MARCH 5, 1850--NOVEMBER 10, 1854
Precarious financial condition.--Regret at not being able to make loan.--
False impression of great wealth.--Fears he may have to sell home.--
F.O.J. Smith continues to give trouble.--Morse system extending
throughout the world.--Death of Fenimore Cooper.--Subscriptions to
charities, etc.--First use of word "Telegram."--Mysterious fire in
Supreme Court clerk's room.--Letter of Commodore Perry.--Disinclination
to antagonize Henry.--Temporary triumph of F.O.J. Smith.--Order gradually
emerging.--Expenses of the law.--Triumph in Australia.--Gift to Yale
College.--Supreme Court decision and extension of patent.--Social
diversions in Washington.--Letters of George Wood and P.H. Watson on
extension of patent.--Loyalty to Mr. Kendall; also to Alfred Vail.--
Decides to publish "Defense."--Controversy with Bishop Spaulding.--Creed
on Slavery.--Political views.--Defeated for Congress.
While I have anticipated in giving the results of the various lawsuits,
it must be borne in mind that these dragged along for years, and that the
final decision of the Supreme Court was not handed down until January 30,
1854. During all this time the inventor was kept in suspense as to the
final outcome, and often the future looked very dark indeed, and he was
hard pressed to provide for the present.
On March 5, 1850, he writes to a friend who had requested a loan of a few
hundred dollars:--
"It truly pains me to be obliged to tell you of my inability to make you
a loan, however small in amount or amply secured. In the present
embarrassed state of my affairs, consequent upon these never-ending and
vexatious suits, I know not how soon all my property may be taken from
me. The newspapers, among their other innumerable falsehoods, circulate
one in regard to my 'enormous wealth.' The object is obvious. It is to
destroy any feeling of sympathy in the public mind from the gross
robberies committed upon me. 'He is rich enough; he can afford to give
something to the public from his extortionate monopoly,' etc., etc.
"Now no man likes to proclaim his poverty, for there is a sort of
satisfaction to some minds in being esteemed rich, even if they are not.
The evil of this is that from a rich man more is expected in the way of
pecuniary favors (and justly too), and consequently 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 requests made."
And, after stating that, of the 11,607 miles of telegraph at that time in
operation, only one company of 509 miles was then paying a dividend, he
adds: "If this fails I have nothing. On this I solely depend, for I have
now no profession, and at my age, with impaired eyesight, I cannot resume
it.
"I have indeed a farm out of which a farmer might obtain his living, but
to me it is a source of expense, and I have not actually, though you may
think it strange, the means to make my family comfortable."
In a letter to Mr. Kendall of January 4, 1851, he enlarges on this
subject:--
"I have been taking in sail for some time past to prepare for the storm
which has so long continued and still threatens destruction, but with
every economy my family must suffer for the want of many comforts which
the low state of my means prevents me from procuring. I contrived to get
through the last month without incurring debt, but I see no prospect now
of being able to do so the present month.... I wish much to know, and,
indeed, it is indispensably necessary I should be informed of the precise
condition of things; for, if my property is but nominal in the stocks of
the companies, and is to be soon rendered valueless from 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 of
circumstances. It will, indeed, be like cutting off a right hand to leave
my country home, but, if I cannot retain it without incurring debt, it
must go, and before debt is incurred and not after. I have made it a rule
from my childhood to live always within my means, to have no debts; for
if there is a terror which would unman me more than any other in this
world, it is the sight of a man to whom I owed money, however
inconsiderable in amount, without my being in a condition to pay him. On
this point I am nervously sensitive, to a degree which some might think
ridiculous. But so it is and I cannot help it....
"Please tell me how matters stand in relation to F.O.G. I wish nothing
short of entire separation from that unprincipled man if it can possibly
be accomplished....I can suffer his frauds upon myself with comparative
forbearance, but my indignation boils when I am made, _nolens volens_, a
_particeps criminis_ in his frauds on others. I will not endure it if I
must suffer the loss of all the property I hold in the world."
The beloved country place was not sacrificed, and a way out of all his
difficulties was found, but his faith and Christian forbearance were
severely tested before his path was smoothed. Among all his trials none
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 shaken off, much as Morse and his partners desired to
part company with him forever. The propositions made by him were so
absurd that they could not for a moment be seriously considered, and the
reasonable terms submitted by Mr. Kendall were unconditionally rejected
by him. It will be necessary to refer to him and his strange conduct from
time to time, but to go into the matter in detail would consume too much
valuable space. It seems only right, however, to emphasize the fact that
his animosity and unscrupulous self-seeking constituted the greatest
cross which Morse was called upon to bear, even to the end of his life,
and that many of the aspersions which have been cast upon the inventor's
fame and good name, before and after his death, can be traced to the
fertile brain of this same F.O.J. Smith.
While the inventor was fighting for his rights in his own country, his
invention, by the sheer force of its superiority, was gradually
displacing all other systems abroad. Even in England it was superseding
the Cooke and Wheatstone needle telegraph, and on the Continent it had
been adopted by Prussia, Austria, Bavaria, Hanover, and Turkey. It is
worthy of note that that broad-minded scientist, Professor Steinheil, of
Bavaria, who had himself invented an ingenious plan of telegraph when he
was made acquainted with the Morse system, at once acknowledged its
superiority and 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, which is dated
April 21, 1851:--
"To be frank with you, my dear sir (and I feel that I can be frank with
you), while I am not indifferent to the pecuniary rewards of my invention
(which will be amply satisfactory if my own countrymen will but do me
justice), yet as these were not the stimulus to my efforts in perfecting
and establishing my invention, so they now hold but a subordinate
position when I attempt to comprehend the full results of the Telegraph
upon the welfare of my fellow men. I am more solicitous to see its
benefits extended world-wide during my lifetime than to turn the stream
of wealth, which it is generating to millions of persons, into my own
pocket. A few drops from the sea, which may not be missed, will suffice
for me."
In the early days of 1852 death took from him one of his dearest friends,
and the following letter, written in February, 1852, to Rufus Griswold,
Esq., expresses his sentiments:--
"I sincerely regret that circumstances over which I have no control
prevent my participation in the services commemorative of the character,
literary and moral, of my lamented friend the late James Fenimore Cooper,
Esq.
"I can scarcely yet realize that he is no longer with us, for the
announcement of his death came upon me most unexpectedly. The pleasure of
years of close intimacy with Mr. Cooper was never for a moment clouded by
the slightest coolness. We were in daily, I can truly say, almost hourly,
intercourse in the year 1831 in Paris. I never met with a more sincere,
warm-hearted, constant friend. No man came nearer to the ideal I had
formed of a truly high-minded man. If he was at times severe or caustic
in his remarks on others, it was when excited by the exhibition of the
little arts of little minds. His own frank, open, generous nature
instinctively recoiled from contact with them. His liberalities, obedient
to his generous sympathies, were scarcely bounded by prudence; he was
always ready to help a friend, and many such there are who will learn of
his departure with the most poignant sorrow. Although unable to be with
you, I trust the Committee will not overlook me when they are collecting
the funds for the monument to his genius."
It might have been said of Morse, too, that "his liberalities were
scarcely bounded by prudence," for he gave away or lost through
investments, urged upon him by men whom he regarded as friends but who
were actuated by selfish motives, much more than he retained. He gave
largely to the various religious organizations and charities in which he
was interested, and it was characteristic of him that he could not wait
until he had the actual cash in hand, but, even while his own future was
uncertain, he made donations of large blocks of stocks, which, while of
problematical value while the litigation was proceeding, eventually rose
to much above par.
While he strove to keep his charities secret, they were bruited abroad,
much to his sorrow, for, although at the time he was hard pressed to make
both ends meet, they created a false impression of great wealth, and the
importunities increased in volume.
It is always interesting to note the genesis of familiar words, and the
following is written in pencil by Morse on a little slip of paper:--
"_Telegram_ was first proposed by the Albany 'Evening Journal,' April 6,
1852, and has been universally adopted as a legitimate word into the
English language."
On April 21, 1852, Mr. Kendall reports a mysterious occurrence:--
"Our case in the Supreme Court will very certainly be reached by the
middle of next week. A most singular incident has occurred. The papers
brought up from the court below, not entered in the records, were on a
table in the clerk's room. There was no fire in the room. One of the
clerks after dark lighted a lamp, looked up some papers, blew out the
lamp and locked the door. Some time afterwards, wishing to obtain a book,
he entered the room without a light and got the book in the dark. In. the
morning our papers were burnt up, and _nothing else_.
"The papers burnt are all the drawings, all the books filed, Dana's
lectures, Chester's pamphlet, your sketchbook (if the original was
there), your tag of type, etc., etc. But we shall replace them as far as
possible and go on with the case. _Was_ your original sketch-book there?
If so, has any copy been taken?"
The original sketch-book was in this collection of papers so mysteriously
destroyed, but most fortunately a certified copy had been made, and this
is now in the National Museum in Washington. Also, most fortunately, this
effort on the part of some enemy to undermine the foundations of the case
proved abortive, if, indeed, it was not a boomerang, for, as we have
seen, the decision of the Supreme Court was in Morse's favor. In the year
1852, Commodore Perry sailed on his memorable trip to Japan, which, as is
well known, opened that wonderful country to the outside world and
started it on its upward path towards its present powerful position among
the nations. The following letter from Commodore Perry, dated July 22,
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 the age, among which stands preëminent your
telegraph, and I write a line by Lieutenant Budd, United States Navy, not
only to introduce him to your acquaintance, but to ask as a particular
favour that you would give him some information and instruction as to the
most practicable means of exhibiting the Telegraph, as well as a
daguerreotype apparatus, which I am also authorized to purchase, also
other articles connected with drawing.
I have directed Lieutenant Budd to visit Poughkeepsie in 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 result of his
consultation with you.
I hope you will pardon this intrusion upon your time. I feel almost
assured, however, that you will take a lively interest in having your
wonderful invention exhibited to a people so little known to the world,
and there is no one better qualified than yourself to instruct Lieutenant
Budd in the duties I have entrusted to his charge, and who will fully
explain to you the object I have in view.
I leave this evening for Washington and should be much obliged if you
would address me a line to that place.
Most truly and respectfully yours
M.C. PERRY.
It was about this time that the testimony of Professor Joseph Henry was
being increasingly used by Morse's opponents to discredit him in the
scientific world and to injure his cause in the courts. I shall,
therefore, revert for a moment to the matter for the purpose of
emphasizing Morse's reluctance to do or say anything against his
erstwhile friend.
In a letter to H.J. Raymond, editor of the New York "Times," he requests
space in that journal for a fair exposition of his side of the
controversy in reply to an article attacking him. To this Mr. Raymond
courteously replies on November 22, 1852: "The columns of the 'Times' are
entirely at your service for the purpose you mention, or, indeed, for
almost any other. The writer of the article you allude to was Dr.
Bettner, of Philadelphia."
Morse answers on November 30:--
"I regret finding you absent; I wished to have had a few moments'
conversation with you in relation to the allusion I made to Professor
Henry. If possible I wish to avoid any course which might weaken the
influence for good of such a man as Henry. I will forbear exposure to the
last moment, and, in view of my duty as a Christian at least, I will give
him an opportunity to explain to me in private. If he refuses, then I
shall feel it my duty to show how unfairly he has conducted himself in
allowing his testimony to be used to my detriment.
"I write in haste, and will merely add that, to consummate these views, I
shall for the present delay the article I had requested you to insert in
your columns, and allow the various misrepresentations to remain yet a
little longer unexposed, at the same time thanking you cordially for your
courteous accordance of my request."
A slight set-back was encountered by Morse and his associates at this
time by the denial of an injunction against F.O.J. Smith, and, in a
letter to Mr. Kendall of December 4, the long-suffering inventor
exclaims:--
"F.O.J. crows at the top of his voice, and I learned that he and his man
Friday, Foss, had a regular spree in consequence, and that the latter was
noticed in Broadway drunk and boisterously huzzaing for F.O.J. and
cursing me and my telegraph.
"I read in my Bible: 'The triumph of the wicked is short.' This may have
a practical application, in this case at any rate. I have full confidence
in that Power that, for wise purposes, allows wickedness temporarily to
triumph that His own designs of bringing good out of evil may be the more
apparent."
Another of Morse's fixed principles in life is referred to in a letter to
Judge E. Fitch Smith of February 4, 1858: "Yours of the 31st ulto. is
this moment received. Your request has given me some trouble of spirit on
this account, to wit: My father lost a large property, the earnings of
his whole life of literary labor, by simply endorsing. My mother was ever
after so affected by this fact that it was the constant theme of her
disapprobation, and on her deathbed I gave her my promise, in accordance
with her request, that _I never would endorse a note_. I have never done
such a thing, and, of course, have never requested the endorsement of
another. I cannot, therefore, in that mode accommodate you, but I can
probably aid you as effectually in another way."
It will not be necessary to dwell at length on further happenings in the
year 1853. Order was gradually emerging from chaos in the various lines
of telegraph, which, under the wise guidance of Amos Kendall, were
tending towards a consolidation into one great company. The decision of
the Supreme Court had not yet been given, causing temporary embarrassment
to the patentees by allowing the pirates to continue their depredations
unchecked. F.O.J. Smith continued to give trouble. To quote from a letter
of Morse's to Mr. Kendall of January 10, 1853: "The Good Book says that
'one sinner destroyeth much good,' and F.O.J. being (as will be admitted
by all, perhaps, except himself) a sinner of that class bent upon
destroying as much good as he can, I am desirous, 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 cause for anxiety, he
says: "Law is expensive, and we must look it in the face and expect to
pay roundly for it.... It is a delicate task to dispute a professional
man's charges, and, though it may be an evil to find ourselves bled so
freely by lawyers, it is, perhaps, the least of evils to submit to it as
gracefully as we can."
But, while he could not escape the common lot of man in having to bear
many and severe trials, there were compensatory blessings which he
appreciated to the full. His home life was happy and, in the main,
serene; his farm was a source of never-ending pleasure to him; he was
honored at home and abroad by those whose opinion he most valued; and he
was almost daily in receipt of the news of the extension of the "Morse
system" throughout the world. Even from far-off Australia came the news
of his triumph. A letter was sent to him, written from Melbourne on
December 3, 1853, by a Mr. Samuel McGowan to a friend in New York, which
contains the following gratifying intelligence:--
"Since the date of my last to you matters with me have undergone a
material change. I have come off conqueror in my hard fought battle. The
contract has been awarded to me in the faces of the representatives of
Messrs. Wheatstone and Cooke, Brett and other telegraphic luminaries,
much to their chagrin, as I afterwards ascertained; several of them, it
appears, having been leagued together in order, as they stated, to thwart
a speculating Yankee. However, matters were not so ordained, and I am as
well satisfied. I hope they will all live to be the same."
In spite of his financial difficulties, caused by bad management of some
of the lines in which he was interested, he could not resist the
temptation to give liberally where his heart inclined him, and in a
letter of January 9, 1854, to President Woolsey of Yale, he says:--
"Enclosed, therefore, you have my check for one thousand dollars, which
please hand to the Treasurer of the College as my subscription towards
the fund which is being raised for the benefit of my dearly loved _Alma
Mater_.
"I wish I could make it a larger sum, and, without promising what I may
do at some future time, yet I will say that the prosperity of Yale
College is so near my heart that, should my affairs (now embarrassed by
litigations in self-defence yet undecided) assume a more prosperous
aspect, I have it in mind to add something more to the sum now sent."
The year 1854 was memorable in the history of the telegraph because of
two important events--the decision of the Supreme Court in Morse's favor,
already referred to, and the extension of his patent for another period
of seven years. The first established for all time his legal right to be
called the "Inventor of the Telegraph," and the second enabled him to
reap some adequate reward for his years of privation, of struggle, and of
heroic faith. It was for a long time doubtful whether his application for
an extension of his patent would be granted, and much of his time in the
early part of 1854 was consumed in putting in proper form all the data
necessary to substantiate his claim, and in 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 endurable room with furniture hardly endurable, for it is
hard to find, in this hotel at least, a table or a bureau that can stand
on its four proper legs, rocking and tetering like a gold-digger's
washing-pan, unless the lame leg is propped up with an old shoe, or a
stray newspaper fifty times folded, or a magazine of due thickness (I am
using 'Harper's Magazine' at this moment, which is somewhat a
desecration, as it is too good to be trampled under foot, even the foot
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, although forbidden to be _transferable_, may
without breach of honor be transferred to my other and better half. I
felt no inclination to go, but, as no refusal would be accepted, I put on
my best and at nine o'clock, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Shaffner (the
latter of whom, by the by, is quite a pleasant and pretty woman, with a
boy one year older than Arthur and about as mischievous) and Mr. and Mrs.
John Kendall.
"I went to the ladies' parlor and was presented to the ladies, six in
number, who did the honors (if that is the expression) of the evening.
There was a great crowd, I think not less than three hundred people, and
from all parts of the country--Senators and their wives, members of the
House and their wives and daughters, and there was a great number of fine
looking men and women. I was constantly introduced to a great many, who
uniformly showered their compliments on 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 not
tax the energies of the President's aides at the present day.
The next letter is written in a more serious vein:--
"_February 26._ I am very busily engaged in the preparation of my papers
for an extension of my patents. This object is of vital importance to me;
it is, in fact, the moment to reap the harvest of 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 'thorn in the flesh' which I pray to be able to
support by the sufficient grace promised. It is difficult to know how to
feel and act towards such a man, so unprincipled, so vengeful, so bent on
injury, yet the command to bless those that curse, to pray for those who
despitefully use us and persecute us, to love our enemies, to forgive our
enemies, is in full force, and I feel more anxious to comply with this
injunction of our blessed Saviour than to have the thorn removed, however
strongly this latter must be desired."
"_March 4._ You have little idea of the trouble and expense to which I am
put in this 'extension' matter.... I shall have to pay hundreds of
dollars more before I get through here, besides being harassed in all
sorts of ways from now till the 20th of June next. If I get my extension
then I may expect some respite, or, at least, opposition in another
shape. I hope eventually to derive some benefit from the late decision,
but the reckless and desperate character of my opponents may defeat all
the good I expect from it. Such is the reward I have purchased for myself
by my invention....
"Mr. Wood is here also. He is the same firm, consistent and indefatigable
friend as ever. I know not what I should do in the present crisis without
him. I could not possibly put my accounts into proper shape without his
aid, and he exerts himself for me as strongly as if I were his
brother.... Mr. Kendall has been ill almost all the time that I have been
here, which has caused me much delay and consumption of time."
It was not until the latter part of June that the extension of his
patents was granted, and his good friend, alluded to in the preceding
letter, Mr. George Wood, tells, in a letter of June 21st, something of
the narrow escape it had:--
"Your Patent Extension is another instance of God's wonder working
Providence towards you as expressed in the history of this great
discovery. Of that history, of all the various shapes and incidents you
may never know, not having been on the spot to watch all its moments of
peril, and the way in which, like many a good Christian, it was 'scarcely
saved.'
"In this you must see God's hand in giving you a man of remarkable skill,
energy, talent, and power as your agent. I refer to P.H. Watson, to whom
mainly and mostly, I think, this extension is due. God works by means,
and, though he designed to do this for you, he selected the proper person
and gave him the skill, perseverance and power to accomplish this result.
I hope now you have got it you will make it do for you all it can
accomplish pecuniarily. But as for the money, I don't think so much as I
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, even to-day, for at one time the Commissioner intended
to withhold his decision for reasons which I shall explain at length when
we meet. It seemed to give the Commissioner much pleasure to think that,
in extending the patent, he was doing an act of justice to you as a great
public benefactor, and a somewhat unfortunate man of genius. Dr. Gale and
myself had to assure him that the extension would legally inure to your
benefit, and not to that of your agents and associates before he could
reconcile it with his duty to the public to grant the extension."
Morse himself, in a letter to Mr. Kendall, also of June 20, thus
characteristically expresses himself:--
"A memorable day. I never had my anxieties so tried as in this case of
extension, and after weeks of suspense, this suspense was prolonged to
the last moment of endurance. I have just returned with the intelligence
from the telegraph office from Mr. Watson--'Patent extended. All right.'
"Well, what is now to be done? I am for taking time by the forelock and
placing ourselves above the contingencies of the next expiration of the
patent. While keeping our vantage ground with the pirates I wish to meet
them in a spirit of compromise and of magnanimity. I hope we may now be
able to consolidate on advantageous terms."
It appears that at this time he was advised by many of his friends,
including Dr. Gale, to sever his business connection with Mr. Kendall,
both on account of the increasing feebleness of that gentleman, and
because, while admittedly the soul of honor, Mr. Kendall had kept their
joint accounts in a very careless and slipshod manner, thereby causing
considerable financial loss to the inventor. But, true to his friends, as
he always was, he replies to Dr. Gale on June 30:--
"Let me thank you specially personally for your solicitude for my
interests. This I may say without disparagement to Mr. Kendall, that,
were the contract with an agent to be made anew, I might desire to have a
younger and more healthy man, and better acquainted with regular
book-keeping, but I could not desire a more upright and more honorable
man. If he has committed errors, (as who has not?) they have been of the
head and not of the heart. I have had many years experience of his
conduct, think I have seen him under strong temptation to do injustice
with prospects of personal benefit, and with little chance of detection,
and yet firmly resisting."
Among the calumnies which were spread broadcast, both during the life of
the inventor and after his death, even down to the present day, was the
accusation of great ingratitude towards those who had helped him in his
early struggles, and especially towards Alfred Vail. The more the true
history of his connection with his associates is studied, the more
baseless do these accusations appear, and in this connection the
following extracts from letters to Alfred Vail and to his brother George
are most illuminating. The first letter is dated July 15, 1854:--
"The legal title to my Patent for the American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph
of June 20th, 1840, is, by the late extension of said patent for seven
years from the said date, now vested in me alone; but I have intended
that the pecuniary interest which was guaranteed to you in my invention
as it existed in 1838, and in my patent of 1840, should still inure to
your benefit (yet in a different shape) under the second patent and the
late extension of the first.
"For the simplification of my business transactions I prefer to let the
Articles of Agreement, which expired on the 20th June, 1854, remain
cancelled and not to renew them, retaining in my sole possession the
_legal title;_ but I hereby guarantee to you two sixteenths of such sums
as may be paid over to me in the sale of patent rights, after the
proportionate deductions of such necessary expenses as may be required in
the business of the agency for conducting the sales of said patent
rights, subject also to the terms of your agreement with Mr. Kendall.
"Mr. Kendall informs me that no assignment of an 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 was duly recorded at the
Patent Office. The examination of the records in the progress of
obtaining my extension has, doubtless, led to the discovery of the
omission."
After going over much the same ground in the letter to George Vail, also
of July 15th, he gives as one of the reasons why the new arrangement is
better: "The annoyances of Smith are at an end, so far as the necessity
of consulting him is concerned."
And then he adds:--
"I presume it can be no matter of regret with Alfred that, by the
position he now takes, strengthening our defensive position against the
annoyances of Smith, he can receive _more pecuniarily_ than he could
before. Please consult with Mr. Kendall on the form of any agreement by
which you and Alfred may be properly secured in the pecuniary benefits
which you would have were he to stand in the same legal relation to the
patent that he did before the expiration of its original term, so as to
give me the position in regard to Smith that I must take in self-defense,
and I shall cheerfully accede to it.
"Poor Alfred, I regret to know, torments himself needlessly. I had hoped
that I was sufficiently known to him to have his confidence. I have never
had other than kind feelings towards him, and, while planning for his
benefit and guarding his interests at great and almost ruinous expense to
myself, I have had to contend with difficulties which his imprudence,
arising from morbid suspicions, has often created. My wish has ever been
to act towards him not merely justly but generously."
In a letter to Mr. Kendall of July 17, 1854, Morse declares his intention
of publishing that "Defense" which he had held in reserve for several
years, hoping that the necessity for its publication might be avoided by
a personal understanding with Professor Henry, which, however, that
gentleman refused:--
"You will perceive what injury I have suffered from the machinations of
the sordid pirates against whom I have had to contend, and it will also
be noticed how history has been falsified in order to detract from me,
and how the conduct of Henry, on his deposition, has tended to strengthen
the ready prejudice of the English against the American claim to
priority. An increasing necessity, on this account, arises for my
'Defense,' and so soon as I can get it into proper shape by revision, I
intend to publish it.
"This I consider a duty I owe the country more than myself, for, so far
as I am personally concerned, I am conscious of a position that History
will give me when the facts now suppressed by interested pirates and
their abettors shall be known, which the verdict of posterity, no less
than that of the judicial tribunals already given, is sure to award."
While involved in apparently endless litigation which necessitated much
correspondence, and while the compilation and revision of his "Defense"
must have consumed not only days but weeks and months, he yet found time
to write a prodigious number of letters and newspaper articles on other
subjects, especially on those relating to religion and politics. Although
more tolerant as he grew older, he was still bitterly opposed to the
methods of the Roman Catholic Church, and to the Jesuits in particular.
He, in common with many other prominent men of his day, was fearful lest
the Church of Rome, through her emissaries the Jesuits, should gain
political ascendancy in this country and overthrow the liberty of the
people. He took part in a long and heated newspaper controversy with
Bishop Spaulding of Kentucky concerning the authenticity of a saying
attributed to Lafayette--"If ever the liberty of the United States is
destroyed it will be by Romish priests."
It was claimed by the Roman Catholics that this statement of Lafayette's
was ingeniously extracted from a sentence in a letter of his to a friend
in which he assures this friend that such a fear is groundless. Morse
followed the matter up with the patience and keenness of a detective, and
proved that no such letter had ever been written by Lafayette, that it
was a clumsy forgery, but that he really had made use of the sentiment
quoted above, not only to Morse himself, but to others of the greatest
credibility who were still living.
In the field of politics he came near playing a more active part than
that of a mere looker-on and humble voter, for in the fall of 1854 he was
nominated for Congress on the Democratic ticket. It would be difficult
and, perhaps, invidious to attempt to state exactly his political faith
in those heated years which preceded the Civil War. In the light of
future events he and his brothers and many other prominent men of the day
were on the wrong side. He deprecated the war and did his best to prevent
it.
"Sectional division" was abhorrent to him, but on the question of slavery
his sympathies were rather with the South, for I find among his papers
the following:--
"My creed on the subject of slavery is short. Slavery _per se_ is not
sin. It is a social condition ordained from the beginning of the world
for the wisest purposes, benevolent and disciplinary, by Divine Wisdom.
The mere holding of slaves, therefore, is a condition having _per se_
nothing of moral character in it, any more than the being a parent, or
employer, or ruler, but is moral or unmoral as the duties of the relation
of master, parent, employer or ruler are rightly used or abused. The
subject in a national view belongs not, therefore, to the department of
Morals, and is transferred to that of Politics to be politically
regulated.
"The accidents of the relation of master and slave, like the accidents of
other social relations, are to be praised or condemned as such
individually and in accordance with the circumstances of every case, and,
whether adjudged good or bad, do not affect the character of the relation
itself."
On the subject of foreign immigration he was most outspoken, and replying
to an enquiry of one of his political friends concerning his attitude
towards the 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 resist the aggression of foreign influence
and its insidious and dangerous assaults upon all that Americans hold
dear, politically and religiously. It appears to be to prevent injury to
the Republic from the ill-timed and, I may say, unbecoming tamperings
with the laws, and habits, and deeply sacred sentiments of Americans by
those whose position, alike dictated by modesty and safety, to them as
well as to us, is that of minors in training for American, not European,
liberty.
"I have not, at this late day, to make up an opinion on this subject. My
sentiments 'On the dangers to the free institutions of the United States
from foreign immigration' are the same now that I have ever entertained,
and these same have been promulgated from Maine to Louisiana for more
than twenty years.
"This subject involves questions which, in my estimation, make all others
insignificant in the comparison, for they affect all others. To the
disturbing influence of foreign action in our midst upon the political
and religious questions of the day may be attributed in a great degree
the present disorganization in all parts of the land.
"So far as the Society you speak of is acting against this great evil it,
of course, meets with my hearty concurrence. I am content to stand on the
platform, in this regard, occupied by Washington in his warnings against
foreign influence, by Lafayette, in his personal conversation and
instructions to me, and by Jefferson in his condemnation of the
encouragement given, even in his day, to foreign immigration. If this
Society has ulterior objects of which I know nothing, of these I can be
expected to speak only when I know something."
As his opinions on important matters, political and religious, appear in
the course of his correspondence, I shall make note of them. It is more
than probable that, as he differed radically from his father and the
other Federalists on the question of men and measures during the War of
1812, so I should have taken other ground than his had I been born and
old enough to have opinions in the stirring _ante-bellum_ days of the
fifties. And yet, as hindsight makes our vision clearer than foresight,
it is impossible to say definitely what our opinions would have been
under other conditions, and there can, at any rate, be no question of the
absolute sincerity of the man who, from his youth up, had placed the
welfare of his beloved country above every other consideration except his
duty to his God.
It would take a keen student of the political history of this country to
determine how far the opinions and activities of those who were in
opposition on questions of such prime importance as slavery, secession,
and unrestricted immigration, served as a wholesome check on the radical
views of those who finally gained the ascendancy. The aftermath of two of
these questions is still with us, for the negro question is by no means a
problem solved, and the subject of proper restrictions on foreign
immigration is just now occupying the attention of our Solons.
That Morse should make enemies on account of the outspoken stand he took
on all these questions was to be expected, but I shall not attempt to sit
in judgment, but shall simply give his views as they appear in his
correspondence. At any rate he was not called upon to state and maintain
his opinions in the halls of Congress, for, in a letter of November 10,
1854, to a friend, he says at the end: "I came near being in Congress at
the late election, but had _not quite votes enough_, which is the usual
cause of failure on such occasions."