple mode of 
 communicating intelligence by an Electric Telegraph, you would 
 take measures to that effect at this moment, and for that purpose 
 take your model now with you to London. Your discovery is now 
 much known as well as appreciated, and the ingenuity now afloat 
 is too extensive for one not to apprehend that individuals, even in 
 good faith, may make some addition to qualify them to take out a 
 first patent for the principle ; whereas, if you brought it at once, now, 
 before the competent authorities, especially under the advantage 
 of an introduction such as Mr. Drummond can give you to Lord 
 Brougham, a short delay in your proceeding to America may se- 
 
INVITATION TO LONDON. 391 
 
 cure this desirable object immediately. With every sincere good 
 wish for your success and the credit you so richly deserve, I am, 
 dear sir, yours faithfully, Elgin". 
 
 "Mr. President Morse." 
 
 To Sir Henry Ellis, Lord Elgin wrote : 
 
 " Dear Sie Henby : I beg leave to make you acquainted with 
 Mr. President Morse, of the National Academy of Design at New 
 York. He has on a former occasion studied the Elgin Marbles ; 
 still, if he should wish again to see them, on his present passage 
 through London, I am sure you will have the kindness to give him 
 every facility in your power. He is engaged in perfecting an Elec- 
 tric Telegraph of the highest possible interest; he may possibly not 
 have it with him at this moment, but the beauty and simplicity of 
 his invention, and the ability and clearness with which he explains 
 it, argue much talent and intelligence on his part." 
 
 His work in Paris being completed, and nothing more being 
 gained than the positive approbation of his invention by the 
 greatest authorities in the scientific world, Professor Morse went 
 to London, and was immediately invited by Lord Lincoln to make 
 his house the theatre for the exhibition of the Telegraph. 
 
 " At the request of the Earl of Lincoln," Professor Morse wrote, 
 "I exhibited at his house my Telegraph to a large company assem- 
 bled for the purpose ; members of the Houses of Parliament, the 
 Lords of the Admiralty, and members of the Royal Society. As a 
 counterpoise to the injustice done me in England in regard to my 
 patent application, I ought to mention the kind interest taken by 
 Lord Elgin, the Earl of Lincoln, Hon. Henry Drummond, and others, 
 in my invention, and their offers of service in procuring for me a 
 patent by a special act of Parliament, which, under other circum- 
 stances, might have been procured." 
 
 Professor Morse endeavored to secure the attention of Lord 
 Brougham to his invention, and, in reply to his letter requesting 
 an interview, received the following characteristic note : 
 
 " Lord Brougham's compliments, and is extremely sorry he is 
 not able to make an appointment to see Mr. Morse ; he is engaged 
 every day this week, at the House of Lords, from ten o'clock to din- 
 ner-time, and on some days to a later hour. However, if Mr. M. 
 
392 LIFE OE SAMUEL E. B. MORSE. 
 
 can come to the House any morning before three, Lord B. will be 
 able to come out to him for a few minutes." 
 
 Mr. Morse replied to his lordship : 
 
 " Mr. Morse's respects to Lord Brougham, and would say to him 
 that, through the kindness of the Earl of Lincoln, the Telegraph 
 apparatus of Mr. M.'s invention is, for a single day only, at Lord 
 Lincoln's house, 25 Park Lane, where Mr. M. has -engaged to show 
 its operation to-morrow (Wednesday), from eleven o'clock until 
 five. Mr. M. scarcely dares hope for the pleasure of Lord Brougham's 
 presence, absorbed as he must be in public affairs ; but, if Lord B. 
 could by any means spare a moment for that purpose, Mr. M. need 
 not say how gratified he should be to exhibit his invention to Lord 
 Brougham. Mr. M. will avail himself of Lord B.'s invitation to see 
 him a moment, on Thursday, between ten and eleven, at the House 
 of Lords." 
 
 The kindness and consideration shown to Professor Morse by 
 these distinguished men in London made a lasting impression 
 upon his heart. In after years, when the Prince of "Wales visited 
 the United States, Professor Morse was invited to address him 
 at the University of the City of New York, and in his remarks 
 recognized the fact that the Duke of NeAvcastle, who was with 
 the Prince of Wales, was no other than the Earl of Lincoln of 
 1839. Mr. Morse said : 
 
 " An allusion in most flattering terms to me, rendered doubly so 
 in such presence, has been made by our respected Chancellor, which 
 seems to call for at least the expression of my thanks. At the 
 same time it suggests the relation of an incident in the early history 
 of the Telegraph, which may not be inappropriate to this occasion. 
 The infant Telegraph, born and nursed within these walls, had 
 scarcely attained a feeble existence, ere it essayed to make its voice 
 heard on the other side of the Atlantic. I carried it to Paris in 
 183.8. It attracted the warm interest not only of the Continental 
 philosophers, but also of the intelligent and appreciative among the 
 eminent nobles of Britain, then on a visit to the French capital. 
 Foremost among these was the late Marquis of Northampton, then 
 President of the Royal Society, the late distinguished Earl of Elgin, 
 and in a marked degree the noble Earl of Lincoln. The last-named 
 nobleman, in a special manner, gave it his favor; he comprehended 
 
EXPRESSIONS OF GRATITUDE. 393 
 
 its important future, and, in the midst of the skepticism that clouded 
 its cradle, he risked his character for sound judgment in venturing 
 to stand godfather to the friendless child. He took it under his roof 
 in London, invited the statesmen and the philosophers of Britain to 
 see it, and urged forward with kindly words and generous atten- 
 tions those who had the infant in charge. It is with no ordinary 
 feelings, therefore, that after the lapse of twenty j^ears I have the 
 singular honor this morning of greeting with hearty welcome, in 
 such presence, before such an assemblage, and in the cradle of the 
 Telegraph, this noble Earl of Lincoln, in the person of the present 
 Duke of Newcastle." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 1839-1843. 
 
 RETUEN TO NEW TORE — RUSSIAN CONTRACT DISAPPOINTMENT AT INACTION 
 
 OF CONGRESS — ME. SMITH'S VIEWS OF THE STATE OF THINGS — THE DA- 
 GUERREOTYPE — INTRODUCED EXPERIMENTS — SUCCESS — TEACHES OTHERS 
 
 SULLY AND ALLSTON — EUSSIA FALLS — DEEP DEPEESSION — LETTEE TO HIS 
 PARTNERS MR. A. TAIL AND HON. F. O. J. SMITH — CONSULTATION WITH 
 PROFESSOR HENRY — LETTERS OF PROFESSOR HENRY — STRUGGLES OF MORSE 
 UNDER POVERTY — LETTERS TO MR. VALL — AN AGENT EMPLOYED AT WASH- 
 INGTON — FAILURE — AN OLD SOEEOW — HON. W. W. BOAEDMAN, M. C. — 
 LETTEE TO HON. F. O. J. SMITH ON PEOFESSOE HENEY's ENCOURAGE- 
 MENT — FIEST SUBMAEINE CABLE LAID BY PEOFESSOE MORSE — EEPOET OF 
 AMEEIOAN INSTITUTE — HON. 0. G. FERRIS — LETTER TO HIM — PROFESSOR 
 MORSE IN WASHINGTON — FAVORABLE REPORT IN CONGRESS — DEBATE — 
 PASSAGE OF BILL IN THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE — APPROPRIATING THIRTY 
 THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR AN EXPERIMENTAL LINE OF TELEGRAPH — DEATH 
 OF ALLSTON. 
 
 PEOFESSOE MOESE arrived in New York by the steam- 
 ship Great Western, on his return from England, April 
 15, 1839. The next day he wrote to his partner, Hon. F. O. J. 
 Smith : 
 
 " I take the first hour of rest, after the fatigues of my boister- 
 ous voyage, to apprise you of my arrival yesterday in the Great 
 Western. The day before I left Paris, I concluded the arrange- 
 ments with the Russian Government, through the Baron Meyen- 
 dorf, so far as he had power, and shall expect, through the Russian 
 Minister, the answer of the Government at St. Petersburg by the 
 10th of May. There are some points different from those which 
 I believe I sketched in my letter to you of February 22d. In 
 the second interview, the baron believes he had limited the com- 
 
DISAPPOINTMENT AT HOME. 395 
 
 pensation — ' half the economy ' — to three years instead of five, as 
 both M. Amyot and myself understood him to say. He seemed a 
 little troubled at this, and reproached himself for not putting it 
 down in writing at the time, for he had written three years to his 
 Government, and it was too late to rectify the matter ; but he ob- 
 served that, if I were successful, I might rely on the liberal disposi- 
 tion of the emperor. It is limited also to the route from St. Peters- 
 burg to Warsaw, eight hundred miles. I wish much to see you, 
 and with as little delay as possible, for the time is very limited, on 
 account of the season of the year in which it is necessary to be in 
 St. Petersburg, in order to labor at all. I was so unfortunate as to 
 miss Dr. Gale by a single day ; he left for the South on Saturday, 
 and I arrrived on Sunday night. I regret this extremely, for I 
 wished much conversation with him on points connected with the 
 scientific parts of the matter. . . . 
 
 " I am quite disappointed in finding nothing done by Congress, 
 and nothing accomplished by way of Company. I had hoped to 
 find, on my return home, funds ready for prosecuting with vigor the 
 enterprise which I fear will suffer for this want. 
 
 " Think for a moment of my situation ! I left New York for 
 Europe to be gone three months, but have been gone eleven months. 
 My only means of support are in my profession, which I have been 
 compelled to abandon entirely for the present, giving my undivided 
 time and efforts to this enterprise. I return without a farthing in 
 my pocket, and have to borrow even for my meals, and, even worse 
 than this, I have incurred a debt of rent by my absence, which I 
 should have avoided had I been at home, or rather if I had been 
 aware that I should have been obliged to stay so long abroad. I 
 do not mention this in the way of complaint, but merely to show 
 that I have also been compelled to make great sacrifices for the 
 common good, and am willing yet to make more, if necessary. If 
 the enterprise is to be pursued, we must all in our various ways put 
 the shoulder to the wheel. I wish much to see you and talk over 
 all matters, for it seems to me that the present state of the enter- 
 prise in regard to Russia affects vitally the whole concern." 
 
 In communicating these letters from Professor Morse, Mr. 
 Smith makes some observations upon the hesitation of govern- 
 ments and individuals to perceive the splendid capabilities of 
 the invention : 
 
 " In the days of the first consulship of Napoleon I., the car of 
 
396 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 sovereignty was not so barricaded against all knowledge of rever- 
 berating acclamations of distinguished scientists and inventors over 
 the advances of their respective pursuits for the benefit of mankind, 
 as it seems to have been in the days of Louis Philippe, liberal as he 
 was reputed to be, when Professor Morse was visiting Paris, to 
 make known the wonders of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. On 
 the 20th of March, a. d. 1800, the philosopher named Volta, in a 
 little village of the Milanese, announced to Sir Joseph Banks, 
 President of the Royal Society of England, by letter, his beauti- 
 ful discovery and invention of utilizing the previously miscon- 
 ceived discovery of Galvani, regardless on his part of any special 
 application, but as the agent of analyzing the laws of matter and 
 Nature in general. To the discovery he added a description of his 
 device for collecting the electric force in greater quantities than 
 ever before accomplished, and of securing to it all the intensity of 
 frictional electricity, and also of retaining its action for a longer 
 time — this by what he designated La Couronne de Tasses, or 
 crown of cups. No sooner had this announcement reached France, 
 than Napoleon, the First Consul, instead of waiting for Volta to 
 voluntarily visit Paris, if ever, as a scientist and inventor of emi- 
 nence, as did Professor Morse in 1838, most flatteringly invited 
 Volta to make a visit to Paris, and at the Institute explain person- 
 ally his great invention to the elite of European philosophers. 
 Accordingly, in 1801, Volta attended three meetings of the Acad- 
 emy of Science, where he explained his theory, and the Voltaic, or, 
 as he called it, electro-motive action of different metals. Napoleon 
 attended in person these meetings ; and, when the report of the 
 committee on the subject was read, Napoleon proposed to suspend 
 the rules of the Academy, in the formalities required in conferring 
 honors, and that the gold medal be immediately awarded to Volta, 
 as a testimony of the gratitude of the philosophers of France for 
 his discovery ; and the proposition was carried by acclamation ; and 
 on the same day Napoleon ordered to be sent to Volta two thou- 
 sand crowns from the public treasury, to defray the expenses of his 
 journey. He also founded an annual medal of the value of two 
 thousand francs to him who should give electricity, or magnetism, 
 by his researches, an impulse comparable to that which it received 
 from the discoveries of Franklin and Volta. 
 
 " The long stride which Volta laid the foundation for, though 
 not dreamed of for the purpose by him at the time, in the use of 
 electricity for telegraphic purposes in after-years, forms an interest- 
 
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE FIRST CONSUL. 397 
 
 ing epoch in the history of the Telegraph, though not particularly 
 germane to the biography of Professor Morse. 
 
 " The contrast, however, presented in this experience of the lib- 
 erality of Napoleon toward Volta, and in the eight months' igno- 
 rance by King Louis Philippe of both the invention of the Electro- 
 magnetic Telegraph and of Professor Morse's stay in Paris, under 
 illusory promises of the king's cabinet ministers, and his other 
 many and immediate official attendants, to bring the invention to 
 the knowledge of the king, is not without its moral to the American 
 mind. Had the scientists of France in the latter era been as near 
 Louis Philippe as those of France were to the First Consul, and 
 had the former been endowed with the same impulses as was the 
 latter, in the advancement of his government and people to the 
 zenith of national glory and greatness, who can doubt that Pro- 
 fessor Morse's visit to Paris in 1838 would have been signaled by 
 the prompt construction of an Electro-magnetic Telegraph upon his 
 plan, through hundreds of miles of French territory, and even to 
 every commercial city within the confines of the nation ? In such 
 a case, who can doubt that France would have been foremost and 
 the first of governments to adopt the great invention, and to utilize 
 it in advance of every other people ? And, then, what years of anx- 
 ious and even agonizing suspense would have been saved to Pro- 
 fessor Morse in particular, and to his associates, in the struggle to 
 advance the invention beyond its swaddling-cloth.es ! 
 
 " It is foremost among the incomprehensible fatuities of man- 
 kind, and of their varied industrial ambitions and interests, that an 
 invention so patent to every understanding, in its wonders and 
 ubiquitous powers, should have lingered on, year after year, upon 
 the impoverished hands of the acknowledged inventor, without in- 
 spiring the cupidity of either capitalists or speculators, and espe- 
 cially in a. land of enterprise like the United States. But so it was, 
 as the sequel of Professor Morse's authenticated experience shows." 
 
 Mr. Smith wrote to Professor Morse, April 28, 1839 : 
 
 " I see nothing yet of your expose of Jackson. It is a shame 
 that such malignant envy and groundless pretensions should be 
 suffered to fatten, in any character or capacity, upon the credu- 
 lity of the people. I could, with your means, ram him into a ten- 
 pounder, then discharge the wad against the first mud-wall I could 
 find ! I am devoting my time wholly with reference to bringing 
 my loose and unsettled interests and business here to such control 
 
398 LIFE OP SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 —winding up all that are susceptible of it — as will enable me in a 
 few months at farthest to take hold of the telegraph business in 
 good earnest, and make a business of it. I esteem it far better to 
 suffer it to rest, sub silentio, for a season, than to have it move in a 
 halting, hobbling pace. I promise myself success in a little while, 
 in thus putting myself in a shape to ' go ahead.' I pray Gcd 
 that, in the mean time, there may be ' no mistake ' about the Rus- 
 sian embassy." 
 
 Professor Morse to Mr. Smith. 
 
 "New York May 24, 1839. 
 
 " My affairs, in consequence of my protracted absence, and the 
 stagnant state of the Telegraph here at home, have caused me great 
 embarrassment, and my whole energies have been called upon to 
 extricate myself from the confusion in which I have been unhappily 
 placed. You may judge a little of this when I tell you that my ab- 
 sence has deprived me of my usual source of income by my profes- 
 sion ; that the state of the University is such that I shall probably 
 leave, and shall have to remove into new quarters ; that my family 
 are dispersed, requiring my care and anxieties, under every disad- 
 vantage ; that my engagements were such with Russia, that every 
 moment of my time was necessary to complete my arrangements, 
 to fulfil the contract in season ; and, instead of finding my associates 
 ready to sustain me with counsel and means, I find them all dis- 
 persed, leaving me without the opportunity to consult, or a cent of 
 means, and consequently bringing every thing in relation to the 
 Telegraph to a dead stand. In the midst of this, I am called upon 
 by the state of public opinion to defend myself against the out- 
 rageous attempt of Dr. Jackson to pirate from me my invention. 
 The words would be harsh that are properly applicable to this man's 
 conduct. He can no longer be under mistake ; he knows that he 
 has not the shadow of a claim to a single suggestion that belongs 
 to the invention. I send you my letter in the Boston Post, and 
 republished in the Observer. Besides the evidence of Captain Pell, 
 Mr. Rives, and Mr. Fisher, I have the written testimony of several 
 others of the passengers, which I have obtained since I saw } 7 ou, 
 and they are all unanimous in recognizing me, and me only, in the 
 invention on board the Sully. They none of them could guess 
 the individual who pretends to the invention, and expressed utter 
 astonishment when informed that Dr. Jackson pretended to it. 
 
 " I have given you the darker side of objects first. This dark- 
 
LETTER TO MR. SMITH, 399 
 
 ness enshrouds the inventor only, not the invention. Want of time 
 prevents me from copying out the papers relating to the Russian con- 
 tract. It may suffice perhaps to say that I engaged to leave Europe 
 in the Great "Western on the 23 d of March, was expected to arrive 
 by the 5th of April, to commence the apparatus for a line of twenty 
 miles of telegraph, if not already commenced by my associates ; I 
 was to receive my advices from St. Petersburg by the ' 10th of May,' 
 officially recognizing the principles of the contract and negotiating 
 the particulars with the Russian Minister ; I engaged then to leave 
 America so as to reach Paris by the 1st of July, and St. Petersburg 
 by the 15th of July, with my French companion, M. Amyot. This 
 was the farthest date that could be allowed, if the Telegraph was to 
 be put in operation this season. You see, therefore, in what a con- 
 dition I found myself when I returned. I was delayed several days 
 beyond the computed time of my arrival by the long passage of the 
 steamer. Instead of finding funds raised by a vote of Congress, or 
 by a company, and my associates ready to back me, I find not a 
 cent for the purpose, and my associates scattered to the four winds. 
 You can easily conceive that I gave all up as it regarded Russia, 
 and considered the whole enterprise as seriously injured if not com- 
 pletely destroyed. In this state of things I was hourly dreading to 
 hear from the Russian Minister, and devising how I should save 
 myself and the enterprise without implicating my associates in a 
 charge of neglect ; and, as it has most fortunately happened for us 
 all, the 10th of May has passed without the receipt of the promised 
 advices, and I topk advantage of this, and, by the Liverpool steamer 
 on the 18th, wrote to the Baron Meyendorff and to M. Amyot, 
 that it was impossible to fulfill the engagement this season, since I 
 had not received the promised advices in time to prepare. I have 
 requested immediate advices, and promised to be in St. Petersburg 
 by the beginning of May, next year, to fulfill the contract. This 
 is the state of things in relation to Russia, in brief. I have much 
 to communicate, but cannot by letter. I would come on to see you 
 if I had the means, but I have not a copper. Now, what are im- 
 mediately wanted are two complete sets at least of the apparatus, 
 the register and correspondent, and if possible twenty miles of wire, 
 so that every thing may be tested here at home, before I embark. 
 I have a most excellent workman at command, who would execute 
 them well and reasonably. It is at once seen how important it is 
 to have matters immediately under way, if it is intended to take 
 advantage of this Russian engagement. I wish to have every thing 
 
400 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 in prime order, so as to surprise the czar, and for the purpose the 
 sooner I have the apparatus complete, the better ; indeed, if I had 
 five hundred dollars of my own (and it must cost much more), I 
 would commence operations immediately. We have ten miles of 
 wire already ; ten more would cost about three hundred and fifty 
 dollars ; and I think the other apparatus cannot cost more than one 
 hundred and fifty dollars. Do think of this matter, and see if means 
 cannot be raised to keep ahead with the American Telegraph. I 
 sometimes am astonished when I reflect how I have been able to 
 take the stand with my Telegraph in competition with my Euro- 
 pean rivals, backed as they are with the purses of the kings, and 
 the wealth of their countries, while our own Government leaves me 
 to fight the battles for the honor of this invention, fettered hand 
 and foot. Thanks will be to you, not to them, if I am able to main- 
 tain the ground occupied by the American Telegraph." 
 
 THE DAGUERREOTYPE. 
 
 After the interview between Professor Morse and M. Da- 
 guerre, mentioned in the previous chapter, the Professor wrote 
 1 to his brothers under date of March 9, 1839 : 
 
 " You have perhaps heard of the Daguerreotype, so called from 
 the discoverer, M. Daguerre. It is one of the most beautiful dis- 
 coveries of the age. I don't know if you recollect some experiments 
 of mine in New Haven, many years ago, when I had my painting- 
 room next to Professor Silliman's — experiments to ascertain if it 
 were possible to fix the image of the camera obscura. I was able 
 to produce different degrees of shade on paper, dipped into a solu- 
 tion of nitrate of silver, by means of different degrees of light ; but, 
 finding that light produced dark, and dark light, I presumed the 
 production of a true image to be impracticable, and gave up the at- 
 tempt. M. Daguerre has realized in the most exquisite manner this 
 idea. 
 
 " A few days ago I addressed a note to Mr. D., requesting as a 
 stranger the favor to see his results, and inviting him in turn to see 
 my Telegraph. I was politely invited to see them under these cir- 
 cumstances, for he had determined not to show them until the Cham- 
 bers had passed definitely on a proposition for the Government to 
 purchase the secret of the discovery, and make it public. The day 
 before yesterday, the 17th, I called on M. Daguerre at his rooms in 
 the Diorama, to see these admirable results. They are produced on 
 
THE DAGUERREOTYPE. 401 
 
 a metallic surface, the principal pieces, about seven inches by five, 
 and they resemble aquatint engravings, for they are in simple chi- 
 aro-oscuro and not in colors. But the exquisite minuteness of the 
 delineation cannot be conceived. No painting or engraving ever 
 approached it. For example : in a view up the street a distant 
 sign would be perceived, and the eye could just discern that there 
 were lines of letters upon it, but so minute as not to be read with 
 the naked eye. By the assistance of a powerful lens, which magni- 
 fied fifty times, applied to the delineation, every letter was clearly 
 and distinctly legible, and so also were the minutest breaks and lines 
 in the walls of the buildings and the pavements of the street. The 
 effect of the lens upon the picture was in a great degree like that 
 of the telescope in Nature. Objects moving are not impressed. 
 The boulevard, so constantly filled with a moving throng of pedes- 
 trians and carriages, was perfectly solitary, except an individual who 
 was having his boots brushed. His feet were of course compelled 
 to be stationary for some time, one being on the box of the boot- 
 black, and the other on the ground. Consequently his boots and 
 legs are well defined, but he is without body or head, because these 
 were in motion. 
 
 " The impressions of interior views are Rembrandt perfected. 
 One of Mr. D.'s plates is an impression of a spider. The spider was 
 not bigger than the head of a large pin, but the image, magnified by 
 the solar microscope to the size of the palm of the hand, having been 
 impressed on the plate, and examined through a lens, was further 
 magnified, and showed a minuteness of organization hitherto not 
 seen to exist. You perceive how this discovery is, therefore, about 
 to open a new field of research in the depths of microscopic Nature. 
 We are soon to see if the minute has discoverable limits. The nat- 
 uralist is to have a new kingdom to explore, as much beyond the 
 microscope as the microscope is beyond the naked eye. But I am 
 near the. end of my paper, and I have unhappily to give a melan- 
 choly close to my account of this ingenious discovery. M. Daguerre 
 appointed yesterday at noon to see my Telegraph. He came, and 
 passed more than an hour with me, expressing himself highly grati- 
 fied at its operation. But, while he was thus employed, the great 
 building of the Diorama, with his own house, all his beautiful works,, 
 his valuable notes and papers, the labor of years of experiment,, 
 were, unknown to him, at that moment the prey of the flames. His 
 secret indeed is still safe with him, but the steps of his progress in 
 the discovery, and his valuable researches in science, are lost to the 
 26 
 
402 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 scientific world. I learn that his Diorama was insured, but to what 
 extent I know not. I am sure all friends of science and improve- 
 ment will unite in expressing the deepest sympathy in M. Daguerre's 
 loss, and the sincere hope that such a liberal sum will be awarded 
 him by his Government as shall enable him in some degree at least 
 to recover from his loss." 
 
 In the same vessel which brought this letter the writer him- 
 self arrived in this country, and the letter was published in the 
 New Yorh Ohserver, April 20, 1839. In the month of June of 
 the same year, within four months of the date of this letter, 
 the French Government, Louis Philippe being the king, com- 
 pleted its negotiations with M. Daguerre for the purchase of his 
 secret, that the beautiful discovery might be given to the world 
 for its use and enjoyment. Arago was a member of the Cham- 
 ber of Deputies, and chairman of the committee to whom was 
 referred the subject. He made an elaborate report, in which 
 the value of the discovery was set forth, and the indebtedness 
 of the world to the discoverer. The report concluded with a 
 recommendation that the discoverer be rewarded by the Gov- 
 urement on his making public the process by which the results 
 were reached. 
 
 Many years before, a Frenchman named Kiepce had discov- 
 ered the art of obtaining the outline of images, but he could not 
 succeed in permanently fixing them. Daguerre had received 
 from him the information which he had availed himself of in 
 making the next great step, the more important one, of perma- 
 nently impressing them on the plate. Niepce and Daguerre ex- 
 ecuted an agreement binding each other to divide between them 
 the advantages that might result from their discoveries. Before 
 any advantages were reached, ISTiepce died, but Daguerre recog- 
 nized the continued validity of the contract, and was ready to 
 share with the son of Kiepce the fruits of the perfected discov- 
 ery. It was by mutual consent agreed that a pension of ten 
 thousand francs should be paid to them, six thousand to M. 
 Daguerre and four thousand to M. Mepce, and that the widows 
 of both should receive half of the pension that their husbands 
 had enjoyed. 
 
 This arrangement being concluded, the process was made 
 public. M. Daguerre hastened to put Professor Morse in pos- 
 
EXPERIMENTS. 403 
 
 session of all the knowledge necessary to the immediate manipu- 
 lation of the delicate process, and the Professor without delay 
 proceeded to put the art into practical use. His brothers, Sid- 
 ney E. and Richard C. Morse, caused to be erected on the roof 
 of their new building, the northeast corner of Nassau and Beek- 
 man Streets, New York, " a palace for the sun," as Mr. S. E. 
 Morse was pleased to name it, a room with a glass roof, in which 
 Professor Morse experimented with the new and beautiful art. 
 While this building was in progress, he had pursued his experi- 
 ments with great success in his rooms at the New York City 
 University on Washington Square. He says in a letter dated 
 February 10, 1855 : 
 
 " As soon as the necessary apparatus was made, I commenced 
 experimenting with it. The greatest obstacle I had to encounter 
 was in the quality of the plates. I obtained the common plated 
 copper in coils at the hardware-shops, which of course was very 
 thinly coated with silver, and that impure. Still I was enabled to 
 verify the truth of Daguerre's revelations. The first experiment 
 crowned with any success was a view of the Unitarian Church, 
 from the window on the staircase from the third story of the New 
 York City University. This, of course, was before the building 
 of the New York Hotel. It was in September, 1839. The time, 
 if I recollect, in which the plate was exposed to the action of light 
 in the camera was about fifteen minutes. The instruments, chemi- 
 cals, etc., were strictly in accordance with the directions in Da- 
 guerre's first book. An English gentleman, whose name at present 
 escapes me, obtained a copy of Daguerre's book about the same 
 time with myself. He commenced experimenting also. But an 
 American, of the name of Walcott, was very successful with a 
 modification of Daguerre's apparatus, substituting a metallic reflec- 
 tor for the lens. Previous, however, to Walcott's experiments, or 
 rather results, my friend and colleague, Professor John W. Draper, 
 of the New York City University, was very successful in his inves- 
 tigations, and with him I was engaged, for a time, in attempting 
 portraits. 
 
 " In my intercourse with Daguerre, I specially conversed with 
 him in regard to. the practicability of taking portraits of living per- 
 sons. He expressed himself somewhat skeptical as to its practica- 
 bility, only in consequence of the time necessary for the person 
 to remain immovable. The time for taking an out-door view was 
 
404 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 from fifteen to twenty minutes, and this he considered too long a 
 time for any one to remain sufficiently still for a successful result. 
 No sooner, however, had I mastered the process of Daguerre, than 
 I commenced to experiment, with a view to accomplish this 
 desirable result. I have now the results of these experiments 
 taken in September, or beginning of October, 1839. They are full- 
 length portraits of my daughter, single and also in group with 
 some of her young friends. They were taken out-of-doors, on the 
 roof of a building, in the full sunlight, and with the ej T es closed. 
 The time was from ten to twenty minutes. About the same time 
 Professor Draper was successful in taking portraits, though whether 
 he or myself took the first portrait successfully I cannot say. 1 Soon 
 after we commenced together to take portraits, causing a glass 
 building to be constructed for that purpose on the roof of the 
 University. As our experiments had caused us considerable ex- 
 pense, we made a charge to those who sat for us to defray this 
 expense. Professor Draper's other duties calling him away from 
 the experiments, except as to their bearing on some philosophical 
 investigations which he pursued with great ingenuity and success, 
 I was left to pursue the artistic results of the process, as more in 
 accordance with my profession. My expenses had been great, and 
 for some time, five or six months, I pursued the taking of portraits 
 by the Daguerreotype, as a means of reimbursing these expenses. 
 After this object had been attained, I abandoned the practice to 
 give my exclusive attention to the Telegraph, which required all 
 my time." 
 
 Professor Morse's views of the capabilities of the art were 
 expressed in a letter to his friend Washington Allston : 
 
 " I am afraid you will think me remiss in complying with your 
 request by Mr. Hayward, but I have only this moment been able to 
 obtain the album of Mr. Payne, from which I have made a careful 
 tracing of your beautiful design of ' Danger,' and will take the earli- 
 est opportunity to transmit it to you, with the volumes of Meng's 
 works also. I had hoped to have seen you long ere this, but my 
 many avocations have kept me constantly employed from morning 
 till night. When I say morning, I mean half-past four in the 
 morning! I am afraid you will think me a Goth, but really the 
 hours from that time till twelve at noon are the richest I ever 
 enjoy. 
 1 Prof. Draper recollects distinctly that he succeeded in taking the first portrait. 
 
PREDICTIONS. ' 405 
 
 "You have heard of the Daguerreotype. I have the instru- 
 ments on the point of completion, and if it be possible I will yet 
 bring them with me to Boston and show you the beautiful results 
 of this brilliant discovery. Art is to be wonderfully enriched by 
 this discovery. How narrow and foolish the idea which some ex- 
 press that it will be the ruin of art, or rather artists, for every one 
 will be, his own painter. One effect, I think, will undoubtedly 
 be to banish the sketchy, slovenly daubs that pass for spirited 
 and learned ; those works which possess mere general effect with- 
 out detail, because forsooth detail destroys general effect. Nature, 
 in the results of Daguerre's process, has taken the pencil into her 
 own hands, and she shows that the minutest detail disturbs not the 
 general repose. Artists will learn how to paint, and amateurs, or 
 rather connoisseurs, how to criticise, how to look at Nature, and there- 
 fore how to estimate the value of true art. Our studies will now 
 be enriched with sketches from Nature which we can store up dur- 
 ing the summer, as the bee gathers her sweets for winter, and we 
 shall thus have rich materials for composition, and an exhaustless 
 store for the imagination to feed upon." 
 
 DAGTJEEKE AND ARAGO. 
 
 Immediately upon his return to New York in the spring of 
 1839, Prof essor Morse, being President of the National Academy 
 of Design, proposed the election, as honorary member of the 
 Academy, of M. Dagnerre. On the same day, when he wrote 
 to him announcing the fact of his election, he sent the following 
 letter to Arago. The letters are here inserted in their connec- 
 tion. 
 
 To Monsieur Arago. 
 
 " My dear Sir : I take advantage of the visit to France of 
 an attache, to our legation, to send you for your acceptance a copy 
 of Professor Henry's late contributions to electricity and magnet- 
 ism ; and I also improve the same opportunity to express to you 
 my thanks for the kindness and courtesy which you showed me 
 when I was in Paris with my Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. 
 
 " Ever since the misfortune that befell M. Daguerre a few days 
 before I left Paris, and at the very hour, too, when he was with me 
 examining my Telegraph, I have felt a deeper interest in him, and 
 in his most splendid discovery, and a desire, so far as I can be of 
 service to him, to render him substantial aid. His discovery has 
 
406 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 excited great attention throughout the United States, and I have 
 
 thought that so soon as his remuneration shall be secured in France 
 
 and before his secret should be disclosed to the world, that we in 
 
 the United States might in some way contribute our portion of the 
 
 reward due to M. Daguerre. An exhibition (which is the mode in 
 
 this country best adapted for the purpose desired) of a few of his 
 
 admirable results in several of our cities, I am persuaded, would 
 
 yield a sum which may not be unimportant in the present state of 
 
 M. Daguerre's affairs. If, by any gratuitous services of mine in 
 
 this country in favor of M. Daguerre, I can in any degree return 
 
 the kindness and liberality I received in France, I hope M. Daguerre 
 
 and his friends will not hesitate to command me. 
 
 " Believe me, etc. 
 "May 20, 1839." 
 
 To Monsieur Daguerre. 
 
 " My dear Sir : I have the honor to inclose you the note of 
 the secretary of our Academy, informing you of your election, at 
 our last annual meeting, into the body of honorary members of our 
 National Academy of Design. When I proposed your name, it was 
 received with wild enthusiasm, and the vote was unanimous. I 
 hope, my dear sir, you will receive this as a testimonial, not merely 
 of my personal esteem and deep sympathy in your late losses, but 
 also as a proof that your genius is in some degree estimated on this 
 side of the water. Notwithstanding the efforts made in England 
 to give to another the credit which is your due, I think I may with 
 confidence assure you that throughout the United States your name 
 alone will be associated with the brilliant discovery which justly 
 bears your name. 
 
 " The letter I wrote from Paris, the day after your sad loss, has 
 been published throughout this whole country in hundreds of jour- 
 nals, and has excited great interest. Should any attempts be made 
 here to give to any other than yourself the honor of this discovery, 
 my pen is ever ready in your defense. 
 
 " I hope before this reaches you that the French Government, 
 long and deservedly celebrated for its generosity to men of genius, 
 will have amply supplied all your losses by a liberal sum. If, when 
 the proper remuneration shall have been secured to you in France, 
 you should think it may be to your advantage to make an arrange- 
 ment with the Government to hold back the secret for six months 
 or a year, and would consent to an exhibition of your results in this 
 
MORSE AND DAGUERRE. 407 
 
 country for a short time, the exhibition might be managed, I think, 
 to your pecuniary advantage. If you should think favorably of the 
 plan, I offer you my services gratuitously. In the mean time be- 
 lieve me, etc. 
 
 "May 20, 1839." 
 
 Daguerre to Morse. 
 
 "Paris, July 26, 1839. 
 
 " My dear Sie : I have received with great pleasure your kind 
 letter, by which you announce to me my election as an honorary 
 member of the National Academy of Design. I beg you will be so 
 good as to express my thanks to the Academy, and to say that I 
 am very proud of the honor which has been conferred upon me. I 
 shall seize all opportunities of proving my gratitude for it. 
 
 " I am particularly indebted to you in this circumstance, and I 
 feel very thankful for this and all the other marks of interest you 
 bestowed upon me. The transaction with the French Government 
 being nearly at an end, my discovery shall soon be made public. 
 This cause, added to the immense distance between us, hinders me 
 from taking the advantage of your good offer to get up at New 
 York an exhibition of my results. Believe me, my dear sir, your 
 very devoted servant, 
 
 " Daguerre." 
 
 Morse to Daguerre. 
 
 " My dear Sir : Your letter of July last, acknowledging the re- 
 ceipt of the Academy notification of your election as an honorary 
 member of our body, has been received, and I am truly rejoiced that 
 in any manner we have been able to gratify one who has conferred 
 upon the world so great a boon. Allow me to congratulate you upon 
 the result of the action of your Government, in granting the pension 
 so ably and successfully solicited by that great and truly high-minded 
 man, M. Arago. Your nation, sir, by acts like these, shines more 
 brilliantly than by her achievements in arms. Let me assure you, 
 that in this country the remark is constantly heard in connection 
 with your most popular discovery, ' How nobly the French Govern- 
 ment has acted in giving this secret to the world ! ' And not less a 
 subject of remark is the moderation of your own demand for giving 
 to the world that secret, which, but for your disclosure, would, in 
 all probability, have remained a secret. Ever since I saw your ad- 
 mirable results, the day before your disastrous loss, I have felt an 
 absorbing interest in it, and the first brochure which was opened in 
 
408 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 America at the booksellers', containing jour expose of your process, 
 I possess. I have been experimenting, but with, indifferent success, 
 mostly, I believe, for the want of a proper lens. I hoped to be able 
 to send you by this opportunity a result, but I have not one which 
 I dare send you. You shall have the first that is in any degree 
 perfect. Will you allow me so far to trespass on your kindness as 
 to request you to choose for me two lenses, such as you can recom- 
 mend ; I have requested my friend M. Lovering, of the firm of 
 Messrs. Edward & Co., No. 9 Rue de Clery, to receive them and pay 
 for them, and transmit them to me. If, after receiving the result 
 which I will send you, you should deem it worthy of an exchange, 
 I need not say how gratified I should be to receive one from your 
 own hand, either for myself personally, or for the National Acad- 
 emy of Design. 
 
 " Any communication at any time will reach me through the 
 house of Messrs. Edward & Co., 9 Rue de Clery, or through the 
 ambassador of the United States. Yours, etc. 
 
 ''■November 16, 1839." 
 
 His artist friends and. the National Academy of Design were 
 on his mind and in his heart, while the Telegraph, the Photo- 
 graph, and his own profession as a painter, were all demanding 
 his attention and anxious care. Thomas Sully and Washington 
 Allston acknowledged his letters, in which he tendered to them 
 the use of the Academy's gallery for the exhibition of their 
 paintings ; and Mr. Allston expressed his strong anxieties for 
 the success of his friend in his telegraphic pursuits. As the 
 Daguerreotype -was not patented, but was free to all who would 
 master the art, a large number of young men, with the enter- 
 prise of American youth, flocked to Professor Morse to be in- 
 structed in the mysteries of the process, that they might trav- 
 erse the country and reap the first fruits of its introduction. 
 Men of science, also, charmed with the wonderful results, pur- 
 sued the subject with enthusiasm, and entered into correspond- 
 ence with Professor Morse as the father of the art in the United 
 States. Professor E. N. Horsford writes to him from Albany, 
 November 18, 1840 : 
 
 " I learn, with equal astonishment and gratification, that you 
 have succeeded in taking likenesses in ten seconds with diffused 
 light. Pray reveal to me the wondrous discovery. So capricious 
 
BARON GEROLT. 409 
 
 has our sunlight been, that we have done very little since I last 
 saw you." 
 
 During several years immediately succeeding, Professor 
 Morse was often and intently engaged in the improvement of 
 the photographic art, giving to the practical operators the benefit 
 of his studies and experiments. Many letters addressed to him 
 on this subject indicate the amount of time which was thus 
 consumed. Early in 184.8 he received from Baron Gerolt the 
 following translation of an article from the Prussian Universal 
 Gazette (Allgemeine Preussische Zeitung), December 21, 1847 : 
 
 " In the last session of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, MM. 
 Biot, Arago, and Thenard, reported a new discovery made by M. 
 Niepce de Saint- Victor, the same chemist who was formerly re- 
 warded by the state, together with Daguerre, for the discovery of 
 the Daguerreotype. M. Niepce has discovered an action of the 
 iodine-vapors upon the black and white color that hitherto had been 
 entirely unknown. When he caused iodine-vapors to pass over a 
 copperplate print or a lithography, or when he plunged a copper- 
 plate print or a lithography in a solution of iodine-water, the 
 iodine united quicker and more intensive with the black than with 
 the white. When he then laid the original, prepared in this way, 
 with iodine, upon a paper lined with starch, and pressed it, the iodine 
 parted from the black and united with the starch, so that now the 
 original appeared upon the starch-paper in its most delicate shad- 
 owings, and in the violet-blue color of the iodine. When, further- 
 more, this paper was pressed upon a copperplate, the iodine again 
 parted from the starch, and now the whole drawing (print) was 
 fixed upon the copperplate with complete exactness. The commis- 
 sion, which had been charged by the Academy with the examination 
 of the discovery, declared that, in looking at these exact copies, 
 nobody could keep himself from the highest astonishment." 
 
 But nothing diverted Morse from the one great object, the 
 perfection of his Telegraph. Distressed by the long delay of 
 intelligence from Russia, and still more grieved at the indiffer- 
 ence of his own country to the invention which was to shed 
 lustre upon it, as well as upon him, he wrote to Mr. Smith, 
 August 12, 1839 : 
 
 "I received yours of the 2d instant, and the paper accompany- 
 
410 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ing it, containing the notice of Mr. Chamberlain. I had previously 
 been apprised that my forebodings were true in regard to his fate. 
 "We shall hear, doubtless, from Mr. Brown, when he returns, what 
 was done by Mr. C. in regard to the Telegraph in the East. Our 
 enterprise abroad is destined to give us anxiety, if not to end in 
 disappointment. 
 
 " I have just received a letter from M. Amyot, who was to have 
 been my companion to Russia, and learn from him the unwelcome 
 news that the emperor has decided against the Telegraph. I have 
 been expecting a letter from the Baron Meyendorff every day, for M, 
 Amyot informs me that he intended writing to me. The emperor's 
 objections were, it seems, that ' malevolence can easily interrupt 
 the communication.' M. Amyot scouts the idea, and writes that 
 he refuted the objection to the satisfaction of the baron, who, in- 
 deed, did not need the refutation for himself, for that whole matter 
 was fully discussed between us when in Paris. The baron, I should 
 judge from the tone of M. Amyot's letter, was much disappointed ; 
 yet, as a faithful and obedient subject of one whose nay is nay, he 
 w T ill be cautious in so expressing himself as to be self-committed. 
 Thus, my dear sir, prospects abroad look dark. I turn with some 
 faint hope to my own country again. Will Congress do any thing ? 
 Or, are my time, your generous zeal, and pecuniary sacrifice, to end 
 only in disappointment ? If so, T can bear it for myself, but I feel it 
 more keenly for those who have been engaged with me for years — 
 for the Messrs. Vail and Dr. Gale. But I will yet hope. I don't 
 know that our enterprise looks darker than Fulton's once appeared. 
 There is no intrinsic difficulty — the depressing causes are extrin- 
 sic. I hope to see you soon, and talk over all our affairs. You 
 wish me to bring the telegraph with me. In the hope of doing 
 this, I have delayed my journey for some days, and shall endeavor 
 to bring the new instrument, which has been unavoidably retarded 
 by the mechanician. My present purpose is to leave for the East 
 on this day week (Monday), and probably by Saturday or the Mon- 
 day following may see you in Portland." 
 
 Unavoidable hinderances intervened, and he did not make 
 his promised journey. Mr. Smith says : 
 
 " The allusion made in the letter just given, to the fate of Mr. 
 Chamberlain, was another depressing disappointment which occurred 
 to the Professor contemporaneously with those of the Russian 
 contract. Before I left Paris we had closed a contract with Mr. 
 
TELEGEAPH IN EUROPE. 411 
 
 Chamberlain to carry the telegraph to Austria, Prussia, the prin- 
 cipal cities of Greece and of Egypt, and put it upon exhibition 
 with a view to its utilization there. He was an American gentle- 
 man (from Vermont, I think), of large wealth, of eminent business 
 capacities, of pleasing personal address, and sustaining a character 
 for strict integrity. He parted with Professor Morse, in Paris, to 
 enter upon his expedition, with high expectations of both pleasure 
 and profit, shortly after my own departure from Paris, in October, 
 1838. He had subsequently apprised Professor Morse of very in- 
 teresting exhibitions of the telegraph which he had made, and 
 under date of ' Athens, January 5, 1839,' wrote as follows : 
 
 " ' We exhibited your telegraph to the learned of Florence, 
 much to their gratification. Yesterday evening the King and 
 Queen of Greece were highly delighted with its performance. We 
 had shown it also to the principal inhabitants of Athens, by all of 
 whom it was much admired. Fame is all you will get for it in 
 these poor countries. We think of starting in a few days for 
 Alexandria, and hope to get something worth having from Mehemet 
 Ali. It is, however, doubtful. Nations appear as poor as indi- 
 viduals, and as unwilling to risk their money upon such matters. 
 I hope the French will avail themselves of the benefits you offer 
 them. It is truly strange that it is not grasped at with more 
 avidity. If I can do any thing in Egypt, I will try Turkey and 
 St. Petersburg.' " 
 
 In trie letter communicating trie above intelligence, Pro- 
 fessor Morse also wrote as follows : 
 
 " In another letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Mr. Lovering, dated 
 Syra, January 9th, he says : ' The pretty little Queen of Greece was 
 delighted with Morse's telegraph. The string which carried the 
 cannon-ball used for a weight broke, and came near falling on her 
 Majesty's toes, but happily missed, and we, perhaps, escaped a 
 prison. My best respects to Mr. Morse, and say 1 shall ask Me- 
 hemet Ali for a purse, a beauty from his seraglio, and something 
 else.' I will add that, if he will bring me the purse just now, I 
 can dispense with the beauty and the something else." 
 
 Early in July of the same year intelligence was received of 
 a fatal calamity that occurred on the Danube, in which six of a 
 select party of nine gentlemen on a boat-excursion of pleasure 
 were drowned, and of which Mr. Chamberlain was one. On 
 July 29, 1839, Professor Morse wrote as follows : 
 
412 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " Our hopes from that quarter are thus darkened by this melan- 
 choly event, and in all probability (unless Mr. Brown, when he 
 returns, can give us information) we shall not know what has been 
 done with the Telegraph in Constantinople, or Egypt." 
 
 These numerous discouragements to the Professor's ardent 
 hopes for progress with the Telegraph, poverty, the failure 
 of the Russian contract, the annoyance of Dr. Jackson's pre- 
 tensions to the invention, the progress of Wheatstone in Eng- 
 land and Steinheil in Bavaria, with their rival projects, the 
 death of Mr. Chamberlain in the East, and the seeming imper- 
 turbable torpor of the American mind on the Telegraph, con- 
 curred in depressing his spirits grievously, and there were times 
 when it appeared not unlikely that he would sink beneath the 
 accumulated pressure of anxiety, disappointment, and want. 
 
 On the 14th of November, 1839, he wrote to his partner, 
 Mr. Yail, in these despondent words : 
 
 " As to the Telegraph, I have been compelled from necessity to 
 apply myself to those duties which yield immediate pecuniary re- 
 lief. I feel the pressure as well as others, and, having several pu- 
 pils at the University, I must attend to them. Nevertheless, I shall 
 hold myself ready in case of need to go to Washington during the 
 next session with it. The one I was constructing is completed ex- 
 cept the rotary batteries, and the pen-and-ink apparatus, which I 
 shall soon find time to add if required. 
 
 " Mr. Smith expects me in Portland, but I have not the means 
 to visit him. The telegraph of Wheatstone is going ahead in Eng- 
 land, even with all its complication. So I presume is the one of 
 Steinheil in Bavaria. Whether ours is to be adopted depends on 
 the Government or on a company, and the times are not favorable 
 for the formation of a company. Perhaps it is the part of wisdom 
 to let the matter rest and watch for an opportunity when times look 
 better, and which I hope will be soon." 
 
 And to Mr. Smith he wrote in the same spirit, November 
 20, 1839 : 
 
 " I feel the want of that sum which Congress ought to have ap- 
 propriated two years ago, to enable me to compete with my Euro- 
 pean rivals. Wheatstone and Steinheil have money for their pro- 
 jects, the former by a company, and the latter by the King of Bava- 
 
COOKE AND WHEATSTONE. 413 
 
 ria. Is there any national feeling with us on the subject ? I will 
 not say there is not, until after the next session of Congress. But 
 if there is any cause for national exultation in being not merely first 
 in the invention as to time, but best, too, as decided by a foreign 
 tribunal, ought the inventor to be suffered to work with his hands 
 tied ? Is it honorable to the nation to boast of its inventors, to con- 
 tend for the credit of their inventions, as national propert}', and not 
 lift a finger to assist them to perfect that of which the} 7 boast? But 
 I will not complain for myself — I can bear it, because I made up my 
 mind from the very first for this issue, the common fate of all invent- 
 ors. But I do not feel so agreeable in seeing those who have in- 
 terested themselves in it, especially yourself, suffer also. Perhaps 
 I look too much on the unfavorable side. I often thus look, not to 
 discourage others, or myself, but to check those too sanguine ex- 
 pectations which, with me, would rise to an inordinate height un- 
 less thus reined in and disciplined. 
 
 " Shall you not be in New York soon ? I wish much to see you 
 and to concoct plans for future operations. I am at present much 
 straitened in means, or I should yet endeavor to see you in Port- 
 land ; but I must yield to necessity, and hope another season to be 
 in different and more prosperous circumstances. 
 
 The following letter, under date of March 23, 1840, in- 
 closed copies of two letters, one from Mr. Wm. F. Cooke, and 
 the other from his partner, Professor C. Wheatstone, the invent- 
 ors and patentees of the English needle system of Electric Tele- 
 graphs in .England, proposing a consolidation of the two sys- 
 tems, Professor Morse's and their own, in the United States : 
 
 " I send you copies of two letters just received from England. 
 What shall I say in answer? Can we make any arrangements with 
 them ? Need we do it ? Does not our patent secure us against 
 foreign interference ? Or are we to be defeated not only in Eng- 
 land, but in our country, by the subsequent inventions of Wheat- 
 stone ? I feel my hands tied. I know not what to say. Do advise 
 immediately, so that I can send by the British Queen, which sails 
 on the 1st prox. I feel that, if funds and a company, or our Gov- 
 ernment, would sustain our operations, something yet could be made 
 for all of us. The success of Electric Telegraphs is, you perceive, 
 put beyond doubt. If we could make a reciprocal request for our 
 Telegraph for England, perhaps it would do. I only suggest it. 
 . " I received a letter from M. Amyot, in Paris, a few days ago, 
 
414 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 advising me that he had constructed one of ray Telegraphs, with 
 some improvements, and intrusted it to the Baron Meyendorff, at 
 his earnest request, to carry with him to St. Petersburg to show it 
 to the emperor. I also received a line from the baron, asking my 
 approval of the course taken, urging that, if the emperor could see 
 it in action, he might change his mind. I wrote each by the Great 
 Western, approving the course taken, not having time to advise with 
 any of my associates previous to writing." 
 
 The letters of Professor Wheatstone and Mr. Cooke are as 
 follows : 
 
 " Sussex Cottage, near London, January 17, 1840. 
 "Professor F. B. Morse, of the New York City University, JV. Yl 
 
 " Sir : I address you on the subject of the Electro-Magnetic Tele- 
 graph, of which, as you are aware, Professor Wheatstone and my- 
 self are patentees in this country. We consider that its efficacy 
 and value are now fully established here. It is in constant and suc- 
 cessful operation for a distance of twelve or thirteen miles upon the 
 Great Western Railway, and we are about to lay it down, under 
 Mr. Robert Stevenson's sanction, upon the Blackwall Railway, a line 
 on which its certainty of action may be essential to the success of 
 the undertaking. 
 
 " It has always been our wish and intention to introduce this 
 invention into the United States, and with that view we made 
 arrangements rather more than two years ago with three American 
 gentlemen for taking out a patent there. In consequence of their 
 not having done so, we are under the necessity of entering into a 
 new arrangement ; and I have therefore to propose that you should 
 join us upon similar terms, viz., that you should be entitled to a 
 half share of our American patent, upon exerting yourself to obtain 
 it, and bearing all expenses connected with the invention so far as 
 regards the United States. Your own patent, if you have obtained 
 one, and all improvements which may be made by either party during 
 either patent-right, should be put upon the same footing, so far as 
 regards the whole continuance of any United States patents which 
 may be obtained for them. Should you be disposed to entertain 
 this proposal, it will probably be necessary for you to obtain an act 
 of Congress to sanction the granting of the patent later than six 
 months after the enrollment of the specifications of our English 
 patents of 1837 and 1838 ; but Mr. Stevenson, the American Minis- 
 ter, thinks that such an act might be obtained, and we presume 
 
MR. WHEATSTOKE'S PROPOSAL. 415 
 
 that the expense of it would be inconsiderable in comparison with 
 the value of the invention. 
 
 " My agreement with Mr. Wheatstone has thrown upon me the 
 management of this business ; but I also indorse a letter which he 
 has written to you upon the same subject. Requesting the favor 
 of a reply at your early convenience, 
 
 " I remain sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Wm. F. Cooke." 
 
 " P. S. — We have recently obtained a third English patent (it is 
 to be sealed in a day or two) for very important improvements 
 which have not yet been specified, so important indeed that we 
 think an American patent for them alone might be a valuable one. 
 
 " W. F. C." 
 
 "King's College, London, January 11, 1840. 
 " Professor F. B. Morse, New York. 
 
 " Dear Sir : For the reasons mentioned in Mr. Cooke's letter, 
 it is necessary we should make fresh arrangements for the introduc- 
 tion of the improvements on the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, for 
 which we have obtained several English patents, into the United 
 States. I have recommended that the application shall, in the first 
 instance, be made to you, on account of the great attention you 
 have already paid to the same subject, and that you might have the 
 merit of introducing into America the only invention of the kind of 
 which the success has been put beyond all doubt. It is our pres- 
 ent intention to take out a patent in the United States for a new 
 Telegraph arrangement totally different to that you have seen, 
 which has occupied me almost entirely during the last twelve months 
 in bringing to completion ; and for which, with other improvements, 
 we have just obtained a new English patent. This, of itself, would 
 be extremely valuable ; but, if you united with us in asking for the 
 privilege, less difficulty would be experienced in obtaining an act of 
 Congress to include our already published inventions, which, on ac- 
 count of the neglect of the parties with whom we formerly agreed, 
 it would now be necessary to do ; the same act might also include 
 whatever you have done. Mr. Stevenson informs me that such an 
 act will be readily granted. 
 
 " If any agreement should be entered into between us, as a mat- 
 ter of course, all expenses to which you may be put, in obtaining a 
 patent or an act of Congress, would be deducted from the first pro- 
 ceeds. We will undertake to furnish you with any instruments you 
 
416 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 may require, the expenses being defrayed by yourself, and to give 
 you every information our experience has put us in possession of. 
 " I remain, dear sir, yours very truly, 
 
 (Signed) " C. Weeatstone." 
 
 This proposition, was declined without hesitation, but its ef- 
 fect was to stimulate the inventor to increased diligence to se- 
 cure his rights, and to bring his own system into early use. As 
 time wore away, and foreign enterprise in European countries 
 slowly pushed the feeble systems of Wheatstone and Steinheil 
 upon the public, an occasional scintillation of interest in the Tel- 
 egraph in this country shot up to the watchful vision of Pro- 
 fessor Morse, reinspiring hope, but, like the aurora borealis, again 
 falling from sight below the horizon. The following letters to 
 Mr. Smith will trace some of these tantalizing flick erings through 
 his mind : 
 
 "August 16, 1841. — Our Telegraph matters are in a situation 
 to do none of us any good, unless some understanding can be en- 
 tered into among the proprietors. I have recently received a letter 
 from Mr. Isaac N. Coffin, from Washington, with a commendatory 
 letter from Hon. R. McClellan, of the House. Mr. Coffin proposes to 
 take upon himself the labor of urging through the two Houses the 
 bill relating to nry Telegraph, which you know has long been before 
 Congress. He will press it and let his compensation depend on his 
 success. He says : ' I will attend to the claim most vigorously at 
 the usual compensation of a commission on the amount in case it is 
 obtained, and if not obtained, even after many years of trouble, 
 time, expense, and fatigue, nothing, or no remuneration, will be 
 asked if not obtained.' 
 
 " I have also other propositions from private individuals to put 
 down a line for the distance of about 120 miles ; they are men of 
 capital who have opened their eyes to the advantages of the enter- 
 prise, and I know not what to say, for I have no authority to act 
 except for myself. I wish I could see you. Would it not be well 
 to let the first line be established without asking patent fees, in or- 
 der to encourage others, for, if one line is successfully established, 
 others will follow, and the enterprise will, after so long delay, pro- 
 duce us something ? Please write and tell me what to do. Give 
 me a power of attorney to act for you, if you cannot come on con- 
 veniently ; I promise to do as well as I can, and yet I should prefer 
 
CRIPPLED IN MEANS. 417 
 
 to have your business tact at hand to see that I did not defraud my- 
 self. 
 
 " You may wish to know the condition of the instruments, etc. 
 I have the instruments, two registers and two correspondents, nearly 
 completed at my brother's expense, who owns them, but will of 
 course loan them as long as we wish, or sell them at cost, to us, for 
 he procured them solely to encourage the matter. I have said 
 nearly completed. The instruments want the mounting of the mag- 
 nets, pens, paper-rolls, etc., and the glass cases to protect the 
 work from the dust, etc. I have not the means to proceed with 
 them. I am endeavoring to accumulate a little, that I may see at 
 least one line, even if it be but a few miles, in successful operation. 
 ' The destruction of the poor is their poverty ; ' so says Solomon, 
 and it is true. But I think there is land ahead, and, if the matter 
 could but be pressed in the proper quarter, we should each of us 
 realize all that the most sanguine of us anticipated." 
 
 " December 3, 1841. — I have just received another letter from 
 Mr. Isaac N. Coffin, from Washington, in relation to the Telegraph. 
 I gave him to understand, last summer, that I was favorable to his 
 propositions, but that I could do nothing without consulting the 
 other proprietors. From you I received a definite answer, and 
 power to propose certain terms, but not from Mr. Alfred Vail, who 
 wished to consult his brother. It is, perhaps, my fault that he has 
 not answered definitely, as I perceive, on recently reading his letter, 
 he waited for a reply to my letter, so I have not a power of attorney 
 to act for him. From Dr. Gale I expect one in a few days. In- 
 deed, my dear sir, something ought to be done to carry forward this 
 enterprise, that we all may receive what I think we all deserve. 
 The whole labor and expense of shoving at all devolves on me, and 
 I have nothing in the world. Completely crippled in means, I have 
 scarcely (indeed, I have not at all) the means to pay even the post- 
 age of letters on the subject. I feel it most tantalizing to find that 
 there is a movement in Washington on the subject — to know that 
 Telegraphs will be before Congress this session, and, from the means 
 possessed by Gonon and Wheatstone (yes, Wheatstone who suc- 
 cessfully headed us in England !), one or the other of these two plans 
 will probably be adopted. Wheatstone, I suppose you know, has a 
 patent here, and has expended a thousand dollars to get every thing 
 prepared for a campaign to carry his project into operation, and, more 
 than this, his patent is dated before mine ! My dear sir, to speak as 
 I feel, I am sick at heart to perceive how easily others, foreigners, 
 27 
 
418 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 can manage our Congress, and can contrive to cheat our country 
 out of the honor of a discovery of which the country boasts, and 
 our countrymen out of the profits which are our due ; to perceive 
 how easily they can find men and means to help them in their plans, 
 and how difficult, nay, impossible for us to find either. Is it really 
 so ? Or am I deceived ? What can be done ? Do write imme- 
 diately, and propose something. Will you not be in Washington 
 this winter ? Will you not call on me as you pass through New 
 York, if you do go ? 
 
 " Gonon has his telegraph on the Capitol, and a committee of 
 the Senate reported in favor of trying his for a short distance, and 
 will pass a bill this session, if we are not doing something. Some 
 means, somehow, must be raised. I have been compelled to stop 
 my machine just at the moment of competition. I cannot move a 
 step without running in debt, and that I cannot do. 
 
 " As to the company that was thought of to carry the Telegraph 
 into operation here, it is another of those ignes fatui that have just 
 led me to waste a little more time, money, and patience, and then 
 vanished. The gentleman who proposed the matter was doubtless 
 friendly disposed, but he lacks judgment and perseverance in a 
 matter of this sort. 
 
 " If Congress would but pass the bill of thirty thousand dollars 
 before them, there would be no difficulty. There is no difficulty in 
 the scientific or mechanical part of the matter — that is a problem 
 solved. The only difficulty that remains is, in obtaining the funds 
 which Congress can furnish, to carry it into execution. I have a great 
 deal to say, but must stop for want of time to write more. Every 
 thing done by me in regard to the Telegraph is at arm's-length. I 
 can do nothing without consultation, and, when I write to consult on 
 the most trivial thing, I have three letters to write, and a week or 
 ten days to wait before I can receive an answer. I feel at times 
 almost ready to cast the whole matter to the winds, and turn my 
 attention forever from the subject. Indeed, I feel almost induced 
 at times to destroy the evidences of priority of invention in my pos- 
 session, and let Wheatstone and England take the credit of it. For 
 it is tantalizing in the highest degree to find the papers and the 
 lecturers boasting of the invention as one of the greatest of the age, 
 and as an honor to America, and yet to have the nation, by its rep- 
 resentatives, leave the inventor without either the means to put the 
 invention fairly before his countrymen, or to defend himself against 
 foreign attacks ! If I had the means in any way of support in Wash- 
 
PROFESSOR HENRY. 419 
 
 ington this winter, I would go on in the middle of January and 
 push the matter ; but I cannot run the risk. I would write a de- 
 tailed history of the invention, which would be an interesting docu- 
 ment to have printed in the congressional documents, and establish 
 beyond contradiction both priority and superiority of my invention. 
 Has not the Postmaster-General, or Secretary of War, or Treasury, 
 the power to pay a few hundred dollars from a contingent fund for 
 such a purpose ? ' 
 
 " Whatever becomes of the invention through the neglect of 
 those who could but will not lend a helping hand, you, my dear 
 sir, will have the reflection that you did all in your power to aid 
 me, arid I am deterred from giving up the matter as desperate, most 
 of all from the consideration that those who kindly lent their aid 
 when the invention was in its infancy, would suffer, and therefore 
 I should not be dealing right by them. If this is a little blue, for- 
 give it." 
 
 During the absence of Professor Morse in Europe in the 
 winter of 1838-39, his partner Dr. Gale had lent to Professor 
 Henry, of Princeton, a reel or spool of Professor Morse's Tele- 
 graph wire five miles in length, with which Professor Henry 
 made some interesting scientific experiments at Princeton. The 
 results of these were reported by him in a paper read before the 
 American Philosophical Society, November 2, 1838, and pub- 
 lished early in 1839, under the title of " Contributions to Elec- 
 tricity and Magnetism." Says Professor Morse : " On my return 
 from Europe, I found awaiting me a copy of Professor Hen- 
 ry's ' Contributions,' directed to ' Professor Morse, with the 
 respects of the author.' I had returned from Europe in the 
 expectation of proceeding within five or six weeks to Russia, 
 under a contract with a Russian Government agent in Paris — 
 the Baron Meyendorfl — to establish the Telegraph in that coun- 
 try. Dr. Gale, my confidential scientific friend, had sailed for 
 ]STew Orleans on the very day of my return. I could not there- 
 fore have my usual consultations with him, for I was naturally 
 anxious to review and revise all the scientific facts that lay at 
 the foundation of my invention, to make assurance doubly sure, 
 before risking in a foreign country either my own or my coun- 
 try's reputation by possible failure. In this conjuncture I wrote 
 the following letter to Professor Henry : 
 
420 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " ' New York, April 24, 1839. 
 " ' My deab Sie : On my return, a few days since, from Europe, 
 I found directed to me, through your politeness, a copy of your 
 valuable " Contributions," for which I beg you to accept my warm- 
 est thanks. The various cares consequent upon so long an absence 
 from home, and which have demanded my more immediate attention, 
 have prevented me from more than a cursory perusal of its inter- 
 esting contents ; yet I perceive many things of great interest to me 
 in my telegraphic enterprise. I was glad to learn, by a letter re- 
 ceived in Paris, from Dr. Gale, that a spool of five miles of my wire 
 was loaned to you, and I perceive that you have already made some 
 interesting experiments with it. In the absence of Dr. Gale, who 
 has gone South, I feel a great desire to consult some scientific gen- 
 tleman on points of importance bearing upon my Telegraph which 
 I am about to establish in Russia, being under an engagement with 
 the Russian Government agent in Paris to return to Europe for 
 that purpose in a few weeks. I should be exceedingly happy to 
 see you, and am tempted to break away from my absorbing engage- 
 ments here to find you at Princeton. In case I should be able to 
 visit Princeton for a few days, a week or two hence, how should I 
 find you engaged ? I should come as a learner, and could bring no 
 " contributions " to your stock of experiments of any value, nor any 
 means of furthering your experiments, except, perhaps, the loan of 
 an additional five miles of wire which it may be desirable for you 
 to have. 
 
 " ' I have many questions to ask, but should be happy, in your reply 
 to this letter, of an answer to this general one : Have you met with 
 any facts in your experiments, thus far, that would lead you to think 
 that my mode of Telegraphic communication will prove impracti- 
 cable ? So far as I have consulted the savants of Paris, they have 
 suggested no insurmountable difficulties. I have, however, quite 
 as much confidence in your judgment, from your valuable experience, 
 as in that of any one I have met abroad. I think that you have 
 pursued an original course of experiment, and discovered facts of 
 more value to me than any that have been published abroad. I 
 will not trouble you at this time with my questions until I know 
 your engagements. Accompanying this is a copy of a report, made 
 by the Academy of Industry, of Paris, on my Telegraph, which I 
 beg you to accept. Believe me, dear sir, with the highest respect, 
 your most obedient servant, 
 
 " ' Samuel F. B. Moese. 
 " ' To Professor Joseph Henry, Princeton.'' " 
 
HENRY TO MORSE. 421 
 
 " To this letter I received the following reply : 
 
 " ' Princeton, May 6, 1839. 
 
 " ' Dear Sir : Your favor of the 24th ult. came to Princeton 
 during my absence, which will account for the long delay of my 
 answer. I am pleased to learn that you fully sanction the loan 
 which I obtained from Dr. Gale, of your wire, and I shall be happy 
 if any of the results are found to have a practical bearing on the 
 Electrical Telegraph. It will give me much pleasure to see you in 
 Princeton after this week ; my engagements will not then interfere 
 with our communications on the subject of electricity. During this 
 week I shall be almost constantly engaged with a friend in some 
 scientific labors which we are prosecuting together. I am acquainted 
 with no fact which would lead me to suppose that the project of 
 the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph is impracticable ; on the contrary, 
 I believe that science is now ripe for the application, and that there 
 are no difficulties in the way, but such as ingenuity and enterprise 
 may obviate. But what form of the apparatus, or what application 
 of the power will prove best, can, I believe, be only determined by 
 careful experiment. I can say, however, that, so far as I am ac- 
 quainted with the minutige of your plan, I see no practical difficulty 
 in the way of its application for comparatively short distances ; but 
 if the length of the wire between the stations be great, I think that 
 some other modification will be found necessary, in order to develop 
 a sufficient power at the farther end of the line. I shall, however, 
 be happy to converse freely with you on these points when we meet. 
 In the mean time I remain, with much respect, yours, etc., 
 
 " ' Joseph Henry. 
 
 " ' To Professor Morse.' 
 
 " A few days after the receipt of this letter, I visited him, having 
 prepared beforehand a few questions, the better to economize his 
 time : 
 
 " Questions prepared to ash Professor Henry, and shown him in 
 my visit May, 1839, and his answers, on reading them to him. 
 
 " ' 1. Have you any reason to think that magnetism cannot be 
 induced in soft iron, at the distance of a hundred miles or more, 
 by a single impulse, or from a single battery apparatus ? ' ' No.' 
 
 " ' 2. Suppose that a horseshoe magnet of soft iron, of a given 
 size, receive its maximum of magnetism by a given number of coils 
 around it, of wire, or of ribbon, and by a given sized battery, or 
 
422 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 number of batteries, at a given distance from the battery, does a 
 succession of magnets introduced into the circuit diminish the mag- 
 netism in each ? ' ' No.' 
 
 " ' 3. Have you ascertained the law which regulates the proportion 
 of quantity and intensity from the voltaic battery, necessary to over- 
 come the resistance of the wire in long distances, in inducing mag- 
 netism in soft iron ? ' ' Ohm has determined it.' 
 
 " ' 4. Is it quantity or intensity which has most effect in inducing 
 magnetism in soft iron ?' ' Quantity with short, intensity with long 
 wires.' " 
 
 A few days after receiving Professor Henry's kind invita- 
 tion, Professor Morse went to Princeton, and, passing the after- 
 noon and evening with the great philosopher, returned the next 
 morning to New York. Previous to this time Professor Morse 
 had successfully operated his telegraph in New York, London, 
 and Paris, before the most learned, scientific, and distinguished 
 men of the age. Statesmen, engineers, philosophers, and me- 
 chanics, had minutely examined it, and pronounced it original, 
 practicable, and successful. Its claims had. already been com- 
 pared with all other telegraphic inventions, and its superiority 
 demonstrated and confessed. Two years after Professor Morse 
 first consulted with Professor Henry, he received from him the 
 following letter : 
 
 Professor Henry to Professor Morse. 
 
 " Princeton College, February 24, 1842. 
 "My dear Sir: I am pleased to learn that you have again 
 petitioned Congress, in reference to your telegraph, and I most 
 sincerely hope you will succeed in convincing our representatives 
 of the importance of the invention. In this you may, perhaps, find 
 some difficulty, since, in the minds of many, the electro-magnetic 
 telegraph is associated with the various chimerical projects con- 
 stantly presented to the public, and particularly with the schemes 
 so popular a year or two ago, for the application of electricity as a 
 moving power in the arts. I have asserted, from the first, that all 
 attempts of this kind are premature, and made without a proper 
 knowledge of scientific principles. The case is, however, entirely 
 different in regard to the electro-magnetic telegraph. Science is 
 now fully ripe for this application, and I have not the least doubt, 
 if proper means be afforded, of the perfect success of the invention. 
 
PROFESSOR HENRY'S OPINION. 423, 
 
 " The idea of transmitting intelligence to a distance, by means 
 of electrical action, has been suggested by various persons, from the 
 time of Franklin to the present ; but until within the last few years, 
 or since the principal discoveries in electro-magnetism, all attempts 
 to reduce it to practice were necessarily unsuccessful. The mere 
 suggestion, however, of a scheme of this kind is a matter for which 
 little credit can be claimed, since it is one which would naturally 
 arise in the mind of almost any person familiar with the phenomena 
 of electricity ; but the bringing it forward at the proper moment, 
 when the developments of science are able to furnish the means 
 of certain success, and the devising a plan for carrying it into prac- 
 tical operation, are the grounds of a just claim to scientific reputa- 
 tion as well as to public patronage. 
 
 " About the same time with yourself, Professor Wheatstone, of 
 London, and Dr. Steinheil, of Germany, proposed plans of the elec- 
 tro-magnetic telegraph ; but these differ as much from yours as the 
 nature of the common principle would well permit ; and, unless some 
 essential improvements have lately been made in these European 
 plans, I should peeeee the one invented by yottesele. 
 
 " With my best wishes for your success, I remain, with much 
 esteem, yours truly, 
 
 "Joseph Henry. 
 
 "Professor Morse." 
 
 This was the most encouraging communication Professor 
 Morse received during the dark ages between 1839 and 
 1843. 
 
 The perfect indifference of his countrymen, and the impos- 
 sibility of success without aid, overwhelmed him. A young 
 artist speaks of his finding the rooms of Professor Morse while 
 in search of apartments for his own use : 
 
 "In the spring of 1841,1 was searching for a studio in which to 
 set up my easel. My ' house-hunting ' ended at the New York 
 University, where I found what I wanted in one of the turrets of 
 that stately edifice. When I had fixed my choice, the janitor, who 
 accompanied me in my examination of the rooms, threw open a 
 door on the opposite side of the hall and invited me to enter. I 
 found myself in what was evidently an artist's studio, but every 
 object in it bore indubitable signs of unthrift and neglect. The 
 statuettes, busts, and models of various kinds, were covered with 
 dust and cobwebs; dusty canvases were faced to the wall, and 
 
.424 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 stumps of brushes and scraps of paper littered the floor. The only 
 signs of industry consisted of a few masterly crayon drawings and 
 little luscious studies of color pinned to the wall. ' You will have 
 an artist for your neighbor,' said the janitor, ' though he is not here 
 much of late ; he seems to be getting rather shiftless, he is wasting 
 his time over some silly invention, a machine by which he expects 
 to send messages from one place to another. He is a very good 
 painter, and might do well if he would only stick to his business; 
 but, Lord ! ' he added, with a sneer of contempt, ' the idea of telling 
 by a little streak of lightning what a body is saying at the other 
 end of it ! ' Judge of my astonishment when he informed me that 
 the ' shiftless individual,' whose foolish waste of time so much excited 
 his commiseration, was none other than the President of the National 
 Academy of Design — the most exalted position, in my youthful 
 artistic fancy, it was possible for mortal to attain — S. F. B. Morse, 
 since much better known as the inventor of the Electric Telegraph. 
 But a little while after this his fame was flashing through the 
 world, and the unbelievers who voted him insane were forced to 
 confess that there was at least ' method in his madness.' " 
 
 General Strother, of Virginia, "Porte Crayon," in one of 
 bis pen-pictnres, shows the state of Professor Morse's private 
 treasury during these years : 
 
 " I engaged to become Morse's pupil, and subsequently went 
 to New York and found him in a room in University Place. He 
 had three other pupils, and I soon found that our professor had 
 very little patronage. I paid my fifty dollars ; that settled for one 
 quarter's instruction. Morse was a faithful teacher, and took as much 
 interest in our progress as — more, indeed, than — we did ourselves. 
 But he was very poor. I remember that when my second quarter's 
 ~pa,y was due my remittance from home did not come as expected, 
 and one day the professor came in, and said, courteously : 
 
 " ' Well, Strother, my boy, how are we off for money ? ' 
 
 " ' Why, professor,' I answered, ' I am sorry to say I have been 
 disappointed ; but I expect a remittance next week.' 
 
 " ' Next week ! ' he repeated, sadly ; ' I shall be dead by that 
 time.' 
 
 "'Dead, sir?' 
 
 ",' Yes, dead by starvation ! ' 
 
 " I was distressed and astonished. I said, hurriedly : 
 
 " ' Would ten dollars be of any service ? ' 
 
THE LOWEST POINT. 425 
 
 " ' Ten dollars would save my life ; that is all it would do.' 
 
 " I paid the money, all that I had, and we dined together. It 
 was a modest meal, but good, and, after he had finished, he said : 
 
 " ' This is my first meal for twenty-four hours. Strother, don't 
 be an artist. It means beggary. Your life depends upon people 
 who know nothing of your art, and care nothing for }'ou. A house- 
 dog lives better, and the very sensitiveness that stimulates an artist 
 to work, keeps him alive to suffering.' 
 
 " I remained with Professor Morse three years, and then we 
 separated. Some time afterward I met him on Broadway, one 
 day. He was about the same as before, a trifle older, and somewhat 
 ruddier. I asked him how he was getting along with his painting, 
 and he told me that he had abandoned it ; that he had something 
 better, he believed ; and told me about the proposed telegraph. I 
 accompanied him to his room, and there found several miles of wire 
 twisted about, and the battery, which he explained to me. His 
 pictures, finished and unfinished, were lying about covered with 
 dust. Shortly afterward Congress made an appropriation, and 
 Morse was on the high-road to wealth and immortality." 
 
 Professor Morse's letters to Mr. Tail, during this crisis in 
 the life of the Telegraph and its inventor, are full of the same 
 fears and hopes that were revealed in those to Mr. Smith. He 
 says: 
 
 " I have been compelled to apply myself to those duties which 
 yield immediate pecuniary relief. I feel the pressure as well as 
 others, and having several pupils at the University I must attend 
 to them. Nevertheless, I shall hold myself ready to go to Wash- 
 ington during the next session with the instrument. The one I 
 was constructing is completed, except the rotary batteries and the 
 pen-and-ink apparatus, which I shall soon find time to adapt if re- 
 quired. I hear not a word from Mr. Smith, and have not for sev- 
 eral months ; he, perhaps, expects me in Portland, but I have not 
 the means to visit him. The telegraph of Wheatstone is going- 
 ahead in England, even with all its complications. So I presume 
 is the one of Steinheil in Bavaria. Whether ours is to be adopted 
 depends on the Government, or on a company, and the times are. 
 not favorable for the formation of a company. Perhaps it is the 
 part of wisdom to let the matter rest, and watch for an opportunity 
 when times look better, and which I hope will be soon. 
 
 " September 7, 1840. — I am tied hand and foot through the day 
 
426 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 endeavoring to realize something from the Daguerreotype portrait. 
 . . . As to the telegraph I know not what to say. I suppose some- 
 thing might be done in Washington next session, if I or some of 
 you would go on, but I have expended so much time in vain there 
 and in Europe, that I feel almost discouraged from pressing it any 
 further — only, however, from want of funds. I have none myself, 
 and I dislike to ask of the rest of you. You are all so scattered, 
 that there is no consultation, and I am under the necessity of 
 attending to duties which will give me the means of living. 
 The reason of its not being in operation is not the fault of the in- 
 vention^ nor is it my neglect — my faith is not only unshaken in its 
 eventual adoption throughout the world, but it is confirmed by 
 every new discovery in the science of electricity." 
 
 The year 1840 was made memorable in the history of the 
 American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph by the actual issue of 
 the first patent to Samuel F. B. Morse. In the spring of the 
 year Professor Morse addressed this letter to the Commissioner 
 of Patents, his old friend and classmate : 
 
 " New York, May 2, 1840. 
 " Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, Commissioner, etc. 
 
 "My dear Sir: I have never received my patent-papers from 
 your office. I believe there was something to be done on my part, 
 in relation to a drawing for one of the duplicates, which I was pre- 
 vented from accomplishing by the necessity of preparing suddenly 
 for my visit to Europe, with the Telegraph. I have nearly com- 
 pleted an improved apparatus, for which I intend to take out a 
 patent, adding it to my patent already executed, as an improvement. 
 I should long since have visited Washington with my apparatus, 
 and asked for some action upon the matter by Congress, but for the 
 low state of financial affairs, private and public. So far as the ap- 
 probation of the scientific and mechanical world goes, I have had 
 the gratification of having it loudly and substantially expressed, 
 that my Telegraph is the best of all that had been examined. But 
 while in England the very complicated and deficient apparatus of 
 Wheatstone is carried into operation by a wealthy company for 
 thirteen miles, and is in further progress, and while the Telegraph 
 of Steinheil, at Munich, is adopted, and is carried into effect by 
 the Bavarian Government, I am fettered and prevented from bring- 
 ing the American Telegraph {the first invented, as dates conclu- 
 sively show, and the best, according to the opinion of the best judges 
 
THE FIRST PATENT. 427 
 
 of the case here and in Europe, as I can also show) into operation 
 for want of a little assistance from our Government. I was first 
 encouraged to offer my Telegraph to the Government by letters 
 from the Secretary of the Treasury, drawing my attention to the 
 subject, then by the report of the committees in Congress, to whom 
 the subject was referred, and by the report of a bill for a sum suffi- 
 cient to test its practicability. . I have been hoping that an inven- 
 tion which is to succeed just as surely as steam-traveling has suc- 
 ceeded, an invention which is truly an American invention, would 
 be in a sense adopted by the Government, and an opportunity given 
 me to bring it forth, in full operation, to the honor of the country. 
 I have spent time, strength, and money, to accomplish this ; have 
 been exercised with the alternate hopes and disappointments of an 
 inventor ; and, unless something is done to help me forward, the 
 more wealthy Englishmen will have it 4n their power not merely to 
 deprive me of the profit of my discovery in my own country, as they 
 have already in their own, by a gross act of injustice, but, as in the 
 case of Halley's quadrant, the Telegraph will be an English, not an 
 American invention. 
 
 " I could tell you a long story on this point, but long stories are 
 not for gentlemen in official stations, who have their time often too 
 thoughtlessly consumed by the intrusion of time-killers. Please tell 
 me what I am to do in order to have my letters-patent for the 
 Telegraph, and I will do it. 
 
 " Your old friend and classmate, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Moese." 
 
 The Commissioner returned this answer : 
 
 " Patent-Office, May 14, 1840. 
 
 " Sir : The specifications and drawings of your alleged improve- 
 ment, in the mode of communicating signals by the application of 
 Electro-Magnetism, are herewith returned to you, the explanatory 
 reference in the same not being sufficient to properly illustrate the 
 invention. Some annotations, pointing out the parts where these 
 are wanting, are marked in pencil in the margin of the description. 
 
 " Your favor of the 2d inst. has been received, in reply to which 
 the office has to state that the delay attending the granting of your 
 application has not been caused by any want of attention on its 
 part. Some two years since, when your patent was about being 
 issued, a request was made by you that the case might be post- 
 poned, until you should have received letters-patent from the Euro- 
 
428 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 pean governments. This request was complied with ; and, as no 
 communication has been received from you since, in relation to the 
 issuing of the patent, the case has been permitted to lie over. The 
 patent will be issued, however, immediately on the return of the 
 papers. H. L. Ellsworth. 
 
 " Professor S. F. B. Morse, New York City, N. Y." 
 
 The corrections suggested by the Commissioner having been 
 made, and the duplicate set of drawings prepared, Mr. Morse 
 returned them to the Patent-Office, with this letter to the Com- 
 missioner : 
 
 " New York, May 18, 1840. 
 " Dear Sir : I herewith return j'ou the specifications of my 
 telegraphic invention, which you sent me to correct, and to add a 
 duplicate set of drawings. I hope all will be found correct. My 
 improvements shall be specified and accompanied with drawings, 
 and sent you as soon as I can complete the new apparatus, which 
 is in progress, and which I hoped to have had the pleasure of show- 
 ing you in Washington this spring. But it is now so late in the 
 session, and you are all so engaged at headquarters in fighting the 
 presidential battle, that I fear my lightning will not have a fair 
 chance till next fall. Hoping to see you at the class meeting in 
 New Haven, in August next, to celebrate our thirty years exit from 
 college, I remain truly as ever, your friend and classmate, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 " Patent-Office, May 26, 1840. 
 "Sir: On reviewing the specification of your Magnetic Tele- 
 graph, before ordering the case to issue, a slight defect has been 
 found in the oath, which it will be necessary to correct, and which, 
 on the previous examination, escaped the attention of the examiner. 
 The defect in the oath is in its being without a date : the blank 
 left for that purpose never having been filled up. And as it might 
 affect the validity of your patent, were the office to let it pass in 
 its present form, your better plan will be to make a new affidavit, 
 which must be taken before the mayor or recorder of your city, as 
 justices of the peace in your State are not authorized to administer 
 general oaths. It would be well, also, were you to make the al- 
 teration in the specifications suggested in the note, which you have 
 made in the margin of it, as it would make the description more 
 clear. Henry L. Ellsworth." 
 
TAKING OUT A PATENT. 429 
 
 This is the affidavit annexed to the petition or application 
 for the patent, and description and specification of the inven- 
 tion, which it was supposed was defective : 
 
 "United States of America, ) 
 
 "District op Columbia, County op Washington, J 
 
 " On this day of , 1838, before the subscriber, a 
 
 justice of the peace in and for said county, personally appeared 
 the within-named Samuel F. B. Morse, and made solemn oath that 
 he believes himself to be the first and original inventor of the sev- 
 eral parts, and application thereof, of the American Electro-Mag- 
 netic telegraph, above mentioned and described in the specification 
 of claims thereto by him subscribed, and that he does not know or 
 believe that the same was ever before known or used, and that he 
 is a citizen of the United States. 
 
 " 0. H. Wiltberger, Justice of the Peace." 
 
 On receiving this letter, a new affidavit was made, and the 
 certificate thereof added upon the documents so returned for 
 the purpose, immediately following the original affidavit, in these 
 words : 
 
 " County of New York, ss. 
 
 " On this 29th day of May, 1840, before the subscriber, the 
 Mayor of the city of New York, personally appeared the within- 
 named Samuel F. B. Morse, and made solemn oath that he believes 
 himself to be the first and original inventor of the several parts and 
 applications thereof, of the American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph 
 above mentioned and described in the specification of claim thereto 
 by him subscribed, and that he does not know or believe that the 
 same was ever before known or used, and that he is a citizen of the 
 United States. Isaac L. Variak, Mayor." 
 
 The direction being complied with, the papers were returned 
 by Mr. Morse on the same day the affidavit was made and certi- 
 fied. The patents were then issued, as already stated. These 
 formalities and vexatious delays are thus minutely rehearsed for 
 the special benefit of future inventors. 
 
 Professor Morse, in applying to his partners for their con- 
 sent to an arrangement with an agent, had spoken with great 
 freedom of the desperate state of his affairs. To Mr. Yail he 
 wrote: 
 
430 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 " New York, December 13, 1841. 
 " I am endeavoring to do something with the Telegraph at 
 Washington, but am much embarrassed for want of a power of 
 attorney from you, to act for you in this matter. The prospects of 
 doing any thing with a company here, which seemed to dawn for a 
 few moments last summer, have vanished. I am now in treaty 
 with the person whom I mentioned to you in my letter last sum- 
 mer — Mr. Coffin, at Washington, who offers his services to get the 
 bill through Congress, which was reported by the Committee of 
 Commerce some years ago when we were in Washington. I have 
 written to Mr. Smith, and he assents to any arrangement I may 
 make. Dr. Gale also assents. I wish you would, therefore, em- 
 power me on your part to conclude the arrangement with Mr. 
 Coffin. He comes well recommended, as understanding his busi- 
 ness, and he asks ten per cent, if he gets the bill through all the 
 stages ; nothing, if he does not succeed. As matters now stand, 
 can we do better ? We all seem somewhat crippled, and I most 
 of all, being obliged to superintend the getting up of a set of ma- 
 chinery complete, and to make the greater part myself, and without 
 a cent of means. I am now at work upon it, and for the purpose 
 cf lecturing upon it. If I should get it completed, I may visit you 
 with it in Philadelphia some time before the winter closes. Mr. 
 Smith is without means, and cannot advance any thing. He sug- 
 gests that if I could raise two or three hundred dollars to enable me 
 to visit Washington with the new machines, it would be well, and 
 he assented to my receiving the first receipts from the Telegraph to 
 repay the sum. If I give my time and attention to the matter, is it 
 not fair that I should receive a compensation ? All the burden now 
 rests on my shoulders, after years of time devoted to the enter- 
 prise, and I am willing, so far as I am able, to bear my share, if the 
 other proprietors will lend a helping hand, and give me facilities to 
 act, and a reasonable recompense for my services in case of success. 
 Please answer by return of mail, as I cannot write definitely to Mr. 
 Coffin until I hear from you, and he ought to know immediately, 
 that he may act without delay, for there are two plans that inter- 
 fere with ours that will be entertained by Congress, and their agents 
 are on the ground, and busy. It is necessary that our agent should 
 break ground at once." 
 
 The letter which Mr. Morse addressed to Mr. Coffin, after 
 the assent of the partners was obtained, will show the principle 
 
TERMS WITH THE AGENT. 431 
 
 by whicli lie was governed. He offers to give the agent one- 
 half all he (Morse) should receive from his invention, until 
 Coffin has received a sum equal to five per cent, of the appro- 
 priation for the experimental Telegraph. The Professor was to 
 pay from his own subsequent receipts the expenses of the agent, 
 instead of allowing the agent to receive a portion of the appro- 
 priation. 
 
 " New York, December 23, 1841. 
 
 " Deak Sir : I have just received yours of the 21st inst., and 
 I have also received answers and authority from the different pro- 
 prietors of the Telegraph, to agree to give you, which I hereby 
 agree to do, one-half of all I receive from the Government, either 
 for my personal services, or for purchase-money of the patent-right, 
 until you shall have received five per cent, on the sum which Con- 
 gress shall appropriate at their present session for the purpose of 
 testing my Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, provided you shall succeed 
 in getting the bill through all its stages till it becomes a law. 
 
 " I send you herewith the report of the French Academy of In- 
 dustry, in which it will be seen that the commission appointed by 
 them to examine my Telegraph not only give it the preference over 
 Wheatstone's, but they recommend that my name be presented to 
 the Committee of Premiums for reward, which was done, and at 
 the annual meeting the great medal of honor was voted me for the 
 invention. 
 
 "I have much which is important bearing on the subject, but 
 which it will require a little time to prepare — such, for example, as 
 the opinion of the commission appointed by the French Govern- 
 ment to examine and report on all the plans of electric telegraphs 
 which had been submitted to the Government, among which was 
 Wheatstone's, and, after careful examination, they recommend mine 
 1 as the simplest and the best.'' I will prepare a paper for you 
 with as little delay as possible. How soon will it do? I have,, 
 say, over one hundred of these French reports, which, perhaps, 
 might be distributed in Congress to advantage. If you will desig- 
 nate to whom they may be sent, on a printed list of members which 
 may be sent me, I will send a copy to such as you mark." 
 
 In giving his consent to the proposed arrangement with 
 Coffin, Mr. Alfred Yail had written to Professor Morse a week 
 before this last letter was sent, and had said : 
 
432 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " I have recently given considerable thought to the subject of 
 the Telegraph, and was intending to get permission of you, if there 
 is any thing to the contrary in our articles of agreement, to build 
 for myself and my private use a telegraph upon your plan. Now I 
 should be glad to have your assent to it. It would be some time 
 before I could make it at any rate, and therefore can do the gen- 
 eral cause no harm. I will write to my brother that I give my 
 assent for him to give you the power of attorney to act for us. I 
 hope there will be no embarrassment thrown in the way of your 
 and our ultimate success in the Telegraph. I should be very much 
 pleased to have you come to Philadelphia, and make your stay at 
 my house, and I will endeavor to render you every assistance in 
 my power." 
 
 In the course of his answer, Professor Morse says to Mr. 
 Yail: 
 
 " I have to do all the labor of the whole enterprise at present, 
 and have not a cent of money in the world. I am giving my time 
 and skill in getting the instrument in order to act in case it is re- 
 quired at Washington, and I think it but fair that I should have 
 my burdens made as light as possible. You can see in a moment 
 that if I have to write to all the scattered proprietors of the Tele- 
 graph every time any movement is made, what a burden falls upon 
 me both of expense of time and money, which I cannot afford. In 
 acting for nry own interest in this matter, I, of course, act for the 
 interest of all. If we can get that thirty thousand dollars bill through 
 Congress, the experiment (if it can any longer be called such) can 
 then be tried on such a scale as to insure its success. You ask per- 
 mission to make a telegraph for your own use. I have no objection. 
 But, before you commence one, I think you had better see me, and 
 the improvements which I have made, and I can suggest a few 
 more, rather of an ornamental character, and some economical 
 arrangements which may be of use to you. I thank you for your 
 kind invitation, and when I come to Philadelphia shall A Vail my- 
 self of your politeness. I suppose by this time you have a brood 
 of chickens around you. Well, go on and prosper. As for me I 
 am not well, am much depressed at times, and have many cares, 
 anxieties, and disappointments, in which I am aware I am not alone. 
 But all will work for the best if we only look through the cloud 
 and see a kind Parent directing all. This reflection alone cheers 
 me, and gives me renewed strength.' 
 
FAILURE OF THE AGENT. 433 
 
 The business ' was put into the hands of Mr. Coffin, who 
 spent the winter in prosecuting it. But the energy and tact, of 
 which he had spoken so confidently in his letters to Professor 
 Morse, amounted to nothing. The only means that he proposed 
 to employ, or was allowed to employ, were argument and per- 
 suasion, and these were lost upon the minds of members. The 
 session of 1841-42 wore away and the Telegraph was untouched. 
 In the early part of this dismal year, in a letter to a friend, 
 giving him a commission, Professor Morse discloses the secret 
 sorrow over ' an old misfortune, from which he never fully re- 
 covered. He said : 
 
 " Your letter, containing a draft for three hundred dollars, I re- 
 ceived yesterday, for which accept my sincere thanks. I have hesi- 
 tated about receiving it because I had begun to despair of ever being 
 able to touch the pencil again. The blow I received from Congress 
 when the decision was made concerning the pictures for the Rotun- 
 da, has almost destroyed my enthusiasm for my art, or rather I 
 should say turned it into a different channel, laboring for the younger 
 artists, that they may not have the same kind of obstacles to over- 
 come, against which I have contended. In this I find indeed great 
 pleasure, so far as my art is concerned. I have not painted a pict- 
 ure since that decision, and I presume that the mechanical skill I 
 once possessed in the art has suffered by the neglect. I may pos- 
 sibly recover my skill, and if any thing will tend to this end it is the 
 consciousness of having the sympathy of those who can understand 
 the circumstances that have operated against me. 
 
 " When I applied to paint one of the Rotunda pictures, I was 
 in my full vigor. I had just returned from three years' hard study 
 in Italy, which I considered as completing my studies as an historical 
 painter, and felt a consciousness of ability to execute a work credit- 
 able to my country. I hazarded every thing almost for this single 
 object. "When so unexpectedly I was repelled, I staggered under 
 the blow. I have endeavored in every way to prevent its effects 
 upon my mind, but it is a thorn which perpetually obtrudes its 
 point, and would goad me to death were it not for its aspect in the 
 light of God's overruling providence. Then all is right." 
 
 In the summer of 1842 Professor Morse communicated to 
 the Hon. W. W. Boardman, member of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives in Congress, the encouraging letter from Professor 
 28 
 
434 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Henry, of February 24, 1842, which has been previously copied. 
 Again he wrote : 
 
 Professor Morse to Mr. Boardman. 
 
 " New York, August 10, 1842. 
 
 " My deae Sir : I inclose you a copy of the Tribune, in which 
 you will see a notice of my Telegraph. I have showed its opera- 
 tion to a few friends occasionally within a few weeks ; among others 
 to Professor Henry, of Princeton (a copy of whose letter to me on 
 this subject I sent you some time since) ; he had never seen it in 
 operation, but had only heard from description the principle on 
 which it is founded. He is not of an enthusiastic temperament, 
 but exceedingly cautious in giving an opinion on scientific inven- 
 tions, yet in this case he expressed himself in the warmest terms, 
 and told my friend Dr. Chilton (who informed me of it) that he had 
 just been witnessing the operation of the most beautiful and ingen- 
 ious instrument he had ever seen. Indeed, since I last wrote you, 
 I have been wholly occupied in perfecting its details, and making 
 myself familiar with the whole system. There is not a shadow of 
 doubt as to its performing all that I have promised in regard to it, 
 and indeed all that has been conceived of it. Few can understand 
 the obstacles arising from want of pecuniary means that I have had 
 to encounter the past winter. 
 
 "To avoid debt (which I will never incur) I have been com- 
 pelled to make with my own hands a great part of my machinery, 
 but at an expense of time of very serious consideration to me. I 
 have executed in six months what a good machinist, if I had the 
 means to employ him, would have performed in as many weeks, and 
 performed much better. 
 
 " I had hoped to be able to show my perfected instrument in 
 Washington long before this, and was (until this morning) contem- 
 plating its transportation thither next week. The news just received 
 of the proposed adjournment of Congress has stopped my prepara- 
 tions, and interposes, I fear, another year of anxious suspense. 
 
 " Now, my dear sir, as your time is precious, I will state in few 
 words what I desire. The Government will eventually, without 
 doubt, become possessed of this invention, for it will be necessary 
 from many considerations, not merely as a direct advantage to the 
 Government and public at large, if regulated by the Government, 
 but as a preventive of the evil effects which must result if it be a 
 monopoly of a company. To this latter mode of remunerating my- 
 
LETTER TO MR. BOARDMAN. 435 
 
 self I shall be compelled to resort if the Government should not even- 
 tually act upon it. You were so good as to call the attention of the 
 House to the subject by a resolution of inquiry, early in the session. 
 I wrote you some time after, requesting a stay of action on the part 
 of the committee, in the hope that long before this I could show 
 them the Telegraph in Washington, but, just as I am ready, I find 
 that Congress will adjourn before I can reach Washington, and put 
 the instrument in order for their inspection. Will it be possible, be- 
 fore Congress rises, to appropriate a small sum, say thirty-five hun- 
 dred dollars, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to 
 put my Telegraph in operation for the inspection of Congress the 
 next session ? If Congress will grant this sum, I will engage to 
 have a complete Telegraph on my electro-magnetic plan between 
 the President's house, or one of the departments, and the Capitol 
 and the Navy- Yard, so that instantaneous communication can be 
 held between these three points at pleasure, at any time of day or 
 night, at any season, in clear or rainy weather, and ready for their 
 examination during the next session of Congress, so that the whole 
 subject may be fairly understood. I believe that, did the great 
 majority of Congress but consider seriously the results of this in- 
 vention of the Electric Telegraph on all the interests of society ; 
 did they suffer themselves to dwell but for a moment on the vast 
 consequences of the instantaneous communication of intelligence 
 from one part to the other of the land in a commercial point of view, 
 and as facilitating the defenses of the country, which my invention 
 renders certain, they would not hesitate to pass all the acts neces- 
 sary to secure its control to the Government. I ask not this until 
 they have thoroughly examined its merits, but will they not assist me 
 in placing the matter fairly before them ? Surely so small a sum to 
 the Government for so great an object cannot reasonably be denied. 
 
 " I hardly know in what form this request of mine should be 
 made. Should it be by petition to Congress ? or will this letter 
 handed in to the committee be sufficient ? If a petition is required 
 for form's sake to be referred to the committee to report, shall I ask 
 the favor of you to make such petition in proper form ? You know, 
 my dear sir, just what I wish, and I know, from the kind and friend- 
 ly feeling you 'have shown toward my invention, I may count on 
 your aid. If on your return you stop a day or two in New York, I 
 shall be glad to show you the operation of the Telegraph as it is. 
 
 " With sincere respect and esteem, your obedient servant, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 " Hon. W. W. Boardman, Washington." 
 
436 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 To this letter Mr. Boardman replied. : 
 
 " House of Representatives, August 12, 1842. 
 " Deae Sie : Yours of the 10th is received. I had already seen 
 the notice of your Telegraph in the Tribune, and was prepared for 
 such a report. This is not the time to commence any new project 
 before Congress. We are, I trust, within ten days of adjournment. 
 There is no prospect of a tariff this session, and, as that matter ap- 
 pears settled, the sooner Congress adjourns the better. The sub- 
 ject of your Telegraph was some months ago, as you know, referred 
 to the Committee on Commerce, and by that committee it was re- 
 ferred to Mr. Ferris, one of the members of that committee, from 
 the city of New York, and who, by-the-way, is now at home in the 
 city, and will be glad to see you on the subject. I cannot give you his 
 address, but you can easily find him. The Treasury and the Gov- 
 ernment are both bankrupt, and that foolish Tyler has vetoed the 
 tariff bill — the House is in bad humor, and nothing of the kind you 
 propose could be done. The only chance would be for the Commit- 
 tee on Commerce to report such a plan, but there would be little or 
 no chance of getting such an appropriation through this session. I 
 have much faith in your plan, and hope you will continue to push it 
 toward Congress. Truly yours, etc., 
 
 " W. W. BOAEDMAN. 
 
 " Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, New York." 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Smith, in July of this year (1842), he com- 
 municates the most important results of his experiments with a 
 greater length of wire than he had ever used before. And the 
 encouragement he received from Professor Henry is here an- 
 nounced with intense satisfaction. He said : 
 
 4 
 
 " You are doubtless desirous of knowing what progress is made 
 in the telegraphic enterprise. I have been compelled, for want of 
 means, to proceed very, very slowly, and to great disadvantage, in 
 maturing the instruments for a fair exhibition of its powers to Con- 
 gress, and, although I have devoted all my time for nearly a year 
 past in the hope of proceeding to Washington before the close of 
 the session, and by a fresh effort to induce Congress to grant me an 
 appropriation sufficient at least to show them the us*e of the Tele- 
 graph for a short distance, I have been unable to complete the 
 correspondent, solely for want of funds, and have many times been 
 tempted to give up the whole matter, not from any difficulty inher- 
 ent in the invention itself, but from the accumulation of extraneous 
 
EESULT OF EXPERIMENTS. 437 
 
 obstacles to so heavy an amount that it seemed utterly impossible 
 to move another step. I have oftentimes risen in the morning, not 
 knowing where the means were to come from for the common 
 expenses of the day. Reflect one moment on my situation in 
 regard- to the invention. Compelled from the first, from my want 
 of the means to carry out the invention to a practical result, to ask 
 assistance from those who had means, I associated with me the 
 Messrs. Vails and Dr. Gale, by making over to them, on certain condi- 
 tions, a portion of the patent-right. These means enabled me to carry 
 it successfully forward to a certain point ; at this point you were also 
 admitted into a share of the patent, on certain conditions, which 
 carried the enterprise forward successfully still further ; since then 
 disappointments have occurred, and disasters to the property of every 
 one concerned in the enterprise, but of a character not touching 
 the intrinsic merits of the invention in the least, } 7 et bearing on 
 its progress so fatally as for several years to paralyze all attempts 
 to proceed. The depressed situation of all my associates in the 
 invention has thrown the whole burden of again attempting a 
 movement entirely on me. With the trifling sum of five hundred 
 dollars I could have had my instrument perfected and before Con- 
 gress six months ago, but I was unable to run the risk, and I there- 
 fore chose to go forward more slowly, but at a great waste of time. 
 In all these remarks, understand me as not throwing the least blame 
 on any individual. I believe that the situation in which you all are 
 thrown is altogether providential — that human foresight could not 
 avert it, and I firmly believe, too, that the delays, tantalizing and 
 trying as they have been, will, in the end, turn out to be beneficial. 
 During the last few months I have availed myself of the means 
 which Mr. Samuel Colt has had at his command in experimenting 
 with wire circuits for testing his submarine batteries ; also to test 
 some very important matters in relation to the Telegraph. I loaned 
 him, in the first instance, my two reels of wire, which, by-the-by, 
 is reduced to eight and a quarter miles. In the first place, the wire 
 was taken to a rope walk, and stretched back and forth, keeping 
 each thread at least six inches apart from its neighbor, in order to 
 ascertain if the coil had any effect in the result we obtained. The 
 experiments were highly satisfactory, the magnetism and the heat- 
 ing effects, which latter Mr. Colt desired, being apparently stronger 
 when the wire was stretched out than when in coil. We also found 
 that when one wire was coated, the other might be naked, and 
 passed to any distance. 
 
438 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " This result induced Mr. Colt to contract, for his purposes, for 
 the purchase of forty miles of wire. This quantity, with two that he 
 had already procured, and my eight miles, make fifty miles ! Twen- 
 ty miles have already been finished, and we have experimented 
 with perfectly satisfactory results on this distance. In a few days 
 (it may be weeks, however) he expects the remainder, when we 
 shall pursue our experiments. I have invented a battery which will 
 delight you : it is the most powerful of its size ever invented, and 
 this part of my telegraphic apparatus the results of experiments 
 have enabled me to simplify, and truly to perfect. Dear sir, I am 
 just now in a dilemma in consequence of an application from an 
 energetic and enterprising engineer, Mr. John P. Monroe, who is so 
 delighted with the operation of the telegraph that he desires to 
 form a company, and at once put it in operation from New York to 
 Washington. He thinks there is no doubt but capital could be 
 raised for this purpose. He is just the person to enter upon the 
 plan, and Mr. Monroe is a substantial man, a successful contractor 
 on the New York & Erie Railroad. He is in earnest, and I prom- 
 ised to write you on the subject. If you could come on (and ap- 
 prise me when you can be here), I will endeavor to have Mr. Vail 
 here also, and, if Dr. Gale is on the spot, we could put all our mat- 
 ters into a state less embarrassing than they are at present. It 
 seems to me that there is now an opportunity for doing something 
 advantageous to all. You must perceive at what disadvantage I do 
 business when, before I can make an}' answer to queries from 
 persons who feel disposed to take hold of the enterprise, I must 
 write two or three letters of particulars to different parts of the 
 country, and wait days for an answer. The necessity of our Tele- 
 graph is made evident in this very case. If you had in your parlor 
 one of my registers, there would be no need of a long journey, or 
 of waiting three or four days for an answer. In brief, I can say that 
 the cost per mile we have ascertained to be as follows, and the wire 
 you will perceive is to be tied in a most substantial manner : 
 
 Lead pipe, and the joinings large enough to contain four or even 
 
 eight wires per mile . . $250 00 
 
 Wire completely prepared, by winding with twine saturated in tar 
 
 and in India-rubber, per mile ....•••* 150 00 
 
 Passing the wire, thus prepared, into the pipe, per mile 5 00 
 
 Delivery of pipe and wire 10 00 
 
 Excavation and filling in again, about one thousand yards, per 
 
 mile, three feet deep 150 00 
 
 At fifteen cents per yard, laying the pipe 3 00 
 
 $568 00 
 
ESTIMATE OE COSTS. 439 
 
 — or say, in round numbers, six hundred dollars per mile. Mr. Mon- 
 roe proposes that a company be formed to carry the Telegraph into 
 operation from New York to Washington ; that about ten thousand 
 dollars be raised at first to lay it down as far as Newark — nine 
 miles; that the certain operation of it at this distance will insure 
 the subscription to the rest of the stock in Philadelphia, New York, 
 and Baltimore ; that the expenses of each of the proprietors should 
 be summed up, and they all should be reimbursed by the stock, 
 which he thinks would give confidence. The shares, he thinks, 
 should be low, in order to interest a great number in the enterprise. 
 Please think over the plan, and write me on the subject immediate- 
 ly, but do come on, if possible. Mr. Monroe will be in the city a 
 few days at present, and I wish to give him some kind of rephy. 
 
 " Yours, etc., S. F. B. Morse." 
 
 " P. S. — I have not heard a word from Mr. Coffin, at Washing- 
 ton, since I saw you. I presume he has abandoned the idea of doing 
 any thing in the time we proposed, and so has given it up. Well, 
 so be it — I am content. 
 
 " I have much to tell you of the most gratifying character in re- 
 lation to the certainty of success, and, as for my telegraphic system, 
 all my experiments go to confirm its entire practicability. Professor 
 Henry visited me a day or two ago. He knew the principles of the 
 Telegraph, but had never before seen its operation. He told a gen- 
 tleman, who mentioned it again to me, that without exception it was 
 the most beautiful and ingenious instrument he had ever seen. He 
 says mine is the only truly practical plan. He has been experi- 
 menting and making discoveries on celestial electricity, and he 
 says that Wheatstone and Steinheil's Telegraph must so be influ- 
 enced in a highly-electrical state of the atmosphere as at times to be 
 useless, they using the deflection of the needle ; while mine, from 
 the use of the magnet, is not subject to this disturbing influence. I 
 believe, if the truth were known, some such cause is operating to 
 prevent our hearing more of their telegraphs. 
 
 " Truly your friend, etc., • 
 
 " S. F. B. M. 
 "New York, July 16, 1842." 
 
 In the autumn Professor Morse submitted bis telegraphic 
 instrument to the American Institute, and the following report 
 and resolution were adopted by that body : 
 
440 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 Report of the American Institute on the Mectro-Magnetic Telegrcqih. 
 
 New York, September 12, 1842. 
 The undersigned, the Committee of Arts and Sciences of the 
 American Institute, respectfully report : 
 
 That, by virtue of the power of adding to their numbers, they 
 called to their aid the gentlemen whose names are hereunto an- 
 nexed, with those of the original members of the committee, and 
 proceeded to examine Professor Morse's Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. 
 Having investigated the scientific principles on which it is founded, 
 inspected the mechanism by which these principles are brought into 
 practical operation, and seen the instruments in use in the trans- 
 mission and return of various messages, they have come to the con- 
 clusion that it is admirably adapted to the purposes for which it is 
 intended, being capable of forming words, numbers, and sentences, 
 nearly as fast as they can be written in ordinary characters, and of 
 transmitting them to great distances with a velocity equal to that 
 of light. They, therefore, beg leave to recommend the Telegraph 
 of Professor Morse for such testimonials of the approbation of the 
 American Institute as may in its judgment be due to a most im- 
 portant practical application of high science, brought into success- 
 ful operation by the exercise of much mechanical skill and ingenuity. 
 All which is respectfully submitted : 
 
 James Renwick, LL. D., 
 Prof. Chem. and Nat. Phil., Columbia Col., N. Y. 
 John W. Draper, M. D., 
 Prof. Chem. and Min., University City of New York. 
 William H. Ellet, M. D., 
 Prof. Chem., etc., Col. of Columbia, S. C. 
 James R. Chilton, M. D., 
 
 Chemistry, etc., New York. 
 G. C. Schaeffer, 
 Associate Prof. Chem., Columbia College, N. Y. 
 Edward Clark. 
 Charles A. Lee, M. D. 
 
 Such a report as this should have inspired public confidence 
 in the invention, but it did not ; and, in a very few days after 
 it was made, the Professor wrote to his partner, Mr. Smith, a 
 letter in which he appears on the point of abandoning it as a 
 hopeless enterprise. His own confidence in it was undiminished, 
 but it must perish if he could not obtain aid : 
 
SUBMARINE EXPERIMENT. 441 
 
 " While, so far as the invention itself is concerned, every thing 
 is favorable, I find myself without sympathy or help from any who 
 are associated with me, whose interest one would think would impel 
 them at least to inquire if they could render some assistance. For 
 nearly two years past, I have devoted all my time and scanty means, 
 living- on a mere pittance, denying myself all pleasures, and even 
 necessary food, that I might have a sum to put my Telegraph into 
 such a position before Congress as to insure success to the common 
 enterprise. I am crushed for want of means, and means of so tri- 
 fling a character, too, that they who know how to ask (which I do 
 not) could obtain in a few hours. One year more has gone, for 
 want of these means. I have now ascertained that, however un- 
 promising were the times last session, if I could but have gone to 
 Washington I could have got some aid to enable me to insure suc- 
 cess at the next session. As it is, although every thing is favorable, 
 although I have ho competition, and no opposition — on the con- 
 trary, although every member of Congress, as far as I can learn, is 
 favorable — } 7 et I fear all will fail because I am too poor to risk the 
 trifling expense which my journey and residence in Washington 
 will occasion me. I will not run in debt, if I lose the whole mat- 
 ter. So, unless I have the means from some source, I shall be com- 
 pelled, however reluctantly, to leave it ; and, if I get once engaged 
 in my proper profession again, the Telegraph and its proprietors 
 will urge me from it in vain. No one can tell the days and months 
 of anxiety and labor I have had in perfecting my telegraphic appa- 
 ratus. For want of means, I have been compelled to make with 
 my own hands (and to labor for weeks) a piece of mechanism which 
 could be made much better, and in a tenth part of the time, by a 
 good mechanician, thus wasting time — time which I cannot recall, 
 and which seems double-winged to me. 
 
 " ' Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.' It is true, and I have 
 known the full meaning of it. Nothing but the consciousness that 
 I have an invention which is to mark an era in human civilization, 
 and which is to contribute to the happiness of millions, would have 
 sustained me through so many and such lengthened trials of pa- 
 tience in perfecting it." 
 
 SUBMARINE CABLE. 
 
 During the summer of this year (1842), Professor Morse bad 
 been making great preparations for an experiment destined to 
 give wonderful development to his invention. This was no less 
 
442 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 than a submarine wire, to demonstrate the fact that the current 
 of electricity could be conducted as well under water as through 
 the air. Of this he had entertained no doubt. " If I can make 
 it work ten miles, I can make it go around the globe," was a 
 favorite expression of his in the infancy of his enterprise. But 
 he wished to prove it. He insulated his wire as well as he could 
 with hempen strands well covered with pitch, tar, and India-rub- 
 ber. In the course of the autumn he was prepared to put the 
 question to the test of actual experiment. The wire was only 
 the twelfth of an inch in diameter, as may be seen from the 
 annexed engraving of the lateral and end sections : 
 
 The copper wire is represented by the white space in the end- 
 section. About two miles of this, wound on a reel, was placed 
 in a small row-boat, and, with one man at the oars and Professor 
 Morse at the stern, the work of paying out the cable was com- 
 menced. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and those who 
 had prolonged their evening rambles on the Battery wondered, 
 as they gazed at the proceedings in the boat, what kind of fishing 
 the two men could be engaged in that required so long a line. 
 In somewhat less than two hours, on that eventful evening of 
 the 18th of October, 1842, "the cable" was laid. Professor 
 Morse returned to his lodgings and waited with some anxiety 
 the time when he should be able to test the experiment fully 
 and fairly. The next morning the New Yorh Herald con- 
 tained the following editorial announcement : 
 
 "mouse's electro-magnetic telegraph. 
 
 " This important invention is to be exhibited in operation at Cas- 
 tle Garden between the hours of twelve and one o'clock to-day. One 
 telegraph will be erected on Governor's Island, and one at the Cas- 
 tle, and messages will be interchanged and orders transmitted dur- 
 ing the day. Many have been incredulous as to the powers of this 
 wonderful triumph of science and art. All such may now have an 
 opportunity of fairly testing it. It is destined to work a complete 
 revolution in the mode of transmitting intelligence throughout the 
 civilized worhV 
 
 At daybreak the Professor was on the Battery, and had just 
 demonstrated his success by the transmission of three or four 
 
APPLICATION TO ME. VAIL. 443 
 
 characters between the termini of the line, when the communica- 
 tion was suddenly interrupted, and it was found impossible to 
 send any messages through the conductor. The cause of this was 
 explained by his observing no less than seven vessels lying along 
 the line of the submerged cable, one of which, in getting under 
 way, had raised it on her anchor. The sailors, unable to divine 
 its meaning, hauled in about two hundred feet of it on deck, 
 and, finding no end, cut off that portion, and carried it away 
 with them. Thus ended the first attempt at submarine tele- 
 graphing. The crowd that had assembled on the Battery dis- 
 persed with jeers, the most of them believing they had been 
 made the victims of a hoax. A few only, and the patient in- 
 ventor was one of the very few, hoped on, while the prospect 
 of success was darkened by this public failure. He knew that 
 it was successful, and believed the world would yet acknowledge 
 it. The Professor renewed the experiment in Washington, in 
 December, by carrying his wires through the canal, and then 
 with perfect success. Both of these experiments are mentioned 
 in detail in his letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, December 
 23, 1844. 
 
 The Tails had been among his best friends, and were still 
 warmly attached to him and his work. To them he turned in 
 the hope of obtaining the means to enable him to go to Wash- 
 ington, and make one more effort to secure the assistance of 
 Government. To his application for a small sum of money, he 
 received the following reply, which showed him very clearly 
 that, hereafter, his only reliance must be on Grod and himself : 
 
 Hon. George Vail to Professor Morse. 
 
 "Speedwell Iron-Works, December 3, 1842. 
 " S. F. B. Morse, Esq. 
 
 " Dear Sie : Your favor is at hand. I had expected that my 
 father would visit you, but he could not go out in the snow-storm 
 of Wednesday, and, if he had, I do not think any thing could in- 
 duce him to raise the needful for the prosecution of our object. He 
 says : ' Tell Mr. Morse that there is no one that I would sooner 
 assist than him, if I could, but, in the present posture of my affairs, 
 I am not warranted in undertaking any thing more than to make 
 my payments as they become due, of which they are not a few.' 
 He thinks that Mr. S might soon learn how to manage it ; and, 
 
444 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 as he is there, it would save a great expense. I do not myself know 
 that he could learn ; but, as my means are nothing at the present 
 time, I can only wish you success, if you go on. 
 
 " I am yours truly, George Vail." 
 
 This letter cut off the last earthly hope of the disappointed 
 and despairing inventor. There was a double significance in its 
 last words. Mr. Tail referred merely to Professor Morse's wish 
 to go on to Washington to make his last appeal for Government 
 assistance. But, to his sensitive mind, it was a suggestion that 
 all he could expect of aid was the good wishes of his friends, if 
 he were to go on with his fond scheme of an electric telegraph 
 •to cover the earth. Mr. Coffin, the agent who had promised so 
 much aid, and had been so unsuccessful in the previous session 
 of Congress, renewed his application to be again employed. But 
 Professor Morse wrote to him that he ha'd determined to go to 
 Washington himself, and that he believed it indispensable to 
 success that he should give his personal attention to the busi- 
 ness. 
 
 The Hon. C. G. Ferris, of New York, of the Committee on 
 Commerce, having taken a deep interest in the Telegraph, and 
 fully appreciating its prospective value to the world, sought to 
 make himself thoroughly acquainted with all the principles and 
 facts involved, that he might intelligently press the subject 
 upon the attention of Congress. At his request, Professor 
 Morse wrote the following letter and petition : 
 
 8. F B. Morse to the Hon. C. G. Ferris. 
 
 " New York, December 6, 1842. 
 
 " Dear Sir : In compliance with your request, I give you a 
 slight history of my electro-magnetic telegraph, since it was pre- 
 sented for the consideration of Congress, in the year 1838. 
 
 " During the session of the Twenty-fifth Congress, a report was 
 made by the Committee on Commerce of the House, which con- 
 cluded by unanimously submitting a bill appropriating thirty thou- 
 sand dollars for the purpose of testing my system of electro-mag- 
 netic telegraphs. The pressure of business at the close of that 
 session prevented any action being taken upon it. 
 
 " Before the session closed, I visited England and France, for 
 the double purpose of submitting my invention to the test of 
 
LETTER TO MR. FERRIS. 445 
 
 European criticism, and to secure to myself some remuneration for 
 my large expenditures of time and money in elaborating my inven- 
 tion. In France, after a patent had been secured in that country, 
 my telegraph first attracted the attention of the Academy of Sci- 
 ences, and its operation was shown, and its principles were ex- 
 plained, by the celebrated philosopher, Arago, in the session of 
 that distinguished body of learned men, on September 10, 1838. 
 Its reception was of the most enthusiastic character. Several other 
 societies, among which were the Academy of Industry and the 
 Philotechnic Society, appointed committees to examine and report 
 upon the invention, from all of which I received votes of thanks, 
 and from the former the large medal of honor. The French Gov- 
 ernment at this time had its attention drawn to the subject of 
 electric telegraphs, several systems having been presented for its 
 consideration, from England, Germany, and France. Through the 
 kind offices of our minister at the French Court, General Cass, my 
 telegraph was also submitted ; and the Minister of the Interior (M. 
 Montalivet) appointed a commission, at the head of which was 
 placed M. Alphonse Foy, the administrator-in-chief of the tele- 
 graphs of France, with directions to examine and report upon all 
 the various systems which had been presented. The result of this 
 examination (in which the ingenious systems of Professor Wheat- 
 stone, of London, of Professor Steinheil, of Munich, and Professor 
 Masson, of Caen, passed in review) was a report to the minister in 
 favor of mine. In a note addressed to me by M. Foy, who had ex- 
 pressed his warmest admiration of my telegraph in my presence, he 
 thus writes : 
 
 " ' I take a true pleasure in confirming to you in writing that 
 which I have already had the honor to say to you viva voce, that I 
 have prominently presented (signale) to monsieur the Minister of 
 the Interior your electro-magnetic telegraph, as being the system 
 which presents the best chance of a practical application ; and I 
 have stated to him that, if some trials are to be made with electric 
 telegraphs, I hesitate not to recommend that they should be made 
 with your apparatus.' 
 
 " In England my application for a patent for my invention was 
 opposed before the Attorney-General by Professor Wheatstone and 
 Mr. Davy, each of whom had systems already patented, essentially 
 like each other, but very different from mine. A patent was denied 
 me by the Attorney-General, Sir John Campbell, on a plea which I 
 am confident will not bear a legal examination. But there being 
 
446 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 no appeal from the Attorney-General's decision, nor remedy, ex- 
 cept at enormous exjjense, I am deprived of all benefit from my 
 invention in England. Other causes than impartial justice evi- 
 dently operated against me. An interest for my invention, how- 
 ever, sprung up voluntarily, and quite unexpectedly, among the 
 English nobility and gentry in Paris, and, had I possessed the 
 requisite funds to prosecute my rights before the British Parlia- 
 ment, I could scarcely have failed to secure them, so powerfully 
 was I supported by this interest in my favor ; and I should be un- 
 grateful did I not take every opportunity to acknowledge the kind- 
 ness of the several noblemen and gentlemen who volunteered to 
 aid me in obtaining my rights in England, among the foremost of 
 whom were the Earl of Lincoln, the late celebrated Earl of Elgin, 
 and the Hon. Henry Drummond. 
 
 " I returned to the United States in the spring of 1839, under 
 an engagement entered into in Paris with the Russian Councilor 
 of State, the Baron Alexandre de Meyendorf, to visit St. Peters- 
 burg with a distinguished French savant, M. Amj'ot, for the pur- 
 pose of establishing my telegraphic system in that country. The 
 contract, formally entered into, was transmitted to St. Petersburg, 
 for the signature of the emperor, which I was led to believe would 
 be given without a doubt ; and, that no time should be lost in my 
 preparations, the contract, duly signed, was to be transmitted to 
 me in New York, through the Russian ambassador in the United 
 States, in four or five weeks, at farthest, after my arrival home. 
 
 " After waiting, in anxious suspense, for as many months, with- 
 out any intelligence, I learned indirectly that the emperor, from 
 causes not satisfactorily explained, refused to sign the contract. 
 
 "These disappointments (not at all affecting the scientific or 
 practical character of my invention), combined with the financial 
 depression of the country, compelled me to rest a while from fur- 
 ther prosecuting my enterprise. For the last two years, however, 
 under many discouraging circumstances, from want of the requisite 
 funds for more thoroughly investigating some of the principles in- 
 volved in the invention, I have, nevertheless, been able to resolve 
 all the doubts that lingered in my own mind, in regard to the per- 
 fect practicability of establishing my telegraphic system to any 
 extent on the globe. I say, 'doubts that lingered in my own 
 mind ; ' the principle, and indeed the only one of a scientific char- 
 acter, which at all troubled me, I will state, and the manner in 
 which it has been resolved : 
 
FAVORABLE EXPERIMENTS. 447 
 
 " At an early stage of my experiments, I found that the mag- 
 netic power produced in an electro-magnet, by a single galvanic 
 pair, diminished rapidly as the length of the conductors increased. 
 Ordinary reasoning on this fact would lead to a conclusion fatal to 
 the whole invention, since at a great distance I could not operate 
 at all, or, in order to operate, I should be compelled to make use of 
 a battery of such a size as would render the whole plan in effect 
 impracticable. I was, indeed, aware that, by multiplying the pairs 
 in the battery — that is, increasing the intensity of its propulsive 
 power — certain effects could be produced at great distances, such as 
 the decomposition of water, a visible spark, and the deflection of 
 the magnetic needle. But as magnetic effects, except in the latter 
 case, had not, to my knowledge, been made the subject of careful 
 experiment, and as these various effects of electrical action seemed, 
 in some respects, to be obedient to different laws, I did not feel 
 entirely assured that magnetism could be produced by a multiplica- 
 tion of pairs sufficiently powerful at a great distance to effect my 
 purpose. From a series of experiments which I made, in conjunc- 
 tion with Professor Fisher, during the last summer, upon thirty 
 three miles of wire, the interesting fact so favorable to my tele- 
 graphic system was fully verified, that, while the distance increased 
 in an arithvietical ratio, an addition to the series of galvanic pairs 
 of plates increased the magnetic power in a geometric ratio. Fifty 
 pairs of plates were used as a constant power. Two miles of con- 
 ductors at a time, from two to thirty-three, were successively added 
 to the distance. The weight upheld by the magnet from the mag- 
 netism produced by fifty pairs, gradually diminished up to the dis- 
 tance of ten miles ; after which, the addition of miles of wire up to 
 thirty-three miles (the extent to which we were able to try it) 
 caused no further visible diminution of power. The weight then 
 sustained was a constant quantity. The practical deduction from 
 these experiments is the fact that, with a very small battery, all 
 the effects I desire, and at any distance, can be produced. In the 
 experiments alluded to, the fifty pairs did not occupy a space of 
 more than eight cubic inches, and they comprised but fifty square 
 inches of active surface. 
 
 " The practicability of establishing my telegraphic system is thus 
 relieved from all scientific objections. 
 
 " Let me now turn your attention, sir, one moment, to a con- 
 sideration of the telegraph as a source of revenue. The imperfec- 
 tions of the common systems, particularly their uselessness, on ac- 
 
448 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, 
 
 count of the weather, three-quarters of the time, have concealed 
 from view so natural a fruit of a perfected telegraphic system. So 
 uncertain are the common telegraphs as to time, and so meagre in 
 the quantity of intelligence they can transmit under the most favor- 
 able circumstances, that the idea of making them a source of reve- 
 nue would not be likely to occur. So far, indeed, from being a 
 source of revenue, the systems in common use in Europe are sus- 
 tained at great expense ; an expense which, imperfect as they are, 
 is justified, in the view of the Government, by the great political 
 advantages which they produce. Telegraphs with them are a gov- 
 ernment monopoly, and used only for government purposes. They 
 are in harmony with the genius of those governments. The people 
 have no advantage from them, except indirectly as the government 
 is benefited. Were our mails used solely for the purpose of the 
 Government, and private individuals forbidden to correspond by 
 them, they would furnish a good illustration of the operation of the 
 common European telegraphic systems. 
 
 " The Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, I would fain think, is more 
 in consonance with the political institutions under which we live, 
 and is fitted, like the mail system, to diffuse its benefits alike to the 
 Government and to the people at large. 
 
 " As a source of reve?iue, then, to the Government, few, I be- 
 lieve, have seriously computed the great profits to be derived from 
 such a system of telegraphs as I propose ; and yet there are sure 
 data already obtained by which they can be demonstrated. 
 
 " The first fact is, that every minute of the twenty-four hours 
 is available to send intelligence. 
 
 " The second fact is, that twelve signs, at least, can be sent in 
 a minute, instantaneously, as any one may have proof by actual 
 demonstration of the fact, on the instrument now operating in the 
 Capitol. 1 
 
 " There can be no doubt that the cases, where such speed}' 
 transmission of intelligence from one distant city to another is de- 
 sirable, are so numerous, that, when once the line is made for such 
 transmission, it will be in constant use, and a demand made for a 
 greater number of lines. 
 
 " The paramount convenience, to commercial agents and others, 
 of thus corresponding at a distance, will authorize a rate of postage 
 proportionate to the distance, on the principle of rating postage by 
 the mails. 
 
 1 Ninety-eight, per minute, can now be sent (1845). 
 
CALCULATION OF PROFITS. 449 
 
 " To illustrate the operation of the telegraph in increasing the 
 revenue, let us suppose that but eighteen hours of the twenty- 
 four are efficiently used for the actual purposes of revenue ; that 
 six hours are allowed for repetitions and other purposes, which 
 is a large allowance. This would give, upon a single circuit, 12,960 
 signs per day, upon which a rate of postage is to be charged. 
 Intelligence of great extent may be comprised in a few signs. Sup- 
 pose the following commercial communication is to be transmitted 
 from New York to New Orleans : 
 
 * ' Yrs., Dec. 21, rec. Buy 25 bales c, at 9, and 300 pork, at 8.' 
 
 "Here are thirty-six signs, which take three minutes in the 
 transmission from New York to New Orleans, and which informs 
 the New York merchant's correspondent at New Orleans of the 
 receipt of a certain document, and gives him orders to purchase 
 twenty-five bales of cotton at nine cents per pound, and three hun- 
 dred barrels of pork at eight cents per pound. Thus may be com- 
 pleted, in three minutes, a transaction in business which now would 
 take at least four or five weeks to accomplish. 
 
 " Suppose that one cent per sign be charged for the first 100 
 miles, increasing the charge at the rate of half a cent, each addi- 
 tional 100 miles, the postage of the above communication would 
 be $2.88 for a distance of 1,500 miles. It would be sent 100 miles 
 for 36 cents. Would any merchant grudge so small a sum for 
 sending such an amount of information in so short a time to such 
 a distance ? If time is money, and to save time is to save money, 
 surely such an immense saving of time is the saving of an immense 
 sum of money. A telegraphic line of a single circuit only, from 
 New York to New Orleans, would realize, then, to the Government, 
 daily, in the correspondence between those two cities alone, over 
 one thousand dollars, gross receipts, or over $300,000 per annum. 
 
 " But it is a well-established fact that, as facilities of inter- 
 course increase between different parts of the country, the greater 
 is that intercourse. Thousands travel, in this day of railroads and 
 steamboats, who never thought of leaving their homes before. 
 Establish, then, the means of instantaneous communication be- 
 tween the most distant places, and the telegraphic line of a single 
 circuit will very soon be insufficient to supply the demands of the 
 public — they will require more. 
 
 " Two circuits will of course double the facilities, and double the 
 revenue / but it is an important fact that the expense of afterward 
 establishing a second, or any number of circuits, does not proceed 
 29 
 
450 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 on the doubling principle. If a channel for conveying a single cir- 
 cuit be made, in the first instance, of sufficient capacity to contain 
 many more circuits, which can easily be done, additional circuits 
 can be laid as fast as they are called for, at but little more than the 
 cost of the prepared wire. The recent discovery of Professor Fisher 
 and myself shows that a single wire may be made the common con- 
 ductor for at least six circuits. How many more we have not yet 
 ascertained. So that to add another circuit is but to add another 
 wire. Fifty dollars per mile, under these circumstances, would, 
 therefore, add the means of doubling the facilities and the revenue. 
 
 " Between New York and Philadelphia, for example, the whole 
 cost of laying such an additional circuit would be but 15,000, which 
 would be more than defrayed by two months' receipts only from the 
 telegraphs between these two cities. 
 
 " There are two modes of establishing the line of conductors. 
 
 " The first and cheapest is doubtless that of erecting spars about 
 30 feet in height and 350 feet apart, extending the conductors along 
 the tops of the spars. This method has some obvious disadvan- 
 tages. The expense would be from $350 to 1400 per mile. 
 
 " The second method is that of inclosing the conductors in leaden 
 tubes, and laying them in the earth. I have made the following 
 estimate of the cost of this method : 
 
 Wire, prepared, per mile $150 00 
 
 Lead pipe, with solderings 250 00 
 
 Delivery of the pipe and wire . . . . . . 25 00 
 
 Passing wire into the pipes 5 00 
 
 Excavations and filling in about 1,000 yards per mile, or 3 feet 
 
 deep, at 15 cents per square yard .... - 150 00 
 
 Laying down the pipe 3 00 
 
 $583 00 
 
 One register, with its machinery, comprising a galvanic battery 
 
 of four pairs of my double-cup battery .... $100 00 
 One battery of 200 pairs . 100 00 
 
 Expense for thirty-nine miles $22,837 00 
 
 Two registers . . ... . . ... . 200 00 
 
 Two batteries . . . 200 00 
 
 Services of chief superintendent of construction per annum . 2,000 00 
 
 Services of three assistants, at $1,500 each, per annum . 4,500 00 
 
 $29,637 00 
 " As experience alone can determine the best mode of securing 
 
PROFESSOR STEINHEIL. 451 
 
 the conductors, I should wish the means and opportunity of trying 
 various modes to such an extent as will demonstrate the best. 
 
 " Before closing my letter, sir, I ought to give you the proofs I 
 possess that the American Telegraph has the priority in the time 
 of its invention. 
 
 " The two European Telegraphs in practical operation are Pro- 
 fessor Steinheil's, of Munich, and Professor Wheatstone's, of Lon- 
 don. The former is adopted by the Bavarian Government; the 
 latter is established about 200 miles in England, under the direction 
 of a company in London. In a highly-interesting paper on the 
 subject of telegraphs, translated and inserted in the London An- 
 nals of Electricity , March and April, 1839, Professor Steinheil gives 
 a brief sketch of the. various projects of electric telegraphs, from 
 the time of Franklin's electrical experiments to the present day. 
 Until the birth of the science of electro-magnetism, generated by 
 the important discovery of Oersted, in 1820, of the action of elec- 
 tric currents upon the magnetic needle, the Electric Telegraph was 
 but a philosophic toy, complicated and practically useless. Let it 
 be here noticed that, after the discovery of Oersted, the deflection 
 of the needle became the principle upon which the savants of Europe 
 based all their attempts to construct an electric telegraph. The 
 celebrated Ampere, in the same year of Oersted's discovery, sug- 
 gested a plan of telegraphs, to consist of a magnetic needle, and a 
 circuit for each letter of the alphabet and the numerals — making 
 it necessary to have some sixty or seventy wires between the two 
 termini of the telegraphic line. 
 
 " The suggestion of Ampere is, doubtless, the parent of all the 
 attempts in Europe, both abortive and successful, for constructing 
 an electric telegraph. 
 
 "Under this head may be arranged the Baron Schilling's at 
 St. Petersburg, consisting of thirty-six needles, and upward of sixty 
 metallic conductors, and invented, it seems, at the same date with 
 my Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, in the autumn of 1832. Under 
 the same head comes that of Professors Gauss and Weber, of Got- 
 tingen, in 1833, who simplified the plan by using but a single needle 
 and a single circuit. Professor Wheatstone's, of London, invented 
 in 1837, comes under the same category ; he employs five needles 
 and six conductors. Professor Steinheil's, also invented in 1837, 
 employs two needles and two conductors. 
 
 " But there was another discovery in the infancy of the science 
 of electro-magnetism, by Ampere and Arago, immediately conse- 
 
452 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 quent on that of Oersted, namely, the electro-magnet ■, which none 
 of the savants of Europe who have planned electric telegraphs ever 
 thought of applying, until within two years past, for the purpose of 
 signals. My Telegraph is essentially based on this latter discovery. 
 
 " Supposing my Telegraph to be based on the same principle 
 with the European electric telegraphs, which it is not, mine, having 
 been invented in 1832, would still have the precedence, by some 
 months at least, of Gauss and Weber's, to whom Steinheil gives 
 the credit of being the first to simplify and make practicable the 
 Electric Telegraph. But when it is considered that all the Eu- 
 ropean telegraphs make use of the deflection of the needle to ac- 
 complish their results, and that none use the attractive power of the 
 electro-magnet to write in legible characters, I think I can claim, 
 without injustice to others, to be the first inventor of the Electro- 
 Magnetic Telegraph. 
 
 "In 1839 I visited London, on my return from France, and, 
 through the polite solicitations of the Earl of Lincoln, showed and 
 explained its operation at his house, on the 19th of March, 1839, to 
 a large company which he had expressly invited for the purpose, 
 composed of Lords of the Admiralty, members of the Royal Society, 
 and members of both Houses of Parliament. 
 
 " Professor Wheatstone has announced that he has recently 
 (in 1840) also invented and patented an electro-magnetic telegraph, 
 differing altogether from his invention of 1837, which he calls his 
 Magnetic-Needle Telegraph. His is, therefore, the first European 
 electro-magnetic telegraph, and was invented, as is perceived, eight 
 years subsequent to mine, and one year after my Telegraph was 
 exhibited in the public manner described at the Earl of Lincoln' 's 
 residence in London. 
 
 " I am the more minute in adducing this evidence of priority 
 of invention to you, sir, since I have frequently been charged by 
 Europeans, in my own country, with merely imitating long-known 
 European inventions. It is, therefore, due to my own country, as 
 well as to myself, that in this matter the facts should be known. 
 
 " Professor Steinheil's telegraph is the only European telegraph 
 that professes to write the intelligence. He records, however, by 
 the delicate touch of the needle in its deflections, with what practi- 
 cal effect I am unable to say ; but I should think that it was too 
 delicate and uncertain, especially as compared with the strong and 
 efficient power which may be produced in any degree by the elec- 
 tro-magnet. 
 
AGAIN IN WASHINGTON. 453 
 
 " I have devoted many years of my life to this invention, sus- 
 tained in many of the disappointments by the belief that it is des- 
 tined eventually to confer immense benefits upon my country and 
 the world. 
 
 " I am persuaded that whatever facilitates intercourse between 
 the different portions of the human family will have the effect, 
 under the guidance of sound moral principles, to promote the best 
 interests of man. I ask of Congress the means of demonstrating 
 its efficiency. 
 
 " I remain, sir, with great respect, your most obedient servant, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 "Hon. Charles G. Ferris, 
 
 " Member of the House of Representatives from the city of Neio York, and one 
 of the Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the subject of the 
 expediency of adopting a system of electro-magnetic telegraphs for the United 
 States." 
 
 Immediately after this letter was sent, Professor Morse once 
 more appeared at the seat of government, to press bis impor- 
 tunate suit for aid. Christopher Columbus was not more per- 
 sistent under discouragements. In the Capitol Professor Morse 
 again mounted his wires and implored the members of Congress 
 and officers of the Government to come and see. An incident 
 occurred at this time that greatly cheered him, though it was in 
 itself of very little moment. Mr. Tuckerman, in his " Lives of 
 the Painters," records it as having occurred after the appropria- 
 tion by Congress was made, but it happened while making 
 preparations for the exhibition of the instrument : 
 
 "A striking evidence of the waywardness of destiny is af- 
 forded by the experience of this artist, if we pass at once from 
 this early and hopeful moment to a more recent incident. He then 
 aimed at renown, through devotion to the beautiful ; but it would 
 seem as if the genius of his country, in spite of himself, led him to 
 this object by the less flowery path of utility. He desired to 
 identify his name with art, but it has become far more widely asso- 
 ciated with science. A series of bitter disappointments obliged 
 him to ' coin his mind for bread,' for a long period of exclusive 
 attention to portrait-painting, although at rare intervals he accom- 
 plished something more satisfactory. More than thirty years since, 
 on a voyage from Europe, in a conversation with his fellow-passen 
 gers, the theme of discourse happened to be. the electro-magnet; 
 
454 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and one gentleman present related some experiments he had lately 
 witnessed at Paris, which proved the almost incalculable rapidity 
 of movement with which electricity was disseminated. The idea 
 suggested itself to the active mind of the artist, that this wonderful 
 and but partially explored agent might be rendered subservient to 
 that system of intercommunication which had become so important 
 a principle of modern civilization. He brooded over the subject as 
 he walked the deck, or lay wakeful in his berth, and, by the time he 
 arrived at New York, had so far matured his invention as to have 
 decided upon a telegraph of signs, which is essentially that now in 
 use. After having sufficiently demonstrated his discovery to the 
 scientific, a long period of toil, anxiety, and suspense, intervened 
 before he obtained the requisite facilities for the establishment of 
 the magnetic telegraph. It is now in daily operation in the United 
 States, and its superiority over all similar inventions abroad was 
 confirmed by the testimony of Arago and the appropriation made 
 for its erection by the French Government. 
 
 " By one of those coincidences which would be thought appro- 
 priate for romance, but which are more common, in fact, than the 
 unobservant are disposed to confess, these two most brilliant events 
 in the painter's life — his first successful work of art and the triumph 
 of his scientific discovery — were brought together, as it were, in a 
 manner singularly fitted to impress the imagination. Six copies of 
 his ' Dying Hercules ' had been made in London, and the mould 
 was then destroyed. Four of these were distributed by the artist 
 to academies, one he retained, and the last was given to Mr. Bull- 
 finch, the architect of the Capitol, who was engaged at the time 
 upon that building. After the lapse of many years, an accident 
 ruined Morse's own copy, and a similar fate had overtaken the 
 others, at least in America. After vain efforts to regain one of 
 these trophies of his youthful career, he at length despaired of 
 seeing again what could not fail to be endeared to his memory by 
 the most interesting associations. One day he was superintending 
 the preparations for the first establishment of his telegraph in the 
 room assigned at the Capitol. His perseverance and self-denying 
 labor had at length met its just reward, and he was taking the first 
 active step to obtain a substantial benefit from his invention. It 
 became necessary, in locating the wires, to descend into a vault 
 beneath the apartment, which had not been opened for a long period. 
 A man preceded the artist with a lamp. As they passed along the 
 subterranean chamber, the latter's attention was attracted by some- 
 
FAVORABLE REPORT. 455 
 
 thing white glimmering through the darkness. In approaching the 
 object, what was his surprise to find himself gazing upon his long- 
 lost Hercules, which he had not seen for twenty years ! A little 
 reflection explained the apparent miracle. This was undoubtedly 
 the copy given to his deceased friend the architect, and temporarily 
 deposited in the vault for safety, and undiscovered until after his 
 death." 
 
 On the last day but one of this year, 1842, Mr. Ferris sub- 
 mitted to Congress the report and bill which resulted in fa- 
 vorable action. It is in these words : 
 
 Mr. Ferris, from the Committee on Commerce, made the following 
 Report, December 30, 1842 : 
 
 That they regard the question, as to the general utility of the 
 telegraphic system, settled by its adoption by the most civilized na- 
 tions ; and experience has fully demonstrated the great advantages 
 which may be derived from its use. Its capability of speedily trans- 
 mitting intelligence to great distances, for national defense, and for 
 other purposes, where celerity is desirable, is decidedly superior to 
 any of the ordinary modes of communication in use. By it, the 
 first warning of approaching danger, and the appearance of hostile 
 fleets and armies on our coasts and borders, may be announced si- 
 multaneously and at the most distant points of our widely-extended 
 empire, thus affording time and opportunity for concentrating the 
 military force of the country, for facilitating military and naval 
 movements, and for transmitting orders suitable to the emergency. 
 
 In the commercial and social affairs of the community, occasions 
 frequently arise in which the speedy transmission of intelligence 
 may be of the highest importance for the regulation of business 
 transactions, and in relieving the anxious solicitude of friends, as to 
 the health and condition of those in whose fortunes they feel an in- 
 terest. 
 
 The practicability of establishing telegraphs on the electric prin- 
 ciple is no longer a question. Wheatstone, of London, and his as- 
 sociates, have been more fortunate than our American inventor, in 
 procuring the means to put his ingenious system into practical use 
 for two or three hundred miles, in Great Britain ; and the move- 
 ments of the cars on the Blackwall Railroad are at this time di- 
 rected with great economy, and perfect safety to life and property, 
 by means of his magnetic needle telegraph. If a system more 
 complicated and less efficient than the American telegraph is oper- 
 
4:56 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ated for great distances in England, with such eminent success and 
 advantage, there can be no reasonable doubt that, if the means be 
 furnished for putting in operation the system of Professor Samuel 
 F. B. Morse, of New York, the original inventor of the electro-mag- 
 netic telegraph, the same, if not greater success, will be the result. 
 Your committee are of opinion that it is but justice to Professor 
 Morse, who is alike distinguished for his attainments in science and 
 excellence in the arts of design, and who has patiently devoted 
 many years of unremitting study, and freely spent his private for- 
 tune, in inventing and bringing to perfection a system of telegraphs 
 which is calculated to advance the scientific reputation of the coun- 
 try, and to be eminently useful, both to the Government and the 
 people, that he should be furnished with the means of competing 
 with his European rivals. 
 
 Professor Morse bases his system upon the two following facts 
 in science : 
 
 1. That a current of electricity will pass to any distance along a 
 conductor connecting the two poles of a voltaic battery or generator 
 of electricity, and produce visible effects at any desired points on 
 that conductor. 
 
 2. That magnetism is produced in a piece of soft iron (around 
 which the conductor, in its progress, is made to pass) when the 
 electric current is permitted to flow, and that the magnetism ceases 
 when the current of electricity is prevented from flowing. This cur- 
 rent of electricity is produced and destroyed by breaking and clos- 
 ing the galvanic circuit at the pleasure of the operator of the tele- 
 graph, who in this manner directs and controls the operation of a 
 simple and compact piece of mechanism, styled the register, which, 
 at the will of the operator at the point of communication, is made 
 to record, at the point of reception, legible characters, on a roll of 
 paper put in motion at the same time with the writing instrument. 
 These characters the inventor has arranged into a conventional 
 alphabet, and which is capable of being learned and used with very 
 little practice. 
 
 Professor Morse has submitted his telegraphic plan to the severe 
 scrutiny of European criticism ; and the Academy of Sciences, of 
 Paris, the highest scientific tribunal in the world, hailed it with en- 
 thusiasm and approbation, when its operation was exhibited, and its 
 principles explained, by their distinguished perpetual secretary, M. 
 Arago. 
 
 It appears, from documents produced by Professor Morse, that 
 
OTHER SYSTEMS. 457 
 
 the thanks of the several learned bodies in France were voted to 
 him for his invention, and the large medal of honor was awarded to 
 him by the Academy of Industry. It further appears that several 
 other systems of telegraphs on the electric plan (among which were 
 Wheatstone's, of London ; Steinheil's, of Munich ; and Masson's, of 
 Caen) had been submitted at various times for the consideration of 
 the French Government, who appointed a commission to examine 
 and report on them all, at the head of which commission was placed 
 the administrator-in-chief of the telegraphs of France (M. Foy), 
 who, in a note to Professor Morse, thus writes : 
 
 " I take a true pleasure in confirming to you in writing that 
 which I have already had the honor to say to you viva voce — that 
 I have prominently presented to Monsieur the Minister of the Inte- 
 rior your electro-magnetic telegraph, as being the system which 
 presents the best chance of a practical application ; and I have de- 
 clared to him that, if some trials are to be made with electric tele- 
 graphs, I do not hesitate to recommend that they should be made 
 with your apparatus." 
 
 Your committee, in producing further evidence of the approba- 
 tion by the scientific world of the system of Professor Morse, would 
 cite the letter of Professor Henry, of Princeton College, well known 
 for his eminent attainments in electrical science, in the appendix of 
 this report. 
 
 More recently, a committee, consisting of some of our most dis- 
 tinguished scientific citizens, was appointed by the American Insti- 
 tute, of New York, to examine and report upon this telegraph, who 
 made the report in the appendix. In compliance with the rec- 
 ommendation of this report, the Institute awarded to Professor 
 Morse the gold medal. 
 
 Besides the evidence these testimonials furnish of the excellence 
 of Professor Morse's system, your committee, as well as the greater 
 part of the members of both Houses of Congress, have had a prac- 
 tical demonstration of the operation of the electro-magnetic tele- 
 graph, and have witnessed the perfect facility and extraordinary 
 rapidity with which a message can be sent by means of it from one 
 extremity of the Capitol to the other. This rapidity is not con- 
 fined in its effects to a few hundred feet, but science makes it certain 
 that the same effects can be produced at any distance on the globe, 
 between any two given points connected by the conductors. 
 
 Your committee have alluded to other electric telegraphs ; for, 
 as is not uncommon in the birth of great inventions, scientific minds 
 
458 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 have, at nearly the same period of time, in various parts of Europe, 
 conceived and planned electric telegraphs ; but it is a matter of 
 national pride, that the invention of the first electro-magnetic tele- 
 graphy by Professor Morse, as well as the first conception of using 
 electricity as the means of transmitting intelligence, by Doctor 
 Franklin, is the offspring of American genius. 
 
 Your committee beg leave to refer to the letter of Professor 
 Morse, in the appendix, to C. G. Ferris, one of the committee, 
 giving, at his request, a brief history of the telegraph since it was 
 before Congress in 1838, for some interesting information concern- 
 ing it, and for Professor Morse's estimate of the probable expense 
 of establishing his system of telegraphs for thirty or forty miles. 
 
 They would also refer to the House document, No. 15 (Decem- 
 ber 6, 1837), and to House report, No. 753 (April 6, 1838), for val- 
 uable information on the subject of telegraphs. 
 
 Your committee invite special attention to that part of Professor 
 Morse's letter which details the plan of a revenue which may be 
 derived from his telegraphic system, when established to an extent 
 sufficient for the purpose of commercial and general intelligence. 
 From these calculations, made upon safe data, it is probable that an 
 income would be derived from its use by merchants and citizens 
 more than sufficient to defray the interest of the capital expended 
 in its establishment. So inviting, indeed, are the prospects of profit 
 to individual enterprise, that it is a matter of serious consideration, 
 whether the Government should not, on this account alone, seize 
 the present opportunity of securing to itself the regulation of a sys- 
 tem which, if monopolized by a private company, might be used to 
 the serious injury of the Post-Office Department, and which could 
 not be prevented without such an interference with the rights of 
 the inventor and of the stockholders as could not be sustained by 
 justice or public opinion. 
 
 After the ordeal to which the electro-magnetic telegraph sj^stem 
 has been subjected, both in Europe and in America, and the voice of 
 the scientific world in its favor, it is scarcely necessary for your com- 
 mittee to say that they have the fullest confidence in Professor 
 Morse's plan, and they earnestly recommend the adoption of it by 
 the Government of the United States. They deem it most fortu- 
 nate that no definite system of telegraphs should hitherto have been 
 adopted by the Government, since it enables them to establish this 
 improved system, which, in the opinion of your committee, is decid- 
 edly superior to any other now in use, possessing an advantage over 
 
THE APPROPRIATION BILL. 459 
 
 telegraphs depending on vision, inasmuch as it may be used both 
 by night and day, in all weathers, and in all seasons of the } 7 ear, 
 with equal convenience ; and, also, possessing an advantage over 
 electric telegraphs heretofore in use, inasmuch as it records, in per- 
 manent legible characters on paper, any communication which may 
 be made by it, without the aid of any agent at the place of record- 
 ing, except the apparatus which is put in motion at the point of 
 communication. Thus, the recording apparatus, called the register, 
 may be left in a closed chamber, where it will give notice of its 
 commencing to write, by a bell, and the communication may be 
 found on opening the apartment. Possessing these great advan- 
 tages, and the means of communication not being liable to interrup- 
 tion by the ordinary contingencies which may impede or prevent 
 the successful action of other telegraphs, the advantages to be de- 
 rived from it will soon be apparent to the community, and it will 
 become the successful rival of the Post-Office, when celerity of com- 
 munication is desired, and create a revenue from which this system 
 of telegraphs may be extended and ramified through all parts of the 
 country, without imposing any burden upon the people or draughts 
 on the treasury, beyond the outlay for its first establishment. 
 
 As a first step toward the adoption of this system of telegraphs 
 by the Government, your committee recommend the appropriation 
 of thirty thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of 
 the Postmaster-General, in constructing a line of electro-magnetic 
 telegraphs, under the superintendence of Professor Samuel F. B. 
 Morse, of such length, and between such points, as shall fully test 
 its practicability and utility ; and for this purpose they respectfully 
 submit the following bill : 
 
 A Sill to test the Practicability of establishing a System of Elec- 
 tro-Magnetic Telegraphs by the United States. 
 
 JBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Represeyitatives of 
 the United States in Congress assembled, That the sum of thirty 
 thousand dollars be, and is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys 
 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for testing the capacity 
 and usefulness of the system of electro-magnetic telegraphs invented 
 by Samuel F. B. Morse, of New York, for the use of the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, by constructing a line of said electro- 
 magnetic telegraphs, under the superintendence of Professor Samuel 
 F. B. Morse, of such length and between such points as shall fully 
 test its practicability and utility ; and that the same shall be ex- 
 
460 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 pended under the direction of the Postmaster-General upon the ap- 
 plication of said Morse. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General 
 be, and he is hereby authorized to pay, out of the aforesaid thirty 
 thousand dollars, to the said Samuel F. B. Morse, and the persons 
 employed under him, such sums of money as he may deem to be a 
 fair compensation for the services of the said Samuel F. B. Morse 
 and the persons employed under him, in constructing and in super- 
 intending the construction of the said line of telegraphs authorized 
 by this bill. 
 
 To us, with, the triumphs of the Telegraph before us, and 
 its incorporation into the business and intercourse of the world, 
 so as to have become as essential as steam, it seems incredible, 
 after the complete success of the initial experiment, that Con- 
 gress should have so little faith as to hesitate to make the slight 
 appropriation required to test it practically over a space of thirty 
 or forty miles. But it had some believing friends. The Com- 
 missioner of Patents, Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, was one of its ear- 
 liest and firmest supporters. He was ardently interested in the 
 inventor. He received him into his own family, cheered him 
 in his retirement, sustained his flagging energies, and smoothed 
 his path with unceasing kindness and hopes of ultimate sue 
 cess. Several members of Congress — Kennedy, of Maryland ; 
 Mason, of Ohio ; "Wallace, of Indiana ; Ferris and Boardman, of 
 New York; Holmes, of South Carolina; Aycrigg, of New Jer- 
 sey, and others — supported the measure with energy and ability. 
 The favorable report of the bill from the Committee of Commerce 
 was the closing and encouraging point in the history of the Tele- 
 graph for the year 1842. Ten years had elapsed since, on board 
 the ship, the scheme of the Telegraph, connecting cities and 
 continents, had dawned upon the mind of the inventor. Appar- 
 ently he had often been upon the point of seeing his dreams 
 made real by the practical faith of his country. Doomed to 
 disappointment and driven to the verge of despair, he persevered 
 with that energy which faith only inspires. Another year — 1843 
 — the year of success, the year to be hereafter associated with 
 that of 1832 in the history of the Telegraph, at length opened 
 in the life of the inventor. Day after day he stood at his in- 
 strument, meekly and sometimes tearfully explaining to sue- 
 
DEBATE IN THE HOUSE. 461 
 
 cessive visitors its operations. One and another member of 
 Congress came, saw, heard, and went away believing. Others 
 mocked. The most were silent, waiting to see what would 
 come of it. Two months of the year were nearly spent, and 
 Congress would expire within a week. Hope was more slowly 
 expiring in the breast of the anxious inventor. In vain were 
 his entreaties. His predictions were as those of a mad prophet. 
 At last, on the 21st day of February, 1843, the Hon. John P. 
 Kennedy submitted a resolution, that " the bill appropriating 
 thirty thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of 
 the Secretary of the Treasury, in a series of experiments to test 
 the expediency of the Telegraph projected by Professor Morse, 
 should be passed." The debate that followed is fortunately not 
 preserved in the journals of the day nor in the official reports. 
 That it was exceedingly discreditable to the intelligence of an 
 American Congress is abundantly evident in the meagre report 
 that remains. The Congressional Globe, professing to give ver- 
 batim reports of the proceedings, disposes of the discussion in a 
 few lines, and this fact is perhaps the most striking evidence of 
 the utter indifference of the public to the subject. Every word 
 of the debate in the Globe is here given : 
 
 [From the Congressional Globe, February 21, 1843.] 
 ELECTRO AND ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Kennedy, of Maryland, the committee took 
 up the bill to authorize a series of experiments to be made, in order 
 to test the merits of Morse's electro-magnetic telegraph. The bill 
 appropriates thirty thousand dollars, to be expended under the di- 
 rection of the Postmaster-General. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Kennedy, the words " Postmaster-General " 
 were stricken out and Secretary of the Treasury inserted. 
 
 Mr. Cave Johnson wished to have a word to say upon the bill. 
 As the present had done much to encourage science, he did not 
 wish to see the science of mesmerism neglected and overlooked. 
 He therefore proposed that one-half of the appropriation be given 
 to Mr. Fisk, to enable him to carry on experiments, as well as Pro- 
 fessor Morse. 
 
 Mr. Houston thought that Millerism should also be included in 
 the benefits of the appropriation. 
 
 Mr. Stanly said he should have no objection to the appropria- 
 
462 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tion for mesmeric experiments, provided the gentleman from Ten- 
 nessee (Mr. Cave Johnson) was the subject. [A laugh.] 
 
 Mr. Cave Johnson said he should have no objection, provided 
 the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Stanly) was the operator. 
 [Great laughter.] 
 
 Several gentlemen called for the reading of the amendment, 
 and it was read by the clerk, as follows : 
 
 " Provided, that one-half of the said sum shall be appropriated 
 for trying mesmeric experiments, under the direction of the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury." 
 
 Mr. S. Mason rose to a question of order. He maintained that 
 the amendment was not bona fide, and that such amendments were 
 calculated to injure the character of the House. He appealed to 
 the Chair to rule the amendment out of order. 
 
 The chairman said it was not for him to judge of the motives 
 of members in offering amendments, and he could not, therefore, 
 undertake to pronounce the amendment not bona fide. Objections 
 might be raised to it on the ground that it was not sufficiently anal- 
 ogous in character to the bill under consideration, but, in the opin- 
 ion of the Chair, it would require a scientific analysis to determine 
 how far the magnetism of mesmerism was analogous to that to be 
 employed in telegraph. [Laughter.] He therefore ruled the amend- 
 ment in order. 
 
 On taking the vote, the amendment was rejected — yeas 22, 
 nays not counted. 
 
 The bill was then laid aside, to be reported. 
 
 ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 February 23, 1843. 
 On motion by Mr. J. P. Kennedy, the bill making appropriation 
 to test the value of Morse's magnetic telegraph was taken up, and, 
 under the operation of the previous question, passed — yeas 89, 
 nays 83. 
 
 Professor Morse sat in the gallery while the vote was taken, 
 his frame trembling with intense anxiety, and his soul strug- 
 gling at that moment for the aid of an unseen power in which 
 lie believed and trusted in his darkest hours. It was carried. 
 The majority was small — only six — but it was on the right side. 
 The bill had passed the House. So far the victory was his. 
 "When the votes were recorded, they were found to stand — yeas 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE VOTE. 
 
 463 
 
 90, nays 82 — majority 8. Professor Morse subjected them to 
 analysis and classification, and the table remained among his 
 papers throughout his life. 
 
 Vote on the Telegraphy February 23, 1843, in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 Maine , . . . 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 Massachusetts . . . 
 Rhode Island. . . . 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 Vermont 
 
 New York 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 Pennsylvania. . . . 
 
 Delaware 
 
 Maryland 
 
 Virginia 
 
 North Carolina. . 
 South Carolina. . 
 
 Neutral. 
 
 Teas. 
 
 Nays. 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 Georgia . . 
 Kentucky , 
 Tennessee , 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Louisiana , 
 Indiana . . , 
 Mississippi 
 Illinois 
 Alabama ., 
 Missouri . , 
 Arkansas . 
 
 10 
 
 Teas. 
 
 3 
 1 
 10 
 2 
 3 
 
 90 
 
 Nays. 
 
 82 
 
 This table is suggestive, and will reward a careful study. 
 On the same day Professor Morse wrote to Hon. F. O. J. 
 Smith : 
 
 " The long agony (truly agony to me) is over ; for you will per- 
 ceive, by the papers of to-morrow, that, so far as the House is con- 
 cerned, the matter is decided. My bill has passed by a vote of 
 eighty-nine to eighty-three, a close vote, you will say ; but explained 
 upon several grounds, not affecting the disposition of many individ- 
 ual members, who voted against i#, to the invention. In matter, 
 six votes are as good as a thousand, so far as the appropriation is 
 concerned. The yeas and nays will tell you who were friendly, and 
 who adverse to the bill. Ixshall now bend all my attention to the 
 Senate. There is a good disposition there, and I am now strongly 
 encouraged to think that my invention will be placed before the 
 country in such a position as to be properly appreciated, and to 
 yield to all its proprietors a proper compensation. I have no desire 
 to vaunt my exertions, but I can truly say that I have never passed 
 so trying a period as the last two months. Professor Fisher (who 
 has been of the greatest service to me) and I have been busy from 
 morning till night every day since we have been here. 
 
 " I have brought him on with me at my expense, and he will be 
 
464 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 one of the first assistants in the first experimental line if the bill 
 passes. I shall want to see the proprietors together very soon after 
 my return to New York. Drop me a line after you receive this, and 
 let me know what you now think of matters. I received your letter 
 in answer to mine some time since. I intended to reply, but was 
 prevented by press of business at that time. All I will now say is, 
 it was just such a letter as I expected from my friend Smith. My 
 feelings at the prospect of success are of a joyous character, as you 
 may well believe, and one of the principal elements of my joy is, 
 that I shall be enabled to contribute to the happiness of all who 
 formerly assisted me, some of whom are at present specially de- 
 pressed." 
 
 On the same day the Professor wrote to Mr. Alfred Yail : 
 
 " You will perceive, by the papers to-morrow, that my bill appro- 
 priating thirty thousand dollars for a trial of the Telegraph, has just 
 passed the House by a vote of eighty-nine to eighty-three. It is 
 read a second time in the Senate, and I am now strongly in hopes 
 that it will be carried through the latter body, and become a law 
 before the 4th of March. You can have but a faint idea of the sac- 
 rifices and trials I have had in getting the Telegraph thus far before 
 the country and the world. I cannot detail them here ; I can only 
 say that, for two years, I have labored all my time, and at my own 
 expense, without assistance from the other proprietors (except in 
 obtaining the iron of the magnets for the last instruments obtained 
 of you), to forward our enterprise ; my means to defray my expenses, 
 to meet which, every cent I owned in the world was collected, are 
 nearly all gone ; and if, by any means, the bill should fail in the 
 Senate, I shall return to New York, with the fraction of a dollar 
 in my pocket." 
 
 "I watched," says the Professor, writing to a friend in after- 
 years of this memorable day, " with intense interest the prog- 
 ress and vicissitudes of the measure, through the House and then 
 through the Senate. I had staked all I possessed on the issue. 
 After much tantalizing delay the vote was taken in the House amid 
 many attempts, by ridicule, to defeat the measure. One member 
 moved that a portion of the appropriation should be given to a lect- 
 urer on animal magnetism, to experiment on that subject, which 
 motion was tested and negatived by a vote and a count by tellers ; 
 another motion was made that a portion should be given to experi- 
 ment on a railroad to the moon ; but, after much skirmishing of this 
 
PASSAGE OF THE BILL. 465 
 
 sort, the vote was taken on the bill as reported from the committee, 
 and passed by a small majority. Notwithstanding this vote in the 
 House, there seemed to be a determination on the part of some in 
 the House, as was reported to me, to procure its defeat in the Senate. 
 The amount of business before the Senate rendered it more and 
 more doubtful, as the session drew to a close, whether the House 
 bill on the Telegraph would be reached; and on the last day, the 
 3d of March, 1843, I was advised, by one of my senatorial friends, 
 to make up my mind for failure, as he deemed it next to impossible 
 that it could be reached before the adjournment. The bill, however, 
 was reached a few moments before midnight, and passed. This 
 was the turning-point in the history of the Telegraph. My personal 
 funds were reduced to the fraction of a dollar, and, had the passage 
 of the bill failed from any cause, there would have been little pros- 
 pect of another attempt on my part to introduce to the world my 
 new invention." 
 
 In the gallery of the Senate Professor Morse had sat all the 
 last day and evening of the session. At midnight the session 
 would close. Assured by his friends that there was no possi- 
 bility of the bill being reached, he left the Capitol and retired to 
 his room at the hotel, dispirited, and wellnigh broken-hearted. 
 As he came down to breakfast the next morning, a young lady 
 entered, and, coming toward him with a smile, exclaimed : 
 
 " I have come to congratulate you ! " 
 
 " For what, my dear friend 1 " asked the Professor, of the 
 young lady, who was Miss Annie Gr. Ellsworth, daughter of his 
 friend the Commissioner of Patents. 
 
 " On the passage of your bill." 
 
 The Professor assured her it was not possible, as he re- 
 mained in the Senate-Chamber until nearly midnight, and it was 
 not reached. She then informed him that her father was present 
 until the close, and, in the last moments of the session, the bill 
 was passed without debate or division. Professor Morse was 
 overcome by the intelligence, so joyful and unexpected, and 
 gave at the moment to his young friend, the bearer of these 
 good tidings, the promise that she should send the first message 
 over the first line of telegraph that was opened. To his partner, 
 Mr. Smith, he announced the result, dating his letter incor- 
 rectly, in the excitement of the hour : 
 30 
 
466 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 "Washington, March 3, 1843. 
 " Well, my dear sir, the matter is decided. The Senate have 
 just passed my bill without division, and loithout opposition, and 
 it will probably be signed by the President in a few hours. This I 
 think is news enough for you at present, and, as I have other letters 
 that I must write before the mail closes, I must say good-by until I 
 see you, or hear from you. Write to me in New York, where I 
 hope to be by the latter part of next week." 
 
 On the same day Professor Morse wrote to Mr. Yail these 
 calm but cheerful words : 
 
 " You will be glad to learn, doubtless, that my bill has passed 
 the Senate without a division, and without opposition, so that now 
 the telegraphic enterprise begins to look bright. I shall want to 
 see you in New York after my return, which will probably be the 
 latter part of next week. I have other letters to write, so excuse 
 the shortness of this, which, if short, is sweet, at least. My kind 
 regards to your father, mother, brothers, sisters, and wife. The 
 whole delegation of your State, without exception, deserve the 
 highest gratitude of us all." 
 
 That is the most cheerful letter he had written in ten years. 
 It is " short, but sweet," and expressed the joy of his heart at 
 the appropriation by Government of the means by which his 
 long and painful struggle was to be made a permanent success. 
 
 DEATH OF WASHINGTON" ALLSTOK. 
 
 In the midst of his elation in the prospect of now seeing his 
 Telegraph fully developed, an event occurred that deeply touched 
 him, and with sorrow more intense than the death of any one 
 but his wife had ever brought with it. 
 
 The friendship of Allston and Morse had been intimate and 
 beautiful. On the part of Morse it was in some degree filial. 
 The condescension and kindness of the teacher, while Morse was 
 his pupil, were such as to draw him to the heart of Allston as 
 to an equal and friend. 
 
 Mr. Morse received the stunning intelligence of the death of 
 Allston, which occurred July 9, 1843, and hastened to Boston 
 and Cambridge to the house of his departed friend. The brush 
 
ALLSTON'S LAST LETTER TO MORSE. 467 
 
 with which Allston was engaged at the time of his departure 
 was still moist with the paint that he was laying upon the last 
 canvas that he had touched, " The Feast of Belshazzar." Mr. 
 Morse begged this as a memorial of his friend. He afterward 
 presented it to the National Academy of Design, where it is 
 preserved with care. 
 
 Saddened by this bereavement, he returned after the funeral 
 to ISTew York and "Washington, with the feeling that one less 
 was living to rejoice in the success that was now opening before 
 him. Allston had been among the first to congratulate him, 
 when the appropriation bill passed the House. The last letter 
 Professor Morse ever received from him contained these cheer- 
 ing words : 
 
 "March 24, 1843. 
 " All your friends here join me in rejoicing at the passing of 
 the act of Congress, appropriating thirty thousand dollars toward 
 carrying out your Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. I congratulate you 
 with all my heart. Shakespeare says, ' There is a tide in the af- 
 fairs of men that, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.' You are 
 now fairly launched on what I hope will prove to you another Pac- 
 tolus. I pede fausto ! This has been but a melancholy year to 
 me. I have been ill with one complaint or another nearly the 
 whole time ; the last disorder, the erysipelas, but this has now near-:, 
 ly disappeared. I hope this letter will meet you as well in health 
 as I take it you are now in spirits." 
 
 Professor Morse replied : 
 
 " I thank you, my dear sir, for your congratulations in regard to 
 my telegraphic enterprise. I hope I shall not disappoint the ex- 
 pectations of my friends. I shall exert all my energies to show a 
 complete and satisfactory result. When I last wrote you from 
 Washington, I wrote under the apprehension that my bill would 
 not be acted upon, and that I should have another year's perplex- 
 ing delay, and consequently I wrote in very low spirits. ' What 
 has become of Painting ? ' I think I hear you ask. Ah, my dear sir, 
 when I have diligently and perseveringly wooed the coquettish 
 jade for twenty years, and she then jilts me, what can I do ? But 
 I do her injustice, she is not to blame, but her guardian for the time 
 being. I shall not give her up yet in despair, but pursue her even 
 with lightning, and so overtake her at last. I am now absorbed in 
 my arrangements for fulfiling my designs with the Telegraph, in 
 
468 LIFE o;F SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 accordance with the act of Congress. I know not that I shall be 
 able to complete my experiment before Congress meet again, but I 
 shall endeavor to show it to them at their next session." 
 
 Professor Morse requested the brother-in-law of Mr. Allston 
 to write him a letter, giving a minute account of the last mo- 
 ments in the life of the illustrious painter, and Mr. Dana com- 
 plied with his request within a week after the mournful event 
 occurred. It is in these beautiful words : 
 
 " Boston, July 14, 1843. 
 " My dear Sir : Your old friend, and one who spoke of you 
 often with deep affection, was taken from us most suddenly, and I 
 may say most unexpectedly ; for, though he seemed to be failing 
 fast, his friends had no suspicion of a disease of the organs that 
 would take him away instantly. The great arteries were not es- 
 sentially impaired ; but one or two that fed the heart itself were 
 "ossified. "While none of the intestinal organs would be said to be 
 in a healthy state, none, with the exception of those I have men- 
 tioned as being ossified, were in so diseased a condition that he 
 
 might not have lived some years longer. So long ago as when 
 
 took a bust of him, his friends thought he would not live long ; but 
 he recruited. The winter before last he was severely ill, and we 
 feared for him then. From that attack he but partially recovered, 
 and from that time was plainly, with short terms of a better state, 
 a broken-down, failing man. His strength was not sufficient for 
 his labor; and, while his intellect was as clear as ever, it was evi- 
 dent that the servant, the body, was too much weakened to do its 
 appointed work. He spoke of himself as an old, broken-down 
 man. It was plain, his wife says, from the dreadful depression he 
 was under for the last ten months, when his friends were not round 
 him, that he was suffering under the apprehension he should not 
 have strength to finish what he was about. God, in his mercy, 
 spared him from living on with this thought to prey upon him, and 
 took him away in a moment, but with a touch as gentle as the 
 breaking morning light. Both my sisters and my daughter were 
 there, preparatory to leaving him for the summer. All but my 
 daughter went to bed. She sat talking with him. He was strongly 
 attached to her ; and had spoken of her most affectionately, as he 
 was wont to do, the last time I saw him. ' I like to talk to her, for 
 she always takes my meaning at once,' he said to me. He said many 
 kind things to her this last night. * You are my niece,' said he. ' You 
 
ALLSTON'S DEATH-SCENE. 469 
 
 are more to me — you are my child. There are relations nearer 
 than those of blood.' Twice he put his arms gently round her, and 
 the second time kissed her forehead, and then lowered his head for 
 her to kiss his cheek. He then looked upward, and his eyes were 
 as if he was seeing into the world of holiness and all peace, and 
 he said, ' I want you to be perfect, perfect.' . . . ' I do not feel like 
 talking,' he soon added, sat down, drew a chair to him for her to 
 sit by him, took her hand, and occasionally spoke in somewhat the 
 same strain. Between twelve and one o'clock he complained of a 
 pain in the chest; he had felt the same once before, about three 
 weeks previous to this. She advised his taking something for it, 
 not thinking of it, however, as any thing of much importance ; so 
 that, when he went up to his wife's chamber to get what she rec- 
 ommended, she herself went off to bed. He moved about as usual, 
 and, when his wife offered to go down and prepare something, he 
 , answered : ' Oh, no ! I can do it just as well myself.' He went 
 down again. She stopped to get something which she thought he 
 might want, and followed him in five minutes. She found him sit- 
 ting in his usual place, with his writing apparatus, which he had 
 just taken out, near him, his feet on the hearth, and his head rest- 
 ing on the back of his chair, in just the position in which he often 
 took his nap. She went up to him ; his eyes were open, and, from 
 their appearance, she thought he might have fainted. They were 
 all instantly with him. One of my sisters said to him, ' Mr. Allston, 
 we are all here.' His eyes soon closed. A physician was called, 
 they, in the mean time, doing all they could to revive him. There 
 is very little doubt that life had stopped when his wife reached him. 
 His physician says that he must have gone without a moment's 
 pain — that it was a mere closing. 
 
 " So beautiful an expression as was on his face, as he lay sleep- 
 ing in Jesus, I never saw on the face of man. Spirits were with his 
 spirit. And a most humble being he was before his God. In 
 Christ and the great atonement was his only trust. Trust, do I say ? 
 it was his realized, fervid life. Not a fortnight before his death he 
 opened his whole soul to the clergyman here — a mcst interesting 
 man — who told me that such childlike, undoubting faith, it was 
 delightful to sit and hear poured forth. Let us all pray that we 
 may be prepared to meet him in that world where anguish of mind 
 which the circumstances of life brought upon him, and which was 
 the prime cause that broke him down, is all passed away, and he 
 now a blessed spirit among the blessed ! 
 
470 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " I am aware how much your time is occupied, yet I must beg 
 of you to look over your letters, and to let me have any that you 
 may have of Allston. Depend upon it they will not be used in any 
 way that you would think objectionable. I must further request 
 of you to begin from your first acquaintance with him, and to write 
 me all that you can recollect about him — his doings — his sayings. 
 And I beg of you to give me your views of him as an artist ; there 
 are very few qualified to do this. It will be in safe hands ; and I 
 trust some memoir of him will be prepared. I need not urge this 
 a second time ; for, busy as you are, I know that love can find time 
 to do what it would, and I know that you loved Allston exceed- 
 ingly. My heart can hardly bear it when I think what his beauti- 
 ful spirit suffered, and yet it is continually going back to it. The 
 God of peace be with you ! Richard H. Dana. 
 
 "To Samuel F. B. Morse, Esq." 
 
 A few days afterward Mr. Dana wrote again : 
 
 "My dear Sir: I wrote you' a few days ago. Since that time 
 I have seen the account of the meeting of your Academy, and find 
 that a committee is appointed to procure a bust of our departed 
 friend. I write again thus early to make you acquainted with the 
 fact that we employed Brackett, the afternoon of poor Allston's 
 death, to take a cast from the face. We did this because, all the 
 time that Clevenger was here, Allston was in a wretched state 
 of health, suffering under almost continual pain in the face, pro- 
 ducing an expression of distress and a rigid state of the muscles. 
 So ill was he, that a friend, who had seen him for two or three 
 months, upon coming out of the painting-room, where he was sit- 
 ting to Clevenger, said to me : ' Allston cannot stay with us much 
 longer; that Clevenger did so well as he has done in the marble, is 
 surprising.' But so beautiful was the countenance after death, so 
 softened the muscles, and rounded and smoothed the face, that he 
 looked as he did years back, before disease and distress of mind had 
 so preyed upon him. Brackett has this advantage, besides having 
 seen Mr. A. in better states of health than C. was fortunate enough 
 to see him in. He has long had a great desire to model Mr. A.'s 
 head ; and of his power his bust of me, but especially that of Bry- 
 ant, may be said to settle the question. ... I have written to you 
 rather than to the committee, as I am but slightly acquainted with 
 only one of them, Mr. Gray ; and what I might say to you, as Mr. 
 A.'s friend, I could not say without some appearance of improper 
 interference. 
 
ALLSTON'S LAST PICTURE. 471 
 
 " My sister is calm ; it seems almost as if he had left her the in- 
 fluence of his spirit as he departed. But in Christ is her, and, I 
 trust, our support. 
 
 " I cannot seal this without telling you how deeply touched we 
 all were with what you said of poor A. It was the heart pouring 
 out its sorrows. You know not, my dear sir, with what affection 
 Allston always spoke of you, and, let me add, how highly he 
 thought of your powers as an artist. 
 
 " Very sincerely yours, 
 
 "Richard H. Dana." 
 
 The condition in which Allston's " Belshazzar " was left by 
 his sudden death led to an earnest request from the family 
 that Professor Morse would come and give his opinion as to the 
 best course to be pursued in putting it into a state for exhibi- 
 tion. He went immediately, upon receiving a request to that 
 effect from Mr. Franklin Dexter, and on his return Mr. Dana 
 writes to him : 
 
 " Your coming immediately upon a line from Mr. Dexter was no 
 more than what we expected ; for we knew well how deep was your 
 love for our departed friend, and that you would not account any 
 thing as labor or trouble which concerned his memory. At the 
 same time it was very gratifying to us all, and a true comfort. . . . 
 
 " I wish you could have seen more of Allston, particularly within 
 the last year of his life. Frequent use of terms, and especially a 
 cant use of them, is apt to deaden their force and significancy, 
 even with those who have a spirit fitted for them ; yet, let me say, 
 that, if ever heavenly-mincledness showed itself in its life and 
 beauty, it made itself visible in the mind of Allston — humble, child- 
 like — himself nothing, Christ all things — love overflowed him, and 
 the harmony of the upper world permeated him, and harmonized 
 for him all Nature and all art. These were not separated from his 
 religious life, because they were taken up into it and sanctified and 
 made beautiful. How few really feel and understand that term, 
 the beauty of holiness ! ' Yet one is almost afraid to speak in this 
 way, so mournfully has a self-presuming spiritualism desecrated 
 spiritual things. May God bless you, my dear sir ; and, through the 
 trials which He has laid upon you, may you be fitted for that pros- 
 perity which, in his good providence, I trust, is now awaiting you ! " 
 
 That Allston lived to see the great work of his pupil and 
 
472 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 friend accomplished was a source of the highest satisfaction to 
 Mr. Morse. It was his justification for having turned away 
 from his profession as an artist to make an achievement in 
 science which was destined to confer happiness upon his fellow- 
 men. The appropriation of the money by Congress for build- 
 ing the line from Baltimore to "Washington was the act that 
 gave not only the pledge of success, but also the means of its 
 final accomplishment. Mr. Morse was now emphatically alone 
 in the world. His wife, his parents, Leslie, Allston, West, and 
 all those to whom his early years of struggle had been known, 
 were dead. He had made new acquaintances and associations, 
 but friendships formed after middle life never take the place 
 of those with which the pursuits and aspirations of youth are 
 identified. 
 
CHAPTEE XI. 
 1843-1844:. 
 
 PEEPAEATIONS TO LAY THE FIEST LINE — USE OF TUBES UNDEEGEOUND — 
 EZEA OOENELL — TUBES ABANDONED — LINES PUT UPON POLES — EXPEEI- 
 MENTS "WITH 160 MILES OF "WIEE — PEOFESSOE HENBY's LETTEE — PEOGEESS 
 OF THE "WOEK — NATIONAL WHIG CONVENTION — NOMINATION OF HENEY 
 CLAY ANNOUNCED AT "WASHINGTON BY TELEGEAPH — THE LINE COMPLETE 
 — THE FIEST MESSAGE — TEIUMPH OF THE LNVENTOE — HIS LETTEE TO 
 
 BISHOP STEVENS NATIONAL DEMOCEATIO CONVENTION JAMES K. POLK 
 
 NOMINATED — CONFEEENOE "WITH SILAS "WEIGHT "WOEKING OF THE TELE- 
 GEAPH — PEOFESSOE MOESE'S EEPOET OF THE COMPLETION OF THE LINE 
 — ENTHUSIASM OF THE PEESS AND THE PUBLIC! — TELEGEAPH OFFEEED TO 
 THE GOVEENMENT — DETEEMESTCNG THE LONGITUDE. 
 
 THE appropriation by Congress having been made, Professor 
 Morse proceeded with energy and delight to construct the 
 first line of his Electric Telegraph. It was obviously important 
 that it should be laid where it would the most powerfully attract 
 the attention of the Government, the country, and the world, 
 and this consideration decided the question in favor of a line 
 between "Washington and Baltimore. Professor Morse, without 
 any delay, addressed these communications to the Secretary of 
 
 the Treasury : 
 
 "Washington, March 8, 1843. 
 
 " To the Son. the Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to inclose to you the .report of the 
 House Committee of Commerce, on the subject of my Electro-Mag- 
 netic Telegraph. The bill which accompanies the report has become 
 a law, and I am desirous, with the least possible delay, to commence 
 my operations, that I may have the telegraphic line contemplated 
 by the bill completed, ready for your next report, and for the ex- 
 amination of the next Congress. I am aware that just at this mo- 
 
474 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ment your valuable time must be occupied in the more pressing 
 duties of your new office, and I am therefore unwilling to intrude* 
 upon you. But as there is some preliminary information necessary 
 in order that you may form the better judgment on those subjects 
 submitted to you, particularly as to the eligibility of the route to 
 be determined for the trial, I will proceed immediately to ascertain 
 these points, and will return to Washington and wait upon you 
 again when you are more at leisure. I have thought, if it should 
 meet your approbation, of establishing the telegraphic line between 
 Baltimore and Washington, but whether along the line of the turn- 
 pike or railroad, cannot well be determined until I can have an inter- 
 view with the stockholders of the two companies. 
 
 " With sincere respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Mouse." 
 
 "Washington, D. C, March 10, 1843. 
 
 " Dear Sir : In compliance with your request this morning, I 
 give you the plan I propose for my operations, in fulfillment of the 
 design contemplated by the act of the late Congress ' to test the 
 practicability and efficacy ' of my system of Electro-Magnetic Tele- 
 graphs. I propose immediately to procure the necessary quantity 
 of wire, which must first be prepared with its insulating covering 
 before the subsequent operation of inclosing in tubes, or laying 
 them in the earth, can be performed. Many interesting experiments 
 bearing upon the general result can then be tried before the wire 
 is inclosed. When inclosed in tubes other experiments of the same 
 character may be tried before laying them in the ground. The tele- 
 graphic instruments should also be in progress of making. I propose 
 to lay the experimental line between Baltimore and Washington. 
 I propose to make some experiments on the forms of galvanic bat- 
 teries, and magnets, and in modes of crossing rivers, with the elec- 
 tric fluid. I desire to have two assistants, to aid me in my labors, 
 Professor Fisher and Professor Gale, of New York, who have been 
 for a long time associated with me in my experiments. 
 
 " In regard to the kind of tubes necessary, Colonel Talcott, to 
 whom you had the kindness to give me a letter, is decidedly of opin- 
 ion that lead is preferable to all other substances, both for durabil- 
 ity and cheapness. For the proposed experiment at least, I think 
 lead is preferable. 
 
 " I have copied below the general estimate. 
 
 " I would say in conclusion that I shall remain in the city until 
 
ESTIMATE OF COST. 475 
 
 Monday morning, and will call at the chief clerk's office in the De- 
 partment before three o'clock to-morrow (Saturday) for the Honor- 
 able Secretary's answer, if ready ; if not, I should feel obliged to 
 have his answer forwarded to me in New York, where my address 
 is No. 142 Nassau Street. 
 
 " I remain with sincere respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 "S. F. B. Moese. 
 
 " To the Hon. J. 0. Spencer, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 ," General Estimate for the Experimental Essay with the Electro- Magnetic 
 Telegraph, provided for oy the Act of Twenty-seventh Congress, Third 
 Session, Mouse Bill 641. 
 
 1. Rooms to be rented for preparing the work, per annum, . $600 00 
 
 2. Copper wire, No. 16, and its preparation with cotton and 
 
 insulating varnish, four lengths of forty miles, . . 6,000 00 
 
 3. Lead pipe for forty miles, 10,000 00 
 
 4. Delivery of the pipe and wire, and passing the wire into the 
 
 pipe, 1,400 00 
 
 5. Machinery, registers, and correspondents, galvanic batteries, 
 
 magnets, acids, etc., 500 00 
 
 6. Survey of the route between Baltimore and Washington, both 
 
 railroad and turnpike, uncertain, say, . . . 300 00 
 
 V. Engineering, laying down and protecting wires, . . 6,120 00 
 
 8. Experiments on forms of batteries, etc., not more than . 500 00 
 
 $25,420 00" 
 
 To this letter he received the following reply : 
 
 "Treasury Department, Washington, March 14, 1843. 
 
 " Sir : I have received your communication of the 10th instant, 
 stating the plan of operations you propose, for fulfilling the object 
 of the act of Congress to test the practicability of establishing a 
 system of Electro-Magnetic Telegraphs by the United States. 
 
 " In general, I approve the plan proposed by you. The compen- 
 sation of the two assistants whom you propose to employ ought, 
 however, to be fixed before they are engaged, and you will report 
 to the Department the amount or rate which you deem reasonable. 
 Some arrangement in respect to your own compensation should also 
 be made, either in reference to the whole undertaking, or to the 
 time which may be devoted to it. 
 
 " In order to preserve a proper check over the expenditures, and 
 to conform to the established practice of the Department, previous to 
 the conclusion of any contract for materials, or for any work by the 
 job, you will submit the same to this Department for its approval. 
 
476 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Of course this does not apply to the hiring of laborers by the day 
 or the month, although the rates of wages proposed to be paid, in 
 such case, should be submitted to the Department. An advance of 
 a reasonable sum, to enable you to commence your operations, will 
 be made on your requisition, stating the amount and object, and 
 designating the place at which you desire the same to be paid or 
 transmitted to you. And, as the operations proceed, such sums will 
 be paid from time to time, as may be necessary, on similar requisi- 
 tions. As you will be held accountable for all moneys paid on your 
 application, you will find it necessary to be exceedingly careful to 
 take vouchers in duplicate for all sums expended by you. You 
 will be required to account monthly, at least, for the amounts re- 
 ceived, and no advance or payments will be made while there shall 
 remain any considerable sum unaccounted for. It may be well for 
 you to devolve on one of your assistants the duties of a disbursing 
 agent, and of keeping the accounts of the experiment. 
 " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " J. C. Spencer, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 " To Samuel F. B. Moese, Esq." 
 
 Keturning to New York, Mr. Morse proceeded without de- 
 lay to organize the system for the construction of the experi- 
 mental line. He writes to Mr. Tail : 
 
 "New York, March 15, 1843. 
 " You will not fail, with your brother, and, if possible, your 
 father, to be in New York on Tuesday, the 21st, to meet the propri- 
 etors of the Telegraph. I was upon the point of coming out this 
 afternoon to Speedwell to see you, with young Mr. Serrell, the 
 patentee of the lead-pipe machine, which I think promises to be the 
 best for our purposes, of all that have been invented, as to it can 
 be applied ' a mode of filling lead-pipes with wire,'' for which Pro- 
 fessor Fisher and myself have entered a caveat at the Patent- 
 Office." 
 
 Mr. Tail replied : 
 
 " As an assistant in the telegraphic experiment contemplated 
 by act of Congress, lately passed, I can superintend and procure 
 the making of the instruments complete according to your direc- 
 tion, namely, the register, the correspondents with their magnets, 
 the batteries, the reels and the paper, and will attend to the pro- 
 curing of the acids, the ink, and the preparation of the various 
 
ASSISTANTS APPOINTED. 477 
 
 stations. I will assist in fitting the tubes with, wire, and the resin- 
 ous coating, etc., and I will devote my whole time and attention to 
 the business, so as to secure a favorable result, and, should you wish 
 to devolve upon me any other business connected with the Tele- 
 graph, I will cheerfully undertake it. Three dollars per diem, with 
 travelling expenses, I shall deem a satisfactory salary." 
 
 Mr. Morse immediately appointed as bis assistants Professor 
 L. D. Gale and Professor J. C. Fisher. Mr. Yail was to devote 
 his time and attention to the making of instruments under the 
 direction of Mr. Morse, and to the purchase of materials. Pro- 
 fessor Fisher was to superintend the preparation of the wire, 
 from its manufacture to the placing of it in the tubes, as origi- 
 nally proposed. Professor Gale was to give his personal atten- 
 tion to the work of construction at such points as Mr. Morse 
 should consider necessary. Mr. Morse himself, as general su- 
 perintendent, under the appointment of the Government, 
 gave attention to the minutest details. Every cent that was 
 disbursed passed through his hands. In point of accuracy, 
 attention to the smallest expenditures, the preservation of 
 vouchers, and the presentation of accounts, General Washing- 
 ton himself, whose books are models for all disbursing officers, 
 was not more precise, lucid, and correct. Mr. Morse made 
 monthly reports to the Secretary of the Treasury, presenting 
 the exact state of his accounts, together with vouchers for all 
 his expenditures. Duplicates of these, carefully preserved, pre- 
 sent the most beautiful evidence of his particularity in the man- 
 agement of business matters, and his fidelity in public trusts. 
 
 Mr. Ezra Cornell 1 had invented a machine to lay pipe, to 
 contain conducting-lines for telegraphic purposes, and he was 
 employed to take charge of the works, under the superintend- 
 ence of Mr. Morse. The work was commenced at the old 
 Baltimore and Washington Depot, on the hill, on the east side 
 of the railroad-track, and was continued until it was satisfac- 
 torily proved, by repeated experiments, that the plan of tubes 
 in the earth would not succeed. Two-thirds of the appropria- 
 
 1 Mr. Cornell, who was thus early connected with the Telegraph, being employed 
 at a salary of one thousand dollars a year, became one of the most successful con- 
 structors and largest proprietors of telegraphs, and the founder of Cornell Univer- 
 sity. 
 
478 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tion were expended, and it was estimated that it would require 
 nearly as large a sum as the original appropriation to complete 
 the work, with no prospect of success when it was finished. 
 When the pipe had been laid as far as the Relay House, Pro- 
 fessor Morse came to Mr. Cornell and expressed a desire to have 
 the work arrested until he could try further experiments, but 
 he was very anxious that nothing should be said or done to give 
 to the public the impression that the enterprise had failed. Mr. 
 Cornell said he could easily manage it, and stepping up to 
 the machine, which was drawn by a team of eight mules, he 
 cried out, " Hurrah, boys ! we must lay another length of pipe 
 before we quit." The teamsters cracked their whips over 
 the mules, and they started on a livery pace. Mr. Cornell 
 grasped the handles of the plough, and, watching an opportuni- 
 ty, canted it so as to catch the point of a rock, and broke it to 
 pieces, while Professor Morse stood looking on. Consultations, 
 long and painful, followed. The anxiety of Professor Morse 
 at this period was greater than at any previous hour known 
 in the history of his invention. Some that were around him 
 had serious apprehensions that he would not stand up under 
 the pressure. Professor Morse's account of the abandonment 
 of the tubes and the employment of poles was given in these 
 words : 
 
 " Much time and expense were lost in consequence of ray fol- 
 lowing the plan adopted in England of laying the conductors be- 
 neath the ground. At the time the Telegraph bill was passed, 
 there had been about thirteen miles of telegraph-conductors, for 
 Professor Wheatstone's telegraph system in England, put into 
 tubes and interred in the earth ; and there was no hint publicly 
 given that that mode was not perfectly successful. I did not feel, 
 therefore, at liberty to expend the public moneys in useless experi- 
 ments on a plan which seemed to be already settled as effective in 
 England. Hence I fixed upon this mode as one supposed to be the 
 best. It was prosecuted till the winter of 1843-'44. It was aban- 
 doned, among other reasons, in consequence of ascertaining that, in 
 the process of inserting the wire into the leaden tubes (which was 
 at the moment of forming the tube from the lead at melting heat), 
 the insulating covering of the wires had become charged at various 
 and numerous points of the line to such an extent that greater 
 
TELEGRAPH ON POLES. 479 
 
 delay and expense would be necessary to repair the damage than 
 to put the wire on posts. In my letter to the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, of September 27, 1837, one of the modes of laying the 
 conductors for the Telegraph was the present almost universal one 
 of extending them on posts set about two hundred feet apart. This 
 mode was adopted with success." 
 
 In his letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, dated Sep- 
 tember 27, 1837, he said : " If the circuit is laid through the 
 air, the first cost would, doubtless, be much lessened. Stout 
 spars, of some thirty feet in height, well planted in the ground, 
 and placed about three hundred and fifty feet apart, would, 
 in this case, be required, along the tops of which the circuit 
 might be stretched." Mr. Cornell remembers an interesting 
 discussion which now arose as to the mode of fastening the wires 
 to the poles. He says : 
 
 " In the latter part of March Professor Morse gave me the order 
 to put the wires on poles, and the question at once arose as to the 
 mode of fastening the wires to the poles, and the insulation of them 
 at the point of fastening. I submitted a plan to the Professor 
 which, I was confident, would be successful as an insulating me- 
 dium, and which was easily available then, and inexpensive. Mr. 
 Vail also submitted a plan for the same purpose, which involved 
 the necessity of going to New York or New Jersey to get it exe- 
 cuted. Professor Morse gave preference to Mr. Vail's plan, and 
 started for New York to get the fixtures, directing me to get the 
 wire ready for use, and arrange for setting the poles. At the end 
 of a week Professor Morse returned from New York, and came to 
 the shop where I was at work, and said he wanted to provide the 
 insulators for putting the wires on the poles upon the plan I had 
 suggested, to which I responded: 'How is that, Professor? I 
 thought you had decided to use Mr. Vail's plan.' Professor Morse 
 replied : ' Yes, I did so decide, and on my way to New York, where 
 I went to order the fixtures, I stopped at Princeton, and called on 
 my old friend Professor Henry, who inquired how I was getting 
 along with my Telegraph. I explained to him the failure of the 
 insulation in the pipes, and stated that I had decided to place the 
 wires on poles in the air. He then inquired how I proposed to 
 insulate the wires when they were attached to the poles. I showed 
 him the model I had of Mr. Vail's plan, and he said, " It will not 
 
480 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 do ; you will meet the same difficulty you had in the pipes." I then 
 explained to him your plan, which he said would answer.' " 
 
 In August, 1843, he wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 giving the result of some important experiments : 
 
 " New York, August 10, 1843. 
 
 " Sie : I have the honor herewith to transmit my fifth monthly 
 report of expenditures, under the act of the last Congress, for ' test- 
 ing the practicability of establishing a system of Electro-Magnetic 
 Telegraphs for the United States.' 
 
 " I also take this opportunity of communicating to the Honor- 
 able Secretary the result of the experiments, made on the 8th in- 
 stant, with the prepared wire in one continuous line of one hun- 
 dred and sixty miles. Professors Renwick, Draper, Ellet, and 
 Schaeffer, with my assistants, Professors Pisher and Gale, were 
 present by invitation ; Professors Silliman, Henry, Torrey, and Dr. 
 Chilton, were also invited, but were prevented by official duties 
 from attending. 
 
 " In the letter to the Honorable Secretary, dated March 10, 1843, 
 in which I propose my general plan, I have this remark, speak- 
 ing of the wire after its insulating preparations should be com- 
 pleted : ' Many interesting experiments bearing upon the general 
 result can then be tried before the wire is inclosed.' 
 
 " The experiments alluded to were tried on Tuesday, and with 
 perfect success. I had prepared a galvanic battery of three hun- 
 dred pairs, in order to have ample power at command, but to my 
 great gratification I found that one hundred pairs were sufficient 
 to produce all the effects I desired through the whole distance of 
 one hundred and sixty miles ! 
 
 " It may be well to observe that the hundred and sixty miles of 
 wire are to be divided into four lengths of forty miles each, forming 
 a fourfold cord from Washington to Baltimore. Two wires form a 
 circuit ; the electricity, therefore, in producing its effects at "Wash- 
 ington from Baltimore, passes from Baltimore to Washington, and 
 back again to Baltimore, of course traveling eighty miles to produce 
 its result. One hundred and sixty miles, therefore, gives me an act- 
 ual distance of eighty miles, double the distance from Washington 
 to Baltimore. The result, then, of my experiments on Tuesday is, 
 that a battery of only hundred pairs at Washington will operate a 
 Telegraph on my plan eighty miles distant with certainty, and with- 
 out requiring any intermediate station ! 
 
THE OCEAN TELEGRAPH. 481 
 
 " Some careful experiments on the decomposing power of various 
 distances were made, from which the law of propulsion has been 
 deduced, verifying the results of Ohm, and those which I made in 
 the summer of 1842, and alluded to in my letter to the Hon. C. G. 
 Ferris, and published in the House Report, No. 17, of the last Con- 
 gress. 
 
 " The practical inference from this law is, that a telegraphic 
 communication on the Electro-Magnetic plan may with certainty 
 be established across the Atlantic Ocean ! Startling as this may 
 now seem, I am confident the time will come when this project will 
 be realized. , 
 
 " The wire is now in its last process of preparation for inclosing 
 in the lead tube, which will be commenced on Tuesday, the 15th 
 instant. I have the honor to be, sir, with sincere respect, your 
 most obedient servant, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse, 
 " Superintendent of Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. 
 
 "To the Hon. John C. Spencer, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States." 
 
 "Treasury Department, August 15, 1843. 
 
 " Professor S. F. B. Morse, Superintendent of Electro-Magnetic 
 Telegraph, New York. 
 " Sir : The accounts and vouchers inclosed in your letter of the 
 10th instant, have been referred to the First Auditor for adjustment. 
 I am gratified with the result of the experiments made with the 
 Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, and trust the country will have reason 
 to be satisfied with the result of your labors. 
 
 " I am, etc., 
 (Signed) " J. C. Spencer, Secretary of the Treasury." 
 
 The important experiments alluded to in this letter were 
 illustrated in a communication made by him to Sillimaw's Jour- 
 nal of Science. 
 
 "New York, September 4, 1843. 
 " Dear Sirs : On the 8th of August, having completed my prep- 
 arations of one hundred and sixty miles of copper wire for the Elec- 
 tro-Magnetic Telegraph, which I am constructing for the Govern- 
 ment, I invited several scientific friends to witness some experiments 
 in verification of the law of Lenz, of the action of galvanic electricity 
 31 
 
482 LIFE OF SAMUEL B. F. MORSE. 
 
 through wires of great lengths. I put in action a cup battery of 
 one hundred pairs, which I had constructed, based on the excellent 
 plan of Professor Grove, but with some modifications of my own, 
 economizing the platinum. The wire was reeled upon eighty reels, 
 containing two miles upon each reel, so that any length, from two 
 to one hundred and sixty miles, could be made at pleasure to con- 
 stitute the circuit. My first trial of the battery was through the 
 entire length of one hundred and sixty miles, making of course a 
 circuit of eighty miles, and the magnetism induced in my electro- 
 magnet, 1 which formed a part of the circuit, was sufficient to 
 move with great strength my telegraphic lever. Even forty- 
 eight cups produced action in the lever, but not so promptly or 
 surely. 
 
 " "We then commenced a series of experiments upon decompo- 
 sition, at various distances. The battery alone (one hundred pairs) 
 gave, in the measuring-gauge, in one minute, 5.20 inches of gas. 
 When four miles of wire were interposed, the result was 1.20 inches ; 
 ten miles of wire, .57 ; twenty miles, .30 inches ; fifty miles, .094. 
 The results obtained from a battery of one hundred pairs are pro- 
 jected in the following curve : 
 
 1 In Professor Daniel's "Introduction to the Study of Chemical Philosophy," 
 second edition, 1843, there are these facts to be noticed: 
 
 In the preface, there are these words : " It only remains for me now, to acknowl- 
 edge my obligations to my friends and colleagues, Professor Wheatstone and Dr. Todd, 
 for their great kindness in undergoing the disagreeable labor of revising and cor- 
 recting the proof-sheets. They have thereby prevented many errors which 'would 
 have otherwise deformed the work." 
 
 No statement then of Professor Daniel's, particularly in that part of his work 
 which related especially to Wheatstone's Telegraph, would be allowed to pass un- 
 noticed by Mr. Wheatstone, and we are authorized in considering any such state- 
 ment as having his sanction. 
 
 We then find, page 5*76, the following statement : " Ingenious as Professor 
 Wheatstone's contrivances are, they would have been of no avail for telegraphic pur- 
 poses, without the investigation which he was the first to make of the laws of elec- 
 tro-magnets, when acted on through great lengths of wire. Electro-magnets of the 
 greatest power, even when the most energetic batteries are employed, utterly cease to act 
 when they are connected by considerable lengths of wire with the battery.'''' 
 
 If any thing were needed to show that Professor Wheatstone was not the in- 
 ventor of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, it is this assertion (under the supervision 
 of Professor Wheatstone) made by Professor Daniel. In 1843 Professor Wheat- 
 stone had not made the discovery upon which Professor Morse bases his invention, 
 viz., that electro-magnets can be made to act, with an inconsiderable battery too, when 
 the latter is connected with the former by considerable lengths of wire ; eighty miles 
 may certainly be considered as of considerable length. 
 
TABULATED RESULTS. 
 
 483 
 
 Miles 
 
 Table constructed from the Curve. 
 
 D 
 
 Battery alone, 
 
 5.20 inches 
 
 1 mile 
 
 3.85 " 
 
 2 miles 
 
 2.62 " 
 
 3 
 
 a 
 
 1.84 " 
 
 4 
 
 a 
 
 1.20 " 
 
 5 
 
 « 
 
 1.05 " 
 
 6 
 
 a 
 
 .92 " 
 
 7 
 
 (C 
 
 .80 " 
 
 8 
 
 a 
 
 .71 " 
 
 9 
 
 a 
 
 .64 " 
 
 10 
 
 a 
 
 .57 " 
 
 20 
 
 a 
 
 .30 " 
 
 30 
 
 u 
 
 .20 " 
 
 40 
 
 a 
 
 .14 " 
 
 50 
 
 a 
 
 .094 " 
 
 " During the previous summer, I made the following experi- 
 ments, upon a line of thirty-three miles, of No. 17 copper wire, 
 with a battery of fifty pairs. In this case, I used a small steel- 
 yard, with weights, with which I was enabled to weigh, with a 
 good degree of accuracy, the greater magnetic forces, but not the 
 lesser, yet sufficiently approximating the recent results to confirm 
 the law in question. 
 
484 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Table of Results. 
 
 " 50 pairs through 2 miles attracted and raised 9 ozs. 
 
 « 4 « 
 
 " 3 " 
 
 " n " 
 
 « JL u 
 
 8 
 u l a 
 
 ¥ 
 
 and each successive addition of two miles, up to 33, still gave an 
 attractive and lifting power of one-eighth of an ounce, 
 
 a 
 
 4 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 6 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 8 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
 10 
 
 « 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
 12 
 
 « 
 
 u 
 
 (C 
 
 14 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 Curve from these Results. 
 
 Miles. 1 os. 2 3 4 5 6 
 
 I ■ I i I i 1 i ! i I i 1 i 1 i I i I i I i I i 
 
 2- 
 4_ 
 6- 
 8. 
 
 10. 
 
 12. 
 
 16_ 
 20- 
 
 '''■'■'■'■■ 
 
 30- 
 
 A great irregularity is seen between the 
 tenth and twelfth miles, which is due, un- 
 doubtedly, to a deficiency of accuracy in 
 the weighing apparatus. I take pleasure 
 in sending you the following calculation of 
 the law of the conducting power of wires, 
 for which I am indebted to my friend Pro- 
 fessor Draper, of the New York City Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 " ' It has been objected that, if the conducting power of wires 
 for electricity was inversely as their length, and directly as their 
 section, the transmission of telegraphic signals, through long wires, 
 could not be carried into effect, and even the galvanic multiplier, 
 
EXPLANATION OF THE RULE. 485 
 
 which consists, essentially, of a wire making several convolutions 
 round a needle, could have no existence. This last objection was 
 brought forward by Professor Ritchie, of the University of London, 
 as an absolute proof that the law referred to is incorrect. There 
 is, however, an exceedingly simple method of proving that signals 
 may be dispatched through very long wires, and that the galvanic 
 multiplier, so far from controverting the law in question, depends 
 for its verj T existence upon it. 
 
 " ' Assuming the truth of the law of Lenz, the quantities of elec- 
 tricity which can be urged by a constant electro-motoric source 
 through a series of wires, the length of which constitutes an arith- 
 metical ratio, will always be in a geometrical ratio. Now, the 
 curve whose ordinates and abscissas bear this relation to each other, 
 is the logarithmic curve whose equation is ay=x. 
 
 " ' 1. If we suppose the base of the system, which the curve 
 under discussion represents, be greater than unity, the values of y 
 taken between sc=0, and £C=1, must be all negative. 
 
 "'2. By taking y=-0, we find that the curve will intersect the 
 axis of the x's at a distance from the origin, equal to unity. 
 
 " ' 3. By making x=0, we find y to be infinite and negative. 
 Now, these are the properties of the logarithmic curve, which fur- 
 nish an explanation of the case in hand. Assuming that the cc's 
 represent the quantities of electricity, and the y's the length of 
 the wires, we perceive at once that those parts of the curve which 
 we have to consider lie wholly in the fourth quadrant, where the 
 abscissas are positive and the ordinates negative. When, therefore, 
 the battery-current passes without the intervention of any obstruct- 
 ing wire, its value is equal to unity. But, as successive lengths of 
 wire are continually added, the quantities of electricity passing 
 undergo a diminution, at first rapid, and then more and more slow. 
 And it is not until the wire becomes infinitely long that it ceases 
 to conduct at all; for the ordinate y, when x=0, is an asymptote 
 to the curve. In point of practice, therefore, when a certain limit 
 is reached, the diminution of the intensity of the forces becomes 
 very small, while the increase in the lengths of the wire is vastly 
 great. It is, therefore, possible to conceive a wire to be a million 
 times as long as another, and yet the two shall transmit quantities 
 of electricity not perceptibly different, when measured by a delicate 
 galvanometer. But, under these circumstances, if the long wire 
 be coiled, so as to act as a multiplier, its influence on the needle 
 will be inexpressibly greater than the one so much shorter than it. 
 
486 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 Further, from this we gather that for telegraphic dispatches, with 
 a battery of given electro-motoric power, when a certain distance 
 is reached, the diminution of effect for an increased distance be- 
 comes inappreciable.' " 
 
 To the invitation of Professor Morse to assist at the great 
 experiment mentioned in the foregoing letter, Professor Henry 
 replied : 
 
 " Princeton, August 22, 1843. 
 
 " My dear Sir : I hope you will pardon me for not before ac- 
 knowledging the receipt of your kind letters of invitation to attend 
 your galvanic exhibition. My time has been so much occupied dur- 
 ing the last three weeks, with an extra course of lectures, and our 
 senior examination, and so little at my own disposal, that I was un- 
 able to say whether I could be in the city on the day you men- 
 tioned or not. I did hope, however, to get away, but the exami- 
 nation prevented. Dr. Torrey was also engaged, and could not 
 leave. I do not know, however, that I could have done much in 
 the way of original experiments in the course of a single day. I 
 am not quick in the process of inventing experiments, unless my 
 mind is thoroughly aroused to the subject by several days' exclusive 
 attention to the work, and then I am often obliged to pause be- 
 tween each effort. I have not been able, since I last saw you, to 
 devise a satisfactory process for determining the velocity of galvanic 
 electricity, and, on reflection, I did not think it worth the expense 
 which would be incurred to have a machine constructed for the 
 mere repetition of the experiments of Wheatstone. 
 
 "I think it probable that I shall visit the city next week, as I 
 shall be unemployed from this time until a week from next Mon- 
 day. If there is any prospect of your repeating any of your ex- 
 periments previous to that time, I will be with you on any day you 
 may appoint. With much respect and esteem, yours truly, 
 
 "Joseph Hejstrt. 
 
 "Professor Morse. 
 
 " P. S. — I have found no mention in my number of the Comptes 
 Hendus, of the French Academy, of the proofs you mention rela- 
 tive to the increasing of the power of the electro-magnet, and do 
 not believe that any thing new of any importance has lately been 
 published on that subject. J. H." 
 
 The experimental line was now approaching its completion. 
 
APPROACHING THE END. 487 
 
 Professor Morse issued the following order to Mr. Cornell, dated 
 in Washington, March 13, 1844 : 
 
 " Sir : After you have had the wire for the pipe drawn in, suffi- 
 cient to reach the Capitol from the Patent-Office, or at farthest by 
 next Monday morning, you will proceed at once to the preparation 
 of the wire for the posts, passing it through the insulating medium, 
 soldering and covering the joints, and have it reeled up in such a 
 manner as in your judgment shall be most convenient to place on 
 the posts where they are set. You will take the superintendence 
 of this part, and put on as much force as shall be consistent with 
 safety, so as to have the whole of the wire prepared by the end of 
 the week ending March 23, 1844. Report to me what additional 
 force you need before." 
 
 The work went on. Among the loose papers of Professor 
 Morse are lying the memoranda of those days when he was watch- 
 ing the progress of the work, and noting, for his own guidance, 
 every minute event that bore upon the science and art of the 
 Telegraph. It was a grand as well as novel experiment on 
 which he was entering, and these transient records of impres- 
 sions are intensely interesting : 
 
 " 1844 : April 15th, evening, about 4.30 o'clock. — It struck 1, then 
 2, and soon after, about twelve or fifteen times quite rapid, and 
 about half an hour after it commenced again, and, at intervals, 
 struck 1, 3, 5, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, three times 3; repeated the same after 
 my striking three times 3, again 3 ; 3 they again answered me 
 several times without my returning it. 
 
 "April 16th.— At 5 minutes past 9 action of magnet com- 
 menced ; thought I received word that the connection was this side 
 yesterday's work. Afterward many strikings, but no answer to mv 
 question, 'Is all right?' At about 9.25 connection was broken, 
 and the lever up, so that I could not communicate. 
 
 " At 25 minutes of 11, lever in action, but could not understand 
 signals. Had previously doubled the pairs for quantity, and, upon 
 connecting the 35 again in a single battery, found action of lever. At 
 18 minutes to 11, action; again asked 'If all is right?' No answer. 
 At 8iy minutes to 11 action ceased, lever being up. Went, at 11.15, 
 to depot for Mr. Cornell's letter. On return found it in action from 
 Beltsville ; at 12.30 put 49 pairs in action, 30 of them being fresh. 
 My magnet moved strongly, but no answers from the other end. 
 
488 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " At 22 minutes to 1 o'clock tried 39 pairs — 30 fresh and 9 old. 
 The magnet moved strongly, but still no answers from Beltsville. 
 
 " At 16 minutes to 1 tried the 30 fresh pairs alone ; moved mag- 
 net strongly, but still no answers from Beltsville. 
 
 " Tried 20 pairs, moved magnet once, feebly ; added, succes- 
 sively up to 30, and found that 25 would move magnet well. 
 
 " 7 minutes to 1. — Still no answers. 
 
 " 5 minutes to 1. — Still no answer. 
 
 " 4 minutes to 1. — Received signals, but not intelligible. 
 
 " 3 minutes to 1. — Asked if all was right ; no answer. 
 
 " 1 minute to 1. — The same. 
 
 " 1 o'clock. — The same. Gave many signals, but no answer re- 
 turned. 
 
 " 7 minutes after 1. — The same. 
 
 " 10 minutes after 1. — Announced cars of freight-train leaving 
 for Baltimore. 
 
 "16 minutes after 1. — Not disconnected. 
 
 " Yl\ minutes after 1. — Signals received. 
 
 " 25 minutes after 1. — I stopped for the morning. 
 
 " From 2 till 20 minutes past, signals were given better, but 
 difficult to understand. 
 
 "April 18th. — 30-cup battery in action at 20 minutes to 9 ; quar- 
 ter to 9, lever struck several times, probably from Bladensburg. 
 Shows good insulation, notwithstanding the rain. 
 
 "April 26, 1844.— Attempted two circuits, according to Mr. 
 Vail's arrangement. Put the batteries in action. My large mag- 
 net did not work well. There were attempts to write from Bla- 
 densburg (which I could not detect by the ear), producing a slight 
 click at the great magnet, showing that the levef wanted adjusting. 
 After adjustment, the lever worked well, and I obtained a few mark- 
 ings on the register, but all stopped after this. 
 
 " At first, Vail's battery gave a feeble sj)ark, but mine none ; 
 and in touching with Vail's no effect was produced on my magnet 
 or register ; soon after, both batteries gave a vivid spark, and both 
 equalty moved the lever ; then, soon after, the batteries were in the 
 same state as at first. 
 
 " At 11.10 the batteries were again in a similar state, both oper- 
 ating my magnet ; 23 in one battery, and 24 in another — 47 cups in 
 all. 
 
 " At 12 changed the circuit to the distant terminus — 20 miles ; 
 found it sound. Received signals, but not intelligible, owing 
 
MYSTERIES OF THE WIRES. 489 
 
 doubtless to persons there not acquainted with the mode of opera- 
 tion ; Mr. Cornell not there ; battery perhaps too weak. At 24 
 minutes to 1 added 6 more plates; the magnet worked much 
 stronger. Experiment showed the integrity of the circuit 20 miles. 
 
 "April 29, 1844; Monday. — Day calm and fine. Learned 
 this morning that a wire had drawn apart at a bad joint near Belts- 
 ville, which was doubtless the cause of the difficulty on Saturday. 
 Saturday was a rainy and windy day. The galvanometer showed 
 deflection of needle two or three degrees with 60 pairs ; a slight 
 spark was also visible, which may be accounted for by the ends of 
 the wire being on the ground, and a slight current being returned 
 through the ground. Mr. Cornell is to repair the wire at 1 
 o'clock, having the whole circuit closed at the Junction. I have 
 prepared 80 pairs for trial : 80 operates the magnet powerfully, 65 
 operates well, 70 better. Kept in action from 12 o'clock ; at 5.30 
 o'clock battery strong, 67 pairs sufficient to operate well ; 65 oper- 
 ates small magnet quick, but not the large magnet. Near 6 o'clock 
 Mr. Vail operated from Junction, and announced the cars as at the 
 junction at 2 minutes to 6 o'clock, and that he was coming in. 
 Made various experiments to-day with different arrangement of cir- 
 cuits. Crossed tub of water without wires ; water acidulated. 
 
 " 3fay 3d. — "Went to Junction to see arrangements there, and as- 
 certain the cause of difficulty of conversing yesterday during the rain. 
 
 " Learned that, during the thunder and lightning in the night, 
 the electricity was heard ' snapping like a chestnut-fire in the tele- 
 graph-room.' The persons there did not awaken Mr. Vail, and did 
 not dare to go into the room of the telegraph. Mrs. Sumwalt says 
 she saw the line of wires surrounded with light. The electricity 
 of the atmosphere may have had something to do with the effects 
 yesterday, but it is doubtful. The magnet of Mr. Vail at Junc- 
 tion operated when I touched, but mine did not when he touched. 
 The reason of this is yet involved in mystery. Returned in 10 
 o'clock train. 
 
 " The ground circuit was put in operation with the east wire, 
 and the result is that the effect is stronger than when the two wires 
 are used as the circuit. The telegraph has operated finely to-day." 
 
 It was a brief work to build a line forty miles long, when 
 the system of poles was adopted. In expectation of the meeting 
 of the National Whig Convention, May 1st, to nominate candi- 
 dates for the presidency and vice-presidency, redoubled eiier- 
 
490 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 gies were pift forth, and by that time the wires were in working 
 order twenty-two miles from Washington toward Baltimore. 
 The day before the convention met, Professor Morse wrote to 
 Mr. Yail : 
 
 " Get every thing ready in the morning for the day, and do not 
 be out of hearing of your bell. When you learn the name of the 
 candidate nominated, see if you cannot give it to me, and receive 
 from me an acknowledgment of its receipt before the cars leave 
 you. If you can, it will do more to excite the wonder of those 
 in the cars than the mere announcement that the news is gone to 
 Washington. When the cars are in sight from Baltimore, which 
 will be about 10 A. m. and 5 p. m., prepare me for the announcement 
 
 by the letter deliberately struck, after the usual beginning 
 
 and ending. When they arrive at your station get the name of the 
 
 Vice-President of Mr. Evans ; write simply • • • • — — . 
 
 • • • or Mr. Davis — •• • — •• and I will acknowl- 
 edge by • • • • which means ' Very well,' as well as ' Yes.' After- 
 ward you can repeat the name and any other information you may 
 have received, but the name of the Vice-President is of most impor- 
 tance. There will be hours when it is of more importance to be 
 attentive at the register than at other times — at 10 a. m. until 
 12 m., from 1 to 3, and from 5 to 6, or 6|-. At 12 m. disconnect, so 
 that Mr. Cornell may test the wires to the point where he is at 
 work, and continue disconnected one hour. Tell Mr. Cornell this. 
 Do not forget to keep your circuit closed after writing." 
 
 And the next day : 
 
 " Things went well to-day. Your last writing was good. You 
 did not correct your error of running your letters together until 
 some time. Better be deliberate; we have time to spare, since we 
 do not spend upon our stock. Get ready to-morrow (Thursday) as 
 to-day. There is great excitement about the Telegraph, and my 
 room is thronged ; therefore it is important to have it in action 
 during the hours named. I may have some of the Cabinet to- 
 morrow. I told Mr. Brown to go to post-office for you and bring 
 me the letter if there. He has not brought it, so I fear there is 
 none. Add the following to your list of phrases .... Get from 
 passengers in the cars from Baltimore or elsewhere all the news you 
 can, and transmit. A good way of exciting wonder will be to tell 
 the passengers to give you some short sentence to send me ; let 
 
NOTES OF PREPARATION. 491 
 
 them note time, and call at the Capitol to verify the time I received 
 it. Before transmitting, notify me with (48). Your message to- 
 day that ' the passengers in the cars gave three cheers for Henry 
 Clay,' excited the highest wonder in the passenger who gave it to 
 you to send, when he found it verified at the Capitol. 
 
 " When you correct your register again at 1 o'clock, after Mr. 
 Cornell has tried the wires, notify me at once by the word 
 
 ' Junction ' •• — — •• • • . I was 
 
 bothered some time at noon to-day to know who was writing, 
 whether you from the Junction, or Mr. Cornell from the extremity, 
 and many persons were waiting to have you write." 
 
 A few days of private practice and experiment followed, the 
 interest of the public rising daily as the results were reported. 
 On the 11th of May Professor Morse said in a letter to Mr. Yail : 
 
 " Every thing worked well yesterday, but there is one defect in 
 your writing. Make a longer space between each letter, and a still 
 longer space between each word. I shall have a great crowd to- 
 day, and wish all things to go off well. Many M. C.'s will be pres- 
 ent, perhaps Mr. Clay ; give me news by the cars. "When the cars 
 come along, try and get a newspaper from Philadelphia or New 
 York, and give items of intelligence. The arrival of the cars at the 
 Junction begins to excite here the greatest interest, and both morn- 
 ing and evening T have had my room thronged." 
 
 The back of one of these letters is covered with pencil-notes 
 that indicate the "trials and tribulations" of those anxious 
 hours : " Wires crossed." " At Junction the electricity of the 
 atmosphere was observed upon the line and snapping like a 
 chestnut-fire during the storm last night." " Wires twisted near 
 Bladensburg." But the experiment was approaching its crisis. 
 The convention assembled, and Henry Clay was nominated by 
 ■acclamation for the presidency. The news was conveyed on 
 the railroad to the point reached by the Telegraph, and thence 
 instantly transmitted over the wires to Washington. An hour 
 afterward passengers arriving at the capital, and supposing that 
 they had brought the first intelligence, were surprised to find 
 that the announcement had been made already and that they 
 were the bearers of old news ! The convention shortly after- 
 ward nominated Theodore Frelinghuysen as Yice-President, 
 
492 L^E OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and the intelligence was sent to "Washington in the same man- 
 ner. The astonishment of the public was great. The fact was 
 to many minds incredible. 
 
 Before the month of May had passed, the junction of the 
 lines that had been started from each city was effected, and the 
 communication between Washington and Baltimore was com- 
 plete and perfect. 
 
 THE FEKST MESSAGE. 
 
 On the 24th day of May, 1844, Professor Morse was prepared 
 to put to the test the great experiment on which his mind had 
 been laboring for twelve anxious, weary years. Mr. Tail, his 
 assistant, was at the Baltimore terminus, in the Mount Clare 
 depot. Professor Morse had invited his friends to assemble in 
 the chamber of the IT. S. Supreme Court, where he had his in- 
 strument, from which the wires extended to Baltimore. He 
 had promised his young friend, Miss Ellsworth, that she should 
 indite the first message over the wires. Her mother suggested 
 the familiar words of Scripture (Numbers xxiii. 23) : " "What 
 hath God wrought ! " The whole verse from which this mes- 
 sage was taken is in these words: "Surely there is no en- 
 chantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against 
 Israel : according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of 
 Israel, "What hath God wrought ! " 
 
 The words were chosen without consultation with the in- 
 ventor, but were singularly expressive of his own sentiment in 
 regard to the invention, and his own experience in bringing it to 
 a successful accomplishment. From the moment of its concep- 
 tion he had been under the serious and sincere impression that 
 he was guided and controlled by supernatural power in this 
 great work. Profoundly religious in his convictions, and trained 
 from earliest childhood to believe in the special superintend- 
 ence of Providence in the minutest affairs of men, he had 
 acted throughout the whole of his struggles under the firm per- 
 suasion that God was working in him to will and to do His own 
 pleasure in this thing. In conversation with intimate personal 
 friends and in private letters to those dear to him, he was free 
 to acknowledge this dependence, and to declare his confidence 
 that the final result would be a complete triumph. 
 
WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT? 493 
 
 Mrs. Ellsworth liad often heard these expressions from the 
 lips of the great inventor. She knew that he wonld appreciate 
 the propriety of ascribing the honor of this wonderful invention 
 to Him whose lightning shineth out of the east even unto the 
 west, and whose words have gone out through all the earth. It 
 was with such reverential emotion, that the words " What hath 
 God wrought ! " were selected from the pages of Holy Scrip- 
 ture, and accepted by the inventor as the first message to be re- 
 corded on a completed line of telegraph. In the room were 
 assembled many of the most distinguished officers of the Gov- 
 ernment, and the personal friends of the inventor, with various 
 emotions of doubt, anxiety, hope, and faith. The calmest per- 
 son in the company was Professor Morse. 
 
 Taking his seat by the instrument, he proceeded to manipu- 
 late it. Slowly, steadily, and successfully, he wrote the selected 
 words, in the Morse telegraphic alphabet, as follows : 
 
 a OB 
 
 It was instantaneously received by Mr. Yail in Baltimore, 
 who was ignorant of the message to be sent. He returned it im- 
 mediately to "Washington ; so that within a single moment of 
 time, those inspired and inspiring words were carried back and 
 forth through a circuit of eighty miles. 
 
 Again the triumph of the inventor was sublime. His confi- 
 dence had been so unshaken that the surprise of his friends in 
 the result was- not shared by him. He knew what the instru- 
 ment would do, and the fact accomplished was but the confirma- 
 tion to others of what to him was a certainty on the packet-ship 
 Sully, in 1832. But the result was not the less gratifying and 
 sufficient ; had his labors ceased at that moment, he would have 
 
494 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 cheerfully exclaimed in the words of Simeon, " Lord, now lettest 
 thon thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy 
 salvation." 
 
 The congratulations of his friends followed. He received 
 them with modesty, in perfect harmony with the simplicity of 
 his character. Neither then, nor at any subsequent period of 
 his life, did his language or manner indicate exultation. He 
 believed himself an instrument employed by Heaven to achieve 
 a great result, and, having accomplished it, he claimed simply to 
 be the original and only instrument by which that result had 
 been reached. With the same steadiness of purpose, tenacity, 
 and perseverance, with which he had pursued the idea by which 
 he was inspired in 1832, he adhered to his claim to the paternity 
 of that idea, and to the merit of bringing it to a successful issue. 
 Denied, he asserted it ; assailed, he defended it. Through long 
 years of controversy, discussion, and litigation, he maintained 
 his right. Equable alike in success and discouragement, calm in 
 the midst of victories, and undismayed by the number, the vio- 
 lence, and the power of those who sought to deprive him of the 
 honor and the reward of his work, he manfully maintained his 
 ground until, by the verdict of the highest courts of his coun- 
 try, and of academies of science, and the practical adoption and 
 indorsement of his system by his own and foreign nations, those 
 wires which were now speaking only forty miles from Wash- 
 ington to Baltimore, were stretched over continents and under 
 oceans, making a net-work to encompass and unite, in instanta- 
 neous intercourse for business and enjoyment, all parts of the 
 civilized world. 
 
 Professor Morse said of the first dispatch, " It baptized the 
 American Telegraph with the name of its author." The author, 
 as he believed, was God. Twenty-two years afterward, Bishop 
 Stevens, of Pennsylvania, having requested Professor Morse to 
 write his recollections of the birth of the Telegraph, received 
 the following narrative : 
 
 " Paris, November, 1866. 
 " I cheerfully comply with the request you made last evening, 
 to give you in writing the incidents I related to you connected with 
 the first telegram transmitted by the Electro-Magnetic Recording 
 Telegraph, the first ever practically in public use, on the first line 
 constructed in the United States, or indeed in the world. 
 
LETTER TO BISHOP STEVENS. 495 
 
 " I had spent at Washington two entire sessions of Congress, 
 one in 1837-38, the other in 1842-'43, in the endeavor so far to in- 
 terest the Government in the novel Telegraph as to furnish me with 
 the means to construct a line of sufficient length to test its practica- 
 bility and utility. 
 
 " The last days of the last session of that Congress were about 
 to close. A bill appropriating thirty thousand dollars for my pur- 
 pose had passed the House, and was before the Senate for concur- 
 rence, waiting its turn on the, calendar. On the last day of the 
 session (3d of March, 1843), I had spent the whole day and part of 
 the evening in the Senate-chamber, anxiously watching the prog- 
 ress of the passing of the various bills, of which there were, in the 
 morning of that day, over one hundred and forty to be acted upon, 
 before the one in which I was interested would be reached ; and a 
 resolution had a few days before been passed, to proceed with the 
 bills en the calendar in their regular order, forbidding any bill to 
 be taken up out of its regular place. As evening approached, there 
 seemed to be but little chance that the Telegraph Bill would be 
 reached before the adjournment, and consequently I had the pros- 
 pect of the delay of another year, with the loss of time, and all my 
 means already expended. In my anxiety, I consulted with two of 
 my senatorial friends — Senator Huntington, of Connecticut, and 
 Senator Wright, of New York — asking their opinion of the proba- 
 bility of reaching the bill before the close of the session. Their an- 
 swers were discouraging, and their advice was to prepare myself for 
 disappointment. In this state of mind I retired to my chamber, and 
 made all my arrangements for leaving Washington the next day. 
 Painful as was this prospect of renewed disappointment, you, my 
 dear sir, will understand me when I say that, knowing from experi- 
 ence whence my help must come in any difficulty, I soon disposed 
 of my cares, and slept as quietly as a child. 
 
 " In the morning, as I had just gone into the breakfast-room, the 
 servant called me out, announcing that a young lady was in the 
 parlor, wishing to speak with me. I was at once greeted with the 
 smiling face of my young friend, the daughter of my old and valued 
 friend and classmate, the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, the Commissioner 
 of Patents. On expressing my surprise at so early a call, she said, 
 ' I have come to congratulate you.' ' Indeed, for what ? ' ' On 
 the passage of your bill.' ' Oh, no, my young friend, you are mis- 
 taken ; I was in the Senate-chamber till after the lamps were lighted, 
 and mv senatorial friends assured me there was no chance for me.' 
 
496 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ' But,' she replied, ' it is you that are mistaken. Father was there 
 at the adjournment, at midnight, and saw the President put his 
 name to your bill; and I asked father if I might come and tell you, 
 and he gave me leave. Am I the first to tell you ? ' The news 
 was so unexpected that for some moments I could not speak. At 
 length I replied : ' Yes, Annie, you are the first to inform me ; and 
 now I am going to make you a promise : the first dispatch on the 
 completed line from Washington to Baltimore shall be yours.' 
 ' Well,' said she, ' I shall hold you to your promise.' 
 
 " In about a year from that time, the line from Washington to 
 Baltimore was completed. I was in Baltimore when the wires were 
 brought into the office, and attached to the instrument. I proceeded 
 to Washington, leaving word that no dispatch should be sent 
 through the line until I had sent one from Washington. On my 
 arrival there, I sent a note to Miss Ellsworth, announcing to her 
 that every thing was ready, and I was prepared to fulfill my prom- 
 ise of sending the first dispatch over the wires, which she was to in- 
 dite. The answer was immediately returned. The dispatch was, 
 ' What hath God wrought ! ' It was sent to Baltimore, and re- 
 peated to Washington, and the strip of paper upon which the tele- 
 graphic characters are printed, was claimed by Governor Seymour, 
 of Hartford, Connecticut, then a member of the House, on the 
 ground that Miss Ellsworth was a native of Hartford. It was de- 
 livered to him by Miss Ellsworth, and is now preserved in the 
 archives of the Hartford Museum, or Athenaeum. 
 
 " I need only add that no words could have been selected more 
 expressive of the disposition of my own mind at that time, to 
 ascribe all the honor to Him to whom it truly belongs. 
 
 " With sincere respect, your most obedient servant, 
 
 « To the Rt. Rev. Bishop Stevens." " SaMUEL F ' B ' M ° ESE " 
 
 When Mr. Yail, at Baltimore, had received and returned the 
 first dispatch, " What hath God wrought ! " a familiar conver- 
 sation followed, which proved to the company that the dis- 
 patches had not been agreed upon previously by the operators. 
 Professor Morse said, " Stop a few minutes." Mr. Yail replied, 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Have you any news ? " " No." " Mr. Seaton's respects to 
 you." " My respects to him." " What is your time ? " " ISTine 
 o'clock, twenty-eight minutes." " What weather have you % " 
 " Cloudy." 
 
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. 497 
 
 " Separate your words more." " Oil your clock-work." 
 " Buchanan stock said to be rising." " I have a great crowd at 
 my window." " Yan Buren cannon in front, with a fox-tail on 
 it." 
 
 Two days afterward, May 26th, the National Democratic 
 Convention for the nomination of candidates assembled in Bal- 
 timore. Mr. Morse was at the terminus of the line in Wash- 
 ington. Mr. Alfred Tail, his assistant, was at the terminus in 
 Baltimore. The most anxious and careful correspondence had 
 passed between them by mail and messenger, as well as by the 
 wires, that every thing might be in perfect order for the suc- 
 cess of the first great experiment of the public use of the in- 
 vention. In private it had been worked to their complete satis- 
 faction. They had not a doubt of its ability to do all they had 
 ever claimed for it ; but they well knew that so much depended 
 upon the success of its first appearance in public, it was of the 
 highest importance that no failure should now occur. 
 
 The convention had a long and exciting struggle over the 
 nomination of a candidate for the presidency. A rule was 
 adopted, requiring a majority of two-thirds to make a nomina- 
 tion. Mr. Yan Buren, failing to receive this number, although 
 he was the first choice of a majority of the convention, was 
 dropped, and James K. Polk, of Tennessee, was finally nomi- 
 nated with great unanimity. The convention, then, having 
 rejected Mr. Yan Buren for the presidency, nominated his 
 friend Silas "Wright, of New York, for the vice-presidency. 
 Mr. Wright was at that time in the Senate of the United States, 
 and in Washington. The fact of his nomination was imme- 
 diately communicated by Mr. Yail to Mr. Morse, through the 
 Telegraph, and by Mr. Morse to Mr. Wright. In a few mo- 
 ments the convention was astonished by receiving a message 
 from Mr. Wright, that he respectfully declined the nomination. 
 The president of that body read to them the dispatch, but so 
 incredulous were the members as to the authority of the evidence 
 before them, many utterly disbelieving it to be possible that 
 intelligence could have gone to Washington and an answer re- 
 turned in the few minutes that had elapsed since the nomination 
 was made, that the convention adjourned over to the following 
 day, to await the report of a committee sent to Washington to get 
 32 
 
498 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 reliable information upon the subject. The committee returned 
 in the morning, and their report confirmed the correctness and 
 capacity of the Telegraph, and at once gave it such an adver- 
 tisement and certificate as its inventor had desired. 
 
 Then followed a scene of scientific and moral sublimity. 
 The convention having reassembled in the morning, and the 
 refusal of Mr. Wright to accept their nomination having been 
 communicated, a conference with him was held, by his friends, 
 through the medium of the wires. In Washington Mr. Wright 
 and Mr. Morse were closeted with the instrument ; at Baltimore 
 the committee of conference surrounded Mr. Yail and the in- 
 strument. Spectators and auditors were excluded. The com- 
 mittee communicated to Mr. Wright their reasons for urging 
 his acceptance of the nomination. In a moment he received 
 their communication in writing and as quickly returned to them 
 his answer. Again and again these confidential messages passed, 
 and the result was finally announced to the convention that 
 Mr. Wright was inflexible. Mr. Dallas then received the nomi- 
 nation and accepted it. The ticket thus nominated was success- 
 ful at the election in November of that year. 
 
 The original slips of paper, on which some of the messages 
 were written at the Baltimore Convention, are still preserved, 
 and have an interest of their own : 
 
 " Governor Morton, of Massachusetts, is now addressing the 
 convention in favor of taking the question now on the two-thirds 
 rule. He is in favor of a majority as the rule. Governor Morton 
 closed at five minutes to ten. 
 
 " Mr. Walker is now (fifteen minutes before eleven) speaking in 
 favor of the two-thirds rule, in answer to Benjamin F. Butler, at 
 fifteen minutes past ten. 
 
 " Senator Walker closed his last speech thirty minutes past ten. 
 
 " Robert Rantoul is addressing the convention in favor of the 
 two-thirds rule. 
 
 " Lieutenant-Governor Dickinson, of New Jersey, is speaking in 
 favor of the majority rule. 
 
 " Some firm Democrats here think Henry Dodge, of Wisconsin, 
 is the man to unite upon. B. B. Feench." 
 
 " State Polk's vote at eighth ballot. 
 
 " Where will the convention meet on Monday ? 
 
Mcduffie and holmes. 499 
 
 "Mr. Morehead's respects, in return, to Mr. AtAvill, with his 
 thanks for the box of cigars. 
 
 " As a rumor is prevalent here this morning that Mr. Eugene 
 Boyle (son of Mr. John Boyle, of this place) was shot at Baltimore, 
 last evening, Professor Morse will confer a great favor upon the 
 family by making inquiry by means of his ' Electro-Magnetic Tele- 
 graph ' if such is the fact." 
 
 Mr. Holmes, member of Congress from South. Carolina, had 
 been very active in promoting the passage of the bill for the ap- 
 propriation ; and his brother, a venerable citizen of Charleston, 
 relates the following incident 011 the opening of the Telegraph : 
 
 "My brother, Isaac Edward Holmes, warmly supported Mr. 
 Morse's application to Congress for an appropriation which enabled 
 him to erect the first telegraph-wires between Washington and 
 Baltimore. These first-erected wires were operated on by Morse in 
 person. I stood with him in his room under the Senate-chamber 
 at "Washington, saw him operate by dipping into a phial of quick- 
 silver the end of one wire from the battery in the corner of the 
 room, while the same phial held, immersed in the quicksilver, the 
 end of the other wire from the same battery. A reel held, wound 
 up, a paper ribbon which, as it was unwound, passed over a roller 
 having three grooves corresponding to three prongs of a dull-pointed 
 fork which was passed upon the paper, and, according to the time, 
 made dots or lines, which was the alphabet invented by Morse. Morse 
 dismissed us (the spectators) that, as he said, he might assist Lieu- 
 tenant afterward Commodore Wilkes in determining by the Tele- 
 graph the relative longitude in time of Washington and Baltimore. 
 I attempted after the exhibition to explain to one of the Senators 
 of South Carolina, McDuffie, the mode of operation. I failed, for, 
 though he listened, I am sure he did not heed, since, at the conclu- 
 sion, he exclaimed — 
 
 " ' I don't understand one word you've said ! ' 
 
 " Which produced an explosive laugh from our other Senator, 
 Huger, who was quietly smoking his cigar, expecting just such a 
 result." 
 
 Mr. Tail kept a diary in those early days of the Telegraph, 
 and we have his reminiscences : 
 
 " The Telegraph first put in operation, between Washington and 
 Baltimore, in the spring of 1844, was shown, without charge, until 
 
500 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 April 1, 1845. Congress, during the session of 1844-'45, made an 
 appropriation of eight thousand dollars to keep it in operation dur- 
 ing the year, placing it, at the same time, under the supervision of 
 the Postmaster-General. He, at the close of the session, ordered a 
 tariff of charges of one cent for every four characters made by or 
 through the telegraph, appointing also the operators of the line, 
 Mr. Vail for the Washington station, and Mr. H, J. Rogers for 
 Baltimore. This new order of things commenced on April 1, 1845, 
 and the object was to test the profitableness of the enterprise. 
 
 " Mr. Polk had just been inaugurated, and, as is always the case 
 on the advent of a new Administration, the city was filled with per- 
 sons seeking for office. A gentleman of Virginia, who stated that 
 to be his errand to the city, came to the office on the 1st day of 
 April, and desired to see its operation. The oath of office being 
 fresh in the mind of the operator, and he being determined to ful- 
 fill it to the very letter, the gentleman was told of the rates of 
 charges, and that he would see its operation by sending his name 
 to Baltimore, and having it sent back, at the rate of four letters or 
 figures for a cent, or he might ask Baltimore regarding the weather, 
 etc. This he refused to do, and coaxed, argued, and threatened. 
 He said there could be no harm in showing him its operation, as 
 that was all he wanted. He was told of the oath just taken by the 
 incumbent, and of his intention to observe it faithfully ; and that, if 
 it was shown to him by the passage of a communication gratui- 
 tously, it would be in violation of his oath of office. He stated that 
 he had no change. In reply he was told that, if he would call upon 
 the Postmaster-General, and obtain his consent that the operation 
 should be shown him gratis, the operator would cheerfully comply 
 to almost any extent. He stated, in reply, that he knew the Post- 
 master-General, and had considerable influence with some of the 
 officers of the Government, and that he, the operator, had better 
 show it to him at once, intimating that he might be subjected to 
 some peril by refusing. He was told that no regard would be paid 
 to the extent of his influence, etc., be it great or little ; that he did 
 not think he was at liberty to use the property of the Government 
 for individual benefit when under oath to exact pay, and cited the 
 rules of the post-office in relation to the carriage of letters ; but 
 that he was willing to do as directed by the Postmaster-General 
 (Hon. Cave Johnson). The discussion lasted almost an hour, when 
 the gentleman left the office in no pleasant mood. 
 
 " This was the patronage received by the Washington office on 
 
AMUSING INCIDENT. 501 
 
 the 1st, 2d, and 3d of April. On the 4th the same gentleman 
 * turned up ' again, and repeated some of his former arguments. 
 He was asked if he had seen the Postmaster-General, and obtained 
 his consent to his request ; to which he replied he had not. After 
 considerable discussion, which was rather amusing than vexatious, 
 he said that he had nothing less than a twenty-dollar bill, and one 
 cent, all of which he pulled out of his breeches-pocket. He was 
 told that he could have a cent's worth of telegraphing, if that 
 would answer, to which he agreed. After his many manoeuvres, 
 and his long agony, the gentleman was finally gratified in the fol- 
 lowing manner : Washington asked Baltimore, ' 4,' which means, in 
 the list of signals, ' What time is it f ' Baltimore replied ' 1,' 
 which meant ' one o'clock? The amount of the operation was one 
 character each way, making two in all, which, at the rate of four 
 for a cent, would amount to half a cent exactly. He laid down his 
 cent, but was told that half a cent would suffice, if he could pro- 
 duce the change. This he declined to do, and gave the whole cent, 
 after which, being satisfied, he left the office. 
 
 " Such was the income of the Washington office for the first 
 four days of April, 1845. On the 5th, twelve and a half cents 
 were received. The 6th was the Sabbath. On the 7th, the re- 
 ceipts ran up to sixty cents ; on the 8th, to one dollar and thirty- 
 two cents ; on the 9th, to one dollar and four cents. It is worthy 
 of remark," concludes Mr. Vail, " that more business was done by the 
 merchants after the tariff was laid than when the service was gratui- 
 tous." 
 
 The most amusing incidents are related in the early history 
 of this new and unintelligible mode of communication. Many 
 of the published incidents are undoubtedly fictitious, inven- 
 tions of those who are fond of extracting amusement from the 
 gravest events. Among those preserved by Professor Morse him- 
 self, and therefore worthy of being credited, is the following : 
 
 A pretty little girl tripped into the Washington City termina- 
 tion, and, after a great deal of hesitation and blushing, asked how 
 long it would "take to send to Baltimore ? " The interesting ap- 
 pearance of the little questioner attracted Mr. Morse's attention, 
 and he very blandly replied, " One second." 
 
 " Oh, how delightful, how delightful ! " ejaculated the little 
 beauty, her eyes glistening with delight. " One second, only — 
 here,, send this even quiclcer, if you can." And Mr. Morse found in 
 
502 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 his hand a neatly-folded, gilt-edged note, the very perfume and 
 shape of which told a volume of love. 
 
 " I cannot send this note," said Mr. Morse, with some feeling ; 
 " it is impossible." 
 
 " Oh, do, do ! " implored the distracted girl ; " William and I 
 have had a quarrel, and I shall die if he don't know that I forgive 
 him in a second — I know I shall." 
 
 Mr. Morse still objected to sending the note, when the fair one, 
 brightening up, asked, " You will then send me on, won't you ? " 
 
 " Perhaps," said one of the clerks, " it would take your breath 
 away to travel forty miles in a second ! " 
 
 " Oh, no, it won't — no, it won't, if it carries me to William ! 
 The cars in the morning go so slow I can't wait for them." 
 
 Mr. Morse now comprehended the mistake which the petitioner 
 was laboring under, and attempted to explain the process of con- 
 veying important information along the wires. The letter-writer 
 listened a few moments impatiently, and then rolled her burning 
 epistle into a ball, in the excitement under which she labored, and 
 thrust it into her bosom. 
 
 " It's too slow," she finally exclaimed, " it's too slow, and my 
 heart will break before William knows I forgive him ; and you are a 
 cruel man, Mr. Morse," said the fair creature, the tears coming into 
 her eyes, " that you won't let me travel by the telegraph to see 
 William." And full of emotion she left the office, illustrating the 
 truth of the poet's wish — 
 
 ll Annihilate but space and time, 
 And make two lovers happy." 
 
 Many of the letters of Professor Morse to Mr. Yail during 
 these few weeks before and after opening the first line, are the 
 reflection of the inner life and history of the invention as it was 
 approaching its introduction to the world : 
 
 " May 15, 1844. 
 " Every thing operated finely last evening, and this too without 
 additional cups. We will try this morning, after the train has 
 passed you for Washington, the number of cups necessary. Yes- 
 terday there were 80, and a less number I think will answer. When 
 I am ready, I will tell you as I did a few days ago. I will first say, 
 ' Try 70,' — • • then I will go into the battery- 
 room and change to 70 — return and write ' 70 ' • • 
 
 then of 65 ; ' try 65 ' — and so on, waiting 
 
INSTRUCTIONS TO MR. VAIL. 503 
 
 between each time to get your answer. If I do not get it, I will go 
 and change to a higher number, and give you that number. Mast 
 and Ground is the present circuit. I want to try the others, but 
 we must understand, if a change does not operate in five minutes after 
 we have made it, put back the wires to Mast and Ground again. I 
 will give you to-day the doings in the Capitol occasionally, and I 
 wish you to be particular in writing down in your note-book the 
 time . you receive each piece of news, with the news, as this will 
 verify the fact to many minds. We will set watches by Capitol 
 time to-day." 
 
 " May 25, 1844. 
 
 " Inclosed are some abbreviations. You had better put upon 
 your door a notice to this effect : ' In order to report the principal 
 events of the conventions, it will be absolutely necessary to keep the 
 doors closed except to assistants and messengers.' Mr. Houghton, 
 of Detroit, will call on you, and you can arrange with him and Mr. 
 Cornell the best mode of getting from the conventions such facts as 
 will be interesting here. If necessary, employ two or three persons 
 as messengers and door-keeper. Do not experiment for persons, 
 or explain, until after the conventions have adjourned, but request 
 those who desire to see the operation, to wait till afterward. Con- 
 dense your information, but not so as to be obscure. Select the 
 most important facts, if you are crowded with matter, and leave the 
 rest to be transmitted at leisure. Prepare to be pretty busy, and, 
 if possible, take the time of adjournment for dinner-time. Write 
 your communication first on paper, in the abbreviated form, thus : 
 1 T. com. sess. 2 K. P. Conv. Gov.— 250 mem. Walker, Sen. Mo. 
 |d. maj. — A. N.' If any confusion arises from using abbrevia- 
 tions, use the more lengthened form. I will apprise you of this, 
 by writing ' JSTO abbrev.J and if I wish you to try again, I will 
 write ' Abbrev.' " 
 
 " May 28th. — Things went off well, on the whole, yesterday. 
 You confound your ms, ts, and Is, and do not separate your words. 
 Sometimes your dots were not made. It is not the fault of local 
 battery here, for at other times it worked perfectly well, but for 
 want, I think, of perfect contact in touching at your end. No time 
 to add. Be particular to-day." 
 
 " May 29th. — Every thing worked finely yesterday. You have 
 little conception of the sensation produced by telegraphic dis- 
 patches. The wonders of the Telegraph, since it is discovered it 
 is no humbug, are in everybody's mouth. Your ms, ts, and Is, were 
 
504 LIFE OF SAMUEL E. B. MORSE. 
 
 better yesterday, but still might be improved by attention to pro- 
 portionate length. Separate your words a little more. Strike your 
 dots firmer, and do not separate the two dots of the so far apart. 
 Condense your language more, leave out ' the ' whenever you can, 
 and when h follows t, separate them so that they shall not be 8. 
 The beginning of a long common word, will generally be sufficient 
 — if not, I can easily ask you to repeat the whole, o, for example. 
 Butler made communication in favor of majority rule. — ' Butler 
 made com- in fav- of maj.-' 'rulef or similar words, are unneces- 
 sary to repeat, when the subject has just been considered." 
 
 The Telegraph was now a reality. Its completion was hailed 
 with enthusiasm. The newspapers of the day announced the 
 annihilation of time and space in the intercourse of men. The 
 name of the inventor was lauded to the skies. Resolutions of 
 thanks and applause were adopted by popular assemblies. Lan- 
 guage was found too feeble to express the wonder and joy of 
 the people. 
 
 It was a favorite idea with Professor Morse, from the incep- 
 tion of his enterprise, that the Telegraph should belong to the 
 General Government. In pursuance of this intention, on the 
 same day when he communicated to the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury the completion of the work between Baltimore and "Wash- 
 ington, he sent a communication to Congress, making a formal 
 overture of the Telegraph to the Government. 
 
 Professor Morse to Son. Mc ClintocJc Young. 
 
 "Washington, June 3, 1844. 
 
 " Sib : I have the honor to report that the experimental essay 
 authorized by the act of Congress on March 3, 1843, appropriating 
 thirty thousand dollars for ' testing ' my ' system of Electro-Mag- 
 netic Telegraphs, and of such length, and between such points, as 
 shall test its practicability and utility? has been made between 
 Washington and Baltimore — a distance of forty miles — connecting 
 the Capitol, in the former city, with the railroad depot in Pratt 
 Street, in the latter city. 
 
 " On the first point proposed to be settled by the experiment, to 
 wit, its practicability, it is scarcely necessary to say (since the pub- 
 lic demonstration which has been given of its efficacy, for some 
 days past, during the session of the different conventions in the city 
 of Baltimore), that it is fully proved. 
 
BENEFITS ALREADY KNOWN". 505 
 
 " Items of intelligence of all kinds have been transmitted back 
 and forth, from the simple sending of names, to the more length- 
 ened details of the proceedings of Congress and the conventions. 
 One fact will, perhaps, be sufficient to illustrate the efficiency and 
 speed with which intelligence can be communicated by the tele- 
 graph. 
 
 " In the proceedings of the Democratic Convention at Baltimore 
 for the nomination of a candidate for President of the United States 
 at the next election, the result of the votes, in the nomination of 
 the Hon. J. K. Polk, was conveyed from the. convention to the tele- 
 graphic terminus in Baltimore, transmitted to Washington, an- 
 nounced to the hundreds assembled in front of the terminus at the 
 Capitol, and to both Houses of Congress ; the reception of the news 
 at Washington was then transmitted to Baltimore, sent to the con- 
 vention and circulated among its members — all before the nomina- 
 tion of the successful candidate was officially announced by the 
 presiding officer of the convention. 
 
 " In regard to the utility of the Telegraph, time alone can de- 
 termine and develop the whole capacity for good of so perfect a 
 system. In the few days of its infancy, it has already casually 
 shown its usefulness in the relief, in various ways, of the anxieties 
 of thousands ; and, when such a sure means of relief is available to 
 the public at large, the amount of its usefulness becomes incalcu- 
 lable. An instance or two will best illustrate this quality of the 
 telegraph : 
 
 " A family in Washington was thrown into great distress by a 
 rumor that one of its members had met with a violent death in Bal- 
 timore the evening before. Several hours must have elapsed ere 
 their state of suspense could be relieved by the ordinary means of 
 conveyance. A note was dispatched to the telegraph-rooms at the 
 Capitol, requesting to have inquiry made at Baltimore. The mes- 
 senger had occasion to wait but ten minutes, when the proper 
 inquiry was made at Baltimore, and the answer returned that the 
 rumor was without foundation. Thus was a worthy family relieved 
 immediately from a state of distressing suspense. 
 
 " An inquiry from a person in Baltimore holding the check of a 
 gentleman in Washington, upon the Bank of Washington, was sent 
 by telegraph, to ascertain if the gentleman in question had funds 
 in that bank. A messenger was instantly dispatched from the 
 Capitol, who returned in a few minutes with an affirmative answer 
 which was returned to Baltimore instantly ; thus establishing a con- 
 
506 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 fidence in a money arrangement which might have affected unfa- 
 vorably (for many hours at least) the business transactions of a man 
 in good credit. 
 
 " Other cases might be given ; but these are deemed sufficient 
 to illustrate the point of utility, and to suggest to those who will 
 reflect upon them, thousands of cases in the public business, in 
 commercial operations, and in private and social transactions, which 
 establish beyond a doubt the immense advantages of such a speedy 
 mode of conveying intelligence. 
 
 " In the construction of this first line of conductors, it was neces- 
 sary that experiments should be made to ascertain the best mode 
 of establishing them. The plan I first suggested in my letter to the 
 Secretary of the Treasury in 1837 (see House Report, No. 6, April 
 6, 1838), of placing my conductors upon posts thirty feet high, and 
 some three hundred feet apart, is, after experiment, proved to be 
 the most eligible. The objection, so strongly urged in the outset, 
 that, by being exposed aboveground, the conductors were in dan- 
 ger from evil-disposed persons, had such weight with me, in the ab- 
 sence of experience on the subject, as early to turn my whole atten- 
 tion to the practicability of placing my conductors in tubes beneath 
 the earth, as the best means of safety. The adoption of the latter 
 mode, for some thirteen miles in England, by the projectors of the 
 English Telegraph, confirmed me in the belief that this would be 
 best. I was thus led to contract for lead pipe sufficient to contain 
 my conductors through the whole route. Experience, however, has 
 shown that this mode is attended with disadvantages far outweigh- 
 ing any advantages from its fancied security beneath the ground. 
 If apparently more secure, an injury once sustained is much more 
 difficult of access, and of repair ; while upon posts, if injury is sus- 
 tained, it is at once seen, and can be repaired, ordinarily almost 
 without cost. But the great advantage of the mode on posts 
 over that beneath the ground is the cheapness of its construction. 
 This will be manifest from the following comparative estimate of 
 the two modes in England and in America : 
 
 " Cost of English Telegraph— -In pipe, £287 6s., or $1,275 per 
 mile. On posts, £149 5s., or $662 per mile. 
 
 " Cost of American Telegraph, as estimated in Souse Report, 
 No. 17, Twenty-seventh Congress, Third Session. — In pipe, $583 
 per mile. On posts, from $350 to $400 per mile. 
 
 "These comparisons also show how much less is the cost of 
 the American Telegraph, even at the highest estimate. 
 
OFFER TO GOVERNMENT. 507 
 
 "But these estimates of the cost of construction largely exceed 
 the actual cost, under the improved modes recently suggested by 
 experiment, and now adopted ; and the cost of the line between 
 Baltimore and Washington, already constructed, involves numerous 
 expenditures of an experimental character, which will not be inci- 
 dent to an extension of the line onward to New York, if that shall 
 be deemed desirable. 
 
 " Of the appropriation made, there will remain in the Treasury, 
 after the settlement of outstanding accounts, about $3,500, which 
 may be needed for contingent liabilities, and for sustaining the line 
 already constructed, until provision by law shall be made for such 
 an organization of a telegraphic department or bureau as shall en- 
 able the Telegraph at least to support itself, if not to become a 
 profitable source of revenue to the Government. 
 
 " I will conclude by saying that I feel grateful for the generous 
 confidence which Congress has thus far extended toward me and 
 my enterprise ; and I will cheerfully afford any further and more 
 detailed information on the subject of the Telegraph, when desired, 
 and will be prepared to make and execute any desirable arrange- 
 ments for the extension of it that Congress shall require. 
 
 " With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse, 
 " Superintendent of Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. 
 
 " To the Hon; HcClintock Young, Secretary of the Treasury, ad interim.''' 1 
 
 Accompanying the report, Professor Morse addressed the 
 
 following memorial : 
 
 "Washington, June 3, 1844. 
 " To the Congress of the United States. 
 
 " The undersigned, for himself and coproprietors of Morse's Elec- 
 tro-Magnetic Telegraph, represents that the report of the Superin- 
 tendent of the Telegraph from Washington City to Baltimore has 
 been made of its completion to the Secretary of the Treasury ; and 
 the proprietors now ask the further action of Congress upon the 
 subject. That report will furnish full information of the proceed- 
 ings that have been had, under and by virtue of the former appro- 
 priation made for the purpose of testing the feasibility of the Tele- 
 graph, and of the present satisfactory and successful operation of it. 
 
 " The proprietors respectfully suggest that it is an engine of 
 power, for good or for evil, which all opinions seem to concur in 
 desiring to have subject to the control of the Government, rather 
 than have it in the hands of private individuals and associations ; 
 
508 UFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and, to this end, the proprietors respectfully submit their willing- 
 ness to transfer the exclusive use and control of it from Washing- 
 ington City to the city of New York to the United States, together 
 with such improvements as shall be made by the proprietors, or 
 either of them, if Congress shall proceed to cause its construction, 
 and upon either of the following terms : 
 
 " 1. By Congress paying the proprietors such remuneration for 
 it as may be justly due to its value and importance, and the years 
 of anxious toil and expense it has cost to bring it to its present 
 state of perfection. 
 
 " And in case of this arrangement, the Government will proceed 
 to construct it at their own expense, and under their own direction, 
 without imposing any care or responsibility of it on the proprie- 
 tors; or — 
 
 " 2. The proprietors will contract with the Government to con- 
 struct it, complete for use as soon as may be done, from Baltimore 
 to some point in, or opposite to (as may be found most practicable), 
 the city of New York, including a sufficient number of wires, to 
 establish distinct communications to and from Washington and 
 each of the following places, viz. : Baltimore in Maryland, Wilming- 
 ton in Delaware, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, Trenton in New 
 Jersey, and New York City, or a point most practicable opjDosite 
 thereto, including a supply of all necessary instruments to put the 
 same in complete operation, delivering it into the charge of the 
 Government as fast as each successive section of ten miles shall be 
 completed, and relinquish to the Government the exclusive right 
 and property in the use of the same, with the improvements afore- 
 said, for the sum of dollars, and the unexpended 
 balance of the former appropriation, subject to the payment of all 
 unliquidated claims outstanding against such balance ; said sums 
 shall be in full compensation for all materials, labor, and every 
 expense of construction, up to the delivery of every section to the 
 Government ready for use as aforesaid. 
 
 " The work and the materials to be upon the plan, and in all 
 respects equal to the line, constructed between Washington and 
 Baltimore City, and the points of communications to be in said 
 several cities and towns mentioned at such places as the Govern- 
 ment, by its proper officer, shall provide and determine, the terms 
 of payment to be ten per cent, at the commencement of the work, 
 or signing of the contract, and a, pro-rata sum for every successive 
 ten miles when completed. 
 
DETERMINING THE LONGITUDE. 509 
 
 V The undersigned will add that he will take pleasure in afford- 
 ing any further information than is contained in the two former 
 reports made on the subject. 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse, 
 
 " Superintendent of Electro-Magnetic Telegraph.''' 1 
 
 The overture was not accepted, as it will soon appear. 
 
 Professor Morse suggested to Arago, in 1839, that the 
 Electro-Magnetic Telegraph would be the means of determining 
 the difference of longitude between places with an accuracy 
 hitherto unattained. By the following letter from Captain 
 Charles Wilkes to Professor Morse, it will be perceived that the 
 first experiment of the kind resulted in the fulfillment of the 
 Professor's prediction : 
 
 "Washington, June 13, 1844. 
 
 " My dear Sir : The interesting experiments for obtaining the 
 difference of longitude through your Magnetic Telegraph were 
 finished yesterday, and have proved very satisfactory. They re- 
 sulted in placing the Battle Monument Square, Baltimore, 1' 34".868 
 east of the Capitol. 
 
 " The time of the two places was carefully obtained by transit 
 observations. Lieutenants Carr and Eld assisted me in these ob- 
 servations. The latter was engaged in those at Baltimore. The 
 comparisons were made through chronometers, and without any 
 difficulty. They were had in three days, and their accuracy proved 
 in the intervals marked and recorded at both places. I have 
 adopted the results of the last day's observations and comparisons, 
 from the elapsed time having been less. 
 
 " The difference from former results found in the American 
 Almanac is .732 of a second. After these experiments I am well 
 satisfied that your Telegraph offers the means for determining me- 
 ridian distances more accurately than was before within the power 
 of instruments and observers. 
 
 " Accept my thanks and those of Lieutenant Eld for yourself 
 and Mr. Vail, for your kindness and attention in affording us the 
 facilities to obtain these results. 
 
 " With great respect and esteem, your friend, 
 
 "Charles Wilkes. 
 
 " Professor S. F. B. Morse, Capitol, Washington." 
 
OHAPTEE XII. 
 1845. 
 
 OONGEESS EEFUSES FUETHEB APPEOPEIATIONS — LETTEB OF PEOFESSOE MOE8E 
 
 TO HIS DAUGHTER HON. AMOS KENDALL ENGAGED AS AGENT — FOEMATION 
 
 OF THE MAGNETIC TELEGEAPH COMPANY LETTEES TO ME. VAIL ME. 
 
 VAIL'S EEPLTES PEOFESSOE MOESE GOES ABEOAD — IN LONDON — GENERAL 
 
 OOMMEECIAL TELEGEAPH COMPANY — HON. LOTUS MCLANE PEOFESSOE 
 
 MOESE IN HAMBTJEG EETUENS TO LONDON — EXHIBITIONS OF THE TELE- 
 GEAPH IN HAMBTJEG, ST. PETEESBTTEG, BEELIN, AND VIENNA — ME. FLEISCH- 
 MANN'S ACCOUNT OF ITS EECEPTION — PEOFESSOE MOESE IN PAEIS — AEAGO 
 EXHIBITION BEFOEE OHAMBEE OF DEPUTIES — EETUEN TO AMEEICA. 
 
 THE Telegraph, no longer an experiment, was an accom- 
 plished fact. Speaking for itself, it required no cham- 
 pions on the floor of Congress, or in the public press. The 
 extension of the line from Baltimore to Philadelphia and New 
 York, and to all the cities of the land*, was only a work of time. 
 But the aid of Congress was sought in vain. An appropriation 
 of $8,000 was made to support the line between the capital and 
 Baltimore, while in its infancy, but further than that the Gov- 
 ernment declined to go. The sum named as the price for which 
 the Morse Company would sell the Telegraph to the Govern- 
 ment, was $100,000. The subject was discussed in the report 
 of Hon. Cave Johnson, the Postmaster-General, under President 
 Polk. He was a member of Congress when the bill was before 
 the House appropriating $30,000 for the experimental line, and 
 was one of those who ridiculed the whole subject as unworthy 
 the notice of sensible men ! As Postmaster-General he said in 
 his report, after the experiment had succeeded to the admiration 
 of mankind : " That the operation of the Telegraph between 
 
VALUE OF THE TELEGRAPH. 511 
 
 Washington and Baltimore had not satisfied him that, under any 
 rate of postage that eonld be adopted, its revenues could be 
 made equal to its expenditures." 
 
 Such an opinion, with the evidence then in the possession of 
 the Department, would appear to be the limit of official blind- 
 ness. But it was undoubtedly fortunate for the inventor, and 
 for the country, that the development of the Telegraph was left 
 to private enterprise. A quarter of a century after the Govern- 
 ment had declined to take the Telegraph at the price of $100,000, 
 a project was started to establish lines of Telegraph to be used 
 by the Government as part of the mail postal system, or to take 
 possession of the lines already established. And in 1873 the 
 Postmaster-General, Mr. Cresswell, stated in his report that the 
 entire cost of all the lines in the country, including patents, was 
 less than $10,000,000, and that the cost of a new system, equal 
 in extent to the present, would be $11,800,000. At the time 
 this estimate was made, the property of the existing Telegraph 
 companies was worth in the market, $50,000,000. 
 
 In a letter to his daughter, who had removed with her hus- 
 band to Porto Pico, in the West Indies, Professor Morse wrote, 
 February 8, 1845 : 
 
 " The Telegraph operates to the perfect satisfaction of the pub- 
 lic, as you perhaps see by the laudatory notices of the papers in all 
 parts of the country. I am now in a state of unpleasant suspense, 
 waiting the passage of the * bill for the extension of the Telegraph 
 to New York.' I am in hopes they will take it up and pass it next 
 week ; if they should not, I shall at once enter into arrangements 
 with private companies to take it and extend it. I do long for the 
 time, if it shall be permitted, to have you with your husband, and 
 little Charles, around me ; I feel my loneliness more and more keen- 
 ly every day. Fame and money are, in themselves, a poor substi- 
 tute for domestic happiness ; as means to that end, I value them. 
 Yesterday was the sad anniversary (the twentieth) of your dear 
 mother's death, and I spent the most of it in thinking of her. How 
 I should like to look in upon you ! You must describe your situa- 
 tion, so that I can form an idea of what you are doing daily. I 
 wish you were not so far off; I get discouraged almost in writing 
 to you, it seems so like an age before I can get an answer, and so 
 uncertain as to the fate of my letters. 
 
512 LIFE OP SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " I dine on Tuesday with the Russian Minister, Mr. Bodisco ; 
 both the Russian and French Governments are taking an interest 
 in Electric Telegraphs, and I may have to visit both these countries. 
 It is one of the possible things that we may meet in Europe. 
 
 " Thursday, February 12. — I dined at the Russian ambassador's 
 Tuesday. It was the most gorgeous dinner-party I ever attended 
 in any country. Thirty-six sat down to table ; there were eleven 
 Senators (nearly half the Senate). I will give you their names, 
 Evans, Woodbury, Webster, Huntington, Buchanan, Bayard, Ar- 
 cher, Huger, Berrien, Crittenden, Benton, and Barrow ; Mr. Webster 
 is Senator-elect ; then there were General Scott, Captain Shubrick, 
 Captain Morris, Seaton, Mayor of Washington, Judge McLane, of 
 the Supreme Court, Dickens, Secretary of the Senate, and many 
 members of the House. The table, some twenty or twenty-five feet 
 long, was decorated with immense gilt vases of flowers, on a splen- 
 did plateau of richly-chased gilt ornaments, and candelabra with 
 about a hundred and fifty lights. We were ushered into the house 
 through eight liveried servants, who afterward waited on us at 
 table. 
 
 " I go to-morrow evening to Mr. Wickliffe's, Postmaster-Gen- 
 eral, and probably, on Wednesday evening next, to the President's. 
 The new President, Polk, arrived this evening amid the roar of 
 cannon ; he will be inaugurated on the 4th of March, and I presume 
 I shall be here. I am most anxiously waiting the action of Con- 
 gress on the Telegraph ; it is exceedingly tantalizing to suffer so 
 much loss of precious time that cannot be recalled. 
 
 " Your affectionate father, Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 Professor Morse had long known that his pecuniary interests 
 required him to commit them to the hands of skillful, able, and 
 honest men of business. While the invention was in progress, 
 his mind was far more engrossed with it than with its future 
 possible advantage to himself, though he was never insensible to 
 the charms of fame and fortune. But no one could invent for 
 him. That labor he bore in solitude and unaided, save by the 
 divine spirit, which he believed to be continually at work with 
 him to produce the result he sought. But now that the Tele- 
 graph was in operation, and his own agency in its production 
 acknowledged by the Government, he perceived at once the ne- 
 cessity of confiding his business to the hands of a competent 
 
AMOS KENDALL ENGAGED. 513 
 
 agent, who should administer the trust to their mutual advan- 
 tage. Such a man he found. The Hon. Amos Kendall was a 
 native of Massachusetts, a graduate of Dartmouth College, New 
 Hampshire. He had spent his active life in Kentucky, and had 
 been called to Washington by General Jackson, when that dis- 
 tinguished man became President of the United States. Mr. 
 Kendall had acquired a national reputation by his able, wise, and 
 energetic administration as Postmaster-General of the United 
 States under President Jackson. In that office he had become 
 thoroughly familiar with the postal affairs of the country, and 
 had demonstrated executive ability that commanded the admira- 
 tion of the friends and opponents of the Administration. Pro- 
 fessor Morse was peculiarly happy in securing the services of 
 such a man, and in March, 1845, he constituted Mr. Kendall his 
 attorney, and committed his telegraphic interests to his control. 
 A contract was concluded with the original proprietors, S. F. B. 
 Morse, Alfred Yail, and L. D. Gale, and Amos Kendall, by 
 which Mr. Kendall became their agent, and was clothed with 
 full powers to manage the business according to his own judg- 
 ment. 
 
 The proprietors of the Morse patent, despairing of action by 
 Congress for the adoption of ' the Telegraph which it had called 
 into existence, on the 15th day of May, 1845, organized a joint- 
 stock company under the name of " The Magnetic Telegraph 
 Company, for the purpose of constructing and carrying on a line 
 of said Telegraph from New York to Washington." The follow- 
 ing persons constituted this first telegraphic organization in the 
 United States, viz., Samuel F. B. Morse, Leonard D. Gale, Al- 
 fred Yail, by their attorneys in fact, Amos Kendall, Francis O. 
 J. Smith, B. B. French, Keller, aud Greenough, by J. J. Green- 
 ongh, Charles Monroe, David Gold, E. Cornell, A. Warren 
 Paine, James A. McLaughlin, Charles G. Page, T. L. & A. 
 Thos. Smith, Jno. M. Broadhead, J. C. Broadhead, by J. M. 
 Broadhead, Amos Kendall, P. G. Washington, John E. Kendall, 
 Corcoran & Biggs, John J. Waley, Eliphalet Case, by F. O. J. 
 Smith. An act of incorporation was obtained from the Mary- 
 land Legislature, and the first list of subscribers to the stock of 
 the company antedating the act of incorporation, and under the 
 articles of association, was as follows : 
 
 33 * 
 
514 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Corcoran & Riggs $1,000 
 
 B. B. French 1,000 
 
 Eliphalet Case 1,000 
 
 Charles Monroe 1,000 
 
 Peter G. Washington 200 
 
 John J. Waley, New York 500 
 
 John E. Kendall 300 
 
 James A. McLaughlin 350 
 
 Amos Kendall 500 
 
 E. Cornell, New York 500 
 
 Daniel Gold 1,000 
 
 Simon Brown 500 
 
 J. J. Glossbrenner 500 
 
 John M. Broadhead $1,000 
 
 Chas. G. Page 500 
 
 Geo. Templeman 200 
 
 Henry J. Rogers, Baltimore . . 100 
 
 J. W. Murphy, Baltimore 100 
 
 A. W. Paine 500 
 
 F. O. J. Smith 2,?50 
 
 J. Black 200 
 
 Keller & Greenough ........ 500 
 
 J. G. Broadhead, Boston .... 500 
 
 T. L. & A. T. Smith . . . 200 
 
 A. Thos. Smith 100 
 
 $15,000 
 
 From this time the extension of the Telegraph proceeded 
 step by step, and sometimes with rapid strides, over the United 
 States of America. Professor Morse had the proud satisfaction 
 of seeing his invention acknowledged before the world as an 
 American invention. He felt ambitious to secure that honor to 
 his country, which he loved with the devotion of a child to its 
 parent. " When you arrive in sight of dear America," he said, 
 in a letter from Paris under date of October 13, 1839, to Mr. 
 Smith embarking in Liverpool homeward bound, " bless it for 
 me ; and when you land, kiss the very ground for me. Land 
 of lands ! Oh, that all our countrymen would but know their 
 blessings ! God hath not dealt so with any nation. "We ought 
 to be the best, as well as the happiest and most prosperous, of 
 all nations. ISTor should we forget to whom we are indebted, 
 either as a nation, or as individuals, for these more distinguished 
 favors. ' Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach 
 to any people.' " 
 
 " The Secret Corresponding Vocabulary, adapted for Use to 
 Morse's Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, and also in conducting 
 Written Correspondence transmitted by the Mails, or otherwise," 
 was now printed in a volume, prepared by Francis O. J. Smith, 
 Esq., and published at Portland, Maine. The dedication of the 
 work is in these words : 
 
 To Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, Inventor of the American 
 Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. 
 " Sir : The homage of the world during the last half-century 
 has been, and will ever continue to be, accorded to the name and 
 
FRANKLIN AND MORSE. 515 
 
 genius of the Illustrious American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, 
 for having first taught mankind that the wild and terrific ways and 
 forces of the electric fluid, as it flies and flashes through the rent 
 atmosphere, or descends to the surface of the earth, are guided by 
 positive and fixed laws, as much as the movements of more sluggish 
 matter in the physical creation ; and that its terrible death-strokes 
 may be rendered harmless by proper scientific precautions. 
 
 . " To another name of another generation, yet of the same proud 
 national nativity, the glory has been reserved of having first taught 
 mankind to reach even beyond the results of Franklin, and to sub- 
 due in a modified state, into the familiar and practical uses. of a 
 household servant, who runs at his master's bidding, this same once 
 frightfuTand tremendous element. Indeed, the great work of sci- 
 ence which Franklin commenced for the protection of man, you 
 have most triumphantly subdued to his convenience. And it needs 
 not the gift of prophecy to foresee, nor the spirit of personal flattery 
 to declare, that the names of Franklin and Morse are destined to 
 glide down the declivity of time together, the equals in the renown 
 of inventive achievements, until the hand of History shall become 
 palsied, and whatever pertains to humanity shall be lost in the gen- 
 eral dissolution of matter. 
 
 " Of one thus rich in the present applause of his countrymen, 
 and in the prospect of their future gratitude, it affords the author 
 of the following compilation, which is designed to contribute in a 
 degree to the practical usefulness of your invention, a high gratifi- 
 cation to speak in the presence of an enlightened public feeling. 
 
 " That you may live to witness the full consummation of the 
 vast revolution in the social and business relations of your country- 
 men, which your genius has proved to be feasible, under the liberal 
 encouragement of our national councils, and that you may, with 
 this great gratification, also realize from it the substantial reward 
 which inventive merit too seldom acquires, in the shape of pecuniary 
 independence, is the sincere wish of, 
 
 " Your most respectful and obedient servant, 
 
 "Forest Home, Westbeook, Me., ) The Atjthoe. 
 
 November 23, 1844." J 
 
 The Telegraph must have suddenly asserted itself before the 
 world to justify such language as this in the first year of its 
 actual operation. Judge Wayne, of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, on receiving a copy of this work, wrote to Mr. 
 
516 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Morse : " No one lias watched your career in the arts and in 
 philosophy with more interest than I have done, or with strong- 
 er wishes for your success, and the eminence which you have at- 
 tained in both, I trust, will be followed by substantial advan- 
 tages, as I know it will be by durable fame." 
 
 The spring and summer of 1845 were passed by Professor 
 Morse in the discharge of his duties as superintendent of the 
 Telegraph between Washington and Baltimore, and it was more 
 important than ever to keep a watchful eye upon attempts to 
 invade the rights of the patentees, by pretended improvements 
 or actual manufacture of the Morse instruments. The Professor 
 wrote to Mr. Yail, in July : 
 
 " You need have no printing-telegraph. I have studied the 
 principles of our writing as well as our printing telegraph very 
 thoroughly, and the single key must beat all others, about in the 
 ratio that a man can write faster than he can set up type — perhaps 
 a little slower, yet at least half as fast again. I wrote to-day 122 
 (S's.) in succession in one minute. It is all humbug that House, 
 even if he were a meeting-house as big as Trinity Church, can print 
 120 in a minute. I doubt if he can print 30. Depend upon it, all 
 these printing-telegraphs will explode. Mark my predictions. . . . 
 I have just received a letter from Mr. Fleischman. Wheatstone 
 was going to bring out one like mine, in about a week from the 
 time he wrote, that is, if he can make it. I am exceedingly anxious 
 to be beforehand with him : I believe I shall be, for he cannot ' con- 
 ceive how I produce my marks, or how 1 produce so powerful a 
 magnet.' Fleischman has gone to Paris, and hopes to do something 
 in Germany for us. I have not the least doubt but I can produce, 
 on my principle of alphabetic writing or printing, a rapidity of com- 
 munication as far beyond any thing the printing-telegraph men 
 have dreamt of, as lightning is beyond railroad speed ; and it is by 
 methods known to you and me. But keep dark upon the subject. 
 Give me specimens of timed writers to take with me. Try your 
 best. I sail on the 6th of August in the Ashburton, for Liverpool." 
 
 "New York, July 30, 1845. 
 " I have a capital letter from the Russian Minister Bodisco, who 
 has given me a letter to Count Nesselrode, the Prime-Minister of 
 Russia, and next in power to the emperor. I would not be san- 
 guine, but still I hope to effect something. I have received Dr. 
 
MORSE IN EUKOPE. 517 
 
 Page's letter, for which thank him for me, and say : ' Doctor, I stick 
 to it and can prove it mathematically, that the mode of suspending 
 the rotating keeper which I suggested, is the STEADIEST ! ! ! and 
 on the other side of this sheet I think I can show that the bevel is 
 also as effective, if not more so, than the other plan.' The doctor 
 has erred in supposing that the keeper and the magnet were of the 
 same size." 
 
 Professor Morse left New York for Europe August 6, 1845, 
 and arrived in Liverpool on the 25th. He wrote to Mr. Yail 
 from London as soon as he arrived : 
 
 "London, September 1, 1845. 
 " I have just taken lodgings with my brother and his family, 
 preparatory to looking about for a week, when- 1 shall continue my 
 journey to Stockholm and St. Petersburg, by the way of Hamburg 
 direct from London. On my way from Liverpool, I saw at Rugby 
 the telegraph-wires of Wheatstone, which extend, I understood, as 
 far as Northampton. I went into the office as the train stopped a 
 moment, and had a glimpse of the instrument, as we have seen it 
 in the Illustrated Times. The place was the ticket-office, and the 
 man very uncommunicative ; but he told me it was not in operation, 
 and that they did not use it much. This is easily accounted for, from 
 the fact that the two termini are inconsiderable places, and Wheat- 
 stone's system clumsy and complicated. The advantage of record- 
 ing is incalculable, and in this I have the undisputed superiority. 
 As soon I can visit the telegraph-office here, I will give you the 
 result of my observation. I shall probably do nothing until I re- 
 turn from the North." 
 
 Professor Morse immediately placed himself in communica- 
 tion with the " General Commercial Telegraph Company " in 
 London, and submitted to them a proposition to demonstrate 
 the superiority of his instrument over those in use in England, 
 and to receive for the use of his instrument a small sum in hand, 
 and only one-quarter of what the company would save by sub- 
 stituting his apparatus for their own ! He was invited to meet 
 a committee of that company September 11th, and, accepting 
 the invitation, he made to them the following proposition in 
 writing : 
 
 " In prefacing my proposition to you, I would beg leave to ask, 
 if Mr. Wheatstone or Davy in their systems can give a certain 
 
518 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 amount of intelligence with two wires in one minute, is not a system 
 which gives double the amount with one wire in the same time 
 worth four times as much? 
 
 " I will guarantee that my apparatus shall accomplish what I 
 promise it shall do, and ocular demonstration shall be given. 
 
 " I have with me the apparatus complete for establishing my 
 system of Electro-Magnetic Telegraphs, now in such successful 
 operation in the United States. I have a part of the apparatus 
 never revealed to the public, and which is essential to the efficacy 
 of my plan. I can put it in operation (if arrangements are con- 
 cluded with a company) in a few days. If we can agree on terms, 
 I will delay my visit to Russia ; put in order the apparatus ; fully 
 explain it to those authorized by you to take out the patent for you, 
 and leave my whole apparatus with you. I will also instruct two 
 persons whom you may designate in the use of it. 
 
 " On the delivery of the apparatus into your possession, you 
 shall pay me one thousand pounds sterling, and further guarantee 
 to pay me one-fourth part of the savings derived from the use of 
 my system. That is to saj', ascertain the utmost amount of intelli- 
 gence under the most favorable circumstances that Messrs. Wheat- 
 stone & Cooke, or Mr. Davy, can give in a minute, and the number 
 of wires necessary to produce their result. If I cannot give more 
 under the same circumstances in the same time, I will ask no more 
 than the one thousand pounds to be paid down on delivery to you 
 of the apparatus, although the advantage alone of recording in so 
 simple arid easy a manner is very greatly in favor of mine. If I can 
 give more, then I must be paid, in addition, a certain proportion of 
 the savings by my system. For example, say that Messrs. W. & C. 
 or Mr. D., by giving the signals complete for twenty-five letters of 
 the alphabet in one minute, enable you to realize fifteen per cent, 
 on your capital ; if I can by my system give you fifty letters per 
 minute, I enable you to realize a much larger per cent., and I will 
 then ask one-fourth part of your savings derived from the use of my 
 system. To illustrate my proposition, say that the expense of one 
 wire from London to Birmingham will cost £500. Four will cost 
 £2,000. Suppose that I can communicate with two wires as much 
 information as W. or D. can give with four. Here would be a 
 saving of £1,000 to you. Of this I propose you should pay me 
 £250. Say that W. & C. or D's apparatus at each station cost £80, 
 and mine but £40, here would be a saving of £40. I propose you 
 should pay, on account of this saving, £10. 
 
LETTER TO LOUIS McLANE. 519 
 
 " Say that two attendants are necessary at each station with 
 W. & C.'s or D.'s apparatus with salary of £100 per annum each, 
 and mine should require but one, here would be a saving of £100 
 per annum at each station. Of this sum I propose you should pay 
 me £25 per annum, and so for the saving in any other item of ex- 
 pense." 
 
 The Hon. Louis McLane was at that time the American 
 Minister in England, and with him Professor Morse had re- 
 peated interviews in regard to the introduction of his system 
 into European countries. To meet some difficulties in the mind 
 of Mr. McLane in regard to the chronology of telegraphs, Pro- 
 fessor Morse addressed him this important letter : 
 
 "13 Bkompton Square, September 15, 1845. 
 
 " My dear Sir : Accompanying this are the documents I prom- 
 ised in conversation with you this morning, and I have procured 
 and reexamined with some attention the article in the Electrical 
 Magazine, to which you had the kindness to direct my notice. 
 There is so much obscurity in the description of his arrangements, 
 arising probably from the translation, that I am really in doubt 
 whether M. Matteucci's experiments are a repetition of mine or not. 
 His experiments, in repetition of M. Mangrini's, and made with 
 so many precautions, appear to me to have no novelty in them. 
 Franklin made the ground for a distance of three\or four miles a 
 part of an electrical circuit, for the passage of common electricity, 
 and Professor Steinheil, of Munich, as far back as 1837, showed 
 that galvanic electricity was subject to the same law. My tele- 
 graphic circuit, as you well know, is constructed on this well-known 
 fact in science, the ground for forty miles making one-half of my 
 circuit since the earliest moment of its construction ; and I am a lit- 
 tle surprised that at this late date so much wonder at a result so 
 long known should be manifested by so distinguished a man of 
 science as Matteucci. 
 
 " In regard to crossing rivers without wires, whether M. Mat- 
 teucci's experiments are a repetition of mine or not, the dates of his 
 experiments and mine are now in your possession, and will resolve 
 any doubt whether his or mine were earliest. Matteucci's seem to 
 have been performed in the early part of the present year, while 
 mine were made in 1842, and were announced at the time in the 
 Journal of Commerce, long before they were presented to Congress 
 in the form you have (in document 24), which bears date 1844. 
 
520 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 There was ample time intervening' between this late date and the 
 date of M. M.'s experiment to have reached Europe and to circulate 
 through the scientific world. 
 
 " From the magazine on your table, page 78, paragraph ' Chess 
 by Telegraph] you will observe an instance of the mode in which 
 the public here are made to believe in the priority of experiments 
 on their Telegraph. When I have mentioned in conversation the 
 games of chess played by means of my Telegraph between B. and 
 W., the answer has uniformly been, ' Oh, ah, yes, we have had that 
 experiment on ours long ago.' This English game of chess and 
 its precise date I saw announced in a paper published a few days 
 after it occurred, with a great flourish, as marking an era in the 
 game of chess. The date, as you perceive, is Wednesday and 
 Thursday, April 9 and 10, 1845. The date of one of our games of 
 chess (see page 3, document 24) is December 5, 1844. 
 
 " On the last page of the magazine, page 80, and the last para- 
 graph but one, you will see a notice of my discovery of a mode 
 of causing electricity to cross rivers." 
 
 Professor Morse, having accomplished nothing in London, 
 continued bis journey to the north of .Europe, and his letters to 
 his daughter, gave a lively account of his journey to Hamburg 
 and his return. 
 
 "Hamburg, September 2*7, 1845. 
 " My dear Susajst : Every thing being ready on the morning of 
 the 17th instant (September), we left Brompton Square in very 
 rainy and stormy weather, and drove down to the Custom-house 
 Wharf, and went on board our destined steamer, the William 
 Joliffe, a dirty, black-looking, tub-like thing, about as large but 
 not half so neat as a North-River wood-sloop. The wund was fresh 
 from the southwest, blowing a gale, with rain, and I confess I did 
 not much fancy leaving land in so unpromising a craft, and in such 
 weather ; yet our vessel proved an excellent sea-boat, and, although 
 all were sea-sick on board but Mr. Ellsworth and myself, we had a 
 safe but rough passage across the boisterous North Sea. The 
 weather cleared up, however, before we arrived in mid-channel, and 
 the moon, breaking through the clouds, made the latter part of our 
 voyage more agreeable. We made the light on the island of Schou- 
 wen, on the Dutch shore, a little after midnight, and at daylight 
 found ourselves in smooth water opposite Helvoetsluis. We were 
 compelled, on account of the tide, to make a circuitous route to 
 
TELEGRAPH AT AMSTERDAM. 521 
 
 this place, close to Dort, and, passing Delft Haven, arrived at the 
 Hotel des Pays Bas in Rotterdam, about half-past two o'clock, on 
 the 18th instant. On the morning of the 19th we took a carriage, 
 and drove about the city. There is nothing like a Dutch city on our 
 side of the water. The wide and deep canals, in which the largest 
 class of vessels, as well as the smaller craft, lie opposite your win- 
 dows ; the singular rig of their vessels, the sides, and masts, and 
 blocks of which are all brightly polished and varnished (even the 
 anchors being rubbed bright), give to their streets a very novel 
 appearance. We went in the afternoon to Delft Haven, a place I 
 was very desirous of seeing on account of its associations with the 
 embarkation of the Pilgrims. I presume we were on the spot 
 whence they embarked, and where the distinguished Robinson knelt 
 and prayed with them before they went on board the Speedwell. 
 In the evening we left Rotterdam for the Hague in a carriage, and 
 at the latter place arrived in the nick of time to take the cars for 
 Haarlem and Amsterdam. At Haarlem I saw a single wire on 
 small posts, not so high as the railroad-cars, which I learned was 
 an electric telegraph. It is on Mr. Wheatstone's plan, and I have 
 since had ocular demonstration that it is far less efficient than 
 mine. 1 We arrived late in the evening, and, finding the principal 
 
 1 Professor Morse made the following memorandum at the time : 
 
 " Amsterdam, Monday, Septe?nber 22, 1845. 
 
 " Went to see the Telegraph which is established here between Amsterdam and 
 Haarlem. The Amsterdam terminus is at the railway-depot, and used for the pur- 
 poses of the road only. It has been established six weeks. It communicates a dis- 
 tance of only ten miles English. The system is Wheatstone's ratchet-wheel instru- 
 ment, slightly modified from the instrument shown me at the Southampton terminus 
 in London. A dial-plate, with the letters marked upon the outer edge, is turned to 
 the desired point for each letter, and then stopped a moment to be recognized. After 
 each word a period is shown, and after each message a cross +. I inquired how 
 many letters could be shown in a minute ; the answer was fifteen ordinarily, but 
 they could give twenty-four in a minute. A single wire is used in this case ; it is 
 said to be iron. A battery of six cups was shown me, which required replenishing 
 every few days. The cost, the conductor told me, was about twenty pounds sterling 
 per mile. The posts are about three inches diameter, and not more than eight or 
 nine feet high ; they are planted along »the railroad, not so high as the tops of the 
 cars. The telegraph is not used at present for general purposes, but the Government 
 has been petitioned to grant them the privilege, and it is expected to be granted. It 
 is used exclusively for the service of the railroad. The wire is covered with silk, 
 and of iron; so said the superintendent. It is larger than mine — about No. 12. 
 
 " Remarks : In this instrument Wheatstone has left his needles, and taken up 
 the electro-magnet, the basis of my system. The conductor told me that Mr. Wheat- 
 stone was engaged upon an instrument which would print the letter, and that it 
 would be ready in about two weeks. From what I could learn it might possibly 
 
522 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 hotels full, at length got lodged at the Hotel Rondeel. The next day 
 (Saturday), having ascertained that we must remain till Wednes- 
 day of the next week, we determined to see a little of the vicin- 
 ity of Amsterdam. "We had heard much of the singular Dutch 
 village of Broek; so, taking a boat, we crossed the harbor, and 
 hired a carriage to take us six miles to the village. On the way 
 we turned aside for a few moments to look into the interior of a 
 Dutch farm-house, and to learn a little of its economy. You can- 
 not conceive of its extreme neatness and order. I thought of Aunt 
 Salisbury all the while I was there, wishing she could be with me,' 
 for she would have enjoyed it of all things. The stalls of the cows 
 are kept with as much care as any parlor. The dairy, or rather the 
 cheese-room, is in the same room with the cows, and is set round 
 with the crockery-ware. All the iron and brass utensils, every 
 chair and nail-head, are polished perfectly. The floors in the stalls 
 are of clean shells and gravel. It is difficult to imagine what is 
 done with all the litter of a cow-house, unless the Dutch cows have 
 learned the rare secret of living without eating and drinking. 
 Every part of the process of cheese-making is conducted with 
 such superlative neatness and cleanliness, that I think I shall eat 
 Dutch cheeses in preference to all other kinds. We purchased two, 
 at a guilder (forty cents) each. We were shown also the apart- 
 ments of the family. The tables, chairs, bureaus, floors, all were 
 of the same character of neatness. Not a spot or particle of dirt, 
 not a fly or spider, or any insect, could be found in any nook or 
 corner of the whole house. One would suppose it had been ex- 
 pressly fitted up for exhibition, and yet we were told this was but 
 a fair specimen of all Dutch farm-houses. 
 
 print as fast as it now shows a letter ; that is, ordinarily, about fifteen letters per min- 
 ute, while mine ordinarily prints forty-five, and can print eighty, and, with some new 
 arrangements of my first mechanism, at least one hundred and fifty letters per minute. 
 I have, therefore, still the advantage. I have adhered strictly to the plan of mine 
 first conceived in 1832. I still retain my single circuit of one wire ; my alphabet 
 invented to suit my system, my power the electro-magnet, and with this arrangement 
 I now print in legible characters at least sixty letters per minute ; while Mr. Wheat- 
 stone, whose first invention of an electric telegraph was in 183*7, first used five mag- 
 netic needles and six conducting wires. He has been varying his system until he 
 has first reduced his needles to three, and then to two, with as many conductors, 
 and at length has, in 1840, adopted the electro-magnet, the basis of mine, as the 
 basis of his new arrangement ; by which he only shows fifteen, or, at the most, twen- 
 ty-four letters per minute, and is expecting to print as many by another modification 
 of his invention. With these facts, the scientific world may form their judgment 
 who was the inventor of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph." 
 
THE EXCESS OF NEATNESS. 523 
 
 " The inn at Broek was another example of the same neatness. 
 Here we took a little refreshment before going into the village. "We 
 walked, of course, for no carriage, not even a wheelbarrow, appeared 
 to be allowed, any more than in a gentleman's parlor. Every thing 
 about the exterior of the houses and gardens was as carefully cared 
 for as the furniture and embellishments of the interior. The streets 
 (or rather alleys, like those of a garden) were narrow, and paved 
 with small, variously-colored bricks, forming every variety of orna- 
 mental figures. The houses, from the highest to' the lowest class, 
 exhibited not merely comfort, but luxury ; yet, it was a selfish sort 
 of luxury. The perpetually-closed door, and shut-up room of cere- 
 mony, the largest and most conspicuous of all in the house, gave 
 an air of inhospitableness which, I should hope, was not indicative 
 of the real character of the inhabitants ; yet it seemed to be a 
 deserted village, a place of the dead, rather than of the living, an 
 ornamented graveyard. The liveliness of social beings was absent 
 and was even inconsistent with the superlative neatness of all around 
 us. It was a besb parlor out-of-doors, where the gayety of frolicking 
 children would derange the set order of the furniture, or an acci- 
 dental touch of a sacrilegious foot might scratch the polish of a 
 fresh-varnished fence, or flatten down the nap of the green carpet 
 of grass, every blade of which is trained to grow exactly so. The 
 grounds and gardens of a Mr. Yander Beck were, indeed, a curiosity 
 from the strange mixture of the useful with the ridiculously orna- 
 mental. Here were the beautiful banks of a lake, and Nature's 
 embellishment of reeds and water-plants, which, for a wonder, were 
 left to grow in their native luxui'iance, and in the midst a huge 
 pasteboard or wooden swan, and a wooden mermaid of tasteless 
 proportions, blowing from a conch-shell. In another part were a 
 cottage with puppets, the size of life, moving by clock-work, a peas- 
 ant smoking and turning a reel to wind off the thread which his 
 " goed vrow " is spinning upon a wheel, while a most sheep-like dog 
 is made to open his mouth and to bark — a dog which is, doubtless, 
 the progenitor of all the barking, toy-shop dogs of the world; and 
 directly in the vicinity is a beautiful grapery, with the richest clus- 
 ters of grapes literally covering the top, sides, and walls of the 
 greenhouse, which stands in the midst of a garden, gay with dahlias 
 and amaranths, and every variety of flowers, with delicious fruits 
 thickly studding the well-trained trees. Every thing, however, was 
 cut up into miniature landscapes ; little bridges and little temples 
 adorned little canals, and little mounds, miniature representations 
 of streams and hills. 
 
524 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " We visited the residence of the burgomaster. He was away, 
 and his servants permitted us to see the house. It was cleaning- 
 day. Every thing in the house was in keeping with the character 
 of the village. But, the kitchen ! how shall I describe it ? The 
 polished marble floor, the dressers, with glass doors like a book-case, 
 to keep the least particle of dust from the bright-polished utensils 
 of brass and copper. The varnished mahogany handle of the brass 
 spigot, lest the moisture of the hand in turning it should soil its 
 polish : and, will you believe it, the very pot-hooks as well as the 
 cranes (for there were two) in the fireplace were as bright as your 
 scissors ! Broek is, certainly, a curiosity. It is unique, but the im- 
 pression left upon me is not, on the whole, agreeable. I should not 
 be contented to live there. It is too ridiculously and uncomfort- 
 ably nice. Fancy a lady always dressed throughout the day in her 
 best evening-party dress, and say if she could move about with 
 that ease which she would like. Such, however, must be the feel- 
 ing of the inhabitants of Broek ; they must be in perpetual fear, 
 not only of soiling or deranging their clothes merely, but their very 
 streets, every step they take. But, good-by to Broek. I would 
 not have missed seeing it, but do not care to see it again. 
 
 " In Amsterdam we were compelled to stay four or five daj^s to 
 take the steamer to Hamburg, which goes but twice a week. I 
 found here an American artist of great merit, Mr. Schwartze, of 
 Philadelphia. I went with him to see some of the galleries of pict- 
 ures. I also went one evening to a place of amusement called 
 FrascaWs, after a celebrated cafe of that name in Paris. A large 
 room fitted up with evergreens and statuary, and a fine band of 
 music, is the evening resort of the citizens to take coffee and other 
 refreshments, and to hear the music. 
 
 " Wednesday, September 24, six o'clock, p. m. / 
 On board Steamer Willem de Ernest for Hamburg, f 
 
 " We have just embarked on board the steamer for Hamburg. 
 The weather, so essential in the life of a traveler, is beautifully 
 calm, and as we lie at anchor off the booms in the harbor, awaiting 
 the hour of midnight to get under way, the chimes of the clocks, so 
 famous in the Dutch cities, give us a serenade every half-hour. 
 
 " Hamburg, September 26th. 
 " At midnight we set sail from Amsterdam yesterday, and had 
 not proceeded five miles before we ran aground, and were unable 
 to proceed for five or six hours. We at length got underway 
 
RETURN TO LONDON. 525 
 
 again, and pushed out into the North Sea through the outlet be- 
 tween Wieland and Ter Schilling, sailing over the Zuyder-Zee, 
 which is a large expanse of water, the effect of an inundation many 
 centuries ago, which deluged many cities and fields like those now 
 existing in Holland, destroying some eighty thousand lives. One 
 feels in Holland like being in a ship, constantly liable to spring a 
 leak. We had some pleasant passengers on board, principally 
 Danes. Count Blucher, aide-de-camp to the King of Denmark, and 
 cousin to the celebrated general of that name who led the Prus- 
 sians at the battle of Waterloo. Hamburg, you may remember, 
 was nearly destroyed by fire in 1842. It is now almost rebuilt, and 
 in a most splendid style of architecture. I am much prepossessed in 
 its favor. We have taken up our quarters at the Victoria Hotel, 
 one of the splendid new hotels of the city. I find the season so 
 far advanced in these northern regions that I am thinking of giving 
 up my journey farther north. My matters in London will demand 
 all my spare time. 
 
 " September 30th. 
 
 " The windows of my hotel look out upon the Alster Basin, a 
 beautiful sheet of water ; three sides of which are surrounded with 
 splendid houses. Boats and swans are gliding over the glassy sur- 
 face, giving, with the well-dressed promenaders along the shores, an 
 air of gayety and liveliness to the scene. 
 
 ". London, October 9, 1845. 
 
 " I am once more seated at the table at No. 13 Brompton Square, 
 after my journey and voyage to Hamburg, and continue my letter, 
 which has been written at such intervals of time as I could catch 
 from out-door duties. Mrs. Overmann and family left on the 30th 
 ultimo, in the August, to go down the Elbe. I went on board 
 the steamer Caledonia, for London, on the evening of the 3d in- 
 stant, having parted most reluctantly from my friends, the Ells- 
 worths, on the 30th ultimo, they having left that day for Lubeck 
 and Stockholm. On going on board, Mr. Miller brought a little 
 girl, and introduced her to me as Miss Axelina Murdoch, a niece 
 of Mr. Lind, and said she was to be a fellow-passenger with me 
 to London, where she is going to school. She is quite a pretty and 
 intelligent little girl, of fourteen years, and we had a great deal to 
 say about St. Thomas, and ' Uncle Edward,' and her school in Lon- 
 don. I took charge of her. We set sail in the night, and in the 
 morning, after passing a great number of vessels, we saw several 
 ships ahead. I told Axelina we must look out for the August ; for 
 
526 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 I was sure she could not yet have got out of the river, as the wind 
 had been contrary ever since they sailed from Hamburg, and, sure 
 enough, just as we were about to sit down to breakfast, we were 
 coming up fast with a ship under full sail, and, just off Cuxhaven, 
 as soon as we came near enough to read her name, I found it, in- 
 deed, to be the August. We passed so near as to distinguish the 
 persons on board. I saw only Mr. Lunt on deck, the rest being 
 below on account of the weather, which was a little rainy. We 
 shook our handkerchief, and Mr. Lunt, after surveying us with the 
 spy-glass, disappeared, and in a moment after the whole family were 
 at the side of the ship shaking handkerchiefs, and nodding farewell 
 to Axelina and myself, whom they recognized. We were soon past 
 them, but we had the gratification thus of once more greeting them 
 before they sailed for the West Indies. 
 
 " We had a boisterous and disagreeable day, but a still more 
 boisterous night ; the sea was so high and the vessel so uneasy, 
 that I could not lie in my berth, and at midnight I opened the door 
 of the companion-way and looked out on the tempest, for it was 
 then blowing a perfect gale. I had no sooner opened the door than 
 I saw a brilliant rocket go up from a vessel close to us, and a blue 
 light from the same vessel showed us a large steamer coming tow- 
 ard us. Our captain at once gave orders to our helmsman to put 
 up the helm, which was done, and a rocket and blue light were 
 burned on board ours. I supposed at first it was a signal of dis- 
 tress, but in a few moments I learned that it was the steamer for 
 Hamburg from London which we were meeting, and these rockets 
 and blue lights were to prevent us from running foul of each other. 
 Edward was on board that steamer, and thus we met, without see- 
 ing each other, at midnight in a storm in the midst of the North 
 Sea. The wind was fair for him, and he probably arrived in the 
 morning or during the day at Cuxhaven, and passed as near to his 
 friends in the August without knowing it. We arrived in Lon- 
 don on Monday, and I carried little Axelina to her aunt Napier's. 
 Mrs. Napier is sister of Axelina's father, and Mr. Napier is the cele- 
 brated machinist and inventor of the Napier press, and a very 
 wealthy and distinguished man. I mean to call and see them all 
 before I leave London. Edward had been there, and they supposed 
 he was still in London ; but I found, as soon as I got to Brompton 
 Square, that he had sailed in the Neptune steamer for Hamburg, 
 which was the one we met, as I have described. 
 
 " I have thought of you a great deal, my dear daughter, and 
 
MR. FLEISCHMANN IN VIENNA. 527 
 
 how disappointed you must have felt, on finding us all gone (when 
 you arrived in New York). I really could have cried, myself, to 
 'think of your disappointment ; but cheer up, dear Susan, I hope we 
 shall have a meeting all the pleasanter for these disappointments. 
 We live, indeed, in a changing world ; there is nothing stable or 
 settled here, and yet we look to being settled as a great desidera- 
 tum. I do hope yet to have a home, where I can have my children 
 visit me, and have the comforts of home around them. I often feel 
 sad to think of my privation in this respect ; but I have so much to 
 be thankful for, that I would repress all sad feelings of this sort, 
 lest they savor of repining and unthankfulness. 
 
 " I know not what to say of my telegraphic matters here yet. 
 There is nothing decided upon, and I have many obstacles to con- 
 tend against, particularly the opposition of the proprietors of ex- 
 isting telegraphs. But that mine is the best system, I have now 
 no doubt ; all that I have seen, while they are ingenious, are more 
 complicated, more expensive, less efficient, and easier deranged. It 
 may take some time to establish the superiority of mine over the 
 others, for there is the usual array of prejudice and interest against 
 a system which throws others out of use." 
 
 The Morse Telegraph was becoming well known on the Con- 
 tinent of Europe, through the agency of two young Americans, 
 Charles Robinson and Charles L. Chapin, who went abroad with 
 the hope of securing its introduction. They visited Hamburg, 
 St. Petersburg, and Berlin. After two years they returned to 
 America, with abundant evidence that they had been successful 
 in demonstrating to scientific men and to the commercial public 
 the decided superiority of the American system. 
 
 In 1845 Charles T. Fleischmann, Esq., agent of the United 
 States Patent-Office, was in Europe, and Collecting valuable in- 
 formation on agriculture, arts, and education. He took with 
 him the Telegraph of Professor Morse, the fame of which had 
 preceded him, and in letters to his family he gave sketches of 
 the effects of its operation, and of the distinguished persons to 
 whom he exhibited the instrument. From Vienna he wrote : 
 
 " October 9, 1845. — I was told I must see Baron Huegel, coun- 
 selor of the court, and friend of Prince Metternich. I found the 
 baron already acquainted with my arrival in Vienna, and my object ; 
 he received me very politely and requested me to partake of his 
 
528 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 breakfast, but I declined ; and he then invited me to see the curios- 
 ities of his rooms, the walls of which are literally covered with old 
 paintings, and of collections of antiquities of great interest and va- 
 riety. After he was dressed he ordered his carriage, and we went 
 to see Prince Metternich, at his villa near the city. We arrived, 
 and I waited in a beautiful room adjoining the prince's office ; but, 
 after waiting an hour, Baron Huegel returned and stated that the 
 prince could not now see me, as he was engaged to go to the arch- 
 duke, but to-morrow he would be pleased to see me. The princess 
 also went to town, and then the Baron Huegel took me over the 
 whole house, showing me all the different departments. Beautiful 
 and rare statuary was everywhere displayed. We went into the 
 princess's sitting-room, a large apartment tastily, arranged. Her 
 writing-desk, especially, struck me ; it was surrounded by a screen 
 of ivy, which made a kind of bower, and gave the whole an air of 
 enchantment. The prince's office is likewise tastily arranged, and 
 no one would suppose that in that room the deepest and most im- 
 portant diplomatic schemes are projected and carried out — schemes 
 upon which the destinies of nations depend. The villa is one-story 
 high, and the wings contain the saloons for receptions on great oc- 
 casions. The family live in a house adjoining. The grounds which 
 surround this charming villa are extensive and delightful. We 
 returned to the city, and the baron very kindly placed me at my 
 own door, inviting me to see him to-morrow to make another at- 
 tempt to see the prince. Baron Huegel is the brother of the gen- 
 tleman who paid his addresses to the princess before she married 
 the Prince Metternich, and he has great influence with the prince. 
 He advised me to postpone my tour into Hungary, and attend to 
 the matter of the Telegraph, as it is just now before the Govern- 
 ment, to which I consented. Thus you see I am brought in contact 
 with the most influential and distinguished men in Austria. 
 
 " Friday. — At two o'clock I went to the palace of the prince in 
 the city. I sent in my card to the Baron Huegel, who sent me 
 word that after a few minutes he would see me and introduce me 
 to the prince. I was with several gentlemen who were also wait- 
 ing in the antechamber ; every thing here looked well kept, distin- 
 gue without being showy or extravagant. After waiting an hour, 
 the Baron Huegel came to me and announced that the prince was 
 ready to receive me. I passed through one room, and entering an- 
 other I found the prince at his desk, and the princess, also, who was 
 engaged in arranging her own desk. The prince rose, and, saying 
 
AUSTRIAN STATESMEN. 529 
 
 he was pleased to make my acquaintance, alluded to the letter 
 which I brought him from Count Uoyna, ambassador at Brussels. 
 I told him I had the honor of showing to Count Uoyna the Tele- 
 graph, and that he was so much pleased with it that he recom- 
 mended me to show it to the prince. We conversed on the merits 
 of the different systems of Telegraphs. I explained to him the su- 
 periority of Morse's, and said I should be happy to show him the 
 instrument, and make an experiment with it before him. He said, 
 ' Have you an instrument w$th you ? ' I told him that I had 
 brought a full apparatus with me, and was ready at any time to ex- 
 hibit it at his command, and asked if he would allow me to put it 
 up somewhere ; and when I told him I could put it up in his palace, 
 he was exceedingly pleased, and immediately ordered that every 
 facility should be given me. He said it was highly interesting just 
 at this moment to see the American Telegraph, since his Majesty 
 has given orders that Electro-Magnetic Telegraphs should be put 
 up along the railroads, and, if the American Telegraph should prove 
 to be what it was reported to be, it should be applied. After sev- 
 eral other questions in regard to its construction, its practicability, 
 etc., I took my leave. He followed me to the antechamber, where 
 he asked me if this was my only object of coming here. I told him 
 that I was sent by our Government to examine into agriculture, 
 etc., and we had some conversation about locomotives, and then I 
 left the prince and his lady. The prince is a noble-looking, highly- 
 intelligent, elderly gentleman ; his conversation is precise, like that 
 of a great diplomatist ; every word has its bearing, not more and 
 not less. His lady is young, about thirty-eight, and handsome. 
 She was very busily engaged with papers, and I had only once or 
 twice a chance to see her face. The prince told me that he had 
 spoken to the High Kammer, President Baron Kucbeck, about me, 
 and I shall go and see him, and I was informed that next Thursday 
 at three o'clock he would see me. Vbildf my first interview with 
 great statesmen. Next week I put the Telegraph in operation, 
 which will excite great euriosity, as I have begun at the head of 
 society, and shall have everybody of distinction to see it. To- 
 morrow I have an interview with Baron Huegel about the place in 
 the palace, and the necessary battery. The baron is very friendly 
 toward me. 
 
 " Thursday. — At three o'clock I went to see Baron Kucbeck, 
 the Minister of Finance, the next highest officer to the Prince Met- 
 ternich. I found the antechamber full of gentlemen, waiting for 
 34 
 
530 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 audience, many with great parade, and all sorts of uniforms, among 
 which the Hungarian magnate was the most conspicuous. I gave 
 my name to the usher, and made up my mind to wait until five 
 o'clock, till my turn should come. After a few minutes the bell 
 rang, the usher went in with his long list, and soon the door opened 
 and my name was called loud enough to be heard by the whole city. 
 I was quite flattered, and every one looked at me, especially the 
 ■uniformed gentlemen, already fixing their swords to be in readiness 
 when their names should be called. I went in, found the Baron 
 Kucbeck standing in the centre of the room. He received me 
 very politely, and, after exchanging the usual ' How do you do's ? ' 
 he said he was glad to see me, and especially at the moment w T hen 
 the subject of the construction of the Telegraphs was before him. 
 He offered me a chair, and we went from A to Z about telegraphs, 
 America, etc. He requested me to show him the experiments, and 
 if the American Telegraph showed advantages over others he would 
 be happy to see it go into operation. He requested me to come 
 and see him again. 
 
 " Saturday. — Prince Metternich is moving into the city, and 
 next week I shall make the experiments with the Telegraph before 
 his highness. I saw Baron Huegel this morning, who told me that 
 Baron Kucbeck wished to see me about the experiments, and that 
 he would like to show me the greenhouses of his brother at Heilzing, 
 and he invited me to ride out with him to that place to-morrow, to 
 which I consented. I accordingly went. His brother has in his 
 greenhouses forty thousand specimens of plants, and in his whole 
 garden over three hundred thousand plants. It is said it is the 
 greatest collection of plants on the Continent. His apartments are 
 beautifully furnished, and stored with Indian and Chinese curiosi- 
 ties which he collected when in those countries. The greenhouses 
 extend from the dwelling, and are beautifully arranged, and en- 
 livened with birds and fountains. 
 
 " October 27, 1845. — At length, yesterday, I exhibited the Tele- 
 graph before the Minister of Finance, a most admirable and accom- 
 plished statesman. He seemed to be pleased with it, and requested 
 me to show it as soon as possible to Prince Metternich. To-day I 
 was called upon and informed that the prince was ready to see the 
 experiments. The carriage was announced which was to take me 
 to the palace of the prince. I had to wait two hours before the 
 council was over. At last the prince, appeared with his counsel- 
 ors. I explained the Telegraph to them, pointing out the differ- 
 
AT THE EMPEROR'S PALACE. 531 
 
 ence of Morse's system from that of others, and its advantages over 
 every other. The prince listened with great interest. He sent for 
 the princess and his ' family to look at this wonderful instrument. 
 My experiments went off well. The prince exhibited great satis- 
 faction. He expressed several times his astonishment at the sim- 
 plicity of the instrument, and thanked me very politely for the oppor- 
 tunity I had given him to see the ' beautiful Telegraph,' and wished 
 that I would be so kind as to show it to the brother of the emperor, 
 and to the emperor himself, saying that he should tell them of it, 
 and he would send me word at what time I could exhibit it to them. 
 
 " Monday ', November 3d. — I hoped by this time to give you 
 some account of my interview with the emperor ; but such great 
 personages are not easy to approach. Count Colobrant, the Minis- 
 ter of the Interior, sent to inquire if I would be so kind as to show 
 him the Telegraph. I assented, but I know not when he expects me. 
 
 " November 5th. — I received an invitation this morning to be at 
 one o'clock at the emperor's palace, to show the Telegraph to the 
 uncle of the emperor, the Archduke Louis, and Count Colobrant, the 
 Minister of the Interior. I had scarcely put the apparatus in mo- 
 tion when his imperial highness was announced, an elderly gentle- 
 man, dressed as plainly as a bourgeois could be, having the real feat- 
 ures of the imperial family. He requested me to explain the Tele- 
 grajm to him, so I explained it, having some difficulty in bringing 
 out of my mouth his long titles. He was very much interested, and 
 he was a long time with me. I told him there was nothing like it 
 in the world. He observed that he had been very curious to see it, 
 and that he was exceedingly pleased with its simplicity and prac- 
 ticability. I gave him a regular lecture on electricity and magnet- 
 ism, etc. The Count Colobrant was exceedingly polite, and thanked 
 me for my interesting explanations. 
 
 " I had almost given up the idea that I should see the emperor, 
 but it seems that the whole court is anxious to see this wonder from 
 America, and to-day I am requested to appear to-morrow at one 
 o'clock at the palace, as his Majesty and his family have expressed 
 a desire to see the Telegraph. I had an interview with the gen- 
 tleman who has the business in his hands to report on the subject, 
 and he told me that he proposed two telegraphs, Morse's, of Amer- 
 ica, and Bain's, of England — Morse's for the principal stations, and 
 Bain's for the intermediate places. There is, in fact, a great deal 
 of interest shown just now in the Telegraph, and in what the court 
 takes an interest the whole country does. 
 
532 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " November 8th. — According to my promise, I give you a de- 
 scription of my interview with the imperial family. Prince Metter- 
 nich found the Telegraph so exceedingly interesting that he men- 
 tioned it to the whole court, which opened all doors to me. I con- 
 sequently had interviews with Barcn Kucbeck, Minister of Finance, 
 Count Colobrant, Minister of the Interior, and his imperial highness 
 Archduke Louis, who all agreed in Prince Metternich's account, and 
 the imperial family invited me to bring the instrument to the court. 
 I went there at one o'clock to set it up. I passed through the 
 guards. The page in waiting opened the door leading into the 
 great reception-room of Maria Theresa. The chamberlain in wait- 
 ing ordered the servants to bring me tables, and in a few minutes 
 the apparatus was ready. Prince Metternich passed through with 
 the Archduke Louis and his aide-de-camp. Soon after the emperor 
 and empress were announced, followed by Prince Metternich, the 
 Archduke Louis, and many others. Prince Metternich explained 
 the Telegraph to the empress in Italian, as she does not speak the 
 German language, and I explained it to the emperor. After the 
 empress had examined and admired it, she withdrew, followed by 
 the whole party ; but in a moment the emperor returned with his 
 suite, and I showed him again the method of writing, etc. He was 
 very much pleased, and he understood it very well. He is good- 
 natured and polite, and thanked me repeatedly for the opportunity 
 I had afforded him to see an instrument of which he had heard so 
 much. Prince Metternich repeated to him the advantages it had 
 over all others, and, after I had written for each one some words, 
 they took the strips of paper with them and retired. The emperor, 
 in retiring, bowed many times, repeating his thanks, and wishing 
 me good success. 
 
 " I have thus had an opportunity of seeing the great Emperor 
 of Austria. He is a small man, delicate, but apj)arently enjoying 
 good health. His head is the most remarkable part about him ; it 
 is very large, and the forehead of uncommon shape and circumfer- 
 ence. His eyes are hid under heavy eyebrows, and when he looks 
 at a person he turns up his eyes without lifting up his head, which 
 gives him a peculiar expression. His lips are large, a family feature 
 of the imperial family. His voice is sharp and feeble ; he moves 
 very quick, and seems somewhat nervous. He was dressed in a 
 blue dress-coat, and had the order of the Golden Fleece in his but- 
 ton-hole. I forgot to mention that the Duchess de Berri came in 
 while the empress was present. The empress is tall and thin, of 
 
IMPERIAL PALACE; 533 
 
 about forty years of age. She seems very amiable, and is very 
 kind to the poor. 
 
 " The chamberlain requested me to wait a few moments longer 
 for his highness the Archduke Charles, the hero of Austria, who 
 faced Napoleon's armies, and who is distinguished both as a warrior 
 and a diplomatist. He soon appeared with his son's daughter on 
 his arm, and with two sons of his. Then came the Archduke 
 Francis Charles, brother of the present emperor, and the heir to the 
 crown ; his son, a young man of twenty-five years, with his wife, a 
 Bavarian princess, a charming woman ; and then a whole set of 
 dames (Fhonneitr. They all seemed to be interested, and I gave 
 them a full lecture on subjects connected with the Telegraph. They 
 then retired. I am told that very few persons have had such an 
 opportunity of seeing the whole imperial family as I have had, and 
 that I should consider it a great honor. 
 
 " The Imperial Palace is an old building, but exceedingly com- 
 fortable. The room in which I exhibited the Telegraph was the 
 room of Maria Theresa, and her morning reception-room was next 
 to it, in which every thing is as it was in the time of that great 
 woman. The walls are of red velvet, embroidered with gold. In 
 the centre stands a large bed of red velvet, and heavily embroidered 
 with gold and pearl. This is only a show-bed. Several busts of 
 her children are placed round the room. Near the bed stands a 
 kind of altar for devotion, which consists of bass-reliefs in marble, 
 representing Christ leaning on Mary, from the chisel of an Italian 
 artist. Instead of bureaus, there are large trunks of wood, or boxes, 
 highly ornamented. The room was not used as a bedchamber, but 
 as a reception-room for favored persons and friends of Maria Theresa. 
 It was at that time considered a great honor and distinction to have 
 an audience in the bedchamber, where the empress received in her 
 neglige. One thing reminded me of America amid this gorgeous 
 display of royalty. It was a large fireplace, in which a real West T 
 era country fire was made up. A large pile of wood was placed on 
 each side, which had more the appearance of a genuine Kentucky 
 fireplace than an imperial mode of heating their apartments. 
 
 " I passed through muskets, drawn swords, and servants, to my 
 carriage, and in a few moments I was in my room to give you an 
 account of what had happened. 
 
 " I must wait now to know what the commission will determine 
 about the Telegraph. If they should adopt Morse's, much must not 
 be expected, since they could adopt another plan, which is not so 
 
534 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 good, but which would answer their purpose. I shall, therefore, 
 leave it to their generosity. I shall be glad to see Morse have the 
 honor to have his system employed in a country which abounds with 
 scientific men." 
 
 "Vienna, November 20, 1845. 
 
 " In my last letter I stated that the emperor and family, etc., 
 had seen the Telegraph, and there is no doubt that Morse's system 
 will be adopted, since it has excited universal admiration among all 
 who have witnessed its operation. Ten days ago I exhibited it be- 
 fore all the foreign diplomatists present at Vienna, among whom 
 was the ambassador of the pope. I was requested to write all the 
 names of the crowned heads with telegraphic signs, which these 
 gentlemen sent to their sovereigns as a curiosity. Many of their 
 ladies and friends were also present, and I gave a regular lecture 
 on telegraphs, and made Morse's name sound from one corner of 
 Europe to the other. 
 
 " This morning I received a note, requesting me to bring the 
 Telegraph once more to the palace of the Archduke Stephen, Gov- 
 ernor of Bohemia, the young prince who is to marry the daughter 
 of the Emperor of Russia. He is very anxious to see it during his 
 stay in Vienna, since it is proposed to establish the Telegraph be- 
 tween Prague, which is his residence, and Vienna. At the appoint- 
 ed hour I went to the palace, and arranged the instrument in one 
 of the apartments for the prince's inspection. He was not in, but 
 his chamberlain was expecting him every moment to return from 
 Prince Metternich, with whom he had probably some interview rela- 
 tive to his marriage — for Metternich is not only the great diplomat, 
 but also the great match-maker for the European monarch s. The 
 Princess Olga has twice refused Archduke Stephen on account of a 
 condition of the house of Austria that every princess must be a Ro- 
 man Catholic ; as she is a member of the Greek Church (which is 
 the religion of the Russian court), the proposed marriage could not 
 take place unless one of the parties yielded to the other in religious 
 views. But, of late, the Emperor of Russia seems desirous that his 
 daughter should marry the prince, and she has consented to join 
 the Catholic Church. Having waited his return for some time in 
 vain, I left, promising to call again at half-past five, at which time 
 T was told he would be at leisure. I did so, and was soon ushered 
 through several apartments to the audience-room, where the prince 
 received me with much courtesy, expressing his regret that he had 
 troubled me to come a second time, and then requested me to ex- 
 
LABOES OF METTERNIOH. 535 
 
 plain to him the Telegraph and its operation. This was all done 
 with so much politeness and frankness, such freedom from all hau- 
 teur, that I felt quite at ease. He is about six feet in height, rath- 
 er a slender figure ; his features are not handsome, but pleasing ; 
 his eyes are dark, very expressive, and full of vivacity ; his voice is 
 agreeable, and he expresses himself with facility, and, what is best 
 of all, he is very intelligent, and, unlike many of the Austrian 
 princes, he is active. He took great interest in Morse's invention, 
 expressed many times his gratification at having seen it and his 
 admiration of its simplicity and beautiful contrivance. He asked 
 me if Mr. Morse was a professor of a university ; and when I told 
 him he had no public employment until lately, and that this was 
 only a temporary office, he expressed his astonishment that such 
 ingenious men were not provided for by our Government. He was 
 really delighted with the Telegraph : he said that such an invention 
 was more interesting to him than all other machinery, where mat- 
 ter alone is made to produce matter ; but here was an element sub- 
 dued to the will of man, and made the medium of transmitting his 
 thoughts over land and sea. 
 
 " The prince informed me that Baron Kucbeck, the Minister of 
 Finance, who has this matter to decide, is quite in favor of Morse's 
 system, and he has promised that all his own influence shall be ex- 
 erted in my behalf to have it adopted. 
 
 " Prince Metternich's power and influence are undiminished ; his 
 decisions require only the signed envelope of the emperor. His 
 antechamber is a proof of his power : there j-ou find the ambassa- 
 dors and charges of all nations ; the clerical savants of the pope, in 
 all their different-colored robes ; the veteran generals of the army ; 
 the mantled and mustached Hungarian magnates ; the highest 
 functionaries of the state ; the speculative banker, whose fortune 
 depends on a single mark of his pen ; the enterprising manufact- 
 urer ; the artist, exhibiting his productions of brush or chisel to 
 his inspection ; Asiatics, Africans, and Americans, all are assem- 
 bled, to wait patiently until their names are called out, to be admit- 
 ted before him. But this continual care and responsibility have 
 worn down his constitution, and in a few more years his course will 
 be run, and Austria will lose its preserver." 
 
 These letters give us a vivid idea of the interest already ex- 
 cited in the heart of Europe by the Morse Telegraph, so early 
 as the year 1845. Professor Morse continues the history of his 
 own operations, writing to Mr. Tail : 
 
536 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 "London, October 8, 1845. 
 " I have just reached here on my return from the North of Eu- 
 rope. I went no farther than Hamburg, finding that if I visited 
 St. Petersburg I should probably be belated in my return to the 
 United States. I was also influenced in my determination to go no 
 farther by the improbability, under all circumstances, of accomplish- 
 ing any thing with Russia ; and the probability that in England I 
 should be able to do something. I know not what the issue of the 
 present negotiations here may be, but I will say, in brief, that there 
 is a ' General Telegraph Commercial Company ' forming here, with 
 a capital of six hundred thousand pounds sterling. They are anx- 
 ious to make arrangements with me. I have offered them liberal 
 terms. One thousand pounds down in cash, and a percentage on 
 the profits, or, rather, one-fourth part of the savings to the company 
 from the use of mine over Wheatstone's : that is, if Wheatstone uses 
 four wires and I use but one, one-fourth of the savings thus made 
 shall be mine. If Wheatstone gives but twenty-four letters per min- 
 ute with four wires, and I can give sixty per minute with one, one- 
 fourth of the savings thus made is mine, and so on. Should they 
 accept these terms, the result will be favorable to us in many ways. 
 I have stipulated that the}'" take out the patent in their own name ; 
 so that I am at no risk. If one Telegraph can once be successfully 
 established on a line in England, we command the Continent also, 
 where electric telegraphs have been established on Wheatstone's 
 principle, for the best riiust succeed. Whether we shall derive any 
 benefit direct from their establishment on the Continent is, perhaps, 
 a question, since publicity must be so far given to our method that 
 it will be seized without acknowledgment or reward. There is no 
 mistake about the superiorit3 r of my system. I saw a line of Wheat- 
 stone's electric telegraph between Haarlem and Amsterdam, ten 
 miles. It is a single wire, and he uses his ratchet-wheel plan. The 
 ratchet-wheel is urged forward by the power of the magnet, thus 
 adopting the basis of my system as the basis of his improvement. 
 He could not use his improvement in the United States, as it would 
 conflict with our prior right. I believe I told you in my former let- 
 ter that the number of signals which Wheatstone can give, and 
 which Mr. Fleischmann says in his letter was fifty or sixty, are not 
 letters, but parts of a letter. I timed his improved method at Am- 
 sterdam, the other day. The utmost number he could possibly give 
 was twenty four letters in a minute, but ordinarily only fifteen. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone are aware that I am here, and the latter, I 
 
LETTER TO ARAGO. 537 
 
 learn, is quite busy denouncing my system as inferior to theirs — as, 
 indeed, impracticable and absurd! Is not this truly laugh- 
 able ? I shall see what I can do here ; then take a hasty run to 
 Paris, and be back in season to take one of the steamers of Novem- 
 ber home." 
 
 Before lie went to Paris, Professor Morse addressed the fol- 
 lowing letter to M. Arago, then the Astronomer Royal : 
 
 "London, October 20, 1845. 
 " Dear Sir : In Galignani's Messenger, of the 18th instant, I 
 perceive that the subject of electric telegraphs is before the com- 
 mission of the French Government, who are to decide on the best 
 system of electric telegraphs for France. You will, doubtless, re- 
 member my visit to you in Paris, in the autumn of 1838, with my 
 telegraphic system ; and I shall not myself forget the kindness with 
 which you explained its action at the seance of the Academy on 
 September 10th of that year. You are, doubtless, aware that my 
 system is since in successful operation in the United States; but 
 you may not be aware of the extent to which it has been projected, 
 and which is in process of construction. My time has neces- 
 sarily been directed to the operations for its extension in the 
 United States, where a line of over thirteen hundred English 
 miles are under contract," the greater part of which is expected to 
 be completed before the 1st of January of the coming year. I 
 should be glad of an opportunity of showing to the commission my 
 improved instruments, and hope to be in Paris within a fortnight 
 from date. I am fully persuaded, from a personal examination 
 of the English system in use here, that my system is much more 
 simple in its apparatus, and far more efficient, as well as less exjoen- 
 sive. Of this, however, I am willing that those naturally less 
 biased should be the judge. In a note to my friend Mr. Walsh, 
 United States consul in Paris, I have requested him to send you a 
 copy of my letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitted by 
 him to Congress, at the last session, containing some facts in rela- 
 tion to the operation of the telegraphic line belonging to the Gov- 
 ernment, and under my superintendence." 
 
 In Paris Professor Morse was kindly received by Arago, to 
 whom he was so largely indebted in the year 1838, when he 
 was, in the same city, a stranger and foreigner, seeking to intro- 
 duce a new invention. Now he came with all the prestige of 
 
538 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 victory. His Telegraph, had been tried on a line of forty miles 
 in length, and had demonstrated its almost miraculous powers. 
 It was not now begging the favor of governments, but was com- 
 manding the admiration of the world. Arago introduced the 
 inventor and the invention to the French Chamber of Deputies, 
 and in its presence Professor Morse exhibited his Telegraph, 
 November 10, 1845. It received the loudest encomiums of the 
 Chamber and of the press, as its superiority over all other sys- 
 tems was easily demonstrated. But there was no other induce- 
 ment than a sense of iustice to grant a patent to an American 
 citizen, whose invention the European nations were at liberty 
 to employ at their own pleasure, and the disappointed Professor 
 was obliged to return to his own country, loaded with honor, and 
 nothing else. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1846-1847. 
 
 EXTENSION OF PATENT — THE INVENTOE's CLAIM — NEW LINES ESTABLISHED — 
 SIDNEY E. MOESE'S PEEDIOTIONS — EEPOET TO THE POSTMASTEE-GENEEAL — 
 
 AETISTS' PETITION LINE BETWEEN BALTIMOEE, PHILADELPHIA, AND NEW 
 
 TOEK — EEENOH CHAMBEES DEBATE — LETTEE TO AEAGO — EIEST FEETTS — 
 
 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION — PEOFESSOE HENEY APPOINTED SEOEETAEY 
 
 PEINTLNG-TELEGBAPH — LETTEE TO DANIEL LOED — PIEATIOAL INVASIONS — 
 OOEAN-TELEGEAPH. 
 
 THE year 1846 was signalized by the reissue of Morse's pat- 
 ent, in which he defined with great exactness the nature 
 of his claim. He said in his statement : 
 
 " Having fully described my invention, I wish it to be under- 
 stood that I do not claim the use of the galvanic current or cur- 
 rents of electricity for the purpose of telegraphic communication ; 
 but what I specially claim as my invention and improvement is, 
 making use of the motive power of magnetism when developed by 
 the action of such current or currents, as a means of operating or 
 giving motion to machinery, which may be used to imprint signals 
 upon paper or other suitable material, or to produce sounds in any 
 desired manner for the purpose of telegraphic communication. 
 
 " The only way in which the galvanic current has heretofore 
 been proposed to be used is by decomposition, and the action or 
 exercise of the deflective force of a current upon a magnetized bar 
 or needle ; and the decompositions and deflections thus produced 
 were the subject of inspection, and had no power of recording the 
 communication. I therefore characterize my invention as the first 
 recording or printing Telegraph, by means of electro-magnetism. 
 
 " There are various known modes of producing motions by elec- 
 tro-magnetism, but none of these have hitherto been applied to ac- 
 
540 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tuate or give motion to printing or recording machinery, which is 
 the chief point of my invention and improvement. 
 
 " I also claim the system of signs, consisting of dots and lines, 
 substantially as herein set forth, and illustrated in combination with 
 telegraph for recording signals. 
 
 " I also claim the types and rule in combination with the signal 
 levers, as herein described, for the purpose of connecting and break- 
 ing the current of galvanism and electricity. 
 
 " I also claim, in combination with an electro-magnet used for 
 telegraphic purposes, the train of clock-work actuated by a weight 
 or spring, for the purpose of carrying the material on which the 
 record is to be made, under the registering pen, substantially in the 
 manner specified. 
 
 " I also claim the combination of two or more circuits of gal- 
 vanism or electricity, generated by independent batteries by means 
 of electro-magnets, as above described. 
 
 " In testimony whereof," etc. 
 
 Professor Morse was now watching the progress of new 
 lines of telegraph, gradually extending from city to city. Mr. 
 Cornell was putting up the wires between New York and Phila- 
 delphia. The great problem, as it was then regarded, of cross- 
 ing the Hudson River, was not satisfactorily solved. On the 
 10th of January Professor Morse wrote to Mr. Cornell : 
 
 " I have just received a letter from Mr. Vail, who is desirous of 
 having us communicate with him from Newark ; but I shall write 
 him by to-day's mail that we will try through to Fort Lee, and if 
 possible to New York. I have written him the following regula- 
 tions : At twelve o'clock on Monday, and the same on Tuesday at 
 
 ten o'clock, strike the letter P successively for 
 
 five minutes, then rest five minutes, and thus alternately till four 
 o'clock, unless the desired result is realized. I will strike the letter 
 
 Y from New York in the same way, if all is clear 
 
 for that purpose at Fort Lee — if not, you will strike the letter . — . 
 F in the same way from Fort Lee to Philadelphia, and also to me 
 at New York. It will thus be known at each station whence the 
 communication comes. If at either station the signals are recog- 
 nized, then add . . . s after each, for example : if at Fort Lee you 
 get from Philadelphia, p. p., etc, then return f. s — f. s., until it is 
 recognized. 
 
"THE NATION'S IDOL." 541 
 
 (( R , , . j Platinum plate, and ground at Philadelphia. 
 ( Zinc plate, and ground at New York." 
 
 Thus he was feeling his way along, step by step, with firm 
 confidence that no insuperable difficulties remained. His friends 
 the Ellsworths, whose sympathy and aid in Washington during 
 his struggles with Congress had been so precious, were now re- 
 siding in Indiana. Mrs. Ellsworth wrote to the Professor : 
 " Oh, might we think you would ever come out into this West- 
 ern world, how delighted we should be ! We talk daily of you 
 and the Telegraph, and rejoice with something of a personal 
 pride in its success. You, my dear friend, stand on a high and 
 enviable round of the ladder — you are just now the nation's 
 idol ; but I have no fear of the blighting influence of such fame 
 on you ; therefore, I pray you be happy in this good that God 
 permits to you." 
 
 " The nation's idol ! " This was the language of warm per- 
 sonal friendship, but it expresses the sentiment of admiration 
 with which the inventor was at this moment regarded. New 
 lines of his Telegraph were established from month to month. 
 Each city, on its first enjoyment of instantaneous communica- 
 tion with the metropolis, was thrilled with joy, and raised its 
 voice in honor of the genius that had conferred the boon. 
 
 The details of business being now in the hands of Mr. Ken- 
 dall, the Professor continued his labors as superintendent of the 
 United States Telegraph. His brother, Sidney E. Morse, being 
 in Europe, wrote to him respecting its progress, and, true to the 
 genius of the family, foreshadowed other inventions, venturing 
 a prediction to be fulfilled within fifty years. More than half 
 the time has passed away, and the vision is yet unrealized : 
 
 " London, March 3, 1846. 
 " Your letter of January 30th, with the information of the rapid 
 progress of the Telegraph in the United States, and the prospect 
 that it would be profitable property, gave us all much pleasure. It 
 is of the first importance to you to perfect the plan of writing with 
 the utmost rapidity ', which occupied so much of our thought and 
 conversation last summer in New York. You then told me, you 
 recollect, that, while still using only one wire, variety might be given 
 to the written character by using two or more pens to be acted up- 
 on by batteries and magnets of different strength, the character of 
 
542 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 course being in two or more lines instead of in one line, as at pres- 
 ent. I have thought much of this since, and, in connection with 
 your saw-teeth type moving in grooves, I am satisfied that you can 
 at least double, and perhaps treble or quadruple, the number of let- 
 ters you now write in any given time. Perfect and patent this mode 
 by all means. I can see clearly how the rapidity can be doubled 
 by this method, but, when it comes to trebling and quadrupling 
 by means of three or four varieties in the strength of the magnets 
 and batteries, I see some difficulties. Therefore, to make sure of 
 the utmost possible rapidity, I should patent the use of four wires 
 with four pens (one to each wire), marking upon the same paper in 
 four different parallel lines. With these you can unquestionably 
 make three hundred and twenty letters in a minute, or more, if you 
 can make your lever-pen vibrate and distinctly dot upon the paper 
 more than three hundred and twenty times in a minute. Perhaps, 
 in practice, two wires and two varieties of strength in the mag- 
 net or battery will be found best. I write in haste, and cannot 
 explain. 
 
 " When we get through with telegraphy and cerography, I 
 think, among other matters, we may turn our thoughts to the per- 
 fection of submarine navigation. I have some thoughts on this 
 subject, and will venture to prophesy, that in less than fifty years 
 submarine voyages will be made across the Atlantic, and that im- 
 provements in submarine navigation will revolutionize the military 
 and commercial policy of all maritime powers. This is an American 
 invention — Bushnell, of Connecticut, being, I believe, the first who 
 experimented to any effect in this way." 
 
 In a communication to the Postmaster-General, the Professor 
 now gave some facts to show the claims which the Telegraph 
 had upon the Government, and the satisfactory results thus far 
 secured : 
 
 " In paying over to the Department the receipts of the Tele- 
 graph-offices at Washington and Baltimore for the last quarter 
 (which were only 1203.43), ending 31st of March, 1846, 1 have the 
 honor of presenting to the Department a few considerations in rela- 
 tion to the Telegraph generally. 
 
 " The line now belonging to the Government is but the experi- 
 mental line authorized by the act of Congress of March 3, 1843, the 
 principal design of which was to test the ' practicability and utility ' 
 of my system of Electro-Magnetic Telegraphs. The first quality, its 
 
INCREASE OF BUSINESS. 543 
 
 * practicability,' was proved when the first communication was made 
 by means of its conductors, from Washington to Baltimore. Its 
 ' utility ' required a longer probationary period, and circumstances 
 have arisen which I think will require yet further time satisfactorily 
 to test this point in the experiment. Already, indeed, numerous 
 cases have almost daily occurred, which have demonstrated this 
 quality within the limited extent of forty miles, perhaps enough, in 
 the minds of the thinking, to foreshadow its vast increase as the 
 lines become more and more extended. The revenue to be derived 
 from the use of the Telegraph is by no means the only criterion to 
 judge of its utility. From the character of many of the thousands of 
 messages already transmitted, when the rapidity of transmitting in- 
 telligence has been essential often to the security of property of great 
 amounts, directly and indirectly, and to the convenience of business 
 of all kinds, can be derived a powerful argument for its public util- 
 ity, when more extensively established. It will be gratifying, how- 
 ever, to know that, merely in point of revenue, the receipts of the 
 last quarter have been one fourth greater than those of the previous 
 quarter, and I am sanguine in the belief that when the great lines 
 (now nearly completed by private companies), extending from the 
 lakes to Boston, and from Boston to this city, shall be connected at 
 Baltimore with the Government line, the increase of telegraph busi- 
 ness thus brought to Baltimore will increase the revenue far beyond 
 the expenses necessary to sustain it. 
 
 " By a reference to the statement of the total receipts for the 
 year ending 31st of March, 1846, it will be seen that there has 
 been a regular increase of the business of the office from the first to 
 the last quarter, and the last month has produced the largest amount 
 of any month in the year. If there is this regular increase without 
 any influence from lines beyond Baltimore, is it not reasonable to 
 expect a vastly greater increase when the business of Philadelphia, 
 New York, and Boston, shall be brought to Baltimore ? At anj^ 
 rate, v/ould it be policy, in this stage of the progress of the Tele- 
 graph, to stop the Government Telegraph at the moment when 
 these other lines are about to be connected with it ? 
 
 " The experience we have had upon the Utica and Albany line, 
 and the Philadelphia and New York line, with all the temporary 
 disadvantages of comparatively inexperienced operators (who are, 
 however, daily becoming more expert), and some physical obstacles 
 temporarily encountered, shows that, in point of revenue, the Tele- 
 graph will undoubtedly realize the expectations of those who have 
 
544 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 engaged in the enterprise. The receipts of a single day have 
 amounted to $38.85 on the latter line, and this while laboring under 
 the disadvantages of crossing the Hudson River with the messages 
 in boats. 
 
 " In regard to the state of the telegraph-line, an inspection of 
 the daily receipts for the last three quarters (nine months) shows 
 that not a minute during that time has the line been so out of 
 repair as to prevent its use for correspondence. It has been in 
 working order at any moment, showing, among other things, that 
 the danger which many have apprehended of wanton or other injury 
 to the conducting wires, is unfounded ; and, in this connection, I 
 would beg leave to correct, once for all, most of the erroneous state- 
 ments of some of the newspapers, in attributing the breaking of the 
 conductors on the new lines to design. In nine cases out of ten 
 the breaks are attributable to defective wire, and to unforeseen, or 
 rather unprovided-for, effects of frost and sleet upon the conductors. 
 As far as my observation goes, the telegraphic conductors are pro- 
 tected by the favorable feelings of the people ; for one instance, 
 where any local cause of unfriendly feeling has resulted in in- 
 jury to the line, there are five where accident has been kindly rem- 
 edied by casual passers-by, and information given in the proper 
 quarter of the place and nature of the injury. 
 
 " During the last year, I made a rapid tour in England, Holland, 
 and France, mainly for the purpose of personally ascertaining 
 whether airv system of Electric Telegraphs, recently adopted there, 
 possessed any advantages over mine. I think I may say, without 
 a boast, that mine is palpably superior to any as yet devised. The 
 recent adoption of my system by the Austrian Government, and, 
 after a careful examination of all the European systems, may be 
 cited as corroborative of my opinion. For a detailed description of 
 the differences between mine and the English and French systems, 
 I beg to refer to my letter to the Commissioner of Patents, in his 
 forthcoming report, printing by order of Congress. 
 
 " Should Congress deem it expedient to sustain for another year 
 the telegraph-line between Baltimore and Washington, I would 
 suggest the expediency of increasing the number of messengers at 
 the Washington terminus, and imposing a small additional charge 
 for the delivery of messages within certain limits. I would also 
 suggest that the Telegraph be made available at all times, day and 
 night, and that a relief of two or more operators should be em- 
 ployed to give a constant attendance in the offices. I have reason 
 
PETITION OF THE ARTISTS. - 545 
 
 to believe that the increase of revenue consequent on such an ar- 
 rangement will more than defray the additional expense." 
 
 His old friends the artists, determined to win him back 
 from his wires to his studio and pencil, rallied in force and laid 
 before Congress a petition that Professor Morse be employed to 
 execute the painting to fill the panel in the Rotunda of the Cap- 
 itol assigned to Mr. Inman, who had been removed by death. 
 The memorial was signed by A. B. Durand, President National 
 Academy of Design, Thomas S. Cummings, Jno. G. Chapman, 
 Jno. L. Morton, F. W. Edmonds, G. C. Yerplanck, J. F. E. 
 Prudhomme, Jona. Goodhue, P. Perit, Philip Hone, Frederick 
 P.. Spencer, Alfred Jones, James Harper, Chas. C. Ingham, Y. 
 P. N. A., S. DeWitt Bloodgood, R. Watts, Jr., M. D., Professor 
 of Anatomy, Regis Giejewus, Jasper F. Cropsey, Chas. L. Elliott, 
 Jas. J. Mapes, Jas. Renwick, Clinton Roosevelt, Geo. P. Morris, 
 and Henry C. Shumway. But it came to nothing. " There's 
 a divinity that shapes our ends," and Morse was never to take 
 his brush in hand again. 
 
 The first money that he received, in any way, as the avails of 
 his invention of the Telegraph, was the sum of forty-five dollars, 
 being his share of the amount paid for the right to use his patent 
 on a short line from the Post-Office in "Washington City to the 
 National Observatory. The use he made of this money was 
 characteristic of the man. To the Rev. Dr. Sprole, then a pastor 
 in Washington, and afterward chaplain of the Military Academy 
 at West Point, he sent fifty dollars, requesting him to apply it 
 to the benefit of the church. Dr. Sprole says that he added fifty 
 dollars as a personal gift to himself. 
 
 June 8, 1846, Professor Morse received from the Controller 
 of the Treasury of the United States, J. W. M. Cullough, a 
 letter stating that his accounts were adjusted. This letter is in- 
 dorsed "final adjustment closing the books of the Treasury, 
 and settling all my accounts with the Treasury of the United 
 States, in relation to the thirty thousand dollars appropriation 
 for testing the Telegraph." 
 
 Early in June, the line from Baltimore to Philadelphia was 
 in operation, Philadelphia and New York being already united 
 by the same tie. Mr. Henry O'Rielly, to whose indefatigable 
 35 
 
546 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 energy and enterprise the public was largely indebted for the 
 success of the undertaking, sent the following dispatch to Pro- 
 fessor Morse in Washington : 
 
 "Philadelphia, June 5, 1846, 10 a.m. — Mr. H. O'Rielly congrat- 
 ulates Professor Morse on the completion of the Telegraph, and on 
 the connection of the Hudson and Potomac by links of lightning." 
 
 In five minutes after, the following was received in Phila- 
 delphia : 
 
 " Washington, June 5, 1846, a. m. — Professor Morse congrat- 
 ulates Mr. O'Rielly on the success of his labors." 
 
 Communications were sent backward and forward. After a 
 full test had been made between Baltimore and Philadelphia, 
 the wires were connected with the Washington line, and a num- 
 ber of uninterrupted communications made directly with the 
 same impulse between those two cities. 
 
 While these extensions were going on with great rapidity, 
 Professor Morse's time was largely occupied by correspondence 
 with those who made inquiries respecting his invention, or 
 sought his aid in perfecting their own. The number of men 
 was great who desired his personal examination of their inven- 
 tions, and his commendation, that they might, under the auspices 
 of so successful an inventor, secure public attention. To the end 
 of his life, this was one of the most irksome offices which were 
 thrust upon him. His natural kindness and intense dislike of 
 giving pain to others, inclined him to permit these applications to 
 be made, and to yield to them as much consideration as he could 
 with any propriety afford. Some of these schemes were, on their 
 face, absurd, and some of them ridiculous, but perhaps no one of 
 them would appear more preposterous than his own when first 
 proposed. As he remembered, with a chill, the coldness and un- 
 belief with which his own scheme was received, he was the more 
 disposed to listen favorably to the conceptions of others. One 
 man requests him to examine a writing-machine, another a fly- 
 ing-machine ; another begs his attention to a caloric-engine, a 
 steam-boiler improvement, or a cable-stopper. Some propose 
 Telegraphs to supersede his own, and kindly offer him an inter- 
 est in their inventions. To them all he had a kind word, but 
 
OTHER TELEGRAPHS. 547 
 
 few of them are known to have been successful. One of these 
 letters reads : 
 
 "Boston, March 18, 1846. 
 " I too have invented a Telegraph, so far as to have an idea of 
 it ; and, though I have made no experiments, I am very confident of 
 its practicability. To put it in operation I want none of your light- 
 ning, and can do very well without your apparatus for writing, but 
 not so well as with it. Its operation, I think, cannot be quite so rapid 
 as yours ; but the difference will be too small to be very important. 
 In some situations yours will be decidedly the best ; in most, it will 
 be at least as good ; and in some, I think mine will have the advan- 
 tage. I can go through the air, but shall usually prefer to go under- 
 ground ; and, except some additional expense of construction, I care 
 nothing for swamps and rivers. In the expense of first construction, 
 there will probably be no very great difference, though I have made 
 no estimates. The expense of working mine will probably be less 
 than yours. If mine should ever go into operation, it ought to be 
 in connection with yours, as parts of one sj^stem, using for each 
 line and part of a line the plan best adapted to that particular 
 locality." 
 
 Nothing ever came of the proposition, but almost at the 
 same time a learned professor of one of the colleges of New 
 England wrote to Professor Morse of an invention for carrying 
 the lines of telegraph-wire across rivers. His plan was in all 
 respects worthy of a man of science, and received the attention 
 it merited. He wrote to Professor Morse : 
 
 " The principle of it is as simple as A, B, C. This is ordinarily 
 deemed a recommendation. However, it is very possible that in the 
 multitude of your thoughts and experiments you may find something 
 closely resembling my idea — I do not know that you will — for 
 nothing is more common than for one man to run close to an idea 
 which, after all, does not come out till years afterward in the original 
 conceptions of some other man." 
 
 To this letter Professor Morse replied, and in answer received 
 a very extended communication, with drawings, which he care- 
 fully examined and reported upon, as if he had nothing else 
 to do. 
 
 Abroad the system was working its way steadily into gen- 
 eral favor. Prejudice yielded gradually to the resistless power 
 
548 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 of self-interest. The cheapest and best mode was sure to secure 
 the palm. In the month of June, 1846, in the French Cham- 
 ber of Deputies, upon a proposed appropriation for an Electrical 
 Telegraph, the eminent statesman, M. Berryer, opposed it, on 
 the ground that the experiment of the new system was not com- 
 plete. The French Government were then trying experiments 
 with Electrical Telegraphs (not Morse's), but were not success- 
 ful. Two years after Morse's Telegraph was successfully estab- 
 lished and in daily use in this country, there was no reliable 
 Electric Telegraph in France. This opposition of M. Berry er 
 was met by M. Arago, who rose and said : 
 
 " The experiment is consummated. In the United States the 
 matter is settled. I received three days ago the Sun of Baltimore, 
 accompanying a letter from Mr. Morse, one of the most honorable 
 men of his country ; and here is the President's message printed 
 from the Telegraph in two or three hours. The message would 
 fill four columns of the Moniteur. It could not have been copied 
 by the most rapid penman in a shorter time than it was trans- 
 mitted." 
 
 The appropriation of nearly half a million francs was passed 
 with but few dissentient voices. "While the French Govern- 
 ment was introducing and employing the Morse system, an in- 
 genious Frenchman, M. Brequet, was very innocently proposing 
 to make use of Morse's mechanism to operate a telegraph which 
 he hoped to call his own. M. Brequet had taken a deep interest 
 in the Morse Telegraph, and had been using it on the line be- 
 tween Paris and Rouen. He was in correspondence with Pro- 
 fessor Morse, and to him the Professor was in the habit of com- 
 municating freely the progress of his system. April 20, 1846, 
 Professor Morse wrote to him : 
 
 " I know not if you get information through the American papers 
 of the progress of my Telegraph. I have every reason to be grati- 
 fied with its success. A few weeks more, and Boston, New York, 
 Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, will be connected, 428 
 miles, and also New York, Albany, and Buffalo, 433 miles ; these 
 main lines extend 861 miles. There are beside these main lines 
 many branch lines of 30 or 40 miles each. I have not much of im- 
 portance to communicate in relation to the action of the Telegraph ; 
 
MORSE TO ARAGO. 549 
 
 I have always preferred to underrate rather than overrate its effi- 
 ciency ; I have already shown before the Academy of Sciences a tele- 
 graphic communication in which 50 characters or signs were given in 
 one minute. I inclose you one written in the same time, of 85 char- 
 acters, and I have several operators who perform at that rate. I 
 have one in which 94 characters are distinctly written in one 
 minute. The power of battery which I require is very small. I 
 tried in one instance a battery of two elements (two cups of my ar- 
 rangement such as are described in the book I sent you), and 
 operated the Telegraph a distance of 130 miles with perfect suc- 
 cess. One pair has operated well 40 miles, and with a plate of zinc 
 in the ground at one extremity, and a plate of copper in the ground 
 at the other, I have operated the Telegraph well. I shall be much 
 obliged to you for any drawings and specifications illustrative of the 
 system you have in operation between Paris and Rouen, and for any 
 information on the general subject of Telegraphs which you may 
 think of interest to me." 
 
 Upon the receipt of M. Brequet's answer. Professor Morse 
 wrote to Arago : 
 
 " Mx deau Sie : By the English steamer Caledonia, which takes 
 this, I also send a small packet containing cuttings from newspa- 
 pers, to illustrate the practical effect as well as efficiency of my sys- 
 tem of Magnetic Telegraphs. You will perceive the same date and 
 the same news in all these extracts, from newspapers published in 
 cities at the distance of hundreds of miles from each other. By 
 reference to a map, the place at which each journal is published 
 will be easily recognized. The Cambria steamer arrives in Boston 
 on September 18th. Her news, in the minutest details, is at once 
 transmitted along the telegraphic lines, ready for publication the 
 next morning (the 19th) in the next papers that are issued in 
 the various cities. I thought I could not give you a better tangible 
 proof of the success of my system. I received from the ingenious 
 M. Brequet a letter by the last steamer, in which he relates to me 
 his manner of overcoming the difficulty in obtaining magnetic force 
 at a distance sufficient to impress paper. 
 
 " The method he proposes is precisely the method I have always 
 had in operatic^, and which was devised and ready for use from 
 the earliest stages of my invention, and by which I have accom- 
 plished all my results. I allude to the use of my first battery and 
 magnet, to break and close the circuit of a second magnet, where 
 
550 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the first magnet, in consequence of the length of the circuit connect- 
 ing it with the distant battery, has but a feeble magnetism, yet is 
 sufficient to produce a feeble motion. Power can be obtained to 
 any extent by means of the size of the magnet and battery. 
 
 " This mode, as I have said, was early devised to obviate a sup- 
 posed and anticipated difficulty, long before experiments demon- 
 strated its necessity. 
 
 "In my ' Brevet c?' "Invention ,' dated Paris, August 18,1838, 
 which is of course recorded in Paris, this mode of interposing a sec- 
 ond battery and magnet for the purpose of obviating the difficulty 
 which might arise from the enfeebling of the magnetism at a dis- 
 tance, is fully set forth with a diagram. It has been practically 
 applied by me from the commencement of my telegraphic opera- 
 tions, and I have always considered it essential to the effective re- 
 sult of my system. I give to the magnet, which is operated from a 
 distance, the name of receiving magnet, because it receives its im- 
 pulse from the main battery, and it is used to break and close what 
 I call the local battery, which battery operates the magnet of the 
 register. In the hope that a decision in favor of my system would 
 soon be given by the commissioners of the Academy of Science and 
 • Chambers,' and a more complete detail of my arrangements called 
 for, I took with me to Paris, when I had the pleasure of seeing you, 
 one of these receiving magnets. I deposited it in the consulate of 
 the United States, in Paris, that it might be ready when called for. 
 It is still there, and I have requested my friend, R. "Walsh, Esq., 
 the consul, to unseal it and show it whenever desired. The mag- 
 net in his possession is a modification, by Professor Page, of my 
 original one, which, though efficient, was too cumbersome to suit 
 my taste. I have it now reduced to a very small size, and I may 
 here remark that, although the wire of the helices of these receiv- 
 ing magnets is so much smaller than the wire of the main conduct- 
 ors (No. 15), and although a magnet with two helices of this kind 
 is interposed at each of the following eleven places along the line, 
 to wit, New York, Poughkeepsie, Troy, Albany, Schenectady, Uti- 
 ca, Rome, Syracuse, Auburn, Rochester, Buffalo, yet the magnetic 
 power of the electrical current seems not to be diminished ; each 
 and all act simultaneously, and act efficiently. I still look with 
 anxiety for the decision of the question, ' Whose system will be 
 adopted by the French Government ? ' The practical results of the 
 Telegraph in this country have realized my most sanguine expecta- 
 tions, and I have every reason to believe that the next session of 
 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 551 
 
 our Congress will not pass by without some decision on the subject. 
 " With the highest respect, your most obedient servant, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 PROFESSOR HENRY. 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution at Washington was founded on 
 the acceptance by the Government of the United States of a do- 
 nation by a gentleman in England, whose name, Smithson, was 
 perpetuated in the name of the institution. The trustees, ap- 
 pointed by Congress, well knowing that its success and useful- 
 ness would depend mainly upon the man whom they should 
 select as the secretary, who was also to be their presiding officer, 
 adopted the following resolution : 
 
 " Hesolved, That it is essential for the advancement of the 
 proper interests of the trust that the Secretary of the Smithsonian 
 Institution be a man possessing weight of character and a high 
 grade of talent ; and that it is further desirable that he possess emi- 
 nent scientific and general acquirements ; that he be a man capable 
 of advancing science and promoting letters by original research and 
 effort, well qualified to act as a respectable channel of communica- 
 tion between the Institution and scientific and literary individuals 
 and societies in this and foreign countries ; and, in a word, a man 
 worthy to represent, before the world of science and of letters, the 
 Institution over which this Board presides." 
 
 Professor Morse, being in Washington at the time of the 
 election, communicated the result to the New York Observer, 
 in the following letter : 
 
 " Washington, December 3, 1846. 
 " As there is a well-founded anxiety in regard to the character 
 which the new national institution — the Smithsonian — is to as- 
 sume, I am sure it will gratify you, as well as the friends of science 
 throughout the country, to learn that this day the trustees have 
 unanimously elected Professor Joseph Henry, of Nassau Hall, as 
 the Secretary of the Institution. By this choice to the most 
 responsible, and, I may say, the highest, scientific post in the 
 country, the trustees have but given utterance to the universal 
 voice of the scientific world. The trustees deserve the thanks 
 of the community for their impartiality, and the judiciousness of 
 their selection. I fear not the arousing of any jealousy in his con- 
 
552 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 temporaries, when I assert that no man in the country has all the 
 qualifications for this high trust in a greater degree than Professor 
 Henry. The fear has been expressed that he may not accept the 
 office, for there have been no seekings on his part; it has been an 
 election where merit has shown forth preeminently above all the 
 common and much-abused forms of recommendation, and asserted 
 its own inherent right to preferment ; it is a case where native no- 
 bility of mind has commanded the willing homage of kindred minds. 
 I trust that Professor Henry will accept the office. M." 
 
 More than a quarter of a century has elapsed since the ap- 
 pointment thus announced by Professor Morse was made. The 
 result has justified the wisdom of the trustees and Professor 
 Morse's opinion expressed in this letter. For his own personal 
 contributions to useful knowledge; for patient, persevering, 
 and successful pursuit of science by experiment, research, and 
 original thought ; for the power of analysis, and of reducing to 
 order and available use the contributions which he has called 
 forth from others, in wielding the resources and instrumental- 
 ities of the Institution of which he has been the chief, Professor 
 Henry has won the appreciating homage of the world of science. 
 Professor Morse well said twenty-eight years ago that the choice 
 of Professor Henry was " the voice of the scientific world," and 
 it is still the same. 
 
 THE PRINTING-TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Professor Morse was now quietly pursuing his work of super- 
 intending and improving his invention. He mentions in a 
 letter (December 15, 1846) his views upon printing-telegraphs : 
 
 " I noticed an announcement in the papers, that I had recently 
 made ' some improvements in my Telegraph for which I had entered 
 a caveat at the Patent-Office.' It is true that I am taking measures 
 to secure by patent some recent modifications 'of my telegraphic 
 apparatus, simplifying the printing of my telegraphic alphabet; 
 my experiments on that point have been satisfactory. It is true, 
 also, that I have applied a fact in electro-magnetism (never to my 
 knowledge before applied) in the construction of an apparatus for 
 printing the common letter of the alphabet, and I have devised an 
 apparatus of the greatest simplicity. 
 
 " But, simple as it is, incomparably more so than any contrivance 
 
MOUSE'S PRINTING-TELEGRAPH. 553 
 
 for that purpose as yet published, I really do not attach any great 
 importance to it, for the reason that it is mathematically demon- 
 strable that, from the very nature of such a contrivance, it cannot 
 successfully compete in the rapidity of recording intelligence with 
 the simple mode I have in use, and which is a consequence mainly 
 of the intention of my telegraphic alphabet. For example, the 
 President's message, entire, on the subject of the war with Mexico, 
 was transmitted with perfect accuracy [exclusively for and at the 
 expense of the Baltimore Suti\ at the rate of 99 letters per minute. 
 My skillful operators in Washington and Baltimore have printed 
 these characters at the rate of 98, 101, 111, and one of them act- 
 ually printed 117 letters per minute, and I have little doubt that 
 the accomplished operators in the Philadelphia office could easily 
 show similar results. He must be an expert penman who can write 
 legibly more than 100 letters per minute ; consequently, my mode 
 of communication equals, or nearly equals, the most expeditious 
 mode known of recording thought. 
 
 " A Rochester paper recently contained a paragraph, which has 
 been extensively copied, to the effect that there was a new inven- 
 tion about to appear, which was to ' impress every letter perfectly 
 distinct on paper,' and, ' of course,'' do away with the characters to 
 represent the alphabet. This effect of any such invention is by no 
 means such a matter of course as the writer supposes. Allow me 
 a word on that point. 
 
 "My very earliest conception of the Telegraph embodied this 
 idea, to wit : ' The marking, in a permanent manner, of a charac- 
 ter, to denote the intelligence transmitted.' It was certainly very 
 natural, then, that the marking of the common letter of the alpha- 
 bet should be suggested to my mind, and I of course expended suf- 
 cient thought upon the subject to perceive that it was practicable 
 in several ways, but also that any way (at that time) was necessa- 
 rily complicated. I was intent on simplicity, and adopted my pres- 
 ent system because of its simplicity and greater efficiency. 
 
 " My friend and co-proprietor in the Telegraph, Mr. Vail, some 
 time in the spring of 1837, was intent on producing an instrument 
 of this kind, and gave the project much thought. I uniformly dis- 
 couraged him, however, on the ground, not that such a plan was 
 impracticable, but, in comparison with the method I had devised, 
 worthless, since, were such a mode perfectly accomplished and in 
 actual use, my more simple mode would inevitably supersede the 
 more complicated mode. Mr. Vail, in his work entitled 'The 
 
554 EIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph,' discusses the whole matter 
 from pages 157 to 171. Experience has proved that when my sys- 
 tem has been put to the test in competition with the common letter- 
 printing telegraphs in Europe, mine has been proved superior. In 
 Vienna, for example, Mr. Bain's letter-printing telegraph (the most 
 ingenious as yet published) was examined with mine publicly be- 
 fore one of the largest and most learned assemblies ever convened 
 in that capital, comprising the court and notables of Austria, and 
 the American Telegraph carried the day by acclamation, and is 
 now adopted by that Government. 
 
 " I wish it distinctly understood, therefore, that my recent in- 
 vention of an apparatus for printing the common Roman letter was 
 not induced by any expectation that it will supersede my present 
 plan, but solely to give the choice to any (if there are any) who, 
 after all the evidence which has long been published of the intrin- 
 sic unimportance of such a result, may be desirous of seeing the 
 common Roman letter printed, instead of my simple character sig- 
 nifying the same thing. I accomplish this result by means of an 
 apparatus very far less complicated than any yet published here or 
 in Europe." 
 
 This was only the beginning of the trials that disturbed his 
 peace, and made many subsequent years of his life almost in- 
 cessant war. Attempts to use his invention in whole or in 
 part, by rival and opposing parties, to deprive him of the honor 
 and the profit which were justly his, and to destroy his property 
 and his good name, were powerful, persistent, and often malig- 
 nant. Whatever could be done was done by the use of wealth, 
 in the employment of legal talent and learning of the highest 
 order, and of scientific experts, to invalidate his claims to origi- 
 nality in the invention and construction of the Electro-Magnetic 
 Telegraph. The annals of litigation furnish no example of 
 greater energy, perseverance, and failure of effort to wrest from 
 the hands of a deserving, modest, and successful inventor the 
 fruits of a work that had cost him long years of toil, and had 
 at last conferred unspeakable blessings upon the world. 
 
 His brother, Sidney E. Morse, being in London, wrote to the 
 Professor, February 3, 1847 : " In a little time your Telegraph 
 will be introduced here, but the people will be made to believe 
 that it is an English invention, and that the Americans copied 
 
PIRATICAL INVASIONS. 555 
 
 it." The prediction was fulfilled. England is the last of the 
 countries to admit the claims of Morse and America to the 
 honor of the invention. And to this day, although the Morse 
 system has gradually been adopted from the manifested evi- 
 dences of its superiority, the power of prejudice is so great that 
 on many lines the Wheatstone Telegraph is employed. But the 
 verdict of the world has long since been pronounced, and the 
 Morse system is without a formidable rival. 
 
 Not a month passed without an attempt being made in some 
 way to turn the new invention to account for the advantage of 
 others, and the injury of the inventor. To one who had actually 
 gone into the business of manufacturing the instrument, Pro- 
 fessor Morse wrote this very gentle but decided remonstrance 
 and warning : 
 
 " I have just seen an instrument of my patent made by you and 
 numbered 15, with your name upon it, in the hands of one who in- 
 formed me that he purchased it of you. Are you not aware that 
 you are infringing on my patent ? 1 have learned also that you are 
 making some other instruments for other persons. I regret exceed- 
 ingly this state of things, but you must see that, if continued, you 
 are incurring a very heavy responsibility, for the patentees (if the 
 others become acquainted with these facts) will most assuredly pro- 
 ceed against you. I am personally disposed to be lenient to unin- 
 tentional errors in this respect, and now write to learn from you 
 the true state of matters, that if possible any evil consequences to 
 yourself may be averted. A moment's reflection will convince you 
 of the irregularity of your proceeding, if you are making them with- 
 out authority of the patentees. If you desire to make the tele- 
 graphic instruments, you must have some understanding with the 
 patentees." 
 
 Such violations of his rights were only the beginning of 
 troubles. More formidable enemies rose to meet him. To 
 Daniel Lord, Esq., his legal counsel, Professor Morse gave ex- 
 pression to his private griefs over the persecutions to which he 
 and his invention were subjected : 
 
 " The plot thickens all around me ; I think a d&notiment not 
 far off. I remember your consoling me under these attacks with 
 bidding me think that I had invented something worth contending 
 for. Alas ! my dear sir, what encouragement is there to an inventor, 
 
556 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 if, after years of toil and anxiety, he has only purchased for himself 
 the pleasure of being a target for every vile fellow to shoot at, and 
 in proportion as his invention is of public utility so much the greater 
 effort is to be made to defame, that the robbery may excite the less 
 sympathy ? I know, however, that beyond all this there is a clear 
 sky, but the clouds may not break away till I am no longer personally 
 interested whether it be foul or fair. I wish not to complain, but I 
 have feelings, and cannot play the stoic if I would." 
 
 THE 0CEAJ5T-TELEGKAPH. 
 
 In the early part of this year Professor Morse revived in con- 
 versation his early idea of an ocean-Telegraph to connect the 
 Old World with the New. B. F. Hall, Esq., of Auburn, 1ST. T., 
 wrote to him to say that " Captain George B. Chase, of Auburn, 
 who has navigated the ocean for many years, has hit upon a 
 plan that appears to be, and which he and others who know 
 what it is are confident is, feasible ; that it will protect the wire 
 from vessels, icebergs, and other obstructions, and at the same 
 time be permanent and cheap. If yon will confer with him, it 
 is believed that his nautical information and experience will 
 enable him to be of service to you in the stupendous plan of 
 tying together the continents." Professor Morse replied that 
 he was not at present engaging in the project, but had it before 
 him for future action, and would be glad to see Captain Chase 
 on the subject. As the conception of the ocean-line was Pro- 
 fessor Morse's, and was suggested by him in his early letters on 
 the subject of the Telegraph, he never lost sight of it, and lived 
 to see it successfully accomplished. 
 
CHAPTEE XIY. 
 
 RIVAL CLAIMS AND LAWSUITS. 
 
 INVASION OP PATENT -EIGHT — o'EIELLY CONTE ACT — INJUNCTION — LAWSUIT 
 IN DISTKIOT COUET OP KENTUCKY — DECISION — MOESE PATENT SUSTAINED 
 — INCIDENTS OP THE TEIAL — DISTINGUISHED MEN ENGAGED — JUDGE PIE- 
 TLE'S EPIGEAM — THE CASE APPEALED — SUPEEME COUET OF THE UNITED 
 STATES SUSTAINS THE MOESE PATENT — OPINION — FBENCH AND EOGEIiS 
 CASE — JUDGE kane's OPINION — SUSTAINS MOESE patent — house's and 
 BAIN'S INSTEUMENTS — DE. JACKSON'S PEETENSIONS — INPEOVEMENTS IN 
 THE TELEGEAPHIO INSTEUMENT — EXTENT AND VALUE OF THE TELEGEAPH 
 
 BUSINESS MOESE INSTEUMENTS COMPAEED WITH OTHEES WESTEBN 
 
 UNION TELEGEAPH COMPANY — WILLIAM OBTON — GEOEGE B. PEESOOTT — 
 THE WOELD'S VEEDIOT — ONLY ONE SYSTEM, THAT OF MOESE. 
 
 THE most painful chapter in the life of Mr. Morse is the 
 history of the lawsuits in which he was involved in defense 
 of his rights. Having intrusted his business interests to the 
 hands of Mr. Kendall, he would gladly have left the details, 
 with the burdens of anxiety and responsibility, to his agent and 
 attorney. But this was not in human nature. No one could 
 relieve him of the care caused by assaults upon his reputation 
 as well as his property. Exceedingly sensitive to these attacks 
 upon his good name and his rights, the lawsuits that followed 
 the success of his Telegraph cost him inexpressible distress. It 
 was some compensation for his sufferings that he was tri- 
 umphant. His rights were established by the most learned and 
 impartial legal tribunals to which they could be submitted, and 
 by the higher test of practical adoption and use throughout the 
 world ! 
 
 The first lawsuit had this origin. Professor Morse and his 
 partners made a contract, June 13, 1845, with Henry O'Eielly, 
 
558 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 under which, the latter was to construct a line of Telegraph, to 
 he operated with the Morse instrument, from Philadelphia to 
 St. Louis, and to the chief towns on the great Western lakes. 
 [Nothing in the contract permitted the use of the Morse patent 
 on any other line than those mentioned. The line was com- 
 pleted to St. Louis in December, 1847. The Morse owners then 
 contracted with Colonel T. P. Shaffner. and "William Tanner to 
 construct a line of Telegraph from Louisville, Kentucky, to 
 Nashville, Tennessee, to be a section of a line to New Orleans. 
 O'Rielly commenced and pushed on a line in the same direction, 
 without authority in his contract. Immediately a struggle be- 
 gan between the Shaffner Company and O'Rielly in a race for 
 New Orleans. The O'Rielly, called the People's Line, was com- 
 pleted to Nashville in February, 1848. A telegraphic instru- 
 ment, named the Columbian Telegraph, and claimed to be another 
 instrument than Morse's, was adopted by the O'Rielly Company. 
 The equivalent for the relay-magnet of Morse was a series of 
 electro-magnetic multipliers, each being composed of a magnetic 
 needle delicately suspended, and placed within a longitudinal 
 coil of copper wire, covered with silk thread. In this arrange- 
 ment, the needle is extremely sensitive to the least current trans- 
 mitted through the coil. The wire, passing many times above 
 and below the needle, tends to move its poles with the united 
 influence of the whole, and in the same direction ; so that the 
 effect of a single wire becomes multiplied in nearly the propor- 
 tion of the number of times the coil passes above and below the 
 needle. A needle thus circumstanced, with a divided circle to 
 measure the angle of deviation, constitutes an instrument termed 
 a galvanometer, or, as it was first termed, electro-magnetic mul- 
 tiplier. Faraday, by means of a delicate instrument of this 
 kind, succeeded in identifying common and voltaic electricity 
 as a source of electro-magnetic action. The application of this 
 instrument as a part of the Columbian proved defective. The 
 mutator was then introduced in its place, to perform the func- 
 tions of a relay-magnet. 
 
 The public mind was excited with apprehension that the 
 Morse Company was to be a gigantic monopoly, oppressive and 
 dangerous, and the cry was raised that the People's Line was to 
 be the protection of the people's rights. Then it was alleged 
 
DR. PAGE'S DISCLAIMER. 559 
 
 that the Telegraph itself was not Morse's, but the invention of 
 Steinheil, of Bavaria, and Page, of the Patent-Office, at "Wash- 
 ington. The former had employed the electro-magnet ; and it 
 was asserted that Dr. Page invented the receiving-magnet, es- 
 sential to the success of Morse's instrument. Hon. Amos Ken- 
 dall addressed a letter of inquiry to Dr. Page on this point, and 
 received the following answer, which refutes the assertion re- 
 specting the claims of Dr. Page. 1 
 
 "Washington, D. C, February 22, 1848. 
 " Son. Amos Kendall — 
 
 " Sib : In reply to your inquiry if I laid any claim to the inven- 
 tion of the receiving-magnet used in Morse's Telegraph, I will state 
 briefly that I have never claimed that invention publicly or pri- 
 vately, directly or indirectly. Yours respectfully, 
 
 " Charles G. Page." 
 
 As the attempt had been persistently made to attribute to 
 another the merit of this vital part of the Morse Telegraph, the 
 letter of Dr. Page, the original of which is preserved, put the 
 question at rest during his lifetime. His important contribu- 
 tions to the art and science of magneto-electricity are set forth 
 in his work, " The American Claim to the Induction-coil and its 
 Electro-static Developments." In 1843 he applied to Congress 
 for leave to take out a patent for his improvements, but he was 
 debarred by law, being an officer in the Patent-Office. After 
 his death a law securing his claims by patent to his heirs was 
 passed. But this attack upon Morse's rights, which was made 
 in the Western newspapers, though speedily answered by publi- 
 cation of the facts, was now followed by the actual construction 
 of a line of Telegraph in defiance of the patent secured. Argu- 
 ment, evidence, appeals to the public sense of justice, had no 
 effect. Morse's patent was denounced as a " remorseless monop- 
 oly " which must be put down by the popular will. Nothing 
 was left to the owners but an appeal to the courts of law. With 
 great reluctance, they applied for an injunction against the 
 O'Pielly line. This brought to judicial inquiry the claim of 
 Professor Morse to be the original inventor of the Electro-Mag- 
 netic Telegraph, and also the question whether the Columbian 
 
 1 Por a similar disclaimer by Steinheil, see page 687. 
 
** 
 
 560 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Telegraph was an infringement of the Morse patent. The trial 
 commenced in Louisville, Kentucky, August 24, 1848, and con- 
 tinued sixteen days. The preparation for this trial involved the 
 most expensive and protracted labor. Men, eminent in science, 
 in distant parts of the country, were examined at great length, 
 and their testimony, filling large volumes, is on record and easily 
 accessible to those who desire to make themselves acquainted 
 with it. 1 All systems of telegraphy employed in Europe pre- 
 vious to Morse's were investigated by those competent to form 
 an intelligent opinion. The ingenuity of the most learned 
 counsel was exhausted in the effort to show that the Morse in- 
 strument was not original with its inventor. 
 
 The parties present were, Hon. Thomas B. Monroe, presid- 
 ing judge ; Professor Morse, Amos Kendall ; for counsel, Pres- 
 ton S. Loughborough, of Louisville, ex- Judge Benjamin Mon- 
 roe, of Frankfort (brother of the judge on the bench), ex-Judge 
 Woolley, of Lexington, and Colonel Shaffner, on the Morse 
 side. On the other were H. O'Rielly, ex-Judge Henry Pirtle, 
 of Louisville, Madison C. Johnson, of Lexington, and D. Y. 
 Gholson, of Cincinnati. O'Rielly had, as experts, E. F. Barnes 
 and Anson Stager. Colonel Shaffner afterward became dis- 
 tinguished for his gigantic enterprises in the extension of the 
 telegraphic system in this country and in Europe, and is the 
 author of the most valuable works which are used in the study 
 of the art and science of telegraphy. He has related to the 
 writer the incidents of this great Kentucky trial : 
 
 " All the parties not residing in Frankfort stopped at the Wei- 
 siger House. They mingled at all times as at a social meeting. 
 After adjournment of the court, the counsel and others generally 
 met in front of the hotel, and, sitting beneath the shade-trees, gave 
 reciprocal intellectual entertainments. Jefferson Davis was visiting 
 his friends in Kentucky, and, fresh from the Mexican War, he enter- 
 tained the company much of the time, in his turn, with the most 
 exciting descriptions of the incidents of the war. "Woolley was a 
 
 1 Mr. Henry O'Rielly has deposited in the Library of the New York Historical 
 Society more than one hundred volumes, containing a complete history of tele- 
 graphic litigation in the United States. These records are at all times accessible to 
 any persons who wish to investigate the claims and rights of individuals or compa- 
 nies. The testimony alone in the various suits fills several volumes, each as larger 
 as this. 
 
REMINISCENCES. 561 
 
 scholar of rare merits, and his fluency in conversation seemed en- 
 chanting. Loughborough, one of the oldest lawyers in Kentucky, 
 was mathematical, and often proposed problems for solution. Ken- 
 dall gave incidents of the Kitchen Cabinet of Jackson, and the part 
 he occasionally performed. One of them had reference to Duane, 
 of the cabinet. Jackson wanted Taney to be Secretary of the 
 Treasury, but was not sure of his opinions. Kendall was author- 
 ized to ascertain, and he reported that they were in accord with the 
 President's. Kendall was then sent to request Taney to accept of 
 the secretaryship of the Treasury, and in answer he said to Mr. Ken- 
 dall : ' You can say to the President that I will accept of the po- 
 sition, but, in doing so, I sacrifice and abandon the ambition of my 
 life, and that is to be on the Supreme Court bench.' The new po- 
 sition placed him in political line, and off from the legal, as then 
 considered. Marshall subsequently died, and Taney was appointed 
 by Jackson in his place, which exceeded his expectations and am- 
 bition. Taney told me of the circumstance in J853. Pirtle gener- 
 ally indulged in references to the early settlement of Kentucky. 
 He was the senior of all, and knew in his early days its founders. 
 Johnson was familiar with the judicial history of the State, and 
 well acquainted with many of the early statesmen. Gholson was 
 a young man and very quiet — a Virginian of Cincinnati associa- 
 tion, and not so open as Kentuckians. He measured his words. 
 Morse engaged their attention in the early invention of the Tel- 
 egraph, his meeting with Arago, Humboldt, and his acquaintance 
 with West (the artist), and his invention of the use of colors to 
 represent temperature. 
 
 " As for myself, I was a silent listener, capable only of studying 
 the pending suit, and listening to the conversations of those great 
 men. Besides the above, Governor Charles S. Morehead, John J. 
 Crittenden, Rev. Robert J. Breckenridge, 'Tom' Marshall, Hon. 
 W. J. Graves (of the Cilley duel), ex-Governor Metcalf, ex-Governor 
 Letcher, and many others, from time to time joined the sidewalk 
 sociables. 
 
 " The Morse line alone connected Louisville and Frankfort, and 
 I gave directions to the officers to transmit free all dispatches 
 handed in by O'Rielly and his friends, and I requested him to use 
 the lines to any extent that he desired, which he did. From 10 
 A. m., until 3 p. m., the judge occupied his seat in the court-room, 
 hearing the case in chambers. The case was conducted with tke- 
 most respectful consideration to all parties, and on all issues. 
 36 
 
 X 
 
562 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 None of the lawyers had ever had a patent case before, and, hav- 
 ing had considerable experience in patent suits since then, I am 
 surprised to see at this date how correctly the case was then con- 
 ducted. After the court adjourned each day, the counsel and the 
 parties on each side, respectively, met in their accustomed rooms 
 and discussed the proceedings to be observed the next day. Supper 
 was at 6 p.m., and after that all met as before described, and held 
 intellectual entertainments. 
 
 "Mrs. Morse (then a bride) was the centre of attraction, and re- 
 ceived the polite attentions of all ; counsel and friends on both sides 
 endeavored to make the time agreeable to her. 
 
 "Of these men, "Woolley died in 1849, of cholera; Loughbor- 
 ough became demented and committed suicide by hanging himself, 
 in a stable, in the interior of Missouri; Ben Monroe died about 
 1860 ; Kendall died some few years since ; Morse in 1872. I am 
 the only one alive that took an active part in the suit on the side 
 of Morse." 
 
 It was during one of these pleasant and social hours that 
 Judge Pirtle, of the counsel for O'Kielly, wrote upon a sheet of 
 paper this sentence in Latin, and passed it across the table to 
 Mrs. Morse, in compliment to her husband : 
 
 " Et non ' eripuit ceelo fulmen ' 
 Fulguri mentem fudit, et orbem hmiine cinxit." 
 
 "Though he did not 'snatch the thunder from heaven,' he 
 gave the electric current thought, and bound the earth in light." 
 
 After the case had been argued with consummate ability on 
 both sides, Judge Monroe gave his opinion sustaining the Morse 
 patent, and granting an injunction against the O'Bielly line. 
 The parties thus enjoined sought to evade its force by receiving 
 intelligence by sound. This was one of the original modes of 
 telegraphy secured to Morse as its inventor, and the use of it 
 by the O'Eielly line was pronounced by the court to be a mere 
 evasion of the injunction. It is now the plan almost universally 
 in use in this country. The parties were then arrested and 
 placed under bonds for contempt. A second attempt at evasion 
 was made by removing the instruments outside the district of 
 Kentucky to Jeflersonville, Indiana, while the posts and wires 
 continued on the other side of the river Ohio as before. The line 
 
AMOS KENDALL'S STATEMENT. 563 
 
 operators were arrested, a fine imposed, and they were placed 
 under bonds again. The marshal of the district was directed to 
 take possession of the posts and wires, to break the circuit of 
 electricity, and prevent the defendants from further operations 
 upon their Telegraph. An appeal was taken from the decision 
 of the District Court of Kentucky to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States. 
 
 We now approach the great trial by which the right and title 
 of Samuel F. B. Morse to the invention of the Electro-Magnetic 
 Recording Telegraph were settled, so for as human knowledge 
 can determine any question. The opinion of the Supreme .Court 
 of the United States in full is here recited, because the case in 
 all its relations and bearings is set forth with such clearness that 
 the general reader, as well as scientific, will readily receive and 
 appreciate the justice and intelligence of the decision. With 
 great force and propriety did Mr. Kendall say in his argument 
 submitted to the Supreme Court : 
 
 " Seldom, if ever, has a more important case been brought be- 
 fore the Supreme Court of the United States for its decision. It is . 
 important on account of the pecuniary interests involved in it ; it 
 is important as involving the fame of a distinguished citizen, and 
 through him, to some extent, the fame of our common country. It 
 is transcendently important in the principles of patent-law which 
 it presents for final decision by this tribunal. It is now to be test- 
 ed whether Professor Morse is to share the fate of so many distin- 
 guished inventors who have gone before him ; whether individuals 
 or the public, eager to possess the fruits of his mental labor before 
 they rightfully become public property, shall be permitted to grat- 
 ify their cupidity ; whether Professor Morse, like the inventor of the 
 cotton-gin, is to lose the profits of his invention, while thousands 
 of his instruments, the originality of which no man doubts, resound 
 throughout the land, almost in the presence of the tribunal which 
 must decide upon his patents. It is now to be tested whether 
 American courts are hereafter to consider patent privileges as the 
 price paid by the Government for the fruits of mental labor, to be 
 held as sacred from piracy, theft, or trespass, as any other species 
 of private property ; or whether, like the English courts for a long 
 period, now happily at an end, they are still to confound them with 
 odious monopolies of what, before the issue of the special grants, 
 had become the property of the public." 
 
564 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 The case was argued by General H. II. Gillett and Hon. 
 Salmon P. Chase in favor of O'Eielly, and George Harding, 
 St. George T. Campbell, and George Gilford, Esqrs., for the 
 Morse partners. Mr. Chase afterward became Chief- Justice of 
 the United States, and the decision which he rendered, not on the 
 bench, but at the dinner-table, will be found in the subsequent 
 pages of this volume, where he is to be seen presiding at a ban- 
 quet given to Professor Morse, in the city of New York. It is 
 quite as decisive as the following, rendered by his immediate 
 predecessor. The decision of the Supreme Court was unani- 
 mous on all the points involving the right of Professor Morse to 
 the claim of being the original inventor of the Electro-Magnetic 
 [Recording Telegraph. A minority of the court went still fur- 
 ther, and gave him the right to the motive power of magnet- 
 ism as a means of operating machinery to imprint signals or to 
 produce sounds for telegraphic purposes. 
 
 The testimony of experts in science and art is not introduced, 
 because it was thoroughly weighed and sifted by intelligent and 
 impartial men, whose judgment must be accepted as final and 
 sufficient. The justice of the decision has never been impugned. 
 Each succeeding year has confirmed it with accumulating evi- 
 dence. One point was decided against the Morse patent, and it 
 is worthy of being noticed that this decision which denied to 
 Morse the right to the exclusive use of electro-magnetism for 
 recording telegraphs has never been of injury to his instrument, 
 because no other inventor has devised an instrument to super- 
 sede his. The court decided that the Electro-Magnetic Tele- 
 graph was the sole and exclusive invention of Samuel F. B. 
 Morse. If others could make better instruments for the same 
 purpose, they were at liberty to use electro-magnetism. Twenty 
 years have elapsed since this decision was rendered, the Morse 
 patent has expired by limitation of time, but it is still without 
 a rival in any part of the world. 
 
DECISION OF SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse vs. Henry O'Rielly. 
 
 Appeal from the District Court of Kentucky, wherein Morse was granted an 
 Injunction against CSielly, for an Infringement of the Morse Patents, 
 by the Use of the Columbian Telegraph. The Supreme Court perpetuates 
 that Injunction. 
 
 Counsel for Morse. — George Gifford, St. George T. Campbell, George 
 Harding. 
 
 Counsel for CBielly.— Salmon P. Chase, E. H. Gillett. 
 
 DECISION" RENDERED JANUARY 30, 1854. 
 
 December Term, 1853. — Henry O'Rielly, Eugene L. Whitman, and W. F. B. 
 Hastings, Appellants, vs. Samuel F. B. Morse, Alfred Vail, and Francis 
 O. J. Smith, Appellees. 
 
 Appeal from the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of 
 
 Kentucky. 
 
 Chief-Justice Taney delivered the opinion, which was concurred 
 in by Justices Daniel, Catron, and McLean. 
 
 " In proceeding to pronounce judgment in this case, the court is sensi- 
 ble, not only of its importance, but of the difficulties in some of the ques- 
 tions which it presents for decision. The case was argued at the last term, 
 and continued over by the court for the purpose of giving it a more delib- 
 erate examination. And since the continuance, we have received from the 
 counsel on both sides printed arguments, in which all of the questions raised 
 on the trial have been fully and elaborately discussed. 
 
 " The appellants take three grounds of defense : In the first place, they 
 deny that Professor Morse was the first and original inventor of the Electro- 
 Magnetic Telegraph, described in his two reissued patents of 1848. Sec- 
 ondly, they insist that, if he was the original inventor, the patents under 
 •which he claims have not been issued conformably to the acts of Congress, 
 and do not confer on him the right to the exclusive use. And, thirdly, if 
 these two propositions are decided against them, they insist that the Tele- 
 graph of O'Rielly is substantially different from that of Professor Morse, 
 and the use of it, therefore, no infringement of his rights. 
 
 " In determining these questions, we shall, in the first instance, confine 
 our attention to the patent which Professor Morse obtained in 1840, and 
 which was reissued in 1848. The main dispute between the parties is 
 upon the validity of this patent ; and the decision upon it will dispose of 
 the chief points in controversy in the other. 
 
566 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " In relation to the first point (the originality of the invention), many 
 witnesses have been examined on both sides. 
 
 " It is obvious that, for some years before Professor Morse made his in- 
 vention, scientific men in different parts of Europe were' earnestly engaged 
 in the same pursuit. Electro-Magnetism itself was a recent discovery, and 
 opened to them a new and unexplored field for their labors, and minds of 
 a high order were engaged in developing its power, and the purposes to 
 which it might be applied. 
 
 ''Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, states in his testimony 
 that, prior to the winter of 1819-20, an Electro-Magnetic Telegraph — that 
 is to say, a Telegraph operating by the combined influence of electricity 
 and magnetism — was not possible ; that the scientific principles on which 
 it is founded were until then unknown ; and that the first fact af Electro- 
 Magnetism was discovered by Oersted, of Copenhagen, in that winter, and 
 was widely published, and the account everywhere received with interest. 
 
 " He also gives an account of the various discoveries subsequently made 
 from time to time, by different persons in different places, developing its 
 properties and powers ; and among them his own. He commenced his re- 
 searches in 1828, and pursued them with ardor and success from that time 
 until the Telegraph of Professor Morse was established and in actual opera- 
 tion. And it is due to him to say that no one has contributed more to en- 
 large the knowledge of Electro-Magnetism, and to lay the foundations 
 of the great invention of which we are speaking, than the professor 
 himself. 
 
 " It is unnecessary, however, to give in detail the discoveries enumer- 
 ated by him — either his own or those of others. But it appears from his 
 testimony that, very soon after the discovery made by Oersted, it was be- 
 lieved by men of science that this newly-discovered power might be used 
 to communicate intelligence to distant places. And, before the year 1823, 
 Ampere, of Paris, one of the most successful cultivators of physical science, 
 proposed to the French Academy a plan for that purpose. But his project 
 was never reduced to practice. And. the discovery made by Barlow, of the 
 Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, England, in 1825, that the galvanic 
 current greatly diminished in power as the distance increased, pu-t at rest 
 for a time all attempts to construct an Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. Sub- 
 sequent discoveries, however, revived the hope ; and in the year 1832, when 
 Professor Morse appears to have devoted himself to the subject, the convic- 
 tion was general, among men of science everywhere, that the object could 
 and, sooner or later, would be accomplished. 
 
 " The great difficulty in their way was the fact that the galvanic cur- 
 rent, however strong in the beginning, became gradually weaker as it ad- 
 vanced on the wire ; and was not strong enough to produce a mechanical 
 effect after a certain distance had been traversed. But encouraged by the 
 discoveries which were made from time to time, and strong in the belief 
 that an Electro-Magnetic Telegraph was practicable, many eminent and 
 scientific men in Europe, as well as in this country, became deeply engaged 
 in endeavoring to surmount what a]Dpeared to be the chief obstacle to its 
 success. And, in this state of things, it ought not to be a matter of sur- 
 prise that four different Magnetic Telegraphs, purporting to have over- 
 come the difficulty, should be invented, and made public so nearly at the 
 same time that each has claimed a priority, and that a close and careful 
 scrutiny of the facts in each case is necessary to decide between them. The 
 inventions were so nearly simultaneous, that neither inventor can be justly 
 accused of having derived any aid from the discoveries of the other. 
 
 " One of these inventors, Doctor Steinheil, of Munich, in Germany, 
 communicated his discovery to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, on the 
 
MORSE DECLARED THE INVENTOR. 567 
 
 19th of July, 1838, and states in his communication that it had been in 
 operation more than a year. 
 
 " Another of the European inventors, Professor Wheatstone, of London, 
 in the month of April, 1837, explained to Professors Henry and Bache, 
 who were then in London, his plan of an Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, and 
 exhibited to them his method of bringing into action a second galvanic 
 circuit in order to provide a remedy for the diminution of force in a long 
 circuit ; but it appears by the testimony of Professor Gale that the patent 
 to Wheatstone & Cooke was not sealed until January 21, 1840, and their 
 specification was not filed until the 21st of July, in the same year ; and 
 there is no evidence that any description of it was published before 1839. 
 
 " The remaining European patent is that of Edward Davy. His patent, 
 it appears, was sealed on the 4th of July, 1838, but his specification was 
 not filed until January 4, 1839 ; and when these two English patents are 
 brought into competition with that of Morse, they must take date from 
 the time of filing their respective specifications. For it must be borne in 
 mind that, as the law then stood in England, the inventor was allowed six 
 months to file the description of his invention after his patent was sealed, 
 while, in this country, the filing of the specification is simultaneous with 
 the application for patents. 
 
 " The defendants contend that all, or at least some one of these European 
 Telegraphs, were invented and made public before the discovery claimed 
 by Morse ; and that the process and method by which he conveys intelli- 
 gence to a distance is substantially the same, with the exception only of 
 its capacity for impressing upon paper the marks or signs described in the 
 alphabet he invented. 
 
 • " Waiving, for the present, any remarks upon the identity or similitude 
 of these inventions, the court is of opinion that the first branch of the 
 objection cannot be maintained, and that Morse was the first and original 
 inventor of the Telegraph described in his specification, and preceded the 
 three European inventions relied on by the defendants. 
 
 " The evidence is full and clear that, when he was returning from a visit 
 to Europe in 1832, he was deeply engaged upon this subject during the 
 voyage ; and that the process and means were so far developed and ar- 
 ranged in his own mind that he was confident of ultimate success. It is 
 in proof that he pursued these investigations with unremitting ardor and 
 industry, interrupted occasionally by pecuniary embarrassments ; and we 
 think that it is established, by the testimony of Professor Gale and others, 
 that early in the spring of 183*7 Morse had invented his plan for combining 
 two or more electric or galvanic circuits, with independent batteries, for 
 the purpose of overcoming the diminished force of electro-magnetism in 
 long circuits, although it was not disclosed to the witness until afterward ; 
 and that there is reasonable ground for believing that he had so far com- 
 pleted his invention, that the whole process, combination, powers, and 
 machinery, were arranged in his mind, and that the delay in bringing it 
 out arose from his want of means ; for it required the highest order of 
 mechanical skill to execute and adjust the nice and delicate work neces- 
 sary to put the Telegraph into operation, and the slightest error or defect 
 would have been fatal to its success. He had not the means at that time 
 to procure the services of workmen of that character; and without their 
 aid no model could be prepared which would do justice to his invention ; 
 and it, moreover, required a large sum of money to procure proper materials 
 for the work. He, however, filed his caveat on the 6th of October, 1837, 
 and on the 7th of April, 1838. applied for his patent, accompanying his 
 application with a specification of his invention, and describing the pro- 
 cess and means used to produce the effect. It is true that O'Rielly in his 
 
568 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 answer alleges that the plan by which he now combines two or more gal- 
 vanic or electric currents, with independent batteries, was not contained in 
 that specification, but discovered and interpolated afterward ; but there is 
 no evidence whatever to support this charge. And we are satisfied from 
 the testimony that the plan, as it now appears in his specification, had 
 then been invented, and was actually intended to be described. 
 
 " With this evidence before us, we think it is evident that the inven- 
 tion of Morse was prior to that of Steinheil, Wheatstone, or Davy. The 
 discovery of Steinheil, taking the time which he himself gave to the 
 French Academy of Sciences, cannot be understood as carrying it back 
 beyond the months of May or June, 1837 ; and that of Wheatstone, as 
 exhibited to Professors Henry and Bache, goes back only to April in that 
 year. And there is nothing in the evidence to carry back the invention 
 of Davy beyond the 4th of January, 1839, when his specification was filed, 
 except a publication said to have been made in the London Mechanics' 
 Magazine, January 20, 1838 ; and the invention of Morse is justly entitled 
 to take date from early in the spring of 1837. And in the description of 
 Davy's invention, as given in the publication of January 20, 1838, there is 
 nothing sj)ecified which Morse could have borrowed ; and we have no 
 evidence to show that his invention ever was or could be carried into 
 successful operation. 
 
 "In relation to Wheatstone, there would seem to be some discrepancy 
 in the testimony. According to Professor Gale's testimony, as before 
 mentioned, the specification of Wheatstone and Cooke was not filed until 
 July 21, 1840, and his information is derived from the London Journal of 
 Arts and Sciences. But it appears by the testimony of Edward F. Barnes 
 that this Telegraph was in actual operation in 1839. And in the case of 
 the Electric Telegraph Company vs. Brett & Little, 10 Common Pleas 
 Reports, by Scott, his specification is said to have been filed December 12, 
 1837. But if the last-mentioned date is taken as the true one, it would 
 not make his invention prior to that of Morse. And even if it would, yet 
 this case must be decided by the testimony in the record, and we cannot 
 go out of it, and take into consideration a fact stated in a book of reports. 
 Moreover, we have noticed this case merely because it has beeu pressed 
 into the argument. The appellants do not mention it in their answer, nor 
 put their defense on it. And if the evidence of its priority was conclusive, 
 it would not avail them in this suit. For they caunot be allowed to sur- 
 prise the patentee by evidence of a prior invention of which they gave 
 him no notice. 
 
 " But if the priority of Morse's invention was more doubtful, and it 
 was conceded that in fact some one of the European inventors had pre- 
 ceded him a few months or a few weeks, it would not invalidate his 
 patent. The act of Congress provides that when the patentee believes 
 himself to be the first inventor, a previous discovery in a foreign country 
 shall not render his patent void, unless such discovery or some substantial 
 part of it had been before patented or described in a printed publication. 
 
 "Now we suppose no one will doubt that Morse believed himself to 
 be the original inventor when he applied for his patent in April, 1838. 
 Steinheil's discovery does not appear to have been eveV patented, nor to 
 have been described in any printed publication until July of that year. 
 And neither of the English inventions is shown by the testimony to have 
 been patented until after Morse's application for a patent, nor to have 
 been so described in any previous publication as to embrace any substan- 
 tial part of his invention. And if his application for a patent was made 
 under such circumstances, the patent is good, even if, in point of fact, he 
 was not the first inventor. 
 
OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 569 
 
 "In this view of the subject, it is unnecessary to compare the Tele- 
 graph of Morse with these European inventions, to ascertain whether they 
 are substantially the same or not. If they were the same in every partic- 
 ular, it would not impair his rights. But it is impossible to examine 
 them, and look at the process and the machinery and results of each, so 
 far as the facts are before us, without perceiving at once the substantial 
 and essential difference between them, and the decided superiority of the 
 one invented by Professor Morse. 
 
 " Neither can the inquiries he made, nor the information or advice he 
 received from men of science, in the course of his researches, impair his 
 right to the character of an inventor. No invention can possibly be made, 
 consisting of a combination of different elements of power, without a 
 thorough knowledge of the properties of each of them, and the mode in 
 which they operate on each other. And it can make no difference in this 
 respect whether he derives his information from books, or from conversa- 
 tion with men skilled in the science. If it were otherwise, no patent in 
 which a combination of different elements is used could ever be obtained. 
 For no man ever made such an invention without having first obtained this 
 information, unless it was discovered by some fortunate accident. And it 
 is evident that such an invention as the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph could 
 never have been brought into action without it. For a very high degree 
 of scientific knowledge, and the nicest skill in the mechanic arts, are 
 combined in it, and were both necessary to bring it into suscessful opera- 
 tion. And the fact that Morse sought and obtained the necessary infor- 
 mation and counsel from the best sources, and acted upon it, neither im- 
 pairs his rights as an inventor, nor detracts from his merits. 
 
 " Regarding Professor Morse as the first and original inventor of the 
 Telegraph, we come to the objections which have been made to the valid- 
 ity of his patent. 
 
 "We do not think it necessary to dwell upon the objections taken 
 to the proceedings upon which the first patent was issued, or to the addi- 
 tional specifications in the reissued patent of 1848. In relation to the first, 
 if there was any alteration, at the suggestion of the commissioner, it ap- 
 pears to have been in a matter of form rather than of substance ; and, as 
 regards the second, there is nothing in the proof, or on the face of the 
 reissued patent, to show that the invention therein described is not the 
 same with the one intended to be secured by the original patent. It was 
 reissued by the proper authority, and it was the duty of the Commissioner 
 of Patents to see that it did not cover more than the original invention. 
 It must be presumed, therefore, that it does not, until the contrary ap- 
 pears. Variations from the description given in the former specification 
 do not necessarily imply that it is for a different discovery. The right to 
 surrender the old patent, and receive another in its place, was given for 
 the purpose of enabling the patentee to give a more perfect description of 
 his invention, when any mistake or oversight was committed in his first. 
 It necessarily, therefore, varies from it. And we see nothing in the re- 
 issued patent that may not, without proof to the contrary, be regarded as 
 a more careful description than the former one, explaining more fully the 
 nice and delicate manner hi which the different elements of power are 
 arranged and combined together and act upon one another, in order to 
 produce the effect described in the specification. Nor is it void because it 
 does not bear the same date with his French patent. It is not necessary 
 to inquire whether the application of Professor Morse to the Patent-Office, 
 in 1838, before he went to France, does or does not exempt his patent from 
 the operation of the act of Congress upon this subject. For, if it should 
 be decided that it does not exempt it, the only effect of that decision 
 
570 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 would be to limit the monopoly to fourteen years from the date of the 
 foreign patent. And in either case the patent was in full force at the time 
 the injunction was granted by the Circuit Court, and when the present ap- 
 peal stood regularly for hearing in this court. 
 
 " And this brings us to the exceptions taken to the specification and 
 claims of the patentee in the reissued patent of 1848. 
 
 " We perceive no well-founded objection to the description which is 
 given of the whole invention and its separate parts, nor to his right to 
 a patent for the first seven inventions set forth in the specification of his 
 claims. The difficulty arises on the eighth. 
 
 " It is in the following words : 
 
 " ' Eighth. I do not propose to limit myself to the specific machinery 
 or parts of machinery described in the foregoing specification and claims ; 
 the essence of my invention being the use of the motive power of the 
 electric or galvanic current, which I call Electro-Magnetism, however de- 
 veloped, for marking or printing intelligible characters, signs, or letters, 
 at any distances, being a new application of that power of which I claim 
 to be the first inventor or discoverer.' 
 
 " It is impossible to misunderstand the extent of this claim. He 
 claims the exclusive right to every improvement where the motive power 
 is the electric or galvanic current, and the result is the marking or print- 
 ing intelligible characters, signs, or letters, at a distance. 
 
 " If this claim can be maintained, it matters not by what process or 
 machinery the result is accomplished. For aught that we now know, 
 some future inventor in the onward march of science may discover a mode 
 of writing or printing at a distance, by means of the electric or galvanic 
 current, without using any part of the process or combination set forth in 
 the plaintiff's specification. His invention may be less complicated — less 
 liable to get out of order — less expensive in construction and in its opera- 
 tion. But yet, if it is covered by this patent, the inventor could not use 
 it, nor the public have the benefit of it, without the permission of this 
 patentee. 
 
 " Nor is this all. While he shuts the door against inventions of other 
 persons, the patentee would be able to avail himself of new discoveries in 
 the properties and powers of electro-magnetism which scientific men might 
 bring to light. For he says he does not confine his claims to the machin- 
 ery or parts of machinery which he specifies : but claims for himself a 
 monopoly in its use, however developed, for the purpose of printiug at a 
 distance. New discoveries in physical science may enable him to combine 
 it with new agents and new elements, and by that means attain the object 
 in a manner superior to the present process, and altogether different from 
 it. And if he can secure the exclusive use, by his present patent, he may 
 vary it with every new discovery and development of the science, and 
 need place no description of the new manner, processs, or machinery, 
 upon the records of the Patent-Office. And when his patent expires, the 
 public must apply to him to learn what it is. In fine, he claims an exclu- 
 sive right to use a manner and process which he has not described, and in- 
 deed had not invented, and therefore could not describe when he obtained 
 his patent. The court is of opinion that the claim is too broad, and not 
 warranted by law. 
 
 " No one, we suppose, will maintain that Fulton could have taken out 
 a patent for his invention of propelling vessels by steam, describing the 
 process and machinery he used, and claimed under it the exclusive right 
 to use the motive power of steam, however developed, for the purpose of 
 propelling vessels. It can hardly be suposed that under such a patent he 
 could have prevented the use of the improved machinery which science 
 
NO EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO THE POWER. 571 
 
 has since introduced, although the motive power is stearn, and the result 
 is the propulsion of vessels. Neither could the man who first discovered 
 that steam might, by a proper arrangement of machinery, be used as a 
 motive power to grind corn or spin cotton, claim the right to the exclu- 
 sive use of steam, as a motive power, for the purpose of producing such 
 effects. 
 
 " Again, the use of steam, as a motive power in printing-presses, is 
 comparatively a modern discovery. Was the first inventor of a machine 
 or process of this kind entitled to a patent, giving him the exclusive right 
 to use steam as a motive power, however developed, for the purpose of 
 marking or printing intelligible characters ? Could he have prevented 
 the use of any other press subsequently invented, where steam was used ? 
 Yet, so far as patentable rights are concerned, both improvements must 
 stand on the same principles. Both use a known motive power to print 
 intelligible marks or letters ; and it can make no difference, in their legal 
 rights under the pateut laws, whether the printing is done near at hand 
 or at a distance. Both depend for success not merely upon the motive 
 jjower, but upon the machinery with which it is combined. And it has 
 never, we believe, been supposed by any one that the first inventor of a 
 steam printing-press was entitled to the exclusive use of steam, as a mo- 
 tive power, however developed, for marking or printing intelligible char- 
 acters. 
 
 " Indeed, the acts of the patentee himself are inconsistent with the 
 claim made in his behalf. For in 1846 he took out a patent for his new 
 improvement of local circuits, by means of which intelligence could be 
 printed at intermediate places along the main line of the Telegraph ; and 
 he obtained a reissued patent for this invention in 1848. Yet in this new 
 invention the electric or galvanic current was the motive power, and writ- 
 ing at a distance the effect. The power was undoubtedly developed by 
 new machinery and new combinations. But if his eighth claim could be 
 sustained, this improvement would be embraced by his first patent. And 
 if it was so embraced, his patent for the local circuits would be illegal 
 and void. For he could not take out a subsequent patent for a portion 
 of his first invention, and thereby extend his monopoly beyond the period 
 limited by law. 
 
 " Many cases have been referred to in the argument, which have been 
 decided upon this subject, in the English and American courts. We shall 
 speak of those only which seem to be considered as leading ones. And 
 those most relied on, and pressed upon the court, in behalf of the paten- 
 tee, are the cases which arose in England upon Neilson's patent for the 
 introduction of heated air between the blowing apparatus and the furnace 
 in the manufacture of iron. 
 
 " The leading case upon this patent is that of Neilson and others vs. 
 Harford and others, in the English Court of Exchequer. It was elabo- 
 rately argued, and appears to have been carefully considered by the court. 
 The case was this : , 
 
 " Neilson in his specification described his invention as one for the im- 
 proved application of air to produce heat in fires, forges, and furnaces, 
 where a blowing-apparatus is required. And it was to be applied as fol- 
 lows : The blast or current of air produced by the blowing-apparatus was 
 to be passed from it into an air-vessel or receptacle made sufficiently 
 strong to endure the blast ; and through or from that vessel or receptacle, 
 by means of a tube, pipe, or aperture, into the fire : the receptacle to be 
 kept artificially heated to a considerable temperature by heat externally ap- 
 plied. He then described in rather general terms the manner in which the 
 receptacle might be constructed and heated, and the air conducted through 
 
572 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 it to the fire : stating that the form of the receptacle was not material, nor 
 the manner of applying heat to it. In the action above mentioned for the 
 infringement of this patent, the defendant, among other defenses, insisted 
 that the machinery for heating the air and throwing it hot into the furnace 
 was not sufficiently described in the specification, and the patent void on 
 that account ; and also, that a patent for throwing hot air into the fur- 
 nace, instead of cold, and thereby increasing the intensity of the heat, is 
 a patent for a principle, and that a principle was not patentable. 
 
 " Upon the first of these defenses the jury found that a man of ordi- 
 nary skill and knowledge of the subject, looking at the specification alone, 
 could construct such an apparatus as would be productive of a beneficial 
 result sufficient to make it worth while to adapt it to the machinery in all 
 cases of forges, cupolas, and furnaces, where the blast is used. 
 
 '' And upon the second ground of defense, Baron Parke, who deliv- 
 ered the opinion of the court, said : ■ 
 
 " ' It is very difficult to distinguish it from the specification of a patent 
 for a principle, and this at first created in the minds of the court much 
 difficulty; but, after full consideration, we think that the plaintiff does 
 not merely claim a principle, but a machine embodying a principle, and a 
 very valuable one. We think the case must be considered as if, the prin- 
 ciple being well known, the plaintiff* had first invented a mode of apply- 
 ing it by a mechanical apparatus to furnaces ; and his invention then con- 
 sists in this : by interposing a receptacle for heated air between the blow- 
 ing-apparatus and the furnace. In this receptacle he directs the air to be 
 heated by the application of heat externally to the receptacle, and thus 
 he accomplishes the object of applying the blast, which was before cold 
 air, in a heated state to the furnace.' 
 
 " We see nothing in this opinion differing in any degree from the fa- 
 miliar principles of law applicable to patent cases. Neilson claimed no 
 particular mode of constructing the receptacle, or of heating it. He 
 pointed out the manner in which it might be done ; but admitted that 
 it might also be done in a variety of ways ; and at a higher or lower 
 temperature ; and that all of them would produce the effect in a greater 
 or less degree, provided the air was heated by passing through a heated 
 receptacle. And hence it seems that the court first doubted whether 
 it was a patent for any thing more than the discovery that hot air would 
 promote the ignition of fuel better than cold. And if this had been the 
 construction, the court, it appears, would have held his patent to be void ; 
 because the discovery of a principle in natural philosophy or physical sci- 
 ence is not patentable. 
 
 " But after much consideration, it was finally decided that this prin- 
 ciple must be regarded as well known, and that the jfiaintiff had invented 
 a mechanical mode of applying it to furnaces ; and that his invention con- 
 sisted in interposing a heated receptacle between the blower and the fur- 
 nace, and by this means heating the air after it left the blower, and before 
 it was thrown into the fire. Whoever, therefore, used this method of 
 throwing hot air into the furnace, used the process he had invented, and 
 thereby infringed his patent, although the form of the receptacle or the 
 mechanical arrangements for heating it might be different from those de- 
 scribed by the patentee. For whatever form was adopted for the recep- 
 tacle, or whatever mechanical arrangements were made for heating it, the 
 effect would be produced in a greater or less degree, if the heated recep- 
 tacle was placed between the blower and the furnace, and the current of 
 air passed through it. 
 
 " Undoubtedly the principle that hot air will promote the ignition of 
 fuel better than cold, was embodied in this machine. But the patent was 
 
NEILSON'S PATENT. 5 73 
 
 not supported because this principle was embodied in it. He would have 
 been equally entitled to a patent if he had invented an improvement in 
 the mechanical arrangements of the blowing-apparatus, or in the furnace, 
 while a cold current of ah- was still used. But his patent was supported, 
 because he had invented a mechanical apparatus by which a current of 
 hot air instead of cold could be thrown in. And this new method was 
 protected by his patent. The interposition of a heated receptacle in any 
 form was the novelty he invented. 
 
 " We do not perceive how the claim, in the case before us, can derive 
 any countenance from this decision. If the Court of Exchequer had said 
 that Neilson's patent was for the discovery that hot air would promote 
 ignition better than cold, and that he had an exclusive right to use it for 
 that purpose, there might, perhaps, have been some reason to rely upon it. 
 But the court emphatically denied his right to such a patent ; and his 
 claim, as the patent was construed and supported by the court, is alto- 
 gether unlike that of the patentee before us. 
 
 " For Neilson discovered that by interposing a heated receptacle be- 
 tween the blower and the furnace, and conducting the current of air 
 through it, the heat in the furnace was increased. And this effect was 
 always produced, whatever might be the form of the receptacle, or the 
 mechanical contrivances for heating it, or for passing the current of air 
 through it, and into the furnace. 
 
 " But Professor Morse has not discovered that the electric or galvanic 
 current will always print at a distance, no matter what may be the form of 
 the machinery or mechanical contrivances through which it passes. You 
 may use electro-magnetism as a motive power, and yet not produce the 
 described effect — that is, print at a distance intelligible marks or signs. To 
 produce that effect it must be combined with and passed through and op- 
 erate upon certain complicated and delicate machinery adjusted and ar- 
 ranged upon philosophical principles, and prepared by the highest me- 
 chanical skill. And it is the high praise of Professor Morse, that he has been 
 able by a new combination of known powers, of which electro-magnetism 
 is one, to discover a method by which intelligible marks or signs may be 
 printed at a distance. And for the method or process thus discovered he is 
 entitled to a patent. But he has not discovered that the electro-magnetic 
 current, used as a motive power, in any other method, and with any other 
 combination, will do as well. 
 
 " We have commented on the case in the Court of Exchequer more 
 fully, because it has attracted much attention in the courts of this coun- 
 try as well as in the English courts, and has been differently understood. 
 And perhaps a mistaken construction of that decision has led to the broad 
 claim in the patent now under consideration. 
 
 " We do not deem it necessary to remark upon the other English de- 
 cisions in relation to Neilson's patent, nor upon the other cases referred to, 
 which stand upon similar principles. The observations we have made on 
 the case in the Court of Exchequer will equally apply to all of them. 
 
 " We proceed to the American decisions ; and the principles herein 
 stated were fully recognized by this court in the case of Leroy et al. vs. 
 Tatham and others, decided at the last term, 14 How., 156. 
 
 " It appeared in that case that the patentee had discovered that lead, 
 recently set, would, under heat and pressure in a close vessel, reunite per- 
 fectly after a separation of its parts, so as to make wrought instead of cast 
 pipe. And the court held that he was not entitled to a patent for this 
 newly-discovered principle or quality in lead ; and that such a discovery 
 was not patentable ; but that he was entitled to a patent for the new pro- 
 cess or method in the art of making lead pipe, which this discovery en- 
 
574 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 abled hiui to invent and employ ; and was bound to describe such process 
 or method fully in his specification. 
 
 " Many cases have also been referred to which were decided in the Cir- 
 cuit Courts. It will be found, we think, upon careful examination, that all 
 of them, previous to the decision on Neilson's patent, maintain the princi- 
 ples on which this decision is made. Since that case was reported, it is ad- 
 mitted that decisions have been made which would seem to extend patent- 
 able rights beyond the limits here marked out. As we have already said, 
 we see nothing in that opinion which would sanction the introduction of 
 any new principle in the law of patents ; but if it were otherwise, it v/ould 
 not j ustify this court in departing from what we consider as established 
 principles in the American courts. And to show what was heretofore the 
 doctrine upon this subject, we refer to the annexed cases. We do not stop 
 to comment on them, because such an examination would extend this opin- 
 ion beyond all reasonable bounds. 1 Stor. Rep. 270, 285 ; Wyeth vs. Stone, 
 3 Sumn. 540 ; Blanchard vs. Sprague. The first-mentioned case is directly 
 in point. 
 
 " Indeed, independently of judicial authority, we do not think that the 
 language used in the act of Congress can justly be expounded otherwise. 
 
 " The fifth section of the act of 1836 declares that a patent shall convey 
 to the inventor, for a term not exceeding fourteen years, the exclusive right 
 of making, using, and vending to others to be used, his invention or dis- 
 covery, referring to the specification for the particulars thereof. 
 
 " The sixth section directs who shall be entitled to a patent, and the 
 terms and conditions on which it may be obtained. It provides that any 
 person shall be entitled to a patent who has discovered or invented a new 
 and useful art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new 
 and useful improvement on any previous discovery in either of them. But 
 before he receives a patent he shall deliver a written description of his in- 
 vention or discovery, ' and of* the manner and process of making, construct- 
 ing, using, and compounding the same," 1 in such exact terms as to enable any 
 person skilled in the art or science to which it appertains, or with which 
 it is most nearly connected, to make, construct, compound, and use the same. 
 
 " This court has decided that the specification required by this law is a 
 part of the patent, and that the patent issues for the invention described 
 in the specification. 
 
 " Now, whether the Telegraph is regarded as an art or machine, the 
 manner and process of making or using it must be set forth in exact terms. 
 The act of Congress makes no difference in this respect between an art and 
 a machine. An improvement in the art of making bar-iron or spinning cot- 
 ton must be so described, and so must the art of printing by the motive 
 power of steam. And in all of these cases it has always been held that 
 the patent embraces nothing more than the improvement described and 
 claimed as new, and that any one who afterward discovered a method of 
 accomplishing the same object, substantially and essentially differing from 
 the one described, had a right to use it. Can there be any good reason 
 why the art of printing at a distance, by means of the motive power of the 
 electric or galvanic current, should stand on different principles ? Is there any 
 reason why the inventor's patent should cover broader ground ? It would 
 be difficult to discover any thing in the act of Congress which would justify 
 this distinction. The specification of this patentee describes his invention 
 or discovery, and the manner and process of constructing and using it, and 
 his patent, like inventions in the other arts above mentioned, covers noth- 
 ing more. 
 
 " The provisions of the acts of Congress in relation to patents may be 
 summed up in a few words. 
 
THE PATENT GOOD. 575 
 
 "Whoever discovers that a certain useful result will be produced in 
 any art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, by the use of cer- 
 tain means, is entitled to a patent for it ; provided he specifies the meaus 
 he uses in a manner so full and exact, that any one skilled in the science 
 to which it appertains can, by using the means he specifies, without any 
 addition to or subtraction from them, produce precisely the result he de- 
 scribes. And if this cannot be done by the means he describes, the patent 
 is void. And if it can be done, then the patent confers on him the exclu- 
 sive right to use the means he specifies to produce the result or effect he 
 describes, and nothing more. And it makes no difference in this respect 
 whether the effect is produced by chemical agency or combination ; or by 
 the application of discoveries or principles in natural philosophy, known 
 or unknown before his invention ; or by machinery acting altogether upon 
 mechanical principles. In either case, he must describe the manner and 
 process as above mentioned, and the end it accomplishes. And any one 
 may lawfully accomplish the same end without infringing the patent, if he 
 uses means substantially different from those described. 
 
 "Indeed, if the eighth claim of the patentee can be maintained, there 
 was no necessity for any specification, further than to say that he had dis- 
 covered that by using the motive power of electro-magnetism he could 
 print intelligible characters at any distance. We presume it will be ad- 
 mitted on all hands that no patent could have issued on such a specifica- 
 tion. Yet this claim can derive no aid from the specification filed. It is 
 outside of it, and the patentee claims beyond it. And if it stands, it must 
 stand simply on the ground that the broad terms above mentioned were a 
 sufficient description, and entitled him to a patent in terms equally broad. 
 In our judgment, the act of Congress cannot be so construed. 
 
 " The patent then being illegal and void, so far as respects the eighth 
 claim, the question arises whether the whole patent is void, unless this 
 portion of it is disclaimed in a reasonable time after the patent issued. 
 
 " It has been urged on the part of the complainants that there is no 
 necessity for a disclaimer in a case of this kind. That it is required in 
 those cases only in which the party commits an error in fact, in claiming 
 something which was known before, and of which he was not the first dis- 
 coverer ; that in this case he was the first to discover that the motive pow- 
 er of electro-magnetism might be used to write at a distance; and that his 
 error, if any, was a mistake in law in supposing his invention, as described 
 in his specification, authorized this broad claim of exclusive privilege ; and 
 that the claim, therefore, may be regarded as a nullity, and allowed to 
 stand in the patent without a disclaimer, and without affecting the valid- 
 ity of the patent. 
 
 " This distinction can hardly be maintained. The act of Congress above 
 recited requires that the invention shall be so described, that a person 
 skilled in the science to which it appertains, or with which it is most near- 
 ly connected, shall be able to construct the improvement from the descrip- 
 tion given by the inventor. 
 
 " Now, in this case, there is no description but one of a process by which 
 signs or letters may be printed at a distance. And yet he claims the ex- 
 clusive right to any other mode, and any other process, although not de- 
 scribed by him, by which the end can be accomplished, if electro-magnet- 
 ism is used as the motive power. That is to say, he claims a patent for an 
 effect produced by the use of electro-magnetism, distinct from the process 
 or machinery necessary to produce it. The words of the act of Congress, 
 above quoted, show that no patent can lawfully issue upon such a claim. 
 For he claims what he has not described in the manner required by law. 
 And a patent for such a claim is as strongly forbidden by the act of Con- 
 gress as if some other person had invented it before him. 
 
576 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 "Why, therefore, should he be required and permitted to disclaim in 
 the one case and not in the other ? The evil is the same if he claims more 
 than he has invented, although no other person has invented it before him. 
 He prevents others from attempting to improve upon the manner and pro- 
 cess which he has described in his specification, and may deter the public 
 from using it, even if discovered. He can lawfully claim only what he has 
 invented and described, and if he claims more his patent is void. And the 
 judgment in this case must be against the patentee, unless he is within the 
 act of Cougress which gives the right to disclaim. 
 
 "The law which requires and permits him to disclaim is not penal, but 
 remedial. It is intended for the protection of the pateutee as well as the 
 public, and ought not, therefore, to receive a construction that would restrict 
 its operation within narrower limits than its words fairly import. It provides 
 ' that when any patentee shall have in his specification claimed to be 
 the first and original inventor or discoverer of any material or substantial 
 part of the thing patented, of which he was not the first and original in- 
 ventor, and shall have no legal or just claim to the same,' he must disclaim 
 in order to protect so much of the claim as is legally patented. 
 
 " Whether, therefore, the patent is illegal in part, because he claims 
 more than he has sufficiently described, or more than he invented, he must 
 in either case disclaim, in order to save the portion to which he is entitled ; 
 and he is allowed to do so when the error was committed by mistake. 
 
 "A different construction would be unjust to the public, as well as to 
 the patentee, and defeat the manifest object of the law, and produce the 
 very evil against which it is intended to guard. 
 
 " It appears that no disclaimer has yet been entered at the Patent-Office. 
 But the delay in entering it is not unreasonable. For the objectionable 
 claim was sanctioned by the head of the office ; it has been held to be valid 
 by a Circuit Court, and differences of opinion in relation to it are found to ex- 
 ist among the justices of this court. Under such circumstances, the patentee 
 had a right to insist upon it, and not disclaim it until the highest court 
 to which it could be carried had pronounced its judgment. The omis- 
 sion to disclaim, therefore, does not render the patent altogether void, and 
 he is entitled to proceed in this suit for an infringement of that part of 
 his invention which is legally claimed and described. But as no disclaim- 
 er was entered in the Patent-Office before this suit was instituted, he can- 
 not, under the act of Congress, be allowed costs against the wrong-doer, 
 although the infringement should be proved. And we think it is proved 
 by the testimony. But as the question of infringement embraces both of 
 the reissued patents, it is proper, before we proceed to that part of the 
 case, to notice the objections made to the second patent for the local cir- 
 cuits, which was originally obtained in 1846, and reissued in 1848. 
 
 " It is certainly no objection to this patent, that the improvement is 
 embraced by the eighth claim in the former one. We have already said 
 that this claim is void, and that the former patent covers nothing but the 
 first seven inventions specifically mentioned. 
 
 " Nor can its validity be impeached upon the ground that it is an im- 
 provement upon a former invention, for which the patentee had himself 
 already obtained a patent. It is true that, under the act of 1836, sec. 3, it 
 was in the power of Professor Morse, if he desired it, to annex this im- 
 provement to his former specification, so as to make it from that time a 
 part of the original patent. But there is nothing in the act that forbids 
 him to take out a new patent for the improvement, if he prefers it. Any 
 other inventor might do so ; and there can be no reason, in justice or in 
 policy, for refusing the like privilege to the original inventor. And when 
 there is no positive law to the contrary, he must stand on the same footing 
 
THE PATENT ESTABLISHED. 577 
 
 with any other inventor of an improvement upon a previous discovery. 
 Nor is he bound in his new patent to refer specially to his former one. All 
 that the law requires of him is, that he shall not claim as new what is 
 covered by a former invention, whether made by himself or any other 
 person. 
 
 "It is said, however, that this alleged improvement is not new, and is 
 embraced in his former specification ; and that, if some portion of it is new, 
 it is not so described as to distinguish the new from the old. 
 
 " It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to discuss this part of the case so 
 as to be understood by any one who has not a model before him, or per- 
 fectly familiar with the machinery and operations of the Telegraph. We 
 shall" not, therefore, attempt to describe minutely the machinery or its 
 mode of operation. So far as this can be done intelligibly, without the aid 
 of a model to point to, it has been fully and well done, in the opinion de- 
 livered by the learned judge who decided this case in the Circuit Court. 
 All that we think it useful or necessary to say is, that, after a careful ex- 
 amination of the patents, we think the objection on this ground is not 
 tenable. The force of the objection is mainly directed upon the receiving- 
 magnet, which, it is said, is a part of the machinery of the first patent, 
 and performs the same office. But the receiving-magnet is not of itself 
 claimed as a new invention. It is claimed as a part of a new combination 
 or arrangement to produce a new result. And this combination does pro- 
 duce a new and useful result. For by this new combination, and the ar- 
 rangement and position of the receiving-magnet, the local independent 
 circuit is opened by the electric or galvanic current as it passes on the main 
 line, without interrupting it in its course, and the intelligence it conveys is 
 recorded almost at the same moment at the end of the line of the Tele- 
 graph and at the different local offices on its way. And it hardly needs a 
 model or a minute examination of the machinery to be satisfied that a 
 Telegraph which prints the intelligence it conveys, at different places, by 
 means of the current as it passes along on the main line, must necessarily 
 require a different combination and arrangement of powers from the one 
 that prints only at the end. The elements which compose it may all have 
 been used in the former invention, but it is evident that their arrange- 
 ment and combination must be different to produce this new effect. 
 The new patent for the local circuits was, therefore, properly granted, and 
 we perceive no well-founded objection to the specification or claim con- 
 tained in the reissued patent of 1848. 
 
 " The two reissued patents of 1848, being both valid, with the exception 
 of the eighth claim in the first, the only remaining question is, whether they, 
 or either of them, have been infringed by the defendants. 
 
 " The same difficulty arises in this part of the case which we have 
 already stated in speaking of the specification and claims in the patent for 
 the local circuits. It is difficult to convey a clear idea of the similitude or 
 differences in the two Telegraphs to any one not familiarly acquainted 
 with the machinery of both. The court must content itself, therefore, with 
 general terms, referring to the patents themselves for a more special de- 
 scription of the matters in controversy. 
 
 " It is a well-settled principle of law, that the mere change in the form 
 of the machinery (unless a particular form is specified as the means by 
 which the effect described is produced), or an alteration in some of its 
 unessential parts, or in the use of known equivalent powers, not varying 
 essentially the machine, or its mode of operation or organization, will not 
 make the new machine a new invention. It may be an improvement upon 
 the former, but that will not justify its use without the consent of the first 
 patentee. 
 
 37 
 
578 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " The Columlbian (O'Rielly's) Telegraph does not profess to accomplish 
 a new purpose or produce a new result. Its object and effect is to com- 
 municate intelligence at a distance, at the end of the main line and at the 
 local circuits on its way. And this is done by means of signs or letters im- 
 pressed on paper or other material. The object and purpose of the Tele- 
 graph is the same with that of Professor Morse. 
 
 '' Does he use the same means ? Substantially, we think he does, both 
 upon the main line and in the local circuits. He uses upon the main line 
 the combination of two or more galvanic or electric circuits, with inde- 
 pendent batteries, for the purpose of obviating the diminished force of the 
 galvanic current, and in a manner varying very little in form from the in- 
 vention of Professor Morse. And indeed the same may be said of the en- 
 tire combination set forth in the patentee's third claim. For O'Rielly's 
 can hardly be said to differ substantially and essentially from it. He uses 
 the combination which composes the register, with no material change in 
 the arrangement, or in the elements of which it consists ; and with the aid 
 of these means he conveys intelligence, by impressing marks or signs upon 
 paper ; these marks or signs being capable of being read and understood 
 by means of an alphabet, or signs adapted to the purpose. And as re- 
 gards the second patent of Professor Morse, for the local circuits, the mu- 
 tator of the defendant does not vary from it in any essential particular. 
 All of the efficient elements of the combination are retained, or their 
 places supplied by well-known equivalents. Its organization is essentially 
 the same. 
 
 "Neither is the substitution of marks and signs differing from those in- 
 vented by Professor Morse any defense to this action. His patent is not 
 for the invention of a new alphabet, but for a combination of powers com- 
 posed of tangible and intangible elements, described in his specification, 
 by means of which marks or signs may be impressed upon paper at a dis- 
 tance, which can there be read and understood. And if any marks, or 
 signs, or letters, are impressed in that manner, by means of a process sub- 
 stantially the same with his invention, or with any particular part of it 
 covered by his patent, and those marks or signs can be read, and thus 
 comrnunicate intelligence, it is an infringement of his patent. The varia- 
 tion in the character of the marks would not protect it, if the marks could 
 be read and understood. 
 
 " We deem it unnecessary to pursue further the comparison between 
 the machinery of the patents. The invasion of the plaintiff's rights, already 
 stated, authorized the injunction granted by the Circuit Court, and so much 
 of its decree must be affirmed. But for the reasons hereinbefore assigned, 
 the complainants are not entitled to costs, and that portion of the decree 
 must be reversed, and a decree passed by this Court, directing each party 
 to pay his own costs in this and in the Circuit Court." 
 
 The opinion of Justice Grier, concurred in by Justices Nelson 
 
 and Wayne, contained these additional points : 
 
 " I entirely concur with the majority of the court that the appellee and 
 complainant below, Samuel F. B. Morse, is the true and first inventor of 
 the recording telegraph, and the first who has successfully applied the 
 agent or element of Nature, called electro-magnetism, to printing and re- 
 cording intelligible characters at a distance ; and that his patent of 1840, 
 finally reissued in 1848, and his patent for his improvements, as reissued in 
 the same year, are good and valid ; and that the appellants have infringed 
 the rights secured to the patentee by both his patents. But, as I do not 
 concur in the views of the majority of the court, in regard to two great 
 points of the case, I shall proceed to express my own." 
 
THE DECISION FINAL. 579 
 
 Having given bis reasons at length, Judge Grier says : 
 
 " It is not a composition of matter, or a manufacture, or a machine. It 
 is the application of a known element or power of Nature to a new and use- 
 ful purpose by means of various processes, instruments, and devices, and, 
 if patentable at all, it must come within the category of ' a new and useful 
 art.' It is as much entitled to this denomination as the original art of 
 printing itself. The name given to it in the patent is generally the act of 
 the commissioner, and in this, as in many other cases, a wrong one. The 
 true nature of the invention must be sought in the specification. The word 
 telegraph is derived from the Greek, and signifies to ' write afar off, or at 
 a distance.' It has heretofore been applied to various contrivances or de- 
 vices to communicate intelligence by means of signals or semaphores which 
 speak to the eye for a moment ; but in its primary and literal signification 
 of writing, 'printing, or recording at a distance, it never was invented, per- 
 fected, or put into practical operation, till it was done by Morse. He jn*e- 
 ceded Steinheil, Cooke, Wheatstone, and Davy, in the successful application 
 of the mysterious power or element of electro-magnetism to this purpose ; 
 and his invention has entirely superseded their inefficient contrivances. It 
 is not only ' a new and useful art,' if that term means any thing, but a most 
 wonderful and astonishing invention, requiring tenfold more ingenuity and 
 patient experiment to perfect it, than the art of printing with types and 
 press, as originally invented." 
 
 This opinion of the Supreme Court established the rights of 
 Professor Morse. Subsequent attempts to disturb the decision 
 were in vain, and the inventor lived to know that this judgment 
 of the highest legal tribunal to which his claims could be submit- 
 ted, was also the enlightened verdict of the nations of the earth. 
 
 ROGERS'S MODIFICATION". 
 
 In the } T ear 1848, Henry J. Rogers, Josiah Lee, and Zenas 
 Barnum, contracted with Alexander Bain, for the right and privi- 
 lege of using his inventions and improvements, then made and 
 patented, in operating a line of Telegraphs between the cities of 
 Washington, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, and New York, 
 and did construct a line of Telegraph between those cities ; the line 
 was finished from Washington to Baltimore in March, 1849 ; from 
 Baltimore to Wilmington in May, 1849 ; thence to Philadelphia in 
 July, 1849 ; and from Philadelphia to New York in December, 1849. 
 Mr. Rogers being a skillful telegraphic engineer, and not find- 
 ing the telegraph of Mr. Bain to work satisfactorily, he so modi- 
 fied this form of telegraph as to make it operate with great satis- 
 faction. The recording was effected by means of the conjoined in- 
 fluence of electro-chemical and chemical composition and decompo- 
 sition — the electro-chemical decomposition arising from an electrical 
 current being transmitted through bibulous paper, satvirated with a 
 solution of yellow prussiate of potash, a small quantity of dilute 
 
580 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 nitric acid, and a small quantity of a solution of cream-of-tartar. 
 This paper was placed upon the recording instrument, consisting 
 essentially of a metallic disk, connected with clock-work, capable 
 of rotation on its axis, and a mechanical connection with one of the 
 wires of the branch (or local) circuit above the plate, and the other 
 wire of the branch circuit beneath. The upper wire of the branch 
 circuit, consisting principally of a covered copper wire, was termi- 
 nated by a very fine short iron wire, acting as the stylus, at the end 
 of which, in contact with the prepared paper, and on its upper sur- 
 face, dark-blue marks were made as the battery contacts were made 
 or broken during the rotation of the disk. 
 
 The foregoing statement, by Professor Rogers, presents 
 the material points in a trial which occurred in Philadelphia, 
 September, 1851, involving the originality of the invention 
 claimed by Professor Morse. The plaintiffs, who represented 
 the Magnetic Telegraph Company using Morse's patents, al- 
 leged that the defendants, who represented the " Bain Line " 
 from Washington to New York, had violated the patents grant- 
 ed to Morse. The counsel on both sides were : 
 
 For Plaintiffs. — Hon. Amos Kendall, of "Washington ; 
 St. George T. Campbell, Esq., of Philadelphia ; George Gilford, 
 Esq., of New York ; and George Harding, Esq., of Philadelphia. 
 
 For Defendants. — Hon. William M. Meredith, of Philadel- 
 phia ; Peter McCall, Esq., of Philadelphia ; and Hon. R. H. 
 Gillett, of Washington. 
 
 The Judges were Hon. P. C. Grier and Hon. J. K. Kane. 
 The plaintiffs, B. B. French and others, represented the " Mag- 
 netic Company," and claimed damages from the defendants, 
 Henry J. Rogers and others, who represented the Bain Line 
 Telegraph between Washington and New York, for alleged 
 violations by them of the several patents granted to Professor 
 Morse, whose assignees the plaintiffs claimed to be. After a 
 protracted trial, in which voluminous testimony was taken, and 
 the ablest counsel heard, on the 3d of November Judge Kane 
 delivered the opinion of the court, Judge Grier expressing his 
 concurrence therein. A few paragraphs only from these opin- 
 ions will be cited here : 
 
 " That he, Mr. Morse, was the first to devise and practise the art of re- 
 cording language, at telegraphic distances, by the dynamic force of the 
 
JUDGE KANE'S DECISION. 581 
 
 electro-magnet ; or, indeed, by any agency whatever, is, to our minds, 
 plain upon all the evidence. It is unnecessary to review the testimony for 
 the purpose of showing this. His application for a patent, in April, 1838, 
 was preceded by a series of experiments, results, illustrations, and proofs 
 of final success, which leave no doubt whatever but that his great inven- 
 tion was consummated before the early spring of 1837. There is no one 
 person, whose invention has been spoken of by any witness or referred to 
 in any book, as involving the principle of Mr. Morse's discovery, but must 
 yield precedence of date to this. Neither Steinheil, nor Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone, nor Davy, nor Dyar, nor Henry, had at this time made a recording 
 telegraph of any sort. The devices then known were merely semaphores, 
 that spoke to the eye for the moment — bearing about the same relation to 
 the great discovery now before us, as the Abbe' Sicard's invention of a 
 visual alphabet for the purposes of conversation bore to the art of print- 
 ing with movable types. Mr. Dyar's had no recording apparatus, as he 
 expressly tells us ; and Professor Henry had contented himself with the 
 abundant honors of his laboratory and lecture-rooms. 
 
 "When, therefore, Mr. Morse claimed, in his first specification, 'the 
 application of electro-magnets' 'for transmitting, by signs and sounds, 
 intelligence between distant points,' and ' the mode and process of record- 
 ing or making permanently signs of intelligence transmitted between dis- 
 tant points ; ' and when in his second specification he claimed ' the mak- 
 ing use of the motive power of magnetism, when developed by the action 
 of currents of electricity, as a means of operating and giving motion to 
 machinery, which may be used to imprint signals upon paper or other 
 suitable material,' ' for the purpose of telegraphic communication ; ' char- 
 acterizing his ' invention as the first recording or printing telegraph by 
 means of electro-magnetism ; ' and when, in his third, after again describ- 
 ing his machinery and process, he once more characterized it in the same 
 terms, and claimed ' as the essence of his invention the use of .the motive 
 power of the electric or galvanic current ' (electro-magnetism as he now 
 terms it), 'however developed, for marking or printing intelligible charac- 
 ters, signs of letters at any distance ; ' through these several forms of spe- 
 cification, claiming and renewing his claim of property in the same inven- 
 tion, as it seems to us — and claiming in each and all of them no more, 
 as it also seems to us, than he was justly entitled to claim — he declared 
 the existence of a new art, asserted his right as its inventor and owner, 
 and, announcing fully its nature and elements, invoked in return the con- 
 'tracted protection of the laws. 
 
 " From this time his title was vested as patentee of the art, and other 
 men became competitors with him only in the work of diversifying and 
 perfecting his details. He himself used the stylus, to impress paper or 
 parchment, or wax-coated tablets, it may be ; though he sometimes made 
 a colored record by the friction of a pencil : another substitutes a liquid 
 pigment, or stains his paper with a chemical ink : the next perhaps stains 
 his paper beforehand, and writes on it by decomposing the coloring mat- 
 ter : and another yet, more studious of originality than the rest, writes in 
 a cyclovolute, instead of a straight line, and manufactures his ink as he 
 goes along, by decomposing the tip of his stylus on a chemically-moist- 
 ened paper. They are no doubt all of them inventors ; as was the man 
 who first cast types in a mould, or first bent metal into the practical sem- 
 blance of the gray goose-quill, or first devised sympathetic ink, that the 
 curious in letter-writing might veil their secrets from the profane. All 
 these toiled ingeniously and well, to advance and embellish a preexisting 
 art. But they had no share in the discovery of the art itself, and can no 
 more claim to share the property, which its discovery may have conferred 
 
582 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 on another, than he who has devised some appropriate setting for a gem, 
 can assert an interest in the gem itself. 
 
 " That the local or independent circuit, as we have described it, and as 
 it is more accurately and perhaps more intelligibly set out by Mr. Morse in 
 his specification, was original with him, cannot be seriously questioned. 
 The devices referred to in the patents of Cooke and Wheatstone, and 
 Davy, are at least imperfect modifications of the combined series of Mr. 
 Morse's first patent ; one of them not improbably borrowed from it. The 
 adjustable receiving magnet, the indispensable and characteristic element 
 of the local circuit patent, no one has claimed but himself. 
 
 " It is only to make the first approach to a controversy on this point, to 
 prove to us that Professor Henry had as early as 1828 made the intensity 
 magnet, with which the scientific world is now familiar — or that he after- 
 ward, and before Mr. Morse's first application for a patent, had illustrated 
 before his classes at Princeton, the manner in which one circuit could 
 operate to hold another closed or to break it at pleasure — or that he had 
 foreseen the applicability of his discoveries to the purposes of a telegraph. 
 The question is not one of scientific precedence ; and, if it were, this is 
 not the forum that could add to or detract from the eminent fame of Mr. 
 Henry. It is purely a question of invention applied in a practical form 
 to a specific use ; and, so regarded, it admits but of a single answer." 
 
 After we have given these judicial decisions, so intelligent, 
 discriminating, impartial, and exhaustive, demonstrating the sole 
 and indisputable right of Samuel F. B. Morse to the invention 
 of the recording Telegraph, it is certainly not necessary for us 
 to argue the question. Envy or ignorance may still deny to 
 the inventor the honor which the courts and the world have 
 awarded him, but the verdict is irreversible. 
 
 bain and house. 
 
 Two suits for infringement were conducted by the propri- 
 etors of Professor Morse's patents, in which their applications 
 for injunction were denied. They are known as the House and' 
 Bain cases. House devised an instrument of wonderful inge- 
 nuity for printing messages in Roman letters, employing axial 
 magnetism, a device developed by Dr. Charles Gr. Page. It was 
 claimed that Professor Morse, having been the first to invent a 
 method of recording the message, by means of electro-magnet- 
 ism, was entitled to the exclusive use of the electrical force as 
 a telegraphic agent, by whatever device a current might record 
 the message. The phraseology of the patent, in the judgment 
 of the court, did not sustain the claim. While the invention 
 dated back to 1832, the patent was not applied for until 1837, 
 and was not issued till 1840. Steinheil had used a recording 
 magneto-electric telegraph in 1837, and Gauss and Weber had 
 
HOUSE, BAIN, AND JACKSON. 583 
 
 pointed out in print, the device by which to accomplish it, in 
 1833. Bain had succeeded in employing the electric current to 
 effect the solution of an iron wire, resting upon paper in motion, 
 saturated with yellow prussiate of potash and weak nitric acid. 
 When the current flowed, the iron dissolved, and at the instant, 
 by the action of the acid and prussiate of potash, a blue stain was 
 produced. If the contact was but for a moment, a dot was pro- 
 duced ; if for an appreciable interval of time, a line was produced. 
 Bain used Morse's alphabet, but he effected a visible record by 
 a method wholly his own. The decisions do not apply to any 
 thing Professor Morse did. While acquiescing in his claims, 
 they simply assert that House's and Bain's modes were each new 
 as regards that of Professor Morse, and that the language of his 
 patent could not be construed to exclude all possible forms of 
 using electrical force to produce a recorded telegraphic message. 
 The question was in the phraseology of the patent ; the work- 
 ing invention going back to 1835, two years before Steinheil's 
 successful exhibition of his invention, was unquestionably the 
 first electro-magnetic recording telegraph. 
 
 The House invention is now employed only in a modified 
 form in combination with other inventions in stock-reporting 
 instruments. The Bain principle is employed to a limited ex- 
 tent only in various systems of automatic telegraphs, but for the 
 general business of telegraphing, it has been, like the House, 
 superseded by the Morse system. 
 
 DR. JACKSON'S PRETENSIONS. 
 
 More annoying than any of these lawsuits, was a claim set 
 up by Dr. Charles T. Jackson, as the original inventor of the 
 Telegraph. He was one of the passengers on the Sully, and 
 took a leading part in the conversation which led Mr. Morse to 
 conceive the idea of the instrument which he afterward con- 
 structed. The pertinacity with which Dr. Jackson insisted upon 
 his right to the honor of the invention, in spite of the clearest 
 evidence to the contrary, led Mr. Morse to state publicly that he 
 believed the claim to be the result of a disordered intellect. 
 Subsequent events make it evident that this charitable view was 
 also just. The same claimant asserted his right to the discov- 
 ery of gun-cotton, anaesthetic agents and the circulation of the 
 
584 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 blood. As his pretensions to the invention of the Telegraph 
 were exploded by the courts, and exposed in a document by 
 Hon. Amos Kendall, widely published, it is not necessary to bur- 
 den these pages with the correspondence between the claimant 
 and the inventor. 
 
 JSTor is it important to report the various lawsuits which arose 
 in the extension of the Telegraph by rival lines, with conflict- 
 ing claims. It was the practice of the Morse Company to grant 
 the use of their instruments to parties constructing lines of tel- 
 egraph, and to take stock in such lines as the consideration for 
 the use of their patent. Conflicts naturally arose. The Morse 
 partners themselves became divided in interest. Complicated 
 and protracted litigations ensued. Large sums of money were 
 expended. The life of the great inventor was embittered. At 
 times he apprehended that he would be reduced again to abject 
 poverty. But in the end justice was triumphant. Whatever 
 rewar.d of merit the world can bestow, was secured to Professor 
 Morse in his lifetime — a lot that falls to few great inventors. 
 The decision of the courts, and testimony that is now incontro- 
 vertible, justify the following 
 
 SUMMARY OF PROFESSOR MORSE'S ACHIEVEMENTS. 
 
 1. The Electro-Magnetic Recording Telegraph. This involved 
 the fillet of paper moving by clock-work with uniform velocity 
 under the lever-pen, rising and falling at measured intervals, con- 
 trolled by the transmitting key operating the electro-magnet through 
 the opening and closing of the galvanic circuit. It included the 
 mathematical and mechanical conception of the combination of 
 dots, lines, and spaces, to stand for letters, whether recorded chem- 
 ically or by pressure. 
 
 2. The combined series, or relay, which made it practical to 
 transmit from any station intelligence to any point, however far, and 
 to receive and record messages at the end, and at all intermediate 
 points, however numerous. 
 
 3. The first practical determination that the galvanic force 
 could be made actually operative through sufficiently great dis- 
 tances without repetition, to render the recording telegraph a prac- 
 tical success, suited to public use. 
 
 4. The electro-magnetic sounder, or acoustic semaphore, with 
 an alphabet corresponding to dots, lines, and spaces. 
 
MORSE'S INSTRUMENTS. 585 
 
 5. The stopping apparatus, for controlling the movement of the ' 
 fillet of paper at a distant station through the key of the transmit- 
 ting office. 
 
 6. The combination of the battery of Volta, improved by Dan- 
 iell ; the electro-magnet of Sturgeon ; the multiplied insulated coil, 
 and the battery of many pairs and long-conducting wire of Henry ; 
 and the single wire and earth circuit of Steinheil, with his own 
 writing and registering apparatus, including the key, lever-pen, 
 moving fillet of paper, stopping apparatus, and register-magnet; 
 his own alphabet of dots, lines, and spaces, and his own relay work- 
 ing with an intensity battery — all proportioned and adjusted in a 
 harmonious whole of extreme simplicity, and adapted to practical 
 working for every-day public use. 
 
 7. He suggested to Arago, in 1839, the use of the electro- 
 magnetic recording telegraph for determinations of longitude. 
 
 8. He was the first to lay a working submarine cable. 
 
 9. He is entitled to the further honor of having ftraght and con- 
 quered the difficulties, scientific, pecuniary, material, and in the 
 way of legislation and litigation, which the effort to make the in- 
 vention useful and successful encountered. 
 
 morse's patents and instruments. 
 
 1. Professor Morse's first caveat was dated October 3, 1837; 
 first application for a patent April 7, 1838 ; patent granted June, 20, 
 1840 ; patent of June 20, 1840, was reissued January 15, 1846 ; 
 patent granted April 11, 1846 ; patent of June 20, 1840, reissued 
 June 13, 1848 ; patent granted May 1, 1849 ; patent of 1840 ex- 
 tended in 1854 for seven years ; patent of April 11, 1846, extended 
 in 1860 for seven years. 
 
 2. The Morse Telegraph is employed (1874) in America upon 
 about 110,000 miles of line, and 250,000 miles of wire, and in for- 
 eign countries upon about 200,000 miles of line, and upon 600,000 
 miles of wire. It is not much used upon long submarine lines ; Sir 
 William Thomson's Mirror Galvanometer being used as a receiving- 
 instrument upon all long submarine circuits. 
 
 3. The total Telegraph receipts throughout the world (in 1874) 
 are about $40,000,000 per annum. The total number of messages 
 is about 75,000,000. 
 
 4. The Morse Telegraph apparatus and alphabet now used in 
 the United States are the same, and in Europe are substantially 
 the same, as invented by him. Receiving by sound is the general 
 
586 LIFE 0F SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 practice in America, and receiving on paper in Europe. As a rule, 
 the Morse's ink-writer has superseded the embossing instrument in 
 England and on the Continent of Europe. 
 
 5. The principal improvements applied to the Morse system are, 
 the Repeater, through the use of which messages may be sent over 
 distances ranging from 500 to 10,000 miles without rewriting, and 
 the Duplex apparatus, invented by Joseph B. Stearns, of Boston, 
 for the transmission of two messages in opposite directions, over 
 one wire, at the same time. This latter invention, which is the 
 greatest addition made to telegraph}' since the great invention of 
 Professor Morse, is now successfully operated throughout the 
 United States, the Canadas, Great Britain, and Ireland, and is 
 being introduced upon the Continent of Europe. 
 
 6. In England the Post-Office Telegraph continues to use a 
 variety of systems of telegraphs, although the bulk of the traffic is 
 performed by the Morse apparatus. Of the 8,284 instruments in 
 use there, 3,582 are Wheatstone needle instruments, 2,367 Wheat- 
 stone's A B C, 394 Bright's bell, 98 Wheatstone's automatic, 23 
 Hughes's letter-printing, and 1,720 Morse ink-writers and sounder. 
 On the Continent of Europe 12,938 Morse apparatus are employed, 
 against 508 Hughes's letter-printing, and 2,529 telegraph instru- 
 ments of all other kinds ! 
 
 TELEGRAPH COMPANIES EST THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Within the first seven years of the operations of Morse's 
 Telegraph, there were more than fifty separate organizations in 
 the United States in actual existence at the same time. In the 
 year 1851 a few of them were consolidated under one manage- 
 ment. Still, the great number of separate lines in operation pre- 
 vented that unity and dispatch in conducting the business so es- 
 sential to its success, and the public failed to secure everywhere 
 the benefits of direct and reliable communication. Telegraphic 
 correspondence between the Eastern, Western, and Southern 
 sections, was not only burdened with several tariffs, but with un- 
 necessary delays. Messages under this system required copying 
 and retransmission at the termini of each local line, and this 
 process not only occupied time, but was frequently the cause of 
 errors, which rendered the service of little value. The Western 
 Union Telegraph Company was originally organized as the New 
 York and Mississippi Yalley Printing Telegraph Company, on 
 
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY. 587 
 
 the 1st of April, 1S51, for the purpose of building a line from 
 Buffalo, New York, to St. Louis, Missouri. On the 30th of 
 March, 1854, they purchased the lines of the Lake Erie Tele- 
 graph Company, extending from Buffalo to Detroit, and from 
 Cleveland to Pittsburg ; and, on the 29th of April, 1854, se- 
 cured control of the lines of the Cleveland and Cincinnati, the 
 Cincinnati and St. Louis, and the Ohio Telegraph Companies. 
 The AVestern Union gradually swallowed up more and more of 
 the various lines, until, in twenty years, it effected a complete 
 unification of the great majority of the telegraph-lines in the 
 United States, and rendered the system the most extensive and 
 efficient in the world. The territory now occupied by the lines 
 of this company embraces almost the entire civilized portion of 
 the Continent of North America. On the eastern coast its lines 
 extend from Plaister Cove, on the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, to 
 Brownsville, on the Rio Grande ; and, on the western coast, 
 from San Diego, California, to the fisheries on the Kishyox 
 River, eight hundred miles north of New Westminster, British 
 Columbia. They reach across the continent, from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific Ocean, and embrace every State and Territory in 
 the Union. The consolidations which have resulted in the 
 Western Union connect with the British provinces, and by the 
 Cuba and the Atlantic cables with the whole world. The man- 
 agement of this immense organization is in the hands of Wil- 
 liam Orton, Esq., president of the company, a gentleman of 
 great executive ability, whose administration has given to this 
 company a success without a parallel in the history of tele- 
 graphic enterprise. The accomplished electrician of the com- 
 pany, George B. Prescott, Esq., has charge of all matters of a 
 scientific or technical character pertaining to the service, includ- 
 ing the investigation of new inventions in telegraphy, and from 
 time to time authorizes such changes and modifications of the 
 instruments, insulators, and other parts of the apparatus, as to 
 enable the company to fully keep pace with the progress of dis- 
 covery. 
 
 In the report of the Western Union Telegraph Company to 
 its stockholders, 1869, the following testimony is borne to the 
 superiority of the invention of Professor Morse, and its practical 
 indorsement by other companies : 
 
588 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " Nearly all the machinery employed by the company belongs 
 to the Morse system. This telegraph, indeed, is now used almost 
 exclusively everywhere, and the time will probably never come when 
 it will cease to be the leading system of the world. Of more than 
 a hundred devices that have beep made to supersede it, not one has 
 succeeded in accomplishing its purpose, and it is used at the pres- 
 ent time upon more than ninety-five per cent, of all the telegraph 
 lines in existence. The almost universal use of this apparatus is 
 due to its simplicity and peculiar adaptability to the telegraphic 
 traffic of every country. It employs electro-magnetism in the sim- 
 plest form ; and its alphabet, when produced at a distance through 
 the aid of the electric current, is read with equal facility by sight 
 and sound, and can be readily interpreted by two of the other 
 senses." 
 
 Thus have we seen, in the rapid review of this chapter, that 
 the invention of Professor Morse, by the decision of the most 
 competent scientists, and the highest judicial tribunals, is distinct 
 and different from all others that claim priority to his, and by 
 the more practical and absolutely impartial and irreversible ver- 
 dict of use, its superiority is attested by ninety-five out of every 
 hundred telegraph-lines on the face of the earth ! More than 
 one hundred devices have been made to supersede it ; not one 
 has succeeded in accomplishing its purpose. This fact is stronger 
 proof than the arguments of counsel, the opinions of judges, or 
 the claims of science, and renders it certain that in all future ages 
 the present Recording Telegraph will be recognized as exclu- 
 sively the invention of Mouse. 
 
CHAPTEE XT. 
 
 1847-1854:.— BEST AND REWAKDS. 
 
 A HOME AT LAST — PURCHASE OF A COUNTRY-SEAT AND FARM AT POUGH- 
 EEEPSIE — MARRIAGE — SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE — LOTE OF NATURE — 
 BIRDS — HIS NEIGHBORS' ESTEEM — LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTER — REMBRANDT 
 PEALE VISITS MORSE — LETTER OF BENSON J. LOSSING — HOUSE IN THE CITY 
 OF NEW YORK — LETTER TO ARAGO — ADOPTION OF THE MORSE SYSTEM BY 
 THE GERMAN CONVENTION — EXTENSION INTO DENMARK, SWEDEN, RUSSIA, 
 AND AUSTRALIA — HONORARY DISTINCTIONS AND TESTIMONIALS — SCIEN- 
 TIFIC BODIES — YALE COLLEGE — FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. 
 
 UP to this time, 1847, Mr. Morse had never enjoyed a, 
 home since in youth he left his father's house. For 
 brief periods, at intervals, he had found rest under the pater- 
 nal roof, and after his first marriage he established his family 
 in ISTew Haven; but his own occupations were elsewhere, 
 and he was only an occasional visitor, where he desired to be 
 at home. His letters to his wife were full of ardent long- 
 ings for the time when he should be no longer an exile. His 
 domestic attachments were intense, and the separation from his 
 family in the highest degree painful. After the death of his 
 wife, when his children were scattered, the sense of desolation 
 was greater still. He was a stranger everywhere. Poverty 
 forbade him to have a home. "When the Telegraph began to 
 yield him a moderate income with the prospect of indefinite 
 increase, he sought without delay for a spot where he might 
 gather his children around him, and at last enjoy the luxury of 
 his own house. He was now fifty-six years old. It was high 
 time that he found a home if he would have one on earth. 
 He consulted with his brothers and other friends as to the loca- 
 tion. His brother Richard wrote to him : " Wherever we set- 
 
590 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tie ourselves, obligations of a social and religions character will 
 be imposed upon us. Our children must have as good institu- 
 tions as we have enjoyed. Our standard of religious habits and 
 conduct must be as high as in the best parts of New England." 
 His attention was directed to a place near Poughkeepsie, on the 
 eastern bank of the Hudson River, in Dutchess County and 
 State of JSTew York, about seventy-five miles north of the city. 
 Here he purchased about two hundred acres of land. A farm- 
 house on it was his abode while he completed a mansion adapted 
 to his wants, his tastes, and his means. He gave to the place 
 the name of " Locust Grove," not knowing that it had borne the 
 same name in former years. There he gathered his children and 
 their children, and for the first time knew what it was to have a 
 house and home of his own. In the year following this pur- 
 chase he was married to Miss Sarah E. Griswold, the daughter 
 of his cousin. She was born December 25, 1 822, at Fort Brady, 
 Sault St. Mary's, at the foot of Lake Superior. Her father was 
 an officer in the IL S. Army. Her grandfather was Arthur 
 Breese, Esq., of TTtica, ISTew York, and her grandmother was 
 Catharine Livingston, of Poughkeepsie. After his marriage 
 Professor Morse discovered that the place he had purchased had 
 once been the property of his wife's great-grandfather, who had 
 called his place " Locust Grove." Her grandmother, Catharine 
 Livingston, when a child, had fallen into the well, near the old 
 cottage, and was rescued by the nurse, who descended into the 
 well by the bucket, and saved the life of the girl. "When the 
 child grew up and was engaged to be married to Arthur Breese, 
 she was wont to stand beneath an immense oak-tree and with 
 her handkerchief wave a welcome to her lover as he came up 
 the river on a sloop, which was then the mode of travel up and 
 down the Hudson. This tree was called the "Breese tree," 
 and stood there until within a few years, when it was unhappily 
 destroyed by a stroke of lightning. A spacious and beautiful 
 house, in the style of an Italian villa, being finished, Mr. Morse 
 removed from the cottage, and in the midst of his family and 
 friends sat down to the enjoyment of that rest and peace which 
 had hitherto been denied him. His business affairs were in 
 the hands of a trusted, faithful, and able agent, and he fondly 
 hoped that they would be conducted without his care. But 
 
HOME ON THE HUDSON. 591 
 
 so wide-spread had become the relations of the Telegraph in 
 the affairs of the country and the world, it was necessary for 
 him to be constantly on the alert for the protection of his 
 own interests, and to defeat the arts of those who sought to 
 deprive him of the fame as well as the fortune which he had 
 fairly won. The battle of life was only begun when he thought 
 it was ended and the victory secure. His correspondence with 
 Mr. Kendall was incessant and voluminous. The lawsuits in 
 which he was compelled to engage required of him a vast amount 
 of personal labor, preparing argument and illustration, searching 
 and arranging testimony, and meeting the objections which the 
 selfishness, the envy, or the ignorance of his opponents inter- 
 posed to rob him of his due. 
 
 The retirement of his place on the Hudson was favorable 
 to study, and his habits of industry were such that he made 
 the most of his time. Into a large and beautiful library he 
 brought all the fruits of science and art that would aid him in 
 his inquiries, and with plodding perseverance he worked as 
 steadily in his age and leisure, as when struggling under the 
 burden of poverty to bring out his great invention. The wires 
 of the Telegraph that connected Poughkeepsie with New York, 
 passed near his house, and by-and-by one of them was led into 
 his library ! Here, with the instrument of his own invention on 
 the table at his right hand, he sat and conversed at his ease with 
 friends and correspondents in distant parts of the land! As 
 years rolled on, and these wires were stretched still farther, and 
 by-and-by beneath the ocean to foreign shores, making a reality 
 of every prophecy he had uttered when wise men thought him 
 deluded or mad, he still sat in his chair, in his own house in the 
 country, far from the city and the sea, and, when he would, he 
 could speak to men in Europe as if they were in an adjoining 
 room ! He believed he would, when he was in the ship Sully in 
 1832. He said he would, when he was in his garret in 1837. 
 It was done in the year 1866. Nothing in the history of human 
 progress is more sublime and beautiful than this ! Never were 
 the visions of imagination, the calculations of reason, and the 
 deductions of science, more completely and practically accom- 
 plished within the lifetime of the seer, the philosopher, and the 
 sage. 
 
592 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Identifying himself as a neighbor, a citizen, and Christian, 
 with the community of which he had now became a member, 
 he bore the responsibilities, discharged the duties, and enjoyed 
 the pleasures of his new position with earnestness, ability, and 
 zest. His hand and heart were always open to every good work, 
 and his fellow-citizens delighted to know him as a model of 
 every manly and generous virtue. William H. Crosby, Esq.,. of 
 Poughkeepsie, in a note to the author, speaks of Professor 
 Morse in these just and graceful words : 
 
 " His quiet, unostentatious life, among us, displayed no promi- 
 nent incidents that would find employment for the pen of a biog- 
 rapher, while at the same time it was sufficiently marked to reveal 
 to all, who were thown into his company, the liberal, kind-hearted, 
 courteous, unpresuming, Christian gentleman. Though his name 
 was blazed abroad in every land as that of one whose invention had 
 been the source of so many blessings to his fellow-creatures, though 
 crowned heads had vied with each other in loading him with hon- 
 ors, no pride nor arrogance displayed itself in his social intercourse ; 
 on the contrary, his whole conduct and conversation proved him 
 to be actuated by the spirit of his first electric and electrifying 
 message, and to be ever ready to give to God all the glory. His 
 house was a place of delightful resort, and his uniform kindness 
 and courtesy to his visitors, of whatever rank or station, coupled 
 with an easy dignity of manners, always left upon their minds the 
 impression that they had been in the presence, if not of a brilliant, 
 yet of a truly great man. As wealth and honors poured in upon 
 him, his neighbors and friends found little or no change in his social 
 conduct, although his mode of life and style of equipage had kept 
 pace with the increase of his means. His liberality was not con- 
 fined to the outlay of his purse. He was ever ready to do a kind- 
 ness to a neighbor, even at the cost of great personal inconvenience 
 and toil. I will mention but one instance out of many of his self- 
 denying kindness. While riding into town one day his attention 
 
 was arrested by observing that the woods of Mrs. L were on fire, 
 
 and that, if not speedily extinguished, the mansion would be en- 
 dangered. Regardless of his years, of the business that was taking 
 him to town, of the quality of his apparel, he sprang from his car- 
 riage, and went to work with such a will that, with the assistance 
 of a few others,. in a little while the danger was over. As my in- 
 formant remarked, he worked harder and more efficiently than any 
 
LETTER TO MRS. LIND. 593 
 
 common laborer on the ground. One striking characteristic of Pro- 
 fessor Morse — and one which, no doubt, has already claimed your 
 attention — was his love of Nature, in all her varied aspects, and it 
 is probable that regret for the loss of those noble forest-trees min- 
 gled with his kind feelings to a neighbor, and had its share in prompt- 
 ing him to active exertion on the occasion above mentioned." 
 
 One of the many letters to his beloved daughter, Mrs. Lind, 
 residing in the West Indies, was written Avhen, having completed 
 the payments on his estate, he was able to call it his own : 
 
 "Locust Grove, May 14, 1848. 
 
 " I snatch a few moments, my dear Susan, to commence a letter 
 to you, and to thank you for your frequent and most acceptable let- 
 ters. Locust Grove is now mine, that is to say, it is loaned to me 
 by our heavenly Father, just so long as he shall see fit to permit 
 us to enjoy it. I have paid off the bond and mortgage on the 1st 
 instant, and it is now free of incumbrance, but it has drained my 
 money-cistern quite dry. Economy, at all times and under all cir- 
 cumstances right and proper, is now more than ever necessary. I 
 have fresh attacks on my rights, and I am kept in a continual atti- 
 tude of defense, and from so many quarters, that were it not for the 
 trust I have in him who has thus far carried me through difficulties 
 that seemed at the time perfectly insurmountable, I should almost 
 give up in despair so persevering and so reckless and vindictive 
 is the opposition that is made to me. Within a few weeks a new 
 and more threatening attack has come from the other side of the 
 water. Mr. Bain, a Scotchman, who has succeeded in England in 
 an ingenious piece of mechanism, has applied for a patent for a 
 mode of marking. It seems that it is the very mode which I first 
 devised on board the ship, applied in 1836, and in January, 1847, en- 
 tered a caveat and applied for a patent at our Patent-Office in July 
 last. Mr. Bain has just applied for a patent for the same thing ; he 
 is allowed to go back in his proofs to the date of his English pat- 
 ent, which is in December, 1816, about one month before my caveat. 
 I must prove my invention before that date (December, 1816), or 
 he gets his patent and I lose mine (the one last applied for). But, 
 I can prove priority, so that I think I shall defeat him. The 
 case comes on at Washington in July. Thus you see, my dear 
 children, my invention gives me little ease, and much vexation and 
 anxiety, or would, were it not that I can view all as ordered by a 
 kind and wise Father. If it is his will, he can continue to me the 
 38 
 
594 ' LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 credit and the profits of the Telegraph, or I see that by unforeseen 
 incidents, easily brought about by infinite power, he can so throw a 
 cloud over both as to deprive me entirely of the latter, and tempo- 
 rarily deprive me also of the former. If I use the influence and the 
 property he has bestowed, merely for selfish purposes, merely for 
 self-aggrandizement, and selfish pleasure, he will take them away if 
 I am a child of his, for he will not let these things interfere with my 
 eternal interest. I have been thinking much of the duties which 
 devolve on me in this juncture. I have wealth in stock, and now 
 what portion ought to be devoted saoredly to the cause of God ? I 
 have decided deliberately, and believe that I shall have the hearty 
 concurrence of my dear children, when I tell them that one-tenth is 
 the portion that must be set apart and consecrated to the cause of 
 Christian benevolence. All, indeed, should be consecrated to him, 
 but this must be a fund from which all applications for religious 
 benevolent objects are to be answered. Days of trial may come, 
 nay, will come, but, as our day is our strength will be, if we look 
 with steady faith for help in every time of need. 
 
 " You may judge, from what I have told you of my affairs, that 
 I have not much time to write. I leave in the morning for New 
 York and Washington, to look after matters and prepare for de- 
 fense. With all the piracies and frauds upon me, I hope to save 
 enough to give my children a welcome reception in their father's 
 house at all times. Years are passing ; age is on its way ; how 
 long I may be spared I know not, but I am beginning to feel a 
 stronger desire than ever to have the society of my dear children." 
 
 His life in the country was very simple and quiet. His hour 
 of rising was half-past six o'clock in the morning, and he was in 
 his library alone until breakfast at eight. He loved to hear the 
 birds in their native songs, and he could distinguish the notes of 
 each species of birds, and would speak of the quality of their re- 
 spective music. He spent most of the day in reading and 
 writing, rarely taking exercise, except walking in his garden to 
 visit his graperies, in which he took special pride ; or to the 
 stables to see if his horses were well cared for. He did not 
 ride out regularly with his family, preferring the repose of his 
 own grounds and the labors of his study. But when he walked 
 or rode in the country, he was constantly disposed to speak of 
 the beauty and glory around him, as revealing to his mind the 
 
LOVE OF NATURE. 595 
 
 beneficence, wisdom, and power of the infinite Creator, who had 
 made all these things for the use and enjoyment of man. One 
 of his daughters writes of him in these simple and tender words : 
 " He loved flowers. He would take one in his hand, and talk 
 for hours about its beauty, its wonderful construction, and the 
 wisdom and love of God in making so many varied forms of 
 lif e and color to please our eyes. In his later years he became 
 deeply interested in the microscope, and purchased one of great 
 excellence and power. For whole hours, all the afternoon or 
 evening, he would sit over it, examining flowers, or the animal- 
 cula in different fluids. Then he would gather his children 
 about him and give us a sort of extempore lecture on the won- 
 ders of creation, invisible to the naked eye, but so clearly 
 brought to view by the magnifying power of the microscope. 
 He was very fond of animals, cats and birds in particular. He 
 tamed a little flying-squirrel, and it became so fond of him that 
 it would sit on his shoulder while he was at his studies, and 
 would eat out of his hand and sleep in his pocket. To this little 
 animal he became so much attached that we took it with us to 
 Europe, where it came to an untimely end in Paris, by running 
 into an open fire." 
 
 Years passed by in this delightful retreat, out of the world 
 but in it, so in it and of it that every day, and if needs be every 
 hour or moment, brought to him intelligence of what was trans- 
 piring in his own country and in distant lands. He had but to 
 touch the keys of the instrument at his side, and he had the 
 attention of far-away friends with whom he was in instant com- 
 munion. He had filled the earth with a new nervous system 
 that responded to his touch in every part, as if it were a living, 
 sensitive being. He dispensed a generous hospitality, which was 
 enjoyed by his friends, and not seldom by strangers who came 
 from distant countries and desired to make the acquaintance of 
 a man whose fame was now as extensive as civilization itself. 
 The companions of his early years, who were with him in his 
 contests with the world, delighted to see him in the evening of 
 his days, prosperous, honored, and happy. Benson J. Lossing, 
 Esq., the historian of the American Revolution, and a resident 
 of Poughkeepsie, has furnished a sketch of an interview which 
 he enjoyed with Professor Morse and the distinguished artist, 
 
596 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Rembrandt Peale. Mr. Lossing sliall speak with, his pen and 
 pencil : 
 
 MOKSE AND PEALE. 
 
 "The Ridge, Dover Plains, N. Y., April, 18V3. 
 
 " You ask me to unfold into a record the hint I gave you the 
 other day about a notable picture. Memory always recalls that 
 picture with delight. It was a marvelous grouping of landscape 
 and figures by the pencil of God, in forms and colors of exquisite 
 beauty and interest. It was a midsummer evening scene. Oberon 
 and Titania, Puck and Peas-Blossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustard- 
 seed, were all there among the shrubs and flowers, for it was the 
 home of a great magician — a conjurer more potent than the King 
 of the Fairies. He had conquered Saturn and Neptune, and his 
 chief minister had already gone out to ' put a girdle round the earth 
 in forty minutes.' 
 
 " The time was toward sunset. The place was a beautiful coun- 
 try-seat on the banks of the Hudson. The grounds and the out- 
 look from them formed the landscape. Green lawns, neat hedges, 
 beds of gay flowers, and graveled paths, with aged men, accom- 
 plished women, and young children on them, composed the fore- 
 ground. These were on the verge of a plateau a hundred feet 
 above the river. There stood magnificent trees which had been 
 young denizens of the primal forest, perhaps, when the Mohican 
 hunted among them. From their huge stems shadows stretched 
 many a perch eastward in the slanting sunbeams. Beyond these 
 giants, westward, abrupt and gentle slopes bowed to . the lowly 
 meadows, wedded to the broken crags which skirted the margin of 
 the river. Beyond the shining waters, wooded precipices arose 
 among golden wheat-fields ; and, far away on the northwestern ho- 
 rizon, slumbered in misty azure the lofty Catskill Mountains. The 
 singing-birds were nearly all silent, for it was July ; but the throat 
 of the swamp-robin sent its clear notes far away through the vistas. 
 " The chief figures in the group were two old men. They had 
 been friends in their younger days, but had not seen each other's 
 faces in forty years. They had been pupils of Benjamin West at 
 the Royal Academy in England, one of them half a century before 
 this meeting ; and their countrymen were proud of the achievements 
 of both in art and science. One was in the eighty-second year of 
 his age ; the other was on the verge of seventy. The elder was 
 quite erect in figure, handsome in features, with eyes of mildest 
 blue, the complexion of a young woman, a sweet voice, and was 
 
REMBRANDT, PEALE, AND MORSE. 597 
 
 wearing a crown of'flowing white locks. The younger was tall and 
 slender, lithe in limb, with dark, magnetic eyes, benevolence beam- 
 ing from his face, and a long white beard covering his bosom. The 
 elder was Rembrandt Peale, who had painted a portrait of Wash- 
 ington from the living man. The younger was Professor Morse, 
 then (1859) at the zenith of his fame. 
 
 " Mr. Peale and his wife (an accomplished artist, full thirty years 
 his junior) were spending a few days with us at Poughkeepsie. 
 ' Locust Grove,' the country-seat of Professor Morse, the scene of 
 the picture, is about two miles below that city. We rode down 
 there with our guests toward the close of a summer day ; and at 
 the ' artist's hour,' when the shadows are long and thick, we strolled 
 about the grounds and saw the beautiful vision so dear to memory. 
 
 " It was delightful to hear those venerable men, as they walked 
 among the flowers, call up recollections of the past. Peale was 
 with West ten \ T ears before Morse became that master's favorite 
 pupil ; and Peale's father had been West's pupil thirty years before 
 his son entered his studio. 
 
 " They talked of the venerable Copley, with whom the elder 
 Peale had studied, in Boston ; of his sweet though wrinkled face, 
 and tender eyes, and kindly manner. ' He was like a father to 
 me while I was in London,' said Peale. s A Tory in America, he 
 was a republican in England. He said to me one day, " I was the 
 first to display the American standard in England, after the inde- 
 pendence of the United States was acknowledged by this- govern- 
 ment." " How and where ? " Tasked. " On my easel," he replied, 
 " as part of the background to a portrait of your countryman, El- 
 kanah Watson. It was painted on the day when the king sanc- 
 tioned the acknowledgment.' " 
 
 " ' To me,' Morse said, ' Copley was a mentor in art. His dying 
 hand and feeble voice helped me in professional difficulties on sev- 
 eral occasions while in London. He was then painting his last 
 picture — the portrait of his son, who was created Lord Lyndhurst 
 in 1827.' 
 
 " They talked of Northcote, whose bold aquiline nose, lustrous 
 eyes, and bald head, were notable at a chop-house in Cheapside, 
 where he dined at five o'clock in the afternoon, and whose pictures 
 were annually a conspicuous part of the exhibition at Somerset 
 House. 
 
 " Of pale little Flaxman, the classic sculptor, they spoke tender- 
 ly. His ganius claimed their admiration, but his goodness was their 
 
598 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 favorite theme, for his abounding piety was like a fragrant blossom, 
 ever exhaling pure delight. They talked graciously of handsome 
 Sir Thomas Lawrence, the ' painter to the king,' and the favorite of 
 the ladies as a limner of feminine portraits, for he made the plain- 
 est appear attractive. They had mutual reminiscences of the irri- 
 table and excitable Fuseli (the intimate friend of Lavater, and the 
 originator of Alderman Boydell's ' Shakespeare Gallery '), who was 
 appointed Keeper of the Royal Academy at about the time when 
 Peale left London for Paris in 1804. 
 
 " ' He often looked over my shoulder,' said Peale, ' while I was 
 at work, and criticised my drawing ; and whenever he saw a glar- 
 ing error, he would fly into a passion, declare I was an unworthy 
 son of a worthy father, and end by inviting me to sup with him at 
 his lodgings in a back room in Ivy Lane.' 
 
 " ' I well remember the waspish Switzer,' Morse said. ' He was 
 a bundle of paradoxes. Learned, yet ignorant ; a good artist, with 
 glaring faults ; quarrelsome, but placable ; always scolding, yet al- 
 ways kind-hearted. He would reproach President West for some 
 fancied remissness in duty, and with the next breath declare that 
 he was the most faithful man he knew. We all laughed at his 
 storms and enjoyed his sunshine. West said to me gravely one 
 day, after Fuseli's tongue had run its course : " I verily believe the 
 good man (then seventy-four years of age) does not desire to go to 
 heaven, because he may find no occasion there for storming ; he 
 would not endure the eternal serenity that prevails in the Land of 
 the Blest." ' 
 
 " Concerning our own artists who were their contemporaries, 
 these venerable men exchanged opinions freely. They spoke most 
 kindly of the blunt, erratic Stuart, under whose rugged exterior 
 beat a heart of sweetest nature. The memory of the ethereal All- 
 ston they cherished with the devotion of worshipers, and confirmed 
 the verdict of contemporary critics, that in coloring he was justly 
 styled the ' American Titian.' Trumbull, as an artist and a man, 
 was not spoken of in terms of admiration ; but of the genial, err- 
 ing Jarvis, the generous Inman, and the noble Sully, they talked 
 lovingly. Concerning the irascible and soured bachelor, Vanderlyn, 
 they uttered words of mingled praise as an artist and pity as a man. 
 
 " I was particularly interested in listening to their estimate of 
 the painters who have filled the eight panels in the rotunda of the 
 national Capitol with historical pictures. They were agreed in the 
 opinion that Weir's picture of the ' Embarkation of the Pilgrims ' 
 
THE OLD PAINTERS. 599 
 
 is the best among them as a work of art, history, and sentiment. 
 They regarded Trumbull's four pictures as works of great intrinsic 
 value, because of the portraits. Chapman's ' Marriage of Pocahon- 
 tas ' they considered more pleasing to the less- cultivated popular 
 taste than to the judgment of the skilled art-critic. Vanderlyn's 
 ' Landing of Columbus ' seemed to them to be weak, and Powell's 
 ' De Soto on the Mississippi ' as a good painting, but an historical 
 improbability in its composition. 
 
 " But I will not weary you with further details of my recollec- 
 tions of their conversation upon art themes and social memories. 
 For forty years these eminent Americans had been pursuing their 
 respective courses in life, within a few leagues of each other, but 
 without meeting face to face in all that time. The elder, gentle, 
 quiet, timid, unassuming, lacking in self-assertion, and eminently 
 good in all the relations of life, had moved almost noiselessly along 
 the flowery pathways of art, and was then near the end of his long- 
 journey, for he died in the early autumn of the next year. The 
 younger was more actively ambitious and restless, tenacious of his 
 rights, and quick to assert and defend them ; but he was patient, 
 plodding, persevering, modest, and eminently good. He had, by 
 his achievements, made the whole earth, as it were, resonant with 
 his praises, for he had answered affirmatively the great question put 
 by God to the Chaldean emir, ' Canst thou 1 send lightnings, that 
 they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are ? ' He had trained 
 for the intellectual uses of man that subtile ' soul of the universe ' 
 to which the prophet of Twickenham alluded when he wrote : 
 
 ' It warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
 Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees ; 
 Lives through all life, extends through all extent, 
 Spreads undivided, operates unspent.' 
 
 " The men, the landscape, the hour, made a picture which will 
 never fade from memory. We returned home in the evening twi- 
 light, with hearts full of thanksgiving for the opportunity we had 
 enjoyed. Yours faithfully, 
 
 " Behstson J. Lossing." 
 
 In the home to which Ms heart had so fondly turned in all 
 the years of his struggles with poverty, and the severer contests 
 with those who sought to deprive him of his rewards, the life 
 of Professor Morse was now tranquilly flowing. Several years 
 after his purchase in Pougbkeepsie, he bought a large and beau- 
 
600 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 tif ill house, ISTo. 5 West Twenty-second Street, in the city of 
 New York. On a vacant lot adjoining, he erected an elegant 
 building for Ins library and study. Here he established his 
 winter residence. Among his papers, found after his death, is a 
 prayer which he wrote and used on the occasion of entering 
 upon possession of his house in town. It was in the central 
 part of the city, adjacent to Madison Square, and it soon be- 
 came the frequent resort of the learned and the good, who 
 sought the society of the now famous inventor, recognized as a 
 great public benefactor. But for the vexatious lawsuits that 
 for several years disturbed his peace, the life of the retired phi- 
 losopher would have been as pleasant as the former years had 
 been dark and stormy. But he was reminded constantly that 
 this world was not his rest ; and he took things as they came, 
 in the firm persuasion that all would be well in the end. His 
 correspondence with men of science at home and abroad in- 
 creased rapidly and greatly. His letters during these years of 
 rest indicate the progress of the Telegraph, "and his own pur- 
 suits. Writing to Arago in 1851, he said : 
 
 " At this moment my system of telegraphing comprises about 
 fifteen thousand English miles of conductors on this continent. 
 How far the essential parts of my system have been adopted in 
 Europe and Asia, I am unable to say. In Russia, it has been inti- 
 mated to me that it is in operation ; and at Constantinople the 
 Sublime Porte has it in operation between two of his military 
 schools. Making all due allowance for the partiality naturally felt 
 for one's own offspring, may I not say that the Recording Telegraph 
 is the most efficient as well as simplest form of the Telegraph yet in- 
 vented ? It ought to be noticed, as a striking peculiarity of my sys- 
 tem, that the sound given out by the lever in recording is as readily 
 understood by a practised ear as the recorded characters are by the 
 eye. Many, and indeed most, of the operators read from the sound 
 only, and many will thus read long dispatches, while every one un- 
 derstands, when his station is called, as readily as if spoken to by 
 the human voice. There is a practical advantage in this talking 
 hourly experienced in every telegraph-office on the lines. This 
 characteristic of voice connected with recording, has led me to 
 designate the principle of my invention as Telegraphic Speech by 
 Electricity — speech comprehending intelligible sounds and written 
 
DR. JACKSON EXPOSED. 601 
 
 marks. The Recording Telegraph, as a distinct genus, I have ever 
 claimed as my invention. There was no Recording Telegraph pre- 
 vious to the invention of mine ; and it is this function, par excel- 
 lence, to wit, ' recording J that gives to it both its peculiarity and 
 great efficiency. . . . As a commercial enterprise, telegraph stock in 
 the Morse lines has paid valuable dividends. Their business has 
 lately been embarrassed by temporary and local causes not affect- 
 ing the merits of the invention, but mainly in consequence of the 
 attempts to compete with and to supplant by rival modes. 
 
 " A brochure, entitled ' Full Exposure of Dr. Charles T. Jack- 
 son's Pretensions to the Invention of the American Electro-Magnetic 
 Telegraph,' was sent to you and to the Academy some time since 
 at my request. The brochure was prepared from the evidence be- 
 fore the courts, by the Hon. Amos Kendall, formerly Postmaster- 
 General of the United States. Much more, indeed, is admitted as 
 fact, in this expose in favor of Jackson's pretensions, than truth will 
 warrant. I never met with a case of such reckless disregard of 
 truth as this of Dr. Jackson's. He is not sustained by any witness 
 in a single important assertion. The only explanation which can 
 be given that shall not implicate his moral character is monomania, 
 and to this misfortune I have been willing, with many of his friends, 
 to attribute his conduct, provided I maj have the benefit which is 
 usually accorded to the sane, of protection against the insane. 
 
 "I have not learned that the Academy of Sciences has ever 
 passed a decision upon the subject of Electric Telegraphs. While 
 anxious, of course, that justice should be done to me and to my 
 country, by a tribunal to whose decisions the civilized world does 
 willing homage, I yet desire that equal justice should be accorded 
 to those distinguished discoverers of principles in science, of what- 
 ever country, without which the inventor would lack the materials 
 for his invention." 
 
 In the month of October, 1851, a convention of deputies 
 from the German states of Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, "Wiirtem- 
 berg, and Saxony, met at Vienna to establish a German- Austrian 
 Telegraphic Union. The various systems of telegraphy then in 
 use were subjected to the most thorough examination aud dis- 
 cussion, by men well qualified to illustrate the principles of the 
 several plans. They reached the conclusion with great unanim- 
 ity that the American (or Morse system) was the only one to 
 meet their wants. Professor Steinheil, the administrator-in- 
 
602 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 chief of the Austrian telegraphs, although himself the inventor of 
 an electric telegraph, which has procured for him well-deserved 
 fame, with a magnanimity which does him high honor, gave his 
 opinion in favor of adopting the American system in Germany. 
 This was to Professor Morse a most gratifying fact. In the 
 lawsuits involving his rights, great stress had been laid upon 
 the Steinheil invention as something anterior to Morse's ; but 
 Steinheil himself never made such pretensions, and freely sup- 
 ported Morse's system as having advantages superior to his own. 
 And by the same steamer that brought this gratifying intelli- 
 gence, the inventor received the news that it had been decided 
 in the Denmark House of Representatives that the Electric Tele- 
 graph, in continuation of the German lines, should be immediate- 
 ly extended from Elsinore, via Copenhagen, to Rendsberg. 
 
 Extract from the Protocol of the Convention of Deputies from 
 the German Governments which met at Vienna in the month of 
 October, 1851, for the establishment of a German-Austrian Tele- 
 graphic Union, etc., etc. : 
 
 " Articles 2 and 3. — The Governments of this Union give their 
 mutual assurance to bring into operation, at the latest, on the 
 1st of July, 1852, the direct transmission of telegraphic communi- 
 cations between the central stations of the respective governments, 
 so that transfers upon intermediate stations will be no longer re- 
 quired, whenever the lines are not previously occupied, so that each 
 of the central stations can enter into direct communication with 
 every other. To accomplish this, all the Governments of the Tele- 
 graph Union adopt for the International Correspondence upon each 
 line, for the present, Moese's Telegraph, with receiving magnets, 
 registers, and uniform alphabet." 
 
 In August, 1854, Mr. Fleischmann, who had introduced the 
 Telegraph into Austria, wrote from Paris to Professor Morse : 
 
 " I saw this day the agent of the submarine Telegraph between 
 England and France, and he told me that they came to the conclu- 
 sion to adopt Morse's Telegraph in preference to any known and 
 tried system. They have experimented with your system and find 
 it the most perfect. They have already some of your machines 
 working, and the French Government is about to adopt it also. 
 So much for you and your glory. My prediction comes to pass — 
 ' Morse's Telegraph must be universally adopted.' " 
 
ADOPTION IN AUSTRALIA. 603 
 
 And Professor Morse, inclosing Mr. F.'s letter to his friend 
 T. R. Walker, Esq., of Utica, said : 
 
 " My Telegraph system, as you may be aware, had been pre- 
 viously adopted throughout all Germany, and extended into Den- 
 mark, Sweden, and lately into Russia. It has been introduced also 
 by choice of the government throughout Australia, and in Europe 
 the only countries not using my system were England and France. 
 The facts, therefore, revealed by the inclosed letter, show that with- 
 out any aid of an extrinsic character on my part, my system, from its 
 own inherent qualities, is pervading the globe, and this in my own 
 lifetime. I believed from the beginning that this would eventually 
 be the case, but I did not dream of its so rapid accomplishment ; 
 I did not expect to live to see its diffusion over the whole world. 
 So far as it regards England, I confess to having had some skepti- 
 cism on the fact of her doing away with her own systems and ac- 
 knowledging an American one better than her own. ' Can any good 
 thing come out of Nazareth ? ' has been her uniform question re- 
 garding any thing American ; but in confirmation of the fact that 
 she is actually about to adopt my system, not only on her submarine 
 lines, but also on her other lines, I have the authority of a gentle- 
 man, a member of the Royal Society and secretary of the Great 
 English Company, whom I met in New York last week, that this is 
 the fact ; and he assured me that in England the opinion was rife 
 that my system would supersede all the others as the simplest and 
 best. This is gratifying, after all the injustice at home and abroad 
 which I have been called to endure." 
 
 HONORARY DISTINCTIONS. 
 
 As the Morse system of telegraphing made its way into 
 foreign lands, readily demonstrating its superiority, and super- 
 seding other systems, the merit of the inventor was acknowl- 
 edged by one and another government, until it may be safely 
 asserted that Professor Morse received a greater number of 
 honorary distinctions from foreign powers than were ever be- 
 stowed upon any other private citizen. Before he became gen- 
 erally known as the inventor of the Telegraph he was (Decem- 
 ber 25, 1835) elected a corresponding member of the Historical 
 Institute of France. 
 
 January 12, 1837, he was elected a member of the Eoyal 
 Academy of Fine Arts of Belgium. The certificate of this 
 
604 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 election he preserved with a care that reveals his secret love for 
 distinction in the line of his first pursuit, in which he would 
 gladly have passed his life. 
 
 July 15, 1839, the Great Silver Medal of the " Academy of 
 Industry " of Paris was voted to him, for his invention of the 
 Telegraph. This medal he never received. 
 
 October 12, 1841, he was made a corresponding member of 
 the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, estab- 
 lished at "Washington. 
 
 October 18, 1842, a record was made by the American In- 
 stitute, showing the use of the submarine Telegraph by Profess- 
 or Morse in 1842, and on the 20th day of the same month the 
 thanks of the Institute were voted to him for placing at the dis- 
 posal of the Institute his Telegraph to communicate between the 
 Battery and Governor's Island, and the Gold Medal of the In- 
 stitute was awarded to him for his successful experiments. 
 
 June 12, 1845, he was elected a corresponding member of 
 the Archaeological Society of Belgium ; April 21, 1848, a mem- 
 ber of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia ; No- 
 vember 14, 1849, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts 
 and Sciences, Boston. 
 
 Foreign distinctions were afterward conferred on Professor 
 Morse in great numbers and in the most flattering terms, but 
 none gave him more pleasure than the reception of the follow- 
 ing letter from the wise and good man who also gave him his 
 first lessons in the science of electricity : 
 
 "Yale College, August 27, 1846. 
 " Dear, Sir : Permit me to inform you that the corporation of 
 this college, at our late public commencement, conferred on j r ou 
 the degree of Doctor of Laws. College distinctions, I am aware, are 
 becoming very common in this country. But Yale College aims to 
 proceed on the principle of selecting those who will confer honor, 
 rather than receive it, by being enrolled in the list of its favorites. 
 We present you this testimony of our regard, as a tribute of respect 
 and gratitude for what you have done to obviate the reproach which 
 we sometimes hear, that discoveries and inventions of great public 
 utility do not proceed from men who have imbibed the principles of 
 their education within the walls of a college. I have the honor to be, 
 with affectionate regard, your friend and servant, J. Day. 
 
 "Professor S. F. B. Morse, LL. D." 
 
DOCTOR OF LAWS. 605 
 
 Professor Morse acknowledged the receipt of this honor in 
 these words : 
 
 " Permit me to return, through you, my sincere thanks to the 
 honorable corporation for the high honor they have conferred upon 
 me at the late commencement, in bestowing upon me the degree of 
 Doctor of Laws. I esteem it doubly valuable as emanating from 
 my much-loved and venerated alma mater. In the success with 
 which it has pleased God to crown my telegraphic invention, it is 
 not the least gratifying circumstance that you consider the inven- 
 tion as reflecting credit on my collegiate instruction, and I may 
 therefore say that, in reviewing the mental processes by which I 
 arrived at the final result, I can distinctly trace them back to their 
 incipiency, in the lessons of my esteemed instructors in natural 
 philosophy and in chemistry. Later developments in electro-mag- 
 netism in the lectures of Professor J. F. Dana were, indeed, the 
 more immediate sources whence I drew much of my material, but 
 this was dependent for its efficacy on my earlier college instruction. 
 Be pleased to accept my sincere thanks for the flattering and 
 friendly manner in which you have communicated to me the act of 
 the corporation. In common with all the friends of learning, I sin- 
 cerely deplore the necessity, which you conceive to exist, of your 
 resignation of the presidency of the college over whose interests 
 you have so long watched. May the blessing of God accompany 
 you in your retirement ! " 
 
 Turkey. — March 1, 1848, the Hon. John P. Brown, drago- 
 man of the United States, addressed a letter to the American 
 Oriental Society, relating the incidents of an exhibition of Pro- 
 fessor Morse's Telegraph before the Sultan of Turkey, and the 
 remarkable results that followed : 
 
 " I do myself the pleasure," he said, " to subjoin herewith a 
 copy of a diploma, called in Turkish a berait, bestowing upon Pro- 
 fessor Morse, of New York, a decoration (or nichan) of honor, to- 
 gether with a translation of it into English. As this is the first and 
 only decoration which the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire has con- 
 ferred upon a citizen of the United States, it struck me, when trans- 
 lating it for 'the legation, that some account of it would not prove 
 uninteresting to our Society. There is a young American in the 
 service of the Sultan, as a geologist, etc., Dr. James Lawrence 
 Smith, Avho was sent out here, by the present Hon. Secretary of 
 
606 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 State, at the request of the Sultan, made through me during the 
 absence of the Minister Resident. This gentleman, who stands 
 high here in his profession, and has already been able to render the 
 Sultan some important services, being desirous of procuring some- 
 thing from the United States which would be entirely new to his 
 Majesty, and of scientific interest to him, sent for a specimen of 
 the electric telegraph, as perfected by our celebrated countryman 
 Mr. Morse. On its arrival here, the Minister Resident confided its 
 presentation to the Sultan to my care and management ; and, hav- 
 ing soon afterward an occasion to see his Majesty, I embraced it to 
 inform him of the desire of Dr. Smith to have the honor of exhibit- 
 ing the telegraph before him. The Sultan immediately named the 
 following day for receiving it ; and Dr. Smith, kindly aided by Rev. 
 C. Hamlin, of the Armenian Seminary at Bebek, who, to use his 
 own words, lent his assistance on the occasion con amore, accompa- 
 nied me to the palace of the Sultan at Beglerbey, on the Asiatic 
 shore of the Bosporus. The wires were stretched from the prin- 
 cipal entrance of the palace to its union with the harem, a distance 
 of some thirty or forty paces, and the performers were completely 
 concealed from each other by the angle of a door-way, so that, had 
 the Sultan been disposed to doubt the reality of the powers of the 
 instrument, it would nevertheless have been evident to him, that 
 the operators communicated with each other only by means of its 
 wires. The Sultan was attended by his own personal employes 
 and domestic officers. He was in excellent spirits, and treated us 
 all with the amiableness and graciousness of disposition for which 
 he is much beloved by all who have the honor of approaching him. 
 I may here add for your information that the Sultan, now about 
 twenty-six years of age, is of middle stature, rather lightly built, 
 and thin, simple in his manners, with dark eyes and beard, and a 
 face slightly marked with the small-pox ; and, though he has but 
 little of the dignified air supposed to belong to all sovereigns, his 
 countenance indicates that his feelings all partake of the most pure 
 benevolence and generosity. Indeed, it is quite impossible to con- 
 verse with his Majesty, and not be forcibly struck with the evidence, 
 in his own demeanor and personal conduct, of the immense change 
 which has taken place in this country, and particularly in the char- 
 acter of its sovereigns, in the course of the past century, or even 
 half century. The exhibition of Mr. Morse's telegraph, on this oc- 
 casion, was perfectly successful and much to the satisfaction of the 
 young Sultan, who remarked that he had often heard of the wonder- 
 
TURKISH DECORATION. 607 
 
 ful invention, but had never been able until then to comprehend its 
 nature. I am happy to say that his Majesty understood very well the 
 properties of the electric fluid, and, perceiving that the alphabet used 
 (which I had explained in Turkish) was a purely conventional one, 
 composed a few letters himself, which he desired to have used. So 
 much was he gratified with the exhibition, that he requested me, in 
 a very kind manner, to leave the telegraph as it was, and come 
 again on the following day, saying he would send invitations to 
 all his ministers and other officers to assemble, on the following 
 morning, to witness its operations. I remarked, during this inter- 
 view with the Sultan, that those about him were quite at their ease, 
 and conversed freely with him. He addressed several questions to 
 me about the United States, and its war with Mexico, expressing 
 great regret that there should ever be a necessity-for war. On the 
 following morning, all the officers of the Government, from the 
 Grand- Vizier and the Sheik-ul-Islam down, assembled at the pal- 
 ace ; and Dr. Smith and Rev. Mr. Hamlin again worked the tele- 
 graph with entire success. Some of those present, such as the 
 Grand-Vizier, Reshid Pasha, formerly ambassador at London and 
 Paris, Ali Effendi, now Pasha, also formerly ambassador at Lon- 
 don, and Sarim Pasha, Minister of Finance, formerly ambassador at 
 London, had already seen electric telegraphs in those places. All, 
 however, seemed much pleased with that of Mr. Morse. I was then 
 consulted by the secretary of the Sultan about offering a recom- 
 pense to Dr. Smith, for his trouble in procuring the telegraph from 
 the United States. The doctor, to whom, of course, the matter was 
 left, generously disclaimed all desire of receiving any thing for him- 
 self, as he had simply sent for the telegraph, and the honor of ex- 
 hibiting it before the Sultan was all he wished. He requested that 
 whatever honor the Sultan was disposed to confer upon him might 
 be given to the talented inventor of the telegraph ; and I took oc- 
 casion to recommend this to the secretary, as a course which would 
 do honor both to the Sultan as a patron of science, and to Mr. Morse 
 as a person of distinguished talents. The object to be conferred, I 
 thought at the moment, would be a snuff-box in diamonds, but I 
 was agreeably surprised to learn from the secretary, on his return 
 from reporting the result of our conversation to the Sultan, that he 
 had been pleased to confer upon Mr. Morse a nichan, or decoration 
 of a superior grade, in diamonds." 
 
 The ingenuous and high-minded gentleman who thus refused 
 the decoration which he believed to be due to the inventor of 
 
608 LIFE or SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the Telegraph, rather than to himself who had illustrated it to 
 the Sultan, Professor J. Lawrence Smith, has since been the 
 President of the American Scientific Association, and is a resi- 
 dent of Louisville, Ky. He states that, after the decoration had 
 been promised to Professor Morse, some delay in its presentation 
 occurred, and Professor Smith, inquiring for the cause, was in- 
 formed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the English 
 legation had stated to the Turkish Government that Professor 
 Morse was not the inventor ! Professor Smith then argued the 
 question in a communication to the Turkish minister, Ali 
 Pasha, and fully satisfied that intelligent statesman of the rights 
 of the American. In ten days after this paper was submitted, 
 the decoration was placed in the hands of Professor Smith to be 
 forwarded officially to Professor Morse. The original diploma 
 which Professor Morse received with the diamond decoration 
 of the order is given in facsimile, of which the following is a 
 translation : 
 
 [translation.] 
 "Lsr the Name op Him: 
 
 " Sultan Abdul Majid Khan, Son of Mahmoud Khan, Son 
 of Abdul Hamid Khan — may he ever be victorious ! 
 
 " The object of the present sovereign decoration of Noble 
 Exalted Glory, of Elevated Place and of this Illustrious, World 
 Conquering Monogram, is as follows : 
 
 " The Bearer of this Imperial Monogram of exalted character, 
 Mr. Morse, an American, a man of science and of talents, and who 
 is a Model of the Chiefs of the nation of the Messiah — may his 
 grade be increased — having invented an Electrical Telegraph, a 
 specimen of which has been exhibited in my Imperial presence ; 
 and it being proper to patronize knowledge, and to express my 
 sense of the value of the attainments of the Inventor, as well as to 
 distinguish those persons who are the Inventors of such objects as 
 serve to extend and facilitate the relations of mankind, I have con- 
 ferred upon him, on my exalted part, an honorable decoration in 
 diamonds, and issued also this present diploma, as a token of my 
 benevolence for him. 
 
 " Written in the middle of the moon Sefer, the fortunate, the 
 year of the Flight one thousand two hundred and sixty-four (22 
 January, 1848). In Constantinople the well-guarded. 
 
 " Signed on the face of the Diploma by the Sultan. 
 

 % 
 
 
 ^o^i^i^^^j^j 
 
 6* ^^^^i^^^Sy^S^ 
 
 'J>YL* 
 
 'fa/frs 
 
 ^V^^mHU 
 
HONOR FROM PRUSSIA. 609 
 
 " On the back by 
 
 "Mohammed Ali Pasha, Minister of Foreign Affairs ; Cheo- 
 kel Bet, Vice- Chancellor of the Sublime Porte. 
 " The Registrar of the Sublime Porte.'''' 
 
 Thus the first recognition of the Telegraph by a monarch 
 of the Old World, was made by the Sultan of Turkey ! Pro- 
 fessor Morse acknowledged the honor in a letter closing with 
 these words : " That God may grant a long and prosperous reign 
 to your Majesty, is the sincere prayer of your Majesty's most 
 humble and obedient servant." 
 
 In the year 1851 Professor Morse, having learned that the 
 American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph had been adopted in Prus- 
 sia as the most efficient yet devised, directed a letter of inquiry 
 into the truth of the report to the Baron Gerolt, the Prussian 
 Minister at Washington ; at the same time transmitting, as a 
 specimen of the efficiency of Morse's Telegraph, a pamphlet con- 
 taining a full report of the trial of Professor Webster for the 
 murder of Dr. Parkman, which had just been transmitted from 
 Boston and printed in the New- York Globe, being the longest 
 consecutive document then ever sent over a line of telegraph. 
 The following reply to his inquiry was received by Professor 
 Morse a few days afterward : 
 
 "Prussian Legation at Washington, April. 15, 1851. 
 
 " Dear Sir : On the 26th of April, 1850, I informed you that I 
 had communicated to his Majesty's Government the pamphlet 
 which you had sent to me as an example of the efficiency of your 
 Electric Telegraph system. In answer to your inquiries about the 
 adoption of your Telegraph in Prussia, I beg to inclose a copy of 
 the report made on the subject by Mr. Nottebohm, who was charged 
 with the establishing of telegraphic lines in Prussia. You will see; 
 by that report that your Telegraph has been found the most efficient 
 for great distances. 
 
 " It gives me great satisfaction to inform you at the same time 
 that his Majesty the king, as an acknowledgment of your great 
 merits for the improvement of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraphs, 
 has ordered me to present to you a golden snuff-box containing the 
 Prussian golden medal for scientific merit. 
 
 " The said box is now in possession of his Majesty's consul- 
 39 
 
610 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 general, F. W. Schmidt, Esq., at New York, No. 56 New Street, 
 who will deliver it to you, and receive your receipt for it. 
 
 " I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you the assur- 
 ances of my high consideration and personal esteem. 
 
 " Your most obedient servant, Gerolt. 
 
 " Professor S. F. B. Morse, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York." 
 
 To this Professor Morse returned the following reply : 
 
 "Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, K Y., April 21, 1851. 
 
 " My dear Baron : On my return home on Saturday evening, 
 I received your most gratifying letter of the loth instant, an- 
 nouncing to me the doubly flattering intelligence that the Amer- 
 ican Electro-Magnetic Telegraph had been adopted throughout 
 the Prussian dominions, by his Majesty the king, ' as the most 
 efficient for great distances,' and that his Majesty had been pleased, 
 through you, to present to me as the inventor such a valuable mark 
 of his consideration. The box, with its inclosed medal, is not yet 
 received. I shall take the earliest opportunity to call and receive 
 it from the Prussian consul, when I next visit the city of New York. 
 
 " Be pleased, my dear baron, to present to his Majesty the 
 king my sincere thanks, with my unfeigned wishes that the Electric 
 Telegraph may be a means, under God, in the hands of his Majesty, 
 and of the other governments of the world, of adding greatly to the 
 convenience, the security, and the substantial happiness of mankind, 
 
 " Accept also for yourself, my dear baron, my thanks for this 
 
 additional token of your personal friendliness, and kind interest in 
 
 the success of my invention. 
 
 " Believe me, with the highest consideration and personal 
 
 esteem, your most obedient servant, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 " To his Excellency the Baron Gerolt." 
 
 Wurtemberg. — The third European Government recogniz- 
 ing the inventor of the Telegraph was Wurtemberg. The fol- 
 lowing is a translation of the letter informing Professor Morse 
 
 of the honor : 
 
 "Stuttgart, February 24, 1852. 
 
 " To his Excellency Professor Morse, at Washington. 
 
 " Your Excellency : His Majesty the King of Wurtemberg, 
 upon the report of the Minister of Finance relative to your Excel- 
 lency as the inventor of the best Recording Telegraph known to him, 
 
HONOR FROM AUSTRIA. 611 
 
 and which, on account of its simplicity and efficiency ; is adopted 
 and used throughout all Germany, and particularly in Wurtem- 
 berg, has graciously bestowed upon you the Great Gold Medal of 
 Arts and Sciences, for your meritorious services in the art of Tele- 
 graphing. "While it affords me special satisfaction most respectfully 
 to inform your Excellency of this, in inclosing to you the medal, and 
 to present my. sincere congratulations on this deserved distinction, 
 I seize gladly the opportunity to assure you of my perfect esteem. 
 
 " The Chief of the Royal Wurtemberg Finance Department and 
 Chancellor of State, Knapp." 
 
 Austria. — In 1855 the Emperor of Austria sent to Professor 
 Morse the Great Gold Medal of Science and Art. It is a mas- 
 sive and beautiful piece of work. On one side is a medallion 
 bead of the young emperor, crowned with laurel, with the in- 
 scription, " Franciscus Josephus L, D. G., Austria Imperator ; " 
 and, on the obverse, a wreath of laurel surrounding the imperial 
 crown, with the inscription, " Literis et Artibus." This was the 
 fourth token of acknowledgment from European sovereigns ac- 
 corded to Professor Morse. It was accompanied by this letter : 
 
 "Boston, August 4, 1855. 
 " Sir : I have much pleasure in transmitting to you, by order of 
 the Imperial Government, the Great Golden Medal for Science and 
 Arts, which his Majesty the Emperor of Austria has been pleased 
 to confer upon you, in acknowledgment of your eminent merits 
 concerning the telegraphic system in general, as well as its devel- 
 opment in Austria in particular. It is very satisfactory to myself to 
 be the organ of the Imperial Government on this agreeable occa- 
 sion ; and I beg you will at the same time permit me to express to 
 you my great personal regard. Remaining, sir, very respectfully, 
 your obedient servant, Hulsemann, 
 
 " Charge d' 'Affaires of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria. 
 " To Professor Morse, Poughkeepsie, New York." 
 
 France. — In the year 1856 the Emperor of France conferred 
 upon Professor Morse the brevet and decoration as Chevalier of 
 the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor. The Hon. J. T. 
 Mason was at that time the Minister of the United States in 
 France, and through him the Order was conferred. Mr. Mason, 
 in acknowledging it, wrote to the Minister of the Interior a let- 
 ter, in which were these words: 
 
612 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " My distinguished compatriot, Professor Morse, having returned 
 to his home in the United States, I will hasten to send to him the 
 letter addressed to him by his Excellency Count Walewski, Minis- 
 ter of Foreign Affairs, and with it the brevet and decoration which 
 his Majesty has deigned to confer on him as a Chevalier de l'Ordre 
 Imperial de la Legion d'Honneur. The success of Professor Morse's 
 invention, in promoting the interests of mankind, in facilitating 
 the art of telegraphic communication, has given him fame, and 
 made him friends in all countries. This gracious act of considera- 
 tion on the part of his Majesty will, I am assured, be acknowledged 
 by him and them as peculiarly gratifying. Professor Morse de- 
 serves to be regarded as the benefactor of his race, and the rewards 
 bestowed on one so highly gifted, and yet so modest, can never be 
 unworthily conferred." 
 
 Denmark. — The King of Denmark honored the inventor in 
 the same year, 1856. Professor Morse received the Cross of the 
 Order of Dannebrog, with the following letter : 
 
 " Legation of Denmark, Philadelphia, December 29, 1856. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to inform you that his Majesty the 
 King of Denmark, having been pleased to confer on you the Cross 
 of a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog, in acknowledgment of 
 the services you have rendered the world by the invention and suc- 
 cessful establishment of the Electrical Telegraph, I have received 
 for you from his Majesty's Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Cross of 
 the Dannebrog, together with an official communication from the 
 Chapter of the Order, which his Majesty's consul at New York, 
 Mr. Ed. Beck, will have the honor of handing to you. 
 
 " Begging you to accept my compliments, and the assurance of 
 my distinguished consideration, I have the honor to be, sir, your 
 most obedient servant, Tttbens Bill, 
 
 " H. D. Minister Charge cP Affaires. 
 
 " Professor Samuel Morse, Poughkeepsie, New York." 
 
 Sweden. — October 3, 1858, Professor Morse was elected a 
 member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Sweden, and the 
 fact communicated to him in the most flattering terms by the 
 secretary. 
 
 Convention of European Powers. — The pecuniary testimo- 
 nial awarded to Professor Morse in 1858, by a convention of the 
 
SPAIN, ITALY, AND SWITZERLAND. 613 
 
 European Governments, is made the subject of a subsequent 
 chapter. 
 
 Spain. — May 11, 1859, Isabella II., Queen of Spain, on the 
 occasion of the adoption of the Morse system of Telegraphs in 
 her dominions, issued a decree conferring on Samuel P. B. 
 Morse, the inventor, the order of Knighthood and Commander 
 of the First Class of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic. 
 
 Portugal. — September 20, 1860, the King of Portugal with 
 his own hand addressed a letter to Professor Morse, thanking 
 him for the great benefit he had conferred upon the human race 
 by his invention, and making him Knight of the Tower and 
 Sword, as a mark of his " appreciation of the Professor's scien- 
 tific merit and the service he had rendered the world at large." 
 
 Italy. — March 31, 1864, his Majesty Victor Emmanuel II., 
 King of Italy, conferred on Professor Morse the brevet and the 
 insignia of Chevalier of the Royal Order of S. S. Maurizio et 
 Lazare. 
 
 Switzerland. — December 20, 1866, Professor Morse was 
 elected honorary member of the " Societe de Physique et d'His- 
 toire INaturelle " of Geneva, Switzerland. 
 
 These honorable distinctions are grouped in the order of 
 their dates, and presented in connection, that it may be seen at 
 a glance how generally and thoroughly the merits of Morse as 
 the inventor were comprehended, and the value of his labors 
 appreciated among the nations of the earth. And all this in 
 his own life-time ! 
 
CHAPTEK XYI. 
 
 1854-1855. 
 
 SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH — THE FIEST EXPERIMENT — NEWFOUNDLAND ELEOTEIO 
 TELEGRAPH — GYRUS W. FIELD — LIEUTENANT MAURY'S OPINION — FORMA- 
 TION OF A NEW COMPANY — MORSE TO FARADAY — EXTENSION OF PATENT — 
 LETTERS TO MR. FIELD AND ME. WHITE — DR. STEINHEDL's LETTER — HON. 
 D. D. BARNARD — PROFESSOR MORSE'S PREDICTIONS — EXPEDITION TO NEW- 
 FOUNDLAND — ATTEMPT TO LAY THE CABLE — FAILURE — RENEWED ATTEMPT, 
 AND SUCCESS. 
 
 IK a letter to the Hon. Levi Woodbury, dated September 27, 
 1837, Professor Morse remarked, in speaking of the con- 
 struction of the lines of Telegraph : " Where the stream is wide, 
 and no bridge, the circuit inclosed in lead may he sunk to the 
 oottom / " and again, speaking of the mode of stretching the lines 
 upon posts, to connect different parts of the country together, 
 he says, " This mode would be as cheap, probably, as any other, 
 unless the laying of the circuit in the water should be found to 
 be most eligible." Professor Morse then contemplated a sub- 
 marine line between New York and Charleston, along the 
 coast. He proceeds : " A series of experiments to ascertain the 
 practicability of this mode, I am about to commence with Pro- 
 fessor Gale — we are preparing a circuit of twenty miles. The 
 result of our experiments I will have the honor of reporting to 
 you." 
 
 This letter, with other documents, was published and circu- 
 lated in the year 1837. There was ample time in two years for 
 such a suggestion, published in a congressional document, to 
 reach Europe, and to be perused by those interested in the sub- 
 ject. That the result of the proposed experiments was satis- 
 
SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHS. 615 
 
 factory is subsequently proved, although it does not appear to 
 have been reported to the department. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1838 Professor Morse went to Europe 
 with his Telegraph for the purpose of procuring patents, and to 
 explain its operation to the scientific world. Our consul in 
 Paris at that date was Kobert Walsh, Esq., well known as a 
 distinguished scholar and writer. He was the correspondent for 
 many years of the ISTew-York Journal of Commerce. In the 
 summer of 1858 the Journal of Commerce quoted Professor 
 Morse's letter of August 10, 1843, to the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury, in which this passage occurs : " The practical inference from 
 this law is that a telegraphic communication on the electro-mag- 
 netic plan may with certainty be established across the Atlantic 
 Ocean ! Startling as this may now seem, I am confident the 
 time will come when this project will be realized." "When this 
 number of the Journal reached Paris, Mr. "Walsh, in his corre- 
 spondence to the Journal (1858), alluding to the letter of Pro- 
 fessor Morse, says : " His letter to Mr. Spencer (Secretary of the 
 Treasury), dated in August, 1 843, which I read in your Journal, 
 is most remarkable and opportunely produced. Many years ago, 
 in 1838, when the Professor endeavored to cause his invention 
 and practice to be understood by the Erench dignitaries, I held 
 frequent converse with him, and I can distinctly recollect that 
 he expressed to me that firm persuasion of the practicability and 
 ultimate execution of an Atlantic Telegraph which is so confi- 
 dently stated in the penultimate paragraph of his letter." The 
 conversations thus alluded to and distinctly recollected by Mr. 
 Walsh, and the predictions of a future Atlantic Telegraph, were 
 undoubtedly based upon the success of the experiments proposed 
 and tried by Professor Morse in 1837, just before he left for 
 Europe. In an article in the Telegrapher of August 12, 1871, 
 the attempt is made on the authority of Mr. !N". J. Holmes to 
 show that the first suggestion of " conveying messages under 
 the sea " was due to Sir C. Wheatstone, in 1840, who, it is for 
 the first time alleged, made an experiment at that date in Swan- 
 sea Bay, and the article thus concludes : " From the results of 
 that trial has proceeded the great submarine telegraph system, 
 now extending over so large a portion of the globe." Even if 
 this experiment was made at that time and in that manner by 
 
616 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Sir C. Wheatstone, it was at least two or three years subsequent 
 to the successful experiments for that same purpose by Professor 
 Morse. But in 1840, the year in which this experiment of Pro- 
 fessor "Wheatstone is said to have been made, a select committee 
 of the House of Commons was raised on railways, of which 
 Lord Seymour was chairman, and Sir John Guest a member. 
 Professor Wheatstone was called before this committee to an- 
 swer some questions respecting telegraphs. Question 340 was 
 proposed by Sir John Guest : 
 
 " Have you tried to pass the line through water ? " To 
 which Professor Wheatstone made this reply : 
 
 " There would be no difficulty in doing so, but the experi- 
 ment HAS NOT YET BEEN TKIED." 
 
 Question 341, by Lord Seymour : " Could you communicate 
 from Dover to Calais, in that way % " 
 
 The answer of Professor Wheatstone was, " I think it per- 
 fectly practicable." 
 
 These two questions and the answers were all that were pro- 
 posed before that committee, relative to submarine telegraphy. 
 Alluding to this examination before the committee, an article in 
 an English scientific journal of 1865 commences with this re- 
 mark : 
 
 " Twenty-four years have elapsed since Professor Wheat- 
 stone suggested, to the select committee of the House of Com- 
 mons on railways, the construction of a submarine telegraph 
 between Dover and Calais." Now, if the question of Sir John 
 Guest was the suggestion, because he alluded to " the line 
 through water" it was Sir John Guest, and not Professor 
 Wheatstone, who suggested it. If it was the question whether 
 communication could be made between Dover and Calais, it was 
 the suggestion of Lord Seymour, and not of Professor Wheat- 
 stone. There is no published account of any submarine tele- 
 graph experiments until the year 1842. Professor Morse said in 
 a public address: "In October, 1842, the first submarine tele- 
 graph cable was laid by me on one moonlight night in the har- 
 bor of this city, which proved experimentally the practicability 
 of submarine telegraphy." 
 
 For this experiment Professor Morse received the Gold 
 Medal of the American Institute, and the result was published 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND COMPANY. 617 
 
 in the journals of the day. A submarine telegraph, with an in- 
 strument and battery at Castle Garden, and an instrument in 
 the fort at Governor's Island, was successfully operated. This 
 was the commencement of Submarine Telegraphy. The first 
 practical demonstration of a submarine telegraph belongs to 
 Professor Morse. 
 
 In the year 1852 the Legislature of Newfoundland incorpo- 
 rated a company under the title of the " Newfoundland Electric 
 Telegraph Company," its object being to connect the island 
 with the American Continent. The company failed to accom- 
 plish its purpose, and never proposed to cross the ocean with its 
 lines. In the month of January, 1854, Mr. F. N. Gisborne, one 
 of the officers of that company, came to the city of New York, 
 and meeting Mr. Matthew D. Field, a civil-engineer, sought to 
 interest him in an effort to revive the fortunes of the Newfound- 
 land company. Mr. Field spoke of the subject to his brother, 
 Cyrus W. Field, who invited Mr. Gisborne to his house to con- 
 sider the subject. An evening was spent in its discussion. After 
 Mr. Gisborne had left the house, Mr. Field took a terrestrial 
 globe, and, while studying it with reference to the connection 
 of Newfoundland with New York, he said to himself, "Why 
 not cross the ocean, and connect the New World with the Old % " 
 Professor Morse had long ago declared it practicable, and pre- 
 dicted its accomplishment. The idea took possession of the 
 mind of Mr. Field, as the original conception of the Telegraph 
 had absorbed the mind of Professor Morse in 1832. Mr. Field 
 immediately applied to Professor Morse for his opinion as to the 
 feasibility of the scheme. The Professor, being in Washington 
 at the time, replied that he had " perfect faith in the feasibility 
 of the enterprise ; " and that he had consulted with Lieutenant 
 Maury, of the United States Navy, on the subject, and obtained 
 from him a letter which he would show to Mr. Field when he re- 
 turned to New York. The letter, which was addressed to the 
 Secretary of the Navy, described the beautiful plateau which 
 deep sea-soundings had disclosed, extending from Newfoundland 
 to Ireland, on which could be laid a cable, to rest as quietly as 
 at the bottom of a mill-pond. This was conclusive. Hon. Da- 
 vid Dudley Field embarked with his brother, Cyrus W. Field, 
 with great enthusiasm in the project, and became the legal ad- 
 
618 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOKSE. 
 
 viser of the company formed to prosecute the work. He and 
 his brother, Cyrus W., Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, M. O. Rob- 
 erts, and Chandler White, met, and around a table covered with 
 maps, plans, and estimates, the subject was discussed for four 
 successive evenings — the practicability of the undertaking exam- 
 ined, its advantages, its cost, and the means of its accomplish- 
 ment. The result of the conference was the agreement of all 
 the six gentlemen to enter upon the undertaking. Mr. Cyrus "W"., 
 and David D. Field, and Mr. White, went to Newfoundland to 
 procure a charter and such aid in money and privileges as the 
 government of that island could be induced to give. 
 
 At St. John's they met Mr. Edward M. Archibald, then 
 Attorney-General of the colony. He entered warmly into the 
 subject, introduced them to the Governor, Kerr Bailey Hamilton, 
 who convoked the Council to hear an explanation of their views 
 and wishes. As the result of these negotiations a liberal charter 
 was secured from the Assembly. To the six gentlemen already 
 named as corporators were now added Professor Morse, Mr. Rob- 
 ert W. Lowber, Mr. Wilson G. Hunt, and Mr. John W. Brett. 
 Immediately, Mr. Cyrus W. Field went to England, and pro- 
 cured specimens of cable, and engaged men of capital and influ- 
 ence in the enterprise. Mr. Brett, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. 
 Bright, gentlemen of high scientific attainments, were enlisted. 
 The Atlantic Telegraph Company was formed to cooperate with 
 the company already organized in America. Mr. Field obtained 
 from the British Government the promise of ships to aid in lay- 
 ing the cable, and a fixed yearly sum for the service of the Ocean 
 Telegraph. On his return to the United States, he succeeded in 
 obtaining from Congress similar pledges of assistance, though 
 by a majority of one only in the Senate. The two companies 
 were now acting in harmony. Morse was appointed Electrician 
 of the company on this side. Faraday held the same responsible 
 office on the other. They compared views by frequent corre- 
 spondence. Morse, in writing to Faraday, Sept. 30, 1854, says : 
 
 " Taking for granted a successful result of the experiment on 
 the propulsion of a current to the required distance, that is to say, 
 from Newfoundland to Ireland, I have proposed that the cable con- 
 ductor be constructed in the following manner, to wit : 
 
 " The conducting wires of the circuit I propose to be of the 
 
SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 619 
 
 purest copper, each not less than one-eighth (-J) of an inch in sec- 
 tional diameter. Each wire to be insulated to the thickness also of 
 one-eighth of an inch with gutta-percha. If it should be decided by 
 the company that in the first instance a single conductor shall be laid 
 down, then a thin tube of lead, about one-sixteenth {-^) of an inch in 
 thickness, is drawn over the wire conductor and its gutta-percha cov- 
 ering, and then a series of strands of common iron wire and of 
 hempen cord, or rope yarn of the same size, say four or five of the 
 former and the rest of the latter, are to be laid parallel with the in- 
 terior conducting wire, on the exterior of the tube (Fig. 6), and 
 these are to be confined in place by two spiral cords wound in con- 
 trary directions and crossing each other around the cable at inter- 
 vals, say of nine or twelve inches. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 " If it is thought best to lay down, in the first instance, more 
 than one conductor in the same package, or fascis, then the number 
 chosen may be three, as in Fig. 3, or seven, as in Fig. 2 ; these be- 
 ing the numbers most economically packed in a tube to form the 
 fascis of conductors. Six wires, as in Fig. 5, and four wires, as in 
 Fig. 4, do not pack in a tube economically." 
 
620 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOUSE. 
 
 Professor Steinheil, of Munich, whose Telegraph approached 
 that of Professor Morse more nearly than any other, and who 
 had so magnanimously insisted npon the superiority of the Morse 
 instrument in the German Telegraph Convention of 1852, com- 
 municated to Colonel Shanher in this summer of 1854 a letter 
 giving a minute account of the progress of the Telegraph on 
 the Continent of Europe, through his instrumentality, and clos- 
 ing with the following declaration : " In this way I have been 
 able effectually to labor for the adoption of the Morse system 
 throughout all Europe / and that I have thereby extended his 
 well-earned fame has been to me the source of peculiar pleasure, 
 which I beg you to testify to Professor Morse in proper time, 
 together with my most friendly respects? 
 
 This declaration is certainly sufficient to silence forever the 
 oft-repeated assertion that Morse's system is the same as Stein- 
 heil's. But a letter from Dr. Steinheil, subsequently received 
 by Morse himself, is still more explicit. 1 
 
 Hon. D. D. Barnard, who had been the Minister of the 
 United States at the court of Prussia, wrote to Professor Morse 
 communicating information which greatly cheered him : 
 
 " I have been an indignant observer, from the beginning of the 
 outrageous piracies to which you have been subjected at the hands 
 of your countrymen, and of the infamous course of the public press 
 of this country toward you, in reference to your wonderful inven- 
 tion of the Telegraph. It was, therefore, with peculiar satisfaction 
 that, during my residence abroad, I was accustomed to hear your 
 name pronounced with emphasis and honor everywhere on the Con- 
 tinent where I chanced to be, and in whatever circle, whenever the 
 subject of the Electric Telegraph was named. I became entirely 
 satisfied that the general sentiment of the European world did not 
 fail or hesitate to award to you the chief merit of this grand inven- 
 tion, and that your name was as sure of unrivaled immortality in 
 connection with it, as that of Galileo or Newton with astronomy, or 
 that of Bacon with philosophy. I spoke to you briefly of this when 
 I had the pleasure of meeting you, but I have wished to express to 
 you the same thing in a more substantial form. 
 
 " In Germany, after the most mature and elaborate investigation 
 by the aid of the profoundest learning and wisdom of the age, your 
 
 1 See page 687. 
 
HON. D. D. BARNARD. 621 
 
 Telegraph was adopted in a general convention of all the states 
 assembled expressly to consider that subject. And I can give you 
 the assurance, without attempting to detail particular conversations, 
 that had you visited Berlin while I was there, and when I had 
 hoped to have seen you, you would have met from such a man as 
 the illustrious Humboldt, and from the King of Prussia himself, 
 such a distinguished and honored reception as would only be ac- 
 corded from such quarters to the few who have made themselves 
 eminent and immortal by such rare benefactions of their genius to 
 the world as have satisfactorily passed the ordeal of trial and time. 
 " Regretting the necessity I am under of writing thus briefly, 
 and wishing you all honor and prosperity, I am, my dear sir, most 
 truly yours, D. D. Barnard." 
 
 Professor Morse to Mr. Barnard. 
 
 " Poughkeepsie, July 26, 1854. 
 
 " My dear Sir : I return you my hearty thanks for your most 
 acceptable letter. I had supposed that mine, to which it was in 
 reply, had by some means miscarried. Any evil merely of delay, 
 however, has now been more than overbalanced. I regret only the 
 cause of the delay, and this most sincerely, and I trust your valu- 
 able life and health may long be preserved to the country and to 
 your family. Your letter is to me, indeed, most gratifying as a 
 most valuable addition to the substantial and munificent proof of 
 regard already in my possession from his Majesty the King of 
 Prussia. To have such an attestation of priority of invention of 
 the Telegraph from so distinguished a quarter, and supported by 
 the opinion of that excellent and world-renowned savant, the Baron 
 Humboldt, is indeed cheering, yet in some respects a mortifying con- 
 trast with the denial of this claim by some of my own countrymen 
 who stand high in attainments in science. But the courts of my 
 country, especially our noble Supreme Court, have at length fully 
 sustained the foreign verdict, but alas ! I fear their decision will be 
 of little personal benefit, except as it may favorably affect my family 
 after I am gone. 
 
 " I feel the loss of time, and the habits of mind generated by 
 long-continued litigation more than all else, as unfitting me for con- 
 summating other projects of usefulness, and when I consider that 
 my age must ere long, in the natural course of things, disqualify me 
 from undertaking them with any prospect of success, I feel a sad- 
 ness I cannot express." 
 
622 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Professor Morse to Mr. Kendall. 
 
 "A most important arrangement has been entered into be- 
 tween the American and English, or rather Continental Submarine 
 Telegraph Companies. Our New York, Newfoundland, and London 
 Telegraph Company has been united with the Continental or Great 
 Telegraph Union of Europe. A deputation or rather agent was 
 sent over to concert a plan of union. Mr. C. D. Archibald, F. R. S., 
 and secretary of the British company, met us at Mr. Field's. I was 
 present at the meetings, and after much consultation a plan of union 
 was adopted. They have the control of all the lines of Great 
 Britain, France, and the Continent generally, and are the company 
 carrying out the Mediterranean and Asiatic lines. 
 
 " Mr. Archibald gave me the first information that the British 
 lines were about to discard all other systems but mine, and that the 
 scientific mind of Britain was disposed at length to do us the jus- 
 tice to acknowledge that we were far ahead of all the world in 
 telegraphy. A letter also just received from him commences thus : 
 ' I feel bound to express my acknowledgments of your kindness in 
 initiating me into the mysteries of electric telegraphy, of which I 
 regard you as the great high-priest.' I had shown him the opera- 
 tion of the Telegraph in our various offices, and he was enthusiastic 
 in his admiration of the simplicity of my system, and was strong in 
 his expressions of its superiority over their systems, which he as 
 strongly condemned. Mr. A. is an intimate and personal friend of 
 Faraday, who proposed him as a member of the Royal Society, and 
 who by-the-by is the electrician of the British company." 
 
 Professor Morse to Mr. Fleischmann. 
 
 " September 21, 1854. 
 " Many thanks for your letter of the 25th August, which came 
 safely to hand, and for the most gratifying intelligence which it 
 gives me of the near prospect of the universality of my Telegraph 
 system. I am now engaged in the great enterprise of the Oceanic 
 Telegraph, and in investigating and, overcoming the difficulties of 
 such a work. The two companies, European and American, have 
 united on satisfactory terms, and, as great capital is embarked to 
 cany it through, I do not despair of witnessing myself, as un fait 
 accompli, my prediction to the Secretary of the Treasury, in my 
 letter to him of August 10, 1843, fulfilled, that, 'startling as hrmay 
 now seem (a telegraph across the Atlantic), the project will event- 
 ually be realized.' " 
 
ANTICIPATIONS. 623 
 
 In the autumn of this year Professor Morse was nominated 
 for Congress by a portion of the Democratic party, and the re- 
 sult he expresses, very concisely but correctly, in a letter written 
 to a friend abroad : " I came near being in Congress at the late 
 election, but had not quite votes enough, which is the usual 
 cause of failure on such occasions." 
 
 His mind was constantly absorbed in experiments and corre- 
 spondence, meeting new difficulties, encouraging doubtful capi- 
 talists, and combating adverse suggestions by men of science. 
 The winter of 1854-'55 was passed in ]STew York, in the midst 
 of intense labors, such as few young students would endure. 
 In the spring he wrote to his friend T. E. "Walker, Esq., of 
 Utica : 
 
 " Our Atlantic line is in a fair way. We have the governments 
 and capitalists of Europe zealously and warmly engaged to carry it 
 through. Three years will not pass before a submarine telegraph 
 communication will he had with Europe / and I do not despair of 
 sitting in my office, and, by a touch of the telegraph-key, asking a 
 question simultaneously to persons in London, Paris, Cairo, Cal- 
 cutta, and Canton, and getting the answer from all of them in Jive 
 minutes after the question is asked. Does this seem strange ? I 
 presume, if I had even suggested the thought some twenty years 
 ago, I might have had a quiet residence in a big building in your 
 vicinity." 
 
 The "big building" is the Lunatic Asylum. To Mr. Field 
 he wrote : 
 
 " I am happy to learn the progress of the Telegraph, and hope, 
 in 1858, to accomplish what I have so often predicted I should do 
 in three years from this, to wit : ask a question from my office, in 
 my house in Poughkeepsie, to London, Paris, Vienna, Constanti- 
 nople, and Calcutta, if not to Canton, and get my answer back in 
 five minutes." 
 
 And in July Professor Morse wrote to 1ST. Green, Esq., in 
 New Orleans : 
 
 " I am about to leave home for some weeks to sail for New- 
 foundland, to assist in laying down the submarine-cable, to connect 
 Newfoundland and Nova Scotia across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a 
 
624 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 distance of about sixty miles. When this is laid, we shall bring 
 Europe within six days of America ; and this is preparatory to the 
 great enterprise across the Atlantic, which I confidently anticipate 
 seeing in operation within two years from the present time. Should 
 this enterprise succeed, as I have no doubt it will, a great impulse 
 will be given to telegraph business throughout all the country ; in- 
 deed, I may say, throughout the world. The effects of the Telegraph 
 on the interests of the world, political, social, and commercial, have 
 as yet scarcely begun to be apprehended, even by the most specu- 
 lative minds. I trust that one of its effects will be to bind man to 
 his fellow-man in such bonds of amity as to put an end to war; I 
 think I can predict this effect as in a not distant future." 
 
 On the 7th day of August, 1855, Professor Morse, with his 
 wife and one of his sons, embarked on the steamer James 
 Adger, with a large number of friends, for Newfoundland. 
 The party was one of business and pleasure combined. The 
 company was represented by Messrs. Peter Cooper, Cyrus "W. 
 Field, David Dudley Field, Robert W. Lowber, and Professor 
 Morse ; and the invited guests included Rev. Drs. Spring and 
 EL M. Field, Rev. J. M. Sherwood, and others. Professor Morse 
 was in high spirits. He had a telegraphic instrument on board, 
 which he illustrated to the company. The voyage was delight- 
 ful. The steamer touched at Halifax, and then went on to 
 Port au Basque, near Cape Pay, where the Sarah L. Bryant 
 was expected from England with the cable, to be laid across 
 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. She had not arrived ; and the party 
 proceeded to St. John's, where they were entertained with great 
 hospitality. In return, a banquet was given on board the 
 James Adger to the principal inhabitants of the town. The 
 Morning Post of August 18th, gave an animated sketch of the 
 occasion, and records the toast that called out the inventor of 
 the Electric Telegraph — 
 
 "The steed, called Lightning (say the Fates), 
 Was tamed in the United States ; 
 'Twas Franklin's hand that caught the horse, 
 'Twas harnessed by Professor Morse." 
 
 Returning from St. John's to Port au Basque, the expected 
 ship was found, with the cable on board. The work of laying 
 
FAILURE AND SUCCESS. 625 
 
 it was begun August 23, 1855, and prosecuted four days, when, 
 in the midst of a terrific storm, it was necessary to sever the 
 cable and abandon the attempt. The James Adger arrived at 
 New York, September 5th, on her return from this first and 
 unsuccessful expedition. The next summer a second and quiet 
 attempt was crowned with success. 
 40 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1856. 
 
 PEOFESSOE MOESE VISITS HIS NATIVE PLACE — GOES TO ETTEOPE— CONSULTA- 
 TIONS IN LONDON ON THE ATLANTIC TELEGEAPH — ME. PEABODY's P/INNEE 
 
 LANDSEEE AND LESLIE WHITEBAIT DINNEE LETTEE TO THE CHILDEEN 
 
 — GOES TO PAEIS AND HAMBUEG ATTENTIONS SHOWN TO HIM THEEE — 
 
 COPENHAGEN — VISIT TO THE KING OF DENMABK — GOES TO EUSSIA — BE- 
 CEPTION — PEESENTATION TO THE EMPEEOE — VISIT TO BEELIN — EECEP- 
 TION BY HUMBOLDT — EETUEN TO LONDON— SCIENTIFIC EXPEEIMENTS — 
 LETTEES TO ME. FIELD — BANQUET TO MOESE — LEGION OF HONOE — TUP- 
 PEE'S SONNET — LONDON TIMES — EOBEET OWEN. 
 
 Being in Boston on business in the spring of 1856, Professor 
 Morse employed a leisure afternoon in visiting the house in 
 which he was born. In a letter written at the Revere House 
 the same evening, he describes the interesting incidents of the 
 visit : 
 
 " Boston, Wednesday, May 13, 1856. 
 " After dinner, to-day, I walked over to Charlestown, not hav- 
 ing visited the place for some eighteen years, and then but for a 
 few hours, after an absence of many years. The changes in the 
 north part of Boston, and in Charlestown, were so great, that I 
 found my way across the old Charles River bridge with some diffi- 
 culty, and, standing on the bridge and looking on each side, could 
 scarcely recognize any of the former landmarks. I paid my penny- 
 toll to the toll-taker, and said to him : ' I find some alterations here 
 since I used to pay my tolls to old Deacon Miller, at the toll-house 
 on the opposite side of this bridge.' 'Ah!' said he; 'that was a 
 great while ago; the old deacon has been dead many years; my 
 grandfather was deacon with him in the same church.' ' In what 
 church ? ' said I. ' In Dr. Morse's church,' said he, ' where I used 
 
THE OLD HOMESTEAD. 627 
 
 to go when I was a boy.' ' Indeed,' said I ; ' and who was your 
 grandfather?' 'Deacon Frothingham,' said he. 'Are you a 
 grandson of old Deacon Frothingham ? I knew the good old man 
 well ; he was one of my father's firmest friends*' ' And who was 
 your father, then, sir ? ' said he. ' Dr. Morse,' I replied. ' Are you 
 a son of Dr. Morse ?' said he ; ' which one ? He had a son a paint- 
 er ; and my brother also is a painter.' ' I am the painter,' I said ; 
 ' and your brother, then, is James Frothingham ? ' ' Yes.' ' Where 
 is he ? Is he living ? ' ' Yes ; he lives in Brooklyn, New York.' 
 'Indeed ! and can you tell me where the portrait is which he took 
 of my father ? — for I think it was one of the best ever taken of him ; 
 and I am very anxious to know where I can find it.' ' No,' said 
 he ; ' I cannot tell you where it is.' After shaking hands with him, 
 I passed on into the square of Charlestown. I stopped and looked 
 round. A pump used to stand in the centre. It was no longer 
 there. The eastern part of the square was entirely changed. The 
 north showed the Salem turnpike, passing between a new build- 
 ing, the Bunker Hill Bank, and an old building, which seemed un- 
 changed amid the changes that surrounded it, the old store of 
 Skinner & Hurd, the same in all respects as of old, except a new 
 firm upon the sign over the door. Directly opposite, on the south 
 of the square, more changes struck me ; a new bridge-way occupied 
 the space where the house of Richard Carey, and old Aunt Dowse, 
 as she was familiarly called, , formerly stood, leaving a venerable 
 reminiscence of the ancient aristocracy of Charlestown on the right, 
 in the old mansion of the Russell family ; it is now a tavern, the 
 words 'Innholder,' in small letters, are over the door. "What a 
 change was here ! In that house I had seen the venerable Judge 
 Russell, and his two maiden daughters, Sally and Mary Russell. I 
 recalled the days when, with my parents, I used to visit at that 
 house, and the pleasure, when a child, with which I heard my 
 mother say, ' If you are good, you shall go and see Aunt Russell 
 this afternoon ; ' for Aunt Sally and Aunt Mary were sure to fill 
 our pockets with cakes and apples. So vividly did the sight of this 
 old mansion bring up the faces of the good old people, that I think 
 now I could paint each of their portraits from recollection : the 
 large features of the old judge, with his bushy eyebrows, his promi- 
 nent under lip, and his bending form ; Aunt Mary, with her wide 
 face, pale, and somewhat sad ; and Aunt Sally, with a sharper physi- 
 ognomy, and expression of more vivacity, and quicker and more 
 bustling in her movement ; their dress models of neatness and pro- 
 
(328 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 priety, and their demeanor kind and courteous, yet sufficiently re- 
 served to restrain any disposition on our part to childish excess. 
 
 " Separated from the old mansion by a passage to a wharf, still 
 stands in all its gloomy, unattractive shabbiness, an old house, 
 which I well remember possessed, from my earliest recollection of 
 it, the same repulsive characteristics which it now has. For fifty 
 years it seems never to have had a coat of paint, nor any attempt 
 at change. 
 
 " I passed up the hill where, formerly on the right, was the gar- 
 den of my father's house. All trace of this garden and the house 
 is gone ; the site of both is covered by a row of brick houses ; all on 
 that side was new. On the left, however, still stands, apparently 
 unchanged, the garden and house of Matthew Bridge, our oppdsite 
 neighbor — unchanged I mean in their general characteristics, but 
 bearing marks of decay and neglect. The house toward the west 
 has also the same general features as it had forty years ago, but 
 now decayed and dilapidated, the fence down, and every thing 
 about it slovenly. 
 
 " The church where my father preached has long since been re- 
 moved, and on its site the present neat, substantial, and commo- 
 dious house of worship erected. I had not time to give it more 
 than a passing glance. I went on, desirous of finding the house in 
 which I was born, for my parents occupied a different house from 
 the parsonage, when they first came to Charlestown, and during the 
 time the parsonage was being built. I proceeded down the hill 
 toward the main street, leaving on the right the house in which our , 
 family physician, Dr. Josiah Bartlett, once lived, and, on the left, 
 the site where once stood the little shanty of a school-house, kept by 
 old Ma'am Rand, which was standing not many years ago, and when 
 my first attempts at drawing, from the injudicious choice I had 
 made of my pencil and canvas, which were a pin and a bureau, 
 were rewarded by a smart rap on the shoulders by her long rattan. 
 
 " Passing into the main street, I soon found, after proceeding be- 
 yond the church on the right, the substantial, though wooden, house 
 of two stories, which I had been told in earlier days was the house 
 in which I was born. It is now painted brown, but formerly was 
 white. I stood for a short time on the opposite side of the street, 
 reconnoitring it, to be assured that it was the house. I then 
 crossed over, and, finding on the door-plate ' R. B. Edes,' I was con- 
 firmed in my assurance, and rang the bell. It was opened by a 
 lady,, to whom I apologized for the liberty I had taken, stating that 
 
RECOGNITION BY OLD FRIENDS. 629 
 
 I knew she would excuse me when she learned my errand, which 
 was to visit a room in which I first saw the light, and in which I 
 had not been for more than sixty years. She at once exclaimed, 
 ' Surely this is not Mr. Morse ! ' ' Yes, madam, you have spoken my 
 name.' ' Walk in, walk in,' she exclaimed, ' I am rejoiced to see 
 you. I well remember your good father and mother, and have often 
 heard that you were born in this house.' So I walked into a neatly- 
 furnished parlor, and found that the lady was Mrs. Edes, the wife 
 of Caj>tain Robert Edes, whom we all well knew in our younger 
 days. He was not at home, but two of their daughters, with each 
 a sweet child, were soon called and introduced to me. I soon found 
 that I was among friends, and, while talking with them, one sudden- 
 ly ran to the window, exclaiming, ' There is Mr. Hooper ; I wonder 
 if he is coming here ? ' She had scarcely spoken, before he turned 
 to the door and came in. The moment he recognized me he mani- 
 fested the greatest pleasure, and was full of inquiries after all the 
 family. I told him my errand in coming to this house. ' Oh ! ' said 
 he, ' I can tell you all about it, for I was here when you were born, 
 and used to take you out-of-doors to take the air, before your mother 
 was well of her confinement.' ' In which room, then, was I born ? ' 
 said I, ' for I had the impression it was the east front chamber.' 
 ' No,' said he, ' it was the east rear chamber, and it is unchanged, 
 except new papering and painting. I have good reason to remem- 
 ber the time of your birth : your father wished a boy to go to the 
 post-office in Boston daily for him, and also to carry the proofs and 
 copy to the printers. I was then about nine years old,' said he, 
 ' and your father employed me for those purposes, and I lived in 
 the family. Nancy Shepherd was the nurse, and was always active 
 in the kitchen. One day she was roasting peas to free them from 
 the weevil, preparatory to burning them for coffee, for,' said he, 
 ' real coffee at that time was very scarce. I was sitting by the fire, 
 when one of these little bugs flew into my ear, and it caused me 
 so great pain that I feared for my life. I ran across the street to a 
 doctor who poured some spirits of wine into my ear, which soon 
 drove the weevil out.' After a few anecdotes of this kind I went 
 up-stairs to see the room. I was first shown into the east front 
 room, overlooking the street, which I had supposed was the room. 
 Then into the east rear room, which communicated with the other 
 by a small entry. There was nothing peculiar in the room ; the 
 ceiling is low, the walls substantial, as is the whole house, in strik- 
 ing contrast with modern buildings. 
 
630 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 " I then visited Mr. Hooper's residence, where I found that Mr. 
 Henry C. Pratt (my former pupil in painting) and his family were 
 boarding. While there, Mrs. Benjamin Brown came in, one of 
 father's old friends ; she was greatly rejoiced to see me, and insisted 
 that I must call with her upon Mrs. Hovey, the widow of Abijah 
 Hovey, and one of the strongest friends of father and mother in 
 their last da) 7 s in Charlestown. I observed that I could not think 
 of coming to Charlestown without calling upon her ; so Mrs. Brown 
 piloted me to Mrs. Hovey's, saying, as we knocked at the door, ' Do 
 not mention your name ; see if she will know you.' When I went 
 into the parlor, and while waiting for the appearance of Mrs. Hovey, 
 I cast my eyes upon the picture of my father, by Frothingham, the 
 identical portrait about which I had inquired of the toll-keeper of 
 the bridge, the brother of the painter ; and, on the opposite side 
 of the room, is my earliest picture of a group, being our own fami- 
 ly, my father, mother, my brother Sidney, Richard, and myself, in 
 water-colors ; this picture had been the subject of inquiry by my- 
 self and brothers just previous to my coming to Boston ; we were 
 speculating where it could be. I remembered giving it to Nancy 
 Shepherd, and it seems that Nancy just previously to her death gave 
 it to Mrs. Hovey. My father's likeness, but especially my mother's, 
 were good likenesses still ; Richard's was tolerable, but Sidney's 
 and my own did not strike me agreeably. My father's figure is 
 without legs, the picture having been abruptly left before complet- 
 ing it. On the whole, I had a most agreeable, and to me exceed- 
 ing^ exciting, visit, which I shall remember to the end of my 
 life." 
 
 On the 5th of June, 1856, Professor Morse sailed for Liver- 
 pool in the steamship Baltic, Captain Comstock. Among the 
 passengers were William H. Appleton, Esq., of New York, Dr. 
 Hnll, and Colonel Cobb. The Professor was accompanied by his 
 wife and his niece, Miss Louisa Morse, daughter of his brother 
 Richard. On board the ship, at the request of the passengers, 
 Professor Morse gave a discourse in the cabin on the history of 
 the Telegraph, the circumstances of its invention at sea, and its 
 progress thus far in the several countries. His time in London 
 was largely occupied with the gentlemen who were then en- 
 gaged in the construction of the cable for the Atlantic, Messrs. 
 Glass, Bright, Whitehouse, Statham, and others. On the 4th of 
 July he was one of the guests of George Peabody, Esq., at din- 
 
LANDSEER AND LESLIE. 631 
 
 ner, at the Star and Garter Tavern, Richmond Hill. When the 
 toast, " The Telegraph," was suddenly proposed, he was unex- 
 pectedly called upon to respond, and, being unable to make a 
 speech, he* rose, and with modesty and dignity recited these 
 words from the 19th Psalm : " Their line is gone out through all 
 the earth, and their words to the end of the world." 
 
 Landseer was a boy when Morse was a student with West 
 in London, and Morse knew him at that time. The great artist 
 now sought him and paid him deserved honors as the President 
 of the National Academy of Design in the United States. He 
 gathered the artists of London and men of science and letters at 
 his own house, and presented to them his distinguished friend 
 Professor Morse. C. R. Leslie, his fellow-student and room- 
 mate in early youth, when they were both taking lessons of 
 "West, was now in the country at the seat of the Earl of Egre- 
 mont. It was a few miles by stage-coach, and an invitation 
 from his old companion was readily accepted. The reunion was 
 like that of boys meeting after a few years only of separation. 
 They wandered arm-in-arm over the grounds, and through the 
 halls, recalling the thousand pleasant memories of youth, and 
 repeating to one another the incidents that had marked the in- 
 tervening years. A white-bait dinner at Greenwich, given to 
 Morse by the Telegraph managers, brought together several 
 gentlemen who had been actively engaged in the extension of 
 the system abroad, and, in a private letter to his children at 
 home, Professor Morse gives natural expression to his gratifica- 
 tion in the testimonies of these practical men to the great suc- 
 cess of his invention. 
 
 From London he journeyed toward the north of Europe, 
 spending a few days only in Paris, and at Hamburg. In neither 
 of these cities did he find at this season of the year the men 
 whom he would have been most pleased to meet; but, with 
 a definite purpose before him, he pursued his journey to Copen- 
 hagen. His niece, Miss Morse, in one of her letters, says : 
 
 " We reached Copenhagen after two night's tossing in the most 
 wretched dog-kennel of a boat, and when we arrived at the gloomy 
 hotel on a damp, drizzling day, and looked out of our parlor-window 
 upon the long canal-wharf, and the prison-like palace on the other 
 side, we were a most homesick, as we had been a seasick, party. 
 
632 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 But after this forbidding introduction, Copenhagen proved to be 
 one of the pleasantest, if not the pleasantest place, of our journey 
 thus far. We were immediately surrounded by warm friends, who 
 made us feel at , once as if we were at home. Every day and hour 
 was filled up with entertainments, which these hospitable friends 
 were delighted to give to uncle and his party. Commodore Michel- 
 sen and Mr. Froliche were devoted in their attentions. All spoke 
 the English language so naturally that we could not believe our- 
 selves in a strange country." 
 
 Professor Morse's own letters, in the familiar and confidential 
 words of a father to his children, give a pleasant account of his 
 presentation to the king : 
 
 " Captain Raastoff and I arrived at Fredericksborg at 11.30, 
 near midnight. The aide and chamberlain of the king had already 
 retired for the night, but, leaving our letters to be delivered to the 
 aide in the morning, we retired to rest. 
 
 " In the morning, while at breakfast, we received a message 
 from the king to see him in his audience-chamber in half an hour ; 
 so, dressing for the occasion, the captain wearing his orders as 
 Knight of the Dannebrog, and I my Turkish Nishan (by advice), 
 we proceeded to the palace in the Castle of Fredericksborg, where 
 we were received in the anteroom by the king's aide. The aide told 
 us that the king had been apprised of my visit to Copenhagen, and 
 was expecting to see me the day before, which would have been the 
 case had we not been misdirected to Jaeger's Priis instead of Fred- 
 ericksborg. After a few minutes the captain was called into the 
 presence of the king, and in a few minutes more I was requested to 
 go into the audience-chamber, and was introduced by the captain to 
 Ferdinand VII., King of Denmark. The king received me standing, 
 and very courteously. He is a man of middle stature, thick-set, 
 and resembles more in the features of his. face the busts and pict- 
 ures of Christian IV. than those of any of his predecessors, judging 
 as I did from the numerous busts and portraits of the Kings of 
 Denmark which adorn the city palace and the Castle of Fredericks- 
 borg. 
 
 " The king expressed his pleasure at seeing the inventor of the 
 Telegraph, and regretted he could not speak English, as he wished 
 to ask me many questions. He thanked me, he said, for the beautiful 
 instrument I had sent him ; told me that a telegraph-line was now 
 in progress from the castle to his royal residence in Copenhagen ; 
 
CONVERSATION WITH THE KING. 633 
 
 that when it was completed, he had decided on using my instru- 
 ment, which I had given him, in his own private apartments. He 
 then spoke of the invention as a most wonderful achievement, and 
 wished me to inform him how I came to invent it. I accordingly 
 in a few words gave him the early history of it, to which he listened 
 most attentively, and thanked me, expressing himself highly grati- 
 fied. He asked me what I thought of the practicability of the 
 Transatlantic Telegraph. I told him it was an enterprise sure to be 
 accomplished. After a few minutes more of conversation of the 
 same character, the king shook me warmly by the hand, and we 
 took our leave. After the king and his cortege had left the castle, 
 the governor of the castle, who speaks English, as if it were his 
 native language, politely accompanied us through the rooms of the 
 palace, and the gorgeous old church attached to it. It is impossi- 
 ble to give in description any idea of its richness. The altar has 
 all the splendor of many of the most ornate old Roman Catholic 
 churches, and it was difficult to believe it to be a Lutheran church. 
 
 " "We returned to Fredericksborg, which we left after passing 
 through the royal apartments, and arrived in the afternoon at Co- 
 penhagen. Mrs. F called in her carriage. We drove to the 
 
 Thorwaldsen Museum or Depository, where are all the works of this 
 great man. This collection of the greatest sculptor since the best 
 period of Greek art is attraction enough in itself to call travelers of 
 taste to Copenhagen. After spending some hours in Thorwaldsen's 
 Museum, I went to see the study of Oersted, where his most impor- 
 tant discovery of the deflection of the needle by a galvanic current 
 was made, which laid the foundation of the science of electro-mag- 
 netism, and without which my invention could not have been made. 
 It is now a drawing-school. I sat at the table where he made his 
 discoverjr. We went to the Porcelain Manufactory, and singularly 
 enough met there the daughter of Oersted, to whom I had the pleas- 
 ure of an introduction. Oersted was a most amiable man, and uni- 
 versally beloved. The daughter is said to resemble her father in 
 her features, and 1 traced a resemblance to him in the small porce- 
 lain bust, which I came to the manufactory to purchase. Mr. B 
 
 kindly gave me a medallion struck in honor of Oersted's discovery. 
 
 " I feel under great obligations to all these good people. We 
 left Copenhagen and its hospitable people with reluctance. But 
 our time was limited, and so on the 24th of July (dear Arthur's 
 birthday) we embarked on a neat little steamer that had arrived at 
 Copenhagen on its way to St. Petersburg from Hull in England. 
 
634 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Her name is Falcon, and her commander has an appropriate name 
 as her captain, Captain Fowler / we find him a worthy and obliging 
 man. Such a passage I never before made up to this date (July 
 27th, noon) ; for three days and three nights the weather has been 
 perfectly clear and calm, the sea smooth; not once has the vessel 
 been off an even keel ; we have had a whole cabin to ourselves, 
 good food, and but three other passengers in the other cabin, a gen- 
 tleman and two ladies, Scotch, quiet and agreeable. Last night 
 Louisa and I sat up till after midnight to witness a night without 
 darkness. Though somewhat late in the season to see the night of 
 these northern latitudes in the longest days to the greatest advan- 
 tage, yet we witnessed such a one as we never before saw. The 
 sun dipped below the horizon in the northwest at half : past eight 
 o'clock, but the twilight continued so bright, gradually passing to 
 the north and northeast, that at midnight we could read large printed 
 letters without difficulty. To vary the scene, the moon, in its last 
 quarter, arose in the northeast on the eastern edge of the twilight, 
 a very unusual place (as you will perceive on reflection) to see an 
 evening moon. A few clouds of the stratus character, low down, 
 lent an additional lustre to the red and apple-colored twilight by 
 their contrasted darkness. All else was clear a.nd calm. "We staid 
 on deck till the evening twilight became the morning twilight ; and, 
 when it had so far brightened that we could see to read print of a 
 less size, we retired to rest, and found ourselves, on waking this 
 beautiful calm Sunday morning, rapidly closing our pleasant passage, 
 three o'clock p. m. finding us within sight of the formidable and 
 extensive fortress of Cronstadt. 
 
 " St. Petersburg, August 8, 1856. 
 " My letter was abruptly interrupted by the bustle and confusion 
 of our arrival in a strange and unimagined country, and studying 
 its novel forms and customs. Americans are particularly struck 
 with the strictness of the custom-house and police regulations, 
 although as it regards the former we had less trouble and were 
 treated with more politeness and less inconvenience than we have 
 been in most other countries. We were detained at Cronstadt 
 about two hours, passing the ordeal of the police, and, leaving our 
 steamer, with our luggage, embarked on board another steamer for 
 St. Petersburg, seventeen miles distant. We passed up the Neva 
 about eight o'clock and landed amid hundreds of people at the cus- 
 tom-house landing, when our luggage went through a very slight 
 examination, the fact that we were Americans finding us favor with 
 
NOSEGAYS OF DIAMONDS. 635 
 
 all, with officers and people. We took two or three droskies and 
 drove to a house kept by an Englishwoman of the name of Benson, 
 but which we found full, so that we were compelled to take to our 
 droskies again and drive to the Hotel de Russie, where we are well 
 lodged, and shall remain during our stay here ; we were tired enough 
 when we entered our rooms, and glad to go to our beds. 
 
 "Up to this date we have been in one constant round of visits to 
 the truly wonderful objects of curiosity in this magnificent city. I 
 have seen, as you know, most of the great and marvelous cities of 
 Europe, but, I can truly say, none of them can at all compare in 
 splendor and beauty to St. Petersburg. It is a city of palaces, and 
 palaces of the most gorgeous character. The display of wealth in 
 the palaces and churches is so great that the simple truth told about 
 them would incur to the narrator the suspicion of romancing. 
 England boasts of her regalia in the Tower, her crown jewels, her 
 Kohinoor diamond, etc. I can assure you they fade into insignifi- 
 cance, as a rushlight before the sun, when brought before the wealth 
 in jewels and gold seen here in such profusion. What think you 
 of nosegays, as large as those our young ladies take to parties, 
 composed entirely of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and 
 other precious stones, chosen to represent accurately the colors 
 of various flowers — the imperial crown, globular in shape, com- 
 posed of diamonds, and containing in the centre of the Greek 
 cross which surmounts it an unwxought ruby at least two inches 
 in diameter ? The sceptre has a diamond very nearly as large as 
 the Kohinoor. At the Arsenal at Tsarskoe-selo we saw the trap- 
 pings of a horse, bridle, saddle, and all the harness, with an 
 immense saddle-cloth, set with tens of thousands of diamonds; 
 on those parts of the harness where we have rosettes, or knobs, 
 or buckles, were rosettes of diamonds an inch and a half to two 
 inches in diameter, with a diamond in the centre as large as the 
 first joint of your thumb, or say three-quarters of an inch in di- 
 ameter. Other trappings were as rich. Indeed, there seemed to be 
 no end to the diamonds. All the churches are decorated in the most 
 costly manner with diamonds, and pearls, and precious stones." 
 
 Hon. Thomas H. Seymour was the United States Minister 
 at St. Petersburg at this time, and Mr. J. Pierce, Jr., the secre- 
 tary of legation. They received Mr. Morse and his party with, 
 the greatest cordiality, and extended to them every courtesy that 
 would be accorded to the most distinguished Americans. Din- 
 
636 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ners, parties, and receptions, followed each other in rapid succes- 
 sion. In a letter to his children at home, Professor Morse gives 
 a brilliant description of his presentation at court, and his ac- 
 count is the more entertaining because of those minute and 
 delicate touches which a father writing to his children, and to 
 them only, would give : 
 
 PROFESSOR MORSE TO HIS CHILDREN. 
 
 " Peterhoff, seventeen miles from St. Petersburg (Russia), ) 
 
 "August 14, 1856. \ 
 
 " My dear daughter Susan", and the Grovites generally : 
 Yesterday I received notice from Prince Gortchakoff, Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, through our minister, Mr. Seymour, that his imperial 
 Majesty the Emperor had appointed the hour of half-past one this 
 day to see me at his palace, at Peterhoff. 
 
 " On our arrival at the quay at Peterhoff, we found, somewhat to 
 my surprise, the imperial carriages in waiting for us, each carriage 
 with a coachman and two footmen in imperial livery, which is scarlet 
 and gold lace, with towering chapeaux bras, edged with broad gold- 
 lace. Our party occupied two of the carriages, which drove rapidly 
 by all other carriages, and through people with their heads uncov- 
 ered as we passed, which, to us republicans, was something new ; 
 and were set down at our quarters in one of the palace buildings 
 in the extensive gardens specially appropriated to our party. Here 
 we were attended by four or five servants in scarlet livery loaded 
 with gold lace, and shown to our apartments, upon the doors of 
 which were our names respectively. After throwing off our over- 
 coats, the servants inquired if we would have breakfast — to which, 
 of course, we had no objection ; and an excellent one, of coffee and 
 sandwiches, was soon upon the table, served up on silver, with the 
 imperial arms upon the waiter, spoons, etc. Every thing about our 
 rooms — which consisted of a parlor and bedrooms attached — was 
 plain, but exceedingly clean and neat. After seeing us well housed, 
 our attendant chamberlain left us to prepare ourselves for the pre- 
 sentation, saying he would call for us at the proper time. As there 
 were two or three hours to spare, I took occasion to improve the 
 time, to commence this brief notice of the events of the day. 
 
 "About two o'clock, our attendant, who gave his name as 
 Thorner, an officer under the principal chamberlain, called to say 
 our carriages were ready. On descending our staircase, through 
 rows of liveried servants, we found three carriages in waiting, with 
 
CONVERSATION WITH THE EMPEROR. 637 
 
 the imperial livery, and splendid black horses, three servants to each 
 carriage, as before, but in blue and gold-lace two inches at least 
 broad, and the double-headed eagle emblazoned upon it at intervals 
 of about four inches. We seated ourselves in the carriages, which 
 were then driven at a rapid rate to the great and principal palace, 
 the entrance to which is most picturesquely placed to overlook the 
 numerous and magnificent fountains so celebrated at Peterhoff. 
 Hundreds of well-dressed people thronged each side of the carriage- 
 way, as we drove up to the door, where we were set down in turn. 
 After alighting, we were ushered through a long hall by an officer 
 richly dressed, and having upon his head a cap with black feathers, 
 much like the Highlander's cap ; we passed through two lines of 
 liveried servants, that manned the sides of the hall and staircase, 
 to the entrance of the anteroom — the last two of these officials 
 being Africans of the darkest complexion, and dressed with Turkish 
 turban, etc. We passed through the anteroom to a large and mag- 
 nificent room, where were assembled those who were to be pre- 
 sented. The master of ceremonies led the way to the southern 
 veranda, which overlooked the gardens, ranging us in a line, and 
 reading our names from a list, to see if we were truly mustered, 
 after which a door suddenly opened, and the Emperor Alexander II. 
 entered. He was dressed in military costume, a blue sash was 
 across his breast, passing over the right shoulder ; on his left breast 
 were stars and orders. He commenced at the head of the column, 
 which consisted of some fourteen or fifteen persons, and on the 
 pronouncing of the name by the master of ceremonies, he addressed 
 a few words to each. When he came to me, the master of cere- 
 monies mistook my name, calling me Mr. Moore ; I instantly cor- 
 rected him, and said, 'No, Morse.' The empe*ror at once said, 
 kindly, 'Ah, that name is well known here; your system of tele- 
 graph is in use in Russia. How long have you been in St. Peters- 
 burg, and how have you enjoyed yourself?' To which I appropri- 
 ately replied. After a few more unimportant questions and answers, 
 the emperor addressed himself to the other gentlemen, and retired. 
 After remaining a few moments, the master of ceremonies — who, 
 by-the-by, apologized to me for miscalling my name — opened a door 
 from the veranda into the large drawing-room of the empress, 
 where we were again put in line to await the appearance of her 
 imperial Majesty. The doors of an adjoining room were suddenly 
 thrown open, and the empress, gorgeously but appropriately at- 
 tired, advanced toward us. She addressed a few words gracefully 
 
638 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 to each of us in succession, approaching us as our names were 
 called. The impression left upon my mind in regard to both the 
 emperor and empress is that they are amiable and kind-hearted, 
 with sufficient firmness in the emperor's temperament to prevent 
 these gentle virtues from degenerating into weakness. After speak- 
 ing to each of us in perfect English, she gracefully bowed (we, of 
 course, returning the salutation) and retired, followed by her maids- 
 of-honor, her long train sweeping the floor for a distance of several 
 yards behind her. . . . 
 
 " On our return to our rooms, we dressed for dinner, and pro- 
 ceeded in the same manner to the palace in the gardens, called the 
 English Palace. Here we found assembled, in the great reception- 
 room, the distinguished company, in number forty-seven, of many 
 nations, who were to sit down to table together. When dinner 
 was announced, we entered the grand dining-hall, and found a table 
 most gorgeously prepared with gold and silver service and flowers. 
 At table, I found myself opposite three princes, an Austrian, a 
 Hungarian, and one from some other German state ; and second 
 from me, on my left, was Lord Ward, of England, with whom I had 
 a good deal of conversation. Opposite to me, and farther to my 
 right, was Prince Esterhazy, seated between Lady Granville and 
 the beautiful Lady Emily Peel ; on the other side of Lady Peel was 
 Lord Granville, the principal and special delegate from England to 
 the coronation ceremonies at Moscow, and near him sat Sir Robert 
 Peel. Among the guests, a list of which I regret I could not ob- 
 tain, was the young Earl of Lincoln, and several other noblemen, 
 in the suite of Lord Granville. Here, then, was a rare assemblage ; 
 English, French, Austrians, Sardinians, Italians, and Americans, 
 gathered at table in a palace of the Emperor of Russia. Some 
 twenty servants in the imperial scarlet livery waited upon the 
 table, which was served in a truly royal profusion and costliness. 
 The rarest dishes and the costliest wines, in every variety, were put 
 before us. I need not say that, in such an assemblage, even'- thing 
 was conducted with the highest decorum. No noise, no boisterous 
 mirth, no loud laughing or talking, but a quiet cheerfulness and 
 perfect ease characterized the whole entertainment. After the 
 dinner, all arose, both ladies and gentlemen, and left the room to- 
 gether. 
 
 " We remained in the large hall for coffee, but, being fearful 
 that we should be too late for the last steamer from Peterhoff to St. 
 Petersburg, we were hurrying to get through and to leave, but the 
 
ENGLISH NOBLEMEN. 639 
 
 momeat our fears came to the knowledge of Lord Granville, lie 
 most kindly came to us and told us to feel at ease, as his steam- 
 yacht was lying off the quay to take them up to the city, and he was 
 but too proud to have the opportunity of offering us a place on 
 board — an offer which we of course accepted with thanks. Having 
 thus been entertained with truly imperial hospitality for the entire 
 day, ending with this sumptuous entertainment, we descended once 
 more to the carriages, and drove to the quay, where a large and 
 commodious barge, belonging to the English man-of-war Jean 
 d'Acre (the ship put in commission for the service of Lord Gran- 
 ville), manned by stalwart man-of-war's men, was waiting to take 
 the English party of nobles on board the steam-yacht. When all 
 were collected on the quay, we left Peterhoff in the barge, and were 
 soon on board the yacht. The weather was fine, and the moon soon 
 rose over the palace of Peterhoff, looking for a moment like one of 
 the splended gilded domes of the palace. On board the yacht, I had 
 much conversation with Lord Granville, who brought the various 
 members of his suite and introduced me to them — to Sir Robert 
 Peel ; to the young Earl of Lincoln, the son of the Duke of New- 
 castle, who, when himself the Earl of Lincoln, in 1839, showed me 
 so much courtesy and kindness in London ; to Mr. Acton, a nephew 
 of Lord Granville, with whom I had some interesting conversation. 
 We landed at the quay in St. Petersburg about eleven o'clock p. 
 M., and I reached my lodgings at the H6tel de Russie about mid- 
 night, thus ending a day of incidents which I shall remember with 
 great gratification. 
 
 " Having completed, as far as such a flying visit would allow, 
 our sight-seeing in this beautiful and interesting city, we the next 
 day, August 15th, prepared for our departure for Stettin, on our re- 
 turn toward home, having remained longer than we originally in- 
 tended in this part of the world. In the evening, we paid our part- 
 ing visit to our amiable and kind Minister, Mr. Seymour, taking tea 
 with many Americans at his house. 
 
 "In the morning we took our leave of St. Petersburg, embark- 
 ing with Major Barnes and lady, of Springfield, Massachusetts, and 
 Mr. Edward Bell and lady, of New York, on board the steamer for 
 Cronstadt, to be received at Cronstadt on board the Prussian mail- 
 steamer Prussian Eagle, for Stettin. The morning of Saturday, 
 the 16th of August, was somewhat unpromising, threatening rain, 
 but, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Shaffner, and young Nicolai 
 Bodisco, a son of the late Baron Bodisco, Russian Minister in the 
 
640 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 United States, we set out for Cronstadt, leaving the quay and the 
 Neva at twelve o'clock. Mr. Seymour intended to accompany us as 
 far as Cronstadt, but, supposing our boat did not leave till one 
 o'clock, he was left behind. Before we reached Cronstadt, a settled 
 rain set in, much to our discomfort, and we got on board the steam- 
 er Prussian Eagle not under the most favorable circumstances, but 
 the boat was large, neat, and generally commodious, one with an 
 obliging captain ; there was one exception, and a very important 
 one, too, to the commodiousness of the boat ; the sleeping-apart- 
 ments were the smallest I ever saw on any boat, even a Long Isl- 
 and Sound wood-boat contains larger and better accommodations in 
 this respect ; they have no conveniences of shelves or hooks to stow 
 away our clothing. The berths were so narrow that I lay in mine 
 as I would in a coffin, with no room to raise my head any more than 
 if lying between two shelves. 
 
 " In the evening, to our gratification, the weather cleared, and 
 the voyage, from Saturday noon till Monday night, was like the voy- 
 age from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg, beautifully clear and calm, 
 with a smooth sea, and I began to have quite a favorable idea of the 
 character of the Baltic Sea, as a most amiable and gentle piece of 
 water ; but, as if conscience-stricken tbat such a false impression of 
 its real character should go forth to the world, the sky on Monday 
 evening put on a frown of clouds ; the wind rose, and our little steamer 
 began to dance to the piping winds so ungracefully that most of our 
 passengers (some fifty in number) were glad to retire early to their 
 berths. The morning of Tuesday, the 19th, broke in tears, but not 
 until we had made good our landfall, and the Swinemunde light- 
 house loomed up in the fog, and showed us our entrance into the 
 Oder, into which we soon entered upon smooth water, and moored 
 for a few moments at the custom-house wharf. We then proceeded 
 up the winding river for two or three hours, .and arrived at Stettin 
 just in time to be too late for the noon train to Berlin. So we 
 quietly wended our way to the H6tel de Prussie, had a good dinner, 
 rested ourselves comfortably, and at six took our seats in the cars 
 for Berlin, where we arrived in the rain, which more or less pur- 
 sued us all the day, at ten o'clock, and at this present writing, the 
 morning of August 20th, find ourselves comfortably housed at the 
 excellent H6tel St.-Petersbourg, on the Unter den Linden. 
 
 " Saturday Evening, August 23d. — Yesterday we had a pleas- 
 ant dinner-party at our excellent Minister's, Governor Vroom, and 
 met there several Americans. To-day I went to Potsdam to see 
 
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HUMBOLDT IN HIS STUDY. (341 
 
 Baron Humboldt, and had a delightful interview with this wonder- 
 ful man. Although I had met with him at the soirees of Baron 
 Gerard, the distinguished painter, in Paris, in 1832, and afterward 
 at the Academy of Sciences, when my Telegraph was exhibited to 
 the assembled academicians in 1838, I took letters of introduction 
 to him from Baron Gerolt, the Prussian Minister, but they were un- 
 necessary, for the moment I entered his room, which is in the Royal 
 Palace, he called me by name and greeted me most kindly, saying, 
 as I presented my letters, ' Oh, sir, you need no letters, your name 
 is a sufficient introduction ; ' and, so seating myself, he rapidly 
 touched upon various topics relating to America. He was enthusi- 
 astic in his praise of Professor Dana's work on the geology of the 
 countries he visited with Captain Wilkes, saying it was the most 
 splendid contribution to science of the present day ; a compliment of 
 some significance, when we consider the source whence it comes. 
 
 " And now good-by ; kiss those dear little ones for me. Arthur, 
 I hope, is a good boy, and gives you no trouble ; and sweet Leila, 
 tell her she must not forget dear papa and mamma ; and my darling 
 little Willie, tell him papa loves him dearly, and longs to carry him 
 in his arms to bed, and hear him say his prayers. Well, in good 
 time, if God wills, we shall all meet again. I cannot send my love 
 to little Charley any more, but to tall Charley, and to him give 
 grandpapa's hearty love, and indeed to all the dear ones of every 
 degree and connection, both at the Grove and at Newark. May we 
 not look for another deluge f In our family, at least, they seem to 
 be ' marrying and giving in marriage.' 
 
 " Your affectionate father, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 Professor Morse's niece (now Mrs. Parmalee), in one of her 
 letters mentions the visit to the study of Humboldt, which has 
 been alluded to above. She writes : 
 
 " He came forward and received us very cordially, with no stiff- 
 ness or formality. He is quite short, stoops a little, and holds his 
 head slightly toward one side. He talked very fast, so that I could 
 scarcely understand him. His library was very simply furnished, 
 the walls on all sides were lined with bookcases ; two or three 
 tables, in the middle of the room, were strewed with papers, pam- 
 phlets, etc. Before we left, the baron presented uncle with an im- 
 perial photograph of himself, on the margin of which he wrote an 
 
 inscription in French : 
 41 
 
642 LIFE 0F SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " ' To Mr. S. F. B. Morse, whose philosophic and useful labors 
 have rendered his name illustrious in two worlds. The homage of 
 the high and affectionate esteem of 
 
 " ' Alexander Humboldt. 
 
 ' r< Potsdam, August, 1856.' 
 
 " His secretary accompanied us through the gardens of Sans- 
 Souci, and from him we learned something of the habits of this re- 
 markable man. He told us how he portioned off each day exactly, 
 saying that Humboldt only allowed four hours for sleep — from two 
 o'clock A. m. till six o'clock. Then he arose, breakfasted at nine 
 o'clock ; then walked till ten o'clock ; read his letters and papers 
 till one o'clock ; received visitors till four o'clock ; then dressed, 
 and, when he had no other engagement, dined with the king at six 
 o'clock, and spent the evening there till ten o'clock. From that 
 time till two o'clock in the morning, he passed in his library at his 
 studies. This had been his rule for years." 
 
 This journey of pleasure was extended to Cologne, Aix-la- 
 
 Chapelle, Brussels, Paris, and then to London, where Professor 
 
 Morse arrived in the latter part of the month of September, 
 
 1856. The Atlantic cable enterprise was the engrossing topic 
 
 among men of science at that moment. A letter of Professor 
 
 Morse to Baron Humboldt indicates the minute attention he 
 
 was giving' to this work : 
 
 "London, October 7, 1856. 
 
 " My dear Baron : You will doubtless have read of the achieve- 
 ment of sounding the Atlantic Ocean between Newfoundland and 
 Ireland, by order of the American Secretary of the Navy, expressly 
 for the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Cable, 
 under the immediate direction of that expert navigator, Lieuten- 
 ant O. H. Berryman, of the American Navy, in the U. S. steamer 
 Arctic, with a view to explore i the telegraphic plateau'' of our dis- 
 tinguished savant. Lieutenant Maury, whose ingenious specula- 
 tions respecting its character, from a partial previous survey, have 
 been so beautifully verified by a more complete survey. It is with 
 great pleasure that I am enabled to send you a copy of the draft 
 made of this survey by Lieutenant Berryman, which I had made 
 expressly to send you, knowing the great interest you feel in every 
 advance in science. I could have wished to send you at the same 
 time a specimen of the bottom obtained from each sounding, and, 
 if possible, will yet do so before I embark for the United States. 
 
MORSE TO HUMBOLDT. 643 
 
 There will shortly be published engravings of some of the infusoria, 
 as viewed in the microscope, copies of which I have requested shall 
 be forwarded to you. 
 
 w You will be gratified also to learn that experiments made un- 
 der the direction of Dr. Whitehouse, an acute investigator of elec- 
 trical phenomena, and Mr. Bright, the experienced and ingenious 
 Superintendent of the Electric Telegraphs, assisted by myself, on 
 Thursday last, most satisfactorily solved the problem of the practi- 
 cability of telegraphing from Newfoundland to Ireland, A subter- 
 ranean line of one continuous conductor of more than two thou- 
 sand English miles, was at our disposal, and we succeeded in pass- 
 ing signals through its entire length at the rate of 210, 241, and 
 at one moment of 270, per minute. The scientific and commercial 
 problem of an ocean-telegraph, I conceive, is thus satisfactorily 
 solved. The pecuniary aid for its practical accomplishment is at 
 hand, and there only remains that service which the proper manu- 
 facture of the cable and the nautical skill in laying it in its ocean- 
 bed demand, to insure the accomplishment of the grand enterprise 
 of uniting the two worlds in telegraphic bonds. 
 
 " You will excuse my enthusiasm, my dear baron, if I say that I 
 confidently anticipate the successful accomplishment of this enter- 
 prise in less than one year from this time, and the possibility of 
 sending you a dispatch from my home on the Hudson River to 
 Potsdam in less than five minutes of time. I look with sanguine 
 hopes to this consummation." 
 
 These scientific experiments, conducted by Professor Morse 
 i^and the gentlemen with whom he was associated while in Lon- 
 don, were reported to Mr. Field : 
 
 "London, five o'clock a. m., October ?. 185Cj. 
 
 " As the electrician of the New York, Newfoundland, and Lon- 
 don Telegraph Company, it is with the highest gratification that I 
 have to apprise you of the result of our experiments of this morning 
 upon a single continuous conductor of more than two thousand 
 miles in extent, a distance you will perceive sufficient to cross the 
 Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland to Ireland. 
 
 " The admirable arrangements made at the Magnetic Telegraph- 
 Office in Old Broad Street, loV/connecting ten subterranean gutta- 
 percha insulated conductors, of over two hundred miles each, so as 
 to give one continuous length of more than two thousand miles dur- 
 ing the hours of the night, when the Telegraph is not commercially 
 
644 • LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 employed, furnished us the means of conclusively settling, by actual 
 experiment, the question of the practicability as well as the practi- 
 cality of telegraphing through our proposed Atlantic cable. 
 
 " This result had been thrown into some doubt by the discovery, 
 more than two years since, of certain phenomena upon subterranean 
 and submarine conductors, and had attracted the attention of elec- 
 tricians, particularly of that most eminent philosopher, Professor 
 Faraday, and that clear-sighted investigator of electrical phenomena, 
 Dr. Whitehouse; and one of these phenomena, to wit, the percep- 
 tible retardation of the electric current, threatened to perplex our 
 operations, and required careful investigation before we could pro- 
 nounce with certainty the commercial practicability of the Ocean- 
 Telegraph. 
 
 " I am most happy to inform you that, as a crowning result of a 
 long series of experimental investigation and inductive reasoning 
 upon this subject, the experiments under the direction of Dr. White- 
 house and Mr. Bright, which I witnessed this morning — in which 
 the induction-coils and receiving-magnets, as modified by these gen- 
 tlemen, were made to actuate one of my recording instruments — 
 have most satisfactorily resolved all doubts of the practicability as 
 well as practicality of operating the Telegraph from Newfoundland 
 to Ireland. 
 
 "Although we telegraphed signals at the rate of 210, 241, and, 
 according to the count at one time, even of 270 per minute upon my 
 telegraphic register (which speed, you will perceive, is at a rate 
 commercially advantageous), these results were accomplished not- 
 withstanding many disadvantages in our arrangements of a tempo- 
 rary and local character — disadvantages which will not occur in the 
 use of our submarine cable. 
 
 " Having passed the whole night with my active and agreeable 
 collaborators, Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright, without sleep, you 
 will excuse the hurried and brief character of this note, which I 
 could not refrain from sending you, since our experiments this morn- 
 ing settle the scientific and commercial points of our enterprise sat- 
 isfactorily. 
 
 " With respect and esteem, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Moese." 
 
 A week later be writes again : 
 
 "London, October 10, 1856. 
 " My dear Sir : After having given the deepest consideration 
 to the subject of our successful experiment the other night, when 
 
MORSE TO FIELD. 645 
 
 we signaled clearly and rapidly through an unbroken circuit of 
 subterranean wire over two thousand miles in length, I sit down to 
 give you the result of my reflections and calculations. 
 
 " There can be no question but that, with a cable containing a 
 single conducting wire, of a size not exceeding that through which 
 we worked, and with equal insulation, it would be easy to telegraph 
 from Ireland to Newfoundland at a speed of at least from eight to 
 ten words per minute ; nay, more : the varying rates of speed at 
 which we worked, depending as they did upon differences in the 
 arrangement of the apparatus employed, do of themselves prove 
 that even a higher rate than this is attainable. Take it, however, 
 at ten words in the minute, and allowing ten words for name and 
 address, we can safely calculate upon the transmission of a twenty- 
 word message in three minutes ; 
 
 " Twenty such messages in the hour ; 
 
 " Four hundred and eighty in the twenty-four hours, or fourteen 
 thousand four hundred words per day. 
 
 " Such are the capabilities of a single-wire cable fairly and mod- 
 erately computed. 
 
 " It is, however, evident to me, that, by improvements in the 
 arrangement of the signals themselves, aided by the adoption of a 
 code or system constructed upon the principles of the best nautical 
 code, as suggested by Dr. Whitehouse, we may at least double the 
 speed in the transmission of our messages. 
 
 "As to the structure of the cable itself, the last specimen which 
 J examined with you seemed to combine so admirably the necessary 
 qualities of strength, flexibility, and lightness, with perfect insula- 
 tion, that I can no longer have any misgivings about the ease and 
 safety with which it will be submerged. 
 
 " In one word, the doubts are resolved, the difficulties overcome, 
 success is within our reach, and the great feat of the century must 
 shortly be accomplished. 
 
 " I would urge you, if the manufacture can be completed within 
 the time (and all things are possible now), to press forward the 
 good work, and not to lose the chance of laying it during the en- 
 suing summer. 
 
 "Before the close of the present month, I hope to be again 
 landed safely on the other side of the water, and I full well know 
 that on all hands the inquiries of most interest with which I shall 
 be met will be about the Ocean Telegraph. 
 
 " Much as I have enjoyed my European trip this year, it would 
 
646 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 enhance the gratification which I have derived from it more than I 
 can describe to you, if, on my return to America, I could be the first 
 bearer to my friends of the welcome intelligence that the .great 
 work had been begun, by the commencement of the manufacture 
 of the cable to connect Ireland with the line of the New York, 
 Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, now so success- 
 fully completed to St. John's. Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 " To Cyrus W. Field, Esq, Vice-President, etc." 
 
 These experiments scattered the last doubts of the practica- 
 bility of the enterprise. Individuals and governments yielded 
 to the force of truth, and the work was begun. 
 
 BANQUET LN LONDON TO PROFESSOR MORSE. 
 
 The last place where Professor Morse could reasonably have 
 expected the honor of a public dinner was the city of London. 
 His most ungracious and unjust treatment there when a patent 
 was refused him in 1838, was a life-long grievance. But now, 
 eighteen years afterward, he comes back in triumph. The world 
 has pronounced upon his merits' and his rights, and accorded to 
 him the honor which England had persistently denied. He was 
 now invited to a banquet by the Telegraph companies, in dis- 
 tinct acknowledgment of his services ! And at the' head of the 
 table, as the chairman, sat Mr. W. F. Cooke, who had been the 
 partner of Wheatstone, whose claims had been preferred in 
 England to those of Professor Morse. The dinner was given 
 October 9, 1856, at the Albion Tavern. The chairman, in pre- 
 senting Professor Morse to the company, bore this extraordinary 
 testimony : 
 
 " I was consulted only a few months ago on the subject of a 
 telegraph, for a country in which no telegraph at present exists. I 
 recommended the system of Professor Morse. I believe that system 
 to be one of the simplest in the world, and in that lies its perma- 
 nency and certainty. [Cheers.] There are others which may be 
 as good in other circumstances, but for a wide country I hesitate 
 not to say Professor Morse's is the best adapted. It is a great thing 
 to say, and I do so after twenty years' experience, that Professor 
 Morse's system is one of the simplest that ever has been, and I 
 think ever will be, conceived. [Cheers.] It was a great thing for 
 
MK. COOKE'S TESTIMONY. 647 
 
 me, after having been so long connected with the electric telegraph, 
 to be invited to preside at this interesting meeting; and I have 
 traveled upward of one hundred miles, in order to be present to-day, 
 having, when asked to preside, replied by electric telegraph, ' 1 
 will.' [Cheers.] But I may lower your idea of the sacrifice I made 
 in so doing when I tell you that I knew the talents of Professor 
 Morse, and was only too glad to accept an invitation to do honor 
 to a man I really honored in my heart. [Cheers.] I have been 
 thinking, during the last few days, on what Professor Morse has 
 done. He stands alone in America as the originator and carrier 
 out of a grand conception. "We know that America is an enormous 
 country, and we know the value of the telegraph, but I think we 
 have a right to quarrel with Professor Morse for not being content 
 with giving the benefit of it to his own country, but that he ex- 
 tended it to Canada and Newfoundland ; and, even beyond that, his 
 system has been adopted all over Europe — [cheers] — and the nui- 
 sance is, that we in England are obliged to communicate by means 
 of his system. [Cheers and laughter.] I, as a director of an elec- 
 tric telegraph company, however, should be ashamed of myself if 
 I did not acknowledge what we owe him. But he threatens to go 
 further still, and promises that, if we do not, he will carry out a 
 communication between England and Newfoundland across the 
 Atlantic. I am nearly pledged to pay him a visit on the other side 
 of the Atlantic to see what he is about ; and, if he perseveres in his 
 obstinate attempt to reach England, I believe I must join him in his 
 endeavors. [Cheers.] To think that he has united all the stripes 
 and stars of America, which are increasing day by day — and I hope 
 they will increase until they are too numerous to mention — that he 
 has extended his system to Canada, and is about to unite those 
 portions of the world to Europe, is a glorious thing for any man ; and, 
 although I have done something in the same cause myself, I confess I 
 almost envy Professor Morse for having forced from an unwilling 
 rival a willing acknowledgment of his services. [Cheers.] I am 
 proud to see Professor Morse this side of the water. I beg to give 
 you 'The health of Professor Morse,' and may he long live to enjoy 
 the high reputation he has attained throughout the world ! " 
 
 Speeches by distinguished gentlemen followed, all of them 
 bearing the highest testimony to the merits of the great Ameri-, 
 can inventor, whose claims were now beyond question, and 
 whose system commanded the unqualified favor of the best-in- 
 
648 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 formed and most practical electricians in the world. On the 
 day of this banquet, Professor Morse received from Paris, 
 through Mr. Mason, the American Minister, the information 
 that the Emperor Napoleon III. had made him a Chevalier of 
 the Legion of Honor y and the next day Mr. Tupper sent him 
 the following lines : 
 
 TO PROFESSOR MORSE, 
 
 IN PLEASANT MEMORY OF OCTOBER 9, 1856, AT THE ALBION. 
 
 A good and generous spirit ruled the hour ; 
 
 Old jealousies were drowned in brotherhood ; 
 Philanthropy rejoiced that Skill and Power, 
 
 Servants to Science, compass all men's good ; 
 
 And over all Religion's banner stood, 
 Upheld by thee, true patriarch of the plan 
 Which in two hemispheres was schemed to shower 
 Mercies from God on universal man. 
 
 Yes ; this electric chain from East to West 
 More than mere metal, more than mammon can, 
 
 Binds us together — kinsmen, in the best, 
 As most affectionate and frankest bond ; 
 Brethren as one ; and looking far beyond 
 
 The world in an Electric Union blest ! 
 
 Martest F. Tupper. 
 Albury, Guilford. 
 
 The London Times of October 13th gave noble testimo- 
 ny to the fact that the labors of Professor Morse were under- 
 stood and appreciated by men of intelligence in England. The 
 banquet itself was proof of this, and the verdict of the press 
 confirmed it. The distinguished philanthropist, Robert Owen, 
 from his retirement, wrote to the Professor, giving his congratu- 
 lations. And Mr. Morse considered his success as complete, now 
 that England's men of science and men of letters, her greatest 
 and wisest men, had honored him publicly as the inventor of 
 the Recording Telegraph. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 1857. 
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES — EARLY ATTEMPTS — CONSTRUCTION OF THE CABLES — CON- 
 GRESSIONAL ACTION — PROFESSOR MORSE, THE ELECTRICIAN — EMBARKS ON 
 THE NIAGARA LETTERS TO MRS. MORSE EXPERIMENTS WITH DR. "WHITE- 
 HOUSE IN LONDON — LORD MAYOR'S BANQUET — IN PARIS — MR. MASON 
 
 PROFESSOR MORSE'S CLAIM — RETURN TO LONDON — EMBARKING — NARROW 
 ESCAPES — CABLE FESTIVAL — COVE OF CORK — AN ACCIDENT — VALENTIA — 
 SAILING OF THE EXPEDITION PARTING OF THE CABLE ATTEMPT ABAN- 
 DONED FOR THE SEASON RETURN TO NEW YORK — MR. FIELD'S EFFORTS 
 
 THE SECOND EXPEDITION — FAILURE THIRD EXPEDITION THE CABLE LAID 
 
 THE CONTINENTS CONNECTED FIRST MESSAGE GREAT REJOICING 
 
 CELEBRATION THE CABLE SILENT EIGHT TEARS FOURTH EXPEDITION 
 
 — GREAT EASTERN — FAILURE — RETURN — FIFTH EXPEDITION — SUCCESS AT 
 LAST. 
 
 FROM the laying of the first submarine cable, the work of 
 Professor Morse in the harbor of ISTew York in 1842, we 
 hear of no successful attempts until 1849, when it was proposed 
 to unite Dover and Calais by a line across the British Channel. 
 " The wire, it was proved by frequent attempts, could not be 
 wholly insulated, and the electric fluid, as it passed along the ex- 
 posed portions, was so diffused by contact with the water as to 
 lose its efficacy. Hemp, saturated with tar, was employed ; but 
 in course of time it was found that the water penetrated through 
 that covering, and the project was about being abandoned as 
 hopeless, when a new material was discovered, which was found 
 to answer the purpose when every thing else had failed. For- 
 tunately, at this very time, when it was most needed, the valua- 
 ble properties of gutta-percha, and its entire adaptability to this 
 purpose, were made known. It was tested with the most signal 
 
650 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 success — found not only to resist the action of the water, but 
 that it was a perfect non-conductor. This important fact once 
 established, the attempt to construct a submarine telegraph be- 
 tween France and England was made, and with the most grati- 
 fying result. A factory for the manufacture of ' the submarine 
 telegraph cable,' as it was called, was erected in England in 
 1850, and by September of that year twenty-four miles of it were 
 made and ready to be laid down from Calais to Dover. This 
 cable consisted simply of the copper wire, which was about the 
 thickness of an ordinary knitting-needle, and was encased with 
 gutta-percha. At either end, where it lay in shallow water near 
 the shore, it was protected by a covering of thick iron wire. 
 The engraving presents the lateral and end sections of this cable 
 without the wire protector. 
 
 " In the following engravings, the inner core, or conductor, 
 with its gutta-percha coating, is preserved from the action of the 
 water, and from attrition, by the wire protector. 
 
 " This cable was laid in the latter part of August, *1850, be- 
 tween Dover and Calais, Two small steamers were employed 
 in laying it, and the work was accomplished in from six to seven 
 hours. For the purpose of sinking the cable, chunks or weights, 
 of from fourteen to twenty-four pounds each, were fastened to 
 it at distances of the sixteenth of a mile apart. This was an 
 easy matter, the greatest depth not exceeding two hundred feet 
 along the course of the line. In the whole length not more 
 than twenty-four miles of cable were paid out, which was only 
 three more than the actual distance between the two points. It 
 was found, however, a short time after it was laid, that a por- 
 
SUBMARINE CABLES. 651 
 
 tion of it had given way, and the communication was inter- 
 rupted. Under these circumstances, it was deemed advisable to 
 manufacture a cable which would be able to resist all the strain- 
 ing it might be subjected to, and in a comparatively brief period 
 the required article was produced and successfully laid down be- 
 tween the points already named. This cable was composed of 
 four copper wires, or conductors, each insulated with gutta-per- 
 cha, and afterward bound together with hemp steeped in a so- 
 lution of tar and tallow. In this condition it had the appear- 
 ance of a rope about an inch in diameter. Outside of the hemp 
 was the iron wire protector, which increased the diameter to 
 nearly an inch and a half. Nine miles of this cable were manu- 
 factured every day. In the latter part of May, 1852, Great 
 Britain and Ireland were brought into instant communication 
 through the same wonderful agent, the submarine telegraph. 
 The distance between the points of connection — Holyhead and 
 Howth — is sixty-five miles, and the greatest depth five hundred 
 and four feet. There was only one wire in this cable, with the 
 indispensable coating of gutta-percha, which was protected and 
 strengthened by the iron wire covering the outside. It was laid 
 at the rate of four miles an hour, and fell so evenly that only 
 three miles more than the actual distance traversed was required. 
 Scotland and Ireland were connected by a cable of six wires, 
 in May, 1853. The distance is about thirty miles, and was 
 traversed by the steamer in not more than ten hours. The fol- 
 lowing June a cable was laid from Oxf ordness, in England, to 
 the Hague, in Holland, a distance of one hundred and fifteen 
 miles. This task was accomplished in thirty-four hours, and 
 only four and a half miles of cable were required in the paying 
 out over the actual length from point to point, making hardly 
 one hundred and twenty miles altogether. It has been already 
 stated that the New York, Newfoundland and London Tele- 
 graph Company made an attempt in August, 1855, to unite the 
 islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton, but the vessels em- 
 ployed in the work were caught in a gale, the cable was obliged 
 to be cut, and the undertaking abandoned for that time. The 
 cable, as may be seen by the accompanying engravings, which 
 show .the exact size, had three conductors, and was protected in 
 the same manner, by iron wire, as those already described. 
 
652 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 THE FIEST GULF-CABLE. 
 
 " In 1856 the company succeeded in making the desired tele- 
 graphic connection between the opposite shores of Newfound- 
 land and Cape Breton. This time they rejected the three-wire 
 cable and procured a much lighter one, with a single wire, con- 
 sisting of seven strands. This strand was covered with three 
 layers of the purest gutta-percha, separately applied. In the sub- 
 joined engraving is a correct representation of this cable and of 
 its exact size. 
 
 THE SECOND GULF-CABLE. 
 
 " A few weeks after the allied army entered the Crimea, a 
 single-wire cable was laid across the Black Sea, a distance of 
 three hundred and seventy-four miles, between Yarna and Ba- 
 laklava, and it was through this that the English and French 
 Governments were apprised every day of the movements of the 
 belligerent forces on either side." 
 
 This brief outline of the progress of submarine cables was 
 prepared under the eye of Professor Morse when the great ex- 
 pedition of 1857 was about to sail, to lay the cable across the 
 Atlantic Ocean. It was accompanied also with a minute de- 
 scription of the great Atlantic cable. The core, or conductor, 
 was composed, like that of the gulf -cable, of seven copper Vires, 
 wound together in the same manner. The cable was twenty- 
 
MORSE IN LONDON AND PARIS. 653 
 
 « 
 
 five hundred miles in length, the surplus over the actual dis- 
 tance to be traversed being considered necessary in case of 
 emergency to make up for the inequalities in the bed of the 
 ocean and the variations that might be caused by the winds and 
 currents. The protecting wires were made into strands, each 
 
 composed of seven of the best charcoal-iron wires. The aggre- 
 gate length of the smaller wires required in the manufacture of 
 one mile of the cable was one hundred and twenty-six miles, 
 and the whole cable required three hundred and fifteen thousand 
 miles of this wire. 
 
 " The flexibility of this cable was so great that it could be 
 made as manageable as a small rope, and was capable of being 
 tied round the arm without injury. Its weight was bat 1,800 
 pounds to the mile, and its strength such that it would bear in 
 water over six miles of its own length if suspended vertically." 
 
 As the electrician of the company, Mr. Morse's responsibility 
 was great, but, the cable having been made in England, the 
 officers there had it in charge. He embarked at New York on 
 the steam-frigate Niagara, April 21, 1857, to go abroad and give 
 personal attention to the great work. The daily letters that he 
 wrote on board the ship, to his family at home, disclose the in- 
 tense anxiety he felt at every stage of the enterprise. On arriv- 
 ing in London he was hospitably received by Dr. Whitehouse, 
 and entertained at his house in Greenwich. He was invited to 
 dine at the Lord Mayor's, and honored with every attention by 
 men who appreciated the work he had done and was doing. 
 While the vessels were delayed in taking the cable on board, he 
 ^ visited Paris by invitation of Mr. Mason, the American Minister, 
 and had interviews with the Prime-Minister of France. In one 
 of his playful letters to his family, he writes : 
 
 " While I was at Mr. Mason's, one of the young ladies came 
 running to me and said that Lady Elgin was at the door, to make 
 
654 LIFE OF SAMUEL R B. MORSE. 
 
 a call ; so I went with Mr. Mason to the hall-door, and was intro- 
 duced to Lady Elgin, the widow of Lord Elgin, who was so kind to 
 me in Paris in 1838- '39. She had an attack of paralysis, which 
 rendered her lower limbs useless, about the same time that Mr. 
 Mason suffered from a like attack a few years ago. She was drawn 
 to the door in a little hand-carriage, and did not alight ; so we all 
 sat on the steps, and had a pleasant conversation with her. When 
 my name was mentioned, she said she had often heard her husband 
 speak of me and of -the Telegraph. She put me very much in mind 
 of my mother, in her last days. I learned an anecdote of her and 
 Lord Elgin, after she had left. It seems she was the second wife 
 of Lord Elgin, who had first married a very beautiful woman. This 
 first wife was about to visit Italy with her husband. Their prepa- 
 rations had all been made, but, owing to some unforeseen circum- 
 stance, Lord Elgin was obliged to remain some weeks longer, and, 
 not wishing to disappoint his wife, gave her in charge of a friend 
 of his (a Mr. Patterson), to accompany her to Italy, where he pro- 
 posed to join them in the course of two or three weeks. Mr. Patter- 
 son was a good-looking man, while Lord Elgin was far from being 
 so. Mr. Patterson proved himself a villain ; he took advantage of 
 his position, and betrayed the confidence of Lord Elgin, and pre- 
 vailed on the lady to elope with him. Of course the result was 
 divorce ; and Lord Elgin then married the lady whom I saw. The 
 first Lady Elgin, after the divorce, married Patterson. It so hap- 
 pened that Lord and Lady Elgin were in a part of the country 
 where his former wife and Patterson lived, and had proposed to 
 visit a family, which the Pattersons also visited. Something pre- 
 vented Lord and Lady Elgin from fulfilling their engagement with 
 punctuality, and they did not arrive at their friend's house until some 
 hours after the time. The first salutation of the lady of the house 
 to Lady Elgin was, ' I am so glad that you did not come at the time 
 you had appointed, for if you had you would have met here Mrs. 
 Patterson, and I have been nervous all the time lest you should en- 
 counter her ; it would have been so disagreeable to you.' ' Not at 
 all,' said Lady Elgin, ' I should have been glad of the opportunity 
 to thank her for surrendering to me so excellent a husband.' " 
 
 Returning to London, and still delayed, lie writes again to < 
 his wife and children : 
 
 " Greenwich, July 24, 1857. 
 " Yesterday was a most exciting day. Sir Culling Eardley, whose 
 name is well known in the religious world, and who lives at Erith, 
 
MORSE'S REMARKS. 655 
 
 in Kent, not many miles from here, invited the officers and crew of 
 the Agamemnon, the principals and men of the manufacturers of the 
 cable, Messrs. Glass & Co., to a grand fete champetre at his splendid 
 place. Besides these, invitations were sent to a large circle of the 
 nobility, ladies and gentlemen, to the Atlantic Telegraph Company, 
 to the officers of the American frigates, etc. The account of the 
 whole matter will be in the papers this morning." 
 
 At this festival, when Professor Morse was called out to 
 speak for the scientific men of the expedition, lie was received 
 with great applause, and is reported in the papers as saying in 
 the course of his remarks : " We may not then concentrate our 
 plaudits upon any one individual. Many divide the honors. 
 Time would fail me were I to mention their names, and time 
 must not be taken from the enjoyments of the occasion so gen- 
 erously and magnificently provided by our noble host. [Cheers.] 
 It is an unusual spectacle to see England and America, with 
 blended flags, thus united with ships-of-war, not for conquest, 
 nor in hostile array, but in the great interest of universal peace. 
 Is it not an omen of good to mankind ? May God bless the en- 
 terprise ! If he bless it, it succeeds ; if not, it surely fails." 
 
 The departure of the expedition was also attended with sol- 
 emn religious services in which the Divine favor was humbly 
 invoked. From the Cove of Cork he wrote to his wife : 
 
 " When I wrote the finishing sentence of my last letter I was 
 suffering a little from a slight accident to my leg. We were laying 
 out the cable from the two ships, the Agamemnon and Niagara, to 
 connect the two halves of the cable together, to experiment through 
 the whole length of twenty-five hundred miles for the first time. 
 In going down the sides of the Agamemnon, I had to cross over 
 several small boats to reach the outer one, which was to take me on 
 board the tug which had the connecting cable on board ; in stepping 
 from one to the other of the small boats, the water being very rough, 
 and the boats having a good deal of motion, I made a misstep, my 
 right leg being on board the outer boat, and my left leg went down 
 between the two boats, scraping the skin from the upper part of the 
 leg near the knee for some two or three inches. It pained me a little, 
 but not much. Still, I knew from experience that, however slight, 
 and comparatively painless at the time, I should be laid up the next 
 
656 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 day, and possibly for several days. My warm-hearted, generous 
 friend, Sir William O'Shaughnessy, was on board, and, being a sur- 
 geon, lie at once took it in hand, and dressed it, tell Susan, in good 
 hydropathic style, with cold water. I felt so little inconvenience 
 from it at the time, that I assisted throughout the day in laying the 
 cable, and operating through it after it was joined, and had the sat- 
 isfaction of witnessing the successful result of passing the electricity 
 through twenty-five hundred miles, at the rate of one signal in one 
 and a quarter second. Since then, Dr. Whitehouse has succeeded 
 in telegraphing a message through it at the rate of a single signal 
 in three-quarters of a second. If the cable, therefore, is successfully 
 laid, so as to preserve continuity throughout, there is no doubt of 
 our being able to telegraph through, and.at a good commercial speed. 
 I have been on my back for two days, and am still confined to the 
 ship. To-morrow I hope to be well enough to hobble on board the 
 Agamemnon, and assist in some experiments. 
 
 " August 3d, Monday morning, eleven o'clock a. m. — I am still 
 confined, most of the time on my back in my berth, quite to my an- 
 noyance in one respect, to wit, that I am unable to be on board the 
 Agamemnon with Dr. Whitehouse to assist at the experiments. 
 Yet, I have so much to be thankful for that gratitude is the pre- 
 vailing feeling. 
 
 " Our success in the electrical experiments is most gratifying. 
 Mrs. Whitehouse showed me a strip of paper marked on my register 
 with my alphabetic characters, beautifully made, through the whole 
 cable of twenty-five hundred miles, and with a feeble sand-battery 
 of only twelve plates, like one of those in gutta-percha boxes in my 
 instrument-room. If the nautical and engineering departments 
 perform their part successfully, we are now sure of success. 
 
 " Seven o" 1 clock. — All the ships are under way from the Cove of 
 Cork ; the Leopard left first, then the Agamemnon, then the Sus- 
 quehanna, and the Niagara last ; and at this moment we are all 
 off the Head of Kinsale, in the following order : Niagara, Leopard, 
 Agamemnon, Susquehanna. The Cyclops and another vessel, the 
 Advice, left for Valentia on Saturday evening, and with a beau- 
 tiful night before us we hope to be there also by noon to-morrow. 
 This day, three hundred and sixty-five years ago, Columbus sailed 
 on his first voyage of discovery, and discovered America. Good- 
 night, my beloved. 
 
 " Tuesday morning, August Mh, ten a. m. — Off the Skilligs light, 
 of which I send you a sketch. A beautiful morning, with head 
 
PREPARATIONS. 657 
 
 wind and heavy sea, making many sea-sick. We are about fifteen 
 miles from our point of destination. Our companion-skips are out 
 of sight astern, except the Susquehanna, which is behind us only 
 about a mile. In a few hours we hope to reach our expectant 
 friends in Valentia, and to commence the great work in earnest. 
 Our ship is crowded with engineers and operators, and delegates 
 from the Governments of Russia and France ; and the deck is a be- 
 wildering mass of machinery, steam-engines, cog-wheels, breaks, 
 boilers, ropes of hemp and ropes of wire, buoys and boys, pulleys 
 and sheaves of wood and iron, cylinders of wood and cylinders of 
 iron, meters of all kinds, anemometers, thermometers, barometers, 
 electrometers, steam-gauges, speed-measurers, strain-gauges, ships' 
 logs, from the common log to Massey's log, and Friend's log, to our 
 friend Whitehouse's electro-magnetic log, which I think will prove 
 to be the best of all, with a modification I have suggested ; and, 
 thus freighted, we expect to disgorge most of our solid cargo before 
 reaching mid-ocean. I am keeping ready to close this at a mo- 
 ment's warning ; so give all manner of love to all friends, kisses to 
 whom kisses are due. I am getting almost impatient at the delays 
 we necessarily encounter. But our great work must not be neg- 
 lected. I have seen enough to know now that the Atlantic Tele- 
 graph is sure to be established, for it is practicable. We may not 
 succeed in our first attempt, some little neglect or accident may foil 
 our present efforts, but the present enterprise will result in gather- 
 ing stores of experience which will make the next effort certain. 
 Not that I do not expect success now, but accidental failure now 
 will not be the evidence of its impracticability. Our principal 
 electrical difficulty is the slowness with which we must manipulate 
 in order to be intelligible. Ticenty tcords in sixteen minutes is 
 now the rate ; I am confident we can get more after a while, but the 
 Atlantic Telegraph has its own rate of talking, and cannot be urged 
 to speak faster any more than any other orator, without danger of 
 becoming unintelligible. 
 
 " Three o'clock p. m. — We are in Valentia harbor. We shall 
 soon come to anchor. A pilot who has just come to show us our 
 anchorage-ground says, ' There are a power of people ashore.' " 
 
 In other letters he gives the minutest details of the delays, 
 accidents, and fears, by which they were beset, and at length he 
 writes : 
 
 " August 8th. — Yesterday, at half-past six p. M., all being right, 
 42 
 
658 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 we commenced again paying out the heavy shore-end, of which we 
 had about eight miles to be left on the rocky bottom of the coast, 
 to bear the attrition of the waves, and to prevent injury to the deli- 
 cate nerve which it incloses in its iron mail, and which is the living 
 principle of the whole work. A critical time was approaching ; it 
 was when the end of the massive cable should pass overboard at 
 the point where it joins the main and smaller cable. I was in my 
 berth by order of the surgeon, lest my injured limb, which was 
 somewhat inflamed by the excitement of the day and too much 
 walking about, should become worse. Above my head, the heavy 
 rumbling of the great wheels over which the cable was passing, and 
 was being regulated, every now and then giving a tremendous 
 thump, like the discharge of artillery, kept me from sleep, and I 
 knew they were approaching the critical point. Presently it came ; 
 the machinery stopped ; and soon amid the voices I heard the un- 
 welcome intelligence, ' The cable is broke.' Sure enough, the small- 
 er cable at this point had parted ; but, owing to the prudent pre- 
 cautions of those superintending, the end of the great cable had 
 been buoyed, and the hawsers which had been attached secured it. 
 The sea was moderate, the moonlight gave a clear sight of all, and 
 in half an hour the joyous sound of ' All right ! ' was heard, the ma- 
 chinery commenced a low and regular rumbling, like the purring of 
 a great cat, which has continued from that moment (midnight) till 
 the present moment uninterrupted. The coil on deck is most beau- 
 tifully uncoiling, at the rate of three nautical miles an hour. The 
 day is magnificent, the land has almost disappeared, and our com- 
 panion-ships are leisurely sailing with us at equal pace, and we are 
 all of course in fine spirits. I sent you a telegraph dispatch this 
 morning, thirty miles out, which you will duly receive, with others 
 that I shall send if all continues to go on without interruption. If 
 you do receive any, preserve them with the greatest care, for they 
 will be great curiosities." 
 
 " August 10£A, Monday. — Thus far, we have had most delight- 
 ful weather, and every thing goes on regularly and satisfactorily. 
 You are aware we cannot stop night nor day in paying out. On 
 Saturday we made our calculations that the first great coil, which is 
 upon the main deck, would be completely paid out, and one of our 
 critical moments, to wit, the change from this coil to the next, 
 which is far forward, would be made by seven or eight o'clock yes- 
 terday morning (Sunday). So we were up and watching the last 
 flake of the first coil gradually diminishing. Every thing had been 
 
"STOP HER! STOP HER!" 659 
 
 well prepared : the men were at their posts ; it was an anxious mo- 
 ment, lest a kink might occur, but, as the last round came up, the 
 motion of the ship was slightly slackened, the men handled the 
 slack cable handsomely, and in two minutes the change was made 
 with perfect order, and the paying out from the second coil was as 
 regularly commenced, and at this moment continues, and at an in- 
 creased rate to-day of five miles per hour. 
 
 " Last night, however, was another critical moment. On ex- 
 amining our chart of soundings, we found the depth of the ocean 
 gradually increasing up to about four hundred fathoms, and then 
 the chart showed a sudden and great increase to seventeen hundred 
 fathoms, and then a further increase to two thousand and fifty, nearly 
 the greatest depth with which we should meet in the whole distance. 
 We had, therefore, to watch the effect of this additional depth upon 
 the straining of the cable. At two in the morning, the effect showed 
 itself in a greater strain, and a more rapid tendency to run fast. 
 We could check its speed, but it is a dangerous process. Too sud- 
 den a check would inevitably snap the cable. Too slack a rein 
 would allow of its egress at such a wasting rate, and at such a vio- 
 lent speed, that we should lose too great a portion of the cable, and 
 its future stopping within controllable limits be almost impossible. 
 Hence our anxiety. All were on the alert ; our expert engineers 
 applied the brakes most judiciously, and at the moment I write — 
 latitude 52° 28' — the cable is being laid at the depth of two miles 
 in its ocean-bed as regularly, and with as much facility, as it was in 
 the depth of a few fathoms. After the critical point of change yes- 
 terday from coil one to coil two (there are five coils altogether), we 
 had our Sunday services on deck. Read the portion of the Psalms, 
 morning prayer for 9th of the month ; } t ou will see there is much ap- 
 positeness in its tone and character to our situation. The more I 
 contemplate this great undertaking, the more I feel my own little- 
 ness, and the more I perceive the hand of God in it, and how he 
 has assigned to various persons their duties, he being the great 
 controller, all others his honored instruments. No single human 
 being can appropriate to himself the exclusive honors of this enter- 
 prise, for in no human being do the various and almost opposite 
 qualities exist necessary to be combined before it can be consum- 
 mated. Hence our dependence first of all on God, then on each 
 other. 
 
 " Six p. m. — We have just had a fearful alarm. ' Stop her ! stop 
 her ! ' was reiterated from many voices on deck. On going up I 
 
660 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 perceived the cable had got out of its sheaves, and was running out 
 at great speed. All was confusion for a few moments. Mr. Can- 
 ning, our friend, who was the engineer of the Newfoundland cable, 
 showed great presence of mind, and to his coolness and skill I think 
 is due the remedying of the evil. By rope-stoppers, the cable was 
 at length brought to a stand-still, and it strained most ominously, 
 perspiring at every part large tar-drops. But it held together long 
 enough to put the cable on its sheaves again. 
 
 " Tuesday, August Wth. — Abruptly, indeed, am I stopped in my 
 letter. This morning, at 3.45, the cable parted^ and we shall soon 
 be on our way back to England." 
 
 Mr. Charles T. Bright, who was in charge of the paying-out 
 machine, gave a minute account of the fatal accident. "Its 
 origin," he says, " was no doubt the amount of retarding strain 
 upon the cable, but had the machine been properly manipulated 
 at the time it could not possibly have taken place. I had at- 
 tended personally to the regulation of the breaks; but, find- 
 ing that all was going on well, and it being necessary that I 
 should be temporarily away from the machine to ascertain the 
 rate of the ship, and to see how the cable was coming out of 
 the hold, and also to visit the electrician, the machine was for 
 the moment left in charge of a mechanic who had been engaged 
 from the first in its construction and fitting, and was acquainted 
 with its operation. I was proceeding to the fore-part of the 
 ship, when I heard the machine stop ; I immediately called out 
 to ease the break and reverse the engine of the ship, but when 
 I reached the spot the cable was broken." Professor Morse, the 
 next day, wrote again to his wife : 
 
 " You will perhaps be surprised to learn that I have not left my 
 berth for three days. The accident to my leg, in the Cove of Cork, 
 when engaged in connecting the two halves of the cable, is the 
 cause. Athough apparently slight, I took too much exercise with 
 it, and consequently have now been compelled to lie quiet. I do 
 not suffer except from the irksomeness of the confinement, while so 
 much of interest has been enacted on deck, which I have not visited 
 since the parting of the cable. And, moreover, my hurt on the leg 
 is healing kindly and rapidly." 
 
 " August 13, three o'clock p. m. — A beautiful day, and we are 
 now under full steam and sail for Plymouth. The Agamemnon and 
 
NOT DISCOURAGED. 661 
 
 Susquehanna are in sight for the same destination. The Cyclops 
 took Mr. Field to Valentia, and the Leopard at the same time 
 sailed for Plymouth, leaving us to make several important ex- 
 periments bearing upon the Atlantic Telegraph, which consumed 
 nearly the whole day. I was unable to be on deck, but I learned 
 the results, which are for the most part very satisfactory. Our 
 accident will delay the enterprise, but will not defeat it. I con- 
 sider it a settled fact, from all I have seen, that it is perfectly practi- 
 cable. It will surely be accomplished. There is no insurmountable 
 difficulty that has for a moment appeared, none that has shaken my 
 faith in it in the slightest degree. My report to the company, as 
 co-electrician, will show every thing right in that department. We 
 got an electric current through till the moment of parting, so that 
 electric connection was perfect, and yet the farther we paid out the 
 feebler were the currents, indicating a difficulty which, however, I do 
 not consider serious, while it is of a nature to require attentive in- 
 vestigation." 
 
 PROFESSOR MORSE TO MR. SAWARD. 
 
 In the midst of this disappointment, and while still confined 
 to his berth, Professor Morse addressed a letter to the company : 
 
 " United States Steam-Frigate Niagara, ) 
 Plymouth Harbor, August 18, 1857. j 
 
 "Dear Sir: Your letter of the 17th instant is just received, 
 and to it I send a brief answer by telegraph, as you requested. I 
 take advantage of Captain Hudson's departure for London to write 
 to you, since the hurt I received in the Cove of Cork, while con- 
 necting the two parts of the cable, has shown itself to be more 
 serious than I anticipated, and so confining me to my berth now for 
 a week, with an uncertain prospect of release ; I am thus unable, 
 most unfortunately for myself, to be with you in your consultation ; 
 nevertheless, although deprived of being present in person, I will 
 venture a few remarks by letter, giving the conclusions to which I 
 have come in reflecting upon the condition of our enterprise. 
 
 " We have met with a misfortune, viewed in some of its aspects, 
 but in others a providential interference to insure final success. It 
 is not in accordance with the law of success in any great enterprise 
 that every part of our plans should go smoothly forward. Partial 
 failures ought to be expected, and it is neither wise nor just to leave 
 such probable failures out of our calculations. What, then, is the 
 state of the enterprise ? We had a cable of some 2,300 miles. We 
 
662 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 still have some 2,000 miles left, so that the loss is but about 300 
 miles. What had been gained by this loss ? An amount of expe- 
 rience and knowledge for which the loss of 300 miles of cable is a 
 cheap purchase. Better to lose 300 miles than the whole cable. It 
 has been shown by our experience that the rate of safe paying out 
 will require more surplusage than had been provided. In the deep- 
 est soundings it has been demonstrated that to check the speed of 
 the cable to accommodate it to the speed of the ship is fatal, and it 
 has taught us that the proper remedy in such an exigency is to in- 
 crease the speed of the ship, even at the sacrifice of the deposit of 
 more cable. 
 
 " I would say it with all deference, too, that the instructions de- 
 volving so much of duty and responsibility upon the engineers, 
 and at the same time depriving the nautical department of duties 
 and responsibilities which appropriately belonged to it, have been 
 shown by the event to have been injudicious. The safe deposit of 
 the cable from on shipboard involves duties, it is true, of a mixed 
 character ; but the duties are more nautical than engineering, and 
 ought not to have been devolved upon any one individual unless 
 possessed of the rare qualifications of a knowledge of both depart- 
 ments. Had our ingenious engineer possessed the nautical knowl- 
 edge which experienced seamen have at command, as it were by in- 
 stinct, the engineering remedy, the fatal brake, would not have been 
 applied without making account of the nautical risk of such an act, 
 engendered by the rate of the ship's progress and the surging of the 
 sea. "We learn by mistakes. My object is by no means to censure 
 the past, but to hint a remedy for the future. 
 
 " Have we not gained as well as lost by this check ? We have 
 demonstrated that the cable, so far as strength and capability of 
 being paid out is concerned, is well devised and well made. No 
 change for the present is desirable, although future cables may 
 doubtless be better constructed to accomplish better telegraphic 
 results by taking advantage of the discoveries and additions of 
 science. 
 
 " We have demonstrated that either of the two plans of splicing 
 in mid-ocean is practicable. 
 
 " We have demonstrated that the cable, once paid out from the 
 ship, is not recoverable with any certainty by the means at present 
 devised on board. 
 
 " We have demonsti-ated that the cable can be laid out. 
 
 " Now with regard to the future : 
 
POSTPONEMENT NECESSARY. 663 
 
 " The advanced state of the season opposes an obstacle to any 
 further attempt at laying the cable this year. 
 
 " Before a supply of the quantity lost can be had and coiled on 
 board ship the season of rough weather sets in, adding untried diffi- 
 culties to the undertaking. Hence a postponement till the mild 
 season of June or July of another year would seem desirable. There 
 may be inconveniences, but there are also advantages in the delay. 
 Not the least of the latter is the furnishing our worthy electrician, 
 Dr. Whitehouse, with his other scientific associates, an opportunity 
 to experiment during the winter with the entire cable, and to devise 
 means for more rapid transmission and in greater quantity in a given 
 time. Compelled as I am to return to my home, I can derive no 
 benefit immediately in my own studies from this arrangement, but 
 it would be most gratifying to me if this accident, so called, should 
 prove in this way a means of benefiting the company to an amount 
 far exceeding the cost of the entire enterprise. That this, with 
 such opportunities, is likely to be the result of scientific investiga- 
 tion, I have the strongest faith, and, should this happen as one of 
 the effects of what otherwise is a disappiontment and seems a frown, 
 we shall all derive a most salutary lesson to trust in him who dis- 
 poses of all events for the greatest good, and with whom — if we 
 were indeed sincere in our trust and in our submission to his will — 
 we professed to leave the disposal of our whole enterprise. With 
 sincere respect, your most obedient servant, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 
 " To George Saward, Esq., Secretary of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, etc." 
 
 Professor Morse's letters to his family continue the history 
 of the enterprise, the discouragements, the heroic endeavors, the 
 perseverance, and hopes of its friends. In September he returned 
 to New York in the steamer Arabia. The London directors 
 ordered seven hundred miles of cable to be manufactured to sup- 
 ply the place of what had been lost. Mr. Field returned to the 
 United States and secured the continued assistance of our Gov- 
 ernment in the use of the ships to repeat the experiment. He 
 then went to London, and was made general manager of the 
 company. This office he accepted, but declined to receive any 
 salary or any extra compensation for his services. He engaged 
 the efficient services of Mr. William E. Everett, the American 
 engineer of the steamship Niagara. Mr. Everett constructed a 
 
664 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 machine for paying out the cable, which promised to obviate all 
 the difficulties and the dangers attending th e one in use the year 
 before. The American ship, the' Susquehanna, being detained 
 in the West Indies with the yellow fever on board, the British 
 Government supplied her place with the Valorous, and the new 
 squadron sailed from Plymouth May 29, 1858, on the second 
 Atlantic-Telegraph expedition. After putting out to sea and 
 making a few experiments by way of testing the new machinery, 
 the squadron set off on its mission June 10, 1858, the Niagara 
 and the Agamemnon being followed by the Yalorous and the 
 Gorgon. Three days of fair weather were succeeded by a fear- 
 ful storm. A series of gales scattered the little fleet. Some of 
 the vessels narrowly escaped destruction. On the 25th of June 
 they found each other again. The Agamemnon had suffered 
 severely, and so had the cable on board of her. After repairing 
 damages the vessels proceeded to mid-ocean. The Niagara and 
 the Agamemnon, having joined the cable, parted company, each 
 steaming away with its portion of the mighty coil, to its own 
 country. Fifty, one hundred, two hundred miles were paid out, 
 and, at the moment when all doubt of success had disappeared, 
 the cable gave way at the stern of the Agamemnon ! 
 
 The fleet returned to Queenstown. But Mr. Field and his 
 associates would not abandon the attempt. Every failure was 
 met with fresh resolution. The world never saw sublimer hero- 
 ism. July 17, 1858, the third expedition left the Cove of Cork, 
 with the agreement among the commanders of the several ves- 
 sels to rendezvous in mid-ocean, which was reached by the last 
 of the vessels in eleven days. The splice was soon effected, and 
 again the two old friends, the Niagara and Agamemnon, bade 
 each other a brief "good-by" and started with their burdens 
 for their own lands. Signals were, constantly passed between 
 the two ships. On the 1th day of August the Niagara safely 
 entered Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, with her precious freight, 
 and on the next day the cable was made fast to the American 
 shore. On the same day the Agamemnon landed her end of the 
 cable at Yalentia, and the continents of Europe and America 
 were united ! 
 
 The enthusiastic joy of the American people on this result 
 found expression in thanksgiving to him who rules the winds 
 
THE CABLE FAILS. 665 
 
 and waves. Several days of great anxiety were passed while 
 preparations were made for the practical working of the cable, 
 and on the 16th day of August, 1858, a message from the Qeeen 
 of England was received, addressed to the President of the 
 United States. Celebrations followed. In the city of New 
 York the demonstration was on a scale of magnificence rarely 
 surpassed by festivities that have signalized the most important 
 events in its history. The successful efforts of Mr. Cyrus "W. 
 Field were acknowledged with every token of grateful recog- 
 nition. 
 
 In the midst of these rejoicings the Atlantic cable suddenly 
 ceased to do its duty. It died and made no sign. Consterna- 
 tion, then distrust, filled the public mind. Several private and 
 a few public messages had been received by it from Europe. 
 On the 27th day of August intelligence was received of a British 
 treaty with China, allowing the Christian religion. But on the 
 1st day of September the cable ceased to speak. The cause of 
 this sad failure has been a mystery to the public. It was even 
 asserted that the cable was never operated at all, and many still 
 believe that no messages were received by it from the other side. 
 But the cable did work, although very imperfectly and irregularly, 
 twenty days. In that time 129 messages were received at New- 
 foundland from Yalentia, containing 1,474 words and 7,253 let- 
 ters, and a still larger number were sent from this to the other 
 side and there received. The intended return of two regiments 
 of the British army from Canada was countermanded by a cable 
 message, saving to the Government the sum of £250,000., Mr. 
 George B. Prescott, the eminent American electrician, attributes 
 the failure to the imperfect mode in which the cable was manu- 
 factured, and the improper manner in which it was cared for 
 afterward, the conducting wire being left so much exposed by 
 the melting and breaking of the gutta-percha that its insulation 
 was destroyed. 
 
 In January, 1864, Mr. Field was once more on his way to 
 England. In the mean time he had toiled with indefatigable 
 perseverance, to serve an enterprise which to all appearance was 
 as dead as the host of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. When public 
 confidence began to revive, and it was believed that the British 
 Government would guarantee the interest on the stock of the 
 
666 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Telegraph Company, if their cable should he laid successfully, 
 the Red-Sea-Telegraph cable, which had been laid by a company 
 having a government guarantee, died suddenly in its bed, as the 
 Atlantic cable had perished. But the British Government was 
 always disposed to promote the Atlantic Telegraph, and did 
 engage to pay eight per cent, on £600,000 of new capital, for 
 twenty-five years,, if the cable were successfully laid, and made 
 to operate during that time. Mr. Field enlisted Mr. Thomas 
 Brassey in the great work, with Mr. John Pender, Mr. John 
 Chatterton, and others, and, by a union of the Gutta-Percha 
 Company with Glass, Elliot & Co., a new cable was made. 
 The Great Eastern, the largest steamship in the world, was pur- 
 chased ; the cable was put on board, and the command was given 
 to Captain Anderson. On the 15th day of July, 1865, the 
 Great Eastern set off for Yalentia Bay ; there the cable was 
 secured to the shore, and on the 23d day of July she left for 
 the New World. The expedition had reached a point within six 
 hundred miles of Newfoundland, when the cable parted, and 
 twelve hundred miles of it were left in the bottom of the sea. 
 To recover it seemed the most hopeless of all human undertak- 
 ings. The attempt' was made ; three times it was caught and 
 raised toward the surface, but as often the ropes by which it was 
 drawn up failed to bear the strain, and the cable sank again into 
 its ocean-bed. The Great Eastern returned to England. A 
 new company was formed, called the Anglo-American Telegraph 
 Company. A new cable was made. The Great Eastern received 
 it, and on Friday, July 13, 1866, after solemn religous ser- 
 vices in which the favor of God was heartily invoked, once 
 more it left Yalentia Bay for the Bay of Newfoundland. 
 The work proceeded daily without interruption by accident. 
 Messages from all parts of Europe and the East were daily 
 received on the Great Eastern. On Friday, July 27, 1866, the 
 cable was safely landed on the American shore. Again the 
 Eastern and Western Hemispheres were united. The great 
 work was successfully accomplished. From that day to this the 
 Atlantic cable has done its duty. 
 
OHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 1858-1859. 
 
 RETURN TO AMERICA — WINTER IN NEW TORE — BRIDAL PARTY AND FESTIVITIES 
 — INVITED TO PARIS — PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY — INSTRUCTION TO 
 FARMER AND COACHMAN — VOYAGE — REMARKABLE PREDICTION AND FUL- 
 FILLMENT — PARIS— ^BANQUET — MEMORIAL TO FOREIGN POWERS — HON. 
 LEWIS CASS — HON. JOHN Y. MASON — THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT — CON- 
 VENTION CALLED — GOVERNMENTS REPRESENTED — COUNT WALEWSKl's LET- 
 TER TO PROFESSOR MORSE — PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION — AMOUNT 
 OF AWARD — PROPORTION OF THE SEVERAL GOVERNMENTS — SUMMARY OF 
 FOREIGN DISTINCTIONS — VISIT TO THE WEST INDIES — ERECTION OF A TELE- 
 GRAPH—SOUTHERN ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENCE LETTER 
 
 FROM PROFESSOR STEINHEIL — MORSE'S REPLY — PROPOSAL TO RAISE A TES- 
 TIMONIAL TO STEINHEIL — PROFESSOR MORSE'S RETURN — RECEPTION AT 
 POUGHKEEPSIE. 
 
 THE official connection of Professor Morse with the Atlantic 
 cable enterprise was terminated when the new company 
 was organized in London, in 1857. He was not elected an 
 honorary director. The reason assigned for his omission was 
 that he had taken no stock in the new company. As the com- 
 pany was not formed nntil after he had left England, and he had 
 no opportunity to subscribe, the reason was not satisfactory to 
 him. In the midst of rivalries and jealousies among companies, 
 capitalists, scientists, and others interested, it is possible that 
 his services in the board, and as electrician, were dispensed with 
 for some other reason than the one assigned. Whatever was 
 the real cause, the fact was personally mortifying to the great 
 inventor of the enterprise, if it were not also injurious to the 
 interests of the new company. 
 
 Arriving in New York early in October from England, he 
 
668 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 passed a few weeks at his country-seat, and then removed to the 
 city, where he spent the winter. His correspondence occupied 
 all the time that he could save from public and social duties. 
 Among the many and curious applications made to him at this 
 moment was one from a French countess, who claimed that in 
 1832, a quarter of a century before, she had consigned a number 
 of prints to his care, with a request that he would place them in 
 the hands of some dealer in New York, to be sold for her bene- 
 fit. He had forgotten to whom he confided them, and had no 
 means of knowing whether they had ever been sold or not. As 
 he was informed that the countess was in distress, he sent her 
 the full amount of her claim for the value of the prints, placing 
 the matter upon grounds of personal obligation, so that there 
 should be no hesitation on her part in receiving the money. He 
 says to the consul who had brought the subject to his notice : 
 "The letter of the countess which you have obligingly for- 
 warded to me, informs me that she is in distress, having lost her 
 sister and her fortune. There are other obligations than those 
 of an equitable pecuniary character, which prompt me to view 
 her claim upon me as more than equitable. I have grateful 
 recollections of kindness shown to me by these amiable ladies 
 during the prevalence of the cholera scourge in Paris in 1832, 
 and I feel happy in having an opportunity of showing my sense 
 of that kindness." 
 
 The spring and early summer of 1858 at Locust Grove were 
 enlivened by a wedding-party from New Orleans ; Mrs. Morse's 
 brother-in-law, Mr. Goodrich, coming North with his bride. 
 Professor "Wier, of West Point, who had won the honor, which 
 Professor Morse had so ardently desired, of painting the picture 
 for the Potunda of the Capitol, was invited to his house, with 
 Gouverneur Kemble, Esq., of Cold Spring, and others. The 
 mansion was a scene of prolonged festivity, and the most refined 
 and elegant hospitalities. 
 
 At this time, a congress of European Governments was dis- 
 cussing at Paris the question of giving to this private citizen, on 
 the banks of the Hudson Piver, a pecuniary testimonial of the 
 distinguished benefits which those foreign peoples had received 
 from his invention of the Telegraph. 
 
 The Hon. J. T. Mason, Minister of the United States to 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR ABSENCE. 669 
 
 France, wrote to Professor Morse, advising him to come imme- 
 diately to Paris. He says : " The prospects of success are 
 brighter than ever ; come over as soon as yon can." Yielding 
 to this suggestion, he made preparations for the jonrney, and for 
 a protracted absence, shonld he find it desirable to remain abroad. 
 If it has been supposed that his mind was absorbed in the Tele- 
 graph to the exclusion of the petty details of ordinary life, the 
 idea will be dispelled by observing the minute instructions which 
 he left in writing for the management of his farm while he was 
 absent. He rented the mansion and immediate grounds to B. 
 Hinckley, Esq., and in a note to him says : " May I ask your 
 attention to the condition of my carriages, wagons, sleighs, etc., 
 occasionally asking Thomas Bennett about them, simply to show 
 that he has one supervising him ? And so of the others." To 
 his hired men he gave written directions, going into the most 
 minute details of the farm and stock. A few extracts will illus- 
 trate his prudent care : 
 
 " Instructions to Mr. Luckey. 
 
 " In the conduct of the farm while I am gone, I wish the old bay 
 horse and old cream horse to be under your care and use for farm- 
 ing purposes, and for Thomas the gardener's service for the garden 
 and grapery. I do not wish your son Frank to use or drive any of 
 my horses. The hay and grain I wish to have estimated, and an ac- 
 curate account kept of their use, to be shown me when I return. 
 The hogs, after being slaughtered at the proper time, may be sold 
 for me. So also those cattle it may be advisable to fatten for sale. 
 Oifer them to Messrs. Pine & Spencer, and, if they will give a fair 
 price, let them take them on account. I leave funds and directions 
 with Mr. Hinckley to pay you every month. In case of any emer- 
 gency, ask advice of Mr. Hinckley, who is authorized by me to 
 direct respecting all matters about the place. The milk, cream, 
 and butter, dispose of for me to Mr. Hinckley's family, or others, if 
 he does not take all. Keep account also of these articles, and all 
 the produce of the farm. Store away potatoes enough to last me 
 from May until potatoes come in again. In winter see to having 
 the ice-house filled with good ice, with the assistance of Thomas 
 Bennett and Thomas Devoy. Cut down dead trees and remove 
 stumps. Put the embankment against the fence in good order. 
 Select out the larger stone from the wall that was taken away, such 
 
670 LIFE or SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 as will do for building-stone, and draw them into the yard, piling 
 them up for future use. The smaller stone may remain and be 
 broken up for a foundation for a pathway on the road. Leave a 
 culvert through it and a drain (open), for the water to flow off on 
 the south side of the road down the north dell. You may get from 
 Collinwood the usual quantity of coal (four tons), and have it 
 charged to me. I have given orders to that effect, and for Thomas 
 Devoy also (two tons). When the time comes for paying tax, direct 
 the collector to call on Mr. Hinckley for mine, as he is authorized to 
 pay it for me. Thomas Bennett and Thomas Devoy will both be 
 paid by Mr. Hinckley, who has funds of mine for the purpose." 
 
 " Thomas Devoy. 
 
 " I wish you to take care of the garden and grapery, and lawns, 
 as usual ; and you may dispose of the produce of the garden to the 
 best advantage to Messrs. Carpenters & Brothers, Main Street, or 
 to Mr. Pine, or to others, if better terms can be had. Send to my 
 son Charles, through Mr. Luckey, by the barge, corn, squashes, beets, 
 and early potatoes, and also a few grapes. I have requested Mr. 
 Luckey to allow you, as you can agree with each other, as to time, 
 the use of the old cream, horse, and the old bay horse, to draw muck 
 and bones, and manure for the garden and grapery. I wish that 
 there may be mutual helping of each other in this and other res- 
 pects, and, in case of needing advice, advise with Mr. Hinckley, 
 who, while he rents my house, is chief supervisor of the place. 
 When melons, and corn, squashes, beets, and grapes, are ripe, make 
 up a liberal parcel in a large basket, and send same to the directress 
 of the ' Home of the Friendless.' And send also a basket of veg- 
 etables and fruits occasionally to Rev. Mr. Ludlow, while he is in 
 Poughkeepsie. You may get from Mr. Haggerty three hundred 
 asparagus-plants of the best kind, say about a dollar per hundred, 
 and twelve hyacinth-flower bulbs, at not over twenty-five cents 
 apiece, and one hundred tulip-bulbs, at not over seventy-five cents 
 per hundred. Take good care of the tools, and every thing in your 
 department." 
 
 " Thomas Bennett. 
 
 '" I wish you to take charge of the span of horses while I am ab- 
 sent, letting them rest, except such exercise as may be good for 
 them, taking off their shoes and letting them run when proper in 
 the field. Also take under your charge the pony in the same way ; 
 
DEPARTURE FOR EUROPE. 671 
 
 and old bay (Tommy) keep for the use of Mr. Hinckley, who, if he 
 uses him, will be at the expense of his feed. Look after the car- 
 riages, wagons, and sleighs ; see that they are housed in good or- 
 der. Assist Mr. Luckey on the farm, and Thomas Devoy in the gar- 
 den, as you and they can arrange to the best advantage. In case 
 of any difficulty, apply to Mr. Hinckley for advice, who has the 
 chief supervision of my place while he rents my house. I know 
 that you are an industrious man, and I have full confidence that 
 you will lend your aid cheerfully in any labors on the farm and in 
 the garden, as well as about the horses and barns. Mr. Hinckley 
 has funds to pay you your monthly wages on the 1st of each month, 
 according to a schedule I have left with him." 
 
 July 24, 1858, Professor Morse, with his family and other 
 relatives, making a party of fifteen, sailed from New York, in 
 the steamer Fulton, for Havre. On the steamer with him was 
 one of his neighbors from Poughkeepsie, who has furnished a 
 remarkable incident illustrating the penetration and judgment 
 of the Professor. It will be remembered that the Atlantic cable 
 was landed on both shores of the ocean on the same day, Au- 
 gust 5, 1858, and that after messages had passed through the 
 cable about twenty days, each way, it suddenly ceased to speak, 
 and has remained dumb to this day. On the day that messages 
 began to pass, the steamer Fulton, with Mr. Morse on board, was 
 approaching the coast of England. Jacob S. Jewett, Esq., in a 
 letter to the author of this memoir, dated March 18, 1874, 
 writes : • 
 
 " I thought it might interest you to know when and how Pro- 
 fessor Morse received the first tidings of the success of the Atlantic 
 cable. I accompanied him to Europe on the steamer Fulton, which 
 sailed from New York July 24, 1858. We were nearing Southamp- 
 ton, when a sail-boat was noticed approaching, and soon our vessel 
 was boarded by a young man who sought an interview with Pro- 
 fessor Morse, and announced to him that a message from America 
 had just been received, the first that had passed along the wire 
 lying upon the bed of the ocean. Professor Morse was, of course, 
 greatly delighted, but, turning to me, said, ' This is very gratifying r , 
 but it is doubtful whether many more messages will be received? 
 and gave as his reason that ' the cable had been so long stored in 
 an improper place, that much of the coating had been destroyed, 
 
672 LIFE or SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and the cable was in other respects injured.' His prediction proved 
 to be true." 
 
 Probably Professor Morse was the only man living who enter- 
 tained that opinion at that time. But with the evidence before 
 him that the cable had been successfully laid ; that a message, 
 fulfilling his early predictions, had been received ; with every 
 motive for wishing it to be permanently successful; and at 
 a crisis when he was hoping for a testimonial from the Euro- 
 pean powers, which might be defeated by the failure of the 
 cable, he expressed his belief that the cable would not continue 
 to do its work, and that the first few messages would be the last. 
 Had he been in the Board of Direction, had his judgment and 
 experience as electrician been employed, that great calamity 
 which cost millions of money and eight years of delay in the 
 use of the Ocean Telegraph would, in all human probability, 
 have been averted. 
 
 Landing at Southampton, he went to the Continent. On his 
 arrival in Paris he was received with enthusiasm by his country- 
 men residing there. They tendered him the honor of a banquet, 
 saying in their note that they desired to give him " some special 
 mark of their exalted appreciation of his personal character, and 
 the achievements of his genius." At this banquet Colonel John 
 S. Preston presided. The vice-president was the Hon. Hamilton 
 Fish, and the guests especially invited were Hon. J. T. Mason, 
 Hon. J. P. Chandler, and Pev. P. H. Seeley, of the American 
 chapel. Senator Charles Sumner was in Paris, but, his physician 
 not allowing him to attend any public occasions of excitement, 
 he sent a letter to Professor Morse, in which he said : " Through 
 you, civilization has made one of her surest and grandest tri- 
 umphs, beyond any ever won on any field of blood ; nor do I go 
 beyond the line of most cautious truth, when I add that, if man- 
 kind had yet arrived at a just appreciation of its benefactors, it 
 would welcome such a conqueror with more than a marshal's ba- 
 ton." The speeches that were made on this occasion by Mr. Pish, 
 Mr. Seeley, and others, have been referred to already in the testi- 
 mony which they furnished as to the time when Professor Morse 
 first brought his Telegraph into actual operation. In his own 
 remarks Professor Morse took occasion to speak in warm terms 
 
TESTIMONY TO STEINHEIL. 673 
 
 of commendation of other inventors, and especially of the mag- 
 nanimous and amiable Bavarian philosopher, Steinheil. " He 
 alone," said Professor Morse, " of all the projectors, entertained 
 the thought in 1837 of a recording Telegraph. It is to the 
 magnanimity of Steinheil that I owe much of my European 
 fame." 
 
 THE EUROPEAN TESTIMONIAL. 
 
 In the year 1857, by the advice of friends holding high official 
 stations, Professor Morse had issued a memorial, setting forth 
 the grounds on which he based a claim to some indemnity from 
 the different governments of the European states within whose 
 territories his Telegraph was in use. General Cass, Secretary of 
 State, with great kindness, sent copies of the memorial to the 
 several diplomatic representatives of the United States at the 
 courts in Europe, with a personal letter intimating to each of 
 the ministers that no objection is entertained to their forwarding 
 Mr. Morse's views by means of unofficial oral communications, 
 and other personal good offices with the authorities of the sev- 
 eral governments. Hon. John Y. Mason, American Minister in 
 France, entered very heartily into the service, and in a letter to 
 Mr. Cass, dated August 22, 1857, recites the steps that were 
 taken to bring about a convention of the several powers to take 
 the subject into consideration, and secure substantial justice to 
 Professor Morse. Mr. Mason wrote : 
 
 " Mr. Morse submitted his claim to the French Government 
 through the Minister of the Interior. He presented a statement 
 of facts prepared by himself, which was so equitable that it was 
 hardly possible for the emperor's Government to deny relief. He 
 showed that he complied with the French law, paid the usual 
 charges and obtained a patent ; that this patent gave to him the 
 exclusive use of the invention in France ; that the Government had 
 forbidden his putting it in operation for reasons of state policy, 
 which destroyed his privilege ; that the Government had subse- 
 quently adopted the invention, to the exclusion of all other modes 
 of telegraphic communication, openly acknowledging it as the Morse 
 system, without arrangement with him or making compensation for 
 thus taking his acknowledged private property for public use. The 
 use of his system had promoted facility and accuracy in transmission 
 of telegraphic communications, and produced great economy. The 
 43 
 
674 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Minister of the Interior, who has charge of the whole system of 
 telegraphing, of which the Government is a monopolist, after con- 
 sidering his petition for many months, announced to Mr. Morse that 
 the French Government would confer with the different govern- 
 ments of Europe, and unite in a compensation to him bearing some 
 proportion to the benefits conferred by the result of his genius. 
 
 " The minister suggested that this should be done at Paris. This 
 decision necessarily implied that Mr. Morse was to be rewarded ; that 
 the French Government would make compensation, and that other 
 governments ought to do the same. But it presented a serious 
 difficulty in this, that the ministers representing other governments 
 in Paris would not engage in the execution of the proposed plan 
 without instructions of their respective governments ; he could not 
 approach them, and I could not aid him in promoting such co- 
 operation, and thus a modest and meritorious citizen, whose genius 
 had produced an invention, by general consent his property, which 
 reflected honor on him and on his country, was likely to lose an 
 acknowledged demand simply because the suggested plan for his 
 relief was impracticable to him. I am persuaded that the instruc- 
 tions which you have given will relieve him of these difficulties, 
 thrown in his way by a suggestion generously and in good faith 
 made by the French minister. Believing that the reward is well 
 deserved, I shall be gratified to contribute to its accomplishment. 
 But I will take care to observe strictly the caution and keep within 
 the limits prescribed by your instruction." 
 
 More than a year elapsed, and Mr. Mason again wrote to Mr. 
 Cass, announcing the result. 
 
 Mr. Mason to Mr. Cass. 
 " Legation of the United States, Paeis, September 9, 1858. 
 " Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of /State : 
 
 " Sir : After receiving your dispatch No. 122, which you ad- 
 dressed to me under date of July 31, 1857, I availed myself of the 
 first opportunity, in conversation with the Minister of Foreign Af- 
 fairs, to inform him of my precise position in reference to the affair 
 of Professor S. F. B. Morse, in which I was assured that the Impe- 
 rial Government had generously manifested an interest. His excel- 
 lency appreciated the reasons which had influenced my Government 
 in its instructions to the ministers of the United States in Europe. 
 
 " I have, in the progress of the affair, more than once conversed 
 
THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. 675 
 
 with Count Walewski, in regard to it, but always at his own in- 
 stance, and have been happy to find that ten of the European gov- 
 ernments have, without solicitation, united in an act not more hon- 
 orable to Professor Morse than to themselves. Professor Morse is 
 at present in Switzerland. A few days since the chef du cabinet 
 of Count Walewski called at my house, and informed me that the 
 final sitting of the ministers had taken place, and his excellency de- 
 sired to know if it would be agreeable to me to receive and com- 
 municate to Mr. Morse a letter and a proces-verbal of the pro- 
 ceedings of the conference. I replied that it always gave me pleas- 
 ure to comply with his excellency's wishes, and never more so than 
 when made the organ of a communication showing that the Impe- 
 rial Government has generously and earnestly interested itself in 
 doing honor to a distinguished and esteemed fellow-citizen. I have 
 since received from Count Walewski a letter, of which I send you 
 a copy. I have placed the letter addressed to him and the proces- 
 verbal intended for him in the hands of Professor Morse's agent 
 here, and the professor will, I presume, acknowledge their receipt 
 directly to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. If he desires me to do 
 so, I will transmit his reply. I am gratified at the result of an 
 affair which seemed, and would have been, hopeless, but for the 
 action and generous support voluntarily given to Mr. Morse by the 
 Imperial Government. 
 
 " I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
 
 " J. Y. Mason." 
 
 The letter of Count Walewski to Professor Morse, and the 
 proceedings of the convention, form the most brilliant chapter 
 in the life of a private individual. 
 
 Letter of Count Waleicski to Professor Morse. 
 
 "Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris, September 1, 1858. 
 " Sir : It is with a lively satisfaction that I have the honor to 
 announce to you that a sum of four hundred thousand francs will be 
 remitted to you, in four annuities, in the name of France, of Aus- 
 tria, of Belgium, of the Netherlands, of Piedmont, of Russia, of the 
 Holy See, of Sweden, of Tuscany, and of Turkey, as an honorary 
 gratuity, and as a reward, altogether personal, of your useful labors. 
 Nothing can better mark, than this collective act of reward, "the 
 sentiment of public gratitude which your invention has so justly 
 excited. 
 
676 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " The emperor has already given you a testimonial of his high 
 esteem, when he conferred upon you, more than a year ago, the 
 decoration of a Chevalier of his order of the Legion of Honor. 
 You will find a new mark of it in the initiative which his Majesty 
 wished that his Government should take in this conjuncture ; and 
 the decision that I charge myself to bring to your knowledge is a 
 brilliant proof of the eager and sympathetic adhesion that his prop- 
 osition has met with from the states I have just enumerated. 
 
 " I pray you to accept on this occasion, sir, my personal congrat- 
 ulations, as well as the assurance of my sentiments of the most 
 distinguished consideration. A. Walewski. 
 
 " Monsieur Morse." * 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 " Report of proceedings at the meeting of the representatives 
 of Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Piedmont, Russia, the 
 Holy See, Sweden, Tuscany, and Turkey, held for the purpose of 
 considering the proposition made in behalf of Dr. Morse. 
 
 " Sitting of April 27, 1858. 
 
 '•'•Present — For Austria, Baron Hubner; for Belgium, Mr. Fir- 
 med Rogier; for France, Count Walewski; for the Netherlands, 
 Mr. Lightenveet ; for Piedmont, Count Villamarena ; for Russia, 
 Count Kisseleff ; for the Holy See, his Grace Mr. Sacconi ; for 
 Sweden, Count de Piper ; for Tuscany, Marquis Tanat de Nerli; 
 for Turkey, Haidar Effendi. 
 
 " Count Walewski stated, in the first place, the reasons which 
 had induced the emperor's Government to support, along with other 
 governments, the claim advanced by Mr. Morse, with the view of 
 procuring a pecuniary remuneration to be made to him for the ser- 
 vices which the process of his electro-magnetic telegraph has already 
 rendered in the greater part of the European states. The discov- 
 ery of the principles upon which the process that has received the 
 name of Mr. Morse rests, unquestionably, said Count Walewski, 
 does not belong to him ; but he was the first to contrive to carry 
 this discovery out of the speculative dominion of reason into that 
 of material application. It is owing to labors and studies, the honor 
 of which belongs indisputably to him, that electric communication, 
 which, previous to him, was only, so to speak, a simple affirmation 
 of science, has become a reality, and one of the most useful acqui- 
 sitions that our epoch has made, and that must bind it to the future. 
 
THE CONGRESS OF EUROPEAN POWERS. 677 
 
 Results have already spoken sufficiently loud, and the admiration 
 which they have excited has been too universal for it to be neces- 
 sary to insist on the importance of the service that Mr. Morse has 
 rendered to everybody, private persons and governments. But the 
 more manifest this service is, the more equitable does it seem that 
 it should not be left without a recompense proportionate to its mag- 
 nitude. Now, if Mr. Morse has seen the Supreme Court of the 
 United States establish, by a patent, his right to the invention of 
 the process which has taken his name, and if he has been able, con- 
 sequently, to derive some profit from its application in that country, 
 it has not been the same with that which has been made of it in 
 Europe. Nearly all the governments here having reserved to them- 
 selves the exclusive use of the Telegraph, or the faculty of alone 
 conceding its employment to private persons or to companies, the 
 knowledge which they have had of Mr. Morse's process could not 
 obtain for him the material advantages which would not have failed 
 to follow, had an invention of a different character been in question. 
 The honorary distinctions which several of the sovereigns have 
 deigned to confer on him have, beyond any doubt, been to him val- 
 uable marks of a lofty esteem ; but they have been insufficient to 
 supply the place of the pecuniary compensations which his sacrifices 
 and his labors seemed destined to assure to him, and which are so 
 much the more justly called for, since electro-magnetic telegraph- 
 ing, independently of the immense services which it renders by the 
 rapidity of transmitting news and correspondence, also obtains, by 
 its operation under the governments having the monopoly of it, 
 profits in money, already considerable, and which must continue to 
 increase. It is, therefore, under a conviction that there is justice as 
 well as generosity in acceding to the claim of Mr. Morse, whom 
 the infirmities of age have now reached, after he has entirely de- 
 voted his small fortune to experiments and voyages necessary to 
 arrive at the discovery and application of his process, that the em- 
 peror's Government has solicited various states, to whose gratitude 
 Mr. Morse has acquired rights, to join in the remuneration which is 
 due to him. The answer to this appeal must permit a hope that an 
 agreement will easily be established, in regard to the collection 
 itself which it will be expedient to adopt. 
 
 "After unfolding these considerations, Count Walewski indi- 
 cated the two questions which, when the principle of indemnity is 
 once admitted, must invite the attention of the meeting : 
 
 " 1. What ought to be the amount of the indemnity, and in 
 
678 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 what manner should the payment be made? Shall it be in the 
 shape of a pension for life, or in that of a sum paid at once ? 
 
 "2. What is the most equitable mode of apportionment to be 
 established among the various governments which will contribute 
 to the payment of the indemnity ? 
 
 " The meeting, having heard this statement, entered into discus- 
 sion, under a reservation that the determinations should only be 
 accepted ad referendum by each of its members. 
 
 " Count Walewski proposed that, for indemnity, there be allowed 
 to Mr. Morse either a pension for life of sixty to seventy thousand 
 francs, or a single sum of four hundred thousand francs, payable in 
 four annuities. 
 
 " Baron Hubner declared himself in favor of the latter mode of 
 allowance, in preference to the establishment of a pension for life. 
 This opinion met with general assent. 
 
 " In regard to the amount of the indemnity, his Grace Mr. Sac- 
 coni observed that, from the moment in which various governments 
 united for the purpose of recompensing a discovery, it was necessary 
 that a suitable sum should evince this union of several states in a 
 measure of remuneration. 
 
 " The meeting having consulted in regard to the sum of four 
 hundred thousand francs proposed, in case the system of a sum to 
 be given at once should be chosen, no objection was offered to this 
 assessment. 
 
 " In regard to the question of apportionment, two systems were 
 proposed : to fix the apportionment by the number of apparatuses 
 employed in each country, or to determine it according to the pop- 
 ulation and extent of each state. 
 
 " Count de Kisseleff, after remarking that, in the view of his 
 government, the Morse process is an improvement of electric tele- 
 graphing, and not the invention itself, declared that it was, however, 
 disposed, in consideration of the practical utility of this process, 
 and of the personal use which was made of it, to concur in a rea- 
 sonable and collective remuneration of it, apportioning the remu- 
 neration in each country by the number of apparatuses which are 
 in use therein. There was, in fact, in each state employing the 
 Morse process, a question of revenue ; but the greater the number 
 of apparatuses in use, the more considerable the revenue must be. 
 
 " Baron Hubner earnestly concurred in the opinion expressed by 
 Count Kisseleff. The number of apparatuses was, in his judgment, 
 the most practical basis to adopt for an apportionment, for it cor- 
 
DISCUSSIONS IN CONGRESS. 679 
 
 responded exactly with the expenses and profits of which the 
 electro-magnetic Telegraph was the source for every government. 
 There was, in the establishment of the Morse process, an amount 
 of capital invested, of which the number of machines in use must 
 represent the interest. It was on that number, therefore, that it 
 was just to rely in the apportionment. 
 
 " The Marquis of Villamarina thought that his government 
 would also prefer, in the assessment of its share in a collective 
 remuneration, a proportion based on the number of apparatuses, as 
 being more in accordance with the advantages obtained by employ- 
 ing the process in question. 
 
 " Count "Walewski was of the same opinion, and again adduced, 
 in its favor, the consideration that the Morse process has, besides the 
 increase of celerity in the transmission of dispatches which is due to 
 it, produced, by being substituted for previous systems of telegraph- 
 ing, remarkable savings to all the governments, and that the num- 
 ber of apparatuses gives the measure of the savings realized by each 
 government ; and this furnishes the surest means of proving what 
 proportionate part it ought to bear in a collective remuneration. 
 
 " His Grace Mr. Sacconi did not think that this mode of valua- 
 tion would answer the purpose intended. He rather inclined to the 
 other system. He feared that the number of apparatuses would not 
 furnish a basis of apportionment as equitable as had been said, 
 inasmuch as a state of less importance, relatively, might find that it 
 was its lot to pay more than a more considerable state, because it 
 had more apparatuses than the latter. 
 
 " Mr. Firmin Rogier likewise thought that the number of appa- 
 ratuses was not the most just basis to adopt. He preferred that 
 account should be taken of the distance to be run by the telegraphic 
 lines, or of the' amount of the population, and of the extent of the 
 territory. There would then be no liability of a state with a smaller 
 number of inhabitants paying more than a state which was mani- 
 festly more populous. 
 
 " The Marquis de Nerli was also of opinion that the share of 
 each, in the indemnity to be allowed, should be proportionate to the 
 extent of territory, and to the number of the population. What 
 seemed to him most satisfactory would be an apportionment which 
 should take into account the number only of those who availed 
 themselves of telegraphing — the very considerable agricultural pop- 
 ulation of Tuscany making no use of it. 
 
 " Mr. Lightenvelt limited himself to stating that the concurrence 
 
680 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. JHORSE. 
 
 of his government was obtained in the measure of remuneration 
 solicited by Mr. Morse, provided that the various governments which 
 profited by the discovery of his process contributed simultaneously 
 to recompense it. 
 
 "Haidar Effendi and Count de Piper were in like manner satis- 
 fied by declaring that their governments would accede to any equi- 
 table proposition of remuneration. Their personal opinion as to 
 the mode of apportionment was, however, in favor of the number 
 of apparatuses. 
 
 " His Grace Mr. Sacconi and Mr. Firmin Rogier, in the course of 
 the discussion, again advanced the idea of adopting a middle term 
 between the sum resulting from the number of apparatuses and that 
 afforded by the population and extent of territory. 
 
 " Baron Hubner proposed to take into consideration the opinion 
 of the majority, by rallying in favor of the mode of apportionment 
 by the number of apparatuses, except that each one should consult 
 his government on this subject, and bring forward subsequently the 
 observations thereon, when he shall have gathered the information 
 which this mode of assessment requires. 
 
 " This opinion was unanimously adopted, and it was decided, con- 
 sequently, that the members of the meeting should transmit ad 
 referendum to their respective governments the proposition for an 
 indemnity of four hundred thousand francs, payable in four annui- 
 ties, the apportionment of which to each state should be made in the 
 ratio of the number of apparatuses. It was, moreover, understood 
 that, if on account of new applications of his process Mr. Morse 
 should hereafter think proper to make other claims, he would have to 
 make them himself of the governments or companies from which he 
 should claim compensation. 
 
 " After these resolutions, the meeting adjourned until the time 
 when the members should have received an answer from their 
 governments. 
 
 "The present report of proceedings having been read at the 
 second sitting of the meeting, on the 23d of August, 1858, it was 
 signed — Ottenfels, A'ustria ; Baron de Beyens, Belgium ; 
 Count Walew t ski, France; Lightentelt, Netherlands; Marquis 
 DE Villamarina, Sardinia; Balabeste, Russia; Archbishop of 
 Nice, Holy See ; E. de Piper, Sweden ; Marquis Tanay de 
 Nerli, Tuscany ; Haidar Effendi, Turkey. 
 
 " Count Walewski, after the proceedings of the first sitting had 
 
THE MSCUSSION CONTINUED. 681 
 
 been read, consulted the various members of the meeting in regard 
 to the answers which they had received from their governments on 
 the matters contained in the resolutions previously adopted ad 
 referendum. The members of the meeting, with the exception of 
 the Minister of the Netherlands, stated that their governments con- 
 curred in the mode of the proposed apportionment, and in the sum 
 of four hundred thousand francs. 
 
 " Mr. de Balabine observed that, only having positive instruct 
 tions to concur in the mode of apportionment, he awaited, so far as 
 concerned the amount of the indemnity, the opinion of his govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " The Minister of the Netherlands regretted that he was unable, 
 in his answer, to unite entirely in the statements of the other 
 members of the meeting. His government, while accepting the 
 proposed basis of apportionment, considered the amount of the remu- 
 neration as too high. 1 It feared that it might call forth, on the part 
 of its people, similar claims for inventions of a different character. 
 
 " Count Walewski, on declaring that, with the exception of the 
 Minister of the Netherlands, all the members of the meeting agreed 
 on the same mode of apportionment, and, no objection being made 
 to the sum brought forward, proposed to order an apportionment 
 based on the figures which, after an exchange of their respective 
 reports of investigation, should indicate the exact number of 
 apparatuses in use in each country. The comparative estimate 
 which results therefrom is contained in the table herewith annexed. 
 It was understood that, if the Government of the Netherlands should 
 still think of reducing the amount of the sum placed to its account 
 in the common ap|)ortionment, the apportionment should not be 
 affected thereby, but that it would only result in a reduction of the 
 allowance made to Mr. Morse. 
 
 " Count Walewski called to mind that Mr. Morse could, moreover, 
 make direct application to the governments which have not joined 
 in the generous measure adopted by the present meeting. 
 
 " On motion of his Grace the Nuncio of the Holy See, it was 
 agreed that the time for the payments should be fixed, and it was 
 arranged that they should be made in four annuities commencing on 
 the 1st of January, merely in order to leave to the various govern- 
 ments the care of regulating this expenditure according to the con- 
 stitutional requirements to which they have to pay attention. 
 
 1 Subsequently the Minister of the Netherlands acceded to the arrangement, and 
 the vote was unanimous. 
 
682 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " It was, moreover, agreed that the payment of each state should 
 be made at said periods, to the Department of Foreign Affairs, at 
 Paris, which would be charged with the duty of delivering to Mr. 
 Morse, in the name of all the governments, the actual amount of 
 the annuity falling due. 
 
 "Done at Paris, on the 23d of August, 1858." 
 
 The signatures follow. 
 
 Table of the Proportionate Distribution. 
 
 The total number of apparatuses being twelve hundred and 
 eighty-four, if the indemnity of four hundred thousand francs to be 
 allowed be divided by this number, the sum which each government 
 has to contribute is three hundred and eleven francs fifty-five cen- 
 times for each apparatus, which gives the following proportions : 
 
 Countries. 
 
 Austria .... 
 Belgium . . . 
 France 
 Netherlands 
 Piedmont . 
 Russia .... 
 Holy See . . 
 Sweden .... 
 Tuscany . . . 
 Turkey. . . . 
 
 Number of 
 Appara- 
 tuses. 
 
 224 
 
 52 
 462 
 
 72 
 
 73 
 110 
 
 17 
 191 
 
 14 
 
 69 
 
 Amount to be paid 
 in Pour Annuities. 
 
 $69,787 20 
 16,200 60 
 
 143,936 10 
 22,431 60 
 22,743 15 
 34,270 50 
 5,296 35 
 59,506 05 
 4,361 70 
 21,496 95 
 
 1,284 | $400,030 20 
 
 This result was communicated to Mr. Morse by Mr. Mason, 
 and the gratified recipient immediately addressed the following 
 letter to the French Minister : 
 
 Professor Morse to Count Walewshi. 
 
 "Paris, Grand Hotel du Louvre, September 15, 185S. 
 
 " Monsieur le Ministre : On my return to Paris from Switz- 
 erland, I have this day received from the Minister of the United 
 States the most gratifying information which your Excellency did 
 me the honor to send to me through him, respecting the decision 
 of the congress of the distinguished diplomatic representatives of 
 ten of the august Governments of Europe, held in special reference 
 to myself. 
 
 " You have had the considerate kindness to communicate to me 
 
MR. MORSE'S GRATITUDE. 683 
 
 a proceeding which reflects the highest honor upon the Imperial 
 Government and its noble associates, and I am at a loss for lan- 
 guage adequately to express to them my feelings of profound grat- 
 itude. 
 
 " But especially, your Excellency, do I want words to express 
 toward the august head of the Imperial Government and to your 
 Excellency the thankful sentiments of my heart for the part so 
 prominently taken by his Imperial Majesty, and by your Excellency, 
 in so generously initiating this measure for my honor in inviting 
 the governments of Europe to a conference on the subject, and for 
 so zealously and warmly advocating and perseveringly conducting 
 to a successful termination the measure in which the Imperial Gov- 
 ernment so magnanimously took the initiative. 
 
 " I accept the gratuity thus tendered on the basis of an honorary 
 testimonial, and a personal reward, with tenfold more gratification 
 than could have been produced by a sum of money, however large, 
 offered on the basis of a commercial negotiation. 
 
 " I beg your Excellency to receive my thanks, however inade- 
 quately expressed, and to believe that I appreciate your Excellency's 
 kind and generous services, performed in the midst of your high 
 official duties, consummating a proceeding so unique, and in a man- 
 ner so graceful, that personal kindness has been beautifully blended 
 with official dignity. 
 
 " I will address respectively to the honorable ministers who were 
 your Excellency's colleagues a letter of thanks for their participa- 
 tion in this act of high honor to me. 
 
 " I beg your Excellency to accept the assurances of my lasting 
 gratitude, and highest consideration, in subscribing myself 
 
 ' " Your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse." 
 
 "We may fittingly close this portion of the history with a list 
 of the nations which acknowledged the Telegraph as the inven- 
 tion of Professor Morse, and the mode of acknowledgment : 
 
 France. — The Emperor Napoleon III. convened in Paris in 
 1858 a special congress, inviting the different nations to concur in 
 a united testimonial to the inventor, at the same time conferring 
 upon him the decoration of the Legion of Honor. The result of the 
 congressional deliberations was an honorary gratuity, from ten of 
 the principal powers, of four hundred thousand francs. 
 
684 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Prussia. — The King of Prussia sent him the " Scientific Gold 
 Medal " of Prussia, set in the lid of a gold snuff-box. 
 
 Austria. — A contributor to the " honorary gratuity," and, from 
 the Emperor, the " Scientific Gold Medal " of Austria. 
 
 JRussia. — A contributor to the "honorary gratuity." 
 
 Spain. — The Queen of Spain conferred upon him the Cross of 
 " Knight Commander de Numero," of the Order of Isabella the 
 Catholic. 
 
 Portugal. — The King of Portugal conferred upon him the Cross 
 of a " Knight of the Tower and Sword." 
 
 Italy. — A contributor to the " honorary gratuity," and the 
 King of Italy conferred upon him the Cross of a " Knight of Saints 
 Lazaro and Mauritio." 
 
 Holy See. — A contributor to the "honorary gratuity." 
 
 Belgium. — A contributor to the " honorary gratuity." 
 
 Holland. — A contributor to the " honorary gratuity." 
 
 Denmark. — The King Frederick VII. conferred upon him the 
 Cross of " Knight of the Dannebrog." 
 
 Sweden. — A contributor to the " honorary gratuity." 
 
 Turkey. — A contributor to the " honorary gratuit}^," and the 
 late Sultan conferred upon him the decoration in diamonds of the 
 " Nishan Iftichar," or Order of Glory. 
 
 Great Britain. — Nationally, nothing. The telegraph compa- 
 nies in 1856 gave him a grand banquet in London, presided over 
 by the inventor of the English semaphore, the distinguished Wil- 
 liam Fothergill Cooke. 
 
 Sioitzerland. — Nationally, nothing. 
 
 Saxony. — Nothing. 
 
 The Great Convention in Paris in March and April, 1865, con- 
 vened to arrange telegraphic correspondence between the European 
 nations, was formed from representative delegates from Austria, 
 Baden, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Ham- 
 burg, Hanover, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, 
 Sweden and Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, and Wilrtemberg. Ar- 
 ticle third of this convention is in these words : The Morse appa- 
 ratus is provisionally adopted for the use of all the international 
 lines ! 
 
 Having received the first installment of the indemnity 
 awarded him by the congress of European powers, and surfeited 
 with honors and attentions, Professor Morse left Europe. By 
 
MR. MORSE IN THE WEST INDIES. 685 
 
 steamer from Southampton, November 17, 1858, he went with 
 his family to Arroyo, Porto Rico, in the West Indies, where 
 his daughter, Mrs. Lind, had been residing for several years. 
 In a letter to Mrs. Morse's mother, he gives a picture of the 
 new scenes to which he was now introduced for the first time : 
 
 " In St. Thomas we received every possible attention. The 
 Governor called on us and passed an evening, and invited Edward 
 and myself to breakfast (at 10|- o'clock) the day we left. He lives 
 in a fine mansion on one of the lesser hills that inclose the harbor, 
 having directly beneath him on the slope, and only separated by a 
 wall, the residence of Santa Anna. He was invited to be present, 
 but he was ill (so he said), and excused himself. I presume his 
 illness was occasioned by the thought of meeting an American from 
 the States, for he holds the citizens of the States in perfect hatred, 
 so much so as to refuse to receive United States money in change 
 from his servants on their return from market. 
 
 " A few days in change of latitude make wonderful changes in 
 feelings and clothing. When we left England the air was wintry, 
 and thick woolen clothing and fires were necessary. The first night 
 at sea blankets were in great demand. With two extra, and my 
 great-coat over all, I was comfortably warm. In twenty-four hours, 
 the great-coat was dispensed with, then one blanket, then another, 
 until a sheet alone began to be enough ; and, the two or three 
 last nights on board, this slight covering was too much. When we 
 got into the harbor of St. Thomas, the temperature was oppressive. 
 Our slightest summer clothing was in demand. Surrounded by 
 pomegranate-trees, magnificent oleanders, cocoa-nut trees, with their 
 large fruit some thirty feet from the ground, the aloe, and innumer- 
 able, and to me strange, tropical plants, I could scarcely believe it 
 was December. I felt at first somewhat debilitated from the heat, 
 for St. -Thomas harbor is surounded by conical hills, facing the 
 south, and the sun has full play upon the city, which is built on the 
 slopes of three hills, the houses rising from the shore and occupying 
 about one-quarter of the height. 
 
 " We arrived on Thursday morning and remained until Monday 
 evening. Edward " (his son-in-law) " having engaged a Long-Island 
 schooner, which happened to be in port to take us to Arroyo, at 
 four o'clock the Governor sent his official barge, under the charge 
 of the captain of the port, a most excellent, intelligent, scientific 
 gentleman, who had breakfasted with us at the Governor's in the 
 
686 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 morning, and in a few minutes we were rowed alongside of the 
 schooner Estelle, and before dark were under .way and out of the 
 harbor. Our quarters were very small and close, but not so uncom- 
 fortable. At daylight in the morning of Tuesday, we were sailing 
 along the shores of Porto Rico, and at sunrise we found we were in 
 sight of Guayama and Arroyo, and with our glasses we saw at a 
 distance the buildings on Edward's estate. Susan "(his daughter) 
 " had been advised of our coming, and a flag was flying on the house 
 in answer to the signal we made from the vessel. In two or three 
 hours we got to the shore, as near as was safe for the vessel, and 
 then, in the doctor's boat, which had paid us an official visit to see 
 that we did not bring yellow fever or other infectious disease, the 
 kind doctor, an Irishman, educated in America, took us ashore at a 
 little temporary landing-place, to avoid the surf. On the shore 
 there were some handkerchiefs shaking, and in a crowd we saw 
 Susan, and Leila, and Charlie, who were waiting for us in carriages, 
 and in a few moments we embraced them all. The sun was hot 
 upon us, but, after a ride of two or three miles, we came to the 
 * Henrietta,' my dear Edward and Susan's residence, and were soon 
 under the roof of a spacious, elegant, and most commodious man- 
 sion. And here we are with midsummer temperature and .vegeta- 
 tion, but a tropical vegetation, all around us. Well, we always 
 knew that Edward was a prince of a man, but we did not know, or 
 rather appreciate, that he has a princely estate, and in as fine order 
 as any in the island. When I say ' fine order,' I do not mean that 
 it is laid out like the Bois de Boulogne, nor is there quite so much 
 picturesqueness in a level plain of sugar-canes as in the trees and 
 shrubbery of the gardens of Versailles, but it is a rich and well-cul- 
 tivated estate of some fourteen hundred acres, gradually rising for 
 two or three miles from the sea-shore to the mountains, including 
 some of them, and stretching into the valleys between them." 
 
 While here in the West Indies, Professor Morse received a 
 letter of great value and interest to himself from the distin- 
 guished Professor Steinheil. It has the same significance with 
 the letter of Dr. Page, 1 as a disclaimer of any part of the inven- 
 tion peculiar to the Morse instrument. Writing to Mr. Ken- 
 dall, December 22, 1858, Professor Morse said : 
 
 " I have received from Professor Steinheil the letter of which 
 
 1 Bee page 559, ante. 
 
DR. STEINHEIL TO MORSE. 687 
 
 the following* is a translation, and I send it to you, that, if possible, 
 in this day of rewards, the delicate and righteous hint contained in 
 the latter part may lead to some grateful acknowledgment on the 
 part of those who are profiting by his discovery. Every line in the 
 United States is saved by it one-half the expense of the conductors 
 upon their poles. He has no patent that enables him to demand 
 compensation, but his claims are no less just on that account ; they 
 appeal rather with more force to men whose sense of right is 
 not confined to the letter of a statute, and w 7 ho have any feeling of 
 magnanimity. I know of no public attention which could be shown 
 to me either by the telegraph companies of the United States, or by 
 the American public generally, so personally gratifying to me as 
 the setting on foot an appropriate testimonial for Professor Stein- 
 heil's labors in the cause of telegraphy. But to the letter : 
 
 '"Munich, October 30, 1858. 
 
 "'Dear Sir: Accept, first of all, my sincere and cordial con- 
 gratulations on the beautiful results which have followed the ac- 
 knowledgment of your invention, and which bears your name, and- 
 which has at last extended the only important system of telegraph- 
 ing (as I believe) over the whole world. 
 
 " ' When you, at the moment of receiving the well-merited reward 
 of much pains, called to the minds of your countrymen in so friendly 
 a manner my services for the Telegraph, as your speech announces 
 (which was yesterday sent to me by M. Violliet, American consul 
 in Geneva), I regard it as the finest testimony your heart could 
 give, and it is new proof that united powers can effect more than 
 when from selfish considerations they act separately. "What we 
 both have done for telegraphy stands side by side. The contribu- 
 tions of the one do not encroach on the contributions of the other 
 — do not make the other superfluous. You have contributed the 
 quickest, simplest, and most beautiful mode of communication. I 
 have reduced to one-half the conducting wire, and also made it 
 surer and cheaper. Now it will be a satisfaction to me if this my 
 contribution toward solving the great problem should be rewarded 
 by my friends in Europe. But I cannot suppress the w 7 ish that as 
 I contributed to procure the acknowledgment of your invention in 
 Europe, so you may be inclined to procure my portion of reward in 
 America. It would certairrfy be a noble example, seldom seen in 
 the world's history, the example of two men who had spent a great 
 part of their lifetime in solving the same problem, appearing, not 
 
688 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 as rivals, but as friends, each striving that the services of the one 
 should be rewarded in the land of the other. 
 
 " ' With the expression of the sincerest respect and esteem, 
 
 " ' Dr. C. A. Steikheil, 
 " ' Ministerial Councilor and Academician. 
 " ' To Professor S. F. B. Morse.' 
 
 " The above noble letter from one of Nature's noblemen has ex- 
 cited the strongest desires that some testimonial from our country, 
 appropriate and delicate, should be sent to Professor Steinheil. 
 Many modes have occurred to me, but I wish your judgment, well 
 knowing that in my desires in this respect your feelings are in uni- 
 son with my own. I now merely throw out hints. Steinheil's dis- 
 covery of the earth's circuit, which, as I have said, and he has 
 also said, has reduced the » expense of the conductor one-half, is in 
 use by every telegraph-line in the country as well as in Europe. 
 No patent secures to him his just and natural right to compensa- 
 tion. In this he stands in the same position that I do before the 
 European Governments. See what Europe has done for me ! I 
 personally cannot adequately return the honor upon Steinheil, but 
 would it not be a beautiful reciprocation if an American testimonial, 
 proposed by me, if you please, to take from it any appearance of 
 antagonism, should be made by the American public, but especially 
 by the telegraph companies of the United States, for all the lines, 
 legitimate or illegitimate, are using his discovery, and are therefore 
 under obligations in equity to Steinheil ? Whatever plan shall be 
 proposed, I wish to contribute to it, and will most cheerfully do so. 
 Another plan would be the adoption by the telegraph companies 
 of a mode of compensation which I have often thought would be 
 a feasible one for remunerating an inventor, such as Fulton, for 
 example. Suppose, in the case of Fulton's heirs, it is desired to give 
 them the benefit of the compensation of which he has been de- 
 prived ; let one cent be added to the fare of every passenger in 
 every steamboat, for a limited number of years, to constitute the 
 inventor's fund, and to be paid over annually or semi-annually for 
 the benefit of his heirs. This is a simple plan, easily adopted, and 
 look at the results ! First, it is a tax so light, that no individual, 
 however poor, would feel it burdensome ; it is levied exactly upon 
 those who are receiving the benefit of the inventor's labors ; it does 
 not burden the companies, for it is additional to their tariff rates, 
 and by every man who has the least gratitude in his composition 
 
MR. MORSE TO STEINHEIL. 689 
 
 would be given, not grudgingly, but with a hearty good-will ; and 
 what would be the aggregate f Sufficient amply for all purposes 
 of compensation to those who have an equitable claim to public 
 gratitude, and produced in the most equitable way, burdensome to 
 none. Now, to apply the plan for the creation of a Steinheil fund : 
 Let it be ordained by every telegraph company that, for a certain 
 number of years, one cent additional upon every message shall be 
 levied, and the thing is done. Please think of this." 
 
 On the same day when be addressed this letter to Mr. Ken- 
 dall, Professor Morse wrote to Dr. Steinheil these words : 
 
 "Arroyo, Porto Rico, West Indies, December 22, 1858. 
 
 " My dear Professor Steinheil : Your letter of the 30th of 
 October I have this moment received at this place, it having been 
 forwarded to me from New York by my brother. 
 
 " I am passing the winter in these tropical regions, at the resi- 
 dence of my son-in-law, Edward Lind, Esq., a planter of this island, 
 and my address until March 1, 1859, will be to his care. 
 
 " Your courteous acknowledgment of my poor attempt to do 
 you justice at the honorary dinner given me in Paris, is exceedingly 
 grateful. I had long wished for the opportunity thus publicly to 
 acknowledge your great kindness. I intended to do it in London, 
 in 1856, when the telegraph companies gave me a public reception, 
 but I was there fettered by the apprehension that I might be tread- 
 ing upon delicate ground, in the country of Wheatstone. In Paris, 
 before my own countrymen, I had no such fear, and therefore 
 carried out my long-cherished wish toward you. 
 
 " The suggestion you make in regard to some acknowledgment 
 from America, for your important discovery in telegraphy, is not 
 new to me, but the means of bringing any feasible plan to a result 
 are environed with some peculiar difficulties, which I will briefly 
 state. 
 
 " Such a testimonial as has been conceded to me by the con- 
 gress of powers convened in Paris, could not be enacted in the 
 United States, principally on this ground : Telegraphs on the Con- 
 tinent of Europe are a government monopoly, and are therefore 
 wholly under the control of the governments of the several states ; 
 hence the propriety of government action in awarding me the 
 recent testimonials. On the contrary, telegraphs in the United 
 States, as well as in Great Britain, are managed and are under the 
 control of joint-stock companies, who regulate their doings at 
 44 
 
g90 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 pleasure, independent of the government, except in some very 
 general particulars. 
 
 " The government itself is subject to the tariff rates and regula- 
 tions of the companies. Hence, you will see, the British and United 
 States Governments are not the parties against whom any equitable 
 claims can be set up by the inventor of a telegraph. 
 
 " The patent granted by these governments assumes to protect 
 the right of the inventor to compensation, and leaves him to make 
 such terms for his own compensation with joint-stock companies 
 as he and they can agree upon. 
 
 " The absence of a patent on your part for your valuable dis- 
 covery, which you so generously threw open to the world, deprives 
 you, therefore, of all legal right to claim compensation for it, but it 
 by no means lessens your equitable right to it, from those who are 
 benefited by its use ; on the contrary, in my view, it enhances it, 
 while at the same time the difficulties in realizing a just compen- 
 sation are increased tenfold. 
 
 " For it must be through appeals to a sense of justice lying back 
 of legal enactment, and which, to the shame of human nature, is 
 dormant, if not dead, in the hearts of those who look at an enter- 
 prise only in the light of a lucrative investment. Yet I am proud 
 to believe that there is a great majority of those capitalists in the 
 United States who have invested their funds in the Telegraph en- 
 terprise, whose hearts will respond promptly to an appeal to their 
 magnanimity, if a judicious plan be presented to them, especially 
 with such a noble example as Europe has set, in respect to me. 
 
 " At any rate, my dear Dr. Steinheil, your hint shall be fruit- 
 ful, if any efforts of mine can make it so. I have already indited a 
 letter to my friends in the United States, on the subject. I have 
 suggested several modes of attaining a favorable result, and I can- 
 not but hope something may be done. I would not wish to raise 
 expectations which may be disappointed, but I will say to you that 
 what I have thus initiated I will not allow to rest. 
 
 " Some months must elapse before I return to my home at 
 Poughkeepsie, New York. In the mean time I have set my friends 
 in the United States to thinking upon the subject, and on my return 
 I may find them prepared for some decisive action, which I may aid 
 in consummating, and of which you shall be duly advised. In the 
 mean time, my dear sir, accept the assurance of my cordial esteem 
 and friendship, Samuel F. B. Moese. 
 
 " Dr. C. A. Steinheil, Councilor and Academician, Munich, Bavaria." 
 
MR. MORSE TO MR. MASON. 691 
 
 Professor Morse was intensely gratified also, while in the 
 "West Indies, by receiving notice of his election as a member of 
 the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm, Sweden. The 
 secretary, in sending the diploma, said, " The Academy is happy, 
 sir, to offer you this testimony of the lively interest with which 
 your scientific merits have inspired it, and it hopes you will 
 unite your efforts to those which it has itself made for the 
 advance of the sciences." This was the more acceptable to the 
 Professor, at this moment, because it was at the time when 
 persistent efforts were made in his own country to depreciate his 
 merits as a man of science, and the value of his contributions. 
 A few days afterward came to him the intelligence that the 
 Queen of Spain had conferred upon him the honor of Knight 
 Commander of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic. 
 
 In a letter to the Hon. J. Y. Mason, United States Minister 
 in France, Professor Morse describes his progress in telegraphic 
 enterprise, while on his visit of pleasure in the West-India 
 islands : 
 
 " I have just had the pleasure of completing the first line oi 
 Telegraph in this beautiful island, from my son-in-law's house to 
 his place of business, on the bay, about two miles. It excites 
 much interest, and I have been requested to partake of an honorary 
 breakfast by the intendente and the military commandant and offi- 
 cials of Gruayama and Arroyo to-morrow. This too initiates the grand 
 enterprise of uniting our American Telegraph lines with Europe by a 
 southern route, from Cape St. Vincent, through Madeira, the Cana- 
 ries, Cape de Verde, and Cape St. Roque in Brazil, thence along 
 the coast, and connecting Barbadoes, Martinique, St. Thomas, Porto 
 Rico, Jamaica, Cuba, and Florida. My friends Sir James Carmi- 
 chael, Mr. Brett, and Mr. Perry, of Madrid, are the energetic, 
 efficient, and active projectors and promoters of this grand enter- 
 prise, in connection with myself, and in a few years I hope, if my 
 life is spared, to see this perfectly feasible plan of telegraphic union 
 accomplished." 
 
 The 1st of March, 1859, was a great day in the little island, 
 and in one of his familiar letters Professor Morse describes his 
 own feelings of pleasure in the events which were celebrated. 
 
 " Arroyo, Porto Rico, March 2, 1859. 
 " I have just completed with success the construction and 
 
692 L^E OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 organization of the short telegraphic line, the first in this island ; 
 initiating the great enterprise of the Southern Telegraph route to 
 Europe from our shores, so far as to interest the Porto Ricans in 
 the value of the invention. Yesterday was a day of great excite- 
 ment here, for this small place. The principal inhabitants of this 
 place and Guayama determined to celebrate the completion of this 
 little line, in which they take a great pride, as being the first in the 
 island, and so they complimented me with a public breakfast, which 
 was presided over by the lieutenant-colonel commandant of 
 Guayama, the commandant and alcalde, the collector and captain 
 of the Port, with all the officials of the place, and the clergy of 
 Guayama and Arroyo, and gentlemen planters and merchants of the 
 two towns, numbering in all about forty. "We sat down at one 
 o'clock to a very handsome breakfast, and the greatest enthusiasm 
 and kind and generous feeling were manifested. My portrait was 
 behind me upon the wall, draped with the Spanish and American 
 flags. I gave them a short address of thanks, and took the opportu- 
 nity to interest them in the great Telegraph line which will give 
 them communication with the whole world. I presume accounts 
 will be published in the United States, from the Porto-Rico papers. 
 Thus step by step (shall I not rather say, stride by stride f) the Tele- 
 graph is compassing the world. 
 
 "My accounts from Madrid assure me that the Government will 
 soon have all the papers prepared for granting the concession to 
 Mr. Perry, our former secretary of legation at Madrid, in connection 
 with Sir James Carmichael, Mr. John W. Brett, the New York, New- 
 foundland, and London Telegraph Company, and others. The re- 
 cent consolidation plan in the United States has removed the only 
 hesitation I had in sustaining this new enterprise, for I feared that 
 I might unwittingly injure, by a counter-plan, those it was my duty 
 to support. Being now in harmony with the American company, 
 and the Newfoundland company, I presume all my other companies 
 will derive benefit rather than injury from the success of this new 
 and grand enterprise. At any rate, I feel impelled to support all 
 plans that manifestly tend to the complete circumvention of the 
 globe, and the bringing into telegraphic connection all the nations 
 of the earth, and this when I am not fully assured that present 
 personal interests may not temporarily suffer. I am glad to know 
 that harmonious arrangements are made between the various com- 
 panies in the United States, although I have been so ill-used. But 
 let it go. I will have no litigation if I can avoid it. Even may 
 
GREETINGS OF HIS NEIGHBORS. 693 
 
 have the field in quiet, unless he has presented a case too flagrantly 
 unjust to leave unanswered." 
 
 He endeavored to possess his soul in patience, and, in a letter 
 to one of his near relatives, he said, in regard to one of his se- 
 verest opponents : " Of the nature of this attack, I am as yet in 
 profound ignorance ; but it is rather a damper upon the joy with 
 which I usually return to my loved native land, that I have to 
 encounter the attacks of the envious, and the annoyance of the 
 sordid, and to know that, instead of rest in my old age, I must 
 yet buckle on my armor for self-defense. Well, this is all or- 
 dered in wisdom. ' Shall we receive good at the hands of the 
 Lord, and shall we not receive evil ? ' I would rather ask for 
 proper submission, than be anxious to defeat those opposed to 
 me." And to another he wrote, at the same time : " When 
 I return to Poughkeepsie, it will be sad without your cheer- 
 ful faces. But all in God's good time. He has purposes to 
 accomplish, of more wisdom, and vaster benefit to his rational 
 universe, than any we, with our selfish hearts, can devise. I 
 return from honors abundant in Europe, to encounter attacks in 
 various shapes at home ; but I am not cast down by the pros- 
 pect. I am most anxious that nothing I may be obliged to do, 
 in self-def ense, shall dishonor my Master ; and all my hope, all 
 my strength, is in Him. If He undertakes for me — and He cer- 
 tainly will — victory of the highest kind is sure, even if it does 
 not come exactly in the shape I might wish now." 
 
 After this delightful visit, the only one that he was ever able 
 to make to the home of his beloved daughter, Professor Morse 
 embarked, in the middle of April, in a sailing-vessel, with his 
 family, and returned to ISTew York. A few days afterward, he 
 went to his country-seat in Poughkeepsie. His old neighbors 
 and friends gave him a welcome, as if he were a conquering 
 general returning from war. The Daily Press of the city 
 records : 
 
 " For some time previous to the hour at which the train was to 
 arrive, hundreds of people were seen flocking from all directions to 
 the railroad-depot, both in carriages and on foot; and, when the 
 train did arrive, and the familiar and loved form of Professor Morse 
 was recognized on the platform of the car, the air was rent with the 
 
694 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 cheers of the assembled multitude. As soon as the cheers subsided, 
 Professor Morse was approached by the committee of reception, 
 and welcomed to the country of his birth, and to the home of his 
 adoption. A great procession was then formed, composed of the 
 carriages of citizens. The sidewalks were crowded with people on 
 foot, the children of the public schools, which had been dismissed 
 for the occasion, being quite conspicuous among them. Amid the 
 ringing of bells, the waving of flags, and the gratulations of the 
 people, the procession proceeded through a few of the principal 
 streets, and then drove to the beautiful residence of Professor 
 Morse, the band playing, as they entered the grounds, ' Sweet 
 Home,' and then ' Auld Lang Syne.' The gate-ways at the en- 
 trance had been arched with evergreens and wreathed with flowers. 
 As the carriage containing their loved proprietor drove along the 
 graveled roads, we noticed that several of the domestics, unable to 
 restrain their welcomes, ran to his carriage, and gave and received 
 salutations. After a free interchange of salutations, and a general 
 * shake hands,' the people withdrew, and left their honored guest to 
 the retirement of his own beautiful home. So the world reverences 
 its great men, and so it ought. In Professor Morse we find those 
 simple elements of greatness which elevate him infinitely above the 
 hero of any of the world's sanguinary conflicts, or any of the most 
 successful aspirants after political power. He has benefited not 
 only America and the world, but has dignified and benefited the 
 whole race." 
 
CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 1860-1870. 
 
 at home — views on secession and the "war — education of his chil- 
 dren — letters to them — applications for aid — last visit to eu- 
 rope — dusseldorf and artists — paris — attentions paid to him — re- 
 ception at court — the great exhibition — habit of life in paris 
 — labors in the committee on telegraphs — isle of "wight — dres- 
 den — presentation at court — berlin and the telegraph corps — 
 return to america — purchase of allston's " jeremiah " and pres- 
 ent to tale college— allston's portrait by leslie he presents 
 to academy of design — donation to theological department of 
 yale college — to new york union theological seminary — banquet 
 in new york — chief-justice chase's remarks — professor morse's — 
 mr. Huntington's — summer at poughkeepsie — his leg is broken — 
 
 prostrate for three months — statue of humboldt statue of 
 
 morse — erected by telegraph-operators — ceremonies in the cen- 
 tral park — academy of music — address by professor morse. 
 
 OK his return from Europe in 1859, Professor Morse saw 
 distinctly the signs of approaching war between the North- 
 ern and Southern portions of the American Union. To prevent 
 the impending conflict, and preserve the peace of the country, 
 was the intense desire of his heart. He was an ardent patriot. 
 In England, dining the War of 1812-14, he had on all occa- 
 sions been the outspoken defender of his country. In his sub- 
 sequent career, the recipient of distinguished honors from for- 
 eign powers, and the guest of princes, he was still the unchanged, 
 simple republican citizen, and a thorough American. To him 
 the prospect of a civil war was terrible, and he was willing to 
 make any sacrifice to avert it. As the months and years of 
 fierce controversy passed along, and the cloud burst in a fearful 
 
696 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 storm, lie sought to arrest its course. He was decidedly op- 
 posed to secession. Of the abstract right of it under the Con- 
 stitution, he had doubts, but none as to its justice or expediency. 
 Associated with men of high standing in social and political life, 
 he sought, by the diffusion of tracts and books on the relations 
 of the States to the Federal Government, to reconcile contend- 
 ing parties, and preserve the peace of the country. These ef- 
 forts, made in the spirit of the purest patriotism, subjected him 
 to severe reproach. But he bore it with his characteristic pa- 
 tience and equanimity, believing the time would come when 
 his motives would be understood. And, if they never should 
 be, he had the testimony of a good conscience that all the ends 
 he aimed at were his countries and God's. 
 
 The education of his children occupied a large share of his 
 attention. When they were at home he was their teacher; 
 when they were away at school he wrote to them constantly, 
 entering into their feelings, studying their tastes, and aiming at 
 the inculcation of those principles which were the basis of his 
 own character. Writing from Poughkeepsie to one of them, 
 August 17, 1862, he gave a description of another visit to his 
 native place : 
 
 " My dear Arthur : Here we are again safely at home, after 
 our journeyings of two weeks. After we left you at Newport, we 
 arrived in Boston the same evening, and went to the Tremont 
 House. It was very warm on Saturday and Sunday, but on Satur- 
 day your dear mamma and sister went with me over to Charlestown, 
 to see the town where your good grandfather was so long pastor of 
 the first church of Charlestown, and where your father was born. I 
 showed them the house, and, knocking at the door, a neat and 
 pleasant young woman opened it, and on telling her my errand she 
 very kindly conducted us up-stairs, and then we were in the room 
 where your father first saw the light. The house is a large double 
 house of wood, on the main street, one door opening on the street, 
 and the other, at which we knocked and entered, on the east side, 
 to which we had to pass through a gate and small grass-plot. The 
 other part of the house is occupied by the family of Captain Edes ; 
 they were all out of town. From thence we went upon Bunker's 
 Hill, and to the monument, which is within gunshot of the house in 
 which I was born. Notwithstanding the day was so warm, your 
 
ALL GONE. 697 
 
 sister and I mounted the two hundred and ninety steps to the top. 
 I was not fatigued, but your mother was fearful that the ascent 
 would be too fatiguing for her, so she did not go up with us. The 
 next day, Sunday, Cornelia and I went over again to Charlestown, 
 as I wished to attend ohurch, on the spot and among the congre- 
 gation where my excellent father preached. We attended church 
 there, heard an excellent sermon from a stranger, the regular cler- 
 gyman being out of town. I looked round to see if there was a 
 single face I knew, and not one could I find ; every face was strange, 
 but there were two or three old ladies who looked constantly very 
 curiously at me and whispered together. So, when church was over, 
 I put myself in their way, and they said they were sure they knew 
 me. When I told them who I was, the son of their old pastor, they 
 all crowded around me and said, ' Oh, we must shake hands with 
 you, then ; ' and they seemed overjoyed to see me, invited me to 
 dinner, and would scarcely take no for an answer. I thanked them, 
 but declined, leaving nvy kind regards for any of my father's friends 
 who were still living. 
 
 "On Monday we all left Boston for Nantasket Beach, about ., 
 nineteen miles from Boston, and found a most beautiful sand-beach, 
 superior in many respects to the beach at Newport ; it is some five 
 miles in extent, reaching to a point opposite Boston Light-house. 
 The views here are more extensive and more varied than at New- 
 port, islands and peninsulas varying the view, Boston, Charlestown, 
 and other suburban villages, in the distance, and the light-house, 
 with a beacon, looking like the posts of the great gates forming the 
 entrance to Boston harbor, between which all the great ships pass 
 in and out of the port. The surf is like that at Newport, on quite 
 as shallow and gradual a beach, but the water was purer, without 
 the slimy weeds of the Newport beach ; yet the water was much 
 colder ; most of the bathers preferred it thus, I did not. I bathed but 
 once, and think I took cold then, but I have recovered from its effects. 
 We returned to Boston after two days ; the last day, however, we 
 went on a fishing-excursion. Mother, Cornelia, and I, got up at 
 five o'clock, and, with two gentlemen besides, went off in a large 
 yacht, furnished w T ith lines and bait, about two miles, where we 
 caught in about two hours some dozen of fish ; cod, perch, flounders, 
 and sculpions. I caught the largest, a cod, weighing about eight 
 pounds. We left Boston on Thursday morning, to return home by 
 way of Springfield and Hudson. We passed Thursday night at 
 Springfield, and the next day left for Hudson, by the way of Chat- 
 
698 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 ham Four Corners, where we went to take a branch train to Hudson, 
 but, not being notified when we arrived at Chatham Four Corners, we 
 were taken some miles on the way to Albany before we discovered 
 our mistake, so we told the conductor to keep on and we would go 
 to Albany ; so we went to Albany while our trunks and other bag- 
 gage went to Hudson ; but, on our arrival at Albany, the Telegraph 
 came to my help, and a few words to Hudson secured the safety of 
 the stray luggage. "We dined in Albany, and took the cars at four 
 o'clock, and reached home just as soon as if no mistake had occurred. 
 We were all rejoiced to meet again, thankful to Him who kept us 
 in health and safety in our separation, and brought us together 
 again in so much comfort, while others, no less deserving, have been 
 subjected to all the horrors of this lamentable war. Many inquiries 
 were made after Arthur, and we are all looking forward to October 
 with the hope of having you with us for a while. Good-by, my 
 dear boy ; God bless you ; and keep you from all harm to body and 
 soul, and early make you one of his chosen ones ! You little know 
 how much we love you, and how anxious we are to have you in 
 6, the way of true happiness. I leave a space for your dear mother 
 to fill. Again good-by. 
 
 " Your affectionate father, Samuel F. B. Moese. 
 
 " Master S. Arthur B. Morse." 
 
 Another letter to two of bis sons shows the father, indul- 
 gent and judicious : 
 
 " Poughkeepsie, July 11, 1864. 
 
 " Mv dear Boys : William goes to-morrow morning, and he 
 takes ' Ponce,' the pony, for Willie ; and little ' Nix,' the terrier, 
 for Arthur, from papa, and I believe there are some other things 
 for Mrs. Choules. 
 
 " Arthur, I bought the terrier for you ; he is young, about seven 
 months old. He is playful, but has very sharp teeth ; you will have 
 to coax him, for I find he does not come readily when called. If 
 you are gentle with him, and feed him yourself, I think he will soon 
 get attached to you, and, as he grows older, will come at your call. 
 Don't tease him, nor let the boys tease him, for it spoils his temper, 
 and he may be savage and bite you. — And, Willie, I hope you will 
 use your dear little pony very kindly and gently ; animals love 
 kindness as well as men. Don't whip him or drive him at a racing 
 pace this hot weather, or you may lose him. I hope you will have 
 him where he will be well taken care of. 
 
SYMPATHY WITH INVENTOES. 699 
 
 " You see, my dear boys, what pains and expense we cheerfully 
 incur to make you happy, when we see you have good reports from 
 your teachers. It is on this account we grant these favors to you. 
 If you use them properly and do not let them take you away from 
 your studies, we can indulge you in your reasonable wishes ; but, if 
 we find you abuse these favors, we shall request Mr. Fay to deprive 
 you of them, because it will be necessary for your good. But I 
 won't believe my dear boys will abuse these favors, for they love 
 their father and mother, and I think they won't intentionally pain 
 them, by misusing their kindness. Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 
 " To Arthur and Willie." ' 
 
 How patiently he bore the burden of applications for coun- 
 sel and aid which were often made to him. by men laboring as 
 he once labored with an unborn invention ! To such a man he 
 wrote : 
 
 " "Were I a younger man, with less of the cares of a large family, 
 I should feel strongly disposed to examine and understand your 
 project, and, if satisfactory, to aid you with all the means I could 
 spare ; but I am now beyond the allotted age of man, and already 
 burdened with as many cares as I can well sustain. 
 
 " Should you visit New York, however, in the course of the win- 
 ter, I expect to be at my house, 5 West Twenty-second Street, and 
 should be happy to understand your discovery and to put you in 
 the way of aid, by introducing you to those who may be able to as- 
 sist you, and whose avocations would lead them to be interested in 
 it, more than it can interest me, as I am more interested in it indi- 
 rectly, and as a general benefit, than directly. 
 
 " Inventors are apt to be sanguine, and often yield too much to 
 their imagination. Many projects appear well on paper, which fail 
 in practice from some unlooked-for mechanical difficulty. But these 
 matters you have doubtless considered. If you have indeed dis- 
 covered a more economical motive-power than is now in use, and 
 have so far tested it as to be certain of success, you can scarcely 
 exaggerate its importance, and no one would feel more gratified 
 than myself to know that its discoverer is amply rewarded by fame 
 and fortune." 
 
 His children being now of an age when he thought it would 
 be for their advantage to study in Europe, he went abroad once 
 more. He crossed the ocean with his family in June, 1866, 
 
700 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 and spent part of the summer at Aix-la-Chapelle. Yisiting 
 Diisseldorf, lie was received with great enthusiasm by the artists 
 whose favorite seat was in that city. He was now in circum- 
 stances to be a patron of art, and he must have taken peculiar 
 pleasure as he remembered his own struggles as an artist, in 
 purchasing of various artists five pictures, which he sent home 
 to the care of Mr. Huntington, President of the National Acad- 
 emy of Design, with permission to exhibit them. A very 
 pleasant incident at Diisseldorf he mentions in a letter to a 
 relative : 
 
 " When at Diisseldorf it so happened that, while at the hotel, 
 there was a society having its annual dinner in the salle d manger. 
 It was composed of some of the principal citizens of Diisseldorf. 
 The door being open to the reading-room, where I was reading the 
 papers, I could hear (although said in German) the words America 
 and telegraph, which were never mentioned but with loud ap- 
 plause. It seems Mr. Liech had informed the landlord, on my ar- 
 rival, of my connection with the Telegraph ; so, when the speeches 
 were receiving great applause, the landlord whispered to the presi- 
 dent that the American inventor of the Telegraph was at that mo- 
 ment a guest in the hotel. Immediately there was a stir, the 
 president left his seat, and came out to me, and, apologizing for his 
 liberty, he asked if I had any objection to present myself at the 
 table ; on replying that, if it would give them any gratification, I 
 would cheerfully comply, he led me into the room, where I was 
 greeted in the most uproarious manner ; every one at table rose, 
 three cheers were given, all insisting on touching glasses with mine, 
 which they had filled with champagne. On the first subsidence of 
 this greeting, I was led to the chair by the side of the president, 
 who rose, and in a brief speech paid me and the United States some 
 handsome compliments, to which I briefly replied by thanks in 
 English, which he rendered into German ; I then begged leave to 
 retire, but could not until the ceremony of once more touching 
 glasses had been performed, by every one at table, about forty 
 persons." 
 
 The remainder of the summer was spent in Switzerland. 
 In the autumn he went to Paris, and took apartments at !No. 10 
 Avenue du Roi de Pome. His arrival was recognized by such 
 attentions as are only extended to the most distinguished per- 
 
ATTENTIONS IN PARIS. 701 
 
 sonages. The Emperor of the French, then in the zenith of his 
 glory, omitted no opportunity to do him honor. Professor 
 Morse was invited on all state occasions, and the best places 
 were reserved for him and his family. At the court parties, 
 they were placed with the imperial family and the diplomatic 
 corps. 
 
 This (1867), the year of the great Exposition in Paris, he 
 spent with his family, in the enjoyment of all which a good, 
 prosperous, and great man could desire. Identifying himself 
 with American society — contributing freely to the support of 
 the American chapel, with which he and his family were con- 
 nected — he sought to be useful in the various departments of 
 society, as he would be if he were in his own country, and at 
 home. He was now at the summit of human fame. It has 
 oftentimes been said, and with truth, that no private individ- 
 ual was ever more highly honored among men than he. His 
 name was familiar as that of the great benefactor of his race in 
 all countries of the civilized world. Strangers of distinction, 
 visiting Paris, sought him, to pay their respects. Members of 
 royal families sent to know when it would be convenient for 
 him to receive them ; and, at the hour appointed, they called in 
 state, to express to him the honor in which he was held. It 
 was his custom to devote the morning of every day to his study. 
 At this time, he prepared a pamphlet of nearly a hundred pages, 
 containing a defense of himself, as the inventor of the Tele- 
 graph, in reply to attacks which were made upon him by Eng- 
 lish claimants. He consulted his friends, in relation to his duty 
 in this matter. He had now reached that period in life, and 
 that position in the esteem of the world, when he was far more 
 disposed to rest quietly upon the good sense and intelligent 
 judgment of mankind, and to consider the question as to his 
 claims as fairly settled by the verdict of the world, than to pro- 
 long the controversy, and to reiterate the evidence which had 
 been so frequently produced and published. But the advice 
 which he received from all those with whom he conferred upon 
 the subject encouraged him to take up his pen, and to give a 
 history of the steps by which he accomplished the great work 
 of his life. This pamphlet was printed and published in Paris, 
 circulated among the scientific societies of Europe, and placed in 
 
702 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the hands of thoughtful men, who were competent to weigh the 
 evidence, and to judge candidly as to the claims of the inventor. 
 No attempt was ever afterward made to interfere with the just 
 claims of Mr. Morse to the honor which he had firmly claimed, 
 as his own right, and that of the country which he loved. Ex- 
 tracts from this pamphlet, giving the process of the invention, 
 with numerous drawings, form an Appendix to this volume, 
 and should be studiously examined by every intelligent reader. 
 
 His morning studies being completed, he was in the habit, 
 daily, of visiting the great Exposition, and spending several 
 hours in the examination of an almost infinite variety of me- 
 chanical inventions. He was one of the committee upon tele- 
 graphic instruments. He earnestly desired to be excused from 
 serving, from the fact that his prejudices were, naturally, greatly 
 influenced by his relations to the various inventions which were 
 before the public, and were now upon exhibition. But it was 
 pressed upon him, as he was, of all men, the most thoroughly 
 qualified to sit in judgment upon the comparative merits of 
 the several contrivances. He consented to serve; and, with 
 industry and patience, he devoted himself to an investigation of 
 the several instruments, and prepared a report at great length — 
 exhaustive in its research and comparisons — which was pub- 
 lished with the official reports of the Exhibition. 
 
 At the close of the Exposition, Mr. Morse made another tour 
 on the Continent. Now, as before, wherever he went, he was 
 received with marks of attention from governments and people, 
 as if he himself were the representative of a nation, or a royal 
 personage upon his travels. His modesty was equal to his 
 merit. Honored with marks of distinction from the various 
 governments of Europe, which would have made him more 
 conspicuous, in the midst of public assemblies, than any other 
 individual, of whatever official rank, he steadily avoided, in 
 his dress and equipage, any thing which might attract to him- 
 self the notice of the public, or which, in any manner, would 
 distinguish him from his countrymen. On one occasion, he 
 was called to a consultation with the official representatives of 
 several European countries, in relation to telegraphic matters ; 
 and he asked me whether it would be proper for him, on this 
 occasion, to wear the insignia which had been conferred upon 
 
ON THE CONTINENT. 703 
 
 him, by the several governments, on account of his inven- 
 tion. He said that there were two reasons why it seemed 
 to him that it might be desirable for him, on such an occa- 
 sion, to display them. In the first place, it would mark, in 
 the presence of the representatives of these governments, his 
 sense of the honor which he had received from their several 
 sovereigns; and, in the second place, such was the estimate of 
 these marks of distinction in Europe, that he would be, perhaps, 
 more respected, and therefore more influential, in the confer- 
 ence in which he was to engage. I concurred in this opinion, 
 and advised him that it would be, not only proper, but useful, 
 to put them on. But his native modesty controlled his action, 
 and, when I asked him, afterward, whether he wore his decora- 
 tions, he laughingly replied that, when it came to the point, he 
 was unable to be reconciled to what he thought was a humilia- 
 tion rather than an enviable distinction, and he went in ordinary 
 citizen's dress — perhaps with nothing more than the ribbon of 
 the Legion of Honor in his button-hole. 
 
 After passing a few months on the Isle of "Wight, the Pro- 
 fessor and family went to Dresden for the winter of 1867. 
 Three months were spent in that delightful city. His presenta- 
 tion at the court of the King of Saxony was a compliment paid 
 to his distinguished services. 
 
 From Dresden, Professor Morse repaired to Berlin, where 
 he was specially honored by those who were the best, qualified 
 to appreciate the magnitude and importance of his work. From 
 Mr. Bancroft, the United States Minister, and members of the 
 Prussian Government, he received constant attentions. He re- 
 mained but a few days in Berlin, and was obliged to decline a 
 presentation at court which was tendered him. 
 
 But anxious to learn the latest views in the science of teleg- 
 raphy, he called upon General (then Colonel) von Chauvin, the 
 distinguished chief of the German telegraphic system, which, as 
 inmost European countries, is a government monopoly and ad- 
 ministered by government officials. Before the interview was con- 
 cluded, a messenger came in and spoke in German to the chief, 
 who, as Mr. Morse was about to depart, said that the " opera- 
 tors " had heard of his presence in the building, and exceedingly 
 desired to see him. Having kindly assented to the presentation, 
 
704: LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Mr. Morse was led by the chief into a neighboring apartment, 
 and there f onnd himself facing several hundred gentlemen seated 
 in a vast hall, the largest operating-room in the world. At a 
 signal, the instruments ceased clicking, and each person stood 
 erect and a la militaire. 
 
 " Gentlemen," began Colonel von Chauvin, " you have the 
 honor to see before you the Father of the Telegraph." 
 
 All bowed profoundly again and again with such reverence 
 that, as says a letter writer, who relates the incident, " the fond 
 parent was quite embarrassed in the presence of so much of 
 his children.". 
 
 Not to recount the many tributes of esteem and respect paid 
 him by Dr. Siemens and other gentlemen eminent in the specialty 
 of telegraphy, one other unexpected compliment may be men- 
 tioned. The Professor was presented to the accomplished Gen- 
 eral Director of the Posts of the North-German Bund, Privy- 
 Councilor von Phillipsborn, in whose department the telegraph 
 had been comprised before Prussia became so great, and the 
 centre of a powerful confederation. At the time of their visit, 
 the director was so engaged, and that, too, in another part of 
 the Post-Amt, that the porter said it was useless to trouble him 
 with the cards. The names had not been long sent up, however, 
 before the director himself came hurriedly down the corridor 
 into the antechamber, and, scarcely waiting for the hastiest of 
 introductions, enthusiastically grasped both the Professor's hands 
 in his own, asking whether he had " the honor of speaking to 
 Doctor Morse," or, as he pronounced it, " Morzey." 
 
 When, after a brief conversation, Mr. Morse rose to go, the 
 director said that he had just left a conference over a new post 
 and telegraph treaty in negotiation between Belgium and the 
 Bund, and that it would afford him great pleasure to be per- 
 mitted to present his guest to the assembled gentlemen, includ- 
 ing the Belgian envoy and the Belgian postmaster-general. 
 
 There followed, accordingly, a formal presentation, with an 
 introductory address by the director, who, in excellent Eng- 
 lish, thanked Mr. Morse, in the name of Prussia and of all Ger- 
 many, for his great services ; and speeches by the principal per- 
 sons present, the Belgian envoy, Baron de Nothomb, very felici- 
 tously complimenting the Professor in French. 
 
GERMAN TELEGRAPH OPERATORS. 705 
 
 Succeeding the hand-shaking, the director spoke again, and, 
 in reply, Mr. Morse gratefully acknowledged the courtesy shown 
 to him, adding : " It is very gratifying to me to hear you say 
 that the Telegraph has been and is a means of promoting peace 
 among men. Believe me, gentlemen, my remaining days shall 
 be devoted to this great object." 
 
 Before Mr. Morse withdrew, the director said he had a 
 further request to make : In the adjoining room was the Coun- 
 cilor , the principal adviser of the department in legal 
 
 questions connected with the Telegraph, especially in reference 
 to international relations ; and the councilor would consider it 
 an event in his life to be presented to Mr. Morse. The gen- 
 tleman was therefore summoned, and soon entered ; suppos- 
 ing, doubtless, that his professional assistance was required. 
 When told that the venerable gentleman before him w T as Pro- 
 fessor Morse, he gave expression to his surprise and pleasure. 
 The director then led his visitors into a small, cozily furnished 
 room, saying as they entered, " Here I have so often thought 
 of you, Mr. Morse, but I never thought I should have the honor 
 of receiving you in my own private room." 
 
 After they were seated, the host, tapping upon a small table, 
 continued, " Over this passed the important telegrams of the 
 War of 1866." Then, approaching a large telegraph-map on 
 the wall, he added : " Upon this you can see how invaluable 
 was the telegraph in the war. Here," pointing with the fore- 
 finger of his right hand, " here the crown prince came down 
 through Silesia. This," indicating, with the other forefinger, 
 a passage through Bohemia, " was the line of march of Prince 
 Friedrich Carl. From this station, the crown prince telegraphed 
 Prince Friedrich Carl, always over Berlin, ' Where are you % ' 
 The answer from this station reached him also over Berlin. 
 
 " The Austrians were here," placing the thumb on the map 
 below, and between the two fingers. " The next day Prince 
 Friedrich Charles comes here," the left forefinger joined the 
 thumb, " and telegraphs the fact, always over Berlin, to the 
 crown prince, who hurries forward here," the forefinger of 
 the right hand slipped quickly under the thumb as if to pinch 
 something, and the narrator looked up significantly. Perhaps 
 the patriotic director thought of the July afternoon, whe% 
 45 
 
706 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 eagerly listening at the little mahogany-topped table, over which 
 passed so many momentous messages, he learned that the royal 
 cousins had effected a junction at Konigsgratz, a junction that 
 decided the fate of Germany and secured Prussia its present 
 proud position, — a junction which, but for his modest visitor's 
 invention, the telegraph " always over Berlin," would have been 
 impossible. 
 
 Leaving Berlin, Professor Morse came to Paris, and passed a 
 few weeks before embarking for New Tork. While here he had 
 the great pleasure of receiving his portrait of Thorwaldsen, and 
 of forwarding it to General Raastoff, the Danish Minister of 
 War. In his letter to the minister he begged him to present 
 the portrait to the king as " an acknowledgment on my part of 
 Danish hospitality in 1856, and a mark of my own personal 
 veneration for the names and labors of those noble Danes, 
 Thorwaldsen and Oersted." He was now turning his face 
 toward the west, to the setting sun ; the close of his career on 
 earth he felt to be necessarily not far off. The honors that 
 came from men had been enjoyed throughout this journey. In 
 every city his presence had been marked with the attentions of 
 men of learning and position. If justice had not been done in 
 bestowing pecuniary rewards that he deserved, the full measure 
 of honor had been awarded, and he was prepared to go home, 
 with the assurance that the world had at last given Morse and 
 America the credit of inventing the Recording Telegraph. 
 
 He left Havre in the St.-Laurent, in the latter part of May, 
 1868, and in early June was once more welcomed by his neigh- 
 bors and friends in Poughkeepsie. Never was his rural home 
 more lovely and inviting than when he entered again into its de- 
 lights, and, far from palaces, courts, and kings, he sat down to its 
 quiet enjoyment. He was not to be idle, though free from the 
 cares of office and business. He was one to whom men came 
 for advice and aid, in every variety of useful work. One let- 
 ter to an applicant for pecuniary assistance and counsel might 
 serve as a circular to be addressed to many others seeking the 
 same favors. To a gentleman in Yirginia he wrote a few days 
 after he arrived at home : 
 
 " I received this morning your letter of yesterday, with its in- 
 cisures, and, while I was deeply interested in the details of your 
 
LETTER TO AN INVENTOR. 707 
 
 beautiful invention, I could not but regret that it is entirely out of 
 my power to give you the aid you desire. You would understand 
 my position in regard to applications from all quarters for aid 
 toward projects of every kind, if you could see the pile of letters so- 
 liciting aid, which daily accumulates upon my table. It has become 
 utterly impossible to answer favorably the tenth part of these appli- 
 cations made to me. You could scarcely have taken a more unfor- 
 tunate time to solicit me at this moment of my return when, from 
 the condition of my property, after an absence of two years, I am 
 compelled to disburse some thousands to put it in repair, and this 
 after having, as late as the 16th instant, subscribed to the utmost 
 of my ability, a large sum, which will require the utmost care and 
 economy on my part to pay during the remainder of my life. 
 
 " Let me say, nevertheless, that I consider your discovery, and 
 the invention based upon it, as one of great value, as one which, in 
 an eminent degree, has demands upon the attention of the Govern- 
 ment^ in the departments having care of the public lands and the 
 protection of our navigation. Have you made it known to the Sec- 
 retary of the Navy, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the 
 Interior?" Each one of these departments is directly interested in 
 the results of your invention, and, if they have a contingent fund at 
 their disposal, so small a sum comparatively as you desire could not 
 be better bestowed than in enabling you to bring it before the 
 world in its perfected shape. You have, at least, my hearty wishes 
 for your success." 
 
 He was a willing and loving patron of art. Especially dear 
 to him were the memories of Allston and Leslie, his teacher and 
 his fellow-student in the days of his early struggles. Before he 
 went abroad on his last visit, he had learned that a project was 
 on foot to purchase Allston's portrait by Leslie, to be presented 
 to the National Academy of Design. Instantly he determined 
 to purchase the picture of his teacher, painted by his friend, and 
 to give it to the Academy which he founded and cherished with 
 parental affection and pride. In his letter to the committee hav- 
 ing it in charge, he said: "There are associations in my mind 
 with those two eminent and beloved names which appeal too 
 strongly to me to be resisted. Now I have a favor to ask which 
 I hope will not be denied. It is that I may be allowed to pre- 
 sent to the Academy that portrait in my own name. Yon can 
 
708 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 appreciate the arguments which have influenced my wishes in 
 this respect. Allston was more than any other person my mas- 
 ter in art. Leslie was my life-long cherished friend and fellow- 
 pupil, whom I loved as a brother. We all lived together for 
 years in the closest intimacy and in the same house. Is there 
 not, then, a fitness that the portrait of the master by one distin- 
 guished pupil should be presented by the surviving pupil to the 
 Academy over which he presided in its infancy, as well as as- 
 sisted in its birth % and, although divorced from art, cannot so 
 easily be divorced from the memories of an intercourse with 
 these distinguished friends, an intercourse which never for one 
 moment suffered interruption, even from a shadow of estrange- 
 ment. I inclose you my check for five hundred dollars, leaving 
 you and the gentlemen in charge of the purchase to act your 
 pleasure in the matter." 
 
 While Professor Morse was in Europe in 1866, the cele- 
 brated painting of " Jeremiah," by Allston, came before the 
 public under circumstances of peculiar interest. In consequence 
 of the death of a lady of Newport, Rhode Island, for whom it 
 was painted fifty years before, it was placed in the Redwood 
 Library at Newport, with a view to its being sold ; when a lady 
 and gentleman of New Haven happened to see it, who brought 
 back word that this prize might be secured for the Tale School 
 of Art at the price of seven thousand dollars. This matter was 
 accordingly taken up, and, after some subscriptions for the pur- 
 chase had been obtained, the council of the school, through 
 the great liberality of ex-Governor Gibbs, of Newport, admin- 
 istrator of the estate to which the picture belonged, were al- 
 lowed to have possession of it for a limited time, in the hope 
 that the proceeds of exhibition, together with such subscriptions 
 as might be added by visitors, would make up the amount re- 
 quired for the purchase. The painting represents the prophet, 
 seated in " the court of the prison," where he was shut up for 
 the testimony which he bore against the lying prophets and re- 
 creant priests of his generation, and is supposed to be trans- 
 ported with a vision of the capture and spoiling of Jerusalem by 
 the King of Babylon. After the picture had been exhibited for 
 some time at New Haven, subscriptions were solicited for the 
 purpose of purchasing it for the college. When Professor 
 
THE TWO GIFTS. 709 
 
 Morse returned from Europe (in 1868) the subject was brought 
 to his attention, and he requested permission to present the pict- 
 ure to the college. With the consent of those who had sub- 
 scribed already, he assumed the entire expense, and, purchasing 
 the picture by his beloved teacher, for seven thousand dollars, 
 gave it to his Alma Mater. 
 
 Thus, by these two gifts in honor of his teacher, he endowed 
 his child, the Academy, and the College, his mother, with memo- 
 rials of Allston. This gift of the picture was soon followed by a 
 donation of ten thousand dollars to the building fund of the The- 
 ological Department of Yale College. President "Woolsey wrote 
 to the Professor July 27, 1868, and said : "I write as instructed 
 by the corporation of Yale College, to express their gratitude to 
 you for your very generous subscription to the fund for the 
 Theological building. Permit me also to add my own personal 
 sense of your munificence. I had the honor last commencement 
 to convey the thanks of the Fellows to you for your gift of All- 
 ston' s picture, afid I did not think that this would be followed 
 by a still greater gift." 
 
 To the Union Theological Seminary, in the city of New 
 York, he also presented the sum of ten thousand dollars, endow- 
 ing a lectureship on the " Relation of the Bible to the Sciences," 
 and to be named in honor of his father, the Rev. Dr. Morse, 
 whose labors in the cause of theological education and geographi- 
 cal science rendered the testimonial peculiarly appropriate. 
 
 BANQUET m NEW YORK. 
 
 Toward the close of this year (1868) his fellow-citizens in- 
 vited Professor Morse to meet them at a public dinner. The 
 letter of invitation was addressed to him by a large number 
 of distinguished gentlemen, who united in saying : " Many of 
 your countrymen, and numerous personal friends, desire to give 
 a definite expression of the fact that this country is in full ac- 
 cord with European nations in acknowledging your title to the 
 position of the Father of the Modern Telegraphs, and at the 
 same time, in a fitting manner, to welcome you to your home." 
 The invitation was accepted, and the day designated for the 
 banquet was December 30, 1868. It was designed as the crown- 
 ing honor of the great inventor's life, by his own countrymen. 
 
710 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 The Chief-Justice of the United States, who had been the lead- 
 ing counsel against Professor Morse in the first lawsuit brought 
 to defend his rights, was now called to preside at a banquet 
 which was to testify that, in the judgment of his country and the 
 world, the Telegraph was the child of Morse and America. The 
 dinner was given at Delmonico's, on the corner of Fifth Ave- 
 nue and Fourteenth Street, New York. Some of the most emi- 
 nent persons in the country were present ; the speeches and gen- 
 eral proceedings were marked with good sense and good feeling. 
 The Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Chief-Justice, presided, having on 
 his right Professor Morse, and on his left Sir Edward Thornton, 
 H. B. M. Minister to the United States. About two hundred 
 gentlemen sat down at the dinner. After the blessing had been 
 invoked by the Rev. "William Adams, D. D., the banquet en- 
 joyed, and thanks returned by the Rev. A. H. Yinton, D. D., 
 Mr. Field presented letters from the President of the United 
 States ; from General Grant ; from Speaker Colfax ; from Admi- 
 ral Farragut, and others, and then read a telegrara from the Gov- 
 ernor of Massachusetts, the State in which Professor Morse was 
 born : 
 
 " Massachusetts honors her two sons — Franklin and Morse. The 
 one conducted the lightning safely from the sky ; the other con- 
 ducts it beneath the ocean, from continent to continent. The one 
 tamed the lightning ; the other makes it minister to human wants 
 and human progress. Alexander H. Bullock, Governor." 
 
 " This morning," said Mr. Field, " I sent a telegram to Lon- 
 don, giving information that we were to meet this evening to 
 honor our fellow-citizen, Professor Morse." The following re- 
 ply was received : , 
 
 " 'London, 4 o'clock p. m., December 29, 1868. 
 
 " ' Cyrus W. Field, New York : The members of the Joint Com- 
 mittee of the Anglo-American and Atlantic Telegraph Companies 
 hear with pleasure of the banquet to be given this evening to Pro- 
 fessor Morse, and desire to greet that distinguished telegraphist, 
 and wish him all the compliments of the season.' 
 
 ' : This telegram was sent from London at four o'clock this af- 
 ternoon, and was delivered into the hands of your committee at 
 12.50." (Applause and laughter.) 
 
THE CHIEF-JUSTICE SPEAKS. 711 
 
 The speeches that followed were made by men representing 
 various countries and interests. Sir Edward Thornton, the 
 British Minister, said that he " had great satisfaction in being 
 able to contribute his mite of that admiration and esteem for 
 Professor Morse which must be felt by all for so great a bene- 
 factor of his fellow-creatures and of posterity." When Chief- 
 Justice Chase was about to introduce the guest of the evening, 
 he made a few remarks, in which he said : 
 
 "Many shining names will at once occur to any one at all 
 familiar with the history of the Telegraph. Among them 1 can 
 pause to mention only those of Volta, the Italian, to whose dis- 
 coveries the battery is due ; Oersted, the Dane, who first discovered 
 the magnetic properties of the electric current ; Ampere and Arago, 
 the Frenchmen, who prosecuted still further and most successfully 
 similar researches ; then Sturgeon, the Englishman, who may be 
 said to have made the first electro-magnet ; next, and not least il- 
 lustrious among these illustrious men, our countryman, Henry, who 
 first showed the practicability of producing electro-magnetic effects 
 by means of the galvanic current, at distances indefinitely great ; 
 and finally, Steinheil, the German, who, after the invention of the 
 Telegraph in all its material parts was complete, taught, in 1837, 
 the use of the ground as a part of the circuit. These are some of 
 those searchers for truth whose names will be long held in grateful 
 memory, and not among the least of their titles to gratitude and 
 remembrance will be the discoveries which contributed to the possi- 
 bility of the modern Telegraph. 
 
 " But these discoveries only made the Telegraph possible. They 
 offered the brilliant opportunity ; there was needed a man to bring 
 into being the new art and the new interest to which they pointed. 
 And it is the providential distinction and splendid honor of the 
 eminent American who is our guest to-night that, happily prepared 
 by previous acquirements and pursuits, he was quick to seize the 
 opportunity and give to the world the first recording Telegraph. 
 Fortunate man ! thus to link his name forever with the greatest 
 wonder and the greatest benefit of the age ! " (Great applause.) 
 " I give you, ' Our guest, Professor S. B. Morse — the man of science, 
 who explored the laws of Nature, wrested electricity from her em- 
 brace, and made it a missionary in the cause of human progress.' " 
 
 The venerable Professor, the father of -the Telegraph, arose, 
 under emotion too strong to be concealed, and his rising was 
 
\ 
 
 712 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 hailed with deafening applause. The whole company, on their 
 feet, gave cheer after cheer, and when the applause had in a 
 measure subsided it broke out again and again, as the opportu- 
 nity was taken by the entire assembly to express their grateful 
 admiration of the illustrious man before them. And in that 
 body of eminent men, had he been unknown, he would have 
 been distinguished by his majestic, patriarchal appearance and 
 bearing. At last silence was obtained and the Professor began. 
 As much that he said in his sketch of the invention and prog- 
 ress of the Telegraph has been already rehearsed, a few passages 
 only from his speech will be given : 
 
 " Various and conflicting memories crowd upon me at this mo- 
 ment — memories which this demonstration has quickened into life. 
 What train of thought, what incidents of the past, in the brief mo- 
 ments allotted to me, can I select from this mass of recollections 
 which may contribute either to your profit or your pleasure ? " 
 
 He then recounted the evidences he had rqceived from for- 
 eign countries of their sense of indebtedness to him ; he told 
 the story of the invention of the Telegraph on board the Sully 
 in 1832 ; of its exhibition in 1835 and 1837, and its final triumph 
 in 1844. He spoke of the great scientific men whose discov- 
 eries made the Telegraph possible, and acknowledged his own 
 indebtedness to them ; of his early struggles, of the reluctance 
 of the Government to aid the experiment ; of the debate in Con- 
 gress ; of his offer to the Government of the Telegraph for pos- 
 tal service ; of the services of Alfred Yail and Amos Kendall 
 and others who had sustained him in his labors, and he concluded 
 his address by saying : 
 
 " I have claimed for America the origination of the modern 
 telegraph system of the world. Impartial history, I think, will sup- 
 port that claim. Do not misunderstand me as disparaging or dis- 
 regarding the labors and ingenious modifications of others in various, 
 countries, employed in the same field of invention. Gladly, did 
 time permit, would I descant upon their great and varied merits. 
 Yet, in tracing the birth and pedigree of the modern Telegraph, 
 ' American ' is not the highest term of the series that connects 
 the past with the present ; there is at least one higher term, the 
 highest of all, which cannot and must not be ignored. If not a 
 
MR. HUNTINGTON'S SPEECH. 713 
 
 sparrow falls to the ground without a definite purpose in the plans 
 of Infinite Wisdom, can the creation of an instrumentality, so vitally 
 affecting* the interests of the whole human race, have an origin less 
 humble than the Father of every good and perfect gift ? I am sure 
 I have the sympathy of such an assembly as is here gathered, if, in 
 all humility and in the sincerity of a grateful heart, I use the words 
 of inspiration in ascribing honor and praise to Him to whom first of 
 all and most of all it is preeminently due. ' Not unto us, not unto 
 us, but to God be all the glory.' Not what hath man, but ' What 
 hath God wrought f ' " 
 
 The Professor resumed his seat in the midst of long-con- 
 tinued and hearty applause. Speeches were then made by Pro- 
 fessor Goldwin Smith, Hon. William M. Evarts, A. A. Low, 
 Esq., William Cuilen Bryant, Esq., William Orton, Esq., David 
 Dudley Field, Esq., Hon. William E. Dodge, Hugh Allan, Esq., 
 Daniel Huntington, Esq., and Governor Curtin, of Pennsyl- 
 vania. Mr. Huntington, the artist, a former pupil of Morse, 
 alluded in beautiful terms to his early associations with the 
 Professor : 
 
 " Every studio," he said, " is more or less a laboratory. The 
 painter is a chemist, delving into the secrets of pigments, varnishes, 
 mixtures of tints, and mysterious preparations of grounds and over- 
 laying of colors ; occult arts, by which the inward light is made to 
 gleam from the canvas and the warm flesh to glow and palpitate. 
 The studio of my beloved master, in whose honor we have met to- 
 night, was indeed a laboratory. Vigorous, life-like portraits, poetic 
 and historic groups, occasionally grew upon his easel ; but there 
 were many hours — yes, days — when, absorbed in study among gal- 
 vanic batteries and mysterious lines of wire, he seemed to us like 
 an alchemist of the middle ages in search of the philosopher's stone. 
 I can never forget the occasion when he called his pupils together 
 to witness one of the first, if not the first, successful experiment 
 with the electric Telegraph. It was in the winter of 1835-'36. I 
 can now see that rude instrument, constructed with an old stretch- 
 ing-frame, a wooden clock, a home-made battery, and the wire 
 stretched many times round the walls of the studio. With eager 
 interest we gathered about it, as our master explained its operation, 
 while with a click, click, the pencil, by a succession of dots and 
 lines, recorded the message in cipher. The idea was born. The 
 
714 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 words circled that upper chamber as they do now the globe. But 
 we had little faith. To us it seemed a dream of enthusiasm. "We 
 grieved to see the sketch upon the canvas untouched. We longed 
 to see him again calling into life events in our country's history, 
 but it was not to be. God's purposes were being accomplished, and 
 now the world is witness to his triumph. Yet the love of art still 
 lives in some inner corner of his heart, and I know he can never 
 enter the studio of a painter and see the artist silently bringing 
 from the canvas forms of life and beauty, but he feels a tender 
 twinge as one who catches a glimpse of the beautiful girl he loved 
 in his youth whom another has snatched away. 
 
 " Finally, my dear master and father in art, allow me, in this mo- 
 ment of your triumph in the field of discovery, to greet you in the 
 name of your brother artists with ' All hail ! ' As an artist you 
 might have spent life worthily in turning God's blessed daylight 
 into sweet hues of rainbow colors and into breathing forms for the 
 delight and consolation of men, but it has been his will that you 
 should train the lightnings, the sharp arrows of his anger, into the 
 swift yet gentle messengers of peace and love." 
 
 When Mr. Huntington had concluded, the ladies, who had 
 graced the banquet by their presence, began to retire. The 
 president, however, announced the last toast, " The Ladies," 
 and said : " This is the most inspiring theme of all ; but the 
 theme itself seems to be vanishing from us — indeed" (after 
 a pause), "has already vanished" (after another pause and a 
 glance around the room), " and the gentleman who was to have 
 responded seems also to have vanished with his theme. I may 
 assume, therefrom, that the duties of the evening are performed, 
 and its enjoyments are at an end." 
 
 This testimonial by his own countrymen, calling forth, as it 
 did, expressions from the press and from men of science and 
 practical knowledge of the Telegraph in all parts of his own 
 country and in distant lands, was justly regarded by Professor 
 Morse as the final verdict in his case. He accepted it with 
 grateful appreciation, esteeming it one of the most valuable as 
 well as pleasing testimonies to the greatness and usefulness of 
 his labors. He had, however, no relaxation from the work of 
 his life. The report of his examination of the telegraphic in- 
 struments at the Paris Exposition was still unfinished. He had' 
 
HIS LEG BROKEN. 715 
 
 begun it in Paris and continued it on the Isle of Wight, where 
 he fled for rest. He wrought upon it in Dresden. He brought 
 it home with him and spent his summer days upon it in his 
 rural home at Poughkeepsie. It was now his daily task. He 
 completed it in the course of the year 1869 and it was published 
 by the Government of the United States, making a document 
 of nearly two hundred pages, illustrated with numerous drawings, 
 and stored with valuable information. JSTor was this the chief 
 labor with which the man of nearly fourscore years was bur- 
 dened. " Such is the weight of my correspondence," he writes 
 in a letter to a friend, in February, 1869, " I have the pen in 
 my hand from the earliest daylight until twelve at midnight." 
 But his patience and perseverance were sufficient for the day and 
 the burden. He was conscious of the progress of time, and he 
 worked on steadily, that when the end came he might be found 
 doing. 
 
 In the latter part of May he went up to his country-seat 
 with his family, and enjoyed again the delights of the country 
 he so much loved. The summer was sadly broken in upon by 
 an accident that would have been easily fatal to most men of 
 his great age. His foot tripped upon the stair and he fell, 
 breaking both bones of his leg below the knee. It was sup- 
 posed, almost as a matter of course, that he could not survive 
 the shock. He was laid upon his bed for three months, with 
 his leg in the stocks. But the months were cheerful and peace- 
 ful. He received his friends with cordiality. He made no 
 complaints, but quietly waited the recuperating powers of Nature. 
 In due time he was about again on crutches ; then these were 
 laid aside and he walked erect, firm and freely as ever. This 
 accident prevented him from assisting at the inauguration of the 
 statue of Alexander Humboldt in the Central Park, to which 
 he had contributed, but his letter was deposited in the pedi- 
 ment. He expressed his regret at being unable to be present, 
 and said : 
 
 " I owed my personal acquaintance with Humboldt to his knowl- 
 edge of my father by correspondence many, many years ago, and 
 when I was a student in the arts in Paris, in the years 1831, 1832, 
 he took pains to find me out, and I have since often called to mind 
 the friendly interest he manifested in the progress of my studies of 
 
716 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the works of the old masters in the Louvre. It was his custom, for 
 some time in the winter of the years 1831-1832, to recreate during a 
 portion of the day in that splendid gallery, and more than once did he 
 linger by my easel, and, requesting me to relieve myself awhile from 
 my studies, he desired me to accompany him in the examination of 
 some of the masterpieces of art. At this time I frequently met him 
 at the soirees of the Baron Gerard, where not merely the distin- 
 guished artist, but men illustrious in all the departments of science, 
 and of various nations, weekly assembled. At these soirees I was 
 first struck with the wonderful readiness of the learned Humboldt, 
 in conversing in so many different languages ; Spaniards, Turks, 
 Swedes, Danes, Russians, as well as Germans, French, and English, 
 would address him in almost the same breath, and the prompti- 
 tude of his passing from one language to another, and the fluency 
 and vivacity with which he alike conversed with all of them, were 
 the source of frequent remark and admiration. When, after an in- 
 terval of six years, I revisited Paris in 1838, in a different capacity, 
 with my Telegraph invention, I again met at the Academy of Sci- 
 ences with Baron Humboldt. Invited by the Perpetual Secretary, 
 the renowned Arago, to a seat within the pale of assembled mem- 
 bers, I sat at a short distance from Baron Humboldt, and I can never 
 forget the feelings of encouragement, in those anxious moments, 
 when, after the lucid explanation of my Telegraph to the Academy 
 by M. Arago, the Baron Humboldt arose, and, taking my hand, con- 
 gratulated me and thanked me before them all. It was not until 
 the summer of 1856 that, traveling in the north of Europe, I visited 
 Berlin, and again saw, and for the last time, this illustrious man, in 
 one of his homes in the Royal Palace of Potsdam. I was received 
 with his usual kindness of manner. He spoke with enthusiasm of 
 the probable future of American science, and warmed with more 
 than usual enthusiasm in expatiating with praise upon the scientific 
 labors of Maury and Dana. Of the latter, he said that his then re- 
 cent work was one of the most valuable contributions to science of 
 the age. In parting with him, he alluded to his advancing years, 
 spoke with feeling of the probability that we should never meet 
 again, and, presenting me with his photographic portrait, and his 
 autograph upon it, bade me farewell." 
 
 STATUE OF MORSE. 
 
 .Few men are permitted to see their own statues, erected by. 
 their grateful contemporaries. And of many inventors it is said 
 
THE MORSE STATUE. 717 
 
 that, wanting bread, they receive only a stone, and not even 
 that until long after they have been starved to death. It was 
 the good fortune of Professor Morse to live until thousands of 
 his f ellow-ereatures were enjoying the substantial benefits re- 
 sulting from his labors. The affection with which he regarded 
 all those who were employed in developing and using his inven- 
 tion was reciprocated by the tens of thousands of operators and 
 officers in every land, and especially in all parts of his native 
 land. To a vast number of men and women, his Telegraph fur- 
 nished, as means of support, a simple, useful, agreeable, and re- 
 munerative employment. It was an invention of their own to 
 make some testimonial of their gratitude and appreciation of his 
 service to them as well as to the whole world. In the year 
 1869 an organization was formed in Alleghany City, Pennsyl- 
 vania, " to testify to Professor Morse the veneration and respect 
 entertained for him by the operators, and others." This associa- 
 tion was soon made national, with Mr. James D. Peid, of New 
 York, as chairman ; Mr. John Horner, New York, treasurer ; 
 and Mr. Robert B. Hoover, who originated the movement, as 
 secretary. An executive committee, covering the whole coun- 
 try, was appointed. The Hon. William Orton, President of the 
 Western Union Telegraph Company, issued a letter, saying: 
 " The movement is one which merits, and will receive, my 
 warmest sympathy, and most hearty encouragement. The ven- 
 erable ' Father of all the Telegraphs ' has long since passed the 
 meridian of life ; and, although his step is firm and his eye un- 
 dimmed, he is nearing rapidly the verge of that dark river from 
 whose farther shore no message ever comes. It becomes, there- 
 fore, all who know and love him, as all who know him do, not 
 to delay their tributes of respect and affection. And I am con- 
 fident that all connected with us will take pleasure in rendering 
 whatever assistance they are able." The shape the testimonial 
 would finally take was not then determined. . A circular was 
 telegraphed over the land proposing that each person connected 
 with the lines should contribute one dollar, although more or 
 less would be received, with the hope that every one, from the 
 president to the messenger-boy, might have a share in the work. 
 The subscriptions began to come in with the usual speed of the 
 Telegraph. Its fitting motto would be, " "What is to be done 
 
718 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 must be done quickly." The cheerful and general response jus- 
 tified the contemplation of a memorial worthy of the man and 
 the country that would do him honor. It was decided to erect 
 a bronze statue of Professor Morse. The Central Park in the 
 city of New York was selected as the most appropriate place for 
 its erection. Permission was cheerfully granted by the Park 
 Commission. The proposal was hailed by the public press as emi- 
 nently becoming and deserved. Within two years of the concep- 
 tion of the idea to make the testimonial, the money was raised by 
 these small contributions, the statue was completed, and the day 
 appointed for its inauguration. The most extensive and judicious 
 arrangements were made for the celebration of the day. Dele- 
 gates, deputed by telegraphic associations, arrived from Penn- 
 sylvania, Mississippi, District of Columbia, Maryland, Connect- 
 icut, Canada, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Georgia, Ohio, Tennes- 
 see, Illinois, ISTew Jersey, Iowa, North Carolina, Michigan, Ken- 
 tucky, California, Nebraska, Indiana, Vermont, Maine, Rhode 
 Island, West Virginia, Virginia, Minnesota, and Nova Scotia. 
 The day (June 10, 1871) was brilliant, cool, and auspicious. A 
 thousand telegraphic visitors, gentlemen and ladies from abroad, 
 were received as guests, and spent the forenoon in making an 
 excursion, on board a steamer, around the city; giving three 
 cheers for Professor Morse as they landed. The afternoon saw 
 the park alive with the people of the city and surrounding coun- 
 try, gathered in multitudes ; the wealth and fashion of the town, 
 and masses of people who knew and prized the value of labor, 
 thought, and patient perseverance, now to be honored. The 
 statue stood in the angle between two platforms for the invited 
 guests, and was wrapped in the folds of the Stars and Stripes. 
 The band from Governor's Island was in attendance and played 
 a selection of national airs. 
 
 Shortly after four o'clock, amid cheers from the multitude 
 assembled, Governor John T. Hoffman arose and delivered an 
 eloquent address. He said : " If the inventor of the alphabet be 
 deserving of the highest honors, so is he whose great achieve- 
 ment marks this epoch in the history of language — the inven- 
 tor of the Electric Telegraph. We intend, so far as in us lies, 
 that the men who come after us shall be at no loss to discover 
 his name for want of recorded testimony." 
 
CELEBRATION IN THE ACADEMY. 719 
 
 After Governor Hoffman had closed his address, Governor 
 Claflin and the Hon. ¥m. Orton threw aside the drapery, and 
 displayed the statue. A tumultuous outburst of applause fol- 
 lowed, the band playing the " Star-Spangled Banner." 
 
 The statue is of heroic size, and was modeled by Byron M. 
 Pickett, and cast at the National Fine- Art Foundery of New 
 York, by Maurice I. Power. Professor Morse is represented 
 holding the first message sent over the wires, and devoutly rec- 
 ognizing the truth of its language : " What hath God wrought ! " 
 Addresses were then delivered by William Cullen Bryant, Esq., 
 and by the mayor of the city, A. Oakey Hall, Esq. Prayer was 
 offered by Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D. D. The Christian Dox- 
 ology was sung by the multitude. 
 
 In the evening of the same day the Academy of Music was 
 thronged. The most eminent men of the country participated 
 in the reception given to the venerable Professor, who was 
 greeted with applause as he entered and took his seat upon the 
 platform. Hon. William Orton presided. Rev. Dr. Howard 
 Crosby, Chancellor of the University, offered prayer. Addresses 
 were made by Mr. Orton, Dr. George B. Loring, of Salem, 
 Massachusetts, and Rev. Dr. George W. Samson. At the hour 
 of 9 p. m., the chairman announced that the telegraphic instru- 
 ment now before him, the original register employed in actual 
 service, was connected with all the wires of America, and the 
 touch of the finger on the key would soon vibrate throughout 
 the continent. Miss Sadie E. Cornwell, who had been selected 
 to transmit a message, was then conducted to her place by Mr. 
 Applebaugh, and sent the following dispatch, in the midst of 
 profound silence : 
 
 " Greeting- and thanks to the telegraph fraternity 
 throughout the land. glory to god in the highest, on 
 earth peace, good-will to men." 
 
 At the last click of the instrument, Professor Morse, es- 
 corted by Mr. Orton, approached the table and took his seat. 
 As his fingers touched the key, tremendous cheers rung through 
 the house, but were stopped by a gesture from Mr. Orton. 
 Again impressive silence fell on the house. Slowly the sounder 
 struck " S. F. B. Morse ; " the Professor's hand fell from the 
 key, the entire audience rose, and a wild storm of enthusiasm 
 
720 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 swept through, the house, which was continued for some time, 
 ladies waving their handkerchiefs, and venerable men cheering 
 as joyously as the youngest. Professor Morse, visibly affected, 
 resumed his chair beside the president, and for several moments 
 pressed his brow with his hands. When the excitement had 
 subsided, Mr, Orton said : " Thus the Father of the Telegraph 
 bids farewell to his children." 
 
 The current was then switched off to an instrument be- 
 hind the scenes. Quickly along the wires came responses from 
 Milwaukee, Jacksonville, Montreal, Toronto, Quebec, Chicago, 
 Washington, New Orleans, Portsmouth, Louisville, Philadel- 
 phia, Charleston, Ottawa, Ontario, San Francisco, Pittsburg, 
 Memphis, Cincinnati, Mobile, Halifax, Havana. 
 
 Dispatches were received later in the night from the Hong- 
 Kong Chamber of Commerce, from Bombay, and Singapore. 
 
 General 1ST. P. Banks then made an address, and a poem by 
 J. H. Watson was recited. Mr. W. H. Pope, the Rev. H. M. 
 Gallagher, J. K. Walcott, Esq., Mr. J. D. Reid, the chief pro- 
 moter of the whole movement, and the Hon. Charles P. Daly, 
 made addresses, the latter introducing Professor Morse. 
 
 As the venerable Professor arose to respond, the whole au- 
 dience broke into a warm cheer of salutation. His long white 
 beard falling on his breast, his erect and graceful form, and his 
 evident emotion, commanded the admiring sympathy of the au- 
 dience. After a few words of introduction, while struggling 
 to control his emotions, he said : 
 
 " When I consider that he who rules supreme over the ways and 
 destinies of man often makes use of the feeblest instruments to ac- 
 complish his benevolent purposes to man, as if, by grandest con- 
 trast, to point the mind with more marked effect to him as their au- 
 thor, I cheerfully take my place on the lowest seat at his footstool. 
 It is his pleasure, however, to work by human instrumentality. 
 You have chosen to impersonate, in the statue this day erected, the 
 invention rather than the inventor, and it is of no small significance 
 that in the attitude so well chosen, and so admirably executed by 
 the talented young sculptor whose work presents him so promi- 
 nently and so favorably before you, he has given permanence to 
 that pregnant and just sentence which was the first public utter- 
 ance of the telegraph : ' What hath God wrought ! ' 
 
ADDRESS OF PROFESSOR MORSE. 721 
 
 " In the carrying out of any plan of improvement, however 
 grand or feasible, no single individual could possibly accomplish it 
 without the aid of others. We are, none of us, so powerful that 
 we can dispense with the assistance, in various departments of the 
 work, of those whose experience and knowledge must supply the 
 needed aid of their expertness. It is not sufficient that a brilliant 
 project be proposed, that its modes of accomplishment are foreseen 
 and properly devised ; there are, in every part of the enterprise, 
 other minds, and other agencies to be consulted for information and 
 counsel to protect the whole plan. The Chief-Justice, in delivering 
 the decision of the Supreme Court, says : ' It can make no difference 
 whether he ' (the inventor) ' derives his information from books or 
 from conversation with men skilled in the science' — and ' the fact 
 that Morse sought and obtained the necessary information and 
 counsel from the best sources, and acted upon it, neither impairs 
 his rights as an inventor nor detracts from his merits.' The invent- 
 or must seek and employ the skilled mechanician in his workshop, 
 to put the invention into practical form, and for this purpose some 
 pecuniary means are required, as well as mechanical skill. Both 
 these were at hand. Alfred Vail, of Morristown, New Jersey, with 
 his father and brother, came to the help of the unclothed infant, and 
 with their funds and mechanical skill put it into a condition cred- 
 itably to appear before the Congress of the nation. To these New 
 Jersey friends is due the first important aid in the progress of the 
 invention. Aided, also, by the talent and scientific skill of Pro- 
 fessor Gale, my esteemed colleague in the University, the Tele- 
 graph appeared in Washington in 1838, a suppliant for the means 
 to demonstrate its power. To the Hon. F. O. J. Smith, then chair- 
 man of the House Committee of Commerce, belongs the credit of a 
 just appreciation of the new invention, and of a zealous advocacy 
 of an experimental essay and the inditing of an admirably written 
 report in its favor, signed by every member of the committee. It 
 was, nevertheless, thrown aside among the unfinished business of 
 the session; and now commenced days of trial. Years of delay 
 were yet before it. It was not till 1842 that it was again submit- 
 ted to Congress. Ferris and Kennedy, and Winthrop and Aycrigg, 
 McClay and Wood, and many others in the House, far-seeing states- 
 men, rallied to its support, and at length, by a bare majority, the 
 bill that was necessary was carried through the ordinary forms, and 
 sent to the Senate, where it met with no opposition, and was passed 
 the last night of the session. 
 46 
 
722 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 " Now commenced a new series of trials, to which it is unneces- 
 sary here more than to allude. 
 
 " To Ezra Cornell, whose noble benefactions to his State and the 
 country have placed his name by the side of Cooper and Peabody, 
 high on the roll of public benefactors, is due the credit of early and 
 effective aid in the superintendence and erection of the first public 
 line of telegraph ever established. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the success of the experimental essay, an- 
 other important step was necessary ere the invention could demon- 
 strate its vast utility. It was not until the skill and experience of 
 the best Postmaster-General that had ever held that office, the Hon. 
 Amos Kendall, were brought into requisition, that, amid many dis- 
 couragements, the various companies were organized, and in the 
 hands of such enterprising men as Sibley, who united the Atlantic 
 and Pacific, and Swain, and Wade, and a host of determined men, 
 whose names would read like the pages of a dictionary, this vast 
 country, from the northern boundaries of Canada to the Gulf of 
 Mexico, and from the shores of the Atlantic to the Pacific, were 
 webbed- with telegraphic wires." (Applause.) 
 
 " Another grand stride was yet to be taken, ere international 
 communication could be established. 
 
 " In October, 1842, the first submarine telegraph cable was laid 
 by me, one moonlight night, in the harbor of this city, which 
 proved experimentally the practicability of submarine telegraphy, 
 and from the result of this success I ventured, the year after, in a 
 letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, to predict the certainty of 
 an Atlantic Telegraph. It was then believed to be a visionary 
 dream ; and, had the individual carrying out of so bold an enter- 
 prise depended upon me alone, it might still have been a dream. 
 But at this crisis another mind was touched with the necessary en- 
 thusiasm, admirably fitted in every particular, by indomitable ener- 
 gy and perseverance, and foresight, as well as financial skill and in- 
 fluence, to undertake the novel attempt. To Cyrus W. Field, more 
 than to any other individual, belongs the honor of carrying to com- 
 pletion this great undertaking. Associating with himself Cooper, 
 and Taylor, and Roberts, and White, and Hunt, and Dudley Field, 
 and others, on this side of the Atlantic, and, two years later, Pea- 
 body, and Brett, and Brooking-, and Lamson, and Gurney, and Mor- 
 gan, and others, in Great Britain, making the ocean but an insig- 
 nificant ferry by his repeated crossings, undaunted by temporary 
 failures and unforeseen accidents, he rested not till Britain and 
 
TRIBUTES TO OTHERS. 723 
 
 America were united in telegraphic bonds — the Old and the New 
 world in instantaneous communication." (Cheers.) 
 
 " If modern progress in the arts and sciences have given unpre- 
 cedented facilities for the diifusion of the Telegraph throughout the 
 world, back of all are the former discoveries and inventions of the 
 scientific minds of Europe and America — Volta, Oersted, Arago, 
 Schweigger, Gauss and Weber, Steinheil, Faraday, Daniell, and 
 Grove, and a host of brilliant minds in Europe, with Professors Da- 
 na and Henry, in our own country, in the past, and the more mod- 
 ern discoveries and inventions of Thomson, of Whitehouse, of Cooke, 
 of Varley, of Glass and Canning, and numerous others. These all, 
 in a greater or less degree, contributed to the grand result. There 
 is not a name I have mentioned, and many whom I have not men- 
 tioned, whose career in science or experience in mechanical and en- 
 gineering and nautical tactics, or in financial practice, might not be 
 the theme of volumes, rather than of brief mention in an ephemeral 
 address. To-night you have before you a sublime proof of the 
 grand progress of the Telegraph in its march around the globe. 
 
 " It is but a few days since our veritable antipodes became tele- 
 graphically united to us. We can speak to and receive an answer 
 in a few seconds of time from Hong-Kong, in China, where ten 
 o'clock to-night here is ten o'clock in the day, and it is perhaps a 
 debatable question whether their ten o'clock is ten to-day or ten 
 to-morrow. China and New York are in interlocutory communica- 
 tion. We know the fact, but can imagination realize the fact? 
 But I must not further trespass on your patience at this late 
 hour. 
 
 " I cannot close without the expression of my cordial thanks to 
 my long-known, long-tried, and honored friend Reid, whose unwea- 
 ried labors early contributed so effectively to the establishment of 
 telegraph-lines, and who in a special manner, as chairman of your 
 Memorial Fund, has so faithfully and successfully and admirably 
 carried to completion your flattering design. 
 
 " To the eminent Governors of this State and the State of Mas- 
 sachusetts, who have given to this demonstration their honored pres- 
 ence ; to my excellent friend the distinguished orator of the day ; to 
 the Mayor and city authorities of New York ; to the Park Commis- 
 sioners ; to the officers and managers of the various and even rival 
 telegraph companies, who have so cordially united on this occasion ; 
 to the numerous citizens, ladies and gentlemen ; and, though last, 
 not least, to every one of my large and increasing family of tele- 
 
724 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 graph children, who have honored me with the proud title of Father, 
 I tender my cordial thanks." (Applause.) 
 
 At the close of Professor Morse's address, Rev. Dr. Ormis- 
 ton offered prayer, and the assembly retired, many seeking the 
 opportunity to take the Professor by the hand, and to bid him 
 an affectionate farewell. 
 
CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 LITEEAEY AND RELIGIOUS LIFE. 
 
 A READY WEITEB — STUDIES IN HIS DEPARTMENT — ATJTHOESHIP — LTTOEETIA 
 
 MAEIA DAVIDSON THE SERENADE — ROMAN OATHOLIO OONTROVEEST — 
 
 FOREIGN CONSPIRACY — CONFESSIONS OF A PEIEST — GENEEAL LAFAYETTE'S 
 REMARK — OTJR LIBERTIES DEFENDED — IMMINENT DANGERS — DEFENSE OF 
 HIS INVENTION — RELIGIOUS LIFE — ANALYSIS OF HIS CHRISTIAN OHAEAC- 
 TEE — SKETCH BY REV. DR. WHEELEE — ANTICIPATIONS OF DEATH — DEATH 
 OF HIS BROTHER RICHARD — THE THREE BEOTHEES — THE TOETOISE AND 
 
 HAEE — IN HIS LIBEARY ASIATIC SOCIETY EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE — 
 
 LITEEAEY AND BENEVOLENT LABORS — DOMESTIC PEACE — THE EVENING 
 OF LIFE. 
 
 PEOFESSOE MOESE held the pen of a ready writer. His 
 genius, learning, and taste, were illustrated by many and 
 large contributions to the press. At the foundation of the Na- 
 tional Academy of Design he was compelled to enter the lists 
 in a controversy that required careful inquiry, extensive reading, 
 and mature reflection. He acquitted himself well in a dis- 
 cussion with the North American Review, and from that 
 time onward, notwithstanding his native modesty and timidity, 
 he did not hesitate to enter the field of debate at the call of 
 duty. His addresses before the Academy, and his lectures as 
 Professor of the Arts of Design in the University, are models 
 of graceful rhetoric and elaborate argument. For these dis- 
 courses he made preparation by patient and exhaustive research 
 among the best authors of ancient and modern times, making 
 copious quotations from them into his note-books, and reprodu- 
 cing them with great skill and effect. 
 
 The first volume that appeared in his name was a Memoir 
 with the " Eemains of Lucretia Maria Davidson." She was a 
 remarkable young lady, who died at Plattsburg, IS". Y., in 1825, 
 
726 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 in the seventeenth year of her age, having displayed an extraor- 
 dinary poetic faculty, and produced many poems of unusual 
 merit. The Hon. Moss Kent, of Plattsburg, becoming ac- 
 quainted with her wonderful gifts, undertook the office of patron, 
 and at his expense she was placed in the Troy Female Seminary 
 to pursue a thorough course of study. Her health declined, and 
 she was laid in an early grave. Mr. Kent placed all her papers 
 in the hands of Professor Morse, with the request that he would 
 edit them and prepare a biographical sketch of the young 
 author. This work he accomplished with fidelity and delicate 
 sensibility. The volume was published by G. & C. Carvill, 
 New York, 1827. 
 
 One of his relatives, a lady, relates an incident in a visit he 
 made to her at TTtica, 1ST. Y., in the year 1827. He had been 
 playfully asserting his ability to write poetry as well as to paint 
 portraits, and she denied his possession of any genius in that 
 direction. " Give me a subject," he said, " and I will show you 
 what I can do." It had happened a few nights previously that 
 the yoUng lady had been serenaded, but unfortunately she slept 
 soundly through the whole performance. This had naturally 
 been the subject of much amusing conversation, and she replied 
 to his demand for a subject, " Take the serenade." The next 
 day he produced and read a poem on that theme. A few weeks 
 afterward, being in ISTew York, he was requested by Gulian C. 
 Yerplanck, Esq., to make a contribution to " The Talisman," an 
 annual which Mr. Yerplanck was editing. Mr. Morse submitted 
 " The Serenade ; " Mr. Yerplanck was delighted with it, and 
 said, " You must make a picture to accompany it." Mr. Morse 
 then made a picture, which was engraved on steel, and published 
 in " The Talisman " of 1828, with the poem. For a copy of it 
 we are indebted to "William C. Bryant, Esq., who kindly copied 
 it with his own hand from " The Talisman," for this volume : 
 
 "THE SERENADE. 
 
 "Haste! 'tis the stillest hour of night, 
 The moon sheds down her palest light, 
 And sleep has chained the lake and hill, 
 The wood, the plain, the babbling rill; 
 And where yon ivied lattice shows 
 My fair one slumbers in repose. 
 
SERENADE, CONTINUED. 727 
 
 Come, ye that know the lovely maid, 
 And help prepare the serenade. 
 Hither, before the night is flown, 
 Bring instruments of every tone ; 
 But lest with noise ye wake, not lull 
 Her dreaming fancy, ye must cull 
 Such only as shall soothe the mind 
 And leave the harshest all behind ; 
 Bring not the thundering drum, nor yet 
 The harshly-shrieking clarionet, 
 Nor screaming hautboy, trumpet shrill, 
 Nor clanging cymbals ; but with skill 
 Exclude each one that would disturb 
 The fairy architects, or curb 
 The wild creations of their mirth ; 
 All that would wake the soul to earth. 
 Choose ye the softly-breathing flute, 
 The mellow horn, the loving lute; 
 The viol ye must not forget, 
 And take the sprightly flageolet, 
 And grave bassoon ; choose, too, the fife, 
 Whose warblings in the tuneful strife, 
 Mingling in mystery with the words, 
 May seem like notes of blithest birds. 
 
 "Are ye prepared? now lightly tread, 
 As if by elfin minstrels led, 
 And fling no sound upon the air 
 Shall rudely wake my slumbering fair. 
 Softly ! now breathe the symphony — 
 So gently breathe, the tones may vie 
 In softness with the magic notes 
 In visions heard ; music that floats 
 So buoyant that it well may seem, 
 "With strains ethereal in her dream, 
 One song of such mysterious birth 
 She doubts it comes from heaven or earth. 
 Play on ! my loved one slumbers still. 
 Play on ! she wakes not with the thrill 
 Of joy produced by strains so mild ; 
 But fancy moulds them gay and wild ; 
 Now, as the music low declines, 
 'Tis sighing of the forest-pines; 
 Or 'tis the fitful, varied roar 
 Of distant falls, or troubled shore. 
 
728 LIFE 0F SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Now, as the tone grows full or sharp, 
 'Tis whispering of the JSolian harp; 
 The viol swells, now low. now loud, 
 'Tis spirits chanting on a cloud 
 That passes by. It dies away; 
 So gently dies she scarce can say 
 'Tis gone ; listens ; 'tis lost, she fears ; 
 Listens, and thinks again she hears. 
 As dew-drops mingling in a stream 
 To her 'tis all one blissful dream — 
 A song of angels throned in light. 
 Softly! away! fair one, good-night." 
 
 While Mr. Morse was in Italy in the years 1830 and 1831, he 
 became acquainted with several ecclesiastics of the Church of 
 Rome, one of whom, a cardinal, made a vigorous attack upon 
 the faith of the young artist. A correspondence between them 
 ensued, and frequent interviews. Mr. Morse was led to believe, 
 from what he learned in Home, that a political conspiracy, under 
 the cloak of a religious mission, was formed against the United 
 States of America. "When he came to Paris in 1832 and en- 
 joyed the confidence and friendship of Lafayette, he stated 
 his convictions to the General, who fully concurred with him 
 in the reality of such a conspiracy. Returning to this country 
 in the autumn of 1832, inventing the Telegraph on his home- 
 ward voyage, he never became so absorbed in his invention as 
 to forget the impressions made in Italy respecting the danger to 
 which his country was exposed. The conviction was so strong 
 that he gave much time in subsequent years to the publication in 
 periodicals, in pamphlets, and in volumes, of the facts and argu- 
 ments which, in his judgment, were important to a fair under- 
 standing of the subject. In the year 1834: Mr. Morse published 
 a series of papers, which the year following were issued in a 
 volume entitled " Foreign Conspiracy against the Liberties of 
 the United States : revised and corrected, with Notes by the 
 Author." The motto on the title-page was from Spenser : 
 
 " . . . . oft fire is without smoke, 
 And peril without show." 
 
 The papers, as they first appeared, were copied widely, and, 
 pervading the whole country, made a deep and permanent im- 
 pression. The volume passed through numerous editions, and 
 
RELIGIOUS WORKS. 729 
 
 has proved one of the most efficient works that has appeared in 
 that prolific discussion. 
 
 In the year 1837 Professor Morse edited and published, with 
 an introduction by himself : " Confessions of a French Catholic 
 Priest, to which are added Warnings to the People of the 
 United States, by the same Author." This volume bore upon 
 the title-page the line, "American liberty can be destroyed 
 only by the popish clergy." — Lafayette. This declaration 
 was not placed upon the title-page by the editor but by the 
 author of the book. It was subsequently challenged, and Pro- 
 fessor Morse, though not responsible for the statement, produced 
 the written testimony of living witnesses, to whom Lafayette 
 made the remark. 
 
 In the year 1841 a series of papers from the pen of Pro- 
 fessor Morse, first published in the Journal of Commerce^ was 
 issued in a small volume, with the title : " Our Liberties de- 
 fended ; the Question discussed ; is the Protestant or Papal 
 System most favorable to Civil and Religious Liberty % " 
 
 In the year 1854 a pamphlet was issued containing a series 
 of papers which Professor Morse contributed to the Journal of 
 Commerce in 1835. It was published without his name, under 
 the title of " Imminent Dangers to the Free Institutions of the 
 United States through Foreign Immigration, and the Present 
 State of the Naturalization Laws. By an American." 
 
 But these were a very small part of the work that employed 
 the pen of Professor Morse. From the moment that his Tele- 
 graph became a fact, his time and strength were required to de- 
 fend its birthright. The controversies in which rival claims 
 involved him demanded as severe study and patient labor as the 
 original invention. In the newspaper press, in pamphlets, and 
 in private correspondence, he maintained his position with such 
 equanimity, ability, and conclusiveness, as commanded the re- 
 spect of his opponents. No one could state the case with more 
 clearness, arrange the facts in better order, and make the argu- 
 ment more powerful, than the man in whose mind the whole 
 process had orginally been formed. Had he been endowed with 
 the gift of oratory, no one could have argued his case before a 
 court with more effect than Professor Morse himself. Sincere, 
 transparent, unaffected, modest, he had the confidence of every 
 
730 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 one with whom he conferred, and his presentation of a subject 
 in his letters and publications carried conviction of his integrity 
 to every candid reader. 
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE. 
 
 Professor Morse was a Christian- in his faith and practice. 
 In his long life, there was probably not an hour when his in- 
 quiring and inventive mind was perplexed with doubts or fears 
 in regard to religious truth. The system which he embraced 
 with all his heart, and held with tenacity and affection, was that 
 which he derived from his father, and which was scarcely modi- 
 fied by his subsequent reading and reflection. He first made a 
 public profession of religion in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the 
 church of which his father was pastor. He was the superintend- 
 ent of its Sabbath-school, one of the first established in this 
 country. When the family removed to ISTew Haven, he became 
 a member of the First Congregational Church of that city. The 
 death of his wife and of his parents led to his removal, and, hav- 
 ing no fixed residence for many years afterward, he remained in 
 nominal connection with that church until the year 1847, when 
 he settled in Poughkeepsie and united with the First Presbyte- 
 rian Church. But, wherever his residence was, even temporary, 
 he identified himself with the religious community, and in all 
 the relations of society was known and recognized as a Chris- 
 tian. Those who knew him most intimately, and held com- 
 munion with him in hours of retirement from the conflicts of 
 the world, knew that he was governed in all his actions by the 
 fear of God and love of his fellow-men. He had a sense of 
 being surrounded at all times by the Infinite and Eternal, in 
 whom he lived and moved and had his being. He received the 
 "Word of God, the sacred Scriptures, as the guide and rule of 
 his life; believing in their inspiration, and never questioning 
 their authority. He endeavored to regulate his conduct by the 
 principles of that "Word, and especially by that golden rule, 
 which required him to do unto others as he would have others 
 do unto him. The firmness with which he maintained his rights 
 was in harmony with these principles. But he often suffered 
 wrong in silence, and the strength of character natural to him 
 and the family to which he belonged availed him when exposed 
 
BENEVOLENCE. 731 
 
 to the annoyances, perplexities, and injuries of those who sought 
 to deprive him of his property and his good name also. No 
 man was more unjustly assailed by the pen and the tongue of 
 detraction. Yet, under those circumstances, which oftentimes 
 bring out the most unhappy traits of human character, he main- 
 tained a composure and calmness, with a forgiving and gentle 
 spirit, beautiful to contemplate. In crowded thoroughfares, in 
 the midst of business, when he was immersed in cares, and dis- 
 tracted with anxieties, it was his pleasure and comfort to con- 
 verse upon the subject of personal religion, and with the sim- 
 plicity of a child to confer with a friend on those subjects which 
 immediately concern the relation of the soul to God. He pre- 
 ferred, above the applause and honors which come from man, 
 the possession of a meek and quiet spirit. 
 
 Nor was the religious life of Professor Morse one merely of 
 meditation and study. He was active and conscientious in the 
 use of his property, giving largely, as it increased, to the various 
 objects of Christian benevolence. Few men have given more 
 in proportion to their wealth than he did. The first earnings 
 of the Telegraph he gave to the church, as we have seen. From 
 this beginning, the commencement of a flow into his hands of 
 wealth, that afterward placed him above the fears of want, he 
 continued to give of his abundance as before he had given from 
 his penury. Colleges and theological seminaries received lib- 
 eral donations. Missionary and other religious charities were 
 constant recipients of his benefactions. Nor did he confine his 
 gifts to religious objects only. Art and science were always 
 regarded by him as proper objects for the use of his money ; 
 and he sought to encourage in others the development of those 
 tastes which he had himself pursued with so much benefit to 
 himself and mankind. 
 
 In the later years of Mr. Morse's life, when he was permitted, 
 in the retirement of his family, to cultivate without interrup- 
 tion those graces which so adorned his character, his religious 
 life rapidly matured. Those who came within the circle of his 
 household, and especially those who were received in his study, 
 found him, when the honors of the world were heaped upon 
 him and his name had gone into all the earth, a humble Chris- 
 tian, anticipating the glories of the heavenly state. Rev. Dr. 
 
732 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Wheeler, his pastor in Poughkeepsie, gives a charming picture 
 of his religious life : 
 
 " It was at Locust Grove I knew him best and most. Here 
 among the grand old trees, the fresh, green lawns, and rare plants, 
 which adorned his grounds, the fashion and substance of the man 
 were seen. This home he greatly loved. Writing from one of the 
 capitals in Europe at one time immediately after one of the grand- 
 est receptions that scholar or philosopher had received, he says : 
 ' My heart yearns for my dear old home on the Hudson ; its calm 
 repose, its sweet walks, where so often I have been with God.' I 
 recall with great satisfaction the many times on his veranda, look- 
 ing westward upon flood and hills beyond, in large discourse he 
 would dwell upon the ' things unseen,' and his utterances would 
 have such depth and scope, that I marveled at the beauty and 
 strength of that love for God and his realm which rose and fell like 
 mighty tides in his heart. 
 
 " Sometimes allusion would be made to his career and the 
 honors that had thickened upon him ; a significant smile would steal 
 over his face, and he would gently say : ' It is all of God. He has 
 used me as his hand in all this. I am not indifferent to the rewards 
 of earth and the praise of my fellow-men, but I am more pleased 
 with the fact that my Father in heaven has allowed me to do some- 
 thing for him and his world.' Once he said to me with brimming 
 eyes, and grasping me with both hands : ' Oh, you cannot tell how 
 thankful I have been this morning, in thinking this matter of the 
 Telegraph all over, that God has permitted me to do something for 
 the help and comfort of my fellows. I have just heard of a family 
 made happy by a telegraphic dispatch from one of its absent mem- 
 bers, announcing his safety, when the whole household was in grief 
 over his supposed death ; only think of the many homes that may 
 be thus gladdened, relieved from solicitude and pain ! ' Thus it 
 was that he was accustomed to put away all thought of what might 
 accrue to himself of personal honor and glory from his invention, 
 in the larger consideration of the good and profit grown there- 
 from to others. Calling upon him one pleasant summer day, the 
 last summer of his earthly life, I found him intent upon micro- 
 sopical observations ; leading me to the instrument, he directed my 
 attention to an insect's wing. * There,' said he, ' that is enough of 
 itself to satisfy any reasonable mind of God's being, wisdom, and 
 power. It is in these things we call small, I am finding every day 
 
DE. WHEELER'S SKETCH. 733 
 
 fresh proofs that God is in direct and positive agency. I see in 
 all these things God's finger, and I am so glad through them to get 
 hold of God's hand ; and then,' he added with tears, ' if God makes 
 all these small things around us here so exquisitely beautiful, what 
 grandeur must attach to the things beyond, unseen and eternal ! ' 
 
 " How refreshing and strengthening the testimony of such a 
 man, so thoughtful, so well read, and thoroughly practical in scien- 
 tific reasearch as to the being, the presence, and the working of 
 God, whom many, professing to be wise, have politely bowed out 
 of his own universe ! 
 
 " Professor Morse had no sympathy with such men. His whole 
 being went into protest against them ; their views seemed to him 
 blasphemous. Through and through from centre to surface, in his 
 whole make-up, in all the workings of his richly-endowed and versa- 
 tile intellect, he was a religious man. So, from his own thinking, his 
 own conviction, his own experience, there was nothing superficial 
 about him ; no superstition, no binding, controlling force of mere 
 tradition, suffering others to think for him religiously. He thought 
 here for himself, and his belief was the outgrowth of clear and well- 
 defined* conviction. 
 
 " Soon after his coming to Poughkeepsie for the summer, he 
 fractured one of his limbs, and was confined for most of the season 
 to his room. This was a great trial to him, but he bore it with 
 such resignation, and there ripened upon him during it all such 
 heavenly excellence, that it was a rare privilege to see him in his 
 chamber. His window opened upon the broad and majestic Hud- 
 son. As I sat with him one afternoon, looking upon river and hill, 
 in the changing light of the setting sun, he said : 
 
 " * I have been looking upon the river of my life. I thank God 
 that it had such beginning ; that upon it has fallen such sunshine, 
 and I know whom I have believed, and rejoice that so soon this 
 river will flow out into the broad sea of an everlasting love.' 
 
 " His face was pale ; he was strapped upon his bed, but, patient 
 and gentle in suffering, there came upon him such a transfiguration 
 of divine love that I almost thought to see him then, with trailing 
 garments of glory, sweep through the gates of pearl into the city 
 of the great King. But he did not then go ; he was spared a little 
 longer to gladden all our hearts, and to leave upon us, if possible, 
 a still greater impression of the superior sanctity and loveliness of 
 his life. When at last he did fall asleep, I was not with him, to 
 my great regret, but others caught the inspiration that fell from his 
 
734 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 lips and shone upon his face, as his Lord led him up from darkness 
 into light, and breathed upon him the everlasting benediction of his 
 acceptance. 
 
 " I have spoken of him chiefly as a Christian man ; as such, I 
 knew him best. But in his whole character, and in all his relations, 
 he was one of the most remarkable men of his age. He was one 
 who drew all who came in contact with him to his heart, disarming 
 all prejudices, silencing all cavil. In his family he was light, life, 
 and love ; with those in his employ, he was ever considerate and 
 kind, never exacting and harsh, but honorable and just, seeking the 
 good of every dependant; in the community, he was a pillar of 
 strength and beauty, commanding the homage of universal respect ; 
 in the church he walked with God and men. He is not, for God hath 
 taken him. Blessed for evermore his memory, and blessed those 
 who saw and knew him, not merely as the man of science and the 
 Christian philosopher, but as a man of God. 
 
 " In bringing this letter to a close, may I mention an incident of 
 his leaving Locust Grove for the last time ? 
 
 " The family had gone on before ; he left last, and with one of 
 his favorite and trusty servants, in a single and open wago*n. As 
 they passed through the gate-way into the wood, he stopped, and, 
 rising from his seat, looked fondly back, through the trees, over the 
 lawn, on the old home, and then, resuming his seat, said, * Drive 
 on.' On passing the cemetery he stopped again, and, looking over 
 ' God's acre,' where the dead were so quietly slumbering, he ex- 
 claimed : ' Beautiful ! beautiful ! but I shall not lie there. I have 
 prepared a place elsewhere.' 
 
 " So he passed on and was hurried over iron ways to the great 
 metropolis, where, in the next spring-time, his change was to come." 
 
 The absorbing cares of his active and restless life, the hon- 
 ors of the world, and the enjoyments of those rewards which 
 were so largely his, had not served to hide from his sight the 
 evidences of advancing age, and the approach of the end of his 
 earthly career. But this prospect served only to strengthen his 
 faith and brighten his hopes. "Writing-in 1868 from Dresden, 
 to his grandson,' he says : " The nearer I approach to the end of 
 my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine origin 
 of the Bible, the grandeur and sublimity of God's remedy for 
 fallen man are more appreciated, and the future is illumined 
 with hope and joy." And in a letter to his brother, dated 
 
DEATH OF K. 0. MORSE. 735 
 
 Paris, March 4, 1868, lie says : " It cannot be long before all 
 this will be gone. I feel daily the necessity of sitting looser to 
 the world, and taking stronger hold on heaven. The Saviour 
 daily seems more precious ; his love, his atonement, his divine 
 power, are themes which occupy my mind in the wakeful hours 
 of the night, and change the time of ' watching for the morn- 
 ing ' from irksomeness to joyful communion with him." 
 
 In the autumn of that year, his youngest brother, Richard 
 C. Morse, died in a foreign land. There had been three brothers 
 of them, the only children who survived the period of infancy — 
 three brothers bound by the closest fraternal ties, with an affec- 
 tion as rare as beautiful. It is worthy of being written here 
 that they inherited no property from their venerable father, but 
 they did assume a load of debts in which he had been involved 
 by indorsements for friends, and by his own publications. To 
 the payment of these debts these sons with filial piety, though 
 under no legal or moral obligation so to do, devoted all their 
 earnings, until principal and interest were discharged. When 
 Professor Morse became able to bear his part of this burden, he 
 cheerfully returned to his brothers what they had many years 
 before advanced on his account, so that the three brothers shared 
 equally in the payment of their father's debts. They all lived 
 to be old men, rejoicing in each other's success, and in sympa- 
 thy when trials and misfortunes overtook them. 
 
 A playfulness marked their correspondence and intercourse, 
 quite unsuspected in the gravity and dignity of their public life. 
 Between Sidney and the Professor there was always a rivalry 
 in the race for the goal of success. Sidney was slow, medita- 
 tive, and cautious. The Professor was quick, perceptive, and 
 energetic. Early in life the fable of the tortoise and hare be- 
 came a familiar illustration between them, of their respec- 
 tive traits and habits. Sidney was fond of laughing with his 
 brother, comparing himself to the tortoise creeping along, 
 and while the hare, wearied with rapid running, has paused to 
 rest and fallen asleep, the tortoise passes him and wins the race. 
 When the Telegraph was triumphant, and the Professor's suc- 
 cess was assured, he made a drawing, his delight always, of a 
 hare at the end of a race-course, holding in his forepaws two 
 telegraph wires extending to a tortoise toiling slowly along ; the 
 
736 LI FE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 wires touching him up to quicken his steps and to tell him also 
 that the hare has won the race ! 
 
 In one of the letters of Sidney to the Professor, who had 
 asked his brother if he was expected to pay interest on his por- 
 tion of the debts, Sidney says to him : " If you still think the 
 hare has won the race, you will pay the interest ; if you think 
 the tortoise is ahead, you need not pay it." The Professor paid 
 the interest. 
 
 When the sad tidings came across the ocean by telegraph 
 that the youngest of the brothers had died in Kissingen, the 
 Professor wrote to his brother Sidney : 
 
 " And so the triple cord is broken, and our dear brother Richard, 
 the youngest, is the first of us to pass the dark valley. A happy 
 spirit now, we have not a doubt, with his Saviour and his friends 
 who have preceded him. It is another call to be also ready. We 
 shall not be long in following him. I feel stirred to more diligent 
 improvement of the remnant of life still graciously granted by 
 infinite love. We must work while it is day, it is far spent, and 
 the night cometh when no man can work. I feel the blow more 
 than I supposed it possible. 
 
 " And so he is gone. We shall see his kind face no more this 
 side heaven. Well, it is but a short, a temporary separation. The 
 world, with all its attractions, I find is losing its hold upon me. I 
 wish to think more of that world where sin will no more defile, and 
 sorrow, and the machinations of the wicked, no more annoy." 
 
 His time was chiefly spent with his family, or in his library, 
 surrounded with those books and scientific instruments which 
 were the delight of his life. The weight of years was now upon 
 him, but every faculty of his mind and every sense were as 
 acute and apparently as vigorous as ever. His handwriting 
 was as beautiful and legible as copperplate engraving. Under 
 the frontispiece of this volume is a facsimile of his signature. 
 Into his study came men of science and letters who sought his 
 counsel and aid. Philanthropists found in him a friend whose 
 name and purse were always ready to further any good work. 
 As president of the Asiatic Society, he corresponded with 
 officers of Government and men of learning, in the promotion of 
 its important objects. He was ardently devoted to the cause of 
 
EVENING OF LIFE. 737 
 
 religious liberty, and was one of the delegation to 1 Russia, ap- 
 pointed by the Evangelical Alliance to obtain concessions to the 
 Protestants in the Baltic provinces. His advanced age rendered 
 it inexpedient for him to make the journey, but, as chairman of 
 the delegation, he wrote the first draft of the memorial to be 
 presented to the Czar. In such works of Christian benevolence, 
 in literary and scientific pursuits, in social and domestic enjoy- 
 ments, the evening of life came on. His children and theirs 
 were around him — in the summer at Poughkeepsie, in the win- 
 ter in New York — and his home was the abode of contentment 
 and peace. 
 
 47 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1870-1872. 
 
 AN OLD PAINTING — LETTER TO THE CONVENTION IN HOME— LAST PUBLIC SER- 
 TIOE — UNVEILING- THE STATUE OF EKANKXIN — SICKNESS — DEATH — FU- 
 NERAL — MEMORIAL SEEVICES IN WASHINGTON — BOSTON — ACTION OF CON- 
 GRESS — LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS — TELEGRAPHIC SYMPATHY 
 
 TRIBUTES OF RESPECT — SKETCH OF CHARACTER. 
 
 PROFESSOR MORSE was eighty years old when the statue 
 in his honor was erected in the Central Park. He had 
 been many years contemplating, without apprehension or regret, 
 the end of life. His interest in the present and the past was 
 not diminished by his contemplations of the future. A pleasant 
 incident awakened recollections of .his earliest art studies. In 
 Charlestown, his native place, a large painting was found among 
 the rubbish in the lofts of the City Hall, almost incapable of be- 
 ing distinguished by reason of neglect and decay. The name of 
 Morse was found on the back of it ; and Hon. Gr. Washington 
 Warren wrote to the Professor asking information respecting it. 
 A letter was received in reply, which is now preserved in the 
 records of the Charlestown Board of Aldermen. 
 
 " New York, May 11, 1870. 
 " My dear Sir : I take pleasure in replying to your queries, in 
 your favor of yesterday, respecting the painting in the Charlestown 
 City Hall. The subject is, ' The Landing of the Pilgrims at Ply- 
 mouth.' From the date, February, 1811, you will perceive that it 
 was painted before I commenced my studies in the art. It was my 
 earliest effort at painting an historical picture, and can have no par- 
 ticular merit, being the effort of a boy of nineteen. It may have an 
 historical interest in the fact that it was this painting, and a land- 
 
AN EARLY PICTURE. 739 
 
 scape painted about the same time, that decided my father, by the 
 advice of Stuart and Allston, to permit me to visit Europe with the 
 latter artist, to study art as a profession. I left with him in July 
 of the same year, 1811, arriving in England in August; have not 
 seen this picture since that date ; it was painted in the parsonage, 
 which was built near the present church, but which has been for 
 many years removed to another locality. A few years ago I ihade 
 a very brief visit to Charlestown with my wife and a daughter, who 
 were desirous of seeing the house and room in which I was born ; I 
 then heard that this picture was in the City Hall, and I intended to 
 visit it, but they felt more interest in the house, so the time I had 
 at command was devoted to showing them the house in which I 
 was born, temporarily occupied by my parents, while the parsonage, 
 now removed, was in process of building. This house is on the 
 main street, on the north side, a little west of the Unitarian brick 
 church, and when we visited it it had been occupied by Captain Edes. 
 
 I have just entered upon my eightieth year, and can scarcely ex- 
 pect that there are many, if any, of my personal friends and fellow- 
 townsmen still living ; but I cannot forget the place of my birth, 
 nor the kind expressions of remembrance by their descendants. 
 " Respectfully, your ob't servant, Samuel F. B. Moese. 
 
 " G. Washington Warren, Esq., Charlestown, Mass." 
 
 The picture is now hung in the mayor's office at Charles- 
 town, and has peculiar interest from the facts presented in this 
 letter. In the year 1871, the Grand-duke Alexis, son of the 
 Emperor of Russia, came to the United States, and, during his 
 visit in the city of New York, Professor Morse assisted largely 
 in showing attentions to the distinguished guest. It was the 
 winter following that an important telegraphic convention 
 was held in the city of Rome, which Professor Morse could not 
 attend. Anxious always to make the Telegraph an instrument 
 of good, and with a heart burning with desires for peace on 
 earth, and good-will among men, he wrote to Cyrus W. Field, 
 Esq., at Rome, a letter which was read to the convention. At its 
 conclusion the convention broke out in prolonged cheers for 
 the illustrious author, and the letter was ordered to be printed 
 among the records of the convention. It is in these words, 
 and is worthy of being preserved as one of the last public com- 
 munications from the hand of the inventor of the Telegraph. 
 
740 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 "New York, December 4, 1871. 
 
 " My dear Me. Field : Excuse my delay in writing you. The 
 excitement occasioned by the visit of the Grand-duke Alexis has 
 just closed, and I have been wholly engaged by the various duties 
 connected with his presence. 
 
 "I have wished for a few calm moments to put on paper some 
 thoughts respecting the doings of the great Telegraphic Conven- 
 tion to which you are a delegate. 
 
 " The Telegraph has now assumed such a marvelous position in 
 human affairs throughout the world ; its influences are so great and 
 important in all the varied concerns of nations, that its efficient pro- 
 tection from injury has become a necessity. It is a powerful ad- 
 vocate for universal peace. Not that of itself it can command a 
 1 Peace, be still ! ' to the angry waves of human passions, but that 
 by its rapid interchange of thought and opinion it gives the oppor- 
 tunity of explanations to acts and laws which in their ordinary 
 wording often create doubt and suspicion. 
 
 " Were there no means of quick explanation, it is readily seen 
 that doubt and suspicion, working on the susceptibilities of the pub- 
 lic mind, would engender misconception, hatred, and strife. How 
 important, then, that in the intercourse of nations there should be 
 the ready means at hand for prompt correction and explanation ! 
 
 " Could there not be passed, in the great International Conven- 
 tion, some resolution to the effect that, in whatever condition, whether 
 of peace or war between nations, the telegraph should be deemed 
 a sacred thing, to be by common consent effectually protected both 
 on land and beneath the waters ? 
 
 " In the interest of human happiness, of that ' peace on earth ' 
 which, in announcing the advent of the Saviour, the angels pro- 
 claimed, with ' good-will to men,' I hope that the convention will 
 not adjourn without adopting a resolution asking of the nations 
 their united effective protection to this great agent of civilization. 
 
 " The mode and the terms of such resolution may be safely left 
 to the intelligent members of the honorable and distinguished con- 
 vention. Believe me, as ever, your friend and servant, 
 
 " Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 " Hon. Cyrus W. Field, Rome, Italy." 
 
 A few days after this letter was written, his brother Sid- 
 ney, his only surviving brother, his counselor, comforter, and 
 more than friend, was smitten with apoplexy, and, after lying 
 
STATUE OF FKANKLIN. 741 
 
 unconscious for several days, expired. This was a sad blow 
 to the aged survivor, the eldest of the three, and outlasting 
 them all. The writer of this sat on one side of the bed, on the 
 other the venerable Professor, and between us lay the dying 
 man. The Professor spoke in the ear of his brother, but there 
 was no evidence that he was heard. He felt that he was indeed 
 alone when his last brother was gone. His friends thought 
 and said he would not long remain behind. He had been 
 subject to neuralgia, and now the attacks became more fre- 
 quent and more severe. 
 
 The last time that he appeared in public was on the occasion 
 of the inauguration of the statue of Benjamin Franklin in Print- 
 ing-House Square, in front of the City Hall, January 17, 1872. 
 It was happily conceived by the committee of arrangements 
 that there would be a singular fitness in asking Morse to unveil 
 to the world a statue of Franklin. Those names, identified 
 with electricity, are to ' be always associated. The Professor 
 was now in feeble health, and the excitement and exposure of 
 the occasion would be dangerous. But his desire to be present 
 and to perform the service assigned was so great that he said he 
 felt it to be his duty to go, if it were the last public act that he 
 should perform. It proved to be a very cold day. Accompanied 
 by his family, he rode in his carriage to the square, was received 
 by the committee, and escorted to the platform in the open air, 
 by the side of the veiled statue. An immense multitude cheered 
 him as he ascended the steps, and stood uncovered in the midst 
 of them. When the introductory exercises had been performed 
 he drew the cord that removed the covering, and the statue of 
 Franklin and the form of Morse himself stood side by side. 
 Tens of thousands of voices shouted applause. When silence 
 was restored, the vast assembly listened to catch his words, as 
 with tremulous voice he said : 
 
 " Mr. De Groot and Fellow-Citizens : I esteem it one of my 
 highest honors that I should have been designated to perform the 
 office of unveiling this day the fine statue of our illustrious and im- 
 mortal Franklin. When requested to accept this duty I was con- 
 fined to my bed, but I could not refuse, and I said, ' Yes, if I have to 
 be lifted to the spot ! ' Franklin needs no eulogy from me. No one 
 has more reason to venerate his name than myself. May his illusr- 
 
742 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 trious example of devotion to the interest of universal humanity be 
 the seed of further fruit for the good of the world ! " 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 The last public act of bis life was this participation in the 
 ceremony of inaugurating the statue of Benjamin Franklin. 
 His failing health compelled him to decline the invitation to 
 the banquet in the evening, where bis name was repeatedly 
 mentioned with that of the old philosopher, and received with 
 the warmest applause. He went home to die. Neuralgia con- 
 centrated its attacks in bis bead, and be walked the floor in 
 agony, holding both bands to bis temples, and groaning with 
 excessive pam. Day after day, and weeks, succeeded, while be 
 gradually succumbed to the disease. To the Rev. Dr. Adams, 
 on whose ministry be attended in the city, he expressed unwa- 
 vering faith, and, in response to a remark concerning tbe good- 
 ness of God to him in tbe past, be said, with cheerful hope, 
 " The best is yet to come." 
 
 The pain in bis bead, that bad nearly distracted him, now 
 ceased, and stupor ensued. His bad been a teeming, busy, un- 
 clouded brain, for more than eighty years. Sickness had rarely 
 laid its band upon bim. Trouble, trials, anxieties, disappoint- 
 ments, bereavements, carking cares, bitter persecutions, extreme 
 poverty, the birth-pangs of a great invention, toil, discourage- 
 ment, success, triumph, lawsuits, losses, gains, wealth, luxury, 
 honors, fame, the homage of republics, kingdoms, and empires, 
 laid at bis feet — through all these vicissitudes of fortune be bad 
 passed, beyond tbe experience, perhaps, of any private citizen. 
 Through fourscore years be bad borne and worn them all, with 
 the grace of a Christian, the calmness of a philosopher, and the 
 simplicity of a child. Conscious of the rectitude of bis own pur- 
 poses and action, charitable toward all, and especially to bis ene- 
 mies, he had been calm when others were excited, and so the 
 vexations that wear out tbe life of most men failed to shorten 
 bis days. But now the end was near. To him, the father of 
 the Telegraph, tbe last message bad come. It was not a sudden 
 summons. He bad been always ready, and bad often wished 
 that it might not.be delayed. And when it came it found him 
 waiting. Peacefully be was sinking into tbe arms of death. 
 
DYING HOURS. 743 
 
 For some days lie was scarcely conscious of surrounding persons, 
 save of his fond wife, on whom he turned his mild blue eyes, 
 with looks of love he could not speak. The birthday of his 
 youngest child arrived; and, to the surprise of all, he recalled 
 it, placed his hands upon his son's head, and caressed him ten- 
 derly. A picture made by his niece, as a present to the boy, 
 was produced, and, rousing himself, he asked for his spectacles, 
 put them on, examined the drawing, and pronounced it admira- 
 ble. So the first passion of his life was almost his last emotion. 
 In childhood he began to draw. He never loved any thing so 
 much as his chosen art. And now, forgetting the honors and 
 rewards of the great invention that had made his name immor- 
 tal, the expiring man revives at the sight of a little drawing, and, 
 remembering his own work when a boy, gives his dying words 
 to its praise ! 
 
 Yet once more is the thought of the Telegraph revived ! 
 The attending physicians were inspecting his lungs, and one of 
 them, tapping upon his chest to learn their condition, said to 
 him, pleasantly, " This is the way we doctors telegraph." 
 
 " Very good," said the dying man, and never spoke again. 
 
 The intelligence that Professor Morse was dying touched the 
 heart of the nation. It was announced wherever his electric 
 wires were stretched — over the country, under the ocean, and to 
 the ends of the world. Bulletins were issued from hour to hour, 
 to meet the anxioiTS inquiries of the people. Every hour of the 
 night, as well as of the day, reporters of the press sought to 
 know his condition. His door was besieged by friends testify- 
 ing their sympathy. Those he loved were around him with 
 ministries of love. "When far past the power of speech, he put 
 up his lips to his loving wife fpr one more kiss. Holy men 
 commended his departing spirit to Him whom unseen he adored. 
 Tears of affection fell like rain upon his bed. Beauty, serene 
 and majestic, clothed his countenance and lighted his eyes. The 
 image of the heavenly was revealed. His peace was like a river. 
 Not a cloud, not a fear, no care, no want, disturbed the calmness 
 of his passing soul. 
 
 He had reached and enjoyed his loftiest and last ambition. 
 Around him were gathered all that art and taste and wealth and 
 love contribute to the delight of men. Office and power he had 
 
744 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 never wished, but lie had sought fame and wealth and honor ; 
 and, when gained, he had gladly used them for truth and virtue 
 and philanthropy, counting all he had and was but means of 
 usefulness for the sake of Him in whom he lived. 
 
 A long, eventful, brilliant career was closing. The light was 
 going out of those eyes that had so long been bright with the 
 fire of genius and the softer rays of love. The fingers that 
 guided the lightning through the seas had lost their cunning. 
 The brain in which was born the grandest of all conceptions 
 ever made real by the art of man — to annihilate time and space 
 in human intercourse, and bring the ends of the earth into in- 
 stant union — and that throbbed with conscious triumph when 
 the work was done, was resting now. The heart that never har- 
 bored an unkind feeling toward a human being, that always 
 warmed with tender affection for the suffering — that kind, gen- 
 tle, loving heart, in which wife and children nestled and were 
 blest ; where every virtue that gilds human life had its source, 
 and out of which flowed streams of kindness, to gladden home, 
 the social circle, and the world — that great, good heart now 
 ceased to beat. 
 
 He died April 2, 1872. 
 
 POSTHUMOUS HONORS. 
 
 The Legislature of the State of New York being in session 
 at the time, the Governor, Hon. John T. Hoffman, sent to thai 
 body the following communication, April 3d : 
 
 " The Telegraph to-day announces the death of its inventor, 
 Samuel F. B. Morse. Born in Massachusetts, his home has for 
 many years of his eventful life been in New York. His fame be- 
 longs to neither, but to the country and the world ; yet it seems 
 fitting that this great State, in which he lived and died, should be 
 the first to pay appropriate honors to his memory. Living, he re- 
 ceived from governments everywhere more public honors than were 
 ever paid to any American private citizen ; dead, let all the people 
 pay homage to his name. I respectfully recommend to the Legisla- 
 ture the adoption of such resolutions as may be suitable, and the 
 appointment of a joint committee to attend the funeral of the illus- 
 trious deceased. John T. Hoffman." 
 
THE FUNERAL. 745 
 
 In'both Houses appropriate resolutions were adopted and a 
 joint committee was appointed to attend the funeral. The 
 funeral services were held Friday, April 5th, at Madison-Square 
 Presbyterian Church, New York. At eleven o'clock the pro- 
 cession entered the church in the following order : 
 
 Rev. Wm. Adams, D. D. ; Rev. Francis B. Wheeler, D. D. 
 
 Corpse. 
 
 Pall-bearers : 
 
 William Orton, Cyetjs W. Field, 
 
 Daniel Huntington, Charles Butler, 
 
 Peter Cooper, John A. Dix, 
 
 Cambridge Livingston, Ezra Cornell. 
 
 The Family. 
 
 Governor Hoefman and Staff. 
 
 Members of the Legislature. 
 
 Directors of the New York, Newfoundland, and 
 
 London Telegraph Company. 
 
 Directors of the Western Union Telegraph Company, 
 
 and officers and operators. 
 
 Members of the Academy of Design. 
 
 Members of the Evangelical Alliance. 
 
 Members of the Chamber of Commerce. 
 
 Members of the Association for the Advancement of Science 
 
 and Art. 
 
 Members of the New York Stock Exchange. 
 
 Delegations from the Common Councils of New York, 
 
 Brooklyn, and Poughkeepsie, and many of the 
 
 Yale Alumni. 
 
 The Legislative Committee: Messrs. James W. Husted, 
 
 L. Bradford Prince, James C. Osgood, Samuel J. Tilden, Severn 
 
 D. Moulton, and John Simpson. 
 
 After preliminary devotional services the funeral address 
 was delivered by Dr. Adams. This oration was one of great 
 eloquence and beauty, reciting the history of the illustrious 
 dead, and giving the appropriate lessons drawn from his re- 
 markable career. In its conclusion Dr. Adams said : 
 
 " To-day we part forever with all that is mortal of that man who 
 has done so much in the cause of Christian civilization. Less than 
 
746 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 one year ago his fellow-citizens, chiefly telegraphic operators, who 
 loved him as children love a father, raised his statue of bronze in 
 Central Park. To-day all we can give him is a grave. That vener- 
 able form, that face so saintly in its purity and refinement, we shall 
 see no more. How much we shall miss him in our homes, our 
 churches, in public gatherings, in the streets, and in society which 
 he adorned and blessed ! But his life has been so useful, so happy, 
 and so complete, that for him nothing remains to be wished. Con- 
 gratulate the man who, leaving to his family, friends, and country, 
 a name spotless, untarnished, beloved of nations, to be repeated in 
 foreign tongues, and by sparkling seas, has died in the bright and 
 blessed hope of everlasting life. 
 
 " Farewell, beloved friend, honored citizen, public benefactor, 
 good and faithful servant ! While thy eulogy shall be pronounced 
 in many languages by thy fellow-men, this, I believe, was your own 
 highest aspiration — to have your name, as an humble disciple, written 
 in the Lamb's Book of Life. There it will shine, and ours also, 
 even the humblest of us all, if united to Christ, above the bright- 
 ness of the firmament and as the stars forever and ever. A small 
 thing is it to be judged of man's judgment ; and all the greatness and 
 glory of this world pass away like a dream. ' God accepteth not 
 the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor ; 
 for they all are the work of his hands.' Truly great and immortal is 
 that man, however obscure his earthly lot, who so believes in Jesus 
 Christ that he may appropriate to himself the words of the Lord 
 of Life, ' Because I live, ye shall live also.' 
 
 " The three grandest objects which ever can occupy the mind 
 of man are the Divine Redeemer, the human soul, the day of death 
 and judgment. Blessed is that man, and so will he be when all the 
 thrones, monuments, and eulogies of the world are forgotten, who 
 so lives that he shall be able to combine the three and say, as did 
 this true Christian in his last articulation, ' I know whom I have 
 believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I 
 have committed to him against that day.' " 
 
 Prayer was then offered by the Rev. Dr. Wheeler, and the 
 hymn " Just as I am " was chanted by the choir. The remains 
 were taken to Greenwood Cemetery and deposited in the receiv- 
 ing-vault. The burial service was read and prayer offered by 
 the Rev. J. Aspinwall Hodge, pastor of the Presbyterian Church 
 of Hartford, and son-in-law of Richard C. Morse. 
 
UNIVERSAL SORROW. 747 
 
 The President of the Western Union Telegraph Company 
 issued the following message : 
 
 "New York, April 4, 1872. 
 " To all Telegraph Superintendents and Managers in the United 
 States and Canada : All that is mortal of the venerable and vener- 
 ated father of the American Telegraph system, Professor Samuel F. 
 B. Morse, will be consigned to the grave on Friday, April 5th. No 
 expression of outward exhibition can give fitting evidence of the 
 sorrow which his death has occasioned among those connected with 
 the Telegraph, or within the reach of its influence, not only in Amer- 
 ica, but throughout the world ; but, in token of respect to his memory, 
 some symbol of mourning should be exhibited at all telegraph-sta- 
 tions on the day of burial ; a simple rosette, or a bit of crape, will suf- 
 fice. William OrtOjS", President." 
 
 The Common Council of the city of New York, the National 
 Academy of Design, the New York Stock Exchange, the New 
 York Chamber of Commerce, and the various scientific, philan- 
 thropic, and religious institutions with which he had been asso- 
 ciated, adopted resolutions of respect for his memory. In other 
 cities and countries similar tributes were paid. The telegraph- 
 poles in many places were hung with mourning, and the bells 
 were tolled. 
 
 CONGRESS OE THE TOOTED STATES. 
 
 In the House of Representatives, Hon. S. S. Cox offered a 
 concurrent resolution, declaring that Congress has heard " with 
 profound regret of the death of Professor Morse, whose distin- 
 guished and varied abilities have contributed more than those of 
 any other person to the development and progress of the prac- 
 tical arts, and that his purity of private life, his loftiness of scien- 
 tific aims, and his resolute faith in truth, render it highly proper 
 that the Representatives and Senators should solemnly testify to 
 his worth and greatness." This resolution was unanimously 
 agreed to. 
 
 Mr. Fernando Wood, of New York City, gave a brief history 
 of the legislation under which Professor Morse's invention was 
 practically tested in this country. The speaker was a member 
 of the Twenty-seventh Congress, to which Professor Morse ap- 
 plied for aid to test his invention. And he expressed the great 
 pride with which he (Mr. Wood) found his name recorded in the 
 
748 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 affirmative, and he was to-day the only living member of either 
 House who voted in favor of the bill. 
 
 In the Senate, on motion of Hon. J. W. Patterson, of New 
 Hampshire, a similar resolution was adopted. A committee, ap- 
 pointed by both Houses, was charged with making arrangements 
 for a suitable service in memory of Morse. The Morse Memo- 
 rial Association of the city of "W ashington combined with this 
 committee, and preparations were made for a solemn service in 
 the hall of the House. This was held April 16th. 
 
 A crowded audience attended. The Speaker of the House, 
 Mr. Blaine, presided, assisted by Yice-President Colfax. The 
 President and Cabinet, Judges of the Supreme Court, together 
 with the Governors of the States, in person or by proxy, occupied 
 seats on the inner semicircle. Senators and Representatives oc- 
 cupied the other seats on the floor. In front of the main gallery 
 was an oil-painting of Professor Morse, and around the outer 
 frame of the portrait was the legend " What hath God wrought ! " 
 The ceremonies were opened with prayer by the Rev. Dr. 
 Adams, of New York, when Speaker Blaine said : 
 
 " Less than thirty years ago, a man of genius and learning was 
 an earnest petitioner before Congress for a small pecuniary aid, that 
 enabled him to test certain occult theories of science which he had 
 laboriously evolved. To-night the representatives of forty million 
 people assemble in their legislative hall to do homage and honor to 
 the name of 'Morse.' Great discoverers and inventors rarely live to 
 witness the full development and perfection of their mighty concep- 
 tions, but to him whose death we now mourn, and whose fame we 
 celebrate, it was in God's good providence vouchsafed otherwise. 
 The little thread of wire placed as a timid experiment between the 
 national capital and a neighboring city, grew and lengthened, and 
 multiplied with almost the rapidity of the electric current that 
 darted along its iron nerves, until, within his own lifetime, conti- 
 nent was bound unto continent, hemisphere answered through ocean's 
 depths unto hemisphere, and an encircled globe flashed forth his 
 eulogy in the unmatched elements of a grand achievement. Charged 
 by the House of Representatives with the agreeable and honorable 
 duty of presiding here, and of announcing the various participants 
 in the exercises of the evening, I welcome to this hall those who 
 join with us in this expressive tribute to the memory and to the 
 merit of a great man." 
 
SERVICES IN THE CAPITOL. 749 
 
 The exercises were then conducted in the following order : 
 
 Resolutions by Hon. C. 0. Cox, M. D., of Washington, D. 0. 
 
 Address by Hon. J. W. Patterson, of New Hampshire. 
 
 Address by Hon. Fernando Wood, of New York. 
 
 Vocal Music by the Choral Society of Washington. , 
 
 Address by Hon. J. A. Garfield, of Ohio. 
 
 Address by Hon. S. S. Cox, of New York. 
 
 Address by Hon. D. W. Voorhes, of Indiana. 
 
 Address by Hon. N. P. Banks, of Massachusetts. 
 
 Vocal Music by the Choral Society of Washington. 
 
 Benediction by the Rev. Dr. Wheeler, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
 
 Telegraphic messages came in and were read by Cyrus W. 
 Field, Esq., sent the same day from Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
 to America, paying funeral tributes to the memory of the man 
 whose genius and skill had brought these four quarters of the 
 globe into daily intercourse ! From the British Provinces on the 
 North, from California, and the farthest South and East, similar, 
 messages came, so that the whole civilized world was actually 
 represented, and in spirit was present, at these memorial services 
 in the Capitol at Washington. 
 
 On the same evening with the meeting in the Capitol, me- 
 morial meetings were held in various parts of the United States. 
 The lines of telegraph were used freely for direct communication 
 between them, and, the progress of the several meetings being 
 reported to all, they were in perfect sympathy. The idea was 
 novel, and happily carried out. 
 
 Massachusetts, the native State of Professor Morse, paid 
 him distinguished honors. Its Legislature adopted the follow- 
 ing resolutions : 
 
 " JZesolved, That the Legislature of Massachusetts has learned, 
 with profound regret, of the decease of Samuel Finley Breese 
 Morse, the distinguished inventor of that wonderful system of elec- 
 tric telegraphy which is conferring unspeakable blessings upon the 
 whole human family. 
 
 " Resolved, That, born upon our soil, and under the very shadow 
 of this capitol, his name will ever be associated by the people of 
 this State with that of another of her illustrious sons, who demon- 
 strated to the world the existence of that mighty but subtile agency 
 
750 LIFE 0F SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 which the genius and skill of his peer and successor has brought 
 under subjection and made subservient to the will of man. 
 
 " Resolved, That with the regrets his death has occasioned are 
 mingled emotions of joy and gratitude that he was permitted, by 
 Him in whose hands are the issues of life and death, to attain to 
 the full age allotted to man upon earth, and that he was thereby 
 enabled to witness the complete triumph of the work to which his 
 life was consecrated — a privilege which has seldom been enjoyed by 
 the world's greatest benefactors. 
 
 " Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to 
 transmit a copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased, 
 with the assurance of the spmpathy of the people of this Common- 
 wealth in the loss they have sustained." 
 
 A memorial meeting was held in Eaneuil Hall, Boston, at 
 which the mayor of the city presided, supported by Josiali 
 Quincy, G. S. Hillard, and others. Addresses were deliverd by 
 Professor E. K Horsford, Hon. E. H. Dana, Hon. G. S. Hil- 
 lard, and S. P. Whipple, Esq. ; and appropriate resolutions were 
 adopted. 
 
 In every part of his own country, and in many foreign 
 lands, testimonials of respect and gratitude were offered to his 
 memory — such and so many as were never before laid upon the 
 grave of a man who never held a public office among his fellow- 
 men. 
 
 EEVIEW OF HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 It is not given to mortals to leave a perfect example for the 
 admiration and imitation of posterity. But it is safe to say that 
 the lif e and character of few men whose history is left on record 
 afford less opportunity for criticisim than is found in the con- 
 spicuous career of the inventor of the Telegraph. 
 
 Having followed him step by step from his birth to the 
 grave, in public, social, and private relations, in struggles with 
 poverty, enemies, and wrongs ; in courts of law, the press, and 
 halls of science ; having seen him tempted, assailed, defeated, 
 and again in victory, honor, and renown ; having read thousands 
 of his private letters, his essays, and pamphlets, and volumes in 
 which his claims are canvassed, his merits discussed, and his char- 
 acter reviewed ; having had access to his most private papers 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER. 751 
 
 and confidential correspondence, in which all that is most secret 
 and sacred in the life of man is hid — it is right to say that in 
 this mass of testimony by friends and foes there is not a line 
 that requires to be erased or changed to preserve the lustre of 
 his name. 
 
 Such is the natural result of those influences which formed 
 and developed his character. Intellectual strength and inflexible 
 integrity were traits that distinguished his ancestry. Virtue 
 and usefulness made the atmosphere of his father's house. 
 There he became familiar with the names and works of illus- 
 trious men, in his own and other lands ; and to be like them 
 was the aspiration of his young ambition. He studied Plu- 
 tarch's lives of great men when he was a boy, and drew 
 their pro traits with his pen almost as soon as he could write. 
 And in his young mind was a sentiment that Plutarch did not 
 teach — the sense of personal responsibility to the Infinite Crea- 
 tor. Him he acknowledged as the source and end of his being. 
 This became a passion, absorbing his thoughts, infusing into his 
 life a secret power to will and to do. In reverential moments, 
 contemplating the extent and results of the great invention con- 
 ceived in the recesses of his own mind, he felt, deeply and 
 sincerely, that it was not of himself, but of Grod. Hence he was 
 always under a sense of personal obligation to use this power for 
 the good of his fellow-men. 
 
 Subject to the infirmities of a delicate constitution, often 
 sunk in the depths of despondency, afflicted with nervous dis- 
 orders that were attended with great physical suffering, and 
 harassed through all his life by vexations disappointments, re- 
 verses, and wrongs, his heroic faith in God alone held him up 
 and made him victorious. 
 
 It was the device and purpose of those who sought to rob 
 him of his honors and his rights to depreciate his intellectual 
 ability and his scientific attainments. But among all the men 
 of science, and of the men of learning in the law, there was not 
 one who was a match for him when he gave his mind to a sub- 
 ject which required his perfect mastery. His favorite study, in 
 college and afterward, was electricity. And when, in 1827, the 
 powers of electro-magnetism were revealed to him, he compre- 
 hended its relations and capabilities, and at the proper time ap- 
 
752 LIFE OF SAMUEL P. B. MORSE. 
 
 plied them with the skill and precision of an expert. He drew 
 up the brief, with his own hand, for one of the distinguished 
 counsel, in a great lawsuit involving his patent rights, and his 
 lawyer said it was the argument that carried conviction to every 
 unprejudiced mind. Such was the versatility and variety of 
 his mental endowments that he would have been great in any 
 department of human pursuits. His wonderful rapidity of 
 thought was associated with patient, plodding perseverance, a 
 combination rare, but mightily effective. He leaped to a pos- 
 sible conclusion, and then slowly developed the successive steps 
 by which the end was gained and the result made secure. He 
 covered thousands of pages with his pencil-notes, annotated large 
 and numerous volumes, filled huge folios with valuable excerpts 
 from newspapers, illustrated processes of thought with diagrams, 
 and was thus fortified and enriched with stores of knowledge 
 and masses of facts, so digested, combined, and arranged, that he 
 had them at his easy command to defend the past, or to help 
 him onward to fresh conquests in the fields of truth. Yet such 
 was his modesty and reticence in regard to himself that none 
 outside of his household were aware of his resources, and his 
 attainments were only known when displayed in self-defense. 
 Then they never failed to be ample for the occasion, as every 
 opponent had reason to remember. 
 
 Yet he was as gentle as he was great. Many thought him 
 weak, because he was simple, childlike, and unworldly. ' Often 
 he suffered wrong rather than resist, and this disposition to yield 
 was frequently his loss. The firmness, tenacity, and persever- 
 ance, with which he fought his foes, were the fruits of his integ- 
 rity, principle, and profound convictions of right and duty. His 
 nature was tender, loving, and kind. Home, and wife, and chil- 
 dren, were his joys. In the midst of foreign triumphs and fiercest 
 conflicts, his heart turned fondly to the banks of the river where 
 his loved ones waited his return. 
 
 " More than a quarter of a century," said Mr. Mason, the 
 American Ambassador at the court of France in 1858, "I have 
 had the honor to call Professor Morse my friend, and I venture 
 to say that no man ever lived who more eminently deserved to 
 be pronounced — 
 
 ' Integer vitse, scelerisque puras'" 
 
 (A man of blameless life and pure). 
 
PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 753 
 
 Indeed, he deserves it, more surely than he on whom Horace 
 pronounced the high eulogium, for Professor Morse is a Chris- 
 tian gentleman." 
 
 Leonardo da Yinci was an artist, a painter ; and his achieve- 
 ments with the brush are the monuments that preserve his name. 
 But he was also an engineer, a mechanician, a philanthropist, 
 and a statesman. He was great in all that he attempted. A 
 man of marvelous industry, patience, and perseverance, he de- 
 vised and directed schemes for the good of his country and the 
 benefit of his fellow-men. Morse was endowed with similar 
 powers, and inspired with the same purposes. He was a paint- 
 er, an artist ; and he was also an artisan, an inventor ; a mech- 
 anician, working in brass with his own hands ; an author, writ- 
 ing with masterly ability, measuring his strength and learning 
 with the ablest lawyers, the profoundest theologians, and emi- 
 nent statesmen, maintaining himself with complete success on 
 all occasions. Leonardo is remembered by his works of art. 
 Morse, as a painter, is lost in his renown as an inventor and 
 benef actor of his race. 
 
 In person, Professor Morse was tall, slender, graceful, and at- 
 tractive. Six feet in stature, he stood erect and firm, even in 
 old age. His blue eyes were expressive of genius and affection. 
 His nature was a rare combination of solid intellect and delicate 
 sensibility. Thoughtful, sober, and quiet, he readily entered 
 into the enjoyments of domestic and social life, indulging in sal- 
 lies of humor, and readily appreciating and greatly enjoying the 
 wit of others. Dignified in his intercourse with men, courteous 
 and affable with the gentler sex, he was a good husband, a judi- 
 cious father, a generous and faithful friend. He had the mis- 
 fortune to incur the hostility of men who would deprive him 
 of the merit and the reward of his labors. But this is the com- 
 mon fate of great inventors. He lived until his rights were 
 vindicated by every tribunal to which they could be referred, 
 and acknowledged by all civilized nations. And he died leav- 
 ing to his children a spotless and illustrious name, and to his 
 country the honor of having given birth to the only Electro- 
 Magnetic Recording Telegraph whose line is gone out through 
 all the earth, and its words to the end of the world. 
 48 
 
AP PEIDIX. 
 
 [EXTRACTS FROM A PAMPHLET PREPARED AND PUBLISHED IN PARIS, 186T.] 
 BY SAMTJEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 IN" the month of October, 1832, I left France for the United States in .the 
 packet-ship Sully. Early in the voyage, in the course of conversations 
 in the cabin, some of the facts in relation to electricity, familiar to me from 
 my college-days, were casually brought to my recollection in describing 
 the then recent discovery of the means of obtaining the electric spark from 
 the magnet, a discovery which demonstrated the intimate relations of mag- 
 netism and electricity. The fact that electricity passed with such rapidity 
 through a space of many miles was alluded to, in which Franklin's opinion 
 of the instantaneity of the passage of electricity was brought to notice. 
 This led me to remark that, " if that were so, and the presence of electri- 
 city could be made visible in any desired part of the circuit, I see no rea- 
 son why intelligence might not be transmitted instantaneously by electri- 
 city." This was the crude seed which at once took root, and with the 
 favoring leisure of a long voyage, and a mind unoccupied with other 
 studies, grew into form, absorbing my thoughts in the sleepless hours of 
 the night, and turning the tedium of the voyage into an agreeable pastime. 
 Before the end of the voyage the invention had the following attributes. 
 
 I may observe, in passing, that my aim at the outset was simplicity of 
 means as well as result. Hence I devised a single circuit of conductors 
 from some generator of electricity. I planned a system of signs consisting 
 of dots or points, and spaces to represent numerals; and two modes of 
 causing the electricity to mark or imprint these signs upon a strip orriVbon 
 of paper. One was by chemical decomposition of a salt which should dis- 
 color the paper ; the other was by the mechanical action of the electro- 
 magnet, operating upon the paper by a lever charged at one extremity with 
 a pen or pencil. I conceived the plan of moving the paper ribbon at a 
 regular rate by means of clock-worlc machinery to receive the signs. These 
 processes, as well as the mathematically -calculated signs, devised for 
 and adapted to recording, were sketched in my sketch-book. I also drew 
 in my sketch-book modes of interring the conductors in tubes in the earth, 
 and, soon after landing, planned and drew out the method upon posts. This 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 755 
 
 was the general condition of the invention (with the exception of the plan 
 upon posts) when I arrived in New York, on the 15th of November, 1832. 
 
 Among the original charac- 
 teristics of the invention as de- 
 vised on board the ship, one of tbe 
 most important was the mathe- 
 matically-calculated signs adapt- 
 ed to recording. As these signs 
 have ever since played a most 
 important part in the modern 
 telegraphs, they would seem to 
 demand here a more distinct no- ymuw 
 tice of their origin. < 
 
 In reflecting on the operations 
 of electricity as a proposed agent 
 in telegraphy, I was aware that 
 its presence in a conductor of mod- 
 erate length could be indicated in 
 several ways. The physical effects 
 in a shock; the visible spark ; visi- 
 ble bubbles during decomposition, 
 and marks left from decomposi- 
 tion ; its magnetic effects upon 
 soft iron and steel ; and its calo- 
 rific effects — these were all well- 
 known phenomena. Could any 
 of these be made available for 
 recording, and at a great distance ? 
 This was the important problem 
 to be solved. Electricity had 
 been flashed many miles through 
 a conductor, apparently instanta- 
 neously, and produced some of 
 these effects at a distance. May 
 not all of them, likewise, be pro- 
 duced at a distance ? If so, which 
 of them seemed to promise the 
 surest result of & permanent rec-. 
 ord? Static electricity, as an 
 agent, was first proposed, but 
 was quickly dismissed as too un- 
 controllable, and I directed my 
 attention exclusively to the phe- 
 nomena of dynamic electricity. 
 The decomposition of a salt hav- 
 ing a metallic basis would leave a mark upon paper or cloth — but what salt ? 
 Some would probably answer the purpose. Assuming, therefore, that such 
 
756 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 a salt could be found, how was it to be used? If a strip of paper or cloth 
 were moistened with the salt, and were then simply put in contact with a 
 conductor charged with electricity, would there be any effect upon the 
 paper ? A magnetic effect is produced exterior to the charged conductor ; 
 is there any salt or substance so sensitive as to be affected either by decom- 
 position, or in any other way, by this magnetic influence, by simple contact 
 with an electrically-charged wire? It was doubtful, but worth an experiment. 
 
 But, if such effect were verified by experiment, it was conceived that 
 marks like those in the diagram (1) might be made across the moistened 
 paper, as it passed beneath and in contact with the conjunctive wire A B, 
 when the wire was electrically charged and discharged. 
 
 It is needless to add that on trial no such effect was produced by the 
 magnetic properties of an electrically-charged wire upon any salt that I after- 
 ward submitted to the experiment. Nevertheless, it is perceived that, had 
 this device (which was noted down for testing) been verified, the simplest 
 of all modes of recording would have been the result. 
 
 The nearest approach to this simplicity seemed to be the passing of the 
 chemically-prepared paper between the two broken parts of a circuit so 
 that the electricity should pass through the moistened paper or cloth ; this . 
 would mark a point or dot when the circuit was closed, and by rapid clos- 
 ing and opening of the circuit, while the paper was moved regularly for- 
 ward, points or dots, in any required groups, could be made at will. But 
 what salt would best produce this result was to be determined after reach- 
 ing the end of the voyage. In the mean time, as I originally proposed to 
 record numerals only, intending to indicate words and sentences by numbers, 
 it was a desideratum to arrange the ten digits to be represented by dots or 
 points within as small a space as possible. The first and most obvious mode 
 seemed to be the following : 
 
 123456 7 8 9 10 
 
 But a few minutes' reflection showed that after Jive dots or points the num- 
 ber of dots became inconveniently numerous in indicating the larger digits ; 
 hence it occurred to me that, by extending the spaces appropriated to the 
 five larger digits, giving them a greater space value than was possessed by 
 the five smaller digits, I might reduce the number of dots, necessary to in- 
 dicate any of the ten digits, within five dots. On this principle, therefore, I 
 constructed the following signs for the ten numerals, and devised the types 
 for regulating the opening and closing of an electric circuit. {See Diagram 2.) 
 On inspecting the diagram (2) it will be perceived that the types were 
 to be divided into definite parts. 
 
 Type 1 contains 4 parts, and appropriates 1 part to its cog, and 3 to its space. 
 
 " 3 parts to its cog, and 3 " 
 
 5 parts to its cog, and 3 " 
 
 7 parts to its cog, and 3 " 
 
 9 parts to its cog, and 3 " 
 
 1 part to its cog, and 5 " 
 
 3 parts to its cog, and 5 " 
 
 5 parts to its cog, and 5 " 
 
 7 parts to its cog, and 5 " 
 
 " 9 parts to its cog, and 5 " 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 ' 8 
 
 4 
 
 ' 10 
 
 5 
 
 1 12 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 ' 10 
 
 9 
 
 ' 12 
 
 
 
 1 14 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 757 
 
 Each of the first five digits, therefore, is indicated by a space of three 
 parts, and 
 
 Each of the last five digits is indicated by a space of five parts. 
 
 T 
 C 
 J. 
 
 r- 
 
 r j::::::: 
 
 c=0 
 
 C.VM 
 
 i^ 
 
 <m 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 c 
 
 1 — 
 
 s* 
 
 i — 
 
 • i— i 
 
 : 
 :j 
 
 •CO 
 
 il 
 
758 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 The space type for separating completed numbers, whether single or 
 compounded, contains six parts. 
 
 The length of the spaces, therefore, was an element to be used in deter- 
 mining the difference between the class of the first five digits and the class 
 of the last five digits, and not simply the number of dots or points. 
 Whether one dot was to be read as numeral 1 or as numeral 6 was to be de- 
 termined by the length of the space after it, and, for the purpose of measur- 
 ing this space in the last numeral of a dispatch, the single dot or point was 
 to be used as a supernumerary^/wic^e to every dispatch. 
 
 A space of the length of nine or more parts, after a dot or group of dots, 
 indicates the dot or group of dots to be a complete number, whether single 
 or compounded. 
 
 A space less than the length* of the nine parts, after a dot or group of 
 dots, indicates that they are a portion of a compounded number. 
 
 An example will illustrate this first mode of recording that was pro- 
 posed. Suppose the numbers to be telegraphed are 
 
 77—8—92 
 
 The type would be arranged as in the above diagram (3). The record would 
 show two dots, then a space of five parts, which, being less than nine parts, 
 determines the two dots to belong to numeral 7, the five parts being its 
 proper or natural space, and that it is one of a compounded number ; then 
 follow two similar dots, but followed by a space of eleven parts, which, 
 consisting of more than nine parts, shows that a space type of six parts has 
 been inserted, separating this last group from the next ; six parts subtracted 
 from the eleven parts leave five parts for the proper or natural space of the 
 last numeral, showing it to be like the first, the numeral 7. Next come 
 three dots, and also followed by a space of eleven parts, which, consisting 
 of more than nine parts, isolates the numeral, and shows that a space type 
 of six parts must be subtracted from the eleven, leaving five parts for the 
 natural or proper space of the last numeral, indicating, therefore, the nu- 
 meral 8. Then come four dots, followed by a space of five parts, which, 
 being less than nine parts, shows the four dots to be a numeral belonging 
 to a compounded number, and that it belongs to the class of the five larger 
 digits, and indicates the numeral 9. Next come two dots, followed by a 
 space of three parts, which, being less than nine parts, shows it to belong 
 to the class of the first five digits, and therefore indicates the numeral 2, 
 because it is succeeded by the final 1, which is not to be regarded except as 
 serving to measure the space to determine the character of the previous 
 numeral. 
 
 This method (in the light of my improvements of the code, which very 
 soon followed after the first practical test) seems crude and even impractical, 
 especially in view of my perfected alphabetic code devised as early as 1835, 
 and now with some comparatively slight improvements in use through- 
 out the world. But, cumbrous and inconvenient as it was, in its earliest 
 stages, if compared in its results with the results of the semaphoric modes 
 
APPENDIX. 759 
 
 in use at that day, it will be perceived that it was even then a great step in 
 advance. 
 
 A day had scarcely passed after my landing, before I commenced the 
 construction of the invention from the plans and drawings made on board the 
 ship. The signs to be recorded or imprinted it was necessary to embody in 
 a species of type, the name I gave to the cogged pieces which were to make 
 the required closings and openings of the circuit of conductors, necessary to 
 mark or imprint the points or signs for numerals upon the strip of paper 
 at the regulated intervals of time ; the paper or ribbon having a regular 
 movement, while the type performed the closing and opening of the circuit 
 at irregular intervals (and thus broke the continuous line of the regular 
 movement of the paper into irregular parts at pleasure), and furnished the 
 means of breaking the line into dots and spaces, in such variety as at once 
 to enable me not only to construct the numerals, but eventually, as will be 
 seen by the different combinations of long lines, short lines, or points, and 
 spaces, all the different letters of the alphabet. The type proposed at 
 this time consisted of thin strips of type-metal with cogs varied at intervals, 
 as seen in Diagram 2. These by means of a mechanical movement (here- 
 inafter described) were made and intended for closing and opening the cir- 
 cuit at the desired times. These types, therefore, for imprinting at a dis- 
 tance, were, at that time, an essential part of the machinery in process of 
 construction ; and having more facilities, immediately on my arrival, for 
 elaborating these types than for other parts of the machinery, they were the 
 first constructed. A mould of brass was made and a quantity of the type was 
 cast before the close of the year 1832. The rest of the machinery, except 
 a single-cup battery, and a few yards of wire, and the train of wheels of a 
 wooden clock, which I adapted to the service of unrolling the strip of paper, 
 I was compelled, from the necessities of my profession, to leave in the con- 
 dition of drawings until I found some more permanent resting-place. From 
 November, 1832, until the summer of 1835 (two and a half years), I had 
 changed my residence three times, and was wholly without the pecuniary 
 means for putting together and embodying the various parts of my inven- 
 tion in one whole. But in July, 1835, 1 took possession of my new home, in 
 the new building of the New York City University, and I then lost not a 
 day in collecting the parts and putting into practical form the first rude in- 
 strument which was to demonstrate the operation of the invention. I was 
 favored with a little leisure from the unfinished condition of the University 
 building, which impeded the access of visitors to my apartments for my 
 usual professional duties. 
 
 I ought here to say that, with the aid of a single-cup battery, as early 
 as 1834, previous to my removal to the University, I ascertained that no 
 visible effect was produced upon numerous salts, which I submitted to 
 trial by putting them in simple contact with the wire charged with electricity, 
 as shown in the plan of Diagram 1, proposed for experiment on board the 
 ship. I succeeded, however, in marking by chemical decomposition, when 
 the electricity was passed through the moistened paper or cloth, in 1836, in 
 
760 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the University, but the process was attended with so many inconveniences 
 that it was laid aside for the moment, not abandoned, that I might give my 
 attention more directly to the electro-magnetic mode of recording. 
 
 If my nomadic mode of life for two years previous, and the condition of 
 my pecuniary means, be kept in mind ; if, also, it be considered that many 
 of the mechanical facilities in New York, so abundant at the present day, 
 for embodying the invention, did not exist, and therefore were denied to 
 me, it will account both for the slowness in completing the instrumentali- 
 ties of my invention, and the rudeness of the first-constructed instrument. 
 The electro-magnet was not an instrument found for sale in the shops, as at 
 this day ; insulated wire was nowhere to be obtained, except in the small- 
 est quantities, as bonnet-wire of iron wound with cotton thread. Copper 
 wire was not in use for that purpose, and was sold in the shops by the 
 pound or yard at high prices and also in very limited quantities. 
 
 To form, my electro-magnet, I was under the necessity of procuring from 
 the blacksmith a small rod of iron bent in horseshoe form ; of purchasing 
 a few yards of copper wire, and of winding upon it, by hand, its cotton- 
 thread insulation, before I could construct the rude helices of the magnet. 
 I had already purchased a cheap wooden clock and adapted the train of 
 wheels to the rate of movement required for the ribbon of paper. 
 
 I needed a proper support for the machinery on which to arrange the 
 various disconnected parts. A stretching-frame for canvas, XX, Diagram 
 4 (having a bar across the middle), which stood unemployed against the wall 
 of my atelier, suggested to me a rough but convenient method of putting 
 into operation the printing or marking of the signs. I nailed it at the 
 bottom against the edge of a common table. Across the lower part of the 
 frame I constructed a narrow trough, to hold three narrow cylinders of 
 wood, ABO; A and small, one on eaoh side of the large cylinder B. 
 The' wooden clock D was placed at one end of this trough. The small 
 cylinder next to the clock had a small pulley-wheel fixed upon its pro- 
 longed axis, outside the trough ; a similar pulley- wheel was fixed upon the 
 prolonged axis of the slower wheels of the train of wheels outside the 
 clock; these two pulley-wheels were connected by an endless cord or 
 band. 
 
 Upon the other small cylinder A, on the other side of cylinder B, was 
 wound the ribbon of paper, composed of long strips of paper pasted to- 
 gether, end to end. When the clock-train was put in movement, the rib- 
 bon of paper was gradually unrolled from its cylinder, and, passing over the 
 cylinder B, was rolled up upon the cylinder by meaus of the cord and 
 pulleys. To give the weight which moved the clock-train a sufficiently 
 long space in which to fall, a long rod or strip of wood projecting upward 
 was nailed to the side of the frame, at the top of which rod was a pulley- 
 wheel over which the cord attached to the w T eight E was passed. 
 
 Upon the middle of the cross-bar of the frame there was a small shelf 
 or bracket h to hold the electro-magnet, which was the moving power of 
 the marking or printing lever. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 761 
 
 The lever was an A-shaped pendulum, F, suspended by its apex at f 
 from the centre of the top of the frame, directly above the centre of the 
 cylinder B in the trough below. This lever was made of two thin rules of 
 wood meeting at the top /, but opening downward about one inch apart, 
 and joined at the bottom by a transverse bar (which was close to the 
 paper as it moved over the large cylinder), and another about one inch 
 above it. Through the centre of these two bars a small tube or pencil-case 
 
 Diagram 4. 
 
762 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MOESE. 
 
 TYPE. 
 
 QBB 
 
 a 
 
 6 
 
 Cj 
 
 rLruT- 
 
 8 
 
 "LTLTLTL 
 
 9 
 
 rL-TLn_r"l_rL 
 
 
 
 EXAMPLE OF IMPRINTING. 
 
 *4" "h" 6 3* 2 "0" "4 
 
 Diagram 4. 
 
 g was fixed, through which a pencil loosely played. The pencil had a 
 small weight upon its top to keep the point in constant contact with the 
 paper ribbon. Upon the lever directly opposite to the poles of the electro- 
 magnet was fastened the armature of the magnet, or a small bar of soft 
 iron h. The movement of the lever was guided by stops on the frame at 
 the sides of the lever, permitting to it only a movement forward to, and 
 back from, the magnet ; the pencil at the bottom of the lever was thus 
 allowed to advance when the magnet was charged, and to retreat when 
 discharged, about one-eighth of an inch. The lever advanced by the attrac- 
 tion of the magnet, and retreated by a weight in the first attempts, but im- 
 mediately afterward by the action of a spring. 
 
 The first voltaic battery or pile ' was of a single pair, I, having one of 
 its poles connected by a conjunctive wire with one of the helices of the 
 electro-magnet, and the other pole with one of two cups of mercury K ; a 
 conjunctive wire connected with the other helix of the magnet. The only 
 part of the voltaic circuit not completed was between the two cups of mer- 
 cury J and K. "When a forked wire upon the lever O united the two 
 cups J K, the circuit was complete, the magnet was discharged, the arma- 
 ture h was attracted, and the lever F drawn toward the magnet. "When 
 the forked wire was removed the magnet was.discharged, and the spring 
 brought back the lever to its normal position. "When the clock-work was 
 put in motion, the ribbon of paper was drawn over the large cylinder B ; 
 from the cylinder A, the pencil g on the lever, being in constant contact 
 with the ribbon of paper, traced a continuous line lengthwise with the rib- 
 bon. When the lever was in a normal position, the line was upon one side 
 of the ribbon, as at r ; when attracted by the magnet to the other limit of its 
 motion, the line was on the other side, as at s in Diagram 5. 
 
 1 I had at this time a Cruikshank's battery of twelve pairs, but so out of order 
 as not to be available for experiment. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 763 
 
 The pathway of the pencil-point (when the lever was attracted toward 
 and held hy the magnet for a longer or shorter time, tracing the line s) con- 
 tains the three elements of points, spaces, and lines, forming hy their vari- 
 ous combinations the various conventional characters for numerals and 
 letters. The other line r, traced by the pencil when the lever is in its nor- 
 mal position, may, therefore, be disregarded. Only the variations in the line s 
 traced by the pencil when the magnet is charged is of importance. A 
 specimen of these combinations is exhibited in the following diagram (6). 
 
 A is the line r in Diagram 5 which the pencil traces when the lever is 
 in its normal position. 
 
764 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 B is the line s in the same diagram which is to contain the conventional 
 characters to be read as if marked in points, spaces, and lines, as on the line 
 below the ribbon of paper. The arrows show the direction of the move- 
 ment of the ribbon of paper when the clock-work is in motion. 
 
 & 
 
 ' H/VI /VL/l__ 
 
 B 
 
 i 
 
 & 
 
 V I 
 
 AAA 
 
 I H 
 
 
 v\r 
 
 ^rvi^ 
 
 OghGhCtj-dh . 
 
 R 
 
 ,4/1/1/ 1/ 
 
 "T/L /WW L_, 
 
 3 h i 4 I 
 
 /W\Ay\ / — l/~ 1/1/1 /^V/l/VL 
 
 Diagram 7. 
 
 Supposing the ribbon of paper in motion while the magnet is not 
 charged, and the pencil to have commenced marking the upper line at A, 
 when arriving at d, the circuit is quickly closed and opened again ; the 
 
APPENDIX. 765 
 
 pencil is thus drawn a moment to the lower line B, marking a transverse 
 across and back again, leaving a point in the lower line B. But, as the rib- 
 bon of paper is in motion, the transverse line back again does not return 
 the way it came, but goes back to e. From e to/ is a space. If the circuit 
 be closed twice, and at each closing be opened quickly again, there will be 
 two points left in the line B, followed by another space.; if three times, 
 there will be three points, and then a longer space, and so on, making one 
 or more points and spaces at pleasure. But if, instead of opening the cir- 
 cuit quickly, it be kept closed a moment, and then opened, the pencil leaves 
 a line on the line B, as at F G. Thus points, spaces, and lines, are made at 
 will. Combinations of these (strictly speaking, broken parts of a continu- 
 ous line) I made in sufficient variety to form my conventional alphabet. 
 (See Diagram 7.) 
 
 At the time of the construction of this first telegraphic instrument, I 
 had not conceived the idea of the present Tcey manipulator dependent on 
 the skill of the operator, but I presumed that the accuracy of the imprint- 
 ing of signs could only be secured by mechanical mathematical arrange- 
 ments and by automatic process. Hence the first conception, on board the 
 ship, of embodying the signs in type mathematically divided mto points and 
 spaces. (See Diagram 2.) Hence also the construction of the type-mould, 
 and castings of the first type, in 1832. 
 
 Having ascertained that the machinery I had constructed, rude as it 
 was, would move the ribbon of paper at a regular speed, and that the pen- 
 cil-lever was obedient to the closing and opening of the circuit, the next 
 thing to construct was the manipulator or regulator of the closing and 
 opening of the circuit. 
 
 I had already in abundance the type cast in 1832. These were now to 
 be put in use. 
 
 I prepared rules or composing-sticks M (Diagram 4) of about three feet 
 in length each, formed by two strips of wood, so placed side by side as to 
 leave a narrow channel large enough to contain the type in desired order 
 and to allow the cogs of the type to project above the upper edge of the 
 rules. Through and along the bottom of the rules, projecting downward, 
 were several needle-points, about one-fourth of an inch in length ; their use 
 will be perceived presently. 
 
 A long trough L L, sufficiently wide to allow of easy passage of the 
 rules through its length, was constructed with the following parts. Near 
 each end of this trough were two small cylinders, of wood, L L. On the 
 prolonged axle of one of them was a hand-crank, and over the two cylin- 
 ders an endless band of worsted tape about one and a half inch in width, 
 which, when the crank was turned, passed from end to end of the trough. 
 Midway and across the trough was erected a small frame or bridge N", 
 within which a wooden lever O was suspended parallel with the endless 
 band, having its fulcrum at N at a point about two-thirds its length, but 
 the longer part reaching from the fulcrum to the end of the trough, on 
 each side of which under the end of the longer part of the lever were placed 
 
766 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 the two cups of mercury J K. Upon the end of the lever and above the 
 cups of mercury was fixed a forked wire so bent as to connect both cups 
 when the end of the lever was depressed, and to disconnect them when it 
 was raised. At the other or shorter end of the lever a weight P over- 
 balanced the longer part, and on the under side beneath the weight was a 
 beveled tooth projecting downward. The rule or composing-stick, having 
 the type set up, was then placed upon the endless band : the needle-points 
 beneath the rule striking through the band and retaining the rule in its 
 place. By turning the crank the rule was made to pass beneath the lever. 
 The first cog of the type, coming in contact with the tooth beneath the 
 weight of the lever, raised that end and depressed the other, causing the 
 forked wire to descend into the two cups of mercury, and closing the cir- 
 cuit. When the cog had passed the tooth, the weight caused the tooth to 
 fall into the space between the first and second cogs, and the fork at the 
 other end of the lever to rise out of the cups of mercury, opening the cir- 
 cuit. At each dip of the fork into the cups, the circuit was closed, the mag- 
 net was charged, the armature on the pendulum lever was attracted, and 
 the pencil passed from the upper line A (Diagram 6) to the lower line B. 
 When the fork was raised out of the cups the circuit was opened, the mag- 
 net was discharged, and the pendulum lever with its pencil resumed its 
 normal position by the action of the spring. A repetition of this process, 
 as the rules with the type passed beneath the tooth on the lever, com- 
 pleted the action of the instrument. 
 
 This was the construction and mode of operation of the first recording 
 instrument for imprinting characters at a distance. In this shape it " pro- 
 duced a new practical result, seen and felt and appreciated by the senses" 
 witnessed, and testified to, by many witnesses as seen in operation in 1835, 
 1836, 1837. It was undoubtedly an imperfect instrument, but it produced, 
 then, the same result that is produced more effectively, by more perfectly 
 made instruments, at this day. It was a result never conceived nor accom- 
 plished before ; it was an important practical result for the first time at- 
 tained. 
 
 The recording instruments throughout the world at this hour have the 
 same characteristics as this first rude instrument. 
 
 They record or imprint conventional signs, points, spaces, and lines, upon 
 a ribbon of paper, moved by clock machinery, and by the action of an 
 electro-magnet, charged and discharged through the agency of electricity, 
 by means of a single circuit of conductors. The mechanism of to-day is 
 indeed more beautiful, more finished, more exact, and as varied in form as 
 the varied forms of the timepiece. The result is consequently more rapidly 
 produced, but the result is the same as in this original instrument. The 
 semaphore was then transmuted into a telegraph. The evanescent sign had 
 become fixed, permanently written or imprinted at a distance. 
 
 I have said that the modern instruments have the same characteristics 
 as the first instrument. 
 
 To make clear the identity of the modern recording instruments with 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 767 
 
 this recording instrument of 1835, which at first hlush may not be so ob- 
 vious, I have made the diagrams (8, 9). 
 
 As in the timepiece there is seen every variety of form and arrange- 
 ment of parts to produce the same result (the passage of time), so in the 
 recording instruments of the present day there is the same variety of form 
 and arrangement of parts to produce the writing or imprinting, the final 
 result in all. 
 
 Diagram 8. 
 
 Compare Diagrams 8, 9, with Diagram 4. The letters in each diagram 
 refer to similar parts in each, so that, in describing one, all are described. 
 In Diagram 8, the machinery that moves the ribbon of paper is removed 
 in order the better to show the writing or recording apparatus. F is the 
 lever; fits fulcrum; h the armature of the electro-magnet affixed to the 
 lever ; m shows the stylus or marking instrument in Diagrams 8, 9, affixed 
 to the extremity of the lever, having the fulcrum /between the stylus m 
 and the armature h. This is the modification in the modern instruments, 
 while in Diagrams 4 and 9 g shows the stylus affixed to the other ex- 
 tremity of the lever F, having the armature Ti between the stylus g and the 
 fulcrum/. If, therefore, as in Diagram 9, two ribbons of paper are put in 
 movement, one before each stylus g and m, it will be seen that g in Dia- 
 gram 9 makes the zigzag marks represented in Diagram 6 like those of g in 
 the original instrument (Diagram 4), while at the same time, by the same 
 movement of the lever, the stylus m. at the other exremity of the same 
 lever, marks the alphabet in points and lines, or dots and dahes, upon its 
 own ribbon of paper, the characters in universal use at the present day. 
 
 It is thus perceived that by prolonging the lever of the modern modifi- 
 cation of the recording instruments beyond the armature h toward the cyl- 
 inder B, and affixing a stylus, pen or pencil g, on its extremity, and allow- 
 ing it to be in contact with the moving ribbon of paper, as in the original 
 
768 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 instrument of 1835, the action of the lever F may he made to mark the 
 original zigzag characters at g, while the modern points and lines are at 
 the same time marked by m on its own ribbon of paper. The dotted lines 
 shadow the original A-shaped lever of Diagram 4, sbowing the same as- 
 semblage and arrangement of parts as in the original instrument. 
 
 It may seem singular to some that the plan of direct up-and-down 
 movement of the lever, as in Diagrams 8 and 9 at m, to mark upon the 
 paper (the plan devised on board the ship, and which is now the most uni- 
 versal), should not have been the first that was put in operation, since too 
 
 Diagram 9. 
 
 it was the first and the most obvious mode devised. Having chosen, how- 
 ever, for economical reasons, the stretching-frame as the most convenient 
 support at hand for the machinery, it was necessary to adapt the parts to 
 this choice, even if my results must be attained in a more indirect manner. 
 It is easy to see that the direct action of the lever, as at present univer- 
 sally used in the register, would accomplish the result better, and it was 
 put into use almost immediately after the first trial. Lightness in the lever 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 769 
 
 was a desideratum, and this seemed to be easiest attained by suspending it 
 at its fulcrum/, but, especially as & pencil was chosen as the first marking 
 instrument (Diagram 10), it was supposed to be necessary in some way to 
 avoid the direct blow of the pencil upon the paper, which was produced 
 by this mode, but which endangered the point, and therefore the zigzag 
 
 Diagram 10. 
 
 sliding movement was adopted. The pencil as employed in Diagram 9, at g, 
 was not the only marking instrument devised and put in operation in the 
 earlier instruments. Besides the direct action of the pencil as in Diagram 
 10, fountain-pens of various kinds, one of which is shown in Diagram 11, 
 
 DlAGEAM 
 
 and a small printing-wheel, as shown in Diagram 12, were used, the latter 
 being supplied with ink from a sponge with which it was in contact. All 
 these were used with more or less of success. 
 49 
 
770 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 The same result, however, to wit, recorded characters representing 
 numerals and letters, and words and sentences, was given by each of these 
 modes in this first-constructed instrument as is given in instruments of the 
 present day. The instrumentalities are the same, and the result the same ; 
 the only difference is in the mode of using the marking lever. 
 
 It will be now perceived that my invention of 1832 had certain very im- 
 portant novel characteristics which distinguished it from all inventions of 
 a previous date. It was not like any of them. 
 
 Diageam 12. 
 
 Although the contemplation of static electricity as a means of producing 
 a permanent record at a distance gave rise in my mind to the conception 
 of the invention on board the ship, it was not the static form of electricity, 
 but its dynamic form, which I immediately adopted for carrying into 
 operation what I had devised. Electricity was proposed to be used by me 
 neither in the form, nor for the purpose, nor by the same instrumentalities, 
 as were proposed in the earliest contrivances, say previous to the year 1800. 
 None of them proposed 'to record their intelligence. None of them pro- 
 posed or made use of the electro-magnet, for it was not then invented, nor 
 the scientific basis of it discovered. None of them had invented a system of 
 signs adapted to recording, for the necessity for them had not arisen. For 
 the same reason, none had proposed a moving ribbon of paper for receiving 
 the record. None proposed to use a single circuit of conductors. 
 
 In the earliest attempts to use electricity for communicating at a dis- 
 tance, static electricity was the form proposed and attempted. Failure 
 was the uniform result, not for the lack of ingenuity in the savants of that 
 day, but from the intractable nature of the form of electricity to which 
 they were limited. When the dynamic form of electricity became known, 
 it was at once seized upon as an agent in accomplishing communication at 
 a distance. 
 
APPENDIX 771 
 
 Still, between the years 1800 and 1832, the means by which that end 
 was to be accomplished were all semaphoric. Decomposition by dynamic 
 electricity in the form of gas-bubbles, and the deflection of the magnetic 
 needle, were the sole novelties in the signals of their proposed plans. No 
 pei-iod, therefore, is more strongly isolated from all previous dates than the 
 date 1832 as the epoch of a new method of applying electricity by the elec- 
 tro-magnet to the creation of a new art, of a new method of communicat- 
 ing to a distance, to wit, recording, a method wholly unlike any previously 
 imagined or invented. 
 
 But the instrument I had devised in- 1832, and constructed in 1835 (so 
 far at least as to demonstrate its practicability to communicate from one 
 station to a distant station), did not completely embody my whole plan. 
 This whole plan was not complete until I could, by a duplicate of the in- 
 strument, have the means of a return from that distant station. This was 
 necessary in order to receive from, as well as to send to, a particular station. 
 The whole plan comprised intercommunication, or reciprocal communica- 
 tion. 
 
 It is true that any ordinary mind could easily comprehend from the 
 operation of the single original apparatus that, if precisely the same appa- 
 ratus were used from the receiving station to the sending station, intercom- 
 munication would be complete. No new appliances were necessary. A 
 duplicate of the instrumentalities already in use from the sending station 
 to the receiving station was all that was needed to complete my whole plan, 
 and to establish intercommunication. But this was an affair of finance, and 
 not of invention. To supply the duplicate required pecuniary means, and 
 these I had not at command. But the rigidly captious may ask, " Why did 
 you not borrow the pecuniary means ? " My reply must be that I preferred 
 the delay, and the hazards of a delay, to the hazard of being unable to 
 repay a loan. I must be pardoned if I state that, even from my earliest 
 youth, I ever had the deepest repugnance to incur debt by borrowing, even 
 from my own relatives. Is it my idiosyncrasy? If so, the' reader will ex- 
 cuse it, and my allusion to it. 
 
 By dint of the most rigid economy, I was able slowly to complete and 
 to add this duplicate, necessary to complete my whole plan. Although the 
 original single instrument was freely shown to my pupils and to many 
 friends, I was reluctant to make any more public exhibitions of the inven- 
 tion until this duplicate should be added, and this was done in the early 
 part of August, 1837. Early in September, I was more free in exhibiting 
 the invention, and on the 2d and on the 4th of September I showed the in- 
 struments in operation to some hundreds of persons assembled in the large 
 hall of the University. Most writers on the Telegraph choose to take this 
 date as the date of my invention. But why, with the facts before them, is 
 this just? To the existence and previous operation of the essential part 
 of my whole plan, long before this more public operation of 1837, there 
 were many witnesses whose evidence is before the courts on oath. But there 
 are other writers, having ascertained the date of my caveat at the Patent- 
 
772 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 Office on the 6th of Octoher, 1837, and others again -who find the date of 
 the 7th of April, 1838, the date of my application in "Washington for letters- 
 patent, who choose to consider this latter date as the date of my invention. 
 To all these I propose a question. Suppose I had never applied for letters- 
 patent for the invention, hut had chosen to give it to the puhlic, or suppose 
 I had never brought it to France, would there, therefore, he no invention, 
 and no inventor of it ? Their answer will settle that point. 
 
 Between the date, 1835, of the completion of the first instrument and 
 1837, the date of its more puhlic exhibition, there was a very important 
 addition to it, which I had already devised and provided against a fore- 
 shadowed exigency, to meet it if it should occur when the conductors were 
 extended, not to a few hundred feet in length in a room, but to stations 
 many miles distant. I was not ignorant of the possibility that the electro- 
 magnet might be so enfeebled, when charged from a great distance, as to be 
 inoperative for direct printing. This possibility was a subject of much 
 thought and anxiety long previous to the year 1836, long previous to my 
 acquaintance or consultations with my friend Professor Gale on the subject, 
 but I had then already conceived and drawn a plan for obviating it. The 
 plan, however, was so simple that it scarcely needed a drawing to illustrate 
 it ; a few words sufficed to make it comprehended. If the magnet, say at 
 twenty miles distant, became so enfeebled as to be unable to print directly, 
 it yet might have power sufficient to close and open another circuit of 
 twenty miles farther, and so on until it reached the requrred station. This 
 plan was often spoken of to friends previous to the year 1836, but early in 
 January, 1836, after showing the original instrument in operation to my 
 friend and colleague, Professor Gale, I imparted to him this plan of a relay 
 battery and magnet to resolve his doubts regarding the practicability of 
 producing magnetic power sufficient to write at a distance. 
 
 This apprehended difficulty of an enfeebled magnet, as distance increased, 
 was among the very first subjects of discussion with Professor Gale ; so 
 soon as my plan for obviating it was revealed to him, it was deemed per- 
 fectly satisfactory. It was not then permanently embodied for use. A 
 moment's reflection will show why. The relay was not then necessary to 
 show the final result of the telegraph in the short circuit of less than a 
 mile arranged around a hall. The operation and result of printing at a dis- 
 tance was complete without it. But the frequent objection made by vis- 
 itors that the instrument shown them might answer well enough for an in- 
 teresting philosophical experiment in a class-room, but would not operate 
 at a distance, at length induced me not merely to explain the relay by words 
 and diagrams, but, so soon as I could command another magnet, to embody 
 it in proper form. 
 
 This plan of the relay thus made in the spring of 1837 was productive of 
 an important incident of great consequence to me in the prosecution of my 
 invention. A few days after the more public exhibition of the telegraph, 
 the late Alfred Vail, Esq. (then a student in the University, who was pres- 
 ent at the exhibition on the 4th of September), became so fascinated with 
 
APPENDIX. 773 
 
 the invention that he called to have it more perfectly explained to him. 
 The usual objection that it would not operate at a distance was a bar to his 
 belief in its success. No sooner, however, had I explained the operation of 
 the relay, than he desired an interest in the invention, and, to procure this 
 interest, he offered to negotiate with his father and brother to supply the 
 funds necessary to have constructed such a telegraphic instrument as would 
 demonstrate to the United States Congress, and to the country, its practi- 
 cability and utility. Thus the invention of the relay was the immediate 
 cause of the construction of the apparatus which was shown to Congress in 
 Washington in the winter of 1837-1838. 
 
 The simple and effective instruments as modified by Messrs. Digney 
 Freres, of Paris, embody the distinctive features of my invention more to 
 my satisfaction than any of the French instruments. There is a modifica- 
 tion which they have made, however, which requires a few remarks to 
 prevent misapprehension in regard to its exact nature. In reading 
 the excellent work of M. Brequet, p. 163, in his chapter "Morse Regis- 
 ter marking the signs in inTc" " Reeepteur Morse faisant les signaux d Ven- 
 cre^ I find some things to correct. A wrong impression is made in de- 
 scribing the mode of emoossing the characters by a a steel point, " a gau- 
 frage," as if that were my only original mode of marking. This is not the 
 fact ; a pencil, a fountain-pen, and the small printing-wheel by which ink 
 was used, were among the first modes of marking. There were many modes 
 of marking which I devised and tried, but experience alone could settle 
 which was best ; the pencil and pen and small printing-wheel with ink 
 were the original modes in use ; the steel point (Diagram 13), for emboss- 
 ing the character, was invented some time after, and patented as an im- 
 
 DlAGEAM 13. 
 
 provement, since it dispensed with ink ; M. Brequet gives to Thomas John, 
 of Prague, the invention of the small printing-wheel, "unemolette ou rou- 
 lette," to mark the characters, and states that he received for his invention 
 a platina medal from the Society of Encouragement. 
 
 That Mr. Thomas John made his improvement independently, without 
 a knowledge of the fact that I had it in use nearly twenty years before, I 
 have no doubt, but it is nevertheless true that the introduction of this ink- 
 ing wheel is not a novelty : whatever of novelty there is in its present use 
 
774 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 consists m the mode of its application, and in the beautiful apparatus con- 
 structed by Messrs. Digney Freres the mode, so far as I know, is new. 
 The mode of application of Mr. John is different from mine and from 
 Messrs. Digneys'. My original mode (its first use) was by bringing down the 
 printing- wheel, inked from a sponge, upon the paper. Mr. John brings the 
 printing-wheel against the paper from the side. 
 
 My caveat, filed in the Patent-Office in Washington on the 6th of Octo- 
 ber, 1837, in describing the register, specifies: "3. A pencil, or fountain- 
 pen, or a small printing-wheel, or any other marking material ; " and the 
 
 Diagram 14. 
 
 mode of using the wheel is also described, thus : "When the printing-wheel 
 is used, the wheel is brought in contact with the paper by the magnet when 
 required to mark." The wheel in my first experiments, inked by a sponge, 
 was brought down upon the paper ; Mr. John's mode of applying the wheel, 
 inked in a reservoir, was by bringing it against the paper from the side, 
 while Messrs. Digneys' mode was bringing the paper against the wheel 
 inked by a felt roller. This latter mode I conceive to be a substantial im- 
 provement, since it combines delicacy with efficiency, and requires so much 
 less power for the operation that even the relays can be dispensed with on 
 lines of considerable extent. My original mode of using the printing-wheel 
 by ink from a sponge I found so inconvenient, from its constant tendency 
 to soil the paper, and the fountain-pens of every variety of form so unreli- 
 
APPENDIX. 775 
 
 able, that the steel point "a, gaufrage " (Diagram 13) I considered at the 
 time a great improvement, since it gave the characters with certainty, with- 
 out the inconvenience of constant attention and the dirt and accidents of 
 the ink. 
 
 If, then, judged by the first rule laid down by Dr. Eussell, I claim to be 
 the inventor of the first recording telegraph (not to say, strictly speaking, 
 the first real telegraph), am I not " the first who produced the practical re- 
 sult which, however imperfect, gave a result which was seen, and felt, and 
 appreciated, by the senses? " Am I not, according to this rule, " the true 
 maker and inventor whom the world should recognize, no matter how 
 much may have been done by others to improve my work? " 
 
 Let me not be misunderstood as appropriating to myself the credit of 
 the many modifications of the telegraph that have since been made in every 
 part of the world, because I claim the invention of the generic telegraph. I 
 do not pretend that the mechanism of the first forms of the telegraph was 
 not rude, and even uncouth when compared with the beautiful workman- 
 ship of the European ateliers, of the hundreds of accomplished mechani- 
 cians who have brought to the work their incomparable ingenuity and 
 skill, but I think I may justly claim that the essential characteristics of a 
 new art were demonstrated even in the rudest instruments, constructed in 
 the earliest times of the invention. So suggestive were the novelties in- 
 troduced by the promulgation of the new art, so wide the field which it 
 opened for investigation in science and mechanics, that it would be strange 
 indeed if modifications of the separate elements that made up the whole 
 invention should not at once be conceived and produced. And yet I may 
 appeal to the fact generally acknowledged that the essential features of the 
 original invention have not been obliterated; they can be easily and dis- 
 tinctly traced through all the improvements made in the various parts by 
 which the different processes of the art have been more easily performed. 
 
776 
 
 LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 
 
 MOESE'S TELEGRAPHIC ALPHABET. 
 
 The Telegraphic Alphabet represents each letter of the English alpha- 
 bet, with the numerals, by which any amount of writing or correspondence 
 may be conducted, in all the details of letters and words of the common 
 mode of correspondence, or writing. 
 
 ALPHABET. 
 
 NUMERALS. 
 
 A 
 B 
 C 
 D 
 E 
 F 
 
 G J 
 H 
 IY 
 K 
 L 
 M 
 
 O 
 P 
 
 Q 
 
 E 
 SZ 
 T 
 IT 
 V 
 W 
 X 
 & 
 
 THE END. 
 
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i DATE DUE 
 
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 I G 1393 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
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