1833--1836
Still painting.--Thoughts on art.--Picture of the Louvre.--Rejection as
painter of one of the pictures in the Capitol.--John Quincy Adams.--James
Fenimore Cooper's article.--Death blow to his artistic ambition.--
Washington Allston's letter.--Commission by fellow artists.--Definite
abandonment of art.--Repayment of money advanced.--Death of Lafayette.--
Religious controversies.--Appointed Professor in University of City of
New York.--Description of first telegraphic instrument.--Successful
experiments.--Relay.--Address in 1853.
It was impossible for the inventor during the next few years to devote
himself entirely to the construction of a machine to test his theories,
impatient though he must have been to put his ideas into practical form.
His two brothers came nobly to his assistance, and did what lay in their
power and according to their means to help him; but it was always
repugnant to him 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 them back. We, therefore, find little or no reference in
the letters of those years to his invention, and it was not until the
year 1835 that he was able to make any appreciable progress towards the
perfection of his telegraphic apparatus. The intervening years were spent
in efforts to rouse an interest in the fine arts in this country; in hard
work in behalf of the still young Academy of Design; and in trying to
earn a living by the practice of his profession.
"During this time," he says, "I never lost faith in the practicability of
the invention, nor abandoned the intention of testing it as soon as I
could command the means." But in order to command the means, he was
obliged to devote himself to his art, and in this he did not meet with
the encouragement which he had expected and which he deserved. His ideals
were always high, perhaps too high for the materialistic age in which he
found himself. The following fugitive note will illustrate the trend of
his thoughts, and is not inapplicable to conditions at the present day:--
"Are not the refining influences of the fine arts needed, doubly needed,
in our country? Is there not a tendency in the democracy of our country
to low and vulgar pleasures and pursuits? Does not the contact of those
more cultivated in mind and elevated in purpose with those who are less
so, and to whom the former look for political favor and power,
necessarily debase that cultivated mind and that elevation of purpose?
When those are exalted to office who best can flatter the low appetites
of the vulgar; when boorishness and ill manners are preferred to polish
and refinement, and when, indeed, the latter, if not avowedly, are in
reality made an objection, is there not danger that those who would
otherwise encourage refinement will fear to show their favorable
inclination lest those to whom they look for favor shall be displeased;
and will not habit fix it, and another generation bear it as its own
inherent, native character?"
That he was naturally optimistic is shown by a footnote which he added to
this thought, dated October, 1833:--
"These were once my fears. There is doubtless danger, but I believe in
the possibility, by the diffusion of the highest moral and intellectual
cultivation through every class, of raising the lower classes in
refinement."
But while in his leisure moments he could indulge in such hopeful dreams,
his chief care at that time, as stated at the beginning of this chapter,
was to earn money by the exercise of his profession. His important
painting of the Louvre, from which he had hoped so much, was placed on
exhibition, and, while it received high praise from the artists, its
exhibition barely paid expenses, and it was finally sold to Mr. George
Clarke, of Hyde Hall, on Otsego Lake, for thirteen hundred dollars,
although the artist had expected to get at least twenty-five hundred
dollars for it. In a letter to Mr. Clarke, of June 30, 1834, he says:--
"The picture of the Louvre was intended originally for an exhibition
picture, and I painted it in the expectation of disposing of it to some
person for that purpose who could amply remunerate himself from the
receipts of a well-managed exhibition. The time occupied upon this
picture was fourteen months, and at much expense and inconvenience, so
that that sum [$2500] for it, if sold under such circumstances, would not
be more than a fair compensation.
"I was aware that but few, if any, gentlemen in our country would be
willing to expend so large a 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 relation to this picture and to my art
generally, and consequently I 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 twelve hundred dollars it would at
this moment be to me equivalent in value to the sum first set upon it."
The change of plans no doubt referred to his desire to pursue his
electrical experiments, and for this ready money was most necessary, and
so he gladly, and even gratefully, accepted Mr. Clarke's offer of twelve
hundred dollars for the painting and one hundred dollars for the frame.
Even this was not cash, but was in the form of a note payable in a year!
His enthusiasm for his art seems at this period to have been gradually
waning, although he still strove to command success; but it needed a
decisive stroke to wean him entirely from his first love, and Fate did
not long delay the blow.
His great ambition had always been to paint historical pictures which
should commemorate the glorious events in the history of his beloved
country. In the early part of the year 1834 his great opportunity had,
apparently, come, and he was ready and eager to grasp it. There were four
huge panels in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington, which were still
to be filled by historical paintings, and a committee in Congress was
appointed to select the artists to execute them.
Morse, president of the National Academy of Design, and enthusiastically
supported by the best artists in the country, had every reason to suppose
that he would be chosen to execute at least one of these paintings.
Confident that he had but to make his wishes known to secure the
commission, he addressed the following circular letter to various members
of Congress, among whom were such famous men as Daniel Webster, John C.
Calhoun, Henry Clay, and John Quincy Adams, all personally known to
him:--
March 7, 1834.
MY DEAR SIR,--I perceive that the Library Committee have before them the
consideration of a resolution on the expediency of employing four artists
to paint the remaining four pictures in the Rotunda of the Capitol. If
Congress should pass a resolution in favor of the measure, I should
esteem it a great honor to be selected as one of the artists.
I have devoted twenty years of my life, of which seven were passed in
England, France, and Italy, studying with special reference to the
execution of works of the kind proposed, and I must refer to my
professional life and character in proof of my ability to do honor to the
commission and to the country.
May I take the liberty to ask for myself your favorable recommendation to
those in Congress who have the disposal of the commissions?
With great respect, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
S.F.B. MORSE.
While this letter was written in 1834, the final decision of the
committee was not made until 1837, but I shall anticipate a little and
give the result which had such a momentous effect on Morse's career.
There was every reason to believe that his request would be granted, and
he and his friends, many of whom endorsed by letter his candidacy, had no
fear as to the result; but here again Fate intervened and ordered
differently.
Among the committee men in Congress to whom this matter was referred was
John Quincy Adams, ex-President of the United States. In discussing the
subject, Mr. Adams submitted a resolution opening the competition to
foreign artists as well as to American, giving it as his opinion that
there were no artists in this country of sufficient talent properly to
execute such monumental works. The artists and their friends were,
naturally, greatly incensed at this slur cast upon them, and an indignant
and remarkably able reply appeared anonymously in the New York "Evening
Post." The authorship of this article was at once saddled on Morse, who
was known to wield a facile and fearless pen. Mr. Adams took great
offense, and, as a result, Morse's name was rejected and his great
opportunity passed him by. There can be no reasonable doubt that, had he
received this commission, he would have deferred the perfecting of his
telegraphic device until others had so far distanced him in the race that
he could never have overtaken them.
Instead of his having been the author of the "Evening Post" article, it
transpired that he had not even heard of Mr. Adams's resolution until his
friend Fenimore Cooper, the real author of the answer, told him of both
attack and reply.
This was the second great tragedy of Morse's life; the first was the
untimely death of his young wife, and this other marked the death of his
hopes and 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 been innocently dealt by the hand of one of his dearest
friends, who had sought to render him a favor. The truth came out too
late to influence the decision of the committee; the die was cast, and
his whole future was changed in the twinkling of an eye; for what had
been to him a joy and an inspiration, he now turned from in despair. He
could not, of course, realize at the time that Fate, in dealing him this
cruel blow, was dedicating him to a higher destiny. It is doubtful if he
ever fully realized this, for in after years he could never speak of it
unmoved. In a letter to this same friend, Fenimore Cooper, written on
November 20, 1849, he thus laments:--
"Alas! My dear sir, the very name of _pictures_ produces a sadness of
heart I cannot describe. Painting has been a smiling mistress to many,
but she has been a cruel jilt to me. I did not abandon her, she abandoned
me. I have taken scarcely any interest in painting for many years. Will
you believe it? When last in Paris, in 1845, I did not go into the
Louvre, nor did I visit a single picture gallery.
"I sometimes indulge a vague dream that I may paint again. It is rather
the memory of past pleasures, when hope was enticing me onward only to
deceive me at last. Except some family portraits, valuable to me from
their likenesses only, I could wish that every picture I ever painted was
destroyed. I have no wish to be remembered as a painter, for I never was
a painter. My ideal of that profession was, perhaps, too exalted--I may
say is too exalted. I leave it to others more worthy to fill the niches
of art."
Of course his self-condemnation was too severe, for we have seen that
present-day critics assign him an honorable place in the annals of art,
and while, at the time of writing that letter, he had definitely
abandoned the brush, he continued to paint for some years after his
rejection by the committee of Congress. He had to, for it was his only
means of earning a livelihood, but the old enthusiasm was gone never to
return. Fortunately for himself and for the world, however, he
transferred it to the perfecting of his invention, and devoted all the
time he could steal from the daily routine of his duties to that end.
His friends sympathized with him most heartily and were indignant at his
rejection. Washington Allston wrote to him:--
I have learned the disposition of the pictures. I had hoped to find your
name among the commissioned artists, but I was grieved to find that all
my efforts in your behalf have proved fruitless. I know what your
disappointment must have been at this result, and most sincerely do I
sympathize with you. That my efforts were both sincere and conscientious
I hope will be some consolation to you.
But let not this disappointment cast you down, my friend. You have it
still in your power to let the world know what you can do. Dismiss it,
then, from your mind, and determine to paint all the better for it. God
bless you.
Your affectionate friend
WASHINGTON ALLSTON.
The following sentences from a letter written on March 14, 1837, by
Thomas Cole, one of the most celebrated of the early American painters,
will show in what estimation Morse was held by his brother artists:--
"I have learned with mortification and disappointment that your name was
not among the _chosen_, and I have feared that you would carry into
effect your resolution of abandoning the art and resigning the presidency
of our Academy. I sincerely hope you will 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 fabric will crumble to pieces. You are the keystone of
the arch; if you remain with us time may furnish the Academy with another
block for the place. I hope my fears may be vain, and that circumstances
will conspire to induce you to remain our president."
Other friends were equally sympathetic and Morse did retain the
presidency of the Academy until 1845.
To emphasize further their regard for him, a number of artists, headed by
Thomas S. Cummings, unknown to Morse, raised by subscription three
thousand dollars, to be given to him for the painting of some historical
subject. General Cummings, in his "Annals of the Academy," thus describes
the receipt of the news by the discouraged artist:--
"The effect was electrical; it roused him from his depression and he
exclaimed that never had he read or known of such an act of professional
generosity, and that he was fully determined to paint the picture--his
favorite subject, 'The Signing of the First Compact on board the
Mayflower,'--not of small size, as requested, but of the size of the
panels in the Rotunda. That was immediately assented to by the committee,
thinking it possible that one or the other of the pictures so ordered
might fail in execution, in which case it would afford favorable
inducements to its substitution, and, of course, much to Mr. Morse's
profit; as the artists from the first never contemplated taking
possession of the picture so executed. It was to remain with Mr. Morse,
and for his use and benefit."
The enthusiasm thus roused was but a flash in the pan, however; the wound
he had received was too deep to be thus healed. Some of the money was
raised and paid to him, and he made studies and sketches for the
painting, but his mind was now on his invention, and the painting of the
picture was deferred from year to year and finally abandoned. It was
characteristic of him that, when he did finally decide to give up the
execution of this work, he paid back the sums which 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 illustrious friend General Lafayette. The last
letter received from 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 following note, 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 General died on May 20. Morse sent a letter of
sympathy to the son, George Washington Lafayette, a member of the Chamber
of Deputies, in which the following sentiments occur:--
"In common with this whole country, now clad in mourning, with the lovers
of true liberty and of exalted philanthropy throughout the world, I
bemoan the departure from earth of your immortal parent. Yet I may be
permitted to indulge in additional feelings of more private sorrow at the
loss of one who honored me with his friendship, and had not ceased, till
within a few days of his death, to send to me occasional marks of his
affectionate remembrance. Be assured, my dear Sir, that the memory of
your father will be especially endeared to me and mine."
Morse's admiration of Lafayette was most sincere, and he was greatly
influenced in his political feelings by his intercourse with that famous
man. Among other opinions which he shared with Lafayette and other
thoughtful men, was the fear of a Roman Catholic plot to gain control of
the Government of the United States. He defended his views fearlessly and
vigorously in the public press and by means of pamphlets, and later
entered into a heated controversy with Bishop Spaulding of Kentucky.
I shall not attempt to treat exhaustively of these controversies, but
think it only right to refer to them from time to time, not only that the
clearest possible light may be shed upon Morse's character and
convictions, but to show the extraordinary activity of his brain, which,
while he was struggling against obstacles of all kinds, not only to make
his invention a success, but for the very means of existence, could yet
busy itself with the championing of what he conceived to be the right.
To illustrate his point of view I shall quote a few extracts from a
letter to R.S. Willington, Esq., who was the editor of a journal which is
referred to as the "Courier." This letter was written on May 20, 1835,
when Morse's mind, we should think, would have been wholly absorbed in
the details of the infant telegraph:--
"With regard to the more important matter of the Conspiracy, I perceive
with regret that the evidence which has been convincing to so many minds
of the first order, and which continues daily to spread conviction of the
truth of the charge I have made, is still viewed by the editors of the
'Courier' as inconclusive. My situation in regard to those who dissent
from me is somewhat singular. I have brought against the absolute
Governments of Europe a charge of conspiracy against the liberties of the
United States. I support the charge by facts, and by reasonings from
those facts, which produce conviction on most of those who examine the
matter.... But those that dissent simply say, 'I don't think there is a
conspiracy'; yet give no reasons for dissent. The Catholic journals very
artfully make no defense themselves, but adroitly make use of the
Protestant defense kindly prepared for them....
"No Catholic journal has attempted any refutation of the charge. It
cannot be refuted, for it is true. And be assured, my dear sir, it is no
extravagant prediction when I say that the question of Popery and
Protestantism, or Absolutism and Republicanism, which in these two
opposite categories are convertible terms, is fast becoming and will
shortly be the _great absorbing question_, not only of this country but
of 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 this country with the state of public opinion in Europe.
"We are asleep, sir, when every freeman should be awake and look to his
arms.... Surely, if the danger is groundless, there can be no harm in
endeavoring to ascertain its groundlessness. If you were told your house
was on fire you would hardly think of calling the man a maniac for
informing you of it, even if he should use a tone of voice and gestures
somewhat earnest and impassioned. The course of some of our journals on
the subject of Popery has led to the belief that they are covertly under
the control of the Jesuits. And let me say, sir, that the modes of
control in the resources of this insidious society, notorious for its
political arts and intrigues, are more numerous, more powerful, and more
various than an unsuspicious people are at all conscious of....
"Mr. Y. falls into the common error and deprecates what he calls a
_religious_ controversy, as if the subject of Popery was altogether
religious. History, it appears to me, must have been read to very little
purpose by any one who can entertain such an error in regard to the
cunningest political despotism that ever cursed mankind. I must refer you
to the preface of the second edition, which I send you, for my reasonings
on that point. If they are not conclusive, I should be glad to be shown
wherein they are defective. If they are conclusive, is it not time for
every patriot to open his eyes to the truth of the fact that we are
politically attacked under guise of a religious system, and is it not a
serious question whether our political press should advocate 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 Professor of the
Literature of the Arts of Design in the University of the City of New
York, and here again we can mark the guiding hand of Fate. A few years
earlier he had been tentatively offered the position of instructor of
drawing at the United States Military Academy at West Point, but this
offer he had promptly but courteously declined. Had he accepted it he
would have missed the opportunity of meeting certain men who gave him
valuable assistance. As an instructor in the University he not only
received a small salary which relieved him, in a measure, from the
grinding necessity of painting pot-boilers, but he had assigned to him
spacious rooms in the building on Washington Square, which he could
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, afterwards
of $400.
Three years had clasped since his first conception of the invention, and,
although burning to devote himself to its perfecting, he had been
compelled to hold himself in check and to devote all his time to
painting. Now, however, an opportunity came to him, for he moved into the
University building before it was entirely finished, and the stairways
were in such an embryonic state that he could not expect sitters to
attempt their perilous ascent. This enforced leisure gave him the chance
he had long desired and he threw himself heart and soul into his
electrical experiments. Writing of this period in later years he thus
records his struggles:--
[Illustration: FIRST TELEGRAPH INSTRUMENT, 1837
Now in the National Museum, Washington]
"There I immediately commenced, with very limited means, to experiment
upon my invention. My first instrument was made up of an old picture or
canvas frame fastened to a table; the wheels of an old wooden clock moved
by a weight to carry the paper forward; three wooden drums, upon one of
which the paper was wound and passed over the other two; a wooden
pendulum, suspended to the top piece of the picture or stretching-frame,
and vibrating across the paper as it passes over the centre wooden drum;
a pencil at the lower end of the pendulum in contact with the paper; an
electro-magnet fastened to a shelf across the picture or stretching
frame, opposite to an armature made fast to the pendulum; a type rule and
type, for breaking the circuit, resting on an endless band composed of
carpet-binding; which passed over two wooden rollers, moved by a wooden
crank, and carried forward by points projecting from the bottom of the
rule downward into the carpet-binding; a lever, with a small weight on
the upper side, and a tooth projecting downward at one end, operated on
by the type, and a metallic fork, also projecting downward, over two
mercury cups; and a short circuit of wire embracing the helices of the
electro-magnet connected with the positive and negative poles of the
battery and terminating in the mercury cups."
This first rude instrument was carefully preserved by the inventor, and
is now in the Morse case in the National Museum at Washington. A
reproduction of it is here given.
I shall omit certain technical details in the inventor's account of this
first instrument, but I wish to call attention to his ingenuity in
adapting the means at his disposal to the end desired. Much capital has
been made, by those who opposed his claims, out of the fact that this
primitive apparatus could only produce a V-shaped mark, thus--
__ __ _
\/|__| |/\/ |/\/|__/
--and not a dot and a dash, which they insist was of later introduction
and by another hand. But a reference to the sketches made on board the
Sully will show that the original system of signs consisted of dots and
lines, and that the first conception of the means to produce these signs
was by an up-and-down motion of a lever controlled by an electro-magnet.
It is easy to befog an issue by misstating facts, but the facts are here
to speak for themselves, and that Morse temporarily abandoned his first
idea, because he had not the means at his disposal to embody it in
workable form and had recourse to another method for producing
practically the same result, only shows wonderful ingenuity on his part.
It can easily be seen that the waving line traced by the first
instrument--thus,
__ __ _
\/|__| |/\/ |/\/|__/ --can be translated by reading the lower part into
a i u
. - . . . . - of the final Morse alphabet.
The beginnings of every great invention have been clumsy and uncouth
compared with the results attained by years of study and elaboration
participated in by many clever brains. Contrast the Clermont of Fulton
with the floating palaces of the present day, the Rocket of Stephenson
with the powerful locomotives of our mile-a-minute fliers, and the
hand-press of Gutenberg with the marvellous and intricate Hoe presses of
modern times. And yet the names of those who first conceived and wrought
these primitive contrivances stand highest in the roll of fame; and with
justice, for it is infinitely easier to improve on the suggestion of
another than to originate a practical advance in human endeavor.
Returning again to Morse's own account of his early experiments I shall
quote the following sentences:--
"With this apparatus, rude as it was, and completed before the first of
the year 1836, I was enabled to and did mark down telegraphic,
intelligible signs, and to make and did make distinguishable sounds for
telegraphing; and, having arrived at that point, I exhibited it to some
of my friends early in that year, and among others to Professor Leonard
D. Gale, who was a college professor in the University. I also
experimented with the chemical power of the electric current in 1836, and
succeeded, in marking my telegraphic signs upon paper dipped in turmeric
and solution of the sulphate of soda (as well as other salts) by passing
the current through it. I was soon satisfied, however, that the
electro-_magnetic_ power was more available for telegraphic purposes and
possessed many advantages over any other, and I turned my thoughts in
that direction.
"Early in 1836 I procured forty feet of wire, and, putting it in the
circuit, I found that my battery of one cup was not sufficient to work my
instrument. This result suggested to me the probability that the
magnetism to be obtained from the electric current would diminish in
proportion as the circuit was lengthened, so as to be insufficient for
any practical purposes at great distances; and, to remove that probable
obstacle to my success, I conceived the idea of combining two or more
circuits together in the manner described in my first patent, each with
an independent battery, making use of the magnetism of the current on the
first to close and break the second; the second the third; and so on."
Thus modestly does he refer to what was, in fact, a wonderful discovery,
the more wonderful because of its simplicity. Professor Horsford thus
comments on it:--
"In 1835 Morse made the discovery of the _relay_, the most brilliant of
all the achievements to which his name must be forever attached. It was a
discovery of a means by which the current, which through distance from
its source had become feeble, could be reënforced or renewed. This
discovery, according to the different objects for which it is employed,
is variously known as the registering magnet, the local circuit, the
marginal circuit, the repeater, etc."
Professor Horsford places the date of this discovery in the year 1835,
but Morse himself, in the statement quoted above, assigned it to the
early part of 1836.
It is only fair to note that the discovery of the principle of the relay
was made independently by other scientists, 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 of them for the idea. This
point has given rise to much discussion among scientists which it will
not be necessary to enter into here, for all authorities agree in
according to Morse independent invention of the relay.
"Up to the autumn of 1837," again to quote Morse's own words, "my
telegraphic apparatus existed in so rude a form that I felt a reluctance
to have it seen. My means were very limited--so limited as to preclude
the possibility of constructing an apparatus of such mechanical finish as
to warrant my success in venturing upon its public exhibition. I had no
wish to expose to ridicule the representative of so many hours of
laborious thought.
"Prior to the summer of 1837, at which time Mr. Alfred Vail's attention
became attracted to my telegraph, I depended upon my pencil for
subsistence. Indeed, so straitened were my circumstances that, in order
to save time to carry out my invention and to economize my scanty means,
I had for months lodged and eaten in my studio, procuring my food in
small quantities from some grocery, and preparing it myself. To conceal
from my friends the stinted manner in which I lived, I was in the habit
of bringing my food to my room in the evenings, and this was my mode of
life for many years."
Nearly twenty years later, in 1853, Morse referred to this trying period
in his career at a meeting of the Association of the Alumni of the
University:--
"Yesternight, on once more entering your chapel, I saw the same marble
staircase and marble floors I once so often trod, and so often with a
heart and head overburdened with almost crushing anxieties. Separated
from the chapel by but a thin partition was that room I occupied, now
your Philomathean Hall, whose walls--had thoughts and mental struggles,
with the alternations of joys and sorrows, the power of being
daguerreotyped upon them--would show a thickly studded gallery of
evidence that there the Briarean infant was born who has stretched forth
his arms with the intent to encircle the world. Yes, that room of the
University was the birthplace of the Recording Telegraph. Attempts,
indeed, have been made to assign to it other parentage, and to its
birthplace other localities. Personally I have very little anxiety on
this point, except that the truth should not suffer; for I have a
consciousness, which neither sophistry nor ignorance can shake, that that
room is the place of its birth, and a confidence, too, that its cradle is
in hands that will sustain its rightful claim."
The old building of the University of the City of New York on Washington
Square has been torn down to be replaced by a mercantile structure; the
University has moved to more spacious quarters in the upper part of the
great city; but one of its notable buildings is the Hall of Fame, and
among the first names to be immortalized in bronze in the stately
colonnade was that of Samuel F.B. Morse.