Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals eBook (2024)

Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals by Samuel F. B. Morse

The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series:Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, PlotSummary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, MediaAdaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.

The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns","Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations","Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.

The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "Aboutthe Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideasfor Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.

All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.

Table of Contents
Section	Page

Start of eBook	1
DRAWINGS FROM 1832 SKETCH-BOOK, SHOWING FIRST CONCEPTION OF TELEGRAPH	1
HOUSE AT LOCUST GROVE, POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK	1
HOUSE AND LIBRARY AT 5 WEST 22D STREET, NEW YORK	1
SAMUEL F. B. MORSE	1
CHAPTER XXI	1
CHAPTER XXII	15
CHAPTER XXIII	26
CHAPTER XXIV	39
CHAPTER XXV	51
CHAPTER XXVI	63
CHAPTER XXVII	75
CHAPTER XXVIII	87
CHAPTER XXIX	100
MORSE’S ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH	101
ELECTRO AND ANIMAL MAGNETISM	107
CHAPTER XXX	112
CHAPTER XXXI	126
CHAPTER XXXII	141
CHAPTER XXXIII	157
CHAPTER XXXIV	170
CHAPTER XXXV	183
CHAPTER XXXVI	199
CHAPTER XXXVII	216
CHAPTER XXXVIII	233
CHAPTER XXXIX	249
CHAPTER XL	267
THE SERENADE	269
THE END	283
INDEX	283

DRAWINGS FROM 1832 SKETCH-BOOK, SHOWING FIRST CONCEPTION OF TELEGRAPH

Morse’s first telegraph instrument
Now in the National Museum,Washington.

Rough drawing by Morse showingthe first form of the alphabetand the changes to the presentform

Quantities of the type foundin the type-cases of A printing-office.Calculation made by Morse toaid him in simplifying alphabet

“Attention universe, by kingdomsright wheel.” Facsimile offirst
Morse alphabet message
Given to General Thomas S.Cummings at time of transmission by
Professor S.F.B. Morse,New York University, Wednesday, January 24,
1838. Presented to theNational Museum at Washington by the family
of General Thomas S. Cummingsof New York, February 13, 1906.

Drawing by Morse of railwaytelegraph, patented by him inFrance in 1838, and embodyingprinciple of police and firealarm telegraph

First form of key.—Improvedform of key.—Early relay.—First
Washington-Baltimore instrument
The two keys and the relayare in the National Museum, Washington.
The Washington-Baltimore instrumentis owned by Cornell University.

S. F. B. Morse
From a portrait by DanielHuntington.

HOUSE AT LOCUST GROVE, POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK

Sarah Elizabeth Griswold, secondwife of S. F. B. Morse
From a daguerreotype.

Morse and his youngest son
From an ambrotype.

HOUSE AND LIBRARY AT 5 WEST 22D STREET, NEW YORK

Telegram showing Morse’s characteristicdeadhead, which he always used
to frank his messages

Morse in old age
From a photograph by Sarony.

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE

HIS LETTERS AND JOURNALS

CHAPTER XXI

OCTOBER 1, 1832—FEBRUARY 28, 1833

Packet-ship Sully.—Dinner-table conversation.—Dr.Charles T. Jackson.— First conception oftelegraph.—Sketch-book.—Ideaof 1832 basic principle of telegraph of to-day.—Thoughtson priority.—Testimony of passengers andCaptain Pell.—Difference between “discovery”and “invention.”—ProfessorE.N. Horsford’s paper.—Arrivalin New York.— Testimony of his brothers.—Firststeps toward perfection of the invention.—Lettersto Fenimore Cooper.

The history of every great invention is a record ofstruggle, sometimes Heart-breaking, on the part ofthe inventor to secure and maintain his rights.No sooner has the new step in progress proved itselfto be an upward one than claimants arise on everyside; some honestly believing themselves to have solvedthe problem first; others striving by dishonest meansto appropriate to themselves the honor and the rewards,and these sometimes succeeding; and still others,indifferent to fame, thinking only of their own pecuniarygain and dishonorable in their methods. The electrictelegraph was no exception to this rule; on the contrary,its history perhaps leads all the rest as a chronicleof “envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness.”On the other hand, it brings out in strong reliefthe opposing virtues of steadfastness, perseverance,integrity, and loyalty.

Many were the wordy battles waged in the scientificworld over the questions of priority, exclusive discoveryor invention, indebtedness to others, and consciousor unconscious plagiarism. Some of these questionsare, in many minds, not yet settled. Acrimoniouswere the legal struggles fought over infringementsand rights of way, and, in the first years of thebuilding of the lines to all parts of this country,real warfare was waged by the workers of competingcompanies.

It is not my purpose to treat exhaustively of anyof these battles, scientific, legal, or physical.All this has already been written down by abler pensthan mine, and has now become history. My aimin following the career of Morse the Inventor is toshed a light (to some a new light) on his personality,self-revealed by his correspondence, tried first byhardships, poverty, and deep discouragement, and thenby success, calumny, and fame. Like other menwho have achieved greatness, he was made the targetfor all manner of abuse, accused of misappropriatingthe ideas of others, of lying, deceit, and treachery,and of unbounded conceit and vaingloriousness.But a careful study of his notes and correspondence,and the testimony of others, proves him to have beena pure-hearted Christian gentleman, earnestly desirousof giving to every one his just due, but jealous ofhis own good name and fame, and fighting valiantly,when needs must be, to maintain his rights; guiltysometimes of mistakes and errors of judgment; occasionallyquick-tempered and testy under the stress of discouragementand the pressure of poverty, but frank to acknowledgehis error and to make amends when convinced of hisfault; and the calm verdict of posterity has awardedhim the crown of greatness.

Morse was now forty-one years old; he had spent threedelightful years in France and Italy; had maturedhis art by the intelligent study of the best of theold masters; had made new friends and cemented morestrongly the ties that bound him to old ones; andhe was returning to his dearly loved native land andto his family with high hopes of gaining for himselfand his three motherless children at least a competence,and of continuing his efforts in behalf of the finearts.

From Mr. Cooper’s and Mr. Habersham’sreminiscences we must conclude that, in the backgroundof his mind, there existed a plan, unformed as yet,for utilizing electricity to convey intelligence.He was familiar with much that had been discoveredwith regard to that mysterious force, through hisstudies under Professors Day and Silliman at Yale,and through the lectures and conversation of ProfessorsDana and Renwick in New York, so that the charge whichwas brought against him that he knew absolutely nothingof the subject, can be dismissed as simply provingthe ignorance of his critics.

Thus prepared, unconsciously to himself, to receivethe inspiration which was to come to him like a flashof the subtle fluid which afterwards became his servant,he went on board the good ship Sully, Captain Pellcommanding, on the 1st of October, 1832. Amongthe other passengers were the Honorable William C.Rives, of Virginia, our Minister to France, with hisfamily; Mr. J.F. Fisher, of Philadelphia; Dr.Charles T. Jackson, of Boston, who was destined toplay a malign role in the subsequent history of thetelegraph, and others. The following letter waswritten to his friend Fenimore Cooper from Havre,on the 2d of October:—

“I have but a moment to write you one line,as in a few hours I shall be under way for dear America.I arrived from England by way of Southampton a dayor two since, and have had every moment till now occupiedin preparations for embarking. I received yoursfrom Vevay yesterday and thank you for it. Yes,Mr. Rives and family, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Rogers, Mr.Palmer and family, and a full cabin beside accompanyme. What shall I do with such an antistatisticalset? I wish you were of the party to shut theirmouths on some points. I shall have good opportunityto talk with Mr. Rives, whom I like notwithstanding.I think he has good American feeling in the main andmeans well, although I cannot account for his permittingyou to suffer in the chambers (of the General).I will find out that if I can.

“My journey to England, change of scene andair, have restored me wonderfully. I knew theywould. I like John’s country; it is a gardenbeautifully in contrast with France, and John’speople have excellent qualities, and he has many goodpeople; but I hate his aristocratic system, and ammore confirmed in my views than ever of its oppressiveand unjust character. I saw a great deal of Leslie;he is the same good fellow that he always was.

Be tender of him, my dear sir; I could mention somethings which would soften your judgment of his politicalfeelings. One thing only I can now say,—rememberhe has married an English wife, whom he loves, andwho has never known America. He keeps entirelyaloof from politics and is wholly absorbed in hisart. Newton is married to a Miss Sullivan, daughterof General Sullivan, of Boston, an accomplished womanand a belle. He is expected in England soon.

“I found almost everybody out of town in London.I called and left a card at Rogers’s, but hewas in the country, so were most of the artists ofmy acquaintance. The fine engraver who has executedso many of Leslie’s works, Danforth, is a stanchAmerican; he would be a man after your heart; he admiresyou for that very quality.—I must closein great haste.”

The transatlantic traveller did not depart on scheduletime in 1832, as we find from another letter writtento Mr. Cooper on October 5:—

“Here I am yet, wind-bound, with a tremendoussouthwester directly in our teeth. Yesterdaythe Formosa arrived and brought papers, etc.,to the 10th September. I have been looking themover. Matters look serious at the South; theyare mad there; great decision and prudence will berequired to restore them to reason again, but theyare so hot-headed, and are so far committed, I knownot what will be the issue. Yet I think our institutionsare equal to any crisis....

“October 6, 7 o’clock. We are gettingunder way. Good-bye.”

It is greatly to be regretted that Morse did not,on this voyage as on previous ones, keep a carefuldiary. Had he done so, many points relating tothe first conception of his invention would, from thebeginning, have been made much clearer. As itis, however, from his own accounts at a later date,and from the depositions of the captain of the shipand some of the passengers, the story can be told.

The voyage was, on the whole, I believe, a pleasantone and the company in the cabin congenial. Onenight at the dinner-table the conversation chancedupon the subject of electro-magnetism, and Dr. Jacksondescribed some of the more recent discoveries of Europeanscientists—the length of wire in the coilof a magnet, the fact that electricity passed instantaneouslythrough any known length of wire, and that its presencecould be observed at any part of the line by breakingthe circuit. Morse was, naturally, much interestedand it was then that the inspiration, which had laindormant in his brain for many years, suddenly cameto him, and he said: “If the presence ofelectricity can be made visible in any part of thecircuit, I see no reason why intelligence may not betransmitted instantaneously by electricity.”

The company was not startled by this remark; theysoon turned to other subjects and thought no moreof it. Little did they realize that this exclamationof Morse’s was to mark an epoch in civilization;that it was the germ of one of the greatest inventionsof any age, an invention which not only revolutionizedthe methods by which intelligence was conveyed fromplace to place, but paved the way for the subjugation,to the uses of man in many other ways, of that mysteriousfluid, electricity, which up to this time had remainedbut a plaything of the laboratory. In short,it ushered in the Age of Electricity. Least ofall, perhaps, did that Dr. Jackson, who afterwardsclaimed to have given Morse all his ideas, apprehendthe tremendous importance of that chance remark.The fixed idea had, however, taken root in Morse’sbrain and obsessed him. He withdrew from thecabin and paced the deck, revolving in his mind thevarious means by which the object sought could beattained. Soon his ideas were so far focusedthat he sought to give them expression on paper, andhe drew from his pocket one of the little sketch-bookswhich he always carried with him, and rapidly jotteddown in sketches and words the ideas as they rushedfrom his brain. This original sketch-book wasburned in a mysterious fire which, some years later,during one of the many telegraph suits, destroyedmany valuable papers. Fortunately, however, acertified copy had wisely been made, and this certifiedcopy is now in the National Museum in Washington,and the reproduction here given of some of its pageswill show that Morse’s first conception of aRecording Electric Magnetic Telegraph is practicallythe telegraph in universal use to-day.

[Illustration: Drawings from 1832 sketchbook, showing first conceptionof telegraph]

His first thought was evidently of some system ofsigns which could be used to transmit intelligence,and he at once realized that nothing could be simplerthan a point or a dot, a line or dash, and a space,and a combination of the three. Thus the firstsketch shows the embryo of the dot-and-dash alphabet,applied only to numbers at first, but afterwards elaboratedby Morse to represent all the letters of the alphabet.

Next he suggests a method by which these signs maybe recorded permanently, evidently by chemical decompositionon a strip of paper passed along over two rollers.He then shows a message which could be sent by thismeans, interspersed with ideas for insulating the wiresin tubes or pipes. And here I want to call attentionto a point which has never, to my knowledge, beennoticed before. In the message, which, in pursuanceof his first idea, adhered to by him for several years,was to be sent by means of numbers, every word isnumbered conventionally except the proper name “Cuvier,”and for this he put a number for each letter.How this was to be indicated was not made clear, but

it is evident that he saw at once that all propernames could not be numbered; that some other meansmust be employed to indicate them; in other words thateach letter of the alphabet must have its own sign.Whether at that early period he had actually devisedany form of alphabet does not appear, although someof the depositions of his fellow passengers would indicatethat he had. He himself put its invention at adate a few years after this, and it has been bitterlycontested that he did not invent it at all. Ishall prove, in the proper place, that he did, butI think it is proved that it must have been thoughtof even at the early date of 1832, and, at all events,the dot-and-dash as the basis of a conventional codewere original with Morse and were quite different fromany other form of code devised by others.

The next drawing of a magnet lifting sixty poundsshows that Morse was familiar with the discoveriesof Arago, Davy, and Sturgeon in electro-magnetism,but what application of them was to be made is notexplained.

The last sketch is to me the most important of all,for it embodies the principle of the receiving magnetwhich is universally used at the present day.The weak permanent magnet has been replaced by a spring,but the electro-magnet still attracts the lever andproduces the dots and dashes of the alphabet; andthis, simple as it seems to us “once found,”was original with Morse, was absolutely different fromany other form of telegraph devised by others, and,improved and elaborated by him through years of struggle,is now recognized throughout the world as the Telegraph.

It was not yet in a shape to prove to a skepticalworld its practical utility; much had still to bedone to bring it to perfection; new discoveries hadstill to be made by Morse and by others which wereessential to its success; the skill, the means, andthe faith of others had to be enlisted in its behalf,but the actual invention was there and Morse was theinventor.

How simple it all seems to us now, and yet its verysimplicity is its sublimest feature, for it was thiswhich compelled the admiration of scientists and practicalmen of affairs alike, and which gradually forced intodesuetude all other systems of telegraphy until to-daythe Morse telegraph still stands unrivalled.

That many other minds had been occupied with the sameproblem was a fact unknown to the inventor at thetime, although a few years later he was rudely awakened.A fugitive note, written many years later, in hishandwriting, although speaking of himself in the thirdperson, bears witness to this. It is entitled“Good thought":—

“A circ*mstance which tends to confuse, in fairlyascertaining priority of invention, is that a subsequentstate of knowledge is confounded in the general mindwith the state of knowledge when the invention is firstannounced as successful. This is certainly veryunfair. When Morse announced his invention, whatwas the general state of knowledge in regard to thetelegraph? It should be borne in mind that a knowledgeof the futile attempts at electric telegraphs previousto his successful one has been brought out from thelumber garret of science by the research of eighteenyears. Nothing was known of such telegraphs tomany scientific men of the highest attainments inthe centres of civilization. Professor Morsesays himself (and certainly he has not given in anysingle instance a statement which has been falsified)that, at the time he devised his system, he supposedhimself to be the first person that ever put the words‘electric telegraph’ together. Hesupposed himself at the time the originator of thephrase as well as the thing. But, aside from hispositive assertion, the truth of this statement isnot only possible but very probable. The comparativelyfew (very few as compared with the mass who now arelearned in the facts) who were in the habit of readingthe scientific journals may have read of the thoughtof an electric telegraph about the year 1832, andeven of Ronald’s, and Betancourt’s, andSalva’s, and Lomond’s impracticable schemespreviously, and have forgotten them again, with thousandsof other dreams, as the ingenious ideas of visionarymen; ideas so visionary as to be considered palpablyimpracticable, declared to be so, indeed, by Barlow,a scientific man of high standing and character; yetthe mass of the scientific as well as the generalpublic were ignorant even of the attempts that hadbeen made. The fact of any of them having beenpublished in some magazine at the time, whose circulationmay be two or three thousand, and which was soon virtuallylost amid the shelves of immense libraries, does notmilitate against the assertion that the world wasignorant of the fact. We can show conclusivelythe existence of this ignorance respecting telegraphsat the time of the invention of Morse’s telegraph.”

The rest of this note (evidently written for publication)is missing, but enough remains to prove the point.

Thus we have seen that the idea of his telegraph cameto Morse as a sudden inspiration and that he was quiteignorant of the fact that others had thought of usingelectricity to convey intelligence to a distance.Mr. Prime in his biography says: “Of allthe great inventions that have made their authorsimmortal and conferred enduring benefit upon mankind,no one was so completely grasped at its inception asthis.”

One of his fellow passengers, J. Francis Fisher, Esq.,counsellor-at-law of Philadelphia, gave the followingtestimony at Morse’s request:—

“In the fall of the year 1832 I returned fromEurope as a passenger with Mr. Morse in the ship Sully,Captain Pell master. During the voyage the subjectof an electric telegraph was one of frequent conversation.Mr. Morse was most constant in pursuing it, and alonethe one who seemed disposed to reduce it to a practicaltest, and I recollect that, for this purpose, he deviseda system of signs for letters to be indicatedand marked by a quick succession of strokes or shocksof the galvanic current, and I am sure of the factthat it was deemed by Mr. Morse perfectly competentto effect the result stated. I did not supposethat any other person on board the ship claimed anymerit in the invention, or was, in fact, interestedto pursue it to maturity as Mr. Morse then seemedto be, nor have I been able since that time to recallany fact or circ*mstance to justify the claim of anyperson other than Mr. Morse to the invention.”

This clear statement of Mr. Fisher’s was cheerfullygiven in answer to a request for his recollectionsof the circ*mstances, in order to combat the claimof Dr. Charles T. Jackson that he had given Morse allthe ideas of the telegraph, and that he should beconsidered at least its joint inventor. Thiswas the first of the many claims which the inventorwas forced to meet. It resulted in a lawsuitwhich settled conclusively that Morse was the soleinventor, and that Jackson was the victim of a maniawhich impelled him to claim the discoveries and achievementsof others as his own. I shall have occasion torefer to this matter again.

It is to be noted that Mr. Fisher refers to “signsfor letters.” Whether Morse actually haddevised or spoken of a conventional alphabet at thattime cannot be proved conclusively, but that it musthave been in his mind the “Cuvier” referredto before indicates.

Others of his fellow-passengers gave testimony tothe same effect, and Captain Pell stated under oaththat, when he saw the completed instrument in 1837,he recognized it as embodying the principles whichMorse had explained to him on the Sully; and he added:“Before the vessel was in port, Mr. Morse addressedme in these words: ’Well, Captain, shouldyou hear of the telegraph one of these days as thewonder of the world, remember the discovery was madeon board the good ship Sully.’”

Morse always clung tenaciously to the date of 1832as that of his invention, and, I claim, with perfectjustice. While it required much thought and elaborationto bring it to perfection; while he used the publisheddiscoveries of others in order to make it operate overlong distances; while others labored with him in orderto produce a practical working apparatus, and to forceits recognition on a skeptical world, the basic ideaon which everything else depended was his; it was originalwith him, and he pursued it to a successful issue,himself making certain new and essential discoveriesand inventions. While, as I have said, he madeuse of the discoveries of others, these men in turnwere dependent on the earlier investigations of scientistswho preceded them, and so the chain lengthens out.

There will always be a difference of opinion as tothe comparative value of a new discovery and a newinvention, and the difference between these termsshould be clearly apprehended. While they areto a certain extent interchangeable, the word “discovery”in science is usually applied to the first enunciationof some property of nature till then unrecognized;“invention,” on the other hand, is theapplication of this property to the uses of mankind.Sometimes discovery and invention are combined inthe same individual, but often the discoverer is satisfiedwith the fame arising from having called attentionto something new, and leaves to others the practicalapplication of his discovery. Scientists willalways claim that a new discovery, which marks anadvance in knowledge in their chosen field, is ofparamount importance; while the world at large ismore grateful to the man who, by combining the discoveriesof others and adding the culminating link, confersa tangible blessing upon humanity.

Morse was completely possessed by this new idea.He worked over it that day and far into the night.His vivid imagination leaped into the future, brushingaside all obstacles, and he realized that here in hishands was an instrument capable of working inconceivablegood. He recalled the days and weeks of anxietywhen he was hungry for news of his loved ones; heforesaw that in affairs of state and of commerce rapidcommunication might mean the avoidance of war or thesaving of a fortune; that, in affairs nearer to theheart of the people, it might bring a husband to thebedside of a dying wife, or save the life of a belovedchild; apprehend the fleeing criminal, or commutethe sentence of an innocent man. His great ambitionhad always been to work some good for his fellow-men,and here was a means of bestowing upon them an inestimableboon.

After several days of intense application he disclosedhis plan to Mr. Rives and to others. Objectionswere raised, but he was ready with a solution.While the idea appeared to his fellow-passengers aschimerical, yet, as we have seen, his earnestnessmade so deep an impression that when, several yearsafterwards, he exhibited to some of them a completedmodel, they, like Captain Pell, instantly recognizedit as embodying the principles explained to them onthe ship.

Without going deeply into the scientific history ofthe successive steps which led up to the inventionof the telegraph, I shall quote a few sentences froma long paper written by the late Professor E.N.Horsford, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and includedin Mr. Prime’s biography:—

“What was needed to the original conceptionof the Morse recording telegraph?

“1. A knowledge that soft wire, bent inthe form of a horseshoe, could be magnetized by sendinga galvanic current through a coil wound round theiron, and that it would lose its magnetism when thecurrent was suspended.

“2. A knowledge that such a magnet hadbeen made to lift and drop masses of iron of considerableweight.

“3. A knowledge, or a belief, that thegalvanic current could be transmitted through wiresof great length.

“These were all. Now comes the conceptionof devices for employing an agent which could producereciprocal motion to effect registration, and theinvention of an alphabet. In order to this inventionit must be seen how up and down—reciprocal—motioncould be produced by the opening and closing of thecircuit. Into this simple band of vertical traceryof paths in space must be thrown the shuttle of timeand a ribbon of paper. It must be seen how alever-pen, alternately dropping upon and rising atdefined intervals from a fillet of paper moved by independentclock-work, would produce the fabric of the alphabetand writing and printing.

“Was there anything required to produce theseresults which was not known to Morse?...

“He knew, for he had witnessed it years before,that, by means of a battery and an electro-magnet,reciprocal motion could be produced. He knewthat the force which produced it could be transmittedalong a wire. He believed that the batterycurrent could be made, through an electro-magnet,to produce physical results at a distance.He saw in his mind’s eye the existence of anagent and a medium by which reciprocal motion couldbe not only produced but controlled at a distance.The question that addressed itself to him at the outsetwas, naturally, this: ’How can I make useof the simple up-and-down motion of opening and closinga circuit to write an intelligible message at one endof a wire, and at the same time print it at the other?’...Like many a kindred work of genius it was in nothingmore wonderful than in its simplicity.... Notone of the brilliant scientific men who have attachedtheir names to the history of electro-magnetism hadbrought the means to produce the practical registeringtelegraph. Some of them had ascended the towerthat looked out on the field of conquest. Someof them brought keener vision than others. Someof them stood higher than others. But the geniusof invention had not recognized them. There wasneeded an inventor. Now what sort of a want isthis?

“There was required a rare combination of qualitiesand conditions. There must be ingenuity in theadaptation of available means to desired ends; theremust be the genius to see through non-essentials tothe fundamental principle on which success depends;there must be a kind of skill in manipulation; greatpatience and pertinacity; a certain measure of culture,and the inventor of a recording telegraph must be capableof being inspired by the grandeur of the thought ofwriting, figuratively speaking, with a pen a thousandmiles long—with the thought of a postalsystem without the element of time. Moreover theperson who is to be the inventor must be free fromthe exactions of well-compensated, everyday, absorbingduties—perhaps he must have had the finalbaptism of poverty.

“Now the inventor of the registering telegraphdid not rise from the perusal of any brilliant paper;he happened to be at leisure on shipboard, ready tocontribute and share in the after-dinner conversationof a ship’s cabin, when the occasion arose.Morse’s electro-magnetic telegraph was mainlyan invention employing powers and agencies throughmechanical devices to produce a given end. Itinvolved the combination of the results of the laborsof others with a succession of special contrivancesand some discoveries of the inventor himself.There was an ideal whole almost at the outset, butinvolving great thought, and labor, and patience,and invention to produce an art harmonious in itsorganization and action.”

After a voyage of over a month Morse reached homeand landed at the foot of Rector Street on November15, 1832. His two brothers, Sidney and Richard,met him on his arrival, and were told at once of hisinvention. His brother Richard thus describedtheir meeting:—

“Hardly had the usual greetings passed betweenus three brothers, and while on our way to my house,before he informed us that he had made, during hisvoyage, an important invention, which had occupiedalmost all his attention on shipboard—onethat would astonish the world and of the success ofwhich he was perfectly sanguine; that this inventionwas a means of communicating intelligence by electricity,so that a message could be written down in a permanentmanner 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 charactershe proposed to use. These characters were dotsand spaces representing the ten digits or numerals,and in the book were sketched other parts of his electro-magneticmachinery and apparatus, actually drawn out in hissketch-book.”

The other brother, Sidney, also bore testimony:—

“He was full of the subject of the telegraphduring the walk from the ship, and for some days afterwardscould scarcely speak about anything else. Heexpressed himself anxious to make apparatus and tryexperiments for which he had no materials or facilitieson shipboard. In the course of a few days afterhis arrival he made a kind of cogged or saw-toothedtype, the object of which I understood was to regulatethe interruptions of the electric current, so as toenable him to make dots, and regulate the length ofmarks or spaces on the paper upon which the informationtransmitted by his telegraph was to be recorded.

“He proposed at that time a single circuit ofwire, and only a single circuit, and letters, words,and phrases were to be indicated by numerals, andthese numerals were to be indicated by dots and othermarks and spaces on paper. It seemed to me that,as wire was cheap, it would be better to have twenty-fourwires, each wire representing a letter of the alphabet,but my brother always insisted upon the superior advantagesof his single circuit.”

Thus we see that Morse, from the very beginning, andfrom intuition, or inspiration, or whatever you please,was insistent on one of the points which differentiatedhis invention from all others in the same field, namely,its simplicity, and it was this feature which eventuallywon for it a universal adoption. But, simpleas it was, it still required much elaboration in orderto bring it to perfection, for as yet it was but anidea roughly sketched on paper; the appliances to putthis idea to a practical test had yet to be devisedand made, and Morse now entered upon the most tryingperiod of his career. His three years in Europe,while they had been enjoyed to the full and had enabledhim to perfect himself in his art, had not yieldedhim large financial returns; he had not expected thatthey would, but based his hopes on increased patronageafter his return. He was entirely dependent onhis brush for the support of himself and his threemotherless children, and now this new inspirationhad come as a disturbing element. He was on thehorns of a dilemma. If he devoted himself tohis art, as he must in order to keep the wolf fromthe door, he would not have the leisure to perfecthis invention, and others might grasp the prize beforehim. If he allowed thoughts of electric currents,and magnets, and batteries to monopolize his attention,he could not give to his art, notoriously a jealousmistress, that worship which alone leads to success.

An added bar to the rapid development of his inventionwas the total lack (hard to realize at the presentday) of the simplest essentials. There were nomanufacturers of electrical appliances; everything,even to the winding of the wires around the magnets,had to be done laboriously by hand. Even hadthey existed Morse had but scant means with which topurchase them.

This was his situation when he returned from Europein the fall of 1832, and it is small wonder that twelveyears elapsed before he could prove to the world thathis revolutionizing invention was a success, and thewonder is great that he succeeded at all, that he didnot sink under the manifold discouragements and hardships,and let fame and fortune elude him. Unknown tohim many men in different lands were working over thesame problem, some of them of assured scientific positionand with good financial backing; is it then remarkablethat Morse in later years held himself to be but aninstrument in the hands of God to carry out His will?He never ceased to marvel at the amazing fact thathe, poor, scoffed at or pitied, surrounded by difficultiesof every sort, should have been chosen to wrest thepalm from the hands of trained scientists of two continents.To us the wonder is not so great, for we, if we haveread his character aright as revealed by his correspondence,can see that in him, more than in any other man ofhis time, were combined the qualities necessary toa great inventor as specified by Professor Horsfordearlier in this chapter.

In following Morse’s career at this criticalperiod it will be necessary to record his experiencesboth as painter and inventor, for there was no thoughtof abandoning his profession in his mind at first;on the contrary, he still had hopes of ultimate success,and it was his sole means of livelihood. It istrue that he at times gave way to fits of depression.In a letter to his brother Richard before leaving Europehe had thus given expression to his fears:—

“I have frequently felt melancholy in thinkingof my prospects for encouragement when I return, andyour letter found me in one of those moments.You cannot, therefore, conceive with what feelingsI read your offer of a room in your new house.Give me a resting-place and I will yet move the countryin favor of the arts. I return with some hopesbut many fears. Will my country employ me onworks which may do it honor? I want a commissionfrom Government to execute two pictures from the lifeof Columbus, and I want eight thousand dollars foreach, and on these two I will stake my reputationas an artist.”

It was in his brother Richard’s house that hetook the first step towards the construction of theapparatus which was to put his invention to a practicaltest. This was the manufacture of the saw-toothedtype by which he proposed to open and close the circuitand produce his conventional signs. He did notchoose the most appropriate place for this operation,for his sister-in-law rather pathetically remarked:“He melted the lead which he used over the firein the grate of my front parlor, and, in his operationof casting the type, he spilled some of the heatedmetal upon the drugget, or loose carpeting, beforethe fireplace, and upon a flagbottomed chair uponwhich his mould was placed.”

He was also handicapped by illness just after hisreturn, as we learn from the following letter to hisfriend Fenimore Cooper. In this letter he alsomakes some interesting comments on New York and Americanaffairs, but, curiously enough, he says nothing ofhis invention:

“February 21, 1833. Don’t scoldat me. I don’t deserve a scolding if youknew all, and I do if you don’t know all, forI have not written to you since I landed in November.What with severe illness for several weeks after myarrival, and the accumulation of cares consequent onso long an absence from home, I have been overwhelmedand distracted by calls upon my time for a thousandthings that pressed upon me for immediate attention;and so I have put off and put off what I have beenlonging (I am ashamed to say for weeks if not months)to do, I mean to write to you.

“The truth is, my dear sir, I have so much tosay that I know not where to commence. I throwmyself on your indulgence, and, believing you willforgive me, I commence without further apology.

“First, as to things at home. New Yorkis improved, as the word goes, wonderfully.You will return to a strange city; you will not recognizemany of your acquaintances among the old buildings;brand-new buildings, stores, and houses are takingthe place of the good, staid, modest houses of theearly settlers. Improvement is all the rage,and houses and churchyards must be overthrown andupturned whenever the Corporation plough is set towork for the widening of a narrow, or the making ofa new, street.

“I believe you sometimes have a fit of the blues.It is singular if you do not with your temperament.I confess to many fits of this disagreeable disorder,and I know nothing so likely to induce one as the finding,after an absence of some years from home, the greathour-hand of life sensibly advanced on all your formerfriends. What will be your sensations after sixor seven years if mine are acute after three years’absence?

“I have not been much in society as yet.I have many visitations, but, until I clear off theaccumulated rubbish of three years which lies uponmy table, I must decline seeing much of my friends.I have seen twice your sisters the Misses Delancy,and was prevented from being at their house last Fridayevening by the severest snow-storm we have had thisseason. Our friends the Jays I have met severaltimes, and have had much conversation with them aboutyou and your delightful family. Mr. P.A.Jay is a member of the club, so I see him every Fridayevening. Chancellor Kent also is a member, andboth warm friends of yours....

“My time for ten or twelve days past has beenoccupied in answering a pamphlet of Colonel Trumbull,who came out for the purpose of justifying his oppositionto measures which had been devised for uniting thetwo Academies. I send you the first copy hotfrom the press. There is a great deal to disheartenin the state of feeling, or rather state of no feeling,on the arts in this city. The only way I can keepup my spirits is by resolutely resisting all dispositionto repine, and by fighting perseveringly against allthe obstacles that hinder the progress of art.

“I have been told several times since my returnthat I was born one hundred years too soon for thearts in our country. I have replied that, ifthat be the case, I will try and make it but fifty.I am more and more persuaded that I have quite asmuch to do with the pen for the arts as the pencil,and if I can in my day so enlighten the public mindas to make the way easier for those that come afterme, I don’t know that I shall not have servedthe cause of the fine arts as effectively as by paintingpictures which might be appreciated one hundred yearsafter I am gone. If I am to be the Pioneer andam fitted for it, why should I not glory as much infelling trees and clearing away the rubbish as inshowing the decorations suited to a more advanced stateof cultivation?...

“You will certainly have the blues when youfirst arrive, but the longer you stay abroad the moresevere will be the disease. Excuse my predictions....The Georgia affair is settled after a fashion; notso the nullifiers; they are infatuated. Disagreeableas it will be, they will be put down with disgraceto them.”

In another letter to Mr. Cooper, dated February 28,1833, he writes in the same vein:—

“The South Carolina business is probably settledby this time by Mr. Clay’s compromise bill,so that the legitimates of Europe may stop blowingtheir twopenny trumpets in triumph at our disunion.The same clashing of interests in Europe would havecaused twenty years of war and torrents of bloodshed;with us it has caused three or four years of wordywar and some hundreds of gallons of ink; but no necksare broken, nor heads; all will be in statu antebello in a few days....

“My dear sir, you are wanted at home. Iwant you to encourage me by your presence. Ifind the pioneer business has less of romance in thereality than in the description, and I find some toughstumps to pry up and heavy stones to roll out of theway, and I get exhausted and desponding, and I shouldlike a little of your sinew to come to my aid at suchtimes, as it was wont to come at the Louvre....

“There is nothing new in New York; everybodyis driving after money, as usual, and there is analarm of fire every half-hour, as usual, and the pigshave the freedom of the city, as usual; so that, inthese respects at least, you will find New York asyou left it, except that they are not the same peoplethat are driving after money, nor the same houses burnt,nor the same pigs at large in the street.... Youwill all be welcomed home, but come prepared to findmany, very many things in taste and manners differentfrom your own good taste and manners. Good tasteand good manners would not be conspicuous if all aroundpossessed the same manners.”

CHAPTER XXII

1833—1836

Still painting.—Thoughts on art.—Pictureof the Louvre.—Rejection as painter ofone of the pictures in the Capitol.—JohnQuincy Adams.—James Fenimore Cooper’sarticle.—Death blow to his artistic ambition.—Washington Allston’s letter.—Commissionby fellow artists.—Definite abandonmentof art.—Repayment of money advanced.—Deathof Lafayette.— Religious controversies.—AppointedProfessor in University of City of New York.—Descriptionof first telegraphic instrument.—Successfulexperiments.—Relay.—Address in1853.

It was impossible for the inventor during the nextfew years to devote himself entirely to the constructionof a machine to test his theories, impatient thoughhe must have been to put his ideas into practical form.His two brothers came nobly to his assistance, anddid what lay in their power and according to theirmeans to help him; but it was always repugnant tohim to be under pecuniary obligations to any one, and,while gratefully accepting his brothers’ help,he strained every nerve to earn the money to pay themback. We, therefore, find little or no referencein the letters of those years to his invention, andit was not until the year 1835 that he was able tomake any appreciable progress towards the perfectionof his telegraphic apparatus. The interveningyears were spent in efforts to rouse an interest inthe fine arts in this country; in hard work in behalfof the still young Academy of Design; and in tryingto earn a living by the practice of his profession.

“During this time,” he says, “Inever lost faith in the practicability of the invention,nor abandoned the intention of testing it as soon asI could command the means.” But in orderto command the means, he was obliged to devote himselfto his art, and in this he did not meet with the encouragementwhich he had expected and which he deserved. Hisideals were always high, perhaps too high for thematerialistic age in which he found himself.The following fugitive note will illustrate the trendof his thoughts, and is not inapplicable to conditionsat the present day:—

“Are not the refining influences of the finearts needed, doubly needed, in our country? Isthere not a tendency in the democracy of our countryto low and vulgar pleasures and pursuits? Doesnot the contact of those more cultivated in mind andelevated in purpose with those who are less so, andto whom the former look for political favor and power,necessarily debase that cultivated mind and that elevationof purpose? When those are exalted to officewho best can flatter the low appetites of the vulgar;when boorishness and ill manners are preferred to polishand refinement, and when, indeed, the latter, if notavowedly, are in reality made an objection, is therenot danger that those who would otherwise encouragerefinement will fear to show their favorable inclinationlest those to whom they look for favor shall be displeased;and will not habit fix it, and another generation bearit as its own inherent, native character?”

That he was naturally optimistic is shown by a footnotewhich he added to this thought, dated October, 1833:—

“These were once my fears. There is doubtlessdanger, but I believe in the possibility, by the diffusionof the highest moral and intellectual cultivationthrough every class, of raising the lower classes inrefinement.”

But while in his leisure moments he could indulgein such hopeful dreams, his chief care at that time,as stated at the beginning of this chapter, was toearn money by the exercise of his profession.His important painting of the Louvre, from which hehad hoped so much, was placed on exhibition, and,while it received high praise from the artists, itsexhibition barely paid expenses, and it was finallysold to Mr. George Clarke, of Hyde Hall, on OtsegoLake, for thirteen hundred dollars, although the artisthad expected to get at least twenty-five hundred dollarsfor it. In a letter to Mr. Clarke, of June 30,1834, he says:—

“The picture of the Louvre was intended originallyfor an exhibition picture, and I painted it in theexpectation of disposing of it to some person forthat purpose who could amply remunerate himself fromthe receipts of a well-managed exhibition. Thetime occupied upon this picture was fourteen months,and at much expense and inconvenience, so that thatsum [$2500] for it, if sold under such circ*mstances,would not be more than a fair compensation.

“I was aware that but few, if any, gentlemenin our country would be willing to expend so largea sum on a single picture, although in fact they would,in this case, purchase seven-and-thirty in one.

“I have lately changed my plans in relationto this picture and to my art generally, and consequentlyI am able to dispose of it at a much less price.I have need of funds to prosecute my new plans, and,if this picture could now realize the sum of twelvehundred dollars it would at this moment be to me equivalentin value to the sum first set upon it.”

The change of plans no doubt referred to his desireto pursue his electrical experiments, and for thisready money was most necessary, and so he gladly,and even gratefully, accepted Mr. Clarke’s offerof twelve hundred dollars for the painting and onehundred dollars for the frame. Even this wasnot cash, but was in the form of a note payable ina year! His enthusiasm for his art seems at thisperiod to have been gradually waning, although hestill strove to command success; but it needed a decisivestroke to wean him entirely from his first love, andFate did not long delay the blow.

His great ambition had always been to paint historicalpictures which should commemorate the glorious eventsin the history of his beloved country. In theearly part of the year 1834 his great opportunity had,apparently, come, and he was ready and eager to graspit. There were four huge panels in the rotundaof the Capitol at Washington, which were still tobe filled by historical paintings, and a committeein Congress was appointed to select the artists toexecute them.

Morse, president of the National Academy of Design,and enthusiastically supported by the best artistsin the country, had every reason to suppose that hewould be chosen to execute at least one of these paintings.Confident that he had but to make his wishes knownto secure the commission, he addressed the followingcircular letter to various members of Congress, amongwhom were such famous men as Daniel Webster, John C.Calhoun, Henry Clay, and John Quincy Adams, all personallyknown to him:—

March 7, 1834.

MY DEAR SIR,—I perceive that the LibraryCommittee have before them the consideration of aresolution on the expediency of employing four artiststo paint the remaining four pictures in the Rotundaof the Capitol. If Congress should pass a resolutionin favor of the measure, I should esteem it a greathonor to be selected as one of the artists.

I have devoted twenty years of my life, of which sevenwere passed in England, France, and Italy, studyingwith special reference to the execution of works ofthe kind proposed, and I must refer to my professionallife and character in proof of my ability to do honorto the commission and to the country.

May I take the liberty to ask for myself your favorablerecommendation to those in Congress who have the disposalof the commissions?

With great respect, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
S.F.B. MORSE.

While this letter was written in 1834, the final decisionof the committee was not made until 1837, but I shallanticipate a little and give the result which hadsuch a momentous effect on Morse’s career.There was every reason to believe that his requestwould be granted, and he and his friends, many ofwhom endorsed by letter his candidacy, had no fearas to the result; but here again Fate intervened andordered differently.

Among the committee men in Congress to whom this matterwas referred was John Quincy Adams, ex-President ofthe United States. In discussing the subject,Mr. Adams submitted a resolution opening the competitionto foreign artists as well as to American, givingit as his opinion that there were no artists in thiscountry of sufficient talent properly to execute suchmonumental works. The artists and their friendswere, naturally, greatly incensed at this slur castupon them, and an indignant and remarkably able replyappeared anonymously in the New York “EveningPost.” The authorship of this article wasat once saddled on Morse, who was known to wield afacile and fearless pen. Mr. Adams took greatoffense, and, as a result, Morse’s name was rejectedand his great opportunity passed him by. Therecan be no reasonable doubt that, had he received thiscommission, he would have deferred the perfecting ofhis telegraphic device until others had so far distancedhim in the race that he could never have overtakenthem.

Instead of his having been the author of the “EveningPost” article, it transpired that he had noteven heard of Mr. Adams’s resolution until hisfriend Fenimore Cooper, the real author of the answer,told him of both attack and reply.

This was the second great tragedy of Morse’slife; the first was the untimely death of his youngwife, and this other marked the death of his hopesand ambitions as an artist. He was stunned.The blow was as unexpected as it was overwhelming,and what added to its bitterness was that it had beeninnocently dealt by the hand of one of his dearestfriends, who had sought to render him a favor.The truth came out too late to influence the decisionof the committee; the die was cast, and his wholefuture was changed in the twinkling of an eye; forwhat had been to him a joy and an inspiration, henow turned from in despair. He could not, ofcourse, realize at the time that Fate, in dealing himthis cruel blow, was dedicating him to a higher destiny.It is doubtful if he ever fully realized this, forin after years he could never speak of it unmoved.In a letter to this same friend, Fenimore Cooper, writtenon November 20, 1849, he thus laments:—

“Alas! My dear sir, the very name of picturesproduces a sadness of heart I cannot describe.Painting has been a smiling mistress to many, butshe has been a cruel jilt to me. I did not abandonher, she abandoned me. I have taken scarcelyany interest in painting for many years. Willyou believe it? When last in Paris, in 1845, Idid not go into the Louvre, nor did I visit a singlepicture gallery.

“I sometimes indulge a vague dream that I maypaint again. It is rather the memory of pastpleasures, when hope was enticing me onward only todeceive me at last. Except some family portraits,valuable to me from their likenesses only, I couldwish that every picture I ever painted was destroyed.I have no wish to be remembered as a painter, for Inever was a painter. My ideal of that professionwas, perhaps, too exalted—I may say istoo exalted. I leave it to others more worthyto fill the niches of art.”

Of course his self-condemnation was too severe, forwe have seen that present-day critics assign him anhonorable place in the annals of art, and while, atthe time of writing that letter, he had definitelyabandoned the brush, he continued to paint for someyears after his rejection by the committee of Congress.He had to, for it was his only means of earning alivelihood, but the old enthusiasm was gone never toreturn. Fortunately for himself and for the world,however, he transferred it to the perfecting of hisinvention, and devoted all the time he could stealfrom the daily routine of his duties to that end.

His friends sympathized with him most heartily andwere indignant at his rejection. Washington Allstonwrote to him:—

I have learned the disposition of the pictures.I had hoped to find your name among the commissionedartists, but I was grieved to find that all my effortsin your behalf have proved fruitless. I know whatyour disappointment must have been at this result,and most sincerely do I sympathize with you.That my efforts were both sincere and conscientiousI hope will be some consolation to you.

But let not this disappointment cast you down, myfriend. You have it still in your power to letthe world know what you can do. Dismiss it, then,from your mind, and determine to paint all the betterfor it. God bless you.

Your affectionate friend
WASHINGTON ALLSTON.

The following sentences from a letter written on March14, 1837, by Thomas Cole, one of the most celebratedof the early American painters, will show in whatestimation Morse was held by his brother artists:—

“I have learned with mortification and disappointmentthat your name was not among the chosen, andI have feared that you would carry into effect yourresolution of abandoning the art and resigning thepresidency of our Academy. I sincerely hope youwill have reason to cast aside that resolution.To you our Academy owes its existence and present prosperity,and if, in after times, it should become a great institution,your name will always be coupled with its greatness.But, if you leave us, I very much fear that the fabricwill crumble to pieces. You are the keystone ofthe arch; if you remain with us time may furnish theAcademy with another block for the place. I hopemy fears may be vain, and that circ*mstances willconspire to induce you to remain our president.”

Other friends were equally sympathetic and Morse didretain the presidency of the Academy until 1845.

To emphasize further their regard for him, a numberof artists, headed by Thomas S. Cummings, unknownto Morse, raised by subscription three thousand dollars,to be given to him for the painting of some historicalsubject. General Cummings, in his “Annalsof the Academy,” thus describes the receiptof the news by the discouraged artist:—

“The effect was electrical; it roused him fromhis depression and he exclaimed that never had heread or known of such an act of professional generosity,and that he was fully determined to paint the picture—hisfavorite subject, ’The Signing of the First Compacton board the Mayflower,’—not of smallsize, as requested, but of the size of the panelsin the Rotunda. That was immediately assentedto by the committee, thinking it possible that oneor the other of the pictures so ordered might failin execution, in which case it would afford favorableinducements to its substitution, and, of course, muchto Mr. Morse’s profit; as the artists from thefirst never contemplated taking possession of thepicture so executed. It was to remain with Mr.Morse, and for his use and benefit.”

The enthusiasm thus roused was but a flash in thepan, however; the wound he had received was too deepto be thus healed. Some of the money was raisedand paid to him, and he made studies and sketches forthe painting, but his mind was now on his invention,and the painting of the picture was deferred fromyear to year and finally abandoned. It was characteristicof him that, when he did finally decide to give upthe execution of this work, he paid back the sumswhich had been advanced to him, with interest.

Another grief which came to him in the summer of 1834(to return to that year) was the death of his illustriousfriend General Lafayette. The last letter receivedfrom him was written by his amanuensis and unsigned,and simply said:—

“General Lafayette, being detained by sickness,has sent to the reporter of the committee the followingnote, which the said reporter has read to the House.”

The note referred to is, unfortunately, missing.This letter was written on April 29 and the Generaldied on May 20. Morse sent a letter of sympathyto the son, George Washington Lafayette, a member ofthe Chamber of Deputies, in which the following sentimentsoccur:—

“In common with this whole country, now cladin mourning, with the lovers of true liberty and ofexalted philanthropy throughout the world, I bemoanthe departure from earth of your immortal parent.Yet I may be permitted to indulge in additional feelingsof more private sorrow at the loss of one who honoredme with his friendship, and had not ceased, till withina few days of his death, to send to me occasional marksof his affectionate remembrance. Be assured,my dear Sir, that the memory of your father will beespecially endeared to me and mine.”

Morse’s admiration of Lafayette was most sincere,and he was greatly influenced in his political feelingsby his intercourse with that famous man. Amongother opinions which he shared with Lafayette and otherthoughtful men, was the fear of a Roman Catholic plotto gain control of the Government of the United States.He defended his views fearlessly and vigorously inthe public press and by means of pamphlets, and laterentered into a heated controversy with Bishop Spauldingof Kentucky.

I shall not attempt to treat exhaustively of thesecontroversies, but think it only right to refer tothem from time to time, not only that the clearestpossible light may be shed upon Morse’s characterand convictions, but to show the extraordinary activityof his brain, which, while he was struggling againstobstacles of all kinds, not only to make his inventiona success, but for the very means of existence, couldyet busy itself with the championing of what he conceivedto be the right.

To illustrate his point of view I shall quote a fewextracts from a letter to R.S. Willington, Esq.,who was the editor of a journal which is referredto as the “Courier.” This letter waswritten on May 20, 1835, when Morse’s mind,we should think, would have been wholly absorbed inthe details of the infant telegraph:—

“With regard to the more important matter ofthe Conspiracy, I perceive with regret that the evidencewhich has been convincing to so many minds of thefirst order, and which continues daily to spread convictionof the truth of the charge I have made, is still viewedby the editors of the ‘Courier’ as inconclusive.My situation in regard to those who dissent from meis somewhat singular. I have brought against the

absolute Governments of Europe a charge of conspiracyagainst the liberties of the United States. Isupport the charge by facts, and by reasonings fromthose facts, which produce conviction on most of thosewho examine the matter.... But those that dissentsimply say, ’I don’t think there is aconspiracy’; yet give no reasons for dissent.The Catholic journals very artfully make no defensethemselves, but adroitly make use of the Protestantdefense kindly prepared for them....

“No Catholic journal has attempted any refutationof the charge. It cannot be refuted, for it istrue. And be assured, my dear sir, it is no extravagantprediction when I say that the question of Popery andProtestantism, or Absolutism and Republicanism, whichin these two opposite categories are convertible terms,is fast becoming and will shortly be the greatabsorbing question, not only of this country butof the whole civilized world. I speak not at random;I speak from long and diligent observation in Europe,and from comparison of the state of affairs in thiscountry with the state of public opinion in Europe.

“We are asleep, sir, when every freeman shouldbe awake and look to his arms.... Surely, ifthe danger is groundless, there can be no harm inendeavoring to ascertain its groundlessness. Ifyou were told your house was on fire you would hardlythink of calling the man a maniac for informing youof it, even if he should use a tone of voice and gesturessomewhat earnest and impassioned. The course ofsome of our journals on the subject of Popery hasled to the belief that they are covertly under thecontrol of the Jesuits. And let me say, sir, thatthe modes of control in the resources of this insidioussociety, notorious for its political arts and intrigues,are more numerous, more powerful, and more variousthan an unsuspicious people are at all conscious of....

“Mr. Y. falls into the common error and deprecateswhat he calls a religious controversy, as ifthe subject of Popery was altogether religious.History, it appears to me, must have been read to verylittle purpose by any one who can entertain such anerror in regard to the cunningest political despotismthat ever cursed mankind. I must refer you tothe preface of the second edition, which I send you,for my reasonings on that point. If they arenot conclusive, I should be glad to be shown whereinthey are defective. If they are conclusive, isit not time for every patriot to open his eyes tothe truth of the fact that we are politically attackedunder guise of a religious system, and is it not aserious question whether our political press shouldadvocate the cause of foreign enemies to our government,or help to expose and repel them?”

It was in the year 1835 that Morse was appointed Professorof the Literature of the Arts of Design in the Universityof the City of New York, and here again we can markthe guiding hand of Fate. A few years earlierhe had been tentatively offered the position of instructorof drawing at the United States Military Academy atWest Point, but this offer he had promptly but courteouslydeclined. Had he accepted it he would have missedthe opportunity of meeting certain men who gave himvaluable assistance. As an instructor in the Universityhe not only received a small salary which relievedhim, in a measure, from the grinding necessity ofpainting pot-boilers, but he had assigned to him spaciousrooms in the building on Washington Square, which hecould utilize not only as studio and living apartments,but as a workshop. For these rooms, however,he paid a rent, at first of $325 a year, afterwardsof $400.

Three years had clasped since his first conceptionof the invention, and, although burning to devotehimself to its perfecting, he had been compelled tohold himself in check and to devote all his time topainting. Now, however, an opportunity came tohim, for he moved into the University building beforeit was entirely finished, and the stairways were insuch an embryonic state that he could not expect sittersto attempt their perilous ascent. This enforcedleisure gave him the chance he had long desired andhe threw himself heart and soul into his electricalexperiments. Writing of this period in later yearshe thus records his struggles:—

[Illustration: FIRST TELEGRAPH INSTRUMENT, 1837Now in the National Museum, Washington]

“There I immediately commenced, with very limitedmeans, to experiment upon my invention. My firstinstrument was made up of an old picture or canvasframe fastened to a table; the wheels of an old woodenclock moved by a weight to carry the paper forward;three wooden drums, upon one of which the paper waswound 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 thecentre wooden drum; a pencil at the lower end of thependulum in contact with the paper; an electro-magnetfastened to a shelf across the picture or stretchingframe, opposite to an armature made fast to the pendulum;a type rule and type, for breaking the circuit, restingon an endless band composed of carpet-binding; whichpassed over two wooden rollers, moved by a woodencrank, and carried forward by points projecting fromthe bottom of the rule downward into the carpet-binding;a lever, with a small weight on the upper side, anda tooth projecting downward at one end, operated onby the type, and a metallic fork, also projecting downward,over two mercury cups; and a short circuit of wireembracing the helices of the electro-magnet connectedwith the positive and negative poles of the batteryand terminating in the mercury cups.”

This first rude instrument was carefully preservedby the inventor, and is now in the Morse case in theNational Museum at Washington. A reproductionof it is here given.

I shall omit certain technical details in the inventor’saccount of this first instrument, but I wish to callattention to his ingenuity in adapting the means athis disposal to the end desired. Much capitalhas been made, by those who opposed his claims, outof the fact that this primitive apparatus could onlyproduce a V-shaped mark, thus—

__ __ _ \/|__| |/\/ |/\/|__/

—and not a dot and a dash, which they insistwas of later introduction and by another hand.But a reference to the sketches made on board theSully will show that the original system of signs consistedof dots and lines, and that the first conception ofthe means to produce these signs was by an up-and-downmotion of a lever controlled by an electro-magnet.It is easy to befog an issue by misstating facts, butthe facts are here to speak for themselves, and thatMorse temporarily abandoned his first idea, becausehe had not the means at his disposal to embody it inworkable form and had recourse to another method forproducing practically the same result, only showswonderful ingenuity on his part. It can easilybe seen that the waving line traced by the first instrument—thus,

__ __ _ \/|__| |/\/ |/\/|__/ —canbe translated by reading the lower part into

a i u. — . . . . — of the final Morse alphabet.

The beginnings of every great invention have beenclumsy and uncouth compared with the results attainedby years of study and elaboration participated inby many clever brains. Contrast the Clermont ofFulton with the floating palaces of the present day,the Rocket of Stephenson with the powerful locomotivesof our mile-a-minute fliers, and the hand-press ofGutenberg with the marvellous and intricate Hoe pressesof modern times. And yet the names of those whofirst conceived and wrought these primitive contrivancesstand highest in the roll of fame; and with justice,for it is infinitely easier to improve on the suggestionof another than to originate a practical advance inhuman endeavor.

Returning again to Morse’s own account of hisearly experiments I shall quote the following sentences:—

“With this apparatus, rude as it was, and completedbefore the first of the year 1836, I was enabled toand did mark down telegraphic, intelligible signs,and to make and did make distinguishable sounds fortelegraphing; and, having arrived at that point, Iexhibited it to some of my friends early in that year,and among others to Professor Leonard D. Gale, whowas a college professor in the University. I alsoexperimented with the chemical power of the electriccurrent in 1836, and succeeded, in marking my telegraphicsigns upon paper dipped in turmeric and solution ofthe sulphate of soda (as well as other salts) by passingthe current through it. I was soon satisfied,however, that the electro-magnetic power wasmore available for telegraphic purposes and possessedmany advantages over any other, and I turned my thoughtsin that direction.

“Early in 1836 I procured forty feet of wire,and, putting it in the circuit, I found that my batteryof one cup was not sufficient to work my instrument.This result suggested to me the probability that themagnetism to be obtained from the electric currentwould diminish in proportion as the circuit was lengthened,so as to be insufficient for any practical purposesat great distances; and, to remove that probable obstacleto my success, I conceived the idea of combining twoor more circuits together in the manner describedin my first patent, each with an independent battery,making use of the magnetism of the current on thefirst to close and break the second; the second thethird; and so on.”

Thus modestly does he refer to what was, in fact,a wonderful discovery, the more wonderful becauseof its simplicity. Professor Horsford thus commentson it:—

“In 1835 Morse made the discovery of the relay,the most brilliant of all the achievements to whichhis name must be forever attached. It was a discoveryof a means by which the current, which through distancefrom its source had become feeble, could be reenforcedor renewed. This discovery, according to thedifferent objects for which it is employed, is variouslyknown as the registering magnet, the local circuit,the marginal circuit, the repeater, etc.”

Professor Horsford places the date of this discoveryin the year 1835, but Morse himself, in the statementquoted above, assigned it to the early part of 1836.

It is only fair to note that the discovery of theprinciple of the relay was made independently by otherscientists, notably by Davy, Wheatstone, and Henry,but Morse apparently antedated them by a year or two,and could not possibly have been indebted to any ofthem for the idea. This point has given riseto much discussion among scientists which it willnot be necessary to enter into here, for all authoritiesagree in according to Morse independent inventionof the relay.

“Up to the autumn of 1837,” again to quoteMorse’s own words, “my telegraphic apparatusexisted in so rude a form that I felt a reluctanceto have it seen. My means were very limited—solimited as to preclude the possibility of constructingan apparatus of such mechanical finish as to warrantmy success in venturing upon its public exhibition.I had no wish to expose to ridicule the representativeof so many hours of laborious thought.

“Prior to the summer of 1837, at which timeMr. Alfred Vail’s attention became attractedto my telegraph, I depended upon my pencil for subsistence.Indeed, so straitened were my circ*mstances that, inorder to save time to carry out my invention and toeconomize my scanty means, I had for months lodgedand eaten in my studio, procuring my food in smallquantities from some grocery, and preparing it myself.To conceal from my friends the stinted manner in whichI lived, I was in the habit of bringing my food tomy room in the evenings, and this was my mode of lifefor many years.”

Nearly twenty years later, in 1853, Morse referredto this trying period in his career at a meeting ofthe Association of the Alumni of the University:—

“Yesternight, on once more entering your chapel,I saw the same marble staircase and marble floorsI once so often trod, and so often with a heart andhead overburdened with almost crushing anxieties.Separated from the chapel by but a thin partitionwas that room I occupied, now your Philomathean Hall,whose walls—had thoughts and mental struggles,with the alternations of joys and sorrows, the powerof being daguerreotyped upon them—wouldshow a thickly studded gallery of evidence that therethe Briarean infant was born who has stretched forthhis arms with the intent to encircle the world.Yes, that room of the University was the birthplaceof the Recording Telegraph. Attempts, indeed,have been made to assign to it other parentage, andto its birthplace other localities. PersonallyI have very little anxiety on this point, except thatthe truth should not suffer; for I have a consciousness,which neither sophistry nor ignorance can shake, thatthat room is the place of its birth, and a confidence,too, that its cradle is in hands that will sustainits rightful claim.”

The old building of the University of the City ofNew York on Washington Square has been torn down tobe replaced by a mercantile structure; the Universityhas moved to more spacious quarters in the upper partof the great city; but one of its notable buildingsis the Hall of Fame, and among the first names tobe immortalized in bronze in the stately colonnadewas that of Samuel F.B. Morse.

CHAPTER XXIII

1835—1837

First exhibitions of the Telegraph.—Testimonyof Robert G. Rankin and Rev. Henry B. Tappan.—Cookeand Wheatstone.—Joseph Henry, Leonard D.Gale, and Alfred Vail.—Professor Gale’stestimony.—Professor Henry’s discoveries.—Regrettablecontroversy of later years.—Professor CharlesT. Jackson’s claims.—Alfred Vail.—Contractof September 23, 1837.—Work at Morristown.New Jersey.—The “Morse Alphabet.”—Readingby sound.— first and second forms of alphabet.

In after years the question of the time when the telegraphwas first exhibited to others was a disputed one;it will, therefore, be well to give the testimonyof a few men of undoubted integrity who personallywitnessed the first experiments.

Robert G. Rankin, Esq., gave his reminiscences toMr. Prime, from which I shall select the followingpassages:—

“Professor Morse was one of the purest and noblestmen of any age. I believe I was among the earliest,outside of his family circle, to whom he communicatedhis design to encircle the globe with wire....

“Some time in the fall of 1835 I was passingalong the easterly walk of Washington Parade-Ground,leading from Waverly Place to Fourth Street, whenI heard my name called. On turning round I saw,over the picketfence, an outstretched arm from a personstanding in the middle or main entrance door of theunfinished University building of New York, and immediatelyrecognized the professor, who beckoned me toward him.On meeting and exchanging salutations,—andyou know how genial his were,— he tookme by the arm and said:

“’I wish you to go up in my sanctum andexamine a piece of mechanism, which, if you may notbelieve in, you, at least, will not laugh at,as I fear some others will. I want you to giveme your frank opinion as a friend, for I know yourinterest in and love of the applied sciences.’”

Here follow a description of what he saw and Morse’sexplanation, and, then he continues:—

“A long silence on the part of each ensued,which was at length broken by my exclamation:’Well, professor, you have a pretty play!—theoreticallytrue but practically useful only as a mantel ornament,or for a mistress in the parlor to direct the maidin the cellar! But, professor, cui bono?In imagination one can make a new earth and improveall the land communications of our old one, but myunfortunate practicality stands in the way of my comprehensionas yet.’

“We then had a long conversation on the subjectof magnetism and its modifications, and if I do notrecollect the very words which clothed his thoughts,they were substantially as follows.

“He had been long impressed with the beliefthat God had created the great forces of nature, notonly 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 couldyet be utilized for man’s welfare; that modernscience was constantly evolving from the hitherto hiddensecrets of nature some new development promotive ofhuman welfare; and that, at no distant day, magnetismwould do more for the advancement of human sociologythan any of the material forces yet known; that hewould scarcely dare to compare spiritual with materialforces, yet that, analogically, magnetism would doin the advancement of human welfare what the Spiritof God would do in the moral renovation of man’snature; that it would educate and enlarge the forcesof the world.... He said he had felt as if hewas doing a great work for God’s glory as wellas for man’s welfare; that such had been hislong cherished thought. His whole soul and heartappeared filled with a glow of love and good-will,and his sensitive and impassioned nature seemed almostto transform him in my eyes into a prophet.”

It required, indeed, the inspirational vision of aprophet to foresee, in those narrow, skeptical days,the tremendous part which electricity was to playin the civilization of a future age, and I wish againto lay stress on the fact that it was the telegraphwhich first harnessed this mysterious force, and openedthe eyes of the world to the availability of a powerwhich had lain dormant through all the ages, but whichwas now, for the first time, to be brought under thecontrol of man, and which was destined to rival, andeventually to displace, in many ways, its elder brothersteam. Was not Morse’s ambition to confera lasting good on his fellowmen more fully realizedthan even he himself at that time comprehended?

The Reverend Henry B. Tappan, who in 1835 was a colleagueof Morse’s in the New York University and afterwardsPresident of the University of Michigan, gave histestimony in reply to a request from Morse, and, amongother things, he said:—

“In 1835 you had advanced so far that you wereprepared to give, on a small scale, a practical demonstrationof the possibility of transmitting and recording wordsthrough distance by means of an electro-magnetic arrangement.I was one of the limited circle whom you invited towitness the first experiments. In a long roomof the University you had wires extended from endto end, where the magnetic apparatus was arranged.

“It is not necessary for me to describe particularswhich have now become familiar to every one.The fact which I recall with the liveliest interest,and which I mentioned in conversation at Mr. Bancroft’sas one of the choicest recollections of my life, wasthat of the first transmission and recording of atelegraphic dispatch.

“I suppose, of course, that you had alreadymade these experiments before the company arrivedwhom you had invited. But I claim to have witnessedthe first transmission and recording of wordsby lightning ever made public.... The arrangementwhich you exhibited on the above mentioned occasion,as well as the mode of receiving the dispatches, weresubstantially the same as those you now employ.I feel certain that you had then already grasped thewhole invention, however you may have since perfectedthe details.”

Others bore testimony in similar words, so that wemay regard it as proved that, both in 1835 and 1836,demonstrations were made which, uncouth though theywere, compared to present-day perfection, proved thatthe electric telegraph was about to emerge from therealms of fruitless experiment. Among these witnesseswere Daniel Huntington, Hon. Hamilton Fish, and CommodoreShubrick; and several of these gentlemen assertedthat, at that early period, Morse confidently predictedthat Europe and America would eventually be unitedby an electric wire.

The letters written by Morse during these criticalyears have become hopelessly dispersed, and but fewhave come into my possession. His brothers wereboth in New York, so that there was no necessity ofwriting to them, and the letters written to otherscannot, at this late day, be traced. As he also,unfortunately, did not keep a journal, I must dependon the testimony of others, and on his own recollectionsin later years for a chronicle of his struggles.The pencil copy of a letter written to a friend inAlbany, on August 27, 1837, has, however, survived,and the following sentences will, I think, be foundinteresting:—

“Thanks to you, my dear C——,for the concern you express in regard to my health.It has been perfectly good and is now, with the exceptionof a little anxiety in relation to the telegraph andto my great pictorial undertaking, which wears thefurrows of my face a little deeper. My Telegraph,in all its essential points, is tested to my own satisfactionand that of the scientific gentlemen who have seenit; but the machinery (all which, from its peculiarcharacter, I have been compelled to make myself) isimperfect, and before it can be perfected I have reasonto fear that other nations will take the hint androb me both of the credit and the profit. Thereare indications of this in the foreign journals latelyreceived. I have a defender in the ‘Journalof Commerce’ (which I send you that you mayknow what is the progress of the matter), and doubtlessother journals of our country will not allow foreignnations to take the credit of an invention of suchvast importance as they assign to it, when they learnthat it certainly belongs to America.

“There is not a thought in any one of the foreignjournals relative to the Telegraph which I had notexpressed nearly five years ago, on my passage fromFrance, to scientific friends; and when it is consideredhow quick a hint flies from mind to mind and is soonpast all tracing back to the original suggester ofthe hint, it is certainly by no means improbable thatthe excitement on the subject in England has its originfrom my giving the details of the plan of my Telegraphto some of the Englishmen or other fellow-passengerson board the ship, or to some of the many I have sincemade acquainted with it during the five years past.”

In this he was mistaken, for the English telegraphof Cooke and Wheatstone was quite different in principle,using the deflection, by a current of electricity,of a delicately adjusted needle to point to the lettersof the alphabet. While this was in use in Englandfor a number of years, it was gradually supersededby the Morse telegraph which proved its decided superiority.It is also worthy of note that in this letter, andin all future letters and articles, he, with pardonablepride, uses a capital T in speaking of his Telegraph.

One of the most difficult of the problems which confrontthe historian who sincerely wishes to deal dispassionatelywith his subject is justly to apportion the creditwhich must be given to different workers in the samefield of endeavor, and especially in that of invention;for every invention is but an improvement on somethingwhich has gone before. The sail-boat was an advanceon the rude dugout propelled by paddles. Thefirst clumsy steamboat seemed a marvel to those whohad known no other propulsive power than that of thewind or the oar. The horse-drawn vehicle succeededthe litter and the palanquin, to be in turn followedby the locomotive; and so the telegraph, as a meansof rapidly communicating intelligence between distantpoints, was the logical successor of the signal fireand the semaphore.

In all of these improvements by man upon what manhad before accomplished, the pioneer was not onlydependent upon what his predecessors had achieved,but, in almost every case, was compelled to call tohis assistance other workers to whom could be confidedsome of the minutiae which were essential to the successfullaunching of the new enterprise.

I have shown conclusively that the idea of transmittingintelligence by electricity was original with Morsein that he was unaware, until some years after hisfirst conception, that anyone else had ever thoughtof it. I have also shown that he, unaided byothers, invented and made with his own hands a machine,rude though it may have been, which actually did transmitand record intelligence by means of the electric current,and in a manner entirely different from the methodemployed by others. But he had now come to apoint where knowledge of what others had accomplishedalong the same line would greatly facilitate his labors,and when the assistance of one more skilled in mechanicalconstruction was a great desideratum, and both ofthese essentials were at hand. It is quite possiblethat he might have succeeded in working out the problemabsolutely unaided, just as a man might become a greatpainter without instruction, without a knowledge ofthe accumulated wisdom of those who preceded him,and without the assistance of the color-maker and themanufacturer of brushes and canvas. But the artistis none the less a genius because he listens to thecounsels of his master, profits by the experienceof others, and purchases his supplies instead of grindinghis own colors and laboriously manufacturing his owncanvas and brushes.

The three men to whom Morse was most indebted formaterial assistance in his labors at this criticalperiod were Professor Joseph Henry, Professor LeonardD. Gale, and Alfred Vail, and it is my earnest desireto do full justice to all of them. Unfortunatelyafter the telegraph had become an assured success,and even down to the present day, the claims of Morsehave been bitterly assailed, both by well-meaning personsand by the unscrupulous who sought to break down hispatent rights; and the names of these three men werefreely used in the effort to prove that to one orall of them more credit was due than to Morse.

Now, after the lapse of nearly three quarters of acentury, the verdict has been given in favor of Morse,his name alone is accepted as that of the Inventorof the Telegraph, and in this work it is my aim toprove that the judgment of posterity has not erred,but also to give full credit to those who aided himwhen he was most in need of assistance. My taskin some instances will be a delicate one; I shall haveto prick some bubbles, for the friends of some ofthese men have claimed too much for them, and, onthat account, have been bitter in their accusationsagainst Morse. I shall also have to acknowledgesome errors of judgment on the part of Morse, forthe malice of others fomented a dispute between himand one of these three men, which caused a permanentestrangement and was greatly to be regretted.

The first of the three to enter into the history ofthe telegraph was Leonard D. Gale, who, in 1836, wasa professor in the University of the City of New York,and he has given his recollections of those early days.Avoiding a repetition of facts already recorded I shallquote some sentences from Professor Gale’s statement.After describing the first instrument, which he sawin January of 1836, he continues:—

“During the years 1836 and beginning of 1837the studies of Professor Morse on his telegraph Ifound much interrupted by his attention to his professionalduties. I understood that want of pecuniary meansprevented him from procuring to be made such mechanicalimprovements, and such substantial workmanship, aswould make the operation of his invention more exact.

“In the months of March and April, 1837, theannouncement of an extraordinary telegraph on thevisual plan (as it afterwards proved to be), the inventionof two French gentlemen of the names of Gonon andServell, was going the rounds of the papers. Thethought occurred to me, as well as to Professor Morseand some others of his friends, that the inventionof his electro-magnetic telegraph had somehow becomeknown, and was the origin of the new telegraph thusconspicuously announced. This announcement atonce aroused Professor Morse to renewed exertions tobring the new invention creditably before the public,and to consent to a public announcement of the existenceof his invention. From April to September, 1837,Professor Morse and myself were engaged together inthe work of preparing magnets, winding wire, constructingbatteries, etc., in the University for an experimenton a larger, but still very limited scale, in thelittle leisure that each had to spare, and being atthe same time much cramped for funds....

“The latter part of August, 1887, the operationof the instruments was shown to numerous visitorsat the University....

“On Saturday, the 2d of September, 1837, ProfessorDaubeny, of the English Oxford University, being ona visit to this country, was invited with a few friendsto see the operation of the telegraph, in its thenrude form, in the cabinet of the New York University,where it had then been put up with a circuit of seventeenhundred feet of copper wire stretched back and forthin that long room. Professor Daubeny, ProfessorTorrey, and Mr. Alfred Vail were present among others.This exhibition of the telegraph, although of veryrude and imperfectly constructed machinery, demonstratedto 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 nextweek, called at the rooms and had a more perfect explanationfrom Professor Morse of the character of the invention.”

It was Professor Gale who first called Morse’sattention to the discoveries of Professor Joseph Henry,especially to that of the intensity magnet, and hethus describes the interesting event:—

“Morse’s machine was complete in all itsparts and operated perfectly through a circuit ofsome forty feet, but there was not sufficient forceto send messages to a distance. At this time Iwas a lecturer on chemistry, and from necessity wasacquainted with all kinds of galvanic batteries, andknew that a battery of one or a few cups generatesa large quantity of electricity capable of producingheat, etc., but not of projecting electricityto a great distance, and that, to accomplish this,a battery of many cups is necessary. It was, therefore,evident to me that the one large cup-battery of Morseshould be made into ten or fifteen smaller ones tomake it a battery of intensity so as to project theelectric fluid.... Accordingly I substituted thebattery of many cups for the battery of one cup.The remaining defect in the Morse machine, as firstseen by me, was that the coil of wire around the polesof the electro-magnet consisted of but a few turnsonly, while, to give the greatest projectile power,the number of turns should be increased from tensto hundreds, as shown by Professor Henry in his paperpublished in the ‘American Journal of Science,’1831.... After substituting the battery of twentycups for that of a single cup, we added some hundredor more turns to the coil of wire around the polesof the magnet and sent a message through two hundredfeet of conductors, then through one thousand feet,and then through ten miles of wire arranged on reelsin my own lecture-room in the New York Universityin the presence of friends.”

This was a most important step in hastening the reductionof the invention to a practical, workable basis andI wish here to bear testimony to the great servicesof Professor Henry in making this possible. Hisvaluable discoveries were freely given to the worldwith no attempt on his part to patent them, whichis, perhaps, to be regretted, but much more is itto be deplored that, in, the litigation which ensueda few years later, Morse and Henry were drawn intoa controversy, fostered and fomented by others fortheir own pecuniary benefit, which involved the honorand veracity of both of these distinguished men.Both were men of the greatest sensitiveness, proudand jealous of their own integrity, and the breachonce made was never healed. Of the rights andwrongs of this controversy I may have occasion lateron to treat more in detail, although I should muchprefer to dismiss it with the acknowledgment thatthere was much to deplore in what was said and writtenby Morse, although he sincerely believed himself tobe in the right, and much to regret in some of thestatements and actions of Henry.

At this late day, when the mists which enveloped thequestions have rolled away, it seems but simple justiceto admit that the wonderful discoveries of Henry wereessential to the successful working over long distancesof Morse’s discoveries and inventions; just asthe discoveries and inventions of earlier and contemporaryscientists were essential to Henry’s improvements.But it is also just to place emphasis on the factthat Henry’s experiments were purely scientific.He never attempted to put them in concrete form forthe use of mankind in general; they led up to thetelegraph; they were not a practical telegraph in themselves.It was Morse who added the final link in the longchain, and, by combining the discoveries of otherswith those which he had himself made, gave to theworld this wonderful new agent.

A recent writer in the “Scientific American”gave utterance to the following sentiment, which,it seems to me, most aptly describes this difference:“We need physical discoveries and revere thosewho seek truth for its own sake. But mankindwith keen instinct saves its warmest acclaim for thosewho also make discoveries of some avail in adding tothe length of life, its joys, its possibilities, itsconveniences.”

We must also remember that, while the baby telegraphhad, in 1837, been recognized as a promising infantby a very few scientists and personal friends of theinventor, it was still regarded with suspicion, ifnot with scorn, by the general public and even bymany men of scholarly attainments, and a long andheart-breaking struggle for existence was ahead ofit before it should reach maturity and develop intothe lusty giant of the present day. Here againMorse proved that he was the one man of his generationmost eminently fitted to fight for the child of hisbrain, to endure and to persevere until the victor’scrown was grasped.

It is always idle to speculate on what might havehappened if certain events had not taken place; ifcertain men had not met certain other men. Atelegraph would undoubtedly have been invented if Morsehad never been born; or he might have perfected hisinvention without the aid and advice of others, orwith the assistance of different men from those whoappeared at the psychological moment. But we aredealing with facts and not with suppositions, andthe facts are that through Professor Gale he was madeacquainted with the discoveries of Joseph Henry, whichhad been published to the world several years before,and could have been used by others if they had hadthe wit or genius to grasp their significance andhit upon the right means to make them of practicalutility.

Morse was ever ready cheerfully to acknowledge theassistance which had been given to him by others,but, at the same time, he always took the firm standthat this did not give them a claim to an equal sharewith himself in the honor of the invention. Ina long letter to Professor Charles T. Jackson, writtenon September 18, 1837, he vigorously but courteouslyrepudiates the claim of the latter to have been a co-inventoron board the Sully, and he proves his point, for Jacksonnot only knew nothing of the plan adopted by Morse,and carried by him to a successful issue, but hadnever suggested anything of a practical nature.At the same time Morse freely acknowledges that theconversation between them on the ship suggested tohim the train of thought which culminated in the invention,for he adds:—

“You say, ’I trust you will take carethat the proper share of credit shall be given tome when you make public your doings.’ ThisI always have done and with pleasure. I havealways given you credit for great genius and acquirements,and have always said, in giving any account of myTelegraph, that it was during a scientific conversationwith you on board the ship that I first conceivedthe thought of an electric Telegraph. Is therereally any more that you will claim or that I couldin truth and justice give?

“I have acknowledgments of a similar kind tomake to Professor Silliman and to Professor Gale;to the former of whom I am under precisely similarobligations with yourself for several useful hints;and to the latter I am most of all indebted for substantialand effective aid in many of my experiments.If any one has a claim to be considered as a mutualinventor on the score of aid by hints, it is ProfessorGale, but he prefers no claim of the kind.”

And he never did prefer such a claim (although itwas made for him by others), but remained always loyalto Morse. Jackson, on the other hand, insistedon pressing his demand, although it was an absurd one,and he was a thorn in the flesh to Morse for manyyears. It will not be necessary to go into thematter in detail, as Jackson was, through his wildclaims to other inventions and discoveries, thoroughlydiscredited, and his views have now no weight in thescientific world.

The third person who came to the assistance of Morseat this critical period was Alfred Vail, son of JudgeStephen Vail, of Morristown, New Jersey. In 1837he was a young man of thirty and had graduated fromthe University of the City of New York in 1836.He was present at the exhibition of Morse’sinvention on the 2d of September, 1837, and he atonce grasped its great possibilities. After becomingsatisfied that Morse’s device of the relay wouldpermit of operation over great distances, he expresseda desire to become associated with the inventor inthe perfecting and exploitation of the invention.His father was the proprietor of the Speedwell IronWorks in Morristown, and young Vail had had some experience

in the manufacture of mechanical appliances in thefactory, although he had taken the theological courseat the University with the intention of entering thePresbyterian ministry. He had abandoned the ideaof becoming a clergyman, however, on account of ill-health,and was, for a time, uncertain as to his future career,when the interest aroused by the sight of Morse’smachine settled the matter, and, after consultingwith his father and brother, he entered into an agreementwith Morse on the 23d day of September, 1837.

In the contract drawn up between them Vail bound himselfto construct, at his own expense, a complete set ofinstruments; to defray the costs of securing patentsin this country and abroad; and to devote his timeto both these purposes. It was also agreed thateach should at once communicate to the other any improvementor new invention bearing on the simplification orperfecting of the telegraph, and that such improvementsor inventions should be held to be the property ofeach in the proportion in which they were to sharein any pecuniary benefits which might accrue.

As the only way in which Morse could, at that time,pay Vail for his services and for money advanced,he gave him a one-fourth interest in the inventionin this country, and one half in what might be obtainedfrom Europe. This was, in the following March,changed to three sixteenths in the United States andone fourth in Europe.

Morse had now secured two essentials most necessaryto the rapid perfection of his invention, the meansto purchase materials and an assistant more skilledthan he in mechanical construction, and who was imbuedwith faith in the ultimate success of the enterprise.Now began the serious work of putting the inventioninto such a form that it could demonstrate to theskeptical its capability of performing what was thenconsidered a miracle. It is hard for us at thepresent time, when new marvels of science and inventionare of everyday occurrence, to realize the hideboundincredulousness which prevailed during the first halfof the nineteenth century. Men tapped their foreheadsand shook their heads in speaking of Morse and hisvisionary schemes, and deeply regretted that herewas the case of a brilliant man and excellent artistevidently gone wrong. But he was not to be turnedfrom his great purpose by the jeers of the ignorantand the anxious solicitations of his friends, and hewas greatly heartened by the encouragement of suchmen as Gale and Vail. They all three worked overthe problems yet to be solved, Morse going backwardsand forwards between New York and Morristown.That both Gale and Vail suggested improvements whichwere adopted by Morse, can be taken for granted, but,as I have said before, to modify or elaborate somethingoriginated by another is a comparatively easy matter,and the basic idea, first conceived by Morse on theSully, was retained throughout.

All the details of these experiments have not beenrecorded, but I believe that at first an attempt wasmade to put into a more finished form the principleof the machine made by Morse, with its swinging pendulumtracing a waving line, but this was soon abandonedin favor of an instrument using the up-and-down motionof a lever, as drawn in the 1832 sketch-book.In other words, it was a return to first principlesas thought out by Morse, and not, as some would haveus believe, something entirely new suggested and inventedindependently by Vail.

It was rather unfortunate and curious, in view ofMorse’s love of simplicity, that he at firstinsisted on using the dots and dashes to indicatenumbers only, the numbers to correspond to words ina specially prepared dictionary. His argumentsin favor of this plan were specious, but the eventhas proved that his reasoning was faulty. Hisfirst idea was that the telegraph should belong tothe Government; that intelligence sent should be secretby means of a kind of cipher; that it would take lesstime to send a number than each letter of each word,especially in the case of the longer words; and, finally,that although the labor in preparing a dictionaryof all the most important words in the language andgiving to each its number would be great, once doneit would be done for all time.

I say that this was unfortunate because the fact thatthe telegraphic alphabet of dots and dashes was notused until after his association with Vail has lentstrength to the claims on the part of Vail’sfamily and friends that he was the inventor of itand not Morse. This claim has been so insistently,and even bitterly, made, especially after Morse’sdeath, that it gained wide credence and has even beenincorporated in some encyclopedias and histories.Fortunately it can be easily disproved, and I am desirousof finally settling this vexed question because I considerthe conception of this simplest of all conventionalalphabets one of the grandest of Morse’s inventions,and one which has conferred great good upon mankind.It is used to convey intelligence not only by electricity,but in many other ways. Its cabalistic characterscan be read by the eye, the ear, and the touch.

Just as the names of Ampere, Volta, and Watt havebeen used to designate certain properties or thingsdiscovered by them, so the name of Morse is immortalizedin the alphabet invented by him. The telegraphoperators all over the world send “Morse”when they tick off the dots and dashes of the alphabet,and happily I can prove that this is not an honor filchedfrom another.

It is a matter of record that Vail himself never claimedin any of his letters or diaries (and these are voluminous)that he had anything to do with the devising of thisconventional alphabet, even with the modificationof the first form. On the other hand, in severalletters to Morse he refers to it as being Morse’s.For instance, in a letter of April 20, 1848, he usesthe words “your system of marking, linesand dots, which you have patented.”All the evidence brought forward by the advocatesof Vail is purely hearsay; he is said to have saidthat he invented the alphabet.

Morse, however, always, in every one of his many writtenreferences to the matter, speaks of it as “myconventional alphabet.” In an article whichI contributed to the “Century Magazine”of March, 1912, I treated this question at lengthand proved by documentary evidence that Morse alonedevised the dot-and-dash alphabet. It will notbe necessary for me to repeat all this evidence here;I shall simply give enough to prove conclusively thatthe Morse Alphabet has not been misnamed.

The following is a fugitive note which was reproducedphotographically in the “Century” article:—

“Mr. Vail, in his work on the Telegraph, atp. 32, intimates that the saw-teeth type for letters,as he has described them in the diagram (9), weredevised by me as early as the year 1832. Two ofthe elements of these letters, indeed, were then devised,the dot and space, and used in constructing the typefor numerals, but, so far as my recollection now servesme, it was not until I experimented with the firstinstrument in 1835 that I added the — dash,which supplied me with the three elements for combinationsfor letters. It was on noticing the fact that,when the circuit was closed a longer time than wasnecessary to make a dot, there was produced a lineor dash, that, if I rightly remember, the broken partsof a continuous line as the means of imprinting ata distance were suggested to me; since the inequalitiesof long and short lines, separated by long and shortspaces, gave me all the variations or combinationsof long and short lines necessary to form the alphabet.The date of the code complete must, therefore, beput at 1835, and not 1832, although at the date of1832 the principle of the code was evolved.”

In addition to this being a definite claim in writingon the part of Morse that he had devised an alphabeticcode in 1836, two years before Vail had ever heardof the telegraph, it is well to note his scrupulousinsistence on historical accuracy.

In a letter to Professor Gale, referring to readingby sound as well as by sight, occur the followingsentences. (Let me remark, by the way, that it isinteresting to note that Morse thus early recognizedthe possibility of reading by sound, an honor whichhas been claimed for many others.)

“Exactly at what time I recognized the adaptationof the difference in the intervals in reading theletters as well as the numerals, I have nowno means of fixing except in a general manner.It was, however, almost immediately on the constructionof the letters by dots and lines, and this was somelittle time previous to your seeing the instrument.

“Soon after the first operation of the instrumentin 1835, in which the type for writing numbers wereused, I not only conceived the letter type, but madethem from some leads used in the printing-office.I have still quite a quantity of these type.They were used in Washington as well as the type fornumerals in the winter of 1837-38.

“In the earlier period of the invention it wasa matter which experience alone could determine whetherthe numerical system, by means of a numbereddictionary, or the alphabetic mode, by spelling ofthe words, was the better. While I perceivedsome advantages in the alphabetic system, especiallyin the writing of proper names, I at that time leanedrather towards the numerical mode under theimpression that it would, on the whole, be the morerapid. A very short experience, however, showedthe superiority of the alphabetic mode, and the bigleaves of the numbered dictionary, which cost me aworld of labor, and which you, perhaps, remember,were discarded and the alphabetic installed in itsstead.” Perhaps the most conclusive evidencethat Vail did not invent this alphabet is containedin his own book on the “American Electro-MagneticTelegraph,” published in 1845, in which he laysclaim to certain improvements. After describingthe dot-and-dash alphabet, he says:—

“This conventional alphabet was originated onboard the packet Sully by Professor Morse, the veryfirst elements of the invention, and arose from thenecessity of the case; the motion produced by the magnetbeing limited to a single action. During theperiod of the thirteen years many plans have beendevised by the inventor to bring the telegraphicalphabet to its simplest form.”

The italics are mine, for the advocates of Vail havealways quoted the first sentence only, and have saidthat the word “originated” implies that,while Vail admitted that the embryo of the alphabet—thedots and dashes to represent numbers only—wasconceived on the Sully, he did not admit that thealphabetical code was Morse’s. But whenwe read the second sentence with the words “devisedby the inventor,” the meaning is so plain thatit is astonishing that any one at all familiar withthe facts could have been misled.

The first form of the alphabet which was attachedto Morse’s caveat of October 3, 1837, is shownin the drawing of the type in the accompanying figure.

[Illustration: ROUGH DRAWING OF ALPHABET BY MORSEShowing the first form of the alphabet and the changesto the present form]

It has been stated by some historians that the systemof signs for letters was not attached to the caveat,but a careful reading of the text, in which referenceis made to the drawing, will prove conclusively thatit was. Moreover, in this caveat under section5, “The Dictionary or Vocabulary,” thevery first sentence reads: “The dictionaryis a complete vocabulary of words alphabetically arrangedand regularly numbered, beginning with the lettersof the alphabet.” The italics are mine.The mistake arose because the drawing was detachedfrom the caveat and affixed to the various patentswhich were issued, even after the first form of thealphabet had been superseded by a better one, the principle,however, remaining the same, so that it was not necessaryto patent the new form.

As soon as it was proved that it would be simplerto use the letters of the alphabet in sending intelligence,the first form of the alphabet was changed in themanner shown in the preceding figure. Exactlywhen this was done has not been recorded, but it wasafter Vail’s association with Morse, and itis quite possible that they worked over the problemtogether, but there is no written proof of this, whereasthe accompanying reproduction of calculations in Morse’shandwriting will prove that he gave himself seriouslyto its consideration.

The large numbers represent the quantities of typefound in the type-cases of a printing-office; for,after puzzling over the question of the relative frequencyof the occurrence of the different letters in thewritten language, a visit to the printing-office easilysettled the matter.

This dispute, concerning the paternity of the alphabet,lasting for many years after the death of both principals,and regrettably creating much bad feeling, is typicalof many which arose in the case of the telegraph,as well as in that of every other great invention,and it may not be amiss at this point to introducethe following fugitive note of Morse’s, which,though evidently written many years later, is applicableto this as well as to other cases:—

“It is quite common to misapprehend the natureand extent of an improvement without a thorough knowledgeof an original invention. A casual observer isapt to confound the new and the old, and, in notinga new arrangement, is often led to consider the wholeas new. It is, therefore, necessary to exercisea proper discrimination lest injustice be done tothe various laborers in the same field of invention.I trust it will not be deemed egotistical on my partif, while conscious of the unfeigned desire to concedeto all who are attempting improvements in the artof telegraphy that which belongs to them, I shouldnow and then recognize the familiar features of myown offspring and claim their paternity.”

[Illustration: QUANTITIES OF THE TYPE FOUND INA PRINTING-OFFICE Calculation made by Morse to aidhim in simplifying alphabet]

CHAPTER XXIV

OCTOBER 3, 1837—MAY 16, 1838

The Caveat.—Work at Morristown.—JudgeVail.—First success.—Resolutionin Congress regarding telegraphs.—Morse’sreply.—Illness.—Heaviness offirst instruments.—Successful exhibitionin Morristown.—Exhibition in New York University.—Firstuse of Morse alphabet.—Change from firstform of alphabet to present form.—Trialsof an inventor.—Dr. Jackson.—Slight friction between Morse and Vail.—Exhibitionat Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.—Exhibitionsin Washington.—Skepticism of public.—F.O.J.Smith,—F.L. Pope’s estimate ofSmith.—Proposal for government telegraph.—Smith’sreport.—Departure for Europe.

I have incidentally mentioned the caveat in the precedingchapter, but a more detailed account of this importantstep in bringing the invention into the light of dayshould, perhaps, be given. The reports in thenewspapers of the activities of others, especiallyof scientists in Europe, led Morse to decide thathe must at once take steps legally to protect himselfif he did not wish to be distanced in the race.He accordingly wrote to the Commissioner of Patents,Henry L. Ellsworth, who had been a classmate of hisat Yale, for information as to the form to be usedin applying for a caveat, and, after receiving a cordialreply enclosing the required form, he immediatelyset to work to prepare his caveat. This was inthe early part of September, 1887, before he had metVail. The rough draft, which is still among hispapers, was completed on September 28, and the finishedcopy was sent to Washington on October 3, and thereceipt acknowledged by Commissioner Ellsworth on October6. The drawing containing the signs for bothnumbers and letters was attached to this caveat.Having now safeguarded himself, he was able to givehis whole mind to the perfecting of the mechanicalparts of his invention, and in this he was ably assistedby his new partner, Alfred Vail, and by ProfessorGale.

The next few months were trying ones to both Morseand Vail. It must not be supposed that the workwent along smoothly without a hitch. Many werethe discouragements, and many experiments were triedand then discarded. To add to the difficulties,Judge Vail, who, of course, was supplying the cash,piqued by the sneers of his neighbors and noting thefeverish anxiety of his son and of Morse, lost faith,and would have willingly abandoned the whole enterprise.The two enthusiasts worked steadily on, however, avoidingthe Judge as much as possible, and finally, on the6th of January, 1838, they proudly invited him tocome to the workshop and witness the telegraph inoperation.

His hopes renewed by their confident demeanor, hehastened down from his house. After a few wordsof explanation he handed a slip of paper to his sonon which he had written the words—“Apatient waiter is no loser.” He knew thatMorse could not possibly know what he had written,and he said: “If you can send this andMr. Morse can read it at the other end, I shall beconvinced.”

Slowly the message was ticked off, and when Morsehanded him the duplicate of his message, his enthusiasmknew no bounds, and he proposed to go at once to Washingtonand urge upon Congress the establishment of a governmentline. But the instrument was not yet in a shapeto be seen of all men, and many years were yet toelapse before the legislators of the country awoketo their opportunity.

Morse and Vail were, of course, greatly encouragedby this first triumph, and worked on with increasedenthusiasm.

Many years after their early struggles, when the telegraphwas an established success and Morse had been honoredboth at home and abroad, he thus spoke of his friend:—

“Alfred Vail, then a student in the university,and a young man of great ingenuity, having heard ofmy invention, came to my rooms and I explained itto him, and from that moment he has taken the deepestinterest in the Telegraph. Finding that I wasunable to command the means to bring my inventionproperly before the public, and believing that he couldcommand those means through his father and brother,he expressed the belief to me, and I at once madesuch an arrangement with him as to procure the pecuniarymeans and the skill of these gentlemen. It isto their joint liberality, but especially to the attention,and skill, and faith in the final success of the enterprisemaintained by Alfred Vail, that is due the successof my endeavors to bring the Telegraph at that timecreditably before the public.”

The idea of telegraphs seems to have been in the airin the year 1837, for the House of Representativeshad passed a resolution on the 3d of February, 1887,requesting the Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. LeviWoodbury, to report to the House upon the proprietyof establishing a system of telegraphs for the UnitedStates. The term “telegraph” in thosedays included semaphores and other visual appliances,and, in fact, anything by which intelligence couldbe transmitted to a distance.

The Secretary issued a circular to “Collectorsof Customs, Commanders of Revenue Cutters, and otherPersons,” requesting information. Morsereceived one of these circulars, and in reply senta long account of his invention. But so hardto convince were the good people of that day, andso skeptical and even flippant were most of the membersof Congress that six long years were to elapse, yearsfilled with struggles, discouragements, and heart-breakingdisappointments, before the victory was won.

Morse had still to contend with occasional fits ofillness, for he writes to his brother Sidney fromMorristown on November 8, 1837:—

“You will perhaps be surprised to learn thatI came out here to be sick. I caught a severecold the day I left New York from the sudden changeof temperature, and was taken down the next morningwith one of my bilious attacks, which, under othertreatment and circ*mstances, might have resulted seriously.But, through a kind Providence, I have been thrownamong most attentive, and kind, and skilful friends,who have treated me more like one of their own childrenthan like a stranger. Mrs. Vail has been a perfectmother to me; our good Nancy Shepard can alone comparewith her. Through her nursing and constant attentionI am now able to leave my room and have been downstairsto-day, and hope to be out in a few days. Thissickness will, of course, detain me a while longerthan I intended, for I must finish the portraits beforeI return.”

This refers to portraits of various members of theVail family which he had undertaken to execute whilehe was in Morristown. Farther on in the letterhe says:—

“The machinery for the Telegraph goes forwarddaily; slowly but well and thorough. You willbe surprised at the strength and quantity of machinery,greater, doubtless, than will eventually be necessary,yet it gives the main points, certainty and accuracy.”

It may be well to note here that Morse evidently foresawthat the machinery constructed by Alfred Vail wastoo heavy and cumbersome; that more delicate workmanshipwould later be called for, and this proved to be thecase. The iron works at Morristown were only adaptedto the manufacture of heavy machinery for ships, etc.,and Alfred Vail had had experience in that class ofwork only, so that he naturally made the telegraphicinstruments much heavier and more unwieldy than wasnecessary. While these answered the purpose forthe time being, they were soon superseded by instrumentsof greater delicacy and infinitely smaller bulk madeby more skilful hands.

The future looked bright to the sanguine inventorin the early days of the year 1838, as we learn fromthe following letter to his brother Sidney, writtenon the 13th of January:—

“Mr. Alfred Vail is just going in to New Yorkand will return on Monday morning. The machineryis at length completed and we have shown it to theMorristown people with great eclat. Itis the talk of all the people round, and the principalinhabitants of Newark made a special excursion onFriday to see it. The success is complete.We have tried the experiment of sending a pretty fullletter, which I set up from the numbers given me,transmitting through two miles of wire and decipheredwith but a single unimportant error.

“I am staying out to perfect a modificationof my portrule and hope to see you on Tuesday, or,at the farthest, on Wednesday, when I shall tell youall about it. The matter looks well now, and Idesire to feel grateful to Him who gives success,and be always prepared for any disappointment whichHe in infinite wisdom may have in store.”

We see from this letter, and from an account whichappeared in the Morristown “Journal,”that in these exhibitions the messages were sent bynumbers with the aid of the cumbersome dictionary whichMorse had been at such pains to compile. Verysoon after this, however, as will appear from whatfollows, the dictionary was discarded forever, andthe Morse alphabet came into practical use.

The following invitation was sent from the New YorkUniversity on January 22, 1838:—

“Professor Morse requests the honor of ThomasS. Cummings, Esq., and family’s company in theGeological Cabinet of the University, Washington Square,to witness the operation of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraphat a private exhibition of it to a few friends, previousto its leaving the city for Washington.

“The apparatus will be prepared at preciselytwelve o’clock on Wednesday, 24th instant.The time being limited punctuality is specially requested.”

Similar invitations were sent to other prominent personsand a very select company gathered at the appointedhour. That the exhibition was a success we learnfrom the following account in the “Journal ofCommerce” of January 29, 1838:—

“THE TELEGRAPH.—We did not witnessthe operation of Professor Morse’s Electro-MagneticTelegraph on Wednesday last, but we learn that thenumerous company of scientific persons who were presentpronounced it entirely successful. Intelligencewas instantaneously transmitted through a circuitof TEN MILES, and legibly written on a cylinder atthe extremity of the circuit. The great advantageswhich must result to the public from this inventionwill warrant an outlay on the part of the Governmentsufficient to test its practicability as a generalmeans of transmitting intelligence.

“Professor Morse has recently improved on hismode of marking by which he can dispense altogetherwith the telegraphic dictionary, using letters insteadof numbers, and he can transmit ten words per minute,which is more than double the number which can betransmitted by means of the dictionary.”

A charming and rather dramatic incident occurred atthis exhibition which was never forgotten by thosewho witnessed it. General Cummings had just beenappointed to a military command, and one of his friends,with this fact evidently in mind, wrote a messageon a piece of paper and, without showing it to anyone else, handed it to Morse. The assembled companywas silent and only the monotonous clicking of thestrange instrument was heard as the message was tickedoff in the dots and dashes, and then from the otherend of the ten miles of wire was read out this sentencepregnant with meaning:—

“Attention, the Universe, by kingdoms rightwheel.” The name of the man who inditedthat message seems not to have been preserved, but,whoever he was, he must have been gifted with propheticvision, and he must have realized that he was assistingat an occasion which was destined to mark the beginningof a new era in civilization. The attention ofthe universe was, indeed, before long attracted tothis child of Morse’s brain, and kingdom afterkingdom wheeled into line, vying with each other inadmiration and acceptance.

The message was recorded fourfold by means of a newlyinvented fountain pen, and was given to General Cummingsand preserved by him. It is here reproduced.

[Illustration: “ATTENTION THE UNNIVERSE!BY KINGDOMS RIGHT WHEEL!” Facsimile of the FirstMorse Alphabet Message, now In the National Museum,Washington]

It will be noticed that the signs for the lettersare those, not of the first form of the alphabet asembodied in the drawing attached to the caveat, butof the finally adopted code. This has led somehistorians, notably Mr. Franklin Leonard Pope, toinfer that some mistake has been made in giving outthis as a facsimile of this early message; that theletters should have been those of the earlier alphabet.I think, however, that this is but an added proofthat Morse devised the first form of the code longbefore he met Vail, and that the changes to the finalform, a description of which I have given, were madeby Morse in 1837, or early in 1838, as soon as hebecame convinced of the superiority of the alphabeticmode, in plenty of time to have been used in this exhibition.

The month of January, 1838, was a busy one at Morristown,for Morse and Vail were bending all their energiestoward the perfecting and completion of the instruments,so that a demonstration of the telegraph could begiven in Washington at as early a date as possible.Morse refers feelingly to the trials and anxietiesof an inventor in a letter to a friend, dated January22, 1838:—

“I have just returned from nearly six weeks’absence at Morristown, New Jersey, where I have beenengaged in the superintendence of the making of myTelegraph for Washington.

“Be thankful, C——, that youare not an inventor. Invention may seem an easyway to fame, or, what is the same thing to many,notoriety, different as are in reality thetwo objects. But it is far otherwise. I,indeed, desire the first, for true fame implies well-deserving,but I have no wish for the latter, which yet seemsinseparable from it.

“The condition of an inventor is, indeed, notenviable. I know of but one condition that rendersit in any degree tolerable, and that is the reflectionthat his fellow-men may be benefited by his discoveries.In the outset, if he has really made a discovery,which very word implies that it was before unknownto the world, he encounters the incredulity, the opposition,and even the sneers of many, who look upon him witha kind of pity, as a little beside himself if notquite mad. And, while maturing his invention,he has the comfort of reflection, in all the variousdiscouragements he meets with from petty failures,that, should he by any means fail in the grand result,he subjects himself rather to the ridicule than thesympathy of his acquaintances, who will not be slowin attributing his failure to a want of that commonsense in which, by implication, they so much abound,and which preserves them from the consequences ofany such delusions.

“But you will, perhaps, think that there isan offset in the honors and emoluments that awaitthe successful inventor, one who has really demonstratedthat he has made an important discovery. Thisis not so. Trials of another kind are ready forhim after the appropriate difficulties of his taskare over. Many stand ready to snatch the prize,or at least to claim a share, so soon as the successof an invention seems certain, and honor and profitalone remain to be obtained.

“This long prelude, C——, bringsme at the same time to the point of my argument andto my excuse for my long silence. My argumentgoes to prove that, unless there is a benevolent considerationin our discoveries, one which enables us to rejoicethat others are benefited even though we should sufferloss, our happiness from any honor awarded to a successfulinvention is exposed to constant danger from the designsof the unprincipled. My excuse is that, eversince the receipt of your most welcome letter, I havebeen engaged in preparing to repel a threatened invasion

of my rights to the invention of the Telegraph by afellow-passenger from France, one from whom I leastexpected any such insidious design. The attemptstartled me and put me on my guard, and set me tothe preparation for any attack. I have been compelledfor some weeks to use my pen only for this purpose,and have written much in the hope of preventing thepublic exposure of my antagonist; but I fear my laborwill be vain on this point, from what I hear and thetone in which he writes. I have no fear for myself,being now amply prepared with evidence to repel anyattempt which may be made to sustain any claim hemay prefer to a share with me in the invention of theTelegraph.”

I have already shown that this claim of Dr. Jackson’swas proved to be but the hallucination of a disorderedbrain, and it will not be necessary to go into thedetails of the controversy.

These were anxious and nerve-racking days for bothMorse and Vail, and it is small wonder that thereshould have been some slight friction. Vail inhis private correspondence makes some mention of this.For instance, in a letter to his brother George, ofJanuary 22, 1838, he says:—

“We received the machine on Thursday morning,and in an hour we made the first trial, which didnot succeed, nor did it with perfect success untilSaturday—all which time Professor M. wasrather unwell. To-morrow we shall makeour first exhibition, and continue it until Wednesday,when we must again box up. Professor M. has receiveda letter from Mr. Patterson inviting us to exhibitat Philadelphia, and has answered it, but has saidnothing to me about his intentions. He is altogetherinclined to operate in his own name, so much so thathe has had printed five hundred blank invitationsin his own name at your expense.”

On the other hand, this same George Vail, writingto Morse on January 26, 1838, asks him to “bearwith A., which I have no doubt you will. He iseasily vexed. Trusting to your universal coolness,however, there is nothing to fear. Keep him fromrunning ahead too fast.”

Again writing to his brother George from Washington,on February 20, 1838, Alfred says: “Inregard to Professor M. calling me his ‘assistant,’this is also settled, and he has said as much as toapologize for using the term.”

Why Vail should have objected to being called Morse’sassistant, I cannot quite understand, for he was sodesignated in the contract later made with the Government;but Morse was evidently willing to humor him in this.

I have thought it best to refer to these little incidentspartly in the interest of absolute candor, partlyto emphasize the nervous tension under which bothwere working at that time. That there was no lastingresentment in the mind of Vail is amply proved by thefollowing extract from a long letter written by himon March 19, 1838:—

“The great expectations I had on my return homeof going into partnership with George, founded, orsemi-founded, on the promises made by my father, haveburst. I am again on vague promises for threemonths, and they resting upon the success of the printingmachine.

“I feel, Professor Morse, that, if I am everworth anything, it will be wholly attributable toyour kindness. I now should have no earthlyprospect of happiness and domestic bliss had it notbeen for what you have done. For which I shallever remember [you] with the liveliest emotions ofgratitude, whether it is eventually successful or not.”

Aside from the slight friction to which I have referred,and which was most excusable under the circ*mstances,the joint work on the telegraph proceeded harmoniously.The invitation from Mr. Patterson, to exhibit theinstrument before the Committee of Science and Artsof the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, was accepted.The exhibition took place on February 8, and was apronounced success, and the committee, in expressingtheir gratification, voiced the hope that the Governmentwould provide the funds for an experiment on an adequatescale.

From Philadelphia Morse proceeded to Washington accompaniedby Vail, confidently believing that it would onlybe necessary to demonstrate the practicability ofhis invention to the country’s legislators assembledin Congress, in order to obtain a generous appropriationto enable him properly to test it. But he hadnot taken into account that trait of human naturewhich I shall dignify by calling it “conservatism,”in order not to give it a harder name.

The room of the Committee on Commerce was placed athis disposal, and there he hopefully strung his tenmiles of wire and connected them with his instruments.Outwardly calm but inwardly nervous and excited, ashe realized that he was facing a supreme moment inhis career, he patiently explained to all who came,Congressmen, men of science, representatives of foreigngovernments, and hard-headed men of business, the workingsof the instrument and proved its feasibility.The majority saw and wondered, but went away unconvinced.On February 21, President Martin Van Buren and hisentire Cabinet, at their own special request, visitedthe room and saw the telegraph in operation.But no action was taken by Congress; the time wasnot yet ripe for the general acceptance of such a revolutionarydeparture from the slow-going methods of that earlyperiod. While individuals here and there graspedthe full significance of what the mysterious tickingof that curious instrument foretold, they were vastlyin the minority. The world, through its representativesin the capital city of the United States, remainedincredulous.

Among those who at once recognized the possibilitiesof the invention was Francis O.J. Smith, memberof Congress from Portland, Maine, and chairman ofthe Committee on Commerce. He was a lawyer ofmuch shrewdness and a man of great energy, and hevery soon offered to become pecuniarily interestedin the invention. Morse was, unfortunately, nota keen judge of men. Scrupulously honest andhonorable himself, he had an almost childlike faithin the integrity of others, and all through his life

he fell an easy victim to the schemes of self-seekers.In this case a man of more acute intuition would havehesitated, and would have made some enquiries beforeallying himself with one whose ideas of honor provedeventually to be so at variance with his own.Smith did so much in later years to injure Morse,and to besmirch his fame and good name, that I thinkit only just to give the following estimate of hischaracter, made by the late Franklin Leonard Popein an article contributed to the “ElectricalWorld” in 1895:—

“A sense of justice compels me to say that theuncorroborated statements of F.O.J. Smith, inany matter affecting the credit or honor due to ProfessorMorse, should be allowed but little weight....For no better reason than that Morse in 1843-1844courteously but firmly refused to be a party to aquestionable scheme devised by Smith for the irregulardiversion into his own pocket of a portion of the governmentalappropriation of $30,000 for the construction of theexperimental line, he ever after cherished towardthe inventor the bitterest animosity; a feeling whichhe took no pains to conceal. Many of his lettersto him at that time, and for many years afterward,were couched in studiously insulting language, whichmust have been in the highest degree irritating toa sensitive artistic temperament like that of Morse.

“It probably by no means tended to mollify thedisposition of such a man as Smith to find that Morse,in reply to these covert sneers and open insinuations,never once lost his self-control, nor permitted himselfto depart from the dignified tone of rejoinder whichbecomes a gentleman in his dealings with one who,in his inmost nature, was essentially a blackguard.”

However, it is an old saying that we must “givethe devil his due,” and the cloven foot didnot appear at first. On the other hand, a manof business acumen and legal knowledge was greatlyneeded at this stage of the enterprise, and Smithpossessed them both. Morse was so grateful tofind any one with faith enough to be willing to investmoney in the invention; and to devote his time andenergy to its furtherance, that he at once acceptedSmith’s offer, and he was made a partner andgiven a one-fourth interest, Morse retaining ninesixteenths, Vail two sixteenths, and Professor Gale,also admitted as a partner, being allotted one sixteenth.It was characteristic of Morse that he insisted, beforesigning the contract, that Smith should obtain leaveof absence from Congress for the remainder of theterm, and should not stand for reelection. Itwas agreed that Smith should accompany Morse to Europeas soon as possible and endeavor to secure patentsin foreign countries, and, if successful, the profitswere to be divided differently, Morse receiving eightsixteenths, Smith five, Vail two, and Gale one.

In spite of the incredulity of the many, Morse couldnot help feeling encouraged, and in a long letterto Smith, written on February 15, 1838, proposingan experiment of one hundred miles, he thus forecaststhe future and proposes an intelligent plan of governmentcontrol:—

“If no insurmountable obstacles present themselvesin a distance of one hundred miles, none may be expectedin one thousand or in ten thousand miles; and thenwill be presented for the consideration of the Governmentthe propriety of completely organizing this newtelegraphic 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 theaccumulating duties of the present departments.

“It is obvious, at the slightest glance, thatthis mode of instantaneous communication must inevitablybecome an instrument of immense power, to be wieldedfor good or for evil, as it shall be properly or improperlydirected. In the hands of a company of speculators,who should monopolize it for themselves, it mightbe the means of enriching the corporation at the expenseof the bankruptcy of thousands; and even in the handsof Government alone it might become the means of workingvast mischief to the Republic.

“In considering these prospective evils, I wouldrespectfully suggest a remedy which offers itselfto my mind. Let the sole right of using the Telegraphbelong, in the first place, to the Government, whoshould grant, for a specified sum or bonus, to anyindividual or company of individuals who may applyfor it, and under such restrictions and regulationsas the Government may think proper, the right to laydown a communication between any two points for thepurpose of transmitting intelligence, and thus wouldbe promoted a general competition. The Governmentwould have a Telegraph of its own, and have its modesof communicating with its own officers and agents,independent of private permission or interferencewith and interruption to the ordinary transmissionson the private telegraphs. Thus there would bea system of checks and preventives of abuse operatingto restrain the action of this otherwise dangerouspower within those bounds which will permit only thegood and neutralize the evil. Should the Governmentthus take the Telegraph solely under its own control,the revenue derived from the bonuses alone, it mustbe plain, will be of vast amount.

“From the enterprising character of our countrymen,shown in the manner in which they carry forward anynew project which promises private or public advantage,it is not visionary to suppose that it would not belong ere the whole surface of this country would bechannelled for those nerves which are to diffuse,with the speed of thought, a knowledge of all thatis occurring throughout the land, making, in fact,one neighborhood of the whole country.

“If the Government is disposed to test thismode of telegraphic communication by enabling me togive it a fair trial for one hundred miles, I willengage to enter into no arrangement to dispose of myrights, as the inventor and patentee for the UnitedStates, to any individual or company of individuals,previous to offering it to the Government for sucha just and reasonable compensation as shall be mutuallyagreed upon.”

We have seen that Morse was said to be a hundred yearsahead of his time as an artist. From the sentencesabove quoted it would appear that he was far in advanceof his contemporaries in some questions of nationalpolicy, for the plan outlined by him for the propergovernmental control of a great public utility, likethe telegraph, it seems to me, should appeal to thosewho, at the present time, are agitating for that verything. Had the legislators and the people of 1838been as wise and clear-headed as the poor artist-inventor,a great leap forward in enlightened statecraft wouldhave been undertaken at a cost inconceivably lessthan would now be the case. Competent authoritiesestimate that to purchase the present telegraph linesin this country at their market valuation would costthe Government in the neighborhood of $500,000,000;to parallel them would cost some $25,000,000.The enormous difference in these two sums representswhat was foretold by Morse would happen if the telegraphshould become a monopoly in the hands of speculators.The history of the telegraph monopoly is too wellknown to be more than alluded to here, but it is onlyfair to Morse to state that he had sold all his telegraphstock, and had retired from active participation inthe management of the different companies, long beforethe system of stock-watering began which has beencarried on to the present day.

And for what sum could the Government have kept thisgreat invention under its own control? It ison record that Morse offered, in 1844, after the experimentalline between Washington and Baltimore had demonstratedthat the telegraph was a success, to sell all the rightsin his invention to the Government for $100,000, andwould have considered himself amply remunerated.

But the legislators and the people of 1838, and eventhose of 1844, were not wise and far-sighted; theyfailed utterly to realize what a magnificent opportunityhad been offered to them for a mere song; and thisin spite of the fact that the few who did glimpse thegreat future of the telegraph painted it in glowingterms.

It is true that the House of Representatives had passedthe resolution referred to earlier in this chapter,but that is as far as they went for several years.On the 6th of April, 1838, Mr. F.O.J. Smith madea long report on the petition of Morse asking foran appropriation sufficient to enable him to testhis invention adequately. In the course of thisreport Mr. Smith indulged in the following eulogisticwords:—

“It is obvious, however, that the influenceof this invention over the political, commercial,and social relations of the people of this widelyextended country, looking to nothing beyond, will,in the event of success, of itself amount to a revolutionunsurpassed in moral grandeur by any discovery thathas been made in the arts and sciences, from the mostdistant period to which authentic history extends tothe present day. With the means of almost instantaneous

communication of intelligence between the most distantpoints of the country, and simultaneously betweenany given number of intermediate points which thisinvention contemplates, space will be, to all practicalpurposes of information, completely annihilated betweenthe States of the Union, as also between the individualcitizens thereof. The citizen will be investedwith, and reduce to daily and familiar use, an approachto the HIGH ATTRIBUTE OP UBIQUITY in a degree thatthe human mind, until recently, has hardly dared tocontemplate seriously as belonging to human agency,from an instinctive feeling of religious reverenceand reserve on a power of such awful grandeur.”

In the face of these enthusiastic, if somewhat stilted,periods the majority of his colleagues remained cold,and no appropriation was voted. Morse, however,was prepared to meet with discouragements, for he wroteto Vail on March 15:—

“Everything looks encouraging, but I need notsay to you that in this world a continued course ofprosperity is not a rational expectation. Weshall, doubtless, find troubles and difficulties instore for us, and it is the part of true wisdom tobe prepared for whatever may await us. If ourhearts are right we shall not be taken by surprise.I see nothing now but an unclouded prospect, for whichlet us pay to Him who shows it to us the homage ofgrateful and obedient hearts, with most earnest prayersfor grace to use prosperity aright.”

This was written while there was still hope that Congressmight take some action at that session, and Morsewas optimistic. On March 31, he thus reportsprogress to Vail:—

“I write you a hasty line to say, in the firstplace, that I have overcome all difficulties in regardto a portrule, and have invented one which will beperfect. It is very simple, and will not takemuch time or expense to make it. Mr. S. has incorporatedit into the specification for the patent. Please,therefore, not to proceed with the type or portruleas now constructed: I will see you on my returnand explain it in season for you to get one readyfor us.

“I find it a most arduous and tedious processto adjust the specification. I have been engagedsteadily for three days with Mr. S., and have notyet got half through, but there is one consolation,when done it will be well done. The drawings,I find on enquiry, would cost you from forty to fiftydollars if procured from the draughtsman about thePatent Office. I have, therefore, determined todo them myself and save you that sum.”

The portrule, referred to above, was a device forsending automatically messages which were recordedpermanently on the tape at the other end of the line.It worked well enough, but it was soon superseded bythe key manipulated by hand, as this was much simplerand the dots and dashes could be sent more rapidly.It is curious to note, however, that down to the presentday inventors have been busy in an effort to devisesome mechanism by which messages could be sent automatically,and consequently more rapidly than by hand, whichwas Morse’s original idea, but, to the bestof my knowledge, no satisfactory solution of the problemhas yet been found.

Morse was now preparing to go to Europe with Smithto endeavor to secure patents abroad, and, while hehad put in his application for a patent in this country,he requested that the issuing of it should be heldback until his return, so that a publication on thisside should not injure his chances abroad.

All the partners were working under high pressurealong their several lines to get everything in readinessfor a successful exhibition of the telegraph in Europe.Vail sent a long letter to Morse on April 18, detailingsome of the difficulties which he was encountering,and Morse answered on the 24th:—

“I write in greatest haste, just to say thatthe boxes have safely arrived, and we shall proceedimmediately to examine into the difficulties whichhave troubled you, but about which we apprehend noserious issue....

“If you can possibly get the circular portrulecompleted before we go it will be a great convenience,not to say an indispensable matter, for I have justlearned so much of Wheatstone’s Telegraph asto be pretty well persuaded that my superiority overhim will be made evident more by the rapidity withwhich I can make the portrule work than in almost anyother particular.”

At last every detail had been attended to, and ina postscript to a letter of April 28 he says:“We sail on the 16th of May for Liverpool inthe ship Europe, so I think you will have time to completecircular portrule. Try, won’t you?”

CHAPTER XXV

JUNE, 1838—JANUARY 21, 1839

Arrival in England.—Application for letterspatent.—Cooke and Wheatstone’s telegraph.—Patentrefused.—Departure for Paris.—Patentsecured in France.—Earl of Elgin.—Earlof Lincoln.—Baron de Meyendorff.—Russiancontract.—Return to London.—Exhibitionat the Earl of Lincoln’s.—Letterfrom secretary of Lord Campbell, Attorney-General.—Coronation of Queen Victoria.—Lettersto daughter.—Birth of the Count of Paris.—Exhibitionbefore the Institute of France.—Arago; BaronHumboldt.—Negotiations with the Governmentand Saint-Germain Railway.— Reminiscencesof Dr. Kirk.—Letter of the Honorable H.L.Ellsworth.— Letter to F.O.J. Smith.—Dilatorinessof the French.

It seems almost incredible to us, who have come tolook upon marvel after marvel of science and inventionas a matter of course, that it should have taken somany years to convince the world that the telegraphwas a possibility and not an iridescent dream.While men of science and a few far-sighted laymensaw that the time was ripe for this much-needed advancein the means of conveying intelligence, governmentsand capitalists had held shyly aloof, and, even now,weighed carefully the advantages of different systemsbefore deciding which, if any, was the best.For there were at this time several different systemsin the field, and Morse soon found that he would have

to compete with the trained scientists of the OldWorld, backed, at last, by their respective governments,in his effort to prove that his invention was the simplestand the best of them all. That he should havepersisted in spite of discouragement after discouragement,struggling to overcome obstacles which to the faint-heartedwould have seemed insuperable, constitutes one ofhis greatest claims to undying fame. He left onrecord an account of his experiences in Europe onthis voyage, memorable in more ways than one, andextracts from this, and from letters written to hisdaughter and brothers, will best tell the story:—

“On May 16, 1838, I left the United States andarrived in London in June, for the purpose of obtainingletters patent for my Electro-Magnetic Telegraph System.I learned before I left the United States that ProfessorWheatstone and Mr. Cooke, of London, had obtained letterspatent in England for a ‘Magnetic-Needle Telegraph,’based, as the name implies, on the deflection ofthe magnetic needle. Their telegraph, atthat time, required six conductors between thetwo points of intercommunication for a single instrumentat each of the two termini. Their mode of indicatingsigns for communicating intelligence was by deflectingfive magnetic needles in various directions,in such a way as to point to the required lettersupon a diamond-shaped dial-plate. It was necessarythat the signal should be observed at the instant,or it was lost and vanished forever.

“I applied for letters patent for my systemof communicating intelligence at a distance by electricity,differing in all respects from Messrs. Wheatstoneand Cooke’s system, invented five years beforetheirs, and having nothing in common in the wholesystem but the use of electricity on metallicconductors, for which use no one could obtain anexclusive privilege, since this much had been usedfor nearly one hundred years. My system is peculiarin the employment of electro-magnetism, or themotive power of electricity, to imprint permanentsigns at a distance.

“I made no use of the deflections of the magneticneedle as signs. I required but oneconductor between the two termini, or any numberof intermediate points of intercommunication.I used paper moved by clockwork upon whichI caused a lever moved by magnetism toimprint the letters and words of anyrequired dispatch, having also invented and adaptedto telegraph writing a new and peculiar alphabeticcharacter 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 ofthese facts, that the system of Messrs. Wheatstoneand Cooke and my system were wholly unlike each other.As I have just observed, there was nothing in commonin the two systems but the use of electricityupon metallic conductors, for which no one could obtainan exclusive privilege.

“The various steps required by the English lawwere taken by me to procure a patent for my mode,and the fees were paid at the Clerk’s office,June 22, and at the Home Department, June 25, 1838;also, June 26, caveats were entered at the Attorneyand Solicitor-General’s, and I had reached thatpart of the process which required the sanction ofthe Attorney-General. At this point I met theopposition of Messrs. Wheatstone and Cooke, and alsoof Mr. Davy, and a hearing was ordered before theAttorney-General, Sir John Campbell, on July 12, 1838.I attended at the Attorney-General’s residenceon the morning of that day, carrying with me my telegraphicapparatus for the purpose of explaining to him thetotal dissimilarity between my system and those ofmy opponents. But, contrary to my expectation,the similarity or dissimilarity of my mode from thatof my opponents was not considered by the Attorney-General.He neither examined my instrument, which I had broughtfor that purpose, nor did he ask any questions bearingupon its resemblance to my opponents’ system.I was met by the single declaration that my ‘inventionhad been published,’ and in proof a copyof the London ‘Mechanics’ Magazine,’No. 757, for February 10, 1838, was produced, andI was told that ’in consequence of said publicationI could not proceed.’

“At this summary decision I was certainly surprised,being conscious that there had been no such publicationof my method as the law required to invalidate a patent;and, even if there had been, I ventured to hint tothe Attorney-General that, if I was rightly informedin regard to the British law, it was the provinceof a court and jury, and not of the Attorney-General,to try, and to decide that point.”

The publication to which the Attorney-General referredhad merely stated results, with no description whateverof the means by which these results were to be obtainedand it was manifestly unfair to Morse on the part ofthis official to have refused his sanction; but heremained obdurate. Morse then wrote him a longletter, after consultation with Mr. Smith, settingforth all these points and begging for another interview.

“In consequence of my request in this letterI was allowed a second hearing. I attended accordingly,but, to my chagrin, the Attorney-General remarkedthat he had not had time to examine the letter.He carelessly took it up and turned over the leaveswithout reading it, and then asked me if I had nottaken measures for a patent in my own country.And, upon my reply in the affirmative, he remarkedthat: ’America was a large country andI ought to be satisfied with a patent there.’I replied that, with all due deference, I did notconsider that as a point submitted for the Attorney-General’sdecision; that the question submitted was whetherthere was any legal obstacle in the way of my obtainingletters patent for my Telegraph in England. Heobserved that he considered my invention as havingbeen published, and that he must thereforeforbid me to proceed.

“Thus forbidden to proceed by an authority fromwhich there was no appeal, as I afterward learned,but to Parliament, and this at great cost of timeand money, I immediately left England for France, whereI found no difficulty in securing a patent. Myinvention there not only attracted the regards ofthe distinguished savants of Paris, but, in a markeddegree, the admiration of many of the English nobilityand gentry at that time in the French capital.To several of these, while explaining the operationof my telegraphic system, I related the history ofmy treatment by the English Attorney-General.The celebrated Earl of Elgin took a deep interestin the matter and was intent on my obtaining a specialAct of Parliament to secure to me my just rights asthe inventor of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph.He repeatedly visited me, bringing with him many ofhis distinguished friends, and on one occasion thenoble Earl of Lincoln, since one of Her Majesty’sPrivy Council. The Honorable Henry Drummond alsointerested himself for me, and through his kindnessand Lord Elgin’s I received letters of introductionto Lord Brougham and to the Marquis of Northampton,the President of the Royal Society, and several otherdistinguished persons in England. The Earl ofLincoln showed me special kindness. In takingleave of me in Paris he gave me his card, and, requestingme to bring my telegraphic instruments with me toLondon, pressed me to give him the earliest noticeof my arrival in London.

“I must here say that for weeks in Paris I hadbeen engaged in negotiation with the Russian Counselorof State, the Baron Alexander de Meyendorff, arrangingmeasures for putting the telegraph in operation inRussia. The terms of a contract had been mutuallyagreed upon, and all was concluded but the signatureof the Emperor to legalize it. In order to takeadvantage of the ensuing summer season for my operationsin Russia, I determined to proceed immediately tothe United States to make some necessary preparationsfor the enterprise, without waiting for the formalcompletion of the contract papers, being led to believethat the signature of the Emperor was sure, a matterof mere form.

“Under these circ*mstances I left Paris on the13th of March, 1839, and arrived in London on the15th of the same month. The next day I sent mycard to the Earl of Lincoln and my letter and cardto the Marquis of Northampton, and in two or threedays received a visit from both. By Earl LincolnI was at once invited to send my Telegraph to his housein Park Lane, and on the 19th of March I exhibitedits 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. Fromthe circ*mstances mentioned my time in London wasnecessarily short, my passage having been securedin the Great Western to sail on the 23d of March.Although solicited to remain a while in London, bothby the Earl of Lincoln and the Honorable Henry Drummond,

with a view to obtaining a special Act of Parliamentfor a patent, I was compelled by the circ*mstancesof the case to defer till some more favorable opportunity,on my expected return to England, any attempt of thekind. The Emperor of Russia, however, refusedto ratify the contract made with me by the Counselorof State, and my design of returning to Europe wasfrustrated, and I have not to this hour [April 2,1847] had the means to prosecute this enterprise toa result in England. All my exertions were neededto establish my telegraphic system in my own country.

“Time has shown conclusively the essential differenceof my telegraphic system from those of my opponents;time has also shown that my system was not publishedin England, as alleged by the Attorney-General, for,to this day, no work in England has published anythingthat does not show that, as yet, it is perfectly misunderstood....

“The refusal to grant me a patent was, at thatperiod, very disastrous. It was especially discouragingto have made a long voyage across the Atlantic invain, incurring great expenditure and loss of time,which in their consequences also produced years ofdelay in the prosecution of my enterprise in the UnitedStates.”

The long statement, from which I have taken the aboveextracts, was written, as I have noted, on April 2,1847, but the following interesting addition was madeto it on December 11, 1848:—

“At the time of preparing this statement I lackedone item of evidence, which it was desirable to haveaside from my own assertion, viz., evidence thatthe refusal of the Attorney-General was on the ground‘that a publication of the invention had beenmade.’ I deemed it advisable ratherto suffer from the delay and endure the taunts, whichmy unscrupulous opponents have not been slow to lavishupon me in consequence, if I could but obtain thisevidence in proper shape. I accordingly wroteto my brother, then in London, to procure, if possible,from Lord Campbell or his secretary an acknowledgmentof the ground on which he refused my application fora patent in 1838, since no public report or recordin such cases 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’ssecretary at the time, and the only official personbesides Lord Campbell connected with the matter.The following is Mr. Cooper’s reply:—

“’WILMINGTON SQUARE, May 23d, 1848.

“’GENTLEMEN,—In answer to yoursof the 20th inst., I beg to state that I have a distinctrecollection of Professor Morse’s applicationfor a patent, strengthened by the fact of his nothaving paid the fees for the hearing, etc., andthese being now owing. I understood at the timethat the patent was stopped on the ground that a publicationof the invention had been made, but I cannot procureLord Campbell’s certificate of that fact.

“’I am, gentlemen
“’Your obedient servant
“‘H. COOPER.’

“I thus have obtained the evidence I desiredin the most authentic form, but accompanied with asgross an insult as could well be conceived. Onthe receipt of this letter I immediately wrote to F.O.J.Smith, Esq., at Portland, who accompanied me to England,and at whose sole expense, according to agreement,all proceedings in taking out patents in Europe wereto be borne, to know if this charge of the Attorney-General’ssecretary could possibly be true; not knowing but throughsome inadvertence on his (Mr. Smith’s) part,this bill might have been overlooked.

“Mr. Smith writes me in answer, sending me acopy verbatim of the following receipt, whichhe holds and which speaks for itself:—

“’Mr. Morse to the Attorney-General, Dr.
Ls. d.
Hearing on a patent . . . . 3 10 0
Giving notice on the same . 1 1 0
------
411 0
Settled the 13th of August, 1838.
“‘(Signed) H.COOPER.’

“This receipt is signed, as will be perceived,by the same individual, H. Cooper, who, nearly tenyears after his acknowledgment of the money, has theimpudence to charge me with leaving my fees unpaid.I now leave the public to make their own commentsboth on the character of the whole transaction inEngland, and on the character and motives of thosein this country who have espoused Lord Campbell’scourse, making it an occasion to charge me with havinginvented nothing.

“SAMUEL F.B. MORSE.”

I have, in these extracts from an account of his Europeanexperiences, written by Morse at a later date, givenbut a brief summary of certain events; it will nowbe necessary to record more in detail some of thehappenings on that memorable trip.

Attention has been called before to the fact thatit was Morse’s good fortune to have been aneye-witness of many events of historic interest.Still another was now to be added to the list, for,while he was in London striving unsuccessfully tosecure a patent for his invention, he was privilegedto witness the coronation of Queen Victoria; our Minister,the Honorable Andrew Stevenson, having procured forhim a ticket of admission to Westminster Abbey.

Writing to his daughter Susan on June 19, 1838, beforehe had met with his rebuff from the Attorney-General,he comments briefly on the festivities incident tothe occasion:—

“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).Everything 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.Preparations for illuminations are making all overthe city.

“I have scarcely entered upon the business ofthe Telegraph, but have examined (tell Dr. Gale) thespecification of Wheatstone at the Patent Office,and except the alarum part, he has nothing which interfereswith mine. His invention is ingenious and beautiful,but very complicated, and he must use twelve wireswhere I use but four. I have also seen a telegraphexhibiting at Exeter Hall invented by Davy, somethinglike Wheatstone’s but still complicated.I find mine is yet the simplest and hope to accomplishsomething, but always keep myself prepared for disappointment.”

At a later date he recounted the following prettyincident, showing the kindly character of the youngqueen, which may not be generally known:—

“I was in London in 1838, and was present withmy excellent friend, the late Charles R. Leslie, R.A.,at the imposing ceremonies of the coronation of thequeen in Westminster Abbey. He then related tome the following incident which, I think, may trulybe said to have been the first act of Her Majesty’sreign.

“When her predecessor, William IV, died, a messengerwas immediately dispatched by his queen (then becomeby his death queen dowager) to Victoria, apprisingher of the event. She immediately called for paperand indited a letter of condolence to the widow.Folding it, she directed it ‘To the Queen ofEngland.’ Her maid of honor in attendance,noting the inscription, said: ‘Your Majesty,you are Queen of England.’ ‘Yes,’she replied, ’but the widowed queen is not tobe reminded of that fact first by me.’”

Writing to his daughter from Havre, on July 26, 1838,while on his way to Paris, after telling her of theunjust decision of the Attorney-General, he adds:—

“Professor Wheatstone and Mr. Davy were my opponents.They have each very ingenious inventions of theirown, particularly the former, who is a man of geniusand one with whom I was personally much pleased.He has invented his, I believe, without knowing thatI was engaged in an invention to produce a similarresult; 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. Mytime has not been lost, however, for I have ascertainedwith certainty that the Telegraph of a single circuitand a recording apparatus is mine....

“I found also that both Mr. Wheatstone and Mr.Davy were endeavoring to simplify theirs by addinga recording apparatus and reducing theirs to a singlecircuit. The latter showed to the Attorney-Generala drawing, which I obtained sight of, of a methodby which he proposed a bungling imitation of my firstcharacters, those that were printed in our journals,and one, however plausible on paper, and sufficientlyso to deceive the Attorney-General, was perfectlyimpracticable. Partiality, from national or othermotives, aside from the justice of the case, I ampersuaded, influenced the decision against me.

“We are now on our way to Paris to try whatwe can do with the French Government. I confessI am not sanguine as to any favorable pecuniary resultin Europe, but we shall try, and, at any rate, we haveseen enough to know that the matter is viewed withgreat interest here, and the plan of such telegraphswill be adopted, and, of course, the United Statesis secured to us, and I do hope something from that.

“Be economical, my dear child, and keep yourwants within bounds, for I am preparing myself foran unsuccessful result here, yet every proper effortwill be made. I am in excellent health and spiritsand leave to-morrow morning for Paris.”

“Paris, August 29, 1838. I have obtaineda patent here and it is exciting some attention.The prospects of future benefit from the inventionare good, but I shall not probably realize much, oreven anything, immediately.

“I saw by the papers, before I got your letter,that Congress had not passed the appropriation billfor the Telegraph. On some accounts I regretit, but it is only delayed, and it will probably bepassed early in the winter.”

Little did he think, in his cheerful optimism, thatnearly five long years must elapse before Congressshould awaken to its great opportunity.

“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 onthe ocean on his return. I think of leaving Parisin a very few days. I am only waiting to showthe Telegraph to the King, from whom I expect a messagehourly. The birth of a prince occupies the wholeattention just how of the royal family and the court.He was born on the 24th inst., the son of the Dukeand duch*ess of Orleans. My rooms are as delightfullysituated, perhaps, as any in Paris; they are closeto the palace of the Tuileries and overlook the gardens,and are within half a stone’s throw of the roomsof the Duke and duch*ess of Orleans. From my balconyI look directly into their rooms. I saw the companythat was there assembled on the birthday of the littleprince, and saw him in his nurse’s arms at thewindow the next day after his birth. He lookedvery much like any other baby, and not half so handsomeas little Hugh Peters.

“I received from the Minister of War, GeneralBernard, who has been very polite to me, a ticketto be present at the Te Deum performed yesterdayin the great cathedral of Paris, Notre Dame, on accountof the birth of the prince. The king and allthe royal family and the court, with all the officersof state, were present. The cathedral was crowdedwith all the fashion of Paris. Along the waysand around the church were soldiers without number,almost; a proof that some danger was apprehended tothe king, and yet he ought to be popular for he isthe best ruler they have had for years. The ceremonieswere imposing, appealing to the senses and the imagination,and not at all to the reason or the heart.”

The king was Louis Philippe; the little prince, hisgrandson, was the Count of Paris.

“Paris, September 29, 1838. Since mylast matters have assumed a totally different aspect.At the request of Monsieur Arago, the most distinguishedastronomer of the day, I submitted the Telegraph tothe Institute at one of their meetings, at which someof the most celebrated philosophers of France andof Germany and of other countries were present.Its reception was in the highest degree flattering,and the interest which they manifested, by the questionsthey asked and the exclamations they used, showedto me then that the invention had obtained their favorableregard. The papers of Paris immediately announcedthe Telegraph in the most favorable terms, and ithas literally been the topic of the day ever since.The Baron Humboldt, the celebrated traveller, a memberof the Institute and who saw its operation beforethat body, told Mr. Wheaton, our Minister to Prussia,that my Telegraph was the best of all the plans thathad been devised.

“I received a call from the administrator-in-chiefof all the telegraphs of France, Monsieur AlphonseFoy. I explained it to him; he was highly delightedwith it, and told me that the Government was aboutto try an experiment with the view of testing thepracticability of the Electric Telegraph, and thathe had been requested to see mine and report upon it;that he should report that ’mine was the bestthat had been submitted to him’; and headded that I had better forthwith get an introductionto the Minister of the Interior, Mons. the CountMontalivet. I procured a letter from our Minister,and am now waiting the decision of the Government.

“Everything looks promising thus far, as muchso as I could expect, but it involves the possibility,not to say the probability, of my remaining in Parisduring the winter.

“If I should be delayed till December it wouldbe prudent to remain until April. If it be possible,without detriment to my affairs, to make such arrangementsthat I may return this autumn, I shall certainly doit; but, if I should not, you must console yourselvesthat it is in consequence of meeting with successthat I am detained, and that I shall be more likelyto return with advantage to you all on account of thedelay.

“I ought to say that the directors of the Saint-GermainRailroad have seen my Telegraph, and that there issome talk (as yet vague) of establishing a line ofmy Telegraph upon that road. I mention these,my dear child, to show you that I cannot at this momentleave Paris without detriment to my principal object.”

“Paris, October 10, 1838. You are atan age when a parent’s care, and particularlya mother’s care, is most needed. You cannotknow the depth of the wound that was inflicted whenI was deprived of your dear mother, nor in how manyways that wound was kept open. Yet I know it isall well; I look to God to take care of you; it ishis will that you should be almost truly an orphan,for, with all my efforts to have a home for you andto be near you, I have met hitherto only with disappointment.But there are now indications of a change, and, whileI prepare for disappointment and wish you to preparefor disappointment, we ought to acknowledge the kindhand of our Heavenly Father in so far prospering meas to put me in the honorable light before the worldwhich is now my lot. With the eminence is connectedthe prospect of pecuniary prosperity, yet this isnot consummated, but only in prospect; it may be along time before anything is realized. Study,therefore, prudence and economy in all things; makeyour wants as few as possible, for the habit thusacquired will be of advantage to you whether you havemuch or little.”

Thus did hope alternate with despondency as the daysand weeks wore away and nothing tangible was accomplished.All who saw the working of the telegraph were loudin their expressions of wonder and admiration, but,for reasons which shall presently be explained, nothingelse was gained by the inventor at that time.

An old friend of Morse’s, the Reverend Dr. Kirk,was then living in Paris, and the two friends notonly roomed together but Dr. Kirk, speaking Frenchfluently, which Morse did not, acted as interpreterin the many exhibitions given. Writing of thisin later years, Dr. Kirk says:—

“I remember rallying my friend frequently aboutthe experience of great inventors, who are generallypermitted to starve while living and are canonizedafter death.

“When the model telegraph had been set up inour rooms, Mr. Morse desired to exhibit it to thesavants of Paris, but, as he had less of the talkingpropensity than myself, I was made the grand exhibitor.

“Our levee-day was Tuesday, and for weeks wereceived the visits of distinguished citizens andstrangers, to whom I explained the principles andoperation of the Telegraph. The visitors wouldagree upon a word among themselves which I was notto hear; then the Professor would receive it at thewriting end of the wires, while it devolved upon meto interpret the characters which recorded it at theother end. As I explained the hieroglyphics theannouncement of the word, which they saw could havecome to me only through the wire, would often createa deep sensation of delighted wonder; and much doI now regret that I did not take notes of these interviews,for it would be an interesting record of distinguishednames and of valuable remarks.”

On the 10th of September, 1838, Morse enjoyed thegreatest triumph of all, for it was on that day that,by invitation of M. Arago, the exhibition of his inventionbefore the Institute of France, casually mentionedin one of his letters to his daughter, took place.Writing of the occasion to Alfred Vail, he says:—

“I exhibited the Telegraph to the Instituteand the sensation produced was as striking as at Washington.It was evident that hitherto the assembled scienceof Europe had considered the plan of an Electric Telegraphas ingenious but visionary, and, like aeronautic navigation,practicable in little more than theory and destinedto be useless.

“I cannot describe to you the scene at the Institutewhen your box with the registering-machine, just asit left Speedwell, was placed upon the table and surroundedby the most distinguished men of all Europe, celebratedin the various arts and sciences—Arago,Baron Humboldt, Gay-Lussac, and a host of others whosenames are stars that shine in both hemispheres.Arago described it to them, and I showed its action.A buzz of admiration and approbation filled the wholehall and the exclamations ‘Extraordinaire!’‘Tres bien!’ ‘Tres admirable!’I heard on all sides. The sentiment was universal.”

Another American at that time in Paris, the HonorableH.L. Ellsworth, also wrote home about the impressionwhich was produced by the exhibition of this new wonder:—

“I am sure you will be glad to learn that ourAmerican friend, Professor Morse, is producing a verygreat sensation among the learned men of this kingdomby his ingenious and wonderful Magnetic Telegraph.He submitted it to the examination of the Academyof Sciences of the Royal Institute of France, at theirsitting on Monday last, and the deepest interest wasexcited among the members of that learned body on thesubject. Its novelty, beauty, simplicity, andpower were highly commended....

“Other projects for the establishment of a magnetictelegraph have been broached here, especially fromProfessor Wheatstone, of London, and Professor Steinheil,of Munich. It is said, however, to be very manifestthat our Yankee Professor is ahead of them all in theessential requisitions of such an invention, and thathe is in the way to bear off the palm. In simplicityof design, cheapness of construction and efficiency,Professor Morse’s Telegraph transcends all yetmade known. In each of these qualities it isadmitted, by those who have inspected it closely,there seems to be little else to desire. It iscertain, moreover, that in priority of discovery heantedates all others.”

Encouraged by the universal praise which was showeredupon him, the hopeful inventor redoubled his effortsto secure in some way, either through the Governmentor through private parties, the means to make a practicaltest of his invention.

Mr. F.O.J. Smith had, in the mean time, returnedto America, and Morse kept him informed by letterof the progress of affairs in Paris. Avoiding,as far as possible, repetitions and irrelevant details,I shall let extracts from these letters tell the story:—

“September 29, 1838. On Monday I receiveda very flattering letter from our excellent Minister,Governor Cass, introducing me to the Count Montalivet,and I accordingly called the next day. I did notsee him, but had an interview with his secretary,who told me that the Administrator of the Telegraphshad not yet reported to the Minister, but that he wouldsee him the next day, and that, if I would call onFriday, he would inform me of the result. I calledon Friday. The secretary informed me that hehad seen M. Foy, and that he had more than confirmedthe flattering accounts in the American Minister’sletter respecting the Telegraph, but was not yet preparedwith his report to the Minister—he wishedto make a detailed account of the differences infavor of mine over all others that had been presentedto him, or words to that effect; and the secretaryassured me that the report would be all I could wish.This is certainly flattering and I am to call on Mondayto learn further.”

“October 24. I can only add, in a fewwords, that everything here is as encouraging as couldbe expected. The report of the Administrator ofTelegraphs has been made to the Minister of the Interior,and I have been told that I should be notified ofthe intentions of the Government in a few days.I have also shown the railroad telegraph to the Saint-Germaindirectors, who are delighted with it, and from themI expect a proposition within a few days.”

“November 22. I intend sending this letterby the packet of the 24th inst., and am in hopes ofsending with it some intelligence from those fromwhom I have been so long expecting something.Everything moves at a snail’s pace here.I find delay in all things; at least, so it appearsto me, who have too strong a development of the Americanorgan of ‘go-ahead-ativeness’ to feeleasy under its tantalizing effects. A Frenchmanought to have as many lives as a cat to bring to pass,on his dilatory plan of procedure, the same resultsthat a Yankee would accomplish in his single life.”

“Afternoon, November 22. Called on theMinistre de l’Interieur; no one at home; leftcard and will call again to-morrow, and hope to bein time yet for the packet.”

“November 23. I have again called, butdo not find at home the chief secretary, M. Merlin....I shall miss the packet of the 24th, but I am toldshe is a slow ship and that I shall probably find theletters reach home quite as soon by the next.I will leave this open to add if anything occurs betweenthis and next packet day.”

“November 30. I have been called offfrom this letter until the last moment by stirringabout and endeavoring to expedite matters with theGovernment. I have been to see General Cass sincemy last date. I talked over matters with him.He complains much of their dilatoriness, but seesno way of quickening them.... I called again thismorning at the Minister’s and, as usual, thesecretary was absent; at the palace they said.If I could once get them to look at it I should besure of them, for I have never shown it to any onewho did not seem in raptures. I showed it a fewdays ago to M. Fremel, the Director of Light-Houses,who came with Mr. Vail and Captain Perry. Hewas cautious at first, but afterwards became as enthusiasticas any.

“The railroad directors are as dilatory as theGovernment, but I know they are discussing the matterseriously at their meetings, and I was told that themost influential man among them said they ‘musthave it.’ There is nothing in the leastdiscouraging that has occurred, but, on the contrary,everything to confirm the practicability of the plan,both on the score of science and expense.”

“January 21, 1839. I learn that the Telegraphis much talked of in all society, and I learn thatthe Theatre des Varietes, which is a sort ofmirror of the popular topics, has a piece in whichpersons are made to converse by means of this Telegraphsome hundreds of miles off.

“This is a straw which shows the way of thewind, and although matters move too slow for my impatientspirit, yet the Telegraph is evidently gaining onthe popular notice, and in time will demand the attentionof Governments.

“I have the promise of a visit from the CountBoudy, Chief of the Household of the King, and who,I understand, has great influence with the king andcan induce him to adopt the Telegraph between someof his palaces.

“Hopes, you perceive, continue bright, but theyare somewhat unsubstantial to an empty purse.I look for the first fruits in America. My confidenceincreases every day in the certainty of the eventualadoption of this means of communication throughoutthe civilized world. Its practicability, hithertodoubted by savants here, is completely established,and they do not hesitate to give me the credit of havingestablished it. I rejoice quite as much for mycountry’s sake as for my own that both priorityand superiority are awarded to my invention.”

CHAPTER XXVI

JANUARY 6, 1839—MARCH 9, 1839

Despondent letter to his brother Sidney.—Longingfor a home.—Letter to Smith.—Moredelays.—Change of ministry.—Proposalto form private company.—Impossible underthe laws of France.—Telegraphs a governmentmonopoly.—Refusal of Czar to sign Russiancontract.—Dr. Jackson.—M.Amyot.—Failure to gain audience of king.—LordElgin.—Earl of Lincoln. —RobertWalsh prophesies success.—Meeting with Earlof Lincoln in later years.—Daguerre.—Letterto Mrs. Cass on lotteries.—Railway andmilitary telegraphs.—Skepticism of a Marshalof France.

Thus hopefully the inventor kept writing home, alwaysmaintaining that soon all obstacles would be overcome,and that he would then have a chance to demonstratein a really practical way the great usefulness ofhis invention. But, instead of melting away, newobstacles kept arising at every turn. The dilatorinessof the French Government seems past all belief, andyet, in spite of his faith in the more expeditiousmethods of his own country, he was fated to encounterthe same exasperating slowness at home. It was,therefore, only natural that in spite of the courageousoptimism of his nature, he should at times have givenway to fits of depression, as is instanced by thefollowing extracts from a letter written to his brotherSidney on January 6, 1839:—

“I know not that I feel right to indulge inthe despondency which, in spite of all reason to thecontrary, creeps over me when I think of returning.I know the feelings of Tantalus perfectly. Allmy prospects in regard to the Telegraph are brightand encouraging, and so they have been for months,and they still continue to be so; but the sober nowis that I am expending and not acquiring; it has,as yet, been all outgo and no income.At the rate business is done here, the slow, dilatorymanner in which the most favorable projects are carriedforward, I have no reason to believe that anythingwill be realized before I must leave France, whichwill probably be in about six weeks. If so, thenI return penniless, and, worse than penniless, I returnto find debts and no home; to find homeless childrenwith all hope extinguished of ever seeing them againin a family. Indeed, I may say that, in this latterrespect, the last ray is departed; I think no moreof it.

“I now feel anxious to see my children educatedwith the means they have of their own, and in a wayof usefulness, and for myself I desire to live secluded,without being burdensome to my friends. I shouldbe glad to exchange my rooms in the university forone or two in your new building. I shall probablyresign both Professorship and Presidency on my return.The first has become merely nominal, and the latteris connected with duties which properly confine tothe city, and, as I wish to be free to go to otherplaces, I think it will be best to resign.

“If our Government should take the Telegraph,or companies should be formed for that purpose, sothat a sum is realized from it when I get home, thiswill, of course, change the face of things; but I darenot expect it and ought not to build any plans onsuch a contingency. So far as praise goes I haveevery reason to be satisfied at the state of thingshere in regard to the Telegraph. All the savants,committees of learned societies, members of the Chamberof Deputies, and officers of Government have, withoutexception, been as enthusiastic in its reception asany in the United States. Both the priority andsuperiority of my invention are established, and thusthe credit, be it more or less, is secured to ourcountry. The Prefect of the Seine expressed adesire to see it and called by appointment yesterday.He was perfectly satisfied, and said of his own accordthat he should see the king last evening and shouldmention the Telegraph to him. I shall probablysoon be requested, therefore, to show the Telegraphto the king.

“All these are most encouraging prospects; thereis, indeed, nothing that has arisen to throw any insurmountableobstacle in the way of its adoption with completesuccess; and for all this I ought to feel gratitude,and I wish to acknowledge it before Him to whom gratitudeis due. Is it right or is it wrong, in view ofall this, to feel despondency?

“In spite of all I do feel sad. I am nolonger young; I have children, but they are orphans,and orphans they are likely to be. I have a country,but no home. It is this no homethat perpetually haunts me. I feel as if it wereduty, duty most urgent, for me to settle in a familystate at all hazards on account of these children.I know they suffer in this forming period of theirlives for the want of a home, of the care of a fatherand a mother, and that no care and attention from friends,be they ever so kind, can supply the place of parents.But all efforts, direct and indirect, to bring thisabout have been frustrated.

“My dear brother, may you never feel, as I havefelt, the loss of a wife. That wound bleedsafresh daily, as if it were inflicted but yesterday.There is a meaning in all these acute mental trials,and they are at times so severe as almost to depriveme of reason, though few around me would suspect thestate of my mind.”

These last few lines are eminently characteristicof the man. While called upon to endure much,both mentally and physically, he possessed such remarkableself-control that few, if any, of those around himwere aware of his suffering. Only to his intimatesdid he ever reveal the pain which sometimes gnawedat his heart, and then only occasionally and undergreat stress. It was this self-control, unitedto a lofty purpose and a natural repugnance to wearinghis heart on his sleeve, which enabled him to accomplishwhat he did. Endowed also with a saving senseof humor, he made light of his trials to others andwas a welcome guest in every social gathering.

The want of a place which he could really call homewas an ever-present grief. It is the dominantnote in almost all the letters to his brothers andhis children, and it is rather quaintly expressed ina letter, of November 14, 1838, to his daughter:—

“Tell Uncle Sidney to take good care of you,and to have a little snug room in the upper cornerof his new building, where a bed can be placed, achair, and a table, and let me have it as my own, thatthere may be one little particular spot which I cancall home. I will there make three woodenstools, one for you, one for Charles, and one for Finley,and invite you to your father’s house.”

In spite of the enthusiasm which the exhibition ofhis invention aroused among the learned men and othersin Paris, he met with obstructions of the most vexatiouskind at every turn, in his effort to bring it intopractical use. Just as the way seemed clear forits adoption by the French Government, something happenedwhich is thus described in a letter to Mr. Smith,of January 28, 1889:

“I wrote by the Great Western a few days ago.The event then anticipated in regard to the Ministryhas occurred. The Ministers have resigned, andit is expected that the new Cabinet will be formedthis day with Marshal Soult at its head. Thusyou perceive new causes of delay in obtaining anyanswer from the Government. As soon as I can learnthe name of the new Minister of the Interior I willaddress a note to him, or see him, as I may be advised,and see if I can possibly obtain an answer, or at leasta report of the administration of the Telegraphs.Nothing has occurred in other respects but what isagreeable....

“All my leisure (if that may be called leisurewhich employs nearly all my time) is devoted to perfectingthe whole matter. The invention of the correspondent,I think you will say, is a more essential improvement.It has been my winter’s labor, and, to avoidexpense, I have been compelled to make it entirelywith my own hands. I can now give you its exactdimensions—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 alonebeing 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 immediatelyat the other extremity.... In my next I hopeto send you reports of my further progress. Onething seems certain, my Telegraph has driven out ofthe field all the other plans on the magnetic principle.I hear nothing of them in public or private.No society notices them.”

“February 2. I can compare the stateof things here to an April day, at one moment sunshine,at the next cloudy. The Telegraph is evidentlygrowing in favor; testimonials of approbation and complimentsmultiply, and yesterday I was advised by the secretaryof the Academie Industrielle to interest moneyedmen in the matter if I intended to profit by it; andhe observed that now was the precise time to do itin the interval of the Chambers.

“I am at a loss how to act. I am not abusiness man and fear every movement which suggestsitself to me. I am thinking of proposing a companyon the same plan you last proposed in your letter fromLiverpool, and which you intend to create in casethe Government shall choose to do nothing; that isto say, a company taking the right at one thousandfrancs per mile, paying the proprietors fifty per centin stocks and fifty per cent in cash, raising aboutfifty thousand francs for a trial some distance.I shall take advice and let you know the result.

“I wish you were here; I am sure something couldbe done by an energetic business man like yourself.As for poor me I feel that I am a child in businessmatters. I can invent and perfect the invention,and demonstrate its uses and practicability, but ‘furtherthe deponent saith not.’ Perhaps I underratemyself in this case, but that is not a usual faultin human nature.”

It was natural that a keen business man like F.O.J.Smith should have leaned rather toward a private corporation,with its possibilities of great pecuniary gain, thantoward government ownership. Morse, on the contrary,would have preferred, both at home and abroad, to placethe great power which he knew his invention was destinedto wield in the hands of a responsible government.However, so eager was he to make a practical testof the telegraph that, governments apparently notappreciating their great opportunity, he was willingto entrust the enterprise to capitalists. Hereagain he was balked, however, for, writing of histrials later, he says:—

“An unforeseen obstacle was interposed whichhas rendered my patent in France of no avail to me.By the French patent law at the time one who obtaineda patent was obliged to put into operation his inventionwithin two years from the issue of his patent, underthe penalty of forfeiture if he does not comply withthe law. In pursuance of this requisition ofthe law I negotiated with the president (Turneysen)of the Saint-Germain Railroad Company to constructa line of my Telegraph on their road from Paris toSaint-Germain, a distance of about seven English miles.The company was favorably disposed toward the project,but, upon application (as was necessary) to the Governmentfor permission to have the Telegraph on their road,they received for answer that telegraphs were a governmentmonopoly, and could not, therefore, be used for privatepurposes. I thus found myself crushed betweenthe conflicting forces of two opposing laws.”

This was, indeed, a crushing blow, and ended all hopeof accomplishing anything in France, unless the Governmentshould, in the short time still left to him, decideto take it up. The letters home, during the remainderof his stay in Europe, are voluminous, but as theyare, in the main, a repetition of experiences similarto those already recorded, it will not be necessaryto give them in full. He tells of the enthusiasticreception accorded to his invention by the savants,the high officials of the Government and the Englishmenof note then stopping in Paris. He tells alsoof the exasperating delays to which he was subjected,and which finally compelled him to return home withouthaving accomplished anything tangible. He goesat length into his negotiations with the representativeof the Czar, Baron Meyendorf, from which he entertainedso many hopes, hopes which were destined in the endto be blasted, because the Czar refused to put hissignature to the contract, his objection being that“Malevolence can easily interrupt the communication.”This was a terrible disappointment to the inventor,for he had made all his plans to return to Europein the spring of 1839 to carry out the Russian contract,which he was led to believe was perfectly certain,and the Czar’s signature simply a matter ofform. While at the time, and probably for allhis life, Morse considered his failure in Europe asa cruel stroke of Fate, we cannot but conclude, inthe light of future developments, that here againFate was cruel in order to be kind. The invention,while it had been pronounced a scientific success,and had been awarded the palm over all other systemsby the foremost scientists of the world, had yet toundergo the baptism of fire on the field of battle.It had never been tried over long distances in theopen air, and many practical modifications had yetto be made, the necessity for which could only beascertained during the actual construction of a commercialline. Morse’s first idea, adhered to byhim until found by experience, in the building of

the first line between Washington and Baltimore, tobe impracticable, had been to bury the wires in atrench in the ground. I say it was found to beimpracticable, but that is true only of the conditionsat that early date. The inventor was here againahead of his time, for the underground system is nowused in many cities, and may in time become universal.However, we shall see, when the story of the buildingof that first historic line is told, that in thisrespect, and in many others, great difficulties wereencountered and failure was averted only by the ingenuity,the resourcefulness, and the quick-wittedness of theinventor himself and his able assistants. Isit too much to suppose that, had the Russian, or eventhe French, contract gone through, and had Morse beencompelled to recruit his assistants from the peopleof an alien land, whose language he could neitherspeak nor thoroughly understand, the result wouldhave been a dismal failure, calling down only ridiculeon the head of the luckless inventor, and perhapscausing him to abandon the whole enterprise, discouragedand disheartened?

Be this as it may, the European trip was considereda failure in a practical sense, while having resultedin a personal triumph in so far as the scientificelements of the invention were concerned. I shall,therefore, give only occasional extracts from the letters,some of them dealing with matters not in any way relatedto the telegraph.

He writes to Mr. Smith on February 18, 1839:—

“I have been wholly occupied for the last weekin copying out the correspondence and other documentsto defend myself against the infamous attack of Dr.Jackson, notice of which my brother sent me....I have sent a letter to Dr. Jackson calling on himto save his character by a total disclaimer of hispresumptuous claim within one week from the receiptof the letter, and giving him the plea of a ‘mistake’and ’misconception of my invention’ bywhich he may retreat. If he fails to do this,I have requested my brother to publish immediatelymy defense, in which I give a history of the invention,the correspondence between Dr. Jackson and myself,and close with the letters of Hon. Mr. Rives, Mr. Fisher,of Philadelphia, and Captain Pell.

“I cannot conceive of such infatuation as haspossessed this man. He can scarcely be deceived.It must be his consummate self-conceit that deceiveshim, if he is deceived. But this cannot be; heknows he has no title whatever to a single hint ofany kind in the matter.”

I have already alluded to the claim of Dr. Jackson,and have shown that it was proved to be utterly withoutfoundation, and have only introduced this referenceto it as an instance of the attacks which were madeupon Morse, attacks which compelled him to consumemuch valuable time, in the midst of his other labors,in order to repel them, which he always succeededin doing.

In writing of his negotiations with the Russian Governmenthe mentions M. Amyot, “who has proposed alsoan Electric Telegraph, but upon seeing mine he couldnot restrain his gratification, and with his wholesoul he is at work to forward it with all who haveinfluence. He is the right-hand man of the BaronMeyendorf, and he is exerting all his power to havethe Russian Government adopt my Telegraph....He is really a noble-minded man. The baron toldme he had a large soul, and I find he has.I have no claim on him and yet he seems to take asmuch interest in my invention as if it were his own.How different a conduct from Jackson’s!...Every day is clearing away all the difficulties thatprevent its adoption; the only difficulty that remains,it is universally said, is the protection of the wiresfrom malevolent attack, and this can be prevented byproper police and secret and deep interment.I have no doubt of its universal adoption; it maytake time but it is certain.”

“Paris, March 2, 1839. By my last letterI informed you of the more favorable prospects ofthe telegraphic enterprise. These prospects stillcontinue, and I shall return with the gratifying reflectionthat, after all my anxieties, and labors, and privations,and your and my other associates’ expendituresand risks, we are all in a fair way of reaping thefruits of our toil. The political troubles ofFrance have been a hindrance hitherto to the attentionof the Government to the Telegraph, but in the meantime I have gradually pushed forward the inventioninto the notice of the most influential individualsof France. I had Colonel Lasalle, aide-de-campto the king, and his lady to see the Telegraph a fewdays ago. He promised that, without fail, it shouldbe mentioned to the king. You will be surprisedto learn, after all the promises hitherto made bythe Prefect of the Seine, Count Remberteau, and byvarious other officers of the Government, and afterGeneral Cass’s letter to the aide on service,four or five months since, requesting it might be broughtto the notice of the king, that the king has not yetheard of it. But so things go here.

“Such dereliction would destroy a man with usin a moment, but here there is a different standard(this, of course, entre nous).... Amongthe numerous visitors that have thronged to see theTelegraph, there have been a great many of the principalEnglish nobility. Among them the Lord and LadyAylmer, former Governor of Canada, Lord Elgin and son,the Celebrated preserver, not depredator (as he hasbeen most slanderously called) of the Phidian Marbles.Lord Elgin has been twice and expressed a great interestin the invention. He brought with him yesterdaythe Earl of Lincoln, a young man of unassuming manners;he was delighted and gave me his card with a pressinginvitation to call on him when I came to London.

“I have not failed to let the English know howI was treated in regard to my application for a patentin England, and contrasted the conduct of the Frenchin this respect to theirs. I believe they feltit, and I think it was Lord Aylmer, but am not quitesure, who advised that the subject be brought up inParliament by some member and made the object of speciallegislation, which he said might be done, the Attorney-Generalto the contrary notwithstanding. I really believe,if matters were rightly managed in England, somethingyet might be done there, if not by patent, yet bya parliamentary grant of a proper compensation.It is remarkable that they have not yet made anythinglike mine in England. It is evident that neitherWheatstone nor Davy comprehended my mode, after alltheir assertions that mine had been published.

“If matters move slower here than with us, yetthey gain surely. I am told every hour that thetwo great wonders of Paris just now, about which everybodyis conversing, are Daguerre’s wonderful resultsin fixing permanently the image of the camera obscura,and Morse’s Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, andthey do not hesitate to add that, beautiful as arethe results of Daguerre’s experiments, the inventionof the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph is that which willsurpass, in the greatness of the revolution to beeffected, 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; hecame to me and said:—’The next wordyou may write is IMMORTALITY, for the sublimity ofthis invention is of surpassing grandeur. I seenow that all physical obstacles, which may for a whilehinder, will inevitably be overcome; the problem issolved; MAN MAY INSTANTLY CONVERSE WITH HIS FELLOW-MENIN ANY PART OF THE WORLD.’”

This prophecy of the celebrated American author, whowas afterwards Consul-General to France for six years,is noteworthy considering the date at which it wasmade. There were indeed many “physical obstacleswhich for a while hindered” the practical adoptionof the invention, but they were eventually overcome,and the problem was solved. Five years of heart-breakingstruggle, discouragement and actual poverty had stillto be endured by the brave inventor before the tideshould turn in his favor, but Robert Walsh sharedwith Morse the clear conviction that the victory wouldfinally be won.

Reference having been made to Lord Elgin, the followingletter from him will be found interesting:—

Paris, 12th March, 1839.

Dear Sir,—I cannot help expressing a verystrong desire that, instead of delaying till yourreturn from America your wish to take out a patentin England for your highly scientific and simple modeof 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 youto London. Your discovery is now much known as

well as appreciated, and the ingenuity now afloatis too extensive for one not to apprehend that individuals,even in good faith, may make some addition to qualifythem to take out a first patent for the principle;whereas, if you brought it at once, now, before thecompetent authorities, especially under the advantageof an introduction such as Mr. Drummond can give youto Lord Brougham, a short delay in your proceedingto America may secure you this desirable object immediately.

With every sincere good wish for your success andthe credit you so richly deserve, I am, dear sir,

Yours faithfully
ELGIN.

While it is futile to speculate on what might havebeen, it does seem as if Morse made a serious mistakein not taking Lord Elgin’s advice, for thereis no doubt that, with the influential backing whichhe had now secured, he could have overcome the churlishobjections of the Attorney-General, and have secureda patent in England much to his financial benefit.But with the glamour of the Russian contract in hiseyes, he decided to return home at once, and the opportunitywas lost.

We must also marvel at the strange fact that the fearexpressed by Lord Elgin, that another might easilyappropriate to himself the glory which was rightlydue to Morse, was not realized. Is it to be wonderedat that Morse should have always held that he, andhe alone, was the humble instrument chosen by an All-WiseProvidence to carry to a successful issue this greatenterprise?

Regarding one of his other visitors, the Earl of Lincoln,it is interesting to learn that there was anothermeeting between the two men under rather dramaticcirc*mstances, in later years. This was on theoccasion of the visit of the Prince of Wales, afterwardEdward VII, to America, accompanied by a suite whichincluded, among others, the Duke of Newcastle.Morse was invited to address the Prince at a meetinggiven in his honor at the University of the City ofNew York, and in the course of his address he said:—

“An allusion in most flattering terms to me,rendered doubly so in such presence, has been madeby our respected Chancellor, which seems to call forat least the expression of my thanks. At the sametime it suggests the relation of an incident in theearly history of the Telegraph which may not be inappropriateto this occasion. The infant Telegraph, born andnursed within these walls, had scarcely attained afeeble existence ere it essayed to make its voiceheard on the other side of the Atlantic. I carriedit to Paris in 1838. It attracted the warm interest,not only of the continental philosophers, but alsoof the intelligent and appreciative among the eminentnobles 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 distinguishedEarl of Elgin, and, in a marked degree, the nobleEarl of Lincoln. The last-named nobleman in a

special manner gave it his favor. He comprehendedits important future, and, in the midst of the skepticismthat clouded its cradle, he risked his character forsound judgment in venturing to stand godfather tothe friendless child. He took it under his roofin London, invited the statesmen and the philosophersof Britain to see it, and urged forward with kindlywords and generous attentions those who had the infantin charge. It is with no ordinary feelings, therefore,that, after the lapse of twenty years, I have thesingular honor this morning of greeting with heartywelcome, in such presence, before such an assemblage,and in the cradle of the Telegraph, this noble Earlof Lincoln in the person of the present Duke of Newcastle.”

Reference was made by Morse, in the letter to Mr.Smith of March 2, to Daguerre and his wonderful discovery.Having himself experimented along the same lines manyyears before, he was, naturally, much interested andsought the acquaintance of Daguerre, which was easilybrought about. The two inventors became warmfriends, and each disclosed to the other the minutiaeof his discoveries. Daguerre invited Morse tohis workshop, selecting a Sunday as a day convenientto him, and Morse replied in the following characteristicnote:—

“Professor Morse asks the indulgence of M. Daguerre.The time M. Daguerre, in his great kindness,has fixed to show his most interesting experimentsis, unfortunately, one that will deprive Mr. M. ofthe pleasure he anticipated, as Mr. M. has an engagementfor the entire Sunday of a nature that cannot be broken.Will Monday, or any other day, be agreeable to M.Daguerre?

“Mr. M. again asks pardon for giving M. Daguerreso much trouble.”

Having thus satisfied his Puritan conscience, anotherday was cheerfully appointed by Daguerre, who generouslyimparted the secret of this new art to the American,by whom it was carried across the ocean and successfullyintroduced into the United States, as will be shownfurther on.

Writing of this experience to his brothers on March9, 1839, he says:—

“You have, perhaps, heard of the Daguerreotype,so called from the discoverer, M. Daguerre. Itis one of the most beautiful discoveries of the age.I don’t know if you recollect some experimentsof mine in New Haven, many years ago, when I had mypainting-room next to Professor Silliman’s,—experimentsto ascertain if it were possible to fix the imageof the camera obscura. I was able to producedifferent degrees of shade on paper, dipped into asolution of nitrate of silver, by means of differentdegrees of light, but finding that light produced dark,and dark light, I presumed the production of a trueimage to be impracticable, and gave up the attempt.M. Daguerre has realized in the most exquisite mannerthis idea.”

Here follows the account of his visit to Daguerreand an enthusiastic description of the wonders seenin his workshop, and he closes by saying:—

“But I am near the end of my paper, and I have,unhappily, to give a melancholy close to my accountof this ingenious discovery. M. Daguerre appointedyesterday at noon to see my Telegraph. He cameand passed more than an hour with me, expressing himselfhighly gratified at its operation. But, whilehe was thus employed, the great building of the Diorama,with his own house, all his beautiful works, his valuablenotes and papers, the labor of years of experiment,were, unknown to him, at that moment the prey of theflames. His secret, indeed, is still safe withhim, but the steps of his progress in the discoveryand his valuable researches in science, are lost tothe scientific world. I learn that his Dioramawas insured, but to what extent I know not.

“I am sure all friends of science and improvementwill unite in expressing the deepest sympathy in M.Daguerre’s loss, and the sincere hope that sucha liberal sum will be awarded him by his Governmentas shall enable him, in some degree at least, to recoverfrom his loss.”

It is pleasant to record that the French Governmentdid act most generously toward Daguerre.

The reader may remember that, when Morse was a youngman in London, lotteries were considered such legitimateways of raising money, that not only did he openlypurchase tickets in the hope of winning a money prize,but his pious father advised him to dispose of hissurplus paintings and sketches in that way. Ashe grew older, however, his views on this questionchanged, as will be seen by the following letter addressedto Mrs. Cass, wife of the American Minister, who wastrying to raise money to help a worthy couple, suddenlyreduced from wealth to poverty:—

January 31, 1889.

I am sure I need make no apology to you, my dear madam,for returning the three lottery tickets enclosed inthe interesting note I have just had the honor toreceive from you, because I know you can fully appreciatethe motive which prompts me. In the measures takensome years since for opposing the lottery system inthe State of New York, and which issued in its entiresuppression, I took a very prominent part under theconviction that the principle on which the lotterysystem was founded was wrong. But while, on thisaccount, I cannot, my dear madam, consistently takethe tickets, I must beg of you to put the price ofthem, which I enclose, into such a channel as shall,in your judgment, best promote the benevolent objectin which you have interested yourself.

Poverty is a bitter lot, even when the habit of longendurance has reconciled the mind and body to itsseverities, but how much more bitter must it be whenit comes in sudden contrast to a life of affluenceand ease.

I thank you for giving me the opportunity of contributingmy mite to the relief of such affliction, hoping sincerelythat all their earthly wants may lead the sufferersto the inexhaustible fountain of true riches.

With sincere respect and Christian regard I remain,my dear madam

Your most obedient servant
S.F.B. MORSE.

Before closing the record of this European trip, sodisappointing in many ways and yet so encouragingin others, it may be well to note that, while he wasin Paris, Morse in 1838 not only took out a patenton his recording telegraph, but also on a system tobe used on railways to report automatically the presenceof a train at any point on the line. A reproductionof his own drawing of the apparatus to be used is heregiven, and the mechanism is so simple that an explanationis hardly necessary. From it can be seen notonly that he did, at this early date, realize thepossibilities of his invention along various lines,but that it embodies the principle of the police andfire-alarm systems now in general use.

It is not recorded that he ever realized anythingfinancially from this ingenious modification of hismain invention. Commenting on it, and on hisplans for a military telegraph, he gives this amusingsketch:—

“On September 10, 1838, a telegraph instrumentconstructed in the United States on the same principles,but slightly modified to make it portable, was exhibitedto the Academy of Sciences in Paris, and explainedby M. Arago at the session of that date. An accountof this exhibition is recorded in the Comptes Rendus.

“A week or two after I exhibited at my lodgings,in connection with this instrument, my railroad telegraph,an application of signals by sound, for which I tookout letters patent in Paris, and at the same time Icommunicated to the Minister of War, General Bernard,my plans for a military telegraph with which he wasmuch pleased.

[Illustration: RAILWAY TELEGRAPH DRAWING BY MORSEPatented by him in France in 1838, and embodying principlesof Police and Fire Alarm Telegraph]

“I dined with him by invitation, and in theevening, repairing with him to his billiard-room,while the rest of the guests were amusing themselveswith the game, I gave him a general description ofmy plan. He listened with deep attention whileI advocated its use on the battle-field, and gavehim my reasons for believing that the army first usingthe facilities of the electric telegraph for militarypurposes would be sure of victory. He repliedto me, after my answering many of his questions:—

“‘Be reticent,’ said he, ’onthis subject for the present. I will send anofficer of high rank to see and converse with you onthe matter to-morrow.’

“The next day I was visited by an old Marshalof France, whose name has escaped my memory.Conversing by an interpreter, the Reverend E.N.Kirk, of Boston, I found it difficult to make theMarshal understand its practicability or its importance.The dominant idea in the Marshal’s mind, whichhe opposed to the project, was that it involved anincrease of the material of the army, for I proposed

the addition of two or more light wagons, each containingin a small box the telegraph instruments and a reelof fine insulated wire to be kept in readiness at theheadquarters on the field. I proposed that, whenrequired, the wagons with the corps of operators,two or three persons, at a rapid rate should reeloff the wire to the right, the centre and the leftof the army, as near to these parts of the army aspracticable or convenient, and thus instantaneousnotice of the condition of the whole army, and of theenemy’s movements, would be given at headquarters.

“To all this explanation of my plan was opposedthe constant objection that it increased the materialof the army. The Hon. Marshal seemed to considerthat the great object to be gained by an improvementwas a decrease of this material; an example of thiseconomy which he illustrated by the case of the substitutionof the leather drinking cup for the tin cup hung tothe soldier’s knapsack, an improvement whichenabled the soldier to put his cup in his vest pocket.For this improvement, if I remember right, he saidthe inventor, who was a common soldier, received atthe hands of the Emperor Napoleon I the cross of theLegion of Honor.

“So set was the good Marshal in his repugnanceto any increase to the material of the army that,after a few moments’ thought, I rebutted hisposition by putting to him the following case:—

“‘M. Marshal,’ I said, ’youare investing a fortress on the capture of which dependsthe success of your campaign; you have 10,000 men;on making your calculations of the chances of takingit by assault, you find that with the addition of5000 more troops you could accomplish its capture.You have it in your power, by a simple order, to obtainfrom the Government these 5000 men. In this casewhat would you do?’

“He replied without hesitation: ‘Ishould order the 5000, of course.’

“‘But,’ I rejoined, ’the materialof the army would be greatly increased by such anorder.’

“He comprehended the case, and, laughing heartily,abandoned the objection, but took refuge in the generalskepticism of that day on the practicability of anelectric telegraph. He did not believe it couldever be put in practise. This was an argumentI could not then repel. Time alone could vindicatemy opinion, and time has shown both its practicabilityand its utility.”

CHAPTER XXVII

APRIL 15, 1839—SEPTEMBER 30, 1840

Arrival in New York.—Disappointment atfinding nothing done by Congress or his associates.—Letterto Professor Henry.—Henry’s reply.—Correspondence with Daguerre.—Experimentswith Daguerreotypes.-Professor Draper.—Firstgroup photograph of a college class.—Failureof Russian contract.—Mr. Chamberlain.—Discouragementthrough lack of funds.—No help from hisassociates.—Improvements in telegraph madeby Morse.— Humorous letter.

Morse sailed from Europe on the Great Western on the23d of March, 1889, and reached New York, after aStormy passage, on the 15th of April. Discouragedby his lack of success in establishing a line of telegraphin Europe on a paying basis, and yet encouraged bythe enthusiasm shown by the scientists of the OldWorld, he hoped much from what he considered the superiorenterprise of his own countrymen. However, onthis point he was doomed to bitter disappointment,and the next few years were destined to be the darkestthrough which he was to pass.

On the day after his arrival in New York he wroteto Mr. F.O.J. Smith:—

“I take the first moment of rest from the fatiguesof my boisterous voyage to apprise you of my arrivalyesterday in the Great Western.... I am quitedisappointed in finding nothing done by Congress, andnothing accomplished in the way of company. Ihad hoped to find on my return some funds ready forprosecuting with vigor the enterprise, which I fearwill suffer for the want.

CHAPTER XXVIII

JUNE 20, 1840—AUGUST 12, 1842

First patent issued.—Proposal of Cookeand Wheatstone to join forces rejected.—Letterto Rev. E.S. Salisbury.—Money advancedby brother artists repaid.—Poverty.—Reminiscencesof General Strother, “Porte Crayon.”—Otherreminiscences.—Inaction in Congress.—Flatteringletter of F.O.J. Smith.—Letter toSmith urging action.—Gonon and Wheatstone.—Temptation to abandon enterprise.—Partnersall financially crippled.— Morse alonedoing any work.—Encouraging letter fromProfessor Henry.— Renewed enthusiasm.—Letterto Hon. W.W. Boardman urging appropriation of$3500 by Congress.—Not even considered.—Despairof inventor.

It is only necessary to remember that the year 1840,and the years immediately preceding and followingit, were seasons of great financial depression, andthat in 1840 the political unrest, which always precedesa presidential election, was greatly intensified, torealize why but little encouragement was given toan enterprise so fantastic as that of an electrictelegraph. Capitalists were disinclined to embarkon new and untried ventures, and the members of Congresswere too much absorbed in the political game to giveheed to the pleadings of a mad inventor. Theelection of Harrison, followed by his untimely deathonly a month after his inauguration and the elevationof Tyler to the Presidency, prolonged the period ofpolitical uncertainty, so that Morse and his telegraphreceived but scant attention on Capitol Hill.

However, the year 1840 marked some progress, for onthe 20th of June the first patent was issued to Morse.It may be remembered that, while his caveat and petitionwere filed in 1837, he had requested that action onthem be deferred until after his return from Europe.He had also during the year been gradually perfectinghis invention as time and means permitted.

It was during the year 1840, too, that Messrs. Wheatstoneand Cooke proposed to join forces with the Morse patenteesin America, but this proposition was rejected, althoughMorse seems to have been almost tempted, for in aletter to Smith he says:—

“I send you copies of two letters just receivedfrom England. What shall I say in answer?Can we make any arrangements with them? Need wedo it? Does not our patent secure us againstforeign interference, or are we to be defeated, notonly in England but in our own country, by the subsequentinventions of Wheatstone?

“I feel my hands tied; I know not what to say.Do advise immediately so that I can send by the BritishQueen, which sails on the first prox.”

Fortunately Smith advised against a combination, andthe matter was dropped.

It will not be necessary to dwell at length on theevents of the year 1841. The situation and aimsof the inventor are best summed up in a beautifuland characteristic letter, written on February 14 ofthat year, to his cousin, the Reverend Edward S. Salisbury:—

“Your letter containing a draft for three hundreddollars I have received, for which accept my sincerethanks. I have hesitated about receiving it becauseI had begun to despair of ever being able to touchthe pencil again. The blow I received from Congress,when the decision was made concerning the picturesfor the Rotunda, has seriously and vitally affectedmy enthusiasm in my art. When that event was announcedto me I was tempted to yield up all in despair, butI roused myself to resist the temptation, and, determiningstill to fix my mind upon the work, cast about forthe means of accomplishing it in such ways as my HeavenlyFather should make plain. My telegraphic enterprise

was one of those means. Induced to prosecuteit by the Secretary of the Treasury, and encouragedby success in every part of its progress, urged forwardto complete it by the advice of the most judiciousfriends, I have carried the invention on my part toperfection. That is to say, so far as the inventionitself is concerned. I have done my part.It is approved in the highest quarters—inEngland, France, and at home—by scientificsocieties and by governments, and waits only the actionof the latter, or of capitalists, to carry it intooperation.

“Thus after several years’ expenditureof time and money in the expectation (of my friends,never of my own except as I yielded my ownjudgment to theirs) of so much at least as to leaveme free to pursue my art again, I am left, humanlyspeaking, farther from my object than ever. Iam reminded, too, that my prime is past; the snowsare on my temples, the half-century of years willthis year be marked against me; my eyes begin to fail,and what can I now expect to do with declining powersand habits in my art broken up by repeated disappointments?

“That prize which, through the best part ofmy life, animated me to sacrifice all that most menconsider precious—prospects of wealth,domestic enjoyments, and, not least, the enjoymentof country—was snatched from me at themoment when it appeared to be mine beyond a doubt.

“I do not state these things to you, my dearcousin, in the spirit of complaint of the dealingsof God’s Providence, for I am perfectly satisfiedthat, mysterious as it may seem to me, it has all beenordered in its minutest particulars in infinite wisdom,so satisfied that I can truly say I rejoice in themidst of all these trials, and in view of my HeavenlyFather’s hand guiding all, I have a joy of spiritwhich I can only express by the word ‘singing.’It is not in man to direct his steps. I knowI am so short-sighted that I dare not trust myselfin the very next step; how then could I presume toplan for my whole life, and expect that my own wisdomhad guided me into that way best for me and the universeof God’s creatures?

“I have not painted a picture since that decisionin Congress, and I presume that the mechanical skillI once possessed in the art has suffered by the unavoidableneglect. I may possibly recover this skill, andif anything will tend to this end, if anything cantune again an instrument so long unstrung, it is thekindness and liberality of my Cousin Edward.I would wish, therefore, the matter put on this groundthat my mind may be at ease. I am at present engagedin taking portraits by the Daguerreotype. I havebeen at considerable expense in perfecting apparatusand the necessary fixtures, and am just reaping a littleprofit from it. My ultimate aim is the applicationof the Daguerreotype to accumulate for my studio modelsfor my canvas. Its first application will beto the study of your picture. Yet if any accident,any unforeseen circ*mstances should prevent, I havemade arrangements with my brother Sidney to hold thesum you have advanced subject to your order. Onthese conditions I accept it, and will yet indulgethe hope of giving you a picture acceptable to you.”

The picture was never painted, for the discouragedartist found neither time nor inclination ever topick up his brush again; but we may be sure that themoney, so generously advanced by his cousin, was repaid.

It was in the year 1841 also that, in spite of thedifficulty he found in earning enough to keep himfrom actual starvation, he began to pay back the sumswhich had been advanced to him by his friends for thepainting of a historical picture, which should, ina measure, atone to him for the undeserved slightof Congress. In a circular addressed to each ofthe subscribers he gives the history of the matterand explains why he had hoped that the telegraph wouldsupply him with the means to paint the picture, andthen he adds:—

“I have, as yet, not realized one cent, andthus I find myself farther from my object than ever.Upon deliberately considering the matter the lastwinter and spring, I came to the determination, inthe first place, to free myself from the pecuniaryobligation under which I had so long lain to my friendsof the Association, and I commenced a system of economyand retrenchment by which I hoped gradually to amassthe necessary sum for that purpose, which sum, itwill be seen, amounts in the aggregate to $510.Three hundred dollars of this sum I had already laidaside, when an article in the New York ‘Mirror,’of the 16th October, determined me at once to commencethe refunding of the sums received.”

What the substance of the article in the “Mirror”was, I do not know, but it was probably one of thosescurrilous and defamatory attacks, from many of whichhe suffered in common with other persons of prominence,and which was called forth, perhaps, by his activityin the politics of the day.

That I have not exaggerated in saying that he wasalmost on the verge of starvation during these darkyears is evidenced by the following word picture fromthe pen of General Strother, of Virginia, known inthe world of literature under the pen name of “PorteCrayon":—

“I engaged to become Morse’s pupil, andsubsequently went to New York and found him in a roomin University Place. He had three other pupils,and I soon found that our professor had very littlepatronage. I paid my fifty dollars that settledfor one quarter’s instruction. Morse wasa faithful teacher, and took as much interest in ourprogress—more indeed than—wedid ourselves. But he was very poor. I rememberthat when my second quarter’s pay was due myremittance from home did not come as expected, andone day the professor came in and said, courteously:—

“‘Well, Strother my boy, how are we offfor money?’

“‘Why, Professor,’ I answered, ’Iam sorry to say I have been disappointed; but I expecta 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 saidhurriedly:—

“‘Would ten dollars be of any service?’

“‘Ten dollars would save my life; thatis all it would do.’

“I paid the money, all that I had, and we dinedtogether. It was a modest meal but good, and,after he had finished, he said:—

“’This is my first meal for twenty-fourhours. Strother, don’t be an artist.It means beggary. Your life depends upon peoplewho know nothing of your art and care nothing foryou. A house-dog lives better, and the very sensitivenessthat stimulates an artist to work keeps him alive tosuffering.’”

Another artist describes the conditions in 1841 inthe following words:—

“In the spring of 18411 was searching for astudio in which to set up my easel. My ‘house-hunting’ended at the New York University, where I found whatI wanted in one of the turrets of that stately edifice.When I had fixed my choice, the janitor, who accompaniedme in my examination of the rooms, threw open a dooron the opposite side of the hall and invited me toenter. I found myself in what was evidently anartist’s studio, but every object in it boreindubitable signs of unthrift and neglect. Thestatuettes, busts, and models of various kinds werecovered with dust and cobwebs; dusty canvases werefaced to the wall, and stumps of brushes and scrapsof paper littered the floor. The only signs ofindustry consisted of a few masterly crayon drawings,and little luscious studies of color pinned to thewall.

“‘You will have an artist for a neighbor,’said the janitor, ’though he is not here muchof late; he seems to be getting rather shiftless; heis wasting his time over some silly invention, a machineby which he expects to send messages from one placeto another. He is a very good painter, and mightdo well if he would only stick to his business; but,Lord!’ he added with a sneer of contempt, ’theidea of telling by a little streak of lightning whata body is saying at the other end of it.’

“Judge of my astonishment when he informed methat the ’shiftless individual’ whosefoolish waste of time so much excited his commiseration,was none other than the President of the National Academyof Design—the most exalted position, inmy youthful artistic fancy, it was possible for mortalto attain—S.F.B. Morse, since betterknown as the inventor of the Electric Telegraph.But a little while after this his fame was flashingthrough the world, and the unbelievers who voted himinsane were forced to confess that there was, at least,’method in his madness.’”

The spring and summer of 1841 wore away and nothingwas accomplished. On August 16 Morse writes toSmith:—

“Our Telegraph matters are in a situation todo none of us any good, unless some understandingcan be entered into among the proprietors. Ihave recently received a letter from Mr. Isaac N. Coffin,from Washington, with a commendatory letter from Hon.R. McClellan, of the House. Mr. Coffin proposesto take upon himself the labor of urging through thetwo houses the bill relating to my Telegraph, whichyou know has long been before Congress. He willpress it and let his compensation depend on his success.”

This Mr. Coffin wrote many long letters telling, invivid language, of the great difficulties which besetthe passage of a bill through both houses of Congress,and of how skilled he was in all the diplomatic movesnecessary to success, and finally, after a long delay,occasioned by the difficulty of getting powers ofattorney from all the proprietors, he was authorizedto go ahead. The sanguine inventor hoped muchfrom this unsolicited offer of assistance, but hewas again doomed to disappointment, for Mr. Coffin’sglowing promises amounted to nothing at all, and thesession of 1841-42 ended with no action taken on thebill.

In view of the fact, alluded to in a former chapter,that Francis O.J. Smith later became a bitterenemy of Morse’s, and was responsible for manyof the virulent attacks upon him, going so far as tosay that most, if not all, of the essentials of thetelegraph had been invented by others, it may be wellto quote the following sentences from a letter ofAugust 21, 1841, in reply to Morse’s of August16:—

“I shall be in Washington more next winter,and will lend all aid in my power, of course, to anyagent we may have there. My expenditures in theaffair, as you know, have been large and liberal, andhave somewhat embarrassed me. Hence I cannotincur more outlay. I am, however, extremely solicitousfor the double purpose of having you witness withyour own eyes and in your own lifetime the consummationin actual, practical, national utility [of] this beautifuland wonderful offspring of your mechanical and philosophicalgenius, and know that you have not overestimated theservice you have been ambitious of rendering to yourcountry and the world.”

On December 8, 1841, Morse again urges Smith to action:—

“Indeed, my dear sir, something ought to bedone to carry forward this enterprise that we mayall receive what I think we all deserve. The wholelabor and expense of moving at all devolve on me, andI have nothing in the world. Completely crippledin means I have scarcely (indeed, I have not at all)the means even to pay the postage of letters on thesubject. I feel it most tantalizing to find thatthere is a movement in Washington on the subject;to know that telegraphs will be before Congress thissession, and from the means possessed by Gonon andWheatstone!! (yes, Wheatstone who successfully headedus off in England), one or the other of their twoplans will probably be adopted. Wheatstone, Isuppose you know, has a patent here, and has expended$1000 to get everything prepared for a campaign tocarry his project into operation, and more than that,his patent is dated before mine!

“My dear sir, to speak as I feel, I am sickat heart to perceive how easily others, foreigners,can manage our Congress, and can contrive to cheatour country out of the honor of a discovery of whichthe country boasts, and our countrymen out of theprofits which are our due; to perceive how easilythey can find men and means to help them in theirplans, and how difficult, nay, impossible, for us tofind either. Is it really so, or am I deceived?What can be done? Do write immediately and proposesomething. Will you not be in Washington thiswinter? Will you not call on me as you pass throughNew York, if you do go?

“Gonon has his telegraph on the Capitol, anda committee of the Senate reported in favor of tryinghis for a short distance, and will pass a bill thissession if we are not doing something. Some means,somehow, must be raised. I have been compelledto stop my machine just at the moment of completion.I cannot move a step without running in debt, andthat I cannot do.

“As to the company that was thought of to carrythe Telegraph into operation here, it is another ofthose ignes fatui that have just led me onto waste a little more time, money, and patience, andthen vanished. The gentleman who proposed thematter was, doubtless, friendly disposed, but he lacksjudgment and perseverance in a matter of this sort.

“If Congress would but pass the bill of $30,000before them, there would be no difficulty. Thereis no difficulty in the scientific or mechanical partof the matter; that is a problem solved. The onlydifficulty that remains is obtaining funds, whichCongress can furnish, to carry it into execution.I have a great deal to say, but must stop for wantof time to write more.”

But he does not stop. He is so full of his subjectthat he continues at some length:—

“Everything done by me in regard to the Telegraphis at arm’s length. I can do nothing withoutconsultation, and when I wish to consult on the mosttrivial thing I have three letters to write, and aweek or ten days to wait before I can receive an answer.

“I feel at times almost ready to cast the wholematter to the winds, and turn my attention foreverfrom the subject. Indeed, I feel almost inclined,at tunes, to destroy the evidences of priority of inventionin my possession and let Wheatstone and England takethe credit of it. For it is tantalizing in thehighest degree to find the papers and the lecturersboasting of the invention as one of the greatest ofthe age, and as an honor to America, and yet to havethe nation by its representatives leave the inventorwithout the means either to put his invention fairlybefore his countrymen, or to defend himself againstforeign attack.

“If I had the means in any way of support inWashington this winter, I would go on in the middleof January and push the matter, but I cannot run therisk. I would write a detailed history of theinvention, which would be an interesting documentto have printed in the Congressional documents, andestablish beyond contradiction both priority and superiorityof my invention. Has not the Postmaster-General,or Secretary of War or Treasury, the power to paya few hundred dollars from a contingent fund for suchpurposes?

“Whatever becomes of the invention through theneglect of those who could but would not lend a helpinghand, you, my dear sir, will have the reflectionthat you did all in your power to aid me, and I amdeterred from giving up the matter as desperate mostof all for the consideration that those who kindlylent their aid when the invention was in its infancywould suffer, and that, therefore, I should not bedealing right by them. If this is a little blue,forgive it.”

It appears from this letter that Morse bore no ill-willtowards his partners for not coming to his assistanceat this critical stage of the enterprise, so thatit behooves us not to be too harsh in our judgment.Perhaps I have not sufficiently emphasized the factthat, owing to the great financial depression whichprevailed at that time, Mr. Smith and the Vails wereseriously crippled in their means, and were not ableto advance any more money, and Professor Gale hadnever been called upon to contribute money. Thisdoes not alter my main contention, however, for itstill remains true that, if it had not been for Morse’sdogged persistence during these dark years, the enterprisewould, in all probability, have failed. Withthe others it was merely an incident, with him ithad become his whole life.

The same refrain runs through all the letters of 1841and 1842; discouragement at the slow progress whichis being made, and yet a sincere conviction that eventuallythe cause will triumph. On December 13, 1841,he says in a letter to Vail:—

“We are all somewhat crippled, and I most ofall, being obliged to superintend the getting up ofa set of machinery complete, and to make the greaterpart myself, and without a cent of money.... Allthe burden now rests on my shoulders after years oftime devoted to the enterprise, and I am willing,as far as I am able, to bear my share if the otherproprietors will lend a helping hand, and give me facilitiesto act and a reasonable recompense for my servicesin case of success.”

Vail, replying to this letter on December 15, says:“I have recently given considerable thoughtto the subject of the Telegraph, and was intendingto get permission of you, if there is anything to thecontrary in our articles of agreement, to build formyself and my private use a Telegraph upon your plan.”

In answering this letter, on December 18, Morse againurges Vail to give him a power of attorney, and adds:—

“You can see in a moment that, if I have towrite to all the scattered proprietors of the Telegraphevery time any movement is made, what a burden fallsupon me both of expense of time and money which I cannotafford. In acting for my own interest in thismatter I, of course, act for the interest of all.If we can get that thirty thousand dollars bill throughCongress, the experiment (if it can any longer be calledsuch) can then be tried on such a scale as to insureits success.

“You ask permission to make a Telegraph foryour own use. I have no objection, but, beforeyou commence one, you had better see me and the improvementswhich I have made, and I can suggest a few more, ratherof an ornamental character, and some economical arrangementswhich may be of use to you.

“I thank you for your kind invitation, and,when I come to Philadelphia, shall A. Vailmyself of your politeness. I suppose by this timeyou 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 throughthe cloud and see a kind Parent directing all.This reflection alone cheers me and gives me renewedstrength.”

Conditions remained practically unchanged during theearly part of the year 1842. If it had not beenfor occasional bits of encouragement from differentquarters the inventor would probably have yielded tothe temptation to abandon all and depend on his brushagain for a living. Perhaps the ray of greatestencouragement which lightened the gloom of this depressingperiod was the following letter from Professor Henry,dated February 24, 1842:—

MY DEAR SIR—I am pleased to learn thatyou have again petitioned Congress in reference toyour telegraph, and I most sincerely hope you willsucceed in convincing our representatives of the importanceof the invention. In this you may, perhaps, findsome difficulty, since, in the minds of many, theelectro-magnetic telegraph is associated with thevarious chimerical projects constantly presented tothe public, and particularly with the schemes so populara year or two ago for the application of electricityas a moving power in the arts. I have asserted,from the first, that all attempts of this kind arepremature and made without a proper knowledge of scientificprinciples. The case is, however, entirely differentin regard to the electro-magnetic telegraph.Science is now fully ripe for this application, andI have not the least doubt, if proper means be afforded,of the perfect success of the invention.

The idea of transmitting intelligence to a distanceby means of electrical action, has been suggestedby various persons, from the time of Franklin to thepresent; but, until the last few years, or since theprincipal discoveries in electro-magnetism, all attemptsto reduce it to practice were, necessarily, unsuccessful.The mere suggestion however, of a scheme of this kindis a matter for which little credit can be claimed,since it is one which would naturally arise in themind of almost any person familiar with the phenomenaof electricity; but the bringing it forward at theproper moment, when the developments of science areable to furnish the means of certain success, andthe devising a plan for carrying it into practicaloperation, are the grounds of a just claim to scientificreputation, as well as to public patronage.

About the same time with yourself Professor Wheatstone,of London, and Dr. Steinheil, of Germany, proposedplans of the electro-magnetic telegraph, but thesediffer as much from yours as the nature of the commonprinciple would well permit; and, unless some essentialimprovements have lately been made in these Europeanplans, I should ’prefer the one inventedby yourself.

With my best wishes for your success I remain, withmuch esteem

Yours truly
JOSEPH HENRY.

I consider this one of the most important bits ofcontemporary evidence that has come down to us.Professor Henry, perfectly conversant with, all theminutiae of science and invention, practically givesto Morse all the credit which the inventor himselfat any time claimed. He dismisses the claimsof those who merely suggested a telegraph, or evenmade unsuccessful attempts to reduce one to practice,unsuccessful because the time was not yet ripe; andhe awards Morse scientific as well as popular reputation.Furthermore Professor Henry, with the clear visionof a trained mind, points out that advances in discoveryand invention are necessarily slow and dependent uponthe labors of many in the same field. His cordialendorsem*nt of the invention, in this letter and later,so pleased and encouraged Morse that he refers toit several times in his correspondence. To Mr.Smith, on July 16, 1842, he writes:—

“Professor Henry visited me a day or two ago;he knew the principles of the Telegraph, but had neverbefore seen it. He told a gentleman, who mentionedit again to me, that without exception it was the mostbeautiful and ingenious instrument he had ever seen.He says mine is the only truly practicable plan.He has been experimenting and making discoveries oncelestial electricity, and he says that Wheatstone’sand Steinheil’s telegraphs must be so influencedin a highly electrical state of the atmosphere asat times to be useless, they using the deflection ofthe 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 causeis operating to prevent our hearing more of these telegraphs.”

In this same letter he tells of the application ofa certain Mr. John P. Manrow for permission to forma company, but, as nothing came of it, it will notbe necessary to particularize. Mr. Manrow, however,was a successful contractor on the New York and ErieRailroad, and it was a most encouraging sign to havepractical business men begin to take notice of theinvention.

So cheered was the ever-hopeful inventor by the praiseof Professor Henry, that he redoubled his effortsto get the matter properly before Congress; and inthis he worked alone, for, in the letter to Smith justquoted from, he says: “I have not hearda word from Mr. Coffin at Washington since I saw you.I presume he has abandoned the idea of doing anythingon the terms we proposed, and so has given it up.Well, so be it; I am content.”

Taking advantage of the fact that he was personallyacquainted with many members of Congress, he wroteto several of them on the subject. In some ofthe letters he treats exhaustively of the history andscientific principles of his telegraph, but I haveselected the following, addressed to the HonorableW.W. Boardman, as containing the most essentialfacts in the most concise form:—

August 10, 1842.

My Dear Sir,—I enclose you a copy of the“Tribune” in which you will see a noticeof my Telegraph. I have showed its operation toa few friends occasionally within a few weeks, amongothers to Professor Henry, of Princeton (a copy ofwhose letter to me on this subject I sent you sometime since). He had never seen it in operation,but had only learned from description the principleon which it is founded. He is not of an enthusiastictemperament, but exceedingly cautious in giving anopinion on scientific inventions, yet in this casehe expressed himself in the warmest terms, and toldmy friend Dr. Chilton (who informed me of it) thathe had just been witnessing “the operation ofthe most beautiful and ingenious instrument he hadever seen.”

Indeed, since I last wrote you, I have been whollyoccupied in perfecting its details and making myselffamiliar with the whole system. There is nota shadow of a doubt as to its performing all that Ihave promised in regard to it, and, indeed, all thathas been conceived of it. Few can understandthe obstacles arising from want of pecuniary meansthat I have had to encounter the past winter.To avoid debt (which I will never incur) I have beencompelled to make with my own hands a great part ofmy machinery, but at an expense of time of very seriousconsideration to me. I have executed in six monthswhat a good machinist, if I had the means to employhim, would have performed in as many weeks, and performedmuch better.

I had hoped to be able to show my perfected instrumentin Washington long before this, and was (until thismorning) contemplating its transportation thithernext week. The news, just arrived, of the proposedadjournment of Congress has stopped my preparations,and interposes, I fear, another year of anxious suspense.

Now, my dear sir, as your time is precious, I willstate in few words what I desire. The Governmentwill eventually, without doubt, become possessed ofthis invention, for it will be necessary from manyconsiderations; not merely as a direct advantage tothe Government and public at large if regulated bythe Government, but as a preventive of the evil effectswhich must result if it be a monopoly of a company.To this latter mode of remunerating myself I shallbe compelled to resort if the Government should noteventually act upon it.

You were so good as to call the attention of the Houseto the subject by a resolution of inquiry early inthe session. I wrote you some time after requestinga stay of action on the part of the committee, in thehope that, long before this, I could show them theTelegraph in Washington; but, just as I am ready,I find that Congress will adjourn before I can reachWashington and put the instrument in order for theirinspection.

Will it be possible, before Congress rises, to appropriatea small sum, say $3500, under the direction of theSecretary of the Treasury, to put my Telegraph inoperation for the inspection of Congress the nextsession? If Congress will grant this sum, I willengage to have a complete Telegraph on my Electro-Magneticplan between the President’s house, or one ofthe Departments, and the Capitol and the Navy Yard,so that instantaneous communication can be held betweenthese three points at pleasure, at any time of dayor night, at any season, in clear or rainy weather,and ready for their examination during the next sessionof Congress, so that the whole subject may be fairlyunderstood.

I believe that, did the great majority of Congressbut consider seriously the results of this inventionof the Electric Telegraph on all the interests ofsociety; did they suffer themselves to dwell but fora moment on the vast consequences of the instantaneouscommunication of intelligence from one part to theother of the land in a commercial point of view, andas facilitating the defenses of the country, whichmy invention renders certain; they would not hesitateto pass all the acts necessary to secure its controlto the Government. I ask not this until theyhave thoroughly examined its merits, but will theynot assist me in placing the matter fairly beforethem? Surely so small a sum to the Governmentfor so great an object cannot reasonably be denied.

I hardly know in what form this request of mine shouldbe made. Should it be by petition to Congress,or will this letter handed in to the committee besufficient? If a petition is required, for form’ssake, to be referred to the committee to report, shallI ask the favor of you to make such petition in properform?

You know, my dear sir, just what I wish, and I know,from the kind and friendly feeling you have showntoward 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 Telegraphas it is.

This modest request of the inventor was doomed, likeso many of his hopes, to be shattered, as we learnfrom the courteous reply of Mr. Boardman, dated August12:—

DEAR SIR,—Yours of the 10th is received.I had already seen the notice of your Telegraph inthe “Tribune,” and was prepared for sucha report. This is not the time to commence anynew project before Congress. We are, I trust,within ten days of adjournment. There is no prospectof a tariff at this session, and, as that matter appearssettled, the sooner Congress adjourns the better.The subject of your Telegraph was some months ago,as you know, referred to the Committee on Commerce,and by that committee it was referred to Mr. Ferris,one of the members of that committee, from the cityof New York, and who, by-the-way, is now at home inthe city and will be glad to see you on the subject.I cannot give you his address, but you can easilyfind him.

The Treasury and the Government are both bankrupt,and that foolish Tyler has vetoed the tariff bill;the House is in bad humor and nothing of the kindyou propose could be done. The only chance wouldbe for the Committee on Commerce to report such aplan, but there would be little or no chance of gettingsuch an appropriation through this session. Ihave much faith in your plan, and hope you will continueto push it toward Congress.

This was almost the last straw, and it is not strangethat the long-suffering inventor should have beenon the point of giving up in despair, nor that heshould have given vent to his despondency in the followingletter to Smith:—

“While, so far as the invention itself is concerned,everything is favorable, I find myself without sympathyor help from any who are associated with me, whoseinterest, one would think, would impel them at leastto inquire if they could render some assistance.For two years past I have devoted all my time andscanty means, living on a mere pittance, denying myselfall pleasures and even necessary food, that I mighthave a sum to put my Telegraph into such a positionbefore Congress as to insure success to the commonenterprise.

“I am, crushed for want of means, and meansof so trivial a character, too, that they who knowhow to ask (which I do not) could obtain in a fewhours. One more year has gone for want of thesemeans. I have now ascertained that, however unpromisingwere the times last session, if I could but have goneto Washington, I could have got some aid to enableme to insure success at the next session.”

The other projects for telegraphs must have been abandoned,for he goes on to say:—

“As it is, although everything is favorable,although I have no competition and no opposition—onthe contrary, although every member of Congress, asfar as I can learn, is favorable—yet I fearall will fail because I am too poor to risk the triflingexpense which my journey and residence in Washingtonwill occasion me. I will not run in debt if Ilose the whole matter. So, unless I have the meansfrom some source, I shall be compelled, however reluctantly,to leave it, and, if I get once engaged in my properprofession again, the Telegraph and its proprietorswill urge me from it in vain.

“No one can tell the days and months of anxietyand labor I have had in perfecting my telegraphicapparatus. For want of means I have been compelledto 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 cannotrecall 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 inventionwhich is to mark an era in human civilization, andwhich is to contribute to the happiness of millions,would have sustained me through so many and such lengthenedtrials of patience in perfecting it.”

CHAPTER XXIX

JULY 16. 1842—MARCH 26, 1843

Continued discouragements.—Working on improvements.—Firstsubmarine cable from Battery to Governor’s Island.—TheVails refuse to give financial assistance.—Goesto Washington.—Experiments conducted atthe Capitol.—First to discover duplex andwireless telegraphy.—Dr. Fisher. —Friendsin Congress.—Finds his statuette of DyingHercules in basem*nt of Capitol.—Alternatelyhopes and despairs of bill passing Congress.—Bill favorably reported from committee.—Cloudsbreaking.—Ridicule in Congress.—Billpasses House by narrow majority.—Long delayin Senate.— Last day of session.—Despair.—Billpasses.—Victory at last.

Slowly the mills of the gods had been grinding, soslowly that one marvels at their leaden pace, andwonders why the dream of the man so eager to benefithis fellowmen could not have been realized sooner.We are forced to echo the words of the inventor himselfin a previously quoted letter: “I am perfectlysatisfied that, mysterious as it may seem to me, ithas all been ordered in its minutest particulars ininfinite wisdom.” He enlarges on this pointin the letter to Smith of July 16, 1842. Referringto the difficulties he has encountered through lackof means, he says:—

“I have oftentimes risen in the morning notknowing where the means were to come from for thecommon expenses of the day. Reflect one momenton my situation in regard to the invention. Compelledfrom the first, from my want of the means to carryout the invention to a practical result, to ask assistancefrom those who had means, I associated with me theMessrs. Vail and Dr. Gale, by making over to them,on certain conditions, a portion of the patent right.These means enabled me to carry it successfully forwardto a certain point. At this point you were alsoadmitted into a share of the patent on certain conditions,which carried the enterprise forward successfullystill further. Since then disappointments haveoccurred and disasters to the property of every oneconcerned in the enterprise, but of a character nottouching the intrinsic merits of the invention inthe least, yet bearing on its progress so fatallyas for several years to paralyze all attempts to proceed.

“The depressed situation of all my associatesin the invention has thrown the whole burden of againattempting a movement entirely on me. With thetrifling sum of five hundred dollars I could have hadmy instruments perfected and before Congress six monthsago, but I was unable to run the risk, and I thereforechose to go forward more slowly, but at a great wasteof time.

“In all these remarks understand me as not throwingthe least blame on any individual. I believethat the situation in which you all are thrown isaltogether providential—that human foresightcould not avert it, and I firmly believe, too, thatthe delays, tantalizing and trying as they have been,will, in the end, turn out to be beneficial.”

I have hazarded the opinion that it was a kindly fatewhich frustrated the consummation of the Russian contract,and here again I venture to say that the Fates werekind, that Morse was right in saying that the “delays”would “turn out to be beneficial.”And why? Because it needed all these years ofcareful thought and experiment on the part of theinventor to bring his instruments to the perfectionnecessary to complete success, and because the periodof financial depression, through which the countrywas then passing, was unfavorable to an enterpriseof this character. The history of all inventionsproves that, no matter how clear a vision of the futuresome enthusiasts may have had, the dream was neveractually realized until all the conditions were favorableand the psychological moment had arrived. ProfessorHenry showed, in his letter of February 24, that herealized that some day electricity would be used asa motive power, but that much remained yet to be discoveredand invented before this could be actually and practicallyaccomplished. So, too, the conquest of the airremained a dream for centuries until, to use ProfessorHenry’s words, “science” was “ripefor its application.” Therefore I thinkwe can conclude that, however confident Morse may havebeen that his invention could have stood the test ofactual commercial use during those years of discouragement,it heeded the perfection which he himself gave itduring those same years to enable it to prove itssuperiority over other methods.

Among the other improvements made by Morse at thistime, the following is mentioned in the letter toSmith of July 16, 1842, just quoted from: “Ihave invented a battery which will delight you; itis the most powerful of its size ever invented, andthis part of my telegraphic apparatus the resultsof experiments have enabled me to simplify and trulyto perfect.”

Another most important development of the inventionwas made in the year 1842. The problem of crossingwide bodies of water had, naturally, presented itselfto the mind of the inventor at an early date, and duringthe most of this year he had devoted himself seriouslyto its solution. He laboriously insulated abouttwo miles of copper wire with pitch, tar, and rubber,and, on the evening of October 18, 1842, he carriedit, wound on a reel, to the Battery in New York andhired a row-boat with a man to row him while he paidout his “cable.” Tradition says thatit was a beautiful moonlight night and that the strollerson the Battery were mystified, and wondered what kindof fish were being trolled for. The next daythe following editorial notice appeared in the NewYork “Herald":—

MORSE’S ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH

This important invention is to be exhibited in operationat Castle Garden between the hours of twelve and oneo’clock to-day. One telegraph will be erectedon Governor’s Island, and one at the Castle,and messages will be interchanged and orders transmittedduring the day.

Many have been incredulous as to the powers of thiswonderful triumph of science and art. All suchmay now have an opportunity of fairly testing it.It is destined to work a complete revolution inthe mode of transmitting intelligence throughout thecivilized world.

Before the appointed hour on the morning of the 19th,Morse hastened to the Battery, and found a curiouscrowd already assembled to witness this new marvel.With confidence he seated himself at the instrumentand had succeeded in exchanging a few signals betweenhimself and Professor Gale at the other end on Governor’sIsland, when suddenly the receiving instrument wasdumb. Looking out across the waters of the bay,he soon saw the cause of the interruption. Sixor seven vessels were anchored along the line of hiscable, and one of them, in raising her anchor, hadfouled the cable and pulled it up. Not knowingwhat it was, the sailors hauled in about two hundredfeet of it; then, finding no end, they cut the cableand sailed away, ignorant of the blow they had inflictedon the mortified inventor. The crowd, thinkingthey had been hoaxed, turned away with jeers, andMorse was left alone to bear his disappointment asphilosophically as he could.

Later, in December, the experiment was repeated acrossthe canal at Washington, and this time with perfectsuccess.

Still cramped for means, chafing under the delay whichthis necessitated, he turned to his good friends theVails, hoping that they might be able to help him.While he shrank from borrowing money he consideredthat, as they were financially interested in the successof the invention, he could with propriety ask foran advance to enable him to go to Washington.

To his request he received the following answer fromthe Honorable George Vail:—

SPEEDWELL IRON WORKS,
December 31, 1842.
S.F.B. MORSE, Esq.,

DEAR SIR,—Your favor is at hand. Ihad expected that my father would visit you, but hecould not go out in the snow-storm of Wednesday, and,if he had, I do not think anything could induce himto raise the needful for the prosecution of our object.He says: “Tell Mr. Morse that there isno one I would sooner assist than him if I could, but,in the present posture of my affairs, I am not warrantedin undertaking anything more than to make my paymentsas they become due, of which there are not a few.”

He thinks that Mr. S—— might soonlearn how to manage it, and, as he is there, it wouldsave a great expense. I do not myself know thathe could learn; but, as my means are nothing at thepresent time, I can only wish you success, if yougo on.

Of course Mr. Vail meant “if you go on to Washington,”but to the sensitive mind of the inventor the wordsmust have seemed to imply a doubt of the advisabilityof going on with the enterprise. However, hewas not daunted, but in some way he procured the meansto defray his expenses, perhaps from his good brotherSidney, for the next letter to Mr. Vail is from Washington,on December 18, 1842:—

“I have not written you since my arrival asI had nothing special to say, nor have I now anythingvery decided to communicate in relation to my enterprise,except that it is in a very favorable train. TheTelegraph, as you will see by Thursday or Friday’s‘Intelligencer,’ is established betweentwo of the committee rooms in the Capitol, and excitesuniversal admiration. I am told from all quartersthat there is but one sentiment in Congress respectingit, and that the appropriation will unquestionablypass.

“The discovery I made with Dr. Fisher, justbefore leaving New York, of the fact that two or morecurrents will pass, without interference, at the sametime, on the same wire, excites the wonder of all thescientific in and out of Congress here, and when Ishow them the certainty of it, in the practical applicationof it to simplify my Telegraph, their admiration isloudly expressed, and it has created a feeling highlyadvantageous to me.

“I believe I drew for you a method by whichI thought I could pass rivers, without any wires,through the water. I tried the experiment acrossthe canal here on Friday afternoon with perfectsuccess. This also has added a fresh interestin my favor, and I begin to hope that I am on theeve of realizing something in the shape of compensationfor my time and means expended in bringing my inventionto its present state. I dare not be sanguine,however, for I have had too much experience of delusivehopes to indulge in any premature exultation.Now there is no opposition, but it may spring up unexpectedlyand defeat all....

“I find Dr. Fisher a great help. He isacquainted with a great many of the members, and heis round among them and creating an interest for theTelegraph. Mr. Smith has not yet made his appearance,and, if he does not come soon, everything will beaccomplished without him. My associate proprietors,indeed, are at present broken reeds, yet I am awarethey are disabled in various ways from helping me,and I ought to remember that their help in the commencementof the enterprise was essential in putting the Telegraphinto the position it now is [in]; therefore, althoughthey give me now no aid, it is not from unwillingnessbut from inability, and I shall not grudge them theirproportion of its profits, nor do I believe they willbe unwilling to reimburse me my expenses, should theTelegraph eventually be purchased by the Government.

“Mr. Ferris, our representative, is very muchinterested in understanding the scientific principleson which my Telegraph is based, and has exerted himselfvery strongly in my behalf; so has Mr. Boardman, and,in a special manner, Dr. Aycrigg, of New Jersey, thelatter of whom is determined the bill shall pass byacclamation. Mr. Huntington, of the Senate, Mr.Woodbury and Mr. Wright are also very strongly friendlyto the Telegraph.”

This letter, to the best of my knowledge, has neverbefore been published, and yet it contains statementsof the utmost interest. The discovery of duplextelegraphy, or the possibility of sending two or moremessages over the same wire at the same time has beencredited by various authorities to different persons;by some to Moses G. Farmer in 1852, by others to Gintl,of Vienna, in 1853, or to Frischen or Siemens and Halskein 1854. Yet we see from this letter that Morseand his assistant Dr. Fisher not only made the discoveryten years earlier, in 1842, but demonstrated its practicabilityto the scientists and others in Washington at thatdate. Why this fact should have been lost sightof I cannot tell, but I am glad to be able to bringforward the proof of the paternity of this brilliantdiscovery even at this late day.

Still another scientific principle was establishedby Morse at this early period, as we learn from thisletter, and that is the possibility of wireless telegraphy;but, as he has been generally credited with the firstsuggestion of what has now become one of the greatestboons to humanity, it will not be necessary to enlargeon it.

A brighter day seemed at last to be dawning, and amost curious happening, just at this time, came tothe inventor as an auspicious omen. In stringinghis wires between the two committee rooms he had todescend into a vault beneath them which had been longunused. A workman, who was helping him, wentahead and carried a lamp, and, as he glanced aroundthe chamber, Morse noticed something white on a shelfat one side. Curious to see what this could be,he went up to it, when what was his amazement to findthat it was a plaster cast of that little statuetteof the Dying Hercules which had won for him the AdelphiGold Medal so many years before in London. Therewas the token of his first artistic success appearingto him out of the gloom as the harbinger of anothersuccess which he hoped would also soon emerge frombehind the lowering clouds.

The apparently mysterious presence of the little demigodin such an out-of-the-way place was easily explained.Six casts of the clay model had been made before theoriginal was broken up. One of these Morse hadkept for himself, four had been given to various institutions,and one to his friend Charles Bulfinch, who succeededLatrobe as the architect of the Capitol. A sinisterfate seemed to pursue these little effigies, for hisown, and the four he had presented to different institutions,were all destroyed in one way and another. Aftertracing each one of these five to its untimely end,he came to the conclusion that this evidence of hisyouthful genius had perished from the earth; but here,at last, the only remaining copy was providentiallyrevealed to the eyes of its creator, having undoubtedlybeen placed in the vault for safe-keeping and overlooked.It was cheerfully returned to him. By him it wasgiven to his friend, the Reverend E. Goodrich Smith,and by the latter presented to Yale University, whereit now rests in the Fine Arts Building.

So ended the year 1842, a decade since the first conceptionof the telegraph on board the Sully, and it foundthe inventor making his last stand for recognitionfrom that Government to which he had been so loyal,and upon which he wished to bestow a priceless gift.With the dawn of the new year, a year destined tomark an epoch in the history of civilization, hisflagging spirits were revived, and he entered withzest on what proved to be his final and successfulstruggle.

It passes belief that with so many ocular demonstrationsof the practicability of the Morse telegraph, andwith the reports of the success of other telegraphsabroad, the popular mind, as reflected in its representativesin Congress, should have remained so incredulous.Morse had been led to hope that his bill was goingto pass by acclamation, but in this he was rudelydisappointed. Still he had many warm friends whobelieved in him and his invention. First and foremostshould be mentioned his classmate, Henry L. Ellsworth,the Commissioner of Patents, at whose hospitable homethe inventor stayed during some of these anxious days,and who, with his family, cheered him with encouragingwords and help. Among the members of Congresswho were energetic in support of the bill especiallyworthy of mention are—Kennedy, of Maryland;Mason, of Ohio; Wallace, of Indiana; Ferris and Boardman,of New York; Holmes, of South Carolina; and Aycrigg,of New Jersey.

The alternating moods of hope and despair, throughwhich the inventor passed during the next few weeks,are best pictured forth by himself in brief extractsfrom letters to his brother Sidney:—

“January 6, 1843. I sent you a copy ofthe Report on the Telegraph a day or two since.I was in hopes of having it called up to-day, but theHouse refused to go into Committee of the Whole onthe State of the Union, so it is deferred. Thefirst time they go into Committee of the Whole onthe State of the Union it will probably be called upand be decided upon.

“Everything looks favorable, but I do not suffermyself to be sanguine, for I do not know what maybe doing secretly against it. I shall believeit passed when the signature of the President is affixedto it, and not before.”

“January 16. I snatch the moments ofwaiting for company in the Committee Room of Commerceto write a few lines. Patience is a virtue muchneeded and much tried here. So far as opiniongoes everything is favorable to my bill. I hearof no opposition, but should not be surprised if itmet with some. The great difficulty is to getit up before the House; there are so many who must‘define their position,’ as theterm is, so many who must say something to ‘Bunkum,’that a great deal of the people’s time is wastedin mere idle, unprofitable speechifying. I hopesomething may be done this week that shall be decisive,so that I may know what to do.... This waitingat so much risk makes me question myself: amI in the path of duty? When I think that thelittle money I brought with me is nearly gone, that,if nothing should be done by Congress, I shall bein a destitute state; that perhaps I shall have againto be a burden to friends until I know to what to turnmy hands, I feel low-spirited. I am only relievedby naked trust in God, and it is right that this shouldbe so.”

“January 20. My patience is still triedin waiting for the action of Congress on my bill.With so much at stake you may easily conceive howtantalizing is this state of suspense. I wishto feel right on this subject; not to be impatient,nor distrustful, nor fretful, and yet to be preparedfor the worst. I find my funds exhausting, myclothing wearing out, my time, especially, rapidlywaning, and my affairs at home requiring some littlelooking after; and then, if I should after all bedisappointed, the alternative looks dark, and to humaneyes disastrous in the extreme.

“I hardly dare contemplate this side of thematter, and yet I ought so far to consider it as toprovide, if possible, against being struck down bysuch a blow. At times, after waiting all day andday after day, in the hope that my bill may be calledup, and in vain, I feel heart-sick, and finding nothingaccomplished, that no progress is made, that precioustime flies, I am depressed and begin to questionwhether I am in the way of duty. But when I feelthat I have done all in my power, and that this delaymay be designed by the wise disposer of all eventsfor a trial of patience, I find relief and a dispositionquietly to wait such issue as he shall direct, knowingthat, if I sincerely have put my trust in him, hewill not lead me astray, and my way will, in any event,be made plain.”

“January 25. I am still waiting, waiting.I know not what the issue will be and wish to be prepared,and have you all prepared, for the worst in regardto the bill. Although I learn of no oppositionyet I have seen enough of the modes of business inthe House to know that everything there is more thanin ordinary matters uncertain. It will be theend of the session, probably, before I return.I will not have to reproach myself, or be reproachedby others, for any neglect, but under all circ*mstancesI am exceedingly tried. I am too foreboding probably,and ought not so to look ahead as to be distrustful.I fear that I have no right feelings in this stateof suspense. It is easier to say ’Thy willbe done’ than at all tunes to feel it, yet Ican pray that God’s will may be done whateverbecomes of me and mine.”

“January 30. I am still kept in suspensewhich is becoming more and more tantalizing and painful.But I endeavor to exercise patience.”

“February 21. I think the clouds beginto break away and a little sunlight begins to cheerme. The House in Committee of the Whole on theState of the Union have just passed my bill throughcommittee to report to the House. There was anattempt made to cast ridicule upon it by a very fewheaded by Mr. Cave Johnson, who proposed an amendmentthat half the sum should be appropriated to mesmericexperiments. Only 26 supported him and it waslaid aside to be reported to the House without amendmentand without division.

“I was immediately surrounded by my friendsin the House, congratulating me and telling me thatthe crisis is passed, and that the bill will passthe House by a large majority. Mr. Kennedy, chairmanof the Committee on Commerce, has put the bill onthe Speaker’s calendar for Thursday morning,when the final vote in the House will be taken.It then has to go to the Senate, where I have reasonto believe it will meet with a favorable reception.Then to the President, and, if signed by him, I shallreturn with renovated spirits, for I assure you I havefor some time been at the lowest ebb, and can nowscarcely realize that a turn has occurred in my favor.I don’t know when I have been so much tried asin the tedious delays of the last two months, butI see a reason for it in the Providence of God.He has been pleased to try my patience, and not untilmy impatience had yielded unreservedly to submissionhas He relieved me by granting light upon my path.Praised be His name, for to Him alone belongs allthe glory.

“I write with a dreadful headache caused byover excitement in the House, but hope to be betterafter a night’s rest, I have written in hastejust to inform you of the first symptoms of success.”

On the same date as that of the preceding letter,February 21, the following appeared in the “CongressionalGlobe,” and its very curtness and flippancyis indicative of the indifference of the public ingeneral to this great invention, and the proceedingswhich are summarized cast discredit on the intelligenceof our national lawmakers:—

ELECTRO AND ANIMAL MAGNETISM

On motion of Mr. Kennedy of Maryland, the committeetook up the bill to authorize a series of experimentsto be made in order to test the merits of Morse’selectro-magnetic telegraph. The bill appropriates$30,000, to be expended under the direction of thePostmaster-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 uponthe bill. As the present Congress had done muchto encourage science, he did not wish to see the scienceof mesmerism neglected and overlooked. He thereforeproposed that one half of the appropriation be givento Mr. Fisk, to enable him to carry on experiments,as well as Professor Morse.

Mr. Houston thought that Millerism should also beincluded in the benefits of the appropriation.

Mr. Stanly said he should have no objection to theappropriation for mesmeric experiments, provided thegentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Cave Johnson] was thesubject. [A laugh.]

Mr. Cave Johnson said he should have no objectionprovided 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 saidsum shall be appropriated for trying mesmeric experimentsunder the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.”

Mr. S. Mason rose to a question of order. Hemaintained that the amendment was not bona fide,and that such amendments were calculated to injurethe character of the House. He appealed to thechair to rule the amendment out of order.

The Chairman said it was not for him to judge of themotives of members in offering amendments, and hecould not, therefore, undertake to pronounce the amendmentnot bona fide. Objections might be raisedto it on the ground that it was not sufficiently analogousin character to the bill under consideration, but,in the opinion of the Chair, it would require a scientificanalysis to determine how far the magnetism of mesmerismwas analogous to that to be employed in telegraphs.[Laughter.] He therefore ruled the amendment in order.

On taking the vote, the amendment was rejected—ayes22, noes not counted.

The bill was then laid aside to be reported.

On February 23, the once more hopeful inventor sentoff the following hurriedly written letter to hisbrother:—

“You will perceive by the proceedings of theHouse to-day that my bill has passed the Houseby a vote of 89 to 80. A close vote afterthe expectations raised by some of my friends in theearly part of the session, but enough is as good asa feast, and it is safe so far as the House is concerned.I will advise you of the progress of it through theSenate. All my anxieties are now centred there.I write in great haste.”

A revised record of the voting showed that the marginof victory was even slighter, for in a letter to Smith,Morse says:—

“The long agony (truly agony to me) is over,for you will perceive by the papers of to-morrow that,so far as the House is concerned, 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 severalgrounds not affecting the disposition of many individualmembers, who voted against it, to the invention.In this 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 friendlyand who adverse to the bill. I shall now bendall my attention to the Senate. There is a gooddisposition there and I am now strongly encouragedto think that my invention will be placed before thecountry 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, butI can truly say that I have never passed so tryinga period as the last two months. Professor Fisher(who has been of the greatest service to me) and Ihave been busy from morning till night every day sincewe have been here. I have brought him on withme at my expense, and he will be one of the first assistantsin the first experimental line, if the bill passes....My feelings at the prospect of success are of a joyouscharacter, as you may well believe, and one of theprincipal elements of my joy is that I shall be enabledto contribute to the happiness of all who formerlyassisted me, some of whom are, at present, speciallydepressed.”

Writing to Alfred Vail on the same day, he says aftertelling of the passage of the bill:—

“You can have but a faint idea of the sacrificesand trials I have had in getting the Telegraph thusfar before the country and the world. I cannotdetail 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 (exceptin obtaining the iron of the magnets for the lastinstruments obtained of you) to forward our enterprise.My means to defray my expenses, to meet which everycent I owned in the world was collected, are nearlyall gone, and if, by any means, the bill should failin the Senate, I shall return to New York with thefraction of a dollar in my pocket.”

And now the final struggle which meant success orfailure was on. Only eight days of the sessionremained and the calendar was, as usual, crowded.The inventor, his nerves stretched to the breakingpoint, hoped and yet feared. He had every reasonto believe that the Senate would show more broad-mindedenlightenment than the House, and yet he had been toldthat his bill would pass the House by acclamation,while the event proved that it had barely squeezedthrough by a beggarly majority of six. He hearddisquieting rumors of a determination on the part ofsome of the House members to procure the defeat ofthe bill in the Senate. Would they succeed, wouldthe victory, almost won, be snatched from him at thelast moment, or would his faith in an overruling Providence,and in his own mission as an instrument of that Providence,be justified at last?

Every day of that fateful week saw him in his placein the gallery of the Senate chamber, and all daylong he sat there, listening, as we can well imagine,with growing impatience to the senatorial oratory onthe merits or demerits of bills which to him wereof such minor importance, however heavily freightedwith the destinies of the nation they may have been.And every night he returned to his room with the sadreflection that one more of the precious days hadpassed and his bill had not been reached. Andthen came the last day, March 3, that day when thesession of the Senate is prolonged till midnight,when the President, leaving the White House, sitsin the room provided for him at the Capitol, readyto sign the bills which are passed in these last fewhurried hours, if they meet with his approval, orto consign them to oblivion if they do not.

The now despairing inventor clung to his post in thegallery almost to the end, but, being assured by hissenatorial friends that there was no possibility ofthe bill being reached, and unable to bear the finalblow of hearing the gavel fall which should signalizehis defeat, shrinking from the well-meant condolencesof his friends, he returned almost broken-heartedto his room.

The future must have looked black indeed. Hehad staked his all and lost, and he was resolved toabandon all further efforts to press his inventionon an unfeeling and a thankless world. He mustpick up his brush again; he must again woo the ficklegoddess of art, who had deserted him before, and whowould, in all probability, be chary of her favors now.In that dark hour it would not have been strange ifhis trust in God had wavered, if he had doubted thegoodness of that Providence to whose mysterious workingshe had always submissively bowed. But his faithseems to have risen triumphant even under this crushingstroke, for he thus describes the events of that fatefulnight, and of the next morning, in a letter to BishopStevens, of Pennsylvania, written many years later:—

“The last days of the last session of that Congresswere about to close. A bill appropriating thirtythousand dollars for my purpose had passed the House,and was before the Senate for concurrence. Onthe last day of the session [3d of March, 1843] Ihad spent the whole day and part of the evening inthe Senate chamber, anxiously watching, the progressof the passing of the various bills, of which therewere, in the morning of that day, over one hundredand forty to be acted upon before the one in whichI was interested would be reached; and a resolutionhad a few days before been passed to proceed withthe bills on the calendar in their regular order,forbidding any bill to be taken up out of its regularplace.

“As evening approached there seemed to be butlittle chance that the Telegraph Bill would be reachedbefore the adjournment, and consequently I had theprospect of the delay of another year, with the lossof time, and all my means already expended. Inmy anxiety I consulted with two of my senatorial friends—SenatorHuntington, of Connecticut, and Senator Wright, ofNew York—asking their opinion of the probabilityof reaching the bill before the close of the session.Their answers were discouraging, and their advicewas to prepare myself for disappointment. Inthis state of mind I retired to my chamber and madeall my arrangements for leaving Washington the nextday. Painful as was this prospect of reneweddisappointment, you, my dear sir, will understand mewhen I say that, knowing from experience whence myhelp must come in any difficulty, I soon disposedof my cares, and slept as quietly as a child.

“In the morning, as I had just gone into thebreakfast-room, the servant called me out, announcingthat a young lady was in the parlor wishing to speakwith me. I was at once greeted with the smilingface of my young friend, the daughter of my old andvalued friend and classmate, the Honorable H.L.Ellsworth, the Commissioner of Patents. On myexpressing 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 mistaken;I was in the Senate chamber till after the lamps werelighted, and my senatorial friends assured me therewas no chance for me.’

“‘But,’ she replied, ’it isyou that are mistaken. Father was there at theadjournment at midnight, and saw the President puthis name to your bill, and I asked father if I mightcome and tell you, and he gave me leave. Am Ithe first to tell you?’

“The news was so unexpected that for some momentsI could not speak. At length I replied:—

“’Yes, Annie, you are the first to informme, and now I am going to make you a promise; thefirst dispatch on the completed line from Washingtonto Baltimore shall be yours.’

“‘Well,’ said she, ‘I shallhold you to your promise.’”

This was the second great moment in the history ofthe Morse Telegraph. The first was when the inspirationcame to him on board the Sully, more than a decadebefore, and now, after years of heart-breaking struggleswith poverty and discouragements of all kinds, thefaith in God and in himself, which had upheld himthrough all, was justified, and he saw the dawningof a brighter day.

On what slight threads do hang our destinies!The change of a few votes in the House, the delayof a few minutes in the Senate, would have doomedMorse to failure, for it is doubtful whether he wouldhave had the heart, the means, or the encouragementto prosecute the enterprise further.

He lost no time in informing his associates of thehappy turn in their affairs, and, in the excitementof the moment, he not only dated his letter to SmithMarch 3, instead of March 4, but he seems not to haveunderstood that the bill had already been signed bythe President, and had become a law:—

“Well, my dear Sir, the matter is decided. TheSenate has just passed my bill without division andwithout opposition, and it will probably be signedby the President in a few hours. This, I think,is news enough for you at present, and, as I haveother letters that I must write before the mail closes,I must say good-bye until I see you or hear from you.Write to me in New York, where I hope to be by thelatter part of next week.”

And to Vail he wrote on the same day:—

“You will be glad to learn, doubtless, thatmy bill has passed the Senate without a division andwithout opposition, so that now the telegraphic enterprisebegins to look bright. I shall want to see youin New York after my return, which will probably bethe latter part of next week. I have other lettersto write, so excuse the shortness of this, which, IFSHORT, IS SWEET, at least. My kind regards toyour father, mother, brothers, sisters, and wife.The whole delegation of your State, without exception,deserve the highest gratitude of us all.”

The Representatives from the State of New Jersey inthe House voted unanimously for the bill, those ofevery other State were divided between the yeas andthe nays and those not voting.

Congratulations now poured in on him from all sides;and the one he, perhaps, prized the most was fromhis friend and master, Washington Allston, then livingin Boston:—

“March 24, 1843. All your friends herejoin me in rejoicing at the passing of the act ofCongress appropriating thirty thousand dollars towardcarrying out your Electro-Magnetic Telegraph.I congratulate you with all my heart. Shakespearesays: ’There is a tide in the affairs ofmen that, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.’You are now fairly launched on what I hope will proveto you another Pactolus. I pede fausto!

“This has been but a melancholy year to me.I have been ill with one complaint or another nearlythe whole time; the last disorder the erysipelas,but this has now nearly disappeared. I hope thisletter will meet you as well in health as I take ityou are now in spirits.”

Morse lost no time in replying:—

“I thank you, my dear sir, for your congratulationsin regard to my telegraphic enterprise. I hopeI shall not disappoint the expectations of my friends.I shall exert all my energies to show a complete andsatisfactory result. When I last wrote you fromWashington, I wrote under the apprehension that mybill would not be acted upon, and consequently I wrotein very low spirits.

“‘What has become of painting?’I think I hear you ask. Ah, my dear sir, whenI have diligently and perseveringly wooed the coquettishjade for twenty years, and she then jilts me, whatcan I do? But I do her injustice, she is notto blame, but her guardian for the time being.I shall not give her up yet in despair, but pursueher even with lightning, and so overtake her at last.

“I am now absorbed in my arrangements for fulfillingmy designs with the Telegraph in accordance with theact of Congress. I know not that I shall be ableto complete my experiment before Congress meets again,but I shall endeavor to show it to them at their nextsession.”

CHAPTER XXX

MARCH 15, 1848—JUNE 13, 1844

Work on first telegraph line begun.—Gale,Fisher, and Vail appointed assistants.—F.O.J.Smith to secure contract for trenching.—Morsenot satisfied with contract.—Death of WashingtonAllston.—Reports to Secretary of the Treasury.—ProphesiesAtlantic cable.—Failure of undergroundwires.—Carelessness of Fisher.—F.O.J.Smith shows cloven hoof.—Ezra Cornell solvesa difficult problem.—Cornell’s planfor insulation endorsed by Professor Henry.—Manydiscouragements.—Work finally progressesfavorably.—Frelinghuysen’s nominationas Vice-President reported by telegraph.—Lineto Baltimore completed.— First message.—Triumph.—Reportsof Democratic Convention.—First long-distanceconversation.—Utility of telegraph established.—Offerto sell to Government.

Out of the darkness of despair into which he had beenplunged, Morse had at last emerged into the sunlightof success. For a little while he basked in itsrays with no cloud to obscure the horizon, but hisrespite was short, for new difficulties soon arose,and new trials and sorrows soon darkened his path.

Immediately after the telegraph bill had become alaw he set to work with energy to carry out its provisions.He decided, after consultation with the Secretaryof the Treasury, Hon. J.C. Spencer, to erect theexperimental line between Washington and Baltimore,along the line of railway, and all the preliminariesand details were carefully planned. With thesanction of the Secretary he appointed Professors Galeand Fisher as his assistants, and soon after addedMr. Alfred Vail to their number. He returnedto New York, and from there wrote to Vail on March15:—

“You will not fail, with your brother and, ifpossible, your father, to be in New York on Tuesdaythe 21st, to meet the proprietors of the Telegraph.I was on the point of coming out this afternoon withyoung Mr. Serrell, the patentee of the lead-pipe machine,which I think promises to be the best for our purposesof all that have been invented, as to it can be applied‘a mode of filling lead-pipe with wire,’for which Professor Fisher and myself have entereda caveat at the Patent Office.”

Vail gladly agreed to serve as assistant in the constructionof the line, and, on March 21 signed the followingagreement:—

PROFESSOR MORSE,—As an assistant in thetelegraphic experiment contemplated by the Act ofCongress lately passed, I can superintend and procurethe making of the Instruments complete accordingto your direction, namely: the registers, thecorrespondents with their magnets, the batteries,the reels, and the paper, and will attend to the procuringof the acids, the ink, and the preparation of the variousstations. I will assist in filling the tubeswith wire, and the resinous coating, and I will devotemy whole time and attention to the business so as tosecure a favorable result, and should you wish todevolve upon me any other business connected withthe Telegraph, I will cheerfully undertake it.

Three dollars per diem, with travelling expenses,I shall deem a satisfactory salary.

Very respectfully, your ob’t ser’t,
ALFRED VAIL.

Professor Fisher was detailed to superintend the manufactureof the wire, its insulation and its insertion in thelead tubes, and Professor Gale’s scientificknowledge was to be placed at the disposal of the patenteeswherever and whenever it should be necessary.F.O.J. Smith undertook to secure a favorablecontract for the trenching, which was necessary tocarry out the first idea of placing the wires underground,and Morse himself was, of course, to be general superintendentof the whole enterprise.

In advertising for lead pipe the following quaintanswer was received from Morris, Tasker & Morris,of Philadelphia:—

“Thy advertisem*nts for about one hundred andtwenty miles of 1/2 in. lead tube, for Electro MagneticTelegraphic purposes, has induced us to forward theesome samples of Iron Tube for thy inspection.The quantity required and the terms of payment arethe inducement to offer it to thee at the exceedinglow price here stated, which thou wilt please keepto thyself undivulged to other person, etc.,etc.”

As iron tubing would not have answered Morse’spurpose, this decorous solicitation was declined withthanks.

During the first few months everything worked smoothly,and the prospect of an early completion of the linewas bright. Morse kept all his accounts in themost businesslike manner, and his monthly accountsto the Secretary of the Treasury were models of accuracyand a conscientious regard for the public interest.

One small cloud appeared above the horizon, so smallthat the unsuspecting inventor hardly noticed it,and yet it was destined to develop into a storm ofportentous dimensions. On May 17, he wrote toF.O.J. Smith from New York:—

“Yours of the 27th April I have this morningreceived enclosing the contracts for trenching.I have examined the contract and I must say I am notexactly pleased with the terms. If I understoodyou right, before you left for Boston, you were confidenta contract could be made far within the estimatesgiven in to the Government, and I had hoped that somethingcould be saved from that estimate as from the others,so as to present the experiment before the countryin as cheap a form as possible.

“I have taken a pride in showing to Governmenthow cheaply the Telegraph could be laid, since themain objection, and the one most likely to defeatour ulterior plans, is its great expense. I havein my other contracts been able to be far within myestimates to Government, and I had hoped to be ableto present to the Secretary the contract for trenchinglikewise reduced. There are plenty of applicantshere who will do it for much less, and one even saidhe thought for one half. I shall do nothing inregard to the matter until I see you.”

A great personal sorrow came to him also, a shorttime after this, to dim the brilliance of success.On July 9, 1843, his dearly loved friend and master,Washington Allston, died in Boston after months ofsuffering. Morse immediately dropped everythingand hastened to Boston to pay the last tributes ofrespect to him whom he regarded as his best friend.He obtained as a memento one of the brushes, stillwet with paint, which Allston was using on his lastunfinished work, “The Feast of Belshazzar,”when he was suddenly stricken. This brush he afterwardspresented to the National Academy of Design, whereit is, I believe, still preserved.

Sorrowfully he returned to his work in Washington,but with the comforting thought that his friend hadlived to see his triumph, the justification for hisdeserting that art which had been the bond to firstbring them together.

On July 24, in his report to the Secretary of theTreasury, he says:—

“I have also the gratification to report thatthe contract for the wire has been faithfully fulfilledon the part of Aaron Benedict, the contractor; thatthe first covering with cotton and two varnishingsof the whole one hundred and sixty miles is also completed;that experiments made upon forty-three miles haveresulted in the most satisfactory manner, and thatthe whole work is proceeding with every prospect ofa successful issue.”

It was at first thought necessary to insulate thewhole length of the wire, and it was not until sometime afterwards that it was discovered that nakedwires could be successfully employed.

On August 10, in his report to the Secretary, he indulgesin a prophecy which must have seemed in the highestdegree visionary in those early days:—

“Some careful experiments on the decomposingpower at various distances were made from which thelaw of propulsion has been deduced, verifying theresults of Ohm and those which I made in the summerof 1842, and alluded to in my letter to the HonorableC.G. Ferris, published in the House Report, No.17, of the last Congress.

“The practical inference from this law is thata telegraphic communication on my plan may with certaintybe established across the Atlantic!

“Startling as this may seem now, the time willcome when this project will be realized.”

On September 11, he reports an item of saving to theGovernment which illustrates his characteristic honestyin all business dealings:—

“I would also direct the attention of the HonorableSecretary to the payment in full of Mr. Chase, (voucher215), for covering the wire according to the contractwith him. The sum of $1010 was to be paid him.In the course of the preparation of the wire severalimprovements occurred to me of an economical character,in which Mr. Chase cheerfully concurred, althoughat a considerable loss to him of labor contractedfor; so that my wire has been prepared at a cost of$551.25, which is receipted in full, instead of $1010,producing an economy of $458.75.”

The work of trenching was commenced on Saturday, October21, at 8 A.M., and then his troubles began. Describingthem at a later date he says:—

“Much time and expense were lost in consequenceof my following the plan adopted in England of layingthe conductors beneath the ground. At the timethe Telegraph bill was passed there had been aboutthirteen miles of telegraph conductors, for ProfessorWheatstone’s telegraph system in England, putinto tubes and interred in the earth, and there wasno hint publicly given that that mode was not perfectlysuccessful. I did not feel, therefore, at libertyto expend the public moneys in useless experimentson a plan which seemed to be already settled as effectivein England. Hence I fixed upon this mode as onesupposed to be the best. It prosecuted till thewinter of 1843-44. It was abandoned, among otherreasons, in consequence of ascertaining that, in theprocess of inserting the wire into the leaden tubes(which was at the moment of forming the tube fromthe lead at melting heat), the insulating coveringof the wires had become charred, at various and numerouspoints of the line, to such an extent that greaterdelay and expense would be necessary to repair thedamage 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 layingthe conductors for the Telegraph was the present almostuniversal one of extending them on posts set abouttwo hundred feet apart. This mode was adoptedwith success.”

The sentence in the letter of September 27, 1837,just referred to, reads as follows: “Ifthe circuit is laid through the air, the first costwould, doubtless, be much lessened. Stout spars,of some thirty feet in height, well planted in theground and placed about three hundred and fifty feetapart, would in this case be required, along the topsof which the circuit might be stretched.”

A rough drawing of this plan also appears in the 1832sketch-book.

It would seem, from a voluminous correspondence, thatProfessor Fisher was responsible for the failure ofthe underground system, inasmuch as he did not properlytest the wires after they had been inserted in thelead pipe. Carelessness of this sort Morse couldnever brook, and he was reluctantly compelled to dispensewith the services of one who had been of great useto him previously. He refers to this in a letterto his brother Sidney of December 16, 1843:—

“The season is against all my operations, andI expect to resume in the spring. I have difficultiesand trouble in my work, but none of a nature as yetto discourage; they arise from neglect and unfaithfulness(inter nos) on the part of Fisher, whom I shallprobably dismiss, although on many accounts I shalldo it reluctantly. I shall give him an opportunityto excuse himself, if he ever gets here. I havebeen expecting both him and Gale for three weeks,and written, but without bringing either of them.They may have a good excuse. We shall see.”

The few months of sunshine were now past, and theclouds began again to gather:—

December 18, 1843.

DEAR SIDNEY,—I have made every effort totry and visit New York. Twice I have been readywith my baggage in hand, but am prevented by a pressureof difficulties which you cannot conceive. I wasnever so tried and never needed more your prayersand those of Christians for me. Troubles clusterin such various shapes that I am almost overwhelmed.

And then the storm of which the little cloud was theforerunner burst in fury:—

December 30, 1843.

DEAR SIDNEY,—I have no heart to give youthe details of the troubles which almost crush me,and which have unexpectedly arisen to throw a cloudover all my prospects. It must suffice at presentto say that the unfaithfulness of Dr. Fisher in hisinspection of the wires, and connected with Serrell’sbad pipe, is the main origin of my difficulties.

The trenching is stopped in consequence of this amongother reasons, and has brought the contractor uponme for damages (that is, upon the Government).Mr. Smith is the contractor, and where I expected tofind a friend I find a FIEND. The wordis not too strong, as I may one day show you.I have been compelled to dismiss Fisher, and have receiveda very insolent letter from him in reply. Thelead-pipe contract will be litigated, and Smith haswritten a letter full of the bitterest malignity against

me to the Secretary of the Treasury. He seemsperfectly reckless and acts like a madman, and allfor what? Because the condition of my pipe andthe imperfect insulation of my wires were such thatit became necessary to stop trenching on this accountalone, but, taken in connection with the advancedstate of the season, when it was impossible to carryon my operations out of doors, I was compelled to stopany further trenching. This causes him to losehis profit on the contract. Hinc illae lachrymae.And because I refused to accede to terms which, asa public officer, I could not do without dishonor andviolation of trust, he pursues me thus malignantly.

Blessed be God, I have escaped snares set for me bythis arch-fiend, one of which a simple inquiry fromyou was the means of detecting. You rememberI told you that Mr. Smith had made an advantageouscontract with Tatham & Brothers for pipe, and haddivided the profits with me by which I should gainfive hundred dollars. You asked if it was allright and, if it should be made public, it would beconsidered so. I replied, ’Oh! yes; Mr.Smith says it is all perfectly fair’ (for I hadthe utmost confidence in his fair dealing and uprightness).But your remark led me to think of the matter, andI determined at once that, since there was a doubt,I would not touch it for myself, but credit it tothe Government, and I accordingly credited it as somuch saved to the Government from the contract.

And now, will you believe it! the man who would havepersuaded me that all was right in that matter, turnsupon me and accuses me to the Secretary as dealingin bad faith to the Government, citing this very transactionin proof. But, providentially, my friend Ellsworth,and also a clerk in the Treasury Department, are witnessesthat that sum was credited to the Government beforeany difficulties arose on the part of Smith.

But I leave this unpleasant matter. The enterpriseyet looks lowering, but I know who can bring lightout of darkness, and in Him I trust as a sure refugetill these calamities be overpast.... Oh! howthese troubles drive all thought of children and brothersand all relatives out of my mind except in the wakefulhours of the night, and then I think of you all withsadness, that I cannot add to your enjoyment but onlyto your anxiety. ... Love to all. Speciallyremember me in your prayers that I may have wisdomfrom above to act wisely and justly and calmly in thissore trial.

While thus some of those on whom he had relied failedhim at a critical moment, new helpers were at handto assist him in carrying on the work. On December27, he writes to the Secretary of the Treasury:“I have the honor to report that I have dismissedProfessor James C. Fisher, one of my assistants, whosesalary was $1500 per annum.... My present laborsrequire the services of an efficient mechanical assistantwhom I believe I have found in Mr. Ezra Cornell, andwhom I present for the approval of the Honorable Secretary,with a compensation at the rate of, $1000 per annumfrom December 27, 1843.”

Cornell proved himself, indeed, an efficient assistant,and much of the success of the enterprise, from thattime forward, was due to his energy, quick-wittedness,and faithfulness.

Mr. Prime, in his biography of Morse, thus describesa dramatic episode of those trying days:—

“When the pipe had been laid as far as the RelayHouse, Professor Morse came to Mr. Cornell and expresseda desire to have the work arrested until he couldtry further experiments, but he was very anxious thatnothing should be said or done to give to the publicthe impression that the enterprise had failed.Mr. Cornell said he could easily manage it, and, steppingup to the machine, which was drawn by a team of eightmules, he cried out: ’Hurrah, boys! we mustlay another length of pipe before we quit.’The teamsters cracked their whips over the mules andthey started on a lively pace. Mr. Cornell graspedthe handles of the plough, and, watching an opportunity,canted it so as to catch the point of a rock, andbroke it to pieces while Professor Morse stood lookingon.

“Consultations long and painful followed.The anxiety of Professor Morse at this period wasgreater than at any previous hour known in the historyof the invention. Some that were around him hadserious apprehensions that he would not stand up underthe pressure.”

Cornell having thus cleverly cut the Gordian knot,it was decided to string wires on poles, and Cornellhimself thus describes the solution of the insulationproblem:—

“In the latter part of March Professor Morsegave me the order to put the wires on poles, and thequestion at once arose as to the mode of fasteningthe wires to the poles, and the insulation of themat the point of fastening. I submitted a planto the Professor which I was confident would be successfulas an insulating medium, and which was easily availablethen and inexpensive. Mr. Vail also submitteda plan for the same purpose, which involved the necessityof going to New York or New Jersey to get it executed.Professor Morse gave preference to Mr. Vail’splan, and started for New York to get the fixtures,directing me to get the wire ready for use and arrangefor setting the poles.

“At the end of a week Professor Morse returnedfrom New York and came to the shop where I was atwork, and said he wanted to provide the insulatorsfor putting the wires on the poles upon the plan Ihad suggested; to which I responded: ’Howis that, Professor; I thought you had decided to useMr. Vail’s plan?’ Professor Morse replied:’Yes, I did so decide, and on my way to NewYork, where I went to order the fixtures, I stoppedat Princeton and called on my old friend, ProfessorHenry, who inquired how I was getting along with myTelegraph.

“’I explained to him the failure of theinsulation in the pipes, and stated that I had decidedto place the wires on poles in the air. He theninquired how I proposed to insulate the wires whenthey were attached to the poles. I showed himthe model I had of Mr. Vail’s plan, and he said,“It will not do; you will meet the same difficultyyou had in the pipes.” I then explainedto him your plan which he said would answer.’”

However, before the enterprise had reached this pointin March, 1844, many dark and discouraging days andweeks had to be passed, which we can partially followby the following extracts from letters to his brotherSidney and others. To his brother he writes onJanuary 9, 1844:—

“I thank you for your kind and sympathizingletter, which, I assure you, helped to mitigate theacuteness of my mental sufferings from the then disastrousaspect of my whole enterprise. God works by instrumentalities,and he has wonderfully thus far interposed in keepingevils that I feared in abeyance. All, I trust,will yet be well, but I have great difficulties toencounter and overcome, with the details of which Ineed not now trouble you. I think I see lightahead, and the great result of these difficulties,I am persuaded, will be a great economy in laying thetelegraphic conductors.... I am well in healthbut have sleepless nights from the great anxietiesand cares which weigh me down.”

“January 13. I am working to retrievemyself under every disadvantage and amidst accumulatedand most diversified trials, but I have strength fromthe source of strength, and courage to go forward.Fisher I have dismissed for unfaithfulness; Dr. Galehas resigned from ill-health; Smith has become a malignantenemy, and Vail only remains true at his post.All my pipe is useless as the wires are all injuredby the hot process of manufacture. I ampreparing (as I said before, under every disadvantage)a short distance between the Patent Office and Capitol,which I am desirous of having completed as soon aspossible, and by means of it relieving the enterprisefrom the heavy weight which now threatens it.”

To his good friend, Commissioner Ellsworth, he writesfrom Baltimore on February 7:—

“In complying with your kind request that Iwould write you, I cannot refrain from expressingmy warm thanks for the words of sympathy and the promiseof a welcome on my return, which you gave me as I wasleaving the door. I find that, brace myself asI will against trouble, the spirit so sympathiseswith the body that its moods are in sad bondage tothe physical health; the latter vanquishing the former.For the spirit is often willing and submits, whilethe flesh is weak and rebels.

“I am fully aware that of late I have evincedan unusual sensitiveness, and exposed myself to thecharge of great weakness, which would give me themore distress were I not persuaded that I have beenamong real friends who will make every allowance.My temperament, naturally sensitive, has lately beenmade more so by the combination of attacks from deceitfulassociates without and bodily illness within, so thateven the kind attentions of the dear friends at yourhouse, and who have so warmly rallied around me, havescarcely been able to restore me to my usual buoyancyof spirit, and I feel, amidst other oppressive thoughts,that I have not been grateful enough for your friendship.But I hope yet to make amends for the past....I have no time to add more than that I desire sincerelove to dear Annie, to whom please present for me theaccompanying piece from my favorite Bellini, and thebook on Etiquette, after it shall have passed theordeal of a mother’s examination, as I havenot had time to read it myself.”

On March 4, he writes to his brother:—

“I have nothing new. Smith continues toannoy me, but I think I have got him in check by ademand for compensation for my services for sevenmonths, for doing that for him in Paris which he wasbound to do. The agreement stipulates that Igive my services for ’three months and nolonger,’ but, at his earnest solicitation,I remained seven months longer and was his agent in‘negotiating the sale of rights,’ whichby the articles he was obliged to do; consequentlyI have a right to compensation, and Mr. E. and othersthink my claim a valid one. If it is sustainedthe tables are completely turned on him, and he isdebtor to me to the amount of six or seven hundreddollars. I have commenced my operations withposts which promise well at present.”

“March 23. My Telegraph labors go onwell at present. The whole matter is now critical,or, as our good father used to say, ’a crisisis at hand.’ I hope for the best whileI endeavor to prepare my mind for the worst.Smith, if he goes forward with his claim, is a ruinedman in reputation, but he may sink the Telegraph alsoin his passion; but, when he returns from the East,where he fortunately is now, we hope through his friendsto persuade him to withdraw it, which he may do fromfear of the consequences. As to his claims privatelyon me, I think I have him in check, but he is a manof consummate art and unprincipled; he will, therefore,doubtless give me trouble.”

“April 10. A brighter day is dawningupon me. I send you the Intelligencer of to-day,in which you will see that the Telegraph is successfullyunder way. Through six miles the experiment hasbeen most gratifying. In a few days I hope toadvise you of more respecting it. I have preferredreserve until I could state something positive.I have my posts set to Beltsville, twelve miles, andyou will see by the Intelligencer that I am preparedto go directly on to Baltimore and hope to reach thereby the middle of May.”

“May 7. Let me know when Susan and thetwo Charles arrive [his son and his grandson] for,if they come within the next fortnight, I think I cancontrive to run on and pay a visit of two or threedays, unless my marplot Smith should prevent again,as he is likely to do if he comes on here. Asyet there is no settlement of that matter, and he seemsdetermined (inter nos) to be as ugly as he canand defeat all application for an appropriation ifI am to have the management of it. He chafeslike a wild boar, but, when he finds that he can effectnothing by such a temper, self-interest may softenhim into terms.

“You will see by the papers that the Telegraphis in successful operation for twenty-two miles, tothe Junction of the Annapolis road with the Baltimoreand Washington road. The nomination of Mr. Frelinghuysenas Vice-President was written, sent on, and the receiptacknowledged back in two minutes and one second, adistance of forty-four miles. The news was spreadall over Washington one hour and four minutes beforethe cars containing the news by express arrived.In about a fortnight I hope to be in Baltimore, anda communication will be established between the twocities. Good-bye. I am almost asleep fromexhaustion, so excuse abrupt closing.”

This was the first great triumph of the telegraph.Morse and Vail and Cornell had worked day and nightto get the line in readiness as far as the Junctionso that the proceedings of the Whig Convention couldbe reported from that point. Many difficultieswere encountered—crossing of wires, breaks,injury from thunder storms, and the natural errorsincidental to writing and reading what was virtuallya new language. But all obstacles were overcomein time, and the day before the convention met, Morsewrote to Vail:—

“Get everything ready in the morning for theday, 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 an acknowledgmentof its receipt before the cars leave you. Ifyou can it will do more to excite the wonder of thosein the cars than the mere announcement that the newsis gone to Washington.”

The next day’s report was most encouraging:—

“Things went well to-day. Your last writingwas good. You did not correct your error of runningyour letters together until some time. Betterbe deliberate; we have time to spare, since we donot spend upon our stock. Get ready to-morrow(Thursday) as to-day. There is great excitementabout the Telegraph and my room is thronged, thereforeit is important to have it in action during the hoursnamed. I may have some of the Cabinet to-morrow....Get from the 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 thepassengers to give you some short sentence to sendme; let them note time and call at the Capitol to verifythe time I received it. Before transmitting notifyme with (48). Your message to-day that ‘thepassengers in the cars gave three cheers for HenryClay,’ excited the highest wonder in the passengerwho gave it to you to send when he found it verifiedat the Capitol.”

In a letter to his friend, Dr. Aycrigg of New Jersey,written on May 8, and telling of these successfuldemonstrations, this interesting sentence occurs:“I find that the ground, in conformity with theresults of experiments of Dr. Franklin, can be madea part of the circuit, and I have used one wire andthe ground with better effect for one circuit thantwo wires.”

On the 11th of May he again cautions Vail about hiswriting: “Everything worked well yesterday,but there is one defect in your writing. Makea longer space between each letter and a stilllonger space between each word. I shall havea great crowd to-day and wish all things to go offwell. Many M.C.s will be present, perhaps Mr.Clay. Give me news by the cars. When thecars come along, try and get a newspaper from Philadelphiaor New York and give items of intelligence. Thearrival of the cars at the Junction begins to excitehere the greatest interest, and both morning and eveningI have had my room thronged.”

And now at last the supreme moment had arrived.The line from Washington to Baltimore was completed,and on the 24th day of May, 1844, the company invitedby the inventor assembled in the chamber of the UnitedStates Supreme Court to witness his triumph.True to his promise to Miss Annie Ellsworth, he hadasked her to indite the first public message whichshould be flashed over the completed line, and she,in consultation with her good mother, chose the nowhistoric words from the 23d verse of the 23d chapterof Numbers—“What hath God wrought!”The whole verse reads: “Surely there isno enchantment against Jacob, neither is there anydivination, against Israel: according to thistime it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, Whathath God wrought!” To Morse, with his strongreligious bent and his belief that he was but a chosenvessel, every word in this verse seemed singularlyappropriate. Calmly he seated himself at theinstrument and ticked off the inspired words in thedots and dashes of the Morse alphabet. AlfredVail, at the other end of the line in Baltimore, receivedthe message without an error, and immediately flashedit back again, and the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph wasno longer the wild dream of a visionary, but an accomplishedfact.

Mr. Prime’s comments, after describing thishistoric occasion, are so excellent that I shall givethem in full:—

“Again the triumph of the inventor was sublime.His confidence had been so unshaken that the surpriseof his friends in the result was not shared by him.He knew what the instrument would do, and the factaccomplished was but the confirmation to others ofwhat to him was a certainty on the packet-ship Sullyin 1832. But the result was not the less gratifyingand sufficient. Had his labors ceased at thatmoment, he would have cheerfully exclaimed in thewords of Simeon: ’Lord, now lettest thouthy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seenthy salvation.’

[Illustration: FIRST FORM OF KEY]

[Illustration: IMPROVED FORM OF KEY]

[Illustration: EARLY RELAY The two keys andthe relay are in the National Museum, Washington]

[Illustration: FIRST WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE INSTRUMENTThe Washington-Baltimore instrument is owned by CornellUniversity]

“The congratulations of his friends followed.He received them with modesty, in perfect harmonywith the simplicity of his character. Neitherthen nor at any subsequent period of his life did hislanguage or manner indicate exultation. He believedhimself an instrument employed by Heaven to achievea great result, and, having accomplished it, he claimedsimply to be the original and only instrument by whichthat result had been reached. With the same steadinessof purpose, tenacity and perseverance, with whichhe had pursued the idea by which he was inspired in1832, he adhered to his claim to the paternity ofthat idea, and to the merit of bringing it to a successful

issue. Denied, he asserted it; assailed, he defendedit. Through long years of controversy, discussionand litigation, he maintained his right. Equablealike in success and discouragement, calm in the midstof victories, and undismayed by the number, the violence,and the power of those who sought to deprive him ofthe honor and the reward of his work, he manfully maintainedhis ground, until, by the verdict of the highest courtsof his country, and of academies of science, and thepractical adoption and indorsem*nt of his system byhis own and foreign nations, those wires, which werenow speaking only forty miles from Washington to Baltimore,were stretched over continents and under oceans makinga network to encompass and unite, in instantaneousintercourse, for business and enjoyment, all partsof the civilized world.”

It was with well-earned but modest satisfaction thathe wrote to his brother Sidney on May 31:—

“You will see by the papers how great successhas attended the first efforts of the Telegraph.That sentence of Annie Ellsworth’s was divinelyindited, for it is in my thoughts day and night.‘What hath God wrought!’ It is his work,and He alone could have carried me thus far throughall my trials and enabled me to triumph over the obstacles,physical and moral, which opposed me.

“‘Not unto us, not unto us, but to thyname, O Lord, be all the praise.’

“I begin to fear now the effects of public favor,lest it should kindle that pride of heart and self-sufficiencywhich dwells in my own as well as in others’breasts, and which, alas! is so ready to be inflamedby the slightest spark of praise. I do indeedfeel gratified, and it is right I should rejoice,but I rejoice with fear, and I desire that a senseof dependence upon and increased obligation to theGiver of every good and perfect gift may keep me humbleand circ*mspect.

“The conventions at Baltimore happened mostopportunely for the display of the powers of the Telegraph,especially as it was the means of correspondence,in one instance, between the Democratic Conventionand the first candidate elect for the Vice-Presidency.The enthusiasm of the crowd before the window of theTelegraph Room in the Capitol was excited to the highestpitch at the announcement of the nomination of thePresidential candidate, and the whole of it afterwardsseemed turned upon the Telegraph. They gave theTelegraph three cheers, and I was called to make myappearance at the window when three cheers were givento me by some hundreds present, composed mainly ofmembers of Congress.

“Such is the feeling in Congress that many tellme they are ready to grant anything. Even themost inveterate opposers have changed to admirers,and one of them, Hon. Cave Johnson, who ridiculed mysystem last session by associating it with the tricksof animal magnetism, came to me and said: ‘Sir,I give in. It is an astonishing invention.’

“When I see all this and such enthusiasm everywheremanifested, and contrast the present with the pastseason of darkness and almost despair, have I notoccasion to exclaim ‘What hath God wrought’?Surely none but He who has all hearts in his hands,and turns them as the rivers of waters are turnedcould so have brought light out of darkness. ’Sorrowmay continue for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’Pray for me then, my dear brother, that I may havea heart to praise the great Deliverer, and in future,when discouraged or despairing, be enabled to rememberHis past mercy, and in full faith rest all my careson Him who careth for us.

“Mr. S. still embarrasses the progress of theinvention by his stubbornness, but there are indicationsof giving way; mainly, I fear, because he sees hispecuniary interest in doing so, and not from any senseof the gross injury he has done me. I pray Godfor a right spirit in dealing with him.”

The incident referred to in this letter with regardto the nomination for the Vice-Presidency by the DemocraticConvention is worthy of more extended notice.The convention met in Baltimore on the 26th of May,and it was then that the two-thirds rule was firstadopted. Van Buren had a majority of the votes,but could not secure the necessary two thirds, andfinally James K. Polk was unanimously nominated.This news was instantly flashed to Washington by thetelegraph and was received with mingled feelings ofenthusiasm, disappointment, and wonder, and not believedby many until confirmed by the arrival of the mail.

The convention then nominated Van Buren’s friend,Senator Silas Wright, of New York, for the Vice-Presidency.This news, too, was immediately sent by wire to Washington.Morse at once informed Mr. Wright, who was in theCapitol at the time, of his nomination, but he refusedto accept it, and Morse wired his refusal to Vailin Baltimore, and it was read to the convention onlya few moments after the nomination had been made.This was too much for the credulity of the assembly,and they adjourned till the following day and senta committee to Washington to verify the dispatch.Upon the return of the committee, with the report thatthe telegraph had indeed performed this wonder, thisnew instrumentality received such an advertisem*ntas could not fail to please the most exacting.

Then a scene was enacted new in the annals of civilization.In Baltimore the committee of conference surroundedVail at his instrument, and in Washington SenatorWright sat beside Morse, all others being excluded.The committee urged Wright to accept the nomination,giving him good reasons for doing so. He replied,giving as good reasons for refusing. This firstlong-distance conversation was carried on until thecommittee was finally convinced that Wright was determinedto refuse, and they so reported to the convention.Mr. Dallas was then nominated, and in November ofthat year Polk and Dallas were elected.

On June 3, Morse made his report to the HonorableMcClintock Young, who was then Secretary of the Treasuryad interim. It was with great satisfactionthat he was able to say: “Of the appropriationmade there will remain in the Treasury, after thesettlement of outstanding accounts, about $3500, whichmay be needed for contingent liabilities and for sustainingthe line already constructed, until provision by lawshall be made for such an organization of a telegraphicdepartment or bureau as shall enable the Telegraphat least to support itself, if not to become a profitablesource of revenue to the Government.”

In the course of this report mention is also madeof the following interesting incidents:—

“In regard to the utility of the Telegraph,time alone can determine and develop the whole capacityfor good of so perfect a system. In the few daysof its infancy it has already casually shown its usefulnessin the relief, in various ways, of the anxieties ofthousands; and, when such a sure means of relief isavailable to the public at large, the amount of itsusefulness becomes incalculable. An instance ortwo will best illustrate this quality of the Telegraph.

“A family in Washington was thrown into greatdistress by a rumor that one of its members had metwith a violent death in Baltimore the evening before.Several hours must have elapsed ere their state ofsuspense could be relieved by the ordinary means ofconveyance. A note was dispatched to the telegraphrooms at the Capitol requesting to have inquiry madeat Baltimore. The messenger had occasion to waitbut ten minutes when the proper inquiry wasmade at Baltimore, and the answer returned that therumor was without foundation. Thus was a worthyfamily relieved immediately from a state of distressingsuspense.

“An inquiry from a person in Baltimore, holdingthe check of a gentleman in Washington upon the Bankof Washington, was sent by telegraph to ascertainif the gentleman in question had funds in that bank.A messenger was instantly dispatched from the Capitolwho returned in a few minutes with an affirmativeanswer, which was returned to Baltimore instantly,thus establishing a confidence in a money arrangementwhich might have affected unfavorably (for many hours,at least) the business transactions of a man of goodcredit.

“Other cases might be given, but these are deemedsufficient to illustrate the point of utility, andto suggest to those who will reflect upon them thousandsof cases in the public business, in commercial operations,and in private and social transactions, which establishbeyond a doubt the immense advantages of such a speedymode of conveying intelligence.”

While such instances of the use of the telegraph arebut the commonplaces of to-day, we can imagine withwhat wonder they were regarded in 1844.

Morse then addressed a memorial to Congress, on thesame day, referring to the report just quoted from,and then saying:—

“The proprietors respectfully suggest that itis an engine of power, for good or for evil, whichall opinions seem to concur in desiring to have subjectto the control of the Government, rather than haveit in the hands of private individuals and associations;and to this end the proprietors respectfully submittheir willingness to transfer the exclusive use andcontrol of it, from Washington City to the city ofNew York, to the United States, together with suchimprovements as shall be made by the proprietors,or either of them, if Congress shall proceed to causeits construction, and upon either of the followingterms.”

Here follow the details of the two plans: eitheroutright purchase by the Government of the existingline and construction by the Government of the linefrom Baltimore to New York, or construction of thelatter by the proprietors under contract to the Government;but no specific sum was mentioned in either case.

This offer was not accepted, as will appear furtheron, but $8000 was appropriated for the support ofthe line already built, and that was all that Congresswould do. It was while this matter was pendingthat Morse wrote to his brother Sidney, on June 13:—

“I am in the crisis of matters, so far as thissession of Congress is concerned, in relation to theTelegraph, which absorbs all my time. Perfectenthusiasm seems to pervade all classes in regard toit, but there is still the thorn in the flesh whichis permitted by a wise Father to keep me humble, doubtless.May his strength be sufficient for me and I shallfear nothing, and will bear it till He sees fit toremove it. Pray for me, as I do for you, that,if prosperity is allotted to us, we may have heartsto use it to the glory of God.”

CHAPTER XXXI

JUNE 28, 1844—OCTOBER 9, 1846

Fame and fortune now assured.—Governmentdeclines purchase of telegraph.—Accidentto leg gives needed rest.—Reflections onways of Providence.—Consideration of financialpropositions.—F.O.J. Smith’sfulsome praise.—Morse’s reply.—Extensionof telegraph proceeds slowly. —Letterto Russian Minister.—Letter to London “Mechanics’Magazine” claiming priority and first experimentsin wireless telegraphy.—Hopes that Governmentmay yet purchase.—Longing for a home.—Dinnerat Russian Minister’s.—Congress againfails him.—Amos Kendall chosen as businessagent.—First telegraph company.—Fourthvoyage to Europe.—London, Broek, Hamburg.—Letterof Charles T. Fleischmann.—Paris.—Nothingdefinite accomplished.

Morse’s fame was now secure, and fortune wassoon to follow. Tried as he had been in the schoolof adversity, he was now destined to undergo new trials,trials incident to success, to prosperity, and to world-wideeminence. That he foresaw the new dangers whichwould beset him on every hand is clearly evidencedin the letters to his brother, but, heartened by thesuccess which had at last crowned his efforts, he buckledon his armor ready to do battle to such foes, bothwithin and without, as should in the future assailhim. Fatalist as we must regard him, he believedin his star; or rather he went forward with sublimefaith in that God who had thus far guarded him fromevil, and in his own good time had given him the victory,and such a victory! For twelve years he had foughton through trials and privations, hampered by bodilyailments and the deep discouragements of those whoshould have aided him. Pitted against the trainedminds and the wealth of other nations, he had goneforth a very David to battle, and, like David, thesimplicity of his missile had given him the victory.Other telegraphs had been devised by other men; somehad actually been put into operation, but it wouldseem as if all the nations had held their breath untilhis appeared, and, sweeping all the others from thefield, demonstrated and maintained its supremacy.

From this time forward his life became more complex.Honors were showered upon him; fame carried his nameto the uttermost parts of the earth; his counsel wassought by eminent scientists and by other inventors,both practical and visionary.

On the other hand, detractors innumerable arose; hisrights to the invention were challenged, in all sincerityand in insincerity; infringements of his patent rightsnecessitated long and acrimonious lawsuits, and, likeother men of mark, he was traduced and vilified.In addition to all this he took an active interestin the seething politics of the day and in religiousquestions which, to his mind and that of many others,affected the very foundations of the nation.

To follow him through all these labyrinthine wayswould require volumes, and I shall content myselfwith selecting only such letters as may give a fairidea of how he bore himself in the face of these newand manifold trials, of how he sometimes erred injudgment and in action, but how through all he wassincere and firm in his faith, and how, at last, hewas to find that home and that domestic bliss whichhe had all his life so earnestly desired, but whichhad until the evening of his days been denied to him.

Having won his great victory, retirement from thefield of battle would have best suited him. Hewas now fifty-three years of age, and he felt thathe had earned repose. To this end he sought tocarry out his long-cherished idea that the telegraphshould become the property of the Government, andhe was willing to accept a very modest remuneration.As I have said before, he and the other proprietorsjoined in offering the telegraph to the Governmentfor the paltry sum of $100,000. But the Administrationof that day seems to have been stricken with unaccountableblindness, for the Postmaster-General, that same wiseand sapient Cave Johnson who had sought to kill thetelegraph bill by ridicule in the House, and in despiteof his acknowledgment to Morse, reported: “Thatthe operation of the Telegraph between Washingtonand Baltimore had not satisfied him that, under anyrate of postage that could be adopted, its revenuescould be made equal to its expenditures.”Congress was equally lax, and so the Government lostit* great opportunity, for when, in after years, thequestion of government ownership again came up, itwas found that either to purchase outright or to parallelexisting lines would cost many more millions thanit would have taken thousands in 1844.

The failure of the Government to appreciate the valueof what was offered to them was always a source ofdeep regret to Morse. For, while he himself gainedmuch more by the operation of private companies, theevils which he had foretold were more than realized.

But to return to the days of ’44, it would seemthat in the spring of that year he met with a painfulaccident. Its exact nature is not specified,but it must have been severe, and yet we learn fromthe following letter to his brother Sidney, datedJune 23, that he saw in it only another blessing:—

“I am still in bed, and from appearances I amlikely to be held here for many days, perhaps weeks.The wound on the leg was worse than I at first supposed.It seems slow in healing and has been much inflamed,although now yielding to remedies. My hope wasto have spent some weeks in New York, but it willnow depend on the time of the healing of my leg.

“The ways of God are mysterious, and I findprayer answered in a way not at all anticipated.This accident, as we are apt to call it, I can plainlysee is calculated to effect many salutary objects.I needed rest of body and mind after my intense anxietiesand exertions, and I might have neglected it, andso, perhaps, brought on premature disease of both;but I am involuntarily laid up so that I must keepquiet, and, although the fall that caused my woundwas painful at first, yet I have no severe pain withit now. But the principal effect is, doubtless,intended to be of a spiritual character, and I amafforded an opportunity of quiet reflection on thewonderful dealings of God with me.

“I cannot but constantly exclaim, ‘Whathath God wrought!’ When I look back upon thedarkness of last winter and reflect how, at one timeeverything seemed hopeless; when I remember that allmy associates in the enterprise of the Telegraph hadeither deserted me or were discouraged, and one hadeven turned my enemy, reviler and accuser (and evenMr. Vail, who has held fast to me from the beginning,felt like giving up just in the deepest darkness ofall); when I remember that, giving up all hope myselffrom any other source than his right arm which bringssalvation, his salvation did come in answer to prayer,faith is strengthened, and did I not know by too sadexperience the deceitfulness of the heart, I shouldsay that it was impossible for me again to distrustor feel anxiety, undue anxiety, for the future.But He who knows the heart knows its disease, and,as the Good Physician, if we give ourselves unreservedlyinto his hands to be cured, He will give that medicinewhich his perfect knowledge of our case prescribes.

“I am well aware that just now my praises ringfrom one end of the country to the other. I cannottake up a paper in which I do not find something toflatter the natural pride of the heart. I haveprayed, indeed, against it; I have asked for a rightspirit under a trial of a new character, for prosperityis a trial, and our Saviour has denounced a woe onus ‘when all men speak well of us.’May it not then be in answer to this prayer that Heshuts me up, to strengthen me against the temptationswhich the praises of the world present, and so, bymeditation on his dealings with me and reviewing theway in which He has led me, showing me my perfecthelplessness without Him, He is preparing to blessme with stronger faith and more unreserved faith inHim?

“To Him, indeed, belongs all the glory.I have had evidence enough that without Christ I coulddo nothing. All my strength is there and I ferventlydesire to ascribe to Him all the praise. If Iam to have influence, increased influence, I desireto have it for Christ, to use it for his cause; ifwealth, for Christ; if more knowledge, for Christ.I speak sincerely when I say I fear prosperity lestI should be proud and forget whence it comes.”

Having at length recovered from the accident whichhad given him, in spite of himself, the rest whichhe so much needed, Morse again devoted himself tohis affairs with his accustomed vigor. The Governmentstill delaying to take action, he was compelled, muchto his regret, to consider the offers of private partiesto extend the lines of the telegraph to importantpoints in the Union. He had received propositionsfrom various persons who were eager to push the enterprise,but in all negotiations he was hampered by the dilatorinessof Smith, who seemed bent on putting as many obstaclesin the way of an amicable settlement as possible,and some of whose propositions had to be rejected forobvious reasons. Before Congress had finallyput the quietus on his hopes in that direction, heconsidered the advisability of parting with his interestto some individual, and, on July 1, 1844, he wroteto Mr. David Burbank from Baltimore:—

“In reply to your query for what sum I wouldsell my share of the patent right in the Telegraph,which amounts to one half, I frankly say that, ifone hundred and ten thousand dollars shall besecured to me in cash, current funds in the UnitedStates, or stocks at cash value, such as I may bedisposed to accept if presented, so that in six monthsfrom this date I shall realize that sum, I will assignover all my rights and privileges in the Telegraphin the United States.

“I offer it at this price, not that I estimatethe value of the invention so low, for it is perfectlydemonstrable that the sum above mentioned is not halfits value, but that I may have my own mind free tobe occupied in perfecting the system, and in a generalsuperintendence of it, unembarrassed by the businessarrangements necessary to secure its utmost usefulnessand value.”

A Mr. Fry of Philadelphia had also made an offer,and, referring to this, he wrote to Smith from NewYork, on July 17: “A letter from Mr. Fry,of Philadelphia, in answer to the proposals whichyou sent, I have just received. I wish much tosee you, as I cannot move in this matter until I knowyour views. I am here for about a fortnight andwish some arrangements made by which our businesscan be transacted without the necessity of so muchwaiting and so much writing.”

All these negotiations seem to have come to nothing,and I have only mentioned them as showing Morse’swillingness to part with his interest for much lessthan he knew it was worth, in order that he might notprove an obstacle in the expansion of the system bybeing too mercenary, and so that he might obtain somemeasure of freedom from care.

Mr. F.O.J. Smith, while still proving himselfa thorn in the flesh to Morse in many ways, had compileda Telegraph Dictionary which he called: “TheSecret Corresponding Vocabulary, adapted for Use toMorse’s Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, and alsoin conducting Written Correspondence transmitted bythe Mails, or otherwise.” The dedicationreads as follows:

To Professor Samuel F.B. Morse, Inventor ofthe Electro-Magnetic Telegraph

Sir,—The homage of the world during thelast half-century has been, and will ever continueto be, accorded to the name and genius of the illustriousAmerican philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, for havingfirst taught mankind that the wild and terrific waysand forces of the electric fluid, as it flies andflashes through the rent atmosphere, or descends tothe surface of the earth, are guided by positive andfixed laws, as much as the movements of more sluggishmatter in the physical creation, and that its terribledeath-strokes may be rendered harmless by proper scientificprecautions.

To another name of another generation, yet of thesame proud national nativity, the glory has been reservedof having first taught mankind to reach even beyondthe results of Franklin, and to subdue in a modifiedstate, into the familiar and practical uses of a householdservant who runs at his master’s bidding, thissame once frightful and tremendous element. Indeedthe great work of science which Franklin commencedfor the protection of man, you have most triumphantlysubdued to his convenience. And it needs notthe gift of prophecy to foresee, nor the spirit ofpersonal flattery to declare, that the names of Franklinand Morse are destined to glide down the declivityof time together, the equals in the renown of inventiveachievements, until the hand of History shall becomepalsied, and whatever pertains to humanity shall belost in the general dissolution of matter.

Of one thus rich in the present applause of his countrymen,and in the prospect of their future gratitude, itaffords the author of the following compilation, whichis designed to contribute in a degree to the practicalusefulness of your invention, a high gratificationto speak in the presence of an enlightened publicfeeling.

That you may live to witness the full consummationof the vast revolution in the social and businessrelations of your countrymen, which your genius hasproved to be feasible, under the liberal encouragementof our national councils, and that you may, with thisgreat gratification, also realize from it the substantialreward, which inventive merit too seldom acquires,in the shape of pecuniary independence, is the sincerewish of

Your most respectful and obedient servant
The Author.

This florid and fulsome eulogy was written by thatsingular being who could thus flatter, and almostapotheosize, the inventor in public, while in secrethe was doing everything to thwart him, and who never,as long as he lived, ceased to antagonize him, andlater accused him of having claimed the credit ofan invention all the essentials of which were inventedby others. No wonder that Morse was embarrassedand at a loss how to reply to the letter of Smith’senclosing this eulogy and, at the same time, bringingup one of the subjects in dispute:—

New York, November 13, 1844.

Dear Sir,—I have received yours of the4th and 5th inst., and reply in relation to the severalsubjects you mention in their order.

I like very well the suggestion in regard to the presentationof a set of the Telegraph Dictionary you are publishingto each member of Congress, and, when I return toWashington, will see the Secretary of the Treasuryand see if he will assent to it.

As to the dedication to me, since you have asked myopinion, I must say I should prefer to have it muchcurtailed and less laudatory. I must refer itentirely to you, however, as it is not for me to saywhat others should write and think of me.

In regard to the Bartlett claim against the Governmentand your plan for settling it, I cannot admit that,as proprietors of the Telegraph, we have anythingto do with it. I regret that there has been anymention of it, and I had hoped that you yourself hadcome to the determination to leave the matter altogether,or at least until the Telegraph bill had been definitelysettled in Congress. However much I may deprecateagitation of the subject in the Senate, to mar andprobably to defeat all our prospects, it is a matterover which I have no control in the aspect that hasbeen given to it, and therefore—“thesuppression of details which had better not be pushedto a decision”—does not rest withme.

In regard, however, to such a division of the propertyof the Telegraph as shall enable each of us to laborfor the general benefit without embarrassment fromeach other, I think it worthy of consideration, andthe principle on which such a division is proposedto be made might be extended to embrace the entireproperty. The subject, however, requires maturedeliberation, and I am not now prepared to presentthe plan, but will think it over and consult withVail and Gale and arrange it, perhaps definitely,when I see you again in Washington.

I have letters from Vail at Washington and Rogersat Baltimore stating the fact that complete successhas attended all the transmission of results by Telegraph,there not having been a failure in a single instance,and to the entire satisfaction of both political partiesin the perfect impartiality of the directors of theTelegraph.

While the success of the Telegraph had now been fullydemonstrated, and while congratulations and honorswere showered on the inventor from all quarters, negotiationsfor its extension proceeded but slowly. Morsestill kept hoping that the Government would eventuallypurchase all the rights, and it was not until wellinto 1845 that he was compelled to abandon this dream.In the mean time he was kept busy replying to enquiriesfrom the representatives of Russia, France, and otherEuropean countries, and in repelling attacks whichhad already been launched against him in scientificcircles. As an example of the former I shallquote from a letter to His Excellency Alexander deBodisco, the Russian Minister, written in December,1844:—

“In complying with your request to write yourespecting my invention of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph,I find there are but few points of interest not embracedin the printed documents already in your possession.The principle on which, my whole invention rests isthe power of the electro-magnet commanded at pleasureat any distance. The application of this powerto the telegraph is original with me. If theelectro-magnet is now used in Europe for telegraphicpurposes, it has been subsequently introduced.All the systems of electric telegraphs in Europe from1820 to 1840 are based on the deflection of themagnetic needle, while my system, invented in1832, is based, as I have just observed, on the electro-magnet....

“Should the Emperor be desirous of the superintendenceof an experienced person to put the Telegraph in operationin Russia, I will either engage myself to visit Russiafor that purpose; or, if my own or another governmentshall, previous to receiving an answer from Russia,engage my personal attendance, I will send an experiencedperson in my stead.”

As a specimen of the vigorous style in which he repelledattacks on his merits as an inventor, I shall givethe following:—

Messrs. Editors,—The London “Mechanics’Magazine,” for October, 1844, copies an articlefrom the Baltimore “American” in whichmy discovery in relation to causing electricity tocross rivers without wires is announced, and thenin a note to his readers the editor of the magazinemakes the following assertion: “The Englishreader need scarcely be informed that Mr. Morse hasin this, as in other matters relating to magneto telegraphs,only rediscovered what was previously well knownin this country.”

More illiberality and deliberate injustice has beenseldom condensed within so small a compass. Fromthe experience, however, that I, in common with manyAmerican scientific gentlemen, have already had ofthe piratical conjoined with the abusive propensityof a certain class of English savans and writers,I can scarcely expect either liberality or justicefrom the quarter whence this falsehood has issued.But there is, fortunately, an appeal to my own countrymen,to the impartial and liberal-minded of ContinentalEurope, and the truly noble of England herself.

I claim to be the original inventor of the Electro-MagneticTelegraph; to be the first who planned and operateda really practicable Electric Telegraph. Thisis the broad claim I make in behalf of my country andmyself before the world. If I cannot substantiatethis claim, if any other, to whatever country he belongs,can make out a previous or better claim, I will cheerfullyyield him the palm.

Although I had planned and completed my Telegraphunconscious, until after my Telegraph was in operation,that even the words “Electric Telegraph”had ever been combined until I had combined them, Ihave now made myself familiar with, I believe, allthe plans, abortive and otherwise, which have beengiven to the world since the time of Franklin, whowas the first to suggest the possibility of using electricityas a means of transmitting intelligence. Withthis knowledge, both of the various plans devisedand the time when they were severally devised, I claimto be the first inventor of a really practicable telegraphon the electric principle. When this shall beseriously called in question by any responsible name,I have the proof in readiness.

As to English electric telegraphs, the telegraph ofWheatstone and Cooke, called the Magnetic Needle Telegraph,inefficient as it is, was invented five years aftermine, and the printing telegraph, so-called (the titleto the invention of which is litigated by Wheatstoneand Bain) was invented seven years after mine.

So much for my rediscovering what was previouslyknown in England.

As to the discovery that electricity may be made tocross the water without wire conductors, above, through,or beneath the water, the very reference by the editorto another number of the magazine, and to the experimentsof Cooke, or rather Steinheil, and of Bain, shows thatthe editor is wholly ignorant of the nature of myexperiment. I have in detail the experimentsof Bain and Wheatstone. They were merely in effectrepetitions of the experiments of Steinheil. Theirobject was to show that the earth or water can bemade one half of the circuit in conducting electricity,a fact proved by Franklin with ordinary electricityin the last century, and by Professor Steinheil, ofMunich, with magnetic electricity in 1837. Mr.Bain, and after him Mr. Wheatstone, in England repeated,or (to use the English editor’s phrase) rediscoveredthe same fact in 1841. But what have these experiments,in which one wire is carried across the river,to do with mine which dispenses with wires altogetheracross the river? I challenge the proof that suchan experiment has ever been tried in Europe, unlessit be since the publication of my results.

The year 1844 was drawing to a close and Congressstill was dilatory. Morse hated to abandon hischerished dream of government ownership, and, whilecarrying on negotiations with private parties in orderto protect himself, he still hoped that Congress wouldat last see the light. He writes to his brotherfrom Washington on December 30:—

“Telegraph matters look exceedingly encouraging,not only for the United States but for Europe.I have just got a letter from a special agent of theFrench Government, sent to Boston by the Minister ofForeign Affairs, in which he says that he has seenmine and ’is convinced of its superiority,’and wishes all information concerning it, adding:’I consider it my duty to make a special reporton your admirable invention.’”

And on January 18, 1845, he writes:—

“I am well, but anxiously waiting the actionof Congress on the bill for extension of Telegraph.Texas drives everything else into a corner. Ihave not many fears if they will only get it up.I had to-day the Russian, Spanish, and Belgian Ministersto see the operation of the Telegraph; they were astonishedand delighted. The Russian Minister particularlytakes the deepest interest in it, and will write tohis Government by next steamer. The French Ministeralso came day before yesterday, and will write inits favor to his Government.... Senator Woodburygave a discourse before the Institute a few nightsago, in the Hall of the House of Representatives,in which he lauded the Telegraph in the highest terms,and thought I had gone a step beyond Franklin!The popularity of the Telegraph increases rather thandeclines.”

The mention of Texas in this letter refers to thefact that Polk was elected to the Presidency on aplatform which favored the annexation of that republicto the United States, and this question was, naturally,paramount in the halls of Congress. Texas wasadmitted to the Union in December, 1845.

Writing to his daughter, Mrs. Lind, in Porto Ricoon February 8, he says:—

“The Telegraph operates to the perfect satisfactionof the public, as you perhaps see by the laudatorynotices of the papers in all parts of the country.I am now in a state of unpleasant suspense waitingthe passage of the bill for the extension of the Telegraphto New York.

“I am in hopes they will take it up and passit next week; if they should not, I shall at onceenter into arrangements with private companies totake it and extend it.

“I do long for the time, if it shall be permitted,to have you with your husband and little Charles aroundme. I feel my loneliness more and more keenlyevery day. Fame and money are in themselves apoor substitute for domestic happiness; as means tothat end I value them. Yesterday was the sadanniversary (the twentieth) of your dear mother’sdeath, and I spent the most of it in thinking of her....”

“Thursday, February 12. I dined at theRussian Ambassador’s Tuesday. It was themost gorgeous dinner-party I ever attended in any country.Thirty-six sat down to table; there were eleven Senators,nearly half the Senate.... The table, some twentyor twenty-five feet long, was decorated with immensegilt vases of flowers on a splendid plateau of richlychased gilt ornaments, and candelabra with about ahundred and fifty lights. We were ushered intothe house through eight liveried servants, who afterwardwaited on us at table.

“I go to-morrow evening to Mr. Wickliffe’s,Postmaster General, and, probably, on Wednesday eveningnext 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 Ipresume I shall be there.

“I am most anxiously waiting the action of Congresson the Telegraph. It is exceedingly tantalizingto suffer so much loss of precious time that cannotbe recalled.”

This time there was no eleventh-hour passage of thebill, for Congress adjourned without reaching it,and while this, in the light of future events, wasundoubtedly a tactical error on the part of the Government,it inured to the financial benefit of the inventorhimself. The question now arose of the best meansof extending the business of the telegraph throughprivate companies, and Morse keenly felt the need ofa better business head than he possessed to guidethe enterprise through the shoals and quicksands ofcommerce. He was fortunate in choosing as hisbusiness and legal adviser the Honorable Amos Kendall.

Mr. James D. Reid, one of the early telegraphers anda staunch and faithful friend of Morse’s, thusspeaks of Mr. Kendall in his valuable book “TheTelegraph in America":—

“Mr. Kendall is too well known in American historyto require description. He was General Jackson’sPostmaster General, incorruptible, able, an educatedlawyer, clear-headed, methodical, and ingenious.But he was somewhat rigid in his manners and methods,and lacked the dash and bonhomie which wouldhave carried him successfully into the business centresof the seaboard cities, and brought capital largelyand cheerfully to his feet. Of personal magnetism,indeed, except in private intercourse, where he waseminently delightful, he had, at this period of hislife, none. This made his work difficult, especiallywith railroad men. Yet the Telegraph could nothave been entrusted to more genuinely honest and ablehands. On the part of those he represented thisconfidence was so complete that their interests werecommitted to him without reserve.”

Professor Gale and Alfred Vail joined with Morse inentrusting their interests to Mr. Kendall’scare, but F.O.J. Smith preferred to act for himself.This caused much trouble in the future, for it wasa foregone conclusion that the honest, upright Kendalland the shifty Smith were bound to come into conflictwith each other. The latter, as one of the originalpatentees, had to be consulted in every sale of patentrights, and Kendall soon found it almost impossibleto deal with him.

At first Kendall had great difficulty in inducingcapitalists to subscribe to what was still lookedupon as a very risky venture. Mr. Corcoran, ofWashington, was the first man wise in his generation,and others then followed his lead, so that a cashcapital of $15,000 was raised. Mr. Reid says:“It was provided, in this original subscription,that the payment of $50 should entitle the subscriberto two shares of $50 each. A payment of $15,000,therefore, required an issue of $30,000 stock.To the patentees were issued an additional $30,000stock, or half of the capital, as the considerationof the patent. The capital was thus $60,000 forthe first link. W.W. Corcoran and B.B.French were made trustees to hold the patent rightsand property until organization was effected.Meanwhile an act of incorporation was granted by thelegislature of the State of Maryland, the first telegraphiccharter issued in the United States.”

The company was called “The Magnetic TelegraphCompany,” and was the first telegraph companyin the United States.

Under the able, if conservative, management of Mr.Kendall the business of the telegraph progressed slowlybut surely. Many difficulties were encountered,many obstacles had to be overcome, and the effortsof unprincipled men to pirate the invention, or toinfringe on the patent, were the cause of numerouslawsuits. But it is not my purpose to write ahistory of the telegraph. Mr. Reid has accomplishedthis task much better than I possibly could, and,in following the personal history of Morse, the nowfamous inventor, I shall but touch, incidentally onall these matters.

On the 18th of July, 1845, the following letter ofintroduction was sent to Morse from the Departmentof State:—

To the respective Diplomatic and Consular Agents ofthe United States in Europe.

SIR,—The bearer hereof, Professor SamuelF.B. Morse, of New York, Superintendent of ElectroMagnetic Telegraphs for the United States, is aboutto visit Europe for the purpose of exhibiting to thevarious governments his own system, and its superiorityover others now in use. From a personal knowledgeof Professor Morse I can speak confidently of hisamiability of disposition and high respectability.The merits of his discoveries and inventions in thisparticular branch of science are, I believe, universallyconceded in this country.

I take pleasure in introducing him to your acquaintanceand in bespeaking for him, during his stay in yourneighborhood, such attentions and good offices inaid of his object as you may find it convenient toextend to him.

I am, sir, with great respect,
Your obedient servant,
JAMES BUCHANAN,
Secretary of State.

[Illustration: S.F.B. Morse From a portraitby Daniel Huntington]

With the assurance that he had left his business affairsin capable hands, Morse sailed from New York on August6, 1845, and arrived in Liverpool on the 25th.For the fourth time he was crossing from America toEurope, but under what totally different circ*mstances.On previous occasions, practically unknown, he hadvoyaged forth to win his spurs in the field of art,or to achieve higher honors in this same field, oras a humble petitioner at the courts of Europe.Forced by circ*mstances to practise the most rigideconomy, he had yet looked confidently to the futurefor his reward in material as well as spiritual gifts.Now, having abandoned his art, he had won such famein a totally different realm that his name was becomingwell-known in all the centres of civilization, andhe was assured of a respectful hearing wherever hemight present himself. Freed already from pecuniaryembarrassment, he need no longer take heed for themorrow, but could with a light heart give himself upto the enjoyment of new scenes, and the business ofproving to other nations the superiority of his system,secure in the knowledge that, whatever might betidehim in Europe, he was assured of a competence at home.

His brother Sidney, with his family, had precededhim to Europe, and writing to Vail from London onSeptember 1, Morse says:—

“I have just taken lodgings with my brotherand his family preparatory to looking about for aweek, when I shall continue my journey to Stockholmand St. Petersburg, by the way of Hamburg, direct fromLondon.

“On my way from Liverpool I saw at Rugby thetelegraph wires of Wheatstone, which extend, I understood,as far as Northampton. I went into the officeas the train stopped a moment, and had a glimpse ofthe instrument as we have seen it in the ‘IllustratedTimes.’ The place was the ticket-officeand the man very uncommunicative, but he told me itwas not in operation and that they did not use itmuch. This is easily accounted for from the factthat the two termini are inconsiderable places, andWheatstone’s system clumsy and complicated.The advantage of recording is incalculable, and inthis I have the undisputed superiority. As soonas I can visit the telegraph-office here I will giveyou the result of my observation. I shall probablydo nothing until my return from the north.”

Nothing definite was accomplished during his shortstay in London, and on the 17th of September he leftfor the Continent with Mr. Henry Ellsworth and hiswife. Mr. Ellsworth, the son of his old friend,had been appointed attache to the American Legationat Stockholm. Morse’s letters to his daughtergive a detailed account of his journey, but I shallgive only a few extracts from them:—

“Hamburg, September 27, 1845. Everythingbeing ready on the morning of the 17th instant, weleft Brompton Square in very rainy and stormy weather,and drove down to the Custom-house wharf and went onboard our destined steamer, the William Joliffe, adirty, black-looking, tub-like thing, about as largebut not half so neat as a North River wood-sloop.The wind was full from the Southwest, blowing a galewith rain, and I confess I did not much fancy leavingland in so unpromising a craft and in such weather;yet our vessel proved an excellent seaboat, and, althoughall were sick on board but Mr. Ellsworth and myself,we had a safe but rough passage across the boisterousNorth Sea.”

Stopping but a short time in Rotterdam, the partyproceeded through the Hague and Haarlem to Amsterdam,and from the latter place they visited the villageof Broek:—

“The inn at Broek was another example of thesame neatness. Here we took a little refreshmentbefore going into the village. We walked of course,for no carriage, not even a wheelbarrow, appeared tobe allowed any more than in a gentleman’s parlor.Everything about the exterior of the houses and gardenswas as carefully cared for as the furniture and embellishmentsof the interior. The streets (or rather alleys,like those of a garden) were narrow and paved withsmall variously colored bricks forming every varietyof ornamental figures. The houses, from the highestto the lowest class, exhibited not merely comfort butluxury, yet it was a selfish sort of luxury.The perpetually closed door and shut-up rooms of ceremony,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 ofthe dead rather than of the living, an ornamentalgraveyard. The liveliness of social beings wasabsent and was even inconsistent with the superlativeneatness of all around us. It was a best parlorout-of-doors, where the gayety of frolicking childrenwould derange the set order of the furniture, or anaccidental touch of a sacrilegious foot might scratchthe polish of a fresh-varnished fence, or flattendown the nap of the green carpet of grass, every bladeof which is trained to grow exactly so.

“The grounds and gardens of a Mr. Vander Beckwere, indeed, a curiosity from the strange mixtureof the useful with the ridiculously ornamental.Here were the beautiful banks of a lake and Nature’sembellishment of reeds and water plants, which, fora wonder, were left to grow in their native luxuriance,and in the midst a huge pasteboard or wooden swan,and a wooden mermaid of tasteless proportions blowingfrom a conchshell. In another part was a cottagewith puppets the size of life moving by clock-work;a peasant smoking and turning a reel to wind off thethread which his ‘goed vrow’ is spinningupon a wheel, while a most sheep-like dog is madeto open his mouth and to bark—a dog whichis, doubtless, the progenitor of all the barking,toy-shop dogs of the world. Directly in the vicinityis a beautiful grapery, with the richest clusters ofgrapes literally covering the top, sides and wallsof the greenhouse, which stands in the midst of agarden, gay with dahlias and amaranths and every varietyof flowers, with delicious fruits thickly studdingthe well-trained trees. Everything, however,was cut up into miniature landscapes; little bridgesand little temples adorned little canals and littlemounds, miniature representations of streams and bills.

“We visited the residence of the burgomaster.He was away and his servants permitted us to see thehouse. It was cleaning-day. Everything inthe house was in keeping with the character of thevillage. But the kitchen! how shall I describeit? The polished marble floor, the dressers withglass doors like a bookcase, to keep the least particleof dust from the bright-polished utensils of brassand copper. The varnished mahogany handle ofthe brass spigot, lest the moisture of the hand inturning it should soil its polish, and, will you believeit, the very pothooks as well as the cranes (for therewere two), in the fireplace were as bright as yourscissors!

“Broek is certainly a curiosity. It isunique, but the impression left upon me is not, onthe whole, agreeable. I should not be contentedto live there. It is too ridiculously and uncomfortablynice. Fancy a lady always dressed throughoutthe day in her best evening-party dress, and say ifshe could move about with that ease which she wouldlike. Such, however, must be the feeling of theinhabitants 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. Butgood-bye to Broek. I would not have missed seeingit but do not care to see it again.”

Holland, which he had never visited before, interestedhim greatly, but he could not help saying: “Onefeels in Holland like being in a ship, constantlyliable to spring a leak.”

Hamburg he found more to his taste:—

“September 26. Hamburg, you may remember,was nearly destroyed by fire in 1842. It is nowalmost rebuilt and in a most splendid style of architecture.I am much prepossessed in its favor. We have takenup our quarters at the Victoria Hotel, one of thesplendid new hotels of the city. I find the seasonso far advanced in these northern regions that I amthinking of giving up my journey farther north.My matters in London will demand all my spare time.”

“September 30. The windows of my hotellook out upon the Alster Basin, a beautiful sheetof water, three sides of which are surrounded withsplendid houses. Boats and swans are gliding overthe glassy surface, giving, with the well-dressedpromenaders along the shores, an air of gayety andliveliness to the scene.”

It will not be necessary to follow the traveller stepby step during this visit to Europe. He did notgo to Sweden and Russia, as he had at first planned,for he learned that the Emperor of Russia was in theSouth, and that nothing could be accomplished in hisabsence. He, therefore, returned to London fromHamburg. He was respectfully received everywhereand his invention was recognized as being one of greatmerit and simplicity, but it takes time for anythingnew to make its way. This is, perhaps, best summedup in the words of Charles T. Fleischmann, who atthat time was agent of the United States Patent Office,and was travelling through Europe collecting informationon agriculture, education, and the arts. He wasa good friend of Morse’s and an enthusiasticadvocate of his invention. He carried with hima complete telegraphic outfit and lost no opportunityto bring it to the notice of the different governmentsvisited by him, and his official position gave himthe entree everywhere. Writing from Vienna onOctober 7, he says:—

“There is no doubt Morse’s telegraph isthe best of that description I have yet seen, butthe difficulty of introducing it is in this circ*mstance,that every scientific man invents a similar thing and,without having the practical experience and practicalarrangement which make Morse’s so preferable,they will experiment a few miles’ distance only,and no doubt it works; but, when they come to put itup at a great distance, then they will find that theirexperience is not sufficient, and must come back ultimatelyto Morse’s plan. The Austrian Governmentis much occupied selecting out of many plans (of telegraphs)one for her railroads. I have offered Morse’sand proposed experiments. I am determined tostay for some time, to give them a chance of makingup their minds.”

Two other young Americans, Charles Robinson and CharlesL. Chapin, were also travelling around Europe at thistime for the purpose of introducing Morse’sinvention, but, while all these efforts resulted inthe ultimate adoption by all the nations of Europe,and then of the world, of this system, the superiorityof which all were compelled, sometimes reluctantly,to admit, no arrangement was made by which Morse andhis co-proprietors benefited financially. Thegain in fame was great, in money nil. It was,therefore, with mixed feelings that Morse wrote tohis brother from Paris on November 1:—

“I am still gratified in verifying the factthat my Telegraph is ahead of all the other systemsproposed. Wheatstone’s is not adopted here.The line from Paris to Rouen is not on his plan, butis an experimental line of the Governmental Commission.I went to see it yesterday with my old friend theAdministrator-in-Chief of the Telegraphs of France,Mr. Poy, who is one of the committee to decide onthe best mode for France. The system on thisline is his modification.... I have had a longinterview with M. Arago. He is the same affableand polite man as in 1839. He is a warm friendof mine and contends for priority in my favor, andis also partial to my telegraphic system as the best.He is President of the Commission and is going towrite the History of Electric Telegraphs. I shallgive him the facts concerning mine. The day afterto-morrow I exhibit my telegraphic system again tothe Academy of Sciences, and am in the midst of preparationsfor a day important to me. I have strong hopesthat mine will be the system adopted, but there maybe obstacles I do not see. Wheatstone, at anyrate, is not in favor here....

“I like the French. Every nation has itsdefects and I could wish many changes here, but theFrench are a fine people. I receive a welcomehere to which I was a perfect stranger in England.How deep this welcome may be I cannot say, but ifone must be cheated I like to have it done in a civiland polite way.”

He sums up the result of his European trip in a letterto his daughter, written from London on October 9,as he was on his way to Liverpool from where he sailedon November 19, 1845:—

“I know not what to say of my telegraphic mattershere yet. There is nothing decided upon and Ihave many obstacles to contend against, particularlythe opposition of the proprietors of existing telegraphs;but that mine is the best system I have now no doubt.All that I have seen, while they are ingenious, aremore complicated, more expensive, less efficient andeasier deranged. It may take some time to establishthe superiority of mine over the others, for thereis the usual array of prejudice and interest againsta system which throws others out of use.”

CHAPTER XXXII

DECEMBER 20, 1845—APRIL 18, 1849

Return to America.—Telegraph affairs inbad shape.—Degree of LL.D. from Yale.—Letterfrom Cambridge Livingston.—Henry O’Reilly.—Griefat unfaithfulness of friends.—Estrangementfrom Professor Henry.—Morse’s “Defense.”—Hisregret at feeling compelled to publish it.—Hopesto resume his brush.—Capitol panel.—Againdisappointed.—Another accident.—Firstmoney earned from telegraph devoted to religious purposes.—Lettersto his brother Sidney.—Telegraph matters.—MexicanWar.—Faith in the future.—Desireto be lenient to opponents.—Dr. Jackson.—EdwardWarren.—Alfred Vail remains loyal.—Troublesin Virginia.—Henry J. Rogers.—Letterto J.D. Reid about O’Reilly.—F.O.J.Smith again.—Purchases a home at last.—“LocustGrove,” on the Hudson, near Poughkeepsie.—Enthusiasticdescription.—More troubles without, butpeace in his new home.

Having established to his satisfaction the fact thathis system was better than any of the European plans,which was the main object of his trip abroad, Morsereturned to his native land, but not to the rest andquiet which he had so long desired. Telegraphlines were being pushed forward in all directions,but the more the utility of this wonderful new agentwas realized, the greater became the efforts to breakdown the lawful rights of the patentees, and competinglines were, hurriedly built on the plea of fightinga baleful monopoly by the use of the inventions ofothers, said to be superior. Internal dissensionsalso arose in the ranks of the workers on the Morselines, and some on whom he had relied proved faithless,or caused trouble in other ways. But, while theseclouds arose to darken his sky, there was yet muchsunshine to gladden his heart. His health wasgood, his children and the families of his brotherswere well and prosperous. In the year 1846 hispatent rights were extended for another period ofyears, and he was gradually accumulating a competenceas the various lines in which he held stock beganto declare dividends. In addition to all thishis fame had so increased that he was often alludedto in the papers as “the idol of the nation,”and honorary degrees were conferred on him by variousinstitutions both at home and abroad. Of thesethe one that, perhaps, pleased him the most was thedegree of LL.D. bestowed by his alma mater,Yale. He alludes to it with pride in many of hisletters to his brother Sidney, and once playfullysuggests that it must mean “Lightning Line Doctor.”

One of the first letters which he received on hisreturn to America was from Cambridge Livingston, datedDecember 20, 1845, and reads as follows:—

“The Trustees of the New York and Boston MagneticTelegraph Association are getting up a certificateof stock, and are desirous of making it neat and appropriate.It has seemed to me very desirable that one of itsdecorations should be your coat of arms, and if youwill do me the favor to transmit a copy, or a waximpression of the same, I shall be much obliged.”

To this Morse replied:—

“I send you a sketch of the Morse coat of arms,according to your request, to do as you please withit. I am no advocate of heraldic devices, butthe motto in this case sanctions it with me.I wish to live and die in its spirit:—

“‘Deo non armis fido.’”

I have said that many on whom Morse relied provedfaithless, and, while I do not intend to go into thedetails of all these troubles, it is only right that,in the interest of historical truth, some mention shouldbe made of some of these men. The one who, nextto F.O.J. Smith, caused the most trouble to Morseand his associates, was Henry O’Reilly.Mr. Reid, in his “Telegraph in America,”thus describes him:—

“Henry O’Reilly was in many respects awonderful man. His tastes were cultivated.His instincts were fine. He was intelligent andgenial. His energy was untiring, his hopefulnessshining. His mental activity and power of continuouslabor were marvellous. He was liberal, generous,profuse, full of the best instincts of his nation.But he lacked prudence in money matters, was loosein the use of it, had little veneration for contracts,was more anxious for personal fame than wealth.He formed and broke friendships with equal rapidity,was bitter in his hates, was impatient of restraint.My personal attachment to him was great and sincere.We were friends for many years until he became theagent of F.O.J. Smith, and my duties threw mein collision with him.”

It was not until some years after his first connectionwith the telegraph, in 1845, that O’Reilly turnedagainst Morse and his associates. This will bereferred to at the proper time, but I have introducedhim now to give point to the following extract froma letter of his to Morse, dated December 28, 1845:—

“Do you recollect a person who, while underyour hands for a daguerreotype in 1840-41, broke accidentallyan eight-dollar lens? Tho’ many tho’tyou ‘visionary’ in your ideas of telegraphiccommunication, that person, you may recollect, tooka lively interest in the matter, and made some suggestionsabout the propriety of pressing the matter energeticallyupon Congress and upon public attention. You seemedthen to feel pleased to find a person who took solively an interest in your invention, and you willsee by the enclosed circular that that person (yourhumble servant) has not lost any of his early confidencein its value. May you reap an adequate rewardfor the glorious thought!”

It was one of life’s little ironies that theman who could thus call down good fortune on the headof the inventor should soon after become one of thechief instruments in the effort to rob him of his “adequatereward,” and his good name as well. Morsehad such bitter experiences with several persons,who turned from friends to enemies, that it is no wonderhe wrote as follows to Vail some time after this date:—

“I am grieved to say that many things have latelycome to my knowledge in regard to ——that show double-dealing. Be on your guard.I hope it is but appearance, and that his course maybe cleared up by subsequent events.

“I declare to you that I have seen so much duplicityin those in whom I had confided as friends, that Ifeel in danger of entertaining suspicions of everybody.I have hitherto thought you were too much inclinedto be suspicious of people, but I no longer thinkso.

“Keep this to yourself. It may be thatappearances are deceptive, and I would not wrong onewhom I had esteemed as a real friend without the clearestevidence of unfaithfulness. Yet when appearancesare against, it is right to be cautious.”

The name of the person referred to is left blank inthe copy of this letter which I have, so I do notknow who it was, but the sentiments would apply toseveral of the early workers in the establishment ofthe telegraph.

I have said that Morse, being only human, was sometimesguilty of errors of judgment, but, in a careful studyof the facts, the wonder is great that he committedso few. It is an ungracious task for a son tocall attention to anything but the virtues of hisfather, especially when any lapses were the resultof great provocation, and were made under the firmconviction that he was in the right. Yet in theinterest of truth it is best to state the facts fairlyand dispassionately, and let posterity judge whetherthe virtues do not far outweigh the faults. Suchan error was committed, in my judgment, by Morse inthe bitter controversy which arose between him andProfessor Joseph Henry, and I shall briefly sketchthe origin and progress of this regrettable incident.

In 1845, Alfred Vail compiled and published a “Historyof the American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph.”In this work hardly any mention was made of the importantdiscoveries of Professor Henry, and this caused thatgentleman to take great offense, as he believed thatMorse was the real author of the work, or had, atleast, given Vail all the materials. As a matterof fact he had given Vail only his notes on Europeantelegraphs and had not seen the proofs of the work,which was published while he was absent in Europe.As soon as Morse was made aware of Henry’s feelings,he wrote to him regretting the omission and explaininghis innocence in the matter, and he also draughteda letter, at Vail’s request, which the lattercopied and sent to Henry, stating that he, Vail, hadbeen unable to obtain the particulars of Henry’sdiscoveries, and that, if he had offended, he haddone so innocently.

Henry was an extremely sensitive man and he paid noattention to Vail’s letter, and sent only acurt acknowledgment of the receipt of Morse’s.However, at a meeting somewhat later, the misunderstandingseemed to be smoothed over, on the assurance that,in a second edition of Vail’s work, due creditshould be given to Henry, and that whenever Morse hadthe opportunity he would gladly accord to that eminentman the discoveries which were his. There neverwas a true second edition of Vail’s book, butin 1847 a few more copies were struck off from theold plates and the date was, unfortunately, changedfrom 1845 to 1847. Henry, naturally, looked uponthis as a second edition and his resentment grew.

Morse’s opportunity to do public honor to Henrycame in 1848, when Professor Sears C. Walker, of theCoast Survey, published a report containing some remarkson the “Theory of Morse’s Electro-MagneticTelegraph.” When Professor Walker submittedthis report to Morse the latter said: “Ihave now the long-wished-for opportunity to do justicepublicly to Henry’s discovery bearing upon thetelegraph. I should like to see him, however,previously, and learn definitely what he claims tohave discovered. I will then prepare a paper tobe appended and published as a note, if you see fit,to your Report.”

This paper was written by Morse and sent to ProfessorWalker with the request that it be submitted to ProfessorHenry for his revision, which was done, but it wasnot included in Professor Walker’s report, andthis naturally nettled Morse, who also had sensitivenerves, and so the breach was widened. In thispaper, after giving a brief history of electric discoveriesbearing on the telegraph, and of his own inventions,Morse sums up:—

“While, therefore, I claim to be the first topropose the use of the electro-magnet for telegraphicpurposes, and the first to constructa telegraph on the basis of the electro-magnet,yet to Professor Henry is unquestionably due the honorof the discovery of a fact in science whichproves the practicability of exciting magnetism througha long coil or at a distance, either to deflecta needle or to magnetize soft iron.”

I wish he had never revised this opinion, althoughhe was sincere in thinking that a more careful studyof the subject justified him in doing so.

A few years afterwards Morse and his associates becameinvolved in a series of bitterly contested litigationswith parties interested in breaking down the originalpatent rights, and Henry was called as a witness forthe opponents of Morse.

He gave his testimony with great reluctance, but itwas tinged with the bitterness caused by the failureof Vail to do him justice and his apparent convictionthat Morse was disingenuous. He denied to thelatter any scientific discoveries, and gave the impression(at least, to others) that Henry, and not Morse, wasthe real inventor of the telegraph. His testimonywas used by the enemies of Morse, both at home andabroad, to invalidate the claims of the latter, and,stung by these aspersions on his character and attainments,and urged thereto by injudicious friends, Morse publisheda lengthy pamphlet entitled: “A Defenseagainst the Injurious Deductions drawn from the Depositionof Professor Joseph Henry.” In this pamphlethe not only attempted to prove that he owed nothingto the discoveries of Henry, but he called in questionthe truthfulness of that distinguished man.

The breach between these two honorable, highly sensitivemen was now complete, and it was never healed.

The consensus of scientific opinion gives to Henry’sdiscoveries great value in the invention of the telegraph.While they did not constitute a true telegraph inthemselves; while they needed the inventions and discoveries,and, I might add, the sublime faith and indomitableperseverance of Morse to make the telegraph a commercialsuccess; they were, in my opinion, essential to it,and Morse, I think, erred in denying this. But,from a thorough study of his character, we must givehim the credit of being sincere in his denial.Henry, too, erred in ignoring the advances of Morseand Vail and in his proud sensitiveness. ProfessorLeonard D. Gale, the friend of both men, makes thefollowing comment in a letter to Morse of February9, 1852: “I fear Henry and I shall neveragain be on good terms. He is as cold as a polarberg, and, I am informed, very sensitive. Ithas been said by some busybody that his testimonywas incompatible with mine, and so a sort of feelingis manifested as if it were so. I have said nothingabout it yet.” It would have been moredignified on the part of Morse to have disregardedthe imputations contained in Henry’s testimony,or to have replied much more briefly and dispassionately.On the other hand, the provocation was great and hewas egged on by others, partly from motives of self-interestand partly from a sincere desire on the part of hisfriends that he should justify himself.

In a long letter to Vail, of January 15, 1851, inwhich he details the whole unfortunate affair, hesays: “If there was a man in the world,not related to me, for whom I had conceived not merelyadmiration but affection, it was for Professor JosephHenry. I think you will remember, and can bearme witness, that I often expressed the wish that Iwas able to put several thousand dollars at his servicefor scientific investigation.... The whole casehas saddened me more than I can express. I haveto fight hard against misanthropy, friend Vail, andI have found the best antidote to be, when the fitis coming on me, to seek out a case of suffering andto relieve it, that the act in the one case may neutralizethe feeling in the other, and thus restore the balancein the heart.”

In taking leave for the present of this unfortunatecontroversy I shall quote from the “Defense,”to show that Morse sincerely believed it his dutyto act as he did, but that he acted with reluctance:—

“That I have been slow to complain of the injuriouscharacter of his testimony; that I have so long allowed,almost entirely uncontradicted, its distortions tohave all their legal weight against me in four separatetrials, without public exposure and for a space offour years of time, will at least show, I humbly contend,my reluctance to appear opposed to him, even whenself-defence is combined with the defence of the interestsof a large body of assignees.... Painful, therefore,as is the task imposed upon me, I cannot shrink fromit, but shall endeavor so to perform it as ratherto parry the blows that have been aimed at me thanto inflict any in return. If what I say shallwound, it shall be from the severity of the simpletruth itself rather than from the manner of settingit forth.”

In the year 1846 there still remained one panel inthe rotunda of the Capitol at Washington to be filledby an historical painting. It had been assignedto Inman, but, that artist having recently died, Morse’sfriends, artists and others, sent a petition to Congressurging the appointment of Morse in his place.Referring to this in a letter to his brother Sidney,dated March 28, he says:—

“In regard to the rotunda picture I learn thatmy friends are quite zealous, and it is not improbablethat it may be given me to execute. If so, whatshould you say to seeing me in Paris?

“However, this is but castle-building.I am quite indifferent as to the result except that,in case it is given me, I shall be restored to myposition as an artist by the same power that prostratedme, and then shall I not more than ever have causeto exclaim: ’Surely Thou hast led me inaway which I knew not’? I have already,in looking back, seen enough of the dealings of Providencewith me to excite my wonder and gratitude. Howsingularly has my way been hedged up in my professionat the very moment when, to human appearance, everythingseemed prosperously tending to the accomplishmentof my desire in painting a national picture.The language of Providence in all his dealings withme has been almost like that to Abraham: ’Takenow thy son, thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest,and offer him for a burnt offering,’ etc.

“It has always seemed a mystery to me how Ishould have been led on to the acquirement of theknowledge I possess of painting, with so much sacrificeof time and money, and through so many anxieties andperplexities, and then suddenly be stopped as if awall were built across my path, so that I could pursuemy profession no longer. But, I believe, I hadgrace to trust in God in the darkest hour of trial,persuaded that He could and would clear up in hisown time and manner all the mystery that surroundedme.

“And now, if not greatly deceived, I have aglimpse of his wonderful, truly wonderful, mercy towardsme. He has chosen thus to order events that mymind might be concentrated upon that invention whichHe has permitted to be born for the blessing, I trust,of the world. And He has chosen me as the instrument,and given me the honor, and at the moment when allhas been accomplished which is essential to its success,He so orders events as again to turn my thoughts tomy almost sacrificed Isaac.”

In this, however, he did not read the fates aright,for a letter from his friend, Reverend E. GoodrichSmith, dated March 2, 1847, conveys the followingintelligence: “I have just learned to-daythat, with their usual discrimination and justice,Congress have voted $6000 to have the panel filledby young Powell. He enlisted all Ohio, and theyall electioneered with all their might, and no oneknew that the question would come up. New York,I understand, went for you. I hope, however, youmay yet yourself resume the pencil, and furnish thepublic the most striking commentary on their utterdisregard of justice, by placing somewhere ‘TheGerm of the Republic’ in such colors that shallmake them blush and hang their heads to think themselvessuch men.”

But, while he was to be blessed in the fulfilment,of a long cherished dream, it was not the dream ofpainting a great historic picture. He never seriouslytouched a brush again, for all his energies were neededin the defence of himself and his invention from defamationand attack.

In the summer of 1846 he met with another accidentgiving him a slight period of rest which he wouldnot otherwise have taken. He writes of it tohis brother on July 30: “On Monday lastI had the misfortune to fall, into one of those mantrapson Broadway, set principally to break people’slegs and maim them, and incidentally for thedeposit of the coal of the household.”

Vail refers jestingly to this mishap in a letter ofAugust 21: “I trust your unfortunate andunsuccessful attempt to get down cellar has not beena serious affair.”

And Morse replies in the same vein: “Mycellar experiment was not so unsuccessful asyou imagine. I succeeded to my entire satisfactionin taking three inches of skin, a little of the fleshand a trifle of bone from the front of my left leg,and, as the result, got one week’s entire leisurewith my leg in a chair. The experiment was sosatisfactory that I deem it needless to try it again,having established beyond a doubt that skin, fleshand bone are no match against wood, iron and stone.I am entirely well of it and enjoyed my visit to thewestern lines very much.”

It was characteristic of Morse that the first moneywhich he received from the actual sale of his patentrights ($45 for the right to use his patent on a shortline from the Post-Office to the National Observatoryin Washington) was devoted by him to a religious purpose.From a letter of October 20, 1846, we learn that,adding $5 to this sum, he presented $25 to a SundaySchool, and $25 to the fund for repairs.

The attachment of the three Morse brothers to eachother was intense, and lasted to the end of theirlives. The letters of Finley Morse to his brotherSidney, in particular, would alone fill a volume andare of great interest. Most of them have neverbefore been published and I shall quote from themfreely in following Morse’s career.

Sidney and his family were still in Europe, and thetwo following extracts are from letters to him:—

“October 29, 1846. I don’t knowwhere this will find you, but, as the steamer Caledoniagoes in a day or two, and as I did not write you bythe last steamer, I thought I would occupy a few moments(not exactly of leisure) to write you.... Charleshas little to do, but does all he can. He isdesirous of a farm and I have made up my mind to indulgehim.... I shall go up the river in a day or twoand look in the vicinity of Po’keepsie....

“Telegraph matters are every day assuming amore and more interesting aspect. All physicaland scientific difficulties are vanquished. Ifconductors are well put up there is nothing more towish for in the facilities of intercourse. Myoperators can easily talk with each other as fastas persons usually write, and faster than this wouldbe faster than is necessary. The Canadians arealive on the subject, and lines are projected fromToronto to Montreal, from Montreal to Quebec and toHalifax. Lines are also in contemplation fromToronto to Detroit, on the Canada side, and from Buffaloto Chicago on this side, so that it may not be visionaryto say that our first news from England may reach NewYork via Halifax, Detroit, Buffalo and Albany....

“The papers will inform you of the events ofthe war. Our people are united on this pointso far as to pursue it with vigor to a speedy termination.However John Bull may sneer and endeavor to detractfrom the valor of our troops, his own annals do notfurnish proofs of greater skill and more fearlessdaring and successful result. The Mexican raceis a worn-out race, and God in his Providence is takingthis mode to regenerate them. Whatever may bethe opinions of some in relation to the justness orunjustness of our quarrel, there ought to be but oneopinion among all good men, and that should be thatthe moment should be improved to throw a light intothat darkened nation, and to raise a standard therewhich, whatever may become of the Stars and Stripes,or Eagle and Prickly Pear, shall be never taken downtill all nations have flocked to it. Our Bibleand Tract Societies and missionaries ought to be inthe wake of our armies.”

“January 28, 1847. Telegraph mattersare becoming more and more interesting. The peopleof the country everywhere are desirous of availingthemselves of its facilities, and the lines are beingextended in all directions. As might be expectedthen, I have my plans interfered with by mercenaryspeculators who threaten to put up rival telegraphsand contest my patent. I am ready for them.We have had to apply for an injunction on the Philadelphiaand Pittsburg line. The case is an aggravatedone and will be decided on Monday or Tuesday at Philadelphiain Circuit Court of United States. I have no uneasinessas to the result. [It was decided against him, however,but this proved only a temporary check.]

“There are more F.O.Js. than one, yet not onequite so bad. I think amid all the scramble Ishall probably have enough come to my share, and itdoes not matter by what means our Heavenly Father choosesto curtail my receipts, for I shall have just whathe pleases, none can hinder it, and more I do notwant.... House and his associates are making moststrenuous efforts to interfere and embarrass me byplaying on the ignorance of the public and the naturaltimidity of capitalists. I shall probably haveto lay the law on him and make an example before mypatent is confirmed in the minds of the public.It is the course, I am told, of every substantialpatent. It has to undergo the ordeal of one trialin the courts....

“Although I thus write, you need have no fearsthat my operations will be seriously affected by anyschemes of common letter printing telegraphs.I have just filed a caveat for one which I have invented,which as far transcends in simplicity and efficiencyany previous plan for the purpose, as my telegraphsystem is superior to the old visual telegraphs.I will have it in operation by the time you return.”

Apropos of the attacks made upon him by would-be infringers,the following from a letter of his legal counsel,Daniel Lord, Esq., dated January 12, 1847, may notcome amiss: “It ought to be a source ofgreat satisfaction to you to have your invention stolenand counterfeited. Think what an acknowledgmentit is, and what a tribute to its merits.”

Referring to this in a letter to Mr. Lord of a laterdate, Morse answers: “The plot thickensall around me; I think a denouement not faroff. I remember your consoling me under theseattacks with bidding me think that I had inventedsomething worth contending for. Alas! my dearsir, what encouragement is there to an inventor if,after years of toil and anxiety, he has only purchasedfor himself the pleasure of being a target for everyvile fellow to shoot at, and, in proportion as hisinvention is of public utility, so much the greatereffort is to be made to defame, that the robbery mayexcite the less sympathy? I know, however, thatbeyond all this is a clear sky, but the clouds maynot break away until I am no longer personally interestedwhether it be foul or fair. I wish not to complain,but I have feelings and cannot play the stoic if Iwould.”

It was a new experience for Morse to become involvedin the intricacies of the law, and, in a letter toa friend, Henry I. Williams, Esq., dated February22, 1847, he naively remarks: “A studentall my life, mostly in a profession which is adversein its habits and tastes from those of the businessworld, and never before engaged in a lawsuit, I confessto great ignorance even of the ordinary, commonplacedetails of a court.”

His desire to be both just and merciful is shown ina letter to Mr. Kendall, written on February 16, justbefore the decision was rendered against him:“I have been in court all day, and have beenmuch pleased with the clearness and, I think, conclusivenessof Mr. Miles’s argument. I think he hasproduced an evident change in the views of the judge.Yet it is best to be prepared for the worst, and,even if we succeed in getting the injunction, I wishas much leniency as possible to be shown to the opposingparties. Indeed, in this I know my views are secondedby you. However we may have ‘spoken daggers,’let us use none, and let us make every allowance forhonest mistake, even where appearances are at firstagainst such a supposition. O’Reilly mayhave acted hastily, under excitement, under bad advisem*nt,and in that mood have taken wrong steps. YetI still believe he may be recovered, and, while I woulduse every precaution to protect our just rights, Iwish not to take a single step that can be misconstruedinto vindictiveness or triumph.”

It was well that it was his invariable rule to beprepared for the worst, for, writing to his brotherSidney on February 24, he says: “We havejust had a lawsuit in Philadelphia before Judge Kane.We applied for an injunction to stay irregular andinjurious proceedings on the part of Western (Pittsburgand Cincinnati) Company, and our application has beenrefused on technical grounds. I know notwhat will be the issue. I am trying to have matterscompromised, but do not know if it can be done, andwe may have to contest it in law. Our applicationwas in court of equity. A movement of Smith wasthe cause of all.”

Another sidelight is thrown on Morse’s characterby the following extract from a letter to one of hislieutenants, T.S. Faxton, written on March 15:“We must raise the salaries of our operatorsor they will all be taken from us, that is, all thatare good for anything. You will recollect that,at the first meeting of the Board of Directors, I tookthe ground that ’it was our policy to make theoffice of operator desirable, to pay operators welland make their situation so agreeable that intelligentmen and men of character will seek the place and dreadto lose it.’ I still think so, and, dependupon it, it is the soundest economy to act on thisprinciple.”

Just about this time, to add to Morse’s otherperplexities, Doctor Charles T. Jackson began to renewhis claims to the invention of the telegraph, whilealso disputing with Morton the discovery of ether asan anaesthetic, then called “Letheon,”and claiming the invention of gun-cotton and the discoveryof the circulation of the blood. Morse founda willing and able champion in Edward Warren, Esq.,of Boston, and many letters passed between them.As Jackson’s wild claims were effectually disposedof, I shall not dwell upon this source of annoyance,but shall content myself with one extract from a letterto Mr. Warren of March 23: “I wish notto attack Dr. Jackson nor even to defend myself inpublic from his private attacks.If in any of his publications he renews his claim,which I consider as long since settled by default,then it will be time and proper for me to notice him....The most charitable construction of the Dr’s.conduct is to attribute it to a monomania induced byexcessive vanity.”

While many of those upon whom he had looked as friendsturned against him in the mad scramble for power andwealth engendered by the extension of the telegraphlines, it is gratifying to turn to those who remainedtrue to him through all, and among these none wasmore loyal than Alfred Vail. Their correspondence,which was voluminous, is always characterized by thedeepest confidence and affection. In a long letterof March 24, Vail shows his solicitude for Morse’speace of mind: “I think I would not bebothered with a directorship in the New York and Buffaloline, nor in any other. I should wish to keepclear of them. It will only tend to harass andvex when you should be left quiet and undisturbed topursue your improvements and the enjoyment of whatis most gratifying to you.”

And Morse, writing to Vail somewhat later in thissame year, exclaims: “You say you hopeI shall not forget that we have spent many hours together.You might have added ‘happy hours.’I have tried you, dear Vail, as a friend, and thinkI know you as a zealous and honest one.”

Still earlier, on March 18, 1845, in one of his reportsto the Postmaster-General, Cave Johnson, he adds:“In regard to the salary of the ‘one clerkat Washington—$1200,’ Mr. Vail, whowould from the necessity of the case take that post,is my right-hand man in the whole enterprise.He has been with me from the year 1837, and is as familiarwith all the mechanism and scientific arrangementsof the Telegraph as I am myself.... His timeand talent are more essential to the success of theTelegraph than [those of] any two persons that couldbe named.”

Returning now to the letters to his brother Sidney,I shall give the following extracts:—

“March 29, 1847. I am now in New Yorkpermanently; that is I have no longer any officialconnection with Washington, and am thinking of fixingsomewhere so soon as I can get my telegraphic mattersinto such a state as to warrant it; but my patienceis still much tried. Although the enterpriselooks well and is prospering, yet somehow I do notcommand the cash as some business men would if theywere in the same situation. The property is doubtlessgood and is increasing, but I cannot use it as I couldthe money, for, while everybody seems to think I havethe wealth of John Jacob, the only sum I have actuallyrealized is my first dividend on one line, about fourteenhundred dollars, and with this I cannot purchase ahouse. But time will, perhaps, enable me to doso, if it is well that I should have one....I have had some pretty threatening obstacles, butthey as yet are summer clouds which seem to be dissipatingthrough the smiles of our Heavenly Father. House’saffair I think is dead. I believe it has beenheld up by speculators to drive a better bargain withme, thinking to scare me; but they don’t findme so easily frightened. In Virginia I had tooppose a most bigoted, narrow, illiberal clique ina railroad company, which had the address to get abill through the House of Delegates giving them actuallythe monopoly of telegraphs, and ventured to halloobefore they were out of the woods. Mr. Kendallwent post-haste to Richmond, met the bill and its supportersbefore the Committee of the Senate, and, after a sharpcontest, procured its rejection in the Senate, andthe adoption, by a vote of 13 to 7, of a substitutegranting me right of way and corporate powers,which bill, after violent opposition in the House,was finally passed, 44 to 27. So a mean intriguewas defeated most signally, and I came off triumphant.”

“April 27. This you will recognize bythe date is my birthday; 36 years old. Only think,I shall never be 26 again. Don’t you wishyou were as young as I am? Well, if feelingsdetermined age I should be in reality what I haveabove stated, but that leaf in the family Bible, thoseboys and that daughter, those nieces and nephews ofyounger brothers, and especially that grandson,they all concur in putting twenty years more to those36. I cannot get them off; there they are 56!...

“There is an underhand intrigue against my telegraphinterests in Virginia, fostered by a friend turnedenemy in the hope to better his own interests, a manwhom I have ever treated as a friend while I had thegovernmental patronage to bestow, and gave him officein Baltimore. Having no more of patronage togive I have no more friendship from him. Mr.R. has proved himself false, notwithstanding his naminghis son after me as a proof of friendship.”

The Mr. R. referred to was Henry J. Rogers, and, writingof him to Vail on April 26, Morse says: “Iam truly grieved at Rogers’s conduct. Hemust be conscious of doing great injustice; for aman that has wronged another is sure to invent somecause for his act if there has been none given.In this case he endeavors to excuse his selfish andinjurious acts by the false assertion that ‘Ihad cast him overboard.’ Why, what doeshe mean? Was I not overboard myself? Doeshe or anyone else suppose I have nothing else to dothan to find them places, and not only intercede forthem, which in Rogers’s case and Zantziger’sI have constantly and perseveringly done to the presenthour, but I am bound to force the companies, overwhich I have no control, to take them at any rate,on the penalty of being traduced and injured by themif they do not get the office they seek? As toRogers, you know my feelings towards him and his.I had received him as a friend, not as a mereemployee, and let no opportunity pass without urgingforward his interests. I recollected his naminghis son for me, and had determined, if the wealth actuallycame which has been predicted to me, that that childshould be remembered.”

Always desirous of being just and merciful, Morsewrites to Vail on May 1: “Rogers is here.I have had a good deal of conversation with him, andthe result is that I think that some circ*mstanceswhich seemed to inculpate him are explicable on othergrounds than intention to injure us.”

But he was finally forced to give him up, for on August7 he writes: “You cannot tell how painedI am at being compelled to change my opinion of R.Your feelings correspond entirely with my own.I was hoping to do something gratifying to him andhis family, and soon should have done it if he wouldpermit it; but no! The mask of friendship covereda deep selfishness that scrupled not to sacrificea real friendship to a shortsighted and overreachingambition. Let him go. I wished to befriendhim and his, and would have done so from the heart,but as he cannot trust me I have enough who can anddo.”

The case of Rogers was typical, and I have, therefore,given it in some detail. It was always a sourceof grief to Morse when men, whom in his large-heartedway he had admitted to his intimacy, turned againsthim; and he was called upon to suffer many such blows.He has been accused of having quarrelled with allhis associates. This, of course, is not true,for we have only to name Vail, and Gale, and Kendall,and Reid, and a host of others to prove the contrary.But, like all men who have achieved great things,he made bitter enemies, some of whom at first professedsincere friendship for him and were implicitly trustedby him. However, a dispassionate study of allthe circ*mstances leading up to the rupture of thesefriendly ties will prove that, in practically everycase he was sinned against, not sinning.

A letter to James D. Reid, written on December 21,will show that the quality of his mercy was not strained:“You may recollect when I met you in Philadelphia,on the unpleasant business of attending in a courtto witness the contest of two parties for their rights,you informed me of the destitute condition of O’Reilly’sfamily. At that moment I was led to believe,from consultation with the counsel for the Patentees,that the case would undoubtedly go in their (the Patentees’)favor. Your statement touched me, and I couldnot bear to think that an innocent wife and inoffensivechildren should suffer, even from the wrong-doing oftheir proper protector, should this prove to be thecase. You remember I authorized you to draw onme for twenty dollars to be remitted to Mr. O’Reilly’sfamily, and to keep the source from whence it was derivedsecret. My object in writing is to ask if thiswas done, and, in case it was, to request you to drawon me for that amount.”

In an earlier letter to his brother he remarks philosophically:“Smith is Smith yet and so likely to be, butI have become used to him and you would be surprisedto find how well oil and water appear to agree.There must be crosses and the aim should be ratherto bear them gracefully, graciously, and patiently,than to have them removed.”

While thus harassed on all sides by those who wouldfilch from him his good name as well as his purse,his reward was coming to him for the patience andequanimity with which he was bearing his crosses.The longing for a home of his own had been intenseall through his life and now, in the evening of hisyears, this dream was to be realized. He thusannounces to his brother the glorious news:—

POUGHKEEPSIE, NORTH RIVER,
July 30, 1847.

In my last I wrote you that I had been looking outfor a farm in this region, and gave you a diagramof a place which I fancied. Since then I wasinformed of a place for sale south of this village2 miles, on the bank of the river, part of the oldLivingston Manor, and far superior. I have thisday concluded a bargain for it. There are aboutone hundred acres. I pay for it $17,500.

I am almost afraid to tell you of its beauties andadvantages. It is just such a place as in Englandcould not be purchased for double the number of poundssterling. Its “capabilities,” as thelandscape gardeners would say, are unequalled.There is every variety of surface, plain, hill, dale,glens, running streams and fine forest, and every varietyof different prospect; the Fishkill Mountains towardsthe south and the Catskills towards the north; theHudson with its varieties of river craft, steamboatsof all kinds, sloops, etc., constantly showinga varied scene.

[Illustration: HOUSE AT LOCUST GROVE, POUGHKEEPSIE,N.Y.]

I will not enlarge. I am congratulated by allin having made an excellent purchase, and I find amost delightful neighborhood. Within a few milesaround, approached by excellent roads, are Mr. Lenox,General Talmadge, Philip Van Rensselaer, etc.,on one side; on the other, Harry Livingston, Mrs.Smith Thomson (Judge Thomson’s widow, and sisterto the first Mrs. Arthur Breese), Mr. Crosby, Mr.Boorman, etc., etc. The new railroadwill run at the foot of the grounds (probably) onthe river, and bring New York within two hours ofus. There is every faculty for residence—goodmarkets, churches, schools. Take it all in allI think it just the place for us all.If you should fancy a spot on it for building, I canaccommodate you, and Richard wants twenty acres reservedfor him. Singularly enough this was the veryspot where Uncle Arthur found his wife. The oldtrees are pointed out where he and she used to rambleduring their courtship.

On September 12, after again expatiating on the beautiesand advantages of his home, he adds: “Ihave some clouds and mutterings of thunder on thehorizon (the necessary attendants, I suppose, of alightning project) which I trust will give no moreof storm than will suffice, under Him who directsthe elements, to clear the air and make a serener andcalmer sunset.”

On October 12, he announces the name which he hasgiven to his country place, and a singular coincidence:—

“Locust Grove. You see by the date whereI am. Locust Grove, it seems, was the originalname given to this place by Judge Livingston, and,without knowing this fact, I had given the same nameto it, so that there is a natural appropriatenessin the designation of my home. The wind is howlingmournfully this evening, a second edition, I fear,of the late destructive equinoctial, but, dreary asit is out-of-doors, I have comfortable quarters within.”

In the world of affairs the wind was howling, too,and the storm was gathering which culminated in theseries of lawsuits brought by Morse and his associatesagainst the infringers on his patents. The lettersto his brother are full of the details of these piraticalattacks, but throughout all the turmoil he maintainedhis poise and his faith in the triumph of justiceand truth. In the letter just quoted from he says:“These matters do not annoy me as formerly.I have seen so many dark storms which threatened,and particularly in relation to the Telegraph, andI have seen them so often hushed at the ‘Peace,be still’ of our covenant God, that now thefears and anxieties on any fresh gathering soon subsideinto perfect calm.”

And on November 27, he writes: “The mostannoying part of the matter to me is that, notwithstandingmy matters are all in the hands of agents and I havenothing to do with any of the arrangements, I am heldup by name to the odium of the public. Lawsuitsare commenced against them at Cincinnati and willbe in Indiana and Illinois as well as here, and so,notwithstanding all my efforts to get along peaceably,I find the fate of Whitney before me. I thinkI may be able to secure my farm, and so have a placeto retire to for the evening of my days, but even thismay be denied me. A few months will decide....You have before you the fate of an inventor, and,take as much pains as you will to secure to yourselfyour valuable invention, make up your mind from myexperience now, in addition to others, that you willbe robbed of it and abused into the bargain.This is the lot of a successful inventor or discoverer,and no precaution, I believe, will save him from it.He will meet with a mixed estimate; the enlightened,the liberal, the good, will applaud him and respecthim; the sordid, the unprincipled will hate him anddetract from his reputation to compass their own contemptibleand selfish ends.”

While events in the business world were rapidly convergingtowards the great lawsuits which should either confirmthe inventor’s rights to the offspring of hisbrain, or deprive him of all the benefits to whichhe was justly and morally entitled, he continued tofind solace from all his cares and anxieties in hisnew home, with his children and friends around him.He touches on the lights and shadows in a letter tohis brother, who was still in England, dated New York,April 19, 1848:—

“I snatch a moment by the Washington, whichgoes to-morrow, to redeem my character in not havingwritten of late so often as I could wish. I havebeen so constantly under the necessity of watchingthe movements of the most unprincipled set of piratesI have ever known, that all my time has been occupiedin defense, in putting evidence into something likelegal shape that I am the inventor of the Electro-MagneticTelegraph!! Would you have believed it ten yearsago that a question could be raised on that subject?Yet this very morning in the ‘Journal of Commerce’is an article from a New Orleans paper giving an accountof a public meeting convened by O’Reilly, atwhich he boldly stated that I had ’piratedmy invention from a German invention’ agreat deal better than mine. And the ‘Journalof Commerce’ has a sort of halfway defense ofme which implies there is some doubt on the subject.I have written a note which may appear in to-morrow’s‘Journal,’ quite short, but which I think,will stop that game here.

“A trial in court is the only event now whichwill put public opinion right, so indefatigable havethese unprincipled men been in manufacturing a spuriouspublic opinion.

“Although these events embarrass me, and I donot receive, and may not receive, my rightful dues,yet I have been so favored by a kind Providence asto have sufficient collected to free my farm from mortgageon the 1st of May, and so find a home, a beautifulhome, for me and mine, unencumbered, and sufficientover to make some improvements....

“I do not wish to raise too many expectations,but every day I am more and more charmed with my purchase.I can truly say I have never before so completelyrealized my wishes in regard to situation, never beforefound so many pleasant circ*mstances associated togetherto make a home agreeable, and, so far as earth isconcerned, I only wish now to have you and the restof the family participate in the advantages with whicha kind God has been pleased to indulge me.

“Strange, indeed, would it be if clouds werenot in the sky, but the Sun of Righteousness willdissipate as many and as much of them as shall beright and good, and this is all that should be required.I look not for freedom from trials; they must needsbe; but the number, the kind, the form, the degreeof them, I can safely leave to Him who has orderedand will still order all things well.”

CHAPTER XXXIII

JANUARY 9, 1848—DECEMBER 19, 1849

Preparation for lawsuits.—Letter from ColonelShaffner.—Morse’s reply deprecatingbloodshed.—Shaffner allays his fears.—Morseattends his son’s wedding at Utica.—Hisown second marriage.—First of great lawsuits.—Almostall suits in Morse’s favor.—Decisionof Supreme Court of United States.—Extractfrom an earlier opinion.—Alfred Vail leavesthe telegraph business.—Remarks on thisby James D. Reid.—Morse receives decorationfrom Sultan of Turkey.—Letter to organizersof Printers’ Festival.—Letter concerningaviation.—Optimistic letter from Mr. Kendall.—Humorousletter from George Wood.—Thomas R. Walker.—Letter to Fenimore Cooper.—Dr. Jackson again.—Unfairnessof the press. —Letter from CharlesC. Ingham on art matters.—Letter from GeorgeVail.—F.O.J. Smith continues to embarrass.—Letterfrom Morse to Smith.

The year 1848 was a momentous one to Morse in moreways than one. The first of the historic lawsuitswas to be begun at Frankfort, Kentucky,—lawsuits which were not only to establish this inventor’sclaims, but were to be used as a precedent in allfuture patent litigation. In his peaceful retreaton the banks of the Hudson he carefully and systematicallyprepared the evidence which should confound his enemies,and calmly awaited the verdict, firm in his faith that,however lowering the clouds, the sun would yet breakthrough. Finding relaxation from his cares andworries in the problems of his farm, he devoted everyspare moment to the life out-of-doors, and drank innew strength and inspiration with every breath ofthe pure country air. Although soon to pass thefifty-seventh milestone, his sane, temperate habitshad kept him young in heart and vigorous in body,and in this same year he was to be rewarded for hislong and lonely vigil during the dark decades of hismiddle life, and to enter upon an Indian Summer ofhappy family life.

While spending as much time as possible at his belovedLocust Grove, he was yet compelled, in the interestsof his approaching legal contests, to consult withhis lawyers in New York and Washington, and it waswhile in the latter city that he received a letterfrom Colonel Tal. P. Shaffner, one of the mostenergetic of the telegraph pioneers, and a devoted,if sometimes injudicious, friend. It was he who,more than any one else, was responsible for the publicationof Morse’s “Defense” against ProfessorHenry.

The letter was written from Louisville on January9, 1848, and contains the following sentences:“We are going ahead with the line to New Orleans.I have twenty-five hands on the road to Nashville,and will put on more next week. I have ten onthe road to Frankfort, and my associate has gangsat other parts. O’Reilly has fifteen handson the Nashville route and I confidently expect afew fights. My men are well armed and I thinkthey can do their duty. I shall be with them whenthe parties get together, and, if anything does occur,the use of Dupont’s best will be appreciatedby me. This is to be lamented, but, if it comes,we shall not back out.”

Deeply exercised, Morse answers him post-haste:“It gives me real pain to learn that there isany prospect of physical collision between the O’Reillyparty and ours, and I trust that this may arrive intime to prevent any movement of those friendly tome which shall provoke so sad a result. I emphaticallysay that, if the law cannot protect me and myrights in your region, I shall never sanction the appealto force to sustain myself, however conscious of beingin the right. I infinitely prefer to suffer stillmore from the gross injustice of unprincipled menthan to gain my rights by a single illegal step....I hope you will do all in your power to prevent collision.If the parties meet in putting up posts or wires,let our opponents have their way unmolested. Ihave no patent for putting up posts or wires.They as well as we have a right to put them up.It is the use made of them afterwards which may requirelegal adjustment. The men employed by each partyare not to blame. Let no ill-feeling be fomentedbetween the two, no rivalry but that of doing theirwork the best; let friendly feeling as between thembe cherished, and teach them to refer all disputesto the principals. I wish no one to fight forme physically. He may ‘speak daggers butuse none.’ However much I might appreciatehis friendship and his motive, it would give me thedeepest sorrow if I should learn that a single individual,friend or foe, has been injured in life or limb byany professing friendship for me.”

He was reassured by the following from Colonel Shaffner:—

"January 27. Your favor of the 21st was receivedyesterday. I was sorry that you allowed yourfeelings to be so much aroused in the case of contemplateddifficulties between our hands and those of O’Reilly.They held out the threats that we should not passthem, and we were determined to do it. I hadthem notified that we were prepared to meet them underany circ*mstances. We were prepared to have areal ‘hug,’ but, when our hands overtookthem, they only ‘yelled’ a little and minefollowed, and for fifteen miles they were side byside, and when a man finished his hole, he ran withall his might to get ahead. But finally, on the24th, we passed them about eighty miles from here,and now we are about twenty-five miles ahead of themwithout the loss of a drop of blood, and we shallbe able to beat them to Nashville, if we can get thewire in time, which is doubtful.”

There were many such stirring incidents in the earlyhistory of the telegraph, and the half of them hasnot been told, thus leaving much material for thefuture historian.

But, while so much that was exciting was taking placein the outside world, the cause of it all was turninghis thoughts towards matters more domestic. OnJune 13, he writes to his brother: “Charlesleft me for Utica last evening, and Finley and I gothis evening to be present at his marriage on Thursdaythe 15th.”

It was at his son’s wedding that he was againstrongly attracted to his young second cousin (or,to be more exact, his first cousin once removed),the first cousin of his son’s bride, and theresult is announced to his brother in a letter ofAugust 7: “Before your return I shall beagain married. I leave to-morrow for Utica wherecousin (second cousin) Sarah Elizabeth Griswold nowis. On Thursday morning the 10th we shall (Godwilling) be married, and I shall immediately proceedto Louisville and Frankfort in Kentucky to be presentat my first suit against O’Reilly, the pirateof my invention. It comes off on the 23d inst.So far as the justice of the case is concerned I amconfident of final success, but there are so manycrooks in the law that I ought to be prepared fordisappointment.”

Continuing, he tells his brother that he has beensecretly in love with his future wife for some years:“But, reflecting on it, I found I was in nosituation to indulge in any plans of marrying.She had nothing, I had nothing, and the more I lovedher the more I was determined to stifle my feelingswithout hinting to her anything of the matter, or lettingher know that I was at all interested in her.”

But now, with increasing wealth, the conditions werechanged, and so they were married, and in their caseit can with perfect truth be said, “They livedhappy ever after,” and failed by but a year ofbeing able to celebrate their silver wedding.Soon a young family grew up around him, to whom hewas always a patient and loving father. We hischildren undoubtedly gave him many an anxious moment,as children have a habit of doing, but through allhis trials, domestic as well as extraneous, he wascalm, wise, and judicious.

[Illustration: SARAH ELIZABETH GRISWOLD Secondwife of S.F.B. Morse]

But now the first of the great lawsuits, which wereto confirm Morse’s patent rights or to throwhis invention open to the world, was begun, and, withhis young bride, he hastened to Frankfort to be presentat the trial. To follow these suits through alltheir legal intricacies would make dry reading andconsume reams of paper. Mr. Prime in a footnoteremarks: “Mr. Henry O’Reilly has depositedin the Library of the New York Historical Societymore than one hundred volumes containing a completehistory of telegraphic litigation in the United States.These records are at all times accessible to any personswho wish to investigate the claims and rights of individualsor companies. The testimony alone in thevarious suits fills several volumes, each as largeas this.”

It will, therefore, only be necessary to say thatalmost all of these suits, including the final onebefore the Supreme Court of the United States, weredecided in Morse’s favor. Every legal devicewas used against him; his claims and those of otherswere sifted to the uttermost, and then as now expertopinion was found to uphold both sides of the case.To quote Mr. Prime:

“The decision of the Supreme Court was unanimouson all the points involving the right of ProfessorMorse to the claim of being the original inventorof the Electro-Magnetic Recording Telegraph. Aminority of the court went still further, and gavehim the right to the motive power of magnetism asa means of operating machinery to imprint signals orto produce sounds for telegraphic purposes. Thetestimony of experts in science and art is not introducedbecause it was thoroughly weighed and sifted by intelligentand impartial men, whose judgment must be acceptedas final and sufficient. The justice of the decisionhas never been impugned. Each succeeding yearhas confirmed it with accumulating evidence.

“One point was decided against the Morse patent,and it is worthy of being noticed that this decision,which denied to Morse the exclusive use of electromagnetismfor recording telegraphs, has never been of injuryto his instrument, because no other inventor has devisedan instrument to supersede his.

“The court decided that the Electro-MagneticTelegraph was the sole and exclusive invention ofSamuel F.B. Morse. If others could make betterinstruments for the same purpose, they were at libertyto use electromagnetism. Twenty years have elapsedsince this decision was rendered; the Morse patenthas expired by limitation of time, but it is stillwithout a rival in any part of the world.”

This was written in 1873, but I think that I am safein saying that the same is true now after the lapseof forty more years. While, of course, therehave been both elaboration and simplification, thebasic principle of the universal telegraph of to-dayis embodied in the drawings of the sketch-book of1832, and it was the invention of Morse, and was entirelydifferent from any form of telegraph devised by others.

I shall make but one quotation from the long opinionhanded down by the Supreme Court and delivered byChief Justice Taney:—

“Neither can the inquiries he made, nor theinformation or advice he received from men of science,in the course of his researches, impair his rightto the character of an inventor. No inventioncan possibly be made, consisting of a combinationof different elements of power, without a thoroughknowledge of the properties of each of them, and themode in which they operate on each other. Andit can make no difference in this respect whetherhe derives his information from books, or from menskilled in the science. If it were otherwise,no patent in which a combination of different elementsis used could ever be obtained. For no man evermade such an invention without having first obtainedthis information, unless it was discovered by somefortunate accident. And it is evident that suchan invention as the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph couldnever have been brought into action without it.For a very high degree of scientific knowledge, andthe nicest skill in the mechanic arts, are combinedin it, and were both necessary to bring it into successfuloperation. And the fact that Morse sought and, obtainedthe necessary information and counsel from the bestsources, and acted upon it, neither impairs his rightsas an inventor, nor detracts from his merits.”

The italics are mine, for it has over and over beenclaimed for everybody who had a part in the earlyhistory of the telegraph, either by hint, help, ordiscovery, that more credit should be given to himthan to Morse himself—to Henry, to Gale,to Vail, to Doctor Page, and even to F.O.J. Smith.In fact Morse used often to say that some people thoughthe had no right to claim his invention because hehad not discovered electricity, nor the copper fromwhich his wires were made, nor the brass of his instruments,nor the glass of his insulators.

I shall make one other quotation from the opinionof Judge Kane and Judge Grier at one of the earliertrials, in Philadelphia, in 1851:—

“That he, Mr. Morse, was the first to deviseand practise the art of recording language, at telegraphicdistances, by the dynamic force of the electro-magnet,or, indeed, by any agency whatever, is, to our minds,plain upon all the evidence. It is unnecessaryto review the testimony for the purpose of showingthis. His application for a patent, in April,1838, was preceded by a series of experiments, results,illustrations and proofs of final success, which leaveno doubt whatever but that his great invention wasconsummated before the early spring of 1837. Thereis no one person, whose invention has been spokenof by any witness, or referred to in any book as involvingthe principle of Mr. Morse’s discovery, butmust yield precedence of date to this. NeitherSteinheil, nor Cooke and Wheatstone, nor Davy, norDyar, nor Henry, had at this time made a recording

telegraph of any sort. The devices then knownwere merely semaphores, that spoke to the eyefor a moment—bearing about the same relationto the great discovery before us as the Abbe Sicard’sinvention of a visual alphabet for the purposes ofconversation bore to the art of printing with movabletypes. Mr. Dyar’s had no recording apparatus,as he expressly tells us, and Professor Henry had contentedhimself with the abundant honors of his laboratoryand lecture-rooms.”

One case was decided against him, but this decisionwas afterwards overruled by the Supreme Court, sothat it caused no lasting injury to his claims.

As decision after decision was rendered in his favorhe received the news calmly, always attributing toDivine Providence every favor bestowed upon him.Letters of congratulation poured in on him from hisfriends, and, among others, the following from AlfredVail must have aroused mingled feelings of pleasureand regret. It is dated September 21, 1848:—

I congratulate you in your success at Frankfort inarresting thus far that pirate O’Reilly.I have received many a hearty shake from our friends,congratulating me upon the glorious issue of the applicationfor an injunction. The pirate dies hard, andwell he may. It is his privilege to kick awhilein this last death struggle. These pirates mustbe followed up and each in his turn nailed to thewall.

The Wash. & N.O. Co. is at last organized, andfor the last three weeks we have received daily communicationsfrom N.O. Our prospects are flattering.And what do you think they have done with me?Superintendent of Washington & N.O. line all the wayfrom Washington to Columbia at $900!!!!!

This game will not be played long. I have madeup my mind to leave the Telegraph to take care ofitself, since it cannot take care of me. I shall,in a few months, leave Washington for New Jersey, family,kit and all, and bid adieu to the subject of the Telegraphfor some more profitable business....

I have just finished a most beautiful register witha pen lever key and an expanding reel.Have orders for six of the same kind to be made atonce; three for the south and three for the west.

I regret you could not, on your return from the west,have made us at least a flying visit with your charminglady. I am happy to learn that your cup of happinessis so full in the society of one who, I learn fromMr. K., is well calculated to cheer you and relievethe otherwise solitude of your life.... My kindestwishes for yourself and Mrs. Morse, and believe meto be, now as ever,

Yours, etc.,
ALFRED VAIL.

Mr. James D. Reid in an article in the “ElectricalWorld,” October 12, 1895, after quoting fromthis letter; adds:—

“The truth is Mr. Vail had no natural aptitudefor executive work, and he had a temper somewhat variableand unhappy. He and I got along very well togetheruntil I determined to order my own instruments, hisbeing too heavy and too difficult, as I thought, foran operator to handle while receiving. We hadour instruments made by the same maker—Clark& Co., Philadelphia. Yet even that did not greatlyseparate us, and we were always friends. Aboutsome things his notions were very crude. It wasunder his guidance that David Brooks, Henry C. Hepburnand I, in 1845, undertook to insulate the line fromLancaster to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by saturatingbits of cotton cloth in beeswax and wrapping themround projecting arms. The bees enjoyed it greatly,but it spoiled our work.

“But I have no desire to criticize him.He seemed to me to have great opportunities whichhe did not use. He might have had, I thought,the register work of the country and secured a largebusiness. But it went from him to others, andso he left the field.”

This eventful year of 1848 closed with the great telegraphsuits in full swing, but with the inventor calm underall his trials. In a letter, of December 18,to his brother Sidney, who had now returned to America,he says: “My affairs (Telegraphically)are only under a slight mist, hardly a cloud; I seethrough the mist already.”

And in another part of this letter he says: “Imay see you at the end of the week. If I canbring Sarah down with me, I will, to spend Christmas,but the weather may change and prevent. What weather!I am working on the lawn as if it were spring.You have no idea how lovely this spot is. Nota day passes that I do not feel it. If I havetrouble abroad, I have peace, and love, and happinessat home. My sweet wife I find, indeed, a richtreasure. Uniformly cheerful and most affectionate,she makes sunshine all the day. God’s giftsare worthy of the giver.”

It was in the early days of 1849 that a gift of anotherkind was received by him which could not fail to gratifyhim. This was a decoration, the “NichanIftikar” or “Order of Glory,” presentedto him by the Sultan of Turkey, the first and onlydecoration which the Sultan of the Ottoman Empirehad conferred upon a citizen of the United States.It was a beautiful specimen of the jeweller’sart, the monogram of the Sultan in gold, surroundedby 130 diamonds in a graceful design. It was accompaniedby a diploma (or berait) in Turkish, which beingtranslated reads:—

IN THE NAME OF HIM
SULTAN ABDUL HAMID KHAN
Son of Mahmoud Khan, son of Abdul Hamid Khan—mayhe ever be victorious!

The object of the present sovereign decoration ofNoble Exalted Glory, of Elevated Place, and of thisIllustrious 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 ofthe Messiah—may his grade be increased—havinginvented an Electrical Telegraph, a specimen of whichhas been exhibited in my Imperial presence; and itbeing proper to patronize knowledge and to expressmy sense of the value of the attainments of the Inventor,as well as to distinguish those persons who are theInventors of such objects as serve to extend and facilitatethe relations of mankind, I have conferred upon him,on my exalted part, an honorable decoration in diamonds,and issued also this present diploma, as a token ofmy benevolence for him.

Written in the middle of the moon Sefer, the fortunate,the year of the Flight one thousand two hundred andsixty-four, in Constantinople the well-guarded.

The person who was instrumental in gaining for theinventor this mark of recognition from the Sultanwas Dr. James Lawrence Smith, a young geologist atthat time in the employ of the Sultan. He, aidedby the Reverend C. Hamlin, of the Armenian Seminaryat Bebek, gave an exhibition of the working of thetelegraph before the Sultan and all the officers ofhis Government, and when it was proposed to decoratehim for his trouble and lucid explanation, he modestlyand generously disclaimed any honor, and begged thatany such recognition should be given to the inventorhimself. Other decorations and degrees were bestowedupon the inventor from time to time, but these willbe summarized in a future chapter. I have enlargedupon this one as being the first to be received froma foreign monarch.

As his fame increased, requests of all sorts pouredin on him, and it is amazing to find how courteouslyhe answered even the most fantastic, overwhelmed ashe was by his duties in connection with the attackson his purse and his reputation. Two of his answersto correspondents are here given as examples:—

January 17, 1849.

Gentlemen,—I have received your politeinvitation to the Printers’ Festival in honorof Franklin, on his birthday the 17th of the presentmonth, and regret that my engagements in the city putit out of my power to be present.

I thank you kindly for the flattering notice you arepleased to take of me in connection with the telegraph,and made peculiarly grateful at the present time ascoming from a class of society with whom are my earliestpleasurable associations. I may be allowed, perhaps,to say that in my boyhood it was my delight, duringmy vacations, to seek my pastime in the operationsof the printing-office. I solicited of my fatherto take the corrected proofs of his Geography to theprinting-office, and there, through the day for weeks,I made myself practically acquainted with all theoperations of the printer. At 9 years of age Icompiled a small volume of stories, called it the‘Youth’s Friend,’ and then set itup, locked the matter in its form, prepared the paperand worked it off; going through the entire processtill it was ready for the binder. I think I havesome claim, therefore, to belong to the fraternity.

The other letter was in answer to one from a certainSolomon Andrews, President of the Inventors’Institute of Perth Amboy, who was making experimentsin aviation, and I shall give but a few extracts:—

“I know by experience the language of the worldin regard to an untried invention. He who willaccomplish anything useful and new must steel himselfa*gainst the sneers of the ignorant, and often againstthe unimaginative sophistries of the learned....

“In regard to the subject on which you desirean opinion, I will say that the idea of navigatingthe air has been a favorite one with the inventivein all ages; it is naturally suggested by the flightof a bird. I have watched for hours togetherin early life, in my walks across the bridge fromBoston to Charlestown, the motions of the sea-gulls....Often have I attempted to unravel the mystery of theirmotion so as to bring the principle of it to bearupon this very subject, but I never experimented uponit. Many ingenious men, however, have experimentedon air navigation, and have so far succeeded as totravel in the air many miles, but always with thecurrent of wind in their favor. By navigatingthe atmosphere is meant something more than droppingdown with the tide in a boat, without sails, or oarsor other means of propulsion.... Birds not onlyrise in the air, but they can also propel themselvesagainst the ordinary currents. A study, then,of the conditions that enable a bird thus to defythe ordinary currents of the atmosphere seems to furnishthe most likely mode of solving the problem.Whilst a bird flies, whilst I see a mass of matterovercoming, by its structure and a power within it,the natural forces of gravitation and a current ofair, I dare not say that air navigation is absurdor impossible.

“I consider the difficulties to be overcomeare the combining of strength with lightness in themachine sufficient to allow of the exercise of a forcewithout the machine from a source of power within.A difficulty will occur in the right adaptation ofpropellers, and, should this difficulty be overcome,the risks of derangement of the machinery from thenecessary lightness of its parts would be great, andconsequently the risks to life would be greater thanin any other mode of travelling. From a wreckat sea or on shore a man may be rescued with his life,and so by the running off the track by the railroadcar, the majority of passengers will be saved; butfrom a fall some thousands, or only hundreds, of feetthrough the air, not one would escape death....

“I have no time to add more than my best wishesfor the success of those who are struggling with thesedifficulties.”

These observations, made nearly sixty-five years ago,are most pertinent to present-day conditions, whenthe conquest of the air has been accomplished, andalong the very lines suggested by Morse, but at whata terrible cost in human life.

That the inventor, harassed on all sides by pirates,unscrupulous men, and false friends, should, in spiteof his Christian philosophy, have suffered from occasionalfits of despondency, is but natural, and he must havegiven vent to his feelings in a letter to his truefriend and able business agent, Mr. Kendall, for thelatter thus strives to hearten him in a letter ofApril 20, 1849:—

“You say, ‘Mrs. Morse and Elizabeth areboth sitting by me.’ How is it possible,in the midst of so much that is charming and lovely,that you could sink into the gloomy spiritwhich your letter indicates? Can there be a Paradisewithout Devils in it—Blue Devils, I mean?And how is it that now, instead of addressing themselvesfirst to the woman, they march boldly up to the man?

“Faith in our Maker is a most important Christianvirtue, but man has no right to rely on Faith aloneuntil he has exhausted his own power. When wehave done all we can with pure hands and honest hearts,then may we rely with confidence on the aid of Himwho governs worlds and atoms, controls, when He chooses,the will of man, restrains his passions and makeshis bad designs subservient to the best of ends.

“Now for a short application of a short sermon.We must do our best to have the Depositions and Affidavitsprepared and forwarded in due time. This donewe may have Faith that we will gain our cause.Or, if with our utmost exertions, we fail in our preparations,we shall be warranted in having Faith that no harmwill come of it.

“But if, like the Jews in the Maccabees, werely upon the Lord to fight our battles, without liftinga weapon in our defence, or, like the wagoner in thefable, we content ourselves with calling on Hercules,we shall find in the end that ‘Faith withoutWorks is dead.’ ... The world, as you say,is ’the world’—a quarrelling,vicious, fighting, plundering world—yetit is a very good world for good men. Why shouldman torment himself about that which he cannot help?If we but enjoy the good things of earth and endurethe evil things with a cheerful resignation, bad spirits—bluedevils and all—will fly from our bosomsto their appropriate abode.”

Another true and loyal friend was George Wood, associatedwith Mr. Kendall in Washington, from whom are manyaffectionate and witty letters which it would be apleasure to reproduce, but for the present I shallcontent myself with extracts from one dated May 4,1849:—

“It does seem to me that Satan has, from thejump, been at war with this invention of yours.At first he strove to cover you up with a F.O.G. ofEgyptian hue; then he ran your wires through leadenpipe, constructed by his ‘pipe-laying’agents, into the ground and ‘all aground.’And when these were hoisted up, like the Brazen Serpent,on poles for all to gaze at and admire, then who sodevout a worshipper as the Devil in the person ofone of his children of darkness, who came forward at

once to contract for a line reaching to St. Louis—andround the world—upon that principleof the true construction of constitutions, andsuch like contracts, first promulgated by that‘Old Roman’ the ’Hero of two Wars,’and approved by the ‘whole hog’ Democracyof the ’first republic of the world,’and which, like the moral law is summarily comprehendedin a few words—’The constitution(or contract) is what I understand it to be.’

“Now without stopping to show you that O’Reillywas a true disciple of O’Hickory, I think youwill not question his being a son of Satan, whosebrazen instruments (one of whom gave his first bornthe name of Morse) instigated by the Gent in Black,not content with inflicting us with the Irish PotatoRot, has recently brought over the Scotch Itch, if,perhaps, by plagues Job was never called upon to suffer(for there were no Courts of Equity and Chancery inthose early days) the American inventor might be temptedto curse God and die. But, Ah! you have such asweet wife, and Job’s was such a vinegar cruet.”

It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to explain that F.O.J.Smith was nicknamed “Fog” Smith, and thatthe “Scotch Itch” referred to the telegraphof Alexander Bain, which, for a time, was used by theenemies of Morse in the effort to break down his patentrights. The other allusions were to the politicsof the day.

Another good friend and business associate was ThomasR. Walker, who in 1849 was mayor of Utica, New York.Mr. Walker’s wife was the half-sister of Mrs.Griswold, Morse’s mother-in-law, so there wereties of relationship as well as of friendship betweenthe two men, and Morse thought so highly of Mr. Walkerthat he made him one of the executors of his will.

In a letter of July 11, 1849, Mr. Walker says:“The course pursued by the press is simply mercenary.Were it otherwise you would receive justice at theirhands, and your fame and merits would be vindicatedinstead of being tarnished by the editorials of selfishand ungenerous men. But— ’magnaest veritas et prevalebit.’ There iscomfort in that at any rate.”

It would seem that not only was the inventor forcedto uphold his rights through a long series of lawsuits,but a great part of the press of the country was hostileto him on the specious plea that they were attemptingto overthrow a baleful monopoly. In this connectionthe following extract from a letter to J. FenimoreCooper, written about this time, is peculiarly apt:—

“It is not because I have not thought of youand your excellent family that I have not long sincewritten to you to know your personal welfare.I hear of you often, it is true, through the papers.They praise you, as usual, for it is praise to havethe abuse of such as abuse you. In all your libelsuits against these degraded wretches I sympathizeentirely with you, and there are thousands who nowthank you in their hearts for the moral courage youdisplay in bringing these licentious scamps to a knowledgeof their duty. Be assured the good sense, theintelligence, the right feeling of the community atlarge are with you. The licentiousness of thepress needed the rebuke which you have given it, andit feels it too despite its awkward attempts to braveit out.

“I will say nothing of your ‘Home as Found.’I will use the frankness to say that I wish you hadnot written it.... When in Paris last I severaltimes passed 59 Rue St. Dominique. The gate stoodinvitingly open and I looked in, but did not see myold friends although everything else was present.I felt as one might suppose another to feel on risingfrom his grave after a lapse of a century.”

An attack from another and an old quarter is referredto in a letter to his brother Sidney of July 10, alsoanother instance of the unfairness of the press:—

“Dr. Jackson had the audacity to appear at Louisvilleby affidavit against me. My counter-affidavit,with his original letters, contradicting in totohis statement, put him hors de combat.Mr. Kendall says he was ‘completely used up.’... I have got a copy of Jackson’s affidavitwhich I should like to show you. There never wasa more finished specimen of wholesale lying than iscontained in it. He is certainly a monomaniac;no other conclusion could save him from an indictmentfor perjury.

“By the Frankfort paper sent you last week,and the extract I now send you, you can give a veryeffective shot to the ‘Tribune.’ Itis, perhaps, worthy of remark that, while all thepapers in New York were so forward in publishing afalse account of O’Reilly’s successin the Frankfort case, not one that I have seen hasnoticed the decision just given at Louisville againsthim in every particular. This shows the animusof the press towards me. Nor have they takenany pains to correct the false account given of theprevious decision.”

Although no longer President of the National Academyof Design, having refused reelection in 1845 in orderto devote his whole time to the telegraph, Morse stilltook a deep interest in its welfare, and his counselwas sought by its active members. On October 13,1849, Mr. Charles C. Ingham sent him a long letterdetailing the trials and triumphs of the institution,from which I shall quote a few sentences: “‘Langsyne,’ when you fought the good fight for thecause of Art, your prospects in life were not brighterthan they are now, and in bodily and mental vigoryou are just the same, therefore do not, at this mostcritical moment, desert the cause. It is the sameand our enemies are the same old insolent quacks andimpostors, who wish to make a footstool of the professionon which to stand and show themselves to the public....Now, with this prospect before you, rouse up a littleof your old enthusiasm, put your shoulder to the wheel,and place the only school of Art on all this sideof the world on a firm foundation.”

Unfortunately the answer to this letter is not inmy possession, but we may be sure that it came fromthe heart, while it must have expressed the writer’sdeep regret that the multiplicity of his other careswould prevent him from undertaking what would havebeen to him a labor of love.

Although Alfred Vail had severed his active connectionwith the telegraph, he and his brother George stillowned stock in the various lines, and Morse did allin his power to safeguard and further their interests.They, on their part, were always zealous in championingthe rights of the inventor, as the following letterfrom George Vail, dated December 19, 1849, will show:—

“Enclosed I hand you a paragraph cut from the‘Newark Daily’ of 17th inst. It wasevidently drawn out by a letter which I addressed tothe editor some months ago, stating that I could notsee what consistency there was in his course; that,while he was assuming the championship of Americanmanufactures, ingenuity, enterprise, etc., etc.,he was at the same time holding up an English inventorto praise, while he held all the better claims ofMorse in the dark,—alluding to his bespatteringMr. Bain and O’Reilly with compliments at ourexpense, etc.

“I would now suggest that, if you are willing,we give Mr. Daily a temperate article on therise and progress of telegraphs, asserting claimsfor yourself, and, as I must father the article, givethe Vails and New Jersey all the ‘sodder’they are entitled to, and a little more, if you canspare it.

“Will you write something adapted to the caseand forward it to me as early as possible, that itmay go in on the heels of this paragraph enclosed?”

F.O.J. Smith continued to embarrass and thwartthe other proprietors by his various wild schemesfor self-aggrandizement. As Mr. Kendall said ina letter of August 4: “There is much Fogin Smith’s letter, but it is nothing else.”

And on December 4, he writes in a more serious vein:“Mr. Smith peremptorily refuses an arbitrationwhich shall embrace a separation of all our interests,and I think it inexpedient to have any other.He is so utterly unprincipled and selfish that wecan expect nothing but renewed impositions as longas we have any connection with him. He asks meto make a proposition to buy or sell, which I havedelayed doing, because I know that nothing good cancome of it; but I have informed him that I will considerany proposition he may make, if not too absurd to deserveit. I do not expect any that we can accede towithout sacrifices to this worse than patent piratewhich I am not prepared to make.”

Mr. Kendall then concludes that the only recoursewill be to the law, but Morse, always averse to war,and preferring to exhaust every effort to bring aboutan amicable adjustment of difficulties, sent the followingcourteous letter to Smith on December 8, which, however,failed of the desired result:—

“I deeply regret to learn from my agent, Mr.Kendall, that an unpleasant collision is likely totake place between your interest in the Telegraphand the rest of your coproprietors in the patent.I had hoped that an amicable arbitrament might arrangeall our mutual interests to our mutual advantage andsatisfaction; but I learn that his proposition to thateffect has been rejected by you.

“You must be aware that the rest of your coproprietorshave been great sufferers in their property, for sometime past, from the frequent disagreements betweentheir agent and yourself, and that, for the sake ofpeace, they have endured much and long. It isimpossible for me to say where the fault lies, for,from the very fact that I put my affairs into thehands of an agent to manage for me, it is evident Icannot have that minute, full and clear view of thematters at issue between him and yourself that hehas, or, under other circ*mstances, that I might have.But this I can see, that mutual disadvantage must bethe consequence of litigation between us, and thiswe both ought to be desirous to avoid.

“Between fair-minded men I cannot see why thereshould be a difference, or at least such a differenceas cannot be adjusted by uninterested parties chosento settle it by each of the disagreeing parties.

“I write this in the hope that, on second thought,you will meet my agent Mr. Kendall in the mode ofarbitration proposed. I have repeatedly advisedmy agent to refrain from extreme measures until noneothers are left us; and if such are now deemed byhim necessary to secure a large amount of our property,hazarded by perpetual delays, while I shall most sincerelyregret the necessity, there are interests which I ambound to protect, connected with the secure possessionof what is rightfully mine, which will compel me tooppose no further obstacle to his proceeding to obtainmy due, in such manner as, in his judgment, he maydeem best.”

CHAPTER XXXIV

MARCH 5, 1850—NOVEMBER 10, 1854

Precarious financial condition.—Regretat not being able to make loan.— Falseimpression of great wealth.—Fears he mayhave to sell home.— F.O.J. Smith continuesto give trouble.—Morse system extendingthroughout the world.—Death of FenimoreCooper.—Subscriptions to charities, etc.—Firstuse of word “Telegram.”—Mysteriousfire in Supreme Court clerk’s room.—Letterof Commodore Perry.—Disinclination to antagonizeHenry.—Temporary triumph of F.O.J.Smith.—Order gradually emerging.—Expensesof the law.—Triumph in Australia.—Giftto Yale College.—Supreme Court decisionand extension of patent.—Social diversionsin Washington.—Letters of George Wood andP.H. Watson on extension of patent.—Loyaltyto Mr. Kendall; also to Alfred Vail.— Decidesto publish “Defense.”—Controversywith Bishop Spaulding.—Creed on Slavery.—Politicalviews.—Defeated for Congress.

While I have anticipated in giving the results ofthe various lawsuits, it must be borne in mind thatthese dragged along for years, and that the finaldecision of the Supreme Court was not handed down untilJanuary 30, 1854. During all this time the inventorwas kept in suspense as to the final outcome, andoften the future looked very dark indeed, and he washard pressed to provide for the present.

On March 5, 1850, he writes to a friend who had requesteda loan of a few hundred dollars:—

“It truly pains me to be obliged to tell youof my inability to make you a loan, however smallin amount or amply secured. In the present embarrassedstate of my affairs, consequent upon these never-endingand vexatious suits, I know not how soon all my propertymay be taken from me. The newspapers, among theirother innumerable falsehoods, circulate one in regardto my ‘enormous wealth.’ The objectis obvious. It is to destroy any feeling of sympathyin the public mind from the gross robberies committedupon me. ’He is rich enough; he can affordto give something to the public from his extortionatemonopoly,’ etc., etc.

“Now no man likes to proclaim his poverty, forthere is a sort of satisfaction to some minds in beingesteemed rich, even if they are not. The evilof this is that from a rich man more is expected inthe way of pecuniary favors (and justly too), andconsequently applications of all kinds are daily,I might say for the last few months almost hourly,made to me, and the fabled wealth attributed to me,or to Croesus, would not suffice to satisfy the requestsmade.”

And, after stating that, of the 11,607 miles of telegraphat that time in operation, only one company of 509miles was then paying a dividend, he adds: “Ifthis fails I have nothing. On this I solely depend,for I have now no profession, and at my age, withimpaired eyesight, I cannot resume it.

“I have indeed a farm out of which a farmermight obtain his living, but to me it is a sourceof expense, and I have not actually, though you maythink it strange, the means to make my family comfortable.”

In a letter to Mr. Kendall of January 4, 1851, heenlarges on this subject:—

“I have been taking in sail for some time pastto prepare for the storm which has so long continuedand still threatens destruction, but with every economymy family must suffer for the want of many comfortswhich the low state of my means prevents me from procuring.I contrived to get through the last month withoutincurring debt, but I see no prospect now of beingable to do so the present month.... I wish muchto know, and, indeed, it is indispensably necessaryI should be informed of the precise condition of things;for, if my property is but nominal in the stocks ofthe companies, and is to be soon rendered valuelessfrom the operations of pirates, I desire to know it,that I may sell my home and seek another of less pretension,one of humbler character and suited to my change ofcirc*mstances. It will, indeed, be like cuttingoff a right hand to leave my country home, but, ifI cannot retain it without incurring debt, it mustgo, and before debt is incurred and not after.I have made it a rule from my childhood to live alwayswithin my means, to have no debts; for if there isa terror which would unman me more than any other inthis world, it is the sight of a man to whom I owedmoney, however inconsiderable in amount, without mybeing in a condition to pay him. On this pointI am nervously sensitive, to a degree which some mightthink ridiculous. But so it is and I cannot helpit....

“Please tell me how matters stand in relationto F.O.G. I wish nothing short of entire separationfrom that unprincipled man if it can possibly be accomplished....Ican suffer his frauds upon myself with comparativeforbearance, but my indignation boils when I am made,nolens volens, a particeps criminisin his frauds on others. I will not endure itif I must suffer the loss of all the property I holdin the world.”

The beloved country place was not sacrificed, anda way out of all his difficulties was found, but hisfaith and Christian forbearance were severely testedbefore his path was smoothed. Among all his trialsnone was so hard to bear as the conduct of F.O.J.Smith, whose strange tergiversations were almost inconceivable.Like the old man of the sea, he could not be shakenoff, much as Morse and his partners desired to partcompany with him forever. The propositions madeby him were so absurd that they could not for a momentbe seriously considered, and the reasonable termssubmitted by Mr. Kendall were unconditionally rejectedby him. It will be necessary to refer to him andhis strange conduct from time to time, but to go intothe matter in detail would consume too much valuablespace. It seems only right, however, to emphasizethe fact that his animosity and unscrupulous self-seekingconstituted the greatest cross which Morse was calledupon to bear, even to the end of his life, and thatmany of the aspersions which have been cast upon theinventor’s fame and good name, before and afterhis death, can be traced to the fertile brain of thissame F.O.J. Smith.

While the inventor was fighting for his rights inhis own country, his invention, by the sheer forceof its superiority, was gradually displacing all othersystems abroad. Even in England it was supersedingthe Cooke and Wheatstone needle telegraph, and on theContinent it had been adopted by Prussia, Austria,Bavaria, Hanover, and Turkey. It is worthy ofnote that that broad-minded scientist, Professor Steinheil,of Bavaria, who had himself invented an ingeniousplan of telegraph when he was made acquainted withthe Morse system, at once acknowledged its superiorityand urged its adoption by the Bavarian Government.In France, too, it was making its way, and Morse,in answer to a letter of inquiry as to terms, etc.,by M. Brequet, thus characteristically avows his motives,after finishing the business part of the letter, whichis dated April 21, 1851:—

“To be frank with you, my dear sir (and I feelthat I can be frank with you), while I am not indifferentto the pecuniary rewards of my invention (which willbe amply satisfactory if my own countrymen will butdo me justice), yet as these were not the stimulusto my efforts in perfecting and establishing my invention,so they now hold but a subordinate position when Iattempt to comprehend the full results of the Telegraphupon the welfare of my fellow men. I am more solicitousto see its benefits extended world-wide during mylifetime than to turn the stream of wealth, whichit is generating to millions of persons, into my ownpocket. A few drops from the sea, which may notbe missed, will suffice for me.”

In the early days of 1852 death took from him oneof his dearest friends, and the following letter,written in February, 1852, to Rufus Griswold, Esq.,expresses his sentiments:—

“I sincerely regret that circ*mstances overwhich I have no control prevent my participation inthe services commemorative of the character, literaryand moral, of my lamented friend the late James FenimoreCooper, Esq.

“I can scarcely yet realize that he is no longerwith us, for the announcement of his death came uponme most unexpectedly. The pleasure of years ofclose intimacy with Mr. Cooper was never for a momentclouded by the slightest coolness. We were indaily, I can truly say, almost hourly, intercoursein the year 1831 in Paris. I never met with amore sincere, warm-hearted, constant friend.No man came nearer to the ideal I had formed of atruly high-minded man. If he was at times severeor caustic in his remarks on others, it was when excitedby the exhibition of the little arts of little minds.His own frank, open, generous nature instinctivelyrecoiled from contact with them. His liberalities,obedient to his generous sympathies, were scarcelybounded by prudence; he was always ready to help afriend, and many such there are who will learn ofhis departure with the most poignant sorrow. Althoughunable to be with you, I trust the Committee willnot overlook me when they are collecting the fundsfor the monument to his genius.”

It might have been said of Morse, too, that “hisliberalities were scarcely bounded by prudence,”for he gave away or lost through investments, urgedupon him by men whom he regarded as friends but whowere actuated by selfish motives, much more than heretained. He gave largely to the various religiousorganizations and charities in which he was interested,and it was characteristic of him that he could notwait until he had the actual cash in hand, but, evenwhile his own future was uncertain, he made donationsof large blocks of stocks, which, while of problematicalvalue while the litigation was proceeding, eventuallyrose to much above par.

While he strove to keep his charities secret, theywere bruited abroad, much to his sorrow, for, althoughat the time he was hard pressed to make both endsmeet, they created a false impression of great wealth,and the importunities increased in volume.

It is always interesting to note the genesis of familiarwords, and the following is written in pencil by Morseon a little slip of paper:—

“Telegram was first proposed by the Albany‘Evening Journal,’ April 6, 1852, andhas been universally adopted as a legitimate word intothe English language.”

On April 21, 1852, Mr. Kendall reports a mysteriousoccurrence:—

“Our case in the Supreme Court will very certainlybe reached by the middle of next week. A mostsingular incident has occurred. The papers broughtup from the court below, not entered in the records,were on a table in the clerk’s room. Therewas no fire in the room. One of the clerks afterdark lighted a lamp, looked up some papers, blew outthe lamp and locked the door. Some time afterwards,wishing to obtain a book, he entered the room withouta light and got the book in the dark. In. themorning our papers were burnt up, and nothing else.

“The papers burnt are all the drawings, allthe books filed, Dana’s lectures, Chester’spamphlet, your sketchbook (if the original was there),your tag of type, etc., etc. But weshall replace them as far as possible and go on withthe case. Was your original sketch-book there?If so, has any copy been taken?”

The original sketch-book was in this collection ofpapers so mysteriously destroyed, but most fortunatelya certified copy had been made, and this is now inthe National Museum in Washington. Also, mostfortunately, this effort on the part of some enemyto undermine the foundations of the case proved abortive,if, indeed, it was not a boomerang, for, as we haveseen, the decision of the Supreme Court was in Morse’sfavor. In the year 1852, Commodore Perry sailedon his memorable trip to Japan, which, as is wellknown, opened that wonderful country to the outsideworld and started it on its upward path towards itspresent powerful position among the nations.The following letter from Commodore Perry, dated July22, 1852, will, therefore, be found of unusual interest:—

I shall take with me, on my cruise to the East Indias,specimens of the most remarkable inventions of theage, among which stands preeminent your telegraph,and I write a line by Lieutenant Budd, United StatesNavy, not only to introduce him to your acquaintance,but to ask as a particular favour that you would givehim some information and instruction as to the mostpracticable means of exhibiting the Telegraph, as wellas a daguerreotype apparatus, which I am also authorizedto purchase, also other articles connected with drawing.

I have directed Lieutenant Budd to visit Poughkeepsiein order to confer with you. He will have lists,furnished by Mr. Norton and a daguerreotype artist,which I shall not act upon until I learn the resultof his consultation with you.

I hope you will pardon this intrusion upon your time.I feel almost assured, however, that you will takea lively interest in having your wonderful inventionexhibited to a people so little known to the world,and there is no one better qualified than yourselfto instruct Lieutenant Budd in the duties I have entrustedto his charge, and who will fully explain to you theobject I have in view.

I leave this evening for Washington and should bemuch obliged if you would address me a line to thatplace.

Most truly and respectfully yours
M.C. PERRY.

It was about this time that the testimony of ProfessorJoseph Henry was being increasingly used by Morse’sopponents to discredit him in the scientific worldand to injure his cause in the courts. I shall,therefore, revert for a moment to the matter for thepurpose of emphasizing Morse’s reluctance todo or say anything against his erstwhile friend.

In a letter to H.J. Raymond, editor of the NewYork “Times,” he requests space in thatjournal for a fair exposition of his side of the controversyin reply to an article attacking him. To thisMr. Raymond courteously replies on November 22, 1852:“The columns of the ‘Times’ areentirely at your service for the purpose you mention,or, indeed, for almost any other. The writerof the article you allude to was Dr. Bettner, of Philadelphia.”

Morse answers on November 30:—

“I regret finding you absent; I wished to havehad a few moments’ conversation with you inrelation to the allusion I made to Professor Henry.If possible I wish to avoid any course which mightweaken the influence for good of such a man as Henry.I will forbear exposure to the last moment, and, inview of my duty as a Christian at least, I will givehim an opportunity to explain to me in private.If he refuses, then I shall feel it my duty to showhow unfairly he has conducted himself in allowinghis testimony to be used to my detriment.

“I write in haste, and will merely add that,to consummate these views, I shall for the presentdelay the article I had requested you to insert inyour columns, and allow the various misrepresentationsto remain yet a little longer unexposed, at the sametime thanking you cordially for your courteous accordanceof my request.”

A slight set-back was encountered by Morse and hisassociates at this time by the denial of an injunctionagainst F.O.J. Smith, and, in a letter to Mr.Kendall of December 4, the long-suffering inventorexclaims:—

“F.O.J. crows at the top of his voice, and Ilearned that he and his man Friday, Foss, had a regularspree in consequence, and that the latter was noticedin Broadway drunk and boisterously huzzaing for F.O.J.and cursing me and my telegraph.

“I read in my Bible: ‘The triumphof the wicked is short.’ This may havea practical application, in this case at any rate.I have full confidence in that Power that, for wisepurposes, allows wickedness temporarily to triumphthat His own designs of bringing good out of evil maybe the more apparent.”

Another of Morse’s fixed principles in lifeis referred to in a letter to Judge E. Fitch Smithof February 4, 1858: “Yours of the 31stulto. is this moment received. Your request hasgiven me some trouble of spirit on this account, towit: My father lost a large property, the earningsof his whole life of literary labor, by simply endorsing.My mother was ever after so affected by this factthat it was the constant theme of her disapprobation,and on her deathbed I gave her my promise, in accordancewith her request, that I never would endorse a note.I have never done such a thing, and, of course, havenever requested the endorsem*nt of another. Icannot, therefore, in that mode accommodate you, butI can probably aid you as effectually in another way.”

It will not be necessary to dwell at length on furtherhappenings in the year 1853. Order was graduallyemerging from chaos in the various lines of telegraph,which, under the wise guidance of Amos Kendall, weretending towards a consolidation into one great company.The decision of the Supreme Court had not yet beengiven, causing temporary embarrassment to the patenteesby allowing the pirates to continue their depredationsunchecked. F.O.J. Smith continued to givetrouble. To quote from a letter of Morse’sto Mr. Kendall of January 10, 1853: “TheGood Book says that ‘one sinner destroyeth muchgood,’ and F.O.J. being (as will be admittedby all, perhaps, except himself) a sinner of that classbent upon destroying as much good as he can, I amdesirous, even at much sacrifice (a desire, of course,inter nos) to get rid of controversy with him.”

Further on in this letter, referring to another causefor anxiety, he says: “Law is expensive,and we must look it in the face and expect to payroundly for it.... It is a delicate task to disputea professional man’s charges, and, though itmay be an evil to find ourselves bled so freely bylawyers, it is, perhaps, the least of evils to submitto it as gracefully as we can.”

But, while he could not escape the common lot of manin having to bear many and severe trials, there werecompensatory blessings which he appreciated to thefull. His home life was happy and, in the main,serene; his farm was a source of never-ending pleasureto him; he was honored at home and abroad by thosewhose opinion he most valued; and he was almost dailyin receipt of the news of the extension of the “Morsesystem” throughout the world. Even fromfar-off Australia came the news of his triumph.A letter was sent to him, written from Melbourne onDecember 3, 1853, by a Mr. Samuel McGowan to a friendin New York, which contains the following gratifyingintelligence:—

“Since the date of my last to you matters withme have undergone a material change. I have comeoff conqueror in my hard fought battle. The contracthas been awarded to me in the faces of the representativesof Messrs. Wheatstone and Cooke, Brett and other telegraphicluminaries, much to their chagrin, as I afterwardsascertained; several of them, it appears, having beenleagued together in order, as they stated, to thwarta speculating Yankee. However, matters were notso ordained, and I am as well satisfied. I hopethey will all live to be the same.”

In spite of his financial difficulties, caused bybad management of some of the lines in which he wasinterested, he could not resist the temptation togive liberally where his heart inclined him, and ina letter of January 9, 1854, to President Woolseyof Yale, he says:—

“Enclosed, therefore, you have my check forone thousand dollars, which please hand to the Treasurerof the College as my subscription towards the fundwhich is being raised for the benefit of my dearlyloved Alma Mater.

“I wish I could make it a larger sum, and, withoutpromising what I may do at some future time, yet Iwill say that the prosperity of Yale College is sonear my heart that, should my affairs (now embarrassedby litigations in self-defence yet undecided) assumea more prosperous aspect, I have it in mind to addsomething more to the sum now sent.”

The year 1854 was memorable in the history of thetelegraph because of two important events—thedecision of the Supreme Court in Morse’s favor,already referred to, and the extension of his patentfor another period of seven years. The firstestablished for all time his legal right to be calledthe “Inventor of the Telegraph,” and thesecond enabled him to reap some adequate reward forhis years of privation, of struggle, and of heroicfaith. It was for a long time doubtful whetherhis application for an extension of his patent wouldbe granted, and much of his time in the early partof 1854 was consumed in putting in proper form allthe data necessary to substantiate his claim, andin visiting Washington to urge the justice of an extension.From that city he wrote often to his wife in Poughkeepsie,and I shall quote from some of these letters.

“February 17. I am at the National Hotel,which is now quite crowded, but I have an endurableroom with furniture hardly endurable, for it is hardto find, in this hotel at least, a table or a bureauthat can stand on its four proper legs, rocking andtetering like a gold-digger’s washing-pan, unlessthe lame leg is propped up with an old shoe, or astray newspaper fifty times folded, or a magazine ofdue thickness (I am using ‘Harper’s Magazine’at this moment, which is somewhat a desecration, asit is too good to be trampled under foot, even thefoot of a table), or a coal cinder, or a towel.Well, it is but for a moment and so let it pass.

“Where do you think I was last evening?Read the invitation on the enclosed card, which, althoughforbidden to be transferable, may without breachof honor be transferred to my other and better half.I felt no inclination to go, but, as no refusal wouldbe accepted, I put on my best and at nine o’clock,in company with Mr. and Mrs. Shaffner (the latterof whom, by the by, is quite a pleasant and prettywoman, with a boy one year older than Arthur and aboutas mischievous) and Mr. and Mrs. John Kendall.

“I went to the ladies’ parlor and waspresented to the ladies, six in number, who did thehonors (if that is the expression) of the evening.There was a great crowd, I think not less than threehundred people, and from all parts of the country—Senatorsand their wives, members of the House and their wivesand daughters, and there was a great number of finelooking men and women. I was constantly introducedto a great many, who uniformly showered their complimentson your modest husband.”

The card of invitation has been lost, but it was,perhaps, to a President’s Reception, and the“great” crowd of three hundred would nottax the energies of the President’s aides atthe present day.

The next letter is written in a more serious vein:—

“February 26. I am very busily engagedin the preparation of my papers for an extension ofmy patents. This object is of vital importanceto me; it is, in fact, the moment to reap the harvestof so many years of labor, and expense, and toil,and neglected would lose me the fruits of all....F.O.J. Smith is here, the same ugly, fiendlike,dog-in-the-manger being he has ever been, the ‘thornin the flesh’ which I pray to be able to supportby the sufficient grace promised. It is difficultto know how to feel and act towards such a man, sounprincipled, so vengeful, so bent on injury, yetthe command to bless those that curse, to pray forthose who despitefully use us and persecute us, tolove our enemies, to forgive our enemies, is in fullforce, and I feel more anxious to comply with thisinjunction of our blessed Saviour than to have thethorn removed, however strongly this latter must bedesired.”

“March 4. You have little idea of thetrouble and expense to which I am put in this ‘extension’matter.... I shall have to pay hundreds of dollarsmore before I get through here, besides being harassedin all sorts of ways from now till the 20th of Junenext. If I get my extension then I may expectsome respite, or, at least, opposition in anothershape. I hope eventually to derive some benefitfrom the late decision, but the reckless and desperatecharacter of my opponents may defeat all the goodI expect from it. Such is the reward I have purchasedfor myself by my invention....

“Mr. Wood is here also. He is the samefirm, consistent and indefatigable friend as ever.I know not what I should do in the present crisis withouthim. I could not possibly put my accounts intoproper shape without his aid, and he exerts himselffor me as strongly as if I were his brother....Mr. Kendall has been ill almost all the time that Ihave been here, which has caused me much delay andconsumption of time.”

It was not until the latter part of June that theextension of his patents was granted, and his goodfriend, alluded to in the preceding letter, Mr. GeorgeWood, tells, in a letter of June 21st, something ofthe narrow escape it had:—

“Your Patent Extension is another instance ofGod’s wonder working Providence towards youas expressed in the history of this great discovery.Of that history, of all the various shapes and incidentsyou may never know, not having been on the spot towatch all its moments of peril, and the way in which,like many a good Christian, it was ’scarcelysaved.’

“In this you must see God’s hand in givingyou a man of remarkable skill, energy, talent, andpower as your agent. I refer to P.H. Watson,to whom mainly and mostly, I think, this extensionis due. God works by means, and, though he designedto do this for you, he selected the proper personand gave him the skill, perseverance and power to accomplishthis result. I hope now you have got it you willmake it do for you all it can accomplish pecuniarily.But as for the money, I don’t think so much asI do the effect of this upon your reputation.This is the apex of the pyramid.”

And Mr. Watson, in a letter of June 20, says:“We had many difficulties to contend with, evento-day, for at one time the Commissioner intendedto withhold his decision for reasons which I shallexplain at length when we meet. It seemed togive the Commissioner much pleasure to think that,in extending the patent, he was doing an act of justiceto you as a great public benefactor, and a somewhatunfortunate man of genius. Dr. Gale and myselfhad to assure him that the extension would legallyinure to your benefit, and not to that of your agentsand associates before he could reconcile it with hisduty to the public to grant the extension.”

Morse himself, in a letter to Mr. Kendall, also ofJune 20, thus characteristically expresses himself:—

“A memorable day. I never had my anxietiesso tried as in this case of extension, and after weeksof suspense, this suspense was prolonged to the lastmoment of endurance. I have just returned withthe intelligence from the telegraph office from Mr.Watson—’Patent extended. Allright.’

“Well, what is now to be done? I am fortaking time by the forelock and placing ourselvesabove the contingencies of the next expiration of thepatent. While keeping our vantage ground withthe pirates I wish to meet them in a spirit of compromiseand of magnanimity. I hope we may now be ableto consolidate on advantageous terms.”

It appears that at this time he was advised by manyof his friends, including Dr. Gale, to sever his businessconnection with Mr. Kendall, both on account of theincreasing feebleness of that gentleman, and because,while admittedly the soul of honor, Mr. Kendall hadkept their joint accounts in a very careless and slipshodmanner, thereby causing considerable financial lossto the inventor. But, true to his friends, ashe always was, he replies to Dr. Gale on June 30:—

“Let me thank you specially personally for yoursolicitude for my interests. This I may say withoutdisparagement to Mr. Kendall, that, were the contractwith an agent to be made anew, I might desire to havea younger and more healthy man, and better acquaintedwith regular book-keeping, but I could not desirea more upright and more honorable man. If hehas committed errors, (as who has not?) they have beenof the head and not of the heart. I have hadmany years experience of his conduct, think I haveseen him under strong temptation to do injustice withprospects of personal benefit, and with little chanceof detection, and yet firmly resisting.”

Among the calumnies which were spread broadcast, bothduring the life of the inventor and after his death,even down to the present day, was the accusation ofgreat ingratitude towards those who had helped himin his early struggles, and especially towards AlfredVail. The more the true history of his connectionwith his associates is studied, the more baselessdo these accusations appear, and in this connectionthe following extracts from letters to Alfred Vailand to his brother George are most illuminating.The first letter is dated July 15, 1854:—

“The legal title to my Patent for the AmericanElectro-Magnetic Telegraph of June 20th, 1840, is,by the late extension of said patent for seven yearsfrom the said date, now vested in me alone; but I haveintended that the pecuniary interest which was guaranteedto you in my invention as it existed in 1838, andin my patent of 1840, should still inure to your benefit(yet in a different shape) under the second patentand the late extension of the first.

“For the simplification of my business transactionsI prefer to let the Articles of Agreement, which expiredon the 20th June, 1854, remain cancelled and not torenew them, retaining in my sole possession the legaltitle; but I hereby guarantee to you two sixteenthsof such sums as may be paid over to me in the saleof patent rights, after the proportionate deductionsof such necessary expenses as may be required in thebusiness of the agency for conducting the sales ofsaid patent rights, subject also to the terms of youragreement with Mr. Kendall.

“Mr. Kendall informs me that no assignment ofan interest in my second patent (the patent of 1846)was ever made to you. This was news to me.I presumed it was done and that the assignment wasduly recorded at the Patent Office. The examinationof the records in the progress of obtaining my extensionhas, doubtless, led to the discovery of the omission.”

After going over much the same ground in the letterto George Vail, also of July 15th, he gives as oneof the reasons why the new arrangement is better:“The annoyances of Smith are at an end, so faras the necessity of consulting him is concerned.”

And then he adds:—

“I presume it can be no matter of regret withAlfred that, by the position he now takes, strengtheningour defensive position against the annoyances of Smith,he can receive more pecuniarily than he couldbefore. Please consult with Mr. Kendall on theform of any agreement by which you and Alfred maybe properly secured in the pecuniary benefits whichyou would have were he to stand in the same legal relationto the patent that he did before the expiration ofits original term, so as to give me the position inregard to Smith that I must take in self-defense,and I shall cheerfully accede to it.

“Poor Alfred, I regret to know, torments himselfneedlessly. I had hoped that I was sufficientlyknown to him to have his confidence. I have neverhad other than kind feelings towards him, and, whileplanning for his benefit and guarding his interestsat great and almost ruinous expense to myself, I havehad to contend with difficulties which his imprudence,arising from morbid suspicions, has often created.My wish has ever been to act towards him not merelyjustly but generously.”

In a letter to Mr. Kendall of July 17, 1854, Morsedeclares his intention of publishing that “Defense”which he had held in reserve for several years, hopingthat the necessity for its publication might be avoidedby a personal understanding with Professor Henry,which, however, that gentleman refused:—

“You will perceive what injury I have sufferedfrom the machinations of the sordid pirates againstwhom I have had to contend, and it will also be noticedhow history has been falsified in order to detractfrom me, and how the conduct of Henry, on his deposition,has tended to strengthen the ready prejudice of theEnglish against the American claim to priority.An increasing necessity, on this account, arises formy ‘Defense,’ and so soon as I can getit into proper shape by revision, I intend to publish*t.

“This I consider a duty I owe the country morethan myself, for, so far as I am personally concerned,I am conscious of a position that History will giveme when the facts now suppressed by interested piratesand their abettors shall be known, which the verdictof posterity, no less than that of the judicial tribunalsalready given, is sure to award.”

While involved in apparently endless litigation whichnecessitated much correspondence, and while the compilationand revision of his “Defense” must haveconsumed not only days but weeks and months, he yetfound time to write a prodigious number of lettersand newspaper articles on other subjects, especiallyon those relating to religion and politics. Althoughmore tolerant as he grew older, he was still bitterlyopposed to the methods of the Roman Catholic Church,and to the Jesuits in particular. He, in commonwith many other prominent men of his day, was fearfullest the Church of Rome, through her emissaries theJesuits, should gain political ascendancy in thiscountry and overthrow the liberty of the people.He took part in a long and heated newspaper controversywith Bishop Spaulding of Kentucky concerning the authenticityof a saying attributed to Lafayette—“Ifever the liberty of the United States is destroyedit will be by Romish priests.”

It was claimed by the Roman Catholics that this statementof Lafayette’s was ingeniously extracted froma sentence in a letter of his to a friend in whichhe assures this friend that such a fear is groundless.Morse followed the matter up with the patience andkeenness of a detective, and proved that no such letterhad ever been written by Lafayette, that it was aclumsy forgery, but that he really had made use ofthe sentiment quoted above, not only to Morse himself,but to others of the greatest credibility who werestill living.

In the field of politics he came near playing a moreactive part than that of a mere looker-on and humblevoter, for in the fall of 1854 he was nominated forCongress on the Democratic ticket. It would bedifficult and, perhaps, invidious to attempt to stateexactly his political faith in those heated yearswhich preceded the Civil War. In the light offuture events he and his brothers and many other prominentmen of the day were on the wrong side. He deprecatedthe war and did his best to prevent it.

“Sectional division” was abhorrent tohim, but on the question of slavery his sympathieswere rather with the South, for I find among his papersthe following:—

“My creed on the subject of slavery is short.Slavery per se is not sin. It is a socialcondition ordained from the beginning of the worldfor the wisest purposes, benevolent and disciplinary,by Divine Wisdom. The mere holding of slaves,therefore, is a condition having per se nothingof moral character in it, any more than the being aparent, or employer, or ruler, but is moral or unmoralas the duties of the relation of master, parent, employeror ruler are rightly used or abused. The subjectin a national view belongs not, therefore, to the departmentof Morals, and is transferred to that of Politicsto be politically regulated.

“The accidents of the relation of master andslave, like the accidents of other social relations,are to be praised or condemned as such individuallyand in accordance with the circ*mstances of every case,and, whether adjudged good or bad, do not affect thecharacter of the relation itself.”

On the subject of foreign immigration he was mostoutspoken, and replying to an enquiry of one of hispolitical friends concerning his attitude towardsthe so-called “Know Nothings,” he says:—

“So far as I can gather from the public papers,the object of this society would seem to be to resistthe aggression of foreign influence and its insidiousand dangerous assaults upon all that Americans holddear, politically and religiously. It appearsto be to prevent injury to the Republic from the ill-timedand, I may say, unbecoming tamperings with the laws,and habits, and deeply sacred sentiments of Americansby those whose position, alike dictated by modestyand safety, to them as well as to us, is that of minorsin training for American, not European, liberty.

“I have not, at this late day, to make up anopinion on this subject. My sentiments ’Onthe dangers to the free institutions of the UnitedStates from foreign immigration’ are the samenow that I have ever entertained, and these same havebeen promulgated from Maine to Louisiana for morethan twenty years.

“This subject involves questions which, in myestimation, make all others insignificant in the comparison,for they affect all others. To the disturbinginfluence of foreign action in our midst upon the politicaland religious questions of the day may be attributedin a great degree the present disorganization in allparts of the land.

“So far as the Society you speak of is actingagainst this great evil it, of course, meets withmy hearty concurrence. I am content to stand onthe platform, in this regard, occupied by Washingtonin his warnings against foreign influence, by Lafayette,in his personal conversation and instructions to me,and by Jefferson in his condemnation of the encouragementgiven, even in his day, to foreign immigration.If this Society has ulterior objects of which I knownothing, of these I can be expected to speak onlywhen I know something.”

As his opinions on important matters, political andreligious, appear in the course of his correspondence,I shall make note of them. It is more than probablethat, as he differed radically from his father andthe other Federalists on the question of men and measuresduring the War of 1812, so I should have taken otherground than his had I been born and old enough tohave opinions in the stirring ante-bellum daysof the fifties. And yet, as hindsight makes ourvision clearer than foresight, it is impossible tosay definitely what our opinions would have been underother conditions, and there can, at any rate, be noquestion of the absolute sincerity of the man who,from his youth up, had placed the welfare of his belovedcountry above every other consideration except hisduty to his God.

It would take a keen student of the political historyof this country to determine how far the opinionsand activities of those who were in opposition onquestions of such prime importance as slavery, secession,and unrestricted immigration, served as a wholesomecheck on the radical views of those who finally gainedthe ascendancy. The aftermath of two of thesequestions is still with us, for the negro questionis by no means a problem solved, and the subject ofproper restrictions on foreign immigration is justnow occupying the attention of our Solons.

That Morse should make enemies on account of the outspokenstand he took on all these questions was to be expected,but I shall not attempt to sit in judgment, but shallsimply give his views as they appear in his correspondence.At any rate he was not called upon to state and maintainhis opinions in the halls of Congress, for, in a letterof November 10, 1854, to a friend, he says at theend: “I came near being in Congress atthe late election, but had not quite votes enough,which is the usual cause of failure on such occasions.”

CHAPTER XXXV

JANUARY 8, 1856—AUGUST 14, 1856

Payment of dividends delayed.—Concern forwelfare of his country.— Indignation atcorrupt proposal from California.—Kendallhampered by the Vails.—Proposition by capitaliststo purchase patent rights.—Cyrus W. Field.—NewfoundlandElectric Telegraph Company.—Suggestion ofAtlantic Cable.—Hopes thereby to eliminatewar.—Trip to Newfoundland.—Temporaryfailure.—F.O.J. Smith continues togive trouble.—Financial conditions improve.—Morseand his wife sail for Europe.—Feted in London.—Experiments with Dr. Whitehouse.—Mr. Brett.—Dr.O’Shaughnessy and the telegraph in India.—Mr.Cooke.—Charles H. Leslie.—Paris.—Hamburg.—Copenhagen.—Presentation to king.—ThorwaldsenMuseum.—Oersted’s daughter.—St.Petersburg.—Presentation to Czar at Peterhoff.

I have said in the preceding chapter that order wasgradually emerging from chaos in telegraphic matters,but the progress towards that goal was indeed gradual,and a perusal of the voluminous correspondence betweenMorse and Kendall, and others connected with the differentlines, leaves the reader in a state of confused bewildermentand wonder that all the conflicting interests, andplots and counterplots, could ever have been broughtinto even seeming harmony. Too much praise cannotbe given to Mr. Kendall for the patience and skillwith which he disentangled this apparently hopelesssnarl, while at the same time battling against physicalills which would have caused most men to give up indespair. That Morse fully appreciated the sterlingqualities of this faithful friend is evidenced bythe letter to Dr. Gale in the preceding chapter, andby many others. He always refused to considerfor a moment the substitution of a younger man onthe plea of Mr. Kendall’s failing health, andhis carelessness in the keeping of their personal accounts.It is true that, because of this laxity on Mr. Kendall’spart, Morse was for a long time deprived of the fullincome to which he was entitled, but he never heldthis up against his friend, always making excuses forhim.

Affairs seem to have been going from bad to worsein the matter of dividends, for, while in 1850 hehad said that only 509 miles out of 1150 were payinghim personally anything, he says in a letter to Mr.Kendall of January 8, 1855:—

“I perceive the Magnetic Telegraph Company meetin Washington on Thursday the 11th. Please informme by telegraph the amount of dividend they declareand the time payable. This is the only sourceon which I can calculate for the means of subsistencefrom day to day with any degree of certainty.

“It is a singular reflection that occurs frequentlyto my mind that out of 40,000 miles of telegraph,all of which should pay me something, only 225 milesis all that I can depend upon with certainty; and thecase is a little aggravated when I think that throughoutall Europe, which is now meshed with telegraph wiresfrom the southern point of Corsica to St. Petersburg,on which my telegraph is universally used, not a milecontributes to my support or has paid me a farthing.

“Well, it is all well. I am not in absolutewant, for I have some credit, and painful as is thestate of debt to me from the apprehension that creditorsmay suffer from my delay in paying them, yet I hopeon.”

Mr. Kendall was not so sensitive on the subject ofdebt as was Morse, and he was also much more optimisticand often rebuked his friend for his gloomy anticipations,assuring him that the clouds were not nearly so darkas they appeared.

Always imbued with a spirit of lofty patriotism, Morsenever failed, even in the midst of overwhelming cares,to give voice to warnings which he considered necessary.Replying to an invitation to be present at a publicdinner he writes:—

GENTLEMEN,—I have received your politeinvitation to join with you in the celebration ofthe birthday of Washington. Although unable tobe present in person, I shall still be with you inheart.

Every year, indeed every day, is demonstrating thenecessity of our being wide awake to the insidioussapping of our institutions by foreign emissariesin the guise of friends, who, taking advantage of thevery liberality and unparalleled national generositywhich we have extended to them, are undermining thefoundations of our political fabric, substituting(as far as they are able to effect their purpose) onthe one hand a dark, cold and heartless atheism, or,on the other, a disgusting, puerile, degrading superstitionin place of the God of our fathers and the gloriouselevating religion of love preached by his Son.

The American mind, I trust, is now in earnest wakingup, and no one more rejoices at the signs of the timesthan myself. Twenty years ago I hoped to haveseen it awake, but, alas! it proved to be but a spasmodicyawn preparatory to another nap. If it shallnow have waked in earnest, and with renewed strengthshall gird itself to the battle which is assuredlybefore it, I shall feel not a little in the spiritof good old Simeon— “Now let thyservant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thysalvation.”

Go forward, my friends, in your patriotic work, andmay God bless you in your labors with eminent success.

It has been shown, I think, in the course of thiswork, that Morse, while long-suffering and patientunder trials and afflictions, was by no means poor-spirited,but could fight and use forceful language when rousedby acts of injustice towards himself, his country,or his sense of right. Nothing made him morerighteously angry than dishonesty in whatever formit was manifested, and the following incident is characteristic.

On June 26, 1855, Mr. Kendall forwarded a letter whichhe had received from a certain Milton S. Latham, memberof Congress from California, making a propositionto purchase the Morse patent rights for lines in California.In this letter occur the following sentences:“For the use of Professor Morse’s patentfor the State of California in perpetuity, with thereservations named in yours of the 3d March, 1855,addressed to me, they are willing to give you $30,000in their stock. This is all they will do.It is proper I should state that the capital stockof the California State Telegraph in cash was $75,000,which they raised to $150,000, and subsequently to$300,000. The surplus stock over the cash stockwas used among members of the Legislature to procurethe passage of the act incorporating the company,and securing for it certain privileges.”

Mr. Kendall in his letter enclosing this naive businessproposition, remarks: “It is an impressivecommentary on the principles which govern businessin California that this company doubled their stockto bribe members of the State Legislature, and arenow willing to add but ten per cent to be relievedfrom the position of patent pirates and placed henceforthon an honest footing.”

Morse more impulsively exclaims in his reply:—

“Is it possible that there are men who holdup their heads in civilized society who can unblushinglytake the position which the so-called California StateTelegraph Company has deliberately taken?

“Accept the proposition? Yes, I will acceptit when I can consent to the housebreaker who hasentered my house, packed up my silver and plated ware,and then coolly says to me—’Allowme to take what I have packed up and I will selectout that which is worthless and give it to you, afterI have used it for a few years, provided any of itremain!’

“A more unprincipled set of swindlers neverexisted. Who is this Mr. Latham that he couldrecommend our accepting such terms?”

In addition to the opposition of open enemies andunprincipled pirates, Morse and Kendall were sometimeshampered by the unjust suspicions of some of thosewhose interests they were striving to safeguard.Referring to one such case in a letter of June 15,1855, Mr. Kendall says:—

“If there should be opposition I count on theVails against me. Alfred has for some time beenhostile because I could not if I would, and wouldnot if I could, find him a snug sinecure in some ofthe companies. I fear George has in some degreegiven way to the same spirit. I have heard ofhis complaining of me, and when, before my departurefor the West, I tendered my services to negotiatea connection of himself and brother with the lesseesof the N.O. & O. line, he declined my offer, protestingagainst the entire arrangements touching that line.

“Having done all I could and much more thanI was bound to do for the benefit of those gentlemen,I shall not permit their jealousy to disturb me, butI am anxious to have them understand the exact positionI am to occupy in relation to them. I understoodyour purpose to be that they should share in the benefitsof the extension, whether legally entitled to themor not, yet nothing has been paid over to them forsales since made. All the receipts, except aportion of my commissions, have been paid out on accountof expenses, and to secure an interest for you in theN.O. & O. line.”

It is easy to understand that the Vails should havebeen somewhat suspicious when little or nothing inthe way of cash was coming in to them, but they seemnot to have realized that Morse and Kendall were inthe same boat, and living more on hope than cash.Mr. Kendall enlarges somewhat on this point in a letterof June 22, 1855:—

“Most heartily will I concur in a sale of allmy interests in the Telegraph at any reasonable rateto such a company as you describe. I fully appreciateyour reasons for desiring such a consummation, and,in addition to them, have others peculiar to my ownposition. Any one who has a valuable patent canprofit by it only by a constant fight with some ofthe most profligate and, at the same time, most shrewdmembers of society. I have found myself not onlythe agent of yourself and the Messrs. Vail to sellyour patent rights, but the soldier to fight yourbattles, as well in the country as in the courts ofjustice. Almost single-handed, with the deadlyenmity of one of the patentees, and the annoying jealousiesof another, I have encountered surrounding hosts,and, I trust, been instrumental in saving somethingfor the Proprietors of this great invention, and donesomething to maintain the rights and vindicate thefame of its true author. Nothing but your generousconfidence has rendered my position tolerable, andenabled me to meet the countless difficulties withwhich my path has been beset with any degree of success.And now, at the end of a ten years’ war, I amprepared to retire from the field and leave the futureto other hands, if I can but see your interests, securedbeyond contingency, and a moderate competency providedfor my family and myself.”

The company referred to in this letter was one proposedby Cyrus W. Field and other capitalists of New York.The plan was to purchase the patent rights of Morse,Kendall, Vail, and F.O.J. Smith, and, by meansof the large capital which would be at their command,fight the pirates who had infringed on the patent,and gradually unite the different warring companiesinto one harmonious concern. A monopoly, if youwill, but a monopoly which had for its object better,cheaper, and quicker service to the people. Thisobject was achieved in time, but, unfortunately forthe peace of mind of Morse and Kendall, not just then.

The name of Cyrus Field naturally suggests the AtlanticCable, and it was just at this time that steps werebeing seriously taken to realize the prophecy madeby Morse in 1843 in his letter to the Secretary ofthe Treasury: “The practical inferencefrom this law is that a telegraphic communicationon the electro-magnetic plan may with certainty beestablished across the Atlantic Ocean! Startlingas this may now seem I am confident the time willcome when this project will be realized.”

In 1852 a company had been formed and incorporatedby the Legislature of Newfoundland, called the “NewfoundlandElectric Telegraph Company.” The objectof this company was to connect the island by meansof a cable with the mainland, but this was not accomplishedat that time, and no suggestion was made of the possibilityof crossing the ocean. One of the officers ofthat company, however, Mr. F.N. Gisborne, cameto New York in 1854 and tried to revive the interestof capitalists and engineers in the scheme. Amongothers he consulted Matthew D. Field, and through himmet his brother Cyrus W. Field, and the question ofa through line from Newfoundland to New York was seriouslydiscussed. Cyrus Field, a man of great energyand already interested financially and otherwise inthe terrestrial telegraph, was fascinated by the ideaof stretching long lines under the waters also.He examined a globe, which was in his study at homeand, suddenly realizing that Newfoundland and Irelandwere comparatively near neighbors, he said to himself:“Why not cross the ocean and connect the NewWorld with the Old?” He had heard that Morselong ago had prophesied that this link would some daybe welded, and he became possessed with the idea thathe was the person to accomplish this marvel, justas Morse had received the inspiration of the telegraphin 1832.

A letter to Morse, who was just then in Washington,received an enthusiastic and encouraging reply, coupledwith the information that Lieutenant Maury of theNavy had, by a series of careful soundings, establishedthe existence of a plateau between Ireland and Newfoundland,at no very great depth, which seemed expressly designedby nature to receive and carefully guard a telegraphiccable. Mr. Field lost no time in organizing acompany composed originally of himself, his brotherthe Honorable David Dudley Field, Peter Cooper, MosesTaylor, Marshall O. Roberts, and Chandler White.After a liberal charter had been secured from thelegislature of Newfoundland the following names wereadded to the list of incorporators: S.F.B.Morse, Robert W. Lowber, Wilson G. Hunt, and JohnW. Brett. Mr. Field then went to England and withcharacteristic energy soon enlisted the interest andcapital of influential men, and the Atlantic TelegraphCompany was organized to cooperate with the Americancompany, and liberal pledges of assistance from theBritish Government were secured. Similar pledgeswere obtained from the Congress of the United States,but, quite in line with former precedents, by a majorityof only one in the Senate. Morse was appointedelectrician of the American company and Faraday ofthe English company, and much technical correspondencefollowed between these two eminent scientists.

In the spring of 1855, Morse, in a letter to his friendand relative by marriage, Thomas R. Walker, of Utica,writes enthusiastically of the future: “OurAtlantic line is in a fair way. We havethe governments and capitalists of Europe zealouslyand warmly engaged to carry it through. Three yearswill not pass before a submarine telegraph communicationwill be had with Europe, and I do not despair ofsitting in my office and, by a touch of the telegraph-key,asking a question simultaneously to persons in London,Paris, Cairo, Calcutta, and Canton, and getting theanswer from all of them in five minutes afterthe question is asked. Does this seem strange?I presume if I had even suggested the thought sometwenty years ago, I might have had a quiet residencein a big building in your vicinity.”

The first part of this prophecy was actually realized,for in 1858, just three years after the date of thisletter, communication was established between thetwo continents and was maintained for twenty days.Then it suddenly and mysteriously ceased, and nottill 1866 was the indomitable perseverance of CyrusField crowned with permanent success.

More of the details of this stupendous undertakingwill be told in the proper chronological order, butbefore leaving the letter to Mr. Walker, just quotedfrom, I wish to note that when Morse speaks of sittingin his office and communicating by a touch of thekey with the outside world, he refers to the factthat the telegraph companies with which he was connectedhad obligingly run a short line from the main line(which at that time was erected along the highwayfrom New York to Albany) into his office at LocustGrove, Poughkeepsie, so that he was literally in touchwith every place of any importance in the United States.

Always solicitous for the welfare of mankind in general,he says in a letter to Norvin Green, in July, 1855,after discussing the proposed cable: “Theeffects of the Telegraph on the interests of the world,political, social and commercial have, as yet, scarcelybegun to be apprehended, even by the most speculativeminds. I trust that one of its effects will beto bind man to his fellow-man in such bonds of amityas to put an end to war. I think I can predictthis effect as in a not distant future.”

Alas! in this he did not prove himself a true prophet,although it must be conceded that many wars have beenaverted or shortened by means of the telegraph, andthere are some who hope that a warless age is evennow being conceived in the womb of time.

On July 18, 1855, he writes to his good friend Dr.Gale: “I have no time to add, as everymoment is needed to prepare for my Newfoundland expedition,to be present at laying down the first submarine cableof any considerable length on this side thewater, although the first for telegraph purposes,you well remember, we laid between Castle Garden andGovernor’s Island in 1842.”

On the 7th of August, Morse, with his wife and theireldest son, a lad of six, joined a large company offriends on board the steamer James Adger which sailedfor Newfoundland. There they were to meet theSarah L. Bryant, from England, with the cable whichwas to be laid across the Gulf of St. Lawrence.The main object of the trip was a failure, like somany of the first attempts in telegraphic communication,for a terrific storm compelled them to cut the cableand postpone the attempt, which, however, was successfullyaccomplished the next year.

The party seems to have had a delightful time otherwise,for they were feted wherever they stopped, notablyat Halifax, Nova Scotia, and St. Johns, Newfoundland.At the latter place a return banquet was given onboard the James Adger, and the toastmaster, in callingon Morse for a speech, recited the following lines:—

“The steed called Lightning (say the Fates)
Was tamed in the United States.
’T was Franklin’s hand that caught thehorse,
’T was harnessed by Professor Morse.”

To turn again for a moment to the darker side of thepicture of those days, it must be kept in mind thatannoying litigation was almost constant, and in thelatter part of 1855 a decision had been rendered infavor of F.O.J. Smith, who insisted on sharingin the benefits of the extension of the patent, although,instead of doing anything to deserve it, he had doneall in his power to thwart the other patentees.Commenting on this in a letter to Mr. Kendall of November22, 1855, Morse, pathetically and yet philosophically,says:—

“Is there any mode of arrangement with Smithby which matters in partnership can be conducted withany degree of harmony? I wish him to have hislegal rights in full, however unjustly awarded to him.I must suffer for my ignorance of legal technicalities.Mortifying as this is it is better, perhaps, to sufferit with a good grace and even with cheerfulness, ifpossible, rather than endure the wear and tear of thespirits which a brooding over the gross fraud occasions.An opportunity of setting ourselves right in regardto him may be not far off in the future. Tillthen let us stifle at least all outward expressionsof disgust or indignation at the legal swindle.”

And, with the keen sense of justice which always actuatedhim, he adds in a postscript: “By the by,if Judge Curtis’s decision holds good in regardto Smith’s inchoate right, does it notequally hold good in regard to Vail, and is he notentitled to a proportionate right in the extension?”

During the early months of 1856 the financial affairsof the inventor had so far been straightened out thathe felt at liberty to leave the country for a fewmonths’ visit to Europe. The objects ofthis trip were threefold. He wished, as electricianof the Cable Company, to try some experiments overlong lines with certain English scientists, with aview to determining beyond peradventure the practicability

of an ocean telegraph. He also wished to visitthe different countries on the continent where histelegraph was being used, to see whether their governmentscould not be induced to make him some pecuniary returnfor the use of his invention. Last, but not least,he felt that he had earned a short vacation from thehard work and the many trials to which he had beensubjected for so many years, and a trip abroad withhis wife, who had never been out of her own country,offered the best means of relaxation and enjoyment.On the 7th of June, 1856, he sailed from New Yorkon the Baltic, accompanied by his wife and his nieceLouisa, daughter of his brother Richard.

The trip proved a delightful one in every way; hewas acclaimed as one of the most noted men of hisday wherever he went, and emperors, kings, and scientistsvied with each other in showering attentions upon him.His letters contain minute descriptions of many ofhis experiences and I shall quote liberally from them.

To Cyrus Field he writes, on July 6, of the resultsof some of his experiments with Dr. Whitehouse:—

“I intended to have written you long beforethis and have you receive my letter previous to yourdeparture from home, but every moment of my time hasbeen occupied, as you can well conceive, since my arrival.I have especially been occupied in experiments withDr. Whitehouse of the utmost importance. Theirresults, except in a general way, I am not at presentat liberty to divulge; besides they are not, as yet,by any means completed so as to assure commercialmen that they may enter upon the great project ofuniting Europe to America with a certainty of success.”

And then, after dwelling upon the importance of Dr.Whitehouse’s services, and expressing the wishthat he should be liberally rewarded for his labors,he continues:—

“I can say on this subject generally that theexperiments Dr. Whitehouse has made favorably affectthe project so far as its practicability isconcerned, but to certainly assure its practicalityfurther experiments are essential. To enableDr. Whitehouse to make these, and that he may derivethe benefit of them, I conceive it to be a wise outlayto furnish him with adequate means for his purpose.

“I wish I had time to give you in detail thekind receptions I have everywhere met with. ToMr. Statham and his family in a special manner arewe indebted for the most indefatigable and constantattentions. Were we relatives they could nothave been more assiduous in doing everything to makeour stay in London agreeable. To Mr. Brett alsoI am under great obligations. He has manifested(as have, indeed, all the gentlemen connected withthe Telegraph here) the utmost liberality and the mostample concession to the excellence of my telegraphicsystem. I have been assured now from the highestsources that my system is not only the most practicalfor general use, but that it is fast becoming the world’stelegraph.”

His brother Sidney was at this time also in Europewith his wife and some other members of his family,and the brothers occasionally met in their wanderingsto and fro. Finley writes to Sidney from Fenton’sHotel, London, on July 1:—

“Yours from Edinburgh of the 28th ulto. is justreceived. I regret we did not see you when youcalled the evening before you left London. Weall wished to see you and all yours before we separatedso widely apart, but you know in what a whirl oneis kept on a first arrival in London and can makeallowances for any seeming neglect. From morningtill night we have been overwhelmed with calls andthe kindest and most flattering attentions.

“On the day before you called I dined at Greenwichwith a party invited by Mr. Brett, representing thegreat telegraph interests of Europe and India.I was most flatteringly received, and Mr. Brett, inthe only toast given, gave my name as the Inventorof the Telegraph and of the system which has spreadover the whole world and is superseding all others.Dr. O’Shaughnessy, who sat opposite to me, madesome remarks warmly seconding Mr. Brett, and statingthat he had come from India where he had constructedmore than four thousand miles of telegraph; that hehad tried many systems upon his lines, and that afew days before I arrived he had reported, in hisofficial capacity as the Director of the East Indialines, to the East India Company that my system wasthe best, and recommended to them its adoption, whichI am told will undoubtedly be the case.

“This was an unexpected triumph to me, sinceI had heard from one of our passengers in the Balticthat in the East Indies they were reluctant to giveany credit to America for the Telegraph, claiming itexclusively for Wheatstone. It was, therefore,a surprise to me to hear from the gentleman who controlsall the Eastern lines so warm, and even enthusiastic,acknowledgment of the superiority of mine.

“But I have an additional cause for gratitudefor an acknowledgment from a quarter whence I leastexpected any favor to my system. Mr. Cooke, formerlyassociated with Wheatstone, told one of the gentlemen,who informed me of it, that he had just recommendedto the British Government the substitution of my systemfor their present system, and had no doubt his recommendationwould be entertained. He also said that he hadheard I was about to visit Europe, and that he shouldtake the earliest opportunity to pay his respectsto me. Under these circ*mstances I called andleft my card on Mr. Cooke, and I have now a note fromhim stating he shall call on me on Thursday.Thus the way seems to be made for the adoption ofmy Telegraph throughout the whole world.

“I visited one of the offices with Dr. Whitehouseand Mr. Brett where (in the city) I found my instrumentsin full activity, sending and receiving messages fromand to Paris and Vienna and other places on the Continent.I asked if all the lines on the Continent were nowusing my system, that I had understood that some ofthe lines in France were still worked by another system.The answer was—’No, all the lineson the Continent are now Morse lines.’You will undoubtedly be pleased to learn these facts.”

While he was thus being wined, and dined, and praisedby those who were interested in his scientific achievements,he harked back for a few hours to memories of hisstudent days in London, for his old friend and room-mate,Charles R. Leslie, now a prosperous and successfulpainter, gave him a cordial invitation to visit himat Petworth, near London. Morse joyfully accepted,and several happy hours were spent by the two oldfriends as they wandered through the beautiful groundsof the Earl of Egremont, where Leslie was then makingstudies for the background of a picture.

The next letter to his brother Sidney is dated Copenhagen,July 19:—

“Here we are in Copenhagen where we arrivedyesterday morning, having travelled from Hamburg toKiel, and thence by steamboat to Corsoer all night,and thence by railroad here, much fatigued owing tothe miserable discommodations on board theboat. I have delivered my letters here and amawaiting their effect, expecting calls, and I thereforeimprove a few moments to apprise you of our whereabouts....In Paris I was most courteously received by the Countde Vouchy, now at the head of the Telegraphs of France,who, with many compliments, told me that my systemwas the one in universal use, the simplest and thebest, and desired me to visit the rooms in the greatbuilding where I should find my instruments at work.Sure enough, I went into the Telegraph rooms wheresome twenty of my own children (beautifully made) werechatting and chattering as in American offices.I could not but think of the contrast in that samebuilding, even as late as 1845, when the clumsy semaphorewas still in use, and but a single line of electricwire, an experimental one to Rouen, was in existencein France.... When we left Paris we took a courier,William Carter, an Englishman, whom thus far we findto be everything we could wish, active, vigilant,intelligent, honest and obliging. As soon ashe learned who I was he made diligent use of his information,and wherever I travelled it was along the lines ofthe Telegraph. The telegraph posts seemed tobe posted to present arms (shall I say?) as I passed,and the lines of conductors were constantly stoopingand curtsying to me. At all the stations the officialsreceived me with marked respect; everywhere the sameremark met me—’Your system, Sir, isthe only one recognized here. It is the best;we have tried others but have settled down upon yoursas the best.’ But yesterday, in travellingfrom Corsoer to Copenhagen, the Chief Director of theRailroads told me, upon my asking if the Telegraphwas yet in operation in Denmark, that it was and wasin process of construction along this road. ‘Atfirst,’ said he, ’in using the needlesystem we found it so difficult to have employeesskilled in its operation that we were about to abandonthe idea, but now, having adopted yours, we find nodifficulty and are constructing telegraphs on allour roads.’

“At all the custom-houses and in all the railroaddepots I found my name a passport. My luggagewas passed with only the form of an examination, andalthough I had taken second-class tickets for my partyof four, yet the inspectors put us into first-classcarriages and gave orders to the conductors to putno one in with us without our permission. I cannotenumerate all the attentions we have received.

“At Hamburg we were delighted, not only withits splendor and cleanliness, but having made knownto Mrs. Lind (widow of Edward’s brother Henry)that we were in Hamburg, we received the most heartywelcome, passed the day at her house and rode out inthe environs. At dinner a few friends were invitedto meet us. Mr. Overman, a distant connectionof the Linds, was very anxious for me to stay a fewdays, hinting that, if I would consent, the authoritiesand dignitaries of Hamburg would show me some markof respect, for my name was well known to them.I was obliged to decline as I am anxious to be in St.Petersburg before the Emperor is engaged in his coronationpreparations.”

While in Denmark Morse was granted a private interviewwith the king at his castle of Frederiksborg, whitherhe was accompanied by Captain Raasloff:—

“After a few minutes the captain was calledinto the presence of the king, and in a few minutesmore I was requested to go into the audience-chamberand was introduced by the captain to Frederick VII,King of Denmark. The king received me standingand very courteously. He is a man of middle stature,thick-set, and resembles more in the features of hisface the busts and pictures of Christian IV than thoseof any of his predecessors, judging as I did fromthe numerous busts and portraits of the Kings of Denmarkwhich adorn the city palace and the Castle of Frederiksborg.The king expressed his pleasure at seeing the inventorof the Telegraph, and regretted he could not speakEnglish as he wished to ask me many questions.He thanked me, he said, for the beautiful instrumentI had sent him; told me that a telegraph line was nowin progress from the castle to his royal residencein Copenhagen; that when it was completed he had decidedon using my instrument, which I had given him, inhis own private apartments. He then spoke of theinvention as a most wonderful achievement, and wishedme to inform him how I came to invent it. I accordinglyin a few words gave him the early history of it, towhich he listened most attentively and thanked me,expressing himself highly gratified. After afew minutes more of conversation of the same character,the king shook me warmly by the hand and we took ourleave....

“We arrived in the afternoon at Copenhagen.Mrs. F. called in her carriage. We drove to theThorwaldsen Museum or Depository where are all theworks of this great man. This collection of thegreatest sculptor since the best period of Greek artis attractive enough in itself to call travellersof taste to Copenhagen. After spending some hoursin Thorwaldsen’s Museum I went to see the studyof Oersted, where his most important discovery ofthe deflection of the needle by a galvaniccurrent was made, which laid the foundation of thescience of electro-magnetism, and without which myinvention could not have been made. It is nowa drawing school. I sat at the table where hemade his discovery.

“We went to the Porcelain Manufactory, and,singularly enough, met there the daughter of Oersted,to whom I had the pleasure of an introduction.Oersted was a most amiable man and universally beloved.The daughter is said to resemble her father in herfeatures, and I traced a resemblance to him in thesmall porcelain bust which I came to the manufactoryto purchase.”

“St. Petersburg, August 8, 1856. Up tothis date we have been in one constant round of visitsto the truly wonderful objects of curiosity in thismagnificent city. I have seen, as you know, mostof the great and marvellous cities of Europe, butI can truly say none of them can at all compare insplendor and beauty to St. Petersburg. It is acity of palaces, and palaces of the most gorgeouscharacter. The display of wealth in the palacesand churches is so great that the simple truth toldabout them would incur to the narrator the suspicionof romancing. England boasts of her regalia inthe Tower, her crown jewels, her Kohinoor diamond,etc. I can assure you that they fade intoinsignificance, as a rush-light before the sun, whenbrought before the wealth in jewels and gold seenhere in such profusion. What think you of nosegays,as large as those our young ladies take to parties,composed entirely of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphiresand other precious stones, chosen to represent accuratelythe colors of various flowers?— The imperialcrown, globular in shape, composed of diamonds, andcontaining in the centre of the Greek cross which surmountsit an unwrought ruby at least two inches in diameter?The sceptre has a diamond very nearly as large asthe Kohinoor. At the Arsenal at Tsarskoye Selowe saw the trappings of a horse, bridle, saddle andall the harness, with an immense saddle-cloth, setwith tens of thousands of diamonds. On thoseparts of the harness where we have rosettes, or knobs,or buckles, were rosettes of diamonds an inch anda half to two inches in diameter, with a diamond inthe centre as large as the first joint of your thumb,or say three quarters of an inch in diameter.Other trappings were as rich. Indeed there seemedto be no end to the diamonds. All the churchesare decorated in the most costly manner with diamondsand pearls and precious stones.”

The following account of his reception by the czaris written in pencil: “On the paper foundin my room in Peterhoff.” It differs somewhatfrom the letter written to his children and introducedby Mr. Prime in his book, but is, to my mind, rathermore interesting.

“August 14, 1856. This day is one tobe remembered by me. Yesterday I received noticefrom the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, throughour Minister Mr. Seymour, that his Imperial Majesty,the Emperor Alexander II, had appointed the hour of1.30 this day to see me at his palace at Peterhoff.I accordingly waited upon our minister to know theetiquette to be observed on such an occasion.It was necessary, he said, to be at the boat by eighto’clock in the morning, which would arrive atPeterhoff about 9.30. I must dress in black coat,vest and pantaloons and white cravat, and appear withmy Turkish nishan [or decoration]. So this morningI was up early and, upon taking the boat, found ourMinister Mr. Seymour, Colonel Colt and Mr. Jarvis,attaches to the Legation, with Mrs. Colt and MissJarvis coming on board. I learned also that therewere to be many presentations of various nations’attaches to the various special deputations sent torepresent their different courts at the approachingcoronation at Moscow.

“The day is most beautiful, rendered doublyso by its contrast with so many previous disagreeableones. On our arrival at the quay at Peterhoffwe found, somewhat to my surprise, the imperial carriagesin waiting for us, with coachmen and footmen in theimperial livery, which, as in England and France,is scarlet, and splendid black horses, ready to takeus to our quarters in the portion of the palace buildingsassigned to the Americans. We were attended byfour or five servants in livery loaded with gold lace,and shown to our apartments upon the doors of whichwe found our names already written.

“After throwing off our coats the servants inquiredif we would have breakfast, to which, of course, wehad no objection, and an excellent breakfast of coffeeand sandwiches was set upon the table, served up insilver with the imperial arms upon the silver waiterand tea set. Everything about our rooms, whichconsisted of parlor and bedroom, was plain but exceedinglyclean and neat. After seeing us well housed ourattendant chamberlain left us to prepare ourselvesfor the presentation, saying he would call for usat the proper time. As there were two or threehours to spare I took occasion to improve the timeby commencing this brief notice of the events of theday.

“About two o’clock our attendant, an officernamed Tho*rner, under the principal chamberlain whois, I believe, Count Borsch, called to say our carriageswere ready. We found three carriages in waitingwith three servants each, the coachman and two footmen,in splendid liveries; some in the imperial red andgold lace, and others in blue and broad gold laceemblazoned throughout with the double headed eagle.We seated ourselves in the carriages which were thendriven at a rapid rate to the great palace, the entranceto which directly overlooked the numerous and celebratedgrand fountains. Hundreds of well-dressed peoplethronged on each side of the carriageway as we droveup to the door. After alighting we were usheredthrough a long hall and through a double row of servantsof various grades, loaded with gold lace and with chapeauxbras. Ascending the broad staircase, on eachside of which we found more liveried servants, weentered an anteroom between two Africans dressed inthe costume of Turkey, and servants of a higher grade,and then onward into a large and magnificent roomwhere were assembled those who were to be presented.Here we found ourselves among princes and nobles anddistinguished persons of all nations. Among theEnglish ladies were Lady Granville and Lady EmilyPeel, the wife of Sir Robert Peel, the latter a beautifulwoman and dressed with great taste, having on her heada Diana coronet of diamonds.... Among the gentlemenwere officers attached to the various deputationsfrom England, Austria, France and Sardinia. Severalprinces were among them, and conspicuous for splendorof dress was Prince Esterhazy; parts of his dressand the handle and scabbard of his sword blazed withdiamonds.

“Here we remained for some time. From thewindows of the hall we looked out upon the magnificentfountains and the terrace crowned with gorgeous vasesof blue and gold and gilded statues. At lengththe master of ceremonies appeared and led the wayto the southern veranda that overlooked the garden,ranging us in line and reading our names from a list,to see if we were truly mustered, after which a sidedoor opened and the Emperor Alexander entered.His majesty was dressed in military costume, a bluesash was across his breast passing over the rightshoulder; on his left breast were stars and orders.He commenced at the head of the column, which consistedof some fourteen or fifteen persons, and, on the mentionof the name by the master of ceremonies, he addresseda few words to each. To Mr. Colt he said:’Ah! I have seen you before. Whendid you arrive? I am glad to see you.’When he came to me the master of ceremonies miscalledmy name as Mr. More. I instantly corrected himand said, ‘No, Mr. Morse.’ The emperorat once said: ’Ah! that name is well knownhere; your system of Telegraph is in use in Russia.How long have you been in St. Petersburg? I hopeyou have enjoyed yourself.’ To which Iappropriately replied. After a few more unimportantquestions and answers the emperor addressed himselfto the other gentlemen and retired.

“After remaining a few moments, the master ofceremonies, who, by the by, apologized to me for miscallingmy name, opened the door from the veranda into theempress’ drawing-room, where we were again putin line to await the appearance of the empress.The doors of an adjoining room were suddenly thrownopen and the empress, gorgeously but appropriatelyattired, advanced towards us. She was dressedin a beautiful blue silk terminating in a long flowingtrain of many flounces of the richest lace; upon herhead a crown of diamonds, upon her neck a superb necklaceof diamonds, some twenty of which were as large asthe first joint of the finger. The upper partof her dress was embroidered with diamonds in a broadband, and the dress in front buttoned to the floorwith rosettes of diamonds, the central diamond ofeach button being at least a half inch in diameter.A splendid bouquet of diamonds and precious stonesof every variety of color, arranged to imitate flowers,was upon her bosom. She addressed a few wordsgracefully to each, necessarily commonplace, for whatcould she say to strangers but the common words ofenquiry—when we came and whether we hadbeen pleased with St. Petersburg.

“Gratifying as it was to us to see her, I couldnot but think it was hardly possible for her to haveany other gratification in seeing us than that whichI have no doubt she felt, that she was giving pleasureto others. To me she appeared to be amiable andtruly feminine. Her manner was timid yet dignifiedwithout the least particle of hauteur. The impressionleft on my mind by both the emperor and empress isthat they are most truly amiable and kind.

“After speaking to each of us she gracefullybowed to us, we, of course, returning the salutation,and she retired followed by her maids of honor, herlong train sweeping the floor for a distance of severalyards behind her. We were then accompanied bythe master of ceremonies back to the large reception-room,and soon after we left the palace, descending thestaircase through the same lines of liveried servantsto the royal carriages drawn up at the door, and returnedto our rooms. On descending to our parlor wefound a beautiful collation with tropical fruits andconfectionery provided for us. Our polite attendant,who partook with us, said that the carriages wereat our service and waiting for us to take a drivein the gardens previous to dinner, which was to beserved at five o’clock in the English Palaceand to which we were invited.

“Two carriages called charabancs, somewhat likethe Irish vehicle of the same name, with four servantsin the imperial livery to each, we found at the door,and we drove for several miles through the splendidgardens and grounds laid out with all the taste ofthe most beautiful English grounds, with lakes, andislands, and villas, and statues, and fountains, andthe most perfect neatness marked every step of ourway.

“The most attractive object in our ride wasthe Italian villa, a favorite resort of the emperor,a perfect gem of its kind. We alighted here andvisited all the apartments and the grounds around it.No description could do it justice; a series of picturesalone could give an idea of its beauties. Whilehere several other royal carriages with the variousdeputations to the coronation ceremonies, soon to occurat Moscow, arrived, and the cortege of carriages withthe gorgeous costumes of the visitors alone furnishedan exciting scene, heightened by the proud bearingof the richly caparisoned horses, chiefly black, andthe showy trappings of the liveried attendants.

“On our return to our rooms we dressed for dinnerand proceeded in the same manner to the palace inthe gardens called the English Palace. Here wefound assembled in the great reception hall the distinguishedcompany, in number forty-seven, of many nations, whowere to sit down to the table together. Whendinner was announced we entered the grand dining-halland found a table most gorgeously prepared with goldand silver service and flowers. At table I foundmyself opposite three princes, an Austrian, a Hungarian,and one from some other German state, and near me onmy left Lord Ward, one of the most wealthy noblesof England, with whom I had a good deal of conversation.Opposite and farther to my right was Prince Esterhazy,seated between Lady Granville and the beautiful LadyEmily Peel. On the other side of Lady Peel wasLord Granville and near him Sir Robert Peel.Among the guests, a list of whom I regret I did notobtain, was the young Earl of Lincoln and severalother noblemen in the suite of Lord Granville....Some twenty servants in the imperial livery servedthe table which was furnished with truly royal profusionand costliness. The rarest dishes and the costliestwines in every variety were put before us. Ineed not say that in such a party everything was conductedwith the highest decorum. No noise, no boisterousmirth, no loud talking, but a quiet cheerfulness andperfect ease characterized the whole entertainment.

“After dinner all arose, both ladies and gentlemen,and left the room together, not after the Englishfashion of the gentlemen allowing the ladies to retireand then seating themselves again by themselves todrink, etc. We retired for a moment to thegreat reception-hall for coffee, but, being fearfulthat we should be too late for the last steamer fromPeterhoff to St. Petersburg, we were hurrying to getthrough and to leave, but the moment our fears hadcome to the knowledge of Lord Granville, he most kindlycame to us and told us to feel at ease as his steam-yachtwas lying off the quay to take them up to the city,and he was but too proud to have the opportunity ofoffering us a place on board; an offer which we, ofcourse, accepted with thanks.

“Having thus been entertained with truly imperialhospitality for the entire day, ending with this sumptuousentertainment, we descended once more to the carriagesand drove to the quay, where a large barge belongingto the Jean d’Acre, English man-of-war (whichis the ship put in commission for the service of LordGranville), manned by stalwart man-of-war’s-men,was waiting to take the English party of nobles, etc.,on board the steam-yacht. When all were collectedwe left Peterhoff and were soon on board. Theweather was fine and the moon soon rose over the palaceof Peterhoff, looking for a moment like one of thesplendid gilded domes of the palace.

“On board the yacht I had much conversationwith Lord Granville, who brought the various membersof his suite and introduced them to me,—SirRobert Peel; the young Earl of Lincoln, the son ofthe Duke of Newcastle, who, when himself the Earlof Lincoln in 1839, showed me such courtesy and kindnessin London; Mr. Acton, a nephew of Lord Granville, withwhom I had some conversation in which, while I wasspeaking of the Greek religion as compared with theRomish, he informed me he was a Roman Catholic.I wished much to have had more conversation with him,but the time was not suitable, and the steamer wasnow near the end of the voyage.

“We landed at the quay in St. Petersburg abouteleven o’clock, and I reached my lodgings inthe Hotel de Russie about twelve, thus ending a dayof incidents which I shall long remember with greatgratification, having only one unpleasant reflectionconnected with it, to wit that my dear wife, my nieceand our friend Miss L. were not with me to participatein the pleasure and novelty of the scenes.”

CHAPTER XXXVI

AUGUST 28, 1856—SEPTEMBER 16, 1858

Berlin.—Baron von Humboldt.—London,successful cable experiments with Whitehouse and Bright.—Banquetat Albion Tavern.—Flattering speech ofW.F. Cooke.—Returns to America.—Troublesmultiply.—Letter to the Honorable JohnY. Mason on political matters.—Kendall urgessevering of connection with cable company.—Morse,nevertheless, decides to continue.—Appointedelectrician of company.—Sails on U.S.S.Niagara.— Letter from Paris on the crinoline.—Expeditionsails from Liverpool.— Queenstown harbor.—Accidentto his leg.—Valencia.—Layingof cable begun.—Anxieties.—Threesuccessful days.—Cable breaks.—Failure.—Returns to America.—Retires from cable enterprise.—Predictsin 1858 failure of apparently successful laying ofcable.—Sidney E. Morse.—TheHare and the Tortoise.—European testimonial:considered nigg*rdly by Kendall.—Decorations,medals, etc., from European nations.—Letterof thanks to Count Walewski.

His good democratic eyes a trifle dazzled by all thisimperial magnificence, Morse left St. Petersburg and,with his party, journeyed to Berlin. What wasto him the most interesting incident of his visit tothat city is thus described:—

“August 23. To-day I went to Potsdamto see Baron Humboldt, and had a delightful interviewwith this wonderful man. Although I had met withhim at the soirees of Baron Gerard, the distinguishedpainter, in Paris in 1822, and afterward at the Academyof Sciences, when my Telegraph was exhibited to theassembled academicians in 1838, I took letters ofintroduction to him from Baron Gerolt, the PrussianMinister. But they were unnecessary, for themoment 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, youneed no letters, your name is a sufficient introduction’;and so, seating myself, he rapidly touched upon varioustopics relating to America.”

On the margin of a photograph of himself, presentedto Morse by the baron, is an inscription in Frenchof which the following is a translation:—

To Mr. S.F.B. Morse, whose philosophic and usefullabors have rendered his name illustrious in two worlds,the homage of the high and affectionate esteem ofAlexander Humboldt.

POTSDAM, August 1856.

The next thirty days were spent in showing the beautiesof Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Brussels and Paris tohis wife and niece, and in the latter part of Septemberthe little party returned to London. Here Morseresumed his experiments with Dr. Whitehouse and Mr.Bright, and on October 3, he reports to Mr. Field:—

“As the electrician of the New York, Newfoundlandand London Telegraph Company, it is with the highestgratification that I have to apprise you of the resultof our experiments of this morning upon a single continuousconductor of more than two thousand miles in extent,a distance, you will perceive, sufficient to crossthe Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland to Ireland.

“The admirable arrangements made at the MagneticTelegraph office in Old Broad Street for connectingten subterranean gutta-percha insulated conductorsof over two hundred miles each, so as to give one continuouslength of more than two thousand miles, during thehours of the night when the Telegraph is not commerciallyemployed, furnished us the means of conclusively settlingby actual experiment the question of the practicabilityas well as the practicality of telegraphing throughour proposed Atlantic cable.... I am most happyto inform you that, as a crowning result of a longseries of experimental investigation and inductivereasoning upon this subject, the experiments underthe direction of Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright whichI witnessed this morning—in which the induction-coilsand receiving-magnets, as modified by these gentlemen,were made to actuate one of my recording instruments—have most satisfactorily resolved all doubtsof the practicability as well as practicality of operatingthe Telegraph from Newfoundland to Ireland.”

In 1838, Morse had been curtly and almost insultinglyrefused a patent for his invention in England, a humiliationfor which he never quite forgave the English.Now, eighteen years after this mortifying experience,the most eminent scientists of this same England viedwith each other in doing him honor. Thus washis scientific fame vindicated, but, let it be remarkedparenthetically, this kind of honor was all that heever received from the land of his ancestors.While other nations of Europe united, two years later,in granting him a pecuniary gratuity, and while someof their sovereigns bestowed upon him decorations ormedals, England did neither. However, it wasalways a source of the keenest gratification thattwo of those who had invented rival telegraphs provedthemselves broad-minded and liberal enough to acknowledgethe superiority of his system, and to urge its adoptionby their respective Governments. The first ofthese was Dr. Steinheil, of Munich, to whom I havealready referred, and to whom is due the valuablediscovery that the earth can be used as a return circuit.The second was the Englishman, W.F. Cooke, who,with Wheatstone, devised the needle telegraph.

On October 9, a banquet was tendered to Morse by thetelegraph companies of England. It was givenat the Albion Tavern. Mr. Cooke presided andintroduced the guest of the evening in the followingcharming speech:—

“I was consulted only a few months ago on thesubject of a telegraph for a country in which no telegraphat present exists. I recommended the system ofProfessor Morse. I believe that system to be oneof the simplest in the world, and in that lies itspermanency and certainty. [Cheers.] There are otherswhich may be as good in other circ*mstances, but fora wide country I hesitate not to say Professor Morse’sis 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 simplestthat ever has been and, I think, ever will be conceived.[Cheers.]

“It was a great thing for me, after having beenso long connected with the electric telegraph, tobe invited to preside at this interesting meeting,and I have travelled upward of one hundred miles inorder to be present to-day, having, when asked topreside, replied by electric telegraph ‘I will.’[Cheers.] But I may lower your idea of the sacrificeI made in so doing when I tell you that I knew thetalents of Professor Morse, and was only too gladto accept an invitation to do honor to a man I reallyhonored in my heart. [Cheers.]

“I have been thinking during the last few dayson what Professor Morse has done. He stands alonein America as the originator and carrier out of agrand conception. We know that America is an enormouscountry, and we know the value of the telegraph, butI think we have a right to quarrel with ProfessorMorse for not being content with giving the benefitof it to his own country, but that he extended itto Canada and Newfoundland, and, even beyond that,his system has been adopted all over Europe [cheers]—andthe nuisance is that we in England are obliged tocommunicate by means of his system. [Cheers and laughter.]

“I as a director of an electric telegraph company,however, should be ashamed of myself if I did notacknowledge what we owe him. But he threatensto go further still, and promises that, if we do not,he will carry out a communication between Englandand Newfoundland across the Atlantic. I am nearlypledged to pay him a visit on the other side of theAtlantic to see what he is about, and, if he perseveresin his obstinate attempt to reach England, I believeI must join him in his endeavors. [Cheers.]

“To think that he has united all the stripesand stars of America, which are increasing day byday—and I hope they will increase untilthey are too numerous to mention—that hehas extended his system to Canada and is about tounite those portions of the world to Europe, is a gloriousthing for any man; and, although I have done somethingin the same cause myself, I confess I almost envyProfessor Morse for having forced from an unwillingrival a willing acknowledgment of his services. [Cheers.]

“I am proud to see Professor Morse this sideof the water. I beg to give you ‘The healthof Professor Morse,’ and may he long live toenjoy the high reputation he has attained throughoutthe world!”

Soon after this, with these flattering words stillringing in his ears, he and his party sailed for NewYork and, once arrived at home, the truth of the tritesaying that “A prophet is not without honor savein his own country” was soon to be brought tohis attention. While he had been feted and honoredabroad, while he had every reason to believe that hispetition to the European governments for some pecuniarycompensation would, in time, be granted, he returnedto be plunged anew into vexatious litigation, intriguesand attacks upon his purse, his fame, and his goodname. On November 27, 1856, he refers to his greatestcross in a letter to Mr. Kendall:—

“I have just returned from Boston, having accomplishedthe important duty for which I alone went there, towit, to say ‘yes’ before a gentleman havingU.S. Commissioner after his name, instead of ‘yes’before one who had only S. Commissioner after hisname; and this at a cost of exactly twenty dollars,or, if the one dollar thrown away in New York uponthe S. Commissioner be added, twenty-one dollars andthree days of time, to say nothing of sundry risksof accidents by land and water travel.

“Well, if it will lead to a thorough separationof all interests and all intercourse with F.O.J.,I shall not consider the time and money lost, yet,in conversation with Mr. Curtis, I have little hopeof a change in Judge Curtis’s views of the pointin which he decides that Smith has an inchoate right,and our only chance of success is in the reversal ofthat decision by the Supreme Bench, and that afteranother year’s suspense....

“I wish there was some way of stopping thisharassing, paralyzing litigation. I find my mindwholly unfit for the studies which the present stateof the Telegraph requires from me, being distractedand irritated by the constant necessity for standingon the defensive. Smith will be Smith I know,and, therefore, as he is the appointed thorn to keepa proper ballast of humility in S.F.B.M. with hisload of honors, why, be it so, if I can only havethe proper strength and disposition to use the trialaright.... Write me some encouraging news if youcan. How will the present calm in political affairsaffect our California matters?”

The calm to which he referred was the apparent onewhich had settled down on the country after the electionof Buchanan, and which, as everybody knows, was butthe calm before the storm of our Civil War. Hehas this to say about the election in a letter tothe Honorable John Y. Mason, our Minister to France:—

“I may congratulate you, my dear Sir, on theissue of the late election. My predictions havebeen verified. The country is quiet, and, as usualafter the excitement of an election, has settled downinto orderly acquiescence to the will of the majority,and into general good feeling. Europeans canhardly understand this truly anomalous phase of ourAmerican institutions; they do not understand thatit is characteristic that ‘we speak daggersbut use none’; that we fight with ballots andnot with bullets; that we have abundance of inkshedand little bloodshed, and that all that is explosiveis blown off through newspaper safety-valves.”

The events of the next few years were destined toshatter the peaceful visions of this lover of hiscountry, for many daggers were drawn, the bulletsflew thick and fast, and the bloodshed was appalling.

It is difficult to follow the history of the telegraph,in its relation to its inventor, through all the intricaciesinvolved in the conflicting interests of various companiesand men in this its formative period.

Morse himself was often at a loss to determine onthe course which he should pursue, a course whichwould at the same time inure to his financial benefitand be in accordance with his high sense of right.Absolutely straightforward and honest himself, it wasdifficult for him to believe that others who spokehim fair were not equally sincere, and he was oftenimposed upon, and was frequently forced, in the exigenciesof Business, to be intimately associated with thosewhose ideas of right and wrong were far differentfrom his own. The one person in whose absoluteintegrity he had faith was Amos Kendall, and yet hemust sometimes have thought that his friend was toosevere in his judgment of others, for I find in aletter of Mr. Kendall’s of January 4, 1857, thefollowing warning:—

“I earnestly beseech you to give up all ideaof going out again on the cable-laying expedition.Your true friends do not comprehend how it is thatyou give your time, your labor, and your fame to buildup an interest deliberately and unscrupulously hostileto all their interests and your own.... I believethat Peter Cooper is the only man among them who issincerely your friend. As to Field, I have aslittle faith in him as I have in F.O.J. Smith.If you could get Cooper to take a stand in favor ofthe faithful observance of the contract for connectionwith the N.E. Union Line at Boston, he can putan end to all trouble, if, at the same time, he willrefuse to concur in a further extension of their linesSouth.”

In spite of this warning, or, perhaps, because PeterCooper succeeded in overcoming Mr. Kendall’sobjections, Morse did go out on the next cable-layingexpedition, and yet he found in the end that Mr. Kendall’ssuspicions were by no means unjustified. But ofthis in its proper place.

The United States Government had placed the steamfrigate Niagara at the disposal of the cable company,and on her Morse, as the electrician of the AmericanCompany, sailed from New York on April 21, 1857.Arriving in London, he was again honored by many attentionsand entertainments, including a dinner at the LordMayor’s. The loading of the cable on boardthe ships designated for that purpose consumed, necessarily,some time, and Morse took advantage of this delayto visit Paris, at the suggestion of our Minister,Mr. Mason, in order to confer with the Premier, CountWalewski, with regard to the pecuniary indemnity whichall agreed was due to him from the nations using hisinvention. This conference bore fruit, as weshall see later on.

In a letter to his wife from Paris he makes this amusingcomment on the fashions of the day, after remarkingon the dearth of female beauty in France:—

“You must consider me now as speaking of featuresonly, for as to form, alas, that is under such a totalcrinoline eclipse that this season of total darknessin fashion’s firmament forbids any speculationon that subject. The reign of crinoline amplitudeis not only not removed, but is more dominant thanever. Who could have predicted that, because anheir to the French throne was in expectancy, all womankind,old and young, would so far sympathize with the amiableconsort of Napoleon III as to be, in appearance atleast, likely to flood the earth with heirs; thatgrave parliaments would be in solemn debate upon thepressing necessity of enlarging the entrances of royalpalaces in order to meet the exigencies of enlargedcrinolines; that the new carriages were all of increaseddimensions to accommodate the crinoline? But soit is; it is the age of crinoline.... Talk nolonger of chairs, they are no longer visible.Talk no longer of tete-a-tetes; two crinolines mightget in sight of each other, at least by the use ofthe lorgnette, but as for conversation, that is outof the question except by speaking trumpets, by signs,and who knows but in this age of telegraphs crinolinemay not follow the world’s fashion and be apatroness of the Morse system.”

All the preparations for the great enterprise of thelaying of the cable proceeded slowly, and it was notuntil the latter part of July that the little fleetsailed from Liverpool on its way to the Cove of Corkand then to Valencia, on the west coast of Ireland,which was chosen as the European terminus of the cable.Morse wrote many pages of minute details to his wife,and from them I shall select the most important andinteresting:—

“July 28. Here we are steaming our waytowards Cork harbor, with most beautiful weather,along the Irish coast, which is in full view, andexpecting to be in the Cove of Cork in the morningof to-morrow.... We left Liverpool yesterdaymorning, as I wrote you we should, and as we passedthe ships of war in the harbor We were cheered fromthe rigging by the tars of the various vessels, andthe flags of others were dipped as a salute, all ofwhich were returned by us in kind. The landingstage and quays of Liverpool were densely crowdedwith people who waved their handkerchiefs as we slowlysailed by them.

“Two steamers accompanied us down to the barfilled with people, and then, after mutual cheeringand firing of cannon from one of the steamers, theyreturned to port.... We shall be in Cork the remainderof the week, possibly sailing on Saturday, go roundto Valencia and be ready to commence on Monday.Then, if all things are prosperous, we hope to reachNewfoundland in twenty days, and dear home again thefirst week in September. And yet there may bedelays in this great work, for it is a vast and newone, so don’t be impatient if I do not returnquite so soon. The work must be thoroughly andwell done before we leave it....

“Evening, ten o’clock. We havehad a beautiful day and have been going slowly alongand expect to be in the Cove of Cork by daylight inthe morning. The deck of our ship presents acurious appearance just now; Between the main andmizzen masts is an immense coil of one hundred andthirty miles of the cable, the rest is in larger coilsbelow decks. Abaft the mizzen mast is a ponderousmass of machinery for regulating the paying out ofthe cable, a steam-engine and boiler complete, andthey have just been testing it to see if all is right,and it is found right. We have the prospect ofa fine moon for our expedition.

“I send you the copy of a prayer that has beenread in the churches. I am rejoiced at the mannerin which the Christian community views our enterprise.It is calculated to inspire my confidence of success.What the first message will be I cannot say, but ifI send it it shall be, ‘Glory to God in thehighest, on earth peace and good will to men.’’Not unto us, not unto us, but to Thy name beall the glory.’”

“July 29, four o’clock afternoon.On awaking this morning at five o’clock withthe noise of coming to anchor, I found myself safelyensconced in one of the most beautiful harbors in theworld, with Queenstown picturesquely rising upon thegreen hills from the foot of the bay....”

“August 1. When I wrote the finishingsentence of my last letter I was suffering a littlefrom a slight accident to my leg. We were layingout the cable from the two ships, the Agamemnon andNiagara, to connect the two halves of the cable togetherto experiment through the whole length of twenty-fivehundred miles for the first time. In going downthe side of the Agamemnon I had to cross over severalsmall boats to reach the outer one, which was to takeme on board the tug which had the connecting cableon board. In stepping from one to the other ofthe small boats, the water being very rough and theboats having a good deal of motion, I made a misstep,my right leg being on board the outer boat, and myleft leg went down between the two boats scrapingthe skin from the upper part of the leg near the kneefor some two or three inches. It pained me alittle, but not much, still I knew from experiencethat, however slight and comparatively painless atthe time, I should be laid up the next day and possiblyfor several days.

“My warm-hearted, generous friend, Sir WilliamO’Shaughnessy, was on board, and, being a surgeon,he at once took it in hand and dressed it, tell Susan,in good hydropathic style with cold water. I feltso little inconvenience from it at the time that Iassisted throughout the day in laying the cable, andoperating through it after it was joined, and hadthe satisfaction of witnessing the successful resultof passing the electricity through twenty-five hundredmiles at the rate of one signal in one and a quartersecond. Since then Dr. Whitehouse has succeededin telegraphing a message through it at the rate ofa single signal in three quarters of a second.If the cable, therefore, is successfully laid so asto preserve continuity throughout, there is no doubtof our being able to telegraph through, and at a goodcommercial speed.

“I have been on my back for two days and amstill confined to the ship. To-morrow I hopeto be well enough to hobble on board the Agamemnonand assist in some experiments.”

The accident to his leg was more serious than he atfirst imagined, and conditions were not improved byhis using his leg more than was prudent.

“August 3, eleven o’clock A.M.I am still confined, most of the time on my back inmy berth, quite to my annoyance in one respect, towit, that I am unable to be on board the Agamemnonwith Dr. Whitehouse to assist at the experiments.Yet I have so much to be thankful for that gratitudeis the prevailing feeling.

“Seven o’clock. All the ships areunder way from the Cove of Cork. The Leopardleft first, then the Agamemnon, then the Susquehannaand the Niagara last; and at this moment we are offthe Head of Kinsale in the following order: Niagara,Leopard, Agamemnon, Susquehanna. The Cyclopsand another vessel, the Advice, left for Valencia onSaturday evening, and, with a beautiful night beforeus, we hope to be there also by noon to-morrow.

“This day three hundred and sixty-five yearsago Columbus sailed on his first voyage of discoveryand discovered America.”

“August 4. Off the Skelligs light, ofwhich I send you a sketch. A beautiful morningwith head wind and heavy sea, making many seasick.We are about fifteen miles from our point of destination.Our companion ships are out of sight astern, exceptthe Susquehanna, which is behind us only about a mile.In a few hours we hope to reach our expectant friendsin Valencia 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 bewildering mass of machinery, steam-engines,cog-wheels, breaks, boilers, ropes of hemp and ropesof wire, buoys and boys, pulleys and sheaves of woodand iron, cylinders of wood and cylinders of iron,meters of all kinds,— anemometers, thermometers,barometers, electrometers,—steam-gauges,ships’ logs—from the common log toMassey’s log and Friend’s log, to ourfriend Whitehouse’s electro-magnetic log, whichI think will prove to be the best of all, with a modificationI have suggested. Thus freighted we expect todisgorge most of our solid cargo before reaching mid-ocean.

“I am keeping ready to close this at a moment’swarning, so give all manner of love to all friends,kisses to whom kisses are due. I am getting almostimpatient at the delays we necessarily encounter, butour great work must not be neglected. I haveseen enough to know now that the Atlantic Telegraphis sure to be established, for it is practicable.”

Was it a foreboding of what was to happen that causedhim to add:—

“We may not succeed in our first attempt;some little neglect or accident may foil our presentefforts, but the present enterprise will result ingathering stores of experience which will make thenext effort certain. Not that I do not expectsuccess now, but accidental failure now will not bethe evidence of its impracticability.

“Our principal electrical difficulty is theslowness with which we must manipulate in order tobe intelligible; twenty words in sixteen minutes isnow the rate. I am confident we can get more afterawhile, but the Atlantic Telegraph has its own rateof talking and cannot be urged to speak faster, anymore than any other orator, without danger of becomingunintelligible.

“Three o’clock P.M. We are in ValenciaHarbor. We shall soon come to anchor. Apilot who has just come to show us our anchorage groundsays: ‘There are a power of people ashore.’”

“August 8. Yesterday, at half past sixP.M., all being right, we commenced again paying outthe heavy shore-end, of which we had about eight milesto be left on the rocky bottom of the coast, to bearthe attrition of the waves and to prevent injury tothe delicate 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 endof the massive cable should pass overboard at thepoint where it joins the main and smaller cable.I was in my berth, by order of the surgeon, lest myinjured limb, which was somewhat inflamed by the excitementof the day and too much walking about, should becomeworse.

“Above my head the heavy rumbling of the greatwheels, over which the cable was passing and was beingregulated, every now and then giving a tremendousthump like the discharge of artillery, kept me fromsleep, and I knew they were approaching the criticalpoint. Presently it came. The machinerystopped, and soon amid the voices I heard the unwelcomeintelligence—’The cable is broke.’Sure enough the smaller cable at this point had parted,but, owing to the prudent precautions of those superintending,the end of the great cable had been buoyed and thehawsers which had been attached secured it. Thesea was moderate, the moonlight gave a clear sightof all, and in half an hour the joyous sound of ‘Allright’ was heard, the machinery commenced a lowand regular rumbling, like the purring of a greatcat, which has continued from that moment (midnight)till the present moment uninterrupted.

“The coil on deck is most beautifully uncoilingat the rate of three nautical miles an hour.The day is magnificent, the land has almost disappearedand our companion ships are leisurely sailing withus at equal pace, and we are all, of course, in finespirits. I sent you a telegraph dispatch thismorning, thirty miles out, which you will duly receivewith others that I shall send if all continues to goon without interruption. If you do receive any,preserve them with the greatest care, for they willbe great curiosities.”

“August 10. Thus far we have had mostdelightful weather, and everything goes on regularlyand satisfactorily. You are aware we cannot stopnight nor day in paying out. On Saturday we madeour calculations that the first great coil, whichis upon the main deck, would be completely paid out,and one of our critical movements, to wit, the changefrom this coil to the next, which is far forward, wouldbe made by seven or eight o’clock yesterdaymorning (Sunday). So we were up and watchingthe last flake of the first coil gradually diminishing.Everything had been well prepared; the men were attheir posts; it was an anxious moment lest a kinkmight occur. But, as the last round came up,the motion of the ship was slightly slackened, themen handled the slack cable handsomely, and in twominutes the change was made with perfect order, andthe paying out from the second coil was as regularlycommenced and at this moment continues, and at anincreased rate to-day of five miles per hour.

“Last night, however, was another critical moment.On examining our chart of soundings we found the depthof the ocean gradually increasing up to about fourhundred fathoms, and then the chart showed a suddenand great increase to seventeen hundred fathoms, andthen a further increase to two thousand and fifty,nearly the greatest depth with which we should meetin the whole distance. We had, therefore, to watchthe effect of this additional depth upon the strainingof the cable. At two in the morning the effect

showed itself in a greater strain and a more rapidtendency to run fast. We could check its speed,but it is a dangerous process. Too sudden a checkwould inevitably snap the cable. Too slacka rein would allow of its egress at such a wastingrate and at such a violent speed that we should losetoo great a portion of the cable, and its future stoppingwithin controllable limits be almost impossible.Hence our anxiety. All were on the alert; ourexpert engineers applied the brakes most judiciously,and at the moment I write—latitude 52 deg.28’—the cable is being laid at thedepth of two miles in its ocean bed as regularly andwith as much facility as it was in the depth of a fewfathoms....

“Six P.M. We have just had a fearfulalarm. ‘Stop her! Stop her!’was reiterated from many voices on deck. On goingup I perceived the cable had got out of its sheavesand was running out at great speed. All was confusionfor a few moments. Mr. Canning, our friend, whowas the engineer of the Newfoundland cable, showedgreat presence of mind, and to his coolness and skill,I think, is due the remedying of the evil. Byrope stoppers the cable was at length brought to astandstill, and it strained most ominously, perspiringat every part great tar drops. But it held togetherlong enough to put the cable on the sheaves again.”

“Tuesday, August 11. Abruptly indeedam I stopped in my letter. This morning at 3.45the cable parted, and we shall soon be on our way backto England.”

Thus ended the first attempt to unite the Old Worldwith the New by means of an electric nerve. Authoritiesdiffer as to who was responsible for the disaster,but the cause was proved to be what Morse had foreseenwhen he wrote: “Too sudden a check wouldinevitably snap the cable.”

While, of course, disappointed, he was not discouraged,for under date of August 13, he writes:—

“Our accident will delay the enterprise butwill not defeat it. I consider it a settled fact,from all I have seen, that it is perfectly practicable.It will surely be accomplished. There is no insurmountabledifficulty that has for a moment appeared, none thathas shaken my faith in it in the slightest degree.My report to the company as co-electrician will showeverything right in that department. We got anelectric current through till the moment of parting,so that electric connection was perfect, and yet thefarther we paid out the feebler were the currents,indicating a difficulty which, however, I do not considerserious, while it is of a nature to require attentiveinvestigation.”

“Plymouth, August 17. Here I am stillheld by the leg and lying in my berth from which Ihave not moved for six days. I suffer but littlepain unless I attempt to sit up, and the healing processis going on most favorably but slowly.... I havebeen here three days and have not yet had a glimpseof the beautiful country that surrounds us, and ifwe should be ordered to another port before I canbe out I shall have as good an idea of Plymouth asI should have at home looking at a map.”

While the wounded leg healed slowly, the plans ofthe company moved more deliberately still. Amovement was on foot for the East India Company topurchase what remained of the cable for use in theRed Sea or the Persian Gulf, so that the AtlanticCompany could start afresh with an entirely new cable,and Morse hoped that this plan might be consummatedat an early date so that he could return to Americain the Niagara; but the negotiations halted from dayto day and week to week. The burden of his lettersto his wife is always that a decision is promised by“to-morrow,” and finally he says in desperation:“To-day was to-morrow yesterday, but to-dayhas to-day another to-morrow, on which day, as usual,we are to know something. But as to-day has notyet gone, I wait with some anxiety to learn what itis to bring forth.”

His letters are filled with affectionate longing tobe at home again and with loving messages to all hisdear ones, and at last he is able to say that hiswound has completely healed, and that he has decidedto leave the Niagara and sail from Liverpool on theArabia, on September 19, and in due time he arrivedat his beloved home on the Hudson.

While still intensely interested in the great cableenterprise, he begins to question the advisabilityof continuing his connection with the men againstwhom Mr. Kendall had warned him, for in a letter tohis brother Richard, of October 15, 1857, he says:“I intend to withdraw altogether from the AtlanticTelegraph enterprise, as they who are prominent onthis side of the water in its interests are usingit with all then: efforts and influence againstmy invention, and my interests, and those of my assignees,to whom I feel bound in honor to attach myself, evenif some of them have been deceived into coalitionwith the hostile party.”

It was, however, a great disappointment to him thathe was not connected with future attempts to lay thecable. His withdrawal was not altogether voluntaryin spite of what he said in the letter from which Ihave just quoted. While he had been made an HonoraryDirector of the company in 1857, although not a stockholder,a law was subsequently passed declaring that onlystockholders could be directors, even honorary directors.He had not felt financially able to purchase stock,but it was a source of astonishment to him and toothers that a few shares, at least, had not been allottedto him for his valuable services in connection withthe enterprise. He had, nevertheless, cheerfullygiven of his time and talents in the first attempt,although cautioned by Mr. Kendall.

He goes fully into the whole matter in a very longletter to Mr. John W. Brett, of December 27, 1858,in which he details his connection with the cablecompany, his regret and surprise at being excludedon the ground of his not being a stockholder, especiallyas, on a subsequent visit to Europe, he found thattwo other men had been made honorary directors, althoughthey were not stockholders. He says that he learnedalso that “Mr. Field had represented to theDirectors that I was hostile to the company, and wasusing my exertions to defeat the measures for aid fromthe United States Government to the enterprise, andthat it was in consequence of these misrepresentationsthat I was not elected.”

He says farther on: “I sincerely rejoicedin the consummation of the great enterprise, althoughprevented in the way I have shown from being present.I ought to have been with the cable squadron last summer.It was no fault of mine, that I was not there.I hope Mr. Field can exculpate himself in the eyesof the Board, before the world, and before his ownconscience, in the course he has taken.”

On the margin of the letter-press copy of a letterWritten to Mr. Kendall on December 22, 1859, is anote in pencil written, evidently, at a later date:“Mr. Field has since manifested by his conducta different temper. I have long since forgivenwhat, after all, may have been error of ignoranceon his part.”

The fact remains, however, that his connection withthe cable company was severed, and that his relationswith Messrs. Field, Cooper, etc., were decidedlystrained. It is more than possible that, had hecontinued as electrician of the company, the secondattempt might have been successful, for he foresawthe difficulty which resulted in failure, and, hadhe been the guiding mind, it would, naturally, havebeen avoided. The proof of this is in the followingincident, which was related by a friend of his, Mr.Jacob S. Jewett, to Mr. Prime:—

“I thought it might interest you to know whenand how Professor Morse received the first tidingsof the success of the Atlantic Cable. I accompaniedhim to Europe on the steamer Fulton, which sailed fromNew York July 24, 1858. We were nearing Southamptonwhen a sail boat was noticed approaching, and soonour vessel was boarded by a young man who sought aninterview with Professor Morse, and announced to himthat a message from America had just been received,the first that had passed along the wire lying uponthe bed of the ocean.

“Professor Morse was, of course, greatly delighted,but, turning to me, said: ’This is verygratifying, but it is doubtful whether many more messageswill be received’; and gave as his reasonthat—’the cable had been so longstored in an improper place that much of the coatinghad been destroyed, and the cable was in other respectsinjured.’ His prediction proved to be true.”

And Mr. Prime adds: “Had he been in theboard of direction, had his judgment and experienceas electrician been employed, that great calamity,which cost millions of money and eight years of delayin the use of the ocean telegraph, would, in all humanprobability, have been averted.”

But it is idle to speculate on what might have been.His letters show that the action of the directorsamazed and hurt him, and that it was with deep regretthat he ceased to take an active part in the greatenterprise the success of which he had been the firstto prophesy.

Many other matters claimed his attention at this time,for, as usual upon returning from a prolonged absence,he found his affairs in more or less confusion, andhis time for some months after his return was spentmainly in straightening them out. The winterwas spent in New York with his family, but businesscalling him to Washington, he gives utterance, in aletter to his wife of December 16, to sentiments whichwill appeal to all who have had to do with the powersthat be in the Government service:—

“As yet I have not had the least success ingetting a proper position for Charles. A morethankless, repulsive business than asking for a situationunder Government I cannot conceive. I would myselfstarve rather than ask such a favor if I were aloneconcerned. The modes of obtaining even a hearingare such as to drive a man of any sensitiveness towish himself in the depths of the forest away fromthe vicinity of men, rather than encounter the airsof those on their temporary thrones of power.I cannot say what I feel. I shall do all I can,but anticipate no success.... I called to seeSecretary Toucey for the purpose of asking him to putme in the way of finding some place for Charles, but,after sending in my card and waiting in the anteroomfor half to three fourths of an hour, he took no noticeof my card, just left his room, passed by deliberatelythe open door of the anteroom without speaking tome, and left the building. This may be all explainedand I will charitably hope there was no intention ofrudeness to me, but, unexplained, a ruder slight couldnot well be conceived.”

The affection of the three Morse brothers for eachother was unusually strong, and it is from the unreservedcorrespondence between Finley and Sidney that someof the most interesting material for this work hasbeen gathered. Both of these brothers possesseda keen sense of humor and delighted in playful banter.The following is written in pencil on an odd scrapof paper and has no date:—

“When my brother and I were children my fatherone day took us each on his knee and said: ’NowI am going to tell you the character of each of you.’He then told us the fable of the Hare and the Tortoise.‘Now,’ said he, ‘Finley’ (thatis me), ’you are the Hare and Sidney, your brother,is the Tortoise. See if I am not correct in prophesyingyour future careers.’ So ever since ithas been a topic of banter between Sidney and me.Sometimes Sidney seemed to be more prosperous thanI; then he would say, ‘The old tortoise is ahead.’Then I would take a vigorous run and cry out to him,’The hare is ahead.’ For I am naturally quickand impulsive, and he sluggish and phlegmatic.So I am now going to give him the Hare riding theTortoise as a piece of fun. Sidney will say:’Ah! you see the Hare is obliged to ride onthe Tortoise in order to get to the goal!’ ButI shall say: ’Yes, but the Tortoise couldnot get there unless the Hare spurred him up and guidedhim.’”

Both of these brothers achieved success, but, unfortunatelyfor the moral of the old fable, the hare quite outdistancedthe tortoise, without, however, kindling any sparkof jealousy in that faithful heart.

While Sidney was still in Europe his brother writesto him on December 29, 1857:—

“I don’t know what you must think of mefor not having written to you since my return.It has not been for want of will but truly from theimpossibility of withdrawing myself from an unprecedentedpressure of more important duties, on which to writeso that you could form any clear idea of them wouldbe impossible. These duties arise from the stateof my affairs thrown into confusion by the conductof parties intent on controlling all my property.But, I am happy to state, my affairs are in a wayof adjustment through the active exertions of my faithfulagent and friend, Mr. Kendall, so far as his decliningstrength permits.... I wish you were near meso that we could exchange views on many subjects,particularly on the one which so largely occupies publicattention everywhere. I have been collectingworks pro and con on the Slavery question with a viewof writing upon it. We are in perfect accord,I think, on that subject. I believe that youand I would be considered in New England as rank heretics,for, I confess, the more I study the subject the moreI feel compelled to declare myself on the Southernside of the question.

“I care not for the judgment of men, however;I feel on sure ground while standing on Bible doctrine,and I have arrived at the conclusion that a fearfulhallucination, not less absurd than that which becloudedsome of the most pious and otherwise intelligent mindsof the days of Salem witchcraft, has for a time darkenedthe moral atmosphere of the North.”

The event has seemed to prove that it was the Southernsympathizers at the North, those “most piousand otherwise intelligent minds,” whose moralatmosphere was darkened by a “fearful hallucination,”for no one now claims that slavery is a divine institutionbecause the Bible says, “Slaves, obey your masters.”

I have stated that one of the purposes of Morse’svisit to Europe in 1856 was to seek to persuade thevarious Governments which were using his telegraphto grant him some pecuniary remuneration. Theidea was received favorably at the different courts,and resulted in a concerted movement initiated bythe Count Walewski, representing France, and participatedin by ten of the European nations. The sittingsof this convention, or congress, were held in Parisfrom April, 1868, to the latter part of August, andthe result is announced in a letter of Count Walewskito Morse of September 1:—

SIR,—It is with lively satisfaction thatI have the honor to announce to you that a sum offour hundred thousand francs will be remitted to you,in four annuities, in the name of France, of Austria,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, altogetherpersonal, of your useful labors. Nothing can bettermark than this collective act of reward the sentimentof public gratitude which your invention has so justlyexcited.

The Emperor has already given you a testimonial ofhis high esteem when he conferred upon you, more thana year ago, the decoration of a Chevalier of his orderof the Legion of Honor. You will find a new markof it in the initiative which his Majesty wished thathis government should take in this conjuncture; andthe decision that I charge myself to bring to yourknowledge is a brilliant proof of the eager and sympatheticadhesion that his proposition has met with from theStates I have just enumerated.

I pray you to accept on this occasion, sir, my personalcongratulations, as well as the assurance of my sentimentsof the most distinguished consideration.

While this letter is dated September 1, the amountof the gratuity agreed upon seems to have been madeknown soon after the first meeting of the convention,for on April 29, the following letter was written toMorse by M. van den Broek, his agent in all the preliminariesleading up to the convention, and who, by the way,was to receive as his commission one third of theamount of the award, whatever it might be: “Ihave this morning seen the secretary of the Minister,and from him learned that the sum definitely fixedis 400,000 francs, payable in four years. Thisdoes not by any means answer our expectations, andI am afraid you will be much disappointed, yet I usedevery exertion in my power, but without avail, toprocure a grant of a larger sum.”

It certainly was a pitiful return for the millionsof dollars which Morse’s invention had savedor earned for those nations which used it as a governmentmonopoly, and while I find no note of complaint inhis own letters, his friends were more outspoken.Mr. Kendall, in a letter of May 18, exclaims:“I know not how to express my contempt of themeanness of the European Governments in the awardthey propose to make you as the inventor ofthe Telegraph. I had set the sum at half a milliondollars as the least that they could feel to be atall compatible with their dignity. I hope youwill acknowledge it more as a tribute to the meritsof your invention than as an adequate reward for it.”

And in a letter of June 5, answering one of Morse’swhich must have contained some expressions of gratitude,Mr. Kendall says further: “In referenceto the second subject of your letter, I have to saythat it is only as a tribute to the superiority ofyour invention that the European grant can, in myopinion, be considered either ‘generous’or ‘magnanimous.’ As an indemnityit is nigg*rdly and mean.”

It will be in place to record here the testimonialsof the different nations of Europe to the Inventorof the Telegraph, manifested in various forms:—

France. A contributor to the honorary gratuity,and the decoration of the Legion of Honor.

Prussia. The Scientific Gold Medal of Prussiaset in the lid of a gold snuff-box.

Austria. A contributor to the honorary gratuity,and the Scientific Gold Medal of Austria.

Russia. A contributor to the honorary gratuity.

Spain. The cross of Knight Commander de Numeroof the order of Isabella the Catholic.

Portugal. The cross of a Knight of the Towerand Sword.

Italy. A contributor to the honorary gratuity,and the cross of a Knight of Saints Lazaro and Mauritio.

Wuerttemberg. The Scientific Gold Medal ofWuerttemberg.

Turkey. A contributor to the honorary gratuity,and the decoration in diamonds of the Nishan Iftichar,or Order of Glory.

Denmark. The cross of Knight Commander of theDannebrog.

Holy See. A contributor to the honorary gratuity.

Belgium. A contributor to the honorary gratuity.

Holland. A contributor to the honorary gratuity.

Sweden. A contributor to the honorary gratuity.

Great Britain. Nationally nothing.

Switzerland. Nationally nothing.

Saxony. Nationally nothing.

The decorations and medals enumerated above, withthe exception of the Danish cross, which had to bereturned at the death of the recipient, and one ofthe medals, which mysteriously disappeared many yearsago, are now in the Morse case at the National Museumin Washington, having been presented to that institutionby the children and grandchildren of the inventor.It should be added that, in addition to the honorsbestowed on him by foreign governments, he was madea member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Sweden,a member of the Institute of France and of the principalscientific societies of the United States. Ithas been already noted in these pages that his almamater, Yale, conferred on him the degree of LL.D.

I have said that I find no note of complaint in Morse’sletters. Whatever his feelings of disappointmentmay have been, he felt it his duty to send the followingletter to Count Walewski on September 15, 1858.Perhaps a slight note of irony may be read into thesentence accepting the gratuity, but, if intended,I fear it was too feeble to have reached its mark,and the letter is, as a whole and under the circ*mstances,almost too fulsome, conforming, however, to the stiltedstyle of the time:—

On my return to Paris from Switzerland I have thisday received, from the Minister of the United States,the most gratifying information which Your Excellencydid me the honor to send to me through him, respectingthe decision of the congress of the distinguisheddiplomatic representatives of ten of the August governmentsof Europe, held in special reference to myself.

You have had the considerate kindness to communicateto me a proceeding which reflects the highest honorupon the Imperial Government and its noble associates,and I am at a loss for language adequately to expressto them my feelings of profound gratitude.

But especially, Your Excellency, do I want words toexpress towards the august head of the Imperial Government,and to Your Excellency, the thankful sentiments ofmy heart for the part so prominently taken by HisImperial Majesty, and by Your Excellency, in so generouslyinitiating this measure for my honor in inviting thegovernments of Europe to a conference on the subject,and for so zealously and warmly advocating and perseveringlyconducting to a successful termination, the measurein which the Imperial Government so magnanimouslytook the initiative.

I accept the gratuity thus tendered, on the basisof an honorary testimonial and a personal reward,with tenfold more gratification than could have beenproduced by a sum of money, however large, offeredon the basis of a commercial negotiation.

I beg Your Excellency to receive my thanks, howeverinadequately expressed, and to believe that I appreciateYour Excellency’s kind and generous servicesperformed in the midst of your high official duties,consummating a proceeding so unique, and in a mannerso graceful, that personal kindness has been beautifullyblended with official dignity.

I will address respectively to the honorable ministerswho were Your Excellency’s colleagues a letterof thanks for their participation in this act of highhonor to me.

I beg Your Excellency to accept the assurances ofmy lasting gratitude and highest consideration insubscribing myself

Your Excellency’s most obedient humble servant,
SAMUEL F.B. MORSE.

CHAPTER XXXVII

SEPTEMBER 3, 1858—SEPTEMBER 21, 1863

Visits Europe again with a large family party.—Regretsthis.—Sails for Porto Rico with wife andtwo children.—First impressions of thetropics.—Hospitalities.—His son-in-law’splantation.—Death of Alfred Vail.—Smithsonianexonerates Henry.—European honors to Morse.—Firstline of telegraph in Porto Rico.—Banquet.—Returnshome.—Reception at Poughkeepsie.—Refusesto become candidate for the Presidency.—PurchasesNew York house.—F.O.J. Smith claimspart of European gratuity.—Succeeds throughlegal technicality.—Visit of Prince of Wales.—Dukeof Newcastle.—War clouds.—Letterson slavery, etc.—Matthew Vassar.—Efforts as peacemaker.—Foresees Northernvictory.—Gloomy forebodings.—Monument to his father.—Divides part ofEuropean gratuity with widow of Vail.—Continuedefforts in behalf of peace.—Bible argumentsin favor of slavery.

Many letters of this period, including a whole letterpresscopy-book, are missing, many of the letters in othercopy-books are quite illegible through the fadingof the ink, and others have been torn out (by whomI do not know) and have entirely disappeared.It will, therefore, be necessary to summarize theevents of the remainder of the year 1858, and of someof the following years.

We find that, on July 24, 1858, Morse sailed withhis family, including his three young boys, his mother-in-lawand other relatives, a party of fifteen all told,for Havre on the steamer Fulton; that he was tendereda banquet by his fellow-countrymen in Paris, and thathe was received with honor wherever he went.Travelling with a large family was a different propositionfrom the independence which he had enjoyed on his previousvisits to Europe, when he was either alone or accompaniedonly by his wife and niece, and he pathetically remarksto his brother Sidney, in a letter of September 3,written from Interlaken: “It was a greatmistake I committed in bringing my family. Ihave scarcely had one moment’s pleasure, andam almost worn out with anxieties and cares. IfI get back safe with them to Paris I hope, after arrangingmy affairs there, to go as direct as possible to Southampton,and settle them there till I sail in November.I am tired of travelling and long for the repose ofLocust Grove, if it shall please our Heavenly Fatherto permit us to meet there again.”

[Illustration: MORSE AND HIS YOUNGEST SON]

Before returning to the quiet of his home on the Hudson,however, he paid a visit which he had long had incontemplation. On November 17, 1858, he and hiswife and their two younger sons sailed from Southamptonfor Porto Rico, where his elder daughter, Mrs. Edwardland, had for many years lived, and where his youngerdaughter had been visiting while he was in Europe.He describes his first impressions of a tropical countryin a letter to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Griswold, whohad decided to spend the winter in Geneva to superintendthe education of his son Arthur, a lad of nine:—

“In St. Thomas we received every possible attention.The Governor called on us and invited Edward and myselfto breakfast (at 10.30 o’clock) the day we left.He lives in a fine mansion on one of the lesser hillsthat enclose the harbor, having directly beneath himon the slope, and only separated by a wall, the residenceof 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 thoughtof meeting an American from the States, for he holdsthe citizens of the States in perfect hatred, so muchso as to refuse to receive United States money in changefrom his servants on their return from market.

“A few days in change of latitude make wonderfulchanges in feelings and clothing. When we leftEngland the air was wintry, and thick woolen clothingand fires were necessary. The first night at seablankets were in great demand. With two extraand 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 alonebegan to be enough, and the last two or three nightson board this slight covering was too much. Whenwe got into the harbor of St. Thomas the temperaturewas oppressive; our slightest summer clothing wasin demand. Surrounded by pomegranate trees, magnificentoleanders, cocoa-nut trees with their large fruitsome thirty feet from the ground, the aloe and innumerable,and to me strange, tropical plants, I could scarcelybelieve it was December....

“We arrived on Thursday morning and remaineduntil Monday morning, Edward having engaged a LongIsland schooner, which happened to be in port, totake us to Arroyo. At four o’clock the Governorsent his official barge, under the charge of the captainof the port, a most excellent, intelligent, scientificgentleman, who had breakfasted with us at the Governor’sin the morning, and in a few minutes we were rowedalongside of the schooner Estelle, and before darkwere under way and out of the harbor. Our quarterswere very small and close, but not so uncomfortable.

“At daylight in the morning of Tuesday we weresailing along the shores of Porto Rico, and at sunrisewe found we were in sight of Guyama and Arroyo, andwith our glasses we saw at a distance the buildingson Edward’s estate. Susan had been advisedof our coming and a flag was flying on the house inanswer to the signal we made from the vessel.In two or three hours we got to the shore, as nearas was safe for the vessel, and then in the doctor’sboat, which had paid us an official visit to see thatwe did not bring yellow fever or other infectiousdisease, the kind doctor, an Irishman educated in America,took us ashore at a little temporary landing-placeto avoid the surf. On the shore there were somehandkerchiefs shaking, and in a crowd we saw Susanand Leila, and Charlie [his grandson] who were waitingfor us in carriages, and in a few moments we embracedthem all. The sun was hot upon us, but, aftera ride of two or three miles, we came to the Henrietta,my dear Edward and Susan’s residence, and weresoon under the roof of a spacious, elegant and mostcommodious mansion. And here we are with midsummertemperature and vegetation, but a tropical vegetation,all around us.

“Well, we always knew that Edward was a princeof a man, but we did not know, or rather appreciate,that he has a princely estate and in as fine orderas any in the island. When I say ‘fine order,’I do not mean that it is laid out like the Bois deBoulogne, nor is there quite as much picturesquenessin a level plain of sugar canes as in the trees andshrubbery of the gardens of Versailles; but it is arich and well-cultivated estate of some fourteen hundredacres, gradually rising for two or three miles fromthe sea-shore to the mountains, including some ofthem, and stretching into the valleys between them.”

His visit to Porto Rico was a most delightful oneto him in many ways, and I shall have more to sayof it further on, but I digress for a moment to speakof two events which occurred just at this time, andwhich showed him that, even in this land of dolcefar niente, he could not escape the griefs andcares which are common to all mankind.

Mr. Kendall, in a letter of February 20, announcesthe death of one of his early associates: “Ipresume you will have heard before this reaches youof the death of Alfred Vail. He had sold mostof his telegraph stocks and told me when I last sawhim that it was with difficulty he could procure themeans of comfort for his family.”

Morse had heard of this melancholy event, for, ina letter to Mr. Shaffner of February 22, he says:“Poor Vail! alas, he is gone. I only heardof the event on Saturday last. This death, andthe death of many friends besides, has made me feelsad. Vail ought to have a proper notice.He was an upright man, and, although some ways of hismade him unpopular with those with whom he came incontact, yet I believe his intentions were good, andhis faults were the result more of ill-health, a dyspeptichabit, than of his heart.”

He refers to this also in a letter to his brotherSidney of February 23: “Poor Vail is gone.He was the innocent cause of the original difficultywith the sensitive Henry, he all the time earnestlydesirous of doing him honor.”

And on March 30, he answers Mr. Kendall’s letter:“I regret to learn that poor Vail was so straitenedin his circ*mstances at his death. I intend payinga visit to his father and family on my return.I may be able to relieve them in some degree.”

This intention he fulfilled, as we shall see lateron, and I wish to call special attention to the toneof these letters because, as I have said before, Morsehas been accused of gross ingratitude and injusticetowards Alfred Vail, whereas a careful and impartialstudy of all the circ*mstances of their connectionproves quite the contrary. Vail’s advocates,in loudly claiming for him much more than the evidenceshows he was entitled to, have not hesitated to employgross personal abuse of Morse in their newspaper articles,letters, etc., even down to the present day.This has made my task rather difficult, for, whileearnestly desirous of giving every possible creditto Vail, I have been compelled to introduce much evidence,which I should have preferred to omit, to show theessential weakness of his character; he seems to havebeen foredoomed to failure. He undoubtedly wasof great assistance in the early stages of the invention,and for this Morse always cheerfully gave him fullcredit, but I have proved that he did not invent thedot-and-dash alphabet, which has been so insistentlyclaimed for him, and that his services as a mechanicianwere soon dispensed with in favor of more skilfulmen. I have also shown that he practically leftMorse to his fate in the darkest years of the struggleto bring the telegraph into public use, and that,by his morbid suspicions, he hampered the effortsof Mr. Kendall to harmonize conflicting interests.For all this Morse never bore him any ill-will, butendeavored in every way to foster and safeguard hisinterests. That he did not succeed was no faultof his.

Another reminder that he was but human, and that hecould not expect to sail serenely along on the calm,seas of popular favor without an occasional squall,was given to him just at this time. ProfessorJoseph Henry had requested the Regents of the SmithsonianInstitute to enquire into the rights and wrongs ofthe controversy between himself and Morse, which hadits origin in Henry’s testimony in the telegraphsuits, tinged as this testimony was with bitternesson account of the omissions in Vail’s book,and which was fanned into a flame by Morse’s“Defense.” The latter resented thefact that all these proceedings had taken place whilehe was out of the country, and without giving him anopportunity to present his side of the case.However, he shows his willingness to do what is rightin the letter to Colonel Shaffner of February 22, fromwhich I have already quoted:—

“Well, it has taken him four years to fire offhis gun, and perhaps I am killed. When I returnI shall examine my wounds and see if they are mortal,and, if so, shall endeavor to die becomingly.Seriously, however, if there are any new facts whichgo to exculpate Henry for his attack upon me beforethe courts at a moment when I was struggling againstthose who, from whatever motive, wished to depriveme of my rights, and even of my character, I shallbe most happy to learn them, and, if I have unwittinglydone him injustice, shall also be most happy to makeproper amends. But as all this is for the future,as I know of no facts which alter the case, and asI am wholly unconscious of having done any injustice,I must wait to see what he has put forth.”

In a letter to his brother Sidney, of February 23,he philosophizes as follows:—

“I cannot avoid noticing a singular coincidenceof events in my experience of life, especially inthat part of it devoted to the invention of the Telegraph,to wit, that, when any special and marked honor hasbeen conferred upon me, there has immediately succeededsome event of the envious or sordid character seeminglyas a set-off, the tendency of which has been invariablyto prevent any excess of exultation on my part.Can this be accident? Is it not rather the wiseordering of events by infinite wisdom and goodnessto draw me away from repose in earthly honor to themore substantial and enduring honor that comes onlyfrom God? ... I pray for wisdom to direct in suchtrials, and in any answer I may find it necessaryto give to Henry or others, I desire most of all tobe mindful of that charity which ’suffereth long,which vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, hopethall things, thinketh no evil.’”

This check to self-laudation came at an appropriatemoment, as he said, for just at this time honors werebeing plentifully showered upon him. It was thenthat he was first notified of the bestowal of the Spanishdecoration, and of the probability of Portugal’sfollowing suit. Perhaps even more gratifyingstill was his election as a member of the Royal Academyof Sciences of Sweden, for this was a recognition ofhis merits as a scientist, and not as a mere promoter,as he had been contemptuously called. On theIsland of Porto Rico too he was being honored and feted.On March 2, he writes:—

“I have just completed with success the constructionand organization of the short telegraph line, thefirst on this island, initiating the great enterpriseof the Southern Telegraph route to Europe from ourshores, so far as to interest the Porto Ricans inthe value of the invention.

“Yesterday was a day of great excitement herefor this small place. The principal inhabitantsof this place and Guayama determined to celebratethe completion of this little line, in which they takea great pride as being the first in the island, andso they complimented me with a public breakfast whichwas presided over by the lieutenant-colonel commandantof Guayama.

“The commandant and alcalde, the collector andcaptain of the port, with all the officials of theplace, and the clergy of Guayama and Arroyo, and gentlemenplanters and merchants of the two towns, numberingin all about forty, were present. We sat downat one o’clock to a very handsome breakfast,and the greatest enthusiasm and kind and generous feelingwere manifested. My portrait was behind me uponthe wall draped with the Spanish and American flags.I gave them a short address of thanks, and took theopportunity to interest them in the great Telegraphline which will give them communication with the wholeworld. I presume accounts will be published inthe United States from the Porto Rico papers.Thus step by step (shall I not rather say strideby stride?) the Telegraph is compassing the world.

“My accounts from Madrid assure me that thegovernment will soon have all the papers preparedfor granting the concession to Mr. Perry, our formersecretary of legation at Madrid, in connection withSir James Carmichael, Mr. John W. Brett, the New York,Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company, and others.The recent consolidation plan in the United Stateshas removed the only hesitation I had in sustainingthis new enterprise, for I feared that I might unwittinglyinjure, by a counter plan, those it was my duty tosupport. Being now in harmony with the AmericanCompany and the Newfoundland Company, I presume allmy other companies will derive benefit rather thaninjury from the success of this new and grand enterprise.At any rate I feel impelled to support all plans thatmanifestly tend to the complete circumvention of theglobe, and the bringing into telegraphic connectionall the nations of the earth, and this when I am notfully assured that present personal interests may nottemporarily suffer. I am glad to know that harmoniousarrangements are made between the various companiesin the United States, although I have been so ill-used.I will have no litigation if I can avoid it. EvenHenry may have the field in quiet, unless he has presenteda case too flagrantly unjust to leave unanswered.”

The short line of telegraph was from his son-in-law’shouse to his place of business on the bay, about twomiles, and the building of it gave rise to the legendon the island that Morse conducted some of his firstelectrical experiments in Porto Rico, which, of course,is not true.

There is much correspondence concerning the proposedcable from Spain or Portugal by various routes tothe West Indies and thence to the United States, butnothing came of it.

The rest of their stay in Porto Rico was greatly enjoyedby all in spite of certain drawbacks incidental tothe tropics, to one of which he alludes in a letterto his sister-in-law, Mrs. Goodrich, who was then inEurope. Speaking of his wife he says: “Sheis dreadfully troubled with a plague which, if youhave been in Italy, I am sure you are no strangerto. ‘Pulci, pulci.’ If you havenot had a colony of them settled upon you, and quartered,and giving you no quarter, you have been an exceptionto travellers in Italy. Well, I will pit any twopulci of Porto Rico against any ten you canbring from Italy, and I should be sure to see thembite the dust before the bites of our Porto Rico breed.”

His letters are filled with apothegms and reflectionson life in general and his own in particular, andthey alone would almost fill a book. In a letterto Mr. Kendall, of March 30, we find the following:—

“I had hoped to return from honors abroad toenjoy a little rest from litigation at home, but,if I must take up arms, I hope to be able to use themefficiently in self-defense, and in a chivalrous manneras becometh a ‘Knight.’ Ihave no reason to complain of my position abroad, butI suppose, as I am not yet under the ground, honorsto a living inventor must have their offset in theattacks of envy and avarice.

“‘Wrath is cruel, but who can stand beforeenvy?’ says the wise man. The contest withthe envious is indeed an annoyance, but, if one’sspirit is under the right guidance and revenge doesnot actuate the strife, victory is very certain.My position is now such before the world that I shalluse it rather to correct my own temper than to makeit a means of arrogant exultation.”

He and his family left the island in the middle ofApril, 1859, and in due time reached their Poughkeepsiehome. The “Daily Press” of that citygave the following account of the homecoming:—

“For some time previous to the hour at whichthe train was to arrive hundreds of people were seenflocking from all directions to the railroad depot,both in carriages and on foot, and when the train didarrive, and the familiar and loved form of ProfessorMorse was recognized on the platform of the car, theair was rent with the cheers of the assembled multitude.As soon as the cheers subsided Professor Morse wasapproached by the committee of reception and welcomedto the country of his birth and to the home of hisadoption.

“A great procession was then formed composedof the carriages of citizens. The sidewalks werecrowded with people on foot, the children of the publicschools, which had been dismissed for the occasion,being quite conspicuous among them. Amid theringing of bells, the waving of flags, and the gratulationsof the people, the procession proceeded through afew of the principal streets, and then drove to thebeautiful residence of Professor Morse, the band playing,as they entered the grounds, ‘Sweet Home’and then ‘Auld Lang Syne.’

“The gateways at the entrance had been archedwith evergreens and wreathed with flowers. Asthe carriage containing their loved proprietor drovealong the gravelled roads we noticed that several ofthe 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 andleft their honored guest to the retirement of hisown beautiful home.

“So the world reverences its great men, andso it ought. In Professor Morse we find thosesimple elements of greatness which elevate him infinitelyabove the hero of any of the world’s sanguinaryconflicts, or any of the most successful aspirantsafter political power. He has benefited not onlyAmerica and the world, but has dignified and benefitedthe whole race.”

His friends and neighbors desired to honor him stillfurther by a public reception, but this he felt obligedto decline, and in his letter of regret he expressesthe following sentiments: “If, during mylate absence abroad, I have received unprecedentedhonors from European nations, convened in specialcongress for the purpose, and have also received marksof honor from individual Sovereigns and from Scientificbodies, all which have gratified me quite as muchfor the honor reflected by them upon my country asupon myself, there are none of these testimonials,be assured, which have so strongly touched my heartas this your beautiful tribute of kindly feeling fromesteemed neighbors and fellow-citizens.”

Among the letters which had accumulated during hisabsence, Morse found one, written some time previously,from a Mr. Reibart, who had published his name asa candidate for the Presidency of the United States.In courteously declining this honor Morse drily adds:“There are hundreds, nay thousands, more able(not to say millions more willing) to take any officethey can obtain, and perform its functions more faithfullyand with more benefit to the country. While thisis the case I do not feel that the country will suffershould one like myself, wearied with the strugglesand litigations of half a century, desire to be excusedfrom encountering the annoyances and misapprehensionsinseparable from political life.”

Thanks to the successful efforts of his good friend,Mr. Kendall, he was now financially independent, somuch so that he felt justified in purchasing, in thefall of the year 1859, the property at 5 West Twenty-secondStreet, New York, where the winters of the remainingyears of his life were passed, except when he wasabroad. This house has now been replaced by acommercial structure, but a bronze tablet marks thespot where once stood the old-fashioned brown stonemansion.

While his mind was comparatively at rest regardingmoney matters, he was not yet free from vexatiouslitigation, and his opinion of lawyers is terselyexpressed in a letter to Mr. Kendall of December 27,1859: “I have not lost my respect for lawbut I have for its administrators; not so much forany premeditated dishonesty as for their stupidityand want of just insight into a case.”

It was not long before he had a practical proof ofthe truth of this aphorism, for his “thorn inthe flesh” never ceased from rankling, and nowgave a new instance of the depths to which an unscrupulousman could descend. On June 9, 1860, Morse writesto his legal adviser, Mr. George Ticknor Curtis, ofBoston: “You may remember that Smith, justbefore I sailed for Europe in 1858, intimated thathe should demand of me a portion of the Honorary Gratuityvoted to me by the congress of ten powers at Paris.I procured your opinion, as you know, and I had hopedthat he would not insist on so preposterous a claim.I am, however, disappointed; he has recently renewedit. I have had some correspondence with him onthe subject utterly denying any claim on his part.He proposes a reference, but I have not yet encouragedhim to think I would assent. I wish your advicebefore I answer him.”

It is difficult to conceive of a meaner case of extortionthan this. As Morse says in a letter to Mr. Kendall,of August 3, 1860, after he had consented to a referenceof the matter to three persons: “I haveno apprehensions of the result except that I may beentrapped by some legal technicalities. Lookat the case in an equitable point of view and, itappears to me, no intelligent, just men could givea judgment against me or in his favor. Smith’spurchase into the telegraph, the consideration hegave, was his efforts to obtain a property in the inventionabroad by letters patent or otherwise. In suchproperty he was to share. No such property wascreated there. What can he then claim? Themonies that he hazarded (taking his own estimate)were to the amount of some seven thousand dollars;and this was an advance, virtually a loan, to be paidback to him if he had created the property abroad.But his efforts being fruitless for that purpose,and of no value whatever to me, yet procured him onefourth patent interest in the United States, for whichwe know he has obtained at least $300,000. Ishe not paid amply without claiming a portion of honorarygifts to me? Well, we shall see how legal menlook at the matter.”

[Illustration: HOUSE AND LIBRARY AT 5 WEST 22’DST., NEW YORK]

One legal man of great brilliance gave his opinionwithout hesitation, as we learn from a letter of Morse’sto Mr. Curtis, of July 14: “I had, a dayor two since, my cousin Judge Breese, late Senatorof the United States from Illinois, on a visit tome. I made him acquainted with the points, afterwhich he scouted the idea that any court of legal charactercould for a moment sustain Smith’s claim.He thought my argument unanswerable, and playfullysaid: ’I will insure you against any claimfrom Smith for a bottle of champagne.’”

It is a pity that Morse did not close with the offerof the learned judge, for, in spite of his opinion,in spite of the opinion of most men of intelligence,in defiance of the perfectly obvious and proven factthat Smith had utterly failed in fulfilling his partof the contract, and that the award had been madeto Morse “as a reward altogether personal”(toute personelle), the referees decided inSmith’s favor. And on what did they basethis remarkable decision? On the ground that inthe contract of 1838 with Smith the word “otherwise”occurs. Property in Europe was to be obtainedby “letters patent” or “otherwise.”Of course no actual property had been obtained, andSmith had had no hand in securing the honorary gratuity,and it is difficult to follow the reasoning of thesesapient referees. They were, on Smith’spart, Judge Upham of New Hampshire; on Morse’s,Mr. Hilliard, of Boston; and Judge Sprague, of theCircuit Court, Boston, chairman.

However, the decision was made, and Morse, with characteristiclarge-heartedness, submitted gracefully. On October15, he writes to Mr. Curtis: “I ought,perhaps, with my experience to learn for the firsttime that Law and Justice are not synonyms,but, with all deference to the opinion of the excellentreferees, for each of whom I have the highest personalrespect, I still think that they have not given a decisionin strict conformity with Law.... I submit, however,to law with kindly feelings to all, and now bend myattention to repair my losses as best I may.”

As remarked before, earlier in this volume, Morse,in his correspondence with Smith, always wrote inthat courteous manner which becomes a gentleman, andhe expresses his dissent from the verdict in this mannerin a letter of November 20, in answer to one of Smith’s,quibbling over the allowance to Morse by the refereesof certain expenses: “Throwing aside asof no avail any discussion in regard to the equityof the decision of the referees, especially in theview of a conscientious and high-minded man, I nowdeal with the decision as it has been made, since,according to the technicalities of the law, it hasbeen pronounced by honorable and honest men in accordancewith their construction of the language of the deedin your favor. But ’He that’s convincedagainst his will is of the same opinion still,’and in regard to the intrinsic injustice of beingcompelled, by the strict construction of a generalword, to pay over to you any portion of that whichwas expressly given to me as a personal and honorarygratuity by the European governments, my opinionis always as it has been, an opinion sustained by thesympathy of every intelligent and honorable man whohas studied the merits of the case.”

He was hard hit for a time by this unjust decision,and his correspondence shows that he regretted itmost because it prevented him from bestowing as muchin good works as he desired. He was obliged torefuse many requests which strongly appealed to him.His daily mail contained numerous requests for assistancein sums “from twenty thousand dollars to fiftycents,” and it was always with great reluctancethat he refused anybody anything.

However, as is usual in this life, the gay was mingledwith the grave, and we find that he was one of thecommittee of prominent men to arrange for the entertainmentof the Prince of Wales, afterward Edward VII, on hisvisit to this country. I have already referredto one incident of this visit when Morse, in an addressto the Prince at the University of the City of NewYork, referred to the kindness shown him in Londonby the Earl of Lincoln, who was now the Duke of Newcastleand was in the suite of the Prince. Morse hadhoped that he might have the privilege of entertainingH.R.H. at his country place on the Hudson, but theDuke of Newcastle, in a letter of October 8, 1860,regrets that this cannot be managed:—

I assure you I have not forgotten the circ*mstanceswhich gave me the pleasure of your acquaintance in1839, and I am very desirous of seeing you again duringmy short visit to this continent. I fear howeverthat a visit by the Prince of Wales to your home,however I might wish it, is quite impracticable, althoughon our journey up the Hudson we shall pass so nearyou. Every hour of our time is fully engaged.

Is there any chance of seeing you in New York, or,if not, is there any better hope in Boston? Ifyou should be in either during our stay, I hope youwill be kind enough to call upon me. Pray letme have a line on Thursday at New York. I havelately been much interested in some electro-telegraphicinventions of yours which are new to me.

I am
Yours very truly,
NEWCASTLE.

Referring to another function in honor of the Prince,Morse says, in a letter to Mr. Kendall: “Idid not see you after the so-styled Ball in New York,which was not a ball but a levee anda great jam. I hope you and yours suffered noinconvenience from it.”

The war clouds in his beloved country were now loweringmost ominously, and, true to his convictions, he exclaimsin a letter to a friend of January 12, 1861:—

“Our politicians are playing with edged tools.It is easy to raise a storm by those who cannot controlit. If I trusted at all in them I should despairof the country, but an Almighty arm makes the wrathof man to praise him, and he will restrain the rest.There is something so unnatural and abhorrent in thisoutcry of arms in one great family that I cannotbelieve it will come to a decision by the sword.Such counsels of force are in the court of passion,not of reason. Imagine such a conflict, imaginea victory, no matter by which side. Can the victorsrejoice in the blood of brethren shed in a family brawl?Whose heart will thrill with pride at such success?No, no. I should as soon think of rejoicing thatone of my sons had killed the other in a brawl.

“But I have not time to add. I hope forthe best, and even can see beyond the clouds of thehour a brighter day. God bless the whole family,North, South, East and West. I will never dividethem in my heart however they may be politically orgeographically divided.”

His hopes of a peaceful solution of the questionsat issue between the North and the South were, ofcourse, destined to be cruelly dashed, and he sufferedmuch during the next few years, both in his feelingsand in his purse, on account of the war. I havealready shown that he, with many other pious men,believed that slavery was a divine institution andthat, therefore, the abolitionists were entirely inthe wrong; but that, at the same time, he was unalterablyopposed to secession. Holding these views, hewas misjudged in both sections of the country.Those at the North accused him of being a secessionistbecause he was not an abolitionist, and many at theSouth held that he must be an abolitionist becausehe lived at the North and did not believe in the doctrineof secession. Many pages of his letter-booksare filled with vehement arguments upholding his pointof view, and he, together with many other eminent menat the North, strove without success to avert thewar. His former pastor at Poughkeepsie, the ReverendH.G. Ludlow, in long letters, with many Biblequotations, called upon him to repent him of his sinsand join the cause of righteousness. He, in stilllonger letters, indignantly repelled the accusationof error, and quoted chapter and verse in support ofhis views. He was made the president of The AmericanSociety for promoting National Unity, and in one ofhis letters to Mr. Ludlow he uses forceful language:—

“The tone of your letter calls for extraordinarydrafts on Christian charity. Your criticism uponand denunciation of a society planned in the interestsof peace and good will to all, inaugurated by suchmen as Bishops McIlvaine and Hopkins, Drs. Krebs andHutton, and Winslow, and Bliss, and Van Dyke, andHawks, and Seabury, and Lord and Adams of Boston,and Wilson the missionary, and Styles and Boorman,and Professor Owen, and President Woods, and Dr. Parker,and my brothers, and many others as warm-hearted,praying, conscientious Christians as ever assembledto devise means for promoting peace—denunciationsof these and such as these cannot but be painful inthe highest degree.... I lay no stress upon thesenames other than to show that conscience in this matterhas moved some Christians quite as strongly to viewAbolitionism as a sin of the deepest dye, asit has other Christian minds to view Slavery as asin, and so to condemn slaveholders to excommunication,and simply for being slaveholders.

“Who is to decide in a conflict of consciences?If the Bible be the umpire, as I hold it to be, thenit is the Abolitionist that is denounced as worthyof excommunication; it is the Abolitionist from whomwe are commanded to withdraw ourselves, while nota syllable of reproof do I find in the sacred volumeadministered to those who maintain, in the spiritof the gospel, the relation of Masters and Slaves.If you have been more successful, please point outchapter and verse.... I have no justificationto offer for Southern secession; I have alwaysconsidered it a remedy for nothing. It is, indeed,an expression of a sense of wrong, but, in turn, isitself a wrong, and two wrongs do not make a right.”

I have quoted thus at some length from one of hismany polemics to show the absolute and fearless sincerityof the man, mistaken though he may have been in hismajor premise.

I shall quote from other letters on this subject asthey appear in chronological order, but as no personof any mental caliber thinks and acts continuouslyalong one line of endeavor, so will it be necessaryin a truthful biography to change from one subjectof activity to another, and then back again, in orderto portray in their proper sequence the thoughts andactions of a man which go to make up his personality.For instance, while the outspoken views which Morseheld on the subjects of slavery and secession madehim many enemies, he was still held in high esteem,for it was in the year 1861 that the members of theNational Academy of Design urged him so strongly tobecome their president again that he yielded, buton condition that it should be for one year only.And the following letter to Matthew Vassar, of Poughkeepsie,dated February 1, 1861, shows that he was activelyinterested in the foundation of the first collegefor women in this country: “Your favor ofthe 24th ulto. is received, and so far as I can furtheryour magnificent and most generous enterprise, I willdo so. I will endeavor to attend the meetingat the Gregory House on the 26th of the present month.May you long live to see your noble design in successfuloperation.”

In spite of his deep anxiety for the welfare of hiscountry, and in spite of the other cares which weighedhim down, he could not resist the temptation to indulgein humor when the occasion offered. This humoris tinged with sarcasm in a letter of July 13, 1861,to Mr. A.B. Griswold, his wife’s brother,a prominent citizen of New Orleans. After assuringhim of his undiminished affection, he adds:—

“And now see what a risk I have run by sayingthus much, for, according to modern application ofthe definition of treason, it would not bedifficult to prove me a traitor, and therefore amenableto the halter.

“For instance—treason is giving aidand comfort to the enemy; everybody south of a certaingeographical line is an enemy; you live south of thatline, ergo you are an enemy; I send you my love, youbeing an enemy; this gives you comfort; ergo,I have given comfort to the enemy; ergo, I am a traitor;ergo, I must be hanged.”

As the war progressed he continued to express himselfin forcible language against what he called the “twinheresies”—abolitionism and secession.He had done his best to avert the war. He describeshis efforts in a letter of April 2, 1862, to Mr. GeorgeL. Douglas, of Louisville, Kentucky, who at that timewas prominently connected with the Southern linesof the telegraph, and who had loyally done all in hispower to safeguard Morse’s interests in thoselines:—

“You are correct in saying, in your answer asgarnishee, that I have been an active and decidedfriend of Peace. In the early stages of the troubles,when the Southern Commissioners were in Washington,I devoted my time and influence and property, subscribingand paying in the outset five hundred dollars, toset on foot measures for preserving peace honorableto all parties. The attack on Fort Sumter struckdown all these efforts (so far as my associates wereconcerned), but I was not personally discouraged,and I again addressed myself to the work of the Peacemaker,determining to visit personally both sectionsof the country, the Government at Washington, andthe Government of the Confederates at Richmond, toascertain if there were, by possibility, any meansof averting war. And when, from physical inabilityand age, I was unable to undertake the duty personally,I defrayed from my own pocket the expenses of a friendin his performance of the same duties for me, whoactually visited both Washington and Richmond and conferredwith the Presidents and chiefs of each section onthe subject. True his efforts were unsuccessful,and so nothing remained for me but to retire to thequiet of my own study and watch the vicissitudes ofthe awful storm which I was powerless to avert, anddescry the first signs of any clearing up, ready totake advantage of the earliest glimmerings of lightthrough the clouds.”

He had no doubts as to the ultimate issue of the conflict,for, in a letter to his wife’s sister, Mrs.Goodrich, of May 2, 1862, he reduces it to mathematics:—

“Sober men could calculate, and did calculate,the military issue, for it was a problem ofmathematics and not at all of individual or comparativecourage. A force of equal quality is to be dividedand the two parts to be set in opposition to eachother. If equally divided, they will be at rest;if one part equals 3 and the other 9, it does notrequire much knowledge of mathematics to decide whichpart will overcome the force of the other.

“Now this is the case here just now. Twothirds of the physical and material force of the countryare at the North, and on this account militarysuccess, other things being equal, must be on the sideof the North. Courage, justness of the cause,right, have nothing to do with it. War in ourdays is a game of chess. Two players being equal,if one begins the game with dispensing with a thirdof his best pieces, the other wins as a matter ofcourse.”

He was firmly of the opinion that England and otherEuropean nations had fomented, if they had not originated,the bad feeling between the North and the South, andat times he gave way to the most gloomy forebodings,as in a letter of July 23, 1862, to Mr. Kendall, whoshared his views on the main questions at issue:—

“I am much depressed. There is no lightin the political skies. Rabid abolitionism, withits intense, infernal hate, intensified by the samehate from secession quarters, is fast gaining the ascendancy.Our country is dead. God only can resuscitateit from its tomb. I see no hope of union.We are two countries, and, what is most deplorable,two hostile countries. Oh! how the nations, withEngland at their head, crow over us. It is thehour of her triumph; she has conquered by her artsthat which she failed to do by her arms. If therewas a corner of the world where I could hide myself,and I could consult the welfare of my family, I wouldsacrifice all my interests here and go at once.May God save us with his salvation. I have noheart to write or to do anything. Without a country!Without a country!”

He went even further, in one respect, in a letterto Mr. Walker, of Utica, of October 27, but his ordinarilykeen prophetic vision was at fault: “Haveyou made up your mind to be under a future monarch,English or French, or some scion of a European stockof kings? I shall not live to see it, I hope,but you may and your children will. I leave youthis prophecy in black and white.”

In spite of his occasional fits of pessimism he stillstrove with all his might, by letters and publishedpamphlets, to rescue his beloved country from whathe believed were the machinations of foreign enemies.At the same time he did not neglect his more immediateconcerns, and his letter-books are filled with lovingadmonitions to his children, instructions to his farmer,answers to inventors seeking his advice, or to thoseasking for money for various causes, etc.

He and his two brothers had united in causing a monumentto be erected to the memory of their father and motherin the cemetery at New Haven, and he insisted on bearingthe lion’s share of the expense, as we learnfrom a letter written to his nephew, Sidney E. Morse,Jr., on October 10, 1862:—

“Above you have my check on Broadway Bank, NewYork, for five hundred dollars towards Mr. Ritter’sbill.

“Tell your dear father and Uncle Sidney thatthis is the portion of the bill for the monument whichI choose to assume. Tell them I have still agood memory of past years, when I was poor and receivedfrom them the kind attentions of affectionate brothers.I am now, through the loving kindness and bounty ofour Heavenly Father, in such circ*mstances that Ican afford this small testimonial to their former fraternalkindness, and I know no better occasion to manifestthe long pent-up feelings of my heart towards themthan by lightening, under the embarrassments of thetimes, the pecuniary burden of our united testimonialto the best of fathers and mothers.”

This monument, a tall column surmounted by a terrestrialglobe, symbolical of the fact that the elder Morsewas the first American geographer, is still to beseen in the New Haven cemetery.

Another instance of the inventor’s desire toshow his gratitude towards those who had befriendedhim in his days of poverty and struggle is shown ina letter of November 17, 1862, to the widow of AlfredVail:—

“You are aware that a sum of money was votedme by a special Congress, convened at Paris for thepurpose, as a personal, honorary gratuity as the Inventorof the Telegraph.... Notwithstanding, however,that the Congress had put the sum voted me on theground of a personal, honorary gratuity, I made upmy mind in the very outset that I would divide toyour good husband just that proportion of what I mightreceive (after due allowance and deduction of my heavyexpenses in carrying through the transaction) as wouldhave been his if the money so voted by the Congresshad been the purchase money of patent rights.This design I early intimated to Mr. Vail, and I amhappy in having already fulfilled in part my promiseto him, when I had received the gratuity only in part.It was only the last spring that the whole sum, promisedin four annual instalments (after the various deductionsin Europe) has been remitted to me.... I wroteto Mr. Cobb [one of Alfred Vail’s executors]some months ago, while he was in Washington, requestingan early interview to pay over the balance for you,but have never received an answer.... Could younot come to town this week, either with or withoutMr. Cobb, as is most agreeable to you, prepared tosettle this matter in full? If so, please dropme a line stating the day and hour you will come, andI will make it a point to be at home at the time.”

In this connection I shall quote from a letter toMr. George Vail, written much earlier in the year,on May 19:—

“It will give me much pleasure to aid you inyour project of disposing of the ’originalwire’ of the Telegraph, and if my certificateto its genuineness will be of service, you shall cheerfullyhave it. I am not at this moment aware that thereis any quantity of this wire anywhere else, exceptit may be in the helices of the big magnets which Ihave at Poughkeepsie. These shall not interferewith your design.

“I make only one modification of your proposal,and that is, if any profits are realized, please substitutefor my name the name of your brother Alfred’samiable widow.”

Although the malign animosity of F.O.J. Smithfollowed him to his grave, and even afterwards, hewas, in this year of 1862, relieved from one sourceof annoyance from him, as we learn from a letter ofMay 19 to Mr. Kendall: “I have had a settlementwith Smith in full on the award of the Referees inregard to the ‘Honorary Gratuity,’ andwith less difficulty than I expected.”

Morse had now passed the Scriptural age allotted toman; he was seventy-one years old, and, in a letterof August 22, he remarks rather sorrowfully:“I feel that I am no longer young, that my career,whether for good or evil, is near its end, but I wishto give the energy and influence that remain to meto my country, to save it, if possible, to those whocome after me.”

All through the year 1863 he labored to this end,with alternations of hope and despair. On February9, 1863, he writes to his cousin, Judge Sidney Breese:“A movement is commenced in the formation ofa society here which promises good. It is forthe purpose of Diffusing Useful Political Knowledge.It is backed up by millionaires, so far as funds go,who have assured us that funds shall not be wantingfor this object. They have made me its president.”

Through the agency of this society he worked to bringabout “Peace with Honor,” but, as oneof their cardinal principles was the abandonment ofabolitionism, he worked in vain. He bitterly denouncedthe Emancipation Proclamation, and President Lincolncame in for many hard words from his pen, being consideredby him weak and vacillating. Mistaken though Ithink his attitude was in this, his opinions were sharedby many prominent men of the day, and we must admitthat for those who believed in a literal interpretationof the Bible there was much excuse. For instance,in a letter of September 21, 1863, to Martin Hauser,Esq., of Newbern, Indiana, he goes rather deeply intothe subject:—

“Your letter of the 23d of last month I havejust received, and I was gratified to see the evidencesof an upright, honest dependence upon the only standardof right to which man can appeal pervading your wholeletter. There is no other standard than the Bible,but our translation, though so excellent, is defectivesometimes in giving the true meaning of the originallanguages in which the two Testaments are written;the Old Testament in Hebrew, the New Testament inGreek. Therefore it is that in words in the Englishtranslation about which there is a variety of opinion,it is necessary to examine the original Hebrew or Greekto know what was the meaning attached to these wordsby the writers of the original Bible.... I makethese observations to introduce a remark of yoursthat the Bible does not contain anything like slaveryin it because the words ‘slave’ and ‘slavery’are not used in it (except the former twice) but thatthe word ‘servant’ is used.

“Now the words translated ‘servant’in hundreds of instances are, in the original, ‘slave,’and the very passage you quote, Noah’s words—’Cursedbe Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto hisbrethren’—in the original Hebrewmeans exactly this—’Cursed be Canaan,a slave of slaves shall he be.’The Hebrew, word is ’ebed’ whichmeans a bond slave, and the words ’ebed ebadim’translated ‘slave of slaves,’ means strictlythe most abject of slaves.

“In the New Testament too the word translated‘servant’ from the Greek is ’doulas,’which is the same as ’ebed’ in theHebrew, and always means a bond slave. Our word‘servant’ formerly meant the same, buttime and custom have changed its meaning with us,but the Bible word ’doulos’ remainsthe same, ‘a slave.’”

It seems strange that a man of such a gentle, kindlydisposition should have upheld the outworn institutionof slavery, but he honestly believed, not only thatit was ordained of God, but that it was calculatedto benefit the enslaved race. To Professor Christy,of Cincinnati, he gives, on September 12, his reasonsfor this belief:—

“You have exposed in a masterly manner the fallaciesof Abolitionism. There is a complete coincidenceof views between us. My ‘Argument,’which is nearly ready for the press, supports thesame view of the necessity of slavery to the christianizationand civilization of a barbarous race. My argumentfor the benevolence of the relation of master and slave,drawn from the four relations ordained of God forthe organization of the social system (the fourthbeing the servile relation, or the relation of masterand slave) leads conclusively to the recognition ofsome great benevolent design in its establishment.

“But you have demonstrated in an unanswerablemanner by your statistics this benevolent design,bringing out clearly, from the workings of his Providence,the absolute necessity of this relation in accomplishinghis gracious designs towards even the lowest typeof humanity.”

CHAPTER XXXVIII

FEBRUARY 26, 1864—NOVEMBER 8, 1867

Sanitary Commission.—Letter to Dr. Bellows.—Letteron “loyalty.”—His brother Richardupholds Lincoln.—Letters of brotherly reproof.—Introduces McClellan at preelection parade.—Lincolnreelected.—Anxiety as to future of country.—Unsuccessfuleffort to take up art again.— Letter tohis sons.—Gratification at rapid progressof telegraph.— Letter to George Wood ontwo great mysteries of life.—Presents portraitof Allston to the National Academy of Design.—Endowslectureship in Union Theological Seminary.—Refusesto attend fifty-fifth reunion of his class.—Statueto him proposed.—Ezra Cornell’s benefaction.—AmericanAsiatic Society.—Amalgamation of telegraphcompanies.—Protest against stock manipulations.—Approvesof President Andrew Johnson.—Sails withfamily for Europe.—Paris Exposition of 1867.—Descriptionsof festivities.—Cyrus W. Field.—Incidentin early life of Napoleon III— Made HonoraryCommissioner to Exposition.—Attempt on lifeof Czar.—Ball at Hotel de Ville.—Isleof Wight.—England and Scotland.—The“Sounder.”—Returns to Paris.

All the differences of those terrible years of fratricidalstrife, all the heart-burnings, the bitter animosities,the family divisions, have been smoothed over by thesoothing hand of time. I have neither the wishnor the ability to enter into a discussion of the rightsand the wrongs of the causes underlying that now historicconflict, nor is it germane to such a work as this.While Morse took a prominent part in the politicalmovements of the time, while he was fearless and outspokenin his views, his name is not now associated historically

with those epoch-making events. It has seemednecessary, however, to make some mention of his convictionsin order to make the portrait a true one. He continuedto oppose the measures of the Administration; he didall in his power to hasten the coming of peace; heworked and voted for the election of McClellan tothe Presidency, and when he and the other eminent menwho believed as he did were outvoted, he bowed tothe will of the majority with many misgivings as tothe future. Although he was opposed to the warhis heart bled for the wounded on both sides, and hetook a prominent part in the National Sanitary Commission.He expresses himself warmly in a letter of February26, 1864, to its president, Rev. Dr. Bellows:—

“There are some who are sufferers, great sufferers,whom we can reach and relieve without endangeringpolitical or military plans, and in the spirit ofHim who ignored the petty political distinctions ofJew and Samaritan, and regarded both as entitled toHis sympathy and relief, I cannot but think it iswithin the scope and interest of the great SanitaryCommission to extend a portion of their Christian regardto the unfortunate sufferers from this dreadful war,the prisoners in our fortresses, and to those whodwell upon the borders of the contending sections.”

In a letter of March 23, to William L. Ransom, Esq.,of Litchfield, Connecticut, he, perhaps unconsciously,enunciates one of the fundamental beliefs of thatgreat president whom he so bitterly opposed:—

“I hardly know how to comply with your requestto have a ’short, pithy, Democratic sentiment.’In glancing at the thousand mystifications which havebefogged so many in our presumed intelligent community,I note one in relation to the new-fangled applicationof a common foreign word imported from the monarchiesof Europe. I mean the word ‘loyalty,’upon which the changes are daily and hourly sung adnauseam.

“I have no objection, however, to the word ifit be rightly applied. It signifies ‘fidelityto a prince or sovereign.’ Now if loyaltyis required of us, it should be to the Sovereign.Where is this Sovereign? He is not the President,nor his Cabinet, nor Congress, nor the Judiciary,nor any nor all of the Administration together.Our Sovereign is on a throne above all these.He is the People, or Peoples of theStates. He has issued his decree, not to privateindividuals only, but to President and to all hissubordinate servants, and this sovereign decree hisservant the is the Constitution. He who adheresfaithfully to this written will of the Sovereign isloyal. He who violates the embodimentof the will of the Sovereign, is disloyal, whetherhe be a Constitution, this President, a Secretary,a member of Congress or of the Judiciary, or a simplecitizen.”

As a firm believer in the Democratic doctrine of States’Rights Morse, with many others, held that Lincolnhad overridden the Constitution in his EmancipationProclamation.

It was a source of grief to him just at this timethat his brother Richard had changed his politicalfaith, and had announced his intention of voting forthe reelection of President Lincoln. In a longletter of September 24, 1864, gently chiding him forthus going over to the Abolitionists, the elder brotheragain states his reasons for remaining firm in hisfaith:—

“I supposed, dear brother, that on that subjectyou were on the same platform with Sidney and myself.Have there been any new lights, any new aspects ofit, which have rendered it less odious, less the ’childof Satan’ than when you and Sidney edited theNew York Observer before Lincoln was President?I have seen no reason to change my views respectingabolition. You well know I have ever consideredit the logical progeny of Unitarianism and Infidelity.It is characterized by subtlety, hypocrisy and pharisaism,and one of the most melancholy marks of its speciousnessis its influence in benumbing the gracious sensibilitiesof many Christian hearts, and blinding their eyesto their sad defection from the truths of the Bible.

“I know, indeed, the influences by which youare surrounded, but they are neither stronger normore artful than those which our brave father manfullywithstood in combating the monster in the cradle.I hope there is enough of father’s firmnessand courage in battling with error, however specious,to keep you, through God’s grace, from fallinginto the embrace of the body-and-soul-destroying heresyof Abolitionism.”

In another long letter to his brother Richard, ofNovember 5, he firmly but gently upholds his viewthat the Constitution has been violated by Lincoln’saction, and that the manner of amending the Constitutionwas provided for in that instrument itself, and that:“If that change is made in accordance with itsprovisions, no one will complain”; and then headds:—

“But it is too late to give you the reasonsof the political faith that I hold. When theexcitement of the election is over, let it result asit may, I may be able to show you that my opinionsare formed from deep study and observation. NowI can only announce them comparatively unsustainedby the reasons for forming them.

“I am interrupted by a call from the committeerequesting me to conduct General McClellan to thebalcony of the Fifth Avenue Hotel this evening, toreview the McClellan Legion and the procession.After my return I will continue my letter.

“12 o’clock, midnight. I have justreturned, and never have I witnessed in any gatheringof the people, either in Europe or in this country,such a magnificent and enthusiastic display.I conducted the General to the front of the balconyand presented him to the assemblage (a dense mass ofheads as far as the eye could reach in every direction),and such a shout, which continued for many minutes,I never heard before, except it may have been at thereception in London of Bluecher and Platoff after thebattle of Waterloo. I leave the papers to giveyou the details. The procession was passing fromnine o’clock to a quarter to twelve midnight,and such was the denseness of the crowd within thehotel, every entry and passageway jammed with people,that we were near being crushed. Three policemenbefore me could scarcely open a way for the General,who held my arm, to pass only a few yards to our room.

“After taking my leave I succeeded with difficultyin pressing my way through the crowd within and withoutthe hotel, and have just got into my quiet libraryand must now retire, for I am too fatigued to do anythingbut sleep. Good-night.”

A short time after this the election was held, andthis enthusiastic advocate of what he considered theright learned the bitter lesson that crowds, and shouting,and surface enthusiasm do not carry an election.The voice of that Sovereign to whom he had sworn loyaltyspoke in no uncertain tones, and Lincoln was overwhelminglychosen by the votes of the People.

Morse was outvoted but not convinced, and I shallmake but one quotation from a letter of November 9,to his brother Richard, who had also remained firmin spite of his brother’s pleading: “Myconsolation is in looking up, and I pray you may beso enlightened that you may be delivered from thedelusions which have ensnared you, and from the judgmentswhich I cannot but feel are in store for this sectionof the country. When I can believe that my Biblereads ‘cursed’ instead of ‘blessed’are the ‘peacemakers,’ I also shall ceaseto be a peace man. But while they remain, asthey do, in the category of those that are blessed,I cannot be frightened at the names of ‘copperhead’and ‘traitor’ so lavishly bestowed, withthreats of hanging etc., by those whom you haveassisted into power.”

In a letter of Mr. George Wood’s, of June 26,1865, I find the following sentences: “Ihave to acknowledge your very carefully written letteron the divine origin of Slavery.... I hope youhave kept a copy of this letter, for the time willcome when you will have a biography written, and thedefense you have made of your position, taken in yourpamphlet, is unquestionably far better than he (yourbiographer) will make for you.”

The letter to which Mr. Wood refers was begun on March5, 1865, but finished some time afterwards. Itis very long, too long to be included here, but injustice to myself, that future biographer, I wish tostate that I have already given the main argumentsbrought forward in that letter, in quotations fromprevious letters, and that I have attempted no defensefurther than to emphasize the fact that, right or wrong,Morse was intensely sincere, and that he had the courageof his opinions.

Returning to an earlier date, and turning from matterspolitical to the gentler arts of peace, we find thatthe one-time artist had always hoped that some dayhe could resume his brush, which the labors incidentto the invention of the telegraph had compelled himto drop. But it seems that his hand, throughlong disuse, had lost its cunning. He bewailsthe fact in a letter of January 20, 1864, to N. Jocelyn,Esq.:—

“I have many yearnings towards painting andsculpture, but that rigid faculty called reason, soopposed often to imagination, reads me a lecture towhich I am compelled to bow. To explain:I made the attempt to draw a short time ago; everythingin the drawing seemed properly proportioned, but,upon putting it in another light, I perceived thatevery perpendicular line was awry. In other wordsI found that I could place no confidence in my eyes.

“No, I have made the sacrifice of my professionto establish an invention which is doing mankind agreat service. I pursued it long enough to foundan institution which, I trust, is to flourish longafter I am gone, and be the means of educating a nobleclass of men in Art, to be an honor and praise toour beloved country when peace shall once more blessus throughout all our borders in one grand brotherhoodof States.”

The many letters to his children are models of patientexhortation and cheerful optimism, when sometimesthe temptation to indulge in pessimism was strong.I shall give, as an example, one written on May 9,1864, to two of his sons who had returned to schoolat Newport:—

“Now we hope to have good reports of your progressin your studies. In spring, you know, the farmerssow their seed which is to give them their harvestat the close of the summer. If they were not carefulto put the seed in the ground, thinking it would dojust as well about August or September, or if theyput in very little seed, you can see that they cannotexpect to reap a good or abundant crop.

“Now it is just so in regard to your life.You are in the springtime of life. It is seedtime. You must sow now or you will reap nothingby-and-by, or, if anything, only weeds. Your teachersare giving you the seed in your various studies.You cannot at present understand the use of them,but you must take them on trust; you must believe thatyour parents and teachers have had experience, andthey know what will be for your good hereafter, whatstudies will be most useful to you in after life.Therefore buckle down to your studies diligently andvery soon you will get to love your studies, and thenit will be a pleasure and not a task to learn yourlessons.

“We miss your noise, but, although agreeablequiet has come in place of it, we should be willingto have the noise if we could have our dear boys nearus. You are, indeed, troublesome pleasures, but,after all, pleasant troubles. When you are settledin life and have a family around you, you will betterunderstand what I mean.”

In spite of the disorganization of business causedby the war, the value of telegraphic property wasrapidly increasing, and new lines were being constantlybuilt or proposed. Morse refers to this in a letterof June 25, 1864, to his old friend George Wood:—

“To you, as well as to myself, the rapid progressof the Telegraph throughout the world must seem wonderful,and with me you will, doubtless, often recur to ourfriend Annie’s inspired message—’Whathath God wrought.’ It is, indeed, his marvellouswork, and to Him be the glory.

“Early in the history of the invention, in forecastingits future, I was accustomed to predict with confidence,’It is destined to go round the world,’but I confess I did not expect to live to see the predictionfulfilled. It is quite as wonderful to me alsothat, with the thousand attempts to improve my system,with the mechanical skill of the world concentratedupon improving the mechanism, the result has been beautifulcomplications and great ingenuity, but no improvement.I have the gratification of knowing that my system,everywhere known as the ’Morse system,’is universally adopted throughout the world, becauseof its simplicity and its adaptedness to universality.”

This remains true to the present day, and is one ofthe remarkable features of this great invention.The germ of the “Morse system,” as jotteddown in the 1832 sketch-book, is the basic principleof the universal telegraph of to-day.

In another letter to Mr. Wood, of September 11, 1864,referring to the sad death of the son of a mutualfriend, he touches on two of the great enigmas oflife which have puzzled many other minds:—

“It is one of those mysteries of Providence,one of those deep things of God to be unfolded ineternity, with the perfect vindication of God’swisdom and justice, that children of pious parents,children of daily anxiety and prayer, dedicated toGod from their birth and trained to all human appearance‘in the way they should go,’ should yetseem to falsify the promise that ‘they shouldnot depart from it.’ It is a subject toodeep to fathom.

“... It is my daily, I may say hourly,thought, certainly my constant wakeful thought atnight, how to resolve the question: ’Whyhas God seen fit so abundantly to shower his earthlyblessings upon me in my latter days, to bless me withevery desirable comfort, while so many so much moredeserving (in human eyes at least) are deprived ofall comfort and have heaped upon them sufferings andtroubles in every shape?’”

The memory of his student days in London was alwaysdear to him, and on January 4, 1865, he writes toWilliam Cullen Bryant:—

“I have this moment received a printed circularrespecting the proposed purchase of the portrait ofAllston by Leslie to be presented to the NationalAcademy of Design.

“There are associations in my mind with thosetwo eminent and beloved names which appeal too stronglyto me to be resisted. Now I have a favor to askwhich I hope will not be denied. It is that Imay be allowed to present to the Academy that portraitin my own name. You can appreciate the argumentswhich have influenced my wishes in this respect.Allston was more than any other person my master inart. Leslie was my life-long cherished friendand fellow pupil, whom I loved as a brother. Weall lived together for years in the closest intimacyand in the same house. Is there not then a fitnessthat the portrait of the master by one distinguishedpupil should be presented by the surviving pupil tothe Academy over which he presided in its infancy,as well as assisted in its birth, and, although divorcedfrom Art, cannot so easily be divorced from the memoriesof an intercourse with these distinguished friends,an intercourse which never for one moment sufferedinterruption, even from a shadow of estrangement?”

It is needless to say that this generous offer wasaccepted, and Morse at the same time presented tothe Academy the brush which Allston was using whenstricken with his fatal illness.

As his means permitted he made generous donationsto charities and to educational institutions, andon May 20, 1865, he endowed by the gift of $10,000a lectureship in the Union Theological Seminary, makingthe following request in the letter which accompaniedit:—

“If it be thought advisable that the name ofthe lectureship, as was suggested, should be the MorseLectureship, I wish it to be distinctly understoodthat it is so named in honor of my venerated and distinguishedfather, whose zealous labors in the cause of theologicaleducation, and in various benevolent enterprises,as well as of geographical science, entitle his memoryto preservation in connection with the efforts todiffuse the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, JesusChrist, and his gospel throughout the world.”

Curiously enough I find no reference in the lettersof the year 1865 to the assassination of PresidentLincoln, but I well remember being taken, a boy ofeight, to our stable on the corner of Fifth Avenueand Twenty-first Street, from the second-floor windowsof which we watched the imposing funeral cortege passup the avenue.

The fifty-fifth reunion of his class of 1810 tookplace in this year, and Morse reluctantly decidedto absent himself. The reasons why he felt thathe could not go are given in a long letter of August11 to his cousin, Professor E.S. Salisbury, andit is such a clear statement of his convictions thatI am tempted to give it almost in its entirety:—

“I should have been most happy on many personalaccounts to have been at the periodical meeting ofmy surviving classmates of 1810, and also to haverenewed my social intercourse with many esteemed friendsand relations in New Haven. But as I could notconscientiously take part in the proposed martialsectional glorification of those of the family whofell in the late lamentable family strife, and couldnot in any brief way or time explain the discriminationsthat were necessary between that which I approve andthat which I most unqualifiedly condemn, without therisk of misapprehension, I preferred the only alternativeleft me, to absent myself altogether.

“You well know I never approved of the latewar. I have ever believed, and still believe,if the warnings of far-seeing statesmen (Washington,Clay, and Webster among them) had been heeded, if,during the last thirty years of persistent stirringup of strife by angry words, the calm and Christiancounsels of intelligent patriots had been followedat the North, and a strict observance of the letterand spirit of the Constitution had been sustainedas the supreme law, instead of the insidious violationsof its provisions, especially by New England, we shouldhave had no war.

“As I contributed nothing to the war, so nowI see no reason specially to exult in the displayof brave qualities in an isolated portion of the family,qualities which no true American ever doubted werepossessed by both sections of our country in an equaldegree. Why then discriminate between alumnifrom the North and alumni from the South at a gatheringin which alumni from both sections are expected tomeet?... No, my dear cousin, the whole era ofthe war is one I wish not to remember. I wouldhave no other memorial than a black cross, like thoseover the graves of murdered travellers, to cause ashudder whenever it is seen. It would be wellif History could blot from its pages all record ofthe past four years. There is no glory in themfor victors or vanquished. The only event inwhich I rejoice is the restoration of Peace, whichnever should have been interrupted....

“I have no doubt that they who originated therecent demonstration honestly believed it to be patriotic,for every movement nowadays must take that shape tosatisfy the morbid appetite of the popular mind.I cannot think it either in good taste or in conformitywith sound policy for our collegiate institutionsto foster this depraved appetite. Surely thereis enough of this in the political harangues of theday for those who require such aids to patriotismwithout its being administered to by our colleges.That patriotism is of rather a suspicious characterwhich needs such props. I love to see my childrenwell clad and taking a proper pride in their attire,but I should not think them well instructed if I foundthem everywhere boasting of their fine clothes.A true nobleman is not forever boasting of his nobilityfor fear that his rank may not be recognized.The loudest boasts of patriotism do not come from thetrue possessors of the genuine spirit. Patriotismis not sectional nor local, it comprehends in itsgrasp the whole country....

“I have said the demonstration at Commencementwas in bad taste. Why? you will say. BecauseCommencement day brings together the alumni of thecollege from all parts of the Union, from the Southas well as the North. They are to meet on somecommon ground, and that common ground is the lovethat all are supposed to bear to the old Alma Mater,cherished by memories of past friendships in theircollege associations. The late Commencement wasone of peculiar note. It was the first after thereturn of peace. The country had been sundered;the ties of friendship and of kindred had been broken;the bonds of college affection were weakened if notdestroyed. What an opportunity for inauguratingthe healing process! What an occasion for thedisplay of magnanimity, of mollifying the pain ofhumiliation, of throwing a veil of oblivion over thepast, of watering the perishing roots of fraternalaffection and fostering the spirit of genuine union!But no. The Southern alumnus may come, but hecomes to be humiliated still further. Can hejoin in the plaudits of those by whom he has beenhumbled? You may applaud, but do not ask him tojoin in your acclamations. He may be mourningthe death of father, brother, yes, of mother and sister,by the very hands of those you are glorifying.Do not aggravate his sorrow by requiring him to joinyou in such a demonstration.

“No, my dear cousin, it was in bad tasteto say the least of it, and it was equally impoliticto intercalate such a demonstration into the usualand appropriate exercises of the week. You expect,I presume, to have pupils from the South as heretofore;will such a sectional display be likely to attractthem or to repel them? If they can go elsewherethey will not come to you. They will not be attractedby a perpetual memento before their eyes of your triumphover them. It was not politic. It is noimprovement for Christian America to show less humanitythan heathen Rome. The Romans never made demonstrationsof triumph over the defeat of their countrymen ina civil war. It is no proof of superior civilizationthat we refuse to follow Roman example in such cases.

“My dear cousin, I have written you very frankly,but I trust you will not misunderstand me as havingany personal reproaches to make for the part you havetaken in the matter. We undoubtedly view the fieldfrom different standpoints. I concede to youconscientious motives in what you do. You aresustained by those around you, men of intellect, menof character. I respect them while I differ fromthem. I appeal, however, to a higher law, andthat, I think, sustains me.”

His strong and outspoken stand for what he believedto be the right made him many enemies, and he wascalled hard names by the majority of those by whomhe was surrounded at the North; and yet the very fearlessnesswith which he advocated an unpopular point of viewundoubtedly compelled increased respect for him.A proof of this is given in a letter to his daughter,Mrs. Lind, of December 28, 1865:—

“I also send you some clippings from the papersgiving you an account of some of the doings respectinga statue proposed to me by the Common Council.The Mayor, who is a personal friend of mine, you seehas vetoed the resolutions, not from a disapprovalof their character, but because he did not like thelocality proposed. He proposes the Central Park,and in this opinion all my friends concur.

“I doubt if they will carry the project throughwhile I am alive, and it would really seem most properto wait until I was gone before they put up my monument.I have nothing, however, to say on the subject.I am gratified, of course, to see the manifestationof kindly feeling, but, as the tinder of vaingloryis in every human heart, I rather shrink from sucha proposed demonstration lest a spark of flattery shouldkindle that tinder to an unseemly and destructiveflame. I am not blind to the popularity, world-wide,of the Telegraph, and a sober forecast of the futureforeshadows such a statue in some place. If evererected I hope the prominent mottoes upon the pedestalwill be: ’Not unto us, not unto us,but to God be the glory,’ and the first messageor telegram: ’What hath GOD wrought.’”

He says very much the same thing in a letter to hisfriend George Wood, of January 15, 1866, and he alsosays in this letter, referring to some instance ofbenevolent generosity by Mr. Kendall:—

“Is it not a noticeable fact that the wealthacquired by the Telegraph has in so many conspicuousinstances been devoted to benevolent purposes?Mr. Kendall is prominent in his expenditures for greatChristian enterprises, and think of Cornell, alwaysesteemed by me as an ingenious and shrewd man, whenemployed by me to set the posts and put up the wirefor the first line of Telegraphs between Washingtonand Baltimore, yet thought to be rather close andnarrow-minded by those around him. But see, whenhis wealth had increased by his acquisition of Telegraphstock to millions (it is said), what enlarged andnoble plans of public benefit were conceived and broughtforth by him. I have viewed his course with greatgratification as the evidence of God’s blessingon what He hath wrought.”

It has been made plain, I think, that Morse was essentiallya leader in every movement in which he took an interest,whether it was artistic, scientific, religious, orpolitical. This is emphasized by the number ofrequests made to him to assume the presidency of allsorts of organizations, and these requests multipliedas he advanced in years. Most of them he feltcompelled to decline, for, as he says in a letter ofMarch 13, 1866, declining the presidency of the Geographicaland Statistical Society: “I am at an agewhen I find it necessary rather to be relieved fromthe cares and responsibilities already resting uponme, than to take upon me additional ones.”

In many other cases he allowed his name to be usedas vice-president or member, when he considered theobject of the organization a worthy one, and his benefactionswere only limited by his means.

He did, however, accept the presidency of one associationjust at this time, the American Asiatic Society, inwhich were interested such men as Gorham Abbott, Dr.Forsyth, E.H. Champlin, Thomas Harrison, and Morse’sbrother-in-law, William M. Goodrich. The aimsof this society were rather vast, including an InternationalCongress to be called by the Emperor Napoleon III,for the purpose of opening up and controlling the greathighways from the East to the West through the Isthmusof Suez and that of Panama; also the colonizationof Palestine by the Jews, and other commercial andphilanthropic schemes. I cannot find that anythingof lasting importance was accomplished by this society,so I shall make no further mention of it, althoughthere is much correspondence about it.

The following, from a letter to Mr. Kendall of March19, 1866, explains itself: “If I understandthe position of our Telegraph interests, they arenow very much as you and I wished them to be in theoutset, not cut up in O’Reilly fashion intoirresponsible parts, but making one grand whole likethe Post-Office system. It is becoming, doubtless,a monopoly, but no more so than the Post-Officesystem, and its unity is in reality a public advantageif properly and uprightly managed, and this, of course,will depend on the character of the managers.Confidence must be reposed somewhere, and why notin upright and responsible men who are impelled aswell by their own interest to have their matters conductedwith fairness and with liberality.”

As a curious commentary on his misplaced faith inthe integrity of others, I shall quote from a letterof January 4, 1867, to E.S. Sanford, Esq., whichalso shows his abhorrence of anything like crookeddealing in financial matters:—

“I wish when you again write me you would giveme, in confidence, the names of those in theBoard of the Western Union who are acting in so dishonorableand tricky a manner. I think I ought to know themin order to avoid them, and resist them in the publicinterest. It is a shame that an enterprise which,honestly conducted, is more than usually profitable,should be conducted on the principles of sharpers andtricksters.

[Illustration: TELEGRAM SHOWING MORSE’SCHARACTERISTIC DEADHEAD, WHICH HE ALWAYS USED TO FRANKHIS MESSAGES]

“So far as the Russian Extension is concerned,I should judge from your representation that, as astockholder in that enterprise to the amount of $30,000,the plan would conduce to my immediate pecuniary benefit.But so would the robbery of the safe of a bank.If wealth can be obtained only by such swindles, Iprefer poverty. You have my proxy and I have theutmost confidence in your management. Do by meas you would do for yourself, and I shall be satisfied....In regard to any honorable propositions made in theBoard be conciliatory and compromising, but any schemeto oppress the smaller stockholders for the benefitof the larger resist to the death. I prefer tosacrifice all my stock rather than have such a stigmaon my character as such mean, and I will add villainous,conduct would be sure to bring upon all who engagedin it.”

In this connection I shall also quote from anotherletter to Mr. Sanford, of February 15, 1867:“If Government thinks seriously of purchasingthe Telegraph, and at this late day adopting my earlysuggestion that it ought to belong to the Post-OfficeDepartment, be it so if they will now pay for it.They must now pay millions for that which I offeredto them for one hundred thousand dollars, and gavethem a year for consideration ere they adopted it.”

There are but few references to politics in the lettersof this period, but I find the following in a letterof March 20, 1866, to a cousin: “You askmy opinion of our President. I did not vote forhim, but I am agreeably surprised at his masterlystatesmanship, and hope, by his firmness in resistingthe extreme radicals, he will preserve the Union againstnow the greatest enemies we have to contend against.I mean those who call themselves Abolitionists....President Johnson deserves the support of all truepatriots, and he will have it against all the ‘traitors’in the country, by whatever soft names of loyalty theyendeavor to shield themselves.”

Appeals of all kinds kept pouring in on him, and,in courteously refusing one, on April 17, he usesthe following language: “I am unable toaid you. I cannot, indeed, answer a fiftiethpart of the hundreds of applications made to me fromevery section of the country daily—Imight say hourly—for yours is thethird this morning and it is not yet 12 o’clock.”

After settling his affairs at home in his usual methodicalmanner, Morse sailed with his wife and his four youngchildren, and Colonel John R. Leslie their tutor,for Europe on the 23d of June, 1866, prepared for anextended stay. He wished to give his childrenthe advantages of travel and study in Europe, andhe was very desirous of being in Paris during theUniversal Exposition of 1867.

There is a gap in the letter-books until October,1866, but from the few letters to members of the familywhich have been preserved, and from my own recollections,we know that the summer of 1866 was most delightfullyspent in journeying through France, Germany, and Switzerland.The children were now old enough not to be the nuisancesthey seem to have been in 1858, for we find no noteof complaint on that account.

In September he returned with his wife, his daughter,and his youngest son to Paris, leaving his two oldersons with their tutor in Geneva. As he wishedto make Paris his headquarters for nearly a year, hesought and found a furnished apartment at No. 10 Avenuedu Roi de Rome (now the Avenue du Trocadero), andhe writes to his mother-in-law on September 22:“We are fortunate in having apartments in a newbuilding, or rather one newly and completely repairedthroughout. All the apartments are newly furnishedwith elegant furniture, we having the first use ofit. We have ample rooms, not large, but promisingmore comfort for winter residence than if they werelarger. The situation is on a wide avenue andcentral for many purposes; close to the Champs Elysees,near also to the Bois de Boulogne, and within a fewminutes walk of the Champ de Mars, so that we shallbe most eligibly situated to visit the great Expositionwhen it opens in April.”

His wife’s sister, Mrs. Goodrich, with her husbandand daughters, occupied an apartment in the same building;his grandson Charles Lind was also in Paris studyingpainting, and before the summer of the next year othermembers of his family came to Paris, so that at onetime eighteen of those related to him by blood ormarriage were around him. To a man of Morse’saffectionate nature and loyalty to family this wasa source of peculiar joy, and those Parisian dayswere some of the happiest of his life. The restof the autumn and early winter were spent in sight-seeingand in settling his children in their various studies.

The brilliance of the court of Napoleon III just beforethe debacle of 1870 is a matter of history,and it reached its high-water mark during the Expositionyear of 1867, when emperors, kings, and princes journeyedto Paris to do homage to the man of the hour.Court balls, receptions, gala performances at operaand theatre, and military reviews followed each otherin bewildering but well-ordered confusion, and Morse,as a man of worldwide celebrity, took part in allof them. He and his wife and his young daughter,a girl of sixteen, were presented at court, and werefeted everywhere. In a letter to his mother-in-lawhe gives a description of his court costume on theoccasion of his first presentation, when he was accompaniedonly by his brother-in-law, Mr. Goodrich:—

“We received our cards inviting us to the soireeand to pass the evening with their majesties on the16th of January (Wednesday evening). ’Enuniforme’ was stamped upon the card, so wehad to procure court dresses. Mr. Goodrich, asis the custom in most cases, hired his; I had a fullsuit made for me. A chapeau bras, withgold lace loop, a blue coat, with standing collar,single breasted, richly embroidered with gold lace,the American eagle button, white silk lining, vestlight cashmere with gilt buttons, pantaloons witha broad stripe of gold lace on the outside seams,

a small sword, and patent-leather shoes or boots completedthe dress of ordinary mortals like Brother Goodrich,but for extraordinary mortals, like my humblerepublican self, I was bedizened with all my orders,seven decorations, covering my left breast. Ifthus accoutred I should be seen on Broadway, I shouldundoubtedly have a numerous escort of a characternot the most agreeable, but, as it was, I found myselfin very good and numerous company, none of whom couldconsistently laugh at his neighbors.”

After describing the ceremony of presentation he continues:—

“Occasionally both the emperor and empress saida few words to particular individuals. When myname was mentioned the emperor said to me, ’Yourname, sir, is well known here,’ for which I thankedhim; and the empress afterwards said to me, when myname was mentioned, ’We are greatly indebtedto you, sir, for the Telegraph,’ or to that effect.Afterwards Mr. Bennett, the winner of the yacht race,engaged for a moment their particular regards....[I wonder if the modest inventor appreciated the ironyof this juxtaposition.] After the dancers were fullyengaged, the refreshment-room, the Salon of Diana,was opened, and, as in our less aristocratic country,the tables attracted a great crowd, so that the doorswere guarded so as to admit the company by instalments.I had in vain for some time endeavored to gain admittance,and was waiting patiently quite at a distance fromthe door, which was thronged with ladies and highdignitaries, when a gentleman who guarded the door,and who had his breast covered with orders, addressedme by name, asking me if I was not Professor Morse.Upon replying in the affirmative, quite to my surprise,he made way for me to the door and, opening it, admittedme before all the rest. I cannot yet divine whythis special favor was shown to me.

“The tables were richly furnished. I lookedfor bonbons to carry home to the children, but whenI saw some tempting looking almonds and candies andmottoes, to my surprise I found they were all composedof fish put up in this form, and the mottoes wereof salad.”

It is good to know that Morse, ever willing to forgiveand forget, was again on terms of friendly intercoursewith Cyrus W. Field, who was then in London, as thefollowing letter to him, dated March 1, 1867, willshow:—

“Singular as it may seem, I was in the midstof your speech before the Chamber of Commerce receptionto you in New York, perusing it with deep interest,when my valet handed me your letter of the 27th ulto.

“I regret exceedingly that I shall not havethe great pleasure I had anticipated, with other friendshere, who were prepared to receive you in Paris withthe welcome you so richly deserve. You inviteme to London. I have the matter under consideration.March winds and that boisterous channel have someweight in my decision, but I so long to take you bythe hand and to get posted upon Telegraph mattersat home, that I feel disposed to make the attempt.But without positively saying ‘yes,’ Iwill see if in a few days I can so arrange my affairsas to have a few hours with you before you sail onthe 20th.

[Illustration: MORSE IN OLD AGE]

“I send you by book post the proceedings ofthe banquet given to our late Minister, Bigelow, inwhich you will see my remarks on the great enterprisewith which your name will forever be so honorably associatedand justly immortalized.”

It will be remembered, that the Atlantic cable wasfinally successfully laid on July 27, 1866, and thatto Cyrus Field, more than to any other man, was thiswonderful achievement due.

In a letter of March 4, 1867, to John S.C. Abbott,Esq., Morse gives the following interesting incidentin the life of Napoleon III:—

“In 1837, I was one of a club of gentlemen inNew York who were associated for social and informalintellectual converse, which held weekly meetingsat each other’s houses in rotation. Mostof these distinguished men are now deceased.The club consisted of such men as Chancellor Kent,Albert Gallatin, Peter Augustus Jay, Reporter Johnson,Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Wainwright, the President andProfessors of Columbia College, the Chancellor andProfessors of the New York City University, Dr. AugustusSmith, Messrs. Goodhue and De Rham of the mercantileclass, and John C. Hamilton, Esq. and ex-Governor W.B.Lawrence from the literary ranks.

“Among the rules of the club was one permittingany member to introduce to the meetings distinguishedstrangers visiting the city. At one of the reunionsof the club the place of meeting was at ChancellorKent’s. On assembling the chancellor introducedto us Louis Napoleon, a son of the ex-King of Holland,a young man pale and contemplative, somewhat reserved.This reserve we generally attributed to a supposedimperfect acquaintance with our language. Atsupper he sat on the right of the Chancellor at thehead of the table. Mr. Gallatin was opposite theChancellor at the foot of the table, and I was on hisright.

“In the course of the evening, while the conversationwas general, I drew the attention of Mr. Gallatinto the stranger, observing that I did not trace anyresemblance in his features to his world-renowned uncle,yet that his forehead indicated great intellect.‘Yes,’ replied Mr. Gallatin, ’thereis a great deal in that head of his, but he has a strangefancy. Can you believe it, he has the impressionthat he will one day be the Emperor of the French;can you conceive of anything more ridiculous?’

“Certainly at that period, even to the sagaciouseye of Mr. Gallatin, such an idea would naturallyseem too improbable to be entertained for a moment,but, in the light of later events, and the actual stateof things at present, does not the fact show that,even in his darkest hours, there was in this extraordinaryman that unabated faith in his future which was aharbinger of success; a faith which pierced the darkclouds which surrounded him, and realized to him inmarvellous prophetic vision that which we see at thisday and hour fully accomplished?”

Morse must have penned these words with peculiar satisfaction,for they epitomized his own sublime faith in his future.In 1837 he also was passing through some of his darkesthours, but he too had had faith, and now, thirty yearsafterwards, his dreams of glory had been triumphantlyrealized, he was an honored guest of that other manof destiny, and his name was forever immortalized.

The spring and early summer of 1867 were enjoyed tothe full by the now venerable inventor and his family.The Exposition was a source of never-ending joy tohim, and he says of it in a letter to his son-in-law,Edward Lind:—

“You will hear all sorts of stories about theExposition. The English papers (some of them),in John Bull style, call it a humbug. Let me tellyou that, imperfect as it is in its present condition,going on rapidly to completion, it may without exaggerationbe pronounced the eighth wonder of the world.It is the world in epitome. I came over with mychildren to give them the advantage of thus studyingthe world in anticipation of what I now see, and Ican say that the two days only in which I have beenable to glance through parts of its vast extent, haveamply repaid me for my voyage here. I believemy children will learn more of the condition of thearts, agriculture, customs, manufactures and mineraland vegetable products of the world in five weeks thanthey could by books at home in five years, and asmany years’ travel.”

He was made an Honorary Commissioner of the UnitedStates to the Exposition, and he prepared an elaborateand careful report on the electrical department, forwhich he received a bronze medal from the French Government.Writing of this report to his brother Sidney, he says:“This keeps me so busy that I have no time towrite, and I have so many irons in the fire that Ifear some must burn. But father’s mottowas—’Better wear out than rust out,’—soI keep at work.”

In a letter to his friend, the Honorable John Thompson,of Poughkeepsie, he describes one of his dissipations:—

“Paris now is the great centre of the World.Such an assemblage of sovereigns was never beforegathered, and I and mine are in the midst of the greatscenes and fetes. We were honored, a few eveningsago, with cards to a very select fete given by theemperor and empress at the Tuilleries to the Kingand Queen of the Belgians, the Prince of Wales andPrince Alfred, to the Queen of Portugal, the Grandduch*ess Marie of Russia, sister of the late EmperorNicholas, a noble looking woman, the Princess Metternichof Austria, and many others.

“The display was gorgeous, and as the numberof guests was limited (only one thousand!) there wasmore space for locomotion than at the former gatheringsat the Palace, where we were wedged in with some fourthousand. There was dancing and my daughter wassolicited by one of the gentlemen for a set in whichPrince Alfred and the Turkish Ambassador danced, thelatter with an American belle, one of the Miss Beckwiths.I allowed her to dance in this set once. TheEmpress is truly a beautiful woman and of unaffectedmanners.”

In a long letter to his brother Sidney, of June 8,he describes some of their doings. At the GrandReview of sixty thousand troops he and his wife andeldest son were given seats in the Imperial Tribune,a little way behind the emperor and the King of Prussia,who were so soon to wage a deadly war with each other.On the way back from the review the following incidentoccurred:—

“After the review was over we took our carriageto return home. The carriages and cortege ofthe imperial personages took the right of the Cascade(which you know is in full view from the hippodromeof Longchamps). We took the left side and wereattracted by the report of firearms on our left, whichproceeded from persons shooting at pigeons from atrap. Soon after we heard a loud report on ourright from a pistol, which attracted no further attentionfrom us than the remark which I made that I did notknow that persons were allowed to use firearms inthe Bois. We passed on to our home, and in theevening were informed of the atrocious attempt uponthe Emperor of Russia’s life. The pistolreport which I heard was that of the pistol of theassassin.”

Farther on in this letter he describes the grand fetegiven by the City of Paris to the visiting sovereignsat the Hotel de Ville. There were thirty-fivethousand applications for tickets, but only eight thousandcould be granted. Of these Morse was gratifiedto receive three:—

“Well, the great fete of Saturday the 8th isover. I despair of any attempt properly to describeits magnificence. I send you the papers....Such a blaze of splendor cannot be conceived or describedbut in the descriptions of the Arabian Nights.We did not see half the display, for the immense seriesof gorgeous halls, lighted by seventy thousand candles,with fountains and flowers at every turn, made onegiddy to see even for a moment. We had a goodopportunity to scan the features of the emperors,the King of Prussia and the renowned Bismarck, withthose of the beautiful empress and the princessesand princes and other distinguished persons of theirsuite.

“I must tell you (for family use only) thatthe Emperor Napoleon made to me a marked recognitionas he passed along. Sarah and I were standingupon two chairs overlooking the front rank of thoseranged on each side. The emperor gave his usualbow on each side, but, as he came near us, he gavean unusual and special bow to me, which I returned,and he then, with a smile, gave me a second bow somarked as to draw the attention of those around, whoat once turned to see to whom this courtesy was shown.I should not mention this but that Sarah and othersobserved it as an unusual mark of courtesy.”

Feeling the need of rest after all the gayety andexcitement of Paris, Morse and part of his familyretired to Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight, where ina neat little furnished cottage—FlorenceVilla—they spent part of two happy months.Then with his wife and daughter and youngest son hejourneyed in leisurely fashion through England andScotland, returning to Paris in October. Herehe spent some time in working on his report to the.United States Government as Commissioner to the Exposition.

Among his notes I find the following, which seemsto me worthy of record:—

“The Sounder. Mr. Prescott, I perceive,is quoted as an authority. He is not reliableon many points and his work should be used with caution.His work was originally written in the interest ofthose opposing my patents, and his statements are,many of them, grossly unjust and strongly coloredwith prejudice. Were he now to reprint his workI am convinced he would find it necessary, for thesake of his reputation, to expunge a great deal, andto correct much that he has misstated and misapprehended.

“He manifests the most unpardonable ignoranceor wilful prejudice in regard to the Sounder,now so-called. The possibility of reading bysound was among the earliest modes noticed in the firstinstrument of 1835, and it was in consequence of observingthis fact that, in my first patent specificationsdrawn up in 1837-1838, I distinctly specify thesesounds of the signs, and they were secured inmy letters patent. Yet Mr. Prescott makes itan accidental discovery, and in 1860 (the date ofhis publication) he wholly ignores my agency in thismode. The sounder is but the pen-lever deprivedof the pen. In everything else it is the same.The sound of the letter is given with and without thepen.”

On November 8, 1867, he writes from Paris to his friend,the Honorable John Thompson:—

“I am still held in Paris for the completionof my labors, but hope in a few days to be relievedso that we may leave for Dresden, where my boys arepursuing their studies in the German language....I am yet doubtful how long a sojourn we may make inDresden, and whether I shall winter there or in Paris,but I am inclined to the latter. We wish to visitItaly, but I am not satisfied that it will be pleasantor even safe to be there just now. The Garibaldianinroad upon the Pontifical States is, indeed, forthe moment suppressed, but the end is not yet.

“Alas for poor Italy! How hard to rid herselfof evils that have become chronic. Why cannotstatesmen of the Old World learn the great truth thatmost of their perplexities in settling the questionsof international peace arise from the unnatural unionof Church and State? He who said ’My kingdomis not of this world’ uttered a truth pregnantwith consequences. The attempt to rule the Stateby the Church or the Church by the State is equallyat war with his teachings, and until these are madethe rule of conduct, whether for political bodiesor religious bodies, there will be the sword and notpeace.

“I see by the papers that the reaction I havelong expected and hoped for has commenced in our country.It is hailed here by intelligent and cool-headed citizensas a good omen for the future. The Radicals havehad their way, and the people, disgusted, have atlength given their command —’Thusfar and no farther.’”

CHAPTER XXXIX

NOVEMBER 28, 1867—JUNE 10, 1871

Goes to Dresden.—Trials financial and personal.—Humorousletter to E.S. Sanford.—Berlin.—Thetelegraph in the war of 1866.—Paris.—Returnsto America.—Death of his brother Richard.—Banquetin New York.—Addresses of Chief JusticeChase, Morse, and Daniel Huntington,—Reportas Commissioner finished.—Professor W.P.Blake’s letter urging recognition of ProfessorHenry.—Morse complies.—Henryrefuses to be reconciled.— Reading by sound.—Morsebreaks his leg.—Deaths of Amos Kendall andGeorge Wood.—Statue in Central Park.—AddressesOf Governor Hoffman and William Cullen Bryant.—Ceremoniesat Academy of Music.—Morse bids farewellto his children of the telegraph.

It will not be necessary to record in detail the happeningsof the remainder of this last visit to Europe.Three months were spent in Dresden, with his childrenand his sister-in-law’s family around him.The same honors were paid to him here as elsewhereon the continent. He was received in specialaudience by the King and Queen of Saxony, and men ofnote in the scientific world eagerly sought his counseland advice. But, apart from so much that wasgratifying to him, he was just then called upon tobear many trials and afflictions of various kinds anddegrees, and it is marvellous, in reading his letters,to note with what great serenity and Christian fortitude,yet withal, with what solicitude, he endeavored tobear his cross and solve his problems. As he advancedin years an increasing number of those near and dearto him were taken from him by death, and his lettersof Christian sympathy fill many pages of the letterbooks. There were trials of a domestic nature,too intimate to be revealed, which caused him deepsorrow, but which he bravely and optimistically stroveto meet. Clouds, too, obscured his financialhorizon; investments in certain mining ventures, enteredinto with high hopes, turned out a dead loss; therepayment of loans, cheerfully made to friends andrelatives, was either delayed or entirely defaulted;and, to cap the climax, the Western Union TelegraphCompany, in which most of his fortune was invested,passed one dividend and threatened to pass another.He had provided for this contingency by a deposit ofsurplus funds before his departure for Europe, buthe was fearful of the future.

In spite of all this he could not refrain from treatingthe matter lightly and humorously in a letter to Mr.E.S. Sanford of November 28, 1867, written fromDresden: “Your letter gave me both pleasureand pain. I was glad to hear some particularsof the condition of my ‘basket,’but was pained to learn that the hens’eggs instead of swelling to goose eggs, andeven to ostrich eggs (as some that laid themso enthusiastically anticipated when they were soclosely packed), have shrunk to pigeons’eggs, if not to the diminutive sparrows’.To keep up the figure, I am thankful there are anyleft not addled.”

He was all the time absorbed in the preparation ofhis report as Commissioner to the Paris Exposition,and it was, of course, a source of great gratificationto him to learn from the answers to his questionssent to the telegraph officers of the whole world,that the Morse system was practically the only onein general use. As one of his correspondentsput it—“The cry is, ‘Give usthe Morse.’”

The necessity for the completion of this work, andhis desire to give his children every advantage ofstudy, kept him longer in Europe than he had expected,and he writes to his brother Sidney on December 1,1867: “I long to return, for age creepson apace, and I wish to put my house in order fora longer and better journey to a better home.”

In the early part of February, 1868, he and his wifeand daughter and youngest son left Dresden for Paris,stopping, however, a few days in Berlin. Mr.George Bancroft was our minister at the Prussian court,and he did all that courtesy could suggest to makethe stay of his distinguished countryman a pleasantone. He urged him to stay longer, so that hemight have the pleasure of presenting him at court,but this honor Morse felt obliged to decline.The inventor did, however, find time to visit thegovernment telegraph office, of which Colonel (afterwardsGeneral) von Chauvin was the head, and here he receivedan ovation from all the operators, several hundredin number, who were seated at their instruments inwhat was then the largest operating-room in the world.

Another incident of his visit to Berlin I shall givein the words of Mr. Prime:—

“Not to recount the many tributes of esteemand respect paid him by Dr. Siemens, and other gentlemeneminent in the specialty of telegraphy, one otherunexpected compliment may be mentioned. The Professorwas presented to the accomplished General Directorof the Posts of the North German Bund, Privy Councillorvon Phillipsborn, in whose department the telegraphhad been comprised before Prussia became so great andthe centre of a powerful confederation.

“At the time of their visit the Director wasso engaged, and that, too, in another part of thePost-Amt, that the porter said it was useless to troublehim with the cards. The names had not been longsent up, however, before the Director himself camehurriedly down the corridor into the antechamber,and, scarcely waiting for the hastiest of introductions,enthusiastically grasped both the Professor’shands in his own, asking whether he had ‘thehonor of speaking to Dr. Morse,’ or, as he pronouncedit ‘Morzey.’

“When, after a brief conversation, Mr. Morserose to go, the Director said that he had just lefta conference over a new post and telegraph treatyin negotiation between Belgium and the Bund, and thatit would afford him great pleasure to be permittedto present his guest to the assembled gentlemen, includingthe Belgian Envoy and the Belgian Postmaster-General.There followed, accordingly, a formal presentationwith an introductory address by the Director, who,in excellent English, thanked Mr. Morse in the nameof Prussia and of all Germany for his great services,and speeches by the principal persons present—theBelgian envoy, Baron de Nothomb, very felicitouslycomplimenting the Professor in French.

“Succeeding the hand-shaking the Director spokeagain, and, in reply, Mr. Morse gratefully acknowledgedthe courtesy shown to him, adding: ’It isvery gratifying to me to hear you say that the Telegraphhas been and is a means of promoting peace among men.Believe me, gentlemen, my remaining days shall bedevoted to this great object.’...

“The Director then led his visitors into a small,cosily 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 receivingyou in my own private room.’

“After they were seated the host, tapping upona small table, continued: ‘Over this passedthe important telegrams of the war of 1866.’Then, approaching a large telegraph map on the wall,he added: ’Upon this you can see how invaluablewas the telegraph in the war. Here,’—pointingwith the forefinger of his right hand,—’herethe Crown Prince came down through Silesia. This,’indicating with the other forefinger a passage throughBohemia, ’was the line of march of Prince FriedrichCarl. From this station the Crown Prince telegraphedPrince Friedrich Carl, always over Berlin, “Whereare you?” The answer from this station reachedhim, also over Berlin. The Austrians were here,’placing the thumb on the map below and between thetwo fingers. ’The next day Prince FriedrichCarl comes here,’—the left forefingerjoined the thumb,—’ and telegraphsthe fact, always over Berlin, to the Crown Prince,who hurries forward here.’ The forefingerof the right hand slipped quickly under the thumb asif to pinch something, and the narrator looked upsignificantly.

“Perhaps the patriotic Director thought of theJuly afternoon when, eagerly listening at the littlemahogany-topped table, over which passed so many momentousmessages, he learned that the royal cousins had effecteda junction at Koeniggraetz, a junction that decidedthe fate of Germany and secured Prussia its presentproud position, a junction which but for his modestvisitor’s invention, the telegraph, ’alwaysover Berlin,’ would have been impossible.”

Returning to Paris with his family, he spent somemonths at the Hotel de la Place du Palais Royal, principallyin collecting all the data necessary to the completionof his report, which had been much delayed owing tothe dilatoriness of those to whom he had applied forfacts and statistics. On April 14, 1868, he saysin a letter to the Honorable John Thompson: “Pleasantas has been our European visit, with its advantagesin certain branches of education, our hearts yearnfor our American home. We can appreciate, I hope,the good in European countries, be grateful for Europeanhospitality, and yet be thorough Americans, as we allprofess to be notwithstanding the display of so manydefects which tend to disgrace us in the eyes of theworld.”

On May 18 he writes to Senator Michel Chevalier:“And now, my dear sir, farewell. I leavebeautiful Paris the day after to-morrow for my homeon the other side of the Atlantic, more deeply impressedthan ever with the grandeur of France, and the liberalityand hospitality of her courteous people, so kindlymanifested to me and mine. I leave Paris withmany regrets, for my age admonishes me that, in allprobability, I shall never again visit Europe.”

Sailing from Havre on the St. Laurent, on May 22,he and his family reached, without untoward incident,the home on the Hudson, and on June 21 he writes tohis son Arthur, who had remained abroad with his tutor:—

“You see by the date where we all are.Once more I am seated at my table in the half octagonstudy under the south verandah. Never did theGrove look more charming. Its general featuresthe same, but the growth of the trees and shrubberygreatly increased. Faithful Thomas Devoy has provedhimself to be a truly honest and efficient overseer.The whole farm is in fine condition....

“On Thursday last I was much gratified withMr. Leslie’s letter from Copenhagen, with hisaccount of your reception by the King of Denmark.How gratifying to me that the portrait of Thorwaldsenhas given such pleasure to the king, and that he regardsit as the best likeness of the great sculptor.”

The story of Morse’s presentation to the Kingof Denmark of the portrait, painted in Rome in 1831,has already been told in the first volume of thiswork. The King, as we learn from the above quotation,was greatly pleased with it, and in token of his gratificationraised Morse to the rank of Knight Commander of theDannebrog, the rank of Knight having been alreadyconferred on the inventor by the King’s predecessoron the throne.

In another letter to Colonel Leslie, of November 2,1868, brief reference is made to matters political:—

“To-morrow is the important day for decidingour next four years’ rulers. I am gladour Continental brethren cannot read our newspapersof the present day, otherwise they must infer thatour choice of rulers is made from a class more fittedfor the state’s prison than the state thrones,and elevation to a scaffold were more suited to thecharacters of the individual candidates than elevationto office. But in a few days matters will calmdown, and the business of the nation will assume itswonted aspect.

“I have not engaged in this warfare. Asa citizen I have my own views, and give my vote ongeneral principles, but am prepared to learn that myvote is on the defeated side. I presume that Grantwill be the president, and I shall defer to the decisionlike a peaceable citizen. The day after to-morrowyou will know as well as we shall the probable result.The Telegraph is telling upon the world, and its effectupon human affairs is yet but faintly appreciated.”

In this letter he also speaks of the death of hisyoungest brother, Richard C. Morse, who died at Kissingenon September 22, 1868, and in a letter to his sonArthur, of October 11, he again refers to it, and adds:“It is a sad blow to all of us but particularlyto the large circle of his children. Your twouncles and your father were a three-fold cord, stronglyunited in affection. It is now sundered.The youngest is taken first, and we that remain mustsoon follow him in the natural course of things.”

Farther on in this letter he says: “I attendedthe funeral of Mr. L—— a few weeksago. I am told that he died of a broken heartfrom the conduct of his graceless son Frank, and Ican easily understand that the course he has pursued,and his drunken habits, may have killed his fatherwith as much certainty as if he had shot him.Children have little conception of the effect of theirconduct upon their parents. They never know fullythese anxieties until they are parents themselves.”

But his skies were not all grey, for in addition tohis satisfaction in being once more at home in hisown beloved country, and in his quiet retreat on theHudson, he was soon to be the recipient of a signalmark of respect and esteem by his own countrymen,which proved that this prophet was not without honoreven in his own country.

NEW YORK, November 30th, 1868.
PROFESSOR S.F.B. MORSE, LL.D.

Sir,—Many of your countrymen and numerouspersonal friends desire to give definite expressionto the fact that this country is in full accord withEuropean nations in acknowledging your title to theposition of father of Modern Telegraphy, and at thesame time in a fitting manner to welcome you to yourhome.

They, therefore, request that you will name a dayon which you will favor them with your company ata public banquet.

With great respect we remain,
Very truly your friends.

Here follow the names of practically every man ofprominence in New York at that time.

Morse replied on December 4:—

To the Hon. Hamilton Fish, Hon. John T. Hoffman, Hon.Wm. Dennison, Hon.
A.G. Curtin, Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, Peter Cooper,Esq., Daniel Huntington,
Esq., Wm. Orton, Esq., A.A. Low, Esq., JamesBrown, Esq., Cyrus W. Field,
Esq., John J. Cisco, Esq., and others.

Gentlemen,—I have received your flatteringrequest of the 30th November, proposing the complimentof a public banquet to me, and asking me to appointa day on which it would be convenient for me to meetyou.

Did your proposal intend simply a personal complimentI should feel no hesitation in thanking you cordiallyfor this evidence of your personal regard, while Ideclined your proffered honor; but I cannot fail toperceive that there is a paramount patriotic duty connectedwith your proposal which forbids me to decline yourinvitation.

In accepting it, therefore, I would name (in viewof some personal arrangements) Wednesday the 30thinst. as the day which would be most agreeable tome.

Accept, Gentlemen, the assurance of the respect ofYour obedient servant, Samuel F.B. Morse.

The banquet was given at Delmonico’s, whichwas then on the corner of Fifth Avenue and FourteenthStreet, and was presided over by Chief Justice SalmonP. Chase, who had been the leading counsel againstMorse in his first great lawsuit, but who now cheerfullyacknowledged that to Morse and America the great inventionof the telegraph was due. About two hundred mensat down at the tables, among them some of the mosteminent in the country. Morse sat at the rightof Chief Justice Chase, and Sir Edward Thornton, BritishAmbassador, on his left. When the time for speechmakingcame, Cyrus Field read letters from President AndrewJohnson; from General Grant, President-elect; fromSpeaker Colfax, Admiral Farragut, and many others.He also read a telegram from Governor Alexander H.Bullock of Massachusetts: “Massachusettshonors her two sons—Franklin and Morse.The one conducted the lightning safely from the sky;the other conducts it beneath the ocean from continentto continent. The one tamed the lightning; theother makes it minister to human wants and human progress.”

From London came another message:—

“CYRUS W. FIELD, New York. The membersof the joint committee of the Anglo-American and AtlanticTelegraph Companies hear with pleasure of the banquetto be given this evening to Professor Morse, and desireto greet that distinguished telegraphist, and wishhim all the compliments of the season.”

Mr. Field added: “This telegram was sentfrom London at four o’clock this afternoon,and was delivered into the hands of your committeeat 12.50.” This, naturally, elicited muchapplause and laughter.

Speeches then followed by other men prominent in variouswalks of life. Sir Edward Thornton said thathe “had great satisfaction in being able tocontribute his mite of that admiration and esteem forProfessor Morse which must be felt by all for so greata benefactor of his fellow creatures and of posterity.”

Chief Justice Chase introduced the guest of the eveningin the following graceful words:—

“Many shining names will at once occur to anyone at all familiar with the history of the Telegraph.Among them I can pause to mention only those of Volta,the Italian, to whose discoveries the battery is due;Oersted, the Dane, who first discovered the magneticproperties of the electric current; Ampere and Arago,the Frenchmen, who prosecuted still further and mostsuccessfully similar researches; then Sturgeon, theEnglishman, who may be said to have made the firstelectro-magnet; next, and not least illustrious amongthese illustrious men, our countryman Henry, who firstshowed the practicability of producing electro-magneticeffects by means of the galvanic current at distancesinfinitely great; and finally Steinheil, the German,who, after the invention of the Telegraph in all itsmaterial parts was complete, taught, in 1837, theuse of the ground as part of the circuit. Theseare some of those searchers for truth whose nameswill be long held in grateful memory, and not amongthe least of their titles to gratitude and remembrancewill be the discoveries which contributed to the possibilityof the modern Telegraph.

“But these discoveries only made the Telegraphpossible. They offered the brilliant opportunity.There was needed a man to bring into being the newart and the new interest to which they pointed, andit is the providential distinction and splendid honorof the eminent American, who is our guest to-night,that, happily prepared by previous acquirements andpursuits, he was quick to seize the opportunity andgive to the world the first recording Telegraph.

“Fortunate man! thus to link his name foreverwith the greatest wonder and the greatest benefitof the age! [great applause]... I give you ’Ourguest, Professor S.F.B. Morse, the man of sciencewho explored the laws of nature, wrested electricityfrom her embrace, and made it a missionary in thecause of human progress.’”

As the venerable inventor rose from his chair, overcomewith profound emotion which was almost too great tobe controlled, the whole assembly rose with him, andcheer after cheer resounded through the hall for manyminutes. When at last quiet was restored, he addressedthe company at length, giving a resume of his strugglesand paying tribute to those who had befriended andassisted him in his time of need—to AmosKendall, who sat at the board with him and whose namecalled forth more cheers, to Alfred Vail, to LeonardGale, and, in the largeness of his heart, to F.O.J.Smith. It will not be necessary to give his remarksin full, as the history of the invention has alreadybeen given in detail in the course of this work, buthis concluding remarks are worthy of record:—

“In casting my eyes around I am most agreeablygreeted by faces that carry me back in memory to thedays of my art struggles in this city, the early daysof the National Academy of Design.

“Brothers (for you are yet brothers), if I leftyour ranks you well know it cost me a pang. Idid not leave you until I saw you well establishedand entering on that career of prosperity due to yourown just appreciation of the important duties belongingto your profession. You have an institution whichnow holds and, if true to yourselves, will continueto hold a high position in the estimation of this appreciativecommunity. If I have stepped aside from Art totread what seems another path, there is a good precedentfor it in the lives of artists. Science and Artare not opposed. Leonardo da Vinci could findcongenial relaxation in scientific researches andinvention, and our own Fulton was a painter whosescientific studies resulted in steam navigation.It may not be generally known that the important inventionof the percussion cap is due to the scientificrecreations of the English painter Shaw.

“But I must not detain you from more instructivespeech. One word only in closing. I haveclaimed for America the origination of the modernTelegraph System of the world. Impartial history,I think, will support that claim. Do not misunderstandme as disparaging or disregarding the labors and ingeniousmodifications of others in various countries employedin the same field of invention. Gladly, did timepermit, would I descant upon their great and variedmerits. Yet in tracing the birth and pedigreeof the modern Telegraph, ‘American’ isnot the highest term of the series that connects thepast with the present; there is at least one higherterm, the highest of all, which cannot and must notbe ignored. If not a sparrow falls to the groundwithout a definite purpose in the plans of infinitewisdom, can the creation of an instrumentality so vitallyaffecting the interests of the whole human race havean origin less humble than the Father of every goodand perfect gift?

“I am sure I have the sympathy of such an assemblyas is here gathered if, in all humility and in thesincerity of a grateful heart, I use the words ofinspiration in ascribing honor and praise to Him towhom first of all and most of all it is preeminentlydue. ’Not unto us, not unto us, but toGod be all the glory.’ Not what hath man,but ’What hath God wrought?’”

More applause followed as Morse took his seat, andother speeches were made by such men as ProfessorGoldwin Smith, the Honorable William M. Evarts, A.A.Low, William Cullen Bryant, William Orton, David DudleyField, the Honorable William E. Dodge, Sir Hugh Allan,Daniel Huntington, and Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania.

While many of these speeches were most eloquent andappropriate, I shall quote from only one, giving asan excuse the words of James D. Reid in his excellentwork “The Telegraph in America”: “AsMr. Huntington’s address contains some specialthoughts showing the relationship of the painter toinvention, and is, besides, a most affectionate andinteresting tribute to his beloved master, Mr. Morse,it is deemed no discourtesy to the other distinguishedspeakers to give it nearly entire.”

I shall, however, omit some portions which Mr. Reidincluded.

“In fact, however, every studio is more or lessa laboratory. The painter is a chemist delvinginto the secrets of pigments, varnishes, mixtures oftints and mysterious preparations of grounds and overlayingof colors; occult arts by which the inward light ismade to gleam from the canvas, and the warm fleshto glow and palpitate.

“The studio of my beloved master, in whose honorwe have met to-night, was indeed a laboratory.Vigorous, life-like portraits, poetic and historicgroups, occasionally grew upon his easel; but therewere many hours—yes, days—whenabsorbed in study among galvanic batteries and mysteriouslines of wires, he seemed to us like an alchemist ofthe middle ages in search of the philosopher’sstone.

“I can never forget the occasion when he calledhis pupils together to witness one of the first, ifnot the first, successful experiment with the electrictelegraph. It was in the winter of 1835-36.I can see now that rude instrument, constructed withan old stretching-frame, a wooden clock, a home-madebattery and the wire stretched many times around thewalls of the studio. With eager interest we gatheredabout it as our master explained its operation while,with a click, click, the pencil, by a succession ofdots and lines, recorded the message in cypher.The idea was born. The words circled that upperchamber as they do now the globe.

“But we had little faith. To us it seemedthe dream of enthusiasm. We grieved to see thesketch upon the canvas untouched. We longed tosee him again calling into life events in our country’shistory. But it was not to be; God’s purposeswere being accomplished, and now the world is witnessto his triumph. Yet the love of art still livesin some inner corner of his heart, and I know he cannever enter the studio of a painter and see the artistsilently bringing from the canvas forms of life andbeauty, but he feels a tender twinge, as one who catchesa glimpse of the beautiful girl he loved in his youthwhom another has snatched away.

“Finally, my dear master and father in art,allow me in this moment of your triumph in the fieldof discovery, to greet you in the name of your brotherartists with ‘All hail.’ As an artistyou might have spent life worthily in turning God’sblessed daylight into sweet hues of rainbow colors,and into breathing forms for the delight and consolationof men, but it has been His will that you should trainthe lightnings, the sharp arrows of his anger, intothe swift yet gentle messengers of Peace and Love.”

Morse’s wife and his daughter and other ladieshad been present during the speeches, but they beganto take their leave after Mr. Huntington’s address,although the toastmaster arose to announce the lasttoast, which was “The Ladies.” Sohe said: “This is the most inspiring themeof all, but the theme itself seems to be vanishingfrom us. Indeed [after a pause], has alreadyvanished. [After another pause and a glance aroundthe room.] And the gentleman who was to have respondedseems also to have vanished with his theme. Imay assume, therefore, that the duties of the eveningare performed, and its enjoyments are at an end.”

The unsought honor of this public banquet, in hisown country, organized by the most eminent men ofthe day, calling forth eulogies of him in the publicpress of the whole world, was justly esteemed by Morseas one of the crowning events of his long career;but an even greater honor was still in store for him,which will be described in due season.

The early months of 1869 were almost entirely devotedto his report as Commissioner, which was finally completedand sent to the Department of State in the latterpart of March. In this work he received greatassistance from Professor W.P. Blake, who was“In charge of publication,” and who writesto him on March 29: “I have had only a shorttime to glance at it as it was delivered towards theclose of the day, but I am most impressed by the amountof labor and care you have so evidently bestowed uponit.”

Professor Blake wrote another letter on August 21,which I am tempted to give almost in its entirety:—

“I feel it to be my duty to write to you uponanother point regarding your report, upon which Iknow that you are sensitive, but, as I think you willsee that my motives are good, and that I sincerelyexpress them, I believe you will not be offended withme although my views and opinions may not coincideexactly with yours. I allude to the mention whichyou make of some of the eminent physicists who havecontributed by their discoveries and experiments toour knowledge of the phenomena of electro-magnetism.

“On page 9 of the manuscript you observe:’The application of the electro-magnet, theinvention of Arago and Sturgeon (first combined andemployed by Morse in the construction of the generictelegraph) to the purposes also of the semaphore,etc.’

“Frankly, I am pained not to see the name ofHenry there associated with those of Arago and Sturgeon,for it is known and generally conceded among men ofscience that his researches and experiments and theresults which he reached were of radical importanceand value, and that they deservedly rank with thoseof Ampere, Arago and Sturgeon.

“I am aware that, by some unfortunate combinationof circ*mstances, the personal relations of yourselfand Professor Henry are not pleasant. I deplorethis, and it would be an intense satisfaction to meif I could be the humble means of bringing about aharmonious and honorable adjustment of the differenceswhich separate you. I write this without conferencewith Professor Henry or his friends. I do it impartially,first, in the line of my duty as editor (but not nowofficially); second, as a lover of science; third,with a patriotic desire to secure as much as justlycan be for the scientific reputation of the country;and fourth, with a desire to promote harmony betweenall who are concerned in increasing and disseminatingknowledge, and particularly between such sincere loversof truth and justice as I believe both yourself andProfessor Henry to be.

“I do not find that Professor Henry anywheremakes a claim which trenches upon your claim of firstusing the electro-magnet for writing or printing ata distance—the telegraph as distinguishedfrom the semaphore. This he cannot claim, forhe acknowledges it to be yours. You, on the otherhand, do not claim the semaphoric use of electricity.I therefore do not see any obstacle to an honorableadjustment of the differences which separate you,and which, perhaps, make you disinclined to freelyassociate Professor Henry’s name with thoseof other promoters of electrical science.

“Your report presents a fitting opportunityto effect this result. A magnanimous recognitionby you of Professor Henry’s important contributionsto the science of electro-magnetism appears to me tobe all that is necessary. They can be most appropriatelyand gracefully acknowledged in your report, and youwill gain rather than lose by so doing. Suchaction on your part would do more than anything elsecould to secure for you the good will of all men ofscience, and to hasten a universal and generous accordof all the credit for your great gift to civilizationthat you can properly desire.

“Now, my dear sir, with this frank statementof my views on this point, I accept your invitation,and will go to see you at your house to talk withyou upon this point and others, perhaps more agreeable,but if, after this expression of my inclinations,you will not deem me a welcome guest, telegraph menot to come—I will not take it unkindly.”

To this Morse replied on August 23: “Yourmost acceptable letter, with the tone and spirit ofwhich I am most gratified, is just received, for whichaccept my thanks. I shall be most happy to seeyou and freely to communicate with you on the subjectmentioned, and with the sincere desire of a satisfactoryresult.”

The visit was paid, but the details of the conversationhave not been preserved. However, we find inMorse’s report, on page 10, the following:“In 1825, Mr. Sturgeon, of England, made thefirst electro-magnet in the horseshoe form by looselywinding a piece of iron wire with a spiral of copperwire. In the United States, as early as 1831,the experimental researches of Professor Joseph Henrywere of great importance in advancing the scienceof electro-magnetism. He may be said to havecarried the electro-magnet, in its lifting powers,to its greatest perfection. Reflecting upon theprinciple of Professor Schweigger’s galvanometer,he constructed magnets in which great power could bedeveloped by a very small galvanic element. Hispublished paper in 1831 shows that he experimentedwith wires of different lengths, and he noted theamount of magnetism which could be induced throughthem at various lengths by means of batteries composedof a single element, and also of many elements.He states that the magnetic action of ’a currentfrom a trough composed of many pairs is at least notsensibly diminished by passing through a long wire,’and he incidentally noted the bearing of this factupon the project of an electro-magnetic telegraph [semaphore?].

“In more recent papers, first published in 1857,it appears that Professor Henry demonstrated beforehis pupils the practicability of ringing a bell, bymeans of electro-magnetism, at a distance.”

Whether Professor Blake was satisfied with this changefrom the original manuscript is not recorded.Morse evidently thought that he had made the amendehonorable, but Henry, coldly proud man that hewas, still held aloof from a reconciliation, for Ihave been informed that he even refused to be presentat the memorial services held in Washington afterthe death of Morse.

In a letter of May 10, 1869, to Dr. Leonard Gale,some interesting facts concerning the reading by soundare given:—

“The fact that the lever action of the earliestinstrument of 1835 by its click gave the sound ofthe numerals, as embodied in the original type, iswell known, nor is there anything so remarkable inthat result.... When you first saw the instrumentin 1836 this was so obvious that it scarcely excitedmore than a passing remark, but, after the adaptationof the dot and space, with the addition of the lineor dash, in forming the alphabetic signs (which, aswell as I can remember, was about the same date, latein 1835 or early in 1836) then I noticed that the differentletters had each their own individual sounds, and couldalso be distinguished from each other by the sound.The fact did not then appear to me to be of any greatimportance, seeming to be more curious than useful,yet, in reflecting upon it, it seemed desirable tosecure this result by specifying it in my letterspatent, lest it might be used as an evasionin indicating my novel alphabet without recording it.Hence the sounds as well as the imprinted signswere specified in my letters patent.

“As to the time when these sounds were practicallyused, I am unable to give a precise date. I havea distinct recollection of one case, and proximatelythe date of it. The time of the incident was soonafter the line was extended from Philadelphia to Washington,having a way station at Wilmington, Delaware.The Washington office was in the old post-office,in the room above it. I was in the operating room.The instruments were for a moment silent. I wasstanding at some distance near the fireplace conversingwith Mr. Washington, the operator, who was by my side.Presently one of the instruments commenced writingand Mr. Washington listened and smiled. I askedhim why he smiled. ‘Oh!’ said he,’that is Zantzinger of the Philadelphia office,but he is operating from Wilmington.’ ‘Howdo you know that?’ ’Oh! I know histouch, but I must ask him why he is in Wilmington.’He then went to the instrument and telegraphed toZantzinger at Wilmington, and the reply was that hehad been sent from Philadelphia to regulate the relaymagnet for the Wilmington operator, who was inexperiencedin operating....

“I give this instance, not because it was thefirst, but because it is one which I had speciallytreasured in my memory and frequently related as illustrativeof the practicality of reading by sound as wellas by the written record. This must have occurredabout the year 1846.”

A serious accident befell the aged inventor, now seventy-nineyears old, in July, 1869. He slipped on the stairsof his country house and fell with all his weighton his left leg, which was broken in two places.This mishap confined him to his bed for three months,and many feared that, owing to his advanced age, itwould be fatal. But, thanks to his vigorous constitutionand his temperate life, he recovered completely.He bore this affliction with Christian fortitude.In a letter to his brother Sidney, of August 14, hesays: “The healing process in my leg isvery slow. The doctor, who has just left me,condemns me to a fortnight more of close confinement.I have other troubles, for they come not singly, butall is for the best.”

Troubles, indeed, came not singly, for, in additionto sorrows of a domestic nature, his friends one byone were taken from him by death, and on November12, 1869, he writes to William Stickney, Esq., son-in-lawof Amos Kendall:—

“Although prepared by recent notices in thepapers to expect the sad news, which a telegram thismoment received announces to me, of the death of myexcellent, long-tried friend Mr. Kendall, I confessthat the intelligence has come with a shock whichhas quite unnerved me. I feel the loss as ofa father rather than of a brother in age, forhe was one in whom I confided as a father, so surewas I of affectionate and sound advice....

“I need not tell you how deeply I feel thissad bereavement. I am truly and severely bereavedin the loss of such a friend, a friend, indeed, uponwhose faithfulness and unswerving integrity I haveever reposed with perfect confidence, a confidencewhich has never been betrayed, and a friend to whoseenergy and skill, in the conduct of the agency whichI had confided to him, I owe (under God) the comparativecomfort which a kind Providence has permitted me toenjoy in my advanced age.”

In the following year he was called upon to mournthe death of still another of his good friends, for,on August 24, 1870, George Wood died very suddenlyat Saratoga.

While much of sadness and sorrow clouded the eveningof the life of this truly great man, the sun, ereit sank to rest, tinged the clouds with a glory seldomvouchsafed to a mortal, for he was to see a statueerected to him while he was yet living. Of manymen it has been said that— “Wantingbread they receive only a stone, and not even thatuntil long after they have been starved to death.”It was Morse’s good fortune not only to seethe child of his brain grow to a sturdy manhood, butto be honored during his lifetime to a truly remarkabledegree.

The project of a memorial of some sort to the Inventorof the Telegraph was first broached by Robert B. Hoover,manager of the Western Union Telegraph office, AlleghenyCity, Pennsylvania. The idea once started spreadwith the rapidity of the electric fluid itself, and,under the able management of James D. Reid, a fundwas raised, partly by dollar subscriptions largelymade by telegraph operators all over the country,including Canada, and it was decided that the testimonialshould take the form of a bronze statue to be erectedin Central Park, New York. Byron M. Pickett waschosen as the sculptor, and the Park Commission readilygranted permission to place the statue in the park.

It was at first hoped that the unveiling might takeplace on the 27th of April, 1871, Morse’s eightiethbirthday; but unavoidable delays arose, and it wasnot until the 10th of June that everything was in readiness.It was a perfect June day and the hundreds of telegraphersfrom all parts of the country, with their families,spent the forenoon in a steamboat excursion aroundthe city. In the afternoon crowds flocked to thepark where, near what is now called the “Inventor’sGate,” the statue stood in the angle betweentwo platforms for the invited guests. Morse himselfrefused to attend the ceremonies of the unveiling ofhis counterfeit presentment, as being too great astrain on his innate modesty. Some persons andsome papers said that he was present, but, as Mr. JamesD. Reid says in his “Telegraph in America,”“Mr. Morse was incapable of such an indelicacy....Men of refinement and modesty would justly have marvelledhad they seen him in such a place.”

At about four o’clock the Governor of New York,John T. Hoffman, delivered the opening address, saying,in the course of his speech: “In our daya new era has dawned. Again, for the second timein the history of the world, the power of languageis increased by human agency. Thanks to SamuelF.B. Morse men speak to one another now, thoughseparated by the width of the earth, with the lightning’sspeed and as if standing face to face. If theinventor of the alphabet be deserving of the highesthonors, so is he whose great achievement marks thisepoch in the history of language—the inventorof the Electric Telegraph. We intend, so far asin us lies, that the men who come after us shall beat no loss to discover his name for want of recordedtestimony.”

Governor Claflin, of Massachusetts, and William Orton,president of the Western Union Telegraph Company,then drew aside the drapery amidst the cheers andapplause of the multitude, while the Governor’sIsland band played the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

William Cullen Bryant, who was an early friend ofthe inventor, then presented the statue to the cityin an eloquent address, from which I shall quote thefollowing words:—

“It may be said, I know, that the civilizedworld is already full of memorials which speak themerit of our friend and the grandeur and utility ofhis invention. Every telegraphic station is sucha memorial. Every message sent from one of thesestations to another may be counted among the honorspaid to his name. Every telegraphic wire strungfrom post to post, as it hums in the wind, murmurshis eulogy. Every sheaf of wires laid down inthe deep sea, occupying the bottom of soundless abyssesto which human sight has never penetrated, and carryingthe electric pulse, charged with the burden of humanthought, from continent to continent, from the OldWorld to the New, is a testimonial to his greatness....The Latin inscription in the church of St. Paul’sin London, referring to Sir Christopher Wren, itsarchitect,—’If you would behold hismonument, look around you,’—may beapplied in a far more comprehensive sense to our friend,since the great globe itself has become his monument.”

The Mayor of New York, A. Oakey Hall, accepted thestatue in a short speech, and, after a prayer by theReverend Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., the assembled multitudejoined in singing the doxology, and the ceremoniesat the park were ended.

But other honors still awaited the venerable inventor,for, on the evening of that day, the old Academy ofMusic on Fourteenth Street was packed with a densethrong gathered together to listen to eulogies onthis benefactor of his race, and to hear him bid farewellto his children of the Telegraph. A table wasplaced in the centre of the stage on which was theoriginal instrument used on the first line from Washingtonto Baltimore. This was connected with all thelines of telegraph extending to all parts of the world.The Honorable William Orton presided, and, after theReverend Howard Crosby had opened the ceremonies withprayer, speeches were delivered by Mr. Orton, Dr.George B. Loring, of Salem, and the Reverend Dr. GeorgeW. Samson.

At nine o’clock Mr. Orton announced that alllines were clear for the farewell message of the inventorto his children; that this message would be flashedto thousands of waiting operators all over the world,and that answers would be received during the courseof the evening. The pleasant task of sendingthe message had been delegated to Miss Sadie E. Cornwell,a skilful young operator of attractive personality,and Morse himself was to manipulate the key whichsent his name, in the dots and dashes of his own alphabet,over the wires.

The vast audience was hushed into absolute silenceas Miss Cornwell clicked off the message which Morsehad composed for the occasion: “Greetingand thanks to the Telegraph fraternity throughout theworld. Glory to God in the highest, on earthpeace, good will to men.”

As Mr. Orton escorted Morse to the table a tremendousburst of applause broke out, but was silenced by agesture from the presiding officer, and again thegreat audience was still. Slowly the inventorspelled out the letters of his name, the click ofthe instrument being clearly heard in every part ofthe house, and as clearly understood by the hundredsof telegraphers present, so that without waiting forthe final dot, which typified the letter e, the wholevast assembly rose amid deafening cheers and the wavingof handkerchiefs.

It was an inspiring moment, and the venerable manwas almost overcome by his emotions, and sat for sometime with his head buried in his hands, striving toregain his self-control.

When the excitement had somewhat subsided, Mr. Ortonsaid: “Thus the Father of the Telegraphbids farewell to his children.”

The current was then switched to an instrument behindthe scenes, and answers came pouring in, first fromnear-by towns and cities, and then from New Orleans,Quebec, San Francisco, Halifax, Havana, and finallyfrom Hongkong, Bombay, and Singapore.

Mr. Reid has given a detailed account of these messagesin his “Telegraph in America,” but I shallnot pause to reproduce them here; neither shall Iquote from the eloquent speeches which followed, deliveredby General N.P. Banks, the Reverend H.M.Gallagher, G.K. Walcott, and James D. Reid.After Miss Antoinette Sterling had sung “AuldLang Syne,” to the great delight of the audience,who recalled her several times, Chief Justice CharlesP. Daly introduced Professor Morse in an appropriateaddress.

As the white-haired inventor, in whose honor thisgreat demonstration had been organized, stepped forwardto deliver his, valedictory, he was greeted with anotherround of cheering and applause. At first almostovercome by emotion, he soon recovered his self-control,and he read his address in a clear, resonant voicewhich carried to every part of the house. Theaddress was a long one, and as most of it is but arecapitulation of what has been already given, I shallonly quote from it in part:—

“Friends and children of the telegraph,—WhenI was solicited to be present this evening, in compliancewith the wishes of those who, with such zeal and success,responded to the suggestion of one of your numberthat a commemorative statue should be erected in ourunrivaled Park, and which has this day been placedin position and unveiled, I hesitated to comply.Not that I did not feel a wish in person to returnto you my heartfelt thanks for this unique proof ofyour personal regard, but truly from a fear that Icould use no terms which would adequately express myappreciation of your kindness. Whatever I saymust fall short of expressing the grateful feelingsor conflicting emotions which agitate me on an occasionso unexampled in the history of invention. Gladlywould I have shrunk from this public demonstrationwere it not that my absence to-night, under the circ*mstances,might be construed into an apathy which I do not feel,and which your overpowering kindness would justlyrebuke....

“You have chosen to impersonate in my humbleeffigy an invention which, cradled upon the ocean,had its birth in an American ship. It was nursedand cherished not so much from personal as from patrioticmotives. Forecasting its future, even at itsbirth, my most powerful stimulus to perseverance throughall the perils and trials of its early days—andthey were neither few nor insignificant—wasthe thought that it must inevitably be world-widein its application, and, moreover, that it would everywherebe hailed as a grateful American gift to the nations.It is in this aspect of the present occasion thatI look upon your proceedings as intended, not so muchas homage to an individual, as to the invention, ’whoselines [from America] have gone out through all theearth, and their words to the end of the world.’

“In the carrying-out of any plan of improvement,however grand or feasible, no single individual couldpossibly accomplish it without the aid of others.We are none of us so powerful that we can dispensewith the assistance, in various departments of thework, of those whose experience and knowledge mustsupply the needed aid of their expertness. Itis not sufficient that a brilliant project be proposed,that its modes of accomplishment are foreseen andproperly devised; there are, in every part of theenterprise, other minds and other agencies to be consultedfor information and counsel to perfect the whole plan.The Chief Justice, in delivering the decision of theSupreme Court, says: ’It can make no differencewhether he [the inventor] derives his information frombooks or from conversation with men skilled in thescience.’ And: ’The fact thatMorse sought and obtained the necessary informationand counsel from the best sources, and acted uponit, neither impairs his rights as an inventor nordetracts from his merits.’

“The inventor must seek and employ the skilledmechanician in his workshop to put the invention intopractical form, and for this purpose some pecuniarymeans 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 thehelp of the unclothed infant, and with their fundsand mechanical skill put it into a condition to appearbefore the Congress of the nation. To these NewJersey friends is due the first important aid in theprogress of the invention. Aided also by the talentand scientific skill of Professor Gale, my esteemedcolleague in the University, the Telegraph appearedin Washington in 1838, a suppliant for the means todemonstrate its power. To the Honorable F.O.J.Smith, then chairman of the House Committee of Commerce,belongs the credit of a just appreciation of the newinvention, and of a zealous advocacy of an experimentalessay, and the inditing of an admirably written reportin its favor, signed by every member of the committee....To Ezra Cornell, whose noble benefactions to his stateand the country have placed his name by the side ofCooper and Peabody high on the roll of public benefactors,is due the credit of early and effective aid in thesuperintendence and erection of the first public lineof telegraph ever established.”

After paying tribute to the names of Amos Kendall,Cyrus Field, Volta, Oersted, Arago, Schweigger, Gaussand Weber, Steinheil, Daniell, Grove, Cooke, Dana,Henry, and others, he continued:—

“There is not a name I have mentioned, and manywhom I have not mentioned, whose career in scienceor experience in mechanical and engineering and nauticaltactics, or in financial practice, might not be thetheme of volumes rather than of brief mention in anephemeral address.

“To-night you have before you a sublime proofof the grand progress of the Telegraph in its marchround the globe. It is but a few days since thatour veritable antipodes became telegraphically unitedto us. We can speak to and receive an answerin a few seconds of time from Hongkong in China, whereten o’clock to-night here is ten o’clockin the day there, and it is, perhaps, a debatablequestion whether their ten o’clock is ten to-dayor ten to-morrow. China and New York are in interlocutorycommunication. We know the fact, but can imaginationrealize the fact?

“But I must not further trespass on your patienceat this late hour. I cannot close without theexpression of my cordial thanks to my long-known,long-tried and honored friend Reid, whose unweariedlabors early contributed so effectively to the establishmentof telegraph lines, and who, in a special manner aschairman of your Memorial Fund, has so faithfully,and successfully, and admirably carried to completionyour flattering design. To the eminent Governorsof this state and the state of Massachusetts, whohave given to this demonstration their honored presence;to my excellent friend the distinguished orator ofthe day; to the Mayor and city authorities of NewYork; to the Park Commissioners; to the officers andmanagers of the various, and even rival, telegraphcompanies, 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 andincreasing family of telegraph children who have honoredme with the proud title of Father, I tender my cordialthanks.”

CHAPTER XL

JUNE 14, 1871—APRIL 16, 1872

Nearing the end.—Estimate of the ReverendF.B. Wheeler.—Early poem.—Leaves “Locust Grove” for last time.—Deathof his brother Sidney.— Letter to CyrusField on neutrality of telegraph.—Letterof F.O.J. Smith to H.J. Rogers.—Replyby Professor Gale.—Vicious attack by F.O.J.Smith.—Death prevents reply by Morse.—Unveilsstatue of Franklin in last public appearance.—Lasthours.—Death.—Tributes of JamesD. Reid, New York “Evening Post,” NewYork “Herald,” and Louisville “Courier-Journal.”—Funeral.—Monumentin Greenwood Cemetery.—Memorial servicesin House of Representatives, Washington.—Addressof James G. Blaine.—Other memorial services.—Mr.Prime’s review of Morse’s character.—Epilogue.

The excitement caused by all these enthusiastic demonstrationsin his honor told upon the inventor both physicallyand mentally, as we learn from a letter of June 14,1871, to his daughter Mrs. Lind and her husband:—

“So fatigued that I can scarcely keep my eyesopen, I nevertheless, before retiring to my bed, mustdrop you a line of enquiry to know what is your condition.We have only heard of your arrival and of your firstunfavorable impressions. I hope these latter areremoved, and that you are both benefiting by changeof air and the waters of the Clifton Springs.

“You know how, in the last few days, we haveall been overwhelmed with unusual cares. Thegrand ceremonies of the Park and the Academy of Musicare over, but have left me in a good-for-nothing condition.Everything went off splendidly, indeed, as you willlearn from the papers.... I find it more difficultto bear up with the overwhelming praise that is pouredout without measure, than with the trials of my formerlife. There is something so remarkable in thisuniversal laudation that the effect on me, strangeas it may seem, is rather depressing than exhilarating.

“When I review my past life and see the wayin which I have been led, I am so convinced of thefaithfulness of God in answer to the prayers of faith,which I have been enabled in times of trial to offerto Him, that I find the temper of my mind is to constantpraise: ’Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, andforget not all his benefits!’ is ever recurringto me. It is doubtless this continued referringall to Him that prevents this universal demonstrationof kindly feeling from puffing me up with the falsenotion that I am anything but the feeblest of instruments.I cannot give you any idea of the peculiar feelingswhich gratify and yet oppress me.”

He had planned to cross the ocean once more, partlyas a delegate to Russia from the Evangelical Alliance,and partly to see whether it would not be possibleto induce Prussia and Switzerland and other Europeannations, from whom he had as yet received no pecuniaryremuneration, to do him simple justice. But,for various reasons, this trip was abandoned, andfrom those nations he never received anything but medalsand praise.

So the last summer of the aged inventor’s lifewas spent at his beloved Locust Grove, not free fromcare and anxiety, as he so well deserved, but nevertheless,thanks to his Christian philosophy, in comparativeserenity and happiness. His pastor in Poughkeepsie,the Reverend F.B. Wheeler, says of him in a letterto Mr. Prune: “In his whole character andin all his relations he was one of the most remarkablemen of his age. He was one who drew all who camein 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 everconsiderate and kind, never exacting and harsh, buthonorable and just, seeking the good of every dependent;in the community he was a pillar of strength and beauty,commanding the homage of universal respect; in theChurch he walked with God and men.”

That he was a man of great versatility has been shown,in the recital of his activities as artist, inventor,and writer; that he had no mean ability as a poetis also on record. On January 6, 1872, he saysin a letter to his cousin, Mrs. Thomas R. Walker:“Some years ago, when both of us were younger,I remember addressing to you a trifle entitled ’TheSerenade,’ which, on being shown to Mr. Verplanck,was requested for publication in the ‘Talisman,’edited and conducted by him and Mr. Sands. Ihave not seen a copy of that work for many years, andhave preserved no copy of ‘The Serenade.’If you have a copy I should be pleased to have it.”

He was delicately discreet in saying “some yearsago,” for this poem was written in 1827 as theresult of a wager between Morse and his young cousin,he having asserted that he could write poetry as wellas paint pictures, and requesting her to give hima theme. It seems that the young lady had beenpaid the compliment of a serenade a few nights previously,but she had, most unromantically, slept through itall, so she gave as her theme “The Serenade,”and the next day Morse produced the following poem:—

THE SERENADE

Haste! ’t is 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.
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 you 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,
’T is sighing of the forest pines;
Or ’t is the fitful, varied war
Of distant falls or troubled shore.
Now, as the tone grows full or sharp,
’T is whispering of the AEolian harp.
The viol swells, now low, now loud,
’T is spirits chanting on a cloud
That passes by. It dies away;
So gently dies she scarce can say
’T is gone; listens; ’t is lost she fears;
Listens, and thinks again she hears.
As dew drops mingling in a stream
To her ’t is all one blissful dream,
A song of angels throned in light.
Softly! Away! Fair one, good-night.

In the autumn of 1871 Morse returned with his familyto New York, and it is recorded that, with an apparentpremonition that he should never see his beloved LocustGrove again, he ordered the carriage to stop as hedrove out of the gate, and, standing up, looked longand lovingly at the familiar scene before tellingthe coachman to drive on. And as he passed therural cemetery on the way to the station he exclaimed:“Beautiful! beautiful! but I shall not lie there.I have prepared a place elsewhere.”

Not long after his return to the city death once morelaid its heavy hand upon him in the loss of his solesurviving brother, Sidney. While this was a crushingblow, for these two brothers had been peculiarly attachedto each other, he bore it with Christian resignation,confident that the separation would be for a shorttime only—“We must soon follow, Ialso am over eighty years, and am waiting till mychange comes.”

But his mind was active to the very end, and he neverceased to do all in his power for the welfare of mankind.One of the last letters written by him on a subjectof public importance was sent on December 4, 1871,to Cyrus Field, who was then attending an importanttelegraphic convention in Rome:—

“Excuse my delay in writing you. The excitementoccasioned by the visit of the Grand Duke Alexis hasbut just ceased, and I have been wholly engrossedby the various duties connected with his presence.I have wished for a few calm moments to put on papersome thoughts respecting the doings of the great TelegraphicConvention to which you are a delegate.

“The Telegraph has now assumed such a marvellousposition in human affairs throughout the world, itsinfluences are so great and important in all the variedconcerns of nations, that its efficient protectionfrom injury has become a necessity. It is a powerfuladvocate for universal peace. Not that of itselfit can command a ‘Peace, be still!’ tothe angry waves of human passions, but that, by itsrapid interchange of thought and opinion, it givesthe opportunity of explanations to acts and to lawswhich, in their ordinary wording, often create doubtand suspicion. Were there no means of quick explanationit is readily seen that doubt and suspicion, workingon the susceptibilities of the public mind, wouldengender misconception, hatred and strife. Howimportant then that, in the intercourse of nations,there should be the ready means at hand for promptcorrection and explanation.

“Could there not be passed in the great InternationalConvention some resolution to the effect that, inwhatever condition, whether of Peace or War betweenthe nations, the Telegraph should be deemed a sacredthing, to be by common consent effectually protectedboth on the land and beneath the waters?

“In the interest of human happiness, of that‘Peace on Earth’ which, in announcingthe advent of the Saviour, the angels proclaimed with’good will to men,’ I hope that the conventionwill not adjourn without adopting a resolution askingof the nations their united, effective protectionto this great agent of civilization.”

Richly as he deserved that his sun should set in anunclouded sky, this was not to be. Sorrows ofa most intimate nature crowded upon him. He wasalso made the victim of a conscienceless swindler whofleeced him of many thousand dollars, and, to crownall, his old and indefatigable enemy, F.O.J.Smith, administered a cowardly thrust in the back whenhis weakening powers prevented him from defendinghimself with his oldtime vigor. From a very longletter written by Smith on December 11, 1871, to HenryJ. Rogers in Washington, I shall quote only the firstsentences:—

Dear Sir,—In my absence your letter ofthe 11th ult. was received here, with the printedcircular of the National Monumental Society, in replyto which I feel constrained to say if that highlylaudable association resolves “to erect at thenational capital of the United States a memorial monument”to symbolize in statuary of colossal proportions the“history of the electromagnetic telegraph,”before that history has been authentically written,it is my conviction: that the statue most worthyto stand upon the pedestal of such monument would bethat of the man of true science, who explored thelaws of nature ahead of all other men, and was “thefirst to wrest electron-magnetism from Nature’sembrace and make it a missionary to, the cause ofhuman progress,” and that man is Professor JosephHenry, of the Smithsonian Institution.

Professor Morse and his early coadjutors would moreappropriately occupy, in groups of high relief, thesides of that pedestal, symbolizing, by their establishedmerits and cooperative works, the grandeur of theresearches and resulting discoveries of their leaderand chief, who was the first to announce and to demonstrateto a despairing world, by actual mechanical agencies,the practicability of; an electro-magnetic telegraphthrough any distances.

Much more of the same flatulent bombast follows whichit will not be necessary to introduce here. WhileMorse himself naturally felt some delicacy in noticingsuch an attack as this, he found a willing, and efficientchampion in his old friend (and the friend of Henryas well) Professor Leonard D. Gale, who writes tohim on January 22, 1872:—

“I have lately seen a mean, unfair, and villainousletter of F.O.J. Smith, addressed to H.J.Rogers (officer of the Morse Monumental Association),alleging that the place on the monument designed tobe occupied by the statue of Morse, should be awardedto Henry; that Morse was not a scientific man, etc.,etc. It was written in his own peculiarstyle. The allegations were so outrageous thatI felt it my duty to reply to it without delay.As Smith’s letter was to Rogers, as an officerof the Association, I sent my reply to the same person.I enclose a copy herewith.

“Mrs. Gale suggests an additional figure tothe group on the monument—a serpent withthe face of F.O.J.S., biting the heel of Morse, butwith the fangs extracted.”

Professor Gale’s letter to Henry J. Rogers isworthy of being quoted in full:—

“I have just read a letter from F.O.J.Smith, dated December 11, 1871, addressed to you,and designed to throw discredit on Morse’s inventionof the Telegraph, the burden of which seems to berebuke to the designer of the monument, for elevatingMorse to the apex of the monument and claiming forProfessor J. Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution,that high distinction.

“The first question of an impartial inquireris: ’To which of these gentlemen is thehonor due?’ To ascertain this we will ask a secondquestion: ’Was the subject of the inventiona machine, or was it a new fact in science?’The answer is: ‘It was a machine.’The first was Morse’s, the latter was Henry’s.Henry stated that electric currents might be sentthrough long distances applicable to telegraphic purposes.Morse took the facts as they then existed, inventeda machine, harnessed the steed therein, and set thecreature to work. There is honor due to Henryfor his great discovery of the scientific principle;there is honor also due to Morse for his inventionof the ingenious machine which accomplishes the work.

“Men of science regard the discovery of a newfact in science as a higher attainment than the applicationof it to useful purposes, while the world at largeregards the application of the principle orfact in science to the useful arts as of paramountimportance. All honor to the discoverer of anew fact in science; equal honor to him who utilizesthat fact for the benefit of mankind.

“Has the world forgotten what Robert Fultondid for the navigation of the waters by steamboats?It was he who first applied steam to propel a vesseland navigated the Hudson for the first time with steamand paddle-wheels and vessel in 1807. Do notwe honor him as the Father of steamboats? YetFulton did not invent steam, nor the steam-engine,nor paddle-wheels, nor the vessel. He merelyadapted a steam-engine to a vessel armed with paddle-wheels.The combination was his invention.

“There is another example on record. CyrusH. McCormick, the Father of the Reaping and MowingMachine, took out the first successful patent in 1837,and is justly acknowledged the world over as the inventorof this great machine. Although one hundred andforty-six patents were granted in England previousto McCormick’s time, they are but so many unsuccessfulefforts to perfect a practical machine. The cuttingapparatus, the device to raise and lower the cutters,the levers, the platform, the wheels, the framework,had all been used before McCormick’s time.But McCormick was the first genius able to put theseseparate devices together in a practical, harmoniousoperation. The combination was his invention.

“Morse did more. He invented the form ofthe various parts of his machine as well as theircombination; he was the first to put such a machineinto practical operation; and for such a purpose whocan question his title as the Inventor of the ElectricTelegraph?”

To the letter of Professor Gale, Morse replied onJanuary 25:—

“Thank you sincerely for your effective interferencein my favor in the recent, but not unexpected, attackof F.O.J.S. I will, so soon as I can free myselffrom some very pressing matters, write you more fullyon the subject. Yet I can add nothing to yourperfectly clear exposition of the difference betweena discovery of a principle in science and its applicationto a useful purpose. As for Smith’s suggestionof putting Henry on the top of the proposed monument,I can hardly suppose Professor H. would feel muchgratification on learning the character of his zealousadvocate. It is simply a matter of spite; carryingout his intense and smothered antipathy to me, andnot for any particular regard for Professor H.

“As I have had nothing to do with the proposedmonument, I have no feeling on the subject. Ifthey who have the direction of that monument thinkthe putting of Professor H. on the apex will meet theapplause of the public, including the expressed opinionof the entire world, by all means put him there.I certainly shall make no complaint.”

The monument was never erected, and this effort ofSmith’s to humiliate Morse proved abortive.But his spite did not end there, as we learn fromthe following letter written by Morse on February 26,1872, to the Reverend Aspinwall Hodge, of Hartford,Connecticut, the husband of one of his nieces:—

“Some unknown person has sent me the advancesheets of a work (the pages between 1233 and 1249)publishing in Hartford, the title of which is notgiven, but I think is something like ’The GreatIndustries of the United States.’ The pagessent me are entitled ’The American MagneticTelegraph.’ They contain the most atrociousand vile attack upon me which has ever appeared inprint. I shall be glad to learn who are the publishersof this work, what are the characters of the publishers,and whether they will give me the name or names ofthe author or authors of this diatribe, and whetherthey vouch for the character of those who furnishedthe article for their work.

“I know well enough, indeed, who the libellersare and their motives, which arise from pure spiteand revenge for having been legally defeated partiesin cases relating to the Telegraph before the courts.To you I can say the concocters of this tirade areF.O.J. Smith, of bad notoriety, and Henry O’Reilly.

“Are the publishers responsible men, and arethey aware of the character of those who have giventhem that article, particularly the moral characterof Smith, notorious for his debaucheries and condemnedin court for subornation of perjury, and one of themost revengeful men, who has artfully got up thistirade because my agent, the late Honorable Amos Kendall,was compelled to resist his unrighteous claim uponme for some $25,000 which, after repeated trials lastingsome twelve years, was at length, by a decision ofthe Supreme Court of the United States, decided againsthim, and he was adjudged to owe me some $14,000?

“Mr. Kendall, previous to his decease, managedthe case which has thus resulted. The necessityof seizing some property of his in the city of Williamsburg,through the course of the legal proceedings, has arousedhis revengeful feelings, and he has openly threatenedthat he would be revenged upon me for it, and he hasfor two or three years past with O’Reilly beenconcocting this mode of revenge.

“If the publishers are respectable men, I thinkthey will regret that they have been the dupes ofthese arch conspirators. If not too late to suppressthat article I should be glad of an interview withthem, in which I will satisfy them that they havebeen most egregiously imposed upon.”

This was the last flash of that old fire which, whenhe was sufficiently aroused by righteous indignationat unjust attacks, had enabled him to strike out vigorouslyin self-defense, and had won him many a victory.He was now nearing the end of his physical resources.He had fought the good fight and he had no misgivingsas to the verdict of posterity on his achievements.He could fight no more, willing and mentally able thoughhe was to confound his enemies again. He mustleave it to others to defend his fame and good namein the future. The last letter which was copiedinto his letter-press book was written on March 14,not three weeks before the last summons came to him,and it refers to his old enemy who thus pursued himeven to the brink of the grave. It is addressedto F.J. Mead, Esq.:—

“Although forbidden to read or write by my physician,who finds me prostrate with a severe attack of neuralgiain the head, I yet must thank you for your kind letterof the 12th inst.

“I should be much gratified to know what partProfessor Henry has taken, if any, in this atrociousand absurd attack of F.O.J.S. I have no fearsof the result, but no desire either to suspect anyagency on the part of Professor Henry. It isdifficult for me to conceive that a man in his positionshould not see the true position of the matter.”

This vicious attack had no effect upon his fame.Dying as soon as it was born, choked by its own venom,it was overwhelmed by the wave of sorrow and sympathywhich swept over the earth at the announcement of thedeath of the great inventor.

His last public appearance was on January 17, 1872,when he, in company with Horace Greeley, unveiledthe statue of Benjamin Franklin in Printing HouseSquare, New York. It was a very cold day, but,against the advice of his physician and his family,he insisted on being present. As he drove upin his carriage and, escorted by the committee, ascendedto the platform, he was loudly cheered by the multitudewhich had assembled. Standing uncovered in thebiting air, he delivered the following short address:—

“MR. DE GROOT AND FELLOW-CITIZENS,—Iesteem it one of my highest honors that I should havebeen designated to perform the office of unveilingthis day the fine statue of our illustrious and immortalFranklin. When requested to accept this dutyI was confined to my bed, but I could not refuse,and I said: ‘Yes, if I have to be liftedto the spot!’

“Franklin needs no eulogy from me. No onehas more reason to venerate his name than myself.May his illustrious example of devotion to the interestof universal humanity be the seed of further fruitfor the good of the world.”

Morse was to have been an honored guest at the banquetin the evening, where in the speeches his name wascoupled with that of Franklin as one of the greatbenefactors of mankind; but, yielding to the wishesof his family, he remained at home. He had allhis life been a sufferer from severe headaches, andnow these neuralgic pains increased in severity, nodoubt aggravated by his exposure at the unveiling.When the paroxysms were upon him he walked the floorin agony, pressing his hands to his temples; but theseseizures were, mercifully, not continuous, and hestill wrote voluminous letters, and tried to solvethe problems which were thrust upon him, even to theend.

One of the last acts of his life was to go down townwith his youngest son, whose birthday was the 29thof March, to purchase for him his first gold watch,and that watch the son still carries, a precious mementoof his father.

Gradually the pains in the head grew less severe,but great weakness followed, and he was compelledto keep to his bed, sinking into a peaceful, painlessunconsciousness relieved by an occasional flash ofhis old vigor. To his pastor, Reverend Dr. WilliamAdams, he expressed his gratitude for the goodnessof God to him, but added: “The best is yetto come.” He roused himself on the 29thof March, the birthday of his son, kissing him andgazing with pleasure on a drawing sent to the boy byhis cousin, Mary Goodrich, pronouncing it excellent.

Shortly before the end pneumonia set in, and one ofthe attending physicians, tapping on his chest, said“This is the way we doctors telegraph”;and the dying man, with a momentary gleam of the oldhumor lighting up his fading eyes, whispered, “Verygood.” These were the last words spokenby him.

From a letter written by one who was present at hisbedside to another member of the family I shall quotea few words: “He is fast passing away.It is touching to see him so still, so unconsciousof all that is passing, waiting for death. Hehas suffered much with neuralgia of the head, increasedof late by a miserable pamphlet by F.O.J.S. Poordear man! Strange that they could not leave himin peace in his old age. But now all sorrow isforgotten. He lies quiet infant. Heaven isopening to him with its peace and perfect rest.The doctor calls his sickness ‘exhaustion ofthe brain.’ He looks very handsome; thelight of Heaven seems shining on his beautiful eyes.”

On April 1, consciousness returned for a few momentsand he recognized his wife and those around him witha smile, but without being able to speak. Thenhe gradually sank to sleep and on the next day he gentlybreathed his last.

His faithful and loving friend, James D. Reid, inthe Journal of the Telegraph, of which he was editor,paid tribute to his memory in the following touchingwords:—

“In the ripeness and mellow sunshine of theend of an honored and protracted life Professor Morse,the father of the American Telegraph system, our ownbeloved friend and father, has gone to his rest.The telegraph, the child of his own brain, has longsince whispered to every home in all the civilizedworld that the great inventor has passed away.Men, as they pass each other on the street, say, withthe subdued voice of personal sorrow, ‘Morseis dead.’ Yet to us he lives. If heis dead it is only to those who did not know him.

“It is not the habit of ardent affection tobe garrulous in the excitement of such an occasionas this. It would fain gaze on the dead facein silence. The pen, conscious of its weakness,hesitates in its work of endeavoring to reveal thatwhich the heart can alone interpret in a languagesacred to itself, and by tears no eye may ever see.For such reason we, who have so much enjoyed the sweetnessof the presence of this venerable man, now so calmin his last sacred sleep, to whom he often came, withhis cheerful and gentle ways, as to a son, so confidingof his heart’s tenderest thoughts, so free inthe expression of his hopes of the life beyond, finddifficulty in making the necessary record of his decease.We can only tell what the world has already known bythe everywhere present wires, that, on the eveningof Tuesday, April 2, Professor Morse, in the beautifulserenity of Christian hope, after a life extendedbeyond fourscore years, folded his hands upon his breastand bade the earth, and generation, and nation he hadhonored, farewell.”

In the “Evening Post,” probably from thepen of his old friend William Cullen Bryant, was thefollowing:—

“The name of Morse will always stand in theforemost rank of the great inventors, each of whomhas changed the face of society and given a new directionto the growth of civilization by the application tothe arts of one great thought. It will alwaysbe read side by side with those of Gutenberg and Schoeffer,or Watt and Fulton. This eminence he fairly earnedby one splendid invention. But none who knew theman will be satisfied to let this world-wide and forevergrowing monument be the sole record of his greatness.

“Had he never thought of the telegraph he wouldstill receive, in death, the highest honors friendshipand admiration can offer to distinguished and variedabilities, associated with a noble character.In early life he showed the genius of a truly greatartist. In after years he exercised all the powersof a masterly scientific investigator. Throughouthis career he was eminent for the loftiness of hisaims, for his resolute faith in the strength of truth,for his capacity to endure and to wait; and for hisfidelity alike to his convictions and to his friends.

“His intellectual eminence was limited to noone branch of human effort, but, in the judgment ofmen who knew him best, he had endowments which mighthave made him, had he not been the chief of inventors,the most powerful of advocates, the boldest and mosteffective of artists, the most discerning of scientificphysicians, or an administrative officer worthy ofthe highest place and of the best days in Americanhistory.”

The New York “Herald” said:—

“Morse was, perhaps, the most illustrious Americanof his age. Looking over the expanse of the ages,we think more earnestly and lovingly of Cadmus, whogave us the alphabet; of Archimedes, who invented thelever; of Euclid, with his demonstrations in geometry;of Faust, who taught us how to print; of Watt, withhis development of steam, than of the resonant oratorswho inflamed the passions of mankind, and the gallantchieftains who led mankind to war. We decoratehistory with our Napoleons and Wellingtons, but itwas better for the world that steam was demonstratedto be an active, manageable force, than that a FrenchEmperor and his army should win the battle of Austerlitz.And when a Napoleon of peace, like the dead Morse,has passed away, and we come to sum up his life, wegladly see that the world is better, society moregenerous and enlarged, and mankind nearer the ultimatefulfillment of its earthly mission because he lived;and did the work that was in him.”

The Louisville “Courier-Journal” wenteven higher in its praise:—

“If it is legitimate to measure a man by themagnitude of his achievements, the greatest man ofthe nineteenth century is dead. Some days agothe electric current brought us the intelligence thatS.F.B. Morse was smitten with, paralysis.Since then it has brought us the bulletins of hiscondition as promptly as if we had been living in thesame square, entertaining us with hopes which the mournfulsequel has proven to be delusive, for the magic wireshave just thrilled with the tidings to all nationsthat the father of telegraphy has passed to the eternalworld. Almost as quietly as the all-seeing eyesaw the soul depart from that venerable form, mortalmen, thousands of miles distant, are apprised of thesame fact by the swift messenger which he won fromthe unknown—speaking, as it goes aroundits world-wide circuit, in all the languages of earth.

“Professor Morse took no royal road to thisdiscovery. Indeed it is never a characteristicof genius to seek such roads. He was dependent,necessarily, upon facts and principles brought to lightby similar diligent, patient minds which had gonebefore him. Volta, Galvani, Morcel, Grove, Faraday,Franklin, and a host of others had laid a basis oflaws and theories upon which he humbly and reverentlymounted and arranged his great problem for the hoped-forsolution. But to him was reserved the sole, undividedglory of discovering the priceless gem, ‘richerthan all its tribe,’ which lay just beneath thesurface, and around which so many savans hadblindly groped.

“He is dead, but his mission was fully completed.It has been no man’s fortune to leave behindhim a more magnificent legacy to earth, or a moreabsolute title to a glorious immortality. To thehonor of being one of the most distinguished benefactorsof the human race, he added the personal and socialgraces and virtues of a true gentleman and a Christianphilosopher; The memory of his private worth will bekept green amid the immortals of sorrowing friendshipfor a lifetime only, but his life monument will endureamong men as long as the human race exists upon earth.”

The funeral services were held on Friday, April 5,at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church. Ateleven o’clock the long procession entered thechurch in the following order:—

Rev. Wm. Adams, D.D., Rev. F.B. Wheeler, D.D.

COFFIN.

PALL-BEARERS.

William Orton, Cyrus W. Field,
Daniel Huntington, Charles Butler,
Peter Cooper, John A. Dix,
Cambridge Livingston, Ezra Cornell.

The Family.

Governor Hoffman and Staff.
Members of the Legislature.
Directors of the New York, Newfoundland and LondonTelegraph Company.
Directors of the Western Union Telegraph Company andofficers and
operators.
Members of the National Academy of Design.
Members of the Evangelical Alliance.
Members of the Chamber of Commerce.
Members of the Association for the Advancement ofScience 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,
Samuel J. Tilden, Severn D. Moulton andJohn Simpson.

The funeral address, delivered by Dr. Adams, was longand eloquent, and near the conclusion he said:—

“To-day we part forever with all that is mortalof that man who has done so much in the cause of Christiancivilization. Less than one year ago his fellow-citizens,chiefly telegraphic operators, who loved him as childrenlove a father, raised his statue in Central Park.To-day all we can give him is a grave. That venerableform, that face so saintly in its purity and refinement,we shall see no more. How much we shall miss himin our homes, our churches, in public gatherings, inthe streets and in society which he adorned and blessed.But his life has been so useful, so happy and so completethat, for him, nothing remains to be wished.Congratulate the man who, leaving to his family, friendsand country a name spotless, untarnished, belovedof nations, to be repeated in foreign tongues andby sparkling seas, has died in the bright and blessedhope of everlasting life.

“Farewell, beloved friend, honored citizen,public benefactor, good and faithful servant!”

The three Morse brothers were united in death as theyhad been in life. In Greenwood Cemetery a littlehill had been purchased by the brothers and dividedinto three equal portions. On the summit of thehill there now stands a beautiful three-sided monument,and at its base reposes all that is mortal of thesethree upright men, each surrounded by those whom theyhad loved on earth, and who have now joined them intheir last resting place.

Resolutions of sympathy came to the family from allover the world, and from bodies political, scientific,artistic, and mercantile, and letters of condolencefrom friends and from strangers.

In the House of Representatives, in Washington, theHonorable S.S. Cox offered a concurrent resolution,declaring that Congress has heard—“withprofound regret of the death of Professor Morse, whosedistinguished and varied abilities have contributedmore than those of any other person to the developmentand progress of the practical arts, and that his purityof private life, his loftiness of scientific aims,and his resolute faith in truth, render it highlyproper that the Representatives and Senators shouldsolemnly testify to his worth and greatness.”

This was unanimously agreed to. The HonorableFernando Wood, after a brief history of the legislationwhich resulted in the grant of $30,000 to enable Morseto test his invention, added that he was proud to saythat his name had been recorded in the affirmativeon that historic occasion, and that he was then theonly living member of either house who had so voted.

Similar resolutions were passed in the Senate, anda committee was appointed by both houses to arrangefor a suitable memorial service, and, on April 9,the following letter was sent to Mrs. Morse by A.S.Solomons, Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements:—

DEAR MADAM,—Congress and the citizens ofWashington purpose holding memorial services in honorof your late respected husband in the Hall of theHouse of Representatives, on Tuesday evening next,the 16th of April, and have directed me to requestthat yourself and family become the guests of thenation on that truly solemn occasion. If agreeable,be good enough to inform me when you will likely behere.

The widow was not able to accept this graceful invitation,but members of the family were present.

The Hall was crowded with a representative audience.James G. Blaine, Speaker of the House, presided, assistedby Vice-President Colfax. President Grant andhis Cabinet, Judges of the Supreme Court, Governorsof States, and other dignitaries were present in personor by proxy. In front of the main gallery anoil portrait of Morse had been placed, and aroundthe frame was inscribed the historic first message:“What hath God wrought.”

After the opening prayer by Dr. William Adams, SpeakerBlaine said:—

“Less than thirty years ago a man of geniusand learning was an earnest petitioner before Congressfor a small pecuniary aid that enabled him to testcertain occult theories of science which he had laboriouslyevolved. To-night the representatives of fortymillion people assemble in their legislative hallto do homage and honor to the name of ‘Morse.’Great discoverers and inventors rarely live to witnessthe full development and perfection of their mightyconceptions, but to him whose death we now mourn,and whose fame we celebrate, it was, in God’sgood providence, vouchsafed otherwise. The littlethread of wire, placed as a timid experiment betweenthe national capital and a neighboring city, grew andlengthened and multiplied with almost the rapidityof the electric current that darted along its ironnerves, until, within his own lifetime, continentwas bound unto continent, hemisphere answered throughocean’s depths unto hemisphere, and an encircledglobe flashed forth his eulogy in the unmatched elementsof a grand achievement.

“Charged by the House of Representatives withthe agreeable and honorable duty of presiding here,and of announcing the various participants in theexercises of the evening, I welcome to this hall thosewho join with us in this expressive tribute to thememory and to the merit of a great man.”

After Mr. Blaine had concluded his remarks the exerciseswere conducted as follows:—

Resolutions by the Honorable C.C. Cox, M.D.,of Washington, D.C.

Address by the Honorable J.W. Patterson, of NewHampshire.

Address by the Honorable Fernando Wood, of New York.

Vocal music by the Choral Society of Washington.

Address by the Honorable J.A. Garfield, of Ohio.

Address by the Honorable S.S. Cox, of New York.

Address by the Honorable N.P. Banks, of Massachusetts.

Vocal music by the Choral Society of Washington.

Benediction by the Reverend Dr. Wheeler of Poughkeepsie.

Once again the invention which made him famous paidmarvellous tribute to the man of science. Whileless than a year before, joyous messages of congratulationhad flashed over the wires from the four quarters ofthe globe, to greet the living inventor, now camewords of sorrow and condolence from Europe, Asia,Africa, and America mourning that inventor dead, andagain were they read to a wondering audience by thatother man of indomitable perseverance, Cyrus W. Field.

On the same evening memorial services were held inFaneuil Hall, Boston, at which the mayor of the citypresided, and addresses were made by Josiah Quincy,Professor E.N. Horsford, the Honorable RichardH. Dana, and others.

Other cities all over the country, and in foreignlands, held commemorative services, and every telegraphoffice in the country was draped in mourning, in sadremembrance of him whom all delighted to call “Father.”

Mr. Prime, in his closing review of Morse’scharacter, uses the following words:—

“It is not given to mortals to leave a perfectexample for the admiration and imitation of posterity,but it is safe to say that the life and characterof few men, whose history is left on record, affordless opportunity for criticism than is found in theconspicuous career of the Inventor of the Telegraph.

“Having followed him step by step from the birthto the grave, in public, social and private relations;in struggles with poverty, enemies and wrongs; incourts of law, the press and halls of science; havingseen him tempted, assailed, defeated, and again invictory, honor and renown; having read thousands ofhis private letters, his essays and pamphlets, andvolumes in which his claims are canvassed, his meritsdiscussed and his character reviewed; having had accessto his most private papers and confidential correspondence,in which all that is most secret and sacred in thelife of man is hid—it is right to say that,in this mass of testimony by friends and foes, thereis not a line that requires to be erased or changedto preserve the lustre of his name....

“It was the device and purpose of those whosought to rob him of his honors and his rights todepreciate his intellectual ability and his scientificattainments. But among all the men of scienceand of learning in the law, there was not one whowas a match for him when he gave his mind to a subjectwhich required his perfect mastery....

“He drew up the brief with his own hand forone of the distinguished counsel in a great lawsuitinvolving his patent rights, and his lawyer said itwas the argument that carried conviction to every unprejudicedmind.

“Such was the versatility and variety of hismental endowments that he would have been great inany department of human pursuits. His wonderfulrapidity of thought was associated with patient, ploddingperseverance, a combination rare but mightily effective.He leaped to a possible conclusion, and then slowlydeveloped the successive steps by which the end wasgained and the result made secure. He coveredthousands of pages with his pencil notes, annotatedlarge and numerous volumes, filled huge folios withvaluable excerpts from newspapers, illustrated processesof thought with diagrams, and was thus fortified andenriched with stores of knowledge and masses of facts,so digested, combined and arranged, that he had themat his easy command to defend the past or to help himonward to fresh conquests in the fields of truth.Yet such was his modesty and reticence in regard tohimself that none outside of his household were awareof his resources, and his attainments were only knownwhen displayed in self-defense. Then they neverfailed to be ample for the occasion, as every opponenthad reason to remember.

“Yet he was gentle as he was great. Manythought him weak because he was simple, childlikeand unworldly. Often he suffered wrong ratherthan resist, and this disposition to yield was frequentlyhis loss. The firmness, tenacity and perseverancewith which he fought his foes were the fruits of hisintegrity, principle and profound convictions of rightand duty.... His nature was a rare combinationof solid intellect and delicate sensibility.Thoughtful, sober and quiet, he readily entered intothe enjoyments of domestic and social life, indulgingin sallies of humor, and readily appreciating andgreatly enjoying the wit of others. Dignifiedin his intercourse with men, courteous and affablewith the gentler sex, he was a good husband, a judiciousfather, a generous and faithful friend.

“He had the misfortune to incur the hostilityof men who would deprive him of his merit and thereward of his labors. But this is the commonfate of great inventors. He lived until his rightswere vindicated by every tribunal to which they couldbe referred, and acknowledged by all civilized nations,and he died leaving to his children a spotless andillustrious name, and to his country the honor of havinggiven birth to the only Electro-Magnetic RecordingTelegraph whose line is gone out through all the earth,and its words to the end of the world.”

And now my pleasant task is ended. After thelapse of so many years it has been possible for meto introduce much more evidence of a personal nature,to reveal the character of those with whom Morse hadto contend, than would have been discreet or judiciousduring the lifetime of some of the actors in the drama.Many attempts have been made since the death of theinventor to minimize his fame, and to exalt othersat his expense, but, while these attempts have seemedto triumph for a time, while they may have influenceda few minds and caused erroneous attributions to bemade in some publications, their effect is ephemeral,for “Truth is mighty and will prevail,”and the more carefully and exhaustively this complicatedsubject is studied, the more apparent will it be thatMorse never claimed more than was his due; that hisupright, truthloving character, as revealed in hisintimate correspondence and in the testimony of hiscontemporaries, forbade his ever stooping to deceitor wilful appropriation of the ideas of others.

A summary, in as few words as possible, of what Morseactually invented or discovered may be, at this point,appropriate.

In 1832, he conceived the idea of a true electrictelegraph—a writing at a distance by meansof the electromagnet. The use of the electro-magnetfor this purpose was original with him; it was entirelydifferent from any form of telegraph devised by others,and he was not aware, at the time, that any otherperson had even combined the words “electric”and “telegraph.”

The mechanism to produce the desired result, roughlydrawn in the 1832 sketch-book, was elaborated andmade by Morse alone, and produced actual results in1835, 1836, and 1837. Still further perfectedby him, with the legitimate assistance of others,it became the universal telegraph of to-day, holdingits own and successfully contending with all otherplans of telegraphs devised by others.

He devised and perfected the dot-and-dash alphabet.

In 1836, he discovered the principle of the relay.

In 1838, he received a French patent for a systemof railway telegraph, which also embodies the principleof the police and fire-alarm telegraph. At thesame time he suggested a practical form of militarytelegraph.

In 1842, he laid the first subaqueous cable.

In 1842, he discovered, with Dr. Fisher, the principleof duplex telegraphy, and he was also the first toexperiment with wireless telegraphy.

In addition to his electrical inventions and discoverieshe was the first to experiment with the Daguerreotypein America, and, with Professor Draper, was the firstin the world to take portraits by this means, Daguerrehimself not thinking it possible.

The verdict of the world, as pronounced at the timeof his death, has been strengthened with the lapseof years. He was one of the first to be immortalizedin the Hall of Fame. His name, like those of Volta,Galvani, Ampere, and others, has been incorporatedinto everyday speech, and is now used to symbolizethe language of that simple but marvellous inventionwhich brings the whole world into intimate touch.

THE END

INDEX

Abbott, Gorham, American Asiatic Society, 2,443
Abbott, J.S.C., from M. (1867) on Louis Napoleon inNew York. 2, 451
Abdul Mejid, decorates M., 2, 297
Abernethy, John, personality, 1, 98, 99
Abolitionism, M.’s antagonism, 2, 390,415, 416, 418, 420, 430, 446
Accidents to M., runaway (1828), 1, 293-295
in 1844, 2, 232
fall (1846), 268
during laying of Atlantic cable (1857),376, 377, 383
breaks leg (1869), 480
Acton, ——. and M. at Peterhoff (1856),2, 363
Adams, J.Q., and election to Presidency, Jackson’scongratulations, 1,
263
and M.’s failure to get commissionfor painting for Capitol, 2, 28-30
Adams, John, portrait by M., 1, 196
Adams, Nehemiah, and Civil War, 2, 416
Adams, William, and M.’s last illness, 2,506
at M.’s funeral, address, 511, 512
at memorial services, 514
Agamemnon, and laying of first Atlantic cable,2, 378
Agate. F.S., pupil of M., 1, 257, 275
and origin of Academy of Design, 280
Albany, M. as portrait painter at (1823), 1,245-249
Alexander I of Russia, in London (1814), appearance,anecdotes, 1,
142-146
Alexander II of Russia. M. on presentation to(1856), 2, 356-364
attempt on life at Paris (1867), 455
Allan, Sir Hugh, at banquet to M., 2, 473
Allegorical painting, M. on, 1, 318
Allegri, Gregorio, M. on Miserere, 2,345
Allston, Washington, M. desires to study under, 1,21
M. accompanies to England (1811), 31,83
journey to London, 86, 38
on M. as artist, 46, 55, 56, 131
and Leslie, 59, 156
and death of wife, Coleridge’s prescription,59, 168
and M., Interest, influence and criticism,74, 76, 83, 86, 104, 162,
197-199, 436
and War of 1812, 89
at premier of Coleridge’s Remorse,96
illness, 96
and Dr. Abernethy, 98, 99
M. on, as artist, 102, 105
M. on character. 105, 108
Dead Man restored to Life, 105, 122, 124,148, 197, 199
poems, 110
on French school of art, 114
at Bristol (1814), 142, 153, 156, 171
painting for steamer, 289
Uriel in the Sun, 307
compliment to, 308
M. and death, 2, 207, 208
brush of, 207
M. presents portrait and brush to Academyof Design, 436, 437
Letters: to M. (1814) on Dead Man,Bluecher, 1, 147
with M. (1816) on sale ofDead Man, personal relations, 197, 198
from M. (1819) on work atCharleston, Albton as R.A., 221
to M. (1837) on rejectionfor government painting, 2, 32
from M. (1839) on daguerreotypeand art, 143
with M. (1843) on telegraph

act, illness, painting, 202
Allston, Mrs. Washington, Journey to England, 1,33, 35
in England, health, 38
death, 168
Alphabet. See Dot-and-dash.
Alston, J.A., and M., 1, 208, 214, 215, 233to M. (1818-19) on portraits, 214, 224, 225
Amalfi, M. at (1830), 1, 364-367
American Academy of Art, condition (1825), 1,276, 277
and union with Academy of Design, 2,23
American Asiatic Society, 2, 443
American Society for promoting National Unity, 2,415
Americans, M. on Cooper’s patriotism (1832),1, 426-428
on European criticism, 428, 429
Amyot, ——, and M.’s telegraph,2, 122, 147
Anderson, Alexander, and origin of Academy of Design,1, 280
Andrews, Solomon, from M. (1849) on aviation, 2,299
Angouleme, duch*esse d’, in London (1814), 1,138
Annunciation, M. on feast at Rome (1830), 1,341
Arabia, transatlantic steamer (1857), 2,384
Arago, D.F., and M.’s telegraph, 2, 104,107, 108, 255
Art, conditions in America (1813), 1, 100,101
Boston and (1816), 197
See also Painting.
Atlantic cable, M. prophesies (1843), 2, 208,209
organisation of company, 341-843
M. as electrician, 343, 347
M.’s enthusiasm, 344
attempt to lay cable across Gulf of St.Lawrence (1855), 345
experiments of M. and Whitehouse, 348,366
Kendall’s caution to M. on company,372
M.’s account of laying of first,374-382
parting of first, 382
delay, offer to purchase remainder offirst, 383
M.’s forced resignation from company,384
M. on first message over completed (1858),his prediction of cessation,
386, 387
proposed, between Spain and West Indies,404-406
M. on final success, 451
greeting of company to M. (1868), 469
“Attention the Universe” message, 2,75
Australia, M.’s telegraph in, 2, 321
Austria, testimonials to M., 2, 392
Austro-Prussian War, influence of telegraph, 2,463
Aviation, M. on (1849), 2, 300, 301
Avignon, M. at (1830), 1, 324, 325
Aycrigg, J.B., and telegraph, 2, 187, 189
from M. (1844) on ground circuit, 221
Aylmer, Lord, and M.’s telegraph, 2,124

Bain, Alexander, and telegraph, 2, 242, 3O4
and ground circuit, 243
Ball, Mrs.——, M.’s portraitand trouble with, letters from M. (1820),
1, 231-234
Balloon ascension at London (1811), 1, 49
Baltic, transatlantic steamer (1856), 2,347
Baltimore, construction of first telegraph line, 2,204-228
Bancroft, ——, transatlantic voyage(1815), 1, 188
Bancroft, George, and M. at Berlin, 2, 461
Banks, N.P., at M.’s farewell message to telegraph,2, 486
at memorial services, 315
Banquets to M., at London (1856), 2, 368, 369

at Paris (1858), 396
at New York (1869), 467-475
Barberini, Cardinal, 1, 342
Barrell, Samuel, at Yale, 1, 9. 10
Battery, Gale’s improvement of telegraph, 2,55
M.’s improvement, 182
See also Relay.
Beecher, Lyman, and M., 1, 238
Beechy, Sir William, M. on, 1, 63
Beggars, M. on Italian, 1, 330, 332, 341, 355,363, 369
Belgium, interest in M.’s telegraph, 2,244
and gratuity to M., 393
Belknap, Jeremy, on birth of M., 1, 2
Bellingham, John, assassinates Perceval, 1,71
execution, 72
Bellows, H.W. from M. (1864) on Sanitary Commission,2, 428
Benedict, Aaron, and wire for experimental line, 2,208
Benevolence, as female virtue, 1, 323
Bennett, J.G., at French court (1867), 2, 449
Berkshire, Mass., M.’s trip (1821), 1,238, 239
Berlin, M. at (1866), 2, 365
(1868), 461
Bernard, Simon, and M., 2, 104
and telegraph, 132
Bern, duch*esse de, appearance (1830), 1, 316
Bertassoli, Cardinal, death, 1, 347
Bettner, Dr. ——, and Henry-Morsecontroversy, 2, 318
Biddle, James, return to America (1832), 1,430
Biddulph, T.T., as minister, 1, 121
Bigelow, John, farewell banquet to (1867), 2,451
Blaine. J.G., address at memorial services toM., 2, 514, 515
Blake, W.P., to M. (1869) on M.’s report, 2,475
on Henry controversy, 475
from M. on same, 478
Blanchard, Thomas, machine for carving marble, 1,245
Blenheim estates, reduced condition (1829), 1,307
Bliss, Seth, and Civil War, 2, 416
Bluecher, G.L. von, at London (1814), appearance,1, 146, 147
Boardman, W.W., and telegraph, letters with M. (1842),2, 173-177, 187,
189.
Bodisco, Alexander de, from M. (1844) on telegraph,2, 240
state dinner, 245
Bologna, M. on, 1, 391
Boorman, James, and Civil War, 2, 416
Borland, Catherine, 1, 111
Boston, and art (1816), 1, 197
Boston Recorder, founding, 1, 208
Boudy, Comte, and M.’s telegraph, 2,112, 123
Breese, Arthur, and marriage of daughter, 1,228
Breese, Catherine, marriage, 1, 229
See also Griswold.
Breese, Elisabeth A. (Mrs. Jedediah Morse), 1,2
Breese, Samuel, in navy, 1, 88
under Perry, 140
Breese, Sidney, and M., 2, 411
Breguet, Louis, from M. (1851) on rewards for invention,2, 313
Brett, J.W., and Atlantic cable, 2 343
and M. in England (1856), 348, 349, 351
from M. (1858) on withdrawal from cablecompany, 385
and proposed Spanish cable, 406
Bristol, England, M. at (1813, 1814), 1, 119.121, 153, 163, 169-171
Broek, M. van der, and gratuity to M., 2, 391
Broek, Holland, M. on unnatural neatness, 2,261-283
Bromfield, Henry, and M. in England, 1, 39,152
from M. (1820) on family at New Haven,234
Brooklyn, N.Y., defences (1814), 1, 150
Brooks, David, and telegraph, 2, 290
Brougham, Lord, and M.’s telegraph, 2,95, 125
Brown, James, banquet to M., 2, 467
Bryant, W. C., and The Club, 1, 282
from M. (1865) on Allston’s portrait,2, 436
at banquet to M., 472
address at unveiling of statue to M.,484
tribute to M., 508
Buchanan, James, official letter introducing M. (1845),2, 248
M. on election (1856), 371
Budd, T.A., and Perry’s Japanese expedition,2, 317
Bulfinch, Charles, and M., 2, 188
Bullock, A.H., sentiment for banquet to M., 2,469
Bunker Hill Monument, Greenough on plans, 1,413
Burbank, David, from M. (1844) on price for invention,2, 235
Burder, George, minister at London (1811), 1,120
Burritt, Benjamin, prisoner of war, M.’s effortsfor release, 1,
124-127
Butler, Charles, at M.’s funeral, 2,611

Cadwalader, Thomas, return to America (1832), 1,430
Caledonia, transatlantic steamer (1846), 2,266
Calhoun, J.C., and M.’s effort for commissionfor painting for Capitol,
2, 28
California, graft in telegraph organisation, 2,338, 339
Campagna, Roman, dangers at night, 1, 359
Campbell, Sir John, and M.’s application forpatent, 2, 93, 98
Campo Santo at Naples, 1, 367-369
Camucoini, Vincenso, M. on, as artist, 1, 350
Canterbury, M. on cathedral and service, 1,310-312
Cardinals, lying in state, 1, 344
Carmichael, James, and proposed Spanish cable, 2,405
Caroline, Queen, palace, 1, 309
Carrara, M. on quarries (1830), 1, 333-336
Carter, William, courier, 2, 362
Cass, Lewis, and M. at Paris (1838), 2, 109,111
Cass, Mrs. Lewis, from M. (1836) on lotteries, 2131
Castlereagh, Lord, and Orders in Council (1812), 1,76
Catalogue Raisonne, 1, 196, 200
Causici, Enrico, at Washington (1825), 1, 263
Ceres, transatlantic voyage (1815), 1,186-195
Chamberlain, Capt. ——, transatlanticvoyage (1815), 1, 188
Chamberlain, ——, exhibition of telegraphin European centers, 2, 148,
149
drowned, 149
Champlin, E.H., American Asiatic Society, 2,444
Chapin, C.L., and M.’s telegraph in Europe,2, 255
Charivari, M. on, 1, 78
Charles X of France, New Year (1830), 1, 315
Charleston, M. as portrait painter at (1818-21), 1, 214-217, 216-225,
226-237
portrait of President Monroe, 222
M. and art academy, 235, 236
Charlestown, Mass., dual celebration of Fourth (1805),

1, 7
Jedediah Morse’s church troubles,223-225, 229
Charlotte Augusta, Princess, appearance (1814), 1,137
Charlotte Sophia, Queen, appearance (1814), 2,137
Chase, ——, and experimental line,2, 209
Chase, S.P., presides at banquet to M., speeches,2, 468-170, 475
Chauncey, Isaac, Cooper on, 1, 263
Chauvin, —— von, and M. at Berlin,2, 461
Chesapeake, U.S.S., defeat, 1, 109,110
Chevalier, Michael, from M. (1868) on leaving Paris,2, 464
Cholera, in Paris (1832), 1, 417, 422
political effect, 431
Christ before Pilate, West’s painting, 1,44, 47
Christ healing the Side, West’s painting, 1,44
Christian IX of Denmark, and M., 2, 465
Christy, David, from M. (1863) on slavery, 2,426
Church and State, M. on union, 2, 458
Church of England, disestablishment in Virginia, 1,13
M. on service, 311
Circuit, single, of M.’s telegraph, 2,18, 102
ground, 221, 367, 470
Cisco, J.J., banquet to M., 2, 467
Civil War, M.’s hope of prevention, 2,414, 418
his attitude during, 415, 424, 432
his belief in foreign machinations, 420
M. and McClellan’s candidacy, 427,429-431
M. and Sanitary Commission, 428
M.’s denunciation of rejoicing oversuccess, 438-441
Claflin, William, and statue to M., 2, 483
Clarke, George, buys M.’s painting of Louvre,M.’s letter on this (1834),
2, 27, 28
Clay, Henry, and M.’s effort for commissionfor painting for Capitol, 2,
28
Clinton, ——, of Albany, and M. (1823),1, 247
Club, The, of New York, 1, 282, 451
Coat of arms, Morse, 1, 110, 2, 268
Coffin, I.N., and lobbying for telegraph grant, 2,164, 173
Cogdell, J.S., artist at Charleston (1819), 1,221
and art academy there, 236
Colt, Daniel, gift to Academy of Design, 1,384
Cole, Thomas, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
at Royal Academy (1829), 308
to M. (1837) on presidency of Academyof Design, 2, 32
Coleridge, S.T., mental prescription for Allston,1, 60
and hat-wearing, 60
and M., traits, 95, 96
premier of Remorse, 96
and Knickerbocker’s History ofNew York, 97
Colfax, Schuyler, and banquet to M., 2, 468
at memorial services, 514
Color, M.’s theory and experiments, 1,436
Colt, ——, with M. at Peterhoff (1856),2, 357
Como, Lake of, M. at (1831), 1, 400
Concentration of effort, Jedediah Morse on, 1,4
Concord, N.H., M. at and on (1816), 1, 201,209
Congregational Church, Jedediah Morse and orthodoxy,1, 4
Congress, M.’s painting of House (1822), 1,240-242, 252
conduct of presidential election (1825),263
resolution to investigate telegraph (1837),2, 71
skeptical of M.’s invention, 72
exhibition of telegraph before (1838)but no grant, 81, 88, 103, 135,
137, 150
Smith’s report on telegraph, 87
renewal of effort for telegraph grantwithout result (1841-42), 164,
166, 173-177
second exhibition of telegraph (1842),185
workers for telegraph grant, 186, 189
bill for experimental line in House (1843),190-195
passage of bill in House, 195
no action expected in Senate, 197-199
passage of act, 199-201
refuses to purchase telegraph, 228, 229,232, 244, 245
memorial services to M., 513-516
Consolidation of telegraph lines, 2, 320, 326,341, 405
M. on beneficent monopoly, 444
See also Public ownership.
Constant, Benjamin, appearance (1830), 1, 316
Constitution, M. on loyalty, 2, 429
Cooke, O.F., rival of Kemble, 1, 77
Cooke, Sir W.F., telegraph, 2, 50
M. on telegraph and his own, 92, 93, 242
opposes patent to M., 93
proposition to M. rejected, 158
telegraph displaced by M.’s, 313
personal relations with M., 350
advocates use of M.’s telegraph,368
presides at banquet to M., speech, 368,369
Cooper, H., and M.’s application for Britishpatent, 1, 98, 99
Cooper, J.F., characteristic remark, 1, 263
at Rome (1830), 338
read in Poland, 388
to M. (1832) on Verboeckhoven and portraitof C., 414
on criticisms, bitterness against America,416
statement of M.’s hints on telegraph(1831), 418, 419
from M. (1849) on this, 420
at Fourth dinner at Paris (1832), 424
M. on principles and patriotism, 426-428
from M. (1832) on departure for America,Leslie’s politics, 2, 3-5
from M. (1833) on illness, cares, conditionsin New York, Cooper’s
friends, art future, nullification,21-24
and rejection of M. for painting for Capitol,30
from M. (1849) on failure as painter,31
from M. (1849) on newspaper libels, Homeas Found, 304
M. on death and character, 314
Cooper, Peter, and Atlantic cable, 1, 343,372
banquet to M., 467
at M.’s funeral, 511
Copenhagen. M. at (1856), 1, 351, 354
Copley, J.S., M. on, in old age. 1, 47, 102
Corcoran, W.W., telegraph company, 2, 247
Corcoran Gallery, M.’s House of Representatives,1, 242
Cornell, Ezra, and construction of experimental line,2, 214-216, 489
M. on benevolences, 442, 489
at M.’s funeral, 511
Cornell University, M. on founding, 2, 442
Cornwell, Sadie E., and M.’s farewell messageto telegraph, 2, 486
Corpus Domini, procession at Rome (1830), 1,352
Cox, S.S., resolutions on death of M., 1, 513
at memorial services, 515
Coyle, James, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Crawford, W.H., Edwards’ charges against (1824),1, 256
Cries of London, 1, 48
Crinoline, M. on, 2, 373
Crosby, Howard, and M.’s farewell message totelegraph, 2, 485
Cummings, T.S., and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
and M. as president of Academy, 280
on M.’s connection with Academy,281
and commission to M. for historical painting,2, 33
and telegraph, 74, 75
Curtin, A.G., banquet to M., 2, 467, 473
Curtis, B.R., telegraph decision, 2, 347, 370
Curtis, G.T., M.’s attorney, 2, 370
from M. (1860) on Smith’s claimto gratuity, 409-411
and on law, 411

Daggett, ——, of New Haven, M.’sportrait (1811), 2, 25
Daguerre, L.J.M., and M. at Paris (1839), 2,128-130
from M. on Sabbath, 128
burning of Diorama, 130
French subsidy, 130
from M. (1839) on honorary membershipin Academy of Design, exhibition
of daguerreotype in New York,141
reply, 142
and portraits, 145
Daguerreotype, inventor imparts secret to M., 2,129
discovery made public, 143
M. on effect on art, 143, 144
experiments of M. and Draper, portraitsfirst taken, 144-146
M.’s gallery, 146, 152
first group picture, 146
Daly, C.P., and M.’s farewell message to telegraph,2, 486
Dana, J.F., M. and lectures on electricity (1827),1, 290 friendship and discussions with M.,290
Dana, R.H., at memorial services to M., 2,516
Danforth, M.L. and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
M. on, 2, 5
Dartmouth College, quarrel (1816), 1, 208
Date of invention of telegraph, 2, 12, 13
Daubeny, C.G.B., inspects early telegraph, 2,54
Davenport, Ann, 1, 28
Davis, ——, of New Haven, M. roomsat house (1805), 1, 10
Davy, Edward, and relay, 2, 42
M. on telegraph, 101, 102
Day, Jeremiah, and M.’s pump, 1, 211
to M. (1822) on gift to Yale, 243
Dead Man restored to Life, Allston’s painting,1, 105, 122, 124, 148,
197, 199
Deadhead, M.’s characteristic telegraphic, 2,445
Declaration of Independence, anecdote of George IIIand, 1, 42, 43
Decorations, foreign, for M., 2, 297, 298,392, 393, 465
DeForest, D.C., to M. (1823) on portrait, 1,243
Delaplaine, Joseph, and M., 1, 196
Democratic Convention, reports by telegraph (1844),2, 224-226
Denmark, and M.’s telegraph, 2, 352
decoration for M., 393, 465
Dennison, William, banquet to M., 2, 467
De Rham, H.C., informal club, 2, 451
Desoulavy, ——, artist at Rome, escapespoisoning (1831), 1, 397
De Witt, Jan, concentration of effort, 1, 4
Dexter, Miss C., and sketch of Southey, 1,73, 113
Dijon, M. at (1830), 1, 320

Diligence, described, 1, 319
Dining hour, English (1811), 1, 40
Discovery and invention, 2, 13
Dividends, M. on lack, 2, 311, 336.
Dix, J.A., to M. (1829) on letters of introduction,1, 299
at M.’s funeral, 2, 511
Dodge, W.E., banquet to M., 2, 467, 473
Donaldson, R., M.’s painting for, 1,338
Dot-and-dash code, conception for numbers with hintof alphabet, 2, 7,
11, 12, 17, 18
as recorded by first receiver, 39
numbers principle, dictionary, 61, 74
paternity of alphabet, 62-68
substitution of alphabet for numbers,74-76
peculiar to M.’s telegraph, 93
M. on reading by sound, 457, 479, 480
Douglas, G.L., from M. (1862) on effort to preventCivil War, 2, 418
Dover Castle, M. on, 1, 313
Drake, Mrs. ——, transatlantic voyage(1815), 1, 188
Draper, J.W., and daguerreotypes, 2, 145, 146
Drawing-room, M. on Queen Charlotte’s (1812),1, 77;
on Mrs. Monroe’s (1819), 227
Dresden, M. at (1867), 2, 459
Drummond, Henry, and M.’s telegraph, 2,95, 126
Dubois, John, at Rome (1830), 1, 340
Dunlap, William, on M.’s Dying Hercules, 1,105, 106
on M.’s Judgment of Jupiter, 178,179
and origin of Academy of Design, 280
Duplex telegraphy, Fisher’s discovery (1842),2, 185, 187
Durand, A. B., engraving of M.’s Lafayette,1, 260
and origin of Academy of Design, 280
Dwight, S.E., and M., 1, 10
from M. (1811) on Daggett portrait, 25
Dwight, Timothy, and M., 1, 10
on Jedediah Morse, 287
Dwight’s Tavern, Western, Mass., 1, 9
Dying Hercules, M.’s sculpture and painting,1, 85, 86, 102-107, 119,
134, 185, 437, 2, 188

Edwards, Ninian, proposed Mexican mission (1824),and charges against
Crawford, 1, 253, 256
from M. on mission, 254
Electricity, M.’s interest at college, 1,18
and in Dana’s lectures (1827), 290
Henry on electric power, 2, 171
See also Morse (S.F.B.), Telegraph.
Elgin, Earl of, and M.’s telegraph, 2,95, 124, 128
to M. (1839) on patent, 126
Elgin Marbles, M. on, 1, 47, 2, 124
Elisabeth, Princess, appearance (1814), 1,137
Ellsworth, Annie, and telegraph, 2, 199, 200,217, 221
Ellsworth, Henry, and M. abroad, 2, 250
Ellsworth, H.L., marriage, 1, 112
and M.’s telegraph, 2, 69,189
on telegraph in France, 108, 109
from M. (1843) on construction of experimentalline, 217
Ellsworth, Nancy (Goodrich), 1, 112
Ellsworth, William, engagement, 1, 112
Emancipation Proclamation, M. on, 2, 424, 429
Embargo, effect in England, 1, 39
Emotion of taste, M. on, 1, 401
England, appearance of women, 1, 36;

wartime travel regulations (1811), 36
condition of laboring classes, 36
treatment of travellers, 37-39
critical condition (1811), effect of Americanembargo, 39, 56, 57, 63
dining hour, 40
attitude toward art, 46
unpopularity of Regent, crisis (1812),67, 70, 71
assassination of Perceval, 71
Spanish victories (1813), 110
severe winter (1813), 123
economic depression (1815), 175
Liverpool (1829), 302, 303
stage-coach journey to London, 306-308
peasantry, villages, 306
Canterbury cathedral, church service,310-312
Dover, 313
M. on social manners, 348
refusal of patent to M., 2, 93-99,124, 126
coronation of Victoria, 100, 101
use of M.’s telegraph, 367
no share in gratuity to M., 393
M. on, and Civil War, 420
See also London, Napoleonic Wars,Neutral trade, War of 1812.
English Channel, steamers (1829), 1, 314
(1845), 2, 250
Erie, Lake, battle, 1, 151
Esterhasy, Prince, M. on, at Peterhoff (1856), 2,358
Evarts, Jeremiah, to M. (1812) on avoiding politics,1, 86
Evarts, W.M., at banquet to M., 2, 472
Evers, John, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Experimental line, bill for, in Congress, 2,189-201
route, 204
M.’s assistants, 204-206, 210, 214
wires, failure of underground, substitutionof overhead, 205, 208-210,
214-216
trouble with Smith, 206, 207, 212, 213,218
progress, 219
operation during construction, 219-221
completion, “What hath God wrought”message, 221-224
reports of Democratic Convention, 224-226
cost of construction, 227
incidents of utility, 227, 228
Fairman, Gideon, and study of live figure, 1,101
Faraday, Michael, and Atlantic cable, 2, 343
Farewell message to telegraph, ceremony of sendingM.’s, 2, 485-491
Farmer, M.G., and duplex telegraph, 2, 189
Farragut, D.G., and banquet to M., 2, 468
Faxton, T.S., from M. (1847) on salaries, 2,274
Federalists, celebration of Fourth at Charlestown(1805), 1, 7
British opinion (1812), 81
See also War of 1812.
Ferguson, ——, travel with M. (1831),1, 395, 402
Ferris, C.G., and telegraph, 2, 177, 186, 189
Field, ——, pupil of M., 1,258
Field, C.W., and consolidation of telegraph companies,2, 341
organisation of Atlantic cable company,341-343
from M. (1856) on experiments for cable,348, 366
Kendall’s distrust, 372
and M.’s retirement from cable company,385, 386
from M. (1867) on a visit, success ofcable, 450, 451
banquet to M., 467, 469
from M. (1871) on neutralizing telegraph,497
at M.’s funeral, 511
at memorial service, 516
Field, D.D., and Atlantic cable, 2, 343
at banquet to M., 473
Field, M.D., and telegraph, 2, 342
Finley, J.E.B., and War of 1812, 1, 183
and M. at Charleston, 214, 220
to M. (1818) on portraits, 216
death, 225
Finley, Samuel, 1, 2
Fire-alarm, M.’s invention embodying principle,2, 132
Fish, Hamilton, at early exhibition of telegraph,2, 48
banquet to M., 467
Fisher, ——, artist at Charleston(1819), 1, 221
Fisher, J.C., and duplex telegraphy, 2, 185,187
M.’s assistant at Washington, 186,196
and construction of experimental line,dismissed, 204, 205, 210-213,
216
Fisher, J.F., return to America (1832), 2,3
on conception of telegraph, 11
Fleas, M. on Porto Rican, 2, 406
Fleischmann, C.T., on Europe and M.’s telegraph(1845), 2, 254
Florence, M.’s journey to, during revolt (1831),1, 385
M. at, 386, 390
Flower feast at Genzano, 1, 354-359
Forsyth, Dr. ——, American AsiaticCompany, 2, 444
Foss, ——, and F.O.J. Smith,2, 319
Fourth of July, dual celebration at Charlestown (1805),1, 7
dinner at Paris (1832), 423-425
Foy, Alphonse, and M.’s telegraph, 2,105, 109, 255
France, M. on attitude of Americans (1812), 1,90, 91
M. on first landing in (1829), 314
on Sunday in, 318, 322
cold (1830), 317, 320
winter Journey across, by diligence, 318-326
funeral, 321, 322
M. on social manners, 348
quarantine (1831), M. avoids it, 402-405
Lafayette on results of Revolution of1830, 430
patent to M., 2, 103
M.’s exhibitions and projects (1838),104-134
renewed interest in M.’s telegraph,240, 243, 244, 255, 256, 313, 351
M. on people, 256
testimonials to M., 392
See also Napoleonic Wars, Paris.
Francesco Caracoiolo, St., M. on feast, 1,352
Franklin, Benjamin, name coupled with M.’s,2, 236, 237, 346, 469
M. unveils statue, 505
Franklin Institute, exhibition of telegraph, 2,80
Fraser, Charles, artist at Charleston (1819), 1,221
Frasee, John, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Frederick VII of Denmark, and M., 1, 373, 2,353
Frederick III of Germany, battle of Koeniggraetz,2, 463
Frederick William III of Prussia, at London (1814),1, 146
Fredrick Carl, Prince, battle of Koeniggraetz, 2,463
Frelinghuysen, Theodore, nomination for Vice-Presidencyannounced over
telegraph, 2, 219
Fremel, ——, and M.’s telegraph,2, 111
French, B.B., telegraph company, 2, 247
French Academy of Science. See Institute ofFrance.
Frischen ,——, and duplex telegraphy,2, 187
Fry, ——, and telegraph company (1844),2, 236
Fulton, Robert, and art, 2, 471
Fulton, transatlantic steamer (1856), 2,386
Funeral, M. on French, 1, 321, 322
on lying in state of cardinal, 344
on Roman, 350
on Italian, 366, 367
of M., 2, 311, 312
Fuseli, J.H., and M., 1, 179

Gale, L.D., first view of telegraph, 2, 41
aid to M. in telegraph, 53-59, 61, 70,489
partnership in telegraph, 83
loses interest, 136, 139, 151
and subaqueous experiment, 183
and construction of experimental line,204, 211, 210
Kendall as agent, 246, 326
and estrangement with Henry, 264
and extension of M.’s patent, 325
from M. (1854) on Kendall, 326
(1855) on trip to Newfoundland, 345
M.’s tribute, 471
from M. (1869) on receiving by sound,479
to M. (1872) on Smith’s last attack,499
to Rogers on invention of telegraph, 500
from M. on Smith, 502
Galen, transatlantic ship (1811), 1,55
Gallagher, H.M., and M.’s farewell message totelegraph, 2, 486
Gallatin, Albert, informal club, 2, 451
and Louis Napoleon at New York, 452
Galley slaves, at Toulon (1830), 1, 326, 327
Garfield, J.A., at memorial services to M., 2,515
Gay-Lussac, J.L., and M.’s telegraph, 2,108
Genoa, Serra Palace, 1, 329
Genzano, festa infiorala (1830), 1,354-359
George III, anecdote of Declaration of Independence,1, 42, 43
expected death (1811), 54
George IV, unpopularity as Regent (1812), 1,67, 71
appearance, 77
George, Sir Rupert, and American prisoner of war,1, 126
Georgia, and nullification, 2, 23
Ghost, scare at London (1811), 1, 41
Gibbs. Mrs. A.J.C., child, 1, 112
Gibson, ——, artist at Rome, escapefrom poisoning (1831), 1, 397
Gintl, J.W., and duplex telegraph, 2, 187
Gisborne, F.N., and telegraph, 2, 342
Glenelg, Lord, and War of 1812, 1, 90
Gleson, ——, oration at Charlestown(1805), 1, 7
Goddard, Elisha, return to America (1813), 1,107
Gonon, ——, visual telegraph, 2,53, 166
Goodhue, Jonathan, informal club, 2, 451
Goodrich, Mary, drawing, 2, 506
Goodrich, Nancy, marriage, 1, 112
Goodrich, W.H., American Asiatic Society, 2,444
presented at French court, 448-450
Goodrich, Mrs. W.H. (Griswold), from M. (1862) onprospect of Northern
success, 2, 419
at Paris (1866), 448
Gould, James, and M., 1, 238
Grant, Charles. See Glenelg.
Grant, U.S., M. on candidacy (1868), 2, 465,466
and banquet to M., 468
at memorial services, 514
Granville, Countess, M. on, at Peterhoff (1856), 2,358
Granville, Earl, M. on, at Peterhoff (1856), 2,362, 363
Gratuity, proposed foreign, to M., 2, 373
award, nations participating, 390, 391
commission to Broek, 391
nigg*rdly, 392
M.’s acknowledgment, 394, 395
Smith’s claim to share, 409-411,423
share for Vail’s widow, 422
Greeley, Horace, unveils statue of Franklin, 2,505
Green, Norvin, from M. (1855) on effect of telegraph,

2, 345
Greenough, Horatio, and M. at Paris (1831), 1,406
to M. (1832) on art future of America,poverty, religion, Bunker Hill
Monument, M.’s. domesticaffairs, 412
Gregory XVI, election, 1, 378
coronation, 380, 381
policy, 383
Grier, R.C., telegraph decision, 2, 293
Griswold, A.B., from M. (1861) on being a traitor,2, 418
Griswold, Catherine (Breese), marriage, 1,228
in Europe with M. (1858), 2, 396
from M. (1858) on experiences in WestIndies, 397, 406
(1866) on Paris quarters, 447
(1867) on presentation at court, 448
Griswold, H.W., marriage, 1, 228
Griswold, R.W., from M. (1852) on Cooper, 2,314
Griswold, Sarah E., marries M., 2, 289, 290
Gros, A.J., M. on allegorical painting, 1,318
Gypsies, M. on, 1, 310

Habersham, R.W., and M. at Paris (1832), on hintsof telegraph, 1, 417,
418
on M.’s experiments with photography,421
Halske, J.G., and duplex telegraph, 2, 187
Hamburg, M. at and on (1845), 2, 253, 254
(1856), 352
Hamilton, J.C., informal club, 2, 452
Hamlin, Cyrus, and telegraph in Turkey, 2,298
Hanover, N.H., M. at (1816), 1, 209
Hare and tortoise fable applied to M. and brother,2, 388, 389
Harris, Levitt, M. on, 1, 146
Harrison, Thomas, American Asiatic Society, 2,444
Hart, Ann, marries Isaac Hull, 1, 112
Hart, Eliza, 1, 28
Hart, Jannette, and M., 1, 28-30, 112
Hartford, inn (1805), 1, 9
Harvard College, lottery (1811), 1, 46
Hauser, Martin, from M. (1863) on slavery, 2,424
Haven, G.W., at Fourth dinner at Paris (1832), 1,424
Hawks, F.L., and Civil War, 2, 416
Hawley, Dr. -----, of New Haven, sermon (1810), 1,20
Hayne, R.Y., and M., 1, 252, 253
Henry, Joseph, and relay, 2, 42, 140, 141
share in M.’s telegraph controversy,55-57, 261-266, 318, 329, 402, 405,
476-479, 500, 504
letters with M. (1839) on consultation,138-141
to M. (1842) in praise of telegraph, 170-174
on electric power, 171
and construction of experimental line,215
Smith on, as inventor of telegraph, 498,499
Hepburn, H.C., and telegraph, 2, 296
Hillhouse, Joseph, to M. (1813) on M.’s family,social gossip, 1, 111
Hillhouse, Mary, 1, 111
Hilliard, Francis, referee on Smith’s claim,2, 411
Hilton, William, meets M., 1, 308
Hinkley, Ann, death, 1, 8
Hodge, Aspinwall, from M. (1872) on Smith’slast attack, 2, 602
Hodgson, ——, proposed Mexican mission(1824), 1, 263
Hoffman, J.T., banquet to M., 2, 467;
at unveiling of statue to M., 483;
at M.’s funeral, 511
Holland, M. on Broek (1845), 2, 261-253

and gratuity to M., 393
Holmes, I.E., and telegraph, 2, 180
Holy Thursday at St. Peter’s (1830), 1,346, 347
Holy See, and gratuity to M., 2, 393
See also Rome.
Holy Week in Rome (1830), 1, 344-347
Hone, Philip, owns M.’s Thorwaldsen, 1,372
Hoover, R.B., and statue to M., 2, 482
Hopkins, J.H., and Civil War, 2, 416
Horsford, E.N., on invention of telegraph, 2,14-17
on discovery of relay, 41, 42
at memorial services to M., 516
House, R.E., and telegraph, 2, 271. 276
House of Representatives, M.’s painting, 1,240-242, 252
Houston, G.S., and telegraph, 2, 194
Howard, Henry, meets M., 1, 308
Howe, S.G., imprisonment at Berlin, 1, 430
Hubbard, R., pupil of M., 2, 156
Hull, Ann (Hart), 1, 112
Hull, Isaac, marriage, 1, 112
Humboldt, Alexander von, and M., 1, 423, 2,104, 108, 365
inscription on photograph, 366
Hunt, W.G., and Atlantic cable, 2, 343
Huntington, Daniel, and M.’s House of Representatives,1, 242;
estimate of M. as artist, 435-437
early view of telegraph, 2, 48
banquet to M., speech, 467, 473
at M.’s funeral, 511
Huntington, J.W., and telegraph, 2, 187, 199
Husted, J.W., at M.’s funeral, 2, 512
Hutton, M.S., and Civil War, 2, 416

Immigration, M.’s attitude, 2, 331-333
India, and M.’s telegraph, 2, 350
Indians, Jedediah Morse as special commissioner, 1,228
Ingham, C.C., and portrait of Lafayette, 1,261
and origin of Academy of Design, 280
to M. (1849) on Academy, 2, 306
Inman, Henry, and portrait of Lafayette, 1,261
and origin of Academy of Design, 280
to M. (1849) on Academy, 2, 305
Institute of France, M.’s exhibition of telegraph,2, 104, 107, 108, 256
M.’s membership, 393
Invention, Horsford on necessary elements, 2,16
See also Morse, S.F.B. (Scientificcareer.)
Ireland, Mrs. ——, at Recoaro (1831),1, 897
Irving, Washington, and Coleridge, 1, 97
and M. at London (1829), 309
Isham, Samuel, estimate of M. as artist, 1,437, 438
Isle of Wight, M. on (1867), 2, 466
Italy, travel from Nice to Rome (1830), 1,328-337
beggars, 330, 332, 341, 355, 363, 369
perils of travel, 332, 400
flower festival at Genzano, 354-359
M. at Naples and Amalfi, 364-370
condition of travel (1831), 391
to Venice by boat on Po, 391-393
M. at Venice, 393-396
testimonials to M., 2, 393
M. on conditions (1867), 468
See also Rome.

Jackson, Andrew, congratulates Adams on election (1825),1, 263
Jackson. C.T., voyage with M. (1832), 2,3
talks on electrical progress, later claimof giving M. idea of telegraph,
6, 11, 58, 69, 78, 79, 121,137, 274, 305
Jacobins, Federalist name for Republicans (1805),1, 7
Jarvis, ——, with M. at Peterhoff(1856), 2, 357
Jarvis, S.F., to M. (1814) on war from Federalistpoint of view, 1, 157
Jarvis, Mrs. S.F. (Hart), 1, 28;
from M. (1811) on attitude toward art,Copley, West, Elgin Marbles,
London cries, knocking, Americancrisis, 1, 46
to M. (1813) on art in America, 100
Jay, P.A., and Cooper, 2, 22
informal club, 451
Jewett, J.S., on M. and Atlantic cable, 2,386
Jewett, William, and origin of Academy of Design,1, 280
Jocelyn, N., travel with M. on continent (1830-31),1, 309, 317
from M. (1864) on attempt to paint, 2,433
Johnson, Andrew, M. on, 2, 446
and banquet to M., 468
Johnson, Cave, and telegraph, 2, 192, 194,225, 232
from M. (1845) on Vail, 275
Johnson, William, informal club, 2, 451
Johnston, J.T., and M.’s Thorwaldsen, from M.(1868) on it, 1, 372-374
Judgment of Jupiter, M.’s painting, 1,178, 179, 196, 199, 215

Kane, J.K., telegraph decision, 2, 273, 293
Kane, James, and M., 1, 247
Kemble, J.P., M. on, as actor, 1, 77
Kendall, Amos, character as M.’s business agent,M.’s confidence, 2,
246, 326, 336, 372, 389, 409,471, 481
first telegraph company, 247
progress, 247
and rival companies, 276
on Jackson’s claim, 305
and Smith, 308, 309, 503
and consolidation of lines, 320
and extension of patent, 325
benevolences, 442
M. on death, 481
Letters to M:
(1849) on despondency, litigation,2, 301
(1862) on destruction of evidence,316
(1855) on California telegraphgraft, 338
on suspicion of the Vails,339
on sale of interests, trialsof management, 340
(1857) on distrust of cablecompany, 372
(1858) on foreign gratuity,392
(1859) on death of Vail, 400
From M:
(1847) on mercy to infringers,272
(1861) on preparation againstloss of suits, Smith, 311
(1852) on Smith’s triumph,law expenses, 319, 320
(1854) on lack of dividends,336
on Smith and extension ofpatent, 346
(1866) on same, 370
(1869) on honors and enmity,406
on lawyers, 409
(1860) on Smith and gratuity,410
on ball to Prince of Wales,414
(1862) on foreign machinationsin Civil War, 420
(1866) on telegraph monopoly,444
Kendall, John, and M., 2, 323
Kennedy, J.P., and telegraph, 2, 189, 192,193
Kent, James, M.’s portrait, 1, 247, 248,

250
and Cooper, 2, 22
informal club, 451
and Louis Napoleon at New York, 452
Kent, Moss, M.’s portrait, 1, 246
Key. See Sender.
King, C.B., Leslie on, 1, 59
to M. (1813) on personal relations, 60
at premier of Coleridge’s Remorse,96;
return to America, 100, 101
King’s (Liverpool) Arms Hotel, 1, 34,302
Kingsley, J.L., M.’s profile, 1, 19
Kirk, E.N., and M.’s exhibition of telegraphat Paris, 2, 106, 133
Knocking, M. on custom at London, 1, 48
Know-Nothing Party, M.’s attitude, 2,332, 337
Koeniggraetz, battle of, influence of telegraph, 2,463
Krebs, J.M., and Civil War, 2, 416

Laboring classes, condition of English (1811), 1,36
Lafayette, Marquis de, M.’s portrait, 1,260-262, 264, 270, 272, 286
M.’s friendship, 262
to M. (1825) on bereavement, 266
from M. (1825) with sonnet, 273
and M. at Paris (1830), 316
and Revolution of 1830, 406
and Polish revolt, 408, 430
in 1831, 408
on American finances (1832), 423
M.’s toast to, at Fourth dinnerat Paris (1832), 424, 425
to M. (1832) on state of Europe, nullification,Poles, political effect
of cholera, 430
M. and death, 2, 34
on Catholic Church and American liberties,330
Lafayette, G.W., meets M., 1, 264
M.’s letter of sympathy (1834),2, 34
Lamb, Charles, and M., 1, 95
at premier of Coleridge’s Remorse,96
Lancaster, ——, transatlantic voyage(1815), 1, 188.
Landi, Gasparo, M. on paintings, 1, 349, 350
Langdon, John, M.’s portrait, 1, 211
Languages, M. and foreign, 1, 372
Lasalle, ——, and M.’s telegraph,2, 123
Latham, M.S., and telegraph in California, M.’sscorn of methods, 2,
338, 339
Law and lawyers, M.’s opinion, 2, 272,320, 371, 409, 412
Lawrence, James, M. on defeat and death, 1,109
Lawrence, W.B., informal club, 2, 452
Lectures, M.’s, on fine arts, 1, 281,284, 285
Lee, G. W., gift to Academy of Design, 1, 384
Leffingwell, Miss ——, miniatureby M., 1, 19
Legion of Honor, bestowed on M., 2, 391
Le Grice, Comte, and M., 1, 377, 385
Leopard, and laying of first Atlantic cable,2, 378
Leslie, C.R., and M. at London (1811-15), 1,59, 62, 65, 74
on Allston, King, Coleridge, 59, 60
as art student, 65
and Coleridge, 95, 96
Saul, 123
to M. (1814) on being hard up, Allston,war, 155
and Allston, 156, 168
life and economies as student, 159, 161,162
to M. (1816) on Catalogue Raisonne,199
reunions with M. (1829), 308
(1832), 433
(1856), 2, 351
M. sits for Sterne, 1, 433
M. on politics, 2, 4

anecdote of Victoria, 101
portrait of Allston, 436
Leslie, Eliza, travel with M. (1829), 1, 303
Leslie, J.R., tutor to M.’s children, 2,447
from M. (1868) on presidential election,465
Letter-writing, Jedediah Morse on, 1, 4
Lettsom, J.C., character, Sheridan’s ridicule,1, 40
Lincoln, Earl of. See Newcastle.
Lincoln, Abraham, M.’s attitude, 2, 424,429
M. leaves no reference to assassination,437
Lind, Charles, M.’s grandson, 2, 219
art study at Paris, 448
Lind, Edward, Porto Rican estate, 2, 399
from M. (1867) on Paris Exposition, 453
Lind, Mrs. Henry, and M. at Hamburg, 2, 353
Lind, Susan W. (Morse), M.’s portrait, 1,435
at New York (1844), 2, 219
from M. (1845) on Congress and purchaseof telegraph, domestic
happiness, 244
on dinner at Russian minister’s,245
(1845) on experiences on Continent, 250-254,256
M.’s visit to (1858), 397-400, 406
from M. (1865) on proposed statue, 442
(1871) on unveiling of statue, 492
See also Morse, Susan W.
Liverpool, M. at (1811), 1, 34-36
(1829), docks, 303
Liverpool (King’s) Arms Inn, 1, 34, 302
Livingston, Cambridge, letters with M. (1846) on coatof arms and motto,
2, 258
at M.’s funeral, 511
Locust Grove, M.’s home at Poughkeepsie, 2,269, 280, 284, 286, 296, 464
M.’s farewell, 496
London, M. on cries (1811), 1, 48
on custom of knocking, 48
on crowds, 49
on Vauxhall, 50-52
on St. Bartholomew’s Fair, 52
entree of Louis XVIII (1814), 136-140
fete of Allies, 142-147
approach (1829), 307
M. at (1829), 308, 309
(1845), 2, 249
(1856), 349-351, 366, 368,369
(1857), 373
M. on growth (1832), 1, 432
London Globe, on M.’s Dying Hercules,1, 106
Lord, Daniel, to M. (1847) on infringements, 2,272
Lord, Nathan, and Civil War, 2, 416
Loring, G.B., and M.’s farewell message to telegraph,2, 485
Lottery, M.’s attitude, 1, 46, 130, 131
Roman, 354
Louis XVIII of France, entree into London (1814),1, 136-140
appearance, 139
Louis Philippe, and M.’s telegraph, 2,103, 112, 123
Louisville Courier-Journal, tribute to M.,2, 510
Louvre, M. on, 1, 315
M.’s painting of interior, 421,422, 426, 2, 27
Lovering, ——, from M. (1840) ondaguerreotype material, anecdote, 2,
155
Low, A.A., banquet to M., 2, 467, 472
Lowber, R.W., and Atlantic cable, 2, 343
Lowell, ——, minister at Bristol,Eng. (1814), 1, 121
Loyalty, M. on meaning in America, 2, 428
Ludlow, H.G., from M. (c. 1862) on Civil War, 2,415
Lydia, transatlantic ship (1811), 1,33
Lyons, M. at (1830), 1, 323

Macaulay, Zachary, invitation to M. (1812), 1,79
and M., 135
McClellan, G.B., M. and presidential candidacy, 2,427, 429-431
McClelland, Robert, and Coffin, 2, 164
McCormick, C.H., and reaper, 2, 501
McFarland, Asa, and M., 1, 201, 202, 217
McGowan, Samuel, on telegraph in Australia, 2,321
McIlvaine, C.P., and Civil War, 2, 416
Madison, James, and War of 1812, 1, 66
Maggiore, Lago, M. at (1831), 1, 400
Magnet, Henry and, of M.’s telegraph, 2,66-57
See also Henry.
Magnetic Telegraph Company, 2, 247
Main, William, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Mallory, ——, bookseller at Boston,M. apprenticed to, 1, 24
Manrow, J.P., and company to operate telegraph, 2,173
Marius in Prison, M.’s painting, 1, 82
Marlborough, Duke of, gambler (1829), 1, 307
Marseilles, M. at (1830), 1, 325
Marsh, ——, of Wethersfield (1806),1, 9
Marsiglia, Gerlando, and origin of Academy of Design,1, 280
Mary, Princess, appearance (1814), 1, 137
Mason, ——, proposed Mexican mission(1824), 1, 253
Mason, J.Y., from M. (1866) on presidential election,2, 371
and gratuity to M., 373
Mason, Samson, and telegraph, 2, 189, 194
Mathews, Charles, from M. (1814) offering a faroe,1, 129
Maury, M.F., soundings of Atlantic plateau, 2,343
Maverick, Peter, and origin of Academy of Design,1, 280
Mead, F.J., from M. (1872) on Smith’s last attack,2, 504
Melville, Lord, and American prisoner of war, 1,126
Mexican War, M. on, 2, 270
Mexico, M. and proposed mission (1824), 1,252-256
Meyendorf, Baron de, and M.’s telegraph, 2,120, 147
from M. (1840) on improvement, 153
Milan, M.’s impressions (1831), 1, 398
Military telegraph, M.’s plan, 2, 132-134
Miserere, M. on Allegri’s, 1,345
Money, W.T., British consul at Venice, and M. at Recoaro(1831), 1, 396,
397
Monks, M. on, 1, 352
Monopoly, M. on beneficent telegraph, 2, 444
See also Consolidation.
Monroe, James, M.’s portrait, 1, 222,226
and M., 227
last levee, 262
Monroe, Mrs. James, drawing-room, 1, 227
Montaigne, M.E. de, M. on Essays, 1,16
Montalivet, Comte M.C.B. de, and M.’s telegraph,2, 105, 109
Morgan, J.J., to M. (1815) on death of Mrs. Allston,1, 168
Morris, Tasker, & Morris, and experimental telegraphline, 2, 206
Morse, Arthur, from M. (1868) on return home, Thorwaldsenportrait, 2,
464
on death of brother, 466
Morse, C.W., birth, 1, 244
childhood home, 298
at New York (1844), 2, 219
and farm, 269
marriage, 289

M. seeks official position for, 387
Morse, Elisabeth A., M.’s daughter, birth anddeath, 1, 237
Morse, Elisabeth A. (Breese), character, 1,2, 293
from R.W. Snow (1812) on M. as artist,64
and War of 1812, 114, 115
illness (1818), 215
travel (1826), 288
decline and death, 292
Letters to M:
(1805) on religious duty,celebration of Fourth, 1, 6
on uncertainty of life, 8
on college extravagances,11
(1812) on sketch of Southey,73
on war, 79
(1813) on war, 99
on dangers of success, 113
on infidelity of Americansin England, avoidance of actors and
theatres, 117
(1814) good advice, patron,his parents’ early economies and success,
154
reproof on debts, 158
(1815) on peace, purchasefor clothes, 173
on right of parental reproofs,182
on Dying Hercules, 185
(1816) on M.’s loveaffair, 203, 206
From M: (See also his lettersto Jedediah Morse)
(1820) on work in Charleston,provisions and plans for family, 229
(1826) on travel, brother,own work, proposed trip abroad, 289
(1828) on exhibition, servants,her health, 291, 292
Morse, Finley, birth, 1, 267
attends brother’s wedding, 2,289
Morse, Jedediah [1], death, career, 1, 227
Morse, Jedediah [2], orthodoxy, 1, 1
prominence, 1
children, 2
to Bishop of London (1806) on church propertyin Virginia, 13
to Lindley Murray (1806) on works, 14
and M.’s desire for art career,26, 31, 32, 116
to Talleyrand (1811) introducing M., 31
and War of 1812, 58, 109, 116, 181
reputation in England, 76
home scene (1813), 111
domestic relations, 142, 287, 293
from Romeyn and Van Schaick (1814) onM.’s character, war views, and
progress, 166
church trouble at Charlestown, 223-225,228, 229
Indian commissioner, 228
moves to New Haven, 234
from S.E. Morse (1823) on M. at NewYork, 251
death, 287
character and attainments, 287, 293
monument, 2, 421, 422
Letters to M:
(1801) on letter-writing,concentration of effort, 1, 3
(1810) on profession, 22
(1812) on financial straits,brothers, war, 65, 80
(1813) on economy, war, 108,109
(1814) on M.’s plans,156
(1815) on M.’s war views,168, 181
on M.’s plans, 182
(1816) on love affair, 203,205
(1825) on death of M.’swife, 265
From M:
(1799) earliest letter, 3
(1805) on Journey to New Haven,start at Yale, 9
(1807) on desire for relaxation,14
on routine, 16
on Montaigne’s Essays,16
(1810) on New York and Philadelphia,20;
on debts, 20;
on brother at college, profession,21, 22
(1811) on voyage to England,33, 34
(1812) on West as artist,war, 62
on England and American crisis,West as artist, assassination of
Perceval, 67-72
on Leslie, Allston, own work,74
on tea-making, 75
on diploma for father, Ordersin Council, 76
on drawing room, theatres,charivari, 78
on war, gratitude to parents,Allston, 80
on war friends, 87-93
(1813) on expenses, work,Allston, 103
on Dying Hercules, 107
on war, Spanish victories,poet and painter, Allston’s poems, coat of
arms, 110
on progress, study at Paris,war views, 114
(1814) on British treatmentof Americans, religious sentiments,
success at Bristol,politics, Allston, art in America, health,
severe winter,120
on overthrow of Napoleon,further study, 127
on further study, ambition,parents’ complaint of neglect, Wilberforce
and slave-trade,entree of Louis XVIII, war views, 132
on London fete of Allies,142
on study at Paris, 148
on war views, study at Paris,failure at Bristol, 152
on failure at Bristol, Englishhatred of Americans, 163
(1815) on mother’s reprooffor extravagance and other failings, study
at Paris, Russellportrait, 159, 173, 180
on death of Mrs. Allston,168
on failure at Bristol, economyand expenses, Napoleon’s return, 169
on preparation for temporaryreturn home, ambition, toil of painting,
176
on Napoleon’s abdication,183
(1816) on painting tour inNew Hampshire, love affair and engagement,
201-211
(1817) on success at Portsmouth,212
(1818) on voyage to Charleston,219
on lodgings there, brother,220
on success there, 220
(1819) on church trouble atCharlestown, 223
(1825) on death of M.’swife, 267, 269
on Academy of Design, LiterarySociety, 281
(1826) on trials and blessings,lectures, 283
on Academy, question of secondmarriage, 284
lectures, Lafayette portrait,health, 285
on anxiety about father’shealth, 286
Morse, Louisa, goes abroad with M. (1856), 2,347
Morse, Lucretia P. (Walker), engagement to M., 1,202-210, 212
marriage, 217
honeymoon, 217, 218
goes to Charleston with M. (1818), 219,220
children, 225, 236, 244, 267
and M.’s plans (1820), 229, 230
at Concord (1821), 239
and M.’s absence, 244
with M. at New York, 257
death, effect on M., 265-270
epitaph, 270, 271
Letters to M:
(1821) on Academy at Charleston,1, 236
on perseverance, 240
(1823) on sleeping on thefloor, 250
on Mexican mission, 253
From M:
(1820) on Alston as patron,233
on work at Charleston, 234
on subsidence of work there,Academy, 235
on return, 237
on a bonnet, 239
on painting of House of Representatives,240, 241
(1823) on experiences at Albany,245
on failure at New York, Mexicanmission, 251
(1824) on Journey to Washington,255
on failure of mission, 256
success at New York, 257
(1825) on same, Lafayetteportrait, Washington experiences, 259-265
Morse, R.C., birth, 1, 2
at Phillips Andover, 5
at Yale, 21, 22, 26
to M. (1813) on war views, 118
studies theology, 142
different career, 142
and brothers, 142, 2, 269, 388
at Savannah (1818), 1, 220, 223
goes to frontier with father (1820), 228
New York Observer, 244
from S.E. Morse (1826) on M. at NewYork, 275
marriage, 288, 298
on M.’s talk on telegraph (1832),2, 17
assists M. financially, 25
and Poughkeepsie place, 281
from M. (1857) on withdrawal from cablecompany, 384
and Civil War, 416
monument to father, 421, 422
from M. (1864) on supporting Lincoln,429-432
M. on death, 466
For other letters from M. See Morse,S.E.
Morse, S.E., birth, 1, 2
at Phillips Andover, 5
at Yale, 16, 21, 22
plans for career, 66
as misogynist, 99
studies law, 142, 223
different career, 142
and brothers, 142, 2, 269, 388
Boston Recorder, 1, 208
invention of pump, 211
New York Observer, 244
to father (1823) on M. at New York, 251
to R.C. Morse (1825) on same, 275
on M.’s talk on telegraph (1832),2, 17, 18
assists M. financially, 25, 185
in Europe (1845), 249, 269
(1856), 349
as tortoise to M.’s hare, 388, 389
and Civil War, 416
monument to father, 421, 422
M. and death, 496
Letters to M:
(1813) on family interest,1, 61
(1813) on poet and painter,99, 117
From M:
(1805) on religion, 5
(1812) on an execution, progress,West, Van Rensselaer, 72
(1828) on near accident, 293
(1830) on Paris, letters fornewspaper, 317
(1831) on meeting with PrinceRadziwill, 386
on Greenough, Lafayette, Polishrevolt, Paris mob, 407
on painting of Louvre, cholerain Paris, Lafayette on American
finances, 422
on Louvre painting, Cooper’scharacter, American principles and
European criticism,426
(1837) on illness, Vail portraits,telegraph, 2, 72
on exhibition of telegraph,73
(1839) on projects in France,discouragement, 113
on daguerreotype, 129
(1843) on telegraph bill inCongress, 190-193, 195
(1843-44) on constructionof experimental line, trials, Fisher,
Smith, 210-213,216, 218
(1844) on success, reportsof Democratic Convention, Smith, 228, 229,
233
on foreign inquiries, Congressand purchase, 243, 244
(1845) on France and telegraph,255
(1846) on painting for Capitol,268
on accident, 268
on progress of telegraph,Mexican War, Infringements, printing
telegraph, 269
(1847) on rivals, litigation,275, 276, 282
on Smith, 280
on Poughkeepsie home, 280-282
(1848) on litigation, home,283, 296
on engagement, 289
(1849) on Jackson’sclaim, newspaper hostility, 305
(1856) on social and telegraphaffairs in England, 349
on experiences and honorson Continent, 351
(1857) on telegraphic affairs,slavery, 389
(1858) on family party inEurope, 397
(1859) on death of Vail, 400
on workings of Providencein his case, 403
on telegraph in Porto Rico,proposed Spanish cable, 404
(1867) on report of electricalexhibition at Paris, 454, 457, 460,
464
on fetes, 455
on plans for winter, Italy,Church and State, American politics, 457
on old age, 461
(1869) on breaking leg, 481
Morse, S.E., Jr., from M. (1862) on monument to father,2, 421
Morse, S.F.B.,
early years, domestic life, and characteristics:
birth, 1, 1
parents, 1
schooling, 3-8
religious and moral attitude,5, 18, 120, 212, 213, 296-298, 401, 438,
2, 128,160
parental solicitude as tocharacter, 1, 6-8, 11, 113, 121, 149, 154,
158-163, 166,182
attitude toward parents, 9,129, 133, 135, 142, 152
travel to New Haven (1805),9, 10
start at Yale, room, 10
expenses and debts at college,10, 16, 17, 20
drops a class, 11
parental admonitions againstcollege extravagances, 11, 12
tenacity, 11
desire for relaxation at college,14
routine there, 15
on Montaigne’s Essays,16
desire to travel, 18
interest in electrical experimentsat college, 18
portraits painted at college,19, 20
question of career, desiresto become artist, apprenticed to
bookseller, 21-24,26
continued interest in art,24-26, 30
art career decided upon, attitudeand sacrifices of parents, 26, 29,
31, 32, 82, 85,116, 155
college love affair, 28-30,112
on smuggling cigars, 45, 46
on lotteries, 46, 2,180, 181
and theatres, 1, 72,77, 78, 374-376, 399
sincerity, 84
interest in public affairs,93
frankness, enjoyment of controversy,93
reading, 102
and coat of arms, 110, 2,258
appearance (1814), 1,123
writes a farce (1814), 129,130
and brothers, 142, 2,269, 388
industry, 1, 161, 162
and Lucy Russell, 180
buoyancy, 200, 235, 256, 284
love affair and engagement,202-210
and fiancee, 212, 214
on Universalists, 213
marriage, 217
honeymoon, 217, 218
and father’s churchtroubles, 223, 229
children by first wife, 225,236, 244, 267
marriage of future mother-in-law,228
domesticity, 230, 238, 285,375, 394, 2, 106, 116, 245
family at New Haven (1820),1, 234
perseverance, 240
on saying farewell, 254
and death of wife, on hercharacter, 265-270, 288, 2, 115
sonnet on Lafayette, 1,273
homes for children, 274, 298
leadership, altruism, 275,305, 2, 443
thoughts on second marriage,1, 285, 418, 2, 115
and decline and death of father,1, 286, 287
on servants, 291, 302
and decline of mother, 292
narrow escape (1828), 293-295
constitution, 304
temperance, 304
moulding of character, 304
and foreign languages, 372
patriotism, 395, 423, 427-429,438, 2, 383, 428, 429
on devotion and emotion oftaste, 1, 401
capacity for friendship, 439,2, 494
maintenance of his rights,1, 439, 2, 2, 518
necessary qualities of aninventor, 16, 20, 57, 91, 152, 171
belief in divine ordinationof his invention, and divine plan in
trials and successes,19, 46-48, 127, 160, 170, 180, 181, 190-193,
213, 216, 222-224,229, 230, 233, 234, 266, 267, 271, 284, 403,
442, 443, 453,472, 493
controversies over CatholicChurch, 35-37, 330, 336
self-control, 116, 155
sense of humor, 116, 155
horror of debt, 174, 178,312
liberality, donations, 269,298-301, 311, 315, 321, 413, 437
and Poughkeepsie home, 269,280, 284, 286, 296, 464, 496
on being fifty-six, 277
second marriage and family,289, 290, 494
and printing when a boy, 299
despondency under strain oflitigation, 301
attitude toward rewards forinvention, 314
refuses to endorse notes,319;
defence of slavery, 331, 333,389, 390, 415, 416, 418, 420, 424-426,
429, 430, 432
on crinoline, 373
as hare to brother’stortoise, 388, 389
buys house in New York, 409
monument to father, 421, 422
on Unitarianism, 430
exhortation of his children,433, 434
on wayward sons, 435, 466
on enigma of wealth, 436
trials and afflictions ofold age, 459, 481, 482, 498
on old age, 461, 464
and death of brothers, 466,496
pastor on character, 493
poem (1827), 495, 496
versatility, 509, 517
Prime’s review of character,516-519
sensibility, 518
Art student in England, 1811-15:
voyage to England with Allston,1, 32-35
on English ladies, 36
journey to London, 36
on treatment of travelers,tips, impositions, 36-39
on English laboring class,36
on England and embargo, 39
on Dr. Lettsom, 40
on English dining hour, 40
on a ghost, 41
West’s interest in,42, 44, 47, 62, 73, 85, 102, 103, 114, 179, 199
anecdote of West and GeorgeIII., 42, 43
preparation to enter RoyalAcademy, 43, 46, 55
on West as artist and man,44, 63, 68, 69, 102
on female artists, 45
on attitude toward art inEngland and America, 46, 122, 123
on Copley in old age, 47
on Elgin Marbles, 47, 2,124
on cries of London, 1,48
on custom of knocking, 48
on balloon ascension and Londoncrowd, 49
on Vauxhall Gardens, 50-52
on St. Bartholomew’sFair, 52-64
economy, expenses, debts,54, 70, 103, 108, 149, 158-163, 171
Allston’s interest andcriticism, 55, 56, 74, 75, 83, 85, 104, 114,
130, 162, 197-199
work, 56, 62, 75
on conditions in England (1811-12),56, 57, 63, 70, 71
unfederalistic views on Warof 1812, 58, 64, 67, 70, 76, 81, 82, 84,
87-93, 109, 110,114-116, 122, 140, 141, 152, 153, 165, 166, 181
not molested during the war,58, 86
and Leslie, 59, 62, 65, 74
family interest in progress,61, 62
commendations and criticisms,64, 101, 120, 167
on assassination of Perceval,71, 72
on difficulties and toil ofpainting, 73, 178
and Van Rensselaer, 73, 245
on life as student, 75
on charivari, 78
Marius in Prison, 82
devotion to art, ambition,85, 133, 161, 164. 177
Dying Hercules, sculptureand painting, exhibition and awards, 85, 86,
102-107, 119,134, 185, 437, 2, 188
rooms at London, 1,86
and Wilberforce, 89, 94
on American attitude towardFrench (1812), 90, 91
on Orders in Council, 91,92
on retreat from Moscow, 93
on Gilbert Stuart, 93
letters of introduction, 93
London friends, 95
and Coleridge, 95, 96
on contemporary American artists(1813), 102, 103
on Allston as artist and man,102, 105, 108
and study at Paris, 114, 134,149, 152-154, 167, 174
funds for longer stay abroad,116, 142
at Bristol as portrait painter,lack of success, 119, 121, 149, 153,
163, 164. 169-171
question of self-support andfurther study, 122, 123, 128, 129,
131-134, 155,157
efforts for release of Burritt(1813), 124-127
and overthrow of Napoleon,127, 128
seeks a patron, 134, 142,155
and London’s celebrationof overthrow of Napoleon, 136-140, 142-147
and death of Mrs. Allston,168
on Napoleon’s returnand Waterloo, 172, 183
prepares for temporary returnhome, 176, 176, 186
hope for employment in America,176
Judgment of Jupiter, not allowedto compete by Royal Academy, 178,
179, 196, 199,215
Russell portrait, 180
journal of dreadful voyagehome, 186-195
experience at Dover (1814),313
see ship carrying Napoleonto St. Helena, 379
Art career in America:
lack of demand, 1,196
Adams portrait, 196
portrait painting in New Hampshire(1816-17), 197, 201-209, 213
settles down to portrait painting,200, 217
as portrait painter, 200,216, 258, 438
on painting quacks, 206
portrait painting at Portsmouth,210-212
Langdon portrait, 211
at Charleston (1818-21), 214-217,219-226, 229-237
and J.A. Alston, 215,224, 226, 233
voyage to Charleston (1818),219
on R.A. for Allston, 222
Monroe portrait, 222, 226,234
thinks of settling at Charleston,223
at Washington (1819), 226,227
(1821), 240; (1824), 265
(1825), 261
trouble over Mrs. Ball’sportrait, 231-234
and Academy at Charleston,236, 236
trip through Berkshires (1821),238, 239
painting of House of Representatives,240-242, 262
gift to Yale (1822), 242
DeForest portrait, 243
search for work, absence fromhome (1823), 244
(1824), 257
at Albany, lack of successthere, 245-249
Moss Kent portrait, 246
plans for settling at NewYork, 246-249
James Kent portrait, 248,250
and advancement of arts, 249
studios at New York, 249,257, 274, 291
initial failure there (1823),249-252
and Mexican mission, 252-256
journey from New York to Washington(1824), 255
successful establishment atNew York (1824-25), 257-261, 269, 270
pupils, 257, 2, 150,156, 162
Lafayette portrait, 1,260-262, 264, 270, 272, 286
Dr. Smith portrait, 261
on election of Adams (1825),263
Stanford portrait, 270
and founding of National Academyof Design, 276-282, 284
as president of Academy, 280,2, 33
lectures and addresses onfine arts, 1, 281, 284, 285
pecuniary effect of connectionwith Academy, 281
as historical painter, 281
informal literary club, 282,2, 451
electioneering (1826), 1,288
painting for steamer, 288
annual address before Academy(1827), review and rejoinder, 289
and annual exhibition (1828),291
casts for the Academy, 384
divisions of life, 434
art ambition and trials, 434
Huntington’s estimateof, as artist, 435-437
color theory and experiments,436
influence of Allston, 436
results of distractions, 436
Isham’s estimate, 437,438
hopes on return from abroad(1832), 2, 3, 20
on New York (1833), 22, 24
on art instruction as hisfuture, 23, 24
on nullification, 23, 24
efforts to resume profession,25, 31
on need of refining arts inAmerica, 26
enthusiasm wanes, 28, 31,168
fails to get commission forpainting for Capitol, 28-32
commission from fellow artists,never painted, fund returned, 33, 34,
161
professor in University ofCity of New York, 37, 114, 137
on effect of daguerreotypeon art, 143, 144, 160
and question of resuming paintingin later years, 160, 202, 268
and death of Allston, 207,208
renewed effort for Capitolpainting (1846), 266-268
continued interest in Academy,306, 471
again president of Academy(1861), 417
attempts to paint (1864),433
presents Allston’s portraitto Academy, 436, 437
In Europe, 1829-32:
plans and preparation, commissions,1 289, 298-300, 338, 354, 390
outbound voyage, diary ofit, 300-302
at Liverpool, docks, 302,303
materials on tour, 305
journey to London, 306-308
on English villages, 306
at London, Royal Academy,Leslie, visits, 308, 309
traveling companions, 309,395
on gypsies, 310
on Canterbury cathedral andservice, 310-312
at Dover, 312
on Dover Castle, 313
on Channel passage, 314
on landing in France, 314,315
at Paris, Louvre, Lafayette,weather, 315-317
on letters for newspaper,317
on Continental Sabbath, 318,322
on allegorical painting, 318
winter journey across France,318-326
on diligence, 319
on Continental funerals, 321,322, 350, 366, 367
on Sisters of Charity andbenevolence, 323
at Avignon, 324
on Catholic ritual and music,324, 325, 340, 342, 346, 352, 376,
398-400, 2,104
on Toulon navy yard and galleyslaves, 1, 326, 327
travel by private carriagefrom Toulon to Rome, 327-337
imposition at inns, 327, 330
on Serra Palace, Genoa, 329
on Italian beggars, 330, 332,341, 355, 363, 369
on Ligurian Apennines, 331,332
on Carrara marble quarries,333-335
on Pisa and Leaning Tower,335-337
on Carnival fooleries, 336
arrival at Rome, lodgingsthere (1830), 337
on induction of cardinals,339, 340
on Pius VIII, 339
on St. Luke’s Academy,340
on kissing St. Peter’stoe, 340
on sacred opera, 341
on feast of Annunciation,341
on Roman society, 342-344
on Passion Sunday, 343
on Horace Vernet, 343, 344
on Palm Sunday, 344
on lying in state of cardinal,344
on Roman market, 345
on Allegri’s Miserere,345
on Holy Thursday, papal blessing,346, 347
on Thorwaldsen, paints hisportrait, 348, 370-372, 2, 354
and later history, of portrait,1, 372-374, 2, 465
on English, French, and Americanmanners, 1, 348, 349
on Landi’s pictures,349, 350
on Camuccini, 350
sketching tour, happy life,350
rhapsody on Subiaco, 361
on monks, 352
on rudeness of Roman soldiers,353
on Roman lotteries, 354
on festa inflorataat Genzano, 354-359
on Campagna at night, 359
on summer day at Rome, 360
on illumination of St. Peter’s,360
on St. Peter’s day,361-363
at Naples (1830), 363
at Amalfi, on accident there,364-367
on Campo Santo at Naples,367-369
on Convent of St. Martino,rhapsody on view, 369, 370
on Spagnoletto’s DeadChrist, 370
on Roman revolt and dangerto foreigners, 376, 380-385, 397
on Roman New Year, 377
discussion with Catholic convert,377
on election and coronationof pope, 378, 380, 381
spectator at historic events,379
journey to Florence duringrevolt (1831), 384-386
getting permission to remainthere, 386
on encounter with Radziwillat Rome, 386-389
work at Florence, 390
on travel in Italy, 391
on Bologna, 391
on journey to Venice by Po,391-393
on Venetian sights and smells,393
moralising on Venetian society,393
homesick, 395
travel to Milan, 395
at Recoaro, 396-398
on gambling priests, 396
on Milan, 398
on sacred pictures, 399
at Italian Lakes, 400
in Switzerland, on Rigi, 400,401
avoids French quarantine,402-405
on Paris after the revolution,405
and Greenough at Paris, 407,412
on Lafayette and Polish revolt,408
on Lafayette’s health(1831), 408
on Paris mob, 409-411
and R.W. Habersham, 417
and cholera, 417, 422
painting of interior of Louvre,421, 422, 2, 27, 28
meets Humboldt, 1,423
presides at Fourth dinner(1832), toast to Lafayette, 423-425
letters published in brothers’paper, 425
on Cooper’s patriotism,426-428
on European criticism of America,428, 429
active interest in Poles,430
at London (1832), 432
on growth of London, 432
sits to Leslie, 433
recovers health, 433, 2,4
voyage home, 3, 5, 17
on England, 4
Scientific career to 1844:
early interest in electricity,1, 18
invention of pump, 21
early longing for telegraph,41
studies with Silliman, 236
machine for carving marble,245, 247
and Dana’s lectureson electricity (1827), discussions with Dana, 290
familiarity with electricalscience, 29
thoughts (1821-31) connectedwith future invention of telegraph, 236,
324, 335, 394,395, 402
first conception of idea oftelegraph (1831), 417-421, 2, 8
experiments with photography,1, 421, 2, 129
divisions of life, trialsof scientific life, 1, 434, 2, 1, 2,77,
78
Jackson’s conversationson electrical progress on board ship (1832),
his later claimto invention, 5, 11, 58, 59, 78, 79, 121, 122, 137,
274, 305
basis of telegraph workedout on voyage, dot-and-dash code, sketches,
6-9, 11, 18
simplicity of invention, 9,16, 18, 109, 435
thoughts on priority, 9, 10
testimony of fellow passengers,11, 12, 14
date of invention, 12, 13
scientific knowledge necessaryfor invention, 14-16
necessary combination of personalqualities and conditions, 16, 57,
91, 152, 171
testimony of brothers on talkupon landing, 17, 18
insistence on single circuit,18, 102
bars to progress, lack offunds and essentials, 18, 19
first steps toward apparatus,saw-tooth type, 21
cares (1833), forced to putinvention aside, 25
and death of Lafayette, 34
workshop in University building,resumes experiments (1836), 38, 48
first instruments, 38-41
electro-chemical experiments,41
discovery of relay, 41, 42,141
shuns publicity of invention,poverty, 42
in Hall of Fame, 44
first exhibitions of telegraph(1835-38), 45-48, 54, 73-76, 80, 473
confidence of universal use,belief in aid to humanity, 48, 78, 125,
153, 179, 314,345, 435, 460, 488, 490
fears forestalling and rivalclaims, 49, 50, 53, 126, 127, 150, 166
difference in principle offoreign inventions, 50, 90, 92, 93,
100-102, 240,250
writes it “Telegraph”,50
originality of invention,share of others in it, 50-53, 61, 470, 472,
488, 500, 501,510, 519
Gale’s and Henry’sconnections, batteries, intensifying magnet, 54-59,
141, 477-479
public and congressional suspicion,57, 60, 72, 77, 81, 88, 91, 164,
189, 193
acknowledgment of indebtedness,58, 71, 263, 471, 489
Vail’s association,contract, 59, 60, 70
reversion to first plan forreceiver, 61
number code, dictionary, 62
paternity of alphabet code,62-68
patent in America, 69, 89,157
continuation of experiments,improvements, 70, 74, 76, 154, 182
cumbersome instruments, 73
alphabet supersedes numbercode, 74-76
portrule, 74, 88, 90
“Attention, the Universe”message, 75
friction with Vail, 79, 80
exhibition at Washington (1838),no grant results, 81, 103, 135, 137
connection of F.O.J.Smith, cause of his later antagonism, 82, 83
arrangement of partnershipwith Gale, Vail, and Smith, 83
desire and plan for governmentcontrol, 84-86, 119, 175, 176, 228,
229, 232, 446
no share in later stock-watering,86
Smith’s report to Congress,87
expects disappointments, 88,102, 106
European trip (1838), 89
rivals in Europe, 91, 109
application for British patent,refused, 92-99
interest of English gentlemen,effort for special act of Parliament,
95, 124
exhibitions in England, 96
Russian contract, refusalof czar to sign it, 97, 120, 122, 136-138,
147
witnesses coronation of Victoria,100, 101
French patents, 103, 119,132
on birth and baptism of Comtede Paris, 103, 104
exhibition at Institute ofFrance, 104, 107, 108
public and private projectsin France, obstacles and failure, 105,
109-120
French enthusiasm over telegraph,106, 107, 109, 111, 112, 114, 122,
124
discouraged, dark years andpoverty (1839-43), 113-116, 135, 147,
149-155, 157,159-164, 169, 178-181
correspondent for sender,117
better part of failures, 120,181
protection of wires from malevolentattack, 120, 123, 147
and underground wires, 121
and Daguerre, 128-130
invention for reporting railroadtrains, 132
and principle of fire-alarm,132
and military telegraph, 132-134
return to America (1839),135
and lack of effort by partners,136-138, 147, 151, 165, 167-169, 178,
181, 186, 196,401
experiments with daguerreotype,takes portraits, 144-146
makes a business of it, 146,152, 155
takes first group picture(1840), 146
Chamberlain’s exhibitionof telegraph in European centers, 148-149
rejects proposition from Wheatstone,158
renewed effort for congressionalgrant without result (1841-42), 164,
166, 173-178
proposals for private companies,167, 173
threatens to abandon invention,167, 178
Henry’s praise of telegraph(1842), 170-174
obliged to make instrumentshimself, 174, 179
experiment with submarinewires, 183, 184
search for funds (1842), 184
second exhibition before Congress(1842), consideration and passage of
act to build experimentalline, 185-203
and Fisher, 185, 187, 196,204, 210-213
wireless experiment, 186,187, 242, 243
friends in Congress, 186,189
omen in finding statuetteof Dying Hercules, 187
congratulations, 201
construction of experimentalline, route, assistants, 204-206, 214
wires, insulation, changefrom underground to overhead, 205, 208-210,
214-216
trouble with Smith, 206, 207,212, 213, 216, 218, 219, 225
prophesies Atlantic cable(1843), 208, 209
on strain of construction,217
progress of line, messagesduring construction, 219-221
ground circuit, 221
completion of line, “Whathath God wrought” message, 221-224
reports of Democratic Convention,224-226
report on experimental line,227, 228
and on sounder and readingby sound, 457, 479, 480
Career from 1844:
price of offer of telegraphto Congress, 2, 86, 232, 235, 446
defence of rights and priority,223, 241-243, 283
trials of success, 230, 231
Congress refuses to purchaseinvention, 232, 244, 245
accidents
(1844), 232
(1846), 268
(1857), 376, 377,383
(1869), 480
abortive plans for privatecompany, 235, 236
Smith’s fulsome dedication,236
Smith’s antagonism andopposition, 238, 239, 247, 273, 280, 303, 304,
307-309, 312,319, 320, 324, 346, 370, 371, 409-412, 423, 498-500,
502-505, 507
foreign inquiries, 240, 243,244
Woodbury’s address (1845),244
Kendall as agent, 246, 326,335, 372, 389, 409
first company, 247
letter of introduction fromDepartment of State, 248
fourth voyage to Europe (1845),249
on crossing Channel, 250
on Broek, 251-253
on Hamburg, 253, 254
attitude of European countriestoward telegraph (1845), 254-256
on the French, 256
litigation with infringersand rival companies, 257, 271-273, 276,
277, 282-294,301-304, 316, 322
extensions of patent, shareof partners, 258, 322-329, 346, 347, 370,
371
honors and decorations, 258,297, 392-394, 403, 406, 465
and faithless associates,257, 258, 260, 277-279, 372
and O’Reilly, 259, 260,273, 279, 283, 287-291, 294, 303, 307, 503
Henry controversy, 261-266,318, 329, 402, 405, 476-479, 500, 504
progress of telegraph, displacementof other systems, 269, 270, 313,
321, 349, 350,352, 367
on Mexican War, 270
printing telegraph, 271
and lawsuits, 272, 320, 371
and salaries of operators,274
and Vail, 275, 307, 327, 401,422, 423
financial stress, 276, 310,311, 336, 460
and Rogers, 277, 278
on aviation, 300, 301
hostility of newspapers, 304-307
and death of Cooper, 314
on origin of “telegram”,316
destruction of papers andevidence, 316
and instruments for Perry’sJapanese expedition, 317
and consolidation of linesand monopoly, 320, 326, 341, 405, 444
defeated for Congress (1854),331, 334
and Know-Nothingism, 331-333
and dishonesty in telegraphorganisation, 338, 339, 444-446
and sale of interests, 340,341
and organisation of Atlanticcable company, 344
private connection with telegraphline, 344
trip to Newfoundland (1855),345, 346
verse on invention, 346
trip to Europe (1856), 347
and pecuniary reward fromforeign nations, their honorary gratuity,
347, 373, 390-395,409-412, 422, 423, 493
experiments for Atlantic cable,348, 366
attentions in England, banquet,Cooke’s toast, 349, 367-370, 373
and Cooke, 350
visit to Leslie, 351
attentions on Continent, 353
private interview with Kingof Denmark, 353
at Copenhagen, 354, 355
on Oersted, 354
on St. Petersburg, 355
on presentation to czar atPeterhoff, 356-364
and Humboldt, 365
on Buchanan’s election,371
Kendall’s caution againstcable company, 372
on laying of first Atlanticcable (1857), 374-383
and Whitehouse’s log,378
doubts success of first andsecond cables, 379, 386, 387
forced withdrawal from cablecompany, 384-387
on office-seeking, 387
family party to Europe (1858),396
visit to daughter in PortoRico, 397-400, 406
on St. Thomas, 397, 398
on change of climate and clothes,398
on son-in-law’s estate,399
on death of Vail, 400
constructs first line In PortoRico, public breakfast, 404
and proposed Spanish cable,404-406
on Porto Rican fleas, 406
greeting at Poughkeepsie (1859),407, 408
on proposed candidacy forPresidency, 408
financially independent, 409,434
and visit of Prince of Wales,413, 414
and secession and compromise,414, 416, 418
attitude during Civil War,415-421, 424, 432
president of Society for NationalUnity, 415
and founding of Vassar, 417
expects success of North,419
belief in foreign machinations,420
and sale of original wireof telegraph, 423
president of a peace society,424
attitude toward Lincoln, 424,429
supports McClellan’scandidacy, 427, 429-431
and help for Southern prisonersof war, 428
on loyalty to Constitution,428, 429
and brother’s supportof Lincoln, 429, 430
endows lectureship in UnionTheological Seminary, 437
refused to attend class reunion(1865), rebukes sectional rejoicing,
438-441
statue proposed, 442
on benevolent use of telegraphwealth, 442
demands on, for leadershipand aid, 443, 446
and American Asiatic Society,443
characteristic deadhead, 445
on President Johnson, 446
final trip to Europe (1866),447
Paris headquarters, familygathering there, 447, 448
presentation at court, courtcostume, 448-450
on Field and success of cable,450, 451
on incident of Louis Napoleon’sstay at Now York, 451-453
on Paris Exposition, fetes,453-456
report on electrical display,454, 457, 460, 464, 475
on Isle Of Wight, 456
winter plans (1867), 457
on Italy and union of Churchand State, 458
on reaction of Reconstruction(1867), 458
at Dresden, 459
at Berlin, Von Phillipsborn’scourtesy, 461-464
return to America, 464
and presidential election(1868), 465, 466
New York banquet (1868), speeches,467-475
on science and art, 471
on death of Kendall, 481
unveiling of statue, 482-484
farewell message over theworld by telegraph, 485, 486
replies, 486
address, 487-491
abandons plan for trip abroad(1871), 493
last summer, 493
on neutralisation of telegraph,497, 498
last public appearance, unveilsstatue of Franklin, address, 505
last illness, 506
death, 507
tributes to, 507-511
funeral, 511, 512
grave, 513
memorial services in Congress,513-516
and at Boston, 516
summary of inventions, 520
fame, 521
Letters: See J.S.C. Abbott,Allston, Alston, Andrews, Aycrigg, Ball,
Bellows, Blake, Boardman,Bodisco, Breguet, Brett, Bromfield, Bryant,
Burbank, Mrs. Cass, Chevalier,Christy, Clarke, Cole, Cooper, G.T.
Curtis, Daguerre, Day, DeForest, Dix, Douglas, Edwards, Elgin, B.L.
Ellsworth, J. Evarts, Faxton,C.W. Field, J.E.B. Finley, Gale, Mrs.
W.H. Goodrich, Green,Greenough, A.B. Griswold, C.B. Griswold,R.W.
Griswold, Bauser, Henry, Jos.Hillhouse, Hodge, Ingham, S.F. Jarvis,
Mrs. S.F. Jarvis, C.Johnson, Johnston, A. Kendall, King, Lafayette,
Q.W. Lafayette, C.R.Leslie, J.R. Leslie, E. Lind. S.W.M.Lind,
Livingston, D. Lord, Lovering,Ludlow, Macaulay, J.Y. Mason, Mathews,
Mead, Morgan, A. Morse, E.A.B.Morse, J. Morse, L.P.W. Morse, R.C.
Morse, S.E. Morse, S.E.Morse, Jr., S.E.G. Morse, S.W. Morse, Morton,
Newcastle, O’Reilly,M.C. Perry, Ransom, Raymond, Reibart, Roby,
Rossiter, Salisbury, E.S.Sanford, Shaffner, E.F. Smith, E.G. Smith,
F.O.J. Smith, Stevens,Stickney, J. Thompson, H. Thornton,
Thorwaldsen, A. Vail, Mrs.A. Vail, G. Vail, Van Schaick, Vassar,
Viager, Walewaki, T.R.Walker, Mrs. T.R. Walker, Warren, Watson,
Wells, Williams, Wood, T.D.Woolsey.
Morse, Sarah E. (Griswold) marries M., 2, 289,290
domestic life, 290
from M. (1854) on diversions at Washington,extension of patent, 322
Newfoundland trip (1855), 345
goes abroad with M. (1858), 347
(1858), 396
(1866), 447
from M. (1857) on crinoline, 373
on laying of first Atlantic cable, 374
in Porto Rico (1858), 397
and memorial services to M., 514
Morse, Susan W., birth, 1, 225
with M. in New York (1825), 274
childhood home, 298
from M. (1838) on coronation of Victoria,rival telegraphs, refusal of
British patent, 2,100, 102
on French patent, birth of Comte de Paris,103
on exhibitions and projects of telegraphin France, 104
on need of economy, 106
(1839) on “home,” 116
See also Lind, Susan W. (Morse).
Morse code. See Dot-and-dash.
Morton, J.L., letters with M. (1831) on Academy ofDesign, 1, 384
Motto of Morse coat of arms, 2, 258
Moulton, S.D., at M.’s funeral, 2, 512
Murray, Lindley, complimentary letter from JedediahMorse (1806), 1, 14
Music, M. on Continental, 1, 325, 343
sacred opera at Rome, 341
Allegri’s Miserere, 345

Naples, M. at (1830), 1, 363, 367
Campo Santo, 367-369
Convent of San Martino, 369, 370
Napoleon III, and M., 2, 449, 456
M. on, in New York, belief in his star,452
Napoleon, transatlantic ship (1829), 1,300
Napoleonic Wars, retreat from Moscow, 1, 93
English success in Spain, 110
overthrow of Napoleon, 127, 128
Louis XVIII’s entree into London(1814), 136-140
London fete of Allies, 142-147
Napoleon’s return from Elba, 172
news in London of his abdication, 183-185
M. sees ship bearing Napoleon to St. Helena,379
National Academy of Design, inception, M.’splan of membership and control,
1, 276-282, 284
organisers, 280
M. as president, 280
M.’s annual address, review, andrejoinder (1827), 289
exhibition (1828), 291
M. secures casts for, 384
needs M.’s guiding hand (1831),384
Trumbull’s opposition to union ofArt Academy, 2, 22
fear lest M. should resign presidency(1837), 33
M. expects to resign presidency (1839),114
Daguerre elected an honorary member, 141
continuation of M.’s interest, 306
M. again president (1861), 417
M. presents portrait and brush of Allston,436, 437
M. on progress (1868), 471
National Gallery, M. on (1829), 1, 309
Neptune, transatlantic ship (1813), 1,118
Nettleton, ——, butler at Yale (1810),1, 20
Neutral trade, search (1811), 1, 33
England and embargo, 39
Orders in Council and nonintercourse,67, 70, 76
objects of Orders, 91, 92
repeal of Orders, 115
See also War of 1812.
Neutralization of telegraph, M. on (1871), 2,497, 498
Newcastle, Fifth Duke of (Earl of Lincoln), and M.’stelegraph, 2, 95,
96, 124, 127
to M. (1860) on visit of Prince of Wales,413
Newcastle, Sixth Duke of (Earl of Lincoln), at Peterhoff(1856), 2, 363
New Haven, Morse family at, 1, 234
Newspapers, hostility to M.’s claims as monopolistic,2, 304-306
Newton, G.S., and M., 1, 308, 309
marriage, 2, 4
New Year at Rome, 1, 377
New York City, called insipid (1810), 1, 20
defences in War of 1812, 150
M.’s plans for settling at (1823),future, 246-249
M.’s studios, rentals, 249, 257,274, 291
M.’s initial failure at, 249-252
his establishment at (1824-25), 257-259
M.’s portrait of Lafayette for,260-264, 270, 272
literary club, 282, 2, 451
M. on improvement and conditions (1833),22, 24
M.’s home, 409
banquet to M. (1869), 467-475
statue to M., unveiling (1871), 482-484
M.’s farewell message to the telegraph,485-491
M.’s funeral, 511, 512
See also National Academy of Design.
New York Herald, on M.’s submarine experiment(1842), 2, 183, 184

tribute to M., 509
New York Journal of Commerce, M. and travelletters for (1830), 1, 317
on exhibition of telegraph (1838), 2,74
on M.’s rivals, 284
New York Observer, founded, success, 1,243
New York, University of City of, M. as professor,and his telegraph, 2,
37, 43, 44, 114
Niagara, U.S.S., and laying of first Atlanticcable, 2, 378-383
Nicholas I of Russia, and M.’s telegraph, 2,120
Nonintercourse, effect in England (1812), 1,67, 70
Northampton, Marquis of, and M.’s telegraph,2, 95, 128
Notes, M. refuses to endorse, 2, 319
Nothomb, Baron de, and M. at Berlin, 2, 462
Nullification, Lafayette on, 1, 431
M. on compromise, 2, 23, 24

Oberman, ——, and M. at Hamburg (1856),2, 353
Oersted, H.C., M. on, 2, 354
Office, M. on seeking at Washington (1858), 2,387
Oldenburg, duch*ess of, appearance (1814), 1,137
Ombroai, ——, consul at Florence(1831), 2, 386
Orders in Council, British attitude (1812), 1,67, 76
repeal and war, 89, 115
objects, 91, 92
O’Reilly, Henry, character, 2, 259
to M. (1845) congratulations, 259
infringements on M.’s patent, rivalcompany, 260, 273, 279, 287-291,
294, 303, 307
last attack on M., 503
Orton, William, banquet to M., 2, 467, 472
and statue to M., 484
and M.’s farewell message to thetelegraph, 485, 486
at M.’s funeral, 511
O’Shaughnessy, Sir William, and M., 2,349, 377
Otho of Greece, and M.’s telegraph, 2,148
Owen, J.J., and Civil War, 2, 416
Owen, Robert, and Wilberforce, 1, 185
at Washington (1825), 263
and M., 264

Painting, Leslie on Allston and King, 1, 59
comparison with poetry, 110, 117
Allston on French school, 114 Seealso Allston, Morse, S. F. B., National Academyof Design.
Palm Sunday at Rome (1830), 1, 344
Palmer, ——, return to America (1832),2, 4
Paradise, J.W., and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Paris, Comte de, birth, 2, 103
christening, 104
Paris, M. at (1830), 1, 316-318
after Revolution of 1830, 405
mob and Polish revolt (1831), 409-411
cholera (1832), 417, 423
M.’s exhibition of telegraph at(1838), projects, 2, 102-134
M. at (1856), 851
(1858), 396
(1866), 447
(1868), 464
his presentation at court, 448-450
Paris Exposition (1867), M.’s enthusiasm, 2,453
his report on electrical exhibit, 454,457, 460, 464, 478
fetes, 454-456
attempt on czar’s life, 455
Parisen, J., and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Parker, Joel, and Civil War, 2, 416
Parkman, Dr. George, M. on meanness, 1, 160

Passion Sunday at Rome (1830), 1, 343
Patent of telegraph, caveat, 2, 69
specification, 89
application in England, refusal, 92-98
proposal of special act of Parliament,95, 124, 126
French, 103, 132
issued in United States, 157
for printing telegraph, 271
infringements, 257, 271-273, 276, 277,282-294, 316, 322
extension of M.’s, 258, 322-326,346, 347, 370
Patron, M. seeks (1814), 1, 134, 142, 155
Patterson, J.W., at memorial services to M., 2,515
Patterson, R.M., and exhibition of telegraph, 2,79, 80
Payne, J.H., Mrs. Morse on character, 1, 118
Peace, M. on telegraph and promotion, 2, 345,462, 497
Peale, Rembrandt, and study of live figure, 2,101
and portrait of Lafayette, 261
and origin of Academy of Design, 280
Peel, Lady Emily, at Peterhoff (1856), 2, 358
Peel, Sir Robert, at Peterhoff (1856), 2, 362
Pell, Capt. ——, of the Sully(1832), 2, 3
on conception of telegraph, 12
Perceval, Spencer, and American crisis (1812), 1,67, 70
assassination, 71
Perry, H.J., and proposed Spanish cable, 2,405
Perry, M.C., to M. (1852) on telegraph instrumentsfor Japanese
expedition, 2, 317
Persiani, ——, soiree, 1,347
Peter, Saint, image in St. Peter’s at Rome,1, 340
feast day at Rome, 361
Peterhoff, M. on presentation to czar at, 2,356-363
Philadelphia, West on, as future art centre, 1,73
exhibition of telegraph (1838), 2,80
Phillips, Mrs. ——, transatlanticvoyage (1815), 1, 188
Phillips Andover Academy, M. at, 1, 3
Phillipsborn, —— von, and M. atBerlin, 2, 461, 482
on telegraph and battle of Koeniggraetz,463
Photography, M.’s early experiments, 1,421, 2, 129
See also Daguerreotype.
Pickett, B.M., Morse statue, 2, 482
Pisa, M. at (1830), 2, 335
Leaning Tower, 336
Pius VIII, at ceremonies in old age, 1, 339,346, 363
death, 376
Platoff, ——, at London (1814), 1,146, 147
Plattsburg, battle, 1, 150, 151
Poems by M. 1, 273, 2, 494-496
Poet, and painter, 1, 110, 117
Poinsett, J.R., and Art Academy at Charleston, 1,235, 236
and proposed Mexican minion (1823), 252,253
Poland, revolt (1830), 1, 386-389
Lafayette on revolt, 408, 431
Paris and revolt, mob (1831), 409-411
M.’s active interest, 430
Polk, J.K., presidential nomination reported by telegraph,2, 224, 225
Pope, F.L., on Morse alphabet, 2, 76
Popes. See Gregory, Pius.
Porteus, Beilby, from Jedediah Morse (1806) on disestablishmentin
Virginia, 1, 13
Porto Rico, M.’s visit (1858), 2, 399-400,404, 406
first telegraph line, 404
Portraits by M., John Adams, 1, 196
Mrs. Ball, 231-233
De Forest, 243
James Kent, 250
Moss Kent, 246
Lafayette, 260-262, 264, 270, 272, 286
John Langdon, 211
Mrs. Lind, 435
James Monroe, 222, 226, 234
James Russell, 180
Dr. Smith, 261
Stanford, 270
Thorwaldsen, 370-374, 2, 465
Portrule, 2, 74, 88, 90
superseded, 117
Portsmouth, N.H., M. at (1816-17), 1, 210,212, 213
Portugal, testimonials to M., 2, 393, 403
Potter, Edward, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Poughkeepsie, M.’s home at, 2, 269, 280,284, 286, 296, 464, 498
greeting to M. (1859), 407, 408
Powell, W.H., commission for Capitol painting, 2,267
Prescott, G.B., M. on work, 2, 457
President, U.S.S., reported capture (1811),1, 54
Presidential election, conduct in Congress (1825),1, 263
report over telegraph of conventions (1844),2, 219, 224-228
M. on Buchanan’s election, 371
M. supports McClellan’s candidacy,427, 429-431
M. on (1868), 465, 466
Prime, S.I., on M.’s anecdote of West, 1,42
on M.’s grandfather, 227
on Jedediah Morse and wife, 287, 293
on incident in construction of experimentalline, 2, 214
on success of line, 222
on sustainment of M.’s patent, 291
on M. and Phillipsborn at Berlin, 461-484
review of M.’s character, 516
Prince, L.B., at M.’s funeral, 2, 512
Printing, M. on, 2, 299
Printing telegraph, 2, 271
See also House.
Prosch, ——, and instruments fortelegraph, 2, 153, 154
Prussia, testimonials to M., 2, 392
telegraph in Austrian War, 463
Public ownership, M.’s plan for telegraph, 2,84-86, 119, 175, 176
price of offer, 86
Congress declines to purchase, 228, 229,232, 244, 245
Pump, M.’s invention, 1, 211

Putnam, Aaron, oration at Charlestown (1805), 1,7.
Putnam, I.W., as minister, 1, 213

Quarantine, M. evades French (1831), 1, 402-405
Quincy, Josiah, at memorial services to M., 2,516

Raasloff, Capt. ——, and M., 2,353
Radziwill, Prince M.J., M.’s encounter with,at Rome (1830), 1, 386-389
and Polish revolt, 389
Railroads, first mention by M., 1, 335
M.’s invention for reporting trains,2, 132
Ralston, Eliza, and M., 1, 88, 89
Rankin, R.G., on first view of telegraph and M.’sattitude, 2, 45-47
Ransom, W.L., from M. (1864) on loyalty, 2,428
Raymond, H.J., and Henry-Morse controversy, letterswith M. (1852), 2,
318
Reading, M. and old poets, 1, 102
Receiver, M.’s original conception, 2,7, 8, 18, 21
first form, 38-40
reversion to first plan of up-and-downmotion, 61

multiple record, 76
M. on receiving by sound, 457, 479, 480
Recoaro, M. at (1831), 1, 396-398
Reconstruction, M. on reaction (1867), 2, 458
Reeves, Tapping, and M., 1, 238
Reibart, ——, from M. (1859) on candidacyfor President, 2, 408
Reid, J.D., on Kendall as M.’s agent, 2,246
on O’Reilly, 259
on Vail’s incapacity, 295, 296
on Huntington’s address at banquetto M., 473
and statue to M., 482
and M.’s farewell message to telegraph,486
M.’s thanks to, 490
tribute to M., 507
Reinagle, Hugh, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Relay, M.’s discovery, 2, 41
other discoverers, 42
Henry and, 140, 141
Religion, M.’s early bent, 1, 5, 6, 18
parental admonitions, 6-8
M.’s attitude, 6, 18, 120, 212,213, 296-298
M. on Canterbury Cathedral and service,310-312
on Continental Sunday, 818, 322
on devotion and emotion of taste, 401
M.’s observance of Sabbath, 2,128
M. on union of Church and State, 468
See also Morse, S.F.B. (Earlyyears), Roman Catholic Church.
Remberteau, Comte, and M.’s telegraph, 2,123
Rents at New York, 1, 249, 274, 291
Renwick, James, on M.’s conception of telegraph,1, 420
Republicans, called Jacobins (1805), 1, 7
celebration of Fourth at Charlestown,7
See also War of 1812.
Revolution of 1830, Paris after, 1, 405
Lafayette on European results, 430
Ribera, Jusepe. See Spagnoletto.
Rigi, M. on, 1, 401
Ripley’s Inn, Hartford, 1, 9
Rives, W.C., M.’s letter of introduction. 1,299
at Fourth dinner at Paris (1832), 424
return to America, 2, 3
M. on, 4
and invention of telegraph, 14
Roberts, M.O., and Atlantic cable, 2, 343
Robinson, Charles, and M.’s telegraph in Europe,2, 255
Roby, Mrs. Margaret, from M. (1829) on ocean voyage,Liverpool, 1, 306
(1830) on journey to London, experiencesthere, Canterbury, Dover,
Channel passage, Paris, 306
on journey to Dijon, diligence, funeral,Continental Sunday, 318
Rocafuerto, Vicente, M. on, 1, 247
Rogers, H.J., and telegraph, 2, 239
break with M., 277, 278
from Smith (1871) on Henry’s inventionof telegraph, 498
Rogers, Lewis, return to America (1832), 2,4
Rogers, Nathaniel, and origin of Academy of Design,1, 280
Rogers, Samuel, and M., 1, 95, 308
Roman Catholic Church, emancipation question in England(1812), 1, 67;
M. on French funeral, 321, 322
on Sisters of Charity, 323
on ritual, 324, 340, 398
festa infionta at Genzano, 354-359
M.’s discussion with converts, 377,2, 364
gambling priests, 1, 396
M. on sacred pictures, 399
M.’s antagonism and controversies,2, 36-37, 330-333, 337
See also Rome.
Rome, M.’s arrival and lodgings (1830), 1,337
his work, 338, 354
induction of cardinals, 339, 340
Plus VIII in old age, 339
kissing of St. Peter’s toe, 340
St. Luke’s Academy, 340
beggars, 341
feast of Annunciation, 341
society, 342-344, 347
Passion Sunday, 343
Palm Sunday, 344
lying in state of cardinal, 344
market, 345
Allegri’s Miserere, 345
Holy Thursday, papal benediction, 346,347
funeral, 360
feast of St. Francesco Caracoiolo, 352
procession of Corpus Domini, M.on monks, 352
rudeness of soldiers, 353
lotteries, 354
Campagna at night, 358
a summer day, 360
illuminations of St. Peter’s, 360
St. Peter’s day, 361-363
vaults of St. Peter’s, 362
social evil, 374
death of Pius VII, 376
revolt in provinces (1831), danger toforeigners, 376, 380-385, 397
New Year, 377
election and coronation of Gregory XVI,378, 380, 381
Trasteverini, 382
Romeyn, Dr. Nicholas, and M., 1, 152
to Jedediah Morse (1814) on M., 166
Rossiter, J.P., to M. (1811) on social gossip, 1,27-30
Royal Academy, M.’s preparation for entrance,1, 43, 46, 65
Allston elected, 222
M. at lecture (1829), 308
Royal Society, M.’s exhibition of telegraph,2, 96
Russell, James, M.’s portrait, 1, 180
Russell, Lucy, and M., 1, 180
Russia, and M.’s telegraph (1839), 2,97, 120, 122, 136-138, 147
renewed interest in telegraph (1844),240, 244
M. at St. Petersburg and Peterhoff (1856),355-364
and gratuity to M., 393
Russian Extension, M. and manipulation, 2,445

St. Bartholomew’s Fair, London, M. on (1811),1, 52-54
Saint-Germain Railroad, and M.’s telegraph,2, 105, 110, 119
St. Laurent, transatlantic steamer (1868),2, 464
St. Luke’s Academy, Rome, M. on, 1, 340
St. Martino Convent at Naples, M. on, 1, 309,370
St. Peter’s Church. See Rome.
St. Petersburg, M. on display of wealth (1856), 2,355
St. Thomas Island, M. at (1858), 2, 397, 398
Salisbury, E.S., from M. (1841) on order for portrait,discouraging
conditions, 2, 158
(1865) on Yale’s celebration ofsectional victory, 438
Samson, G.W., and M.’s farewell message to telegraph,2, 485
Sanford, Ahas, “appointment” at Yale,1, 26
Sanford, E.S., from M. (1867) on crooked telegraphmanipulations, 1, 444
on government purchase, 446
on financial stress, 460
Sanitary Commission, M. on aid for Confederate prisonersof war, 1, 428
Santa Anna, A.L. de, at St. Thomas (1858), 2,397
Saul, Leslie’s painting, 1,123
Sculpture, M.’s carving machine, 1, 248,

247
Seabury, Samuel, and Civil War, 2, 416
Search, British, of American ships, 1, 33
Sebastiani, Comte F.H.B., mob attack (1831), 1,410, 411
Secession, M.’s attitude, 2, 414, 416,418
Sender, saw-tooth type, 2, 18, 21; first form,89
Improvement in portrait, 74, 88, 90
correspondent or key substituted, 117
“Serenade,” M.’s poem, 2,495, 496
Serra Palace, M. on, 1, 329.
Serrell, ——, and experimental telegraphline, 2, 206, 211, 212
Servants, M. on problem, 1, 281, 292
on English, 302
Servell, ——, visual telegraph, 2,53
Seymour, T.H., with M. at Peterhoff (1856), 2,356, 357
Shaffner, T.P. letters with M. (1848) on clash withrival company, 2,
287-289
and M. at Washington, 323
from M. (1859) on death of Vail, 400
on Henry controversy, 402
Shaw, ——, invention of percussioncap, 2, 472
Shee, Sir M.A., meets M., 1, 308
Shepard, Nancy, M.’s nurse, 1, 3, 2,72
Sheridan, R.B., lines on Lettsom, 1, 40
Shubrick, W.B., at early exhibition of telegraph,2, 48
Siddons, Mrs., M. on, 1, 77
Siemens, Werner, and duplex telegraph, 2, 187
and M. at Berlin, 461
Silliman, Benjamin, M. on “Journal,” 1,18
M.’s scientific studies under, 236
in Berkshires with M., 238, 239
epitaph for Mrs. Morse, 270, 271
experiments in photography, 421
M.’s indebtedness, 2, 58
Simbaldi, Palazzo, musical soiree at (1830), 1,342
Simpson, John, at M.’s funeral, 2, 512
Sisters of Charity, M. on, 1, 323
Slave-trade, Wilberforce and abolition, 1,135
Slavery, M.’s defence, 2, 331, 333, 389,390, 415, 416, 424-426, 432
Smith, Capt. ——, of Napoleon(1829), 1, 300
Smith, E.F., from M. (1853) on endorsing notes, 2,319
Smith, E.G., and M. 2, 188
to M. (1847) on painting for Capitol,267
Smith, F.O.J., offer to help M., 2, 82
character, cause of later antagonism,82, 83
conditions of partnership, 83
report to Congress on telegraph, 87
and patent specification, 89
goes to Europe with M., 89
returns, 109
on Chamberlain, 148
abandons efforts for telegraph, 151, 165,168, 178, 181, 186
and construction of experimental line,and beginning of hostility to M.,
206, 212, 213, 216, 218, 219,225
and formation of companies, 235, 236
telegraph dictionary, dedication to M.,236-238
life-long continuation of antagonism,238, 247, 273, 280, 303, 304, 307,
312, 320
and management of partnership, 247
separation of interests, 308, 309, 312
denial of injunction against, 319
and extension of patent, demand of share,324, 328, 346, 370
claim to share foreign gratuity, 409-412,423
M.’s acknowledgment to, 471, 489
on Henry as inventor of telegraph, 498-502
last attack on M., 502-505, 507
Letters to M.:
(1841) on M.’s serviceto humanity, 2, 165.
From M:
(1838) on public control oftelegraph, 84
(1838-39) on French and Russianprojects, key, 109-112, 117, 122
on Jackson’s claim,121
on English affairs, 124
(1839) on discouraging conditions,abandonment by partners, 135, 150
(1840) on Wheatstone’sproposition, 158
(1841) on lobbyist, 164
on making further effort,progress of rivals, aid from Congress, 165
(1842) on Henry’s praise,private company, 172, 173
on abandoning invention, Congress,178
on discouraging conditions,180
(1843) on bill in Congress,195
on passage of act, 201
on trenching contract, 206
(1844) on company, 236
on Smith’s dedicationto M., disputed division of partnership, 238
(1849) on separation of interests,308
(1850) on claim to share ofgratuity, 412
Smith, Goldwin, at banquet to M., 2, 472
Smith, J.A., informal club (1837), 2, 451
Smith, J.L., and telegraph in Turkey, 2, 298
Smith, Nathan, M.’s portrait, 1, 261
Smithsonian Institution, and Henry-Morse controversy,2, 402
Smuggling, M.’s experience, 1, 45, 46
Snow, R.W., to Mrs. Morse (1812) on M. as artist,1, 64
Social evil, M. on, at Rome, 1, 374
Society, M. on Roman (1830), 1, 342-344
on English, French, and American manners,348, 349
on Venetian. 394
Society for diffusing Useful Political Knowledge,2, 424
Solomons, A.S., and memorial services to M., 2,514
Somaglia, Cardinal, lying in state, 1, 344
Sorrento, M. at (1830), 1, 364
Soult, Marshal, ministry, 2, 117
Sounder. See Receiver.
South Carolina, nullification, 1, 431, 2,23, 24
See also Charleston.
Southey, Robert, sketch for admirer, 1, 73,113
Spagnoletto, M. on Dead Christ, 370
Spain, M. on Wellington’s victories, 1,110
interest in M.’s telegraph, 244
testimonials to M., 368
proposed cable to West Indies (1859),404-406
Spaulding, M.J., M.’s religious controversy,2, 35, 330
Spencer, George, discussion with M. on Catholicism,1, 377
Spencer, J.C., and telegraph, 2, 204
Sprague, Peleg, referee on Smith’s claim, 2,411
Stafford, Marquis of, seat and gallery, 1,307
Stanford, ——, of New York, M.’sportrait, 1, 270
Stanly, Edward, and telegraph, 2, 194
Statham, Samuel, and M. in (1856), 2, 348
Statue to M., proposed (1865), 3, 442
unveiling, 482-184
Steinheil, K.A., telegraph, 2, 109, 150, 171,173
and ground circuit, 243, 367, 470
recommends M.’s telegraph, 313,367
Stephen, ——, son of James, and Warof 1812, 1, 89
Sterling, Antoinette, and M.’s farewell messageto telegraph, 2, 486
Stevens, W.B., from M. on telegraph in Congress, 2,198
Stickney, William, from M. (1869) on death of Kendall,2, 481
Stiles, J.C., and Civil War, 2, 416
Stock-watering, M. not responsible, 2, 86
Stothard, Thomas, meets M., 1, 308
Strong, Caleb, expected election (1812), 1,66
Strother, D.H., on M.’s poverty (1841), 2,162, 163
Stuart, Gilbert, M. on, 1, 93, 102
Sturgeon, William, and electro-magnet, 2, 478
Subiaco, M.’s rhapsody, 1, 351
Sullivan, Sarah W., marriage, 2, 4
Sully, Thomas, and study of life figure, 1,101
and portrait of Lafayette, 261
painting for steamer, 289
Sully, transatlantic ship (1832), 2,3
Sunday, M. on Continental, 1, 318, 322
Supreme Court, on M.’s patent, 2, 291-293,322
Susquehanna, and laying of first Atlantic cable,2, 378
Swedish Royal Academy of Science, M.’s membership,2, 393, 403
Switzerland, M. in (1831), 1, 400-402

Talleyrand, C.M. de, from Jedediah Morse (1811) introducingM. 2, 31
Taney, R.B., telegraph decision, 2, 292
Tappan, H.B., on first view of telegraph, 2,47
Tardi, Luigia, singer, 1, 342
Tatham & Brothers, and experimental telegraph line,2, 212
Taylor, Moses, and Atlantic cable, 2, 343
“Telegram,” origin, 2, 316
Telegraph. See Atlantic cable, Battery, Circuit,Consolidation,
Dot-and-dash, Duplex, Experimentalline, Morse (S.F.B.), Patent,
Public ownership, Relay, Receiver,Sender, Wire, Wireless.
Theatre, at St. Bartholomew’s Fair (1811), 1,53
M.’s attitude, 72, 78, 374-376
M. on Kemble, Cooke, Mrs. Siddons, 77
premier of Coleridge’s Remorse,96
maternal warnings against, 118
M.’s farce, 129, 180
Thompson, John, from M. (1867) on fetes of Paris Exposition,2, 464
(1868) on desire to return home, 464
Thompson, M.E., and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Thornton, Sir Edward, at banquet to M., 2,468, 469
Thornton, Henry, and M., 1, 89, 90
and War of 1812, 89
on Orders in Council, 91, 92
letters with M. (1813-14) on prisonerof war, 124-127
Thorwaldsen, A.B., M. on, at Rome and as artist, 1,348, 2, 354
M.’s portrait, 1, 348, 370
from M. (1830) on portrait, 371
later history of portrait, 372-374, 2,466
gift to Academy of Design, 1, 384
Thunder storms in Venice, 1, 393, 394
Tilden, S.J., at M.’s funeral, 2, 512
Tips, M. on, in England, 1, 37
Tisdale, ——, on Dying Hercules,1, 185

Todd, John, on Jedediah Morse, 1, 287
on Mrs. Morse, 293
Torrey, John, at exhibition of telegraph, 2,54
Toucey, Isaac, and M. as office-seeker for son, 2,388
Toulon, M. on navy yard and galley slaves (1830),1, 326, 327
Town, Ithiel, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
travel with M. (1829-30), 309, 317
Trasteverini, character, 1, 382
Travel, English war-time regulations (1811), 1,36
treatment of travellers, tips, impositions,37-39
delay in sailing of ships, 55
M.’s Journal of dreadful voyage(1815), 186-195
from New York to Washington (1824), 256
transatlantic (1829), 300-302
stage coach to London (1829), 306-308
Channel steamers (1829), 314
(1845), 2, 250
winter journey across France by diligence(1830), 1, 318-326
diligence described, 319
from Toulon to Geneva, 327, 328
imposition of innkeepers, 327, 330
from Genoa to Rome, 330-337
conditions and perils of Italian, 332,391, 400
to Venice by boat on Po, 391-393
Trentanove, Raymond, gift to Academy of Design, 1,384
Trentham Hall, 2, 307
Trollope, Mrs. Francos, M. on Domestic Manners,1, 428
Trumbull, John, M. on, as artist, 1, 102
and M.’s portrait of Mrs. Ball,232
and Academy of Arts, 249, 276, 2,22
Turkey, testimonials to M., 2, 297, 393
Turner, J.M.W., M. meets, 1, 309
Twining, Stephen, and M. at Yale, 1, 14, 21
Tyng, S.H., and statue to M., 2, 484

Union Theological Seminary, M. endows lectureship,2, 437
Unitarianism, Jedediah Morse’s opposition, 1,1
M. on, 2, 430
Universalists, M. on, 1, 213
Upham, N.G., referee on Smith’s claim, 2,411
Uriel in the Sun, Allston’s painting, 1,307

Vail, Alfred, first view of telegraph, 2, 54
association with it, contract, 59, 60
and dot-and-dash alphabet, 62-65
work with M., 70, 76, 81
M.’s acknowledgment of indebtednessto, 71, 471, 489
friction, 79, 80
new arrangement of partnership, 83
ceases effort for telegraph, 136, 151,168, 178, 181, 186, 401
and construction and operation of experimentalline, agreement, 204,
205, 215, 216, 220
and operation of telegraph, 239
Kendall, as agent, 246, 339, 340
and Henry controversy, 261
relations with M. after 1844, 275, 307,327-329, 339, 401
incapacity for telegraph work, 296
M. and death, 400, 401
Letters to M:
(1840) proposing exhibitionat Philadelphia, 2, 153
(1841) on private line, 169
(1846) on accident, 268
(1847) on avoiding activeinterest in companies, 275
(1848) on suits, severingconnection with telegraph, 294
(1849) on newspaper hostility,307

From M:
(1838) on prospects, portrule,88, 90
on exhibition before Instituteof France, 107
(1839) on discouraging conditions,149
(1840) on same, 151
(1841) on scattered partners,hope, 169
(1842) on duplex and wirelessexperiments, action in Congress, 185
(1843) on bill, 196
on passage of act, 201
on preparation for experimentalline, 204
(1844) on operating, 220,221
(1846) on faithless associates,260
on accident, 268
(1847) on personal relations,275
(1847) on faithlessness ofRogers, 277, 278
(1854) on share under extensionof patent, 327
Vail, Mrs. Alfred, from M. (1862) on share in gratuity,2, 422
Vail, George, and brother’s connection withtelegraph, 2, 79
to M. (1842) refusing assistance, 184
from M. (1854) on brother’s sharein extension of patent, 328
suspicion of M., 339
from M. (1862) on original wire of telegraph,423
Vail, Stephen, and telegraph, 2, 70, 184
Van Buren, Martin, and letters of introduction forM. (1829), 1, 299
and exhibition of telegraph (1838), 2,81
Vanderlyn, John, and M.’s portrait of Mrs. Ball,1, 232
and portrait of Lafayette, 261
and origin of Academy of Design, 280
painting for steamer, 289
Van Dyke, H.J., and Civil War, 2, 416
Van Rensselaer, Stephen, and M. at London (1812),1, 73
presented at court, 77
and M. as artist, 245, 252
Van Shalek, ——, to M. (1814) onNew York’s defenses, 1, 150
on victories, New England Federalism,150
to Jedediah Morse on M.’s character,war views, and progress, 166
orders painting from M., 251
from M. (1831) on copies of paintings,390
Vassar, Matthew, from M. (1861) on Vassar College,2, 417
Vassar College. M. and founding, 2, 417
Vauxhall Gardens, M. on (1811), 1, 50-52
Venice, M.’s Journey to, by Po (1831), 1,391-393
sights and smells, 393
thunder storms, 393, 394
society, 394
Venice Preserved, M. on, 1,72
Vernet, Horace, M. on, at Rome, 1, 343, 344
Victoria of England, coronation, 2, 100
anecdote of kindness, 101
Villages, aspect of English (1829), 1, 306
Vinci, Leonardo da, and science, 2, 471
Virginia, disestablishment, church property, 1,13
Visger, Harman, and M., 1, 121
to M. (1814) on self-support, Allston,123
Visscher, ——, in England (1812),and M., 1, 83, 169-171
Vouchy, Comte de, and M., 2, 351

Wainwright, J.M., informal club (1837), 2,451
Walcott, ——, and daguerreotypes,2, 145
Walcott, G.K., and M.’s farewell message totelegraph, 2, 486
Waldo, S.L., and portrait of Lafayette, 1,261
and origin of Academy of Design, 280

Wales, Prince of, M. and visit to America, 2,413
New York ball, 414
Walewski, Comte, and gratuity to M., 2, 373
to M. (1858) announcing award, 390
M.’s reply, 394
Walker, Charles [1], M. on family, 1, 202
Walker, Charles [2], with M. at New York (1825), 1,275
Walker, Lucretia P., love and engagement to M., 1,202-210
visits his parents, 212
and fiance, 214
converted, 214
marriage, 217
See also Morse, Lucretia P.
Walker, S.C., and Henry-Morse controversy, 2,262
Walker, T.R., to M. (1849) on animosity of newspapers,2, 304
from M. (1855) on Atlantic cable, 343
(1862) on monarchy in America, 420
Walker, Mrs. T.R., from M. (1872) on poem, 2,494
Wall, William, and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Walpole, N.H., M. at (1816), 1, 206
Walsh, Robert, and M.’s telegraph, prophecy,2, 125
War of 1812, M. on British attitude (1811), 1,48;
M.’s Republican attitude, 58, 64,70, 76, 81, 82, 84, 87, 109, 110,
115, 116, 140, 141, 152, 153,166, 168, 181
Federalistic attitude of M.’s family,58, 66, 79, 80, 99, 109, 114, 118,
122, 181
Americans in England not disturbed, 58,86
question of Orders in Council, 67, 76,89
English opinion of Federalists, 81
Allston’s attitude, 89
and French influence in America, 90, 91
repeal of Orders in Council, 115
hatred of Americans in England, 116, 117,120, 163
M.’s efforts for release of a prisonerof war, 124-127
New York defences, 150
Lake Erie and Plattsburg, 150, 151
New England’s opposition, 151
American effort (1814), 156
Federalistic view (1814), 157, 158
England and peace overtures, 165
Mrs. Morse on peace, 173
Warren, Edward, and Jackson’s claim, letterfrom M. (1847), 2, 274
Warren, Mass. See Western.
Warren Phalanx of Charlestown (1805), 1, 7
Washington, ——, telegraph operator,2, 480
Washington, George, as letter-writer, 1, 4
Washington, D.C., M. at (1819), 1, 226
(1824), 255
(1825), 261
Mrs. Monroe’s drawing-room, 227
Monroe’s last levee, Adams and Jacksonat it, 262
M.’s effort for commission for paintingfor Capitol, 2, 28-32, 266-268
first exhibition of telegraph, 81
second exhibition, 185
construction of telegraph line to Baltimore,204-228
Washington, transatlantic steamer (1846), 2,283
Watson, P.H., and extension of M.’s patent,2, 325
Wealth, M. on divine enigma, 2, 436
Webster, Daniel, on Jedediah Morse, 1, 287
and M.’s effort for commission forpainting for Capitol, 2, 28
Webster, Emily, engagement, 1, 112
Weld, Thomas, induction as cardinal, 1, 339
meets M., 385
Wellington, Duke of, Spanish victories, 1,110
Wells, William, to M. (1793) on money, 1, 2
West, Benjamin, interest in M., 1, 42, 44,46, 47, 62, 73, 85, 102, 103,
114, 179
anecdote of George III and Declarationof Independence, 42, 43
Christ healing the Sick, 44
Christ before Pilate, 44, 47
activity and powers in old age, 44
M. on, as artist, 63, 68, 69
on Philadelphia as art centre, 73
gout, 85
West. W.E., and M., 1, 309
Western, Mass., tavern (1805), 1, 9
Western Union Telegraph Company, passes a dividend(1867), 2, 460
“What hath God wrought” message, 2,222
Wheatstone, Sir Charles, and relay, 2, 42
telegraph, 50
M. on telegraph and his own, 90, 92, 93,100-102, 242
opposes patent to M., 93
progress of telegraph, 150
proposition to M. rejected. 158
gets American patent, 166
Henry on telegraph, 171, 173
and ground circuit, 243, 250
telegraph displaced by M.’s, 313,350
Wheeler, ——, return to America (1812),1, 80
Wheeler, F.B., on M.’s character, 2,493
at M.’s funeral, 511
at memorial services, 516
Whig Convention (1844), report by telegraph, 2,220
White, Chandler, and Atlantic cable, 2, 343
Whitehouse, E.O.W., experiments for Atlantic cable,2, 348, 366
and laying of first cable, 377
log, 378
Whitney. Eli, and M.’s pump, 1,211
Wilberforce, William, and M., 1, 89, 94
and War of 1812, 90
and slave-trade, 135
character, 140
and final overthrow of Napoleon, 185
Willard, J.S., death, 1, 8
William Joliffe, Channel steamer (1845), 2,250
Williams, H.I., from M. (1847) on law suits, 2,272
Willington, R.S., from M. (1835) on Catholic plot,2, 35
Wilson, D.W., and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Wilson, J.L., and Civil War, 2, 416
Windsor, Vt., M. at and on (1816), 1, 207,208
Winslow, Hubbard, and Civil War, 2, 416
Wire, M. and underground, 2, 121
experiment with submarine, 183
duplex telegraphy, 185, 187
failure of underground, for experimentalline, 205, 209-211, 214, 216
insulation for experimental line, 208,209, 215
use of naked, 208
overhead, for experimental line, 210,215
use of ground circuit, 221, 367, 470
Wireless telegraphy, M.’s experiment, 2,186, 187, 242, 243
Wiseman, N.P.S., meets M., 1, 377
Women, M. on appearance of English, 1, 35
Wood, Fernando, and memorial services for M., 2,513, 515
Wood, George, to M. (1849) on harassments, 2, 303;
and extension of patent, letter to M.(1854), 324, 325
to M. (1865) on slavery argument, 432
from M. (1864) on divine hand in progressof telegraph, 435
on wayward sons, enigma of wealth, 436
(1866) on benevolent uses of wealth fromtelegraph, 442
death, 482
Woodbury, Levi, and telegraph, 2, 71, 187,244
Woods, Leonard, and Civil War, 2, 416
Woolsey, Mary A., engagement, 1, 112
Woolsey. T.D., and M. in Italy (1830), 1,338
from M. (1854) on contribution to Yale,2, 321
Wright, C.C., and origin of Academy of Design, 1,280
Wright, Silas, and telegraph, 2, 187, 199
refuses vice-presidential nomination overtelegraph, 226
Wuerttemberg, medal for M., 2, 393
Wyatt, Richard, gift to Academy of Design, 1,384
Wynne, James, anecdotes of Coleridge and Abernethy,1, 96-99

Yale College, M. at, 1, 10-23
student’s routine (1807), 15
M.’s incidental expenses, 17
“appointments,” 26
M.’s gift (1822), 242
(1854), 2, 321
daguerreotype of 30th anniversary of Classof 1810, 146
LL.D. for M., 258
M. refuses to attend class reunion (1865),438-441
Yates, J.C., and M., 1, 247
Young, McClintock, and telegraph, 2, 227

Zantzinger, L.F., telegraph operator, 2, 480